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Transcript of ˘ˇ ˆ˙˝ ˛ˆ˙ ˇ˚...2019/12/01  · well. Last time, I did Ghoomar for one of the scenes and...

Page 1: ˘ˇ ˆ˙˝ ˛ˆ˙ ˇ˚...2019/12/01  · well. Last time, I did Ghoomar for one of the scenes and now Lavni. In the meantime, I have also started my Kathak training and I am thoroughly

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Zee TV’s primetimefiction offering Yeh TeriGaliyaan has captured

the audiences’ hearts withShantanu (played by AvinashMishra) and Asmita’s (playedby Vrushika Mehta) turbulentlove story, that has seen thelovers tiding over severalobstacles thrown in theipath!

The plot has seen severalinteresting twists and turnsrecently with Krishi being thecommon thread that bindsShantanu and Asmita together.

We have all witnessed the

flawless dance moves ofVrushika on the show andthrough her social mediaaccounts. Last she was seengiving a one-take act whileperforming to Pinga in a totalof 45 minutes. Pursuing herpassion for the art even further,she is now learning anotherdance form — Kathak.

Speaking of her characterAsmita’s love for dance,Vrushika revealed: “I havebeen a dancer since childhoodand I feel fortunate to play therole of a dancer in my show aswell. Last time, I did Ghoomar

for one of the scenes and nowLavni. In the meantime, Ihave also started my Kathaktraining and I am thoroughlyenjoying it. Dancing hasalways been a very importantpart of my life and I feel luckyenough that all through myacting journey, I have doneroles that are dance-centric.”

We appreciate the hard-work that all our actors putinto their roles, to make itmore realistic for the audienceto enjoy. We can’t wait to seeVrushika performing Kathakon screen for us!

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Owing to its massive popularity and consecutive successfulseasons, Colors’ biggest fiction franchise, Naagin is back with

another captivating season titled — Naagin-Bhagya Ka Zehrela Khel.Taking the legacy forward, the new season of Naagin is underwayand will showcase the quintessential ‘slither’ queen in a new avatar.This season will enchant viewers with a mysterious story thatentangles the lives of two women played by Nia Sharma and Jasmin

Bhasin respectively. Adding to the list of famous

television actors, the show willalso see Vijayendra Kumeriaplay an important role in theshow.

Excited about grabbing theopportunity Vijayendra Kumeriasays: “This is going to be my firstsupernatural show and I’m surethe experience will teach me alot.Exploring different roles is anactors dream and I’m glad thatI’ve got an opportunity to be partof one of Indian television’s mostwatched shows, Naagin. Mycharacter will add a lot of twiststo the tale and I’m eagerly waitingto gage my fans’ reactions.”

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The Uddhav Thackeray-led“Maha Vikas Aghadi”

(MVA) on Saturday rompedhome in the confidence vote inthe Maharashtra Assembly,securing the support of allpresent 169 MLAs in the 288-member House, after theOpposition BJP staged a walkout of the House over proce-dural issues.

In the much-awaited floortest that Protem Speaker DilipWalse-Patil conducted itthrough head count, the MVApolled 169 votes in its favourand zero votes against it. Fourmembers — two belonging tothe All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM)MLAs, one each to the RajThackeray-led MNS and CPMlegislator — chose to stay neu-tral by abstaining from voting.

After the head count, theProtem Speaker declared thatUddhav Thackeray-led MVAhad won the floor test.

Earlier, after former ChiefMinister and senior Congressleader Ashok Chavan hadmoved a resolution expressingconfidence in the MVAGovernment, NCP leaderJayant Patil, Shiv Sena’s SunilPrabhu and other ruling MVAleaders seconded it.

The Protem Speaker saidthat he had preferred to con-

duct the floor test throughhead count in place of secretballot which the SupremeCourt recommended against inits interim judgment on theplea filed by the Shiv Sena-NCP-Congress combineagainst the Maharashtra

Governor’s decision to swear-in Devendra Fadnavis as theChief Minister.

Thanking the membersfor reposing confidence inhim and his Cabinet, Uddhav,sporting a saffron turban, said,“Apart from all the members in

the House who have reposedconfidence in me, I would liketo thank the people ofMaharashtra. Without theblessing of the people, I can’tgovern this State. It is for thefirst time that I have come tothis House. It is my fortunethat I have come here.”

“When I came here aftertaking the blessing ofChhatrapati Shivaji, I had anx-iety and trepidation as to howshould I conduct myself in theHouse. I am a man from thefield. I have not so far had anylegislative experience. Aftercoming here, I felt that I wouldbe better off in the field. I willnot fight with empty benches(by then the BJP had walkedout of the House). Let memake it clear: I am not the oneto indulge in sword fight in anopen and empty field,” hesaid.

Taking a swipe at formerCM Fadnavis for objecting tohim and ministerial colleaguesmaking references toChhatrapati Shivaji, MahatmaPhule and BR Ambedkar dur-ing the oath-taking ceremonyheld on Thursday evening, hesaid, “We all say in our speech-es that Maharashtra is theland of Chhatrapati, Phule,Shahu and Ambedkar, but wehave no regard for these lead-ers. What is wrong takingoath in the name of Shivaji.”

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Protests were held at severalplaces on Saturday against

the rape and murder of a 25-year-old veterinarian inHyderabad with an angrycrowd hurling stones at thepolice personnel, who escort-ed the four accused to jailfrom a police station in theTelangana capital, anddemanding that the culprits behanded over to them.

The accused were sent tojudicial custody for 14 days bythe executive magistrate whopassed the order at theShadnagar police station, wherethey were lodged, as they couldnot be produced in court dueto the presence of the largenumber of protesters in front ofthe police station.

Stones were hurled at apolice vehicle as the accusedwere being taken to the jail inHyderabad, and police usedmild force to control the crowd.

Some of the protestersdemanded death penalty forthe accused. “It is not enoughif they are taken to court. Theyshould be handed out the sametreatment that they gave to thevictim,” a protester said. “If youcannot do it, hand them overto us,” another said.

The protests came twodays after veterinary doctor,who worked in a state-runhospital, was raped and killedby the four accused, all lorryworkers, on the outskirts ofHyderabad. Her charred bodywas found on the outskirts ofHyderabad and the accusedwere arrested on Friday.

Many others lamented that

the rape incidents were con-tinuing despite changes in lawsafter the Nirbhaya incident inwhich a 23-year-old paramedicwas gangraped on December16, 2012.

National Commission forWomen (NCW) memberShyamala Kundar, who wasHyderabad to enquire into theincident, said she has recom-mended action against police-men, after an enquiry, as theyallegedly did not respond ontime to a complaint from thevictim’s family.

Protests were also held bydifferent student groups andothers at various places inTelangana demanding severepunishment to the accused.The local bar association hassaid it will not offer any legalassistance to the accused.

Amid widespread outrageover the incident, whichbrought back painful memoriesof the Nirbhaya case, a can-dlelight march was taken out atJantar Mantar in Delhi.

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The ruling Maha VikasAghadi (MVA) and the

Opposition BJP are set for anumerical showdown in theMaharashtra Assembly onSunday when senior CongressMLA Nana Patole takes on theKisan Kathore of the BJP in thecrucial Maharashtra AssemblySpeaker’s election.

Given the staked up num-bers in the House and the factthat Chief Minister UddhavThackeray won the trust voteby securing the support of 169MLAs in the 288-memberHouse, Patole’s victory in theSpeaker’s election seems aforegone conclusion.

But, the BJP — withstrength of 105 MLAs of itsown and another 10 MLAssupporting it — is likely to

demand secret voting in theSpeaker’s poll. It is quiteunlikely that Protem SpeakerDilip Walse Patil will allowsecret ballot. Instead, he mayresort to head count to electthe new Speaker.

It has long been a tradi-tion in Maharashtra to havethe Speaker elected unop-posed.

However, with fierce rival-ry prevailing between the rul-ing MVA and Opposition BJP,the Amit Shah-led party willnot let the election go uncon-tested.

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Back to back successes in thePanchayat elections and the

crucial Pithoragarh by-electionhave shut the mouths of thebaiters of the Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat and havemade things smoother than everbefore for him. Rawat who wasa surprise choice of the Centralleaders of the BJP after riding ona Modi wave, the saffron partycoasted to a landslide victory inthe Vidhan Sabha elections of2017. In these elections, the BJPsecured an unprecedented 57seats in the 70-member StateAssembly by cornering 46.5percent of the popular vote.

Since TSR was anointed onthe post of CM by the party highcommand by bypassing leaderslike former CMs Major General(retd) BC Khanduri, BhagatSingh Koshiyari, RameshPokhariyal Nishank, formidable

leaders like Satpal Maharaj andPrakash Pant, he was always onthe target of his detractors.

Rumours of his removaland crowning of a leader in hisplace always flew thick and fast.However, faith of the top leadersof the party propelled the boat ofCM, Rawat. His first test came inform of Tharali by-election inMay 2018. In this election, theparty on the advice of TSR,fielded Munni Devi, widow ofthe Magan Lal Shah.

Proving the choice right,Munni Devi defeated Congress

veteran, Jeet Ram, by a marginof 1981 votes.

After this election, thechallenge before the party was toretain control of the municipalbodies in the municipal electionsheld in November 2018.

Considering the fact thatthese elections were held afterone-and- a half years after theBJP Government was formed inUttarakhand, these electionswere termed as acid test forTrivendra Singh Rawat andperformance of his Government.This test too was passed by TSRGovernment with flying colourswith BJP candidates becomingMayors in five out of sevenMunicipal corporations.

After lying low for sometime, the detractors of TSR againfuelled rumour of change inguard in the State.

However, the Panchayatelections, held in three phases lastmonths, brought smiles to thecamp Trivendra in the State asthe BJP candidates were electedpresidents in nine out of 12district Panchayats.

The Opposition Congresswhich won majority of seats inthe Panchayat elections of 2014was able to form its presidents inonly two district Panchayats.Close on the heels of thePanchayat elections, Pithoragarhby-elections were held onNovember 25.

The election wasnecessitated due to the death offormer Finance Minister latePrakash Pant (who once was

considered strongest rival ofTSR). On the insistence of TSR,the ticket of BJP was offered toChandra Pant, the widow ofPrakash Pant.

It is said that Chandra Pantwas initially reluctant to contestand wanted that Bhupesh Pant,younger brother of PrakashPant, should be given partyticket. However, BJP leader,including the CM, persuadedher to take an electoral plunge.The decision proved correct asChandra Pant romped homecomfortably defeating herCongress rival.

Senior journalist andpolitical commentator, SurenRawat, said that TSR hasemerged stronger after thevictories in Panchayat electionsand Pithoragarh by-election.“The only setback was loss inRoorkee municipal electionsbut there too a BJP rebel haswon. The CM has shown thespine to take tough decisionswhich is finding favour with thepeople of the State,’’ he said.

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The Vice PresidentVenkaiah Naidu on

Saturday said that acceleratedreforms are need of the hour.He said that today, the wholeworld is focusing towards Indiaand there is a new recognitionand enthusiasm about what ishappening in India.

He was speaking on theoccasion of the 17thconvocation ceremony ofUniversity of Petroleum andEnergy Studies (UPES) here onSaturday.

The Vice President saidthat people around the worldare particularly happy aboutreforms in every sector. Thetransformation and progressmust continue with vigour tomake India even greater.

He further talked about theIndian culture. He said thatIndian culture is one of theoldest and ancient in the world.Share and care is the core ofIndian philosophy and we, asIndians, truly believe inVasudev Kutumbakam whichmeans the world is one family.He said that scholars fromaround the world used to come

to India to study. India hasgiven the world one of the bestuniversities like Nalanda andTaxila. India’s GDP was 40-41per cent of the world at thattime. Greatness of this nationis reflected in the fact that afterall this we never attacked anycountry in the world as webelieve in peaceful coexistence.

Naidu encouraged thestudents by making them awareof the history of India andsacrifices made by manypeople. He said that it is theresponsibility of each one of ustoday to take forward thislegacy. He said it is importantto enjoy the rights given by theConstitution but at the sametime follow the duties as well.He explained the students howrights and duties are two sidesof the same coin.

He said that India have theyoungest population in theworld and has a potentialdemographic dividend and wemust take advantage of it.

The vice president saidthat technology, knowledgeand innovation are required forIndia’s accelerated progress.Ultimate aim and purpose ofresearch, science andtechnology is to serve the

people and make their livesbetter.

He said that education isnot just for employment but forenhancement of knowledge,for enlightenment andempowerment. The process oflearning must continue and thechildren and youth mustbecome future ready.

Naidu also encouraged thestudents to pursue yoga and eat

healthy. He explained howyoga unites body and mind. Hesaid that people must not forgettheir mother tongue and theirmotherland.

The Chief Minister ofUttarakhand, Trivendra SinghRawat, and the Governor ofUttarakhand, Baby RaniMaurya, were also present atthe occasion.

The Governor said that

education is a mean toempower and the studentsshould contribute for society.

The chief minister whilecongratulating the studentssaid that UPES has initiated themove of wearing Indian attireat the convocation. He said thatas proposed by him last yearthe students of the universityhave successfully designedIndian attire for this year’s

convocation.He said that all the

universities in the state are nowfollowing this practice whichstarted from UPES. “Even theUttarakhand police have shedthe old Scottish uniform andhave designed a new uniformfor the women in forces whichwill reflect our culture,’’hequipped.

Rawat said thatUttarakhand has become ahub for education and ismoving towards becoming aneducation capital.

