%˝8%3 , 9 7 ˘ ˇ ˆ ˙˝ , : 7...League-Nawaz (PML-N) and an ally of Rehman, on Saturday...
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O n a day when pollution levels in the national Capital peaked to a three-year high on Sunday with the Air Quality Index (AQI) 625 recording in several parts of Delhi with residents breathing extremely polluted air, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister on Sunday hold a meeting where it was decided that Cabinet Secretary Rajiv Gauba will monitor the alarming pollution situation in Delhi and neighbouring States on a daily basis. The meeting was attended by senior officials from Punjab, Haryana and Delhi through video-conferencing just two days after the Supreme Court- mandated EPCA declared Health Emergency in the national Capital and the NCR. The Chief Secretaries of these States have been asked to monitor the situation in vari- ous districts of their respective states round-the-clock. The Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister and the Cabinet held the high-level on Sunday evening to discuss the issue of deteriorating air quality in Delhi-NCR, officials said. PK Mishra, the Principal Secretary to the Prime Minister, reviewed the situation arising out of severe air pollution in the National Capital Region, and other parts of north India. "About 300 teams have been deployed in Delhi to reduce air pollution. Necessary machinery for this work has been distributed to the States. Main focus is given on seven industrial clusters and major traffic corridors in the NCR. The Government is keeping a close watch on polluting units and burning of wastes besides the construction activities," the Government of India said in a statement. According to the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), the national Capital’s 24-hour average air quality index (AQI) stood at 494 at 4 pm on Sunday, the highest since November 6, 2016 when it was 497. Twenty-one of the 37 air quality monitoring sta- tions recorded the AQI between 490 and 500 with air quality sensors at Aya Nagar, Ashok Vihar, Anand Vihar and Aurobindo Marg peaked out at 7 pm. In the National Capital Region (NCR), Faridabad with AQI 493, Noida (494), Ghaziabad (499) and Greater Noida (488), Gurugram (479), residents choked on toxic air. Continued on Page 4 T he deployment of Israeli spyware Pegasus issue turned more curious and com- plex with the Congress on Sunday claiming that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had received a mes- sage from WhatsApp informing that her phone was suspected to have been hacked. The main Opposition party also sought to know from the Narendra Modi Government whether it spied on citizens and political leaders ahead of the 2019 parliamentary election. The party, however, did not say exactly when Priyanka received the message. The BJP hit back at the Co- ngress saying that the Oppos- ition party is imagining things. In a tweet, BJP spokesperson Amit Malviya said, "Haven't we seen Congress imagining things that don't exist?" Last Friday Priyanka had demanded an explanation from the Government after several noted activists and journalists were notified about the security breach in the app and won- dered whether the current dis- pensation has engaged Israeli agencies to snoop into the phone of key persons including politi- cians which she said was "a gross violation of human rights with a grave ramifications on national security". Now on Sunday the Con- gress said Priyanka like other political leaders including Mamata Banerjee and Praful Patel has received WhatsApp's communication about her account being hacked. A day ago the West Bengal Chief Minister claimed her phones were being tapped and sought a probe into charges of "snoop- ing" on activists and scribes. Continued on Page 4 P akistan Prime Minister Imran Khan on Sunday shared pictures of the Kartarpur complex and the Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, saying the revered venue is ready to welcome Sikhs pilgrims for the 550th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Nanak. The pictures were shared by Khan on his Twitter account ahead of the planned inaugu- ration of the Kartarpur corri- dor on November 9. The year 2019 marks the 550th birth anniversary year of Sikhism founder Guru Nanak Dev, whose birthplace is Sri Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. In another tweet, he con- gratulated his own Government for completing the construction work on time. “I congratulate our Govt for readying Kartarpur, in record time, for Guru Nanakji’s 550th birthday celebrations,” he said. Earlier, the Prime Minister had said Indian Sikh pilgrims coming to Kartarpur would not need a passport, while also waiving the service fee of $20 dollars for those coming for the inaugural cer- emony and on the 550th birth anniversary of the Sikh Guru on November 12. The proposed opening of the corridor coincides with the presence of tens of thousands of protesters in the capital Islamabad. Leader Maulana Fazlur Rehman had demanded the resignation of Khan as a con- dition to disperse peacefully. Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal, leader of the Pakistan Muslims League-Nawaz (PML-N) and an ally of Rehman, on Saturday criticised Khan’s move to allow Sikhs from India to enter Pakistan. Iqbal said the Kartarpur opening was a good gesture but “lifting the condition of a pass- port for foreigners like Indians was a blunder”. The Kartarpur Corridor will connect the Dera Baba Nanak shrine in India’s Punjab with Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur, just 4 kilometres from the International Border, located at Narowal district of Pakistan’s Punjab province. Notwithstanding a chill in bilateral ties over Kashmir, after tough negotiations Pakistan and India signed a landmark agreement last week to operationalise the historic Kartarpur Corridor to allow Indian-Sikh pilgrims to visit the holy Darbar Sahib in Pakistan. The two countries decided that 5,000 pilgrims can visit the shrine everyday and that addi- tional pilgrims will be allowed on special occasions, subject to the expansion of facilities by the Pakistani side. India and Pakistan have also decided that the corridor will be operational through the year, seven days a week and that pilgrims, except children and elderly persons, will have a choice to visit it as individu- als or in groups. I n the ongoing game of polit- ical uncertainty in Maharashtra, the belligerent Shiv Sena — relying apparent- ly on the likely support from the Congress and the NCP — played its ace on Sunday, by claiming that it enjoyed the support of 175 MLAs in the 288-member State Assembly and its president Uddhav Thackeray would take a final call on forming next Government with its leader as the Chief Minister. With no end in sight to the impasse between the BJP and the Shiv Sena over the sharing of power, Shiv Sena MP and spokesperson Sanjay Raut - who has virtually become the face of his party - created a sen- sation in the State by claiming that the Sena man would be sworn as the Chief Minister at "Shiv Tirth" — better known as Shivaji Park in north-central Mumbai. "Till yesterday, our strength was 170 MLAs and now the fig- ure has touched 175... I can tell you with certainty that our Chief Minister will be sworn in at Shiv Tirth. As far as options are concerned, Uddhavji has already said that our options are open. Of the options before us, the talks on one option have nearly ended. Uddhavji is about to take a decision on this option," Raut said. Declining to spell out as to what was the option that the Sena had settled onto, Raut said: "Uddhavji will himself talk to the media in this regard". Raut's strong statement came a day ahead of NCP chief Sharad Pawar meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi in New Delhi to discuss the changing political equations in Maharashtra and explore the possibility of the two parties extending their support to the Shiv Sena to form a new Government in the State. Continued on Page 4 A day after clash between Delhi Police personnel and lawyers inside Tis Hazari court complex in North Delhi, the Delhi High Court on Sunday ordered a judicial enquiry by one of its retired judges into the incident. On the basis of the findings in a preliminary enquiry con- ducted by a police team head- ed by Special Commissioner of Police (Intelligence) Praveer Ranjan, Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Kanta Prasad has been suspended for allegedly drag- ging an advocate inside the court lockup and beating him up. Also, departmental action has been taken against ASI Pawan Kumar who allegedly fired at the lawyers The HC also directed Delhi Police commissioner Amulya Patnaik to transfer Special Commissioner of Police Sanjay Singh and Additional Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Harinder Singh during pen- dency of the investigation. The court also made it clear that no coercive action would be taken against any lawyer. On Sunday, a Bench of Chief Justice D N Patel and Justice C Hari Shankar took 'suo motu' cognisance of the media reports of the incident and said the former High Court judge justice (retired) S P Garg would hold a judicial enquiry into the matter. The court also directed the Delhi Government and the Centre to provide best treat- ment to injured lawyers, including those who received gunshot injuries, preferably in AIIMS. Continued on Page 4 A s soon as the Congress trig- gered a row by claiming that party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi had been a target of the snooping through WhatsApp, the ruling BJP hit back saying the grand old party was “imagining” things. Taking to Twitter to negate the claim, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya said, “Haven’t we seen the Congress imagining things that didn’t exist?” “Remember them claiming that Rahul Gandhi’s life was in danger when a green light, off a video camera, flashed on his face during a media briefing. Well, that’s the level of their leaders’ credibility in public life,” he tweeted. Malviya was referring to an incident in the thick of election in April when the Congress had termed flashing of a green light on Rahul's face as a “seri- ous security breach”. But it turned out to be an embar- rassment as the light was found to be emanating from a cam- era person’s mobile who was working for the AICC. Continued on Page 4 Lucknow: Concerned over spike in air pollution, the Uttar Pradesh government on Sunday warned that action will be taken against those burning garbage, polythene and stubble in the field. “Stubble burning in the field results in massive air pollution. Therefore, farmers should be encouraged and made aware of the conse- quences of burning straw in their fields. Officials should ensure straw is mixed in the soil Continued on Page 4 I n a significant indication of India’s rising profile, the 10- nation ASEAN on Sunday clearly appreciated New Delhi’s growing role in the Indo- Pacific region as the two sides, with a combined GDP of USD 5 trillion, vowed to further broadbase strategic ties and deal with major challenges like of terrorism collectively. In his address at the annu- al India-ASEAN summit, Prime Minister Narendra Modi talked about the mutu- al coordination between India’s vision of the Indo-Pacific and ASEAN Outlook for the strate- gically key region which has been witnessing growing Chinese assertiveness. Modi also talked about cross-border terrorism, spread of violent extremism and the situation in the South China Sea, and underlined the need for greater cooperation between India and the ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) to unitedly confront major chal- lenges facing the region. “I welcome the mutual coordination of the Indo- Pacific Outlook between India and the ASEAN. India’s Act East Policy is an important part of our Indo-Pacific vision. The ASEAN is and always will be the heart of our Act East Policy. Integrated, organised and economically developing ASEAN is in India’s basic interest,” Modi said. Officials said the biggest takeaway from the 16th India- ASEAN summit was acknowl- edgement of the ASEAN lead- ers about India’s growing role in the Indo-Pacific for the first time after the bloc came out with an “Outlook” for the region. The endorsement of India’s role assumes signifi- cance as it came in the midst of geo-political power play in the Indo-Pacific region and escalating territorial disputes between between China and a number of ASEAN countries. “All the ASEAN countries appreciated India’s growing role (in the Indo-Pacific) region and that India’s grow- ing role is a factor of peace and stability in the region. That is the broad approach of the ASEAN,” said Vijay Thakur Singh, Secretary (East) in the Ministry of External Affairs. Earlier, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said his country was ready to work with ASEAN countries to ensure peace, security and stability in the South China Sea. Singh said the issue of South China Sea was discussed at the sum- mit and it was noted by both sides the importance of pro- moting a rules-based order in the region including through upholding adherence to inter- national law. In his address, the prime minister said India is committed to further strengthen partnership with the ASEAN through stronger surface, maritime and air- connectivity and digital-link. “USD 1 billion line of credit will be useful for physical and digital connectivity. Our intention is to greatly increase the traffic of people for study, research, trade and tourism. To achieve this goal, India is ready to increase partnership with the ASEAN in the area of mutual interests,” he said. The 10-nation ASEAN is consid- ered one of the most influen- tial groupings in the region. India and several other coun- tries including the US, China, Japan and Australia are its dia- logue partners. The ASEAN region along with India togeth- er comprises combined popu- lation of 1.85 billion people, which is one fourth of the glob- al population and their com- bined GDP has been estimat- ed at over USD 5 trillion. Modi said India is also ready to further increase capacity building and partnerships in areas of agriculture, science, research, ICT and engineering. “I welcome the recent deci- sion to review the ASEAN- India FTA. This will not only make our economic relations more stronger, but our trade will also be balanced. We also want to strengthen our part- nership in the areas of mar- itime security and blue econ- omy,” he said. The prime min- ister also announced that India would be looking at creating an endowment of Rs 50 million for promoting exchanges between faculty as well as stu- dents under India-ASEAN network. Singh said the ASEAN leaders spoke of India as a long-term friend and a dynam- ic partner and complimented India’s contribution in the peace and stability of the region. The leaders also wel- comed India’s support to the centrality of the ASEAN and India’s programmes and pro- jects which support ASEAN master plan for connectivity. “They expressed keen interest in enhancing partnership mar- itime and cyber domains,” said Singh.
Transcript of %˝8%3 , 9 7 ˘ ˇ ˆ ˙˝ , : 7...League-Nawaz (PML-N) and an ally of Rehman, on Saturday...
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On a day when pollutionlevels in the national
Capital peaked to a three-yearhigh on Sunday with the AirQuality Index (AQI) 625recording in several parts ofDelhi with residents breathingextremely polluted air, thePrincipal Secretary to thePrime Minister on Sundayhold a meeting where it wasdecided that Cabinet SecretaryRajiv Gauba will monitor thealarming pollution situationin Delhi and neighbouringStates on a daily basis.
The meeting was attendedby senior officials from Punjab,Haryana and Delhi throughvideo-conferencing just twodays after the Supreme Court-mandated EPCA declaredHealth Emergency in thenational Capital and the NCR.
The Chief Secretaries ofthese States have been asked tomonitor the situation in vari-ous districts of their respectivestates round-the-clock. ThePrincipal Secretary to thePrime Minister and the Cabinetheld the high-level on Sundayevening to discuss the issue ofdeteriorating air quality inDelhi-NCR, officials said.
PK Mishra, the PrincipalSecretary to the Prime Minister,reviewed the situation arisingout of severe air pollution in theNational Capital Region, andother parts of north India.
"About 300 teams havebeen deployed in Delhi toreduce air pollution. Necessarymachinery for this work hasbeen distributed to the States.Main focus is given on sevenindustrial clusters and majortraffic corridors in the NCR.The Government is keeping aclose watch on polluting unitsand burning of wastes besidesthe construction activities," theGovernment of India said in a
statement. According to the Central
Pollution Control Board(CPCB), the national Capital’s24-hour average air qualityindex (AQI) stood at 494 at 4pm on Sunday, the highestsince November 6, 2016 whenit was 497. Twenty-one of the37 air quality monitoring sta-tions recorded the AQIbetween 490 and 500 with airquality sensors at Aya Nagar,Ashok Vihar, Anand Viharand Aurobindo Marg peakedout at 7 pm.
In the National CapitalRegion (NCR), Faridabad withAQI 493, Noida (494),Ghaziabad (499) and GreaterNoida (488), Gurugram (479),residents choked on toxic air.
Continued on Page 4
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The deployment of Israelispyware Pegasus issue
turned more curious and com-plex with the Congress onSunday claiming that partygeneral secretaryPriyanka Gandhihad received a mes-sage from WhatsAppinforming that her phone wassuspected to have been hacked.
The main Opposition partyalso sought to know from theNarendra Modi Governmentwhether it spied on citizens andpolitical leaders ahead of the2019 parliamentary election.The party, however, did not sayexactly when Priyanka receivedthe message.
The BJP hit back at the Co-ngress saying that the Oppos-ition party is imagining things.In a tweet, BJP spokespersonAmit Malviya said, "Haven't weseen Congress imaginingthings that don't exist?"
Last Friday Priyanka haddemanded an explanation fromthe Government after severalnoted activists and journalistswere notified about the securitybreach in the app and won-dered whether the current dis-
pensation hasengaged Israeliagencies to snoopinto the phone of
key persons including politi-cians which she said was "agross violation of human rightswith a grave ramifications onnational security".
Now on Sunday the Con-gress said Priyanka like otherpolitical leaders includingMamata Banerjee and PrafulPatel has received WhatsApp'scommunication about heraccount being hacked. A dayago the West Bengal ChiefMinister claimed her phoneswere being tapped and soughta probe into charges of "snoop-ing" on activists and scribes.
Continued on Page 4
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Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan on Sunday
shared pictures of theKartarpur complex and theGurdwara Darbar Sahib, sayingthe revered venue is ready towelcome Sikhs pilgrims forthe 550th birth anniversarycelebrations of Guru Nanak.
The pictures were sharedby Khan on his Twitter accountahead of the planned inaugu-ration of the Kartarpur corri-dor on November 9.
The year 2019 marks the550th birth anniversary year ofSikhism founder Guru NanakDev, whose birthplace is SriNankana Sahib in Pakistan.
In another tweet, he con-gratulated his ownGovernment for completingthe construction work on time.
“I congratulate our Govt forreadying Kartarpur, in recordtime, for Guru Nanakji’s 550thbirthday celebrations,” he said.
Earlier, the PrimeMinister had said Indian Sikh
pilgrims coming to Kartarpurwould not need a passport,while also waiving the servicefee of $20 dollars for thosecoming for the inaugural cer-emony and on the 550th birthanniversary of the Sikh Guruon November 12.
The proposed opening ofthe corridor coincides with thepresence of tens of thousands ofprotesters in the capitalIslamabad. Leader MaulanaFazlur Rehman had demandedthe resignation of Khan as a con-
dition to disperse peacefully.Meanwhile, Ahsan Iqbal,
leader of the Pakistan MuslimsLeague-Nawaz (PML-N) andan ally of Rehman, on Saturdaycriticised Khan’s move to allowSikhs from India to enterPakistan.
Iqbal said the Kartarpuropening was a good gesture but“lifting the condition of a pass-port for foreigners like Indianswas a blunder”.
The Kartarpur Corridorwill connect the Dera Baba
Nanak shrine in India’s Punjabwith Darbar Sahib at Kartarpur,just 4 kilometres from theInternational Border, located atNarowal district of Pakistan’sPunjab province.
Notwithstanding a chill inbilateral ties over Kashmir,after tough negotiationsPakistan and India signed alandmark agreement last weekto operationalise the historic Kartarpur Corridor toallow Indian-Sikh pilgrims tovisit the holy Darbar Sahib inPakistan.
The two countries decidedthat 5,000 pilgrims can visit theshrine everyday and that addi-tional pilgrims will be allowedon special occasions, subject tothe expansion of facilities bythe Pakistani side.
India and Pakistan havealso decided that the corridorwill be operational throughthe year, seven days a week andthat pilgrims, except childrenand elderly persons, will havea choice to visit it as individu-als or in groups.
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In the ongoing game of polit-ical uncertainty in
Maharashtra, the belligerentShiv Sena — relying apparent-ly on the likely support fromthe Congress and the NCP —played its ace on Sunday, byclaiming that it enjoyed thesupport of 175 MLAs in the288-member State Assemblyand its president UddhavThackeray would take a finalcall on forming nextGovernment with its leader asthe Chief Minister.
With no end in sight to theimpasse between the BJP andthe Shiv Sena over the sharingof power, Shiv Sena MP andspokesperson Sanjay Raut -who has virtually become the
face of his party - created a sen-sation in the State by claimingthat the Sena man would besworn as the Chief Minister at"Shiv Tirth" — better known asShivaji Park in north-centralMumbai.
"Till yesterday, our strengthwas 170 MLAs and now the fig-ure has touched 175... I can tellyou with certainty that ourChief Minister will be sworn inat Shiv Tirth. As far as optionsare concerned, Uddhavji hasalready said that our optionsare open. Of the options beforeus, the talks on one option havenearly ended. Uddhavji is aboutto take a decision on thisoption," Raut said.
Declining to spell out as towhat was the option that theSena had settled onto, Raut
said: "Uddhavji will himself talkto the media in this regard".
Raut's strong statementcame a day ahead of NCPchief Sharad Pawar meetingCongress president SoniaGandhi in New Delhi to discussthe changing political equationsin Maharashtra and explore thepossibility of the two partiesextending their support to theShiv Sena to form a newGovernment in the State.
Continued on Page 4
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Aday after clash betweenDelhi Police personnel and
lawyers inside Tis Hazari courtcomplex in North Delhi, theDelhi High Court on Sundayordered a judicial enquiry byone of its retired judges intothe incident.
On the basis of the findingsin a preliminary enquiry con-ducted by a police team head-ed by Special Commissioner ofPolice (Intelligence) PraveerRanjan, Assistant Sub Inspector(ASI) Kanta Prasad has beensuspended for allegedly drag-ging an advocate inside thecourt lockup and beating himup. Also, departmental actionhas been taken against ASIPawan Kumar who allegedlyfired at the lawyers
The HC also directed DelhiPolice commissioner AmulyaPatnaik to transfer SpecialCommissioner of Police Sanjay
Singh and Additional DeputyCommissioner of Police (DCP)Harinder Singh during pen-dency of the investigation. Thecourt also made it clear that nocoercive action would be takenagainst any lawyer.
On Sunday, a Bench ofChief Justice D N Patel andJustice C Hari Shankar took'suo motu' cognisance of themedia reports of the incident
and said the former High Courtjudge justice (retired) S P Gargwould hold a judicial enquiryinto the matter.
The court also directedthe Delhi Government and theCentre to provide best treat-ment to injured lawyers,including those who receivedgunshot injuries, preferably inAIIMS.
Continued on Page 4
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As soon as the Congress trig-gered a row by claiming
that party general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi had been atarget of the snooping throughWhatsApp, the ruling BJP hitback saying the grand old partywas “imagining” things.
Taking to Twitter tonegate the claim, BJP’s IT
cell chief Amit Malviya said,“Haven’t we seen theCongress imagining thingsthat didn’t exist?”
“Remember them claimingthat Rahul Gandhi’s life was indanger when a green light, offa video camera, flashed on hisface during a media briefing.Well, that’s the level of theirleaders’ credibility in publiclife,” he tweeted.
Malviya was referring to anincident in the thick of electionin April when the Congress hadtermed flashing of a greenlight on Rahul's face as a “seri-ous security breach”. But itturned out to be an embar-rassment as the light was foundto be emanating from a cam-era person’s mobile who wasworking for the AICC.
Continued on Page 4
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Lucknow: Concerned overspike in air pollution, the UttarPradesh government onSunday warned that action willbe taken against those burninggarbage, polythene and stubblein the field. “Stubble burningin the field results in massive airpollution. Therefore, farmersshould be encouraged andmade aware of the conse-quences of burning straw intheir fields. Officials shouldensure straw is mixed in the soil
Continued on Page 4
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In a significant indication ofIndia’s rising profile, the 10-nation ASEAN on Sunday
clearly appreciated New Delhi’sgrowing role in the Indo-Pacific region as the two sides,with a combined GDP of USD5 trillion, vowed to furtherbroadbase strategic ties anddeal with major challengeslike of terrorism collectively.
In his address at the annu-al India-ASEAN summit,Prime Minister NarendraModi talked about the mutu-al coordination between India’svision of the Indo-Pacific andASEAN Outlook for the strate-gically key region which hasbeen witnessing growingChinese assertiveness. Modialso talked about cross-borderterrorism, spread of violentextremism and the situation inthe South China Sea, andunderlined the need for greatercooperation between India andthe ASEAN (Association ofSoutheast Asian Nations) tounitedly confront major chal-lenges facing the region.
“I welcome the mutualcoordination of the Indo-Pacific Outlook between Indiaand the ASEAN. India’s ActEast Policy is an importantpart of our Indo-Pacificvision. The ASEAN is andalways will be the heart of ourAct East Policy. Integrated,organised and economicallydeveloping ASEAN is inIndia’s basic interest,” Modisaid. Officials said the biggesttakeaway from the 16th India-ASEAN summit was acknowl-edgement of the ASEAN lead-ers about India’s growing role
in the Indo-Pacific for the firsttime after the bloc came outwith an “Outlook” for theregion. The endorsement ofIndia’s role assumes signifi-cance as it came in the midstof geo-political power play inthe Indo-Pacific region andescalating territorial disputesbetween between China and anumber of ASEAN countries.
“All the ASEAN countriesappreciated India’s growingrole (in the Indo-Pacific)region and that India’s grow-ing role is a factor of peaceand stability in the region.That is the broad approach of
the ASEAN,” said VijayThakur Singh, Secretary(East) in the Ministry ofExternal Affairs.
Earlier, Chinese PremierLi Keqiang said his countrywas ready to work withASEAN countries to ensurepeace, security and stability inthe South China Sea. Singhsaid the issue of South ChinaSea was discussed at the sum-mit and it was noted by bothsides the importance of pro-moting a rules-based order inthe region including throughupholding adherence to inter-national law. In his address,
the prime minister said Indiais committed to furtherstrengthen partnership withthe ASEAN through strongersurface, maritime and air-connectivity and digital-link.“USD 1 billion line of creditwill be useful for physicaland digital connectivity. Ourintention is to greatly increasethe traffic of people for study,research, trade and tourism.To achieve this goal, India isready to increase partnershipwith the ASEAN in the area ofmutual interests,” he said. The10-nation ASEAN is consid-ered one of the most influen-
tial groupings in the region.India and several other coun-tries including the US, China,Japan and Australia are its dia-logue partners. The ASEANregion along with India togeth-er comprises combined popu-lation of 1.85 billion people,which is one fourth of the glob-al population and their com-bined GDP has been estimat-ed at over USD 5 trillion.Modi said India is also readyto further increase capacitybuilding and partnerships inareas of agriculture, science,research, ICT and engineering.
“I welcome the recent deci-sion to review the ASEAN-India FTA. This will not onlymake our economic relationsmore stronger, but our tradewill also be balanced. We alsowant to strengthen our part-nership in the areas of mar-itime security and blue econ-omy,” he said. The prime min-ister also announced that Indiawould be looking at creating anendowment of Rs 50 millionfor promoting exchangesbetween faculty as well as stu-dents under India-ASEANnetwork.
Singh said the ASEANleaders spoke of India as along-term friend and a dynam-ic partner and complimentedIndia’s contribution in thepeace and stability of theregion. The leaders also wel-comed India’s support to thecentrality of the ASEAN andIndia’s programmes and pro-jects which support ASEANmaster plan for connectivity.“They expressed keen interestin enhancing partnership mar-itime and cyber domains,” saidSingh.
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Uttar Pradesh EnergyMinister ShrikantSharma launched a
scathing attack on the opposi-tion Congress and SamajwadiParty, saying that it was shame-ful for leaders of parties noto-rious for corruption to com-ment on the Yogi Adityanathgovernment.
Sharma on Sunday saidthe Yogi Adityanath govern-ment was working with zerotolerance policy towards cor-ruption.
He said Congress generalsecretary Priyanka GandhiVadra should ponder over theactions of her family and partybefore commenting on thegovernment headed by amahant (monk).
He also accused the previ-ous Akhilesh Yadav dispensa-tion of “opening the gate of cor-ruption” by taking the “dubi-ous” decision of investing partof the UP Power CorporationLimited (UPPCL) employees’provident fund in DHFL.
Both the leaders have crit-icised the UP government overthe “scam” involving invest-ment of provident fund ofUPPCL employees in non-banking finance companies.
“Samajwadi Party presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav shouldhave done his homeworkbefore pointing fingers at thepresent state government. Thegate to this scam was opened byhis government. AkhileshYadav must not lose sight of thefact that he is living in a glasshouse and does not have theliberty of throwing stones onothers. He should not speakwithout doing the minimumrequired home work,” Sharmasaid at a press conference in thestate capital on Sunday.
The UP Energy Ministersaid that Akhilesh Yadav wassteeped in corruption. “Miningscam took place during histenure. The CBI is investigatingit on the order of the (Allahabad)High Court,” he said.
Referring to Bahujan SamajParty chief Mayawati, Sharmasaid Akhilesh Yadav “coveredup” the statue scam of “his Bua”.
“Both of them wereinvolved in the matter. Bua isguilty in the pink stone scam,but Akhilesh is also guilty as hedid not order probe into thescam after forming the govern-ment in UP,” he said.
The Energy Minister saidthe script of the providentfund investment scam waswritten in 2014.
"During the AkhileshYadav's regime, on April 21,2014, it was decided that ifthere were options of gettingmore interest, the amount ofEPF and GPF (general provi-
dent fund) could be invested innon-bank institutions. On thebasis of this decision, theprocess for investment ofemployees’ EPF and GPF inhousing companies started inDecember 2016. The invest-ment in Dewan HousingFinance Company Limited(DHFL) started from March17, 2017,” Sharma said.
"By taking this decision,the gates of corruption wereopened (during the SPregime)," the minister said.
“On December 17, 2016,the state power employees trustand UPPCL provident fundtrust’s then secretary PraveenKumar Gupta and UPPCLDirector (Finance) SudhanshuDwivedi were authorised forthis," he said and added, "Afterthis, Dwivedi and Gupta beganthe actual investment in theDHFL from March 2017 with-out bringing the matter to theknowledge of the power utili-ty's Managing Director.
Sharma said the two offi-cials began investing theUPPCL's EPF in the DewanHousing Finance CorporationLtd (DHFL) despite a clearanceto deposit the money for a fixedperiod in the Punjab NationalBank (PNB).
Gupta and Dwivedi havealready been arrested and anFIR was registered at theHazratganj police station inLucknow against them undersections 420/409/467/468/471of the Indian Penal Code forfraud, criminal breach of trustand tampering with govern-ment documents. Both havebeen sent to jail on a 14-dayjudicial custody by a magistrate.
The Energy Minister said ifall this was happening at thebehest of Akhilesh Yadav had
he not given freedom for loot?“The SP president must answerthis question,” he said.
Sharma said the UPPCLprovident fund trust decided toinvest over �2,600 crore inDHFL during the tenure ofAkhilesh Yadav itself.
Targeting Priyanka GandhiVadra, the Energy Ministersaid, “It is ironical to see theleader of a party which is syn-onymous and notorious forcorruption raising question onYogi Adityanath government’.
He added, “It is ironicaland shameful that these lead-ers are commenting on BJPgovernment which is strident-ly pursuing the policy of zerotolerance towards corruption’’.
Congress general secretaryincharge UP, Priyanka GandhiVadra had on Saturday ques-tioned the role of UP govern-ment in the scam.
In a tweet, she said, “TheBJP government in UttarPradesh invested the moneyfrom the provident fund of thestate`s power corporation per-sonnel in a defaulting compa-ny like DHFL. Whose interestwas to be served by investingmore than �2,000 crore of theemployees` hard earned moneyin such a company? Is it justi-fied to play with the future ofthe employees?”
According to the EnergyMinister, the UPPCLChairman had received ananonymous complaint on July10, 2019 following which aprobe was ordered on July 12,2019 into the matter. It washeaded by Director, Finance.The report was presented bythe inquiry committee onAugust 29, 2019, confirmingserious financial irregularities.On October 1, 2019, the vigi-
lance wing of UP PowerCorporation was directed toinvestigate the matter in detail.
On October 10, 2019, thethen secretary of state poweremployees trust and UPPCLprovident fund trust PK Gupta,was suspended and depart-mental inquiry was ordered.Based on the recommendationof the vigilance wing, it wasdecided to register a criminalcase in the matter. OnNovember 2, 2019, the case wasregistered by Hazratganj policeunder relevant sections.
Sharma said the YogiAdityanath government tookimmediate action and sent theculprits to jail. “Such quickaction was never taken duringthe Akhilesh or Mayawatiregimes,” he added.
The Energy Minister saidthe government would ensurethat the UPPCL employees andofficials got their money back.“Till the time the CBI startsinvestigating the case, DG(Economic Offences Wing) RPSingh will investigate the mat-ter. The CBI probe will be forthe entire episode and noneinvolved in the matter will bespared. The Yogi governmentdoes not wait for an incident,but it sends the criminalsbehind bars soon after gettingthe information,” he said.
The UPPCL has investedits employees` provident fundworth over �2,600 crore inMumbai-based DewanHousing Finance CorporationLimited (DHFL), whose pro-moters were recently grilled bythe Enforcement Directoratefor their alleged links with afront company of late IqbalMirchi, a close aide of fugitiveunderworld don DawoodIbrahim Kaskar.
����� 2(�9/71
Even as a thick blanket ofsmog engulfed several parts
of Delhi and Uttar Pradesh onSunday, a Bharatiya JanataParty leader suggested a bizarreway to tackle the pollution —yajnas.
The leader believes thatpleasing Lord Indra wouldhelp reduce the pollution in thenational capital region.
BJP leader Sunil Bharala,who is chairman of the StateLabour Welfare Board and hasthe rank of cabinet minister,said that criticism of stubbleburning was not right. He saidthe governments should insteadperform yajnas to please LordIndra, the God of rain, whowould set things right.
Sunil Bharala’s commentscome at a time when Delhi isunder grip of one of the worstair quality with the AQI inmost places breaching the 399mark.
