CAPSULE

* Will Modi’s magic help BJPend Ibobi’s 15 years rule? P6

* SP defends Yadav fort P6

* In Manipur: Shah promisesto end blockade P6

SPECIAL

NATIONALISM IS BAD WORDONLY IN INDIA: JAITLEYVaranasi: Union Minister ArunJaitley on Thursday saidnationalism is considered a badword only in India even as heaccused the Opposition parties of“orchestrating” the Ramjas Collegerow to score brownie points in theUP Assembly polls.

GOVT OKAYS ‘RECORD’ 4K PGMEDICAL SEATS FOR 2017-18 New Delhi: The Government onThursday said it has approved a“record” 4,000 PG medical seatsin various medical colleges for theacademic session 2017-18.

AADHAAR SOON TO BE MUSTFOR ONLINE RLY TICKETS New Delhi: The railways will soonmove towards Aadhaar-basedonline ticketing system to preventtouts from blocking a bulk of tic-kets, end fraudulent bookings andcurb cases of impersonation.

GST BILL TO MAKE PEAK TAXRATE 40%, SLABS INTACT New Delhi: The GST levy may goup to 40 per cent after the GSTCouncil proposed raising the peakrate in the Bill to 20 per cent, fromthe current 14 per cent, to obviatethe need for approachingParliament for any change in ratesin future. However, it is only aprovision being built into the lawto take care of contingencies infuture as the 4-slab rate structureof 5, 12, 18 and 28 per cent isintact for the moment.

NAVY TEST-FIRES ANTI-SHIPMISSILE SUCCESSFULLYNew Delhi: The Navy on Thursdaysuccessfully test-fired an anti-shipmissile for the first time from anindigenously built Kalvari classsubmarine.

KARNATAKA GOVT SCRAPSSTEEL FLYOVER PROJECTBengaluru: The KarnatakaGovernment on Thursday decidedto scrap the controversialBengaluru steel flyover projectthat was aimed at decongestingthe road that connects with itsinternational airport.

MADHUSUDAN SAHOO nNEW DELHI

Beware of your cash transac-tions at both banks and

ATMs! Now you will end uppaying minimum `150 pertransaction for cash depositsand withdrawals at banksbeyond four free transactions ina month.

In a bid to encourage theGovernment-push for digitaltransaction, some private bankssuch as HDFC Bank, ICICIBank and Axis Bank have start-ed imposing a levy of `5 per`1,000 cash transaction or ̀ 150,whichever is higher, fromMarch 1. It is learnt that otherbanks, including public sectorlenders, will follow suit soon.

Though largest lender SBIhas not yet announced any newcharges on cash transactions sofar, it is expected to do so soon.However, two persons privy tothe information said, “If cus-tomers are withdrawing moneyfrom non-SBI ATM, they willhave to pay `10 after threetransactions. The charges will beeffective from April 01, 2017.On cash withdrawals or depositsat bank branches, the chargeswill be levied after the decisionfrom the headquarters.”

Similarly, leading publicsector lender like PNB, CanaraBank, Bank of Baroda, Bank of

India said they were not charg-ing its customers for cash with-drawals but they are likely tofollow suit soon.

When contacted a seniorofficial in the SBI said, “We havenot received any circular yet forthe transaction charges. I thinkthe current 5 cash transactionsper month from ATM willremain same but customersmay be charged if they gobeyond 4-5 cash transactions permonth. I expect our turn (charg-ing cash transactions) will comesoon in a week or so as other pri-vate banks have already imple-mented it from Wednesday.”

At present, customers canwithdraw or deposit up to `2lakh from their savings or

salary accounts through thehome branch for one month.Transaction exceeding thisamount will be charged with `5per `1,000 or a minimumamount of `150. Daily trans-action in terms of non-homebranches up to `25,000 arenon-chargeable. Senior citi-zens and children will not becharged any amount.

As per the HDFC Bank cir-cular, the charges would applyto savings as well as salaryaccounts with effect fromWednesday. “The bank wouldalso cap the third-party cashtransactions at ̀ 25,000 per day,while cash-handling chargeswould be withdrawn effectiveWednesday,” the circular added.

When contacted, HDFCBank official said, “The moveaims at discouraging use ofcash and promoting digitalmodes as envisioned by theGovernment.”

He added a section ofmedia seemed to be mistakenour cash transaction feeannounced by our bank.Clarifying the confusion spreadall over, he said, “This is limit-ed to transactions at branchesonly, while ATM charges remainunchanged in our bank.”

At present certain chargesare already being levied bybanks while doing cashlesstransactions through a credit ordebit card.

Continued on Page 7

Pay for frequenting banks!

After 4 transactions ina month, customers to pay min `150 eachtime they transact

DEEPAK KUMAR JHA nNEW DELHI

In a horrifying incident thatrevives questions about the

safety of passengers in runningtrains, three women, includinga 50-year-old US citizen, wereassaulted and forced to vacatetheir reserved seats in the NewDelhi-bound Gomti Express onWednesday in the presence oftrain attendants and railwaysecurity personnel.

Kim Mcghee, her Indianfriend Rochael Singh, and herteenaged daughter boarded the12419 Gomti Express fromLucknow on March 1 to reachDelhi for sightseeing. Afterher nightmarish experience inthe journey, Kim has vowednever to return to India again.

“I am disappointed withthe kind of safety measuresIndian Railways has and thattoo for women passengers.Imagine our horror. While wewere abused and assaulted, theuniformed security forces andtrain attendants remained mutespectators and refused to cometo our rescue. Claiming theythemselves could be beatenup, the security men advised us

to bear with the unruly com-muters. We could never imag-ine a reserved foreign passen-ger can be subjected to suchtrauma, Kim, a resident ofKentucky, told The Pioneer.

Kim has registered a formalcomplaint with the NorthernRailway and also intends toapproach the US Embassy.

“We’ve already lodged acomplaint with the Railwayauthorities and hope they willtake speedy actions so that oth-ers passengers do not face sim-ilar predicament while travel-ing from Lucknow to Delhi,”said Rochael.

The trio boarded the trainat Aligarh, and the altercationstarted when some unruly

Continued on Page 7

US woman hit, forced

to vacate train seat;

cops look other way

PNS n NEW DELHI

India will overtake Indonesiaas the country with the

largest Muslim population inthe world by 2050, claims astudy by the Washington DC-based Pew Research Center.About 62 per cent of theworld’s Muslims live in theAsia-Pacific region thatincludes some of the countrieswith the largest populationglobally, such as Indonesia,India, Pakistan, Bangladesh,Iran, and Turkey.

The study also said theglobal demographic trends indi-cate that Islam will overtakeChristianity to become the mostpopular religion in the world by2070. Islam is currently theworld’s second-largest religionafter Christianity. Migrationwill create a surge in the Muslimpopulation of north Europeand North America, it said. Thethink tank claims that bothIslam and Christianity will havean equal percentage share of theglobal population at 32 per

cent each in 2070 before Islamovertakes Christianity.

As per the research study,the world’s population maygrow by 35 per cent in the nextdecades, but the global Muslimpopulation may rise by 73 per cent.

“The growth and regionalmigration of Muslims, com-bined with the ongoing impactof the Islamic State (also knownas ISIS or ISIL) and otherextremist groups that commitacts of violence in the name ofIslam, have brought Muslimsand the Islamic faith to theforefront of the political debatein many countries,” the thinktank’s report said.

As per Pew Research

Center, the fastest

growing group to be

No 1 in world by 2070

BISWAJEET BANERJEE nNAUTANWAN (MAHARAJGANJ)

Contesting elections fromjails is a tradition here.

Even people do not mind elect-ing leaders who are incarcer-ated facing criminal chargeslike murder. These leaderscarry a Robinhood like imageand being in jail is like a badge— which they do not mindwearing on their sleeves.

From Nautanwan — one ofthe remotest constituencies ofeastern Uttar Pradesh inMaharajganj district borderingNepal — tainted AmanmaniTripathi is contesting electionas an Independent candidate

after he was denied ticket bythe Samajwadi Party.Amanmani is in jail for allegedmurder of his wife Sara Singh.

Another 150 km south-eastin Mau, gangster-cum-law-maker Mukhtar Ansari is con-testing election on a BSP tick-et from Mau. He is also in jailfor the last three years for thealleged killing of BJP leaderKrishnand Rai.

Supporters of Mukhtar arevocal in saying that ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav has“victimised” him.

Professor Harsh Kumar ofGorakhpur University said,“Lack of development andprevalent poverty in eastern UPhas been a fertile ground forsuch political clout. When thesystem does not work, theseleaders emerge as a parallel sys-tem and slowly acquireRobinhood image.”

These two leaders are cool-

ing their heel in jails — far fromthe maddening election hustleand bustle in their constituen-cies which will go to polls onMarch 4. In their absence,their family members haveheld the fort.

For Amanmani Tripathi,his two sisters — Tanumaniand Alankrita — are leading hiselection campaign.

“It is first time we areactively taking part in the elec-tion campaign because we haveno one in family who can leadthe campaign. All the familymembers are behind bar,” Tanu,who has done Master’s inInternational Studies and flewdown from London to be partof this campaign, said.

Tanu’s father Amarmaniand mother Madhumani are injail for murder of poetessMadhumita Shukla. Amarmanihas won election fromNautanwan five times but after

his conviction he was barredfrom contesting election. Hepassed on the baton to his sonAmanmani in 2012 — who lostthe election by a small margin.

“Bhai (Amanmani) hasbeen framed in false case. Weare contesting it legally in courtof law but here in people’s courtwe are getting tremendousresponse. People treat us astheir sisters and are sympa-thetic towards our family,” saidAlankrita, who is textile design-er by profession.

Amanmani was arrestedby CBI for alleged murder ofhis wife Sara Singh, who mys-teriously died in a car accident.Sara’s mother Seema Singh hadreleased a video a few days backasking voters not to elect herdaughter’s murderer.

The passionate appeal thatgot over a lakh likes on Youtubehad made both sisters nervous.

“The lady is full of drama.

We have released a video of her‘dabangayee’ to expose her,”Tanu said.

“We are fighting for thejustice of our family. My broth-er is innocent and will comeout unscathed,” she said.

Her words are makingimpact among people becausethis constituency has a historyof leaders contesting electionsfrom behind bars. Amarmanidid it and before that VirendraShahi too had won from thisAssembly seat by contestingelection from jail not once buttwice.

“Log yahan jehadi hai(People here have a revolu-tionary zeal). We stand for thevictim. In our eyes Amanmaniis a victim. He has beenframned,” said Jheena Pradhan.“Contesting election from jailis no shame here, it is a badgeof honour,” he said.

If it is Amanmani in

Nautanwan, the story repeats inMau where Mukhtar is con-testing his second electionfrom behind bars. Mukhtar’scousin Salim, who is headinghis campaign, said, “You go andfind out from people whetherMukhtar bhai had helped themor not. There are hundreds ofthem who will tell you that theymet Mukhtar in jail and aftertheir meeting their work wasdone.”

“He is a political victim.Over a dozen criminal caseswere slapped on him but he hasbeen exonerated in all barringin Krishnanand Rai case. Hewill come out clean,” he said.

People around Salim nodtheir heads in appreciation.“Last time too Mukhtar bhaicontested election from jailand won and this time too hewill win. There is no stoppingover,” a person in the crowdsaid.

Contesting poll from jail no shame, it’s an honour here

By 2050, Indian Muslimsto outnumber Indonesia!

Supporters of self-proclaimedRobinhoods of Maharajganjclaim heinous criminal charges are concocted

ICICI BANK

v There will be no charge forfirst four transactions amonth at branches inhome city while `5 per`1,000 would becharged, subject to aminimum of `150, inthe same month. Thethird party limit wouldbe `50,000 per day

v For anywhere cash deposit,ICICI Bank would charge `5per `1,000 (subject to aminimum of 150) atbranches, while deposit atcash acceptance machinewould be free of charge forfirst cash deposit of acalendar month and `5 per`1,000 thereafter

HD

FC B

AN

K

AXIS BANK

v Customers will be allowed five freetransactions every month, includingdeposits and withdrawals. Beyondthis, customers will be charged aminimum fee of `95 per transaction

v Up to five non-home branchtransactions will be free, subject to amaximum per-day deposit of`50,000. For larger deposits or thesixth transaction, bank would charge`2.50 per `1,000 per transaction or`95, whichever is higher

v After four free transactions each month, customers will becharged `150 per transaction

v For home branch transactions, the bank will allow deposits orwithdrawals of up to `2 lakh free of cost at one go per day. Beyondthis, they will be charged at the rate of `5 per `1,000, or `150

v At non-home branches, transactions beyond `25,000 a day willattract a charge of `5 per `1,000 or `150, whichever is higher

KNOW YOUR CASH-HANDLING

MARKETSSENSEX 28,839.79 8 144.70

NIFTY 8,899.75 8 46.05

WEATHER

MAX 30.3 0C (+1)

MIN 15.3 0C (+3)

Mainly clear sky.

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Bitter campaign forphase VI polls endsPNS n LUCKNOW

The acrimonious campaign-ing for the sixth phase of

UP Assembly elections to 49constituencies spread overseven districts ended onThursday evening. Polling willbe held in these constituencieson Saturday.

On Thursday, senior lead-ers of all political parties fannedout to the constituencies goingto the polls in the sixth phasein their last-minute attempt towoo the voters.

Bharatiya Janata Partypresident Amit Shah held aroadshow in Gorakhpur whileother leaders, includingSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, Congress vice-presidentRahul Gandhi also addressedseveral meetings to wind uptheir campaigning for the sixthphase polls.

The constituencies going topolls in this phase are in back-of-the-beyond east UP orPoorvanchal, known for under-development. Polling will beheld in the region along Indo-Nepal border and districtssharing borders with Bihar.

There are 635 candidates inthe fray for this phase, out ofwhich 20 per cent have crimi-nal backgrounds and 25 percent are crorepatis.

This phase will test thepolitical influence of UnionMSME Minister and MP from

Deoria, Kalraj Mishra, MahantAdityanath of Gorakhpur andSamajwadi Party patron andMP from Azamgarh, MulayamSingh Yadav.

It will also be a litmus testfor the brothers and son ofdon-turned-politico MukhtarAnsari in Mau and Ghazipurdistricts.

Prominent candidates inthis phase are jailed donMukhtar Ansari from Mau,his son Abbas from Ghosi,former Chairman of UPLegislative Council GaneshShanker Pandey from Paniyara,former Speaker of UPAssembly, Sukhdeo Rajbharfrom Didarganj, former leaderof opposition in Assembly andnow Bharatiya Janata Partycandidate Swami PrasadMaurya from Padrauna, jailedAmanmani Tripathi, son ofmurder convict AmarmaniTripathi, from Nautanwa, for-mer state president of BJP,Surya Pratap Shahi fromPathardeva (Deoria), ex-Governor Ram Naresh Yadav’sson Shyam Bahadur Yadav(SP) from Fulpur Pawai(Azamgarh), SP turncoatsAmbika Chowhdury andNarad Rai from Fefna (Ballia)and Ballia Sadar on BahujanSamaj Party tickets.

Canvassing in this phasehad been at its peak with allparties trying their best to woovoters. Prime Minister

Narendra Modi led the BJPcampaign and addressed meet-ings in Mau, Maharajganj andDeoria. In the sixth phase,1.72-crore voters, including77.84 lakh females, will exercisetheir franchise at 17,926 pollingbooths.

In the 2012 polls, SP hadwon 27 of these 49 seats, BSP9, BJP 7, Congress 4 while oth-ers chipped in with 2.

The districts going to thepolls in this phase includeMaharajganj, Kushinagar,Gorakhpur, Deoria, Azamgarh,Mau and Ballia.

The constituencies wherepolling will be held on Saturdayinclude Pharenda, Nautanwa,Siswa, Maharajganj (SC),Paniyara, Khadda, Padrauna,Tamkuhi Raj, Fazilnagar,Kushinagar, Hata, Ramkola(SC), Caimpiyarganj, Pipraich,Gorakhpur Urban, GorakhpurRural, Sahajanwa, Khajani(SC), Chauri Chaura, Bansgaon(SC), Chillupar, Rudrapur,Deoria, Pathardeva, RampurKarkhana, Bhatpar Rani,Salempur (SC), Barhaj,Atrauliya, Gopalpur, Sagri,Mubarakpur, Azamgarh,Nizamabad, Phoolpur Pawai,Didarganj, Lalganj (SC),Mehnagar (SC), Madhuban,Ghosi, MuhammadabadGohna (SC), Mau, BeltharaRoad (SC), Rasara,Sikanderpur, Phephana, BalliaNagar, Bansdih and Bairia.

Jawahar Bagh case: AllahabadHigh Court orders CBI inquiryAllahabad: The AllahabadHigh Court on Tuesdayordered a CBI probe into theJawahar Bagh Park case ofMathura where more than 20persons, including two policeofficials, were killed last yearduring a drive to evict squat-ters. A division bench com-prising Chief Justice DB Bhosleand Justice Yashwant Vermapassed the order on a bunch ofPILs demanding a CBI probe.

The court had reserved itsjudgement on February 20after hearing arguments fromboth sides. Among those whohad moved the court with thedemand for a CBI inquiry are

Delhi-based BJP leader andSupreme Court lawyer AshwiniUpadhyay and Mathura resi-dent Vijay Pal Singh Tomar.

Besides, interlocutoryapplications were filed at alater stage by Archana Dwivediand Prafull Dwivedi, wife andbrother respectively of slainSuperintendent of PoliceMukul Dwivedi. The ordercomes as a jolt to the rulingSamajwadi Party in UttarPradesh.The state governmenthad remained opposed to a CBIinquiry into the matter, point-ing out that it had set up a com-mission of inquiry comprisinga retired judge of the High

Court.In a statement issued from

Delhi, Upadhyay welcomedthe order, saying, “The violenceat Jawahar Bagh in June lastyear was not an ordinary lawand order issue.It related tounlawful occupation of publicland, worth about Rs 5000crore, by self-styled cult leaderRam Vriksh Yadav and his fol-lowers”. The Uttar Pradeshgovernment had, in January2014, granted permission toRam Vriksh Yadav’s organiza-tion Swadhin Bharat VidhikSatyagrah to hold a demon-stration inside Jawahar Baghfor two days. PTI

UP cops withdraw security to PrajapatiLucknow: Police on Thursdayinitiated steps to withdraw ‘Y’category security to GayatriPrasad Prajpati as the rapeaccused Uttar Pradesh ministerremains elusive.

“We have initiated theprocess to withdraw his ‘Y’category security,” a seniorLucknow Police official said.

A person enjoying ‘Y’ cat-egory has a security cover of 11personnel, including one ortwo commandos.

“Police teams are on the joband we will arrest him soon,” hesaid even as special policeteams returned empty-handedfrom Amethi, the minister’sassembly constituency, andDelhi where he was said to behiding. A UP police team wentto Delhi to record the statementof the 16-year-old victim whois in a state of “severe trauma”and is housed in a restrictedward at the AIIMS.

A DSP-rank officer, inves-

tigating the matter, recorded thevictim’s statement after seekingpermission from AIIMSMedical Superinten-dent. Thestatement was videographedas per the rules underProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act,2012.

Police teams were dis-patched out of the state capitalwhen Prajpati could not belocated in his official residencein Gautampalli area here. PTI

PNS n LUCKNOW

Questioning the achieve-ments of the PrimeMinister, Samajwadi

Party president and ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav saidthat Narendra Modi’s failure togive positive results in the lastthree years of his tenure was thebiggest ‘karnaama’ he couldboast of.

Addressing a poll rally inBallia on Thursday, Yadav saidthe Modi government had notdone anything which could beclaimed as his achievement.

“He is busy with his ‘mannki baat’. It would have been bet-ter though had he said some-thing about the actual work hisgovernment did at the groundlevel. How can the PM givedetails when his governmenthas not done anything concreteat the ground level,” Yadavsaid.

“In comparison, theSamajwadi Party governmenthas its report card ready. Wehave done so much of workthat people have started talkingabout it. They are telling themedia about how they havebeen getting power and howthis government has connect-ed their villages with districtheadquarters,” the SP chiefsaid.

Yadav said that the surgingcrowds in rallies organised bythe SP-Congress alliance hadtaken the sheen from the facesof Bharatiya Janata Party lead-ers. “In this sixth phase ofelection on March 4, thealliance will get major chunk ofseats, “ he hoped.

Yadav addressed a series ofrallies in Ballia on Thursday. InSikandarpur, he addressed a

rally in support of SP candidateMohammad Ziauddin Rizvi inwhich he said that the BJP andBahujan Samaj Party wereheading for a massive defeat.

“These parties know thatdefeat is staring at their facesand therefore both parties willjoin hands after election,” Yadavsaid, appealing to the people tovote for the alliance.

The SP chief said that‘notebandi’ had severely affect-ed the common man.

“Traders, labourers andcommon man on the streetswere the worst sufferers. The

PM should tell the nation howmuch black money was confis-cated in the last three years. Wehave been asking this for manymonths now but the Centralgovernment is yet to come upan answer,” he said.

Questioning the Centralgovernment policies, Yadavsaid that under PM AwasYojana, the beneficiary wasgiven merely one lakh rupees.“Tell me, can one build a housewith this amount? He is inpower for more than threeyears now and he should tellpeople how many houses peo-

ple have been given in UP,”Yadav dared Modi. “In compar-ison, our government has giventhree lakh houses to the poorunder Lohia Awas Yojana. Thestate government gives Rs 3 lakhfor construction of these hous-es,” he said.

Yadav also spoke aboutother projects like Agra-Lucknow Expressway whichwould be extended toPurvanchal. “Support the SP-Congress alliance so that weform the next government andcomplete the unfinishedworks,” Yadav said.

Lucknow (PNS): The stateunit of Bharatiya Janata Partyhas welcomed the AllahabadHigh Court verdict ordering aCBI probe into the JawaharBagh violence of Mathura lastyear in which 29 people werekilled and hoped that the stategovernment would be exposed.

“The High Court verdictclearly shows the real face of theSamajwadi Party governmentand exposed its slogan of ‘kaamBolta Hai’. Now, it is the turn ofthe people of the state to ques-tion the SP-Congress allianceon their motives and theSamajwadi Party’s nexus withcriminals,” BJP state generalsecretary Vijay Bahadur Pathaksaid on Thursday.

In a statement issued inLucknow, Pathak said thatthere were several such inci-dents during the SP regime thatneeded impartial probe, includ-ing the recruitment racket ingovernment departments.

“The BJP, from day one,has been demanding a CBIprobe into the Jawahar Baghviolence. We had asserted thatthe ruling Samajwadi Partywas hand-in-glove with primeaccused Ramvriksh Yadav, whohad grabbed the prime landand later challenged the court,as well as the government,”Pathak said.

“Everyone knows who hadgiven patronage to RamvrikshYadav and how the state gov-ernment protected these crim-inals,” the BJP leader alleged.

Pathak said that after theincident, BJP state presidentKeshav Prasad Maurya hadlaunched a website ‘kabja.com’,inviting applications from peo-ple of the state whose land orproperty had been grabbed bycriminals or mafia.

“We have received thou-sands of applications and oncethe BJP forms the governmentin the state, these issues wouldbe taken up,” he added.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party Member ofParliament from Kannauj

and party president and ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav’s wifeDimple Yadav said that intelli-gence inputs suggested thatthe Bahujan Samaj Party andBharatiya Janata Party were los-ing the elections and thereforethe language of their leadershad changed.

“The narrative of politicaldiscourse has changed. Insteadof talking about developmentof state, leaders of BJP and BSPare talking about dividing soci-ety on religious and caste lines,”Dimple said while addressinga series of rallies in Azamgarhon Thursday.

She said that the NarendraModi government claimedimprovement in economy but“if that is so, why has the priceof LPG cylinders gone up?This is a basic necessity and thegovernment should havespared the women from thisprice hike”.

Dimple Yadav said that

the BJP leaders were claimingthat law and order in UttarPradesh was bad but “theseleaders should compare thecrime situation in UP with thatof states ruled by the saffronparty”.

“The Akhilesh Yadav gov-ernment has checked crimerate. Projects have beenlaunched to protect lives ofwomen. The Dial 100 is a greatsuccess,” she pointed out.

“If the SP-Congress allianceforms the next government inUP, we will give smartphonesto youth, pressure cookers towomen and halve the bus fares.But what will the BJP and BSPleaders give you? Ask them andthey will not be able to give ananswer,” she said.

Justifying the alliancebetween SP and Congress,Dimple Yadav said that the tie-up had cleared the cloud.

“The uncertainty has gonenow. People are voting for thealliance as they know only theCongress-SP alliance can takeUP forward on the path ofprogress,” she asserted.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Despite polling being over in Ferozabad district, the ElectionCommission of India removed three senior officials, includ-

ing district magistrate and district police chief, on Thursday morn-ing.

The Election Commission also posted replacements of theseofficers and directed the incumbents to join immediately.

As per reports, the EC released an order removingFerozabad’s District Magistrate Rajesh Prasad and Superintendentof Police Himanshu Kumar.

Sources in the Election Commission said that NehaSharma would be the new District Magistrate of Ferozabad andAjay Kumar the new SP.

The Election Commission also changed the sub-divisionalmagistrate (SDM) of Shikohabad tehsil of Ferozabad, Prem ChandSingh, and replaced him with Ambrish Kumar Bind.

Ferozabad is the parliamentary constituency of Akshay Yadav,son of Samajwadi Party’s senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav.

The district went to polls in the first phase on February 11with no complaints by any party.

The Election C ommission shunted the three officers with-out citing any reason.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Mystery shrouds the deathof a head constable (pro-

motee) working as a clerk inthe court of sub-divisionalmagistrate (SDM) inMuzaffarnagar, whose bodywas found hanging from a treenear a cremation ground inMeerut on Thursday morning.

The cops recovered a sui-cide note in which thedeceased claimed he was tak-ing the extreme step due to a‘missing file’ from his court forwhich he blamed the SDM.

The police are now tryingto ascertain details of the fileand how it could lead to the sui-cide. Only after these facts arecleared that the police intendto register a case against theSDM.

The body has been sent forpost-mortem.

Reports said that HCPVirendra Singh (59) ofMuktesra hamlet ofSimbhawali in Hapur was post-ed as clerk in the SDM Sadar’scourt in Muzaffarnagar. OnThursday morning, his bodywas found hanging from atree in cremation ground atKazipura area of Meerut.

During search, policerecovered a suicide note inwhich the victim mentionedthat he was ending his life asthe SDM had removed a filefrom the court.

The cops later enquiredabout the file from Singh’sfamily members but they wereunaware of it. Even the courtstaff could not reveal any-thing substantial. Furtherinvestigations are on in thematter.

Meanwhile in Meerut, aman allegedly killed his wifeand daughter before endinghis life.

As per reports, YogeshVerma (35) used to live withhis wife Varsha Verma (30) anddaughter Aniya Verma (11) ata rented house in B Block ofShastrinagar area of Nauchandi(Meerut). On Thursday morn-ing, when the family membersdid not come out of the house,the landlord, suspecting foulplay, called the neighbours.

Later the police were calledand the door was broken. Thecops found the bodies ofVarsha and Aniya lying in thebedroom while Yogesh wasfound hanging from the ceil-ing.

Based on circumstantial

evidence, the police deducedthat the mother and daughterwere given poisonous foodand after their death, theman committed suicide.

A suicide note was alsorecovered from Yogesh’s pos-session in which he claimedthat he took the step on hisown and none of his relativesshould be held responsible.

A case was registered andthe bodies were sent for post-mortem.

In Muzaffarnagar, a 25-year-old woman was alleged-ly pushed from the secondfloor of a building by her hus-band and in-laws over dowryat Bhikhari village here, policesaid today.

Monika was pushed fromthe building on Wednesday.Her husband Manoj Kumarand her mother-in-lawRukmani were arrested onThursday, they said.

The woman has been hos-pitalised and her conditionhas been stated as serious,police said, adding the matteris being investigated.

The victim had been mar-ried for the last five years butshe had allegedly been facingharassment for dowry from herin-laws, they said.

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. Tel: (0522) 2438656 / 9336266608.

Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (95532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (95512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (95542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi

Office: Link House, II Floor, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002. Tel: (011) 23755271-274, 41509074.

NOTICE

I Deepanjali Figg W/o LateDexter Figg R/o, C-465,Indiranagar, Lucknow, herebydeclare that my and mydeceased husband's name isDeepanjali Figg and DexterFigg respectively, due to cler-ical mistake it has been wrong-ly endorsed as DeepanjaliSonia Figg and Dexter carltonFigg in the school records ofmy son "Donovan Figg", thesame I want to get corrected forfurther use.

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EC shifts DM, SP

of Ferozabad

Mystery shrouds death

of cop found hanging

city 02LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

No work is Modi’s biggest

karnama, says Akhilesh

‘Modi’s hope ofgetting bonusvotes imaginary’

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav waves at people during an election rally in Ballia district, on Thursday PTI

BJP, BSP aware

they are losing,

says Dimple

BJP hails HC orderfor CBI probe intoJawahar Bagh case

Chandauli: BSP supremoMayawati termed PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sexpectation that the BJP wouldget ‘bonus’ votes as “hawa-hawai” (imaginary) andclaimed that people have madeup their mind to vote for herparty. “The electorate havealready made up their mind togo with the BSP. They will beplaying Holi of communalamity,” she told at a poll rallyhere. Addressing an electionrally in Maharajganj yesterday,Modi had claimed the electoratehave already ensured BJP’s vic-tory in the first five phases andnow they would give surplusvotes to the party as “gift andbonus” in the remaining tworounds. She also claimed, theRSS and the BJP want to endthe reservation system in thecountry. If the BJP forms thegovernment in the state, itwould end the quota system ormake it ineffective. PTI

Truck looted Muzaffarnagar: A truck

loaded with 400 bags of milkpowder worth lakhs of rupeeswas looted by armed assailantson the Delhi-Yamunotri high-way in neighbouring Shamlidistrict, police said onThursday PTI

city 03LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Clinical tests in DufferinHospital remained affect-

ed on Thursday and a largenumber of outdoor patientswere sent to nearbyBalrampur Hospital for vari-ous pathological tests.

However, the hospitalconducted clinical tests ofindoor patients. The hospital’spathology, which conductsmore than 300 tests everyday, has come to a standstill,causing inconvenience topatients. The pathology testsare free of cost in the hospital.

A large number ofpatients who reached thematernity hospital’s OutdoorPatient Department (OPD)were advised to either comeback again after 3-4 days orwere sent to BalrampurHospital for tests. This led toa big rush at the Balrampur Hospital andpatients had to wail in longqueue at the sample collectioncounter.

Sources said that severalchemicals and reagents in theDufferin Hospital pathologyare out of stock.

Hospital SIC Dr SavitaBhatt said some clinical testswere put on hold due to short-age of important chemicalsrequired for the test.

Lucknow (PNS): Theexaminations of Class X and X11conducted by the Central Boardof Secondary Education willcommence from March 9. Citycoordinator for examinationsJaved Alam said all preparationsin this regard had been complet-ed. Talking to The Pioneer,Alam said there would be 19,000students who would appear inthe Class XII examinations and1,200 in the Class X examina-tions conducted by the Board.

It may be pointed out herethat the Board had recentlyrestored its examinations for theClass X students instead of theschool-based examinations.“This is the last year when theClass X students will appear forthe school-based examinationsand from next year there will bea complete switch-over to theBoard examinations. TheBoard’s advice to the studentsthis year was that if they werenot leaving it then it was betterto appear in the school-basedexams,” Alam said. He addedthat the Board’s papers for theClass X students would be of 80marks. On being asked why theBoard had opted for a switch-over to this examination system,he said that it conducted surveysfrom time to time to get aproper feedback. He said thatinstructions had been issued tothe centres regarding the facili-ties being provided to the stu-dents such as water and electricity.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ayouth aspiring to make aforay into Bollywood was

on Thursday nabbed fromHussainganj for makingextortion cal ls toproducer/director MaheshBhatt and threatening to killhis daughter Alia Bhatt. Hecame on police radar afterBhatt lodged a case at theJuhu police stat ion inMumbai sometime back andthe Mumbai Crime Branchwas tasked with cracking thecase.

The accused, identifiedas Sandeep Sahu of RajniKhand, Ashiyana, was nabbedfrom near a petrol pump onVidhan Sabha Marg. Duringinterrogation, he owned uphis crime and was challanedby the Hussainganj police.

The Crime Branch ofMumbai Police will now seekhis transit remand after pro-ducing him in the court andhe will be taken to Mumbaifor further action. Sahu saidhe was a class VIII dropoutand lived in Cantonment. Heworked as a salesman forsome time and later as a col-lection agent with a financecompany. His family latershifted to Rajni Khand,Ashiyana. Sandeep also triedhis hands in business and rana footwear shop in BanglaBazaar.

Since he was a film buffand wanted to make a careerin films/television industry,Sahu failed to focus on thefootwear business properlywhich ran into losses. Facedwith f inancial crisis, hemoved to Mumbai with thehelp of some friends and suc-ceeded in getting a placeamong the audience at come-dian Kapil Sharma show.

Sahu also came in contactwith a company making B-grade movies but despitestruggle, lady luck refused tosmile on him, forcing him toreturn to Lucknow.

Upon his return toLucknow, he was hounded bya lender who had given himloan. Sahu tried to seek helpfrom a number of filmstarsasking them to bail him out ofthe financial mess, but invain.

Sahu had managed to getthe cell number of MaheshBhatt during his stay inMumbai. On March 1, hesent an SMS to Bhatt intro-ducing himself as mafia BabluSrivastava and demanded Rs50,000 in cash. He also threat-ened to kill Bhatt’s daughter ifthe demand was not met.

Bhatt contacted theMumbai Police and a team ofCrime Branch, led by ArvindPawar, succeeded in identify-ing the accused. The sleuthsthen sought the help of UPSpecial Task Force. Sahu toldthe police that he had no linkswith any terror outfit and hadsent the SMS to get easymoney from Bhatt. The policealso looked convinced thatSahu had no links with BabluSrivastava and that the latterhad nothing to do with thiscase.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The long-time discordbetween a principal and

lady teacher of a school turnedmurkier when both reachedVikas Nagar police station tolodge complaints against eachother on Thursday.