Presenting the 'ViceChancellor's Report 2018-19',the Vice Chancellor, UPES,Dr Dependra Kumar Jhatouched upon variousachievements achieved byUPES during the academicyear 2018-19.

A total of 3,741 studentswere awarded degrees at theconvocation which included 29PhD’s; 1,215 Post Graduate(PG) degrees and 2,497Undergraduate degrees

Ten ‘Gold Medals’, 72‘Silver Medals’, 03 ‘InstitutedMedals Gold’ and 7 ‘Shields’were awarded to the studentsduring the ceremony.

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Protests were held inDehradun on Saturday

against the heinous rape andbrutal murder of the womanveterinarian in Hyderabad.Agitated by the incident, themembers of Akhil BharatiyaVidhyarthi Parishad (ABVP)held a vehement protest atDAV PG College here. On theday, the students assembled atthe college campus and shoutedslogans.

After holding a march, thestudents burned the effigy ofthe culprits. They demandedthat capital punishment shouldbe given to the culprits so thatsimilar barbaric and heinousincidents are not repeated. Thestudents also said that a fast

track court should be set upand exemplary punishmentshould be given to the culprits.The students of the privateAyurveda colleges also heldprotest at Lansdowne chowk onthe day.

They also demanded deathsentence for the culprits.

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PNS n Dehradun

Uttarakhand wouldundertake a four-month- longintensive immunisationprogramme to immunise leftout children and pregnantwomen under MissionIndradhanush II programme.The Mission Director (MD) ofNational Health Mission(NHM), Yugal Kishore Pant,

while attending a sensitisationworkshop held at State HealthFirectorate, said that thecampaign is being undertakenin 271 districts of 27 States andUnion Territories of India. Hesaid that in Uttarakhand, tendistricts barring Dehradun,Bageshwar and Nainital wouldbe covered under thecampaign. In these districts,14,729 children and 3,596pregnant women, left out fromthe immunisation exercisewould be covered.

He said that the campaignwould be held in four stages inthe months of December,January, February and March.Pant claimed that continuousprogress is being made in thefield of regular immunisation

but this special campaign inbeing undertaken for thechildren left out of the regularimmunisation programme.The Director General (DG)health services, Dr AmitaUpreti said that MissionIndradhanush is one amongtop priorities programme ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand he himself is regularlymonitoring it.

The director of NHM, DrAnjali Nautiyal said that theimmunisation helps inpreventing many diseases inchildren. She said that underUniversal ImmunisationProgramme (UIP), childrenbelow the age of two years arecovered.

The in-charge of Mother

and Child Health (MCH)programme, Dr K S Martoliyasaid that immunisation sessionswould be held for seven days(excluding Sundays andholidays) from first Monday ofnext four months.

He informed that 9724children and 1857 pregnantwomen in Haridwar districtand 3524 children and 1401pregnant women in UdhamSingh Nagar district aretargeted under the campaign.State immunisation officer DrMeenkashi Uniyal, specialist ofWorld Health Organisation(WHO) Dr Vikas Sharma, DrPankaj Kumar Singh, J CPandey and others participatedin the programme.Teacherkilled in elephant attack on bus

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Aschool teacher was killedwhen an elephant attacked

a passenger bus in Ramnagar ofNainital district on Saturday. Abus of Kumaon Motor OwnersUnion (KMOU) was on its wayto Bageshwar from Ramnagaron Saturday early morning. Atusker confronted the bus inKath ki Nav village in Mandalrange of the Kalagarh forestrange.

According to the eyewitnesses, the driver tried tosped away from the pachydermbut it attacked the bus andbroke its windscreen in theprocess. The elephant in searchof food inside the bus alsostruck one Girish ChandPandey with its trunk. Pandeysustained injuries in the attackand died on way to the hospital.The other passengers of the busran to safety while the Tuskerwas damaging the bus.

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Coming to the support of theUttarakhand Government’s

decision to constitute a CharDham Shrine Board, the State

unit of BJP has said that theShrine Board would write a newdefinition of development inthe State. The Media in-chargeof State BJP, Devendra Bhasin,said that the decision of theGovernment is historic and itwould ensure development ofthe Char Dhams and othertemples while keeping theinterests of the stakeholdersintact. Criticising theOpposition of Congress on theissue, Bhasin said that the boardwould also help in employmentgeneration.

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India and Japan on Saturday askedPakistan to take “resolute and irre-

versible” action against terror infra-structure operating from its soil andspecifically called upon Islamabad to“fully comply” with its internationalcommitments to deal with terrorismincluding the steps prescribed by theFinancial Action Task Force (FATF), theglobal anti-terror watchdog.

Defence Minister Rajnath Singh andExternal Affairs Minister S Jaishankar ledthe Indian delegation while the Japaneseside was headed by Foreign MinisterToshimitsu Motegi and Minister ofDefence Taro Kono, officials said.

The talks under the new two-plus-two framework took place following adecision taken by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and his Japanese coun-terpart Shinzo Abe during the 13thIndia-Japan annual summit last year.

“The Ministers underlined theneed for all countries to ensure that allterritory under their control is not usedto launch terrorist attacks on othercountries in any manner,” an Indo-Japanjoint statement said.

“They noted in this context thethreat posed to regional security by ter-rorist networks operating out of Pakistanand called upon it to take resolute andirreversible action against them andfully comply with international com-mitments including to FATF,” it said.

India and Japan also called upon allcountries to take resolute action in root-ing out terrorist safe havens and infra-structure, disrupt terrorist networks,eliminate financing channels and haltcross-border movement of terrorists.

“The Ministers condemned in thestrongest terms the growing threat of terrorism and acknowledged that it constituted a major threat to peace and security in the region,” the jointstatement said.

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Prime Minister Narendra Modion Saturday described Japan as

a cornerstone of India’s Act EastPolicy and held that India’s rela-tionship with it as “a key componentof our vision for Indo-Pacific forpeace, stability and prosperity of theregion”.

Modi made the remarks at ameeting with Japanese ForeignMinister Toshimitsu Motegi andDefence Minister Taro Kono,according to the Ministry ofExternal Affairs (MEA).

The two Japanese Ministers arehere to attend the first edition ofIndo-Japan defence and foreignministerial dialogue.

Both the countries are trying todevelop close strategic approach inview of China’s fast expanding mil-itary and economic influence in theIndo-Pacific region, triggering con-cern in various countries of theregion and beyond. Japan has beenin the priority list of Modi which hevisited first after becoming PrimeMinister in 2014

Defence Minister Rajnath Singhalso held talks with his Japanesecounterpart on a range of strategicissues including the evolving secu-rity scenario in the Indo-Pacificregion. The meeting took placeahead of the first edition of defenceand foreign ministerial talksbetween the two countries.

In his meeting with JapaneseMinisters Modi stressed the impor-tance of all-round development inIndia-Japan relations for the bene-fit of people of the two countries as

well as the region and the world, theMEA said.

Modi also conveyed to the twoJapanese Ministers that he waslooking forward to welcomingPrime Minister Shinzo Abe to Indiafor India-Japan annual summit nextmonth.

“The Prime Minister addedthat India’s relationship with Japanwas a key component of our visionfor Indo-Pacific for peace, stability

and prosperity of the region, as wellas a cornerstone of India’s Act EastPolicy,” the MEA said.

The Indo-Japan defence andforeign ministerial talks under thenew two-plus-two framework aretaking place following a decisiontaken by Modi and Abe during the13th India-Japan annual summit lastyear.

The two leaders decided toinstitute the new mechanism for fur-

ther deepening bilateral security anddefence cooperation and bringgreater depth to the special strate-gic and global partnership betweenthe two countries.

In his meeting with Motegi andKono, Modi also said that regularhigh-level exchanges between thetwo countries are a testimony to thedepth and strength of the relation-ship.

The Prime Minister said that the

two-plus-two dialogue will furtherdeepen bilateral strategic, securityand defence cooperation.

Rajnath and his Japanese coun-terpart, in their deliberations,according to officials, touched onkey facets of Indo-Japan defence andsecurity cooperation as well asreviewed the evolving security sce-nario in the Indo-Pacific region.

In the Singh-Kono meeting,both sides also decided to furtherramp up maritime security coop-eration, officials said.

India, Japan and the US havebeen part of the annual Malabarmaritime exercise which is aimed atachieving greater inter-operabilityamong the navies of the three coun-tries.

It is understood that the twosides have deliberated on the long-pending issue of supply of the US-2 amphibious aircraft by Japan toIndia.

The two Ministers discusseddeepening ties in development ofweapons and military hardwareunder the technology transferframework, according to officials.The two strategic partners havealready decided to go for jointdevelopment of military platforms.

China’s military moves in Indo-Pacific has in the recent past alsocaught attention of the US toowhich has advocated joint efforts tocounter Chinese influence in theregion.

Besides Japan, India has beenfactoring Vietnam in evolving acomprehensive approach to protectinterests of the countries around theIndo-pacific space.

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Drawing attention to the low-ering GDP growth rate,

Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra onSaturday lashed out at the BJPfor making “false promises” and“ruining the country’s economy”.

India’s economic growthdipped further to hit an over-six-year low of 4.5 per cent in theJuly-September quarter, accord-ing to official data released onFriday.

“Promise after promise...2crore jobs every year, double theprice of crops, good days, Makein India, making the economyUSD 5 trillion... Will any promisebe accounted for? Today GDPgrowth is 4.5% which shows thatall promises are false,” she said ina tweet in Hindi.

“The BJP has ruined India,which is aspiring to grow, and itseconomy due to its failures,” shesaid using a picture with a cap-tion ‘lowest GDP in 26 quarters’.

Echoing Priynaka , SeniorCongress leader PChidambaram also said thelower GDP growth rate of 4.5per cent was as predicted but

warned that third quarter will beworse.

“As predicted widely, GDPgrowth in Q2 has come lower at4.5%. Yet the Government says‘All is well’. Q3 will not be morethan 4.5% and in all likelihoodwill be worse,” Chidambaramsaid in a tweet posted by his fam-ily on his behalf.

The former FinanceMinister, who is lodged in jail incases of corruption and moneylaundering, also urged the peo-ple of Jharkhand, where pollingis underway, to vote against theBJP to record their rejection ofits policies. “People of Jharkhandmust vote against the BJP andrecord their rejection of BJP’spolicies and model of gover-nance. They have the first oppor-tunity to do so,” he tweeted.

Chidambaram has been atrenchant critic of BJP’s eco-nomic policies and oftenaccused it with having no con-crete map for economic devel-opment of the country. He hadattacked demonetisation moveby the Modi-dispensation andalso hit-out at the sloppy imple-mentation of Goods andServices Tax in the country.

New Delhi: Despite protests onseveral issues by Oppositionmembers in Rajya Sabha, theUpper House of Parliament hasreported 89 per cent productiv-ity in the first half of the ongo-ing Winter Session.

Of the total available time ofmore than 55 hours, the Houseavailed more than 49 hours, theRajya Sabha secretariat said in astatement on Saturday.

While a little more than 8hours were lost on account ofdisruptions, members made upfor the lost time by sitting for twoand a half hours extra resulting

in a net total loss of 5 hours and51 minutes during the first halfof this session, it said.

Three Bills including theJalianwala Bagh NationalMemorial (Amendment) Billwere passed during the first halfof the winter session.

During the second week ofthe winter session, Rajya Sabhapassed two Bills, TheTransgender (Protection ofRights) Bill and The Chit Funds(Amendment) Bill. Discussionon the Bill seeking to replace theOrdinance banning e-cigarettesremained inconclusive, the sec-

retariat said.“At the end of the first half

of the ongoing winter session,Rajya Sabha has reported pro-ductivity of 89 per cent for thefirst two weeks combined,” itsaid.

The upper house is likely totake up next week the SpecialProtection Group(Amendment) Bill, the Dadraand Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu Merger Bill and theNational Capital Territory ofDelhi (Recognition of PropertyRights of Residents inUnauthorised Colonies Bill. All

these bills have been passed bythe Lok Sabha.

Members of Rajya Sabhaalso made a record 51 zero hoursubmissions and 30 special men-tions on various issues of pub-lic importance.

All the admitted Zero Hourand Special Mentions weremade on the last working day ofthe week with the memberscomplimenting Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu for the same.

During the second week ofthe ongoing winter session, theRajya Sabha recorded produc-tivity of 84 per cent. PTI

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The Government is develop-ing a satellite-based mech-

anism to monitor areas undergreen cover and the growth ofsaplings planted there,Environment Minister PrakashJavadekar said on Saturday.

Pointing out that some Stateshave made big advance in nur-turing planted saplings to theirfull growth, Javadekar said, “ Weare also making an effort in thisdirection by developing a mech-anism for the minute detailing ofthe forestation at the (given) geo-coordinates and monitoring of

growth of the planted saplings,with the use of satellite.”

The Minister said 12 croresaplings were planted in last fiveyears. “Data on the growth ofthese saplings will be available inpublic domain. We are develop-ing a mechanism of their inspec-tion through satellite,” he said.

The CompensatoryAfforestation FundManagement and PlanningAuthority (CAMPA) funds tothe tune of �47,000 crore willbe utilised for greening India,he said after a meeting with theforest Ministers and officials ofvarious states.

The Minister said that themeeting discussed issues likethe use of CAMPA fund forforestation, water conserva-tion, fodder augmentation andmoisture management in theforests, besides the eradica-tion of Lantana weed.