Bharala said stubble burn-ing was a natural process andit did not cause pollution ofsuch high level. “Farmers havealways burned stubble and theitems burnt are waste materi-al... it is a natural process.Repeated criticism of it is
unfortunate,” he said.The BJP leader said in
order to reduce pollution, gov-ernments should perform yaj-nas to please Lord Indra as tra-ditionally done and Lord Indrawould set things right.
Stubble burning is consid-ered to be one of the major rea-sons for pollution. Over 22,000cases of stubble burning havebeen witnessed in Punjab andmore than 4,200 in Haryana inthe recent days, officials dis-closed.
Bharala said, “When farm-ers cultivate sugarcane or dal,such wastes are bound to gen-erate and they have to burn it.”
Sunil Bharala, a Brahminleader from west UP, wasappointed as the chairman ofthe labour welfare board withthe rank of cabinet ministerahead of the 2019 Lok Sabhapoll.
In UP, Ghaziabad had theworst average AQI of 453,followed by Bulandshahr(446), Hapur (444), GreaterNoida (438), Baghpat (435),Noida (432), Lucknow (422),Kanpur (379), Meerut (371)and Varanasi (328), theCentral Pollution ControlBoard’s (CPCB) Saturday datashowed.
����� 2(�9/71
Chief Minister YogiAdityanath will be in
Baghpat on Monday for thelaunch of sugarcane crushingseason of Ramala Sugar Mill.Yogi Adityanath will be in theJat belt of western UP as theBharatiya Janata Party looks toconnect with sugarcane farm-ers of the region.
This will be the first crush-ing season of the Ramala millafter its capacity expansion, apromise the BJP had made tothe farmers in 2018.
Yogi Adityanath is alsoexpected to address the farm-ers after the launch of thecrushing season. The BJP hasalready started telling the farm-ers in western UP how thecapacity enhancement of thesugar mill will help them.
“The crushing capacity ofthe Ramala Sugar Mill hasnow been increased from27,500 quintal to 50,000 quin-tal per day. A 27 megawatt co-generation power plant hasalso been set up in the millpremises. Now, an estimated 90lakh quintal sugarcane will becrushed here during the seasonand this will lead to productionof nearly 9.5 lakh quintals ofsugar,” said Bharatiya JanataParty leader Chandramohan,
who hails from the region.“Nearly 35,000 sugarcane
farmers will supply cane to themill. After the mill’s expansion,nearly 2,500 people will getdirect and indirect employ-ment,” Chandramohan said,citing the development as proofof the BJP’s commitment tosugarcane farmers.
The fact that Baghpat hasbeen former Prime Ministerlate Chaudhary Charan Singh’skarmabhoomi and Lok Sabhaconstituency has also come inhandy for the BJP in runningdown Charan Singh’s son AjitSingh, who draws politicalstrength through RashtriyaLok Dal (RLD) which is pri-marily a west UP based polit-ical outfit. RLD had inked apact with the Samajwadi Partyfor the 2019 Lok Sabha pollsas well as for the recent by-polls.
“We would obviously tellthe farmers that while partieslike Rashtriya Lok Dal andtheir leaders like Ajit Singh,who owe their political exis-tence to the region, as well asSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, merely paid lip serviceto the farmers, it was PrimeMinister Narendra Modijialong with Chief Minister YogiAdityanath who alone thoughtof addressing the plight of the
sugarcane farmers,” the BJPleader added.
The BJP also plans to tellthe people that not just inwestern UP, in eastern part ofthe state too, the government’sinitiatives are transforming thefate of sugarcane farmers.
“In Gorakhpur, there hasbeen 1,000 hectare increase insugarcane growing area. Thestart of Pipraich and Basti’sMunderwa Sugar Mill, increasein duration of crushing andtimely payments are amongsteps that have helped the canefarmers,” Chandramohanadded.
����� 2(�9/71
The Power Employees’ JointAction Committee has
demanded the dismissal of theManaging Director and theChairman of UP PowerCorporation Limited for theemployees provident fundinvestment scam.
The Joint ActionCommittee alleged that themoney from the poweremployees’ provident fund wasdiverted to a non-bankingfinance company with the tacitapproval of the top officials ofthe UPPCL.
Shailendra Dubey, con-venor of the Joint ActionCommittee, said that EnergyMinister Shrikant Sharma hadhimself admitted that ananonymous complaint wasreceived on July 10, 2019 andthe subsequent inquiry reporton August 28, 2019 also con-firmed the irregularity, yet theManaging Director and theChairman of the UPPCL tookno action. He said the top brassof the UPPCL owed an expla-nation to the power employeesas to why they maintainedsilence for over two months.“Were they attempting to pro-tect somebody?” he asked.
Welcoming the promptaction taken by the UP govern-ment against the two officialsof the UPPCL in this case, theJoint Action Committeedemanded immediate dis-missal of the ManagingDirector and Chairman of thePSU power utility. It alsodemanded that the UP govern-ment take the responsibility forthe security of the money of thepower employees.
Lauding Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath for recom-mending a CBI inquiry into theincident, the Joint ActionCommittee said for free andfair probe, it was necessary toremove the top officials of theUPPCL and they be heldaccountable for the lapse.
In a statement issued onSunday, Dubey said the govern-ment should reconstitute theUPPCL provident fund trustand include representatives ofthe employees in it.
Dubey said the EnergyMinister had admitted thatfirst investment in fixed depositof the DHFL was made onMarch 17, 2017. He said invest-ment was also made after-wards but it was not clear whowas the officer in UPPCL whoauthorised further investmentin the DHFL.
“If the investment in fixeddeposit of DHFL after March17, 2017 was made with thepermission of the UPPCLChairman then why no actionhas been taken against him. Ifthe investment was made with-out the approval of theChairman, why no action hasbeen taken against him for theserious lapse in discharge of hisofficial duties’’, the Joint ActionCommittee convenor asked.
Agra (PTI): The NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) has been fined �6.84crore for polluting air due toconsistent construction activityin Agra, officials said on Sunday.The NHAI has also beeninstructed to sprinkle waterwherever construction work isbeing undertaken around Agra,they said. A fine of �6.84 crorehas been imposed on NHAI forcausing air pollution throughconstruction activities, saidBhuvan Yadav, regional officer ofthe Uttar Pradesh PollutionControl Board in Agra.
Also, directions have beenissued to Agra Nagar Nigam tocarry out mechanised sweepingwork to help reduce air pollu-tion, he said.
The anti-pollution boardhas also instructed brick kilnsaround the city using old tech-nology to switch over to Zig-Zagtechnology to help reduce airpollution. Various governmentagencies such as the AgraDevelopment Authority, AwasVikas and the PWD, have beeninstructed if they carry out con-struction activities, they have touse dust suppressant, the officialsaid. In addition, all the demo-lition and construction wasterules have to be followed likesprinkling of water, establishinggreen cover, covering raw mate-rials, among others, Yadavadded.
Agra: As north India battlessevere levels of pollution, stateauthorities have deployed an airpurifier van at the Taj Mahal tosave the iconic monument,officials said on Sunday.
The air purifier vandeployed by the Uttar PradeshPollution Control Board(UPPCB) has capacity to puri-fy 15 lakh cubic metre air ineight hours within a 300 metreradius, they said.
“Looking at the developingsituation and consistent dete-rioration in air quality, a mobileair purifier van has beendeployed at the west gate of theTaj Mahal,” Regional Officer ofUPPCB Bhuvan Yadav toldPTI.
Pollution around the whitemarble mausoleum has been acause of concern for a long timeas it has been damaging themonument, one of the sevenwonders of the world.
The district administra-tion, Agra Nagar Nigam andUPPCB collaborated with tele-com operator Vodafone-Idea,as part of corporate socialresponsibility efforts, to bring
in two such air purifier vans tothe city to combat pollution,the officials said.
The vans were brought toAgra on October 24 and look-ing at the fast deteriorating airquality in the city, one of themhas now been deployed nearthe Taj Mahal to protect it fromair pollution, Yadav said.
At present there is no con-tinuous air monitoring stationaround the Taj Mahal to helpcalculate the AQI so the mag-nitude of how much air hasbeen purified cannot be deter-mined, the officials said.
However, there is a moni-toring station at Sanjay Palacein the city, which showed anAQI of 293 at 4pm, accordingto the Central PollutionControl Board. An AQIbetween 201-300 is consid-ered ‘poor’ and causes breath-ing discomfort to most peopleon prolonged exposure.
Several north Indian citieshave been battling tremen-dous levels of pollution over thepast few days, promptingauthorities to declare healthemergency in Delhi.
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0�������������������Lakhimpur Kheri: A journalist work-ing with a Hindi daily was shot at andseriously injured by two unidentifiedassailants in Devuapar village of thedistrict, police said on Sunday. Theincident took place on Saturday whenthe 46-year-old Ramesh Mishra wason his way back home from Khamariatown where he runs a medical store,they said. Mishra was riding pillion ona bike when the bike-borne assailantsshot at him. A doctor riding the bikerushed him to the district hospitalfrom where he was referred to theLucknow Trauma Centre in a seriouscondition. “An FIR has been lodgedand police teams have been formed toidentify the attackers and the motivebehind the attack,” ASP Shailendra Lalsaid. Police have detained two sus-pects for interrogation. Describing theattack on the journalist as a “serious”matter, local journalists called onpolice authorities and demandedspeedy investigation and arrest of cul-prits.
;?3���?�������������$�������������������3�����$���������3Muzaffarnagar: A four-month-oldbaby died after a stone dropped by amonkey fell on him at his home inSohjani village of Uttar Pradesh’sMuzaffarnagar district, police said on
Sunday. The incident happened onSaturday in Titawi police station area,they said. Police said the monkey wason the terrace while the baby boy wasin the ground floor with his parents.The monkey picked up a stone lying onthe terrace it slipped from its grip andfell on the boy leaving him with seriousinjuries. The baby was rushed to a hos-pital but doctors declared him dead,police added.
������������������Ballia: A man was killed and four oth-ers were injured when two groupsbelonging to different communitiesclashed in Jaipur village here, police saidon Sunday. The incident took place onSaturday when bikes of Sonu Chaurasiaand Jamshed collided with each other,they said Soon people belonging toboth communities gathered on the spotand clashed, leaving 75-year-oldRamdhari Chaurasia dead and fourothers injured. Police have arrested sixpersons in this connection. Heavypolice force has been deployed in thevillage, where the situation is nowunder control.
�3�����������������������?��?�� ��6���������������Barabanki: A 70-year-old woman wasallegedly strangulated to death by herson and daughter-in-law, who then dis-
posed her body of in a canal inBhikharipur village here, police said onSunday. Premavati was allegedly killedby her son Satyanam and daughter-in-law Shanti Devi on October 22. Heryounger son on October 30 filed a miss-ing person compliant after which policestarted probing the matter, they said.During investigation Satyanam con-fessed to the crime and told police aboutthe location of the body that was foundon Saturday. Police said Premavati waskilled because of a land dispute with herson.
� ���������������������$��������6������������������ �Banda: Eight persons have been arrest-ed for allegedly beating up two consta-bles intervening in their drunken brawlduring a function in their village in theBanda district. City Circle OfficerAlok Mishra said the incident tookplace on Saturday night in Mahokharvillage of the district. “On Saturdaynight, there was a ceremony inMahokhar village in which there wasa brawl among some persons who hadconsumed liquor. On getting informa-tion, two policemen of Dial 100Motorcycle service reached there.Those under the influence of alcoholbeat up the policemen instead,” he said.Eight persons have been arrested in thecase, while the injured policemen have
been admitted to the district hospital,Mishra said.
3�����������������������$������Bareilly: A man died when a bullet hithim during celebratory firing at a wed-ding event in a village here, police saidon Sunday. Hafiz Saleem, 20, sustainedbullet injury in the celebratory gunfireat the event in Parasrampur village onSaturday night, Superintendent of Police(Rural) Sansar Singh said. Saleem wasrushed to a hospital where he died dur-ing treatment, he said. The victim’sfather, Rafiq Ahmad, identified the per-son who fired at the event, police said.An FIR has been lodged against theaccused who is absconding, they said.The body was sent for post-mortem.
�����������������������������������Pratapgarh: Three persons, includingtwo teenagers, were killed here onSunday after the motorcycle on whichthey were travelling was hit by a truck,police said. The incident took place inMandhata area, they said. The victims— Shan Mohammad (25), Farhat (14)and Mohammad Shaban (16) — werekilled on the spot, the police said. Theirbodies have been sent for post-mortem,they said. No arrests have been made sofar and a probe is underway, the policesaid.
-����������!������ ���� ������������������������� �������Muzaffarnagar: Power sup-ply to a village in Shamli dis-trict has been disconnected asvillagers did not clear dues ofover �91 lakh, officials saidSunday.
All 300 consumers in theJahanpura village, under theKairana police station limits,have not cleared their electric-ity bills amounting to �91.88lakh despite reminders beingissued to them, said UttarPradesh Power Corporation’sSub Divisional Officer AtulYadav.
Due to this, power supplyto all the consumers in the vil-lage has been disconnected, headded.
Villagers said due to thepower cut they were facingproblems with grass-cuttingmachines and water pumpslying are unused.
In October this year, thestate government had issuedorders to recover electricitydues following heavy revenuelosses to power generationcompanies. PTI
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Air pollution persisted onSunday with the state cap-
ital recording an AQI of 400,still in the ‘very poor’ catego-ry. However, the sun was just abit brighter though hazy con-ditions continued to prevail.
District MagistrateAbhishek Prakash said sincestudents are facing problems,schools should ensure sprin-kling of water on the groundsand more plantation in thepremises.
Regional tourism officerAnupam Srivastava said suchconditions discourage touristsfrom coming to the state cap-ital, this impacting tourism.“Whatever bookings have beencarried out earlier will convertinto the footfall, but there willbe no new bookings if the pol-lution levels are not broughtdown,” he pointed out.
A couple of tourists inLucknow from foreign coun-tries expressed displeasure atthe increased pollution levels inLucknow. A former professorof a reputed institute in UP saidhe was appalled to see heaps ofgarbage and toxic conditions inthe city. “There are heaps ofgarbage in Ashiyana and roadsare in extremely bad conditionswith dust all around. We hadalready made the bookingsand hence we came toLucknow, but pollution is amajor cause of concern. We are
based in Novato (California)which has a very good environ-ment,” he said.
Meanwhile, apart fromhuman beings, pollution alsoimpacted the Lucknow zooinmates. Zoo director RK Singhsaid the animals were sluggishand did not step out of theircages. “Deer were the mostimpacted as they move aroundin open surroundings and haveno enclosure of their own,” hesaid. He added that to curb theimpact of pollution on theanimals, they are giving extra
nutritious diet to the inmates.Meanwhile, principal sci-
entist of NBRI’s ClimateChange division Vinod Pandeysaid people can plant saplingsin their homes and roadsides tohelp fight pollution.
A mobile app called ‘GreenPlanner’ has been made byNBRI and it has a database toprovide information on differ-ent plants for mitigating air pol-lution. “The saplings can beplanted on roadsides, road-dividers, in greenbelts, andeven indoors. These plants will
help ameliorate the deleteriouseffects of different air pollutantsfrom industrial emissions,vehicular exhausts, and indoorpremises,” he said.
“Plants with their canopyminimise pollution by filteringdust and absorption of gaseouspollutants. Once the plants areestablished, they need littlecare and attention.The app is toprovide information to town-planners, policy-makers andother stakeholders regardingthe plants suitable,” NBRI sci-entists said.
���������� �����6����� 2(�9/71
Three persons allegedlyworking for a gang
involved in cyber fraud andsending money to foreigncountries using crypto curren-cy were nabbed by a team ofSTF from Chinhat on Sunday.
Those arrested were iden-tified as Rakesh Kumar Singh,Bittu Yadav and Pradeep Deo,all of Bihar. The STF teamrecovered 16 ATM cards, twoAadhaar cards, two PAN cards,a driving licence and Rs 21, 300in cash from the possession ofthe accused.
According to an officialcommuniqué, the STF teamwas working on the gang thatused to float job offers on jobsocial media sites and thendupe gullible job-seekers fromIndia and abroad. The gangwould also misusing the bit-coin wallet to dupe job-seek-ers. The STF team was tippedoff that some members of theabove-mentioned gang wereactive in Kushinagar andLucknow. The team worked inthe case and nabbed theaccused from near Kamta tri-
section in Chinhat.The accused owned up
their crime during interroga-tion. They said cyber fraud ishandled by miscreants in USand other European countries.In the cyber crime glossary,such miscreants are called‘scammers’.
The modus operandi ofthe gang is a three-tier systemin which a scammer is themain handler and his agent iscalled a ‘picker’. The job of aperson working as Bitcoin ven-dor was to send the money tothe Bitcoin wallet of the scam-mer. The pickers and Bitcoinvendors are recruited by scam-mers and given their cut in
online fraud. To operate theracket, a scammers used tofloat job offers at social mediasites and give their cell num-bers with an aim to lure theaspirants to chat with them orget connected with them bydialing their numbers. After aninnocent was trapped, thepicker used to contact the vic-tim and lure him into transfer-ring money into their bankaccount. To avoid policeaction, a picker used to openseveral bank accounts in thename of innocents luring themwith small cash.
After a victim trapped inthe racket deposited the cash,the picker used to take his cut
and send the remainingamount to Bitcoin vendor,who would transfer the sameinto the wallet of the scammer.
The police said the accuseddisclosed the names of sever-al pickers working in UP, andalso of a Bitcoin vendor ofMoradabad. The police saidthey got a list of bank accountsand money transactionthrough this.
$���A shop selling ‘baati-
chokha’ and another selling teawent up in flames after an LPGcylinder meant for domesticuse exploded in Munshipulialocality under Ghazipur policestation area on Sunday morn-ing. However, no casualty wasreported in the incident whilethe losses were being estimat-ed. Reports said the cylinderkept at the ‘baati-chokha’ shopcaught fire and exploded whenthe workers were busy working.Soon, the flames engulfed theneighbouring tea shop. A firetender was sent to the place andthe flames were doused. Apolice spokesman said furtherinvestigations were on.
Lucknow (PNS): Son of a property deal-er allegedly raped a girl sleeping in her smallhouse in Puraniya under Aliganj police sta-tion area on Friday night. After a case for rapewas registered on Saturday, the accused wasrounded up. According to Aliganj inspectorAniruddha Singh, victim’s brother had lodgeda case on Saturday after which the girl was sentfor medical test. “A team was formed and theaccused was arrested from near his house,” hesaid. The inspector said that the accused is astudent and his father is a property dealer. Theinspector said the accused barged into thehouse of the girl when she was asleep andraped her. It surfaced during interrogation thatthe accused had an evil eye on the girl for along time.
Meanwhile, a youth was killed in a roadmishap in Sarojininagar early Sunday morn-ing. Reports said the youth, identified as AnkitPal (24) of Asoha area in Unnao, worked ata factory in Nadarganj and was returninghome by his bike after his night-shift duty gotover on Sunday morning. When Ankitreached Sadullakheda locality around 6 am,a tractor-trolley hit his motorcycle frombehind. Ankit suffered grievous injuries in themishap. Commuters chased the errant driver,later identified as Ashutosh Shukla, but hemanaged to escape, abandoning the vehicleon the spot. Ankit was rushed to a hospitalwhere he was declared brought dead.
���������� �����6����� 2(�9/71
Lucknow Mahotsav, which will be heldfrom November 25 to December 5,
will have a new cultural night this yearby the name of ‘Vintage Nite’. Secretary,Lucknow Mahotsav Committee,Anupam Srivastava said it is the first timethat this segment is being introduced toshowcase the songs of the 90’s.
Srivastava said they had selectedpopular Bollywood singer Alka Yagnikwho will perform at the cultural night.“Among other artistes who we havefinalised include Jubin Nautiyal for‘Bollywood Nite’, Badshah for ‘Rock Nite’,and Sabri brothers for ‘Qawwali Nite,” hesaid. He added that for the opening cer-emony, they will have the GrammyAward winner Vishwa Mohan Bhatt.
Srivastava said the theme of theannual cultural extravaganza has yet notbeen decided but preliminary activitiesat the ground level have started.
“Grass is being cut and groundpreparations have begun. Within a week,the activities will speed up. This time, ourfocus will be on maintaining cleanlinessat the venue,” he said.
Srivastava said senior officials havebeen informed about the problem of traf-
fic snarls so that proper planning canbe made in this regard and visitors do notface any inconvenience. The Mahotsavwill also have an ‘ODOP’ zone to high-light the well-known products.
Srivastava said they have alsoapproached Nepal for performance byartistes from there. “Things are current-ly in process and will soon be finalised.We have also approached artistes fromSAARC nations to perform at theLucknow Mahotsav,” he added.
���������� �����6����� 2(�9/71
Ateam of Special Task Force(STF) gunned down a
dreaded criminal (sharpshoot-er) while his aide succeeded inevading arrest following abroad daylight encounter neara private university in VibhutiKhand on Sunday.
The slain sharpshooter wasidentified as Sachin Pandey ofAzamgarh, but his aide couldnot be identified. The STFteam recovered a .300 mmpistol from the possession ofthe slain criminal. Police saidPandey suffered injuries onhis chin and waist during theexchange of fire with the STFteam. Luckily though, no copssuffered injuries.
As per reports, the teams
working on the criminalsintimidating businessmen forextortion received a tip-offabout Sachin, who along withhis aide, was at a tea stall nearAmity University. Aroundnoon, the team laid a trap thereand challenged the duo, askingthem to surrender.
“The criminals opened fireat the STF team and in retali-ation, Sachin was gunneddown. We rushed him to RMLHospital where he was declaredbrought dead,” the police said.
As per STF dossiers, Sachinand his gang members hadkilled Abul Qais and KishanSonkar for extortion in 2013and 2014, respectively. He hadalso opened fire at the housesof several businessmen tointimidate them. In view of the
long list of cases against him,the Azamgarh police hadannounced a cash reward onhis arrest. The police saidSachin was the leader of agang called D-18 in Azamgarhand in 2013, he had shot at aconstable, Rajneesh Singh, whowas the gunner of the thenAzamgarh SP, during a policechecking drive. It also sur-faced that Sachin had execut-ed murders and loots in Biharand other states in the past.
Sources said Sachin wasnot associated with any mafiagang and was a contract killer.According to the police, asmany as 22 cases, includedthose of murder and loot, wereregistered against Sachin atdifferent police stations inAzamgarh.
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Thieves made off with jew-ellery and Rs 40,000 in
cash from a temple ofGoddess Kali in Indira Nagaron Saturday night. Accordingto officials of the temple (pres-ident Anoop Mukherji andsecretary Jai Chatterjee)known as Ma Kalyani KaliBadi in Khurram Nagar, theycame to know of theft onSunday morning after beingalerted by some devotees.
“The thieves decampedwith gold and silver orna-ments adorned by the god-dess. They also broke thedonation box and collectedthe cash kept in it. To gainaccess into the temple, theybroke the channel gate whichwas locked,” complainantsstated in the FIR.
They said the temple waslocated close to a girls’ collegein the area. The police drewflak over the incident anddevotees said the cops hadbeen unable to prevent theftincidents.
“The situation of the com-mon man can be gauged wheneven temples are not safe.They said the police claim onprevious night patrolling inthe area was baffling as thievesstruck at the temple and fledunchallenged,” the devotees said.
They added that thieveshad struck at several templesin Indira Nagar and othertrans-Gomti localities. Apolice spokesman said that acase was registered in thisconnection and a sub-inspec-tor tasked with conducting theprobe.
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U.P. POWER TRANSMIS-SION CORPORATION LTD.E-TENDER NOTICEFollowing E-Tenders are invit-
ed from the experienced/reputed contrac-tors/suppliers for the execution of follow-ing works:- For more details login on web-site www.etender.up.nic.in. 1. E-TenderNo. 83/AETC/2019-20:- Work of grassCutting in switchyard and surrounding areaat 220KV Sub-Station Azamgarh underElecty. 400KV sub-station Division,Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs. 2000.00(Rs. Two Thousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs.236.00 (Rs. Two Hundred Thirty Six) only.2. E-Tender No.84/AETC/2019-20:- Annualmaintenance of 400KV S/S Azamgarhunder Electy. 400KV sub-station Division,Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs. 17000.00(Rs. Seventeen Thousand) only. TenderCost: Rs. 2006.00 (Rs. Two Thousand six)only. 3. E-Tender No. 85/AETC/2019-20:-Annual maintenance of 220KV S/SAzamgarh under Electy. 400KV sub-stationDivision, Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs.14000.00 (Rs. Fourteen Thousand) only.Tender Cost: Rs. 1652.00 (Rs. OneThousand Six Hundred Fifty two) only. 4.E-Tender No. 86/AETC/2019-20:- Work ofGrass cutting in switchyard and surround-ing area at 400KV Sub-Station Azamgarhunder Electy. 400KV sub-station Division,Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs. 7000.00(Rs. Seven Thousand) only Tender Cost:Rs. 826.00 (Rs. Eight Hundred Twenty Six)only. 5. E-Tender No. 87/AETC/2019-20:-Procurement of different type of hardwarefor adding 01 no. 132 KV bay for Lalganj-Dobhi TSS line at 132 KV S/S Lalganjunder Electy. Trans. Division, Azamgarh.Earnest Money: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs. TwoThousand) only Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00(Rs. Two Hundred Thirty Six) only. 6. E-Tender No. 88/AETC/2019-20:- AnnualMaintenance of 132 KV S/S Madiyahoounder Electy. Trans. Division, Jaunpur.Earnest Money: Rs. 10000.00 (Rs. TenThousand) only. Tender Cost: Rs. 1180.00(Rs. One Thousand One Hundred Eighty)only. 7. E-Tender No. 89/AETC/2019-20:-Annual Maintetance of 220 KV S/S Jaunpurunder Electy. Trans. Division, Jaunpur.Earnest Money: Rs. 9000.00 (Rs. NineThousand) only Tender Cost: Rs. 1062.00(Rs. One Thousand Sixty Two) only. 8. E-Tender No. 90/AETC/2019-20:- AnnualOperation and Maintenance of 132 KV(SAS) Sub. Station under Electy. Trans.Division, Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs.22000.00 (Rs. Twenty Two Thousand) onlyTender Cost: Rs. 2596.00 (Rs. TwoThousand Five Hundred Ninety Six) only.9. E-Tender No. 91/AETC/2019-20:-Replacement of 33 KV Single MooseConductor Main Bus Bar with doublemoose ACSR conductor at 132 KV S/SLalganj under Electy. Trans. Division,Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs. 6000.00(Rs. Six Thousand) only Tender Cost: Rs.708.00 (Rs. Seven Hundred Eight) only. 10.E-Tender No. 92/AETC/2019-20:-Patrolling and Attending breakdown of 400KV Mau-Azamgarh line under Electy.Trans. Division, Azamgarh. Earnest Money:Rs. 2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand) onlyTender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. Two hundredThirty Six) only. 11. E-Tender No.93/AETC/2019-20:- Emergency Patrollingand Attending breakdown of Insulatorstrings of 400 KV Mau-Azamgarh line underElecty. Trans. Division, Azamgarh. EarnestMoney: Rs. 2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand)only Tender Cost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. TwoHundred Thirty Six) only. 12. E-Tender No.94/AETC/2019-20:- Procurement ofEarthing discharge rod for 132 KV S/SKoilsa , Atraulia under Electy. Trans.Division, Azamgarh. Earnest Money: Rs.2000.00 (Rs. Two Thousand) only TenderCost: Rs. 236.00 (Rs. Two Hundred ThirtySix) only. Earnest money will be in shapeof RTGS/NEFT duly pledged in favour ofSuperintending Engineer, Electy.Transmission Circle, UPPTCL, Azamgarh.Tenderer can upload their tender bidsagainst E-Tender No. 83 to 86 upto 15:00Hrs. of 09.12.2019 and the same will beopened on dated 10-12-2019 at 12:00 hrs,13:00 hrs, 14:00 hrs, & 15:00 hrs, respec-tively through E-Tendering. Tenderer canupload their tender bids against E-TenderNo. 87 to 90 upto 15:00 Hrs. of 10.12.2019and the same will be opened on dated 11-12-2019 at 12:00 hrs, 13:00 hrs, 14:00 hrs,& 15:00 hrs. respectively through E-Tendering. Tenderer can upload their ten-der bids against E-Tender No. 91 to 94 upto15:00 Hrs. of 11.12.2019 and the same willbe opened on dated 12-12-2019 at 12:00hrs, 13:00 hrs, 14:00 hrs, & 15:00 hrs.respectively through E-Tendering.Intimation regarding opening of Tender BidPart-II i.e. Price Bid will be given on abovee-website in due course of time. Please visitweb site www.etender.up.nic.in fordetails/download and for any other correc-tions/ amendments /modification extensiontill the date of submission of tender. In casethe tender opening date is holiday or under-signed remain out of headquarters the dateof submission and opening of tender willstand extended to next working day.Undersigned has the right to reject/divideany tender without assigning any reasonthereof. Conditional tenders shall not beaccepted. SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER(TRANS.) AZAMGARH No. 1394 Date01.11.2019 SAVE ELECTRICITY IN THEINTEREST OF NATI Electy.
��������Senior principal scientist,
Pharmaceutics andPharmacokinetics division of
Central DrugR e s e a r c hI n s t i t u t e(CDRI), PrabhatRanjan Mishrahas been electedas a fellow ofN a t i o n a l
Academy of Science, India(NASI). The recognition will beawarded during the 89thAnnual Session of NASI and
symposium on ‘Science andT e c h n o l o g y - b a s e dE n t r e p r e n e u r s h i pDevelopment’ from December21 to 23 at National Academyof Agricultural ResearchManagement, Hyderabad. Hiswork for targeted nano-thera-peutics has been recognised.
������ ���� ������Uttar Pradesh State Road
Transport Corporationlaunched its Twitter handle ina programme organised at itsheadquarters. Transport
Minister Ashok Katariyalaunched the Twitter handle asa fresh initiative taken byUPSRTC to connect with pub-lic in a more efficient manner.“‘Twitter Sewa’ with the hash-tag #ParivahanSewa has beenlaunched with 20 regional han-dles and at HQ level with threehandles — @upsrtchq,@cgmoupsrtc and @cgmtup-srtc,” managing director RajShekhar said.
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The Postal departmentrecently released perfumedpostage stamps. Officials saidpeople need not send flowers orfragrances in envelopes as thescented postage stamp affixedon the envelope will expresstheir feelings to their lovedones. Director of PostalServices, Lucknow HQ Region,Krishna Kumar Yadav said thedepartment of Posts releasedfour fragrant commemorative
postage stamps on ‘Agarwood’and ‘Orange Blossom’ in theIndian perfume category. Theperfume extract is added dur-ing the paper-making process,thereby keeping the fragrance
in postage stamps for a longtime. One set consisting of fourpostage stamps is worth Rs 100.These stamps are up for sale atLucknow GPO and other headpost offices.
���������� �����6����� 2(�9/71
Central Institute forSubtropical Horticulture
(CISH) is organising a five-daytraining programme on theefficient architecture tech-niques under HDP for resourceconservation and increasingproductivity of subtropicalfruits.
The programme is sup-ported by National Institute ofAgricultural ExtensionManagement (MANAGE),Hyderabad. The training pro-gramme is being attended bycandidates from different partsof Uttar Pradesh and two fromPuducherry. High-densityplanting system for guava,developed about 15 years backat CISH, has been adopted byfarmers almost in all parts ofthe country with some modi-fications.
CISH director ShailendraRajan said most of the traineesare interacting with farmers inthe field, therefore, they comeacross several questions whichrequire in-depth understandingof the concept.
“Cultivation techniqueshave attracted the trainees toattend this programme atLucknow. Knowledge of high-density planting has become a
necessity for the extensionworkers also because of farm-ers invariably ask about newtechnologies that they canadopt. Most of them are inter-ested to have high-densityplanting. Planting can be madesuccessful only through intel-ligent canopy architecture man-agement,” he said.
Rajan said that commercialfruit production is now becom-ing more professional as com-pared to few decades back.“People are investing in fruitplantations and expecting eco-nomical crop at very earlystage of the of the orchard.Earlier, orcharding was consid-ered to be any investmentenjoyed by the children. Withthe entry of the youth in thisprofession, the lag period is alsoreduced. They are interested toinvest money from where theyget returns in a very short time.Under the changing scenario,the importance of such train-ings has increased because acommon farmer is also inter-ested to do something new inhis orchard,” he said.
