CAPSULE

TV ANCHOR FALLS TODEATH FROM HER FLAT Noida: A news anchor with aprivate television channel diedallegedly after she fell off thebalcony of her fourth-floorapartment here early on Friday,with her family suspecting foulplay.

MAHINDA RAJAPAKSA TORESIGN AS PM TODAYColombo: Signalling an end tothe nearly two-month powertussle in Sri Lanka, PrimeMinister Mahinda Rajapaksa willresign on Saturday, his son saidon Friday.

KEY DHINAKARAN AIDEQUITS AMMK, JOINS DMKChennai: In what could beperceived as a setback to AMMKfounder TTV Dhinakaran, one ofhis key aides quit the party andjoined the MK Stalin-led DMK onFriday.

PSBs DO NOT HAVE ANYPLAN TO CLOSE ATMSNew Delhi: Public Sector Banks(PSBs) do not have any plans toshut down their ATMs, Ministerof State for Finance Shiv PratapShukla informed Parliament. Thestatement assumes significanceamidst a report by theConfederation of ATM industry(CATMi) warning that nearly halfof the 2.38 lakh machines runthe risk of closing down byMarch next year due toregulatory compliance changesmaking the business unviabledue to rising costs.

50 TIGERS DIED IN INDIATHIS YEAR, MOST IN MPNew Delhi: About 50 tigers havedied in India this year with thehighest number of deathsrecorded in Madhya Pradesh, theLok Sabha was told on Friday.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Supreme Court onFriday provided a major

relief to the Modi Governmentby dismissing the demand fora court-monitored CBI probeinto the Government-to-Government deal with Francefor the purchase of 36 Rafalefighter jets, saying there is nooccasion to “really doubt thedecision-making process” war-ranting setting aside of thecontract.

A Bench headed by ChiefJustice Ranjan Gogoi went into“three broad areas of concern”raised in the petitions — thedecision­making process, pric-ing and the choice of Indianoffset partners — and saidthere was no reason for inter-vention by the apex court onthe “sensitive issue” of purchaseof 36 fighter jets.

The apex court said theIndian Air Force (IAF) needsadvanced fighter jets as thecountry cannot afford to be“unprepared” or “under pre-pared” in a situation whereadversaries have acquiredfourth and fifth generationfighter aircraft, “of which, wehave none”.

“In view of our findings onall the three aspects, and hav-ing heard the matter in detail,we find no reason for anyintervention by this court onthe sensitive issue of purchaseof 36 defence aircraft by theIndian Government,” theBench, also comprising JusticesSK Kaul and KM Joseph, saidin its 29-page judgment.

Attorney General KKVenugopal welcomed the ver-dict terming it as an “excellent”and “very good” judgment,which in his opinion has given“clean chit” to the Governmentby accepting all its arguments.

“I think a clean chit hasbeen given to the Governmenton Rafale deal,” he toldreporters on the sidelines of afunction to give farewell toJustice Madan B Lokur, who isset to retire on December 30.

The court said perceptionof individuals cannot be thebasis of a “fishing and rovingenquiry” by the court in suchmatters and it cannot “sit injudgment” over the wisdom ofGovernment’s decision to go infor purchase of 36 aircraft in

place of 126. “We are satisfied that there

is no occasion to really doubtthe process, and even if minordeviations have occurred, thatwould not result in either set-ting aside the contract orrequiring a detailed scrutiny bythe court,” the Bench said.

It noted that process forprocurement of 36 Rafale jetswas concluded on September23, 2016 and no questionswere raised at that time and thepetitions were later filed afterreported statement of formerFrench President FrancoisHollande with regard to selec-tion of Indian offset partners.

The Bench said it was “cer-tainly not the job of this courtto carry out a comparison ofthe pricing details in matterslike the present” and the mate-rial has to be kept in a confi-dential domain.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Congress on Fridaynamed Ashok Gehlot as

Rajasthan Chief Minister andSachin Pilot as his deputy afterparty president Rahul Gandhisuccessfully brokered a peacebetween the veteran leaderand his younger colleague afterseveral rounds of discussionlasting more than two days.

They will take oath ofoffice of December 17.

Congress observer toRajasthan KC Venugopal madethe announcement and saiddetails of the oath-taking cer-emony would be decided aftera meeting with GovernorKalyan Singh in Jaipur.

Addressing a Press confer-ence, Gehlot thanked RahulGandhi for giving him theopportunity to serve the peo-ple of the State for a third time

and promised that he and Pilotwill give “good governance”.

Rahul met Gehlot and Pilotthrice since Thursday. Hecticparleys were held between topparty leaders, including SoniaGandhi. Priyanka GandhiVadra too is understood to beinvolved in the decision-mak-ing process. Senior party lead-ers Venugopal, Avinash Pandeand Jitendra Singh were presentduring the meeting on Friday.

“The united colours ofRajasthan,” Rahul tweeted onFriday afternoon along with aphotograph in which the threeleaders were seen in a jovialmood. Gehlot and Pilot werewelcomed with pomp andsplendour at the Jaipur airportafter the announcement.

Pilot, 41, exuded confi-dence that Congress’ good elec-toral performance will contin-ue, saying the party will get abig mandate in 2019 polls andform a Government at theCentre also. “Mera aur AshokGehlotji ka jaadu puri tarahchal gaya hai (Gehlot and Iworked our magic in theState),” Pilot said.

The Congress went from21 seats against the BJP’s 163 in2013 to get 99 seats (plus one

of the Rashtriya Lok Dal) in theAssembly elections. Pilot saidthe party’s manifesto will beimplemented immediately.

However, the name ofChhattisgarh CM has beenkept under wraps. The officialannouncement will be made onSaturday in Raipur. All thefour contenders — TS SinghDeo, Bhupesh Baghel,Tamradhwaj Sahu and CharanDas Mahant — were called toDelhi.

They took turns to meetRahul during the day after thename of Rajasthan CM wasfinalised. Rahul authorisedAICC Central Observer forChhattisgarh MallikarjunKharge to announce in Raipurthe CM candidate after the CLPmeeting on Saturday.

Gehlot will be the fourthleader to become ChiefMinister of Rajasthan for athird time. Mohan LalSukhadia was the ChiefMinister of the State for fourtimes, while Hari Dev Joshi andBhairon Singh Shekhawat werethree-time Chief Ministers ofthe State. Both Sukhadia andJoshi were Congress leaderswhile Bhairon Singh Shekhawatwas from the BJP.

Bengaluru: At least 11 people,including a girl and a woman,died while 75 others took ill onFriday after consuming“prasad” at a temple at Sulavadivillage in Chamarajnagar dis-trict, officials said.

The condition of eight peo-ple being treated in Mysuru iscritical. “A child died at theGovernment hospital atRamapura, two each at GH hos-pitals at Kamageri and Kolegal,three at the KP Hospital andone at KRH Hospital,” saidSuresh Shastry, Joint Director,Directorate of Health andFamily Welfare Services.

According to police, the

foundation laying ceremonyof Maramma temple wasorganised on Friday morning

and prasad was distributedafter the function.

Continued on Page 7

PTI n KATHMANDU

The Nepal Government hasbanned the use of Indian

currency notes of ̀ 2,000, ̀ 500and `200 denominations, amove that could affect Indiantourists visiting the Himalayannation where Indian currencyis widely used.

Indian currency is exten-sively used by Nepalese peopleand businesses for their savingsand transactions.

The Nepal Governmenthas asked the people to refrainfrom keeping or carryingIndian bank notes higher than`100 denomination as it hasnot legalised them, Nepal’s

Minister for Information andCommunications GokulPrasad Baskota said.

“The Government hasdecided not to use, carry andkeep the Indian bills of 200, 500and 2000 denominations. Thegovernment will soon issue aformal notice in this matter,”the Minister said.

The decision will adverse-ly affect Nepalese labourersworking in India as well asIndian tourists visiting Nepal.

Nepal Premier KP SharmaOli said earlier this year thatdemonetisation hurt theNepalese people and addedthat he would raise the matterwith Indian leaders.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Noted English writer AmitavGhosh has been honoured

with this year’s Jnanpith Award,a literary award given to anauthor for “outstanding con-tribution towards literature”,Bharatiya Jnanpith announcedon Friday.

“Amitav Ghosh is a path-breaking novelist. In his novels,Ghosh treads through histori-cal settings to the modern eraand weaves a space where thepast connects with the presentin relevant ways. “His fiction isendowed with extraordinarydepth and substance throughhis academic training as a his-

torian and a social anthropol-ogist,” a statement fromBharatiya Jnanpith reads.

The decision was taken ina meeting of Jnanpith SelectionBoard chaired by eminent nov-elist, scholar and Jnanpith lau-reate Pratibha Ray.

Continued on Page 7

GAYATHRI MANI n NEW DELHI

Now, Delhiites need nottravel all the way to

Gurugram and Faridabad to sipfreshly brewed beer as theDelhi Development Authority(DDA) has finally approved toset up the much awaited micro-breweries in restaurants andbars situated in the nationalCapital.

The new policy or provi-sion for the implementation ofmicrobreweries could not benotified earlier due to variousreasons but now as per the offi-

cials the DDA approved thesame and notified the newpolicy in the meeting held onFriday morning.

According to sources, “Therestaurants, hotel or clubs willbe allowed to set up the micro-breweries up to 500 litres perday capacity. But at the sametime restaurants, bars andhotels have to get the no-objection certificate (NOC)clearance/licences from excisedepartment before setting upthe microbreweries.”

Microbreweries, alsoknown as organic beers, are

freshly brewed beer with dif-ferent fruit flavours such asstrawberries, apple, grapeswhich is also considered as a

healthy drinks as per theexperts. Experts said micro-breweries are healthy for bothmen and woman as it does notcontain alcohol, chemical andpreservatives, especially glyc-

erin’s that are used in the pack-aged and beer cans. Also, it willbe good drink and safer thenthe whisky and other harddrinks which will also reducefatness.

Currently, there is onlyone microbrewery set up at theIndira Gandhi InternationalAirport (IGIA).

“The Delhi Governmenthas approved the proposal toset up the breweries in Delhithree years ago but it could notbe implemented as the brew-eries were listed under the‘prohibited/negative’ list ofindustries in the Master Plan ofDelhi (MPD) 2021. However,on the request of theGovernment, Lieutenant-Governor Anil Baijal inDecember 2017 approved theGovernment’s plea to removemicrobreweries from the ‘pro-hibited’ list of the master plan.After which the DDA’s techni-cal committee approved the

proposal in January 2018,” anofficial said.

The official further saidafter fulfilling all the proce-dures and modalities, the peo-ple of Delhi as well as touristswill enjoy freshly manufac-tured beer.

“Moreover, the freshlybrewed beer will also be cheap-er than the can and packagedbeers as it does not contain thepackaging and transportingcharges,” said an official.

“In Germany, the preg-nant women are advised tohave a glass of freshly brewedbeer daily as it is so nutritious.But in the bottles chemicals areused which is fatty as well asharmful,” said a beer expert.

Continued on Page 7

SC rejects Rafale probe demand

No occasion to doubt decision-making process, says court

PNS n NEW DELHI

Buoyed by the SupremeCourt verdict on the Rafale

fighter jet deal issue, theGovernment and the rulingBJP on Friday charged theCongress with manufacturinglies and compromising withnational security and said truthalways holds together while“falsehood always fall apart.”

Making this assertion here,Finance Minister Arun Jaitleywithout directly naming SoniaGandhi and Rahul Gandhi saidfalsehood was manufactured by“one family”, but they are notabove the apex court.

Along with theGovernment, the ruling BJPalso accused the Congress ofmaking the Rafale deal look asuspect by telling lies. BJPpresident Amit Shah said hereat a separate Press conferencethat the SC order was a slap onCongress chief Rahul’s politicsof lies and asked him to apol-ogise to the country and its sol-diers for putting national secu-rity at risk.

The BJP president saidthere is no occasion to doubtthe decision-making process inthe procurement of 36 Rafalejets from France, and the courthas upheld that in its order onFriday. It is not the job of thecourt to deal with the com-parative details of the pricing,he said. He also hit out at theCongress president for takinga jibe at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi by saying the“chowkidar” is a thief. “Allthieves had gathered to call the‘chowkidar’ a thief, but thecountry never believed it,” Shahtold reporters.

Continued on Page 7

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Central Governmenthas come under cloud for

allegedly misleading theSupreme Court by claimingthat it had placed theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) report on theRafale jet deal before the PublicAccounts Committee (PAC)of Parliament.

Congress president RahulGandhi along with YashwantSinha, Arun Shourie andPrashant Bhusan, the threePIL petitioners in the Supremecourt against Rafale deal, onFriday pointed out that nosuch CAG report was everplaced in Parliament or beforethe PAC.

At a Press conference,Rahul said the Supreme Courtin its verdict cited a report bythe CAG on the Rafale deal wassubmitted to the PAC butasserted that no such reportwas given to the House panelheaded by Congress’ leader in

Lok Sabha MallikarjunaKharge. Kharge, who was alsopresent at the briefing, said thePAC has not received any suchreport.

“Where has that reportgone? Is it with some otherPAC that PM Modi has set up,”Rahul asked in a dig at theGovernment. Both theGovernment and AnilAmbani’s Reliance Group haverejected Rahul Gandhi’s alle-gation of wrongdoings.

Rahul again accused theModi Government of destroy-ing “all institutions” and assert-ed that corruption to the tuneof `30,000 crore has takenplace in the Rafale deal.

He reiterated the Congress’demand for a JointParliamentary Committee(JPC) probe into the fighter jetdeal and claimed that if it wasconducted, names of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andbusinessman Anil Ambani willcome to the fore.

Continued on Page 7

Rahul pulls it off: GehlotRaj CM, Sachin deputy Decision made

for Chhattisgarh,

announcement

to be made today

PTI n NEW DELHI

Reliance Group ChairmanAnil Ambani on Friday

welcomed the SC order on theRafale deal, saying it establishedthe falsity of politically moti-vated allegations against him.

“I welcome the judgmentsummarily dismissing all PILsfiled on the Rafale contracts,and conclusively establishingthe complete falsity of the wild,baseless and politically moti-vated allegations levelledagainst Reliance Group and mepersonally,” Ambani said.

Continued on Page 7

11 dead, 75 sick after eatingprasad at Karnataka temple

Nepal bans Indian

notes above `100

Delhi to say ‘cheers’ to freshly brewed beer

Govt misled SCon CAG report,Rahul raps Govt

Anil Ambani

welcomes

judgment

DDA finally OK’s plan to set up

microbreweries in Capital

Cong manufactured lies on Rafale: BJP

Congress president Rahul Gandhi with Rajasthan Congress president Sachin Pilot and senior party leader Ashok Gehlot at hisresidence in New Delhi on Friday PTI

Amitav Ghosh honouredwith Jnanpith award

A woman is being shifted to a hospital following sickness after consuming ‘prasad’at Maramma temple in Chamrajanagar district in Mysuru on Friday PTI

2 A Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi went into “threebroad areas of concern” raised in the petitions — the decisionmaking process, pricing and the choice of Indian offset partners(IOP) — and said there was no reason for intervention by thecourt on the “sensitive issue” of purchase of 36 jets

2 “In view of our findings on all the three aspects, and having heardthe matter in detail, we find no reason for any intervention by thiscourt on the sensitive issue of purchase of 36 defence aircraft bythe Indian Government,” the Bench, also comprising Justices SKKaul and KM Joseph, said in its 29-page judgment

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Late City Vol. 154 Issue 335*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable

Published From DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL

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LUCKNOW,SATURDAY DECEMBER 15, 2018; PAGES 16 `3

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city 02LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

PNS n LUCKNOW

Uttar Pradesh is set to takecentre stage in the run-up

to 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Asthe state sends 80 members tothe Lok Sabha, the focus of allpolitical parties — BharatiyaJanata Party, Samajwadi Party,Bahujan Samaj Party, Congressand other regional and small-er outfits — has now shifted toUP.

Political equations in thestate are likely to change as theBSP, SP and Congress are look-ing for an alliance to take onthe BJP in the country’s mostpopulated state.

With elections over in fivestates and Congress emergingas a formidable challenger tothe BJP after wresting threeCentral Indian states, the resur-gent grand old party is set tomake a big push for regainingground in UP that it lost threedecades ago after the rise ofMandal movement and Dalitresurgence.

Caste-based regional par-ties like Samajwadi Party andBahujan Samaj Party were ear-lier not interested in accommo-dating the Congress in theanti-BJP grand alliance for the2019 general elections but withelectoral luck smiling on thegrand old party in MP,Rajasthan and Chhattisgarh,they have grudgingly agreed tojoin hands with it.

The defeat in three Hindispeaking states has set thealarm bells ringing for the rul-

ing BJP in UP where it is facedwith the uphill task of repeat-ing its 2014 performance in the2019 elections.

Both SP and BSP weretough on the Congress,demanding a large number ofseats in MP, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh, but have nowfallen in line. Both realise thatit will be difficult for them toprotect their respective Muslimvote banks if they refuse to alignwith the Congress. With theCongress on a comeback trail inthree states, both parties areunder pressure and are forcedto revisit their earlier stand.

The BSP extended itsunconditional support to theCongress in the three CentralIndian states, indicating that itis now ready to accommodatethe grand old party in UP. TheCongress has reciprocated bysaying that like-minded partieswould be taken on board,thereby preparing ground forthe grand alliance.

So far, there has been no

official word from BSP chiefMayawati about her party’salliance with SP. In March thisyear, the SP and the BSP werekeen on forging an alliance for2019 Lok Sabha polls. The SPleaders are, however, confi-dent that they have finalised thedeal and it will be announcedafter consulting the Congress.

The grand alliance in UPwill also give some space to AjitSingh-led Rashtriya Lok Dal.

The stakes are definitelythe highest for the BJP as it hadsecured 42 per cent votes andwon 73 out of 80 Lok Sabhaseats along with its allies in UPin 2014. Its victory of 2014 wasconsolidated in 2017 when theBJP stormed to power in UPwith a mammoth mandate.

However, four back-to-back bypoll defeats inGorakhpur, Phulpur, andKairana Lok Sabha and NurpurAssembly seats not only check-mated the surge of the saffronbrigade but also dampenedparty workers’ morale.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati on Friday called

for fundamental reforms in alldefence related procurementsin order to address the doubtsand common perception oversuch issues.

She said the Union govern-ment may have got relief afterthe Supreme Court’s order onRafale deal, but said bothBharatiya Janata Party andCongress had been chargingeach other for irregularities inthe fighter aircraft procure-ment.

Mayawati said to avert con-troversies, it was essential thatfundamental reforms beevolved in all defence relateddeals in order to address thedoubts and perceptions amongthe common people.

Asserting that allegationsof corruption were levelledboth against the Congress andthe BJP in defence deals rais-ing public doubt, the BSP chiefsaid that both parties weresimilar as a previous Congressregime had faced charges inBofors deal and the BJP regimein the Rafale deal.

“In the larger interests ofthe country, the Union govern-ment needs to take main oppo-sition parties into confidenceand chalk out a transparent andlong-term policy in defence-related procurements and its

honest implementation. Thiswill do away with such allega-tions and help in keeping theimage of the party in powerand also the nation, clean,” sheadded.

On Friday, the SupremeCourt said there was no occa-sion to doubt decision-makingprocess in the multi-billiondollar Rafale deal and thatthere was a necessity of fight-er aircraft and the countrycould not remain without thesejets.

Meanwhile, Mayawatiremoved the BSP’s MadhyaPradesh unit chief PradeepAhirwar and also state in-charge Ram Achal Rajbhar.The BSP chief also dissolvedthe BSP state unit in MP.

The move comes in thewake of BSP’s not-so-good per-formance in the neighbouringstate in recent assembly polls,as it could win only two seatsin MP against the four it hadbagged last time.

Lucknow (PNS): Senior Congress leaderand former mem-ber of Rajya Sabha,Pramod Tiwari, saidon Friday that theCongress victoriesin the assembly pollsin Madhya Pradesh,Rajasthan andC h h a t t i s g a r haugured well for theparty’s revival inUttar Pradesh.

“We Congressmen thank Mayawati andAkhilesh Yadav for supporting our governmentsin Rajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarh. The victo-ry of the party in the recent assembly polls willrevive the party in the state,” he said.

In a statement issued in Lucknow onFriday, Tiwari claimed that the people of thecountry had expressed their resentment againstthe Bharatiya Janata Party in the assembly pollsand in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the vot-ers would dethrone the Narendra Modi govern-ment.

“False promises made by the BJP govern-ment followed by demonetisation and imposi-tion of Goods and Services Tax created insur-mountable problems for the people and nowthey will teach the Bharatiya Janata Party a befit-ting lesson in the next Lok Sabha election ,” theCongress leader said.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The state government hasplanned a grand celebra-

tion on the 95th birth anniver-sary of former Prime MinisterAtal Bihari Vajpayee with func-tions to be held across the stateand the launch of a ‘Paint mycity’ scheme.

Though Vajpayee’s birthanniversary falls on December25, the celebrations will start onDecember 24 and will contin-ue till December 26.

A senior official told thisreporter on Friday thatdebates, poetry recital andrangoli competitions will beheld in educational institutionsacross the state fromDecember 24 to 26.

“The high point of the cel-ebrations will be ‘Paint mycity campaign’ under whichartists will be invited to drawpaintings depicting life andstruggle of Vajpayee. This con-test will be held at Atal Bihari

Vajpayee Scientific ConventionCentre,” he said.

As Vajpayee was a four-time Member of Parliamentfrom Lucknow, the focus of thecelebration would be the statecapital.

On December 25, a drama,‘Ratter Purush Atal’, will bestaged in Lucknow. The nextday, a Kavi Sammelan will beorganised in which noted poetslike Kumar Vishwas, HariomPawar, Kunwar Bechain andAbdul Gaffar would recitetheir poems.

“On December 25, a CDcontaining speeches and poemsof Vajpayee will be released. Anexhibition depicting the strug-gle of the former PrimeMinister will also be organised,”the official said.

Incidentally, BharatiyaJanata Party president AmitShah will be in Lucknow onDecember 25 and he will par-ticipate in various programmesorganised by his party.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Sleuths of the Special TaskForce have sought the help

of Nepal police to arrest primeaccused in Bulandshahr vio-lence and Bajrang Dal’s citychief Yogesh Raj.

The violence, whicherupted in Bulandshahr onDecember 3, had leftInspector of Syana police sta-tion Subodh Kumar Singhand a 20-year-old local youth,Sumit, dead when a mobattacked policemen after cat-tle carcasses were found in thefields.

“We have inputs that toavert his arrest, Raj has fled toNepal. We are in contact withour Nepalese counterpartsand are trying to drop the neton the mastermind ofBulandshahr violence,” said asenior STF officer posted in

west UP. On Thursday night, the

STF team arrested anotheraccused, identified as SaurabhPayal, from Bulandshahr. Hewas produced in a local courton Friday morning and thecourt sent him to jail.

Earlier, the probe agencieshad arrested armymanJitendra Malik aka Jeetu Faujiin connection with theBulandshahr violence. Later, ahunt was launched for arrest-ing some aides of the army-man who were at the scene onthe fateful day.

Interestingly, all accusednamed in the first informationreport (FIR) and with saffronlinks have been freely upload-ing videos on social sites andgiving interviews, pleadingtheir innocence, but the lawenforcers have preferred tolook the other way.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Prime Minister NarendraModi’s visit to Rae Bareli,

the parliamentary constituen-cy of United ProgressiveAlliance chairperson SoniaGandhi, on December 16 couldthrow some surprises as thereis a possibility that rebel AamAdmi Party (AAP) leader andpoet Kumar Vishwas may jointhe Bharatiya Janata Party in his

presence.Though sources close to the

poet denied such a move, andthere is a tradition that no pol-itics is involved during thePrime Minister’s function,sources in the BJP confirmed inLucknow on Friday that thereis a strong possibility of KumarVishwas joining the party.

“There is a surprise for you.Wait till Sunday,” a senior BJPleader said.

In 2014, Kumar Vishwascontested the Lok Sabha elec-tion from Amethi constituen-cy on AAP ticket and in 2019he could be the BJP candidatein place of Union TextilesMinister Smriti Irani.

But sources in the BJPclaimed that Vishwas could beshifted to Rae Bareli to contestagainst Sonia Gandhi, whileIrani could contest against RahulGandhi from Amethi again.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Power consumers of UttarPradesh have demanded

reduction in power tariff frompower regulator — UP StateElectricity RegulatoryCommission (UPSERC) — forthe 2018-19 fiscal.

The consumers put for-ward their demand during apublic hearing held byUPSERC on Annual RevenueRequirement statement filed byUP Power Corporation Limited

and its three subsidiaries.Representing consumers,

UP Power Consumers’ Forumoffice-bearers said that powertariff be slashed as EnergyMinister Shrikant Sharma hadannounced in the VidhanSabha that after cutting downaggregate technical and com-mercial losses, the UPPCLearned a profit of ̀ 3,400 crore.

Terming the present tariffas arbitrary, the PowerConsumers’ Forum office-bear-ers demanded that a new slab

of `1-1.50 per unit be createdfor people Below Poverty Line(BPL) and reduction in tariff bemade for consumers using 400units per month.

Raising questions over theefficiency of UPPCL, a powerconsumer asked how its losses,which were `77 crore in 2000,mounted to `85,000 crore in2017-18.

During the hearing, con-sumers pointed out that it wasdifficult to enforce standards offinancial accountability on

power distribution companiesas their accounts were neveraudited.

They urged the UPSERC toreject the UPPCL plea for revi-sion of power tariff till itsaccounts were audited by theComptroller and AuditorGeneral.

UPSERC Chairman RPSingh assured the consumersthat they would consider andaccommodate their concernsand objections while decidingthe tariff for 2018-19.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Hitting out at theCongress president,Chief Minister Yogi

Adityanath said that RahulGandhi told lies about theRafale fighter aircraft deal andhe should apologise to thepeople and defence personnelfor spreading canards to getpolitical mileage.

“The oldest political partyof the country has failed to per-form its duty. It has threatenedthe nation’s security andintegrity by questioning theRafale deal which was initiat-ed by their government but waslater shelved as they could notfind any middleman like(Ottavio) Quattrocchi or(Christian) Michel,” the ChiefMinister said while speaking tonews persons in Lucknow onFriday.

Yogi was reacting to aSupreme Court judgement inwhich a three-member benchgave a clean chit to the Rafaledeal. The judgement came as ashot in the arm for the saggingmorale of the Bharatiya JanataParty, which promptly usedthe verdict as a hammer to beatthe Congress.

The Chief Minister alsoasked the Congress why its gov-ernment delayed the Rafaledeal during its tenure from2007 to 2014.

“Was the party in powersearching for brokers like theydid during the previous defencedeals?” Yogi asked in an oblique

reference to the Bofors deal.Yogi said that Rahul

Gandhi should also disclose thesource of his information onRafale deal as it seemed that hisstatement against the govern-ment was an attempt to weak-en the country’s security.

“The statements made bythe Congress chief were morealarming as neighbouringcountries are equipped with thelatest aircraft and other defencetechnology,” he said.

The Chief Minister alsosuggested to the judiciary notto entertain frivolous publicinterest petitions (PILs) whichcould affect the security andintegrity of the country.

“This is a fact that thesePILs were filed just to reappolitical mileage and defamethe government. The courtshould take strict action againstsuch PILs,” he said.

Yogi welcomed the decisionof the Supreme Court in reject-ing all petitions filed against theRafale aircraft deal and claimedthat the judiciary’s verdict wasa clear indication that nothingwas wrong in the deal.

“The Supreme Courtjudgement has exposed thefalse propaganda of theCongress. The grand old partydefamed the Central govern-ment and the BJP merely forpolitical reasons,” Yogi said.

Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident

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Yogi seeks apology from

Rahul for ‘Rafale lies’

Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath addressing mediapersons in Lucknow on Friday

Maya for fundamental reforms in country’s defence deals

LS elections: UP all set

to take centre stage

‘The stakes are definitely thehighest for the BJP as it hadsecured 42 per cent votes and won73 out of 80 Lok Sabha seats alongwith its allies in UP in 2014. Itsvictory of 2014 was consolidated in2017 when the BJP stormed topower in UP with a mammothmandate.’

Grand celebrations

planned for Atal’s

birth anniversary

Spl court grants bail to

Nandi, wife in model

code violation case

Envoys comingfor Sangamdarshan today

BULANDSHAHR VIOLENCE

STF seeks help of

Nepal police to

nab prime accused

Power consumers urge UPSERC to reduce tariff

Kumar Vishwas likely to join BJP

‘Cong wins augurwell for party’srevival in UP’

PNS n ALLAHABAD

The Special Court (MP andMLA) on Friday granted

bail to Cabinet Minister NandGopal Gupta ‘Nandi’ and hiswife Abhilasha Gupta, who ismayor of Allahabad, in connec-tion with a case registeredagainst them in 2012 allegingviolation of the model code ofconduct.

Special judge fPawanKumar Tiwari granted bail toNandi and his wife after theysurrendered in the court onFriday in connection with theprevious non-bailable warrantissued against them.

As per the facts of the caseafter winning the mayoral elec-tion of Allahabad in 2012,Abhilasha Gupta along withher husband allegedly tookout a massive procession.

Subsequently a first infor-mation report (FIR) was regis-tered against them at theAllahabad Kotwali underSection 188 of Indian PenalCode and other sections forviolation of the model code ofconduct. Section 188 deals with

disobeying an order duly pro-mulgated by a public servantwas punishable under law.

Later the police investigat-ed the matter and submitted achargesheet against them. Thecourt at one stage took cogni-sance of the matter and issuedsummons to them.

However, with the settingup of the Special Court (MPand MLA), the case was trans-ferred to it. On the previousdate when both Nandi andAbhilasha failed to appearbefore the special court, thespecial judge issued a non-bail-able warrant against them. Inpursuance of the NBW, the duosurrendered before the specialcourt which while recordingtheir presence granted bail tothem.

The Special Court (MPand MLA) had been set up onthe direction of the SupremeCourt to try elected publicrepresentatives facing criminalcases. The special court willexclusively try elected membersof Parliament and state legisla-tors against whom criminalcases are pending.

Allahabad (PNS): Prior tothe world’s largest congrega-tion— Kumbh — scheduled tobe held in January next year,diplomats from various coun-tries will be coming here forSangam darshan on Saturday.

They will arrive at theBamrauli Airport at 9:30 am.Information related to thearrival of ambassadors of 150countries by a special AirIndia aircraft at the BamrauliAirport has been sent to theDirector, Airport Safety.

The special aircraft of AirIndia carrying the specialguests will fly back from theairport at 3:30 pm.

It may be pointed out herethat for the special branding ofthe mega event, this time nec-essary preparations has beenmade so that the foreign diplo-mats could have a darshan ofthe confluence of the Ganga ,Yamuna and mythicalSaraswati here.

Preparation are also infull swing to accord a rousingreception to the special guestsat the airport.

ELABORATE SECURITYFOR MODI’S VISIT

Meanwhile, elaboratesecurity arrangements havebeen made for the proposedvisit of Prime Minister,Narendra Modi to the SangamCity on December 16.

The police and adminis-trative officials reviewed thesecurity plan and divided thecity into six zones and 12 sec-tors to ensure foolproof secu-rity of the Prime Minister. Asmany as 4,000 policemen,including 20 SPs, 30 DySPs ,350 sub-inspectors and 3,500constable would be deputed atthe venue of the rally. SeniorSuperintendent of Police KPSingh said the Prime Minister’schopper would land atMNNIT in Andhawa area andhe would go to the Sangamarea and inaugurate the ICCCand then offer prayers to theriver Ganga. The PrimeMinister would thereafter visitAkshaywat and return toMNNIT and fly to Andhawaand address a public rally.

city 03LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Agroup of people on Fridaymorning lodged a strong

protest by staging a dharnainside the airport premises inAmausi as their visas and pass-ports were rejected by the staffdeployed at the immigrationcounter charging the docu-ments were fake.

It is said the youths andstudents approached a travelagency, whose office is situat-ed at MG Bhawan, HabibullahEstate, seeking visas and pass-ports six weeks ago. The staffthere had given different datesto collect their documents.Interestingly, they were given receipts after depositingthe amount which the agency asked for.

The police said the travelagency SS InternationalTravelling Agency is engaged inproviding visas and passports.

The agency spokesman used toassure persons applying forthe documents that everythingthing would be genuine andwould be issued after followinglegal formalities and also scru-tinised by the competent offi-cer of the Passport Office leav-

ing no scope of any unscrupu-lous practice. Those who wereto board the flight on Fridaymorning were disgusted whenthe immigration officials reject-ed their visas and passport.Panic gripped them and theyresorted to shouting anti-estab-

lishment slogans. Businessgraduate Abhishek Singh, whowas to board the flight, said thatinitially he thought the staff atthe immigration counter weremisguiding them aiming toharass and as well as to extortmoney. Singh said he and oth-

ers were confident that theirdocuments were genuine.

They staged a dharna there.The staff on duty informedsenior officers, who rushed tothe spot, thoroughly scruti-nised the documents and foundthem to be fake.

In the meantime, the policealso arrived there and after lis-tening to both the partiespatiently concluded that it wasa case of fraud and asked agi-tators to leave the premises asit would make adverse impacton visitors coming there fromother destinations. The policeasked them to leave the premis-es within five minutes other-wise legal action would betaken against them and advisedthem to lodge a complaint atthe Hazratganj police station.

When they reached theoffice of the travel agency, itwas found locked. The securi-ty guard deployed said theoffice was locked sinceDecember 12 morning.

