process. but due to ... struction of four/six laning of ... nhai/road ministry/ pwd. high quality...

16
P rime Minister Narendra Modi said on Saturday that after 50 days of demonestisa- tion decision, the hardships faced by honest people would begin to ease, while the diffi- culties of the corrupt and dis- honest people would begin to mount. Holding out no such promise that the hardships caused by the scrapping of 1,000 and 500 currency notes would all together be over after 50 days, the Prime Minister expressed confidence that people stood by him all through ever since he made the demonetisation announcement on the night of November 8 and would continue to do so in the coming days as well. Addressing a public rally after laying foundation stone for 3,600 crore mid-sea Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial project and a host of infra- structure projects collectively worth 1,06,000 crore, Modi said, "I had told the people of the country that they would have to suffer hardships for the first 50 days of demonetisation. The people have endured the hardships for the sake of the better future of the country. Turn to Page 4 T he decades-old practice of tabling of Railway Budget has been done away with from next year. But had it been not combined with the annual General Budget, the Railways would have made some key "passenger-friendly measures" riding on the digital band- wagon: From a Train Requirement Forecast System to Automated Check-in Services to reservation offices locator to linkages of local buses with trains to journey planner to virtual railway sta- tion tour apps. These measures will now be put in place gradually over the next year. With reservations during peak rush hours still a prob- lem for train commuters, the Indian Railways is working on the Train Requirement Forecast system to predict the demand of passenger traffic which can help in meeting the requirements by advance planning and enabling people to get accommodation as per their need. A senior railway official said since passenger trans- portation is seasonal and the number of passengers willing to travel varies according to the festivals or holidays and vaca- tions among others, a software solution to predict such demand will be quite helpful. Railways is also working on a linkage of public trans- port buses with commuters' trains and Automated Check- in services wherein the trav- eller does not have to wait for his or her ticket to be checked/verified by the train ticket examiners (TTE). At present, ticket checking is done on trains, at station exits and also at platforms and is a manual process. But due to shortage of ticket checking staff, only a small number of passengers are checked. "There is a need for a solu- tion which can ensure 100 per cent ticket checking. The solu- tion should be such that a pas- senger need not have to wait for getting his ticket checked. A barcode system on the pattern of metro trains or for that matter, a check in system at air- ports is being worked out," said a senior IT expert of Railways. It is also developing an app to plan the journey only with confirmed tickets availability from origin/way side station. Turn to Page 4 A woman and a teenage boy on Saturday blew them- selves up in the Capital here when Bangladesh police's elite counter-terrorism unit raided a three-storey building where heavily-armed militants, belonging to an Islamist group blamed for the deadly cafe attack, were hiding. The counterterrorism unit of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) cordoned off the build- ing at the capital's Ashkona early in the morning. They laid siege to the building, called out the mili- tants to surrender after evacu- ating residents. The police did not try to storm the building as militants had a lot of explosives. Turn to Page 4 O ver possessiveness of 22- year-old Shubham for Simaran could have triggered Najafgarh murder as the accused had allegedly shot dead the girl over her closeness with other male friends, police said on Saturday. Besides, the primary inves- tigation reveals that Shubham is an aggressive person and was allegedly under the influence of alcohol at the time of incident, they added. Shubham told police he had a heated argument with the minor girl over her friendship with Nitin, they added. Shubham had been angry with the girl for the last few days. On December 20, when he had gone to drop the girl at her house with Yogesh in the latter's Mercedes, he saw Nitin standing close to the girl's mother, police said. He was upset that the girl's family was in touch with her friend and shot at her with Yogesh's pistol, they said. On the day of the murder, her mother had called her around 7 pm, asking her to return home soon as it was get- ting late. She assured her that she would be back soon. Another police officer, privy to the matter, shared, "Simran had received around 25 calls on her mobile phone on the day she was murdered. Out of the 25 calls, the maximum calls were made by Nitin. Right from the time Shubham accompanied by Yogesh and Simran had lunch at a restaurant in Rajouri Garden on Tuesday, Nitin was alleged- ly incessantly calling Simran. This left Shubham furious." Turn to Page 4 P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday virtually launched the ruling BJP's cam- paign for the crucial February 2017 Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, by unveiling infrastructure pro- jects worth 1,06,000 crore for Mumbai and its suburbs. Addressing a public rally at the BKC grounds after per- forming "Jal Pooja"and "Bhoomi Puja" for the ambi- tious 3,600 crore mid-sea Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial, the Prime Minister said, "From this stage, we have today kick- started projects worth 1,06,000 crore for Mumbai. It might have never happened in the history of Mumbai that development projects worth 1,06,000 crore being inaugu- rated on a particular day and that too from a single platform as it happened today". The projects that Modi laid the foundation stone for various development projects included two metro lines, the Mumbai Trans-Harbour Link, the Mumbai Urban Transport Project Phase-III, and two elevated roads. Given that the both the rul- ing BJP is bound to cash in on the launch of the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial in the forth- coming BMC polls, Modi spoke at length on the delivery of good governance delivered by the great Maratha warrior in the dif- ficult times that the latter lived. "After performing bhoomi puja and jal pojja for the Chhatrapati Shivaji memorial, you can image the happiness I am experiencing… Through his good governance, Turn to Page 4 T he National Highways are the arterial roads for inter- state movement of passengers and goods and are the nation’s lifeline as they traverse the length and width of the coun- try connecting the national and State capitals, major ports, rail junctions while linking up with border roads and foreign highways. Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee, our former Prime Minister while speaking at Vadodara in year 2001 after launching of National Highway Development Project (NHDP) had beautifully summed it “The highways which we are building under the National Highways Development Project are not mere highways. They are the Bhagya rekha (lines of destiny) on the hands of our nations. With these highways, we are writing a new destiny of India”. The NHDP was conceived and launched by the then NDA Government under then Prime Minister Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee in the year 2000. It was for development and con- struction of four/six laning of about 13,510 km of Highways at a cost of Rs. 54,000 Cr (1998-99 prices). It included the Golden Quadrilateral which was construction of 5,864 km world class Highways, on high density traffic corridors between four metro cities Delhi- Mumbai- Chennai- Kolkata, at a cost of over Rs. 25,050 Cr.(1998-99 prices). The funding for the entire programme was innov- atively raised from various sources. Since the programme was conceptualised and imple- mented under the visionary leadership of Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee it was popularly called the Prime Minister’s dream project. A separate Ministry for Roads Transport and Highways was created and I was made the Minister-in-Charge with a responsibility of time and cost bound implementation of NHDP. At the same time, the visionary Prime Minister Shri Vajpayee constituted a Committee for Rural Road Connectivity under Shri Nitin Gadkari, a young and dynam- ic PWD Minister of Maharashtra. Shri Gadkari was also given the responsibility for the construction of India’s first Expressway between Bombay and Pune (100 km). The land acquisition, a cumbersome and time taking process, was simplified, there- by reducing the completion period of the projects. Large areas of land were acquired in short periods and at many places the private land owners gave their land to the govern- ment willingly after transpar- ent mutual agreement on the compensation amount. The contribution of the state gov- ernments was remarkable, par- ticularly in Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat. In a short span of time (2000-2004), around 125 high value work contracts totaling Rs 23,126 crores covering 5,053 km were awarded across the country through a transparent bidding process. Pro-active monitoring was done at all lev- els including regular monthly meetings at the Minister’s level which were attended by all the stake holders i.e. contractors, consultants, officials of NHAI/Road Ministry/ PWD. High quality standards for con- structions were adhered to. The construction of 2,400 km of international standards high- ways was achieved during years 2000 – 2004 in just 1257 days, which was a historic achieve- ment for the country. The average construction of high- ways all across the country had reached to 11 km/day. The ben- efits were all visible e.g. large direct and indirect employment across the country, faster move- ments of passenger and goods from one part of the country to other, better access to ports/hinterland to the major metro cities, capacity building of construction and consulting industry, manufacturing of state-of-art construction equip- ment in the country and the like. Turn to Page 4

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Page 1: process. But due to ... struction of four/six laning of ... NHAI/Road Ministry/ PWD. High quality standards for con-

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Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Saturday that

after 50 days of demonestisa-tion decision, the hardshipsfaced by honest people wouldbegin to ease, while the diffi-culties of the corrupt and dis-honest people would begin tomount.

Holding out no suchpromise that the hardshipscaused by the scrapping of�1,000 and �500 currencynotes would all together be overafter 50 days, the PrimeMinister expressed confidencethat people stood by him allthrough ever since he made thedemonetisation announcementon the night of November 8and would continue to do so inthe coming days as well.

Addressing a public rallyafter laying foundation stonefor �3,600 crore mid-sea

Chhatrapati Shivaji memorialproject and a host of infra-structure projects collectivelyworth �1,06,000 crore, Modi

said, "I had told the people ofthe country that they wouldhave to suffer hardships for thefirst 50 days of demonetisation.

The people have endured thehardships for the sake of thebetter future of the country.

Turn to Page 4

�����"�"����������.0�1.23�

The decades-old practice oftabling of Railway Budget

has been done away with fromnext year. But had it been notcombined with the annualGeneral Budget, the Railwayswould have made some key"passenger-friendly measures"riding on the digital band-wagon: From a TrainRequirement Forecast Systemto Automated Check-inServices to reservation officeslocator to linkages of localbuses with trains to journeyplanner to virtual railway sta-tion tour apps.

These measures will nowbe put in place gradually overthe next year.

With reservations duringpeak rush hours still a prob-lem for train commuters, theIndian Railways is working on

the Train RequirementForecast system to predict thedemand of passenger trafficwhich can help in meeting therequirements by advanceplanning and enabling peopleto get accommodation as pertheir need.

A senior railway officialsaid since passenger trans-portation is seasonal and thenumber of passengers willingto travel varies according to thefestivals or holidays and vaca-tions among others, a softwaresolution to predict suchdemand will be quite helpful.

Railways is also workingon a linkage of public trans-port buses with commuters'trains and Automated Check-in services wherein the trav-eller does not have to wait forhis or her t icket to bechecked/verified by the trainticket examiners (TTE).

At present, ticket checking

is done on trains, at station exitsand also at platforms and is amanual process. But due toshortage of ticket checkingstaff, only a small number ofpassengers are checked.

"There is a need for a solu-tion which can ensure 100 percent ticket checking. The solu-tion should be such that a pas-senger need not have to wait for

getting his ticket checked. Abarcode system on the patternof metro trains or for thatmatter, a check in system at air-ports is being worked out," saida senior IT expert of Railways.

It is also developing an appto plan the journey only withconfirmed tickets availabilityfrom origin/way side station.

Turn to Page 4

��� � 13/4/

Awoman and a teenage boyon Saturday blew them-

selves up in the Capital herewhen Bangladesh police's elitecounter-terrorism unit raideda three-storey building whereheavily-armed militants,belonging to an Islamist groupblamed for the deadly cafeattack, were hiding.

The counterterrorism unitof Dhaka Metropolitan Police(DMP) cordoned off the build-ing at the capital's Ashkonaearly in the morning.

They laid siege to thebuilding, called out the mili-tants to surrender after evacu-ating residents. The police didnot try to storm the building asmilitants had a lot of explosives.

Turn to Page 4

"� �"��������� �.0�1.23�

Over possessiveness of 22-year-old Shubham for

Simaran could have triggeredNajafgarh murder as theaccused had allegedly shotdead the girl over her closenesswith other male friends, policesaid on Saturday.

Besides, the primary inves-tigation reveals that Shubhamis an aggressive person and wasallegedly under the influence ofalcohol at the time of incident,they added.

Shubham told police he had

a heated argument with theminor girl over her friendshipwith Nitin, they added. Shubhamhad been angry with the girl forthe last few days. On December20, when he had gone to drop thegirl at her house with Yogesh inthe latter's Mercedes, he sawNitin standing close to the girl'smother, police said.

He was upset that the girl'sfamily was in touch with herfriend and shot at her withYogesh's pistol, they said.

On the day of the murder,her mother had called heraround 7 pm, asking her to

return home soon as it was get-ting late. She assured her thatshe would be back soon.

Another police officer, privyto the matter, shared, "Simranhad received around 25 calls onher mobile phone on the day shewas murdered. Out of the 25calls, the maximum calls weremade by Nitin. Right from thetime Shubham accompanied byYogesh and Simran had lunch ata restaurant in Rajouri Gardenon Tuesday, Nitin was alleged-ly incessantly calling Simran.This left Shubham furious."

Turn to Page 4

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday virtually

launched the ruling BJP's cam-paign for the crucial February2017 Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) polls, byunveiling infrastructure pro-jects worth �1,06,000 crore forMumbai and its suburbs.

Addressing a public rally atthe BKC grounds after per-forming "Jal Pooja"and"Bhoomi Puja" for the ambi-tious �3,600 crore mid-seaChhatrapati Shivaji memorial,the Prime Minister said, "Fromthis stage, we have today kick-started projects worth�1,06,000 crore for Mumbai. Itmight have never happened inthe history of Mumbai thatdevelopment projects worth�1,06,000 crore being inaugu-rated on a particular day and

that too from a single platformas it happened today".

The projects that Modilaid the foundation stone forvarious development projectsincluded two metro lines, theMumbai Trans-Harbour Link,the Mumbai Urban TransportProject Phase-III, and twoelevated roads.

Given that the both the rul-ing BJP is bound to cash in onthe launch of the ChhatrapatiShivaji memorial in the forth-coming BMC polls, Modi spokeat length on the delivery of goodgovernance delivered by thegreat Maratha warrior in the dif-ficult times that the latter lived.

"After performing bhoomipuja and jal pojja for theChhatrapati Shivaji memorial,you can image the happiness Iam experiencing… Throughhis good governance,

Turn to Page 4

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The National Highways arethe arterial roads for inter-

state movement of passengersand goods and are the nation’slifeline as they traverse thelength and width of the coun-try connecting the nationaland State capitals, major ports,

rail junctions while linking upwith border roads and foreignhighways.

Shri Atal Bihari Vajpayee,our former Prime Ministerwhile speaking at Vadodara inyear 2001 after launching ofNational HighwayDevelopment Project (NHDP)had beautifully summed it“The highways which we arebuilding under the NationalHighways Development Projectare not mere highways. Theyare the Bhagya rekha (lines ofdestiny) on the hands of ournations. With these highways,we are writing a new destiny ofIndia”.

The NHDP was conceivedand launched by the then NDAGovernment under then PrimeMinister Shri Atal BihariVajpayee in the year 2000. It

was for development and con-struction of four/six laning ofabout 13,510 km of Highwaysat a cost of Rs. 54,000 Cr(1998-99 prices). It includedthe Golden Quadrilateralwhich was construction of5,864 km world classHighways, on high densitytraffic corridors between fourmetro cities Delhi- Mumbai-Chennai- Kolkata, at a cost ofover Rs. 25,050 Cr.(1998-99prices). The funding for theentire programme was innov-atively raised from varioussources. Since the programmewas conceptualised and imple-mented under the visionaryleadership of Shri Atal BihariVajpayee it was popularly calledthe Prime Minister’s dreamproject.

A separate Ministry for

Roads Transport and Highwayswas created and I was madethe Minister-in-Charge with aresponsibility of time and costbound implementation ofNHDP. At the same time, thevisionary Prime Minister ShriVajpayee constituted aCommittee for Rural RoadConnectivity under Shri NitinGadkari, a young and dynam-ic PWD Minister ofMaharashtra. Shri Gadkari wasalso given the responsibility forthe construction of India’s firstExpressway between Bombayand Pune (100 km).

The land acquisition, acumbersome and time takingprocess, was simplified, there-by reducing the completionperiod of the projects. Largeareas of land were acquired inshort periods and at many

places the private land ownersgave their land to the govern-ment willingly after transpar-ent mutual agreement on thecompensation amount. Thecontribution of the state gov-ernments was remarkable, par-ticularly in Andhra Pradeshand Gujarat.

In a short span of time(2000-2004), around 125 highvalue work contracts totalingRs 23,126 crores covering 5,053km were awarded across thecountry through a transparentbidding process. Pro-activemonitoring was done at all lev-els including regular monthlymeetings at the Minister’s levelwhich were attended by all thestake holders i.e. contractors,consultants, officials ofNHAI/Road Ministry/ PWD.High quality standards for con-

structions were adhered to.The construction of 2,400 kmof international standards high-ways was achieved during years2000 – 2004 in just 1257 days,which was a historic achieve-ment for the country. Theaverage construction of high-ways all across the country hadreached to 11 km/day. The ben-efits were all visible e.g. largedirect and indirect employmentacross the country, faster move-ments of passenger and goodsfrom one part of the country toother, better access toports/hinterland to the majormetro cities, capacity buildingof construction and consultingindustry, manufacturing ofstate-of-art construction equip-ment in the country and thelike.

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When Geeta Phogat won theWomen Wrestling Gold in the55 weight category at the 2010

Commonwealth Games, women’swrestling came to be known, somewhat.In 2016, when Aamir Khan made amovie on the Phogats, their long duestardom finally came of age. That’sbecause Dangal is a rare sporting moviefrom Bollywood where drama, song anddance does not overwhelm the reality ofthe true story of struggle andachievement.

With a perfectionist Aamir Khan at thehelm, you would not have thoughtotherwise. But, Dangal has an addedaura of achievement of the underdog, asimple story of woman wrestling inHaryana where the male-female ratio isshamefully shocking.

But Dangal does not drive that in

forcefully. It skillfully depicts it through theincredible story of the Phogat familywith Aamir playing the no-nonsense,obsessed yet vulnerable and path-breaking patriarch Mahavir SinghPhogat. So, the film works atvarious levels — it makes astatement about societal pitfalls, ittalks of sporting gaps, it showcasesthe struggle of athletes and, mostimportantly, it serenades thecoming of age of women in themost adverse of circumstances.

In short, Aamir’s Dangalwrestles on and off the mat withperfection. The long bouts thatboth the younger and the grown-up Geeta Phogat battles are as realas any wrestling bout you mayhave seen live at theCommonwealth Games. Not justthat, the story that goes with the akhadacentrespread is told in a simple butarresting manner. The Spartan dressing,the gentle humour, the lingo, the villageambience, the dangal talk, the regionalflavour — it’s all been keenly researched

and depicted with stunning andcaptivating realism on the screen.

That Dangal takes you through the life

and times of neglected athletes like thePhogats, that it shows up how a familybreaks the difficult social mould of apatriarchal society, how wrestling, like anyother competitive sport, comes with anextremely difficult regimen, a lot of

sacrifices and complete commitment to themat, is a rare peep into the world of theactual state of sports in India.

Despite having Aamir as a toweringpersonality in the film, it’s Geeta Phogataround whom the story pivots, especiallywhen it comes to the perfectly curatedwrestling bouts. Both the young Geeta,played with such becoming aggression and

passion by child artiste Zaira Wasim, andthe grown-up version, essayed withdelightful emotional restraint by Fatima

Sana Sheikh, are the centre points ofthe film. Not that Babita (SuhaniBhatnagar as young one and SanyaMalhotra as the grown-up) is anyless. Sanya has speaking eyes andsports the ability to speak with themto maximum impact. Productionnotes of Dangal will tell you that thefour girls went through a nine-month wrestling and gym scheduleso the fights look completely in realtime and that’s the best thing aboutthe film.

Then there are the dhakad songs,Aamir’s reality bites, delectablehumour embedded in theproceedings, dialogues that roarwithout yelling and a unique

contemporariness encased in realism.Such single-mindedness about sport

is not frequent in a Bollywood movie.That’s why Dangal will make you stand upand applaud much after the NationalAnthem has played out in the cinema hall.

Just a few of days ago I was at a literatureconference in the Doon valley and was

pleasantly surprised when a scholar fromKurukshetra presented a paper on RashidJahan, who lived in the Doon valley at onetime and was a writer much ahead of hertimes.

The paper was titled “MaterialFeminism: A Study of Rashid Jahan’sAngarey.” I was glad that such a largeaudience from all over the world was gettingto hear about this amazing lady who is oneof the earliest writers known forinaugurating a new era of Urdu literaturewritten by women. Yet people in the Doonvalley remain largely unaware of her life andcontribution to the world of letters.

Rashid Jahan and her husband,Mahmuduzzafar were residents of theDalanwala area of the Doon valley.Mahmud was the son of SahibzadaSaiduzzafar who was the owner andresident of the beautiful house “Nasreen”,which is part of the the Welham GirlsSchool now. He was from Rampur and hadsettled down in the Doon valley.

In 1931, Rashid Jahan, who was fromAligarh, graduated from medical school inDelhi and in 1934 she married the writerMahmuduzzafar. It was in Amritsar thatRashid Jahan met the poets Faiz AhmadFaiz and Mohibbul Hassan Qasi, andcame into contact with the importantLahore-based group of Marxists thinkersand activists led by Miyan Mukhtar-ud-Din. A collection of her writings, Aurat aurDusre Afsane wa Drame (Woman andOther Stories and Plays), was published inLahore in 1937. She also edited a politicalmonthly called Chingari.

After her short story “Dilli ki Sair” (ATour of Delhi) and play Pardey ke Peecche

(Behind theVeil) appearedin the Urdua n t h o l o g yAngarey in1931, RasheedJahan shoti n t oprominence.T h o u g hRashid Jahanis betterknown in thelate twentiethcentury as awriter of shortfiction, sheh e r s e l f

considered drama a more forceful mediumand was among those who laid thefoundations of the progressive theatremovement. She wrote and directed severalplays, including adaptations of works byAnton Chekhov, Munshi Premchand, andJames Joyce, and moved back to fiction onlywhen failing health and lack of timerestricted her involvement in the theatre.