He further pointed outthat efficient tree architecturemanagement is important forhigh-density planting forensuring good fruit yield andquality.
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��������������777The Ministry of Earth Sciences'
air quality monitor, SAFAR, said thecity's overall AQI reached as high as708 around 5 pm, which is 14 timesthe safe level of 0-50. An AQIbetween 0-50 is considered 'good',51-100 'satisfactory', 101-200 'mod-erate', 201-300 'poor', 301-400 'verypoor' and 401-500 'severe'. An AQIabove 500 falls in the 'severe plus' cat-egory. Meanwhile, the DelhiGovernment on Sunday issued ahealth advisory to help people fightthe severe air pollution level plagu-ing the national capital for the pastfew days. Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal said the issue of pol-lution should not be "politicised" andcalled on all neighbouring states andthe Centre to "sit together" and delib-erate on how to prevent stubbleburning as the air quality in thenational capital dipped to alarminglevels. Keriwal said his governmentwas not indulging in "blame game"but looking for solutions to pollutioncaused by stubble burning.
Concerned over the level ofpollution, the Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) has issuedmasks to thousands of its personnelin view of the 'severe' category airquality in the national capital region.
Meanwhile, Punjab ChiefMinister Amarinder Singh onSunday said that the Punjab govern-ment has acted against nearly 3,000of its farmers for burning stubble. Heaccused his Delhi counterpartArvind Kejriwal of doing littlebeyond "playing" politics to addressthe problem. "Instead of addressingthe problem, Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal is playing politicalgames," said Singh, asking what theAAP leader has done on the groundto resolve the issue.
The Punjab chief minister saidthe state authorities have initiatedaction against a total of 2,923 farm-ers in 20,729 cases of stubble burn-ing reported till November 1. Punjabgovernment expects about 10 to 20per cent decline in the number ofsuch cases this year as against 2018as a result of the intensified drive byit, he added. Elaborating on actionsagainst farmers, Singh on Sundaysaid against a total of around 49,000cases of stubble burning last year, thisyear the state government has so farreceived reports of 20,729 cases, withmore than 70 per cent of the paddycrop already having been harvested,he said. Singh on Saturday had pro-posed a "stubble managementbonus" of Rs 100 for a quintal offarming produce by the Centre,while seekingits intervention tochalk out an inter-state strategy tocurb the menace of air pollution.Singh further said that the enforce-ment teams has visited 11,286 fireincidents sites till November 1, 2019and environment compensationamounting to Rs 41.62 lakh has beenimposed in 1,585 cases with FIRsregistered in 202 cases againstdefaulting farmers. According tosome experts, this level of pollutionis equivalent to smoking 33 cigarettesa day. In the highest pollution read-ing yet this season, the US embassyrecorded PM-2.5 level of 802 at 1p.m. The pollution level has been ris-ing since 1 a.m.
�����6�777to make compost,” chief secretaryRajendra Kumar Tiwari said in adirective to officers concerned. Apartfrom this, arrangements should bemade to ensure sprinkling of waterat construction sites, he said.Keeping in view the upcoming win-
ter, Tiwari said sufficient arrange-ments of shelter homes should bemade for the homeless so that nodestitute is forced to sleep in theopen. In order to distribute blanketsto the poor, he said timely actionshould be taken for purchasingblankets. He also directed the offi-cers to take effective steps for therelease of the funds soon for bonfirein all the 75 districts in the state.
��������@��3����777"I want to tell that Priyanka
Gandhi also received a similar mes-sage from WhatsApp around thesame time," Congress chiefspokesperson Randeep Surjewalasaid, responding to a question aboutPraful and Mamata receiving mes-sages from the messaging platform.Facebook-owned WhatsApp hasover 1.5 billion users globally, ofwhich India accounts for about 400million.
Priyanka received the messagearound the same time whenWhatsApp was sending similar mes-sages to those whose phones wereallegedly hacked, Surjewala claimed.
This comes after WhatsApprevealed last week that Indian jour-nalists and human rights activistswere among roughly 1,400 usersglobally spied upon by unnamedentities using an Israeli spyware,Pegasus.
The messaging platform hadsaid it sent special messages to all theaffected users stating that it had "rea-son to believe they were impacted bythis attack to directly inform themabout what happened."
WhatsApp had informed theIndian Government in Septemberthat 121 Indian users were targetedby the Israeli spyware Pegasus, butthe Information TechnologyMinistry has contended that theinformation received was not com-plete.
Sources at WhatsApp said themessaging platform has nowresponded to the Government's lastweek's query seeking an explanationon the Pegasus spyware incident thatallegedly snooped on journalistsand human rights activists across theworld, including India.
Surjewala asked whether thosesitting in the echelons of power areguilty of criminal offences andwhether the Government knew ofthe illegal spyware being deployed tospy on key persons.
"Shocking facts in#WhatsAppSpygate - Was the BJPGovernment spying on citizens andpolitical leaders in the run up to 2019elections. Did the Government knowof the illegal spyware since May2019? Are those sitting in echelonsof power guilty of criminal offences,"Surjewala asked.
Describing the entire WhatsAppsnooping episode as worrisome,Congress leader Anand Sharma,who chairs the parliamentary stand-ing committing on home affairs, saidthis issue will be taken up at thepanel's next meeting on November15. The Home Secretary is scheduledto brief the panel on the situation inJammu & Kashmir in the nextmeeting. "In that meeting this issuewill also be discussed and we willseek details from the Secretary,"Sharma said. Concerned about thisdevelopment, Shashi Tharoor, whoheads the parliamentary standingcommittee on information technol-ogy, said the panel would share itsconcerns. He said he will consultother members by email on the mat-ter. "In any case cybersecurity is amajor issue on our agenda and we
are definitely going to take this upunder that rubric. And we will beseeking clarifications from theGovernment," Tharoor said.
He said as the WhatsApp NSOissue has emerged in the open it isimportant to ensure that no othersocial media platform can be simi-larly used, and the panel will seek tolearn how exactly the Governmentcan ensure that.
"It is vital that as a democracy,India remains vigilant about the riskof our freedoms being eroded bytechnological means. We must not,at any price, become a surveillanceState like China," he said.
Meanwhile, West BengalGovernor Jagdeep Dhankhar onSunday said many people he has methere have raised concerns overbreach of privacy. Dhankhar, how-ever, clarified that he was not awareof the information available withMamata on the matter, drawingreactions from TMC secretary gen-eral Partha Chatterjee, who ques-tioned "the Governor's need to com-ment on everything the ChiefMinister has said".
Meanwhile, the WhatsApp hadsaid it was suing NSO Group, anIsraeli surveillance firm, that isreportedly behind the technologythat helped unnamed entities hackinto phones of roughly 1,400 users.
These users span across fourcontinents and include diplomats,political dissidents, journalists andsenior government officials.
��6������$��A��777The NCP and Congress have for
the past several days been mullingover the need to keep the BJP out ofpower in Maharashtra, an objectivethat can be realised by extendingtheir support to the Shiv Sena whichis showing clear signs of breakingaway from the BJP and forming itsGovernment with the support of thetwo major Opposition parties in theState.
Amid blitzkrieg unleashed bythe Shiv Sena in the media about itslikely victory in the ongoing powerstruggle between the saffron alliance,Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavisexpressed hope that the impassebetween the BJP and Shiv Senawould soon end and a newGovernment would be formed soon."I feel that the political impassewould end soon. Ultimately, all of ushave to work in the interest of theState. Currently, the unseasonalrain-hit farmers are facing serioushardships. Under the circumstances,it is essential that a new Governmentis formed at the earliest. In the inter-est of the State, I am optimistic thata new Government will be formedin the State soon," Fadnavis said,while talking mediapersons afterstudying the situation and holdinga review meeting with district inAkola on Sunday morning.
Speaking separately to media-persons at Nashik in northMaharashtra, BJP leader and WaterResources Minister Girish Mahajansaid: "The term of the current StateAssembly will end on November 9.There is no need to worry muchabout Government formation. OnNovember 9, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis will meet theShiv Sena leaders. I am confidentthat at the November 9, a solutionwill be found to the stalematebetween the BJP and Sena over theformation of new Government in theState".
Interestingly, Raut scotched thespeculation doing rounds in thesocial media since Saturday night
that as part of the emerging politi-cal "deal" being "reached" among theSena, NCP and Congress, Pawarwould become the Chief Minister ofthe State and Aditya Thackeraywould be the Deputy Chief Ministerin the new Government. "SharadPawar will not come to the State pol-itics. His stature is bigger than thatof the Chief Minister's post," he said.
Raut's comments should be seenin the context of an article he haswritten in his Sunday column in theSena's official mouthpiece Saamana,in which he has spoken about fivepolitical options for formation of aGovernment in Maharashtra. Ofthe five options, he has stressed ontwo options: First, the BJP and Senashould take four steps backward,come together and form an allianceGovernment in the State by sharingbetween them the Chief Minister'spost for period of two and a halfyears each. Raut writes that this is agood alternative but it is not possi-ble because of the "arrogance" of theBJP.
In the second option - based onwhich the Sena spokespersonappeared to have his statement onSunday, Raut says that if the BJP -being the single largest party -- failsto win the confidence vote in theState Assembly, the Shiv Sena canstake a claim to form a newGovernment in the State. "The com-bined strength of Shiv Sena (56),NCP (54), Congress (44) and othersgoes up to 170. In that case, the ShivSena can have its Chief Ministerheading the Government. The threeparties will have to prepare a com-mon minimum programme andrun the Government. Like ABVajpayee ran the Government inNew Delhi, the Sena will have to runthe Government by taking the twoother parties along with it. Thisoption is in the interest ofMaharashtra," Raut writes.
Like in the past few days, Rautslammed Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis for reneging on its promiseof giving the Chief Minister's post tothe Sena for a period of two and ahalf years each and said that the Senadeserved to have its man as it ChiefMinister. "We have spoken aboutsharing the Chief Minister's post.The discussion can happen betweenthe two parties only on this issue. Ifthe BJP does not agree to ourdemand, then the Shiv Sena willform the Government on itsstrength... Why can't the Sena manbecome the Chief Minister?. Thepeople of the State want the Senaman as the Chief Minister. The peo-ple of the State want those individ-uals who lie should be made to sitat home. The people want such indi-viduals to be thrown out of politics.The politics of lies has never suc-ceeded in Maharashtra. LateBalsaheb Thackeray always believedin politics of truth," the Senaspokesperson said. Replying to aquestion, Raut said it was "mystery"as to why BJP's national presidentAmit Shah had not intervened in theparty's impasse with the Shiv Sena."The issue of sharing of ChiefMinister's post on a rotational basishad taken place in the presence ofAmit Shah. Uddhav Thackeray hasalready spoken about what hadtranspired in that meeting. HadAmit Shah met Uddhavji, the twoleaders would have discussed theissue and sorted out the matters. But,Amit Shah's silence is mysterious,"Raut said. Asked especially aboutAmit Shah, Raut said: "Amit Shah iscountry's Home Minister. Our rela-tions with Amit Shah are cordial
even today". He, however hastenedto add that it was for the BJP to ini-tiate the talks.
In remarks that may furtherdamage the already strained relationsbetween the Sena and BJP, Rautcharged that the ruling BJP was "mis-using" the official machinery toestablish contact with MLAs andform a Government in the State."The kind of means being used bythe ruling BJP does not augur wellfor traditions of Maharashtra. Ihave full information about this. Idon't talk without information....Whoever has so far missed officialmachinery have not succeeded andtheir plans have boomeranged onthem. These kinds of things could goon four to five years in Maharashtra,but these things do not work now".
In another serious charge againstthe BJP, Raut said: "I have also seenone more thing: Some criminals andgoondas who are out of jail and enjoythe patronage of the Government,have for the last 10 days attemptedto put pressure on our MLAs. Butgoondagardi did not continue for along time. Even these goondas havegone into hiding now... I will exposeall these things in the near future.We have the details of how was theofficial machinery being misused,who all the goondas were meetingand what they were telling theMLAs concerned".
Meanwhile, an SMS messagereceived by senior NCP leader andformer Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar from Raut, when the latterwas talking part in a meeting of bothvictorious and defeated party MLAsbecame a talking point in the Statepolitical circles. "Through this smallmessage, Raut has indicated that hewants to talk to me. I don't knowwhat he wants to tell me. But, I willtalk to Raut once I am through withthe things on hand," Ajit Pawar said.
���������0�������777The Delhi Government was also
directed by court to provide lumpsum ex-gratia of Rs 50,000, 25,000and 10,000 respectively to advocatesVijay Verma, Ranjit Malik andPankaj Dubey who received gunshotinjuries, .
During the hearing, Delhi Policetold the bench that a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) of theCrime Branch has been formed tolook into the clash and probe thematter. Police said that four FirstInformation Reports (FIRs) havebeen lodged in connection with theincident under relevant sections,including charges of attempt tomurder. "The cases were registeredon separate complaints of the districtjudge of Tis Hazari court, two advo-cates, and a Delhi Police constablewho was injured in the incident. Onthe complaint of the district judge,a case has been registered on thecharges of obstructing public servantin discharge of public functions,assault and rioting," said police.
"Two cases have been regis-tered against police personnel on thecomplaint of two advocates, includ-ing a woman, on the charge ofattempt to murder, voluntarily caus-ing hurt, wrongful confinement,criminal intimidation, theft and useof criminal force on woman withintent to outrage her modesty.Another case was filed on the com-plaint of a police constable, who wasinjured in the incident, on thecharge of obstructing public servantin discharge of public functions,assault, attempt to murder, riotingand robbery," said police.
Advocate Rahul Mehra, repre-
senting the Delhi Police, told thebench that one assistant sub inspec-tor has been suspended and anoth-er transferred for alleged involve-ment in the clash. He said that 21police officials and eight advocateswere injured in the clash.
Lawyers, however, said more oftheir colleagues were injured thanthe number claimed by the police.They also claimed that two advocateswere injured in police firing, butpolice said they fired in the air.
Registrar General (RG) DineshKumar Sharma said a closed-doormeeting was held on Sunday morn-ing by the chief justice and seniormost judges of the high court.
"The meeting was also attendedby senior police officers and addi-tional chief secretary of the DelhiGovernment. After the meeting,the court decided to hold a hearingat 1 pm. During the 1 pm hearing,the high court issued notices andsought responses of the Centre, theDelhi Police commissioner and thechief secretary on the clash betweenlawyers and police. It also asked thepolice officers, who were allegedlyinvolved in the clashes, to be presentin the court at 3 pm," said Sharma.
Tension prevailed in NationalCapital's Tis Hazari court complexon Saturday afternoon after a scuf-fle broke out between lawyers andDelhi Police personnel over parkingin the complex. Around 21 vehiclesincluding Police Control Room(PCR) vans, prison vans and 12 pri-vate bikes were set on fire and van-dalized by lawyers.
The lawyers also alleged that thepolice had opened fired on them inwhich two advocates have sustainedbullet injuries. Several police person-nel including Additional DCP, Northdistrict also sustained injuries in theincident. The agitated lawyers alsoburned the prison locker room andgenerator room in the court com-plex.
According to police, aroundeight to ten police personnel sus-tained injuries in the incident."Jarnail Singh, Station House Officer(SHO), civil lines police station sus-tained serious injuries and is said tobe critical. Rajeev Bharadwaj, SHOof Kotwali police station, sustainedhead injury and is undergoing treat-ment. Harinder Singh, AdditionalDCP, North and the operator ofDCP, North are also among theinjured police officials," said thesenior police official.
0��������777The Home Ministry spokesper-
son had clarified, “The Director(SPG) has informed it that they havegone through the video clipping ofthe incident. The “green light” shownin the clipping was found to be thatof a mobile phone used by theAICC photographer, who was video-graphing the impromptu Press inter-action of Rahul Gandhi near the col-lectorate at Amethi.”
Raising of the April incident byMalviya to rubbish the Congresssnoopgate claim has triggered averbal duel between the two partiesand the Congress is now expected tocounter it. The BJP’s reaction cameminutes after Congress spokesper-son Randeep Singh Surjewala helda Press conference and claimed,“The illegal spyware ‘Pegasus’ wasused to hack cell phones in the run-up to the 2019 general elections. TheBJP Government was fully aware ofit. Despite repeated reminders fromFacebook, the Government didn’t act.”
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Lucknow (PNS): Withhealth emergency havingbeen declared in the nation-al capital owing to alarminglevels of air pollution, it is nowonder that it is emerging asone of the reasons for heartattack in our country. Threecities of UP are also facingsimilar crisis with Ghaziabadalmost at par with Delhi.
Expressing these views ata CME on ‘Newer prospectivein cardiac management’,organised at a city hotel, car-diologists of Ajanta Hospitalexpressed concern for theurban population facing thethreat. Senior cardiologistKirtimaan Singh said it isevident that people living inrural areas face lesser threat ofheart diseases due to lowerpollution levels. He addedthat now, heart disease is notan age-related factor and canhappen to anyone above 25
years. “However, early detec-tion and treatment decreasesthe chances of damage to theheart. It is a proven factIndians get heart diseases atleast 10 years earlier thanour western counterparts,” hepointed out.
Chief cardiologistAbhishek Shukla said that acombination of poverty, igno-rance, lack of access to time-ly quality care are main dri-vers for high heart diseasedeaths in India. “A heartattack patient can be savedprovided he gets proper treat-ment during first the 60 min-utes of attack termed as the‘golden hour.’ Quick actionand awareness of familymembers can help save one’slife and damage to the heartcan be minimised with prop-er treatment under the super-vision of a qualified cardiol-ogist,” he said.
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Ahome in the heart ofCochin, the commercial
capital of Kerala, was a dreamSaira Banu nurtured for years.This dream came true in 2007when she booked a flat atGolden Kayaloram, a 15-storeybuilding standing tall on a 19-acre plot of land in MaraduPanchayat of Ernakulam district.
But one fine day, 12 yearslater, the world around hercame crashing down.
On May 8 this year, theSupreme Court directed demo-lition of the entire building,housing 40 flats, citing viola-tions of laws relating to coastalregulation zone (CRZ).
This came as a shock toSaira Banu and other familieslike hers in Golden Kayaloram,who are on the brink of losing
their dream homes.Saira Banu, a resident of
Flat 2-B, says, “We invested ourentire life’s savings to buy thishouse. For 12 years, no authority ever made a whisperof an objection that our build-ing falls in the coastal zone. Infact, the only water body nearour building is a man-madecanal separated by a publicroad. Authorities have told usthat a canal is exempted underthe CRZ notification. Thenwhy is our building beingdemolished?”
Commodore (Retd)Mathew Varghese, president ofthe Golden Kayaloram resi-dents association and whosefamily was among the first tomove in, says, “We are shockedat the decision of the SupremeCourt. It has been passed without hearing us or noticingthe fact that we do not fall in
the CRZ category. Our lawyerstold us that the court clubbedour case with that of three otherresidential buildings in thevicinity — Holy Faith Builders,Alfa Ventures and Jain Builders.
These projects were given showcause notice in June 2007 forCRZ violations. But that is notthe case with us as we wereserved notice from MaraduMunicipality for zonal
violations under the KeralaMunicipal Building Rules.There was not a whisper ofCRZ.”
A closer look at the claimsof the residents and the records
show that construction for theGolden Kayaloram projectstarted in 1995.
The CRZ ManagementPlan was prepared by theKerala Government a year later— in September 1996. By then,the project had obtained no-objection certificate fromthe Maradu Municipality forconstruction. There is a municipality school adjoiningthis housing project and severalbuildings have come up sub-sequently in the vicinity.
Thomas Kariath, secretaryof Kayaloram ResidentsAssociation, feels the court hasbeen misled. He says, “Anybodyvisiting the area will get a clearpicture that our building doesnot violate any law, otherwisehow does one explain the 9000-o d dstructures constructed within aone-kilometre radius from ourbuilding.”
“This is a developed urbanarea and if at all CRZ were toapply, we will fall under CRZ-II category, which permits such
construction. But the mistakehas been committed by theEnquiry Committee constitut-ed by the court. This commit-tee never visited us or spoke tous and wrongly placed us inCRZ-III category without anyenquiry. As a result, our landhas been declared a ‘no-con-struction area’, which is imprac-tical. Now even the court haspassed a decision without hear-ing our side. We are con-strained to knock the doors ofthe Supreme Court as naturaljustice requires we must beheard once.”
Varghese, who is also thepresident of the GoldenKayaloram Residents WelfareAssociation, has moved a cura-tive petition along with 17other residents seeking anopportunity of hearing fromthe top court before court’sorder is implemented.
Advocate EMS Anam, whois leading the residents’ case inthe top court, said, “TheEnquiry Committee has playeda fraud on the court and we
want that the court must orderan investigation into how sucha miscarriage of justice tookplace.
The curative petition hasbeen filed by residents ofGolden Kayaloram projectalone and not by residents ofthe other three projects as thisproject stands on a differentfooting and got wronglyclubbed with the rest.”
The Supreme Court hasnot yet fixed a date for hearingthe curative petition. However,Anam got intimation from theSupreme Court Registry thatthe case is to be listed nextweek.
The petition will be heardin chambers by a bench ofChief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, Justices SA Bobde andNV Ramana besides the twojudges who passed the demo-lition order.
The 40-odd residentsmaintain their faith in judiciary and believe that thewrong done to them will be undone.
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The US has said the Lashkar-e-Tayaba (LeT) and the Jaish-e-
Mohammad (JeM) continued tobe a threat to India and slammedPakistan for granting legitimacyby allowing candidates affiliatedwith the LeT front organisations to contest the country’s last general elections.
The US has, however, not tar-geted the LeT and JeM master-minds who operate freely acrossPakistan. Washington has noteven taken any action againstAmerican companies that areproviding server services to theseterror groups or uploading radi-cal contents online which areoften used for radicalizing andrecruiting gullible minds into ter-ror fold, according to officialsfrom the covert agencies, addingWashington also did not object torelease of funds of LeT chiefHafiz Sayeed by the UnitedNations Security Council follow-ing a request from PakistanGovernment.
“Country Reports onTerrorism 2018’ published by the
US State Department on Fridayalso lambasted Islamabad for itsfailure in uniformly implementingthe Financial Action Task Force(FATF) Action Plan on moneylaundering and counter-terrorismand the UN sanctions related todesignated entities and individu-als like LeT and its affiliates,which continued to make use ofeconomic resources and raisefunds.
The report said, “Regionallyfocused terrorist groups alsoremained a threat in 2018. Forexample, Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba — which was responsi-ble for the 2008 Mumbai attacks— and Jaish-e-Mohammad main-tained the capability and intent toattack Indian and Afghan targets.In February (2018), operativesreportedly affiliated with JeMattacked an Indian army camp atSunjuwan, in the state of Jammu& Kashmir, killing seven.”
The LeT and the JeM, bothsponsored by the Pakistan Army-ISI combine were responsible fora series of terror attacks in India that includeattack on Parliament, leading todeath of scores of innocent peo-
ple and security personnel.Pakistan Government has
failed to significantly limit the LeTand the JeM from raising money,recruiting and training inPakistan, and “allowed candi-dates overtly affiliated with theLeT front organisations to contestthe July general elections”, thereport said.
In June, the FATF placedPakistan on the “grey list” for defi-ciencies in its Anti-MoneyLaundering and CounteringFinancing of Terrorism(AML/CFT) regimes, includingthe failure to implement the UNsanctions related to designatedentities.
The US State Departmentsaid as a member of the
Asia/Pacific Groupon MoneyLaundering (APG),Pakistan has agreedto implement inter-national standards tocombat money laun-dering, terrorismfinance, and prolifer-ation finance but itsi m p l e m e n t a t i o nremained “very
poor”. “Pakistan criminalises ter-
rorist financing through the Anti-Terrorism Act, but implementa-tion remains uneven. In June2018, the FATF placed Pakistan onits ‘grey list’ for deficiencies acrossits AML/CFT regimes, specifical-ly citing concerns over Pakistan’sfailure to fully implement theUN Security Council ISIL (Da’esh)and al-Qa’ida sanctions regime.“The FATF noted that UN-listedentities, including the LeT and itsaffiliates, were not effectively pro-hibited from raising funds inPakistan, or being denied finan-cial services,” the report said.
“Pakistani authorities failedto uniformly implement UN sanc-tions related to designated entities
and individuals such as LeT andits affiliates, which continued tomake use of economic resourcesand raise funds,” it said.
The US report said Pakistan’s2015 National Action Plan tocombat terrorism includes effortsto prevent and counter terroristfinancing, including by enhancinginter-agency coordination oncountering the finance of terror-ism.
However, the Pakistani lawsrelating to anti-money launderingare essentially weak and thegroups and individuals banned byIslamabad can even access frozenfunds from bank accounts.
The law designates the use ofunlicensed ‘hundi’ and ‘hawala’systems as predicate offences toterrorism and requires banks toreport suspicious transactions toPakistan’s FIU, the (Pakistan)State Bank’s Financial MonitoringUnit, it said.
“These unlicensed moneytransfer systems persistedthroughout the country and wereopen to abuse by terroristfinanciers operating in the cross-border area,” the report added.
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Emergence of a new terror groupunder the banner of Al Hind Brigade
comprising former leaders of banned out-fit Students Islamic Movement of India(SIMI) has set alarm bells ringing in thesecurity establishment as the outfit aims to target right wing Hinduleaders.
The outfit had in a post in its inter-nal communication network recentlyhailed the killing of Hindu leaderKamlesh Tiwari in Lucknow last monthas a new beginning.
The development assumes signifi-cance as the crucial verdict on theRamjanmbhoomi-Babri Masjid disputeis expected to be delivered by theSupreme Court before November 17.
Initial assessments suggest the out-fit could have linkages with the AlQaeda and Pakistan sponsored terrorgroup Jaish-e-Mohammad, both of whichhave been seeking expand their footprint,especially in the wake of abrogation ofArticle 370 of the Constitution thatgranted special status to Muslim-major-ity Jammu & Kashmir, sources said.
Regrouping of the SIMI that wentunderground over a decade back with thearrest of top leadership could pose majorchallenge for the security agencies andforces which are already stretched due tothe enhanced responsibilities in tacklinglaw and order situation in Jammu &Kashmir and taking preventive measuresacross the States in the wake of impend-ing SC judgment on Ayodhya.
The new outfit might also be gettingsupport of the sleeper cells of JeM in thehinterland which might be activated tofoment major communal discord fol-lowing verdict on the sensitive Ayodhyaissue, sources said.
Following Centre’s decision to scrapArticle 370 and bifurcate the erstwhileState of Jammu & Kashmir into theUnion Territories of Jammu and Kashmirand Ladakh has rattled Pakistan as themove negates Islamabad’s position thatthere is a dispute over the State.
Having failed to gain any supportfrom the international community on itsopposition to the rescinding of the spe-cial status of J&K, Pakistan has been seek-ing to use its terror proxies to carry outhits in the Valley as well as the Indian hin-terland, sources added.
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In an effort to furtherstrengthen defence ties, India
and Uzbekistan have signedthree pacts on cooperation insecurity ties after a meetingbetween Defence MinisterRajnath Singh and his Uzbekcounterpart Major GeneralBakhodir NizamovichKurbanov. Singh is Uzbekistanon a three-day visit there end-ing on Sunday.
The two Defence Ministersjointly presided over the cur-tain raiser of the first-everIndia-Uzbekistan army jointexercise “Dustlik 2019.”Incidentally, it the first visit byIndian Defence Minister toUzbekistan in more than 15years.
Giving details of the pactsinked, Defence Ministry saidhere on Sunday, Singh, who isattending Council of Headsand Governments (CHGs) of
the Shanghai CooperationOrganisation as the specialenvoy of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in Tashkent,held talks with his Uzbek coun-terpart on Saturday.
“Following the meeting,the two sides concluded amemorandum of understand-ing(MOU) on cooperation inthe field of Military Medicinebetween the armed forces ofthe two countries. In the com-ing days, the sides will contin-ue discussions at the expertlevel to further enhance theirexchanges in this sphere,” astatement by the DefenceMinistry said.
The MoU is a byproduct ofinteractions emanating fromthe MoU on MilitaryEducation signed between thetwo countries in October 2018,it said. Two Institution-to-Institution MoUs on trainingand capacity building betweeninstitutes of higher military
learning of the two countrieswere also signed, the statementsaid.
The Defence Ministersagreed that the two sides wouldcontinue to work together tofurther raise their level ofengagement in the defencesphere in keeping with strate-gic partnership between Indiaand Uzbekistan,” it said.
In the coming days, the
statement said, the two sideswill continue discussions atthe expert level to furtherenhance their exchanges inthis sphere.
The two DefenceMinisters also witnessed thefirst-ever exchange over avideo-link between College ofDefence Management inSecunderabad, Telangana, andArmed Forces Academy of
Uzbekistan in Tashkent. This would be based on
higher level of mutual trust andrespect between the two coun-tries and on their shared viewsand approaches on a range ofregional and internationalissues, including promotingregional stability and securityand combatting extremism andterrorism, the statementsaid.
During the meeting, bothsides expressed satisfaction atthe enhanced level of defenceengagement between India andUzbekistan. “This enhancedlevel of engagement is reflect-ed in the first ever meeting ofthe Joint Working Group onDefence Cooperation inFebruary 2019, visit of DefenceSecretary of India in March2019 and the first-everDefence-Industry Workshoporganised in Tashkent inSeptember 2019,” the state-ment said. India has offered a
concessional line of credit ofUSD 40 million for procure-ment of goods and services byUzbekistan from India.
The direct exchanges relat-ed to training, capacity build-ing and education between thearmed forces on both the sideshas also witnessed a significantupswing.
As regards the first everjoint exercise, the defence min-istry said it will be conductedfrom November 4-13, 2019, atChirchiq Training Area nearTashkent and will be focusedon counter-terrorism, an areain which the two countriesshare a common concern.
In the exercise, an IndianArmy contingent will trainalong with Uzbekistan Army.The exercise will enable shar-ing of best practices and expe-riences between the armedforces of the two countriesand would lead to greater oper-ational effectiveness.
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As Delhi gasps for fresh air anddoctors here equate bad air
with new tobacco, a new researchfrom King’s College London hasjust substantiated the fear as itwarned that high air pollution cancause extra heart attacks, higherrate of stroke and new asthmacases particularly in children.
The study Personalising theHealth Impacts of Air Pollution,analysed data from British cities,included London, Birmingham,Bristol, Derby, Liverpool,Manchester, Nottingham, Oxfordand Southampton.
The study said, “Each year onaverage, higher air pollution daysin London are responsible for 87more cardiac arrests outside hos-pital than lower air pollutiondays.” The researchers found thatroadside air pollution inBirmingham stunted lung growthin children by 7.7 per cent, whilecutting air pollution in London byone-fifth would increase chil-dren’s lung capacity by around 4%.
Worldwide, an awareness ofthe dangers of air pollution isgrowing. The World HealthOrganization (WHO) estimatesthat air pollution kills 7 millionpeople each year — equivalent to13 deaths every minute.
Globally, says the WHO, morethan 90 per cent of childrenunder 15 breathe air that puts theirhealth at serious risk. The youngare especially susceptible, becausetheir lungs are still developing andtheir breathing is faster thanadults’, so they take in more pol-lutants relative to their bodyweight. One of the most commonailments that results is asthma.Poorer children are still morevulnerable, since their schools
tend to be near busyroads.
Dr PrashantSaxena, Head OfDepartment , pul-monology and sleepmedicine, Max SmartSuper SpecialityHospital, Saket said,“there is no doubt that
poor air quality poses a greatthreat to survival. We have seen asubstantial increase in the num-ber of patients complaining of res-piratory diseases like COPD, asth-ma, bronchitis and their flare-ups.
“There is also an increase incardiac problems like heart attacksand chest pain etc. Associatedallergic problems like nasal dis-charge/sneezing, headache, eyeburning, sore throat etc have alsobeen observed, especially in chil-dren. Moreover, maternal expo-sure can cause fatal growth retar-dation, fatal deaths and retardedgrowth of child post-delivery.”