Both came face to face inthe school and started shoutingar each other. Meanwhile, thelady teacher slapped the prin-cipal accusing him ofvoyeurism.

The principal alleged thatthe lady was not teaching dur-ing her duty hours and wasbusy doing some other work.The woman teacher also lodgeda case against the principalaccusing him of voyeurism.

The SHO, Vikas Nagar,said some persons had filmedthe lady teacher weaving asweater during the school timeand sent the same to membersof the school board some timeback. “This led to a discordbetween the principal and theteacher and it escalated onThursday,” he said. The SHOsaid the police would talk toother teachers of the school tocollect evidences against both.

Meanwhile, a girl studentbashed up a roadside romeo forpassing comments and stalking

her in Gudamba onWednesday afternoon. The girlwas returning from schoolwhen Kishan Valmiki and VijayValmiki passed lewd commentson her. The girl went straightto one of them and confront-ed him. Soon, passersby sur-rounded the miscreants and thegirl slapped both the youths. Apolice team reached the placeand rounded up the accused.

DUPEDUnidentified miscreants

duped a businessman, ShyamPrakash Chaurasiya of Naka, ofRs 25,000, arm licenses pass-books and other documents inKaiserbagh on Thursday after-noon. Chaurasiya had visitedLal Kuwan locality to a book alawn for his son’s wedding.When he moved towardsBurlington crossing inKaiserbagh, a youth told himthat smoke was billowing out ofhis vehicle. Chaurasiya askedhis driver to stop the vehicle onroadside. After his driver gotbusy in detecting the snag,Chaurasiya also went out andlater left for a petrol pump atBurlington crossing. WhenChaurasiya returned, henoticed that the briefcase con-taining cash and other docu-ments had been stolen.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Lok Dal’s national presidentSunil Singh on Thursday

lodged a report againstunidentified persons for hatch-ing a conspiracy for his mur-der by sabotaging the flight ofhis helicopter. He demanded aCBI inquiry in the case.

As per reports, Sunil Singhalong with film actor RajpalYadav and leaderRaghunandan Kaka was to goto Deoria by a helicopter onMonday. They reachedShivgarh Resorts at Fattekhedain Mohanlalganj from wherethey had to fly by a helicopterof Indira Air Private Limited.However, soon after the chop-per took off, the engine caughtfire. Pilot Rajesh somehowlanded the helicopter andsaved Singh and those accom-panying him.

On Wednesday, a team ofengineers reached the spotand inspected the chopperand found small stones inside

the engine fan and other partsof the engine. Police registereda case under Section 308(attempt to culpable homi-cide) of the Indian Penal Code.

SHO Mohanlalganj saidLok Dal secretary generalDevanand had lodged thereport on behalf of his partychief.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Over 80 per cent cases ofacute encephalitis syn-

drome (AES) come from UttarPradesh, Bihar, Assam,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.This was revealed by head ofMicrobiology department(KGMU) Dr Amita Jain dur-ing her speech at a continuingmedical education (CME)programme organised on‘Acute Encephalitis Syndrome’on Thursday.

“AES is associated withgeographical restrictions andis a seasonal disorder. It hasbeen established in variousstudies that only five states inour country contribute to over80 per cent AES cases. Thedisease has led to multifariousproblems in UP, Bihar, Assam,Karnataka and Tamil Nadu,”Dr Jain said. She highlightedthat vaccination had helped inbringing down the cases ofJapanese encephalitis, con-sidered a deadly form of AESdisorder.

“Japanese encephalitis(JE) vaccination exercise in 1-15 years age group has helpedin bringing down cases ofthis neurological disorder. Tilllate 90’s, the figure was alarm-ing and over 23 per cent

patients with neurologicalsyndrome suffered from JE.However, it is still a severehealth problem in manyregions,” she said.

“The AES-related deathscame down after massive vac-cination exercise but it is stillprevalent in the areas andgives rise to several long-term neurological problems,Dr Jain pointed out.

Besides, 25 per cent JE-affected children coming toLucknow are from Gorakhpurdivision while the remaining

from other east UP districtsand neighbouring areas.

“AES may be caused by aviral or a non-viral infection.In regular OPD, over 400cases of JE come to Lucknow,out of which over 25 per centof cases come fromGorakhpur division and therest from other east UP dis-tricts,” Dr Rashmi Kumar ofMicrobiology department(KGMU) said.

Emphasising the role ofdisease carrier in spreadingAES, Dr Parul Jain said: “In

India, AES is mainly caused bya virus. However, the role ofbacteria, fungus, parasites,chemical and other toxic ele-ments is also helping the AESspreading.”

Meanwhile, other special-ists in microbiology discussedthe diagnosis, treatment andpreventive aspects of AES epi-demic at the CME. Dr TNDhole of SGPGI and addition-al director of National Vector-Borne Disease Control pro-gramme Dr PK Sen also par-ticipated in the CME.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The employees to beengaged in the countingof votes for Assembly

elections in the district onMarch 11 have been directed tolearn the tabulation processproperly in order to ensure thatthey do not make any mistakeson the counting day.

The directive was issued byDistrict Magistrate GSPriyadarshi while chairing thetraining session of countingpersonnel at Collectorate hereon Thursday. Speaking on theoccasion, the DM/district elec-toral officer said that all theemployees to be deployed in

tabulation work on the count-ing day should have theirdoubts cleared so that no prob-lem occurred on the countingday. The counting work shouldbe done as per the ElectionCommission guidelines, hesaid.

ADM (Executive) anddeputy district electoral officerAvinash Singh said that thenine returning officers wouldarrange three computers, oper-ators and printers for theirrespective constituencies onthe counting day. The countingprocess will start at 8 am. Hesaid that all the employees andworkers who would bedeployed at the counting

premises for different workswould be given identity cardsand passes, which they shouldcarry with themselves. “Noone will be allowed to holdconversation with one other inthe counting rooms unneces-sarily,” he added.

Chief treasury officerSanjay Singh said: “In thecounting rooms for each con-stituency, there will be 14 tablesfor counting. On each table, theEVM of one booth will beopened at a time. The specialtabulation charts have beenprepared on which the count-ing employee will mention thevotes polled in favour of differ-ent candidates.”

Learn tabulation process, officials told

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Not only the CCTV cam-eras and poll officials will

keep a watch on the countingof votes on March 11 but therewill be 18 more men who willmonitor this and the otheractivities.

The district election officehas planned to attach twomicro observers with the pollobservers who are being nom-inated by the ElectionCommission. There are ninepoll observers for each con-stituency in the district. TheADM (Executive) and theDeputy District ElectoralOfficer, Avinash Singh, said onThursday that two microobservers each would be givento the nine poll observers whowould monitor the counting ofvotes and other processes inthe counting rooms. It woulddepend on the poll observersto issue directives to the microobservers to monitor thecounting to be held on March11, they said.

Apart from them, the per-sonnel of the Local IntelligenceUnit (LIU) will also remainpresent in plain clothes tokeep a tab on the activities tak-ing place in the countingpremises. All the agents of the

candidates will be monitoredclosely by them so as to preventany clash between the agentsduring the counting of votes.

Along with this none willbe allowed to take mobilephones inside the premises ofthe Ramabai rally groundwhere the counting will takeplace. “Firstly no unautho-rised person will be allowed toenter the counting premisesand secondly even the autho-rised persons will not be per-mitted to take mobile phonesinside the counting rooms,”said Singh.

The district election officewill make arrangements forkeeping the mobile phones ofthe employees, officials andmediapersons just outside thecounting premises. As nearly600-700 persons will be pre-sent there a plan has beenmade to make such a spaceassembly constituency-wise toavoid overcrowding there.

There will be a three-layersecurity arrangement in thecounting premises with para-military forces at its entrancewhile in the second layer therewill be personnel of the UPPolice and the third layer willbe of the paramilitary forcesand police to prevent anyunauthorised entry.

3-layer security forcounting of votes

Youth held for extortion

call to Mahesh Bhatt

THE CRIME BRANCH

OF MUMBAI POLICE

WILL NOW SEEK HIS

TRANSIT REMAND

AFTER PRODUCING

HIM IN THE COURT

AND HE WILL BE

TAKEN TO MUMBAI

FOR FURTHER ACTION

Over 80 per cent AES cases

come from five states: Doc

The CME organised on ‘Acute Encephalitis Syndrome’ at KGMU on Thursday Pioneer

Lok Dal president lodges FIR

for ‘helicopter sabotage’

Lok Dal national president Sunil Singh (right) coming out after handing a memorandum to Governor Ram Naik Pioneer

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Apolice case was regis-tered against a political

party member for posting acartoon lampooning PrimeMinister Narendra Modi on Twitter.

BJP spokesman IP Singhof Vishesh Khand lodged anFIR at Vibhuti Khand policestation alleging that MiteshPatel posted a cartoon of PMNarendra Modi shown pro-moting enmity between dif-ferent groups on grounds ofreligion/race/place ofbirth/residence/language and

doing acts prejudicial tomaintenance of harmony,promotion of obscene imagesand statements conducting topublic mischief.

SHO, Vibhuti Khand,Kunwar Prabhat Singh saidMitesh shared a vulgar car-toon on Twitter and termed itnationalism. He said thepolice registered a case andalso imposed Section 125 ofRepresentation of People Actand 67-A of IT Act. “We areyet to trace Mitesh Patel andwe have sought the help ofcyber cell to crack the case,”the SHO said.

Case against one for sharingcartoon ‘lampooning’ Modi

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Asub-inspector was sent toReserve Police Lines on

Thursday for demanding bribefrom an autorickshaw driver toply his vehicle in Talkatora afteran audio clip of the conversa-tion went viral on social media.

Sub-inspector SatyaNarayan Kushwaha allegedlydemanded bribe from anautorickshaw driver. He wasalso heard saying that he wasdemanding bribe following theconsent of Talkatora SHOSiyaram Yadav. “Can you imag-ine that a sub-inspector willmake such demand without theconsent of SHO,” he was heardsaying in the audio clip. Apolice spokesman said that theSSP had also set up an inquiryagainst the SHO.

Meanwhile, a man alleged-ly raped his relative at herhouse in Bangla Bazaar,Ashiyana, on Thursday after-noon. Radheshyam of KrishnaNagar visited the house of hisrelative. The father of the vic-tim had gone to see his broth-er who is admitted to LokBandhu Hospital. AfterRadheshyam found her allalone in the house, he alleged-ly raped her and later threat-ened her against approachingpolice. When her fatherreturned, the girl narrated herordeal to him. Police registereda case in this connection. TheAshiyana SO said the accusedhad been arrested.

CHAIN-SNATCHINGUnidentified miscreants

snatched the gold chain of thewife of an Income Tax officerin Jankipuram (Sector I) onThursday. Victim DevmatiGupta’s (53) husband is postedin Lakhimpur Kheri district.She was standing at the gate ofher house when the bike-bornemiscreants snatched her goldchain and sped off.

S-I accused of

bribery sent

to police lines

31,000 students

to appear in

CBSE exams

Discord between

school principal,

teacher escalates

Dufferin Hosp pathologycrippled

DM GS Priyadarshi during a meeting with counting personnel at Collectorate on Thursday Pioneer

city 04LUCKNOW | LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

U.P RAJY A VIDYUTUTPADAN NIGAMLIMITED OBRATHERMAL POWERSTATION, OBRA P.O

OBRA DISTRICT - SONEB-HADRA (UP) PIN, 231219Sealed and separate in duplicatein two parts i.e. tender bid part-I and part-II are invited from themanufactures/authorized delersfor the supply items and expe-rienced/ registered contractorsfor the execution of work asmentioned below. Tender bidreceived latest up to 15:00 Hrs.on the date of opening shall beaccepted and the same shall beopened publicly on same day at16:00 Hrs. 1.Tender No. T-04F/FF&SD/2016-17, Office-Executive Engineer Fire Fighting& Safety Division, Obra TPS.Work-Work for Routine checkingrepair & maintenance of firehydrant valves of 'A'&'B' ThermalPower Station, Obra. TenderCost-Rs 344.00 Earnest money-Rs 5100.00, Opening Date-Part-I- 20.03.2017 Part-II-22.03.2017. Period-One Year.2.Tender No. T-06/TCMD/PC-09/2016-17, Office- ExecutiveEngineer, TCMD, 'A'TPS, ObraWork- The Work of servicing,commissioning & testing of actu-ators along with feed back forgate valves and dampers afterPatrolling/Dismantling/ rejoint-ing of its burnt power and con-trol cables and replacing by lay-ing with new one or rerouting ofit in unit no.7 of 100 mw, ATPS,obra. Tender Cost-Rs .285.00Earnest money-Rs 7620.00,Opening Date- Part-I-27.03.2017 Part-II-31.03.2017.Period-90 Days. 3.Tender No. T-07/TCMD/PC-10/2016-17,Office-Executive Engineer,TCMD, 'A' TPS, Obra Work- TheWork of Cleeaning, recondition-ing & electrical testing of 0.4KVAC module installed inLTMCC/FVDC/0.4KV supplychange over module(ML-12)panel of unit no 7, ATPS,obra.Tender Cost-Rs 285.00Earnest money-Rs 1970.00,Opening Date- Part-I-27.03.2017 Part-II-31.03.2017.Period-90 Days. Tender No. T-08/TCMD/PC-11/2016-17,Office- Executive Engineer,TCMD, 'A'TPS, Obra Work- TheWork of CompleteCommissioning and testing ofprotection system of auxiliaries,over all Unit inter lock protectionsystem of unit no.7 'A'TPS,Obra. Tender Cost-Rs 285.00 Earnest money-Rs 6800.00,Opening Date- Part-I-27.03.2017 Part-II-31.03.2017.Period-90 Days. Tender No. T-03/TIMD/2016-17, Office-Executive Engineer, T.I.M.D,'A'TPS, Obra. Work-Recoriditioning of burnt cables &recommissionin of inputs ofinstrumentation sysem on unitno.7 ATPS, Obra. Cost-Rs285.00 Earnest money-Rs8300.00, Opening Date- Part-l-22.03.2017 Part-II-25.03.2017.Period-45 Days. Tender No.T-011/BMD-I/ATPS/2016-17,Office- Executive Engineer, BoilerMaintenance Division-I "A"TPSOBRA. Work- Annual runningbreakdown Maintenance of ashdisposal pumps and pipelines of2x50MW ATPS Obra. TenderCost- Rs. 288.00 Earnest moneyRs. 4000.00, Opening Date-Part-I- 24.03.2017 Part-II-27.03.2017. Period- One YearTender No.T -012/BMD-I/ATPS/2016-17,Office - Executive

Engineer, Boiler MaintenanceDivision-I "A''TPS OBRA.Work-Work of running preventative/breakdown Maintenance andrepairing/re-metallization of slagconveyors and slag crushers of2x50MW units A TPSObra.Tender Cost- Rs. 575.00Earnest money Rs. 10,500.00,Opening Date- Part-l-24.03.2017Part-II-27.03.2017. Period-OneYear 8. Tendor No. T -10/TMD(B)/3x200MW/2016-17,Office- Turbine MaintenanceDivision, 3x200MW, 'B' ThermalPower Station, Obra-(Sonebhdra). Work- Operation &mainatinance of EOT Crane,Chit Ram Make(Capacity-120/20Ton) and Garlic Make(Capacity-75/10 Ton) of 3x200MW, BTPS,Obra.Tendor Cost-Rs 573.00Earnest money-Rs 12,000.00,Opening Date- Part-I-29.03.2017Part-II- 31.03.2017. Period- OneYear. Tender No. T-l/FPD/ BTPS/2 0 1 7 - 1 8 , O f f i c e - F u e lProcurement Division, BTPS,Obra- Sonebhdra. Work-Cleaning of Fuel Oil PumpHouse, its connecting area &unloading of Oil Tank Wagons ofObra Thermal Power Project,Obra.Tender Cost-Rs 1150.00Earnest money-Rs 12,500.00,Opening Date- Part-I-22.03.2017Part-II- 24.03.2017. Period- OneYear. TENDER DOCUMENTSCAN PURCHASED FORM THECONCERNED DIVISION Byremitting the requisite tender cost(non-refundable) in favour ofconcerned Dy, Chief AccountOfficer/Obra by cash/demanddraft payable at Obra. The saleof tender will be closed sevendays earlier by the post and oneday earlier in case the docu-ments are collected personally.Earnest money for tender listedat Sl. No 01 to 7 shall be deposit-ed in favour of Dy. Chief AccountOfficer, C.P.A.D. "A".T.P.S. Obra.for tender listed at Sl. No. 8 to9 in favour of Dy. Chief AccountOfficer. P & AD "B". T.P.S. Obra.in form of F.D.R/C.D.R./B.Gfrom any scheduled bank.Tender bid Part-I shall containexperience documents, requisiteearnest Money, Income TaxClearance Certificate for previ-ous year, RegistrationDocuments, Commercial Terms& Condition etc. Tender bidPart-Il shall contain rate sched-ule only. In case the due date ofopening happens to be a holiday,the tender shall be opened onthe next working day at sched-uled time. TENDERARS AREADVISED TO SEND THEIROFFER DIRECTLY TO CON-CERNED EXECUTIVE ENGI-NEER OF THE DIVISION Whoreserves the right to rejectany or all the tenders withoutassigning any reason thereof.Note:- 1- In case of any contro-versy, the matter printed in ten-der document shall be treated asfinal. 2- The tender cost men-tioned against each tender isinclusive of trade tax 14.5%EXECUTIVE ENGINEER &PERSONAL ASSISTANT (W-II)OFFICE OF THE CHIEF GEN-ERAL MANAGER "SAVEELECTRlCTTY IN THEINTEREST OF NATION" Tendernotice and tender specificationis available in Nigam's Websitewww. uprvunl.org The down-load tender along with tendercost and other necessary docu-ments shall be acceptable No.81 Date 1.3.2017 SAVE ELEC-TRICITY IN THE INTREST OFNATION.

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SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

Lucknow (PNS): The state capital willwitness one of the biggest solar energyexhibitions, ‘North India Solar Summit(NISS-2017) from March 3 to 5 at IIABhawan. The event is being organisedjointly by Indian Industries Association (IIA)and UPNEDA. IIA national president ManishGoyal told mediapersons on Thursday thatabout 60 prominent solar companies fromall over India dealing in all kinds of solarsystems, equipment and services would bedisplaying their products and services atabout 70 stalls.

“The visitors and buyers will find a largenumber of new solar technologies in thisexhibition which will include solar tree,natural solar lighting systems, concentratedsolar thermal technologies and state-of-the-art solar energy storage batteries. Apartfrom this, visitors and buyers will have theoption to discuss installation of solarelectricity generating systems (off line andgrid connected), rooftop solar systems,solar thermal systems and solar waterpumps etc with different solar companiesfor better negotiations,” he said.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh has immenseuntapped potential for

financial investment and theinternational investmentorganisations were keenlymonitoring the environmentfor it. These views wereexpressed by Simon Finch ata programme organised at thePHD House in Lucknow. ThePHD Chamber invited SimonFinch, Investment Managerof Ashburton Investments, theinvestment management armof the FirstRand Bank whichis the largest bank in Africa.The members of the PHDChamber had a threadbarediscussion with Finch on var-ious issues relating to thefinancial sector and the indus-trial development in UP.

Finch is a charteredaccountant of more than 25years’ standing in the interna-tional financial sector and is arenowned expert in publicequities investments.

He spoke in detail aboutthe developments in the indus-trial scenario in various coun-tries of the world and appre-ciated that despite the gloomyscenario of world economy atlarge India had been able toshow a year-over-the-yeargrowth rate of about 7 per cent.He dwelt upon the recent ini-tiatives in India relating toindustrial promotion andexpressed confidence amongstthe members of PHDCCI thatthe results of these initiativeswould be discernible in thenear future.

He was of the view thatthese initiatives had led to sev-eral changes in the way thebusiness was being conductedin India. While interacting onthe demonetization undertak-en by the Government of

India, he appreciated it as anunprecedented measure whichhad no comparable event any-where in the world so far as itsquantum and operational sizewas concerned.

He agreed with a fewshort-term concerns of someof the participating membersbut hoped that it would proveto be a beneficial step for theIndian economy within a fewmonths’ time. To prove hispoint he cited the data fromnewspapers recently releasedby the government relating toeconomic growth.

Finch said that the worldeconomies had watched thedevelopments related todemonetisation in India verykeenly and closely. He was cat-egorical in his statement thatthe role of the governmentwas very important as theeconomic environment wasnow opening up with very fewrestrictions in the global mar-ket place and the bureaucratis-sation of the regulatory sys-tems was melting down acrossthe world, giving more spaceto the mode of compliance andself-regulation by the busi-ness units.

Continuing the discus-sions in this regard, he alsoappreciated the initiative of thenationwide single Goods andServices Tax (GST) as onegreat step towards easing busi-ness. Finch called upon thePHDCCI to facilitate the earlyimplementation of GST inright earnest in the interest ofits members. He narrated hisexperiences of the investmentscenario in Uttar Pradesh andasserted that some of the infra-structure initiatives wereappreciable as they would goa long way in establishing abetter investment climate inthe state.

Lucknow (PNS): SanjayGandhi Post-GraduateInstitute of Medical Sciences(SGPGI) will host a three-day‘International Pediatric andAdolescent Urology’ work-shop beginning Friday to dis-cuss and demonstrate liveoperative procedures onlaparoscopy, endourology andneuromodulation. Severalinternational and nationalresearchers in urology andrenal transplantation will takepart in the workshop.

“Hypospadias is a birthabnormality of urethra wherethe urinary opening is not atthe usual location. The disor-der is very common in malesand one in every 300 personssuffers from this disorder.The combination of hypospa-dias and an unprecedentedtesticle indicates a disorder ofsexual differentiation. Surgeryis the most reliable correctivecourse and it is mostly con-ducted in childhood,” organ-ising secretary of the work-

shop Dr MS Ansari told medi-apersons on Thursday.

Dr Ansari said that vari-ous laparoscopic surgical pro-cedures would be demon-strated live.

SGPGI had been a pio-neer in this technique and therecent advances surroundingthe treatment would also bediscussed in the workshop, hesaid. A session on ‘disorder ofsex development’ will also beorganised on the first day ofthe workshop.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The UP Housing andDevelopment Board has

chalked out a plan for develop-ing a housing scheme known asthe New Jail Road HousingScheme which will be located atGosainganj. It will be spread over600 acres of land. The proposedproject will consist of low-costhouses as well as plots.

The HousingCommissioner, RP Singh, saidthat a committee had been set up

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Lucknow MunicipalCorporation (LMC) parks

will soon get a makeover as thecorporation is planning to con-duct a survey of 1,657 parksacross the city for correctiveaction. During the survey, theLMC will identify encroach-ments in parks and a robustaction plan will be prepared toflush them out.

However, LMC’s gardenwing claimed that there wereno encroachments in the parksbut the infrastructure neededsome repairs. Garden superin-tendent Raju Chaurasia said,“Our teams keep a tab on pos-sible encroachments in theparks. In case of any encroach-ment, zonal officers and nagarabhiyantas are asked to remove

the same.” Chaurasia said thatthe survey would be carried outto assess repairs and restorationrequired in the parks. “Wehave asked the engineeringwing to ensure availability ofwater in these parks so thatbeautification work can bestarted,” he said.

Encroachment or con-struction in Lucknow parks isnot a new thing. Earlier too,several cases came to lightabout parks being used asgarage and garbage dumps.Even during inspection bymayor Dinesh Sharma andMunicipal Commissioner UdayRaj Singh, various anomalieswere detected in the parks.

The last survey of Lucknowparks was done eight years backafter which beautification ofseveral parks were recom-

mended. Boundary walls ofseveral parks were also founddamaged. Eight years down theline, the situation remains pret-ty much the same even as overa thousand parks in the statecapital still await beautification.

As per LMC records, thereare 1,657 parks in the state cap-ital. Of these, only 484 aredeveloped while others areunder-developed. “LMC invit-ed resident welfare associa-tions, private companies andNGOs on public-private part-nership (PPP) model forrestoration and maintenance ofthese parks a couple of years.However, the response has notbeen encouraging. SeveralNGOs and private firmsshowed interest only in theparks situated on main roads,”an LMC official said.

INAUGURATEDShanti Swarup Bhatnagar

Memorial Tournament(SSBMT), organised by SportsPromotion Board (SPB) ofCouncil of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR),was inaugurated by GovernorRam Naik at CSIR-CIMAP onThursday. Large numbers ofscientists, employees and stu-dents from CIMAP, NBRI,IITR and CDRI were presenton the occasion. TheGovernor said sports providerelief from stress and keep thescientist healthy and alert. Headded that India had becomeself-reliant in production offoodgrains and also startedexporting same of the com-modities due to the scientificprogress in the country. TheGovernor declared the eventopen by releasing balloons.About 190 players represent-ing 32 CSIR laboratories aretaking part in carom, chess,bridge, badminton and tabletennis.

HEALTH CAMPIntegral Institute of

Medical Science and Research(IIMS&R) of IntegralUniversity organised a freehealth check-up and consulta-tion camp at Lalbagh onWednesday. The camp sawaround 150 visitors for gener-al health check-up, blood pres-sure and eye check-ups besidesphysiotherapy. Medicines weregiven to the visitors for free.

EXHIBITION An exhibition of photo-

graphic images by Col AnilMehrotra and curated by AmilRisal Singh will be inaugurat-ed at Lalit Kala Kendra at 5 pmon Saturday by Governor RamNaik.

ACTION DEMANDED Lucknow Municipal

Corporation (LMC) has sent aletter to the Wazirganj stationofficer seeking action againstnine persons for encroach-ment. On February 27, a team

of LMC officials had conduct-ed an anti-encroachment drivefrom old High Court buildingto CMO office. “However, dur-ing an inspection on Thursday,it was found that nine personshad encroached the road again.We have sent the names tolocal police station for furtheraction against them,” zonalofficer Ashok Singh said.

DIGITAL SKILL GRIDTourism and Hospitality

Skill Council (THSC), a sectorskill council for Tourism andHospitality industry under theNational Skill DevelopmentCorporation (NSDC), haslaunched a digital skill grid toconnect hotel and tourismindustry, training partners andtrained manpower. The digitalplatform (thsc.skillgrid.in) wasunveiled by THSC chairmanArun Nanda in the presence ofindustry and training part-ners. It currently has over5,000 candidates who havecompleted or are currentlyundergoing training.

SURYA KIRAN-XIIndo-Nepal joint training

exercise ‘Surya Kiran-XI’ is willbe conducted at Pithoragarh(Uttarakhand) from March 7to 20 under the aegis ofPanchshul Brigade underSurya Command, in the seriesof joint training with friendlyforeign countries by the armedforces. This is a battalion leveljoint exercise undertaken

to calculate the price of theland which would be acquiredfrom the farmers. A sourcesaid that most probably itwould be headed by its chiefengineer. The cost of theland would be calculatedfrom its nature, site and util-ity, it said.

Singh said that over 200acres of land owned by thegram Sabha would be trans-ferred to the UPHDB and theremaining portion would beacquired from the farmersafter holding a talk to ensurethat there was no disputewith them at the time ofpaying compensation or lateron. The source said that everypossible precaution was beingtaken to avoid any conflictwith the farmers and ensurethat the process was transpar-ent. Interestingly, the site ofthe proposed project stated tobe an ideal location as two ofits prestigious housingschemes—the VrindavanHousing Scheme on RaeBareli Road and the AvadhVihar Housing Scheme onSultanpur Road- are in closeproximity to one another.

The HousingCommissioner said that theBoard was not going for themulti-storeyed apartments as

the locals had still not accept-ed the apartment culture andpreferred to purchase flatsonly. It may be recalled thatover 4,000 apartments acrossthe state were still lyingunsold and had become aneconomic liability on theBoard.

The source said that theplanning of the proposedproject would be done insuch a manner that theHousing Board would notsuffer any financial setback.In the past the residentialareas were planned and devel-oped without keeping thefinancial aspect in mind dueto which the Board sufferedheavy losses. The negotia-tions with the farmers toacquire their lands will beginfrom June this year. Prior toit a survey will be carried outas soon as possible. It will bethe first occasion when aperson will have to deposit Rs10,000 at the time of submit-ting his or her applicationform. A source said that thisstep had been taken to ensurethe flow of cash. The applica-tion forms would be availablein December this year and theallocation of property andplots would be done througha draw of lots, it added.

UPHDB plans to develop

a new housing scheme

between Indian and Nepalarmed forces. An Infantry battal-ion from Indian Army and anequivalent strength fromNepalese Army will be exercis-ing in conduct of various counterinsurgency operations over aprolonged period.

UP has immense

potential for financial

investment: Finch

Parks lying in a shambles

to get a makeover

3-day workshop at SGPGI begins today

North India Solar Summit from today

OPEN DAYAn Open Day function

and art-craft exhibition con-

cluded on the new campus ofCity Montessori School,Asharfabad, on Thursday.

Tiny-tots participated in theprogramme to showcase theirtalents leaving the parentsand guardians spellbound.There were melodious songs,story-telling and other activ-ities. It may be mentionedhere that CMS Asharfabad(New Campus) has all thenecessary modern facilitieslike modern computer lab,large airy classroom, play areafor tiny-tots, interactivewhiteboards in each class-room and a well-maintainedlobby for the parents and visitors.

SPORTS DAY Little Millennium (Aliganj)

will be organising its SportsDay at Sahara States SportsGround on Saturday. YashBharti awardee Suman Yadavwill be the as chief guest on theoccasion.

Health check-up camp at Integral University

nation 05LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

PNS n NEW DELHI

In a much-needed move toaddress shortage of health

specialists particularly in ruralIndia, the Government hasapproved over 4,000 PG seatsin various medical collegesand hospitals for the academ-ic session 2017-18.

Terming it an “all timerecord number”, Union HealthMinister JP Nadda onThursday said that with thisaddition, the total number ofPost Graduate (PG) seats avail-able in the country will go upto 35,117.

“This will further boost ourresolve to strengthen tertiarycare and improve the medicaleducation in the country,” hesaid while thanking PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.

Nadda said theGovernment has also decidedto amend the teacher-studentratio in clinical subjects inGovernment medical collegeswith an aim to increase PGseats.

“Looking at the need toincrease PG seats in clinicalsubjects, the Government haddecided to amend the teacher-student ratio in clinical subjectsin Government medical col-leges. This change alone hasresulted in the creation of1,137 extra seats in 71 medicalcolleges,” the Union Ministersaid.

To create additional PGseats, the Medical Council of

India has relaxed teacher-stu-dent ratio at the PG level.Previously, one professor couldguide two PG students. Now,he can guide three. An associ-ate professor heading a unitcould guide one PG studentpreviously and can now guidetwo.

Many Government col-leges are sending their pro-posals and it is expected that atleast 1,000 more seats can beadded during the month ofMarch 2017.

Diplomate of NationalBoard (DNB) seats, which areawarded by National Board ofExaminations (NBE), anautonomous academic bodyunder the Health Ministry andare equivalent to MD/MS, haveincreased by 2,147 in the lastone year while 2,046 seats arein medical colleges.

Thus there has been a totaladdition of 4,193 PG seats inthe country so far, and a furtheraddition of more than 1,000seats is likely during March2017.

The budget announcementof adding 5,000 PG medicalseats in the country is thus like-ly to be achieved soon, Naddaadded.

The PG seat increase hasbeen recommended to improvethe doctor-patient ratio acrossStates and bring it at par |with the World HealthOrganisation recommended1:1000. India has only |one doc-tor for every 1,700 people.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The BJP, which had earlierapprehended “unautho-

rised deletion” of voters fromthe electoral rolls in UttarPradesh, on Thursday askedthe Election Commission toensure deployment of womenpolice and para-military forcesat “sensitive” polling booths inthe last two phases of the UttarPradesh Assembly polls toexamine identity of burqa-cladwomen voters.

“The BJP demands that toestablish the identity of burqa-clad voters in the sixth and sev-enth phase of the UP polls,women police and central para-military forces be posted at thesensitive and hyper-sensitivepolling booths.”

It said a large number ofburqa-clad women exercisetheir franchise and there was apossibility of false voting.

“Adequate deployment offemale police would ensureproper checking of womenvoters, and at the same time,minimise incidents of bogusvoting,” it said

The BJP had on Tuesdaydemanded the Chief ElectionCommissioner that a commis-sion be instituted to inquireinto “unauthorised deletion” ofvoters from electoral rolls inUP and ensure that all valid

voters be allowed to vote in the6th and 7th phase of elections.In a memorandum, the partydrew attention of the EC to“large scale deletion of eligiblevoters” from the lists publishedfor the Assembly polls. The BJPsaid it has received complaintsfrom almost every constituen-cy where the holders of validEPIC cards were turned away astheir names were deleted with-out following the due process.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Union Home Ministryhas cancelled the order to

purchase 75 speed boats forcoastal security following alle-gations of corruption. The pur-chase of the high speed boatswas to tighten the security inthe coasts after the 26/11Mumbai terror attacks.

“We have cancelled theorder for 75 speed boats. Freshprocess will be initiated toprocure the vessels,” a HomeMinistry official said. All the 75speed boats were supposed tobe delivered to police forces ofthe coastal States.

The government hadrevamped the entire coastalsecurity apparatus followingthe 2008 Mumbai terror attacksas all the terrorists involved init had come from Pakistanthrough sea. So far, 183 coastal

police stations have been oper-ationalised under theComprehensive and IntegratedCoastal Security Scheme (CSS).

The coastal police stationsare equipped with 23 jetties, 97check posts, 58 outposts, 30barracks, 204 boats, 280 fourwheelers and 546 two wheelers.

India’s coastal line is 7,516 km.While police forces of respec-tive coastal States and UnionTerritories have jurisdiction ofup to 12 nautical miles from thecoast, Indian Coast Guard andthe Navy have jurisdiction overthe entire maritime zone of upto 200 nautical miles.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central IAS Officers’Association on Thursday

sought immediate interven-tion of the Centre and BiharGovernment into the alleged“arbitrary functioning” of thepolice against officers posted inthe State. The association,which represents 4,926 officialsworking across the country,also supported the demand ofits Bihar IAS AssociationBranch for a probe by an inde-pendent agency like the CBI incases involving two civil ser-vants- Sudhir Kumar andJitendra Gupta.

