0 ˙ 1 rni regn. no. chheng/2012/42718, postal reg. no ... · hindus under article 25 and whether...

12
T he BJP did not officially announce it, the AJSU said nothing either, but the split between 19-year-old alliance partners is merely a formality now. After days of suspense, the BJP on Thursday announced its third list of 15 candidates tak- ing the tally of its total candi- dates to 69 in response to AJSU’s non-negotiable stance on 17 seats, including some of the crucial con- stituencies where both the parties have fielded their candidates. The decision came after a series of meetings in Delhi and Ranchi when the BJP Central leadership took the stance to field 15 more candi- dates in the absence of any fruitful dialogue with the AJSU party, which has fielded can- didates against the BJP on many crucial seats. While Jharkhand Chief Minister Raghubar Das hint- ed in a Press conference here on Thursday that the party may go it alone in the polls by saying it will achieve the tar- get of 65 plus seats this elec- tion. Speaking to a news channel in Delhi, State in-charge OP Mathur said the BJP has always given due respect to its partner and it has still not announced candi- dates on nine seats. I n a 3:2 majority verdict, the Supreme Court on Thursday referred to a larger 7-judge bench the pleas seeking review of its historic 2018 judgment allowing women and girls of all ages to enter Kerala’s Sabarimala temple, set to open on November 17, along with other contentious issues of alleged discrimination against Muslim and Parsi women. As the majority verdict, penned by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi, kept the review pleas pending for a 7-judge bench and did not stay its September 28, 2018, majority judgment, girls and women of all age groups will be entitled to undertake the pilgrimage to the shrine. The CJI, who wrote on behalf of himself and Justices AM Khanwilkar and Indu Malhotra, said the debate about the constitutional validity of religious practices like bar on entry of women and girls into a place of worship was not lim- ited to the Sabarimala case. They said such restrictions are there with regard to entry of Muslim women into mosques and “dargah” and Parsi women, married to non- Parsi men, being barred from the holy fire place of an Agyari. It was time the apex court evolves a judicial policy to do “substantial and complete jus- tice”, the added. The majority view, delin- eated by the CJI in its nine-page verdict, was not agreed to by Justices RF Nariman and DY Chandrachud. Justice Nariman, writing for himself and Justice Chandrachud, regretted his “inability to agree with” the view of the CJI and said the scope of the review pleas was limited to the entry of men- struating women into the hill- top shrine in Kerala and direct- ed the State Government to ensure strict compliance of the 2018 verdict. The majority judgment also said that a decision by a larger bench “would put at rest recurring issues” with regard to the fundamental right to pro- fess and practice any religion. “In the context of the pre- sent strength of judges of the Supreme Court, it may not be inappropriate if matters involv- ing seminal issues, including the interpretation of the pro- visions of the Constitution touching upon the right to profess, practise and propagate its own religion, are heard by larger bench of commensurate number of judges,” it said. It set out seven questions of law to be examined by the larg- er bench. They included — interplay between freedom of religion under Articles 25 and 26 of the Constitution; need to delineate the expression “con- stitutional morality”; the extent to which courts can enquire into particular religious prac- tices; meaning of sections of Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected under Article 26. Continued on Page 4 I n a major relief to the ruling regime and a big setback to the Opposition, the Supreme Court on Thursday once again gave a clean chit to the Modi Government in the purchase of 36 fully-loaded Rafale fighter jets from French company Dassault Aviation, rejecting the plea for registration of an FIR and a further probe into the matter. While unanimously dis- missing the pleas seeking review of the December 14, 2018, verdict in which it had said that there was no occasion to doubt the decision-making process in the procurement of 36 Rafale fighter jets, the SC also refused to re-examine the aspects of pricing, decision making process and selection of the offset partner in the deal. “This court did not consider it appropriate to embark on a roving and fishing enquiry,” a Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and comprising Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said. The apex court was not sat- isfied with the submission that it decided the disputed ques- tions of facts in the 59,000- crore deal “prematurely” with- out investigation. However, Justice Joseph, in a separate judgment, said, “Petitioners can approach the CBI for reg- istering an FIR provided the CBI gets nod from the Government as per the Prevention of Corruption Law.” “No doubt that there was a prayer made for registration of FIR and further investigation but then once we had examined the three aspects on merits we did not consider it appropriate to issue any directions, as prayed for by the petitioners which automatically covered the direction for registration of FIR, prayed for,” said the Bench. The review applications cannot be entertained unless there is an “error apparent on the face of the record”, the apex court said. The Bench said it cannot lose sight of the fact that it is dealing with a contract for air- craft, which was pending before different Governments for quite some time and the necessity for those aircraft has never been in dispute. “We were, however, cau- tious to note that this was in the context of the writ petition filed under Article 32 of the Constitution of India, the jurisdiction invoked,” said the Bench. The petition seeking re- examination of the December 14, 2018, verdict was filed by former Union Ministers Yashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyer Prashant Bhushan. Other review petitions were filed by lawyer Vineet Dhandha and Aam Aadmi Party lawmaker Sanjay Singh. The Bench said it appears that the petitioners construed themselves as an appellate authority to determine each aspect of the contract and involve the SC to do the same. While dealing with the allegation of irregularities on the pricing of the jets, the top court said that it satisfied itself with the material made avail- able and it is not the function of this court to determine the prices and act on mere “suspi- cion” of certain persons. “The internal mechanism of such pricing would take care of the situation. On the perusal of documents we had found that one cannot compare apples and oranges. Thus, the pricing of the basic aircraft had to be compared which was competitively marginally lower. “As to what should be loaded on the aircraft or not and what further pricing should be added has to be left to the best judgment of the competent authorities,” the Bench said. M oody’s Investors Service on Thursday cut India’s economic growth forecast for current year to 5.6 per cent from 5.8 per cent estimated earlier, saying GDP slowdown is lasting longer than expected. “We have revised down our growth forecast for India. We now forecast slower real GDP growth of 5.6 per cent in 2019, from 7.4 per cent in 2018,” it said. It expected eco- nomic activity to pick up in 2020 and 2021 to 6.6 per cent and 6.7 per cent, respectively, but the pace to remain lower. Detailed report on P10 F ollowing the Supreme Court’s clean chit to the Rafale deal, the BJP on Thursday lost no time in launching an all-out attack on the Congress and its ex-chief Rahul Gandhi demanding an apology from him. An unde- terred Rahul hit back latching on to a separate judgment by Justice KM Joseph, who said the “petitioners can approach the CBI for registering an FIR” to demand a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe. While BJP president Amit Shah led the charge, Rahul did so for the Congress claiming that the judgment is not a clean chit for the Government and that there should be a par- liamentary panel probe as Justice KM Joseph has left open a “huge door” for investigation. The Congress had used the Modi Government’s pur- chase of 36 Rafale jets from French aerospace major Dassault Aviation for the IAF at a cost of 59,000 crore as one of the major issues in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, combining it with its “Chowkidar Chor Hai” slogan. The pitch, however, was rejected by the voters as the Congress could win just 52 Lok Sabha seats. The grand old party may raise the issue during the Parliament session in conso- nance with other like-minded parties. In a series of tweets, Shah said the judgment of the apex court has proved that the disruption of Parliament over the Rafale fighter aircraft deal was a “sham”. “Supreme Court’s decision to dismiss the review petition on #Rafale is a befitting reply to those leaders and par- ties who rely on malicious and baseless campaigns,” he said. Countering the BJP narra- tive, Rahul took to twitter using hashtag “BJPLiesOnRafale” and tweet- ed, “Justice Joseph of the Supreme Court has opened a huge door into investigation of the RAFALE scam. An inves- tigation must now begin in full earnest. A JPC must also be set up to probe this scam.” T he Supreme Court verdict on the Rafale deal comes as a big boost to expedite defence procurements, including Government-to-Government contracts. India desperately needs modern weapon sys- tems to maintain operational preparedness and the verdict now allows the decision mak- ers to go ahead without look- ing over their shoulders. However, the Government is not yet off the hook as the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) is likely to table its report on offsets in the 59,000-crore deal in the Winter Session of Parliament, beginning next Monday. With the apex court now giving a clean chit to the Rafale deal, the officials will surely now feel more confident of dis- charging their duties and help the Services to acquire modern weapons to face the likelihood of a two-front war with Pakistan and China. Facing the twin challenge, India urgently needs sub- marines to shore up its present strength of 14 ageing sub- marines besides modern war- ships to patrol the strategical- ly important Indian Ocean. Similarly, the IAF imme- diately requires efforts to address the issue of the deplet- ing strength of its fighter jet squadron. At present, the squadron strength is 31 while the desired level is 42. Even if the Government gives clear- ance for acquisition now, the process of increasing the fleet will take another decade given the long gestation period of defence contracts. As for the awaited CAG report, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has time and again alleged that Reliance was given a major chunk of offsets and charged the NDA regime with cronyism. As per the contract, the offsets are 50 per cent of the overall deal and the manufac- turer has to tie up with Indian ventures to plough back the off- set amount into the country. The CAG report covers audit of nearly 30 offset con- tracts of Army, Navy and IAF for 2012-13 and 2017-18. Continued on Page 4 T he Supreme Court on Thursday closed the con- tempt plea against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for wrongly attributing to the apex court his “chowkidar chor hai” remark against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in connection with the Rafale case. The court said the remarks made by Rahul were far from true and he should have refrained from those and could have been careful. “It is unfortunate that with- out any verification certain remarks were made by the contemnor (Rahul Gandhi) against the Prime Minister,” a bench comprising Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi and Justices SK Kaul and KM Joseph said. The Bench referred to the affidavit filed by him tendering unconditional apology and said, “Gandhi enjoys an impor- tant position in political spec- trum and no court should be dragged to political discourse, whether valid or invalid”. “Mr Gandhi needs to be more care- ful in future,” the Bench added. Continued on Page 4 New Delhi: As the Supreme Court dismissed the plea to re- examine the Rafale deal, the Congress is expected to take up the matter in Parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC), headed by Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury. The PAC was con- stituted in the last week of August and has shortlisted the Rafale issue for examination in the coming days, which could lead to a fresh Congress-BJP face-off. The committee is first expected to examine the CAG officials who prepared the report on Rafale and later, call the Defence Ministry top offi- cials and senior IAF officials. Detailed report on P5 C hhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel accompa- nied by his Cabinet colleagues Ravindra Choubey and Amarjeet Bhagat on Thursday met Union Minister for Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Narendra Singh Tomar and Union Minister for Food Ram Vilas Paswan in New Delhi and urged them to pro- cure rice from Chhattisgarh for the Central pool. Baghel also sought the Centre’s support in encourag- ing sale of bio ethanol in Chhattisgarh. Chhattisgarh Agriculture and Water Resources Minister Ravindra Choubey and Food Minister Amarjeet Bhagat were present during the meet- ing. The Chief Minister requested the Union Minister to relax Centre’s policy to make provision to procure 32 lakh metric tonnes of rice from Chhattisgarh for Central pool in larger interest of farm- ers. It is noteworthy that according to decision taken by Central government, rice will not be procured from state governments that provide bonus against paddy procure- ment at support price. But despite the decision, the provision was relaxed in previous two years and rice was being procured from Chhattisgarh for central pool. Keeping this in view, Chhattisgarh Government has requested Prime Minister to relax the provision for year 2019-20 too and procure 32 lakh metric tons of rice from Chhattisgarh. Baghel informed that it is estimated that over 85 lakh metric tons of rice will be pro- cured this year and the state would have surplus rice. The chief minister also urged the Centre to provide approval for production of bio ethanol from the surplus paddy procurement in the Kharif sea- son 2019-20. He said this would encour- age investment in the field of bio-fuel. Official sources informed that the Union Minister assured Baghel that the Centre will take necessary steps to promote the State Government’s investment pol- icy in the field of bio fuel. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Upload: others

Post on 02-Jun-2020

13 views

Category:

Documents


0 download

TRANSCRIPT

Page 1: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

������������������������ ��������������������� ������������ � ����� ���������� ����� �������������������������� ����������������� �������������������� !���� ��������������� ������� ��� ��������� ���� " ����# �������������������� ����$�%�������&� "��� ���%��� %��� � ��'()(����������������*�� ��*��� ������%����������+�,����+�������*�� ����� �� ���*��� ����+,��-��

���������������������� ����������!��!"�#�$%&%��.����%���������������������"���������%���������������������$���/���0�.���/���/������� �,���-+�')�� �1�� % ����������23$4�5���� �����������������6� ��������#3�+��� ���� �����'7������������3$4�5��8.���� ������ �����%������.���/���/������� �,���-�

��������������������������'�(��!���������")��"$*+,������������������������������%�������������� ���� �����������/�����%������������ ������������ ��� ���"� � ����%�����������9����� � �����/�������������" � �����%.�� ����7 :+��� ����"������ ���������������� ���������%�3;,�

-�������������������������������������.+/���������������������������%�������<�������%���% ���� ������ �����������������������������������������%���� ������������������������������� ������%+�%% � ���� ���������������%������%����%������������������������+��� �������1� ����+� ����� ���/������=���������+�������������"�����%�����������+���� ���� ��

����� �����0���� �.���*��

The BJP did not officiallyannounce it, the AJSU

said nothing either, but the split between 19-year-old alliance partners is merely aformality now.

After days of suspense, theBJP on Thursday announced itsthird list of 15 candidates tak-ing the tally of its total candi-dates to 69 in response toAJSU’s non-negotiable stanceon 17 seats, including some ofthe crucial con-stituencies whereboth the partieshave fielded theircandidates.

The decisioncame after a seriesof meetings inDelhi and Ranchiwhen the BJP

Central leadership took thestance to field 15 more candi-dates in the absence of anyfruitful dialogue with the AJSUparty, which has fielded can-didates against the BJP onmany crucial seats.

While Jharkhand ChiefMinister Raghubar Das hint-ed in a Press conference hereon Thursday that the partymay go it alone in the polls bysaying it will achieve the tar-get of 65 plus seats this elec-

tion. Speaking to anews channel in Delhi, State in-charge OP

Mathur said the BJP has alwaysgiven due respect

to its partner and ithas sti l l notannounced candi-dates on nine seats.

���� �>?�$>8�*

In a 3:2 majority verdict, theSupreme Court on Thursday

referred to a larger 7-judgebench the pleas seeking reviewof its historic 2018 judgmentallowing women and girls of allages to enter Kerala’sSabarimala temple, set to openon November 17, along withother contentious issues ofalleged discrimination againstMuslim and Parsi women.

As the majority verdict,penned by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi, kept the review pleaspending for a 7-judge benchand did not stay its September28, 2018, majority judgment,girls and women of all agegroups will be entitled toundertake the pilgrimage to theshrine.

The CJI, who wrote onbehalf of himself and JusticesAM Khanwilkar and InduMalhotra, said the debate aboutthe constitutional validity ofreligious practices like bar onentry of women and girls intoa place of worship was not lim-ited to the Sabarimala case.

They said such restrictionsare there with regard to entryof Muslim women intomosques and “dargah” andParsi women, married to non-Parsi men, being barred fromthe holy fire place of an Agyari.

It was time the apex courtevolves a judicial policy to do“substantial and complete jus-tice”, the added.

The majority view, delin-eated by the CJI in its nine-pageverdict, was not agreed to byJustices RF Nariman and DY

Chandrachud.Justice Nariman, writing

for himself and JusticeChandrachud, regretted his“inability to agree with” theview of the CJI and said thescope of the review pleas waslimited to the entry of men-struating women into the hill-top shrine in Kerala and direct-ed the State Government toensure strict compliance of the2018 verdict.

The majority judgmentalso said that a decision by alarger bench “would put at restrecurring issues” with regard tothe fundamental right to pro-fess and practice any religion.

“In the context of the pre-sent strength of judges of theSupreme Court, it may not beinappropriate if matters involv-ing seminal issues, includingthe interpretation of the pro-visions of the Constitutiontouching upon the right toprofess, practise and propagateits own religion, are heard bylarger bench of commensuratenumber of judges,” it said.

It set out seven questions oflaw to be examined by the larg-er bench. They included —interplay between freedom ofreligion under Articles 25 and26 of the Constitution; need todelineate the expression “con-stitutional morality”; the extentto which courts can enquireinto particular religious prac-tices; meaning of sections ofHindus under Article 25 andwhether “essential religiouspractices” of denomination ora section thereof are protectedunder Article 26.

Continued on Page 4

���1���� �>?�$>8�*

In a major relief to the rulingregime and a big setback to

the Opposition, the SupremeCourt on Thursday once againgave a clean chit to the ModiGovernment in the purchase of36 fully-loaded Rafale fighterjets from French companyDassault Aviation, rejectingthe plea for registration of anFIR and a further probe intothe matter.

While unanimously dis-missing the pleas seekingreview of the December 14,2018, verdict in which it hadsaid that there was no occasionto doubt the decision-makingprocess in the procurement of36 Rafale fighter jets, the SCalso refused to re-examine theaspects of pricing, decisionmaking process and selectionof the offset partner in the deal.“This court did not consider itappropriate to embark on aroving and fishing enquiry,” aBench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and comprisingJustices SK Kaul and KMJoseph said.

The apex court was not sat-isfied with the submission thatit decided the disputed ques-tions of facts in the �59,000-crore deal “prematurely” with-out investigation. However,Justice Joseph, in a separatejudgment, said, “Petitionerscan approach the CBI for reg-istering an FIR provided theCBI gets nod from theGovernment as per thePrevention of Corruption Law.”

“No doubt that there was a

prayer made for registration ofFIR and further investigationbut then once we had examinedthe three aspects on merits wedid not consider it appropriateto issue any directions, asprayed for by the petitionerswhich automatically coveredthe direction for registration ofFIR, prayed for,” said theBench.

The review applicationscannot be entertained unlessthere is an “error apparent onthe face of the record”, the apexcourt said.

The Bench said it cannotlose sight of the fact that it isdealing with a contract for air-craft, which was pendingbefore different Governmentsfor quite some time and thenecessity for those aircraft hasnever been in dispute.

“We were, however, cau-tious to note that this was in thecontext of the writ petition filedunder Article 32 of theConstitution of India, the jurisdiction invoked,” saidthe Bench.

The petition seeking re-examination of the December14, 2018, verdict was filed byformer Union MinistersYashwant Sinha, Arun Shourie and activist lawyerPrashant Bhushan. Otherreview petitions were filed bylawyer Vineet Dhandha andAam Aadmi Party lawmakerSanjay Singh.

The Bench said it appearsthat the petitioners construedthemselves as an appellateauthority to determine eachaspect of the contract and

involve the SC to do the same.While dealing with the

allegation of irregularities onthe pricing of the jets, the topcourt said that it satisfied itselfwith the material made avail-able and it is not the functionof this court to determine theprices and act on mere “suspi-cion” of certain persons.

“The internal mechanismof such pricing would take careof the situation. On the perusalof documents we had foundthat one cannot compareapples and oranges. Thus, thepricing of the basic aircraft hadto be compared which wascompetitively marginallylower.

“As to what should beloaded on the aircraft or notand what further pricingshould be added has to be leftto the best judgment of thecompetent authorities,” theBench said.

���� �>?�$>8�*

Moody’s Investors Serviceon Thursday cut India’s

economic growth forecast forcurrent year to 5.6 per centfrom 5.8 per cent estimatedearlier, saying GDP slowdownis lasting longer than expected.

“We have revised downour growth forecast for India.We now forecast slower realGDP growth of 5.6 per cent in2019, from 7.4 per cent in2018,” it said. It expected eco-nomic activity to pick up in2020 and 2021 to 6.6 per centand 6.7 per cent, respectively,but the pace to remain lower.

Detailed report on P10

����� �>?�$>8�*

Following the SupremeCourt’s clean chit to the

Rafale deal, the BJP onThursday lost no time inlaunching an all-out attack onthe Congress and its ex-chiefRahul Gandhi demanding anapology from him. An unde-terred Rahul hit back latchingon to a separate judgment byJustice KM Joseph, who said the“petitioners can approach theCBI for registering an FIR” todemand a Joint ParliamentaryCommittee (JPC) probe.

While BJP president AmitShah led the charge, Rahul didso for the Congress claimingthat the judgment is not aclean chit for the Governmentand that there should be a par-liamentary panel probe asJustice KM Joseph has left opena “huge door” for investigation.

The Congress had usedthe Modi Government’s pur-chase of 36 Rafale jets fromFrench aerospace major

Dassault Aviation for the IAFat a cost of �59,000 crore as oneof the major issues in the 2019Lok Sabha polls, combining itwith its “Chowkidar Chor Hai”slogan. The pitch, however,was rejected by the voters as theCongress could win just 52 LokSabha seats.

The grand old party mayraise the issue during theParliament session in conso-nance with other like-mindedparties. In a series of tweets,Shah said the judgment of theapex court has proved that thedisruption of Parliament overthe Rafale fighter aircraft dealwas a “sham”. “Supreme Court’sdecision to dismiss the reviewpetition on #Rafale is a befittingreply to those leaders and par-ties who rely on malicious andbaseless campaigns,” he said.

Countering the BJP narra-tive, Rahul took to twitterusing hashtag“BJPLiesOnRafale” and tweet-ed, “Justice Joseph of theSupreme Court has opened a

huge door into investigation ofthe RAFALE scam. An inves-tigation must now begin in fullearnest. A JPC must also be setup to probe this scam.”

����������� ������������� �

������������ �>?�$>8�*

The Supreme Court verdicton the Rafale deal comes as

a big boost to expedite defenceprocurements, includingGovernment-to-Governmentcontracts. India desperatelyneeds modern weapon sys-tems to maintain operationalpreparedness and the verdictnow allows the decision mak-ers to go ahead without look-ing over their shoulders.