Dr Dharminder Nagar, ParasHealthcare added, “Statistics haverepeatedly proved that Delhi’s air
is indeed the most toxic in theworld followed with the unprece-dented public health emergencydeclared in Delhi this year too.Worrisomely, over 660 millionIndians live in areas that floutingthe standards of safe exposure toPM 2.5. It is evident that air pol-lution has emerged as the singlemost hazardous threat to thehealth of Indians — especiallychildren whose underdevelopedlungs put them at severe risk ofrespiratory disorders.
Exposure to toxicants in theair is not only associated with res-piratory disorders but has wideranging and dreadful implica-tions including increased risk ofcardiovascular diseases, neu-ropsychiatric complications, skindiseases, as well as cancer.
Air pollution is also consid-ered as an environmental risk fac-tor in the incidence and progres-sion of diseases such as asthma,lung cancer, autism, Alzheimer’sand Parkinson’s diseases. In short,air is the new tobacco”, Dr Nagarsaid.
��� � /01�+023'
Chief Justice of India (CJI)Ranjan Gogoi on Sunday
strongly defended the currentexercise of National Register ofCitizens (NRC) in Assam, say-ing it would be a base docu-ment for future and wasurgently needed as prior to itthere was “guesswork” on thenumber of illegal immigrantsin the State that had fuelled fearand a vicious cycle of violence.
Justice Gogoi, who is head-ing an apex court bench whichis monitoring the process ofNRC in Assam, was also criti-cal of “arm chair commenta-tors” who, he said, are not onlyfar away from the ground real-ity but also present a highly dis-torted picture due to which thestate and its development agen-
da have taken a hit. The CJI,who hails from Assam, said thatNRC is neither a “new or anovel idea” as it found expres-sion as early as in 1951 and thecurrent exercise is an attempt toupdate the 1951 NRC.
“The NRC is not withoutcontestations. Let me take thisoccasion to clarify. The NRCis not a new nor a novel idea.It founds expression as early asin the year 1951 and in partic-ular context of Assam in year1985 when the Assam accordwas signed. In fact, the currentNRC is an attempt to updatethe 1951 NRC,” said JusticeGogoi, who was addressing agathering here during inaugu-ration of book ‘Post ColonialAssam (1947-2019)’ authoredby veteran journalist MrinalTalukdar.
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If implemented, the draft legislation,Medical Devices (Safety,
Effectiveness and Innovation) Bill,2019 which has been put up for con-sultation within Ministries will ensurethat pharma majors are bound to paycompensation in case their implants ormedical devices are found to haveadverse effects.
The proposed law comes on theheels of a controversy surrounding hipimplants marketed by US medicaldevice giant Johnson & Johnson,which was found faulty and toxic topatients using them. Affected patientshad to move to court to get the com-pensation for the disability they suf-fered due to the faulty devices.
Currently, India does not have anylegal provisions to compensate patientsfacing health problems due to faultymedical devices.
The draft law proposes a penaltyof up to �1 crore and jail term extend-ing three years to the manufacturers orimporters for faulty medical deviceshaving adverse impacts on patients.
As per the new regulatory frame-work proposed by the Government
think tank Niti Aayog, patients suf-fering from adverse effects of faultymedical devices and implants will beable to demand compensation fromthe manufacturer or the firm import-ing them. The draft legislation aims atregulating all locally-made and import-ed medical devices. It has suggesteda jail term extending up to three yearsor fine up to �50 lakh or both for plac-ing a medical device in the marketwithout a valid certificate of confor-mity, obtaining a registration andwithout complying with conditions asmay be specified under the proposedAct.
“Any person who has sufferedharm or injury as a result of any vio-lation of any provision of this Act, rulesor regulations, such person shall havethe right to seek compensation fromthe manufacturer or other economicoperator committing a violation in
respect of that device,” the proposedlaw reads.
The draft legislation also proposeda separate regulator under theDirectorate General of Health Servicesto monitor the medical devices sector.
Currently, both drugs and med-ical devices are regulated by theCentral Drugs Standard ControlOrganisation (CDSCO).
It has also proposed registration ofall medical devices in the NationalRegister of Medical Devices beforebeing placed in the market and puttingan unique identification number(UID) to be displayed on the label ofa product.
All foreign manufacturers “mustcomply with conformity assessmentrequirement in accordance with theprovisions of this Act, obtain a con-formity assessment certificate andregister their device in the NationalRegister of Medical Devices prior tothe commencement of export intoIndia unless exempted from suchrequirement by the administration”.
The draft bill also has penalty pro-vision including imprisonment foroffences related to clinical trials andsale of medical devices.
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Mumbai: Senior Shiv Senaleader Sanjay Raut on Sundaysaid the political impasse overformation of new Governmentin Maharashtra was like a“chariot stuck in the mud ofarrogance”.
In his weekly column inSena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’,Raut dared the BJP to imposePresident’s rule in the state, say-ing such a step would be theparty’s “biggest defeat of thecentury”.
His remarks came againstthe backdrop of the BJP’s standthat it will not share the ChiefMinister’s post and ministerSudhir Mungantiwar’s com-ments that the state may headfor President’s rule if the newGovernment is not in place byNovember 7.
Raut said the BJP, whichwon 105 seats in the lastmonth’s state polls, would nothave got more than 75 if it didnot have an alliance with theShiv Sena.
He also said the situation
wouldn’t have worsened hadChief Minister DevendraFadnavis visited Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackeray’sresidence ‘Matoshree’ “with alarge heart”, and begun talkssoon after the Assembly pollresults were announced onOctober 24.
Deliberating on five sce-narios that could emerge out ofthe current political situation inthe state, he said the “best alter-native” would be if the BJP andSena come together and formthe Government.
“But it is not possiblebecause of arrogance,” Rautsaid without taking any names.
“Despite (BJP, Sena) con-testing the elections in allianceand getting mandate for gov-ernment formation, the wheelof the chariot is stuck in themud of arrogance,” the RajyaSabha member said.
Raja Harishchandra gaveup his kingdom to fulfil acommitment made in hisdream while Lord Ram went to
exile to honour the word givenby his father to his step-moth-er, he pointed out.
“But in Kalyug, the BJP hasfulfilled a task of going back onits commitment,” Raut, who isthe executive editor of‘Saamana’, said in sarcasticremarks in the Marathidaily.
Admitting that govern-ment formation is stuck on theissue of the Chief Minister’spost, he said despite DevendraFadnavis declaring that he willreturn to the top post andPrime Minister Narendra Modiendorsing his candidature, the“wheels of the chariot arestuck”.
“It is a mystery that BJP’strouble-shooter Amit Shah has-n’t intervened to revive thechariot,” Raut said.
“Political discussions havestopped as the situation inMaharashtra is similar to Delhiwhere politics revolves aroundonly one person, rest all areonly for show,” he quipped.
It is a strange coincidencethat Fadnavis has no rival orcontender for Chief Minister’spost in the BJP, he added.
Raut further said the“agreements” made beforefinalising the alliance areimportant.
“Fadnavis is not ready togive the chief minister’s post toShiv Sena for two-and-a-halfyears. He on record agreed toequal sharing of posts andresponsibilities and now deniesthis and attempts to form gov-ernment with the help ofpolice, CBI, ED and Income
Tax,” the Sena leader alleged.It is surprising that this
should be done by those whostill observe imposition ofEmergency by Indira Gandhi asa ‘black day’, he said.
Discussing five scenariosamid the ongoing bitter battleover sharing of power, Rautsaid the BJP can form govern-ment without the Shiv Sena,but in that case it will lose thetrust vote as it needs 40 moreMLAs (to prove majority in the288-member House).
In the second scenario,Raut said, like in 2014,the NCPcould support the BJP in returnfor “posts” for Supriya Sule atthe Centre and Ajit Pawar inthe state.
However it is unlikely thatSharad Pawar will make the“mistake” that he committed in2014, he said.
Raut said in the third sce-nario, the Sena with its 56MLAs, and the oppositionNCP and Congress with 54 and44 legislators, respectively,
come together to formGovernment.
“The Shiv Sena will have itschief minister and the partyshould have the courage therun the Government. Sincethree different parties will be inpower, there will be a need fora ‘Common MinimumProgramme’ and taking every-one along which will be in theState’s interest,” he said.
“In the fourth scenario,the BJP and Shiv Sena couldcome together out of compul-sion, and both will have to takesome steps backward. The chiefminister’s post will have to beshared,” Raut said.
“This is the best alternative,but not possible due to arro-gance,” Raut said.
“In the fifth scenario, theBJP will have to break other par-ties using threat of investigativeagencies. But, considering howvoters have treated defectors, itwill be difficult and will hurt theimage of Prime Minister Modi,”he added. PTI
��������������� ���������� ���������������7�� .�1������ ���������$�� ��� �����,����,������������+��� ��������� ���Mumbai: Amid an impasse onGovernment formation inMaharashtra due to a tusslebetween allies BJP and ShivSena and unseasonal rainsdestroying crops, ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnaviswill head to Delhi on Mondayto meet Union Home MinisterAmit Shah.
The BJP won 105 seats inthe Assembly polls, results ofwhich were declared onOctober 24, while the Sena got56.
However, the two parties,which fought the polls inalliance, have got caught in astalemate over the chief min-ister’s post, with the Senademanding equal division ofthe top post’s tenure and theBJP rejecting it.
Sources, however, said themeeting with Shah will be to
discuss aid from the NationalDisaster Relief Fund (NDRF)to farmers affected by unsea-sonal rains across the State.
While the StateGovernment announced a �10,000 crore package foraffected farmers, ally Sena aswell as opposition Congressand NCP called it inadequateconsidering the several lakhhectares of crops that havebeen damaged.
The State Government hadearlier put the crop area damaged at 54.22 lakhhectares.
Incidentally, earlier in theday, the Sena’s Rajya Sabha MPSanjay Raut had raised the“mysterious silence” of Shah,who heads the BJP, on thedeadlock over formation ofGovernment. PTI
J a m m u :S ec ur ityf o r c e srecovereda cache ofarms andammuni-tion froma terroristhideout in Jammu &Kashmir’s Kishtwar district on Sunday, officials said.
No arrest was made dur-ing the operation, the officialssaid.The hideout wasunearthed in Sheri area ofMughal Maidan by a jointsearch party of the RashtriyaRifles and Special OperationsGroup of local police, theysaid.
During the search, aChinese pistol, two maga-zines with two rounds, oneAK magazine with 27 rounds,8.1 kg explosives, 10 electronic detonators and fiveswitches with battery used intr iggering improvised explosive devices were seized. PTI
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Atotal of 30 people includ-ing 18 children died in sep-
arate incidents of wall col-lapse, stampede and drowningin different parts of Bihar dur-ing the ‘Chhath’ festival thatconcluded on Sunday, policesaid.
Two women were killed ina wall collapse, two childrendied during a stampede while26 others, including 16 chil-dren, drowned in different dis-tricts of the state since Saturday.
The two women whoobserved the Chhath ritualsdied and four others wereinjured when a portion of thewall of a Kali temple collapsedthis morning at Badgaon villagein Samastipur district.
The wall collapsed ataround 6.30 am, when thedevotees were preparing toleave the ghat after offering‘arghya’, Hasanpur police
station SHO ChandrakantGauri said.
The injured devotees havebeen admitted to Hasanpurprimary health centre, he said.
In another incident, twochildren aged seven years andfour years were killed in astampede that took place nearSuryakund at Deo block.
in the evening,Aurangabad District MagistrateRahul Ranjan Mahiwal said.
Official sources said thestampede occurred as theturnout at Deo’s Surya templefor Chhath Puja was “beyondthe expectation” of the localadministration.
In drowning incidents, a35-year-old man died after heentered a pond at Khajuri vil-lage in Samastipur district,Sarairanjanj BDO GangasagarSingh said.
Three children drowned inponds while two others weresaved by the divers at separate
Chhath ghats under S Kamaland Mufassil police station areas of Begusarai district.
Four persons drowned andone has gone missing in dif-ferent ponds on Saturdayevening in Bhagalpur district.Four bodies have been fishedout while efforts are on to find out the fifth one, official sources said.
Eighteen others including10 minors also drowned inVishali, Purnea and Khagariadistricts during the festival,the sources saId.
Seven, six and five peopledied in Purnea, Vaishali andKhagaria districts respectively.
The ‘Chhath’ festival endedon Sunday as lakhs of devoteesthronged the banks of theGanga and other water- bodiesacross the state this morningand offered ‘arghya’ to the rising Sun god.
Vadodara: A mob in Gujarat’sAmreli district has beenbooked for rioting for demand-ing that a suspected man-eaterleopard be put down, policesaid on Sunday.
The leopard had killed twopeople near Sudavad village inBagsara tehsil recently, afterwhich the forest department setup 10 cages in the vicinity andmanaged to trap it on October31.While the leopard was beingtaken away by forest depart-ment officials to a rescue cen-tre as per wildlife protocol, acrowd of over 400 peopleassembled and obstructed theirwork, an official said.
“The crowd demanded thatthe leopard be shot. They evenclimbed on the cage in whichit was kept. We had to resort tomild cane charge to dispersethem. It took us six hours to getthe crowd to give way,” AmreliSuperintendent of PoliceNirlipt Ray said. PTI
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India’s ambition to send mento the deep sea in a sub-
mersible vehicle appears to beone step closer to fruition withISRO successfully developing adesign for its crew module, asphere shaped capsule.
“The design for themanned submersible’s spherehas been successfully devel-oped by ISRO. Now it has to becertified and then we will goahead with the fabrication,”Secretary, Ministry of EarthSciences, Madhavan NairRajeevan said.
Interacting with journalistson the sidelines of the silverjubilee celebrations of theNational Institute of OceanTechnology here, the top offi-cial said that designing thesphere (intended to be builtusing titanium) involved com-plex technology.
“ISRO has developed thedesign and it will be sent to aninternational agency for certi-fication,” he said, adding thatthe Indian space agency hastaken up both designing as wellas fabrication -at a later stage-of the sphere.
A three member crew canbe accommodated in thesphere, one of the key compo-nents of the manned sub-mersible vehicle.
“Work is already on for thedeep ocean mission and scien-tific and technical work hasstarted,” he said.
An MoU has already beensigned between the ISRO andNIOT on development of themodule.NIOT is tasked withaspects like electronics andnavigation for the mannedsubmersible.
Also, multiple agencies,including the Goa basedNational Centre for Polar andOcean Research, Centre forMarine Living Resources andEcology at Kochi and Indian
National Centre for OceanInformation Services(Hyderabad) are involved inthe initiatives.
The submersible vehicle isexpected to travel to a depth ofapproximately 6,000 metresunder the sea for various stud-ies, whereas submarines canreach only about 200metres.This initiative is a partof the Deep Ocean Mission.
As part of the ambitious Rs10,000 crore Deep OceanMission, India will also studyclimate change in the deepoceans.Studying climatechange, marine biodiversityand survey for compounds likehydrocarbons and minerals arepart of the deep ocean mission. PTI
Bengaluru: Karnataka ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa onSunday charged the Congresswith distorting his statement ina leaked audio clipping onrebel MLAs, even as theOpposition party announcedState-wide protests over his‘confession’ on the BJP leader-ship’s involvement in it.
The Congress also saidthey would mention the mat-ter before the Supreme Courton Monday.
Yediyurappa said thosewho resigned (disqualifiedMLAs) had done so for theirown reasons and the party didnot have anything to do with it.
“What has to be done nextour party will decide, ournational president will decide-this is what I said, nothing else,”Yediyurappa said, defending hisstatement in the leaked audio
tape.Speaking to reporters here,the Chief Minister denied hav-ing said that he would give tick-ets to those who resigned andsaid matters were being unnec-essarily distorted “to create con-fusion in the Supreme Court.”
“....There is no meaning toit... Demanding Amit Shahsresignation is foolishness. Thisis false propaganda...Peoplewill teach a lesson (to theCongress) in the by-election.
Yediyurappa said what hehad stated in the clipping wasthat the whole country wasaware that the disqualifiedMLAs were in Mumbai.
“What does Amit Shahhave to do with it..(distortionof statement) is being done forpublicity. I condemn this con-duct of Siddaramaiah,” headded.
A purported audio clipping
of Yediyurappa expressinganguish against leaders at arecent party meeting inHubballi over their oppositionto giving tickets to disqualifiedCongress-JD(S) MLAs for theDecember 5 assembly bypollsin 15 assembly constituencieshad surfaced on Friday.
In the audio, he can beheard saying that the rebelCongress JD(S) MLAs, whowere later disqualified, werekept in Mumabi during thefinal days of the coalition gov-ernment under BJP nationalPresident Amit Shah’s watch.
He had hit out at party lead-ers for lack of support in “sav-ing” the BJP government andnot recognizing their “sacri-fice”, behind party coming topower.
Following the audio taperelease, a Congress delegation,
led by Siddaramaiah, had metthe Governor on Saturday andsubmitted a memorandum tothe President through him,demanding dismissal of the
Yediyurappa led BJPGovernment and removal ofAmit Shah from the unioncouncil of ministers.
Rejecting Yediyurappasallegations on distortion of hisstatement,state Congress chiefDinesh Gundu Rao arguedthat it was BJP’s internal meet-ing and the audio clippingwould have been released bysomeone who attended it.
Noting that Yediyurappahas agreed that it was his voice,Rao said it was clear that it wasa ‘conspiracy’ by him and theunion Home Minister to bringdown the then coalitionGovernment through defections. PTI
Jammu: Over 44,000 aspirantsfrom three districts of Jammuregion have registered them-selves to serve the country asthe Army on Sunday com-menced a 10-day recruitmentrally in Samba district to pro-vide employment to the localyouth.
This is the first majorrecruitment rally in the newlycreated Union Territory andthe second in the past threemonths after the Centre abro-gated Article 370 provisions onAugust 5.Earlier in September,a seven-day recruitment rallyby the Army in Reasi districtsaw participation of over 29,000local youth.
“As many as 44,117 aspi-rants from Jammu region haveregistered and likely to bescreened for their physical andmedical fitness during the 10days long recruitment rally inSamba,” Jammu-based ArmyPRO Lt Col Devender Anandsaid.
He said the recruitmentrally through Army recruit-ment office in Jammu com-menced at Samba and wouldcontinue till November 12.
This rally is being con-ducted to provide employmentto youth from three districts ofJammu, Samba and Kathua.
On the first day, 3,067 can-didates from Jammu districtappeared for physical fitnesstests, the officer said.He saidthe vacancies are open for sixcategories, including soldiergeneral duty, soldier technical,soldier technical nursing assis-tance (Army Medical Corps)and soldier technical nursingassistance veterinary, soldierclerk and soldier tradesman.
“The recruitment processis divided into several cate-gories and rounds whichinclude physical fitness test,medical test and written test.The recruitment process istotally computerised and isabsolutely transparent,” Lt ColAnand said.He said specialemphasis is being made tomake all the prospective can-didates understand this processso that they do not fall prey totouts.
“Selected candidates will beinducted into the various armsand services of the Army,” hesaid. PTI
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Amid the ongoing powertussle between the saffron
alliance partners, Shiv Senapresident Uddhav Thackreyon Sunday picked a bone withChief Minister DevendraFadnavis over the “too less”relief of �10,000 croreannounced by the latter for thefarmers hit by the unseasonalrains and demanded that theaffected farmers be given�25,000 per hectare ofdestroyed crop immediately.
Talking to media persons atAurangabad after touring theunseasonal rains-hit parts ofMarthwada, Uddhav also tookpot shots at Fadnavis, by citingoft-repeated statement duringhis election rallies “Me PunhaYain (I will return as the ChiefMinister)” and comparing itwith rains that lashed the stateduring this year. “The recurringrains seem to tell us: Me PunhaYain. I dread such a prospect”.
Taking one more jibe at thechief minister, Uddhav said:“The farmers have sufferedhuge loss due to unseasonal
rains. But, one should notundertake a study of the situation from an helicopter”.
A day after the DevendraFadnavis Governmentapproved �10,000 crore asimmediate relief to the farmersaffected by the recent unsea-sonal rains, Uddhav said theShiv Sena was with the farm-ers in their hour of crisis causedby unseasonal rains.
“It is water all over theplace. The unseasonal rainshave created a slush in theiragricultural fields but also intheir lives. The farmers needhelp to tide over this crisis. The�10,000 crore relief announcedby the Maharashtra govern-ment is too less. The StateGovernment and the Centreshould immediately declarewet drought in the state andannounce a relief of �25,000per hectare of damaged crop”.
Uddhav also hit out at theInsurance companies for theinordinate delay in clearingcrop insurance claims made bythe farmers. “The insurance
companies should reduce theirpaper work and extend help tothe affected farmers. Like theinsurance companies, thebanks should simplify theirprocedures meant for extend-ing help rto the farmers,” theSena president said.
Uddhav hit out at theCentre for the delay in extend-ing help to the affected farm-ers in the state. “The Centreshould rush its men and reliefmaterial to farmers inMaharashtra. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi should also payattention to the situation aris-ing out of the unseasonal rainsin the state”.
Meanwhile, chief ministerDevendra Fadnavis reviewedthe situation in various parts ofAkola district in easternMaharashtra where unseasonal rains have playedhavoc damaging standing cropson huge tracts of agriculturalland.
Fadnavis, who surveyedthe situation in Lakanwada,Chikalgaon and Maisapur vil-lages in Akola district, said:“The rains that lashed this dis-
trict during October havedestroyed the crops of soy-abean, Jowar, cotton andMoong pulses in a big way”. Heassured the farmers of imme-diate relief.
After it approved �10,000crore relief to the farmersaffected by the unseasonalrains on Saturday, theMaharashtra Governmentannounced that it was writingto the Centre for relief. Asmany as 325 talukas have beenaffected by the unseasonalrains.
Speaking at a Cabinet sub-committee meeting held inMumbai on Saturday, the chiefminister said that relief mea-sures were being implementedas quickly as possible in theaffected areas.
“Without waiting for arelief from the Centre, theState government is releasing�10,000 crore towards reliefwork.We are also asking theinsurance companies to speedup the insurance process sothat the distressed farmerscould get relief at the earliest,”Fadnavis said.
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Chennai: Vice President MVenkaiah Naidu on Sundaybatted for cost-effective desali-nation initiatives to fulfill thecountry’s drinking water needsand favoured more research toaddress the issue.
Addressing the silverjubilee celebrations of theNational Institute of OceanTechnology here, he lauded theinstitution for its sustainedefforts in six key areas of blueeconomy including fisheriesand aquaculture, renewableocean energy, offshore hydro-carbons, and marine biotech-nology.
These were all very impor-tant for the progress of thenation, the Vice President said.
The blue economy will aid
in achieving the 14th of UNsustainable development goals,which is “life below water”.Itstates “conserve and sustainablyuse the oceans, seas and marineresources for sustainable devel-opment,” he said.
There is a need to give astrong thrust to research activ-ities and innovation in theareas of ocean energy, marinebiology and biotechnology forthe nation to become a leaderin those sectors and NIOTcan be a forerunner for achiev-ing the milestone, he said.
On NIOT’s technologiesfor societal applications like thedesalination plants, he said, “Iam sure in the coming days,this process of desalinationwill get further impetus
because I am worried that wemay face water problem andwater challenges.”
Pointing to indicationsfrom some people that “theremay be water wars across theglobe,” he said and added “wemust try to utilise available seawater and for that you need todo more and more research.”
Naidu further said “youalready found some solutionsbut it has to be cost-effectivebecause converting saline waterto potable water; sweet water isa very good thing that will solvethe the problem to maximumpossible extent but the questionis at what cost and that is theissue.”
Noting that scientificresearch was on around the
world on this issue, he saidsome of the countries that hevisited depended only ondesalination plants for its waterneeds.
“We are a huge countrywith 130 crore population andour requirement is also huge;we have to focus our attentionon future challenges along withpresent challenges.”
Panaji: Satya Pal Malikwas on Sunday sworn in as theGovernor of Goa.Chief Justiceof the Bombay High CourtJustice Pradeep Nandrajogadministered the oath of officeto Malik at Raj Bhavan.
Malik had earlier served asthe Governor of Jammu andKashmir, which has been bifur-cated into two union territories.
Malik, 73, replacedMridula Sinha who was hold-ing the Goa Governor’s postsince August 2014.
Chief Minister PramodSawant was amongst theprominent dignitaries whoattended the swearing-in cer-emony.
“I have come fromKashmir which is known to bea very problematic place. Ihave dealt there successfullyand handled all issues. J&K isa peaceful and good place nowwhich is on the path ofprogress.
The leadership there isnon- controversial. They aredoing their work very well, soI feel that I would be spending
time here in much peacefulway.
“People here are good. TheCM is talking less but Goa hasa name across the world,” Maliksaid on the occasion.
Jammu & Kashmir ceasedto be a State from October 31after the Centre withdrew itsspecial status under Article 370on August 5 and bifurcated itinto Union Territories of Jammu& Kashmir and Ladakh. PTI
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Inspector General of Police, JammuZone, Mukesh Singh on Sunday
reviewed the security situation on theeve of the first ‘Darbar Move’ underwhich offices including the CivilSecretariat— the seat of Jammu &Kashmir Government— will bereopened here.
Singh chaired a meeting ofJammu based officers of police, secu-rity and traffic, and reviewed thedeployment made by different wingsin and around the Civil Secretariat,Raj Bhawan and vital routes, a policespokesperson said.
Under the bi-annual ‘DarbarMove’, the government of Jammu &Kashmir functions for six monthseach in Srinagar and Jammu.
This is the first ‘Darbar Move’after the state’s bifurcation into UTs—Jammu & Kashmir, and Ladakh —which came into existence onOctober 31.
The Civil Secretariat and othergovernment offices closed in Srinagaron October 25-26 and will reopenhere along with the Raj Bhavan onNovember 4.
The officers present in the meet-ing briefed the IGP about thearrangements they have made forenhancing the security and law andorder arrangements during the func-tioning of ‘Darbar’ in Jammu, thespokesperson said.
While briefing the officers, Singhdirected them to put in their best forensuring adequate security and lawand order arrangements during thefunctioning of the administration inJammu. He also issued detailedinstructions to SSP Traffic city
Jammu to improve the regulation oftraffic system and prevent frequentjams in the city during peak hoursespecially during the movement ofVVIPs, the spokesman said.
The IGP also directed jurisdic-tional Superintendents of Police ofJammu district to provide necessaryassistance to traffic police where traf-fic jams are frequent for regulation oftraffic as and when the need arises sothat no inconvenience is caused to thecommon man, the spokesperson saidfurther.
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Aday after Mamata Banerjeeaccused the Centre and some
other State Governments of tapingher telephone a fresh war of wordsbroke out on Sunday between seniorBengal Government functionariesand Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar.
Reacting to reports of policeinaction in complying with theorders of National Green Tribunalbanning Chhat Puja at environ-mentally sensitiveplaces like thepicturesque Rabindra Sarobar lake,considered “lung ofKolkata,” theGovernor expressed doubts overthe State Government’s intention tocomply with court orders.
“I have been informed about howfor years many court orders are notbeing implemented,” Dhankhar saidcircuitously accusing the Governmentfor inaction in preventing the devoteesof Chat Puja from polluting the 192acre lake and garden area replete witha variety of flora and bird species.
Ignoring an National GreenTribunal ban on performing Chat
Puja at Rabindra Sarobar thousandsof devotees on Saturday evening andSunday morning broke open thegates performed religious rites, burstcrackers and polluted the waterseven as the police disappeared fromthe area.
Reminding the Government ofits duties to implement court ordersthe Governor said “law should beobeyed by the people and imple-mented in right perspective by theGovernment or else there will beanarchy and no democracy,” addingwhen “the law wants you to pay taxesyou have to pay it, when the law fixesa limit for you one should not crossit.” Reacting to his comments seniorTrinamool Congress leader andMinister Partho Chatterjee said “heis talking not like a Governor but aBJP leader more so the State BJP pres-ident Dilip Ghosh. It seems that Dilipbabu is speaking behind the veneerof the Governor.”
Another Minister and KolkataMayor Firhad Hakim said “aGovernor should also know hislimits. It seems he does not carry a
book on ‘dos and don’ts’. He hasalways been partisan and does notcheck out on facts,” adding theGovernor was acting not like animpartial person but an agent of theBJP-led Central Government.
Incidentally referring to a dif-ferent kind of victimization ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee had onSaturday alleged that the Centre andsome States including one ruled bythe BJP had been taping her tele-phone calls demanding a probeinto the matter.
“Where is our freedom ofspeech? What independence do wehave now that we cannot even talkfreely over the phone? Somebody islistening to everything we say,”Banerjee said adding she used tothink that “WhatsApp messagescan’t be intercepted but even thathasn’t been spared. Neither landlinephones nor mobiles phones aresafe. It is total espionage,” and “thisis very serious.”
She said that she would requestPrime Minister Narendra Modi togetthe matter probed.”
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Kolkata: A day after West BengalChief Minister Mamata Banerjeeclaimed her phones were being tappedand sought a probe into charges of“snooping” on activists and scribes,Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar onSunday said many people he has methere have raised concerns over breachof privacy.
Dhankhar, however, clarified thathe was not aware of the informationavailable with Banerjee on the matter,drawing reactions from TMC SecretaryGeneral Partha Chatterjee, who ques-tioned “the Governor’s need to com-ment on everything the Chief Ministerhas said”.
Iterating that her calls were beingtapped regularly by the Centre, theTrinamool Congress supremo allegedon Saturday that the Narendra Modi-led Government was “fully aware” ofthe security breach on messaging plat-form WhatsApp.
Facebook-owned WhatsApp hadsaid earlier this week that Indian jour-nalists and rights activists were amongthose globally spied upon by unnamedentities using an Israeli spyware‘Pegasus’.
“Now that we are talking about theright to privacy, let me say that I havemet here many important people fromthe field of politics, business, otherfunctionaries who have told me thattheir privacy was being compromisedwith,” the Governor said on sidelines ofa programme here.
Asked about the CM’s allegationagainst the Centre, he said, “I am notaware what specific information she hasin possession, based on which she lev-elled the charges.”
Thiruvananthapuram: OppositionCongress- led UDF in Kerala onSunday demanded the resignationof Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayanover slapping of UAPA against twoCPI(M) student activists who werearrested for allegedly distributingpro-Maoists pamphlets, even asCPI(M) leaders blamed the policefor the decision.
Chennithala told reporters thatVijayan, who also holds the Homeportfolio, should resign as there wasno other option.
The student activists of theCPI(M), in their early 20s, werearrested in Kozhikode on Saturdaymorning under the UnlawfulActivities Prevention Act (UAPA)for allegedly being Maoist sympa-thisers and having some pampletsand brochures with them.
The parents of the two —Thaha Fazal and Allan Shuhaib —have rubbished police claims thatthey are Maoist sympathisers.
Describing UAPA as a ‘double-edged sword’, Law Minister A KBalan, said it should not be used asa weapon to annhilate the innocentand activists working as per demo-cratic norms. When an FIR is reg-istered, lot of caution is needed.
“We will examine if in this casethe FIR was registered as per rules,”he told reporters. CPI(M)’s Kannurdistrict secretary M V Jayarajan wasof the view that the Governmentwould act and rectify the decisionto arrest the students under the‘dreaded’ UAPA.
With criticism mountingagainst the State Government andpolice over the decision to invokeUAPA on the student activists,DGP Loknath Behera Sundaydirected two senior police officersto conduct an impartial probe andtake appropriate action.
Necessary instructions in thisregard have been issued to ADGPLaw and Order and IGP (NorthZone), a press release said.
“At present only a preliminaryinvestigation has been done. Allaspects of the case need to betaken into account and evidencecollected. Only after a detailed
probe will it be clear if UAPA willstand in this case,” the release said.
Meanwhile, Justice P SGopinathan, heading the govern-ment-appointed UAPA committeefor granting permission for prose-cution, told reporters in Kochi thatUAPA cannot be imposed solely onthe basis of recovery of brochuresfrom the accused.
“Only if there is evidence,UAPA will be valid”, he said addingthere have been several instancesearlier when the committee haddenied permission to impose UAPAfor lack of evidence. UAPA wouldbe valid only if there was evidence,he said. Actress Sajitha Madathil,who is the aunt of Shuhaib, said thepolice action to register UAPA was‘shocking’.
A group of 25 police personnelcame to the house in the early hoursof Saturday and searched the house.
