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T he Shiromani Gurdwara Parbhandhak Committee (SGPC), the apex body which manages Sikh shrines, will send a four-member delegation to Pakistan to take stock of the situation following an alleged mob attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib, the birthplace of Guru Nanak Dev, which has been dragged into the ongoing controversy involving the con- troversial Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA. A day after the incident of mob attack on the Sikh shrine in Pakistan, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi condemned it, while the BJP sought to justi- fy the CAA saying the incident was yet another evidence of atrocities against the minorities in the neighbouring country. Against the backdrop of widespread protests against the CAA that allows Indian citi- zenship to six persecuted reli- gious minorities, excluding Muslims, from Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan, the Nankana Sahib incident has further heated up the running political debate with External Affairs Ministry saying that the members of the minority Sikh community in Pakistan have been subjected to acts of vio- lence at the holy city of Nan- kana Sahib. Pakistan has, how- ever, denied media reports on desecration of Nankana Sahib. Congress leader Rahul while denouncing the mob attack said bigotry is a danger- ous, age old poison that knows no borders. Taking to Twitter, Rahul termed Friday attack repre- hensible, and said the only known antidote to bigotry is love, mutual respect and under- standing. “The attack on Nankana Sahib is reprehensible & must be condemned unequivocally. Bigotry is a dan- gerous, age old poison that knows no borders. Love + Mutual Respect + Unders- tanding is its only known anti- dote,” he said in a tweet. Engaging in the debate, Union Minister Hardeep Singh Puri sought to know whether those protesting across the country against the CAA need- ed more evidence of oppression of minorities in the neigh- bouring country. He said the violent mob that besieged the Nankana Sahib Gurdwara had threat- ened to change the name of the holy place to “Ghulam-e- Mustafa”. “The violent mob that besieged Nankana Sahib Gurdwara has threatened to change the name of our holy place to Ghulam-e-Mustafa. Do those who are opposing the CAA need more evidence of oppression of minorities in Pakistan,” Puri said in a tweet in Hindi, along with a video clip that showed a mob threat- ening to change the name of the gurdwara. Another BJP leader and Lok Sabha member Meenakshi Lekhi said minorities in Pakistan have been subjected to threats for religious conversion, rapes and violence for decades and the Nankana incident shows how minorities there are persecuted and why they need citizenship in India. Lekhi also said that this incident should open the eyes of Congress leaders such as So- nia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Navjot Singh Sidhu, TMC sup- remo Mamata Banerjee, the leftists and the “Urban Naxals” who have been opposing the amended Citizenship Act. Meanwhile, strongly con- demning the mob attack on the historic Sikh shrine, SGPC chief Gobind Singh Longowal appealed to the Pakistan Government to take strict action against culprits. “We will send a four-mem- ber delegation to Pakistan to take stock of the situation there,” he said, adding that the delegation would also meet Sikh families in Nankana Sahib. “The delegation will also meet Pakistan’s Punjab Governor and Chief Minister,” he said. Longowal said the del- egation will comprise Rajinder Singh Mehta, Roop Singh, Surjit Singh and Rajinder Singh. “We have spoken with the Gurdwara Nankana Sahib management committee...They told us the situation is normal now,” Longowal said. The SGPC chief said the sentiments of the Sikh com- munity were hurt with the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. Longowal said that the SGPC would also take up this matter with the United Nations. Punjab’s former Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal too condemned the attack on Gurdwara Nankana Sahib. “We request the Government of India to imme- diately take steps so that peace and harmony is restored,” said Badal. P akistan on Friday rejected the media reports that the historic Gurdwara Nanakana Sahib in Lahore was desecrat- ed in a mob attack, saying the birthplace of founder of Sikhism Guru Nanak remains “untouched and undamaged” and the “claims of destruction” of one of the holiest Sikh shrines are “false”. The Pakistan Foreign Office in a statement said the provincial authorities in the Punjab province have informed that there was a scuffle in the city of Nankana Sahib on Friday between two Muslim groups. The altercation happened on a minor incident at a tea- stall and the district adminis- tration immediately intervened and arrested the accused, it said. “Attempts to paint this inci- dent as a communal issue are patently motivated. Most importantly, the gurdwara remains untouched and undamaged. All insinuations to the contrary, particularly the claims of acts of ‘desecration and destruction’ and desecra- tion of the holy place, are not only false but also mischie- vous,” the Foreign Office said. The Foreign Office state- ment has come after some reports in the Indian media said that a mob attack had taken place at the shrine. The reports suggested that hundreds of angry residents at Nankana Sahib pelted stones at the Sikh pilgrims on Friday. Police in Pakistan said on Friday that a group of people, led by the family of a Muslim man who married a Sikh teenager, held a day-long sit-in outside the gurdwara to protest the arrest of their relatives who were held for alleged forced conversion of the girl. P olitics over selection of the Republic Day tableaux is nothing new. What the UPA Government did earlier, the BJP-led NDA regime is repeat- ing now. During the UPA regime, Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat never got tableaux selected for the R-day celebra- tion. Now that Modi is the Prime Minister, tableaux from his home State has never been omitted during the last five years, while Opposition-ruled States have been routinely left out of the celebration. The Opposition has alleged that West Bengal, Maharashtra and Kerala, which aggressive- ly protested against the Citizenship (Amendment) Act, have been omitted for obvious political reasons. The data of Ministry of Defence shows that the Centre always used Republic Day tableaux as tools to target States ruled by the Opposition. This is true for the past six years of the Modi Government as well as 10 years of the UPA rule. Tableaux selected for the R-Day parade offer a unique oppor- tunity to witness the culture, heritage and other unique aspects of various States. Under the UPA regime, Gujarat failed to qualify for the five continuous years between 2009 and 2014. The State tableaux, however, qualified in 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020 during the NDA regime led by Modi who came to power in May 2014. West Bengal failed to qual- ify for the R-Day Parade this year. The Bengal Government had proposed the theme of Kanyasree for the tableau. The State has failed to qualify for fourth straight years. The State, however, qualified in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2016, 2017 and 2019. West Bengal was adjudged best in 2014 when UPA II was in power at the Centre, and in 2016 the State was adjudged the best during NDA regime. The Bihar Government's theme of Jal-Jivan-Hariyali Mission was rejected as "it does not fulfil the criteria for that". Bihar was not included in the Republic Day parade in 2019 as well. BJP-JD(United) alliance is ruling in the Bihar. The JD(U) did not protest while the RJD termed it Bihar's humiliation. The data shows Maharashtra tableaux quali- fied for Republic Day parades on nine occasions in the past 13 years but they failed to qualify in 2008, 2013, 2016 and 2020. In all other years when Maharashtra didn't qualify, the Centre and the State were ruled by the same party. In 2008 and 2013, the Congress-NCP alliance was in power in Maharashtra and the same par- ties shared power at the Centre. In 2016, BJP-Shiv Sena alliance shared power in the State and the same parties shared power at the Centre. In 2020, Shiv-Sena, NCP and Congress are sharing the power in the State while BJP is in the power at the Centre. Maharashtra was adjudged the best tableau in 2015 and 2018 when BJP-Shiv Sena Government was in power in the State and the Modi Government at the Centre. The State was on the third spot in 2017. Kerala's tableau for the R- Day parade was also rejected for the second consecutive year this year by the Centre. The theme proposed by the State for its tableau was the State's art and architecture, which would comprise the traditional art forms of Theyyam and Kalamandala. The tableau showed Kerala's backwaters, Kathakali, Mohiniyattam dancers and percussionists playing the tradition instru- ment of Chenda (drums). Kerala tableau was adjudged best in 2013 when UPA-II was in power at the Centre. Kerala, ruled by the CPI(M) Government was leading the protest against the Citizenship Amendment Act, Abrogation of Article 370 and Ram Temple. Interestingly, Jammu & Kashmir is the only State whose tableau was selected for the parade every year (15 times) from 2005 to 2019. Next in line is Karnataka whose tableaux were selected 12 times during the last 14-year period. The tableaux of Assam & Chhattisgarh were selected 11 times each. This year, the Government has selected 22 tableaux — 15 States, 1 Union Territory, and six Government departments — from a total of 56 applica- tions (32 from States and UTs, 24, departments). T he US is sending nearly 3,000 more Army troops to the Mideast as reinforcements in the volatile aftermath of the killing of an Iranian general in a strike ordered by President Donald Trump, defense offi- cials said on Friday. The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity to dis- cuss a decision not yet ann- ounced by the Pentagon, said the troops are from the 82nd Airborne Division at Fort Bragg, North Carolina. They are in addition to about 700 sol- diers from the 82nd Airborne who deployed to Kuwait earli- er this week after the storming of the US Embassy compound in Baghdad by Iran-backed militiamen and their support- ers. The dispatching of extra troops reflects concern about potential Iranian retaliatory action for the killing Thursday of Gen. Qassem Soleimani,co- mmander of Iran’s Quds Force. T he State Cabinet here on Saturday decided to imple- ment Mukhya Mantri Karmchari Swasthya Bima Yojana (Chief Minister Employees Health Insurance Scheme) in the State. About 12.55 lakh employees/ officers of the State will be benefitted under the scheme. All regular Government Employees, Contractual employ- ees, Teacher cadre, Retired Employees, Home Guard, Full time employees getting salary from the contingency fund and Employees serving in autonomous institutions of the state will be benefitted by the scheme. The scheme will be optional for the employees of Corporations/ Boards and for the Officers of the All India Service. Under the Mukhya Mantri Karmchari Swasthya Bima Yojana, upto Rs 10,000 per annum for free medical treat- ment in OPD will be provided or free medicines will be distrib- uted. For general medical treat- ment, free medical facility upto Rs 5 lakh per annum and upto Rs 10 lakh per annum for seri- ous illness treatment to each family will be provided. A spe- cial permission can be given by the State Level Medical Board for treatment over Rs 10 lakh. The Cabinet has granted approval to continue the 100 percent aided ‘One Stop Centre’ Scheme of the Government of India, operated by the Women and Child Development Department in 51 districts of the state. An approval to create new 560 posts has also been given for this scheme. The Cabinet has granted approval to enhance the discre- tionary fund of the Ministers from Rs. 50 lakh to Rs one crore per annum. Similarly, the discretionary fund of the Ministers of State has been raised to 60 lakh from 35 lakh annually. T o oppose the remark of BJP general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya- “would have set Indore on fire”, the Congress party on Saturday collectively slammed at all possible levels. A delegation of senior Congress leaders called on the Director General of Police (DGP) of Madhya Pradesh seeking a registration of a criminal case against the BJP leader. The leaders in a memo- randum handed to the senior cop alleged that Vijayvargiya tried to tamper with law and order by holding dharna with party leaders at Indore com- missioner’s residence on Friday despite section 144 of CrPC being in force in Indore. They also referred to his statement, “I would have set Indore on fire if RSS office- bearers were not in Indore.” The memorandum further read, “His remarks are evident enough to suggest that he is planning to instigate explosive activities against the State Government by inciting illegal and unlawful activities not only in Indore but across the State.” Saying that Vijayvargiya is known to shelter unlawful and mafia elements in Indore, the Congress leaders also referred to the incident in which Vijayvargiya’s MLA son Akash had beat up a civic officer during anti-encroachment drive. The MP Congress Committee in the letter sought Vijayvargiya be booked under a criminal case for his violence utterance and instigating intent against the state government. Vijayvargiya on Friday had got infuriated after he went to meet senior administrative offi- cials but none of them was there to speak to him despite a prior intimation. Later in he had opposed administration action saying those associated with the BJP were being tar- geted on the pretext of a drive against the land mafia. A known Vijayvargiya detractor and the PWD min- ister Sajjan Singh Verma crossed the line while attacking the former. No impotent could set Indore on fire, It is a city of the intelligent and the musclemen and not of those impotent, he added. His cabinet colleague Jitu Patwari tried justifying him while saying that the minister meant that hatred was not the nature of the city and Vijayvargiya should apologise for his remarks. Another Kamal Nath min- ister Dr Govind Singh slammed RSS for the remarks from Vijayvargiya. “RSS imparts such training from outset to use this kind of lan- guage. Where you are born is revered for you but Vijayvargiya is affirming to burn that place, it’s like attack- ing your mother.” RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