However, the Governmentis not yet off the hook as theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) is likely totable its report on offsets in the�59,000-crore deal in theWinter Session of Parliament,beginning next Monday.

With the apex court nowgiving a clean chit to the Rafaledeal, the officials will surelynow feel more confident of dis-charging their duties and helpthe Services to acquire modernweapons to face the likelihoodof a two-front war withPakistan and China.

Facing the twin challenge,India urgently needs sub-marines to shore up its present

strength of 14 ageing sub-marines besides modern war-ships to patrol the strategical-ly important Indian Ocean.

Similarly, the IAF imme-diately requires efforts toaddress the issue of the deplet-ing strength of its fighter jetsquadron. At present, thesquadron strength is 31 whilethe desired level is 42. Even ifthe Government gives clear-ance for acquisition now, theprocess of increasing the fleetwill take another decade giventhe long gestation period ofdefence contracts.

As for the awaited CAGreport, Congress leader RahulGandhi has time and againalleged that Reliance was givena major chunk of offsets andcharged the NDA regime withcronyism. As per the contract,the offsets are 50 per cent of theoverall deal and the manufac-turer has to tie up with Indianventures to plough back the off-set amount into the country.

The CAG report coversaudit of nearly 30 offset con-tracts of Army, Navy and IAFfor 2012-13 and 2017-18.

Continued on Page 4

�� � �>?�$>8�*

The Supreme Court onThursday closed the con-

tempt plea against Congressleader Rahul Gandhi forwrongly attributing to the apexcourt his “chowkidar chor hai”remark against Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in connectionwith the Rafale case.

The court said the remarksmade by Rahul were far fromtrue and he should haverefrained from those and couldhave been careful.

“It is unfortunate that with-out any verification certainremarks were made by thecontemnor (Rahul Gandhi)against the Prime Minister,” abench comprising Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi and Justices SKKaul and KM Joseph said.

The Bench referred to theaffidavit filed by him tenderingunconditional apology andsaid, “Gandhi enjoys an impor-tant position in political spec-trum and no court should bedragged to political discourse,whether valid or invalid”. “MrGandhi needs to be more care-ful in future,” the Bench added.

Continued on Page 4

���������� ������������������������� ������������

New Delhi: As the SupremeCourt dismissed the plea to re-examine the Rafale deal, theCongress is expected to take upthe matter in Parliament’sPublic Accounts Committee(PAC), headed by Adhir RanjanChowdhury. The PAC was con-stituted in the last week ofAugust and has shortlisted theRafale issue for examination inthe coming days, which couldlead to a fresh Congress-BJPface-off. The committee is firstexpected to examine the CAGofficials who prepared thereport on Rafale and later, callthe Defence Ministry top offi-cials and senior IAF officials.

Detailed report on P5

������������� �����������

������������������������������������������

������������������������������������ �!������ ��������"�� ���#$

���

����

�0

����-2��-((�,�� � ������%�$�%����� ��������1�����%�����������%��������������%�'@)�����.�4�� ����� 2�������/�� ���%�5��������-((2,�.� ��./� 2������� ����A���� �������������� ����.���������������� ���8���4�.�85��0�-(��,�*.B �����2� ����%������>���% ������6��������'(��-(�-,�$�����." � ��9���%��� ���%���������� ��������������/ ����&��'��-(��,�?��-��������������� �����/��������.8���$������." � ����������� �������������������� /���%��� :������������7:�����������%��������-+�������� "���+�%���':C� ���%�����-���-(��,�*�� ����B������ �����&�%���7)��%��� ���%���.3��2,�A�"������������� ����� ������������������%�����%��� ���%�����/������< ������) :����������������� ���%�

� ���/����� "�����/��.�� ��@:@@�����'���-(��,�$������." � ��9��.��������������"���

����������� ���� ��%�������7) ���%����/�����):+:::������+�����������/������

A�"������9���������� ��� ����� ���������'��-(�2,��*8� ��������-�� ����������

���/�� ����������9����� � ��������������7)��%��% ������6�������� ����������%�������������� ����� ����

����4,������������������*8����- �����������%���% ������6��������� ��-,���������������� ������ ����%�7)��%���% ������6����������,�������������� ��������� ���������/��������� � ��2- �����������%�������� �A�"����������� � ��������������� � ������- ���� ���� �����������#*������� �������B*������-��-(�5,�� ��+������ �����#�������"��������- �����" ���%� ���$���/���'!�6�������

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

#���������� ������������$%&���������"������������������������������

%&���'���������(����� �����)*�� ���+����&��

� �/+��%&#"��$6��""/7�7%89�&+�"7��.7*.&"�%:�+�7�:&"7"���7�&"�#�*�.;����#"+�#�7%89�&+�"7�8"7+/"7�9./"&�)�&7*+:7��.�:��&.$��*"�7�&��"#+<�$$6+9:.&������/+����<"��

� ;��*"��.3"&�9"���#+3"7<$"�&��<"���*"�:&.<"77�.;+�<&"�7+�#��*"�;$""��)+$$���="��.�*"&�/"<�/"�#+3"���*"�$.�##"7���+.��:"&+./�.;�/";"�<"<.��&�<�7

&,-�.,-/�'����������

���

�������&�"����������"���������������� ��

*�������������������������������������9�������� ���� � ����%�������" ������ � ���� �������%���������� ����� ������������������A�"�������������" �� ���������"��� ��� �������6�������������A�"������9������������� ���� � ���- �� ����������

3��� ���3�������%�������������������������������������� ��� �"��� �� ����%������%�������.� �"��� �� �����������/�� �� ��%�����������.�3� ������ ������� �����43��5���������/���������������/���� ����

���������

*�� ����������"��� ��+" �� �� ������A�"������9����� � ��������� ������?�������������% ���������������"���� ��/�� ��������������"��������������%������ � ��� �� !�������

���������������� �.*�&�

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel accompa-

nied by his Cabinet colleaguesRavindra Choubey andAmarjeet Bhagat on Thursdaymet Union Minister forAgriculture and Farmers’Welfare Narendra Singh Tomarand Union Minister for FoodRam Vilas Paswan in NewDelhi and urged them to pro-cure rice from Chhattisgarh forthe Central pool.

Baghel also sought theCentre’s support in encourag-

ing sale of bio ethanol inChhattisgarh.

Chhattisgarh Agricultureand Water Resources MinisterRavindra Choubey and FoodMinister Amarjeet Bhagatwere present during the meet-ing.

The Chief Ministerrequested the Union Ministerto relax Centre’s policy tomake provision to procure 32lakh metric tonnes of ricefrom Chhattisgarh for Centralpool in larger interest of farm-ers.

It is noteworthy thataccording to decision taken byCentral government, rice willnot be procured from stategovernments that providebonus against paddy procure-ment at support price.

But despite the decision,the provision was relaxed inprevious two years and ricewas being procured fromChhattisgarh for central pool.

Keeping this in view,Chhattisgarh Government hasrequested Prime Minister torelax the provision for year2019-20 too and procure 32lakh metric tons of rice fromChhattisgarh.

Baghel informed that it isestimated that over 85 lakhmetric tons of rice will be pro-cured this year and the statewould have surplus rice.

The chief minister alsourged the Centre to provideapproval for production of bioethanol from the surplus paddyprocurement in the Kharif sea-son 2019-20.

He said this would encour-age investment in the field ofbio-fuel. Official sources

informed that the UnionMinister assured Baghel thatthe Centre will take necessary

steps to promote the StateGovernment’s investment pol-icy in the field of bio fuel.

�������()�*�+#����������� ��,���"��'��"��������������(�����+��������!������� ������ ����

���������� ��� ������������������� ���0�����������1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

�7��8$+7*"/��2��

�����������0��� ��!����4��-(�5>��������-��'

��23�4���

#.��8>�8*�>���.�$>��.��&����>�*$>��*��>.���>���>�D&*�E�AF>���&#8*�

3�5/53/���.E��>>$��F�

?.��*�A��*A��� �� .$?2 77%" 7''

G. �����������><��� %�.��� �/��

/-653/�7�>�.�?F�$>���*B���?.��,>���*��8FF�

������������� ���

���������������� ���!�"�#� ��$��%% ��&��

��/� �����B����$>8�*��8&�,�F? #�F�.8��#�&#.�>�?.�

�.���*��.*�&� ��.�$*A.���$>��.$&� �E$>�.#.$��*3.E?.$.

Page 2: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

�� ������������������ ����������� !"�#$ %

���!0���������!�������������-�")��"$*+�������>������������������������/������� �������6���/������ ��,���-����&���������+��� ���%����"�����������+�� ���/���������$���/���'@������,���-����%����"����%�������������/���,����������� ��������6� ������#3����������%���&�����������%���"����%�����6�� ������/����H����B����� ���������������������������/��/�����+�������������������������/���������/��.H�,�������������� ����%"������ ����-���������$���/���'@��

�@���� ���������AB��� ����������")��"$*+������ ����*����%% ���B���1�,������%����/��������,,������"�/������� ������������" �����������8 ��������A�"�������%����&� ������� ������%�3����,�� ����.����� ��������������%�����&� ������� � ����+�������� ��������%,����������� ���/��%%��� "��%�����������%���� �6� � ��� ����� ��������� "�������������" ������ ����� ���8AA � �������������� ������ � ���� "�����-�

�����B������C�������� �@D�")��"$*+��$�� "�� �������%����������A���-����� �8������� �������� ������ ��+><������.%% ���� � ������3 ���-����������������%��I�����������" ����%�������%�����I� ��������"���������� ���� ������������ ��I" � /������� ������/�������I�F����������� ����%��- ���+���� ������ ��������������������-��������+������ ������1���� �������������������<������������ ���� ��� ���������� ������������� �������������� ��������������������� ����������1� ������������ �+I�3 ���-��� ���

�@����������������������������")��"$*+����������"��/�����������/��������������%% � ��%��������������� ����������������� ����������������/��� � �� �� �� ������ ���� �������������������������� ����������%������� ���� "��%���#��-�-������*A*��. ������������������������+��� �� ������@0�C0�-�+����/������ H��������������"��/������������

���������� ��������������������")��"$*+��&� ������� � �����. ������� ���" � ��������B=�����1��������������B� ��������" ��� �������� ������������������ �� ������% ���� �����+�����/�������� � ����+�� ���" � ����������%% ����%������������=���������� � ����%������

�������

#��������� ���������!��������������'�(��'�����B�B�������� �>?�$>8�*

The second-time clean chiton Thursday by the

Supreme Court to the BJPGovernment on the purchaseof 36 Rafale fighter jets fromFrench company DassaultAviation and rejection of peti-tion for registration of an FIRby the CBI for the allegedkickbacks in the deal like thatin the Swedish Bofors howitzerGun case, has seeminglyknocked the bottom of theCongress plank of attacking theNarendra Modi dispensationon `big-ticket' corruption andtaken away its shine built on itsanti-corruption pitch againstthe UPA regimes.

The verdict coming daysafter the court had put a lid onthe decades-old dispute on thetitle suit of 'Mandir-Masjid'dispute paving way for theconstruction of a temple for'Lord Ram' at Ayodhya , UttarPradesh, has come as a majorpolitical boost for the BJPwhich had promised to theeffect at its Palampur(Himachal Pradesh) conven-tion in 1989, when it hadadopted a resolution to build atemple at the birth place of `Bhagwan Ram`.

The BJP had reacted withobvious glee over the judgmentwhich would only add furtherpolish on the anti-corruptionplank of the party and the claimthat its leadership was " with-out a blemish".

The party leaders includingBJP President Amit Shah alsolatched on the court's admo-nition to Congress leader RahulGandhi for saying "ChowkidarChor hai' ( alluding to Modi)and closing the contempt

against the latter with a warn-ing that he should be careful infuture. They demanded anapology from the formerCongress president for his mis-demeanor and "lies" .

The BJP is now certain toconvert the 'opportunity' toput the Congress on the back-foot on the issue in the com-ing winter session of theParliament, beginningNovember 18, and insist that itsimage is spot clean.

The judgment has given ablow to the Congress efforts toturn the Rafale deal into aBofors saga which had in thepast derailed the successiveCongress regimes. But given

Rahul's `optimism` on thepossibility of opening a probe,the political drama on theRafale deal may still be on theroll despite Supreme Court'stwo-time dismissal of the caseson the French defence pur-chase. The issues raised by theopposition on the decisionmaking process, pricing andthe offsets were dismissed bythe apex court.

However, Justice K MJoseph, who wrote a separatejudgment said he agreed withthe main verdict written byJustice S K Kaul , subject tocertain aspects on which he hasgiven his own reason. He saidpetitioners can approach CBI

for registering an FIR, whichRahul said "has opened ahuge door into investigation ofthe RAFALE scam".

The apex court contendedthat the review applicationscannot be entertained unlessthere is an "error apparent onthe face of the record".

The petition seeking re-examination of the December14, 2018 verdict was filed byformer Union MinistersYashwant Sinha, Arun Shourieand activist lawyer PrashantBhushan. Other review peti-tions were filed by lawyerVineet Dhandha and AamAadmi Party lawmaker SanjaySingh.

������������������������������ �>?�$>8�*

As the doors of Rafale issueare closed in Court, the

Congress is expected to takeup the matter in Parliament'sPublic Accounts Committee(PAC), headed by its leaderAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury.The PAC was constituted inthe last week of August thisyear and has shortlisted theRafale issue for examination inthe coming days, which couldlead to a fresh Congress-BJPface-off. The Committee isfirst expected to examine theCAG officials who preparedthe report on Rafale and later,call the Defence Ministry topofficials and senior Air Forceofficials.

It is likely that the PACChairman would prefer to callthe PMO officials who dealtthe files of Rafale negotiations

with the French authorities.This might be the triggeringpoint between the Congressand BJP MPs inside the PAC.

It is learned that the MPsopposing the Rafale deal aredetermined to raise demandfor summoning PMO offi-cials engaged in Rafale nego-tiations. The Congress MPs inthe Committee may alsodemand summoning of AnilAmbani, whose company gotoffset contracts in the Rafaledeal, which is the main con-troversy in the purchase of 36fighter jets.

The PAC will not summonMinisters and need Lok SabhaSpeaker's clearance.

The PAC Chairman isselected from the Oppositionparties and the ruling partyhas a majority. The PAC has 21Members of which 15 arefrom Lok Sabha and six from

Rajya Sabha. In the PAC, theCongress is having only threeMPs including the Chairman,who has major decision-mak-ing powers.

This exercise by the PACwould lead to a face-offbetween Congress and BJPsimilar to the one they had in2011, when then PACChairman Murli ManoharJoshi examined 2G scam, sum-moning all top officers fromPMO, Telecom, AttorneyGeneral and all telecom cor-porate including Ratan Tata,Anil Ambani, Sunil MIttaland controversial lobbyist NiraRadia.

The PAC meetings of 2GScam led to the membersalmost coming to blows withthe ruling Congress MPs hav-ing majority then even occu-pying the chair of Joshi anddeclaring a parallel PAC.

����� �>?�$>8�*

The BJP lost no time tolaunch a blistering attack

on the Congress on Thursdaydescribing the Supreme Courtjudgment on Rafale as 'victo-ry of truth' and demanding anapology from the party and itsleader Rahul Gandhi fortelling a spate of "lies" on theentire issue.

Soon after the SC verdict,the BJP fielded its topMinisters and party leaders tolaunch an all-out attack on theCongress and Rahul.

Leading the attack, UnionHome Minister Amit Shah onThursday termed the SupremeCourt verdict on Rafale deala befitting reply to the leadersand parties who rely on "mali-cious and baseless" campaign,and sought apology fromthem.

In a series of tweets, Shahsaid the judgement of theapex court has proved that thedisruption of Parliament overthe Rafale fighter aircraft dealwas a "sham". "SupremeCourt's decision to dismiss thereview petition on #Rafale isa befitting reply to those lead-ers and parties who rely onmalicious and baseless cam-paigns," he said.

Slamming the Congress,Shah said the decision reaf-firms Modi Government'scredentials as a dispensationthat is transparent and cor-ruption-free. "Now, it hasbeen proved that disruption ofParliament over Rafale (issue)was a sham. The time could

have been better utilised forthe welfare of people. Aftertoday's rebuke from SC,Congress and its leader, forwhom politics is abovenational interest, must apolo-gise to the nation," Shah saidin a swipe at Rahul.

The Rahul and the entireCongress leadership have car-ried out an aggressive cam-paign before the last LokSabha elections against themulti-billion dollars deal tobuy 36 Rafale fighter aircraftfrom France.

Hitting hard at Rahul ,BJP working president J PNadda said the Congressleader had tried to mislead thecountry on the issue andshould now apologise.Asserting that truth has pre-vailed, Nadda said, "Fromroad to Parliament, RahulGandhi and his party triedhard to mislead the countryon this issue but truth pre-vailed. I wish Rahul would bein country and should apolo-gise to nation.

Addressing a press con-

ference at the party office,Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad said theCongress and in particular itsformer president Gandhimust apologise to the country.Hailing the Supreme Court'sorder on the Rafale deal as avictory of the country'snational security, Prasad said,"It is recognition of the hon-est decision making process ofthe Narendra ModiGovernment... SatayamavJayate. The Congress partymust apologise and RahulGandhi in particular mustapologise to the country."

Pointing to Rahul's"Chowkidar chor hai" sloganahead of the Lok Sabha elec-tion, Prasad said the Congressleader has not only called thePrime Minister a thief, but helied about the former FrenchPrime Minister's statementsand misquoted the SupremeCourt.

" Today the people of thecountry want to know whichpowers were backing RahulGandhi. All I can say is thatthe whole campaign isextremely suspicious. He rana sponsored political pro-gramme that masqueradedas a quest for justice. Today,Rahul Gandhi, you need toapologise. Today even thereview petition is rejected.You apologised to save your-self from the court. But willyou apologise before the peo-ple of India?" Prasad said.

Hitting at Gandhi family,he said, "People having saga ofcorruption from Jeep scandal

to Bofors to submarine toAugustaWestland, whereundertaking a political pro-gramme masquerading at thequest of justice.

With the Congress insist-ing on a high-level probe intothe deal after the court'sorder, the law minister said itwas really "shameless" of theopposition party to continueto push for an investigationdespite losing the battle incourts as well as in elec-tions.

Asked that former PrimeMinister Rajiv Gandhi wasalso let off by a court order inthe Bofors case, Prasad saidthat was a "highly question-able" order of the Delhi HighCourt when the Congressgovernment at the Centre didnot challenge.

In Tawang in ArunachalPradesh, Defence MinisterRajnath Singh said the alle-gations of corruption in theRafale deal were aimed atmaligning Modi's image of aclean and honest leader anddemanded an apology fromthe Congress.

Hailing the judgement,Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman tweetedthe SC verdict on Rafaleshows Government's decisionwas right on the price, theprocess and on the offsets."PM Modi put#NationalSecurity on top.Indian Air Force needed to bestrengthened without any fur-ther delay. #NationFirst.Motivated propaganda defeat-ed: Sitharamn tweeted.

��B���B������ �>?�$>8�*

Union Home Ministry hasgranted additional House

Rent Allowance to the tune of16 per cent of basic pay inaddition to normal HRA at theoriginal place of posting whereparamilitary forces personnelleft behind their families toundertake duties in Jammuand Kashmir.

The facility under KashmirValley Package will come as arelief for paramilitary person-nel as many of them have tobear expenses of running tworesidences.

The benefit will not sure beapplicable to such personnelwho have availed governmentaccommodation at their orig-inal posting.

In addition to the addi-tional HRA, the paramilitarypersonnel will be entitled to

draw the normalHRA for theoriginal place ofposting.

"The issue ofgrant of addi-tional HRA toCentral ArmedPolice Forcespersonnel post-ed in KashmirValley has beenconsidered in the Ministry andit has been decided byCompetent Authority thatthose personnel who are post-ed in Kashmir Valley and com-pelled to leave their families attheir last place of posting willbe eligible for drawing addi-tional HRA."

The move has come daysafter the new Union Territoryof Jammu and Kashmir for-mally came into existence onOctober 31 after the Centre on

August 5 abrogated Article 370of the Constitution that grant-ed special status to the erst-while State. The move benefitnearly one lakh personnel ofthe paramilitary forces' per-sonnel posted in the Valley.

Special allowances havebeen a major relief for para-military personnel who havebeen at the forefront of coun-tering terrorism and main-taining law and order in theValley.

���� �>?�$>8�*

The Supreme Court onThursday sought a

response from the LawyersCollective and its foundingmembers Anand Grover andIndira Jaising on a plea by theCBI challenging the BombayHigh Court order grantingthem protection from coerciveaction in an alleged FCRAviolation case.

A bench comprising ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi andJustices Aniruddha Bose andKrishna Murari issued notice tothe senior lawyers and theNGO.

The top court also refusedto stay the Bombay High Courtorder.

The CBI had registered acase against Grover and theNGO over alleged violation ofthe Foreign Contribution(Regulation) Act (FCRA) in theuse of foreign funds received byLawyers Collective.

The probe agencycontended that the high Courthad neither rendered any find-ing as to how the FIR registeredagainst the accused parties was"unsustainable and bad in law"nor referred to any finding asto how the continuance of theinvestigation against theaccused would be contrary tolaw.

Grover and his wife hadapproached the high court inJuly seeking that the FIR reg-istered by the CBI against the

NGO and them in June bequashed.