“He is not a Maoist. What hashe done to attract UAPA?”, sheasked.Police did not find anythingfrom the house, and they onlytook his mobile phone was takenaway, she said.Allan’s motherSabitha said police had told themthat her son had Maoist links,which is not right. From 10th stan-dard onwards, he has been a DYFI,SFI activist and a CPI(M) member,she said. Aboobacker and Jameela,parents of Thaha, said their sonused to work and attend journalismclasses and he was the one who wastaking care of the family.She said shewas scared of police. Police had saidthey had seized some banners andbooks from his house. Jameela alsoalleged that police had threatenedand forced her son to raise pro-maoist slogan when he was broughthome at 3 am on Saturday. PTI
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Even as controversies surroundingthe office of the Speaker and theanti-defection law have againcome into sharp focus, theminority judgment in Kihoto
Hollohan vs Zachillhu And Others (1992)appears to have become the central pointof debate. The fundamental issue, whichquite a few of the Speakers have not beenable to address, is not all that complex. Ithas so become in view of an inherent con-flict of interest. Since the Speakers, afterassumption of the high office, do not severtheir links with their parent parties, a con-flict of interest manifests in differentforms, including bias, in several cases underthe anti-defection law.
The minority view in this landmarkcase of 1992 was that assigning powers ofadjudication to the Speaker was against thebasic structure doctrine and the separationof powers between the judiciary, legislatureand the executive. Further, it was contem-plated that adjudication of such a disputeshould be done by an independent author-ity outside the House, namelyPresident/Governor, and in accordancewith the opinion of the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) — all ofwhom are high Constitutional functionar-ies.
The matter pertaining to the order offormer Speaker of the Karnataka LegislativeAssembly, KR Ramesh Kumar, is yet to bedecided by the Supreme Court. In accor-dance with his orders, disqualified MLAshave been barred from contesting the elec-tions till the end of the current legislativetenure, ie, till 2023. Although the law doesnot specify any limits, the Speaker can pro-nounce his judgment on disqualificationin view of defections, based on his discre-tion and fairness.
But such a duration of disqualification,as in the instant case, has been unprece-dented. It will be worth recalling here thatin 2011, when 13 MLAs of the BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) were disqualified by theSpeaker on the ground that they hadretracted their support from theYeddurappa Government, the SupremeCourt held that, “Not only did the Speaker’saction amount to denial of the principlesof natural justice but also revealed a par-tisan trait in the Speaker’s approach in dis-posing of the disqualification applicationfilled by Respondent No 1. If the Speakerwished to rely on the statements of a thirdparty, which were adverse to the appellants’interests, it was obligatory on his part tohave given the appellant an opportunity ofquestioning the deponent as the veracityof the statements made in the affidavit. Thisconduct on the part of the Speaker is alsoindicative of the ‘hot haste’ with which theSpeaker disposed of the disqualificationpetition as complained by the appellants.”
The Speakers of the Lok Sabha as wellas those of the State legislatures are elect-
ed on the tickets and symbolsof a political party. Unlike theHouse of Commons, fromwhere our parliamentary sys-tem has drawn inspiration, ourSpeakers continue to retaintheir links with their respectiveparties. While the routine con-duct of the proceedings in theHouse does not pose any seri-ous challenge, the situationgets complicated when theSpeaker assumes the role of anadjudicator under the anti-defection law as s/he is proneto decide cases as per partyaffiliations.
So much so that in theinstant case, the new Speaker ofKarnataka, who is from a dif-ferent political party, hasoffered to review the orders ofthe previous Speaker, which isagainst the letter and spirit ofan apex court judgment,according to which, a Speaker’sorder is final and cannot bereviewed, except by a judicialauthority.
In some previous casesfrom Tamil Nadu, Telangana,Goa, Andhra Pradesh andUttar Pradesh, the role of theSpeaker has been quite debat-able. It is quite obvious thatsome of them have not beenable to live up to the piousthoughts besides moral as well
as ethical principles, whichformed the basis of the major-ity judgment in KihotoHollohan.
It went on to state:“Accordingly, we hold that thevesting of adjudicatory func-tions in the Speakers/Chairmenwould not by itself vitiate theprovision on the ground of like-lihood of political bias isunsound and is rejected. TheSpeakers/Chairmen hold a piv-otal position in the scheme ofparliamentary democracy andguardians of the rights andprivileges of the House. Theyare expected to and do take far-reaching decisions in the func-tioning of parliamentarydemocracy.”
It is a different matterthough that the author of theseviews, former Chief Justice ofIndia, MN Venkatachaliah,revised his stand while chairing the commission toreview the working of theConstitution and supportedan independent agency likethe ECI to decide on the pro-ceedings under the anti-defec-tion law. This was, however, notaccepted.
A case in point is the reluc-tance of the Speakers as well asDeputy Speakers to avail of theexemption provided for in
Section 5 of the anti-defectionlaw, which is quite embarrass-ing as it clearly indicates thatthey wish to retain their linksto their parent political parties.
As early as 1951, the con-ference of presiding officers oflegislative bodies in India hadrecommended that a conven-tion should be established thatthe constituency of the Speakershould not be contested and heshould be returned unopposed.
Further, he should not takepart in party politics. Suchwas indeed the situation beforeIndependence as the presidingofficers from Vithalbhai Patelonwards dissociated themselvesfrom their parties.
Now, in order to compre-hensively address this problem,we do not necessarily have toresort to the use of minorityjudgment. In fact, besides theamendments to the anti-defec-tion law, we also need to con-sider strengthening the office ofthe Speaker and ensuring hisneutrality by following a con-vention where in the subse-quent elections to theParliament, he is returnedunopposed.
(The writer is a formerGovernor and a Senior advisorat the Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)
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Sir — This refers to the report,“J&K off-limits, India reprovesChina” (November 1). China hasdescribed the bifurcation ofJammu & Kashmir into twoUnion Territories as “unlawful”and “void.” It seems Beijing has noqualms or misgivings about thearea of India that it already occu-pies. Instead of a sense of remorse,China seems inclined to meddlein the internal affairs of India.
New Delhi should display afirmer resolve than it has dis-played until now to deal withChina on this issue. We have beenhesitant and reluctant with Chinain the past on the issue of bound-ary dispute with the neighbour-ing country.
Devendra KhuranaBhopal
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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Breach most foul” (November2). It is outrageous that Israeli spy-ware Pegasus has targetted over1,400 WhatsApp users, includingover 100 Indian journalists,human rights activists, lawyers
and professors of the DelhiUniversity. As the modus operan-di of the spyware to target thedevices seems inescapable, itsoutbreak ought to be containedby social media giant WhatsAppwithout any delay. On top of that,
the firm must roll out an upgrad-ed and secure version of its appto curb spyware from affectingmore devices in the future.
Breaching one’s privacy is aserious offence. People may becompelled to migrate to other
messaging apps if WhatsApp failsin its efforts to restrain itself frombeing misused by malware. Butthen there’s no guarantee that oth-ers would be safe.
Tushar AnandPatna
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Sir —This refers to the article,“War on terror not over yet”(November 2) by BhopinderSingh. Although the death ofIslamic State (IS) group chief AbuBakr al-Baghdadi must have dealta major blow to the IS, it is farfrom the end of the road for theterrorist organisation.
We must not be lulled into afalse sense of complacency as withthe appointment of a new chief,the IS may go all out to carry outa spectacular attack in retaliation.There is need for concertedefforts from countries across theworld to finish the IS in all itsregional hubs.
Cutting off the sources offunding for the IS and other ter-ror organisations will be the bestway of doing this. The world mustunitedly work towards ending themenace of terrorism. The US andother global powers cannot abjurefrom their moral duty from exe-cuting a piecemeal solution toroot out terrorism.
Ramesh G JethwaniBengaluru
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The Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) juggernautseems to have hit two unexpected speedbreakers and is suddenly starting to look vul-
nerable as it failed to win a decisive mandate ineither Maharashtra or Haryana. It is beside the pointthat it has gone on to form a Government inHaryana with the support of odds and ends andmay probably do so in Maharashtra too after pan-dering to the whims of the Shiv Sena. It is indeedironic that a driverless, confused and demoralisedCongress has been able to dent Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s armour, putting the BJP on thedefensive. It also dispels the myth that the Congresscannot win without the Nehru-Gandhi dispensa-tion at the wheel, and in fact, proves just the oppo-site, that the salvation of the grand old party liesin becoming “dynasty-free.”
Incidentally, the recent Assembly poll resultsalso put paid to the BJP’s hope of a “Congress muktBharat”, an undoubtedly catchy but ridiculous slo-gan, which only shows up the saffron party’s owninsecurities and an unarticulated wish for usher-ing in single-party rule. Of course, these resultswould not have been possible without the complic-ity of the BJP itself, in that it lost little time in scor-ing own-goals. Its support to crooked and foul-mouthed legislators, an inability or unwillingnessto control hate-spewing karyakartas (workers) andthe general perception that it is a party that is will-ing to cut off its nose to spite its face seem to havebrought it to this pass.
Its leaders, it appears, are so enthralled by theirown spin on issues that they end up living in analternate reality. For example, even the most igno-rant among us understand that the economy hascrashed and burnt, yet that has only now beenacknowledged by the Government’s top echelons,though they have attempted to reduce their ownculpability by blaming it on a global downturn.
However, the most interesting aspect of theseelections is the fact that unlike the Pulwama-Balakot incident, which won Modi his second term,attempts to ratchet up tensions against Pakistanprior to the voting, with cross-border artilleryattacks against alleged terror mounting bases, nei-ther drew nationalist fervour of the kind that theBJP had hoped for, nor benefit it at the ballot box.What is worse, it has exposed the Army Chief toridicule and loss of credibility for having added tothe confusion with his bombastic statements.
What makes this result even more significantis that both Haryana and Maharashtra have a fair-ly high percentage of military veterans and serv-ing personnel among the electorate, who under nor-mal circumstances, tend to vote conservatively espe-cially when national security is at stake. Indeed thehypocrisy surrounding this Government’s constanthyperbole on “nationalism” is finally unravelling,as the average citizen sees through the hype, some-thing that most in the military have been aware offor quite some time now. It will be interesting tosee how their votes impact forthcoming electionsin Bihar and Jharkhand, which have substantialnumbers of serving and retired military personnel.
It is indeed astonishing that a Government thatconstantly harps on nationalism has not spared anyeffort to degrade and destroy its own armed forces,those very people who sacrifice their all to keep thecountry safe and secure. One could easily be fooledby Modi’s showmanship; his push for the construc-tion of the National War Memorial or his spend-ing time with troops at the Line of Control (LoC)
during Diwali, all exemplary initiatives inthemselves, until one realises that they arejust an image- building exercise bereft ofany higher motivation. The string of bro-ken promises, too numerous to count andthe continued degradation of the military,almost on a daily basis, show him and hisGovernment up as just another motleybunch of power-hungry politicians benton using the military to project them-selves as great leaders.
Take the case of One-Rank, One-Pension (OROP), a controversy thatrefuses to disappear. The scheme wasnotified by the Government onNovember 7, 2015 with the proviso thatit would be effective from July 1, 2014 andthat equalisation of pensions would becarried out every five years. This impliesthat the next equalisation of pensionsshould have been implemented by July2019. The Government’s interpretation ofOROP was vastly different to thatapproved by the Parliament, leading tomuch heartburn, but yet grudginglyaccepted by the vast majority of veterans.Though there is a segment of veteranswho, while continuing to undertake arelay hunger strike, have also approachedthe Supreme Court for justice.
Incidentally, given the large numberof anomalies that emerged in its imple-mentation, the Government was forcedto set up a one-member JudicialCommission under Justice NarasimhaReddy. The commission submitted its rec-ommendations on October 26, 2016 butthese have yet to see the light of day.
However, what really takes the cakeis that in June 2019, the ControllerGeneral of Defence Accounts (CGDA)suddenly woke from his slumber andopposed implementation of OROP in itspresent form, a task he was mandated tohave completed by July 1, 2019 as perexisting orders. Remarkably, let alone tak-ing umbrage at his commitments notbeing honoured, Modi decided to set upanother committee to go into the issues
raised by the CGDA under the chairman-ship of the CGDA himself. One isreminded of Marx’s well-known quotethat history repeats itself “first as tragedyand then as farce.”
Actions really do speak louder thanwords but in truth the treatment of vet-erans is only just a minor side-show.While the Defence Minister was conduct-ing his own Shastra Puja at the inductionceremony for the first Rafale aircraft beinghanded over to the Indian Air Force (IAF)in France, his Ministry was busy issuingwritten instructions barring the issuanceof official passes to military officers of therank of Colonel and below to theRepublic Day Parade, that ironically isorganised by the military itself.
Incidentally, the notification hides amore sinister purpose as it attempts tolegalise the downgradation of Colonelsand equivalents by the simple expedientof stating that only Directors and abovewill be issued passes. The contradictionis that as per existing norms Lieutenant-Colonels are equivalent to Directors. Itseems to have escaped their attention thatissuing a similar letter of equivalence in2016 had to be finally withdrawn inJanuary 2018 because of the widespreadfurore that it created within the military.
Similarly, one may recall the contro-versy that erupted over the then DefenceMinister’s move of arbitrarily and unilat-erally opening up access to MilitaryCantonments to the general public,thereby causing widespread consternationwithin the military community withregard to security issues. TheGovernment has now initiated the nextphase of its plan. It has now decided toundertake measures to amend theCantonment Act so that houses withinCantonments that had been given on 99years’ lease to civilians can no longer betaken back on completion of the leaseperiod as their ownership will now begiven to existing tenants. As is well-known, Cantonment land has been a
lucrative target of the land mafia fordecades and this Government seems tobe emboldening such elements.
One is forced to ask why would anavowedly nationalist party eviscerate itsown armed forces? One rationale maywell be that the Government is extreme-ly insecure because the military, given itsethos and method of functioning, tendsto be an independent institution, isolat-ed from political issues that may beswirling around. Not something that willplease an autocrat like Modi. Or thisGovernment may well be attempting toremodel the military in its own ideolog-ical image and hopes to bring about suchchange in a top-down manner, just asPandit Nehru attempted. The introduc-tion of the concept of “deep selection” forhigher ranks, wherein factors other thanan individual’s service record or senior-ity, which can be easily measured, are alsogiven importance would assist in ensur-ing the promotion of “suitable” officers.
In the past few years, two of ourService Chiefs have been appointed forreasons other than seniority, leading tosome turbulence within the system.Politicisation of the hierarchy, if it is hap-pening, is a rather dangerous road to take.While the present crop of officers may bewilling to be ordered about by their polit-ical masters, it is only a matter of timebefore a fresh crop will demand to betreated commensurate to the power thatthey wield. If this Government is so keento bring the military closer into our polit-ical governance structure, it may just aswell allow the Army to contest elections.Given the unpopularity of our politicians,one would not be surprised if the Armywon the people’s mandate to rule. That,as we can see in Pakistan, would spell dis-aster in the long run.
(The writer, a military veteran, is aconsultant with the Observer ResearchFoundation and a Senior Visiting Fellow with The Peninsula Foundation,Chennai)
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The “revolution” season is uponus again. Or at least the seasonin which many swear that rev-
olution is “just around the corner.”Last week, large protests and riots hitvarious cities in Asia, Europe, SouthAmerica and the Middle East. But, ofcourse, a riot or a series of riots donot make a revolution.
Political turmoil in the shape ofriots and protests is largely about asystem correcting itself. And this self-correction mechanism often goesthrough teething problems. Yet,activists and the media are alwaysmisinterpreting such tumultuousperiods of self-correction as “revolu-tionary.” This perception that somesort of a revolutionary awakening is
sweeping a society or revolutionarychange is just around the corner is notmore than half a century old. Its rootsare in the “counter-culture move-ments” which emerged in the US andEurope in the 1960s.
In the 2008 issue of The CriticalJournal of Social Sciences, British soci-ologist Colin Barker writes that,between 1968 and 1969, almostsimultaneously, violent student riotsbroke out in well over a dozen coun-tries across the globe, includingPakistan.
There are plenty of quotes doc-umented by the era’s media of youthleaders and activists claiming that“revolution is just around the corner.”According to the October 2016 edi-tion of Big Mouth, the British onlinemagazine of cultural criticism, “In the1960s, more people changed theirtrousers than ideologies.” The articlegoes on to ask, “Did people reallywant a revolution or did they justwant to throw the biggest party in his-tory?” Yet, most historians, politicalscientists and sociologists studyingthe global turmoil of the late 1960s
agree that — even though there wasreally nothing revolutionary about theuproar — the annoyance that trig-gered mass-scale agitation by youngmen and women in the late 1960s wasnot only about the youth trying tohave a wild party in which portraitsof Che Guevara, Chairman Maoand Karl Marx were simply situation-al props.
Most economies in the post-World World-II period enjoyed a sus-tained boom. This meant an expand-ing urban middle-class and an influxof young men and women joiningcolleges and universities, more thanever before.
However, according to the histo-rian Michael Burleigh, in Blood andRage (2008), educational institutionscould not accommodate the influxand this led to some serious logisti-cal issues, leaving the students feel-ing agitated and disrespected.
This feeling spilled over and wasexpressed through various “revolu-tionary” and “radical” ideas, eventhough, as Barker points out in hisessay, the economy was booming and
unemployment was low.Commenting on the commotion,
Neil Smelser, the American socialpsychologist in 1968’s Essays in SocialExplanation writes that youthfulrebellion against an institution takesthe place of rebellion against thefather. He added that it was a “bio-logical urge” of the adolescent toassert him or herself.
The turmoil of the late 1960s inthis context contributed to thestrengthening of various social andcivil rights movements and con-cepts. But it was really about a robustpolitical-economic system correctingitself after failing to accommodate theinflux and aspirations of a whole newgeneration.
That’s why, by the mid-1970s,“the revolution” was over. The systemhad successfully appropriated andaccommodated the new generationby building more educational insti-tutions and then, from the late 1970sonwards, offering more lucrativeeconomic opportunities to younggraduates.
In 1990, when the Berlin Wall
came down and the Soviet Union col-lapsed, these were revolutionaryevents, almost at par with actual rev-olutions such as the 1917, 1949 and1958 Communist revolutions inRussia, China and Cuba and the 1979revolution in Iran. Yet, there are thosewho claim that the events that led tothe fall of Communist regimes inEastern Europe were, again, moreabout a system correcting itself.
In a May 25, 1987 article for TheNew York Times, the Czech journal-ist Jiri Pehe predicted a “majorrealignment of class power” in theSoviet Union and its satellite commu-nist states in East Europe. Two yearsbefore the Berlin Wall came down,Pehe wrote that more and moremembers at the top of the region’s rul-ing Communist parties were assum-ing “middle-class values.”
Many latter-day analysts haveeven gone to the extent of suggestingthat, till the early 1970s, Communismactually raised the living standards ofthousands of people in Communistcountries. These lifestyle improve-ments led to the desire among peo-
ple to espouse middle-class ideals. Soeven when Communist economicsbegan to crumble, middle-class aspi-rations and ideals brewing withinthese societies continued to grow.Thus, as Pehe put it, Communist par-ties, too, began to embrace middle-class values as a survival tactic.
So one can suggest, here, too, itwas the system readjusting or re-set-ting itself. Of course, Western medianever stopped calling these as the“democratic revolutions” of the cen-tury. They really weren’t, as the riseof illiberal and authoritarian regimesin many former Communist regionsshould suggest.
But the tradition of excitedlydescribing such readjustments asrevolutions (sometimes amping themup by giving them a colour) contin-ues in the Western media.
Starting with the so-called VelvetRevolution (1989) in the erstwhileCzechoslovakia, there was the RoseRevolution (Georgia, 2003), TulipRevolution (Kyrgyzstan, 2005), theOrange Revolution (Ukraine, 2005)and so on. Each one of these was
course-correction, not revolution.The 2011 “Arab Spring” in variousMiddle-Eastern countries, too, wasexactly that — course-correction.
And what is happening today in,say, Hong Kong or Lebanon, may beexciting the Western media again butthese are course-corrections as well.
Revolutions are rare. Course-cor-rections are not, even though manyare mistaken and sometimes peddledas revolutions. The 1960s’ Pakistaniactivist Lal Khan in The Other Storydescribes the movement against theAyub Khan regime as a revolution. Itwasn’t for the reasons already dis-cussed. It was course-correction bythe system, as was the movementagainst Zulfikar Ali Bhutto in 1977and the Lawyers’ Movement againstGeneral Musharraf.
And if there is to be a movementagainst the current regime, (given therecent rallies and calls for PrimeMinister Imran Khan to step down)that, too would be the system correcting itself to adjust to newerrealities.
(Courtesy: The Dawn)
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Scheme NAV 1Yr%DSP World Gold Fund-Reg(G) 13.86 30.50Kotak World Gold Fund(G) 10.13 30.18Tata Banking & Financial 20.32 30.06Services Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas India Consumption 12.63 26.72Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Fin Serv Opp 45.27 26.66Fund(G)SBI Banking & Financial 19.09 25.55Services Fund-Reg(G)Axis Bluechip Fund(G) 31.45 24.80Canara Rob Consumer 42.74 23.74Trends Fund-Reg(G)Baroda Banking & Fin Serv 24.48 23.64Fund(G)Axis Multicap Fund-Reg(G) 12.56 23.26SBI Tax Advantage 27.48 23.21Fund-III-Reg(G)Invesco India Financial 60.46 22.69Services Fund(G)DSP Equity Fund-Reg(G) 42.42 22.47JM Multicap Fund(G) 34.75 22.24BNP Paribas Large Cap 96.33 22.15Fund(G)Axis Long Term Equity Fund(G) 49.20 22.00JM Tax Gain Fund(G) 18.44 21.84Sundaram Services 12.20 21.22Fund-Reg(G)DSP Focus Fund-Reg(G) 25.02 21.05Motilal Oswal Focused 23.59 20.7425 Fund-Reg(G)Axis Focused 25 Fund(G) 30.40 20.63JM Core 11 Fund(G) 9.57 20.51Edelweiss ETF - Nifty Bank 3090.5220.28DSP Top 100 Equity 221.40 20.22Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Multi Cap Fund-Sr 10.95 20.02II-Reg(G)Sundaram Multi Cap Fund-Sr 10.98 19.84
I-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL India GenNext 89.94 19.81Fund(G)SBI Focused Equity 150.08 19.79Fund-Reg(G)DSP Tax Saver Fund-Reg(G) 51.10 19.37SBI Tax advantage Fund-II(G) 39.36 19.27SBI Magnum Equity ESG 111.30 18.82Fund-Reg(G)BNP Paribas Long Term Equity 40.48 18.69Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Banking & 29.99 18.44Financial Services Fund-Reg(G)IDBI India Top 100 Equity 25.49 18.06Fund(G)HDFC Sensex ETF 4227.4518.06ICICI Pru Banking & Fin 66.62 18.00Serv Fund(G)Nippon India Consumption 69.48 17.95Fund(G)SBI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 15.78 17.92IDFC Sensex ETF 414.60 17.80Canara Rob Bluechip Equity 26.49 17.79Fund-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Great Consumer 37.34 17.61Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Index Fund-Sensex(G) 357.52 17.54Tata Index Fund-Sensex Plan(G)99.23 17.36Kotak Bluechip Fund(G) 245.72 17.23Tata India Tax Savings 18.87 17.21Fund-Reg(G)Axis Growth Opp Fund-Reg(G) 11.74 17.17Sundaram Select Small 15.18 17.16Cap Series-III-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Sensex Index Fund(G) 12.50 17.03Sundaram Select Focus(G) 188.71 16.98Sundaram Select Small Cap 15.20 16.83Series-IV-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Small 10.33 16.72Cap Series-VI-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Emerging 56.07 16.69Bluechip-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Small Cap 10.57 16.63Series-V-Reg(G)Nippon India Index Fund - 19.78 16.62Sensex Plan(G)Axis Midcap Fund(G) 39.48 16.46Invesco India PSU Equity 18.97 16.45Fund(G)SBI Magnum Multicap 50.69 16.41Fund-Reg(G)L&T India Large Cap 28.63 16.36Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru FMCG Fund(G) 259.40 16.33Tata Large Cap Fund(G) 229.04 16.25Motilal Oswal Long Term 18.44 16.05Equity Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Nifty 50 ETF 1248.0316.05Axis Nifty ETF 1225.8715.99Mirae Asset Tax Saver 18.57 15.97Fund-Reg(G)UTI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 78.07 15.83PGIM India Large Cap Fund(G) 175.73 15.83IDFC Nifty ETF 122.98 15.75ICICI Pru LT Wealth 11.26 15.72
Enhancement Fund(G)BNP Paribas Focused 25 10.02 15.70Equity Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 11.01 15.65Fund-VI-Reg(G)JM Value Fund(G) 33.55 15.59SBI BlueChip Fund-Reg(G) 41.26 15.59Kotak Tax Saver Fund(G) 45.50 15.59Tata Large & Mid Cap Fund(G) 213.38 15.58HDFC Index Fund-NIFTY 108.67 15.5750 Plan(G)SBI LT Advantage 10.56 15.52Fund-V-Reg(G)Franklin Asian Equity Fund(G) 22.91 15.51IDFC Nifty Fund-Reg(G) 24.68 15.44Aditya Birla SL Sensex ETF 375.78 15.43Invesco India Growth Opp 36.29 15.43Fund(G)Tata Index Fund-Nifty Plan(G) 72.14 15.42Kotak Standard Multicap 36.65 15.40Fund(G)Sundaram Large and Mid Cap 36.73 15.37Fund(G)ICICI Pru Nifty Index Fund(G) 115.37 15.34SBI Nifty Index Fund-Reg(G) 102.42 15.16Edelweiss Large Cap Fund(G) 37.18 15.14Axis Capital Builder 10.81 15.12Fund-1-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-18(G) 12.01 15.04Canara Rob Equity Diver 138.97 15.03Fund-Reg(G)DSP Equity Opportunities 231.04 15.01Fund-Reg(G)Mirae Asset Large Cap 53.28 14.98Fund-Reg(G)IDBI Nifty Index Fund(G) 21.98 14.91Motilal Oswal Multicap 35 27.08 14.88Fund-Reg(G)Nippon India Index Fund - Nifty 19.94 14.85Plan(G)Aditya Birla SL Index 116.89 14.79Fund-Reg(G)Principal Focused Multicap 67.05 14.67Fund(G)Canara Rob Equity Tax Saver 67.23 14.65Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Equity Opp Fund(G) 123.23 14.62Baroda Large Cap Fund(G) 15.09 14.58IDBI Banking & Financial 10.84 14.47Services Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Index Fund-NSE 94.21 14.45Nifty(G)Aditya Birla SL MNC 799.91 14.40Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 10.65 14.27Fund-4-(G)Edelweiss ETF - Nifty 100 292.98 14.25Quality 30Tata Value Fund-Sr-1-Reg(G) 10.35 14.14Parag Parikh Long Term 26.41 13.99Equity Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Equity 10.74 13.89Opportunity-6-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 13.83 13.89Fund-IV-Reg(G)UTI Equity Fund-Reg(G) 147.48 13.78BNP Paribas Multi Cap Fund(G) 48.86 13.72UTI India Consumer 27.42 13.69Fund-Reg(G)Tata Mid Cap Growth Fund(G) 140.53 13.63ICICI Pru Nifty Low Vol 30 ETF 93.77 13.58Nippon India US Equity Opp 16.65 13.54Fund(G)SBI Magnum Global 180.89 13.43Fund-Reg(G)Tata Value Fund-Sr-2-Reg(G) 10.01 13.27Edelweiss Large & Mid Cap 32.45 13.27Fund-Reg(G)Kotak India EQ Contra Fund(G) 54.11 13.27PGIM India LT Equity 14.80 13.15Fund-Reg(G)PGIM India Diversified Equity 13.81 13.10Fund-Reg(G)SBI LT Advantage 13.77 13.04Fund-III-Reg(G)Invesco India Largecap Fund(G) 29.19 12.88Invesco India Tax Plan(G) 52.96 12.78DSP India T.I.G.E.R 92.36 12.62Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Focused Equity 41.19 12.61Fund(G)Edelweiss Long Term Equity 47.82 12.52Fund (Tax Savings)-Reg(G)IDFC Large Cap Fund-Reg(G) 33.41 12.45SBI LT Advantage 14.14 12.35Fund-II-Reg(G)DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 2-Reg(G) 10.64 12.22Aditya Birla SL Global Real 21.21 12.21Estate Fund(G)DSP Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 56.16 12.18SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 16.39 12.14I-Reg(G)SBI Equity Opp Fund-Sr 15.77 12.14IV-Reg(G)Tata Resources & Energy 14.97 12.09Fund-Reg(G)UTI Mastershare-Reg(G) 125.54 12.04UTI Focussed Equity Fund-IV(G)10.08 12.02UTI MEPUS 110.41 12.02DSP A.C.E. Fund-Sr 1-Reg(G) 10.67 11.99ICICI Pru US Bluechip Equity 30.27 11.97Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent 12.28 11.84India Fund-2-Reg(G)ICICI Pru NV20 ETF 58.00 11.84DSP 3Y Close Ended Equity 16.03 11.80Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Emerging Equity Fund(G) 39.43 11.78Baroda Multi Cap Fund(G) 99.95 11.76ICICI Pru S&P BSE 500 ETF 157.11 11.74ICICI Pru Growth Fund-2(DP) 12.57 11.73Kotak India Growth 10.02 11.70Fund-Sr 5(G)Aditya Birla SL Focused 61.40 11.68Equity Fund(G)Sundaram TOP 100-Sr 12.79 11.65VI-Reg(G)IDBI Diversified Equity Fund(G) 22.29 11.62Motilal Oswal Midcap 30 26.18 11.50Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram TOP 100-Sr 12.56 11.48VII-Reg(G)SBI PSU Fund-Reg(G) 10.92 11.32Edelweiss Tax Advantage 41.18 11.30
