˘ˇ ˆ ˙ ˝˛˚˜ ˘ˇˆ˙˝˛ ˇ3˜ , # ’˝ˆ +(5 ˇ + ( ˇ+€¦ · Aviation (DGCA),...

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A s Iran fired 22 missiles at Iraqi bases housing US and other coalition troops in Iraq on Wednesday, US President Donald Trump claimed that no Americans were harmed in the attacks as he offered to embrace peace along with the Iranian leader- ship, in a significant move to de-escalate the tensions in West Asia. Trump also vowed that he will never allow Iran to have a nuclear weapon.“We suffered no casualties. All of our soldiers are safe and only minimal damage was sustained at our military bases,” Trump said in an address to the nation from the White House Grand Foyer.His remarks came hours after Iran launched missiles tar- geting at least two bases where US military and coalition forces’ are stationed in Iraq, which Tehran said was a "slap in the face" of America. "All is well!" US President Trump tweeted earlier. "Assessment of casualties & damages taking place now. So far, so good!, he added.According to Iranian state TV, the attacks were in revenge for the killing of the commander of Iran's powerful Revolutionary Guards, General Qasem Soleimani, in a US drone strike on Friday, which was ordered by Trump. The Iranian state television claimed that "at least 80 terrorist US sol- diers" were killed in the strikes. Some 5,000 US soldiers are in Iraq as part of the internation- al coalition against the IS ter- ror group. In a direct message to the Iranian leaders and the people, Trump said the United States is "ready to embrace peace with all who seek it"."To the people and leaders of Iran, we want you to have a future and a great future, one that you deserve," Trump said. Howerver the US President vowed “as long as I'm President of the United States, Iran will never be allowed to have a nuclear weapon." Earlier, Iraq’s Prime Minister's office said it had received "an official verbal message" from Iran informing it that a missile attack on US forces stationed on Iraqi soil was imminent. However, hours later, Iraq's President Barham Saleh con- demned Iran's missile strikes on Iraqi bases where US and other foreign troops are based, saying he feared "dangerous developments" in the region. "We denounce the Iranian missile bombing that hit mili- tary installations on Iraqi ter- ritory and renew our rejection of the repeated violation of state sovereignty and the transfor- mation of Iraq into a battlefield for warring sides," his office said in a statement. "We received an official verbal message from the Islamic Republic of Iran that the Iranian response to the assassination of Qasem Soleimani had begun or would begin shortly, and that the strike would be limited to where the US military was located in Iraq without speci- fying the locations," said Iraq PM’s office. The Iraq Prime Minister's office said it was simultane- ously contacted by the US, as the missiles slammed into the Ain al-Asad base in western Iraq and Harir further north. Western powers have con- demned Iran's missile attack on the US bases in Iraq. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg said, "I condemn the Iranian missile attacks on US and coalition forces in Iraq. NATO calls on Iran to refrain from violence." Meanwhile, Kuwait on Wednesday denied reports that the US had decided to with- draw its troops from the Gulf state, saying the Twitter account of its official news agency had been hacked. A Ukrainian airliner crashed shortly after take-off from Tehran on Wednesday, killing all 176 people on board, main- ly Iranians and Canadians. Search-and-rescue teams were combing through the smoking wreckage of the Boeing 737 flight from Tehran to Kiev but officials said there was no hope of finding anyone alive. The vast majority of the passengers on the Ukraine International Airlines flight were non-Ukrainians, includ- ing 82 Iranians and 63 Canadians, officials said. The crash occurred with tensions high in West Asia and shortly after Tehran launched missiles at bases in Iraq housing US troops. But there was no imme- diate indication of foul play and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned against "speculating" on cause of disaster. Meanwhile, Iran’s aviation authority said it would not hand over to Americans the recovered black boxes of the crashed aircraft. “We will not give the black boxes to the manufacturer (Boeing) and the Americans," Iran Civil Aviation Organisation head Ali Abedzadeh said, quoted by Mehr news agency. “It's not yet clear which country black box will go to for the investi- gation,” he added. G iven the simmering ten- sion between Iran and the US, India on Wednesday took a series of measures including issuing an advisory to its citi- zens to avoid non-essential travel to Iraq and rerouting the flight path of national carrier Air India. The Indian Navy is also on standby to evacuate Indians from the Middle-East in case of any exigency and a warship is already deployed in the Gulf of Oman. Issuing the travel advi- sory, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "In view of the pre- vailing situation in Iraq, Indian nationals are advised to avoid all non-essential travel to Iraq until further notification." It also said Indian nation- als residing in Iraq are advised to be alert and may avoid trav- el within Iraq. "Our Embassy in Baghdad and Consulate in Erbil will continue to function normally to provide all services to Indians residing in Iraq," the Ministry said.This came after tension increased between Iran and US following the killing of top Iranian commander General Qassem Soleimani and Iran launching missile strikes against two US military bases in Iraq on Wednesday. The Directorate of Civil Aviation (DGCA), meanwhile, asked the Indian airline com- panies to remain vigilant and take all precautions in airspace over Iran, Iraq, Gulf of Oman and waters of Persian Gulf, hours after a Ukrainian

Transcript of ˘ˇ ˆ ˙ ˝˛˚˜ ˘ˇˆ˙˝˛ ˇ3˜ , # ’˝ˆ +(5 ˇ + ( ˇ+€¦ · Aviation (DGCA),...

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    As Iran fired 22 missiles atIraqi bases housing USand other coalition troops inIraq on Wednesday, USPresident Donald Trumpclaimed that no Americanswere harmed in the attacks ashe offered to embrace peacealong with the Iranian leader-ship, in a significant move tode-escalate the tensions in WestAsia.

    Trump also vowed that hewill never allow Iran to have anuclear weapon.“We sufferedno casualties. All of our soldiersare safe and only minimaldamage was sustained at ourmilitary bases,” Trump said inan address to the nation fromthe White House GrandFoyer.His remarks came hoursafter Iran launched missiles tar-geting at least two bases whereUS military and coalitionforces’ are stationed in Iraq,which Tehran said was a "slapin the face" of America.

    "All is well!" US PresidentTrump tweeted earlier."Assessment of casualties &damages taking place now. Sofar, so good!, headded.According to Iranianstate TV, the attacks were inrevenge for the killing of thecommander of Iran's powerful

    Revolutionary Guards, GeneralQasem Soleimani, in a USdrone strike on Friday, whichwas ordered by Trump. TheIranian state television claimedthat "at least 80 terrorist US sol-diers" were killed in the strikes.Some 5,000 US soldiers are inIraq as part of the internation-al coalition against the IS ter-ror group.

    In a direct message to theIranian leaders and the people,Trump said the United States is"ready to embrace peace withall who seek it"."To the peopleand leaders of Iran, we wantyou to have a future and a greatfuture, one that you deserve,"Trump said.

    Howerver the US Presidentvowed “as long as I'm Presidentof the United States, Iran willnever be allowed to have anuclear weapon." Earlier, Iraq’sPrime Minister's office said ithad received "an official verbalmessage" from Iran informingit that a missile attack on USforces stationed on Iraqi soilwas imminent.

    However, hours later, Iraq'sPresident Barham Saleh con-demned Iran's missile strikeson Iraqi bases where US andother foreign troops are based,saying he feared "dangerousdevelopments" in the region.

