0 ˙ rni regn. no. chheng/2012/42718, postal reg. no. - … the yadav clan and cases of major crimes...

12
I n a massive setback to AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala’s bid to become Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, Governor C Vidyasagar Rao on Friday submitted in 3-page report to the Home Ministry that it would be imprudent to invite her to form a Government. He also cited the pending Supreme Court’s deci- sion in the disproportionate assets case against her. More importantly, the Governor said O Panneerselvam (OPS) resigned under duress from the post of Chief Minister. The statement paves the way for OPS to con- tinue as CM without the need to prove majority on the floor of the Assembly. Meanwhile, the feud in Tamil Nadu’s ruling party got aggravated on Friday as AIADMK general secretary VK Sasikala axed E Madhusudanan, the party’s presidium chairman for anti- party activities and appointed KS Sengottaiyan in his place. Sending a strong message to her detractors, Sasikala urged the party workers not to have any truck with Madhusudanan and said they should extend their coopera- tion to Sengottaiyan. Madhusudanan retaliated within minutes by removing Sasikala from the post of gen- eral secretary and writing to the Election Commission asking the poll panel to restraint “Chinnamma” from function- ing as general secretary. “As per party by-laws, a general secretary can be Continued on page 4 T he Madras High Court on Friday sought the Tamil Nadu Government’s response to allegations that AIADMK MLAs were being illegally detained in a resort near here and 20 of them were on a fast, calling it a “matter of serious concern.” The Madras High Court hearing a habeas corpus peti- tion filed by K Balu, senior PMK leader, alleging that the AIADMK MLAs were kept under illegal detention in a resort, directed the Government counsel to fur- nish the whereabouts of the MLAs by Monday morning. “They have been kid- napped and kept under lock and key. Their mobile phones have been snatched by bounc- ers hired by the people who are keeping them in custody,” said Balu. The Additional Public Prosecutor had told the court on Thursday that the MLAs were free and were staying in a Government hostel. Continued on Page 4 P ost-demonetisation, the Centre is now out to crack the whip against as many as nine lakh shell companies, which are registered but neither conduct any operations nor file their annual returns and indulge in money laundering. The Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) on Friday formed a task force to prevent misuse of these shell companies for money laundering and tax- evasion, especially in the con- text of unearthing black money post-demonetisation. The PMO, which held a high-level meet in this regard, found that nine lakh of the 15 lakh companies registered in the country were shell companies and a “small sample analysis” revealed that during the demonetisation exercise in November and December, 1,248 crore in cash was deposited in such dubious firms. The task force, with mem- bers from various regulatory Ministries and enforcement agencies, has been set up under the co-chairmanship of the Revenue Secretary and Corporate Affairs Secretary to monitor the actions taken against deviant shell companies by various agencies. The regulatory Ministry concerned will ensure that dis- ciplinary action is initiated against professionals indulging in malpractices and abetting entry operators of shell com- panies, the PMO said in a statement. The PMO’s action is defi- nitely going to hit many cor- porate firms, known as ‘Kolkata Continued on Page 4 F or years, Noida’s skyscrap- ers, crowded malls, bustling plazas and glitzy corporate offices have cocked a snook at its poor siblings in the eastern part of Uttar Pradesh. But the relative prosperity and progress have not stymied the bane of caste and communal divide that has plagued UP’s politics for decades. As Western UP gears up for the first-phase of polling for 71 Assembly seats, development has taken a back seat and divisive issues have returned to centre stage. In the caste and commu- nal divide, the brouhaha over ‘notebandi’ has added an inter- esting flavour, creating a tricky situation which pollsters and parties are finding difficult to assess. Noida is a perfect example of this confusion. Here, Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s son Pankaj Singh is making his electoral debut. The BJP decided to field Pankaj in place of sitting MLA Vimla Batham, who had won the 2014 bypolls. Interestingly, Noida is con- sidered “jinxed” for the sitting Chief Minister of the State. It is said whoever visits Noida loses the CM seat soon. Incumbent Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav too has thus preferred to stay away from campaigning in this populous town. Continued on Page 4 T aking up issues of dynastic politics and law and order to target the Samajwadi Party- Congress alliance, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday called it a tie-up between two families who have “looted” Uttar Pradesh and the country, and mocked Rahul Gandhi saying no leader has as many jokes on him as he does for his “childish” acts. “When both families were separate, they caused so much destruction in the country and UP. What will happen when they have joined hands. If you want to save UP, you will have to save it from these families,” he said addressing a rally here. Slamming the Congress for opening a broadside against him, Modi, during an election rally in Haridwar, warned the Congress to “hold your tongue, as I have your entire janampa- tri”. Noting that next five years are as vital for Uttarakhand as they are in the growth of any 16-year-old, Modi asked peo- ple to vote out the Government which had “tainted the name of Devbhoomi” and replace it with one that could translate Atal Bihar Vajpayee’s vision for the State. With BJP locked in a tough fight in the UP Assembly polls, the Prime Minister dwelt at length on the “family rule” of the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and Mayawati Governments. Modi, who has been accused by the Congress of using foul language and repeat- edly humiliating opposition Continued on Page 4 I n a much-awaited move, the Centre on Friday appointed Directors to 10 Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the country’s premier business schools, nine of which are new and are operating from temporary campuses. Most of the posts have been vacant for over two years now even as similar vacancies at four more IIMs still remain to be filled. While Professor G Raghuram will be the Director of IIM-Bangalore, Bharat Bhasker will take over as the IIM-Raipur chief. Raghuram has been a faculty member at IIM-Ahmedabad since 1985. He was also Dean (Faculty) there from September 2013 to December 2015. Raghuram is, at present, chairperson of the Public Systems Group (PSG) at IIM-Ahmedabad. The appointments were approved by the Appointments Committee of Cabinet (ACC), headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, for a period of five years, or until the incum- bents attain the age of 65 years. There are 20 IIMs across the country. A Bill aimed at pro- viding degree granting power to the IIMs is pending in Parliament. Raghuram has been appointed in place of Professor Sushil Vachani, whose resig- nation as IIM-Bangalore Director has been accepted ex-post facto by the ACC with effect from April 1, 2016. Vachani had resigned in April 2016, three months before his Continued on Page 4 T he price of filing an appeal in the Supreme Court proved dearly for a sitting MLA from Bihar as he was slapped with 10-lakh cost for approaching the court on Friday with a frivolous case. The order is unprecedented and one of the highest costs to be imposed ever on any indi- vidual by the court while refus- ing to entertain a petition. Ravinder Singh, presently a legislator elected from Arwal constituency in Bihar’s Jehanabad district belongs to the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD), the party which is in power in the State along with the JD (U). Singh earned the ire of the court as he sought an enquiry into an article written in a magazine called “Nyay Chakra”, published long ago in 1994. According to Singh, the article prima facie aimed to disturb “national harmony” and thus appeared to be against nation- al interest. A similar request was earlier rejected by the Patna High Court on December 6, 2016, against which Singh had now preferred an appeal before the highest court. Hearing his appeal, a Bench of Chief Justice JS Khehar and Justices NV Ramana and DY Chandrachud found no ground to interfere as the HC order was “explicit and clear”. How a court could go into an article published in the year 1994 on a petition filed by the petitioner (Singh) in 2015, was the question the HC asked while dismissing the matter. The Bench put the same question to Singh’s lawyers who said that being an elected representative he was espous- ing a public cause as the news item targeted certain individ- uals of a community thereby threatening national harmony. But the argument earned him no favour as the Bench made up its mind that the petition needs to be dismissed with exemplary cost. Recording reasons in the order, the CJI-headed Bench said, “The instance course of action adopted by the peti- tioner (Singh) is un-condon- able because the petitioner is a people’s representative and can- not be expected to abuse the liberty available to approach this court.” He was directed to deposit the cost to the SC’s Welfare Fund within four weeks. If he failed to pay up, the Bench directed the matter to be re-listed. This is not the first time that CJI Khehar has been ruthless in punishing frivolous litigations. Day in and day out, the court is setting a precedent by dismiss- ing unwanted petitions with a minimum cost of 1 lakh. Within the first month after tak- ing over as CJI, Justice Khehar has made his intentions clear. “It is high time we impose exem- plary costs to deter litigants from approaching the Court on frivolous issues,” he said. Lately, two corporate cases were dis- missed by his bench with a fine of 25 lakh each. T he first phase of elections on Saturday in Uttar Pradesh, covering the com- munally-sensitive western parts of the State, will be a lit- mus test for the BJP and the BSP even as it will give the first indication of the party likely to be the eventual winner. The so-called Jatland and the sugar belt of the Northern India, covering some sensitive districts like Muzaffarnagar, Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut, Etah, Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagar and Mathura and with 2.59- crore electorate, will vote for 73 Assembly seats in 15 districts of western UP. The Muslims and Jats would be the deciding factor in this phase. While the Jats solid- ly backed the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections, this time the BJP is not too sure about their wholehearted sup- port. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

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Page 1: 0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

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In a massive setback toAIADMK general secretary

VK Sasikala’s bid to becomeChief Minister of Tamil Nadu,Governor C Vidyasagar Rao onFriday submitted in 3-pagereport to the Home Ministrythat it would be imprudent toinvite her to form aGovernment. He also cited thepending Supreme Court’s deci-sion in the disproportionateassets case against her.

More importantly, theGovernor said OPanneerselvam (OPS) resignedunder duress from the post ofChief Minister. The statementpaves the way for OPS to con-tinue as CM without the needto prove majority on the floorof the Assembly.

Meanwhile, the feud inTamil Nadu’s ruling party gotaggravated on Friday as

AIADMK general secretaryVK Sasikala axed EMadhusudanan, the party’spresidium chairman for anti-party activities and appointedKS Sengottaiyan in his place.

Sending a strong messageto her detractors, Sasikalaurged the party workers not tohave any truck withMadhusudanan and said theyshould extend their coopera-

tion to Sengottaiyan.Madhusudanan retaliated

within minutes by removingSasikala from the post of gen-eral secretary and writing to theElection Commission askingthe poll panel to restraint“Chinnamma” from function-ing as general secretary.

“As per party by-laws, ageneral secretary can be

Continued on page 4

������������� ���������2+� ������������ 0�� �/�(� � ���31�����������$2+��� ���������������� ������������ &

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The Madras High Court onFriday sought the Tamil

Nadu Government’s responseto allegations that AIADMKMLAs were being illegallydetained in a resort near hereand 20 of them were on a fast,calling it a “matter of seriousconcern.”

The Madras High Courthearing a habeas corpus peti-tion filed by K Balu, seniorPMK leader, alleging that theAIADMK MLAs were keptunder illegal detention in a

resort, directed theGovernment counsel to fur-nish the whereabouts of theMLAs by Monday morning.

“They have been kid-napped and kept under lockand key. Their mobile phoneshave been snatched by bounc-ers hired by the people who arekeeping them in custody,” saidBalu.

The Additional PublicProsecutor had told the courton Thursday that the MLAswere free and were staying ina Government hostel.

Continued on Page 4

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Post-demonetisation, theCentre is now out to crack

the whip against as many asnine lakh shell companies,which are registered but neitherconduct any operations nor filetheir annual returns andindulge in money laundering.

The Prime Minister’sOffice (PMO) on Fridayformed a task force to preventmisuse of these shell companiesfor money laundering and tax-evasion, especially in the con-text of unearthing black moneypost-demonetisation.

The PMO, which held ahigh-level meet in this regard,found that nine lakh of the 15lakh companies registered in thecountry were shell companiesand a “small sample analysis”revealed that during the

demonetisation exercise inNovember and December,�1,248 crore in cash wasdeposited in such dubious firms.

The task force, with mem-bers from various regulatoryMinistries and enforcementagencies, has been set up underthe co-chairmanship of theRevenue Secretary andCorporate Affairs Secretary tomonitor the actions takenagainst deviant shell companies

by various agencies.The regulatory Ministry

concerned will ensure that dis-ciplinary action is initiatedagainst professionals indulgingin malpractices and abettingentry operators of shell com-panies, the PMO said in astatement.

The PMO’s action is defi-nitely going to hit many cor-porate firms, known as ‘Kolkata

Continued on Page 4

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For years, Noida’s skyscrap-ers, crowded malls, bustling

plazas and glitzy corporateoffices have cocked a snook atits poor siblings in the easternpart of Uttar Pradesh. But therelative prosperity and progresshave not stymied the bane ofcaste and communal dividethat has plagued UP’s politicsfor decades. As Western UPgears up for the first-phase ofpolling for 71 Assembly seats,development has taken a backseat and divisive issues havereturned to centre stage.

In the caste and commu-nal divide, the brouhaha over‘notebandi’ has added an inter-esting flavour, creating a trickysituation which pollsters and

parties are finding difficult toassess. Noida is a perfectexample of this confusion.Here, Home Minister RajnathSingh’s son Pankaj Singh ismaking his electoral debut.The BJP decided to fieldPankaj in place of sitting MLAVimla Batham, who had wonthe 2014 bypolls.

Interestingly, Noida is con-sidered “jinxed” for the sittingChief Minister of the State. It issaid whoever visits Noida losesthe CM seat soon. IncumbentChief Minister Akhilesh Yadavtoo has thus preferred to stayaway from campaigning in thispopulous town.

Continued on Page 4

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Taking up issues of dynasticpolitics and law and order

to target the Samajwadi Party-Congress alliance, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi onFriday called it a tie-upbetween two families who have“looted” Uttar Pradesh andthe country, and mocked RahulGandhi saying no leader has asmany jokes on him as he doesfor his “childish” acts.

“When both families wereseparate, they caused so muchdestruction in the country andUP. What will happen whenthey have joined hands. If youwant to save UP, you will haveto save it from these families,”

he said addressing a rally here.Slamming the Congress

for opening a broadside againsthim, Modi, during an electionrally in Haridwar, warned theCongress to “hold your tongue,as I have your entire janampa-tri”. Noting that next five yearsare as vital for Uttarakhand asthey are in the growth of any16-year-old, Modi asked peo-ple to vote out the Governmentwhich had “tainted the name ofDevbhoomi” and replace itwith one that could translateAtal Bihar Vajpayee’s visionfor the State.

With BJP locked in a toughfight in the UP Assembly polls,the Prime Minister dwelt atlength on the “family rule” ofthe Yadav clan and cases ofmajor crimes under its watch,besides “corruption” duringthe reign of Akhilesh Yadav andMayawati Governments.

Modi, who has beenaccused by the Congress ofusing foul language and repeat-edly humiliating opposition

Continued on Page 4

���� -�4�,�5.�

In a much-awaited move, theCentre on Friday appointed

Directors to 10 IndianInstitutes of Management(IIMs), the country’s premierbusiness schools, nine of whichare new and are operatingfrom temporary campuses.Most of the posts have beenvacant for over two years noweven as similar vacancies atfour more IIMs still remain tobe filled.

While Professor GRaghuram will be the Directorof IIM-Bangalore, BharatBhasker will take over as theIIM-Raipur chief. Raghuramhas been a faculty member atIIM-Ahmedabad since 1985.He was also Dean (Faculty)there from September 2013 toDecember 2015. Raghuram is,at present, chairperson of thePublic Systems Group (PSG) atIIM-Ahmedabad.

The appointments wereapproved by the AppointmentsCommittee of Cabinet (ACC),headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, for a period offive years, or until the incum-bents attain the age of 65 years.There are 20 IIMs across thecountry. A Bill aimed at pro-viding degree granting powerto the IIMs is pending inParliament.

Raghuram has beenappointed in place of ProfessorSushil Vachani, whose resig-nation as IIM-BangaloreDirector has been acceptedex-post facto by the ACC witheffect from April 1, 2016.Vachani had resigned in April2016, three months before his

Continued on Page 4

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The price of filing an appealin the Supreme Court

proved dearly for a sittingMLA from Bihar as he wasslapped with �10-lakh cost forapproaching the court onFriday with a frivolous case.The order is unprecedentedand one of the highest costs tobe imposed ever on any indi-vidual by the court while refus-ing to entertain a petition.

Ravinder Singh, presentlya legislator elected from Arwalconstituency in Bihar’sJehanabad district belongs tothe Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD),the party which is in power in

the State along with the JD (U). Singh earned the ire of the

court as he sought an enquiryinto an article written in amagazine called “Nyay Chakra”,published long ago in 1994.According to Singh, the articleprima facie aimed to disturb“national harmony” and thusappeared to be against nation-al interest. A similar request wasearlier rejected by the PatnaHigh Court on December 6,2016, against which Singh hadnow preferred an appeal beforethe highest court.

Hearing his appeal, aBench of Chief Justice JSKhehar and Justices NVRamana and DY Chandrachudfound no ground to interfere as

the HC order was “explicit andclear”. How a court could gointo an article published in theyear 1994 on a petition filed bythe petitioner (Singh) in 2015,was the question the HC askedwhile dismissing the matter.

The Bench put the samequestion to Singh’s lawyerswho said that being an electedrepresentative he was espous-ing a public cause as the newsitem targeted certain individ-uals of a community therebythreatening national harmony.But the argument earned himno favour as the Bench madeup its mind that the petitionneeds to be dismissed withexemplary cost.

Recording reasons in theorder, the CJI-headed Benchsaid, “The instance course ofaction adopted by the peti-tioner (Singh) is un-condon-able because the petitioner is a

people’s representative and can-not be expected to abuse theliberty available to approachthis court.” He was directed todeposit the cost to the SC’sWelfare Fund within fourweeks. If he failed to pay up, theBench directed the matter to bere-listed.

This is not the first time thatCJI Khehar has been ruthless inpunishing frivolous litigations.Day in and day out, the court issetting a precedent by dismiss-ing unwanted petitions with aminimum cost of �1 lakh.Within the first month after tak-ing over as CJI, Justice Kheharhas made his intentions clear. “Itis high time we impose exem-plary costs to deter litigantsfrom approaching the Court onfrivolous issues,” he said. Lately,two corporate cases were dis-missed by his bench with a fineof �25 lakh each.

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The first phase of electionson Saturday in Uttar

Pradesh, covering the com-munally-sensitive westernparts of the State, will be a lit-mus test for the BJP and theBSP even as it will give the firstindication of the party likely to

be the eventual winner.The so-called Jatland and

the sugar belt of the NorthernIndia, covering some sensitivedistricts like Muzaffarnagar,Shamli, Baghpat, Meerut, Etah,Agra, Gautam Buddha Nagarand Mathura and with 2.59-crore electorate, will vote for 73Assembly seats in 15 districts

of western UP. The Muslims and Jats

would be the deciding factor inthis phase. While the Jats solid-ly backed the BJP during the2014 Lok Sabha elections, thistime the BJP is not too sureabout their wholehearted sup-port.

Continued on Page 4

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Union Minister Venkaiah Naidu onThursday said that the NDA dispen-

sation will pass the long-pending Women'sReservation Bill, providing for 33 per centreservation to the fair sex, once theGovernment gets majority in Rajya Sabha.