The CBI registered the FIRfollowing a complaint by theMinistry of Home Affairs(MHA) in May alleging viola-tion of FCRA provisions.

While the FIR didnot name Jaising as an accused,the MHA complaint, which ispart of the FIR, mentioned hername and made specific alle-gations against her.

The CBI alleged that theNGO received foreign fundsbetween 2009 and 2015, butfailed to disclose a major partof it. It said that Grover andJaising used foreign funds for"personal benefits". Accordingto the MHA complaint, duringher tenure as AdditionalSolicitor General, Jaising con-tinued to draw remunerationfrom the

NGO, the CBI said, addingthat this came from foreign

contributions received.The petitioners also point-

ed out that the MHA complaintwas based on an inspectionreport from 2016 that hadpointed out a single violation ofnon-disclosure under theFCRA. At the time, followingthe inspection report, the MHAhad issued an order cancellingthe registration of LawyersCollective for receiving foreignfunds. This cancellation orderwas challenged in the highcourt by the NGO in 2017, andis currently pending before asingle judge, the petitionerssaid.

While grantinginterim relief, the divisionbench took note of the peti-tioners' submission that theCBI's act of filing an FIR on thebasis of a two-and-a-half-year-old report, when the matterhad reached the court, wasquestionable.

���������

����� �>?�$>8�*

Maintaining that the SCjudgment on Ram

Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjidtitle dispute was “beyondunderstanding”, the head ofprominent Muslim body JamiatUlema-e-Hind (JUEH)Maulana Arshad Madani onThursday said the Sunni WaqfBoard should not accept the 5-acre plot which the apex courtdirected the Centre to allot fora mosque.

He said the Jamiat hadasserted that the SupremeCourt verdict in the Ayodhyacase, based on evidence, will berespected by it.

Maulana Madani, howev-er, said the judgment was

"beyond understanding". Thecourt accepted that placingidols in a mosque and demol-ishing it is illegal."But the courtgave its decision in favour ofthose responsible for it," hesaid.

The JUEH president alsosaid the court has accepted thatthe Babri mosque was not builtby demolishing a temple dur-ing Babur's rule.

Madani said a decision onwhether a review petition in theAyodhya case should be filedwill be taken in a meeting of theworking committee of theJUEH which would sit till lateevening to deliberate on thematter.

Settling a fractious issuethat goes back more than a cen-

tury, the Supreme Court, in itsverdict in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi title caseon Saturday, said the entire 2.77acres of disputed land shouldbe handed over to the deityRam Lalla, who was one of thethree litigants in the case.

The f ive-judgeConstitution bench alsodirected the Centre to allot a5-acre plot to the Sunni WaqfBoard in Ayodhya to build amosque.

Asked about his views onwhether the land should beaccepted by the Muslim side,Madani said, "The land has notbeen given to us. They havegiven the land to the SunniWaqf Board."

"Our opinion is that the

Sunni Waqf Board should notaccept the land, but finally it isup to them," said the head ofJUEH, which was also a litigantin the case."The issue is aboutrights not about land. We don'twant land. Muslims don't needland," he said.

Madani said that accordingto religion, a mosque remainsa mosque irrespective of'namaz' is being held or not.

"The SC said it wasmosque and not made bydestructing a temple. For us,accordiong to religion, it is stilla mosque," Madani said.

Responding to a question,he asserted that whatever theyhave to say on the verdict theywill say only within the coun-try

������������������������ ��!������"��#����$��#������������%&

�'���� ������#��������(�����������'�)�*������������'������

-��.���"����������������"�/���������0

�������������� � � �! "�#����$

��������!���+����&����������� �������*������� ������������##�������$�'��������,��(����!������*����������' �� ����'���(����+"�,��� �-)

����� �>?�$>8�*

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) on

Thursday arrested formerRanbaxy and Fortis promoterMalvinder Singh and formerCMD of Religare Enterprises,Sunil Godhwani in ReligareFinvest Ltd (RFL) in connec-tion with a money launderingcase relating.

The duo was arrested fromthe Tihar jail where both arecurrently lodged in a case relat-ed to funds misappropriation ofReligare Finvest Ltd. (RFL)being probed by the Delhipolice.

The agency’s lawyer NiteshRana informed a designatedcourt about the duo’s arrestsand pleaded for issuance of aproduction warrant against theaccused for seeking their cus-todial interrogation.

However, the court direct-ed the ED’s counsel that theaccused be produced before a

metropolitan magistrate in theTihar jail itself as trial prison-ers are not being produced inthe Saket District court due tothe ongoing lawyers' strike.

"The court is informedthat accused Malvinder MohanSingh and Sunil Godhwani arelodged in central jail numbers8 and 7 respectively at TiharJail. Accordingly, the applica-tions filed by the ED be put upbefore the concerned dutyMM, Tihar jail tomorrow, i.e,November 15, for disposal inaccordance with law," SpecialJudge Sandeep Yadav said inresponse to the ED’s plea.

Both Singh and Godhwanihave been charged by the EDfor offences under provisions ofPrevention of MoneyLaundering Act.

The duo is undergoingjudicial custody and lodged inTihar jail along with Singh'sbrother Shivinder and twoother accused persons -- KaviArora and Anil Saxena -- in acriminal case being probed bythe Economic Offences Wing(EOW) of the Delhi Police.

These accused allegedlytransferred an amount of approx-imately Rs 1,000 crore to variouspersons from entities linked to

the corporate loan book andfinally, the money was siphonedoff and invested in other com-panies, according to the ED.

The Delhi Police had reg-istered an FIR in March after itreceived a complaint fromRFL's Manpreet Suri againstShivinder, Godhwani and oth-ers, alleging that loans weretaken by them while managingthe firm but the money wasinvested in other companies.

The money launderingcase was filed by the ED aftertaking cognisance of the DelhiPolice FIR as money launder-ing is a predicate offence.

12��������!�$�������"��3���"�$�������������%�������� ���6 �������/������

����������������� ����������������%���� ������� � ���

Page 3: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

RAIPUR | FRIDAY | NOVEMBER 15, 2019chhattisgarh 03

Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel accompanied by his cabinet colleagues on Thursday meet Union Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Narendra Singh Tomarurging hin to allow procuring paddy at `2500 per quintal.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh ChiefSecretary R. P. Mandal

chairing the review meeting ofall divisional commissionersand collectors of the state atconference hall of New CircuitHouse on Thursday empha-sised on curbing illegal trans-port of paddy from neighbour-ing states.

He said Chhattisgarh is theonly state to procure paddyfrom farmers at Rs 2500 perquintal and illegal transport ofpaddy from neighbouringstates is a major problem andso strict actions should betaken to prevent it.

Directing all the divisionalcommissioners, he stressed toensure regular monitoring andalso to take strict actionagainst the middlemen and

brokers.Mandal said that after

paddy procurement begins,daily verification will be doneat the procurement centres and

that he would personallyreview procurement processevery fortnight.

He also reviewed variousdevelopment works and

schemes in detail. In the firstsession of meeting, Mandalreviewed the districtwisepreparations for paddy pro-curement, implementation of

citizen charter, sanitation workunder smart city scheme, free-hold of 'aabaadi' and 'nazul'lands, redressal of pendingdiversion cases and repairingof roads in urban and ruralareas of the state.

Chief Secretary directedcollectors to ensure free holdof 'aabaadi' and 'nazul' lands,which will make it convenientfor landowners to transferownership of land. This willaccelerate the pace of develop-ment and also increase therevenue collection, he said.

Chief Secretary directedthe collectors to ensure imme-diate repairing of damagedroads in urban and rural areasin the state. He reviewed sanita-tion arrangements in five citiesunder Smart City Scheme-Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur, Sarguja,Sarguja and Korba.

CS instructs officials to take actionagst inter-state paddy transportation

Crucialcabinetmeet todayRAIPUR: Animportant meetingof state cabinet isgoing to be heldunder chairman-ship of ChiefMinister BhupeshBaghel on Fridayafternoon.

S o u r c e sinformed that themeeting called atofficial residence ofthe Chief Ministerat 12 noon woulddiscuss prominentissues such aspaddy procure-ment and urbanbodies elections.

Both of themare immidiateissues and thecabinet may takesome big decisionsabout them,sources said.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh BJP for thefirst time since it lost

power in the state is launchinga state-wide agitation againstthe Congress government topress for immediate paddyprocurement from farmers at aminimum support price of`2500 per quintal and seekingbonus of two years for farmersas promised by the rulingparty in its election manifesto.

The BJP is also holding aday-long statewide sit-in-demonstration on November15 in all ‘mandals’ includingstate capital.

Apart from it, it is launch-ing the ‘Dhaan la tol nahin tehalla bol’ drive across the state.

According to partysources, BJP national vicepresident and former chiefminister Raman Singh willparticipate in the stir at the

state capital while BJP statepresident Vikram Usendi willlead the agitation atPakhanjore, Kanker district.Leader of OppositionDharamlal Kaushik will takepart in the demonstration atBilha in Bilaspur while formerspeaker Gaurishankar Agrawalwill be at Kasdol. Other partyMPs and MLAs will lead agita-tion at their respective con-stituencies.

In the capital city Raipurthe demonstration will be heldat Bhudhapara at 2.00 pm.

BJP to hold statewideprotest today

BJP for the first timesince it lost power in thestate is launching astate-wide agitationagainst the Congressgovernment to press forimmediate paddyprocurement from farmers

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chief Secretary R.P. Mandalon Thursday instructed

senior administrative andpolice officials to ensure freeand fair urban bodies’ electionsin the state.

He was chairing a reviewmeeting of district collectorsand superintendents of policeto assess preparations for thepolls expected to be held by thefag end of December this year.

State ElectionCommissioner Thakur RamSingh, Secretary Home SubratSahu and Director General ofPolice (DGP) D.M. Awasthiwere also present in the meeting.

Terming the polls impor-tant and sensitive, the CSinstructed the officials to workin coordination to conduct theelections peacefully.Chhattisgarh has a record oftransparent as well as free andfair polls and this has to becontinued, he said.

DGP Awasthi instructed thepolice officials to maintain lawand order by being vigilant andby taking precautions by learn-ing from past experiences.

State ElectionCommissioner Singh briefedthe meeting about minutedetails of the elections andreviewed districtwisepreparations.

‘Ensure free and fair urbanbodies’ polls in state’CS instructs district collectors and SPs in review meeting

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Thursday

inaugurated Chhattisgarhpavilion at 39th IndiaInternational Trade Fairundergoing at PragatiMaidan, New Delhi.

Various departments ofChhattisgarh governmenthave put stalls at the fair,which will conclude onNovember 27. The fair will beopen to public fromNovember 19.

The Chief Ministerinspected the stalls andgathered information fromthe officials. Appreciating thework by craftsmen ofChhattisgarh, Baghel wrote inthe visitor’s book, “Exemplarywork by our hardworking

craftsmen can be seen atstalls in Chhattisgarh pavil-ion. Products made by themare world-class.”

C h h a t t i s g a r hAgriculture and WaterResources MinisterRavindra Choubey andFood minister AmarjeetBhagat were also present.

Chhattisgarh’s handi-craft and handloom prod-ucts such as bell metal,Dhokra art, Kosa silk sareesare on sale at the pavilion.Dress materials and bedsheets made by using nat-ural dyes, herbal products ofgram udyog could bepurchased from the pavilion.

More than 20 countriesand over 800 companies areparticipating in this year’sfair.

Baghel inaugurates C’garh pavilion at IITF

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chhattisgarh PowerCompanies chairman

Shailendra Shukla hasclarified that all theimportant and vitaldocuments are safe after thefire broke out atcompanies’ headquarters,‘Seva Bhawan’, Dangania onThursday.

The fire incident wasreported at Power Companyheadquarters at midnight.After investigation it wasfound that short-circuittriggered the blaze. Nomajor loss was reported.

Chairman, holding themeeting of higher officials ofthe companies over theincident, directed them tomake special arrangementsto ensure that no suchincident occurs in future.

Shukla said no suchdocuments have beenburnt which cannot be‘re-generated’. The half burntfiles and documents can berecovered from other files.

The officials informedthat after the fire wasreported, the fire tendersand police reached the spotand fire was brought undercontrol.

Fire erupts at C’garhPower Companies,documents safe

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Panchayat and ruraldevelopment depart-

ment, Government ofChhattisgarh in an orderhas postponed thereservation process forthe post of Sarpanchacross the state.

The order comesamid the ongoingpreparations for theensuing three-tierpanchayat elections. Thereason for postponementhas not been specified.

For the three-tierPanchayat elections, thereservation for the post ofPanch, Sarpanch, JanpadPanchayat, member,chairman and ZilaPanchayat members wasto be completed by

November 23. Retainingreservation for all otherposts, the process of onlySarpanch has been haltedas per the order.

As per sources, plansare afoot for indirectelection of the Sarpanchpost as has been initiatedas in case of elections ofmayor and chairman ofcivic bodies.

Reservation process forSarpanch suspended

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The ruling Congress,taking a dig at BJP’s pro-

posed protest against thestate government on paddypurchase, said on Thursdaythe state government isgoing to purchase paddy atthe rate of Rs 2,500 perquintal and if BJP is inter-ested in protest then theyshould place demand withthe party-led government atthe Centre to purchase ricefrom Chhattisgarh.

The party appealed toall BJP leaders to stageprotest over farmers’problems not only inChhattisgarh but also joinCongress party’s protest in

Delhi.“BJP should demand of

the central government topurchase 32 lakh metrictons rice from the farmersof Chhattisgarh,” chairmanstate Congress communica-tion department ShaileshNitin Trivedi said.

If FCI’s godown inChhattisgarh will not storerice produced in the state

then what else should theystore, Trivedi questioned.

Chhattisgarh govern-ment has decided to pay`2,500 to the farmer inplace of `1815 provided bythe Central government.State government has nei-ther asked any excessivefund nor is going to makeany such demand for pay-ing the money to farmers,he claimed while adding,this year Chhattisgarhgovernment has requestedfrom the centralgovernment to purchase 32lakh tons of rice fromChhattisgarh.

Betraying farmers is thecharacter of the BJP andnot the Congress, hequipped.

BJP should urge Uniongovt to purchase ricefrom C’garh: Congress

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Bharatiya Janata Partynational general secretary

and Rajya Sabha MP SarojPandey said finally truth hasprevailed after apex court gaveclean chit to Modi govern-ment in Rafale case.

The Surpeme Court onThursday has closed a con-tempt case filed against RahulGandhi after he “wronglylinked” Rafale case order tohis ‘Chowkidar Chor hai’ jibeagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi during LokSabha elections.

The apex court hadaccepted an unconditionalapology offered by the

Congress leader in May andwarned him to be ‘morecareful’ about future remarks,she said.

Pandey said now it isproven that the Congress cancome up with massive lies tomislead people. Accepting thecrime, Congress party and itsformer president should for-mally apologize to the coun-

try, the BJP leader saidShe alleged that only

Congress can indulge in suchan act where country’s inter-nal security and internationalimage can be put at stake.

The entire Congress lead-ership was repeating the samephrase across the country andthis should be condemned instrongest words, she added.

The BJP leader claimedPrime Minister has been fol-lowing a policy of develop-ment of all with togetherness,and totally dedicated himselffor nation building. She saidnow time has come forCongress to indulge in valuebased politics otherwise, itwill be totally eliminated.

Rahul should apologiseto country: Pandey

As per sources,plans are afoot forindirect election ofthe Sarpanch postas has been initiatedas in case ofelections of mayorand chairman ofcivic bodies

Page 4: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

��������������� ����������� !"�#$ % �� ��%

������������������ ���� ��������������������� *�8.�.#.$

Pakistan on Thursday deniedany deal with Indian gov-

ernment on Indian nationalKulbhushan Jadhav, who hasbeen sentenced to death by aPakistani military court oncharges of espionage and ter-rorism in April 2017.

"The action on Kulbhushanwill be taken as per the law.There will be no deal.Absolutely, no question aboutthat," said Foreign Officespokesman Muhammad Faisalin a weekly press briefing.

Earlier, there were reportsabout an amendment in thePakistan Army Act to imple-

ment the International Court ofJustice's condition to allowKulbhushan to file an appeal ina civilian court.

However, the Pakistanimilitary rejected such reports.

Kulbhushan's case is beingtried in military courts and theArmy Act forbids such indi-viduals or groups from filing anappeal or seeking justice froma civilian court.

On July 17, the ICJ orderedPakistan to grant consularaccess to Jadhav and also con-tinued stay on his execution, aswell as "effective" review of thedeath sentence.

During the press briefing,Faisal also talked about theSupreme Court's verdict inBabri Masjid-Ram janmbhoo-mi case.

"India's top court verdictposes a threat to other mosquesin the country. We will con-tinue to raise Babri Masjidissue on international plat-forms," he said.

Faisal said he has urged theIndian government to endKashmir "lockdown" andrestore Internet services.

���������������� ������������������������������������ 3.��&

The Jammu & Kashmiradministration will con-

duct at least two free healthcheckups a year for the schoolchildren in the union territory,an official spokesperson said onThursday.

During a review meetingof the school educationdepartment here onWednesday, the authoritieswere directed by LieutenantGovernor Girish ChanderMurmu to conduct the healthcheckups and provide healthcards to school children, hesaid. The meeting was attend-ed by Commissioner/Secretary,School Education Department,Sarita Chouhan and other

senior officials, the spokesper-son said.

Murmu suggested that theparents be present during thecheckup so that they get toknow about their child's health,he said.

The Lt Governor alsoissued directions to the officialsconcerned to prepare health checkup calenders inconsultation with the healthdepartment, the spokespersonsaid.

During the review meet-ing, the school educationdepartment was directed toorganise the first health check-up drive in December in thesummer zone and in March inthe schools under winter zone,he said.

�&��' �������'���� !��&��� �( ��)��� *���� #>�A.8&�&

After an unsuccessful bidtwo months ago, India may

attempt another soft landing onthe Moon by next year-end,probably in November, sourcesin ISRO said on Thursday.

The Indian Space ResearchOrganisation had constituted ahigh-level committee, headed byS Somanath, Director ofThiruvanathapuram-based

Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre,the lead centre responsible forall launch vehicle programmes of ISRO, to pre-pare a report on the proposedChandrayaan-3.

"The panel's report is await-ed. The committee has beengiven a guideline to prepare themission before the end of nextyear," a senior ISRO official toldPTI. "There is a good launchwindow in November".

"Rover, lander and landingoperations will get more focusthis time and whatever defi-ciencies in the Chandrayaan-2mission will be corrected,"sources in the Bengaluru- head-quartered space agency said.

On September 7, ISROattempted a soft landing ofChandrayaan-2's 'Vikram' onthe unchartered lunar southpole, before losing communi-cation with the lander.

From Page 1Another question was the

“permissible extent of judicialrecognition to PILs in matterscalling into question religiouspractices of a denomination ora section thereof at the instanceof persons who do not belongto such religious denomina-tion”.

The top court said, “Thesubject review petitions as wellas the writ petitions may,accordingly, remain pendinguntil determination of thequestions indicated above by alarger bench as may be consti-tuted by the Chief Justice ofIndia.”

However, Justices Narimanand Chandrachud, in their dis-senting view, said that what wasbefore the bench were thereview petitions and fresh pleaschallenging its 2018 decision.“What a future constitutionbench or larger bench, if con-

stituted by the Chief Justice of India, may ormay not do when consideringthe other issues pending beforethis court is, strictly speaking, not before this courtat all.

The only thing that isbefore this court is the reviewpetitions and the writ petitionsthat have now been filed inrelation to the judgment datedSeptember 28, 2018.

As and when the othermatters are heard, the benchhearing those matters may wellrefer to our judgment and mayeither apply such judgment,distinguish such judgment, orrefer an issue/issues whicharise from the said judgmentfor determination by a largerbench.

All this is for futureConstitution benches or larg-er benches to do,” was theminority view.

������ ������� ������ ����666

From Page 1The NDA has all along

refuted the Congress allega-tions of favoritism. The offsetdeal in the Rafale deal led tocontroversy with the Congressdemanding a CBI probe as tohow Reliance Defence of AnilAmbani was awarded the off-set contract.

The earlier CAG reporttabled in Parliament inFebruary this year pertained topricing issue and other relatedmatters pertaining to theprocess of procurement of theRafale jet. The Governmentwatchdog, however, did notinclude the offset examinationin that report.

Meanwhile, former IAFChief Air Chief Marshal(retired) BS Dhanoa onThursday welcomed theSupreme Court’s verdict andsaid the ruling vindicated theGovernment’s position and thatit will have positive impact onoverall military procurement.

The political controversyrelating to purchase of 36Rafale jets from France peakedduring Dhanoa’s tenure as chief

of the air staff and he had stout-ly defended the deal. “It is awelcome verdict, vindicatingthe Government’s position onthe issue. We are happy thatfinally the controversy isburied,” Dhanoa said. Heretired from the top job twomonths back.

The former IAF chief saidhe had defended the deal onmerit and considering therequirement of the IAF, refer-ring to criticism in the run-upto the Lok Sabha polls that hewas making political com-ments about the procurement.

Dhanoa maintained thatdeal was clean and exudedconfidence that the verdict bythe apex court would have apositive impact on procure-ment of military platforms bythe IAF, the Indian Army andthe Navy. “It is a good verdictfor the armed forces,” he said.

During his tenure, Dhanoastrongly backed the deal assert-ing it was sealed following atransparent procurement pro-cedure and that the Rafale jetswould significantly enhance

the IAF’s combat capabilities.India had signed an inter-

governmental agreement withFrance in September 2016 forprocurement of 36 Rafale fight-er jets. The first batch of fourRafale jets will arrive in Indiaby May 2020.