In a statement, the associ-ation asked both the State aswell as the CentralGovernment to ensure thathardworking, honest and sin-cere civil servants are notdemoralised by arbitrary andmalafide actions of the policemachinery in Bihar. The asso-

ciation sought immediate helpof the Centre to check allegedarbitrariness by the Bihar policein acting against civil servants.

Secretary of the associationSanjay Bhoosreddy said “Itappears that the police is act-ing arbitrarily there and theyneed to follow the rule of thelaw. There should be a thor-ough probe in the cases involv-ing the two IAS officers by anindependent agency,”

The move comes followingalleged wrongful arrest of 2013batch IAS officer JitendraGupta and 1987 batch IASofficer Sudhir Kumar of Biharcadre.

The association afterperusing all the facts placedbefore it by its Bihar unit hasdecided to support both theresolutions which includes safe-ty and security for its officersas well as a probe by an inde-pendent agency. The associa-tion claimed that the Biharpolice had acted in a malafidemanner against Gupta whileserving as Sub-DivisionalMagistrate Mohania. Withoutlearning from their past expe-rience, whereby both the PatnaHigh Court and the SupremeCourt deprecated the police fortheir ingeniousness in fabri-cating false cases with ulteriormotives and in a mala fidemanner, the police this timearrested Sudhir Kumar, chair-

man, Bihar Staff SelectionCommission from Hazaribaghon the night of February 23, italleged.

According to the associa-tion statement, the arrest was shown on record to havebeen made from Patna ataround 11 am in the morningof February 24 despite Kumarfully cooperating with theinvestigating agencies, thestatement said.

“He was neither abscond-ing nor was found tamperingwith evidence, if any. Therefore,there was no need to arrest himwithout following the proce-dure and precautions of arrestas provided in Section 41 of theCriminal Procedure Code.Therefore, the IAS Officers’Association of Bihar has dema-nded independent inquiry,equity, justice and fair play, thatthe case forthwith be trans-ferred to the CBI,” the officers’body said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The CBI has recorded thestatement of businessman

Vipin Khanna in connectionwith its probe in the case ofpayment of about $6 million askickbacks in the VVIP aircraftEmbraer’s purchase.

Khanna, the 87-year-oldbusinessman close to formerExternal Affairs MinisterNatwar Singh, was caught inthe scam after the US JusticeDepartment found theBrazilian company Embraerpaid bribes across the world.

In 2008, during UPAregime, India purchased threeEmbraer jets, worth USD 208million. The aircraft were to be

used by the DRDO for air-borne radar systems.

The point of suspicion ledto top Congress leaders, afterthe US released Khanna’s namein bribing Indian leaders toclinch the deal for the BrazilianJet company.

The company deposedbefore the US authorities that$6 million were paid in Indiaas kickbacks through Khanna.The company also confessedthat it also bribed SaudiArabian officials to get thedeal for executive jets.

Khanna was earlier probedby ED in Food-for-Oil Scamwhich resulted in the resigna-tion of Natwar Singh from theUPA Government.

BJP: Deploy women cops to check burqa clad voters

Order for speed boats nixedover graft charges: Home Min

More PG seats

to meet deficit

of docs: Nadda

Nod to 4Kmedical seatsfor 2017-18session

With the addition,the total numberof Post Graduateseats available inthe country willgo up to 35,117 Babus raise pitch over officers’ arrests

IAS Officers’Associationseeksintervention ofCentre and BiharGovernment intoalleged ‘arbitraryfunctioning’ ofpolice againstofficers

CBI records statementof Vipin Khanna in Embraer scam probe

New Delhi: The Election Commission has sought BSP's response ona petition alleging that a large sum of money was deposited in theparty account post-demonetisation. In a notice issued to BSP chiefMayawati, the Commission asked the BSP to respond by March 15."You are requested to send your comments on the issue raised in thepetition along with your version regarding the contributions receivedin cash by your party and the deposits made in the party's accounts,"the notice issued by Election Expenditure unit of the Commission. TheEC notice came after the Allahabad High Court also reportedly issueda notice to the party in this regard. PNS

PLEA ON MONEY DEPOSIT: BSP’S RESPONSE SOUGHT

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Railways will soon movetowards Aadhaar-based

online ticketing system to pre-vent touts from blocking abulk of tickets, end fraudulentbookings and curb cases ofimpersonation.

As per the new businessplan 2017-18 unveiled byRailway Minister SureshPrabhu on Thursday, Railwaysalso announced to movetowards cashless ticketing sys-tem by installing 6,000 point-of-sale machines and 1,000automatic ticket vendingmachines across the country.An integrated ticketing app will also be launched byMay to promote cashless trans-action.

Though there are variousmobile applications availablefor booking tickets, taxis, e-catering and other such ser-vices, the integrated app willcover almost the entire gamutof travelling, a senior railwayministry official involved withthe project said.

Prabhu said Railways is“fast moving towards a virtualcycle from a vicious one whichwill have a cascading effectbenefitting all - the Railways,consumers, the economy, theenvironment and the nation as

a whole.”Prabhu said the mobile

app aims at becoming a one-stop solution for various trav-el related services, like bookingtickets, retiring rooms, bookingtour packages, ordering foodfrom a restaurant and findinghotel rooms.

The Railways alsolaunched Roll-on Roll-off (RO-RO) service from Gurugram tocarry loaded trucks on wagonsto decongest roads in thenational capital region. “TheRO-RO is a boon for Delhi asit would have a direct impacton its air ambient quality andthe capital would breathe cleanair,” Railway Minister Suresh

Prabhu said after launching theservice.

It also offered discounts tocustomers to gain lost groundin freight share, which hasbeen witnessing a decline overthe years. Dubbed as mini-railbudget, the action plan forfreight sector was launched toincrease loadings by gainingthe lost ground in freight sec-tor.

The new business plan alsoenvisages launching of newtourist trains connecting hillstations and enhancing pas-senger comfort and providingpleasurable journey experiencethrough improving amenitiesand catering service.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onThursday foreclosed

Punjab government’s attemptsto question past decisionsdirecting the State to constructthe Sutlej-Yamuna-Link (SYL)canal but left it open to decidethe issues that stand in the wayof the State to implementCourt’s order.

With Punjab and Haryanahaving inked an agreementway back in 1981 for sharing ofRavi-Beas water, both Stateshad agreed to construct thecanal in order to make goodthe agreement on water shar-ing. But with Punjab passing alaw in 2004 unilaterally with-drawing from the agreement,the validity of such a law was

called in question by way of aPresidential Reference, a deci-sion on which came onNovember 11, 2016 when a

five-judge Constitution benchof Supreme Court held the lawto be unconstitutional.

Haryana relied on thisdecision to force Punjab tohonour the 1981 agreement.However, Punjab in reply said

that the SC decision was notbinding on it, more so becausethe issue needed to be settledeither by way of a suit betweenboth States or by constitutionof a water disputes tribunal butcertainly not in a PresidentialReference proceeding.

Responding to Punjab’sargument, a bench of JusticesPC Ghose and Amitava Roysaid, “The decree which hasbeen passed has to be execut-ed. We will not go into the factsand legal issues dealt with by uson past two occasions. But wewill hear you on the aspectshaving bearing on the execu-tion of our order.”

The Bench is expected tohear the matter next on March28 as arguments remainedinconclusive.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Indian Government onThursday condemned the

twin terror attacks that rockedKabul and resolved to workwith Afghanistan to bring theperpetrators of terrorist vio-lence to justice.

“India has been a victim ofterrorist violence and under-stands the pain and suffering ofthe people of Afghanistan. Wereiterate our resolve to workwith Afghanistan to bring theperpetrators of terrorist vio-lence to the justice they deservewherever they may be,” theExternal Affairs Ministry saidin a statement.

The Indian governmentalso conveyed condolences to

the people and Government ofAfghanistan for the loss oflives and property.

“It is our sincere hope thatthe injured will make earlyrecovery,” the statement added.

The twin attacks struckKabul on Wednesday after-noon. First, a suicide carbomber targeted a police sta-tion in western Kabul. Theexplosion was followed by agun battle between the policeand several attackers. In thesecond attack, a bomber deto-nated explosives outside officesof the intelligence service ineastern Kabul.

Around 16 persons werekilled and several injured in theattack.

Aadhaar-based online ticketingsystem to end fraudulent booking

SC prevents Punjab’s bid

to question SYL decisions

The Bench isexpected to hearthe matter nexton March 28 asargumentsremainedinconclusive

India slams terror

attacks in Kabul

Union Minister for Defence Manohar Parrikar presenting the Raksha Mantri’s Trophy for the Second-Best Service Hospital to the Armed Forces Medical Services (AFMS) for the year 2016 to Commandant, Hospital(Southern Command) Pune, Maj-General R Grewal, in New Delhi on Thursday. Director General, AFMS and Senior Colonel Commandant Lt- General M.K. Unni is also seen PTI Photo

Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju during ‘Get together for reforming Manipur', at the BJP office in New Delhi on Thursday PTI Photo

MANIPURUTTARPRADESH

06

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

LEICHOMBAM KULLAJIT n

NEW DELHI

When the sun risesabove the distantmountains andgreen valley on

Saturday, the unsettled 2.8 mil-lion people of Manipur willhave to face between hopes anddreams as the State holds its11th Manipur State AssemblyElection, 2017.

Amid four months eco-nomic blockade on the twonational highways by the Nagagroups and unflattering polit-ical parties this election wouldbe more of a dilemma betweenthe devil and the deep blue sea.

As the countdown beginsfor the first phase, this electionwill be the biggest ever battlefor the Okram Ibobi Singh ledCongress Government, whorules the State for 15 years con-secutively and the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP), who is nowdreaming of a big push forward

for the first time ever in thisremote and untamed region.

While Ibobi Singh will befighting an anti-incumbencysentiment amid charges ofhighly corruption against himand the Government, under-development, unending eco-nomic blockade, AFSPA, issuesof territorial integrity, andCentre-NSCN-IM’s framework agreement, his efforts tobring Capitol project to theState, handing over of KanglaFort to Manipur public fromAssam Rifles after more than a100 years, construction of loneoverfly bridge in the heart ofImphal city, Ema Keithel(Women’s market), widening ofroads in major areas of Imphalcity and regular supply ofpower could be major pluspoints of the ruling party.

On the other hand, the BJPwill show its strength on theimage of Modi’s popularityand his clean image, specialattention on North-Eastern

States, Sports University,promises of corrupt-free State,solving of urea problems forfarmers and new schemeslaunched by the Centre will bemajor vote planks even thoughmost of its front-runners aredefectors from other parties,particularly the Congress.

Of the State Assembly’s 60seats, 38 which are in the valley(29 General and one ScheduledCaste seat — Sekmai AC andeight seats for Scheduled Tribe),will be going for polls on thefirst phase on March 4.

The first phase will seepopular politicians of the State,including former UnionMinister and also former StateBJP president ThounaojamChaoba Singh from Nambolconstituency, saffron party’slone MLA Th Biswajit fromThongju constituency, sittingMLA but recently joined withBJP, Nongthongbam Birenfrom Heingang constituencyand Y. Irabot from Wangkhei in

the BJP party. From the Congress,

Manipur’s veteran Congressleader and sitting CabinetMinister under IbobiGovernment, KonthoujamGovindas from Bishnupur con-stituency, sitting CabinetMinister IrengbamHemochandra from Singjamei,sitting MLA Kangujam Ranjitform Sugunu, and lone womanCabinet Minister AkoijamMirabai Devi from Patsoi con-stituency will contest duringthe first phase. In all 168 can-didates, including six womenfrom 14 political parties willseal their fate for 38 seats dur-ing the first phase.

It may be mentioned thatduring 10th State Assemblyelection in 2012, the Congress,which had contested in all 60seats, won 42, whereas, the BJP,which contested in 19 seats, set-tled with zero.

The Indian NationalCongress, the BJP, People’s

Resurgence and Justice Alliance(PRJA), the Left DemocraticFront (LDF), the Naga People’sFront (NPF), Lok JanshaktiParty, All India TrinamoolCongress, Manipur’s oldestregional party — MPP, CPI andCPI-M are the main politicalparties in the fray.

Even though the finalresult will be known only afterMarch 11, State’s politicalobservers and analysis believethat 11th Manipur AssemblyElection will be the biggest everpolitical battle and both themain contenders — Congressand BJP will try to grasp fortheirs’ next Government. Giventhe polarisation of the elec-torate in the State today, thepossibility of a hung Assemblyis also not at all remote. Oneobserver from Manipur toldThe Pioneer that even if BJPcould win 20 seats only, theyare very much likely to formthe next Government inManipur.

end Ibobi’s 15 years rule?

Will Modi’s magic help BJP

Of the State Assembly’s 60 seats, 38 whichare in the valley (29 General and one SC seat— Sekmai AC and eight seats for ST), will begoing for polls on the first phase on March 4

VARANASI

Union Minster Arun Jaitley onThursday said nationalism isconsidered a bad word only inIndia even as he accused the

opposition parties of “orchestrating” thethe Ramjas College row ahead of the UPAssembly polls.

Jaitley, at a press conference here, saidthe debate was not started by the BJP gov-ernment but the party will participatewhenever there is a discussion on nation-alism. “Nationalism is a good word but itis considered bad only in India,” he said.

On the Ramjas College row, healleged, “The row was the deliberate cre-ation of the opposition which fuelled adebate on nationalism ahead of the UttarPradesh Assembly elections just like the‘award wapsi’ controversy had broken outduring the Bihar Assembly polls.” “As soonthe Bihar Assembly elections were overthen the award wapsi row died down. This(Ramjas College) row has been orches-

trated by the opposition,” he alleged.While addressing ‘Varanasi Vyapari

Sammelan’ (traders meet), Jaitley hadalleged that some people had raised anti-India slogans in a university and said thosewho want to weaken India have sidedthemselves with the opposition parties.“When I was abroad I read on the Internetthat a row has erupted in India. Some sep-aratists and communists raised slogansagainst the country in the university,” hesaid. “Could anyone have imagined that theCongress of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira andRajiv Gandhi, is holding rallies in supportof separatists and Maoists,” he said.

“Could anyone imagine the party’ssenior leaders making such mistakes,” hehad said, adding that now the responsibilityof keeping the country together has fallenon the shoulders of the BJP.

Those who wanted to keep thecountry united were supporting the BJPwhile those who wanted to weaken thecountry had joined the opposition par-ties, he alleged. PTI

NATIONALISM A BAD

word in India: Jaitley

AMID FOUR MONTHS ECONOMIC

BLOCKADE ON THE TWO NATIONAL

HIGHWAYS BY THE NAGA GROUPS AND

UNFLATTERING POLITICAL PARTIES THIS

ELECTION WOULD BE MORE OF A

DILEMMA BETWEEN THE DEVIL AND THE

DEEP BLUE SEA

PTI

The Indian NationalCongress, the BJP,

People’s Resurgence andJustice Alliance (PRJA),

the Left Democratic Front(LDF), the Naga People’s

Front (NPF), LokJanshakti Party, All India

Trinamool Congress,Manipur’s oldest regional

party — MPP, CPI andCPI-M are the main

political parties in the fray

Rajnath Singh in traditional Manipuriattire during an election rally in Tameiconstituency in Tamenglong district,Manipur on Thursday PTI

BJP president Amit Shahwith party MP Yogi AdityaNath during an electionroad show in Gorakhpurdistrict on Thursday PTI

A Mirabai Devi (Congress), Patsoi

Govindas Konthoujam(Cong), Bishnupur

I Hemochandra(Cong), Singjamei

Karam Shyam (LJP), Langthabal

N Biren(BJP), Heingang

Th Bishwajit(BJP), Thongju

Th Chaoba(BJP), Nambol

Y Irabo(BJP), Wangkhei

RAMESH K SINGH n VARANASI

Since the emergence ofMulayam Singh Yadavin UP politics in 1980s,Azamgarh, a ‘land of

Yadavs’ has become SP’s bas-tion with Muslims riding onhis cycle after the Ram Templemovement.

But his fort was stormedby Mayawati with supportcoming from some SP-rebelYadav-Muslim ‘senapatis’(lieutenants) supported bystrong army of Dalits andMBCs.

To protect his fort,Mulayam himself came to con-test the 2014 Lok Sabha pollfrom Azamgarh and despiteModi wave, he was the onlyleader in entire Purvanchal(eastern UP) who successfullyprotected his fort, though los-ing half of its parts comprisingfive Assembly segments out of10 of the district formingLalganj (SC) parliamentaryseat.

In 2012, Azamgarh rootedfor the SP as the party got nineseats, leaving Mayawati to sat-isfy with just one. Now, in theabsence of Mulayam onground zero, his followersappear to be a bit confused.

Many faithful Mulayamloyalists who had friendshipwith him since the time he hadcaptured the strong base of theregion from ChaudharyCharan Singh, still prefer toride on cycle. It is anotherstory that many among themdon’t look so enthusiast aswhen Mulayam dominatedthe party.

Despite all patch-ups afterfather-son family tension,

many are still in doldrumsabout their old political careerand their bids to make safegrounds for their wards asMulayam did for Akhilesh.

Whether Mulayam avoid-ing Azamgarh on healthgrounds or other reasons,Akhilesh is finding it difficultto keep the Muslims intact asBSP is trying hard to woo boththe Muslims and Yadavs.

As Congress has fieldednot a single candidate in entiredistrict, Rahul Gandhi alsoavoided visiting there thoughin last elections Digvijay Singhfrequently visited there toencash resentment amongMuslims over Delhi’s BatlaHouse encounter. In this bat-tle, the BJP which was virtu-ally nowhere there is hopefulof some gains and opening itsaccounts in the district whereit had managed only in 1991and 1996 winning Mehnagarand Lalganj seat respectively.

Mulayam’s lieutenant issitt ing Sadar MLA andAkhilesh’s Minister DurgaPrasad Yadav, who is seekinghis eighth win but this time, heis facing stiff challenges from

Bhupendra (BSP) andAkhilesh (BJP).

Mulayam’s other lieu-tenant is Balram Yadav, whohad not only won Atraulia seatfive times but also succeededsuccessfully to hand over hislegacy to his son SangramSingh, a sitting SP MLA whotoo could face a challengefrom Akhand Pratap Singh ofBSP and Kanhaiya Lal Nishad(BJP).

Unlike these two seats, inSagri, Bandana Singh of BSPlooks a smooth sail on sym-pathy wave as her husbandand former MLA SarveshKumar Singh Sipu was mur-dered a few years ago.Realising this, the SP hasreplaced its sitting MLAAbhay Narayan and has field-ed Jairam Patel while BJP’sDevendra Kumar Singh hashope to do well for the party.

In Nizamabad, sittingMLA Alambadi of SP is seek-ing his fourth victory, facingchallenges from Chandra DevRam of BSP and Vinod KumarRai of BJP while in Gopalpur,resentment is among followersof Akhilesh’s Minister and

three-time MLA WaseemAhmed as he was denied tick-et by SP as the party has field-ed Nafeas Ahmed.

To wrest the seat, BSP hasgiven ticket to Kamla PrasadYadav while BJP’s candidate isShrikrishna Pal.

In Dildarganj, sitting MLAAdil Sheikh’s cycle is runningon rocky tracks as BSP’sSukhdev Rajbhar, who failedto sail through last time, islikely to revenge his defeat.

Sukhdev, is a veteranleader, who had won Lalganjseat four times and was forcedto shift Dildarganj in 2012 asLalganj seat has becomereserved. BJP’s KrishnaMurarai has a high hope inthis constituency, along withLalganj (SC) a former MLAfrom Mehnahar Daroga is giv-ing challenges to sitting MLABechai Lal and BSP AzadMardan. BSP may takerevenge of its last defeat inMehnagar (SC) where two-time MLA Vidya Chaudhary isfacing challenge from SP’sKalpnath, a former BJP MLAas party had denied ticket tositting MLA Brij Lal Sonkar.

PREETAM SRIVASTAVA n

LUCKNOW

With activists mak-ing much hue andcry over stoppingcriminals and

anti-social elements from con-testing elections, but for abouta dozen jailed dons, the “bars”put up by the “law” to confinethem under judicial custodyhad not deterred their ambi-tion to maintain their “clout”by contesting the electionsfrom jails or by pushing their`muscle power’ behind theirfamily members to make them`law maker’ and carry forwardtheir political legacy.

In the on-going polls,while three criminals-turned-politicians are contesting elec-tions from jail, including twowhose parole was cancelled bythe High Court, family mem-bers of over half a dozen oth-ers arrested persons are in thefield. The Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP), which made tall claimsof ending the `jungle raj’ ifvoted to power, tops the list offielding two of the jailed “dons”to contest the battle of ballots.

Mukhtar Ansari, a four-time MLA from Mau Sadar, isin Lucknow jail. His partyQuami Ekta Dal has nowmerged into the BSP afterAkhilesh dislodged theirefforts to join Samajwadi Party.Interestingly, out of severalcases lodged against Ansari,the one in which he madehead-lines is `political murder’of then Bharatiya Janta PartyMLA Krishnanand Rai in2005. While the trial in thatcase is in progress in a Delhicourt, Ansari now once againfaced challenge as BJP this time

gave ticket to Rai’s widow AlkaRai.

Another don of Varanasi,Vineet Singh, contesting SyedRaza in Chandauli, is in Ranchidistrict jail in connection witha kidnapping case lodged in2003. He already filed his nom-ination after getting some relieffrom the local court. He is nowback in jail but his family is cam-paigning for him and Singh ismanaging his election from thejail.

Amanmani Tripathi, sonof former Minister Amar ManiTripathi, is lodged in Dasna jailin Ghaziabad and contestingfrom Nautanwa inMaharajganj. His father andmother both were also behindthe bars after getting life termin sensational killing of poet-ess Madhumita Shukla whileAmanmani was in jail forkilling his wife Sara.Amanmani, who managed toget SP ticket, is now fighting as an independentfrom jail and his election cam-paign was managed by his sis-ters, Tanushree Mani Tripathi(27) and Alankrita ManiTripathi (24).

Besides, the family mem-bers particularly wives of manyjailed dons were too in thefields to maintain politicall e g a c y .S a n j e e vMaheswari,lodged inMainpur idistrict jailand facingseven cases,including themurder ofK r i s h n a n a n dRai, had field-ed his wife

Payal, who contested onRastriya Lok Dal ticket fromMuzaffarnagar. Anotheraccused in the same murder ofRai, Prem Singh alias MunnaBajrangi, pushed his wifeSeema is the contest fromMadiyahun seat in Jaunpur onan Apna Dal (Krishna Patel)ticket. Munna is lodged inJhansi district jail and faces trialin eight criminal cases.

In Mirzapur district jail isformer BJP MLA Uday BhanKarwariya. His wife NeelamKarwariya is contesting Meja inAllahabad on a BJP ticket.Uday Bhan is the main accusedin the murder case of JawaharPandit who was shot dead inAllahabad in 1996. Uday broth-er and former BSP MP fromPhulpur, Kapil Muni Karwariyais also in jail in the samekilling. Jawahar’s widow VijmaYadav, who is already a sittingMLA from Pratapur Assemblyconstituency in Allahabad, isalso trying to retain the seatonce again on the SP ticket.Former MLA and don-turned-politician DP Yadav’s wifeUmlesh has contested fromSahaswan seat in Badaun dis-trict. Her ticket is of theRashtriya Parivartan Dal,Yadav’s party.

Yadav is lodged in Tihar jailin connection with a

double murder caseof on September 13,

1992. One more whois trying to carry for-ward his politicallegacy is AishwaryaChowdhary, accusedin a case of commu-nal rioting that tookplace in Pedda vil-lage in Bijnor lastyear.

Jailed dons contest battle of ballotsSome are even using their family members to retain their clouts

IMPHAL

BJP national presidentAmit Shah haspromised to end thecrippling indefinite

economic blockade inManipur if BJP is voted topower in the coming assemblypolls and said priority will begiven to maintain law andorder in the militancy-hitState. “Our first task would beto end the indefinite eco-nomic blockade and all effortswill be carried out to makethe state free from bandhsand blockades,” Shah said ata poll rally here yesterday.

Emphasising on the needto restore law and order in themilitancy-hit State, he said,“Law and order will berestored and priority will begiven to solve the conflict sit-uation of the State,” he said.

Referring to the NagaAccord, Shah assured that itwould not affect the territoralintegrity of the State as hadbeen assured by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi.Banking on the developmentagenda, Shah promised tomake Manipur a “modelstate” in five years even as heaccused Congress govern-ment of not exploiting thetourism potential of theregion. “The state has hugepotential in the tourism sec-tor which has not beenutilised by the Congress dur-ing the last 15 years of its rule.

BJP will make Manipur amodel state if it comes topower,” Shah said. He saidthat potable water will beavailable to the everyone inthe state and conditions ofroads will be improved. PTI

IN MANIPUR

Shah promises

to end blockade

Durga Prasad Yadav Sangram Yadav Krishna Murari Vishwakarma Laxman Mourya

SP DEFENDS YADAV FORT

With Mulayam not campaigning from Azamgarh, the onusto keep Muslim-Yadav vote intact lies on Akhilesh

nation 07LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Come Friday, the MamataBanerjee Government will

table a stringent ClinicalEstablishment Bill which will notonly create a Health RegulatoryCommission but also prescribeprovisions to compensate thevictims of deficient service in amaximum six months’ time andgo as far as to penalise the erringhospitals, including cancella-tion of registration and incarcer-ation of their management staffif found guilty. With complaintsof deficient service, negligenceand fleecing of the patients’party pouring in from all cor-ners of the State the Friday’smove being initiated at theinstance Chief Minister MamataBanerjee is likely to put a leashon the private hospitals includ-ing those of the “five-star cate-gory” with strong political clout.

According to reports theBill prescribes a minimumcompensation of `3 lakh forminor hurt on account of neg-ligence. A major hurt caused bydeficient service would fetch `5 lakh and the next of the kinof a victim who dies due tonegligence will get `10 lakh ascompensation.

The Bill also provides for a

maximum time of one monthfor interim relief to the patient.The final settlement in terms ofcompensation will have to bemade in maximum of sixmonths’ time. The compensa-tion will be payable by theerring hospital. The Bill inaddition, bans refusal of treat-ment for want of payment orany other reason to a victim ofaccident, acid attack or any other emergencycondition. In police cases thehospital will first have to treatthe patient and then inform thepolice the Bill states.It alsobars the hospitals from charg-ing in excess of “packagemoney” that they offer for aparticular type of treatment.Apart from this the Bill forbidsthe hospitals to enhance med-ical expenses on account ofrepetitive and unnecessarydiagnostic tests which is a nor-mal practice in Bengal andmore so in Kolkata.If founddeferent in service the HealthRegulatory Commission ---which is being set up by theGovernment with powersequivalent to that of a civilcourt --- will take necessaryaction that may even includeprosecution under the provi-sions of Indian Penal Code.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

In a sudden move the rulingCongress Government in

Karnataka led by ChiefMinister Siddaramaiah hasscrapped the controversialBengaluru Steel flyover projecton Thursday. The State BJPhas been vehemently makingallegations of alleged kick-backs of `65 crore has been paid to Siddaramaiah’s fami-ly in this project.

After the meeting of thelocal MLAs in Bengaluru,Development Minister KJGeorge announced that theproject has been scarped.Briefing reporters, KJ Georgesaid, “We have cancelled theproject as we have been forcedto prove our sincerity. Thereare corruption charges beinglevelled against us when not asingle rupee has been taken askickback by us.”

“We do not want to takethe blame for something thatwe have not done, so we aredropping the project. Thesteel bridge project hadbecome a pain point for us asthe media has been speaking on a daily-basis about corrup-

tion in it,” he said.The Congress leaders feel

the scrapping of the contro-versial flyover is an embar-rassment for Karnataka’sCongress Government, whichhad earlier decided to goahead with the project over-riding protests.

They also feel it will have an impact on theAssembly polls.

“I have told the authoritiesto take the opinion of the peo-ple. It was meant to ease traf-fic. If people don’t want it,then why should we go aheadwith it,” Siddaramaiah said ina changing his stance.

Reacting to the decision,Yeddyurappa alleged that toescape from charges the StateGovernment has taken deci-sion to drop the project.

“Enquiry should be heldinto the charges about send-ing money to Congress highcommand and receiving kick-back. Siddaramaiah and otherMinisters involved are afraidthat their corruption willbecome public if inquiry washeld and hence this decisionwas taken. But I will not resttill enquiry was ordered.”

PNS n KOLKATA

Five people were on Thursday arrested with face currency worth`57 lakh, the police said. Each note of `2,000 denomination

was bundled and sealed with State Bank of India sticker, saidpolice, adding they were arrested from Fancy Market inKhidderpore area.

Out of the five people four are from Howrah and one is fromBankura. The Anti-Rowdy Squad of the Kolkata Police arrest-ed the culprits and recovered the fake notes and some mobilephones, sources said adding the notes were “possibly printed inBengal only.” Investigations were on to ascertain whether somelarger conspiracy was involved in the matter, police said.

NAYAN DAVE n GANDHINAGAR

AState Government employ-ee was detained outside

Gujarat Assembly building forhurling a shoe at Gujarat’sMinister of State for HomePradeepsinh Jadeja onThursday. The employee hurledshoe when Jadeja was prepar-ing to brief mediapersons out-side Assembly over walkout ofOpposition members from theHouse on the issue of DalitSarpanch’s murder in Amrelidistrict of Saurashtra region.

As the Home Ministerbegan his address, Gopal camewithin a couple of metres of theHome Minister and hurled a shoe. This startled theMinister who dodged the shoesuccessfully. The securityimmediately surrounded theyouth and pushed him awayfrom the Minister.

“Gopal Italia is a clerk atTehsil office in Dahdhuk townunder Ahmedabad district andprima facie appeared to bementally unstable. He is thesame person who had sometime ago posed as a policemanand called Gujarat DeputyChief Minister Nitin Patel tocomplaint about the state’s newprohibition law,” saidGandhinagar range DIG RRBrahmbhatt. The detainedemployee claimed that he haddone so in protest against the“arrogance” of the state func-tionaries, rising corruption andunemployment. He furthersaid that the act of shoe hurl-ing was against the state gov-ernment’s inability to controlcorruption, rising unemploy-ment and poor implementationof prohibition act.

“Anyone in democracy hasright to submit a memorandumon their demand. But the waythe person has acted is con-demnable,” said Gujarat BJPpresident Jitu Vaghani.

VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI

The Kerala Police probingthe rape of a 16-year-old

girl by Fr RobinVadakkumchery (48), a seniorpriest of the Syro-MalabarCatholic Church in Kottiyoor,Kannur district, want hisalleged foreign connections tobe examined. Since the Statepolice are not equipped tohold such a probe, they wantanother agency to take it up.

A police team fromPeravur, Kannur had taken FrRobin, Vicar of the StSebastian’s Church atNeendunokki near Kottiyoorand an influential figure bothinside and outside the Syro-Malabar Church, fromChalakudy in Thrissur districton February 27 when he was onhis way to the KochiInternational Airport alleged-ly to flee to Canada.

The police will soonapproach the court for gettingRobin, who was on February 28remanded in judicial custodyfor two weeks, in their custodyfor further questioning. Thegirl, a Plus 1 student of aChurch-run higher secondaryschool of which the priest wasmanager, had given birth to ababy boy on February 7 at theChurch-controlled Christu RajHospital, Thokkilangadi.

The police team conduct-ing the probe on the groundhas handed over to the higherauthorities the details it hadcollected on the alleged foreignconnections of the disgracedpriest. The police have report-edly confirmed that Robin hadvisited Canada several times inthe past. They would soontake into custody the priest’spassport which would havedetails of his aborted trip.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

The “month-long massiveawareness programme”

launched by various trade bod-ies in Tamil Nadu fromFebruary 1 to educate con-sumers about the ill-effects ofsoft drinks manufactured bymulti-national giants and thecall to retail traders not to sellsuch colas from March 1 hascome a cropper, if initialreports are any indication. Itwas AM Vikramaraja, presi-dent of Associations of TamilNadu Merchants who declaredon January 25 that the colaswould disappear from TamilNadu shops from March 1.

Most shops in Chennai con-tinue to stock Pepsi, Coca Colaand all related products. “Thedemand was made on January25 and public memory is short.Leaders of the trade bodiesthemselves forgot the call,” saidNawab, a shop keeper in Porur,a city suburb who continues sell-ing branded soft drinks and aer-ated water. “They would havestruck some deal with the man-ufacturers,” he said.

The scenario was not dif-ferent in other parts of TamilNadu. Indumathi, a house-wife, who was shopping intwo super markets inCoimbatore on Thursday saidshe did not notice any fall in thesales of soft drinks manufac-tured by the MNC cola compa-nies. “The shelves are wellstocked with all kind of colas inthe shops I made my purchas-es,” said Indumathi over tele-phone from Coimbatore.

Bhanumathi Swaminathan,a banker housewife in Maduraisaid that the colas are reigningsupreme in the temple city.

“There was a message in thesocial media that the MNCdrinks are available in theshops and it was for the con-sumers to shun them,” saidBhanumathi.

The soft drink manufactur-ers Pepsi and Coca Cola got ashot in the arm on Thursdaywith the Madras High Courtdismissing a series of publicinterest litigations demandingthe discontinuation of watersupply to the Tirunelveli plantsof these companies fromThamarabharani River.

A division bench of JusticesA Selvam and PKalaiyarasannot only dismissedthe series of PILs but alsovacated an interim injunctiongranted by the court inNovember 2016 restraining theSmall Industries PromotionCorporation of Tamil Nadu(SIPCOT) from supplyingwater to the bottling units ofthese companies at theIndustrial Growth Centre inTirunelveli.

The judges asked the peti-tioners why they were not fil-ing PILs against other compa-nies in the Industrial GrowthCentre which were consumingmore water than what wasbeing consumed by Pepsi andCoke bottling plants.

Police forprobe into‘rapist’ priest’s‘foreign links’

After protests, K’taka

cancels Bengaluru

steel flyover project

5 held with fake `57L ‘pink’ notes

Move to boycott MNC’ssoft drinks comes acropper in Tamil Nadu

Shoe hurled

at Gujarat’s

Home Minister

Bill to rein in rogue privatehospitals today in WB

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

Ahead of the commissioningschedule of the first Sco-

rpene-class submarine “Kalvari”,the Indian Navy on Thursdaytest fired an anti-ship missile suc-cessfully from the stealth subma-rine in the Arabian Sea.

