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The swearing-in ceremony ofJharkhand Mukti Morcha

(JMM) working presidentHemant Soren as the 11thChief Minister of Jharkhandturned into a big display ofOpposition unity in Ranchi onSunday. A galaxy of leadersfrom Opposition parties waspresent at the historicMohrabadi Ground whereGovernor Droupadi Murmuadministered the oath of officeand secrecy to Soren around2.18 pm.

Congress Legislative Party

leader Alamgir Alam, JPCCpresident Rameshwar Oraonand RJD leader SatyanandBhokta also were sworn in asState cabinet ministers at theevent attended by several lead-ers of prominent national andregional parties, corporateheads and over 15,000 peoplefrom across the State.

To lend credence to thegrowing unity amongOpposition leaders, particularlyagainst the background of theNRC-NPR-CAA, formerCongress president RahulGandhi, West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee,

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gelhlot,DMK leaders MK Stalin andKanimozhi, CPI(M) chiefSitaram Yechuri, CPI’s D Rajaand Atul Anjan, AAP’s SanjaySingh, RJD leader TejaswiYadav, HAM leader Jitan RamManjhi, eminent socialistleader Sharad Yadav, and seniorleader Saryu Roy attended theswearing-in ceremony.

The leaders shook handsand displayed bonhomie atevent that heralded the adventof a JMM-Congress-RJDGovernment in Jharkhand,

snatching away yet anotherState from the BJP. DecimatingBJP’s “Mission 65 plus” dream,the grand alliance secured 47seats in the Assembly polls.

Notably, in his first Cabinetmeeting soon after the swear-ing-in, Chief Minister Sorendecided to withdraw cases reg-istered against people of theState who took part in thePatthalgadi movement andprotested against the amend-ment to the ChhotanagpurTenancy Act and SanthalPargana Tenancy Act in the lastfew years.

On the issue of implemen-

tation of NRC in the State, theCM said that he would studythe documents related to NRCand then will take any decision.Earlier before taking oath onSunday, Hemant had tweeted,“I don’t think NRC is feasibleor implementable. The entirecountry is against the CAA.This is happening while ourcountry is going through aneconomic crisis. We can’t makepeople stand in queue againlike the way it happened dur-ing demonetisation. Many peo-ple lost their lives. What’s theneed of such acts? Who willtake responsibility for the liveslost? Even in these protests, theGovernment is quelling dissentthrough police force. This is notdemocracy, it’s something else.”

Sources said that five otherlegislators from the JMM andthree from the Congress willtake oath as Ministers later inthe New Year. The State has aquota of 12 Cabinet ministersin the 81 member Assembly.

Soon after the swearing-in,Soren went to pay homage toMahatma Gandhi’s statue atMorhabadi Ground. In theevening, he paid homage toJharkhand’s freedom fighterBhagwan Birsa Munda at BirsaChowk in Ranchi.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh, Odisha CMNavin Patnaik, Delhi CMArvind Kejriwal, former PMHD Deve Gowda, formerPresident Pranab Mukherjeecongratulated Soren forbecoming the Chief Minister ofJharkhand.

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Afine of �6,300 has beenslapped on the owner of

the two-wheeler on whichCongress leader PriyankaGandhi Vadra travelled toreach retired IPS officer SRDarapuri’s residence inLucknow.

Priyanka and the driver rodethe vehicle without helmet,

sources said on Sunday.“In photographs we got

from social media, two personscould be seen riding a two-wheeler without helmet.

It was verified the two-wheeler was driven by DheerajGurjar. Based on the detailsobtained from M-Parivahan, achallan was issued,” SP (Traffic)Poornendu Singh said.

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Pejawar Math head SriVishwesha Theertha

Swamiji, one of the prominentreligious leaders of south Indiaand a prominent face of theVHP’s Ram janmabhoomimovement, breathed his last atthe Pejawar math in Udupi onSunday after a brief illness.

Swamiji was strongly root-ed in Hindu causes, yet he pro-jected himself as a liberal faceand boldly organised Iftar forthe Muslims during Ramzanon the ancient Sri Krishnamath complex in Udupi.

A host of State Ministersand senior BJP and SanghParivar leaders were amongthousands who offered floraltributes to Swamiji.

Prime Minister NarendraModi, senior BJP leader LKAdvani and Yediyurappa con-doled the death of the seer, whowas the 33rd swamiji in the lin-eage of the Pejawar Mathheads.

The KarnatakaGovernment has announced athree-day state mourning.

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Delhiities and NorthIndians can now expect

some relief from biting coldwave.

With the change of winddirection from northwesterlyto easterly, the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) on Sunday predictedthat both the minimum andmaximum temperatures arelikely to rise during the next 48hours. The wind speed isexpected to increase fromDecember 31 evening underthe influence of western dis-turbances and easterly winds inlower level.

According to IMD scien-tist Dr Kuldeep Srivastava, themaximum temperature record-ed an increase of 2-3 degreeCelsius on Sunday over manylocations in Delhi and thewhole western Uttar Pradesh,Haryana and Punjab due tochange in the wind directionfrom northwesterly to easter-ly. Delhi and NCR region isreeling under severe cold day’scondition for the continuous16 day since December 14surpassing the 22 years record.

According to the IMD,Delhi and NCR is likely to wit-ness light rain between January1 and 3 and hail storm isexpected on January 2. After1997, December is all set to besecond coldest month since1901 as the mean average tem-perature is recorded 19.07.

The minimum tempera-ture in various parts of Delhi

varied with 2.5 degrees Celsiusbeing recorded at Ayanagar, 2.8degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road,3.2 degrees Celsius at Palamand 3.6 degrees Celsius atSafdarjung.

The average maximumtemperature was recorded inthe evening at 15.8 degreesCelsius, five notches belowwhat is considered normal forthe season. The maximumtemperature in various parts ofDelhi varied with 14.8 degreesCelsius at Ayanagar, 15.6degrees Celsius at Lodhi Road,13.5 degrees Celsius at Palamand 15.8 degrees Celsius atSafdarjung. For Monday, theweatherman has predicteddense fog in the morning withcold day at a few places inDelhi-NCR.

The IMD had issued ared-colour warning for Punjab,

Haryana, Delhi, Rajasthan,Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, andamber-colour warning forMadhya Pradesh for Sunday. Ared-coded warning is given forextreme weather events. Thecold wave is not expected torelent until the New Year.

The minimum tempera-ture across the Kashmir Valleyand Ladakh Union Territorystayed several degrees belowthe freezing point, intensifyingthe cold wave in some areas inthe region. In Haryana, allschools have been closed onDecember 30-31 due to thesevere cold wave for the pastfew days. In Rajasthan, Jaipur’sminimum temperature is set-tling at 1.4 degree Celsius —the lowest since December 13,1964 when the minimum tem-perature had settled at zerodegrees Celsius.

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The National Register ofCitizens (NRC) is com-

pletely an “internal affair” ofIndia and the cooperationbetween the border guardingforces of the two countries isvery good, the visiting chief ofBorder Guards Bangladesh(BGB) said here on Sunday.

Director General (DG)Maj Gen Shafeenul Islam toldreporters that the BGB willcontinue to do its work of pre-venting illegal border crossingsas per its mandate.

A BGB delegation, led byIslam, is on a bilateral visit toIndia to hold DG-level bordertalks with its counterparts, theBorder Security Force (BSF).

The biannual talks tookplace from December 26-29,during which a host of issuesrelated to cross-border smug-gling and activities of criminalsand others along the 4,096-

km-long frontier were dis-cussed, a senior BSF officersaid.

“This is completely aninternal affair of the IndianGovernment,” the BGB DGsaid when asked to commenton the NRC issue.

Asked about the provi-sions of the CitizenshipAmendment Act (CAA) thatseeks to grant Indian citizen-ship to persecuted non-Muslims from three neigh-bouring countries includingBangladesh, Islam refused tocomment saying, “I would saythe cooperation and relation-

ship between the two forces(BSF and BGB) are very good.Beyond that I cannot say any-thing...”

The BGB caught over 300Bangladeshi nationals this yearat the border while they werecoming in from India. Theywere people who had gone toIndia as they had cultural andfamily ties or some work on theother side and were appre-hended as they did not haveproper documents, the BGBchief said.

He refuted reports that anumber of Bangladeshi citizenswere being “pushed back” fromthe Indian side.

BSF DG VK Johri saidthese were “genuineBangladeshi nationals but maybe without documents”.

He added that the inci-dents of attacks by criminals onBSF personnel at the Indo-Bangla border had gone downto about 82 (till now in 2019)from about “350 plus” in 2015-16. In the last three years, suchincidents numbered in therange of 70, Johri said.

“It is due to the efforts ofboth these forces that theseincidents have gone down...Butyes, this issue is still there,” theBSF DG said.

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Ahead of the expectedannouncement of the

name of the first ever Chief ofDefence Staff (CDS), theGovernment has amendedrules putting the maximum agelimit of 65 years for the CDS toserve in the post. At present,the Services chiefs retire at theage of 62 or a tenure of threeyears whichever is earlier.

Since the CDS will besenior most four-star generaland above the three Chiefs, theGovernment can give him anextension up to the age of 65years, an official gazette onSunday said. It also said the stepwas taken after amending theArmy Rules 1954.

The gazette notificationsaid, “Provided that the CentralGovernment may, if considerednecessary, in public interest, soto do, give extension of serviceto the Chief of Defence Staff forsuch period or periods as itmay deem necessary subject tothe maximum age of 65 years.”Moreover, the same rule ofthree years or age of 65 yearswill be applicable to the CDS asin the case of the ServicesChiefs.

Incidentally, the CabinetSecretary, who is the seniormost bureaucrat in the CentralGovernment , also retires at theage of 62. The Government hasthe right to give him or exten-sion of service.

The Government is likelyto name the new CDS onMonday or Tuesday. ArmyChief General Bipin Rawat,who retires on December 31, isthe frontrunner for the newpost.

If he is selected for the topjob, he will get more years asthe CDS since he is retiringafter completing three years butis yet to attain the age of 62.

The Union Cabinet onTuesday had approved thelandmark reform in defence byclearing the creation of the postof CDS. The CDS, a long pend-ing need to keep pace withmodern day warfare worldover, will act as single-pointmilitary adviser to theGovernment in higher defencemanagement besides ensuringsynergy amongst the threeServices in terms of operationsand optimum utilisation ofresources.

Army Chief General BipinRawat, who retires onDecember 31, is the frontrun-ner as the first ever CDS. He isthe senior most chief amongstthe three Chiefs. The CDS willfunction as the PrincipalMilitary Adviser to the DefenceMinister and also as thePermanent Chairman, Chiefsof Staff Committee (COSC).

First among equals amongservice chiefs, the CDS will beresponsible for rationalisingweapons procurement proce-dures besides integrating theoperation of the armed forces.However, he will not exerciseany military command over thethree Chiefs of the Army, Navyand Air Force.

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With the Delhi Assemblyelections inching closer,

the war of words between theruling AAP and its main rivalBJP has intensified over theregularisation of unauthorisedcolonies in the Capital.

The BJP launched its cam-paign to garner support froman estimated 40 lakh residentsof the 1,731 unauthorisedcolonies after the UnionCabinet gave its nod for thereglarisation of the colonies.Many hoardings with thephoto of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi have alreadybeen put up in some areas,including Sangam Vihar andBurari.

Accusing the BJP of mis-leading the people on regular-isation of colonies, Chief

Minister Arvind Kejriwaltweeted: “DDA website saysthat Centre’s scheme will nei-ther regularise unauthorisedcolonies nor their houses.Really shocking. Can’t believethat BJP spoke such a blatant

lie to the people and has put upso many hoardings Thanks@HardeepSPuri ji for tellingtruth to people through DDAwebsite.” Addressing a Pressconference on Sunday, DeputyChief Minister Manish Sisodia

alleged the BJP is lying on theregularisation of colonies.

DDA colonies Cell portalwas launched by the BJPGovernment on December 16purportedly to register resi-dents of unauthorised coloniesto apply for ownership rights.The AAP has claimed the BJPhas put up hoardings across thecity claiming that the 1,731unauthorised colonies are nowauthorised.

“The BJP misled the peo-ple by placing hoarding-ban-ners that claim 1,731 colonieshave been regularised, where-as the truth is that no suchthing has been done as admit-ted on the DDA’s own website.

This is a fraud on the 40lakh people living in Delhi’sunauthorised colonies. TheBJP must apologise to the peo-ple for this huge betrayal,”said Sisodia.

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Amid massive protest bystudents in several uni-

versities across the countryagainst citizenship amendmentact, Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday lauded theyouth for believing in the sys-tem and questioning it when itdidn’t respond properly.

Addressing his last ‘Mannki Baat’ of 2019, Modi said theyouth hate anarchy and disor-der and dislike casteism, nepo-tism and favouritism, remarksthat come in the backdrop ofrecent violent protests on var-ious university campuses overthe Citizenship AmendmentAct and proposed NRC.

“According to me, theyappreciate the system. Not justthat, they prefer to follow thesystem. And in the event of thesystem not responding prop-erly, they get restless and evencourageously question the sys-tem itself! I consider thisattribute as a virtue.

“One can even say withcertitude here, that the coun-try’s youth detests anarchy ofany sort. They despise any ele-ment of lack of governance andinstability; abhorring anyshades of nepotism, casteism,favouritism or gender dis-crimination,” he said.

He hoped the young Indiawill play a key role in buildingmodern India in the comingdecade and cited SwamiVivekananda, who had saidthat young people who are fullof energy and dynamism, pos-sess the power to usher inchange.

“I am of the firm belief thatfor India, this decade will be,not only about developmentand progress of the youth; itwill also prove to be about thecountry’s progress, harnessingtheir collective might. This

generation will play a majorrole in modernising India; I feelit beyond any doubt,” he said.

Modi exhorted youth togive a thought to this respon-sibility and take on this resolveon Vivekananda’s birthanniversary on January 12. Healso cited cases when youthvociferously react wheneveran incident of disorder takesplace and make a video of it tomake the culprit realise theconsequence.

“Thus, our new genera-tion is an embodiment, a reflec-tion of a new system, a neworder, a new age, a new thought.Today, India eagerly awaits thisgeneration expectantly. Theseare the very people who have toelevate the country to greaterheights,” he said.

Modi also urged youth tovisit the Rock memorial inKanyakumari, where SwamiVivekanand entered into themeditative State, to get inspi-ration and urge to serve thepoorest of the poor in thecountry.

The Prime Minister alsoexhorted the youth about theimportance of Alumni meets in

colleges and universities, andsaid some such meets have con-tributed something for society.

He cited the case ofthe Bhairavganj Health Centrein West Champaran district ofBihar, where thousands turnedup for a health check-up campand started an Alumni Meet ofthe local KR High School anda slipper manufacturing unitstarted by Phulpur women,with the help of ‘GraminAjivika Mission.

The prime minister alsourged people to promote localproducts in their purchases topromote ‘Swadeshi’. He alsolauded Parliamentarians formaking the Parliament ses-sion productive and breakingrecords of the last 60 years.

In his final address of 2019,PM Modi said the New Yearand new decade brings newresolutions, new energy, newenthusiasm and new zeal. “We have to walk far, we haveto achieve a lot, we have to takeour country to new heights.Let’s show immense faith in thepursuits (actions), the abilitiesand the resolve of 130 crorecountrymen,” he said.

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Aproject to plug border gaps and deploy a “smartfence” along the riverine Indo-Bangladesh

frontier in Assam is expected to be completed byJuly next year, BSF Director General VK Johri saidon Sunday.

The project got delayed by about six monthsas the region received heavy rains, resulting infloods, this year. The earlier deadline wasDecember, 2019, Johri said.

The Border Security Force (BSF) chief wasspeaking on the sidelines of a Press conference withhis Bangladeshi counterpart, Border GuardsBangladesh (BGB) DG Maj. Gen. Shafeenul Islam.

“The work is in the stage of execution and itshould be completed by July, 2020,” Johri said.

The BSF has been working to deploy a “smartfence”, powered by technical surveillance and alarmsystems, at the 55-km-long stretch in Dhubri, acrossthe Brahmaputra river in Assam.

This border area is highly prone to illegalmigration and cattle smuggling due to the chang-ing course of the mighty river.

A similar fence has been deployed by the BSFin the Jammu region, along the Pakistan border,as part of its Comprehensive Integrated BorderManagement System (CIBMS).

The BSF is mandated as the primary force toguard the 4,096-km-long International Boundary(IB) with Bangladesh besides the frontier withPakistan.

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After laying foundation stoneof the country’s very first

transit oriented development(TOD) project in Delhi underwhich a state-of-the-art infra-structure zone will be con-structed, the Ministry ofHousing and Urban Affairs hasmodified the TOD policy toencourage development aroundtransit nodes and encouragethe use of public transport.

TOD will also allow thecity to capitalise on the large-scale investments being madeinto public transit infrastruc-ture — Metro Rail, Regional

Rapid Transit System (RRTS)by facilitating the improve-ment of old housing stock inaddition to creation of newhousing stock and economiccentres around strategicallylocated transit nodes and open-ing up opportunities for valuecapture. The TOD policy willalso unlock the latent eco-nomic potential and land val-ues in the city.

TOD policy will help inbringing people and jobs clos-er to mass transit and lead tomuch needed integration ofland use and transport in thecity. It incorporates a variety ofhigh-density, mixed-use,

mixed-income buildings with-in a short distance of a rapidpublic transport network. Itwill result in compact, walka-ble, mixed-use developmentswithin influence zones of tran-sit stations.

To provide housing for allsections of the society, projectsalong the influential zoneswould provide a variety ofoptions and promote commu-nity living by offering sharedspaces and amenities.

To promote a healthy liv-ing, the policy directs 20 percent of the area under a projectto be developed as a greenspace that will be enjoyed by

everyone; while 10 per cent ofthis could be for exclusive use.A developer constructing agreen building on a plot of5,000 sq mt and above will beallowed an additional FAR.

Development of car-saleshowrooms, automobile repair& servicing shops, banquethalls, LPG godowns, electricsubstation, bus depot, crema-tion ground, standalone multi-level parking without on-sitemixed use and open groundparking will not be permitted.

As per guidelines, the TODscheme will cover a minimumone hectare and maximumeight hectare of area fulfilling

all eligibility criteria’s. For developing areas along

the Mass Rapid Transit System- 500 metres of area on bothsides, will be known as influ-ential zones. Influence zone iseither established at a transitstations or along the transit cor-ridors. It is generally up to aradius of nearly 500-800m ofthe transit station. Where thedistance between the transitstations is less than 1 km andthere is overlap in the influencearea, it can be identified as adelineated zone (around 500m)on either side of the transit cor-ridor within 10 - 12 minuteswalking distance.

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Union Home Minister Amit Shahon Sunday said the Modi

Government is committed to takecare of the families of Central secu-rity forces’ personnel while theyguard the nation.

Addressing CRPF personnelwhile laying the foundation stone ofthe paramilitary’s new headquartersbuilding here, Shah said the gov-ernment is working to ensure thatevery force personnel gets to spendat least 100 days with their family.

Health card facility will be pro-vided to families of paramilitaryjawans, Shah said.

The Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) with a strength ofover 3-lakh personnel is lead inter-nal security force of the countrydealing with anti-terrorist andcounter Naxal operations across thecountry.

The new CCRPF headquarterswill come up on a 2.23 acre landadjacent to the CBI head office atLodhi Road at an estimated cost ofRs 277 crore.

The CPWD has been entrust-ed with the task of completing theconstruction of the new building byMarch 2022.

The current headquarters of theCRPF is located at Block No 1 in the

Central Government Offices (CGO)complex on Lodhi Road but a num-ber of its offices like that of the RAF,CoBRA, medical, training, com-munications, and works and recruit-ment are located at different loca-tions in the national capital owingto lack of space in the head officebuilding.

The plan of the new facility isto have ground plus 11 floors withthree basements will have a totalbuilt up area 45,675 square metre.Besides adequate office space, thestate-of -the-art building will have

an auditorium, conference hall,barracks for subordinate staff, cen-tral police canteen, gymnasium,guest room, kitchen and diningroom and mechanical parking for520 cars and 15 buses.

Skywalks would be created atthe 6th and 7th floor connecting theoffice blocks with cafeteria.

The ‘Green’ building is pro-posed to have a number of envi-ronment friendly features like ter-race lawn, water and sewage treat-ment plant, rain water harvestingsystem and an indigenous ventila-tion system and reduction of heatand access to daylight thrugh fen-estration. The complex will alsohave a green area of 2,264 squaremetre.

Shah also unveiled a newinsignia for the CRPF’s VIP securi-ty wing that secures 59 high-riskpersonalities, including the HomeMinister himself and members ofthe Congress President SoniaGandhi and her family besides anda host of Union ministers.

The logo — with a “Garuda”,sword and shield -- will give a dis-tinct identity to the unit, Shah said.