A medical doctor and a communist byideology, she broke all rules by which aMuslim woman was expected to live in pre-independent India in 1920s and 30s. Sheis known as Urdu Literture’s first “angryyoung woman”.

In 1935, Faiz Ahmed Faiz became alecturer in English literature at MAOCollege, Amritsar. During the years inAmritsar (1935-42), Faiz carved for himselfthe role that he was to play to the end ofhis life. He joined a group of forward-looking writers in founding the ProgressiveWriters’ Association (PWA). His service atMAO College gave him the opportunity ofcoming closer to SahibzadaMahmuduzzafar, Principal of MAO Collegeand Dr. Rashid Jahan Faiz, due to theinfluence of Mahmuduzzafar and DrRashid Jahan, was attracted to theProgressive movement.

The genesis of the movement was the1932 publication of a collection of ten Urdushort stories, Angaray, by four youngwriters, Sajjad Zaheer, Ahmad Ali,Mahmuduzzafar and Rashid Jahan.

Rashid Jahan is known for theinfluence she had on a new generation ofyounger women writers by teaching themto tell harsh truths. Jahan was the literaryforerunner of writers like Ismat Chughtai,who was her junior at the Aligarh school.For Chughtai, Rashid Jahan was afreethinker and rebel she modelled herselfon. “She spoiled me because she was verybold and would speak all sorts of thingsopenly and loudly, and I just wanted to copyher,” Chughtai wrote in her autobiography.She is remembered as a woman of greatcharisma, who treated everyone as an equal.Her writings reflect not just a feministsensibility, but an empathy for the poor andthe deprived.

A biography of Rashid Jahan byrenowned Urdu critic Rakhshanda Jaliltitled A Rebel and Her Cause (WomenUnlimited), which also includes Englishtranslations of her stories and plays, givesus a wonderful insight into this uniquewriter’s life. She died in 1953. It is alwaysfascinating to know more about thisforgotten figure who was so much aheadof her time .A doctor by profession and anamazing writer. A vibrant and strongpersonality associated with the Doonvalley.

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Dehradun district administration isnow busy completing preparations

for the Mussoorie Winterline Carnivalscheduled to start on Sunday. Notably,The Pioneer is the media partner of thesix–day event concluding on December30. It is learnt from the officials that theseveral programmes, including folkmusic and dance, are lined up for the car-nival. Besides, some singers fromBollywood are likely to perform there toenthrall the visitors.

Dehradun district magistrateRavinath Rama said that all the prepara-tions for this carnival have been com-pleted. Dehradun regional tourism offi-cer Seema Nautiyal said that in coordi-nation with all the departments con-cerned, preparation for the fest is nearlycomplete.

The Carnival will be inaugurated byChief Minister Harish Rawat at 2 pm. Itwould be followed by folk dances andother cultural performances between 2pm and 4 pm. A programme on ‘Teawith Ruskin Bond’ will be held at SBIbook shop between 3pm and 5 pm onSunday. On December 26, cycling, nat-ural walk, bird watch, art completion androck climbing will be organised. Apartfrom this, the cultural department willstage cultural programmes on music,dance, theatre and filler acts onDecember 26.

Moreover, entertainment perfor-

mances (opening performance bySangeeta Dondial and Kishan Mahipal)will also be held between 6 pm and 7 pmon December 26. Qawwali night byNiami Nizami brothers will be heldbetween 7 pm and 10 pm the same day.

Fancy Dress competition will be heldon December 27. Bollywood singerShabib Sabri would perform between7.30 pm and 10.30 pm the same day.Skating will be held on December 28.Magic Show by NC Sarkar will be heldbetween 5 pm and 7 pm the same day.

Krishna Raas Leela and KaviSammelan will be held from 6 pm and10.30 pm onDecember 29. Marathon tobe organised by Mussoorie SportsAssociation will be held at Mall Road thesame day.

Harley All Women Bike Rally will beheld at Mall Road on December 30.Entertainment programmes, includingmusic and dance performance by ParthRaturi and Narendra Singh Negi, will beheld on December 30.

� ��� 1.3%/1��

Things progressing fast,around 2 lakh out of 3.86

lakh ration card holders inDehradun district, entitled toavail the national food securi-ty scheme and the State foodsecurity scheme, have so farlinked their Aadhaar cardswith their ration cards.

District Food and Civilsupply officer PS Pangtiexpressed hope that the depart-ment would achieve cent percent link of the Aadhaar cardswith the ration cards by March31, 2017.

However, the departmentis yet to receive an instructionfrom the Centre on the PDStransaction switching over to acashless one.

“We would work on it oncethe required instruction isreceived,” Pangti said.

He said that the PDSshopkeepers have been direct-ed to inform the people tosubmit their Aadhaar card atdistrict food and civil supplyoffice while they distributeration cards for the above-mentioned schemes. “Theyhave also been instructed tocollect Aadhaar cards of thebeneficiaries and submit thesame at the office. The officialsat the DSO would link thenumber with the ration cardsafter verification of the cards,”he said, adding that a total of3.86 ration cards have beenmade under National FoodSecurity Scheme (NFSS) andState Food Security Scheme(SFSS) in the district so far.

He said that around 2 lakhsration cards have been madeunder national food securityscheme in the district.However, no more ration cardwould be issued under nation-al food security scheme, heaffirmed.

This aside, around 1.80

lakh ration cards have beenmade under state food securi-ty scheme and 20, 000 moresuch cards would be madeupon receiving applicationsfrom the entitled, he added.

“The people who have notbeen covered under nationalfood security scheme can pro-cure new ration cards to availstate food security scheme andthey will have to submitAadhaar cards along with theration cards,” he said.

Notably, the Centre stipu-lated while launching thenational food security schemethat those whose monthlyincome is less than or equal to15, 000 would be entitled toavail the scheme. Following thesame pattern, the state gov-ernment launched state foodsecurity scheme, announcingthat those whose income standsless than or equal to Rs 5 lakhper annum are eligible to col-lect the new ration cards toavail SFSS.

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The state BJP leadership isgoing to all out to make the

public rally of the PrimeMinister Narendra Modi, whois coming to unveil foundationstone of all-weather road forChar Dham from ParadeGround in Dehradun onDecember 27, a historic one interms of gathering.

Informing this, the stateBJP general secretary NareshBansal said while talking to ThePioneer on Saturday that thepeople would pour in in theirthousands to vent anger againstthe non-performance of theHarish Rawat Government.“The crowd would be so mam-moth that one would hardlyfind an inch not covered by themultitudes of the people inattendance,” he claimed.

He said that the party leg-islators and the leaders havebeen asked to bring peoplefrom three districts -Dehradun, Haridwar andTehri- that account for 28 seatsof the 70-member Assembly.

Asked to comment onwhat the state Congressspokesperson SurendraAggarwal said about Modihaving not acted on hispromise made in the aftermathof the disaster 2013 when hewas the Chief Minister ofGujarat to rebuild the calami-ty- ravaged Kedarnath fromhis own resources, Bansal saidthat Modi had not even beenallowed to visit Kedarnath atthat critical point of time. “Hadhe been given the free hand hewould have acted on hispromise, given his experiencesin rebuilding earthquake-rav-aged Bhuj,” he quipped.

He said that Modi being aspiritually inclined personwould have been elated ifallowed to contribute his bit inrebuilding the fame shrine ofUttarakhand. “His unfulfilleddream would be fulfilled

through building the all-weath-er roads linking the religiouscircuit of the Char Dham. IfBJP comes to power in thestate the state would be builtanew under inspiration of thePrime Minister who is deter-mined to stop migrationthrough creating employmentopportunities aside from re-jig-ging health and education set-ups in the far-flung hill areasof the state,” Bansal said.

Upping his ant against theHarish Rawat government, hesaid that the huge amounts offunds released by the Centreremained unspent here becauseof the sluggishness of the stategovernment . “Besides, freshtranches are not coming becauseof the state government’s failureto submit the utilization cer-tificates. The CM is crying foulof the Centre not releasing thefunds to camouflage his gov-ernment’s failure ,” he said.

He also mentioned thatthe ex-servicemen living in thestate are happy with the Modigovernment having executedthe long-delayed one rank onepension (OROP) scheme.

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Demanding the problem of unemploymentbe sorted out immediately, the former

CM ND Tiwari and his son Rohit ShekharTiwari sat on symbolic ‘Maun’ (silence) atMartyrs’ Memorial in Dehradun on Saturday.

ND Tiwari said that he has written a let-ter to the CM Harish Rawat for the redressalof the unemployed youths’ demands. Shekharlent his weight behind the demand of theunemployed BEd trained youths and YogaTrained Youths for jobs and appealed to theState Government to meet their demands.

Earlier in Haldwani, Tiwari, his wifeUjjawala Tiwari and son Shekhar had sat onmaun, supporting the demand of the UPNLemployees for jobs.

� ��� 1.3%/1��

BJP leader Ravindra Jugran demanded atransparent enquiry into alleged irregu-

larities in written examination for 67 postsof Uttarakhand Power Corporation Limited.The examination was conducted by ABCPrivate Limited Company on April 24 thisyear.

He said he had earlier met the Chief sec-retary, demanding an inquiry into the same.“Subsequently, he had ordered the enquiryand results were put on hold till the time theenquiry report came. Without receiving thefirst enquiry report, another enquiry by griev-ance committed was ordered. However, thedepartment later called the candidates forinterview without receiving inquiry report.We demand transparent inquiry into the mat-ter,” he said while addressing a press con-ference in Dehradun on Saturday.

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In view of PM NarendraModi’s Dehradun visit on

December 27, Dehradun DMRavinath Raman while holdinga meeting with the districtofficers on Saturday asked theexecutive engineers of variousdepartments to keep construc-tion works in the city on holdtill 3 pm on December 27 andfill the potholes gaping fromthe routes the PM’s cavalcadewould take.

Besides, the DMannounced a holiday in theGovernment and theGovernment-aided schoolswithin Dehradun MunicipalCorporation area on the daythe PM would visit the city.Earlier in the day, Ramaninspected Parade Ground, thevenue of the PM’s programme

He stressed on the officers

concerned to improve sanita-tion along the road from GTCto Parade Ground. Power offi-cers were directed to removeelectricity wires hanging alongthe roadsides while the forestofficers were asked to lop trees.

The DM asked the healthofficers to keep ready a team ofdoctors at Jolly Grant, ParadeGround, Doon Club andBijapur Guest House. Besides,Peyjal Nigam officers wouldmake arrangements of potablewater at Pavilion Ground.Police would arrange parking atRanger’s Ground.

Others present on theoccasion were ADM (admin-istration) Harbeer Singh, ADM(finance) Veer Singh Buldiyal,city magistrate Chandra SinghMartolia, SP City Ajay Singh,SP Rural Shweta Choubey andchief medical officer Dr YSThapliyal.

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Senior administrative offi-cers, police officers and BJP

leaders inspected ParadeGround in the city on Saturdayin view of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi set to unveilthe foundation stone of the all-weather roads for Char Dhamon December 27 from there.

Ten-member SPG teamremains stationed in Dehradunfor the past two days, takingstocks of the security prepared-ness for the PM’s programme.

Additional DGP (law andorder) Ram Singh Meena, IG(intelligence and security) APAnsuman, Additional (IG),SPG S Roy, Garhwal RangeDIG Pushpak Jyoti, DMRavinath Raman and SSPSweety Aggarwal aside fromPWD officers and administra-tive and police officers inspect-ed the ground on Saturday andmonitored things.

Earlier on Friday, a teamfrom SPG and senior policeofficers inspected JollygrantAirport and GTC helipad.

It is learnt from the policethat Prime Minister Modiwould land at Jolly GrantAirport by a special IAF aircrafton Tuesday. He would betaken to GTC helipad in the cityby an IAF helicopter and fromthe helipad he would go straightto Parade Ground by road.

Modi, set to address a pub-lic rally at Parade Ground afterthe unveiling is over, has putthe state BJP leaders on theirtoes. The state party presidentAjay Bhatt, general secretaryNaresh Bansal and other lead-ers inspected Parade Groundwhere the police officersbriefed them about securitypreparedness.

Those who trade fromParade Ground have beendirected to vacate the place atthe earliest while the local policeofficers and intelligence staffhave been asked to be vigilant.

The administrative andsecurity agency officers haveinspected the places fromwhere VVIPs, VIPs and thecommon people would enterParade Ground during thePM’s programme. PublicWorks Department wouldinstall barricades to controlentry in the venue.

ADGP (law and order)Meena directed traffic SP totake measures to ensuresmooth flow of traffic andparking arrangements for allwho attend the programme.

He also directed the districtpolice to conduct verification ofresidents and vehicle checkingdrives around Parade Groundarea and other places nearby.

He said that elaborate secu-rity arrangements are beingmade around Jolly GrantAirport, GTC Helipad andParade Ground. Adequatepolice forces have been deput-ed for security purpose at thevenues and strategic locationsacross the district ahead of thevisit, he said. A bomb dispos-al squad, jammer and dogsquad would be put into oper-ation to make the securityfool-proof, he added.

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Christmas slated on Sunday,people are gearing up to cel-

ebrate the festivities, braving thecash crunch the November 9demonetisation drive hasunleashed. Naturally, the firstthing that comes to mind con-nected to the festival is the food-ies, cakes and cookies, special-ly made for the occasion. Peoplesay that Christmas known fordeserts and sweets, the festivalsans them is incomplete.

There is a few well-knownbakeries based in Dehradunlike Ellora’s Bakery, RisingDough, Sunrise Bakery, DoonBakers, Dunking and Donutswhich are doing brisk business,the festival on the threshold.

Doon Baker’s fruit cakemade of fruits, dried fruitsand nuts, is already a hit amongthe Christmas buyers. “Therichness and the sweetness ofthe cake make it the best.Naturally, it is the most popu-lar cake for occasions likeChristmas,” said a buyer Amit.

Ellora’s famous plum cake-it is a rich dense cake packedwith dry fruits and nuts fla-vored with spicies- is a muchsought-after Christmas item. “Itis what is the quintessentialitem of the special day. It ispopular the world over, thoughthe ingredients and taste varyfrom one country to another. InIndia, for example, it has itsown flavor,” said Sunita, ahommaker.

Rising Dough’s red velvetcake is another item the buy-ers are thronging in hordes tobuy. “It is very tasty, rich andmoist and is also very easy to

make. You would get the typi-cal Christmas taste in everybite. The children, in particu-lar, are fond of it,” said one whoworks in the famous bakery.

Sunrise Bakery is famousfor churning out red velvetchocolate chip cookies. Thesecookies are another perfectdish to have in your homesduring Christmas. These can bemade in no time and can alsobe stored for a longer time than

the general cakes.Dunking and Donut is see-

ing people swarming in it totake Macaroons. It is a type ofsweet made with egg whites,nut powder and sugar. It hasnumerous variations in differ-ent countries. In India they arepopular in tuticorn which is solight that it literally melts in themouth. It is very popular inUSA during the Christmasfestivities.

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Uncertainty continuing tohaunt the people, post note

ban, the meat vendors are at thereceiving end of things. Winterhaving set in, they expect thepeople to throng their shops intheir hordes. But the reality isdifferent with the buyers elud-ing the shops. Those who arecoming are not ready to partwith much money to satisfytheir love for meat.

“Things look grim for us.The number of people hascome down drastically. Eventhe Sundays or other holidaysare proving no different. Thepeople are not ready to spendmuch, volatility continuing inthe situation with the banksand the ATMs failing to supplythe required amount of cur-

rencies. However, things turna tad better in case there arefunctions in their houses. Itseems that the non-vegetarianpeople are adjusting to vege-tarian food under the com-pulsion of the situation. Thisis natural because one has topart with at least Rs 300 for akg of mutton whereas they canbuy enough of vegetarian itemsfor just Rs 100,” said Raheem,a meat vendor in the city.

Archana Gairola, a house-wife, said, “I, myself, am non-veg.Besides, my husband and sonlove to have mutton, particular-ly in the winter days. Usually, wehave mutton or chicken at leastthrice a week. But things are dif-ferent now. Meat being expen-sive, we are going for vegetarianitems to save money duringthese hard days.”

�����&��"����*���*������'������*�� Dehradun: On the the

Christmas eve, Times SquareMall organised a fashion showand dance competition onSaturday.

The competition was judgedby the known internationalchoreographer ManishaAggarwal. During the fashionshow, models from the DoonValley performed the ramp walkto promote the internal brand.Aggarwal while choosing thewinners said that the DoonValley had talents. After watch-ing the competition of thedancers, it was difficult forjudges to take decisions, she said.

The mall director SanjeevDua and Viresh Jain said thatduring the Christmas Carnivalon December 27, they will runa Santa Sledge car all over thecity in which Santa would giveaway the gift to the kids. PNS

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Every year people do a lot ofshopping during the

Christmas festivities. Theyattend various fun activitiesintroduced by the malls.However, this year, things lookdismal as the people ofDehradun are steering clear ofthe festivities, the sword of cashcrunch dangling over theirheads, post note ban drive.

Managers of Malls are notsatisfied with the sizes of the

crowd thronging the malls.Jitendra Kumar Mehta, man-ager of Cross Road Mall, said,“Crowd being substantiallyless, the sale graph has declinedsharply. At times, even theswipe machines fail, landing thebuyers in problems,” he said.

The ambience of festivity islacking in the city as the funactivities are missing at everymall. Marketing manager ofPacific Mall, Devika recountsthe same story of plummetingsale graph. “These days, the

people are not purchasing any-thing. They rather are comingfor the window shopping.Braving the cash crunch, wehave organised numerousactivities for people to markChristmas, but we are not ableto generate the desirable prof-it with the crowd failing toreach up to our expectations .”

Not only in malls, butmanagement of Church is alsogoing through severe trouble inarranging a quality celebrationthis year. Main priest of St.

Thomas Church, A A Plomersaid, “We cannot give pay-ment to the labourers throughcheque or even the swipemachine. We do not havemoney for clothing, decorationand food."

Even those who keep cel-ebration on low key are notbeing spared problems as theyare too reeling under cashcrunch.

Babita from Valley BibleFellowship Church said, “LikeDiwali, we give gifts to our

friends and relatives onChristmas. This time we do nothave money to buy gifts, eata-bles and cakes. We are not ableto arrange the fun activities tothe level we desire.”

Arti, a student pursuing forone- day exam, said, “I am notgoing out to celebrateChristmas this year with thecash crunch dragging on. Ialong with my friends havedropped the idea of throwinga party under the compulsionof the situation.”

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From Page 1"The accused, Shubham,

thought like a criminal. Rightfrom cutting his hair and trim-ming his beard, Shubhamresorted to all measures toavoid getting identified by thepolice. On the day Shubhamshot Simran, he first went toDelhi Cantonment by bus.From thereon, he took a bus toHaridwar.

After staying in Haridwarfor a day, he returned to Delhiand started staying at a friend'splace in Tughlakabad," a seniorpolice officer told The Pioneer.

Shubham was arrested by

the Delhi police on December23 from Saket. He, along withYogesh, whose pistol he hadused to kill Simran, was pro-duced in the court which sentthem to a three-day policeremand.

According to SurenderKumar, Deputy Commissionerof Police, (South-west), "Wehave arrested both of themunder Sections 302 (murder)and 363 (Punishment for kid-napping) of the Indian PenalCode and Sections 25,27 and30 of the Arms Act and 77 ofthe Juvenile Justice Act at theNajafgarh police station."

Police said that Shubhamhad been hiding inTughlakabad area at hisfriend's place for the past 40hours. "We received a tip-offon Friday afternoon that hewill be coming to Saket. Ourteam laid a trap and we heldhim on late Friday evening,"said the DCP.

The luxury car and the pis-tol with a valid licencebelonged to Yogesh with whomSimran met on the fateful day.Police said that they havebooked Yogesh under theappropriate sections of theArms Act.

From Page 1"We have wrapped up the

operations (raid) this after-noon as two of them (mili-tants), including a woman,were killed and another twowomen surrendered along withtwo minor children," an officialof the unit told PTI.

"The woman, in a burka,came outside with a child anddetonated the explosives tied toher waist," senior counterter-rorism officer Sanowar Hossaintold the media.

As police approached thebuilding after lobbing tear gasshells, they were fired upon andthen heard another explosionas the teenage boy holed upinside blew up his suicide vest.

A minor girl, who suf-fered minor injuries when thewoman killed herself, has beentaken to the hospital.

From Page 1Shivaji Maharaj had writ-

ten a new chapter in the histo-ry of India. Shivaji Maharajremained a torchbearer of goodgovernance. Shivaji Maharajwas a multifaceted personality,and so many aspects of his per-sonality inspire us," the PrimeMinister said. "His couragewas known, but there are somany more aspects of ShivajiMaharaj we must know about,such as his policies on waterand finance… I am happy thatI got an opportunity to launchthe Shivaji memorial pro-ject,"the Prime Minister said.

Though Shiv Sena presi-dent Uddhav Thackeray hadbeen invited to the function, itwas the ruling BJP that wasshow-casing the BJP-ledGovernment's achievements inthe State. So much so that whenUddhav addressed the gather-ing, his speech was drownedmany times by shouts of "Modi,Modi, Modi" by BJP support-ers who had turned out in largenumbers to the rally.