“There were very positivediscussions on how to utiliseCAMPA fund more effective-ly and create more green coverwith water and fodder aug-mentation and moisture man-agement in forest areas so as toavoid human-animal conflictand improve the quality offorest,” he said.

In August this year, theEnvironment minister handedover �47,436 crore of CAMPAfunds to various States for thepromotion of afforestation andachieving green objective of thecountry.

In the wake of under-utili-sation of money for compen-satory afforestation, the SupremeCourt in 2001 had ordered forcoming up with CAMPA fund.

In 2009, the SupremeCourt permitted release of�1,000 crore every year to thestates and Union territoriesfor compensatory afforesta-tion and other activities.

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh has written to the

State Governments urgingthem to issue suitable directivesto various departments undertheir commands to redress thegrievances of the defence andparamilitary forces’ personneland ex-servicemen swiftly.

Singh also urged the StateGovernments to issue neces-sary directives to variousdepartments to show affectionand respect to the forces’ per-sonnel when they or their fam-ily members visit their officesfor any Government-relatedissues so that they can dis-charge their duties with morezeal in difficult areas.

In his letter, Singh said thepersonnel of the armed forcesare always ready to serve thenation without even caring fortheir lives and he has himselfbeen witness to the difficultareas in which they render theservice. The personnel of thearmed forces are posted thou-sands of kilometers away fromtheir homes and are posted dif-ficult terrains and torturousweather conditions for cause ofthe nation. In this backdrop, itbecomes our duty to properly

take care of such personnel andtheir families. Such personnelare able to visit their home-towns for a very limited peri-od to attend to domestic issues.Many of them need to visitoffices of the State Governmentdepartment at various levels.

“Through this letter, Iexpect cooperation from youto issue necessary directionsall the related departmentsexpeditiously resolve thepending administrative issuesof the jawans with commit-ment and respect,” theMinister said in his recent let-ter to Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath.Similar letters have been sentto other States.

Singh further urged theState Governments that when-ever a armed forces’ personnelvisit Government offices, theofficers of the StateGovernment departmentsshould ensure that the jawansare accorded respect and affec-tion as also ensure resolution oftheir pleas at the earliest. Suchcourtesies will not only ensurethat they are free from theirdomestic issues and performtheir duties but they will be ableto perform with more zeal, headded.

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The Narcotics ControlBureau (NCB) has seized

over 256 kg narcotics andarrested a dozen persons inconnection with drug traffick-ing cases across the countryover the last fortnight.

The Central anti-narcoticsagency has stepped up actionagainst traffickers and drug car-tels leading to increasedseizures. As part of the anti-trafficking drives, the federalagency has also collaboratedwith other enforcement andsecurity agencies for conduct-ing operations to seize thecontraband items, officials said.

“During the last fortnight,the Narcotics Control Bureauseized a total of 248.03 kg ofganja, 5.93 kg of heroin, 2.20 kgof methamphetamine tabletsand 98 grams cocaine. Twelvepersons were arrested by theagency for their involvement indrug trafficking during thesame period,” an official said.

Besides the seizures, opiumpoppy and cannabis, whichwere being illicitly cultivated on5,049 acres of land in differentStates, were destroyed, headded.

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Ahead of tabling the crucialCitizenship Amendment

Bill (CAB) in Parliament nextweek, Home Minister AmitShah on Saturday held discus-sions with leaders of politicalparties, students’ bodies andcivil society groups ofNortheastern States — Assam,Arunachal Pradesh andMeghalaya — on the contoursof the proposed legislation inorder to allay their apprehen-sions on the sensitive issue.Shah also listened to their viewsand changes are likely to beincorporated in the proposedlegislation to be tabled beforeParliament next week.

Chief Ministers of Assam,Arunachal Pradesh andMeghalaya SarbanandaSonowal, Pema Khandu andConrad Sangma respectively,Union Minister Kiren Rijiju andseveral MPs attended the meet-ings separately.

Sonowal said the consulta-tions carried out by Shah willallay all apprehensions on theCAB. The CAB was also anelection promise of the BJP inthe 2014 and the 2019Parliamentary polls.

This is a very honest anddemocratic approach of takingalong every section of people ofthe Northeast. I am sure thosewho have attended the meet-ings with the Home Ministerfelt assured of the CentralGovernment’s commitmentstowards the Northeast region,according to Sonowal.

Most regional parties andcivil society groups raised theissue of how CAB could affectthe tribals in their respectiveStates.

Shah is learnt to have indi-cated to the political leaders thatthe CAB may not affect the trib-al areas protected by the InnerLine Permit (ILP) regime andthose who are governed underthe Sixth Schedule of theConstitution, sources said.

Shah also conveyed to thedelegations that tribal areasmay be exempted from theambit of the proposed Bill, thesources further said.

Assam Minister HimantaBiswa Sarma said even thoughmost of the civil society groupshad opposed the earlier Bill, thenew redrafted Bill will ensurethat the interests of the InnerLine Permit areas and the SixthSchedule areas are protected

from the proposed law.Sarma also said a separate

legislation may be brought onthe recommendations of a com-mittee set up by the HomeMinistry to provide constitu-tional safeguards to the indige-nous people of Assam.

The Assam-based politicalparty AIUDF, headed byMaulana Badruddin Ajmal, hasopposed the Bill, which aims togive citizenship to non-Muslimrefugees from three neigh-bouring countries.

The Bill seeks to amend theCitizenship Act, 1955, in orderto grant Indian nationality toHindus, Sikhs, Buddhists, Jains,Parsis and Christians, whocome to India due to religiouspersecution in Bangladesh,Pakistan and Afghanistan evenif they don’t possess proper doc-uments.

Former Arunachal PradeshChief Minister Nabam Tukisaid he was opposed to the 2016Bill but if the new Bill excludesthe ILP-regime states, it can beconsidered.

President of the All BodoStudents Union Pramod Borosaid his organisation conveyedto Shah that the student bodyopposed the CAB as it does not

provide any safeguards to thetribal areas.

“We want constitutionalsafeguards to the indigenouspeople,” Bora said.

Shah will again hold themeetings on December 3 in thewake of strong protests in theNortheast against the CAB.OnFriday, Shah held meetingswith delegations from Tripuraand Mizoram.

The ILP regime is applica-ble in Arunachal Pradesh,Nagaland and Mizoram underthe Bengal Eastern FrontierRegulation, 1873. In terms ofSection 2 of the BEFR, citizensof other States require ILP tovisit these three States.

The main objective of theILP system is to prevent settle-ment of other Indian nationalsin the three states in order toprotect the indigenous popula-tion.

Under the Sixth Scheduleof the Constitution,autonomous councils and dis-tricts were created in certaintribal areas in Assam,Meghalaya and Tripura. Theautonomous councils and dis-tricts enjoy certain executiveand legislative powers.

A large section of people

and a few organisations in theNortheast have opposed theBill, saying it will nullify theprovisions of the Assam Accordof 1985, which fixed March 24,1971, as the cut-off date fordeportation of all illegal immi-grants irrespective of religion.

The Congress, TrinamoolCongress, Communist Partyof India (Marxist) and a fewother political parties have beensteadfastly opposing the Bill,claiming that citizenship can’tbe given on the basis of religion.

On Friday, 12 non-BJPMPs belonging to the Northeasthave also urged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to exclude theNortheastern States from thepurview of the proposed Bill,claiming if the legislation ispassed, the tribal populationof the region will be vulner-able to displacement.

The BJP-led NDAGovernment had introducedthe Bill in its previous tenureand got the Lok Sabha’sapproval. However, theGovernment did not intro-duce the Bill in Rajya Sabhaand it lapsed following thedissolution of the last LokSabha.

According to the previous

Bill, those who came to India onor before December 31, 2014,will benefit from the proposedlegislation after it becomes anAct of Parliament.

The cut-off date prescribedin the previous Bill may bechanged, sources said.

The Centre has listed theBill in its items of business forthe ongoing Winter Session ofParliament and is set to intro-duce in the ongoing session forits passage.

The BJP and its affiliateshave been pushing for inclusionof minorities from the threecountries under the ambit of thelaw to grant them citizenship.

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman said on

Saturday that several significantsteps in structural reforms havebeen taken in the past fewmonths and responses/inter-ventions addressing the needsof the economy will continue,indicating more relief mea-sures could be on the anvil, ifso needed.

The FM’s statement came aday after it was announced thatthe GDP growth rate of thecountry went down to 4.5 percent, slowest in over six years.

“Today, we mark the com-pletion of six months of the sec-ond term of @PMOIndia@narendramodi. Several sig-nificant steps in structuralreforms have been taken inthese months. Responses/inter-ventions addressing the needsof the economy will continue”,the FM tweeted in response toa tweet by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi Awhich shealso retweeted.

“It is 6 months of 2ndterm of PM Modi. These#6MonthsOfIndiaFirst havegiven India a phenomenalreform momentum” was thetweet from the Prime Minister.

Interestingly, the PM hasalso listed most economic stepsof the government saying India

is on track of becoming a 5 tril-lion dollar economy by 2014.

The target of 5 trillion dol-lar has come under heavyscrutiny after the dismalgrowth in the last two quartermarking the six months of thecurrent government thoughpart of the April-June quarterfell into the last governmentduration which was also theNDA government.

Former RBI Governor andnoted economist C Rangarajanhas said the 5-trillion dollar tar-get simply out of question by2025 at the current growth rate.

While the first quartergrowth slipped to a six-year lowof 5 per cent, the second quar-ter growth has now furtherslipped to 4.5 per cent now.Even RBI has lowered its

growth full year forecast in twomonths to 6.1 per cent in itsOctober policy review.

As on steps, Sitharamanslashed the corporate tax rateto 22 per cent from 30 per centfor existing companies, and to15 per cent from 25 per cent fornew manufacturing compa-nies. Including a surchargeand cess, the effective tax ratefor existing companies wouldnow come down to 25.17 percent from 35 per cent whichinvolved an outgo of �1.45lakh crore. Companies can optfor the higher tax rates or thenew ones.

The government alsobrought changes in IBC wherenow NBFCs With �500 CroreAssets Can Go For InsolvencyResolution bringing the finance

companies under the ambit ofinsolvency. Its already notifiedand DHFL is already in NCLT.This came against the backdropof the ongoing liquidity crisisin the NBFCs that has alsosparked concerns about theoverall stability of the financialsector.

Under the NBFC liquidityinjection response of the gov-ernment , there have beensteps. Public sector banks havebeen sanctioned to purchase�21,580 crores of pooled assetsas on October 16. Moreover,the National Housing Bankhas also extended �30,000 crworth of credit lines to NBFCs.

Housing sector receivedmaximum attention likeNBFCs during these sixmonths. The Centre hadannounced a �25,000 crorestimulus package for the ailingreal estate sector earlier thismonth.

Sitharaman hadannounced that the govern-ment plans to give impetus tothe housing market to reviveover 1,600 stalled housing pro-jects covering 4.58 lakh unitsand now this window will beoperational in two months,DEA secretary AtanuChakraborty has said.

The decision will also gen-erate considerable employ-ment, revive demand of

cement, iron and steel indus-tries and relieve stress in othermajor sectors of the economy,according to the Government.

On the mega merger of 10PSU banks which was also amarquee announcement inthese six months, the mergershave been moving on withvarious approvals to start newstructures as on April 1, 2020.

The PSU Banks have alsobeen capitalised with �55,250crore bonds. However, Creditgrowth to the industry decel-erated marginally to 3.4 percent in October 2019, from 3.7per cent in October 2018,according to the Reserve Bankof India’s (RBI’s) sectoraldeployment of credit data.

The Government has alsogone some steps towards meet-ing the huge disinvestmenttarget where it took decisionson privatising BPCL,Concorand SCI along with the decisionto pare stakes below 51 per centwithout losing PSU character-istics. Advisors has beenappointed for BPCL and on AirIndia privatisation, roadshowshave been held.

The success of both thesedivestment exercises are crucialto the meeting of target andalso providing revenues to theGovernment which is likely toface shortfall on account of taxrevenues.

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There may not be much theGovernment can do to

fightback the severe slowdownfacing the economy because thefiscal space to do so is limitedafter the corporate tax rate cutand GST shortfall, Kotak saidin a report on Saturday.

National Statistical Office(NSO) data showed that India’sGDP growth slipped to a six-year low of 4.5 per cent in Q2owing to sharp decline in man-ufacturing activity, which con-tracted by 1 per cent.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman tweeted onSaturday that the interventionsaddressing the needs of theeconomy will continue.

While favourable baseeffects, increased pace of gov-ernment spending, lower short-term rates due to lower policyrates and easier liquidity con-ditions could provide somesupport to growth in 2HFY20,we see limited room for ameaningful revival in activity inthe months ahead, the reportsaid.

“The Government’s fiscal

space to support economicactivity is limited after the cor-porate tax rate cuts and GSTshortfall,” the report said.

Kotak said that high fre-quency data for October andNovember suggested that eco-nomic activity weakened fur-ther despite festive seasondemand, revising down itsFY2020 GDP estimate by 30bps to 4.7 per cent.

“On the policy front, weexpect the MPC to lookthrough the impact of higherfood prices after a dismal1HFY20 growth and take cuesfrom the moderating core infla-tion. The MPC will have torevise down the FY2020 GDPestimate from 6.1 per centwhile revising higher the near-term CPI inflation trajectory,”Kotak said.

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China’s November factoryactivity rebounded for the

first time in seven months, datashowed Saturday, despite thelooming threat of fresh US tar-iffs within weeks if Beijingand Washington fail to sign apartial trade deal.

