accused of abduction from jail,triple talaq bill wishes ......against the entry of women in the...

the pioneerwishes its readers

HAPPY NEWYEAR

As the offices of The Pioneer will remain

closed on January 1, the next edition will be

published on January 3.

CAPSULE

ARMY FOILS BAT ATTACK,2 PAK SOLDIERS KILLEDSrinagar: A major Border ActionTeam (BAT) action has beenfoiled along the Line of Controlin Naugam sector of Jammu &Kashmir by killing two intruderswho are “likely Pakistanisoldiers”, the Army said onMonday.

DELHI’S AIR QUALITYREMAINS SEVERENew Delhi: Pollution levelsspiked to “severe” category onNew Year eve, promptingauthorities to warn people thatany increase in vehicularpollutants or burning offirecrackers would worsen thesituation.

MEN SEEN TRANSPORTING‘KHASHOGGI BODY PARTS’Ankara: A Turkish TV station hasbroadcast the CCTV footageshowing men carrying cases andbags which it says containedslain Saudi journalist JamalKhashoggi’s body parts.

MAY RETHINK SUPPORTTO MP, RAJ GOVTS: MAYALucknow: Virtually putting theCongress-led Governments inMP and Rajasthan on notice, theBSP supremo Mayawati onMonday said she might have to“reconsider” her party’s outsidesupport to them if cases against“innocent” persons framed inBharat Bandh on April 2 werenot withdrawn.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Opposition parties ledby the Congress put up a

united front in the Rajya Sabhaon Monday to thwart theGovernment move to pass thecontentious triple talaq Bill.While the Government pressedfor a discussion on the MuslimWomen Protection of Rightson Marriage Bill 2018 after LawMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadtabled the Bill, the Oppositionstuck to its demand for send-ing the Bill to a select com-mittee of Parliament.

After the passage of the Billin the Lok Sabha last week,Opposition members con-vened a meeting on Mondaybefore the legislation was to beintroduced in the RS

In view the tough standtaken by the Opposition, it’sunlikely that the triple talaq Billwill become a law during thewinter session of Parliament.

The Opposition parties

have written to Rajya SabhaChairman M Venkaiah Naidu,demanding that the triple talaqBill should be sent to a selectcommittee of the House forconsideration and the motionwas initiated by TrinamoolCongress MP Derek O’Brien.As per the resolution submit-ted by the Opposition, theChairman will have to take itup before taking up the tripletalaq Bill for discussion.

The resolution has beensigned by Congress, NCP, TDP,RJD, AAP, SP, BSP, DMK, CPIand CPM and the AIADMK.The AIADMK has been sup-portive of the Centre on mostissues, but last week it vehe-mently opposed the passage ofthe Bill in its present format inthe Lok Sabha.

The Opposition meeting,chaired by Rajya Sabha Leaderof Opposition Ghulam NabiAzad, was attended amongothers by leaders of 12Opposition parties, includingSamajwadi Party’s Ram GopalYadav, TMC’s Derek O’Brien,CPI’s D Raja, Kerala Congress’Jose K Mani.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NEW DELHI

Prices of domestic cookinggas (LPG) were cut by a

steep `120.50 per non-sub-sidised cylinder and `5.91 persubsidised cylinder onMonday, the second straightreduction in a month’s timedue to tax impact on reducedmarket rate of the fuel.

A 14.2-kg subsidised LPGcylinder will cost `494.99 inthe national Capital postMonday midnight as against`500.90, Indian Oil Corp(IOC), the country’s largest fuelretailer, said in a statement. OnDecember 1, subsidised LPGprice was cut by ̀ 6.52 a bottle.

That price cut had comeafter six consecutive monthlyhikes in rates since June. Thetwo price reductions havemostly negated the `14.13 percylinder increase in ratesbetween June and November.

IOC said non-subsidisedor market priced LPG rateshave been cut by a steep`120.50 per cylinder “due to

fall in price of LPG in inter-national market and strength-ening of US dollar-rupeeexchange rate.” It will nowcost ̀ 689 per 14.2-kg cylinderin Delhi.

On December 1, price ofnon-subsidised LPG was cut by`133 per bottle.

All LPG consumers haveto buy the fuel at market price.The Government, however,subsidises 12 cylinders of 14.2-kg each per households in ayear by providing the subsidyamount directly in bankaccounts of users.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NASHIK

The Nashiksessions

court inMaharashtraon Mondayacquitted lateAbdul KarimTelgi andseven others in a 2004 multi-crore fake stamp paper case inabsence of “solid evidence”against them.

Telgi, who was convictedin several cases in connectionwith the scam and sentencedto imprisonment of 30 years intotal, died in Bengaluru inOctober last year while serv-ing his jail term.

Charges against Telgi,believed to be the kingpin ofthe scam that was spread overseveral States, were abatedafter his death. In his order,district and sessions courtjudge, first class, PRDeshmukh acquitted Telgi andseven others for want of evi-dence against them.

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) had filed achargesheet against Telgi andothers in a Nashik court inAugust 2004 under varioussections of the IPC.

The CBI had contendedthat the accused, includingthe officers and constables ofthe Railway Protection Force,colluded with Telgi by sellinghim stamp papers by openingsealed packets when they weretransported to the Nashik rail-way yard from the city-basedIndia Security Press, saiddefence advocate MY Kale.

These stamp papers weremeant to be dispatched totreasuries of various StateGovernments.

The India Security Press(ISP) is a subsidiary of theSecurity Printing & MintingCorporation of India, a publicundertaking.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former Congress leaderSajjan Kumar on Monday

surrendered before a city courton the last day of the deadlineset by the Delhi High Courtand was sent to jail to serve hislife sentence in a case relatingto the deadly anti-Sikh riots in1984. Kumar, 73, was broughtto Mandoli jail in northeastDelhi shortly after he surren-dered before MetropolitanMagistrate Aditi Garg, whodirected that he be provided aseparate van for commutingdue to “security threat”.

Clad in a black coat andtrousers, a cream colouredmuffler and a blue cap, Kumar,a former Lok Sabha MP, wasflanked by his lawyers andsurrounded by scores of secu-rity personnel as he arrived at Karkardooma court at 2.15 pm.

Calling it a “big relief ” for

the riots victims who havebeen fighting for justice for thepast 34 years, Shiromani AkaliDal member Manjinder SinghSirsa said millions of peoplewho have harboured the painof 1984 in their hearts want tosee “big fish” Sajjan Kumar sur-render. This will be the begin-ning of justice and punishmentfor the main Congress leadersinvolved, he said.

“We will not rest till every-one guilty in the anti-Sikh1984 riots are brought to jus-tice,” he added.

Kumar is the first bigpolitician to be convicted in theriots. In its judgment onDecember 17, the high courtnoted that over 2,700 Sikhswere killed in the nationalcapital, holding that the riotswas indeed a “carnage of unbe-lievable proportions”. The riotsbroke out after the assassina-tion of then prime ministerIndira Gandhi on October 31,

1984, by her two Sikh body-guards.

Outside the court complex,a group of Sikhs gathered rais-ing slogans and showing thevictory sign after Kumar sur-rendered. Media persons werenot allowed inside the courtroom by the judge and securi-ty officials.

The trial court declined theplea of Kumar’s lawyer that hebe sent to high-security TiharJail as the case pertains toDelhi Cantonment area whichcomes under this jail’s juris-diction.

It was informed by jailauthorities that fromKarkardooma court, all con-victs are first taken to Mandolijail and from there, the author-ities may shift them to anoth-er jail, if they deem it appro-priate.

“The convict is taken intocustody and be sent to jail asper rules. Since, there is secu-

rity threat to the convict, he beprovided a separate van forcommuting from court to jailand from jail to court,” themagistrate said in the two-pageorder.

Kumar came to the court-room surrounded by 2-3 com-mandos along with 20-25 DelhiPolice personnel, includingwomen, said one of the policeofficers. He was flanked by hisconfidant Kailash and 4-5advocates. No family memberor Congress leader accompa-nied him.

The high court convictedand sentenced Kumar to lifeimprisonment for the “remain-der of his natural life” and seta December 31 deadline forhim to surrender. OnDecember 21, it refused toextend the deadline by onemonth as pleaded by him.After his conviction, Kumarresigned from the Congressparty.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

The countdown for Women’sWall, an exclusive wall by

women to be formed fromKasaragod in the north toParassala in south, has begunin Kerala. To be formed on theNew Year day under the aus-pices of the Marxists-ledKerala Government, it is aneffort to check the growth ofSangh Parivar in general andthe BJP in particular.

Women’s Wall is answer tothe recent agitation by Hindusagainst the Supreme Courtverdict quashing the ban on theentry of women to SabarimalaTemple, think Left leaders.

The festival season ofSabarimala which began inthe second week of November

got eclipsed because of the agi-tation by various Hindu organ-istions which staged NamaJapa Rallies at Sabarimalaagainst the entry of women inthe child-bearing age group.

The CPI(M) is leaving nostone unturned to make thewall a grand success, especial-ly against the backdrop of thesuccess of Ayyappa Jyothi heldlast week by the SabarimalaAction Committee against thecourt verdict. It has put intoaction all frontal organisationsof the party along with theKerala Government machinery.District Collectors have beenissued orders to ensure the suc-cess of Women’s Wall whilelocal bodies led by the CPI(M)have swung into action tomake it a landmark event.

“Women’s Wall is a reac-tion to the attempts by theHindu community to mobilisewomen against the apex courtverdict and challenge the val-ues of the social reformationmovement,” said ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan in arelease on Sunday.

But Leader of theOpposition RameshChennaithala said Women’sWall was an attempt by theCPI(M) to weaken the demo-cratic forces and strengthen thehands of the RSS and the BJP.In a release to the media,Chennithala alleged theGovernment is misusing theofficial machinery to buildsupport for Women’s Wall.

“Senior officials are issuingcirculars to subordinates while

service organisations are intim-idating employees into joiningthe event. Kudumbashree,Asha workers and MGNREGSworkers are being coerced toback the campaign,” he said.

Elsewhere in the State,people are divided over the fateof Women’s Wall, though it iswidely believed the CPI(M),with its massive infrastructurewould make it a major success.

“From District Collectorsto local body councillors, all areworking to make this a majorevent. Now that the AyyappaJyothi turned out to be a bigsuccess, the onus is on theCPI(M) to make Women’s Walla much bigger success,” saidSuresh Gopinath, former card-holding member of the party.

Continued on Page 7

Hasina’slandslidehat-trick

Triple talaq Billfaces RS blockon select panelAdamant Opp

sticks to guns

Sajjan Kumar surrenders in

court, sent to Mandoli jail

Non-subsidised LPGcylinder `120 cheaper

Telgi acquitted

of stamp paper

scam a year

after his death

Kerala Left plans to nail Right to Women's Wall

Opposition members protest in the Well of the Rajya Sabha on Monday PTI

www.dailypioneer.com

}

WORLD 13

TRUMP'S PROMISE OF A WALL MAY NOT BE FULFILLED AS ADVERTISED

SPORT 15

KOHLI MAINTAINS TOP SPOT IN ICC TEST RANKINGS

Late City Vol. 155 Issue 1*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPURCHANDIGARH DEHRADUN

Established 1864

RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2016-18

LUCKNOW, TUESDAY JANUARY 1, 2019; PAGES 16 `3

AAMIR KHAN

ANNOUNCES A NEW FILM

14 VIVACITY

}

@TheDailyPioneer facebook.com/dailypioneerFollow us on: instagram.com/dailypioneer/

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh governmenton Monday ordered shift-

ing of mafia-turned-politicianAtiq Ahmed from Deoria jail toBareilly jail after a Lucknow-based businessman accusedthe former MP of abductinghim and assaulting him insidethe prison.

“Approval has been givenfor shifting undertrial AtiqAhmed, who is currentlylodged in Deoria district jail, toBareilly district jail on admin-istrative grounds,” an orderissued by the Prisons depart-ment read. The order wassigned by Joint Secretary(Prisons) Surya Prakash Singh

Sengar. Meanwhile, on the basis of

the reports sent by ADG(Prison) and DistrictMagistrate of Deoria, discipli-nary proceedings have beeninitiated against jail superin-tendent Dilip Kumar Pandeyand jailer Mukesh KumarKatiyar. On the other hand,deputy jailer Dev Nath Yadav,Incharge mulaqat MunnaPandey and head wardenRakesh Kumar Sharma havebeen suspended and inquiryhas been initiated against them.

Businessman Mohit Jaiswalhas alleged that he was abduct-ed from the state capital lastweek and driven almost 300km to the Deoria jail where

gangster Atiq Ahmed and hisaccomplices assaulted him andforced him to sign away prop-erty worth `40 crore whileholding him hostage insidethe Deoria jail where AtiqAhmed was lodged then.

He alleged that his SUVand cash was also looted byAtiq Ahmed’s goon who wereled by the mafia-turned-politi-cian’s son Umar. Jaiswal saidthat he was freed in KrishnaNagar locality.

Jaiswal had given a com-plaint against Atiq, his sonUmar and their aides ZakiAhmad, Zafarullah and 10-12other unidentified aides atKrishna Nagar police stationafter he returned to Lucknow

in the wee hours on Saturday. Jaiswal also mentioned in

the FIR that the former MPextorted several lakh rupeesfrom him about two years agoand was again demandingmoney for the last four months.

He said the former MP’stwo aides, Farooque and ZakiAhmad visited his office twomonths ago and forcibly gottheir names inducted in hisfirm and took his and his sis-ter Aarti Jaiswal’s digital sig-natures. Both are directors ofthe firm .

Jaiswal further alleged thatFarooque and Zaki Ahmadhad visited his office along withsome other their accompliceson Wednesday and kidnapped

him in his SUV. As per hisclaim, Jaiswal was taken toDeoria jail where Atiq Ahmed,his son and 10-12 other peoplewere already present in the bar-rack. Jaiswal alleged that Atiqand his men tortured him andbroke two fingers of his righthand before making him signdocuments transferring firmsin the names of Farooque andZaki Ahmad. He said theyalso made him forge the sig-natures of his sister who is alsoa director in his five firms.

The police had registeredan FIR against Atiq Ahmed andhis men under relevant sectionsfor extortion, loot, and tortur-ing on the complaint of therealtor.

Accused of abduction from jail,

Atiq Ahmad shifted to Bareilly

PNS n LUCKNOW

With the EnforcementDirectorate claiming that

the middleman inAgustaWestland helicopterdeal had named a “MrsGandhi” as one of the benefi-ciaries, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath demanded an apol-ogy from Congress presidentRahul Gandhi, saying his fam-ily members had received kick-back in this deal.

“Congress is the oldestparty of the country but itsinvolvement in defence dealsduring the UPA regime is wellknown. It has played with thesecurity of the country and theexposure by Christian Michelhas brought to light the factthat Congress wanted its

pound of f lesh in theAgustaWestland chopper dealalso,” Yogi told reporters onMonday.

Yogi also claimed that acourt in Italy had proved thatMrs Gandhi had received thekickback. “The said court pun-ished four people for thisalleged scam but said that itcould not punish othersbecause they were out of coun-try. One of those who was outof Italy at that time was MrsGandhi,” Yogi said withouttaking the name of SoniaGandhi.

In the hurriedly calledpress conference, the ChiefMinister said that Congresshad drifted away from its ide-ology. He said the disclosure inthe AgustaWestland kickback

showed how the party had col-lected money through illegalways by putting the country’sintegrity and security at risk.

“The kickbacks weretaken in purchase of 12

AgustaWestland helicoptersfor Indian Air Force (IAF) in2009-10,” Yogi said and added,“People now know this andwill punish those who werebehind this deal.” Yogi dis-closed that of the total Rs3,700-crore deal, Rs 360 crorewas received as kickbacks ofwhich `150 crore was given toCongress leaders.

“The arrest of ChristianMichel and his revelation,clearly indict the Congress inthe corruption. The name of“Mrs Gandhi” was revealedduring the investigation andeven the court in Italy hadmentioned the name of “MrsGandhi,” Yogi said.

“The Congress was shakyfrom the day one whenChristian Michel was brought

to country. Therefore,Congress put up its advocate todefend Christian Michel. Thisact shows involvement ofCongress party in this scam,”he said.

Yogi said that Congresswas trying to bully the gov-ernment over the issue byputting up a brave face. He saidit was like ‘chor machaye shor’but now it will have to answerthe public why the court hadtaken the name of “MrsGandhi” in the kickback issue.

“Congress president RahulGandhi should seek apologyfrom the country for theirmisdeed though the peoplewill punish the party for theircorruption during the UPAregime in almost all the sec-tors,” the Chief Minister said.

Rahul should apologise for Agusta scam: CM

PTI n DHAKA

Bangladesh Prime MinisterSheikh Hasina’s ruling

alliance on Monday swept to alandslide victory in the gener-al elections, securing a thirdstraight term, an outcome thatwould be good news for India’sties with Dhaka, especially onthe national security front.

The Opposition alliance,comprising jailed ex-premierKhaleda Zia’s BNP and somesmall parties, rejected the polloutcome as “farcical” anddemanded fresh election. TheElection Commission, howev-er, ruled out holding a freshelection. The Awami League-led Grand Alliance won 288seats in the 300-memberParliament. The ruling alliance,which got nearly 82 per cent ofthe total votes polled, betteredits previous best performanceof 2008 when it bagged 263seats. Details on 2

city 02LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

PNS n LUCKNOW

The sitting Lok Sabhamembers of Bharatiya JanataParty who are likely to bedenied ticket for the 2019 par-liamentary elections are mak-ing a beeline to the SamajwadiParty for their rehabilitation inelectoral politics.

Sources in the SamajwadiParty said close to a dozen MPsare in touch with the party andhave also met party presidentAkhilesh Yadav.

A senior SP leader saidnothing could be said about thecandidature of these BJP MPsas many things, including thealliance with the BahujanSamaj Party and other partiesand seat sharing among differ-ent partners was yet to bedecided.

The leader added, “It willbe difficult for the SP to accom-modate the ticket aspirants forthe 2019 elections so nothingcan be said about the partyhoppers.”

The sources said BJP MPfrom DomariyaganjJagdambika Pal and MP fromAllahabad, ShyamacharanGupta, were in touch with the

party. Rebel BJP MP Savitribai

Phule has also met AkhileshYadav.

Jagdambika Pal is a for-mer Congress state presidentof UP and was first elected toLok Sabha in 2009 asCongress candidate.Shyamacharan Gupta is also aformer leader of SamajwadiParty and had been elected toLok Sabha from Banda in2004 Lok Sabha election as SPcandidate.

Meanwhile, amid specula-tions of Savitribai Phule join-ing the Samajwadi Party, a dayafter she met Akhilesh Yadav,the rebel BJP MP fromBahraich denied that she wasjoining the Samajwadi Party.Confirming her meeting withthe SP president, Phule saidher meeting was to discussways to defeat the BJP in the2019 Lok Sabha elections.

Phule said, “The specula-tions about me joiningSamajwadi Party are com-pletely false. There were dis-cussions with Akhilesh Yadavon how to defeat BJP at anycost. We want the SP-BSPalliance to take place and BJP

to be defeated. However, I amnot joining Samajwadi Party.”

The meeting created rip-ples in political circles and itwas speculated that Phulewould be the joint candidateof SP and BSP if an alliancebetween Uttar Pradesh’s twomajor political parties wassealed before the 2019 LokSabha elections.

On Sunday, Akhilesh hadadmitted in Lucknow that hemet Phule but denied to com-ment on speculations overthe candidature of the rebelBJP MP in the Lok Sabha elec-tions as a probable maha-gathbandhan candidate.

“She had met me and toldme about her problems... herissues were genuine,” Yadavhad said.

Phule had resigned fromthe BJP earlier this month,criticising the party for “try-ing to create divisions in soci-ety”.

Recently, while holding herfirst rally after quitting theBJP, Phule had launched ascathing attack on the saffronparty, saying it should focus onmarginalised sections and noton temple politics.

Lucknow (PNS): Bahujan SamajParty supremo Mayawati has askedthe Congress to immediately with-draw criminal cases against Dalitswho were booked in false cases dur-ing the Bharat Bandh agitation onApril 2 against the Supreme Courtjudgement on SC, ST Act otherwiseher party would be forced to reviewits decision of extending outside sup-port to the Congress governments inMadhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

Mayawati said hundreds of inno-cent persons from Dalit communi-ty were framed in false cases out ofpolitical vendetta by the previousBharatiya Janata Party governmentsin Rajasthan and MP.

“It is essential to issue a warningto the Congress as people would nolonger be satisfied by the promisesand announcements. In people’sperception, Congress and BJP are the

two sides of the same coin and it isfor the Congress to see whether it canbring some change in this percep-tion,” Mayawati said in a statementon Monday.

Mayawati also suggested to theCongress that it refrain from mak-ing false promises like the BJP madeto farmers and unemployed youths.

The BSP chief said Dalits hadstaged protest demanding restorationof the SC, SC (Prevention ofAtrocities) Act which was “diluted”by the Supreme Court in its order inMarch 2018, and passage of the leg-islation by the Lok Sabha for ensur-ing promotion in reservation for theSC and ST.

She said the newly-formedCongress-led governments shouldimmediately withdraw the false casesregistered against the Dalits.

The BSP chief also asked the

Congress governments in MP,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh to takeimmediate steps for serving theinterests of the farmers and unem-ployed youths.

Mayawati said it would be in theinterest of the BJP if it accepted thedemand of opposition parties forreferring the triple talaq bill to theselect committee of Parliament.

The bill was recently passed bythe Lok Sabha and is pending in theRajya Sabha.

Targeting UP Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath for the deteriorationin law and order, Mayawati said the jungle raj in UP was so acute that even the lives of police person-nel were not safe in the present BJPrule and the killing of police inspec-tor in Bulandshahr and police headconstable in Ghazipur was a testimo-ny to it.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Wishing people a happyand prosperous newyear, Chief Minister

Yogi Adityanath said that withthe help of people, his govern-ment would take Uttar Pradeshto new height in 2019 with theinflux of new infrastructureprojects and implementation ofwelfare schemes.

“The aim of the governmentwill be to improve the quality oflife of the people by providingthem better amenities,” the ChiefMinister said in a written state-ment issued here on Monday.

He said the governmentwas committed to providingbetter facilities to the farmers.He pointed out that the govern-ment had waived crop loans offarmers and had introducedschemes to double the farmincome by 2022. “The new yearwill witness introduction ofnew schemes which will focuson redressal of farmers’ prob-lems at the earliest,” the ChiefMinister said.

Elaborating on the govern-ment schemes, Yogi said Prime

Minister Narendra Modi wasworking on the philosophy ofSabka Saath Sabka Vikas (inclu-sive development) and the UPgovernment was following thismantra in letter and in spirit.

Yogi said the developmentbrought in by the governmentwas now being witnessed onthe ground. He said under thePradhan Mantri Awas Yojana,over 18 lakh people had beengiven houses and 2.5 lakhlatrines had been constructed.Besides, he said, over one crorepeople had been given freeelectric connections underSaubhagya scheme and 90 lakhwomen had been provided free

LPG connections under theUjjwala Yojana.

“These beneficiaries wereidentified without consider-ing their caste or creed.Whosoever fits into the govern-ment scheme has been identi-fied and extended help,” theChief Minister said.

In health sector, the ChiefMinister said, 13 new medicalcolleges were coming up whileAIIMS would be opened inGorakhpur and Rae Bareli andunder Ayushmaan BharatYojana, over five lakh peoplewould be given free healthtreatment.

The Chief Minister alsohighlighted the achievementsin the education sector whichinclude free text books, food,sweaters and bags to students.

“The biggest achievementof last year was conduct ofcheating-free examinations andthis will continue in 2019 too,”Yogi said.

He also talked about indus-trial development and ODOP(One District One Product)scheme launched by the gov-ernment.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The ambitious projects ofsetting up a zoo in

Gorakhpur and starting a lightand sound show at theGorakhnath temple willbecome a reality in the NewYear.

Gorakhpur, the native cityof Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath, has been inthe limelight of development in2018 with the city already get-ting a civil airport.

On January 1, 2019, thelight and sound show willcommence at the Gorakhnathtemple while the zoo will beready by June next.

The construction of AIIMSis under full swing in the citywhile the closed fertiliser fac-tory will reopen in the newyear.

Sources in the Gorakhnathtemple confirmed on Mondaythat the light and sound showwill commence from Tuesday.It will be held at the BhimSarovar where a 30-foot waterscreen has been installed.

In the inaugural show, thepeople will watch the history ofthe Nath panth through 3-Dpresentation.

“The light and sound showwill be held every day after sun-set,” the sources said.

Meanwhile, work on theGorakhpur zoo is also under-way and it is expected that thezoo will be thrown open forpublic by June next.

The sources said that thegovernment was spendingaround `250 crore for settingup the zoo on 121.34 acre landbesides a bio-diversity parkon 171 acre land.

The Gorakhpur zoo, thirdin Uttar Pradesh after Lucknowand Kanpur, will house 200 ani-mals of 30 species in 301 cages.

PNS n LUCKNOW

On the New Year eve, theYogi Adityanath govern-

ment in Uttar Pradesh giftedpromotion and selection gradesto 54 officers of Indian PoliceServices.

According to PrincipalSecretary (Home) ArvindKumar, three IPS officers ofADG rank have been promot-ed to DG rank, seven from IGto ADG rank and five from DIGto IG rank.

A total of 29 IPS officers ofthe rank of SP/SSP have beenpromoted as DIG while 20 offi-cers of the 2006 batch have beengiven selection grade.

All the promotions will beeffective from January 1, 2019.

The three senior IPS officerspromoted as DG are ADG (Lawand Order ) Anand Kumar,and ADGs Asit Panda and RajKumar Vishwakarma.

The IGs promoted to ADGrank are BK Singh, RajaSrivastava, DK Thakur, A DevKumar, Sujit Pandey, JN Singhand Aseem Arun.

The DIGs promoted as IGsare Praveen Kumar, AshutoshKumar, Onkar Singh, SharadSachan and Gyaneshwar Tiwari.

The 29 IPS officers promot-ed to DIG rank include two for-mer SSPs of Lucknow —Deepak Kumar and Manjil Saini.

Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident

Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (0532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (0512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (0542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi Office: No. 6, Behind Gulab Bhawan,

Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi-110 002, Phone: 011-40110455. Communication Office: F-31, Sector 6, NOIDA, Gautam Budh Nagar-201301, U.P. Phone: 0120-4879800 & 4879900

Although every possible care and caution has been taken to avoid errors or omissions, this publication is being sold on the condition and understanding that information given in this publication is merely for reference and must not be taken as having authority of or binding in any way on the writers, editors, publishers, and printers and sellers who do not owe any responsibility for any

damage or loss to any person, a purchaser of this publication or not for the result of any action taken on the basis of this work. All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent court and forums in Lucknow only. Readers are advised and requested to verify and seek appropriate advice to satisfy themselves about the veracity of any kind of advertisement before respond-

ing to any contents published in this newspaper. The printer, publisher, editor and any employee of the Pioneer Group’s will not be held responsible for any kind of claim made by the advertisers of the products & services and shall not be made responsible for any kind of loss, consequences and further product-related damages on such advertisements.

Govt to improve quality

of life of people: CM

54 IPS officers promoted byUP govt

A dozen BJP MPs look at SP for

rehabilitation in electoral politics

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Uttar Pradesh Governor,Ram Naik said on Monday

that the Kumbh-2019 would beunique.

He also highlighted thecontribution of the Union gov-ernment in providing grandeurto this mega religious event.

The Governor visited theSangam, the Hanuman Templeand the Akshayvat with hisfamily and offered specialprayers besides performingaarti of Ganga and BadeHanumanji.

Ram Naik also visited theMela Control CommandCentre and appreciated itsfunctioning. He later enjoyed aboat ride to inspect the Kumbhpreparations.

The Governor greeted peo-ple on the New Year and saidthat Allahabad had been givena beautiful look to welcomepeople from different countriesand states.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

Pilgrims and devotees com-ing to Prayagraj from across

the globe to attend Kumbh-2019 will no longer have to faceany inconvenience in locatingthe nearest railway stations, busstations, enclosures for passen-gers, mela special trains aswell as in getting other signif-icant information pertaining to it.

It is because the railwayadministration has launched‘Rail Kumbh Seva-2019’, anapp which will help crores of

pilgrims as a smart guide. Giving information about

this particular app tonewspersons, chief publicrelations officer (CPRO) ofNorth Central Railway (NCR),GK Bansal, said that pilgrimswould be able to know aboutthe amenities being providedby the Railways to the passen-gers and could navigate from their current location tothe desired location through-out the city through this app.

He said this mobile phoneapp would also help the pil-

grims in finding mela specialtrains and stations ofAllahabad, including AllahabadJunction and other adjoiningstations.

Pilgrims can also get infor-mation about the enclosures forpassengers set up at variousrailway stations, book rail tick-et and avail themselves of thefacility of helpline numbers, headded.

Bansal also said that theapp would also help the pil-grims in locating the railwaycamp in the Kumbh Mela area,postal services in the city,

hotels, temples, bus stand andmalls also.

“Besides, the app will alsoprovide to the pilgrims thefacility to contact RailwayProtection Force (RPF) person-nel in case of an emergency orcrisis at the stations,” the NCRCPRO pointed out.

According to him, theapp can be downloaded fromthe Google Play Store.

The app, which waslaunched recently, has receivedpositive response from theusers, the chief public relationsofficer maintained.

Kumbh-2019 will be unique: Naik

Rly admn launches app to help pilgrims

... visits Sangam, Hanuman temple & Akshayvat

Light and sound show in Gorakhpur from today, zoo to open in June

The Gorakhpur zoo,third in UP afterLucknow andKanpur, will house200 animals of 30species in 301cages.

Withdraw false cases against

Dalits: Mayawati to Cong

Governor Ram Naik feeds migratory birds during a boat ride in Prayagraj on Monday Pioneer

Bhadohi (PTI): A van car-rying 15 passengers overturnedhere, killing three people andinjuring 12 others, police said onMonday.

The passengers were return-ing to Mirzapur on Sundayafter attending a programmewhen the accident occurred atJagannathpur village in Bhadohidistrict.

While trying to save amotorcycle rider, the driver lostcontrol and the van overturned.

The deceased were identi-fied as Tillu, Rajkumar andVinod. The bodies were sent forpost-mortem.

Three killed inroad accident

lwpuk

lwfpr fd;k tkrk gS fd eSausviuk uke fo'kky xksLokeh lscnydj dchj xksLokeh j[k fn;kgSA Hkfo"; esa eq>s dchj xksLokehds uke ls tkuk tk;sA dchjxksLokeh iq= fo".kq ukjk;u xksLokehfuoklh e0ua0 Mh&167] ,0MCyw0,p0vks0 dkyksuh] R;kxh fogkj'kkjnkuxj] y[kuÅ


PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Lucknowites welcomed thenew year with enthusiasmand gaiety as hotels and

restaurants remained choc-a-blockwith people deciding to eat outand party till late night. As theclock hit 12, cries of ‘happy newyear’ reverberated in the air atparty gatherings and households.People also cut cakes to celebratethe occasion.

The district administrationofficials remained on toes keepingto prevent any untoward incident.ADM, trans-Gomti, Anil Kumaradmitted that the focus remainedon Gomti Nagar with maximumnumber of parties happeningthere. “We had received over 65applications in this regard.Permission has to be secured forDJ parties and there is a provisionof temporary bar licence. This ismandatory even if the gatheringcomprises a few people,” Kumarsaid. Earlier, he said they would bekeeping an eye on revelersindulging in drunken driving andchallans would issued for theoffence. “The local thanas willkeep a tab on noise levels at theparties and any issue related tosecurity,” he said, adding that allthe programmes at hotels had towind up by 1 pm. ADM, East,Vaibhav Mishra said the teamcomprising additional city magis-trates, COs and other officialsfrom the administration would beon their toes till late hours.

Meanwhile, people exchangedgreetings with their colleagues atoffices and also spent time withfamilies. Online food deliverysaw brisk business on the new yeareve. “In our family every personenjoyed a sumptuous mealordered online. This is a good way

of celebrating because my grand-mother, who is 86, also wanted tobe a part of the celebration sinceshe could not go out because ofcold weather conditions,” 16-year-old student Anisha Srivastavasaid. At some places, youngstersgathered and relished items bar-bequed by themselves. PrashantSaxena, who has completed BTechand is going for internship short-ly, said it was fun to sit and eat inthe open with friends.

Besides, new year celebra-tions were organised at NakaHindola Gurudwara from 10 pmto 12.30 am. The tastefully decked-up gurudwara remained abuzzwith devotees amid ‘shabad-kirtan’.

Meanwhile, LMRC is organ-ising a three-day carnival atCharbagh Metro station to cele-brate new year. The event receivedan overwhelming response. Kidsenjoyed games like tongue-twisters, riddles and pen trickswhile adults tried their hands insinging, mimicry and other fun-filled games.

‘Happy New Year’ rents the air

Eateries, clubschock-a-blockas revellerskeep dist admnofficials on toes


Those who believe that new yearcards are not longer in use will

be surprised to know that their cir-culation has increased in the pastfew years. Director, Postal Services,Rajeev Umrao, while talking toThe Pioneer, said the use of newyear cards had increased lately.Though the use of cards may havedecreased in formal relationships,it has increased in formal gather-ings and parties.

“People still send cards to theirbosses, colleagues, companies andclients because digital messageshave smaller shelf life,” he point-ed out. He said that at the Postaldepartment, the circulation of

new year greeting cards had beenthe same this year as last year. Heasserted that trends across theworld showed that the use of cardshad increased. “More and moregalleries are coming up, display-ing and selling greeting cards,” hesaid. Old-timers recall the bygoneera when they used to hang newyear cards in the drawing roomsfor display.

“There was always a compe-

tition in the neighbourhood as towhose families received the max-imum number of cards. We wouldtie a string across the drawingrooms where the greeting cardswere displayed,” an elderly womansaid, adding that it was one bigexercise to write cards and thenpost the same to near and dearones. An artist insisted that hand-made cards were still appreciatedby a lot as people. “I still try andsketch something for a few closeto me, and their response is usu-ally phenomenal,” she added. Shepointed out that with social net-working sites abuzz with the ideasof craft in making greeting cards,children were getting interested inmaking own cards.

Greeting cards still in vogue


The cold spell in the city contin-ued with the state capital

recording a minimum of 5.2degree Celsius which was 2.7degrees below normal on Monday.In the state, Muzaffarnagarremained the coldest at 1.6 degreeCelsius.

The cold weather notwith-standing, the city denizens enjoyedthe new year eve by stepping out inlarge numbers. A majority of themadmitted that the new year eve wasnot the time to sit back at home. Inthe morning, there was rush in

parks with children enjoying theouting most. At night, peopledressed up in warm clothing wereseen enjoying with friends and fam-ilies. The districts which recordeda low minimum temperature wereFursatganj and Bareilly at 3.6 degC, Moradabad 4.8 deg C,Shahjahanpur 2.5 deg C, Agra 2.7deg C, Kanpur 3.8 deg C, andMeerut 4.6 deg C. The forecast forLucknow is mainly clear sky withmist and shallow fog likely in themorning. The maximum and min-imum temperature will be around23 degree celsius 05 degree Celsiusrespectively.