“The missile successfully hita surface target at extendedranges during the trial firing heldthis morning,” a Defencespokesperson said on Thursday.

Thursday’s missile launchis a significant milestone notonly for the Kalvari, which isthe first in a series of Scorpeneclass submarines being built inIndia, but also in enhancingthe Indian Navy’s sub-surfacewarfare capability.

“All six Kalvari class sub-marines being built in India willbe equipped with this anti-shipmissile, which has a provenrecord in combat. These missileswill provide the submarines the

ability to neutralise surfacethreats at extended ranges,” thespokesperson said.

The first of the Kalvari-class submarine is currentlyundergoing sea trials and likelyto be commissioned into Navyby mid 2017.

Earlier on January 12 thisyear, the second of the IndianNavy’s Scorpene-class stealthsubmarine was launched at theMazagon Dock ShipyardLimited (MDL) here, a launchthat paved the way for her sea tri-als. Christened as “Khanderi”, thesecond Scorpene-class subma-

rine is expected to be deliveredto the Indian Navy by the end ofthis year. Six Kalvari-class sub-marines are being built by theMDL in collaboration withMessrs DCNS of France. Thesesubmarines, post induction,would form the core of Navy’sconventional Submarine Arm.

The state-of-art features ofthe Scorpene-class submarinesinclude superior stealth and theability to launch a cripplingattack on the enemy using pre-cision guided weapons. Theattack can be launched withtorpedoes, as well as tubelaunched anti-ship missiles,whilst underwater or on surface.The Stealth features will give itinvulnerability, unmatched bymany submarines.

They are designed to oper-ate in all theatres including theTropics. All means and commu-nications are provided to ensureinteroperability with other com-ponents of a Naval Task Force.

Gandhinagar: A district courtin Surat will hear an applicationof Hardik Patel on the issue ofarrest warrant against him in thesedition case.

The court has issued anarrest warrant against Hardikfor not appearing before it inthe case. As per the bail con-dition in the sedition case,Hardik is required to appearbefore the legal authorities inSurat every week. However, hisadvocate requested exemp-tion from appearance thisweek as he had to attend“some social functions”.

The judge apparentlyallowed the exemption andallowed Hardik to appear onMarch 15. This was opposed bypublic prosecutor, who demand-ed arrest warrant as his non-appearance amounted to violat-ing the condition imposed byGujarat High Court while grant-ing him bail. The Gujarat HighCourt too had recently rejectedHardik’s plea for relaxation ofbail conditions. PNS

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

After spacious official resi-dences, the legislators of

Telangana have now also gotgenerous constituency develop-ment fund of `15 million each.

Even as the Oppositionparties were protesting againstthe move of providing swankyhouses to the MLAs in theirrespective constituencies, KChandrasekhar Rao Govern-ment on Thursday issued a for-mal order sanctioning `210crore towards the constituencydevelopment fund for all the119 MLAs and 40 members ofState Legislative Council.

While the Government haddecided in the past to allocate`3 crore as the developmentfund for each legislator, half ofthe amount for this year wasbeing released in the first phase.

The move came on a daywhen the first model of theswanky houses for the MLAswas ready for the inaugurationin Parkal constituency ofWarangal district.

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

It was a red letter day in thehistory of Andhra Pradesh as

the Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu inaugurat-ed the newly constructed state-of-the-art building of the StateLegislative Assembly as part ofthe upcoming Capital city ofAmaravati.

“Today is a historic daywhen we have built the Assemblybuilding on our own land. Onthis occasion I am feeling happyas well as sad”, Naidu told theinaugural function recalling howafter the bifurcation of AndhraPradesh his Government had toleave Hyderabad and start fromthe scratch to building the newinfrastructure.

Recalling how the people ofAndhra Pradesh were humiliat-ed at the time of bifurcation,Naidu said the State had over-come many obstacles duringlast 70 years. “First after bifurca-tion of Madras our Capital cameto Kurnool and from there itmoved to Hyderabad whenVishal Andhra Pradesh wasformed. Fifty-eight years later wehad to come here leaving every-thing behind”, he said.

While the State administra-tion was being run from makeshift Capital in Vijayawada andGuntur districts as most of thebuildings were still under con-struction in the new capital, theState Assembly building wascompleted in record 192 days ata cost of `120 crore.

“The new building wasbuilt in a way that nobody willbe able to uproot the mikes ordisturb the Speaker”, Naidusaid. The first test of the claimwill be on March 6 when thebudget session of the stateassembly begins. To overcome

the problem of noisy protestsand interruption, only sound-proof material was used in thebuilding. The state of the artaudio system in the assemblywill be controlled by theSpeaker to ensure that onlymembers allowed by him willbe able to speak.

The complex has two-sto-ried building with two halls forthe Legislative Council andLegislative Assembly. Thereare separate chambers for theSpeaker, deputy speaker, theChief Minister, Leader of oppo-sition and whips.

State finance and legislativeaffairs minister YRamakrishnudu told the mediathat AP Capital RegionDevelopment Authority willhand over the Assembly build-ing to the LegislatureSecretariat officials and policetake over its security. The secu-rity has man state of the art fea-ture adopted from variouscountries and states includingthe British parliament inLondon, officials said.

Naidu said that this was anexcellent facility and henceforthany big conference should beorganized here. “After the bifur-cation in an unjust manner bythe then government wemoved here lock, stock andbarrel and with a lot of debtsbut now we have resources andthe talent to work and makeAndhra Prdesh number onestate in the country”, Naidudeclared.

The inaugural functionwas attended by the SpeakerKodela Sivaprasad Rao,Council ChairmanChakrapani, union ministerAshok Gajapati Raju and sev-eral state ministers and legislators.

Navy test fires anti-ship

missile in Arabian Sea

Sedition case:

Court to hear

Hardik’s plea

T MLAs to getdevelopment fundof `15mn each

Andhra gets new Assembly

building in Amaravati

PNS n PATNA

The BJP is adamant on thedemand for sacking of

Excise and ProhibitionMinister Abdul Jalil Mastanand the party created ruckus inthe Assembly for the secondconsecutive day on Thursdayforcing adjournment tillThursday and NDA leadersmarched to Raj Bhavan with amemorandum to the Governor.

Mastan is in the eye ofstorm for his uncharitableremarks against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi while askingCongress workers to hit PM’sportrait with shoes. After thevideo of February 22 at Amaurin Purnia district went viral theBJP people got furious anddemanded immediate sackingof Mastan, a Minister fromCongress quota.

A case was also filed onThursday in the court of theChief Judicial Magistrate inMuzaffarpur by a cultural out-fit of the BJP.

BJP’s stir againstBihar Minister foranti-PM remark

US WOMAN...commuters asked them to

vacate their seats. WhenRochael and Kim tried toresist, they were pushed offfrom the berths. All this hap-pened before the RailwayPolice personnel who alleged-ly refused to intervene sayingthese men were daily passen-gers who could even beatthem if they come in between.“My 20-year-old daughter is ina complete state of shock. Iused to read about such inci-dents in media but neverimagined the same could hap-pen to us. We had read somuch about Railway authori-ties responding to even ‘tweets,but here we were crying forhelp and no one no one cameto us. All I can say is that thiswas one of the most shockingexperiences of my life. Whereare the much-claimed CCTVsin coaches, where were thespecially trained women safe-ty cops of the Indian railways,”Rochael said talking to ThePioneer.

Last month, an engineer-ing student Yogesh KumarSingh, who was on his way toGaya in Bihar for his marriageended up in jail because heargued with the train ticketexaminer for imposing apenalty for the waitlisted tick-et, which is against the IndianRailways booking rules.

Yogesh was traveling with hisailing mother and sister. Hisfather, who works as a privatesecurity guard, had to borrow`one lakh to get Yogesh out onbail for his wedding. No actionhas been taken against theguilty officials.

It is well known that pas-sengers face harrowing timefrom daily passengers whentrains cross places like Aligarhand adjoining stations. Most ofthese ticketless commuters getinto even AC compartmentand force reserved passengersto make way for them. Sadly,Railway authorities havealways turned a blind eye anddeaf ears to their plight.

PAY FOR...For the basic no-frills bank

accounts, maximum four cashwithdrawals would continue toremain free and there wouldbe no fees for cash deposits.For Axis Bank, the ATMcharges have also been re-introduced. The first fivetransactions or `10 lakh ofcash deposits or withdrawalswould be free and charged at`5 per `1,000 or `150,whichever is higher. An AxisBank official said, “There hasbeen no directive from theGovernment to the banksregarding levy of such charges.We are just promoting the dig-ital move.”

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

PNS n NEW DELHI

Delhi Police’s Crime Branch,which is probing the clash-

es at Ramjas College, hasrecorded the statements of twoSt Stephen’s College students, aboy and a girl, who wereallegedly beaten up by the sup-porters of ABVP.

A senior police officer saidthat the two St Stephen’s stu-dents have alleged that theywere beaten up outside theRamjas College canteen byABVP supporters. The girl hasalso alleged that she was hitwith a stone by the ABVPsupporters,” the officer added.

“We have asked students tojoin the probe. AISA activistshave said that they will cometogether to record their state-ment. We had also shared ouremail IDs with the students andin all we have received 25complaints,” he said.

The complaints mainlypertain to having beingroughed up and also ofmolestation cases.

“Though there are somecomplaints that have claimedthat while they were beingroughed up in the presence ofpolice who watched the scenesilently, but none of the com-

plainants have alleged that theywere beaten up by the police-men,” he said.

Meanwhile, senior DelhiPolice officials also met Ramjascollege authorities and request-ed them to ensure “peacefulcoexistence of students of dif-ferent ideologies”.

“Since Ramjas College wit-nessed large-scale violence lastweek, officers had a word withrepresentatives from the col-lege. We told them to engagewith students, irrespective ofthe ideologies they believe in.

“It was also discussed thata debate between different ide-ologies is essential for democ-racy but it should not beallowed to become violent,”an officer said.

CHANDAN PRAKASH n

NEW DELHI

Thousands of activists of AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad

(ABVP) and supporters took outa protest march as a countermarch carried out by the AllIndia Students’ Association(AISA) on Tuesday. Protesterswere also seen holding placardssaying ‘Anti-Nationals go back’and ‘Save our campuses fromAnti-nationalist’.

The ‘Save DU’ march beganon Thursday from the ArtsFaculty and passed through sev-eral colleges of university’s Northcampus. Activists while chanti-ng ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, ‘Kashmirho ya Guwahati, apna desh apnimaati’ and ‘Vande Matram’ saidthat they will not tolerate any stu-dent chanting slogans that maylead to the disintegration ofcountry.

Students other than DUwere also seen participating inhuge numbers on Thursday.

Accusing the Left group forinciting violence in campus, theABVP national media convenerSaket Bahuguna said, “DU hasbeen peaceful because ABVP hasdominated the campus. But nowwe are being wrongly accused ofindulging in violence. The vio-lence last week happenedbecause there were aggressors ofthe Left and outsiders who had

come from outside.”Rahul Mishra, a second year

student of Law Faculty said thatthe protest by AISA people,JNU students and their teachershave polluted campus environ-ment. The peace is lost now andmost of my friends are scared tojoin classes amid such an unnec-essary protest by other universi-ty’s students.

“Sitting on hunger strike,making educational campuses a

political hub for political mileageand doing all the drama exceptstudy are an integral part of JNUand now they are trying toimpose the same in our peace-ful campus. They are also takinghelp of social media to incite vio-lence among students on thebasis of ideology,” he said.

President of DU Students’Union (DUSU), Amit Tanwarsays, “We will not toleratethose who talk about breaking

the country. The ‘Save DU'march is planned to bring backpeace in Delhi Universitywhich has seen unprecedentedviolence by AISA activists overa seminar at the RamjasCollege. The seminar was latercancelled on February 22.”

Talking to The Pioneer, anABVP member said that theorganisation had been wrong-ly framed for the violence atRamjas College.

Statements of two

students recorded

Now, ABVP march to ‘Save DU’ABVP activists during a protest marchagainst AISA and JNU students at NorthCampus of Delhi University on Thursday PTI

We have asked

students to join the

probe. AISA activists

have said that they

will come together to

record their

statements. In all we

have received 25

complaints

SENIOR POLICE OFFICER

During these initialyears of 21st centu-ry, public discourseand media attentionon Indian universi-

ties has mainly been confined toquality deterioration, inappropri-ate placement of individuals inleadership position, non-recruit-ment of academics, lack ofresources, loss of institutionalcredibility, absence of decentranking in global evaluation ofinstitutions of higher learningand, of course, the universitypolitics. Jawaharlal NehruUniversity (JNU), the most well-funded and patronised ‘nation-al’ university, has hogged thelimelight for various reasons,often other than academic con-tributions. These days, its focushas shifted to azadi that its slo-gan-shouting brigade has rede-fined for the nation.

One recalls an oft-repeatedquote of Jawaharlal Nehru on uni-versities: “A university stands forhumanism, for reason, for theadventure of ideas and for thesearch of truth. It stands for theonward march of the humanrace towards even higher objec-tives. If the universities dischargetheir duty adequately, then it iswell with the nation and people.”

One wonders whether themedia-savvy academics andscholars, self-proclaimed sav-iours of secular values, have everrealised the need to get their uni-versities evaluated on the criteri-on set forth before them byPandit Nehru. It is well knownamongst academics and scholarsthat JNU grew up under the influ-ence of a strong political bias andideological compulsions. Insteadof moving ahead on a path of cre-ating a platform for scholars andknowledgeable of all shades, it,unhesitatingly selected a narrowpath, which made it impossible toprovide opportunities to thosewho do not think ‘alike’ even forinteractive opportunities withtheir own adored luminaries.

No futuristic institution com-mitted to imparting knowledgeand discovering new knowledgewould bar the entry of the achiev-ers, thinkers, scholars and acad-emics that may have differentphilosophical and ideological ori-entation. If communist leadersSitaram Yechury or Prakash Karatis welcome to address studentswithin the JNU campus, thereought to be no fuss about an invi-tation to Baba Ramdev orSubramanian Swamy.

In fact, one would wish to seethem together on the same plat-

form. Why should JNU or DelhiUniversity (DU) not inviteTaslima Nasreen or Tarek Fatehand listen to them? There can beno better place for such dialoguesthan a national university ofwhich every Indian would like tobe proud of! The people expect aleadership role from majornational universities on practical-ly every aspect of growth,progress and development. Afterall, the basic purpose of gainingknowledge and discovering newknowledge is to use it in humanwelfare. Research institutions arenow seen with immense respecteven by those who may not com-prehend their contributions intotality but are aware of their sin-cerity and commitment.

JNU came into public dis-course mainly for its collegesdealing with social sciences, par-ticularly history. It created ahomogeneous group of historianswho would just not permit evena mention of the theories they didnot subscribe to. The Aryan inva-sion theory is just one illustrativeexample. There is enough evi-dence at least to mention that adifferent view-point exists. The

historians would not permit eventhat in textbooks! People havereason to believe that this rigid-ity and exclusivism is part ofpolitical affiliations and com-pulsions. There is no evidence ofeven an inclination to bring thetwo schools of thoughts togeth-er. The Indian Council ofHistorical Research (ICHR) andthe Indian History Congressremained under the hegemony ofsome of these luminaries. Thecoterie consisted of the beneficia-ries of their largesse that flowsfrom official patronage in termsof coveted postings and perks.

Now that things havechanged at the political level, asthey should in a democratic set-up, the loss of paradise for theselect few is, indeed, disturbing.That is why, their only defencecomes from clutching to famil-iar terms like ‘saffronisation’. Ithelps the ‘secularists’ wheneverthey find themselves on a weakwicket. After all they are respon-sible for the present situation, asthey opted for self-centered andideologically constrainedapproach al l along, 1970onwards. They are reaping the

fruits of their own sowing. Nationalism and patriotism

cannot be defined separately forKerala and Jammu & Kashmir.

Leading universities have aresponsibility to study how hurt-ful to the nation as a whole arethe slogans of azadi for Kashmir,or Bastar now. Imagine the hurtinflicted on the families of themartyrs. It is indeed shocking toclaim that these slogansshouters-in JNU were outsiders.Then comes the ridiculousexplanation: ‘Oh, we meantazadi from hunger, poverty andmisery!’ Who would believe it?All that is happening in J&K forthe last over two decades, can-not be blamed, by any stretch ofimagination, only on the presentUnion Government.

Should our leading universi-ties not debate the statements ofpeople like Farooq Abdullah andthe dynasty that ruled over J&Kfor three generations, ad which isnow a frustrated lot? Why shouldthere not be a purely academicdiscussion on social, cultural andreligious aspects of issues liketriple talaq and polygamy etc?

Which other institution,other than the likes of DU, JNU,Aligarh Muslim University,Banaras Hindu University, is bet-ter placed and suited forinformed, intellectual and vision-ary deliberations on nationalissues that impact the religiousamity and social cohesion in theIndian society? Instead of high-level intellectual discourse, theuniversities are wasting theirtime on petty issues that could beresolved in-house within hours.

We need authentic reportsfrom independent sources howState Governments open newuniversities to score browniepoints and starve them ofresources from day one! There areserious issues concerning thequality of education being deliv-ered by private universities, mostof which are keener about divi-dends than any of the quality con-sideration. Is is not astonishingthat thousands of qualified youngpersons are waiting for teachingjobs but archaic recruitment pro-cedures have created a conditionof non recruitment by even mostof the central universities?

One would like to see JNUor DU, or both together, proposea visionary yet pragmatic educa-tional model that would help thecause of promoting nationalintegration, social cohesion andreligious amity.

(The writer is former directorof NCERT)T

he last two phases of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly election scheduled to beheld on March 4 and 8 are crucial for many reasons. The first is that therounds comprise Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Lok Sabha constituency,

Varanasi. All eyes are on the performance of the Bharatiya Janata Party there.The Samajwadi Party has had a good hold in the Assembly constituencies thatfall in the region, but the Prime Minister's personal popularity is expected to comeinto play this time around. Modi will be carpet-bombing his constituency for threedays beginning on Saturday and winding up the campaign with a massive rallyon Monday. The Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance is equally active. The part-ners will be holding a mega show on March 4. The idea is to not just win theeight seats there but also embarrass the Prime Minister in the process. The coali-tion has roped in students from Banaras Hindu University to add muscle to theireffort. The second reason why the last two rounds are critical for all parties isthat a big chunk — 89 seats — is up for grabs. Eastern Uttar Pradesh has itsown dynamics, different vastly from that of the western region which has already

voted. Issues of poverty, health andeducation are uppermost in the peo-ple's mind. As many as 28 districtsin the region have a per capitaincome that is nearly half of that ofwestern Uttar Pradesh, and there arefar fewer industries and sustainablejob opportunities. The third reason isthat caste comes into play more dom-inantly in the eastern region than inthe west. While the minority factor isa key element in western UttarPradesh (along with the Jat issue), inthe eastern belt, it's caste — OtherBackward Classes and the ScheduledCastes. The BJP is confident of thesupport of the non-Yadav caste groupand is also banking on the backing ofthe non-Jatavs. In the Ballia-Ghazipurbelt, for instance, the party has

aggressively pushed for a ‘rainbow' coalition of non-Yadav OBC and non-Jatavvotes, sending the Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) in a tizzy.

On the other hand, the Samajwadi Party (SP) hopes to mop up the minori-ty votes, hold on to the Yadav votes and benefit from the Congress's core vot-ers. But it is indeed difficult to predict which way the voters in eastern Uttar Pradeshwill swing. If one considers all of the eastern region of the State, there are 150seats or so. They have gone differently in the last two Assembly elections. In2007, the voters preferred Mayawati's Bahujan Samaj Party; the BSP got closeto 80 seats. Five years down the line, they were disillusioned and switched theirpreference to the Samajwadi Party, given it 85 seats ( the sweep is evident fromthis one example — in Jaunpur, the SP won seven of the nine seats); the BSPtally whittled down to just 25. In the 2014 Lok Sabha election, of course, theregion, as the rest of the state, voted overwhelmingly for the BJP, reducing theBSP to ashes and the SP to a non-entity.

Call him what you may — aggressive, shrewd campaigner, a man high onrhetoric, tough as nails — but there’s apparently no stopping US PresidentDonald Trump from going ahead, in his words, in making ‘America Great

Again'. This was so starkly evident in his maiden speech to the US Congress atCapitol Hill. Trump's month-long ascendency had been in the news until nowfor all the wrong reasons, for his hard-line positions — his sharp immigration,travel or refugee policy. This time, the Trump that appeared on television screenswas calm, comforting, peaceful and mature; even his tie was striped in blue andwhite, a departure from the usual red, depicting his loyalty. Focusing less onpolicymaking and more on the problems faced by his fellow Americans, he soughtto establish a heart-to-heart conversation with them. He went on to re-establishthe lost confidence of those people who remained distressed with his policy deci-sions ever since in office. And, he struck a chord with Indians too. In fact, a changein tone was visible right in the beginning of his speech when he condemned therecent killing of an Indian at Kansas and also the spate of threats to the Jewishcommunity and the vandalisation of cemeteries. His hour-long speech resound-ed with the term “unity”. He went on to assert, “America stands united in con-

demning hate and evil in all itsforms.” There was a sense of genuine-ness in his condemnation. Hisacknowledgement of the racially-motivated Kansas killing will not fullysoothe the aggrieved family membersof the victim, Srinivas Kuchibhotla —in fact, nothing can make up for theloss. But the least the condemnationcan do is to provide for the supportof the world’s most powerful leader indemanding justice. A beginning in thisdirection has already been made, withthe Federal Bureau of Investigationprobing the crime as one of racialhatred. Further, President Trump wenton to soothe the anxiety of Indianimmigrants who remained uncertainabout their fate ever since his admin-istration issued executive orders to

toughen immigration laws in his country. While acknowledging the immense tal-ent and skill of the Indian diaspora, he changed his stand to give preference tothe age-old merit-based entry system, whereby green cards would be issued tothe immigrants, judging on their qualifications like education, skill levels, employ-ability, language and family. Like in colleges, the ones who fare better will havea greater chance to be an immigrant of that country. While keeping the chal-lenges in mind, Trump also did not fail to ask for his rivals’ support to overhaulimmigration laws.

Dedicating a quarter of his speech to the policies of his Government, the USPresident called upon the Congress to work with him to reform key policies likeObamacare, changing the tax code and rebuilding the nation's infrastructure andthe military. He talked of unity, harmony and unanimity and asked his fellowRepublicans to work hand-in-hand with the Democrats for the betterment of hiscountry. He went on to re-assure the people of his country when he said, “Weare one people, with one destiny”. Surely, this time the Trump that we saw waspresidential and statesmanlike.

Hitting the right notes

Unity is the recurring theme for US President

opinion 08LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

Universities of unrestand secessionismOne wonders whether our media-savvy academics and scholars, self-proclaimed saviours of secular values,have ever realised the need to get their universities evaluated on the criterion Nehru had laid down

Warriors ready for last lap

With just two rounds to go, UP battle tantalising

Targeting anti-nationals

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “An anti-national agenda”(March 2). One needs to com-mend the role that the AkhilBharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad hasbeen played in exposing the anti-nationals who are out to defamethe country by targeting educa-tional institutions. For decades,these elements have been operat-ing unabated in our universitiesand polluting young minds.Infesting anti-national notions inthe minds of students has beentheir key strategy.

Manu TanejaDelhi

`Babri’ still?

Sir — This refers to the article,“Babri mosque? Or was itAurangzebi mosque?” (March 2) byRajesh Singh. Author KishoreKunal’s conclusion makes sense.Especially since it is not clear ifBabur was a Muslim. Traditionally,Mongols followed whatever prac-tices caught their eyes or were con-venient. Also, both, Humayun andAkbar were reasonably tolerant toHindus. Aurangzeb, on the otherhand, was a religious bigot.

Narendrav Kumar Via email

Begin afresh

Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “The Mayor of Mumbai”(March 1). The voters ofMumbai have given a fracturedverdict in the civic bodies elec-tions, with both the saffron par-ties getting almost equal seats,but neither has the requirednumber to appoint its Mayor.

Since the Shiv Sena won byjust two seats, it has the consti-tutional right to come forward.But the Shiv Sena has reserva-tions against the latter. On theother hand, it does not have therequired number of seats toappoint its Mayor. It is in aCatch-22 situation: Have aninteraction with its saffron coun-terpart or to opt for its tradition-al bête noire, the Congress.

If it opts for the Congress, itwill have to face public ire.Moreover, it will also be suicidalfor both parties, as the Shiv Senahas shown its acrimony againstnorth Indians in Mumbai; andUttar Pradesh elections are stillgoing on. Therefore, for thebetterment of the civic corpora-tion, the Shiv Sena must forgetits past bitterness and re-alignwith the BJP.

Sagar SinghNew Delhi

NCP future

Sir — This refers to the article, “Isit an end game for the NCP?”(March 1) by Kalyani Shankar. Thejust-concluded civic body electionsin Maharashtra have come as a bigboost for the BJP and a shock forboth the Maharashtra NavnirmanSena (MNS) and the NationalistCongress Party (NCP).

It may not be an end game forthe NCP yet as its chief, SharadPawar, has faced many ups anddowns in the past and hasemerged as a strong leader. But thelarger question is: Barring SharadPawar, who else is there to take theparty to new heights? There is noconvincing answer to this.

The columnist has rightlysaid that the NCP remains a one-man party and that it is what itis today due to Sharad Pawar. Hisidea of forging an alliance withthe Congress is an attempt toregain relevance. But one thing iscertain: It’s really an end game forthe MNS. It is high time that RajThackeray understands this andaligns with his cousin to remainrelevant in the State’s politics.

Bal GovindNoida

www.dailypioneer.com

p a p e r w i t h p a s s i o n

JS RAJPUT

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

The challenge we,

especially Muslims,

face now is terror-

ism. We should

close ranks in com-

bating terrorism.

Saudi king

—Salman bin

Abdul-Aziz

I definitely foresee the

Samajwadi Party losing

along with the Bharatiya

Janata Party. They have

been failures so far.

AIMIM chief

—Asaduddin Owaisi

We can't look for

excuses. What we

can do is improve

our performance. We

are not happy with

how we have

been playing.

Real Madrid coach

—Zinedine Zidane

ONE WOULD LIKE TOSEE JNU OR DU, ORBOTH TOGETHER,

PROPOSE AVISIONARY YET

PRAGMATICEDUCATIONALMODEL THAT

WOULD HELP THECAUSE OF

PROMOTINGNATIONAL

INTEGRATION

SOUNDBITE

Debunking false claims

on growth rate figures

This refers to the report, “GDP growth dispels note ban fear” (March 1).India’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth rate, which stands at sevenper cent in the third quarter ending December, is just a bit lower than the

7.4 per cent of the corresponding quarter last year, and contradicts those whosaw demonetisation as a disaster for the economy. Nobel Laureate and econ-omist Amartya Sen termed demonetisation as a “despotic act”. Former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh saw the GDP growth declining by two per cent, andsenior Congress leader P Chidambaram called it the “biggest scam of 2016”.

Amartya Sen’s prejudice against the Prime Minister is no secret and Singhand Chidambaram are leaders of the Congress. In light of the just-released GDPfigures on the impact of demonetisation seem to be exaggerated though theCongress, some economists and rating agencies have questioned the GDP figures disbelieving their authenticity. However, GDP datais of no importance to the voters.

MC JoshiLucknow

Send your feedback to: letterstopioneer@gmail.com

THE PIONEER | PAGE 9 ✦ LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

BIGST RYTROUBLE-MAKERS,

ON THE STREETS AND OUTSIDE

On February 23, Chief of ArmyStaff General Bipin Rawattook an unscheduled flightfrom New Delhi to hurried-ly land in Srinagar. Only a few

top-ranking officers in the NorthernCommand and XV Corps headquartersknew about his arrival, necessitated by anovernight militant ambush in Shopian thatkilled three soldiers and injured five oth-ers, including two officers.

The Army chief spent the next 24 hoursin discussions with field commanders on thesecurity scenario. He visited the headquar-ters of the two counter-insurgency divisions— Victor Force and Kilo Force — to get afeedback on the emerging situation. Theharshest reality was that in 12 days prior tohis visit, the Army had lost nine soldiers,including an officer, in separate encounters.The latest attack carried out by HizbulMujahideen cadre was, as the outfit claimed,in reaction to Gen Rawat’s statement, warn-ing that the local population will be treat-ed at par with militants should they inter-fere with the anti-insurgency operations car-ried out by the security forces. The remarkhas ruffled many a feather and stirred anintense debate on the ground realities inKashmir. The velvet glove or iron fist argu-ments occupied much of the media space.

Much before Gen Rawat became theArmy chief, the situation in the entireJammu & Kashmir region, be it along theborders or the hinterland, was not in fullcontrol. The skirmishes along the bordersin violation of the November 2003 ceasefirepact were a routine; infiltration attempts anorm and uptick in militant-security forcesclashes a reality. To top it, the five monthsof unrest triggered by the killing of BurhanWani in July 2016, disturbed the security set-up. For around six months, the Army didnot carry out any counter-insurgency oper-ation in south Kashmir. It was a period whenmilitant groups got fresh recruits and

replenished their arsenal.One of the attributes for Gen Rawat’s

ascendancy to top post was his counter-insurgency experience in Kashmir. It wasprojected to be in line with NationalSecurity Advisor Ajit Doval’s ‘doctrine’ todeal sternly with people pursuing, sustain-ing and supporting secessionism. Therefore,the people supporting militants holed up inan encounter were bracketed with the sep-aratist Hurriyat Conference and militants,and dealing with them was akin withfighting militancy. “We are giving them(people) an opportunity, should they wantto continue (to support militants), then wewill continue with relentless operations,maybe with harsher measures and that is theway to continue”, Rawat said on February

15 — on a day when four militants and sixsoldiers including an officer were killed intwo separate encounters in north Kashmir.

During the past 27 years, Kashmir hasbeen a laboratory for dealing with public dis-sent and dispassion. There was a time whenthousands of militants operated in the regionand there also came a time when the num-ber of militants reduced enough to be count-ed on fingers. In the initial years of counter-insurgency, soldiers during cordon andsearch operations were herding all men ofa habitation to an identification parade ina bid to track down militants. There washardly any resistance from the people.During a raging gun-battle, the peoplewould run away from the site, leaving onlythe combatants to fight each other. Now, at

innumerable places, youngsters attempt tobreak the cordon and help militants escape.

Several times, they succeed. This hap-pened at Pampore, where a dreaded counter-insurgent, Papa Kashtwari, now jailed formurder, once ruled the roost and almostwiped out militancy. Women were seensinging folk songs when an encountercontinued for three days in a Governmentbuilding. It also happened at Hajin whereslain counter-insurgency king Kuka Parrayonce lived and sent shivers down thespines of militants and their over-groundsympathisers. At least five times, localyoungsters foiled the cordon and helped mil-itants escape at Hajin in recent months.

It requires a deeper understanding of thesituation in Kashmir before mechanisms can

be adopted to tackle it. The harsher meth-ods — custodial deaths and tortures, fakeencounters, public beating and in a few cases,gang rapes — have miserably failed andproven counter-productive. The indiscrim-inate use of pellet guns to blast out eyes andthe killing of protesting civilians in the sum-mer of 2016 only proved it once again.

The defiance at the encounter sitesreflects the hopelessness of Kashmiris,especially the youngsters, who seem to beready to prefer death if it comes out of somedegree of ‘heroism’. The Government and itsagencies may rightly blame Pakistan and theseparatists for this situation, but this cannotexonerate it completely. The fact is that thepeople in Kashmir perpetually live anabnormal life. There is uncertainty about thefuture as people discuss real and perceivedthreats to their existence.

Two years ago, on March 1, the PDP andthe BJP had inked an alliance with thepromise to provide unmatched governance.It was given to understand that the ‘north-pole south-pole alliance’ would initiate polit-ical measures. Ironically, things went awry.Instead of engagement with the voices of dis-sent, the harsher methods came into prac-tice. The promises of development took aback seat when pellet guns ruled the roostand detention under the Public Safety Actbecame a norm.

Kashmir has witnessed several phasesof peace and revolt in the past decades. Theviolence went to its lowest ebb when therewas a sense of engagement, both internal-ly and externally; it touched heights whenthere was none. The warnings have notworked, the engagement has. The youth inKashmir have dreams and aspirations likeany of their counterparts anywhere in theworld. They need to be heard and engagedwith. Delay only suits vested interests, likeFarooq Abdullah, who now appreciates theyoungsters’ yearning for azadi. This is hisout-of-power rhetoric.

On his latest Kashmir visit, Gen Rawatreiterated tackling stone-pelters effectivelyat encounter sites but he did not miss theessence of engagement as well. “The Generalalso appreciated the various humanitarianinitiatives undertaken by the troops to bringsuccour to common people and exhortedthem to sustain this positive engagementwith the residents”, a defence spokesman saidon the conclusion of the chief ’s visit. Let’shope good sense prevails. n

There is a saying that oneshould not play with fireunless one has the desire to

get burnt. This is apt in the contextof the recent statement given byChief of Army Staff, General BipinRawat, warning of tough actionagainst stone-pelting mobs that dis-turb the forces engaged in encoun-ters with militants in Jammu &Kashmir. Gen Rawat’s words maysound harsh to some, but as thecommander of the world’s thirdlargest standing Army, he needs tobe assertive and not brush aside anyprovocation that might ultimatelyresult in further bloodbath. Theremark should not be treated as athreat, but as a genuine concernthat needs serious introspection.

It is highly unfortunate thatcertain sections of our society havetried to present the Army chief asa rogue, without taking intoaccount the challenges our soldiersface on an everyday basis on theground. We cannot act naïve orsound idealistic and say anythingto please a narrative which has nosound basis or logic.

People have no business to ven-ture near encounter sites or glorifysuch ‘bravado’ in the name of ‘azadi’.These acts are fraught with danger, asthere is no love happening across theline. Crossing the line would meanmore casualties which none, apartfrom the fringe elements (who pro-voke gullible people) want. It is not

difficult to understand that cross-fir-ing does not differentiate between afriend and a foe.