    "We denounce the Iranianmissile bombing that hit mili-

    tary installations on Iraqi ter-ritory and renew our rejectionof the repeated violation of statesovereignty and the transfor-mation of Iraq into a battlefieldfor warring sides," his officesaid in a statement.

    "We received an officialverbal message from theIslamic Republic of Iran thatthe Iranian response to theassassination of QasemSoleimani had begun or wouldbegin shortly, and that thestrike would be limited towhere the US military waslocated in Iraq without speci-fying the locations," said IraqPM’s office.

    The Iraq Prime Minister'soffice said it was simultane-ously contacted by the US, asthe missiles slammed into theAin al-Asad base in westernIraq and Harir further north.

    Western powers have con-demned Iran's missile attack onthe US bases in Iraq. NATOchief Jens Stoltenberg said, "Icondemn the Iranian missileattacks on US and coalitionforces in Iraq. NATO calls onIran to refrain from violence."

    Meanwhile, Kuwait onWednesday denied reports thatthe US had decided to with-draw its troops from the Gulfstate, saying the Twitteraccount of its official newsagency had been hacked.

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    AUkrainian airliner crashedshortly after take-off fromTehran on Wednesday, killingall 176 people on board, main-ly Iranians and Canadians.

    Search-and-rescue teamswere combing through thesmoking wreckage of theBoeing 737 flight from Tehranto Kiev but officials said therewas no hope of finding anyonealive.

    The vast majority of thepassengers on the UkraineInternational Airlines flightwere non-Ukrainians, includ-ing 82 Iranians and 63Canadians, officials said. Thecrash occurred with tensionshigh in West Asia and shortlyafter Tehran launched missilesat bases in Iraq housing UStroops. But there was no imme-diate indication of foul play andUkrainian PresidentVolodymyr Zelensky warnedagainst "speculating" on causeof disaster. Meanwhile, Iran’saviation authority said it would

    not hand over to Americans therecovered black boxes of thecrashed aircraft. “We will notgive the black boxes to themanufacturer (Boeing) and theAmericans," Iran Civil AviationOrganisation head AliAbedzadeh said, quoted byMehr news agency. “It's not yetclear which country blackbox will go to for the investi-gation,” he added.

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    Given the simmering ten-sion between Iran and theUS, India on Wednesday tooka series of measures includingissuing an advisory to its citi-zens to avoid non-essentialtravel to Iraq and rerouting theflight path of national carrierAir India.

    The Indian Navy is also onstandby to evacuate Indiansfrom the Middle-East in case ofany exigency and a warship is

    already deployed in the Gulf ofOman. Issuing the travel advi-sory, the Ministry of ExternalAffairs said, "In view of the pre-vailing situation in Iraq, Indiannationals are advised to avoidall non-essential travel to Iraquntil further notification."

    It also said Indian nation-als residing in Iraq are advisedto be alert and may avoid trav-el within Iraq. "Our Embassy inBaghdad and Consulate inErbil will continue to functionnormally to provide all servicesto Indians residing in Iraq," the

    Ministry said.This came aftertension increased between Iranand US following the killing oftop Iranian commanderGeneral Qassem Soleimani andIran launching missile strikesagainst two US military basesin Iraq on Wednesday.

    The Directorate of CivilAviation (DGCA), meanwhile,asked the Indian airline com-panies to remain vigilant andtake all precautions in airspaceover Iran, Iraq, Gulf of Omanand waters of Persian Gulf,hours after a Ukrainian

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    Various trade unions under-took part in the nation-wide strike held onWednesday. A number ofunion members participated inthe protest demonstrationdespite the rain in Dehradun.

    State working president ofAll India Trade UnionCongress (AITUC), SamarBhandari said, “Everyone fromthe public to the private sectorincluding banks, defence,transport, oil, coal have cometogether in opposition of theanti-worker policies of thecurrent Government whichmakes it easy to deduce thedamage done by theGovernment across the coun-try.

    Besides, the laws andorders which were approvedafter considerable struggle inthe past for labourers andemployees have been shame-lessly transformed,”he alleged.

    Power engineers associa-tion general secretary MukeshKumar said that theGovernment claims that all ofits policies and decisions arefor the public, but everyoneknows privatisation of thePSUs is not for public welfare.

    In fact, the whole point ofprivatising some PSUs is tobenefit certain powerful peo-ple who in turn helpGovernment during elections,

    he alleged. He further said,“The strike is just a represen-tation of people’s anger andd i s a p p o i n t m e n twithGovernment policies. Ifthe Government ignores ourvoices, the next time ourprotest will be more firm andstronger.” Members of the Leftparties also participated in thestrike and the protest againstthe Government.

    “All these years, theGovernment has been disap-pointing the people of workingclass from all sectors.Moreover, the Governmenthas failed to do anything pro-lific and functional for theyouth.

    If truth be told, the ModiGovernment has made the sit-uation worse. The increasingrate of unemployment anduncontrolled inflation in pricesof every item are the bestexamples of the proper func-

    tioning of the Government”said Pranjal Mishra, a memberof Communist Party of India(Marxist). Apart from tradeunions, some college studentsparticipated in the strike too.“We are here to show our dis-appointment towards theGovernment. Under thesupervision of current minis-ters, to get an education hasbeen made impossible for eco-nomically backward students”,said Abhishek Gusain, a DAVCollege student.

    Giving his own example,he explains, “Our examinationfee in the college has hikedalmost three-fold from � 700.I belong to a lower middle-class family and students likeme cannot afford to pay sucha hefty amount during everyexamination session. TheGovernment should at leastspare education and poor stu-dents.”

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    Cheque transactionsamounting to about�300 crore were affect-ed in the state due toemployees of variousnationalised banks par-ticipating in the strikecalled by trade unionson Wednesday.

    According to assis-tant general secretary ofUttaranchal BankEmployees Union(UBEU), Vinay KumarSharma, “All nation-alised banks like PunjabNational Bank (PNB),Allahabad Bank, UnionBank, Central Bank ofIndia, and NainitalBank participated in the strikeexcept State Bank of India(SBI) and no work was car-ried out in any of the branch-es.

    Cheque transactionsworth about �300 crore wereaffected and almost no cashtransactions were done. If welook at the bigger scenario of

    the strike, it must have affect-ed transactions amountingto �3,000 crore across thecountry,” he opined. Besidesother trade unions, membersof the UBEU staged protestagainst the anti-labour poli-cies, inadequate hiring of newemployees and unwantedmerger of banks.

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    The High Court ofUttarakhand has orderedthe Patanjali Ayurved College,Haridwar, to return theincreased fee amount chargedfrom its students within eightweeks. The single bench of jus-tice Manoj Kumar Tiwariissued this order while hearingon a contempt petition filed bystudents against the collegefor not observing the earlierorders of the court.

    In another contempt peti-tion, the high court has direct-ed the chairman and managingdirector of the DevbhoomiMedical College of Ayurvedaand hospital in Dehradun toappear in the court onFebruary 19.

    In the first case, student ofBMS in the Patanjali AyurvedCollege, Shubham Pant and 23others had filed the contemptpetition in the high court stat-

    ing that the court had earlierordered the college to returnthe increased amount of feescharged from the students.However, the institution hadnot returned the said amount.The petitioners had stated thatas per the rules, the collegeshould have charged �80,000fee but the amount charged was�2.15 lakh.