Cold fails to dampen

celebratory spirits

Denizens welcome new year in a spirit of joviality and merriment.Pradeep Shah | Pioneer


Aday after the murder of a missingfive-year-old girl in Mahanagar,

the residents looked displeased withpolice even though the prime accusedand his family members were arrestedon Sunday night in the case. The policeinitially had rounded up the minoraccused and later his brother and par-ents for aiding in the crime. The fami-ly of the minor miscreant was accusedof helping in hiding the body in theKukrail drain.

“The police carelessness wasexposed after the body was recovered.The Mahanagar police did not help thegirl’s mother on Friday afternoon, theday the girl was reported missing. Thepolice had scolded girl’s mother and senther back. The residents helped her insearching the girl. The body was stuffedin a large sack filled with garbage. Whenwe turned down the upside of the sack,another small sack was found inside it.Later, the body of the girl was foundstuffed inside it,” the residents said.

They lamented that the SSP,Lucknow, did not initiate any actionagainst cops of Mahanagar police station.“The police claimed to have recoveredthe body. Then they lodged a caseagainst protesters for pelting stones onpolicemen. What action was takenagainst policemen for the laxity?” theyquestioned. They said the police were

taking atrocious measures to gag thevoice of dissent. “It is a time when wecannot even protest for the high-hand-edness of the police in cases in whichchildren, women and youths are beingmurdered,” they commented. OnSunday, the residents had fought apitched battle with police during theprotest. The mob went berserk after theysaw the lacerated body of the minor girl.“The contusions on her body showedhow brutally she was tortured by per-petrators of the crime,” the residents hadcommented on Sunday. Police had reg-istered a case of murder against theminor accused and his parents were alsochallaned for helping the accused in hid-ing the body. The police had also reg-istered a case of rioting against protest-ers on Sunday. The Akbar Nagar girlwent missing around noon on Fridaywhen she was playing outside herhouse. The residents had suspected therole of the minor accused with whomthe little girl was last seen.

Residents questionpolice inaction

MURDER OF 5-YR-OLD GIRL IN MAHANAGAR

Lucknow (PNS): A youth workingwith a private book depot was foundhanging at its godown in Bangla Bazaarof Ashiyana on Monday. Police claimedthat the youth ended his life though theyfailed to explain the reason.

As per reports, Sumit Verma (23)of Hardoi and his elder brother Ankurwere working at the book depot for thelast three years. They were staying at thebook depot’s godown in sector L ofAshiyana. Sumit did not go to his work

place due to his ill health and his broth-er also stayed at the godown. Around3 pm, book depot owner called Ankurasking him about Sumit. “I was restingin the room and went out to look forSumit. I was shocked to see Sumit hang-ing from the ceiling of the verandahwith a dupatta tied around his neck,” hetold police. Police sent the body forautopsy and further investigations wereon. No suicide note was recovered in theincident.

Youth found hanging in Ashiyana

POLICE CARELESSNESS WAS

EXPOSED AFTER THE BODY

WAS RECOVERED. THE COPS

DID NOT HELP THE GIRL’S

MOTHER ON FRIDAY

AFTERNOON, THE DAY THE

GIRL WAS REPORTED MISSING


Exposing police claim of tightvigil at night, thieves made

off with jewellery worth 80,000and Rs 5,000 in cash from ajeweller’s shop in Krishna Nagaron Sunday night. Traders, ledby the off ice-bearers ofLucknow Sarrafa VyaparMandal, staged a strong protestin the locality and flayed thepolice for failing to curb theftincidents in the city.

As per reports, SaurabhRastogi of Visheshwar Nagarruns the shop at a commercialcomplex in the area. OnMonday morning, some fellowshop-owners called him up andinformed him about the theft.“I reached the shop and foundthe shutter broken. When Ichecked, I found ornamentsand cash missing,” he said.Rastogi said he called the policeand also informed the associa-tion about the same. As thenews broke, scores of tradersassembled at the shop andstarted sloganeering againstthe Lucknow police for failingto prevent thefts. “We will taketo streets if the police fail towork out the case. This is notthe single incident in whichthieves targeted a jeweller’sshop. On December 28, thieveshad stolen cash and jewelleryfrom a shop located in KrishnaNagar and owned by UmaShanker Gupta of Kakori.

Gupta runs the shop at a com-mercial building in Sneh Nagarof Krishna Nagar. The policeare yet to work out the case,”they pointed out.

On the other hand, uniden-tified auto-lifters stole an SUVowned by Ajay Dixit of KalliPaschim locality under PGIpolice station area on Sundaynight. Dixit told police that hehad parked the vehicle outsidehis house. “On Monday, whenI woke up, I found the vehiclemissing,” he said. Dixit lodgeda complaint later.

Interestingly, the Lucknowpolice are making all-out effortsto curb crime in the city andhad tightened the night vigil.“The police exercise is only onpapers. The ground reality isthat hardly police conductpatrolling in the city areas bar-ring some VIP/VVIP localitiesor in the locality where influ-ential people live,’ a residentcommented.

Thieves make off

with valuables, cash

from jeweller’s shop

Scores of traders

assembled at the

shop and started

sloganeering

against the

Lucknow police

for failing to

prevent thefts



Awoman gym trainer diedunder mysterious circum-

stances at the doorstep of thehouse of her acquaintance inAliganj police station area onSunday night. The Lucknowpolice claimed that the womanconsumed some poisonoussubstance which claimed herlife. The police suspect that afailed love affair could be thereason due to which thewoman took the extreme step.However, the same is yet to beverified.

The girl, identified as PujaTiwari of Deoria, was workingat Slim and Trim gym in sec-tor 6 of Vikas Nagar as a train-er. On Sunday night, around10.30 pm, she reached thehouse of her acquaintanceAmit Shukla of DiamondApartment in Aliganj to meethim. However, she fell down onthe staircase and began tovomit. Some of the friends ofAmit saw Puja’s condition andthey called Amit. Amit rushedto the scene and later Puja wastaken to Ram Manohar LohiaHospital where she wasdeclared “brought dead”.

After her death, the RMLadministration sent a memo toGhazipur police informingthem about the death of thegirl. Interestingly, the Aliganjpolice had no informationabout the incident until the

Ghazipur police informedthem on Monday. Investigationofficer SK Yadav said the bodyhad been sent for autopsy andfurther investigation were on.“Puja’s family members are yetto reach Lucknow. If they lodgeany complaint, the police willstart the investigation on thatline,” he said.

As per IO, Amit told policethat Puja had consumed poisonwhen she reached his room.Amit did not accept police’sclaim about his love affair withPuja when he was quizzed andsaid he had asked Puja to cometo her room. He said that hisfriends called him after theysaw Puja falling down on thestaircase and he instantlyreached the scene. As perAmit’s claim, Puja told him thatshe had consumed poisonoussubstance. The policespokesman said Amit was pur-suing his bachelor inJournalism and MassCommunication from BBD

University and also is a nativeof Deoria. “Both Puja andAmit belong to the same dis-trict and so they were acquaint-ed with one another,’ he said.

Ghazipur SHO RakeshSingh said initial investigationsuggested that both Puja andAmit had a love affair and Pujatook the step probably to forceAmit to marry her.

Meanwhile, a 35-year oldlabourer died and few otherssuffered minor injuries in aroad mishap in Vibhuti Khandin the intervening night ofSunday and Monday. In theincident, a speeding tempooverturned on Shaheed Pathafter hitting the divider. Thedeceased, identified as ArvindKumar, a resident ofAmbedkarnagar, was a labour-er. The incident occurredaround 12 am when the tempowas going from Gomti Nagar toChinhat. Suddenly, the tempodriver lost control and hit thedivider owing to which it over-turned on the road. Localsgathered at the site informedthe police. Vibhuti Khand SHODK Upadhyay said that otherssuffered minor injuries andwent to their homes whileArvind died in the incident.“He was rushed to Lohia hos-pital where doctors declaredhim brought dead,” he added.The deceased was a resident ofArjunganj and left behind oneson and two daughters.


Actress and model EvaGrover said she loved

everything about Lucknow. Inthe city for a fashion show,Eva said she loved the city forits food and chikankari. Theactress walked the ramp atthe show wearing a bright redwedding gown with a longtrail. “I have been to the cityseveral times and lovedeverything about it, includingthe delicious food, the ambi-ence and its interestingclothes for which I shoppedextensively,” she said.

Coming back from a hia-tus of over two-and-half-years, the actress said shewould be back with a bang. “Itook a break because I

worked hard for over twodecades and it was time totake rest as I was gettingtired of doing the same thingsover and over again. My reststretched from one year tonearly a couple of years butnow, I am back to work,” she said.

Eva said in terms of fash-ion, she would not go bytrends but wear somethingwhich looked good and wascomfortable. Asked whethershe liked western or Indianwear, the actress said she wasall for the complete look andnot the half-baked look.

“I like to look complete-ly Indian when taking theIndian look and completelywestern when I opt for thewestern look. I do not like the

Indo-western look,” she said.She added that she had

always been concerned aboutcraftsmen whose work wasused in fashion shows. “Ialways feel that these crafts-men whose work is used infashion shows should alsobe highlighted since theywork so hard,” she added.

Asked to comment onthe #MeToo row, she said shewas ignorant of the wholeissue. “I have been busy withmy own life and I have notfollowed the matter closely. Itwould be difficult for me tocomment on it,” she said.

About her future pro-jects, she said there were twoto three in the pipeline andshe would take up whateverhad her interested.


Mayor Sanyukta Bhatia met ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath along with

corporators from different political par-ties to present a report on the work car-ried out by Lucknow MunicipalCorporation over the last one year. She

said that for the first time, they created abalance sheet as there was none preparedat LMC before. She said LMC had receivedliabilities to the tune of Rs 300 crore in itslegacy with government departments’share being over Rs 150 crore. She saidthey have submitted a proposal in thisregard to the government so that they

could get rid of the liabilities. She alsorequested the Chief Minister to providewords of guidance.

The Chief Minister told the corpora-tors to serve the people and ensure devel-opment in the respective wards. Yogi saidthe focus should be on improving roads,street lights and beautification of wards.


Lucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) will initi-

ate a number of projects in dif-ferent parts of the city for thebetterment of the general pub-lic. The most significant initia-tive which the LDA adminis-tration has decided to take isthe mechanisation of the clean-ing and sweeping in residentialcolonies. It is said the mecha-nised sweeping is more effec-tive than manual cleaning andalso require less manpower.

The LDA administration isgoing to sign Memorandum of

Understanding (MoU) withChandigarh-based companyon Wednesday to supply fourmechanised machines for thepurpose. The colonies aredivided into four sectors.

Project incharge AKTiwari said a single machinewith an operator and twohelpers would help in cleaningthe road and drains efficient-ly in much lesser time andwould also water saplingsplanted on the side of theroad. The system will be oper-ational from January 26.

Another ventures will bemulti-level parking slot at

Jyotiba Phule Park which willhelp in the efficient flow oftraffic as over 200 four-wheel-ers vehicles and 200 two-wheelers can be parked at onetime.

Incharge PS Mishra saidthe proposed project was to beinaugurated on January 1 butwas delayed as the chief fireofficer had not issued ‘noobjection certificate’ so far. Itis expected it will issued with-in a fortnight and will be func-tional in January third week.

Similarly, a multi-levelparking lot will be construct-ed near Kapoorthala crossing

with a capacity of 500 vehicles(350 four-wheelers and 150two-wheelers). The construc-tion work will start fromJanuary 26 and is likely to bedeclared open to public byDecember.

A metallic road will linkSrijan Apartment in GomtiNagar with Pipara ghat inDilkusha to shorten the dis-tance. The commuters comingor going to Gomti Nagar fromCantonment Road, KanpurRoad, Charbagh, Alambaghwill reach their destination ina shorter period of time withno traffic congestion. The civil

work is in progress and isexpected to be completed with-in six months.

The LDA administration isplanning to construct a shop-ping mall and mini hitechhousing plan on 30 acres ofland which was transferred toTransport department fiveyears ago but the latter hasreturned it. Four sets of theblue print has been drawn.One of the best will be select-ed by a board of experts by theend of the current financialyear. Chief engineer IS Singhsaid the project would belaunched by April next year.

FIRST PRIZE IN ESSAYCOMPETITION

Bhavya Saxena, a class IVstudent of City MontessoriSchool, Anand Nagar, won thefirst prize in an essay writingcompetition organised underthe aegis of Northern RailwayWomen’s Welfare Association,Lucknow region. She wasawarded a cash prize of Rs1,000 and a certificate for heroutstanding performance.Students of several notedschools of Lucknow participat-ed in the competition in whichBhavya showcased her flair forwriting and creativity andwalked away with the first

prize. Bhavya presented herpoints on women empower-ment. The organisers were allpraises for her clarity of expres-sion and creativity.

Mystery cloaks death

of woman gym trainer

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

LDA’s new year plans ambitious

Love everything about Lucknow: Eva Grover

Mayor meets CM with one-year report card


The Gomti Riverfront willhave more attractive looks

as a dozen parks of differentkinds will be developed onboth sides of the river whichwill not only enhance its beau-ty but also attract more peo-ple to spend their leisure timethere. The parks are beingdesigned with the assistance oflocal NGOs.

The project, said to be oneof its kind, will be thrownopen for public soon as thework os underway on a warfooting. Project incharge SKSisodia said the parks wouldbe completed by March thisyear. Half of the amount willbe spent by LucknowDevelopment Authority(LDA) administration fromits exchequer while the rest by

NGOs engaged in designingthe project. Sisodia said theproject was being developedon both sides of the bank ofthe river in an area spreadacross 400 acres. The entirestretch is from La MartiniereCollege baandh to Daliganjbridge. The special feature ofa children’s park is the cycletrack only for kids below 12.The project incharge saidalthough the entry to the parkwould be ticketed, the parkwould be exclusively for chil-dren. The project inchargesaid that children had to paya nominal amount for theirrides. An individual wouldonly be allowed to use thecycle track only for an hour, headded.

A herbal park is beingdeveloped by a local researchinstitute of international

repute. The institute authori-ties had approached the LDAthree month ago, requestingthe administration to allowthem to develop the herbalpark for research work.

The park will have its ownimportance where flowers ofdifferent varieties and attrac-tive colours will be planted. Itwould be a gigantic task for theLDA administration to main-tain the parks spread in sucha huge area. There will be norelaxation in ticket prices asthe development authoritywants good amount of moneyfor their maintenance. Theentry for senior citizens andchildren will be free on secondSaturday and last Sunday ofthe month so that they partic-ipate in programmes such as‘Rahagir’ organised by theLDA administration.

Gomti riverfront to be

made more attractive

NBRI’S WASTE WATER TREATMENT PROJECT

National BotanicalResearch institute (NBRI) willsoon submit the Gomti wastewater treatment project, whichit has carried out with JalNigam, for the Namami Gangeproject of Government ofIndia. NBRI director SK Bariksaid the project was likely toget started in the new year. Hesaid that the pilot projectwhich they had carried out attwo points alongside the riverhad given successful resultsand the same would beupscaled now. Barik said thework was carried out at twopoints alongside the river, oneof the points where the drainmeets the Gomti river and theother at Bharwara STP. “Forsludge treatment, we have usedbacteria which converts thesludge into biofertilisers,” hesaid. The NBRI director saidthat for the effluent treatment,they had passed the waterthrough three levels. “In thefirst level, the effluent is passedthrough aerobic and anaerobicbacteria. In the second level, it

passes through a tank contain-ing algae while in the third, itis taken for phytoremedia-tion,” he explained. He said theresults had been good, show-ing that such kind of treatmenttook 60 per cent of the load offwaste water emitted from theSTP. “The labs have shown abetter percentage but it has tobe seen what happens whenthe project is upscaled,” headded.

SCHOOL CHOSEN FOR AWARD

A city school has wonnational award underParyavaran Mitra-Earthianprogramme. The governmentprimary school in Rajapur(Bakshi-Ka-Talab) has beenbestowed with the EarthianAward. Paryavaran Mitra-Earthian programme is beingimplemented by Centre forEnvironment Education (CEE)in association with a company.The programme was intro-duced in July 2018 and schoolswere given training and edu-cational material to take up aproject on water or biodiver-

sity for sustainability. CEEproject coordinator PreetiKannaujia said over 500reports were received through-out the state from various dis-tricts. After the shortlisting atstate level, over 40 reportswere sent for national-levelevaluation. The uniqueness ofthe report was appreciated bythe jury. The prize distributionceremony is expected to beheld in the first week ofFebruary in Bengaluru.

NEW DEBIT CARDSAs per RBI guidelines,

Andhra Bank has been replac-ing the magnetic stripe debitcards with EMV chip cards forall its customers free of cost.Andhra Bank is sending reg-ular alerts to its customers toupgrade their cards. The EMVchip cards are equipped withbetter security features to pro-vide safe and secure bankingto its customers. The magnet-ic stripe cards will stop work-ing with effect from January 1(Tuesday). The customers arerequired to visit the bank to gettheir cards replaced.

Huge quantity of liquor seized; many held

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n VARANASI

On the eve of new year, thelocal police launched a

massive drive in different partsof Varanasi to take actionagainst people involved inhooliganism as well as liquorsmuggling. In different parts ofthe city, the police along withExcise department personnelseized huge quantity of liquorand arrested several persons.Most of the liquor consign-ments were being sent to Bihar,where liquor is banned. Thepolice also intensified theiractivities at all the places,including hotels, to keep awatch on hooligans. The drivewill continue on Tuesday.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice (SSP) Anand Kulkarnisaid that under 10 police sta-tions, huge amount of liquorhad been seized and 15 per-sons were arrested. Besides,five country-made pistols, 13live cartridges, 92 bottles offoreign liquor and 30 litres ofcountry-made liquor were

seized.As per information, the

Rohania police along withExcise department personnelachieved success in their jointcampaign when they arrestedtwo smugglers and seizedhuge quantity of foreign liquorfrom a DCM truck using fakeregistration number plate. Thepolice seized liquor worth `13lakh from the possession of

two smugglers. The police alsoseized a country-made pistol of12 bore, a live cartridge, and anempty shell. The arrestedsmugglers were identified asYogendra Singh from Jhansidistrict and Nagendra Rai fromSitamarhi (Bihar).

According to Rohaniapolice station incharge PRTripathi, when the police teamwas checking vehicles, he

received an information fromreliable sources that hugequantity of illegal liquor wasbeing carried in a mini-truck.

Later, the police teamreached Lathia crossing andseized the consignment. Hesaid that driver and one othertried to escape but the alertpolicemen nabbed them.

Huge quantity of liquorwas also seized by the police inmany other police stationareas, including Choubeypurand Ramnagar. The Ramnagarpolice seized liquor hidden ina mini-truck loaded with veg-etables from Tengra crossing.

Police inspector VijayKumar and Excise inspectorRajesh Kumar arrested thesmugglers following a tip-off.The liquor was being smuggledto Sasaram in Bihar. The policeseized 50 boxes of foreignliquor, which is meant for saleonly in Arunachal Pradesh.The person arrested was iden-tified as Sandeep Kumar, whobelongs to Rohtas district inBihar.

National president Sunil Singh inaugurating the meeting of Hindu Yuva Vahini(Bharat) at Rai Umanath Bali auditorium on Monday Pioneer

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019 nation 05

PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Defence Ministerand senior Congress leader

AK Antony on Mondayaccused the BJP and theGovernment of “manufactur-ing” lies in the AgustaWestlandcase and said UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi and Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi neverinterfered in any defence dealsduring the UPA regime.

“The Government and theBJP are misusing agencies tomanufacture lies. I am sur-prised to know that the presentGovernment is spreadinglies....Is trying to manufacturesomething out of nothing. Iwould like to say categoricallythat Sonia Gandhi and RahulGandhi never showed anyinterest ... Never interfered inthe AgustaWestland deal.During my entire tenure asdefence minister,” Antony saidat a Press conference.

His comments came afterthe Congress and the BJP wereengaged in a slugfest onSunday. While the oppositionparty alleged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his gov-ernment wereAgustaWestland’s protectorsand promoters, the saffronparty accused it of defendingChristian Michel, an allegedmiddleman in the deal, andasked why it was scared of aprobe into the case. , “Withoutany iota of truth, they are try-ing to follow vendetta politics,”Antony said.

The former DefenceMinister said it was theCongress-led UPA

Government that ordered aCBI inquiry the moment itcame to know of corruptionallegations in the VVIPAgustaWestland helicopter dealand initiated proceedings toblacklist the company.

Antony claimed that theUPA Government fought thecase “unusually” in a Milancourt against the chopper-mak-ing company and won it too.“We cancelled the contract andstarted proceedings of black-listing. But after we left, theModi Government did nothingagainst AgustaWestland.Instead of acting against thecompany, they favoured thecompany,” he said.

Antony said if the Congresshad anything to hide, it wouldnot have ordered a CBI probeor gone to Italy to fight the case.The senior Congress leaderalleged that the Governmentand the BJP were trying todivert attention from the alle-gations raised by his party onthe Rafale fighter jet deal andwere not initiating an inquiryinto the matter or a JPC toprobe the charges.

“During our time, when-ever there were allegations,even in media reports, we tookaction and held an inquiry,” hesaid while attacking the BJPgovernment for not ordering aJPC probe into the Rafale deal.On the BJP’s charges of theCongress being jittery eversince Michel was extradited toIndia, Congress chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said this was like“chor machaye shor” (the thiefis making noise).

PTI n NEW DELHI

Russian President VladimirPutin has sent new year

messages to President Ram NathKovind and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, and said rela-tions between the two countrieswere developing in a construc-tive and dynamic manner.

Putin, conveying his greet-ings to the two leaders, alsonoted that agreements reachedduring Indo-Russia annualsummit in October contributedto strengthening the privilegedstrategic partnership betweenthe two nations, according tothe Russian Embassy here.

In his new year messages toKovind and Modi, the RussianPresident emphasised that rela-tions between the two countrieswere developing in a con-

structive and dynamic manner,the embassy said.

“Vladimir Putin expressedconfidence that joint efforts willlead to further growth of mutu-ally beneficial cooperation invarious areas and greater coor-dination of efforts on key issueson the regional and globalagenda within the UN, BRICS,the SCO, the G20 and othermultilateral bodies,” it said.

In the annual summit here,India inked a USD 5 billiondeal to purchase the much-vaunted S-400 air defence sys-tem from Russia, notwith-standing US warnings of puni-tive sanctions against nationsdoing military transactionswith Moscow. A number ofother pacts were also signedfollowing talks between Modiand Putin.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Two major healthcare Bills,one was passed by Lok

Sabha and another was intro-duced in Rajya Sabha onMonday. The Indian MedicalCouncil (Amendment) Bill2018 to allow a panel of emi-nent professionals to run thescam-tainted Medical Councilof India (MCI) was passed bythe Lower House while the Billaimed at regulating and stan-dardising the education andservices provided by allied andhealthcare professionals wasintroduced in the Rajya Sabha.

The Bill passed by theLower House seeks to replace

an ordinance issued in thisregard in September this year.Piloting the Bill, HealthMinister Jagat Prakash Naddasaid this Bill supersedes MCIand the powers of the councilhave been vested in a Board ofGovernors (BoG).

The BoG have all eminentpersonalities and include direc-tors of AIIMS and PGI,Chandigarh. This board willcontinue to perform till aCouncil is constituted, Naddasaid.

“This Bill has been issuedso that medical education canbe regulated in best manner, asMCI turned out to be massivefailure,” he said.

The Minister, while speak-ing on the Bill, said the parlia-mentary panel on Health in itsreport also cautioned that anyattempt to overhaul the med-ical regulatory system in thecountry will face huge chal-lenges.

He suggested that govern-ment was forced to come upwith this Bill as the oversightcommittee formed by theGovernment on suggestion ofthe Supreme Court resignedand the MCI could not func-tion. Thereafter theGovernment came with anordinance.

Many of MCI membershave been accused of taking

bribes to fast-track accredita-tion.

Meanwhile, the Bill aimedat regulating and standardisingthe education and services pro-vided by allied and healthcareprofessionals was introduced inthe Rajya Sabha. The Bill pro-vides for setting up of an Alliedand Healthcare Council ofIndia and corresponding StateAllied and HealthcareCouncils, which will play therole of a standard-setter andfacilitator for such professions,an official statement stated.

“Introduced the Allied &Healthcare Professions Bill,2018 in RajyaSabha to provideregulation & maintenance ofstandards of education & ser-vices by allied & healthcareprofessional,” Nadda latertweeted.

The Union Cabinet hadrecently approved the Bill.

As per the Bill, there will be15 major professional cate-gories including 53 professionsin allied and healthcarestreams. Offences and penaltiesclauses have been included inthe Bill to check the malprac-tices.

The Bill provides for struc-ture, constitution, composi-tion and functions of theCentral Council and StateCouncils like framing policiesand standards, regulation of

professional conduct, creationand maintenance of live regis-ters, provisions for commonentry and exit examinationsamong others.

Professional advisory bod-ies under central and statecouncils will examine issuesindependently and provide rec-ommendations relating to spe-cific recognised categories.

The Bill will also have anoverriding effect on any otherexisting law for any of thecovered professions.

It is estimated that theproposed legislation will direct-ly benefit around 8-9 lakhexisting allied and healthcareprofessionals in the countryand several other graduatingprofessionals joining the work-force annually and contributingto the health system.

KHURSHEED WANI n SRINAGAR

Two Pakistani intruders sus-pected to be regular sol-

diers were killed as IndianArmy claimed to have thwart-ed a ‘treacherous attempt’ byPakistan’s Border Action Team(BAT) to carry out an attack innorth Kashmir’s Naugam sec-tor on December 30.

A defence spokesman saidthat the intruders attempted tomove by exploiting the thickjungles close to the Line ofControl ( LoC) and were assist-ed by heavy covering fire ofhigh calibre weapons suchincluding mortars and rocketlaunchers from the Pakistaniposts.

“The alertness andresilience of the own troops,who engaged and neutralisedthe intruders, thus eliminateda likely treacherous attack onthe Army forward posts alongthe LoC on the eve of NewYear,” he said.

The Army has decided toask Pakistan to take back themortal remains of deceasedlikely Pakistani soldiers sincePakistan did provide full cov-ering fire support to theseintruders.

The Army said that themovement of intruders wasdetected by the vigilant IndianArmy troops deployed alongthe LoC. “The fire-fight initi-ated by Pakistan was givenstrong retaliation by IndianArmy and the exchange of firecontinued the whole night,” thespokesman said.

Army said that during pro-longed search operations inthick forests confirmed elimi-nation of two likely Pakistanisoldiers and resulted in recov-ery of a large cache of warlikestores. “The search operations

are still underway in the sectorto sanitise the area. It was alsoreported that a few otherintruders managed to escapeacross the LoC, taking advan-tage of the Pakistani firing andadverse weather and visibilityconditions,” the spokesmansaid.

He said the intruders werewearing combat dresses likePakistani Regulars and werecarrying stores with Pakistanimarkings further reinforcedthe assessment. Some intruderswere also seen in BSF and oldpattern IA dresses as part ofdeception. They had intrudedwell equipped with IEDs,incendiary materials, explo-sives, and a plethora of armsand ammunition. From therecovery, it was estimated thatthey intended to carry out agruesome attack on the IndianArmy forward post in Naugamsector.

The spokesman said thatarmy authorities have applaud-ed the courage and persever-ance of the alert troops. TheIndian Army’s resolve to keepa strict vigil along the LoC anddefeat all such nefariousdesigns of Pakistan will con-tinue to remain firm and con-sistent.

“We will ask Pakistan totake back the mortal remains of

deceased likely Pakistani sol-diers since Pakistan did providefull covering fire support tothese intruders,” he said.

In Jammu, state police chiefDilbag Singh said that the BATattack was repulsed by thetroops. “Such attempts havebeen foiled in the past also. Thesecurity forces are capable offoiling such attempts,” he said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Eager to make the PradhanMantri Awas Yojana

(PMAY) a success, the Creditlinked subsidy scheme (CLSS)component of PMAY (Urban)on home loans for the MiddleIncome Group (MIG) has beenextended till March 31, 2019.Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep SinghPuri on Monday announcedthat he has signed the file per-taining to the extension of theCLSS under which the gov-ernment provides a subsidy ofup to `2.67 lakh on homeloans. Till December 30 thisyear, around 3,39,713 benefi-ciaries have availed the CLSSunder the PMAY (Urban).

“I have just signed a filebefore I came here. It was onthe CLSS scheme which wehave extended for one year upto March 31, 2020. The lastextension was up to March 31,2019,” he said.

According to the Ministry,the CLSS for the MIG,launched originally for 12months till December 31, 2017,covered beneficiaries seekinghousing loans for acquisition orconstruction of houses (includ-ing re-purchase) from banks,housing finance companiesand other such notified insti-tutions.

Later, the Ministry issueda statement, stating, “The pro-posal for extension of thescheme was considered basedon the inputs from variousstakeholders in the month ofOctober 2017, and was accord-ed approval for extension by 15months up to March 31, 2019.”

Under the CLSS, for theMIG I category, which consistsof individuals with an annual

income of ̀ 6-12 lakh, an inter-est subsidy of 4 percent is pro-vided on a loan of up to `9lakh. For the MIG II category,which is made up of individu-als with an annual income of`12-18 lakh, an interest subsidyof 3 per cent is given on a loanof up to `12 lakh. The benefitsare typically in the `2-2.5 lakhrange.

The carpet area of a hous-ing unit was initially revised toup to 120 sq m and up to 150sq m for MIG I and MIG IIrespectively in November, 2017and further enhanced to up to160 sq m and up to 200 sq mfor MIG I and MIG II, respec-tively in June, 2018.

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

In a move to check fraudulentregistration and to prevent

duplicate sale of the same prop-erties, the Ministry of Housingand Urban Affairs (HUA) isworking on a land title regis-tration Bill for the nationalCapital. The Bill will have pro-visions to provide specificnumber to each and everyproperty. The new law willform a title registration author-ity that will maintain all landrecords electronically.

Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep SinghPuri said that the HUAMinistry is working on a LandTitle Registration Bill for thenational Capital. He wasresponding to a query per-taining to increase of fraudu-lent registration of propertiesafter the implementation of theLand Pooling Policy in Delhi.

Sources said that a landtitling system that would pro-vide unassailable and conclu-

sive proof of ownership ofland. For now, there is no cen-tral system of maintainingrecords of property ownershipbecause of multiplicity ofauthorities.

Under the existing system,after purchasing a property, theowner first gets the sale deedregistered with the sub-regis-trar of his district. He thenapplies for mutation of theproperty to get the title of theproperty transferred in hisname.

But since there is no fool-proof mechanism for scrutiny,the officials bank on affidavitsfiled by the owners at the timeof registration. But it has beenobserved that the same prop-erty has been registered morethan once by different owners.

The Delhi Governmenthad conceived a draft bill of theLand Titling Bill in 2008. In2010, the erstwhile SheilaDikshit government passed abill “The Delhi Survey,Registration and Recordal of

Title of Immovable Propertiesin Urban Area Bill”, wasreturned by the Ministry ofHome Affairs in 2013.However, with the state goingto polls and the uncertainpolitical situation that followedthe bill was forgotten.

According to an officials ofrevenue department just regis-tering your property with thesub-registrar’s office and ensur-ing that your ownership rightsare recorded by land-owningagencies are not enough to safe-guard your rights as an owner.It merely gives you possessionof the property but not the title.

According to one estimateby a leading Mumbai-basedsecurities firm, 80 percent ofthe disputes before high courtsare ‘civil’ as against ‘criminal’,with the origin being in landownership. The Governmenthad earlier also launched theNational Land RecordsModernizing Program (2008)to address the issue of conclu-sive land titling.

Pak BAT-tered, 2 infiltrating regulars killed

PNS n NEW DELHI

The thwarted Border ActionTeam (BAT) raid by the

Pakistan Army commandosalong with terrorists on Mondaywas an attempt to retaliateagainst two of its officers injuredin cross border firing with theIndian Army a fortnight ago.Desperate to raise levels of vio-lence on the Line of Control(LoC), Pakistan tried at leastfour times in the last few daysto carry out cross border raidsbut were beaten back.

Giving these details here,Army officials did not rule outthe possibility of similar actionsfrom across the LoC in thecoming days as there was lot ofpressure on Rawalpindi based

10 Corps to carry out spectac-ular attacks against the Indianarmy camps. Pakistan’s 10Corps calibrates and stokesterrorism in Jammu & Kashmirby aiding and abetting infil-tration besides BAT actions.These BATs comprise mixedgroup of Special ServicesGroup (SSG) commandos andwell trained terrorists.

Elaborating upon the latestraid foiled by the Indian Army,sources said a BAT team of sixto seven sneaked into theregion of Naugam. While twoof them were killed in ensuingfirefight after they managed tocome at least 100 to 150 metresinside Indian territory, theremaining fighters escapedback to Pakistan Occupied

Kashmir(POK). The encountertook place in the jurisdiction of17 Brigade of Indian Army,they added.

In an effort to take revengefor injuries suffered by two of itsofficers a fortnight in the sameregion, the Pakistan Army triedcross-border at least twiceincluding the latest one in thelast ten days. However, the raidswere not successful, sourcessaid. Some weapons, apparent-ly dropped by retreating ter-rorists, were also recovered.These two failed raids tookplace North of Pir Panjal ranges.

The Pakistan Army alsotried to attack Indian Armypatrols two times in South ofPir Panjal range in the sameperiod and the anti-infiltration

grid managed to deter themfrom doing so. Officials said theIndian Army has not reducedits troop strength on the LoCin the winter months antici-pating a determined bid by thePakistan Army to keep theLoC hot. This paid dividendsin terms of successfully foilingthe four BAT raids, they said.

A change in pattern ofattacking the Indian Armyposts on the LoC was alsonoticed as the Pakistan Armywas now using sniper fire fromangles instead of frontal shotsafter the Indian Army tookeffective evasive measures.Local commanders were nowdevising tactics to counter thenew tactics by the PakistanArmy, they said.

Bid to take revenge of early thrashing fails

ON NEW YEAR’S EVE

2 A defence spokesman said that the intruders attempted to moveby exploiting the thick jungles close to the Line of Control ( LoC)and were assisted by heavy covering fire of high calibre weaponssuch including mortars and rocket launchers from the Pakistan

2 The Army has decided to ask Pakistan to take back the mortalremains of deceased likely Pakistani soldiers

2 The Army said that the movement of intruders was detected by thevigilant Indian Army troops deployed along the LoC

Sonia, Rahul neverinterfered in anydefence deal: Antony

LS passes Indian Medical Council BillAnother healthcare Bill aimed at regulating and standardising

education and services provided by allied introduced in RS

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government has con-stituted a committee to

suggest recommendations tostrengthen the real estate lawReal Estate RegulatoryAuthority (RERA) and toremove difficulties in its imple-mentation. The decision toform the committee, to beheaded by Union Housing andUrban Affairs Joint SecretaryShiv Das Meena, comesmonths after the Ministryorganised four workshopswhere stakeholders, includinghome-buyers, had given sug-

gestions for effective imple-mentation of the RERA.