“Once we get majority in Rajya Sabha,our Government, after having consensuswith other political parties, will ensure itspassage. Prime Minister Narendra Modihas this in mind. Once we (NDA) getmajority in Rajya Sabha, we will get theBill passed after having consensus withother political parties,” said the UnionUrban Development Minister at the inau-gural session of the three-day NationalWomen’s Parliamentary Conference atAndhra Pradesh Capital Amaravati.

Stressing that women cannot be leftbehind as far as her rights are concerned,Naidu said that it is high time that thewomen are empowered as they constitute50 per cent of the population. Whileemphashing that employment is the mostpowerful tool for real empowerment ofwomen, he said that even India's traditionalculture too has encouraged equality in allsphere to the women in the society.

Echoing similar views, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister ChandrababuNaidu enlisted various steps that hisGovernment has taken for empower-ment of the women in his State. Termingthe conference as ‘historic’— being heldat the confluence of rivers Godavari andKrishna- Chandrababu said that it was thefounder president of TDP, late NTRamarao, who gave shape to the PropertyRights to Women. “Other States andCentre too have followed the suit,” he saidwhile hailing the Prime Minister formeasures aimed to empower women inthe country.

Though the conclave, ‘empowering

women-strengthening democracy’, wassupposed to be inaugurated by Modi viavideo conference, it was cancelled becauseof his preoccupation.

The first-of-its kind event is aimed toconnect over 10,000 socio-politically sen-sitive girl students of higher educationwith around 405 women legislators, 92women MPs and 300 social/corporatewomen leaders of India and overseas.

Asking women to play a more activerole in all sectors, Buddhist spiritualguru Dalai Lama said, "They cannotremain indifferent." "This century shouldbe the century of dialogue and compas-sion," he maintained and advised womento develop self-confidence and determi-nation.

Shirin Sharmin Chaudhary, Speakerof Jatiyo Sanghshad (Parliament ofBangladesh), felt that political reservationwas must for women empowermentwhich, in turn, is essential condition for

achieving an inclusive society. Others whoattended the inaugural session includedPuducherry Lieutenant Governor KiranBedi, actress Manisha Koirala and womenactivist Ranjana Kumari.

The conclave spanning three days willhave various sessions dealing with socio-political challenges in women empower-ment, building own identity and vision ofthe future, women's status and decisionmaking power, be your own hero andbuilding bonds between mentor andmentees.

On the third day, there will be a “Walkfor Women Empowerment” wherein allthe participant girl students as well aswomen legislators will walk for womenempowerment.

The NWP will come out with theAmaravati Declaration on womenempowerment at the end of the three-daydeliberations, said Dr Renuka, spokesper-son of the TDP and convenor of the event.

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As the Government is striv-ing to boost the nascent

defence industry, ‘Make in India’policy will figure prominentlyduring the five-day interna-tional aerospace exhibition AeroIndia 2017 starting February 14in Bengaluru. Nearly 500 com-panies, including 279 foreignand 270 Indian ones, will takepart in the biennial event that isheld since 1996.

With the focus on mediumand small scale industries, theexhibition will have seminars onthe problems faced by Indianentrepreneurs. Several countrieswill also participate in discus-sions organised by three promi-nent industrial bodies includingConfederation of IndianIndustries(CII), Federation ofIndian Chamber ofCommerce(FICCI) and Punjab,Haryana and Delhi(PHD)chamber of industry.

Moreover, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat andKerala are setting up exclusiveSEZ pavilions for attractinginvestment. Defence Minister

Manohar Parrikar will inauguratethe exhibition on February 14 inwhich more than 51 countriesincluding US, UK, France, Israel,Russia, Sweden and South Africaare some of the 51 countries tak-ing part in the expo. Many com-panies will also display theirfrontline planes and 72 aircraftfrom different countries will beon display. Moreover, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat andKerala are setting up exclusiveSEZ pavilions for attractinginvestment, defence ministryofficials said here on Friday.

Defence Ministers and topofficials of many countriesincluding UK will representtheir respective industries.British Defence Minister HarriettBaldwin will lead her delegationat Aero India as Britain and Indiafocus on partnership, collabora-tion, investment and technolo-gy transfer, UK governmentofficials said here.

In all, 65 delegates com-prising Ministers of Defence,Service Chiefs including IAFand Indian Army chiefs, headsof department from Bahrain,Bangladesh, Brazil, Brunei,Cyprus, the Czech Republic,Egypt, France, Germany,Indonesia, Israel, Japan,Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal,Nigeria, Oman, Seychelles, SriLanka, Sudan, South Africa,Sweden, Switzerland, Tanzania,Thailand, Turkey, the UAE,the UK, USA and Uzbekistanhave confirmed their presence.

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India and the UnitedKingdom on Friday signed

an agreement to ease restric-tions on the number of sched-uled flights between the twocountries. Following a series ofmeetings between the twosides, the limits on flightsfrom key Indian cities includ-ing Chennai and Kolkata havebeen scrapped. Officials fromboth sides said this will allowgreater range of flights for pas-sengers and boost trade andtourism for UK and India.

The agreement was signedbetween Union Civil Aviationminister P.Ashok GajapathiRaju and UK AviationMinister Lord Ahmad. Theagreement also opens all des-tinations in UK for Indian car-riers for code share flights,and, reciprocally, the UK car-riers can also operate codeshare flights to any interna-tional airport in India, throughdomestic code share arrange-ments. However, the final deci-sion on additional flightsbetween the UK and India willbe taken by the airlines whilelooking at the commercialviability aspect.

"The increase in number offlights between the UK andIndia is good news for ourbusinesses and tourists. Wealready enjoy strong ties withthe UK and we welcome such

closer associations which in thelong run will encourage furtherbusinesses between our twocountries in the civil aviationsector. I am sure the Indian pri-vate airline companies willbenefit from this agreementbetween our two countries,"said P. Ashok Gajapathi Raju,Minister for Civil Aviation.

With around two and halfmillion passengers flyingdirect between the UK andIndia each year, and 88 sched-uled services per week in eachdirection between the twocountries, the agreement willopen up new routes and ser-vice opportunities.

"India is one of our clos-est allies and key trading part-ners and this new agreementwill only serve to strengthenthis crucial relationship. Weare unlocking new trade andtourism opportunities whichwill boost our economies, cre-ate new jobs and open up newbusiness links. This is greatnews for both the UK andIndia and is yet another signthat we are open for businessand ready to build new, andstrengthen our existing, tradelinks," said Lord Ahmad.

Tourism from India makesan important contribution tothe UK economy. In 2015,there were 422,000 visits fromIndia to the UK, bringingmore than £433 million to theeconomy.

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The Supreme Court onFriday said that it was too

early to order an inquiryagainst P Chidambaram forclearing the Aircel-Maxis dealtill there was evidence to showthat the former FinanceMinister knew about the dealbeing worth over �3600 croreand required approval from theCabinet.

Hearing an application bysenior BJPl e a d e rSubramanianSwamy in the2G spectrumscam, a benchof Chief JusticeJS Khehar andJustices NVRamana and DYChandrachudtold Swamy, "Atthe moment,you have to giveus any concretematerial that cantrigger it off thath e(Chidambaram)knew. Once weare satisfiedthere is material,we will issuenotice, whetherit is the smallestperson or be itthe biggest person." The Courtwill take up the matter for hear-ing after two weeks.

Swamy made twin allega-tions in his application againstChidambaram and required anorder from Court asking theCentral Bureau of Investigation(CBI) to initiate a probe. It wasSwamy's case that as FinanceMinister, Chidambaram head-ed the Foreign InvestmentPromotion Board (FIPB). InMarch 2006, the Aircel-Maxisdeal by which Malaysian-basedcommunication giant Maxissought to acquire 74 per centstake in Aircel was given FIPBnod. This permission couldnot be granted according to

Swamy as any deal above �600crore required approval of theCabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA).The Aircel-Maxis deal wasworth �3600 crore. Besides,Swamy claimed that thetakeover of 74 per cent inAircel was merely on paper asMaxis later declared to theMalaysian Stock Exchange thatit owned almost 100 per centof Aircel.

Dealing with the twin alle-gations, the bench said, "Mr

S w a m y ,invite ourattention tosome mater-ial that hewas awarethat thise n t i t y(Maxis) held100 per centstatek in thisc o m p a n y( A i r c e l ) .How does aM i n i s t e rknow that hehas no juris-diction whilesigning thefile? AsF i n a n c eMinister hehas to dealwith thou-sands of fileseach day. We

must arrive at the conclusionthat he knew."

Swamy pointed out thatthis was a matter of investiga-tion and should be explainedby CBI if the Minister hadknowledge of the crime allegedagainst him. In fact, he point-ed out that the CBI in one of itsstatus reports in the 2G casehad submitted to the apexcourt that the FIPB clearancegranted to Aircel-Maxis dealwas under investigation.Swamy requested the Court toask the CBI to present the out-come of its probe. However,this request was turned downby the Court that wished to besatisfied first.

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The ParliamentaryCommittee on Law has

asked the Government to deployspecial prosecutors and magis-trates to handle cases of electoraldisputes so that they are settledin a time-bound manner.

The Committee, whichpresented its report beforeParliament on Thursday, rec-ommended that "cases regis-tered during the (election) peri-od should be handled by spe-cial prosecutors and magis-trates in a time bound manner".

The Election Commissionhas told the Committee that itsupports the recommendation.

"Recommendation of theCommittee may be endorsedand it may be added that allcases of electoral offences shouldbe vigorously pursued and takento their logical conclusion andshould not be withdrawn mid-way," the poll panel has beenquoted as saying in the report.

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After a gap of almost fiveyears, ‘Fairy Queen’, the

oldest surviving functionalsteam engine in the world, isonce again ready to haul a her-itage train from the nationalcapital to neighbouring Rewariin Haryana. This train, whichis a great attraction amongsteam engine lovers across theglobe, will run between DelhiCantt Station and Rewari everySaturday.

The specially-decked-upcoaches of Fairy Queen Traincan reach a maximum speed of50 km/ph with a passenger car-rying capacity of 50 to 60. Thefare of a round trip is, howev-er, exorbitantly placed at Rs6,800 whereas the one-waytrip will be Rs 3,400 per adult.Children will be accommodat-ed at a 50 percent discountedfare.

"Delhi to Rewari trip wouldbe a one-day affair, unlike theearlier service between Delhiand Alwar, which took twodays and included a visit toSariska. The train to the her-itage railway shed in Rewari is

likely to depart from DelhiCantt at 10.30 am to reachRewari at 1pm and returnfrom Rewari at 4.15pm to

reach Delhi at 6.15pm," saidNational Rail Museum DirectorU S Mina.

The locomotive was con-

structed by Kitson, Thompsonand Hewitson at Leeds, inEngland, in 1855, and reachedKolkata, then known as

Calcutta, in the same year. Onarrival, it was given fleet num-ber "22" by its owner, the EastIndian Railway Company, not

receiving a name until 1895.Initially, the 5 ft 6 inch

(1,676 mm) gauge locomotivewas used to haul light mailtrains in West Bengal, operat-ing between Howrah andRaniganj. During the IndianRebellion of 1857, it hauledtroop trains. It was later con-signed to line constructionduty in Bihar, where it serveduntil 1909.

"It was restored and givena special place in the newly-built National Rail Museum atChanakyapuri in New Delhiwhich was opened to public 40years back in February 1977.The locomotive was restored tofull working order in 1997, inpreparation for its first main-line journey in 88 years and itsreturn to commercial serviceon 18 July," said a senior rail-way official.

It was certified by theGuinness Book of Records in1998 as the world's oldeststeam locomotive in regularoperation. The following year,the train received a NationalTourism Award for the mostinnovative and unique tourismproject from the then PrimeMinister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

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Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Friday sought

complete details from theCentre about what it achievedby demonetisation even as hecautioned the Modi led NDAGovernment not to divertattention from the issue.

Kumar, who was part ofpanel on during the launch offormer Finance Minister PChidambaram's book "Fearlessin Opposition" here, alongwithCPM leader Sitaram Yechuryand former Union MinisterKapil Sibal, said no one imme-diately opposed the note ban."Now we need to ask how muchblack money has come out afterso many days," Kumar said.

Kumar said, "It is time theCentre came clear on what hasbeen achieved by demonetisa-tion. There is no use in divert-ing attention. Making a clarioncall for opposition unity, Kumarsaid it was the need of the hour.Kumar initially defended theinvalidation of Rs 1000 and Rs500 currency notes.

Calling demonetisation abig blunder, Chidambaramsaid it is possible that popularsilence is being interpreted aspopular support. "Without anOpposition there is no democ-racy," he said.

Yechury said the supportwas against black money andnot for demonetisation.Opposition unity can come andwill come on a certain set ofagreed policies, the CPM chiefsaid. Sibal asked how the Rs15,00,000 crore came back intothe system as is being claimed.

Earlier, in the day NitishKumar met Yechury and dis-cussed the need for like-mind-ed parties to get together to haltNarendra Modi' and BJP in theUttar Pradesh polls.

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Apiano, a pack of cigarette,Brut cologne splash, a

bottle of Russian Vodka, twopairs of tweed coats — all ofthese that were once formerRussian ambassadorAlexander M Kadakin's partof daily life are now part of hisMemorial Museum that theRussian Embassy has created

for him. The Museum wasinaugurated on Friday on theoccasion of RussianDiplomatist Day.

Each year on this day,Kadakin used to host a friend-ly soiree at the Embassy, hav-ing selected guests fromMinistry of External Affairs,former Indian ambassadors toRussia and Ambassadors ofthe CIS countries. The same

set of people had gatheredonce again, but the only onemissing was Kadakin.

Joint Secretary in Ministryof External Affairs, GVSriniwas, who handles Russiaand attended Kadakin's funer-al in Russia, said theAmbassador's contributionswere immense and have pro-vided India-Russia relations asolid foundation.

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Chief Minister Raman Singhon Friday inaugurated the

newly constructed ChristelHouse School building atSector 25 here.

Notably, during the monthof March in 2014, in whatcould be termed as anendorsement for the agenda toprovide quality education to thepoor, the NRDA had signed anagreement with Christel House,an International charity with a

proven track record in break-ing the cycle of povertythrough educating children.

As a part of the agreement,NRDA decided to provide landand infrastructure for aChristel House school in NayaRaipur. The Christel Housewill apply its experience andresources in a variety of disci-plines including teaching,community outreach, finance,administration and so on toeducate impoverished chil-dren in the State.

The NRDA has entrusted

them the task of providinggood quality streamlined edu-cation and holistic develop-ment of the poor children.

Christel House was set upin Bangalore in 2001 by entre-preneur turned philanthropist,Christel DeHaan from theUSA. The objective of ChristelHouse is to provide education,nutrition and healthcare tochildren from the poorest ofthe poor sections of society andmake them economically inde-pendent and contributingmembers.

Raju Shahani, MD andChairperson, Christel HouseIndia had stated in 2014, ‘Weare proud to be a part of yetanother State’s drive to providegood quality education andvalues to children from eco-nomically backward sections ofsociety.'

The Christel House is theonly charity that completesthe cycle by taking children inKindergarten, providing themeducation till Class XII, men-tor them to pursue degrees anddiplomas at State universities

and finally place them in jobs.The partnership with theGovernment of Chhattisgarh isa validation of our successstory in Karnataka andMaharashtra, where we operateour schools in Bangalore andLavassa, he had stated.

Notably, the NRDA hadalso decided to of develop astate-of-art Model High Schoolin 2015-16 the new capital.

The school, it hadannounced would be devel-oped in phases. The estimatedcost of the Phase-I of the pro-

ject is Rs 25 crore which mayvary, officials had stated.

Chief Minister RamanSingh Friday also took up therole of a teacher while inter-acting with the tiny tots atinaugural function of ChrystalFoundation school building.

It is noteworthy that thisbuilding has been constructedby Naya Raipur DevelopmentAuthority (NRDA). Children ofthe nearby villages have beengiven admission in this schoolin KG-1. This school is runningsince last four months.

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The Korba MunicipalCorporation (KMC) will be

supplying treated wastewatergenerated from the city for useby NTPC’s Thermal PowerStation, official sourcesinformed.

Notably, two key watersupply projects under AtalMission for Rejuvenation andUrban Transformation(AMRUT) scheme had beentaken up with one each inKorba at Rs 145 crore and atBhilai involving a cost Rs 104crores in Chhattisgarh, theCentral Government hasinformed.

Notably, the Chhattisgarhgovernment will get a DetailedProject Report (DPR) preparedfor implemention of AMRUTproject in the State.

The Central Governmenthad recently sanctioned pro-posals worth Rs 2200 crore fordrinking water facility, sewer-age, afforestation and chil-dren's parks. The civic author-ities had completed 24 of the 28projects in the urban limits.The project covers Digital Indiaprogramme also, officialsinformed.

The municipal authoritieshad collected 90 per cent of thewater cess which is a record initself. It may be mentioned herethat Chhattisgarh State hadbagged several national awardsin the year 2016, theyinformed.

Notably, as many as 27water supply projects to betaken up across Chhattisgarhunder Centre’s AMRUT project

would involve an expenditureof 440.95 crore during the cur-rent financial year.

The Centre’s funding com-ponent in the project would beRs 212.13 crore whileChhattisgarh would contributeRs 137.08 crore with UrbanLocal Bodies (ULBs) sharebeing Rs 91.38 crore, offcialsstated.

Overall the Mission Thrustareas under AMRUT Projectwould be — Water supply,Sewerage and SeptageManagement, Storm WaterDrain, Pedestrian, NonMotorised and PublicTransport Facilities, ParkingSpace, Green Spaces, Park andRecreation centres.

Notably, the Chhattisgarhgovernment has approved Rs13 crore for 89 developmentalworks to be undertaken byRaipur Municipal Corporation(RMC).

Notably, a sum of Rs 10crore has been approved by theState government for variouswards of RMC including drainconstruction, road widening,electrification and pipelineextension, according to an offi-cial press release

Besides these, around Rs2.50 crore has been approvedfor setting up a world class gymin the vacant space atInternational Swimming Poolat GE road besides other facil-ities.

The Union Ministry ofUrban Development hasalready released CentralAssistance of Rs 1,062.27 croreto 13 States as first installmentunder AMRUT project for thecurrent financial year, officialsstated.

This is a part of totalCentral Assistance of Rs5,311.38 crore committed to 13States for which the Ministry

has approved Atal MissionAction Plans for 2015-16entailing total investment ofRs.11,671.76 cr in 286 cities inthese states.

The Ministry has so farcleared a total of 939 projectsfor 286 cities with most of themrelated to water supply andsewerage network services.

AMRUT project launchedin June this year aims at ensur-ing water supply connectionsand sewer connections to allurban households in 500 mis-sion cities besides supplyingwater at the norm of 135 litresper capita per day, on priority.Under this mission, construc-tion of storm water drains, pro-motion of non-motorisedurban transport, provision ofparks and green spaces also willbe supported.