    After the students chal-lenged this in the high court,the court had directed the col-lege to return the additionalamount. However, the institutehad not followed the order ofthe court, due to which the stu-dents had filed a contemptpetition. In the second case,BMS student in Devbhoomi

    medical college, PrakharMishra and others had filed acontempt petition in the highcourt. They had also pointedout that the college had charged�2.15 lakh fee instead of �80,000.

    The court had in July 2018ordered the refund of theincreased amount to the stu-dents. However, the collegehad not refunded the increasedamount and was seeking hikedfees from the students, thepetitioners stated. Consideringthis, the single bench of justiceManoj Kumar Tiwari hasdirected the chairman andmanaging director of the col-lege to appear personally in thecourt on February 19.

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    The police have arrestedthree persons allegedlyinvolved in shooting dead thePradhan of Nagla Kubra,Qamar Alam at Ramnagar inRoorkee on December 20 lastyear.

    The three hired shootersallegedly carried out the mur-der for an offer of Rs 10 lakhgiven to shoot Alam by Abidwho shared an old rivalry withthe victim. The police arrestedNaeem and Salman for themurder and Dilshad for beinginvolved in the crime.

    Alam was shot dead bybike borne assailants outsidethe court in Ramnagar,

    Roorkee on the evening ofDecember 20. Addressing themedia, the superintendent ofpolice (rural) Swapn KishoreSingh said that police investi-gation focused on the old ani-mosity Alam had withKamelpur resident Abid.

    Alam's brother Muzammilwas murdered in 2010 alleged-ly by Abid and his familymembers. After this, in 2012,Alam had allegedly murderedAbid's brother Farooq. Theinvestigation after Alam’s mur-der revealed the involvement ofAbid and his elder brotherAshiq in the murder.

    Abid had offered to pay Rs10 lakh to Muzaffarnagar res-ident Wasim for killing Alam.

    Abid met Wasim while injail in the Muzammil murdercase. There are more than 30cases against Wasim in UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand.Wasim sent his brothers Naeemand Salman to assassinateAlam.

    Abid’s relative Farhanhelped the duo identify theirtarget who was shot onDecember 20. The SP further

    informed that Abid hadplanned the murder while injail. He asked notorious crim-inal Wasim, a native ofMuzaffarnagar, to conduct themurder while the duo was in

    Roorkee jail. Later, Abid start-ed living at Dharmshala inHimachal Pradesh. About 10minutes after Alam’s murderAbid made a video showinghimself to be in Dharmshala

    and called the local policeinforming them about the mur-der in Roorkee in which theHaridwar police could impli-cate him though he was inHimachal Pradesh.

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    Governor Baby RaniMaurya said that womenshould develop their leadershipcapacity by engaging them-selves in social services.Women should support andhelp each other.

    She said this while inter-acting with 33 women facultymembers of University of

    Petroleum and Energy Studieswho met her at the Raj Bhawanon Wednesday. The womenfaculty members of UPEScalled on the governor as partof the Shakti programme of theuniversity aimed at impartingtraining in leadership capacitybuilding for women.

    Maurya said that womenshould make their own waywith their will power and val-

    ues. They should create a goodbalance between family andcareer. Being a woman is mat-ter of pride in itself. Womenshould move forward in lifewith self-confidence and hardwork, said the governor. HERSchairman Sharad Mehra, UPESsenior director Arun Dhand,HR director Monika Jain andothers were also present on theoccasion.

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    Consistent rainfall through-out most part ofWednesday in Dehradunsharpened the cold in the pro-visional state capital. Whilevarious mountainous regionsalso experienced rain andsnowfall, the weather in theState on Thursday is forecast tobe partly to generally cloudy.

    According to the statemeteorological centre, verylight to light rainfall/snowfallis likely to occur at isolatedplaces in the mountains espe-cially in Kumaon region whiledry weather likely to prevail inrest of the state. Snowfall islikely to occur at places locat-ed at 2000 metres altitude and

    above. Further, hail is likely tooccur at isolated places espe-cially in Dehradun, Haridwar,Udham Singh Nagar, Pauriand Nanital districts onThursday.

    Dense to very dense fog islikely to occur in plains duringmorning hours especially inHaridwar and Udham SinghNagar districts on Uttarakhandon January 10 and 11. Coldday conditions are likely tooccur at a few places especial-ly in the mountains onThursday. However, people inDehradun may experiencesome relief from the rain as thesky here is forecast to be main-

    ly clear to partly cloudy onThursday with the maximumand minimum temperatureslikely to be around 15 degreesCelsius and six degrees Celsiusrespectively.

    On Wednesday, the maxi-mum and minimum tempera-tures recorded in variousplaces were 10.8 degreesCelsius and 10 degrees Celsiusrespectively in Dehradun, 15.8degrees Celsius and 11 degreesCelsius in Pantnagar, 1.8degrees Celsius and -0.8degrees Celsius in Mukteshwarand 2.8 degrees Celsius andtwo degrees Celsius respec-tively in New Tehri.

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    In the first e- cabinet ofUttarakhand held at secre-tariat on Wednesday, the stategovernment authorised thecollege principals to appointguest faculties on the vacantposts of teachers. Informingabout the decisions of statecabinet, the governmentspokesperson, Madan Kaushiksaid that that a total of sixissues were brought before thecabinet on the day.

    He said that to fill vacantposts of assistant professors inthe Government colleges, thePrincipals have been autho-rised to appoint eligible can-didates as guest faculty for aperiod of 11 months.There

    are 2137 posts of teachers ingovernment colleges of thestate out of which 1176 postsare filled by permanent facul-ty members. The process ofappointments of assistant pro-

    fessors from public servicecommission is also underway.Since it would take time, theGovernment has decided toappoint guest faculties. Thecabinet also gave its approval

    for the minimum support priceof sugarcane. The MSP forearly variety has been fixed at�327 per quintal while theMSP of late variety would be�317 per quintal. The cabinet

    also gave its approval for pro-rogation of assembly session.Kaushik added that cabinetdecided that the members ofcorporative societies would begiven grant under 'Ganga GaiDairy scheme'. In the grant thewomen members would begiven priority.

    In another decision, thecabinet decided that the stategovernment would constructnew buildings in place ofacquired buildings underKedarpuri Master plan.

    As of now new buildingsare being constructed onlyunder Corporate SocialResponsibility (CSR) of com-panies.

    The cabinet gave its nod todouble the grant for Kailash Mansarovar Yatra. The pigrims would now get an amount of �50000 instead of �25000.

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    About 80 per cent of thosewho came to India toescape religious persecutionin Bangladesh and Pakistanare either members of thescheduled caste or Dalits.Opposing the Citizenship(Amendment) Act which is intheir favour, amounts toopposing the welfare of theDalits. The Bharatiya JanataParty Anusuchit Jati Morchanational office bearer SanjayNirmal said this whileaddressing the media here onWednesday.

    He said that SC and Dalitcommunity members havebeen persecuted the most inPakistan and Bangladesh.“They are not allowed toundergo education or havethe right to equality in soci-ety there. They are there onlyto do menial jobs. They arealso forced to convert with the

    Dalit community facing reli-gious persecution the most.Minorities in Pakistan haddwindled from 23 per cent tothree per cent.