The closely watchedPurchasing Managers’ Index(PMI), a key gauge of activityin the country’s factories, roseto 50.2 in November, up from49.3 last month, the NationalBureau of Statistics said.

The reading is slightly abovethe 50-point mark that separates

growth and contraction everymonth. A sub-index of newexport orders climbed to a 7-month high at 48.8, but was stillin contraction as demand wanesfor China’s exports abroad.

The optimistic readingcomes as Beijing andWashington edge towards apartial deal to a trade war, thathas dragged on for nearly 20months.

Top US and Chinese nego-tiators held phone talks onTuesday and agreed to keep intouch over “remaining issues”for a “phase one” trade dealbetween the two countries,Chinese state media said.

New York: US stocks closedlower, wrapping up the holiday-shortened week on a negativenote, as investors observed themarket on Black Friday, thebeginning of the latest US hol-iday shopping season.

The Dow Jones IndustrialAverage fell 112.59 points, or0.40 per cent, to 28,051.41 onFriday. The S&P 500 was down12.65 points, or 0.40 per cent,to 3,140.98. The NasdaqComposite Index decreased39.70 points, or 0.46 per cent,to 8,665.47, Xinhua reported.

All of the 11 primary S&P500 sectors traded on a down-beat note, with energy falling1.01 per cent around marketclose, leading the losers.IANS

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Insolvency and BankruptcyBoard of India chairman M

S Sahoo on Saturday said workis on to amend the Insolvencyand Bankruptcy Code 2016that will address cross-borderinsolvency.

On Thursday, Sahoo hadsaid the government is keen tointroduce a globally acceptedand well-recognised cross-bor-der insolvency framework,which will make India anattractive investment destina-tion, given the increased pre-dictability and certainty of theinsolvency process.

“There is proposal to amendthe IBC to provide for such caseslike cross border insolvency andto address some of the problemsthat have come up, but I will notbe able to say which are these,”Sahoo told reporters here on thesidelines of ‘Roadshow onCompetition Law and Practice’organised by CII here.

The government had onNovember 15, notified Section227 of IBC to deal with sys-

temically important financialservice providers with over Rs500 crore assets, excludingbanks for bankruptcy andempowered the RBI to do so.

Meanwhile, talking aboutchallenges expected in DHFLbeing sent to the NationalCompany Law Tribunal by theRBI, Sahoo said: “We shouldnot be afraid of any chal-lenges.... What is required isthat willingness to absorb thechallenges and address them asquickly as you can....New prob-lems can come up but as whenthese problems come up it willbe addressed at the earliest”.

When IBC came in 2016,everything was new, and therewas no insolvency profession-al, IBBI or all members of theNCLT, everything was createdafresh, but it worked, he added.

The Reserve Bank of Indiaon Friday had sent the troubledmortgage lender DewanHousing Finance (DHFL) forbankruptcy proceedings, mak-ing it the first financial servicesplayer to go to the NCLT fordebt resolution.

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The country’s largest carmaker Maruti Suzuki India

on Saturday said it has crossedmilestone of 20 million pas-senger vehicle cumulative salesin the Indian market.

The company accom-plished this landmark numberin less than 37 years of sellingits first car on December14,1983, when it first rolled out

the iconic Maruti 800, MarutiSuzuki India (MSI) said in astatement.

The company said while itcrossed 10 million vehicle salesin nearly 29 years, the next 10million passenger vehicles weresold in a record time of 8 years.

Commenting on the mile-stone, MSI Managing Director& CEO Kenichi Ayukawa said,“We are overwhelmed withthis new record.

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Fertiliser industry body FAI hasexpressed concern over delay

in payment of subsidy arrear thathas reached �33,691 crore and isestimated to reach �60,000 croreby the end of this fiscal.

The Fertiliser Associationof India (FAI) Director GeneralSatish Chander demanded thatthe government should clearsubsidy arrears at the earliest asdelay in payments is hurtingliquidity of manufacturers.

The Government fixes themaximum retail price of ureaand it reimburses manufactur-ers the differences betweenthe MRP and production cost.The Centre also provides nutri-ent based subsidy (NBS) onnon-urea fertilizers.

As per the information pro-vided by 25 fertilizer companies,FAI said, a total of �33,691 croredues are pending as on

November 1, 2019. Out of this,�20,853 crore is under DBT(Direct Benefit Transfer) and bal-ance �12,838 crore is other thanDBT. It also pointed out that�20,434 crore dues are pendingfor which bills have been gener-ated but not paid and the balance�13,257 crore are pending forwhich fertilizer companies arenot able to generate bills.

“Fertiliser subsidy arrear islikely to touch �60,000 crore byMarch, if additional fund is notprovided to the ministrythrough supplementary grant,”Chander said.

The outstanding was�39,000 crore at the beginningof 2019-20 financial year, headded. FAI said that imple-mentation of DBT assuredweekly payment of subsidy.

“However, this assurance isnot kept due to persistent bud-get constraints,” it said in astatement.

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Facebook published a cor-rection on a user’s post

Saturday following a demandfrom Singapore, the first timea tech giant has complied withthe city-state’s law against mis-information. Authorities hadordered the social media giantto correct a post promoting anarticle on a fringe news site con-taining “scurrilous accusations”of election rigging, ramping uptheir use of a controversial lawagainst misinformation.

The law gives ministerspowers to tell platforms to putwarnings next to posts theydeem false, but that activistsfear could be used to curb freespeech. A post by Alex Tan —who runs anti-governmentwebsite the States TimesReview — had a correctionnotice placed below it after agovernment request, Facebookconfirmed. On Thursdayauthorities had ordered Tan toput up a correction next to hisNovember 23 post on elections.

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Onions have left customersteary-eyed as prices of the

staple continue to soar in thenational Capital.

The onion prices regis-tered yet another hike onFriday. The prices of the staplewere four times higher as com-pared to last year. On Nov 29,2018, the wholesale prices ofonion in Delhi’s AzadpurMandi were between Rs 2.5/kg-16/kg. Whereas, it tradedbetween Rs 20-62.5 per kg onFriday.

Traders said that onionprices are rising due to higherconsumption and shorter sup-ply.

“The arrival of onions inAzadpur Mandi was 1,045.6

tonnes on Friday, while thedaily consumption of onions inDelhi is around 2,000 tonnes,”said traders.

The central governmenthas decided to import 1.2 lakhtonnes of onions to improve thedomestic supply and controlprices.

Rajendra Sharma,President, Onion MerchantAssociation and a trader atAzadpur Mandi said that theaverage daily consumption ofonions across the country isaround 50,000-60,000. So, theimport of 1.2 lakh tonnes ofonions is equivalent to a two-day consumption.

“The increase in the onionprices is natural as there isinsufficient supply in Delhi,” headded.

Agriculture expert VijaySardana said that due toimproper onion storage in thecountry, the stock of the pre-vious season was wasted. Whilethe new crop has beendestroyed due to the weather.

“At present, there is a needto import about 10 lakh tonnesof onions. However, it’s imprac-tical as onions in such a largequantity will not be availableabroad,” Sardana said.

The government is tryingto procure onions from Egypt,Turkey, Holland and othercountries.

State-owned MMTC hasalso signed contracts withEgypt for onion imports and anonion consignment of 6,090tonnes will be available in thecountry next month.

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The opening of the historicKartarpur corridor was the

brainchild of Army ChiefGeneral Qamar Javed Bajwaand it will hurt India for ever,a top Pakistani Ministerclaimed on Saturday, contra-dicted his Government's asser-tion that the idea behind theinitiative was of Prime MinisterImran Khan.

On November 9, PrimeMinister Khan inaugurated theKartarpur corridor to facilitatethe visa-free entry of IndianSikh pilgrims to celebrate the550th birth anniversary offounder of Sikhism GuruNanak Dev.

While inaugurating thecorridor, Khan had told a gath-ering of over 12,000 devotees,including former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singhand cricketer-turned-politicianNavjot Singh Sidhu: "I had noidea of the importance thisplace holds. I found out a yearago. I am happy we could dothis for you".

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf Government has claimedthat the Kartarpur corridor

was the initiative of PrimeMinister Khan.

However, Pakistan'sRailways Minister SheikhRashid, a known motormouthconsidered to be a close aide ofPrime Minister Khan, contra-dicted the Government's claimon Saturday when he toldreporters here that the openingof the corridor was the brain-child of Army Chief GeneralBajwa and asserted that it willhurt India for ever. "India willremember for ever the kind ofwound inflicted on it by GenBajwa by opening Kartarpurcorridor," he said.

"Gen Bajwa strongly hitIndia by opening the corridor.Through this project, Pakistanhas created a new environmentof peace and won itself love ofthe Sikh community, " he said.

Rashid claimed that theIndian media "played up" theissue of General Bajwa's exten-

sion."The Imran Khan

Government has three moreyears and Bajwa has got threeyears in extension and not sixmonths. So our Governmentwill complete its tenure," hesaid, indirectly referring thatGeneral Bajwa is here to backprime minister Khan'sGovernment.

General Bajwa did notattend the Kartarpur Corridor'sopening ceremony apparentlyto avoid any controversy.

In the ground breakingceremony on November 28 lastyear, the hug of Congress leaderSidhu with General Bajwa hadsparked a controversy. Theinauguration of the corridorcame in the midst of frayed tiesbetween India and Pakistanfollowing New Delhi's August5 decision to withdraw J&K'sspecial status and bifurcate theState into two Union Territories.

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Mumbai terror attack mas-termind and chief of the

banned JuD Hafiz Saeed willbe prosecuted for terrorfinancing charges by an anti-terrorism court here nextmonth, an official said onSaturday.

An Anti-Terrorism Court(ATC) in Lahore held a hear-ing against Saeed and hisaccomplices on terror financ-ing on Saturday and fixedDecember 7 as the date forindictment of the Jamat-udDawa (JuD) chief and othersin the case.

"ATC judge ArshadHussain Bhutta fixedDecember 7 for indictment ofSaeed and others after hearingthe arguments of prosecu-tion and defence lawyers," acourt official told PTI after thehearing.

He said prosecutorAbdur Rauf Bhatti requestedthe court to hold day to dayhearing to conclude the trial at the earliest which was opposed by Saeed's coun-sel.

"The judge said he has to

conclude the trial on evi-dence and merit," the officialsaid, adding that the courtadjourned the proceedingstill December 7. Saeed wasbrought to the ATC amidsttight security from the Kot

Lakhpat jail. The journal-ists were not allowed to enterthe court to cover the pro-ceedings due to security mea-sures adopted by the PunjabPolice.

The Counter TerrorismDepartment (CTD) of thePunjab Police had registered23 FIRs against Saeed and hisaccomplices on the chargesof "terror financing" in dif-ferent cities of the Punjabprovince and arrested theJuD chief on July 17. He isdetained at the Kot Lakhpatjail in Lahore.

The cases have been reg-istered in Lahore, Gujranwalaand Multan for collection offunds for terror financingthrough assets/propertiesmade and held in the namesof Trusts/ Non ProfitOrganisations (NPO) includ-ing Al-Anfaal Trust, DawatulIrshad Trust and Muaz BinJabal Trust.

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Hundreds of silver-hairedactivists joined young

Hong Kong protesters for aunity rally Saturday, vowingthat their monthslong move-ment will not fade away untilthere is greater democracy inthe Chinese territory.

The rally at a park down-town was among several peace-ful gatherings by protestersthis week to keep up pressureon the Government amid a lullin violence following a localelection victory by the pro-democracy bloc and the gain-ing of US support for theircause.

A local boys' band beltedout songs to tell protesters that“the whole Hong Kong is sup-porting you.” Speakers remind-ed the crowd that it wasn't timeto celebrate and that the fightfor real autonomy must persist.

The protesters are angryover creeping Chinese inter-ference in Hong Kong thatthey say is eroding their rightspromised when the formerBritish colony returned toChinese rule in 1997.

“The Government wantsus to desert the front-liners andyoung protesters, but we willstick with them,” rally organis-er Tam Kwok-sun, 64, said toloud cheers from the crowd.

“Sometimes their actionsare violent and aggressive, butwe are more unhappy with theGovernment's behaviour.”

Since the unrest broke outin June, protesters have dis-rupted traffic, smashed publicfacilities and pro-China shops,and hurled gasoline bombs inpitched battles with riot policewho have responded with vol-leys of tear gas and water can-nons.

The occupation of severaluniversities by protesters earli-er this month after fiery clash-es with police capped one of the

most violent chapters in theturmoil, which has contributedto the city's first recession in adecade.

Hong Kong's leader, CarrieLam, has appealed for the cur-rent calm to continue but hasrefused to bow to protesters'demands, which include freeelections for her post and thelegislature as well as an inde-pendent probe into allegedpolice brutality.

“It's still a very early stageof the revolution,” a maskedactivist, who gave her name asMai, 26, said Saturday.

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The chairman of the HouseJudiciary Committee asked

President Donald Trump onFriday to say whether he'llsend his attorneys to participatein impeachment proceedingsbefore the panel.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler also isasking Republicans on his com-mittee which witnesses theyplan to ask permission to sub-poena. The letters from theNew York Democrat came asthe House impeachment probeenters a new phase with ahearing next week on whetherTrump's actions might consti-tute impeachable offenses.

Two weeks of IntelligenceCommittee hearings produceda mountain of testimony butdidn't seem to move the nee-dle on Capitol Hill, where nota single House Republicansupported establishing thechamber's impeachmentprocess.