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    Losar Festival ended at theHimalaya Village open airexhibition area of IndiraGandhi Rashtriya ManavSangrahalaya Museum. Thefestival had started on January1. The artists from Ladakh,Sonam Sopari briefed thatduring this day, we made eightauspicious symbols on thewalls of the kitchen and thepot's mouths were tied throughwool thread. Then, boiledChhang was served to everymember and traditional artistsfrom Ladakh recited in aqueue.

    They put their hands onutensils and agricultural imple-ments in Changsa (Kichan),looking at the moon and pray-ing that our life should bebright and long just as the full

    moon is bright and big. Theywere, then, served Dark Sproand after that, Tashis songsentitled were sung. Whoselyrics are ‘Hum Fir Se Mile AurAage, Sabhi Log Khush Rahe,Char Dishaon Me Shanti BaniRahe’.

    After this parting song, iswished peace, harmony. Atthe end of the ceremony, peo-ple go to the neighbouringhouses and call Tashidelek andcongratulate Losar.

    A large number of studentsof various schools were presenton the occasion.

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    During the last one year, rev-olutionary steps have beentaken by the State Governmentfor the welfare of police person-nel and their families for the firsttime in the State. These efforts ofthe new Government have led todevelop a sense of faith in thepolice department. As a result ofthese steps, the police of the Statehave become more alert and vig-ilant.

    Till recent past, 24X7 dutywas part of the police personnel.Because of the continuous duty,health related problems andmental depression were beingfaced by the police personnel. Toavoid this situation, the new gov-ernment decided to give week-ly off to the police personnel.

    Such a major decision wastaken for the first time in the stateto safeguard the interest of policepersonnel.

    As many as 25,000 housesare being constructed to providefree housing facility to the policepersonnel from the level of con-stable to inspector. The con-

    struction of 5000 houses hasbeen completed in the first phaseand 5,000 houses under the sec-ond phase are being construct-ed at the speedy pace. Besides,the tender process for the con-struction of 5,000 house underthe third phase is being com-pleted.

    An action plan is being pre-pared for merging SAF consta-ble upto head constable posts inthe district police upto 25 percentposts, for the people who haveserved for 5 years. In this series,the plan for giving the compas-sionate appointment to thedependents of the deceasedpolice personnel in other depart-ments is in the process on notgetting the appointments in thepolice department.

    In order to make women ofpolice families self-reliant, thePolice SC /ST Women Welfarecommittee was registered in2003 and the training centers,libraries and schools for childrenwere established. These sevakendras had become inactive forthe last several years. Now, thekendras have been reactivated

    and along with the free coachingfor the children of the policemenfor competitive examinations,training pertaining to the culturalactivities are being given.

    In order to provide employ-ment opportunities to the depen-dent women and girls of policepersonnel of other units, amounthas been sanctioned from theCentral Welfare Fund at SAFRange Gwalior, Jabalpur andIndore. The Welfare Centershave been set up at 6th BattalionSAF -Jabalpur, 2nd Battalion-Gwalior, 1st Battalion-Indore,15th Battalion-Indore, 24thBattalion-Jawra and 32ndBattalion-Ujjain and training inentry operator, beautician,sewing makeup artist and beau-ty therapist fields are beingimparted.

    This will help the dependentwomen and girls in gettingemployment easily and theycould become economically self-dependent. Moreover, the StateGovernment is also striving tostart aaganbadis, children homesand crèches in all the police unitsof the State.

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    Amovie ‘Cradle ofLeadership’ showcasing thevalour of Indian Army wasscreened here on Saturday atShaurya Smarak.

    The movie was screenedunder the regular film screen-ing held every day at open airauditorium of Shaurya Smarak.

    Produced by FilmsDivision of India MusheerAhmed and directed byKrishna Kumar Garg, themovie showcases about the lifeof cadets at National DefenceAcademy.

    From recruitment to train-ing each and everything wasshowcased in the film Cradlefor Leadership. It is noteworthythat candidates are selected onthe basis of written examina-tion of UPSC, then admission

    into a course. The NDA offersonly a full-time, residentialundergraduate programme.Then at last the training sessionstarts.

    NDA has an excellentinfrastructure for all-roundtraining of cadets and a vastarray of facilities. A cadet mustundergo training for a total ofsix terms before graduatingfrom the NDA.

    It is to be noted that theNational Defence Academy(NDA) is the Joint Services

    academy of the Indian ArmedForces, where cadets of thethree services, the Army, theNavy and the Air Force traintogether before they go on torespective service academiesfor further pre-commissioningtraining.

    The NDA is located atKhadakwasla near Pune,Maharashtra. It is the first tri-service academy in the world.

    NDA alumni have led andfought in every major conflictin which the Indian ArmedForces has been called to actionsince the academy was estab-lished. The alumni include 3Param Vir Chakra recipientsand 12 Ashoka Chakra recipi-ents. National DefenceAcademy has produced 27 ser-vice Chiefs Of Staff till date.Current Chiefs Of Staff of theArmy, the Navy and the AirForce are all NDA alumni.

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    The collection of 25Hollywood DVDs willbe launched at SwamiVivekananda Library onSunday.

    This collection has a won-derful collection of AcademyAwards movie, thriller, action,animation, comedy. In this, acollection of Lord of the Ringsis being put specifically forYoungsters. This particularcollection has been awardedwith many Movie WinnerAcademy Awards Best PictureAwards.

    Some of the titles of thismovie collection include TheEnglish Patient (9 Winner

    Academy Awards), The LastEmperor (9 Winner AcademyAwards), Tom Hanks is ForestGump (6 Winner AcademyAwards), Slumdog Millionaire(8 winners of Oscar Awards),Saint of a Woman (WinnerAcademy Awards), The Lordof the Rings, The History ofTom Jones, The Silence of theLambs, Jersey Boys, Chariotsof Fire, Around the World in80 Days, Mary Poppins andBlack Panther.

    Manager Yatish Bhatelesaid that this special collectionhas been included in the DVDof many movie winnerAcademy Awards Best Picture.Something is displayed everySunday. This Sunday DVD

    collection will be put up. Italso has the block panther ofMar vell Studios, whichreleased this year. It earnsabout $ 900 million and Oscarnomination may also be avail-able next year. Some Hindimovies have also been includ-ed in this collection.

    Earlier in the month, theChildren DVD Collection waslaunched at SwamiVivekananda Library, whichreceived a very good response.This DVD will be put on dis-play from this Sunday. Librarymembers can reserve theseDVDs.

    After a week, librarymembers can issue theseDVDs.