Ahead of the Shivajimemorial bhoomi puja, the BJPhad snatched the initiative byorganising a "rath yatra"of urnscontaining water from differentrivers of Maharashtra inMumbai. The water broughtfrom different rivers werepoured into the Arbian Sea bythe Prime Minister and otherdignitaries as part of the "JalPuja" performed to kick-startthe mid-sea Shivaji memorialproject.

To be developed in theArabian sea one kilometer offthe Marine Drive in southMumbai, the imposing 309 ftstatue is billed to be taller thanthe State of Liberty set up in theNew York harbour. It will be amajor tourist attraction in thecountry's commercial capital.

The Chhatrapati Shivaji

memorial premises will housea library, an amphitheatre, anaquarium, an IMAX theatre toshowcase short films on theMaratha warrior king, guestrooms and a helipad at the site.It will have replicas of theTuljabhavani Temple, theentrance arch of the RaigadFort, and forecourts modelledon the palaces and wadas, tra-ditional residential structures ofthe Maratha period.

The urban infrastructureprojects green lighted by PrimeMinister included, DN Nagar -Bandra- Mankhurd Metro 2BCorridor, Wadala-Ghatkopar-Thane- Kasarvadavli Metro 4Corridor, Mumbai TransHarbour Link connectingSouth Mumbai with NaviMumbai and Pune Expressway,and Mumbai Urban TransportProject III including procure-ment of new age suburbantrain rakes, quadrupling ofVirar-Dahanu stretch, new 28km corridor between Panvel -Karjat- Khopoli and other pro-jects.

In addition, the Railwaysalso exchanged MoUs withGovernment of Maharashtrafor the 48 km Bandra-VirarElevated Rail Corridor, CST-Panvel Elevated Rail Corridorand 70 km Vasai - Diva-Panvelsuburban corridor.

While MaharashtraGovernor CH Vidyasagar Rao,Maharashtra chief DevendraFadnavis, Union MinistersNitin Gadkari, M VenkaiahNaidu and Suresh Prabhu wereamong the prominent digni-taries present at the function.

Addressing the gathering,Railway Minister Prabhu saida New Year package has beengifted to Mumbaikars costingmore than 55,000 crore forimprovement of suburbaninfrastructure in the city ofMumbai.

From Page 1"Besides, a separate mobile

App for train enquiry, e-ticket-ing, parcel, unreserved ticketingetc and unification of all theApps on single platform willincrease convenience for theusers as well as improve popu-larity of the App. A single secu-rity App for women securityover the entire network ofIndian Railways can also help inimproving safety and security ofwomen," added the expert.

Through the digital plat-form, a virtual tour of RailwayStation will also be possiblenow since a host of facilities areavailable at major railway sta-tions which passengers or sta-tions users are not aware of.Passengers are often alsounaware of the location of

such facilities. An applicationto provide a virtual tour ofRailway Station can be helpfulin facilitating this informationto the passengers, officials said.

"The linkage of publictransport buses with the sched-ule of commuter trains can helpin saving time for public as theywill not be required to wait forthe train at the station. Thetiming of reaching of publictransport bus should be closeto the arrival of the train at thestation. It will help in reducingcrowds at the station waitingfor the train," said the official.Several other measures to makeuse of GIS and digital platformfor general passengers too arein the offing, he added.

In one of the biggest reliefsto train travellers, who had to

get down at railway stations tolodge complaints in case of anyuntoward incident or incidentof crime against passengersand their belongings, theRailways will provide a plat-form for online registration ofFIR over entire network ofIndian Railway for speedy ini-tiation of action by GRP.

A software solution toprovide location of theReservation Offices, alongwith directions, will also beprepared. "Railways haveReservation Offices at about3,500 locations across thecountry. The exact location ofthe Reservation Office is usu-ally not available to the pas-sengers. Such an initiativewould be helpful," said a rail-way official.

From Page 1I am confident that they will

continue to endure hardships inthe coming days as well. After50 days of demonetisation, thehardships of honest people willbegin to ease, while the diffi-culties of dishonest people willincrease".

"After the demonetisationannouncement decision, effortswere made by vested interests tomislead or scare them, rumourmills worked overtime, but peo-ple whom you call illiterateused their common sense andstood by the demonetisationdecision taken in the nationalinterest. So much so thatthrough their verdict in favourof the BJP in the recent munic-ipal council polls, the peopleof Maharashtra put their stampof approval on the demonetisa-tion decision and the messagewent people elsewhere the

country that the truth is on ourside and the country is headingin a right direction,"the PrimeMinister said.

Exhorting the wrong-doersto mend their ways, Modi said,"Even now I would like toadvise the dishonest people tomend their ways, follow the lawand rules and like others, leada life without worries. I inviteyou to do so. Let me assure you(wrong-doers), thisGovernment is not out todestroy you. Nor is thisGovernment out to hang you.But you have to pay to theGovernment whatever is duefrom you for your wrongdoings. You will not be sparedon that count".

Sending out a clear-cutmessage to black money hoard-ers and tax evaders, Modi said,amid thunderous applause andshouts of "Modi… Modi…

Modi": "If you still think thatyou can get using some meth-ods that you would use in thepast, you are sadly mistaken.You should know theGovernment has changed. Youshould also know that after agap 30 years, the people haveelected Government that has anabsolute majority. You have toalso know that the people haveelected a Government that iscommitted to removing cor-ruption and eradicating blackmoney. Our Government willtake our war against blackmoney and corruption to alogical conclusion".

"Some people were thinkingthey would have their blacknotes converted into white byluring the bank officials. Theseindividuals have not only failedin their attempt, but have alsolanded the bank officials con-cerned in trouble,” he said.

From Page 1In January 2004, Shri Atal

Bihari Vajpayee had laid thefoundation stone for the pro-jects which were part ofNorth-South and East-WestCorridors .

With the regime change inthe Centre in May 2004, con-struction of North-South andEast-West Corridors and sub-sequent phases of NHDP wascarried on by then UPAGovernment. However, themomentum built during theNDA Government was soonlost. NHDP was no more thePrime Minister’s dream projectand did not get high priorityfrom the UPA Government.Tardy implementation pace ofseveral projects under theNHDP was a common phe-nomenon. By the May 2014,the end of UPA Government,the Highway sector, which wasa vibrant sector under NDAGovernment, was saddled withmore 200 stalled projects and

more than 70 projects were lan-guishing. There was no receiptof bids for large numbers ofprojects while the bankers wereunwilling to fund highway pro-jects.

However, things againgained the speed after theNDA came to power in thewake of the decisive mandatein its favour during the May2014 general election. PrimeMinister Shri Narendra Moditook prompt initiatives tobring life back to the dying pro-jects, stuck in red tape andland acquisition logjam.

*Author was UnionMinister for Road Transport

& Highways during the years2000 to 2004 and Chief

Minister of Utttarkhand dur-ing years 2007 to 2009 &

2011 to 2012. He is current-ly Member of Parliament

(Lok Sabha) from Garhwalconstituency and Chairman

of Standing Committee onDefense.

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At a time when the skylineof Cambodia’s capital city

Phnom Penh is rapidly gettingcovered by Chinese-built sky-scrapers, India has paved wayfor itself in the country throughpublic diplomacy. Deepeningthe cultural roots, on the onehand the Archeological Surveyof India (ASI) is restoringHindu temples in Angkor Watand Ta Prohm, and on theother, the Indian Governmentis assisting the country throughQuick Impact Projects (QIP) inhealth, agriculture, skill devel-opment and sanitation-watersupply.

The Hindu temples ofAngkor Wat in Siem Reap weredestroyed during the civil warin Cambodia. But bravingminefields and adversities ASI’sbiggest restoration team is work-ing along with archeologistsfrom other countries. AngkorWat has almost 100 temples andthe main structure is dedicatedto Hindu God Vishnu.

India had undertaken thework at Angkor Wat at therequest of the CambodianGovernment from 1986-93under a bilateral agreement.India was the first country tooffer such an assistance in theimmediate aftermath followingthe removal of Khmer Rouge.

Costing at about $4 million,the project f inanced byMinistry of External Affairswas the largest ever undertak-en by India under its IndianTechnical and EconomicCooperation (ITEC) pro-grammme at that time.

"The pilgrimage route forShaivaites should start fromIndia and end here. 90 percent of the temples here are ofShiva including that of danc-ing Shiva. Hence the Shiva cir-cuit is incomplete without vis-iting Angkor Wat," saidIndologist ProfessorSachidanand Sahay, who nowlives in Cambodia. "OurBuddhist pilgrimage too islinked with India," added PanSorasak, Cambodian Ministerof Commerce.

A few kilometers awayfrom this is the famous TaProhm temple where ASI hascompleted phase two ofrestoration. The monumentthat once had Brahma temple,became more famous afterfeaturing in Angelina Joliestarrer Tomb Raider. ASI'swork has been highly appreci-ated by the InternationalCoordinating Committee forSafeguarding andDevelopment of the Historicsite of Angkor.

Apart from cultural con-nect, Indian government ishelping in projects relating to

Malaria and Tuberculosis con-trol and treatment. In agricul-ture sector, Indian experts areguiding Cambodia in improv-ing farm household income by`Promoting Rice Value Chain'for agricultural cooperatives,forestry and fisheries. Thisproject has been extendedgrant assistance of $50,000each for 2016-17 and 2016-17.

The private sector is alsomaking presence in Cambodia.The Aggarwal Eye Care Centre

and Appolo Hospital's servicecentres in Phnom Penh areprominent healthcare centres.Tata and Bajaj are already inCambodia. In fact, the newversions of the local Tuktuks(like three wheelers in India)are now made on Bajaj bikes.It is learnt that Bajaj is nowplanning to set up an assemblyline of three wheelers.

However, Cambodia wouldlike some more big investmentsfrom India for which it is offer-

ing tax free operations andremittances along with longterm easy business visas andother privileges. "Cambodiaattaches great importance toIndia role in the region. We seegreat potential in our relation-ship with India. Tourism, tradeand investments is one aspect,"said Dr Soeung Rathchavy, sec-retary of state, Ministry ofForeign Affairs of Cambodia.

As part of security coop-eration, Cambodian Army

officers train with Indian. Thetwo sides are now exploringthe possibility of training ofCambodian defence cadetswith that of India. Indiandefence teams impart trainingto the Cambodian Army andsecurity forces in deminingand detecting unexplodedordinances left behind the civilwar. India recently gave 15sniffer dogs to Cambodia todetect these ordinances.

"Cambodia is full of

opportunities for Indians.There is acute shortage ofteachers here and India canhelp is by providing vocation-al training to our people.Teachers from India too cancome to fill the gap in educa-tion system," the commerceminister added.

Indian food and culture ispopular. There are 15 Indianrestaurants in Phnom Penhand eight in Seim Reap, thenext big city of Cambodia.

Sorasak said religious tourismis one of the best way to pro-mote people to people contact."And we welcome Bollywooddirectors to shoot their filmshere," Sorasak said whileadding that Indian films andactor are very popular inCambodia. Be it spices, Indianfilms, temples or fight againstmalaria and tuberculosis -thanks to public diplomacythere is a bit of India in everyCambodian's life.

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Dense to very dense fogreturned at some places

over Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Chandigarh, Delhi, Rajasthanand Madhya Pradesh onSaturday while shallow to mod-erate fog occurred at isolatedplaces over Assam, Meghalaya,Jharkhand, Bihar, west UttarPradesh and Punjab, the MeTdepartment said. One personwas killed and 10 others wereinjured in a pile-up involvinga dozen vehicles on YamunaExpressway in Greater Noidadue to poor visibility as densefog disrupted air, rail and roadtraffic in northern part of thecountry even as minimumtemperature rose in the region.

Mainly clear skies pre-vailed in the National Capitaleven as dense fog was wit-nessed in early morning hoursaffecting the movement of railtraffic leading to delay inschedule of 84 trains andrescheduling of 37 others. Themaximum temperature in thecity was recorded at 24.5degrees Celsius, three notchesabove average, while the min-imum was pegged at 8 degrees,normal for this time of the year.

In Jammu & Kashmir, Lehrecorded 1.5 degrees Celsius, 6notches above the previousnight’s 8.2 degrees Celsius,even as mercury rose at many

places but the Valley continuedto reel under freezing temper-atures. Kokernag in southKashmir and Kupwara in northwere the coldest recordedplaces in the State last night atminus 4.8 degrees Celsius.Srinagar, the summer capital ofthe state, witnessed a low ofminus 4.4 degrees Celsius.

The MeT official said thereis possibility of light rain orsnowfall at isolated places overhigher reaches of KashmirValley over the next 24 hours.

Kashmir is currently underthe grip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ con-sidered the harshest period ofwinter, when the chances ofsnowfall are most frequent and

maximum and the temperaturedrops considerably. ‘Chillai-Kalan’, which, began onDecember 21, ends on January31 next year, but the cold wavecontinues even after that.

In Punjab and Haryana,road and rail traffic remain dis-rupted due to dense fog even asthe minimum temperature rosein the region. Narnaul inHaryana was the coldest placewith a low of 4.5 degreesCelsius, one notch below nor-mal. Hisar and Karnal bravedcold weather at 6.3 degreesCelsius and 6.2 degrees Celsius,respectively, while Ambala’sminimum was 9.3 degreesCelsius, three notches above

normal.Amritsar’s minimum was 8

degrees Celsius, five notchesabove normal while Ludhianaand Patiala recorded their min-imums at 5.3 degrees Celsiusand 7.4 degrees Celsius respec-tively. Chandigarh had a low of9.2 degree Celsius, threedegrees above normal.

In Rajasthan, winter inten-sified its grip with Sriganganagarreeling under 5.7 degrees Celsiuseven as dense fog affected roadand rail traffic.

Churu followedSriganganagar with a nighttemperature of 6.6 degreesCelsius. Sikar, Mount Abu,Alwar, Dabok recorded mini-

mum of 6, 7, 7.4 and 8.8degrees Celsius, respectively,while Pilani, Jaipur, Kota andJaisalmer registered minimumtemperature of 9.5, 10.4, 13.2and 13.8 degrees Celsius,according to the MeT depart-ment here.

The temperature in Biharrecorded an upward trend withmaximum and minimum reg-istering two degrees Celsiusabove normal at most places.The lowest minimum temper-ature in the state was recordedat 10 degrees Celsius in Sabourof Bhagalpur district. The max-imum temperature of Patnawas registered at 27.1 degreesCelsius and the minimumstood at 12.6 degrees Celsius.

The weatherman has pre-dicted light rain across Bihardue to western disturbances inthe next three-four days. InOdisha, its most parts reeledunder intense cold accompa-nied by chilly wind as theminimum temperature fellbelow 10 degrees Celsius in atleast 11 places with 4.3 degreesCelsius, Daringibadi inKandhamal district, being thecoldest place in the State.

The Odisha capitalBhubaneswar recorded a min-imum of 13.1 degrees Celsius.Cold wave conditions are like-ly to prevail for some moredays, according to MeT depart-ment officials.

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As Prime Minister NarendraModi’s 50-day demoneti-

sation drive ends next week, an‘united’ Opposition, led by theCongress, plans to take on theModi Government over aplethora of issues ranging fromthe hardships to the masses dueto the demonetisation move,charges of corruption againstthe PM besides the process ofappointments to key top-levelposts in the Government likethat of the Army chief andCBI’s interim Director.

The move is seen as a bidby the Congress to restore theOpposition unity that shat-tered after Congress vice-pres-ident Rahul Gandhi led aCongress delegation to meetModi over UP farmers’ issue.Efforts are now on by theCongress managers to ensurearch-rivals Left and theTrinamool Congress share thesame Opposition platform.

With Congress and theLeft staying away from WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee-led march to the

President’s House againstdemonetisation, it remains tobe seen if it agrees to join handsthis time around, especially,when the Left too is beingwooed to join in.

Congress president SoniaGandhi has invited Oppositionparties for a joint Press con-ference to attack the ModiGovernment over range ofissues particularly demoneti-sation, “subversion” of institu-tions. The charges of allegedcorruption against the PM toocould be raised, sources said.

AICC sources said thatAhmed Patel, Sonia’s politicalsecretary, called up leaders ofthe Left parties, JD(U), RJD,JD(S) and NCP. The plan is tobring together all theOpposition leaders and put aunited Opposition face. Leaderof Opposition in Rajya Sabha

Ghulam Nabi Azad has alsocalled on some Oppositionleaders about the joint presseron December 27.

Apart from demonetisa-tion, the Congress and otherparties recently criticised theCentre’s move to announce LtGen Bipin Rawat as the nextArmy chief, superseding twoseniors. Opposition parties hadearlier slammed theGovernment for “taking over”some institutions. TheGovernment’s decision toappoint an interim CBIDirector has also been criti-cised by the Opposition.

While the erstwhile UPAallies RJD, NCP, DMK andNational Conference arebelieved to have confirmedabout their participation, thoseyet to confirm are JD (U), SP,BSP and TMC.

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In order to facilitate hassle-free travel to air passengers,

CISF would not carry stampingof baggage at seven airportsincluding Patna, Lucknow andJaipur from Monday on trialbasis. The decision follows theweek-long pilot project at air-ports in metros like Delhi,Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkatabesides mega cities likeHyderabad and Bengaluru thatended last Thursday.

“The decision to do awaywith stamping of baggage fromDecember 26 at seven airports— Patna, Guwahati, Nagpur,Kochi, Jaipur, Lucknow andThiruvananthapuram — hasbeen taken on a trial basis tostudy how much time is savedby doing this,” CISF DirectorGeneral O P Singh said.

He said study highlightedthat doing away with baggagestamping saved 20-25 secondper passenger in Mumbai and

10-15 second every passengerin Kolkata. Established in 1969,CISF is providing security cov-erage to 59 airports across thecountry at present.

“After studying the out-come of the trial of doingwithout stamping of baggage,the CISF would take a decisionby January 26 next if it could bemade a permanent feature at allthe airports,” the CISF DG

said.Singh said that as part of

technology upgradation, theCISF has conducted full bodyscan of 10,000 passengers whovolunteered for it on a machineimported from the US. “Nowwe have put up a full bodyscanner machine of Germanyto studythe efficacy of the twokinds of machines,” the DGsaid, adding after studying the

results it would be utilised inother airports of the country.

Accompanied by InspectorGeneral of CISF, Easternregion, Neeta Singh and DIG AN Singh, the DG said Uniongovernment has taken a deci-sion to enhance its manpowerstrength to 1.80 lakh from 1.45lakh at present.

“Two new CISF battalionswould be constituted out of this

enhanced manpower whichwould be raised in two yearstime,” he said.

The CISF is entrusted withsecurity job of 59 airportsand329 other units including majorpublic sector organisations andprivate concerns like INFOSYS.“We have been approached forproviding security cover toBenaras Hindu University(BHU) and Reliance Industrywhich we are considering,”Singh, who earlier headedNDRF, said.

The CISF DG said Rs 80crore was seized by its person-nel at different airports duringthe demonetisation drive out ofwhich Rs 1.2 crore was inPatna airport. About expansionprogrammes, the DG saidbouyed by consultancy ser-vice provided by CISF atBhopal jail after 8 prisoners hadfled, the Madhya Pradesh gov-ernment has given CISF con-sultancy job at Ujjain, Jabalpurand Gwalior.

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Atotal of �2.60 crore cashand 95 kg of gold and sil-

ver has been seized and fourpersons arrested by the DRI inconnection with its probe intoalleged diversion of duty freegold worth about �140 crore,imported under a special con-cession scheme, by a firm oper-ating from a Noida-based SEZ.

The sleuths of Directorateof Revenue Intelligence’s (DRI)Lucknow zonal unit carried outthe searches for two days on thepremises of M/s Shri Lal MahalLimited and the residences ofcompany officials as part of itsanti-black money operationsafter demonetisation, theagency said in a statement.

Four people associatedwith the firm were arrested lateevening after questioning, aDRI official said.

“It is found that the unithas illegally diverted and sold430 kg (valued at about �140crore) of duty free gold in themarket.

“Cash amounting to �2.60crore (�2.48 crore in old cur-rency notes and �12 lakh innew notes) has been seized.

“Unaccounted 80 kg of sil-ver found in the factory hasalso been recovered. Further, 15kg of gold jewellery has beenseized from the premises of thefirm,” the statement added.

The DRI alleged that thefirm had also “transferred huge

amount of money throughRTGS (funds transfer throughbanking channels) to a firmoperating from their premisesto purchase gold coins or barsof 24kg after November 8 (theday �1000/�500 were demon-etised) from MMTC, India'slargest public sector tradingbody, also to sell in the marketfor old demonetised currency”.

Earlier, the agency hadsaid that directors of the firmwere either admitted in hospi-tal or avoiding investigations, asa result two persons had beendetained for questioning.

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Shareholders of TataChemicals have voted out

Nusli Wadia as an indepen-dent director of the compa-ny with 75.67 per cent votesgoing in favour of a resolu-tion moved by Tata Sons toremove him at the company’sEGM on Friday.

According to a regulato-ry filing by Tata Chemicals,out of the total of 25.48 croreshares of the company, 14.91crore shares were voted. Outof this, 11.28 crore were in

favour of the resolution toremove him. The companysaid 3 .62 crore votes ,accounting for 24.33 per centof votes polled, were againsthis removal.