They went to theHazratganj police to lodge theircomplaint against the travellingagency. A case of fraud was reg-istered on the complaint ofGorakhpur native Tinku Singh.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Lucknow is gearing up forthe mega event of Kumbh

Mela which will be held inPrayagraj in the month ofJanuary next year. The statecapital is likely to receive a largenumber of tourists who willvisit Lucknow on their way toattend the event.

Principal Secretary,Information, Awanish Awasthisaid that among the activities tobe held in Lucknow would bea Yuva Kumbh as a precursorto the event for getting theyouths here connected with it.He said that LucknowUniversity would be the coor-dinator for the event. It organ-ised a meeting in this regardhere on Friday for making theYuva Kumbh successful. Vice-Chancellor of LucknowUniversity SP Singh said thatthe Yuva Kumbh would beorganised on December 22and 23 in the city. He said thaton December 22 the pro-gramme would be organised at

the Indira Gandhi Pratishthanwhile the main event onDecember 23 would be held atSmriti Upvan which will beinaugurated by Governor RamNaik and Chief Minister YogiAdityanath. Singh said that itwas a great achievement for theKumbh Mela which had gonethrough a long journey fromestablishing its identity in theglobal scenario to becoming aprestigious event. He said thatthe Yuva Kumbh would witnessthe participation of over 5,000youths from different parts ofthe country who had con-tributed to the development ofthe nation. The meeting wit-nessed the presence of ADM,trans-Gomti, Anil Kumar.

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatiasaid that since a large numberof domestic tourists wereexpected for the mega eventwhich may go to Prayagraj,Lucknow MunicipalCorporation was makingarrangements for keeping thecity clean. “Paintings related tothe Kumbh Mela are already

being made on the ShaheedPath and we will also be draw-ing them on a few other wallsof the city. LMC will be primar-ily focusing on the cleanlinessexercise at the railway stationsand bus stands. An anti-encroachment drive is alreadyon. The historical monumentswill also be cleaned for theoccasion since many touristsare expected to visit the city,”she said. She said that the LEDlights were already in place onthe electric poles for makingthe city look attractive andbeautiful.

A senior tourism officialsaid that a sum of Rs 3 crorehad been handed over to theMela Adhikari for carryingout various curtain-raiserevents in all parts of the stateand a Yuva Kumbh was beingorganised. Director, Archives,Rubina Beg, said that theywere putting an exhibition atthe Kalagram at Prayagraj onthe history of Kumbh withmaterial from the archives inLucknow and Allahabad.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Ayouth was killed while hisfriend sustained serious

injuries when a truck knockedtheir motorcycle (UP-32/KA-6162) at Sarkauthi crossingunder the Malihabad policestation in the wee hours ofFriday. The deceased was iden-tified as 26-year-old RajendraPal, a native of Unnao district,while the injured one as Pankaj,aged 27 and a nativeMalihabad. Pal succumbed toinjuries at the community

health centre while Pankaj wasreferred to the Trauma Centre.

The police said thedeceased came to theMalihabad to attend the mar-riage being solemnised in thehouse of his family friend.

Meanwhile, in anothercase, 25-year-old Mukesh waskilled when he came under thewheels of a truck near KhemKheda village under theGosainganj police station in themorning. The police said thedeceased was sitting in thetrolley of a tractor when the

truck rammed into it. Mukeshfell down due to the impact ofthe collision and came underthe wheels of the truck. Thedriver and cleaner escapedleaving the vehicle on the spot.

TWO INVOLVED IN DRUGSMUGGLING ARRESTED

Two culprits involved indrug smuggling were arrested onFriday morning. They wereidentified as MohammadNadeem and Ram Narayan aliasRamu. Thirty pouches of smackweighing 50 gm and two coun-try-made pistols and five livecartridges were found fromtheir possession. They werepicked up by the police lateThursday night from the GolChauraha crossing under theGosainganj police station with

the help of informers. They werebrought to the police station forinterrogation. They confessed totheir crime after a thoroughinterrogation. Nadeem said thatthey were carriers of drugs anddelivered the consignment to theperson on demand.

Meanwhile, a theft wasreported from a shop of IndianMade Foreign Liquor located inKaiserbagh area. The unidenti-fied culprits managed to enterthe shop by cutting the shutterand breaking the locks on theintervening night of Thursday

and Friday. They have takenaway Rs 12,000 kept in one ofthe cash boxes. ManagerRaghuvendra Gupta wasinformed of the theft by the ‘safaikarmachari’ at 7 am when theycame for work and noticed theshutter was cut and locks werebroken. Gupta rushed to hisshop and found the cash miss-ing. He lodged a complaint at theKaiserbagh police station and acase was registered in the after-noon. Interestingly, the uniden-tified culprits did not take awayliquor bottles.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Council of Science andTechnology is organising a

workshop on “Facts checkingand online verification onsocial media platforms.” Jointdirector (IT), Council ofScience and Technology PoojaYadav said that the workshopwould help spread awarenessand train students about howto detect fake news on socialmedia.

She disclosed that NimishKapoor, head, Science FilmDivision, Vigyan Prasar is aGoogle certified trainer on theabove subject and would leadthe workshop. “This workshopis an initiative of Google News,a subsidiary of Google India.The participants will be provid-ed various software tools byGoogle India during the work-shop to help them in establish-ing the genuineness of news onsocial media. Generalists, sci-ence students, students andteachers of mass communica-tion are eligible to participatein the workshop. The registra-tion for the workshop is free ofcost and the participants will beprovided certificate of partici-pation jointly by Council ofScience and Technology,Google India and VigyanPrasar,” she said.

She said that five such

workshops would be conduct-ed in Lucknow as a joint ven-ture of Council of Science andTechnology, Google India andVigyan Prasar.

“Each workshop will havea maximum of 25 participants.Workshop will be organised inLucknow from December 22 toDecember 29,” she added.

On December 22, theworkshop will be organised atSir CV Raman auditorium andon December 29 the workshopwill be organised at ScienceFilm and Photography Club,Indira Gandhi Planetarium.On December 22 and 23, threeworkshops will be organised atother places in Lucknow andthe participants will beinformed about the venue andtiming. She said that theCouncil of Science andTechnology organises variousworkshops and seminars fromtime to time. “Today the prop-agation of news is not only lim-ited to print and electronicmedia, but also social media.Sometimes fake news is high-ly circulated and becomes pop-ular on social media so muchso that the general publicbegins to believe that the newsis true. This may cause harm tothe society and also spreadpanic and hatred among gen-eral public sometimes leadingto riots,” she added.

Travel agency booked for fraud

Victims protesting against the travel agency at Hazratganj Kotwali on Friday Pioneer

People protest aftertheir visas andpassports wererejected at airport

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of

Medical Sciences (SGPGIMS)celebrated its Foundation Dayon Friday. The chief guest onthe occasion was ChiefSecretary Anup ChandraPandey, who appreciated thestrides made by this presti-gious institute. The keynotespeaker and chairman & man-aging director of Medanta -The Medi City Dr NareshTrehan gave a presentationon ‘Indian Healthcare: RoadAhead.’

Dr Trehan spoke about thecontribution of major diseasegroups to the total deaths inIndia in 1990 and in 2016.“The percentage of deaths dueto non-communicable dis-eases was 37.9 per cent in 1990and 61.8 per cent in 2016, thepercentage of deaths due toinjuries was 8.5 per cent in1990 and 10.7 per cent in 2018and the percentage of deathsdue to communicable, mater-nal and nutritional diseaseswas 53.6 per cent in 1990 and27.5 per cent in 2016.”

Presenting the currentIndian healthcare landscape,he said that India offered thehighest standards of healthcare at the lowest cost. “Thereexists a dual burden of diseasewith an appreciable increase inthe non-communicable dis-eases,” he said. He admittedthat there were challenges ofaccessibility, affordability andaccountability and differenthealth systems public, privateand NGOs were working insilos. Commenting on the lev-

els of health care and privateparticipation, he pointed outthat in the tertiary care the pri-vate sector was providing ser-vices which could be furtherenhanced, in the secondarylevel under the PPP model theprivate sector was providingthe technology, managementand capital under the PPPmode and in the primary carethe private sector was provid-ing help whenever it was need-ed. Admitting that like everybusiness medical health carewas prone to disruption andthere was a need to be moreproductive, more proactiveand of more value. “The idealpathway for a patient is to gothrough preventive care, pri-mary care, secondary care andtertiary care. Over 50 per centof the ailing people have totravel 100 kms to seek medicalcare and 18 per cent of therural and 11 per cent of theurban among them remainuntreated for which the caus-es could be lack of medicalfacility, medical facility avail-able but lack of faith, longwaiting and financial prob-lems,” he said.

Talking about the chal-lenges in health care, he saidthat there was limited avail-ability of primary care clinicsand health care facilities, lowinsurance preparation, highcost of care, low availability ofaffordable care, limited avail-ability of trained manpower interms of specialist doctors,Ayush doctors and paramedicsand there existed technologygaps on offering advance med-ical care like in the fields ofcritical care and cardiology.

Lko awaits its share

of Kumbh visitors

CST workshops to

detect fake news

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Shyam Soni, a residentRudaripur area under

Talkatora police station, com-mitted suicide by hanging him-self from the ceiling of theroom. The motive for takingsuch a drastic step was the dis-pute with his wife on domes-tic issue. They were marriedtwo years ago and were livingalong with his elder brotherArun Soni in the same house.The brother told the police thathis brother was emotional innature and used to feel insult-ed on petty dispute. The policesaid the deceased had pickedup quarrel several time with hiswife on Thursday. The last

encounter between the couplewas in the late evening. Afterthis, he went to his room on thefirst floor and hanged himselfwith a saree of his wife. Theywas no response from insidewhen his brother knocked thedoor early Friday morning.He peeped inside the room

from the hole on the door andnoticed Shyam was hanging.No suicide note was foundfrom his possession. The policeclaimed the investigation hadbeen initiated to ascertainmotive for suicide. He was agoldsmith and working at ashop in Rajajipuram.

Warehouse ‘chowkidar’Sonu committed a suicide byhanging himself from the hookof a tinshed in Badshah Khedaunder the Indira Nagar policestation. No suicide note wasfound from the room. It ownerRaghvendra Chowdharyinformed the police on Fridaymorning that Sonu was foundhanging from the tinshed roofof the room.

Two persons commit suicide

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Forest department willsoon moot the concept of

eco- child under eco tourismin the state. Chief wildlifewarden Pawan Kumar, whiletalking to The Pioneer, saidthat under this concept, theywould ask the students whovisit the Dudhwa NationalPark and other wildlife sanc-tuaries to fill in forms givingthe details of the species (bothplants and animals) that theyhave come across on theirvisit to these areas. “They willhave to give the names of thespecies which they actuallysaw so that they know whatthey have seen,” he added.

He said that the person

who mentioned the maximumnumber of species would becalled the eco child. Kumarsaid that since the beginningof the tourist season they hadreceived 500 tourists at theDudhwa National Park out ofwhich 20 were foreign ones.

He said that the touristshad also to be apprised aboutthe fact that they were notcoming only to watch the tigerbut also the total eco system.“Most of the tourists feel thattourism is only about watch-ing tigers and if they do not seeone of them they are upsetabout this. But they shouldknow that they come here inthe forest area where they getfresh air and the many birdsand animal species which are

equally good for them,” headded.

The chief wildlife wardensaid that they had divided theforest area into zones where-in only some portions were leftfor the tourists to move. “Thecore areas which are the breed-ing areas are left free for theanimals while the tourist zoneshave been specifically marked.”Kumar also pointed out thatwith the online bookings theywere giving the internationaltourists a chance to watch thewildlife of the state. “Ecotourism is primarily themethodology in which thetourists have to explore thewildlife in such a manner thatthe eco system remains undis-turbed,” he added.

Youth killed, friend injured as truck hits motorcycle

SGPGIMS celebrates

Foundation Day

Forest dept to moot eco-child

concept to lure tourists

An anti-encroachment drive being conducted on Park Road in Lucknow on Friday Pioneer

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Singer Richa Sharma saysthat her focus has always

been on independent musicdespite the fact that in the cur-rent times more importancewas being given to Bollywoodmusic. The singer was in thecity for the promotion of hershow, ‘Sa Re Ga Ma Pa’. In achat with The Pioneer, Richasaid that she was working onthree solos which would bereleased next year.

“People always feel that ifyou have sung in a Bollywoodfilm then you create a realimpact, which is somethingwhich I do not believe in. Iunderstand that Bollywood is

important and it has played arole in my success but when Istarted singing from Delhi Iwas always known for mysongs,” she said. Talking aboutthe show, she said, “‘Sa Re GaMa Pa’ is the definitive plat-form for singing talent in thecountry. I have been a part ofZee TV for over a decade ashost of the first-ever non-fic-tion music show on television,‘Antakshari,’ and have been apart of the episodes of ‘Sa ReGa Ma Pa’ as a special guestearlier. I received offers earli-er of being a part of the showbut could not participatebecause I was on musical tours.But music is my passion andhence I am happy that finally

I am on the show.” Whenasked that as a mentor how didshe groom the children, shepointed out that she tried totake forward whatever she hadlearnt herself.

“It’s a clear-cut instruc-tion for us that we have to pickonly those children who areactually musical in their ren-dition and it has nothing to dowith what caste, communityand age group they belong.Our tagline also reflects this,”she added. She said that as faras the Lucknow talent wasconcerned they had TanmayChaturvedi who would give hisbest. She admitted that she hada great rapport with her co-judges which included the

famous Wajid Khan andShekhar Ravjiani both well-known music directors. “They

bring in a lot of energy andcooperation and are veryfriendly. Wajid Khan, who is

very jovial, creates a fun atmos-phere while Shekhar, who isalways sombre, has a smile onhis face perpetually. As a judgeI’ll give my best and help mygharana which is called Richaka gharana scale their fullestpotential and groom them intowell-rounded music profes-sionals,” she added.

On being asked about thesecret of her good looks, shesaid that one should always livefor others and not for one’sown self. About her visit, Richaadded, “It feels great to be inLucknow today. The peopleand its culture are so welcom-ing. I am really looking for-ward to having a good timewhilst in the city.”

My focus has always been on independent music: Richa

Singer Richa Sharma with two of the reality show contestants Pioneer

Kumbh Mela paintingsat Shaheed Path

city 04LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

U.P.POWER TRANSMIS-SION CORPORATIOINLTD.E-Tender Notice e-tenders in two separate

parts on prescribed tender forms are here-by invited from the experienced contrac-tors/ suppliers/manufacturers on U.P. Govt.etendering website "www.etender.up.nic.in"for execution of following works/suppliesof following material up to the date and timementioned against each. The etender Part-I/ Technical Bid will contain cost of tenderdocument and earnest money depositedthrough RTGS/NEFT (PNB, Sultanpur A/cNo. 3126002100003334, IFSC Code:PUNB0312600) duly pledged to the under-signed in official capacity and photo-copies of GST Registration, PAN, LatestIncome Tax Clearance Certificate, experi-ence/ work completion certificate underUPPTCL/ PGCIL and 2nd Part rates andother terms and conditions. For the proofof electronically deposits, U.T.R. No. , A/cNo., scanned copy of duly countersignedPay-in-Slip and in case of EMD deposit-ed in form of Bank Guarantee, scannedcopies of Bank Guarantee and email copyof confirmation issued by the concerningbank should be got uploaded by the con-tractor along with tender documents on theabove etendering portal. The originalBank Guarantee shall be submitted with-in a week after opening of Part I/ TechnicalBid or before the scheduled date of open-ing of Part -II i.e. Price Bid, whichever beearlier. Tenders without having properearnest money will not be accepted. In casethe office remains closed or undersignedremains out of headquarters on the noti-fied tender opening date, tenders will beopened on the next working day at sched-uled time only. The undersigned reservesthe right to accept or reject any or all thetenders without assigning any reasonthereof .Intimation regarding opening ofTender Bid Part-II i.e. Price Bid will be givenon above website in due course of time.Please visit U.P. Govt. etendering website"www.etender.up.nic.in" for details/ douwn-load and for any correction / amendment/modification/ extension till the date of sub-mission of tender. eTenderNo.232/ETCS/2018-19:- Work:- Providingworking gang for carrying out round theclock maintenance and attending breakdown of equipments installed at 220KVS/S Sultanpur during 'Kumbh Mela-2019'under jurisdiction of Electy.400KV S/SDivision Sultanpur. Earnest Money Rs.2000/-. Cost of Tender document Rs. 236/-(including GST). Tender Documents maybe uploaded up to 05:00PM on 17.01.2019.Opening of Tender Bid Part -I at 03:00PM on 18.01.2019. eTender No.233/ETCS/2018-19:- Work:- Cleaning of cabletrenches at 132KV S/s Darshan Nagar,Ayodhya under jurisdiction of ElectricityTransmission Division Ayodhya. EarnestMoney Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tender docu-ment Rs. 236/- (including GST). TenderDocuments may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 21.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 11:00AM on22.01.2019. eTender No.234/ETCS/2018-19:- Work:- Providing and fixing of warn-ing plates on 132KV Milkipur- Sohawaltransmission line under jurisdiction ofElectricity Transmission Division Ayodhya.Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tenderdocument Rs. 236/- (including GST).Tender Documents may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 21.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 11:30AM on22.01.2019. eTender No.235/ETCS/2018-19:- Work:- Overhauling of 132KV & 33KV

Isolators installed at 132KV S/S Akbarpur,Ambedkar Nagar under jurisdiction ofElectricity Transmission Division Ayodhya.Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tenderdocument Rs. 236/- (including GST).Tender Documents may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 21.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 12:00PM on22.01.2019. eTender No.236/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of rubber mattings at 132KVS/S Milkipur & Bikapur under jurisdictionof Electricity Transmission DivisionAyodhya. Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Costof Tender document Rs. 236/- (includingGST). Tender Documents may be uploadedup to 05:00PM on 21.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 12:30PM on22.01.2019. eTender No.237/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of different spares suitable forM/s G.R. Power make 132KV Isolatorsinstalled at 132KV S/s Milkipur under juris-diction of Electricity Transmission DivisionAyodhya. Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Costof Tender document Rs. 236/- (includingGST). Tender Documents may be uploadedup to 05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 11:00AM on23.01.2019. eTender No.238/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of male and female contactswith arm for M/s G.Nandi make 220KVIsolators at 220/132KV S/S Sohawalunder jurisdiction of ElectricityTransmission Division Ayodhya. EarnestMoney Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tender docu-ment Rs. 236/- (including GST). TenderDocuments may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 11:30AM on23.01.2019. eTender No.239/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of Bolted type PG clamps suit-able for Moose to Zebra and Moose toPanther conductors and spacers for twinMoose conductor at 220/132KV S/SSohawal under jurisdiction of ElectricityTransmission Division Ayodhya. EarnestMoney Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tender docu-ment Rs. 236/- (including GST). TenderDocuments may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 12:00PM on23.01.2019. eTender No.240/ETCS/2018-19:- Supply of fire fighting equipments at132KV S/S Jagdishpur under jurisdictionof Electricity Transmission DivisionSultanpur. Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Costof Tender document Rs. 236/- (includingGST). Tender Documents may be uploadedup to 05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 12:30PM on23.01.2019. eTender No. 241/ETCS/2018-19:- Work: Providing and fixing of 100WLED lights after dismantling old, defectiveand damaged HPSV fittings of 250W at132KV Sub-station Gauriganj andJagdishpur under jurisdiction of ElectricityTransmission Division Sultanpur. EarnestMoney Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tender docu-ment Rs. 236/- (including GST). TenderDocuments may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 01:00PM on23.01.2019. eTender No. 242/ETCS/2018-19:- Work: Overhauling of 145KV SF-6Circuit Breakers of various make at 220KVS/S Sultanpur under jurisdiction ofElectricity 400KV S/S Division Sultanpur.Earnest Money Rs. 2000/-. Cost of Tenderdocument Rs. 236/- (including GST).Tender Documents may be uploaded up to05:00PM on 22.01.2019. Opening ofTender Bid Part -I at 01:30PM on23.01.2019. Superintending EngineerElectricity Transmission Circle SultanpurNo.- 1745 Dt.- 13.12.18 "Save Energy inNational interest."

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OUTREACH PROGRAMMEThe cadets of College of

Nursing, Command Hospital,(Central Command), havebeen undertaking outreachprogrammes in nearby villagesas a responsibility towardssociety. This year too, a clean-liness drive was conducted atDadupur village on December13 on the theme ‘Hum sab neye thaana hai, Bharat koswachh banana hai’. The rallywas flagged off by gram prad-han of Dadupur villageSurendra Singh. Forty secondyear students of College ofNursing are having their RuralHealth CommunityExperience (RHCE) underRural Health Training Centre(RHTC), Sarojini Nagar, atPahadpur village for twoweeks under the supervisionof Maj Soniya Saklani and MajDeepa Simon. As part of theircurriculum, the students areconducting surveys and vari-ous health education pro-grammes. A demographic sur-vey is being conducted and itis being experienced that morethan 50% of the populationdisposes waste in open areaand they have open drainswhich leads to stagnation ofwater putting the populationat risk of developing variousvector borne diseases andother health and environ-mental problems.

Based on the needs of thecommunity, the college stu-dents have conducted a‘swachhata rally’ to spreadawareness about cleanlinessfollowed by a role play onenvironmental sanitation. Therole play focused on harmfuleffects of open defecation andimproper waste disposal withemphasis on attitude of

today's citizens on the issue ofcleanliness.

GRADUATION CEREMONYAn impressive graduation

ceremony was held atMemaura Air Force Stationon Friday to mark the culmi-nation of No. 158th FighterControllers’ Course. Thecourse, comprising seven offi-cers from IAF and six officersfrom friendly foreign countries,commenced in July last. Aftercompletion of course for theforeign officers on September20, applied training for IAFtrainees continued at AirDefence College (ADC). Thefunction held on Friday atADC marked the culminationof FCC and donning of thecoveted controllers’ badges onthe graduating officers uni-forms. The valedictory func-tion was presided over by AirVice Marshal R Radhish,Defence Commander, CentralAir Command HQ.Meritorious trainees were givenaway trophies and medallionsby the reviewing officer.

SOCIAL EVENINGA social evening was organ-

ised at the Memaura Air ForceStation which was attended byveterans of Air Defence College,including war veterans whohave served during 1965 and1971 and won gallantry awards.Air Marshal SBP Sinha, AirOfficer Commanding-in-Chief,Central Air Command, andvarious other dignitaries alsoattended the event. Air DefenceCollege of the Indian Air Force,located at Air Force Station inMemaura (Lucknow), receivedthe President’s Colours fromPresident Ramnath Kovind onNovember 29 last. The unit has

also completed 60 years of for-mation this year. Gp Capt JPoosha, Commanding officerreceived the award on behalf ofthe unit from the President.

STINGLESS BEEPROGRAMME

Central Institute ofHorticulture is empoweringpeople through an Indo-Australian stingless bee pro-gramme as an interventionthought to be most suitablefor entrepreneurship. DirectorShailendra Rajan said CISHwas one of the collaborators inthe Indo-Australian stinglessbee programme and impartedbeekeeping training to theyouths. He said that the region-al research station in Maldainaugurated a training andproduction unit on scientificbeekeeping with a view toempowering tribal youths forproduction of quality honeyand efficient pollination. “Amass awareness programmewas also conducted which sawthe participation of a largenumber of people. Few tribalyouths enrolled for training onscientific beekeeping on theinaugural day in the presenceof R Spooner Hart fromWestern Sydney University(Australia). Scientists enrichedfarmers’ knowledge on theimportance of scientific bee-keeping, different popularICAR technologies, processingand marketing of honey, opti-mum utilisation of water, andpromotion of stingless honeybees among the tribal farmers.

Hart briefed the tribalfarmers on the importance ofhoney bees and stingless bees.He also spoke on the futureplan of a programme on stin-gless bees.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The regional office ofCentral Water

Commission organised a one-day workshop on “Improvingwater use efficiency in irriga-tion sector in UP” on Friday.

Participants spoke on theirrigation sector being themajor consumer of waterresources and f loodingmethod being largelyemployed for irrigation in

the state resulting in lowerwater use efficiency. “Formeeting ever increasing waterdemands in various sectorsand ensuring water for eco-logical needs of the rivers, itis imperative to improve thewater use efficiency in irriga-tion sector and utilise waterresources optimally and effi-ciently in the state,” theypointed out.

The objectives of theworkshop was to deliberate

water use efficiency in the irri-gation sector and suggest suit-able measures for its improve-ment in the state.

The workshop was inau-gurated by director,Horticulture, RP Singh.During the inauguration,stress was laid on doubling offarmers’ income for whichirrigation was one of theprime components. Duringthe workshop, 10 presentationwere made in two sessions.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Film director-producerSiddhartha Nagar, who is

also the son of writer AchlaNagar, said he had workedextensively in the past for pro-motion of film shoots in thestate capital as it was theplace he belongs to. As adirector, he always wantedmajor film shoots in Lucknowand was glad that it was final-ly happening, he said. Nagarwas in the city for promotionof his film titled ‘Dhappa’.Interacting with mediaper-sons at a city hotel, he said thefilm was shot entirely in UPwith a major part in Lucknowand some scenes in Agra.The premier of the film isscheduled for Friday.

The film is based on thelife, ambitions and problemsof the youths and the themeis relevant in today’s society.

“‘Dhappa’ comes fromthe popular ‘I Spy’ which weall have played as children. It

ends with a dhappa, which isa slap in the back. This is astory about youths misusedin the world of crime, whichbrings a lot of pain for theirparents and the families,” headded. He said it was hisdream to picturise the entirefilm in UP, promoting thelocal talent and capturingthe beauty of Agra, Mathuraand Lucknow.

On how he worked tobring the film industry to thestate capital, he said thatearlier when there were no

film shoots in the city, hemade efforts to make a TVshow and involved localactors. “Many of them havebecome big names now. Onesuch actor is JayaBhattacharya,” he pointedout. The film features AyubKhan, Shresht Kumar,Brijendra Kala, Yash Sinha,Amit Bahl, Deepraj Rana,Jaya Bhattacharya and VarshaManikchand. The film alsodepicts the beautiful localesand traditional culture ofMathura, Agra and Lucknow.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

An eight-day training pro-gramme on ‘Classical and

modern methods in plant tax-onomy and biosystematics’commenced at NationalBotanical Research Instituteon Friday. The chief guest atthe inaugural function wasecologist and INSA honoraryscientist RS Tripathi. The train-ing programme is being coor-dinated by scientist PriyankaAgnihotri. She said the train-ing programme had beenorganised by realising theimportance of taxonomy indescribing, naming and classi-fying organisms, and it was,therefore, an important tool for

understanding biological diver-sity and there was a decliningtrend in taxonomic research aswell as the availability of qual-ity taxonomists worldwide, thisconcern has been expressedglobally by eminent biologists.

“The training programmeis being attended by 34 partic-ipants from Kashmir toCoimbatore and fromKolhapur to ArunachalPradesh. There will be severallectures by eminent scientistsand professors covering all thebranches of plant taxonomyfollowed by practical classes.This will help the trainees intheir future research work andinculcate taxonomy in theirminds,” she added.

Training programme on plant taxonomy

SCHOOLSCAN

CITYBRIEFS

‘Water vital in irrigation sector’

Always wanted major films to

be shot in Lucknow: Nagar

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n

VARANASI

The holy city of Kashi hasrecalled one of the great

actors who had made his placein Bollywood for decades withhis unique style of acting. Thecine fans recalled the contri-butions of the actor,Kanhaiyalal Chaturvedi, oneve of his 108th birth anniver-sary here. Born on December15, 1910, in Varanasi, hisfather, Pandit BhairoduttChoube, popularly known asChoubeji, was the proprietor ofthe Sanatan Dharm NatakSamaj here.

He was fond of plays andcame to Mumbai to find aspace on the stage. He stageda play, ‘Pandrah August’, writ-ten by him in Mumbai. Laterhe tried his luck in films. Healso had written many plays. In1939 he got a break in Hindifilms with ‘Ek hi Raasta’ asBanke. In 1940 he got a role ofmoneylender as Sukhilala inMehboob Khan’s film ‘Aurat.’After that he acted in manyfilms as a character artiste.When Mehboob Khan direct-ed his film ‘Mother India’, heagain picked Kanhaiyalal to actas Sukhilala, a character whichcame alive with his natural act-ing. After that Kanhaiya Lal

played the same type of rolesin ‘Ganga Jamuna’, ‘Gopi’,‘Upkar’ and ‘Apna Desh.’ Hisother notable movies were‘Dushman’, ‘Bandhan’, ‘Bharosa’,‘Dharti Kahe Pukar Ke’, ‘HumPaanch’, and ‘Bhookh’ (1947).He is known for his roles in‘Mother India’, ‘Ganga Jamuna’,‘Upkaar’ etc.

His memorable rolesinclude those of a schemingmoneylender in the films,‘Mother India’ and Upkaar.The film was ‘Jhul Badn’, writ-ten by KM Munshi (thefounder of Bhartiya VidyaBhawan), directed bySarvottam Badami and star-ring Motilal and Sabita Devi.

To his elation his debutspeaking role fetched a 10-rupee increment as his salaryrose to `45 a month. For‘Sadhana’ he also functioned asdialogue and lyric writer. Infact it was while he was read-ing out the dialogue he hadwritten that Chimanlal Desai,proprietor of Sagar, offeredhim to enact the role. Gettingfrustrated at drawing a blankfor directing a film, afterSadhana he returned home toVaranasi. When he returned toBombay, it was with the under-standing that he would helpVirendra Desai (son of SagarMovietone boss, ChimanlalDesai). He rewrote the dia-logue of ‘Sanskar’ as also itslyrics but his efforts came tonought. However, his careergraph got a boost with the helpfrom Mehboob Khan and thewriter, Wajahat Mirza, playingthe role of a catalyst at whoseinsistence he was selected forthe role of Sukhilala in ‘Aurat’(1940), the wicked money-lender who has designs on ayoung widow.

When Mehboob remade‘Aurat’ as ‘Mother India’ (1957),only Kanhaiyalal reprised hisrole, a first in Hindi cinemawith the same actor replayingthe same character 17 yearslater.

Kashi recalls contribution ofveteran actor Kanhaiyalal

INTERNATIONALCHILDREN’S CAMP

City Montessori School ishosting the 26th InternationalChildren’s Camp fromDecember 28 to January 24under which kids from 14countries will be stayingunder one roof for a month toimbibe the qualities of broth-erhood, world unity andworld peace, cooperation,friendship and global under-standing etc. The information

was given to mediapersons byCMS founder Jagdish Gandhi,who is also president of CISVIndia Chapter, on Friday.Gandhi said that childrenfrom Brazil, Costa Rica,Denmark, France, Germany,Italy, Japan, Mexico,Mongolia, Sweden, Thailand,Norway and Spain besidesIndia (11-12 years) would bearriving at Lucknow to par-ticipate in the camp alongwith adult leaders. Besides,

junior counsellors (16-17years) will also participate inthe camp to act as intermedi-aries between the childrenand adults. Gandhi said thatthe camp named ‘Criss CrossVillage’ was aimed at enhancethe sentiments of mutualunderstanding, cooperationand friendship among thechildren of various countriesand inspiring them to goahead on the road of peace,unity and brotherhood.

Representatives of Parvatiya Mahaparishad called on Chief Minister YogiAdityanath in Lucknow on Friday and invited him to the annual Uttarayani KautikMela. The Chief Minister agreed to grace the occasion

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

IIIT-Allahabad conducted acolloquium on Business

Informatics here on Friday. Itwas organised as a first steptowards establishing a Centre ofBusiness Informatics. ThisCentre of BusinessInformatics will start a spe-cialised BTech (IT) pro-gramme which will have stu-dents specialising in BusinessInformatics.

The colloquium startedwith Dr Utkarsh Goel wel-coming all the guests andexplaining its role. Dr OPVyas explained what businessinformatics was. and how itwas built by combining man-

agement, IT and businessoperat ions. Prof PNagabhushan, Director, gavethe inaugural speech andexplained how IIIT-A wasgoing to start the Centre ofBusiness Informatics soon.

The colloquium saw par-ticipation from eminent peo-ple from academia and indus-try and from India andabroad. Prof Sokratis Katsikasfrom Norway gave a talk onmanaging the security of crit-ical infrastructure. He is theRector of Open University ofCyprus. he explained how anumber of non-informationbased assets like smart cars,refrigerators etc were open tosecurity threats.

IIIT-A conducts colloquium

on business informatics

Graduation ceremony at Memaura Air Force Station

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018 nation 05

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

The Election Commission(EC) on Friday explained

the reasons that led to a delaywhich include objection relat-ed to voting machines, manda-tory tallying of electronic vot-ing machine (EVM) count withvoter-verifiable paper audittrail (VVPAT) slips, issuance ofcertificate after every round ofcounting and denying publicannounce system.

The increase in the postalballot votes, slim margins inMadhya Pradesh on many seatsand a cautious approach adopt-ed to avoid the embarrass-ment further, also the reasonsfor delay in announcement ofpolls results this year.

MP Assembly electionresults were declared 24 hoursafter counting began whileRajasthan results declared 19hours after counting began.

Unlike the quick countingof votes for the Assembly pollsin Chhattisgarh, Telangana,and Mizoram, counting inMadhya Pradesh and Rajasthanwent on at a snail’s pace, keep-ing people in general and thepolitical parties in particular ontenterhooks throughout theday on December 11.

Madhya Pradesh ChiefElectoral Officer (CEO) VLKantharao said “The delay isbecause every candidate has tobe provided a certificate afterevery round of counting.”“Right from the first round ofEVM counting at 8.30am, thecandidates were very particu-lar about checking and exam-ining every seal, tag and serialnumber of the EVMs and theircases being brought to thecounting tables. In severalcases, they raised trivial objec-tions on the seals, serial num-ber/tag number, signatures ofpolling staff on the tags, whichrequired the intervention,explaining and convincing bythe Returning Officer, District

Election Officer and Observerbefore these EVMs were takenup for counting. Even thoughno EVM was kept aside orfound tampered amongst the66,000 EVMs taken up forcounting, the process of objec-tions slowed down the rounds,”the CEO said.