The aircraft is capable ofcarrying a range of potentweapons and missiles. The IAFhas already completed prepa-rations, including readyingrequired infrastructure andtraining of pilots, to welcomethe fighter aircraft.

The first squadron of theaircraft will be deployed atAmbala air force station, con-sidered one of the most strate-gically located bases of theIAF. The second squadron ofRafale will be stationed atHasimara base in West Bengal.

The Rafale jets will comewith various India-specificmodifications, including Israelihelmet-mounted displays,radar warning receivers, lowband jammers, 10-hour flightdata recording, infra-red searchand tracking systems amongothers.

���������������������������������������

From Page 1The bench noted that sub-

sequently the contemnor hasfiled an affidavit that contemptproceedings should not betaken forward. “In view of theaffidavit filed by Gandhi, weclose contempt proceedingsinitiated against him,” thebench said.

The court’s verdict came onthe contempt plea filed againstGandhi by BJP MP MeenakshiLekhi.

Gandhi had made theremarks on April 10, the daythe apex court had dismissedthe Centre’s preliminary objec-tions over admissibility of cer-tain documents for supportingthe review petitionsagainst the December 14 last

year verdict in the Rafalecase.

The court had on May 10reserved the judgement onLekhi’s contempt plea filedagainst Gandhi for the“chowkidar chor hai” remarksagainst Modi, which the topcourt had said were incorrect-ly attributed to it.

Gandhi, who was then thepresident of the Congress Party,had told the bench that he hasalready tendered uncondition-al apology for wrongly attribut-ing the remarks relating to theprime minister to the apexcourt.

Senior advocate AMSinghvi, appearing for Gandhi,had told the bench that theCongress leader expressedregret over the wrongful attri-bution to the apex court.

Senior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for Lekhi,had submitted that the apolo-gy tendered by Gandhi shouldbe rejected and action must betaken against him as per thelaw.

Gandhi had on May 8 ten-dered unconditional apology inthe apex court for wrongfullyattributing to it his “chowkidarchor hai” remark in the Rafaleverdict and said that he holdsthe top court in the “highestesteem and respect” and anyattributions to it were “entire-ly unintentional, non-wilfuland inadvertent”.

The three-page affidavitwas filed by Gandhi after hehad drawn flak from the apexcourt on April 30

over his earlier affidavit inwhich he had not directlyadmitted his mistake for incor-rectly attributing the con-temptuous remark to the topcourt.

�������&�"���������"666

Page 5: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

��������������� ����������� !"�#$ % + "�&��,

��������������

������������������B���������������������!�#*/�/,�B��������������������- �����/����������� ������ ��#��������������+��� ��������.B�+�����������������%�������� ������������"����������J�������K� ������%����������������� ������������ ����������������������� ��������� ���1���+������ ��������%��������-�2������"�����%������ � �����%������� ?.��*�A�F�

With historic impeachment hearingsunderway, Democrats and

Republicans are hardening their argumentsover the actions of President DonaldTrump as they set out to win over a deeplypolarised American public.

Democrats say Wednesday’s extraor-dinary public session in the House revealeda striking account of Trump abusing hisoffice by pressing the newly elected pres-ident of Ukraine for political investigationsof rival Democrats, all while holding upneeded military aid. “Bribery,” they said,and “extortion.” Republicans counter thatthe hearing showed none of that.

They say the two seasoned diplomatsat the witness table had, at best, secondhandaccounts of Trump’s July 25 call that’s cen-tral to the impeachment inquiry. There wasno pressure on the young Ukraine leader,they argue, and eventually the aid flowed,though only after Congress intervened.

Day One of the rare public hearings inthe House — part of only the fourth for-mal impeachment effort in U.S. History —set the contours for a once-in-a-generationpolitical struggle. Images and audio fromthe hearing popped up on television, inearbuds and on the partisan silos of social

media, providing the first close-up look atthe investigation.

“The president sought to advance hispolitical and personal interests at theexpense of U.S. National security,” said Rep.Adam Schiff of California, the Democraticchairman of the House IntelligenceCommittee leading the probe.

“Is this now going to be the new nor-mal?” Schiff asked. Hosting the presidentof Turkey at the White House, Trump insist-ed he was too busy to watch the hearingsbeing broadcast live across the country andthe world. He denied a fresh detail from oneof the witnesses about a phone call in whichhe was overheard asking about “the inves-tigations.” “First I’ve heard of it,” Trump toldreporters during a news conference.

A different conversation sparked theimpeachment investigation, Trump’s July25 phone call with Ukraine PresidentVolodymyr Zelenskiy, heard by severalgovernment officials and detailed in a par-tial transcript released to the public weeksago. The core moment came when Trumpasked the newly elected leader for “a favor.”

House Minority Leader KevinMcCarthy, R-Calif., said Wednesday thatthe Democrats’ first witness “wasn’t on thephone call, never met with the president,never talked to the chief of staff. And he’stheir star witness?” Trump wantedUkraine’s government to investigateDemocrats’ activities in the 2016 electionand his potential 2020 rival Joe Biden —all while the administration was with-holding military aid for the EasternEuropean ally as it confronted an aggres-sive neighbor, Russia.

������ ��������������������� ��� ���������� ��� ���!������� �

Gaza City: A cease-fire between Israel andGaza’s Palestine Islamic Jihad (PIJ) militantgroup appeared to be holding Thursdaydespite an earlier barrage of rocket fire thatbriefly disrupted a truce to end two days ofintense fighting that killed at least 34Palestinians, including three women andeight children, and paralyzed parts of Israel.

Before the truce was announced, a pre-dawn Israeli airstrike killed eight members ofthe same family in Gaza. Among them werefive children, the youngest being 7 years old.

It was the deadliest single attack since abruising 2014 war between Israel and Hamas,the larger militant group that rules Gaza. PIJclaimed no link to the family and the Israelimilitary offered no details on the strike. AP

The Hague: International Criminal Courtjudges on Thursday approved a requestfrom prosecutors to open an investigationinto crimes committed against Myanmar’sRohingya Muslim minority.

The court said it has jurisdiction overcrimes partially committed in Bangladesh,which is a member state of the court.

Myanmar, which is not a member ofthe global court, has been accused of com-mitting widespread abuses in a campaignagainst the Rohingya.

Myanmar’s military began a counterin-surgency campaign in August 2017 inresponse to an insurgent attack. More than700,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouringBangladesh to escape what has been calledan ethnic cleansing campaign involving massrapes, killings and the torching of homes.

The court said in a statement that apanel of judges who studied ProsecutorFatou Bensouda’s request to open an inves-tigation concluded that there are groundsto believe widespread acts of violence werecommitted “that could qualify as thecrimes against humanity of deportationacross the Myanmar-Bangladesh borderand persecution on grounds of ethnicityand/or religion against the Rohingyapopulation”. AP

���� �F�A�,F�A

Hong Kong police warned protesters onThursday that they were moving “one

step closer to terrorism” by sinking the cityinto chaos, as riot squads skirmished withmilitant students at major universities.

Police spokesman Tse Chun-chungdenied his department had been asked toenforce a possible curfew this weekend. AChinese state media outlet later removed itstweet saying authorities were considering aweekend curfew that cited unidentifiedsources.

“We are aware of the relevant report cir-culating online,” Tse said at a daily briefing,referring to the report as “false.”

He said the authority to order a curfewlies with Hong Kong’s leader, Chief ExecutiveCarrie Lam, and “that’s why police are notin a position to comment.”

“The force is certainly capable and deter-mined to control Hong Kong’s social unrestat the moment. We welcome any new mea-sures that can help us to achieve the goal ofrestoring the public safety and order in HongKong,” Tse added.

In unusually harsh language, he said stu-dents were turning university campuses into“weapons factories” and a “hotbed” of crime.

�.$%98%7,�.���������%�����������������$� �������������� ������1�����/������ ����$���������9��������������-���� ��������������/��������������F� �9���� ���� ���.�%������6�������������� ��$� ���+������������� �������� ���� %%���+������������������&�$�@(7+:::�%���� ����������9�%�������������&�$�'+:::� ������ ����%���������%� ����� ��� ����� ����� � �����>�� ����� �����+������ ����%�����/����������&�$�!0:+:::������������ ���$� �����"�����������������9������������� �����/� ��@:'C�����9��������������� ���% � ��������������� �"��"��� ����������/���6��������������-������ %%���������� �&�$�@(7+:0@�$� ���9����������� �� ���?��������% � �������� %%����������� "������� �������%� ����� ���������9����1������������/�������J��������"� �K� ��

�����������������������������������������������������

Pretoria: Whites in South Africa earnedthree times more than blacks on aver-age, two decades after the demise ofapartheid, the statistics authority said onThursday.

In a report touching on the highlysensitive issue of inequality, researchfound that the wage gap between SouthAfrica’s groups increased between 2011and 2015.

It said the average monthly earningamong blacks -- who account for 80 percent of the population -- was 6,899 rand(USD 464/422 euros), while the figurewas 24,646 (USD 1,659/1,506 euros) forwhites.

Income earnings in South Africaremained “heavily racialised”, the sta-tistics authority said.

It added that women earned rough-ly 30 per cent less on average than males.

Africa’s most industrialised nationhas struggled to bridge the gap betweenracial and gender groups since the fallof apartheid in 1994.

For decades, the apartheid systemlegally divided South Africans intogroups of whites, blacks, Indians and“coloureds”, a term designating peopleof mixed race. AP

�����,������� ���������������������%�������+���������%��

"� ���� ������� �!����� ������������������ ���#

*��9��������6���������� ������ ��� �"��� �� ��

��������������� ������������������#������$������������� ��$����"������������)�������������������(������.�����(������$�&����/� ���(��� �������0������*����-� ����� ��

*����+������ ���*�� �3 ������������������ ������� ������-���

Page 6: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

Alittle less than two weeks ago, thenational capital witnessedunprecedented protests by hun-dreds of policemen. The person-nel gheraoed their headquarters,

demanding intervention and support ofsenior officers with respect to the clash thattook place between them and the lawyers atthe Tis Hazari district court complex. On theirpart, the lawyers have been on a strike andhave threatened to continue with it unless theirdemands are heard to protect them from whatthey call the high-handedness of the police.

While the origin of the dispute isunclear, it has been reported that the clashwas over a parking dispute. Whatever be thereason, the scuffle between them escalatedinto something much more serious. It wasreported that three lawyers were shot andas a result of the struggle, more than 30 peo-ple were severely injured. Police vans andvehicles were set on fire and the lawyers’chambers were ransacked. The disputecontinues to linger till the date of writingthis article and peaceful ground between thepolice and the lawyers looks far away. Bothsides have stuck to their guns, holding theother side responsible for the scuffle.

Almost a year ago, a similar dispute haderupted, which had led to the breakdown ofthe law and order situation. Again, a CentralGovernment agency was involved. InOctober last year, an internal rift between thethen Director of the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) Alok Verma and hisnumber two, Rakesh Asthana, had becomea public spectacle. Both Asthana and Vermahurled corruption charges against eachother and approached the courts to ensureprotection against legal action. In an extra-ordinary move, the Union Government sentboth officers on leave and with effect,divested the CBI Director of all duties. Thismove was extraordinary because the CBIDirector enjoys a tenure of two years afterhis appointment by a high-profile commit-tee, which includes the Leader of Opposition.

However, this committee was bypassedto remove Verma, who among other voices,had cast aspersions on the Government forsubverting investigations into significantcases. While I have written about the crisisof credibility in the past, the reason I want torecount this incident is because both the pre-sent crisis involving the police and lawyers aswell as the last incident involving the CBI havetwo things in common: First, both situationsmake a mockery of the law and water downsafeguards that are essential for a democra-cy to thrive. Second, in both cases no one fromthe Government took responsibility for themess or showed interest to ensure that the sit-uation is diffused in a responsible manner.

The failure to maintain law and orderis unfortunately becoming more frequentover the last few years in the country. Thelaw has been abused by individual law-makers in power. It seems the rule of lawhas now changed to the law of rulers.

Therefore, I will not go throughthese details again.

The fact, however, is that wenow live in a country where wehave been immunised againstimpropriety in general. This isnot necessarily always in the formof cases like SwamiChinmayanand and the UttarPradesh Police’s handling of therape case against the said BJPleader. Sometimes, mockerytakes different forms. For exam-ple, the unilateral manner inwhich demonetisation waspressed upon the citizens and thelack of scientific examination intoit that has had a tectonic impacton the country’s economy.

Another example is how theRight to Information (RTI) Actwas watered down or how fakenews and hate speech havebeen allowed to thrive on socialmedia. All of these instances,while completely unconnectedat the first blush, have a discon-certing common thread run-ning through them: They are allsymptoms of a weakeningdemocracy. The clash betweenthe police and the lawyers isonly the latest symptom of amore serious problem.

Now let’s talk about thesecond issue, which relates to thefact that no one from theGovernment has taken respon-sibility for or ensured that thestand-off between the DelhiPolice, which comes under theUnion Home of Ministry, andthe lawyers, is settled responsi-bly. It is here that questions about

leadership arise. Through theentire dispute we saw seniorpolice officials stepping in. Wehave seen numerous voicesthrow their inputs into the mix.But what we did not see was theintervention of the Union HomeMinister on this issue. We haveseen the Lieutenant Governor ofDelhi in the front and centre butnone from the UnionGovernment intervened. This isespecially disappointing becauseit follows a trend where duringthe good times — typically elec-tion victories — we get to hearmany representatives of theGovernment speaking on tele-vision for great lengths.

However, just as often, dur-ing times when the Governmentis faced with a crisis, we do notsee any official offer an explana-tion or provide reassurance. Ina few instances, where we haveseen Ministers taking questionsduring difficult situations, wehave been left a little concernedthan reassured. One example ofthis was how the FinanceMinister responded and react-ed to the economic crisis. Whiletaking questions on the slow-down of the auto industry,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman deflected the blameto cab aggregators like Ola andUber for the plummeting sale ofcars. A response like this seemsto be disconnected from realityand displays a desire to deflectblame rather than takingresponsibility to fix the situation.

Not one person can be

held completely responsiblefor a crisis. In an economic/jobcrisis, for example, externalfactors matter, too. However, asthings stand today, there shouldbe little debate on the fact thatthere are internal governanceissues, which have exacerbatedthe problem further. It wouldhave been nice to see theFinance Minister talk aboutredressing these issues ratherthan worrying about imagemanagement. The former is thekind of leadership that can helpIndia steer itself through crisis.

The showdown betweenthe police and lawyers calls fora brand of leadership wherepeople are reassured that theGovernment is capable of tak-ing steps to ensure that the cri-sis is averted with minimumloss and with maturity. I amfortunate to see the AamAadmi Party (AAP) at work. Ihave seen it taking steps whileat the same time encouragingbrand of leadership. No doubt,there will be instances wherewe may fall short, too, but I amoptimistic that we will not shyaway from the problem, nomatter how uncomfortable.

I will instead face the prob-lem head-on. This is franklywhat our voters expect from us.Similarly, I think we should notbe shy of demanding samestandards from other politicalleaders, too.

(The writer is a former IPSofficer, an MP and currently amember of the AAP)

����������������� �������������������������������������������������������� ��� ������ ��� ���� ������� ��

���������������������� ����������������� �������� �������� ����� �� ��������!"�����������������������������#$"�������%���%�����������������������&����������������������������������������������������������������!�'���������������������������%��������������������������������(������ ��������������������������������������%���� ����������� ���� ������ ��� �����

��������������)������������������*���������� ��������������+�������������,� ��������������������������������������������!�-�����������������%�����������������������������#$"�����������������������������������������������������������������*��������������������������"����.��������������.���!�'��+��������������,������������)�� ���������������������������#$"�������������������������������������������(�����������������������!���������������������������������������������(���������������������������������+�� ��������������'��������������������������������������������������������%����������������#$"����)������������������������������������������!�/�����0���.���������������(���"������������������������������������������������������������"����.������������������������������������1����"����.������)������������������ �������������������!

-�������������������������������������������������������������������#$"������������������������������������������������������������������"��������!�'������������������������������������������������������������������������������(���������������������������������������������%��������������������������������������%���������.����������������!�2���������������������$"�����������������������������������������"�����&���������������������(�����������&*�3���������������&������%*����4���������������������)�������������������������������!�&������������������%���������������������������������������������������������������������������� ��!��������������(��������������������������������������������%�����������������������������������������������������������������.���!���������������������������������������������������������������������������������%�����������������!�'����������������(���!�&���%�����������������������%�������������������������������������������������(���������������������������������������������������������������������!�

1�������������)��������5�&������������������������������5�������� �������������������� ��� ���5� '�� ������ �����

������������������������������������������� ��������������������������������������������(������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%��������!�'�����������������67��������������������)�����������������%���������������������������������� ��������������������������� ��������������!�'�����������������������������������������������%

��������������������������!�'�������������������������������������)�����������&������������������������������������������������������������%����������������������������������������������������������!���������������������������������������������������0����&������������������*�����������%����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�&���������������������������������������������������������������������!�-���������������������������������������������������������������������� ����������������������������������������������!'������������������������������������������������������������������%��!�'������ ������������)��������������������������)�����������������������������*��%(������������������������������������������������������!��������������������������������������������������������������������$��������.��������������������������������������������������������������������%��������������������������������������(�������������������������������������!'����������������)�������������������������������������������������������� ��� ������ �� 89:� �������� ����� ������� �������� �������� ���� ;<�������������������������������(!�'����������������������������������%�������������������������������������������������������������(�����!�=����������������������������������������������(�����������������������������&�����������������������������������!�����������������������������������������������������������)��������������������������������������������������������������������� �������"����������������������������������������������%�������������;�������#��������������!�'�������������(����������!�1��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�=�����2������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%���������������������������������������!�0�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%��������������>����������������:7:?!�1������#$"����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%���������������0�(��������������!�'���������������������������������������%�����������������������������������������������������������������!������������)������������������ ����������������������������������������������!��

<������������������� ������!�-��������������������� ���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������5�-��������������������������(�����������������������(����������������������������������������������������������@�������������������������!�0����&����������%�����������������������������������������������������������������������%��!�'��2����������������������������������������������������������%��������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�=��������A�������������������������������������������������������!�#��������������������0����&�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%���������������������������������������������������!�#���&������������������������������������������!�;���������������������������(��������%������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������!�&�;��������������������������������������������������#�������������������������������������!����������2���������%��������������������������������!���������&�������������������������������������������(����������������������!�-������������������������5

��������� ��

Sir — Post the news that theIsraeli spyware, Pegasus, targettedover 100 members of civil soci-ety, including journalists andhuman rights activists,WhatsApp, the Facebook-ownedmessaging app, is now banningglobal users if they are found tobe part of group chats with mali-cious or suspicious names, insome cases permanently.

It’s welcome that at leastsome action is being taken toaddress the problem of thespread of false information.Further, the social media giantmust roll out an upgraded ver-sion of its app that is securedfrom the spyware. This way, itcan be stopped from affectingmore phones.

It is a matter of grave concernthat Pegasus has had an impact onaround 1,400 devices globally.The violation of one’s privacy isa grievous offence. People maystart feeling compelled to useother messaging apps ifWhatsApp proves to be vulnera-ble to the malware. Something isbetter than nothing at all.

Tushar AnandPatna

�����������������

Sir — With air quality indexbreaching the 900-mark, bad airis severely affecting the health of

the residents of Delhi and theNational Capital Region (NCR).

It is sad that though the rea-sons that contribute to air pollu-tion are well-known, we have

been unable to alter the situation.One of the causes for such highlevel of pollution is the burningof crop residue by farmers in theneighbouring States of Punjab,

Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. The lack of seriousness on

part of the respective StateGovernments as well as theCentral Government to devise anaction plan has led to the presentsaga of people suffering from“severe” category of air pollution.The Government must pro-actively work with all stakehold-ers concerned to bring down airpollution levels.

Devendra KhuranaBhopal

����������������

Sir — The problem of air pollu-tion is not new to the capital city.It is also a fact that policy mea-sures kick in at the nick of thetime when health is at stake.Besides, much of the policies dolittle to address the heart of theproblem, which is stubble burn-ing. Bans, incentives and target-ed subsidies are only temporarysolutions. If indeed we intend totackle the problem, behaviouralchanges are needed.