Nadler instructed Trumpand top panel Republican DougCollins of Georgia to respondby the end of next week.

The Judiciary Committeemeets on Wednesday in aninformational hearing to exam-ine the "constitutional groundsfor presidential impeachment"and could move some timeafter that to hearings where

witnesses testify about Trump'sactions with Ukraine. Trumphas labelled the proceeding byHouse Democrats a sham, inpart because he could not havehis lawyers cross-examine intel-ligence committee witnessesduring hearings and deposi-tions.

The intelligence panel isslated to issue a report of itsfindings next week that areintended to form the basis ofhearings at the JudiciaryCommittee, which would beresponsible for drafting anyarticles of impeachment for avote by the full House. Thepanel can also seek further tes-timony.

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Aconvicted Islamist terrorist,who spent part of his teens

in Pakistan and released lastyear from a UK prison, is sus-pected to be the man whostabbed two people to death ina terror attack on LondonBridge, police said on Saturday.

Police have identified thesuspect as 28-year-old UsmanKhan, inspired by the ideolo-gy of al-Qaeda terror group,was previously sentenced to 16years in prison term for his rolein the London Stock Exchangebombing in 1990.

According to TheTelegraph, at the time of hissentencing in 2012, the judgewarned that he was a "seriousjihadist" who should not bereleased while he remained a

threat to the public.Khan left school with no

qualifications after spendingpart of his late teens inPakistan, where he lived withhis mother when she becameill, it said.

The BBC reported thatKhan was out on licence fromprison when he killed twopeople and injured three oth-ers in the stabbing attack onFriday, before he was shot deadby the Scotland Yard. Khan wasliving in Stafford since beingreleased from prison onDecember last, it said.

In February 2012, Khanwas sentenced to eight years inprison. In 2013, the Court ofAppeal sentenced him to a 16-year jail term.

Two people were killedand several others injured in

the London Bridge attack onFriday. The Scotland Yard con-firmed that a male suspect, lateridentified as Khan, wearing ahoax bomb vest was shot deadat the scene.

Scotland Yard's Head ofCounter Terrorism Policing,Assistant Commissioner NeilBasu, said in a statement atNew Scotland Yard headquar-ters in London that a "number"of people had been injured,some of whom are said to becritical.

The senior Indian-origintop police officer said Khan hadattended an event on Fridayafternoon at the Fishmonger'sHall, a historic building nearthe London Bridge.

London Bridge was one ofthe areas targeted by an ISIS-claimed terrorist attack in June

2017, when 11 people died asterrorists went on a stabbingspree after ramming a van intopedestrians.

UK had just earlier this

month downgraded its terrorthreat level from "severe" to"substantial", which means a ter-rorist threat is likely rather thanhighly likely in the country.

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North Korea on Saturdaywarned Japanese Prime

Minister Shinzo Abe that hecould soon see a "real ballisticmissile" while excoriating himas the "most stupid man everknown in history".

The colourful condemna-tion comes two days after theisolated state tested what itcalled a "super-large multiplelaunch rocket system", withSouth Korea reporting thattwo projectiles came down inthe Sea of Japan, also known asthe East Sea.

In the wake of the launch,which was supervised by NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un,Abe termed the fired weapons"ballistic missiles" that violatedUN resolutions.

"It can be said that Abe isthe only one idiot in the worldand the most stupid man everknown in history as he fails todistinguish a missile from mul-tiple launch rocket systemwhile seeing the photo-accom-panied report," a ForeignMinistry official said in a state-ment carried by State newsagency KCNA.

"Abe may see what a realballistic missile is in the not dis-tant future and under his nose...Abe is none other than a per-

fect imbecile," it added.It was best for the North to

avoid dealing with Abe, theofficial went on, adding thatdoing so with a "politicaldwarf " would bring "disgrace".The Saturday criticism of theJapanese leader is the second ofits kind by Pyongyang thismonth.

The North had slammedhim as an "idiot and villain" andwarned he will never set foot inPyongyang after he con-demned the North's weaponstest days earlier.

Pyongyang is under mul-tiple sets of international sanc-tions over its nuclear weaponand ballistic missile pro-grammes, which it says it needsto defend against a possible USinvasion.

Nuclear negotiationsbetween the US and the Northhave been at a standstill sincethe Hanoi summit betweenPresident Donald Trump andleader Kim Jong Un broke upin February, and Pyongyanghas since demandedWashington change itsapproach by the end of theyear.

North Korea has issued aseries of increasingly assertivecomments in recent weeks astime runs down on its end-of-year deadline.

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Iraqis kept up their anti-Government protests in

Baghdad and across the southon Saturday, unsatisfied with thePrime Minister's planned resig-nation and insisting "all cor-rupted people" must step down.

Prime Minister Adel AbdelMahdi announced on Friday hewas planning to submit his res-ignation to parliament but thefollowing day, protests were stillongoing in his birthplace ofNasiriyah, in Iraq's south.

Demonstrations set tyresablaze on three bridges span-ning the Euphrates River ashundreds more converged inthe main protest camp in theflashpoint city's centre, accord-ing to an AFP correspondent.

Their renewed rallies camedespite a bloody crackdown bysecurity forces that left morethan 40 protesters dead over thepast two days in the city.

The violence was unleashedafter protesters stormed andburned the Iranian consulate inthe shrine city of Najaf, accus-ing Iraq's neighbour of proppingup the Baghdad Government.

That city, too, saw securityforces and armed men in civil-ian clothes try to snuff out ral-lies in the aftermath of the con-sulate torching, leaving morethan 20 protesters dead, medicstold AFP.

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Dutch police kept up a hugemanhunt on Saturday for

an assailant who stabbed threeyouths in The Hague's mainshopping area.

Officials said they werekeeping an open mind aboutthe motive for the attack, whichcame as shoppers hunted bar-gains on Black Friday.

The incident caused panicin The Hague as it happenedjust hours after two people werestabbed to death in Londonallegedly by an ex-prisonerconvicted of terrorism offences.

The male attacker ran offafter the stabbings at a depart-ment store in the city centre'sGrote Marktstraat, The Hague'smain shopping area.

"We haven't arrested a sus-pect yet. So we are currentlyvery busy trying the find thesuspect," police spokeswomanMarije Kuiper told AFP.

"It's a little too early tospeculate about that kind ofthing," she said when askedabout a possible terroristmotive, adding that investiga-tors were still looking at sever-al possible scenarios.

Police forensics officerswere seen examining a knifefound at the scene overnight.

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Veteran Leander Paes bet-tered his own Davis Cup

record by winning his 44thdoubles match, this time part-nering debutant JeevanNedunchezhiyan, as Indiablanked Pakistan 4-0 onSaturday to earn a spot in the2020 Qualifiers.

Pakistani teenagersMohammed Shoaib andHufaiza Abdul Rehman were nomatch for the Indian combina-tion of the battle-hardened Paesand Jeevan, who needed just 53minutes to win 6-1, 6-3.

Last year, Paes became themost successful doubles playerin the history of Davis Cupwhen he won his 43rd match,surpassing Italian great NicolaPietrangeli during the tie againstChina.

The 46-year-old had taken56 ties for his 43rd win whilePietrangeli competed in 66 tiesfor his 42 victories.

His record of 44 wins in 57ties is unlikely to be broken any-time soon as except him, noneof the active doubles players fea-ture in the top-10 list.Belarusian Max Mirnyi, atnumber three, has 36 wins buthas not played on Tour since2018.

While Paes is at top of theheap in the doubles, the leg-endary Indian stands fifth in thelist of players for total numberof wins with 92-35 win-lossrecord.

He now has 92 total wins,including 48 in singles. Onemore win will take him tofourth spot, ahead of Spain’sManuel Santana, who has 92-28win-loss record.

In the reverse singles, SumitNagal trounced Yousaf Khalil 6-

1, 6-0 for his second straightwin. Both the sides opted not toplay the dead fifth rubber. Thefourth rubber is played even ifthe outcome of the tie is decid-ed after the first three matches

but the rules permit teams toskip playing the dead fifth rub-ber.

Saturday’s result meansIndia have won all the match-es in a tie for the first time since

February 2014 when they hadblanked Chinese Taipei 5-0 inIndore.

India will now face worldnumber two Croatia for theQualifiers in an away tie, to beheld on March 6-7. Twenty-four nations will go head-to-head in a bid to win one of 12qualifying spots for the DavisCup Finals.

The 12 losing nations willcompete in World Group I tiesin September 2020 while thewinning nations will join the sixnations who have already qual-ified for the Finals - the 2019semi-finalists, Canada, GreatBritain, Russia and Spain, andthe 2020 wild cards, France andSerbia.

In the third rubber, Hufaizaand Shoaib began by holding

serve in the opening game ofthe match, but the Indiansbroke the teenagers in the thirdgame before holding their ownfor a 3-1 lead.

Paes and Jeevan took con-trol of the match with anotherbreak of serve in the fifthgame. Jeevan served a doublefault at 30-15, but the Pakistaniscould not put pressure on theirrivals, as India zoomed to a 5-1 lead.

Serving to stay in the set,Shoaib was down 0-40, givingIndia three chances to close theopening set. Paes and Jeevangrabbed the second.

The Indians had a fewchances to break their rivalsearly in the second set but thePakistani duo held its nerves tosave them. There was somefight in the second set, whichwas locked 3-3.

Paes and Jeevan got a breakin the eighth game to take a 5-3 lead and the former servedout the match in the next.

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An irre-press-i b l e

David Warnersmashed an

unbeaten 335 onSaturday while Steve

Smith became the fastest manto 7,000 Test runs as Australia

took control of the day-night sec-ond Test against Pakistan.

Skipper Tim Paine waved hisplayers back into the pavilion at 589for three ahead of the second day’sdinner break with Warner on the10th highest Test score ever, also apersonal best.

The decision to declaredeprived him of a crack at BrianLara’s all-time high 400 not out, butit proved to be the right one with theAustralian bowlers quickly tearingthrough Pakistan’s hapless top orderunder the Adelaide Oval lights.

They finished in deep trouble at96 for six with Mitchell Starc grab-bing four of them.

Babar Azam was not out 43 andYasir Shah was on four.

The visitors, who have lost 13consecutive Tests in Australia,

enjoyed little success in along day in the field as theylook to avoid a 2-0 seriesdefeat.

But they did removeMarnus Labuschagne for162 in the opening ses-sion and also baggedSmith, caught behind byMohammad Rizwan offShaheen Afridi for 36.

The home teamresumed the day at302 for one withWarner on 166 andLabuschagne 126,with the pairputting on another67 runs before

Pakistan

finally got a breakthrough.Skipper Azhar Ali took the

new ball and Afridi clean-bowledLabuschagne as he attempted adrive, just as he and Warnerappeared set for another long day atthe crease.

The 25-year-old, who has comeof age during the series, trudgedback to the pavilion to a standingovation after a classy 162, his sec-ond century in a row.

Their marathon 361-run part-nership was a record second-wick-et stand for Australia againstPakistan and the highest ever in apink-ball Test.

Just minutes later, the explosiveWarner completed only the secondTest double century of his career.Playing in his 81st Test, he reached200 with a single from Afridi, hav-ing clattered 23 fours along the way.

Pakistan thought they finallyhad him out on 226 when he wascaught in the gully off debutantMusa, only for their heads to dropwhen it was called a no-ball.

Warner made them pay, passinghis previous highest Test score of253, set in Perth in 2015, beforereaching a triple century off 389balls to join an elite club.

He raced to 335, one more thanformer captain Mark Taylor’s epic334 against Pakistan in 1998 andDonald Bradman’s 334 againstEngland in 1930, before Painedecided to unleash his bowlers, con-scious that periodic rain is forecastfor the next two days.

Exhausted, Warner was given astanding ovation with his knock thesecond best score ever by anAustralian after Matthew Hayden’s380 against Zimbabwe in 2003.Matthew Wade remained unbeatenon 38.

Facing a tough last sessionunder lights, Pakistan’s batsmenquickly caved in. Starc removedImam-ul-Haq, who got a thickedge to Warner on two, before PatCummins had Azhar caught fornine.

Josh Hazlewood accounted forShan Masood before Starc nabbedAsad Shafiq, Iftikhar Ahmed andRizwan cheaply.

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England rejected talk theirNew Zealand series was

over when they ended day twoon Sunday at 39 for two, butaccepted it would need a specialperformance to turn their for-tunes around in Hamilton.

New Zealand, meanwhile,ruled out thoughts of playing fora draw as they targeted a cleansweep in the two Test series aftera comprehensive innings victo-ry in the first match.

With BJ Watling, the archi-tect of the first Test win, againholding the innings togetherNew Zealand recovered from191 for five to reach 375 in theirfirst innings in Hamilton withWatling and debutant DarylMitchell featuring in a 124-runstand for the sixth wicket.

England, in 18 overs beforestumps, lost Dom Sibley and JoeDenly cheaply while RoryBurns was dropped twice to benot out 24 with Joe Root on six.

Stuart Broad, England’schief wicket taker with four for73, said there was little in thepitch to assist the bowlers andtwo good centuries should beenough to set them up for aseries-levelling win.

“The opportunity is there togo and bat big once,” he said.

“There’s not a huge amountof pressure, not a lot happeningwith the pitch, not a big score-board pressure, there’s a chancefor a couple of people to go andget hundreds ... And leave our-selves a day to bowl them out.

England made a confidentstart today when they removedboth overnight batsmen earlybut then lost the initiative asWatling and Mitchell staged

their repair mission beforeBroad removed both batsmeneither side of the tea break.