The MP CEO furtherexplained that that when aresult is noted from an EVMmachine at a counting table, itis written down on part two ofForm 17C and the countingagents verify and sign on thissheets which is then photo-copied and given to them.

“Similarly, when the tabu-lation of 14 such results fromthe 14 tables in the countinghall is made into a broad sheet,it is again verified and photo-copies are distributed to thecandidates. Strict adherenceto this procedure has sloweddown the counting process,”the ECO said.

“The insistence of the can-didates to not bring the nextround of EVMs on to thecounting tables before tabulat-ed, round-wise figures are writ-ten on the blackboard/whiteboard in the counting hall andannounced in the public

announce system has deniedfive-minute time saving thathave could done in betweenrounds. With an average 22rounds of counting perAssembly constituency, thishas led to two hours of delay”.

According to Kantharao, inabout 250 cases out of 66000EVMs taken up to counting,the presiding officers had notfollowed the Close-Result-Clear (CRC) after the mockpoll done in the morning of thepoll day.

This meant that the resultof these particular EVMs hadto be obtained through thecounting of the VVPAT Slips.

The MP CEO further stat-ed that in the run of up to theLegislative Assembly elections2018, Madhya Pradesh addedabout 13,000 (21 per cent)additional polling stations ascompared to the previous elec-tions. Rajasthan’s ChiefElectoral Officer Anand Kumarsaid the reason of delay isbecause of votes in the elec-tronic voting machine (EVM)have to be matched by ran-domly selecting a VVPAT froma polling centre in eachAssembly constituency.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has dismissed a curativepetition seeking to re-examineits verdict upholding theappointment of Gujarat cadreIPS officer Rakesh Asthana asspecial director of CBI.

The apex court rejected thecurative petition filed by NGO,Common Cause, whose reviewpetition was also earlier held tobe devoid of merits.

After an in-chamber hear-ing, a bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi,said, “We have gone throughthe curative petition and con-nected papers. In our opinion no case is made outwithin the parameters indicat-ed in the decision of this court(in the case laying down guide-lines to deal with the curativepetition).”

The Bench, also compris-ing Justices MB Lokur, AK Sikriand AM Sapre, passed theorder on December 11 and wasmade public on the apex court’swebsite on Friday.

Curative petition is heardin the chamber of judges in theabsence of lawyers.

The decision of the apexcourt came amidst a bitterfeud between Asthana and CBIDirector Alok Verma. Bothhave been divested of powersand sent on leave by the cen-tral government on October 23.

The apex court, onNovember 28, 2017, had dis-

missed the PIL filed by theNGO against the appointmentof Asthana to the post of CBIspecial director, saying it can-not question a “unanimous”decision taken by the selectioncommittee and the decision isnot illegal.

Later, the court also dis-missed the plea seeking reviewof the verdict.

The top court had saidthere cannot be any doubt thatif the statute provides for con-sultation with any personbefore making a recommen-dation for appointment to anypost, the consultation with thatperson has to be made.

The NGO in its petitionhad challenged Asthana’sappointment, saying it was ille-gal as his name had surfaced ina diary recovered during araid conducted by the IncomeTax Department at the officesand other premises of compa-ny Sterling Biotech Ltd. PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Agriculture Ministrydata shows that planting of

wheat has increased marginal-ly to 233.71 lakh hectare so farin the ongoing rabi seasonfrom the same period a yearago, but coverage of othercrops especially pulses and ricewas still lagging behind.Sowing of rabi (winter) cropsbegins from October and har-vesting from March onwards.Wheat is the main rabi crop.

Wheat was sown in 233.59lakh hectare in the same peri-od of rabi season in the 2017-18 crop year (July-June). As perthe ministry’s latest data, wheatacreage in Punjab has increasedmarginally to 34.34 lakhhectare so far this season from33.92 lakh hectare a year ago.

Similarly, the area sown towheat in Haryana hasimproved slightly to 24.11 lakh

hectare from 23.32 lakh hectarein the said period. The sowingoperation in these two States isalmost completed, while it isunderway in States especiallyRajasthan, Madhya Pradeshand Uttar Pradesh.

Farmers in MadhyaPradesh have planted wheat inmore area at 44.57 lakh hectare

so far this season when com-pared with 37.91 lakh hectarein a year ago.

However in Uttar Pradesh,wheat sowing was still laggingbehind at 76.70 lakh hectare sofar this season as against 81.90lakh hectare in the same peri-od last season.

In Rajasthan too, the

acreage was slightly down at23.49 lakh hectare as against25.42 lakh hectare in the saidperiod. As per the Ministry’sdata, total pulses area wasdown at 125.40 lakh hectare sofar this rabi season as against138.29 lakh hectare in the year-ago period.

Oilseeds acreage was alsoslightly down at 70.22 lakhhectare as against 70.58 lakhhectare in the said period.Coarse cereals area remainedlagging behind at 37.55 lakhhectare so far this rabi seasonas against 47.16 lakh hectare inthe year-ago.

Rice acreage was also downat 9.24 lakh hectare as against 12.86 lakh hectare inthe said period.

Total area sown to all rabicrops remained down at 476.12lakh hectare so far this rabi sea-son from 502.48 lakh hectare inthe year ago period.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the general elec-tions next year and the

defeat of the ruling BJP in theHindi heartland States’Assembly polls , the Centre hasgranted extension of service ofsix months to IntelligenceBureau (IB) chief Rajiv Jain andexternal Intelligence agencyResearch and Analysis Wing(RAW) boss Anil Dhasmana.Both were due to retire laterthis month end.

While Jain’s tenure was toend on December 30,Dhasmana was slated to retirefrom service on December 29.

The decision to extend thetenure of the two Intelligencechiefs was taken due to theforthcoming general electionand the Centre wants the newGovernment to take a decisionon the appoints for the top

posts of the covert agencies,officials said. Jain, a 1980-batch IPS officer of Jharkhandcadre, was appointed IBDirector on December 30,2016, for a fixed tenure of twoyears.

A recipient of thePresident’s Police Medal, Jainhas served in various depart-ments of IB, including the sen-sitive Kashmir Desk.

He was advisor to the pre-vious NDA Government’sinterlocutor on Kashmir KCPant when talks were heldwith separatist leaders likeShabbir Shah.

Dhasmana, a 1981-batchofficer from the MadhyaPradesh cadre, has been withRAW for 23 years, duringwhich he served in importantareas, including the PakistanDesk and is considered anexpert on Balochistan.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The EnforcementDirectorate (ED) has

launched a probe against theManaging Director of UshaMartin, the country’s largeststeel wire rope maker, in con-nection with alleged violationsof the Foreign ExchangeManagement Act (FEMA),

agency sources said on Friday.The said agency sleuths

questioned Rajeev Jhawar, the MD of the Kolkata-head-quartered firm, at their office in the capital of WestBengal on Friday.

The officials recordedJhawar’s statement under FEMA in connectionwith the purchase and regis-tration of an immovable assetin Singapore in 2013 and a fewother overseas transactions.

Jhawar is under theEnforcement Directorate’sscanner for alleged irregulari-ties in mobilising funds to cre-ate assets abroad.

The agency wants to ascer-tain the source of funds andcompliance of requiredapprovals, the sources said.Jhawar’s uncle BK Jhawar andthe latter’s son Prashant Jhawar are other promoters ofthe company.

The Competition

Commission had recentlycleared Tata Sponge Iron’sacquisition of steel business ofUsha Martin Ltd. (UML) for Rs4,300-4,700 crore. UML hadearlier said the sale of steel busi-ness to Tata Steel will help thecompany in “significant reduc-tion” of its debt.

Usha Martin is amongstthe largest wire rope manufac-turers in the world and a lead-ing producer of speciality steelin India.

New Delhi: The Government is open tothe idea of roping in “outside” agenciesfor accreditation of educational institu-tions, and IITs and IIMs have also been approached in this regard,Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekarsaid on Friday.

“To improve the quality of educa-tion, we are making the accreditationprocess more scientific and tough. TheGovernment wants to increase thestrength of the National Board ofAccreditation and the NationalAssessment and Accreditation Council so that more number of insti-tutions can be accredited,” Javadekar saidduring the national conference on“Positioning India on the GlobalEducation Map”.

“The Government is open to otheragencies taking the responsibility ofaccreditation, and IITs and IIMs havebeen asked about it ... So that more andmore institutions can be accredited,” headded.

The Union Minister said rankingand rating of education institutionsincrease competitiveness among themfor better performance.

“Today, because of the NationalInstitutional Ranking Framework, everyinstitute has constituted an internalcommittee to improve their ranking.Students also take into account the insti-tution’s ranking before taking admission,”he said.

“Graded autonomy is another majorstep by the Government to boost qual-ity education in the country. Universitieswill remain within the ambit of the UGCbut will have the freedom to start newcourses, off campus centres, skill devel-opment courses, research parks and anyother new academic programmes.

“They will also have the freedom tohire foreign faculty, enrol foreign stu-dents, give incentive-based emolumentsto the faculty, enter academic collabo-rations and run open distance learningprogrammes,” he added. PTI

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Friday said despitehaving “examined closely” thepricing details of the basicRafale fighter jet under theoriginal Request for Proposal(RFP) of 2007 and the oneunder the Inter-GovernmentAgreement (IGA) in 2016 to“satisfy its conscience”, it can-not go into cost comparison asit’s not the job of court.

The top court said despiteits initial disinclination to evengo into the issue of pricing, theCentre was directed to placethe cost details of the aircraft insealed cover, just to satisfy theconscience of the court.

It said the Governmenthas not disclosed the pricingdetails except for the basiccost of the aircraft even toParliament on the ground ofsensitivity of pricing details andnational security, apart fromthe issues of breach of theagreement between the twocountries — India and France.

In relief to the ModiGovernment, the SupremeCourt Friday dismissed thepleas challenging the dealbetween India and France forprocurement of 36 Rafale jetssaying there was no occasion to“really doubt the decision mak-ing process” warranting settingaside of the contract. The dealis estimated to be Rs 58,000crore, or about USD 8 billion.

A Bench of Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi, Justices SanjayKishan Kaul and KM Josephsaid the Central Governmentdespite its reluctance, placedthe material regarding costs ofthe aircrafts before the court tosatisfy its conscience.

“We have examined close-

ly the price details andcomparison of theprices of the basicaircraft along with escalationcosts as under the originalRFP (of 2007) as well as underthe IGA. We have also gonethrough the explanatory noteon the costing, item wise,” theBench said.

It noted that the pricingdetails of 36 Rafale fighter jetsare stated to be covered byArticle 10 of the IGA betweenIndia and France, which pro-vides for protection of classifiedinformation and materialexchanged under the IGA andit would be governed by theprovisions of the SecurityAgreement signed betweenboth the Governments onJanuary 25, 2008.

“It is certainly not the jobof this court to carry out a com-parison of the pricing details inmatters like the present. We sayno more as the material has tobe kept in a confidentialdomain,” the Bench said.

It added even Chief of the

Air Staff is stated to have com-municated his reservationregarding the disclosure of thepricing details, includingregarding the weaponry whichcould adversely affect nation-al security.

The Centre has claimedthat there is a commercialadvantage in the purchase of 36Rafale aircraft and that thereare certain better terms in IGAqua the maintenance andweapon package, it noted.

The pricing details werehowever shared with theComptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG) and the reportof CAG was examined by thePublic Accounts Committeeof the Parliament and only aredacted portion of the CAGreport was placed before theParliament which is in publicdomain, the court said. PTI

PNS n NEW DELHI

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) predicted

that cyclone is brewing over the Bayof Bengal and it is expected to hitAndhra Pradesh’s coast on Mondayafternoon. The cyclone is named‘Phethai’ (contributed by Thailand)in line with the naming protocol forcyclones in the North Indian Ocean.

This would be the seventhcyclone this year, starting with‘Sagar’, ‘Mekunu’ and ‘Luban’ - allin the Arabian Sea - and ‘Daye,’‘Titli,’ and ‘Gaja’ in the Bay ofBengal and third to hit south Indiain less than two months.

Gaja, Daye, Luban and Titlicaused devastation to standingcrops and taking a number of livesin southern parts of the country.The IMD predicted heavy to veryheavy rainfall has been forecast forcoastal Andhra Pradesh onDecember 16 and 17. South

Chhattisgarh and Odisha mayalso see rainfall on December 17.

“The Bay of Bengal sees approx-imately five times as many cyclonesas the Arabian Sea. In addition,cyclones in the Bay are stronger anddeadlier. But this year could be anexception in terms of the numbers.It has also been seen that nearly 58per cent of cyclones formed in theBay reach the coast, as compared toonly 25 per cent of those in theArabian Sea,” the IMD officials said.

The IMD said as expected, thelow pressure area in Bay of Bengalhas now intensified into a well-marked low pressure area and isnow seen over Central Bay ofBengal. “Conditions continue to befavourable for the system to inducea depression in the next 24 hours.In fact, we expect it to strengtheninto deep depression and furtherinto a cyclonic circulation in thesubsequent 48 to 72 hours,’ it said.

The IMD predicted that

severe cyclone would achieve amaximum intensity of windspeeds reaching up to 105 km/hrand gusting to 115 km/hr alongand off Andhra Pradesh, northTamil Nadu and Puducherrycoasts from Saturday evening.“The system would continue tomove in north northwest directionand would be heading towardsAndhra Pradesh Coast,” it said. Asthe system nears, rains wouldalso start picking up pace and wecan expect heavy to very heavyrains over South Coastal AndhraPradesh. North Coastal TamilNadu would see moderate rainswith some heavy showers.

“Sea conditions would be roughto very rough, along with highvelocity winds. We can expectwinds of 80 kmph-90 kmph gust-ing up to 110-120 kmph at the timeof landfall. Locals and fishermen areadvised not to venture out in the seafor the next three days,” officials said.

New rules delayed counting in MP, Raj: EC

24 MLAs elected to C’garh

have criminal cases: ADR

PNS n NEW DELHI

Nearly 24 of the 90 MLAselected to the Chhattisgarh

Assembly this week have crim-inal cases against them. Theyaccount for 27 per cent of thestrength of the House, up from17 per cent in the last assembly.As per the Association forDemocratic Reforms (ADR)report, 13 of the 90 (just over 14per cent) have declared seriouscriminal cases against them-selves - bribery, attempt tomurder and death by negli-gence, among others. The com-parative number for the 2013Assembly was nine per cent.

The Congress has 68 MLAsin the new House, including 19with criminal records (28 percent). Of these, 12 MLAs havedeclared serious criminal casesagainst themselves. Ajit Jogi’sJanta Congress Chhattisgarh(J), meanwhile, has strength offive MLAs, two of whom haverecords. One of these two is

accused of serious crimes.The BJP, which lost power

after 15 years, has three MLAsout of 15 (20 per cent) with arecord, but none of them areaccused of serious crimes.ADR’s analysis revealed that 68(76 per cent) of the incomingMLAs are crorepatis, which isalmost the same as the outgo-ing Assembly’s figure of 67.

Forty-eight CongressMLAs (71 per cent), 14 fromthe BJP (93 per cent), all fiveMLAs of Jogi’s party and one ofthe BSP’s two MLAs fall in thisbracket.

“The average of assets perMLA in the Chhattisgarh 2018Assembly elections is Rs 11.63crore. In 2013, the averageassets of 90 MLAs analysed wasRs 8.88 crore,” said the ADRreport. The average assets areRs 11.83 crore for the Congress,Rs 6.32 crore for the BJP, 28.68crore for the Janta CongressChhattisgarh (J) and Rs 2.04crore for the BSP.

RAFALEDEAL

Says closely examined jet prices of 2007 & 2016

Cost comparison not job of court, says SC

Def procurement processes

broadly followed: Top court

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Friday said it cannotseek clause-by-clause compli-ances of Defence ProcurementProcedures (DPP) in the Rafalefighter jet deal and opinedthat the processes have been“broadly” followed. It alsoexpressed satisfaction with theGovernment’s decision-mak-ing process which led to thedeal between India and Francefor procurement of 36 Rafalejets, saying that there was “nooccasion to really doubt” it.

Top court, while junkingthe PILs challenging the Rs58,000 crore Rafale deal, exam-ined the three “broad areas ofconcern” — decision-makingprocess, difference in pricingand the choice of Indian OffsetPartner by Dassault Aviation.

Scrutinising the decision-making process, a bench head-ed by Chief Justice RanjanGogoi said though it had nooccasion to really doubt theprocess, even if there wereminor deviations then theywould not lead to annulmentof the deal. On the DPP, the

court cannot seek “clause-by-clause compliances” of theDefence ProcurementProcedures. “Broadly, theprocesses have been followed”.

The Bench, also compris-ing Justices SK Kaul and KMJoseph, said, “We have studiedthe material carefully. We havealso had the benefit of inter-acting with senior Air ForceOfficers who answered courtqueries in respect of differentaspects, including that of theacquisition process and pricing.

“We are satisfied that thereis no occasion to really doubtthe process, and even if minordeviations have occurred, thatwould not result in either set-ting aside the contract orrequiring a detailed scrutiny bythe court.” It added, “We havebeen informed that joint exer-cises have taken place, andthat there is a financial advan-tage to our nation. It cannot belost sight of, that these are con-tracts of defence procurementwhich should be subject to adifferent degree and depth ofjudicial review.” PTI

Curative plea challengingAsthana’s appointment as Spl CBI Director dismissed

ED launches probe against Usha Martin’s MD

Centre grants extension ofservice of 6 months to IB chief

Planting of wheat increased marginally: Agri Min

With allegedviolations of FEMA

� Election Commission explained the reasons that led to a delay which include objection related tovoting machines, mandatory tallying of electronic voting machine (EVM) count with voter-verifiable paper audit trail (VVPAT) slips, issuance of certificate after every round of counting anddenying public announce system

� The increase in the postal ballotvotes, slim margins in MadhyaPradesh on many seats and acautious approach adopted toavoid the embarrassmentfurther, also the reasons fordelay in announcement of pollsresults this year

� The MP CEO explained that thatwhen a result is noted from anEVM machine at a countingtable, it is written down on parttwo of Form 17C and thecounting agents verify and signon this sheets which is thenphotocopied and given to them

� With an average 22 rounds ofcounting per Assemblyconstituency, this has led to twohours of delay

Phethai to hit Andhra by Monday, predicts MeT Govt open to ‘outside’ agencies taking up

accreditation of institutions: Javadekar

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018 nation 06

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n

CHENNAI

With former MinisterSenthil Balaji joining the

DMK on Friday, the process ofdisintegration of the AIADMKhas reached the full steam.Hundreds of his followers tooaccompanied Balaji in his jour-ney from Karur to Chennai andthen to the DMK headquartersat Mount Road in the metro.

Balaji and his followerswere welcomed into the DMKby party chief MK Stalin. It wasa home coming for SenthilBalaji who had left the DMK in2000 to join the AIADMK andwas elected thrice to theLegislative Assembly in theparty ticket.

“The AIADMK is a sinkingship and Thalapathi (Tamil forcommander, as Stalin isaddressed by his followers) is theonly leader who is capable ofresuscitating Tamil Nadu fromthe clutches of the BJP,” Balajitold reporters after enrollinghimself as a DMK volunteer.

Hereafter he will addressStalin as Thalapathi andJayalalithaa as Jayalalithaa.Before reaching Chennai onFriday morning, Balaji and hisfollowers had removed the pic-tures of Jayalalithaa andSasikala from their shirt pock-ets, cars and SUVs. By the timethey left the DMK head quar-ters, all vehicles in the motor-cade accompanying Balaji spot-ted pictures of Stalin andKarunanidhi.

TTV Dhinakaran, generalsecretary of Amma MakkalMunnetra Kazhagam (AMMK),the breakaway faction of the

AIADMK launched by VKSasikala (aide to late JJayalalithaa) wished SenthilBalaji as the best in his newinnings in the DMK. “I don’tknow why he decided to leaveus. If he had any genuine prob-lems and had told us about it,we could have sorted it out,” saidDhinakaran in Friday. Balaji wasa camp follower of Dhinakaranand the AMMK before he casthis lots with the DMK.

G Satyamurthy, politicalcommentator and columnistsaid the exit of Balaji was notgoing to make any impact onthe fortunes of the AIADMK orthe AMMK. “Both are fast dis-integrating and I do not knowwhether the AIADMK wouldsurvive the 2021 Assemblyelection. The ground report isthat the AIADMK would bewiped out in the Lok Sabhaelection,” said Satyamurthywho is also sceptical about thestrength of Dhinakaran.

“AIADMK does not have a

charismatic leader who couldmatch the calibre of Jayalalithaato pull it through the troubledtimes. I am not sure about thecapabilities of Dhinakaran,”said Satyamurthy. He also saidSenthil Balaji joining the DMKis also media hype. “You waitfor a couple of weeks and seewhat happens to him andDhinakaran. Tamil Nadu pol-itics is getting churned,” he said.

Dr V Mythreyan, MP andsenior leader of the AIADMKsaid there is no possibility of hisparty’s merger with theDhinakaran faction. “OPanneerselvam, our convener,has made it clear that there isno question of aligning with theSasikala family dominatedparty and the subject endsthere,” Mythreyan said.

This puts to rest at least forthe time being, reports aboutthe possibilities of mergerbetween the rival factionswhich were being highlightedby the local media.

Former Minister leaves

‘sinking ship’ AIADMK

...and lands on DMK’s safe shores

Former Tamil Nadu Minister V Senthil Balaji joins DMK in the presence of partypresident MK Stalin, at the party headquarters in Chennai on Friday PTI

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In a freak mishap, a 22-year-old college student collapsed

and died during a tug of wargame at Somaiya College atVidya Vihar in north-eastMumbai late on Thursdayevening.

A resident of Thane city,Jibbin Sunny was leading oneof the two teams in the tug ofwar game when the incidenttook place.

The tournament had beenorganised as part of the college’sannual sports day

The video footage of the mishap, which wentviral on Friday, showed that Sunny collapsed after he putthe rope around his neck and pulled it with more power.

Sunny was rushed to thenearby Rajawadi Hospitalwhere he died during treat-ment.

While the cause of deathwas not immediately known,Sunny’s body has been sent forpost-mortem.

This is perhaps the first death that taken placein the metropolis during a tugof war game.

KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU

The decision of ChiefMinister HD

Kumaraswamy and coalitionpartner Congress to appointPratap Chandra Shetty, aCongress leader from coastalKarnataka as Chairman of theLegislative Council (upperHouse) has made both theJD(S) and the Congress leadersfuming against the decision ofthe Chief Minister.

The decision has upset theformer pro tem chairman ofthe council (of the JD(S))Basavaraja Horatti and theCongress leader SR Patil( whowas Siddaramaiah’s candidate)both Lingayat leaders haveopenly criticised the Congressand the JD(S). Along with itanother powerful Lingayatleader from north Karnatakaand former water resourceMinister MB Patil also direct-ly hit at Kumaraswamy andmany say this might help BJP

to consolidate in favour of theparty which is playing Lingayatcard successfully in many elec-tions. The Lingayat dramaunfolded in the ongoingWinter Session of the Assemblywhere Kumaraswamy is facingthe heat both inside and theoutside. Sugarcane farmers areprotesting and pressuring forthe MSP and also to get thedues cleared.

The Lingayats are a pow-erful community which con-stitute over 19 per cent of thestate population. The BJP hasbeen polarising Lingayat voteskeeping its strongman from thesame community BSYeddyurappa and this mighthelp them to work out a strat-egy in the ensuing 2019 generalelections.

Even though the Congressvictory in the Hindi heartlandhas given ammunition to thecoalition partners, the centuryold party has failed to douse thefire. In another political devel-

opment Siddaramaiah who isthe chairman of the coordina-tion committee of the coalitionGovernment has cut short hisforeign visit and back inBengaluru to handle the chang-ing political developments.

Many Congress MLAs arewaiting for the December 22for the Cabinet expansion.According to sources after the

victory in MP, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh the party may notexpand the Cabinet whichmight lead to more dissent inthe party.

The State Governmentsacceptance on the floor of thehouse that only 800 farmers havebenefited from the ̀ 49,000 crorefarm loan waiver till now hasgiven ammunition to the BJPand also dissidents within thecoalition partners.

A senior Congress leadersaid “the party which extend-ed support to JDs to form thegovernment has ignored theLingayat leaders in the partywho were involved in themovement for a separate andminority religion tag to thecommunity. The Centre alsorejected their demand and theleaders who led the movementare left in a lurch in process”.

Soon after stepping downas the pro-tem chairman of thelegislative council, BasavarajaHoratti, blamed his leader

Kumaraswamy and asked himnot become a rubber stamp.

He said , “I want to tell myleader and Chief MinisterKumaraswamy not to end up asa mere rubber stamp of theCongress. My party asked me tofile the nomination but after werealised that the Congress wasfielding its candidate, we backedout to save the coalition fromembarrassment,” he added.

He said, “The Congressdrove a hard bargain for theportfolios during the cabinetformation. They had thendemanded the speaker’s postwhile agreeing to give thechairman’s post to the JD(S).But now, they have unilateral-ly decided to stake claim to thecouncil top post. Can you runa coalition without rules?”

Former water resourcesminister MB Patil of theCongress has questioned theGovernment on North-Southdisparity when it comes toallocation of prime positions by

the Congress is miffed with theparty over not being given aCabinet berth. He said “morenumber of Congress legislators(41) had been elected fromnorth Karnataka, but only fiveof them had been made min-isters. In contrast, 36 legislatorshave been elected from SouthKarnataka, but nine of themhave been made ministers”.

“All the prime portfolios likeHome, Water Resources, RuralDevelopment and PanchayatRaj have gone to legislatorsfrom South Karnataka.Important positions like DeputyChief Minister, Speaker of theAssembly, Chairman of theCouncil too have gone to legis-lators from the South” he added.

He said he will be writinga letter to Congress presidentRahul Gandhi regarding this.“This disparity should go andthe imbalance should be setright. The post of chairmanshould have gone to SR Patil,”he added.

Congress party workers celebrate after the party named Ashok Gehlot and Sachin Pilot for Rajasthan Chief Minister and Deputy Chief Minister’s posts respectively, inAjmer, on Friday PTI

PTI n COIMBATORE

The 11th edition of annualrejuvenation camp for tem-

ple elephants in Tamil Nadubegan at Thekkampatti on thebanks of Bhavani River onFriday.

State Hindu Religious andCharitable EndowmentsMinister Sevoor SRamachandran inauguratedthe camp along with forestminister Dindigul Serinivasanand Municipal AdministrationMinister S P Velumani.

Ramachandran said 27 ele-phants from various templesand mutts had been brought forparticipation in the 48-daycamp, a pet project of lateChief Minister Jayalalithaa.

Adequate medical care willbe provided to the elephants atthe camp, with special veteri-narian teams, he said addingnutritious food with special dietwould be given.

Meanwhile, about 40 farm-ers of surrounding 23 villagesattempted to stage a picketingof the road near the venue,opposing the camp at the loca-tion, claiming threat to the peo-ple and crops by wild ele-phants which stray into theirarea in view of the presence oftemple jumbos.

IANS n

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Adawn-to-dusk shutdowncalled by the BJP to protest

against the death of a man saidto be a Sabarimala devoteederailed Kerala on Friday,sparking widespread anger overthe disruption to normal life.

The 50-year-oldVenugopalan Nair set himselfon fire at a BJP protest venueon Thursday and succumbed tohis injuries in a hospital here.

But in his dying declaration, hemade no mention of theSabarimala temple.

Before being taken to thepublic crematorium, his bodywas brought to the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) protestvenue where party leaders paidtheir last respect.

But the rationale for calling the shutdown cameunder fire from the rulingCPI-M, Congress, businessgroups as well as the man onthe street.

PTI n JAMMU

Jammu & Kashmir hasbecome the first State in the

country to have a law banning sexual exploitation ofwomen by those in positions of authority, having afiduciary relationship or a pub-lic servant.

The State AdministrativeCouncil (SAC) under the chairmanship of Governor Satya Pal Malik onFriday approved the‘Prevention of Corruption(Amendment) Bill, 2018’ andthe ‘Jammu & KashmirCriminal Laws (Amendment)Bill, 2018’, an officialspokesman said.

The Jammu & KashmirCriminal Laws (Amendment)Bill, 2018 seeks to amend the Ranbir Penal Code,whereby specific offence undersection 354 E is being inserted to provide for the offence of ‘sextortion’, hesaid.

PTI n PATNA

Key NDA constituent JD(U)on Friday made it clear that

it was not in favor of promul-gation of an ordinance to facil-itate the construction of Ramtemple in Ayodhya, demand forwhich has been made by thesangh parivar and a section ofthe BJP.

JD(U) national general sec-retary Ram Chandra PrasadSingh said the party will stickto its earlier stand it had takenon the issue in its earlier avataras the Samata Party which was— the issue either be solved bymutual consent between theaffected communities or decid-ed by a court of law.

There should be no confu-sion in the minds of the peo-ple with regard to our stand onRam temple issue at Ayodhya.If an ordinance is promulgat-ed to facilitate construction ofthe temple, our party will notsupport it, he said.

“Since the Samata Partydays, we have been in favour ofa resolution of the dispute bymutual consent or through acourt order. We brook no thirdalternative,” Singh, who is alsothe party’s leader in the RajyaSabha and a confidant of Chief

Minister Nitish Kumar toldreporters here.

Even before walking out ofthe NDA in 2013, the JD(U)had always insisted that abro-gating Article 370, Ram templein Ayodhya and Uniform CivilCode should be kept out of thecoalition agenda. JD(U), head-ed by Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar, is running acoalition government with theBJP in Bihar.

Student dies

during tug

of war game

in Mumbai

JD(U) not in favourof Ordinance for Ramtemple: RCP Singh

Mumbai: On a day theSupreme Court dismissed pleaschallenging the Rafale deal,PDP chief Mehbooba Muftisaid the BJP should also waitfor the apex court’s verdict onthe Babri Masjid issue.

In a relief to the ModiGovernment, the SupremeCourt on Friday dismissed thepleas challenging the dealbetween India and France forprocurement of 36 Rafale jetssaying there was no occasion to“really doubt the decision mak-

ing process” warranting settingaside of the contract.

“Like the Rafale decisionwas welcomed, I hope they (theBJP) will wait for the decision (ofSupreme Court) on Babri Masjidas well and won’t start pointingfingers at the SC. We have aninstitution which is highlyrespected,” Mehbooba said.

She was replying to ques-tions at an event held by the Observer ResearchFoundation (ORF).

The Rashtriya

Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) hasbeen demanding an ordinanceor a law to build a Ram templein Ayodhya at the earliest. Ithad also criticised the SupremeCourt’s decision to defer thehearing in the land disputecase, saying it “hurt” Hindusentiments.

Several Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) leaders have alsosupported RSS chief MohanBhagwat’s push for the law toenable the construction of Ramtemple. PTI

Hope BJP also waits for SC’sBabri Masjid verdict: Mehbooba

BJP-called shutdown

derails Kerala

Annualrejuvenation campfor TN templeelephants begins

Lingayat politics back to haunt Kumaraswamy

J&K becomes

1st State to have

law banning

‘sextortion’

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Bengal unit of the CongressParty is planning to contest

single handedly in the nextyear’s Lok Sabha elections,party insiders say.

The Pradesh Congressleadership has been given aclear mandate by the Centralleadership to take a decision onits system of alliances, sourcessaid. The decision is the falloutof Chief Minister MamataBanerjee’s prior announcementto go it alone in the generalelections.

“Our workers are beingattacked and killed and their

houses and properties lootedevery day by the TrinamoolCongress people. They arebeing framed in false cases. Sothe Congress plans to take onthe TMC alone on its ownstrength,” PCC presidentSomen Mitra said.

Insiders however said itspublic posturing apart, the PCCstill might wait for a “respectableoffer” from the Trinamool with-out which the party will go italone in the elections.

The PCC is divided inthree groups. The first groupled by former PCC presidentAdhir Chowdhury and StateOpposition Leader Abdul

Mannan who want an alliancewith the Left Front. The secondgroup led by the likes ofSubhankar Chakrabarty, AHKhan Chowdhury feel theCongress has no chances of

winning without support fromthe Trinamool. The thirdgroups led by the likes of MPPradip Bhattacharya want to goit alone.

Mitra a veteran partyleader of 1960s and 70s hasasked the lower rung leaders toreach out to the people andstrengthen the organisation“where we have a bigger pres-ence.” The Congress currentlyhas four MPs in Bengal. Whiletwo seats are fromMurshidabad the two othersare from Malda district.

However the party allegesthat its organisational base hasbeen “gobbled up by the

Trinamool Congress which haseither by muscle power or bylure of money forced a largenumber of our local workers tojoin their side.”

Mitra said “we will have torebuild our organisation inmany places. The victories inRajasthan, MP and Chhattisgarhshows that we still can do it evenin Bengal. If we start workingfrom now then we can definite-ly challenge the TMC.”

On whether the party willstill go with the Trinamool ifthey offer a respectable alliance,he said “they have notapproached us, neither we willgo to them begging for seats.”

TN RAGHUNATHA n MUMBAI

In a sad commentary on thefunctioning of the Central

Bureau of Investigation (CBI), aPune court on Friday granted bailto the three accused in theNarendra Dabholkar murdercase, after the CBI failed to file asupplementary charge-sheet inthe case within the stipulated 90days.

Pune’s First Class JudicialMagistrate SMA Sayyed grantedbail to accused Amol Kale, RajeshBangera and Amit Degvekar,after the CBI failed to file thechargesheet against them withinthe stipulated 90 days after theirarrest.