The purpose of AMRUT isto ensure that every householdhas access to a tap with assured

supply of water and a sewerageconnection, increase in ameni-ty value of cities by developinggreenery and well maintainedopen spaces (parks) and reducepollution by switching to pub-lic transport or constructingfacilities for non-motorizedtransport (like walking andcycling).

The cities identified forAMRUT mission are-- Raipur,Bilaspur, Durg, Bhilai,Rajnandgaon, Korba, Raigarh,Ambikapur and Jagdalpur, saidofficial sources.

The State UrbanAdministration andDevelopment Department willsoon take up the integratedsolid waste management pro-ject planned for the city.

The project would be takenup and operated under PublicPrivate Partnership (PPP)model on Design, Build ,Finance, Operate and Transfer

basis, officials stated.NTPC Ltd had recently

undertaken a comprehensiveEcological MonitoringProgramme at Korba besides itsfive other key stations throughSatellite Imagery studies cov-ering an area of about 25 kmsradius , officials informed.

The studies have been con-ducted through NationalRemote Sensing Agency(NRSA), Hyderabad at itspower stations atRamagundam, Farakka, Korba,Vindhyachal, Rihand andSingrauli.

These studies have revealedsignificant environmental gainsin the vicinity areas of the pro-ject as a result of pursuingsound environment manage-ment practices.

Some of these importantgains which have been noticedare increase in dense forest area,increase in agriculture area,

increase in average rainfall,decrease in waste land etc.

In general, the studies, assuch, have revealed that there isno significant adverse impacton the ecology due to the pro-ject activities in any of these sta-tions. Such studies conductedfrom time to time around apower project have establishedcomprehensive environmentstatus at various post opera-tional stages of the project.

NTPC has conducted sev-eral geohydrological studies ofthe ash disposal areas at its pro-jects (Singrauli, Rihand,Vindhyachal, Korba, Farakkaand Talcher) through reputedinstitutions like IndianInstitutes of

Technology, Roorkee; IndianInstitutes of Technology,Mumbai, Centre for Studies onMan and Environment, Calcutta.

All these studies concludethat the leaching of heavy met-

als from ash occurs only underpH 4 or below.

In practice, the pH of theash water is either neutral oralkaline (7 or above) and hencethe leaching of heavy metals ishighly unlikely.

It may be recalled thatNTPC is also expected to com-mence coal production fromTalaipalli block in Raigarh dis-trict by November 2019, offi-cial sources informed.

The company had beengranted bridge linkage for seek-ing coal supply from theTalaipalli block by the UnionCoal Ministry.

The scheduled date of startof coal production from thecoal block as per the CoalMines Development andProduction Agreement isfinancial year 2019-20.

Notably, the power to begenerated by upcoming NTPCLtd’s 1600 MW Super ThermalPower Project (STPP) at Larain Raigarh district will be sup-plied to Chhattisgarh , Goa andMaharashtra states, officialsstated. The project is mostlikely to go on stream by March2017 , officials stated.

The coal requirement forthe proposed plant would bemet from Talaipalli Coal Blockof Mand in Raigarh Coalfields,they stated.

It may be recalled thatNTPC’s upcoming Lara STPPin Raigarh district ofChhattisgarh has acquired allnecessary clearances from theUnion Ministry of Forest,Environment and ClimateChange for the project, officialsstated.

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School students from insur-gency-infested Bijapur dis-

trict of Bastar on Friday metGovernor Balramji Das Tandonat Raj Bhavan in the city.

The students visitedRajbhavan as a part of theireducational tour.

During the visit, they sawRajbhavan Secretariat, DurbarHall and various other places.

The Governor said thattour is an effective way to

learn about the world. Thiseducational tour must haveenhanced students' awarenessand knowledge about the worldand also about the develop-ment works taking place in thestate.

Tandon advised the stu-dents to discuss about thesedevelopment works with theirfamily and neighbours, whenthey go back to their villages,so as to inspire them to bringpositive change in their sur-roundings.

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Chief Minister Raman Singhon Friday said that the

Chhattisgarh Government ismaking efforts to enforceProhibition (banning sale ofliquor) in a phased manner.

He was addressing a gath-ering at Damakheda- a promi-nent centre of Kabir Panth onthe auspicious occasion of'Magh-Poornima'.

The teachings and preach-ings of Sant Kabir are relevanteven after 600 years of his pass-

ing away, he said.Singh said that Sant Kabir

was a staunch follower ofTruth.

The Chief Minister on theoccasion also dedicated devel-opmental works worth RsThree crore at Damakheda.

Singh added that with theblessings of saints and prophetshe became Corporator, MLA,MP and Union CabinetMinister.

He got an opportunity tobecome Chief Minister thriceto serve the masses.

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The e-Magazine ‘BalcoToday’ is an excellent medi-

um of internal communication.This magazine is playing animportant role in dissemina-tion of news and knowledge.

These views wereexpressed by Ramesh Nair,CEO and Whole-time Director,BALCO at the prize distribu-tion ceremony of ‘Balco TodayQuiz Season -2’ here on Friday.

The programme was organ-ised in The Expert Club. Nairsaid that ‘Balco Today’ has beenvery beneficial in connectingpeople with one another.

While praising the publi-cation team behind ‘BalcoToday’, he said that it was real-ly praiseworthy to publish themagazine on a daily basis. Naircongratulated the winners ofthe Quiz Season and wishedthem a bright future ahead.

Ashish Ranjan, Head-CC& CSR, BALCO said in his wel-come address that ‘BalcoToday’ has continually seenchanges in its publication. Thefeedback and contents provid-ed by readers have been veryimportant in making the mag-azine interesting and attractive.

He expressed his gratitudetowards the different depart-ments of BALCO who havemade its publication possibleon a daily basis.

Nair and the guests award-ed the prizes to the Quiz win-ners. A total of 100 winnerswere recognised in differentcategories.

The programme was par-ticipated by Puneet Jagatramka,COO – Chhattishgarh BauxiteMines, Vedanta Group, DeepakPrasad, Head- AluminiumBusiness, G. Venkatareddy,Head-Power, Major KumudKumar, Head- HumanResources, Rajiv Sharma, GM-Logistics, BK Sriwastwa,Advisor and Kailash Pawar,Principal, Delhi Public School,Balconagar.

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Page 4: 0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

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AMaoist was gunned down inan exchange of fire with

security personnel in a dense for-est pocket of Chhattisgarh’s rest-ive Bijapur district, police said.

The skirmish took place inthe wee hours between a teamof security personnel and theultras in the forest coming underBasaguda police station limits ofthe district, according to BijapurAdditional Superintendent ofPolice (ASP) Mohit Garg.

A joint team of CentralReserve Police Force's (CRPF)168th battalion and DistrictForce had launched the oper-ation in the forest of Basagudalast night.

While the security per-sonnel were cordoning-off arestive pocket, they came underfire from a group of armedNaxals leading to a heavy gunbattle. However, the rebelssoon escaped into the coreforest after finding the securi-ty personnel zeroing-in onthem, he said.

During a search, policerecovered the body of a maleMaoist along with weapon,grenades and Naxal-relatedmaterial from the spot, theASP said adding that the iden-tity of the deceased was beingascertained. Further detailswere awaited as the policeteam was yet to return totheir camp, he said.

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Atwo-day national seminarto discuss the two-year

B.Ed course proposal would beheld at the GovernmentTeachers’ Training College herefrom Saturday.

The seminar would discusson making B.Ed a two-yearcourse and also evaluate thecurriculum for the course. Alarge number experts areexpected to participate in theseminar.

From Page 1 However, on Friday he

made a volte face and took backhis submission. “The MLAs arenot in illegal custody but I needtime to get instructions abouttheir actual whereabouts,” saidthe APP, which has beenrecorded by the court.

A Division Bench ofJustices CT Selvam and TMathivanan said, “(Counsel) KBalu submits that 20 of theMLAs are refusing food anddrink owing to their illegal con-finement. If true, the matter isone of serious concern.However, this court cannot acton the mere say of the counsel.Given the nature of the case, itwould only be appropriate toafford the State an opportuni-ty to inform its response.”

The allegations were madeby the counsel when the habeascorpus petitions seeking totrace and set at liberty MLAs TRamachandran and Geethacame up for hearing.

Petitioner MR Illavarasansubmitted that Ramachandran,representing Kunnam con-stituency, was missing sinceattending a party meeting a fewdays ago. The MLA was notaccessible by phone also, thepetitioner, a voter of the con-stituency, said.

The other petition wasfiled by cousin ofKrishnarayapuram MLA MGeetha. When the court soughtto adjourn both the pleas bytwo weeks, Balu said it could betoo late by then.

From Page 1 The other two Assembly

pockets in this Parliamentaryconstituency of Union MinisterMahesh Sharma are Dadri, hometo former UP Chief MinisterMayawati, and Jewar, which hasseen a great deal of develop-mental activities including aplan to set up a new internationalairport.

In this poll season, in the vil-lages, talukas and towns thoughthere is the customary rhetorictouching the so-called agenda ofdevelopment, the buzz of casteand communal polarisation isstronger. Pankaj is the undis-puted frontrunner in Noida dueto a large number of pro-BJPmiddle class voters. But the pic-ture is not so clear in Dadri andJewar, where the BSP is bankingon sizeable SC votes.Significantly, Badalpur in Dadriis the ancestral village of BSPchief Mayawati. The Congress-SP alliance is hoping to cash inon their unity and transfer ofvotes to each other’s candidateswhile only a ‘miracle’ can swingthe contest in favour of the RLDon these seats.

Significantly, division oncommunal lines is more whereBJP nominees are pitted againstMuslim candidates from eitherthe SP or the BSP, or both, com-

pared to Assembly segmentswhere there is a contest betweenall Hindu candidates from thethree major parties.

In the 2012 Assembly elec-tion, Mahesh Sharma had defeat-ed the BSP candidate by a mar-gin of 27,676 votes on the Noidaseat. While SP’s Sunil Choudharygot 42,031, Congress’ VSChauhan had polled 25,482votes and came fourth. Later,when Sharma vacated the seatafter he was elected to the LokSabha in 2014, Batham won theby-election by over one lakhvotes, defeating his nearest SPrival. Congress’ Rajinder Awanahad polled just 17,212 voteswhile the BSP did not contest.

While the BJP’s bypoll vic-tory was credited to MaheshSharma, this time it may not bea cakewalk due to the SP-Congress alliance. The SP hasfielded Sunil Choudhary, whohad lost in 2012 and is riding onthe developmental slogan ofAkhilesh’s campaign message“Kaam Bolta Hai”.

The Dadri assembly seat iswitnessing a four-cornered con-test and sharp divisions on casteand communal lines. HomeMinister Rajnath Singh visitedDadri on Wednesday to cam-paign for party candidate TejpalSingh Nagar.

Singh visited Bishada villagein Dadri which shot into noto-riety after the lynching ofMohammad Akhlaq by a mob in2015 allegedly following

rumours that he had stored beefin his house. Among the 18accused arrested for the murderis Vishal Rana. Rana is the sonof local BJP leader Sanjay Rana.

But what seems to be work-ing in favour of sitting MLASatveer Singh Gujjar of the BSPis the fact that the constituencyis dominated by Behenji’s voters.The Congress-SP alliance hasfielded Samir Bhati (Congress),who is popular among theMuslims as well as his ownGujjar community, and the RLDhas put up Ravinder Bhati.

The Muslims in Dadri andJewar are a divided lot and nei-ther the BSP nor the Congress-SP alliance can hope for theirundivided support. Interestingly,some Muslim voters in Jewarmay also favour the candidatureof Thakur Dhirendra Pratap, theBJP’s candidate. Dhirendra is aformer Congressman and enjoysa good command in the com-munity many of whose memberswere seen campaigning for him.While SP has fielded a lesserknown candidate NarendraNagar, who is banking onAkhilesh’s “work”, RLD’s Brah-min candidate Kamal Sharmaseems to be a non-entity againstthe sitting heavyweight VedramBhati of the BSP.

Away from Noida, atDhaulana Assembly seat inHapur district, candidates andtheir supporters are openly seenseeking votes on communallines. Dhaulana will witness athree-cornered fight betweenthe BJP, the SP and the BSP. Heretwo Tomars, the dominantThakur community of theregion, are pitted against aMuslim, a local strongman.

The BJP has fielded its four-time MP from Hapur RameshChand Tomar, who came intolimelight during the Ram Templemovement in the 90s, while theSP has given ticket to its sittingMLA, Dharmesh Tomar.

From Page 1 This has led its rivals, the

BSP, the SP-Congress and theRLD, to go all out to woo thedominant community in theregion. With the RLD in par-ticular queering the pitch forthe BJP while the Jat votescould split, the Muslim voterscould be divided given thepresence of BSP and the SP-Congress alliance.

Among the notable namesin the fray is that of PankajSingh, son of Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh, who iscontesting from Noida andSandeep Singh, grandson offormer UP CM Kalyan Singh inAtrauli in Aligarh district. Bothare vying for their maiden entryin the UP Assembly. Similarly,Mriganka Singh, daughter of

BJP MP Hukum Singh is alsocontesting her first electionsfrom the Kairana seat on BJPticket. The Sardhana seat inMeerut and Thanabhawan seatin Shamli, where Muzaffarnagarriot accused and BJP candidatesSangeet Singh Som and SureshRana respectively are tryingtheir luck, will also see a keencontest.

Congress legislature partyleader Pradeep Mathur, a three-time MLA from Mathura seat,has been challenged by BJPnational spokesperson SrikantSharma while Rahul Yadav,son- in-law of former BiharChief Minister Lalu PrasadYadav, is contesting on SP tick-et from Sikandrabad seat inGautam Buddha Nagar district.Former BJP UP presidentLaxmikant Bajpai is also tryinghis luck from Meerut (city).

The BSP, which had field-ed 100 Muslim candidates inUP polls this time, is eager toride its elephant symbol on anew Dalit-Muslim combination

and connecting it with SarvSamaj. The SP-Congressalliance is trying to dent into theMuslim and upper caste votebank. At least in three Assemblysegments --Baldev in Mathura,Kol in Aligarh and Purkazi inMuzaffarnagar --have SP andCongress candidates contestingagainst each other.

But, the RLD of Ajit Singhcould play the spoilsport forBJP and the SP-Congressalliance as it can dent into theJat as well as the Muslim votebank to any extent.

Parties like AIMIM ofAsaduddin Owaisi too couldimpact the fate of the biggerparties and could spoil theirrun to the UP Assembly.Owaisi campaigned in Muslim-dominated asking people todump the SP and the BSP.

In the 2012 Assembly polls,the results in these 73 Assemblysegments were 24 in favour ofthe SP, 23 for the BSP, 12 for theBJP, nine for the RLD and fivefor the Congress.

From Page 1 elected only by cadres. As

per rules, there is no temporarygeneral secretary post,”Madhusudanan said.

A candidate to the gener-al secretary’s post should alsohave completed at least fiveyears in the party.

“Since Sasikala re-joinedthe AIADMK only on March31, 2012, she does not qualifyto become the general secre-tary. I have requested theElection Commission (in theletter) not to accept herappointment,” he said.

He said the elevation ofSasikala as a “temporary” gen-eral secretary in Decemberlast year by the party generalcouncil was “invalid”.

“The party cadre will electa new general secretary shortly,”Madhusudanan told reporterson Friday.

In more support toPanneerselvam, AIADMKleader E Ponnusamy on Fridayjoined his camp, and urged theparty MLAs to back him.

Speaking after extendingsupport to the Chief Minister,he said Panneerselvam hadbeen identified by former partysupremo J Jayalalithaa andappealed to the AIADMKMLAs to extend their supportto him.

A former PMK leader anda Minister of State in the NDAregime during 1999-2001,Ponnusamy had joinedAIADMK in 2013 in the pres-ence of Jayalalithaa.

Meanwhile, Governor CVidyasagar Rao on Friday sum-

moned Chief Secretary GirijaVaidyanathan, DirectorGeneral of Police TKRajendran and Chennai CityPolice Commissioner S Georgeto Raj Bhavan and asked themfor updates on the law andorder situation in the State. TheGovernor summoning top offi-cials is seen as the fallout of acomplaint by SPShanmuganathan who jumpedout of the bus in which theAIADMK MLAs were beingferried out to an unknowndestination on Thursday.

The MLA who had accom-panied Chief MinisterPanneerselvam to the RajBhavan on Thursday eveninghad narrated his “harrowing”experiences in the party headquarters and the bus.

Meanwhile, the MK Stalin,Leader of the Opposition,called on the Governor andsubmitted a petition askinghim to restore the rule of lawin the State. “Though it is ninemonths since a newGovernment was installed inthe State, governance has cometo a standstill since day one,”the DMK leader told theGovernor.

What stood out on Fridaywas the unprecedented crowdof party cadre and generalpublic who gathered in front ofthe residence ofPanneerselvam. Many peopletold The Pioneer that theywere confident that the ChiefMinister would sail through ifa vote of confidence was held.

“The MLAs who have beenhijacked would vote forPanneerselvam,” said Jayanthiand Vijayalakshmi, twoactivists, who were seen nearPanneerselvam’s residence atGreenways Road.

From Page 1 companies’, engaged in

routing money through dubiousmeans.

“Harsh, punitive actionswill be taken against deviantshell companies which willinclude freezing of bankaccounts, striking off the namesof dormant companies, andinvocation of BenamiTransactions (Prohibition)Amendment Act, 2016,” thePMO stated.

“There are about 15 lakhregistered companies in Indiaand only 6 lakh companies filetheir annual returns. Thismeans that a large number ofthese companies may beindulging in financial irregu-larities.

“In a small sample analysisof such companies it has beenfound that �1,238 crore cash hasbeen deposited in these entitiesduring November-December.Serious Fraud InvestigationOffice has filed criminal prose-cution for cheating the NationalExchequer after investigationof entry operators running agroup of 49 shell companies andother proprietorship concerns. Ithas been found that 559 bene-ficiaries have laundered moneyto the extent of �3,900 crore withthe help of 54 professionalswho have been identified,” saidthe PMO’s statement.

The PMO further said thatthis information has beenshared with SpecialInvestigation Team, Income TaxDepartment, EnforcementDirectorate, SEBI and theInstitute of CharteredAccountants of India.

“The Income TaxDepartment has reopened com-pleted assessments in these casesand the Enforcement Directoratehas initiated action underPrevention of Money LaunderingAct, 2002. The ICAI has also ini-tiated disciplinary proceedingsagainst its members. Winding upprocess has been initiated inrespect of 49 shell companies,” thePMO maintained. In the high-level meeting, it was also decid-ed that appropriate red flagindicators would be used foridentifying shell companies,and a database of such compa-nies and their directors wouldbe built by pulling in informa-tion from various agencies. Thedatabase will also capture theAadhaar number of individualdirectors of the companies.