RERA, which protects theinterest of home buyers,empowers States to notify theirrules and appoint regulatoryauthorities. As of now, 28 Statesand Union territories havenotified rules under the realestate law.

Govt forms committee for

effective implementation

of real estate law RERA

Credit link subsidy scheme onhome loans for MIG extended

India, Russia relations developingin constructive manner: Putin

MOVE TO CHECK FRAUDULENT REGISTRATION

Govt working on land titleregistration Bill for Delhi

New Delhi: A fresh tusslebetween the Centre and DelhiGovernment appears to bebrewing after the AAP dispen-sation imposed a condition of50-50 per cent operational losssharing while giving approvalto the Phase-IV of Delhi Metro.

Though Union Housingand Urban Affairs Ministryofficials said it is examining the

condition that the Centreequally share any operationalloss with the AAPGovernment, they asserted thatit was a State subject and thatother States may raise similardemands.

An official of the Ministrysaid Delhi Government hasalso put a condition in itsapproval that it will not have

any liability on loan providedby Japan InternationalCooperation Agency (JICA)to fund the project.

“We are examining bothconditions imposed by Delhigovernment in approving theMetro Phase-IV. Why shouldthe Central Government bearoperational loss? It is a State-subject. PNS

Centre-Delhi Govt tussle on Metro

phase-IV condition on loss sharing

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Government does notneed RBI surplus to finance

its fiscal deficit target, FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley said onMonday, while stressing thatthe Modi-led NDA dispensa-tion has the best track recordof managing the deficit thanany other previous regime.Replying to a debate on the sec-ond batch of supplementarydemands for grants, Jaitley saidthe RBI surplus could be usedto alleviate poverty and recap-italise public sector banks.

Lok Sabha later passed thesupplementary demand forgrants for the current fiscal topermit gross additional expen-diture of `85,948.86 crore,amid sloganeering by Congressand AIADMK members onRafale and Cauvery issues.While `41,000 crore would goin for capital infusion intopublic sector banks, `2,345crore would be infused intodebt laden national carrier AirIndia.

“This Government has thebest track record than anyother previous Government inmanaging fiscal deficit. We donot need RBI reserves to man-age the fiscal deficit... It is a pri-ority of the government tomaintain fiscal discipline,Jaitley said.

Referring to the issues con-cerning the Economic CapitalFramework (ECF) of RBI,Jaitley said that central banks ofmost of the countries keep areserve of 8 per cent, whilesome conservative centralbanks maintain 14 per cent

reserves. The RBI was main-taining a reserve of 28 per cent,he said, adding the expertcommitee will decide on theappropriate reserve of the cen-tral bank so that surplus fundscould be utilised for fundingpoverty alleviation pro-grammes and recapitalisingthe state-owned banks.

The Reserve Bank has amassive ̀ 9.59 lakh crore worthreserves and former RBIGovernor led Bimal Jalan head-ed six member committee hasbeen set up to decide on theoptimum capital reserves thatthe central bank should hold.

Jaitley said the decision toset up the committee was takenwhen Urjit Patel was theGovernor of the RBI. Amid theeconomic capital frameworkbecoming a f lash-pointbetween the RBI and theGovernment, Patel resignedfrom the job on December 10,following which the govern-ment appointed formerbureaucrat Shaktikanta Das asthe new RBI Governor.

Jaitley also said that theRBI board is discussing on theBasel plus framework whichthe central bank has stipulatedfor the banks to follow.

Not seeking RBI

surplus to finance

fiscal deficit: JaitleyAccording to the Ministry,the CLSS for the MIG,

launched originally for 12months till December 31,

2017, coveredbeneficiaries seeking

housing loans foracquisition or construction

of houses (including re-purchase) from banks,

housing financecompanies and other such

notified institutions

AS OF NOW, 28 STATESAND UNION

TERRITORIES HAVENOTIFIED RULES UNDERTHE REAL ESTATE LAW

The Bill passed by theLower House seeks toreplace an ordinance

issued in this regard inSeptember this year


KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

As the sun set for the lasttime in 2018 on Monday at

Kanyakumari, the DMK-ledOpposition parties are in aresurgent mood (at least onpaper) while the rulingAIADMK resembles a rudder-less and directionless ship beingbeaten up the powerful wavesof the political cyclone.

While the DMK has almostfinalised the line-up for theensuing battle for the LokSabha election to be held in themonth of May 2019, the rulingAIADMK is yet to come outwith the name of a single polit-ical outfit in the State withwhich it would contest theelection.

Though the vernacularmedia is full of speculationsabout the possibility of theAIADMK-BJP alliance, leadersof both the parties are yet toconfirm the authenticity ofsuch reports. “We will forge aviable and winning allianceafter the announcement of thepoll schedule by the ElectionCommission,” said EdappadyPalaniswamy, Chief Minister ofTamil Nadu.

“Nobody can ignore theBJP in Tamil Nadu. Our partyhas become a major factor inTamil Nadu politics. We willcome out with a winning com-bination,” said PonRadhalrishnan, union ministerof State for Shipping andSurface Transport on Sunday.

But Palaniswamy andRadhakrishnan were tightlipped when asked who theirpartners would be.

If past experiences are anyindication, there is no possi-bility of the AIADMK and theBJP getting benefited by analliance. The first time theyformed an alliance was in 1998.Though both the parties cor-nered some seas, the allianceshattered within one year. Thenext time they forged analliance was for the 2004 LokSabha election in which theDMK-led UPA simply obliter-ated the AIADMK-BJP com-bination. Hence Jayalalithaawas wary wary of any kind ofalliance with the Hindutwaparty though she had main-tained good chemistry withPrime Minister Narendra Modiduring her lifetime.

Vaiko’s MDMK,Ramadoss’s Vanniyar outfitPMK, Vijayakant-led DMDKwho were the constituents ofthe NDA in 2014 had dumpedthe BJP and moved over toother fronts. There is no pos-sibility of these parties return-ing to the NDA fold as Vaikohas sworn that he would notrest till he gets Stalin appoint-ed as the Chief Minister ofTamil Nadu. Ramadoss toldreporters on Sunday that hewould forge alliance with like-minded parties but his closeconfidants made it clear thatthe BJP does not figure in theradar of Ramadoss. TheVanniyar leader is shocked

with the BJP for not making hisson Anbumani Ramadoss aMinister in the Union Cabinet.

Political commentators areof the view that fringe partieslike Puthiya Tamilakam led byDr Krishnasamy and AISMKled by film actor turned politi-cian Sarat Kumar are the like-ly partners of the BJP for the2019 Lok Sabha election. Tamilsuperstar Rajnikant who hadannounced the launching of apolitical outfit on December 31,2017 is yet to take any steps inthat direction. “How is it pos-sible for the actor to launch apolitical party and field candi-dates in all the 39 constituen-cies. His dreams will remain anon-started for the time being,”said K A Johny author andcommentator. Johny said theLok Sabha election results inTamil Nadu would be a repeatof the 2004 poll . “It is a resur-gent DMK what I see now. TheAIADMK is likely to vanish inthe husting,” he said.

But there are many DMKhard liners who are expectinga tough f ight with theAIADMK. “You cannot ruleout the possibilities of moreand more outfits joining theAIADMK front because theyare in power. The KamalHaasan factor could be count-ed out as the actor has notbeen impressive till now.Chances are that Tamil Naduis in for a bipolar battle dur-ing the Lok Sabha election,”said Sam Rajappa veterancommentator.

2018 left TN political

landscape foggy

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Jammu & Kashmir GovernorSatya Pal Malik on Monday

said that supporting militantshas become a political com-pulsion for the PDP presidentMehbooba Mufti.

The former Chief Ministerhad on Sunday warned theGovernor and the State policeagainst the alleged harassmentof a Pulwama woman (whosebrother happens to be a mili-tant), her husband and broth-er are in police custody at aJammu police station.

Interacting with the mediapersons here on the sidelines ofa function, Malik said, “SinceI am Governor, I don’t feel badabout what Mehbooba saidabout me the previous day.Moreover, she is daughter ofmy friend (Mufti Sayeed), Idon’t take her words seriously.But, I personally feel that it is

her (Mehbooba’s) politicalcompulsion to support mili-tants to regain the lost base inValley.”

The Governor also said,“We’ve directed our forcesnot to harass family membersof militants. We don’t haveany issue with the militants’families. At the same time, Iwant to assure her(Mehbooba) that if any fam-ily member of the militantshas been harassed in cus-tody, I will order a high levelprobe into it.”

Later in the day, DirectorGeneral of Police DilbaghSingh in Jammu said,"the inci-dent has come to light and wewill verify the same". He alsoclaimed, "i know she waspicked up and questioned butbeyond that we will verifyand if some one is foundguilty we will take appropriateaction".

Supporting terrorists Mufti’spolitical compulsion toregain lost base: J&K Guv

Former Chief Minister and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) president MehboobaMufti addresses a press conference in Srinagar on Monday PTI

New Delhi: Foreign touristscan now directly fly to theAndaman and Nicobar Islandsas the Government has desig-nated Port Blair airport as anauthorised immigration checkpost for entry into and exit pointfrom India.

The decision to open up theAndaman and Nicobar Islandsdirectly for foreign tourists cameafter it was found to be the mostsought-after tourist destinationin the country receiving anaverage four lakh tourists,including several thousand for-eigners, annually.

"....The Central Governmenthereby designates Port Blair air-port of Union territory of theAndaman and Nicobar Islandsas an authorised immigrationcheck post for entry into/exitfrom India with valid traveldocuments for all classes ofpassengers," a Home Ministrynotification said.

The Superintendent ofPolice (CID) of the Island hasbeen designated as the "civilauthority" for the immigrationcheck post at Port Blair airportwith effect from Monday.

According to data availablewith the Home Ministry, morethan 16 lakh tourists visited theAndaman and Nicobar Islandsbetween 2015 and October thisyear to enjoy the natural beau-ty, beaches, flora and fauna andhistorically-significant land-marks in around 38 inhabitedislands out of the 572 islets.

The archipelago hasreceived 4,02,393 tourists,including 11,818 foreigners, till

October 2018, while it received4,87,229 tourists, including15,310 foreigners, in 2017.

In 2016, as many as4,00,019 tourists, including15,467 foreigners, had visitedthe Andaman, and in 2015, atotal of 3,11,358 tourists,including 14,674 foreigners,had gone to the union territo-ry, the data revealed.

The Andaman and NicobarIslands is a union territory andcomes under the administrativecontrol of the Home Ministry.

The island was under glob-al spotlight recently after thekilling of a 27-year-oldAmerican national by membersof a highly protected tribe,Sentinelese, in prohibited NorthSentinel Island in November.

The archipelago has beeninhabited for several thousandyears, at the very least.

The earlier archaeologicalevidence so far documentedgoes back some 2,200 years.However, indications fromgenetic, cultural and linguisticisolation studies point to habi-tation going back 30,000–60,000

years, well into the MiddlePalaeolithic period, according tothe Andaman and NicobarIslands tourism Department.

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday announcedrenaming of three islands ofthe Andaman and Nicobararchipelago as a tribute tofreedom fighter Netaji SubhasChandra Bose. The RossIsland was renamed as NetajiSubhas Chandra Bose Dweep,the Neil Island as ShaheedDweep and the HavelockIsland as Swaraj Dweep. PTI

Foreign tourists can nowfly directly to Andamans

PM Modi on

Sunday announced

renaming of three

islands of the

Andaman and

Nicobar

archipelago as

a tribute to

Netaji Subhas

Chandra Bose

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n

KOLKATA

In what could further con-solidate her position in rural

Bengal, Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Mondayannounced an insurancescheme for the farmers underwhich the State Governmentwill pay `2 lakh in case of afarmer’s death.

Already bolstered by thefeedback on her popularschemes includingKanyashree, Rupashree,Swasthya Sathi, Khadya Saathiand Sabuj Saathi — takingalmost the entire populationunder some scheme of bene-fit or the other — the ChiefMinister on Monday said thenew Krishi Bandhu Schemewould secure a large section ofthe farmers in the working agegroup.

According to the new

scheme if a farmer betweenthe age group of 18 and 60died his or her family wouldget an assistance of `2 lakhfrom the Government. Thenew scheme would come intoeffect from January 1. “Wehave a total of 72 lakh farmerfamilies in Bengal. Thisscheme will start for these

families from January one andthe farmers will be able toapply for the benefits fromFebruary this year. Not onlythis, the same Krishi Bandhuscheme would ensure a pay-ment of `2,500 for a farmergrowing single crop per acre.The Government will spendover hundreds of crores of

rupees for the peasants underthis scheme, she said.

This amount will bepayable twice a year. By thisscheme the Government man-ages to identify and addressthe problem of those farmerswho have less productive landgiving only one crop a year.

This scheme is likely to dogood to the people ofJangalmahal area where vasttracts of lands single-crop innature.

Incidentally the TrinamoolCongress had given a belowpar performance in the pan-chayat elections in theJangalamahal districts ofPurulia and West Midnapore.“Before this our Governmenthad waived land tax and muta-tion fees on the agriculturallands,” Banerjee said addingshe had also taken initiativesfor online mutation to savepeople from harassment.

Mamata announces sops for farmers

West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee announces sops for farmers as NewYear gifts for them during a press conference,at State Secretariat near Kolkata onMonday PTI

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

The Bengal Governmentwas happy that Sheikh

Hasina had won the generalelections in Bangladesh, StateChief Minister MamataBanerjee told reporters onMonday.

“I have personally spokento her (Sheikh Hasina) andcongratulated her,” the ChiefMinister said adding herGovernment was “happy thatSheikh Hasina has won theelections,” by a landslide mar-gin. “I also congratulate thepeople of that country,”Banerjee said adding herGovernment wanted the rela-tionship between the twocountries to strengthen fur-ther.

On the Twitter she wrote,

“heartiest congratulations toSheikh Hasina ji on the victo-ry in the Bangladesh generalelections.”

The victory would furtherstrengthen the good Indo-Bangladesh relations she said.“We already share a cordialrelation with Bangladesh and Iwant that relationship tostrengthen with time,” Banerjeesaid adding the two countriesshould work together towardsmaintaining peace and stabil-ity in the region.

In the Bangladesh generalelections held on December 30,Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League-led coalition roared back topower with an overwhelmingmajority clinching 260 out of300 seats humbling the oppo-sition alliance led byBangladesh National Party.

Didi congratulates

Hasina on victory

Greater Flamingos in the Chandlai Lake during the last sunset of the year 2018 at Chandlai Village in Jaipur on Monday PTI

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

Former Chief Minister andchairman of the coordina-

tion committee of the coalitionGovernment in Karnataka,Siddaramaiah has made strongallegations against the BJP oftrying to buy their MLAs byoffering them ̀ 25 to ̀ 30 crore.He also said BJP was trying todestabilise the Congress- JD(S)coalition Government led byChief Minister HDKumaraswamy.

The Congress just after theCabinet expansion is handlinga major crisis with many oftheir MLAs being upset withthe party for not getting placein the Cabinet. The party is also

handling the coalition partnerJD(S) which is upset over thebig brother attitude of theCongress.

“BJP is indulging in horsetrading by offering ̀ 25 crore to`30 crore to each legislator. Ifthey are not corrupt, where arethey getting such a hugeamount from? As theOpposition party, what has itdone so far except trying tobring down the Government,”Siddaramaiah tweeted. Politicalobservers said that his com-ments have to be seen in thecontext of the future moves offormer Minister RameshJarkiholi, who was droppedfrom Cabinet last week.

Senior Congress leader and

strongman of Belagavi RameshJarkiholi remaining incommu-nicado for close to a week,speculations of him joining theBJP are worrying the Congress-JD(S) coalition government inKarnataka. Ramesh Jarkiholi,who was the minister formunicipal and urban adminis-tration, was dropped from theCabinet on 22 December.

According to sourcesJarkiholi is to be in talks withBJP’s senior leadership in NewDelhi. BJP state president BSYeddyurappa’s extended stay inNew Delhi has intensified thespeculations of Ramesh meetingBJP president Amit Shah to dis-cussion a possible defection.

A close confidant of

Ramesh Jarkiholi said thatRamesh was in touch with a fewdisgruntled MLAs. Accordingto sources, there are at leastmany MLAs from NorthKarnataka, who were denied acabinet berth, supportingRamesh Jarkiholi. However,the BJP will require 16 MLAs toresign or abstain from partici-pating in the vote of confidenceto topple the Government.Kumaraswamy who is headinga fragile coalition is away inSingapore with his family to cel-ebrate New Year but has so farnot cleared the list of MLAsappointed to boards and cor-poration by the Congress party.

Siddaramaiah said, “I don’tknow where Ramesh Jarkiholi

is. None knows. But I’m sure hewill not leave the party, comewhat may” .

Speaking to reporters inMysuru, Siddaramiah ques-tioned Modi’s moral right tocriticise the State Governmenton the issue of farm loan waiv-er. He said "I had twice led del-egations (to Modi) as a ChiefMinister, he did not agree towaive a single rupee. Whatmoral right does he have?" .

Alleging that Modi and hisGovernment were against theagriculture sector, he ques-tioned their contribution tothe farming community. "Okwe have given lollipop, whatpop has he given? What has hegiven?" Siddaramaiah asked.

BJP trying to buy MLAs: Siddaramaiah

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

While the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation

(ISRO) will begin its prepara-tions in 2019 for sendingmanned mission to space, theDepartment of Atomic Energy,the body which administersIndia’s nuclear energy pro-gramme, ended the year in dis-appointment.

The 500 MW Fast BreederReactor coming up atKalpakkam, which was expect-ed to generate power in 2010failed again to meet the deadlineset by the founding fathers of theFast Breeder ReactorProgramme. Even after a delayof eight years, there is no signof the Fast Breeder Reactorcoming to life as the DAE hon-chos had claimed in 2005 itselfthat India was the global lead-

ers in the technology.The work for the FBR had

begun at Kalpakkam, nearChennai in 2004. By 2005 May,the raft where the reactor wouldbe built was ready and thereactor vault was installed by2008. The designers of the reac-tor had claimed that it would bean earthquake resistant reactor, capable of withstanding mas-sive quakes up to 9 in theRichter scale. The scientistswho headed the reactor pro-gramme got superannuated oneby one even as the reactor pro-gramme remained in limbo.

The Fast Breeder Reactor

was expected to generate cheappower (at the rate of ̀ 2.50/unit)from a mixed oxide fuel madefrom Plutonium-239 (an isotopeof Plutonium) recovered fromprocessing spent fuel and nat-ural uranium. Once the FBRstarts production of power, thenatural uranium would get con-verted into plutonium, whichmeans that the reactor wouldgenerate more fuel than what itconsumes. This bred fuel couldbe used to run more such reac-tors and the DAE had plannedfour more FBRs at Kalpakkamitself. All these programmesand dreams have come to astandstill.

The Indian nuclear energyprogramme itself is in crisis withthe two modern hi-tech 1000MW reactors at Kudankulam inTamil Nadu remaining in shutdown mode most of the time.The first unit of the reactor

which was commissioned in2014 and the second unit whichwas commissioned in 2016 havenot worked for more than 150days at a stretch, say insiders inKudankulam. There is some-thing seriously wrong with thereactors at Kudankulam whichneed a comprehensive investi-gation. No new reactors any-where in the world have facedsuch technical faults,” said asenior engineer who has com-missioned some of the nuclearreactors of the Nuclear PowerCorporation of India Ltd.

He said the Indian nuclearengineers seem to have bittenmore than they could chew withthe Fast Breeder Reactor atKalpakkam. “There is no pos-sibility of this reactor generat-ing power in the near future.Even if it generates power, itwould not be at an economicalrate,” he said.

Failed deadline derails India's nuclear programme

Patna: Bihar BJP chiefNityanand Rai on Mondayasked the Congress why it wasscared of Christian Michel, thealleged middleman in theAgustaWestland VVIP choppercase, and what is the truth thatit wants to hide.

The EnforcementDepartment investigating theAgustaWestland case, had tolda Delhi court on Saturdayrecently that Michel has madea reference to "Mrs Gandhi"during interrogation.

The Congress then hit outat the BJP-led Government atthe Centre, accusing it of usingagencies to put pressure on

Michel to "name a particularfamily" as elections were nearand it has no real issues.

"Why the Congress party ismaking a hue and cry onChristian Michel and what isthe truth that it wants to hide?The Congress getting jittery onthe issue makes things moreevident as why it is creating afurore over the matter," Rai toldreporters here at the partyoffice.

An Italian court in its ordernoted that `360 crore was paidas kickbacks in the `37 billiondollar chopper deal and politi-cians and bureaucrats received`125 crore as bribe, Rai said.

"The court also mentionedthe name of Sonia Gandhi fourtimes in its order which showsher involvement in the deal," hesaid. Rai said these accusationsof corruption were raised not bythe BJP or any central agencybut by an Italian court.

Michel has revealed manynames using codes such as "bigman, son of Italian lady, partyleader and R" which all suggestto a single family, he claimed.

The Congress is trying todeflect attention of the people by questioning the NarendraModi Government on the AugustaWestland deal, hesaid. PTI

Why Congress scared ofChristian Michel, asks BJP

Ahmedabad: Students ofGujarat schools will answerroll calls with 'Jai Hind' or 'JaiBharat' instead of the current'yes sir' and 'present sir' fromJanuary 1 in order to fosterpatriotism, a notificationissued on Monday stated.

The notification, issuedby the Directorate of PrimaryEducation and GujaratSecondary and HigherSecondary Education Board(GSHSEB), lays down thatstudents of Class 1-12 inGovernment, grant-in-aid andself-financed schools will haveto respond to the attendancecall with "Jai Hind" or "Jai

Bharat," starting January 1.The objective of the new

practice is to "foster patriotismamong students right fromchildhood," it said.

As per the notification,the decision was taken by thestate Education MinisterBhupendrasinh Chudasama ina review meeting held Monday.

Copies of the notificationwere sent to the district edu-cation officials with instruc-tions to implement it fromJanuary 1.

Minister Chudasamacould not be contacted forcomment despite repeatedattempts. PTI

Guj students to say‘Jai Hind', ‘Jai Bharat'during roll call


Srinagar: The minimum tem-perature at most places inKashmir Valley and the Ladakhregion plummeted, with Kargilexperiencing the coldest night ofthe season so far, an official at theMeT Department said onMonday. The nearby Kargilrecorded a low of minus 17.2degrees Celsius on Sunday night,he said. Srinagar, the summercapital of Jammu & Kashmir,recorded a low of minus 6.6degrees Celsius – a drop of overfour degrees from minus 2.4degrees Celsius on Saturdaynight. The official said Qazigund,the gateway town to the valley,in south Kashmir recorded a lowof minus 4.7 degrees Celsius,while the nearby Kokernag townregistered a low of minus 2.3degrees Celsius. PTI

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

The Pune district authori-ties had their way on

Monday ahead of Tuesday’smuch-discussed Dalit con-gregation at Bhima-Koregaon,as the Bombay High Courtrefused to direct the police topermit Bhim Army chief andfireband Dalit leaderChandrashekhar Azad toaddress a public rally at a localcollege ground.

Simultaneously, theSavitribai Phule PuneUniversity denied permissionto Azad to interact with itsstudents on Monday.

Hearing a petition filed byBhim Army's Pune unit chiefDatta Pol seeking a directionto the Pune to allow Azad toaddress SSPMS Collegeground in Pune a public rallyon Sunday, a HC vacationbench of Justice C V Bhadangrefused to given an interimrelief to Azad and directed thePune Police to file its say onthe petition. Later, the courtscheduled the next hearing ofthe case for January 4.

The petitioner’s counselNitin Satpute told the HighCourt that his client had made

several applications to thePune police seeking permis-sion told public meetings andengagements on December30 and 31. However, theauthorities had not respond-ed to their applications andthat they learnt from themedia that the permissionhad been denied to them.

Contesting the claim byAzad and his supporters thatthere were detained whileheading towards Dadar-Chaityabhoomi on Saturdayevening, the Mumbai policeinformed the high court thatthey had not detained theBhim Army chief as claimedby the latter. “ We had onlyplaced him (Azad) underhouse arrest,” the police toldthe court.

Azad, who headed toPune soon after he wasreleased from “detention” bythe Mumbai police, arrived inPune on Sunday evening.

Talking to media personson his arrival in Pune, Azadcondemned the MaharashtraGovernment’s move to detainhim illegally and prevent himfrom addressing a public ral-lies in Mumbai and Pune.

In its petition before the

high court, the Bhim Armyhas demanded a a compen-sation of `10 crore from theMaharashtra Government forAzad’s “illegal” detention.

Azad was to address apublic rally at Jamburi Maidanat Worli in south-centralMumbai on Saturday.Subsequently, he was toaddress a public rally in Puneon Sunday and follow it upwith an interaction with uni-versity students on Monday.

As per the earlier sched-ule, Azad was to showerflower petals on the victorypillar at Bhima-Koregaon,where more than one lakhshave gathered to celebrate thethe 201st anniversary of the

the January 1, 1818 victory ofBritish troops over PeshwaBajirao II's army on Tuesday.Later, he was to address twomore rallies – one at Latur onJanuary 2 and another one atAmravati on September.

However, Azad has notbeen permitted by the policeto address even one rally inMaharashtra so far.

On his part, Azad hasthreatened to go Bhim-Koregaon on Tuesday to payhomage to those Dalits killedin the battle between Britishtroupes and Bhajirao II’sArmy on January 1, 1818.The Dalits were part of theBritish troupes in the 1818battle with the Bhajirao II’sArmy.

In its effort to ensureagainst a repeat of the distur-bances witnessed at Bhima-Koregaon last year, the Punedistrict authorities have madeelaborate security arrange-ments in the eight kilometreradius of the village to main-tain law and order during thevictory rally scheduled forTuesday.

It may be recalled that thatduring the caste riots thatbroke out on January 1, 2018

-- the 201st anniversary of thethe January 1, 1818 victory ofBritish troops over PeshwaBajirao II's army. One personwas killed, while propertyworth Rs 9.54 crore wasdestroyed at Bhima-Koregaonin Pune district. After theriots, there were wide-spreadprotests and violence acrossthe state.

After the Bhima-Koregaon riots, the police hadarrested 1o human rightsactivists for allegedly con-spiring to kill Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and over-throw the democraticallyelected government in thecountry. They have beenbooked for their alleged linkswith the banned CPI(Maoists). In addition, fiveabsconding Maoist leadershave also been made accusedin the case.

Apart from stationing ahuge contingent of police per-sonnel in and around the sen-sitive Bhima-Koregaon, thePune district authorities aredeploying 11 drones in theeight km radius of the villageto maintain vigilance on thegoings at the Dalit victoryrally to be held on Tuesday.

Bombay HC denies permission to AzadBHIMA-KOREGAON VICTORY RALLY

A college student creates a sand sculpture on the New Year's eve at Sangam in Prayagraj on Monday PTI

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Maharashtra Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis and

senior Congress leader AshokChavan on Monday exchangedbarbs over the Agusta WestlandVVIP chopper deal, with theformer asking the Congressand Gandhi family to comeclean on the bribery chargesand Chavan likening Fadnavis’allegations to a thief com-plaining about a robbery.

As part of the BJP’s strate-gy to field its leaders across thecountry to target the Congressand the Gandhi family on theAgusta Westland helicopterbribery case, Fadnavisaddressed a news conferenceand said: "Christian Michel isthe key middleman in theAugustaWestland deal. TheCongress Party has benefitedfrom him. This is what the

Enforcement Directorate (ED)has brought forth before aDelhi court. The Congress andGandhi family are runningaway from the allegations facedby it. The Congress and Gandhifamily must clarify its role inthe deal”.

Alluding to the allegationsof bribery in the deal, Fadnavissaid that there was a massivecorruption in this deal thatsome officials, Indian Air Forceofficers and politicians werebribed.

“Two officials were arrest-

ed and tried by the Italiancourts which have sentencedthem to jail terms. On page no.193 of the judgement, SoniaGandhi’s name appears fourtimes. It also said that a com-mission of `125 crore at therate of 10 per cent was final-ized, of which the CongressParty got nearly 52 per cent, 20per cent went to IAF and therest to other officials,” Fadnavissaid, while reading from a pre-pared statement.

Fadnavis alleged thatMichel was arrested in theUnited Arab Emirates (UAE)in 2017 and extradited toIndia recently. The documentsand diaries seized from him bythe investigators revealed thereferences like Mrs. SoniaGandhi, a letter ‘R’, ‘family’,‘son of an Italian woman whocould be Prime Minister’ andother hints.

Mumbai: A 38-year-oldwoman died due to excessivebleeding during her 10thpregnancy in Beed district ofMaharashtra, a police officialsaid Monday. MeeraEkhande delivered a stillbornboy on Saturday at the civilhospital in Majalgaon townof Beed, located around 380km from here, and laterdied, he said. The woman,who used to run a pan shopin Majalgaon, already hadseven daughters but her fam-ily wanted a boy, the official

said. She had also terminat-ed two pregnancies earlier, hesaid, adding that she con-ceived again apparentlyunder family pressure.

"Ekhande was onSaturday admitted to thecivil hospital where she deliv-ered a stillborn child andthen died of excessive bleed-ing," the official said.

"We have registered anaccidental death report andhanded over the woman'sbody to her family mem-bers," he said.

Woman dies delivering stillbornchild after 10th pregnancy

At -17.2 degree

Celsius, Kargil

records coldest

night of season

Fadnavis, Chavan trade barbsover VVIP chopper deal

TRIPLE TALAQ...Sources present in the meet-

ing said that most of the partiespresent in the meeting were of theview that the Bill needs to be sentto the select committee. DMKleader K Kanimozhi said herparty had been consistent in itsposition against “criminalisa-tion” of triple talaq. “We areopposing jail punishment forpronouncing talaq. Even theIslamic tenets do not allowinstant triple talaq. We will voteagainst the Bill and it is the standof the DMK that it (Bill) bereferred to a select committee,”she later told media. TDP chiefand Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandrababu Naidumade an appeal to all his MPs toobstruct the harassment ofMuslims. “All Opposition partiesshould fight unitedly against theanti-Muslim attitude of BJP. TheGovernment forcibly imposingtriple talaq Bill is a danger for sec-ularism and national integrity,” hesaid on twitter. Amid a stalematebetween the Government and theOpposition over the issue, theRajya Sabh failed to transact anysignificant business during theday. The House was adjournedtwice during with an adjourn-ment in the morning followingprotests by AIADMK membersover the Cauvery issue. Azad saidthe bill was very crucial andrequires further scrutiny andclaimed that more than half of themembers belonging to severalparties have demanded that theBill be sent to a select committee.He accused the Government ofbreaking the tradition of sendingBills to select committees forscrutiny before they become alaw. Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs Vijay Goelsaid the Government was readyfor a discussion on the issue andaccused the Congress of creatinghurdles in the passage of the leg-islation. He said the Congress hasalready supported the Bill in theLok Sabha earlier. “The Congressand other parties are only play-ing politics on this issue which isvery important for ensuring therights of married Muslimwomen,” he said. Hitting back,deputy leader of the Congress inthe Rajya Sabha, Anand Sharma

said, “It is the Government whichis doing politics. Nobody isopposing the Bill. Let there belegislative scrutiny”. “TheGovernment is misleading thepeople. If the Bill has been passedwithout legislative scrutiny in theLok Sabha then it should not bepassed here without referring toselect committee. Rajya Sabha isnot a rubber stamp,” he said.Responding to this, Prasad said,“This Bill is very important. Wewant to discuss it here and areready to listen to any suggestion.Even after bringing the ordi-nance, there have been incidentsof triple talaq till yesterday(Sunday). It is a question of gen-der equality...We want to discussand pass the Bill.” DeputyChairman Harivansh said, “Iwant to run the House. We haveagreed for a holiday tomorrow(January 1). The members shouldallow the House to functiontoday.” As members continued tocreate a din, the DeputyChairman adjourned the Housefor the day till Wednesday.

NON-SUBSIDISED...This subsidy amount varies

from month to month dependingon the changes in the averageinternational benchmark LPGrate and foreign exchange rate.When international rates moveup, the government provides ahigher subsidy. And when theycome down, subsidy is cut. As pertax rules, GST on LPG has to becalculated at the market rate ofthe fuel. The Government maychoose to subsidise a part of theprice but tax will have to be paidat market rates. So, with the fallin market price or non-sub-sidised LPG price, the tax inci-dence on subsidised cooking fuelhas also come down, leading tothe current price reduction.“Accordingly, the upfront cashpayment by the consumer ofdomestic LPG will also reduce by`120.50 per cylinder. DomesticLPG consumer will now berequired to make upfront cashpayment of `689 a cylinder inplace of `809.50 per cylinder,”IOC said. Subsidised cooking gasconsumers will get `194.01 percylinder subsidy in their bankaccounts for the month of

January. The subsidy transfer inthe customer’s bank account hasbeen reduced from `433.66 inNovember and `308.60 inDecember.

KERALA LEFT...There are allegations that

Government officials were threat-ening Kudumba Sree (WomensSelf Help Group) activists withdire consequences if they do nottake part in the event. KSushama, a homemaker andKudumba Sree activist inErnakulam district told ThePioneer that the CPI-M leadersconvened a meeting of KudumbaSree workers on Monday morn-ing and warned them againststaying away from the Wall. "Wedon’t know what will happen toyou if you do not participate inthe wall. Don’t ask us for any helpif the party leadership gets antag-onised over this," Smitha, leaderof the local SHG mission atPerumbavoor told the SHGactivists.

TELGI ACQUITTED...ISP, located in Nashik, is taskedwith printing passports, visas,postage stamps, post cards, inlandletters, envelopes, non-postaladhesives, court fees, fiscal, andHundi stamps in the country. Thecourt had framed charges againstthe eight accused in February2015, Kale said. The court exam-ined 49 witnesses during thetrial, he said, adding that theaccused were acquitted by thejudge in absence of “solid evi-dence”. Besides Telgi, otheraccused acquitted on Monday areidentified as Railway ProtectionForce officials Rambhau Pawar,Brijkishore Tiwari, VilaschandraJoshi, Dyaneshwar Barke, PramodDahage, Mohammed Sarvar andVilas More. It cannot be imme-diately confirmed whether theseofficials are still serving with theRPF or are retired from service.The Government pleader, whorepresented the CBI in the case,didn’t talk with reporters. Telgihad printed fake stamp papersallegedly in connivance withGovernment officials and politi-cians, and sold them to banks,stock brokerage firms and insur-ance companies.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PTI n NEW DELHI

Sikh inmates will be keptaway from former Congress

leader Sajjan Kumar's ward inthe Mandoli Jail complex hereas a precautionary measure, jailsources said. Kumar, sentencedto life imprisonment for his rolein the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, wasbrought to the Mandoli jailafter he surrendered beforethe Karkardooma court here onMonday. The former Congressleader, who was brought to thejail by the police following hismedical examination at a Delhigovernment hospital, wouldbe lodged in prison number 14,the sources said.