The relief to three accusedcame a day after they moved thecourt for bail on the ground thatthe CBI had not sought addi-tional time from the court to filethe supplementary charge-sheetunder section 43 of the UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act(UAPA).

Kale, Bangera and Degvekarare also accused in the journal-ist Gauri Lankesh murder case.The CBI had arrested Bangeraand Degvekar on September 1,while Kale was arrested onSeptember 3. The CBI had in thefirst week of September obtainedthe custody of Kale, Bangera andDegvekar from the Katnataka’sSpecial Investigation Team (SIT)investigate their links with theDabholkar murder case.

The contention of the threeaccused was that neither thechargesheet was filed under IPCnor did the CBI seek additionaltime from the court to file thesupplementary charge-sheetunder UAPA.

At Friday’s hearing, a requestwas made on behalf the CBI thatthe probe agency be given timetill December 20 to file thechargesheet on the ground thatits officials were pre-occupiedwith some other work in Delhi,the CBI. However, MagistrateSayyed rejected the CBI’s requeston the ground that it should havefiled the chargesheet onWednesday when the 90-daydeadline expired.

However, there have beenmany occasions in the past when

the Bombay High Court hadpulled up the CBI for the inor-dinate delay in completing inves-tigations in the NarendraDabholkar murder case.

The Supreme Court hadsaid on Tuesday that if there wasa “common thread” among themurders of social activistsNarendra Dabholkar, GovindPansare, journalist Gauri Lankeshand rationalist M M Kalburgi,then one agency could investigateall the four cases.

Sixty nine-year-old anti-superstition campaignerDabholkar was shot dead himfrom a point blank range by twomotor-bicycle riding gunmen— aged between 25 and 30years, while he was taking amorning walk on theOmkareshwar bridge located inthe heart of Pune, on August 20,2013. Gauri Lankesh (55) wasshot gunned down outside herBengaluru residence onSeptember 5, 2017. She was theeditor in Lankesh Patrike, aKannada weekly started by herlate father P. Lankesh. AfterLankesh’s death, Gauri used toher own weekly called GauriLankesh Patrike.

With the State police havingfailed to make any headway in theinvestigations into the Dabholkarmurder case, the Bombay HighCourt had transferred the case tothe CBI on May 9, 2014, afteroverruling the objections raisedby the Maharashtra Government.The CBI had registered a case onJune 2, 2014, on the high court’sorders.

It was the Karnataka SIT thatarrested Kale, Bangera andDegvekar first in connectionwith the Dabholkar murder case.The CBI, which is helped by theMaharashtra Anti-TerrorismSquad (ATS) in the investiga-tions, has a strong reason tobelieve that the same pistol wasused by the miscreants in killingboth Dabholkar and GauriLankesh.

DABHOLKARMURDERCASE

CBI fails to file

chargesheet

3 accusedget bail

Cong planning to go it alone in Bengal

nation 07LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

PTI n NOIDA (UP)

Anews anchor with a privatetelevision channel died

allegedly after she fell off thebalcony of her fourth-floorapartment here early on Friday,with her family suspecting foulplay.

Radhika Kaushik, whohailed from Rajasthan, was inher house in the Antrikh ForestApartments in Sector 77 witha colleague when the incidentoccurred at around 3.30 AM,police said.

A case has been registeredunder Indian Penal Code sec-tion 302 (murder) on a com-plaint by the family of Kaushik,and the colleague has been

detained for questioning,Sector 49 police station houseofficer Girija Shankar Tripathisaid.

Both Kaushik and her col-league in Zee Rajasthan werereportedly inebriated at thetime of the incident, an officialsaid, adding liquor bottles were

recovered from the housewhere a party was heldThursday night.

"The security guard of thebuilding had alerted the policeat Sector 49 police stationabout the incident. The col-league has told police that hehad gone to her house for din-ner when she accidentally top-pled over the railing in the bal-cony of the flat," the official,who did not wish to be named,told PTI.

“The railing in the balconyis of low-height,” the officialsaid. “We are probing the causeof death,” the SHO said, addingthe body has been sent for post-mortem and the report isawaited.

TV anchor falls to death

from her flat in Noida

From Page 1The Haryana Government

is the first to introduce themicrobreweries pubs in its city-Gurugram in 2010. Currently,there are 45 microbreweries inGurguram and they contributealmost about `320 crore to theexcise department of Haryanagovernment annually.

“Delhi is five times biggerthan Gurugram and one canimagine how much revenue itwill generate for theGovernment.

Once the microbrewerieswill start set up in the city, theGovernment will generatearound `700-800 crore peryear. Also, it is great for tourismalso as people coming from

abroad is looking for suchproducts. Delhi was laggingthis facility but now it will final-ly get it,” said experts.

The dairy farms will alsotie with the restaurants/hotelsand pubs once the microbrew-eries starts as the waste pro-duced from this beer is nutri-tious for the cows especially thepregnant and lactating cows,they said.

Currently, the microbrew-eries facilities are available inGurugram, Mumbai, Goa,Bengaluru, Faridabad andChandigarh. The freshly man-ufactured beer will costbetween `50-60 as compared tothe packaged beer costs around`80-100.

From Page 1Ghosh, one of the most prominentcontemporary Indian writers, isknown for a series of novels suchas “Shadow Lines”, “The GlassPalace”, “The Hungry Tide”, andIbis Trilogy — “Sea of Poppies”,“River of Smoke”, and “Flood ofFire” — chronicling the Opiumtrade between India and China runby the East India Company.The writer, in a tweet, said he was“honored and humbled”. Inanother tweet responding to a fan,he said, “this is an amazing day forme. I never thought I would findmyself on this list, with some ofthe writers I most admire.”Born in Kolkata in 1956 to aBengali Hindu family, the 62-year-old author currently lives in NewYork with his wife Deborah Baker.Ghosh, who spent his formativeyears in India, Bangladesh and SriLanka, studied in Delhi, Oxford andAlexandria. His most recent book,“The Great Derangement; ClimateChange and the Unthinkable, awork of non-fiction”, was releasedin 2016.Ghosh is also recipient ofthe Padma Shri and SahityaAkademi Award. Some of thebiggest Indian writers have beenawarded with this prestigiousliterary recognition. Major namesamong the 58 recipients includeliterary icons Krishna Sobti,Kedarnath Singh, Shrilal Shukla,Nirmal Verma, Girish Karnad,Mahasweta Devi, Amrita Pritamand U R Ananthamurthy.

From Page 1Expressing grief over the incident,Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamyannounced a relief of `5 lakh tothe next to the kin of the deceased.Kumaraswamy flew toChamarajnagar by special planefrom Belagavi.He said he has directed theauthorities to make allarrangements for those affectedand that Government would bearthe medical expenses."In view of the shortage ofambulances in Chamarajanagardistrict, 32 ambulances have beenrushed from Mysuru," the CM said.Two people from the templemanagement have been detainedfor questioning, said policesources.District Health Officer Prasad saidit was suspected that poison mighthave got mixed with the prasad,resulting in the tragic incident."Wehave collected the food samplesand sent it to a laboratory forinvestigation," he told reporters.Most of those who attended theevent followed the 'Om Shakti'tradition. After consuming theprasad, people started vomittingand began writhing with stomachpain, police said. Commotionprevailed as people hurried tonearby hospitals for treatment.Police, as also district authorities,rushed to the spot to providemedical aid.The affected peoplesaid they got the smell of keroseneoil in the prasad, but ignored it.

From Page 1On the offset partner, the

Bench noted that this issue had“triggered” the litigation as peti-tioners had alleged that theGovernment gave a benefit toReliance Aerostructure Ltd bycompelling Dassault Aviation toenter into a contract with themat the cost of public enterprise,Hindustan Aeronautics Ltd(HAL). “We do not find anysubstantial material on record toshow that this is a case of com-mercial favouritism to any partyby the Indian Government, asthe option to choose the IOP(Indian offset partners) does notrest with the IndianGovernment,” it said, addingthat it is neither appropriate norwithin the experience of thecourt to step into this arena ofwhat is technically feasible ornot. It said “mere press inter-views or suggestions” cannotform the basis for judicial reviewby the court, especially whenthere was categorical denial ofthe statements made in thepress by both the sides.

It said in June 2001, an in-­principle approval was grant-ed to procure 126 fighter­ jetsand on June 29, 2007, the

Defence Acquisition Councilgranted “acceptance of necessi-ty” for procurement of 126Medium Multi Role CombatAircrafts (MMRCA).

The Bench noted that com-mercial bids for 126 jets wereopened in November 2011 andlater, negotiations commencedwith Dassault Aviation. OnApril 10, 2015 an Indo­-Frenchjoint statement for acquisition of36 Rafale jets in fly-away con-dition through an IGA wasissued and later, in June 2015,the request for proposal (RFP)for 126 MMRCA was finallywithdrawn. It said the court wasinformed that contract negoti-ations for procuring 126 fight-er jets could not be concludeddue to “unresolved issues” forover three years between theOEM and HAL.

“The need for the aircraftsis not in doubt. The quality ofthe aircraft is not in question. Itis also a fact that the long nego-tiations for procurement of 126MMRCAs have not producedany result, and merely conjec-turing that the initial RFP couldhave resulted in a contract is ofno use,” it said.

It also added, “We cannot

possibly compel theGovernment to go in for pur-chase of 126 aircraft” and itwould not be correct for thecourt to sit as an “apellateauthority” to scrutinise eachaspect of the process of acqui-sition. Former Union MinistersYashwant Sinha and ArunShourie, along with activistadvocate Prashant Bhushan,had moved the apex court witha plea for a direction to the CBIto register an FIR for allegedirregularities in the deal. Beforethem advocates M L Sharmaand Vineet Dhanda and AAPleader Sanjay Singh had alsofiled pleas. The court also saidit cannot seek clause-by-clausecompliances of DefenceProcurement Procedures (DPP)in the Rafale fighter jet deal andopined that the processes havebeen “broadly” followed. It also expressed satisfactionwith the Government’s decision-making process which led to thedeal between India and Francefor procurement of 36 Rafalejets, saying there was “no occa-sion to really doubt” it.

The top court dismissed thekey allegation that theGovernment changed the deal

and decided to procure 36Rafale fighter jets instead of 126.It said, “The need for the aircraftis not in doubt. The quality ofthe aircraft is not in question. Itis also a fact that the long nego-tiations for procurement of 126Medium Multi-Role CombatAircraft (MMRCA) have notproduced any result, and mere-ly conjecturing that the initialRFP could have resulted in acontract is of no use. “Thehard fact is that not only was thecontract not coming forth butthe negotiations had come prac-tically to an end, resulting in arecall of the RFP. We cannot sitin judgment over the wisdom ofdeciding to go in for purchaseof 36 aircrafts in place of 126.”

The top court said it cannot“possibly” compel theGovernment to go in for pur-chase of 126 aircrafts. “Ourcountry cannot afford to beunprepared/under-prepared ina situation where our adver-saries are stated to have acquirednot only 4th generation, buteven 5th generation aircrafts, ofwhich, we have none. It will notbe correct for the court to sit asan appellate authority to scru-tinise each aspect of the process

of acquisition,” it said.The Bench also took note of

the reasons, including unre-solved issues between DassaultAviation and HindustanAeronautics Limited, which hadled to annulment of earlier dealfor procurement of 126 Rafalejets. “Man­hours that would berequired to produce the aircraftin India: HAL required 2.7times higher man­hours com-pared to the French side for themanufacture of Rafale aircraft inIndia,” it noted, adding “issuesrelated to contractual obligation andresponsibility for 108 aircraftmanufactured in India couldnot be resolved.”

Indian Negotiating Team(INT) held as many as 74 meet-ings, including 48 internal and26 external INT meetings withthe French side, it said. “It is the case of the official respondents that theINT completed its negotiationsand arrived at better termsrelating to price, delivery andmaintenance, as compared tothe MMRCA offer of Dassault.

This was further processedfor inter-ministerial consulta-tions and the approval of theCCS was also obtained, finally,resulting in signing of the agree-ment. This was in conformitywith the process, as per...DPP2013,” it said.

From Page 1Addressing a joint newsconference with Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman, Jaitley alsorejected the Congress demand forJoint Parliament Committee (JPC)probe into the Rafale deal after theverdict. He said JPC probes intodefence deals do not serve thepurpose due to partisan role ofpolitical parties and gave theexample of Bofors case. Withreference to the Congress demand,he said “deaf will never hear ananswer”.When pointed out by the mediathat BJP members Yashwant Sinhaand Arun Shourie had approachedthe court alleging wrongdoing inthe Rs 59,000-crore deal for 36aircraft to be bought from Francein flyaway condition, Jaitleyremarked they have got an

answer.” He also said allallegations were rejected by theapex court on all counts.Attacking Rahul without naminghim, Jaitley said the falsehoodlasted only a “few months” andhas “lowered the credibility of itscreator” adding “disruptors havelost and on all counts”. He said somebody has to answerthe delay in finalising the Rafale jetdeal earlier even as the IAF neededa modern aircraft.Elaborating upon it, he said aftershort-listing Rafale jet why was thenegotiations virtually stopped if notabandoned in 2012 therebycompromising national security.He termed the Congressallegations about the deal asimaginary and termed them fictionwriting. Asserting that all thenecessary procedures were

followed before the inking the dealin 2016, Jaitley said 74 meetingswere held and even the SupremeCourt said all processes wereadhered to. “The entire imaginarythought process, fiction writingthat one man made the decision,there was no price negotiationcommittee, there was no contractnegotiation committee, no DefenceAcquisition Committee (DAC), noCCS, was fiction writing going on?This was fiction writing which wascompromising with nationalsecurity,” Jaitley said. He then went on to say indemocratic traditions if a politicalleader is found making falsecharges, he has to resign and incase holding public office evenpresidents are impeached fortelling a lie. He demanded theCongress to come out clean inParliament and said theGovernment on Friday too said itwas ready for a debate on theRafale deal. Jaitley said his partywill keep demanding a discussionon the issue in the coming daysduring the ongoing Winter Session

of Parliament.Charging the Congress withharming national interest, he saidthe accusations about the dealbrought it under the cloud. Civilservants and defence officials infuture will think 10 times beforetaking decisions and these chargeshave also hurt larger interests,Jaitley said.Defending the decision to buy 36jets through a Government toGovernment deal with France, theFinance Minister said theGovernment could not havewaited. He then quipped, “Wewould have waited for the cows tocome home and the enemyreached our borders.” On chargesof price of the Rafale jets, Jaitleysaid his Government negotiated adeal at lower prices for the basicaircraft and the weaponisedaircraft. He then hit back atCongress and said peopleincapable of understanding seriousissues rely on slogans. He alsosaid there are precedents ofbuying 36 jets or two squadrons ofjets. The IAF had gone in for such

purchases in 1980s for Mirage jetsand Mig series of aircraft.Sitharaman said the apex courtgave a decision on three broadissues. The three broad issues aredecision making process, pricingand the choice of the Indian Offsetpartner (IOP). On each one ofthese the Supreme Court hasclearly spoken and gave reasonswhy the writ petition does not holdanymore.“On the process, I would just liketo say that clearly stating that theprocess has been complied with,the Supreme Court has clearly saidthat the nation cannot afford to beunprepared in a situation whereour adversaries have acquiredhigher capabilities emphasisningon the need for the sense ofurgency in the purchase,” theMinister said. Notwithstanding thesecurity between India and Francewhich provides for protection ofclassified information such aspricing details, these details toowere made available to theSupreme Court in a sealedenvelope, she said.

SC rejects Rafale probe demand

Cong manufactured

lies on Rafale: BJP

Delhi to say ‘cheers’...

From Page 1In a joint statement, Sinha,

Shourie and Bhusan said thejudgment is based on completely false information. “Shocked that thejudgment is based on com-pletely false information aboutthe CAG report. No CAGreport on Rafale has been sub-mitted or examined,” the triosaid adding that this scandalwould continue to agitate pub-lic mind.

They also pointed out thatthe judgment also made errorslike Mukesh Ambani’s Relianceis shown as parent company ofAnil Ambani.

“The court mentions inpara 25 that “The pricingdetails have, however, beenshared with the CAG, and thereport of the CAG has beenexamined by the PAC.

Only a redacted portion ofthe report was placed before

Parliament, and is in publicdomain”. “All the facts men-tioned above are neither onrecord nor factually correct.

The PAC judgment hasnot been submitted to thePublic Accounts Committeeand no portion of the CAGreport has been placed beforeParliament or placed in thepublic domain.

Obviously this factuallyincorrect statement must bebased on some communication(not on record and unknown tous) made by the Government tothe court. That the court hasrelied on such communicationwhich is factually incorrect on3 counts shows how dangerousit is for the court to rely onstatements made in a sealedcover (not subject to scrutiny orverification) and give its judgement on that basis,” thepetitioners said in a detailedstatement.

From Page 1Dassault Aviation, the

makers of Rafale, had enteredinto an agreement withAmbani’s Reliance Defence Ltd(RDL) for fulfilling offset oblig-ations.

The Congress has been alleging that the govern-ment had put pressure onDassault Aviation to selectRDL as its offset partner.

The government, RDL andDassault Aviation rejected thecharges.

“We remain committed to India’s national security andto making our humble contribution towards the Makein India and Skill India policies of the Government inthe critical area of defenceincluding our offset partnership agreement withour valued partner, DassaultAviation of France,” saidAmbani.

The French firm also clar-ified that RDL was amongmany several other companiesit has chosen for implementingoffset obligations of the deal.

Anil Ambaniwelcomesjudgment

Govt misledSC on CAGreport,...

Amitav Ghosh... 11 dead, 75...

PTI n NEW DELHI

Nearly 50 tigers havedied in India this

year with the highestnumber of deathsrecorded in MadhyaPradesh, the Lok Sabhawas told Friday.

Minister of State forEnvironment MaheshSharma in a writtenreply said as per figures record-ed till December 12, total tigermortality stood at 49, with 13and 10 deaths registered inMadhya Pradesh andKarnataka, respectively.

He also said around 13 ele-phant casualties in train acci-dents have been reported in2018-19 (up to November 15 in2018).

He said around 35 ele-phant died by electrocution in2018-19 (up to November 15 in2018), while three elephantshave died during the sameperiod due to poaching.

Replying to another ques-tion, he said the total numberof leopard poached during2015, 2016 and 2017 are 194and in the current year till

October, the figure is66.

Sharma said theE n v i r o n m e n tMinistry in partner-ship with the GermanD e v e l o p m e n tCooperation (throughDeutsche Gesellschaftfür InternationaleZ u s a m m e n a r b e i t(GIZ)) has approved

the Indo-German technicalcooperation project on 'HumanWildlife Conflict Mitigationin India'.

"The project aims at pro-viding technical support to thegovernment of India at thenational level and in selectedsites as pilot states likeKarnataka, Uttarakhand andWest Bengal only," he added.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Aunique bookof original

drawings thatdraws on socialand political lifein India andabroad is going to be releasedat Open Air Gallery at TriveniKala Sangam on Saturday at 4pm. The book Manus bypainter Soumen Bhowmickwith 726 drawings is a graph-ic documentary of the con-temporary time. The unsettlingdrawings, as described by Arthistorian Johny ML, are com-mentary on social and politicalissues depicting all humanangst and emotions. Thepainter has drawn from themeslike social unrest, Syrian war,global migration, farmer's sui-cide, rape of women and chil-dren, and religious persecutiontaking place in different partsof the world. According to thepainter, who is a Delhi Collegeof Art alumnus, the pages ofManus are full of charactersthat he observed and visualizedwhile sitting around TriveniKala Sangam. The book with printed originals in actu-al size is as good as portfolio oforiginals.

Book of drawingson social issuesto release today

49 tigers died in India thisyear, most in MP, LS told

PTI n INDORE

Madhya Pradesh police onFriday claimed to have

busted an online cheating rack-et running from Pakistan withthe arrest of six Indian nation-als in Madhya Pradesh.

Pushpendra Singh (27),Manish Bhalse (23), NagendraSingh (28), Sujeet Singh (22),Kiran Singh (22) and BrijendraSingh (25) were arrested forallegedly cheating people inIndia while working for aPakistani gang, said Indorepolice's Special Task Force chiefJitendra Singh.

Pushpendra Singh, hail-ing from Satna district and cur-

rently living in Indore, wasallegedly the kingpin of thegang in India, he said.

The accused were associ-ated with a Pakistani gangwhich cheated people throughthe `lottery scam', he said.

The accused sent emails topeople, saying they had wonlottery but would need to paysome money to get the awardamount. The victims would beasked to transfer the moneythrough Internet banking.

While the accusedarranged opening of bankaccounts where the moneywould be transferred, theirhandlers in Pakistan withdrewthe money.

Six Indians workingfor Pakistani onlinecheating racket held

PTI n AHMEDABAD

To stop export of livestockfrom Tuna port in Kutch

district, the Gujarat govern-ment issued a notificationFriday banning entry of cattleinto the drought-affected Kutchregion from other parts of thestate.

Making the announcementin Gandhinagar, Chief MinisterVijay Rupani said his govern-ment will not allow export ofanimals as Gujarat is a "non-violent state".

The state home depart-ment has been asked to open aspecial check-post at Tuna Portto stop export of livestock, hesaid. Animals are exportedfrom Tuna in Kutch districtmainly to West Asian countriesfor slaughter and consumption.

"The Gujarat governmenthereby makes an order pro-hibiting the movement of anycattle into any drought- affect-ed area from outside," the noti-fication issued by the agricul-ture department said.

"We issued the notification

because the livestock beingexported from Tuna is broughtfrom other parts of the state,"Rupani told reporters.

"Our government is com-mitted to stop export of live-stock. Gujarat is a non-violentstate. We will do everythingnecessary to stop such export,"the chief minister added.

Tuna Port, designated bythe Centre for livestock export,comes under the jurisdiction ofDeendayal Port Trust, Kandla.

In a letter to CustomsCommissioner at Kandla,Rupani urged him not to allowany export of animals fromTuna, as it does not have "facil-ities for Animal Quarantineand Certification" as mandat-ed by the Central authorities.

Rupani sent a similar com-munication to UnionCommerce Minister SureshPrabhu, requesting him to"instruct the concerned author-ities to not issue any permit forexport of live animals fromTuna until the specified facili-ty for Quarantine andCertification is established".

Will not allow exportof animals, Gujarat isnon-violent State: CM

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN nCHENNAI

AMadras High Court orderdelivered on Thursday ask-

ing the Tamil NaduGovernment to shift 150 MBBSstudents from a private medicalcollege in Kancheepuram toGovernment run medical col-leges exposed the rot that hasset in the medical educationsystem, at least in the State.

Justice T Raja, while dis-posing a series of petitionsfiled by the students ofPonnaiyah RamajayamInstitute of Medical Sciences(PRIMS) complaining aboutthe lack of infrastructure in thecollege asked the Tamil NaduGovernment to shift the 150students from the college to the22 Government-run medicalcolleges in the State.

This is not the first time theMadras High Court is issuingan order like this. The year2017 saw the court ordering theshifting of 144 students fromAnnai Medical College andHospital to government-runmedical colleges. Dr C VKrishnaswamy, highly respect-ed medical doctor in Tamil

Nadu told The Pioneer that theregulatory mechanism in theState need to be beefed up tosave the students from fly-by-night operators. “Most of theprivate colleges have found tobe wanting when it comes toinfrastructure facilities andqualified teachers,” said DrKrishnaswamy.

Though the PRIMS didnot meet the mandatoryrequirements, the collegeauthorities managed to get theessentiality certificate from theState government in August2014 which authorised theinstitution to admit 150 stu-dents every year to the MBBScourse. But the Medical Councilof India opposed the move bythe Tamil Nadu government toissue essentiality certificate andLetter of Permission pointingout that PRIMS had manyshort comings. This includedshortage of outpatients, lowbed occupancy and non-avail-ability of blood bank.

But the College authoritiesmanaged to get the permissionbased on a Supreme Courtverdict based on the reportsubmitted by the OversightCommittee

Pvt medical colleges in TN

come under court scanner

for lack of facilities

STAFF REPORTER nGURUGRAM

With the arrest of 12 peo-ple, including two for-

eign nationals, Gurugrampolice on Friday claimed tohave busted a high-profilesex racket operating out of aguest house at sector-45 inGurugram.

According to a seniorpolice official, twelve peoplewere arrested including twowomen from Uzbekistan, onefrom Bangladesh, three fromWest Bengal, two from UttarPradesh and four men, includ-ing the owner of the guesthouse, manager and two cus-tomers. “They have beenbooked under different sec-tions of the ImmoralTrafficking Act and an FirstInformation Report (FIR)under appropriate sectionshave been registered againstthem at the Sector-40 policestation,” said the senior policeofficial.

“Specific inputs werereceived about an illegal pros-titution racket running inKrishna Residency guest atsector-45.Before raiding thepremises a constable was sentas a decoy customer who vis-ited the spot on Thursdayevening. The police team thatlay in wait raided the guesthouse after the decoy sig-naled to them about the dealbeing struck. Twelve peoplewere arrested from the spot,”said the senior police official.

The raid was conductedby a police team led byInspector Poonam Huda, whoreached the spot and nabbedthe culprits who were solicit-ing sex red-handed. The menare aged between 25 and 30years, while the women arearound 26 to 30 years. Theyused to charge Rs 6,500 percustomer for the services. “Atthe time of the raid, a room inthe guest house was occupiedwhere a woman and manwere found in an objection-able position,” the police said.

Sex racket

busted in

G’gram

Young Ahalya from Kollam, whogrew up in a pineapple farm,loved the fruit’s colours so muchthat she decided to express her-self through them and turned

painter. As she filled up her canvas with intri-cate scenes of plantation life, replicating herhard-working parents’ faces on the figuresthat peopled it, she surrounded them withhills and forests, nature in a flaming surgeas it were, pushing the pylons of civilisationin a distant greyness. Her fellow artists havepicked up a morbid rubble tossed up by theKerala floods and strung them to a twistedspinal cord, which is straightening itself ina desperate lunge at survival. There’sPangrok Sulap from Malaysian Borneo,another artist born of the soil, dancing ona canvas spread taut on wood-cut blocksdepicting farm life and issues, his happy feetimprinting his memories of them. All ofthem have stitched together their peasantorigins and come together at the KochiMuziris Biennale, which is unshackling artfrom the confines of rarefied thought andelitism to listen to the sub-terranean voic-es and helping them stake a claim in con-temporary discourse.

If art biennales are meant to rearticu-late the times, then the Kochi edition hasclearly pushed key frontiers in global dia-logue, snapping the exclusionary stiffness ofart fairs and museums, where the plight ofthe dispossessed is merely the motif and notthe felt anguish of those who go through it.As its curator, artist Anita Dube hasattempted to explore “possibilities of a non-alienated world” and managed to address theelephant in the room, to create a safe pub-lic sphere where we can think freely,exchange ideas, ask questions of ourselves,have conversations and dialogue rather thanideological loud-mouthing and best of allprovide a safe pedagogic haven where peo-ple do not feel threatened, judged or notqualified enough. In this respect, the Kochibiennale has fully given credence to sociol-ogist Pierre Bourdieu’s argument for theneed to create a social and cultural capitaljuxtaposed to the economic one. He haddefined “cultural capital” as that which deter-mined the “tastes” of society, which, if notwholesome and representative enough, canperpetuate a cycle of privilege instead ofbreaking it down. Museums and galleriesmay lend us access to all sorts of artworkthat have emerged as an interpretation ofhistory, context and archives but what of sen-sitive story-telling? Will it be a projectionof an idea rather than a humane experience?The Kochi biennale hasn’t talked down, ithas allowed everyone to come in. Or asDube described it, enfolded them in the “dis-cursive frame of culture.” Be it an attemptat post-colonial redemption by the West, theresolution of anxieties, the fluidity of iden-tities, the retrieval of protest poetry fromconflict zones, the reinstatement of women’s

dues, like that of the selflessMalayali nurses, the cry for eco-logical justice, the siege ofmicro-cultures or the much-revered cow head turning intoa fist of agrarian assertion,every voice has been respectedand interpreted in concrete,tactile and visually explosiveterms. For public engagement ofart cannot happen unless itappeals to our sensorium. Andtill that is done, till art alsobecomes a source of pleasure,populism will continue to cedespace to majoritarian mono-logues. Should that be easilyhanded over? Shouldn’t pop-ulism be a happy prospect thanbe demonised as a takeover toolof everybody’s trade?

In that sense, the Kochibiennale has already startedthe process of culture reclama-tion as a democratic nurturingof ideas, not a handed downrewriting of scripts. Muziriswas an ancient port on theMalabar coast, our first point ofglobalisation over centuries asmerchant ships plied the spiceroutes and broke down barriersfor a confluence and assimila-tion of cultures. Perhaps thisbiennale rescued that ancientspirit and applied it to the cur-rent context.

For Kerala, a State that wasravaged brutally by the floodsbarely a hundred days ago —1.5million people displaced and200,000 lives lost —the biennalehas been a huge palliative.Many had questioned if theGovernment should go throughwith this edition and not divert

the usual funds to the recon-struction process. But ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan want-ed to send out the message thatKerala is resilient and meansbusiness. The spinoff effects onthe economy by way of tourism,services and infrastructure arefor all to see. The laid-back FortKochi area is now a bustle, thewaterways have emerged astransport corridors ferryingpeople from one island toanother, the local youth havesigned up as volunteers andmost residents have opened uphomestays and cafes.Warehouse owners, who dobooming business in a porttown, have let out spaces forthree months to make way forinstallation artists. And aban-doned houses are getting a newlease of life. More so, the peo-ple of Kochi, who have virtual-ly owned this art event as theirbadge of pride through thepast years, don’t want to let goof it. Students and young peo-ple are toggling assignmentsand work to play hosts andcoordinators. Thousands of car-penters are at work, helpingerect structures and artworks,the caterers have never beenbusier, feeding visitors on theroadside and the auto wallahshave replaced the need forGoogle maps.

The Chief Minister himselfinaugurated the biennale, lend-ing a heft to proceedings andinsisting in his speech that thetraumatised State indeed need-ed to heal itself through art. Thebiennale has done up drab

walls in hospitals and dressedup worn out facades withcolourful murals to mask thedarkness of pain. Over theyears, organisers have reachedout to schools and made entryfree on certain days for the com-mon people to access andembrace a different form ofexpression. This is the processby which an auto rickshaw dri-ver like Bapi Das was inspiredenough to embroider histhoughts on fabric, now onprominent display. Or a run-away like Vicky Roy, who grewup in a shelter home near theNew Delhi Railway station andwho was trained in a photogra-phy workshop, to reframe theurbanscape through his lensand awaken us to the trickle-down effects of societal statutesand policy-making. LikeAhalya, they were not empow-ered by birth, be it in terms ofaccess to language or chance.They evolved on their own,organically and untutored.Kerala clearly isn’t shedding atear for itself.

Of course, what’s art with-out the political subtext? Andthere were plenty at the biennaleposited against the visual epi-demic of clichés on other media.At a time when the womenartistes’ collective have articu-lated their brand of #MeToo inthe Malayali film industry andfaith debates on Sabarimalacontinue to hover over awoman’s right to enter theshrine, the biennale has had itsfirst woman curator and devot-ed more than 50 per cent of the

works to women artists. TheGuerrilla Girls, who have beentalking about sexism in the artsfield through provocative slo-gans and street performances,have plastered the town withplacards, asking questions aboutwhether women are only goodas models for artists and ifgallery staff get respectable pay.Kashmiri artist Veer Munshihas recreated a Sufi shrine withlacquer coffins of the young,arguing for the middle path indialogues and a return to civil-isational contiguity that hasbeen torn asunder by extrem-ism. A young performanceartist frisks entrants to peaceful-ly demonstrate his angst ofgrowing up behind the wiredquarters. That speaks louderthan the gun.

In the end, art anywhereshould be about the relationaldynamic between the creatorand the audience. Only then canit be a vibrant cultural asset andoffset hierarchies set by eco-nomic and political structures.Or to borrow words from theGuerrilla Girls, “Don’t let muse-ums reduce art to a small num-ber of artists who have won apopularity contest among big-time dealers, curators and col-lectors. If museums don’t showart as diverse as the cultures theyclaim to represent, tell themthey’re not showing the histo-ry of art, they are just preserv-ing the history of wealth andpower.” The sea winds havebrought a whiff of life to Kochi.

(The writer is AssociateEditor, The Pioneer)

Congress chief Rahul Gandhi may

scream “united colours of

Rajasthan” and claim the diversity

of experience and youth, maturity and raw

energy as an ideal detente of governance

but will it rid the Congress’ age-old malaise

of infighting and undercutting? That’s a

question he has to answer as his young

Turks are getting increasingly restless for

relevance. Otherwise he may run the risk

of being labelled an inheritor of dynastic

fortunes seeking pliant courtiers rather than

as a team-builder of equally aspirant and

capable men and women. Yes, a decisive mandate would have undoubtedly

helped him but given the slim margins of victory in Madhya Pradesh and

Rajasthan, he had to do some bridge-building in consultation with his moth-

er Sonia Gandhi. Truth be told, though he has handed over the throne to old

loyalists, he will have to work out a suitable operable area for both Sachin Pilot

and Jyotiraditya Scindia to feel needed and keep them invested enough for all

the work they have put in towards resurgence of the party’s fortunes. Scindia

has even said that he will continue to serve the state as he has age and time

on his side but both Gandhi and he know that prospect won’t hold infinitely.

Satisfying both peers frankly will be a tall order given that their activities should

not in any way tread the egos of the senior Chief Ministers. Or else the inter-

generational tussle could cost the party heavily before the 2019 polls, both in

terms of governance and perception.