    They have either beenforcibly converted or beenkilled. The Citizenship(Amendment) Act is in theirfavour but the Congress andother opposition parties areopposing the Act,” saidNirmal. He thanked theprime minister NarendraModi and Union Home min-ister Amit Shah for the CAA,stating that the scheduledand Dalit communities aregrateful for this.

    The public awarenesscampaign will be stepped upfurther to inform the mem-bers of the scheduled casteand Dalit communities aboutthe CAA and to expose thelies being spread about thisAct by the opposition, hesaid.

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    The Chief MinisterTrivendra Singh Rawat for-mally initiated the e- cabinet atstate secretariat on Wednesday.

    The objective of the e—cabinet is to promote the cul-ture of paperless work in officesand develop institutionalmemory. The CM said that thenew system would not onlyreduce the use of paper but also

    help in easily getting the deci-sions of cabinet taken earlier.He said that e cabinet is animportant decision in thedirection of e—governanceand transparency.

    It is worth mentioninghere that in the e- cabinet sys-tem, on line proposals wouldbe sent to the cabinet ministersfor approval. The Gopandepartment of state govern-ment has set up a portal for e-

    cabinet. The users would beprovided an e account and theonline ID of all cabinet minis-ters is prepared by the depart-ment. The information aboutcabinet meetings would beprovided by sms and e- mail.

    The minutes of the meet-ings and decisions would beuploaded online on the portal.The departments concernedwould get digital approvals ofthe cabinet decisions.

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    The undergrounding ofpower cables in Haridwarwas discussed in a meeting ofelectricity department officialsand the members of theHaridwar Vyapar Mandal hereon Wednesday. Work on theundergrounding of cables hasbeen undertaken in variousparts of the city and is nowabout to be started at the Harki Paidi and surrounding area.

    City president of theVyapar Mandal, SanjeevNayyar said that the meetingwas held with the officials inview of the thousands of peo-ple who arrive in the areadaily.

    He said that the marketarea in the locality is small, soif the ground is dug up and leftas in the other areas, it wouldcreate major inconvenience.

    General secretary of theVyapar Mandal, Pradeep Kalrasaid that officials of the elec-tricity department should startthe work when they haveenough resources, otherwisethe problem will increase for

    both the traders and the elec-tricity department. Executiveengineer of the underground-ing project, Ankit Jain said thatthe survey for the work isgoing on in small market area.Since the road in the market issmall, the sewer line and otherfacilities had been laid in a zigzag pattern which would makethe undergrounding project abit difficult.

    If the department is con-vinced of the feasibility, theproject will be executed in themarket area but work in Har kiPaidi and upper road will beginsoon.

    It is pertinent to mentionhere that with the first week ofJanuary already passing, theadvent of pilgrims in Haridwaris expected to pick up pacearound the Shivratri fair inFebruary.

    Earlier, a few days ago thelocal traders at Ranipur Modhad staged a protest against theexcavation for undergroundingproject being left uncovered bythe department. Following theprotest, the department con-cerned filled up excavated sites.

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    The Bharatiya Janata Partyhas termed as laughable theCongress’ submission of a mem-orandum to the governoragainst the state government.The BJP has opined that theCongress leaders are indulgingin such ‘drama’ due to theinfighting underway in theparty. The BJP State media in-charge Devendra Bhasin saidthat the Congress is without anyreal issues and its state unit isafflicted by infighting. In thisscenario, various factions in

    the Congress are fighting fortheir existence and indulging ingimmicks. The memorandumsubmitted to the governor wasalso one such gimmick. “Theprocess of appointments to gov-ernment posts is underway inthe state apart from employ-ment in the private sector.

    Effective steps are beingtaken to tackle migration, devel-opment work is being expedit-ed in various sectors and strictaction is being taken againstcorruption. In such a scenario,memorandum politics of theCongress is laughable.

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    Jaipur: Rajasthan Deputy Chief MinisterSachin Pilot said on Wednesday that theCentre should take cognisance of the nationwide strike called by labour unions,saying every section of the country was dissatisfied due to a communicationgap.

    “You (Centre) will not communicate, youwill not explain, you will not try to under-stand people, then what is the meaning ofdemocracy?” Pilot asked. “Winning an elec-tion does not mean that you have becomesupreme. We should keep our hearts, mindsand ears open, and listen to people.”

    The State Congress president said thegovernment should leave its “ego” behind andhold a dialogue.

    “Whatever is going in the JNU, the policeare going to different universities, peoplewearing uniforms are seen in colleges anduniversities — is not a good sign for anydemocracy for any country,” Pilot toldreporters in Jaipur.

    According to Pilot, a shutdown occurswhen all options fail and there was a lack ofcommunication from the central govern-ment’s end.

    “Every class is unhappy today, be it gov-ernment servants, middle class, poor or thestudents. The government should take cog-nisance f today’s strike,” Pilot said. PTI

    Kota: A five-year-old girl childwas raped by a relative in a village in Bundi district onWednesday afternoon, policesaid.

    The accused, aged around20 years, fled the spot when thefamily members of the minorvictim were alerted by hercries and rushed to rescue her,they said, adding that she wasbleeding profusely when found.

    A case of rape was regis-tered against the accused, whois also a neighbour of theminor victim, under relevantsections of the IPC and thePOSCO Act, SHO at Karwarpolice station Hariram Jajundasaid.

    The girl was playing out-side her room and her familymembers were working at anadjacent farm in the afternoonwhen the incident took place,he said.

    The victim was taken to theBundi district hospital for amedical examination, the SHOsaid. PTI

    Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir Police chief DilbagSingh on Wednesday said enemies are looking todisrupt the peaceful atmosphere in the UnionTerritory and asked officers to remain vigilant.

    He said peace had been achieved in Jammu &Kashmir after a lot of hard work and sacrifices bypolice and security forces.

    The director general of police (DGP) made theremarks at security review meetings during his visitto the twin south Kashmir districts of Shopian andPulwama.

    Accompanied by Inspector General of CRPF(Operations) Rajesh Kumar and Inspector Generalof Police, Kashmir, Vijay Kumar, Singh took stockof the situation in the two districts.

    “The safety and security of the people is ourprime concern. The enemies of peace are lookingfor chances to disrupt the peace,” Singh said.

    He said the police, along with its sister agen-cies, have succeeded in creating a sense of securi-ty among the people. He directed the officers to bevigilant at all times and work dedicatedly for thewelfare of the people while taking due care of theirsecurity. PTI

    Barabanki (UP): A 21-year-oldlaw student, who was alleged-ly gang-raped about fourmonths ago, has been foundhanging at her house in a vil-lage here, with her motherclaiming that she was underpressure from the two accused.

    The body of the LLB stu-dent was found hanging fromthe roof of her room at the family’s home in theJahagirabad police station areahere on Tuesday morning,police said.

    The victim’s mother hascomplained that she was underpressure from the two rapeaccused and committed sui-cide.

    She alleged that Shivpaltanand Shivkumar, of Semrava vil-lage under Kothi police stationarea, had raped the victim fourmonths ago.