The VIP security wing of theCRPFcomprises about 4,000 per-sonnel. The insignia will bear themotto of the force — “Always,Aware, Alert”.

New Delhi: The MedicalCouncil of India (MCI) hasreceived six complaints of rag-ging by seniors in medical col-leges, which include suicide bya student due to extremeharassment in Mumbai, so farin 2019-20, according to offi-cial data.

The apex medical educa-tion regulatory body hadreceived 13 such complaints in2018-19 and 25 complaintswhich included three suicidecases in 2017-18.

The government is awareabout the problem of raggingin medical colleges and sever-al measures to control andcheck such instances have beeninitiated by the MCI, Ministerof State for Health AshwiniChoubey told Lok Sabha dur-ing the recent winter session.

Before starting of freshbatch of admissions, circular isissued to all medical colleges toprovide information on Anti-Ragging Committee composi-tion in the college with thename of members along withtheir telephone numbers and e-mail IDs and incidence of rag-ging reported and action takenin hard/soft copy, if any, theminister said.

They are also asked to sub-

mit details on the number ofFIRs lodged, if any, punishmentawarded, inclusion of specificinformation on Anti-Raggingin admissionbrochures/prospectus/booklets,installation of CCTV camerasin all the vulnerable places ofcollege, hospital and hostels.

The steps also includeensuring submission of onlineundertaking by each studentsand every parent. Medical col-leges also have to get NAACaccreditation and place anti-ragging posters and hoardingsin different parts of medicalcollege/hostel.

Besides, the MCI has pro-vided a link on its websiteregarding four short films anda documentary film for infor-mation and counselling of stu-

dents on the ill effects of rag-ging, Choubey said.

Also, all the universitiesand institutions as asked by theMCI show these films regular-ly to the students during ori-entation and other pro-grammes, he said.

The MCI hasamended the ‘Medical Councilof India (Prevention and pro-hibition of Ragging in MedicalC o l l e g e s / I n s t i t u t i o n s )Regulations 2009’ to root outragging in all its forms frommedical colleges/institutionsin the country.

For the convenience of stu-dents and parents, a separatepage on anti-ragging informa-tion with details of nodal offi-cer has been uploaded on thewebsite of the MCI. PTI

Colombo: Sri Lankan Navy hasarrested at least 14 Indian fish-ermen and seized their 3trawlers for allegedly poachingin the country’s territorialwaters.

The arrests were made onSaturday in the seas north ofthe Delft island, the Navy saidin a statement on Sunday.

“Sri Lanka Navy appre-hended 14 Indian fishermenalong with 3 fishing trawlers forpoaching in Sri Lankan terri-torial waters on December 28,”the statement said.

The fishermen are expect-ed to be handed over to theassistant director of fisheries inJaffna after a medical exami-nation for further action.

The Navy said that due toextensive patrols, the number

of Indian fishing trawlers enter-ing Sri Lankan waters havebeen significantly reduced.

In January 2018, Sri Lankaincreased by over 100 times thefine on foreign vessels to deterthem from fishing in its waters,amid the dispute over the fre-quent entry of Indian fishingtrawlers into the country’s mar-itime territory. PTI

Mumbai: Ireland Prime MinisterLeo Varadkar on Sunday visited hisancestral village alongwith his fam-ily members in the coastalSindhudurg district of Maharashtra,calling it “a very special moment”.

It was his first visit to the villageof Varad in Malvan tehsil, around500 km from Mumbai, after hebecame prime minister in June2017.

Varadkar’s father AshokVaradkar, a doctor, hailed fromVarad. He moved to the UnitedKingdom in the 1960s.

The visit was a “specialmoment” as three generations of hisfamily had gathered, the Irelandprime minister said after the vil-lagers felicitated him.

He also visited temple of the vil-lage deity.

“I am here with my parents, mysisters and their husbands, my part-ner and some grandchildren arehere...So it is a big family visit,” theIreland PM said.

It was “very special moment” forthem as three generations of his fam-ily were visiting “a place of mygrandfather”, he said.

“I am on private visit here as ofnow, but I would like to visit thisplace again in the official capacity,”Varadkar added.

PTI

New Delhi: The defence ministry hasamended rules to allow the Chief ofDefence Staff to serve up to a maximumage limit of 65 years.

The changes have been made in theservices rules of the Army, Navy and theIndian Air Force for extension of retire-ment age of the Chief of Defence Staffto a maximum of 65 years if a servicechief is appointed to the post.

However, the tenure of the CDS isyet to be announced.

In a landmark decision, the CabinetCommittee on Security on Tuesdayapproved the creation of the CDS whowill act as the principal military advis-er to the defence minister on all mattersrelating to tri-services.

According to existing rules, the ser-vice chiefs can serve for a maximumperiod of three years or till attaining theage of 62, whichever is earlier.

The CDS will not be eligible to holdany government post after demittingoffice.

The CDS will not be allowed to takeup any private employment without priorapproval for a period of five years afterdemitting the office, officials said.

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat istipped to be India’s first CDS and theannouncement is likely to be made byTuesday.

A key mandate of the CDS will beto facilitate restructuring of militarycommands for optimal utilisation ofresources by bringing about jointness inoperations, including through estab-

lishment of joint/theatre commands.Officials said bringing about joint-

ness in operation, logistics, transport,training, support services, communica-tions, repairs and maintenance of thethree services within three years will beanother major mandate of the CDS.

The tri-service agencies, organisa-tions and commands relating to cyberand space will be under the commandof the CDS and he will also function asthe Military Adviser to the NuclearCommand Authority.

A pre-scheduled ceremony to handover the baton of the Chairman of Chiefsof Staff Committee by outgoing ArmyChief Gen Rawat to Navy Chief AdmiralKarambir Singh was cancelled on Friday.

The ceremony to hand over thebaton of chairman of COSC was sched-

uled as Gen Rawat is due for retirementfrom service on December 31.

The Chiefs of Staff Committee(CoSC) comprises chiefs of the Army, theNavy and the Air Force and the senior-most member is appointed its chairper-son

There was indication that the cere-mony has been cancelled as the gov-ernment is likely to appoint the CDS byTuesday.

The CDS will also act as the per-manent chairman of the CoSC.

Gen. Rawat assumed charge as Chiefof Army Staff on December 31, 2016.Before becoming Army Chief, he han-dled various operational responsibilitiesin many areas, including along the LoCwith Pakistan, the LAC with China andin the Northeast. PTI

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RAIPUR | MONDAY | DECEMBER 30, 2019chhattisgarh 03

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel at the swearing-in ceremony of Hemant Soren as the chief minister ofJharkhand on Sunday in Ranchi. Pioneer Photo

RAIPUR (IANS)

In order to regain dominance in thecountry, the Congress is mulling

using the tribal card. This plan ofaction is to be first implemented inChhattisgarh.

Riding on the success of theAssembly and urban body elections,the Congress feels that it can increaseit base through tribals as they consti-tute roughly 8 per cent of country’stotal population.

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)in the first three Assembly elections inChhattisgarh, after its formation in2000, recorded huge victories andcame to power. But after the Assemblyelections held last year, the scenariochanged. After registering a victory inthe Assembly elections and then inthe recently held urban body polls, theCongress showed that it still domi-nates the tribal areas.

The Congress gave the responsi-bility of the tribal areas to the triballeader of Madhya Pradesh UmangSinghar which eventually helped the

party. Now, the party is planning tospread out nationwide throughChhattisgarh.

Former party president RahulGandhi, while inaugurating theNational Tribal Dance Festival inRaipur, gave a message to the tribalswho are here to participate in the fes-tival that the Chhattisgarh govern-ment is working for all the sectionsand this is the reason why there hasbeen a downward trend in naxalattacks and the state economy has alsoimproved.

The Congress is planning to pub-licise the improvements inChhattisgarh throughout the countrybecause the tribal population in thestate is 32 per cent.

BJP media panellist SandeepSharma, however, claims that theparty's base has not shrunk. He saidtill Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarhwere not divided, the Congress wasstrong in the area but in the electionsheld after three years of the bifurca-tion, the BJP won the Assembly elec-tions and was in power for 15 years.

Though we faced defeat in the 2018elections, the only reason was thatpeople wanted a change but they werenot angry with the BJP, he claimed.

The BJP won in the Lok Sabhaelections and the margin in the urbanbody elections was also not much. So,it would be inappropriate to say thatthe BJP's base has shrunk, he saidadding that in one year the Congress'

base has declined by 9 per cent where-as in Assembly elections it got 12 percent more votes and in urban bodyelections the margin was 3 per cent.

Analysing the political landscapeof the state, political analyst RudraAwasthi said, "When it was MadhyaPradesh then the Congress hadstronghold in Chhattisgarh. Severalbig leaders were also from the statebut after the formation ofChhattisgarh since Ajit Jogi wasaccused of being a fake tribal theCongress lost its stronghold over thetribals. Though it continued to domi-nate in some of the areas whichhelped it in regaining the power.

"As of now, the Congress hasstarted including the tribals with thebackward class. First Bhupesh Baghelwas the state chief of the party and hewas replaced by Mohan Markam as hebecame the Chief Minister.

The Congress is mulling overspreading its message to the tribalsacross the country through the three-day National Tribal Dance festivalwhich concluded on Sunday.

Congress to use tribal card toexpand its footprint nationwide

The Congress isplanning to publicisethe improvements in

Chhattisgarhthroughout the

country because thetribal population in

the state is32 per cent

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Commenting on results ofrecently concluded

assembly polls in Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on Sundaysaid people of country arenow rejecting the BJP and itsbase is shrinking slowly andsteadily.

Baghel was talking tomedia persons here at SwamiVivekanand Airport, Raipurbefore leaving for Jharkhand’scapital Ranchi to attendswearing-in ceremony ofHemant Soren as chief minis-

ter of Jharkhand where theBJP was in the power.

Replying to a query on

election to the mayoral post instate, the Chief Minister fur-ther claimed that Congresswill clinch all the nineMayoral posts in municipalcorporations all over the state.

Responding to a com-ment by the BJP’s seniorleader Dharamlal Kaushik atNational Tribal DanceFestival, Baghel said the agita-tion Kaushik was claimingwas not of the farmers but wasof the BJP people. ``Thosewho were earlier indulged incorruption are actually baffledwith the new arrangementmade which restricts middle-men’’, he added.

BJP’s base is shrinking,claims Bhupesh Baghel


Raipur police on Sundayregistered an FIR

against an imposter whoposing himself as a CBI offi-cer had tried to blackmailMinister Kawasi Lakhma.

A d d i t i o n a lSuperintendent of PolicePrafull Thakur informedmedia persons that theMinister had receivedphone call from a personposing himself as a CBI offi-cer blackmailed Lakhmaciting that he was havingsome secret documents

against him in form of com-plaint by former MLAManish Kunjam.

Personal SecurityOfficer (PSO) of the minis-ter, None Singh Bagri had

lodged a complaint regard-ing this and a police teamhad been formed to go intothe details.

He (imposter) demand-ed Rs 2 Lakh for winding upthe matter, the PSO had saidin the complaint lodgedwith Civil Lines police.

According to PSO, theimposter who claimed thathe was one Ankush Sharmaan official of CBI after call-ing on personal mobilenumber of the minister alsosend some documents in his(PSO’s) mobile through asocial media platform as aproof, police said.


The entire northernChhattisgarh has been

reeling under severe coldwave with Baikunthpur inKoria district is shivering at 3degrees Celsius. Baikunthpuron Sunday recorded the low-est minimum temperatureamong all the major areas in

the state.The minimum tempera-

ture of another big city of theSurguja region at districtheadquarters Ambikapur wasrecorded 4.1 degrees Celsiuswhile Pendra of Bilaspurregion recorded 4.2 degreesCelsius.

The minimum tempera-ture in capital Raipur wasrecorded at 9.5 degrees

Celsius at IMD’s agriculturescience monitoring centre.

As per information fromIMD, the minimum tempera-ture recorded on Sunday atvarious parts of state are asfollows: Raipur 9.5 degreesCelsius, Mana 10.8, Pendra4.2, Bilaspur 6.5, Ambikapur4.1, Durg 6.2, Rajnandgaon5.6 and Jagdalpur 9.2 degreesCelsius.

Severe cold wave gripsnorthern Chhattisgarh

A tribal child holds a piece of ice frozen due to chilling weather at Chhattisgarh’s Mainpat, on Sunday

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Indian Olympic Association(IOA) will hold a crucial

meeting on December 30 atNew Delhi to decide the fateof Chhattisgarh OlympicAssociation (COA) andfinalise the date for holdingthe election after Registrar,Firms and Society had dis-solved the COA led by for-mer chief minister RamanSingh.

Addressing the mediapersons on Sunday, COAfounder member and vicepresident Bashir AhmedKhan said till a new workingcommittee is elected, anadhoc committee will over-see the functioning.

He said that he had

lodged a complaint withRegistrar, Firms andSocieties, Chhattisgarh onthe amendments madethrough a meeting held onNovember 22, 2013 and laterinclusion of 49 members aslife-time members and giventhem voting rights which areagainst the norms of IOA.

The complaint was bothaccepted and verified by theIOA and Registrar, Firms andSocieties. Additional to it thetenure of COA had ended onOctober 25, 2019 but no elec-tion was held for formationof the new body.

Meanwhile, the societythrough its order has askedthe COA to hold a meeting toelect the new body within 45days.

IOA meet today todecide COA’s fate

Imposter blackmailsminister, FIR lodged

Glimpses of a three-day National Tribal Festival in Chhattisgarh capital Raipur which concluded on Sunday.


The notification for the three tier-panchayat election 2019-2010 will

be issued on December 30 at 10.30 inmorning for all the three phases ofpolling scheduled on January 28,January 31 and February 3, 2020.

The order issued by State ElectionCommission, Chhattisgarh stated thatelection would be held for all theGram Panchayats, the tenure of whichis scheduled to end on February 2020including all the new village panchay-at after delimitation, for members ofJanpad Panchayat and Zila Panchayat.

The notification will be followedby notification on reservation andpolling centres list publication. Thelast date for filing of nominationpapers is January 6, 2020 for all thethree phases while it would be scruti-nised on the next day (January 7). Thelast date for withdrawal of nomina-tion papers is January 9, 2020 till 3.00pm. The order further reads that the

final list of candidates will be pub-lished after allocation of election sym-bols on January 9.

The polling timing will be from7.00 am to 3.00 pm except for Bastardistrict block of Jagdalpur,Lohandiguda, Bastanar and Darbha,in North Bastar Kanker block ofAntagarh, Koyalibeda,Bhanupratappur and Durgukondaland in district of Narayanpur, SouthBastar Dantewada, Bijapur andSukma all blocks, the polling timewill be from 6.45 am to 3.00 pm. Thecounting will be held on same day ofpolling while counting at block levelwill be held on January 29, February1 and February 4. ThePanch/Sarpanch/Janpad panchayatmember tabulation at block level isscheduled on January 30, February 2and February 5, for three phases.Similarly, the Zila Panchayattabulation is scheduled on January31, February 3 and February 6 from10.30 am.

Notification for three-tierPanchayat poll today


State Election Commission,Chhattisgarh has issued a

notification for election ofMayor and Chairman(Speaker) of Raipur MunicipalCorporation (RMC) which isscheduled on January 6, from10.30 am at fourth floor con-ference hall, of RMC head-quarters.

As per the notification,District Election Officer andCollector Dr S. Bharatidasanwill preside over the meetingand also administer oath to allthe newly elected corporators.The process of filing of nomi-nation papers for Mayor andChairman post will be heldafter oath ceremony. Thepolling will be held after nom-

ination filing ends.Meanwhile, Government

of Chhattisgarh in Gazettenotification under section 22of the Chhattisgarh MunicipalCorporation Act 1956 (no. 23of 1956) has issued the list ofelected corporator of eachward under limits of RaipurMunicipal Corporation. Thepolling was held on December21 and results were announcedon December 24.

Similar, gazette notifica-tion has been issued forMunicipal Council Gobra-Navapara, Municipal Councilof Tilda-Nevra, MunicipalCouncil Arang, NagarPanchayat Abhanpur, NagarPanchayat Kharora, NagarPanchayat Kunra, and NagarPanchayat Mana Camp.

Raipur to get newMayor on Jan 6


Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel is devel-

oping all spots related to LordRam's travel through the statewhen he was in exile as men-tioned in the "Ramayana".

These are the Ram VanGaman sites. The stateTourism Department willdevelop Sitamarhi, Harchauka,Ramgarh, Shivrinarayan,Turturia, Chandkhuri, Rajim,Saptarishi ashram of Sihawa,Ramdalam of Jagdalpur andSukma district as a part of gov-ernment's plan.

In the first step, theCongress government hasrecently announced the devel-opment of eight such sities --

where Lord Ram had passed orstayed during exile. The firstspot to be developed isKaushalya Temple.

It is claimed that LordRam had passed through 75places. Baghel had announcedthis in Chhattisgarh as soon ashe came to power a year ago.

According to the initialinputs, the work of developingthe places on the Ram VanGaman Marg as key touristattraction has started from theMata Kaushalya temple inChandkuri village of Arangtehsil of Raipur district. Thisancient temple complex isbeing renovated and beauti-fied.

State Home and TourismMinister Tamradhwaj Sahu has

said that the construction ofthe Ram Van Gaman tourismcircuit in Chhattisgarh andbeautification of the MataKaushalya temple complex willgive a new identity to thetourism in the state.

BJP, which is in oppositionin the state is questioning theintention of the Congress gov-ernment.

BJP spokesperson said:"This is just vote-bank poli-tics. These people belong tothe party which neitherbelieve in Ram Sethu nor inRam's existence.

"Rahul (Gandhi) andPriyanka (Gandhi), go fromtemple to temple but theyhave no faith in Ram. So thesepeople can't be trusted."

Union Minister NitinGadkari had already talkedabout these plans. He alsosaid that the Congress isdoing all this only for politicalgains.

According to theresearchers', Lord Ram spentmore than 10 years out of 14years of his exile in the areawhich is now Chhattisgarh.

Eight sites have beenidentified to be developed astourist hubs in the first phase.

These sites will be well-equipped with roads as perrequirement, tourist facilitycentres, interpretation cen-tres, vedic village, basic facili-ties like water coolers, toilets,benches, electrification,restaurants etc.

Chhattisgarh fastracks efforts todevelop ‘Ram Van Gaman sites’

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When the entire nation isopposing the

Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) holding protests anddharnas, Punjab Congresswould hold a protest marchagainst the amended act inLudhiana on December 30,Monday.

The march will be attend-

ed by Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh, Punjabparty affairs’ in-charge AshaKumari, besides the stateCabinet Ministers and stateCongress leaders, said PunjabPradesh Congress Committee(PPCC) president Sunil Jakharon Sunday while inviting thePunjabis to join this march.

The entire country is unit-ed to oppose the Citizenship

Amendment Act, he said.At the same time, Jakhar

lambasted the Uttar PradeshGovernment for indecentbehaviour with Congressleader Priyanka Gandhi sayingthat it reflected the low-ebbthinking of BJP led CentralGovernment for women inthe country which worshipswomen as goddess.

“The incident reflects

hatred approach and dirtypolitics of the saffron partythat sounds bugle of BetiBachao, Beti Padhao loudly. Itis sham that all this happenedunder the rule of same BJP,” hesaid.

“Modi Government wasafraid of Priyanka Gandhi asshe leads the nationwide cam-paign against the CitizenAmendment Act (CAA)

passed by the NDA govern-ment to harm the spirit of ourConstitution,” he added.

Jakhar also questioned theleaders of the state unit of theBJP to tell how many jobs havebeen provided to youth ofPunjab by the CentralGovernment or what otherprojects and schemes theyhave been brought to Punjabfrom Union Government.

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Punjab Government hasdeclared the state mourning

on December 30 (Monday) asa mark of respect to formerMinister of State Jasbir Singh,who passed away on December28 in Sangrur. During the statemourning, the National Flagwould remain fly half-mastacross the State on the build-ings, where it was being flownregularly, and there will be noofficial entertainment duringthe aforesaid period, added thespokesperson.

Meanwhile, the ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder Singhalso condoled the sad demise of

veteran Congress leader JasbirSingh, who was the disciplinedsoldier of the Congress partyand worked relentlessly tostrengthen the party’s rank andfile at grassroots level.

His services in amelioratingthe lot of poor, needy and dis-advantaged sections of societywould be ever remembered byone and all, said CaptAmarinder.

Sharing his heartfelt sym-pathies with the members of thebereaved family, the ChiefMinister prayed to theAlmighty to give courage tobear this irreparable loss in thishour of grief and grant eternalpeace to the departed soul.