Kashmiris have to accept the real-ity and be honest to their consciencethat nowhere in the world would anyArmy tolerate a civilian populationdisrupting encounters by peltingstones or mocking at the soldiers.Going near the encounter sites orhelping the militants flee is tanta-mount to suicide and it should not becondoned. It also takes away our rightof being called civilians or what cer-tain media outlets call ‘peaceful pro-testors’. This ill behaviour of peoplemust not be overlooked and thosewho claim to be their well-wishersmust be held responsible for any unto-ward incident that happens in thecourse of such events.

We have to learn to express ourpolitical beliefs in a democratic andpeaceful manner. It is our right.However, stone-pelting is not theway. What purpose does it serve toattack the Army, knowing wellthat it will end in retaliation andhence, civilian killings? It brings usnothing apart from physical harmand creates misgivings about ourexpression of ‘genuine’ politicalissues and grievances.

The separatists and their spon-sors in Pakistan want to prolong theconflict, as it is serves their purpose.They want people to get killed, sothat they can play politics over thedead bodies. Meaningless violence,which brings about death anddestruction, is futile and incapableof ever helping the people’s cause.

No doubt, the Army has donean incredible job in containing theinsurgency in J&K and bringingback normalcy, but there havebeen gross mistakes committed onits part as well. When people failed

to see justice dispensed in rights’violations, it further alienated themfrom the system. Though it waseasy for the Governments to standby the people, yet it chose to actindifferently and insensitively.

However, people have alsoplayed their part in establishingpeace by participating in the demo-cratic processes repeatedly. Theyreciprocated to every reach-outinitiatives by the Army, and that isthe reason we see a huge transfor-

mation happening over the years interms of peace. It is why we hard-ly come across any case of humanrights violation in the recent past.

The fringe elements may feelencouraged by Gen Rawat’s state-ment and try to push more andmore civilians towards gunfights.Nevertheless, the Governmenthas to be proactive and counterthis emerging trend by launchinga systematic campaign to dis-courage people from following

this self-destructive ‘heroism’.Killing militants always compli-

cates the problem further. Weshould think of different methodsto bring them back to the main-stream. If there is a consensus onthe issue within the security estab-lishment, it will bring about a totalturnaround in the situation.

If there is anything that hasfailed to supplement the Army’s suc-cess in Kashmir, it is the failure of thepolitical establishment to connectwith the youth. It is not out of any‘sentiment’ that the young resort toviolence, but frustration, whichbrings them in harm’s way. The chal-ta hai approach adopted byGovernments in the past has broughtmore misgivings than anything elsehas. Genuine concerns about theyounger generation’s future, educa-tion and lifestyle need to beaddressed. Innovative ways must beadopted to reach out to those whosee stakes in death, not life.

State Governments in Kashmirover the years have failed to engagewith the youth despite the lattercoming in large numbers duringelections to vote. That sentimentwas never respected, resulting intofurther desperation for the young.

The new Government headedby Mehbooba Mufti has been tak-ing serious measures to bring backthe lost confidence in the system.The efforts to see reforms in edu-cation and focus on sports ought tobe welcomed as stepping stonestowards achieving the larger goal

There is no harm in peoplefighting for their political idealsand goals, but there is no logic insacrificing the lives of our youthfor the sake of these battles. n

(Views expressed are personal.Twitter: @traluk)

General's critics barking up the wrong tree

JAVAID TRALI MEDIA ANALYST J&K GOVERNMENT

Youth rushing towards encounter sitesand incidents of stone-pelting on the

forces during encounters are worrying andalarming signs of the sense of alienationand disenchantment in Kashmir

— NC spokesperson JUNAID AZIM MATTU

India's arrogance and stale thinking is thebasic reason for continuous bloodshed

and political uncertainty in the State. Peopleof the State, and particularly the youth, areup against this hegemony and suppression.

— Hurriyat chairman SYED ALI SHAH GEELANI

The Indian Army chief must realise that hecannot scare a nation that has sacrificed

more than a hundred thousand of its men,women, youth and children during ongoingresistance movement. This statement mayadd to the miseries of Kashmiris, but it willalso push many youth to the wall and, drivethem towards arms struggle, and hencepromote violence in this region.

— Chairman of Jammu andKashmir Liberation Front

YASIN MALIK

There should be action against the stonepelters and whoever works against

national interest as national interest issupreme. Whatever the Army chief hassaid, he has said that in national interest.There is no need to misinterpret it. Thereis nothing wrong in the Army chief'sstatement.

— Union Minister of State for Home KIREN RIJIJU

Yes, the Army chief is correct. It is,therefore, important for the Army chief

to go and arrest and take action againstwhoever may be, whether he is frompolitical dispensation or he is from civilauthorities. Action must be taken againstevery anti-national element.

— Congress leader TOM VADAKKAN

While New Delhi doesn't get tired ofclaiming Kashmiris as its own people,

the threat given by General Rawat hasexposed the claim. The threat is aconfession that militants have masssupport and calling them terrorists is not

the solution. His warning can be hisprofessional compulsion, but New Delhimust see and analyse it beyond that.

— Independent MLA ENGINEER ABDUL RASHID

Indian military and political leadershiphad no other option but to come to grips

with the reality that the Kashmir issuecannot be dealt with military might or withthreats of war but by involving all partiesto the Kashmir dispute in a meaningfuland result-oriented dialogue process. Thiscould also help end political uncertainty inthe entire South Asia.

— Separatist leader MIRWAIZ UMAR FAROOQ

The Army chief's comments areintemperate. The issue is a political

problem which needs a political solutionand a political reach-out. I am worried and Irequest the Government to halt thisapproach and adopt a different one. Moreinfiltration and encounters are taking place,and things are getting very bad.

— Former Union Minister P CHIDAMBARAM

Delay in engaging with the youth suits vested interests like Farooq Abdullah, who now appreciates the desire for azadi

People have no business to venture near encounter sites or glorify such

‘bravado' in ‘azadi’s name. There is no love happening in the line of fire

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NEW DELHI: The GST levy maygo up to 40 per cent after theGST Council proposed raisingthe peak rate in the Bill to 20per cent, from the current 14per cent, to obviate the needfor approaching Parliamentfor any change in rates infuture.

The model Goods andServices Tax Bill will replacethe clause which states the taxrate “not exceeding 14 percent, with “not exceeding 20per cent” when it comes up fordebate in Parliament duringthe second phase of Budgetsession beginning next week.

The change in the peakrate will not alter the 4-slab ratestructure of 5, 12, 18 and 28per cent agreed upon last yearfor the moment, but is only aprovision being built into themodel law to take care of con-tingencies in future, two offi-cials in the know told thenews agency.

The revised draft of model

GST law, which was madepublic in November 2016, pro-vides for a maximum rate oftax under the new regime at 14per cent (14 per cent centralGST and an equal state GST,taking the total to 28 per cent).

“There shall be levied a taxcalled the central/state goodsand services tax (CGST/SGST)on all intra-state supplies ofgoods and/or services... Atsuch rates as may be notifiedby the central/stateGovernment... But not exceed-

ing 14 per cent on the recom-mendation of the Council andcollected in such manner asmay be prescribed,” the draftlaw states.

Officials said this will nowbe changed to say the rate willnot exceed “20 per cent”.

The GST Council, head-ed by Finance Minister ArunJaitley and comprising repre-sentatives of all states, hasagreed to keep the upper bandof the rate in the law at 20 percent.

“For the moment, we willnot tinker with the rate struc-ture of 5, 12, 18 and 28 percent. The GST Council hasdecided to keep the upper caphigher at 20 per cent so that infuture in case of need to hiketax rate, there is no need toapproach Parliament for a nodand the GST Council can raiseit,” the officials said.

This means the centralGST and state GST can be upto 20 per cent each, leaving thescope for a maximum levy at40 per cent.

“The 4-tier rate structurethat has been decided willhold for now. By keeping theupper cap at 20 per cent, we arejust keeping an enabling pro-vision which the Council canexercise at a later date afterdeliberation,” the officialsadded.

Mirroring the model GSTlaw, the CGST, the SGST andthe UTGST law will be firmedup by the Centre, states and

Union Territories, respectively.The Centre plans to intro-

duce in Parliament the CentralGST (CGST) Bill in the forth-coming session beginningMarch 9.

After it is ratified, the stateswill introduce the State GST(SGST) Bill in their respectivelegislative Assemblies.

The central and state offi-cials will soon start the exerciseto determine which goods andservices should fall in which taxbracket and the same will betaken to the Council forapproval soon.

Together with this, theywill also decide the goodsand services that wouldattract a cess on top of thepeak rate to create a corpusthat can be used to compen-sate states for any loss of rev-enue from implementation ofGST in the first five years.

The Government islooking at GST rollout fromJuly 1. PTI

GST Bill to make peak tax

rate 40%, slabs intact for now

PNS n NEW DELHI

AirAsia India the joint ven-ture between Malaysian

low-cost airline AirAsia Bhd.and Tata Sons is putting theturmoil of 2015 and early 2016behind itself. After years ofstalled growth, the airlineadded two more aircraft inlate-2016 and is planning toadd six more Airbus A320aircraft by October 2017according to Amar Abrol,Chief Executive Officer,AirAsia India.

After taking over on April1, 2016, Abrol said that the firstfew months in the airline forhim was to stabilise operations.“Growth was not on our agen-da at first, things needed to set-tle down. I believe we haveachieved that and now we canembark on a growth phaseagain.” The airline has spentthe last few months adding

more staff to handle the oper-ations of an expanded airlineand Abrol mentioned that thehuman resources front hasbeen a particular concern forhim and staff strength hasgone from 650n to 1050employees in the past fewmonths, more than enoughaccording to him to handle thenew planes and additional fre-quencies.

With growth back on theagenda, Abrol spoke about howthe airline is adding new sta-tions and expanding opera-tions in Delhi. Of the eight air-craft currently in the fleet, fiveare based in bangalore andthree in Delhi but Abrol said ofthe six planes joining the fleetthis year, three each will go toKolkata and Delhi. “Delhi willbe our largest station and we seeKolkata as a major centre forgrowth for us.” AirAsia Indiastill does not operate from

Mumbai, as slots at Mumbaiairport are difficult to come by.

In addition, AirAsia is look-ing to increase to over 20 air-craft by 2018 and has justestablished a team to exploreinternational operations afterthe government scrapped the5/20 policy, although airlinesstill need 20 aircraft plus tooperate international routes.In the meantime, Abrol men-tioned that AirAsia India isworking with their sister con-cerns in Malaysia, Thailandand Indonesia for better coor-dination between internation-al operations run by those air-lines into India and AirAsiaIndia. “Our sister concernsoperate 96 flights a week intoIndia, we are exploring how wecan better coordinate our flightoperations so as to offer moreconnectivity both to incomingpassengers as well as Indianpassengers.”

AirAsia India revealsgrowth plans for 2017Plans to add at least six new aircraft, make Kolkata third base

NEW DELHI: Economic and polit-ical systems in India have “notdeveloped maturity” for nuancedinterventions and tend to takerecourse to bans and restrictions,Chief Economic Advisor ArvindSubramanian said on Thursday.

Voicing concerns that judi-ciary has acquired more author-ity than legislators, he said thesociety has become highly liti-gious and vouched for indepen-dent regulatory institutions thatare free from political interfer-ence.

“I think regulatory institu-tions in India are still a work inprogress. I do not think that wehave attained the kind of matu-rity in our regulatory institutionsthat we need to and let’s be hon-est about that,” he said here at afunction.

Subramanian made a casefor building capacity at variousinstitutions.

“Our economic and politicalsystem has still not developed thematurity to have finely calibrat-ed interventions for problems.

“We have recourse to bluntinstruments, bans, restrictionsetc. In the areas of competitionpolicy, I think we need to

have...Nuanced interventionwherever problem arise,” he said.

He admitted however that itmay not be easy to do things.

“So capacity (creation) isimportant, using calibrated as

compared to blunt instrument isvery important...(and) of courseall regulatory institutions shouldbe independent and free frompolitical interference,”Subramanian said.

“Anything happens and itgoes to litigation and appeal. Sowe have become a highly liti-gious socitey... Everything isgoing to appeal and courts...The judiciary and the judicial

type bodies have acquiredmuch more authority andpower than the legislators...,” hesaid.

In such scenario, he added,there is a need to find ways toexpedite the process of takingand implementing deci-sions.”There is this feeling thatfinally everything has to beadjudicated by the courts andthe Supreme Court in particu-lar. So, we are kind of getting afunnelling of decision makingand its getting getting jammedand blocked,” he said.

“So how do we make ourcountry less litigious and howdo we expedite things. I think,these are the challenges for allregulatory institutions and alsofor the CCI,” he added.

He also said that exit forbusinesses is also very difficultin the country as their badloans have to be written off, andcompanies have to be failed forthat.

Civil aviation and publicsector banks are few of theareas where “exit, exit, exit is aproblem”, he said, adding thatfor this the bankruptcy law isgoing to be important. PTI

NEW DELHI: Air India’s perfor-mance has improved with com-petition posed by private play-ers, Chief Economic AdvisorArvind Subramanian said today,but wondered whether the state-owned airline should “exist atall”.

The national carrier, stayingafloat on a ̀ 30,000-crore bailoutpackage from the central gov-ernment, is working on ways toimprove its financial position. Inthe last fiscal ended March2016, the airline had posted anoperational profit of ̀ 105 crore.

“Air India with IndiGo and

Jet Airways is very differentfrom Air India without...Whether Air India should existat all even with Jet Airways andIndiGo is another questionwhich we don’t want to go intonow,” Subramanian said.

The point is competitionhas actually improved Air India’sperformance, he added.

Subramanian was deliver-ing the keynote address at thenational conference on eco-nomics of competition lawhere.

Despite a debt of `46,570crore, including `15,900 crore

on account of aircraft acquisi-tion, Air India managed toreport an operating profit in2015-16.

In the Union Budget 2017-18, the airline has been allocat-ed `1,800 crore as part of the`30,231 crore financial bailoutpackage.

Last month, the govern-ment informed Parliament thatAir India is expected to post animproved operating profit mar-gin this year even as liquidityconstraints continue to impactthe carrier’s smooth perfor-mance. PTI

CEA wonders whether Air India should ‘exist at all’

NEW DELHI: Demonetisationshave d of f a s much as`8,000 crore in revenues ofauto and tractor industrydu r i ng Nove mb e r andDecember but the recoveryhas been quicker than antic-ipated and normalcy will berestored by month-end, saidPawan Goenka of Mahindra& Mahindra.

In an interaction withthe news agency, he said ifall of the drop in automobileand t r a c tor s a l e s i nNovember and Decemberwere to be attributed tojunking of 500 and 1,000rupee notes and not anyother seasonal factor, theloss to the industry may beof the order of `8,000 croreor 10 per cent of total rev-enue.

“The effect was deeperthan we had thought and therecovery is also quicker thanwe thought and I believethat by end of March wewould be through,” he said.

G o en ka , w ho i s t heMan a g i ng D i re c tor ofM&M, said the long-termbeneficial impact of demon-etisation on the economywould be very much if theGovernment was able to dowhat they had set out to dowith the note ban.

Sales momentum in theautomobile industry, which

was on a high after a goodfestive season in Septemberand October last year, cameto a halt when the ban on`500 and `1,000 notes wasan nounce d in e ar lyNovember, according toGoenka.

“We have worked out...Some kind of formula thattractor and auto industrylost `8,000 crore revenue inNovember and December.The way we have done that(is) what was the growthrate up to October and ifthat growth rate had con-tinued in November andDecember what would havehappened versus what has(actual ly) happened (interms of sales). That’s a fair-ly straight forward calcula-tion. Its `8,000 crore for theindustry and its about 10per cent loss of revenue,” he

said.In November, vehicle

sales across categories reg-istered a decline of 5.48 percent at 15,63,665 units, from16,54 ,407 in November2015. It was the steepestdecline in 43 months whentotal sales had declined by7.75 per cent in March 2013.

In December, monthlyautomobile sales growth inIndia had slipped to a 16-year-low in December, withtotal vehicle sales decliningby 1 8 . 6 6 p e r c e nt at12,21,929 units comparedto 15,02,314 in December2015.

According to SIAM,most of the major segments,including scooters, motor-cycles and cars, witnessedrecord decline in Decembersales due to cash crunch fol-lowing demonetisation.

Stating that the auto andtractor sectors were “in veryh i g h m om e ntu m” i nSeptember and October,Goenka said: “The kind ofsales we had in October, Ihave not seen in a longtime.”

In September 2016, totalsales of vehicles across cat-egories grew by 20.16 percent to 22,60,992 units asagainst 18,81,643 units inthe year-ago month. Therewas a growth of 8.14 percent to 22,01,571 units inO c tob e r 2 0 1 6 f rom20,35,905 units in October2015.

Goenka further said: “It(demonet i s at i on) jus tstopped the momentum andthen it takes time to buildup because there is no ratio-nal reason why people donot buy now.”

He said at present thereare “too many uncertainties”such as the upcoming GSTand that “probably is havingbi g ge r p s ychol o g i c a limpact” on consumers.

While the overall impacton demonetisation “wasvery deep in November andDecember”, he said it hass t ar te d improv ing inJanuary and “I think by nowwe are almost done and Ibelieve that by end of Marchwe will be through”. PTI

DeMo shaves off `8k cr; recoveryquicker than thought, says M&M

PTI n BARCELONA

Finnish firm HMD Global,which has right to market

Nokia brand, is likely to make alldevices of the historic phonecompany in India including theiconic “Nokia 3310”.

“We will attempt to ensure allour products are made in India.We will source all our productfrom India,” HMD Mobile IndiaVice President Ajey Mehta toldthe news agency here.

HMD Global, which hasstruck a 10-year brand licensingagreement with Nokia for mobilephones and tablets, will launch anew version of the 17-year old‘Nokia 3310’ during April-Junefor around `3,500 a unit.

It will also bring in Android-powered Nokia 6, Nokia 5 andNokia 3 to India during the sec-ond quarter itself.

Taiwanese electronic com-pany Foxconn is manufacturingpartner of HMD Global.

At present, some featurephones are already being manu-

factured in India at Foxconn facil-ity.

Mehta said the company iseven evaluating development of4G feature phone.

“We are evaluating all oppor-tunity in the market,” Mehta said,adding India is very importantmarket for HMD Global.

“All consumer requirementsare fed up to the product team atour company which then devel-ops the final product,” Mehtasaid.

The company will sell Nokiaphones through both offline andonline channels.

“Whichever channel willhelp reach us to consumers, wewill go with that. We will be chan-nel agnostic both offline andonline. We currently cover closeto 80,000 retailers but we plan toincrease that in the future,” Mehtasaid. He said the company is alsoboosting its after sales servicechannel and will have directpresence in at least around 250towns in the country by the timephones are launched.

NEW DELHI: The economicimpact of demonetisation hasbeen “sizeable but not cata-strophic” and the country’sgrowth momentum is expect-ed to be U-shaped going for-ward, experts believe.

According to global finan-cial services major HSBC, theeconomic growth in October-December, the first followingthe demonetisation, surprisedon the upside but the details are“sobering”.

HSBC India ChiefEconomist Pranjul Bhandaribelieves three main reasonsexplain the strong third quar-ter numbers.

First, given cancelled noteswere still in use during thequarter, cash crunch was not assevere as initially expected.Second, the statistics officemay have overestimated thegrowth print given it is not ableto collect quarterly informalsector data which is likely tohave been hurt most bydemonetisation.

And third, stripping offagriculture and governmentspending from overall growthreflects true impact of demon-etisation more closely, she saidin a research note.

“We do not see the basis fora v-shaped recovery; ratherwe expect it to be more U-shaped,” Bhandari said.

According to a CapitalEconomics report, the with-drawal of high value notes inNovember had created huge

economic uncertainty andsome initial data looked alarm-ing like vehicle sales and thePMI readings which droppedsharply.

“But more recently, theseand many other indicators sug-gest that activity has alreadypartially rebounded,” it saidadding, “it appears that the eco-nomic impact of demonetisa-tion has been sizeable but notcatastrophic”.

According to the report,demonetisation has causedgrowth in India to slow downbut the economy is set torecover as consumption andinvestment rebound.

“We expect demand tocontinue recovering as newly-issued cash becomes morewidely available,” CapitalEconomics said in a researchnote adding that in all, we areforecasting growth of 6.3 percent in 2017 and 6.5 per centof 2018, compared with ourestimate of 5.7 per cent in 2016.

The onus for lifting growthmore substantially thereforelies with the government andits ability to push ahead withstructural reform.

“As things stand, we seegrowth accelerating to around7 per cent over the mediumterm, from around 5~6 percent in the recent past.However, this would still beslower than the growth Indiacould achieve with moreaggressive reforms,” the reportadded. PTI

DeMo impact sizeable, not catastrophic, say experts

HMD Global to make Nokia

3310, other models in India

PTI n LONDON

Tata Motors-owned JaguarLand Rover has unveiled

new Range Rover model Velar,a passion project of Ratan Tata,as part of its ambitious expan-sion plans to ramp up produc-tion of its luxury brands despitethe challenges posed by Brexit.

Gerry McGovern, LandRover Chief Design Officer,credited the final product to thepassion of Tata Group chair-man emeritus Ratan Tata at agrand ceremony at London’sDesign Museum yesterdayevening.

“I would like to thankRatan Tata. Ever since he sawthe first sketch of the Velar, hebecame a passionate advocateof it,” McGovern said at theunveiling.

“Design has the power toenrich people’s lives... This is avehicle with emotionallycharged DNA and unques-tionable pedigree,” he added.

Described as one of the“hottest products this year”, theVelar is now open to ordersfrom around the world, includ-

ing India, and is priced ataround 45,000 pounds.

The UK car industry hadbacked the remain campaignduring the Brexit referendumlast year because the EuropeanUnion remains by far the coun-try’s biggest market, some-thing that could be directlyaffected by the final trade dealstruck as Britain exits the eco-nomic bloc.

“Brexit is a significant chal-lenge and we want our respec-tive Governments to supportour industry. The last year wasundoubtedly a very, very suc-cessful year for the industry butthere is a lot of uncertainty withone of our biggest market, theEU,” Mike Hawes, the chief ofthe Society of MotorManufacturers & Traders(SMMT), had said recently.

In a boost to British man-ufacturing, JLR announcedthat the Velar will be builtexclusively at JLR’s flagshipSolihull plant in the WestMidlands region of England.

“The expansion of ourproduct range and building thisBritish designed and engi-

neered car in the UK is a signof our confidence in Britishmanufacturing. We are leadingthe global premium car indus-try with our commitment toour home market and ourheart, soul and headquarterswill always be in the UK,” saidJLR CEO Ralf Speth.

The Range Rover brandhas been heralded as Britain’sgreatest luxury export since the1970s and includes the RangeRover, Range Rover Sport andRange Rover Evoque.

Together they have helpedtransform the fortunes of theUK’s largest vehicle manufac-turer, accounting for 85 percent of all premium cars pro-duced in Britain and con-tributing 10 billion pounds tothe UK economy every year,JLR said.

Built using JLR’s leadinglightweight aluminium archi-tecture and powered by the lat-est ultra-clean UK-builtIngenium petrol and dieselengines, the new Velar is posi-tioned between the RangeRover Evoque and the RangeRover Sport.

JLR unveils Ratan Tata’s passion project Range Rover Velar

India’s economic, political systems yet to mature: Subramanian

money 11LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

PTI n NEW DELHI

Global hedge fundinvestors remain positive

about their growth and returnprospects and are focused onemerging market this yearwith a particular emphasison Asia Pacific and India,says a report.

“Regionally, investors arefocused on emerging marketexposure this year, including

a particular focus on AsiaPacific and India. The overallAsia-Pacific region drew thegreatest interest at 24 per centnet demand; down from thelast two years, but enough totop the 2017 list,” CreditSuisse’s ninth annual HedgeFund Investor Survey said.

The sur vey entit led‘Shifting Tides’ noted that theAsia Pacific region toppedthe list of geographies that

drew the greatest interest fromhedge fund investors.

Globally, the assets undermanagement of the hedgefund industry stood at anall-time high of USD 3.018

trillion and investors are forecasting a 3.5 per centincrease in new inf lows during 2017.

The most preferred strat-egy for 2017 was the globalmacro-discretionary, followed

by fixed income arbitrage andemerging markets-equity inthe second and third place,respectively, Credit Suisse saidin the report, which tookresponses from over 320 insti-tutional investors representingUSD 1.3 trillion of hedgefund investments.

“Institutional investorsremain strongly committedto hedge funds playing a rolein their portfolios,” Robert

Leonard, MD and GlobalHead of Capital Services atCredit Suisse, said.

The survey, produced byCredit Suisse’s Hedge FundCapital Ser vices Group,focused on pension funds,endowments, foundations,consultants, private banks,family offices and funds ofhedge funds and with respon-dents diversified across allregions.

PTI n MUMBAI

Stocks frittered away a goodbeginning on Thursday as

the Sensex stumbled and lostabout 145 points to end at28,840 after investors moved into take profit towards the closeamid a lower opening inEurope.

Both the Sensex and theNifty even touched nearly 2-year highs (March 2015) intheir early sessions.

Asia saw a mixed closingand Europe a lower openingamid growing optimism of Fedrate hike bets this month,which may suck out capitalfrom emerging markets, traderssaid. The US markets onWednesday closed at a newhigh.

The BSE index endeddown 144.70 points, or 0.50 percent, at 28,839.79 after movingbetween 29,145.62 and28,784.31 intra-day.

The BSE barometer hadgained by 241.17 points in theprevious session on the back ofstrong GDP data for theDecember quarter and positiveglobal cues.

The NSE Nifty closedlower by 46.05 points, or 0.51per cent, at 8,899.75 after hit-ting 8,992.50 — the highestsince March 3, 2015. It alsotouched a low of 8,879.80.

As many as 22 stocks in the

Sensex group fell and onlyeight rose.

Market started on a strongfooting, picking up cues fromglobal markets on growingoptimism about corporate taxcuts and other policy propos-als as referred to by USPresident Donald Trump dur-ing his speech before theCongress.

Barring auto, all sectoralindices ended lower with real-ty, power, PSU, healthcare, oiland gas, FMCG and bankdown by up to 4.34 per cent.

Wockhardt fell sharply by4.95 per cent after the compa-ny said the US health regulatorhad issued a warning letter toits step-down subsidiaryMorton Grove PharmaceuticalsInc.

Adani Ports plunged 3.07per cent followed by SunPharma (2.63 per cent), NTPC(2.50 per cent), Bharti Airtel(1.71 per cent) and Dr Reddy’s(1.98 per cent).

Auto stocks buzzed for thesecond straight day after releaseof monthly sale numbers as theBSE auto index gained 0.28 percent. Tata Motors shot up 2.66per cent, the best show amongSensex scrips, after the com-pany on Wednesday reported ajump in total sales in February.

The mid-cap index fell1.41 per cent and small-cap1.30 per cent.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) sold shares worth a net`198.27 crore on Wednesday,showed provisional data.

Regional markets weremostly mixed, with China’sShanghai Composite falling0.52 per cent and Hong Kong’sHang Seng 0.20 per cent.Japan’s Nikkei rose 0.88 percent.

Europe too was in the gripof weakness in its early session.

“Profit booking in late after-noon trade dragged indiceslower and pushed them to final-ly close the day near the flat line,”said Karthikraj Lakshmanan,senior fund manager, Equities,BNP Paribas Mutual Fund.

There were almost twolosers against every gainer onBSE.

As many as 1,930 shares felland 957 rose while a total of157 shares were unchanged.

The total turnover at BSEfell to `3,497.21 crore, from`3,816.09 crore on Wednesday.

New Delhi: Asia’s oldestbourse BSE on Thursday saidit would introduce Futures andOptions (F&O) contracts on itsSensex 50 index from March14. S&P BSE Sensex 50 index,launched in December lastyear, measures the performanceof the 50 largest and liquidcompanies listed on the BSE.

The index, which coversover 50 per cent of total mar-ket capitalisation of BSE-listedcompanies, was launched aspart of BSE’s effort to providea more effective tool for insti-tutional and retail investorsgrowing need.

“Exchange shall introduceFutures and Options contractson S&P BSE Sensex 50 index inequity derivatives segment witheffect from March 14, 2017,”BSE said in a circular. PTI

PTI n NEW DELHI

The economic impact ofdemonetisation has been“sizeable but not cata-

strophic” and the country’sgrowth momentum is expect-ed to be U-shaped going for-ward, experts believe.

According to global finan-cial services major HSBC, theeconomic growth in October-December, the first followingthe demonetisation, surprisedon the upside but the details are“sobering”.

HSBC India chief econo-mist Pranjul Bhandari believesthree main reasons explain thestrong third quarter numbers.

First, given cancelled noteswere still in use during the

quarter, cash crunch was not assevere as initially expected.

Second, the statistics officemay have overestimated thegrowth print given it is not ableto collect quarterly informalsector data which is likely tohave been hurt most bydemonetisation.

And third, stripping offagriculture and governmentspending from overall growthreflects true impact of demon-etisation more closely, she saidin a research note.

“We do not see the basis fora V-shaped recovery; rather weexpect it to be more U-shaped,”Bhandari said.

According to a CapitalEconomics report, the with-drawal of high value notes in

November had created hugeeconomic uncertainty and someinitial data looked alarming likevehicle sales and the PMI read-ings which dropped sharply.

“But more recently, theseand many other indicators sug-gest that activity has alreadypartially rebounded,” it saidadding, “it appears that the eco-nomic impact of demonetisa-tion has been sizeable but notcatastrophic”.

According to the report,demonetisation has causedgrowth in India to slow downbut the economy is set torecover as consumption andinvestment rebound.

“We expect demand tocontinue recovering as newly-issued cash becomes more

widely available,” CapitalEconomics said in a researchnote adding that in all, we areforecasting growth of 6.3 percent in 2017 and 6.5 per centof 2018, compared with ourestimate of 5.7 per cent in 2016.

The onus for lifting growthmore substantially thereforelies with the government andits ability to push ahead withstructural reform.

“As things stand, we seegrowth accelerating to around7 per cent over the mediumterm, from around 5~6 percent in the recent past.However, this would still beslower than the growth Indiacould achieve with moreaggressive reforms,” the reportadded.