From Page 1 tenure was due to end

after the then HRD MinisterSmriti Irani had pulled him upfor his opposition to the IIMBill.

Besides him, ShailendraSingh and Dheeraj Sharmawill be the heads of IIM inRanchi and Rohtak, respec-tively.

The prestigious chain ofMBA institutes was function-ing without directors, some ofthem for over two years.

The files related to most ofthe short-listed names by thesearch-cum-selection com-mittees were languishing inthe HRD Ministry for morethan a year now.

Mahadeo Prasad Jaiswaland LS Murty will be headingthe premier business schoolsin Sambalpur and Nagpur.Professor GanesanKannabiran and ProfessorNeelu Rohmetra will beDirectors of IIMs in Bodhgayaand Himachal Pradesh’sSirmaur, respectively, whereasChandrasekhar Mylavarapuwill head the institute inVishakapatnam andBhimaraya Metri IIM-Tiruchirappalli, said aDepartment of Personnel andTraining order.

Almost a year ago theDelhi High Court sought theCentre’s response to a petitionseeking setting aside adver-tisements issued for appointing Directors at vari-ous IIMs across the countryand asked whether there wasa change in the appointmentpolicy.

From Page 1 after his raincoat jibe against

former Prime MinisterManmohan Singh, persistedwith his shrill attack on rivalssaying they have only servedtheir families.

With Jats playing a key rolein the two phases for whichpolling will be held tomorrowand February 15, he said a BJPGovernment in the state will setup a farmers welfare fund namedafter Charan Singh, a noted Jatleader. Clearing the dues of sug-arcane farmers and waivingloans of small and marginalfarmers, both promises beingpart of the BJP’s manifesto, willbe a top priority for the state gov-ernment if his party is voted topower, he said.

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Noting that next five yearsare as vital for

Uttarakhand as they are in thegrowth of any 16-year-old,Prime Minister Narendra Modion Friday asked people to voteout the Government whichhad "tainted the name ofDevbhoomi" and replace itwith one that could translateAtal Bihar Vajpayee's vision forthe State.

"The sixteenth year is veryimportant in the life of every-one because the next five yearsdetermine the shape of thingsto come. So is the case ofUttarakhand in the 16th year ofits existence. "The next fiveyears will determine the direc-tion in which it is going tomove," Modi said addressingthe party's Vijay Sankalp rallyat Rishikul Maidan here.

He said corruption in

Uttarakhand does not need tobe proven in the courts of lawas it is something which theentire country has seen on thetelevision.

"There was a time when the

mention of Devbhoomi evokedsacred feelings but it is nolonger so.

"Now, the mention of theword brings to mind images ofa tainted Government. Theentire country has seen it all onTV," he said.

Modi was apparently refer-ring to an alleged sting opera-tion in which Chief MinisterHarish Rawat was purported-ly seen negotiating a deal to buysupport of disgruntled partyMLAs during the political cri-sis last year.

"Won't you vote out a gov-ernment which sullied the rep-utation of the abode of God,"the Prime Minister said.Asserting that he had taken upthe task of translatingVajpayee's vision ofUttarakhand into a reality, heasked urged them to install aBJP Government whichrestores Uttarakhand's hon-

our. Talking about demoneti-

sation, Modi said some peopleare still not able to sleep and arevery upset because all theirblack money business is nowaccounted in banks.

"From where did it come,how much came and whobrought it and how, all that isbefore cameras now. That iswhy such people are sleeplessnow," he said.

"This country has beenlooted for 70 years. Can anyonedeny this? Has it been looted ornot. Whatever position onegot, they worked hard to secureit and looted. They were in thehabit of looting and black mar-keting.

"I have launched this cru-sade against corruption andblack money. All that theyhave looted from the poor, Ihave to return it to them," hesaid.

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In another stinging blow toPresident Donald Trump, a

federal appeals court has unan-imously rejected a plea to rein-state his temporary immigrationban against citizens of sevenpredominantly Muslim coun-tries that was stayed nationwideby a Seattle court a week ago.

A defiant Trump prompt-ly slammed the decision of the9th Circuit US Appeals Court,calling it a “political decision”and tweeting: “SEE YOU INCOURT, THE SECURITY OFOUR NATION IS AT STAKE!”

In their 29-page opinion,three judges of the SanFrancisco-based court rejectedall the arguments advanced bythe Trump administration insupport of restoration of thePresident’s controversial exec-utive order, targeting citizens ofIran, Iraq, Libya, Somalia,Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

“We hold that the govern-ment has not shown a likelihood

of success on the merits of itsappeal, nor has it shown that fail-ure to enter a stay would causeirreparable injury, and we there-fore deny its emergency motionfor a stay,” the judges wrote.

They also disagreed withthe argument that the Presidenthas the constitutional power torestrict entry to the UnitedStates and that the courts can-not second-guess his determi-nation that such a step wasneeded to prevent terrorism.

Reacting to the court deci-sion, Trump told reporters soonafter the ruling: “It’s a politicaldecision, and we’re going to seethem in court. This is just adecision that came down, butwe’re going to win the case.”

“We have a situation wherethe security of our country is atstake, and it’s a very, very seri-ous situation,” he said. “We’regoing to see them in court andI look forward to doing it.”

Even as the JusticeDepartment was consideringthe proposed course of action,experts felt Trump’s optionswere rather limited. He couldseek hearing by a larger benchof the same 9th Circuit court orapproach the US SupremeCourt straightaway.

Experts believe both options

are fraught with uncertainties.While the 9th Circuit is widelyregarded as a liberals-dominat-ed court, the Supreme Court asof now is divided 4-4 in termsof its composition with judges ofconservative and liberal leanings.It may take a couple of monthsbefore Trump’s nominee NeilGorsuch takes his place as theninth judge, presuming he is ableto clear a tough Senate confir-mation process.

In the circumstances, apossible 4-4 Supreme Courtverdict on Trump’s executiveorder will in effect mean con-firmation of the stay imposedby the Seattle federal court.

Harvard law professor AlanDershowitz has expressed theview that Trump will have to“swallow his pride” and comeup with a new executive orderinstead of continuing to fightthe stay of his January 27 order.

“If [Trump] wants to keepthe border, he needs a neworder. He cannot accept a staywhich may last for months andkeeps the border open…He hasto come up with somethingnew, he has to swallow his prideand do it,” Dershowitz toldMSNBC, adding the Presidentneeds to go back to the draw-ing board.

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Washington: US PresidentDonald Trump today agreed to“honour” the decades-old ‘OneChina’ policy on Taiwan duringhis first telephonic call withChinese counterpart Xi Jinping,in a U-turn from his hardlinestance on the sensitive issuewhich had angered Beijing.

“The two leaders discussednumerous topics and PresidentTrump agreed, at the request ofPresident Xi, to honour our‘One China’ policy,” the WhiteHouse said, signalling anapparent easing of relationsbetween the two major powers.

During their phone con-versation, Trump and Xi alsoagreed to cooperate in trade,investment and internationalaffairs, state-run Xinhua newsagency reported.

It quoted Trump as sayingthat he fully understands thehigh significance of the US gov-ernment’s pursuit of the ‘One-China’ policy.

Trump added that the USgovernment adheres to the‘One-China’ policy, the reportsaid. China regards Taiwan asa breakaway province andinsists all countries havingbilateral ties with it to abide bythe ‘One-China’ policy.

Xi said he appreciatedTrump’s stressing that the USgovernment adheres to the‘One-China’ policy. He saidthe policy is the political basisof China-US relations.

Representatives of the USand China will engage in dis-cussions and negotiations onvarious issues of mutual inter-est, the White House said.

“The phone call betweenPresident Trump and PresidentXi was extremely cordial, andboth leaders extended bestwishes to the people of eachother’s countries,” it said,adding that they also extendedinvitations to meet in theirrespective countries.

Trump and Xi look for-ward to further talks with verysuccessful outcomes, the WhiteHouse said of the “lengthyconversation” between the twoleaders.

Trump, after his election,had stated that the ‘One-China’policy on Taiwan is up fornegotiation and that he is notfully committed to it.

China had hit back saying‘One-China’ policy which stip-ulates that Taiwan is part ofChinese mainland is “non-negotiable”. PTI

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Islamabad: At least four mor-tars fired by Iranian forcestoday landed across the borderin Pakistan’s restive south-western Balochistan province,officials said.

The mortars hit Paromarea of Panjgur district, accord-ing to a senior district official.

“The mortars were firedwithout any justification. So farwe have not received any reportabout any human loss,” hesaid.

Local Pakistani officialshave lodged a protest with theIranian border guards chiefover the border violation.

Security of the area hasbeen beefed up after the attackas additional troops were dis-patched to Panjgur district.

Pakistan shares a 900-kilo-metre-long porous border withIran, which has alleged thatmilitants and smugglers oftensneak into its territory fromPakistan. PTI

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Jerusalem: US PresidentDonald Trump does not believeIsraeli settlement growth inPalestinian territories is “goodfor peace”, he told a papertoday, in his most direct com-ments on the matter sinceinauguration.

In the interview published inHebrew by the Israel Hayomnewspaper, Trump also said hewas thinking “seriously” aboutmoving the US embassy in Israelto Jerusalem, a move fiercelyopposed by the Palestinians.

Speaking to the newspaperahead of Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu’s visit toWashington next week, Trumpwas quoted as saying he was“not someone who believesthat advancing settlements isgood for peace”.

The international commu-nity considers settlements in theoccupied West Bank and eastJerusalem illegal and says theyrisk destroying hopes for peacewith the Palestinians. AFP

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Beijing: Reacting guardedly toIndia’s diplomatic protests overits move to block US resolutionto list Pakistan-based JeMleader Masood Azhar as a ter-rorist, China on Friday hopedall members of the UNSecurity Council who are partof the anti-terrorism commit-tee will follow rules.

“Will check on reports ofIndia’s diplomatic protest,”Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesman Lu Kang toldmedia briefing here whenasked about yesterday’sdémarche by India over Chinaputting a technical hold of USresolution in the 1267Committee of the UNSC todesignate entities involved interrorism.

Lu said China already reit-erated its stand on its techni-cal hold two days ago.

“China is a responsible

member of the UNSC as wellas a subsidiary organ. Chinahas always been acting inaccordance with UNSC reso-lutions and rules of procedureof its subsidiary organs. Wehope that all members of thesecurity council and its affili-ation would follow the rules ofthe procedures,” he said.

On February 8, Lu defend-ed China’s move to block a USattempt to list Azhar in the UNsaying that the “conditions”have not yet been met forBeijing to back the move.

He said Beijing resorted tothis move to allow the “relevantparties” to reach a consensus.

“Last year 1267 Committeeof the UN Security Council hasdiscussed the issue regardinglisting Masood in the sanctionslist. There were different viewswith no consensus reached,” Lusaid. PTI

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nationwide celebration to com-memorate the 38th anniversaryof the 1979 revolution withmassive rallies.

Demonstrators in Tehrantoday chanted traditional slo-gans against the US and Israelat a time when new USPresident Donald Trump hasalready engaged in a war ofwords with Iran’s leadershipand put Tehran “on notice” overa recent ballistic missile test.

Among other places,demonstrators marchedtoward Azadi Square, wherePresident Hassan Rouhani willaddress the crowd. State tele-vision aired footage of com-memorations in Tehran andother cities and towns acrossthe country, many of them insubzero weather.

The rallies commemorateFebruary 11, 1979, when fol-lowers of Ayatollah RuhollahKhomeini ousted the US-backedShah Reza Pahlavi. AP

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Kabul: Kabul on Fridayendorsed US general JohnNicholson’s call for thousandsof additional troops inAfghanistan to stave off aresurgent Taliban, ahead ofwhat is expected to be anoth-er intense fighting season.

Afghan forces, beset byrecord casualties, desertionsand “ghost soldiers” who do notexist on the pay rolls, have beenstruggling to rein in the Talibansince US-led NATO troopsended their combat mission inDecember 2014.

Thousands of extra coali-

tion troops were needed tobreak the war out of a stale-mate, Nicholson, the top UScommander in Afghanistan,told the US Congress onThursday, in what could bePresident Donald Trump’s firstmajor test of military strategy.

“We welcome the proposalof deploying thousands of addi-tional troops to Afghanistan toeffectively train and adviseAfghan forces,” Dawlat Waziri,the defence ministry spokesmanin Kabul, told AFP.

“The war in Afghanistan isa war against terrorism and we

want this war to reach a suc-cessful end. In that regard wethink this is a positive step.”

There are currently morethan 13,000 NATO troops —including 8,400 US forces —deployed to Afghanistan fortraining and counter-terror-ism purposes, down from apeak of about 1,40,000 in 2011.

Trump would seek theadvice of Defense SecretaryJames Mattis before decidingon Nicholson’s request for rein-forcements, White House presssecretary Sean Spicer toldreporters. AFP

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Kabul: The death toll fromavalanches and freezing weath-er conditions acrossAfghanistan has risen to 191,officials said on Friday, as res-cue operations were underwayin the worst-affected areas.

Twenty-two provinces inAfghanistan have been blan-keted by days of heavy snow-fall, triggering avalanches,destroying buildings and leav-ing many trapped in theirsnowbound homes.

“The death toll we havereceived from avalanches andfreezing weather has risen to

191,” Mohammad AslamSayyas, deputy minister fordisaster management, told AFP.

“The worst-hit province isnortheastern Nuristan where atleast 68 people have beenkilled,” Sayyas said.

He added that search andrescue efforts had been steppedup this week amid improvingweather conditions, after theauthorities initially struggled toreach remote mountainous areas.

Sayyas said 300 people havebeen injured and more than 500others were rescued in differentparts of the country. AFP

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Peshawar: At least one childwas killed and four others wereinjured on Friday when thevehicle they were travelling inhit an improvised explosivedevice (IED) in Pakistan’srestive northwest tribal region.

A vehicle carrying fourstudents to nearby privateschool hit the remote-con-trolled bomb in Arang Tehsil ofthe Bajaur Agency killing oneon the spot and injuring oth-ers, officials said.

The area was cordoned offby security forces to conduct asearch operation after theattack.

At least 12 suspects weretaken into custody for interro-gation related to this incident,official sources said.

Police officials and localpeople immediately reachedthe site and shifted the wound-ed to the Agency headquartershospital Khar for treatment.

PTI

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London: A UK-based Sikhgroup has written to theForeign and CommonwealthOffice demanding a publicinquiry into Britain’s allegedinvolvement in the 1984Operation Blue Star.

Sikh Federation UK hasbeen working on a reporttitled ‘Sacrificing Sikhs: Theneed for an investigation’,which claims to have evidenceregarding the full extent of theUK’s alleged role in the mili-tary action.

“It is of crucial publicimportance that the allegationsare investigated, in an effectiveand transparent manner,”reads the letter, addressed toIndian-origin foreign officeminister Alok Sharma, incharge of India and the Pacific.

The letter goes on to claimthat the 2014 Heywood

Review, set up by then PrimeMinister David Cameron intothe exact nature of Britishinvolvement in Operation BlueStar, was “flawed” as it did notconsider certain “directly rel-evant” material.

The FCO acknowledgedthe receipt of the letter, writ-ten by the group’s solicitorsKRW Law last month.

“The Foreign andCommonwealth Office is con-sidering the points raised inyour letter. You will receive afull response shortly,” the let-ter dated February 2 reads.

The latest exchange fol-lows a call for a “fresh, inde-pendent investigation” intothe issue by the UKOpposition Labour leaderJeremy Corbyn in a letter toBritish Prime Minister TheresaMay last month. PTI

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United Nations: The ISIS con-tinues to recruit from therestive Af-Pak border regioneven as the terror outfit isstruggling financially inAfghanistan and has resortedto extortion, according to a UNreport.

The 19th report of theAnalytical Support andSanctions Monitoring Teamabout the terror group was sub-mitted to the Security CouncilSanctions Committee this week.

The report noted that a UNMember State reported thatISIS had around 2,000 to 3,500fighters overall in Afghanistanbut that number had not fall-en significantly despite heavylosses sustained in 2016.

“ISIL (also known as ISIS)continues to be able to recruitfrom the Afghanistan/Pakistanborder region, and the increas-ing refugee population inAfghanistan may provide afertile recruitment group. ISILwas aware of that possibility,”the report said. Member Statesalso confirmed that ISIS leaderin Afghanistan Hafiz SaeedKhan had been killed by an airstrike in July 2016. Khan wasnot listed as a terrorist underthe UN. PTI

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Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said some of the mil-

lions of refugees who have fledhis country’s conflict are “ter-rorists,” in an interview pub-lished on Friday.

Asked by Yahoo Newsabout US President DonaldTrump’s claim that extremistsare hiding among refugees,Assad agreed, saying “you canfind it on the net.”

“Those terrorists in Syriaholding machine guns orkilling people, they are peace-ful refugees in Europe or in theWest,” the Syrian leader said.

He did not specify howmany of the 4.8 million Syrianrefugees he meant, saying “youdon’t need a significant num-ber to commit atrocities.”

He also rejected Trump’splan to carve out safe zones forcivilians in Syria.

The US president said lastmonth that he “will absolutelydo safe zones in Syria” forpeople displaced by the vio-lence in a bid to reverse theirmigration to Europe and else-

where. He did not providedetails.

“Safe zones for the Syrianscould only happen when youhave stability and security.Where you don’t have terror-ists. Where you don’t haveflow and support of those ter-rorists by the neighboringcountries or by Western coun-tries,” Assad said.

“It’s not a realistic idea atall.”

The White House lastmonth ordered the Pentagonand State Department to drawup a plan to “provide safeareas in Syria and in the sur-rounding region.”

The announcement cameahead of a surprise ban onrefugees from Syria traveling tothe United States, which acourt has since suspended.

Other US politicians andofficials have long supportedthe idea of safe zones in Syria,including Democrats such asTrump’s presidential rivalHillary Clinton.

Critics say it would risk theUS military becoming boggeddown in Syria’s civil war. AFP

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Page 6: 0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

It is fairly obvious that any res-olution to the AIADMK cri-sis will be short-lived.Jayalalithaa’s death only oneyear after she led the party to

victory in the Tamil Nadu Assemblyelection has been followed by apower grab attempt by her friendand confidante, Sasikala Natarajan,and a belated revolt by the stand-in Chief Minister, OPanneerselvam. Party MLAs seemto be backing Natarajan, whose gripon the organisation, in consultationwith her husband and family, isstrong. Yet, the idea of a pretendertaking on the mantle of “Amma”, asJayalalithaa was known, is not alto-gether popular and this is givingPanneerselvam some hope.

State elections in India tend tobe presidential and regional par-ties tend to be built around strongpersonalities. Given this, the man-date of 2016 in Tamil Nadu was asmuch (if not more) a personalmandate for Jayalalithaa as a vic-tory for the AIADMK. Ideally, withher passing, that mandate shouldstand dissolved and a fresh electionshould be called. Yet, that would beunfair to an electorate that hasvoted in 234 representatives for afive-year term. Elections are expen-sive business, and results are oftenunpredictable. AIADMK MLAshave no reason to hasten an elec-tion and would prefer a post-Jayalalithaa arrangement that sur-vives for the foreseeable future.