The new Congress Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath, has

always been assessed in terms of his elitist associations and negotiating strate-

gic worth with the central leadership so far. Having steered the party through

difficult troughs before, he did manage to push the baseline voter grid in the

state this time too and had bet big on stitching alliances with the BSP even

before the verdict became sure. In fact, his younger partner Scindia was more

cautious as Nath worked the ground and negotiated a way for himself through

swift political management. But as one who has undoubtedly nurtured his home

ground of Chhindwara, even touting his model of development there better than

Modi’s, he is yet to develop a pan-state appeal. In this respect, he falls far

short of his predecessor Digvijay Singh, who had a keen eye on statistics of

each district and knew people by name, and even BJP’s Shivraj Singh Chouhan,

who was a crowd favourite for 15 years. Scindia scores slightly better on image.

Nath’s biggest challenge now will be portfolio allocation, humoring the Scindia

group enough and breaking through angry farmers who turned the tide.

For Rajasthan, Gandhi was under pincer attack with Pilot actually moving

to the state from Delhi to develop the Congress vote base and Gehlot becom-

ing one of the key floor managers in keeping the RSS and its affiliates at bay.

And when all hope was lost, the latter did manage to script the Congress revival

story in the Gujarat elections and is now party national general secretary in-

charge of organisation. Besides, vote share charts show the BJP still remains

a force to reckon with both inside the Assembly and outside. Managing leg-

islative business, therefore, remains a task at hand for both governments. Which

is why the old guard is needed to keep up the momentum for 2019. Gandhi

can still toss the national challenge of rebuilding to these young leaders and

can reward them if they do deliver selflessly at the hustings for long-term gains

than claim a prize for a one-time job well-done. Can everybody put party first?

Before a bench headed by the Chief

Justice of India, Ranjan Gogoi, pro-

nounced their judgement on whether

further investigations were necessary on the

Rafale case, both sides — the ruling BJP

and the rabble-rousers who have been ham-

mering on about this case egged on by

Rahul Gandhi himself — were prepared for

a very different judgement. Some in the rul-

ing dispensation had steeled themselves for

an unfavourable judgement. The expecta-

tion of a Cour t-monitored Special

Investigative Team (SIT) kept all of Narendra

Modi’s detractors happy. After all, the opposition seems to have pinned down

a strategy of painting Modi as corrupt, both financially and morally. So much so

that when the judgement was read out, emotions went in completely opposite

directions. The BJP, deflated after the recent state poll results where there is no

doubt that the Rafale deal played a part, got a booster shot when the expected

prognosis was worse. The Congress and its army of rabble-rousers were shocked

into silence in social media, and this was not even a Chief Justice about whom

they could spread insinuations like they did with the recently retired Justice Dipak

Misra. All they could do was latch on to the court’s observation that the CAG

report on Rafale was given to the Parliament’s Public Account Committee, which

they claimed was not true.

But the happiest people today ought to be the strategists in the Defence Ministry

and the officers and men of the Indian Air Force. With the Rafale deal now cer-

tified by the Supreme Court, there is no doubt that the first of the planes man-

ufactured in France will land in India in late 2019. It was as if in anticipation of

the verdict that Dassault, the manufacturers of the fighter jet, released a picture

of the first plane to be delivered to India undergoing flight testing off the French

Atlantic coast. However with India’s frontline fighter fleet severely depleted and

still depending on 30 to 40-year-old jets, the approval of this deal will not change

the situation dramatically on the frontlines. India needs to place a follow-up order

to these 36 planes as soon as possible, and while the Defence Ministry has issued

a Request for Information from global manufacturers for a 110-plane order, one

hopes that does not descend into a horrible farce all over again. We are not only

at risk for a technically-advanced and burgeoning People’s Liberation Army Air

Force but also at risk of losing pilots unnecessarily because they fly outdated

jets older than themselves. One way to ensure this is that the government does

take the opposition at least in confidence about the necessity of the deal and

why the winning contender was selected. The need for new fighter jets for the

Indian Air Force should trump politics, and so should be the need to develop a

private sector military-industrial complex. The government should have been less

arrogant and the Opposition should have resorted to less grandstanding on this

issue. Now that everything has been resolved, we should bury the body of the

Rafale scam and hope that its ghost stays six feet underground.

The Rafale soars

The Supreme Court’s putting down of the allegations onthe jet deal is welcome news for the Modi Government

Generational conflict

Rahul Gandhi has a tough job in keeping both hisCMs and his peers harmonised till 2019

Politicising matters

Sir — Retired Lieutenant GeneralDS Hooda, who was the formerGeneral Officer Commanding-in-Chief of the Army’s NorthernCommand in September 2016when the surgical strikes tookplace, rightly spoke against thepoliticising of military opera-tions. Surgical strikes were part ofa necessary counter-offensive ofthe Army in retaliation to the Uriterror attack in which 19 Indiansoldiers were killed by Pakistaniterrorists.

Hooda said that it was natur-al to have initial euphoria aboutthe success, but the constantmaintenance of hype over militaryoperations was unwarranted.Indeed, a constant political show-casing of a military strike can doa two-fold damage. First, a con-stant political chest-thumping foran Army operation can haveadverse effects on our relationswith neighbouring countries.Second, if it turns into politicalasset for one political party, it willsend a wrong impression that theentire country is divided in termsof defence policy.

Sujit DeKolkata

Lessons in loss

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Rahul’s day dawns”(December 12). The Assemblyelections must prod the BJP toacknowledge the relevance ofthe much maligned dynasty of theCongress and that it is but a formof orchestrating individualstrengths to optimise collective

results. The Indira Gandhi regimeof imperious central diktats sawthe party gradually losing cohe-sion at grass roots. Tall regionalsatraps could yet hold the party,but with the loss of RajasekharReddy of Andhra Pradesh, theparty plunged into decline.Clearly, the dynasty was effectiveso long as its president producedresults. See what the lack ofdynasty has done to the

AIADMK, whose faction fight isa textbook case for the SamajwadiParty.

Congress chief Rahul Gandhiseems to have learnt the lessonswell. His persuasive style had thefrontline leaders, be it Rajasthanor Madhya Pradesh, to put partyneeds above personal ambitions.His task now is to keep that espritde corps going and showcase thesame for the 2019 LS elections.

Meanwhile, the BJP too mustponder now that its centrally dri-ven one-man party apparatushas proved fallible. Nor can thePrime Minister carry the soleonus of campaigning. The partyneeds many more shoulders andgiven its poor bench strengthtoday, it is left with little time topromote fresh talent.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

Get ready for 2019

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Rahul’s day dawns”(December 12). The BJP was, per-haps, too over-confident of win-ning the Hindi-speaking belt.But they lost because of emptypromises. The results should be aneye-opener for the party. Risingproblems, like farm and rural dis-tress as also urban angst played acrucial role in the erosion of theBJP’s support base. Understandingthe problems faced by people willremain crucial to fight the nextGeneral election.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

P A P E R W I T H P A S S I O N

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op nionLUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

08

Get art out of the box

RINKU GHOSH

The Kochi biennale has pushed key frontiers in global dialogue, snapping the exclusionary

stiffness of art fairs, where the plight of the dispossessed is merely a motif and not felt anguish

We have taken significantsteps to build on India's sta-tus as the US’ major defencepartner, including elevatingthe country to strategic tradeauthorisation, tier one status.

Top US official —Alice Wells

Telling a compellingstory is more importantfor me than winning anaward. I do not believein competition when itcomes to art.

Norwegian filmmaker—Iram Haq

Every word you utter, everydecision you make, everyvote you cast, resonatesdeeply within the hearts ofyour people who haveexpectations from you.

Vice President—Venkaiah Naidu

S O U N D B I T E

L E T T E R S T O T H E E D I T O R

Post-election rout, BJP has its task cut out

This refers to the editorial, “Rahul’s day dawns”(December 12). Which way the political windsare currently blowing is not hard to see.

Obviously, the election results in the so-called Hindiheartland represent a shot in the arm for the Congressand a setback for the BJP. Evidently, the impoverishedmasses, including the distressed farmers and theunemployed youth, have turned their back on the BJPfor which they voted overwhelmingly in 2014 anddemonstrated their strength to redraw the politicallandscape. It must be sobering for the BJP to realisethat a party long on promises but short on perfor-mance cannot keep its support base for long.

Voters in the Hindi belt disabused us of the BJP’sinvincibility and gave the Congress a new lease oflife. The ‘Modi factor’ could not help the party romphome even in its impregnable strongholds. Had theBJP won, it would have been wholly attributed to

Modi’s enduring and soaring popularity. With no tan-gible vikas and acche din, Modi’s case for anotherterm is wearing a little thin. The Prime Minister nowhas a fight on his hands to contain the ripple effectsof the party’s defeats on the whole country and outdoa formidable mahagathbandhan.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

Farmer's loan waiver should-n't be part of poll promises.It inhibits investment in thefarm sector and puts pres-sure on the fiscal of Stateswhich undertake it.

Former RBI Governor—Raghuram Rajan

The Preamble to theConstitution of India clearlystates that India is a sover-

eign, socialist, secular, democraticrepublic. But as the ongoing pub-lic discourse of our political mas-ters clearly shows, we are more ademocracy and less a republic. Wemay not truly be aware of the sub-tle difference between the two oreven be bothered to give this aspectmuch thought. But make no mis-take, if we are to progress and devel-op as a nation, we cannot do with-out either. History tells us that theterm ‘democracy’ originated fromthe Greek words ‘demos’, the com-mon people, and ‘kratos’ orstrength. The first democracy wasthe city of Athens in 508-507 BC

where Cleisthenes, known as thefather of Athenian democracy,introduced the concept of rule bythe common people. However, rep-resentational democracy, as weknow it today, is very different fromwhat was practised then and istoday defined by its one major char-acteristic “rule of the majority”,which can easily devolve into mobrule or tyranny of the majority, oreven worse, anarchy.

Benjamin Franklin once said:“Democracy is two wolves and alamb voting on what to have forlunch.” The only thing that keepsthe lamb off the lunch menu is thefact that we are a republic — not aperfect one but still one nonethe-less. What that basically implies isthat the country is not a privateconcern of the rulers but is consid-ered a “public matter” and belongsto each one of us regardless of caste,creed, gender or ethnicity. Whilethis obviously demands that ourrulers are elected and not inherit-ed, as quite a few tends to be, moreimportantly, it requires them to rule

for the common good, an aspect ofgovernance on which philosophers,such as Plato and Aristotle, wrotevolumes. This is, of course, onlypossible when there are a set of lawsand those elected as leaders followthem both in letter and spirit.

Unfortunately over the past fewdecades, common good seems to beignored in the face of parochial andself-serving interests of our leaders,as the rule of law is often ignored orrendered irrelevant. It is no wonderthen that our legislatives at theCentre and States have a surfeit ofmembers facing criminal charges —1,765 MPs and MLAs at last count,or 36 per cent facing over 3,500cases as per the Government;though some contend the numbersare vastly understated.

While the Supreme Court maywell view the entry of criminals intolegislative bodies as akin to “termiteto the citadel of democracy,” it can-not make laws to keep them out.That, the court said, is the domainof Parliament, an institution that isyet to show a firmness of resolve to

stem the rot. Ironically, it is theactions of the apex court itselfwhich gave a fillip to criminals join-ing politics with its farcical rulingin the infamous JMM bribery case,involving the bribing of MPs todefeat a no-confidence motionbrought against the then PrimeMinister PV Narasimha Rao’sGovernment way back in 1993.These allegedly corrupt MPs wereunashamed and blatant enough toopenly deposit the bribe money ina public sector bank. They weresubsequently prosecuted under thePrevention of Corruption Act butwere absolved by the SupremeCourt’s interpretation of Article 105of the Constitution. This Articlestates that (1) MPs shall enjoyfreedom of speech in Parliamentand (2) shall not be held liable toany proceedings in any court inrespect of anything said or any votegiven in Parliament.

The court held that the allegedbribe-takers, who had voted in theHouse, were “entitled to the immu-nity conferred by Article 105(2)”. It

also went on to direct that thebribe-givers must be prosecuted, asalso the bribe-takers who did notvote. Certainly, a unique legal jus-tification for the concept of honouramong thieves.

The apex court has nowattempted to correct the existingstate of affairs by directing theGovernment to set up 12 fast-trackspecial courts to try cases against thelegislators.

In addition, it has also directedall political parties, which give tick-ets to persons with criminal casespending against them, to publicisethe information on the party web-sites, apart from issuing a declara-tion in “widely circulated” newspa-pers and on electronic media afterthe nomination is filed.

However, there is little doubtleft that the “centre of gravity”seems to have shifted in favour ofthe criminal legislators and theyseem to have become indispensableto parties for grabbing power. Thesad truth is that actions taken by theSupreme Court now are of little

consequence, nothing more thanclosing the barn door after thehorse has bolted.

While regular and reasonablyfair elections have ensured that wecontinue to enjoy the fruits of avibrant democracy, the same can-not be said for the state of ourRepublic. The gradual decline ofvalues and the rule of law haveensured that the common good isof little concern to our political classwho are quite happy with the sta-tus quo. Neither the judiciary northe bureaucrats can bring aboutchange for the better that isrequired. It is, therefore, left to thecommon citizen to act. If we do notstand up and reclaim the space, wehave conceded to criminals andother low-life who now sit in judg-ment over us. It will be our childrenwho will pay the price in the com-ing years.

(The writer is a military veter-an, a Consultant with the ObserverResearch Foundation and VisitingSenior Fellow with The PeninsulaFoundation, Chennai)

State results: BJP downing BJP

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

WE (CONGRESS) AGAIN CHALLENGE THE PRIME

MINISTER FOR A JPC PROBE TO UNVEIL EVERY LAYER

OF CORRUPTION IN THE RAFALE DEAL.

—CONGRESS CHIEF SPOKESPERSON

RANDEEP SURJEWALA

THE TRUTH HAS ONLY ONE VERSION AND FALSEHOOD

HAS MANY. THE SUPREME COURT VERDICT IS

CONCLUSIVE AND LEAVES NO SCOPE OF ANY DOUBT.

—UNION MINISTER

ARUN JAITLEY

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

The results of the Assembly electionsheld in Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan, Telangana and Mizorammust have sent jitters down the spineof the BJP leadership. The seniors had

never expected this kind of a drubbing, thinkingtheir schemes were indeed people-friendly whentheir implementation was skewed. In contrast, theoutcome has also done a lot to rejuvenate theCongress and Opposition leaders, who are all nowrallying behind the leadership of Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi. The BJP, however, has notbeen totally routed. It retains a fair share of thevote pie in spite of anti-incumbency in the threeheartland States — Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthanand Chhattisgarh. But for sure, the oft-repeatedslogan of ‘a Congress-mukt Bharat’ was blownaway like a hot balloon. With these results, theOpposition is going for the jugular now andsmelling power for the 2019 parliamentary elec-tions, notwithstanding the fact that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s popularity remainsintact.

The results have further proved that theIndian electorate does not bother about perfor-mance or rhetorical slogans and knows how tohalt the juggernaut. They have also thrown a fewlessons for both the ruling and Opposition par-ties. Let us examine the matter from the point ofview of both the BJP and the Opposition. As aninformed citizen, this writer has been observingthe functioning of the Government in differentfields in different States, has been writing on issuesgermane to the people, hailing good decisions andproviding suggestions for improvements on sev-eral others.

Governance is not a cakewalk for any ruler,nor is feeling the pulse of the Indian mind in elec-tions an easy task, as voters have time and againbeen pooh-poohing expert psychologists with dis-dain. Any hasty policy decision on well-inten-tioned goals and programmes has always back-fired on the ruling regimes. People have a poormemory both for good deeds as well as bad. Theytend to forget the good deeds fast enough and for-give quickly on bad experiences. Because of this,for quite some time, the Indian polity hasbecome a sort of circus. Short-term perceptionsrule the people’s minds and those who exploitthem are victorious.

Taking a particular group or section of peo-ple for granted is wishful thinking. The rulingNDA had a lot of positives to offer to the coun-try after it came to power, both internally (in sev-eral fields) as well as on external affairs. India’sprestige and position grew to a new height andesteem, globally. The Prime Minister’s demoneti-sation drive had yielded a few positives in duecourse, like busting black marketers in realestate, ghost business houses et al. This writervividly remembers the poor people happilystanding in long queues before the banks duringdemonetisation as they believed it was going toend black money and cause difficulty to the cor-rupt and the rich.

There has been a sustained increase in thenumber of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) filed in thelast four financial years. As compared to 3.79 croreITRs filed in 2013-14, the number of ITRs filedduring 2017-18 was 6.84 crore, which is an

increase of 80.5 per cent. The numberof e-filings increased to 6.75 crore dur-ing the last fiscal. During 2017-18, thegross collections before refunds rose by13 per cent to `11.44 lakh crore. Thequantum jump in tax base to a largeextent was the result of demonetisation.The Government machinery, however,could not counter the allegationsagainst it.

But the biggest voter loss (loss ofvote base) for the BJP was the businesscommunity (the traditional BJP sup-porters for long) due to initial hiccupsin the implementation of the Goods andService Tax (GST). The introduction ofGST was a revolutionary attempt butthose who implemented it will neveragree that they failed to read the peo-ple’s mind on this. The problem is thatpromises made before the reform gotunder way were never implemented.And later, when the Government triedto correct the mistakes, it was too late.

The mishandling of the agitation ofthe upper castes against reservation forpromotions in Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan had really made a differenceto the BJP as the community voted forNOTA. In Madhya Pradesh, NOTAvotes were exercised by 542,295(6,43,144 voters) constituting about 1.4per cent of the total votes. In Rajasthan,NOTA votes were to the tune of467,781, constituting about 1.3 per centof the total votes polled. Most people,who exercised NOTA, were anti-reser-vation supporters and former BJP sup-porters. The BJP got 41 per cent votesin Madhya Pradesh while the Congressgot 40.9 per cent. The 1.4 per cent

NOTA may have taken the BJP’s tallyto well past 120 seats. Similarly, asagainst the Congress getting 39.3 percent of votes compared to the BJP’s 38.8per cent in Rajasthan, the NOTA votewould have crossed to 40 per cent forthe BJP and the party could havescraped through. In Chhattisgarhthough, the Congress really trouncedthe BJP by a margin of 10 per cent.

Yet another cause of the Congress’win was the way the party got the sup-port of farmers, who were facing sev-eral constraints notwithstanding thefact that Shivraj Singh Chouhan, dur-ing his chief ministerial tenure,increased the irrigated land from 7.5lakh to 36 lakh hectares over the last 10years. It was the disconnect in the pro-gramme with regard to production,marketing and incomes of farmers(including lopsided implementationof the Bhavantar scheme) that stokedthe farmers’ anger.

Though the Union Governmenthad taken a lot of steps for the farm-ers’ welfare, it had either not been mar-keted or executed well. Besides, thefarmers’ income was still not commen-surate with production costs. InRajasthan, the State had done very goodwork in water harvesting but the pro-grammes did not catch the imaginationof the farmers. The outreach by thebureaucracy was also not visible on theground.

Another cause of the BJP’s defeat isthe mobilisation of opposition partiesand the saffron party’s lack of contain-ment of negative vibes in politics. The“Sampark for Samadhan” was a damp

squib as those who were contacted weremainly urbanites. Genuine opinionmakers’ attempts for course correctionwere ignored. For example, thoughTelugu Desam Party supremoChandrababu Naidu’s own politicalsituation is not so good in AndhraPradesh, his alienation did fuel a move-ment against the BJP. Similarly, theparty alienated several of its opinions-makers who during the last 15 yearswere in its favour. This writer knowsone senior journalist and many moresupporters who relentlessly attemptedto take the BJP to a high pedestal as anacceptable national party with pan-Indian appeal among the intelligentsiabut they were either ignored or side-lined.

Now, the Congress and theOpposition front must adopt a charterwhich is nationalistic and filled with apositive vision for a future India andaway from confrontationist polity as theBJP is still a favourite for 2019. TheCongress has to modernise its function-ing and embrace a collective leadership,keep the Delhi crowd of bureaucrats ata distance and engage with experts toserve the nation. The people are fed upwith poor governance and unnecessarylogjams in Parliament. To make democ-racy work, we must be a nation of par-ticipants, not simply observers andsquabbling political leaders. The man-date of people is supreme. It should beseen as a lesson for all politicians, par-ticularly in view of the coming LokSabha election in 2019.

(The writer is a Retired CivilServant)

When democracy is not enough

The recent Assembly polls have given the party time to learn crucial lessons. Voters have sent astrong message that they know how to halt the juggernaut if leaders do not listen to them

If we do not stand up and reclaim the space we have conceded to criminals and other low-life who now sit

in judgment over us, it will be our children who will pay the price in the coming years

GOVERNANCE ISNOT A CAKEWALKFOR ANY RULER.

NOR IS FEELING THEPULSE OF THE

INDIAN MIND INELECTIONS AN EASY

TASK, AS VOTERSHAVE TIME AND

AGAIN BEEN POOH-POOHING

EXPERTPSYCHOLOGISTS

WITH DISDAIN. ANYHASTY POLICYDECISIONS ON

WELL-INTENTIONEDGOALS AND

PROGRAMMES HAVEALWAYS BACKFIRED

ON THE RULINGREGIMES

Childhood is inarguably the most crucial stage of life. During

this phase, brains develop, bodies grow, social skills are

learnt and character is built. So important are the early stages

of life that they can define a person’s future, from the likelihood

of a lifelong health to outcomes in cognitive and physical abili-

ty. This in turn affects the prospect of living a productive life and

making a positive contribution to society. Accelerating region-

wide health and development is, therefore, incumbent on invest-

ing in early childhood and ensuring each and every child gets

the best start possible.

The potential to do so is clear. In recent years, WHO South-

East Asia’s member states have made dramatic progress in reduc-

ing child mortality. Between 1990 and 2017, for example, under-

five mortality was slashed by 70 per cent. Neo-natal mortality

declined by 60 per cent. Last year alone, 3.5 million more chil-

dren under-five — including 1.3 million newborns — survived as

compared to 1990, with almost all member states achieving the

Millennium Development Goal on reducing child mortality.

Commendably, four member states have already met the global

Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) target on under-five mortal-

ity. These outcomes are in keeping with the region’s flagship pri-

ority of ending preventable maternal, new-born and child deaths.

As member states sustain this progress, the need to invest

additional resources in early childhood development (ECD) must

be grasped. At the same time as enhancing health equity, research

shows that for every dollar spent on ECD, the return can be as

high as 13 times, due in large part to ECD’s capacity to help over-

come the effects of stunting (which 37 per cent of children in the

Region suffer), and other early childhood adversities that can cause

poor development, mental health problems, obesity and heart dis-

ease among other conditions. Though enhancing ECD requires action

across multiple areas of Government, including the education and

nutrition sectors, the health sector has a crucial role to play, espe-

cially from conception to the age of three, which is the critical peri-

od for brain development. As outlined in the recently developed

global framework on “Nurturing Care for Early Childhood

Development” in addition to the region’s own strategic framework,

there are several steps countries can take to advance ECD’s game-

changing potential and provide the responsive care needed.

First, high-level political leadership and buy-in must be secured.

It is fundamental to ensure that impactful policies to advance ECD

are devised and implemented at the grassroots, including at pri-

mary healthcare centres. It is also fundamental to ensure that the

underprivileged or at-risk populations are prioritised. Importantly,

adequate funding must be allocated to programmes aimed at

enhancing ECD on a long-term basis. “Equity from the start” must

be more than a mantra. Second, concerted efforts should be made

to fortify and scale up interventions, starting from the antenatal

period, as part of a broader focus on frontline care. Community

health and nutrition workers are crucial to promoting ECD for pro-

viding ongoing health services for newborns and children, includ-

ing necessary vaccines, monitoring weight and growth and pro-

viding appropriate care. As part of this, promotion of breastfeed-

ing is vital. Breastfeeding is, after all, proven to provide the strongest

foundation for lifelong health and optimal nutrition.

Third, families should be supported to boost ECD themselves.

In the early years of life, parents and close family members are

the best providers of nurturing care — through love, bonding and

attachment, and stimulating their children through age-appropri-

ate activities. Making families aware that communication for at least

one hour a day has the power to shape a child’s destiny should

be a priority among policy-makers. The World Health Organisation

(WHO) is working to promote these outcomes.

In addition to working with countries to implement the region’s

strategic framework, a WHO-organised meeting was held with par-

liamentarians from across the region in July to chart the path for-

ward. That was followed by the Partners’ Forum 2018 in New Delhi,

which brought together 1,200 partners dedicated to implement-

ing the UN Secretary General’s Global Strategy for Women’s,

Children’s and Adolescents’ Health, including ECD, which is inte-

gral to the “thrive” objective outlined therein.

Region-wide, the quest to accelerate progress in ECD is grow-

ing stronger. It must be scaled up. ECD’s capacity to revolutionise

health and development in the space of just one birth cohort must

be fully comprehended and leveraged by both high-level political

leaders and citizens alike. Should this happen, the future will not

only be ours, it will be every generation’s to come.

(The writer is Regional Director, WHO South East Asia)

analysis 09F I R S T C O L U M N

Quest for a future

on our terms

POONAM KHETRAPAL SINGH

DEEPAK SINHA

Investing in children’s growth will help advancetheir health and overall development. Doing

so must be a priority so as to secure their future

VK BAHUGUNA

FOREIGNEYE

Till a few days back RahulGandhi had a nicknamethat no poll victory coulderase off. It’s ‘Pappu’which means ‘loser’.However everything haschanged overnight. TheCongress’ spectacularvictory in the Assemblypolls in Hindu hinterlandof Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarhhas made people see theyoung CongressPresident in a new light.There is a metamorphosisof a new leader.

(DailyMirror Editorial)

RAHUL’S RETURN

www.dailypioneer.com

money 10LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

PTI n NEW DELHI

Everstone-backed IndoSpaceon Friday said it had raised

USD 1.2 billion from investorsthrough its new fund to devel-op and acquire industrial andlogistics parks.

IndoSpace is one of thelargest provider of modernindustrial and logistics real estatein India and has taken total com-mitment to India to above USD3.2 billion. It is promoted byEverstone Group, GLP andRealterm.

IndoSpace said in a state-ment that it held the final closeon IndoSpace Logistic Parks III(ILP III) and the offering wassignificantly oversubscribed onthe back of strong investordemand.

“USD 580 million of totalequity has been committed toILP III which, post leverage willcreate a corpus of more thanUSD 1.2 billion to develop andacquire industrial and logistics-related real estate investments inIndia,” it added.

IndoSpace would utilise thefund to further strengthen itsmarket leadership position.Leading global institutionalinvestors have invested in ILP III.Currently, IndoSpace has a port-folio of around 30 million squarefeet across developed and under-construction projects.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Infosys on Friday said it hadformed a joint venture (JV)

with Hitachi, PanasonicCorporation and Pasona tostrengthen its presence in theJapanese market.

As part of the agreement,Infosys will acquire 81 per centof the shareholding in HitachiProcurement Service Co,Hitachi’s fully owned subsidiary,Infosys said in a statement.

Hitachi, Panasonic andPasona will be minority share-holders of the entity, it added.The consideration for the 81 percent stake, subject to closingadjustments, is JPY 2,762 million(approx `174.58 crore).

“As part of the transaction,Infosys Consulting Pte. Ltd. willacquire an 81 per cent stake inHIPUS from Hitachi by way ofan acquisition of existing shares,”Infosys said in a regulatory fil-ing. Hitachi will transfer 2 percent each to Panasonic andPasona, and will hold theremaining 15 per cent, it added.The transaction is expected toclose by April 1, 2019, subject tocustomary closing conditions,Infosys said.

“The transaction is in align-ment with Infosys’ strategy tostrengthen its presence in Japanand invest in local capabilities toserve the local and global needs

of Japanese corporations,” itsaid.

Hitachi Procurement, cur-rently, handles indirect materi-als purchasing functions for theHitachi Group. “...iconic com-panies coming together, willaccelerate business processtransformation leveraging dig-ital procurement platforms forthe local and global needs ofJapanese corporations,” the state-ment said.

Infosys will bring its exper-tise in procurement processes,consulting, analytics and digitaltechnologies such as artificialintelligence (AI) and RoboticProcess Automation (RPA) tothe venture.

Combined with Hitachi andPanasonic’s knowledge of theirprocurement functions and localteams, and Pasona’s human cap-ital and BPM networks in Japan,the entity will provide differen-tiated, end-to-end, efficient andhigh value procurement capa-bilities to corporations, the state-ment said.

“This JV will help Japanesecorporations transform theirprocurement processes usingnext-generation digital plat-forms, as we bring together thecombined power of deep pro-curement expertise, technology,global expertise and local skills,”Infosys president Ravi Kumarsaid.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Italian superbike makerDucati on Friday announced

its foray into pre-owned mar-ket in India through its DucatiApproved programme.

Under the programme,only bikes less than 5 years oldwith certified mileage lowerthan 50,000 km are allowed tobe sold after undergoing 35technical checks, the companysaid in a statement.

“Our entry in the pre-owned segment in India willmake Ducati more accessible topassionate bikers who aspire forthe luxurious and premiumexperience offered by Ducatimotorcycles,” Ducati Indiamanaging director SergiCanovas said.

Ducati Approved is a cer-tified pre-owned motorcycleprogramme wherein company’squalified service techniciansselect and inspect every bike,certifying its history, the com-pany said.

The programme alsoincludes extended warrantyand roadside assistance, itadded.

“With this program, ouraim is to sell bikes with thesame level of sophistication andauthenticity as offered with anew Ducati,” the Ducati Indiamanaging director said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

India’s wholesale inflationfell to a three-month low of4.64% in November, driven

down by decline in prices offood articles, especially veg-etables, and some easing inrates of petro products.

The Wholesale Price Index(WPI)-based inflation was5.28% in October and 4.02% inNovember last year.

Food articles witnessedsoftening of prices with defla-tion at 3.31% in November,against 1.49% in October, gov-ernment data released on Fridayshowed. Vegetables, too, becamecheaper with deflation at 26.98%in November, compared to18.65% in the previous month.

Inflation in the ‘fuel andpower’ basket in Novembercontinued to rule high at16.28%, but was lower than

18.44% in October. This was onaccount of lowering of prices ofpetrol and diesel, following adecline in global crude oil prices.

Separately in petrol anddiesel, inflation was 12.06% and20.16%, respectively, and forliquified petroleum gas (LPG),it was 23.22% during October.

ICRA principal economistAditi Nayar said the easing ofthe WPI inflation was led by adeeper disinflation in prices ofprimary food articles, easing ofinflation related to crude petro-leum and mineral oils follow-ing the correction in retail fuelprices, and some impact of theappreciation in the rupee onthe landed prices of imports.

“The recent trend of a year-on-year correction in foodprices does not augur well forthe strength of rural demand inthe immediate term. However,factors such as weak post-mon-

soon rainfall and a delay in rabisowing pose some uncertaintyregarding how long food priceswould remain in the disinfla-tion zone,” Nayar said. He saidwith the recent stability in thecrude oil prices and the rupee,ICRA expects the WPI inflationto range between 3.7-4.4 percent in the remainder of secondhalf for current fiscal.

Among food articles, pota-to prices continued to rule highwith 86.45% inflation inNovember. While onion wit-nessed deflation of 47.60%, thesame for pulses stood at 5.42%.The October inflation at 4.64%is the lowest in three months,and a lower inflation than thiswas last seen in August at 4.62%.

CARE Ratings, in its analy-sis, said it expects WPI inflationto remain in the range of 4.5-5% for the rest of the year, andabove the CPI rates.

The WPI inflation forSeptember, however, has beenrevised upwards to 5.22% fromthe provisional estimate of5.13%. Data released earlier thisweek showed that the retail orconsumer price index-basedinflation for November also fellto a 17-month low at 2.33%.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI) mainly takes into accountretail inflation data while for-mulating monetary policy.

In its fifth monetary poli-cy review for the fiscal, releasedlast week, the Reserve Bankkept interest rates unchanged,but held out a promise to cutthem if the upside risks to infla-tion do not materialise.

The central bank loweredretail inflation projection to2.7-3.2% for the second half ofthe current fiscal, citing normalmonsoon and moderate foodprices.

New Delhi (PTI): Drugfirm Alembic Pharmaceuticalson Friday said it had raised`350 crore through allotmentof non-convertible debentures(NCDs) on private placementbasis. “The NCD committee ofAlembic Pharmaceuticals Ltd...has allotted 1,500, 9 per centrated unsecured listed

redeemable non-convertibledebentures (NCDs)... aggre-gating to `150 crore undertranche I,” AlembicPharmaceuticals said in a reg-ulatory filing. The companysaid it had also allotted 2,000,9 per cent rated unsecured list-ed redeemable NCDs... aggre-gating to `200 crore.

WPI inflation falls to 4.64% on

easing food, petro prices

Ducati enterspre-owned bike market in India

Infosys forms JV with

Hitachi, Panasonic,

Pasona in Japan

Indospace raisesUSD 1.2 bn todevelop, buylogistic parks

Alembic Pharma raises `350 cr National electronics policy

almost finalised: Prasad

New Delhi (PTI): The government has almost finalised theNational Policy on Electronics to boost electronics manufactur-ing in India on a big scale, Electronics and IT Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad said Friday. He said the Narendra Modi government waspushing India’s case for USD 1 trillion digital economy. Speakingat an event organised by industry body CII, the minister also askedthe electronics industry to focus on producing medical devices,defence and automobile items.