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    In a Cabinet Sub-Committeemeeting held under theChairmanship of the Ministerfor Public Works Sajjan SinghVerma in connection withthe Energy Department, theMinister for Energy PriyvratSingh informed the CabinetSub-Committee about thedepartmental activities. Theactivities and status of thePower Sector were elaboratedthrough presentation in themeeting.

    In the meeting, theEnergy Minister informedthat after the implementationof Indira Griha Jyoti Yojana,power revenue collection hasincreased by about � 2,000crore as compared to lastyear. Singh said that there isa target to provide bills tohundred percent consumers.

    He said that survey willbe conducted to enhance theconnections under IndiraGriha Jyoti Yojana in Gwalior.Enquiry will be conductedinto the works undertakenunder Saubhagya Yojana inSagar and Dhar districts.Singh further mentioned thata there is a plan to set up anew power plant of 1320MW.

    The Minister forPanchayat and RuralDevelopment KamleshwarPatel, Minister for New,Renewable Energ y andCottage & Village IndustriesHarsh Yadav and Ministerfor Food and Civil SuppliesPradyuman Singh were pre-sent at the meeting.

    The Principal SecretaryEnergy Mohammad Sulemanbriefed about the pointsincluding the financial con-dition of the companies.

    The Secretary EnergyNitesh Vyas and Officer onSpecial Duty PrashantChaturvedi were also presentduring the meeting.

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    Tata Consultancy Services(TCS), the flagship com-pany of the Tata group, onSaturday said it has filed anappeal in the Supreme Courtagainst the NCLAT that direct-ed the reinstatement of CyrusMistry as a director of the com-pany.

    In a filing to the stockexchanges, TCS said theNational Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT) -vide its judgement on

    December 18, 2019 - haddirected re-instatement ofMistry as director of the com-pany for rest of the tenure.

    “...The company, based ona legal opinion, has on January3, 2020 filed an appeal in theHon’ble Supreme Court ofIndia (i) to set aside the saidJudgement qua the companyand (ii) in the interim stay onoperation of the said judgementto the extent it relates to thecompany,” it added.

    In a major development,the NCLAT had restored

    Mistry as executive chairmanof Tata Sons and ruled thatappointment of NChandrasekaran as the head ofthe holding company of salt-to-software conglomerate was ille-gal.

    Subsequently, Tata Sonsmoved the Supreme Courtagainst the December 18 orderof the NCLAT reinstatingMistry as the company’s chair-man.

    After that, Tata Grouppatriarch Ratan Tata also fileda petition in the SupremeCourt seeking to quash thecompany law appellate courtorder, saying the judgmentwas “wrong, erroneous andcontrary to the record of thecase”.

    His petition, however, isseparate from the one filed byTata Sons Ltd, the holdingcompany of the $110 billionsalt-to-software conglomer-ate, in the Supreme Court onThursday.

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    Shareholders of Bharti Airtelhave approved proposals toraise up to $2 billion in equityand another $1 billion in debt.

    The proposal for issuance ofsecurities for amount up to $2billion received 99.99 per centvotes in favour of the special res-olution at the company’s EGMheld on January 3, a regulatoryfiling showed.

    The second special resolution was for issue of for-eign currency convertible bondsand unsecured/securedredeemable non-convertibledebentures along with or with-out warrants.

    This also received 99.99 percent votes in favour of the pro-posal.

    Last month, Bharti Airtelhad said it would seek share-holders’ approval at an EGM onJanuary 3 for raising up to $2 bil-lion through qualified institu-tional placement, public issue,preferential shares or privateplacement.

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    Chairman of State Bank ofIndia chairman RajnishKumar on Saturday said thecountry can become a USD 5-trillion economy, but was skep-tical whether it is achievable by2024-25 as envisaged by theGovernment.

    Speaking at an interactivesession organsied by FICCI, hesaid private investment wasnecessary for achieving thetarget.

    $5 trillion. We will defi-nitely achieve, there is no doubt.Timeframe, I am not certain.Whether we’ll achieve in fiveyears, it is like, a very difficultquestion to answer. But $5tril-lion, we will achieve for sureand again Im saying that it willcome on the back of private sec-tor investments revival,” Kumarsaid replying to a query.

    According to him, the gov-ernment investments alonecannot achieve it and there isa need for huge investments inthe infrastructure sector which

    would result in boosting theGDP.

    FICCI presidentSangitha Reddy said there isa slowdown in the economyand the government needs toinfuse Rs one-two lakh croreto revive the sentiment.

    This is one thing that we,industry, believes thatnotwithstanding any impactit may have on fiscal deficit,the government must findways to induce at least Rsone-two lakh crore into theeconomy to boost construc-tion and infrastructureonceagain, she said.

    According to her, therewere pending bills gettingpiled up at every sector andthere is a need for structuralreforms for boosting the sen-timent which would result inre- accelerating the economy.

    Reddy said the USD 5-trillion economy target can-not be achieved either by thegovernment or industryalone and they should ‘claphands’ together to achieve it.

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    Public sector IndianOverseas Bank has received capital infusion of�4,360 crore from theGovernment of India, the banksaid on Saturday.

    In a regulatory filing to thestock exchanges, the bank saidit has received the amount ascontribution of theGovernment in preferentialallotment of equity shares during the financial year 2019-20 as Government’s invest-ment.

    In December 2019, thebank had said it would receivecapital infusion of �4,360 crorefrom Government in the cur-rent financial year for meetingthe regulatory requirement.

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    Apple chief TimCook saw his annu-al pay slip to $11.6 mil-lion in 2019 after thecompany registered aweaker financial per-formance comparedwith the previous year,according to documentsfiled Friday.

    Cook, who tookhome $15.7 million in2018, is paid a basesalary of $3 million, in additionto a bonus and various com-pensations.

    His 2019 incentive bonus,which is tied to Apple’s per-formance, tallied about $7.7million, and was calculatedbased on the fact that Appleexceeded its sales target by only28 per cent.

    That compared with $12million in 2018, based on thecompany exceeding its salestarget by 100 per cent, the fil-ing with the Securities andExchange Commission said.

    Cook’s 2019 pay was alsoreported to include another$885,000 worth of benefits,most of which were for securi-

    ty and use of a privatejet.

    “For security andefficiency reasons, theboard requires Mr. Cookto use private aircraft forall business and person-al travel,” the filing said.

    Apart from hissalary, Cook also sawmore than $113 millionworth of Apple sharesbecome vested as part ofhis long-term compen-sation as head of the

    firm, according to the filing.As iPhone sales have weak-

    ened, Apple has been shiftingto earnings from digital contentand services sold to the legionsof fans of its devices. Applereported net sales of $260.2 bil-lion and operating income of$63.9 billion for 2019, it said inthe filing.

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    AChinese-Russian resolu-tion aimed at easing inter-national sanctions on NorthKorea is a “timely” step in the“right direction”, China’s UNambassador Zhang Jun said onFriday.

    His comments came onlydays after Pyongyang, deeplyfrustrated that those sanctionsremain in place despite its sus-pension of nuclear and long-range missile testing,

    announced it no longer feltbound by the moratorium.

    Two previous SecurityCouncil sessions on theChinese-Russian proposalfailed to produce agreement,but Zhang said Beijing hoped“that we can build up moreconsensus”.

    “We can really contributeto the political dialoguebetween the parties concerned,especially between the UnitedStates and DPRK,” or NorthKorea, he added.

    Asked when the councilmight next vote on the draftresolution, Zhang said onlythat consultations were con-tinuing.

    When Pyongyangannounced the end of its mora-torium on Wednesday, the USresponse was cautiously word-ed. Secretary of State MikePompeo urged the North’sleader Kim Jong Un to “take adifferent course” and stressedthat Washington wanted“peace, not confrontation”.

    Hong Kong: Hong Kong authoritiesactivated a newly created “seriousresponse” level on Saturday as fearsspread about a mysterious infectiousdisease that may have been broughtback by visitors to a mainland Chinesecity.

    Five possible cases have beenreported of a viral pneumonia that hasalso infected at least 44 people inWuhan, an inland city west of Shanghaiand about 900 kilometers (570 miles)north of Hong Kong.

    The outbreak, which emerged lastmonth, has revived memories of the2002-2003 SARS epidemic that startedin southern China and killed more than700 people in the mainland, Hong Kongand elsewhere.

    The serious response level indicatesa moderate impact on Hong Kong’s

    population of 7.5 million people. It isthe second highest in a three-tier sys-tem that is part of a new governmentplan launched Saturday to respond toinfectious diseases of unknown cause.

    The city’s health department addedan additional thermal imaging systemat Hong Kong’s airport on Friday tocheck the body temperature of arrivingpassengers. More staff have beenassigned for temperature checks at theWest Kowloon high-speed rail stationthat connects Hong Kong to the main-land.

    City leader Carrie Lam, on a visitto the train station Friday to review thehealth surveillance measures, urged anytravelers who develop respiratory symp-toms to wear surgical masks, seekmedical attention and let doctors knowwhere they have been. AP

    ����� ,)*-.3�)

    Extending a helping hand tothe hapless victims of theraging bushfires in Australia, anIndian couple is providingfresh meals from their restau-rant to those affected by thedisaster.

    Kamaljeet Kaur, along withher husband Kanwaljeet Singh,has been preparing simplemeals of curry and rice for thevictims in their Desi Grillrestaurant in Bairnsdale in thestate Victoria for the last five

    days as the bushfire crisis in thecountry worsened.