Tata Chemicals also saidthe shareholders haveapproved a resolution toappoint Bhaskar Bhat as adirector of the company with79.26 per cent of votes goingin his favour.

It further said the share-holders have also approvedthe appointment of SPadmanabhan as director ofthe company with 89.29 percent voting in favour of a res-olution for his appointment.

Tata Chemicals had lastmonth issued notice for anextraordinary general meet-ing of the company's share-holders to discuss a resolu-

tion moved by Tata Sons toremove Cyrus Mistry, oustedchairman of Tata Sons, andWadia as directors. Mistryresigned from listed Tatafirms ahead of EGMs.

Wadia, who has been anindependent director at TataChemicals for 35 years, hasalready f i led a criminaldefamation suit against TataSons, its interim chairmanRatan Tata and some direc-tors for alleged ‘defamatoryand offending’ contents in aspecial resolution moved toseek his removal from threeTata Group firms.

He has denied allega-tions that he was galvanisingIndependent Directors andmobilising opinion, forcingdisruptions and issuing state-ment which is contrary to theinterests of the company.

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The CBDT has askedIncome Tax department

officials to ‘avoid’ discussingofficial decisions on socialmedia platforms like Twitter,Facebook and others. A direc-tive in this regard has beenissued by the Central Boardof Direct Taxes, the policy-making body of the taxdepartment, to all regionalheads of the organisation inthe country for being circu-lated to the officials.

“It has been noticed thatsome officers of the depart-ment are frequently discussingofficial decisions, includingminutes of in-camera meetingson social media platforms likeWhatsapp, Twitter, Facebookand others. Such discussion orcirculation of official materi-al without authorisation ofthe Competent Authority is tobe avoided.

“It is reiterated that spe-cific officers are authorised forposting information on thesesocial media platforms on

behalf of the Income Taxdepartment. Unauthorised orunofficial circulation of min-utes of meetings, official dis-cussions of any kind on socialmedia must be avoided at allcosts,” CBDT Chairman SushilChandra wrote to his region-al chiefs recently.

Officials said the CBDThad come across variousinstances in this regard in thepast and hence had issued thelatest directive. The letter alsoquotes service rules, Rule 11 ofthe Central Civil ServicesConduct Rules, 1964, in thiscontext. “Provided that no gov-

ernment servant shall, except inaccordance with any general orspecial order of the Governmentor in performance in good faithof the duties assigned to him,communicate directly or indi-rectly, any official document orany part thereof or classifiedinformation to any Governmentservant or any other person towhom he is not authorised tocommunicate such document orclassified information.” Thedepartment has an official han-dle on micro-blogging siteTwitter- ‘@IncomeTaxIndia’--where it issues official infor-mation to the public.

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Lamenting that the contri-bution of tax from those

who make money on the mar-kets had been low and tosome extent, it might be dueto illegal activities and fraud,Prime Minister on Saturdayasked the Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi) to be extremely vigilantin its approach towards suchtax evaders. The PrimeMinister also exhorted thosemaking profit from financialmarkets to make a fair con-tribution to nation-buildingthrough taxes.

Speaking after inaugu-rating the new campus of theNational Institute of SecuritiesMarket (NISM) at Patalganganear Mumbai on Friday, Modisaid, “Those who generateprofit from financial marketsmust make a fair contributionto nation-building throughtaxes. For various reasons,the contribution of tax fromthose who make money on the

markets has been low. Tosome extent, it may be due toillegal activities and fraud.To stop this, the Sebi has to beextremely vigilant.”

Elaborating on the issue,the Prime Minister said, “Tosome extent, the low contri-bution of taxes may also bedue to the structure of our taxlaws. Low or zero tax rate isgiven to certain types of finan-cial income. I call upon you tothink about the contributionof market participants to theexchequer. We should con-sider methods for increasingit in a fair, efficient and trans-parent manner.”

“Earlier, there was a feel-ing that some investors weregetting an unfair deal byusing certain tax treaties. Asyou know, those treaties havebeen amended by thisGovernment. Now, it is timeto re-think and come up witha good design which is sim-ple and transparent, but alsofair and progressive,” he said.

Announcing the

Government’s plans toadvance the date of budgetfrom this year, the PrimeMinister also said, “I knowthat financial markets attacha lot of importance to the bud-get. The budget cycle has aneffect on the real economy. Inour existing budget calendar,the authorisation of expendi-ture comes with the onset ofthe monsoon.

The Government pro-grammes are not active in theproductive pre-monsoonmonths. Hence, this year, weare advancing the date of thebudget so that expenditure isauthorised by the time thenew financial year begins.This will improve productiv-ity and output.”

“My aim is to make Indiaa developed country in onegeneration. India cannotbecome a developed countrywithout world class securitiesand commodity markets.Therefore, I look forward to agrowing contribution fromall of you in making the finan-

cial markets more relevant tothis new era,” Modi said, whilecautioning that financial mar-kets can also damage, if notproperly regulated. Statingthat India had earned a good

name for its well-regulatedsecurities markets, Modi fur-ther added, “The spreading ofelectronic means of tradingand the use of depositorieshave made our markets more

transparent. The Sebi as aninstitution can also take pridein this.”

Stressing upon the needfor our markets to raise capi-tal to finance projects bene-fiting vast majority of popu-lation, the Prime Ministeralso urged the f inancialexperts gathered at the eventto find ways to enable the cap-ital markets to provide longterm capital for infrastructure.

“Today, most of our infra-structure projects are financedby the Government orthrough banks. The use ofcapital markets for financinginfrastructure is rare. Forinfrastructure projects to beviable, it is very important thatthe borrowing should be oflong duration,” he said.

The Prime Minister saidthat the country’s commoditymarkets must become usefulto our farmers, not just remainavenues for speculation.“Unless and until we make thecommodity markets directlyuseful to farmers, they are just

a costly ornament in our econ-omy, not a useful tool, addingthat the SEBI should work forcloser linkage between spotmarkets like e-NAM andderivatives markets to benefitfarmers,” he averred.

Listing out the measurestaken by the Government instabilising the economy andputting it on the growth tra-jectory, Modi said theGovernment has been suc-cessful in cutting down the fis-cal deficit as well currentaccount deficit, increasingpublic investment and improv-ing the ease of doing business.

“We will not shy awayfrom taking difficult deci-sions, if those decisions are inthe interest of the country.Demonetisation is an exam-ple. It has short term pain butwill bring long term gain,” hesaid. Finance Minister ArunJaitley, in his address, alsosaid that demonetisation hadbrought in more funds in thebanking system by convertinga large sum of informal sav-

ings into formal savings.“As the economy contin-

ues to mature and strengthen,the incentive for ordinarycitizens to channelise theirsavings into organised mar-kets would grow,” he said.Jaitley also expressed satis-faction over the progress ofdeliberated democracyinvolving dialogue with statesover implementation of GST.He complimented Sebi forits initiative in spreadingfinancial literacy and hopedthat the new NISM campuswould help expand its out-reach activities.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnavispromised all cooperation to theSebi in converting the NISMinto a University. Establishedby Sebi, NISM is engaged incapacity building amongstakeholders in the securitiesmarkets through financial lit-eracy, professional education,certification, enhancing gov-ernance standards and foster-ing policy research.

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PATALGANGA (MAHA): Sebichairman UK Sinha on Saturdaysaid it will apply for a private uni-versity status for the NationalInstitute of Securities Markets(NISM), which is an initiative tocreate a cadre of trained marketprofessionals. The proposal canbe taken up by the state(Maharashtra) Government inthe budget session of the assem-bly, he added.

Prime Minister NarendraModi inaugurated the new NISMcampus at Patalganga, Raigaddistrict, near Mumbai.Speaking at the inauguration,Sinha said, “going forward, theintention is to take help of thestate (Maharashtra) Governmentand to create a private universi-ty here.” Responding to the pro-posal, Maharashtra chief minis-ter Devendra Fadnavis said,“Sebi wants to transform theNISM into a university and I

want to tell the Sebi chief that ifwe closely work together wecan pass this law in the budgetsession of the state assembly.”

So far, the institute was oper-ating from its campus at Vashi inNavi Mumbai. The new campuswas established as the Vashifacility turned to be inadequateto meet its growing require-ments. The 70-acre new campusin the industrial township ofPatalganga, where RelianceIndustries has a large facility, hasa potential to accommodate5,000 students and the Sebi hasinvested over Rs 400 crore inbuilding the institute.

At present, the campus canaccommodate about 1,000 resi-dential participants in varioustraining programmes. It willhelp NISM widen its activitiesand also cater to the growingdemand for qualified securitiesmarket professionals. PTI

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NEW DELHI: Niti Aayog’s healthindex will rank states on the basisof their performance on ‘measur-able’ indicators likeinfant mortal-ity rate, sex ratio at birth and func-tional 24x7 public health centres.

“The maximum weightage isawarded to measurable outcomes(in ranking states on the basis oftheir performance) since theseremain the focus of achievement,”according to the ‘Health Book’released by the Government thinktank on Saturday. The Aayog onFriday launched the 'Performanceon Health Outcomes' indexwhich will be used to propelaction in the states to improvehealth outcomes and improvedata collection systems.

“A composite index would becalculated which focuses on mea-suring the 'level' of health statusof each State (calculated as aweighted average of the variousindicators). The change in theindex from the base year to a ref-erence year, and in each subse-quent year, will be the measure ofincremental improvement of eachstate, relative to its own baselineperformance,” the NITI Aayog'sHealth Book said. States/UTs

will be ranked in categories toensure comparison among sim-ilar entities.

According to the HandBook, indicators have been select-ed based on their periodic avail-ability through existing datasources such as the SampleRegistration System (SRS), CivilRegistration System (CRS) andHealth Management InformationSystems (HMIS). A decision oninclusion of all indicators for cal-culation of the composite indexwill be taken on the basis of nalvalidation and analysis of data, it

said. NITI Aayog is developing aweb portal that will provide a pre-designed format for states toprovide the data on the indicators.This will then be verified by anindependent third party agencyand then an index for all the Stateswill be published. “It is anticipat-ed that this health index will assistin state level monitoring of per-formance, serve as an input forproviding performance basedincentives and improvement inhealth outcomes, thereby alsomeeting the citizens’ expecta-tions,” the Health Book said.

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NEW DELHI: Assertingthat promoting digital pay-ment is an integral part ofthe Government’s overallstrategy to weed out blackmoney and corruption, theNITI Aayog on Saturdaysaid the Government willlaunch awards under theLucky Grahak Yojana andDigi-Dhan Vyapar Yojana in100 cities from today which

will be spread over 100days.

The first draw of theLucky Grahak Yojana willoffer a cashback of �1,000 to15,000 consumers every dayfor the next 100 days andwil l be launched onDecember 25, 2016 in NewDelhi, the Government’spremier think-tank said ina statement. PTI

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The DRI has seized �2.60crore cash, including �12

lakh in new notes, and 95kgof gold and silver in connec-tion with its probe intoalleged diversion of duty freegold worth about �140 crore,imported under a specialconcession scheme, by a firmoperating from a Noida-based SEZ.

Sleuths of the Directorateof Revenue Intelligence'szonal unit in Lucknow car-ried out the searches for twodays on the premises of M/sShri Lal Mahal Limited andthe residences of companyofficials as part of its anti-black money operations afterdemonetisation, the agencysaid in a statement.

“It is found that the unithas illegally diverted andsold 430 kg (valued at about�140 crore) of duty free goldin the market . “Cashamounting to �2.60 crore(�2.48 crore in old currency

notes and �12 lakh in newnotes) has been seized.Unaccounted 80 kg of silverfound in the factory has alsobeen recovered. Further,15kg of gold jewellery hasbeen seized from the premis-es of the firm,” the statementadded.

The DRI alleged that thefirm had also “transferredhuge amount of moneythrough RTGS (funds trans-fer through banking chan-nels) to one firm operatingfrom their premises to pur-chase gold coins or bars of24kg after November 8 (theday �1000/�500 weredemonetised) from MMTC,India’s largest public sectortrading body, also to selltheir as well as this gold inthe market in lieu of olddemonetised currency.”

The agency said, “Whiledirectors of the firm areeither admitted in hospital oravoiding investigations, twopersons have been detainedfor questioning.”

�;+���5���2#A����������!�B��)������!����������� ����������,:CNEW DELHI: In a bid to raise

awareness about online safe-ty, Google India has part-nered Ministry of ConsumerAffairs for rolling out anationwide ‘Digitally SafeConsumer’ campaign.

Google, along withDepartment of ConsumerAffairs, will undertake a year-long campaign focussed onbuilding capacities of consumerorganisations, personnel ofConsumer Affairs departmentand counsellors of NationalConsumer Helpline on Internetsafety and related issues.

“With the rapid increase indigitisation across all spheres,the message of internet safetyneeds to be integrated into theeveryday tasks that the con-sumer undertakes online,”Google India Country head(Public Policy) ChetanKrishnaswamy said in a state-ment.

This initiative will add toGoogle's existing campaignsguiding users to navigate theweb and manage their digitallives safely and leverage the webto the fullest, he added. PTI

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NEW DELHI: The Consumer Ministry,both at the central as well as state level,is the most ‘neglected’ despite mandateto take care of 123 crore consumers,Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswansaid on Saturday.

Expressing concern about vacantposts and lack of infrastructure at state anddistrict consumer courts, the ConsumerAffairs Minister appreciated their effortsin disposing of 41 lakh cases in the last 30years despite poor facilities. Paswan urgedthe state governments to provide adequatefacilities for smooth functioning of thesecourts as there is expected to be a ‘flood’

cases after the new Consumer ProtectionBill gets passed in Parliament. The gov-ernment has made sweeping changes inthe bill to protect consumer rights.

“I had told the Prime Minister in thefirst meeting that we have 123 crore pop-ulation and all are consumers, but theDepartment has been most neglected, beit at Centre or state level,” Paswan saidat an event organised to celebrate theNational Consumer Day here. It is com-mendable that the consumer courtshave been able to dispose of 41 lakh casessince the 1986 when the ConsumerProtection law was enacted, he said. PTI

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NEW DELHI: Private sector YesBank on Saturday said it has raised�3,000 crore from bonds to fundbusiness expansion. With this cap-ital raising, the bank’s Tier-I CR will

be at 12 per cent including profitsand adjusted for pro-rata dividends,Yes Bank said. The Basel-III com-pliant additional Tier-1 Bonds willbe listed on the BSE and its proceeds

will qualify for Basel III Tier-ICapital. The bonds, carrying acoupon rate of 9.50 per cent, wit-nessed participation from insurancecompanies. PTI

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Taliban insurgents attackeda checkpoint in western

Afghanistan early Saturday,killing at least three police andwounding four others, offi-cials said.

Toryalai Abdyani, thepolice chief of Farah province,said the attackers killed thethree police and escaped withweapons and ammunitiontaken from the checkpoint.Another police official, who

spoke on condition ofanonymity because he was notauthorized to brief reporters,said 11 police were killed.

Taliban spokesman QariYusouf Ahmadi claimed theattack.

In the capital, meanwhile,two gunmen on a motorbikeopened fire at the home of aformer Taliban leader lateFriday, killing a security guard,said Fraidoon Obaidi, the headof the Kabul police’s criminalinvestigation department.

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US President Barack Obamahas signed into law the

$618 billion defence budget for2017, which enhances securi-ty cooperation with India andconditions nearly half of thefunding to Pakistan on a cer-tification that it is takingdemonstrable steps against theHaqqani Network.

Currently vacationing inHawaii, Obama on Fridaysigned the National DefenceAuthorisation Act (NDAA)2017, which asks defence sec-retary and secretary of state totake steps necessary to recog-nise India as America’s “majordefence partner”.

A summary of the billreleased by chairman of theSenate Armed ServicesCommittee Senator JohnMcCain said NDAA-2017“enhances security coopera-

tion” between the US andIndia.

It also asks the adminis-tration to designate an indi-vidual within the executivebranch who has experience indefence acquisition and tech-nology to reinforce and ensure,through inter-agency policycoordination, the success of theFramework for the US-IndiaDefence Relationship; and to

help resolve remaining issuesimpeding US-India defencetrade, security cooperation,and co-production and co-development opportunities.

The NDAA, which amongother things creates a USD 1.2billion Counter-ISIL Fund,imposes four conditions onPakistan to be eligible for$400 million of the $900 mil-lion of the coalition supportfund (CSF).

The US defence secretaryneeds to certify to theCongress that Pakistan con-tinues to conduct militaryoperations that are contribut-ing to significantly disruptingthe safe haven and freedom ofmovement of the HaqqaniNetwork in Pakistan and thatIslamabad has taken steps todemonstrate its commitmentto prevent the HaqqaniNetwork from using any of itsterritory as a safe haven.

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ATV journalist has beenarrested in Bangladesh for

allegedly “fomenting unrest”during a widespread protest bygarment factory employees whowere demanding a pay hike,police said on Saturday.

Ekushey Television’s SavarCorrespondent Nazmul Hudawas detained from Ashulia’sBaipail area on Saturday the basisof definite proof, a senior policeofficer Mohsinul Kadir said.

Huda, who is also the localcorrespondent of Bangla daily‘Bangladesh Pratidin’, wasbooked for “fomenting unrest”among agitating workers atreadymade garment factories inAshulia, bdnews24.Com report-ed. “Under the orders of higherauthorities, he was taken intocustody by Detective Police for

questioning,” the police officersaid.

A case was filed by policeagainst Huda under theInformation andCommunication Technology(ICT) Act yesterday.

“The case alleges the suspectspread false and provocativenews through television, themedia and several Facebookaccounts,” the officer said.Meanwhile, the arrested jour-nalist’s brother said Huda wasinnocent and that he has beenframed. “My brother has beenframed. He reports the news, likeeveryone else,” said Huda’s broth-er Kamruzzaman.

Police have also confiscatedHuda’s mobile phone, laptopand car. So far, at least 20 peo-ple have been arrested by thepolice in connection with theAshulia garment workers’ unrest.

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Tunisia arrested the nephewof the suspected Berlin

truck attacker and two otherjihadist suspects who are “con-nected” to the Tunisianassailant Anis Amri, the inte-rior ministry said on Saturday.

A statement said the threesuspects, aged between 18 and27, were arrested yesterdayand were members of a “ter-rorist cell... Connected to the

terrorist Anis Amri”.It made no direct link

between the suspects andMonday’s deadly attack on aBerlin Christmas market.

The interior ministry saidthat Amri had sent money tohis nephew and encouragedhim to pledge allegiance to theIslamic State group.

“One of the members ofthe cell is the son of the sisterof the terrorist (Amri) andduring the investigation he

admitted that he was in contactwith his uncle through (themessaging service) Telegram,”it said. Amri allegedly urged hisnephew to adopt jihadist “tak-firi” ideology “and asked himto pledge allegiance to Daesh(IS),” it said.

The nephew also toldinvestigators that Amri “senthim money through the post...So that he could join him inGermany,” the statementadded.

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Israel lashed out at USPresident Barack Obama over

a UN Security Council resolu-tion passed on Friday demand-ing it halt settlements inPalestinian territory, while vow-ing it would not abide by it.

“Israel rejects this shamefulanti-Israel resolution at the UNand will not abide by its terms,”a statement from PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahu’soffice said.

“The Obama administra-tion not only failed to protectIsrael against this gang-up at theUN, it colluded with it behindthe scenes,” it said.

“Israel looks forward toworking with President-elect(Donald) Trump and with allour friends in Congress,Republicans and Democratsalike, to negate the harmfuleffects of this absurd resolu-tion.”

In a rare and momentous

step, the United States abstainedfrom yesterday’s vote, enablingthe adoption of the first UN res-olution since 1979 to condemnIsrael over its settlement policy.

The text was passed withsupport from all remainingmembers of the 15-membercouncil.

The landmark move by theSecurity Council came despiteintense lobbying efforts byIsrael and Trump to block theresolution.

But the Obama adminis-tration has grown increasinglyfrustrated with settlementbuilding in the West Bank,which Israel has occupied fornearly 50 years.

There have been growingwarnings that settlement build-ing is fast eroding the possibil-ity of a two-state solution to theIsraeli-Palestinian conflict.

They are constructed onland the Palestinians view aspart of their future state andhave long been seen as illegal

under international law.The United States has tra-

ditionally served as Israel’sdiplomatic shield, protecting itfrom resolutions it opposes.

But there had been mount-ing speculation that Obamawould allow such a resolutionto pass before he leaves office onJanuary 20.

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British Prime Minister TheresaMay on Saturday called for

post-Brexit unity in her annualChristmas message and saidBritain must seize its historicopportunity and move forwardinto the furute.

In the year that saw the UKvote by 52 per cent to 48 per centto leave the European Union(EU) in a referendum in June,May said it marked a “historicopportunity” to forge “a boldnew role” for the UK.

“As we leave the EuropeanUnion we must seize an historicopportunity to forge a bold newrole for ourselves in the worldand to unite our country as wemove forward into the future,”she said in her message releasedby Downing Street.

“And, with our internation-al partners, we must worktogether to promote trade,increase prosperity and face thechallenges to peace and securi-ty around the world,” she said.

The Prime Minister saidthere had been much to celebratein 2016 — with the Queen’s 90thbirthday and British successes inthe Olympics and Paralympics.