    Since Shivkumar is a localheavyweight, the police initiallydid not lodge an FIR but laterit was registered on the orders

    of a court, the mother of thevictim claimed, adding that noarrest has been made.

    Superintendent of PoliceAkash Tomar said the father ofthe deceased had told the policein writing that his daughtercommitted suicide and he hadno suspicion on anyone.

    “It has come to light dur-ing investigations that the two

    accused had lodged a case offraud on the deceased and hermother for getting a vehiclefinanced and the motherframed them to avenge it.There are no evidence so far toprove the allegations of themother. Action will be taken incase anything emerges in fur-ther inquiry,” the SP added. PTI

    Kolkata: Terming the appoint-ment of a Chief of Defence Staff(CDS) as a welcome move, for-mer Army chief General (retd)Shankar Roy Chowdhury onWednesday said it had notbeen done earlier owing to thethen political bosses’ fear of acoup.

    He said the appointment ofa CDS was due for a long timeand the services wanted it to bethere in the country so that the

    Army, Navy and Air Forcecome under one umbrella, “butthe problem was political.”

    “The fear of a coup wasingrained among the earlierpolitical bosses if all the threeforces — Army, Navy and AirForce — were brought underone umbrella and that was theonly reason that a post ofCDS was not created,” RoyChowdhury told newspersonshere.

    General Bipin Rawat, whoretired as the Army chief onDecember 31, has taken chargeas India’s first Chief of DefenceStaff the next day with a mandate to bring in convergence in the functioningof the Army, Navy and theIndian Air Force and bolsterthe country’s military prowess.

    Gen (retd) RoyChowdhury said the military isalways subordinate to the civil

    authorities in the country, butan “unsubstantiated” fear of acoup if the forces were broughtunder one head had preventedthe then political establishment from taking adecision on it.

    “This is the single reasonwhy the country did not have aCDS so far,” the former Armychief said. He said the post ofCDS is important for the coor-dination of the three forces. PTI

    Srinagar: The night tempera-ture in Kashmir stayed close tofreezing point on Wednesdaydue to recent snowfall, as sunshone on the Valley after threedays.Srinagar recorded a low ofminus 0.4 degrees Celsius lastnight, almost same as previousnight, an official of the METdepartment said.

    The official said the ski-resort ofGulmarg in north Kashmir recordedthe low of minus 7.6 degrees Celsiuslast night, 1.6 notches down fromTuesday.

    The night temperature atPahalgam resort, which also serves asone of the base camps for the annualAmarnath yatra in south Kashmir, set-tled at a low of minus 2.0 degreesCelsius – nearly two notches up fromminus 3.9 degrees Celsius Tuesday, hesaid.

    The official said Qazigund – thegateway town to the Valley - in southKashmir recorded a low of minus 0.4degree Celsius.Kokernag town, also in

    south, recorded a low of minus 4.0degrees Celsius, while Kupwara, innorth, registering a minimum ofminus 2.2 degree Celsius, the officialsaid.Kashmir is currently under thegrip of ‘Chillai-Kalan’ - the 40-dayharshest period of winter when thechances of snowfall are most frequentand maximum and the temperaturedrops considerably.’

    Chillai-Kalan’ began on December21 and ends on January 31, but thecold wave continues even after that inKashmir. The 40-day period is fol-lowed by a 20-day long ‘Chillai-Khurd’ (small cold) and a 10-day long‘Chillai-Bachha’ (baby cold). PTI

    Mumbai: The nationwide strike seems to have failedto evoke much response in Maharashtra tillWednesday afternoon with transport and bankingservices remaining largely unaffected in many districts as well as in the country’s financial Capital.

    No untoward incident was reported so far fromany region of the state. Suburban trains, which arecalled as the “lifeline of Mumbai” with a ridershipof more than 75 lakh commuters per day, publicbuses, taxis and autorickshaws are running normallyin the island city and suburbs.

    Similarly, Metro and Monorail services are run-ning smoothly, officials said, adding that BEST-oper-ated bus services are also running as per schedule.

    Private transport services like taxis and auto-rickshaws are also plying normally in Mumbai.

    Film and TV shoots also remained unaffected.The Federation of Western India Cine

    Employees (FWICE) said all its members were atwork as usual and nothing was hampered becauseof the strike. In Pune, transport services remainedunaffected.

    “Buses operated by the Pune MahanagarParivahan Mahamandal Ltd (PMPML) are plyingnormally,” said Shankar Pawar, Director, PMPML.Educational institutes and commercial establish-ments in the city remained opened as usual.

    Trade union leader Ajit Abhyankar claimed thatat least 15000 people affiliated to various Centraltrade unions, Bhartiya Kamgar Sena, posts, banks,and other government establishments participatedin a public rally outside the district collectorate inPune. PTI

    Kolkata: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata BanerjeeWednesday said the CentralGovernment does not providefunds for the annualGangasagar Mela, which isheld in West Bengal, though itprovides lots of assistance toKumbh Mela.

    “Gangasagar Mela is at parwith the Kumbh Mela. TheCentre provides funds forKumbh Mela but does notextend financial assistance forGangasagar.” Banerjee said. PTI

    ��#+�����+#����� 5��5���

    Normal life was considerably hit in Bengaleven as sporadic violence andarson marked Wednesday’sgeneral strike sponsored byLeft and Congress trade unionsprompting both Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and the BJPto interpret the bandh as a des-perate attempt by a moribundLeft Front to catch limelightonce again.

    Reports of violence pouredin from Barasat, in North 24Parganas, Kolkata, Howrah,Hooghly, Burdwan, Malda,South Dinajpur, Jalpaiguri andother places police said adding170 strikers including CPI(M)Legislature Party leader SujanChakrabarty had been arrest-ed.

    Violence reached itscrescendo at Sujapur in Maldadistrict where police foughtpitched battle with angry pro-testers opposing CAA andNRC. About eight vehiclesincluding a few belonging tothe police were torched alleged-ly by the protesters leading thecops to burst tear gas shells andfire rubber bullets injuring anumber of them.

    Though life reverted tonear-normal by late noon theLeft and the Congress took out

    long processions in parts ofKolkata demanding immediaterelease of its leaders. At ParkCircus Maidan (a minoritydominated area) hundreds ofMuslim women sat on indefi-nite dharna demanding with-drawal of the CitizenshipAmendment Act and NationalRegister for Citizens.

    The strikers who had ini-tially targeted socio-economicissues as subject matter of thebandh in the final hours smart-ly included CAA and NRC towiden the scope of participation. The tacticseemed to partially pay offwith the strike witnessing morethan 50 percent success sourcesin the administration saidadding however that theGovernment offices in thewake of a strong circular fromthe State secretariat witnessednear-99 percent attendance.

    While air servicesremained normal train ser-vices were substantially affect-ed authorities said addingabout 127 suburban trainsfrom Sealdah and 47 fromHowrah had to be cancelled.This, in addition to about theroute of a dozen express gettingchanged due to the impact ofthe strike.

    Sources in the State elec-tricity boards reported lesser

    consumption of power indi-cating partial success of thebandh. “Reports collected at 10am showed the power con-sumption level at 4012 MW,250 MW less than the normal,driving home the fact thatstrike had its impact despitecontradictory claims made bythe Government,” said one ofthe striking leaders adding“the power department stoppedreleasing further reports forobvious reasons.”