It is recognised, of course, thatthe vacuum in Tamil Nadu politicswill need to be filled at some pointby a charismatic face and a massphenomenon — one hesitates touse the expression “political leader”just yet, because it could well be aniconic actor who emerges as thenext electoral superstar. Even in theDMK, which lost narrowly to theAIADMK in 2016, the patriarch MKarunanidhi is past 90 and due tohand over the baton to his son anddesignated heir, MK Stalin. Thepoint is who will challenge Stalinand consolidate the non-DMKvote, building on the legacy ofJayalalithaa and capturing theAIADMK mainstream?

The AIADMK succession isnot going to be easy and smooth.Whoever wins this round will haveto live with factional feuding in theperiod ahead. A shake-up in theparty is imminent, and it remainsuncertain whether any arrangementcan actually run the course till theAssembly’s term ends in 2021.Stalin will smell his chance andpromise a breakaway faction of theAIADMK a power-sharing deal.New names will be thrown up andthe AIADMK brand identity and

political base will be up for contest.Ideally there should be an

internal election and the nextleader of the AIADMK should bechosen thus. Yet, internal democ-racy is not a strong attribute ofIndian political parties, especiallywhen the supreme leader is not justall-powerful but looks upon sug-gestions of succession planning asa personal affront if not a conspir-acy. When the supreme leader issingle and has not left any obviousfamily legatee, the problembecomes more pronounced.

Is then a dynastic party, espe-cially at the regional level, morerealistic and even recommended,as some have argued in recent days,to avoid the type of situation thathas enveloped the AIADMK andTamil Nadu? While superficiallypersuasive, this contention isdeeply flawed, especially in thelong-term. It ends up weakeningthe party, dulling its instincts andarresting its evolution. A case inpoint is the Shiromani Akali Dal,predicted to be heading for amassive defeat in Punjab.

The Shiromani Akali Dalbegan as an embodiment andadvocate of Sikh identity and reli-gio-political pride. It was a repos-itory of what has come to be called

the “panthic vote” in Punjab andhad a collective leadership, draw-ing mainly but not exclusively fromthe Jat Sikh community. Till the1980s, the Shiromani Akali Dalwas associated with Parkash SinghBadal, GS Tohra, Surjit SinghBarnala, Harcharan SinghLongowal and others of that gen-eration. Two of these men becamethe Chief Minister, several othersbecame Union Ministers.

Gradually, from the mid-1990sand especially after Punjab’s decadeof insurgency ended, the ShiromaniAkali Dal became more and moreassociated with Badal, his son,son-in-law, daughter-in-law andwider family. From a democraticparty with a phalanx of leaders itbecame a family firm. This servedit in good times and it won two suc-cessive elections — 2007 and 2012— but somehow damaged its vital-ity and reduced its appeal to abroader panthic constituency. As aresult, some of that vote has movedto the Aam Aadmi Party this time,believing the Badal-led ShiromaniAkali Dal no longer speaks for it.

Today, the consequences ofconverting a broad-based partyinto a family party are there for allto see. The Shiromani Akali Dal hassuffered a microcosm of the fate that

has befallen the Congress, nation-ally, since its determined, post-1960smakeover into an entity run by asingle family. Given this, whileimmediate succession in case of thedeath of the party leader is quickand impediment-free, the attenua-tion of a party following over-dependence on a small family as asource of leadership and ideas isincalculable. In a generation or two,it can make the party irrelevant.

Where and how the AIADMKconflict will conclude cannot beforecast, at least not by this writer.Even so, when it does end, it willthrow up an organic leader, whetherfrom within the party or outside,who will capture the political turfthat has become available and do soby virtue of his or her skills in polit-ical mobilisation, organisationalacumen and popular acceptability.If this person is Natarajan orPanneerselvam so be it; but theyhave to earn their way to the top.They cannot be the beneficiaries ofintrigue. One way or the other, lead-ership of a mass party requires val-idation by the wide spectrum ofsupporters who vote for the party.

(The author is distinguished fel-low, Observer Research Foundation.He can be reached [email protected])�

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Sir — The current political crisis inTamil Nadu, due to the formationof two differing factions, is due ofthe lack of succession planning asto who will take the leadership role.The situation also reminds one ofthe Panchatantra story about thewise old farmer, who in his deathbed, taught the concept of unity tohis four quarrelling sons by givinghis sons a separate stick to break,which they broke easily.

However, when the farmerchallenged each of them to break abundle of four sticks tied together,they couldn’t. Thus, the farmerdemonstrated it to them the con-cept of unity. As a common man,I just hope that this story rings a bellin Tamil Nadu too.

TS KarthikChennai

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Sir — Technology has made com-munication across the globe almostinstantaneous, but establishing con-tacts between two minds in a fam-ily has not been possible at that pace.It is observed that technologicalgrowth has brought down religiousand spiritual values, thus establish-ing a huge wall of jealousy, hatred

and selfishness among people. The sequential effect is that

people are drifting away from fam-ily life and bondage. Globalisation,liberalisation and digitalisation havebeen achieved at the cost of religiousand spiritual values which hasinvariably brought down humilityin individuals. Thanks to technol-ogy, the world has virtually becomesmall, but the relationship andbondage among people in societyhave apparently fallen miles apart.

K RaviBhubaneswar

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Sir — Everybody is talking abouteither O Panneerselvam or VKSasikala. Nobody seems to beconcerned about what is in storefor the State of Tamil Nadu andits people for the next four years.

In case Sasikala wins the chiefministerial seat and is also given aclean chit in the defamation casethat is pending with the SupremeCourt, only god can save the State.

On the other hand, in caseSasikala gets convicted, there is noguarantee that Panneerselvam canhead the Government smoothlywith the support and cooperationof his erstwhile ministerial col-leagues and MLAs. A split in theparty seems inevitable.

Above all, the administrativemachinery under a divided rulingparty will be crippled at a time theState is facing a number of prob-lems. The only no-nonsense leader,who has the capacity to tackle thecurrent situation is DMK workingpresident MK Stalin. Way should bepaved for him to take over the Stateadministration through dissolu-tion of the Assembly and imposi-tion of President Rule.

MR AnandChennai

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Sir — Never-ending televisionserials make viewers psycholog-ically sick by making them tele-vision-addicted. The Ministry ofInformation and Broadcastingshould frame some guidelines sothat single-story television serialshave some maximum number ofepisodes say around 52. However,such a restriction may not be fora serial with separate story foreach episode. Epic serials with aknown story like Ramayana,Mahabharat etc may be exempt-ed from such restriction.

SC AgrawalDelhi

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No other region of the world offersparadoxical picture over energy

security as South Asia. Going throughEIA (Energy InformationAdministration) data, countries likeBhutan and Nepal have enough hydro-electricity potential and Bangladeshgas resources, but these could not betapped yet. On the other hand, Pakistanis facing deficit in energy supply and suf-fers the most. Sri Lanka has the poten-tial to tap tidal wave and convert it intoenergy, however no effective energy pol-icy has been outlined by Colombo yet.Similar is the case with Maldives.Afghanistan has some energy resources,and it occupies a special position in theenergy map of South Asia because of itslocation as an “energy corridor”.

India, on the other hand, reliesheavily on energy import, despite hav-ing energy reserves (both convention-al and renewable), due to its economicmodernisation over the years as well asgrowing domestic requirement. Thispicture of South Asian energy gives usa broader vision about the nature ofenergy security which is quite asym-metric in nature both in terms ofdemand and supply as well as harness-ing the actual potentialities.

Geopolitical consideration is emerg-ing as one of the foremost factors indefining the structure of energy secu-rity in South Asia. This can be discernedfrom the fact that both the TAPIPipeline and IPI pipelines are in limbo.This is happening because variousstakeholders to both the projects are inconflict with state and non-state actors.In the mid 90s, as has been reported inthe Western Press, American energygiant UNOCAL hobnobbed withTaliban for taking the TAPI project toits logical-end. But this project has notmade much headway. One major obsta-cle in operationalisation of this projectis securing a safe transit corridor.Second, the prices of energy are alsofluctuating and this may influence thedecision of energy conglomerates inconstructing the gas routes. Of late thereare news reports that this route willbypass Pakistan (pipeline can be con-structed through Iran using undersearoute) and it will connect withBangladesh. If this happens than it canbe a “game changer” in both South andCentral Asia in terms of energy con-nectivity. Like the TAPI route, theIran-Pakistan-India corridor is also indoldrums because of the adversarialconditions prevailing in Pakistan. It hasalso been reported that Iran is not inter-ested in this project. Volatility inPakistan can be considered as one of thereasons for taking such drastic mea-sures. If this is true than one can envis-age the India-Oman-Iran undersea gaspipeline as an alternative. Studyingboth the pipeline routes one can get asense that geopolitical caveats are majorobstacles in the functioning of an effec-tive energy grid. The case of India-Bangladesh-Myanmar gas pipeline routeis also making a slow but tardy progress.Though under a scenario of “complexinterdependence”, both India andBangladesh are taking the deal to thenext level, it has been envisaged that thisroute could meet the energy need ofNorth-Eastern part of India.

Over the years renewable energy isemerging as a major source of alterna-tive energy for South Asia. As this regionis blessed with hydrocarbon resources,the most important task is how to tap thepotentiality to mitigate energy scarcity.Both Bhutan and Nepal are classicexamples in this regard. A study pub-lished by SAARC Energy Centre titled,Study for Development of a PotentialRegional Hydropower Plant in SouthAsia, last year has cogently explainedsome of these facts. The study highlightsthat only “1,484 MW” of Bhutan’s elec-tricity has been tapped so far. However,the actual potential is “30,000 MW”.Similarly with regards to Nepal, thereport adds that this HimalayanKingdom is having around “82,000MW of hydropower” however “728MW” has been so far harnessed. Theenergy potentiality has not been har-nessed properly in some of these Statesbecause of lack of technology as well asfinancial resources. India because of itstechnological advancement as well aseconomic resources can provide assis-tance to these two neighbouring statesfor tapping hydrocarbon potentialities.SAARC EnergyCentre in its variousstudies emphasisedimportance of Indiain harnessing energyresources in thisregion. Developmentof hydroelectricity inthese two statesassume quite signifi-cant, because it isclosely linked withboth economic devel-opment as well ashuman resourcesdevelopment of these

two states along with North-Easternparts of India. Over the years, India,understanding the urgency of the situ-ation, is taking measures to improve theelectricity production both in Nepal andBhutan. The visit of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to both the countries in2014 gave a new impetus to India’shydro-diplomacy in the eastern neigh-bourhood region. Modi signed anagreement with Nepal to create “1,800MW” of electricity. Both the “Aruna IIIand Upper Karnali projects” are focalpoint of India’s hydro-diplomacy inNepal. This energy deal is a win-win sit-uation for both Kathmandu and NewDelhi as the former will get investmentand job opportunity for the locals andthe latter will get electricity. In additionto Nepal, Bhutan is another thrust ofIndia’s investment in the hydroelectric-ity sector. The “Inter-GovernmentalAgreement between the RoyalGovernment of Bhutan and theGovernment of the Republic of India” forthe development of hydroelectricitycooperation between the two countriesas reported in the Ministry of ExternalAffairs website stated that around “1,416MW” of electricity will be developed fol-lowing the joint cooperation betweenIndia and Bhutan. As per a recentreport of Royal Monetary Authority ofBhutan and quoted in the website ofhydroworld, last week, Thimpu earnsaround “32.4 per cent of the country’stotal exports and 8 per cent of its grossdomestic product”. This figure demon-strates how significant the contributionof hydrocarbon sector to the economicdevelopment of Bhutan. Like Nepal,Bhutan’s development in the hydro-elec-tric sector will provide an impetus to thedynamics to the sub-regional coopera-tion within the South Asian framework.

In addition to Bhutan, Nepal,Bangladesh, despite its limited hydro-potentiality is trying to reap benefits bycooperating with India. During the visitof Modi to Dhaka in 2015 both the coun-tries agreed to develop the same. The JointDeclaration between both the countriesknown as “Notun Projonmo — NayiDisha” spells out the details of coopera-tion in the hydroelectricity spheres. TheDeclaration has also outlines the need forthe development of “energy grids”.

In addition to the bilateral initiativeswhat is gaining added impetus to thesub-regional multilateral approach withregards to energy security is the initia-tion of BBIN (Bangladesh, Bhutan,India and Nepal network). The institu-tional cooperation initiative over hydro-electricity among these four countriesof the SAARC can be a milestone in thisregard. The joint working group ofBBIN countries which met in January2016 spelt out the need for formationof “energy grid” and “hydropowercooperation” among all the four states.As has been argued, at the policy mak-ing circles, BBIN initiative on energycooperation among these four states ismore or less similar to the HydrocarbonVision 2030 for the North-EasternStates of India, which was released inFebruary 2016. The vision emphasiseson “greater connectivity” with Bhutan,Bangladesh and Nepal. One importantaspect of the vision document was thatit focuses on bringing out a synergybetween “energy security” and “humansecurity” both in the North-Eastern partof India and Bhutan, Bangladesh andNepal. In addition to the BBIN networkwhich is at an incipient phase, theCASA-1000(Central Asia and SouthAsia 1000) project funded by WorldBank aims at transferring the surpluselectricity of Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistanto the power deficit South Asian stateslike Afghanistan, Pakistan. As quoted inthe Kyrgyz newspapers the project willbe completed within three years.

A burgeoning survey of energy sit-uation of South Asia demonstrates thatenergy security is most urgent taskbefore the South Asian states. A closerlook at the poverty figure of some of thesestates (like Bangladesh and Pakistan)demonstrates that energy is necessary forensuring perennial access to food secu-rity. Thus one can draw a parallelbetween “water-food-energy security” inthe context of South Asia. This canensure sustainable security in the region.

(The writer is Assistant Professor,School of International Studies,Jawaharlal Nehru University)

China’s grand imperial designshave no end, probably. With Xi

Jinping, the country has certainly bol-stered its claim over more and moreterritories, including the ones in themost controversial chain of islands inthe South China Sea (SCS). It is noth-ing new for China as it has beenclaiming its ownership and controlover the entire SCS islands. But whatcame as a rude shock to the inter-national community, particularly tothe nations around the SCS, wasBeijing’s swift move to construct arti-ficial islands in the disputed areas. Itcaused tremors in Malaysia,Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand,Brunei and Vietnam. All of themlooked for an immediate interventionby the US and the other regionalpowers, like Japan, so as to containChina’s aggressive expansionist agen-da. But then President Barack Obamamaintained a feeble stance on China’ssovereignty claims. The ObamaAdministration did not recognise anyownership of the islands and assert-ed that these are international water,and, therefore, China alone cannothave its sole right to either occupy orclaim them altogether. But thenfinally the US sent the USS Decatur,a warship into the area in the lastOctober near the most disputedParacel Islands, calling it as the“freedom of navigation exercises”.The White House said it was to“demonstrate lawful uses of the seathat the United States and all Statesare entitled to exercise under inter-national law”.

Ironically, what the interna-tional community had witnessedwas reassertion by Beijing andcoming up with more constructionactivities in controversial islands.Meanwhile, China accused the USof an illegal act and of being “inten-tionally provocative”. Since thenwhat brought the Chinese author-ities to international attention wasthe Philippines’ successful attemptto drag the former to the UN spe-cial tribunal at The Hague. TheTribunal recognised the claimsmade by the Philippines and said,“China’s ‘nine-dash line’ had nofoundation under the UNConvention on the Law of the Sea(UNCLOS)”. The Tribunal alsodeclared that China had supportedactivities that infringe on thePhilippines’ rights to stock fishand preserve marine environment.

Another remarkable judgmentwas given by the Tribunal regard-ing UNCLOS Article 121, whichsays that any island that can sustainhuman habitation or economic lifeis entitled to claim a 200 nauticalmile exclusive economic zone andcontinental shelf. The Tribunalclearly said that none of the con-tested islands in the SCS, includingthe Spratly Islands and theScarborough Shoals, are islandsunder Article 121. But the Tribunaldid not make any judgments overissues pertaining to contested ter-ritorial claims by several nations.However, China reacted strongly tothe Tribunal’s verdict and said thatit will not be bound by the same. ToBeijing, these island chains are itsown lands and, therefore, it does notneed any one’s permission or ver-dict to conduct any activity outthere. Further, to the leadership inChina, it is just asserting its sover-eign territorial claims in the SCSand nothing else.

Now as the Philippines hascomplained that China may try tobuild on a reef the former’s coast.Delfin Lorenzana, the DefenceSecretary of the Philippines, claimedthat China’s actions would be unac-ceptable in the flashpoint waterway.And, he strongly believes thatChina would eventually reclaim theScarborough Shoal, which is just230 kilometre from the mainPhilippine island of Luzon. This isadding fuel to the fire in the SCS

zone. Why China is adopting thisnew offensive? Is it planning todemonstrate to Donald Trump thatChinese claims of sovereignty overthe SCS will remain unchanged?

It seems China is on its regularcourse of action whether it is theSCS or any other controversial ter-ritorial claims the nation has beenmaking over decades. Of course,with Xi, Beijing has expanded itsglobetrotting campaign and shak-en the entire continent. To some,China’s latest move may have beeninspired by Trump’s nominee for thepost of the Secretary of the State inJanuary, Rex Tillerson, that Chinashould be barred from artificialislands it has built in the SCS. Healso said that China’s control andconstruction of artificial islands inwaters claimed by neighbouringcountries was “akin to Russia’s tak-ing of Crimea”. In a first responseto Tillerson’s comment, China’sForeign Ministry emphasised theimportance of mutual respect andcooperation with the US.Nevertheless, Lu Kang Lu, one ofthe spokesmen of the ministry, hint-ed at some hope and said thatChina-US relations are based on“non-confrontation, non-conflict,mutual benefit and win-win coop-eration”. China has restrained fromtaking a tough stand against theTrump Administration so far. Butall indications are that China’s atti-tude rightly demonstrates its con-trol over the SCS as a foregone con-

clusion. If America takes up a mil-itary venture, then only it can stopChina from the SCS. And it isunlikely to happen. Then, howTillerson will move forward,remains a mystery. For, Xi, he willmaintain calm as he is windingdown his first term by the end of theyear and the party top guns arelocked in a power struggle toappoint their allies in the newCabinet. But, Xi is not likely to beseen as weak at all.

Naysayers, activists, globalists,leaders from various parts and final-ly, of course the Democrats, andsome of Trump’s own partymen areconcerned about the way Trump ishandling Xi’s China. Some of theworld’s leading China experts bringhome startling facts about the futureof the US-China relations. A reportsubmitted by the group to the WhiteHouse on February 5 highlights thatthe ties between the two nuclear-armed countries could rapidly dete-riorate into an economic or even mil-itary confrontations if compromiseon issues, including trade, Taiwanand the SCS, cannot be found.