    “We are providing propermeals of curry and rice. We dis-tribute the food at the reliefcentres as well as give to thosewho come to our restaurantasking for it,” Kaur told PTIover phone on Saturday.

    “The situation is really bad.Initially there was less fire in thearea but later it expanded. Peoplehave lost their lives, houses,farms and animals,” she said.

    Victoria is one of theworst affected areas in the dis-

    aster. Other areas are NewSouth Wales and SouthAustralia.

    Australian Prime MinisterScott Morrison on Saturdaycalled up 3,000 military reservetroops to combat the ragingbushfire crisis which has so farclaimed the lives of 23 peoplewith high temperatures andstrong winds threatening toworsen the conditions acrossthe country.

    More than 14,000 hectareshave been destroyed in SouthAustralia’s Flinders Chase

    National Park, Kangaroo Island.Expressing concern over

    the situation, Kaur said thatpeople had left their houses andwere either shifting to reliefcamps or moving toMelbourne.

    The couple, who migratedto Australia over a decade ago,were earlier providing raw mate-rials to Sikh volunteers in thearea to prepare food for theaffected people but later startedpreparing it in their restaurant.

    ����� -)�D��

    China replaced its top offi-cial in Hong Kong onSaturday, days after PresidentXi Jinping expressed concernover the continued pro-democ-racy protests posing a majorchallenge to the rulingCommunist party.

    Wang Zhimin, the directorof its liaison office in HongKong who coordinates betweenthe local Government of theformer British colony and thecentral Government in Beijing,has been replaced, officialmedia here reported.

    Wang was replaced by LuoHuining, the former party bossof Shaanxi province, in the firstmajor reshuffle of the officesince the city becameembroiled in anti-governmentprotests seven months ago.

    Though Hong Kong is gov-erned by beleaguered pro-Beijing Chief Executive, CarrieLam, who so far failed to quellthe protests which grew inintensity, much of responsibil-ity over policy and planninghas been coordinated by Wang.

    China’s liaison office inHong Kong, which is the sym-bol of Beijing’s authority, has

    also become a centre of pro-democracy protests where theprotesters have burnt theChinese flag.

    Luo’s appointment cameas a surprise as he was nameda week ago the deputy directorof the financial and economicaffairs committee of theNational People’s Congress,China’s legislature, the HongKong-based South ChinaMorning Post reported.

    The announcement cameafter Xi in his New Year’saddress expressed concern overthe situation in Hong Kongwhere the locals carried out

    pro-democracy protests.The disquieting situation in

    Hong Kong, which continuesto witness mass protests, espe-cially by youth that oftenturned violent figured high inXi’s customary New Year’s eveaddress over the national tele-vision on December 31.

    “The situation in HongKong has been everybody’sconcern over the past fewmonths,” said Xi, who is regard-ed as the most powerfulChinese leader after MaoZedong.

    Besides Presidency, Xi alsoheads the Communist Party of

    China (CPC) and the military.“Without a harmonious

    and stable environment, howcan there be a home wherepeople can live and work hap-pily,” Xi said with a tone ofexasperation over unendingprotests, stating that he hopedfor the best.

    “We sincerely hope for thebest for Hong Kong and HongKong compatriots,” he said.

    “A prosperous and stableHong Kong is the aspiration ofHong Kong compatriots, aswell as the expectation of the people of the motherland,”he said.

    ����� 5�-*

    More than 2,200 Afghan civilianswere killed in Taliban-relatedattacks in 2019, the Interior Ministryconfirmed on Saturday.

    “During 2019, Taliban terroristsconducted scores of suicide attacks,improvised explosive device (IED)explosions and guerrilla attacks, andthe attacks left 7,391 civilians killed andinjured nationwide during the year,”Xinhua news agency quoted theMinistry as saying in a statement.

    According to the statement, 2,219civilians were killed and 5,172 otherswounded last year.

    Earlier on Saturday, one civilianwas killed and two were wounded aftera sticky IED explosion struck a vehi-cle in Mazar-i-Sharif, capital city of the

    Balkh province. The target of the attack was not

    known immediately.Taliban militants have been using

    home-made IEDs to make roadsidebombs, landmines and suicide attackvest targeting security forces, but thelethal weapons also inflict casualties oncivilians.

    The improvised explosive device(IED) explosions, including inducedroadside bomb blasts and suicideattacks, were the leading cause ofcivilians’ casualties in 2019, followed byground fighting and pro-governmentforces-related airstrikes, according toofficials.

    “The Interior Ministry considerstargeting civilians as war crimes andcondemned terrorist acts against thecivilians,” the statement added.

    ���� -)�3�

    Almost nine years of civilwar in Syria has left morethan 380,000 people deadincluding over 115,000 civil-ians, a war monitor said in anew toll on Saturday.

    The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights, which hasa network of sources across thecountry, said they includedaround 22,000 children andmore than 13,000 women. Theconflict flared after unprece-dented anti-governmentprotests in the southern city ofDaraa on March 15, 2011.

    Demonstrations spreadacross Syria and were brutallysuppressed by the regime, trig-gering a multi-front armedconflict that has drawn injihadists and foreign powers.The conflict has displaced orsent into exile around 13 mil-lion Syrians, causing billions ofdollars-worth of destruction.

    The Britain-basedObservatory’s last casualty tollon the Syrian conflict, issued inMarch last year, stood at morethan 370,000 dead.

    The latest toll includedmore than 128,000 Syrian andnon-Syrian pro-regime fighters.

    More than half of thosewere Syrian soldiers, while1,682 were from the LebaneseShiite group Hezbollah whosemembers have been fighting inSyria since 2013.

    ��� -�+���

    Thousands of mournersgathered Saturday for afuneral procession throughBaghdad for Iran’s top generaland militant leaders killed in aUS airstrike.

    Gen Qassem Soleimani,the head of Iran’s elite Qudsforce and mastermind of itsregional security strategy, waskilled in an airstrike early Fridaynear the Iraqi capital’s interna-tional airport.

    Many of the mourners weredressed in black, and they car-ried Iraqi flags and the flags ofIran-backed militias that arefiercely loyal to Soleimani.

    Iran has vowed harsh retal-iation, raising fears of an all-outwar. US President DonaldTrump says he ordered thestrike to prevent a conflict. Hisadministration says Soleimaniwas plotting a series of attacksthat endangered Americantroops and officials, withoutproviding evidence.

    Soleimani was the architectof Iran’s regional policy ofmobilizing militias across Iraq,Syria and Lebanon, including in

    the war against the IslamicState group. He was also blamedfor attacks on US troops andAmerican allies over nearlytwo decades.

    As tensions soared acrossthe region, there were reportsovernight of an airstrike on aconvoy of Iran-backed militia-men north of Baghdad. Hours

    later, the Iraqi army denied anyairstrike had taken place.

    The US-led coalition alsodenied carrying out anyairstrike.

    ���� �)+3��

    Washington asked Tehran torespond “in proportion”after US forces killed top Iranianmilitary commander QasemSoleimani, the deputy com-mander of the RevolutionaryGuards said.

    The Islamic RevolutionaryGuard Corps confirmedSoleimani, the commander of itsQuds Force foreign operationsarm, had been killed on Fridayin a US air strike near Baghdadairport.

    After the attack, theAmericans “resorted to diplo-

    matic measures... On Friday morning”, Rear-

    Admiral Ali Fadavi told Statetelevision that night.

    They “even said that if youwant to get revenge, get revengein proportion to what we did”, hesaid, quoted on the broadcaster’swebsite. Fadavi did not say howIran received the message fromits arch-enemy, even thoughTehran and Washington havehad no diplomatic relations forfour decades.

    Iran’s Foreign Minister

    Mohammad Javad Zarif said inseparate television interview onFriday night that “Switzerland’senvoy transmitted a foolish mes-sage from the Americans thismorning”.

    The Swiss official “was sum-moned in the evening andreceived a decisive response inwriting... To the Americans’audacious letter,” Zarif added.

    Switzerland’s embassy inTehran has represented US inter-ests in the Islamic republic sinceties were cut in 1980.

    But Fadavi said the UnitedStates was not in a position “todetermine” Iran’s response.

    “The Americans must awaitsevere revenge. This revengewill not be limited to Iran,” hesaid. “The ‘Resistance Front’,with a vast geography, is ready tomaterialise this revenge,” headded, referring to Iran’s alliesacross the Middle East.

    ����� ���+���.�

    Defending the killing of topIranian commander in aUS strike, President DonaldTrump on Friday said the“reign of terror is over” andclaimed Qasem Soleimani hadcontributed to “terrorist plotsas far away as New Delhi andLondon.”

    General Soleimani, thehead of Iran’s elite al-Qudsforce and architect of its region-al security apparatus, was killedfollowing a US airstrike atBaghdad’s international air-port on Friday. The strike alsokilled the deputy chief of Iraq’spowerful Hashed al-Shaabiparamilitary force.

    “The recent attacks on US

    targets in Iraq, including rock-et strikes that killed anAmerican and injured fourAmerican servicemen verybadly, as well as a violentassault on our embassy inBaghdad, were carried out atthe direction of Soleimani,”Trump told reporters at Mar-a-Lago in Florida.

    “Soleimani made the deathof innocent people his sick pas-sion, contributing to terroristplots as far away as New Delhiand London. Today we remem-ber and honour the victims ofSoleimani’s many atrocities andwe take comfort in knowingthat his reign of terror is over,”he said.