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Aday after the Congress tookout a rally to protest against

the Citizenship (Amendment)Act (CAA) a larger number ofpeople rallied in support of theAct here on Sunday. The rally,which was held under the ban-ner of Lok Adhikar Manch wasalso supported by the BharatiyaJanata Party with the party’sstate president and MP AjayBhatt, Vidhan Sabha SpeakerPrem Chand Agrawal, MLAsand party office bearers alsoparticipating in the rally.

Thousands of peopleincluding a number of peopleform the border areas ofDehradun district first congre-gated at the Parade Ground onSunday morning. To the accom-paniment of dhol-nagadas andloudspeakers, the rally gotunderway at about 12 PM fromthe ground.

The crowd rallied past theAstley Hall and Clock Towerbefore entering the PaltanBazaar amidst heavy deploy-ment of police personnel. Fromthe bazaar, the rally passedthrough Dispensary Road,Darshanlal Chowk andLansdowne Chowk to culmi-

nate at theP a r a d eG r o u n d .Raising slogansin support ofthe CAA, thedemonstratersalso appealed tothe public todesist frombelieving inrumours andmisinforma-t i o n .Addressing thegathering onthe occasion,the BJP Statepresident andMP Ajay Bhattsaid that oppo-sition politicalparties wereintentionallyspreading mis-informat ionamong themasses regard-ing the CAA.Stressing that this Act will notaffect the status of any Indiancitizen, he said that some polit-ical parties are spreadingrumours and misinforming thepublic in order to gain dubiouspolitical benefit. Alleging that

those heading the protestagainst CAA were misguidingthe general public, he said thatthe people of India are wise andstand in support with theGovernment of India’s decisionregarding the CAA.

He said that the large num-ber of people rallying in supportof the Act was proof of this. Therally was not that of the BJP butalso of the common citizens ofIndia who had participated inlarge numbers in the demon-

stration, he added.Meanwhile, while many

people rallied carrying thenational flag, a representation ofthe tri-colour about 72 feet inlength was also carried by thedemonstrators.

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The district Congress stu-dents’ unit on Saturday

staged a demonstration here inprotest against implementationof the CAA and the NRC incountry.

The protestors later burnteffigies of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and HomeMinister Amit Shah anddemanded immediate with-drawal of the CAA and theNRC. District Students’Congress president KumarPritam Parija led the agitationof hundreds of party workers

and sympathisers, who con-verged at Municipality Chhakvoicing the BJP-led UnionGovernment’s anti-secularstance. The protestors slammedthe Central Government’s moveand warned that the Congresswould not tolerate the divisivesteps being taken the Modi-

Shah duo.Among others, former

Municipality Chairman BiplabChoudhury, Prasanta Mallick,Krushna Chandra Pradhan,Abhisek Bal, Saroj Lemka,Sandip Mohanty, Sanjib Dasand Smruti Ranjan Jena led thestir.

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The 2019 TATA Steel PGTIseason had a fitting finale as

the battle for the season-endingTATA Steel Tour Championshipwent down to the wire at theGolmuri Golf Course with mul-tiple contenders in the fray inthe dying stages of the tourna-ment.

But it was the Pune-basedUdayan Mane’s ‘steely resolve’that helped him triumph in‘Steel City’ at the �1.5 croreevent by a slim one-shot mar-gin. Mane’s (67-66-64-65) deter-mined final round effort ofseven-under-65 saw him estab-lish a new PGTI record for thelowest tournament total as heclosed the week with a jaw-dropping 26-under-262.

It was Udayan’s eighth pro-fessional title and his second winon the PGTI this season. Theimpressive winning chequeworth �22,50,000 catapultedMane from ninth to third placein the Final PGTI Order ofMerit for 2019.

Kolkata-based Indian starSSP Chawrasia (63-67-65-68),who was leading by two shotstill the 14th hole, carded a 68 onday four and thus had to settlefor second place with anotheroutstanding total score of 25-under-263.

Aman Raj (71) of Patna, thethird-round leader, ended theweek in tied third place at 23-under-265 along with Delhi’sChiragh Kumar (67).

Udayan Mane, lyingovernight fourth and three offthe lead, made early gains onSunday when he sank birdie-eagle on the third and fourth toraise his title hopes. The 6-foot-4-inch tall burly golfer drove thegreen on the par-4 fourth beforeknocking in a 24 feet putt.

Udayan made furtherinroads with birdies on theseventh and 11th thanks to hisaccurate iron-play. He had aquiet period over the next fiveholes before making the all-important birdie conversionfrom 10 feet on the 17th thathelped him draw level for thelead with SSP Chawrasia. Mane,playing in the penultimategroup, finally surged aheadwith a chip-putt birdie on the18th for an error-free 65 to setthe mark at 26-under.

Four-time European Tourwinner Chawrasia, playing inthe leader group, needed a 12-feet birdie conversion on thelast hole to take the match intoa playoff. But SSP missed andUdayan clinched the trophywith a record total that eclipsedthe previous best PGTI tour-nament total of 24-under firedby Anirban Lahiri (AambyValley, 2010), ShubhankarSharma (Eagleton, 2016) andRashid Khan (Chittagong,2019).

An ecstatic Udayan, said,“I’m pretty pleased with theentire season having registeredtwo wins. I started the year wellbut then had a rocky road fromMarch to September. But thatlean phase helped me learn a lotabout myself and my golf swingand that in turn led to my bet-ter performances late in the yearat Kensville (PGTI) and inMauritius (Asian Tour).

“The biggest takeawayfrom this victory is that I wona tournament which had anelite field and at a time when somany players were playingtheir best golf. That is a bigmorale-booster.

“According to me, it was agood thing that I was not play-ing in the leader group. I wasquite happy about that because

I have come from behind to winon the last day on a few occa-sions in the past.

“After scoring well over thefirst 11 holes, I had a cold patchas I was not hitting it closeenough. But I knew makingbirdie on the 17th was importantbecause that would help mejoin SSP in the lead. I managedto do that and did well to carrythe momentum onto the 18th.

“It’s special to end up with arecord 26-under total.Interestingly, I also have theamateur record of 21-under inmy name here at Golmuri. Ithank my sponsor AVT for alltheir support which has been amajor contributing factor to mygood performances.”

SSP Chawrasia, playing inJamshedpur after 12 years, madesteady progress through theday as he kept landing it with-in four feet to collect birdies onthe first, fourth, ninth and 12th.The two-time Indian Open

champion drained a 12-footerfor birdie on the 13th to take atwo-shot lead. However, SSPstumbled with a bogey when hemissed an up and down fromthe bunker on the 15th.

Chawrasia, a three-timewinner in Jamshedpur in thepast, missed his 12-feet birdieputt on the 18th that could’vetaken him into a playoff withMane.

Chiragh Kumar’s flawless67 helped him gain two spotsand finish tied third, two strokesbehind Chawrasia. Aman Rajalso took a share of third after aneventful 71 that saw him makean eagle, five birdies, a bogey, adouble-bogey and a triple-bogey.

Sri Lankan N Thangaraja(71) took fifth place at 22-under-266.

Faridabad’s Abhinav Lohanshot the day’s best round of 64to end up in tied 13th at 15-under-273.

Indian star Gaganjeet

Bhullar was placed tied 31st at11-under-277. The two otherIndian legends in the field, JeevMilkha Singh and JyotiRandhawa, finished tied 39thwith matching totals of 10-under-278.

Jamshedpur’s Karan Taunktook tied 71st place at eight-over-296.

Rashid Khan emergesOrder of Merit champion andKshitij Naveed Kaul isEmerging Player of the Year

Rashid Khan of Delhibagged a record third TATASteel PGTI Order of Merit titleafter finishing tied 18th at 14-under-274 at the TourChampionship this week.Rashid, who had earlier wonthe title in 2013 and 2016,closed the 2019 season withearnings of �66,27,650, thehighest ever for a PGTI sea-son, to finish number one inthe money list by a fair dis-tance.

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Madhya Pradesh got thedistinction of being a

tiger State in the country lastyear. Apart from this, it has alsostarted continuous effortstowards forest-wildlife conser-vation and upliftment of forestdwellers, along with dealingwith global climate change andglobal warming.

To save the remainingAsiatic Lions in Gir forests ofGujarat from extinction, theState Government has left nostone unturned regarding shift-ing of few lions from the Girforests of Gujarat to KunoNational Park as per theSupreme Court directions.There has been abundant pro-duction of forest produce in theState this year compared to lastyear.

This year 2.73 lakh cubicmetres of timber, 1.62 lakhcubic metres of firewood and34 thousand notional tons ofbamboo have been produced,which is 56 percent more intimber, 30 percent more in fire-wood and 26 percent more inbamboo compared to last year.

Madhya Pradesh again

ranks first in the country with526 tigers as per the results ofthe All India Tiger Assessmentdeclared on July 29, 2019. Inthe year 2014 Census, therewere an estimated 306 tigers.Three tiger reserves of theState — Pench, Kanha andSatpura have been ranked inthe first three positions inmanagerial efficiency in thecountry.

Satpura Tiger Reserve hasbeen awarded the “MostTourist Friendly National Park”by Madhya Pradesh TourismBoard for facilities and servicesat tourist destinations.

Laying emphasis on foresttourism, a committee has beenconstituted under the chair-manship of the Chief Ministerto review the implementationof wildlife related decisions.

In the vulture census con-ducted for the second time inthe State on January 12, 2019,

about 7,900 vultures have beenfound in 33 districts of theState.

The Tiger Strike Force hassucceeded in arresting nation-al and international criminalsinvolved in wildlife crime.

In the collection year 2019,cash payment of wages wasmade to tendu leaf pluckers atan increased rate of �2,500 perstandard bag instead of �2,000.An amount �3,289.80 lakhwhich is 15 percent of theTendu Patta incentive amountwas spent on infrastructuredevelopment and �2,365.60lakh was spent on forest andcapacity development.

Under the EklavyaEducation Scheme, scholar-ship of around �5 crore wasdistributed among 4,774 stu-dents. Saplings were planted on2,182 hectares under theOutdoor ConservationScheme.

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President Donald Trumpstarts the new year knee-

deep in daunting foreign poli-cy challenges at the same timehe’ll have to deal with a likelyimpeachment trial in theSenate and the demands of areelection campaign.

There’s still no end in sightto America’s longest war inAfghanistan. North Korea has-n’t given up its nuclear weapons.Add to that simmering tensionswith Iran, fallout from Trump’sdecision to pull troops fromSyria, ongoing unease withRussia and Turkey, and erraticties with European and otherlongtime Western allies.

Trump is not popular over-seas, and being an impeachedpresident who must simulta-neously run for reelectioncould reduce the time, focusand political clout needed toresolve complex global issueslike North Korea’s nuclearprovocations. Some foreignpowers could decide to justhold off on finalizing any dealsuntil they know whetherTrump will be reelected.

Trump himself hasacknowledged the challengein his December 26 tweet:“Despite all of the great successthat our Country has had overthe last 3 years, it makes itmuch more difficult to dealwith foreign leaders (and oth-ers) when I am having to con-stantly defend myself againstthe Do Nothing Democrats &their bogus ImpeachmentScam. Bad for USA!”

At the same time, there iswidespread expectation that

Trump never will be convictedby the Republican-controlledSenate, so 2020 could wellbring more of the same fromthe president on foreign poli-cy, said Ronald Neumann,president of the AmericanAcademy of Diplomacy.

“America still has an awfullot of power,” said Neumann, athree-time ambassador andformer deputy assistant secre-tary of state. “With a year to go,a president can still make a lotof waves, impeachment or not.”

For Trump, 2019 was a yearof two steps forward, one stepback — sometimes vice versa— on international challenges.Despite claiming that “I knowdeals, I think, better than any-body knows deals,’’ he’s still try-ing to close a bunch.

Trump scored high marksfor the US military raid in Syriathat killed the leader of theIslamic State, but US militaryleaders worry about a resur-gence. He is credited with coax-ing NATO allies to commit tospend billions more on defense,but along the way has strainedimportant relationships.

His agreement on a “Phase1” trade deal with China hasreduced tensions in their ongo-ing trade war. But the deallargely puts off for later complexissues surrounding US assertionsthat China is cheating to gainsupremacy on technology andChina’s accusation thatWashington is trying to restrainBeijing’s ascent as a world power.

A deeper look at the state ofplay on three top foreign policychallenges on Trump’s desk as2020 begins:

US-NORTH KOREANUCLEAR TALKS LOSE TRACTION

The US is watching North Korea closely for signs ofa possible missile launch ornuclear test.

Pyongyang had threatenedto spring a “Christmas surprise”if the US failed to meet KimJong Un’s year-end deadline forconcessions to revive stallednuclear talks. Trump speculat-ed maybe he’d get a “beautifulvase” instead. Any test flight ofan intercontinental ballisticmissile or substantial nucleartest would further derail thediplomatic negotiations Trumpopened with Kim in 2018.

Washington didn’t acceptKim’s end-of-year ultimatum,but Stephen Biegun, the top USenvoy to North Korea, said thewindow for talks with the USremains open. “We are fullyaware of the strong potentialfor North Korea to conduct amajor provocation in the daysahead,” Biegun, the new deputy

secretary of state, said recent-ly. “To say the least, such anaction will be most unhelpfulin achieving lasting peace onthe Korean Peninsula.”

In recent months, NorthKorea has conducted a slew ofshort-range missile launchesand other weapons tests.

In 2017, Trump and Kimtraded threats of destruction asNorth Korea carried out testsaimed at acquiring the ability tolaunch nuclear strikes on the USmainland. Trump said he wouldrain “fire and fury” on NorthKorea and derided Kim as “lit-tle rocket man.” Kim ques-tioned Trump’s sanity and saidhe would “tame the mentallyderanged U.S. dotard with fire.”

Then the two made up andmet three times — in Singaporein 2018, in Vietnam lastFebruary and again in Junewhen Trump became the firstU.S. president to set foot intoNorth Korea at theDemilitarised Zone.

While the get-togethers

have made for good photo-ops,they’ve been devoid of substan-tive progress in getting Kim toget rid of his nuclear weapons.

Trump has held out NorthKorea’s self-imposed morato-rium on conducting nucleartests and trials of long-rangeintercontinental missiles as amajor foreign policy achieve-ment. “Deal will happen!” hetweeted. Trump’s formernational security adviser does-n’t think so.

“The North Koreans arevery happy to declare thatthey’re going to give up theirnuclear weapons program, par-ticularly when it’s in exchangefor tangible economic benefits,but they never get around todoing it,” John Bolton toldNational Public Radio.

US-IRAN TENSION ESCALATING

Tensions with Iran havebeen rising ever since Trump lastyear withdrew the US from the2015 nuclear deal that Tehranhad signed with the U.S. and fiveother nations. Trump said thedeal was one-sided and gave Iransanctions relief for rolling back,but not permanently disman-tling, its nuclear programme.

After pulling out of thedeal, Trump began a “maximumpressure” campaign, reinstat-ing sanctions and adding morethat have crippled Iran’s econo-my. His aim is to force Iran torenegotiate a deal more favorableto the US and other nations thatare still in the agreement.

In response, Iran has con-tinued its efforts to destabilisethe region, attacking targets inSaudi Arabia, interrupting

commercial shipping throughthe critical Strait of Hormuz,shooting down an unmannedU.S. aircraft and financing mil-itant proxy groups. Since May,nearly 14,000 US military per-sonnel have deployed to theregion to deter Iran.

Iranian President HassanRouhani said his country’snuclear experts are testing anew type of advanced cen-trifuge. Iran recently startedexceeding the stockpiles ofuranium and heavy waterallowed by the nuclear deal andis enriching uranium at a puri-ty level beyond what is per-mitted. Tehran’s violations,which it says are reversible, arean attempt to get France,Germany, Britain, China andRussia — the other nations thatsigned the JointComprehensive Plan of Action— to offer new economicincentives to offset theAmerican sanctions.

The White House says itspressure campaign is working.The Iranian economy is col-lapsing, inflation is high. Andcrushing U.S. sanctions block-ing Iran from selling its crudeoil abroad have helped fuelnationwide protests.

Earlier this month, therewas a rare diplomatic break-through when a Chinese-American Princeton scholar,Xiyue Wang, who has held inIran for three years, was freedin exchange for a detainedIranian scientist in the US.Trump said the prisonerexchange could be a “precursoras to what can be done.”

Iran says other prisonerswaps can be arranged, but

there will be no other negoti-ations between Tehran and theTrump administration.

AFGHANISTANWhen Trump made his

first visit to Afghanistan onThanksgiving Day, heannounced that negotiationswith the Taliban, which hadfallen apart in September, wereback on track. He claimed themilitant group wanted to finda political resolution to the war,now more than 18 years old.

“We’ll see if they want tomake a deal,” he told US troopsat Bagram Air Base. “’It’s got tobe a real deal, but we’ll see. Butthey want to make a deal.”

Less than two weeks later,talks were back on pause afteran attack outside Bagram killedtwo Afghans and wounded 70others, including members ofthe US-led coalition force. TheTaliban later claimed respon-sibility for the attack, whichalso damaged the base.

It’s no secret that Trumpwants US engagement inAfghanistan to end, but criticsworry that this will lead him tomake too many concessions tothe Taliban.

Despite progress in thenegotiations, Trump abruptlycanceled the talks in Septemberwhen violence continued anda US service member waskilled. This time around, theUS is seeking a reduction inviolence with the end goal ofgetting the Taliban to agree toa permanent ceasefire and startall-Afghan talks to find apeaceful future for the country.

Former Defence SecretaryJames Mattis, who resigned

from the Trump administrationover his opposition to the pres-ident’s decision to removetroops from Syria, said theTaliban have not proven trust-worthy in the past so instead of“trust and verify,” the USshould “verify and then trust.”

But he added, “I think thepresident was right to start thenegotiations with the Talibanand I think he was right to callit off when the bombingsoccurred.”’

Gen. Mark Milley, the chair-man of the Joint Chiefs of Staff,told Congress this month thatthe Pentagon is considering sev-eral options to reduce the num-ber of troops in Afghanistan.One option would mean shift-ing to a leaner counter-terrorismmission. That would leave onlya minimal US footprint inAfghanistan to battle Islamicextremists.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., who visited Kabul thismonth, said Trump mightannounce an American troopdrawdown from Afghanistanbefore the year’s end. He saidthat beginning next year, thepresident could reduce troopnumbers to 8,600, down fromthe current estimate of 12,000.

Graham has opposed awithdrawal before, but says8,600 US troops would beenough to make sure thatAfghanistan doesn’t become alaunching pad for another9/11-style attack on the US.The Taliban have said anypeace agreement must includegetting all American troops outof the country, where morethan 2,400 American servicemembers have been killed.

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North Korean leader KimJong Un has convened a

key meeting of top ruling partyofficials, state media said onSunday, ahead of a year-enddeadline for Washington toshift its stance on stallednuclear talks.

The plenary session, whichopened on Saturday, followswidespread speculation thatPyongyang is preparing to testan intercontinental ballisticmissile — as a threatened“Christmas gift” forWashington.

Kim presided over themeeting which discussed anew “transparent, anti-imperi-alist independent stand”, theofficial Korean Central NewsAgency (KCNA) reported. Theruling Workers’ Party of Koreawill also “discuss importantmatters arising... In the build-

ing of the state and nationaldefence”, KCNA added.

Talks on denuclearisingthe Korean peninsula havebeen largely deadlocked sincethe second summit betweenKim and US President DonaldTrump collapsed in Hanoi atthe start of this year.

The opening of the plenarycomes a week after Kim held ameeting of top defence officialsand discussed boosting militarycapabilities. Pyongyang hascarried out a series of static testsat its Sohae rocket facility this

month, after a number ofweapons launches in recentweeks — some of themdescribed as ballistic missiles byJapan and others.

North Korea is bannedfrom carrying out such testsunder UN sanctions. “We’llfind out what the surprise isand we’ll deal with it very suc-cessfully,” Trump said whenasked about the North Koreandeadline. “Everybody’s got sur-prises for me, but let’s see whathappens. I handle them asthey come along.”

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Taiwanese President TsaiIng-wen said on Sunday

that the self-governing island’sdemocracy remains underdirect threat from rival China, underscoring her callsfor closer ties with the US andother allies.

Tsai was speaking at a tele-vised debate against Han Kuo-yu of the main oppositionNationalist Party and veteranpolitician James Soong of thePeople’s First Party. Elections forpresident and the legislature areset for January 11. Most pollsshow Tsai leading in her questfor a second four-year term.

Tsai said she would pre-serve Taiwan’s freedoms andway of life, but would make nochanges to the constitution orthe island’s official name, theRepublic of China, whichmoved its seat of Governmentto Taipei, the island’s capital,following the CommunistParty’s seizure of power onmainland China in 1949.

“Taiwan’s most pressingchallenge arises from China’s expanding ambitions,”Tsai said.

“The situation in ourregion is ever-more complex and Taiwan’s sovereignty — its free, demo-cratic way of life — is underthreat of being stripped awayand undermined.”