Watling was out for 55 onthe last ball before the intervalwhile Mitchell departed in thefourth over after play resumed.

New Zealand’s last fourwickets added a further 60runs, with Broad finishing withfigures of four for 73 and ChrisWoakes three for 83.

All-rounder Mitchell, theson of former All Blacks coachand now England assistantrugby coach John Mitchell, wasunruffled in his maiden Testperformance.

He brought up his 50pulling Ben Stokes throughmid-wicket for four in a 159-ball innings which includedeight boundaries and one six.

An even more cautiousWatling, who reached his 18thhalf century with an elegant cutto the cover boundary off SamCurran, faced 192 deliveries forhis 55.

It was slow going by thepair, but from New Zealand’sviewpoint their innings lastedalmost two days which leftEngland with only a remotechance of winning the Test tosquare the series.

England had their tails upat the start of the day whenovernight centurion TomLatham added only one bound-ary to his total before he mis-judged a Broad delivery seam-ing back at him and was bowledfor 105.

Broad stayed in the actionto catch Henry Nicholls for 16off Sam Curran, which broughtthe untested Mitchell to themiddle to join Watling and batNew Zealand to a position ofstrength.

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Virat Kohli on Saturday termed therelentless trolling of Ravi Shastri

as “agenda driven”, saying the Indiacoach is least affected by perceptionthat he is the captain's yes man.

Get up, face the fast bowlers with“courage” and “without helmet”, aver-age 41 as an opener — Kohli men-tioned all that Shastri did as a playerin his scathing riposte to the currentcoach’s critics.

“I think most of these things areagenda driven and I don’t knowwhose, why, what for, but to accept liesin that manner, it couldn’t be anythingbut agenda driven,” Kohli told IndiaToday on its special show ‘Inspiration’.

“... In Ravi bhai’s case, luckily, heis a person that doesn't care at all.”

Starting out as a slow left-armspinner, Shastri went on to open theinnings for India and also won thefamous ‘Champion of the Champions’Award in the 1985 World SeriesCricket, and Kohli touched upon allthat while offering his unequivocalsupport to the head coach.

“(Promoted from) number 10 toopener and got an average of 41 as anopener, he is not going to be botheredabout someone sitting at home andtrolling him, because if you want totroll a guy who has done that, thenget up, face those bowlers,do what he has done,have the clarity todo it, have thecourage to do it,

then have a debate with that guy,”Kohli said in his message to thetrolls.

“He is absolutely chilled out, hesays our only focus is how we can bethe best team of all time. I think thesepetty things on the outside, theydon’t matter at all to him.”

After the rout of Bangladesh in theTest series recently, Kohli called his fastbowling arsenal as a “dream combina-tion” that can torment any oppositionon any kind of surface. This was donewithout Jasprit Bumrah.

The skipper said there is alwaysbonhomie among his fast bowlers, notan iota of insecurity despite all the suc-cesses and the intense competition.

“There is no jealousy at all andthat is their biggest strength, they don’tcare whether Shami is at 7 now or Jassiis at whatever ranking he is or Ishant,”Kohli said.

“I think full credit has to go tothem to these guys that they have beenable to create this aura around thembecause of that friendship that beliefand the intent being in the right place.”

While Sachin Tendulkar is the onehe looks up to among cricketers,Kohli’s favourite in sporting world isace footballer Cristiano Ronaldo.

“I think Cristiano Ronaldobecause I like the fact that is targetedon a daily basis but he has the men-tal strength, the will to work hard andthe desire to keep coming back.

“For me those things matter morethan someone having absolute unre-al natural ability, which is (Lionel)Messi, so I am in awe of Ronaldo.”

Kohli has made a habit of creat-ing records, something that has oftendrawn comparisons with his idol, thelegendary Sachin Tendulkar.

“Well I don’t know how to explainit I mean I just hate losing. BasicallyI hate losing in anything, that is howa sportsman is made up, that is themakeup of any sportsman competingat the highest level," he said.

“I don’t want any maybe, I don’twhat any ifs, when I walk on to

that field it is an honourfor me, and when I

walk out I want tohave zero energyleft.

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West Indies skipper Jason Holderbelieves his side is capable of fin-

ishing in the top four of the World TestChampionship in two years time.

Currently ranked eighth in the ICCTest team rankings, West Indiesnotched up a nine-wicket victory overAfghanistan in their one-off Test hereon Friday and Holder said it is a real-istic target for his team to end insidethe top 5 in World Test Championship.

“I think by the end of the TestChampionship, I don’t see it beingimpossible for us to be fourth or fifthin the world,” Holder was quoted assaying by the ICC.

“That would be a significantachievement in a two-year period.We've got some tough series comingup: we’ve got England, then SouthAfrica coming to the Caribbean, thenwe’ve got New Zealand — all goodcricket sides.

“But I don’t think it’s beyond us tobeat them. We’ve just got to make surewe keep building and developing.Once we do that, we can compete withany side in the world. A realistic tar-get in two years would be to be rankedthree or four in the world,” he added.

The Afghanistan Test was not apart of the World Test Championshipbut Holder believes the experience willhelp them improve.

The skipper heaped praise on thespinners for playing a pivotal role, espe-cially Rahkeem Cornwall, whoreturned with a ten-wicket haul in onlyhis second Test.

“We did expect the spinners to playa heavy role in this game, but with thenew ball we probably expected a littlemore from the fast bowlers. As the ballgot older, I felt it did a little bit more.Their openers played well and prettymuch saw off the new ball,” Holdersaid.

“Our spinners really came intoeffect with the harder ball, so I thinkit all worked out the way it was sup-posed to. Credit to Rahkeem(Cornwall). He bowled an exception-al spell in the first innings and thenbacked it up really well in the secondinnings, supported well by the otherbowlers.”

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Steve Smith on Saturday became the fastest man toscore 7,000 Test runs, shattering a record that had

stood since 1946, while moving past Donald Bradmanto become Australia’s 11th highest scorer.

The 30-year-old took a single off Muhammad Musaduring the second Test against Pakistan in Adelaide toreach the milestone and take possession of a record heldfor 73 years by English great Wally Hammond.

Hammond reached the mark in 131 innings, whileSmith, who played his first Test nine years ago, madethe grade in his 126th. India’s Virender Sehwag is thethird fastest in 134 innings.

“The fastest to 7K - you’re a star Steve Smith!,” tweet-ed Cricket Australia.

Smith also passed the legendary Bradman’s 6,996Test runs. It took Smith 70 Tests to do so, while Bradmanneeded only 52.

The 30-year-old’s heroics at the Ashes in Englandthis year saw him widely labelled the best sinceBradman, considered Test cricket’s greatest ever, whenhe scored a mammoth 774 runs in just seven innings.

He had the opportunity to pass both Bradman andHammond in the first Test against Pakistan inBrisbane, but fell for just four in a rare failure.

In an insight into Smith’s determination to be thebest, he said after missing out in Brisbane that he pun-ishes himself when the runs do not flow.

“I always punish myself when I get no runs, justlike I reward myself when I score runs with a choco-late bar at the end of the night if I get a hundred,” hesaid.

“So yeah, if I get no runs I always like to have a runor go to the gym or do something just to give myselfa bit of a punishment.” Smith still has 10 other Australianplayers above him in total Test runs scored.

Greg Chappell (7,110) is his next target, but he hasa mountain to climb to reach Ricky Ponting, whoamassed 13,378 runs in his 168 Tests.

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Page 9: ˘ˇ ˆ˙˝ ˛ˆ˙ ˇ˚...2019/12/01  · well. Last time, I did Ghoomar for one of the scenes and now Lavni. In the meantime, I have also started my Kathak training and I am thoroughly

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The revelation that Delhi tap water isthe most unsafe to drink came aboutafter the release of the findings of astudy by the Department ofConsumer Affairs (through the

Bureau of India Standards) recently. The studylists the quality of piped drinking water beingsupplied in the country and ranks the states,Smart Cities and even districts based on thequality of tap water.

These tests were conducted on various para-metres such as Organoleptic and Physical Tests,Chemical test, Toxic substances andBacteriological tests in the first stage. In Delhi,all of the 11 samples drawn from various placesdid not comply with the requirements of theIndian Standard and failed on several parametres,the report said. Mumbai set an example for cleandrinking water. The study found that all the 10samples drawn from the city complied with therequirements.

The cities of Hyderabad, Bhubaneshwar,Ranchi, Raipur, Amravati and Shimla, failed tocomply in case of a sample (or two) and none ofthe samples drawn from 13 of the state capitals,that is Chandigarh,Thiruvananthapuram, Patna,Bhopal, Guwahati, Bengaluru, Gandhinagar,Lucknow, Jammu, Jaipur, Dehradun, Chennai andKolkata complied with the requirements of theIndian Standard.

������������ ���������� ��������Water pollution in India is a serious issue. Almost80% of India’s surface water is polluted, and analarming percentage of groundwater reserves arecontaminated by various organic and inorganicpollutants. Many of these sources have been ren-dered unsafe for various activities such as agri-cultural, industrial, and for domestic use.Furthermore, degraded water quality can add towater scarcity as it limits its accessibility for bothhuman use and for the ecosystem.

Untreated wastewater discharge from indus-tries is a major cause of water pollution. Effluentsfrom various pharmaceutical and drug industriesare discharged into rivers and other water bod-ies without being treated. It is estimated thataround 27,000 million litres per day (MLD) ofwastewater is generated in the country, out ofwhich only 26% is treated. Untreated water accu-mulates in surface water bodies and eventuallyfilters into underground water aquifers.

Polluted water has a multiplier effect. Everylitre of released wastewater further pollutes 5-8litres of water. This mismanagement in cities

results in degradation of water quality.Release of pesticides and fertilisers from agri-

culture fields, animal husbandry and disposal ofdomestic sewage are the major causes of conta-mination. Various religious practices such asimmersion of idols in surface water bodies con-tribute to deteriorating water quality. In fact, waterbodies have been considered as dumping groundsfor various offerings, which has degraded theportability of surface water.

Water supply channels in cities are worn-outand remain unmanaged. At many places, theypass through drains. These worn out channelsconveying consumable water have developedmicro cracks. Therefore, the risk of waste andsewage water entering from drains into thepotable water cannot be ruled out. In that sense,contamination occurs either at the source or dur-ing its delivery from point of source to the pointof consumption. Diffuse pollution is far more dif-ficult to identify and control than point-sourcepollution.

Irrigating crops with contaminated waterresults in vegetables and fruits that are unfit forconsumption due to dangerous microbes, heavymetals, pollutants that are carcinogenic (maycause cancer) and highly toxic chemicals. Peoplehave no option but to eat these contaminated veg-etables and fruits. There are plenty of researchstudies on contaminants found in fishes, watercrops like Trapa (water chestnut), and other leafycrops. However, common man has no options tocheck, monitor and avoid these contaminatedfood sources.

� ���� �� ��� ����������Coastal area, especially wetlands and estuaries,coral reefs, and mangrove swamps that areimportant ecosystem, bear the brunt of our enor-mous inputs of pollutants and waste in to theocean. This is not surprising because about 40%of the world’s population (53% in the UnitedStates) lives on or near the coast, because 14 ofthe world’s 15 largest metropolitan areas (eachwith 10 million people or more) are near coastalwaters, and because many of these areas receivehordes of vacationers.

In most coastal developing countries andin some coastal developed, countries,municipal sewage and industrial wastesare dumped into the sea without treat-ment. For example, 85% of the sewagefrom large cities along theMediterranean Sea (with a coastalpopulation of 200 million peopleduring tourist season) is discharged

into the sea untreated. This causes widespreadbeach pollution and shellfish contamination.

Recent studies of coastal waters have foundvast colonies of viruses thriving in raw sewage,effluents from sewage treatment plants (which donot remove viruses), and leaking septic tanks.According to one study, one-fourth of the peo-ple using coastal beaches in the develop ear infec-tions, sore throats, eye irritations, respiratory dis-ease, or gastrointestinal disease.

Runoffs of sewage and agricultural wastes intocoastal waters introduce large quantities ofnitrate (NO3-) and phosphate (PO4 -) plantnutrients, which can cause explosive growth ofharmful algae. These harmful algal blooms(HABs) are called red, brown or green toxic tides.They can release waterborne and airborne tox-ins that damage fisheries, kill some fish-eatingbirds, reduce tourism, and poison seafood.

������������ �������� �����������The problem is very acute in crops grownaround contaminated rivers. Case studies of riversYamuna and Ganges flowing through the citieshave provided glaring evidences of contamina-tions. There are very few attempts of abatementof these pollutants at sources; or education to han-dlers of supply chain as well as end users. Thereis rampant use of pesticides and inorganic fertilis-ers. A large number of chemicals used in fertilis-ers and pesticides are environmentally stable,prone to bioaccumulation and toxic — becausepesticides can persist in the environment for years,they remains in the environment for longer dura-tion. A large quantity of pesticides of the sprayremain in the air, soil or water which have high-ly deleterious effect on human health and on otherorganisms. Indirect impact of pesticides onhuman include consumption of food, as well asfrom contact of pesticides in the air, water soilsediments and food materials etc.

� ���� �� ���� ������The drinking water for about half of the popu-lation and 95% of those in rural area comes fromground water. According to scientists, groundwa-ter pollution is a serious threat to human health.

Common pollutants such as fertilisers, pes-ticides gasoline, and organic solvents can seep intogroundwater from numerous sources. People whodump or spill gasoline, oil and paint thinners andother organic solvents onto the ground also con-taminate groundwater.