SunitaVia email

� # � $ % � " � & ' � � # � � � ( �

�����������������%��/��-���L� ��� �������M N���$ ��� �������M ��������L� ��� �����L

���� ��������������� ����������� !"�#$ %

�-

����"������������������

� � .�(��

*�� ����%����������������A�"����������% ��������-������ ������%���������� ��� ��������������� ��� ��� ������������������������<������� ��������������� /��

*��"������ ��������� / � � �����% �-����*����=��������-�� ������������� �2�����.���% �-��+�*��"����/����� ��������"���

�+$99�="&�O.���������"�

,�� � �+�����������- ����%����� � ��+���� "��������9�������� ����?������������ �����������������������

�EF��=+7�����&"7+/"��O���"�H�������%�

� � � � / � � � �

� � � � � � � � � � �� � � � � / � � � �

������������������

����� "��� ���������%��"����� ������������� � ���� �������.���/�������������������/����������� ���������2� / � ����%���� � ������ ������������%��2�������"��2

��������"��"� ��������������� � �������J��� � ��� ���������%��������� /���K�����J� "����K�/������������� "�����������#3��O�%����J���/ � ��K��� ������ ���������%�����������1��������������%����� ������ �� �/ � �������2��������������������/��������2��� ���%�����O���� "��� ������ ��� ����������������� 4���5���� ����������������������%���������2�������� � ���A�"����������� ��� � ����%����� ����9�������������������� � � ����� ����������JF���� ���,�K�/������#3��������� �� ���������������J��%�������6�� ��K�%��� ����%������#3��������� � ����%����/��J������� ����� %%������K�� ��� �� ������� ���������2��� ��� %� �������� ���� H ���������#�� ������+� ���������/����� � ������ ��� �������� %���������� ����/� ��� %�������.���/��� ������-����J �����2�������� � ��KP� ����������������%�����"��� ����%�������������������%��� ����%�����������A�"���������� ��������������� ����������� ��%������ �����������������������%�����"���� ����������%���� � ���

��-���������� �����/��������������������� "���+������������������������������������������%����A�"������+�������%������2��� ������������ �2 ����������*������� ����+��������� ������� ������-%���J���� ������ �%� � ������ �K+������ ������������

������"�������%��� "����2#3��� ����*�� ���" �����%���������2�� ������� � �����%��������������������������"��6� � ��������� ��������� "������������������� ����"���������������� / � ����%������� � � ���/���������������2�� ��� �%%���� �� ��� ���� ���� �������� ��� � ��� ����� �� ��������� �� ���������%�%��<��?��� ��������� ���-��� �������������� �����-�������������� ����"�����������������������/��-����� ���������/����� ��������������"��+���������� ��� ���-��%������������������%�������� � ������ ���� ������J���������K ��������������

����3+/��+$�.�����������

?�>����>AF�>���>���*�

B.�>$�?*���.��*�*�+�?>�$F��F��>>�.�E�FBB*�*.8

FBB>��.�>Q�8.�.�*F��F�

��F�*$>�>.��&�.��>��*�.�B>?�*���.��>�

?�>�>�?>��.�>��>>�

�*�*��>����.,*�AD&>��*F��

$&�*�A�$*BB*�&8��*�&.�*F��+�?>

�.�>�#>>���F��>��>$���.�

�>.��&�>$

������� ��$$�1�#�����2$"��"&7�.:+.�""&G#9�+$?<.9�

������)���*��!���������%��������������9��������"��� ��������/������ ������2� �������*%����/�����������"��� ������� ��%"�����%��� ��2�����+����������/��/����

���� �#"�"&�$�7"<&"��&6O�� ���E������

'��������������������"������������ �������������"�"���������������'��"3���������������� 3�������7������

#"������� ����������"�&���������"�����7���"'8�����"�� ������������������"������

���� �������������

*�������������������2������������ ��� ��������+�/����%���������4A�"������5������ ���6���� -��#3������� �����

@"7��!"�#�$���O���#���6��

Page 7: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

������ ��������B���������B����������������������@�����������?�������H

���������� ����������������������?IB������B�������������

!��0��0������

�����D�������������H������!��D��C��������B����?D�B������B� �� �����������������������@����������!������������������0?I������������B���������������������@���

!�"#$�������!�"#$�

� ��� �01 � � � � � � � � ( �

%�������������������&�����

���# �2(��

*�� ��������&�������������-���� � �� ����������������� ����������� ���� ��

����� ���%���������� �

������������������������������������!�'�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������

�����������������������������������!�#��������������������������������������������������(����������������������������������������������������������������������������%��������������������������������!�&�����������������������������������������������������������������������/�����������3/�4���������!�'��/�����������������������������������������������������(���������������������������������������������������������������� ���������� ��� �� ������ ������� ����� ��� ��� -����� '���=������������3-'=4!�1��������������������������������&�����)�������������������������������������������������������������� �������� ���� ���!� '�� ������� ������������ ��������������'���������3��'4���������������������8!6������������(�����������������B!6���������������������)��*�����;�������"������3*;"4����:7?C!������������������%������������������'�����������������������667�����������������������������������677��������������������������(����������������%�����������������%(�������������!���������������������������������������%����������������������������������������?:%?6����������������!�����������������������������������?�:77�������������:7?D������!

���������������������������������������������&�����)������%�������� �����������������������������!�'�����������������������������?7!:��������������/�������������E!F�����������������(��������������������������������������������������������������������������!�G���������/��������������(�����������������������������������������������������������������������������(�������������������������������������������������%����� �����������������!

#���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�2�������������������������������������������������������������!�G���������%������������������*�����������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������/���������!�2�����������������������������������������������������%����������������������������������������������������������������%������������������!�"���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������������������������������!�'����������/�%��������������(���������������������������������������������������������������������������%�������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�&���������������(������������������(������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������%����!�1�����������)���������������������������!���'��������������(��������������������������������������������������������%������������������)���������������������������������!������������������������������������������������������������������������������'�����������������������������������/������������������������������������������������ �����������������������!&����������������(����������������������������������� ��������������������/����������������������������������������������-����#��()��G������;�����#���������������(���� �����������������*�������!�'�����������������%������������������������!

����������/�����������������������������������������%�������������������������������������!�'���������*������������������������������������������������������������������������%���������������������������������������������������(�����������������!�'��������������������������������������������(������������� �������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������*������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�2������������������%������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������!�&���������������������������%���������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������� ������������������!�'�����������������/�%������������������!�&�����������������������%���������������������������������������������������������%������������������������������������������!�'��������������������%�������������������������������������������(�����������������������������������!�'��������������'������������������3�'�4�����%�������������������*����������������������������������������%���������������������������(������������(��������������������������/�%���������������������������������������������!

3���������������� �������� ��������� ���4

Histories, when confined tonutshells, become absolutefacts devoid of context. They

are turned into miniature caricatures,paraded as stripped actualities thatanyone can dress in the manner theydeem fit. This is particularly true inthe age of social media, that onlyallows the exhibition of historicalfacts as end results. It completelyignores the complex historicalprocesses which led to the endresults.

For example, as miniaturised his-tory, the 18th century FrenchRevolution was an uprising of thepoor against the rich. Just recently Iheard someone say this in a podcast,positioning it as a “historical fact”which the podcaster said was aiming

at a “privileged, middle-class” foe.Indeed, the poor did rise up in

France but the uprising was largelyinstigated and navigated by the mid-dle-classes against common foes: Thearistocratic/landed elite and thepowerful clergy. The well-known his-torian Henry Heller, in The FrenchRevolution and HistoricalMaterialism, roots the revolution inthe gradual growth of the middle-class in France.

According to Heller, by the 18thcentury, the political and economicaspirations and interests of theFrench middle class began to clashwith those of the ancien régime, i.e.,the monarchy, the feudal class andthe church. This friction saw themiddle-class intelligentsia stronglypropagate the ideas of democracy,secularism and nationalism, whichbecame the main ideological enginesof the revolution. Another exampleis the American Civil War (1861-1865). In a nutshell, it is oftenexplained as an armed conflictbetween the pro-slavery South andthe anti-slavery North in the US.American economists M Thorntonand RB Execlund write, in TheEconomics of the Civil War, that the

conflict was mainly due to econom-ic tensions between the “industri-alised North” and the “agriculturalSouth.” Prominent in this respect wasthe perception in the South that taxrevenues collected there were large-ly being transferred to strengthenindustrial interests of the North.

The anti-slavery position wasadopted by the North and PresidentLincoln only after the Southernstates declared their secession.Lincoln’s original stance on slavery,which he displayed a year before theCivil War, was rather different. Hehad said: “I have no purpose to inter-fere with the institution of slaverywhere it exists. I believe I have nolawful right to do so, and I don’tintend to.”

There are numerous such exam-ples from world history which, whencarefully studied outside their nut-shell versions, often add a deeperdimension to the end result. Manysuch examples are also present inPakistan’s history. Take for instance,the 1974 Second ConstitutionalAmendment and the 1986 Article295-C in the country’s penal code.The first ousted the Ahmadi commu-nity from the fold of Islam and the

second introduced the death penal-ty for those found to have commit-ted blasphemy.

When explained in a nutshell,the Second Amendment is elucidat-ed as the sole doing of the “socialist”regime of ZA Bhutto. Unlike variousconventional religious groups thathad opposed the creation of Pakistan,Punjab’s Ahmadi community hadbacked Jinnah’s call. They thenbecame prominent in the country’sState and Government institutions.

The Iranian-American authorand academic Vali Nasr, in TheVanguard of Islamic Revolution,writes that soon after Pakistan’s cre-ation, radical religious groups inPunjab often “articulated economicgrievances in Islamic terms.” Thiscontributed to the 1953 anti-Ahmadimovement when the provincialGovernment, headed by MumtazDaultana, failed to address an eco-nomic crisis. As a distraction,Daultana went on to tacitly supportthe movement. He was dismissed bythe President after the movement wascrushed by the military.

The 1973 international oil crisisbadly hit world economies andPakistan was no exception. Urdu

newspapers of this period are full ofstatements by religious partiesexpressing economic grievances in‘Islamic’ terms. Then, an episode inRabwah, in which a group of Ahmadiyouth clashed with the student-wing of Jamaat-i-Islami, suddenlytriggered a brand new anti-Ahmadimovement in Punjab.

In his 1997 study of the Bhuttoregime, Rafi Raza writes that Bhuttorefused to allow the Opposition todiscuss the issue in the Parliament.And when violence increased, hepublicly threatened to crush theprotests with the help of the military.

However, with the army alreadyengaged in fighting an insurgency inBalochistan, Bhutto demurred. Onthe insistence of some of his party’smembers in the Punjab Assembly,the religious parties were finallyallowed to table a Bill.

In an essay for Political Powerand Social Theory, Sadia Saeed writesthat the 1953 movement had large-ly been crushed on the insistence ofthe military and the bureaucracy butthat, by the 1970s, both had beenweakened and distanced from poli-tics. She also writes that the pressureto allow the Opposition to table the

anti-Ahmadi Bill also came from theLeft and liberal quarters. For exam-ple, Wali Khan’s National AwamiParty did not oppose the Bill, and aJune 7, 1974 editorial in Dawnexplained the Bill as the Opposition’s“democratic right.”

Now, to Article 295-C. In thenutshell version of its history, thisArticle was introduced by the reac-tionary General Zia dictatorship. Itis true that this dictatorship intro-duced various controversial laws inthe name of faith, but the fact is, Ziawas actually not in favour of intro-ducing the death penalty in this con-text.

According to a February 11, 2011article by Khalid Ahmad in TheExpress Tribune, some journalists andlawyers from Punjab approached theFederal Shariat Court in 1984, peti-tioning it to introduce stern lawsagainst blasphemy.

On June 8, 1986, some membersof the National Assembly — whichwas formed after the 1985 elections— agreed to table a private Bill thatwould include the death penalty forblasphemy.

The Zia-backed Government ofMohammad Khan Junejo pre-empt-

ed the move and tabled a Bill that didnot include the death penalty.However, during a debate, whichincluded no more than six legislators,the death sentence was added. As alast-minute addition, theGovernment hastily added “deathpenalty or life imprisonment” in theBill that was passed.

Upon emotional appeals, espe-cially by those who had demandedthe death penalty, Zia, as President,signed the Bill into law in October1986.

The addition of the words “or lifeimprisonment” was challenged by thesame politicians in 1987 in theShariat Court. In 1990, the courtruled that the death penalty aloneshould be mandatory for blasphemy.It asked the then sitting Governmentof Nawaz Sharif to remove the words“or life imprisonment” from the law.The Government planned to chal-lenge the decision in the SupremeCourt but since those who had orig-inally demanded the death penaltywere by then part of Sharif ’s partyand coalition Government (theIslami Jamhoori Ittehad), the regimewithdrew the challenge.

(Courtsey: Dawn)

#"�������������"����������������"���������������� �������������� �������� �������� �� ��������������������������������������������� ��� �� ��������������

#�'(() �������

��������������� ����������� !"�#$ %

�����������������

9����������"�������������

Delhi, one of the world’s most polluted cities,is in the news again for its worsening airquality as the Government has been forced

to close schools and declare a health emergency.The much-loved winter months in other parts ofthe country are a nightmare for the residents ofDelhi-NCR as the area gets enveloped in a blan-ket of toxic haze.

With the Air Quality Index (AQI) reachingnew levels each year and going as high as 1,200+(classified ‘Hazardous’) this month, the city is suf-focating, literally. Apart from coal and construc-tion dust, vehicular emissions and smoke fromDiwali firecrackers, stubble burning by farmers inthe States of Punjab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh(UP) are cited as the primary reason for this cri-sis.

While the Delhi Government has been try-ing to bring down pollution levels through its vehi-cle rationing odd-even scheme and by closing pol-luting factories and coal-based power plantsamong other things, biomass burning is somethingit has failed to stop. For this, it needs the cooper-ation of its neighbouring States and has no con-trol over the farmers there.

Crop residue burning is a practice where farm-ers set their entire fields on fire after harvesting therice crop, to make way for the next i.e. wheat. Thesowing of rice is timed such that its intense waterneeds are met by the monsoon rains in the Indo-Gangetic plains and the crop is harvested just beforewinter starts. However, the result is a whopping23 million tonnes of paddy residue in the fields thatneed to be cleared in a short span of 10 to 20 days,before the farms are readied for sowing wheat. Ifthe farmers had more time between crops, theycould have just left this biomass lie in the fields andlet it turn to mulch, which is an excellent fertilis-er. However, with such a short gap between the twocrops, setting fields afire seems to be the easiest wayto get rid of the stubble. This however severelydegrades the ambient air quality of Delhi-NCR.

Taking cognisance of the consequences ofstubble burning, the Government banned it in June,imposing fines on those who defied the diktat andrecently the Supreme Court (SC) even pulled upthe chief secretaries of the three neighbouring Statesand ordered them to ensure that farmers don’t burncrop residue anymore.

Nevertheless, the practice seems to have con-tinued as growers contend that feasible, affordableand scalable alternatives are lacking. In an effortto encourage farmers to find alternatives to burn-ing the residue, the SC had also directed the threeStates to pay �100 per quintal of paddy straw togrowers, but it doesn’t seem to have worked.

The atmospheric factors at play: People oftenwonder how a practice followed a few 100 km fromDelhi-NCR has big implications. Here is the sci-ence behind this phenomenon. During winter, theregion sees low wind speeds and temperature inver-sion — an atmospheric phenomenon where thetemperature of the air near the surface is lower thanthat of the air higher in the atmosphere. Hence,when the pollutants from vehicular emissions andcrop burning are released into the air, they are notdispersed but trapped in the lower layers of theatmosphere. As a result, the air quality takes a deepdive.

“Air pollution in cities like Delhi maybe attributed to the growth of the metroand the pollutants from sources far awaythat get carried to the national Capitalby the moving air or environmental con-ditions, which are unfavourable for thedispersion of pollutants,” said Prof VinojV from the Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT), Bhubaneswar, talkingabout his study published in 2018. Thestudy, among other things, had foundthat crop burning has been increasing atan alarming rate of 25 per cent since2000.

It isn’t Delhi alone that takes the hit;other tier-2 cities in the region also seemto be affected by biomass burning forsimilar reasons. A 2019 research, whichinvestigated the source of pollutants in20 Indian cities other than Delhi, foundthat in places like Amritsar, Chandigarhand Ludhiana, crop residue burning,along with emissions from power plantsand seasonal dust storms contributed toabout 50-52 per cent of particulatematter.

In essence, the timing of winter-related atmospheric phenomena, coupledwith the surge in emissions when thefields are set on fire, is a perfect pollu-tion cocktail.

The health and economic costs ofstubble burning: It is well-known thatinhaling polluted air can lead to severehealth conditions like lung cancer, dia-betes, cardiovascular diseases, asthma,bronchitis and dementia. Not just this,air pollution also adversely affects cropyields in India. But, what really is the eco-nomic cost of stubble burning in thesemaladies?

A study, published by researchers atUSA’s International Food Policy ResearchInstitute and Oklahoma State University,pegs that number at $30 billion, includ-

ing the economic loss and associatedhealth costs. It found that about 14 percent of acute respiratory infections,recorded in Haryana, Punjab and Delhiin 2013, could be attributed to stubbleburning. Researchers estimate that liv-ing in areas where there is intensive cropburning increases the chance of acute res-piratory infections three-fold, with chil-dren under the age of five being the mostaffected.

Crippled policies adding to woes:As most studies have pointed out, arobust combination of the right policies,economic incentives and awarenesscampaigns are the need of the hour tocurb the “burning” problem of air pol-lution. Badly-designed policies couldhave unintended effects on air quality, asshown by a research from theInternational Maize and WheatImprovement Center in India andMexico and the Cornell University,USA. It showed that groundwater con-servation policies, introduced in 2009 inPunjab and Haryana, could have con-tributed to the rise in stubble burning.

Although rice is a lucrative crop forfarmers, it is water-intensive. Hence, the‘Punjab Preservation of Subsoil WaterAct’ and the ‘Haryana Preservation ofSubsoil Water Act’ banned the transplan-tation of rice before monsoon to con-serve groundwater. As the monsoonarrives in these States in July, the crop isharvested in early November, forcingfarmers to clear their fields as soon aspossible for wheat sowing. Using satel-lite data, the study found that prior to2009, about 40 per cent of rice was har-vested by late October and this numberdeclined to 14 per cent after the law wasenforced. The number of fires went upfrom 490 per day during late Octoberprior to 2009, to 681 per day, peaking

around early November. The averagedaily PM2.5 concentrations in Novemberwere also found to be 29 per cent high-er after the groundwater Acts werepassed.

With the clamour for alternatives tostubble burning increasingly being heard,science may have solutions, as shown bya 2019 study. It analysed 10 alternativesto stubble burning and found that con-trary to what farmers believed, thesemethods were not only environment-friendly, but also profitable. Among themis using Happy Seeder, a machine thatcan sow wheat despite the presence ofrice straw in the fields. This yielded near-ly 10-20 per cent increase in profits orabout �11,498 per hectare on an average.The profits come from lower landpreparation cost and the reuse of the cropresidue, which increases soil moistureand benefits the long-term health of thesoil.

However, these benefits come at acost of �2.4 billion — necessary to pro-duce about 16,000 Happy Seeders to caterto 50 per cent of the rice — wheat cul-tivation areas. With a meagre subsidy of�2,000 provided by the Government forpurchasing machines to manage cropresidue, machines like Happy Seeders areunaffordable to many farmers, leavingthem with no options but to set fields onfire.

As most of these studies have point-ed out, with a robust combination of theright policies, economic incentives andawareness campaigns, the pressing prob-lem of managing crop residue can beaddressed. It is about time that policy-makers took note of such insights andacted to provide us all with clean air tobreathe — a basic necessity of life.

(The writer is managing editor at ascience portal)

���"������������ �������������"����"���������3����� ���������7���������������� ������3��"����� ���� ��������������������������7���� ����������� ������������������

�!��*$+ ���(��

*��*��9��$>8�*2����

.8F�>���.��.,>����>��*�PF��>���*>�2@�*�*>��*����>�>A*F��.8�F�>>���F�#>.BB>��>$�#E

#*F�.��#&��*�A��

.�@:'(���&$E+?�*��

*��>��*A.�>$��>��F&��>�FB�F88&�.����*�

@:�*�$*.���*�*>�F��>����.�

$>8�*+�BF&�$��.��*���8.�>�8*,>�.��*��.�+

��.�$*A.���.�$8&$�*.�.+�

��F���>�*$&>#&��*�A+�

.8F�A�?*��>�*��*F���B�F�

�F?>���8.����.�$

�>.�F�.8�$&����F���

�F���*#&�>$��F�.#F&��

0:20@��>���>��FB��.��*�&8.�>

�.��>�

Page 8: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

��������������� ����������� !"�#$ % �� ��3

Hyderabad: Alleging that the Telangana Governmentwas misleading the public and the courts, the agitatingTSRTC employees on Thursday said they were willingto drop their main demand of merger of the corporationwith the transport department, for time being.

“When talks were held earlier we had indicated thatwe were willing to drop some demands. However, the gov-ernment kept sending messages that the employees wereadamant on their demands. So the JAC decided to tem-porarily drop the merger demand. Now the Governmentshould hold discussions on other demands,” AshwathamaReddy leader of the RTC unions said. PTI

���� #>�A.8&�&

BJP on Thursday fielded 13disqualified Congress-

JD(S) legislators as its candi-dates for the December 5Assembly by-elections inKarnataka hours after therebels joined the ruling partyin the State.

The party aiming to win amajority of the 15seats that willgo for the bypolls announceda list of 14 candidates withthe nominee for Ranebennurconstituency yet to be named.

A day after the SupremeCourt paved the way for them-to contest the bypolls, as manyas 16 disqualified MLAs onThursday joined the BJP at the

party office here.The disqualified MLAs,

whose rebellion led to the fall ofthe Kumaraswamy Governmentand the return of the BJP topower in July, were inducted inthe presence of Chief MinisterBS Yediyurappa, State BJP pres-ident Nalin Kumar Kateel andNational General Secretary incharge of Karnataka PMuralidhar Raoamong others.

The Supreme Court onWednesday had upheld thedisqualification of 17 Congress-JD(S) MLAs in Karnataka bythen Assembly Speaker K RRamesh Kumar but allowedthem to contest the bypollsnecessitated by the actionagainst them.

The court had set aside theportion of the Speaker’s orderbywhich the MLAs were dis-qualified till the end of the-

current Assembly’s term in2023.

While, the 13 disqualifiedMLAs have been fielded againfrom their respective seats, MSaravana, a former corporator,has been has been given theticket from Shivajinagar, deny-ing it to R Roshan Baig, a dis-qualified Congress legislatorfrom the constituency.