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ITDCEM 108.85 -0.6 -0.55ITI 92.85 -0.35 -0.38J&KBANK 35.75 -0.4 -1.11JAGRAN 112.3 -0.7 -0.62JAICORPLTD 103.75 -0.45 -0.43JAMNAAUTO 63.65 -0.95 -1.47JBCHEPHARM 298.1 -0.8 -0.27JCHAC 1836 6 0.33JETAIRWAYS 259.95 8.1 3.22JINDALSAW 82.1 -0.7 -0.85JINDALSTEL 157.35 -1.85 -1.16JISLJALEQS 66.5 0.25 0.38JKCEMENT 731.3 1.55 0.21JKIL 119 -3.4 -2.78JKLAKSHMI 279.65 5.7 2.08JKTYRE 95.55 -0.05 -0.05JMFINANCIL 86.45 -1.3 -1.48JPASSOCIAT 7.03 0.1 1.44JSL 33 0.05 0.15JSLHISAR 90.2 0.65 0.73JSWENERGY 70.95 0.35 0.5JSWSTEEL 293.45 -4.6 -1.54JUBILANT 738.3 -2.3 -0.31JUBLFOOD 1246.05 -6.65 -0.53JUSTDIAL 491.7 -0.5 -0.1JYOTHYLAB 190 -3.95 -2.04KAJARIACER 444.85 -5 -1.11KALPATPOWR 390.9 5.6 1.45KANSAINER 458.05 -3.6 -0.78KEC 290.4 3.2 1.11KEI 379.65 -1 -0.26KIOCL 147.6 2.3 1.58KNRCON 189.2 -5.6 -2.87KOTAKBANK 1255.25 -6.85 -0.54KPIT 215.2 -2.45 -1.13KPRMILL 569.55 4.1 0.73KRBL 288 -4.4 -1.5KSCL 589.5 -1.8 -0.3KTKBANK 108.35 0.5 0.46KWALITY 8.81 -0.03 -0.34L&TFH 146.8 1.65 1.14LAKSHVILAS 86.6 -0.6 -0.69LALPATHLAB 958.55 -5.8 -0.6LAOPALA 223.55 -0.5 -0.22LAURUSLABS 378.35 -9.25 -2.39LAXMIMACH* 5815 3.65 0.06LICHSGFIN 461.7 0.2 0.04LINDEINDIA 681.7 0.2 0.03LT 1411.55 -13.6 -0.95LTI 1806.15 56.85 3.25LTTS 1631.95 32.75 2.05LUPIN 842.8 -3.45 -0.41LUXIND 1507.3 -17.85 -1.17M&M 755.8 -1.95 -0.26M&MFIN 454.4 1.1 0.24MAGMA 110.65 -2.35 -2.08MAHABANK 13.57 0.14 1.04MAHINDCIE 252.9 -1.35 -0.53MAHLIFE 387.25 -5 -1.27MANAPPURAM 88.35 -0.7 -0.79MANPASAND 86.8 -2.95 -3.29MARICO 372.85 -1.55 -0.41MARUTI 7654.1 -9.65 -0.13MAXINDIA 80.15 13.35 19.99MCX 724.3 -1.2 -0.17MEGH 60.6 0 0MFSL 431.6 -11.65 -2.63MGL 871.4 -2.45 -0.28MHRIL 196.85 -0.95 -0.48MINDACORP 136.1 -1.5 -1.09MINDAIND 331.2 -0.8 -0.24MINDTREE 866.55 7.55 0.88MMTC 27.7 -0.2 -0.72MOIL 172.35 -1.45 -0.83MONSANTO 2700 22 0.82MOTHERSUMI 166.45 5.1 3.16MOTILALOFS 616.4 -9.25 -1.48MPHASIS 973.15 0.25 0.03MRF 66350.35 -856.35 -1.27MRPL 73 -1.15 -1.55MUTHOOTFIN 471.95 -8.1 -1.69NATCOPHARM* 700.55 -12.65 -1.77NATIONALUM 64.1 -0.35 -0.54NAUKRI 1559.6 2 0.13NAVINFLUOR 719.95 22.6 3.24NAVKARCORP 46 -0.55 -1.18NAVNETEDUL 105.55 0.5 0.48NBCC 52.8 -0.75 -1.4NBVENTURES 120.8 1 0.83NCC 82.3 -0.4 -0.48NESTLEIND 10972.55 -17.95 -0.16NETWORK18 38.55 -0.2 -0.52NH 199.4 -6.05 -2.94NHPC 26.2 0.05 0.19NIACL 198.05 -0.65 -0.33

NIITTECH 1140.45 18.8 1.68NILKAMAL 1485.65 -4.6 -0.31NLCINDIA 68.3 -0.15 -0.22NMDC 93.9 0.7 0.75NOCIL 166.25 -0.65 -0.39NTPC 143.65 2.6 1.84OBEROIRLTY 475.7 2.9 0.61OFSS 3624.4 25.05 0.7OIL 176.45 1.15 0.66OMAXE 216.8 -0.15 -0.07ONGC 146.95 3.7 2.58ORIENTBANK 90.2 1.95 2.21ORIENTCEM 79.95 1.8 2.3PAGEIND 24080.95 -185.8 -0.77PARAGMILK 248.75 1.4 0.57PCJEWELLER 83.55 5.2 6.64PEL 2141.15 -32.75 -1.51PERSISTENT 613.5 -5.65 -0.91PETRONET 217 4.55 2.14PFC 90.45 4.3 4.99PFIZER 2844.3 17.2 0.61PFS 16.5 0.2 1.23PGHH 9711.95 4.7 0.05PHILIPCARB 204.5 1.8 0.89PHOENIXLTD 614.05 -4.35 -0.7PIDILITIND 1166.25 4.25 0.37

PIIND 836.65 -11.5 -1.36PNB 72.65 1.3 1.82PNBHOUSING 971.4 -0.7 -0.07PNCINFRA 129.8 -0.75 -0.57POWERGRID 185.5 2.55 1.39PRESTIGE 217.8 3.35 1.56PRSMJOHNSN 86.4 2.35 2.8PTC 87.15 0.3 0.35PVR 1555.75 17.1 1.11QUESS 690.4 3.7 0.54RADICO 412.05 -1.8 -0.43RAIN 139.8 -1.05 -0.75RAJESHEXPO 571.35 -0.85 -0.15RALLIS 171.85 0.25 0.15RAMCOCEM 628.8 3.8 0.61RATNAMANI 894.95 1.75 0.2RAYMOND 849.55 -14.85 -1.72RBLBANK 578.9 -1.75 -0.3RCF 61.45 -1.15 -1.84RCOM 15.77 0.31 2.01RECLTD 103.9 1.95 1.91REDINGTON 86.45 0.05 0.06RELAXO 722.8 -13.15 -1.79RELCAPITAL 219.5 2.8 1.29RELIANCE 1111.75 4.95 0.45RELINFRA 291.85 5.05 1.76REPCOHOME 350 3.75 1.08RNAM 168.6 -2.65 -1.55RNAVAL 16.59 2.33 16.34RPOWER 28.05 0 0SADBHAV 198.75 -2.95 -1.46SAIL 51.25 -0.15 -0.29SANOFI 6304.85 28.3 0.45SBILIFE 566.35 -5.05 -0.88SBIN 289.15 0.55 0.19SCHAEFFLER 5406.8 3.05 0.06SCHNEIDER 103.7 -2.9 -2.72SCI 42.45 0.05 0.12SFL 1468.7 22.65 1.57SHANKARA 520.1 15.2 3.01SHARDACROP 264.15 -8.65 -3.17SHILPAMED 382.7 -0.15 -0.04SHK 178.95 -1.35 -0.75SHOPERSTOP 509.35 1.45 0.29SHREECEM 16935.35 226.2 1.35SHRIRAMCIT 1547.6 -10.85 -0.7

SIEMENS 967.2 7.05 0.73SIS 765.05 -8.5 -1.1SJVN 25.45 0.2 0.79SKFINDIA 1906.3 -3.05 -0.16SOBHA 460.45 7.9 1.75SOLARINDS 1063.35 28.65 2.77SOMANYCERA 311.45 1 0.32SONATSOFTW 318.6 1.6 0.5SOUTHBANK 15.5 -0.6 -3.73SPARC 209.4 -1.45 -0.69SPICEJET 76.1 -0.9 -1.17SREINFRA 32.45 0.1 0.31SRF 2191.85 9.05 0.41SRTRANSFIN 1179 7.65 0.65STARCEMENT 104.5 0.6 0.58STRTECH 288.95 -3.85 -1.31SUDARSCHEM 335.35 -10.8 -3.12SUNCLAYLTD 3600 112 3.21SUNDRMFAST 533.9 2.55 0.48SUNPHARMA 419.75 -2.4 -0.57SUNTECK 354.8 4.15 1.18SUNTV 575.4 13.75 2.45SUPPETRO 211.1 -0.65 -0.31SUPRAJIT 228.25 5.6 2.52SUPREMEIND 1092.55 43.7 4.17SUVEN 233.05 -3.6 -1.52SUZLON 5.29 0.04 0.76SWANENERGY 103.75 -1 -0.95SYMPHONY 1130.25 9.55 0.85SYNDIBANK 34.5 0.45 1.32SYNGENE 574 23 4.17TAKE 132.45 -3.75 -2.75TATACHEM 689.25 -3.2 -0.46TATACOFFEE 92.4 -0.4 -0.43TATACOMM 532.65 5.45 1.03TATAELXSI 1036.3 9.8 0.95TATAGLOBAL 212.3 0.25 0.12TATAINVEST 866.1 0.6 0.07TATAMETALI 645.55 0.75 0.12TATAMOTORS 166.9 0.45 0.27TATAMTRDVR 91.65 0.8 0.88TATAPOWER 79.35 0.8 1.02TATASTEEL 513.4 1.15 0.22TCS 1989.25 5.6 0.28TEAMLEASE 2858.9 15.6 0.55TECHM 712.25 2.5 0.35TEJASNET 202.55 4.5 2.27TEXRAIL 58.2 -0.1 -0.17THERMAX 1102.65 -17.45 -1.56THOMASCOOK 235.25 0.65 0.28THYROCARE 551.45 4.05 0.74TIFHL 519.15 4.05 0.79TIMETECHNO 100.8 -1.15 -1.13TIMKEN 578.85 -3.05 -0.52TITAN 931.55 -13.3 -1.41TNPL 254.15 0.2 0.08TORNTPHARM 1780.25 -6.3 -0.35TORNTPOWER 254.15 -11.95 -4.49TRENT 350 0.7 0.2TRIDENT 64.85 -0.45 -0.69TRITURBINE 118.35 0.4 0.34TTKPRESTIG 7867.2 -70.2 -0.88TV18BRDCST 36 0.65 1.84TVSMOTOR 568.6 2.1 0.37TVSSRICHAK 2499.35 14.55 0.59TVTODAY 380.55 -3.7 -0.96UBL 1256.2 -1.35 -0.11UCOBANK 19.4 0.15 0.78UFLEX 265.1 -5.4 -2UJJIVAN 241.1 -4.75 -1.93ULTRACEMCO 3998.25 44.75 1.13UNICHEMLAB 191.45 -0.5 -0.26UNIONBANK 77.9 0.8 1.04UPL 764.75 -10.15 -1.31VBL 721.2 -12.75 -1.74VEDL 201.2 0.8 0.4VENKYS 2320.4 -8.65 -0.37VGUARD 216.45 -1.15 -0.53VIJAYABANK 44.45 0.95 2.18VINATIORGA 1674.75 123.55 7.96VIPIND 529.05 -5.25 -0.98VMART 2598.15 0.25 0.01VOLTAS 578.55 11.6 2.05VTL 1081.95 2 0.19WABAG 259.4 -1.05 -0.4WABCOINDIA 6701.95 -192.35 -2.79WELCORP 155.3 0.55 0.36WELSPUNIND 62.75 0.05 0.08WHIRLPOOL 1405.55 22.6 1.63WIPRO 333.1 -5.65 -1.67WOCKPHARMA 511.35 -0.2 -0.04YESBANK 180.35 5.65 3.23ZEEL 489.1 -4.5 -0.91ZENSARTECH 239.25 -0.8 -0.33ZYDUSWELL 1349.8 0.05 0

NIFTY 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGEBHARTIARTL 305.2 333.4 305.2 319 15.9BPCL 334.65 349.4 330.75 344.95 10.05YESBANK 172.7 181.6 168.25 179.7 5IOC 141.15 142.5 140.1 141.3 3.9COALINDIA 244.55 250.4 242 250.05 5.5ONGC 143 150.4 140.6 146.25 2.95NTPC 141 144.15 139.6 143.8 2.75GRASIM 850 852.75 835.5 844.9 15.5IBULHSGFIN 772.65 798.05 760.05 788.9 13.2EICHERMOT 23,350.00 23,800.00 23,150.70 23,700.00 394.6ASIANPAINT 1,332.80 1,351.00 1,320.00 1,339.00 18.8POWERGRID 181.5 186.25 180.5 185.1 2.55GAIL 346.95 353.2 341.5 351.3 4.85ULTRACEMCO 4,039.00 4,043.80 3,975.00 3,998.50 49.4INFRATEL 249 252.9 247.25 252.3 3.1INFY 697.45 713.7 694.4 706.15 8.4HINDPETRO 224 229.5 222.1 226.95 1.8VEDL 199 203.2 198.15 201.9 1.25ICICIBANK 349.2 354.05 349.15 351 1.45TCS 1,983.00 1,998.95 1,975.25 1,989.00 6.4RELIANCE 1,103.10 1,114.90 1,091.80 1,110.00 2.95HINDUNILVR 1,837.00 1,865.85 1,832.75 1,860.55 5TECHM 709.15 716.8 705.1 711 1.7TATASTEEL 511 517.8 506.5 513.5 1.25ITC 274.35 277.25 273.9 275.85 0.55AXISBANK 619.1 623 611.3 620.3 1.2HINDALCO 219.5 222.85 217.3 220.6 0.3TATAMOTORS 166 168.4 164.85 167 0.15MARUTI 7,684.00 7,690.00 7,545.95 7,676.00 5.5SBIN 288.5 290.8 287.05 288.7 -0.3BAJAJFINSV 6,179.90 6,208.20 6,101.30 6,153.10 -6.3HEROMOTOCO 3,302.00 3,350.80 3,266.65 3,315.00 -3.25INDUSINDBK 1,610.00 1,613.50 1,590.05 1,608.00 -2.1BAJFINANCE 2,488.25 2,512.00 2,464.25 2,485.35 -3.75M&M 753.1 764 751.6 757 -2.2DRREDDY 2,595.00 2,609.60 2,568.00 2,589.20 -7.65HDFCBANK 2,104.90 2,118.00 2,088.05 2,095.10 -6.2SUNPHARMA 421.95 426 417.1 420.45 -1.65ADANIPORTS 370 371.15 367 368.9 -2.15KOTAKBANK 1,264.40 1,271.70 1,247.10 1,256.60 -7.8CIPLA 528.35 533.8 516.65 522.05 -4.95BAJAJ-AUTO 2,836.00 2,837.35 2,785.20 2,808.50 -27.6UPL 770 777 758.85 765.9 -7.55WIPRO 339 343 332.3 335 -3.65LT 1,423.45 1,428.55 1,405.05 1,410.65 -15.8ZEEL 491 494.95 482 485.55 -8.15TITAN 943.65 951.7 928.45 928.6 -15.55HDFC 1,945.00 1,955.00 1,898.05 1,909.60 -32.45JSWSTEEL 297 300.85 291.15 292.9 -5.15HCLTECH 966 968.8 950 960.1 -17.95

SE 500B

NIFTY NEXT 50

SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGEBANDHANBNK 504 541.1 503.5 533.8 29.55IDEA 35.4 37.7 35.25 36 1.1MOTHERSUMI 166.6 179.1 163.3 166.6 4.9SUNTV 558.8 578.75 554.7 575 14.3DABUR 426 446.3 426 444.55 9.85PETRONET 212.8 218.3 212.4 217.2 4.4GODREJCP 812 829.9 802 825 16.3ICICIGI 892.7 915 888 905 17.1HDFCLIFE 389 395 386.3 394 6.8L&TFH 145.05 148.4 143.6 146.8 1.65BIOCON 641 658 638.1 648.5 7.15NMDC 92.9 94.45 91.6 94 0.95OFSS 3,610.60 3,644.95 3,607.25 3,638.00 33.05DMART 1,584.00 1,600.00 1,574.00 1,597.00 14.1CONCOR 647 653.2 642.05 653 5.25HAVELLS 700.2 715.9 700 710.55 5.4SIEMENS 959 975 952.2 966.1 6.05OIL 175.1 177 174.3 176.1 1COLPAL 1,305.00 1,328.00 1,302.00 1,310.35 6.85ABCAPITAL 98.7 99.9 98.15 98.7 0.45BOSCHLTD 19,603.00 19,763.00 19,414.05 19,691.40 70.35INDIGO 1,060.80 1,069.90 1,050.20 1,063.25 3.25SRTRANSFIN 1,179.30 1,205.00 1,162.00 1,175.20 3.2SHREECEM 17,050.00 17,151.15 16,612.05 16,734.00 40.3PIDILITIND 1,155.00 1,182.00 1,155.00 1,164.95 2.75NHPC 26.15 26.25 26.05 26.2 0.05AMBUJACEM 223.6 224.85 218.2 218.95 0.25GICRE 272.15 273.95 271.5 272.05 0PGHH 9,740.05 9,783.40 9,651.00 9,726.20 -9.5BRITANNIA 3,139.70 3,171.10 3,097.45 3,139.00 -4.2MARICO 373 375.75 370.35 373.8 -0.55SAIL 51.35 52.1 50.65 51.25 -0.1LICHSGFIN 460 465.95 457.1 460.3 -1.35ASHOKLEY 103.65 105.05 103 104.05 -0.35NIACL 197.05 199 197.05 198.2 -0.7BHEL 66.5 67.9 65.8 66.5 -0.25LUPIN 850.9 857 830.5 843.85 -3.45DLF 178.1 180.55 176.25 177.95 -0.9BANKBARODA 111 113.1 110.8 111.25 -0.6ACC 1,530.50 1,541.65 1,490.00 1,490.30 -10.55ABB 1,437.50 1,444.00 1,405.05 1,428.50 -10.15SBILIFE 571 574.8 550.5 566.65 -4.35CADILAHC 347.1 351.6 344.5 346.4 -3ICICIPRULI 314 314 309.2 310.5 -4.35MRF 67,299.00 67,500.00 66,050.00 66,400.00 -1,063.55MCDOWELL-N 636.95 643.5 622.3 623 -13.5PEL 2,180.00 2,211.95 2,120.00 2,128.00 -51.45BEL 84.9 84.9 81.25 82.4 -2HINDZINC 273.5 277.8 267.2 268.75 -6.9AUROPHARMA 743.85 745.7 715.2 725.9 -24.7

world 11LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

J’Lo wants to direct film and television

Los Angeles: Pop star Jennifer Lopez has revealedshe wants to direct content for television and films.The singer recently directed her first music video“Limitless”, which features on her new rom-com“Second Act”. When asked if she wants to direct morein television and film, Lopez told Variety, “Absolutely,absolutely”. The singer said “it was a lot of fun” todirect the music video in which her daughterappears. “This is a song that Sia wrote for the movie.It’s the anthem for ‘Second Act’. I asked her watch themovie and tell me what you think — if you’re inspired,write something, and she wrote ‘Limitless’, which is:I thought I had to be somebody else, but look at menow, I’m limitless,” Lopez told reporters at the NewYork City premiere of “Second Act”.“I love that sen-timent. That’s exactly what the movie is about. It’sthat perfect holiday movie with this perfect song. Mydaughter is in the video. It’s a dream project for me,so I’m excited for everybody to see it,” she added. Thefilm hits the theatres on December 21.

I definitely want to be a father: Nick Jonas

Los Angeles: Actor-singer Nick Jonas, who recently mar-ried Priyanka Chopra, says he “definitely” wants to havekids in the future. Priyanka, 36, and Nick, 26, exchangedwedding vows on December 1 at Jodhpur’s majesticUmaid Bhawan Palace in a Catholic ceremony officiat-ed by the groom’s father Kevin Jonas Sr. The weddingwas followed by an equally grand ceremony as per Hindutraditions on December 2. Talking to Spotify’s TheRewind, Jonas shared his plans to start a family withPriyanka, saying, “I definitely want to be a father some-day.” He also opened up a about his own childhood andsaid he grew up “pretty quick”. “I think that’s a real dream,and I think I have had to grow up pretty quick. With that,you could look at it two ways, you could say that wasunfair, or you could say it has given me some real per-spective at an early age,” Jonas said. “And I have seen alot of life at an early age and I hope to be able to sharethat with a kid of my own someday,” he added.

GLOBE TROTTING

British PM returns

to face EU leaders

AFP n BRUSSELS

British Prime MinisterTheresa May returned to

face EU leaders Friday after theyrebuffed her pleas for help to sellher Brexit plan back home andwarned of the growing threat ofa “no deal.” May had sought topersuade her 27 colleagues shecould overcome huge opposi-tion to the divorce deal amongBritish MPs if they gave hersome assurances over thethorny problem of the Irish bor-der.

But they were not con-vinced, and European diplomatssaid May had been unable toexplain what she wanted or howshe could deliver a British par-liamentary majority to endorsethe deal. “The signals we heardyesterday were not particularlyreassuring on Britain’s capacityto honour the commitmentsthat were made,” Belgian PrimeMinister Charles Michael said.“So we will make sure to preparefor all scenarios and prepare alsofor a no deal scenario,” headded, as he arrived for the sec-ond and final day of the EUsummit.

On Thursday, EuropeanCommission president Jean-Claude Juncker repeated state-ments made all week byEuropean leaders that “there isno room whatsoever for rene-gotiation” of the deal. May post-poned a vote in the House ofCommons this week on theBrexit deal to avoid a crushingdefeat, but has promised it willtake place next month, byJanuary 21 at the latest.

This is uncomfortably closeto Britain’s scheduled exit day onMarch 29, 2019 - and Junckersaid he was stepping up prepa-rations in case it leaves with no

deal in place. AustrianChancellor Sebastian Kurzadded on Friday: “There is awithdrawal deal, and there is anurgent necessity to take deci-sions. We should avoid a no dealscenario.”

May did not speak as shearrived for the summit, whereshe met with French PresidentEmmanuel Macron before EU-wide discussions on migration,Russia and climate change. Shecame to Brussels wounded by aconfidence vote on Wednesdaynight, which she won but inwhich 117 MPs - more thanone-third of her Conservativeparty - voted to oust her.

Opposition to the Brexitdeal in Britain is focused on aso-called “backstop” arrange-ment designed to keep open theborder with Ireland if and untila new UK-EU trade deal issigned. May is seeking “legaland political assurances” thatthis will not keep Britaintrapped indefinitely in an EUcustoms union. Several EUleaders have talked of offering“clarifications” and “explana-tions”, and a statement issuedafter they talked without Maylate Thursday emphasised theywill try to ensure the backstopis never triggered.

But, while an early draft ofthe conclusions said the EU“stands ready to examinewhether any further assurancescan be provided” on the back-stop, this was removed from thefinal version. “Colleagues wereso exasperated that she leftwith less than she could havegot,” a European source said.May told EU leaders they musthelp her “change the perceptionthat the backstop could be a trapfrom which the UK cannotescape”, according to a British

official. “With the right assur-ances, this deal can be passed.Indeed it is the only deal that iscapable of getting through myparliament,” she told them. ButEuropean sources said the roomwas tense, with GermanChancellor Angela Merkel andother leaders repeatedly inter-rupting May to ask her what shewanted and how she coulddeliver it.

Another source who hadbeen in the room told AFP onFriday that May had contra-dicted herself and failed to sayhow any assurances on thebackstop might work, to theconsternation of fellow leaders.

On Friday, however,Luxembourg Prime MinisterXavier Bettel on defended May,saying she “did a good job, shegot the best possible deal”despite being able to deliver herown party’s lawmakers. “Theproblem is the MPs in London,”he said. “The fact is for internalpolitical reasons in the UKsome people try to gamble therelation between the EU and theUK for the future. And it’sbad.” May has faced constantcriticism to her Brexit strategyfrom hardline anti-Europeans inher party, while the NorthernIrish party which props up hergovernment also opposes herdeal.

They want the backstopout of the agreement entirely —but Irish Prime Minister LeoVaradkar once again empha-sised the need to have legalguarantees on keeping openthe Irish border.

“By resolving it in the with-drawal agreement we can makesure no side uses the threat of aborder in Ireland as part ofleverage in the future relation-ship talks,” he said.

... after Brexit deal rebuff

British Prime Minister Theresa May arrives for an EU summit in Brussels on Friday.

Nepal govt bans use of Indian currency notes above `100PTI n KATHMANDU

The Nepal government hasbanned the use of Indian

currency notes of Rs 2,000, Rs500 and Rs 200 denominations,a move that could affect Indiantourists visiting the Himalayannation where Indian currencyis widely used.

Indian currency is exten-sively used by Nepalese peopleand businesses for their savingsand transactions.

The government has askedthe people to refrain fromkeeping or carrying Indianbank notes higher than Rs 100denomination as it has notlegalised them, Nepal’s Ministerfor Information andCommunications GokulPrasad Baskota said.

“The government hasdecided not to use, carry andkeep the Indian bills of 200, 500and 2000 denominations. Thegovernment will soon issue aformal notice in this matter,” he

said. The decision will adverse-ly affect Nepalese labourersworking in India as well asIndian tourists visiting Nepal.

India is Nepal’s largesttrade partner and supplies themajority of its consumer goods.

The Indian governmentintroduced new banknotes ofRs 2,000, Rs 500 and Rs 200denominations after thedemonetisation of old notesworth Rs 500 and 1,000 in

2016. However, the move hitcountries such as Nepal andBhutan where Indian currencyis widely used.

Nepal Premier K P SharmaOli said earlier this year thatdemonetisation hurt theNepalese people and addedthat he would raise the matterwith Indian leaders. Peoplehave been using the new Indiancurrency in Nepal for nearlytwo years now.

China lodges ‘stern’ protest with

US over Senate bill on Tibet

PTI n BEIJING

Ch i n a h a s l o d ge d a“s te r n” d ip l omat i c

protest with the US over theSenate passing a bipartisanlegislation that seeks toi mp o s e a v i s a b an onChinese officials who denyAmerican citizens, officialsand journalists access toTibet, even as Bejing askedWashington not to make ita law.

R e a c t i ng to t h e U Smove, Chinese foreign min-istry spokesman Lu Kangsaid here that the Americanaction disregarded facts andamounted to interfering inChina’s internal affairs and

was a violation of interna-tional rules. “China is firm-ly opposed to it and lodgedstern representations to theUS. I have to point out thatTibet affairs come underChina’s internal affairs andit allows no foreign inter-ference,” he said.

‘The Reciprocal Accessto Tibet Act’, seeking unhin-dered access to Tibetanareas for Americans, some-thing which is routinelydenied by the Chinese gov-ernment, was passed by theUS House of Representativesin September.

T h e U S S e n at e onTuesday passed the crucialbipartisan legislation that

also calls for a visa ban onChinese officials who denyAmerican citizens, govern-ment officials and journal-ists access to Tibet, theremote Himalayan home-land of exiled Tibetan spir-itual leader the Dalai Lama.

The legislation, passedunanimously, comes amidthe Trump administrationimposing massive tradeimport duties on China thathas started impacting theChinese economy.

The bill now heads tot he Wh ite Hous e forPresident Donald Trump tosign into law.

Lu s a i d fore i g n e rsentering Tibet can apply

through normal channelsand every year a lot of for-eigners and local touristsvisit Tibet.

He said s ince 2015 ,about 40,000 Americans vis-ited Tibet and this includedUS Senators, Congressmenand businessmen.

“ This shows the USaccusations do not holdwater at all and Chinesegovernment and people can-not accept that.

We u rge t he U S toimmediately take effectivemeasures to stop signingthe act into law and thusavoid harming US-Chinarelations and our coopera-tion in key areas,” he said.

Chinese FM to visit Indianext weekPTI n BEIJING

Chinese Foreign MinisterWang Yi will visit India

next week to attend the firsthigh-level meeting of Sino-India ‘people-to-people mech-anism’ agreed between PrimeMinister Narendra Modi andPresident Xi Jinping in June,officials announced here onFriday.

During the visit fromDecember 21-24, Wang will co-chair the meeting along with

External Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj, ChineseForeign Ministry spokesmanLu Kang told a media briefing.The two countries decided toset up “people to people mech-anism” during Prime MinisterModi’s meeting with PresidentXi at Qingdao in June this yearon the sidelines of the ShanghaiCooperation Organisation(SCO) summit. The people-to-people mechanism is aimed atbuilding on the momentum ofthe informal summit betweenModi and Xi at Wuhan inApril this year. Prime MinisterModi met President Xi in Aprilin an unprecedented two-day‘heart-to-heart’ summit in thecentral Chinese city of Wuhanto “solidify” the India-Chinarelationship after the Doklamstandoff last year.

AFP n BEIJING

China pressed on with itstrade war truce with the

United States on Friday,announcing it will suspend extratariffs added to US-made carsand auto parts for three monthsfrom January 1. The move isanother sign that the ceasefire hasnot been derailed by the recentarrest in Canada of a top Chinesetelecom executive at the behest ofthe United States.

Beijing raised tariffs onAmerican-made cars and autoparts this summer by 25 percentin retaliation for US tariffs on $50billion of Chinese goods.“Suspension of the tariffs is a con-crete measure to implement theconsensus reached by the twoheads of state,” said theannouncement by the StateCouncil’s Tariff CommissionOffice, noting it applied to 211product codes.

US President Donald Trumpand Chinese leader Xi Jinpingagreed on the sidelines of the G20summit in Buenos Aires onDecember 1 to a 90-day truce

while they tried to find a solutionto the escalating trade dispute.While China and the US initial-ly provided differing accounts ofthe scope of their agreement,

Beijing has recently begun to acton claims put forth by WhiteHouse officials as to what stepsChina would take. “We hope thatboth sides will, in accordance

with the consensus reached bythe two heads of state, on thepremise of mutual respect, mutu-al equality, faithfulness, wordsand actions, and intensify con-sultations in the direction ofcancelling all of the extra tariffincreases,” the State Council’sstatement said.Confusion andunease over what agreement thetwo sides reached in Argentinahas roiled stock markets.

The arrest of Huawei’s chieffinancial officer, Meng Wanzhou,in Vancouver on December 1 hasalso angered China, raising con-cerns that her case could affectthe trade negotiations.

Meng, who faces US fraudcharges related to Iran sanctionsviolations, was granted Can$10million (US$ 7.5 million) onTuesday. Two Canadians weredetained in China on Monday inwhat many experts say was retal-iation for Canada’s arrest of

Meng.But the tangible move by

China to suspend tariffs on carsand auto parts, as announced byTrump on Twitter shortly afterthe meeting, is a sign that tradenegotiations remain on track.China on Thursday said that itwould welcome US negotiators tovisit the country for talks as bothsides focus on a solution tothorny trade issues.

Maintaining and resolvingthe trade truce could help sta-bilise sentiment in China, whereconfidence in the economy hasbeen hurt by the trade frictionswith key trade partner the US.

Earlier on Friday economicdata showed Chinese consumerspending grew at its slowest pacein 15 years and factories eased upin November, raising the prospectthat Beijing could turn to freshstimulus measures to help thesputtering economy.

Pak receives 2nd

$1 bn bailoutpackage fromSaudi ArabiaIslamabad (PTI): Cash-strapped Pakistan on Fridayreceived USD 1 billion from itsclose ally Saudi Arabia as partof a second bailout package toboost the country’s dwindlingdollar reserves, according tomedia reports.

The latest package hasshored up the central bank’sforeign reserves, hitting theUSD 9.4 billion mark, saidState Bank of PakistanSpokesman Abid Qamar. Hesaid another Saudi financialpackage was expected inJanuary next year, Dawn news-paper reported. In October,Saudi Arabia agreed to providePakistan USD 3 billion in for-eign currency support for ayear to address its balance-of-payments crisis.

During Prime MinisterImran Khan’s visit to SaudiArabia on October 23, it wasannounced that the oil-richcountry will provide a USD 6billion package to Pakistan tosupport its ailing economy.The package included USD 3billion balance of paymentssupport and USD 3 billion indeferred payments on oilimport. Pakistan received thefirst tranche of USD 1 billionfrom Saudi Arabia onNovember 9.

According to figures sharedby Prime Minister Khan inOctober, the country’s totalforeign debt has surged to Rs30,000 billion within the lastdecade, while circular debt hasreached Rs 1,200 billion, thereport said.

China to suspend extra tariffs on US cars, parts

UN climate talks: Experts slam draft ‘weak’text on implementing Paris agreementKatowice (Poland) (PTI):Hours ahead of the UN climatetalks are set to end here, diplo-mats from across the worldFriday came up with a “weak”draft text on a rulebook for thefull implementation of theParis Agreement post-2020,even as key issues like financeremain unresolved.

Developing nations, whichrely on fossil fuels, say theycannot make their economiesgreener without transparentfunding from the developednations. With the UN ClimateChange Conference (CoP24)

about to conclude, civil societyorganisations criticised the cur-rent draft text released by thehost, Poland, saying it is “weak”and it carries “the US imprinteverywhere”.

They claimed that the basicprinciples of the UNFramework Convention onClimate Change (UNFCCC)such as equity and Commonbut DifferentiatedResponsibilities and RespectiveCapabilities (CBDRRC) andmatters agreed in the Parisaccord, including on finance,have not been reflected in the

draft text. “On the whole, theanalysis is that the currentdraft text is weak in terms offinance and raising ambition. Itis still a long way to go todetermine the finer details ofthe elements,” Indian climateexpert Chandra Bhushan said.

Bhushan, who is also thedeputy director general of NewDelhi- based advocacy groupCentre for Science andEnvironment (CSE), allegedthat developing countries havelost the fight for “flexibility toall” while providing informa-tion on their climate action. He

said it is a clear victory for theUS, the EU and China.