    Even as the day peakedreports of violence came infrom various parts of the State.At Hridaypur in North 24Parganas crude bombs wererecovered from underneath alocal train. Buses and othervehicles were vandalised in

    Burdwan, Durgapur, Howrahand Kolkata even as the driverswere seen driving their vehicleswith helmets on.

    Traffic were blockaded bythe Left and Congress workersat Jadavpur and Rashbeharicrossing with their supportersthrowing burning tryres on theroads. The impact of the strikewas near complete at Raiganjand Durgapur, the home townof JNSU president Aishi Ghoshwhere the protesters were seenattacking bikers.

    All banks and post officesremained closed causingimmense hardships to the peo-ple. Schools were however par-tially affected as the number ofattendance was thin.

    Meanwhile the Chief

    Minister attacked the Left forsacrificing its ideology. “CPIMhas no ideology. Plantingbombs on railway tracks isnothing but ‘gundagardi, shesaid. In the name of movement,commuters are being beaten upand stones are being pelted.This is ‘dadagiri’, not a move-ment. I condemn this. I will notallow such movements.

    The Marxists are trying toget back their relevance butthey will never be able to dothat unless they change theirstyle of functioning. I think thecommunists of Kerala are farbetter than those in Bengal. Atleast they have a policy and actaccording to ideology. InBengal they are all ruffians.”

    Attacking the hoodlumsBJP’s Dilip Ghosh said “theTrinamool Congress has helpedthe Left Front to make violencea success because they want theLeft to get some oxygen so asto divide the anti-TMC oppo-sition in Bengal. But peoplehave understood and will giveMamata Banerjee a befittingreply.”

    The Left leaders includingpolitburo member Biman Bosecongratulated the people formaking the bandh a success“despite brutal attack by thepolice and the TMC goons onthe bandh supporters.”

    ���� 5��5���

    Much the way they did it inUttar Pradesh — and onlywith greater visibility — a sec-tion of Bengal police men dur-ing the Wednesday’s generalstrike were found vandalisingvehicles and torching themincluding the police vans atSujapur in Malda promptingOpposition Left Front andCongress to demand impartialinvestigation into the matter.

    Visual footages that imme-diately went viral showing howthe policemen were smashingthe wind screens of cars parkedin a big field with rifle butts,pouring fuel and then settingablaze immediately drew large-

    scale media attention. The inci-dent took place within metresof a spot where pro-bandhagitators were barricading thehigh way.

    “Such heinous plans totorch the vehicles and thenhold the CPI(M) workers liablewere fortunately shot by thelocals... The incidents onlymake clear the real face of ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee.Her police is no different fromthe police of Yogi Adtiyanath…They did it in Lucknow toframe the anti-CAA rallyists,the Bengal Police did it inBengal,” senior CPI(M) leaderMd Salim said adding “in aState where not a leaf turnswithout the instruction of the

    Chief Minister how could theytorch so many vehicles. It mustbe probed.”

    President of the PradeshCongress which also co-spon-sored the general strikedemanded an “impartialinquiry to get to the core of theconspiracy.” Another Congressleader and former MinisterManoj Chakrabarty demanded“judicial probe into the incidentso that things become clear.”

    Eye witnesses said how thepolice men were seen smashingthe windscreens with rifle buttsand stones. They were also seencarrying petrol cans to thevehicles, soaking them beforesetting them afire, sources said.

    While there was no word

    from the Chief Minister hersenior ministerial colleaguePartho Chatterjee said the “cul-prits will be brought to

    book,” adding it would belooked into details to figure outwhether some Left miscreantswere doing the mischief in thegarb of police men or somecops were genuinelyinvolved.

    “No one will be spared bycommitting violence… this isthe policy of our Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee,” he said evenas sources said the MaldaSuperintendant of Police hadbeen asked to probe the mat-ter. The SP however could notbe contacted till late in theevening.

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    Patna: A woman was alleged-ly raped at gunpoint after beingkidnapped from the parking lotof a mall here on Monday,police officials said.

    One person has beenarrested out of four personsnamed in the FIR.

    “We have identified thefour accused persons who werethe (rape) victim’s acquain-tances. One man raped the girlwhile others were part of theconspiracy,” CitySuperintendent of Police(Central), Patna, Vinay Tiwary

    told PTI.Asked whether it is a case

    of gangrape, Tiwary said, “No,it is not gangrape. It is rape butothers were part of the con-spiracy.”

    One person has beenarrested in connection with thecase while raids are being con-ducted to nab other culprits,the City SP said.

    The woman is around 20years of age and is pursuingBBA through correspondence,he added.

    The victim’s medical exam-

    ination was conducted onTuesday, police sources said.

    While talking to reporters,the rape survivor, who had cov-ered her face with a mask, saidshe was kidnapped by four menat gunpoint from GV Mall onthe busy Boring road intersec-tion around 7:30 pm onMonday while she was comingout of an eatery.

    As she stepped out of theeatery, one of the four men,who raped her later, told her atgunpoint to sit in his car in theparking lot of the mall.

    The four then allegedlytook her to a flat located nearP&M Mall in Pataliputracolony where one person rapedher while three others stoodwith a pistol, the rape survivorsaid.

    The woman said the fourmade a video of the incidentand threatened to post it onsocial media.

    The woman escaped fromtheir clutches and narrated theincident to her room mate andbrother over phone whoinformed the police. PTI

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    Mumbai: A day after the meetingbetween BJP leader DevendraFadnavis and MNS chief RajThackeray fuelled speculation of a tie-up in Maharashtra, a senior BJPleader on Wednesday said “anythingcan happen in the future”.

    Fadnavis, a former MaharashtraChief Minister, and Raj Thackeraymet in Prabhadevi here on Tuesday.The meeting lasted for nearly twohours, sources had said.

    Asked about the Fadnavis-RajThackeray meet, which took place inthe backdrop of political realignmentin the state, Maharashtra BJP leader Sudhir Mungantiwar didnot provide any details, but pointedout that nobody had expected that theShiv Sena will join hands with the

    Congress-NCP.It was a courtesy meeting

    between the two leaders... there wasnothing political, but anything canhappen in the future.

    “Nobody had predicted that theShiv Sena would go with theCongress-NCP. People would termsomeone talking on these lines ascrazy, but it happened, said the for-mer State BJP president who was a member of the Fadnaviscabinet. The Shiv Sena, a long-timeally of the BJP, walked out of the saf-fron alliance in November last yearand joined hands with the Congress-NCP combine to form the MahaVikas Aghadi government in theState.

    The Maharashtra Navnirman

    Sena (MNS), founded by RajThackeray in 2006, fared poorly in theOctober assembly polls winning justone seat.

    Raj Thackeray is expected tohold a public rally on January 23,where he might announce a ‘key’decision, an MNS official had said onTuesday. It is being widely speculat-ed that Raj Thackeray, estrangedcousin of Chief Minister UddhavThackeray, may announce a shift tothe right amid changed political sce-nario in the state.

    Raj Thackeray had become atrenchant critic of the BJP prior to the2019 Lok Sabha polls and had heldseveral rallies in the State where hecriticised the Modi Government ona range of issues. PTI

    Jammu: Students under thebanner of the All IndiaStudents’ Federation (AISF)on Wednesday staged a peaceful demonstration hereagainst the recent attack on thestudents and professors at theJawaharlal Nehru University(JNU) in New Delhi.