Demonetisation impact sizeable,

not catastrophic, say experts

Hedge fund investors focused on emerging mkt this yr: Report

Market changes course,

Sensex gives up 145 pts

BSE to launch F&Ocontracts on Sensex50 index from Mar 14

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AXISBANK 506.3 -7 -1.36BAJAJ-AUTO 2831.8 58.8 2.12BAJAJCORP 364 -2.2 -0.6BAJAJELEC 256.1 -5.75 -2.2BAJAJFINSV 3854 -69.65 -1.78BAJAJHIND 14.32 -0.25 -1.72BAJAJHLDNG 2105.55 0.45 0.02BAJFINANCE 1047.4 -27.95 -2.6BALKRISIND 1342.05 32.75 2.5BALMLAWRIE 210.55 -0.85 -0.4BALRAMCHIN 146.7 -3.65 -2.43BANKBARODA 161.6 -3.8 -2.3BANKINDIA 126.15 -2.75 -2.13BASF 1180.4 2.35 0.2BATAINDIA 495.6 -11.8 -2.33BAYERCROP 3914.9 1.95 0.05BBTC 686.9 -2.35 -0.34BEL 1502.2 -17.05 -1.12BEML 1296.8 -33.65 -2.53BERGEPAINT 229.1 -2.25 -0.97BFUTILITIE 398.85 -14.85 -3.59BHARATFIN 795.8 -23.3 -2.84BHARATFORG 1039.7 -10.4 -0.99BHARTIARTL 356.4 -6.2 -1.71BHEL 158.3 -2.25 -1.4BIOCON 1033.85 -81.85 -7.34BIRLACORPN 693.55 -0.25 -0.04BLISSGVS 152.4 -1.3 -0.85BLUEDART 4288.05 -4.55 -0.11BLUESTARCO 568 5 0.89BOMDYEING 57.55 -1.75 -2.95BOSCHLTD 21600.05 104.15 0.48BPCL 635.6 -23.75 -3.6BRITANNIA 3110.35 -70.75 -2.22CADILAHC 430.95 -7.7 -1.76CANBK 290.55 -5.2 -1.76CANFINHOME 1964.15 -20.45 -1.03CAPF 647.55 -6.55 -1CAPPL 402.9 -6.55 -1.6CARBORUNIV 263.15 0.85 0.32CARERATING 1407.45 4.5 0.32CASTROLIND 404.95 -5.05 -1.23CCL 362.75 8.45 2.38CEATLTD 1152.95 -27.45 -2.33CENTRALBK 90.85 -3.35 -3.56CENTURYPLY 243.05 -5.1 -2.06

CENTURYTEX 920.7 -27.5 -2.9CERA 2454.9 24.5 1.01CESC 811.05 -16.6 -2.01CHAMBLFERT 82.05 -1.05 -1.26CHENNPETRO 377.1 -2.4 -0.63CHOLAFIN 955.65 -16.75 -1.72CIPLA 588.15 0.8 0.14COALINDIA 321.6 0.6 0.19COFFEEDAY 234.25 0.5 0.21COLPAL 891.2 -5.2 -0.58CONCOR 1228.7 3.85 0.31COROMANDEL 327.95 -2.6 -0.79CORPBANK 47.4 -1.1 -2.27COX&KINGS 187 -4.6 -2.4CRISIL 2019 13.55 0.68CROMPGREAV 67.45 -1.95 -2.81CROMPTON 188.9 0.1 0.05CUB 144.85 -2 -1.36CUMMINSIND 874 -9.65 -1.09CYIENT 473.8 -5.45 -1.14DABUR 275.35 -0.45 -0.16DALMIABHA 1871 -15.8 -0.84DBCORP 371.05 -3.65 -0.97DBL 323.2 -3.9 -1.19DCBBANK 152.6 -2 -1.29DCMSHRIRAM 275.9 -1.7 -0.61DEEPAKFERT 251.2 -0.4 -0.16DELTACORP 149.35 -3.85 -2.51DEN 81.5 -0.55 -0.67DENABANK 37.7 -0.95 -2.46DHANUKA 780.3 0.05 0.01DHFL 323.95 -8.2 -2.47DISHMAN 223.35 -6.5 -2.83DISHTV 94.45 -2.6 -2.68DIVISLAB 751.6 -14.5 -1.89DLF 141.1 -12.45 -8.11DRREDDY 2869.1 -58 -1.98DYNAMATECH 2933 39.8 1.38ECLERX 1332.1 -16.75 -1.24EDELWEISS 134.35 -5 -3.59EICHERMOT 23449.2 -262.8 -1.11EIDPARRY 283.6 -4.15 -1.44

EIHOTEL 107.15 1.45 1.37ELGIEQUIP 219.65 5.3 2.47EMAMILTD 1032.2 -5.75 -0.55ENGINERSIN 147.15 -2.4 -1.6ENIL 839.45 4.1 0.49EQUITAS 173.55 -2.75 -1.56EROSMEDIA 215.7 -1.85 -0.85ESCORTS 458.4 -2.9 -0.63ESSELPRO 235.95 -3.45 -1.44EVEREADY 244 -4.1 -1.65EXIDEIND 213.75 1.1 0.52FAGBEARING 4215.85 58.65 1.41FCONSUMER 27.2 -0.9 -3.2FDC 209.55 -4.05 -1.9FEDERALBNK 84.9 -3 -3.41FINCABLES 441.2 0.7 0.16FINOLEXIND 541 0.4 0.07FORCEMOT 4271.55 -38.1 -0.88FORTIS 186 -8.9 -4.57FSL 44.1 -1.65 -3.61GAIL 500.45 -6.65 -1.31GATI 127.25 -2.5 -1.93GAYAPROJ 139.25 -1.6 -1.14GDL 254 4 1.6GEOMETRIC 260.8 1.05 0.4GEPIL 585 -15.05 -2.51GESHIP 370.35 -3.75 -1GET&D 293 -3.7 -1.25GHCL* 256.25 -4.65 -1.78GICHSGFIN 298.65 -9.1 -2.96GILLETTE 4097 33.75 0.83GLAXO 2688.75 5.75 0.21GLENMARK 907.65 -21.8 -2.35GMDCLTD 116.1 -2.55 -2.15GMRINFRA 15.9 0.15 0.95GNFC 264.15 -0.65 -0.25GODFRYPHLP 1030 -21.65 -2.06GODREJCP 1606.8 -57.5 -3.45GODREJIND 481.4 -17 -3.41GODREJPROP 368.05 -5.95 -1.59GPPL 155.25 1.8 1.17GRANULES 128.2 -5.8 -4.33GRASIM 996.25 -9.95 -0.99GREAVESCOT 158.15 -5.9 -3.6GREENPLY 292 -1.55 -0.53GRINDWELL 330.7 -2.8 -0.84

GRUH 375.4 2 0.54GSFC 116.55 -3.5 -2.92GSKCONS 5108.25 32.1 0.63GSPL 156.55 0.7 0.45GUJFLUORO 527 -7.05 -1.32GUJGAS 665 4.25 0.64GULFOILLUB 685 -31.8 -4.44HATHWAY 35.95 -0.45 -1.24HATSUN 464.7 -4.25 -0.91HAVELLS 419.35 9.55 2.33HCC 39.3 -0.65 -1.63HCL-INSYS 54.25 -1.3 -2.34HCLTECH 838.75 -10.9 -1.28HDFC 1397.8 -2.8 -0.2HDFCBANK 1379.55 -10.3 -0.74HDIL 67.85 -1.9 -2.72HEIDELBERG 115.35 -0.4 -0.35HEROMOTOCO 3227.55 43.55 1.37HEXAWARE 217.5 -8.95 -3.95HFCL 13.6 -0.37 -2.65HIMATSEIDE 346.25 -7.15 -2.02HINDALCO 189.5 0.35 0.19HINDCOPPER 69.45 -0.95 -1.35HINDPETRO 508.1 -10.3 -1.99HINDUNILVR 877.55 3.05 0.35HINDZINC 312 -6.15 -1.93HMVL 269 0.85 0.32HONAUT 9843.05 -87 -0.88HSIL 319.75 6.6 2.11HTMEDIA 83.15 -1.75 -2.06IBREALEST* 79.25 -5.25 -6.21IBULHSGFIN 852.95 -16.4 -1.89ICICIBANK 278.25 -0.75 -0.27ICICIPRULI 363.2 1.75 0.48ICIL 160.25 -1.55 -0.96ICRA* 4161 -39 -0.93IDBI 77.1 -2.8 -3.5IDEA 109.55 -3.65 -3.22IDFC 51.35 -2.15 -4.02IDFCBANK 60.3 -1.85 -2.98IFCI 28.55 -0.45 -1.55IGL 1028 -22.55 -2.15IIFL 365.05 -9.3 -2.48IL&FSTRANS 100.85 -2 -1.94INDHOTEL 123.3 -2.2 -1.75INDIACEM 161.65 -7.2 -4.26INDIANB 279.15 -8.8 -3.06INDIGO 860.8 -10.4 -1.19INDOCO 269.25 -1.2 -0.44INDUSINDBK 1306.85 -18.9 -1.43INFIBEAM 1375 -20.9 -1.5INFRATEL 289.5 0.15 0.05INFY 1020.65 -4.35 -0.42INGERRAND 690 -9.8 -1.4INOXLEISUR 237 -3.3 -1.37INOXWIND 166.3 -2.95 -1.74INTELLECT 121.75 2.3 1.93IOB 27.05 -0.65 -2.35IOC 375.75 -5.85 -1.53IPCALAB 543.25 -10.4 -1.88IRB 229.85 -7.5 -3.16ISGEC 5555.7 -170.95 -2.99ITC 264.55 -4.05 -1.51ITDCEM 150.5 -0.8 -0.53J&KBANK 70.25 -3.35 -4.55JAGRAN 188.6 1.75 0.94JAICORPLTD 73.25 -2.45 -3.24JBCHEPHARM 329.05 -3.3 -0.99JBFIND 250.65 -8.5 -3.28JCHAC 1450.9 20.6 1.44JETAIRWAYS 420 -22.25 -5.03JINDALPOLY 329.55 6 1.85JINDALSTEL 124.85 -1.4 -1.11JISLJALEQS 92.35 -1.5 -1.6JKCEMENT 862 -18.55 -2.11

JKIL 222.6 -1.9 -0.85JKLAKSHMI 406 0.05 0.01JKTYRE 121 -4.1 -3.28JMFINANCIL 82.85 -1.5 -1.78JPASSOCIAT 14.95 -1.05 -6.56JSWENERGY 62.4 -2.5 -3.85JSWSTEEL 183.35 -6.35 -3.35JUBILANT 712 -1.5 -0.21JUBLFOOD 1035.75 32.55 3.24JUSTDIAL 535.65 -10.7 -1.96JYOTHYLAB 363.75 -9.05 -2.43KAJARIACER 553.6 -27.55 -4.74KALPATPOWR 281.2 -0.1 -0.04KANSAINER 356.05 0 0KEC 163 -5 -2.98KESORAMIND 143 -0.65 -0.45KIRLOSENG 360.05 2.7 0.76KITEX 422 -5.25 -1.23KOTAKBANK 814 -11.1 -1.35KPIT 134.7 -3.75 -2.71KPRMILL 580.05 -0.35 -0.06KRBL 375.7 -3.95 -1.04KSCL 487.5 -9.3 -1.87KTKBANK 137.75 0 0KWALITY 160.15 -0.2 -0.12L&TFH 113.7 -2.65 -2.28LAKSHVILAS 161.35 -1.45 -0.89LALPATHLAB 935.5 -15 -1.58LAOPALA 518.9 33.75 6.96LAXMIMACH 3705 -8.7 -0.23LICHSGFIN 552.85 -9.3 -1.65LINDEINDIA 377.9 6.6 1.78LT 1475 -0.3 -0.02LTI 700.25 -10.35 -1.46LTTS 773.05 -2.7 -0.35LUPIN 1462.5 -6.95 -0.47M&M 1322.15 -25.65 -1.9M&MFIN 286.35 -7.65 -2.6MAGMA 96.15 -2.35 -2.39MAHABANK 33.7 -0.8 -2.32MAHINDCIE 200.5 -0.85 -0.42MAHLIFE 345.2 -0.75 -0.22MANAPPURAM 99.9 0.35 0.35MANPASAND 743 3.2 0.43MARICO 281.75 3.15 1.13MARKSANS 47.85 -1.95 -3.92MARUTI 5918.8 -2.2 -0.04MCLEODRUSS 171.95 -3.35 -1.91MCX 1125.45 -10.4 -0.92MFSL 561.25 -1.9 -0.34MGL 878.2 4.7 0.54MHRIL 424.5 -4 -0.93MINDAIND 423.6 -10.25 -2.36MINDTREE 460.9 -10.35 -2.2MJCO 371.2 -19.2 -4.92MMTC 63.7 -0.95 -1.47MOIL 330.1 -12.55 -3.66MONSANTO 2480 8.25 0.33MOTHERSUMI 352.55 -8.2 -2.27MOTILALOFS 645.35 -19.65 -2.95MPHASIS 594.6 3.1 0.52MRF 51931.9 -785.15 -1.49MRPL 106.25 -2.85 -2.61MTNL 22.35 -0.55 -2.4MUTHOOTFIN 356 -1.9 -0.53NATCOPHARM 767.15 -15.95 -2.04NATIONALUM 75.25 3.75 5.24NAUKRI 843.05 -6.15 -0.72NAVINFLUOR 2482 -29.15 -1.16NAVKARCORP 163.65 -1.8 -1.09NAVNETEDUL 148.3 -1 -0.67NBCC 165.15 -0.35 -0.21NBVENTURES 115.4 -3.6 -3.03NCC 81 -1.95 -2.35NESTLEIND 6180 -51.8 -0.83

NETWORK18 37.15 -2.3 -5.83NH 329.95 10.1 3.16NHPC 29.85 -0.7 -2.29NIITLTD 74.2 -1.75 -2.3NIITTECH 408.25 -8.1 -1.95NILKAMAL 1940.7 -43.55 -2.19NLCINDIA 94.85 1.3 1.39NMDC 145.2 -5 -3.33NOVARTIND 664.45 -1.7 -0.26NTPC 156.05 -4 -2.5OBEROIRLTY 330.95 -10.25 -3OFSS 3637.9 -88.05 -2.36OIL 329.45 -2.9 -0.87OMAXE 168.5 -0.55 -0.33ONGC 192.65 -1.2 -0.62ONMOBILE 78.2 -1.75 -2.19ORIENTBANK 122.2 -4.65 -3.67ORIENTCEM 144.2 -3.9 -2.63PAGEIND 14389 -12.7 -0.09PARAGMILK 222 -3.05 -1.36PCJEWELLER 374 -0.3 -0.08PEL 1835.4 -4.1 -0.22PERSISTENT 637.15 -1.95 -0.31PETRONET 389.1 -10.95 -2.74PFC 135.6 -1.75 -1.27PFIZER 1759.95 0.65 0.04PFS 40.05 -1 -2.44PGHH 7121.1 54.15 0.77PHOENIXLTD 380.25 -5.85 -1.52PIDILITIND 682.55 -6 -0.87PIIND 818.95 -7.45 -0.9PNB 139.2 -3.4 -2.38PNCINFRA 100.5 -0.45 -0.45POLARIS 176 -6.15 -3.38POWERGRID 189.75 -2.8 -1.45PRAJIND 82.25 2.2 2.75PRESTIGE 172.85 0.95 0.55PRISMCEM 97.6 -2.3 -2.3PTC 85.7 -2.15 -2.45PUNJLLOYD 21.15 -0.3 -1.4PVR 1301.95 5.8 0.45RADICO 127.5 -2.4 -1.85

RAIN 93.15 4.5 5.08RAJESHEXPO 533.8 3.15 0.59RALLIS 237 -3.45 -1.43RAMCOCEM* 656 -9.4 -1.41RAMCOSYS 364.4 -16.6 -4.36RAYMOND 607.55 -31.85 -4.98RBLBANK 462.6 -16.5 -3.44RCF 57.2 -1.45 -2.47RCOM 37.3 -1.45 -3.74RDEL 60.35 -2.65 -4.21RECLTD 153.05 -0.25 -0.16REDINGTON 103.2 -2.7 -2.55RELAXO 440 7.75 1.79RELCAPITAL 519.7 -13.75 -2.58RELIANCE 1233.25 -0.9 -0.07RELIGARE 226.45 -3.55 -1.54RELINFRA 552.25 -17.35 -3.05RENUKA 15.1 -0.3 -1.95REPCOHOME 647 -4.7 -0.72ROLTA 61.55 -1.3 -2.07RPOWER 45.85 -1.5 -3.17RTNPOWER 7.13 -0.09 -1.25SADBHAV 272 -1.1 -0.4SAIL 61.85 -1.5 -2.37SANOFI 4268 22.05 0.52SBBJ 736.8 -10 -1.34SBIN 267 -4.95 -1.82SBT 576.85 -10.85 -1.85SCHNEIDER 133 -1.55 -1.15SCI 63.25 0.25 0.4SEQUENT 134.1 -4.85 -3.49SFCL 112.2 0.45 0.4SHARDACROP 469.25 13 2.85SHILPAMED 643.35 2.45 0.38SHK 291.05 -5.55 -1.87SHOPERSTOP 324.25 -4.2 -1.28SHREECEM 15819.35 -271.9 -1.69SHRIRAMCIT 1890.05 0.2 0.01SIEMENS 1196.75 -20.15 -1.66SINTEX 94.5 -2.9 -2.98SITINET 37.25 -0.7 -1.84SJVN 32.05 -0.8 -2.44SKFINDIA 1490 -2.05 -0.14SMLISUZU 1248.4 -33.1 -2.58SOBHA 319.15 -17.7 -5.25SOLARINDS 720 -0.1 -0.01

SONATSOFTW 187 -6.1 -3.16SOUTHBANK 20.35 -0.55 -2.63SPARC 337.15 -3.5 -1.03SPICEJET 72.5 -2.95 -3.91SREINFRA 90.15 -2.8 -3.01SRF 1573.05 24.6 1.59SRTRANSFIN 898.85 -26.65 -2.88STAR 1143.7 -23.7 -2.03STRTECH 127.1 -0.8 -0.63SUNDRMFAST 354.95 20.85 6.24SUNPHARMA 676.05 -18.25 -2.63SUNTECK 282 -1.1 -0.39SUNTV 703 -20.5 -2.83SUPREMEIND 982.95 -6.5 -0.66SUVEN 170.45 -1.2 -0.7SUZLON 17.6 -0.25 -1.4SWANENERGY 152.6 -1.75 -1.13SYMPHONY 1290.95 -12.6 -0.97SYNDIBANK 67.6 -2.45 -3.5SYNGENE 491.7 -7.6 -1.52TAKE 142.4 3.9 2.82TATACHEM 560.2 -7.25 -1.28TATACOFFEE 122 -2.3 -1.85TATACOMM 732 -9.4 -1.27TATAELXSI 1482.4 -12.3 -0.82TATAGLOBAL 141.2 -2.45 -1.71TATAINVEST 590.7 -9.9 -1.65TATAMOTORS 461.05 11.95 2.66TATAMTRDVR 281.75 7.15 2.6TATAPOWER 81 -0.85 -1.04TATASPONGE 683.5 -28.2 -3.96TATASTEEL 495.05 -5.25 -1.05TCS 2501.15 21.1 0.85TECHM 498.1 -0.75 -0.15TECHNO 371 -4.7 -1.25TEXRAIL 90.25 0.45 0.5THERMAX 879 8.1 0.93THOMASCOOK 200.8 3.7 1.88THYROCARE 691.1 -0.25 -0.04TIMKEN 604.45 -0.75 -0.12TITAN 431.65 -6.1 -1.39TNPL 347.8 0.85 0.24

TORNTPHARM 1368.55 2.05 0.15TORNTPOWER 201.05 -6.45 -3.11TRENT 238.05 -7.05 -2.88TRIDENT 71.5 -2.1 -2.85TRITURBINE 122 1.3 1.08TTKPRESTIG 5581.85 134.75 2.47TUBEINVEST 623.55 3.3 0.53TV18BRDCST 40.4 -1.4 -3.35TVSMOTOR 426.55 1.7 0.4TVSSRICHAK 3000.35 -26.95 -0.89TVTODAY 260.9 -0.45 -0.17TWL 105.45 2.5 2.43UBL 772.55 -10.7 -1.37UCOBANK 36.4 -1.15 -3.06UFLEX 267.85 -2.8 -1.03UJJIVAN 442.6 10.35 2.39ULTRACEMCO 3804.25 69.45 1.86UNICHEMLAB 254.4 1.65 0.65UNIONBANK 145.85 -2.75 -1.85UNITDSPR 2301.65 -27.05 -1.16UNITECH 6.09 -0.29 -4.55UPL 704.8 -12.75 -1.78VAKRANGEE 310.75 -4.85 -1.54VEDL 270.55 5.2 1.96VGUARD 227.1 -3.65 -1.58VIDEOIND 103.2 -0.2 -0.19VIJAYABANK 68.5 -1.15 -1.65VINATIORGA 742.1 23.2 3.23VIPIND 148.9 -3.55 -2.33VOLTAS 370.4 -6.95 -1.84VRLLOG 289.45 -3.1 -1.06VSTIND 2729 -22.6 -0.82VTL 1320.95 6.35 0.48WABAG 567.35 -16.9 -2.89WABCOINDIA 5400 65.15 1.22WELCORP 85.15 -0.45 -0.53WELSPUNIND 86 -3.85 -4.28WESTLIFE 214.75 -8.45 -3.79WHIRLPOOL 1038.4 17.1 1.67WIPRO 489.25 1.1 0.23WOCKPHARMA 713.9 -37.2 -4.95WONDERLA 373.8 -0.6 -0.16YAMNINV 40.45 -0.8 -1.94YESBANK 1426.4 -27.3 -1.88ZEEL 501.1 -6.95 -1.37ZENSARTECH 924 7.05 0.77ZYDUSWELL 852.75 2.75 0.32

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGETATAMTRDVR 279.2 285.35 278.4 282.55 8TATAMOTORS 457.85 467.9 453.2 461.3 11.85BAJAJ-AUTO 2,805.50 2,844.80 2,791.55 2,835.00 66ULTRACEMCO 3,745.00 3,849.65 3,745.00 3,818.60 87.5HEROMOTOCO 3,201.00 3,262.95 3,190.00 3,230.00 51.85TCS 2,486.70 2,510.00 2,470.05 2,503.20 23.65HINDALCO 191.2 196.15 188.2 190.8 1.55CIPLA 588.3 591.95 586.4 590.25 3.95COALINDIA 318.35 326.35 318.35 321.8 1.6WIPRO 494 495.45 488.1 491 2.45BOSCHLTD 21,674.0021,736.7521,525.0021,600.05 85.45HINDUNILVR 878 883 873.35 878 2.5MARUTI 5,951.00 5,998.80 5,900.25 5,928.75 9.15INFRATEL 292.4 293.75 287.8 289.2 0.25RELIANCE 1,237.90 1,254.70 1,227.05 1,234.95 0.45TECHM 503 505.05 497.3 499.9 0.15LT 1,482.05 1,495.35 1,470.00 1,474.90 -1.25AMBUJACEM 229.25 233.5 227.55 228.55 -0.3ASIANPAINT 1,037.90 1,044.75 1,026.40 1,029.95 -2.8ACC 1,417.65 1,438.85 1,401.65 1,404.80 -4.15ICICIBANK 282.05 284.5 277 278 -1.1LUPIN 1,478.00 1,483.45 1,454.05 1,462.50 -7.3HDFC 1,403.00 1,415.40 1,392.00 1,393.35 -7.2INFY 1,024.40 1,028.00 1,016.50 1,018.90 -6.25ONGC 194.8 194.9 192.15 192.45 -1.4TATAPOWER 82.35 82.7 80.75 81.2 -0.75GRASIM 1,012.90 1,012.90 990 996 -9.7EICHERMOT 23,750.0023,992.4023,333.0023,481.00 -228.7KOTAKBANK 827.5 828.7 812.75 816.05 -8.1ZEEL 509.8 511.95 498.75 501.3 -5.1BHEL 162 164.25 157.65 158.6 -1.65HDFCBANK 1,394.55 1,396.00 1,376.25 1,377.15 -14.5GAIL 510 513.1 499 500.9 -5.45AXISBANK 515.1 519.8 503.7 507.5 -5.9HCLTECH 850 853.5 839.3 839.3 -9.8TATASTEEL 502 505.6 492.25 494.55 -5.8ITC 268.5 270.25 263.5 264.9 -3.6POWERGRID 194 194 189 190 -2.65INDUSINDBK 1,335.00 1,335.00 1,303.65 1,305.00 -21.2SBIN 273 274.7 266.5 267.2 -4.55AUROPHARMA 680.25 684.25 666.55 666.95 -11.3M&M 1,354.90 1,361.00 1,313.00 1,323.30 -25.45DRREDDY 2,909.90 2,909.90 2,862.40 2,865.00 -58.3BHARTIARTL 364 366 352.2 355.35 -7.4BANKBARODA 166.45 167.35 161 161.95 -3.4YESBANK 1,460.00 1,460.20 1,419.15 1,424.00 -30.65NTPC 160.9 160.9 155.25 155.85 -4.1SUNPHARMA 700 701.3 672.9 676.7 -17.95ADANIPORTS 303.75 305.7 292 293.75 -8.75IDEA 113.45 114.25 108.15 109.55 -3.7BPCL 661.95 665.4 630.85 631 -28.45

se 500B

VITAL STATS

GOLD SILVERMumbai 31058 44100Delhi 30909 44100Kolkata 30812 44100

BSE: SENSEX

OpenHighLowCurrent valuePrevious close Change (Pts) Change (%)

66.74

81.99

70.31

0.59

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIGH LOW LTP CHANGEHAVELLS 410.9 431.9 410.9 422 11.65VEDL 269 276 268 271.95 6.45MARICO 278.9 283.7 278.15 281.9 3GSKCONS 5,090.00 5,135.00 5,085.90 5,130.00 50.7CONCOR 1,230.00 1,235.70 1,216.30 1,230.00 6.35TORNTPHARM 1,375.00 1,398.00 1,362.00 1,375.00 5.1DABUR 276.15 278.95 274.65 277.1 0.95GLAXO 2,693.90 2,708.00 2,662.00 2,685.90 2.55PEL 1,840.20 1,863.40 1,828.00 1,840.00 1.3PGHH 7,060.05 7,100.00 7,030.15 7,060.00 3.95OIL 335.7 337 328.4 331.5 -1.65COLPAL 896.9 906.3 890.05 892 -5.3EMAMILTD 1,045.00 1,071.00 1,025.45 1,030.00 -6.2APOLLOHOSP 1,337.00 1,337.95 1,312.30 1,315.00 -10.85UBL 786 790.7 770.5 776 -6.5BHARATFORG 1,058.80 1,075.00 1,035.00 1,042.75 -9.2BEL 1,521.65 1,531.70 1,500.00 1,503.90 -17.25PFC 138 138.9 134.6 135.65 -1.55MCDOWELL-N 2,344.70 2,377.20 2,293.55 2,301.90 -26.2CUMMINSIND 885 888.85 867 871.2 -10.2PIDILITIND 695 695 676.65 681 -8.2INDIGO 875 877.7 859.9 860 -10.85CASTROLIND 413 415.3 403.55 404.8 -5.35IOC 383.75 387.35 375 376.55 -5.15TITAN 441 446 428 432 -6.15LICHSGFIN 564 567.3 550.7 553 -8.1CADILAHC 441.95 442.75 407.9 432 -6.65DIVISLAB 768 774.55 749 752 -12.85ASHOKLEY 89.7 90.2 86.95 87.65 -1.55SHREECEM 16,200.0016,390.0015,790.0015,838.00 -288.3BAJAJFINSV 3,940.00 3,959.95 3,846.75 3,849.95 -73.9BRITANNIA 3,200.00 3,217.50 3,102.70 3,120.00 -61SIEMENS 1,221.90 1,225.00 1,191.55 1,193.30 -23.65OFSS 3,726.00 3,742.75 3,615.05 3,655.00 -74.95HINDZINC 318.75 319.75 308.5 311.55 -6.65ABB 1,243.00 1,244.00 1,207.10 1,210.00 -25.85SAIL 64.2 64.65 61.4 62 -1.35UPL 721.9 725 688.35 700.75 -16.6HINDPETRO 524 526.95 504.75 506 -12.55IBULHSGFIN 875.9 879.45 848.05 849.15 -21.45MOTHERSUMI 365.85 369.85 351.1 352.8 -8.95BAJFINANCE 1,083.00 1,089.60 1,019.10 1,048.00 -27.85GLENMARK 934 944.1 901.6 904.7 -24.75SRTRANSFIN 926.9 934.15 895.05 900.9 -24.75PNB 143.65 144.2 138.05 138.7 -3.95NHPC 30.55 30.75 29.75 29.8 -0.9GODREJCP 1,676.00 1,676.00 1,593.50 1,614.90 -53.05NMDC 151.35 152.4 144.15 145.2 -5.05JSWSTEEL 190.55 190.9 181.9 183.25 -6.55DLF 155 155 139.15 141.55 -11.7

29117.3829145.6228784.3128839.7928984.49-144.70-0.50

BSE: GAINERS

NATIONALUM 75.25 (5.24)

APLLTD 596.75 (4.13)

JUBLFOOD 1035.75 (3.24)

TATAMOTORS 461.05 (2.66)

BALKRISIND 1342.05 (2.50)

Current (Chng %)NSE: GAINERS

TATAMTRDVR 282.55 (2.91)

TATAMOTORS 461.30 (2.64)

BAJAJ-AUTO 2,835.00 (2.38)

ULTRACEMCO 3,818.60 (2.35)

HEROMOTOCO 3,230.00 (1.63)

Current (Chng %)BSE: LOSERS

DLF 141.10 (8.11)

BIOCON 1033.85 (7.34)

JPASSOCIAT 14.95 (6.56)

IBREALEST* 79.25 (6.21)

NETWORK18 37.15 (5.83)

Current (Chng %)NSE: LOSERS

BPCL 631.00 (4.31)

IDEA 109.55 (3.27)

ADANIPORTS 293.75 (2.89)

SUNPHARMA 676.70 (2.58)

NTPC 155.85 (2.56)

Current (Chng %)

SENSEX NIFTY

world 12LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

Gigi Hadid features

on Vogue Arabia

cover for the 1st time

London: Supermodel Gigi Hadid hasfeatured on the March cover ofVogue Arabia for the first time inwhichshe can be seen celebrating herPalestinian roots. The 21-year-oldfashion diva took to Instagram topost the picture of her debut on thehi-end fashion magazine's Dubaiversion, where she could be seenposing in a jewel-embroidered head-scarf with kohled eyes. "I think thebeautiful thing about there beinginternational Vogue's is that, as afashion community, we are able tocelebrate, and share with the world,different cultures. Being half-Palestinian, it means the world to meto be on the first-ever cover(s) of@voguearabia..." wrote Hadid, alongside the cover. In what she hopes tobe a long-standing collaborationwith the magazine, Hadid addedVogue Arabia will send a messageacross the world about a welcomingand inclusive fashion industry.

Kate's ex-Husband

challenges her on

custody agreement

Los Angeles: Actress Kate Hudson'sformerhusband singer ChrisRobinson has challenged their sonRyder's joint custody agreement.The Black Crowes singer, who hadagreed on the jointcustody of their12-year-old child after the divorce in2007, has filed to re-open the agree-ment, reported E! News. New doc-uments have surfaced whereinRobinson wants the court to re-eval-uate the negotiation with Hudson.According to the papers, bothHudson and Robinson agreed anevaluator will be assigned from thecourt to perform a child custodyevaluation. "Thereafter, he/she willissue a written report and make rec-ommendations for developing a par-enting plan that addresses legal cus-tody and physical custody, includingwhere Ryder shall reside and visita-tion rights based on the interest ofthe child," it read. The evaluator willalso be privy to health.

GLOBE

TROTTING

UK PM May faces first Brexit bill defeat

PTI n LONDON

Prime Minister Theresa Maysuffered her first parlia-

mentary defeat over Brexitafter the House of Lords votedin favour of an amendment toguarantee the rights of EU cit-izens in the UK after the coun-try leaves the bloc.

The Lords voted yesterday358 to 256 for an amendment

requiring ministers to pro-tect the rights of EU nationalsbased in the UK followingBrexit. In the House of Lords,May's Conservative Party doesnot command a majority.

The amendment backedby the Lords requires the gov-ernment to introduce propos-als within three months of

Article 50 to ensure EU citizensin the UK have the same resi-dence rights after Brexit.

However, the government'sdefeat in the Lords could provea symbolic one as MPs can

remove the amendment whenit comes back to the House ofCommons.

The vote came after a heat-ed debate in the Lords wherethe government was accused of

treating EU citizens like "bar-gaining chips". TheDepartment for Exiting theEU said: "We are disappointedthe Lords have chosen toamend a bill that the Commonspassed without amendment.

"The bill has a straightfor-ward purpose - to enact the ref-erendum result and allow thegovernment to get on with thenegotiations." May has saidthat any guarantee of the rightsof EU nationals must be partof a deal protecting UK expatsoverseas.

The amendment backedby the Lords requires the gov-ernment to introduce propos-als within three months ofArticle 50 to ensure EU citizensin the UK have the same resi-dence rights after Brexit. May

has set an end of the monthdeadline to invoke Article 50 ofthe Lisbon Treaty, which willtrigger the two- year deadlinefor Brexit negotiations.

MPs have already backedthe European Union(Notification of Withdrawal)Bill without amendments andcan remove the Lords' amend-ment when they vote on itagain later this month.

The government is said tobe confident of defeating thechanges to the bill in theCommons. Jeremy Corbyn,the Opposition Labour leaderwho ordered his MPs to sup-port the bill unamended whenit went through the Commons,described the result of theLords vote as "great news",raising the possibility that he

might tell his MPs to back theamendment in the LowerHouse.

"The Government mustnow do the decent thing andguarantee the rights of EU cit-izens living in the UK," he said.The Lords will vote next weekon a further amendment whichwould give MPs a "meaningfulvote" on the outcome of May'snegotiations with the 28-mem-ber bloc. If that vote also goesagainst her, she could comeunder pressure from her ownMPs to agree to that amend-ment passing into law.

The amended bill willreturn to the House ofCommons on March 13 and14, when MPs will debatewhether to keep the changes.

IS pulls back fromSyria's Palmyra

AFP n BEIRUT

Islamic State group fighterswithdrew from much of

the Syrian oasis city ofPalmyra overnight, a monitorsaid today, but governmentforces paused before enteringits ravaged ancient ruinsbecause of mines.

Russian-backed Syriantroops pushed into a westernneighbourhood of the citylate on Wednesday after fierceclashes with the jihadists.

IS had withdrawn to res-idential neighbourhoods inthe east of the city, the SyrianObser vator y for HumanRights said. "IS withdrewfrom most of Palmyra afterlaying mines across the city.There are st i l l suicidebombers left in the easternn e i g h b o u r h o o d s , "Obser vator y head RamiAbdel Rahman told AFP.

"Government forces have

not yet been able to enter theheart of the city or the east-ern parts." Palmyra's ancientruins have long been listed byUNESCO as a world heritagesite. Before IS entered the cityin May 2015, they boastedtemples, colonnaded alleysand elaborately decoratedtombs that were among thebest preserved classical mon-uments in the Middle East.

But the jihadists launcheda campaign of destructionagainst them, the scale ofwhich was fully revealedwhen government forcesbriefly retook the city withRussian support last year.

Satellite imagery hasshown that IS has demol-ished more monuments sinceit recaptured Palmyra fromgovernment forces inDecember. "There are no ISfighters left in most of the OldCity, but it is heavily mined,"the Observatory chief said.

Islamist militant

killed in shootout

in Bangladesh

PTI n WASHINGTON

An Islamist militant ofbanned Neo-JMB in cus-

tody for stabbing two policeofficers was killed today in ashootout when gunmenattacked the van he was trav-elling in Bangladesh, policesaid.

Aminur Islam alias Alam,23, who was arrested onTuesday during a raid at a vil-lage in Bogra's Sherpur sub dis-trict was the northern region-al commander of the armedwing of Jamaatul MujahideenBangladesh.

He was killed in a pre-dawn shootout as operatives oftheoutfit attacked the van hewas travelling in with lawenforcement agency personnelat Jamnagar village underSherpur upazila, policesaid."We took him as our guideto a neo-JMB hideout whenthe gunmen attacked our vanforcing us to retaliate andAmin came under fire anddied instantly," a police officersaid.

Police have recovered apistol, three rounds of bulletsand two magazines from thespot.

Northwestern regionpolice chief said Amin was in-charge of regrouping neo-JMB,believed to be close to ISIS. Theincident came a day after

counter-terrorism unit arrest-ed another neo-JMB com-mander who led a syndicatethat supplied ingredients forgrenades and arms used in theattack on the Holey Artisanrestaurant in Dhaka on July 1,2016 that left 22 people dead,including 17 foreigners.

Counter-terrorism unitofficials said acting on a tip offthey arrested 60-year-oldMizanur Rahman alias BoroMizan as he was travelling ina bus in the capital.

Five Islamist militants ofJMB were on Tuesday sen-tenced to death for brutallykilling a 66-year-old Japanesefarmer in Bangladesh in 2015,in one of the first attacks tar-geting foreigners, minorityHindus and secular Muslims.

The country had launcheda massive crackdown on mil-itants specially after the Dhakacafe attack.

‘Heart attack, not nerve agent, killed Kim' Kuala Lumpur (AP): A North Koreanenvoy on Thursday rejected a Malaysianautopsy finding that VX nerve agentkilled Kim Jong Nam, saying the manprobably died of a heart attack because hesuffered from heart disease, diabetes andhigh blood pressure.

The death of Kim, the estranged halfbrother of North Korea's ruler, hasunleashed a diplomatic battle betweenMalaysia and North Korea.

The autopsy is especially sensitivebecause North Korea had asked Malaysianot to perform one, but authorities car-riedit out anyway, saying they were fol-lowing the law. Also on Thursday, amidgrowing fallout from the killing, Malaysiaannounced it is scrapping visa-free entryfor North Koreans.

Malaysian officials say two womensmeared VX nerve agent, a banned chem-ical weapon, on Kim's face as he waited for

a flight at Kuala Lumpur's airport onFebruary 13. Kim died within 20 minutes,authorities say. No bystanders reportedfalling ill.