Fund-Reg(G)PGIM India Large Cap 12.66 11.28Fund-2-Reg(G)UTI Focussed Equity Fund-I(G) 13.95 11.23ICICI Pru Smallcap Fund(G) 25.26 11.13IDBI Equity Advantage 28.21 11.11Fund-Reg(G)SBI Magnum Comma 37.93 11.05Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Global Emerging Mkt 16.30 10.97Fund(G)UTI Banking and Financial 97.14 10.96Services Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity 416.07 10.93Advantage Fund(G)Edelweiss Multi-Cap 14.86 10.86Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-1(DP) 11.56 10.83UTI Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 53.01 10.79ICICI Pru Bluechip Fund(G) 43.48 10.72UTI Focussed Equity Fund-V(G) 9.86 10.70Nippon India Banking Fund(G) 275.10 10.68IDFC Multi Cap Fund-Reg(G) 95.32 10.67SBI LT Advantage 13.67 10.65Fund-I-Reg(G)Sundaram Rural and 42.51 10.63Consumption Fund(G)Tata Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 55.62 10.62ICICI Pru LT Equity Fund 384.39 10.59(Tax Saving)(G)L&T Business Cycle 15.52 10.48Fund-Reg(G)Axis Emerging Opp 12.92 10.43Fund-1-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Frontline Equity 228.46 10.32Fund(G)Franklin Build India Fund(G) 41.53 10.27Canara Rob Emerg Equities 94.64 10.21Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Top 100 Fund(G) 497.53 10.16UTI LT Equity Fund (Tax 88.91 10.14Saving)-Reg(G)SBI Large & Midcap 224.71 10.13Fund-Reg(G)Tata Ethical Fund-Reg(G) 164.42 10.10Kotak India Growth Fund-Sr 10.57 10.077(G)SBI Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 53.75 10.05UTI Value Opp Fund-Reg(G) 62.33 10.00Sundaram World Brand 16.34 9.97Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Equity Fund(G) 739.80 9.94Sundaram Infra Advantage 31.94 9.92Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief '96(G) 32.09 9.86Aditya Birla SL Tax Relief 32.09 9.86'96(ELSS U/S 80C of IT ACT)(G)UTI Focussed Equity Fund-VI(G)10.26 9.80Axis Emerging Opp 12.43 9.52Fund-2-Reg(G)IDBI Focused 30 Equity 10.18 9.46Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Feeder - Franklin 32.65 9.39U.S. Opportunities Fund(G)UTI MNC Fund-Reg(G) 204.79 9.32Nippon India Value Fund(G) 74.60 9.30SBI Consumption Opp 119.49 9.29Fund-Reg(G)Tata Equity P/E Fund(G) 136.86 9.27Sundaram Diversified Equity(G) 102.00 9.23Sundaram World Brand 16.03 9.16Fund-Sr II-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 10.71 9.06Fund-1-(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 10.78 9.00Fund-3-(G)HDFC Equity Fund(G) 667.67 8.98Invesco India Infrastructure 17.33 8.93Fund(G)Nippon India Large Cap Fund(G)35.11 8.92Baroda ELSS 96(G) 44.66 8.87UTI-Nifty Next 50 ETF 294.60 8.79HDFC Growth Opp Fund-Reg(G)114.88 8.77Franklin India Opportunities 73.28 8.74Fund(G)Franklin India Taxshield(G) 572.32 8.66Tata India Consumer 18.13 8.63Fund-Reg(G)Edelweiss Emerging Markets 13.10 8.61Opp Eq. Offshore Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-17(G) 10.77 8.57Nippon India Focused Equity 46.42 8.55Fund(G)Kotak Infra & Eco Reform 19.84 8.53Fund(G)SBI Magnum TaxGain'93-Reg(G)143.57 8.52Nippon India Growth Fund(G) 1106.94 8.45BNP Paribas Mid Cap Fund(G) 32.25 8.39Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 14.85 8.37II-Reg(G)Franklin India Prima Fund(G) 960.70 8.37Nippon India Multi Cap Fund(G) 96.63 8.29Sundaram Value 16.87 8.24Fund-III-Reg(G)Nippon India Quant Fund(G) 25.72 8.05ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 ETF 28.93 8.02Templeton India Equity Income 46.23 7.97Fund(G)Invesco India Contra Fund(G) 48.37 7.94PGIM India Global Equity Opp 18.80 7.92Fund(G)Kotak India Growth 9.58 7.83Fund-Sr 4(G)UTI Nifty Next 50 Index 10.22 7.69Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Value Fund-II-Reg(G) 16.19 7.67Nippon India Japan Equity 13.89 7.60Fund(G)ICICI Pru Multicap Fund(G) 295.63 7.57UTI Dividend Yield Fund-Reg(G) 66.95 7.53IDBI Nifty Junior Index Fund(G) 21.66 7.50ICICI Pru Nifty Next 50 Index 25.44 7.47Fund(G)SBI Technology Opp 64.78 7.34Fund-Reg(G)Principal Dividend Yield Fund(G) 54.12 7.34Principal Emerging Bluechip 105.49 7.34Fund(G)ICICI Pru Growth Fund-3(DP) 10.40 7.33HDFC Focused 30 Fund(G) 78.63 7.29Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 13.67 7.23I-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Large & Mid Cap 330.23 7.16Fund(G)
Fund(G)L&T Midcap Fund-Reg(G) 132.34 3.26Sundaram Mid Cap Fund(G) 456.43 3.24Edelweiss Eur Dynamic 11.36 3.20Equity Off-shr Fund-Reg(G)Principal Personal Tax saver 190.86 3.13FundAditya Birla SL Resurgent India 9.56 3.13Fund-5-Reg(G)Kotak US Equity Fund(G) 17.48 3.10Invesco India Feeder - 13.24 2.89Invesco Global Equity Income Fund(G)UTI Mid Cap Fund-Reg(G) 99.31 2.54UTI Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 60.52 2.54HDFC Mid-Cap Opportunities 53.02 2.47Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Mfg. Equity 13.09 2.43Fund-Reg(G)SBI-ETF Sensex Next 50 322.09 2.39HDFC Infrastructure Fund(G) 15.71 2.31Tata India Pharma & 9.14 2.27Healthcare Fund-Reg(G)DSP US Flexible Equity 26.21 2.26Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 9.45 1.90Cap-Sr-V-Reg(G)PGIM India Midcap Opp 17.88 1.88Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Equity Opp Fund-Sr 10.32 1.802-1126D-May 2017(1)-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 9.71 1.46Fund-4-Reg(G)L&T Emerging Opp 9.37 1.45Fund-I-Reg(D)Sundaram Value 10.70 1.40Fund-VIII-Reg(G)DSP World Mining Fund-Reg(G) 8.25 1.19ICICI Pru Exports & Services 56.41 1.02Fund(G)Nippon India Power & 95.32 0.95Infra Fund(G)Mirae Asset Healthcare 10.67 0.66Fund-Reg(G)L&T Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G) 15.64 0.64Sundaram Small Cap Fund(G) 77.28 0.51Sundaram Select Micro 12.80 0.50Cap-Series VIII-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 12.73 0.44Cap-Series IX-Reg(G)DSP Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 52.65 0.39IDBI Small Cap Fund(G) 9.20 0.33ICICI Pru Focused Equity 29.42 0.24Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Discovery 142.29 0.13Fund(G)IDFC Infrastructure Fund-Reg(G)14.18 0.07SBI Contra Fund-Reg(G) 103.46 -0.02ICICI Pru Dividend Yield Equity 16.08 -0.06Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Infrastructure 29.86 -0.23Fund(G)ICICI Pru Bharat Consumption 9.69 -0.31Fund-2-(G)IDBI Midcap Fund(G) 10.45 -0.57ICICI Pru Technology Fund(G) 57.29 -0.71UTI LT Adv Fund-VII(G) 8.52 -1.07Sundaram Select Micro 12.48 -1.10Cap-Series X-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Midcap Fund(G) 272.95 -1.44Sundaram Value 8.40 -1.90Fund-VII-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 7.92 -1.98III-Reg(G)Nippon India Small Cap Fund(G)38.54 -2.02Franklin India Smaller Cos 49.82 -2.34Fund(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 7.76 -3.01Fund-IV-B(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-VI(G) 8.17 -3.04IDFC Sterling Value 47.24 -3.36Fund-Reg(G)IDFC Equity 7.44 -3.38Opportunity-4-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Tax Adv Fund-Sr 9.16 -3.45IV-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Resurgent 7.96 -3.52India Fund-7-Reg(G)UTI Healthcare Fund-Reg(G) 82.83 -3.62UTI Transportation & Logistics 94.83 -3.71Fund-Reg(G)Nippon India Pharma Fund(G) 149.17 -3.73DSP World Agriculture 16.37 -3.84Fund-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL CEF-Global 23.51 -3.91Agri-Reg(G)SBI Healthcare Opp 116.99 -4.11Fund-Reg(G)Invesco India Feeder - Invesco 10.60 -4.36Pan European Equity Fund-Reg(G)L&T Emerging Businesses 23.05 -4.63Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Small Cap Fund-Reg(G) 39.71 -5.06Sundaram Select Micro 8.91 -5.70Cap-Series XII-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 9.25 -6.01Cap-Series XI-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 8.19 -6.26Cap-Series XIV-Reg(G)Sundaram Value 8.74 -6.66Fund-IX-Reg(G)Sundaram Value Fund-X-Reg(G) 8.69 -6.87Sundaram LT Micro Cap 8.01 -7.01Tax Adv Fund-Sr IV-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap Tax 9.39 -7.09Adv Fund-Sr III-Reg(G)Aditya Birla SL Pure Value 47.41 -7.18Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Small Cap 30.90 -7.23Fund(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 7.34 -7.28Fund-IV-D(G)Sundaram Select Micro 7.99 -7.97Cap-Series XV-Reg(G)DSP World Energy Fund-Reg(G) 12.71 -8.00Sundaram Select Micro 7.49 -8.28Cap-Series XVI-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 7.77 -8.37Tax Adv Fund-Sr V-Reg(G)Sundaram LT Micro Cap 7.32 -8.59Tax Adv Fund-Sr VI-Reg(G)Sundaram Select Micro 7.06 -9.37Cap-Series XVII-Reg(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 6.98 -10.12Fund-IV-C(G)
L&T Equity Fund-Reg(G) 83.01 7.06Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 22.42 7.03Fund-A(G)Nippon India Capital Builder 9.90 6.98Fund-IV-A(G)Principal Nifty 100 Equal Weight 72.70 6.97Fund(G)Canara Rob Infrastructure 44.91 6.95Fund-Reg(G)Kotak Small Cap Fund(G) 71.49 6.94DSP Equal Nifty 50 9.95 6.90Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-15(G) 10.83 6.80ICICI Pru Value Fund-9(G) 12.27 6.70Franklin India Bluechip Fund(G) 459.68 6.69ICICI Pru Infrastructure Fund(G) 50.11 6.69Nippon India Vision Fund(G) 534.48 6.66Edelweiss Mid Cap 26.79 6.60Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-11(G) 12.49 6.57Invesco India Smallcap 10.65 6.50Fund-Reg(G)L&T Large and Midcap 47.66 6.48Fund-Reg(G)Sundaram Global Advt(G) 17.13 6.43Sundaram Smart NIFTY 100 11.96 6.35Eq Weight Fund-Reg(G)Franklin India Equity Advantage 79.15 6.30Fund(G)IDFC Focused Equity 37.17 6.29Fund-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-13(D) 10.75 6.23Nippon India India Opp 10.81 6.10Fund-Sr-A(G)IDFC Core Equity Fund-Reg(G) 44.98 6.01IDFC Equity 10.09 5.99Opportunity-5-Reg(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 10.62 5.84Cap-Sr-VI-Reg(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-IV(G) 10.30 5.82JM Large Cap Fund(G) 67.52 5.80Principal Global Opportunities 30.10 5.75Fund(G)Invesco India Multicap Fund(G) 47.89 5.72Aditya Birla SL Resurgent India 11.55 5.67Fund-3-Reg(G)Franklin India Equity Fund(G) 580.48 5.59L&T Emerging Opp 10.06 5.57Fund-II-Reg(D)Sundaram Emerging Small 10.57 5.46Cap-Sr-VII-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-10(G) 11.47 5.23Invesco India Midcap Fund(G) 49.23 5.19ICICI Pru Value Fund-14(G) 10.70 5.11HDFC TaxSaver(G) 515.97 5.07Aditya Birla SL Intl. Equity 18.43 5.00Fund-B(G)L&T India Value Fund-Reg(G) 35.61 4.86Tata Digital India Fund-Reg(G) 14.87 4.85Aditya Birla SL Digital India 53.51 4.78Fund(G)ICICI Pru Value Fund-16(G) 11.24 4.75ICICI Pru Manufacture in 10.55 4.66India Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Global Emerging 13.10 4.65Opp Fund(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 9.35 4.57Cap-Sr-IV-Reg(G)ICICI Pru Midcap Fund(G) 95.03 4.57UTI LT Adv Fund-III(G) 13.49 4.51ICICI Pru Value Fund-8(D) 10.56 4.45ICICI Pru Global Stable Equity 16.11 4.34
Fund(G)L&T Tax Advt Fund-Reg(G) 54.71 4.22Sundaram Emerging Small 9.01 4.19Cap-Sr-III-Reg(G)Nippon India Tax Saver (ELSS) 54.79 4.09Fund(G)Principal Multi Cap Growth 140.24 4.05Fund(G)Sundaram Emerging Small 8.30 4.05Cap-Sr-II-Reg(G)PGIM India Euro Equity Fund(G) 14.01 4.01DSP Natural Res & New 32.41 3.90Energy Fund-Reg(G)HDFC Capital Builder Value 283.12 3.86Fund(G)Aditya Birla SL Dividend Yield 159.88 3.83Fund(G)UTI LT Adv Fund-V(G) 9.44 3.81IDFC Tax Advt(ELSS) 54.24 3.79Fund-Reg(G)DSP Global Allocation 12.87 3.76Fund-Reg(G)Baroda Mid-cap Fund(G) 8.85 3.75Templeton India Value Fund(G) 241.68 3.75SBI Magnum Midcap 70.66 3.63Fund-Reg(G)IDBI Long Term Value 10.36 3.60Fund-Reg(G)Principal Tax Savings Fund 204.03 3.55Sundaram Emerging Small 8.08 3.39Cap-Sr-I-Reg(G)Franklin India Technology 157.91 3.35
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India is rolling out “facelesstax assessment” system to
forestall any discretion orharassment in tax collection,Prime Minister Narendra Modisaid on Sunday as he high-lighted major reform initiativeslaunched by his Government inthe financial sectors in the lastfive years.
Hard-selling India as one ofthe most attractive investmentdestinations globally, Modi alsosaid the country has stoppedworking in a routine, bureau-cratic manner and was under-going “transformative changes”in its march towards econom-ic and social development.
The Prime Minister wasspeaking to a select group oftop business leaders at an eventto mark golden jubilee of theAditya Birla Group’s opera-tions in Thailand.
Modi also asserted thatIndia now has one of the mostpeople-friendly tax regimes inthe world and that efforts areon to further improve
taxation system.
Modi specifically men-tioned about how rolling out ofthe Goods and Services Tax hasresulted in the economic inte-gration in the country, addinghis Government was workingtowards making it more peo-ple-friendly.
“In the last five years, wehave lowered the tax burden onthe middle class considerably.We are now starting faceless taxassessment so that there is noscope for discretion or harass-ment,” the PM said.
There has been criticism bythe Congress party that tax offi-cials in the Modi Governmenthave been harassing business-es and political leaders criticalof the ruling establishment.
In August, Finance minis-ter Nirmala Sitharaman con-veyed to India Inc. That theywill not face any harassment asa new system is being put inplace to make officials account-able for their actions.
“In today’s India, the con-tribution of the hard workingtax payer is cherished. One areawhere we have done significantwork is taxation. I am happy
that India is one of the mostpeople-friendly tax regimes,”Modi said.
Talking about variousreform measures, Modi said thedirect benefit transfer (DBT)has ended the culture of mid-dlemen and inefficiency. “It hasleft little scope for error. TheDBT has saved over USD 20billion so far.”
In his address, Modi alsotalked about cut in the corpo-rate tax rates.
“You would already haveheard of India’s decision to cutthe corporate tax rates. OurGST has fulfilled the dream ofeconomic integration of India.We want to work towards mak-ing it even more people-friend-ly,” the Prime Minister said.
The PM said it was the besttime to be in India and thatmany things such as foreigndirect investment, ease of doingbusiness, ease of living and pro-ductivity are rising while taxrates, red -tapism, corruption,cronyism are on a decline.
“All of what I have said justnow makes India one of theworld’s most attractive
economies for investment.India received USD 286 billionFDI in the last five years. Thisis almost half of the total FDIin India in the last 20 years,”Modi said.
The Prime Minister alsoreferred to India’s dream to become a five trillion dollareconomy.
“When my Governmenttook over in 2014, India’s GDPwas about USD 2 trillion. In 65years, USD 2 trillion. But in just5 years, we increased it tonearly USD 3 trillion,” he said.
Modi said India has seenmany success stories in the lastfive years in various sectors andthe reason for it is not only theGovernment but also the peo-ple. “India has stopped work-
ing in a routine, bureaucraticmanner. Transformativechanges are arising due toambitious missions undertak-en. When these ambitious mis-sions are energised by the part-nership of people, they becomevibrant mass movements. And,these mass movements achievemiracles. Things that were sup-posed to be previously impos-sible have now become possi-ble,” he said.
The PM also elaborated onsteps being taken by hisGovernment to improve ease ofdoing business in the countryand their impact reflected inseveral ratings about the Indiagrowth story.
“India has jumped 79places in the World Bank’s
‘Ease of Doing Business’ rank-ings in five years. From 142 in2014 we are 63 in 2019. This isa massive achievement. Forthe third year in row, we areamong the top 10 reformers.The variables for doing busi-ness in India are many,” he said.
“We are a large and diversenation. There are the central,State and local Governments.In such a context, a direction-al shift shows our commitmentto reforms. The people andGovernment came together tomake the business environ-ment better,” the PM said.
Modi said India was receiv-ing substantially more touristsin the last few years, which hesaid, meant that “our efforts onthe ground are bearing fruit.The fact that India has betterroads, better air connectivity,better cleanliness and better lawand order is bringing the worldto India.” In his address, Modialso congratulated the AdityaBirla group for its commend-able work in Thailand, sayingit is creating opportunities andprosperity for many in thecountry.
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Led by India, South Asia ismoving towards becoming
centre of global growth andcould contribute about one-third of the world’s growth by2040, according to a latestresearch by the InternationalMonetary Fund (IMF).
Notably, under the IMF’sgeographical division of theworld, South Asia does notinclude Afghanistan andPakistan. For IMF, South Asiaincludes India, Bangladesh,Nepal, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, and Maldives.
Under a substantial liber-alisation scenario, supported bystepped-up efforts to improveinfrastructure and successful-ly harness South Asia’s youngand large workforce, the regioncould contribute about one-third of global growth by 2040,argues the IMF paper ‘Is South
Asia Ready for take Off? A sus-tainable and inclusive growthagenda,’ to be released in NewDelhi on Monday.
“Looking at it both fromthe growth trajectory that wesee and the development else-where in Asia, we see SouthAsia as moving towards beingmuch more of center of globalgrowth,” Anne-Marie Gulde-Wolf, Deputy Director, Asia andPacific Department, IMF toldPTI ahead of the release of the
report. Previewing some keyaspects of the IMF research,Gulde-Wolf noted that based ondemographic trends, more than150 million people in the regionare expected to enter the labourmarket by 2030.
“We have a region with amassive potential for demo-graphic dividend. (This is), aregion that has been seen overthe recent past significantgrowth spurt,” she said.
This young and large work-
force can be South Asia’sstrength, if supported by a suc-cessful high-quality and job-richgrowth strategy, leveraging allsectors of the economy in a bal-anced way. The IMF paper says.
Although policy recom-mendations remain country-specific, for many South Asianeconomies these shouldinclude: further progress inrevenue mobilisation and fiscalconsolidation; greater tradeand foreign direct investment(FDI) liberalisation; and invest-ment in people, the paper notes.
What can India do to har-ness the potential demograph-ic dividend and to avoid pitfallsof rapid growth that we haveseen in other areas, she asked.The IMF is looking at sustain-able growth, avoiding massiveecological problems that couldbe associated with this kind ofimbalanced prose.
That’s why IMF sees India
needing a multiprongedapproach that leverages theadvantages that the countryalready has, she said.
“The country has already anexcellent tertiary education sys-tem, built a on high value-added services. So, in no way,should any strategy devalue thataspect,” she said. But it needs tobe complemented with areas likemanufacturing sector, whereinIndia is below what would oneexpect from a country with thatlevel of development, she saidadding that the issue is how toinvolve private sector to increasethe manufacturing base. India,she noted, needs to create a bet-ter environment for private sec-tor growth which looks at aproduct market, labour markets,land is a particular issue andobviously some of the impetushas to come from foreign directinvestment, the top IMF officialsaid.
Indore: Over 3,400 branches of26 public sector banks (PSBs)have been either closed ormerged during the last fivefinancial years due to mergerunder the consolidation exer-cise in the banking space,revealed an RTI query.
Of this, 75 per cent of theaffected branches belong tothe country’s biggest lenderState Bank of India (SBI).
To a query under the Rightto Information (RTI) Act filedby a Neemuch-based activistChandrashekhar Gaud, theReserve Bank of India (RBI)informed that 26 PSBs of thecountry either closed ormerged 90 branches during FY2014-15, 126 branches in 2015-16, 253 branches in 2016-17,2,083 branches in 2017-18 and875 branches during 2018-19.
The RTI information cameout at a time when the Centreis planning to consolidate 10PSBs into four mega state-
owned lenders. According toRTI reply, the maximum 2,568branches of the SBI were affect-ed due to merger or closure inthe last five financial years.
The RBI informed thatBharatiya Mahila Bank, StateBank of Bikaner and Jaipur,State Bank of Hyderabad, StateBank of Mysore, State Bank ofPatiala and State Bank of Travancore were mergedwith SBI with effect from April1, 2017. In addition, the mergerof Vijaya Bank and Dena Bankwith Bank of Baroda came intoeffect from April 1 this year.
Meanwhile, employeeorganisations of public bankshave opposed to the govern-ment’s new plan to consolidatethe banking space.
All India Bank Employees’Association (AIBEA) GeneralSecretary CH Venkatachalamtold PTI that at least 7,000branches of these banks likelyto be affected, if the govern-
ment forms four big banks outof the ten state-owned banks inthe country.
Most of these affectedbranches will be from the met-ros and cities, he added.Venkatachalam expressedapprehensions that the pro-posed merger would decline thebusiness of the PSBs concerned.It is generally seen that cus-tomers stop banking with thebranch, once it was closed ormerged with another one.
However, economistJayantilal Bhandari said thatmerger of PSBs is the need ofthe hour. “The state exchequerwill benefit after creation of bigbanks by merging smaller pub-lic sector banks. In addition, thelarge state-run banks will be ableto distribute relatively moreloans to the common peopledue to their strong financialcondition, which will spur theeconomic growth in the coun-try,” he said. PTI
Mumbai: Yes Bank, whichreported a surge in NPAs in theSeptember quarter, feels itsstressed loans situation couldhave been much better but for“torpedos” that hit the privatesector lender.
These “torpedos” whichhit his ship include exposuresto Cafe Coffee Day, AlticoCapital, CG Power and Coxand Kings, the bank’s chiefexecutive Ravneet Gill has said.
“Every torpedo that gotfired hit us,” he told a selectgroup of reporters over theweekend. He said theseaccounts itself led to a �4,000crore bloating of the belowinvestment grade book to�31,000 crore from the �29,000crore in the preceding quarter.
Gill exuded confidencethat the bank does not see anyjump in this book in the future,but conceded that it was keep-ing a similar outlook earlier as well. PTI
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Private sector lender YesBank is aiming to finish a
USD 1.2 billion (about �8,462crore) equity raising exercise byDecember and willing to givenew investors a board seat,according to a top official.
The bank, which hasclaimed that it is in discussionswith potential suitors who arewilling to pump in up to USD3 billion (around �21,156 crore)collectively, said it may raise themoney either through the NorthAmerican family office, whichhas made a binding offer topump USD 1.2 billion, orthrough a combination ofinvestors. The other investorsinclude private equity funds,domestic mutual funds, domes-tic financial investors and alsodomestic family offices.
“We have to inform theNorth American family officeby end of November. We will
raise USD 1.2 billion by end ofDecember and it may be eitherfrom them or a combination ofinvestors,” its chief executiveRavneet Gill told a select groupof reporters over the weekend.
He said the money raisedwill suffice the bank for twoyears, after considering its aimto expand the loan book to“high-teen” levels, Gill said,asserting that the asset qualityissues are under check now.
The newly appointed head,who replaced promoter-chiefexecutive Rana Kapoor whoseconduct had raised RBI’s con-cerns, said the binding offerwas received last Thursday overemail and chose to disclose it toexchanges as it was advised thatit was price sensitive. As part ofthe offer, the family office hasalso attached a letter from amajor US bank with which it hasa long relationship, affirming theformer’s ability to pay thepromised sum, Gill said.
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Reliance Jio has written toTelecom Minister Ravi
Shankar Prasad stating inunequivocal terms that the pro-posed telcos bailout would becontempt of the Supreme Courtjudgment and an illegal triggerto widespread precedent.
In a strongly worded letterto Prasad, Mukesh Ambani’sReliance Jio for the first time inthe current telecom war, namedAirtel and Vodafone Idea,whose interests the CellularOperators Association of India(COAI) is trying to push.
Reliance Jio has desistedfrom naming Airtel andVodafone Idea in earlier mis-sives to the Telecom Ministerand other government func-tionaries. This direct attackindicates an escalation of hos-tilities and that the gloves were
off now.“At the outset, we would
once again like to place onrecord our dismay and wedeplore continued acts of omis-sions of the COAI of not tak-ing RJIL comments on record,which indicates its continueddeliberate and wilful motivat-ed agenda to only perpetrateinterests of two select members— Airtel and Vodafone Idea.”
Lashing out at the COAI,Jio said: “In order to help its twoselect members get a financialwindfall from the Government,COAI is in fact canvassing forgoing against the decision of theHon’ble Supreme Court judge-ment.” Jio has bluntly said thata relief package for telcos wouldbe against the apex court judge-ment asking them to pay�92,000 crore for governmentlevy on Annual Gross Revenues(AGR).
Objecting to any kind ofrelief package, Jio has told thegovernment: “We are of theview that the Government doesnot have the option of goingagainst the Supreme Courtjudgement and provide any ofthe reliefs sought by COAI.”
It is evident from the factsand circumstances of this case,that the claimed inability tomeet the payment obligationswas not on account of any rea-sons or an event or an effect thatthe parties could not have antic-ipated or controlled, the lettersaid. “Rather, the position thatemerges from a plain reading ofthe judgment is that the licenseeshave indulged in abuse of theprocess of Court and deliberatelydelayed payment of dues on friv-olous and legally untenablegrounds,” Jio said questioningthe telecom operators.
Jio has cautioned that forthe government it would not belegally tenable to provide arelief in light of the SupremeCourt judgment. “Having part-ed with spectrum on agreedterms crystallized in theLicense Agreement, any actionon the part of the Governmentof India to modify or waivecontractual provisions per-taining to interest and penaltyon unpaid dues would not belegally tenable specially whensame has been dealt in thejudgement of the Hon SupremeCourt specifically,” it added.
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State Bank of India will auc-tion NPAs worth �700 crore
this month to recover its duesfrom those borrowers.
There will be three auc-tions in the month and the totalamount outstanding is �700.34crore, according to SBI’s auction plan .
Ludhiana-based RegencyAqua Electro & Hotel ResortsPvt. Ltd. and Kolkata-basedLovely International Pvt. Ltd.will be auctioned on November18 while on November 29, thee-auction will take place ofSankalp Engineering & Pvt.Ltd. and Anjanay Rice Mill Pvt.Ltd. among others.
On November 7, e-auction
of Bhopal-based Bhatia GlobalTrading Limited (BGTL) whichhas a due of �177 crore . It willbe among several other assetsis scheduled to be auctionedthat day. As per Bank’s revisedPolicy on Sale of FinancialAssets, SBI places accounts forsale to ARCs/ Banks/ NBFCs/FIs, on the terms and condi-tions indicated there against.
All these accounts are to beauctioned under “SwissChallenge Method”, based onan existing offer in hand, whowill have the right to match thehighest bid.
In the latest Q2 results,SBI’s Fresh slippages halved to�8,800 crore from �16,000crore on a quarterly basis.
The asset quality of the
bank improved with gross non-performing asset (NPA) ratiocoming in at 7.19 per cent,down 276 bps yearly and 34 bpssequentially.
Net NPA ratio was at 2.79per cent, down 205 bps YoYand 28 bps QoQ.
The bank was holding totalprovisions of �22,399 crore,which was 89.63 per cent oftotal outstanding, as ofSeptember 30.
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With just two months to gofor the year-end, draft
papers for nearly 125 mutualfund schemes have been filed byasset management companieswith Sebi so far in 2019, muchlower than 211 such docu-ments submitted in entire 2018.
Fund houses attributed thefewer NFOs (new fund offers)in 2019 to tepid investors’ sen-timent and liquidity crisis indebt funds. Fixed maturityplan, exchange traded fund(ETF), retirement, sustainableequity fund and business cyclefund are some of the themes forwhich the mutual fund hous-es have filed the applications.
Interestingly, many mutualfund companies are also lookingat index funds and global funds.The draft documents for 125NFOs have been submitted withthe Securities and ExchangeBoard of India (Sebi) so far in2019 (till October 31), accord-ing to the markets regulator.
Of these, some of theschemes have already been
launched after getting regulato-ry clearances. “We have seen thetrends from past as well as thatthe number of NFOs are high-er when the markets are goodand lower when sentiments arebad,” said Omkeshwar Singh,head of mutual fund distributionbusiness at Samco.
“During last year-and-half,except for the past few funds,most of the equity funds haveunder-performed, especially inthe mid and small caps and also there has been lots ofbad news in debt funds.Therefore the NFOs have beenlower,” he added.
In recent months, themutual fund industry has beengrappling with redemptionpressures in the wake of debtcrises at various groups, includ-ing IL&FS, Essel and DHFL.
Axis Mutual MF, ICICIPrudential MF, UTI MF, SBIMF, Aditya Birla Sun Life MF,Edelweiss MF and RelianceMF are among the fund houses that have approachedSebi with the offer documentsfor NFOs.
Beijing: India will be one of the“Guest of Honour Country” atChina’s second InternationalImport Expo (CIIE) to beopened at Shanghai onNovember 5 where it plans tomake a strong pitch for exportsof its Pharma, IT and agricul-tural products among others.
An Indian business delega-tion headed by CommerceSecretary, Anup Wadhawan,would take part in the importexpo which is aimed at enablingcountries from the world overto showcase products toenhance their export to China.In this year’s expo to be inau-gurated by Chinese President XiJinping, India is among the 15Guest Countries of Honour.
The others are Cambodia,the Czech Republic, France,Greece, Italy, Jamaica, Jordan,Kazakhstan, Malaysia, Peru,Russia, Thailand, Uzbekistan,and Zambia.
A number of Europeanleaders — including FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronand incoming EU trade com-
missioner Phil Hogan wouldtake part in the expo whichwould be held from November5 to 10 for businessmen. Laterit would be open for public tillNovember 20.
Guests and representativesfrom more than 170 countriesand regions have been invitedto attend the expo, ViceMinister of Commerce, WangBingnan, told the media aheadof the fair. More than 500,000buyers and visitors from homeand abroad are expected at theexpo, he said.
The expo is composed ofthree parts — country exhibi-tions, business exhibitions andthe second HongqiaoInternational EconomicForum. It covered a total areaof 30,000 square meters, thecountry exhibitions will host 64countries and internationalorganisations, with uniquelydesigned pavilions to showcasethe countries’ developmentachievements, business envi-ronment and special industries,Wang said. PTI
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Telecom Minister RaviShankar Prasad has direct-
ed the ailing telecom PSUs,BSNL and MTNL, to start adialogue with their employeeson the terms and conditions ofthe voluntary retirementscheme (VRS) and prepare aroadmap for its successfulimplementation, higly placedsources said.
The Union Cabinet hadlast month approved a revivalpackage for BSNL and MTNLwhich includes a voluntaryretirement scheme (VRS) fortheir staff. The aim is to reducethe employee cost of the twocompanies by offering VRS totheir staff aged 50 years andabove based on the Gujarat model with some modifications.
The Government has setJanuary 31, 2020 as the last datefor employees opting for VRS.It will give �17,160-crore forVRS settlements and another�12,768 crore towards retire-ment liabilities.
BSNL has 1.76 lakhemployees, of which some 1.06lakh are over 50 years of age.The telco is keen that 80 percent of the employees shouldopt for the VRS.
MTNL has around 22,000employees. BSNL’s employeecost is 75 per cent of its totalincome and MTNL’s employeecost is 87 per cent of its totalincome.
The financial health ofboth PSUs depend on the suc-cess of the VRS, the imple-mentation of which would takea minimum of 90 days.
“The Minister on Fridaymet the boards of both BSNLand MTNL and conveyed tothem that the scheme must be implemented with aproper dialogue with theemployees, and by presentingthem with questions andanswers,” sources said.
“He told the boards of thetwo PSUs that it was the finestVRS announced by any PSU,and BSNL and MTNL must beproactive to make it a success,”said the sources.
Employees above the age of53.5 years will get 125 per centof their salary, which theycould have earned in balanceperiod of their service.Employees in the age bracket of50 to 53.5 years opting for theVRS will get benefit in therange of 80 to 100 per cent ofthe remuneration to be paid inthe balance period of theirservice.
For employees currentlymore than 55 years of age, onopting for VRS, the pensionwill be commuted only whenthey attain 60 years of age (thecurrent retirement age). For theemployees, currently of age 55years and less, on opting forVRS, the pension will be commuted in the sixth year2024-25.
Prasad also asked the PSUsto take proactive measures tomonetise their assets and com-plete everything in a time-bound manner.
“He said there will be strictmonitoring, and BSNL/MTNLwill have to deliver,” sourcespointed out.
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Iran’s Supreme Leader said onSunday that his country has
outmaneuvered the UnitedStates in the four decades sincethe 1979 Islamic Revolution.Ayatollah Sayyid Ali HusseiniKhamenei said Iran has“trapped the other party in thecorner of the ring in manycases,” adding that US aggres-sion toward Iran has onlygrown “wilder and more fla-grant” over the years.