According to the analysisprepared by the CSE, there isno mention of raising ambitionin action and support post-2020 and integrating it with sci-ence. For pre-2020, the devel-oped countries are merelyencouraged to step up theirpre-2020 ambitions, it said.

“Loss and damage is theweakest and clearly impliesthat developed countries haveturned a blind eye to the mostexistential impacts of climatechange on poor and vulnerable

Organic food worse for climate, says study

PTI n LONDON

Organic food has a biggerclimate impact than con-

ventionally farmed food, due tothe greater areas of landrequired, according to a study.Researchers from the ChalmersUniversity of Technology inSweden developed a newmethod for assessing the cli-mate impact from land-use, andused this, along with othermethods, to compare organicand conventional food pro-duction.

The results, published inthe journal Nature, show thatorganic food can result in muchgreater emissions. “Our studyshows that organic peas, farmed

in Sweden, have around a 50per cent bigger climate impactthan conventionally farmedpeas,” said Stefan Wirsenius, anassociate professor at Chalmers.“For some foodstuffs, there is aneven bigger difference — for

example, with organic Swedishwinter wheat the difference iscloser to 70 per cent,” Wirseniussaid.

The reason why organicfood is so much worse for theclimate is that the yields per

hectare are much lower, pri-marily because fertilisers are notused. To produce the sameamount of organic food, youtherefore need a much biggerarea of land, researchers said.

“The greater land-use inorganic farming leads indirect-ly to higher carbon dioxideemissions, thanks to deforesta-tion,” said Wirsenius. “If weuse more land for the sameamount of food, we contributeindirectly to bigger deforesta-tion elsewhere in the world,” hesaid. Even organic meat anddairy products are — from a cli-mate point of view — worsethan their conventionally pro-duced equivalents, researchers

said. Since organic meat andmilk production uses organicfeed-stock, it also requires moreland than conventional pro-duction, they said.

“This means that the find-ings on organic wheat and peasin principle also apply to meatand milk products,” Wirseniussaid. “We have not done anyspecific calculations on meatand milk, however, and have noconcrete examples of this in thearticle,” he said. The researchersused a new metric, which theycall “Carbon Opportunity Cost”,to evaluate the effect of greaterland-use contributing to high-er carbon dioxide emissionsfrom deforestation.

Polish teenagers stage a protest in the U.N. climate conference venue on the last days of talks to urge negotiators from almost200 countries to reach an agreement on ways of keeping global warming in check in Katowice, Poland. AP

world 12LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

‘Trump calls India a true friend’

PTI n WASHINGTON

President Donald Trumpcalls India a “true friend”,

a top American diplomat hassaid as she highlighted thesteps taken by the US over thelast two years to strengthenits ties with India for the ben-efit of a broader Indo Pacificregion. Principal DeputyAssistant Secretary of Statefor South and Central AsiaAlice Wells’ remarks came ata farewell reception hosted bythe State Department in hon-our of the outgoing IndianAmbassador to the US,Navtej Singh Sarna.

“President Trump callsIndia a true friends andSecretary (of State Mike)Pompeo has characterise theUS-India bilateral relation-ship as one deeply bound byour shared values,” she said.

Top officials of the StateDepartment and the WhiteHouse were present at thefarewell reception for Sarnaheld at the historic BlairHouse, which is the officialguest house of the USPresident. It is quite rare thatthe Blair House is used for aState Department farewellreception for an outgoingdiplomat.

The US tenure of Sarna,who is retiring from Indianforeign service after an illus-

trious career of 38 years, hasbeen extraordinary, Wellstold the select audience.Sarna took charge as India’sambassador to the US onNovember 5, 2016. “Overthe last two years, we havebeen able to host PrimeMinister (Narendra) Modihere in Washington for asuccessful summit withPresident Trump,” Wells said.

During Sarna’s tenure,the two countries have inau-gurated a new 2 +2 Dialogueto elevate their cooperationon security and strategic pri-orities for the benefit of theirpeople and for the benefit ofa broader Indo Pacific regionwhere the leadership of thetwo nations matters so much.

“Under your leadershipin our countries have negoti-

ated and finalised a landmarkcommunications compatibil-ity and security agreement,which makes our militarycooperation more profoundand advanced.

We have also taken sig-nificant steps to build onIndia’s status as a US majordefense partner, includingelevating India to strategictrade authorization, tier onestatus,” Wells said.

“In your engagementswith Americans across thecountry and also with themore than three millionIndian Americans and thisincredibly vibrant businessleaders, the students, thetechnologist, the artist, youreally helped bring our peo-ple in other countries togeth-er,” she said as she praised

Sarna. Sarna said that the suc-cessful visit of Prime MinisterModi in June 2017 was thehigh point of his term here inWashington DC.

“The fact that the out-comes were so strong fromthe visit, the personal chem-istry between Prime MinisterModi and President trumpwas so, so evident... and thejoint statement that we cameout with really set the chartfor the months to follow,” theIndian ambassador said.

Listing some of the majorhighlights of his posting inUS, Sarna said “today we canlook back on and say that,well, yes, we are truly strate-gic global partners”.

“We have found a hugeamount of understanding forour political space, for ourstrategic autonomy, for theneeds of our economy, for ourrole, for our taking intoaccount our art history andour regional position vis a visseveral other countries,” hesaid.

“I think this entireprocess of building the bilat-eral relationship has been towork with each other to findwhile each country fulfils itsnational objectives – the USas well as India – at the sametime, we find ways and meansof growing together,” he said.

Supporters of ousted Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe celebrate outside the supreme court complex in Colombo,Sri Lanka on Thursday. AP

Irish Parl votes to legalise abortion

PTI n LONDON

Ireland’s parliament haspassed a landmark legislation

to make abortion legal for thefirst time in the Catholic-majority country, a “historicmoment” which came after anIndian dentist died from bloodpoisoning in 2012 when thedoctors refused her repeatedrequests to abort the foetus.

Ireland voted decisively tochange the Constitution torepeal the Eighth Amendmentin May, with 66.4 per cent vot-ing in favour of new legislationto allow for the termination ofpregnancies. “The bill thatallows for the introduction ofabortion services in Ireland haspassed all stages of theOireachtas(Irish Parliament)and will now go to PresidentMichael D Higgins to be signedinto law,” Irish BroadcasterRTE reported on Thursday.

“Historic moment for Irishwomen. Thanks to all whosupported and well done to(Health Minister) Simon Harrisfor steering this through bothHouses,” Ireland’s Indian-originPresident Leo Varadkar said.

The new development has

come following a rising num-ber of distressing stories aboutwomen unable to get an abor-tion in Ireland. One of thehigh-profile cases was that of31-year-old Indian dentistSavita Halappanavar, who diedin agony from blood poisoningafter doctors refused herrepeated requests for an abor-tion while she was having amiscarriage at a Galway hos-pital in 2012. Her death helped“personalise” the debate aroundabortion, said a legal scholar atTrinity College Dublin. “Thisis a genuinely historic moment.It paves the way for the imple-mentation of the service for ter-

mination of pregnancy inJanuary 2019,” said MinisterHarris. The Regulation ofTermination of Pregnancy Billallows for abortion services tobe provided “on demand” up tothe 12th week of a pregnancy,in the case of a fatal foetalabnormality or where the phys-ical or mental health of themother is in danger.

Since the bill’s introduc-tion at first stage in October,there have been some minorchanges, including a decision toreview the legislation afterthree years, rather than fiveyears as was originally planned.Two different doctors will be

allowed to assess a woman inearly pregnancy and theoffences section has beenmoved from the front of thebill, the BBC reported. “I wantto thank the campaigners whofought for 35 years to change anation, to change hearts andminds.

I want to thank the minor-ity who fought the battle in herewhen it was convenient for themajority to ignore. “But today,I think mostly of the thousandsof women who were forced tomake the journey to access carethat should have been availablein their own country,” Harrissaid.

Ireland is a Catholic-majority country with about 80per cent of Irish people describ-ing themselves as Catholic inthe last census in 2016 even asthe influence of the Church haswaned in recent years.Varadkar, a 39-year-old Indian-origin doctor, scripted historyin June last year by becomingIreland’s youngest and the firstopenly gay prime minister ofthe Catholic-majority coun-try, as he promised to build “arepublic of opportunity”.

Indian techie sentenced to 9 years inprison for sexual assault inside planePTI n WASHINGTON

An Indian IT professionalwas sentenced to nine years

of imprisonment on Thursdayon charges of a “brazen sexualassault” against a fellow femalepassenger inside a commercialairplane early this year. PrabhuRamamoorthy, 35, who came tothe US on a H-1B visa in 2015,will be deported after he serveshis sentence, a federal court inDetroit said as it sentenced theIndian national to nine years ofimprisonment. Judge TerrenceBerge hoped it would be graveenough to deter others fromcommitting similar crimes.Federal prosecutors had sought11 years of imprisonment forRamamoorthy.

“Everyone has the right tobe secure and safe when theytravel on airplanes. We will nottolerate the behaviour of any-one, who takes advantage ofvictims who are in a vulnerableposition. We appreciate thevictim in this case for her

courage to speak out,” USAttorney Matthew Schneidersaid after the sentencing wasannounced.

Ramamoorthy was con-victed in August after a five-daytrial that was conducted beforeUnited States District JudgeTerrence Berg. The jury delib-erated approximately three-and-a-half hours before return-ing the guilty verdict. Accordingto the evidence presented at thetrial, on January 3,

Ramamoorthy had engaged ina sexual act with a female,while she was sleeping on aflight from Las Vegas to Detroit.Ramamoorthy was seated alongwith his wife, when he sexual-ly assaulted his co-passenger.

During the trial, the gov-ernment admitted evidencedemonstrating thatRamamoorthy had digitallypenetrated the woman sleepingnext to him during theovernight flight. The sexualassault woke her up, she foundher pants unbuttoned andunzipped, and sought help fromthe flight attendants.

The sentence was proofthat the safety and security ofall aircraft passengers was a pri-ority for the FBI, said TimothyR Slater, Special Agent inCharge, Detroit Division of theFBI.

In recent years, a number ofIndian nationals have beenarrested or charged with sexu-al assaults inside a plane. The

FBI says airplane sexual assaultis a serious offence that is on therise. FBI statistics indicate thatinvestigations of mid-air sexu-al assaults increased by 66 percent from 2014 to 2017.

That was in part due toincreasingly “cramped, con-fined spaces; alcohol and drugs;fewer flight attendants; anddark cabins on night flights” —factors that “likely emboldenoffenders” — the FBI said in arecent report.

The cramped style of air-plane seating can exacerbatetrauma for victims. Accordingto mental health professionals,victims who are violated in con-fined spaces feel even morehelpless, vulnerable and pow-erless.

Victims may also feelintimidated by the person sit-ting next to them since the seat-ing arrangement means that theperpetrator is effectively block-ing the victim from getting up,according to the FBI.

Koreas tomeet IOC inFeb on jointOlympic bidAFP nSEOUL

The two Koreas on Friday agreedto hold talks with the

International Olympic Committeeon their joint bid for the 2032Summer Games in February, Seoulsaid, as a rapid diplomatic thawtakes hold on the peninsula. Northand South Korean officials will meetwith the IOC in Lausanne,Switzerland on February 15 to dis-cuss the prospects of co-hosting the2032 Olympics, according to a jointstatement following a cross-bordermeeting on Friday. Making a jointbid for the 2032 Games was part ofa broader agreement made betweenthe North’s leader Kim Jong Un andthe South’s President Moon Jae-induring their third summit inPyongyang in September. If itmaterialises, it will mark the firsttime for the Olympics, summer orwinter, to be shared by two coun-tries.

The two sides also agreed toform unified teams at the TokyoSummer Paralympics in 2020, inaddition to their earlier deal to joint-ly compete at the Olympics in thesame year. They have yet to deter-mine which Olympic sport willhave North and South Koreans onthe same team, but the South’s chiefdelegate said a decision will bereached in the next few weeks.“Weagreed to narrow down the sportsto those that will see a synergy effectunder cooperation between theSouth and North,” vice sports min-ister Roh Tae-kang said after themeeting, according to pool reports.

The two Koreas technicallyremain at war after the 1950-53Korean War ended with anarmistice instead of a peace treatywith military clashes often erupt-ing along the frontier. But tiesimproved markedly afterPyongyang sent athletes and topdelegates — including leader Kim’syounger sister — to the 2018Winter Games held in the South inFebruary, for which the two rivalsalso formed a joint women’s icehockey team. Kim has made aseries of reconciliatory gesturessince then, including a landmarksummit with US President DonaldTrump in Singapore in June andthree summits with Moon — adove who advocates dialogue withthe North.

AFP n BEIRUT

Kurdish-dominated forcesbacked by air strikes by a

US-led coalition retook fullcontrol of a key jihadist hub ineastern Syria on Friday, a warmonitor said.

The Syrian DemocraticForces secured Hajin, thelargest settlement in what isthe last pocket of territory con-trolled by the Islamic Stategroup, the Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights said.“Aftera week of heavy fighting and

air strikes, the SDF were ableto kick IS out of Hajin,” RamiAbdel Rahman, the head ofthe Britain-based monitoringorganisation, said.

The operation was com-pleted at dawn, he said, a dayafter SDF forces fanned outacross the large village in theEuphrates valley.

The last IS fighters onThursday were confined to anetwork of tunnels and theedges of Hajin, which lies inthe eastern province of Deir

Ezzor, about 30 kilometres(18 miles) from the borderwith Iraq.

The area held by IS issometimes referred to as the“Hajin pocket”, the last rumpof a once-sprawling “caliphate”the group proclaimed in 2014over swathes of Syria and Iraq.

According to AbdelRahman, a total of 17,000fighters from he Kurdish-ArabSDF alliance are involved inthe operation to flush IS out ofits last bastion.

Cinema, museum visits may ward off depression in elderly: StudyPTI n LONDON

Regular visits to the cinema,theatre or to museums

could dramatically reduce thechances of becoming depressedin old age, a study claims.Researchers at UniversityCollege London in the UKfound a clear link between thefrequency of ‘cultural engage-ment’ and the chances of some-one over 50 developing depres-sion.

The study is the first toshow that cultural activities notonly help people manage andrecover from depression but canactually help to prevent it. Thestudy, published in the BritishJournal of Psychiatry, foundpeople who attended films,plays or exhibitions every fewmonths had a 32 per cent lowerrisk of developing depression,with those attending once amonth or more having a 48 percent lower risk. “Generallyspeaking, people know the ben-

efits of eating their five-a-dayand of exercise for their physi-cal and mental health, but thereis very little awareness that cul-tural activities also have similarbenefits,” said Daisy Fancourt,lead author of the study.

“People engage with culturefor the pure enjoyment of doingso, but we need to be raisingawareness of their wider bene-fits too,” Fancourt said. Thestudy looked at data on morethan 2,000 people over the ageof 50, who took part in the long-running English LongitudinalStudy of Ageing (ELSA). The

researchers were able to look atdata collected from people’sanswers to questionnaires andin one-to-one interviews overthe course of ten years.

This included informa-tion about how often they vis-ited the theatre, concerts or theopera, the cinema, art galleries,exhibitions or museums. Evenwhen the results were adjustedto take account of differences inpeople’s age, gender, health andtheir levels of wealth, educationand exercise, the benefits of cul-tural activities remained clear.

Those benefits were alsoindependent of whether or notpeople had contact with friendsand family or took part insocial activities like clubs andsocieties. The researchersbelieve the power of these cul-tural activities lies in the com-bination of social interaction,creativity, mental stimulationand gentle physical activity theyencourage.

US-backed forces retake IS hub in Syria

German Parliament approvesthird gender identity for recordsAFP n BERLIN

The German parliament hasapproved a third gender

option for official records thatwill allow people to be regis-tered as “diverse.” Lawmakersapproved the change lateThursday.

The government had toact after Germany’s highestcourt ruled last year that peo-ple must be allowed to register

as neither male nor female,ordering authorities to create athird identity or scrap genderentries altogeth-

er.

Thatfollowed

a case inwhich a plaintiff had

sought unsuccessfully to

have their entry in the birthregister changed from “female”to “inter/diverse” or “diverse.”Until now, the only otheroption was to leave the genderblank.Advocacy groups andsome opposition politiciansargue the resulting legislationdoesn’t go far enough. In mostcases, it requires people toproduce a doctor’s certificate tochange their status.

France dismisses ISIS claim forStrasbourg Christmas bloodshedAFP n STRASBOURG

France’s interior minister onFriday dismissed a claim by

the Islamic State group that itwas responsible for a shootingspree at a Christmas market inStrasbourg after the gunmanwas shot dead by police, end-ing a 48-hour manhunt. Thecity reopened the market onFriday, with officials praisingthe massive public help andquick police reaction that led tothe death of suspected shoot-er Cherif Chekatt late onThursday.

He was tracked down ataround 9:00 pm (local time)when a police patrol spottedhim on a street in a districtwhere he was last seen afterTuesday night’s attack. Around800 people had called in tips toa hotline after the authoritiesreleased his name and photoWednesday night, includingtwo which France’s anti-terrorprosecutor Remy Heitz called“decisive” in finding Chekatt.

The information allowedpolice to home in on an area inthe Neudorf neighbourhood,where he tried to escape into abuilding after being spotted bya patrol. Unable to get in thedoor, he turned and shot at the

three officers with a handgunwhen they tried to approach,two of whom returned fireand killed him, Heitz said at apress conference in Strasbourg.Two more people weredetained for questioningovernight, bringing to seven thenumber in custody, includingChekatt’s parents and twobrothers, Heitz said.

Police are now focusingtheir investigation on whetherChekatt had any help in carry-ing out his attack or while onthe run, he added.

The lights on the market’stowering Christmas tree wereilluminated Friday for the firsttime since the attack, as InteriorMinister Christophe Castanervisited with stall owners andthe hundreds of security forcesmembers on site. He dismissedas “completely opportunistic” aTwitter post by the IS propa-ganda wing which claimedChekatt, a career criminal with27 convictions in four coun-tries, was one of its “soldiers.”“We’re dealing with a manwho was consumed by evil,”Castaner said. Questionsremain over how Chekatt wasable to evade the tight securi-ty perimeter set up around theStrasbourg Christmas market

which has long been a primetarget for jihadist groups.

Around 500 police, securi-ty agents and soldiers controlaccess at checkpoints on thebridges leading to the riverisland, a UN World Heritagesite, that houses the market.The goal is to “create a bubblewith searches at the entrypoints,” Mayor Roland Riessaid after the attack, whileregional government repre-sentative Jean-Luc Marx said hehad not determined “any flawsin the security measures”.

Many residents, however,were not convinced afterChekatt managed to slipthrough the controls with ahandgun and a knife which heused to kill three people andinjure 13. “It doesn’t surpriseme,” said Emeline, 38, whoworks in the city centre. “Youwear a heavy coat, put some-thing in the bottom of yourbag. You can bring in what youwant.”

France has been on highalert since the start of a wave ofjihadist attacks in 2015, whichprompted a threefold surge inthe security budget for themarket, to one million euros.Chekatt, a 29-year-oldStrasbourg native who lived in

a rundown apartment block ashort drive from the city cen-tre, was flagged by Frenchsecurity forces in 2015 as a pos-sible Islamic extremist. ButDefence Minister FlorenceParly rejected criticism thatChekatt’s presence on the coun-try’s so-called “S file” of extrem-ists should have prompted amore proactive reaction fromthe authorities. “You can’t...arrest someone just becauseyou think he might do some-thing,” Parly told RadioClassique on Friday.

Strasbourg’s deputy mayorAlain Fontanel admitted thatdespite patrols, plainclothespolice, profilers and video sur-veillance, “the risks can bereduced, but not eliminated”.

“We can’t pat down andsearch everyone, only carryout random checks,” he said,adding that huge lines at check-points would only create anew potential target for ter-rorists. “Someone who wants toget in an area this big with aweapon can do it,” he said. Suchreasoning was little comfort tothe residents and tourists whoflock to the Strasbourg market.

“We thought this wouldhappen only in Nice or at theBataclan, but here it is at home,”

With no relief from SC, Rajapaksa likely to quit todayPTI n COLOMBO

Signalling an end to the near-ly two-month power tussle in

Sri Lanka, disputed PrimeMinister Mahinda Rajapaksawill resign on Saturday, his sonsaid Friday, soon after theSupreme Court refused to stay acourt order that restrained theembattled former strongmanfrom acting as the premier untilit fully heard the case nextmonth.

Rajapaksa, 73, was appoint-ed as the prime minister onOctober 26 by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena in a con-troversial move after sackingRanil Wickremesinghe, whichplunged the island nation into aconstitutional crisis.

“To ensure stability of thenation, Former President@PresRajapaksa has decided toresign from the Premiershiptomorrow after an address to thenation,” Rajapaksa’s son Namaltweeted. The Sri Lanka PodujanaPeramuna (SLPP) with formerpresident, Sri Lanka FreedomParty (SLFP) and others will“now work to form a broaderpolitical coalition with PresidentSirisena”, Namal Rajapaksa, alawmaker, added.

Wickremesinghe’s camp washopeful that Sirisena would nowreinstate him over the weekendafter Rajapaksa resigns, effectivelyending the political stalemate thatplagued the nation for the pastseven weeks. There was no

immediate reaction fromPresident Sirisena, the architectof the current crisis.

Parliamentarian LakshmanYapa Abeywardena saidRajapaksa, who ruled Sri Lankafor nearly a decade, decided tostep down in the best interest ofthe country.

He claimed Rajapaksa canhold office without resigningbut that will only further drag thepolitical turmoil in the country.So the former president decidedto step down after the court rul-ing given on Friday and onThursday.

His Cabinet will also standdissolved, Abeywardena wasquoted as saying by the ColomboGazette. The apex court’s latest

ruling came a day after it unan-imously declared that the disso-lution of Parliament by PresidentMaithripala Sirisena was “illegal”,in a body blow to the embattledleader, whose controversial deci-sions plunged the island nationinto an unprecedented politicalturmoil.

The Supreme Court decid-ed that a Court of Appeal orderissued against the appointment ofRajapaksa as Prime Ministerand against his Cabinet fromholding office will stand.

The appeal filed byRajapaksa will be taken up forhearing on January 16, 17 and 18.

The apex court asked all par-ties to provide written submis-sions within three weeks.

The Appeal Court onDecember 3 issued notice and aninterim order against Rajapaksaand his Government, preventingthem from acting as PrimeMinister, Cabinet and DeputyMinisters. The order was issuedin a case filed by 122 lawmakersagainst Rajapaksa and his newgovernment.

Rajapaksa and the membersof the purported governmentfiled the appeal against the Courtof Appeal’s interim injunctionthat restrained them from func-tioning in their respective posts.

The United National Front(UNF) said the order meansRajapaksa cannot be PrimeMinister and so the formerCabinet must be reinstated.

S H O R T C I R C U I T S

Even if we touch the sky, wecannot uproot ourselves. Koikitna bhi bada ho, apne badose bada nahi hota. Ye merebado ki dharti hai. (No matterhow much one achieves, s/he isnot bigger than her/his elders.This is the land of my elders).It's nostalgic and emotional tosing for my people on myhomeground.

Marriage is like the best thing

that has ever happened to me. I

feel some kind of magic. it's like

I'm invincible. You know in

those superhero movies, you

know that moment when the

suit comes on. I feel like mar-

riage has done that to me. I

would highly recommend it to

the entire young population.

KAILASH KHERMATTHEW HEALY

I don't think it is particular-ly brave to be talking aboutmy drug addiction in mysong. Telling the truth isthe only option. That's whyI represent it in my art andthe way I speak and theway I am with people. It isimportant for me to beupfront. People can dealwith anything if it’s true.

RANVEER SINGH

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

It feels nice to be one of thetop actresses of Bollywood.It's not something that hasfallen in my lap.My message to kids is thatwork hard, believe in yourdreams and have fun while

you are at it. Life is not onlyabout being at the top,

but more about enjoyingthe process.

EVENT 30 MINUTES

DEEPIKA PADUKONE

Limitless is a song that Sia

wrote for the movie, Second

Act. It's the anthem for the film.

I asked her watch the movie

and tell me what you think — if

you're inspired, write some-

thing, and she wrote that song

which is I thought I had to be

somebody else, but look at

me now, I'm limitless.

JENNIFER LOPEZ

ENCOUNTER 20 MINUTES

DIALOGUE 40 MINUTES

Can you tell us James, what wasthe most important part for you to

get right in creating this worldand telling this story visually?

James Wan: Probably one ofthe biggest visuals I wanted toget right was the costume ofAquaman. That was definite-

ly something we worked hardand long on. I really want-ed to capture the vibrancyof Atlantis and all theunderwater kingdomsand do justice to thecomic book while obvi-ously, filtering itthrough my own sensi-bility.

Mera is fierce. Shegoes toe-to-toe with the

bad guy. What are youmost proud of in terms

of this character — theway she was written and the

way you portrayed her?Amber Heard: Well, I feel

really lucky to have worked withpeople who wanted to maintain

the integrity and strength of theoriginal character. Mera never was

anything other than a bad-ass superhero. She is no damsel in distress. Mera

is a kick-ass woman and doesn’t need anyhelp from anyone. It was amazing to getto play a character like her.

Orm is the villain of the film but

he also has a point about humankinddestroying the oceans. What was it likeplaying the many sides of this complexcharacter?

Patrick Wilson: Well, his fight is per-fectly understandable. There’s a long his-tory of Aquaman protecting oceans,fighting whaling, saving fishermen, allthroughout comic history. I like that theyleft the pollution up to Orm because itenables you to have a really violentresponse. And I think there’s somethingcathartic for an audience watching that.I think you’d be hard-pressed to findsomeone who didn’t think we weredestroying the oceans; of course we are.And, of course, it’s something we all needto take heed of — not that, that’s the maintheme of the story, but certainly that’sOrm’s track when he sets out to combinehis armies and take on the surface.Everybody says, ‘Yeah, I get it. So, it’s a funway in, because then you’ve got conflict.You sort of wonder, so he’s the little broth-er of an older brother he never had?’ Heknows deep down he is the firstborn, sothere are all those very Shakespeareancomplex emotions that he’s dealing with.But you start him from a very organicplace, then you can go as big as you want,which we do.

James, what was your biggest chal-lenge, and why Jason?

James Wan: Ultimately, it is justbringing his personality to this character— not bringing him to Aquaman, butbringing Aquaman to him. And what I

love most about it is I get to be the oneto showcase the other side of JasonMomoa that not many people have seen,which is the funny side of him. And afterthis movie comes out, people are going tosee what a great potential romantic leadhe is as well.

Jason Momoa: I just want to speakEnglish. I don’t want to fight anymore.

James Wan: But that’s what I loveabout Jason — he comes in and just makesa statement with this character, and that’swhat this first movie really needs.

When you first learned that you weregoing to play Aquaman, how did it makeyou feel to know you’d be taking on oneof the most iconic heroes known incomic books?

Jason Momoa: When Zack (Snyder,the director) first told me I’d be the cast…I wish I had a picture of my face because,I am the last person he should be hiring.I thought I’d be playing a villain. It was anhonour. Zack’s perspective is so radical,and what it offered to the team in JusticeLeague was something we hadn’t seen.And it’s not until the end of this movie thatwe get to him being a king.

With so many water effects in thismovie, what were some of the challengesyou ran into?

James Wan: You hear it all the timefrom filmmakers that making movies withwater is not the most pleasant thing. It’suncomfortable and slows down the speedof the film. The irony is all the sequences

that are actually fully submerged in thisunderwater world — that was actually shotdry for wet. And that’s literally what itsounds like, in these rigs that simulateswimming, floating, and how your bodymoves underwater. But we did play witha lot of water as well. I don’t think you canmake an Aquaman movie and actually nothave anyone get wet. And, again, the ironyis that when we’re actually above the water— when we’re dry — that’s when I haveto drench the actors nonstop. Whenthey’re actually out of water, that’s whenthey’re dripping wet. But when you’reunderwater, people actually look dry, sothat’s why we shot it without water.

The biggest water set that we had inthis film was the submarine sequence atthe beginning. We built the submarineover a water tank and would just submergeit again and again. As we’d play out thescene, we would submerge it, and thenbring it back out of the water tank, blowdry it down, and then do take two, andthen take three. It was quite a laboriousprocess. And, a bit of a pain.

Jason, this movie is going to meansomething to Aquamanfans, but doyou think it has something specific to sayfor people who are half-Asian or hald-native Hawaiian?

Jason Momoa: Coming from thePolynesian islands, there are so manywater gods that we have and so much folk-lore and mythology about how the islandscame about — from Kanaloa to Tomaloaand Maui. It’s the Poseidon story and I getto play that. To be the first mixed-racedSuper Hero in 2018 is a huge honour. Andalso just to play it so close to who I am,with all of Arthur’s imperfections. I don’thave to be Superman — I’m not. But I gotto play it as someone who really is splitbetween those two worlds, and I’m excit-ed for the world to see it.

What is the one thing you reallyhope people will take away from thisfilm?

James Wan: For the fans out therewho have stood by Aquaman all theseyears while people made fun of him, hiscomic book and all the characters in hisworld — I want them to see that this isfinally the opportunity to get revenge. Thismovie is made with a lot of passion. I wantpeople to know that I respected thesource material in making this film. Andthen, on the other side, I want to intro-duce all these characters to a whole newgeneration of kids that didn’t grow up withAquaman, and so I want the two separateworlds to come together.

What were called the melas,popularly known as amuse-ment fairs, have now got a

suave new avatar as theme-based festi-vals and extravaganzas, especially onesthat are centred food. In fact, the turnof the season seems to signal the startof a host of events centred aroundgourmet eating. This trend has not onlyacquired a must-do status among thedenizens of the capital but also shapesthe face for various cuisines and foodcultures in the year to come.

Ruchi Sibal, co-founder and direc-tor of the Palate Fest, says that the fes-tival was the first-of-its-kind when itwas launched five years ago. “We con-ceptualised the show keeping in minda space where there is something foreveryone including kids and adults. Ifit provides a section to particularcuisines to showcase, there is also a spe-cial section for kids as well as one forpresenting food products for adults,” shesays.

There will be gaming zones for kidsand sections that promote healthy eat-ing habits. It also gives a platform forvarious chefs and cooks to share andlearn new recipes.

With about 80 stalls, the festivaloffers piquant food options like fresh-ly-skewed fish, barbecued chicken,noodles, and various cuisines includingMexican and pan-Asian.

“Food is something that can bringeverybody together. People used to gofor picnics in the parks earlier. Now thatconcept is vanishing. However, such fes-tivals, in a way, are trying to replicatethe experience minus the preparationand time that these entailed. These aimto bring in delicacies at big venues,”

believes Ruchi.So what is the biggest element that

the festival offers? Founder AditiKapoor says that by bringing in chefsfrom many segments, they are trying topromote healthier food eating habits.She says, “We have chef Sabyasachi whopromotes ‘healthy bingeing’ of fruits anddry fruits including dehydrated man-goes without any added sugar. He alsobrings fresh eating habits by avoidingtrans-fat and including a tomato andcucumber salad.”

Ruchi lists some of the elements thathave been added for the first time in thefest. “So we have a country pavilion forMexico in a corner. It will present theirlocal cuisine and culture. We have alsoexpanded our entertainment factorwhere we’ll have the kids’ zone. Earliereverything was in one area, now thereare separate sections for everyone. Wealso have little food alleys where therewill be young and significant foodbrands. There is also more participationfrom even the general public.”

She mentions the B2B programmewhere new businesses for food can bethought about and set up. She says,“Anyone, people from the government,commercial heads from embassies,wedding planners or gifting business-es, who want to team up with like mind-ed individuals and create somethingrelated to food. The fest offers the spaceto incubate new ideas.”

Aditi believes that street food inIndia was always more popular buttoday the Indian audience is open tomore cuisines and food cultures. Shesays, “It’s not just about havingchowmein, butter chicken or chole bha-ture anymore, or going out to have one

food item. Such a festival gives a roofto all kinds of cuisines together.”

She says that this scenario hasevolved among the current populationas they are travelling a lot more. “Whenthey like something in a foreign land,they also wish for it to be present andaccessible in their own country. Nowwith growing awareness, the availabil-ity has also increased. Today there’s aplethora of things to explore,” she says.

While talking about the challenges,she agrees that there are always hurdleswhile creating something so massive.“But,” she says, “the biggest one is to notbecome stagnant and do the samething year after year. There shouldalways be certain additions that give anew vibe. This time there are food ses-sions and talks on healthy food, sectionsfor food art and organic products, enter-tainment and more.” She recalls thatwhen they implemented their idea forthe first time, half a decade ago, “therewas one challenge — understanding.We wanted people to comprehend thatit is not just a frivolous food festival thathas some drinks and music but alsoamusement related to food as well as an

opportunity to gain some knowledgearound various cuisines.”

So what have been the patterns thatshe has observed during the course offive years? “The demographic of thecountry is so wide that there are no par-ticular lines that hit the highest graph.If some follow more international dish-es, some still stick to Indian food. Thosewho have tried things before and haveliked them want to stick to them.There are variations so there can’t by justone statistic. But, the Indian audienceis indeed increasingly heading towardsglobal food movements,” says Aditi.

The three-day extravaganza willalso see Bollywood actress TaapseePannu greeting audience. There will beperformances by singers like DalerMehendi on December 16, whileJasmine Sandlas and Tulsi Kumar willbe performing today. A few names fromthe culinary space are Big Wong, JomJom Malay, Bombay Brasserie, TheGreat Kabab Factory, Orient Heritage,Wok to Walk, Olives of Spain, Kiara’sSoul Kitchen, among others.

(The festival at Nehru Park ends onSunday.)