However, the boisterous lan-guage that the TrumpAdministration used for China willnot help de-escalate the tensionbetween the two global powers.What Evan Medeiros, one ofObama’s top advisers on Asia, saysreflects the chances of possibledamage in the bilateral relations:“You can’t do everything simulta-neously. You can’t pick a fight withChina on Taiwan, on trade, onNorth Korea and the South ChinaSea at the same time. It simply won’twork. You’ll just end up in a bigfight with China that doesn’t pro-duce anything for the United States”.

Though the current situation is“somewhere between uncertain andvery worried” as Medeiros echoed,there is some glimmers of hope fromTrump. Being a billionaire busi-nessman, he will have to understandthe global and regional realitieswherein interests of both Americaand China lie together. He and hisestablishment must see to it thatChina is not pushed and pressed toofar. If this happens at all, neitherChina nor America will be benefit-ted. Hope, Trump realises it sooner.

(The writer is Senior Editor, The Pioneer)

President Donald Trump will beknown for his bravado and

bluster come what may as subtletieselude him. He has emerged notonly as an American phenomenon,but as a global phenomenon whichmilitates against the traditional andconventional understanding ofgovernance and foreign policydecision making in the larger senseof the term.

President Trump faces anuphill task since the convergenceof women interests and anAmerican Federal Court’s rulingagainst his executive order to cur-tail the entry of denizens fromStates such as Libya, Syria, Iraq,Iran, Somalia and a few othernations.

These drastic methods reflect-ing his campaign trail promises ofsequestrating the rights usurped byvested interests threaten to attacha pariah status to the newPresident. As if the Democrat lob-bies, along with the Clinton estab-lishment, were not enough obstruc-tions to the governance ofPresident Trump, according to aheadline in a British daily, theIndependent, women hate Trumpso much that they are marchingagainst him not only aroundCapitol Hill, but also in theAntarctica.

Moves are also on to bringback Barack Obama to the fore-front as a returning President,which is definitely unconstitu-tional. Though the polls during thecampaign trail declared earlier onthat single women with childrenwere supporting candidate HillaryClinton, the outcome of the USPresidential elections pinpointedotherwise as the nation electedTrump over the politically correctand a pro-establishment Clinton.

Thus, both the sides of the coinneed to be perceived clearly if a truereading of the political tumult inthe United States has to be reached.It has been globally reported thatthousands of women “marched on”on the day of the presidentialinauguration in over 60 countrieswith the larger objective to protestin the favour of, “Women Rights,Human Rights and against hate”.

As an extraordinary instance ofprotest, 30 women have marchedin the Paradise Bay located inAntarctica which is populated byWendell Seals, hunchback whalesand gentoo penguins.

They raised slogans such as,“Penguins for Peace, Seals forScience, Cormorants for Climateand Love from Seven Continents.”

What might be the conse-quence of these initial moves andbills which have been tabled by theRepublican Government? In theeconomic sphere, Trump wentagainst the Trans PacificPartnership (TPP) which was orig-inally meant to counter theRegional ComprehensiveEconomic Partnership (RCEP)agreement.

And the latter is considered tobe a group of nations which ismeant to serve the interests of apro-Beijing lobby. This is onereading of the situation. The TPPled by Washington could haveworked as a counter weight toRCEP, but that does not stand anymore as a proposal.

The American withdrawalplaces stress on nations such asIndia, in the larger Asiatic spacewherein, the nations which arebeing encircled by China will befacing a regional power vacuum inthe absence of the United States, asit intends to leave behind allies inSouth East Asia and new strategicpartners such as India.

Also, President Trump hasprojected himself as a personagewho has rebelled against the polit-ically correct graft institutionalisedin the United States of America.

Immigration curbs havebecome the centre of the stormwith the Trump declaration on therefugee policy too coming up forglobal criticism. The curb on theH1B visas comprises the entry ofone of the largest number ofIndians from 2013 onwards whichled to the trying development thatthe Indian software giants mightface difficulties in the future.

Still, Google and Facebookgroups, along with other corporatehouses, can find a way out of theexecutive order passed by the

Trump Administration. WithIndians being employed in thefirm, Microsoft has applied withthe American establishment to letin some of its “responsible and sin-cere workers” despite recentlyintroduced immigration curbs.

Trump’s executive order alsoincludes some exemptions for thecompanies to request and create alegitimate way out for looking outfor case specific treatment, whilebringing workforce from othercountries. Indian firms have to takethe route followed by Microsoft, as,they too are set to lose a lot by theJanuary executive order whichplaces curbs on the H1B and L-1visas, which are primarily workvisas and non-immigrant ones,over the top of that.

This abrupt H1B visa curb pol-icy reflects homeland securityrelated protectionism which doesnot present an easy picture for thesoftware firms in India trading inthe United States.

Coming back to the trap of thesea of protests against Trump, it israther surprising that the samepeople who voted for him are ral-lying around a reason for oppos-ing the same person. Apart fromthe individual issues, which havebeen opposed by the domestic pro-testers in United States, the ques-tion that deserves a learned answeris that why is the new, “AmericaFirst Approach” invented and prop-agated by Trump is being opposedso largely and stringently by a largesection of the people in America.The thinning out of the Trumpwave might have one probableanswer but that seems highlyimprobable as a larger popular andpolitical game-plan by the opposi-tion interests might be the forcebehind the sea of protests beingregistered against the TrumpAdministration. Marisa Franco, asreported in the New Yorker, was thebrains behind organising the ini-tial protests against Trump.

She is reported to have said,“Inauguration Day marks thebeginning of the nightmare for mil-lions of people across the country.For many of us, we simply cannotafford to hold onto a hollow hope

that Trump will change course onthe disasters he pledged in his cam-paign. We understand that wehave to use everything in ourpower to resist and force a detourfrom taking us all backwards.”

The coming months will testthe veracity of the claims and thecounter claims as even Iran whichwas promised sanctions free life hasdeclared that the “Evil State’s”wrestlers will not be allowed entryto participate in a Global Wrestlingcompetition to be organised inIran. The future of the Iran-US andthe West-brokered nuclear dealalso rests in uncertainty with theIranian act of testing a ballistic mis-sile is being read by the AmericanAdministration as an act of abro-gating the nuclear deal with theWest and the United Nations,which was brokered by ex-President Barrack Obama.

The protests which have beena kind of gathering storm in vari-ous places in the United States haveprecedents too. Though not onsuch a large scale, but such gath-erings were organised as a preludeto the Presidential years ofPresident Nixon and PresidentGeorge Bush. The larger questionis that can the sea of protestsstrengthened by the Federal Courtbe read a backlash against the con-servative skill set of the presentAmerican administration.

(The writer is Faculty,International Relations, IIPA)

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Page 8: 0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

MANIPURUTTARPRADESH

UTTARAKHAND

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The tone of campaigning inwest Uttar Pradesh (UP)

was set by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in the firstweek of February when duringan election rally in Meerut hesaid the BJP was fighting in UPagainst SCAM (S for Samajwadi,C for Congress, A for Akhileshand M for Mayawati).

The very next day, AkhileshYadav countered him and saidSCAM is meant as save thecountry from Amit Shah andcompany. A few days later, BSPchief Mayawati, who has field-ed 100 Muslim candidates, vio-lated the Supreme Court direc-tive of not seeking votes on thebasis of caste and religion by ask-ing members of the minoritycommunity to vote for the Dalitparty as “the vote to other par-

ties will indirectly help the BJPto capture power in the State”.

Also, BJP’s poster boySangeet Som, who is seekingsecond term from Meerut’sSardhana, violated the modecode of conduct by screeningdocumentaries onMuzzafarnagar riots whilecampaigning in his con-stituency. A case was registeredagainst him and two others inthis connection.

The region witnessed theemergence of the SamajwadiParty-Congress alliance whenAkhilesh Yadav and RahulGandhi addressed a joint rally

in Meerut. The new partnersswore by the alliance andpromised to uproot communaland casteist forces. They saidthe alliance had created a stormin the Sate and will uproot theOpposition parties.

Moreover, the region knownas Jatland saw the revival of theRashtriya Lok Dal (RLD).Despite this, RLD faces an uphilltask as chances of split amongvoters are high.

Two incidents of violencerocked the region as one BSPworker was killed and thebrother of former BSP MinisterRamvir Upadhyay was injured

in the attack.Others to campaign in the

region included former BiharChief Minister and RashtriyaJanata Dal chief Lalu Prasad. Heextensively campaigned for hisson-in-law Rahul Yadav, who iscontesting on SP ticket fromBulandshahr. During his inter-action with the media, Laludescribed Modi “a dangerousman” and cautioned the peopleto be wary of him.

BJP MP Sakshi Maharajcreated a controversy in theregion by saying that an expo-nential growth in populationin the country was because ofpeople (read Muslims) whohave four wives and 40 chil-dren. A case was registeredagainst him as the minoritycommunity leaders soughtand apology from him forcasting aspersions on theentire community.

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Ghaziabad: Following thedirections of observers appoint-ed by Election Commission,police teams conducted raids atsome party offices and seized20 cartons of liquor from anSP-Congress alliance candiate.

Assistant Superintendentof Police (ASP) Anoop Kumartold PTI that observers gotsome complaint in this regard,upon which police officerswere instructed to raid theelection offices of the partycandidates in Sahibabad leg-islative Assembly constituency.

Twenty cartons of Indian-made foreign liquor (IMFL)were seized from the office ofan SP-Congress alliance can-diate, Kumar said, adding theywere to be distributed amongvoters, in to lure them.

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Page 9: 0 ˙ RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - … the Yadav clan and cases of major crimes under its watch, besides “corruption” during the reign of Akhilesh Yadav and

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In an apparent change of tac-tic to influence the Muslim

voters, Samajwadi Party pres-ident Akhilesh Yadavattacked the arch-rivalBahujan Samaj Party (BSP)accusing it of transferring itsvote to the BJP during the lastLok Sabha elections in 2014.

Akhilesh cautioned thepeople against voting for theBSP as it could again join hands with theBJP to form the Government.

“The BSP drew a blank in the 2014Parliament elections. I enquired into thematter and what came out was shock-ing as the BSP had got its votes trans-ferred in favour of the BJP,” claimedAkhilesh while addressing electionmeeting in Pilibhit and Shahjahanpuron Friday.

“The BSP chief Mayawati hasformed Government three times with

the BJP in the past andthis time round too thisparty could repeat thehistory and so their lead-ers are out to mislead thepeople, especiallyMuslims, so as to dividetheir vote to help the BJP,”alleged Akhilesh.

“If the voters fall tosuch tactics, BJP couldonce again help BSP to

form its Government inthe State,” he said, appealing to peopleto vote for the SP-Congress alliance “forfurther taking the State ahead on thepath of development”.

SP president said the BSP has noth-ing to showcase as its achievement in UPas the party did nothing for the peopleaccept installing statues of elephants andconstructing the parks and memorials.“Even the BSP was now talking of devel-opment and promising no more statuesand memorials,” said Akhilesh.

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Claiming that theBJP will get

absolute majority inUttar Pradesh,Union HomeMinister RajnathSingh said both theBahujan Samaj Party (BSP) andthe alliance of the SamajwadiParty and the Congress werefighting a lost battle.

“BSP president Mayawatihas started appealing to elec-torate on communal linesafter she sensed her defeat inthe elections, while the SP andthe Congress forged analliance as both parties havelost their mass base. In themathematical terms both SPand Congress are in minus.Minus plus minus is alwaysminus,” Singh

said whileaddressing a Pressc o n f e r e n c e on Friday.

He questionedas what happenedto Congress’ slo-gan of “27 saal,UP behal”. “Did

the party cut off the regime ofSP from its 27 years of misrulein UP or it suffered a memo-ry loss,” he further ques-tioned. It was just an oppor-tunistic alliance before theAssembly polls, said Rajnath,adding that alliance is notgoing to benefit anyone.

He even asked the rele-vance of Akhilesh’s ‘Kaambolta hai’ slogan. How can heclaim that he has done some-thing for society because lawand order situation in theState is very bad.

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After going in for “alliance”at the last moment, Rahul

Gandhi and Akhilesh Yadav,the youth scions of theCongress and the SamajwadiParty respectively, will nowfinally rollout 10-pointCommon MinimumProgramme (CMP) onSaturday. Interestingly, boththe Parties are already out withthe alliance manifesto and now

when the people are voting in73 constituencies in the firstphase in western Uttar Pradeshon Saturday, Congress-SP willannounce their CMP, whichwill be implemented if thealliance comes to power.

“Rahul will be coming toLucknow to announce the 10-point CMP, along with AkhileshYadav, on Saturday morning at10 am”, revealed seniorCongress leader, Rajeev Shukla.

Addressing a Press confer-

ence, along with former UnionMinister Shree Prakash Jaiswalon Friday afternoon, Shuklaclaimed that the proposed jointroadshow of Rahul andAkhilesh on Friday has beenpostponed as they failed to getpermission.

However, he said the road-show will be organised withina week. “It will be joint respon-sibility of both the Congressand the SP to implement theCMP,” added Jaiswal.

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Tension is running high inNagaland, particularly in

state Capital Kohima as thedeadline set by some socialorganisations for resignation ofChief Minister TR Zeliangexpires tonight even as thepolice and security forces areput on strict vigil to deal withany eventualities.

While the Nagaland TribesAction Committee (NTAC)and Joint CoordinationCommittee (JCC) had set adeadline of three days for res-ignation of the Chief Ministerowning moral responsibilityfor death of two youths inpolice firing last month, theNagaland Chief Minister isunlikely to resign and says thatthere are politics at play behindthe protests over the issues.

The NTAC and JCC metstate Governor on Friday andappraised him of the deteriorat-ing law and order situation in thestate. The two organisation hasalso appealed to the people of theState to be ready for any kinds ofeventuality if the Chief Ministerdoes not resign by Friday.

Nagaland Director Generalof Police (DGP) LL Doungel

said that the situation is normalin Kohima as well as in Dimapurnow. “There are deployment ofadequate number of forces inKohima and Dimapur. We arenot taking any chances and socurfew had been imposed inselected areas of Kohima andDimapur,” said Doungel whileadding that police and securityforces are prepared to deal withany eventualities.

“The deadline set by theorganisations will expiretonight. We do not expect anyviolence immediately but keptthe forces on alert so as to han-dle any situation in shortestpossible time,” he added.

It may be mentioned herethat the two tribal organisations— the NTAC and JCC hadrecently decided to continuewith the demand for resigna-tion of Chief Minister Zeliangand said that they would notstop until the Chief Ministerresigns owing his moralresponsibility for the twoyouths killed in police firing.

The CM on the other handsaid that there is no question ofresignation as he has got theadequate number of legislatorssupporting him in the State leg-islative Assembly.

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In a major security breach, anunruly passenger on board a

Chandigarh-bound IndiGoflight opened the emergency exitdoor and inflated the emergencychute slide, resulting in minorbruises to a co-passenger and thedelay in the departure of theflight from the ChhatrapatiShivaji International Airport(CSIA) by two hours on Friday.

Soon after the incident,the errant passenger was off-loaded from the plane andhanded over the security staffand the Central IndustrialSecurity Force at the Mumbaiairport.

The incident, details ofwhich were confirmed both bythe IndiGo management andMumbai International AirportLtd (MIAl) took place shortlybefore the IndiGo aircraft —flight 6E 4134 — was to sched-uled to leave Mumbai at 11.40am for Chandigarh.

“Just after the boardinggot completed, a passenger

seated on seat number 12Csuddenly opened the emer-gency exit door and inflated theslide. In this process, a co-pas-senger seated on 12A receivedbruises. At that time, the air-craft was fortunately in a sta-tionary position,” an IndiGospokesperson said.

Having observed the mis-chief by the errant passengers,the IndiGo staff on boardimmediately and alerted theCaptain-in-Command.

Taking a precautionarymeasure, the Captain immedi-ately informed the ground staffof the situation on board andinstructed the team to arrangefor medical assistance andother necessary action.

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After the infamous meritscam in the intermediate

examinations Bihar is witness-ing yet another big scandal inthe exam of Bihar Staff SelectionCommission (BSSC) to fill13,000 vacancies of clerical jobs.

The scandal came to forefollowing the leakage of ques-tion papers of the two subjectsand their answers a day beforethe examination which wentviral. The entire exam has beencancelled and at the behest ofChief Minister Nitish Kumar aSpecial Investigating Team(SIT) was set up which hasarrested several suspected peo-ple including the BSSC secre-tary Parmeshwar Ram.

Ram told SIT headed byPatna SSP Manu Maharaaj that

he was just a pawn in this scan-dal and revealed 36 big namesincluding Ministers, high pro-file politicians and seniorbureaucrats. He also disclosedthat in the past five years mostof the recruitments witnessedcrores of rupees changinghands and the wards of manypoliticians and bureaucrats hadbeen recruited. The BSSCclears appointment of grade IIInon-gazetted clerks. Ram toldthe team, “You are thrashingonly a pawn. If you have gutscatch the real kingpin whohad been directing us.”

Sources said Ram disclosednames of seven Ministers, 29legislators and nine IAS officialswho he claimed were directlyor indirectly involved in thisrecruitment scam. Ram, nowsuspended, was appointed

BSSC secretary by then CMJitan Ram Manjhi in 2014.

The question papers andanswers had been suppliedthrough WhatsApp to studentsand each had been asked to payRs 5 lakh and half of thepromised money had beenpaid. It is expected that about500 students and the scaminvolved about Rs 50 crore.

The SIT also arrested direc-tor of AVN School RamashishRai and manager Ramsumer, aloco pilot Alok Ranjan fromPatna Junction, director of ITI,Bihta Nitin Kumar, owner of acoaching institute Rameshwarand a student Kaushal Kumar.SIT chief Maharaaj said thequestion papers and answershad been leaked from AVNSchool which was also centre forthe examination.

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The authorities on Fridayimposed restrictions in old

parts of Srinagar to foil aprotest march proposed byseparatists towards the UnitedNational Military Group inIndia and Pakistan(UNMOGIP) headquartershere. Police took JKLF leaderYasin Malik into custody whenhe attempted to lead protestersfrom a mosque. Several sepa-ratist leaders including Syed AliGeelani, Mirwaiz UmarFarooq, Shabir Shah and

Nayeem Khan were put underhouse arrest to prevent theirattempts to mobilize people.

The authorities have sound-ed alert in the Valley in the wakeof protests called by separatistleadership to commemorate thedeath anniversaries of AfzalGuru and Muhammad MaqboolBhat who were hanged in Delhi’sTihar jail on February 9, 2013and February 11, 1984 respec-tively. The separatists aredemanding return of the mor-tal remains of the two Kashmiriswho were buried in the premis-es of Tihar jail after being out to

gallows.Following a shutdown in

the Valley on Guru’s anniver-sary, the separatists had calledfor a march towards theUNMOGIP office in Srinagarto hand over a memorandumdemanding UN interventionfor the resolution of vexedKashmir issue.