“We need to deepen andstrengthen our internationalrelations, and at present we aredoing so in terms of econom-ics and across the board withmany countries,” she said.

Sydney: Australian authoritieson Sunday asked thousands oftourists and residents to evac-uate a popular natural area inthe southeast of the countrydue to forest fires.

Victoria state fire chiefChris Hardman urged anyonein the East Gippsland forests toleave the area immediately inthe face of the danger of firesamid high temperatures,reports Efe news.

“The message today if youare in Forests or Parks in EastGippsland time to Leave Now,the large fires in the landscapeswill get much bigger tomor-row,” he tweeted. “Leave Now,it will be very very dangerousbe in the bush today or tomor-row. Leave Now!”

The fires have alreadyburned around 100,000 of themore than 300,000 hectares ofEast Gippsland, a place popu-lar with visitors in the summermonth due to its naturalwealth. IANS

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Three Indians were killedand 13 others injured when

two buses carrying touristscrashed into a truck in Egypt’sSuez governorate, the Indianembassy here said on Sunday.

The buses were heading tothe beach-resort town ofHurghada on Saturday whenthey collided with the trucknear Ain Sokhna town, about120 kilometres east of Cairo.

“We regret to inform that3 Indian citizens have lost theirlives in the bus accident thatoccurred on 28 December nearAin Sokhna. Others who areinjured are receiving medicaltreatment at various hospitalsin Egypt,” the Indian embassyin Egypt tweeted.

It said the relatives of thedeceased and the injured havebeen contacted and all assis-tance is being provided tothem. “Embassy officials arepresent at the hospitals and intouch with hospital authorities,”the mission said.

The embassy said therewere 16 Indian tourists on thebuses. The injured Indianshave been admitted to threehospitals.

Eight Indians are at SheikhZayed hospital in Giza, one atNational Bank hospital inMaqqatem, Cairo and theremaining four are receivingtreatment at Suez HealthInsurance hospital in Suez gov-ernorate, the embassy said.

According to the localmedia, the deceased alsoinclude two Malaysians andthree Egyptians. A total of 24people were injured in theaccident and have been admit-ted to hospitals.

Road accidents occur inEgypt mainly due to damaged roads and poor traf-fic regulations.

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An intruder stabbed andwounded five people at a

rabbi’s house in a New Yorksuburb late Saturday, in anincident the state governorsaid was “an act of terrorism”after a spate of attacks onJewish targets.

Local media reported thata man with a machete enteredthe rabbi’s property in Monsey,Rockland County, during cel-ebrations for the Jewish festivalof Hanukkah, knifing severalpeople before fleeing.

Victims were rushed tonearby hospitals, with no offi-cial details on their injuries.Police said a suspect was laterarrested. “This is an act of ter-rorism. I think these are domes-tic terrorists. They are trying toinflict fear,” New York GovernorAndrew Cuomo told reportersat the scene on Sunday.

“They’re motivated by hate.They are doing mass attacks.These are terrorists in ourcountry perpetrating terror-ism on other Americans, andthat’s how we should treat it.”

Last year a white suprema-

cist walked into a Pittsburghsynagogue and killed 11 peo-ple — the deadliest attackagainst the Jewish communityin the United States.

Earlier this month six peo-ple, including two suspects,were killed in a Jersey Cityshooting at a kosher deli, whichauthorities said was fueled inpart by anti-Semitism.

A report in April from theAnti-Defamation League(ADL) stated that the numberof anti-Semitic attacks in 2018was close to the record of2017, with 1,879 incidents.

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Sydney’s iconic New Year’sEve fireworks will go ahead

despite the wildfire crisis toshow the world Australia’sresiliency, the Prime Ministersaid, while authorities onSunday braced for conditions todeteriorate with high tempera-tures. Prime Minister ScottMorrison also announcedfinancial support for some vol-unteer firefighters in New SouthWales, the state worst hit bywildfires ravaging the nation.

“The world looks at Sydneyevery single year and they look

at our vibrancy, they look at ourpassion, they look at our suc-cess,” he said. “In the midst of thechallenges that we face, subjectto the safety considerations, I can

think of no better time to expressto the world just how optimisticand positive we are as a country.”

The City of Sydney Councilgave the green light althoughfire authorities warned that thefireworks could be canceled ifcatastrophic conditions aredeclared. Morrison said that eli-gible volunteer firefighters willreceive 300 Australian dollars($209) a day, up to AU$6,000($4,190) in total, if called out tobattle blazes for more than 10days. The compensationfocused on people who are self-employed or work for small andmedium businesses.

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Hundreds of people plungedinto the chilly ocean at a

Massachusetts beach onSaturday to honor Peter Frates,the former college baseballplayer whose battle with LouGehrig’s disease helped spreadthe ALS ice bucket challenge.

About 1,000 peopleshowed up for the final “Plungefor Pete” at Good Harbor Beachin Gloucester, and more thanhalf of those braved the frigidwaters on what would havebeen Frates’ 35th birthday.

The event, in its eighth year,raised money for the Pete Frates#3 Fund, which helped pay forFrates’ medical bills. “He islaughing so hard right now at megetting into the ocean,” saidFrates’ wife, Julie, who partici-pated in the plunge for the first

time wearing the bikini she hadon when she first met her hus-band. “This is the best birthday

party he could ask for and wher-ever he is, he is very grateful.”

The former Boston College

baseball player, who lived inBeverly, a suburb north ofBoston, died December 9 aftera seven-year battle with amy-otrophic lateral sclerosis.

The family has accumulat-ed roughly USD 500,000 indebt for their son’s medicalcare, Pete’s father, John Fratessaid, and the final fundraiserwill hopefully help close thegap. The family will continue toraise money for the separatePeter Frates FamilyFoundation, which helps otherALS patients cover homehealth care costs, he said.

The number of people whosigned up to take the actualplunge far exceeded the peak of250 participants who partici-pated in 2014, the year the icebucket challenge went viral andraised more than $200 millionfor ALS research worldwide.

The ice bucket challengeinvolved pouring a bucket ofice water over one’s head andposting a video of it on socialmedia, and then challengingothers to do the same or makea donation to charity. Mostpeople did both.

The challenge began in2014 when pro golfer ChrisKennedy challenged his wife’scousin Jeanette Senerchia,whose husband has ALS.Patient Pat Quinn, of Yonkers,New York, picked up on it andstarted its spread, but whenFrates and his family gotinvolved, the phenomenonexploded on social media. ALSis a progressive neurodegener-ative disease that leads to paral-ysis because of the death ofmotor neurons in the spinalcord and brain. There is noknown cure.

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Riyadh: A Saudi court sen-tenced a Yemeni man to deathSunday for a knife attack on aSpanish theatre group, statetelevision said, amid a contro-versial push to ease decades-oldrestrictions on entertainment.

Court also sentenced anaccomplice to 12 and a half yearsin jail for the November 11 attackduring a live performance inRiyadh, which state media linkedto al-Qaeda, and which Madridsaid left four performers wound-ed. “The criminal court issues apreliminary ruling handing thedeath sentence to the perpetra-tor of the terrorist attack... InRiyadh,” the official Al-Ekhbariya television reported.

The assailant, identified bySaudi police as 33-year-oldYemeni, went on a stabbingspree during a musical in KingAbdullah Park, one of thevenues hosting “Riyadh Season”entertainment festival. AFP

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The Taliban on Sunday saidthey have agreed to a tem-

porary ceasefire nationwide. Itprovides a window duringwhich a peace agreement withthe US could be signed.

A peace deal would allowWashington to bring home itstroops from Afghanistan andend its 18-year military engage-ment there, America's longest.The US wants any deal to includea promise from the Taliban thatAfghanistan would not used asa base by terrorist groups. TheUS currently has an estimated12,000 troops in Afghanistan.

The Taliban chief mustapprove the agreement but thatis expected. The duration of thecease-fire was not specifiedbut it is being suggested it

would last for 10 days.our members of the

Taliban negotiating team metfor a week with the rulingcouncil before they agreed onthe brief cease fire. The nego-tiating team returned onSunday to Qatar where theymaintain their political offic

The Taliban officials famil-iar with the negotiations spokeon condition of anonymitybecause they were not autho-rized to talk to the media. A keypillar of the agreement, whichthe US and Taliban have beenhammering out for more thana year, is direct negotiationsbetween Afghans on both sidesof the conflict. Those intra-Afghan negotiations areexpected to be held withintwo weeks of the signing of aUS-Taliban peace deal.

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As another year draws to aclose, it is pertinent to rumi-nate Janus-like, once again,over past and future genderparity trends both in India

and abroad. And the picture is not a pleas-ant one. In fact, the year is ending on agrim note for women all over the world,with the Global Gender Gap Report 2020predicting that as things stand current-ly, overall, gender parity will not beattained for another 99.5 years. Thereport, which is being prepared by theWorld Economic Forum (WEF) since thelast 14 years, examines gender parity in153 nations on the basis of four dimen-sions: Economic participation and oppor-tunity, educational attainment, health andsurvival and political empowerment.

Despite its gloomy forecast, thisyear’s report offers a mixed bag. Whileflagging greater political participation ofwomen across countries, it asserts thatgender parity has, in fact, been achievedin 40 of the 153 countries it surveyed.And the best performers, as usual, are theScandinavian countries, with Iceland,Finland, Norway and Sweden leading thepack. Nicaragua, New Zealand, Ireland,Spain, Rwanda and Germany followedclose behind to line up the top 10. Asmany as 101 countries succeeded inimproving their scores over the 2019rankings, even as nations like Albania,Ethiopia, Mali and Mexico rose abovetheir economic challenges to grant con-sistent greater economic empowermentto their women.

But where does India figure in thiscount? In the bottom 50, coming in atrank 108 out of 153. This poor showingby an ostensibly rapidly growing econo-my is largely the result of a gender pay gapemerging from Indian women’s decisionto stay out of the workforce or drop outof it due to various factors. Pointing outthat India ranked lower on all the foursegments being assessed, the WEF high-lighted the need for India to “makeimprovements across the board — fromwomen’s participation to getting morewomen into senior and professionalroles.” The report goes on to say that theeconomic gender gap runs particularlydeep in our country and has gotten sig-nificantly wider since 2006, with thecountry also being the only one amongthe 153 countries studied where the eco-nomic gender gap is larger than the polit-ical gender gap.

This curious decline in women’s eco-nomic participation despite a rise in theireducation levels has also been documentedby the India Human Development Survey(IHDS), a nationally representative multi-topic panel survey of 41,554 households, con-ducted in two waves in 2004-05 and 2011-12 by the National Council of AppliedEconomic Research (NCAER) in collabora-

tion with the University ofMaryland. The IHDS not onlycovered a wide range of topicsconcerning health, education,employment, economic status,marriage and fertility but alsocanvassed an exclusive moduleadministered to 33,510 ever-married women aged 15-49years during the survey.According to IHDS data, manynations have experienced a U-shaped relationship betweeneconomic development, growthand women’s workforce partic-ipation. However, in India,unlike other South Asian coun-tries, women have failed to riseabove the bottom of the U-curvefor several decades, irrespectiveof consistent economic growth,perhaps because the country’sformal economy has grownwithout offering any specific orsubstantial opportunities towomen through feminisation ofthe labour force.

According to IHDS,women’s Labour ForceParticipation Rate (LFPR) fellalarmingly from 31.12 per centin 2005 to 24.77 per cent in2012. The IHDS findings havealso been endorsed by the 68thRound of the National SampleSurvey Organisation (2011-12),which, in turn, records a corre-sponding fall in the femaleLFPR, from 28.7per cent to 22.5

per cent since the previousNSSO survey. Concomitantly,the WEF report also loweredIndia’s gender ranking for eco-nomic opportunities from 139in 2017 to 142 in 2018.

Another observationpeculiar to India is the para-dox of a decreasing Child SexRatio (CSR) or the ratio ofgirls to boys, which in 2016was reportedly at the lowestlevel since 1951, notwithstand-ing progressively higher edu-cational attainment amonggirls. Thus, even though moreparents across States and com-munities have started sendingtheir daughters to school andcollege, they still express apreference for sons for a vari-ety of reasons, ranging fromthe prevalence of dowry, theburden of ensuring safety ofgirls and the support provid-ed by sons in old age. As CarolVlassof, Professor at theUniversity of Ottawa and long-time researcher on genderissues in India, avers, “The biasagainst daughters can endonly if women’s education isaccompanied by social andeconomic empowerment.”

Even worse is India’s gen-der-based performance in thedomain of health and survival.The WEF report ranks thecountry third lowest for this

parameter, just aboveArmenia and China, cate-gorising it as the “leastimproved country” on thissub-index over the pastdecade. This result comes asno surprise, considering thefact that by and large, Indianwomen have little autonomyin decision-making even inmatters of personal health.

Here, too, the IHDS reportin 2005, which had surveyedover 74 per cent of the women,stated that they needed permis-sion just to visit a health cen-tre, let alone exercise controlover their bodies and health-related issues. And this figurehad gone up to 80 per centwhen IHDS revisited its sam-ple households in 2012.

Interestingly, among thewomen reporting the lack ofagency in health matters, 80per cent affirmed that theyhad to seek permission fromtheir husbands, 79.89 per centfrom a senior family memberand even more significantly,79.94 per cent revealed thatthey had to consult a seniorfemale family member forsuch permission. The implica-tion inherent in this finding —that women in dominant fam-ily roles tend to exercise strin-gent control over their lessassertive female counterparts

in the family — also has seri-ous implications for femalesorority and mutual support.

It is obvious that withoutpolicy and legislative changesand in view of persistent refusalto alter conventional mindsetsthat perpetually relegatewomen to household and careduties, India’s female popula-tion is unlikely to emerge fromthe morass of poor economicperformance, coupled with lowhealth outcomes and unequalaccess to opportunities.

Coming back to the 2020Gender Gap Report, Indiawould do well to heed theadvice of the WEF Founder andExecutive Chairman, KlausSchwab that “only countriesthat are able to harness all theiravailable talent, (both male andfemale), will succeed in theFourth Industrial Revolution.Proactive measures that supportgender parity and social inclu-sion and address historicalimbalances are, therefore, essen-tial for the health of the globaleconomy as well as for thegood of society as a whole.” IsIndia listening? Or does it wantto retain its dismal position onthe Gender Index next year, too?

(The writer is ConsultantEditor at the National Council ofApplied Economic Research. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — Kudos to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and hisGovernment for dedicating twopublic welfare and utility schemesto Atal Bihari Vajpayee on hisbirth anniversary. The projects —one about groundwater manage-ment and the other on easingtransportation, enhancingtourism and national security —are milestones in our nation’sprogress. The Atal Bhujal Yojanawill help in supplying water toevery household. The PrimeMinister also named the Rohtangpassageway as the Atal Tunnel.The decision to construct a strate-gic tunnel below the Rohtang Passwas taken in June 2000 whenVajpayee was the Prime Minister.

M PradyuKannur

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Sir — The Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) holds the mirror totoday’s India. The Act goes againstthe principle of “equality” asaffirmed in the Constitution.Phrases such as “reasonable” and“intelligible differentia” cannot

rationalise a blatantly discriminato-ry law that seeks to shake the foun-dation of the country. People of allcastes and communities have livedhere for generations here. Why areour leaders trying to divide India on

the basis of religion? The BJP is try-ing to divide the country on com-munal grounds, causing confu-sion in the minds of people.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the unneces-sary criticism by Opposition par-ties on Army Chief General Bipin

Rawat’s statement, wherein hequestioned the violence in univer-sity campuses during protests.There is no politics in his state-ment, which is based on practicalaspects. At times, the Army has tobe called to control escalated sit-uations. The Army Chief, like allother citizens, is pained due tolarge-scale damage incurred dur-ing incidents of violence.

SC AgrawalDelhi

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Sir — The BJP’s loss in the just-concluded Assembly electionsin Jharkhand indicates that theModi wave is limited to theGeneral Election. When it comesto State affairs, the commonman prefers bread and butterissues over others like the abro-gation of Article 370 and the Ramtemple. The party must not takeits thumping mandate in theLok Sabha elections for granted.Rather, it must adopt a federalapproach to social development.

SrishtiVia email

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From election to election, year to year, weIndians have got used to living withhopes for the better. Every new yearbegins with a lot of expectations but usu-ally ends in dismay. However, of late,

there has been a change in this trend. We have aGovernment in place, which not only believes inflagging issues of national importance but alsowalks the talk by attempting a closure of issues,no matter how controversial. It doesn’t want to“sleep over the problem.” Another year is on thehorizon and people expect changes that wouldnot only make their lives better but take our nationto greater heights so that it can occupy its justplace among the comity of nations. A secure India,both at the borders and in the hinterland, is thedesire of many Indians because only a safe andsecure nation can concentrate on developmentthat is needed to make a quality difference.

India has embarked on the path of becom-ing a superpower. This is why it needs to treadthe path of strategic alliances carefully, keepingin mind the nation’s interests. We have succeed-ed in unifying the world to fight the menace ofglobal terrorism but are yet to see a world thatis free of it. To my mind, the fight against ter-rorism must continue in 2020, both at home andabroad. For us to be taken seriously worldwide,we need to establish India as a military powerfrom a military force. We need to prepare our-selves to meet the twin threats emancipating fromChina and Pakistan, through capability andcapacity-building. Terror threat in our immedi-ate neighbourhood as also back home must con-tinue to be our main focus area in the immedi-ate future.

In order to negate Pakistan’s nuclear black-mail, there is a need to regain the conventionaledge over its armed forces through modernisa-tion of our own. Development versus security isa dilemma faced by every developing nation butthe ones, which have not compromised on secu-rity, have emerged stronger in the given timespace. The success story of modernisation ofChina’s People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and itsunparalleled economic growth is a classic exam-ple. We need to spend at least 2.5 to three percent of our Gross Domestic Product (GDP) con-secutively for a decade to modernise our armedforces.

Without a strong military, no nation can claimto be a formidable power. The existing deficien-cies and future requirements to cater to newerconventional and non-conventional threats needto be beefed up. Procurement procedures needto be made efficient and accountable. We also haveto be prepared to meet the challenges from theneighbourhood. Any instability in the neighbour-hood will effect India as well. We need to devel-op capability for regional intervention as well asfor regional and maritime projection. India, beingan emerging power, needs to cater to multiplecontingencies and, hence, have multiple options.Adequate deterrence capabilities across all spec-trums — from sub-conventional to nuclear — willmake us a perfect military power.

Pakistan, with its failing economy and Chinabeing cautious of its international image, willincreasingly resort to hybrid warfare, whichemphasises on tactical level and grey-zone con-flicts and incorporates a long-term strategic

dimension in international disputes.Such type of operations occasionally passthe threshold of war. Response to thistype of a warfare is not purely militarybut collective, including political andeconomic. Thus, there is a need to beprepared across different spectrumsand spheres to meet growing chal-lenges. Hybrid warfare and grey-zoneconflicts are usually considered to besynonymous but they are not. On theone hand, India has to ward off China’s“unrestricted warfare” threat, particular-ly in the North-east and in our neigh-bourhood. On the other hand, we facehybrid threat based on unconventionalmeans and employment of non-stateactors, particularly in our northernand western borders.

While the former closely approxi-mates the grey-zone conflict with strate-gic intent, the latter resembles thehybrid warfare based on tactical andoperational level acts, basically aimed atfragmenting our country. Thus, in 2020,the Government must concentrate onformulating protocols and procedures tomeet the challenges posed by these twinthreats.

A beginning has been made withthe much-anticipated appointment ofa Chief of Defence Staff (CDS). Notonly the selection but even the conceptof CDS is nascent and would need timeto stabilise. “Purplisation” of the Indianarmed forces would not be that easy.The Government needs to be compli-mented for taking the bold decision andsetting the process in motion. Themuch-needed reforms in the DefenceMinistry to curb the widening gulfbetween the bureaucrat-led Ministryand the armed forces, whose profes-sional advice is generally overruled bygeneralist bureaucrats, is the next boldstep the Government needs to take.

Perfect harmony and professionalrespect will be needed between thethree service heads and the CDS for theidea of “first among the equals” to suc-ceed. Also, a clear line will have to bedrawn between the charters of CDS andthe National Security Advisor (NSA).The idea to succeed would need unbri-dled support from the political hierar-chy, which so far needs to be moreinclined towards the bureaucracy.

To stake our claim as a formidablepower, we have to ensure that we haveenough means militarily, and otherwise,to ensure protection of our vital nation-al interests and security objectives.There is a need to identify weaknessesand gaps in our security structure andtake measures to plug them. For this,the need is to formulate a national secu-rity doctrine, which is long overdue. Inthe absence of a doctrine, variousorgans of the Government and otherstakeholders are unable to prepare acoordinated response to meet threatsand challenges to our national securi-ty. From the doctrine will flow thenational security strategy, which willenable different stakeholders in theGovernment to carry out an “ends ver-sus means” analysis and prepare theperspective plans for their respectiveMinistries. 2020 is the year when themuch-awaited national security doc-trine may see the light of the day.