    Trump alleged thatSoleimani has been perpetrat-

    ing acts of terror to destabilizethe Middle East for the last 20years.

    “What the United Statesdid yesterday should have beendone long ago. A lot of liveswould have been saved. Justrecently Soleimani led the bru-tal repression of protesters inIran, where more than 1,000innocent civilians were tor-tured and killed by their owngovernment,” he said.

    Amidst escalation of ten-sion with Iran, Trump claimedSoleimani’s killing will not leadto war.

    “We took action last nightto stop a war. We did not takeaction to start a war. I havedeep respect for the Iranianpeople. They are a remarkable

    people with an incredible her-itage and unlimited potential.We do not seek regime change,”Trump said.

    “However, the Iranianregime’s aggression in theregion, including the use ofproxy fighters to destabilize itsneighbours, must end and itmust end now. The futurebelongs to the people of Iran,those who seek peaceful co-existence and cooperation, notthe terrorist warlords whoplunder their nation to financebloodshed abroad,” he said.

    Trump said at his direc-tion, the United States militarysuccessfully executed a flawlessprecision strike that killed the“number one terrorist” any-where in the world.

    Baghdad: US-led forces help-ing Iraqi troops fight jihadistshave scaled back operations, aUS defence official told AFPSaturday, a day after anAmerican strike killed topIranian and Iraqi comman-ders.

    “Our first priority is pro-tecting coalition personnel,”the official said, saying theUS-led force had “limited”their training and other anti-jihadist operations.

    “It’s not a halt,” the sourcesaid, adding: “We haveincreased security and defen-sive measures at Iraqi bases thathost coalition troops.”

    The official said the changecame after a series of rocketattacks by pro-Iran factions onUS troops in recent months.

    Surveillance efforts werenow focused on potential newattacks instead of the IslamicState group.

    The rocket attacks, whichkilled one American contractorlast month, have stoked fears ofa proxy war between theUnited States and Iran on Iraqisoil.

    Those worries skyrocketedFriday after a US strike inBaghdad killed Iranian gener-al Qasem Soleimani, the headof the Islamic RevolutionaryGuards Corps’ Quds Force for-eign operations arm.

    The strike also killed thedeputy head of Iraq’s Hashedal-Shaabi, a network of most-ly Shiite factions close to Iranand incorporated into theBaghdad government’s securi-ty forces.

    On Saturday, the Hashedsaid a new strike had hit a con-voy of their forces north of thecapital, with Iraqi state mediablaming the United States.

    But the spokesman for theUS-led coalition denied it.

    “There was no Americanor coalition strike,” MylesCaggins told AFP. AFP

    ���� ���+���.�

    US Secretary of State MikePompeo said on Fridaythat Washington’s Europeanallies had not been “as helpful”as he hoped over the US killingof Iranian military commanderQasem Soleimani in Iraq.

    Pompeo called officialsworldwide to discuss the attack,which was praised by USPresident Donald Trump’sRepublicans and close allyIsrael, but elsewhere met withsharp warnings it could inflameregional tensions.

    “I spent the last day and ahalf, two days, talking to part-ners in the region, sharingwith them what we were doing,why we were doing it, seekingtheir assistance. They’ve allbeen fantastic,” Pompeo said inan interview with Fox News.

    “And then talking to ourpartners in other places thathaven’t been quite as good.

    Frankly, the Europeans haven’tbeen as helpful as I wish thatthey could be,” he said.

    US officials said Soleimani,who had been blacklisted bythe US, was killed when adrone hit his vehicle nearBaghdad’s international air-port. Following the assassina-tion, EU foreign affairs chiefJosep Borrell called on allinvolved actors “to exercisemaximum restraint and showresponsibility in this crucialmoment.”

    Meanwhile FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronurged those involved to actwith “restraint” while BritishForeign Secretary DominicRaab said de-escalation wouldbe key.

    “The Brits, the French, theGermans all need to under-stand that what we did, whatthe Americans did, saved livesin Europe as well,” Pompeosaid.

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    Comeback man Jasprit Bumrahwill be cynosure of all eyes dur-ing India’s first T20 internation-al against Sri Lanka in the year 2020where its namesake global meet willgain precedence over everything forthe Men In Blue.

    Out for four months with a backstress fracture, the 26-year-oldBumrah is that precious diamond inthis Indian set-up, which had beenwrapped in cotton wool during therehabilitation period.

    So much so that he was evenexempted from playing domesticfirst-class cricket for Gujarat afterintervention from BCCI presidentSourav Ganguly, keeping in mind theworkload he will have to take postinternational comeback.

    If 2019 was all about focussing on50-over format, the current year willwitness the Indian team playing closeto 15 games before their T20 WorldCup campaign starts against SouthAfrica in Perth in October.

    There are slots to belocked and till Indian PremierLeague ends, a clearer pictureis unlikely to emerge. But thatwon’t stop head coach Ravi Shastri andskipper Virat Kohli to set the ballrolling in this current series.

    It all starts here at the BarsaparaStadium today as the biggest city inAssam is slowly getting back to nor-malcy after protests against theCitizenship Amendment Act (CAA).

    The Indian team would be check-ing out how the likes Navdeep Sainiand Shardul Thakur react to pressuresituations in death overs alongsideBumrah in the absence of frontlinespeedsters Mohammed Shami (rest-ed), Deepak Chahar (stress fracture)and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (sports her-nia).

    Washington Sundar is still workin progress and he would like to putup performances that can ensure thatonly one among Kuldeep Yadav andYuzvendra Chahal can be picked inplaying XI at any given point of time.

    Shivam Dube is a big hitter forsure but whether his seam up stuff canwithstand the onslaught on dociletracks till Hardik Pandya is fully fitand back in action is yet to be seen.

    And that lingering question onRishabh Pant’s consistency with SanjuSamson having already warmed thebenches for six straight T20 games andthe invisible presence of MahendraSingh Dhoni, making things a littleunsettling.

    While Bumrah predictably grabs

    more eyeballs, the series is also impor-tant for Shikhar Dhawan, making acomeback into the team post kneeinjury.

    He will also look to make animpact in absence of rested vice-cap-tain Rohit Sharma with KL Rahul inred-hot form at the other end.

    In their last T20I series, Sri Lanka

    suffered a 0-3 rout in Australia as theirbatsmen struggled and will be underscrutiny.

    They relied heavily on KusalPerera, who was their leading run-get-ter with 100 runs from three match-es in Australia.

    They would also look forward tothe return of former Sri Lankan cap-

    tain, Angelo Mathews, who last playeda T20I against South Africa in August2018.

    Bhanuka Rajapaksa, OshadaFernando and Danushka Gunathilakawere their batting mainstays in their3-0 win in Pakistan in October as theywill look forward to return amongruns.

    Leg-spinner Wanindu Hasarangaled the bowling in Pakistan witheight wickets from three matches at anaverage of 9.87 but was ineffective inAustralia as he will also look to con-tribute.

    India lost their only T20 matchagainst Australia on October 10,2017, which was further marred bystone-pelting on the team bus on post-match return to hotel.

    It’s time for Kohli’s men to rewritetheir poor record here.

    TEAMSIndia: Virat Kohli (c), Shikhar Dhawan,KL Rahul, Shreyas Iyer, Manish Pandey,Sanju Samson, Rishabh Pant (wk),Shivam Dube, Yuzvendra Chahal,Kuldeep Yadav, Ravindra Jadeja, JaspritBumrah, Shardul Thakur, NavdeepSaini, Washington Sundar.Sri Lanka: Lasith Malinga (c),Danushka Gunathilaka, AvishkaFernando, Angelo Mathews, DasunShanaka, Kusal Perera, NiroshanDickwella, Dhananjaya de Silva, IsuruUdana, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, OshadaFernando, Wanindu Hasaranga, LahiruKumara, Kusal Mendis, LakshanSandakan, Kasun Rajitha.

    &�$�'� 0�(!#�'* 0�+'#!')* 12�3434 �����@

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    Rafael Nadal and NovakDjokovic kickstartedtheir build-up to theAustralian Open withstraight sets wins at theATP Cup on Saturday, butworld number fourDominic Thiem slumpedto defeat.

    Top-ranked Nadal hadlittle trouble with Georgia’sNikoloz Basilashvili, racingto a 6-3, 7-5 victory, whilelong-time rival Djokovicwas given more of a test bySouth Africa’s KevinAnderson before overcom-ing him 7-6 (7/5), 7-6(8/6).

    Their wins ensuredSpain and Serbia clinchedtheir ties at the inaugural24-nation team event.

    France, Argentina,Croatia and Japan alsobegan their tournamentin style, winning their tiesto join day one victorsBelgium, Bulgaria,Canada, Norway, Russiaand Australia.

    “I’m super, superhappy to be here in Perthfor first time in my life. It’san amazing arena and agreat crowd,” said Nadal.

    “It was tough firstmatch of the season, notan easy start. But I think I

    played a great game.”Earlier, his teammate

    Roberto Bautista Agutcrushed a haplessA l e k s a n d r eMetreveli 6-0, 6-0.

    Serbian super-star Djokovic need-ed to produce some ofhis best tennis to see offthe big-serving Anderson,admitting it was a testingencounter.