They added that Kumar'smedical examination by a jaildoctor was also carried out.

He underwent a detailedmedical examination owing tohis age.He told the doctor thathe was asthmatic and was suf-fering from body pain, theysaid, adding Kumar has alsobrought several medicines withhim. The sources said after themedical examination, he wasled to ward number 1 and Sikhprisoners near that ward were

shifted to other wards as a pre-cautionary measure. Securityhad been increased in jail num-ber 14 and the personnel askedto ensure that the two-threeSikh prisoners lodged in theprison should be kept awayfrom Kumar as a precautionarymeasure, they said.

On the first day of his jailstay, Kumar went without food,the sources said, adding he willnot be given special treatmentand treated like other prison-ers. He was brought to the jailcomplex in a separate prisonbus with two escort vehicles,following the court's direc-tions. Kumar, 73, surrenderedbefore Metropolitan MagistrateAditi Garg, who directed thathe be lodged in the Mandoli jailin northeast Delhi. The Delhi

High Court had set a deadlineof December 31 for the formerCongress leader to surrenderand on December 21, declinedhis plea to extend the time bya month. The high court had,on December 17, convictedKumar and sentenced him tolife imprisonment for the"remainder of his natural life".Subsequently, Kumar resignedfrom the Congress party.

The case in which he wasconvicted relates to the killingof five Sikhs in the Raj NagarPart-I area in the Palam Colonyof southwest Delhi onNovember 1-2, 1984 and theburning down of a Gurdwarain Raj Nagar Part-II.

Kumar is the first bigpolitician to be convicted in theriots. In its judgment onDecember 17, the high courtnoted that over 2,700 Sikhswere killed in the national cap-ital, holding that the riots wasindeed a "carnage of unbeliev-able proportions". The riotsbroke out after the assassina-tion of then prime ministerIndira Gandhi on October 31,1984, by her two Sikh body-guards.

Srinagar: Terming the tripletalaq bill as an "assault" onMuslim families, formerJammu & Kashmir chief min-ister Mehbooba Mufti onMonday asked the Centre todesist from interfering in thereligious affairs of the com-munity.

Her comments came onthe day when the contentiousMuslim Women (Protectionof Rights on Marriage) Bill,2018, which seeks to crimi-nalise the practice of instantdivorce among the commu-nity, was tabled in the RajyaSabha. However, the UpperHouse of Parliament failed toinitiate a discussion on thebill, with a united Oppositionled by the Congress demand-ing that the draft law be sentto a select committee forscrutiny. "As a Muslim and awoman who has gonethrough a broken marriage, Ithought it is my duty to speakwhen there is an assault onthe family structure ofMuslims," Mufti toldreporters here.

She said Muslims takepride in their family structurewhich is very strong andaccused the Centre of tryingto disturb the communitythrough the bill.

"Our family structure isvery strong. But unfortu-nately, after the economiconslaught on Muslimsthrough curbs on meat andleather, now they (Centre)have entered our homesthrough the triple talaq bill,which would not only disturbour family life, but also putour women into economicdistress," the People'sDemocratic Party (PDP)president said.

Mufti said while desertinga woman was very wrong,marriage is a contract betweentwo people. "If two people donot want to live together, theycan live apart through con-sensus. The biggest challengethat a woman faces after hermarriage breaks is economic,"she said. She alleged thatwhile the BJP rejected reser-vation for Muslims in educa-tion and jobs, it chose to goahead with a law like this,which is also based on reli-gious lines.

"The Supreme Court hasalready ruled (that) it (prac-tice of triple talaq) (is) invalidand Islam also rejects it, but

despite that they went aheadwith it (triple talaq bill)," sheadded. The PDP chief calledfor a consensus over the issue."Democracy is not runthrough brute majority, it isabout consensus. BJP claims(its motto is) 'Sabka Saath,Sabka Vikas', but by bringingsuch a bill, which would cre-ate division in Muslim fami-lies, they are doing everythingwrong," Mufti said.

She said Jammu &Kashmir, despite being aMuslim-majority State, hadaligned with MahatmaGandhi's secular India.

"However, by acts likechanging names of cities orislands, distorting historyand banning beef and leather,and now this onslaught, Iwant to tell the Centre thatyou are not doing any serviceeither to India or the Hindus.We do not want to create Zia-ul-Haq's Pakistan in Gandhi'sIndia," she said, referring tothe Pakistani dictator and for-mer president.

Meanwhile, the NationalConference on Mondayaccused the BJP of "fiddlingwith the Muslim Sharia law"for electoral benefits andasserted that tinkering with thecustomary Islamic law is notacceptable.

"Fiddling with the Muslim

Sharia Law is not acceptable tous. The whole process is beingexecuted by the ruling BJP toleverage poll benefits," said NCgeneral secretary AliMohammad Sagar, addressingworkers from different parts ofthe valley at the party head-quarters Nawa-e-Subh here."The BJP's recent drubbing hasmade it pretty clear that peo-ple have now rejected it as a‘jumla' party," he added. Takinga dig at former Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti, Sagar saidpeople still remember howshe surrendered before theBJP during her tenure as thechief minister.

"The BJP Government hasbeen mulling to come up witha bill criminalising triple Talaqsince long. But Mehboobadidn't raise the issue with herformer ally at any forum whenshe was hand in gloves withthem. I fail to understandwhat purpose her statementsserve now. "People won't exon-erate her. No matter how muchgimmickry she plays around,she cannot absolve herself ofmurdering the trust of peopleby joining hands with thesame BJP which is on a spreeof annihilating Muslim iden-tity in India by name change ofcities and fiddling with Muslim personal laws," hesaid. PTI

Says, it will

create economic

problems for

Muslim women

Mehbooba opposes triple talaq bill

Sajjan Kumar to be kept

away from Sikh inmates

Chennai: In a fresh develop-ment in the mystery sur-rounding former ChiefMinister J Jayalalithaa's death,Tamil Nadu Law Minister C VShanmugam on Monday saidshe would have been alive hadproper treatment been given toher during the leader's 75-dayhospitalisation in 2016.

Shanmugam wanted theState Government to investi-gate the background of healthsecretary J Radhakrishnan,who, he alleged, was againsttaking former Chief MinisterJ Jayalalithaa, abroad for treat-ment. The minister's state-ment comes in the wake of thestanding counsel for aCommission of Inquiry prob-ing the death of Jayalalithaaalleging that Radhakrishnan"colluded and conspired" withApollo Hospitals and "inap-propriate treatment" was pro-vided to her.

Also, the commission'scounsel has alleged that thethen chief secretary P RamaMohana Rao, at the time ofJayalalithaa's hospitalisationin 2016, had "purposely givenfalse evidence", sources said.

The standing counsel forthe Justice AArumughaswamy commision,Mohammed Jafarullah Khan,in a petition before the panelhas sought to impleadRadhakrishnan and Rao asrespondents.

The counsel's plea allegesthat the health secretary madecontradictory statementsbefore the panel and the offi-cial was also against takingJayalalithaa abroad for treatment.

The allegations have beenstrongly refuted by both thehealth secretary and the hos-pital, while the former chiefsecretary said he was not awareof the petition. PTI

Jaya's death:

Probe Health

Secretary’s

background,

says minister

Even though the Lok Sabha passedthe Muslim Women (Protectionof Rights of Marriage), Bill, 2018,last week, the political slugfestover this festering problem is like-

ly to continue with opposition partiesthreatening to gang up and stall legislationthat seeks to address a critical issue of gen-der disparity among the Muslims — theright of Muslim men to divorce their wiveson a whim, despite a clear verdict of theSupreme Court against such a practice.

When the Supreme Court delivered itsjudgement over a year ago in the ShayaraBano vs Union of India in August 2017, itset aside the practice of talaq-e-biddat(three pronouncements of talaq at one andthe same time) which was used by someMuslim men to divorce their wives. Thispractice had been challenged before theapex court on grounds that it was discrim-inatory and against the dignity of women.

While disposing of this case, the court,in its 3:2 judgement, made certain obser-vations which are fundamental to this issue.

It said the law that governed Muslimsin matters such as marriage, divorce, inher-itance, maintenance, gifts, guardianship,intestate succession and so on was theMuslim Personal Law (Shariat) ApplicationAct, 1937. The court relied on an impor-tant judgement delivered by it in 2002which touched upon the matters at hand,namely Shamim Ara vs State of UttarPradesh. In that case, the court said “….thecorrect law of talaq, as ordained by the HolyQuran, is that talaq must be for a reason-able cause and be preceded by attempts atreconciliation between the husband and thewife by two arbiters — one of them fromthe wife’s family and the other from the hus-band’s; if the attempts fail, talaq may beeffected”.

The apex court’s judgement in this casegave a fillip to the Government’s desire tofill the gap in regard to parliamentary leg-islation in this area. A legislative measureof this kind also became imperative whenthe Government found that despite theSupreme Court’s judgement, cases of tripletalaq were still being reported from vari-ous parts of the country. This compelled theGovernment to bring in an Ordinance andto later come up with a Bill to replace theOrdinance. Although the Lok Sabha haspassed the Bill with huge support of MPs,parties opposed to the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) are unwilling to bite the bullet.

Sadly, parties, which nurture theMuslim vote-bank, have generally tendedto block progressive laws vis-à-vis theMuslims. They believe that any initiative,that seeks to align the Muslim Personal Lawto the grand Constitutional scheme, will berejected by the Muslims and will cost theparties heavily at the hustings. Such hasbeen the narrative since the days ofJawaharlal Nehru and there are any num-ber of instances of political parties backing

off, fearing a political backlash.The Congress has been at theforefront of this approach, lead-ing to terrible imbalance in theenforcement of Constitutionaland legal provisions across theland and across communities.

History will hold theCongress, which succumbed tothe mullahs and used its brutemajority in the two Houses ofParliament to annul a historicSupreme Court judgement,granting maintenance todivorced Muslim women inthe famous Shah Bano case, assingularly responsible for selec-tive deployment ofConstitutional provisions andweakening of the overallConstitutional scheme, merelyto gather the Muslim vote in anelection.

The current legislativeeffort by the Narendra ModiGovernment to restore theConstitutional rights ofMuslim women comes in thewake of some telling observa-tions of the apex court in theShayara Bano case.

Given the fact that tripletalaq is instant and irrevocable,justices RF Nariman and UULalit said it is obvious that anyattempt at reconciliationbetween the husband and wifeby two arbiters from their fam-ilies, which is essential to savethe marital tie, cannot ever takeplace. Therefore, triple talaqwas manifestly arbitrary in thesense that the marital tie can be

broken capriciously and whim-sically by a Muslim man with-out any attempt at reconcilia-tion so as to save it. This formof talaq must, therefore, beheld to be violative of the fun-damental right contained underArticle 14 of the Constitution ofIndia. The judges also heldSection 2 of the 1937 Act to bevoid. They said it must bestruck down as being void tothe extent that it recognises andenforces triple talaq.

This is where we get to seethe distinct approach of theRajiv Gandhi Government inthe 1980s and the NarendraModi Government now to sig-nificant judgements of theSupreme Court.

In the 1980s, when theapex court held that a divorcedMuslim woman was entitled tomaintenance from her hus-band, despite a massive major-ity of over 410 MPs in the LokSabha, the then Prime MinisterRajiv Gandhi lost the historicopportunity to stamp out pseu-do-secularism, practised by hisparty since Nehru’s days and tousher in genuine secularism inthe country. He succumbed topressure from Muslim clericsand brought in a legislation toundo the apex court’s verdict.

This single decision of theCongress has wrought havoc onthe secular, democratic tradi-tions of the country, and elec-toral data shows that the partyhas never recovered from it.

The Shah Bano case also com-pelled the people to turntowards the BJP, in the hopethat this party would usher ingenuine secularism as ordainedby the Constitution. The differ-ence between the two parties isnow well established with theModi Government, unlike theRajiv Gandhi Government, tak-ing legislative measures toenforce the Supreme Court’sjudgement on triple talaq withstrong parliamentary backing.

Whatever the fate of thisBill in the Rajya Sabha in thecoming week, all political par-ties, especially the Congress,will be on test. The Congress,despite its recent successes inState Assembly elections, isstill seen as a party which isreluctant to enforce theConstitutional scheme acrosscommunities. Many other par-ties, too, are toeing this line,hoping to get minority votes in2019. And, in order to achievethis, they have no qualms indisplaying contempt for theSupreme Court as well. Thisapproach has contributed sig-nificantly to the rise of the BJPin national politics and a major-ity of the States. If it remains thesole opponent of pseudo-secu-larism, it will have the fieldentirely to itself. Its opponentswill emerge as champions ofpseudo-secularism, which thepeople have begun to abhor.

(The writer is Chairman,Prasar Bharati)

It is one of the vagaries of the ancients

when, at least in the Greco-Roman

world, we did not know that the earth

rotated around the sun and our calendars

were, thus, imperfect. Even after Julius

Caesar repaired the Roman calendar,

which forms the basis for the Gregorian

calendar that we use today, the year which

was supposed to end with the winter sol-

stice found itself shifted. So, yes, January

1 is an arbitrary date with no seasonal

connotations. Yet, many of us make res-

olutions and dedications of change on this very day. Importantly, we bid the

past year goodbye and wish for better in the new year. 2018 will be remem-

bered for all the usual reasons that years are re-assessed — big celebra-

tions, sporting events as well as tragedies and death. It will be a year from

which we will all draw inspiration and take some hard lessons for the future.

But 2019 is an epochal year, at least for India. Because it is a General Election

year, it will be the most competitive for two generations, thanks to a num-

ber of factors. Not least an Opposition Congress with its tails up after its

recent electoral victories and a Narendra Modi, a serial winner and great ora-

tor, who might find himself not as the man who ruled India for over a decade

but cast among the several ‘one and done’ Prime Ministers this country has

had. One thing is for certain, this will be a vicious and extremely negative

election campaign, possibly with calls to violence on religious and ethnic

lines, much of it fired up by irresponsible people masquerading as public

leaders and maybe even some journalists. It is up for all of us to maintain

civility and decorum in the public discourse, possibly by switching off news

television and taking with a large dose of salt the lies and misinformation

spread on social media and the internet. This will be an election that will be

to India what the 2016 elections were to the United States and it will divide

friends and families about the political choices they make. While India has

been blessed with two decades of political stability, both historical issues

of marginalisation and modern issues of economic needs will come to the

fore and could tear the nation’s social fabric.

It will also be a year with other major ramifications for India and its citi-

zens. Not least it is a Cricket World Cup year with this edition in England. India,

like always, is one of the perpetual favourites for the trophy. There are also

opportunities for India’s newer stars in emerging sports who made their mark

in 2018 to buttress their status among the world’s best. The media industry

will have to cope with the continued rise of data consumption and challenges

of new business models. The world will also need to stand up to the chal-

lenge of fake news and censorship fed by large technology companies who,

whether they like it or not, have become intermediaries and not just service

providers. On all fronts, 2019 will be a challenging year. Finally, on behalf of

The Pioneer, we wish you a very happy 2019, and arbitrary as the day is,

make at least one resolution, that is to continue reading and spreading this

newspaper’s articles and columns as India’s only uncorrupted bastion of infor-

mation in these troubled times.

Goodbye 2018, hello 2019

Another year passes into history and a year thatmight make the history books starts

Genesis of new year

Sir — New year wasn’t always cel-ebrated on January 1. Earliestnew year festivities date back toabout 4,000 years ago. At that time,people of ancient Babylon begantheir new year in March. Theywould call for a 11-day festival tocelebrate the beginning of springand the fact that crops were beingplanted for the coming year. Thecalendar that we use today, whichis known as the Gregorian calen-dar, was introduced 436 years agoby Pope Gregory XIII in 1582. Hedeclared once and for all thatJanuary 1 should be new year’s day.And since that time, people havebeen celebrating this day onJanuary 1.

On this day we promise our-selves that we’ll do somethingdifferently or better, whether it isquitting a bad habit or getting bet-ter grades in school. But where didwe get this idea of making resolu-tions for the new year? It’s believedthat the ancient Babylonians werethe first ones to make new year res-olutions. They made promises tobegin the year off right and to earnthe approval of their gods.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

Aim to bring change

Sir — Without questioning theshower of good wishes for the newyear, the fact remains that 2019holds no miracle. We can’t expecteverything to be fine as soon as theclock strikes 12. To ensure a cheer-ful year, certain fundamental socialtransformations are required. Butwho’s responsible for it? Of course,

we the people of this country. In Fyodor Dostoyevsky’s novel,

The Idiot, the superintendent of theSwiss clinic said to Prince LevMyshkin when the protagonistwas leaving the place after four-yeartreatment of severe epileptic con-dition: “If people try to act a bitsympathetic towards each other, themajority of the problems in oursociety would cease to exist”.

Indeed, we must be coopera-

tive towards our peers, neighbours,with people at workplace and thesociety at large. We must respecteach other, irrespective of ourdemographic or social status andremain tolerant towards diverseopinion and culture. Only then canthe world attain true civilisation.Let the new year kickstart withsuch optimism.

Kajal Chatterjee Kolkata

Hope for the best

Sir — With 2019 knocking onour doors, yet another year hasgone by, leaving behind some bit-ter-sweet memories. Globallyand nationally, the year 2018holds a chequered record ofevents ranging from politics toreligion, legislature to the judiciary, the executive and otheractivities, including sports andcinema. The year was vibrantwith a myriad of politicalupheavals, a slew of controver-sies, few economic achievementsand setbacks, numerous reli-gious vicissitudes, a couple ofinstitutional paradigm shifts andseveral landmark judicial ver-dicts. There was also publicresentment following incidents ofmob violence and moral policing.

What all of this boils downto is that this past year wasmarked by a few hits and miss-es, a mix of promises kept andunkept. Hence, optimistically, weshould ‘never say die’ and lookforward to a brighter year ahead.

Azhar A KhanRampur

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

Send your feedback to:[email protected]


facebook.com/dailypioneer | @TheDailyPioneer | instagram.com/dailypioneer/

op nionLUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

08

BJP's victory, Congress' loss

A SURYA PRAKASH

Unlike the Rajiv Gandhi Government, which failed to uphold the rights of Muslim women, the

Modi regime is taking legislative measures to enforce the top court’s judgement on triple talaq

India will miss out on cap-turing a share of the inter-national satellite and rocketmarket if it does not rampup its hardware productioncapacity big time.

Former ISRO chairman—A S Kiran Kumar

In all honesty, I cannotbehave like a senior. I can'tdo it even when someonegives me a lot of respect. Ican't relate to myself as asenior cricketer.

India captain—Virat Kohli

Cancer came as a gift, ittransformed my life. Myvision is now sharper,mind is clearer and myperspective is alsorealigned.

Actor—Manisha Koirala

By bringing in the TripleTalaq bill, the BJP is enter-ing our homes. This willdisturb our family life andthere will be more prob-lems for us economically.

PDP chief —Mehbooba Mufti

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

End skirmishes and let Parliament function

It is disgusting that a large number of Members ofParliament of both Houses — Rajya Sabha and LokSabha — are hell-bent to disrupt parliamentary pro-

ceedings. But this isn’t surprising. Disruptions havebecome a regular feature in Parliament. In the case ofthe Lok Sabha, however, things have fared better.Several crucial Bills, like the Muslim Women (Protectionof Rights of Marriage), Bill, 2018 were passed. However,in the Rajya Sabha, where the ruling party does not havea majority, disruptions have been severe. Immediatelyafter the Zero Hour, less than a dozen members assem-ble at the Well of the House, close to the presiding offi-cer's chair, and raise slogans with a display of plac-ards. This is why the House is adjourned either for afew hours but mostly for the day.

One fails to understand who do a few irrespon-sible members hold the House to ransom with unrulybehaviour? Is it not a mockery of democracy? MPs

are paid attractive sums of money for their member-ship in Parliament and their participation in parlia-mentary proceedings. They are supposed to be thevoice of the people. Should the Indian people acceptsome MPs' frequent unparliamentary conduct? It’sjust that the country continues to suffer.

M RatanVia email

WHATEVER THEFATE OF THE

TRIPLE TALAQBILL IN THE

RAJYA SABHA,ALL POLITICAL

PARTIES,ESPECIALLY THE

CONGRESS, WILLBE ON TEST. THE

CONGRESS,DESPITE ITS

RECENTSUCCESSES IN

STATE ASSEMBLYELECTIONS, IS

STILL SEEN AS APARTY WHICH IS

RELUCTANT TOENFORCE A

CONSTITUTIONALSCHEME ACROSS

COMMUNITIES

Nothing could be better news for Delhi

than the fact that the Bangladesh elec-

tions were largely free from anti-India

rhetoric during campaigning and the Sheikh

Hasina-led Awami League alliance is firm-

ly back in saddle. Though reports of the

elections have been rife with rigging alle-

gations, violence and charges of an

increasingly autocratic swamp denuding

democracy, fact is this was one election

where even the critical West was okay with

the discourse of the participation of the

Opposition grand alliance, led by the BNP. Its leader Begum Khaleda Zia, cur-

rently incarcerated over corruption charges, could not participate as a candi-

date for sure but as a remote power control did try to seize the narrative. However,

Zia has never worked out for India’s interests, who, powered by the hardline

Jamaat, had allowed terrorism to flourish in our strategic backyard. And by the

time she realised that antagonising India would not quite deliver the goods, Begum

Hasina had tamed terrorist networks that threatened our vulnerable Northeast,

delivered Anup Chetia and sealed landmark land and water agreements with

us. Needless to say that the ISIS network has made inroads into Bangladesh

and currently Hasina seems to be the best bet to curb it. By ensuring an eco-

nomic stability at home and embarking on some transformative policies — some

of which resulted in better development indices than Pakistan and even us —

she has ensured that Bangladesh remains a coveted ally in the region. And with

China wanting it to be another pearl in its string of diplomacy under the Belt

and Road Initiative now that Pakistan is firmly in its kitty, we need Bangladesh

as a bulwark state. We have invested heavily on this strategic edge for almost

ten years with Prime Minister Narendra Modi describing the last few years as

a “golden chapter” in bilateral relationship when complicated issues of land and

coastal boundaries were resolved.

India strengthened people-to-people contact by signing a revised travel agree-

ment and granting three-year visas to students. Now freedom fighters and elder-

ly Bangladeshi nationals will get five-year multiple visas. India’s look-east pol-

icy will be greatly compromised without Dhaka’s concurrence while coopera-

tion projects, like the Akhaura-Agartala rail line and the restoration of the Kulaura-

Shahbazpur section, are not only good for the economy of logistics but also

for access and proximity to the Northeast, otherwise dependent on the chick-

en neck corridor of Siliguri in north Bengal. Land ports have helped us main-

stream the Northeast and ensured that there is no blind migration that grossly

skews border demographics. Though the issue of sharing waters of the Teesta

river is yet unresolved, the 130-km India Friendship Pipeline between Siliguri in

Bengal and Parbatipur in Dinajpur is a reality. India would want to build on this

new trajectory and Hasina ensures that continuity. Earlier this year, she also

ensured that the 1.1 million Rohingya refugees could make their way back home

by rallying huge international support to put pressure on Myanmar to take back

their minorities. This it did regardless of India, which didn’t want to upset the

Myanmar regime. Yet her crusade worked for us too. If we want a healthy, depend-

able neighbour and convince Hasina that we will look out for the state we helped

birth, we would have girded up our eastern frontier.

Why we need Hasina

India has invested heavily in its eastern neighbourand an Awami League govt can make it a bulwark

In keeping with tradition, pop-ulism always emerges as anelectoral force. During the run

of a given political cycle, most pol-icy decisions are undertakenthrough a consumer-centric lens. Inthis case, the ideal policy would bethe one which pleases the voter andalso not burden the nextGovernment. However, the realityis such decisions often ignoreslong-term consequences on theexchequer or even the consumer.Consequently, freebies and loftypromises are the life-blood of elec-toral campaigns.

In this context, it is not surpris-ing that the Ministry of Informationand Broadcasting has set out a pro-posal which will enable the public

broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, to tele-cast “sporting events of nationalimportance” over other televisionnetworks.

By exercising the powers grant-ed by the Sports BroadcastingSignals (Mandatory Sharing withPrasar Bharati) Act, 2007, PrasarBharati’s television network, oper-ated by Doordarshan, receives livesignals from content owners thatbuy rights to telecast such eventsfrom sports bodies like the Boardof Control for Cricket in India(BCCI). This content is then tele-cast to the 31 million householdsthat subscribe to Doordarshan’sterrestrial networks and its free-dishDTH service.

This follows a 2017 judgment ofthe Supreme Court, which clarifiedthat the Act only allows forDoordarshan to telecast these eventson its own distribution networks,and not on private television distri-bution networks.

In an attempt to work aroundthe strict guidelines drawn by theapex court, the Ministr y of

Information and Broadcasting hasnow set out new legislations tomake the telecast of “sportingevents of national importance”available for free to all of the 183million television households inIndia. What better a scheme toimpress the average voter than onewhich makes some of the most pop-ular content on television, such asthe Cricket World Cup scheduledfor next year, available for free.

Though the stated objective ofthe proposed amendment is tomaximise access to sporting eventson a free-to-air basis, the mannerin which the Act is currently imple-mented already ensures that suchtelecasts are made available onDoordarshan’s own distribution net-works, free-to-air, to the consumer.By providing an alternative to paytelevision, Doordarshan effectivelywill ensure universal availability aswell as a universal means to access.

The conceptual challenge withthe Ministry of Information andBroadcasting’s new line of thinkingis that mere availability of free-to-

air channels on private networksdoes not translate to an enhancedconsumer access.

Given the implementation ofthe Telecom Regulatory Authorityof India’s (TRAI) latest tariff orderto broadcast and cable operators,subscribers of private televisionnetworks will have to pay a mini-mum charge of up to `130 everymonth regardless of the type ofchannels they subscribe to.

The proposed amendment will,therefore, not increase access tosporting content for consumers atthe bottom of the income pyramid,which should be the guiding prin-ciple of any measure to enhanceaccess. Instead, it will make popu-lar sports like cricket cheaper forconsumers who are already willingto pay to watch television over pri-vate networks.

If not the poorest socio-eco-nomic group, who is going to ben-efit out of the amendment? Almost85.7 per cent of Prasar Bharati’sreceipts accrue from Governmentgrants. The amendment may rein-

force a culture of handouts byenabling Doordarshan to telecastcontent without undertaking anyrisk. Besides Prasar Bharati, privatetelevision networks will benefitfrom this arrangement, as theywill be able to make subscriptioncontent available free-to-air with-out having to pay content ownersany part of the proceeds.

In due course, serious moneti-sation challenges are likely to besetthe entire sports economy in thecountry as private broadcastersstop investing in it. Broadcastingrights revenues contribute 91.69 percent to the total revenues of HockeyIndia, 85.88 per cent to revenues ofthe All India Football Federationand 47.46 per cent to revenues ofthe Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI).

Conversely, neither theGovernment of India nor PrasarBharati has the resources to makeup for the lack of private investmentin sports and independently develop high-quality sports pro-gramming.

The budget allocated to theMinistry of Youth Affairs andSports formed only 0.07 per cent ofthe total expenditure of the UnionGovernment in 2018-19, whileDoordarshan spent only 5.6 per centof its total programme expenses onsports events in 2016-17.

Adopting the proposed amend-ment will be unbecoming for aGovernment which prides itselfon reforms that prioritise long-termwelfare over short-term consider-ations, such as the Goods andService Tax.

While it may make sports con-tent cheaper for paying viewers inthe short run, it will deprive India’ssports economy of meaningfulinvestments in the long run. TheMinistry of Information andBroadcasting will end up throttlingthe value of sports as a business, asan industry and most importantly,as a career option.

(The writer is an Associate atKoan Advisory Group, New Delhi.The views expressed above are personal)

Now down to the fine print

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

EVER SINCE MICHEL WAS BROUGHT BACK TO INDIA,

THE CONGRESS IS NERVOUS AND JITTERY AND THAT

IS COMING TO THE FORE.

—BJP SPOKESPERSON

SUDHANSHU TRIVEDI

AS FORMER DEFENCE MINISTER, I WOULD LIKE TO

STATE THAT SONIA GANDHI OR RAHUL GANDHI

NEVER SHOWED INTEREST IN ANY DEFENCE DEAL.

—FORMER DEFENCE MINISTER

A K ANTONY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

Last year was eventful for public healthin India as the government followed upon some of its key decisions announcedbefore. Ayushman Bharat was launchedto implement select recommendations

made in the National Health Policy (2017). TheMental Healthcare Act, 2017, was implementedwhile the Insurance Regulatory DevelopmentAuthority (IRDA) mandated that mental healthproblems would henceforth be a part of insur-ance schemes. Several new health-related deci-sions were also taken — a series of approvals bythe Union Cabinet, new bills for considerationby Parliament and setting up new medical col-leges in various States. However, there is alwaysa time lag between an idea translating into pol-icy and programme. The initial discussion onhealth and wellness centres had started in 2013.The precursor of the Pradhan Mantri JanArogya Yojana (PMJAY) was the NationalHealth Protection Mission, which was original-ly announced in 2016. Ayushman Bharat itselftook off from the earlier discussion on NationalHealth Assurance Mission of 2014 among oth-ers. The country has already suffered because ofa laid-back attitude followed by a slow-pacedimplementation. Building upon what started in2018, here is a wishlist for 2019.

Build on Ayushman Bharat programme:Ayushman Bharat, which was announced onFebruary 1, 2018, was inarguably a major pub-lic health programme of the Union Governmentafter the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM)in 2005. The Ayushman Bharat programme, withtwo components of health and wellness centres(for strengthening primary healthcare) andPradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (for sec-ondary and tertiary level hospitalisation) werecredited for placing health higher on the polit-ical agenda. Yet, public health experts and jour-nals alike continued to make the mistake ofequating Ayushman Bharat with PMJAY, oftenforgetting that the health and wellness centrecomponent is foundational for the success ofPMJAY as well. It was not without reason thathealth and wellness centres as envisaged inAyushman Bharat were launched on April 14 lastyear at Bijapur, Chhattisgarh, months beforePMJAY was launched on September 23, 2018 atRanchi, Jharkhand.

Much of 2018 was spent on planning for scal-ing up the healthcare scheme, so this year shouldbe utilised for an accelerated implementation.More attention should be paid to getting morehealth and wellness centres going throughstate-specific innovations and increased utilisa-tion of a range of service packages underPMJAY, especially in greenfield states, with effi-cient mechanisms for fraud detection. It willserve well if a detailed roadmap and executionplan for Ayushman Bharat is developed withproper funding, approved and placed in publicdomain, which will enhance its accountabilityat various levels.

States showing leadership in better healthregimes: Towards the end of the year, theUttarakhand government launched the break-through Atal Ayushman Uttarakhand Yojana,which covers 100 per cent of the State’s popula-tion compared to the proposed 40 per cent in

Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY. Health is aState subject in our country and the suc-cess of any initiative by the Centre islargely dependent upon the addition-al inputs by the States. This year, weexpect Karnataka, Meghalaya andPunjab to also take the lead andannounce similar total population cov-erage under PMJAY. Besides this, itwould be reasonable to expect that thenewly-elected Government at theCentre in May extends the coveragewith AB-PMJAY from the existing 40per cent families to an additional 20 percent of families. It should alsoannounce a roadmap to cover 80 percent or more population by 2022.

Basti dawakhanas in Hyderabad:The Greater Hyderabad MunicipalCorporation (GHMC), in collabora-tion with the Telangana Government,launched 17 basti dawakhanas (orslum health clinics) in Hyderabad inApril 2018. These facilities in the Stateare inspired by the mohalla clinics ofDelhi and comprise the first urbanlocal body-led community clinic ini-tiatives in the country. Though they arenot much in the limelight because ofthe distance from Delhi, initial reportssuggest that basti dawakhanas areequally popular. The outcome of thesetwo initiatives can change the wayStates and urban local bodies plan pri-mary health services and promptmore States to take such initiatives tostrengthen primary healthcare.

Reforms in medical education:The decision for revision in MBBS cur-riculum, with inclusion of courses onattitude, ethics and communication,was undertaken last year. The revised

curriculum, the first after 21 years, willbe implemented from the 2019-20academic year. This comes at a timewhen issues of unethical practices inmedicine and violence against doctorsare gaining ground, a phenomenondocumented in the book, Healers orPredators?: Healthcare Corruption inIndia, written by Samiran Nundy,Keshav Desiraju and Sanjay Nagral. Theother pending reform concerns theMedical Council of India through theNational Medical Commission Bill,which is still awaiting discussion inParliament. In 2019, there is a need forconsensus among political parties toreform healthcare education and deliv-ery systems to root out corruption.

Tackling air pollution to make airbreathable: In India, air pollution is amajor risk factor for both acute andchronic respiratory diseases. It is doc-umented as a key aggravator in a 2017study on the state-level burden of dis-eases in the country. However, for thethird year in a row, air quality hasgrabbed national and global head-lines. The air quality index continuesto be a cause of serious concern.

Air pollution is not limited toDelhi or north India but cities acrossthe country have poor air quality witharound 70 cities breathing bad as Indiaundergoes a huge infrastructure over-haul. It has been estimated that if airquality standards meet global stan-dards, people in India would live 1.7to 3.0 years longer. The NationalClean Air Programme (NCAP) waslaunched in India in April 2018, witha plan to reduce air pollution in 100identified cities. It is now proven that

efforts on improving air quality willbe a high return investment in theform of better health, higher workerproductivity and increased lifeexpectancy. So this year, there is aneed for developing multi-sectoralinterventions, led by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Chief Ministersof various States, for clean air. AfterOctober 2019, the phase II of ‘SwachhBharat Mission’ can very well befocussed on ‘Clean air for all.’

Opportunities ahead: The yearahead is an opportunity for India toshow global leadership in health. InSeptember, the United Nations GeneralAssembly (UNGA) will hold its 74thsession on universal health coverage(UHC). Also, the World HealthOrganisation’s (WHO) annual WorldHealth Day 2019 theme is around UHCwith a focus on primary healthcare.These are additional opportunities forthe country to assume a leadership rolein advancing UHC, accelerate imple-mentation of ongoing initiatives andwork upon strengthening the health-care system, by providing attention onall aspects.

The momentum generated in thelast two years, the high political andpublic visibility of Ayushman Bharatand the competition among States tobetter their healthcare records are pos-itive peaks in the graph. For long,healthcare and education have been onthe lower spectrum of allocations ofthe GDP. Hope we look at these crucialasset sectors and push up our develop-ment indices.