Internal security situation in thecountry appears to be moving towardsnormalcy. Certain peripheral militantgroups are trying to raise their uglyheads to undermine peace, tranquilli-ty and communal harmony. PopularFront of India (PFI) is developing intoa potent threat and its political wing,Social Democratic Party of India(SDPI), has a significant following inthe Southern States and is spreading its

wings in the Eastern States, too.Growing links between the PFI and var-ious illegal immigrant organisations isanother cause of concern. PFI also hasa big hand in growing radicalisation inSouth India.

As far as Jammu & Kashmir is con-cerned, Pakistan will continue to be anirritant till it is forced to give up the pol-icy of State-sponsored terrorism.Defence Minister Rajnath Singh, whileaddressing the passing out parade ofGentlemen Cadets at Indian MilitaryAcademy, Dehradun, comprehensive-ly summed up the deep State ofPakistan, “Besides following terrorismas State policy, several non-State actorshave become much powerful in thatcountry and State actors have beenreduced to mere puppets.”

While Pakistan would continue tofoment trouble, the Over GroundWorkers (OGW) network, which isdeep-rooted in the State, will have to bebrought under control in order to rootterrorism/militancy. The entire ecosys-tem in Kashmir is very badly subvert-ed. OGWs are a major part of this sys-tem but very difficult to identify andsegregate. They have infiltrated everyorgan of the State. Most of them havea dual face. They are hardcore nation-alists when in a gathering that demandsso, and are die-hard sympathisers ofjihadis when away from that environ-ment. They are the masters of the artof “biting the hand that feeds them.”The present relative calm prevailing inKashmir cannot be taken at its facevalue. A crackdown on the OGWs in2020 is mandatory for lasting peace, theultimate aim, for which Article 370 hasbeen abrogated.

(The author is a Jammu-based vet-eran, political commentator, politicalanalyst, security and strategic analyst)

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The just-concluded 25th UN conferenceon climate change held in Madrid wasa massive climate congregation com-

prising 25,000 participants from across theworld, including Greta Thunberg, the teenageSwedish activist. Although unrest caused theoriginal venue, Santiago, Chile, to be changedto Madrid at the last minute, the fervorremained unchanged in the form of all-nightclimate debates between delegates andMinisters. In the opening address, UNSecretary General, Antonio Guterres, under-lined the need to have an environmentalcourse correction and stressed on the impor-tance of increased ambition and commitmenttowards nature conservation.

Outcomes: A positive mood was set inmotion with “ambition”, “action” and “com-mitment” being highlighted as the key dri-ving forces for this year’s COP. The hashtag#TimeforAction was the official tag for theconference with stress being laid on “climateambition alliance” to accelerate progress

towards the Paris goals. But this enthusiasmfizzled out as the conference struggled tomake progress on almost all fronts.

The COP25 was meant to finalise the rulebook for the Paris Agreement and specificpolicies were to be discussed to mitigate lossand damage. It deals with unavoidable andirreversible impacts of climate change, wheremitigation has failed, and adaptation is notpossible. But none of them could materialise.However, COP25 sent a strong message tothe participants to be well prepared as 2020would be most critical — it marks the dead-line for the carbon emission reduction tar-gets set by participating nations. It also marksthe deadline for the $100 billion in financeto be provided to the developing countries,a commitment made by the developedcountries in Paris.

Barring the tepid proceedings of COP25,the Gender Action Plan (GAP) proved to bean exception. Participating Governmentsadopted a new five-year GAP that progres-sively builds upon the first one and enablesgender-just climate solutions. The GAP notonly aims to provide gender equality in theUNFCC processes but also takes into accounthuman rights and challenges faced by indige-nous people in ensuring climate justice andcommunity protection.

The conference also saw vociferous rep-resentation and arguments by nations belong-

ing to the Like Minded Developing CountriesGroup (LMDC), including India, in favourof an expedited climate finance corpus thatcould be set up by the developed nations tohelp the developing ones build capacity andmeet climate commitments. India also raisedthe important issue at COP25 of whether thedeveloped nations were actually doingenough to cut down emissions.

A lost opportunity: The dismay due tolack of meaningful progress at the COP25 waswrit large. It was summed by Guterres whenhe expressed his personal disappointment onthe outcome of COP25. Even though the con-ference overshot its scheduled end by over44 hours, this year’s COP was conspicuousfor its inability to reach consensus in manyimportant areas, thanks to charged updebates that yielded no concrete decisions.As a result, pertinent matters got pushed intothe next year’s conference. The discussionsgetting bogged down in technical debatesconcerning carbon market mechanisms andother issues ensured that swift conferenceprogress becomes a casualty.

Moreover, year after year, what hasbeen seen is a triangular disconnect betweenthe UNFCC procedures, the aspirations of theparticipants and the demands of the environ-mental protests world over. This year’s COPwas no different. The UNEP Emissions GapReport released on the sidelines of the COP

admitted the widening chasm between setgoals and required action. According to theUNEP report, even if Nationally DeterminedContributions (NDCs) are met, the emissionsin 2030 will still be 38 per cent higher thanwhat is required to meet that target. Unlessthe UN procedures become agile and caterto the rising expectations of the global com-munity, there’s a risk that subsequent climateconferences, too, may end up in a limbo. Thiscan have a severe impact on the credibilityof the annual COP event.

Takeaways for India: The COP25 maynot have ended in taking remarkable deci-sions but the outcomes brought clarity tobring global green house gas emissions downto 45 per cent from 2010 levels by 2030. Thiswas accompanied by the urgent need to limitrising global temperatures to 1.5oC. Thesemeasures will be instrumental in achievingglobal carbon neutrality by 2050. For India,it is critical to integrate these goals and ensureconcrete progress in environmental conser-vation. This is possible only through a par-ticipative civil society led by a strong and com-mitted Government.

The adoption of GAP is crucial for India,where gender-related complexities are aplen-ty in all spheres, including the fight againstclimate change. For example, the women pop-ulation in the country stands at 48 per centwhereas their representation in the legisla-

ture is only 12 per cent. This watered-downrepresentation translates into an insipid roleof women in fighting climate action, justiceand conservation. This skewed imbalance hasbecome the unfortunate norm and must bechallenged. The integration of GAP intoGovernment policies can do just that and leadto equal representation of women.

During the adoption of GAP at COP25,it was specifically highlighted that proper andsuccessful implementation by participatingnations will ensure overall global success ofthe initiative. To make this a reality and deriveequal participation of women in climate ini-tiatives, the Government of India mustfocus on capacity-building and enhanceimplementation of gender responsive climateaction at all levels in the form of genderresponsive technology solutions. These mea-sures will help secure the rightful place ofwomen and ensure gender equality. If theGovernment is able to expedite GAP imple-mentation by executing relevant policies andengaging the civil society adequately, Indiacan proudly show the progress it has madeat the next COP26 in Glasgow, the UK.

During the course of the conference, theAssociation of Small Island States (AOSIS)charged India, Brazil and China for block-ing ambitious outcomes in Article 6 discus-sions pertaining to carbon markets. This neg-ative comment on our nation was both

embarrassing and avoidable. But parallelly,India, along with China, the US and the EU,accounted for almost 60 per cent of the car-bon dioxide emissions in 2017. So, it is essen-tial for India to get its act together and bringdown the fossil fuel combustion levels dras-tically by the end of 2020 so that enoughprogress is visible. The fast-tracking ofrenewable power generation and creation ofadditional carbon sink for CO2 can helpachieve that.

Looking ahead: A lot of expectations arenow attached with COP26. Chief concernremains the loss and damage, carbon mar-kets, transparency and, crucially, the rulebookfor the Paris Agreement. Most importantly,member nations will have to boost their car-bon cuts if the world is to achieve the targetof limiting of global temperatures to under1.5oC. Similarly, the developed nations willhave to show intent by achieving NDCs andalso extending a helping hand to the devel-oping nations in achieving their goals as wellas by providing the promised $100 billion cli-mate finance support. Of late, COP eventshave become sites of protests, loopholenegotiations and blame-games. This has tostop. The world must sit down as a family anddiscuss the imminent common threat of cli-mate change and take sincere action.

(The writer is an environmental journalist)

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Lucknow: SP chief AkhileshYadav on Sunday said the NationalPopulation Register (NPR) andthe National Register of Citizens(NRC) were against the poorpeople and minorities of thecountry, while asserting that hewill not fill up the NPR form.

Addressing a press conferenceat the Samajwadi Party (SP) head-quarters here, he said, “Be it theNPR or the NRC, these are againstthe poor people, minorities andMuslims of the country.”

“The question is whether wewant the NRC or employment? Ifthe need arises, I will be the firstperson not to fill up any form. Willyou support me or not? If we donot fill up the form, we will bethrown out. I will not fill it up, yousay whether you will fill it up ornot?,” Yadav asked young SP lead-ers.

“I would like to tell the police-men, who are wielding lathis onpeople, that the certificates of theirmothers and fathers will also besought,” he said.

All Indians should come for-ward to save the country fromthose violating the Constitution,the former Uttar Pradesh chiefminister said.

He alleged that this (CAA andNRC) was being done so that thepublic did not raise any questionsabout the poor state of the econ-omy and basic problems.

“During demonetisation, theGovernment had said corruptionwill end, but that proved to beuntrue. Due to demonetisation, anumber of banks closed down,while the GST (Goods andServices Tax) ruined businesses.The condition is such that the

country's economy has come outof the ICU and gone to the ICCU,”Yadav said.

“During the days of the SPgovernment (in Uttar Pradesh),youngsters got laptops, while theBJP is taking them towards toilets.Understand the difference,” headded.

Reacting to the SP chief 'sremarks, state Law MinisterBrajesh Pathak said, “The SP andother like-minded parties are try-ing to spread animosity among thepeople of the state over theamended Citizenship Act.”

Yadav also charged UttarPradesh Chief Minister YogiAdityanath with doing injustice toMuslims in the garb of the actiontaken against anti-CAA protestors“to save his chair”.

“Chief Minister YogiAdityanath knows that 200 BJPMLAs had staged a 'dharna' (sit-in) against him inside the stateAssembly. To save his chair, he isdoing injustice to Muslims,” hesaid. PTI

Patna: Slamming the Congress,RJD and other Opposition par-ties for “deliberately” creating acontroversy over NPR, BiharDeputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi on Sundaywondered why was the datacollection exercise not opposedby RJD chief Lalu Prasad, when it was initiated during the Congress-led UPArule.

The deputy Chief Ministerwas speaking at a functionorganised by RashtrawadiKushwaha Parishad to com-memorate the first deathanniversary of BJP MLC Suraj Nandan Kushwahahere. “The process of preparingNPR began in 2010 during UPAregime... Now, it (NPR) has to beupdated before the 2021census.

“The Congress, RJD and

other Opposition parties aredeliberately trying to create con-troversy over NPR when allState Governments have issuedgazette notification,” Modi, whois also the State Finance Minister,said.

Asserting that the NPRshould not be linked with theNational Register of Citizens(NRC), the BJP leader askedwith Prime Minister NarendraModi and Home Minister AmitShah making it clear that theNPR has nothing to do withNRC, why are Congressleaders, Prasad and leaders of

other opposition parties tryingto mislead a particular commu-nity?

How can preparing NPR bewrong during NDA regimewhen the same exercise wasconsidered to be correct duringUPA rule? he asked. PTI

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NCP leader Jitendra Awhad on Sunday said therewould be stiff resistance if the National Register of

Citizens exercise is carried out in Maharashtra, claiming almost 98 per cent of people from theScheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe communities donot have documents for it.

Addressing a press conference, the Kalwa-MumbraMLA quoted from a Government-appointed commit-tee to claim “98 per cent of SC and ST population inMaharashtra had no documents” and hencewould fall foul of the citizenship provisions of the NRC.

Incidentally, while some BJP leaders have spokenabout implementing the NRC exercise nationwide ear-lier, after the one in Assam, of late the party has gonesoft on it.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, addressing a rallyin Delhi on December 22, had said, “Since myGovernment first came to power in 2014, I want to tell130 crore countrymen, there has never been a discus-sion on this NRC,” adding that it was done only in Assamdue to a Supreme Court order.

Speaking here, Awhad said 48 SC/ST organisationshad recently met him and had resolved for a joint fightagainst NRC and the CitizenshipAmendment Act.

“With no documents, how do you expect two crorepeople from the SC/ST communities (in Maharashtra)to prove they are citizens of the country? In the com-ing days, stiff resistance is definite against the NRC andCAA,” he warned.

Representatives from some of these 48 organisationsmentioned by Awhad were present at the press con-ference.

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Mamata Banerjee has written apoem laying into the

Narendra Modi Government —which she calls a ‘selfish giant’ —for bringing the controversialCitizenship Amendment Act andNational Register for Citizens in abid to turn a united India into aland of discrimination.

Titled “Adhikar” or Right thepoem asks the power that be as towho has given them the right totrample upon the rights of the peo-ple.

The poem which the BengalChief Minister has posted on theFacebook opens with the wordssaying “I cannot identify with thiscountry. This is not the place of mybirth. I was born in Bharatvarsh

(India), which never taught us todiscriminate (among people) …My right belongs to me … whyshall someone trample on it … Icondemn you … shame on you.”

Expressing the current state ofaffairs in the country and callingthe controversial decisions taken bythe government as “instrument ofhate” Banerjee adds “those who dis-seminate hate will now only cry.Your speeches are laced with poi-son … you are snatching man’sright.”

The Chief Minister who hadearlier written a poem titledNagorik (Citizen) on a similarissue also goes on to write that “wewant unity, not hate. This is ourpledge. We are all citizens. Ouraddressis ‘Right’.

In an apparent reminder of thedemonetization days when thepeople had to stand in long rowsBanerjee writes that the CAA andNRC too are selfish giants that willmake the people stand in queues.

“NRC, CAA are selfish giants… We won’t prove us (identities)in queues … poor will stand inqueue and you’ll hoodwink them,”she pens on adding “we’ll neverallow division of our country. LetIndia remain united … down withdivisive forces. We are all citizenswon’t take CAA, NRC,” she writes.

A strong critic of the ModiGovernment the Chief Minister hasbeen leading long rallies on streetsfor the past one week, mobilisinglakhs of TMC supporters.

Drawing instant criticism fromState Governor Jagdeep Dhankharfor publicly defying a Central Actwhile sitting on a constitutionalpost, Banerjee has already gone onrecord that she would not allowCAA or NRC in Bengal. Earlier shetold in a rally that “till I am alive,till I am there at the helm there willbe no CAA, no NRC in Bengal.

Banerjee on Sunday led simi-lar anti-CAA rallies in Purulia dis-trict before proceeding to neigh-bouring Jharkhand where sheattended the swearing-in ceremo-ny of incumbent Chief MinisterHemant Soren.

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Ameeting of various politi-cal parties and socio-reli-

gious outfits, convened byKerala Chief Minister PinarayiVIjayan here, on Sunday decid-ed to hold joint protestsagainst the controversialCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA).

The over three-hour-longmeeting, attended by MLAs,MPS, major Front leaders andrepresentatives of various out-fits, entrusted the ChiefMinister and the Oppositionleader in the State Assembly,Ramesh Chennithala, to holddiscussions and decide uponfurther course of action in thisregard.

Among the recommenda-tions that emerged at the meet-ing were that the Governmentshould move the court andconvene a special assemblysession, Vijayan said.

“This matter is under thegovernment's consideration”,Chief Minister told the meeting.

To protect the Constitutionand secularism, there is a needto put up a united fight at thisjuncture, a release quoting him

said.“While taking out protests

jointly, we will get strengthmore than we can imagine.

The country itself willaccept it as a model”, he said,adding that the action to dividethe people on religious lineswill not be accepted inkerala.

No rule was above theConstitution, he said. TheChief Minister cautioned thatmany protests,including bycommunal and extremist ele-ments, were being held inmany places and it was necessary to keep them atbay.

Stringent action would betaken against protests by suchelements if they cross the lim-its, he said adding that theintervention of such forces wasnot good for society's healthygrowth.

The Government wouldnot intervene in the protestsbeing held for just causes, headded.

When religion becomesthe basis of citizenship, theConstitution will be under-mined and from secular nation,India will become a religiouscountry, he added.

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Activists of the youth wing of the Congress on Sundaystaged a protest march against the Citizenship

(Amendment) Act (CAA) and National Register ofCitizens (NRC) here.

Hundreds of activists of the Youth Congress andthe 'Chhatra Parishad', students' wing of the grand oldparty, holding anti-CAA and anti-NRC placards,started their march from Esplanade area of the cityplanning to go to the state BJP office on Central Avenue.

However, they were stopped near Central Metro sta-tion by police personnel who formed a three-tier humanchain. The arterial road was also barricaded by plac-ing guard rails.

Congress leader Abdul Mannan, who was leadingthe march, told reporters that the protest was againstthe amended Citizenship Act and the NRC which theCentral Government “intends to implement across thecountry”. The Centre should immediately withdraw thetwo “anti- people” moves which would divide the coun-try on the basis of religion, he said.

Later, the protestors sat on the road raising sloganswhile some of them made a failed attempt to break thehuman chain.

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Rajasthan Chief Minister AshokGehlot on Sunday said Prime

Minister Narendra Modi should inter-vene to find a way out of the vitiating atmosphere that has developed in thecountry.

He opined that the situation mayworsen in the backdrop of protestsagainst the Citizenship (Amendment)Act.

“I believe the Government has noinkling or information about the imageof the country which is being malignedin the world. Today, 53 countries haveadvised their citizens that they shouldnot visit India,” Gehlot said in a tweetin Hindi.

With the vital tourism sector beinga key driver of the economy inRajasthan, Gehlot said occupancy inhotels has dropped this season as manytourists have cancelled their visit toIndia.

Hotels do not even have 40 per centoccupancy due to the atmosphere that has been created as adeliberate attempt to polarise politics, the senior Congress leaderclaimed.

The Chief Minister said theBharatiya Janata Party's attempt topolarise politics cannot be termed as“suitable” in a democracy in any way.

Aligarh (UP): Students of theAligarh Muslim University(AMU) on Sunday said thatthey would continue holdingpeaceful anti-CAA agitationon the campus.

This was decided at a meet-ing of the general body of thestudents on Saturday eveningand a “coordination commit-tee” was formed to decide thefuture course of the ongoingstir against the CitizenshipAmendment Act.

In a statement, a coordi-nation committee spokesper-son said that from Monday stu-dents would hold a dharna nearBab-e-Syed gate everydaybetween 10 am and 4 pm.

The AMU was one of thesites of protests against theamended citizenship law andalleged police action on stu-dents of Delhi's Jamia MilliaIslamia. At least 19 peoplewere killed in widespreadclashes during the protestsacross the state.

Meanwhile, the AligarhPolice has asked the universi-ty to take action against thoseprotesters who are not studentsbut are still active in the ongo-ing protest.

The letter said that thesepeople, dubbed as “brains

behind the December 15protest which led to violence”,should not be allowed entryinto the campus.

The AMU is scheduled toreopen after the winter vaca-tion on January 6.

The AMU Teachers'Association (AMUTA) hasexpressed concern over thedecision of the Rapid ActionForce (RAF) to “belatedly” filea first information report (FIR)on December 23 against 1,000unidentified AMU studentsfor the violent protest.

In a press release, theAMUTA said the moveappeared to be “malafide andmotivated” and was in contrastto Aligarh SSP AkashKulahari's efforts to restore

confidence by building bridgeswith all sections.

RAF commandant PiyushKumar Kuldhar, however, toldmediapersons, “The purposebehind the FIR is not to harassstudents. As a matter of routine,whenever any personnel isinjured or if any ammunitionis used, we file such reportswith the police station con-cerned. This is mandatory.”

In a related development,the AMU on Sunday officiallydenied that Vice ChancellorTariq Mansoor had refused tomeet Harsh Mander and 13other activists who were part ofa fact-finding team when theyhad visited the campus lastweek. PTI

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Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati onSunday suspended party MLA Rama

Bai for supporting the Citizenship(Amendment) Act.

Mayawati has been strongly criticis-ing the new law, which seeks to grant cit-izenship to non-Muslim refugees whocame to India before December 31, 2014,to escape religious persecution in Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan. Rama Bai,who represents Patheriya Assembly seat inMadhya Pradesh's Damoh district, onSaturday evening supported theCitizenship (Amendment) Act at a func-tion held in her constituency whereUnion minister Prahlad Patel was present.

Taking strong note of it, Mayawati, ina tweet on Sunday said, “The BSP is a disciplined party and it takes promptaction against its MP and MLAs whobreak discipline.”

“Taking this into account, the partysuspends Madhya Pradesh's PatheriyaMLA Rama Bai Parihar for supporting

CAA. She has been banned from takingpart in the party functions,” the BSPsupremo tweeted in Hindi.