Baig, a seven-time MLA,has notbeen inducted into theparty, unlike 16 other disqual-ified legislators who were wel-comed into the BJP fold.

BJP sources cited “reser-vations” expressed by partyleadership over Baig, who facedinquiry in the IMA ponzi scam,among the reasons for his non-induction and denial of

ticket.Interestingly, Baig, a for-

mer Minister, on Wednesdayhad claimed hewill join BJPalong with the other legislators.

According to sources closeto Baig, he met Chief Ministerand expressed his displeasureand also was contemplatingcontesting as an independentcandidate after consulting hissupporters.

The other disqualifiedCongress MLAs who have beengiven ticket by the BJP are:Mahesh Kumatalli in Athaniconstituency, ShrimanthagoudaPatil (Kagwad), RameshJarkiholi (Gokak), ShivramHebbar (Yellapur), B C Patil(Hirekerur), Anand Singh(Vijayanagara), K Sudhakar(Chikkaballapura), ByratiBasavaraj (K R Puram), S TSomashekar (Yeshwanthpur)and MTB Nagaraj (Hoskote).

+,������*��!.�/0�1�23#��4� ��������� #>�A.8&�&

Announcingcandidates for10 of 15 bypoll bound

Assembly constituencies inKarnataka, JD(S) leader H DKumaraswamy on Thursdaysaid his party cannot be“neglected” by Congress andBJP in the State and defeatingthe disqualified MLAs was hisstrategy.

Kumaraswamy, who wasforced to resign as ChiefMinister in July after therebellion by the now disqualified MLAs, said theJD(S) was facing the polls keeping both the nation-al parties at “equal distance”.

'7�����/������� �-��

���� #�.�*8*.

Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro hasaccepted Prime Minister Narendra

Modi’s invitation to be the chief guest atIndia’s Republic Day celebrations in 2020.

Prime Minister Modi met Bolsonaro onWednesday on the sidelines of the 11thBRICS Summit held here to focus on build-ing mechanisms for counter-terrorism coop-eration and strengthen India’s ties with theworld’s five major economies.

During his meeting with Bolsonaro,Prime Minister Modi invited the President of Brazil to be the chief guest at the Republic Day in 2020.Bolsonaro accepted the invitation withpleasure.

����������������� ,F8,.�.

Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Thursday lashed out at twoGovernors for playing partisanrole and “acting like a BJPagent.”

Hitting out at MaharashtraGovernor Bhagat SinghKoashyari for recommendingPresident’s Rule in Maharashtra“defying” constitutional provisions and BengalGovernor Jagdeep Dhankharfor “acting like BJP’s mouth-piece” the Chief Minister saidfederal structure of the coun-try was in peril.

“I generally do not sayanything on constitutionalposts but there are some peo-ple who are behaving just likeBJP’s mouthpieces,” she saidpointing out at “what is hap-pening in my State,” she toldreporters at the State secretari-at. Without naming anyoneshe said, “they (the Governor)are running parallel adminis-tration in the State.”

Referring to the constitu-tional provisions Banerjee said“both the Central and StateGovernments are electedGovernments and both havetheir jurisdictions defined. Thisthe beauty of federal structure.And the federal structure of thecountry must be respected.(But) there are some peoplewho are dominating too much.They are working just like theBJP’s mouthpieces. They areeven superseding the centralgovernment. And the Centremust take some decision onthis.”

Attacking the CentralGovernment Banerjee saidDelhi was yet to release �17,000crores to West Bengal. Shesaid, “as the Centre did notrelease devolution component(central tax 42 per cent) tillOctober, we suffered a loss of

� 640 crores. Moreover, Centreis supposed to release � 17,000crores which the state has notyet received. Economic growthis so low that every State is suf-fering.”

The relation between theRaj Bhavan and Nabanna (statesecretariat) had been anythingbut cordial in Bengal with reg-ular run-ins between seniorBengal Ministers and theGovernor.

On the visit of UnionMinister Babul Supriyo atNamkhana post cyclone BulbulBanerjee said “some peopleare trying to play politics at thishour of crisis. They are tryingto cash in on the people’s dis-tress which will not be allowed.”

The tussle betweenGovernor and Governmentstarted on September 21 whenthe Governor ignoring theadvice of the State administra-tion went to rescue BabulSupriyo blockaded by a sectionstudents at Jadavpur University.Things kept worsening afterthat with Dhankhar regularlytaking administrative tours indistricts allegedly ignoring federal norms.

Recently he went to a blockoffice at Singur leading a mas-sive uproar in the ruling partycircles who questioned his“unconstitutional demeanour.”TMC leaders and Ministerssaid, “a Governor had no busi-ness in poking his nose inadministrative issues withoutthe advice of the StateGovernment.”

Brasilia/Beijing: India and China have agreed tohold another meeting on matters relating to theboundary question after Prime Minister NarendraModi met Chinese President Xi Jinping on the side-lines of the BRICS Summit here, according to anofficial statement.

The 21st round of India-China border talks, ledby Special Representatives (SR) National SecurityAdvisor Ajit Doval and his Chinese counterpart andForeign Minister Wang Yi, were held at Chengduin China in November last year.

According to a statement by the Ministry ofExternal Affairs, Prime Minister Modi and PresidentXi “noted that the Special Representatives will haveanother meeting on matters relating to the bound-ary question and reiterated the importance of main-taining peace and security along the borderareas”. PTI

���� #�.�*8*.

Russian President VladimirPutin has invited Prime

Minister Narendra Modi forthe Victory Day celebrationsin May next year as the twoleaders had an “excellent meet-ing” during which theyreviewed the progress made inthe bilateral ties and discussedways to further expand thespecial strategic partnership.

Modi, who is in Brazil forthe 11th BRICS Summitwhich will focus on buildingmechanisms for counter-ter-rorism cooperation andstrengthen India’s ties with theworld’s five major economies,met Putin on Wednesday onthe sidelines of the meetingand reviewed the full range ofIndia-Russia relations.

“Had an excellent meetingwith President Putin. Duringour talks, we reviewed the fullrange of India-Russia relations.India and Russia are cooper-ating extensively in areas suchas trade, security and culture.The people of our nations willbenefit due to close bilateralties,” Modi said in a tweet.

During the bilateral meet-ing, the fourth between the twoleaders this year, prime min-

ister Modi said the “frequentmeetings have strengthenedour relations”.

“Our bilateral relations aregrowing. You have invited meto visit Russia in May for theVictory Day celebrations. I amhappily waiting that I will getan opportunity to meet youonce again,” the Prime Ministersaid.

Both leaders reviewed theprogress made in the bilateralrelationship since the PrimeMinister’s visit to Vladivostokin September.

The two leaders noted withsatisfaction that the USD 25 bil-lion target of bilateral trade by2025 had already beenachieved. They decided thatthe first Bilateral RegionalForum at the level of RussianProvinces and Indian States beheld next year to dismantle thebarriers of trade at regionallevel. The two leaders notedthe stability and progressmade in imports of oil andnatural gas. They alsoreviewed the progress made inthe field of infrastructure,particularly railways in contextof raising the speed of theNagpur-Secunderabad sectorrailway line.

The leaders also

�,3�4����� �#��5�#��������6'���(�����#�� ����#�� �2��,&

2�����������+�"�3����'�����:�7������-����������� ���,

Jammu: Hinting at holding Assembly polls inJammu & Kashmir in the near future, LieutenantGovernor (LG) Girish Chandra Murmu onThursday said the election process will beginsoon.

“Election will come. It is a Union territorywith a legislature, it will not continue like this (LG’srule),” he said, while addressing a function of thepolice department.

“The process for holding the election willcome soon,” Murmu said, speaking at theAttestation-cum-Passing out Parade of the 14thbatch of Constables, held in the Talwara area ofReasi district. PTI

Srinagar: Signs of normalcy were visible in Srinagaras most modes of public transport have started ply-ing, while markets at some places remained open forlonger hours, officials said on Thursday.

The intra-district connectivity in Srinagar hasbeen restored as cabs have started plying in severalareas of the city, the officials said.

There are reports of movement of intra-districtcabs and other modes of public transport in mostother district headquarters of the valley as well.

With this, most modes of public transport havestarted plying in the valley, especially in the city here,as inter-district cabs, auto-rickshaws and few mini-buses were already plying. PTI

����!����������2�� �������� �5�!�� �� � ���)���������6 �����/��������� ����

'��;��������������'���������������"�����������!��&�2���

)����(�'�����������������7���� ����$�1�����������$���8����9�����������0��

'���� ����������9�����*���(�! ���� ����������:��������� ���(����0�� ������������������������(�)���� �������8������+�������8���������� ����$��#� ����������'�����!���*�����*���$�����*������������!)'���������#������������)���������*���#������������(����0������-� ����� �-)

$��������*$%�����,�-�����������������������.�����������

���������������8<=��������-����,��*:

8�������*��$����� ��(�* 1��#�����*����1�#����������������������

&���������'��$�8����������/��� ��**�(����������*�������+�����& ����&���������������������������#������8 ���������!���"�������; ���$���8<��(��������� � ���-� ������ �-)

Page 9: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

�� ��4��������������� ����������� !"�#$ %

������������� �&�#.*

Contesting Amit Shah’s claim thatthe BJP had not promised rota-

tional Chief Ministership to his party,Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut onThursday charged that Shah had keptPrime Minister Narendra Modi in theloop about the 50:50 power sharingagreement reached with his partypresident Uddhav Thackeray ahead ofthe Lok Sabha polls.

In a hard-hitting response to theBJP president’s rejection of the ShivSena’s claim about the promise of rota-tional chief ministership purported-ly made by the former ahead of theLok Sabha polls, Raut said: “The factremains that our beloved Amit Shahhad not informed as to what tran-spired between him and UddhavThackeray at a closed door meetingahead of the Lok Sabha polls. Heshould have informed the PrimeMinister about whatever transpired ata closed door meeting between himand Uddhavji”.

“If you (Amit Shah) had recon-ciled to whatever had been decidedahead of the Lok Sabha polls and keptthe Prime Minister in the loop, Modijiwould have cognisance of this and wewould have not arrived at such a sit-

uation that we are witnessing today,”Raut said.

Raut’s remarks came a day afterShah wanted to know as to why theSena had not objected to the repeat-ed statements by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and him at electionmeeting that Devendra Fadanviswould be the next Chief Minister if thesaffron alliance returned to power inthe state.

“At all meetings, Narendra Modijiused to say Devendra Fadnavis wouldbe the next chief minister. At all meet-ings, Uddhav Thackeray also used tosay that the Shiv Sena man would bethe next Chief Minister. When thealliance was formed between the twoparties, Uddhavji used to say that theywould be 50: 50 sharing of power andpositions. At that time why did AmitShah not say that this kind of agree-ment had not been reached? Heshould have taken objection toUddhavji’s statement then,” Raut said.

“You (Amit Shah) did not say anysuch thing till the Lok Sabha polls.This issue has come up only after theState Assembly poll. We expect andpractise morality in politics. Weexpected minimum mortal ethics(from the BJP),” the Sena spokesper-son said.

Raut said that he had not heardAmit Shah saying that DevendraFadnavis would become the nextChief Minister of Maharashtra. “ I hadnot heard Amit Shah say anything inthis regard. I had heard PrimeMinister Narendra Modi saying thatDevendra Fadnavis would become thenext Chief Minister. We did not con-test Modiji’s statement keeping inmind his standing and stature of thePrime Minister and left it like thatthinking that we would deal with itafter the polls,” he said.

Interestingly Raut, while rippinginto Amit Shah, had good things tosay about Modi. At one stage, he said:“After all, we have sought votes in thename of Modiji Modiji is a tall leader.We have along respected Modiji andwill continue to do so. After all. he isthe Prime minister, he was a ChiefMinister earlier and a leader. We loveModiji as much as BJP workers do”.

Alluding to Amit Shah’s statementthat “it is not the BJP’s tradition to dis-close what transpires in close-doormeetings”, Raut said: “If something isdecided at a closed door meeting butnot implemented later, then things willdefinitely come out. Whatever tran-spired in the closed door meetingbetween Amit Shah and Uddhav is notsmall thing. It involves the self-respect of Maharashtra. For us, it islike Pran jaye vachan na jaye. Itinvolves the future of Maharashtra. Ifyou say that whatever transpired at themeeting did not happen, then defi-nitely this issue will come out”.

Raut said that the Shiv Sena hadnot converted politics into a business.“We are not traders, we areMaharastrians. This is the land ofChhatrpati Shivaji, Mahatma Phule,Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and ShahuMaharaj. Whatever we do comesfrom the inspiration of ChhatrapatiShivaji The persons whom I referredto had never indulged in business.They sacrificed their lives for thecountry. For us politics is not busi-ness,” the Sena leader said, while tak-ing indirect dig at Shah.

Giving an emotional spin to theissue, Raut said: “The venue whereAmit Shah and Uddhavji held talks

was not an ordinary room. It was aroom that belonged to late Balasahebonce. It was the same room fromwhere late Balasaheb championedthe cause of Hindutva and blessedModiji on several occasions..... For us,the venue where the discussionbetween Amit Shah and Uddhavji isnot just a room but a temple”

“If someone says such agreementhad not take place in that room, it isan insult to that temple and lateBalasaheb. It is also an insult toMaharashtra as well. We take thepledge in the name of Balasaheb andsay we do not lie. If you still feel badabout whatever happened inside thetemple, then please come out and tellthe people what transpired at themeeting. We have never used lies topractise politics nor will we do. TheThackeray family has sacrificed for thecountry,” he said.

The stand-off the two saffronalliance partners should be seen in thecontext of what transpired at the meet-ing that BJP president Amit shah andChief Minister Devendra Fadnavishad with Sena chief UddhavThackeray on February 18 this yearwhen the two parties formalised theseat-sharing pact for the Lok Sabhapolls.

���������� ���� ���'(�� �����(4(,4(���������

������������� �&�#.*

As part of their ongoingefforts to form a

Government in Maharashtra,the Shiv Sena Congress andNCP on Thursday crossed thefirst hurdle — of jointly preparing a draft of CommonMinimum Programme (CMP)for a three-party Government— after detailed tripartite talksamong their leaders.

With the vetting and for-malisation of the CMP by thecentral leaders of the threeparties having become a mereformality now, the talks onpower-sharing arrangementamong the leaders of ShivSena, Congress and NCP maybegin from Friday.

In another major develop-ment, the Congress and NCPare understood to have agreedin principle to give the CchiefMinister’s post to the ShivSena which won as many as 56seats as against 54 and 44 seatsbagged by the NCP andCongress respectively in theState Assembly.

It remains to be seen if theNCP will share the post with

the Sena for a period of twoand a half years and theCongress will in lieu get thedeputy Chief Minister’s post forthe entire five years’ period, asis being speculated.

Though the three partiesare coming out in the open, thesenior leaders of the Shiv Sena,NCP and Congress are developing the contours of theproposed three-partyGovernment which may takefull shape by the week end.“The power-sharing formulawill comprise CMP and the dis-tribution of ministerial port-folios among the three parties,”a senior Congress leader said.

The rapid pace in whichthe three parties are movingshould be light of a requestreportedly made by the ShivSena leadership to wrap up allthe nitty-gritties before theSaturday evening so that itSena can submit the letters ofsupport received from theCongress and NCP toMaharashtra Governor BhagatSingh Koshyari on the deathanniversary of late BalThackeray on November 17.

���� ��*�&�.�.���.�&�.�

Ahead of the pilgrimage sea-son at the Lord Ayyappa

shrine commencing onNovember 17, the focus hasnow shifted to the LDF gov-ernment in Kerala over allow-ing women in the 10-50 agegroup to offer prayers as theSupreme Court has decided tokeep pending the pleas seekingreview of its verdict.

The left Governmentwould consult legal experts toget more clarity on the SupremeCourt’s Sabarimala verdict butit seems that the earlier order onallowing entry of women of allage groups still stands, ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan said.

Vijayan, who met the mediahere to explain the governmentstand in the backdrop of theapex court’s decision to refer thecase to a larger bench, said the

state government was alwaysready to implement the courtorder, whatsoever it may be.

The top court has decidedto set up a larger bench to re-examine religious issues includ-ing those arising out of its ear-lier verdict that lifted a cen-turies-old ban on women ofmenstruating age visiting theshrine.

Asked if women will be pro-vided security to enter theshrine, Vijayan said such thingscan only be decided after clear-ing “certain doubts and confu-sions” in the order.

Ahead of the pilgrimageseason commencing onNovember 17, Vijayan said “Itseems like the September 28,2018, order still stands.However, there are certain con-fusions with regard to today’sorder. The court ordered for aseven-judge bench to considervarious gender related issues.Ithad kept pending the reviewpetitions on Sabarimala. Weneed to get more clarity on var-ious matters,” he said.

������*�&�.�.���.�&�.�

The left Governmentwould consult legal

experts to get more clari-ty on the Supreme Court’sSabarimala verdict but itseems that the earlierorder on allowing entry ofwomen of all age groups stillstands, Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan said on Thursday.

Vijayan, who met themedia here to explain the gov-ernment stand in the backdropof the apex court’s decision torefer the case to a larger bench,said the State Government wasalways ready to implement thecourt order, whatsoever it maybe. The top court has decidedto set up a larger bench to re-examine religious issues includ-ing those arising out of its ear-lier verdict that lifted a cen-turies-old ban on women ofmenstruating age visiting theshrine.

Asked if women will beprovided security to enter theshrine, Vijayan said such thingscan only be decided after clear-ing “certain doubts and confu-sions” in the order.

Ahead of the pilgrimageseason commencing onNovember 17, Vijayan said “Itseems like the September 28,2018, order still stands.

However, there are certainconfusions with regard totoday’s order. The court orderedfor a seven-judge bench to con-sider various gender relatedissues.It had kept pending thereview petitions on Sabarimala.We need to get more clarity onvarious matters,” he said.

Nagpur: Welcoming theSupreme Court’s decision torefer Sabarimala case to a larg-er bench, the RSS on Thursdaysaid the restrictions onwomen’s entry in the famousKerala shrine have nothing todo with gender discrimination.

Arun Kumar, AkhilBhartiya Prachar Pramukh ofthe RSS, said on the organisa-tion’s Twitter handle that “mat-ters related to traditions andcustoms are issues of faith andbelief ”.

“We welcome the SupremeCourt decision to accept thereview Petition and refer thematter to a larger ConstitutionalBench,” he tweeted. “Mattersrelated to traditions and cus-toms are issues of faith andbelief. Restriction of womenbelonging to a particular age-group to the Sabarimala shrinehas nothing to (do) with gen-der inequality or discrimina-tion, and that is strictly basedon the speciality of the deity,”the senior RSS leader said. PTI

Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Shia Central WaqfBoard chairman Wasim Rizvi on Thursdayannounced he is donating � 51,000 for theconstruction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Rizvi said the Board favoured the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhyaand the Supreme Court judgment on thedecades-old issue is the “best verdict” thatcould have been possible.

In a unanimous verdict, the SupremeCourt last week cleared the way for the con-struction of a Ram temple at the disputedsite in Ayodhya and directed the Centre toallot a separate five-acre plot to the SunniWaqf Board to build a mosque. “Now prepa-rations are on for the construction of a grandtemple at the Ram Janmasthan,” Rizvi said. PTI

Ayodhya: Ahead of the All India Muslim Personal LawBoard’s meeting to decide whether to seek a reviewof the Supreme Court verdict in the Ayodhya case, themain litigant Iqbal Ansari has said he does not wishto be a party to that and the Board can do whateverit wants. He also said he has “not received any com-munication” from the AIMPLB about its meeting.

Ansari, 53, along with several other local Muslimleaders had recently said the five acres of land to beallocated for building a mosque as per the landmarkverdict in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dis-pute should be within the 67 acres of land acquiredby the Government in Ayodhya.

“I know the Muslim Board (AIMPLB) is holdinga meeting on Sunday to take a decision on seeking areview of the Supreme Court judgement. I have notreceived any communication in this connection,” hesaid. PTI

!#������#��� ��#�����$�����)8�<�������"��������������#�2�������

���� �&�;7���������/>3???����&� �� ��

!��'( (���)( )� #��) *�+) � ,����

�����!������� �����&������� ����������@���������������������������� �������

���(�+'�(�'����#�����'8�� ���6���"���������������

�������#��� �������7*����������#�2�:�=����

Page 10: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

��������������� ����������� !"�#$ % ' � �5�

�������������������D����������������������������F0���0�-(�5F-(�")��"$*+,������������������� ���% ��� ����������%�����%������������������/���7:+�@:'(���������������� �"�����"����%���F���� �����%����'7+' )���������� ����������"�����%��F���� �����%����'@+0''���������� ����������������� ������ ������������� ���� ������������%�0R��"������������� ������������������������������������% ���%����!7�@C���������� ���������� �������������������������% ���%����!'�)@���������� ������������� ������������� ���� ����� ��������%�!�����������"������������� ����������

������������B���������������������

�")��"$*+, $������+�*�� ��.� � ���� "�����" ���4'(C(�#���2.A�&������5��%% �������-����������%��%% ������� ��+�����$��� ��� � �������� ��4�$��5��������������� �%�� � �����.�" ��,�6� ��+�$��� �;����� � ���F%% ���+��$���� � ����������������%% ���������� ���������������� ��� ����%�*�� ������� �$���������� ��+��$��� ������� ����� ����%���������� ������ -�,����+����$��� �

��� � �&�#.*

After cutting India’s sover-eign ratings recently,

Moody’s Investor Services onThursday also cut India’sgrowth forecast to 5.6 per centfor the calendar year 2019 forreasons of subdued consumerdemand, along with sluggishliquidity supply.