(The writer is a leading publichealth expert based in New Delhi)

Unsporting proposal for broadcasters

The year ahead is an opportunity to ensure better health outcomes through detailedimplementation plans, state-level initiatives and sustained political leadership at all levels

The suggestion to amend the Sports Broadcasting Law will make sports content cheaper for paying viewers in the short run but

will deprive India's sports economy of meaningful investments in the long run. This could erode the worth of competitions

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

SHIVAJI SARKAR

SHIVANGI MITTAL

No political party has been able to spell out a newvision for resuscitation and revival. One hopes that

the New Year looks different than this

CHANDRAKANT LAHARIYA

F O R E I G N E Y E

In commercial hunts,whales are killed by avariety of methods.Because of their huge size,they’re difficult to kill andoften harpoons withgrenades attached are used,which explode but do notnecessarily kill instantly.The untold suffering causedto these majestic creaturesbrings to mind the horrorsof wartime atrocities. Japanis not alone in the pursuit ofwhaling. Norway, Iceland,and Greenland too refuse toabide by the IWC ruling.

(Daily Mirror editorial)

JAPAN’S BRUTALHUNT CONTINUES


HEALTH IS ASTATE SUBJECT

IN OUR COUNTRYAND THE

SUCCESS OF ANYINITIATIVE BY

THE CENTRE ISLARGELY

DEPENDENTUPON THE

ADDITIONALINPUTS BY THE

STATES. THISYEAR, WE

EXPECTKARNATAKA,

MEGHALAYA ANDPUNJAB TO ALSO

TAKE THE LEADAND ANNOUNCE

TOTAL POPULATION

COVERAGEUNDER PMJAY

The year 2019 comes with fresh hopes but the road to recov-

ery looks murky. The Indian economy needs a new course;

it needs resuscitation and people-oriented policies. It is a fact

that no political party has been able to spell out a clear vision for

the economy yet. Nobody has a plan. The Congress does not know

how the economy’s outlook should be as Manmohanomics failed

its Government and the people. The BJP, which inherited a fragile

economy, too, could not do much as it kept wondering whether it

had lost its way. Regional parties have all been fighting a battle of

existence but none apparently has an ideology. Nobody has a plan

for the farmers, for the people, to boost production, increase pur-

chasing capacity, strengthen the rupee and reduce fuel prices. Citizens

are left in a quandary — they do not know who has a plan for the

farmers or how to reduce corporate influence that has ruined the

banking system and caused a rise in commodity prices.

Education is becoming expensive every passing day. This

has led to uncertainty among the youth. Jobs are eluding them.

There is no plan to cleanse the system. Indians are still won-

dering whether the economy is liberated or is it under the con-

trol of the Government. One fails to understand why the

Government wants to have a slice of the RBI’s assets, over which

no Government should harbour a legitimate claim. Society is dis-

cussing why banks should give any dividend to the Government,

which is a mere custodian of people’s deposits. As per good

banking practices, earnings should be re-invested to incentivise

depositors and should not be given to anyone.

Taxes, despite a reduction in Goods and Services Tax rates,

are at higher levels. Tax on income is being paid by the lowest paid

employees or other small businesses. High taxes and tax terror are

stifling economic activities. The question also arises: How does cor-

porate social responsibility cover funding for sculptures? While on

one hand, petrol prices are on the rise, on the other, oil compa-

nies’ profits have spiralled phenomenally. How is it that they are

funding activities that are neither related to business nor social good?

Overall, the quality of life is deteriorating. A Gallup survey in September

2018 found that Indians’ ratings of their current lives nationwide

are the worst in recent record, an average of 4.0 on a 0-to-10 scale

in 2017 — down from 4.4 back in 2014. The survey found a big

decline in the percentage of Indians who rate their lives positively

enough to rate it as ‘thriving’. Only three per cent of the Indians

considered themselves thriving in 2017, compared to 14 per cent

in 2014. The living family wage in India remains almost flat in the

`17,300-17,400 a month. Wages paid to low-skilled workers

decreased to `10,300 a month in 2018 from `13,300 in 2014.

Food has become expensive even in rural areas. Over 28 per cent

of Indians in rural areas did not have enough money to pay for food

at some point of the year. About 18 per cent of the people in urban

areas reported similar hardship. This is increasing almost every

year. About 41 per cent of the rural people and 26 per cent of them

in the urban areas said that they were not able to afford food in

2017. Suicides by farmers continue. Debt levels remain high despite

schemes like loan-waivers. But none could evolve a mechanism

to ensure that farmers get remunerative prices.

Post-demonetisation, the cash crunch has caused severe dis-

tress. But officially, there is growth. The IMF World Economic Outlook

predicted that the Indian economy would grow at 7.3 per cent in

2018 and 7.4 per cent in 2019, up from 6.7 per cent in 2017. It

projected a higher growth for India than China’s economic growth,

which stood at 6.6 per cent in 2018 and will grow at 6.2 per cent

in 2019, down from 6.9 per cent in 2017. But the volume of the

Chinese economy is many times larger than that of India’s. Whatever

be the poll outcome, 2019 will not bring any change for the econ-

omy. The nation wants a solution.

Would 2019, before or after the polls, help India find its cher-

ished path? This is a difficult question to answer. The country needs

a politico-economic vision and not mere rhetoric. New-generation

politicians, irrespective of their affiliations, are clueless about the

path they should tread. Distrust became clear in the just State

Assembly polls where NOTA registered the highest number of votes.

It is a sad statement on the lack of vision across the political spec-

trum. The 2019 general election is still two months away. Can we,

therefore, expect change to come? If the 2014 election manifesto

of political parties are anything to go by, it seems they are noth-

ing but mere jumlas and have lost most meaning. Promises have

not been delivered. Reforms have been only for the corporates. So

2019 may become a watershed moment for Indian politics. Who

knows a new leadership and vision may emerge to take the econ-

omy out of a hopeless situation.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

India’s economic

outlook murky

pioneer THE PIONEER LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019 10

If you thought a good meal satisfiesonly your taste buds, you could not

be further from the truth. Newresearch suggests that our brainrewards twice per meal — once

when you eat and then again whenthe food reaches the stomach

TwinReward

Viruses claimed new territoryin India in 2018. As usual,they treated man-made geo-graphical boundaries withsheer disdain. Two viruses

which were in the spotlight and led tooutbreaks this year were the Nipah andZika. Both outbreaks were detected in atimely manner and controlled throughthe coordinated and remarkably success-ful efforts of various agencies of theState and Centre.

In addition to general physicians andspecialists (neurology, pulmonary medi-cine, obstetrics, community medicine,microbiology and virology) from thepublic and private sectors, as well asnurses, those who contributed to theseefforts included veterinary doctors andscientists, epidemiologists, entomolo-gists, administrators, security personneland the media. The scale of operations isevident from the wide range of skillsetsused to stop these outbreaks fromspreading further.

The outbreak of Nipah infection waslocalised to Kozhikode and Malappuramdistricts of Kerala. The patients present-ed with the symptoms of encephalitisand respiratory distress. Nineteen casesof Nipah occurred in the State betweenmid-May and early June. Due to theinherently high mortality associatedwith this infection, 17 patients suc-cumbed to the illness, including LiniPuthussery, a nurse who had diligentlyattended to affected patients, once againhighlighting the risks faced by health-care personnel in their fight againstinfectious diseases.

The National Institute of Virology,Pune, rapidly confirmed the diagnosisby amplifying and detecting the ribonu-cleic acid (RNA) of the Nipah virususing a now widely-used techniquecalled real-time polymerase chain reac-tion. They could also detectimmunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodiesspecific to the virus, which appear earlyin the disease, by an enzyme-linkedimmunosorbent assay. All contacts ofthe patients were followed closely and, ifinfected, were isolated, tested and givensupportive treatment. Unfortunately, asof now, there is no commercially avail-able vaccine or specific anti-viral drugagainst Nipah.

Pteropus species fruit-eating bats,which are a known reservoir of theNipah, were also collected from areasnear the index case’s house inKozhikode, Kerala. Ten of these 52 batstested positive for the virus. Nipah canbe acquired by consuming partially-eaten fruits, date palm sap or fresh palmtoddy contaminated with the saliva (orurine) of infected bats, by direct contactwith infected bats or their faeces orurine, and by close contact with infected

patients at home.Fruit bats were also implicated in

transmission during the two previousoutbreaks of Nipah in West Bengal in2001 and 2007, as well as infrequent out-breaks in Bangladesh in the past. Thesebats are distributed across most of theIndian subcontinent and South-EastAsia, carrying a potential threat ofspreading the Nipah, if infected.However, in the first outbreaks in 1998-1999 in Malaysia and Singapore, pigsrather than bats were implicated in thetransmission cycle.

In both geographical locations, thisviral infection emerged as an importantviral zoonotic disease. These are diseaseswhich can infect and be transmittedbetween animals and humans. Since alarge number of infectious diseases,including other viral diseases likeinfluenza and rabies, are zoonotic, theWorld Health Organisation has rightlybeen promoting a — One Health —approach, in which all stakeholders fromanimal and human health, as well asfood safety, work together to combatthese infections.

India was declared Nipah free at theend of July and within less than twomonths the next viral outbreak hit thecountry. This time it started with a con-firmed case of Zika in Jaipur. Previously,in May 2017, three cases of Zika infec-tion were found during surveillance inGujarat, and one in Tamil Nadu. Sincethe reports of the Zika epidemic inBrazil, testing for Zika was being carriedout as a part of surveillance in fevercases of a short duration across India.However, no other Zika cases werefound in the interim period, despitelarge scale screening of samples.

The Zika causes either asymptomaticinfection or just a fever similar todengue, which does not carry the risk ofworrisome, though rare and immediatecomplications like bleeding and shock.Deaths have not been known to occurdue to this infection. One would nothave been unduly concerned about thisinfection, had the 2015 epidemic inBrazil (which was due to a variant of theAsian lineage of the virus) not beenassociated with a risk of birth defects.

These included microcephaly (asmall-sized head, with the risk of a poorlydeveloped brain) in babies born towomen infected during pregnancy. Thevirus was known to circulate in Asia andAfrica since the 1960s, but no outbreaksor complications were reported earlier.Rare neurological complications were alsoseen in the Brazilian epidemic in adultsand older children for the first time.

For the diagnosis of suspected casesof Zika, the viral RNA is detectable inthe blood by real-time PCR only duringthe first week of illness or so, after which

anti-Zika antibodies appear and thevirus is mopped up, becoming unde-tectable. However, reliable antibodydetection tests are not commerciallyavailable for the detection of Zika anti-bodies at a later stage of the infection.

In Jaipur, the diagnosis of Zika wasfirst made at the virology laboratory ofthe SMS Medical College and then con-firmed by NIV, Pune. Numbers escalatedquickly after the index case and spiraledup to more than 150 cases. Interventionsagainst mosquito breeding had to beimplemented on a war footing, alongwith active surveillance and testing of allpregnant women, as well as fever casesand their contacts for Zika. Throughthese measures, it was possible to keepthe infection more or less confined to asingle specific locality in Jaipur, and to

eventually control the outbreak. Nocases of microcephaly or congenital Zikasyndrome have been reported until now.

The NIV has reported by sequencingthe genome of the Indian virus that,though it belongs to the Asian lineage(as in Brazil), it does not carry some ofthe signature sequences which wereassociated with microcephaly. However,the risk can’t be completely ruled out yetand the infected pregnant women inJaipur will need to be closely monitoredthrough their pregnancy and theirbabies examined and tested.

Zika infection is spread by a familiarenemy, the female Aedes mosquito,which can also transmit Dengue andChikungunya when it bites humans forits blood meal, depending on whichvirus it may be infected with. The breed-ing (and transmission) season is duringthe monsoon in North India, but maypersist throughout the year in SouthIndia. The habits of this mosquito arefamiliar to most. It usually bites duringthe day, particularly at dusk and dawn(but that does not mean it cannot bite atnight). It breeds in relatively clean waterand a collection of a teaspoon or two ofwater is enough to allow eggs to be laidand larvae to grow.

It is a primarily urban mosquitowith a flying range of only a couple ofhundred metres. This means it remainsclose to where it hatches and breeds, tospread infection in the vicinity of thebreeding site. This breeding can only becontrolled by the active involvement ofthe community, if we look for andremove all breeding sites in and aroundour homes and workplaces. As individu-als, we can protect ourselves with mos-quito repellents and by covering our-selves, day and night.

The timely detection of these twoviral outbreaks in 2018, with the quickdiagnosis of their cause, and the rapid,successful deployment of control mea-sures, utilising a wide range of resources,has been most heartening. It highlightsthe rapidly maturing and efficient dis-ease surveillance networks, which havebeen created in the country over the lastdecade, along with a well-oiled infec-tious outbreak control machinery,.

The Viral Research and DiagnosticLaboratory Network of the Departmentof Health Research, coordinated by theIndian Council of Medical Research andNIV, and the Integrated DiseaseSurveillance Programme led by theNational Centre for Disease Control,have emerged as key players in the sur-veillance of viral and other diseases inIndia. Viruses are here to stay and willkeep challenging us with potential andreal threats, but India is doing its best byremaining in a continuous state of pre-paredness. This battle is always on.

BY LALIT DAR

Professor of Microbiology,AIIMS, New Delhi

viralThe

The Viral Research

and Diagnostic

Laboratory

Network of the

Department of

Health Research,

coordinated by the

Indian Council of

Medical Research

and NIV, and the

Integrated Disease

Surveillance

Programme led by

the National Centre

for Disease

Control, have

emerged as key

players in the

surveillance of viral

and other diseases

in India

THE TIMELYDETECTION OF

NIPAH AND ZIKAOUTBREAKS IN

2018, WITH THEQUICK DIAGNOSISOF THEIR CAUSE,AND THE RAPID,

SUCCESSFULDEPLOYMENT OF

CONTROLMEASURES,

UTILISING A WIDERANGE OF

RESOURCES, HASBEEN MOST

HEARTENING

Ayushman Bharat-

Pradhan Mantri Jan

Arogya Yojana, the

world’s largest Government

funded healthcare pro-

gramme, was launched

by the Prime Minister

Narendra Modi in

Jharkhand on

September 23,

2018. It provides a

cover of up to `5

lakhs per family per year,

at any Government or

empanelled private hospital, for secondary and

tertiary care hospitalisation that would cover all

investigations, medicine, pre-hospitalisation

expenses and all pre-existing conditions. There

is no restriction on family size, age or gender.

The Government is hoping to pass the

National Medical Commission (NMC)

Bill which is pending in the Parliament.

The Bill seeks to replace the MCI with a NMC

as a regulatory body for medical education and

practice in the country. Among other provi-

sions, the Bill establishes four autonomous

Boards under the supervision of the NMC:

Under-Graduate Medical Education Board,

Post-Graduate Medical Education Board,

Medical Assessment and Rating Board and

Ethics and Medical Registration Board.

The Bill, which was intro-

duced in the Lok Sabha on

December 29, 2017, was referred

to a Standing Committee on

January 4,

2018 on

account of

opposition from

IMA to certain

provisions of the Bill.

The Standing Committee

submitted its report on March

20, 2018 following which the

Cabinet approved certain official

amendments to the NMC Bill.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugu-

rated the Delhi End TB Summit and

launched the TB Free India Campaign

on March 13, 2018. The

summit was jointly

organised by the

Government of India,

Stop TB Partnership

and WHO South East

Asia Regional Office.

ON A

NOTEHIGH

Attack tumour cells

Nearly 9.6 million deaths

from cancer were recorded in

2018, which is much lower

than the previous years.

Nobel Laureates James P

Allison and Tasuku Honjo

discovered a new principle

for cancer therapy focused

on stimulating the inherent

ability of the body’s immune

system to attack tumour cells.

The concept of activat-

ing the immune system to

attack tumour cells that emerged

at the beginning of the 20th

century evolved through intense

research and took a new turn

this year. The Nobel Prize win-

ners for Medicine showed dif-

ferent strategies for inhibiting

the brakes on the immune sys-

tem, which can be used in the

cancer treatment.

S H A P I N G W E L L - B E I N G

Artificial pancreas to manage Diabetes

Diabetes has emerged as one of

the most prevalent Non-

Communicable Diseases

(NCDs) worldwide affecting

over 425 million people. The

innovation in the field of dia-

betes treatment took a new rise

with Hybrid Closed-Loop

Insulin Delivery System, popu-

lar as Artificial Pancreas.

After inventing various methods of insulin injection and mon-

itoring, scientists have succeeded in devising closed-loop insulin

delivery systems with an aim to change the treatment procedures.

The new medical innovation establishes a direct communication

between the insulin pump and glucose monitor. This enables blood

glucose stabilisation and helps in making type-1 diabetes more man-

ageable. The emerging technology is replacing the open-loop sys-

tem of assessing required insulin consumption.

Trend of telemedicine

With the development of

Artificial intelligence (AI), Big

Data analytics, robotics, ICT and

cloud-based networks, the

healthcare services have extend-

ed to the patient’s home cross-

ing all geographical barriers.

Moving ahead of just a

communication channel

between the specialist doctor

and patients, telemedicine has

taken many healthcare divisions

under its purview with the help

of Electronic Health Records

(EHRs). This will have a com-

plete health record of patients

along with medical history,

lifestyle habits, and other vital

observations to help doctors in

prescribing precision medicine.

These blockchain based or

cloud-based EHRs and is effi-

ciently resolving the infrastruc-

ture concerns and doctor-pop-

ulation disparity across the

globe. Australia is going to be

the first nation to facilitate

EHRs for all citizens in 2018.

Gene make-up therapy

2018 has witnessed medical

innovations in the field of eye

care with the introduction of

new gene therapy for curing

inherited retinal diseases. The

new therapy will introduce cura-

tive genes through viral vectors

into retinal cells to aid visual

function improvements. This is

expected to cure biallelic RPE65

mutations and other eye diseases

that cause progressive vision

losses and blindness. Gene edit-

ing technology CRISPR, which

uses Cas9 protein to separate the

flawed DNA and replaces an

unflawed DNA is also proving

successful in treating genetic

retinal diseases. The gene make-

up technology that ventured

successfully in 2018 will evolve

more in the coming times.

A list of path-breaking

developments that made

headlines in 2018

Ayushman Bharat

End TB Summit

The Supreme Court allowed an individ-

ual to draft a living will specifying that

they not be put on life support if they

slip into an incurable coma. The order was

passed by a five judge Constitutional bench

comprising Chief Justice of India, which said:

“Human beings have the right to die with dig-

nity.” Though the judges gave four separate

opinions, all of them were unanimous that a

Living Will should be allowed, because an indi-

vidual should not be allowed to continue suf-

fering in a vegetative state when they don’t

wish to continue living, and know full well that

they will not revive. However, the Apex Court

set strict guidelines on how to execute it.

Living Will

NMC Bill

viralThe

The global healthcare industry growing at the rate of 4.82 per cent will gain impetus with new innovations and inventions in medicine. The convergence of advanced research,newer technologies and scientific interventions brought a new dawn of innovations in 2018

effecteffect

money 11LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

PTI n NEW DELHI

Snazzier phones with premium price tags are set to vie for Indian customers'wallets in 2019, but it would be entry-level and affordable smartphones

driving sales volume in the world's second largest smartphone market. However,exclusive launches and deep discounts on e-commerce platforms like Flipkartand Amazon could become a thing of the past as new rules for online mar-ketplaces with new rules coming into effect in February. According to experts,2018 was a vibrant year for smartphone companies in India as shipments grewby an estimated 11 per cent to about 150 million units. And the growth streakis expected to get a bit better at 12 per cent in 2019. The stellar growth sawIndia uprooting the US as the the world's second largest mobile phone mar-ket by volume — ranking behind China but handset prices have been skewedtowards lower-end of the market.

“This is likely to change fast. We expect that mid-range smartphones, thosewith wholesale prices in the range of USD 200-400, will grow 20 per cent year-on-year in 2018 and by almost four times during the next five years to makeit one of the most important smartphone segments,” Counterpoint Researchassociate director Tarun Pathak told PTI.

He said the sales volume sweet spot is moving from sub-USD 150 seg-ment towards mid-tier as many features and capabilities common among flag-ship models, progressively diffuse through to these lower price bands.

Also, with features like full-screen displays, dual-cameras, biometric secu-rity and support for artificial intelligence being made available in more mid-range devices, customers don't seem to mind paying more for the latest tech-nologies. The 4G feature phones — designed to bring new users online —continued to gain traction among users during 2018 with Reliance Jio mak-ing a strong push for these devices. Xiaomi, which held onto the numero unospot in a hyper-competitive market, said it expects the average selling increas-ing gradually. The company has already expanded its product range to includetelevisions and said it will continue to focus on bringing more categories andmore innovative products to India. Premium players like OnePlus and Applealso expect strong growth in sales in 2019.

OPPO, which has recently set up a research and development facility inIndia, is focussed on localising products and creating consumer centric devicesfor consumers in the coming year. The Chinese player, much like its peers,expects the premium segment market to grow and shape out well in 2019.

For Transsion -- which operates multiple brands in India including itel,Infinix and Tecno -- the Rs 7,000-15,000 segment of smartphones is expect-ed to contribute highest in 2019. Globally, new innovations like 5G and evenfoldable screens are trends that consumers are keenly awaiting. However, itmay be some time before new gadgets with these new features make inroadsin the Indian market.

Healthcare sector may see

further consolidation in ’19

PTI n NEW DELHI

Healthcare sector may seefurther consolidation in

2019 with tightening of regula-tory environment set to make itdifficult for small players to stayafloat in a highly competitivemarket.

Industry players also expectmore partnerships in the newyear between public and privatesector in the healthcare space,which they feel is ‘under-invest-ed’.

Already, Malaysia’s IHHHealthcare has scalped 31.1 percent stake in Fortis for `4,000crore after months of intensecompetition and is in process oftaking another 26 per centstake. Besides, KKR-backedhospital management firmRadiant Life Care hasannounced acquisition of amajority stake in MaxHealthcare through a merger tocreate a combined entity valuedat `7,242 crore.

“We have seen many merg-ers and acquisitions in this fieldand will probably see the con-solidation of health care by a fewlarge players like other fields inbusiness,” Manipal Hospitalchairman H Sudarshan Ballaltold PTI.Manipal Group,backed by global investmentfirm TPG, was also a con-tender for acquiring Fortis.

Ballal said demonetisation,GST, tightening of cash trans-

actions and regulatory issueshave certainly impacted some ofthe smaller establishments mak-ing them unviable.

“All in all as I see it, thefuture healthcare will be a high-volume, low-margin venture,inching towards universal healthcare with an active role playedby the government. It will alsobe a highly regulated account-able system and people andorganisations that do not adaptto this new philosophy willperish,” he added.

Given these circumstances,consolidation of health care bylarge chains and closure ofsome individual-driven small-er facilities is likely to happen,Ballal said.

There were five contendersto invest in cash-strapped Fortis:Manipal Group, IHHHealthcare Berhad, Chineseinvestor Fosun International,Radiant Life, which was backedby global private equity firmKKR, and a consortium ofIndian business families – theMunjals of Hero Enterprise andBurmans who own Dabur.

The deal between RadiantLife and Max will be carried outthrough a series of transactionsand will see KKR becoming themajority shareholder whileRadiant Life Care promoterAbhay Soi will lead the com-bined company as Chairman.Max Healthcare promoters ledby Analjit Singh will step down.

The merged entity willoperate over 3,200 bedsthroughout 16 hospitals acrossIndia.

Wockhardt Hospitals MDZahabiya Khorakiwala saidthat in the coming year moremeaningful partnershipsbetween public and privatesector should be expected toensure that the near-universalhealthcare rolled out in thecountry becomes a groundreality.

Apollo Hospitals ViceChairperson Preetha Reddysaid the country still remainsunder-invested in health infra-structure. “We have a scarcityof doctors and nurses and arevastly under-insured as anation. Other challenges thatremain are access to primaryand quality healthcare, chang-ing disease patterns, GST andprice regulations on treatmentsand medical devices - whichremain areas of debate andconsensus building,” she said.

In pharmaceutical sector,industry veterans expect a goodrecovery in the domestic mar-ket. “We expect a good recov-ery for the pharma sector in thedomestic market. The Indianpharma market growth is like-ly to be in double digits and wewill see introduction of newproducts consistently,”Glenmark PharmaceuticalsChairman and managing direc-tor Glenn Saldanha said.

Insurance industry goes on techdrive to expand coveragePTI n NEW DELHI

Technology is the new friend intown for insurance industry as it

strives to add more customers in a coun-try that still remains largely under-insured, after a year full of reforms andintroduction of easier-to-understandproducts.

The list of reforms undertaken in2018 is long -- diseases such as HIV andmental illness were brought under pol-icy covers, long-term third-party motorinsurance became mandatory and thegovernment launched its ambitiousscheme Ayushman Bharat that seeks tocover almost 50 crore people.

It was also a year of digitisation andlaunch of customer-friendly products asthere was a rapid growth in online chan-nel, Canara HSBC Oriental Bank ofCommerce Life Insurance's MD andCEO Anuj Mathur said.

The sectoral regulator InsuranceRegulatory and Development Authorityof India (Irdai) proposed to encouragecompanies to develop new technologies,asked insurers to make their productsmore attractive and customer friendly.

"With increased use of digitalmode... there was increased focus onpoint of sale products and simple to usechannels to increase penetration of lifeinsurance products in sub-urban andrural areas,” Mathur said. Government’smassive health insurance schemeAyushman Bharat will go a long way tobring the poorer segment of the societyunder policy cover, he said. Mathurexpects health insurance sector to seemore innovative and customised prod-ucts in coming years due to efforts of theIrdai.

HDFC Life’s Executive DirectorSuresh Badami said private sector hascontinued to gain market share in lastthree years and industry should con-tinue to see growth momentum as theregulator is taking very positive stepstowards increased transparency andbenefits to customers.

“Insurers will introduce simplerproducts which will provide customerswith the maximum value for theirhard-earned money. The exposure drafton the new product regulations has beencirculated with the member companies...The insurance industry at large hasshared its comments with the regulatorand hopefully, the recommendationswould be incorporated in the notifiedregulations,” he said.

However, he said, the protection gapis a serious concern that is beingaddressed through various financialprotection products designed for thechanging lifestyles of Indian consumers.

According to a survey, life insurancepenetration in India is less than 3 percent as compared to other developingnations.

“Insurers are making continuousefforts to address the challenge. The gov-ernment has been taking concrete stepstowards this direction as well,” Badamisaid. The private life insurance indus-try witnessed a 20 per cent compound-ed annual growth rate (CAGR) duringthe year. “I expect the industry to con-tinue to leverage the benefits from sev-eral initiatives it started in 2018. We willsee companies invest more in productinnovations using the sandboxing plat-form, to offer more value-packed prod-ucts for customers,” said Bajaj AllianzLife MD and CEO Tarun Chugh said.

Premium mobiles to eye

customer attention in ’19

Script Open High Low LTPRCOM 14.90 14.93 14.29 14.39JPASSOCIAT 7.63 7.74 7.60 7.70DHFL 243.20 252.20 243.20 249.40YESBANK 183.10 183.90 181.00 181.75IBULHSGFIN 860.50 871.00 847.60 852.50SBIN 296.50 298.10 295.05 295.65GODREJPROP 671.15 675.00 645.00 650.05DMART 1660.00 1678.80 1597.00 1607.70SUZLON 5.46 5.46 5.40 5.42SUNPHARMA 429.80 432.30 425.65 430.65TATASTEEL 518.50 525.20 516.00 521.85RELCAPITAL 230.65 232.20 227.65 229.65RELIANCE 1127.15 1133.40 1116.60 1121.05BLISSGVS 158.20 168.60 155.00 163.10JETAIRWAYS 280.25 283.60 275.85 277.65INFY 659.00 662.15 656.10 659.85PCJEWELLER 88.00 88.45 85.60 86.15LT 1444.00 1450.00 1434.00 1438.50VEDL 202.40 203.60 200.60 202.35SUNTV 616.00 620.00 604.00 609.00JINDALSTEL 162.25 166.60 161.65 164.75SPICEJET 89.20 89.90 88.40 89.20MARUTI 7575.00 7586.60 7445.00 7462.30TITAN 928.00 939.00 920.70 929.95AXISBANK 629.10 631.80 618.75 619.80BAJFINANCE 2665.00 2665.00 2633.70 2641.15TCS 1901.00 1910.15 1887.00 1893.55TATAMOTORS 172.60 173.90 171.90 172.60BANKINDIA 104.00 105.20 103.35 104.05BEL 86.50 89.50 86.10 87.95ITDC 305.15 340.90 305.15 336.90ASHOKLEY 103.95 104.00 102.25 102.55NCC 87.30 89.50 87.30 88.10HEG 3739.00 3755.00 3702.30 3719.55NBCC 57.00 59.00 57.00 57.70VIJAYABANK 50.30 50.90 50.00 50.00JSLHISAR 89.20 93.90 88.60 92.70SAIL 55.20 56.75 55.05 56.45GRAPHITE 774.90 778.15 753.00 756.45PFC 105.05 107.70 104.40 107.05RELINFRA 313.70 317.65 308.80 315.75BANDHANBNK 539.00 551.35 534.85 549.15JSL 33.00 34.80 33.00 34.25HDFCBANK 2137.00 2142.00 2117.00 2122.85PEL 2379.00 2409.55 2355.50 2381.85JSWSTEEL 300.00 308.00 300.00 306.25L&TFH 155.90 156.65 152.20 152.95ICICIBANK 361.60 363.60 359.35 360.00BHEL 72.10 73.55 72.10 73.00MOTHERSUMI 162.80 167.90 162.80 166.75IOC 138.20 138.95 136.65 137.10KOTAKBANK 1242.00 1259.85 1235.00 1254.75STRTECH 291.40 296.40 290.70 293.40COALINDIA 243.00 244.50 240.05 240.75CGPOWER 46.40 46.40 44.85 45.05ITC 283.50 284.00 281.20 281.65HINDPETRO 255.50 258.50 252.55 253.25RECLTD 122.50 123.70 120.35 122.05DRREDDY 2619.00 2662.75 2610.00 2617.00DELTACORP 253.90 257.65 251.15 253.55PNB 78.90 79.45 77.90 78.10RAMCOCEM 640.05 646.75 615.65 635.00NAVKARCORP 56.00 61.00 55.00 56.95ESCORTS 707.00 711.00 702.45 706.20BANKBARODA 118.50 119.95 118.25 118.85LICHSGFIN 495.00 499.00 484.00 488.50CONCOR 667.60 696.50 666.55 687.10BEML 911.95 917.00 903.20 905.00UNIONBANK 86.95 86.95 85.35 85.85JUBLFOOD 1259.00 1261.70 1243.00 1251.50BHARTIARTL 319.80 321.00 312.00 312.90M&M 806.00 811.40 802.00 803.70GSFC 112.85 116.60 112.65 116.15INFIBEAM 48.10 48.50 47.15 47.40AUROPHARMA 727.45 732.70 727.00 731.40HINDCOPPER 51.40 53.00 51.20 52.30WOCKPHARMA 520.65 526.40 513.45 524.10CANFINHOME 294.00 295.75 286.10 288.55ONGC 150.95 150.95 149.15 150.20ITI 91.85 95.10 91.85 93.85MMTC 30.00 31.45 30.00 30.95MPHASIS 997.10 1021.35 981.65 1013.95WESTLIFE 386.95 390.00 379.85 385.80DLF 178.00 179.75 176.40 177.65SPARC 191.25 192.20 187.00 187.65PHILIPCARB 199.00 208.60 199.00 206.60CANBK 279.05 281.50 273.60 275.00ADANIPORTS 387.00 389.80 385.80 386.50MUTHOOTFIN 509.95 518.45 503.95 516.60TECHM 716.00 724.20 715.40 721.10CHENNPETRO 291.95 299.00 290.75 297.35BHARATFORG 507.40 513.75 506.00 508.35BIOCON 624.00 631.60 620.80 628.90THYROCARE 542.70 550.75 519.85 527.15BPCL 362.35 365.00 359.00 362.75HINDALCO 226.00 228.40 225.35 226.10TATACHEM 712.65 720.65 704.70 707.50HINDUNILVR 1822.00 1836.00 1811.00 1818.05GAIL 358.95 361.90 354.20 360.45ABCAPITAL 99.40 101.00 98.95 100.00AMBUJACEM 221.00 225.20 219.95 224.40IBREALEST 87.75 88.85 85.00 87.20UJJIVAN 274.15 281.15 274.15 277.55BOMDYEING 115.00 116.00 113.10 113.80FORCEMOT 1615.00 1643.00 1601.15 1612.50MGL 904.95 915.00 892.45 906.85JAICORPLTD 113.40 113.40 110.70 111.35LTI 1740.15 1742.05 1714.00 1720.00

TV18BRDCST 38.25 39.20 38.00 38.10GLENMARK 696.50 706.90 689.35 692.25ASIANPAINT 1379.50 1379.50 1359.75 1373.70HEROMOTOCO 3145.00 3155.90 3081.00 3105.70HDFC 1994.00 2000.00 1961.00 1970.00IBVENTURES 382.00 391.20 375.00 385.80FINCABLES 460.00 464.80 448.05 451.15BAJAJ-AUTO 2744.00 2762.00 2712.00 2726.00FCONSUMER 45.65 46.10 45.00 45.80ZEEL 475.00 482.60 473.15 476.00CADILAHC 348.50 350.05 346.50 347.55ISEC 260.00 262.55 254.70 259.60EDELWEISS 182.35 183.25 181.25 182.40RAIN 132.15 138.05 132.15 134.25NATIONALUM 64.10 65.85 64.00 65.75DABUR 431.00 440.00 428.80 431.00BAJAJFINSV 6560.85 6697.95 6440.00 6476.00INDIGO 1188.00 1190.00 1160.85 1163.00JISLJALEQS 69.60 70.35 69.25 69.70KIOCL 152.20 172.10 152.20 164.20INDIACEM 96.85 96.85 95.05 96.10RPOWER 29.50 29.60 28.60 28.65ICICIGI 850.00 868.20 841.60 860.00BRITANNIA 3098.05 3135.00 3089.00 3118.40VOLTAS 553.85 561.00 550.00 552.00BATAINDIA 1145.80 1145.80 1125.20 1131.00FORTIS 138.80 142.00 137.25 140.00AUBANK 582.00 625.75 575.00 620.85LUPIN 845.00 856.00 837.60 845.60RBLBANK 580.00 585.85 573.20 576.25RADICO 408.00 409.10 399.00 399.20ADANIPOWER 50.60 51.25 50.50 50.90NMDC 96.40 97.90 95.50 97.05CIPLA 523.00 525.65 517.80 520.00SRTRANSFIN 1229.00 1256.80 1229.00 1239.90APOLLOHOSP 1230.00 1265.00 1228.35 1258.70UPL 764.80 766.05 754.00 756.90