    The protesters, who werealso joined by some senior cit-izens, were carrying placardsthat read ‘Danda Mat Chalao-Beti Bachao Beti Padhao (Don’tuse batons, save and educatethe daughter)’, ‘J&K in solidar-ity with JNU’ and ‘RemoveJNU Vice Chancellor’.

    “We have assembled here

    to register our protest againstthe vandalism unleashed on thestudents and faculty membersin the JNU by theG ov e r n m e nt - s u p p o r t e dgoons,” Jammu & KashmirAISF president S Kotwal toldreporters.

    The protesters assembled atthe Exhibition Ground andlater dispersed off peacefully.

    G M Sheikh, one of thesenior citizens present at theprotest, said people were con-cerned over the safety of theirwards in the aftermath of theattack. “We are standing withthe JNU students,” the Kashmirresident said. PTI

    Jammu : Claiming a “deep-rooted conspiracy” was behindthe ongoing stir against theamended Citizenship Act, theJammu & Kashmir BJP allegedon Wednesday that the mainreason behind the protests is tocreate a “civic unrest” in thecountry.

    Addressing a public meet-ing in R S Pura here, BJP stategeneral secretary(Organisation) Ashok Kaulasked prominent civil societymembers in the state to createawareness about the Act andhelp Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in his endeav-ours to strengthen the nation.

    “The series of protests isnot an ordinary protest. Thereis actually a sinister effort toburn the nation in the name ofCAA. There is a deep-rootedconspiracy behind theseprotests, one by one, employ-ing various strategies to keepfuelling the fire and the ulti-mate link can be traced back tothe power hunger of theCongress, the Communists andtheir allies,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the BJP’swomen wing took out a rally insupport of CAA from GoleMarket near Swarn Theatre toSatwari Chowk in the city. PTI

    ����+"#��"��� )+)��

    Close on the heels of it losing power inMaharashtra, the BJP onWednesday suffered ahumiliating defeat in localbody elections in the State, asthe ruling Maha Vikas Aghadi(MVA) captured power in fiveout of six Zilla Parishads andwalked away with majorityPanchayat Samiti seats in fiveout of six districts where thepolls were held.

    It what came as personalsetback for former ChiefMinister and senior BJP leaderDevendra Fadnavis, the AmitShah-led party lose power inthe Zilla Parishad andPanchayat Samitis in his homedistrict of Nagpur.

    The MVA, comprising theShiv Sena, NCP and Congress,captured power in the ZillaParishads of Nagpur, Washim,Akola (all three in Vidarbharegion), Nandurbar (in northMaharashtra) and Palghar (incoastal Konkan region), whilethe BJP managed to come topower in Dhule ZP in northMaharashtra.

    In a repeat performance inthe Panchayat Samiti polls, theMVA won a maximum of 310seats out of a total 552 seats infive districts — Nagpur,Washim, Akola, Nandurbarand Palghar, while the BJPmanaged to maximum of 70out 112 seats in Dhule district.In five districts, the BJP secured124 seats, while the MVAbagged 32 seats in Dhule dis-trict.

    The MVA put up animpressive performance in theZilla Parishads of Nagpur,Washim, Akola, Nandurbarand Palghar, where it won asmany as 165 seats out of total276 seats, as against 67 seatswon by the BJP. However, in

    Dhule ZillaParishad, theBJP emerged asthe victor bywinning 39 outof 56 seats.

    The ZP andP a n c h a y a tSamiti poll out-come has erodedthe stock ofFadnavis inVidarbha region

    where the BJP has lost powerin all three Zilla Parishads –Nagpur, Washim and Akola –that went to polls. The BJP’sdefeat in Nagpur ZP polls hascome as an embarrassment forFadnavis, where the Congress—which is a constituent of theMVA — has by itself won amajority of 30 out of total 58seats in the local body.

    The poll outcome hascome as a boost to State HomeMinister Anil Deshmukh of theNCP who hails from Katoltaluka in Nagpur, while seniorCongress minister K C Padviand BJP Girish Deshmukhshare credit for the poll per-formances in Nandurbar andDhule districts of north

    Maharashtra. While the MVA — of

    which the Congress is a part —has captured power in theNandurbar Zilla Parishad, theBJP has come to power inDhule ZP. The only regret forPadvi is that his wife HemlataPadvi was defeated in theNandurbar ZP polls by a can-didate of the Shiv Sena, whichis also a constituent of theMVA. There was no pre-pollbetween the MVA constituentsin the ward where HemlataPadvi contested.

    The Opposition BJP maytake a solace for its defeat in thefact that is for the first time thatthe Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress have come togetherin the ZP and Panchayat Samitipolls and that too as a post-pollarrangement in a few of theZilla Parishad.

    But, the BJP will have tolive with the home truth that aslong as the MVA is power inthe state, it will have to stayaway from power in a maxi-mum number of local bodies— including ZPs, PanchayatSamitis and municipal bodies— across the State

    Srinagar: National Conference MPMohammad Akbar Lone on Wednesday saidhis party will not contest any election till thespecial status and statehood of Jammu &Kashmir is restored.

    “The National Conference will not takepart in any election till the pre-August 5 posi-tion of Jammu & Kashmir is restored,” Lonetold reporters after a party meeting here.

    Lone said he was hopeful of a favourableverdict on the petition regarding the restoration of the special status in the Supreme Court.

    Asked about the new political front ledby former PDP leader Syed Altaf Bukhari,Lone said “such elements were used byGovernment of India from time to time since1953 to undermine people’s aspirations”.“Many of those who are part of this front werethe same people who brought down theFarooq Abdullah Government (in 1984) andformed a new Government. Everyone knowshow long that Government lasted. They willbe used and thrown away,” the Lok Sabhamember from Baramulla said.

    He said the BJP might be able to take theiragenda to people of Kashmir, the leaders whoare part of the new front did not have any pub-lic standing. “They will be rejected by peo-ple,” he added. In response to a question,Lone said the hype around the domicile lawfor Jammu and Kashmir was of no value.

    “We will not even spit on such a law. Ouragenda remains the same as that of (NCfounder) Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah,” hesaid. When asked why the NC members didnot resign from the Lok Sabha, Lone shotback, “What are we going to achieve by that?Will they (government) release our leaders?Will they grant us what we have beendemanding?” PTI

    Chennai: The rulingAIADMK and principalOpposition DMK onWednesday accused each otherover the National EligibilityCum Entrance Test (NEET) inthe Assembly and theGovernment said it has filed afresh plea in the SupremeCourt challenging the exami-nation.

    As soon as the questionhour ended, Leader ofOpposition M K Stalin saidNEET went against the tenets ofsocial justice and the interests ofrural students and accused theruling dispensation of “hugebetrayal” on the issue.

    He sought to know aboutthe state filing a plea against thetest in the Apex Court just twodays before the last date (6 Jan,2020) to apply for NEET ended.

    Health Minister CVijayabaskar retorted saying if atall it was a betrayal, the seeds forit were sowed by the DMK whenit was part of the Congress-ledCentre.

    On 27 December 2010, thenotification for the test wasissued by the Union govern-ment, he said. Only after thenotification, the national testtook shape and the oppositionto it also had to be fought in theMadras High Court and later itwent as far as the SupremeCourt, he noted.