“These are preciousmoments when people frommany backgrounds, with differ-ent beliefs, come together to cel-ebrate with families and com-munities. We also think ofChristians in other parts of theworld who face persecution thisChristmas and re-affirm ourdetermination to stand up forthe freedom of people of all reli-gions to practise their beliefs inpeace and safety,” she said.

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Federal authorities havewarned local law enforce-

ment authorities across thenation that ISIS sympathisersare continuing to call forattacks on churches and otherholiday gathering sites.

The warning was issued onFriday after a publicly availablelist of US churches was posted ona militants’ social media site.

It also came just days afteran attack at a Christmas mar-

ket in Berlin. Islamic Statemilitants claimed responsibil-ity for Monday’s attack inwhich a truck plowed into theholiday market, killing 12 peo-ple and injuring 56.

“As part of the continuousdialogue with our law enforce-ment partners, the FBI rou-tinely shares information aboutpotential threats to betterenable law enforcement to pro-tect the communities theyserve,” FBI spokesman AndrewAmes said.

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Ahigh-level commission thatoversees Iran’s nuclear deal

with world powers will meet inVienna on January 10 toaddress a complaint by Tehranabout the renewing of sanc-tions by the United States.

The meeting was calledtoday by the European Union’sforeign policy chief FedericaMogherini, who coordinatesfollow-up of the nuclear dealfor its signatories — Iran, theUS, Britain, China, France,Germany and Russia.

“The meeting will reviewthe implementation of theagreement and discuss theissues raised in the letter(Iranian) Foreign Minister Zarifaddressed on 16 December to(Mogherini),” a short statementfrom the EU said.

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Syrian state TV says an explo-sion rocked eastern Aleppo

as some residents were return-ing to their homes after theGovernment assumed full con-trol of the city earlier thisweek.

It says the explosion todaywas caused by a device leftinside a school by Syrian rebels,who withdrew from their lastremaining enclave under acease-fire deal after more thanfour years of fighting.

A correspondent forLebanon’s Hezbollah-run Al-Manar TV was reporting livefrom the area when the blastsounded in the background,sending a huge cloud of dustinto the air.

The correspondent latersaid that at least three peoplewere killed.

The rebel pullout fromAleppo, which was complet-ed on Thursday, marksPresident Bashar Assad’sgreatest victory since the con-flict began in 2011.

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An 11-year-old boy has suedthe office of President

Mamnoon Hussain for stealinghis speech which he had pre-pared to deliver on an event tocelebrate the birth anniversary ofPakistan’s founder MA Jinnah.

The six-grader, MuhammadSabeel Haider, through his fatherNaseem Abbas Nasir, appro-ached the Islamabad High Court,filing a petition against the pres-idency for “stealing” the text ofhis speech and giving it to some-one else without his consent.

Justice Aamer Farooq yes-terday reserved the verdict on themaintainability of the youngorator’s petition, The ExpressTribune reported.

Haider has made the secre-tary to the President, addition-al secretary at the President’sSecretariat, director colleges ofthe Directorate of Education,Pakistan Electronic MediaRegulatory Authority (PEMRA),the managing director of thePakistan Television, and oneAyesha Ishtiaq through the prin-cipal of Islamabad College forGirls as respondents in the case.

Washington: A Democraticlawmaker, who is set to becomethe new face of the party in post-election debacle, has pledged tohighlight the persecution ofHindus in South Asia and domore to integrate the concernsand aspirations of the commu-nity in India into his work.

Congressman Keith Ellison,a top candidate for theDemocratic NationalCommittee chairman, made thecommitment in a letter to theHindu American Foundationdays after he participated in aconference call with Hindu lead-ers from across the country tolisten to their concerns andanswer their questions. PTI

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Karnataka had two Gen-Next super-stars of Indian cricket but a TamilNadu pace attack, with a cumulative

experience of 35 matches, did the star turnto script a stunning seven-wicket victoryinside two days in the Ranji Trophy quar-ter-final here on Saturday.

After 14 wickets tumbled on the firstday, the second was no better with as manyas 19 dismissals falling by the wayside.

Starting the day at 111 for 4, TamilNadu were bowled out for 152, taking alead of 64 runs. Karnataka were no betterin their second essay as they were again allout for 150 with seamers Aswin Crist(1/50), Thangarasu Natarajan (3/40) andKrishnamoorthy Vignesh (4/53) sharingthe spoils. While Rahul showed his classwith a polished 77 with 13 boundaries, MKaunian Abbas' 15 being the secondhighest score showed the plight ofKarnataka batting.

A target of 87 was achieved in 19.3overs with Dinesh Karthik, playing his100th Ranji Trophy game, smashing 41 off30 balls with five fours and two sixes.

Knowing well that survival on thisseaming track is a difficult propositionwith Tamil Nadu in trouble at 35 for 3,Karthik let Baba Indrajith hold one end upas he decided to take on the attack to theopposition camp and added the required52 runs in 10 overs. He was severe on leg-gie Shreyash Gopal, clobbering him for 24in 2.3 overs.

Add his contribution of 31 in the firstinnings, and Karthik is by far TamilNadu's most significant contributor in thisvictory.

It was a match in which the TamilNadu side, which has now learnt to livewithout Ravichandran Ashwin and MuraliVijay, outbowled a team comprising KLRahul and Karun Nair, who have been run-machines in domestic cricket.

On a green-top that once againexposed poor technique and applicationof domestic batsmen, 33 wickets fell withonly 148.2 overs of play yielding a result.

One can attribute the abject surrenderto green-top or poor application, but it wasonce again evident that India's regulardomestic batsmen find it difficult to playon bowling friendly tracks.

That Rahul was a cut above rest wasevident in the manner he handled TamilNadu's first innings hero Crist along with

Vignesh and Natarajan.When Rahul finally edged one to

Karthik off Natarajan's bowling, he was theeighth Karnataka batsman to get out fora score of 130.

For Karnataka, the biggest disap-pointment was India internationals ManishPandey, Stuart Binny and CM Gautham,who failed to score a single run.

Chennai Test triple centurion Karuncame to bat as down as No 8, hit a coupleof boundaries in his 12 before edgingVignesh to Karthik.

In the morning, Tamil Nadu losttheir last six wickets for addition of 40 runsto be all out for 152.

�� ��%#�+���� ��������8�8������������Tanmay Agarwal (63 not out)and skipper S Badrinath (56) struckhalf-centuries each to take Hyderabadto 167 for three, still 128 runs adrift ofMumbai's 294, at stumps on day two oftheir Ranji Trophy quarterfinal clashhere on Saturday.

Tanmay and Badrinath rescuedHyderabad by adding 105 runs together forthe third wicket after they were reducedto 30 for two at one stage with AbhishekNayar (3/26) striking twice.

Nayar added another wicket to hiskitty when he saw off Badrinath for a wellmade 56 off 137 deliveries, which was stud-

ded with nine boundaries and a six.New batsman BP Sandeep played out

64 balls to remain unbeaten on 10.At the close of play, Sandeep was giv-

ing company to Tanmay, whose unbeaten63 came from 223 balls that included sevenhits to the fence.

Earlier, Mumbai resumed on 250 forfive but could add just 44 more runs to theovernight total, losing five wickets in theprocess. Siddesh Lad, unbeaten on 101overnight, added another nine runs to hispersonal score before getting out on 110,while Nayar added 13 before being dis-missed for 59.

Hyderabad left-arm pacer ChamaMilind finished with impressive figures offive for 80, his second successive five-wick-et haul, while Mohammad Siraj (4/64) tookfour wickets.

�����#��''������5$����������� Virat Singh (81) and IshankJaggi (77) slammed unbeaten fifties asJharkhand reached 228-3 in their secondinnings after dismissing Haryana for 258on the second day of the Ranji Trophyquarterfinal match here on Saturday.

Virat blasted 10 boundaries and a sixin his 240-ball innings, while Jaggi hit 11fours in his 149-ball stay at the Moti BaghStadium here. At stumps, Jharkhand weretrailing by 30 runs with seven wickets inhand with two more days to go.

For Haryana, Harshal Patel (1/24),Yuzvendra Chahal (1/67) and Amit Mishra(1/62) were among wickets.

Resuming at 251-7, Haryana's firstinnings folded for 258 in 95.3 overs withS Nadeem returning with a seven-wickethaul, which included the wickets ofovernight batsmen Sanjay Pahal (39) andHarshal Patel (22) this morning.

In reply to Haryana's first innings total,Jharkhand were dealt an early blow whenopener Anand Singh was caught andbowled by Chahal in the 4th over.

Sumit Kumar (19) and Virat then triedto steady the innings and added 37 runsbefore the opener was dismissed byMishra with wicket-keeper Nitin Sainidoing a good work behind the stumps.

Skipper SS Tiwary (23) then joinedVirat and the duo added another 36 runswhen the left-handed batsman was caughtby Rajat Paliwal off Patel's bowling.

Virat and Jaggi then shared an uncon-quered 146-run stand to take the teamclose to the 250-mark.

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Pakistan batting coach Grant Flower says his sideis looking forward to a return of the red ball and

a hard Melbourne Cricket Ground pitch for the sec-ond test against Australia beginning Monday.

The visitors lost the day-night first test at theGabba by 39 runs, having made a bold bid at a come-from-behind victory.

Former Zimbabwe star Flower believes theMelbourne conditions will give his side a better chanceof taking early wickets and exposing Australia's mid-dle-order with reverse swing.

"(The pitch) looks good. It looks hard. It's goingto have good carry," he said this week. "It's going tobe hard work for the bowlers, but if we can get intothem early and if the ball starts reversing then I'm surewe've got a good chance of making some things hap-pen."

Flower also expects the MCG pitch to benefitlegspinner Yasir Shah, who was criticized by com-mentator and former legspin great Shane Warne forbowling too defensively in Brisbane.

"Hopefully towards the end of the match, Yasircan come into it a bit more," Flower said. "I'm sure ifthe ball is turning a bit more, there will be more attack-ing lines bowled."

Australian batsman Usman Khawaja doubts thatPakistan has the momentum after its fourth-inningperformance in Brisbane, nearly chasing down 490runs. "I don't think that matters — it's a differentground, different conditions, and you can't really mea-sure momentum, can you? I'm not sure if it exists,"Khawaja said. "There are always things we can do bet-ter, no matter what game, but ... we still won."

Security has been increased at the MCG, wherea crowd of 60,000 is expected on Monday, followingthe arrest of seven people over a terror-related plotin the city. Those charged Friday were allegedly plan-ning to attack Melbourne's Flinders Street train sta-tion, nearby Federation Square and St. Paul's Cathedralon Christmas Day.

Chief police commissioner Graham Ashton saidwhile they are confident the terror plot had been con-tained, extra police will be deployed at major events.

"We know there's lot of events on over the nextseveral days right across our state, including theBoxing Day test, Christmas carols, other events thatare on," he said. "There is no intelligence to suggestthere is any threat whatsoever in relation to any ofthose events. However we're just making sure we'retaking those extra precautions."

Victoria Police and Cricket Australia were liais-ing over the appropriate security level.

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New Zealand's desire for aconfidence-boosting lim-

ited overs series againstBangladesh, starting onMonday, has been tempered bythe need to ease the workloadsof Tim Southee and TrentBoult.

From the high of winninga Test series against Pakistan inNovember the switch to theshorter game brought the NewZealanders sharply back toearth early this month whenhammered 3-0 by Australia.

The three ODIs againstBangladesh, which begin inChristchurch on Boxing Day,offer a shot at redemption butcoach Mike Hesson is waryabout the possibility of burnoutwith home series againstAustralia and South Africa tofollow.

"It's always a balancing actwith guys that play all threeforms, especially the bowlers,"Hesson said Saturday, con-firming Boult will sit out thelast ODI, Southee will miss thethree T20s that follow, andother players may also be rest-ed.

Following the Australiadrubbing, New Zealand resist-

ed the urge for wholesalechanges but did recall veteransNeil Broom and Luke Ronchi.

Only six players remainfrom the squad of 15 whotook New Zealand to the WorldCup final last year andalthough the side is rebuilding,selector Gavin Larsen said "it'svery important that we do seeimprovements during the

home summer".With Ross Taylor sidelined

following eye surgery, and Testgloveman BJ Watling not per-forming as expected inAustralia, the selectors arelooking to the experienced 33-year-old Broom and Ronchi,35, to shore up the side.

It is nearly seven yearssince Broom last played an ODI

for New Zealand, but at domes-tic level "he has an impressivestrike-rate and obviously fillsthe number four role withRoss out injured", Larsen said.

Ronchi, who did play in the2015 World Cup, is recalledafter a string of low scores sawhim dropped from the recentAustralia series.

Bangladesh, at seven inthe ODI rankings and threeplaces below New Zealand,lost their rain-affected warm upgame to a New Zealand XI bythree wickets, but did findinspiration in the performanceof 21-year-old pace bowlerMustafizur Rahman.

Mustafizur took two wick-ets in his first competitivematch in five months followingshoulder surgery while all-rounder Shakib Al Hasanchimed in with 3-41.

Test captain MushfiqurRahim also showed himself inform with the bat, scoring 45off 41 deliveries while SoumyaSarkar added 40 toBangladesh's 245-8 off 43 overs.

Following the first ODI inChristchurch on Monday, thesecond and third matches willbe played in Nelson onDecember 29 and 31 with threeT20s and two Tests to follow.

�8��� ��%#�.2�G/�.#3

Sri Lanka will be underdogs when they challengea resurgent South Africa in a three-Test series

starting at St George's Park on Monday - but willhope that the traditionally slow pitch in PortElizabeth will negate South Africa's strong fastbowling attack.

Even without the injured Dale Steyn andMorne Morkel, South Africa's pace trio of VernonPhilander, Kagiso Rabada and Kyle Abbott is like-ly to provide a stiff examination of a Sri Lankanbatting line-up which has minimal experience ofcoping with the kind of pitches that are found out-side Asia.

St George's Park, though, usually has less paceand bounce than South Africa's other Test venuesand the hosts have a relatively modest record thereof six wins, four losses and four draws since return-ing to Test cricket in 1992.

It could also provide some assistance forRangana Herath, Sri Lanka's veteran left-arm spin-ner who is likely to be the biggest threat to theSouth African batsmen. Herath took nine wick-ets and was man of the match when Sri Lankagained their only previous Test win in South Africa,in Durban in 2011/12.

South Africa, meanwhile, will be seeking astrong finish to a year in which there have beenthree different captains of the Test team.

The year started badly with Hashim Amlaresigning as captain midway through a losing homeseries against England. That loss, which followeda 3-0 humiliation in India late in 2015, cost SouthAfrica their number one ranking in Tests. Theyslipped as low as seventh after some earlier tri-umphs were discarded when the ratings wereadjusted in May. AB de Villiers was appointed cap-tain for the last two Tests against England but along-term elbow injury ruled him out of homematches against New Zealand and an away seriesin Australia - both of which were won under theleadership of stand-in Faf du Plessis, enabling SouthAfrica to climb to fourth in the rankings

With De Villiers still not fit enough to face SriLanka in the Tests he resigned the captaincy andrecommended his former schoolmate as his full-time successor.

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The difference between a fatal heartattack and heartbreak is simple: Inthe first, you stop being alive, inthe second, you stop living. Forcenturies, relationships have

moulded human nature, or human nature hasshaped relationships. In either case, they havehad the potency to become Frankenstein’smonster, spiralling out of control, refusing toheed human diktats, and seeking to destroytheir very creators. Only a few of the victimssurvive, and they remain scathed for a life-time; the rest simply wither away.

The survivors move on, yes, but the dragof memories — the exhilaration and thedumps — profoundly changes them. It’s amillstone around the neck. The belief thattime heals wounds, that memories go away asyears pass, is a delusion and an invention of adesperate mind dulled by hallucinations.Sahir Ludhianvi — the poet-lyricist whoremains unmatched even more than threedecades after his death, for wringing out theangst of a tormented mind — wrote for HumDono (a song rendered evocatively byMohammed Rafi), “Hum toh samjhe the kihum bhool gaye hain unko/Kya hua aaj yeh,kis baat pe rona aaya/Kabhi khud pe, kabhihalaat pe rona aaya.” He knew.

And so Karan Johar has moved on, RanbirKapoor has moved on, Deepika Padukone hasmoved on, Katrina Kaif has moved on, andmany more A, B and C listers in the filmworld have moved on. And yet, when theyexplore or are gently led by others to exploretheir inner self, the facade crumbles like cook-ies. It’s because hurt does not move on. Pain isobstinate and has its own dynamic. It playsout to the point of exhaustion or until it ismomentarily replaced by a positive develop-ment, at which point it concedes to slip intothe background. But like the inner demonsthat refuse to go away, memories linger andare interred with the person.

People have different approaches to simi-lar, or nearly similar, problems. In a candidinterview to a television channel some fiveyears ago, Deepika Padukone, fresh after abreak-up, had said that it was unwise to investtoo emotionally in a person. In a recent con-versation with a business daily, AnushkaSharma said she had initially refused Ae DilHai Mushkil because she could not relate toher character. “I cannot lose myself so muchin a relationship,” she explained. That’s sensi-

ble talk, except that when the ‘losing’ begins,it’s often difficult to control it. Whatever theattitude, the undeniable fact is that thesecelebrities of today have, regardless of theirpersonal turmoil, carved out successfulcareers. It makes their achievement doublycommendable. So, is this maturity at play?

It’s certainly that, but in some cases, itcould simply be that the commitment to arelationship was not as deep on the part ofeither one of the partners or both. Perhaps theold attitude of considering relationships closeto being sacred has changed. The ‘if this doesnot work out, the other will’ option is being,perhaps, more often, exercised or at leastactively considered. This may have added acertain level of flippancy to relationships.

And it’s not just celebrities who wouldbe prone to such a mindset. According tothe findings of a recent survey conducted bya leading newspaper, even the institution ofmarriage — let alone other relationships —seems to have come under a cloud. Morethan 50 per cent of men polled believedtheir marriage would not last, while over 44per cent women had a similar opinion.There could be several reasons for the pes-simism: Growing financial independence ofthe partners that lets them take the decisionto break away more easily; reduced familypressure, given that most families havebecome nuclear, with the influence of par-ents waning with time; a heightened sense(justified or misplaced) belief in the conceptof ‘freedom and space for oneself ’.

But the underlying cause is deteriorationin the sanctity of relationships, whether mari-tal or otherwise. Celebrities are perhaps mere-ly reflecting a general trend in society, butthey straddle the publicity space because theyare public and glamorous figures.

Change is happening, for good or bad,and it is reflected in the recently released AeDil Hai Mushkil, which is a take on confusedrelationships. There is a lot of ‘moving on’ bycharacters who have failed, and yet all thatmovement leads to the estranged being pairedyet again. The sense of drift and directionless-ness, however, does not lead to the kind ofdepression that destroys life and living.

Relationships are not a new phenomenon;they have been there since humankind cameinto existence. In the film industry itself, rela-tionships have not just defined personal con-duct but also creative output. Celebrities of

yesteryears, too, went through the stage thepresent generation is undergoing. In someways, they too moved on. A distraught DevAnand picked up the threads of his life afterhis relationship with actor-singer Suraiyaended. He got married, immersed himself inwork and remained immersed till the lastbreath of his life. He rarely spoke of the rela-tionship, of the happy memories and of thesadness that must have descended on him likea north Indian winter fog.

Dilip Kumar went through a period ofintense relationship with Madhubala, andwhen it collapsed, few imagined that either ofthe two would be able to recover. But bothwent on with life, got married and led separatelives. Dilip Kumar never opened up about theaffair, considering it one fully closed chapterin his life. Raj Kapoor and Nargis, from allfilm industry accounts, were inseparable.Their rapport and proximity reflected in themany excellent films they did together. Theyredefined the concept of romance, at least inreel-life. But Raj Kapoor was a married manand the longevity of the relationship wasalways in doubt. Nargis moved on, got happilymarried to Sunil Dutt; on his part, Raj Kapoorturned his attention to the likes of ZeenatAman. But the magic was missing.

So clearly, that generation displayed simi-lar traits we see today. But their take on rela-tionships was different. They would havefound it difficult to equate such bonding withthe sort of voyeurism that seems, at least insome cases, evident today. They would havebeen aghast at the present ‘Tu nahin toh koiaur sahi’ nonchalance. After all, it’s difficult toidentify ‘commitment’ when a person movesfrom one relationship to another almost asquickly and seamlessly as one changes one’sclothes for different occasions. It’s commit-ment that keeps people together and helpsthem tide over relationship crises. Of course,commitment does not dissipate in a vacuum.The loss can be triggered by waning trust (forwhatever reason) too. But so very often, itsimply disappears because of something asfrivolous as the arrival of a ‘new attraction’.

Film celebrity relationships that have notjust survived but flourished have had onecommon factor: Commitment and the ensu-ing trust. Dharmendra-Hema Malini, RishiKapoor-Neetu Singh Kapoor, ShatrughanSinha-Poonam Sinha... there are many nameson this list. All of these relationships were

severely tested on multiple occasions andemerged the winner. As the American schol-ar and intellectual Cornel West onceremarked, “We have to recognise that therecannot be relationships unless there is com-mitment, unless there is loyalty, unless thereis love, patience, persistence.” If love andfriendships are falling apart today more oftenthan before, it’s because loyalty is easily shak-en, commitment is frivolous, patience isshort, love is an empty word and persistenceis a sign of emotional fragility.