The women, who were caught ongrainy surveillance video, have beencharged with murder.

Both say they were duped into think-ing they were playing a harmless prank anddid not know they were handling a lethaltoxin.

Malaysia's autopsy finding that VXnerve agent killed Kim boosted specula-tion that North Korea orchestrated theattack. Experts say the oily poison wasalmost certainly produced in a sophisti-cated state weapons laboratory.

North Korea has denied any role andaccused Malaysia of bias. Ri Tong Il, theformer North Korean deputy ambassadorto the United Nations, today told a newsconference that it made no sense to say the

two women used such a deadly toxin with-out also killing or sickening themselves andpeople around them. Ri said Kim had ahistory of heart problems and had beenhospitalised in the past.

He said he understood that Malaysianofficials found medication for diabetes,heart problems and high blood pressurein Kim's belongings and concluded he was-n't fit to travel.

"This is a strong indication that thecause of death is a heart attack," Ri said.Malaysian police said the attackers knewwhat they were doing and had beentrained to go immediately to the bath-roomand wash their hands.

Police can't confirm whether the twowomen may have been given antidotesbefore the attack. Anantidote, atropine, canbe injected after exposure and is carriedby medics in war zones where weapons ofmass destruction are suspected.

Syria opp pins hopes on Trump after ‘catastrophic' ObamaAFP n GENEVA

Syria's opposition is countingon thenew US Trump

administration to play a "pos-itive" role to end the country'ssix-year war, after "catastroph-ic" policy mistakes underPresident Barack Obama, anofficial said.

The High NegotiatingCommittee (HNC), the mainopposition group at UN-spon-sored talks in Geneva, said itcan help rein in Iran's influencein the conflict, which has killedover 310,000 people.

But speaking as the week-old Geneva talks draw towards

a close with little sign ofprogress, HNC delegation chiefNasr al-Hariri said everyone iswaiting for the new US admin-

istration of President DonaldTrump to engage. "We are hereto... send a message to the newAmerican administration

which is trying... to fight ter-rorism, that we are the sideworking for peace and securi-ty in Syria.

"We are the side which isready to be a real partner infighting terrorism on theground," he told a small groupof journalists late Wednesday.

Syrian regime and opposi-tion negotiators have been inGeneva since last Thursday, butthere have been no face-to-facetalks, as UN mediator Staffande Mistura shuttles between thedelegations.

The talks are expect-ed to wrap up either tomorrowor this weekend, with little

concrete progress to announce.Obama stressed the need forPresident Bashar al-Assad'sdeparture as part of any solu-tion, but that goal wasn'tachieved.

The new US administra-tion has made it clear that itskey priority in Syria is fightingIslamic State group jihadists.Al-Hariri added: "The Syrianpeople are paying the pricebecause of the Obama admin-istration's catastrophic mis-takes.

"Obama who lied to theSyrian people, who promisedand didn't deliver, he drew redlines and erased it by himself,

who said nothing about Assad'scrimes." He said that on "con-finement of the Iranian influ-ence... I think we can be aneffective partner regarding thisissue". "Lots of countries arewilling to support us... thesecountries are waiting for anAmerican role because no onecan work effectively but with anAmerican role that gives legit-imacy to all these measures.

"We hope that the newAmerican administrationwould build its positions basedon serious facts and to... bringback an effective Americanrole in the region after thedegrading role by Obama."

‘Swachh Rwanda'

a lesson for IndiaPTI n KIGALI

Rwanda's own 'Swachh'model has found an admir-

er in India, which is nowexploring ways to asses if it canbe "replicated" back home totake the country's sanitationmission forward. Kigali, whereuse of plastic bags has beenbanned, is billed as the clean-est and the safest city inAfrica.Verdant hills and rollinggreen landscape add to theallure of the capital Kigali,which epitomises Rwanda'srisefrom a violence-torn coun-try to the "shining star ofAfrica".

"India has a lot to learnfrom Rwanda and one ofcourse is on the front of clean-liness. And, with 'SwachchBharat' being one of our flag-ship campaigns, we would liketo engage with that countrymore in that area," Amar Sinha,Secretary, Economic Relationsin the Ministry of ExternalAffairs, said.

Vice President HamidAnsari recently visited Rwanda,during which he hailed thecountry's rise after reconcil-ingwith its turbulent past.

"The efficient and clean cityof Kigali, captures the greatstrides that this country is tak-ing on its path of growth andprosperity," Ansari had said.

Sinha, who accompaniedAnsari during the visit, saidtheethos of cleanliness in the

streets and the zero-tolerancefor corruption in governanceoffers valuable lessons for India."We would certainly like to seeif their successful governancemodels can be replicated," hesaid. "But, Rwanda's greatestachievement is its reconcilia-tion with its turbulent past.From signs of great conflict, ithas become a shining star ofAfrica. This is truly remarkableand worthy of emulation," hesaid.

And, indeed this Africancountry has overcome memo-ries of its unpleasant past withcommunity activities andadherence to sanitation hasplayed a pivotal role in thatendeavour. "On last Saturday ofevery month, all citizens,includingPresident PaulKagame, come out of theirhomes, as part of a communi-ty cleanliness drive'Umuganda'.

"This practice has not onlymade the city clean, it hasbrought people together of dif-ferent ethnicities, fostered asense of ownership for thecountry and helped put behindthe horrific memories of thegenocide," says Aniket Ukey, aDelhi-born youth, who is nowsettled in Kigali.

"Not just clean, the city isso safe, no one will touch awoman even if she goes outalone after midnight. These arethe qualities any country wouldfeel envy of," he said.

At least eleven killed in

Ukraine coal mine blast

Kiev (AFP): At least 11 coal miners werekilled on Thursday when a methane gasblast tore through a pit in westernUkraine, the head of the coal miners' tradeunion said. "A methane explosion. 11killed," Mykhaylo Volynets wrote onFacebook. Ukraine's emergencies servicesaid that 20 people were unaccounted forand that 172 miners were in the pit at thetime.

It added that people were buriedunder ground after the blast. Rescue work-ers were scrambling to the site, in the west-

ern Lviv region not far from the Polishborder, the emergencies ministry said.Ukraine has frequent mine accidentsthat claim dozens of lives each year. Butthis is the first major explosion reportedthis year.

Ukraine relies heavily on coal for elec-tricity and heat despite efforts by Westerndonors to weaken the former Sovietrepublic's dependency on the pollutingfuel. Many of the mines are in a dilapi-dated condition and deemed too danger-ous to operate.

1st drone strikeunder Trumpkills 2 militantsin PakistanPeshawar (PTI): At least twosuspected militants were killedtoday in a US drone strike inPakistan's restive northwesttribal region, the first suchattack after Donald Trumpassumed Presidency.

The CIA-operated dronefired a missile that killed twosuspected militants on the spotin a village in Kurram Agency,near the Afghanistan border, alocal government official said.

"A drone missile struckthe motorcycle which caughtfire and then exploded," theofficial said. The identity ofthose killed is yet to be ascer-tained, the official said, addingthat the investigation into thestrike has been started.It was the first drone strike inthe Pak-Afghan border regionsince Trump assumed USPresidency, The News report-ed. There had been no dronestrike by the US in Pakistansince May 21, 2016. This wasone of the longest periods thatno US drone attack had takenplace in Pakistan. The dronestrikes by the US under thesupervision of the CIA inPakistan began in 2004.

There have been 424 droneattacks in Pakistan to-date.The strikes have killed a totalof 2,499 to 4,001 personsincluding 424 to 966 civilians,the report said.

New wireless patch may ease migraine pain without drugsJerusalem (PTI) : A new, smartphone con-trolled wireless patch that can be worn on thearm may help reduce migraine pain as effec-tively as drugs, a new study claims.

The device uses electrical stimulation toblock the pain signals from reaching thebrain. The patch uses rubber electrodes anda chip on an armband. The patch can be con-trolled by a smartphone app. In the past whenstimulation has been tested for people withmigraine, devices needed wires and were

attached to the head. "These results need tobe confirmed with additional studies, but theyare exciting," said study author David

Yarnitsky, of Technion Faculty ofMedicine in Israel. "People with migraine arelooking for non-drug treatments, and thisnew device is easy to use, has no side effectsand can be conveniently used in work orsocial settings," said Yarnitsky. The studyinvolved 71 people with episodic migrainewho had two to eight attacks per month and

had not taken any preventive medication formigraine for at least two months.

Participants were asked to apply thedevice to their upper arm soon after the startof a migraine and use it for 20 minutes. Theywere not supposed to take any medicationsfor migraine for two hours.

The devices were programmed to ran-domly give either a placebo, or sham, stim-ulation at a very low frequency or one of fourlevels of active stimulation. The stimulation

was designed to not be painful. A total of 299migraines were treated with the device dur-ing the study.

During the active stimulation at the threehighest levels, 64 per cent of people had areduction in their pain by at least 50 per centtwo hours after the treatment, compared to26 per cent of people during the sham stim-ulation. For those who started with moder-ate to severe pain, their pain was reduced tomild or no pain in 58 per cent of people.

Pakistan rakes up Kashmir issue

at UN human rights body meetPTI n ISLMABAD

Pakistan has raked upthe Kashmir issue at a

discussion at UN humanrights body, accusingIndia of human rightsviolations in the Valleyand urging the interna-tional community to takenotice of the situation.

Addressing the 34thSession of the HumanRights Council (HRC) inGeneva, Minister for Lawand Justice Zahid Hamidon Wednesday said thatJammu and Kashmir is aninternationally recog-nised issue pending final

settlement through a freeand impartial plebisciteunder UN auspices, asenunciated in numerousresolutions of the UnitedNations Security Council.

"Hamid rejectedIndian claims that thesituation in Kashmir is itsinternal affair. He stressedthat this claim was factu-ally incorrect, legallyuntenable and in viola-tion of UNSC resolu-tions," the Foreign Officesaid here.

Pakistan will contin-ue to extend its unflinch-ing political, moral anddiplomatic support to theKashmiri people, said the

minister. He also rejectedalleged Indian attempts todivert the attention ofthe international com-munity from the humanrights s ituat ion inKashmir by equating it toterrorism. Hamid calledupon the Human RightsCouncil and the interna-tional community toremain seized of the sit-uation in Kashmir. Hesupported the HighCommissioner forHuman Rights'positionfor a team to vis itKashmir to independent-ly and impartially inves-tigate the alleged humanrights violations.

world 13LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017

Jaishankar meets US NSA

PTI n WASHINGTON

Foreign Secretary SJaishankar has met two top

US officials, including NationalSecurity Advisor Lt Gen H RMcMaster, and discussed waysto promote the strategic Indo-US ties especially in trade,defence and security.

The meeting betweenJaishankar and McMasterassumes significance as thetop military leader wasappointed as the NationalSecurity Advisor by USPresident Donald Trump tendays ago.

During the meeting held atthe White House, the two offi-cials are believed to have dis-cussed issues related to secu-rity, counter-terrorism anddefence partnership.

Jaishankar also met

Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives Paul Ryan anddiscussed various issues,including ways to enhanceeconomic and defence coop-eration between the two coun-

tries. "The relationshipbetween the US and India isrooted inshared values ofdemocracy and freedom,"Ryan said in a statement afterthe meeting. "We had a great

opportunity today to build onthis critical partnership bydiscussing ways to enhance oureconomic and defence coop-eration," he said.

During his meeting withJaishankar, Ryan expressedcondolences of the US Houseof Representatives over thedeath of Indian techie SrinivasKuchibhotla. "Our peoplesmust continue to stand togeth-er, and I look forward to work-ing with Foreign SecretaryJaishankar in the years ahead,"Ryan said. Kuchibhotla, 32, waskilled and another Indian AlokMadasani injured by navy vet-eran Adam Purinton, whoyelled "terrorist" and "get out ofmy country" before firing onhim. Jaishankar arrived in theUS on Tuesday on a four-dayvisit to hold talks with top offi-cials of the Trump adminis-

tration, lawmakers and mem-bers of the think-tank com-munity. This is his third-trip tothe US after Trump was elect-ed as the President. Trump hadpledged to strengthen theIndo-US ties during his tele-phonic conversation withPrime Minister NarendraModi last month.

About three weeks beforehis electoral victory, Trumphad told Indian-Americansthat he would be India's bestfriend atthe White House.Jaishankar, during his visit, islikely to discuss with top USofficials India's concerns overa possible clamp down on H-1B visas and safety of Indians.He will also discuss regionaland international issues ofmutual interest with seniormembers of the administra-tion.

Doval meets Israel's top leaderin preparation for Modi's visit

PTI n JERUSALEM

National Security AdviserAjit Doval has held talks

with Israel's top leadershiphere as part of preparationsfor Prime Minister NarendraModi's much- awaited visit,the first by an Indian premierto the Jewish country.

Modi is expected to visitIsrael by the middle of thisyear. Doval landed in Israel onWednesday and met Prime

Minister BenjaminNetanyahu in his Jerusalemoffice. Doval also met hiscounterpart, Israel's actingNational Security Adviser andHead of the National SecurityCouncil, Brig. Gen. (retd)Jacob Nagel. The discussions"revolved around PrimeMinister Modi's expected visitthis summer", officials heretold PTI.

Doval left for India thismorning after a short trip.India's relations with Israelhave made steady progresssince the two countries estab-lished diplomatic relations 25years ago in January 1992,irrespective of the party inpower in New Delhi, but aprime ministerial visit toIsrael has been long-awaited.President Pranab Mukherjee

visited Israel in October, 2015,in what was the first such visitby an Indian Head of State tothe Jewish country.

Israeli President ReuvenRivlin made a reciprocal visitlast year at Mukhejee's invi-tation in what was the secondvisit by an Israeli Head ofState to New Delhi comingafter a gap of almost 20 years.

The only visit of an IsraeliPrime Minister to India hap-pened in 2003 when Ariel

Sharon visited New Delhi.BJP-led government underAtal Behari Vajpayee was inpower at that time.

Modi's visit is being dis-cussed amid talks of a "closechemistry" between him andNetanyahu.

The two leaders havealready met twice on foreignsoil on the sidelines of UN-related events and are said tohave been in touch with eachother over phone.

"I am happy that often wecan talk easily on telephone,we can discuss everything. Ithas very rarely happened. Inyour case it has happened,"Modi had told Netanyahuduring their meeting on thesidelines of Paris climate sum-mit in 2015.

The Israeli premier had

then promptly responded bysaying, "in your case too".

India's abstention in aUNHRC vote in 2015 on aUN report critical of Israel'soffensive in the Gaza war of2014 was described by manyhere as a sign of a "qualitativeleap" in relations which hadtransformed into "complete-ly normal" ties without any"hangups" with many credit-ing the closeness between thetwo prime Ministers for the

"change in heart". New Delhi,however, later clarified thatthe vote was a "principled"stand it had taken with theInternational Criminal Courthaving a reference in the res-olution and did not mark"any shift in policy".

Starting with humble fig-ures of USD 200 million inannual trade in 1992, the twocountries registered bilateraltrade of about USD 4.5 billionlast year.

The defence ties betweenthe two countries have oftendrawn worldwide attentionand acquired strategic dimen-sions. Modi's visit is expect-ed to push Israeli defencecompanies to set up manu-facturing units in India underthe much publicised 'Makein India' campaign.

erusalem: National Security Adviser Ajit Doval shake hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at his office inJerusalem. Doval arrived here on a 2 day visit to prepare the ground for Prime Minister Narendra Modi's historical visit to Israellater this year. AP

North Korea vowstoughest responseto S Korea-US drills

AP n SEOUL

North Korea has reactedto the star t of US-

South Korean war drillsw i t h i t s t y p i c a l f i e r yrhetoric. But recent missileand nuclear tests by theNorth give the usual threatsan added weight.

Annual military drillsb e t w e e n S e o u l a n dWashington a lways r i lePyongyang, which calls thedefensive drills a rehearsalfor an invasion. This year'sdrills began Wednesday.

The North's militarysaid Thursday it will "mer-cilessly foil the nuclear warracket of the aggressorswith its treasured nuclearsword."

It says its reaction willbe the toughest ever butdidn't elaborate. There isrenewed worry in Seouland Washington becauseNorth Korea test-launcheda new intermediate missilein February.

It also conducted twonucle ar tes t s l as t ye ar.South Korea's military saysit will "resolutely" punishNorth Korea if provoked.

Sudan's Bashir appoints PMfor first time since coupK hartoum: SudanesePresident Omar al-Bashir hasappointed a top aide as primeminister, reinstating a post hehad abolished after coming topower in a 1989 coup, an offi-cial said.

Bakri Hassan Saleh wasnamed prime minister by theexecutive bureau of Bashir'sNational Congress Party(NCP).

"He will take the oath asprime minister tomorrow,"Ibrahim Mahmoud, theNCP's deputy chief, toldreporters on Wednesday,adding that Saleh would alsohold onto his current post ofSudan's first vice president.

Sudanese lawmakersvoted in December to rein-state the post of prime min-ister. Following the appoint-ment of Saleh, a fellow officerinvolved in the Islamist-backed coup, Bashir is expect-ed to announce a cabinetreshuffle on Thursday.

The naming of a premierand delegation of some of thepresident's powers fall in linewith reforms proposed by ayear-long national dialogueheld between Bashir's gov-ernment and some opposition

groups. In October, after aquarter century in power,Bashir concluded the nation-al dialogue aimed at resolvinginsurgencies in Sudan's bor-der regions and healing thecountr y's crisis-wrackedeconomy.

The talks launched inOctober 2015 were boycottedby most mainstream opposi-tion and armed groups.

Bashir abolished the postof premier after he led abloodless coup almost three

decades ago against then pre-mier Sadiq al-Mahdi with thehelp of Islamist leader Hassanal-Turabi. Mahdi, who hadfled abroad more than twoyears ago, returned to Sudanlast month. A fixture ofSudanese politics since the1960s, Mahdi served as primeminister from 1966 to 1967and again from 1986 to 1989.

His government was thelast to be democraticallyelected in Sudan before the1989 coup. AFP

File Photo of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir

Pak approves merger of FATA with Khyber-PakhtunkhwaPTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan government onThursday approvedthe

merger of Federal lyAdministered Tribal Areas(FATA) with the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province tobring the impoverished andpolitically deprived tribalregion at par with the rest ofthe country.

Prime Minister NawazSharif chaired a meeting ofthe federal cabinet whichapproved in principle therecommendations of theFATA Reforms Committee.

The six-member com-mittee headed by PM'sAdviser on Foreign AffairsSartaj Aziz recommendedthat FATA should be madepart of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwaprovince.

The FATA is a semi-autonomous tribal region innorthwest Pakistan, border-ing Afghanistan. It consist ofseven tribal agencies (dis-tr ic ts) and s ix f ront ierregions, and are directly gov-erned by Pakistan's federalgovernment.

According to the plan,colonial era draconian lawsknown as Frontier CrimesRegulation (FCR) will be

replaced.The proposed merger

would be carried out over aperiod of five years and a 10-year development packagewould be introduced for allof FATA.

The cabinet not onlyapproved the plan but also

agreed to set up courts, allo-cate additional funds andbuild infrastructure in thetribal region.

Prime Minister Sharifstressed the need for focus-ing on development ofunder-developed areas forimproving the living stan-

dards of the people, RadioPakistan reported.

"Time has come that thetribal people will be brought-into [the] mainstream to endtheir sense of deprivation,"the report quoted him assaying.

Sharif said due shares

wi l l be g iven f rom thenat ional resources toPakistan-occupied Kashmir,Gilgit Baltistan and FATApeople. The prime ministersaid it is obligatory for theFederal and provincial gov-ernments to work for thewelfare of the people of theseregions.

Sharif said the "spirit ofPakistaniat" should be pro-moted for the national cohe-sion. "We should work for thedevelopment of every part ofthe country without any dis-crimination," he said, addingthat equal opportunitiesshould be provided to every-one.

Later, Aziz said that FCRwould be replaced withRewaj Regulations so thatlocal people could get bene-fit of Jirga system in legalmatters.

"We have accepted alldemands of the people oftribal region and after theimplementation of reformsthey will have all those rightswhich are enjoyed by otherpeople in Pakistan," saidAziz.

He also said that 20,000personnel will be added tothe tribal police to ensure lawand order.

Students from the tribal areas protest in 2010. FIle Photo

A guest poses for photographers outside the Grand Palais during the Fall/Winter 2017-2018 ready to wear fashion week in Paris,Thursday. AP

Mouse grounds British Airways flight to USPTI n LONDON

AUS-bound Brit ishAirways plane was unable

to take off from HeathrowAirport here after a mousewas spotted on board.

Passengers on the BritishAir ways f l ight to SanFranciscowere strapped inand waiting to leave when the"rather unusual occurrence"was announced.

The crew told passengersthat planes cannot take offwith mice on board, and thatanother f light would bescheduled. The presence of aroaming rodent meant theoriginal aircraft could not bedispatched because mice havebeen known to gnaw through

wiring on planes and wide-ranging checks must be madeto ferret out any problems.

The plane eventually leftyesterday after about fourhours of delay, BBC reported.

A passenger named Carlywas quoted as saying thatthere was "general disbelief "among fellow travellers whenthe newswas broken on theplane. "I'm not sure peopleknew how to react," she said.

She said they had beentold that another plane hadbeen found, but the passen-gers would have to wait sev-eral hours for a gate to befound before it could take off.Some of the flight's passen-gers tweeted their reactions.

"Just had my flight toSFO cancelled because of amouse on board the plane.Could it not get a visa??#britishairways", a personsaid. "About to fly to SF,There is a mouse on theplane, We all must get off,"

said another netizen.I'm going to sell this to

the movies. It can be the slightly more

pedestrian prequel to snakeson a plane. Maybe this is whatlured them on?" the netizensaid.

British Airways was quot-ed as saying, "We knowalmost everyone wants to flywith us to San Francisco, buton this occasion there wasone very small customer whowe had to send back to thegate.

"Everyone with two legs isnow on their way toCalifornia, and we are sorryfor the delay," the airlines said.Heathrow Airport said itcould not comment on indi-vidual flights.

S RAJAGOPALAN n

WASHINGTON

After the unceremoniousdeparture of National

Security Advisor Michael Flynnlast month, the Trump admin-istration now faces demandsfrom Democrats for the resig-nation of Attorney General JeffSessions following reports thathe had twice spoken with theRussian Ambassador to the USin the run-up to the Novemberpresidential election.

Sessions, who had faced atough Senate confirmationprocess with Democrats ques-tioning his record on race andcivil rights issues, spoke twicewith Russian AmbassadorSergey Kislyak in July andSeptember 2016, but did notmention it during his confir-mation hearing, TheWashington Post reported late

on Wednesday.Much to the discomfiture of

Sessions, a few key Republicanlawmakers have asked him torecuse himself from federalinvestigations on whether Russiainterfered in the US presidentialelection and also clarify com-ments made under oath to theSenate panel that he had not metwith any Russian officials.

A spokeswoman forSessions confirmed the twoconversations he had with theenvoy as a senior RepublicanSenator at the time, but assert-ed that there was “absolutelynothing misleading” about theanswer he provided at the Senatehearing when he had beenpointedly asked about any con-tacts on his part with Russianofficials.

Sessions himself put out abrief statement on Wednesdaynight, saying: “I have never metwith any Russian officials to dis-cuss issues of the campaign. Ihave no idea what this allegationis about. It is false.”

Top Democrats, who havebeen angered by the allegedRussian hacking of their party

website in a bid to influence theelection in favour of Trump,were not satisfied with Sessions’assertions and demanded that hestep down. Demands have alsobeen raised for the appointmentof a Special Prosecutor to holda thorough probe on the Russianinvolvement.

House Democratic LeaderNancy Pelosi and SenateDemocratic Leader CharlesSchumer led the demand for res-ignation. “Sessions is not fit toserve as the top law enforcementofficer of our country and mustresign. There must be an inde-pendent, bipartisan, outsidecommission to investigate theTrump political, personal andfinancial connections to theRussians,” Pelosi said in a state-ment.

“Did the President knowabout the meetings?” SenatorSchumer asked, demanding thatan independent, impartial spe-cial prosecutor should get to thebottom of Russian involvementin the whole American electionprocess. “It is better for the coun-try if he (Sessions) resigns,” hesaid, adding while there was

nothing wrong about meetingwith the Russian envoy, heought not to have misled theSenate panel.

Several other Democraticlawmakers, including SenatorElizabeth Warren andRepresentative ElijahCummings, also joined thedemand. “We need a specialprosecutor totally independentof the AG. We need a real, bipar-tisan, transparent Congressionalinvestigation into Russia. Andwe need Attorney General JeffSessions – who should havenever been confirmed in the firstplace – to resign. We need itnow,” Warren said.

While there was no imme-diate word from the WhiteHouse, House Majority LeaderKevin McCarthy told MSNBCthat Sessions should bow out tomaintain “the trust of theAmerican people”. Anothersenior Republican, JasonChaffetz, who heads the HouseOversight and GovernmentReform Committee, joinedMcCarthy’s call, tweeting: “AGSessions should clarify his testi-mony and recuse himself.”

Now Trump’s A-G in a spot

over meeting Russian envoy

Dems seek Sessions’resignation, probe bySpecial Prosecutor

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017 sport 14

INDIAN EVES OUTCLASS BELARUS 5-1

BHOPAL: Indian eves spanked a haplessBelarus 5-1 win in the first hockey Test, hereon Thursday. Playing their first match sincethe Women's Asian Champions Trophy tri-umph last year, India struck early in the 11thminute through a penalty corner conversionand the four minutes later followed that upwith a sensational field goal by Navjot Kaur togo into the first break with leading 2-0. Belaruslooked more orgainsed in defence in the sec-ond quarter, but Punam Barla came made it 3-0 in the home team's favour to score a finefield goal in the 29th minute. SviatlanaBahushevich scored the lone goal for the visi-tors in the 37th minute to end the third quarterwith 1-3 deficit. The Indian eves came backstronger in the fourth quarter and found thenet twice from penalty corner conversions bycaptain Deep Grace Ekka (57th) and GurjitKaur (60th) to register the convincing victory.

AMANDEEP FIRES 4 UNDER TO GRAB LEAD

GURGAON: Amandeep Drall carded an impres-sive four-under 68 to take the sole lead on daytwo of the fifth leg of the Hero Women'sProfessional Golf Tour 2017 at the Classic Golfand Country Club, here on Thursday. Trailingher in tied second position are WalailakSatarak, Vani Kapoor and Gaurika Bishnoi withidentical scores of 141 after 36 holes at INR8,00,000 event which will culminate tomorrow.Panchkula's Amandeep faltered on the veryfirst hole. She went on to card another bogeyon the eighth hole, but birdies on the third,fourth and ninth helped her neutralise thedamage in her front nine. She got better as theday progressed and played a bogey free backnine, carding birdies on the 10th, 15th and17th holes to finish with a total score of fourunder for the day and a total of 139. OverseasThai player Walailak, Vani and Gaurika are alltied second with identical scores of 141.

ASGAR-MUSTAFA CROWNED CHAMPS

SILIGURI: National champions Asgar Ali andMuhammad Mustafa underlined their suprema-cy here on Thursday while claiming the BiswaBangla JK Tyre Himalayan Drive crown in style.India's TSD (Time, Speed and Distance) kingswere in tremendous form in this demandingfive-legged championship, taking the lead earlyon the first day and tenaciously hanging on toit till the very end. They tackled the tough hillyterrain, demanding forest paths and everyobstacle that was thrown at them. Deep Duttaand Prakash Muthuswamy finished secondwhile Ashish Budhia and Arindam Ghosh tookthe last spot on the podium. The fifth and thefinal leg saw the rallyists start their journeyfrom Hile in Nepal early on Thursday morningand making their way here to Siliguri for theprize distribution ceremony. The Biswa BanglaJK Tyre Himalayan Drive 5 created motor-sports history on Wednesday by becoming thefirst TSD (Time, Speed and Distance) rallyfrom the country to enter three nations.

Agencies

PTI n BENGALURU

India coach Anil Kumble on Thursdaymade it clear that Karun Nair's onetriple century cannot outshine the two

years of "extremely successful" stint ofAjinkya Rahane and dropping the expe-rienced middle-order batsman from theplaying XI is out of question.

Rahane didn't have a great seriesagainst England and was eventually ruledout with a fractured hand, while he man-aged just 13 and 18 in the opening Testagainst Australia in Pune, which India lostby 333 runs. In total, he has scored 204runs in his last five matches.

"There is no question of droppingRahane. He has scored really well, he hasbeen extremely successful over the lastcouple of years. In terms of team compo-sition we still haven't discussed on that. All16 are available," Kumble told reportersahead of the second Test, starting onSaturday.

Kumble though felt it was unfortunatethat Nair had been warming the bench-es.

"Yes it's unfortunate that Karun missedout after scoring the triple hundred. Butthat's the way the composition of the teamhas been. We have always looked to playfive bowlers and it's unfortunate that hecame in as a replacement. It is nice to havethese kind of choices in the team," saidKumble.

"People have been successful in agroup. That's the beauty of this group thatwhoever came in has done really well butthere have been times when people wereleft out because of team composition andcombination. But Karun is class act andwe have seen his short internationalchances he has got."

On whether the team would go withfive bowlers in the upcoming Test, Kumblesaid they would go with the "right com-bination".

"It all depends on what we believe isthe right combination to win a Testmatch. If we believe that four bowlers areenough or five bowlers are needed, whichfour or five bowlers all that depends onwhat we look at. Our aim is to win a game."

Talking about Chinnaswamy wicket,Kumble said he was expecting it to be aresult-oriented track.

"I don't know much about theChinnaswamy wicket to be frank. I have

grown up playing on this ground but it isgenerally been a good batting surface. I'msure it will be a result wicket and that'sexactly what we want in a Test match.

Kumble said pitch conditions neverbothered him during his playing days.

"In my playing days I never looked atthe pitch. People wrote a lot about mybowling with regard to pitch but as abowler or captain or coach I never both-ered to look at the pitch. Yes we go therelook at the pitch and come up with whatyou need to do and decide what kind ofstrategies you need to put with regard towhat you read looking at the pitch," he said.

India lost to Australia in the first Testof the four-match series, ending their 19-match unbeaten streak, and Kumble feltthat the players failed to adapt to the sit-uation.

"I don't want to look back, we are hereto look ahead. As a coach it's moreimportant for me to look ahead. It was oneof those games where things didn't go ourway but you just need to move on. Thereare another three Test matches in theseries. What has happened has happened,it is done and dusted. You can't reallyworry too much about that," said thecoach.

"Australia played well, we didn't playreally well. The surface was challenging butwe didn't adapt. Every game you need toadapt to whatever comes in your way andthat's exactly what we are looking forwardto.

"We had a fantastic home season. Youcan't keep winning every game. Like Imentioned winning games in current sce-nario of Test cricket is quite challengingfor an international side. That's what thisteam has been able to do, across conditionsbe it Sri Lanka, India, West Indies andagainst quality sides we have won from dif-ficult situations.

"We have adapted to various condi-tions and situations and that's what wedidn't do in the last game and that's whythe result didn't go our way. We are nowlooking forward to this game to again starton the winning note," he explained.

Asked about India not using DRSproperly, Kumble said, "We keep talkingabout it (DRS) but I don't think we messedit up. If you look at the two series, we cer-tainly did better than the opposition, bothagainst England and Bangladesh. It's tooearly to talk about that. You can alwayshave hindsight and expect that you couldhave missed out but those calls were pret-ty close. I don't see a reason why we needto worry too much about that.

"Australia are a quality side. I don'tthink we played to our potential and that'swhat we will like to do. We will like tocomeback into this Test match and playto our potential. We only look at what weneed to tick. If we keep ticking on theseboxes, results will go our way and that'swhat we will like to do here. We didn't tickthose boxes in the last game and so we did-n't win," insisted Kumble.

He revealed that the players took a dayoff in Pune to go for trekking.

"It is important to keep your mindfresh when things don't go your way or asper planned. So in Pune we did a differ-ent kind of thing. We went out and didtrekking and were away from cricket. It isimportant to unwind because we wereconstantly playing for the last 10 months.Sometimes results will be in your favour,sometimes not. So it is important to main-tain team bonding and keep the players'spirits high.

"If you don't practice for one day yourability doesn't go down. What mindthinks is important."

PTI n BENGALURU

All-rounder Mitchell Marsh is happythat fast bowler Mitchell Starc is keep-

ing the Indian batsmen worried.Starc did his job well in the first Test

on a dustbowl where he removed in-formbatsmen Cheteshwar Pujara and rival cap-tain Virat Kohli cheaply.

"It's great if he (Starc) is in theIndians' heads, hopefully he can take a fewwickets for us," Marsh told reporters hereahead of second Test against India.

He termed Starc as a lethal weapon inIndian conditions with his ability to getreverse swing.

"He's one of the best bowlers in theworld, if not the best bowler in the world.In these conditions, whilst all the talk hasbeen about the spinners he's still ourbiggest weapon, I think," he said.

According to Marsh, both Hazlewoodand Starc's abilities with the old ball givesthe Australian team confidence of trou-bling Indian batsmen.

"In Pune, the wicket itself did a lot ofwork for us, it's not necessarily the squarehere. These balls scuff up well early on.Reverse swing will be huge for us. If wecan get it going, we have got two of thebest reverse swing bowlers in the world.They will still be huge weapons for us."

The younger of the Marsh brothers,Mitchell played 76 balls on a rank turn-er and it's about playing with soft hands,he indicated.

"It was about learning to play with softhands, so that it takes the fielders around

the bat out of the game as much as pos-sible," he said.

"It's a big part of playing well overhere, and it's something all our batsmenhave worked on," the 25-year-old said.

"In these conditions you've got to earnthe right to attack and that's by having asolid defence. That's what I've been work-ing on."

Even as the International CricketCouncil has rated Pune wicket as "poor"following an adverse report by match ref-eree Chris Broad, Marsh didn't want tocomment on the pitch.

"I don't have a take on it. We play onthe 22 yards, and that is the case for boththe teams. The pitch is prepared and wejust play. The Pune victory was one of thebest I have played in, in my 20 Tests. It wasfantastic."