The US ratings multina-tional revised downwards itsgrowth forecast for India to 5.6per cent in 2019, from 7.4 percent in 2018.

“We expect economic activ-ity to pick up in 2020 and 2021to 6.6 per cent and 6.7 per cent,respectively, but the pace toremain lower than in the recentpast,” Moody’s said in GlobalMacro Outlook 2020-21.

“India’s economic growth has decelerated sincemid-2018, with real GDPgrowth slipping from nearly 8per cent to 5 per cent in the sec-ond quarter of 2019 and job-lessness rising.”

In the current slowdownconsumption demand has“cooled” notably, the ratingsagency said.

Besides, the agency notedthe government’s measures likethe cut in the corporate tax rate,bank recapitalisation, supportfor the auto sector and plans forinfrastructure spending, amongothers, to arrest the growthslowdown.

“However, none of thesemeasures directly address thewidespread weakness in con-sumption demand, which has

been the chief driver of theeconomy,” Moody’s Outlookreport said.

On monetary policy, theratings agency said that morerate cuts are “likely” on the back of benign domesticinflationary pressures and sub-dued oil prices.

However, transmission oflending rates continues to behindered by the “creditsqueeze” caused by disruptionin the non-bank financial sec-tor, it said.

“While our baseline fore-casts assume that economicmomentum will pick up, thereare risks to the downside. Slowemployment growth is weigh-ing on consumption,” theOutlook report said.

“The interest rate cuttingcycle is not adequately beingtransmitted, which is hampering investment ascompanies’ borrowing costsremain elevated.”

Last week, Moody’s hadchanged the outlook on India’ssovereign ratings to negativefrom stable and affirmed theBaa2 foreign-currency and local currency long-termissuer ratings.

Moody’s had also affirmedIndia’s Baa2 local-currencysenior unsecured rating and itsP-2 other short-term local-currency rating.

India’s credit rating at Baa2is the second lowest investmentrating and Moody’s has warnedthat India could be headingtowards a debt trap and reces-sionary phase.

�������������������������������(�����

�� � �>?�$>8�*

The Government has eased KYC norms formigrants to open bank account by allowing them

to give a self-declared local address as sufficient proofof residence in case it is different from one mentionedin Aadhaar document.

Migrants face difficulties in having proof of res-idence as address on Aadhaar is different from theircurrent location.

The Department of Revenue on Thursday said itsnotification is with regard to easing of Aadhaar KYCuse for opening of the bank account for the conve-nience of people who often migrate from place to placefor jobs or any other reason.

The changes were made by amending thePrevention of Money-laundering (Maintenance ofRecords) Rules, as per a gazette notification issuedon Wednesday.

This amendment has been issued to allow peo-ple who have used Aadhaar KYC to open bankaccount and want to give an address different fromthe address in Aadhaar as current address on a self-declaration basis. “The amended PMLR applies onlyto Aadhaar KYC purposes for opening of bankaccount and not for the change of Address inAadhaar card.

���� �>?�$>8�*

In a relief to taxpayers, theGovernment on Thursday extend-

ed the due dates for filing GST annu-al returns for 2017-18 to December31 and for the financial year 2018-19, to March 31 next year.

The dates for filing the recon-ciliation statement has also beenextended accordingly.

In another relief, it has alsodecided to simplify the two GSTforms by making various fields ofthese forms as optional, the CentralBoard of Indirect Taxes and Customs(CBIC) said in a statement.

“The Government has decidedtoday (Thursday) to extend the duedates of filing of Form GSTR-9 (Annual Return) and FormGSTR-9C (Reconciliation Statement)for 2017-18 to December 31, 2019and for 2018-19 to March 2020,” it said.

The earlier deadline for filing ofGSTR-9 and GSTR-9C for 2017-18was November 30, 2019, while that

for 2018-19 was December 31, 2019.Notifications regarding the

extension of the dates have been issued.

The CBIC in the revenue depart-ment has also notified the amend-ments regarding the simplification ofthe annual return and reconciliationstatement forms.

A reconciliation statement allowtaxpayers to not provide split of inputtax credit availed on inputs, input ser-vices and capital goods for 2017-18and 2018-19.

CBIC added it is expected thatwith the simplifications in the twoforms and the extension of deadlines,“all the GST taxpayers would be able to file their annualreturns along with reconciliationstatement in time”.

Various representations regard-ing challenges faced by taxpayers infiling of GSTR-9 and GSTR-9C werereceived on which by theGovernment has “acted in a veryresponsive manner”, the CBIC state-ment added.

,������$���$��������-���� ���� ����7����6�$��������*��$��

��"��������+������(� ���!�'�����������+ ������� ���-����.8�

���� �>?�$>8�*

Hit hard by the unpaidstatutory dues, telecom

operator Vodafone Idea onThursday posted a colossal�50,921 crore loss for the sec-ond quarter ended September30, and said it is in the processof filing a review petition on theadjusted gross revenue matter.

This is the highest everquarterly loss posted by any Indian company inrecent memory.

Vodafone Idea said its abil-ity to continue as going con-

cern is dependent on obtainingrelief from the governmentand positive outcome of theproposed legal remedy.

The SC order on AdjustedGross Revenue (AGR) matter“has significant financial impli-cations for the industry”, VILsaid in a statement. Its total lossstood at �50,921 crore inSeptember quarter, against�4,874 crore loss in the year-ago period.

Its revenue rose 42 percent to �11,146.4 crore duringthe second quarter this year.

The company has estimat-

ed liability of �44,150 crore postthe apex court order, and madeprovision of �25,680 crore inthe second quarter this fiscal.

Airtel, Vodafone Idea andother telecom operators have topay the Government a whop-ping �1.4 lakh crore followingthe recent Supreme Courtorder that has sent shock wavesthrough the industry which isalready grappling with lossesand billions of dollars in debt.

The Supreme Court, lastmonth, upheld Government’sposition on including revenuefrom non-telecommunication

businesses in calculating theannual AGR of telecom com-panies, a share of which is paidas licence and spectrum fee tothe exchequer.

As per latest estimates bythe telecom department, BhartiAirtel faces a liability of around�62,187 crore (including shareof Tata Group of companiesand Telenor India), whileVodafone Idea may have to payabout �54,184 crore.

The remaining liability iswith state-owned BSNL/MTNLand some of the shut/bankrupttelecom companies.

-���� �1�9������5��:#����������$ ;#<���

���� �>?�$>8�*

Telecom operator BhartiAirtel on Thursday posted

a staggering �23,045 crore netloss for the second quarterended September 30, due toprovisioning of �28,450 crorein the aftermath of the SupremeCourt ruling on statutory dues.

The Sunil Mittal-led com-pany said the apex court judge-ment — which had upheld gov-ernment’s way of calculatingrevenue of telcos (on whichstatutory liabilities like licence

fee and spec-trum usagecharges arecomputed) —has “signifi-cant financialimplicationfor the com-pany”. Last

month, Bharti Airtel had post-poned the release of its full Q2earnings to November citingthe uncertainty in the sector inthe wake of the court ruling ondefinition of telecom revenues.

Airtel’s colossal net lossfor just-ended September quar-ter was on account of excep-tional charge pertaining toprovisioning of �28,450 croretowards the AGR dues, thatincluded principle of �6,164crore, interest of �12,219 crore, penalty of �3,760 crore,and interest on penalty of�6,307 crore.

Announcing its Q2 earn-ings scorecard, Airtel said itsconsolidated net loss beforeexceptional items (the one timecharge) for the quarter was�1,123 crore, and that the netLoss (after exceptional items)was �23,045 crore.

'"���������������������������)(3?A/�����������������D)�������:&����7��������

New Delhi: Amid ongoingfeud between the airline’s pro-moters, IndiGo CEO RonojoyDutta on Thursday said thereis “zero impact” on the carrierright now as they are on thesame page over the airline’sstrategic direction.

Differences between co-founders and co-promoters —Rakesh Gangwal and RahulBhatia — came to fore in Julyafter Gangwal sought marketregulator Sebi’s intervention toaddress alleged corporate gov-ernance lapses at the company.

They are promoters ofInterGlobe Aviation which oper-ates IndiGo, country’s largest air-line in terms of domestic mar-ket share. About feud, Dutta saidas far as the airline is concerned,it was only directly involved inRelated Party Transactions.PTI

�&.9.�"&7D�;"%/�*�7�CJ"&.�+9:�<�D�.���/+�.,����

New Delhi: The Income TaxDepartment has detectedalleged irregularities to thetune of �735 crore after it con-ducted searches on civil con-tractors who work for theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC), the CBDTsaid on Thursday.

The search and surveyoperation was started at 44locations in Mumbai and Suraton November 6, on entryproviders and beneficiarieswho have been engaged inexecution of civil contractsmainly in BMC, it said.

The Central Board ofDirect Taxes (CBDT) is the pol-icy-making body for the taxdepartment. “There werereports that certain contractorshad taken entries in the formof loans among others fromentry providers and also inflated expenses in thebooks of accounts to suppressincome. PTI

!���������8'#�����#����� ������>?@�#����$����#������� �������2�)�-��*�

�� � �>?�$>8�*

The Government has so farmopped up �6 lakh crore or

less than 50 per cent of the totaltax collection target of �13.35lakh crore for the current fiscal,a senior official said.

Efforts are being made toachieve the target set in theBudget, Central Board ofDirect Taxes Chairman P CMody said after inauguration ofthe Taxpayers Lounge atPragati Maidan here.

“During the beginning ofthe year, we were given the taxcollection (target) of �13.35

lakh crore. Of this, we havealready collected �6 lakh croreso far,” he said.

Refunds due to the taxpayers are done swiftly, hesaid, adding the refunds havegone up 20 per cent comparedto the last fiscal.

“Efforts are made towardstax collection and I have fullconfidence that we will reachthe target set in the Budget,”Mody said. He also said the taxpayer services is one of thefocus area of CBDT. Keepingthis in mind, a member hasbeen appointed for tax payerservices.

�'2#� ��������E*��������������!�����������������

Page 11: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

���� �F�A�,F�A

World champion P V Sindhuexited the $400,000 Hong

Kong Open in the pre-quarterfinalsbut Kidambi Srikanth made thequarters for the first time in sevenmonths after claiming a thrilling winin men’s singles here on Thursday.

It was also curtains for H SPrannoy and Parupalli Kashyapafter they suffered contrasting loss-es in the second round.

World number 6 Sindhu wentdown 18-21, 21-11, 16-21 to worldnumber 18 BusananOngbamrungphan of Thailand in 69

minutes to continue her recent dis-mal run in international circuit. Itwas Sindhu’s first loss to the Thailandplayer in 11 meetings.

Earlier, former world number 1Srikanth, who slipped to the 13thspot in the latest BWF rankings thisweek, emerged as the only Indiansurvivor after notching up a 21-11,15-21, 21-19 win over compatriotSourabh Verma in the men’s singlessecond round. Srikanth had last

reached the quarter-finals at theSingapore Open in April. TheGuntur shuttler, who received afirst-round bye from world number1 Kento Momota of Japan, will faceOlympic champion Chen Long ofChina next.

Earlier, H S Prannoy suffered a12-21, 19-21 loss to sixth seedIndonesian Jonatan Christie in thesecond round.

Former Commonwealth Games

champion Kashyap played his heartout before going down narrowly toworld number 2 Chou Tien Chen ofChinese Taipei 21-12, 21-23, 10-21in a match that lasted exactly anhour.

In other results, fourth seededJapanese pair of Arisa Higashino andYuta Watanabe the beat Indian pairof Satwiksairaj Rankireddy andAshwini Ponnappa 21-19, 21-12 in42 minutes in the mixed doubles.

�� "��55��������������� ����������� !"�#$ %

����� 8F��.�A>8>�

Swedish star ZlatanIbrahimovic confirmed his

departure from the Los AngelesGalaxy on Wednesday, but gaveno clue over his future plans orpossible retirement.

The 38-year-old striker’sdeparture from the Galaxy hadbeen widely expected followingthe club’s elimination from theMajor League Soccer playoffs lastmonth.

Ibrahimovic, who joined theGalaxy in the opening months ofthe 2018 campaign, announcedthe end of his Californiansojourn in a characteristical-ly enigmatic post on Twitter.

“I came, I saw, I con-quered. Thank you@lagalaxy for making mefeel alive again,”Ibrahimovic wrote. “Tothe Galaxy fans —you wanted Zlatan, Igave you Zlatan. Youare welcome.

“The story continues...Nowgo back to watch baseball.”

The Galaxy said in a briefstatement the club had part-ed company withIbrahimovic by mutualagreement.

“We would like to thank

Zlatan for his contributions to theLA Galaxy and Major LeagueSoccer,” said LA Galaxy PresidentChris Klein.

“Since his arrival in2018, Zlatan has positivelyinfluenced the sport of soc-

cer in Los Angeles. We aregrateful for his work ethic andpassion. We thank Zlatan forhis professionalism andimmeasurable impact on theLos Angeles community andthe soccer community in

North America as a whole.”Ibrahimovic has been

strongly linked with a return toItalian club AC Milan, where heplayed for two seasons between2010 and 2012, scoring 42 goalsin 61 league appearances.

Although Ibrahimovic wasunable to help Los AngelesGalaxy return to the pinnacle ofMajor League Soccer, the Swedehas been one of the most success-ful foreign players ever to gracethe league, scoring 53 goals in 56regular season appearances.

����� 8F��.�A>8>��

US men’s doubles duo Bob Bryan and MikeBryan said on Wednesday they will retire

at the end of the 2020 season, bringing the cur-tain down on one of the most successful pair-ings in tennis history.

The 41-year-old twins said in a statementthey planned to hang up their racquets after tak-ing part in next year’s US Open, where they madetheir Grand Slam championship debut in 1995.

Since that first Slam appearance, the Bryanshave racked up a record 118 trophies including16 Grand Slam doubles titles. They also wonOlympic Gold at the 2012 London Games.

Bob Bryan said the duo had opted to endtheir 2019 season after the US Open in order toremain fresh for next year.

“We decided that it would be best to rest ourminds and strengthen our bodies in preparationfor 2020 which will be our final season on theATP Tour,” Bob Bryan said in a statement.

“It has truly been a magical ride,” he added.“However, we want to end this great ride whilewe’re healthy and we can still compete for titles.”

At their peak, the Bryans were a formida-ble doubles duo, rising to No 1 in the rankingsfor the first time in 2003.

They spent a total of 438 weeks at the topof the rankings and ended 10 seasons as the No1 team.

������>?�$>8�*

India on Thursday picked an unprecedent-ed eight-member Davis Cup squad for the

tie against Pakistan, including most of thetop stars who refused to travel to Islamabadalong with those who made themselvesavailable irrespective of the venue.

Seasoned veteran Leander Paes returnedto the Indian team after more than a yearalong with top players Sumit Nagal,Ramkumar Ramanathan, Sasi KumarMukund and Rohan Bopanna for the tie tobe held at a yet-to-be-finalised neutral venueon November 29 and 30.

Nagal, Bopanna, Ramanathan andMukund had reservations about travellingto Pakistan due to security concerns, thebasis of the International Tennis Federation’sdecision to change the venue.

“It’s a special case this time. We do notpick such a big travel party but we did notwant the players who were ready to goPakistan, to feel left out. So we had to cre-ate a balance,” Zeeshan Ali, who is on theselection panel and is also the India coachsaid.

In the squad announced by the All IndiaTennis Association (AITA) selection com-mittee, Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan, SakethMyneni and Siddharth Rawat also found aplace in the team. All these players were will-ing travel to Islamabad when the others hadrefused.

AITA usually names five-member mainsquads along with one or two reserve play-ers.

While the ITF is still considering thePakistan Tennis Federation’s appeal againstthe decision to shift the tie out of Islamabad,AITA has gone ahead with the team selec-tion.

“We wanted the players to be mentallyready. They can make their respectiveschedules now. We did not want them towait more to know if they will be picked ornot. Irrespective of the venue, only theseplayers will be a part of the tie, wherever itis played,” said non-playing captain RohitRajpal.

“Not all of them would get to play butat least the new players will get a feel of whatit is like being on the Indian Davis Cupsquad. It will be a kind of experience for thenew generation players like Rawat. We haveto prepare the next rung,” added Rajpal.

It has been learnt, that the ITF will stickwith its decision to have the tie at a neutralvenue. The world body is expected toannounce its final decision by November 18.

In the absence of top player PrajneshGunneswaran, India’s singles challenge willbe led by the in-form Nagal (ranked 127)and Ramanathan (190). Mukund (250)and Myneni (267) will be the back-up sin-gles players.

Perhaps for the first time, the squad hasthree doubles specialists in Bopanna, Paesand Nedunchezhiyan.

Divij Sharan and Prajnesh, who werepart of the five-member squad, which wasannounced earlier when the tie was to beheld on September 14 and 15 are nowunavailable for personal reasons.

While Sharan is taking a two-weekbreak after his wedding reception onNovember 23, Prajnesh is getting marriedon November 28, a day before the start ofthe tie.

����� �>?�$>8�*

Indian wrestling superstar RituPhogat is set to make her profes-

sional mixed martial arts debutwhen she takes on Korea’s Nam HeeKim in an atomweight contest. Thepair faced-off on Thursday at anopen workout and are scheduled tomeet in the One Championshipring at One: Age Of Dragons, whichtakes place on 16 November, at theCadillac Arena in Beijing, China.

Ahead of her first foray into themixed martial arts arena, the 25-year-old details how she envisionsher path unfolding in a new sport,her ultimate goal, and how sheplans to accomplish the missionshe has set for herself.

“No question, I want to becomea mixed martial arts WorldChampion, and everything I’m doing

now is preparing me for that,” saidPhogat. “I made the decision to jumpinto this with my full heart and will.My goal is to become the firstIndian woman to win a mixed mar-tial arts World Championship. Ibelieve I’m in a great position to rep-resent my country and I want toinspire as many women as I can. It’san honor.”

Phogat is already an accom-plished athlete, having garneredmultiple accolades throughout hercompetit ion career. She is aCommonwealth Wrest lingChampionships Gold Medallist,World U23 Wrestling WorldChampionships Silver Medallist,Asian Wrestling ChampionshipsBronze Medallist, and multiple-timeIndian National Wrestl ingChampion.

Already a recognizable face inher home country, Phogat nowenters the international arena.

She looks to make her presenceknown. “One of my goals is to bringhonor to Indian martial arts. I thinkit’s really important that we celebratemy country’s culture and history andI really hope I can represent that wellon the global stage,” said Phogat. “Ihave big plans, but first, I have to

take care of business against anopponent who wants to spoil theparty. I’ve prepared well for this, butthis is my first time, and we’ll haveto see where I’m at after this fight.”

Ritu Phogat will make her pro-fessional mixed martial arts debuttomorrow and how she performsagainst her opponent, Nam HeeKim, will be a great indicator as tohow far she has yet to climb themountain until she reaches the top.Reaching the pinnacle of the sportis something she is completelyfocused on. For Phogat, it’s only amatter of time. “I’m in no rush.

I’m young, I’m strong, and I’mhungry,” Phogat concluded. “Give mea few fights, let me get a feel for thisand I’ll be contending for a WorldTitle soon. I promise my fans I’ll givethem something to cheer about. Iwant to make my country proud.”

���� $&��.�#>�

India escaped with a 1-1 draw after aninjury-time goal saved them the blush-es against lower-ranked Afghanistan in

their FIFA World Cup Qualifier match hereon Thursday.

The result meant the 106-ranked Indiaremained winless in their qualifying cam-paign so far.

When the visitors seemed headed fortheir second defeat, substitute SeiminlenDoungel (90+3) provided India with a life-line, outjumping his markers to head oneinto the far post.

Afghanistan had taken the lead throughZelfagar Nazary's strike (45+1), puttingIndia on the backfoot.

India remained at the fourth positionin Group E with three points from four

matches, while Afghanistan continued tobe on the third with four points.

Starting the away game, being playedin extremely cold conditions at the CentralRepublican Stadium, on a bright note, Indiaconceded a goal in the first half 's injury time(45+1).

Afghanistan went into lead after a finemove saw David Najem play a square ballto Zelfagar Nazary at the centre of the box,and the mid-fielder's attempt breached theIndian defence before finding the back ofthe net.

It wasn't really a home match forAfghanistan either, but wins here againstCambodia and B’desh, followed by drawswith Tajikistan and Jordan have given themmuch-needed confidence ahead of the clashagainst Igor Stimac's 106-ranked India.

And the 149-ranked Afghanistan car-

ried that confidence into the game on achilly evening when the temperaturedropped to nine degree celsius.

The hosts looked the better of the twosides in the first half and the goal, in theadded time of first session, was not inap-propriate.

On and off, Afghanistan managed toput pressure on the Indian defence mannedby Mandar Rao Desai, Adil Khan, RahulBheke and Pritam Kotal. With their enter-prise, the likes of striker Ahmad Omran andmid-fielder Faysal Shayesteh kept India ontheir toes, forcing Bheke and Adil to makea few clearances in the first quarter.

India looked to take on the oppositionbut they could not create any clear chances,and the couple of half chances in the open-ing minutes failed to test the Afghan cus-todian.

There was a change straightaway forIndia after the break as Stimac substitutedMandar with Farukh Choudhary.