There are occasions in life when a frac-tured relationship (love or friendship) can besaved by just one word, one gesture, fromeither of the partners. One waits for theother to make the first move; none does; andthe end comes. This is so tellingly reflectedin Kaifi Azmi’s poetry in the film, Haqeeqat,which needs to be reproduced here in full:“Main ye sochkar uske dar se utha tha ke wohrok legee, mana legee mujhko/Havaon meinlahrata aata tha daaman ke daaman pakad-kar bitha legee mujhko/Kadam aise andaaz seuth rahe the ke aawaz dekar bulaa legeemujhko/Magar usne roka na usne manaya nadaaman hi pakda, na mujhko bithaya/Naaawaz hi di, na vapas bulaaya/Main aahistaaahista badhta hi aaya/Yahan tak ke uss sejuda ho gaya main.”

And yet, commitment, for all its nobility,can be dangerous. If relationship were to bea packaged commodity, it would carry a pic-torial warning: “Commitment is fatal tohealth.” Just two examples will suffice — thatof Guru Dutt and Meena Kumari. Intense inboth their personal lives and the films theydid, the two self-destructed because theycould not handle relationship break-ups.Both had earlier sought refuge in lighterfilms off and on, keeping away from thetragic roles they performed more often. Buttheir real self could not be diluted. GuruDutt could never get over his break-up withactor Waheeda Rehman, and Meena Kumaricould not survive her failed marriage withan already married Kamal Amrohi. It is dif-ficult to see the present generation of filmcelebrities going to this extent. But then, it’salso difficult to find someone as deeply sen-sitive and creative as Guru Dutt or MeenaKumari in the film industry today.

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Experts can analyse thesecases better and will referto a deep sense of inse-

curity these brilliant film per-sonalities suffered from. Itcould not have been insecurityin career — both were enor-mously successful and respect-ed. So it must have been per-sonal. Both Meena Kumariand Guru Dutt wanted to feel‘wanted’ in their personallives, and for some reason theysuffered from a sense of per-sonal rejection. Perhaps theirhyper-sensitivity led them tobelieve in their ‘emotionalinadequacy’; perhaps they hadbegun to believe in the reel-

life characters they played andthe feelings they emoted.Whatever, it did take them tofatal conclusions.

Why cannot people walkalone in life? Why do theyhave to seek a partner in theform of a loved one or aclose friend? And havingburnt their fingers once, whydon’t they learn theirlessons? As an anonymousquote has it, it’s not a prob-lem to walk alone; the prob-lem is in walking alone afteryou have walked with a com-panion for a distance.

The last refuge for a tor-mented soul (there is no such

thing as a soul, scientists willsay) is philosophy. Frenchphilosopher René Descartessuggests an approach thatrests on deniability: “I believethat nothing has ever existed

of everything my lying mem-ory tells me. I believe thatbody, shape, extension,motion are functions. Whatis there then that can betaken as true? Perhaps onlythis one thing, that nothingat all is certain. But I cannotforget that at other times, Ihave been deceived in sleepby similar illusions; and, Iperceive so clearly thatthere exist no certain marksby which the state of wak-ing can be distinguishedfrom sleep. I imagine thesame things that lunaticsimagine when awake.” It’sthe age of lunatics.

This is a little known fact thatunder the shadow of the majes-tic Kangchenjunga, there is akingdom of rubble nesting silent-ly on a hilltop near Pelling, a place

in west Sikkim frequented by tourists.Though Pelling is known as the nearestcivilised point to enjoy Kangchenjunga’sbreathtaking beauty, this is also a place toget acquainted with the past.

Needless to say, not many are aware ofthis 350-year-old saga. The ruinous struc-ture of Rabdentse is a burning testimony ofSikkim’s ancient glory, which for long wasnot known to people living in other partsof India. Once a bustling human settlement,Rabdentse — which was the ancient capi-tal of the royals of Sikkim — is now a crum-bling ruin of Indus civilisation. However, thatis only if it is seen from a distance.

Once some historical facts are gathered,it clearly gives an indication that the ruin isfull of the rich saga of politics that canengross anyone who loves to explore histor-ical monuments. Once its stone-laid lanesare walked on, and its crumbling walls aretouched, a bygone era slowly unfolds andtakes one back to the past.

The walls and floor of the ruinous city of Rabdentse reveal a thousand stories of power and glory. Sadly, they also reflect invisible patches of blood on the walls — common in every regencyin ancient times where fighting for thethrone was a tradition.

One needs to walk a treacherous pathto reach Rabdentse. To reach these magicalruins, one has to cover a 2-km hilly path thatruns through the dense chestnut trees. Thepath is often enveloped in dense fog, and itsisolation adds to the thrill of finding anunknown world. You will find several sign-boards along the way that have been erect-ed by the Archaeological Survey of India’sKolkata circle, with motivational messagesfor the tourists such as: “Do not get tired;great excitement is awaiting.”

Once the height is scaled and onecatches the first sight of the ruins, it stilldoes not unfold much of its magic. The truemagic of Rabdentse is revealed when onecrosses the gate and sees a stone throne.Here three stones, which are known asNamphogang, are seen. This was the placewhere the highest judge gave his judgmentsto the king’s subjects.

A small stone tablet briefly states the his-tory of the place and its importance. The his-tory of Rabdentse seems straight out of anaction movie. The history of Sikkim is notwell known across India because of its sep-aration from the mainstream till 1975.Before that, this Himalayan kingdom wasalmost independent, and to a great extent,isolated from the world.

In the early 1970s, maverick filmmak-er Satyajit Ray made an iconic documen-tary on Sikkim, covering its rich yetunknown history and cultural heritage.This opened many doors of interest inSikkim, but the film was soon banned andits print was lost for many years.

After that, India under the late PrimeMinister Indira Gandhi absorbed Sikkiminto its fold, tourism bloomed, and final-ly its many archeological sites were openedup for exploration. Rabdentse, the secondancient capital of Sikkim, was explored andexcavated by the ASI. It was a gem discov-ered in a land where people hardly went toexperience the history.

The historical saga of Sikkim’s royalfamily was no different from that of anyother royal family ruling another part ofthe country. In 1670, the capital was shift-ed here from Yuksam by King TensungNamgyal of Chogyal dynasty, and soon astone city was built. Tensung’s son ChadorNamgyal, who was born from his secondwife, took the power after the death of hisfather in 1700. However, his authority waschallenged by his step-sister Pendiongmu,the daughter of Tensung and his first wife,who was a Bhutanese. She also took helpfrom the Bhutan royals.

The young vanquished king fled toTibet and spent many years in exile inLhasa. During this time, Chador adopt-ed Buddhism and won the heart of theDalai Lama, the spiritual leader of Tibet.Soon, Tibetan forces attacked Rabdentseto free it from the Bhutanese. Chador wasable to get Rabdentse back, and lived heretill 1716 when his step-sister murderedhim. Soon, she was also killed after apalace conspiracy.

Chador’s son Gurmed Namgyal got thethrone and when he died in 1733, heannounced that a nun in some monasterywas carrying his child. When the nun gavebirth to a boy after the death of Gurmed,he was announced as the king of Sikkim in

the palace of Rabdentse. Named PhuntsogNamgyal, the weak king was no good toSikkim as during his reign, both Nepaleseand Bhutanese attacked and capturedmany areas of Sikkim.

His son, Tenzing Namgyal, was anequally weak king who finally fledRabdentse; he went to Tibet and neverreturned. After his death in 1780, his sonreclaimed Rabdentse with help of Chinain 1793. It was the end of a glorious sagafor Rabdentse as in 1814, the capital wasmoved out, thanks to its proximity toNepal — an enemy land for Sikkim.Subsequent attacks by Nepal and Bhutanand finally the shifting of the capital toTumlong led to Rabdentse graduallybecoming a ghost city.

In mid 19th century, it banished intooblivion. It turned into a huge pile of debriswith almost no known history. Today’sRabdentse is not even a shadow of its past.Still, its stone pathways and bylanes give onea chilling thrill; its stairs lead to the top ofthe fort from where the breathtaking MountKangchenjunga — the highest peak in Indiaand third highest peak in the world — canbe seen. On a clear day, when the mountainsare seen over the horizon behind the back-ground of historical ruins of Rabdentse, theatmosphere is electric. The extraordinarycombination of nature and man-mademarvels create an aura that will stay in yourmemory for a long time.

The remaining relics in Rabdentsebear testimony to its glorious historywhere the royal palace was once situated;a flight of stairs and some criss-cross stonewalled lanes will also lead to the sameplace. This is the most thrilling place ofthe archaeological ruins.

Constant excavation and explorationhas exposed a plethora of interestingthings. This palace-cum-monastery wasonce as majestic as any other residence ofthe royals. Till now, the prayer place of theroyals, locally known as Dablhagang, isthere. A recent exploration identifiedimportant places like the bedroom of the

king, guard room assembly room, royalkitchen, and most accurately, the publiccourtyard, pointing to a royal life equippedwith all amenities and luxury.

Rabdentse carries the burning torchof Indian heritage despite being rampagedand looted by the Nepalese, who alsodestroyed the relics of this once grandfort. However, the extraordinary effortsof the ASI have helped preserve the glo-rious part of our heritage. The ever-increasing flow of tourists at these ruinspoints to its appeal for many people whowere not even aware such a place exist-ed till a few years ago.

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Aroon Raman’s third and lat-est work, Skyfire, fictionalis-es two important yet notoften discussed issues in fic-tional writings; that of glob-

al weather catastrophes and child abuseand trafficking. The author intelligentlyinterweaves seemingly polar issues ofuncontrolled weather changes and mys-teriously caused absences of young slumkids in this work. By keeping a youngchild at the center of the action the linkis strongly drawn between an interna-tional issue of gigantic proportions andthe missing cases of a few kids from theslums of Delhi. Towards the beginningof the novel the two issues appear as farremoved from each other as could beand it is not easy for the readers to formconnections between them. The themes,characters as well as the geographicalspace appears too stretched out in time.But the author moves the story forwarddeftly with gentle sprinkles of twistsalong the way. Characters in the storyare fairly well-rounded as we haveglimpses of both their personal and pro-fessional lives. The journalist-professorpairing of Chandra and Meenu alongwith the high-profile Intelligence per-sonnel Hassan are quite close to real lifeand thus extremely engaging. It is insearch of one of their slum students thatthe award winning journalistChandrashekhar and a widely publishedDU history professor MeenakshiPirzada find themselves as protagonistsin the national plan of decoding unex-plained weather fluctuations.

What is an especially praiseworthyaspect of the novel is that it brings theglobal issue of weather disturbances tothe very center of national and interna-tional politics. The highest brains of thecountry are burning the midnight oil toforestall the imminent devastation thatlooks at them in the face. On the otherhand, a seemingly lesser issue of themissing Gopal is what keeps Chandraand Meenu in a frenzy. For them theyoung boy takes precedence over anyother national problem of greater mag-nitudes. Chandra and Meenu are welleducated and socially responsible citi-zens who run a school for slum kids.They even get involved in the overallwelfare of the children and go an extramile jeopardising their own safety at

times. How these two situations con-verge and push Chandra and Meenu inmatters of mainstream national securityissues keep the readers hooked ontothe very last page. Interestingly thenovel spans out of India and towardsour neighboring Pakistan and Bhutan,bringing the three together at amoment of inevitable crisis. Keepingthe age old animosity away, highersecurity officials of the two countriescome forward to tackle the situationthrough best possible means. Onething leads to the other and our pro-tagonists Chandra and Meenu are

pushed to the center of action with thecountry’s intelligent services.

A major twist in the plot comesthrough the characters of HarshvardhanDharma and Vaishali. The sinisterbrother-sister duo are mouthpieces of allevil aspirations of the business classreflected in their greed for wealth,power and name. Harsh, as he insists onbeing addressed, garbs his plans ofdestroying the country under the chari-table Dharma Enterprises he runs.Though respected for being at the fore-front in extending all kinds of assistanceto the needy and thereby earning a

respectable name equivalent to being amessiah of sorts, he had been workingall along to reduce the country to dust.The character of Harsh is a well writtenone and the author reveals only a littlebit about him with every turn of thepage. And so it does comes as a surprisefor the unprepared reader to make con-nections between Harsh, unstableweather conditions and in what couldbe seen as kidnappings of slum children.Yet the story manages to keep the read-ers engaged as the latter gets to observethe working of higher state agencies incritical matters even though in a fiction-

al format. Characterisation of Pant andDas is also quite believable as both acttrue to their profiles. Raman writes withwhat seems like a deep understanding ofthe workings of intelligence and securitysystems of the country. He creates anartificial situation and places it in acompletely real background bringinghome the seriousness of the issues dis-cussed. The links created between themissing children and deterioratingweather conditions are drawn to expressthe intensity of both issues. For theauthor then, both situations deserveequal and continuous attention from all

levels of governing authorities. By plac-ing Chandra and Meenu in the center ofall action along with Hassan, the writerseems to imply value of the contributionof regular men and women resolvingissues overlooking international bound-aries. On a larger context, it is time forthe world to devote the amount ofresources; both in terms of money andmanpower, required to check the deteri-orating weather conditions.

Skyfire is Raman's third novel afterThe Shadow Throne and The Treasure OfKafur. This work reflects to a certainlevel the writer's own concern with con-temporary happenings and the acknowl-edgment of his responsibility as some-one whose opinion will be heard andpaid heed to. Though the handling ofthe issues and their presentation keepthe readers hooked on, the editoriallapse of spelling mistakes and grammat-ical errors hampers the reading experi-ence to an extent. But if readers canoverlook these minor errors, Skyfire isan engaging and thought-provoking fic-tional work.

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Iam constant as the northernstar” makes for greatShakespeare but, as any

astronomer will tell you, thebard's words are factually inac-curate. Although the starsappear fixed in position for theduration of our lives, they aremoving in their great orbits andslowly creep across the sky,changing the shape of the con-stellations over the course oftens of thousands of years.Neither are stars immortal.

The energy-generationmodels pioneered by Eddingtoncan be used to predict theirlifespans. Depending upon itsmass, a star can live for between10 million and 100 billionyears. The most massive starslive the shortest lives becausethey use their fuel the fastest.The result is that the stellarpopulation will change withtime, as new generations areborn and older generations die.

Stars of the future will notbe the same as stars of the pre-sent. They are likely to be dim-mer and longer-lived becausethey will contain a greater pro-portion of heavy chemical ele-ments produced by the fusion ofhydrogen and helium in theprevious generations of stars. Atthe end of a star's life, thesechemicals are returned to space,either in titanic explosionsknown as supernovae, or inmore genteel stellar cataclysmswhere the dying star gracefullywafts its outer layers into space.The heavier elements have acooling effect on the interstellargas clouds, making them moresusceptible to gravitational col-lapse and this results in a largernumber of smaller stars, whichare naturally dimmer andlonger-lived.

With a greater quantity ofheavier elements, it should alsobe easier to build planets. Thiscould mean that the Universehas not yet entered its mosthabitable phase. In the futurethere could be more small stars,each with a wealth of planets inorbit around it.

On the larger scale, themost important factor govern-ing the Universe's future is itsrate of expansion. As Lemaitreshowed, this can be calculated

from general relativity and isrelated to the Universe's overallgravitational field. It is possiblethat the Universe will expandforever, but this is not guaran-teed. If there is enough matter,the expansion will slow downand then reverse, speedingeverything back together in acataclysmic 'Big Crunch'.

In the first scenario, knownas an open universe, everythingwill appear more or less busi-ness as usual to begin with.Stars will continue to live anddie much as they have done forthe last 13 billion years, but theUniverse itself will changearound them.

Space will expand and thegalaxy clusters will recede everfarther away from each other.Eventually, the galaxies thatmake up Herschel's luxuriantgarden will be lost from sightbecause their light will be red-shifted away from visible wave-lengths into the infrared. As theaeons pass, the redshift willtransform the starlight intoweak radio signals.

These faint whispers will bethe only clue to some futurecivilisation of the existence ofother galaxies, but as time con-tinues to pass, the already weaksignal will be redshifted evenmore, rendering it so feeble as

to be unobservable. The cosmicmicrowave background radia-tion that gave us our first defini-tive evidence of the Big Bangwill also be lost in the samemanner. Future civilisationsmay thus lose the ability to per-form cosmology because theUniverse beyond our immediatecosmic neighbourhood will beunutterably dark and empty.

The 50 or so nearest galax-ies in our own cluster will notrecede because they are boundto us by gravity, and thatmeans they must be in somekind of orbit. Eventually theseepic circulations will result inthe merger of the galaxies

with each other.As the galaxies collide,

some stars will be flung out intointergalactic space to wanderthe Universe alone. AbrahamLeob, of the Center forAstrophysics at HarvardUniversity, has suggested thatthese could be seen with extra-ordinarily powerful telescopesand used in the same way thatreceding galaxies are used todayto tell us about the expansion ofspace. Others think the faint-ness of the stars makes this avery long shot indeed, andbesides, none of us is likely tobe here in 100 billion years tosee if it's possible anyway.

Many stars that are not cata-pulted out will be tipped intothe supermassive black hole atthe centre of their galaxy, tem-porarily reigniting the activityaround the lurking behemoths.Eventually, the supermassiveblack hole at the centre of each

merging galaxy will collide,releasing a cataract of gammarays strong enough to steriliseall remaining planets in thegalaxies.

After some 100,000 bil-lion years all the cosmic gaswill have been either pulledinto existing stars or suckedinto black holes. One by onethis last generation of starswill run the course of theirlives and die.

With no gas clouds left tocollapse into new stars, stellaractivity will begin to come toan end. The lights will begoing out across the cosmos,leaving space to contain noth-ing but isolated collections ofdead stars. These stellarcorpses will occasionally col-lide, releasing a sudden burstof radiation, but other than

that, there will be no light shin-ing through the Universe.

Protons are composed ofthree quark particles, and insome extensions of our currentparticle physics theories, thismakes them liable to decay intoother particles.

If protons do eventuallydecay, then all the atoms in theUniverse will disintegrate, leav-ing nothing but a sea of sub-atomic particles. Chemical reac-tions and nuclear reactions willbecome impossible becausethere will no longer be any par-ticles capable of forming anatomic nucleus, let alone achemical element or molecule.All these particles will be capa-ble of doing is falling into exist-ing black holes, or clumpingtogether to form new ones oftheir own. But not even theblack holes may last forever.

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Terrorists are no longer publicenemy number one nor arethey drug lords, human traf-

fickers, arms dealers, cyber terroristsor any other do-badder. Today, thebiggest threat to global peace andsecurity is physical cash, a means ofexchange that has flourished for over1,000 years but which now standsaccused of being the world’s biggestenabler of criminality”, says Don Qui-jones, Spain & Mexico, Editor at theUS newspaper, Wolf Street.

“Banks, Government, credit cardcompanies and fintech evangelists allwant us to believe a cashless future isinevitable and good, but this is notfrictionless utopia”, says Brett Scott,campaigner and former broker “andit’s time to fight back”.

The death of cash is death of pri-vacy. The G-7 and G-20, prodded bybankers, are strangely promotingcashless. On June 9, 2015, Googlechairman, top global bankers and G-7leaders met in Austria to hasten it.

Why is this war on cash? Cashserves as a means of exchange inwhich relevant rent seekers (banks,credit card companies, tech firms) areleft out of the equation, unable to getcommissions, fees and collect thetreasure of consumer data that comeswith electronic payments. Apart, ithelps the intermediaries — banks —earn trillions as charges for “facilitat-ing” transactions, which could havebeen done for free in cash deals.

In the West, non-cash are seen asa move of the multi national corpora-tions (MNC) to control the citizens,businesses and Governments. Oncethey succeed, they can keep the com-mon man in awe of denial of access totheir own money. On August 16,

2015, the US Federal Bureau of Inves-tigation (FBI) agents raided a convenience store and took $1,07,702right from the owner’s bank accountbecause he made two cash deposits of$11,400 in 24 hours. The FBI toldhim, this violated federal “structur-ing” laws, so under civil asset forfei-ture laws, they had the “right” to seizethe money in his account. Laws havealready been used extensively to seizecash from the US nationals. Anyseizure, done on suspicion, is knownas “policing for profit”, which is fullyendorsed by the US Government.

Trusting the banks or Visa-typeorgansiations may be dangerous.They can manipulate election results,organise coups or create wrong perceptions through propaganda.

The recent tirade against blackmoney in India may be one. Post-November 8 income tax raidsyielded over �3,100 crore. Ifassessees move the court, at leasthalf of it would be termed non-blackand returned to them. But it createdeuphoria. Even the income tax dec-laration has flaws. From initial estimates of �67,000 crore declared,within a few days, it came down to �55,000 crore.

At least �12,000 crore declara-tions were found to be fake — rivalsallegedly filed each other’s false state-ments. The Government got mere�3,000 crore tax from these againstexpected �30,000 crore.

The income tax department gotwide publicity for raid raj. But if theirfigures are taken into account(�55,000 plus �3,100 crore) and it iseven trebled, black money would notbe more than �1.74 lakh crore almostequal to the income tax, the Govern-

ment receives. The operation demon-etisation cost the nation not less than�30,000 crore in junking �500 and�1,000 notes, and printing new cur-rency. Apart, there are losses of overfive lakh jobs, millions of man-hours,industrial production, closures andtroubles at banks.