ACC 1488.00 1509.80 1471.35 1503.15NTPC 149.75 150.00 147.80 148.20WIPRO 330.00 333.90 325.20 330.00TVSMOTOR 570.00 573.90 563.25 571.20IDFCBANK 43.00 43.55 42.90 43.40SIEMENS 1060.00 1060.00 1040.00 1046.50TATAPOWER 77.05 77.90 76.45 76.75PAGEIND 25099.00 25706.05 24893.55 25161.30CUMMINSIND 860.00 866.65 846.00 846.00M&MFIN 481.70 481.70 469.35 473.15MRPL 76.00 77.30 75.00 75.75ORIENTBANK 96.50 97.15 95.10 95.50MCX 734.95 746.50 730.50 734.90BALKRISIND 910.05 932.00 910.05 924.70TATAMTRDVR 94.25 94.25 92.30 93.30GNFC 343.25 344.70 339.10 340.70RAYMOND 840.00 847.90 836.55 842.00IGL 268.00 268.00 263.00 267.15KEC 300.00 307.95 299.15 301.40OIL 180.90 180.90 174.10 174.90JYOTHYLAB 209.50 218.00 206.50 213.80FRETAIL 517.00 517.45 498.10 504.15UBL 1385.00 1394.00 1371.00 1374.95HCLTECH 961.25 965.25 955.50 962.55LTTS 1705.55 1737.40 1700.00 1700.00PVR 1587.45 1610.80 1587.45 1601.80TATAELXSI 1016.15 1026.00 1011.90 1020.70COLPAL 1344.70 1349.50 1320.70 1349.50JUSTDIAL 502.50 506.90 498.45 501.70INDUSINDBK 1585.15 1602.85 1585.15 1599.05CEATLTD 1305.00 1313.00 1301.00 1309.00HDFCLIFE 389.10 390.60 385.50 387.55LEMONTREE 75.80 75.80 72.15 73.30HUDCO 42.90 43.90 42.80 42.95CENTRALBK 36.15 37.10 36.15 36.70STAR 465.55 468.55 457.50 461.05MAHINDCIE 247.90 260.85 244.15 255.75IBULISL 386.00 390.00 367.95 375.00FEDERALBNK 93.20 94.30 92.85 93.15IDEA 37.55 38.10 37.55 37.70PTC 89.25 94.00 89.25 92.75GODREJIND 539.60 549.00 531.95 546.15EQUITAS 124.50 127.50 124.40 124.40REPCOHOME 406.00 411.50 395.95 400.50CENTURYTEX 921.55 935.90 915.85 921.50BAJAJELEC 502.10 512.00 500.75 503.70EXIDEIND 266.00 271.00 265.50 267.05ABB 1312.00 1343.75 1307.25 1326.00RCF 64.45 64.80 63.70 63.85RALLIS 181.40 182.20 177.15 178.80CHOLAFIN 1254.00 1275.30 1244.20 1257.00

QUESS 633.90 664.00 633.90 658.30AJANTPHARM 1198.00 1204.25 1180.00 1185.75HINDZINC 271.50 281.05 271.50 277.80JSWENERGY 70.70 70.70 68.50 68.85ULTRACEMCO 4005.15 4021.35 3981.85 4000.00SRF 2012.70 2023.00 1980.40 1998.55MINDTREE 863.15 872.00 861.05 863.35FSL 47.20 47.20 46.65 46.80ABFRL 206.00 207.25 201.50 202.40OMAXE 214.45 214.80 212.80 213.45AVANTI 392.90 394.55 383.90 385.55VIPIND 509.00 518.40 509.00 516.50GODREJCP 816.95 822.25 809.45 813.65EMAMILTD 411.95 424.00 407.50 418.20SHANKARA 521.05 534.75 521.05 525.00WABAG 257.35 263.10 257.30 261.45ICICIPRULI 334.50 334.50 322.00 323.90APOLLOTYRE 234.90 237.30 234.00 235.90PETRONET 226.95 227.85 222.40 223.50TRENT 362.00 372.25 355.90 360.10BERGEPAINT 330.55 334.65 329.55 330.05ADANITRANS 200.00 201.90 197.90 201.50SUVEN 231.15 234.40 226.10 227.35MANAPPURAM 93.00 94.00 92.55 92.85KEI 350.80 362.00 350.00 358.85GRUH 314.00 319.00 310.65 316.50BBTC 1324.95 1339.00 1313.50 1320.10POWERGRID 197.00 199.75 195.50 196.55SYNDIBANK 40.00 40.00 38.80 39.25AEGISLOG 193.00 205.85 191.00 204.20HFCL 21.10 21.35 20.85 21.20NESTLEIND 11350.00 11362.05 11043.00 11107.25SUNTECK 349.50 352.00 345.05 345.35DIVISLAB 1470.00 1492.85 1464.80 1482.00IDFC 44.00 44.00 43.40 43.60PIDILITIND 1105.00 1115.95 1103.75 1109.50ALBK 46.50 47.35 45.90 46.10TRIDENT 65.90 66.85 65.50 66.55EICHERMOT 23348.95 23350.00 23096.00 23168.50ENGINERSIN 125.50 127.65 125.15 125.40DCBBANK 167.35 169.50 167.00 168.50INFRATEL 256.95 271.95 256.95 259.10INTELLECT 227.00 228.75 223.80 225.40INDHOTEL 150.00 151.00 147.00 147.70TATAGLOBAL 223.00 223.50 218.80 219.00IFCI 15.04 15.10 14.72 14.98MHRIL 209.10 214.90 207.15 212.80KTKBANK 113.70 113.95 111.55 112.05GRASIM 827.45 834.20 823.90 826.80SOUTHBANK 15.50 15.75 15.40 15.55CASTROLIND 153.00 153.45 150.95 151.45PARAGMILK 254.10 255.45 246.65 248.10MARICO 378.10 378.10 372.15 374.45OBEROIRLTY 453.00 461.70 441.40 445.30DISHTV 38.45 39.45 37.90 38.00TORNTPOWER 260.50 263.50 259.40 260.10DCMSHRIRAM 338.65 349.80 326.80 337.80HAL 786.05 821.00 780.00 809.30INDIANB 243.85 245.90 241.60 244.00JINDALSAW 84.70 86.40 84.35 84.70KSCL 579.85 580.85 566.00 566.00GMRINFRA 16.35 16.50 16.20 16.40KAJARIACER 487.80 498.25 487.15 495.00SREINFRA 36.10 36.35 35.60 36.20DEEPAKNI 219.85 225.50 219.80 220.05MOTILALOFS 682.00 689.40 662.25 677.75GODFRYPHLP 892.15 898.05 883.30 887.90IRB 162.70 165.95 161.15 163.85MFSL 444.00 448.00 439.75 445.25PFIZER 2798.90 2865.80 2757.00 2847.55JUBILANT 710.00 717.70 706.80 709.65SCI 48.95 48.95 47.90 48.15MERCK 3078.60 3099.00 2982.35 3084.20TORNTPHARM 1784.00 1787.40 1758.30 1775.00NOCIL 164.20 166.50 163.50 165.50HEXAWARE 326.00 334.05 326.00 332.50PERSISTENT 634.10 636.00 621.10 627.35BAJAJHLDNG 2938.80 2997.90 2936.60 2950.00TIINDIA 341.30 359.00 337.45 357.35IEX 164.35 168.95 161.75 166.80GUJGAS 669.70 679.75 667.00 670.00HSCL 132.00 132.95 130.65 131.00DEEPAKFERT 150.75 151.10 147.60 149.20KPIT 217.85 219.05 216.05 217.90HAVELLS 690.00 697.25 688.50 689.15KALPATPOWR 385.05 398.20 381.20 389.50CUB 190.15 196.00 189.20 194.60VENKYS 2420.00 2422.05 2390.00 2392.00DCAL 234.80 235.35 225.70 229.40ENDURANCE 1209.00 1295.80 1207.75 1265.95KANSAINER 480.65 490.00 480.00 486.00TATAINVEST 888.80 892.55 881.05 890.05DBL 420.35 426.15 415.00 415.80JMFINANCIL 93.90 94.00 91.95 93.55BHARATFIN 1014.15 1016.35 1008.00 1015.00PRESTIGE 219.15 223.45 215.25 219.35VINATIORGA 1680.00 1680.00 1628.85 1648.95JKLAKSHMI 285.80 296.95 279.80 294.50NAVINFLUOR 702.00 703.50 695.00 695.25WELSPUNIND 59.35 60.20 59.20 59.50JAMNAAUTO 65.35 65.45 64.30 64.90PNBHOUSING 915.05 931.30 915.05 923.80NIITTECH 1155.00 1156.95 1145.00 1147.85WHIRLPOOL 1382.90 1400.00 1368.00 1394.60SWANENERGY 100.90 101.85 100.10 101.10VGUARD 231.95 231.95 226.30 227.05FLFL 396.00 464.00 392.00 420.00CYIENT 616.00 626.30 613.55 619.05APLAPOLLO 1107.55 1170.00 1107.55 1160.00

GICHSGFIN 257.00 266.00 256.50 261.65WELCORP 141.95 141.95 138.55 139.00SBILIFE 598.55 604.35 595.55 596.30VBL 763.85 795.50 762.30 794.95SYNGENE 567.90 573.85 551.50 561.10NILKAMAL 1484.05 1495.90 1468.30 1479.95IDBI 61.60 61.60 61.10 61.30SYMPHONY 1167.00 1188.40 1151.05 1163.90TATAMETALI 618.40 628.80 618.00 620.55TAKE 149.60 149.60 147.20 147.20THOMASCOOK 231.95 235.85 231.20 233.25UFLEX 281.10 283.65 278.95 282.15HERITGFOOD 535.40 560.00 524.20 527.60GODREJAGRO 500.05 505.00 497.45 503.00BASF 1604.90 1605.95 1533.60 1543.65ADANIGREEN 41.65 42.40 41.65 41.90ASTRAL 1168.80 1168.80 1125.30 1132.00JKTYRE 104.15 105.15 103.55 103.80MEGH 59.65 60.90 59.65 60.20NHPC 25.90 26.15 25.90 26.00TATACOMM 524.45 530.95 521.10 523.55LALPATHLAB 909.15 922.40 893.00 914.25GREAVESCOT 119.00 120.95 118.05 119.00ALKEM 1909.65 1954.05 1892.90 1949.90PRSMJOHNSN 88.10 91.50 87.35 89.00APLLTD 581.25 602.00 575.00 597.60EVEREADY 186.70 190.00 186.00 187.00HSIL 234.15 238.70 232.80 233.85ASHOKA 124.50 126.75 122.50 124.60COCHINSHIP 384.00 384.00 374.25 374.70LINDEINDIA 680.40 695.25 678.80 681.00OFSS 3660.80 3732.00 3648.75 3705.00IPCALAB 792.00 805.00 780.05 805.00AARTIIND 1422.35 1450.00 1422.30 1443.00ZENSARTECH 226.70 235.00 226.70 234.45GUJALKALI 546.00 551.00 542.20 543.00LUXIND 1372.00 1420.00 1346.15 1381.70TEJASNET 210.15 213.60 205.35 205.35AMARAJABAT 738.80 744.25 735.25 744.00PIIND 860.00 868.00 851.30 868.00TNPL 254.10 261.90 254.10 259.00GHCL 240.00 252.00 240.00 244.50GSPL 175.00 177.05 174.10 174.55THERMAX 1080.05 1133.00 1077.80 1133.00MAXINDIA 84.90 85.65 83.20 85.50TATACOFFEE 97.60 97.85 96.95 97.10MAHABANK 15.10 15.15 14.85 14.89SHOPERSTOP 535.00 542.00 518.15 542.00MINDACORP 145.40 149.50 143.60 146.60RAJESHEXPO 580.00 580.00 570.50 570.50CROMPTON 224.50 230.85 223.50 228.00EIDPARRY 205.70 207.50 205.00 206.40ISGEC 5107.95 5140.00 5025.00 5030.05KNRCON 213.10 214.35 210.70 212.55EIHOTEL 197.00 200.05 195.20 199.45SJVN 25.70 25.70 25.35 25.60SONATSOFTW 301.00 304.80 301.00 303.80VTL 1031.55 1123.00 1028.00 1118.00J&KBANK 37.90 37.90 37.05 37.70NLCINDIA 70.00 70.55 69.60 69.65UCOBANK 20.60 20.70 20.20 20.25NIACL 181.00 184.60 177.30 181.35GICRE 257.05 258.90 255.85 258.25NBVENTURES 118.75 122.15 118.75 120.50GRANULES 89.65 90.45 89.30 89.65MRF 67490.00 67490.00 66897.05 66897.05BALMLAWRIE 202.40 206.45 202.40 203.65CARERATING 981.15 988.90 974.00 976.00RNAM 159.55 164.00 158.95 159.35TTKPRESTIG 7500.00 7604.10 7415.05 7465.80SUNDRMFAST 532.00 537.25 527.75 534.80JBCHEPHARM 306.95 307.40 298.05 304.60CENTURYPLY 178.85 180.60 176.45 177.85INOXLEISUR 243.75 248.80 241.70 248.80MANPASAND 89.90 89.90 88.80 89.00AKZOINDIA 1691.85 1759.75 1675.00 1754.95RELAXO 729.20 737.70 728.00 735.70ASAHIINDIA 246.80 258.95 241.25 258.65SUPREMEIND 1159.00 1200.45 1140.00 1175.00NESCO 447.60 451.65 434.35 442.00BOSCHLTD 19645.05 19779.00 19581.75 19622.95MOIL 171.60 172.30 170.10 170.60SOLARINDS 1055.35 1096.00 1043.05 1096.00NAUKRI 1455.45 1466.75 1430.05 1439.70COROMANDEL 452.25 453.90 448.75 448.75GMDCLTD 88.80 89.85 88.60 88.60COFFEEDAY 275.90 280.90 274.25 276.90DENABANK 17.35 17.35 17.05 17.05PNCINFRA 149.00 151.35 146.75 147.50SUPRAJIT 220.75 229.15 218.05 227.85HEIDELBERG 151.00 152.75 149.50 152.05SHARDACROP 307.30 310.00 300.00 301.55NATCOPHARM* 686.00 687.00 678.80 680.80SANOFI 6285.00 6451.10 6260.00 6380.00GSKCONS 7689.35 7709.90 7620.00 7633.10WABCOINDIA 6950.00 7000.00 6842.00 7000.00ADVENZYMES 180.95 180.95 177.00 177.50CHAMBLFERT 145.35 149.15 145.35 147.90KRBL 281.15 283.10 279.20 282.00CORPBANK 29.30 29.65 28.90 28.90SOBHA 446.00 458.10 445.00 453.35LAXMIMACH* 5680.05 5820.00 5680.05 5730.95KPRMILL 562.20 565.95 554.65 560.00ANDHRABANK 29.50 29.80 29.15 29.40GLAXO 1508.05 1520.00 1492.45 1515.00BAJAJCORP 360.15 369.35 359.00 369.35GET&D 297.00 300.00 288.25 288.25SOMANYCERA 331.50 334.15 325.00 326.20CENTRUM 37.00 37.00 35.50 35.50

HIMATSEIDE 216.60 217.80 212.00 214.00TIMKEN 568.85 585.00 568.85 581.05ASTRAZEN 1472.00 1473.00 1445.00 1451.95GESHIP 311.70 318.25 311.70 318.00BAYERCROP 4296.95 4298.35 4160.00 4217.45ITDCEM 114.90 115.10 112.00 113.00ELGIEQUIP 271.70 271.70 259.40 262.30SADBHAV 209.80 214.00 209.80 210.00JCHAC 1750.00 1830.00 1750.00 1813.20MINDAIND 324.65 326.55 321.00 321.00REDINGTON 87.55 89.00 87.55 89.00NETWORK18 42.40 42.40 40.60 40.75ASTERDM 154.00 155.90 151.15 155.50INDOSTAR 348.30 350.30 340.00 340.00GPPL 101.35 102.95 101.35 102.50CAPPL 383.00 385.85 380.00 382.00BLUESTARCO 615.70 621.40 615.00 615.00SUDARSCHEM 342.00 342.75 337.10 338.75SHK 171.55 177.85 168.25 171.70BDL 278.90 284.90 274.00 277.00ORIENTCEM 81.75 83.30 80.75 81.10BIRLACORPN 595.00 609.20 595.00 595.05ZYDUSWELL 1360.00 1371.40 1354.00 1361.05ATUL 3420.00 3440.85 3415.00 3435.00TIMETECHNO 101.00 102.10 100.60 100.65GEPIL 818.70 834.55 818.70 828.00AIAENG 1651.05 1695.00 1651.05 1684.90PGHH 9902.50 9902.50 9840.30 9840.30HONAUT 23161.00 23161.00 21869.00 21872.80GUJFLUORO 897.30 910.00 888.45 899.00ESSELPRO 108.50 110.10 107.80 109.30DBCORP 168.50 170.00 168.05 169.50DHANUKA 460.15 467.75 459.85 467.65FINOLEXIND 550.50 551.85 541.30 547.45ECLERX 1093.70 1106.00 1071.05 1075.00CARBORUNIV 365.00 365.00 353.45 357.35FORBESCO 2365.15 2420.00 2353.00 2370.20IOB 15.00 15.00 14.85 14.93LAKSHVILAS 87.40 87.70 86.75 86.75SKFINDIA 1884.05 1916.50 1884.05 1914.30ALLCARGO 108.10 109.25 108.00 108.90GRINDWELL 560.00 560.00 550.00 555.00VMART 2628.80 2638.00 2575.30 2586.00JAGRAN 113.90 117.05 113.05 116.10MAHLIFE 391.60 395.00 389.35 393.25SCHNEIDER 101.95 101.95 100.70 101.80FDC 174.15 174.95 172.10 172.10INOXWIND 76.80 77.55 74.20 77.00CERA 2402.00 2402.00 2311.00 2388.45CCL 270.00 270.50 269.20 269.20LAOPALA 218.35 221.00 218.35 219.10ABBOTINDIA 7515.90 7545.00 7497.45 7545.003MINDIA 21200.00 21200.00 20823.00 20881.00TEAMLEASE 2875.00 2889.95 2826.20 2852.50GREENPLY 138.80 139.90 137.10 137.50NH 200.00 200.00 192.90 195.55SUNCLAYLTD 3700.00 3700.00 3525.05 3699.00GILLETTE 6561.00 6561.00 6479.15 6498.00NAVNETEDUL 106.80 106.80 105.10 105.20IFBIND 844.00 857.75 840.05 840.05MONSANTO 2635.25 2650.00 2610.00 2619.25CRISIL 1600.10 1623.75 1600.00 1600.00PHOENIXLTD 561.45 564.00 557.00 560.15BLUEDART 3350.00 3400.00 3284.10 3371.10TVTODAY 373.05 373.05 370.15 371.00SHREECEM 17570.00 17570.00 17200.05 17201.50LAURUSLABS 381.15 382.65 379.05 379.05TVSSRICHAK 2490.55 2582.80 2490.00 2500.00JKCEMENT 707.05 719.00 707.00 719.00TIFHL 515.85 524.85 514.45 523.95MAHLOG 514.20 523.00 512.30 522.40GDL 129.65 131.00 129.40 129.40GALAXYSURF 1202.65 1221.00 1202.60 1215.00STARCEMENT 112.00 112.00 102.95 103.00SHRIRAMCIT 1590.20 1600.00 1577.40 1599.60MAGMA 111.20 112.30 110.05 110.05TRITURBINE 112.00 112.00 110.50 110.70ERIS 685.00 690.00 682.40 690.00SHILPAMED 386.10 386.80 383.85 383.85SFL 1445.00 1495.00 1445.00 1484.95GULFOILLUB 820.95 823.80 820.10 820.10HATSUN 626.00 628.00 624.65 624.65APARINDS 663.25 664.95 658.00 664.95SCHAEFFLER 5629.00 5696.95 5629.00 5690.00SIS 761.00 772.45 754.05 772.45RATNAMANI 950.00 950.40 940.05 944.95SUPPETRO 209.15 209.60 207.10 207.10

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 10913.20 10923.55 10853.20 10862.55 2.65JSWSTEEL 300.10 307.90 300.10 307.50 9.40TATASTEEL 520.00 525.00 516.20 521.00 8.15VEDL 201.40 203.60 200.60 202.15 2.75TATAMOTORS 172.45 173.90 171.75 173.05 2.20SUNPHARMA 428.10 432.30 425.50 430.15 4.95TECHM 720.00 726.45 715.10 721.65 7.65INDUSINDBK 1591.30 1604.00 1585.60 1599.85 16.60KOTAKBANK 1237.00 1262.50 1233.50 1253.00 11.65HINDALCO 226.70 228.50 225.25 225.50 2.00GAIL 357.60 361.80 354.00 359.10 2.80HCLTECH 962.45 966.60 955.60 964.20 5.85TITAN 926.00 939.50 920.35 927.65 4.95IBULHSGFIN 858.00 871.00 844.35 853.00 3.75INFY 660.00 662.00 655.80 659.60 2.65ZEEL 475.20 483.00 473.05 476.30 1.85GRASIM 830.00 834.15 823.00 827.20 2.60BPCL 361.90 364.80 358.80 363.00 1.10SBIN 297.20 298.25 295.50 295.65 0.85BAJAJ-AUTO 2738.00 2763.00 2710.00 2725.00 7.50YESBANK 183.20 183.85 181.00 181.90 0.45BAJFINANCE 2656.95 2666.30 2635.60 2641.00 6.20ASIANPAINT 1375.00 1378.00 1367.30 1369.00 3.00WIPRO 331.00 333.80 329.05 330.65 0.60M&M 808.90 810.00 801.20 804.80 1.25LT 1445.00 1450.00 1431.20 1440.00 0.60POWERGRID 196.70 200.00 196.00 197.10 0.05ICICIBANK 362.80 363.50 359.50 360.80 0.05UPL 762.00 766.25 753.45 758.30 -0.10RELIANCE 1130.95 1133.85 1116.20 1125.25 -0.30HDFCBANK 2137.00 2137.00 2116.70 2121.85 -1.05TCS 1908.00 1909.00 1886.15 1894.75 -1.30EICHERMOT 23350.00 23390.00 23007.75 23085.00 -39.10DRREDDY 2634.70 2663.80 2610.00 2617.00 -4.90ITC 282.80 283.85 281.10 281.60 -0.65HINDUNILVR 1830.00 1836.90 1811.25 1817.90 -4.15ADANIPORTS 387.20 389.95 385.65 386.30 -1.10ULTRACEMCO 4030.00 4032.75 3980.00 3990.00 -14.95BAJAJFINSV 6548.00 6591.20 6436.20 6472.15 -30.75ONGC 150.15 150.80 149.10 149.80 -0.70CIPLA 522.00 526.00 517.20 519.00 -3.00COALINDIA 242.70 244.40 240.10 240.75 -1.55MARUTI 7550.00 7572.75 7443.10 7452.00 -53.55IOC 138.60 139.00 136.55 137.20 -1.00HDFC 1988.00 1989.75 1961.55 1965.00 -14.95NTPC 149.80 150.05 148.10 148.70 -1.15AXISBANK 630.40 631.95 618.80 619.90 -5.15HEROMOTOCO 3143.00 3159.05 3087.00 3090.00 -32.60HINDPETRO 255.90 258.60 252.40 253.10 -2.80BHARTIARTL 319.00 320.90 311.10 312.30 -4.25INFRATEL 262.65 265.00 257.20 258.90 -4.10

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 28161.30 28261.00 28110.50 28178.80 115.60SAIL 55.05 56.65 55.00 56.50 1.85BANDHANBNK 538.45 552.75 534.80 551.00 15.15CONCOR 669.00 696.90 667.80 687.30 16.90MOTHERSUMI 163.45 167.90 163.00 166.80 4.10COLPAL 1329.10 1354.80 1320.20 1352.00 31.85ACC 1486.00 1511.90 1470.85 1508.00 28.30AMBUJACEM 222.00 225.85 219.60 225.00 4.05NMDC 95.60 98.10 95.50 96.85 1.35ICICIGI 853.55 868.85 844.00 862.00 11.35BIOCON 625.00 631.80 620.00 629.00 8.20BHEL 72.30 73.50 72.20 73.00 0.95ABB 1315.00 1344.95 1305.90 1330.00 16.70AUROPHARMA 731.00 734.70 726.25 732.90 8.95SRTRANSFIN 1230.40 1258.00 1230.40 1238.00 13.55OFSS 3638.15 3731.00 3638.15 3700.00 39.15NIACL 179.10 181.70 176.25 179.75 1.75CADILAHC 350.00 350.40 346.50 348.60 3.30GICRE 255.70 260.00 255.00 258.00 2.35PEL 2379.40 2410.00 2353.05 2376.00 17.85HINDZINC 273.25 281.60 273.25 277.50 2.10BRITANNIA 3105.15 3120.00 3083.00 3120.00 21.50PIDILITIND 1105.00 1116.00 1103.30 1108.70 6.75IDEA 37.70 38.10 37.60 37.70 0.20SIEMENS 1049.50 1056.30 1039.05 1047.90 4.55LUPIN 846.00 850.80 836.65 843.85 3.55SHREECEM 17200.00 17411.00 17178.40 17266.05 39.00BANKBARODA 119.25 119.95 118.20 118.60 0.25HAVELLS 693.00 697.90 688.90 691.55 1.45NHPC 26.00 26.10 25.90 26.00 0.05BOSCHLTD 19666.00 19793.00 19560.65 19660.00 30.25PGHH 9883.95 9899.00 9821.10 9890.00 5.90ABCAPITAL 100.30 101.05 98.80 99.95 0.05GODREJCP 811.00 822.50 807.80 811.00 0.15BEL 86.40 89.70 86.30 87.80 -0.10HDFCLIFE 388.00 389.40 385.60 386.80 -0.55ASHOKLEY 103.90 103.90 102.20 102.50 -0.25MRF 67550.00 67550.00 66812.40 66830.00 -206.95DLF 178.70 179.95 176.35 177.15 -0.80LICHSGFIN 493.25 498.75 482.95 486.15 -2.60SBILIFE 595.00 605.80 595.00 595.20 -3.60DABUR 433.65 439.90 428.95 430.00 -3.25MARICO 378.80 378.80 371.40 374.60 -3.50MCDOWELL-N 644.00 644.90 630.90 632.00 -6.65L&TFH 155.90 156.50 151.85 152.80 -1.65PETRONET 226.85 227.90 223.50 223.60 -2.50INDIGO 1175.00 1176.20 1159.05 1164.60 -13.90ICICIPRULI 328.20 330.35 320.80 323.80 -4.10SUNTV 619.05 620.45 605.55 607.00 -8.30OIL 178.10 179.00 174.35 175.00 -2.80DMART 1660.00 1678.55 1595.00 1605.70 -49.25

world 12LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

Hasina in saddle for the third time

PTI n DHAKA

The much-anticipated battlebetween Bangladesh’s “bat-

tling begums” is over withSheikh Hasina trouncing herarch-rival Khaleda Zia to leadher Awami League to a land-slide victory for a record thirdconsecutive term in a contro-versial general election, anoutcome that would be a goodnews for India’s ties withDhaka, especially on thenational security front.

The Awami League-ledgrand alliance won 288 seats inthe 300-member Parliament,Election Commission secretaryHelaluddin Ahmed said, aftercounting of votes in the elec-tions that was marred by dead-ly violence. The ruling alliance,which got nearly 82 percent of the total votespolled, betteredits previousbest perfor-mance of2008 whenit bagged263 seats.T h eopposi-t i o nJatiya

O i k y aFront -

N a t i o n a lU n i t yF r o n t(NUF) -

s e c u r e d

seven seats with over 15 percent of the votes, Ahmed said,adding that others won threeseats. Voting was postponed inone constituency and result notdeclared in another due to thedeath of a candidate, he said.Prime Minister NarendraModi congratulated Hasinaover phone on her victory inthe elections and assured herof India’s continued support toBangladesh’s developmentalstrides.

India’s ties withBangladesh under Hasina’s rulegrew steadily. The last fewyears have been a “goldenchapter” in India-Bangladeshrelationship when complicatedissues of land and coastalboundaries were resolved.Bangladesh has also assured

India that it will not allow itssoil to be used for any ter-rorist activities againstthe neighbouring coun-try. The two countriesshare a 4,096-km bor-

der.Commenting

on the

results,

71-year-old Hasina said theAwami League-led GrandAlliance’s win in the election isanother victory for the peopleof the country in December -the month of victory. She wasapparently referring toBangladesh’s (then EastPakistan) victory over WestPakistan (now Pakistan) inthe country’s independencewar in December, 1971. Hasinasaid the victory is nothing forher for personal gains, ratherit is a great responsibilitytowards the country and itspeople. While Hasina wasseeking re-election for an over-all fourth term as the primeminister, her 73-year-old arch-

rival Zia of theB a n g l a d e s hNationalist Party

(BNP), whois reportedly

partially paral-ysed, faces an

uncertain futurein a Dhaka jailwhere she islodged after her

conviction in cor-ruption cases.

Meanwhile, theopposition NUF

rejected the results andurged the ElectionCommission to immedi-ately scrap the “farcicalelection” and hold a freshone under a non-partisan

interim government. “You(the EC) must cancel thiselection right away. Wereject the so-called resultsand demand a new electionunder a neutral govern-

ment,” NUF chief and veter-

an lawyer Kamal Hossain said.BNP Secretary General MirzaFakhrul Islam Alamgir, whosteered the party in the absenceof Zia, described the polls as a“cruel farce”. He said the elec-tions proved that free and fairpolls were not possible undera partisan government. TheBNP’s decision to stay awayfrom the general election fiveyears ago was not wrong, hesaid.

The NUF is a coalition ofopposition parties such as theBNP, Gono Forum, JatiyaSamajtantrik Dal-JSD, NagorikOikya and Krishak SramikJanata League. Bangladesh’sChief Election CommissionerKM Nurul Huda, however,ruled out any scope of holdingfresh election as demanded byopposition alliance, saying theallegations of ballot stuffing onthe night before election is“completely untrue.” “We arenot going to hold a new elec-tion. There is no scope tohold the national electionagain,” Huda told the media.

The CEC expressed com-plete satisfaction over the elec-tion and said the voter turnoutin the polls was 80 per cent.Responding to the vote-riggingallegations, Awami LeagueJoint General Secretary AbdurRahman said foreign anddomestic observers haveexpressed satisfaction over theelection process and declaredthat it was held in a fair envi-ronment. “I want to express mygratitude to everyone, includ-ing law enforcement andobservers, who made the free-and-fair election possible,” he

said. With the overwhelmingmajority in the 11th generalelections, Hasina is set to takeoffice of the prime minister forthe third consecutive time andfourth time overall. Hasina, thedaughter of Bangladesh’sfounder Bangabandhu SheikhMujibur Rahman, is termed bymany as the country’s iron lady.

She won the historic fourthterm as prime minister,becoming the country’slongest-serving leader. TheBNP, which has been out ofpower for 12 years and hadboycotted the 10th generalelections in 2014, is part of theopposition alliance. Earlier,EC secretary Ahmed toldreporters: “This is a huge eventin the history of Bangladesh asthe voting to the 11th parlia-mentary election took place ina very free, fair and peacefulenvironment under a politicalgovernment.

“My congratulations to theAwami League”. The EC saidthey have received over a hun-dred complaints from candi-dates throughout the countryamid reports of violence.

At least 18 people, includ-ing a member of a securityagency, have been killed andmore than 200 others injuredin poll-related violence, mak-ing it one of the deadliestpolls in the country, the DailyStar reported.

Over 600,000 security per-sonnel including several thou-sand soldiers and paramilitaryborder guards were deployedacross the nation for the elec-tion in which 10.41 crore peo-ple were eligible to vote.

PTI n DHAKA

Bangladesh’s iron lady SheikhHasina, who won a historicfourth term as prime ministerbecoming the country’slongest-serving leader, is cred-ited by her supporters for theMuslim-majority nation’simpressive economic growth,but her opponents see her asan authoritarian who stifledthe Opposition. Hasina, thedaughter of Bangladesh’sfounder Bangabandhu SheikhMujibur Rahman, won the 11thparliamentary elections with alandslide victory even as theOpposition rejected the “farci-cal” polls marred with violencethat claimed 18 lives, makingit one of the deadliest polls inthe country.The 71-year-old chief of theAwami League was pittedagainst a united oppositionJatiya Oikya Front (UnitedNational Front) led byoctogenarian Kamal Hossain,an Oxford-educated jurist andformer foreign minister.Her arch-rival ex-premier andBangladesh Nationalist Party(BNP) chief Khalida Zia, whohas been serving a 17-yearsentence for corruption, wasbarred from contesting thepolls.Born on September 28, 1947at her parental home ofTungipara in northernBangladesh (then EastPakistan), Hasina is the eldestamong the five children ofRahman, the first president ofBangladesh. Hasina marriednuclear scientist M A Wazed

Miah in 1968. Her husbanddied in 2009. They have oneson, Sajeeb Wazed Joy, andone daughter, Saima WazedHossain Putul. Though she took activeinterest in politics throughouther student life, Hasinaformally joined the AwamiLeague as its leader followingthe tragic assassination ofRahman, his wife and threesons in 1975.While living inself-exile with her husband inIndia, Hasina was elected thepresident of the Awami Leaguein 1981, and since then shehas been the president of theparty.Ending six years in exile, shereturned home on May 17,1981. In 1983, Hasina formedan alliance to oust militarydictator Hussain MuhammadErshad. Hasina joined forceswith Zia’s BNP to help oust themilitary dictator in 1990 butthe two soon fell out and theirrivalry is popularly known asthe “Battle of Begums”.Hasina and Zia, the 73-year-old widow of military dictatorZiaur Rahman, share a longand bitter rivalry and havealternated in power for mostof the past 28 years. Hasinawas first elected primeminister in 1996 afterdefeating her arch-rival Zia,who eventually regained powerin 2001. She was the firstdemocratically elected primeminister of the country tocomplete the term.In 2008,Hasina returned as the primeminister with a landslidevictory. In January 2014, she

became the prime minister fora third term in an unopposedelection as BNP boycotted thepolls. She has been in powerever since, presiding overeconomic expansion of morethan six per cent every yearsince 2009. Since she tookpower in 2008, Bangladesh’sper capita income has seen athreefold increase. Thecountry’s gross domesticproduct (GDP) stood at USD250 billion in 2017 and itclocked a growth rate of 7.28percent last year.The garment industry hasemerged as one of the mainpillars of the economy,providing jobs to 4.5 millionpeople. Hasina has beenpraised by her supporters forcracking down on Islamistextremists after fivehomegrown terrorists stormeda Dhaka cafe in 2016, killing20 hostages, including oneIndian. She also launched trials of thepowerful Islamist oppositionover crimes committed duringthe 1971 independence war. Her critics, however, have

described her as anauthoritarian since she pushedon with an uncontestedgeneral election in 2014.Her opponents accuse her of

crushing the opposition andcreating a one-partydominant political system inBangladesh. Hasina will serveas the prime minister for thefourth term - a record for anyBangladeshi leader since thecountry came into existencein 1971.

Hasina: Growth-oriented ‘iron lady’ for some, ‘authoritarian’ for others

Vatican spokesman and his dy resign

AFP n VATICAN CITY

The Vatican on Mondayannounced the resigna-

tions of its spokesman and hisdeputy, without giving anyexplanation. Pope Francis “hasaccepted the resignation of thedirector and deputy director ofthe press office of the Vatican,Greg Burke and Paloma GarciaOvejero, and namedAlessandro Gisotti as actingdirector,” it said in a statement.