Once a pollutant from a leaking undergroundstorage tank or other source contaminates

groundwater, it fills the aquifer’s porous layers ofsands, gravel or bedrock like water saturates asponge. This makes removal of the contaminantdifficult and costly. According to WHO, 112 mil-lion people are drinking water with arsenic level5-100 times. The 10 ppb standard is found in WestBengal and adjacent water.

� �� ���������������� �Water, although an absolute necessity for life, canbe a carrier of many diseases. Most of thepathogens involved are derived from human fae-ces, and the diseases transmitted by consumptionof fiscally contaminated water are called “faecal-oral” diseases. The incidence, prevalence andseverity of water hygiene diseases can be reducedby the observance of high levels of personal,domestic and community hygiene.

Some of the common diseases transmitted tohuman through contaminated drinking water areBacteria (cause Typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery),Virus (cause Type B hepatitis), Parasitic proto-zoa (cause amoebic dysentery) and Parasiticworms (cause schistosomiasis).

So, what can be done? Water monitoring tech-nologies should be adapted and applied as perquality norms of type of water usage. Apart fromcentral monitoring, community monitoring isessential to maintain water quality. It is essentialto monitor waste water, develop natural treatmenttechnologies for wastewater; and avoid contam-ination through diffusion. (In developed coun-tries, there are strict codes for sewer lines andwater lines so as to avoid contamination throughdiffusion.

Good quality of water is essential for well-being of human population as well as our envi-ronment. Improving water quality, implement-ing integrated water resources management, andprotecting and restoring water-related ecosystemsare a few of the targets for the UN SustainableDevelopment Goal 6: Clean water and sanitation.

One can sustain without a particular food butnot without clean water. It is crucial that this issueis addressed by way of management, periodicaltesting, development of proper quality parame-tres, education of managers of related depart-ments, building confidence in public, and severepunishments through legal framework thatshould function as a deterrent for evaders andslack managers.

The writer is a retired IFS officer, formerPrincipal Chief Conservator of Forests (UP)

and former National Coordinator, Task Forceon Interlinking of Rivers, Ministry of Water

Resources, New Delhi

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Page 10: ˘ˇ ˆ˙˝ ˛ˆ˙ ˇ˚...2019/12/01  · well. Last time, I did Ghoomar for one of the scenes and now Lavni. In the meantime, I have also started my Kathak training and I am thoroughly

This is your third visit to India since thefirst time you came here in the 1980s.What changes have you witnessed in thecountry? And what’s the agenda behindthe visit?

I have had two visits as a politician. Back in 1981,I had spent three months in India travelling aroundmost of the country. I came away from India thenwith a strong sense of its strength and vast poten-tial. Ever since I have believed that the rise of Indiawas on the horizon and when that would happen,it would be good not just for the Indians but the entireworld. As the Prime Minister, I was keen to swiftlydeepen and strengthen the relationship between thetwo great nations. I put in place the nuclear under-standing as a result of which we are now exportinguranium to India. I also did my best to revive thequadrilateral security dialogue between India,United States, Japan and Australia. My one disap-pointment is that as Prime Minister, I was not ableto finalise the free trade deal that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and I had committed to doing. I amsure that Scott Morrison, the current AustralianPrime Minister, will put this deal back on track whenhe visits India in February next year.

You have a great personal rapport with PrimeMinister Modi. How do you see him as a personand a global leader?I think Narendra Modi has been the most signif-icant Indian Prime Minister in many years.Obviously, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehruwas a giant of history. Even Mrs Indira Gandhiwas a significant Prime Minister, even if there weresome flaws in her overall record. Modi becamePrime Minister with a wonderful sense of voca-tion and commitment. He is one of those primeministers who has been tirelessly working for hispeople. Under his regime, there is no sense ofIndia underperforming and underselling itself.India has always been a colossus of a subconti-nent, but it hasn’t always been active globally. WithModi as Prime Minister, it has found its voiceagain. I think that’s going to be good for India andthe world.

You have always pushed for free trade dealbetween the two nations. Why?Prime Minister Modi has created a lot of goodwillfor India in Australia, and vice versa. The impor-tant thing is to turn this goodwill into practicalactions and concrete outcomes. This is where thefree trade deal comes into place. Australian coal,for instance, pays 5 per cent tariff when it comesto India, while Indonesian coal doesn’t pay any tar-iff. Australia is a reliable supplier of high quality coaland that tariff on its coal is in reality a tax on Indianconsumers. It’s a tax on Indian environment, too.Australian coal, after all, is cleaner than Indonesiancoal. The free trade deal would mean cheaper andcleaner power for Indians.

What are the common challenges and opportu-nities?Both countries want a stable, peaceful and freerworld. Both have a strong and demonstrable com-mitment towards democracy, rule of law and inter-national system that respects the rights of all nations.I think the sheer commitment for democracy andrule of law makes us natural partners.

Despite shared values, interests and aspirations,the Indo-Australian relationship couldn’t justi-fy its full potential. Where do you think thingshave wrong?I don’t think things have gone wrong. For me, theyhaven’t gone sufficiently right. After all, the rela-tionship between the two nations has never beenbad. But I concede that the relations have been abit underdeveloped. Prime Minister Morrison hassaid recently that as far as he is concerned, Indiais placed in the first tier of Australia’s friends. Theimportant thing is to transform this friendship intopractical cooperation. This is where the free tradedeal comes in. This is where the quadrilateral secu-rity dialogue becomes relevant. This arrangementis not against anyone. It’s an arrangement for democ-racy, peace and rule of law.

There are some concerns about slowdown inIndian economy. How do you see it?It’s normal that market economies periodically gothrough rough patches. But India’s growth has beenconsistent over the last few decades. Over the lastfive years, India has been the fastest growing largeeconomy in the world. I am, therefore, confidentthat whatever seasonal interruptions there mightbe, India will overcome it.

So, you think it’s a seasonal interruption...Yes, it’s seasonal and not a structural problem.

Modi became Prime Minister with a lot ofexpectation to further rejuvenate Indian econo-my. But the ongoing economic crisis is dampen-

ing the overall mood. How do you see it?The job of the government is not to pump the econ-omy one day and slow the economy down the nextday. It’s the job of the business. The job of the gov-ernment is to get the fundamentals right. Thatmeans low and simple taxes, honest and transpar-ent administration, clear and fair laws, a constanteffort to produce good education and infrastruc-ture system. In all this, the Modi government hasbeen doing a good job.

Why do you think the quadrilateral coalitionbetween India, the United States, Japan andAustralia is important?Because these four countries are the most signifi-cant and strong democracies in the world. India isthe world’s largest democracy and one of the mostresilient ones as well. The United States is still thecountry towards which the world looks at first andforemost for help. Japan has been an exemplaryinternational citizen. And Australia is one of theworld’s oldest democracies, if universal and femalesuffrage is to be taken into account. The more thesecountries work together, the more this world wouldbe free and peaceful.

Many see it as an anti-China coalition. ButAustralia has close ties with China. How do youexplain this supposed contradiction?Of course, we have a strong economic relationshipwith China, which is our single biggest trading part-ner. But it makes sense to have a strong economicrelationship with China, and vibrant security tieswith the United States and stronger partnership withIndia and Japan.

There are fears that once the US forces leaveAfghanistan, the Taliban might make a comeback.Do these apprehensions bother you as well?I think these fears are quite justified. That’s why theUS forces must not leave Afghanistan. PresidentDonald Trump is very keen to end America’s wars,which is understandable. America has paid a veryhigh price to be the global guarantor of peace andsecurity in the last seven decades. I think it’s timefor other countries to do more. America can’t beexpected to bear all the burdens of this vital task.At the same time, Afghanistan can’t be allowed toonce again become the haven of terrorism. I believethe Afghanistan government will need internation-al support and that’s why the US forces shouldremain in Afghanistan.

India has taken a strong position against Pakistanon the issue of terrorism. How do you see this?When I was the Prime Minister of Australia, I hadinteractions with the then Pakistani Prime Minister,Nawaz Sharif. I have no doubt that Sharif was justas concerned to stamp out terrorism as the rest ofus. But the problem is there are elements in thePakistani security apparatus that appear to thinkthat there are good Taliban and bad Taliban, andthat some Islamist extremists could be tolerated. Ithink it’s very difficult to make this kind of distinc-tion. If you try to ride a tiger, you could end up get-ting mauled. I think the main challenge is to be bringthe Pakistani Army under an appropriate civiliancontrol. But it should be done wisely so that it does-n’t create any repercussion.

When you were the Prime Minister of Australia,you signed a nuclear deal with India. What wasthe idea behind that?It was the Howard government, before 2007,which had first agreed for an arrangement withIndia on the issue, but it was abrogated by the nextgovernment in 2009, which was a big mistake.Despite that setback, Australia’s relationship withIndia remained cordial, but Indians were rightly dis-appointed with the abrupt scrapping of the arrange-ment. I always believed that India was the rightcountry to get uranium from Australia. Why shouldIndia be barred when less benevolent nations weregiven that opportunity? I am happy that we are nowexporting uranium to India.

Do you think energy is the big thing that wouldbind the economies of India and Australia?Absolutely. It’s impossible to bring people from theThird World into the middle class without a mas-sive increase in the per capita energy. As you movefrom relative poverty to relative prosperity, your percapita energy improves and increases. This is whereAustralia can be helpful. We have the largest read-ily available reserve of coal, gas and uranium. I wantAustralia to be the source of energy security to India.I think that is an integral part of India moving itsmillions of relatively poor people into the middleclass and take its rightful place in the comity of greatnations.

There are many roadblocks in India’s endeavourto be a permanent member of the UN SecurityCouncil. What’s your stand?It’s always difficult to change a stand. The system

in place we have today is the immediate byprod-uct of World War II. In those days the global posi-tion of India was different. Today, if there’s one coun-try on the earth which by virtue of its size, strengthand potential has a claim over a position in theSecurity it would be India. Personally, I would bevery supportive of India entering the UNSC.India would be another democratic superpower inthe Security Council. The world would be a betterplace if there are two democratic superpowers, notjust one.

What’s the message you have for those who wantto invest in Australia?I would say that they shouldn’t look at the contro-versy surrounding Adani to make any negativeassessment about investing in Australia. The peo-ple of Australia have very strong and natural affin-ity for the people of India. India has one millionambassadors in Australia in the shape of Indiandiaspora, which growing by the day. So, there isenough goodwill for India and Indians in Australia.Which makes Indian investment in Australia eas-ier and profitable. This is where I get back to thefree trade deal which I and PM Modi in 2014 hadcommitted to implementing within 12 months.Unfortunately it got derailed but let’s hope it comesback on the agenda when Morrison visits India earlynext year.

How do you see the India-Australia relationshipshaping up in future?The relationship needs to be much more than justabout cricket. Australia is one of those countrieswhich makes a very good partner. We are bigenough to be useful but not big enough to be over-bearing and intimidating. We don’t bring the samehistorical baggage that other countries bring.That’s why I think India can look towards Australiaas an uncomplicated and trustworthy partner andfriend.

What are the sectors that the two nations can worktogether?Education is a field where the two countries can col-laborate closely. Tens and thousands of Indian stu-dents are studying in Australia every year. It’s impor-tant that it continues. Also, there is lot more thatcan be done in the field of defence and security. Ialso think that as a part of the quadrilateral dialoguewe could see a lot more cooperation across the boardin intelligence sharing.

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Hong Kong witnessed anunprecedented democra-

tic exercise last week. Theresults of the just concludedelections for 18 DistrictCouncils in the city can at bestbe termed as an affront toChina. The Opposition won392 of the 452 elected seats inall the District Councils. Thepro-Beijing parties could bagonly 60 seats. And this hap-pened to the Government alliesdespite having strong backingfrom the city administrationand from the CentralGovernment in the mainlandChina. Thus the election out-comes manifest a clear man-date for the pro-democracygroups and parties for a force-ful say in the political-eco-nomic set-up in Hong Kong.

The results were recordedas a historic low for the pro-Government political parties asthey fell from 300 seats to justdouble digits. It must be notedhere that the pro-democracygroups have unbelievably roseover three-fold from 124 seatsearlier. Moreover, the voterturnout in the District Councilelections this year soared to71.2 per cent, a whopping 47per cent spike in comparison tothe 2015 polls.

First of all, the electionresults will definitely add pres-sure on the embattled citychief Carry Lam. She hasalready admitted that publicdissatisfaction with her admin-istration virtually led theOpposition to win the major-ity of the seats in the local elec-tions. But in order to justify heractions against the protesters,she claims that a silent major-ity is still supporting herGovernment.

Second, the results of thelocal elections do not mattermuch for both the cityGovernment of Hong Kongand the Central Government inBeijing. It is so because thesecouncils look after only localaffairs, such as maintenance ofpublic places, waste manage-ment, etc. But the way Lam isreacting to the results showsthat she is nervous about thepro-democracy camp’s suc-cessful electoral march. Thiscan be gauged from her state-ments released immediatelyafter the declaration of thepoll results. She said, “There arevarious analyses and interpre-tations of the results and quitea few are of the view that theresults reflect people’s dissatis-faction with the current situa-tion and the deep-seated prob-lems in society.”

Further, without recognis-ing the demands of the pro-testers, she simply said that theGovernment respected theresults and wished the peace-ful, safe and orderly situationto continue. And, she alsoaired her views: “TheGovernment will humbly listen

humbly to citizens’ opinionsand reflect on them seriously.”But, it seems the Hongkongersare not going to believe herword. There is no iota of doubtamong Hongkongers that Lamwill always toe the Beijing line.