All over the planet, Governmentsare starting to place restrictions onthe use of cash for “security reasons”.Citizens are told other forms of payment are much easier for Governments to track. The use ofcash is considered to be a “suspiciousactivity” all by itself. The US Citibankdoes not accept cash payment inIndia and they stopped it in Australiafrom November 15, a week after Indialaunched the cashless tirade.

“These days, if you pay a large billwith cash, you will probably lookfunny. You see, the truth is that wehave already been trained to regardthe use of large amounts of cash to beunusual. The next step will be to formally ban large cash transactionslike France and other countries inEurope are already doing”, says Scott.

India is no exception. State Bankof India chairperson Arundhati Bhat-tacharya calls for levying penalties forcash deposits above �1,000. She hasbeen joined by some other bankCEOs. Are they cartelising?

This is dangerous not only for thecitizens but for the Government too.Freedom is at stake. During recession,banks could use the banking systemto deliberately corrode people’sdeposits via negative charges, inspir-ing them to spend rather than save —strength of economy.

Cashless society is a euphemismfor the “ask-your-banks-for-permis-

sion-to-pay”. Cashless is only theinvisible — digital — bank ledger.Rather than an exchange occurringdirectly between the seller and buyer,it takes the form of intermediaries. Ina cashless society, people would haveno choice but to conform to the intermediaries, giving them a lot ofpower, tradable data about the one’seconomic life and power to extort.

The anti-cash crusaders offer various reasons for banning cash, butthey all share a common distrust offree markets and a desire to givebureaucrats more control over people.The World Bank estimates that thereare two billion adults without bankaccounts, and even those who dohave them still often rely upon theinformal flexibility of cash for everyday transactions. The WorldBank does not say cash is criminal. So why give it up?

Banks and card operators likeVisa are no friend of any Govern-ment. They want to control the Gov-ernments through illusive words —lies. On December 21, Switzerlandwas forced to levy a joint fine of about$100 million on eight global banks forcreating cartels and rigging international interest rates between2005 and 2010. The banks includeBarclays, Citigroup, JP Morgan, RoyalBank of Scotland, Societe Generale,Deutsche Bank UBS and CreditSuisse. The RBI also the same dayimposes fines on five foreign banksfor violating FEMA.

After power over food, cropsand farmers through genetic engi-neering, MNCs and large banks areconspiring to enslave peoplethrough the cashless.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

����������� ���������������������Reader response to Swapan Dasgupta’s column,Usual Suspects, published on December 18:

Shame the culprits: Livetelecast of Parliament is com-pelling many MPs to play tothe galleries rather thaninvolve themselves in seriousdiscussions. But what if theOpposition does not allowtransaction of any businessagain and again? The rulingparties will have to have aplan in such a case.Whatabout sending such membersout with the help of mar-shalls? What about suspen-sions with deduction in payand allowances? What aboutgiving advertisements innewspapers and TV channelsabout the time a particularmembers is ‘wasting’?Parliament’s secretariat

should also publish theattendance records of thosewho raise so much of noise,and unnecessarily.

Jitendra

Save public funds: Livetransmission of parliamen-tary proceedings wasintended to educate peopleon the pros and cons of anysubject under discussion.(The addresses of EdmundBurke in the House ofCommons a couple of cen-turies earlier, are full ofsense, wit and beauty ofprose.) But, when our repre-sentatives choose not to dis-cuss anything but only tocreate chaos in the augustHouses, why subject the citi-zens to suffer the live chaos,without any value addition?Precious money money canalso be saved if live trans-mission is given up.

S Viswanathan

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Since Donald Trump scoreda surprise victory in the USpresidential elections in

November, his unorthodox state-ments on international issueshave been creating ripples acrossthe world. Though there aretalks in certain quarters that theimplications of such statementsare already being seen inEurope, the impact of changes in the US policy under Trumpadministration is likely to be feltin Asia more intensely.

The first spark of the debatewas triggered by the telephonetalk that President-elect Trumphad with the Taiwanese PresidentTsai Ing-wen when the latterdialled Trump to congratulatehim on his victory. This was thefirst such contact with Taiwan bya US President-elect or Presidentsince 1979 when the US support-ed the ‘One China’ policy afterbreaking off ties with Taiwan (theRepublic of China) and acknowl-edged that Taiwan is a part ofmainland China.

It may be recalled that in1949, Chinese Communist Partyforces defeated the Governmentof the Republic of China in theChinese Civil War and foundedthe People’s Republic of China,eliminating the ROC authorityfrom mainland China. By speak-ing directly with the TaiwanesePresident, four decades of Sino-US diplomacy seems to be crash-ing down, or so it appears.

Beijing took umbrage atTrump’s audacious posture on theTaiwan Strait and used its statemedia to warn him against sup-porting Taiwan, suggesting that ifprovoked, China will support theUS’ enemies militarily. Trumpretorted that he is not willing tobe dictated by China. Beijing seesthe phone talk between Trumpand Tsai as the former question-ing the ‘One China’ policy, whichis at the core of the differences.Trump said it would have beendisrespectful to not take the callfrom Tsai congratulating him onhis election as he was in the know

hours ago that the call was com-ing. Such hardening of posturesby either side does not present ahappy picture for Asia. Trump’scharge was that Beijing “was notcooperating with America” on itshandling of its currency, on NorthKorea and on tensions in theSouth China Sea, where China isbuilding “a massive fortress”.

The state-supported GlobalTimes, which comments regular-ly on foreign policy issues,observed in an editorial that ifTrump abandons the ‘One China’policy, supports Taiwan’s inde-pendence and continues to sellweapons to Taiwan, “Chinawould have no grounds to part-ner with Washington on interna-tional affairs and contain forceshostile to the US”. It furtherobserved that Trump is “naïve tothink he can use the ‘One China’policy as a bargaining chip to wineconomic benefits” from China.

This was in reaction toTrump’s remarks that the US hasno compelling reason to sub-scribe to the ‘One China’ policyunless China is willing to makeconcessions on other things,including trade. Beijing ques-tioned Trump’s “businessmanway of thinking” and firmly saidthat the ‘One China’ policy is notopen for trade. The editorial cau-tioned “modesty” on the part ofTrump, while reaffirming that theissue of Taiwan is non-negotiable.

Reactions from Chinese aca-demics were equally severe.Trump’s comments were dubbedas “immature” and that thosewere “manipulated” by US con-servatives. Taking a regional per-spective, the Beijing state paperopined that the ‘One China’ poli-cy has maintained peace andprosperity in Taiwan and, if

abandoned, cross-Straits tieswould see a real storm. The edi-torial observed: “China wouldintroduce a series of new Taiwanpolicies, and may not prioritisepeaceful reunification over a mil-itary takeover if Trump insistedon his provocations”.

Trump seems to be firm onhis stand on Taiwan and here liesthe problem of likely escalation oftension with China. Rankled byTrump questioning the ‘OneChina’ policy, spokesman GengShuang warned that any changesto the way America deals withTaiwan could damage diplomaticties between China and the US.

Besides questioning the ‘OneChina’ policy, Trump has also

raised other issues related toChina’s conduct, such as the taxand exchange rate policies, NorthKorea and its “massive militarycomplex in the middle of theSouth China Sea”. There could besome merit in Trump’s stance onTaiwan as it is a flourishingdemocracy but the topic is toxic inBeijing as it has declared Taiwanas its “core interest”. Trump seemsto have stolen a march on Beijing,and therefore, it could be pro-voked to move somewhere in theregion to test Trump’s mettle.Chinese academics have startedrecommending the leadership toexercise such an option.

The argument is based on thepresumption that a belligerent

reaction by Beijing at the initialstage could make Trump retreatfrom the position he has chosenon Taiwan. The votaries of such aview say that if Beijing remainssilent and prefers only makingstatements without backing themwith strong action on the ground,Trump would get the message thathis stance on Taiwan is pregnantwith avoidable consequences. Thisgroup also argues that the earlierthinking of Beijing — that itwould be easy to do business withTrump as he is a businessman,not an ideologue and isolationist,and therefore, pragmatic — isflawed as he seems to be prefer-ring to risk confrontations even atthe expense of setbacks to Sino-US bilateral ties.

China’s state-controlledmedia emphasised that as theworld’s two biggest economies, itwould be in the interest of the USand China if both show mutualrespect to their political commit-ments, of which ‘One China’principle is a part. The commen-tary cautioned that irrespective ofthe change in the Government,mutual interests are best served ifpolitical commitments arerespected “rather than beingignored in an impulsive and self-deceiving way”.

Such an observation wasmade as China believed thatTrump’s decision to take Tsai’scall was not simply impulsive, butbecause of months of lobbying bySenator Bob Dole, seen byBeijing as a foreign agent for theGovernment of Taiwan.

But his questioning the four-decade ‘One China’ policy andantagonising Beijing seems to be awell-thought-out strategy. WhileTrump is likely to nominate a long-standing friend of Beijing, Iowa

Governor Terry Branstad, as thenext US ambassador to China, heis likely to choose John Bolton, aformer Bush administration offi-cial known for his advocacy for atough China policy, as No. 2 at theState Department, who suggestsescalating diplomatic ladder byreceiving Taiwanese diplomats offi-cially at the State Department as astep towards restoring full diplo-matic recognition. Seen from thisbackground, Trump’s phone talkwith Tsai seems well-strategised.

As mentioned, Trump seemsto have other considerations inmind when he took Tsai’s call.Besides demanding concessionson trade and criticising its cur-rency policies, Trump questionedChina’s military build-up in theSouth China Sea and its failure toblock North Korea from conduct-ing nuclear arms tests. Indirectly,Trump was questioning Beijing’ssincerity to do things which couldhelp resolve regional problems.Trump is aware of the fact thatthere is discrepancy on tariffs onexported products entering eachcountry. While China imposeslevies ranging from five to 9.7 percent on the US goods, Americacollects 2.5 to 2.9 per cent tariffs.This unequal treatment couldhave been bothering Trump, andit is reasonable, therefore, he isquestioning this now.

Trump is a businessman withrich assets. He has made it clearthat when he officially takes chargeas the US President on January 20,2017, his eldest children and hiscompany executives would run hisglobal business empire and hewould have nothing to do with itsmanagement. He has also declaredthat he would take a token $1 dol-lar salary. However, it remains tobe seen if Trump divests his hold-

ings as retaining them could posepotential conflict of interest withthe decisions he takes as the USPresident. That would be a tight-rope walk for him.

The US is hurt by China withdevaluation of the yuan. Even theInternational Monetary Fund andeconomists widely view China’sefforts to prop up the yuan’s valueas evidence that Beijing is nolonger keeping its currency artifi-cially low to make Chineseexports cheap. Chinese experts inthe US also advise caution as theythink that the entire relationshipruns the risk of deteriorating asBeijing would be keen to show itsresolve on the Taiwan issue. Theywarn that if Trump ends thedecades-long practice, it mightraise likelihood of misunder-standing and miscalculation,thereby setting the stage for a cri-sis between the US and China.

Michael Green, an influen-tial scholar in the US, is of theview that ending the ‘One China’policy would be a mistake,though Trump may have intend-ed to send a message to Beijingthat he would not be dictated onissues like Taiwan.

If Trump sticks to hisannouncement to abandon the‘One China’ policy, there could bea real storm. If this happens,Beijing may be tempted to eschewto achieve unification by peacefulmeans and might prioritise toretake the island by military force.In such an eventuality, the securi-ty dynamics in the Asian regionwould be dramatically altered andthe global consequences would beunpredictable. Though Taiwanmight be happy at the turn ofevents, the overwhelming per-spective there could possibly bethat it should not be used fortrade between two great powers.That seems to be Taiwan’s legiti-mate principle.

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The CM of West Bengal,Mamata Banerjee, is not goingto give up on her dream toconsolidate the Oppositionparties against demonetisa-

tion. Though on the very first day of theWinter Session of Parliament, her partywas alone, and even on the last day,many parties abandoned her. But she stillwon’t quit and wants to continue herstruggle against demonetisation.

Mamata has appealed to theCongress leaders that they must try tobring all other parties on one platform.This is to be noted that when RahulGandhi went to meet Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, parties such as theDMK, NCP, Left, SP and BSP left thefront against demonetisation, and didn’teven go to a scheduled joint meetinglater with President Pranab Mukherjee.Yet, Mamata wants all these parties tocome together again.

Mamata doesn’t want to talk to theLeft leaders and probably this is herbiggest problem. Just before the Sessionstarted, she had called Sitaram Yechury.Despite that, on the first day, the Leftdidn’t help the TMC, and on the last dayalso, it somehow detached itself from thefront led by Didi’s party.

In the same manner, the SP and BSPdon’t want to join this front due to theupcoming UP elections. Many parties,along with the Congress, have seriousreservations against Arvind Kejriwal. Inthis scenario, Mamata’s campaign doesn’tseem very practical.

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All debates over demonetisation anda cashless system have turned

towards political parties. The ElectionCommission has advised against takingundisclosed donations of more than�2,000. At present, the limit is �20,000.Some political parties are said to havebenefitted from this by showing undis-closed donations. Some days ago, theEC had disclosed a list of hundreds ofpolitical parties that haven’t fought asingle election.

However, one by one, all parties areready to decrease the limit of undis-closed donations, to advance the digitaldonations, and disclose the name ofdonors. PM Modi has welcomed theadvice of the EC and has said that the

commission must ensure its implementa-tion. Nitish Kumar has gone one stepahead, saying that not even �20 shouldbe donated in an undisclosed manner.

Before this, Mamata and Kejriwal hadbacked this idea. Even LJP leader RamVilas Paswan had supported it. Obviously,when all such parties are together, therewill not be any problem in making a lawfor it. But this won’t be easy because allparties have their own interests. A leaderof a party, which is supporting the moveto end cash donations and undiscloseddonations, says all parties are united onwomen reservation too, but the Bill hasnot become an Act till date.

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CM of Bihar, Nitish Kumar, will bechanging his track on demonetisa-

tion. For this, we have to wait tillDecember 30, but there are clear indica-

tions from his party. Sources say Nitishwill issue statement after December 30,but before that he will talk to economistswho are working on black money.

The party has started preparing abackground for the probable statement.This has been said that the support overdemonetisation has an expiry date and ifthere is no improvement in the cash situ-ation, the party will rethink its stand.After that Nitish also said that a cashlesseconomy is not possible in India and alltalks for it are impractical.

Pawan Verma, who is very close toNitish, has time and again written essaysin newspapers over the problems ofdemonetisation. Obviously, all these areindications that Nitish will change hisstand. He can take a U-turn and can alsooppose the decision. If he changes hisstand, there will be an end to all specula-tions about his hide-and-seek with the

BJP, and the Mahagathbandhan will bestrengthened. If he changes his stand,then the campaign of Kejriwal andMamata will gain momentum.

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Though the Congress and JDU arepart of the ruling alliance in Bihar, all

is not well between the parties, and a gapcan be seen. The tension had startedwith the candidature for the PM post,and now both parties are at loggerheadson the issue of demonetisation. The lead-ers of Congress are not happy withNitish’s stand on the issue. The strategistsof Congress feel that the BJP and CentralGovernment have got moral strengthonly due to his support, and this has onlyweakened the Opposition.

Sources in the JDU say that for thenext two and half years, Nitish will beplaying politics independently and will

take along all parties that are demandingreservation; probably Nitish will provehis stature against the BJP and Congress.The meeting between Nitish andHardik Patel is one of the most impor-tant steps in this direction. Meanwhile,leaders of Gujjar and Maratha reserva-tion also met Nitish recently.

One of the indications of the riftbetween the JDU and Congress is this:JDU leader KC Tyagi recently comment-ed on the Emergency and took the nameof Indira Gandhi, saying that the BJP isalso going in the same direction. Tyagisaid that by ignoring the seniority in theappointment of the Army Chief, theGovernment has reminded people ofIndira’s Emergency days.

Lalu Prasad Yadav has sensed thedistance between the Congress and JDUand has announced that he will start abig campaign against demonetisationnext week. Sources say there is a possibil-ity of a new equation in Bihar.

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There has been suspense over NavjotSingh Sidhu’s move for the past three

months and it continues. His wife NavjotKaur had joined the Congress, but hehas not yet joined any party officially.So, the first mystery is over his nextparty, and the second over his fightingelections. This is not clear whether hewill be fighting the Lok Sabha Electionsor those for the Rajya Sabha.

Earlier, it was being thought thatCapt Amarinder Singh had vacated hisAmritsar seat only for Sidhu. Sidhu hasbeen a three-time MP from this seat, andthe last time, the BJP had given this tick-et to Arun Jaitley after keeping Sidhuaside. It was being said that Sidhu mightbe contesting the Lok Sabha byelectionsfrom Amritsar. His wife is an MLA fromAmritsar east. So, it was almost decidedthat Sidhu would fight from Amritsar.

Meanwhile Capt Amarinder startedsinging the tune of one family, one ticket.Though, this is not clear whether thisrule will be applicable for Sidhu. Butnews is pouring in that Sidhu himselfwants to fight the Assembly Electionsfrom his wife’s seat. This might be prob-lematic for Capt Amarinder because ifthe Congress wins, then Sidhu may be astrong contender for the CM post. If not,he could be given the Deputy CM post.

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The Rolling Stones have waivedtheir claim on royalties from thecover version of You Can’t

Always Get What You Want that isbeing released in memory of the mur-dered MP Jo Cox.

The track, which features RickyWilson of the Kaiser Chiefs, KTTunstall, David Gray, Steve Harley ofCockney Rebel, and the cross-partyparliamentary band MP4, is intendedto raise money for the Jo CoxFoundation.

The Scottish National party’sleader in the House of Commons, PeteWishart — who formerly played key-board in the band Runrig, and nowplays in MP4 — revealed during busi-ness questions in the Commons onThursday that the Stones had offeredto forgo their royalties.

“I’m sure the leader of the housewould also like to join me in thankingSir Mick Jagger and Keith Richards forwaiving their royalties to their piece ofYou Can’t Always Get What You Want,

ensuring that even more money goesto the Jo Cox Foundation,” he said.

The bookmakers William Hill willdonate the money staked on the singlebeing Christmas No 1 to charity. MPspraised the move and urged otherbookies to do the same. Labour MPKevin Brennan, MP4’s guitarist, said:“Instead of the traditional adjourn-ment debate, perhaps the debate couldbe on a substantive motion in tributeto our fallen colleague Jo Cox, that thisHouse believes we have more in com-mon that that which divides us.”

Jimmy Kimmel, the late-night talkshow host selected to presentFebruary’s Academy Awards cere-

mony has revealed his fee for doingso. For the night, he will receive$15,000 (£12,000) — and the com-parative lowness of the figure hassurprised many in the industry. (Lastyear’s Oscars goodie bag was worth$232,000).

Speaking last week on KROQ’sThe Kevin & Bean Show, Kimmel saidthat there was only one reason thesum wasn’t lower: “You know why? Ithink it’s illegal to pay nothing.”

Asked if the sum had parity withthe fees picked up by previousOscars hosts such as Chris Rock andBilly Crystal, Kimmel said: “That’swhat they told me,” before wonder-ing aloud whether this could be areason why few hosts return for asecond appearance.

Kimmel was announced as hoston December 5, later than usual,which he ascribed to his being lowon the list of invitees. “They askedlike 14 people and they all said noand then there was me. I absolutelywas surprised.”

In previous years, Kimmel hashosted an Oscars aftershow on ABC,and earlier this year performed MCduties at the Emmys.

This year’s Oscar ceremony willbe a sleeker, briefer affair than in pre-vious years, according to its incom-ing producers. The lack of a perma-nent host to anchor proceedings hasalso been credited for declining rat-ings. Chris Rock returned to the jobearlier this year, having first hostedin 2005. In 2015, Neil Patrick Harrishosted; the previous year the task fellto Ellen DeGeneres.

After appearing together inspoof Lifetime movie, ADeadly Adoption, Will Ferrell

and Kristen Wiig are to reunite onanother takedown of the tacky sideof American culture: this time tak-ing aim at “industrial musicals”, thecorporate-funded shows designedto boost sales or motivate work-forces that were popular from the1950s to the 1980s.

According to Deadline, Ferrell andWiig are attached to star in an originalmusical inspired by Steve Young’sbook Everything Is Coming Up Profits:The Golden Age of Industrial Musicals.

The score will be written by MarcShaiman and Scott Wittman, bestknown for the stage adaptation of JohnWaters’s Hairspray and the Charlie andthe Chocolate Factory musical.

Young’s book details how majorAmerican corporations, includingExxon, Coca-Cola and Ford, wouldroutinely put together lavish enter-tainments, often hiring well-knownwriters and performers, as presenta-tions for staff and customers. Nodirector has yet been named, but LaLa Land producer Marc Platt isbehind the project, with playwrightSteven Levenson writing the script.

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Police say a woman stole baby Jesusfrom a Nativity scene in Bethlehem,

Pennsylvania, and dropped the figurineoff at a hospital with a note explainingthat the baby had been “neglected” byhis parents, “Joseph and MaryChrist.”

The 49-year-oldJacqueline Ross reportedlytold them it was a joke, butthey aren’t laughing. Shewas identifiedfrom surveillancevideo and isjailed on charges of theft andinstitutional vandalism.

Police say she went to thehospital early on December 4just minutes after stealing the$2,700 figurine from PayrowPlaza. They also say she left anote with the porcelain baby thatread, in part, “Child has brokenright foot which is been (sic)neglected. Parents Joseph and MaryChrist got a warning.”