The MLA could not be contacted forher comments. After Rama Bai support-ed the new law during a function inPatheriya on Saturday evening, Unionminister Prahlad Patel, who was presentat the event, lauded her.

The BSP earlier dubbed the contro-versial Citizenship (Amendment) Act as“unconstitutional” and voted against it inParliament.

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Itanagar: The Arunachal PradeshCongress Committee (APCC) on Sundaycondemned the Uttar PradeshGovernment over police "manhandling"party general secretary Priyanka GandhiVadra in Lucknow.

Congress' State unit general secretaryMina Toko alleged that the "attack onGandhi" exposed the "autocratic andassaultive nature" of the Yogi AdiyanathGovernment in Uttar Pradesh.

"He is using repression and violenceto suppress the voice of women leadersof the country. Violence against womenin politics has become rampant under theBJP regime," Toko said in a statement.

A high-voltage drama unfolded inLucknow on Saturday evening asCongress leader Priyanka Gandhi allegedshe was manhandled by police person-nel who grabbed her by the throat andpushed her when she resisted theirattempts to stop her from visiting the res-idence of retired IPS officer SR Darapuri,arrested in connection with the recentprotests against the CitizenshipAmendment Act. The Uttar Pradeshpolice said the allegations were false."InUP, women are not only victim of rapeand acid attacks but encounter hostilityand violence," Toko said. PTI

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Taking on the AdityanathGovernment over handling of

protests against the amendedCitizenship Act, Congress leaderPriyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sundaysaid it has "crossed all limits ofinhumanity" and claimed partyworker Sadaf Zafar was arrested on"baseless" charges.

"This insensitive Governmenthas separated children from theirmother and the older generationfrom their children," the Congressgeneral secretary said a day aftershe had accused the UP Police ofmanhandling her when she resist-ed their attempts to stop her fromvisiting the residence of retired IPSofficer SR Darapuri, who was alsoarrested in connection with therecent anti-CAA protests.

Zafar was arrested here onDecember 19 while she was live onFacebook from the spot whereprotests against the amended cit-izenship law had gone violent.Police had said she was arrested forher involvement in clashes. At least19 people were killed and hun-dreds of others injured in the vio-lence in the State.

After visiting Darapuri's fam-ily, "Priyanka Gandhi met the

family members of Sadaf onSaturday night at her (Priyanka's)Lucknow residence, and told themthat the Congress stands firmlywith them," UP Congress chiefAjay Kumar Lallu told PTI.

"Uttar Pradesh Governmenthas crossed all limits of inhu-manity. Congress worker SadafZafar in a video can be clearly seentelling policemen to arrest thoseindulging in violence. The policehas levelled baseless allegations onSadaf and put her in jail," PriyankaGandhi tweeted in Hindi.

The Congress general secre-tary said Zafar's children wereeagerly waiting for her release.

She had on Saturday allegedthat she was manhandled by policepersonnel who grabbed her by thethroat and pushed her when shewas on her way to the residence ofDarapuri.

Hitting back at the Congress

leader, Uttar Pradesh Deputy ChiefMinister Keshav Prasad Mauryasaid that such 'nautanki' (the-atrics) will not fetch votes for theCongress and what's left of theparty will also be finished.

In a Hindi tweet late onSaturday night, Maurya said thatit seemed by Priyanka Gandhi'sbehaviour that her party hasbecome a 'danga karao party' andit cannot tolerate the peacefulatmosphere and development inUttar Pradesh.

He said the State was a sym-bol of Hindu-Muslim unity andadded that the Congress and theSamajwadi Party were getting dis-turbed, seeing their dark politicalfuture.

"Congress leader PriyankaGandhi does not want the welfareof the people of Lucknow.'Nautanki' (dramatics) will notfetch votes for the Congress, andwhat's remaining of the party willalso be finished.

"Everyone in UP knows thatthe Congress only has memberswho are interested in getting theirphotos clicked. By misleading thecountry on the issue of CAA, theCongress has become a villian inthe eyes of the public," Mauryasaid.

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Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birlaon Sunday expressed con-

cern over the death of infantsat a Government hospital inRajasthan's Kota district andurged the State Government toact with sensitivity.

Birla, representing the Kotaparliamentary constituency,visited JK Lone Maternal andChild Hospital to take stock ofthe situation where 77 infantshave reportedly died in the last24 days. He also directed theofficials to make adequatearrangement to ensure suchincidents do not occur infuture.

"The untimely death of 77infants in 24 days in the largesthospital in Kota-Bundi parlia-mentary constituency is a mat-ter of serious concern. The stategovernment should act with sensitivityso that such incidents do not

occur in future," Birla tweeted

in Hindi."The untimely death of any

infant due to lack of medicalequipment and resources isworrying. According to theadvice of doctors, the availability of necessarylife-saving equipment andresources will be ensured in thenext 15 days by public support," he said in anothertweet.

During the visit to the hos-pital, Birla termed the death ofnewborns tragic and painfulwhile instructing officials tomake adequate medicalarrangements.

On Saturday, RajasthanChief Minister Ashok Gehlothad held a high-level reviewmeeting on the infants' deathsat at the hospital in Kota.

The Chief Ministerinstructed health departmentofficials to take proper care ofnewborns in all hospitals in thestate and do intensive moni-toring.

Mumbai: It's never over untilit is over. This would be thetakeaway from year 2019 forthe Sharad Pawar-ledNationalist Congress Party.

If anyone thought that aregional party with an agingpatriarch and eroding base didnot have much of a future inthe face of BJP juggernaut,Lok Sabha polls proved themright, but MaharashtraAssembly elections was a dif-ferent story.

The NCP continued itsalliance with the Congress forthe Lok Sabha, but both theparties fared badly.

The Pawar-led party onlyretained its 2014 tally of fiveseats, four of which came fromMaharashtra. The Congresswas reduced to a single seat inthe state.

As Assembly electionsdrew near, the NCP was besetby desertions. The party, madeup mainly of leaders who ruleover individual pocket-bor-oughs across the sugar-belt ofwestern Maharashtra, saw sev-eral of them jumping theship. PTI

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Even good news is bad newsin Tamil Nadu, a State ver-

tically divided between theAIADMK and the DMK as thetwo poles of the political spec-trum. So, the recent announce-ment by the Union Ministry ofPersonnel, Public Grievancesand Pension that Tamil Naduhas topped the GoodGovernance Index among 18big States in the country, acommendable achievement byany standard, not only failedto cheer up the OppositionDMK but even earned thewrath of the Leader of theOpposition MK Stalin whodescribed the ranking flawed.

“This is a feat which has tobe appreciated as Tamil Naduhas done reasonably well insome of the crucial parameterswhile it has averaged in certainsectors,” said T Ramakrishnan,author and chronicler of theState’s political history. He saidthis was the first achievementof its kind by Tamil Nadu inrecent past.

The rankings in GoodGovernance Index is deter-mined by the overall perfor-mance of the States in ten cru-cial sectors over a period oftime. “This is not an yearly rit-ual but an ongoing exercisewhere the achievements andperformances are ranked basedon development and short-comings ” explained Dr CMurukadas, author and seniorprofessor of economics, MadrasUniversity.

According to the unionministry, Tamil Nadu hastopped five out of the six para-meters which helped it to walkaway with the honors. TheState leads others in public

infrastructure, judicial andpublic security, and publichealth among others. But theState could finish only in the14th position in crucial areaslike commerce and industries.

The ministry zeroed in onTamil Nadu based on its per-formance in ten sectors.“Agriculture and allied, com-merce and industries, humanresources development, publichealth and public infrastructureand utilities, economic gover-nance, social welfare and devel-opment , judicial and publicsecurity, environment and cit-izen centric governance arethe areas in which Tamil Naduscored over others,” saidRamakrishnan.

The ministry said that topranking in judicial and publicsecurity was due to the con-viction rate and availability ofpolice personnel, proportion ofwomen police personnel anddisposal of court cases.

Prof Murukadas, whoseassessments on economy iswidely regarded as sharp andobjective, felt that the gover-nance by EdappadiPalaniswamy was in the rightdirection and the State haswitnessed good progress. “Youhave to take into account thetenure of former chief ministerJ Jayalalithaa who facilitatedhigh speed social and eco-nomic progress,” he said.

But Stalin is not amused bythe feat achieved by TamilNadu and this has surprisedmany including some of theDMK leaders. The DMK chiefdescribed the GGI awarded toTamil Nadu as a ploy by theBJP to ensued that the Statedoes not make any progress.“We all know that the BJP hasno base in Tamil Nadu andthey do not want the State to

prosper. There is also a closerelation between the BJP andthe AIADMK. Hence one mayhave to doubt this honor as astrategy by the BJP to prop upthe AIADMK Government inthe State. A thorough probeshould be ordered into therankings as Tamil Nadu hasdone well only in two out of thenine parameters,” said Stalin ina release.

Prof Murukadas said thattop position is arrived on thebasis of average overall perfor-mance. “Stalin may not beaware of the methodology toarrive at the top position. It isindisputable that in many fieldsTamil Nadu during EPS aschief minister has performednotably,” he said.

The AAIADMK on its partchose to react cautiously to thefeat. “It is a New Year Gift, nodoubt,” said D Jayakumar,Tamil Nadu minister for fish-eries who is also the officialspokesman of the Government.He said the top priority of theGovernment was to make upfor the shortcomings if any inthe commerce and industriessectors where the State’s per-formance was not as impressiveas expected.

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Maharashtra Congresschief Balasaheb Thorat

on Sunday said there was noneed to pay heed to BJPleader Radhakrishna VikhePatil's comments that he contemplated joining the saf-fron party a few years back.

Vikhe Patil himself quitthe Congress before theAssembly elections in the

state this year and joined theBJP.

Both he and Thorat hailfrom Ahmednagar district,and are known to be bitterrivals.

Reacting to the BJPleader's claim, Thorat, who isa minister in the currentMaharashtra Government,said, "I never compromisedon my principles and com-mitment towards theCongress. There is no need to

give any importance to hiscomments."

He also took a swipe atVikhe Patil's performancewhen he was leader of oppo-sition in the MaharashtraAssembly from 2014 to 2019.

"The entire state knowswhat kind of work he did forthe growth of the Congress asleader of the Opposition.However, I have alwaysstayed with the Congress

even in difficulttimes,"Thorat said.

"He (Vikhe Patil) is in theopposition now, hence free tocomment on any issue with-out any responsibility," theCongress leader quipped.

Talking to reporters inShirdi on Saturday, VikhePatil said, "Thorat was think-ing of joining the BJP somethree years ago. What he has got today (aCabinet post) is by accident.

He could not campaign out-side his constituency duringthe Assembly polls."

Thorat is currently rev-enue minister in the ShivSena-led StateGovernment.

The Shiv Sena forged analliance with the NCP andCongress to formGovernment after partingways with pre-poll ally BJPover the issue of sharing thechief ministerial post.

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Little over a month after heassumed the office,

Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray will onMonday undertake the firstexpansion of his Cabinet, anexercise in which he is expected to induct at least 36new ministers into his team.

While former senior NCPleader Ajit Pawar will in likeli-hood be sworn in as the deputychief minister, as many as 35ministers will be sworn into theoffice at a swearing-in cere-mony to be held on the VidhanBhavan premises at 1 pm onMonday.

"Unless there is a lastminute change in the plan, 36ministers, including 26 of theCabinet rank, will be sworninto office at one go tomorrow,"a senior minister in the MahaVikas Aghadi ( MVA) govern-ment said here on Sundayevening.

Of the 36 ministers to besworn in, 13 ministers each willbe from the Shiv Sena and NCP(10 each of Cabinet rank andthree ministers of State each from the two par-ties), while 10 ministers will befrom the Congress (8 ofCabinet rank and three minis-ters of state).

With Monday’s expansion,the number of ministers in theUddhav Thackeray Cabinetwill go up to 43, including thatof the chief minister.

When he formed theGovernment on November 28,Uddhav had inducted six MVAministers – Eknath Shinde,Subhash Desai (both from theShiv Sena), Jayant Patil,Chhagan Bhujbal (both fromthe NCP), Balasaheb Thorat and Nitin Raut (both

from the Congress).Ajit Pawar’s induction into

the State Cabinet will mark hisreturn to the Maharashtra gov-ernment in the same post aftergap of one month.

It may be recalled thatAjitdada – as Ajit Pawar isknown in the state political cir-cles – had resigned as thedeputy chief minister in theBJP-led government onNovember 26, leading to theresignation of then chief min-ister Devendra Fadnavis andsubsequent collapse of the gov-ernment in a brief span of 80hours.

When he is sworn in as thethe deputy chief minister in theUddhav Thackeray Cabinet,Ajitdada will be holding thenumber two post in the StateCabinet for the fourth time. Hewas the deputy chief ministerbetween from November 10,2010 to September 25, 2012,from October 25, 2012 toSeptember 26, 2014 and fromNovember 23 2019 toNovember 26 2019.

It may be recalled Ajitdadahad resigned from the deputychief minister’s post onSeptember 25, 2012, following media reports onthe alleged irregularities in theawarding of 38 irrigation con-

tracts worth Rs 20,000 crore inVidarbha region during 2009.He returned as the deputychief minister a month later.

Ajitdada’s possible induc-tion as the deputy chief minis-ter comes in the wake of a sec-ond “clean chit” he received latelast week from the State AntiCorruption Bureau (ACB) inthe much-discussed Rs 70,000crore irrigation scam.

In an affidavit filed beforethe Nagpur bench of theBombay High Court onDecember 19, 2019, StateDirector-General of Police(ACB) Parambir Singh, allud-ed to Ajit Pawar’s role in thecase and said: “No criminal liability is dis-

closed during the course ofinquiry/investigations by theSpecial Investigation Team”.Earlier on November 27 – a daybefore the Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) government was sworninto office, another ACB offi-cial – had filed an affidavitbefore the Nagpur bench of thehigh court, giving a “cleanchit” to Ajit Pawar.

In Monday's expansion,Uddhav is likely to induct intohis Cabinet the followingMLAs from the Shiv Sena:Anil Parab, Ravindra Waikar,Sunil Prabhu, Sunil Raut (all

from Mumbai), Uday Samant,Bhaskar Jadhav, Vaibhav Naik,Pratap Sarnaik (all fromKonkan region) ShamburajeDesai, Prakash Amberkar (both from WesternMaharashtra), Sanjay Shirsat,Abdul Sattar, Tanaji Sawant ( allfrom Marathwada), AshishJaiswal, Sanjay Raimulkar,Bacchu Kadu, Sanjay Rathod(all from Vidarbha), GulabraoPatil, Dada Bhuse, SuhasKhande ( all from northMaharashtra).

From the NCP side, thosewho will make it to the UddhavThackeray Cabinet will include:Ajit Pawar, Dilip Walse-Patil,Hasan Mushrif, Bala sahebPatil, Datta Bharane (westernMaharashtra), DhananjayMunde, Rajesh Tope, DrRajesh Shingane(Marathwada), Nawab Malik ((Mumbai), Jitendra Awhad (Thane), Hasan Mushrif, AnilDeshmukh

(Vidarbha) Aditi Tatkare(Konkan region) and Dr KiranLahamate (northMaharashtra).

It remains to be seen ifboth senior Congress leadersand former chief ministersChavan and Ashok Chavanor one of the two Chavans willbe inducted into the StateCabinet in Monday's expansion

The other Congress MLAswho are expected to find aplace in the State Cabinet in theexpansion will include: for-mer leader of the OppositionVijay Wadettiwar (Vidarbha),Amit Deshmukh(Marathwada) VarshaGaikwad, ( Mumbai), SunilKedar, Satej Patil, VishwajitKadam ( both from westernMaharashtra) K C Padvi(North Maharashtra)and SunilKedar.

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Union Finance Minister Nirmala Sithraman joineda sea of mourners at the National College grounds

here in paying their last respects to Pejawar Math headVishwesha Theertha Swamiji, who passed away onSunday.

The Finance Minister is a Rajya Sabha memberfrom Karnataka. Karnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa, former Chief minister Siddaramaiah,deputy chief minister Govind Karjol and Karnataka rev-enue minister R Ashoka also paid their homage.

The body of the 88-year-old seer, who passed awayat Udupi earlier in the day, was flown to Bengaluru ina special Indian Air Force helicopter.

The body was then taken to the National CollegeGround, the same venue where the seer had addressedgatherings on several occasions in the past, in a flowerbedecked vehicle.

A stage was set up under the marquee, where thebody of the seer, decked in a saffron cloth with gold-en border, was placed in a Padmasana posture insidea basket like palanquin.

Seers of various prominents Maths in the state,Shivaratri Deshikendra Swamiji of Suttur Math,Charukeerthi Bhattaraka Swamiji of Sravana BelagolaJain Math were among those who paid their lastrespects. The last rites will be performed at PoornaPrajna Vidyapeetha, which the seer had established.Elaborate security arrangements were made at theNational College to manage the crowds.

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Ahost of leaders, includingPrime Minister Narendra

Modi, condoled the death ofPejawar math head VishweshaTheertha Swamiji on Sunday,recalling his service to societyand hailing him as an epitomeof humanity and kindness.

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah, Congress leaderRahul Gandhi and KarnatakaChief Minister BS Yediyurappawere among the other promi-nent leaders who mourned thedemise of the 88- year old seerwho died in Udupi after a briefillness.

The Prime Minister saidSri Vishwesha Teertha Swamijiwould remain in the heartsand minds of lakhs of peoplefor whom he was always aguiding light.

"A powerhouse of serviceand spirituality, he continu-ously worked for a more justand compassionate society.Om Shanti," he said in tweets.

Recalling his close associationwith the seer, Modi said: "Iconsider myself blessed tohave got many opportunitiesto learn from Sri VishveshaTeertha Swamiji. Our recentmeeting, on the pious day ofGuru Purnima was also amemorable one. His impecca-ble knowledge always stoodout. My thoughts are with hiscountless followers."

Congress leader RahulGandhi too condoled thedeath of the seer.

He tweeted, "Im sorry tohear of the passing of SriVishwesha Teertha Swamiji ofPejawara Matha, Udupi. Mycondolences to all his follow-ers around the world. OmShanti." In his message,Yediyurappa said: "The ancientIndian culture has sufferedan irreparable loss in the pass-ing away of Udupi PejawarMath seer Sri VishweshaTeertha Swamiji.

His life and his contribu-tion to our society will remain

etched in memory forever.May Lord Sri Krishna givestrength to the lakhs of his fol-lowers to bear the loss."

Union Home MinisterAmit Shah too mourned thedemise of Vishwesha TeerthaSwamiji.

"Deeply pained to learnabout the demise of Sri SriVishwesha Teertha Swami ji ofthe Pejawar mutt, Udupi. Hewas an epitome of humanity,kindness and knowledge. Hisselfless contribution towardsthe welfare of people and soci-ety has no parallels," Shahtweeted.

Sharing a photograph ofhim with the seer on Twitter,Shah said: "Sri VishweshaTeertha Swamiji was an end-less source of positivity. Histeachings and thoughts willalways continue to guide us. Iwas fortunate to have receivedhis blessings. His passing awayis an irreparable loss to thespiritual world. Condolencesto his followers. Om Shanti."

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Veteran BJP leader LK Advani expressed his deepsadness on Sunday at the death of Sri Vishwesha

Theertha Swamiji of Pejawar Math in Karnataka anddescribed him as an embodiment of kindness, com-passion and humility.

"In my long association with him, apart from hisnumerous achievements and contributions as a spiri-tual leader, I always admired the person that he was -- an embodiment of kindness, compassion and humil-ity. His simplicity and austere living were other stellarqualities that always inspired me," the former deputyprime minister said in a statement.

The seer was a highly admired and respected spir-itual leader who relentlessly worked towards the ser-vice and welfare of humanity, he said and recalled hislong association with him.

Pejawar Swamiji's lifelong selfless service to thesociety will continue to inspire and guide everyone foryears to come, Advani said. The 88-year-old seer, whowas closely associated with the Ram Janmabhoomimovement, breathed his last on the premises of PejawarMath in Udupi on Sunday.

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India is expected to overtakeGermany to become fourth-

largest economy in 2026 andJapan to become third largestin 2034, according a recentreport by the UK-based Centrefor Economics and BusinessResearch (CEBR).

It further said India is alsoset to reach a gross domesticproduct (GDP) of $5 trillion by2026, 2 years later than theGovernment’s target.

“India has decisively over-taken both France and the UKto become the world’s fifth-largest economy in 2019. It isexpected to overtake Germanyto become fourth largest in2026 and Japan to become thethird largest in 2034,” thereport, titled ‘World EconomicLeague Table 2020’, said.

Japan, Germany and Indiawill battle for third positionover the next 15 years, accord-ing to the CEBR.