The visitors showed urgency andlooked desperate for an equaliser. They hada chance in the 58th minute but skipperSunil Chhetri's header off a cross from rightback Pritam Kotal was saved by Azizi. Atthe other end, Gurpreet Singh Sandhu madea diving save.

While he will be disappointed to endthe match in a stalemate, Stimac's decisionto bring in Doungel in place of Kotal paiddividends.

Stimac made three changes to the line-up that drew against Bangladesh lastmonth, starting with Kotal, BrandonFernandes and and Pronay Halder in placeof Anas Edathodika, Anirudh Thapa andManvir Singh.

���(���*�*������� ���$���������

�$'�6 '���! "��7������7'�� �7���8 "�&������9 ���:

����� �*�������"�#����� �

%���"� �7��������� ��*� :���!��!��

/������������������0101

#������������"��#��$������� ��

��$�����-�����*���#�1�����"���������*���������������7�����A� ��

)��>.���&��>*8>$BF��.����&�

�0���0� A Grigor Dimitrov-led Bulgaria was among thefinal six teams announced onThursday for the ATP Cup inAustralia.

Chile, Poland, Uruguay,Moldova and Norway were theother countries to make thegrade, based on the ranking oftheir number one singles play-er at the second entry deadlineof November 13.

The rest of the 24-nationfield was announced in Sept,although Switzerland laterpulled out after Roger Federeropted to skip the tournament.The field will be split into sixgroups across Sydney,Brisbane and Perth.

As the highest-qualifyingcountry at the second dead-line, Bulgaria replace the Swissand join Belgium and theAndy Murray-led GreatBritain in Group C in Sydney.The championship takes placefrom January 3-12 in the lead-up to the year’s first GrandSlam, the Australian Open inMelbourne.

Eight teams — with up tofive players each — willemerge from the round-robinstage to compete in the knock-out phase in Sydney until oneis left standing with ties com-prising two singles and onedoubles match. PTI

��4���. ���!������������� ��

#� �;6��� �;��;��<

����� 8F�$F�

Stefanos Tsitsipas coastedpast defending champion

Alexander Zverev in straightsets to advance to the last fourof the ATP Finals onWednesday after Rafael Nadalcame back from the dead tokeep his title hopes alive.

The Greek tyro, 21, brokehis big-serving German oppo-nent three times in the GroupAndre Agassi match to seal a 6-3, 6-2 win at London’s O2Arena.

The straightforward victo-ry, which took Tsitsipas’s head-to-head record against Zverevto 4-1, was in sharp contrast tothe earlier match, in whichNadal produced an astonishingcomeback to beat DaniilMedvedev.

The Spanish top seed wason the brink of defeat when fac-ing a match point at 5-1 downin the deciding set but stormedback to win 6-7 (3/7), 6-3, 7-6(7/4).

“Today is one of those daysthat one out of 1,000 you winand it happened today,” said adelighted Nadal.

The 19-time Grand Slamchampion, who also beatMedvedev in the US Openfinal, said earning a break backin the deciding set had infusedhim with confidence.

Both players were underintense pressure after losingtheir opening round-robinmatches on Monday.

G�����������"+�������% ������� � �F���>.8

Former Arsenal star Thierry Henrywas Thursday appointed coach at

MLS franchise Montreal Impact on atwo-year contract as he gets a newchance of management after a disastrousspell at Monaco.

"Welcome to Montreal@ThierryHenry!" the Major LeagueSoccer (MLS) club tweeted.

Henry, whose baptism by fire as amanager ended in his firing by Frenchclub Monaco in January, will coachImpact for a minimum of two seasons.

"Henry signed a two-year deal,with an option for 2022," the club saidon its website.

Henry, 42, who helped France winthe World Cup in 1998, is familiar withthe MLS, having played from 2010 to2014 with the New York Red Bulls.

He scored 51 goals and had 42assists in 122 games with the club.

"It's an honour to coach theMontreal Impact and return to MLS,"said Henry. "It's a league I know well,in which I had some very nice moments.

"I've always kept an eye on the cluband now I'm here."

Henry becomes the seventh coachof the Montreal Impact in just eightyears, succeeding Colombian WilmerCabrera, who was acting coach for twomonths after the dismissal in August ofFrench coach Remi Garde after 10months in charge.

Henry made his name as a world-class player at Arsenal where he scored228 goals in 377 appearances, makinghim the English club's record goalscor-er.

After winning the World Cup onhome soil in 1998, he played in threefurther World Cups in 2002, 2006 and2010.

He is also France's all-time leadingscorer with 51 goals in 123 games, infront of Michel Platini.

Page 12: 0 ˙ 1 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No ... · Hindus under Article 25 and whether “essential religious practices” of denomination or a section thereof are protected

�� "��5���������������� ����������� !"�#$ %

�������E$�>E

Cameron Bancroft and JoeBurns got the nod on

Thursday for Australia’s Testsquad to face Pakistan, withUsman Khawaja and MarcusHarris axed after flopping dur-ing the Ashes series againstEngland.

Bowling allrounderMichael Neser was also includ-ed as a back-up to the formi-dable pace attack of JoshHazelwood, Pat Cummins,Mitchell Starc and JamesPattinson.

Bancroft was only rushedinto the Australia A team at thelast minute this week when NicMaddinson pulled out to dealwith mental health issues.

But he made the most ofhis opportunity, top-scoringwith 49 in their first inningstotal of 122 all out to put him-self in the reckoning after fail-ing to make an impact in theAshes.

He is one of three special-ist openers, along with Burns

and Warner, but is more likelyto play down the order ifselected for the two Tests start-ing in Brisbane next week, fol-lowed by a day-night clash inAdelaide.

Burns was unlucky to beoverlooked for the Ashes hav-ing scored a century in the lastTest he played against Sri Lankain February.

National selector TrevorHohns suggested he wouldopen with Warner, pointing outthat “he has Test hundreds onthe board and has combinedvery well with David in thepast”.

Harris and Khawaja missout after failing to impress inEngland or in the Australia Amatch, which was seen as a“bat-off” for the Test slots upfor grabs.

Middle-order batsmanTravis Head, who was droppedfor the last Ashes Test, wasgiven another chance afteryoung prodigy Will Pucovski,pulled out of contention citinghis “mental wellbeing”.

Hohns said Neser wasincluded due to “his abilitymove the ball both ways, giv-ing the team another bowlingoption depending on the con-ditions”.

Asutralia Test squad: TimPaine (capt), CameronBancroft, Joe Burns, PatCummins, Josh Hazlewood,Travis Head, MarnusLabuschagne, Nathan Lyon,Michael Neser, JamesPattinson, Steve Smith, MitchellStarc, Matthew Wade, DavidWarner.

���� �>?�$>8�*�

Rajasthan Royals on Thursdaytraded their most-capped play-

er Ajinkya Rahane to DelhiCapitals in exchange of leg-spinnerMayank Markande and bowlingall-rounder Rahul Tewatia.

Rahane, who captained Royalsin 24 of his 100 IPL games between2011 and 2019, was also their toprun-getter having scored 2810runs at an average of 34.26 andstrike rate of 122.65.

India’s Test vice-captain alsoscored two centuries for the Royalsbesides 17 half-centuries.

The trade announcementcame on the final day of the IPLplayers’ transfer window.

“Ajinkya Rahane will nowmove to Delhi Capitals followinga successful trade,” read an IPL

statement.The 31-year-old, who has a

price tag of �4 crore, last played aT20 for India in August 2016 andan ODI in February 2018.

In exchange of Rahane,Markande and Tewatia were trad-ed to the Royals. After the 12th IPLedition, Markande was traded toDelhi Capitals by Mumbai Indians.The leggie made a name for him-self while playing for the MumbaiIndians following which he also gotto play a T20 for India.

Tewatia will return to Royalsafter beginning his IPL careerwith them in 2014, when he wasbought for �10 lakhs.

The arrival of Rahane meansan addition to the Indian stars inCapitals who already boast ofShikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pantand Shreyas Iyer.

���� 8.�F�>�

Test cricket will return toPakistan after more than a

decade with Sri Lanka onThursday agreeing to a two-match series in December,which will be a part of the tra-ditional format’s ongoingWorld Championship.

Sri Lanka played a bilater-al One Day Intetrnational andTwenty20 International seriesin Pakistan in September-October earlier this yeardespite 10 of its top players,including ODI captainDimuth Karunaratne andTwenty20 skipper Lasith

Malinga, opting out due tosecurity concerns.

The upcoming series’ firstTest will be played inRawalpindi from December11-15, while the second Testwill be held in Karachi fromDecember 19-23.

“This is a fabulous newsfor Pakistan cricket and its rep-utation of being as safe andsecure as any other country inthe world. We are thankful toSri Lanka Cricket for agreeingto send their team for thelonger version of the game,”PCB Director (InternationalCricket) Zakir Khan said in astatement.

Khan said the confirma-tion will contribute in thePCB’s efforts towards ensuringa regular resumption of inter-national cricket in the coun-try. Incidentally, Sri Lankawas also the last team to playTest cricket in Pakistan, backin 2009.

Sri Lanka were originallyscheduled to play Tests inOctober and then return inDecember for a limited-overs’series but the matches wereswapped to “provide themthe opportunity to assess thesituation before deciding onthe Test venues”.

“Now that the itinerary

has been confirmed, we willshift our focus on series prepa-rations to ensure we deliverarrangements as per our veryhigh standards,” Khan said.

Sri Lanka Cricket chiefexecutive Ashley de Silva saidbased on an earlier visit, theSLC is comfortable and con-vinced that conditions aresuitable and conducive forTest cricket.

TOUR SCHEDULEDecember 11-15 1st Test,Pindi Cricket Stadium,RawalpindiDecember 19-23 2nd Test,National Stadium, Karachi.

���� *�$F�>�

Adearth of quality pace bowlers has all butput an end to the iconic duels which once

added to the charm of Test cricket, said theiconic Sachin Tendulkar, who is worriedabout the traditional format’s health.

A Sunil Gavaskar vs Andy Roberts, DennisLillee or Imran Khan was worth the wait dur-ing the 1970s and ‘80s. Similarly a Tendulkarvs Glenn McGrath or Wasim Akram used tobe a connoisseur’s delight.

But not anymore, feels the man, whoplayed 200 Test matches in his illustrious 24years in international cricket.

“Rivalries which people invariably lookedforward to are no longer there because thereare very few world-class fast bowlers right now.That element I am sure is missing. The qual-ity of fast bowling can surely be better with-out any doubt,” Tendulkar said while analysinghow cricket has evolved in the past 30 years(15th November, 1989) since he made hisdebut.

Asked if the competitiveness, as far as Testcricket is concerned, is confined to only threecountries (India, Australia and England), themaestro agreed.

“The standard of cricket has gone downwhich is not great news for Test cricket. Thestandard needs to go up and for that, I wouldagain say that the root cause is the playing sur-faces,” he said.

“I think it has also got to do with the kindof pitches that are provided. If we provide fairpitches where fast bowlers as well as spinnersget help, then balance between bat and ball willbe restored.

“If the balance is missing then the contestbecomes weak and it fails to grab eyeballs. Testcricket must have good wickets,” added theman, who has scored 15,921 runs with 51 hun-dreds.

For Tendulkar, the model pitches are theones on which the Ashes was played inEngland.

“I feel this year’s Ashes had some of the bestTest pitches in recent times. Magnificent Iwould say. The only time they moved to OldTrafford, you saw that Test wasn’t as excitingas the ones at the Headingley, or the Lord’s Testor for that matter even the one at the Oval. Ithought those Test matches were exciting,” hesaid.

For someone, who has seen the evolutionof the game from Test cricket to T20s,Tendulkar remains a purist at heart, who wouldnever endorse an IPL performance as beinggood enough to merit selection in the ODI andTest team.

Unless, of course, the player in question isas exceptional as Jasprit Bumrah.

���� *�$F�>�

India’s pace troika was at itsmenacing best against anunder-confident Bangladesh,

helping the home team seize con-trol of the first Test at HolkarStadium on the opening day itself.

On one of the bounciest tracksin recent times, Bangladesh werebundled out for 150 in 58.3 overs,lasting barely two sessions and afew overs more on Thursday.

With ample time at their dis-posal, India ended the day at 86 for1 in 26 overs, losing Rohit Sharma’s(6) wicket to Abu Jayed.

The notable aspect during theIndian innings was CheteshwarPujara (46 batting) outscoring themore flamboyant Mayank Agarwal(37 batting) during their unbroken72-run stand, leaving ominoussigns for the four-man Bangladeshattack.

The first day’s proceedingsstarkly highlighted the gulfbetween world’s No 1 and No 9Test sides.

Umesh Yadav (2/47 in 14.3overs), Ishant Sharma (2/20 in 12overs) and Mohammed Shami(3/27 in 12 overs) made life diffi-cult for a team whose batsmenlacked both in technique and tem-perament.

A luckless RavichandranAshwin (2/43 in 16 overs), let

down by Ajinkya Rahane in theslips cordon, also had a couple ofclean-bowled dismissals in hiskitty in the post-lunch session.

The three Indian pacers con-sistently bowled at 140 kmph,with seam, swing and bouncemaking life miserable forBangladeshi batsmen.

Each of the three displayed dif-ferent qualities and it was evidentfrom the manner of dismissals.

Ishant’s bowling was aboutdisconcerting bounce from length

that had opener Shadman Islamcaught behind and the occasionalfuller delivery holding its line thatforced Liton Das to edge one toVirat Kohli in the slips.

For Umesh, it started withbrisk pace and getting it to seaminto other opener Imrul Kayes andmaking him expect more incom-ing deliveries. Just when Kayes wasgetting used to a pattern, Umeshproduced away going deliveries forthe left-hander, squaring him upand the edge flew to slips.

He again came in the post-teasession during which the tailenderslooked scared, retreating towardssquare leg in fear of getting hurt.

Mohammed Shami, probablythe craftiest among the contempo-rary Indian pacers, showed thereis no one better when it comes togetting reverse swing with 50-overold SG Test ball.

Mushfiqur Rahim (43),Bangladesh’s top-scorer, who led acharmed life and was droppedtwice, didn’t have a clue when oneswung back to knock the stumpsback after he was beaten by awaygoing deliveries.

The next one by Shami swungeven more as Mehidy Hasan Miraj(0) was adjudged leg-beforealthough a DRS call could havesaved him had he opted for one.

In the first session, Shamihad dismissed MohammedMithun with conventional inswing.

Even without Jasprit Bumrah,who is nursing a stress fracture, theunit looked so formidable that onecould sympathise with Bangladeshibatsmen facing their combinedmight.

They attacked relentlessly andit didn’t matter that India weren’t

exactly having a great day as far asslip catching was concerned.Umesh could have got Mushfiqurearly had Kohli latched on to onein the third slip.

Ashwin had both Mushfiqurand Mahmudullah Riyad droppedby Rahane at first slip.

It didn’t cost the team muchbut the frustrated bowler thendecided that breaching the defencewas the best option as MominulHaque (36) and Mahmudullahwere dismissed due to poor judge-ment and shot selection respective-ly.

���� �&�.��

Shikhar Dhawan failed toscore in his first game of the

Syed Mushtaq Ali T20 Trophyas Delhi suffered an shockeight-wicket defeat at thehands of Jammu and Kashmirfor their first loss of the tour-nament.

Nitish Rana took Delhi to165 for seven with 55 off 30

balls, a quickfire innings thatincluded half a dozen sixes.This was after Delhi decidedto bat at the Patel InternationalStadium.

Jammu and Kashmirmade short of the 166-run tar-get, racing to victory in 15.5overs with eight wickets inhand. The flying start to thechase was provided by open-ers Shubham Khajuria (49 off22) and Jatin Wadhawan (48not out off 33) before ManzoorDar smashed 58 off 24 balls.

It was not an ideal start tothe tournament for Indiaopener Dhawan, who is not inthe best of form. His stay in themiddle lasted nine balls.

�����&�#.*�

All-rounder Shubham Ranjaneshone with both the bat and ball,

as his unbeaten 30 helped Mumbaidefeat Bengal by three wickets in alast ball thriller of the Syed MushtaqAli tournament here on Thursday.

Chasing a modest 154-run tar-get, Mumbai were teetering at 105/5at a stage. And then thanks toRanjane's heroics with the bat,Mumbai chased the target on thefinal ball to remain unbeaten.

This was Mumbai’s fifth win andthey are on top of the points table inGroup D and have almost sealedtheir place in the knockout stage.

The hosts needed four runs towin of the final ball and Ranjane (30not out off 17 balls, 5x4) reversedsweep a full toss to the third manboundary, as celebrations began in

"�����&� /��������2�&�����3,41���"�$�&#%���(%&��+��$&"(%7

:���$"�"�����#����1�"�������-���#��#����"2�-�� �����

)����B��#�*�����:�����&����(�#���(�������������#�1������������������$����������B��8����������(������(�� ��������$����������$�$�����-���1�"��)����������������������)���� ��

:1# �1#�:H*����+��� �; &������/ ���������������/����� ���������%���'0:�

3���������������!��������������������2�� ������� *�$F�>�

Bangladesh captain MominulHaque on Thursday admitted

his team lacked the mentalstrength required to counterIndia’s formidable pace attack onthe first day.

Ishant Sharma, MohammedShami and Umesh Yadav sharedseven wickets between them tobundle visitors for 150 runs.More importantly, Bangladesh’slower-order batsmen lookedscared to face the Indian pacers.

“The wicket wasn’t unplayableat all or else myself or Mushfiqur(Rahim) wouldn’t have scored theruns that we scored. The problemis that when you are playing theworld’s No 1 Test team, you haveto be mentally far more stronger,”Mominul said at the end of theday’s play. Asked about the matchsituation, Mominul made it clearthat it will be very difficult to savethe game from here on.

“Let’s be practical. They havealready scored 80 plus. We are lag-ging far behind and it will be verydifficult to save the game from thissituation.

"�������������������������������������������������,�������

���� *�$F�>

The current Indian pace attackis “one of the most lethal” in

world cricket since it has the abil-ity to create openings in every spell,reckons senior off-spinnerRavichandran Ashwin.

There was no Jasprit Bumrahbut Mohammed Shami, IshantSharma and Umesh Yadav wereruthless and unplayable asBangladeshi batsmen danced totheir tunes.

“I think Shami, Ishant andUmesh have been bowling well asa pack and if you add Bumrah toit over the last few months or a year

in Test cricket, I think it’s one of themost lethal pace attacks goingaround in the world if not the best,”Ashwin said at the end of play onthe first day. “And I am saying thatas a disclaimer, I don’t want peo-ple judging me on that comment.But it’s right up there and one of thebest bowling attacks I have seen inrecent times,” he said.

“Sometimes you feel that everyspell they bowl, something is hap-pening or they make it happen,” theoff-spinner added.

He however denied that he andRavindra Jadeja will be changingtheir approach because the pacershave started taking the lead.

“As a bowler, I personallynever looked at it that way. It’s myjob to pick up a wicket and try andcapitalise if the pacers don’t pick awicket then get a breakthrough.

“Having said that, I am takingnothing away from the fast bowlers.They have been exceptional, espe-cially if you look at Umesh over thelast few years sine 2016 when thehome season happened. He hasalways given us an early break-through. Ishant has been splendidand Shami has probably in his bestrhythm in his entire career,” said theman, who completed a feat of 250Test wickets at home.

FASTEST TO 250 WICKETS AT HOME#����� ����� *�� ���

���� ������ �����4�� �8�-5 !@ @

�" �������.��� ��4*�� 5 !@ C'

.� ��,�/���4*�� 5 !7

�����������4�� �8�-5 !! C@

$���������4������.%� �5 !( (7

��/�6��� ����4*�� 5 0' (!

MOST TEST WICKETS IN INDIA#����� � ?-�� 0?* #���

.� ��,�/�� )7 70: @0 ':2 !

��/�6��� ��� 00 @)0 'C C2C!

�"�.��� � !@ @0' @' 20(

,� ��$�"� )0 @'( '' (2C7

�" ����3��6 7@ '0 2!��)�C<���C�-�!C�

���#��$�(�� ���1�#��$�������-���

#��������������������������& ��'��(����)� ��*�+��*�,�-� ��-���.*���*,

!�����������!�����"����'�*�����

$��������%������-2�"������������8� �����=��" ������+��"��.�����#)?

&�� ������+� �������"��"the Mumbai camp.

Mumbai opener Jay Bista(48 off 41 balls; 5x4 and 1x6) andAditya Tare (37 off 27 balls)added 78 for the first wicketbefore the team’s middle ordercollapsed.

Shreyas Iyer (15), SiddheshLad (0) and Shivam Dube (0) fellin quick sussession after Bistadeparted as Mumbai slumped to105-5 from 102-2.

Then Ranjane did the rescueact in company of skipperSuryakumar Yadav (22 of 18balls), as the two took the hostsnear the target. However, Suryafell with three balls to left,putting the onus on Ranjane,who finished the match in style.

Earlier, invited to bat, Bengalfailed to capitalise on the startprovided by openers Vivek

Singh (56 off 45 balls) andShreevats Goswami (43 off 28balls) to post a below-par 153/4on the board.

In the first match at BandraKurla Complex, Haryana defeat-ed Pondicherry by six wickets,while in the second game at thesame venue, Assam thrashedminnows Mizoram by ninewickets.

In the second game atWankhede, Madhya Pradeshgot better of Meghalaya by 85runs.

RAJASTHAN BEATS UP� �� ����������� ,Medium-pacer Deepak Chahar(3 for 46 and 13 not out) starredin Rajasthan’s five-wicket winover Uttar Pradesh in a GroupB match.