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The humble comestible wasattached to a weather balloon by a

team from Sent Into Space — andsent on an upward journey reachingabout 100,000 feet.

It was launched last week from apub car park near to where the pie eat-ing championships are to be held nextweek in Wigan. Video footage shows

the pie making its glorious journey,soaring way above the clouds

in a flight which lastedabout three hours.

After it crasheddown back to Earth it was sent for

testing to see whether its molecularstructure had changed.

Those involved in its trip said itwould have been frozen as it made itsascent — before being cooked as it

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Well, this is nuts — it turns out youcan use a delicious blend of Nutel-

la and condensed milk to dye your hair.

Beauty blogger HudaKattan shared a video onInstagram of a woman havingher hair treated with the hazel-nut chocolate spread, which, asyou’re probably aware, is more oftenused to top toast, fill croissants, orswirl into brioche.

The woman had the hair treatmentat the Aded & Samer salon in Dubai.She walked in with blonde hair, and walked out with a light, indulgentshade of brunette.

The hairdresser’s technique/recipe issimple — she smothers the client’s hairwith Nutella, drizzles a little condensedmilk over the top, then puts folds of tinfoil over the top to lock in the goodness.

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Two Kentucky men were arrested lastweek after they accidentally called

911, tipping off authorities to theiralleged plan to rob a BBQ restaurantwhere the local police chief happened tobe dining.

Robert Bourne and David Grigsbywere sitting in their car outside of

Brothers’ BBQ in Danvillewhen the emergency function

on one of their phones inadver-tently connected with a 911 dis-

patcher, according to LEX-18.The dispatcher listened in to the call

and heard the two men allegedly dis-cussing places they might rob, includingBrothers’ BBQ. Authorities determinedwhere the call originated and contactedDanville police chief Tony Gray, who, asit turned out, was enjoying a mealinside the mentioned restaurant.

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Atech company has launched a virtu-al girlfriend device which can send

touching texts throughout the day ask-ing how you are feeling.

Gatebox, the founding company,developed the technology to act as acompanion to someone who may be liv-ing alone.

The device includes a small holo-graphic robot, which can also be used tocontrol things like lighting timings.

The advert showcasing the technol-ogy above, shows a lonely man enjoying

interacting with his virtual girlfriend.The man is shown chatting to the deviceas if it were his wife, telling hergood morning as she updates himon the day’s weather.

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An ordained Pagan priest final-ly has gotten the OK to sport

goat horns in his Maine driver’slicense photo.

Maine resident Phelan Moon-song said that unless he’s sleepingor bathing, he always wears hisgoat horns, which serve as hisspiritual antennae and help himeducate others about Paganism.

But Moonsong is questioningwhy he had to appeal his driverlicense’s photo to the state afterexplaining his religious beliefs toBureau of Motor Vehicle staff. Plus,he adds, the horns didn’t obstruct hisface.

The Maine Secretary of State’soffice said the state was not familiarwith his choice of headdress and hadasked Moonsong for more informa-

tion to review the issue. A spokes-woman said the state allowed the goat

horns because Moonsong cited theirreligious purposes and also

because they didn’t obstruct hisface. Maine motor vehicle staff

can hold license photos for reviewif they have a concern about reli-

gious headdress.Moonsong said after he

applied for an updated dri-ver’s license in August andexplained his religion to amotor vehicles employee, he

was told to appeal his phototo the Secretary of State’soffice.He said he providedmore information to theSecretary of State’s office.But when he contacted the

Bureau of Motor Vehicles inlate November, he said he wastold his ID was rejected —which was news to him.

Moonsong then filled out anapplication for legal assistancefrom the American Civil Liber-ties Union, which recently toldhim it was unable to take his case.

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We are looking back atthe year gone by.Print magazinespresent to us the 20best photographs of

the year, news commentators arereviewing 2016’s major events, and inour heads we assess if the year wentby too fast or was a drag, at timeswith a mellow view of our ownpersonal annual history. The future isuncertain. It is a question whoseanswer we will never know. Perhapsit may be more comforting to lookback in to the past?

We reminisce nostalgically. Agroup of researchers at theUniversity of Colorado at Boulder afew years ago set off to investigatehow we form our impressions of thepast. They found that we tend toexperience emotions from the pastless strongly than emotions from thepresent. The intensity of ouremotions decrease over time. Theresearchers had a group of peoplewatch a frightening movie clip.Immediately after watching it, thegroup thought it was very scary.About 20 minutes later, theresearchers had the same groupwatch a second movie clip which wasas scary as the first one. The groupthen evaluated the first clip onceagain after having viewed the second,but did not find the first clip sofrightening looking back on it.

Further, another piece of researcha few years later found that whenpeople think back at events in the past,they remember the evaluation theygave that event, but not the reason forthat evaluation. We tend to labelcertain events with how we felt at thatmoment which may not be accurate

relative to experiences that occurredlater. It was inferred that this is whywhen we look back at events from ouryouth, we are likely to remembermany things as being excellent, whilewe forget how we decided on theirexcellence or brilliance. We do notcompare it to the broader base ofexperiences as an adult either. Thingsmust have been better when we wereyounger, we tend to feel.

I find the nostalgia evoked at theend of the calendar year fascinating.An object of our own creation, theconstruction of calendars requiresthe use of mathematics andastronomy often accompanied withreligious connotations. For instancethere is a clear connection betweenregional religions and domesticcalendars, and the utilisation of theselocal calendars involves culturalsophistication. In fact, the history ofcalendrical progress itself can explainmuch about society in which thesedevelopments occur.

But the global calendar of theworld is the Christian one. This toois a highly complex process — thestart of this calendar year varies withthe exact geographic location of aplace, and the use of a shared timeand a common calendar requires thefixing of a reference location orprincipal meridian. Organisingourselves to do this across variousparts of the world has beenpolitically charged to say the least.

And so now as a result of thecalendar, we have managed to create acommon moment of nostalgia theworld over. At midnight on December31 we usually turn our backs to theevents of the year gone by and awaitthe new year. We typically feel

courageous, hopeful, euphoric, fallinginto the belief that with newbeginnings the load of the past isdiminished and even left behind.

I am supportive of every emotionthat unites the world in a sharedoptimistic perspective. But it is morechallenging to do so this end of theyear though, when the unthinkablebecame possible. There were frequentterror attacks that we can not forget.The blood that flowed in Syria stainsour memory. Jo Cox can never beburied. The shooting in Orlando stillrings in our ears.

Indeed for the first time twoformer military men were sentencedto a combined 360 years in jail afterbeing found guilty of holding 15indigenous women in sexual slaveryin the 1980s — but we are dismayed athow far we still have to go to stop

these atrocities. In fact, we can notforget the 35,000 women who areraped each year in India itself.

Not quite 1789 or 1989, but thishas been a year that has also reversedpolitical status quo. Fraught withblood and terror it has been a goodyear for crowd-pleasers and rabble-rousers who won elections bywhipping up voter emotions withpolitical rhetoric. Many feel thatBrexit defined 2016 in this contextand the impression was reinforcedultimately by a property tycoonbecoming the US President.

Indeed we are nowhere near agreat depression. Yet the memories ofthe upheavals globally are hard tobrush away this year.

The course of time can not erasethe memory of how politics — amanmade institution — became largerthan the cost of our own lives. And soas we unite in looking back at the endof a calendar year — another object ofour own creation — we might rejoiceat the progress made in 2016 onartificial intelligence, gene editing,and self-driving cars. Yet we can notforget that this year only 21 of the 200girls kidnapped from their school inNigeria over two years ago by BokoHaram have been released.

Thanks to the humble calendar onthe wall, at this time of the year weare united in our shared perspective.Perhaps we can also move forwardtogether in overcoming the calamitiesthat we have inflicted upon ourselves.

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The festival ofChristmas is aholy one. It is theday when JesusChrist was born,

on whose teachingsChristianity is based. Thereare a lot of people in thisworld who follow his teach-ings and celebrate the merri-ment of this annual occa-sion. But what is the truespirit of Christmas?

There is a beautifulstory from Persia of a manwho prayed to God to showhim who was most devotedto Him. God appeared andtold the man to visit thehome of one of His devoteesin a certain village. So theman set out to the place.When he arrived there, hefound the devotee had nevertaken the pilgrimage toMecca. “What sort of adevotee is this?” the manwondered. When he askedthe reason for his not visit-ing the holy city, the mantold him that he had finallysaved enough money tomake the trip, but a neigh-bour approached him, beg-ging for money for hisstarving family. The devoteegave him the money he hadsaved, and was not able tomake the trip. The visitorthen told him, “Your pil-grimage has been accepted.God has told me that youare His greatest devotee. Byserving your fellow beings,you are the true devotee andservant of God.”

Every religion extols theimportance of giving ofone’s self for the good ofothers. There are anecdotesfrom different religions thatrelate how someone hasfound favor with the Lordbecause he or she has

helped one in need. Even ifa person is not a saint or aholy one, his or her status israised in the eyes of God dueto a noble gesture whichleads to the relief of anoth-er’s suffering. Christ too; likeother great Saints, empha-sised on leading a pure life.Dedicating to humanity, hesaid: “Blessed are the pure inheart: For they shall seeGod.” — Matthew — 5:8(King James version).

If we just think aboutour own response to exam-ples of service that we wit-ness we can get an inklingof why it such an importantquality. We often readaccounts in the newspapersor magazines or watch sto-ries on television about peo-ple who have taken heroicsteps to help others. We areoften moved and inspiredby reports of those whohave risked their lives tosave someone else. We hon-our heroes who have diedfor their country. We raiseto martyrdom those whohave tried to help humanityand have lost their lives inthe process. Service is oneof the great acts one can doin this lifetime.

It is rare that the averageperson has to face the choiceof giving up his or her lifephysically in order to savesomeone else. But there arenumerous opportunities thatoffer themselves to us dailyin which we can help some-one else. The sacrifice maybe of our time, of ourmoney, of our resources, orof our skills. But there is nodearth of chances to give ofourselves for the good ofhumanity.

It is a high quality tohave feelings of love for all

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In our junior classes we had a period on scripturesin which Bible History as a subject was also taught.The Old Testament, The New Testament, and the

stories of life of Jesus Christ especially the parableswere truly inspiring as they all carried useful lessons.The Miracles of Jesus Christ, his sermons and above allhis humility had a great impact on our minds. Butwhat was the greatest of all his lessons were his famouslast words while he was on the crucifix. True, the sig-nificance of those words were too big for a child of ajunior class to understand. How could one ask God toforgive those who are very cruelly crucifying some-body who has done no wrong? Even the persons whopassed the sentence of crucifixion knew and acknowl-edged that Jesus had done no wrong. And lo, this manis saying, “Father, forgive them, for they know notwhat they do”. But it was only after a few decades thatthe significance of those famous last words, theirimport came to strike my mind. It was a chance inci-dent that gave me this realisation.

It so happened that I was going to some place foran official work. The car driven by a chauffeur wasnegotiating a rural terrain. The time was some timearound Holi and it was morning. As the car sloweddown at a bend on the road a small kid who was juststanding on the side picked up a handful of mud andsimply banged it on the car I was travelling in. Theenraged driver stopped the car and was preparing tochase the boy who was smiling innocently. But with noapparent damage to the body of the car I intervenedasking the driver to forget and continue the journey.And in a flash I could realise what Christ meant. Theboy did what he did for simply pleasure. He enjoyedthat hitting of the body of the car with the mud ball hehad created. He rejoiced and for him it was not wrong,neither morally nor legally to bang the car. This waswhat Christ wanted to convey. It, of course, requires akind of Christ like greatness to pray for forgiveness ofthose who were trying to kill him so cruelly. For uslesser mortals it may not always be possible but still weshould try to learn some lessons from the great soulswho come to this world to show us the light.

Greatness certainly may not be possible for every-body but goodness is surely attainable. There have beenpeople who have proved that goodness can lead togreatness if only we learn from their lives, their deeds.The world has seen many rulers, kings and emperorswho have derived their power from sheer coerciveforce, but there also have been people who haveacquired their power out of love and compassion. FromMahavira and Buddha to more recently Gandhi andMartin Luther king, all have proved that niceties alsorule and rule for a much longer period. Nice guys, then,do not always finish second. Power has many connota-tions and defining it has always been a difficult job forsocial scientists, but its impact has not been as difficultto understand. The over ambitious leaders have alwaystried to win others whereas the great leaders have wonthemselves first. The others simply followed suit.

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people, both those we knowand those who are strangers.It is one of the goals of spiri-tuality for humanity to devel-op the quality of love and ser-vice to all. The Sufis say thatGod made human beings togive love and service to oth-ers. If He wanted devotionalone, He had angels. Buthuman beings are the onlyform of creation that has thegodly capacity to love andserve others. To become acomplete human being, weneed to have this ability.

It is love which opens ourhearts to share in the suffer-ing and joys of others. And itis humility which inspires usto reach out to the lowly andthe poor, the forsaken and theforgotten. It is not the magni-tude of our acts of loving-kindness that ultimately mat-ters. It is the sincerity withwhich they are offered.

There is an actual inci-dent which took place in asmall church school whichdemonstrates the true mean-ing of humility and sincerelove. Every year the churchschool put on a Christmasplay and the children playedparts connected with thestory of the birth of Christ.One friendly young boy whowas about seven years old wasto play the part of theinnkeeper at Bethlehem whoturned Joseph and Mary awayand forced them to take shel-ter in a stable where Jesus wasborn. His teacher told him tosay his one line in a harshtone: “There is no room atthe inn.” But for two weeksthe boy had trouble doing so.Finally, the big night arrived.His family and friends in theaudience beamed with pridewhen he boomed: “There is

no room at the inn.” Butwhen the children playingMary and Joseph turned awaywith sad faces, the boy could-n’t resist adding, “But come inanyway and have some cook-ies and milk.”

As we celebrateChristmas, let us do so in aspirit as open-hearted as thatboy. If we but develop the eyesto see, we will find that everyday is filled with opportuni-ties to express love and com-passion, and to perform actsof kindness which can bringjoy to those around us. Everyday is filled with opportuni-ties to spread the fragrance offorgiveness and apply thebalm of soothing words.

When we help someone,our heart expands. It reachesout to embrace another as amember of the one humanfamily. This act alone opens upour soul. As our love for oth-ers flows out, God’s love for uscan pour in. As this exchangetakes place, our soul currentsbegin to rise up to the point atwhich we can experience thedivine Light within us. Ourmeditations receive a boost,and our soul, filled with peaceand joy, transcends to higherstates of consciousness. Thus,it is through selfless servicethat we speed up our progresstowards the attainment ofinner peace and ecstasy.

To give love consciously isnot only a panacea for thehardships, the torments ofmodern life, it is an enrichingexperience for the giver also.It enriches the giver as well asthe receiver; we all grow. Solet’s celebrate this Christmaswith its true spirit of love,humility and selfless service.Merry Christmas!

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Yes, it is possible thoughquite difficult. Before I gointo the details about how,

let us have clarity about what theword equanimity really means.The word equanimity is definedas a calm state of mind whichmeans that one does not becomeangry or upset, especially in diffi-cult situations. This definition,however, does not convey the fullsense of the word because calmstate of mind is required even ingood times when we make mostof our mistakes, having becomeconfident that we can do nowrong. This overconfidence, if welook back, is what got us in trou-ble most of the time.

It is not surprising that LordKrishna, who is omniscient,speaks of both positive and nega-tive aspects when he speaks aboutequanimity. For example, hespeaks about success and failure,

honour and dishonour, pleasureand miseries an so on altogether.

Now returning to our topic,when we consider both the sides,maintaining equanimity becomesquite a challenge. Let us take suc-cess and failure. What happenswhen we succeed? Don’t we feelelated, confident, wishing to shareour feelings with others. There isnothing wrong in this as long aswe do not forget to give credit toothers who contributed. Successby the way, especially substantial,cannot be achieved without thecontribution of others. That iswhy a calm state of mind isrequired in such situations.

Similarly, when failure strikes,we should not become angry orupset or start to blame others,who may be associated with us.When we do that we hurt our-selves in more ways than what thefailure has caused. Here again

equanimity is most essential.Lord Krishna has spoken

about equanimity in many differ-ent verses of the Bhagavad Gita.He wants us to practise equanimi-ty during pain and pleasure; tobecome free from anxieties of

acquisition and preservation, afterhaving achieving either auspiciousor inauspicious results; neither topraise not to envy; neither torejoice too much having achievedsomething dear nor to get too agi-tated having met something

unpleasant; to be equipoised in allcircumstances; neither getting over-whelmed with joy nor hating; nei-ther lamenting nor craving; equa-nimity should be there towards anenemy and a friend; one should bepoised in cold and heat; and to befree from the fault of extreme reac-tion in all situations.

The last instruction gives us the clue to be able to maintainequanimity. There should be a band within which we shouldrestrict our emotions. There is nothing like a specific point;equanimity is essentially is restricting ourselves within a range.

What benefits do we derivewhen we are able to maintainequanimity in all circumstances,especially because it is so difficultto practise? There are plenty ofthem. One will have stable behav-iour, ie circumstances will not

have disproportionate effect. Onewill not lose one’s sense of propor-tion in good times. One is unlikelyto make serious mistakes. One willbe able to take proper decisions;will not be swayed by emotions.

One will not act foolishly;thereby will not hurt self or oth-ers. One will be peaceful. One willnot be easily depressed. One willachieve yoga, i.e connection withGod by maintaining equanimityin both success and failure. Onewill become dear to God. One willcome to the mode of goodness.And one will remain in Brahman.

With so many benefits, it isworth it to try to practise equa-nimity. But remember, that we areaiming for a range suiting ournatures, not perfection, which inany case is not possible for usordinary mortals.

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The year is now closing up. Butbefore we say good bye to 2016,we need to look at the legacy that

we are carrying over to the new year. Allthat we have gone through during theyear has become history, which won’t bereplicated in the emerging times. Yet,we need to reflect upon the goings dur-ing the year. For, there remains continu-um all through the run of time. And ina world driven by cause-effect chain, theseeds that we sow today are to grow intofruit bearing trees in the emergingtimes. In this light, we need to self-reflect, identify and acknowledge ourweaknesses in particular, and addressthem well in time. It will then be possi-ble for us to take on the callings of thenew year on a strong note.

The indications given in the open-ing issue of the year based on astronom-ical referrals seem to have by and largeseen the light of day. The astrologicalmarkers under consideration were: (a)Engagement of Mars with its inimicalplanet Saturn. (b) The Sun lockinghorns with Uranus and Neptune. (c)Affliction of Mercury. They impliedconcerns in terms of security, out of boxmoves, being bound by peculiar beliefsleading to communal flare up, youth

unrest, and intellectual debate. In terms of security concerns, we

had to contend with terror strike onmilitary base with the dawn of the yearitself. Despite that, if army establish-ments were attacked again and againimplies that somehow we have yet notlearnt the lessons. Otherwise, the terror-ists would not have been able to enterour well guarded premises so easily. Wetherefore need to augment our pre-paredness and sense of alert. This is notto undermine all the good work done byIndian Army, and sacrifices made byour security personnel in service of thenation. In an unprecedented moveIndian army made a successful surgicalstrike on terrorist camps located inPakistan. But that doesn’t seem to havemade any significant deterrent effect tothe desperate terrorists and theirpatrons. Kashmir has been boiling formajor part of the year.

We have been witness to communaland racial flare up off on, on one pretextor the other. It implies that there hasbeen something basically wrong withour thought process. Every such inci-dent was followed by public discourseon ideological and morality count. Theirony of the whole situation, however, is

that the contending parties, instead ofbeing engaged in a meaningful debate,have been crying foul of each other. So,intolerant and impatient we havebecome that our preconditioned mind isnot prepared to even listen to any con-trarian view. We seem to have lost allsense of humility and civility. Even ourParliament has been displaying similartrends, as it has almost become dysfunc-tional. Whom to blame, is difficult tomake out. The Government and theconscientious people need to seriouslythink on taking necessary corrective ini-tiatives right from school level to give apositive turn to the thought process ofevery budding child.

Towards the last leg of the year, thenation seems to have been given a shocktreatment through demonetisation ofhigh value currency notes. That hasmade a serious dent not simply on indi-vidual comfort of people, even economyhas been hit hard on account of contin-ued restriction on cash withdrawal. Notquestioning intent, political and eco-nomic wisdom, of those who took thecall, it was certainly ill-timed and ill-planned move, if astrological pointerscarry any meaning, which deserves alook.

Wisdom signifying Jupiter is posi-

tioned opposite Uranus, which if ill-positioned, could tempt you into takingan out of box decision, often difficult todigest. This, when read together withthe Sun in debilitation implies that theGovernment machinery would not bewell geared up for its implementation.Mars is in exchange with its dire enemySaturn. Mercury occupies same sign asthat of Saturn. Mercury, thus will bedeemed to be involved in the exchange.It implies that because of flawed plan-ning, the decision may invite ire of peo-ple, particularly those in the lower rungof the society. Masses indicator Moonwas approaching headless Ketu andmischievous Neptune, in a Saturnowned sign Aquarius.

It implies that people’s inner feelmay not be visible immediately as such,but when time comes, their decisivereaction may baffle all analysis. Onlyposterity can prove the real fall out ofdemonetisation decision in long termperspective. Let us see how long it takesto regain normalcy.

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