The authorities, however,imposed restrictions in the sen-sitive areas of old Srinagar anddisallowed holding congrega-tional on Friday prayers at cen-tral mosque where MirwaizFarooq delivers weekly sermon.

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Demonetised currency notesof �500 and �1,000

denominations valuing over�41 lakh were seized by policeon Friday from Ahmedabad intwo different places.

The police detained fivepersons in connection withthe seizure. According to thepolice three people werenabbed from Naroda area ofthe city from a car with �36.99lakh in the morning.

The police during a routinecheck-up found behaviour ofthe detained person suspiciouswhen the cops checked the carfrom inside, they found oldcurrency notes of �36, 99 500.

“The accused were having2,285 notes of �500 and 2,557notes of �1,000 denomina-tions,” said police.

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The successful 29-day-longstudents’ agitation at the

private Kerala Law AcademyLaw College inThiruvananthapuram, whichhad received active supportfrom almost major partiesexcept the CPI(M), has led tothe worsening of the trustdeficit between the that partyand CPI, its partner in the rul-ing LDF it leads.

The stir, held by a jointmovement of students’ unionsraising removal or resignationof the principal and otherdemands, was called off onWednesday. The trust deficitbetween the two Left parties

became all the more obvious onFriday with State CPI(M) sec-retary Kodiyeri Balakrishnanharshly criticizing the partiesthat had cooperated with theBJP and its students’ wingABVP in the Law College stirand Kanam Rajendran, hiscounterpart in the CPI, reject-ing it by saying his party need-ed no advice from others.

CPI’s student outfit AISF,which was leading the stir atthe Law College, had cooper-ated with the ABVP, pro-Congress students’ union KSUand MSF, the student wing ofCongress ally Muslim League.SFI, the CPI(M)’s student out-fit, had withdrawn from thestrike halfway through it giving

other unions an opportunity toaccuse it of betraying the stu-dent community.

The BJP, Congress and theMuslim League had stoodsolidly behind the studentsand three top leaders of the BJPand Congress observed protestfast to declare solidarity withthem while the CPI(M),accused of protecting the LawAcademy management andprincipal Lekshmi Nair, hadtermed the strike as a pure aca-demic matter which had noth-ing to do with politics.

The CPI, a formerCongress ally, extended totalsupport to the strike and thevisits of its leaders to the venueof the agitation.

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The Election Commissionon Friday ordered the

transfer of the ExciseCommissioner, two IGs, asmany DIGs, four districtmagistrates and six SPs inpoll-bound Uttar Pradesh.The EC order said ExciseCommissioner Bhav NathSingh be immediately trans-ferred and replaced withMritunjay Kumar Narayan.

The EC ordered the StateGovernment to transfer policeofficers and bureaucrats basedon complaints and otherinputs if it feels that they candisturb the level playing fieldin elections and not up to thetasks cut out to them. It alsotransferred out IG, BareillyVijay Singh Meena andreplaced him with VijayPrakash. Similarly, VaranasiIG Suvendra Kumar Bhagathas also been transferred outto be replaced by AseemKumar Arun.

The DIGs of Gorakhpurand Azamgarh ranges havealso been ordered out of theircurrent postings.

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�� � ������ The rift betweenfounders of Infosys and itsboard spilled out in the open onFriday with co-founderNarayana Murthy questioningexecutive compensation andcorporate governance at India’ssecond biggest software ser-vices exporter led by VishalSikka.

“Let me make it very veryclear that it is not the manage-ment that concerns me. I thinkwe are quite happy with (CEO)Vishal Sikka. He is doing a goodjob. However, what concernssome of us particularly thefounders, and seniors, formerInfoscions is that there havebeen certain acts of governancethat could have been better,”Murthy said.

Murthy, along with otherco-founders Nandan Nilekaniand S Gopalakrishnan arebelieved to have written toInfosys board asking why Sikka’scompensation was raised andhefty severance packages offeredto two top-level executives whoquit the company.

Sikka was paid �48.7 crorein base salary, bonus and ben-efits last year as compared tobase salary of �4.5 crore for apartial period in 2015.

Murthy has questioned

“paying the former CFO (RajivBansal) a 30-month severancepay which amounted to �23crore.”

“The Chairman said at theAGM that he had some highlyconfidential, competitive infor-mation but anybody who knows

our industry can quickly cometo the conclusion that there areso many people in the compa-ny, senior people that have such

competitive information.“In Infosys itself, we have

had 2 CFOs who left before andseveral other senior people who

are on the boards...Senior VPs,etc who have such competitiveinformation but we didn’t payanyone of them. So therefore, it

has led to some kind of confu-sion...,” he told news channelCNBC-TV18.

Asked about market spec-

ulations that Bansal was paid offbecause he had damaging infor-mation on Infosys, Murthy said:“I hope it is not the case.”

Former executivesMohandas Pai, Ashok Vemuri,V Balakrishnan and BG Srinivaswere never paid any severancepay, he added.

Infosys, however, hasdenied any governance lapses.

“The board is fully alignedwith the strategic direction of DrVishal Sikka and is very appre-ciative of the initiatives taken byhim in pursuance of this trans-formation,” Infosys Chairman RSeshasayee said in a statement.

“Vishal and the board, whilebeing pleased with the compa-ny’s resumption of industryleading performance on manyparameters, are keen to furtheraccelerate the progress andachieve even more shareholdervalue increase, on the founda-tion of sound governance. Wewill remain undistracted withthis focus,” he added.

Biocon Chairperson andindependent director on Infosysboard Kiran Mazumdar-Shawsaid there has been no breach ingovernance issues, but theremay be “judgement calls” onwhich the board members dif-fer with promoters. ��

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����������� Infosys boardmember and BioconChairperson Kiran Mazumdar-Shaw on Friday asserted thatthere has been no breach incorporate governance at the ITbellwether, but said there maybe some “judgement calls” onwhich the board differed withthe promoters.

Reacting to Infosys co-founder NR Narayana Murthy’sexplosive comments on drop-ping governance standards atthe company, she said in future,the board would try to allaysuch concerns of the promot-ers.

She also said the board isfirmly behind Infosys CEOVishal Sikka.

“As a board member, Iwould certainly say that therehas been no breach in gover-nance issues. Yes there may bejudgement calls on which wediffer with the promoters, but

I think overtime we will try andsee how we can allay these con-cerns that the promoters havein terms of the way the boardconducts itself,” she told a sec-tion of media here.

Mazumdar-Shaw deniedthere was any breakdown ingovernance of the company, butconceded there have been con-cerns and issues expressed byNarayana Murthy and pro-moters.

“Personally, I don’t believethat there are governancebreakdowns. Yes, there havebeen concerns and issuesexpressed by Mr Murthy andpromoters. I think these aremore to do with perceptionissues rather than real break-down of governance,” she said.

Murthy, in an interviewwith a business daily, had saidthat since June 1, 2015, thefounders have seen a concern-ing drop in governance stan-

dards at Infosys.“We won several awards for

good governance all over theworld. However, since June 1,2015, we have seen a concern-ing drop in governance stan-dards at Infosys,” he had said.

Mazumdar-Shaw saidthere may be “perception chal-lenges”, but no governance

issues at the company.“It is unfortunate that it has

been made into governanceissue, which is not. I think it isreally about perception chal-lenges that have actually creat-ed this kind of unpleasant kindof situation,” she said.

“I believe that what theboard is doing is, it is creating

a very formal channel of com-munication with the promoters.Hopefully will start seeing thesekind of issues subsiding,” shesaid.

Replying to a question, shesaid the board has alwaysbacked Sikka.

“The board has alwaysbacked Vishal Sikka. Weremain very firmly groundedon this particular aspect. Thisis not the time for us to get intothese kind of issues. This is thetime when we should move for-ward,” she said. Instead, it is thetime to move forward andsupport Sikka and the man-agement to focus on growthand transformation of the com-pany because of the challeng-ing times in IT sector globally,Mazumdar-Shaw said.

“We should support VishalSikka and the managementteam to really focus on growthand transformation because

these are very challenging timesglobally for the IT sector andwe must actually try and seehow Infosys can continue tolead the way,” she said.

On hefty severance pack-age given to ex-CFO RajivBansal, she said it was arrivedat under very complex cir-cumstances and it is for themanagement to make thesejudgement calls.

“You know, severancepackages are basically drawn upby the management, and theseparticular severance packagesthat you are referring to, havebeen arrived at under verycomplex circumstances. I thinkwe have to leave it to the man-agement team to make thesejudgement calls,” she said.

“They have justified whythey have given these kind ofseverance packages. I thinkthe board has accepted thesejustification,” she added. ��

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��������Country’s largest lenderSBI on Friday reported 71 per centjump in consolidated net profit to�2,152.2 crore for the Decemberquarter of the current fiscal onaccount of rise in other incomeand drop in provisions of badloans.

It had reported net profit of�1,259.4 crore in the October-December quarter of the last fis-cal.

On standalone basis, the StateBank of India reported a 134 percent rise in net profit to �2,610crore for the quarter endedDecember 31, 2016-17.

The bank had reported prof-it after tax of �1,115 crore in theyear-ago quarter.

“Net profit in the quarter rose134 per cent and this was a func-tion of the fact that in the thirdquarter of the financial year 2015-16, we took a maximum brunt ofasset quality review (AQR)impact, and, therefore, those prof-its were not in line with what weare doing,” SBI chairmanArundhati Bhattacharya said in aconcall with reporters.

“In the quarter, the interestincome has increased y-o-y by8.07 per cent as we had lot ofinflows in deposits and they havebeen invested quite well throughour treasury. The other incomeshowed a very healthy growth of58.73 per cent on y-o-y basis,” sheadded.

In December, SBI sold 3.9 percent stake in its subsidiary SBI Life

Insurance for �1,794 crore toKKR and Temasek.

Other income was up 58.73per cent to �9,662 crore from�6,087 crore, while the interestincome grew 8.07 per cent to�43,926 crore from �40,644 crore.

Total income was up 14.67per cent to �53,588 crore.

Although the bank’s totalprovision increased by 17.10 percent to �9,933 crore, the loan lossprovision dropped by 5 per centto �7,245 crore from �7,645 crore.

Domestic net interest marginwas down to 3.03 per cent from3.22 per cent in the year-ago peri-od.

Fee income grew 14.30 percent to �4,011 crore from �3,509crore last year same quarter.

Gross non performing assetsrose to 7.23 per cent from 5.10 percent in the third quarter of thefinancial year 2015-16. Net NPAwere at 4.24 per cent as against2.89 per cent.

The bank’s fresh slippagesduring the quarter stood at

�10,185 crore.“The fresh slippages are very

much within the guidance thathad been given by us. We haveguided for above �40,000 crore offresh slippages for this financialyear, of which we have �29,316crore in the three quarters,”Bhattacharya said.

She added that 73 per cent ofthese were from the watch list,which currently stand at �17,992crore.

When asked about the out-look on resolution of stressed loanin the fourth quarter, she said: “Wewere very hopeful that thingswould start moving in this quar-ter. The demonetisation has actu-ally put us back by a quarter.

“So, we are working veryhard, but I do not really knowwhether they (resolution) cancome in this (fourth) quarter ormay be they can slip over to thenext year.”

The bank recovered �1,003crore of loans while upgradationstood at �1,059 crore.

It sold �472 crore of bad loansto asset reconstruction companiesin the period.

Deposits grew 35.90 per centto �20,40,778 crore from�16,71,416 crore.

Gross advances were up 4.81per cent to �14,97,164 crore from�14,28,495 crore.

Bhattacharya said demon-etisation had an impact on areaslike home loans, agriculture andsmall and medium enterprisesloans.

“However, in January, mostof these areas have started doingbetter and in February they areshowing better numbers.Hopefully, by the end of this quar-ter we would be back to where wewere and we do not expect anygreat fall in the growth,” she said.

The bank revised its loangrowth target, which was set at11-12 per cent in the beginningof the year, to 6.5 per cent.

“In the financial year 2016-17,the credit growth will be restrictedto around 6.5 per cent and in thenext financial year we expect togrow at 11 per cent,” Bhattacharyasaid.

Talking about the merger ofits five associate banks- State Bankof Bikaner & Jaipur (SBBJ), StateBank of Mysore (SBM), StateBank of Travancore (SBT) and twounlisted associate banks - StateBank of Patiala and State Bank ofHyderabad, and Bhartiya MahilaBank, Bhattacharya said it has beendelayed by one quarter. ��

�9$�DE����'���/� ���F�G��������3�������� � � � A u t o m a j o rMa h i n d r a & Ma h i n d r a(M&M) on Fr iday said itp l ans to inves t �1 ,500crore at i t s Nashik andIg a t p u r i p l a n t s , a l o n gwith ongoing expansiono f � 4 , 5 0 0 c r o r e a tC h a k a n f a c i l i t y i nMaharashtra for the nextphase of expansion.

“ We a r e i n v e s t i n g� 1 , 5 0 0 c r o r e a t o u r

N a s h i k a n d I g a t p u r iplants , which wil l helpus in expanding our pro-d u c t i o n c a p a c i t y b y5 0 , 0 0 0 v e h i c l e s t o2 , 0 0 , 0 0 0 v e h i c l e s . T h eNashik projects will qual-ify as ‘Ultra Mega Project’a n d i t w i l l b e f u n d e dthrough internal accru-a l s ,” M & M m a n a g i n gdirector Pawan Goenkatold reporters here. ��

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Senior Finance Ministryofficial Ajay Tyagi has

been appointed as chair-man of Securities andExchange Board of India(Sebi).

He will succeed UKSinha, whose extendedtenure ends on March 1.

Tyagi, a 1984 batchIAS officer of HimachalPradesh cadre, is at pre-sent Additional Secretary( I nv e s t m e n t ) i n t h eDepartment of EconomicAffairs and handles cap-ital market, among oth-ers.

Ty a g i h a s b e e nappointed as chairman ofthe markets regulator, anoff icial order said.TheAppointments Committeeof the Cabinet-headed byPrimeMinister NarendraMo d i h a s a p p r o v e d

Tyagi’s appointment for aperiod not exceeding fiveyears or till the age of 65years, it said.

5 8 - y e a r- o l d Ty a g ihails from Uttar Pradesh.

As per the eligibilitycr iter ia , a person canhold the position of Sebichairman till the age of65 years or for a termdecided by the govern-ment.

Sinha, a 1976 batchIA S o f f i c e r o f B i h a rcadre, had assumed officeas the Sebi chairman onFebruary 18, 2011, whent h e p r e v i o u s U PAG o v e r n m e n t w a s i npower.

He was later given atwo-year extension. Daysbefore the end of histenure in February lastyear, he was given anoth-er extension till March 1,2017.

Many senior bureau-crat s , inc luding s omeSecretary-level officers,were in contention forthe top post of capitalmarket regulator.Tyagi fora short while was also onthe board of Reserve Bankof India (RBI).

The process for select-ing the next chief of theSebi started in September2015, pursuant to whichseveral applications werereceived for the position.

���� -�4�,�5.�

Demonetisation has affected indus-trial activity as output contract-

ed to four-month low of 0.4 per centlast December with consumerdurables taking the worst hit, plum-meting by over 10 per cent due to cashcrunch.

The factory output had contract-ed 0.9 per cent in December 2015.

The latest decline reflected dete-rioration in the manufacturing sectoron account of cash crunch followingthe scrapping of the �500/1000 noteson November 8, 2016. The industri-al output was 5.7 per cent inNovember and did not capture theimpact of demonetisation.

Finance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid the contraction in industrialproduction in December was due tofallout of demonetisation but expect-ed a pick-up and greater expansion inthe coming months.

“November and December (IIPfigure) cannot be the representative ofperiod of this year. This is the demon-etisation period and compared toNovember, December was more chal-lenging for the reason that in manyareas old currency was allowed tooperate. In December it had goneaway,” he said.

Reacting on the development

India Inc said jobs may be imperiledif the trend continues.

“The performance of the indexreflects depressed investment outlookfor the industry and any such slow-down continuing for a longer periodof time would have serious implica-tions on the employment front,” FicciSecretary General A Didar Singhsaid.

“Improving business environ-ment, reducing interest rates andimplementation of GST should be thepriority for the Government,” he said.

Singh further said thatannouncements made in the UnionBudget 2017-18 and their quickimplementation especially on thecapital formation has the potential togenerate additional growth.

Factory output measured in terms

of Index of Industrial Production (IIP)in December declined on account of2 per cent contraction in manufac-turing sector, as against 1.9 per centdecline a year ago.

According to data released by theCentral Statistics Office on Friday, theprevious low was a contraction of 0.7per cent in August. During theApril-December period of the currentfiscal, IIP growth remained almost flatat 0.3 per cent compared to 3.2 percent growth in the nine month peri-od of 2015-16.

Output of consumer durablessegment - TVs, refrigerators andwashing machines - declined by 10.3per cent during the month underreview from robust growth of 16.6 percent reflecting the impact of curren-cy crunch.

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�� � ������Government’s revenue collec-tion from indirect tax grew by an impres-sive 23.9 per cent during the April-Januaryperiod, while that from direct tax rose by10.79 per cent.

Total direct and indirect tax collectionsat the end of January stood at �12.85 lakhcrore, 76 per cent of the �16.99 lakh croretarget, as per revised estimate for 2016-17.

Belying fears of slowdown due to

demonetisation, indirect tax collection grewat a decent 16.9 per cent in January buoyedmainly by excise, reflecting an uptick inmanufacturing.

At the end of January, the total directtax collection stood at �s 5.82 lakh croreand indirect tax-mop up was �7.03 lakhcrore led by robust collections in per-sonal income tax and excise duty,respectively. ��

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Skipper Virat Kohli scored a record-breaking fourth double hundred asIndian batsmen devoured on a

meek Bangladesh bowling line-up topile up a massive 687 for 6 declared onthe second day of the one-off Test here.

At stumps, Bangladesh were 41/1after losing opener Soumya Sarkar'swicket to Umesh Yadav.

En route his 204, Kohli became thefirst batsman in the history of Testcricket to claim four double hundredsin as many series.

In the process, he surpassed thelegendary Sir Don Bradman and RahulDravid, both of whom had three dou-ble hundreds in successive series.

Kohli's four double hundreds havenow come against West Indies (200),New Zealand (211), England (235) andnow Bangladesh.

The team total of 687/6 was also aworld record as no team had everscored 600 plus runs in three consec-utive Test matches before on Friday.The earlier two came against Englandat Mumbai and Chennai respectively.

The good news for India wascomeback-man Wriddhiman Saha'sunbeaten 106 off 155 balls — his sec-ond Test hundred that justified teammanagement's immense faith in hisabilities. It was Wriddhiman andRavindra Jadeja's (60 not out) long han-dle that saw India score at an averageof more than four runs per over.