    “What a way to startthe year,” he said. “He was

    on fire tonight — I thinkthe quality of tennis wasquite high. “I was very

    pleased with the way Ikind of weatheredthe storm.”

    His teammateDusan Lajovic out-

    lasted Lloyd Harris3-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-3.

    Austria’s Thiem fore-cast this week that 2020would be the year that thevice-like hold of Djokovic,Nadal and Roger Federer

    on Grand Slam titleswould come to an end.

    He is tipped as one ofthose who could makethe breakthrough, alongwith Alexander Zverevand Stefanos Tsitsipas. Butall three have been beatenin their opening ATP Cupclashes.

    Thiem, who won fivetitles last year, had sixbreak points in the thirdset against Croatia’s BornaCoric, but failed to convertany of them.

    Fellow Croat MarinCilic, a finalist at the 2018Australian Open, used hisexperience to downAustria’s Dennis Novak6-7 (7/4), 6-4, 6-4, andensure Croatia won the tiein Sydney.

    The most dominantwin of the day came cour-tesy of Japan, who arewithout the injured KeiNishikori but crushedUruguay 3-0 in Perth,dropping just 15 gamesacross their two singlesand one doubles rubbers.

    French duo GaelMonfils and Benoit Paire,both in the top 25, ledtheir country to a 2-1Group A win over Chile,while Argentina scrapedpast Poland by the samescore.

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    All-rounder Irfan Pathanon Saturday announcedhis retirement from all formsof cricket, ending an injury-ridden career that preventedhim from realising his truepotential.

    The 35-year-old’s retire-ment was on expected lines,considering he last played acompetitive game in February2019 during the Syed MushtaqAli trophy for Jammu andKashmir.

    Before turning up forJammu and Kashmir as a play-er cum mentor in 2018, Pathanplayed all his domestic crick-et for Baroda.

    Though he remains a non-playing mentor to the Jammuand Kashmir outfit, Irfan hadnot been playing over the past12 months and did not evenput himself in the IPL auctionpool last month.

    “Today, I am saying good-bye to cricket, about which Ithought for day and night. Ilast represented India in 2012and after that I tried hard.Today in 2020, a thing comesup on social media ‘make acomeback’, so I want to thankthe fans, who never left mealone. It’s a time to start thenext journey,” Irfan said at aStar Sports show.

    The left-arm seamer’sbowling was like a breath offresh air when he made hisIndia debut against Australiaat the Adelaide Oval in 2003.He was all of 19 back then.

    He never had express pacebut his natural ability to swingthe ball into the right-handersgot him instant success, alsodrawing comparisons with thegreat Kapil Dev.

    It seemed India had foundthe all-rounder they were look-ing for since Kapil left thescene.

    Talking about his favouritemoments, Irfan said getting theblue India cap easily sits on thetop.

    “There were manymoments when I look back.Definitely getting (Mathew)Hayden as my first wicket isthere. But when I got the cap,that was a special moment. Itis close to my heart becauseyou do everything for the cap.

    “No one knows how your

    �'&��'/ New Zealand made a securestart after a Marnus Labuschagne dou-ble century lifted Australia to a massive454 first innings total in the third Teston Saturday.

    The rock-solid number threereached his highest Test score of 215 inSydney with the Australians dismissedjust before tea on the second day.

    In reply, the Blackcaps grittily bat-ted through the final session without los-ing a wicket, leaving skipper TomLatham on 26 and Melbourne Test cen-turion Tom Blundell at 34 in theirteam’s total of 63.

    There were a couple of close calls —notably a leg before wicket appeal off

    Nathan Lyon and a possible edge off PatCummins — but the Kiwis showed plen-ty of fight after enduring five tough ses-sions in the field in sapping heat.

    The day belonged to Labuschagne,who sweated on 199 for 20 minutesbefore he thick edged Colin deGrandhomme through the vacant slips

    to the ropes to bring up hisdouble ton.

    The milestone came off363 balls with 19 fours and a

    six and eclipsed his previous Test recordof 185 against Pakistan in Brisbane lastNovember.

    “They batted really well to finish theday off. I thought we bowled really well,”

    Labuschagne said.“The wicket looks like it’s going to

    go a little up and down and spin a bit butwe stuck to our guns there and hopeful-ly the rewards will come tomorrow.

    “It’s always a privilege to play forAustralia and it was nice to get some runstoday and when you’re batting well it’snice if you can make them count.”

    Labuschagne’s prodigious form hasnotched him a total of 837 runs sinceNovember and he has now leapfroggedthe great Neil Harvey (834) for mostruns scored by an Australian during afive-Test summer. He was also Test crick-et’s leading run-getter last year with1,104 runs. AFP

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    Two-time World Cadet championSonam Malik stunned Rio OlympicBronze medallist Sakshi Malik whileanother promising junior Anshu Malikknocked out 2018 World Championshipmedallist Pooja Dhanda to seal theirplaces in the Indian team for the AsianChampionship, here on Saturday.

    Pitted against heavyweights in theirrespective first round, both Sonam andAnshu cared little for reputations, fight-ing fearlessly.

    Competing in her first trials at thesenior level, Sonam was trailing 4-6 in thesecond period but produced a sensation-al four-point throw with just three sec-onds left in the bout to make it 10-10 andwin on criteria of scoring the last point.

    The 18-year-old then defeatedRadhika 4-1 in the final to seal her spotin the Indian team in the 62kg category.

    Hailing from a small village Madinain Haryana’s Sonepat, Sonam is coachedby Ajmer Malik in Gohana.

    “I was not nervous. I wanted to showmy game against the Olympic medal win-ner. There is a lot of difference of levelon the junior and the senior circuit. Thesewrestlers are very experienced. I am stilllearning from them,” Sonam said.

    Her coach Ajmer Malik said, “Wetold her you have noting to lose andeverything to gain, so express yourselffreely. She fought like she trains. It is abig win for her and will certainly boosther confidence.”

    Junior Asian champion Anshu, whotrains with Jagdeesh, first downed 2018World Bronze winner Pooja and thenwon her final against Mansi (4-4) in the57kg category.

    There were no surprises in other cat-egories with Vinesh Phogat (53kg) andDivya Kakran (68kg) easily winning intheir respective bouts.

    Vinesh defeated Nandini by techni-cal superiority but Divya had to beat atleast three wrestlers.

    She first beat Nisha Dahiya, thenavenged her national championship lossto Anita Sheoran and finally beat Sumanto lock her place in the national side.

    Nirmala Devi (50kg) and KiranGodara (76kg) were other wrestlers towin the trials.

    The winners will compete at the firstranking series of the event in Rome(January 15-18) followed by AsianChampionships in New Delhi (February18-23) and if they can win medals at thesetwo events, they will represent India atthe Asian Olympic qualifiers, to be heldin Xian from March 27 to 29.

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    Former world number oneAngelique Kerber knows thepressure of starting a new seasonas the player everyone wants tobeat, but she is confidentAshleigh Barty can meet thechallenge.

    The Australian had a break-out year in 2019, winning theFrench Open along with theprestigious WTA Finals, whereshe cemented her place atop theyear-end rankings.

    Both Kerber and Barty,along with former world num-ber one Naomi Osaka, begintheir 2020 campaigns at theBrisbane International fromtomorrow.

    “She’s always a tough oppo-nent. She’s such a great player, agreat person as well and I’m real-ly happy for her that she reachedthe number one spot,” theGerman told reporters of Barty.

    “She put a lot of effort in andshe worked hard. It’s always atougher year to start as thenumber one player but I thinkshe will deal with that situation.”

    Kerber well knows the per-ils of battling to back up abreakthrough season.

    After winning Grand Slamsin 2016 and 2018, she struggledto emulate her results in the fol-lowing years.

    “I was really trying to enjoy,but you really have to scheduleyour day a bit different than ifyou were number 20 or number30 in the world,” she said.

    “You have to improve everysingle tournament, every year,because even if you win a GrandSlam, everyone is looking to beatyou.”

    But she is confident thelevel-headed Barty has what ittakes to handle the expectationsof her home fans and the extraoff-court workload that comeswith being the best player on theplanet.

    “It’s for sure completely dif-ferent — she has all the pressure,all the expectation, especiallyhere in Australia,” said Kerber.

    “I know her and also herteam, she played so well and I’mreally sure she’ll continue to playhow she played particularly the

    end of last year.”Since finishing 2016 as

    world number one after winningthe Australian and US Opens,Kerber slipped to 21 the follow-ing year then climbed back tonumber two when she wonWimbledon in 2018.

    Now ranked 20, she has anew coach — Didi Kindlmann— and is keen for a fresh start.

    “I was really looking forwardto 2019 being over and we are2020 now so I’m really lookingforward to starting again,” shesaid.

    ���#�/� Defending championsCosmas Lagat and WorkneshAlemu will return to the TataMumbai Marathon to defendtheir titles at the prestigious IAAFGold Label Road Race which is setto be the strongest marathonever to be staged in the country.The marathon which will be heldhere on January 19, will feature 14men, who have run faster than2:10:00, making it the strongestmarathon ever in India. Lagat willbe aiming to become just the sec-ond man to win back-to-backMumbai Marathon titles in therace's 17-year history. Like Lagat,Ethiopia's Alemu upset the pre-race form book in 2019 and wonin Mumbai with a personal bestof 2:25:25, which was also the sec-ond fastest winning time in theMarathon’s history. Alemu willhead a very strong field that haseight women who have run under2:28:00. PTI

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    The forced four-month break dueto a stress fracture “wasn’t a dif-ficult” period for India’s pace spear-head Jasprit Bumrah as there was “nopain” and he utilised the time awayfrom the game to work on hisstrength and conditioning.