American Burke, a mem-ber of the ultra-conservativeand influential Opus Dei move-ment, was appointed in July2016 after having been deputyspokesman. In a series oftweets, Burke confirmed thathe and Garcia Ovejero wouldstep down on January 1.

“At this time of transitionin Vatican communications,we think it’s best the HolyFather is completely free toassemble a new team,” Burkewrote Monday. He said his

“experience had been fasci-nating, to say the least”.The 59-year-old had previously workedas a journalist in Rome for theweekly National CatholicReporter, for Time magazineand for the US television net-work Fox News.

He was the second OpusDei member to hold the postafter Spain’s Joaquin NavarroValls, the powerful head ofcommunications for Pope JohnPaul II. Garcia Ovejero, 43, aSpaniard, was the first womanto hold the number two post inthe press office. She was previ-ously Vatican correspondentfor Spanish radio networkCadena COPE.

The resignations are thelatest in a series of key staffchanges within the pope’scommunications office, whichalso saw seasoned Vatican jour-nalist Andrea Tornielli appoint-ed as editorial head earlier thismonth.

Sydney kicks off global 2019 parties with dazzling spectacleAFP n SYDNEY

Australia’s largest city Sydneyput on its biggest-ever fire-

works display in a spectacularwelcome to the New Year, kick-ing off a wave of celebrations forbillions around the world. Arecord amount of pyrotech-nics as well as new fireworkseffects and colours lit up thecity’s skyline for 12 minutes anddazzled the more than 1.5 mil-lion spectators who packed theharbour front and parks.

An earlier thunderstormdid not dampen the spirits ofrevellers who camped out atvantage points, some since theearly hours of the morning. Tomark the international year ofindigenous languages in 2019,the harbour also hosted a cer-emony celebrating Aboriginalheritage that included anima-tions projected onto the bridge’spylons.

The party atmosphere willsweep across major cities inAsia, Europe, Africa and theAmericas as the clock ticks pastmidnight. A strong police pres-ence has become a key elementof the festivities, to protectcrowds that could be targeted in

terror and vehicle attacks. HongKong: Glittering fireworks willbe sent skyward from fivebarges floating in VictoriaHarbour in a 10-minute displaywatched by 300,000 people onthe shore.

Jakarta: Hundreds of cou-ples will tie the knot in a freemass wedding, as those in thetsunami-hit Banten province,where affected towns were pop-ular holiday destinations, havebeen told to cancel party plansto show respect for the victims.

Tokyo: Japanese will flockto temples to ring in the NewYear, while US boxer FloydMayweather Jr will take onlocal kickboxer TenshinNasukawa in a bout stagedoutside Tokyo. Moscow:Concerts and light shows willbe held across the city’s parksand more than 1,000 ice rinkshave been opened for merry-makers.

Paris: A fireworks displayand sound and light showunder the theme “fraternity” isset to go ahead on the Champs-Elysees despite plans for further“yellow vest” anti-governmentprotests at the famed avenue.

Berlin: Music lovers will partyat a concert at the BrandenburgGate, but a popular Germantradition of setting off fire-works to mark the occasion hasbeen banned in some othercities over safety concerns.

London: Britain’s capitalwill usher in the New Year bycelebrating its relationship withEurope amid turmoil over theBrexit referendum vote to leavethe EU, with the fireworks dis-play at the London Eye to fea-ture music from the continent’sartists.

Edinburgh: The Scottishcapital’s traditional Hogmanaycelebrations will also take on apro-European theme ahead ofthe year in which Britain is dueto exit the union.

As the world parties, manywill also look forward to 2019and wonder whether the tur-moil witnessed during the pre-vious year will spill over into thenext. The political wrangling inWestminster over Brexit wasone of the key stories of thisyear, with a resolution yet to bereached ahead of the scheduledMarch 29 departure. USPresident Donald Trump dom-

inated headlines in 2018 as heramped up his trade war withChina, quit the Iran nucleardeal, moved the Americanembassy to Jerusalem and methis North Korean counterpartKim Jong Un in Singapore fora historic summit.

North Korea’s commitmentto denuclearisation will remaina major political and securityissue into next year, as willSyrian President Bashar al-Assad’s reassertion of controlafter Trump’s shock militarywithdrawal announcement.The war in Yemen, which start-ed in 2014 and has alreadykilled about 10,000 people andleft some 20 million at risk ofstarvation, could take a crucialturn after a ceasefire went intoeffect in mid-December.

Numerous countries go tothe polls in 2019, with key elec-tions in India, Afghanistan,Indonesia, South Africa,Argentina and Australia. Majorsporting events on the calendarinclude the Rugby World Cupin Japan, the cricket one-dayinternational World Cup inEngland and the athletics WorldChampionships in Qatar.

Pak SC asks govt to review decision toplace 172 people on Exit Control ListPTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s Supreme Court onMonday asked the govern-

ment to review its decision toplace 172 people, includingformer president Asif AliZardari and the Sindh ChiefMinister, on the Exit ControlList (ECL) after they werenamed in a money launderingscam. Last week, the names of172 people - including politi-cians, bankers and business-men who were named in thecourt-ordered joint investiga-tion team’s (JIT) probe report- were placed on the no-fly list.

A two-member benchheaded by Chief Justice SaqibNisar expressed anger over theplacement of the suspects’

names on the ECL and sum-moned “the minister responsi-ble” for the move to court.

Justice Nisar summonedState Minister for InteriorShehryar Afridi in the courtand asked why the cabinet dis-cussed the JIT report when itwas still sub-judice. The courtwas hearing a suo motu case ona delay in a 2015 probe intofake bank accounts allegedlyused to launder billions ofrupees.

Several bigwigs, includingZardari, his sister Faryal Talpur,Sindh Chief Minister MuradAli Shah, PPP ChairmanBilawal Bhutto-Zardari andseveral other top politicians,businessmen and bureaucrats

are in the list. “Review thisdecision, take it back before thecabinet,” the chief justice said.

He also directed the min-ister to submit the names ofthose on ECL in the court andadjourned hearing untilJanuary 7. The chief justiceexpressed displeasure overname of Sindh chief minister inno-fly list and asked the attor-ney general how the govern-ment banned the chief minis-ter of second biggest provincefrom leaving the country.

Speaking to the attorneygeneral, Justice Nisar said: “Youplaced the name of the chiefminister of the second largestprovince on the ECL.Tomorrow, you will place the

name of NationalAccountability Bureau’s (NAB)chairman on the ECL and tellhim to continue working.”“Maybe we should place fourministers’ names on the ECL sothat there is a balance,” the chiefjustice suggested.

The court expressed angerat the discussion on the JITreport in media when the courthas yet to give its ruling overthe report.

The bench also askedZardari’s defence counsel,Farook H Naek, to continuerepresenting his client thoughhis name was in JITreport.Naek had requested thecourt to allow him to recusefrom the case.

CCTV footage shows men transporting

Jamal Khashoggi body parts’

AFP n ANKARA

ATurkish television stationhas broadcast CCTV

footage showing men carryingcases and bags which it says con-tained slain Saudi journalistJamal Khashoggi’s body parts.The images shown on A-Habertelevision late Sunday featurethree men carrying five suitcas-es and two large black bags intothe home of the Saudi consulgeneral in Istanbul. The resi-dence lies a short distance fromthe Saudi consulate whereKhashoggi was murdered in

October in a killing that has test-ed Riyadh’s relations with theWest. Citing unnamed Turkishsources, A-Haber saidKhashoggi’s dismembered bodywas inside the cases and bags.Khashoggi, a contributor to the

Washington Post, was killed onOctober 2 shortly after enteringthe kingdom’s consulate in whatRiyadh called a “rogue” opera-tion.

The 59-year-old formerSaudi insider turned critic wasstrangled before he was cut upinto pieces by a team of 15Saudis sent to Istanbul for thekilling, according to Turkishofficials, with media reportssuggesting the parts were dis-solved in acid.

The consulate and the resi-dence were searched by theTurkish authorities in October

along with several other locationsbut Khashoggi’s body has still notbeen found. There has beenspeculation that Saudi CrownPrince Mohammed Bin Salmanordered the hit but Riyadh hasabsolved the de facto leader ofany blame. Saudi Arabia has alsorepeatedly rejected Turkishdemands to extradite suspectsconnected to the murder of thejournalist, a critic of the crownprince. A-Haber said the bagsand suitcases were put into aminibus which travelled theshort distance from the consulateto a garage at the residence.

China puts into service itsnew lightweight battle tankPTI n BEIJING

China has put into service itsmuch-touted lightweight

battle tank which the militaryseeks to deploy in the moun-tainous regions, like Tibet, toboost its combat capabilities inthe high-altitude areas. Thenew-generation tank, identifiedas Type-15 by the People’sLiberation Army (PLA), wasdisplayed for the first time at anexhibition, organised lastmonth to mark the 40thanniversary of China’s reformand opening up, at China’sNational Museum as part ofnew weapons developed by thecountry.

Chinese defence ministryspokesperson Senior ColonelWu Qian confirmed that thetank has been handed over totroops for deployment. “As forthe Type 15 light tank, accord-ing to my information, it hasbeen handed over to ourtroops,” Wu told the media lastweek. The indigenously-devel-oped tank had undergone com-bat ready exercises on theplateaus of Tibet in June lastyear when the armies of Chinaand India were engaged in aneye-ball to eye-ball 73-day-long standoff at Doklam in theSikkim sector.

Indian troops had opposedthe construction of a road byChinese soldiers near a tri-junction border, as it was tooclose to the main highway, theChicken Neck corridor, con-necting the North East with restof India. The area was alsoclaimed by Bhutan. The rela-tions between India and China

as well as the militaries nor-malised this year with concert-ed efforts by both sides after thePeople’s Liberation Army (PLA)halted the road construction.

According to Chinese offi-cial media, the lightweight bat-tle tank is equipped with ahydro-pneumatic suspensionsystem that ensures goodmanoeuvrability and surviv-ability in mountainous regions.Its main weapon is the 105 mmgun that can fire armour-pierc-ing shells and launch guidedmissiles, it said.

The Type 15 tank has a1,000 horsepower engine whichis significantly lighter than thePLA’s other main battle tanks inservice, and weighs about 32 to35 tonnes, compared to theType 99 tank, which weighs 54to 58 tonnes, and the Type 96one weighing about 42.8tonnes, the Hong Kong-basedSouth China Morning Postreported. Military analystssaid the tank could be quicklydeployed to sensitive regionssuch as Tibet and the plateauborder area if a dispute brokeout, the SCMP report said.

Beijing-based militaryaffairs commentator SongZhongping said the PLAMarine Corps needed toupgrade some of its key equip-ment. He said they were usingthe Type 62 tank, which onlyhas about 500 horsepower andan 85mm main gun. “The Type62 tank is lagging behind. TheType 15 tank has much betterprotection capability andmanoeuvrability,” he was qout-ed as saying in the SCMP.

Fireworks explode over the Sydney Harbour during New Year's Eve celebrations in Sydney on Tuesday. AP

world 13LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

Iran: Afghan Taliban were

in Tehran for peace talks

AFP n TEHRAN

Iran said Monday that theAfghan Taliban have visited

Tehran for a second round ofpeace talks in just a few daysaimed at bringing an end to 17years of conflict. Iran has madea more concerted and openpush for peace in neighbouringAfghanistan since US PresidentDonald Trump indicated therewould be a significant with-drawal of Americantroops.“Yesterday (Sunday), adelegation of Taliban were inTehran and lengthy negotia-tions were held with Iran’sdeputy foreign minister...(Abbas) Araghchi,” saidspokesman Bahram Ghasemiat a televised press conferenceon Monday.

That came just days afterAli Shamkhani, secretary ofIran’s Supreme NationalSecurity Council, visited Kabuland told reporters that talkshad been held with the Talibanin Afghanistan.

“The Islamic Republic hasalways been one of the prima-ry pillars of stability in theregion and cooperationbetween the two countries willcertainly help in fixingAfghanistan’s security issuesof today,” Shamkhani told theconservative Tasnim newsagency.

There have been reports inthe past of talks between Iranand the Taliban, but they havetypically been denied byTehran.

Ghasemi said Iran’s prior-ity was “to help facilitate nego-tiations between Afghangroups and the country’s gov-ernment.” The current peacepush will be viewed with con-cern by hawks in Washington,who fear that Trump’s plannedwithdrawal of troops fromSyria and Afghanistan willcede regional influence to Iran.

An American official toldAFP on December 21 thatTrump had decided to pull out“roughly half” of the 14,000 USforces from Afghanistan, but

the White House has yet toconfirm the widely-publicisedmove.

Senior Republican senatorLindsey Graham met withTrump on Sunday and urgedhim to delay any withdrawalfrom Syria to make sure “Irandoesn’t become the big winnerof our leaving.” StanleyMcChrystal, the former com-mander of US and interna-tional forces in Afghanistan,told ABC: “Iran has increasedinfluence across the regionnow. If you pull Americaninfluence out, you’re likely tohave greater instability.” The Taliban also met with theUnited States, Pakistan andSaudi Arabia in the United

Arab Emirates earlier inDecember, but have so farrefused to meet a delegationfrom Afghanistan.

Araghchi will travel toAfghanistan in the next twoweeks, Ghasemi said, withoutgiving further details.“Considering our long borderwith Afghanistan and the cul-tural and historical ties, and ourimportant role in the region’sstability, the Islamic republicwas interested... to enter andplay a more important role inpeace development inAfghanistan,” the spokesmanadded.

Iran and Afghanistan sharea nearly 600-mile border, andhave had a complex relation-ship in recent years. Tehran haslong supported its co-religion-ists in Afghanistan, the ShiaHazara minority, who wereviolently persecuted by theTaliban during its rule in the1990s.

Iran worked alongside theUnited States and Westernpowers to help drive out theTaliban after the US-led inva-sion in 2001. But there havebeen allegations, from Westernand Afghan sources, that Iran’sRevolutionary Guards have inrecent years established tieswith the Taliban aimed at dri-ving out US forces fromAfghanistan.

4 dead, dozens missing after gasexplosion hits Russia high-riseAFP n MOSCOW

Four people were killed andnearly 70 unaccounted for

after a gas explosion tore througha residential building in Russia onMonday, leaving hundreds with-out a home in freezing tempera-tures on New Year’s Eve. A largesection of the building collapsedafter a gas explosion around 6 amlocal time at the high-rise in theindustrial city of Magnitogorsk,nearly 1,700 kilometres east ofMoscow in the Ural mountains.

Four people were confirmeddead and another four, includingtwo children, were hospitalised,officials said, citing the latest infor-mation. Sixteen people includingseven children have been evacu-ated. The whereabouts of 28 peo-ple have been established but thefate of nearly 70 was unclear.National television said some 50people could be trapped under therubble.

National television broadcastfootage of rescue workers comb-ing through mangled heaps ofconcrete and metal in tempera-tures of minus 18 Celsius.Temperatures in Magnitogorskwere expected to plunge to minus23 Celsius on New Year’s night, thebiggest holiday of the year inRussia.

Officials warned that twomore sections of the Soviet-erahigh-rise on Karl Marx Street werein danger of collapsing. Local res-ident Anna Koroleva told Echo of

Moscow radio that the explosionshattered windows of nearbybuildings. The Kremlin saidPresident Vladimir Putin hadbeen “immediately notified ofthe tragedy in Magnitogorsk”.

Located in the mineral-richsouthern Ural region,Magnitogorsk, with a populationof more than 400,000 people, ishome to one of the country’slargest steel producers. The high-

rise was built in 1973 and washome to around 1,100 people.Residents were evacuated to anearby school. Volunteers offeredmoney, clothing and essentials tothe victims, and some said theywere ready to provide temporaryshelter to those in need. Regionalgovernor Boris Dubrovsky saidauthorities planned to buy apart-ments for people who had losttheir homes. Staff from the local

Magnitogorsk Iron and SteelWorks (MMK), one of the coun-try’s largest steelmakers, took partin the rescue operation.

Billionaire Viktor Rashnikov,who controls the plant, called oncity residents to help the victims.“This is our common tragedy andpain,” he said in a statement,adding that MMK would providefinancial assistance to those inneed.

PTI n COLOMBO

Sri Lanka’s main Tamil partyTNA should not be allowed

to achieve through its supportto prime minister RanilWickremesinghe’s governmentwhat it could not accomplishin the three-decade long civilwar, ex-President MahindaRajapaksa has said, warningthat the country cannot bedivided.

Addressing a public gath-ering at Nochchiyagama inthe north central province onSunday, Rajapaksa, now themain opposition leader, saidthe Tamil National Alliance(TNA) could make a politicalcapital out of its support to thegovernment.

“They should not beallowed to achieve throughConstitution what they couldnot achieve through war,”Rajapaksa said. He was hintingat the TNA’s support toWickremesinghe to end therecent constitutional and polit-ical crisis which lasted forover 50 days. Rajapaksa allud-ed that the TNA would makeuse of the support to winpolitical autonomy throughdevious means whenWickremesinghe introduces anew Constitution.“This coun-try cannot be separated ordivided, all must work in uni-son,” Rajapaksa said.

The TNA stood againstsacking of Wickremesinghe asPrime Minister by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena onOctober 26 and replacing himwith Rajapaksa, triggering anunprecedented constitutionaland political crisis. Sirisenaalso dissolved parliament whenit appeared that Rajapaksa was

not able to garner workingmajority.

The Supreme Court deliv-ered a huge blow to bothSirisena and Rajapaksa when a7-member bench unanimous-ly ruled Siirsena’s dissolving ofparliament as unconstitution-al.

It led to Wickremesinghebeing reinstated as prime min-ister. Rajapaksa’s war effort incrushing the LTTE’s 30-year-old campaign to carve out aseparate homeland for theminority Tamils has endearedhim to the 74 per cent of theSinhala majority.

He aims to convert theSinhala goodwill to votes afterhe was ousted by a popularmovement for reforms backedby both the Sinhala majorityand the minority communitiesin 2015. The TNA had backedSirisena’s victory in 2015 andanticipated action on intro-duction of a new Constitutionwhich guaranteed politicalfreedom for Tamil minority inthe north and east provinces.

However, Rajapaksa’s

opposition has whipped upSinhala majority nationalismto scuttle the effort.

His new party the SriLanka Podujana Peramuna(SLPP) swept the local pollsheld in February this year inthe Sinhala-dominated areas.

Sri Lanka’s main Tamilparty demands devolution ofpowers in the newConstitution to resolve ethnicissues. The Tamil minorityseeks a power devolutionarrangement to give autonomyto the traditional Tamil regionsin the north and east of theisland.

The Tamils had stayedaway from both previousConstitution making process-es in 1972 and 1978. Unhappywith sharing of power, theTamils demanded self deter-mination in 1976 which waslater converted to a bloody mil-itary campaign carried out bythe LTTE. The armed Tamilgroup fought a guerrilla war tocreate a separate Tamil state.

With the LTTE’s militarydefeat in 2009, following thedeath its supremo VelupillaiPrabhakaran, the moderateTamils parties have consentedto the realisation of Tamildemands through consulta-tion. According to the gov-ernment figures, around20,000 people are missing dueto various conflicts includingthe civil war with LankanTamils in the north and eastwhich claimed at least 100,000lives.

According to UN figures,up to 40,000 civilians werekilled by security forces duringRajapaksa’s regime thatbrought an end to the three-decade long civil war.

The scene of a part of a collapsed apartment building in Magnitogorsk, a city of 400,000 people, about 1,400 kilometers (870miles) southeast of Moscow, Russia, Monday. AP

TNA will gain political mileage out of its support to shaky govt: Rajapaksa

2018: India expands ties with South Africa and other nations in resource-rich continentPTI n JOHANNESBERG

India and South Africa thisyear celebrated the birth of

Mahatma Gandhi’s ‘Satyagraha’movement 125 years ago in thisnation which became a forcefor India’s independence, evenas New Delhi took determinedsteps to expand its economicand development footprintacross resource-rich Africa.

In June, External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj wasthe special guest at the railwaystation in Pietermaritzburg citywhere Mohandas KaramchandGandhi as a young lawyer wasunceremoniously thrown off atrain compartment reservedfor white people, sparking hispath of ‘Satyagraha’, whichwould see him lead both SouthAfrica and India to opposecolonial rule.

A unique bust of Gandhiwas unveiled at the station -with one side featuring him inWestern attire he wore when hecame to South Africa, while theother side depicts him inIndian dress in which he leftSouth Africa after 21 years,returning to eventually leadIndia to freedom.

Prime Minister NarendraModi also visited South Africain July where he attended theBRICS summit and held bilat-eral meetings with ChinesePresident Xi Jinping, RussianPresident Vladimir Putin,South African President CyrilRamaphosa, Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan, andother leaders.

Representing over 40 percent of the world’s population,the BRICS countries’ growthrates surpass those of devel-oped nations of the G-7. The

handprints of Prime MinisterModi were also embedded forposterity at the ‘Cradle ofHumankind’ site in SouthAfrica, alongside those of lead-ers of the other four BRICScountries - Brazil, Russia,China and South Africa at theBRICS Summit.

The plaques of the leaders’handprints were then installednext to one containing thehandprints of late SouthAfrican president and anti-apartheid icon Nelson Mandelaat the site where some of theoldest remains of early man areon public display.

Earlier, Modi also trav-elled to Rwanda, becomingthe first Indian premier to visitthe East African nation asIndia extended a USD 200million line of credit to thecountry. He then visitedUganda - the first bilateraltour there by an Indian primeminister since 1997 - where heheld wide-ranging talks withPresident Yoweri Museveniand also addressed the coun-try’s Parliament. India extend-ed two lines of credit worth

nearly USD 200 million toUganda in energy infrastruc-ture, agriculture and dairy sec-tors. As a precursor to theBRICS Summit, the IndianHigh Commission hosted theIndia-South Africa BusinessSummit in April, with partici-pation from delegations acrossAfrica.

“We feel that there is a hugepotential that exists betweenthese two regions,” said SureshPrabhu, Minister ofCommerce, Industry and CivilAviation, as he shared a plat-form with his counterpartsfrom South Africa, Botswana,Swaziland, Lesotho andMozambique.

Prabhu said India’s com-mitment to trade relations withAfrica is very strong and it istrying to determine how thecredit extended for projectfinancing in some of thesecountries can be furtherimproved, which will furtherbenefit the countries wherethese projects are going to beimplemented.South Africa wasalso rocked by the resignationof President Jacob Zuma after

a long legal battle over severalcorruption and fraud charges.

Zuma was also implicatedin reports of ‘state capture’over his links with the influ-ential Indian-origin Guptafamily. Facing a motion of noconfidence in Parliament,Zuma resigned on February 14and was succeeded byRamaphosa as president.

While economic relationsbetween India and SouthAfrica were boosted by a seriesof sector-specific events, theywere dampened slightly by thedeparture of one of India’sleading public sector banks, theBank of Baroda, after it decid-ed to close down operations inSouth Africa. The Bank saidthe closure was in line with arevision of its global strategy,but the local branch cameunder pressure for being theonly bank that had been work-ing with companies of the con-troversial Gupta brothers afterall South African banks hadsevered ties with them follow-ing allegations of links of busi-ness barons Ajay, Atul andRajesh Gupta with cases of statecapture and graft involvingbillions of rands which wasamong a host of reasons thatled to Zuma’s downfall.

South Africa also markedthe 125th anniversary of thehistoric address in Chicago bySwami Vivekananda.

The Indian CulturalCentres, run by the Indianmissions in both Johannesburgand Durban, were renamed inVivekananda’s honour, andlocal followers of his teachingsfrom the Ramakrishna Centreof South Africa organised asymposium.

Trump’s promise of a wall may not be fulfilled AP n WASHINGTON

Three confidantes ofPresident Donald Trump,

including his departing chief ofstaff, are indicating that thepresident’s signature campaignpledge to build a wall along theUS-Mexico border would notbe fulfilled as advertised.

Trump sparked ferventchants of “Build that wall!” atrallies before and after his elec-tion and more recently cited alack of funding for a borderwall as the reason for partiallyshutting down the govern-ment. At times the presidenthas also waved off the idea thatthe wall could be any kind ofbarrier.

However, White Housechief of staff John Kelly told theLos Angeles Times in an inter-view published Sunday thatTrump abandoned the notionof “a solid concrete wall earlyon in the administration.”

“To be honest, it’s not awall,” Kelly said, adding that themix of technological enhance-ments and “steel slat” barriersthe president now wants along

the border resulted from con-versations with law enforce-ment professionals.

Along the same lines,White House counselorKellyanne Conway called dis-cussion of the apparent con-tradiction “a silly semanticargument.” “There may be awall in some places, there maybe steel slats, there may betechnological enhancements,”Conway told “Fox NewsSunday.” ‘’But only saying ‘wallor no wall’ is being very disin-genuous and turning a com-plete blind eye to what is a cri-sis at the border.” Sen. Lindsey

Graham, the South CarolinaRepublican who is close to thepresident, emerged from aSunday lunch at the WhiteHouse to tell reporters that “thewall has become a metaphorfor border security” andreferred to “a physical barrieralong the border.”

Graham said Trump was“open-minded” about a broad-er immigration agreement, say-ing the budget impasse pre-sented an opportunity toaddress issues beyond the bor-der wall. But a previousattempt to reach a compromisethat addressed the status of

“Dreamers” — young immi-grants brought to the US aschildren— broke down lastyear as a result of escalatingWhite House demands.Graham said he hoped to endthe shutdown by offeringDemocrats incentives to getthem to vote for wall fundingand told CNN before his lunchwith Trump that “there willnever be a deal without wallfunding.” Graham proposed tohelp two groups of immigrantsget approval to continue livingin the US: about 700,000 young“Dreamers” brought into theUS illegally as children andabout 400,000 people receivingtemporary protected statusbecause they are from countriesstruggling with natural disas-ters or armed conflicts. He alsosaid the compromise shouldinclude changes in federal lawto discourage people from try-ing to enter the US illegally.

“Democrats have a chancehere to work with me andothers, including the presi-dent, to bring legal status topeople who have very uncer-tain lives,” Graham said.

Kim expectedto ring in2019 with bigpolicy speechTokyo (AP): Kim Jong Un will bekeeping North Korea watchersbusy on New Year’s Day, when heis expected to give his annualaddress laying out the country’s toppriorities for the year ahead.

The speech, which is normallybroadcast on North Korea’s state-run television network, is often thebest gauge of what the NorthKorean leadership is focused on andwhat tone it will take in its dealingswith the outside world.

For 2019, it will be parsed care-fully for clues about Kim’s thinking

on denuclearisation talks withWashington and a second summitwith President Donald Trump,relations with South Korea andPyongyang’s efforts to get out fromunder international sanctions as ittries to build up its domestic econ-omy.

This is Kim’s primary concern.He made that clear in his 2018News Year’s address and his gov-ernment has been hammering ithome ever since. In his first televisedspeech, at a military parade in 2012,Kim vowed the nation wouldnever again have to tighten its belts,a reference to the economic hard-ships it has faced, including a dis-astrous famine in the 1990s.

While they remain isolatedand unable to travel or experienceforeign media freely, North Koreansare aware of the yawning prosper-ity gap between themselves, SouthKorea and China.

Kim has tried to address thatby initiating infrastructure projectsin major cities, building up the cap-ital and allowing — if not overtlysupporting — the spread of themarket economy. What’s not clearis how far he is willing to go withthe kind of fundamental, systemicreforms needed to really ensure sus-tainable growth.

North Korea has hinted itwants to join the World TradeOrganization and be more a partof the global economic communi-ty. But that would also require somerisky moves — like increasedtransparency and commitment toglobal rules and norms. A big ques-tion is how much control Kim iswilling to relinquish in exchange forprosperity.North Korea is enteringthe fourth year of a five-year eco-nomic plan that Kim announcedwith great fanfare at a rare congressof his ruling party in 2016. If prece-dent is any indication, he will go intosome detail outlining, sector by sec-tor, the country’s successes so farand emphasising what remains tobe done. This part of the speech isusually couched in deliberatelyvague, broad or aspirational lan-guage and is directed at the domes-tic party leadership.

Merkel says Germany mustfight for ‘our convictions’AFP n BERLIN

Chancellor Angela Merkelon Monday said Germany

must “stand fast, argue, andfight for our own convictions”and assume greater responsi-bilities at a time when multi-lateralism is coming underintense pressure. In her NewYear’s address to Germans,Merkel said long-held certain-ties about international coop-eration were being put to thetest.

Global challenges includingclimate change, immigrationand the fight against terrorismcould not be solved by countriesgoing it alone, she warned.“For our own interests, wewant to solve all these questions,and we can do that best whenwe also take into considerationthe interests of others,” shesaid in a speech to be broadcastin full later Monday.

“That is the lesson fromtwo world wars of the last cen-tury,” she said, warning howeverthat “certainties about interna-

tional cooperation is fallingunder pressure.” “In our owninterest, we must take on moreresponsibilities,” she said. Withan eye to Germany taking on anon-permanent seat in the UNSecurity Council in 2019 and2020, the leader of Europe’sbiggest economy said her coun-try would push for “globalsolutions”.

She also pledged to raisespending for humanitarian anddevelopment aid, as well asdefence. Although Merkel didnot name US President DonaldTrump in her speech, she hason previous occasions rejected

his criticisms of multilateral-ism. In his second appearancebefore the UN’s annual gather-ing in September, Trump toldthe General Assembly that heand his administration “rejectthe ideology of globalism, andwe embrace the doctrine ofpatriotism”.

A week later, Merkel hadwarned Trump against“destroying” the UN.“I believethat destroying something with-out having developed some-thing new is extremely dan-gerous,” Merkel said at a region-al election campaign eventthen.

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019

Actor AAMIR KHAN announcedhis new production, RubaruRoshni, which will premiere onthe small screen.“Our next film from Aamir KhanProductions (AKP) is pre-miering on StarPlus, onJanuary 26, 2019 at 11am. It’s something thatKiran (Rao) and Ihave produced, andwhich we are veryclose to. Don’t missit,” Aamir wrote onsocial media.Aamir, who facedfailure this year withThugs of Hindostan,also shared a videoclip, in which he said,“On Republic Day, whatare you doing? I mean,after the flag hoistingbecause I have a planfor you. I would like to present avery special thing. No it’s not anew episode of Satyamev Jayate.Let us meet on January 26.”

Dancer NORA FATEHI featured inthe videos of this year’s hit songsDilbar and Kamariya. She madeher singing debut and bagged bigfilms like Salman Khan-starrerBharat. She says that 2018 is

definitely her year.“I have workedhard and put mybest foot forward,but I didn’t expectsuch results.Having the biggestsong of the year,every actor

dreams of this, is fighting for thisand me being the one who getsit, I feel grateful,” Nora said. “Iwas waiting for my moment, andpeople have been noticing me fora while now, but this year hasbeen life-changing. It’s going toget bigger and better hopefully, ifI continue to work hard and withdignity,” she added.

Singer CAMILA CABELLO, whotook some time off from herwarm, tropical hometown of

Miami and headed to thesnowy slopes, has triedout skiing for the firsttime.

On social media, sheshared her skiingvideos and said thatshe is proud of her-self as she learntskiing, but it wasquite challengingfor her as shehails from the

tropical region andshe is not used tosuch cold climate.“There’s lots of thingshappening in this videopost — My sister being

an Olympic skier tryingto push my dad out ofthe way anyway, I am

proud of myself because I left theslopes in one piece and I usuallytrip over air so this was verycool,” Camila captioned the video.

Aamir announcesa new film

‘I definitely takeinspirationfromBollywood.I listen toeverythingfrom oldfilm musicto folkmusic. And eventhough I producemore of dancemusic, I love the oldtunes of Shankar-Jaikishan andKalyanji-Anandji andghazals by NusratFateh Ali Khan, BadeGhulam Ali KhanSahab, UstadGhulam Ali Sahab.’ —DJ Nucleya

Camila findsskiing challenging

vivacity 14

Why are New Year resolu-tions important? Whydo people tend to

change their habit patterns andtry to re-structure them with theonset of a new date line? Becausethey bring in a chance to rejuve-nate, recreate and look forward.As people’s preferences keepevolving, here’s what you canlook forward to.

FOR THE BOOKSHELFAs the first month acts as

host to a number of literature fes-tivals like the Jaipur LiteratureFestival, Apeejay Kolkata LiteraryFestival, Tata Steel LiteraryFestival, there will be numerousnew book launches and prizes.

Veteran journalist and writerKuldip Nayar’s On Leaders andIcons from Jinnah to Modi will bea posthumous release of his col-lection of India’s political andcultural life over the decades,recounting his experiences ofmeeting leaders like MahatmaGandhi, Mohammad Ali Jinnah,Indira Gandhi, Lal BahadurShastri and Narendra Modi.

We Are Displaced: MyJourney and Stories from RefugeeGirls around the World by NobelLaureate Malala Yousafzai, willbe a follow-up of her bestsellingmemoir I am Malala. She intro-duces, in her book, some of thefaces behind the statistics andnews stories about the millionsof people displaced worldwide.The book explores not onlyYousafzai’s own story of adjust-ments to a new life while long-ing for home, but she also sharesthe personal stories of some ofthe incredible girls she had meton her various journeys — girlswho have lost their community,relatives, and often the onlyworld they’ve ever known.

The next in line exploresanswers around Dawood. Howdid he become the undisputedking of the Mumbai under-world? Who was his mentor?What was his process? The book,Dawood’s Mentor: The Man WhoMade India’s Biggest Don, is a

non-fiction account by crimewriter S. Hussain Zaidi. It tellsabout how, when Dawood andKhalid (Khan Bachcha) met,they forged into an unlikelyfriendship and together set on amission to crush, defeat andneutralise all mafia gangs in thecity.

Prasoon Joshi’s next calledThinking Aloud: Reflections onIndia will also see its release inthe month. In the book, Joshi’smusings are divided into foursections, each exploring a specif-

ic theme yet all of them tiedtogether by a commonality. Theydiscuss various ideas that Joshihad stumbled upon while inter-acting and being a part of vari-ous forums, cultural exchangeprograms, and literary festivals.

Through a combination ofpersonal anecdotes with historyand neuroscience, CreativityUnleashed by GopiKrishnaswamy will aim to helpreaders understand that creativ-ity, which is considered to be oneof the most valuable skills to pos-sess, is well within one’s reach.

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATIONOne of the biggest techno-

logical shifts in 2019, as predict-ed, will be fixing of 5G applica-tions and mobile devices.According to Forbes, a plantowards setting up 5G has beenmade. It says that the year will bean “exciting” time for 5G andmobiles alike. There will be 5Gfinding its way into the uppercorner of mobile devices, exceptfor iPhone users, as for them, itis more likely going to happen in2020 or later.

The next in line are thetechnological advancements

through data, machine learningand artificial intelligence (AI). Asper Forbes, with improved pro-cessing power that can increasemachine learning, digital leaderswill be seen investing in makingmore of all of their data and thiswill be done with machine learn-ing and AI. It says that one percent will grow to three or fourper cent by 2020; which mayseem small but is a massiveincrease in data utilisation.