Ajinkya Rahane, with his 82 off 133balls, also looked like getting his mojoback after poor form and injuryplagued him during the England series.

With the pitch offering some turn,Bangladesh batsmen will have anarduous task of saving the game,which looks highly unlikely against thespin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin andRavindra Jadeja.

Among the flurry of other recordsthat Kohli broke, the significant one wasscoring the maximum number of Testruns in a home season surpassingVirender Sehwag's record.

The first session belonged to Kohli,who scored a double hundred in lessthan five hours laced with 24 bound-aries and in 239 balls.

It was an innings that defined hisclass and also showed that it's onlyKohli himself who can get out if theopposition bowling attack is merelypedestrian. Kohli completed his dou-ble ton in the post lunch session andthen an arm ball from spinner TaijulIslam found him going for the late cutand trapped him leg before.

But this happened only after heensured that India will not be battingfor the second time in this Test match.

Kohli, along with Rahane, added222 runs in a little under 50 overs withBangladesh by then being out-battedby the visitors. Rahane missed out ona century with young Mehedi HasanMiraz taking a spectacular one-hand-ed diving catch off left-arm spinner

Taijul Islam. He hit 11 boundaries inhis innings. India smashed 121 runs inthe opening session and the secondyielded another 143 more due toWriddhiman going on the offensive.

The Bengal stumper had hit 6 foursand two six in 155 balls. The centurycame with a six down the ground offBangladesh's most successful bowlerTaijul (3/156).

The Wriddhiman-Jadeja duoadded 118 runs in 25.3 overs. Jadeja's78-ball-60 had four boundaries and twotowering sixes which landed in the sec-ond tier of the long-on stand.

Bangladesh suffered the ignominyof having five of their bowlers Taijul,Taskin Ahmed (1/127), Kamrul IslamRabbi (0/100), Mehedi Hasan Miraz(2/165), Shakib Al Hasan (0/104),conceding more than 100 runs.

Earlier, Kohli started from wherehe had left off on Thursday with twothumping boundaries off TaskinAhmed. The first was an uppish slashwhile the second rocketed down theground. The stand-out shot of the ses-sion came in Taskin's next over. A goodfull length delivery was just firmlypushed. It looked like an on drive whereall that the skipper had done was to rollthe wrists.

A couple of more boundaries offTaskin and a lofted boundary offShakib Al Hasan brought about his 150.

Rahane, who had gained in confi-dence from yesterday's time at thecrease was more assertive today. His 50came when he dispatched a full tossfrom Shakib to the cow corner. It washis 10th Test half century.

The Mumbaikar then celebratedthe mini landmark with some auda-cious cut shots playing close to hisbody. He could have been caught on 62had Shabbir Rahaman held onto a

tough chance at deep third manregion.

Just when he was lookinggood for a hundred, it was Mirazwho pulled off a spectacular catch

as the batsman had played an inside outshot.

But there was no stopping Kohli ashe continued to send the Bangladeshibowlers with a deluge of boundariesbefore a successful DRS appeal savedhim. On 180, he was adjudged legbefore by the on-field umpire after adelivery from Miraz spun sharply hit-ting him low on the pads. However, theskipper promptly took DRS consultinghis partner Wriddhiman Saha and gota favourable decision.

As if to celebrate the reprieve, hecover drove Miraz and then played adelicate late cut off Taijul as he slowlyreached 190's.

���� .C,�)���,

Mehedi Hasan Miraz is only five Test match-es old and till date had watched Virat Kohli's

batting only on television.But after bowling 42 overs on a good batting

surface and a lot of them to the Indian captain,Miraz feels that it has been like an education andhe can apply the learnings from this match alongthe way. "Obviously, this is a good experience andI watched his (Kohli) batting on TV. Bowlingagainst such players, you learn how to bowl at thislevel. I want to play cricket for a long time.Hopefully, I can apply whatever I have learnt fromhere," the former Bangladesh U-19 skipper said.

He had put England on the mat on tailor-made tracks but bowling on shirtfronts is a newexperience for the rookie tweaker. "Actually, forme this is a good experience because we are play-ing against India. The best thing was that I bowled

the way I wanted to. I bowled a bit short but yesI am happy. I tried bowling good areas but theyeven played the good deliveries well. I feel webowled a bit short at times."

The pitch offered some turn but Miraz feelsthat it wasn't a lot. "Wicket is good. There was abit of turn but the wicket will remain good forbatting."

���� .C,�)���,

Wriddhiman Saha onFriday hailed the Indian

team management's clear cutpolicy of giving the well per-forming injured players achance to make a comebackinto the playing XI once theyare fully fit as a "huge positive",saying that it certainly has aneffect on their performance.

Wriddhiman was ruled outof the England Test series dueto tendonitis (thigh muscleinjury) and his replacementParthiv Patel did well in what-ever opportunities he got.

But the team managementhad always made it clear thatBengal lad is the No 1 wicket-keeper for India and takes hisplace whenever he is fit.

"It's a great plus for theplayers (knowing their status).Because after an injury hiatus,when someone makes a come-back, if he is clearly told that "asand when you recover, you willbe back in the team," the indi-vidual gets more motivatedand that reflects in his perfor-mance," Wriddhiman said after

his second hundred in come-back Test.

Even though he is undis-putedly India's No 1 keeper,Wriddhiman complimentedParthiv for his glovework butsaid that one needs to acceptthe selector's decision.

"When I got injured,Parthiv came in and per-formed. Whenever he has gotchances, he has performed.But may be, after my doublehundred in the Irani Cup,selectors took a decision, whicheverybody needs to accept,"said the 32-year-old fromSiliguri.

Talking about Irani Trophydouble hundred, Wriddhimansaid, “This attack (Bangladesh)was more challenging thanGujarat attack as this one is aninternational attack. There issome difference but theapproach was same like my sec-ond innings double hundredduring Irani Cup. Initially, I gota reprieve but after that I car-ried on with positive intent. Myaim was to bat as long as pos-sible and contribute as much aspossible for the team."

���� ��5�2:)-�

Australia captain StevenSmith very well under-

stands the significance of theupcoming tour of India as hesaid success in the four Testseries against Virat Kohli and hismen can make his side "one ofthe all-time greats".

"If you do well in India, thiswill give you massive credit. Thistour can get you to the status ofone of the all-time greats," Smithsaid.

"Yep, if I can have a bigseries, then we are well on theway to doing well in this series."

"A win on this tour wouldbe huge with the the Ashes com-ing. If there is a tied series, thatwould be a huge tick for you!Absolutely a huge tick. A lot ofpeople have written us off. Wearen't really thinking of results.We just need to get our process-es right.

"We must compete withshowing signs of learning andfinding ways to grind out toughsituations. If we do these thingswe will have success, but in real-ity it's about following theprocess and the results look afterthemselves," Smith said.

Regarded as one of the best

players of spin in the Australianteam, Smith is also aware aboutthe huge responsibility he has inhis shoulders.

The right-handed batsmansaid if Australia were to succeedin India, he has to score big runs.

"I generally have been agood player of spin. I have myplans that I stick to and under-stand what works and whatdoesn't. I learnt a bit from SriLanka. I just stick to my gameplan under pressure. I can't becontent on little hundreds if I gotthere. It's about scoring bigones," Smith was quoted as say-ing in 'The Sydney MorningHerald'.

"I think you have to play theway you play and the rest looksafter itself. I must use the creasewell and change my guards tokeep them (Indian bowlers)guessing. I must adapt to dif-ferent periods of the game andwin the big moments," he added.

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Barcelona have the chance to gotop of La Liga for the first timesince October in a Copa del

Rey final dress rehearsal when theyvisit Alaves on Saturday.

Alaves edged out Celta Vigo onWednesday to reach the final for thefirst time, whilst nine-man Barcahad to survive a second legonslaught from Atletico Madrid inmidweek to make a fourth straightfinal. However, Barca's quest for asecond treble in three seasons facesmore severe tests this week as a visitto Mendizorroza is followed by aValentine's Day trip to Paris Saint-Germain on Tuesday in theChampions League.

The champions trail RealMadrid by a point, who also havetwo games in hand, but, withMadrid not in action until later onSaturday at Osasuna, victory willtake Barca top for a few hours atleast for the first time since October22. Barca boss Luis Enrique hasalmost a fully-fit squad to choosefrom as Sergio Busquets and AndresIniesta made their return frominjury as second-half substitutes inmidweek, whilst Neymar returnsfrom suspension.

"We are delighted that Busquetsand Iniesta have recovered," saidBarca midfielder Ivan Rakitic.

"They are very important play-ers and (having been out) they cangive even more of what they bringto the team now."

However, Enrique has followeda strict rotation policy throughouta demanding fixture schedule inJanuary and February so the likes ofGerard Pique, Jordi Alba and SergiRoberto could be rested.

�����������Madrid are in action for the first

time in two weeks when they facerock bottom Osasuna, who are stillwithout a home win all season.

The European champions' clashat Celta Vigo last weekend wascalled off by wind damage caused toCelta's Balaidos stadium.

Zinedine Zidane's men now

face having to play half their leagueseason in just over three months.

However, the break has allowedZidane to recover a series of impor-tant players from injury with thevisit of Napoli in the ChampionsLeague also to come on Wednesday.

Full-backs Marcelo and DaniCarvajal have returned to trainingalong with Luka Modric, JamesRodriguez and Pepe leaving GarethBale as Madrid's only injury absen-tee. Toni Kroos will be missing,though, through suspension.

Despite languishing eight pointsadrift of safety at the bottom of thetable, Osasuna have shown signs ofimprovement since Petar Vasiljevictook charge in January.

Osasuna have taken the lead ineach of their last three games andcaptain Oier Sanjurjo believes theyare on the verge of turning their sea-

son around."We are strong. We have begun

to show that we are competing," hesaid.

"What we want is for all that tocome together for once and berewarded in a win."

Third-placed Sevilla need tospoil Jese Rodriguez's home debutfor Las Palmas on Sunday after join-ing his home town club on loanfrom PSG if they are to remain onBarca and Madrid's coattails in thetitle race.

Atletico hold the upper hand inthe battle for the fourth ChampionsLeague spot, but six sides are sepa-rated by just seven points.

Two of them go head-to-headtoday as Espanyol host RealSociedad, who can leapfrog Atleticowith a win.

Atletico aren't in action till

Sunday when they host Celta Vigoat the Vicente Calderon.

���7��������������It seemed Marco Silva had

taken on a near-impossible jobwhen he was hired as manager ofHull at the start of January.

The promoted club from north-ern England was up for sale, in lastplace in the Premier League andplanning to sell some of its best play-ers. Money was tight, fans were dis-gruntled and a squad short on bignames had been struck by injuriesin key areas.

Silva, a 39-year-old Portuguesecoach labeled "Mini-Mourinho" bysome after his illustrious coachingcompatriot, was new to the Englishgame and was facing a tough andgrueling immediate run of match-es across three competitions.

Silva has worked wonders in thetransfer market and on the field.

Operating under financial con-straints, he saw key midfieldersRobert Snodgrass and JakeLivermore sold from under his feetand reacted by making seven sign-ings - predominantly players on loanand rejects from bigger clubs. StrikerOumar Niasse, for example, arrivedfrom Everton, where he had madefive appearances and not scored asingle goal in the past year; wingerLazar Markovic (from Liverpool)and Omar Elabdellaoui (fromOlympiakos) were among others

looking to relaunch their careers.On the training ground, Silva

worked hard on team shape andorganization, with defender CurtisDavies saying the coach literallydragged players into the positions hedesired. Days off were canceled.Silva was hard, but fair.

His impact was been astonish-ing.

Hull has won all four of its homematches under Silva, having failedto win any of its previous five atKCOM Stadium. Among the defeat-ed teams were some stellar names,Manchester United in the LeagueCup and Liverpool in the league lastweekend. Hull also ground out a 0-0 draw at United in the league andwas regarded as unlucky to lose 2-0 at runaway leader Chelsea, whenmidfielder Ryan Mason fracturedhis skull.

���� -�4�,�5.�

The new head coach of theU-17 national football team

will be appointed within thismonth, the All India FootballFederation (AIFF) presidentPraful Patel said here on Friday.

There is a greater urgencyfor the AIFF to name a replace-ment for Nicolai Adam, whowas sacked by the national fed-eration just nine months beforethe country hosts its first-everFIFA event, the U-17 WorldCup. Patel said former foot-ballers like Bhaichung Bhutiaand Abhishek Yadav will ini-tially help the new head coachto integrate with the team.

"The U-17 camp will be ontrack. The new coach will be inplace by this month. The AIFFwill ensure that there is noharm to the preparation of theU-17 team," Patel said on thesidelines of the launch of FIFAU-17 World Cup mascot,'Kheleo' at the JawaharlalNehru Stadium here.

"We have asked former

players like Bhaichung andAbhishek to be with the teamfor a month to help in inte-gration between the new coachand the players," he said.

Just nine months ahead ofthe show-piece event, Adamwas shown the door by theAIFF following complaints of"physical abuse" by the players.

Adam was appointed as thecoach two years ago on the rec-ommendation of the GermanFootball Federation.

Last month, 21 playersfrom the team submitted a let-ter to AIFF chief Patel, inwhich they alleged that the for-mer Azerbaijan U-17 coachphysically abused them.

Patel said the AIFF had nooption but to part ways withthe German as his continuationwould have affected the per-formance of India in the U-17World Cup to be held in thecountry from October 6 to 28this year.

������ 5:0;-24

Gonzalo Peillat's successfulpenalty corner conver-

sion at the dead end helpedUttar Pradesh Wizards holdKalinga Lancers 2-2 in theCoal India Hockey IndiaLeague (HIL) at the MajorDhyan Chand HockeyStadium here on Friday.

After VR Raghunathscored a penalty corner in the15th minute for the hosts,German veteran MoritzFuerste (15th and 51st) putthe visitors on the brink of acrucial victory. But ArgentinePeillat found the back of thenet after the final hooter toearn two points for the hosts.

In the 15th minute, UPWizards won a penalty cornerand star drag-flickerRaghunath found the back ofthe net to give his team a cru-cial lead. Soon after the goal,in the same minute, Lancersskipper Furste equalised thescore-line via a penalty cornerwhich he slammed to the leftbottom corner.

In the last quarter,Kalinga came out all gunsblazing as they attacked withmore pace. After 10 minutesof game, they got the vital leadwhen Furste fired a very sim-ilar goal to the first one hescored. It was the two-timeOlympic gold medallist's sixthpenalty corner goal of thetournament.

But at the stroke of thefinal hooter, the hosts won apenalty corner. ArgentineAugustin Mazzilli appealedsuccessfully for a penalty cor-ner which was duly convert-ed by compatriot Peillat tolevel the match.

���� -�4�,�5.�

Sports Minister Vijay Goel onFriday said the priority will be

on bringing up emerging talentsfrom schools and colleges — atrend which he feels has beenstopped of late.

In order to revive that culture,Goel said his department hasidentified ten universities whichthey will turn into sports hubs."We have decided to identify tenuniversities that we will turn intosports hubs. We want to focus onschools and colleges. The trend ofplayers emerging from schools andcolleges has stopped. We want torevive that culture," said Ministerof Youth Affairs and Sports.

He assured that athletes will beselected only based on merits. "Ican assure you that not a singleathlete gets qualified for reasonsother than merit. I can assure youthat if an athlete is genuinelyamong the best, there would be nolack of funding for them," he said.

��� 52-,2-

The fight to avoid relegationfrom the English Premier

League is as intense as the raceat the top.

With 14 matches and fourmonths of the season to play,the bottom six sides are sepa-rated by just two points:Sunderland (19 points), CrystalPalace (19), Hull (20), Swansea(21), Leicester (21) andMiddlesbrough (21).

Bournemouth, on 26points in 14th place but with-out a league win this year, couldyet be dragged into the scrap.

Reaching the 40-pointmark is regarded as the targetto ensure safety, although WestHam was relegated on 42points in 2003.

No team has ever got to 43points and gone down.Sunderland finished one placeabove the relegation places in2016 and 2013, on both occa-sions staying up with 39 points.In 2014, 36 points was enoughfor West Brom to stay up.

Here is a brief look at thebottom six teams:

�� ��������Boro, without a league win

since mid-December, do notconcede many goals but do notscore many either havingnotched a league-lowest 19 sofar.

Manager Aitor Karankasigned strikers Rudy Gestedeand Patrick Bamford lastmonth in a bid to add poten-cy to an attack led by AlvaroNegredo, who is top-scorer onjust six.

Boro, which plays Evertonat home on Saturday, has beenwarm-weather training inSpain this week to help fosterteam unity.

���������The storm clouds were cir-

cling the champions until man-ager Claudio Ranieri receiveda vote of confidence this week,the club offering "unwaveringsupport" to the Italian.

The Foxes have won justfive league games amid reportsof increasing dressing roomunrest and a rift between man-ager and players.

A much-needed victory inits FA Cup fourth-round replayon Wednesday against second-tier Derby has at least givensome cause for optimism.

"The win in the Cup will

give us more confidence andwe have to keep going," Ranierisaid.

Leicester plays at fellowstruggler Swansea on Sunday.

� �����Paul Clement has been

named the manager of themonth for January after winsover Crystal Palace, Liverpool,and Southampton.

Clement was appointedonly in early January but seemsto have galvanized the Welshside which gave ManchesterCity a tough match in its lastgame, only to lose in injurytime.

On facing Leicester,Clement said: "We go into thisgame with a lot of confidenceand a belief that we are goingin the right direction. Therewill not be a team in that regionof the table who don't thinkthey can do it."

�����Much improved since

Marco Silva was appointedmanager last month, Hull playsall the sides in the bottom sixbetween now and the end ofthe season.

A draw at ManchesterUnited was followed by a homewin over Liverpool, but thetough run of fixtures continueson Saturday with a trip toArsenal. "We need to continueto do our work to progress ourperformances," Silva said. "Thesame spirit, the same attitude,and the same team perfor-mance need to be shown."

��������������Palace has lost seven of its

last 10 matches, and was jeeredoff in its last game after capit-ulating at home to relegationrival Sunderland 4-0.

"I keep preaching the samething: If you can't win, don't

lose. But we keep losing! Weneed to get a result, got to pickpoints up," said manager SamAllardyce ahead of Saturday'smatch at Stoke.

"I haven't been relegatedfrom the Premier League in myentire career, so it's the lastthing I want. This team has agreat chance of survival."

��� ����� The impressive win at

Crystal Palace brought somerespite for manager DavidMoyes, who hopes for more ofthe same from on-loanManchester United wingerAdnan Januzaj. He createdboth of Jermain Defoe's goalslast weekend and is relishingtheir partnership.

"In the last few games,we've linked really well," hesaid. "We're enjoying playingtogether and hopefully he canscore many more goals."

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