    “It was not difficult for me as Iwas never in pain. Not even for a sin-gle day. I took it as an opportunity tobuild my strength,” Bumrah toldbcci.Tv after his first training sessionwith the team.

    He was always updated abouthow the team was progressing and didhis homework so that he is notfound wanting once he is back inaction.

    “I was always keeping a track onwhat is happening so when you areback in the team, you shouldn’t be toofar away.”

    The 26-year-old slinger felt thatplaying all three formats continuous-ly did affect his fitness, for which thebreak was necessary.

    “When you play continuously,your strength level goes down. Yourfitness level can also go down a littlebit. So I was looking at how to bringthe strength back, how to improveupon the things I wanted to improve.

    “So take some time off andreturn fresh. Be hungry again. So allthese things were on top of mymind. I am not looking too farahead. I wanted to take one match ata time,” said Bumrah.

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    ,�;���/ Indian captain Virat Kohlion Saturday strongly opposed the“four-day Test” proposed by the ICCas he is not in favour of any alterationswhich hurts the sanctity of the tradi-tional five-day format.

    “According to me, it should not bealtered. As I said, the day-night isanother step towards commercialisingTest cricket and you know, creatingexcitement around it, but it can’t be tin-kered with too much. I don’t believeso,” Kohli, one of the biggest names inworld cricket, told mediapersons.

    The India captain feels that theintent in reducing a day from five can’tbe right and then one might talk abouthaving “three-day Tests”.

    “Then you are purely only talkingabout getting numbers, entertain-ment and you know. I think the intentwill not be right then because then youwill speak of three-day Tests. I meanwhere do you end. Then you willspeak of Test cricket disappearing,”Kohli was forthright in his answer.

    “So I don't endorse that at all. Idon’t think that is fair to the purest for-mat of the game. How cricket startedinitially, and you know five-day Testswas the highest of tests you can haveat the International level.” PTI

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    career will shape up, but going toplay for the country first time, get-ting the cap from a senior playeror the captain, that was specialmoment for me,” he said.

    With his elder brother Yusuf,he made a rare sibling pair to rep-resent India.

    Irfan, who last played forIndia in October 2012, featured in29 Tests (1105 runs and 100wickets), 120 ODIs (1544 runsand 173 wickets) and 24 T20Internationals (172 runs and 28wickets).

    He was also part of the victo-rious Indian team at the 2007World Twenty20 and was theman-of-the-match in the finalagainst Pakistan.

    One of his best performancescame on the tour of Pakistan in2006 when Irfan became the sec-ond Indian after Harbhajan Singhto take a Test hat-trick, removingSalman Butt, Younis Khan andMohammad Yusuf in the first overof the match held in Karachi.

    “It was a memorable event butpersonally I don’t speak about thathat-trick because we lost thematch,” he said.

    In 2008, he played a big rolein India winning a Test matchagainst Australia on a tough Perthwicket, which offered steepbounce.

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    The first distinct food memo-ry I have is of eating a thali.In Hyderabad, with Dad, atAbhiruchi Restaurant, thirdtable to the left of theentrance. The thrill of building ahillock of podi (gunpowder), poking ahole with an index finger, pouring hotghee into it and mix it with annam(steamed white rice), tomato pappu(traditional Andhra dal with tomato)and eating it with the much treasuredand hugely fought over appalam (friedpapad). Irrespective of how busy Popwas (continues to be), the tradition ofa weekly thali continued.

    With the move, the traditionmoved to the Canteen at AndhraBhavan. Relocating to Delhi allowed usto experiment with different regionalcuisines, all perfectly presented in athali. “Go from left to right!” or “Eatwith your hands, it’s bliss!” or “Beta,pasta will come and go, thali is eter-nal!” were dining-advice stated at thedinner table. In fact, my family contin-ues to paroso (serve) Indian food ingleaming stainless steel thalis.

    Long before international cuisine layclaim and ownership, the Indian thali hasalways been the original chefs tasting.Every restaurant worth their salt isimbibing the use of local and seasonal,something executed in a thali sincedecades. One that displays a wealth ofindigenous cooking techniques — fer-menting, pickling, smoking, steaming,grilling, deep frying, bhuno, boiling,guthna/ghotna, the list is endless.

    Centuries before international chefsadded a palate cleanser to their tastingmenus, this featured on every Indianthali. While it is commonly understoodthat the objective is eponymous, a palatecleanser on a thali is scientific. It does aidunderstanding flavours in a cleaner for-mat, but it is presented to negate the needto drink water. Drinking water with ameal goes against ayurvedic principles ofdigestion and gut-health.

    As unique as our childhoods are, weshare some universal truths. As a child,your mind is like wet cement and yourpreferences are borrowed from your par-

    ents. As a teenager, those preferences startdeviating and the experimentation triesscratching that cement. But when theparental-laid cement is stronger than thelikes of Ambuja and Ultratech, youeventually seek culinary comfort inexactly where the discovery all began —the roots, the nostalgia, the familiarity.The only bite of food that warrants a sighanalogous to the touch and feel of Nani’sold mulmul sari, the lingering whiffs ofaftershave as Pop leaves for office, thesecurity of your old hole-ridden sleepingshirt.

    I moved to England to study and starta career in management consulting, andno week was sans Indian food. No, lordno, nothing from the strangely popularcurry houses. But a Masala Zone Dosahere and a Chor Bizarre Tarami thereensured the greyest of English skies seemblue. Whilst I credit my curious palate forwidening my third eye (read, tummytyre), it is the thali that truly taught methe principles of life.

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    American writer, Thomas Mertonstates that happiness is not a matter ofintensity, but of balance, order, rhythmand harmony. It is incredible how aptlyinterchangeable ‘happiness’ is with ‘thali’in this quote. The quintessentially Indianthali is the perfectly balanced meal witha rhythmic symbiosis of six flavours —sweet, sour, spice, salt, bitter and astrin-gent. The thali is a harmony of scienceand art, a scientific representation of acomposite culture and a balance offlavours and textures. Like life, the thaliis neither too little nor too much. It’s justright, whether you know it or not.

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    It’s getting increasingly hard to ignoreour injured planet and there is no urgenttime to state that we need to place theplanet at the very heart and core of ourconsumption patterns. Traditionally,thalis endorse portion control, zero-wastage and if served on a banana leaf(my absolute favourite), the leaf is then

    rinsed and fed to cows to close the loopof sustainable consumption. The compo-sition of food is aligned with the threeinternal energies as stated in Ayurveda— vatta, pitta and kapha. The thaliemploys ayurvedic principles to preservethe inherent goodness of seasonal andlocal ingredients. There is balance, unityand nourishment where each dish findsthe sweet spot between science, techniqueand compassion.

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    Like life, a thali pulls you in, activatesand engages all the senses. I am yet tomeet someone who isn’t visibly moved bythe visual richness of a thali, or witnessmore focussed silence when navigatingthrough the different dishes. Invariablythe silence is punctuated with peopleswapping recipes or narrating the tradi-tions of the cuisine. Of how theirKashmiri grandmother always cookswith mustard oil or the traditional wayof cooking Makhane Ki Kheer is over alow flame and then gently scrape thekhurchan (sticky layer of milk at the bot-tom of the pan) into this foxnut-baseddessert. This rediscovery of legacy andtechnique tugs at every sense and fibreof attention. As poor as the analogy maybe, if there were a meal to match a mam-moth KJo production, it would be a thali.Albeit, with substance.

    My company, DSSC (Delhi SecretSupper Club), curates and producesdining experiences across the country.We’ve been blessed to work with talent-ed chefs, multiple homegrown brandsand some of the globe’s most iconicbrands. Every week, our steadfast andskilled team of accountants look puzzledwith the invoice-commentary submittedto them. Between raising invoices forPeruvian food festivals to understandingthe ROI (return on investment) oninfluencer marketing bills, an innocuousquestion was asked about why we neverhost a thali supper.

    Before we applaud their marketingingenuity (and scepticism towards influ-encers), please know that this was qui-etly prompted by Father Dear. The eter-

    nal thali lover, the man who has managedto convince poor Mother into finding athali joint on every local and internation-al holiday. Whether in Pune or Paris orIceland, the man finds a way to be unit-ed with his thali, his happy food.

    Suckers for all things local and sea-sonal, we started studying regionalIndian cuisine �— the history, the options,the techniques, the cultural context, thebusiness. The excitement that ensuedresulted in launching the world’s firstcurated celebration of the iconic Indianthali, aptly named The Thali Tradition.The complex matrix of the Indian thalitranscends beyond satisfying the appetite,it’s a full blown celebration of authentic-ity, diversity and cultural exploration.After two successful editions, we learnttwo things about India’s diners andwealth.

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    There’s a lot stated about the ficklediner community today, whether it’s theirdamaging attraction towards deep-dis-counts. But then again, who wouldn’t bein a market bursting at the seams withlimitless options of restaurants, dishes onthe menu (ugh, pet peeve), Netflix-paireddelivery joints, deals and so on. However,I do have a take on this. Liberalisationmay have given birth to a surge in con-sumption, but it hasn’t changed basicdiner-DNA that seeks familiarity. Asavant garde as you would be, solace isoften found in a specific ingredient, grain,scent. The Indian diner has evolved dra-matically in the last five years, withincreased patronage towards global cui-sine and food-tech. But it also ensured athali festival to sell out within three daysof going live, in 2018 and 2019.