Ayatollah Khamenei wasquoted on his official website ina speech to thousands of stu-dents, a day before the 40thanniversary of the US Embassytakeover in Tehran.
Tensions have been highbetween Washington andTehran following US PresidentDonald Trump’s decision over ayear ago to unilaterally pull outof the 2015 nuclear deal withIran and other world powers.
The US has sought to rollback Iran’s influence acrossthe region by imposing sanc-tions and providing militaryand other aid to its adversaries.Those sanctions have kept Iranfrom selling its oil abroad andhave crippled its economy. Iranhas since begun breaking termsof the nuclear deal.
Khamenei, who has final sayon all state matters, repeated hisopposition to talks with the USIn October, he had said negoti-ations with the US would nottake place unless Washingtonreturned to the nuclear deal bylifting its sanctions.
“A ban of negotiation withthe US is one of the most impor-tant instruments for closing the
path for their intervention inIran,” Khamenei said Sunday.
Iran routinely accuses theUS of interfering in its internalaffairs. It now points to theTrump administration’s “max-imum pressure” policy, whichit describes as trying to toppleits Islamic Republic.
The West Asia is currentlywitnessing anti-governmentdemonstrations in Lebanon andIraq. While those protests arefueled by local grievances andmainly directed at political elites,they also pose a challenge to Iran,which closely backs both gov-ernments as well as powerfularmed groups in each country.
Iran and its allies haveexpressed support for some of
the protesters’ demands, buthave also accused the US andother Western countries ofmanipulating the demonstra-tions to sow chaos.
Iran has expanded its influ-ence in neighboring Iraq fol-lowing the 2003 US-led inva-sion, which empowered thecountry’s Shiite majority. Iraqhas a number of powerful Iran-backed militias that were ini-tially mobilised to battle theIslamic State (ISIS) group.
Iran also backs theLebanese militant group
Hezbollah, which sent thou-sands of fighters to neigh-bouring Syria to help defeat theuprising against SyrianPresident Bashar Assad, anoth-er key Iranian ally.
The US has thrown itsweight behind Iranian rival SaudiArabia and other Gulf Arabmonarchies, which funded anumber of opposition groupsbattling Assad in Syria’s eight-yearcivil war. Assad’s government hassince all but won the war mili-tarily with the help of Russia andIran. The US also blames Iran fora September 14 attack key onSaudi oil infrastructure, whichtemporarily halved the king-dom’s production.
Tehran denies it launched
the cruise missiles and dronesused in the assault.
Yemen’s Houthi rebelsclaimed responsibility, but ana-lysts say the weapons usedwouldn’t have the range to
reach their targets from Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
A Saudi-led and US-backed military coalition hasbeen fighting the Iran-backedHouthis since 2015.
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The television station ofLebanon’s powerful Shi’ite
Islamist movement Hezbollahprotested on Saturday thatmost of its Twitter accounts hadbeen suspended.
Al-Manar accused the US-based social media platform ofgiving in to “political pressures”.
“Account suspended,” onesuch Arabic-language account,@almanarnews, read lateSaturday.
“There is no place onTwitter for illegal terroristorganisations and violentextremist groups,” a Twitterspokesperson told AFP.
The accounts in English,French and Spanish were alsonot available, but the Twitterhandles of specific televisionshows seemed to be function-ing.
Iran-backed Hezbollah isdesignated a “terrorist” groupby the United States and severalof its officials are under US
sanctions, but it is also a keypolitical player in Lebanon.
The group held three min-isterial posts and a majoritywith its Christian allies beforeLebanon’s cabinet fell this weekafter 13 days of mass anti-graftprotests.
Hezbollah is the only groupnot to have disarmed afterLebanon’s 1975-1990 civil war,and it fought Israeli troops whooccupied southern Lebanonuntil 2000.
It has also been a key allyof Syrian President Bashar al-Assad in the neighbouringcountry’s eight-year conflict.
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Sri Lanka’s Tamil NationalAlliance (TNA) on Sunday
said they will support the coun-try’s ruling party candidate,Sajith Premadasa, in theNovember 16 presidential election.
“After our central commit-tee meeting held in Vavuniyatoday, we have decided to backSajith Premadasa,” TNAspokesman and legislator MASumanthiran told reporters.
“His manifesto will bemore acceptable to Tamils(compared) to other candi-dates,” Sumanthiran said.
In his manifesto,Premadasa has pledged “max-imum devolution of powerwithin an undivided and indi-visible Sri Lanka”.
Sumanthiran said TNAleader R Sampanthan wouldconsult other parties in theTamil alliance before officiallyannouncing the TNA’s stand toback Premadasa.
Samanthiran said the 13-point plan of the Tamil politi-cal parties’ had not been pre-sented to any of the presiden-tial candidates.
The 13 points included thedemand to permanently mergenorth and eastern provinces,granting Tamils political auton-omy in a federal solution.
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Beijing said on Sunday it is“ready to work” with
Southeast Asian nations on acode of conduct in the flash-point South China Sea, whereit is accused of building up mil-itary installations and bullyingfellow claimants.
China claims most of theresource-rich waterway, amajor global shipping routethat has long been a source oftension in the region.
For years, the 10-memberAssociation of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) has beenlocked in talks for a code ofconduct for the sea, whereChina is accused of deployingwarships, arming outposts andramming fishing vessels.
The agreement, set to befinished in 2021, will lay outconduct guidelines for the seaalong with conflict resolutionparameters.
On Sunday, China’s premierLi Keqiang said the first read-ing of the document -- a chancefor all members to comment onthe draft terms -- was “a very
important landmark”.“We stand ready to work with
ASEAN countries building on theexisting foundation and the basisto strive for new progress” on theguidelines, he said.
He added that China want-ed to “maintain and upholdlong-term peace and stability inthe South China Sea”.
The Philippines -- whichhas sparred with China in thesea -- said Sunday that Beijingis committed to the code, despiteits broad claims to the waterway.
“It recognises the fact that
if it doesn’t agree to a code ofconduct then there will be tur-moil in the region,” presiden-tial spokesman Salvador Panelotold reporters in Bangkok onthe sidelines of ASEAN.
The Philippines in 2016filed a case with a UN-backedtribunal, which ultimatelyrejected Beijing’s assertions inthe sea.
Tensions in the waterwayhave flared in recent weeksbetween China and Vietnam,one of Beijing’s most vocalcritics on the issue.
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China on Sunday launchedGaofen-7, a new Earth
observation satellite, which willplay a major role in land sur-veying and mapping, urbanand rural construction andstatistical investigation, accord-ing to the China NationalSpace Administration (CNSA).
The Gaofen-7 was China’sfirst civil-use optical transmis-sion three-dimensional sur-veying and mapping satellitethat reaches the sub-metrelevel, Xinhua reported.
The satellite and carrierrocket were developed by theChina Academy of SpaceTechnology and the ShanghaiAcademy of SpaceflightTechnology under the ChinaAerospace Science andTechnology Corporation.
Along with Gaofen-7, threeother commercial and scientificexperiment satellites, includingone developed for Sudan, werealso launched into space.
The development of theGaofen-7 has achieved a break-through in sub-meter level 3Dmapping camera technology,meeting the highest mappingaccuracy requirement amongthe Gaofen series Earth obser-vation satellites, according to CNSA.
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The UN chief on Sundayurged Myanmar to ensure
the “safe” return of Rohingyarefugees driven out by armyoperations, a plea made infront of Aung San Suu Kyimore than two years since hercountry cracked down on theMuslim minority.
Speaking at a summit ofSoutheast Asian leaders inBangkok — with Myanmar’s defacto head Suu Kyi in the room— Antonio Guterres said heremains “deeply concerned”about the plight of theRohingya.
Violence in Rakhine state in2017 forced more than 740,000Rohingya to flee, most seekingrefuge in overcrowded camps inneighbouring Bangladesh, inwhat UN investigators sayamounted to genocide.
Myanmar does not recog-nise the Rohingya as citizens.
The country says it wel-comes back those who agree toa bureaucratic status belowfull citizenship, and if theyagree to live under tight guardafter their villages were incin-erated.
Guterres said Myanmar isresponsible to “ensure a con-ducive environment for thesafe, voluntary, dignified andsustainable repatriation ofrefugees”. Suu Kyi sat in theroom expressionless asGuterres spoke.
Only a few hundredRohingya have returned to
Myanmar so far, with manyfearing further persecution inthe Buddhist-majority country.
The secretary-general alsocalled on Myanmar “to ensurehumanitarian actors have fulland unfettered access to areasof return”.
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Leaders from fast-growingSoutheast Asian economies,
China and other regional pow-ers vowed Sunday to tran-scend conflicts over trade poli-cies and territorial disputes forthe sake of stronger economiesand regional stability.
President Donald Trumpskipped the summit of theAssociation of Southeast AsianNations and instead sent hisnational security adviser,Robert O’Brien.
Last year, Trump sent VicePresident Mike Pence. Bothnow are busy campaigningback home, and analysts saytheir absence will leave roomfor China to further raise itsprofile and clout in the region.
The ASEAN meeting’shost, Thai Prime MinisterPrayuth Chan-ocha, said thegroup aims to reach a basicagreement on plans for whatmay become one of the world’sbiggest trade blocs.
The proposed RegionalComprehensive EconomicPartnership aims to level tradebarriers between the 10ASEAN members and six othercountries in a bloc encom-passing nearly a third of allglobal trade.
Prayuth and other officialssaid the aim was to have a final
deal by next year. ASEAN alsohopes to set a code of conductwith China regarding disputedwaters in the South China Sea,he said. Chinese Premier LiKeqiang told other leadersattending that Beijing was com-mitted to forging such anagreement and to ASEAN’scentral role in the region.
“Given the complexity inthe international and regionalsituation, our cooperation isbuilt on a stable structure andmoving forward in a positivefashion,” Li said.
“This is beneficial to theregion and all parties involved.”“We support stability in theregion and by doing so we havebeen able to cope with theinstability elsewhere in theworld,” he said.
On the troublesome issueof the South China Sea, Li wel-comed progress on negotiatinga code of conduct aimed attaming aggressive actions thatcould set off armed confronta-tions in one of the world’smost disputed regions.
After being accused ofdelaying the start of talks foryears while building artificialislands with military outpostson contested reefs, Chinaagreed to commence negotia-tions and both sides announcedthat the first of three expectedrounds was concluded in July.
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Chinese Prime Minister LiKeqiang on Sunday pushed
for an early conclusion of talkson a mega free-trade pact amidpersisting doubts over the pro-posed multilateral agreementbetween 10 ASEAN countriesand their six trading partners.
Li was speaking before thestart of a bilateral meetingbetween China and theAssociation of Southeast AsianNations (ASEAN) on the side-lines of the annual summit ofthe regional bloc that will beheld until Monday here, reportsEfe news.
Leaders of the SoutheastAsian countries and severalother nations have gathered inthe Thai capital for the annu-al summit to boost their part-nerships with the regional blocamid an unending trade dis-pute between the US andChina.
Li highlighted the country’shigh expectations about the 16-nation trade partnership thatwill cover almost half of theworld’s population and bringtogether a third of the globalGDP.
He hoped that the pactwould be signed next year.
The agreement includes
China, Australia, South Korea,Japan, India, New Zealand,and the 10 ASEAN countries -Burma, Brunei, Cambodia, thePhilippines, Indonesia, Laos,Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand,and Vietnam.
On Saturday, PhilippineMinister of Commerce RamonLopez said the pact had theconsensus of all countriesexcept one.
So far, no bilateral meetinghas been scheduled betweenthe representatives of the USand China amid an ongoingtrade dispute between the twocountries that has negativelyaffected the global economy.
However, the two sideswere expected to meet at theEast Asia Forum on Monday.
Baghdad: Iraqi authorities havereduced the curfew in Baghdadto four hours from six, as anti-government protests continuedacross the capital city.
A statement on Saturday byBaghdad OperationsCommand (BOC), responsiblefor the security of Baghdadprovince, decided to set the newcurfew from 2 a.m. to 6 a.m.,while the previous one imposed
on October 28 started frommidnight, Xinhua news agencyreported on Sunday.
The curfew reduction isintended to give more time forthe protesters to return home,the statement said.
Since October 25, at least82 people have been killedand more than 3,000 injured inclashes between protesters andsecurity forces.
These new wave of protestsfollows the initial demonstra-tions that erupted on October1, which spread through thecapital and other regions of Iraqdue to outrage over the lack ofpublic services and employ-ment opportunities.
At least 157 people died inthe ensuing unrest, includingeight members of the securityforces. IANS
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Iran said on Saturday it hassent Iraq and Arab states of
the Gulf the text of its securi-ty and cooperation projectknown as Hormuz Peace Planfirst unveiled by PresidentHassan Rouhani at the UN inSeptember.
Rouhani “sent the full text(of the initiative) to the heads”of the Gulf CooperationCouncil and Iraq and “asked fortheir cooperation in processingand implementing it”, the for-eign ministry said.
The GCC is a six-nationbloc that groups Saudi Arabia,the United Arab Emirates,Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar andOman.
Ties have been tensebetween Iran and GCC mem-bers Saudi Arabia and theUAEnited Arab Emirates, bothallies of the United States andleading members of a militarycoalition battling Iran-backedHuthi rebels in Yemen.
In September, Rouhaniproposed in a speech at the UNGeneral Assembly a “Coalitionfor Hope” that would unite allregional countries in a pledge of
non-aggression and non-inter-ference in each others’ affairs.
It came after a string ofmysterious attacks on oiltankers in the Gulf and Saudioil installations, which theUnited States blamed onTehran. Iran denied anyinvolvement in the attacks.
“The security of the regionshall be provided whenAmerican troops pull out,”Rouhani said at the GeneralAssembly.
“In the event of an incident,you and we shall not remainalone. We are neighbours witheach other and not with theUnited States,” he added.
Tensions between Tehranand Washington have escalat-ed sharply since US PresidentDonald Trump unilaterallywithdrew last year from the2015 Iran nuclear deal.
He has since reimposedunilateral sanctions as part ofits “maximum pressure” cam-paign.
The arch-foes came to thebrink of a military confronta-tion in June when Iran downeda US drone and Trump orderedretaliatory strikes before can-celling them at the last minute.
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Portland: A federal judge inPortland, Oregon, on Saturdayput on hold a Trump adminis-tration rule requiring immi-grants prove they will havehealth insurance or can pay formedical care before they can getvisas.
US District Judge MichaelSimon granted a preliminaryinjunction that prevents the rulefrom going into effect Sunday. It’snot clear when he will rule on themerits of the case.
Seven Us citizens and anonprofit organization filed thefederal lawsuit Wednesday con-tending the rule would blocknearly two-thirds of all prospec-tive legal immigrants.
The lawsuit also said the rulewould greatly reduce or eliminatethe number of immigrants whoenter the United States withfamily sponsored visas.
“We’re very grateful that thecourt recognized the need toblock the health care ban imme-diately,” says Justice Action Centersenior litigator Esther Sung, whoargued at Saturday’s hearing onbehalf of the plaintiffs.
“The ban would separatefamilies and cut two-thirds ofgreen-card-based immigrationstarting tonight, were the ban notstopped,” he said.
The proclamation signedby President Donald Trump inearly October applies to peopleseeking immigrant visas fromabroad — not those in the USalready. It does not affect lawfulpermanent residents. It doesnot apply to asylum-seekers,
refugees or children.The proclamation says
immigrants will be barred fromentering the country unless theyare to be covered by healthinsurance within 30 days ofentering or have enough finan-cial resources to pay for any med-ical costs. The rule is the Trumpadministration’s latest effort tolimit immigrant access to pub-lic programs while trying tomove the country away from afamily based immigration systemto a merit-based system.
The White House said in astatement at the time the procla-mation was issued that too manynon-citizens were taking advan-tage of the country’s “generouspublic health programs,” and saidimmigrants contribute to theproblem of “uncompensatedhealth care costs.”
Under the government’s visarule, the required insurance canbe bought individually or pro-vided by an employer and it canbe short-term coverage or cata-strophic.
Medicaid doesn’t count, andan immigrant can’t get a visa ifusing the Affordable Care Act’ssubsidies when buying insur-ance. The federal governmentpays for those subsidies.
According to the MigrationPolicy Institute, a nonpartisanimmigration think tank, 57% ofUS immigrants had privatehealth insurance in 2017, com-pared with 69% of US-born, and30% had public health insurancecoverage, compared with 36% ofnative-born. AP
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Discipline is vital to every living being and espe-cially to social beings, because without it mankind
will be ruined. To live a peaceful life in the society, itis a pre-requisite. However, it can neither be acquiredfrom books, nor can it be learnt from anyone. It canonly be inculcated if one includes it in their routine,right from the moment of waking up to the time ofgoing off to sleep.
As per the dictionary discipline means ‘Trainingto act in accordance with rules; activity, exercise ora regimen that develops or improves a skill’. It directsus towards positive emotions, actions and thoughts.Hence, wherever we go, weneed to carry disciplinewith us and inspire others todo the same if they areunaware of its value.We canlead a very systematic life ifwe learn to be disciplined inever ything we do. Weshould go to bed and wakeup at the right time everyday. We should eat a bal-anced diet to stay healthy,and get the right amount ofexercise to stay fit. We mustinhale fresh air everyday tohave a peaceful mind.
In the present milieu, indiscipline or lack of corehuman values is considered to be a major factor forthe downfall of our civilisation. It is a known fact thatno country can rise without a sense of disciplineamong its nationals. Indiscipline shows that there isa sense of frustration or absence of control in the soci-ety, which further leads to restlessness of mind anda tendency to disobey and overthrow the code of con-duct. This roughness in behaviour and the spirit ofrevolt is not really a thirst for freedom but an attemptto earn recognition. All these are symptoms of a mindwhich is void of peace and contentment.
The need of the hour is to engage the youth in con-structive activities and channelise its energies in a pos-itive way for the benefit of the society. If parents can-not inspire their progeny by their love, sacrifice, char-acter, good behaviour and a spirit of understanding,then youngsters, who have a superfluous physical ener-gy become restless and tend to rebel against the sys-tem which the elders have set up. However, on oneside we cannot hold only children responsible for thisbehaviour. If the parents are of high character andintegrity, then there would be no reason why theywould not be respected. But on the other side this doesnot mean that children are not at fault. It’s a knownfact that many of them are misguided by their owntroublesome friends whom they consider to be theirleaders.
However, the most potent factor that is respon-sible for the restlessness and indiscipline among thechildren is the absence of moral and spiritual educa-tion in schools and colleges and lack of inspirationfrom their elders at home. It is spiritual educationwhich gives a person self-control and values like tol-erance, patience, sobriety, humility and respect for theelderly. It transforms him from a restless person to aperson with contentment, dedication and spirit of sac-rifice. Hence, it is important to impart moral valuesto our children during the formative years. Such habitswere being cultivated since generations and were nur-tured as culture and heritage, but somewhere it stoppedpercolating down due to massive western cultural inva-sion that happened during the last few years. What wesee today is a reflection of the alien culture that we havebeen blindly following. It is not the value system thatour forefathers had been meticulously fostering. So,let us go back to our roots, our immaculate founda-tion and revive our “original Indian cultural heritage”that got lost in the maze of so called modernisation.Only then would we be able to create a new path ofchange for the generations to follow.
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Seven-year-old Aryan Singh couldhave met the same fate as hiscousin, who died seven years ago
because the nearest hospital was toofar.
When Aryan returned home fromschool with a low-grade fever inmid-September, his mother initiallydismissed it as seasonal, worrying onlywhen his temperature shot upovernight. She hopped on her hus-band’s motorbike with her son cling-ing to her, riding through the ruttedroads of their village in India’s north-ern state of Uttar Pradesh beforereaching a rural government healthcare center at around 2 am.
Doctors hospitalised Aryan afterhe was diagnosed with scrub typhus,a bacterial infection spread by rats andmites that accounts for nearly 40 percent of identif iable causes ofencephalitis — potentially fatal brainswelling that is rare globally butprevalent in parts of South Asia andsub-Saharan Africa.
A vaccine for one strain of the dis-ease, Japanese encephalitis, is avail-able, but there is no guard against thestrains caused by bacteria. The sur-vival rate is high if the disease is treat-ed early. “The boy is on the path ofrecovery,” said Dr KP Yadav, in chargeof primary health at the center. “Thecredit goes to the parents who did notwait till morning and brought thechild to the hospital.” His mother saidAryan’s cousin wasn’t so lucky. He diedbecause the closest well-equippedhospital was 85 kilometers (53 miles)from their village.
Acute encephalitis syndrome,including Japanese encephalitis, iscaused by several different viruses,bacteria, fungi, parasites, spirochetes,chemical and toxins. The outbreak ofJapanese encephalitis coincides with
the June-October monsoon seasonand the post-monsoon period whenthe density of mosquitoes increases.It typically spreads from pigs to peo-ple via mosquitoes, and is easily iden-tified through testing. It infects manypeople in childhood.
Years of recurring outbreaks andhigh fatality rates among children insome of India’s poorest regions haverevealed the cracks in the country’shealth care system. Between 2007 and2016, almost 75,000 cases were report-ed from 22 states and union territo-
ries in India, according to the NationalVector Borne Disease ControlProgramme.
Nearly 25,000 children in Indiahave died from encephalitis since1978. By contrast, there were about7,300 children admitted to US hospi-tals with encephalitis from 2004 to2013, according to a 2016 study of anational pediatric health database. Ofthose, 230 children died.
But things are changing in UttarPradesh — India’s most populousstate, with millions of rural poor.Encephalitis cases in have droppedsharply because of a new network ofrural clinics, doctors and state govern-ment officials. Uttar Pradesh’s easternportion experienced India’s worstencephalitis outbreak in 2005, withover 1,500 deaths reported at state-runBaba Raghav Das Medical College inGorakhpur, 230 kilometers (143miles) southeast of Lucknow, thestate capital.
But a massive immunisation andcleanliness drive launched in 2017 inthe seven districts with the highestcaseloads is sharply bringing down thefatality rate, said Yogi Adityanath, thestate’s top elected official. In the past,the patients had to travel at least 100
kilometers (60 miles) to reach a well-equipped government hospital, witha large number of them dying on theway.
Small hospitals are now being setup within a distance of 10 kilometers(6 miles) from the most disease-prone villages, said Dr Mahima Mittal,head of the pediatrics department atthe public BRD Hospital.
Before taking over the state’s topstate position two years ago,Adityanath, who is also a Hindumonk of a revered temple inGorakhpur, represented the region inIndia’s Parliament for 25 years. Hefaced flak for not doing enough tocontrol the outbreak of the dreadeddisease.
When his Bharatiya Janata Partywon state elections in 2017, he rose topower. Adityanath immediatelyordered the strengthening of healthservices in seven encephalitis-endem-ic districts. More than 100 encephali-tis treatment centers and pediatricsintensive care units were set up closeto villages. More than 1,00,000 doc-tors and paramedics were given spe-cial training to treat encephalitispatients. Over four million childrenwere given vaccines against Japaneseencephalitis between January andMarch this year. Last year, 3.5 millionchildren were vaccinated against thedisease, Adityanath said.
The state government claims asteady decline in encephalitis fatalitiesin the last two years. In 2017,encephalitis took the lives of 748 peo-ple. The death toll dropped to 278 in2018. Up to August 31 of this year,only 38 children had died of the dis-ease. Dr RN Singh, who has battledthe disease in the state for the last 25years, said there was no way to inde-pendently verify the government’sclaims, but that a decline in encephali-tis cases was visible. “Earlier, I used toexamine two to three encephalitiscases in a week, but now one casecomes in a month or so,” he said.
His non government organisationtargeted Holiya, a vi l lage inGorakhpur district, providing accessto toilets and safe drinking water, vac-cinations, mosquito spraying andmosquito nets. Garbage disposal hasbeen taken up by local elected bodies.Tens of thousands of toilets have beenbuilt in the region to stop people fromdefecating in the open, according to stateofficials. Dr. Shishir Roy, a pediatricianin a rural dispensary, said besides mas-sive immunisations, the state govern-ment also launched a campaign calledDastak, or Door-Knock, in the sameseven encephalitis-prone districts.
State government workers knock atthe doors of every village, educating res-idents about the symptoms of encephali-tis, the need for clean drinking waterand how to keep their living spaces freefrom mosquitoes and other insects. “Ifyou ask me, it is the knock on the doorproject which has knocked theencephalitis out of this endemic region,”Roy said.
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Greta Thunberg, Sweden’s 16-year-old climate-change
activist, joined fellow teenagersfrom throughout Californiatelling a cheering crowd of hun-dreds at a Los Angeles rally thatthey can and will fight to savetheir planet from global warming.
Thunberg, who has beentraveling across the United Statessince delivering a passionatespeech in New York in Septemberthat demanded world leaders domore to combat global warming,spoke at a rally organised byYouth Climate Strike Los Angeles.
The group of young peopleused the rally at California’s oil-extraction industry to call for aphaseout of wells and othermeans of withdrawing petroleumfrom California’s earth.
Before Thunberg spoke shejoined a crowd of about 1,000 inmarching from the lawn in frontof City Hall to GovernmentGavin Newsom’s Los Angelesoffice to demand that oil drillingshould be stopped.
“I will never understand howthey can put short-term interestsabove our lives, future and abovethe planet’s future,” Thunbergsaid of businesses that producefossil fuels and other products thatcontribute to global warming.
“But we young people havehad enough. We say no more.And if our parents won’t speak upfor us, we will,” she added to thun-derous applause from the crowd,which, although it leaned towardthe young side, contained a cross-section of ages.
She said that she believesyoung people like herself arebecoming more prominent in theclimate-change movementbecause, with almost their wholelives ahead of them, they recog-nise how great the danger is totheir generation.
“Many young people areaware that they will be verymuch impacted by what we aredoing now and that their futurewill be destroyed,” she said. “Weknow what is at stake in a way thatmany older people maybe don’t.”
The rally’s lead organiser,17-year-old college freshmanKailynn Cruz, agreed. “I think it’s
fear,” she said when asked whatmotivated her and other teenagersto begin dedicating so muchtime to fighting climate change.“We thought we’re going to havea future, but we found out it wasbeing taken from us.”
That realisation, she said,got her to begin studying global
warming and led to her getting toknow like-minded youth likeThunberg, who arrived in the USfrom her native Sweden in an eco-friendly sailboat earlier this yearand crossed the country by trainand electric car.
Thunberg said she’s been inclose touch with members of
Youth Climate Strike Los Angelesduring her trip across the coun-try, adding that she was honouredto be invited to speak. She hastaken a year off from her highschool studies to advocate forending global warming and plansto travel to Spain in December toattend another United Nations cli-mate summit.
The diminutive teen is sur-prisingly soft-spoken in personbut not afraid to raise her voiceto rally others to the cause, as shedied in September when sheeviscerated world leaders in apassionate speech at the UnitedNations in New York. There, sheaccused them of taking away herchildhood and endangering herfuture by making promises toattack global warming and notfulfilling them.
She returned to that themeas she concluded her speech inLos Angeles.
“The older generations arefailing us. They are failing futuregenerations, but future genera-tions do not have a voice and thebiosphere does not have a voice,”she said. “So, we will be the voicethat speaks up for them.
“Do you think they are lis-tening to us?” she asked. “No,”the crowd shouted loudly, towhich she replied equally loud-ly, “Well, we will make them lis-ten.”
The protest is part of aneffort to pressure the state to shutdown oil extraction, especially indensely populated urban neigh-borhoods like those dotting LosAngeles and surrounding cities.
Eventually, organisers say,they’d like to see California, oneof the nation’s largest oil-produc-ing states, get out of the extrac-tion business to reduce climatechange.
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������������� In 1980s Tokyo, an enigmatic expat is suspected of
killing her friend, who's gone missing in the wake of theirlove triangle with a local photographer. Starring AliciaVikander, Riley Keough and Naoki Kobayashi, the filmreleases on November 15 on Netflix.
���� ���������Mehdi gets out of prison, planning to settle old scores. But
first, he must reconnect with his gang, now living in an idyllicbeach resort in Thailand. Starring Sami Bouajila, Tewfik Jallaband Mélanie Doutey, the film releases on November 8 on Netflix.
�����������A snowstorm hits a small town on a cold Christmas Eve, affect-
ing the friendships, love lives and futures of several high school seniors.Starring Isabela Moner, Shameik Moore and Kiernan Shipka, the filmreleases on November 8 on Netflix.
; � � 6
Nerve-wracking,” was Neil NitinMukesh’s exact feeling when heproduced his forthcoming film
Bypass Road. And for the first time, he hasdonned several other hats too — that of anactor, screenplay writer and playbacksinger. He says, “Creativity shouldn’t haveany boundaries. This is what I was taughtsince childhood. As I come from an artistfamily, it’s very important for me to keepmy forefathers name flying high. The con-stant effort to push the envelope from myend proves my overambitious nature.”
The drama-thriller revolves around ayoung successful fashion prodigy, Vikram(played by Neil), who is the prime suspectin a murder. Slowly and gradually the plotgets intense as a sudden turn of eventsmakes the protagonist a victim of an acci-dent.
Thriller is such a broad genre that thereare many aspects to it which can be furtherdivided into sub-genres such as psycholog-ical thriller, horror thriller, crime thriller,revenge thriller and many others. The sub-category of horror genre is home invasion,which Neil feels is unexplored in our coun-try. It has a story whose thematic and plotelements deal with the forceful entry of oneor more individuals into an occupiedspace. He says, “We have home invasionsas one of the prime spots. When I realisedthat there’s a major dearth of home inva-sions in India, I started writing one.”
He recalls an incident that lead to theideation of the film. “Four years ago whileI was travelling back from Dubai, I read inthe paper that OTT platform would cometo India. I knew the moment they come,they are going to dominate the market bigtime. Before that it was important to edu-cate our audience about the genres. So, Idecided to make a home invasion filmbecause the content needed to be developedsoon to give the audience the best of boththe worlds — digital and cinema.
The genre is popular in the Westbecause people there are aware about itsnuances. But in India it’s not easy to bringa novelty like this because the audienceneeds to be educated about it first. “Theaudience in the West don’t need a story orback story to understand the film, theyunderstand it naturally. But here I knew ifI left the plot the way it is, many questionswould be thrown at me. For example, whois the man behind the mask? or why doeshe want to kill the protagonist? (scenes inthe trailer). When these questions poppedup in my mind I thought it’s important toaddress them and develop a sub plot thatleads to home invasion. So, the first halfexplains each character and develops itgradually so that it helps the audience under-stand the plot in a better way. Each charac-ter has been given great amount of impor-tance,” he adds. The film is an amalgamationof the murder mystery and the home inva-sion territory which blends in smoothly.
The film’s song So Gaya Yeh Jahaan isvery special for the actor as it was initiallysung by his father Nitin Mukesh in the 1989classic Tezab. Neil says, “Recreating this songis a big honour for me. I couldn’t have askedfor more. This is the smallest touch from myend to give back to my family.”
Talking about the genre the actor saysthat he hasn’t seen a good murder mysteryafter Badla. But he adds on that even that wasa remake and questions, “What about an orig-inal idea?” He then talks about his film say-
ing it is original and will keep the audienceconstantly on the edge guessing who is play-ing what?
There are many films which are quitepredictable from the trailer. But that is notthe case with this one. Here it seems as if thestory is running multi dimensionally. It ishard to connect the dots. Is it a consciousmove? “There’s so much happening simul-taneously the audience will stay hooked. Youcannot say it was planned but yes, we wereprepared for it. In our screenplay we haveconsciously and seamlessly made an effort tomake sure that the audience gets back ontrack if they feel deviated. Though, I don’tintend to spoon feed them,” says he. He addsthat he wants the audience to understand theprotagonist and see the film from his perspec-tive.
The actor feels that one should alwaysmake the film from the audience point ofview and not have an individualisticapproach. Neil says, “I question myself first.‘Would I want to see a film like this?’” As amaker he feels its his derogative to give theaudience their money’s worth.
Talking about the challenges as a writerNeil says, “Writing the script in a controlledbudget was tough. While writing I can havegreat visual sense and can write the sequencesseamlessly. But being realistic to my budgetwas difficult. As an actor I can be selfish andask for 25 safaris in a scene. But when youare a producer you know what you can affordand what you can’t.”