Another new addition will bethe smart speakers helping youlearn another language. With theverbal translations and conver-sations, Google, for example is allset to make its assistant, conversein French and German languagesother than English.

BETTER SKINCAREEven though organic and

more herbal products have beenaround for a while, expertsbelieve that 2019 will likely see arise in plant-based skincare prod-ucts. Moisturisers, face cleansersand facial scrubs made fromfruit and green plants are predict-ed to clean out the shelves. Why?The harsh and potentially toxicchemicals in mainstream skin-

care products are becoming hardto justify, when there’s now somany gentle, natural and effectivealternatives on the market.

Experts also believe that non-surgical cosmetic methods (likeplastic surgery) will be the talk oftown in 2019. The use of injecta-bles, stem-cell experimentation aswell as cooling and heating pro-cedures are all set to make theirmark in the beauty world.

FILMS AND ENTERTAINMENTTheatres are always on the list

of everyone whether a kid or anadult. So let’s find out some mostawaited films of 2019.

Kalank, directed by AbhishekVerman, stars Alia Bhatt, SanjayDutt, Varun Dhawan, MadhuriDixit, Sonakshi Sinha, amongothers. The film, slated to releasein April, is based in the backdropof 1940s and the Partition ofIndia.

The next in line is HrithikRoshan-starrer, Super 30, direct-ed by Vikas Bahl, a biopic on thelife of mathematician AnandKumar. The mathematics geniusfrom a modest family in Bihar,who is made to believe that onlya King’s son can become a king,

is on a mission to prove that eventhe poor man can create some ofthe world’s most genius minds. Hestarts a training program named‘Super 30’ to help 30 IIT aspirantscrack the entrance and makethem successful professionals.

For all superhero-fantasy andaction sequence lovers, CaptainMarvel will be making its way totheatres. In the film, to be releasedin March, Carol Danvers becomesone of the universe’s most power-ful heroes when Earth is caught inthe middle of a galactic warbetween two alien races. It starsBrie Larson, Gemma Chan.

FOOD MOVEMENTSThe meal on one’s plate varies

from person to person. Here’s howfood experts believe a change willcome about in consumer eatinghabits in 2019.

With an eco-friendly wavetaking over the food industry,zero-waste movement and sus-tainability factors are expected totake over people’s food eatinghabits. Experts believe that 2019is going to be the year where sus-tainability and looking for chem-ical-free foods are at the core ofhow food is approached.

One of Asia’s biggest electronic musicfestivals, Sunburn 2018, finally over

with exhilarating visuals and tributes toSwedish legend Avicii, and EDM-pumpedperformances by international and IndianDJs like Armin Van Burren, Alan Walker,Nucleya and Axwell-Ingrosso setting thetemperature high in December.

The 12th edition of the musicalextravaganza opened on Saturday for itsloyalists from across the globe who countevery single day, anxiously waiting roundthe year for the Electronic Dance Music(EDM) giant’s indulgence to begin theirNew Year with zeal.

The festival saw lakhs of EDM enthu-siasts, young and old - packing the 100-acre Oxford Valley here for thumping per-formances by DJs on four separate stages.On the first day, the main stage, named‘Cubezoid 4.0’, with 7,000 sq. ft of LEDs,witnessed spectacular performances fromJulia Bliss, Sara Santini, Anish Sood, ViniVici, Don Diablo and Axwell-Ingrosso cre-ating a perfect celebratory atmosphere.

What stole the show on the first dayof the festival was Axwell-Ingrosso’s(2/3rds of the Swedish House Mafia) per-formance with their everlasting anthemicsongs like Sun is Shining, Reload, Out OfMy Mind, Daning Alone and More ThanYou Know.

The pair closed out their emotive setwith Klahr’s Falling In Love under an auraof flushed smoke and slowly-risingsparklers. Towards the end, they paid their

respects for the passing away of Avicii byplaying Wake Me Up on Don’t You WorryChild. Thousands of people also scribbledAvicii’s name and drew his logo on a longblack chalkboard as a tribute to the 28-year-old DJ who took his life earlier thisyear.

As per speculation, this may have beenone of the last performance by Axwell-Ingrosso, as the complete group —Swedish House Mafia — prepares for its2019 relaunch.

On the other stage — Zee 5 — desibass king Nucleya set the stage on fire withhis street-style music from Raja Baja, BassRani, Tota Myna, and some occasionalBollywood drops. Kash Trivedi, AmannNagpal, Ritviz, Paratra, Sara Santini, 39Kingdom, Zenith, GREFF, 18 East, DualVibes, Basspatch, Hugel, David Gravell,and Progressive Brothers also took to thestage and amped-up the audience on dayone.

“With Sunburn moving to Pune, thefestival has become more affordable andaccessible to our audiences. This year dueto tight security, we have adopted exten-sive state-approved measures to ensure acatastrophe-free event given that visitors’safety has always been paramount,”Sunburn Global CEO Karan Singh said.

The second day, on the other hand,was all about Armin Van Buuren, andAlan Walker’s performances in the eveningas the venue got packed with people assoon as it hit 7 pm on the clock.

“On the second day, we saw a 10 percent increase in turnout from Day one andexpect a further 15 per cent increase onDay three as we have been able to deliv-er an improvised experience to our festi-val goers,” the CEO said in a statement.

While performances by SalvatoreGanacci, Ravtek, Madoc, Shashank, DJChico, Rave N Crave, Akade, KalpanikBass, Kryll, Shaan Gidwani, Basshunk,Zylor, VDJ Cas, NDS, Ishani X BobKat,Afro Bros, Candice Redding and Throttlebuilt the anticipation levels for the head-lining acts of the evening, Norwegian DJand producer Alan Walker proved that heis a true force to be reckoned with in thecontemporary electronic music scene.

The introduction to Walker’s set wasThe Spectre, followed by a remix of Sia’sMove Your Body and Sheep by Chinesemusician Lay. Alone had strong melodiesand atmospheric vocals. He closed his ver-satile set with hit Faded.

As fireworks lit up the arena andbooming sounds blared from the speak-ers, one of dance music’s busiest DJs,Armin van Buuren, took to the stage foran unforgettable act. Tracks like “Blah BlahBlah”, “The Last Dancer”, “Just As You Are”,“Popcorn”, “Sex, Love & Water”, “OurOrigin”, “Wild Wild Son” and “Ready ToRave” had the entire arena exploding withsound and energy. Known for his emotivesets, he performed “This Is What It FeelsLike”, dedicated to his son, and also the“Barso” remix by Ritviz. —IANS

Legendary Bengali filmmaker MrinalSen, who, along with his contempo-

raries Satyajit Ray and Ritwik Ghatakwas considered a doyen of regional par-allel cinema internationally, often hadpublic debates with Ray regardingfilm narratives and styles, but alwayschose to term them as clash of ideasand not conflict.

Sen, who directed 27 feature films,including Ek Din Pratidin, Kharij andKhandahar had said his films are“more of a thesis and do not have theimagery of Ray’s masterpieces.”

“I am not a Kurosawa, I am not aSatyajit Ray, I am not a Godard, whobelieve in drawing sketches. I can’t dothat. I can’t draw a single line. My filmsare a kind of thesis,” the DadasahebFalke awardee filmmaker was oncequoted in an interview.

Sen, who passed away on Sundayat the age of 95, maintained he and Rayshared a warm rapport during theirtime but often indulged in “construc-tive criticism” of each other’s films.

Their differences came into publicdomain when the two exchanged 19open letters in ‘The Statesman’ news-paper in 1965 over Ray’s criticism of thescript of one of Sen’s film AkashKusum.

In one of those letters, Ray ques-tioned the topicality of the themewritten by Ashish Burman, a scriptwriter and a regular collaborator of Sen.

“May I point out that the topical-ity of the theme in question stretchesback into antiquity, when it foundexpression in that touching fable aboutthe poor deluded crow with a fatalweakness for status symbols?” Raywrote in one of these letters.

“Had Mr Burman known of thefate of this crow, he would surely haveimparted this knowledge to his protag-onist, who now acts in complete igno-rance of traditional precepts with,need I add, fabulous consequences,” hehad noted.

Replying, Sen had written thaticonic actor Charles Chaplin had alsoreferred to the poor deluded crow ofAesop’s Fables as “My conception of theaverage man, of any man, of myself ”and asked whether Ray doubted thetopicality of Chaplin’s theme brought

out with such mastery during thelong years of his film career.

The polemics — rich in content,and now keenly lapped up by wannabefilm makers, critics and enthusiasts —continued for months till the newspa-per called for a halt.

Sen’s Bhuvan Shome also receivedsome caustic comments from Ray,who despairingly wrote: “Summary inseven words: ‘Big Bad BureaucratReformed’ by Rustic Belle.”

Sen in his autobiography AlwaysBeing Born claimed that Ray had“reacted rather unwholesomely” tothe film.

Talking about Ray in an interview,Sen said he had no conflict with theOscar winning filmmaker from Kolkataand claimed that the media finds asadistic pleasure in writing about theirconflicts.

“I did not like Abhijan, AranyerDin-Ratri and Asahni Sanket (films byRay). I openly said it with due reasons.We believed in constructive criticism.Both of us did not support gross com-mercialisation of cinema. I alwaysadmire Aparajito as his best creation,”Sen noted.

—IANS

What’s in store?

New year comes with new routines,styles and goals. Here’s what to lookforward to in 2019. By TEAM VIVA

When two

legends duelled

Bengali filmmaker MRINAL SEN and contemporary icon

SATYAJIT RAY had exchanged 19 letters in a newspaper

criticising one of the scripts of the former’s film, Akash Kusum

GROOVE TO THE BEAT

Sunburn 2018 is finally over with exhilarating visuals and EDM-pumpedperformances. There was also a tribute to Swedish legend, Avicii

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019 sport 15

PTI n DUBAI

It turned out to be a glorious 2018 forIndia captain Virat Kohli and SouthAfrica fast bowler Kagiso Rabada as

both maintained their respective polepositions in the year-end ICC Test PlayerRankings.

Kohli dropped three points despite afirst innings score of 82 in the third Testagainst Australia in Melbourne, but stillenjoys a 34-point lead over nearest rivalKane Williamson of New Zealand.

Kohli, who attained a career-high 937points during the year, which is thehighest ever by an India batsman, scored1322 runs in all. He overtook Steven Smithin August and has now held the top posi-tion for 135 days.

Rabada, who split the top rankingwith England's seasoned fast bowlerJames Anderson during the year, is just sixpoints ahead of his adversary.

Rabada, who became the youngest totake top position among bowlers duringthe year and held the spot for 178 daysduring the year, grabbed six wickets in theopening match at Centurion that SouthAfrica won by six wickets to finish with52 wickets in 10 Tests in 2018.

Kohli's compatriot Cheteshwar Pujarahas also maintained his fourth positionafter a first-innings century in Melbourne,wicketkeeper Rishabh Pant has gained 10slots to reach a career-best 38th position.

Debutant opener Mayank Agarwalhas also entered the batsmen's list at animpressive 67th place after scores of 76and 42 helped his side win by 137 runs fora 2-1 lead in the four-match series.

Jasprit Bumrah has moved from 28thto 12th after his match haul of nine for 86,the best-ever by an India seam bowler inAustralia. He is now the highest-rankedIndia fast bowler in the format withMohammed Shami is next in 23rd posi-tion.

For Australia, Pat Cummins has beenthe pick, gaining five slots to reach acareer-best third position after finishingwith nine wickets in the match. He hasalso gained 13 slots to reach 91st placeamong batsmen with some useful runsdown the order.

Travis Head (up seven places to 56th)has also benefitted in the latest rankingsupdate.

New Zealand fast bowlers have a lot

to cheer about following their record 423-run win over Sri Lanka in Christchurch.

Trent Boult's nine wickets in thematch have helped him gain seven slotsto reach the seventh position while TimSouthee (up two places to ninth) and NeilWagner (up one place to 15th) have alsomoved up.

Century-makers at Christchurch,Henry Nicholls (up two places to seventh)and Tom Latham (up eight places to 14th),and Jeet Raval (up two places to 35th) havealso gained in the latest rankings update.

Nicholls scored an unbeaten 162 tomove up to the seventh place.

For South Africa, former captainHashim Amla (up three places to 11thplace) and Temba Bavuma (up four placesto 31st) have gained among batsmen whilefast bowler Duanne Olivier has gained 17places to reach 36th position after his play-er of the match effort of 11 wickets.

Pakistan's Babar Azam has gainednine slots to reach 27th position afterinnings of 71 and six while left-arm fastbowlers Mohammad Amir (up two placesto 34th) and Shaheen Afridi (up 38 placesto 73rd) have advanced after taking fourand five wickets in Centurion.

Meanwhile, New Zealand haveleapfrogged South Africa to take thirdplace in the ICC Test Team Rankings afterstarting the series against Sri Lanka witha chance of going up to the second posi-tion with a 2-0 win.

PTI n DUBAI

India's Harmanpreet Kaurwas on Monday named cap-

tain of the ICC Women's T20ITeam of the Year, which alsoincludes two of her compatri-ots Smriti Mandhana andPoonam Yadav.

Opening batswomanMandhana and leg-spinnerYadav were also included in theICC Women's ODI Team ofthe Year, which has NewZealander Suzie Bates as cap-tain.

The ODI and T20 sideswere selected by a voting acad-emy, which has former playerslike Lisa Sthalekar, CharlotteEdwards, Anjum Chopra andmembers of the media, andtook into consideration per-formances in the 2018 calen-dar year.

Harmanpreet has beenrewarded for spearheadingIndia to the semifinals of theICC Women's World T20 2018in the West Indies inNovember.

"In that tournament,(Harmanpreet) Kaur scored183 runs at a strike-rate of160.5, while in the 25 match-es in the calendar year, she

accumulated 663 runs at astrike-rate of 126.2. Kaur isranked third in the MRF TyresICC Women's Player Rankingsfor T20I Batters," the ICC saidin a statement.

The 29-year-oldHarmanpreet said she wassurprised to have been namedcaptain of the World T20 XI.

"To be honest, it was real-ly surprising for me. The lasttwo years we did not getenough T20I matches to playand it was really tough for meto build that confidence in theteam and show that self-beliefthat we can do well in T20Is.Credit goes to all team mem-bers, the way they workedhard and show that self-belief,"Kaur said.

"This award means a lot tome to build my confidence,BCCI is showing confidenceon me - that I can do well inthe format and I am lookingforward to do well in thefuture."

The T20I team has playersfrom five countries, includingfour from the ICC Women'sWorld T20 2018 championsAustralia. Two players arefrom New Zealand and oneplayer each from Bangladesh

PTI n NEW DELHI

India batsman Rohit Sharma willmiss the fourth Test against

Australia in Sydney to be with hiswife, who gave birth to a baby girl inMumbai on Sunday.

Rohit has flown back fromMelbourne and will rejoin the squadon January 8 ahead of the three-match ODI series beginning January12 in Sydney.

"India batsman Rohit Sharma leftfor Mumbai on the 30th of Decemberto attend to his wife who has deliv-ered a baby girl. The BCCI congrat-ulates Rohit on the beginning of anew chapter in his life," the BCCI saidin a statement.

The Indian Cricket Board(BCCI), however, has not named anyreplacement for Rohit for the finalTest beginning on January 3. Indialead the four-match Test series 2-1after winning the Melbourne Test by137 runs.

"Rohit will miss the fourth andthe final Test against Australia atSydney. There will be no replacementplayer in the Test squad.

"He will join the ODI squad onthe 8th of January 2019, when theteam begins their preparation for theODI series starting 12th January," itadded.

PTI n MELBOURNE

Former captains SteveWaugh and Ricky

Ponting want out-of-formopener Aaron Finch to bedropped from Australia'splaying eleven for thefourth and final Testagainst India startingThursday in Sydney.

Both Waugh andPonting have predicted theinclusion of leg-spinningall-rounder MarnusLabuschange in the playingeleven.

Test legend Waughposted his preferredAustralia XI for the finalTest at the SCG onInstagram.

According to Waugh, Marcus Harrisand veteran Shaun Marsh should openthe batting, followed by incumbentUsman Khawaja.

Waugh feels Travis Head, Australia'sleading run-scorer in the series againstIndia, should bat at No.4 ahead of cap-tain Tim Paine, Labuschagne, andMitchell Marsh.

Waugh's preferred bowling unitwould be Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc,Nathan Lyon and Josh Hazlewood.

Waugh's successor,Ponting too feels thatFinch should bedropped andLabuschagne needs tobe included in the play-ing eleven.

Finch has had adismal series so far,averaging just 16 whileopening the battingwith 50 of his runscoming in the firstinnings of the secondTest in Perth.

"I've seenLabuschagne has comeinto the line-up so tome straightaway thatmeans Finch has tomiss out and Usmanwill open the batting,

I'd imagine," Ponting toldcricket.Com.Au.

"That's how it looks - Labuschagneprobably bats four, Head five and MitchMarsh six - I think that's the way they'regoing to line up.

"I can't really think what else theycan do. The selectors and the captainand coach have obviously had a longchat about what they want and whatthey expect. We'll see how they line up,"he added.

IANS n NEW DELHI

Former India skipper SouravGanguly rated the current

Australian selection process asthe "lowest ever" whileresponding to ex-captain SteveWaugh's predicted playing XIfor the fourth and final Test,starting Thursday at theSydney Cricket Ground(SCG).

"Australian cricket selec-tion at its lowest ever .. greatshave to put teams in theirInstagram posts to give direc-tion ....," Ganguly tweeted witha picture of Waugh's selectedXI for the Sydney Test.

Earlier, Waugh had pickedhis side for the fourth Testexcluding the off-colour open-er Aaron Finch.

Waugh had suggested thepromotion of Shaun Marsh toopen the batting alongsideMarcus Harris, with UsmanKhawaja at No.3 followed byTravis Head, skipper TimPaine, leg-spinning al l-rounder Marnus Labuschagne,Mitchell Marsh, Pat Cummins,Mitchell Starc, Nathan Lyon

and Josh HazlewoodLabuschagne was on

Sunday added to Australia'ssquad for the final Test afterthe Virat Kohli-led touriststook a historic 2-1 lead bycomfortably winning theBoxing Day Test by 137 runsat Melbourne.

Meanwhile, another for-mer Australian skipper, RickyPonting, has suggested MarcusHarris and Usman Khawaja toopen the innings for the hosts,followed by Shaun Marsh.

PTI n ROHTAK

Left-arm spinner SaurabhKumar overall took 14 wick-

ets as Uttar Pradesh thrashedhosts Haryana by six wickets intheir Elite Group C Ranji Trophygame inside two days here. ForUttar Pradesh, Saurabh Kumar,was adjudged the Man of theMatch as he ended the gamewith figures of 14-65 at theChaudhry Bansi Lal CricketStadium, picking seven wicketseach in both the innings.

The visitors grabbed 6points with the thumping win.On Sunday, as many as 20 wick-ets had fallen on the openingday. Haryana were bundled outfor 110 in their first essay with25-year-old Saurabh taking 7-33.Resuming on overnight score of10 for no loss, Haryana batsmenagain meekly surrendered toSaurabh, who ended the secondinnings with brilliant figures of7-32.

Haryana was shot out forpaltry 129. Needing 107 to win,Uttar Pradesh chased the targetin 21.2 overs, losing four wick-ets in the process. UP openerSamarth Singh remainedunbeaten on 53 in company ofRinku Singh (20 not out) as theduo took the side home.

DELHI GAIN UPPERHANDKOLKATA: Seamer Subodh Bhatitriggered a middle-order col-lapse in the second session asDelhi gained upperhand againstBengal with a slender 20-runfirst innings lead after the sec-ond day in a Ranji Trophy groupleague encounter. In a nippy five over spell,Bhati took three wickets asBengal lost five wickets in thepost-lunch session beforebeing all out for 220 in replyto Delhi's first innings score of240. Bhati got a good support fromKulwant Khejroliya (3/86) asthe left-arm medium pacerdealt a big blow dismissingskipper Manoj Tiwary (15),whose wrong judgementproved to be costly in the con-text of the innings.At stumps, Delhi were 41/2 in

their second essay, with anoverall lead of 61 runs at closeon day two. Ashok Dinda (2/22) took boththe wickets in a spirited bowl-ing display and was the onlyBengal bowler to make animpact, something that keptBengal's fading hopes alive inthe must-win Elite Group Bfixture. Both the teams needminimum six points to stay incontention for a quarterfinalberth.

AFP n PERTH

Serena Williams overcame asluggish start to win her

opening match of the new sea-son in Perth on Monday, twoweeks out from 2019's firstGrand Slam.

The 37-year-old was along way off her commandingbest and was visibly frustrat-ed with her own game early inher Hopman Cup singlesmatch, but still did enough tobeat Greece's Maria Sakkari instraight sets.

However, it was Sakkariand her team-mate StefanosTsitsipas who had the lastlaugh as Greece beat the USA2-1 in the mixed doublesGroup B tie.

In her first tournamentouting since the controversialloss to Naomi Osaka in the USOpen final in September,Williams struggled early andher groundstrokes were errat-ic in the first set.

Sakkari, ranked 41st in theworld, gained an early breakand served for the first set butcouldn't capitalise despite sev-eral gilt-edged opportunities.

That opened the door forWilliams, the bookmakers'

favourite for the upcoming Australian Open inMelbourne, to power back and ultimately win7-6 (7/3), 6-2 in an hour and 44 minutes.

Williams had her left ankle worked on at theend of the first set but it didn't stop her domi-nating the second, in which she looked more likethe player who has won 23 Grand Slam singlestitles.

Williams won her last Grand Slam inMelbourne in 2017, but wasn't able to defend hertitle due to the birth of her first child.

Bidding to equal Margaret Court's recordof 24 titles, she was beaten in last year'sWimbledon and US Open finals.

Williams said she was looking forward tofacing Swiss champion Roger Federer onTuesday, when the USA plays Switzerland andthe pair will be opponents for the first time inthe mixed doubles.

"I have been looking forward to it, this is socool," she said, adding it was "like a dream cometrue".

Earlier, world number 15 Tsitsipas gaveGreece the initial advantage in the tie as he edgedpast Frances Tiafoe in three sets, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7),6-3.

The Greek 20-year-old won the first setcomfortably and secured an early break in thesecond.

But the 39th-ranked American broke backin the sixth game and levelled the match in thetie-break.

Another early break by Tsitsipas put himahead in the third and a sizzling backhand win-ner on match point secured victory for theGreek.

The Greek duo kept their tournament alivewhen they won the deciding mixed doubles, 4-1, 1-4, 4-2.

PTI n MELBOURNE

Australian coach Justin Langer haslamented a lack of world-class bats-

men in his side's line-up and pointed outthat Virat Kohli and Cheteshwar Pujarahave been the difference for the visitorsin the on-going four-match Test series.

India won the third Test at the MCGby 131 runs to take an unassailable 2-1lead in the series. The fourth Test beginsin Sydney on Thursday.

"At this stage, the difference in theseries is Pujara and Kohli, if we're frank.Pujara averages 53 and Kohli has averaged46 and got a duck in the second innings.The lesson we learn from that is he justabsorbed all our pressure," Langer said onMonday.

"It's the art of batting, isn't it? It's aboutabsorbing pressure. You've got so muchtime in Test cricket, and I guess in the(T20) world we live in, everything is soinstant and so quick and talk aboutstrike rates. Our guys are learning that, orhopefully they're learning that. If theydon't we'll keep having performances likewe're having," he said.

Langer blamed the first innings bat-ting flop-show — 151 all out — for

Australia's defeat in the third Test at theMCG.

"It was a really tough Test match. I'vesaid from day one it's going to be a realarm wrestle the Test series and it feels likethat. It has been tough, we probably gotthe worst of the conditions in this Testmatch and our first innings batting par-ticularly was not up to the work we putinto it. We feel disappointed and tired, butwe are getting ready to refresh and getready for the fourth one," he added.

Defeat in Melbourne has opened upold wounds for Australia who are nowobviously struggling in the absences ofbanned duo of David Warner and SteveSmith. They have various points to pon-der over, including the form of opener

Aaron Finch as well as middle-order com-position with both Peter Handscomb andMitchell Marsh out of form.

Langer said the relative inexperienceof the Australian batting line-up was start-ing to show as the series heads towards itsculmination.

"He (Finch) is having a bit of a leanrun of it although he has got a couple offifties. He got a 100 run partnership oneTest match ago and that set up the wholeTest match for us. Finch is a really goodplayer and he is working harder probablythan he has ever worked. He has got tosomehow recharge his batteries over andover again. It is a great challenge for himat the moment and he will be better Ithink," said the coach.

"With these guys one of the hardestthings about Test cricket is one of the dis-tractions so they are learning on the runactually. We will be collectively better forit. We have just got to make sure we stayin this contest and be great to have a winat the end of it. India have come heredetermined to win this series, we knowthat, and we see that in everything theyhave done since day one. It would be nicefor us to send them home drawing theseries, not winning it," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Bengaluru Bulls produced a solid second halfperformance as they thrashed Gujarat

Fortunegiants 41-29 in the first qualifier of VivoPro Kabaddi League Season 6 to seal a spot inthe final. Pawan Sehrawat continued his fine runof form and top scored for the Bengaluru Bullswith 13 raid points. Captain Rohit Kumar hadan outstanding all-round game and scored 11points for Bengaluru Bulls Sachin got yet anoth-er super 10 for Gujarat Fortunegiants and was ablysupported by Prapanjan who scored 5raid points.While Bengaluru Bulls have qualified for the final,Gujarat still have a chance to make it when theyplay in the second qualifier against the winnerbetween UP Yoddha and Dabang Delhi.

Pawan Sehrawat opened Bengaluru Bulls'account with a running hand touch in the sec-ond minute while Sachin got a two-point raid forGujarat Fortunegiants. It was Sachin who kept theFortunegiants in the initial period of the matchby picking bonus and raid points.

It was an extremely cagey affair with bothteams playing with a bit of caution. BengaluruBulls were reduced to just three men when sub-stitute Sumit Singh made a crucial do-or-die raid.At the end of the first half, Gujarat held a slen-der one- point advantage to lead 14-13.

With less than four minutes to go BengaluruBulls led 32-26 and looked in control of thematch. They inflicted an all out in the 39 thminute to ensure Bengaluru’s victory and a placein the final of the season 6.

Kohli maintains pole position Harmanpreet namedICC World T20 captain

and England, besides the three fromIndia.

The ODI team, on the otherhand, has players from seven coun-tries, with two each from England,India, New Zealand and SouthAfrica. Australia, Pakistan andWest Indies has one player each.

Bates' appointment as the ODIcaptain was a recognition of hercontribution in inspiring her sideto second position in the ICCWomen's Championship after threerounds.

Besides Mandhana and Yadav,Alyssa Healy and Suzie Bates arethe other players who feature inboth the ODI and T20I squads.

Rohit to miss

Sydney Test

Serena shines in Perth season-opener

Uttar Pradeshbeat Haryanaby 6 wickets

PUJARA AND KOHLI DIFFERENCE

BETWEEN TWO SIDES: LANGER

Drop Finch and include Labuschangefor Sydney Test: Former captains

‘Australian cricketselection at its lowest’

Bengaluru Bulls

stun Gujarat 41-29

LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | JANUARY 1, 2019 sport 16

In the cricket’s biggest showdownof 2019, England and Wales willhost the 12th edition of ICC

world cup from 30th May to July 14in 11 different venues.

This is going to be the fifthoccasion when England will hostthe mega event, after previouslyconducting in 1975, 1979, 1983 and1999.

This year the edition will beplayed according to round robinformat where all the ten partici-pating nations will face each otheronce in a single group. This will bethe first time since 1992 World cupin Australia and New Zealand thatthe cricket’s biggest carnival will beplayed in this format.

After 45 games of excitement inround-robin, the top four teams willthen advance to the knockout stageand will compete for the title.

However, this time the tourneyhas received wide criticism due to

lack of associate team in the tour-nament. Also after the increase ofIreland and Afghanistan in Testcricket in July 2017, it will be thefirst World Cup to be contestedwithout all Test playing nationsbeing present and no associateteam at all.

However despite all that, thetournament will the biggest galaevent at least for the subcontinentaudiences as five teams includingIndia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka,Bangladesh and Afghanistan willbattle for the glory.

Going by the current form ofthe players, World Cup hostsEngland will the biggest contenderfor the title. The side has trans-formed completely under EoinMorgan leadership after poorhumiliating first round defeat inAustralia and New Zealand fouryears ago.

In 2018, England’s dominance

in ODI cricket was such that theside won five of the six bilateralseries they played. Of those five, twotriumphs came against defendingworld champions Australia, whothey first thrashed 4-1 in Australiaand then on the return trip at home,they whitewashed Kangaroo’s 5-0.

In the third ODI of that seriesin June, playing at Nottingham andriding on Jonny Bairstow’s 139and Alex Hales’ 147, the side post-ed record 481 runs on the board,which is also the highest team totalin One Day matches.

Also they beat India 2-1 in thethree match series in England andwon against New Zealand and SriLanka on away tours

However, the only disappointwas in the game against Scotland,where they lost by 6 runs.

Going by the current formand considering the home advan-tage England are the favourites for

the glory this time but their inabil-ity to win at crunch situations anddrought of ICC titles is somethingthat the hosts need to come upstrong.

INDIAVirat Kohli’s record breaking

run in international cricket achievednew heights in 2018, the skipperperformed consistently well in allthe three formats and compile bulkof runs to emerge as the highet runscorer of the year.

Under his leadership, for thefirst time, India won ODI series inSouth Africa and also emerged vic-torious against West Indies at home.While his deputy Rohit Sharmaleads the sides win in Asia Cup withease.

India’s batting looks strongwith top three Rohit Sharma,Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli allamong runs. While AmbatiRayudu’s step up to bat responsiblyat number four has reduced teammanagement worries.

MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandyaprovide depth and stability to the

batting unit while the lethal duo ofBhuvneshwar Kumar and JaspritBumrah along with Kuldeep Yadavand Yuzvendra Chahal adds toIndia’s strong bowling strength.

Now with only 13 games to playbefore the World Cup and squadalmost final, India need to maintainconsistency and avoid injury to keymembers.

This will also be the finalWorld Cup appearance for MSDhoni and the veteran wicket-keeper batsman will eye to winanother World Cup for India.

However, the point to ponderfor India is the side’s poor record inEnglish soil in recent years, the sidehasn’t got much success in Englishsoil after 2013 ICC ChampionsTrophy win and Kohli’s men evenfailed to defend the CT title in 2017,when they lost against Pakistan by178 runs.

AUSTRALIASince after the ball tampering

scandal in March 2018, Australiancricket suffered a massive jolt.Once ‘Invincibles’ Aussies lost seriesagainst England in June, whenthey travelled for participating inthe five-match series. And then fail-ure against Pakistan and SouthAfrica raised questions about itsability to win matches.

But by the time World Cup willstart, the five-time champions willbe boosted by the return of SteveSmith and David Warner. And it’sgoing to be a massive mistake forany side to take Australia lightly inthe tourney.

Apart from India, England andAustralia, 2017 Champions trophywinner Pakistan, last edition final-ist New Zealand and South Africawill the other major contenders forthe title.

While Sri Lanka andBangladesh in addition with T20world champions West Indies,which make into the World Cupfinals after playing qualifiers alongwith Afghanistan will be also aim-ing for some impressive show.

Despite of thestar studded

squad for 2018FIFA World Cupin Russia the fail-ure of not beingable to win thetitle will be inBrazil’s mindwhen the five-times worldchampion willhost the CopaAmerica cup inBrazil from June14 to July 7.

With two ofworld’s top three most expensiveplayers, Neymar and PhilippeCoutinho, Selecao was sent pack-ing in quarters by Belgium afterFernandinhio’s own goal andKevin de Bruyune’s strike in the

first half crashed itsdream of winning theelite football title for

the record sixth time.The side will aim to remove

that embarrassment by winningthe South American glory, whichfor the first time will also featureJapan and Qatar (both of them

outside South American conti-nent.) While runners up in lasttwo editions of the tourney,Argentina and its superstar LionelMessi will also be hoping to breakthe final jinx this time. Also bothNeymar and Messi will also belooking to challenge for footballawards, as a successful outing

with the national side and glorywith their clubs and boost uptheir chances of winning indi-vidual awards as well.

Apart from these two sides,record 15 times championUruguay, two time defendingchampion Chile will be othermajor contenders for the title.

In the first week of 2019, Sunil Chhetri will lead the Indian contingent to par-ticipate in the AFC Asian Cup.

This will be the fourth time India will feature in the continent’s biggestfootball event. It’s first after playing in Qatar eight years back.

In the 2011 edition, India lost all three games against Australia (4-0), Bahrain(5-2) and South Korea (4-1) to crash out of the tournament without a singlepoint.

India registered its best ever finish in the tournament in its maiden appear-ance where the side went on to finish as runners up.

Placed in group A along with hosts UAE, Thailand and Bahrain. India willopen its campaign against Thailand on 6th January followed by game againsthosts UAE on 10th and final one against Bahrain on 14th January.

India’s primary goal at the start will be to advance into the second round,which they have failed to do so in past 34 years.

Stephen Constantine has named a young Indian side for the tournamentwith experienced Sunil Chhetri leading them from the front.

After rich medal win-ning performances

in CommonwealthGames and Asiad, Indianboxers would aim to takethe fine form in 2019 aswell. With Sochi hostingthe AIBA men’s boxingworld championshipfrom September 7 to 21,male pugilists have agreat chance to showtheir caliber at the worldstage one more timebefore the TokyoOlympics.

Asian Games cham-pion Amit Phangal,Commonwealth GamesGold medallist GauravSolanki, Naman Tanwarand Manish Kaushik willbe eyeing for moreachievements added totheir name.

While the women’schampionship will take place in Turkey in October, where Simranjit Kaur, SoniaChahal, Manisha Moun, Lovlina and Pinky Jangra will also look to give theirbest and finish on podium.

In 2018 championship that took place in India, Mary won her record sixthWorld title, while Sonia settled with Silver after losing in summit clash match.

Also Lovlina and Simranjit bagged Bronze each after loss in seminfinal bout.

While in other major sporting events,Budapest will host the World Table

Tennis championship from 21st April to 28th.After India’s record breaking performance inAsiad and CWG, where Manika Batra andAchanta Sharath Kamal performed wayabove what was expected and yield medalsfor the first time in Table tennis. India willlook upto them again as another out of the

box performance from them on a given daycan turn fortunes.

Also in Artistic World Championship ofgymnastics, at Stuttgart in Germany, DipaKarmarkar will lead India’s challenge. Theevent will take place in Oct from 4th to 13th.

In athletics, Doha will host the IAAFWorld Championship from September 28t toOctober 6th.

O T H E R S P O R T S

World

Cup year

As 2019 marks its arrival, PIONEERSPORT brings you a list of majorsports events to look out for in thenew year

CONTINENTALSUPREMACY

More punchesto come

Copa

Glory

accused of abduction from jail,triple talaq bill wishes ......against the entry of women in the...

Documents