PTI n NEW DELHI

Former Australia captain Michael Clarkefeels that India will be "tougher to beat

in Bengaluru" unlike Pune where winningthe toss worked wonderfully in favour ofSteve Smith's men.

"India will be tougher for Australia tobeat in Bengaluru than in Pune. If Indiawould've won toss and batted in Pune, I don'tknow if result would've been the same,"Clarke told India Today TV.

The former skipper, who is now arespected media pundit feels that in India,a first innings score of 450 or more is manda-tory irrespective of who wins the toss.

"In India, the first innings total is crit-ical. If you get a good first innings score of450 or more, it doesn't matter who wins thetoss. How you bat in the first innings thatdictates the game. So getting more runs inthe first innings should be the focus for bothteams."

Clarke termed Australia's first inningsscore of 265 as a "very good score" on a poorPune track.

"We have seen that in Pune, Australiamade 265 which is a very good score on atough wicket, India went on to make 105, somainly the Test match was over after the firstinnings. Australia had a lead of 150 or more,it was always a tough task for India to chasein the second innings of a Test match."

For Clarke, the wicket in Bengaluru willdeteriorate over last two days.

"In sub-continent, it feels like the gameis moving quite slowly over the first threedays, so then the final two days when thewicket does deteriorate, the ball starts spin-ning more with inconsistent bounce andpace, then it starts troubling the batsmen,"

he said.Kohli and Co has to combat four play-

ers if they need to win, feels Clarke."India need to combat four big players

in the Australian team — (Steve) Smith,(David) Warner, (Mitchell) Starc and (Josh)Hazlewood. India now know they have to beat their best to beat Australia," he said.

Clarke said that Indians can't afford tobe "butter fingered" like in Pune where SteveSmith was let off five times.

"Hang on to your catches otherwiseSmith will make a hundred."

He also had words of comfort for underpressure players like Ajinkya Rahane andIshant Sharma.

"Rahane is a terrific player, India will givehim another opportunity. He's earned thatright. Ishant deserves to be in this team. Heis a wonderful bowler, bowled really wellagainst England," Clarke said.

INDIA WILL BOUNCE BACK: DADAFormer captain Sourav Ganguly has

backed the Indian cricket team to bounceback from the embarrassing defeat in the firstTest at the hands of Australia, saying that thehome team has the batters and bowlers towin the series.

"India has been brilliant in the last 10months, winning almost everything but theywill have to come back and play hard. Youlose at home as well and many teams havelost. It was not the first time and you just needto get it out of the system, take a break andcome back in Bangalore," Ganguly said.

"India don't need to worry. A four-Testseries is a long series. I think 9Ravichandran)Ashwin and (Ravindra) Jadeja will do it.Umesh Yadav bowled superbly (in Pune).The best I have seen him bowl in a Testmatch. They (India) have the team and it isthe belief. India will have to believe. India

needs to use the DRS better," he was quot-ed as saying by India Today.

Asked about captain Virat Kohli's rarefailure in the first Test in Pune, Ganguly said,"He (Kohli) is human and he had to fail oneday. He failed in both innings in Pune. I thinkhe played a little bit of a loose shot in the firstinnings outside the off stump but theAustralians bowled him there. In the secondinnings, I think the game was already over.A 441-run target was a humongous task.

"Kohli will come back because he is aclass act. His record against Australia is unre-al. To watch those four back-to-back Testmatch hundreds against Australia inAustralia (was surreal). I have not seen evenSachin Tendulkar do that. Getting four Testmatch hundreds in every venue on your sec-ond trip to Australia is a special specialeffort."

He also praised Kohli for his leadershipskills. "I loved the press conference Virat didafter the match (in Pune). He was not try-ing to hide anything. It was just that we did-n't bat well and that is why we lost the Testmatch. At the same time, he said it is one-off and I believe the same," Ganguly said.

"Kohli has terrific leadership skills. I havea lot of faith in his leadership. He is honestwhich is very important and his message tohis team is very clear."

About the Pune pitch, Ganguly said,"When you prepare such pitches as the onein Pune and I know the curator was nothappy, then you give average bowlers achance and I am not belittling StevenO'Keefe. But he becomes a wicket-takerwhich he won't be normally on a battingpitch. India need to prepare good pitches,take the Test match to day four and then takethe game forward."

PTI n NEW DELHI

It has been a painful four months for Rohit Sharmahaving undergone a hamstring surgery but the tal-

ented batsman is not losing his sleep over fightingout for a middle-order slot with Ajinkya Rahane andKarun Nair.

"In my career so far, I have never thought aboutwho is my competition. You can't improve as a play-er if your thought process is channelised in thoselines. My competition is with myself. I don't wastemy time concentrating on things which aren't in mycontrol. But I don't want to miss a single match thatIndia plays," Rohit told PTI in an exclusive inter-view.

The time out of action wasn't easy but he hasbeen through this situation earlier also.

"I have that mental toughness to deal with sit-uations but whenever there is a surgery, there aresome initial fears. But once I was done with it, mydoctors in UK told me that with a proper rehabil-itation programme, I would be fit to play withinthree and a half to four months. But it is tough when

you can't do what you love the most."Rohit is set to play for Mumbai against Andhra

and Goa on March 4 and 6 in Chennai in groupleague of Vijay Hazare Trophy games with an aimto check his match fitness.

"I would love to be a part of current Test series.But then I will also have to take a step at a time.These two games will test my real time match fit-ness. Accordingly, I will have to inform the train-er and physio at the NCA as to how I have felt.

"I am feeling 100 percent fit but you wouldalways like to hit a few deliveries and take it fromthere on," said Rohit, who had scores of 68 not out,82 and 51 not out in his last three Test appearances.

It's not easy for an international player whenthe national team is playing red ball cricket andwhite ball season is underway in domestic crick-et.

It's intriguing but Rohit practised on alternatedays with red ball and white ball during his net ses-sions at the National Cricket Academy in Bengaluru.

"Yes, it's not the easiest of things but I had tobalance my training session. So it used to be alter-

nate sessions of red ball and white ball practice. Bothbehave differently and it is an everyday adjustment,"Rohit said.

"After an intense rehabilitation period, you needyour muscle memory to react like it would do atnormal times. I had to practice red ball as Test seriesis on and white ball because that's where I make acomeback in Vijay Hazare Trophy."

The talented right-hander also informed thathe will not be captaining the Mumbai side but isexpected to open the batting as it has been his slotin the Indian team also.

"Yes, I will be opening the batting but I won'tbe captaining the side. Aditya (Tare) has done a fab-ulous job as the captain throughout the season. Also

I am coming back to play for Mumbai after a longgap.

“So it's also not fair on my part to lead the side.Mumbai need to win both the matches and that'swhat my endeavour is at the moment. Score welland win matches for Mumbai."

Rohit also shared his post-rehab training rou-tine once he was allowed to start with batting bythe physio.

"Any player, who has undergone a knee surgeryor hamstring surgery would tell you how difficultthe initial days are. You need to start with bowlingmachines as you don't want unpredictability.

"First you practice forward and backwarddefensive shots, follow it up with drives and thenget into the horizontal bat shots like cut and pull.You need to practice each shot hundreds of timesin-front of the bowling machine.

“Then you train in the nets against properbowlers now that your muscles are reacting well.The road to recovery is not always easy as it testsyour patience as well as mental fortitude," he con-cluded.

‘No question of dropping Rahane’

Indian coach says performances over a long period can’t be overlooked

‘It's good that Starc isworking in Indian’s heads’

If India bat 1st, won't be easy for Oz: Clarke

I only wish to compete with myself, says Rohit

S I N G L E S

IT'S UNFORTUNATE THATKARUN MISSED OUTAFTER SCORING THE

TRIPLE HUNDRED BUTTHAT'S THE WAY THECOMPOSITION OF THE

TEAM HAS BEEN—INDIA COACH ANIL

KUMBLE

Rohit is set to play forMumbai against Andhraand Goa on March 4 and 6in Chennai in group stageof Vijay Hazare Trophy

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY MARCH 3, 2017 sport 15

AP n MADRID

The Luis Enrique era atBarcelona will end thisseason.

The coach said Wednesdayhe will leave the Spanish cham-pions to get some rest after threeyears in charge.

He made the surpriseannouncement following theteam's 6-1 win over SportingGijon in the Spanish league.

"I need to rest," LuisEnrique told the post-matchnews conference. "I won't be thecoach of Barcelona next season.

"It was a very difficult deci-sion for me, very well-thoughtout," the 46-year-old formerSpain international said. "Thereason clearly had to do withthe way of life I need to have inthis profession, constantly hav-ing to find solutions, constant-ly trying to improve my team.That means very little time torest, very little time to discon-nect. After this season it will begood for me to get some rest."

The news was first given tothe players in the locker roomafter the game at the CampNou.

"He told us about his deci-sion and we have to accept it,"midfielder Ivan Rakitic said."We want to finish the seasonwith victories and enjoy what'sleft of it."

Luis Enrique said he toldthe club during the pre-seasonthat he was considering notreturning after his contractedexpired at the end of this sea-son.

"I would like to thank theclub for all the confidence thatit had in me throughout my

years here, both as a player andas a coach," he said.

Barcelona president JosepBartomeu said the coach con-firmed his decision to leave afew days ago.

"We accept Luis Enrique'sdecision. He has been a greatcoach. Now we have to finishthe season the best possibleway," Bartomeu said. "LuisEnrique has helped us succeed,and he can still help us. Theplayers are motivated to makesure that happens."

Luis Enrique won eighttitles with Barcelona and stillhas the chance to win threemore before leaving - theSpanish league, the Copa delRey and the ChampionsLeague.

Barcelona is in a tight racefor the league title with RealMadrid and reached the Copafinal against Alaves. But it mustreverse a 4-0 first-leg loss toParis Saint-Germain to stayalive in the knockout stages ofthe Champions League.

The humiliating loss in theRound of 16 to PSG last monthleft the coach under pressurefrom fans and local media. Hewas jeered by the crowd at theCamp Nou in a league gameshortly after the defeat in Paris.

"I'm so sad cos we aregoing to miss the perfect train-er for Barcelona," said formerBarcelona player and coachPep Guardiola, who is cur-rently at the helm ofManchester City. "I wish himthe best as a fan, a member ofBarcelona. I just want to saythank you for all you have donefor three years at my club."

A former defensive mid-

fielder at the Catalan club, LuisEnrique replaced GerardMartino ahead of the 2014-15season. He immediately ledthe team to the treble in theSpanish league, Copa del Reyand Champions League. Healso helped it win the leagueand the Copa in the 2015-16season.

His other titles withBarcelona include the 2015UEFA Super Cup and the 2016Spanish Super Cup, as well asthe 2015 Club World Cup.

"It's been three unforget-table years," Luis Enrique said."We have three thrilling monthsleft and we will continue to giveour best."

BARCA TAKE LIGA LEADOn a night marked by the

surprise announcement thatcoach Luis Enrique will leaveBarcelona at the end of the sea-son, his team routed relegation-threatened Sporting Gijon 6-1to return to the top of theSpanish league on Wednesday.

Lionel Messi scored hisleague-leading 21st goal lessthan 10 minutes into thematch at the Camp Nou tohelp Barcelona earn a com-fortable victory.

Barcelona leads the stand-ings for the first time since theopening round, one pointahead of Real Madrid, whichwas held by Las Palmas to a 3-3 draw at the SantiagoBernabeu Stadium.

Madrid, which still has agame in hand, scored twicewith Cristiano Ronaldo in thefinal minutes to erase a two-goal deficit and salvage a pointdespite playing most of the

second half without 10 menafter a red card for GarethBale.

Luis Enrique announcedthat he will not coachBarcelona next season in thepost-match news conference,saying that he needed to rest.

"The reason clearly had todo with the way of life I needto have in this profession,constantly having to findsolutions, constantly trying toimprove my team," he said.

After scoring importantlate winners in the last twogames, Messi put Barcelonaon the board with a headeroff a long cross into the areain the ninth minute.

It was his 36th goal in 36matches this season, and his12th in the last 11 leaguegames.

The Argentina playmak-er also hit the crossbar witha free kick in the 59th min-utes, a couple of minutesbefore being substituted.

Two minutes after Messiopened the scoring,Barcelona added to the leadwith an own goal by JuanRodriguez, who deflected ashot by Luis Suarez.

The Uruguay strikerscored with a volley frominside the area in the 27th,and his second-half substi-tute, Paco Alcacer, added thefourth from close range aftera pass by Messi. Neymarfound the net with a well-placed free kick in the 65th,and Ivan Rakitic rounded offthe scoring with an angledshot in the 87th as Barcelonamade it five league wins in a row.

AFP n MADRID

Real Madrid coach Zinedine Zidane insisted his side had no oneto blame but themselves despite Gareth Bale's red card in a

thrilling 3-3 draw at home to Las Palmas on Wednesday.Madrid looked set for a first home league defeat in a year as

Las Palmas took advantage of Bale's dismissal early in the second-half to lead 3-1 with just three minutes remaining.

However, Cristiano Ronaldo's double salvaged a draw and keepsReal just a point adrift of league leaders Barcelona with a game inhand.

"We can't look for excuses," said Zidane."What we can do is improve our performance. We are not

happy with how we are playing. There are moments in the seasonlike this. The past three or four games things haven't gone as wewould want, but we are not going to look for excuses in the ref-erees."

Bale's first red card since joining Madrid for a then world recordfee in 2013 came with the scores level at 1-1 as Tana cancelled outIsco's opener for Real inside the opening 10 minutes.

The Welshman kicked out atJonathan Viera twice before finallypushing the Las Palmas midfielder tothe ground.

"He has apologised. He is nothappy with the sending-off," addedZidane.

Madrid vice-captain Marcelo saidBale is aware his moment of madnesshad badly let his teammates down.

"I am not one to give him a clipround the ear, that is what I do to mychildren," said the Brazilian.

"Bale is old enough to know if hehas made a mistake or not. These thingshappen in football, but hopefully itdoesn't happen again between now andthe end of the season."

In a recurring theme of Madrid'sseason, a stunning late effort undid alot of the damage caused by a below-par display.

The European champions trailed Villarreal 2-0 on Sundaybefore a rousing fightback in the final 25 minutes sealed a 3-2 win.

However, having also lost 2-1 at Valencia last week after con-ceding twice in the first 10 minutes, Zidane insisted Los Blancoscan't always leave themselves with a mountain to climb.

"We can't go over the top. There are things we have done wellthis year, but we have to analyse it and we will change things," addedthe Frenchman. "We have shown we have character and we cando more. We have to improve particularly in our first-half per-formances. We have to think about the positives. We will analysethe negatives, but to come back from 1-3 to 3-3 is a huge effort."

On the same night that Barcelona coach Luis Enriqueannounced he will not continue next season, the Catalans have thefate of the title in their own hands for the first time in months.

A 6-1 thrashing of Sporting Gijon earlier on Wednesday sawBarca leapfrog Madrid into top spot and the two sides are still tomeet at Real's Santiago Bernabeu in April.

AP n DUBAI

Roger Federer squandered threematch points in a shock 3-6, 7-6 (7),

7-6 (5) second round loss to Russianqualifier Evgeny Donskoy at the DubaiTennis Championships on Wednesday.

Federer, who has just won his 18thGrand Slam title at the AustralianOpen, failed to take advantage of threematch points in the second set tiebreak-er, losing two of the three opportunitieson unforced errors.

"(I) surprised everyone I thinktoday," the 116th-ranked Donskoy said."Whoever win against Roger surpriseshimself, I think."

Adding to the challenge for theRussian was playing against Federer forthe first time.

"It was really tough in the beginning,because it was too much pressure,"Donskoy said.

"Because it's Roger, and I never evenpractice with him."

Federer netted a forehand onDonskoy's one set point in the secondset tiebreaker to extend the match to athird set.

Donskoy's dream of a quarterfinalberth seemed over when he forfeited hisserve in the sixth game of the third set.But Federer wasn't able to close out thematch when serving for it at 5-3 in thethird, and then watched the Russianwork his way to victory.

Federer led 5-1 in the third settiebreaker, but Donskoy refused to fold.

"I had my chances," Federer said. "I should somehow close it out.

Don't know how it got away, but he didvery well, and yeah, it's a rough one, forsure."

Federer, who skipped last year'stournament because of arthroscopicknee surgery, was in the hunt for aneighth Dubai title.

The initial excitement in the matchoccurred with Federer leading 6-3, 3-4 -when one set of the court floodlights wentdark. Fans in the crowd turned on theircellphone flashlights and start waving themin the air as if they were at a rock concert.

Both players then agreed to play ondespite the problem and by two games laterfull lighting was restored.

"I felt, if he wants to keep playing, I'mhappy to keep playing," Federer said. "I did-n't want to wait. It wasn't just, like, dark.It was just darker."

Donskoy will play seventh-seededLucas Pouille in the quarterfinals. Pouilledefeated qualifier Marius Copil 6-1, 6-4.

"It's tough to judge this one, because Icould have won in two and I'd be alreadyalmost hitting the pillow now thinkingabout Pouille," Federer said. "But now hereI'm explaining what didn't go well."

The day went a lot better for top-seed-

ed Andy Murray, who earned a place in thelast eight with a 6-2, 6-0 win over GuillermoGarcia-Lopez.

Murray, playing in his first tournamentsince a fourth round defeat at the AustralianOpen last month, is showing no signs ofbeing match rusty despite having to dealwith a case of shingles.

The top-ranked Briton needed only 72-minutes to bypass the 97th-ranked Garcia-Lopez, saving the one break point he facedon serve at 30-40 in the first game of thematch.

He broke Garcia-Lopez's serve for thefirst of five times in the fourth game of thefirst set.

"When I got the early break, prettymuch was almost 30 minutes in and we'donly played four games," Murray said."Mentally, that was important for me, youknow, to be up at that stage.

BOPANNA, MATKOWSKI REACH SEMIS India's Rohan Bopanna, playing with

his fourth different partner of the season,joined forces with Marcin Matkowski toreach the doubles semifinals of the DubaiDuty Free Tennis Championships, here.

The unseeded Indo-Polish pairknocked out Romania's Florin Mergea andSerbia's Viktor Troicki 6-3 6-4 in the quar-ter-finals of the USD 2,617,160 hard courttournament. This is the second best per-formance of the season for Bopanna, whowon the season-opening Chennai Openwith compatriot Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan.

Bopanna and Matkowski had shockedsecond seeds Ivan Dodig and MarcelGranollers 5-7 6-3 11-9 in the openinground of one of the most-loved events onthe calender.

Bopanna could next find compatriotLeander Paes in the semifinals if the vet-eran Indian and his Spanish partnerGuillermo Garcia-Lopez could go pastthird seeds Daniel Nestor from Canada andFrenchman Edouard Roger-Vasselin.

ENRIQUE’S BARCA ERA TO END

Luis to step down as Catalan giants’ coach at end of season

No excuses forMadrid despite Baledismissal: Zidane

INDIA FINISH ISSFSHOOTING WC

WITH 5 MEDALS PNS n NEW DELHI

With one Grand Prix eventscheduled for Friday in the

mixed team skeet, competitions forthe International Shooting SportFederation (ISSF) World Cupwound up with the men's skeet titlegoing to Italy's Riccardo Filippelli,who beat compatriot and reigningOlympic Champion GabrieleRossetti in the final. Australia's PaulAdams won the bronze medal.India therefore, finished with fivemedals including one gold, two sil-ver and two bronze medals andoverall fifth in the medals tallybehind table toppers China, Italy,Australia and Japan in that order.

India's Sheeraz Sheikh didcome up with a lifetime best per-formance, shooting 121 in qualify-ing and even getting the better offormer World Champion andWorld No 8 Jesper Hensen ofDenmark in a shoot-off to do so,but could only finish sixth in thefinals.

This was Sheeraz' first everWorld Cup final in seven years ofskeet shooting and comes on theback of another final appearance inthe recently held Asian shotgunchampionships in Abu Dhabi,where he had finished fifth.

It has arguably been one ofIndia's best World Cup finishes everwith shooters Pooja Ghatkar in thewomen's air rifle (bronze), AnkurMittal in men's double trap (silver),Amanpreet Singh in men's 50m pis-tol (silver) and hero of the NewDelhi World Cup Jitu Rai in themen's 10m air pistol and 50m pis-tol (bronze and gold) winningmedals for the hosts.

Federer upset by qualifier

Bale's first redcard sincejoining Madridfor a then worldrecord fee in2013 camewith the scoreslevel at 1-1 asTana cancelledout Isco'sopener for Realinside theopening 10minutes

THE HUMILIATING LOSS IN THEROUND OF 16 TO PSG LAST

MONTH LEFT THE COACH UNDERPRESSURE FROM FANS AND

LOCAL MEDIA. HE WAS JEEREDBY THE CROWD AT CAMP NOU

FC Barcelona's Lionel Messi, center right, celebrates with his teammates after scoring against Sporting Gijon; BELOW: Luis Enriques in file photo AP

NEEPCO EMERGE WINNERNEEPCO bagged the men’s team cham-

pionship in the 21st Inter-CPSU BadmintonTournament at UP Badminton Academy onThursday. In the women’s category, THDCemerged winner. NHPC finished second inboth the categories.

Powergrid achieved stood 3rd in thetournament. Powergrid executive directorAtul Trivedi gave away the prizes.RESULTS: (SINGLES)Men’s- Bishan Thapa (NEEPCO) bt VijayBehra (REC) 21-18,17-21,21-16, Women’s-Monica Singh (NHPC) bt Anamika 21-16,21-11(DOUBLES) Men’s- Dinesh Arora/VijayBehra (REC) bt Pinaki Das/Bishan Thapa 21-16,22-20, Women's: Monica Singh/DollySingh bt Bhawana Rawat/Nayan Daturi 23-21,21-14).

SDS CLUB WINSDS Club defeated DYA Club by 38 runs

in a league match of Annapurna Mullick CricketTournament at Sports College on Thursday.BRIEF SCORES:SDS: 200 (Sachin 55, Yogendra 52, Ravi 40;Sarfaraz 32/2, Rishabh 42/2)DYA: 162 (Atul 30, Rishabh 22, Abhinay 18;Sonu 31/4, Prashant 14/2, Rana 31/2)

LCA CLUB BEAT UNITYLCA Club beat Unity Academy by seven

wickets in a league match of Saqar KhayyamiCricket Tournament at LDA Stadium onThursday.BRIEF SCORES:UA: 101 (Shantanu 20, Lalitendra 19; Rahul13/3, Jaideo 18/2)LCA: 104 (Bhaskar 41, Aman 38; Nishkant22/2).

LOCAL EVENTS

LUCKNOW | FRIDAY | MARCH 3, 2017vivacity 16

From its elaborate dance and musicsequences to its larger than life ter-rain, there are multiple reasonswhy LUKE EVANS is in love withBollywood. The Hollywood actorsays he would love to break intoHindi cinema not just as an actorbut as a singer too. “I actually wentto India last November for thefirst time. I went to Mumbaiand met a lot of people therefrom all walks of life andcultures. It was fantas-tic. I then went to Agraand Jaipur. I foundthe people and thecountry very gra-cious, kind and wel-coming,” he said. The37-year-old “can't waitto go back because it issuch a huge countryand there is so muchdiscover there”. “I amlooking forward togoing back to India,”he said.

‘I feel themusiciansnow have anumber ofplatforms toexpose theirtalent.Earlier,getting intothe industry

was difficult comparatively.But now things havebecome easier. But as wesay everything has its ownpros and cons, the scenariohas become toocompetitive for today'syouth. So they really needto work really hard.’—TOCHI RAINA

ANIL KAPOOR, who made anappearance at the British FilmInstitute as a special guest lastmonth, says people in the Indianfilm industry work in achaotic way. However,he appreciated theincredible level of com-mitment put into plan-ning and preparationsin making films inBritain. When asked aboutthe key differencesbetween the twofilm industries.Anil said: “Thereis no difference.Everybody is thesame. We work inthe same way,same camera. Butwhat I feel, which Imust accept is that thecommitment, planningand the prep, which I cansee when I work with aBritish team, is incredible.That's what we need tolearn. We work in a chaoticway, but things are gettingbetter now.”

‘Bollywood worksin a chaotic way’

‘Would love to singfor Bollywood’

Across the western world there is a very interesting phe-nomenon; when you visit a major mall chances are thatthe most crowded shop is not the local Zara or H&M

store but the Tesla Motors outlet. The electric performancecars built by Tesla Motors owned by the seemingly eccen-tric South Africa-born Elon Musk are a rage across the world.While they haven’t really set the sales charts on fire due totheir fantabulous sticker price, they have proven that elec-tric cars are no slouches and do not have to be stodgy range-limited products.

And it isn’t just Tesla, even the supercar makers of theworld inspired by the likes to the Formula E racing seriesand the incredible modern Formula 1 hybrid engines haveproduced cars such as the Ferrari La Ferrari, Porsche 918Spyder and McLaren P1 which use small internal combus-tion engines coupled with large banks of batteries to blastyou into hyperspace. Most global manufacturers now offera huge range of hybrid and electric models. Cities are exper-imenting with electric car-sharing services and sparing hybridcars from congestion charges. As batteries and energy regen-eration systems have become more efficient, the fuel econ-omy gains of hybrid cars are tremendous. And all-electriccars coupled with ‘supercharging’ stations and increasedrenewable energy usage are more environmentally friendlythan ever before.

Then we have India, the world’s third-largest car-mar-ket (fourth largest if one considers Western Europe as a sin-gle market) where electric and hybrid cars have barely madea dent. While it is true that the Government of India has ascheme called the FAME scheme — Faster Adoption ofManufacturing of Hybrid and Electric vehicles in India —it has barely encouraged the sector. An automotive taskforceset-up by the government and carmakers unravelled whenMaruti-Suzuki pulled out. While Mahindra has taken somebig steps on the electric front and even participate in thestrangely silent Formula E championships, hybrid technol-ogy which is seen by most as the first step has not really seenadoption in India.

While it is true that both Honda and Toyota sell theirexecutive sedans the Accord and Camry respectively as

hybrids, these are just a drop in the ocean when it comes tosales. Because the FAME scheme is meant to encourage ‘local’manufacturing, it has failed to seed the market. Both theJapanese carmakers who produce hybrid cars are for the largepart importing the technology and drivetrain from abroadand even if assembly of the body happens in India this meansthat the subsidies offered by the government for these state-of-the-art cars is minimal.

Ronald Folger, the Managing Director of Mercedes-BenzIndia told me this week that customers are not ‘green’ andthey look at hybrids if they make economic sense.“Government’s should look at subsidising hybrids at the starteven if they are imported because that is what will changehabits initially”, he explained. In fact, he wants the govern-ment of India to explore subsidising imported hybrids ini-tially, “this will seed the market and eventually spread tosmaller, cheaper cars and then hybrid technology will haveto manufactured in India for volume reasons.”

India sees itself as a global production hub for small cars,but if India cannot get her act together when it comes tohybrid and electric cars then there are going to be problemsgoing forward for the ‘Make In India’ plans of this govern-ment. Sometimes, the technology has to be imported initial-ly to really seed the market. The FAME policy needs rework-ing to encourage consumers to drive the more fuel-efficientcars and build the market up. In an age of global warmingand with the need to reduce carbon consumption, let us not

think with blinkers on.

KUSHAN MITRA

Kick starting the 50th birthdaycelebrations for the widely-lovedmusician and Rising Star expertSHANKAR MAHADEVAN, asurprise party was organised forhim on theshow’s sets.Shankar's co-experts DiljitDosanjh andMonaliThakur, alongwith hostsMeiyangChang andRaghav Juyaltoo joined infor the celebrations.Though Shankar's birthday is on3rd March, the team cametogether to make the eveningspecial for him.

Losing the

hybrid race

There is little doubt thathybrid and electric cars are thefuture of mobility. India needsto rationalise its policy toensure that it isn’t a laggard

Through lyrical metaphors inspired bythe circus and everything extraordinaryand unusual that surrounds its charac-

ters, Poonam Bevli Sahi comments on life withher exhibition, Life is a circus, while juxtapos-ing the mundane with wonder.

“My father fell ill and he was hospialisedfor almost 14 months. So while he was in hos-pital, I used to come back from there and torelease my stress, I started sketching. Theseare really free flowing sketches as there is mydad and my children in it and therefore mymother has come to light the lamp on thebehalf of my dad” she tells us as her motherlights the lamp.

She plays with textures and whimsicalwashes, layering hues with a weightlessnessof touch and mood; her strokes sometimesapplied with haste, sometimes with gentleattention. A monotone palette with intuitive-ly enfolding depth of tone reveals the blend-ing of light and shade.

“Circus is slowly becoming a thing of thepast. These sketches are my way of document-ing the delights of a circus and connectingwith my childhood. The drawings are exper-imental and not over-thought or laboured. It’sa theme that to my knowledge has not beenexplored to any great extent and I reallyenjoyed myself in the process,” she says.

An erudite and sensitive artist, her vibrantpersonality belies a deeply introspective andsensitive creator. The style and content of herpainting holds a universal appeal in today’schaotic world with exotic and even mutedhues.

Colours and contours are her forte andused with neither doubt nor certainty, and dis-play an engaging strength that accounts forthe direction in which the artist seems to bemoving.

Her work reflects that of the artist as onewho bears testimony to private moorings. Herbackground in graphic design helps Poonamwith her compositions, none of which carrythe laboured look of a struggle with plot andscheme.

“My family was always interested in artand culture. My mother was a hobby artist. Ialways participated and won prizes in the var-ious art competitions as a child. My childhoodmemory was MF Hussain doing the sets of aplay that I was acting in during Durga Pujawhile we were rehearsing. I must have beenabout nine at the time. It left a wonderfulimpact on my life,” shares Poonam.

Jubilation exudes from the body languageof one character, an acrobat delighted at unionwith her lover, flying through space and time.The everyday melancholia of life flashesmildly in the expression of another. A poisedfire-eater devours flames of light, unabashedby her confidence and glory.

These artworks allow you to enter anoth-er realm, a parallel universe you discoveralmost by accident, like finding an old pho-tograph of yourself tucked away in a book.Wrought with nostalgia and details that res-onate old world charm, Poonam captures for-gotten emotions like the playfulness of child-hood that only such innocence can afford.

“I derive my inspiration from life, myexperiences and my emotional states. Myfather has been in and out of hospitals due toextremely poor health. I felt the need to cre-

ate some happiness for myself as a release froma very stressful situation. This series provid-ed me the succour that I desperately needed.Most often I work on impulses. Ideas stormmy brain. I sketch them and slowly start exe-cuting them over a period of time. Workingin the visual medium, visions are a naturalprocess,” she explains.

Poonam has been painting professional-ly for several years to critical acclaim. She hasheld several exhibitions both in India andabroad, with her paintings forming a part ofseveral private collections around the world.

“I see myself as a story teller, but with adifference. The story I tell, unravels in differ-ent ways for every viewer.

It means something to me but may besomething entirely different to another per-son. My job is over once I finish my painting.It is left to the viewer to interpret it,” she con-cludes.

The ongoing exhibition at IIC Annexe con-cludes on March 8.

Photo: Pankaj Kumar

Ahead of theInternational Women’s

day, veteran Bollywood actorAmitabh Bachchan has sentout strong message on gen-der equality, by announcingthat his assets would beshared equally between hisson Abhishek and daughterShweta.

Big-B posted a photo-graph on his micro blogginghandle which carried a mes-sage, “When I die, the assetsI shall leave behind, shall beshared equally between mydaughter and my son #gen-derequality #WeAreEqual.”

Amitabh Bachchan havetwo children — actorAbhishek Bachchan anddaughter Shweta BachchanNanda. In his blog, Amitabhvirtually launched a genderequality campaign by post-ing the same photographwith the “we are equal” mes-sage.

“The office of the publicservants that promote variouscampaigns are keen for this ..and so I do it .. though talk-ing about it and exhibiting itsplea is hesitating for me,” Big-B stated in a paragraph pre-ceding his photograph, thusrevealing the reason behindhis posting his photographwith a message.

It may recalled thatAmitabh wrote letters to his

two granddaughters —Abhishek and Aishwarya RaiBachchan’s daughterAaradhya and Nikhil Nandaand Shweta’s daughter NavyaNaveli on Teacher’s Day lastyear, in which he advisedboth of them not to live inshadows of people’s judge-ment.

On the film front,Amitabh is gearing up for the

release of the third install-ment of the Sarkar franchise,where he will reprise the roleof Subhash Nagre. The film,directed by Ram GopalVarma, also starsJackie Shroff,Y a m iG a u t a m ,Amit Sadhand ManojBajpayee.

Within days after film maker Mahesh Bhatt,his wife Soni Razdan and his actor-daugh-

ter Alia Bhatt received extortion and death threatsfrom an unknown person, the Anti-ExtortionCell of Mumbai Police with the help of SpecialTask Force (STF) of the Uttar Pradesh onThursday tracked down the caller to Lucknowwhere they arrested him.

Identifying the arrested suspected caller asone Sandeep Sahu (24), the police said that Sahuhad for some time been operating as a gangster.

The investigations have revealed that Sahuhad allegedly handed out extortion and deaththreats to Mahesh Bhatt, his wife Soni Razdanand his actor-daughter Alia Bhatt, impersonat-ing underworld don Babloo Shrivastava.

Having arrested Sahu with the help of the UPSTF personnel, a visiting team of Mumbaipolice is bringing Sahu back to Mumbai.

The investigations in the latest case haverevealed that suspect youth had come to Mumbaia few months ago for a break on film industry.However, he could not get a break and returnedto Uttar Pradesh. During the process, he incurredheavy expenditure, a thing must have been onSahu’s mind when he allegedly made extortioncalls to Bhatt.

Born in a family celebrating art and culture, POONAM BEVLI SAHI brings back herchildhood memories through a painting exhibition titled, Life is a circus, whichconnects her early life to a circus. By UNNATI JOSHI

Romance of circus

Mumbai Police tracked down theperson making ransom calls toMAHESH BHATT’s family toLucknow. TN RAGHUNATHAN reports

Bhatt receivesdeath threat

Rooted for gender equality

AMITABH BACHCHAN recently held a placard and posedfor the camera making his stand clear on gender equality.TN RAGHUNATHA reports

FAME POLICY NEEDS REWORKINGTO ENCOURAGE CONSUMERS TODRIVE THE MORE FUEL-EFFICIENTCARS AND BUILD THE MARKET UP