The script was initially written in a waythat the scenes would look glorified on thescreen but when Neil actually had to act, itwas very difficult. He recalls a bath tubsequence where he was suspended on a har-ness and taken to bath. The scene shows thatthe harness falls into water and Neil startsdrowning. “It was scary. Imagine yourselfbeing submerged upside down into water andthere you have to perform with your handstied up with chain. Talking about it is scar-ing me again. It was more scary because mycrew wouldn’t know that whether I am act-ing or I am actually in danger. That was a bigfear point,” he says.
The protagonist, Vikram has manyshades of human elements. He is initially afashion prodigy in a glamorous world but his
life changes after he is injured in an accidentand is completely restricted to a wheel chair.This helplessness was challenging and madethe actor bite the character strongly. “It is asubtly nuanced film. It is not unnecessarilymelodramatic but instead tries to evoke someemotions naturally,” says he.
There’s a dialogue in the film, “Zindagiaur raaste kis mod pe badal jaaye kisi ko nhipta.” (No one knows when life or its pathchange). The actor says that it is so ironic thatthe moment you start taking yourself too seri-ously, life has a way of getting you back ontrack. Same happens with Vikram. His lifechanged very unexpectedly after he met withan accident.
As more actors turn producers, Neil says,“It’s superb. Most of the actors are doing itbecause they are confident about their craft.How long will you wait for somebody else totrust you with something that you know youcan trust yourself with? How long will I waitfor that perfect script and role to come myway? And especially when I know that I havethe acting skills in me.”
He recalls how his debut film, JohnnyGaddar, shocked the audience but worked.But then it began to be repeated thematical-ly. So Neil wants to be a clutter-breaker ratherthan become a stereotype. For Neil, filmmak-ing is slightly larger than life. He loves the factcinema has got that power to teleport theaudience into the world it wants to. Citingthe example of Steven Spielberg, he wondershow he made us believe in both Jurassic Parkand ET: The Extra-Terrestrial.
This quest for breaking moulds hasmeant that Neil has made a mark with char-acter roles too. “I am not one of those whoalways wants to be the lead. If the role isimportant, be it of a driver in the film, I’ll doit. The only thing that matters is that heshould be important in the story. If he is thenit doesn’t matters if it’s an ensemble film orthe character is grey or he is the protagonist.In Prem Ratan Dhan Payo, Salman (Khan)was the lead but it doesn’t mean that mineor any other actors’ character was not essen-tial to the storytelling. Also, now the audi-ence is accepting and equally giving impor-tance to diverse characters of the film,” saysNeil.
(The film releases on November 8).
People of Delhi-NCR have becomeaccustomed to deteriorating air
quality and prone to various respirato-ry and heart diseases over the last 10years. While there are ways to curb thesevere effects of pollution on yourbody like staying indoors, using airpurifiers, limiting exercises in the openand wearing pollution masks, people arehardly aware of the benefits that comewith it, especially the last. Wearing anti-pollution masks might bring a little bitof reassurance but how does it decreaseexposure and protect you? And whatquality should one look for in a mask?
As per experts, a three-layered sur-gical mask or an N95 mask is usuallysuggested to patients with breathingissues. The label stands for the maskability to filter out at least 95 per centof the airborne particles, which are larg-er than 0.3 microns. However, sensitivepersons should consider using the N99version of those masks, which stands for
filtering more the 99 per cent of air-borne particles. Among other things arenasal filters, which are useful for peo-ple who are at high risk or going to areaswhere pollution level is very high.
Various companies, working toensure a pollution-free lifestyle, are pro-ducing anti-pollution products likemasks, which can be looked at and com-pared for their different qualities andbenefits.
The Prana air mask has an N95 fil-ter and a fan inside that maintains theairflow, allowing one to breathe effort-lessly. It features six-layer air purifica-tion that includes two layers of activat-ed carbon to prevent harmful gases, a
layer of pre-white filter to stop all par-ticles larger than 0.10 microns, and twolayers of HEPA to stop all PM 2.5 andPM 1 particles larger than 0.3 microns.Its purification efficiency is 99.95 per
cent. It has a rechargeable battery thatlasts over five hours.
Another one that has been rated oneof the most used is the AtlantaHealthcare Cambridge N99 air pollutionmask. Well, this one adds to fashion toowith its designed cover. The maskcomes in three different models — one,no valve; two, 1 valve; and three, twovalves. You can get any but having twovalves is good for running and work. Itcomes with an adjustable nose clip fora perfect fit. It also offers variousdesigns to choose from. The mask canbe used for 250 to 300 breathing hours.So, you can use it for months.
Vogmask Masks N99 are anotherdesigner masks that filters 99 per centof airborne particles of 0.3 microns andlayers, carbon filter and exhales valve.The Vogmask 8-bit single valve masksare available at Nirvana Being. One suchis also Repeller N99, which comeswith an N99 carbon filter that eliminates
up to PM 2.5 particles. It has adjustablestraps and is washable. If you use it for12 hours a day, it can last for around twomonths.
Keeping the importance of exerciseand sports in mind, there are idMaskmasks by Nirvana Being as well, whichcan be used while running or any out-door sport activity. They are made forthe physically active community in away that they are comfortable evenwhile engaging in a tiresome exercise.
Even though these masks mightcome to our rescue, their proper usageis important to make them fully help-ful. Else, the mask is of no use. Fittingit tight might cause discomfort. And tobe really efficient, the masks should beused and worn properly to ensure agood ‘fit’ with the face. But they are cer-tainly important. Even Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal distributedaround 50 lakh anti-pollution masks toschool-goers recently.
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Matthijs de Ligt madesure Juventus kepthold of top spot in
Serie A after his first goal forthe club saw off local rivalsTorino, leaving Inter Milan insecond despite RomeluLukaku taking his league tallyto nine with a brace in a 2-1win at Bologna.
Inter had briefly led inItaly after Lukaku slottedhome a 92nd-minute penaltyto snatch the three points atBologna on Saturday, but Juveretook first place thanks to DeLigt, who smashed home theony goal of the game in Turinwith 20 minutes remaining.
Maurizio Sarri’s side staya point ahead of Inter thanksto a hard-fought derby winthat saw both sides exchangeblows in a bruising contest.
“I am really happy, ofcourse. It was a really impor-tant game, as Inter won also.We won 1-0 and it was my
goal, so really special,” DeLigt told DAZN.
De Ligt has had a shakystart to life in Italy and couldwell have given away an earlypenalty when he touched theball with his arm early in thefirst half, but was let off by ref-eree Daniele Doveri and theVAR officials.
However the Netherlandsinternational, who had alreadybeen denied by a superbSalvatore Sirigu stop justbefore the break, came uptrumps in the 70th minutewhen he met substituteGonzalo Higuain's pull backjust after the Argentine hadforced a corner with a sizzlingvolley.
“Obviously, when youcome to a new club, it’s alwaysgoing to be hard. It’s goingwell, the guys made me feelwelcome and I think I’mimproving every game,” addedDe Ligt.
The win maintains Juve’sunbeaten start to the season
and keeps them on course fora ninth straight league title,while Inter have to contentthemselves with seconddespite Lukaku’s match-win-ning display.
The Belgian became thefirst player since Ronaldo in1997/98 to score at least ninegoals in his first 11 Serie Amatches as an Inter player after
a 75th-minute tap-in whichcancelled out RobertoSoriano’s deflected opener anda stoppage time spot-kick win-ner.
“I’m pleased to have hadsuch a good start, but I am 26years old and I need to growevery day, along with thewhole team,” Lukaku told SkySport.
��������������3����Inter have been tipped as
the principal challengers forJuve's Serie A title but had tobe saved from a lacklustredisplay by their star summersigning, who arrived fromManchester United for 65 mil-lion euros (USD 73 million).
His form will be a bigboost going into Tuesday’shuge trip to BorussiaDortmund, which could makeor break their ChampionsLeague campaign with bothsides level on four pointsbehind Group F leadersBarcelona.
Inter are also six pointsahead of Roma, who movedthird in Serie A on Saturdayafter their 2-1 win over wob-bling Napoli.
Rising star Nicolo Zanioloopened the scoring midwaythrough the first half with hisfourth goal in as many gamesin all competitions beforeJordan Veretout sealed thepoints from the penalty spot
10 minutes after the break andstretched Roma's unbeatenleague run to six games.
“I’m very pleased withmy current form, I hope tocontinue like this and to scoremany more goals,” Zaniolotold Sky Sport.
Arkadiusz Milik’s fifthgoal in four games closed thegap for Napoli, but the defeatsees them drop down to sev-enth, level on 18 points withLazio and Cagliari and 11behind Juve after winningjust one of their last five inSerie A.
Paulo Fonseca's Romameanwhile are on a fine recentrun despite an injury crisisthat kept a host of first teamstarters out of action over thelast few weeks.
They are set to have fur-ther selection problems nextweek after Mert Cetin, whoreplaced suspended FedericoFazio, was sent off for twobookable offences deep instoppage time.
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Frank Lampard said “sloppy”Chelsea need to be more
clinical after they survived atense finish to climb to thirdplace in the Premier League witha 2-1 victory at lowly Watford.
Lampard’s side bouncedback from their midweekLeague Cup defeat againstManchester United to make itfive successive league wins onSaturday.
The Blues have won eight oftheir past nine matches in allcompetitions as Lampard con-tinues to make a good impres-sion in his first season in charge.
His decision to go withunproven youngsters likeTammy Abraham, who openedthe scoring, has been a shrewdmove, while Christian Pulisic,scorer of the second, is justify-ing his hefty price tag after start-ing the season on the bench.
Gerard Deulofeu’s late VAR-awarded penalty came too lateto stop Chelsea recording a sev-enth successive away win in allcompetitions.
They are just two pointsbehind second-placedManchester City despite beingunable to sign players in thesummer due to a transfer ban.
But with a trip to Citylooming and Champions Leagueties against Ajax and Valencia onthe schedule, November willprovide much sterner tests ofChelsea’s progress than thisstroll in the autumn chill atVicarage Road.
“We played really well, ourmidfield was outstanding, butwe just cannot have that sloppybit near the end,” Lampard said.
“It was a terrible 10 minutesconsidering how the game hadgone. We need to be more clin-ical, we got a bit sloppy.
“We rely on our goalkeep-er for those moments at the endof the game and he did what weneeded him to do.”
Despite his frustration atChelsea’s nervous finish,Lampard praised their impres-sive start.
“I’m happy with how theplayers are playing. It’s great towatch,” he said.
Watford could have lost bya much bigger margin and theyremain bottom of the table,without a win in the league thisseason.
Chelsea made a blisteringstart that reaped an immediatereward when Abraham acceler-ated on Jorginho’s sublime pin-point pass and lifted a cool fin-ish over Ben Foster.
It was Abraham’s 10th goalof his breakthrough campaignending a five-game goal droughtfor the young England striker,who has scored seven goals inaway games this season.
Just as significantly,Jorginho’s role in the goal indi-cated the Italy midfielder'simproved form in his secondseason with Chelsea.
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Only Foster stoppedChelsea’s dominant displayyielding more goals.
Foster kept out Abrahamwith a fine save, then fromWillian's corner, Pulisiclooped a header that forced aneven better stop by theWatford keeper.
Having won their previ-ous six games on the road inall competitions, Chelsea werein confident mood and MasonMount was inches away fromtheir second goal when hislong-range blast was pushedonto the bar by Foster’s finesave.
Chelsea had lost just oneof their last 58 league gameswhen leading at half-time, atWolves in December 2018.
Foster was all that stoodbetween the Blues and anoth-er away-day success as the 36-year-old denied Mount withanother superb stop early inthe second half.
Pulisic had scored a hat-trick in last weekend’s win atBurnley and the United Stateswinger was back on the score-sheet to put the result beyonddoubt in the 55th minute.
Abraham was the providerwith a low cross and Pulisicevaded Watford's dozingdefence to tap in from closerange.
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The Indian women’s team suf-fered a 0-3 defeat against hosts
Vietnam in the first of the twoFIFA international friendly match-es in Hanoi, Vietnam on Sunday.
Thi Nhung (8th minute), ThiVan (82nd) and Thi Thuy Hang(89th) scored a goal apiece for the
hosts to secure the comfortablewin.
Aditi Chauhan pulled off aterrific save in the 12th minute todeny Vietnam from doubling thelead.
At the stroke of the half-hourmark, Bala Devi unleashed asuperb shot from centre only tosee it missing the target by a
whisker.Coach Maymol Rocky
opted to make an early substi-tution in the form of Daya, whoreplaced Sumitra in the 32ndminute.
Aditi was unarguably at thetop of her game, as she kept Indiain the fight till the 80th minute,before Vietnam rammed back-
to-back goals to seal the tie.After the changeover, Thi
Van tucked in the hosts’ secondgoal before Hang convertedfrom a corner-kick with a minuteof regulation time left on theclock.
The two sides will face-offonce again in their secondfriendly on Wednesday.
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World number oneAshleigh Barty spectacu-
larly ended her jinx againstdefending champion ElinaSvitolina to win the WTAFinals on Sunday and scoop therichest prize in tennis history.
Barty, who had never beat-en Svitolina in five previousattempts, won 6-4, 6-3 in onehour and 26 minutes at theShenzhen Bay Sports Centre.
The Australian claimed arecord-setting US$4.42 mil-lion paycheque —the largestsum ever awarded in men's andwomen's tennis.
Barty's only loss was to latereplacement Kiki Bertens andshe became the fifth debutant
to win the lucrative round-robin tournament.
“It’s been the most incred-ible year for me,” Barty saidafter the match.
Svitolina has not won a tro-phy since claiming the WTAFinals in Singapore last year,which remains the biggest titleof her career. She had lost justone set before the final to be ontrack to claim a maximumprize of $4.725 million beforefalling short in the decider.
The Ukrainian had taken aliking to the slow indoor hardcourt, which has been criticisedby other players, with hermethodical counterpunchingoverwhelming opponents —but she was thwarted by anirresistible Barty.
“It definitely was a greatweek for me,” Svitolina said.
“(Barty) had a great tour-nament and an amazing year.”
Both players, who servedstrongly in Shenzhen, comfort-
ably held service until Bartyfaced trouble in the ninthgame, but she saved a breakpoint and dug deep when itmattered most to fend offSvitolina’s relentless defensive
prowess.An increasingly confident
Barty then attacked Svitolina'sserve in the 10th game andclaimed the set with a sizzlingforehand winner.
The Ukrainian hit backearly in the second set and wasgifted a break in the thirdgame through a Barty doublefault but could not consolidateon serve.
Svitolina’s title defenceappeared in tatters when shedouble faulted to lose serve inthe sixth game but courageous-ly broke back.
The see-saw continued
when Barty captured anotherbreak in a gruelling eighthgame before serving it out tocap off a momentous season,which also includes a FrenchOpen crown and the year-endnumber one ranking.
Barty’s season is set tocontinue when she spearheadsAustralia's Fed Cup title hopesagainst France in the final onNovember 9-10.
It was the first WTA Finalsplayed in Shenzhen after afive-year run in Singapore andthe competition will be basedin the southern Chinese cityuntil 2028.
The event's move to Chinawas highlighted by an eye-watering total prize pool of $14million.
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Lewis Hamilton’s hopes ofclinching his sixth drivers’
world championship with a styl-ish American triumph wererocked when his Mercedesteam-mate Valtteri Bottasgrabbed a surprise pole positionat the United States Grand Prix.
Bottas, the only man whocan delay Hamilton’s celebra-tions, kept alive his own faintand unlikely statistical hopes, byproducing a stunning lap thatbroke Hamilton's qualifyingrecord at the Circuit of theAmericas set last year.
“I’m really happy about that— it was a nice lap,” said Bottason Saturday.
“To get those kind of laps ona track like this is a good feeling.
“On my last lap, I was los-ing grip overall so I am gladnobody improved in the end onthe second runs.”
The Finn, who has to winthe race and hope Hamilton fin-ishes outside the top eight tokeep the championship alive,clocked a best lap in one minuteand 32.029 seconds to outpacesecond-placed Sebastian Vettelof Ferrari by 0.012 seconds.
Max Verstappen was thirdfor Red Bull ahead of CharlesLeclerc in the second Ferrari andHamilton, who was fifth.
It was the champion-elect’sequal-worst qualifying onAmerican soil, but he acceptedhe had nobody to blame buthimself for failing to produce acomplete lap at his best.
“nothing to do with thecar. I just didn't manage to putthe laps together today and thecar clearly had the capability tobe on the front row,” he said.
“It was just me, not the car,but I can still do it tomorrow. Itwas my fault and I will do all Ican to rectify it tomorrow.Honestly, I am not thinkingabout it now - I’m just trying todigest what's happened and toreflect on it.”
Another world title forHamilton on Sunday wouldbreak the tie of five he current-ly holds with Juan ManuelFangio and put him just oneback from the all-time record ofseven held by MichaelSchumacher.
For Bottas, it was a first polein the United States, his fifth thisseason and the 11th of hiscareer, his best lap on his firstrun in Q3 remaining fast enoughto put him on the prime start-ing spot.
Hamilton, who has strug-gled to find a perfect set-up inTexas, is now without a polesince the German Grand Prix inJuly.
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Spain’s Maverick Vinales stormed toa dominant victory in the Malaysian
MotoGP Sunday as world championMarc Marquez fought his way fromnear the back of the starting grid to fin-ish second.
Ducati rider Andrea Doviziosocame in third but there was disappoint-ment for French rookie FabioQuartararo, who only managed a lack-lustre seventh-place after starting frompole.
Vinales’ second win of the seasonwas a major boost following last week’s
Australian MotoGP, wherehe crashed out after leading for muchof the race — and compatriot Marquezwent on to win.
The Monster Energy Yamaha ridersaid the victory felt “amazing” after hisdisappointing performance in PhillipIsland.
“In Phillip Island, I felt like I hadthe victory in my hands but I made amistake and I crashed,” he told reportersat the Sepang circuit following thepenultimate race of the season.
“Here all weekend I’ve been veryconsistent. I knew if I got first place Ihad a chance to push, push and push.”The 24-year-old surged into an earlylead at Sepang after starting second onthe grid and never looked threatened.
By the halfway mark, he hadopened up a two second lead over sec-ond-placed Marquez, and was overthree seconds ahead of him when hecrossed the finish line.
Fighting from the back Marquez’s performance was even
more astonishing, however, after hestarted 11th on the grid following a ter-rifying crash in qualifying that saw himthrown from his bike.
Within a few laps the RepsolHonda rider, who was crowned worldchampion for the sixth time last month,had smashed his way through the packand was trying to chase down Vinales.
While he did not manage to catchhis compatriot, Marquez neverthelessopened up a sizeable gap with the restof the field and cruised to a comfort-able second place.
The 26-year-old said the first lap,which catapulted him to the front, was
"incredible" and congratulated his teamfor the good result.
“We started from 11th, and we can-not forget that here normally we strug-gle a lot,”he said.
As well as the rider’s title, Marquezhas helped secure the constructor'schampionship for Honda this season.
And on Sunday, he added anoth-
er record to his list — the most pointsscored in a season in motorcycling’s pre-mier class.
He has now racked up 395, high-er than the previous record of 383 heldby three-time world champion JorgeLorenzo.
There was a tough fight for thirdplace between Italy’s Dovizioso, who
won at Sepang in 2016 and 2017, andnine-time world champion ValentinoRossi.
Rossi managed to push pastDovizioso on several occasions, only forthe Ducati rider to snatch the lead backand finish just ahead of his compatri-ot.
Quartararo had dominated allweekend going into the MotoGP, top-ping the timesheets in practice andsmashing the Sepang lap record, beforeseizing his fifth pole position of the sea-son.
The 20-year-old Petronas Yamaharider had been aiming for his maidenMotoGP victory — but in the event, hewas no match for his more experiencedrivals and fell to the back right at thestart.
The MotoGP in tropical Malaysiahas often been disrupted by torrentialdownpours in previous years but therain stayed away this year for the wholeweekend.
In the Moto2 class, Alex Marquez— Marc’s younger brother — wascrowned world champion after finish-ing second in his race Sunday.
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Endeavouring to accomplishan “unfinished” task at the
Tokyo Olympics, Indian men’shockey team coach GrahamReid wants strikers with incred-ible finishing skills and a strong-ly fortified defence.
The Australian oversawIndia’s entry into next year’squadrennial extravaganza withvictories over Russia in FIH’sQualifiers.
Reid was part of the teamthat won silver at the 1992Barcelona Olympics but, as acoach, he had a disastrous cam-paign at the 2016 Rio Games, asthe Kookaburras crashed out inthe quarterfinals.
“Obviously, I have an unfin-ished business. You alwaysdream of an Olympics podiumfinish. I was lucky to win one asa player and those memories arethings you hold on to,” said Reidafter India confirmed theirplace at the Tokyo Games onSaturday.
Eight-time champions Indiaqualified after thrashing Russia7-1 in the second game to winthe double-leg FIH OlympicQualifiers 11-3 on aggregate atthe Kalinga Stadium here.
“That’s what we need to
bring to this team and give it abig shot (in Tokyo),” the 55-year-old coach said.
“I told the players just nowthat we have nine months(before Olympics). Just get bet-ter and better, that’s our plan.Focus on the process, result willtake care of itself.”
Reid said his players willlook to polish their game in thecoming months.
“I think for me what we
need to get better in is finishing.We are creating a lot of oppor-tunities, which is great. But weneed to get more returns.
“Also in deep defence, wehave to get tighter. We are stillgiving away too many oppor-tunities (to opponents),” hesaid.
After opting out of theinaugural edition last year,India will make their debut inthe FIH Pro League against the
Netherlands in January nextyear.
After Netherlands, Indiawill host Belgium and Australiain February before embarkingon overseas tours.
Reid believed playingagainst top teams will be handyfor his side in its preparationfor the Games.
“That’s one of the thingsthat Pro League does, that itsets up competition schedulebetween now and Olympics,”he said.
"It’s great that we have asquad of 33, which may have tobecome 32. Pro League is a bigopportunity, to work out forthe Olympics and there are alot of games during that peri-od.
“If all of them play allthose games, they will be intheir best shape to play at theOlympics,” Reid added.
India captain ManpreetSingh congratulated their femalecounterparts, who too havesealed an Olympic berth bybeating USA 6-5 on aggregate.
“It’s quite good that thewomen too have qualified. Theydid a lot of hard work and gotthe goal in the final minutesafter being down 0-4. Theydeserve it,” he said.
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The safe hands of Colin deGrandhomme proved cru-
cial as New Zealand drew levelwith England 1-1 in theirTwenty20 international series inWellington on Sunday.
While de Grandhommewas pouching all four skied ballsthat went his way, Englandwere left to rue an uncomfort-able day in the field with sixspilled chances including threeby James Vince.
New Zealand, who suffereda seven-wicket loss in the firstmatch on Friday, were sent in tobat first and made their most ofthe errant fielding to post 176for eight.
Martin Guptill at the top ofthe innings clouted 41 off 28deliveries, while JimmyNeesham belted 42 off 22,including four sixes, before hewas removed on the final ball ofthe innings.
De Grandhomme alsopushed the pace, facing only 12balls for a whirlwind 28.
England in reply lookedcomfortable at 91 for four in the11th over before New Zealandremoved the remaining sixwickets to end the innings with
a ball to spare.Mitchell Santner claimed
three for 25 while Tim Southee,Lockie Ferguson and Ish Sodhitook two wickets apiece.
England captain EoinMorgan said it was easy toanalyse the reasons for the loss,and the issues were repairable.
“We dropped catches andwe continued to lose wickets,"he said.
“We need to keep theattacking positive mindset. Ithink it’s important to makemistakes, but I think the mostimportant part is to learn fromthem.”
After England lost JohnnyBairstow first ball, and Vince inthe second over, Morgan (32)and Dawid Malan (39) set aboutrebuilding the innings.
But when Morgan gave deGrandhomme his first catch, thewickets fell regularly with onlyChris Jordan (36 off 19) provid-ing any solid resistance at thelower part of the batting order.
Malan fell to an exception-al diving catch by Guptill whoalso accounted for the wicket ofJordan in a polished NewZealand fielding performance.Game three in the series is inNelson on Tuesday.
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Pakistan were saved by the rain Sundayas persistent showers halted a rampant
Aaron Finch as Australia headed for victo-ry in their opening Twenty20 internation-al.
The visitors managed 107 for five in areduced 15 overs due to the weather at theSydney Cricket Ground, with Australia seta target of 119 under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) method.
With dark clouds looming, Finch plun-dered 37 off the first 3.1 overs, leaving DavidWarner, who scored 217 without losing hiswicket in his previous three innings, a merespectator at the other end. He finishedSunday not out on two.
But the heavens opened again, withAustralia, fresh from a 3-0 whitewash of SriLanka, stranded on 41 without loss when thematch was abandoned, with no resultdeclared. “It’s frustrating,” said the Australianskipper. “But you can’t do too much aboutthe weather. We played really well. To restrictthem to 107 off 15 overs was a great effortand then to be on track to get them was nice.”
A valid result would have been declaredif 11 more balls had been bowled under DLS,but a 20-minute break between innings,when it wasn't raining, prevented this fromhappening.
“If you’re cutting overs off the game andyou still have a 20 minute break it doesn'tmake much sense to me,” said Finch.
“But it’s part of the rules and you can’tdo much about it.”
Pakistan came into the series as theworld's leading team in the short format, butwere also reeling from an embarrassing 3-0 home series loss to Sri Lanka last month.
They removed skipper Sarfaraz Ahmedand dumped several other players in a bidfor a fresh start, with opener Babar Azamhanded the captain’s armband.
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The Indian women’s hockey team hasconfirmed a place in the Tokyo
Olympics after surviving an extraordi-nary fightback from the US in the sec-ond leg of their Olympic qualifier at theKalinga stadium even as an elated skip-per Rani Rampal on Sunday credited herteam members, coaches and supportstaff for the achievement.
In their game against the US, theopponents fought back from a 5-1deficit in the first leg to level the score5-5 in the first half. However, India putup an improved performance in the sec-ond half with skipper Rani Rampal scor-ing what turned out to be the winning
goal in the 49th minute on Saturday.Taking to Twitter, the India skipper
also said her team will give their best inthe preparations for the mega event inTokyo next year.
“With a collective effort of our teammembers, coaches & support staff wehave qualified for Tokyo Olympics butwe will work hard for next 8 months toperform our best in Tokyo 2020,” shetweeted on Sunday.
The skipper also thanked the UnionSports Minister and the national feder-ation for showing faith in her team.
“Thanks to Hockey India, KirenRijiju Sir, Sports Authority of India(SAI), friends, family and fans forbelieving in us,” she added.
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Mushfiqur Rahim singlehandedly firedBangladesh to their maiden T20 win
over India with an unbeaten 60, chokingthe fancied hosts in the smog-hit seriesopener here on Sunday.
As cricket took centre stage despitesevere pollution, Bangladesh negotiated thepitch much better than India, who made148 for six on a sticky surface.
The Indian batsmen appeared over-cautious after being invited to bat as theyoung brigade disappointed the 25,000strong fans, who braved severe smog topack the Feroz Shah Kotla ground .
Chasing 149, Bangladesh overhauledthe target with three balls to spare to recordtheir first ever win against India in ninemeetings.
With Bangladesh needing 22 off thelast 12 balls, Rahim (60 not out off 43)smashed four boundaries off as many ballsin the penultimate over bowled by KhaleelAhmed to tilt the game in his team’s favour.
He and Soumya Sarkar (39 off 35balls) added 60 runs for the third wicketto steer Bangladesh closer to victory. Thesecond T20 will be played in Rajkot onThursday.
After Khaleel cleaned up Sarkar,Rahim was dropped by Krunal Pandya offChahal when the batsman was on 38.
Bangladesh lost Liton Das (7) early butdebutant Mohammed Naim (26) andexperienced Sarkar added 46 runs for thesecond wicket to keep India worried.
Leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal testedthe Bangladesh batsmen with his variationsbut Naim and Sarkar played smartly,keeping the scoreboard ticking.
Naim, considered Bangladesh’s futurestar, went after Chahal but ended up giv-ing an easy catch to Shikhar Dhawan atlong-on.
The strategy of working the ballaround rather than playing aggressiveworked wonders for the visitors.
Rahim would have been back in thepavilion had India taken review in the 10thover. Chahal’s appeal for an lbw was turneddown and replays showed that he was out.
Sarkar swung his arm to produce amassive six off Krunal Pandya asBangladesh began the push for the win.
There were no demons in the wicketthough the odd ball was gripping the sur-face. None of the Indian batsmen couldplay a substantial knock after being put into bat.
At the top, after skipper Rohit Sharma’searly dismissal, Shikhar Dhawan scored ata slow pace, managing just 41 off 42 balls.
Dhawan, who has been struggling tofind his touch since his comeback, was top-the scorer for India but he consumed sevenovers before running himself out and itaffected team’s scoring rate.
Being the senior most player in themiddle after Rohit’s dismissal, he needed
to stay long at the wicket but took toomany balls to score his runs.
Much was expected from India’s youngbrigade but save Shreyas Iyer, none tookthe attack by the scruff of its neck.
Iyer played an entertaining 13-ball22–run knock, giving the innings a muchneeded move on.
Shivam Dube’s much-awaited debutended with just one run while RishabhPant managed 27 off 26 balls.
Had it not been for some gritty stroke-making by Washington Sundar (14 off 5balls) and Krunal Pandya (15 off 8 balls),India would not have got close to the 150-run mark. Pacer Shafiul Islam (2/36) andspinner Aminul Isam (2/22) shared fourwickets between them.
India skipper Rohit, playing his 99thT20I, began by glancing the first delivery
from Shafiul to the boundary ropes andalso cover drove the paceman for anoth-
er four as the hosts made a flying start.However, Islam cut short Rohit’s stay
by trapping him before the wicket on thefifth ball.
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It was a contrasting thinking inAfghanistan and West Indian camps
on the eve of a warm-up matchbetween the two teams before the startof their full series, comprising 3 ODIs,3 T20s and one-off Test, at BharatRatna Atal Bihari Vajpayee EkanaInternational Stadium.
While young Afghan skipperRashid Khan claimed to have an edgeover Caribbeans on Ekana pitch, WestIndian skipper Kieron Pollard saw itas ‘Even-Stevens’.
While talking to the mediapersons,Rashid said: “Our spin attack gives usthe edge on this wicket but we have tobowl on well and in right areas.”
Rashid further added that bigtournaments like Asia Cup and T20World Cup is coming and they wantto play with big teams in order toimprove fast.
“It’s good to play against big sidesas it gives you much-needed experi-ence, required to identify the areas ofimprovement.”
On the impact of new coachLance Klusenar in the team, the cham-pion spinner said that his experiencewill help the side to mature immensly.
Meanwhile, Lance Klusenar, whojoined the Afghan team four days back,said that the Afghanistan team is a tal-ent bunch of the players and he just
have to work on the mindset of theplayers.
“Whatever Afghanistan playerslearn they learn it at international level,unlike India, who have the best infra-structure in the world and have a largepool of players, who are ready for theinternational jon from day one,” headded.
For Kieron Pollard, series is a bat-tle of equals and whoever played
smart cricket will excel. He said thatthey have plans for Afghanistan spintrio of Rashid Khan, Nabi and MujibZadran. “You will know about them asthe series progresses.”
Meanwhile, West Indian coachPhil Simmons said that Caribbeanswere looking this series to test the newplayers and looking for new combi-nations before ICC T20 World Cup inAustralia next year.
�� ����3������ �����Pawan Batham played a draw with
Kuldeep Srivastava in the last round to winthe Precision Inaugural Chess Tournamenton Sunday. Kuldeep settled for secondplace while Puneet Gurnani finishedthird. Sanwi Agarwal and ShreyanshKrishna emerged victorious in the U-12and U-16 categories. Earlier, PrabhatAdhoulia inaugurated the championship.
�������E������������������Lucknow District Chess Sports
Association is organising the 30th ShivaniCup Children’s Day Chess Championshipat Shivani Public School on November 10.Interested may send in their entries [email protected] or on9956039142.
$�������������3����������33�The Central Board of Secondary
Education COE, Allahabad organised the‘Khelo India Fitness Assessment TOTProgramme’ at Lucknow Public Collegiateon Sunday. The workshop was attended by183 PET from over 95 CBSE schools.
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