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    Devdutt Pattnaik accurately statesthat the best way to destroy culture is todestroy the kitchen. Kitchens give birthto community, nurture tradition and pre-serve important culinary heritage. I amblown away by the fascinating diversityoffered by indigenous regions of our land.

    Forget different states, the very samearhar dal (pigeon pea pulse) is made dif-ferently in kitchens 200 metres apart. ABohri thali teaches us the joy of commu-nal eating, a Bengali thali encourages usto start the meal with shukto (a prepara-tion of mixed vegetables with bittergourd), a Khasi kitchen gives us theknowledge of smoking and fermenting,a Kayasth kitchen celebrates the Ganga-Jamuni composite culture, the Rajasthanithali showcases dishes with bare usage offresh produce.

    Ritu Dalmia is acclaimed for herItalian fare, but the roots are in herCalcutta-Marwari household. Sheexplains, “Marwaris have always beenmigratory in nature and most of themsettled in Rajasthan, Calcutta, Surat,Nagpur, basically wherever they couldmake money. While a Rajasthani menuincludes gatta, chakki, papad manger,sanger, Marwari food was heavily influ-enced by the zone they settled in. Forexample, the famous Aloo Kumda ki Sabzimade in every Marwari household hasBengali influences with the use of panchphoran.”

    From homes and kitchens across thecountry to state bhavans to mass-con-cepts like Chokhi Dhani, the thali hasremained cemented in the pages of culi-nary history and culture. It would be fool-ish to state that it’s making a comebackor making a formidable case study in theF&B business. While some are tweakingit to suit the millennial audience (headsup, most of it has always been gluten free,don’t be fooled!), some are presenting ahalf-baked version of the authentic thaliand riding the trend-wave, many acrossthe globe continue their deep love for theapparently-humble, not-too-sexy, butwildly-satisfying thali.

    Ask the shauhar. He almost reconsid-ered the marriage on our post-weddingholiday to Japan while looking at his thali-devouring wife in Kyoto. Like father, likedaughter. Like food, must love thali.

    The writer is a management consul-tant turned curator and food entrepre-neur. She runs an experiential market-

    ing agency, DSSC

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    Even as the memories of the Hyderabad encounter ofthe four accused in the Disha case by the police fadefrom the public memory a question still arises. Was theaction right? More so, in view of the fact that similar crimeagainst women continue to happen at a nagging rate. Whysuch incidents take place in a country where woman sym-bolises “Shakti”, the power to slay evil forces. From Delhi toUnnao to Hyderabad and more, unwittingly remind us ofthe Mississippi courtroom drama of US that transformed ayoung attorney John Grisham into a world class writer oflegal crime fiction. Grisham was witness to the harrowingtestimony of a twelve year old rape victim that traumatisedhim so much that he thought if the only punishment whichthe rapist deserved was to be killed. And he wrote “A Timeto Kill”. The action of Hyderabad police has raised certainissues that led to nationwide debate ranging from justifica-tion to castigation. But the all important issue is whether thepolice was right. That is, if the encounter was stage man-aged. What if it was not? And there is no clinching evidenceto prove this. In fact, the issue of questioning police actionwould arise only if the encounter was fake. The question ofjustice is rather too complex to be settled in black and white.Many times, law and justice are in conflict. It is common say-ing that justice should not only be delivered, it should alsoappear to be delivered. When people don’t see justice beingdelivered there is clamor for instant justice and mass approvalof the same. For some, this may be a road to anarchy butthey need to be reminded that anarchy follows failure of thesystem of justice. The avowed motto of our criminal justicesystem is that even if thousand criminals escape, not a sin-gle innocent be punished. But what we find is that crimi-nals are largely escaping taking the advantage of the cum-bersome legal paraphernalia while the innocent are increas-ingly victimised. Hindu law giver Manu’s idea of justice needsto be revisited. In Manusmriti, it is clearly stated that in acrime committed willingly and in full knowledge of impli-cations of wrong doing, the punishment should be muchmore severe than that corresponding to the crime. Rape isone such crime that is always committed willingly and infull knowledge of the implications of wrong doing.Incidentally, the Hindu law book also says that the punish-ment should be directly proportional to the social status ofthose committing it. Fair enough indications as to what fatethe Unnao accused must meet, given the social hierarchy theybelong to. As the demonic tendencies are on the rise, we mustrealise that the Hindu scriptures clearly showed that evenGods resorted to killing of the demons by unfair means forthe cause of justice. Access to knowledge and informationhas given many people the ability to dodge the laws and thetemerity to think they can get away with everything. In thecase of the criminals of the infamous Nirbhaya case, the juve-nile law came to the rescue of a hardened criminal. For cer-tain types of crime and categories of criminals, then, thefamous last words of Jesus Christ need to read thus: “Hangthem O Lord for they know fully well what they do.” And hangthem high. That is the message that needs to be given.

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    The word shelter to a common manusually means the fact of havinga place to live or stay, considereda basic human need. Then, there is aphilosophical meaning, which is depen-dence — the state of needing the helpand support of something or somebodyin order to survive or be successful. Forexample, a devotee takes shelter in God,as instructed by Him in the Geeta forgaining peace and the eternal abode.(18.62)

    Let me start with the physicalaspect of shelter, that is, where we nor-mally stay — our residences. Is that yourshelter really? Why then are you forcedto take shelter in a hospital when youare sick? Because your usual residenceis not your real shelter. It is at best a tem-porary shelter. Don’t we change ourplaces of residences in our lives? Don’twe go and stay in hotels for brief peri-ods? The reality is that what we identi-fy as our shelters/residences have beengiven to us according to our karmapha-las. In one interesting instance, a per-son was destined to live in large bun-galows, as predicted by his astrologer,and he did till his death.

    Let us try to understand this withan example of a person, who has diedsome time back. Let us imagine that thesoul returns to his earlier place of resi-dence in another body; the building, heowned earlier still stands. Will he beallowed to reclaim the property? No,because the soul did not own the prop-erty; he was given the facility temporar-ily based upon his karmaphalas, and thiswas related to his earlier body. Oncesomeone dies, he takes with himself allhis balance karmaphalas, both good andbad; nothing is left behind related to hisearlier body. He gets another body,which has no relationship to his earli-er body. The property he owned earli-

    er gets transferred to another soul/othersouls, and he has no right left over it.

    Then what is our permanent shel-ter? But before I answer this question,let me also discuss the other types ofshelters, not residences, those we seek.The most common is money. We feelthat when we have adequate amount ofmoney we are okay. Is it true? If it was,then, why do some well off people leavetheir homes and seek shelter in someashrama? Because having sufficientmoney for one’s needs is very nice butthat is not really your shelter. The sameis true of power. Many strive ceaseless-ly for gaining power and then what hap-pens when that power, if gained, is takenaway from you and you are left ruing.Fame is another shelter desired by many.This proves to be hollow in not so fore-seeable future. Beauty, as a shelter, hasa date of extinguishment for sure.

    Now we are ready to identify ourreal shelter as many sannyasis, the gen-uine ones, do. They leave their homesand become totally dependent on God.

    What does God do? He provides themshelters day after day throughout theirremaining lives. It is no wonder thatsuch sannyasis never return to the res-idences they had left behind. If it was-n’t so, no one will ever opt to become asannyasi, and the ashrama system willbecome invalid. It hasn’t so far and willnever become because it is God’s cre-ation, and He ensures that what Hedecrees stays. As a matter of fact, thosesurrendered to God are never bereft ofthis basic necessity of a human being.There is the entire creation available tosuch persons; God ensures that they arealways taken care of no matter wherethey are.

    Therefore, let us take shelter in God,as instructed by Him. We will never bedeprived of our basic necessities, includ-ing a place of residence. Rather thoselinked with God are blessed to have opu-lence, victory, wealth and moral prin-ciples. The choice is ours.����������������������������������������

    ���������E�*��������D���

    The humanly quest forknowledge, survival andpleasure has seen countlessbooks produced in the his-tory of mankind. Apartfrom being in the bestseller list, someof these books have been truly revo-lutionary. Among all the books, onebook holds truly a special place asbeing designated as such by Great AdiShankaracharya.

    He says, Eko Shastro Devaki PutraGitam: Let there be one scripture thesong by the son of Devaki, Krishna,and that scripture is Bhagavad Gita.Bhagavad Gita has the knowledgeabout the absolute truth in his featuresas a personal reality, localisedParamatma and all-pervadingBrahman. It gives knowledge aboutliving entities, the material creation,demigods, the law of Karma, time fac-tor, the three modes of nature, food,lifestyle, nature of mind, and so on.

    Krishna himself declares this

    knowledge to be the best knowledge,knowing which nothing in this worldremains to be known since one comesto know Lord Krishna as root causeof everything and even everythingbeing made of his different energies.

    As the annual Gita Jayanti was cel-ebrated recently, it is important tounderstand its glory so that we cantruly appreciate it from the hearts andeven apply the teachings of Gita in ourlives. The special characteristics ofBhagavad Gita are enlisted to bringforth glory of Bhagavad Gita.

    ����������������!�������"���������

    The Bhagavad Gita is not only amulti-millennial classic and temptingfor its esoteric concepts but alsofresh being applicabl


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