Norwegian-Pakistani actress filmmakerIram Haq, whose film What Will PeopleSay has been selected as Norwegian entry

for the best foreign language film at the 91stAcademy Awards, says telling a compelling storyis more important for her than winning anaward because she does not believe in compe-tition when it comes to art.

How did she first react on her film beingchosen to represent Norway at the Oscars.

Haq, whose film stars Indian actors AdilHussain, Ekavali Khanna and Rohit Sarafisaid, “When I started making the film, the mostimportant thing for me was to tell a story in anutmost honest manner. And as an individual, Istrongly believe that art is never a competition.”

“Of course, it is a big honour for me that myfilm has been chosen but I want to say that it isnot possible to compete in art. Reaching out topeople with a story is important,” added Haq,whose earlier film ‘I am Yours’ was also select-ed as the official Norwegian Oscar entry for BestForeign Language Film.

This year, Rima Das’s Village Rockstar hasbeen selected as India’s official entry to Oscar.

The story of Haq’s film deals with the jour-ney of a young girl who is dealing with socio-cultural difference and a disturbed relationshipwith her parents.

According to her, understanding the gen-erational gap and expressing a critical view onthe matter through the film was very important.

Talking about projecting a balanced viewwith the story, Haq said, “It was important forme to put out both sides of the story. You see,the film is basically a love story between a fatherand his daughter and that does not really workbecause they are coming from two different gen-eration, gender and mindset.

“While the daughter understands the cul-tural values of her father and how he is strug-gling to accept the cultural difference of a worldthat is very different from a regular south Asiansociety, the girl is a Pakistani born and broughtup in Norway. It is almost impossible for her tolive her entire life to please her family.”

The film not just features Indian actors, butis also shot in various parts of India, mostly inRajasthan. In fact, Adil won the Best Actor awardat the Amanda Award or the NorwegianNational Awards.

On casting Indian talent, especially Adil,Haq said, “He is a wonderful actor and he wasthe perfect choice for playing the father. Howwonderfully he transformed the character fromscript to screen through his performance.”

Being a Pakistani girl who is born andbrought up in Norway herself, just like the pro-

tagonist Nisha — played by Maria Mozhdah —the film is quite autobiographical for the direc-tor. Reflecting upon that, she said, “When ourparents went abroad and were not well-integrat-ed, they feared to embrace the new culture. Thatis how they ended up taking wrong decisionsfor their children.”

“I had to live life like a well-mannered SouthAsian girl in my home because according to myparents, ‘log kya kahenge (what will people say)’otherwise, we will lose out on our tradition andculture. They think the new generation will losethemselves in the western culture.

“I wanted the young generation to break freeof that constant thought of log kya kahenge andassert that we are not here to live up to the expec-tation of ‘log (people)’... we are here to live ourzindagi (life). This is how I always stand by mychild as a mother,” added Haq.

She was kidnapped and taken to Pakistanand lived there for a year. She had lost connec-tion with her parents.

“I want to say that the story of the film istold with a lot of love but at the same time, it isa critical voice on how you shut down a youngvoice, or the voice of a girl, because she is a girlor because the individual is young. I am a strongbeliever of respecting young voice.”

Before making her directorial debut in 2010with the short film Little Miss Eyeflap, Haqworked as an actress, writer and theatre artistefor many years.

Is she interested in collaborating more withIndian actors? She said, “I have already workedwith Indian artistes and producers over here inIndia and of course I love India. I speak the lan-guage and it feels like they are my people. So, Iam open to the idea of collaborating with Indianartistes in the near future.”

—IANS

NOT JUST

Founders RUCHI SIBAL

and ADITI KAPOOR tell

CHAHAK MITTAL how the

Palate Fest goes beyond

conventional culinary

habits to promote

healthier initiatives

among the public

Filmmaker IRAM HAQ’s What Will People Say has been selected as Norwegian

entry for the best foreign language film at the 91st Academy Awards

‘ART IS NEVER ACOMPETITION’

The water game

It was not just the storyline but also the effort and passion that went intothe shooting of Aquaman that makes it a much-awaited film, says its cast

vivacity {48 hours} 13

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018 sport 14

PTI n PERTH

India recovered from a patchy startto reduce Australia to 277 for six onthe opening day of the second Test

but the hosts still walked out withadvantage considering the bowler-friendly conditions, here on Friday.

A 112-run opening stand betweenMarcus Harris (70) and Aaron Finch(50) vindicated their decision to bat ongreen top before Indian bowlers madea decent recovery by taking threewickets each in the last two sessions.

With the pitch offering better assis-tance from the post lunch sessionandthe Indian bowlers managing to recti-fy their line and length, the visitorsmade inroads into the Australian bat-ting line-up.

Skipper Tim Paine (16 not out) andPat Cummins (11 not out) were unbeat-en at stumps after enduring a testingspell from Jasprit Bumrah.

Pacer Ishant Sharma (2/35) andspinner Hanuma Vihari (2/53) took twowickets apiece while Bumrah (1/41) andUmesh Yadav (1/68) accounted for onebatsman each.

Following a good start, ShaunMarsh (45) and Peter Handscomb (7)looked to extend their fourth-wicketpartnership but could only manage toadd three runs as Sharma brokethrough early in the final session.

Handscomb looked to cut away tooclose to his body, and Virat Kohli helda stunning one-handed catch at second

slip to dismiss him in the second overafter tea.

Marsh and Travis Head (58) thenadded 84 runs for the fifth wicket, andin doing so took Australia past 200 inthe 69th over. India could have brokenthrough early, but Rishabh Pant putdown a regulation catch from Marsh(on 24) off Vihari in the 67th over.

India were looking in bother againwhen Marsh fell against the run of play,trying to cut Vihari and edging to firstslip where Ajinkya Rahane made nomistake.

Head reached his third Test half-century off 70 balls but threw it all awayas he square cut a wide delivery off

Sharma six overs later and was caughtat wide third man.

Earlier, India struck thrice postlunch as Australia were reduced to 145-3 at tea.

Jasprit Bumrah (1/41) and UmeshYadav (1/68) struck during a tight spellin the second hour of play after lunch,as Australia lost three wickets for 22runs.

Post lunch, Marcus Harris hadbrought up his maiden Test half-cen-tury off 90 balls as he took his open-ing stand with Aaron Finch (50) to 112.

Their 100-stand had come up in the34th over, with India leaking another48 runs in the hour's play after the

break. Mohammed Shami (0-63) con-ceded 23 runs in his four-over second-spell after lunch.

Finch too reached his second Testhalf-century off 103 balls as Australiareached a position of strength. Butthings turned thereafter as Bumrahstruck first up in the 36th over, trappingFinch lbw with a fuller delivery.

KL Rahul dropped Harris (on 60)off Shami in the 45th over, with thefielder failing to time his jump at sec-ond slip. It didn't cost India too muchthough as four overs later, he hit a sur-prise bouncer from Vihari straight atRahane at slip.

In between, Yadav used the pressurebuilt and etched out Usman Khawaja's(5) wicket, out caught behind in the46th over as India gained the fruits oftheir hard work in this second hour ofplay.

In the morning session, Australiadefied a green-top wicket and made

steady progress to reach 66-0 at lunch.The Perth wicket at the Optus

Stadium was talked up a raging green-top wicket, but the Australian openersdefied all that speculation. For theirpart, Indian pacers chipped in with allpossible help and bowled a poor firstspell with the new ball.

Shami was India's best bowler of thefirst session as he bowled with immac-ulate control from the very beginning.He came on to bowl in the 12th overand immediately troubled the batsmen.

Finch survived an lbw shout onaccount of height as India wasted a DRSreview. They had another loud shoutturned down on the very next ball, butthis time no review was taken.

India bowled better in the secondhour of play and conceded only 19 runsin 13 overs. But the damage hadalready been done as the duo were setand the new ball had been wasted ona fresh pitch.

PTI n PERTH

All-rounder Hanuma Vihari says key for Indianbatsmen will be to remain disciplined on a pitch

which has got better for the fast bowlers after a goodcontest between ball and bat on the opening day ofthe second Test.

The pitch was slow in the morning, but it quick-ened up after lunch. The Indian bowlers adjustedwell to take six wickets.

"For us the important thing is to not think aboutthose aspects too much. If it is up and down, youcan't do much about it. If we can keep that out ofmind, we will be successful. As batsmen, we will tryto be as disciplined as possible, just how we did inthe second innings of the last Test," Vihari said.

"You have to play ball by ball. That's what mat-ters. If you are thinking about the previous ball, youwon't react perfectly to the next ball. Keep that ballout of your mind," he added.

Indian bowlers were "disciplined" after an ordi-nary start on the opening day of the second Test andthe target for day two is to restrict Australia to 320-odd in the first innings.

"The first hour tomorrow (on Saturday) will bevery crucial. If we get them out for below 320, weare right back in the game. If we bat well, we havea good chance. The first hour is crucial," said Vihari.

PTI n PERTH

Australian opener AaronFinch believes the second

Test against India is going to bea "real grind" and off-spinnerNathan Lyon will play an impor-tant role considering the amountof bounce on offer at the Perthwicket.

"It's going to be one ofthose games that'll be a realgrind for both sides. The posi-tion we're in we would havetaken at the start of the day, nodoubt, especially winning thetoss and batting," Finch toldreporters.

"I think Nathan Lyon willenjoy bowling with the amountof bounce on this track, nodoubt he will be excited to bowlhere," added the opener, whoscored 50 in Australia's firstinnings on Friday.

Asked about making theIndian bowlers work hard, Finchsaid, "Our plan was to bat on thiswicket regardless of what hap-pened in Adelaide, the heat and

getting miles into their legs."That was our plan to bat

first anyway and take that chal-lenges head on. No doubt itmight play a factor later in thisgame, or third or fourth Test, butit was always our plan to bat(after winning the toss)."

Talking about his partneryoung Harris, who scored hismaiden Test half-century at hishome ground, Finch said, "Ithink what everyone's seen fromhim so far, not a lot fazes him.He's a pretty chilled out charac-ter who just goes with the flowand that's the way he's alwaysbeen.

PTI n PERTH

Former skipper Allan Borderfeels the Australian pace bat-

tery will have the advantage oflearning from the mistakes ofIndian seamers, who bowled a "lit-tle bit short" on the opening dayof second Test.

"Given the amount of deliv-eries that went past the outsideedge India will feel they couldhave had a better day. Theybowled well but if I'm beingsupercritical they were a little bitshort," he wrote in a column forFoxsports.

"With so many balls passingthe outside edge you've got to erron the fuller side. You may occa-sionally get hit down the groundbut any ball that moves off theseam is good chance of catchingthe edge.

"The good news for Australiais their bowlers will have learnedfrom what worked and what did-n't, and when it is their turn tobowl they will be confident. There

were just enough balls bouncingawkwardly or moving off theseam to encourage them."

With R Ashwin injured, Indiadrafted in Umesh Yadav in theplaying XI, making it a four-menpace attack — only the thirdtime in their Test history.

Part-time spinner Hanuma

Vihari, who was included in theteam in place of the injured RohitSharma, took two wickets andBorder hinted India might havemissed a trick by not opting for aspecialist tweaker, looking at thevariable bounce.

"Moving forward in this Testwe'll see whether or not India hasmissed a trick by not picking aspecialist spinner," he wrote.

"Despite part-time off-spinnerHanuma Vihari's two bonus wick-ets, I still think this is a seamer'swicket."

The former Australia batsmansaid the hosts' first-innings runsmight prove to be gold on thispitch.

"Both teams went hard onFriday but Australia finished itwith their noses in front. On a sur-face like this runs on the board,particularly in the first innings, arelike gold.

"At the same time, we won'thave a true sense of where thisgame stands until India has alsohad the chance to bat on it."

AFP n SYLHET

Tamim Iqbal and SoumyaSarkar slammed half-cen-

turies as Bangladesh cruised toan eight-wicket win over theWest Indies in the third andfinal one-day international totake the three-match series 2-1 on Friday.

Tamim hit an unbeaten 81while Soumya added 80 off 81balls to guide Bangladesh to202-2 in 38.3 overs afterMehidy Hasan's career best 4-29 helped the home side restrictthe West Indies to 198-8 in 50overs.

Shai Hope fought a lonebattle for the tourists, scoringhis second successive hundredof the series but it was in vainas no other batsman providedsupport.

Fresh from an unbeaten146 off 144 balls in the previ-ous match, Hope struck anoth-er unconquered knock of 108off 131 to prop up the visitors,taking his tally in the series to297 runs.

Bangladesh made a steadyresponse, with Tamim andLiton Das hitting 45 runs for

the opening wicket before Litonoffered a catch to RovmanPowell at mid-on off KeemoPaul.

Soumya and Tamimdenied the West Indies anymomentum, putting 131 runsin their second wicket stand,which all but sealed the contestand the series.

Mushfiqur Rahim wasunbeaten on 16 at the otherend.

Earlier, skipper MashrafeMortaza and spinner Shakib AlHasan claimed two wicketseach after man-of-the-matchMehidy rattled the West Indies'top-order.

"It was a good match —Hope played an excellent

innings," Mashrafe said afterthe match.

"Our bowlers have beenvery good. Spinners have beentight and pacers also stuck tothe plans," he added.

Earlier, Hope defied thespirited Bangladesh attack, hit-ting Shakib over the long off tobring up his fourth ODI cen-tury after the ninth wicket hadfallen for 177 runs.

The opener, who wasnamed player of the series, alsohit 10 fours in his fine innings.

Bangladesh won the firstmatch by five wickets onSunday before the West Indieslevelled the series with four-wicket win in the second matchtwo days later.

PTI n MUMBAI

Shreyas Iyer slammed 11 sixes and 17fours in a blistering knock of 178 and

put on a double century stand with skip-per Siddhesh Lad, who made a responsi-ble 130, to power Mumbai to an imposingscore of 439 for 8 against Baroda here onFriday.

Iyer was in punishing form, sparing noone from the visitors' ranks to compile his12th first class hundred in his first gameof the season as he rescuedthe hosts from 28 for 2 witha stand of 283 in just over45 overs with Lad on dayone of the elite Group Agame.

Hardik Pandya, backin competitive cricketafter recoveringfrom a backspasm openedthe bowlingfor Barodaand rockedM u m b a iwith a two-wicket haulfor 21 in hisimpress ivecomeback spellof six overs.

I y e rsmacked leftarm spinnerBhargav Bhattfor three sixes infour balls torace to his cen-tury in 86 ballsand then singledout veteran YusufPathan for similarpunishment by cart-ing the off-breakbowler for three suc-cessive sixes. A moresedate Lad, who faced173 balls and struck twosixes and 12 fours, deniedBaroda a wicket for morethan four hours spreadover the first two sessions.

However, Barodagrabbed five morewickets before stumpswith Pandya snappingup one more victim,in-form all rounderShivam Dube, to finishwith end of day impres-sive figures of 3 for74 in 15 overs.

Bhatt picked upfour wickets whilePathan was theother successful

bowler.Meanwhile, at Surat, despite skipper

Priyank Panchal's 94, Gujarat were bowledout for 216 against Karnataka. For the vis-itors, Vinay Kumar, Prateek Jain, RonitMore, Krishnappa Gowtham and ShreyasGopal picked two wickets each.

At New Delhi, Vidarbha reached 243for 6 against Railways with skipper FaizFazal top-scoring with 53.

And at Nashik, Saurashtra batsmenhammered a listless Maharashtra attack toend the opening day at 269/3.

ODISHA BUNDLE OUT RAJASTHANBHUBANESWAR: Odisha bowlers pro-duced a spirited show as they bowled outRajasthan for a meagre 135 on the open-ing day of their Elite Group C encounter.

For Odisha, the Mohanty duo —Basant and Rajesh — both right-arm pac-

ers — did the job as they sharednine wickets among them.

Basant returned withexceptional figures of 6-20and was ably supported byRajesh (3-63) as Rajasthan

batters had a horrid time atthe Vikash cricket ground

here.For them, only skipper

Mahipal Lomror (85) played avaliant knock to ensure that the sidecrossed the 100-run mark.

Lomror, who was the last man to bedismissed, struck 14 fours and a six, as hewaged a lone battle.

In reply, Odisha lost four wickets andwere 78/4 at close of play, still adrift by 57runs. Debasish Samantray (30 not out) andAbhishek Raut (22 not out) are holdingthe fort.

Meanwhile, in Agartala PratyushSingh-led Tripura's fightback as the hostsreached to 247/7 at stumps on day 1. Theywere 128/6 at one stage.

In Goalpara, Puducherry's FabidAhmed hogged the limelight with an all-round show on a day 22 wickets tumbledin their Plate Group match againstArunchal Pradesh.

The Kerala recruit top-scored with anunbeaten 41 before Puducherry werebundled out for 136.

Ahmed then foxed the ArunchalPradesh batsmen with his off-spin on wayto career-best figures of 6/29.

Former India pacer Pankaj Singh(3/20) also chipped in with crucial break-throughs as Arunchal Pradesh folded for82 at their adopted home venue.

Under fading lights, ArunachalPradesh's Upadhyal Deendyal dismissedboth the openers for a total of 22 wicketson the day.

At stumps on day one, Puducherrywere 28/2, leading by 82 runs.

Australia ahead despite India's strikesHarris, Finch and Head score half centuries to put host in commanding position in 2nd Test

PERTH: Former Australia batsman MichaelHussey believes the loss of star off-spinnerR Ashwin to injury could unsettle India andmay prove to be a big blow to the visitors'hopes of securing victory in the secondTest.Ashwin, who took six wickets in the firstTest at Adelaide Oval, was ruled out of thesecond Test due to a left abdominal strain."It'll definitely throw the team balance out

quite a lot I would have thought," Hussey,who played 79 Tests for Australia during hiscareer, was quoted as saying incricket.Com.Au.

"You could tell quite clearly in Adelaide theyliked to use the spinner — much likeAustralia really — to bowl a lot of oversfrom one end and then rotate the faster menfrom the other end." Ashwin had returnedfigures of 6 for 149 in Adelaide. PTI

ASHWIN INJURY COULD UNSETTLE INDIA: HUSSEY

WE HAVE TO BE

DISCIPLINED ON

DAY 2: VIHARI

Shreyas, Lad batter

Baroda attack

‘AUS PACERS CAN LEARNFROM INDIA’S MISTAKE’

Lyon will enjoybowling at Perth: Finch

B’desh cruise to series win

PNS n LUCKNOW

Half-centuries from Ishank Jaggi,Ishan Kishan and Shahbaz

Nadeem helped Jharkhand recov-er after a disasterous start in theRanji Trophy Group C matchagainst Uttar Pradesh at BharatRatna Atal Bihari Vajpayee EkanaStadium on Friday.

The visitors lost their firstwicket in the 2nd over of the daywhen Suresh Raina caught NazimSiddiqui in Yash Dayal’s first over.After the early setback, KumarDeobrat and Utkarsh Singh playedsensibly, before Dhruv Pratap Singhcaught Utkarsh (13) in front of thewicket while Imtiyaz Ahmed alsotrapped Deobrat (33) to reduced Jharkhand to 55/3 in 23.4 overs.

But their was no respite in the offing for visitors as Dhruv sent backdangerous Saurabh Tiwary (8). Then skipper Ishan Kishan joined Ishankat the crease and the both added 82 runs, before Dhruv cleaned up Ishanto end his strokeful innings of 54 runs. Dhruv sson claimed his fourthwicket of the day in the form of Anukul Roy (15), leaving Jharkhand intotters.

After that Ishank Jaggi (76 not out) and all-rounder Shahbaz Nadeem(70 not out) took visitors to a respectable 278/6.BRIEF SCORES:Jharkhand: 278/6 (Ishank Jaggi 76 not out, Shahbaz Nadeem 70 not out,Dhruv Pratap Singh 4-76).

Jharkhand fightbackafter early jolts

LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018

15

TODAY’S FIXTURES

BEL vs ENG 4:00pm

AUS vs NED 6:30pm

LIVE ON

STAR SELECT NETWORK

PTI n BHUBANESWAR

Arare history awaits two-timedefending champions Australiaas they chase a record hat-trick

of titles, taking on Netherlands in thesemi-finals at the Kalinga Stadium onSaturday.

World No 1 Australia is second onlyto four-time champions Pakistan, hav-ing won the world title thrice before,which includes back-to-back Goldmedals in the last two editions of thetournament in 2010 and 2014.

Come on Saturday, the Kookaburraswill be chasing their third consecutiveworld crown.

But it would be easier said thandone as in world No 4 Netherlands atough contest awaits Australia.

The Dutch, who have won the titlethrice before — the last time being in1998 — too would be desperate to breaktheir 20-year-old jinx.

Netherlands would be high on con-fidence especially after their hard-fought 2-1 win over home favouritesIndia in the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Going by form and world ranking,it is expected to be an edge of the seatthriller between the two teams, who

prefer to play totally contrasting styleof hockey.

While attacking hockey is the backbone of Australia, the Dutch mostly pre-fer to play waiting game with a compactdefence and relying more on countersto surprise their opponents.

There is hardly anything to differ-entiate between the two sides going byrecent head-to-head record.

Since 2013, Australia andNetherlands have played each other 11times with the Kookaburras winningfive and losing four while two ended indraws.

The Australians made a slow startbut grew in confidence as the tourna-ment progressed.

After a hard-fought 2-1 win overIreland in their opener, Australiastepped on the gas and registered con-vincing wins over England (3-0), China(11-0) and France (3-0).

The Dutch, on the other hand,started with a bang and mauledMalaysia 7-0 before losing 1-4 toGermany.

They defeated Pakistan 5-1 in theirlast pool match before beating Canada5-0 in the cross-overs and eking out aclose 2-1 win over India in the quar-

terfinals.The Australia-Netherlands match

has all the makings of a classic. In 2014at The Hague, Australia came out on topagainst Netherlands 6-1 in front ofhome crowd to lift their second con-secutive World Cup.

And Saturday's encounter will pro-vide the Dutch an opportunity toavenge their loss four years ago.

But in the last four years since theymet in the final of 2014, much haschanged.

The likes of Jamie Dwyer, Mark

Knowles and Glenn Turner have retiredbut the Kookaburras have rebuilt bril-liantly under coach Colin Batch sincethe disappointment of Rio Olympicsand have returned to the top of theworld rankings.

The Dutch, on the other hand, areunquestionably much tougher underMax Caldas now than they were fouryears ago.

Australia's Daniel Beale too agreedthat it would be a tough, exciting bat-tle on Saturday for a place in Sunday'ssummit clash.

"We are into the crucial stage of thetournament. We got to watch lastnight's match between Holland andIndia. So we have learnt a lot from that.We are expecting a very tough matchtomorrow," he said.

"We have very proud history. Thereis no special formula. We work hard, wetrain hard. We are fiercely competitive.Every tournament we go we go to win."

Beale said what happened fouryears ago will hardly have any impactin Saturday's must-win game.

"In 2014 Australia had great successin the final but that was a long time agoand this group has changed immense-ly. So we are looking to create a bit ofhistory," Beale said.

"Holland are a very tough team.They have quality players. Billy(Bakker), (Robert) Kemperman,(Valentin) Verga. We wil do our home-work and try to nullify them."

Meanwhile, Olympic Silver medal-list Belgium too would be looking tocreate history by making their maidenWorld Cup final appearance when theytake on England in the first semi-finalearlier in the day.

PTI n GUANGZHOU

Olympic Silver medallist P V Sindhucontinued her unbeaten run while

debutant Sameer Verma also qualifiedfor the knockout stage with a straight-game win in his last group B match atthe BWF World Tour Finals, here onFriday.

Playing her third successive year-ending finale, Sindhu dished out somedeceptive strokes and showed precisionduring the 35-minute contest to pre-vail over world No 12 Beiwen Zhang21-9, 21-15 in a one-sided women'ssingles contest to top Group A.

"I was down 2-6 initially but Ipicked up the lead, so after that I wasfine," Sindhu, the last edition's runner-up, said after the match.

"I have played a few matchesagainst her after the Indian Open final,so I took it as a fresh match," said the23-year-old referring to her IndianOpen final loss to Zhang at New Delhiearly this year.

"I am happy with the three wins,it is a positive thing. I hope to move for-ward with the same positivity and dowell in the semifinals," added Sindhu,who won all the three matches of hergroup and will now take on world No8 and 2013 world champion RatchanokInthanon of Thailand in the semifinals.

On the adjacent court, 24-year-oldSameer showed great athleticism andproduced a masterful performance to

demolish Thailand's KantaphonWangcharoen 21-9, 21-18 in a matchthat clocked 44 minutes.

After losing the opening match toworld No 1 and world champion

Kento Momota, Sameer, whoqualified for the tournamentafter defending his title atSyed Modi International last

month, recovered well tocome up trumps againsthis other two opponents

in Group B.He will now

face All Englandchampion andWorld champi-onship Silvermedallist Shi Yuqi

of China in the semi-finals.

"I have played himbefore at Swiss Open

so I knew how to goabout it. In the second

game I was losing so aftersome advice from my coach,

I kept my patience and nowI am ready to play the semifinals," saidSameer.

"It has been a great experienceplaying my first world tour finals."

In the women's singles, Sindhu,

who had stunned worldNo 1 Tai Tzu Ying in herprevious match, didn'tmake a good start againstZhang, conceding a 0-4lead early on.

But she clawed back at 6-6 afterproducing some angled returns, whichincluded a delightful over-the head-cross court return.

The Indian then sealed the open-ing game comfortably in 15 minuteswhen Zhang failed to reach a shot atthe fore court.

After the change of sides, Sindhucontinued to dominate the proceedingsto accumulate the first five pointsbefore hitting long.

Zhang seemed to suffer fromindecision and ended up committingtoo many unforced errors.

The Indian managed a 11-9 advan-tage at the interval after Zhang wentlong again.

The Indian committed threeunforced errors before sealing thecontest, following her opponent's mis-cued shot which went long.

AFP n PARIS

Olympiakos dumped AC Milan out of the EuropaLeague on Thursday after beating the seven-time

European champions 3-1 in a pulsating clash inGreece, while Eintracht Frankfurt fans ran riot dur-ing the German side's win at Lazio and Celticmade the knockout stages despite losing toSalzburg at Celtic Park.

Captain Kostas Fortounis' penalty nineminutes from time saw the Greeks move intosecond place in Group F ahead of GennaroGattuso's Milan, who thought theyhad squeaked through when CristianZapata had pulled a goal back lessthan two minutes after putting thehosts 2-0 up with a comical own goal.

Olympiakos finished level on 10points with Milan but qualifiedahead of the Italians thanks to theirsuperior goal difference followingMilan's 3-1 win over the Greeks inOctober, and they end the group stagetwo points behind group winnersReal Betis, who drew 0-0 atDudelange.

Eintracht had already comfort-ably taken top spot in the group thanks to winningall five of their previous games, while Lazio were alsoin the last 32 regardless of the result of the match, won2-1 by the away side as they came back from a goaldown thanks to second-half strikes from MijatGacinovic and Sebastien Haller.

Last year's runners-up Marseille finished bottomof that group after losing 3-1 at home to ApollonLimassol and ending the group stage with just a sin-gle point.

CELTIC GET ONE OVER ON RANGERSCeltic looked to be following Old Firm rivals

Rangers out of the competition after Steven Gerrard's

side fell 1-0 at Rapid Vienna earlier on Thursday, butTore Reginiussen's equaliser four minutes from timefor Rosenborg at RB Leipzig allowed BrendanRodgers's side to qualify second from Group B, twopoints ahead of the Bundesliga outfit.

Second-half goals from Munas Dabbur andFredrik Gulbrandsen meant that Salzburgtopped the group with a 100 percent recordafter a 2-1 win, while Olivier Ntcham's stop-page-time penalty meant nothing for the resultnor the final standings.

Chelsea, who had already won Group L,looked to be on their way to a perfectsixth win from six, but could onlyscrape a point at eliminated Vidithanks to substitute Olivier Giroud'slate free-kick, after an Ethan Ampaduown goal and Loic Nego's sumptuousvolley had put the hosts a goal ahead.

BATE Borisov qualified alongsideChelsea after winning 3-1 at rock-bot-tom PAOK.

Alexandre Lacazette confirmedArsenal's dominance of Group E withthe only goal of a low-key 1-0 win overbottom side Qarabag, while second-placed Sporting Lisbon cruised past

Vorskla Poltava 3-0.Malmo are in the knockout stages after snatch-

ing a 1-0 win at Besiktas that saw the Swedes leapfrogtheir Turkish hosts in the extremely tight Group I.

All four teams in the group were in contentionfor qualification on Thursday, but Genk managed tohold on to first place after hammering Sarpsborg 4-0.

Sevilla took top spot in Group J from Krasnodarthanks to a 3-0 win, while Rennes pipped Astana tothe knockout rounds with a 2-0 victory.

Bayer Leverkusen ensured first place in Group Awith a 5-1 hammering of Larnaca, while Zurich drew1-1 at Ludogorets.

LOCAL EVENTS

PTI n HYDERABAD

Star Indian shuttlers Saina Nehwaland Parupalli Kashyap tied the

knots in a simple ceremony here onFriday.

"Saina got married as per courtrules today at about 11.30 (AM)," herfather Harvir Singh said.

The wedding took place atSaina's residence in Orion villas atRaidurgam in Cyberabad.

"It was a small gathering ofabout 40 guests, including relativesof the Saina and Kashyap's families.

"It was a very simple ceremonyand December 16th will be thereception," Singh said.

The guests included Governors

of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,according to Singh.

Saina posted a photograph withKashyap on Friday, announcing hermarriage.

"Best match of my life...#just-married," she wrote in Twitter.

Kashyap said, "We are veryhappy. Today was a north style wed-ding and 16th midnight is themuhurtam for the South Indianwedding."

While Saina wore a powder bluelehenga with minimal makeup andjewellery, Kashyap was dressed in apink kurta and white pyjamas.

Saina and Kashyap, who met atPullela Gopichand's academy, werein a relationship for quite some

time now. But the couple nevercame out in the open regarding theirrelation.

Saina had confirmed the news oftheir wedding in October but the hec-tic international badminton schedulekept them busy.

Last month, they started extend-ing their wedding invitation toimportant personalties, includingTelangana MLA KT Rama Rao, filmstar Chiranjeevi, owner of HyderabadHunters (PBL franchise) VRK Rao.

Saina and Kashyap's wedding isthe latest among a string of high-pro-file weddings involving sportsper-sons. Last year, India cricket captainVirat Kohli had married Bollywoodactress Anushka Sharma in Italy.

Aus face Dutch in last 4 tie

Two-time defending champion play Netherlands while Belgium to take on England in WC semifinal

AUSTRALIA-HOLLAND IN WORLD CUP

Year Venue Result Score

1971 Barcelona Holland beat Australia 1-0

1978 Buenos Aires Holland beat Australia 3-2

1981-82 Mumbai Australia beat Holland 3-2 (league)

1981-82 Mumbai Australia beat Holland 4-2 (third place match)

1990 Lahore Australia beat Holland 1-0

1994 Sydney Holland beat Australia 3-1

1998 Utrecht Holland beat Australia 6-2

2002 Kuala Lumpur Australia beat Holland 4-1

2010 New Delhi Australia beat Holland 2-1

2014 The Hague Australia beat Holland 6-1

ENGLAND-BELGIUM IN WORLD CUP

Year Venue Result Score

1973 Amsterdam England beat Belgium 5-2

1978 Buenos Aires Belgium beat England 1-0

2014 The Hague England beat Belgium 3-2

Faisel Features

SINDHU KEEPS CLEAN SLATE,SAMEER TOO QUALIFIES

Saina-Kashyap tie knot

AC Milan crash out of Europe

SUSHMITA BAGS BRONZESushmita Tripathi of SAI Regional Centre,

Lucknow won a bronze medal in Taichiquan inJunior National Wushu Champioship held atNamakal, Tamilnadu recemtly. This is first timea girl from Lucknow SAI has won medal in JuniorNational Championship. She is training underVijendra Singh.

BADMINTONThe 43rd Yonex-Sunrise Akhilesh Das Gupta

Memorial Junior (U-19) National BadmintonChampionships will begin at at UP BadmintonAcademy from Sunday. The tournament carriesa prizemoney of Rs 15 lakhs. UP BadmintonAssociation chairman Viraj Sagar Das informedthe mediapersons that the entry for spectatorswould be free and special arrangements would bemade for students.SEEDS: Junior Boy’s: 1. Abhyansh Singh (UP),2. Kiran Jorge (Kerala), 3. Alap Mishra (MP),4.Arjit (Assam) & 5.Priyanshu Rajawat (MP);Junior Girl’s: 1.Amolika Singh (UP), 2.MalvikaBansal (MH), 3.Gayatri Gopichand (Telangana),4.Purva Burve (Air India), 5.Akarshi Kasyap (AirIndia).

CHESS TOURNEYLucknow District Chess Sports Association

is organising the 17th Shivani Cup Sunday OpenChess Tournament at Shivani Public School onSunday. The tournament will be played in open,women’s, U-16, U-14 and U-10 categories.Interested may contact on 7459899385.

SAHARA LAUNCHES CRICKET ACADEMY

Sahara India Pariwar inaugurated the hi-techcricket academy with state-of-the-art facilities onLucknow-Bakshi ka Talab road on Friday.'Saharasri' Subrata Roy Sahara officially launchedthe academy in the presence of Dy CM DineshSharma, Minister Swati Singh, former cricketersBalwinder Singh Sandhu and RP Singh. TheAcademy is designed to provide world class train-ing to young boys and girls of 9-12 years, 13-15years and 16-23 years and will be mentored by leg-endary Kapil Dev. The academy is equipped with14 pitches to adapt to different cricketing condi-tions comprising covered indoor astro-turf withcenter turf and cemented pitches, bowlingmachine, speed guns, video technical analysis etc.

16LUCKNOW | SATURDAY | DECEMBER 15, 2018the pioneer