Third, it needs to beassessed why the local electionresults are seen as a referendumon the political life of Lam. Itis so because these are the onlypolitical offices wherein themainland and the Hong Konglaws allow a full universal suf-frage to decide the fate of thecandidates. When it comes tothe highest political office inHong Kong i.e. the ChiefExecutive, he/she is elected bya privileged committee, con-sisting of 1,194 memberswherein 70 members comefrom Hong Kong LegislativeCouncil (Legco) and the restbelong to a mix of business-man, professionals and tradeelites. This committee is sup-posedly broadly representa-tive as per the statutes of theexisting Hong Kong Law, but

critics view it as being unfair-ly lopsided towards represen-tatives from business and trade.The critical point in these rep-resentatives is that they gener-ally vote in favour of the dik-tats of the Beijing power elite.Thus, the demand for a full-fledged universal adult fran-chise continues in Hong Kongfor the election of the ChiefExecutive.

Fourth, what do the pollresults point to? This onceagain repeats the sheer rebufffrom the Hong Kong protest-ers to both the establishmentsin Hong Kong and Beijing.This is not the first time theHongkongers are stagingprotests against the city and themainland administrations. Fiveyears back in 2014, thousandshad stormed the streets ofHong Kong.

Fifth, what kinds of reac-tions are pouring in from theXi regime to this pointedrebuke in the form of embold-ening democratic aspirations inHong Kong? For now, the

socialist establishment inBeijing is simply downplayingthe poll outcomes. The Chinesestate media has completelydownplayed the local elections.The Communist Governmentdid not comment directly onthe election results, butPresident Xi Jinping’s office hasblamed external interference inits domestic affairs. GengShuang, a Foreign Ministryspokesperson, said: “The mostpressing task for Hong Kong atthe moment is to stop violenceand restore order. As HongKong is part of China, itsaffairs are purely domesticaffairs. China is determined insafeguarding national sover-eignty, security and develop-ment interests.”

And it has been highlight-ed once again that Beijing isdetermined to maintain thehistoric “one country, two sys-tems” model in regard to thegovernance of Hong Kong.Besides, the ChineseCommunist Party’s People’sDaily, without mentioning the

results, reported that themonth’s long social unrest inHong Kong has severely dis-rupted the election processand that the patriotic candi-dates were harassed on the dayof the election by those seek-ing chaos. The official newsagency Xinhua blamed for-eign forces and said the elec-tions had fallen victim to thesocial unrest. What has beennoted is that the major news-papers and party mouthpiecesin the mainland China square-ly accused the Hong Kongactivists, particularly the youngagitators, of sabotaging theentire election process andcampaign activities of the pro-establishment candidates, andfinally, prevening them fromvoting. This makes it amplyclear how the opinions andnarratives are divided on bothsides of the territory.

For the mainland Chinese,Hong Kong is a mere piece ofan area of the People’s Republicof China, like any other, and itshould be governed according

to the existing laws and regu-lations of the country. Maybemany of them would prefer tostress on maintenance of sta-bility rather than chaos whatHong Kong has been experi-encing for quite some time.Also, the rebuttal of the pro-paganda based solely on thenationalistic perspectives ofthe Xi regime and stern laws bythe Hongkongers are not beingtaken lightly by the mainlan-ders. With continued machi-nations of the CommunistParty and its various organs,both in public and in private,residents of the mainland mayhave developed a sense ofalienation and apprehensionabout the very intentions of theHongkongers.

Last but not the least, whatis aggravating situation inHong Kong is the new lawpassed by the US Congress andsigned by President DonaldTrump this week in regard toHong Kong. The new lawknown as Hong Kong HumanRights and Democracy Act

(HKHRDA) professes full sup-port to the pro-democracydemonstrators in Hong Kong.This law aims to back HongKongers in defence of theirautonomy promised by Chinaway back in July 1997 when theterritory was handed over byBritain to China under theSino-British Joint Declaration.Also under the HKHRDA, thestatus of Hong Kong will bereviewed by the US StateDepartment annually to justi-fy continuation of favourabletrading terms. The law threat-ens sanctions for human rightsviolations by the officials of theHong Kong Government. Infact, with respect to US policygoals towards Hong Kong, it isbelieved that there is wide-spread agreement on the needfor Beijing to abide by the 1984Sino-British Joint Declarationand the “One Country, TwoSystems” formula while resolv-ing differences among variousgroups and political partiespeacefully, and finally, respect-ing human rights. But China

has warned the US for sidingwith the pro-democracy pro-testers. It has denounced thecontroversial US Act as grossviolation of international lawand a direct meddling in itsdomestic affairs. A ForeignMinistry statement directlycautioned that the Trumpadministration would shoulderthe consequences of China’scountermeasures if it continuedto act arbitrarily in regard toHong Kong. This latest roundof conflicts would fuel the ani-mosity between Washingtonand Beijing, even as trade ColdWar is going on.

The pro-democracyactivists and their leaders seemto be gathering more confi-dence over massive publicmandate showered on them inthe District Council elections.Anchored in this conviction,the pro-democracy leaders andsupporters may draw theirfuture plans. But bringing theChinese state under completepressure is unimaginable forany foreign nation, includingthe superpower America.

However, crushing ademocratic uprising in HongKong would be hard nut tocrack for the Communists inBeijing. But then dragging it toan uncontrollable point like thecurrent one could systemati-cally erode the economic foun-dation of Hong Kong. Also, theseries of protests have made itclear that the unrest may con-tinue even on the face ofextreme level of brutality eitherby the Chinese People’sLiberation Army or by thePublic Armed Police (PAP).

The way forward is to sitand talk. And more impor-tantly there is an urgent needto shun violence by both theprotesters and the city admin-istration. The Hongkongersmust realise that an Act passedby the US Congress can in noway bring democracy to them,neither today nor in the nearfuture. A real solution lieswithin, not outside the sover-eign territory of the People’sRepublic of China. The roadahead lies in perfecting,respecting and preserving the“One Country, Two Systems”for peace in Hong Kong as wellas in the mainland.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

Hundreds of Hong Kongpro-democracy activists

rallied on November 29 outsidethe British Consulate, urgingthe city’s former colonial rulerto emulate the US and takeconcrete actions to supporttheir cause, as police ended ablockade of a university cam-pus after 12 days.

Waving British flags, theactivists urged Britain to ensurethat Hong Kong political dis-sidents do not suffer the samefate as Simon Cheng, a formerBritish Consulate employee inthe city who says he wasdetained and tortured byChinese secret police.

The rally came a day afterUS President Donald Trumpsigned into law two Bills to sup-port democracy and humanrights in the semi-autonomousChinese territory.

“The UK should enforcesimilar laws and should havedone even more” to support theprotest movement, said amasked rally organiser whoidentified herself only as Dawn.Activists handed a petition toa British Consulate officialbefore leaving.

Beijing denies torturingCheng and says he was held forsoliciting prostitution during abusiness trip to mainlandChina in August. Cheng sayshe agreed to confess to avoidharsher charges. He says he washooded, beaten and chained toa metal frame as Chinese secretpolice sought information onactivists involved in the protestsand on Britain’s purported role.

Cheng has left the con-sulate and is in hiding.

Violence in Asia’s topfinancial hub has abated since

a stunning victory by the pro-democracy camp in November24 local elections, seen as asharp rebuke to the city’sembattled leader, Carrie Lam.

Protesters are planningmore rallies this weekend tokeep up their pressure on Lam,who has refused to offer anynew concessions to theirdemands, including greaterdemocracy and an indepen-dent probe into alleged policebrutality.

At a lunchtime rally onNovember 29, hundreds ofpeople chanted slogans andcarried posters telling Lamthat “it’s time to step down.”Protesters disrupted traffic inat least two places but dispersedafter police issued warnings.

On November 28 night,thousands joined a large rallyto thank America, on its

Thanksgiving Day holiday, andto call on other countries tojoin the US in supporting theprotest movement, now in itssixth month.

One of the new US lawsprescribes sanctions on officialsfound guilty of human rightsabuses and requires an annualreview of a special trade statusfor Hong Kong. The otherbans the export of certain non-lethal munitions to Hong Kongpolice. China has warned ofstrong countermeasures andHong Kong’s Government hasslammed the US move asunwarranted meddling in itsaffairs.

During an official visit toThailand, Carrie Lam saidHong Kong’s fundamentals,including its “one country, twosystems” framework, remainstrong despite the unrest.

“I and my Governmentare listening to our peoplewith a view to resolving somedeep-seated problems in HongKong through dialogue,” shesaid, adding that “Hong Kongcan bounce back.”

Earlier on November 29,police lifted their siege ofPolytechnic University, a keyearlier battleground withpitched battles between pro-testers and riot officers.

Police said they seized3,989 gasoline bombs, 1,339explosive items, 601 bottles ofcorrosive liquids and 573weapons over two days ofsearching. No protesters werefound inside. Some 1,100 peo-ple have already left or havebeen arrested by police.

A university official esti-mated it would take five to sixmonths to repair the extensive

damage to the campus.Separately, police said two

high school students weredetained on Wednesday forpossessing TATP, or tri-acetonetriperoxide powder, a powerfulexplosive that has been used inbomb attacks worldwide. Policesaid it was alarming that suchdangerous explosives werefound with young students.

The unrest in the islandcity began in June with a hugemarch against an extraditionBill, seen as an erosion of free-doms promised when HongKong returned to Chinese con-trol in 1997 from the UnitedKingdom. The pro-democracymovement has since expandedinto a protest against growingChinese interference in thecity. Police say 5,890 peoplehave been arrested since theunrest started. AP

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Parents of a young girl, keen to gether married soon, after lot of searchpinned down on a guy, the type

they were looking for. Preliminary astro-logical match was found good. For finalcheck, they went to their familyastrologer, who rejected the choice out-right. When asked for the reasons, theastrologer put a question mark on theirmarital stability based on some astrologi-cal pointers. In desperation, they consult-ed many other astrologers. All of themapproved the match. But they could notignore their family astrologer, whomthey trusted the most. In a state of utterconfusion, they sought my opinion.

When I agreed with his familyastrologer, giving details of the astrologi-cal pointers on which, he had rejectedthe choice, they asked: “Is your opinionbased on the same factors? And howcomes other astrologers gave their con-sent? My other worry is that my daugh-ter’s marriage is getting delayed. Whendo you think is it likely to happen?Kindly suggest some remedial measureto expedite the marriage.”

Other astrologers just looked at thetraditional matching score, which beinggood, they agreed. But let me make it

clear that traditional matching countmethod just offers a prima-facie view,which is based on the law of averageapplied on placement of Moon in thetwo charts. It is my personal experiencethat despite scoring even 34 counts outof a total of 36, lot of marriages havefailed. So traditional matching by itselfdoesn’t offer a true picture. For, it doesn’toffer any light on personality traits of thetwo prospective partners, which we can’tafford to ignore.

Your family astrologer got into finerdetails of the two charts before he offeredhis opinion, and so his viewpoint seemsbetter reasoned. In so far as my opinionis concerned, it is not based just on theastrological pointers your familyastrologers looked at. I count more onpersonality matching of the prospectivepartners. Remember, what is moreimportant in marital relationship is howthe two would engage with each other,the premise for which is set by the inher-ent habits and tendencies of the two.Once the partners settle down in mar-riage, the two begin taking each other forgranted, when their inherent trendscome out in open, and with obvious con-sequences.

It is not worth looking for a remedialmeasure to expedite the marriage. Ifthere are indications for delayed mar-riage in someone’s horoscope, it is pur-poseful. It offers time and space to workupon one’s habits and attitudes, but forwhich it will be difficult to make themarriage work with ease. Timely mar-riage is desirable. But more important isharmony and stability. But rest assured,she may get married in a year’s time.

Look at the astrological pointers toyour daughter’s personality trends. She isborn in a fiery and movable sign Aries.That makes her headstrong, impulsive,aggressive, irritable, impatient and intol-erant. She is domineering, who wouldlike to be at the head of things and detestplaying second fiddle to any. Lagna lordMars is placed adverse to Uranus andNeptune. This, in the first place, makesher temperamental and erratic. Second,when faced with unpleasant situation,she may develop inferiority complex.More so, because the Sun is locked inadverse formation to its planet of neme-sis Saturn. It implies that she has a nega-tive mindset having a nagging tendency.She carries an indwelling sense of fearand insecurity, which makes her habitu-ally suspicious of others. Given a difficultsituation, self-pitying and pessimism

may overtake her mind’s drive. Now coming to the prospective part-

ner, Taurus lagna, read together with itslord Venus as well as mind signifyingMoon, both in fixed signs make him astubborn guy. Moon placed adverse toMars makes him temperamental, moody,and irritable. Moon, ill-disposed off toMercury makes him indecisive, resentfulof others, may lack focus, and carriesworrying tendency. Jupiter placedadverse to Mercury accounts for hisinsensible reasoning and judgment.Jupiter placed adverse to Mars speaks ofa swaggering ego, stuck to his precon-ceived beliefs and perceptions, not opento look beyond for a reality check. It willbe difficult for him to digest if eversomeone differs with his viewpoint. Ontop of that Mars is ill-disposed off toSaturn, which gives him bad temper, andbrings in revengeful tendency. If everprovoked he may go wild, when he maylose sense of reasons and order. You canyourself make out whether the two canstand each other for long.

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