Referring to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi-ledgovernment’s target of takingthe economy to 5 $trillion by2024, it said, “India is also setto reach a GDP of $5 trillion by2026 — 2 years later than thecurrent government target.”

But, dark clouds gatheringall over the economy are lead-ing many to question the maintainability of the target.

Recently, former ReserveBank governor C Rangarajan,said that at the current growthrate, reaching the $5-trillionGDP target by 2024-25 is “sim-ply out of question”.

Noting that Indian datarevisions mean that 2019 was

the year when the country’seconomy finally overtook theUK and France, the reportsaid, “But, slow growth during

the year has increased pressurefor more radical economicreforms.”

Despite the rapid ascent of

countries such as India andIndonesia, it is striking how lit-tle an impact this will have onthe US and China’s dominant

roles in the global economy,said Pablo Shah, senior econ-omist at Cebr.

India, which till recentlywas hailed as the world’s fastest-growing major economy, hasseen growth rate decline to asix-year low of 4.5 per cent inthe September quarter of 2019-20.

This has largely beenattributed to the slowdown ininvestment that has now broad-ened into consumption, drivenby financial stress among ruralhouseholds and weak job cre-ation.

The World EconomicLeague Table is an annual cal-culation by Cebr jointly pub-lished by Cebr and GlobalConstruction Perspectives. Thebase data for 2019 is taken fromthe IMF World EconomicOutlook.

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India’s economy is expectedto rebound in 2020 on the

back of measures taken by thegovernment and the RBI cou-pled with easing of globaltrade tensions, industry bodyCII said on Sunday.

The chamber also sug-gested a flexible fiscal policythat will set a central govern-ment’s target for the deficit inthe range of around 0.5 to 0.75per cent, and said it is likely tohave a significant multipliereffect on the economy.

It said that as we are set toenter the new year, there arenascent signs that the econo-my is on a better footing thanwhat it was in the year gone by.“With the proactive measurestaken by the government andthe Reserve Bank of India(RBI), industry believes thatthe slowdown will be over-come, and a gradual recoverywill soon be in place.”

“Nascent signs of recoveryare noted in the form ofimproved PMIs (PurchasingManagers’ Index) of manu-facturing and services, jump inpassenger air traffic, sharpmoderation in the decline insales of passenger cars, amongothers,” said CII PresidentVikram Kirloskar.

He added that though theeconomy may continue to seea subdued GDP print in thethird quarter as well, the quar-ters thereafter are likely to seea rebound.

According to theConfederation of IndianIndustry (CII), with the initialdifficulties associated with thegoods and services tax (GST)and the Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC) get-ting gradually ironed out, theindustry is hopeful of sub-stantial benefits for the econ-omy. It said that while 2019will be remembered as onewhere the systemic clean-up ofthe financial sector picked uppace, which might have result-ed in “short-term pain”, this

tidying up will have extensivepositive ramifications for theeconomy in the short-to-medium term.

“On balance, all these fac-tors will have a significantbearing on growth in the nextfiscal. Add to this, the easingof global trade tensions alongwith lagged impact of mone-tary easing coupled withimproved transmission, andwe are in for a gradual recov-ery getting firmly entrenchedby the next fiscal,” Kirloskarsaid.

CII believes that with thesharp moderation in growth,the time has come to adopt anexpansionary fiscal policy.

“Just like our medium-term inflation target range, wecan have a flexible fiscal poli-cy target which will set a cen-tral target for the fiscal deficitwith a range of around 0.5 to0.75 per cent. The additionalavailability of funds may bespent on key infrastructureprojects which can be imple-mented quickly. This is likelyto have a significant multipli-er effect on the economy,”said CII President-DesignateUday Kotak.

In the subsequent years,there can be a glide path toconverge to the FiscalResponsibility and BudgetManagement trajectory over a2-3-year time frame, he added.

Besides, the chamber sug-gested that in order to increasethe tax base and ensure high-er compliance, it is necessaryto simplify and reduce thenumber of GST rates andincrease its coverage.

Once it is converged, thepractice of reviewing rates atevery meeting of the GSTCouncil must be discontinued.Similarly, a rational structureof customs duty needs to be inplace. The principle of highercustoms duty on final productswith lower duty on interme-diate goods and the lowest onraw materials needs to be fol-lowed, without exception, said CII.

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China will revise its histori-cal regional GDP data

under a unified accountingmechanism from early nextyear, the National Bureau ofStatistics said, amidst the con-tinued slowdown of the world’ssecond largest economy.

The Chinese economygrew at an annual pace of 6.0per cent in the July-Septemberquarter, the slowest growthsince 1992. The slowdown isexasperated by the ongoingtrade war between the US andChina. In November this year,China revised its 2018 GDP,saying the economy was 2.1 percent bigger than earlier esti-mated, revising the grossdomestic product (GDP) for2018 to 91.93 trillion yuan($13.1 trillion) from $12.8 tril-lion.

A new GDP data under aunified accounting mechanismto be introduced early nextyear, state-run Xinhua newsagency quoted the NationalBureau of Statistic (NBS) asreporting on Friday.

The new mechanism willunify the standards and pro-cedures for calculating nation-al and local GDP numberswhich had been calculated

under different accountingmethods adopted by local andnational statistics authoritiessince 1985, the bureau said.

The reform is expected toclose the current discrepancybetween national and region-al figures, improving data qual-ity while enhancing the credi-bility of the government sta-tistics, it said.

To ensure data compara-bility, the country will alsorevise historical local GDP fig-ures and publish them in 2020,the bureau said.

As the economic activitiesof some government institu-tions are only reflected in thenational GDP, the combined

regional number will be slight-ly lower than the nationalamount, it said.

China and the US havebeen locked in a longstandingtrade war that has threatenedto roil the global economy.

The US, the world’s biggesteconomy, has imposed tariffson $250 billion of Chinesegoods, having accused thecountry of unfair trade prac-tices. Beijing hit back withduties on $110 billion of USgoods, blaming the US forstarting “the largest trade warin economic history”.

The IMF has warned thata full-blown trade war wouldweaken the global economy.

#��'��././

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Telecom operator BhartiAirtel on Sunday hiked its

mandatory minimum rechargefor pre-paid customers to �45from �23. “...It will be manda-tory to recharge with a vouch-er of �45 or above, every 28days to avail services,” thecompany said in a publicnotice. The new minimumrecharge plan will come intoeffect from Sunday. Theannouncement pertained toprepaid subscribers of BhartiAirtel and Bharti Hexacom inall service areas, it added.

“In case of non rechargewith a voucher of �45 or aboveat the end of tariff validity peri-od, Airtel reserves the right toprovide the plan benefits in acurtailed manner at its own dis-cretion during the grace peri-od of up to 15 days.

“In case of non rechargewith voucher of �45 of above,all services will be suspendedpost the grace period,” thecompany said.

Amid a turbulence in thedebt laden sector, Bharti Airtelchairman Sunil Bharti Mittalhad recently said a combinationof rock-bottom tariffs and highconsumption is killing the tele-com industry and sector regu-

lator Trai needs to urgentlyintervene to strike a balancebetween the needs for protect-ing investments and consumerinterest.

“We are unnecessarilykilling this industry in a man-ner and way that is not con-ducive for our industry, andthat’s why we need Trai inter-vention,” Mittal had said.

The comments of theAirtel chief had come just daysafter the Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) initi-ated talks to prescribe floorprice for call and data, and alsodeferred by one year the scrap-ping of the charge paid bymobile phone users for callsmade to rival networks.

The two moves came as abig boost to old operators likeAirtel and Vodafone Idea thatare staring at a liability ofthousands of crores in unpaidpast statutory dues following a

Supreme Court ruling.Through their association,

the operators had been pitch-ing to policy makers for fixinga floor rate for calls and data.

The telecom call and datarates are at present under for-bearance or not regulated.

But, Trai has now releaseda consultation paper to fixminimum or floor rates formobile phone calls and data —a move that will effectively endthe regime of free calling anddirt cheap data.

The outcome is likely tolead to further hike in mobilecall and data cost as the indus-try wants average revenue peruser to reach �300 per monthfrom about �125 at presentover a period of two years —better revenue realisation peruser will offer a much-neededbreather to the stressed telecomindustry where debt levels havesoared to �7.8 lakh crore.

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Seeking a bigger slice of pub-lic procurement pie, the

micro, small and mediumenterprises (MSMEs) sectorhas proposed small-ticket ten-ders so that they could partic-ipate in the bidding.

In its Budget suggestions,Federation of Indian Microand Small & MediumEnterprises (FISME) has saidthat smaller firms are gettingelbowed out from public pro-curement as orders are gener-ally bundled up making theirsize very large.

Adding to the problems,government is increasingly get-ting projects executed on turn-key basis through large corpo-rates which do not fall underpublic-private-partnership(PPP) for the MSMEs.

“These practices need to bechecked and remedial stepstaken,” the industry body haswritten to Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman.

Public procurement as apercentage of GDP in the coun-try is estimated at 20-22 percent. Given the size of Indianeconomy ($2.7 trillion), thepublic procurement amountsto nearly $500 billion annual-ly. Central Public SectorEnterprises (CPSEs) are a

major contributor to publicprocurement of works, goodsand services.

As per the current policy,every central ministry, depart-ment and PSUs are required tomandatorily procure 25 percent of their supplies annuallyfrom the MSME sector. ButMSMEs have been complain-ing that many governmententities do not adhere to theguideline.

The FISME has proposedgenerous payment terms fromthe government to encouragegreater number of participantsin the bidding process espe-cially MSMEs.

It cited the example ofSouth Korea where MSMEscould be given advance up to70 per cent of the purchaseprice. Similarly, an SME net-work loan program enablesSMEs to obtain bank loans forup to 80 per cent of the relevantcontract price to cover thecosts of contract execution.

South Korean governmentalso gives special visibility toinnovative products fromSMEs by including them in aspecial procurement KONEPScatalogue. A similar initiativecould be undertaken throughGeM (Government E-market-place) platform in India,” theFISME has said.

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The Deposit Insurance andCredit Guarantee

Corporation has received atotal claim of about �14,100crore in case of defaulting co-operative banks amid massivescam at the now-crippledPunjab & MaharashtraCooperative Bank, according tothe RBI.

However, the regulator, inthe Financial Stability Report,added that all the claims maynot materialise at the same timeand some may even revive.

The extent of devolvementon the Deposit Insurance andCredit Guarantee Corporation(DICGC) in the event of all thebanks “under direction” orweak banks going into liqui-dation or ordered to be woundup, would be �14,098 crore asof September-end, said theRBI’s Financial Stability Report

released recently. Cooperativebanks have been under stressfor long and the ongoing PMCBank crisis, which involves ascam of �6,500 crore that is 73per cent of its total assets ofaround �9,000 crore, is relatedto a single entity, the bankruptHDIL, which has been gamingthe bank since 2008.

The scam came out inSeptember after an insiderwhistleblower approached theReserve Bank of India (RBI)forcing it to supersede thebank’s management and put itunder an administrator.

“It needs to be noted thatbanks which are under direc-

tion/weak will go under liqui-dation over a period, nottogether at a particular point oftime. Weak banks may also wit-ness a revival,” the RBI said inthe report.

Since January this year,nearly 30 cooperative bankshave been placed under RBIadministrators. The break-upof the claim with DICGCshows �3,414 crore in the caseof state cooperative banks anddistrict central cooperativebanks, and �10,684 crore in thecase of urban cooperativebanks, including PMC Bank,according to the RBI.

DICGC came into lime-light since the RBI imposeddeposit withdrawal restrictionson PMC Bank which hasdeposits of around �11,800crore. As a percentage of thedeposit insurance fund, thesedeposits are about 13.9 percent, the RBI said.

Johannesburg: South Africa’scentral bank has sanctionedDurban-headquartered HBZBank, with roots in Pakistan, forviolating the country’s MoneyLaundering and TerroristFinancing Control Regulations.

The South African ReserveBank (SARB) cautioned HBZnot to repeat the conduct whichled to the non-compliance with“suspicious and unusual trans-action” reporting requirementsof the Money Laundering andTerrorist Financing ControlRegulations and for the failureto comply with trainingrequirements of the FIC Act.

HBZ escaped any financialpenalties. It was one of the foursmaller banks together withone of the big four banks —Standard Bank — which havecome under the SARB scanner.

PTI

#�� &4!&�,�

Amid concerns that CoalIndia Ltd (CIL) may fall

short of its 660 million tonne(MT) production target forthe current fiscal, the miner hasplanned to ramp up daily out-put to meet the goal, officialssaid. Till December, the mineris expected to produce close to390 MT of coal and will requireanother 270 MT in the lastquarter of this fiscal to meet theannual production target.

Currently, Coal India pro-duces 1.8 MT per day while theasking rate to achieve the tar-get is 2.9 MT, they said.

Internally, Coal India hasplanned to raise its productionto 3 MT per day at least inFebruary and March next yearto inch closer to the target, CoalIndia officials told PTI.

According to the provi-sional data, the miner pro-duced 330.38 MT of coal dur-ing April-November in the2019-20 fiscal, down by 7.8 percent from 358.30 MT in theyear-ago period. Unless theminer increases its daily pro-duction to 2.5 MT per day fromJanuary to March period, it willstruggle to surpass the pro-duction figure of the last fiscal,company sources said.

In 2018-19, Coal Indiaproduced 606.89 MT whiledispatch was at 608.14 MT.

Coal India’s offtake at363.63 MT during April-November period was down by7.2 per cent from 392.02 MTsupplied in the year-ago peri-od. CIL officials said the coalofftake was at 410 MT tillDecember 27, 2019 as againsta target of 467 MT.

#�� 0307��

With the workforce trans-formed significantly over

the last decade, a study hasrevealed that hiring is no moreabout recruitment but aboutattracting as there are increas-ing number of dropouts, andattrition rate has peakedbeyond 22 per cent.

About 78 per cent of com-panies in a survey admit thathiring and retaining hasbecome more difficult com-pared to the previous year,according to ‘The 2020 TalentTechnology Outlook’ study byresearch-backed innovative tal-ent solution provider SCIKEY.

Longer time to hire,increasing number of dropoutsand attrition that has peakedbeyond 22 per cent indicatethat hiring has not just become

expensive and difficult, butalso the inability to attractright talent is impacting thebusiness, the study showed.

About 68 per cent ofemployees are partially or fullydisengaged, leading to billionsof dollars in productivity loss,it said.

The study also showed thatorganisations in 2020 will wakeup to this reality and see tech-nology going beyond people-

intensive hiring to a tech-dri-ven and branding-focused ini-tiative that will attract talentfaster.

Companies will deploybranding and marketingexperts to spruce up theirimage that would strike theright note with their prospec-tive workforce. Social mediawill start playing even moremeaningful role in HR mar-keting.

The study is an analysis ofinputs from 100-plus C-suiteand human capital leadersacross four continents, includ-ing in India, by SCIKEY,through surveys, social mediainputs, interviews and paneldiscussions.

Further, it showed thatexpensive workforce will drivecompanies to hire more con-tractual and gig workforce.

About 54 per cent of therespondents said they will usecrowd resources in the next twoyears for some part of theirbusiness, it said.

Unpredictability with full-time work will move morepeople to contractual or gigeconomy and with the avail-ability of talent marketplaces,2020 will start seeing the shiftof employee and employer’smindset, it added.

New Delhi: Foreign investorsremained net buyers inDecember by investing �2,613crore in the domestic markets,mainly due to expectation of arevival in corporate earning,quantitative easing by the USFed and infusion of funds bycentral banks globally.

According to the deposito-ries data, a net amount of�6,301.96 crore was invested byforeign portfolio investors (FPI)into equities, while �3,688.94was pulled out of the debt seg-ment. This resulted into a totalnet investment of �2,613.02crore between Dec 2-27.

“Despite challenges on theeconomic front and policyroadblocks, FPIs continue tohave faith in the Indian equitymarkets ...What has kept them

hooked to the Indian equitymarkets is expectation of arevival in corporate earning inthe coming quarter, quantita-tive easing by US Fed andinfusion of funds by centralbanks globally,” said HimanshuSrivastava, senior research ana-lyst, manager research atMorningstar.

Barring January, July andAugust, FPIs have been netbuyers for rest of the months in2019. This year, they haveinvested a net sum of�73,276.63 crore in the Indianmarkets (both equity and debt).

“In 2019, FPIs remainedbullish on India on account ofmany factors including corpo-rate tax rate cut, RERA, amongothers have helped in thisregard. PTI

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Chelsea ruined Arsenal manag-er Mikel Arteta’s home debutas Tammy Abraham’s late

strike sealed a dramatic 2-1 win afterBernd Leno’s horrific blunder turnedthe tide in a thrilling London derbyon Sunday.

Leading through Pierre-EmerickAubameyang's early goal at theEmirates Stadium, Arteta was justseven minutes away from securinghis first victory in his second gamein charge.

But Gunners goalkeeper Lenomade a hash of coming to catch afree-kick and Jorginho tapped in tospark a Chelsea fightback that cli-maxed in Abraham firing homewith three minutes left.

After dominating the first half,it was a shocking but familiar col-lapse from Arsenal, whose lack ofsteel was the key element in thedownfall of Arteta’s predecessor UnaiEmery.

In their final game of the decade,Arsenal showed just how much workArteta has to do to steer the Gunnersback to respectability in his firstmanagerial role.

After coming from behind to res-cue a 1-1 draw at Bournemouth inhis first match on Thursday, Artetawould have been encouraged bytheir bright start — but not the woe-ful meltdown that leaves Arsenalwith only one win in their last 15games in all competitions.

Arsenal, 12 points adrift of thetop four, have lost four consecutivehome fixtures in all competitions forthe first time in 60 years.

They also suffered three succes-sive top-flight home defeats for thefirst time since 1977.

While Arteta held his head indespair after Abraham’s winner,Frank Lampard’s wild celebrationshowed Chelsea's need for the winafter a difficult period of their own.

Fourth placed Chelsea had lostfive of their last seven league games,but a second successive away win —following their recent impressivesuccess at Tottenham — moves themfour points clear of fifth placedManchester United.

There was no fanfare for Artetabefore kick-off, the Spaniard quiet-ly take his place on the bench toapplause from Arsenal fans but with-out any elaborate introduction.

Chelsea went close early onwhen Willian’s quick free-kick caughtArsenal flat-footed, allowing MasonMount to drift into space for afierce strike that stung Leno’s palms.

��)��#�But, initially vibrant in posses-

sion and tireless without the ball,Arsenal exposed Chelsea's ownproblems at the back to take the leadwith a well-rehearsed set-piece rou-tine in the 13th minute.

Calum Chambers was posi-tioned perfectly to rise above FikayoTomori and glance Mesut Ozil’scorner towards Aubameyang.

The Gabon striker, who alsoscored in Arteta's first game, appliedthe f inishing touch, escapingEmerson's slack marking to guide a

diving header past KepaArrizabalaga for his 15th goal of theseason.

Arteta didn’t hide his delight,fist-pumping in celebration of thefirst home goal of his reign.

Aubameyang’s goal meantChelsea had kept just two cleansheets in their last 11 league fixturesand, with Arsenal well on top andthreatening to score again, Lampardwas forced to take drastic action.

In a bid to shake Chelsea out oftheir lethargy, Lampard hauled offBrazilian wing-back Emerson and

sent on Italy midfielder Jorginho ashe ditched his 3-4-3 formation afterjust 33 minutes.

The switch proved an inspiredmove but not before Mount, N’GoloKante and Antonio Rudiger were allbooked in quick succession asChelsea used brute blunt Arsenal’smomentum.

Chelsea were on top in the sec-ond half and teenage debutant TariqLamptey led the charge when hissurge ended with Abraham's shotbeing blocked by David Luiz.

Leno’s game-changing 83rd

minute howler was truly farcical, theGerman lying with his head in hishands after his misjudgement ofMount’s high free-kick allowedJorginho to tap into the empty net.

Suddenly, Arsenal reverted totheir nervous former selves andChelsea took full advantage to com-plete a remarkable fightback fourminutes later.

Willian broke into the Arsenalarea and crossed to Abraham, whoturned unchecked by the ponderousShkodran Mustafi to fire a cool strikeunder Leno.

��#�� !4.�4.

Andy Murray said he felt“gutted” to be missing

next month’s Australian Opendue to injury after being ruledout of the first Grand Slam ofthe new year with a pelvicinjury.

The 32-year-old Scot suf-fered the injury playing forGreat Britain in the Davis Cuplast month and Murray saidSaturday: “I’ve worked so hardto get myself into a situationwhere I can play at the top leveland I’m gutted I’m not going tobe able to play in Australia inJanuary.”

“After the AO (AustralianOpen) this year, when I wasn’t

sure whether I’d be able to playagain, I was excited aboutcoming back to Australia andgiving my best, and that makesthis even more disappointingfor me.

“Unfortunately I’ve had asetback recently and as a pre-caution, need to work throughthat before I get back on courtcompeting.”

Murray had hoped tomake his return to Grand Slamaction in Melbourne followinga hip operation in January.

But concerns over the fit-ness of Murray, five times a los-ing Australian Open finalist,were raised when he cancelledas scheduled block of trainingin Miami.

#�� .�5��!2�

History-making perfor-mances, quite a bit of

selection drama on the side-lines and some ignominydue to big-ticket dope fails —Indian boxing was all thisand much more in an action-packed year dominated bypint-sized dynamo AmitPanghal.

To count the positives,the 23-year-old Panghalfetched India its first ever sil-ver at the men’s world cham-pionships, the redoubtable MC Mary Kom was mostly intop form and medals pouredin internationally courtesy adeep talent pool.

In the professional cir-cuit, Vijender Singhremained unbeaten, stilllooking for an opponentwho can stand up to the rawpower of his punches.

On the downside, a flip-flop selection policy led tosix-time world championMary Kom being draggedinto an unsavoury controver-sy, and the accomplishedduo of Neeraj Phogat(women’s camp) and SumitSangwan (men’s camp)

flunked dope tests, sendingdown shockwaves within thefraternity.

For most part, Indianboxing had lots to celebrateand it started with the sea-son-opening StrandjaMemorial, one of Europe’soldest and most competitivetournaments.

Panghal’s 2019 gold rushbegan in the tournament,which was also his last com-petition in the 49kg catego-ry.

Former junior worldchampion Nikhat Zareenand Meena Kumari Devibecame the first set of Indianwomen boxers to finish on

top at the same event. Zareenlater went on to hit the head-lines by vociferously raisingthe demand for a trial againstMary Kom.

Panghal moved up to52kg in March and thoughhe sounded a bit nervousabout the shift, the resultstold a different story. Hegrabbed a gold immediately,at the Asian Championshipsin April, to assert hissupremacy in the new divi-sion.

Pooja Rani, a boxer whofelt shy about wearing glovesat the start of her career,ensured that women toowent home with a gold withher best ever performance atthe event. Mary Kom gave ita miss to prepare herself forthe world championships.

Then came the worldchampionships in Septemberand October, the blue-ribandevent which lost some of itssheen after being stripped ofOlympic Qualifier status bythe International OlympicCommittee due to thealleged administrative messand financial mismanage-ment in the InternationalBoxing Association (AIBA).

�� .�5��!2�

Nikhat Zareen and MaryKom exhibited emotions

that were polar opposite of eachother in the aftermath of themuch-awaited bout betweenthe two on Saturday at thewomen’s trials for the Olympicqualifiers in New Delhi.

Mary was clearly chargedup, yanking her hand awayfrom Nikhat when the latter ini-tiated a hug immediately afterthe bout and later lashed out atthe 23-year-old and the mediain her interaction with thereporters. Nikhat, on the otherhand, was composed, applaud-ing her opponent while the ref-eree lifted Mary’s hand andlater tried to pacify her support-ers, including her father, whowere incensed by the result ofthe bout.

It was clear that Mary hadtaken everything that Nikhathad done over the past fewmonths personally. She said onSaturday that she did not feel likereciprocating Nikhat when thelatter came to shake hands andhug her after the bout becauseMary felt that the youngerpugilist had shown her norespect.

Nikhat, however, maintainsthat her fight was not againstMary but against a system thatwas not giving her a fair chanceto prove herself in her weightcategory and go for the big com-petitions.

“Even I never imaginedthat all this will happen,” Nikhattold IANS on Sunday. “It wasvery new for me. I never expect-ed that she will get so angry onme for going on Twitter andwriting a letter to the sportsminister. If she is taking all thatpersonally that’s her choice, Ican’t comment on that. I wasfighting for a fair trial. I wasfighting against the system, notMary Kom or the federation. Iwas saying that there should bea proper trial before every com-petition. That’s it.”

There were murmurs thatthe trials before the 2019women’s World Championships,which is where the saga betweenthe two boxers had started, didnot happen at Mary’s behest. Shehas voiced her disdain at havingto give trials in the months since.On Saturday, Mary said thatHigh Performance DirectorsSantiago Nieva and RaffaeleBergamasco had said that selec-tion would be done on thebasis of performances in inter-national competitions and shehad asked for an exemption onthat basis.

Nikhat however feels thatMary should be ready to go fortrials so as to give the youngerboxers a chance to get a measureof themselves, if not anythingelse.

“She is a legend so sheshouldn't have anything to fear.We are all juniors in front of her.She should always be ready forthe trials and be a good exam-ple for the youth. Now she hasdefeated me and gone for theOlympic qualifier and everyoneis happy which would not havebeen the case if she had gone

directly without giving anyoneelse a chance to even assessthemselves against her. Humebhi pata chale hum kitne paanime hai (We should also knowwhere we stand). We shouldknow where we are lacking andfor that I stood up and raised myvoice. There should be a trialbefore every competition. I lostthe bout but I won hearts on thatday and I am happy,” she said.

Nikhat’s fight for a fair trialstarted with the events beforethe women’s WorldChampionships that took placein Russia in October. She hadtravelled from Hyderabad toNew Delhi for the 51kg trials forthe competition, only to learnthat it had been called off andMary had been selected in thatweight category. It was thendecided that those who win goldand silver at the worlds wouldget an automatic place in theIndian contingent that will trav-el to China for the Olympicqualifiers. Mary won bronze butthen BFI president Ajay Singhstirred the pot by indicating thatshe may be allowed to go for thequalifiers anyway.

�� !4.�4.

English Premier League side WestHam on Sunday sacked their man-

ager Manuel Pellegrini after the club lost2-1 at home to Leicester City — theirninth loss in the past 12 games.

“It is with great disappointment thatwe’ve had to make this decision,” joint-chairman David Sullivan was quoted assaying by BBC.”

It has become clear that a change isrequired to get the club back on trackin line with our ambitions this season.

“We felt it was necessary to act nowin order to give the new manager asmuch time as possible to try andachieve that goal.”

Pellegrini was with West Ham for 18months having been appointed in May2018 on a three-year deal.

West Ham midfielder Declan Rice,who skippered the outfit againstLeicester, said the unit lacked confi-dence.

��#�� 4#,03.�

Borussia Dortmund havesigned teenage goalscor-

ing sensation Erling BrautHaaland from RB Salzburg, theGerman Bundesliga outfitannounced on Monday.

In a statement, Dortmundrevealed that the 19-year-old,who scored eight times in thegroup stage of this season’sChampions League, had signeda contract until 2024 but didnot mention a fee.

Haaland has caught theeye of clubs around Europeafter scoring 28 goals in 22games in all competitions so farthis campaign, with RB Leipzigcoach Julian Nagelsmannadmitting earlier this monththat they were trying for theNorway striker’s signature.

“From the beginning I hadthe feeling I definitely wantedto switch to this club, to walkthis path,” Haaland said.

In a video posted to theDortmund website, he wishedDortmund fans a happy newyear as he pored over a 2020 to-do list topped with “learnGerman”.

Earlier in December, theforward had been spotted bylocal media landing in thewest German city to meet withclub representatives.

“Despite many offers fromthe very top clubs acrossEurope, Erling Haaland haschosen the sporting challengeat BVB (Dortmund),” chiefexecutive Hans-JoachimWatzke said in a statement.

“We can all look forward toan ambitious, athletic and

physically strong centre for-ward... at 19, Erling is right atthe start of what will hopeful-ly be a great career.”

Haaland became the thirdyoungest player to score aChampions League hat-trickwhen he netted three times ina 6-2 victory over Genk inSeptember.

Only Wayne Rooney,England’s record goalscorer,and Spain great Raul managedthe feat at a younger age.

Haaland, the son of formerManchester City midfielderAlf-Inge Haaland, scored in hisfirst five Champions Leaguematches.

Despite his impressiveform Salzburg failed to reachthe last 16 following a 2-0 lossto defending championsLiverpool in their final groupgame this month.

Dortmund, currentlyfourth in the Bundesliga, arelooking for a new striker withMario Goetze and Spain inter-national Paco Alcacer strug-gling for consistency this sea-son.

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Dortmund sign teenstriking prodigy Haaland

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Melbourne Park, the scene of anemotional press conference lastyear where he suggested he mightretire as a result of his hip injury.

Despite being less than fully fitMurray then took part in a gru-elling five-set loss to RobertoBautista Agut.

A fortnight later doubleOlympic gold medallist Murray,twice a Wimbledon championand the winner of the 2012 USOpen singles, had hip resurfacingsurgery and started his return toaction at the Queen’s Club grass-court event in London in June.

October saw Murray win theEuropean open in Antwerp, a vic-tory that suggested he could stillcontend for major honours.

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Proteas captain Faf du Plessisgave a ringing endorsement

of the changes in managementin South African cricket after hisside won the first Test againstEngland by 107 runs atSuperSport Park on Sunday.

The win broke a five-Testlosing sequence for the Proteasand gave them their first pointsin the World Test champi-onship.

“We’ve got the right peoplein the right jobs at the top ofCricket South Africa,” he said ofthe appointment of former cap-tain Graeme Smith as directorof cricket and Mark Boucher ashead coach after a period ofupheaval in the local game.

“Leadership always comesfrom the top and filters down,”said Du Plessis.

“I feel it set the tone for theway that we are playing rightnow. That’s a start for us as ateam. Now you can trust thesystem a little bit more and justfocus on playing cricket.”

An enthralling Test was stillin the balance at lunchtime onthe fourth day. After a tensemorning when England couldscore only 50 runs in 25 oversfor the loss of overnight bats-men Rory Burns (84) and Joe

Denly (31), England were 205runs short of their target of 376but had their best batsmen,captain Joe Root and Ben Stokesat the crease.

Immediately after lunch,with 14 overs to be bowledbefore the second new ball wasdue, Root and Stokes upped thetempo, adding 30 runs in fiveovers. Thirteen of those runscame from one over from left-arm spinner Keshav Maharajbut Du Plessis persevered withthe spinner.

It was Maharaj who madethe crucial breakthrough, bowl-ing Stokes for 14 when the left-hander tried to play a cut shotagainst a ball which pitched in

a rough area and deflected offhis glove onto the stumps.

“We had a lot of confidencein Kesh,” said Du Plessis.

“We kept saying that wehad a feeling that in the secondinnings he was going to get BenStokes out. He has got him outa few times and the way thatStokes plays he is going to takethe game on. We had a gut feel-ing that it was going to happen.It was a massive wicket for us.”

When the new ball wastaken seven overs later the endcame quickly as Kagiso Rabadaand Anrich Nortje blasted outthe remaining batsmen.

Rabada took four for 103and Nortje three for 56.

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Nathan Lyon took four wickets asAustralia thrashed New Zealand by247 runs to win the second Test at

Melbourne and the series Sunday with abattling century from opener Tom Blundellproving futile.

The Black Caps, chasing a massive 488to win, were in serious trouble after a fieryJames Pattinson ripped through the top

order to leave them reeling at 38 for three.But some fighting partnerships spear-

headed by Blundell delayed the inevitableuntil Lyon worked his magic as the pitchdeteriorated.

Blundell was last man out for a swash-buckling 121— his second Test centuryand his first for two years — as NewZealand were dismissed for 240 with TrentBoult not batting after fracturing hishand in the first innings.

It was the second heavy defeat for theBlack Caps, who lost by 296 runs in Perthand will be playing for pride only in thefinal Test at Sydney later this week.

)��It was Head’s first innings century and

Paine’s quick-fire 79 that took the Test outof New Zealand’s reach after captainKane Williamson's bold decision to bowlafter winning the toss.

No team had ever chased down morethan 418 in Test history, though the recordwas set against Australia by the WestIndies in Antigua in 2003.

Pattinson, playing for the injured JoshHazlewood, did the early damage. NewZealand had reached 32-0 when hesnared the key wickets of Tom Latham,batting linchpin Williamson and theexperienced Ross Taylor for three justruns.

Latham, scorer of a dogged 50 in NewZealand's 148 first innings, fell for eightwhen he edged a thunderous delivery tothe diving Paine.

Williamson soon followed withoutscoring, lbw after unsuccessfully review-ing the umpire’s original decision.

Taylor didn’t fare much better, drag-ging onto his middle stump to leavePattinson with figures of 3-5 at lunch offtwo overs.

Henry Nicholls was the only wicket tofall between lunch and tea, cleverlystumped for 33 by Paine off Lyon just oneball after he smashed the spinner for six.

Blundell, in only his third Test, and BJWatling put on 72 before Lyon finally

broke their dangerous partnership, tempt-ing an outside edge from the New Zealandwicketkeeper that flew to David Warnerat slip and he was gone for 22.

Lyon then mopped up Colin deGrandhomme and Mitchell Santner beforeTim Southee was run out in a horror mix-up, with Blundell swinging his bat beforehe was caught by Lyon off MarnusLabuschagne.

Paine earlier declared Australia’s sec-ond innings on 168 for five after Head wasbowled by Neil Wagner for 28. MatthewWade was unbeaten on 30 with Wagnertaking 3-50.

They had resumed at 137 for four,building on their first innings 467.

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New Zealand captain KaneWilliamson said his team

need to mirror the fighting spir-it of century-maker TomBlundell if they are to bounceback from their second-Testthrashing by Australia.

“Obviously it was hardwork out there, the taskwas immense. But you lookat some small positives...That was a truly fantasticinnings,” he said afterthe 247-run defeat— their secondTest loss insidefour days.

"”He ledthe way andit is impor-tant that weall takesomethingfrom that.

“ T h eeffort fromthe bowlersthroughoutwas somethingthat is inspir-ing to us as ateam, thatnever-give-upattitude.

“But at thesame time if weare looking for

areas to improve there are a fewof them. We do need to try andput Australia under a bit morepressure before their first inningstotal gets past that point of con-

trol.”Australia took

the game awayfrom NewZealand on day

one afterW i l l i a m s o nwon the toss

and took a gam-ble by putting

them in to bat.It turned out to

be a poor decision, buthe insisted it was areasonable one at thetime.

“I felt like therewas enough in thesurface to bowl firstand it was obviouslyvery important for usto be on top of ourgame and the sur-face did offer somesideways move-ment and swing,”he said.

“But creditto Australiafor gettingthrough thatfirst sessionand put 400

on the board.”

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South Africa broke down stub-born England resistance to

win the first Test of their WorldTest Championship series by 107runs at SuperSport Park onSunday.

England needed 376 to winbut despite some committed bat-ting were bowled out for 268 onthe fourth day of the five-dayencounter.

An enthralling contest swungSouth Africa’s way when left-armspinner Keshav Maharaj bowledBen Stokes to halt a brief flurryof strokes as Stokes and captainJoe Root tried to lift the scoringrate before the second new ballwas due.

The new ball then had animmediate impact with KagisoRabada having Jonny Bairstowcaught at gully before AnrichNortje claimed the crucial wick-

et of Root, who made a fighting48 before he was caught behind.

It was the second time in theday Nortje claimed a wicket withthe second ball of a new spell afterhe made the first breakthrough ofthe day by dismissing top-scor-er Rory Burns for 84.

The remaining wickets fellquickly, with Rabada finishingwith four for 103 and fellow fastbowler Anrich Nortje claimingthree for 56.

Maharaj, who brokeEngland’s first wicket stand of 92on Saturday when he dismissedDom Sibley, took two for 37.

South Africa produced a dis-ciplined bowling performance,making scoring difficult on apitch which always offered some-thing to the bowlers with somesideways movement and unevenbounce.

England added only 50 runsin 25 overs while losing two wick-ets during the morning.

Rory Burns took hisovernight score of 77 to 84 beforemistiming a pull against Nortje tobe caught at mid-on, while Joe

Denly was leg before wicket toDwaine Pretorius for 31.

Burns and Denly saw off thethreat of Vernon Philander andRabada but found scoring diffi-cult.

Philander conceded only onerun in five overs. Rabada gave up23 in six overs, which includedtwo hooked sixes by Denly.

Burns, who faced most ofPhilander’s bowling, adding onlyseven runs off 37 balls. Thechange to Nortje brought animmediate result for South Africaas Burns attempted to pull the fastbowler’s second delivery andsent the ball looping to Rabadaat mid-on.

Nortje made a second crucialbreakthrough when SouthAfrican captain Faf du Plessismade an inspired bowlingchange.

First innings destroyerVernon Philander sent downthree overs with the second newball but was not making the bats-men play many deliveries, so DuPlessis called on Nortje withimmediate success.

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Veteran Australian bowler PeterSiddle announced his internation-

al retirement Sunday after a 67-Testcareer, with national coach JustinLanger praising him as giving his“heart and soul” to the team.

The 35-year-old had been called upto the second Test squad in Melbournebut was not selected in the side to faceNew Zealand and decided to call itquits.

“Just being able to play, to walk out,wear the baggy green — I’d watchedguys like Punter (Ricky Ponting), SteveWaugh, guys like that wear it, representAustralia,” he said.

“Every time I stepped out wasamazing, I don’t think I could pick onespecial one. “At the end of the day, toplay one is amazing, to end up playingwhat I did is truly special.”

Siddle, who played a key role inhelping Australia retain the Ashes inEngland earlier this year, went to theAustralian dressing room at theMelbourne Cricket Ground to tell histeammates personally.

“The year after I retired from play-

ing, Matty Hayden and Ricky Pontingwere raving about this guy called PeterSiddle,” Langer said.

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Captain Tim Paine pointed to team-work on Sunday as the crucial fac-

tor in Australia winning all four homeTests so far this summer — and allinside four days.

After crushing Pakistan twice, theyhave now done the same to NewZealand, wrapping up their three-Testseries against the Black Caps with a 247-run thrashing in Melbourne.

A first-innings Travis Head centu-ry, 85 from Steve Smith and 79 by Painetook the game away from the visitorsafter Australia lost the toss and were putinto bat.

Pat Cummins, James Pattinson andNathan Lyon then led the attack in dis-missing New Zealand twice.

Paine said it was all about playersstepping up when others were havingan off day.

“I think it shows that we’re startingto spread the load,” he said.

“When we work together as a teamand build pressure — one day it’sgoing to be Pat (Cummins), the nextday it’s going to be Nathan (Lyon), thenext day it’s going to be James Pattinson,another day it’s going to be MitchellStarc.

“We just keep driving that home toall our team,” he added.

“If we keep building pressure as ateam we’ve got some absolute firepow-er and we know that all of them aregoing to have their day in the sun.”

Paine said the same applied to thebatting, where some fired in Melbourneand others didn’t.

“The same with the batting, tryingto build partnerships, trying to taketeams’ bowlers really deep, make thembowl lots of overs,” he said.

“At some stage we’re all going to geta chance to score lots of runs as well.”

Paine said he wanted the sameintensity for that game, which meantmuted celebrations in Melbourne withsuch a short turnaround.

“We want to win every Test match,there’s no doubt about that,” he said.

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India seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar is notsure when he will make a comeback to

competitive cricket as it is yet to be ascer-tained whether a surgery is required to treathis sports hernia.

The senior seamer, who is expected to beout for an indefinite period of time, doesn’twant to blame the National Cricket Academyfor allegedly bungling his rehabilitation. He,though, is a bit surprised as to why his her-nia couldn’t be detected earlier.

“World T20 is still good nine monthsaway. I am not thinking about that. First thingis getting fit and I don’t know when I will getfit,” Bhuvneshwar told PTI.

Asked about the NCA’s role, the 29-year-old was predictably defensive and said it’s bestthe BCCI brass deals with it.

“It’s up to BCCI as to how they are goingto take it. They must have had a chat withthe NCA.

“NCA must have tried their best but Idon’t know what went wrong and why theycouldn't diagnose. Still I am not the right per-son to comment on that as it might say some-thing else and BCCI will come up with some-thing else,” said Bhuvneshwar.

Bhuvneshwar also offered a dead defencewhen asked if players are wary of going tothe NCA.

“It’s an individual’s responsibility orwish whether he want to go to the NCA ornot.”

On his recovery process, he said that heis waiting for the doctor’s appointment, afterwhich a clearer picture could emerge on theneed for a surgery.

“There is no surety of surgery, but gen-erally, the standard procedure in case ofsports hernia is surgery. But we still need totake an appointment and I am not sure whereit's going to be. But we are trying to get it assoon as possible.

“Till I consult a doctor, can't say whenwill be the comeback as it will depend on thediagnosis and treatment plan.”

Bhuvneshwar, after being out due to sidestrain post the tour of the West Indies, hadmade a comeback against the same side inthe T20 series earlier this month before beingsidelined again.

“Injuries can be frustrating at times butI am not at all heartbroken. It’s part and par-cel of our journey. I was in good rhythmagainst the West Indies.

“I want to be back at my best but as I saidI don’t know what will be the treatment like.So whatever the doctor says will go with thatthing only,” he said.

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