    Also, bills were passed bythe Assembly seeking to exempt

    Tamil Nadu from the test, headded.

    The Minister said the gov-ernment was taking legal stepsand also handles the matterpolitically to oppose the test.

    Asserting that the govern-ment continued to be firm in itspolicy of opposition to NEET, hesaid, “Now a petition has beenfiled in the Supreme Courtchallenging section 10 (d) of theIndian Medical Council Act.The main petition in the matterwas still pending in the topcourt.”

    The NEET was behind con-ducted under section 10 (d) andthis section was inserted throughan amendment to the IMC Act.Tamil Nadu filed the fresh pleaafter the top court said duringthe case hearing last monththat the State had the freedomto challenge this provision, theMinister pointed out. He alsowanted the opposition to spec-ify if this move of the govern-ment was “right or not.” DMKdeputy leader Duraimurugancountered asking what the gov-ernment intended to achieve byfiling the fresh plea. PTI

    Bengaluru: Amid speculation that he will beconsidered for Rajya Sabha from Karnataka, vet-eran Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge onTuesday said it will depend on what the Congresshigh command decides and he was a disciplinedsoldier of the party.

    “..Is it in my hands? It is in Congress party highcommand’s hand. It will depend on what highcommand decides,” Kharge said in response to aquestion.

    Speaking to reporters here, he said “I havenever asked for anything. I have been working asthe disciplined soldier of the party.”

    Four Rajya Sabha seats from Karnataka rep-resented by Rajeev Gowda and BK Hariprasad ofthe Congress, Prabhakar Kore of the BJP and DKupendra Reddy of the JD(S) will fall vacant inJune.

    Kharge, who was popularly known as “solil-lada Saradara,” (a leader without defeat), faced hisfirst electoral loss in his political life spanning several decades, against BJP’s Umesh Jadhav inGulbarga by 95,452 votes during the 2019 LokSabha polls.

    A nine-time MLA and two-term Lok Sabhamember, Kharge had served as Congress’ floorleader in the previous Lok Sabha.

    Also, there are reports about JD(S) lookingat sending its patriarch and former PrimeMinister H D Deve Gowda to the Uppper House.

    The regional party will need Congress sup-port for this. Gowda was defeated in Tumkur con-stituency by hisBJPrival G S Basavaraj by over13,000 votes.

    As the joint candidate of the then rulingCongress-JDS coalition, Gowda had chosen tocontest from Tumkur at the last minute, aftervacating Hassan-his home turf, to grandsonPrajwal Revanna (a current MP). PTI

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    In twin developments, theMaharashtra LegislativeAssembly on Wednesday rati-fied the Constitution (126th)Amendment Bill seeking exten-sion of quota to SC/STs in LokSabha and State Assemblies byanother 10 years and passed aunanimous resolution urgingthe Centre to undertake acaste-based census to ascertainthe population of OtherBackward Classes (OBCs)across the country.

    At a special one-day ses-sion of the State Assembly,Maharashtra Chief MinisterUddhav Thackeray moved aresolution seeking ratificationof the ConstitutionAmendment bill passed byParliament on December 11.Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis supportedthe resolution. The Houseadopted the resolution unani-mously.

    The Assembly also unanimously adopted a resolution — moved suo motoby Speaker Nana Patole urgingthe Centre for a caste-basedCensus to find out the population of OBCs across thecountry.

    Moving the resolution,

    Speaker Patole said that therewas a need for collating data onOBC population so that OBCscould be given benefits ofdevelopment.

    “The new Census will betaken up in 2021. There is needfor the data of OBC populationso that they can be given ben-efits of development.. Manydelegations of OBCs have metme seeking such an enumera-tion. The House can pass a res-olution seeking caste-basedCensusto find out the OBCpopulation,” Patole said.

    Deputy Chief Minister AjitPawar said the issue can be dis-cussed in the BusinessAdvisory Committee (BAC)first and then taken up in theBudget session beginning nextmonth.

    Parliamentary AffairsMinister Anil Parab also saidthat only the business finalisedby the BAC for the day be takenup by the House.

    Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis of the BJPsaid the opposition would sup-port such resolution whenev-er it was taken up.

    At this point, Patole sug-gested that the caste-basedCensus issue be taken atWednesday’s one-day special

    session itself as postponingthe issue to the Budget Sessionwould be too late.

    Food and Civil SuppliesMinister Chhagan Bhujbal ofNCP agreed with the chair andsaid the demand for a

    caste-based Census was longpending.

    After the Speaker read outthe resolution, the Assembly —which has total 288 members— adopted the resolution by avoice vote.

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    Maharashtra GovernorBhagat Singh Koshyarisaid on Wednesday that theMaha Vikas Aghadi (MVA)Government was giving finaltouches to a relief package forfarmers whose short-termcrop loan arrears exceeding � 2 lakh.

    Addressing a joint ses-sion of the MaharashtraAssembly and Council, theGovernor said that in an effortt oencourage the farmers whowere repaying their crop loanson time, the State Governmentwould announce new measures shortly.

    The Governor’s statementcame less than a month afterChief Minister UddhavThackeray announced anunconditional waiver of loansup to � 2 lakh each forfarmers.

    As per the “MahatmaJyotirao Phule Farmer LoanWaiver Scheme” announcedby the CM, farmers whoseloan is up to Rs two lakh takenbetween April 1, 2015, andMarch 31, 2019,and whichhas not been repaid till September 30, 2019, will be eligible for thewaiver.

    Koshyari said the loanwaiver scheme covered theoutstanding crop loan amountupto � two lakh, whichincludes the principal amountand the interest, as onSeptember 30, 2019.

    “The scheme covers short-termcrop loan and restruc-tured short-term croploanavailed during the periodfrom April1, 2015 to March31,2019. My Government willimplement this schemein atime-bound manner,” theGovernor said.

    The Government wouldalso announce welfareschemes targetting rural aswell as urban populations.“The people from variouswalks of life will be benefitted,”he said.

    Alluding to safety ofwomen, the Governor saidthat his Government was committed to implement var-ious security measuresfor the protection ofwomen.

    “Prompt and stern actionwill betaken in respect ofoffences against women, andappropriate amendments willbe made in the laws for thatpurpose,” he said.

    Paying homage to themartyrs of the ‘Sanyukta (unit-ed) Maharashtra’ movement,the governor underlined thatthe year 2020 marks 60 yearsof formation of MaharashtraState. “During the last 60years, Maharashtra made aremarkable progress in thefields of agriculture, industry,information technology, arts,sports, music, education andother fields of life. TheGovernment will organise var-ious programmes to celebratethese achievements,” theGovernor said.

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  • The previous decade was notewor-thy for a number of reasons, notleast of which was the sharp risein the number of Internet users —more than a billion people fromacross the world joined the new Internetbandwagon in the last six years alone. Thishas had massive cultural implications,requiring the revision of legal, economic andtechnological frameworks. IntellectualProperty (IP) frameworks have receivedmuch importance in this era, especiallybecause they can impact areas beyond IP. Forinstance, copyright laws can have implica-tions beyond the digital content ecosystemand can extend to an array of areas such asfree speech, the flow and availability of infor-mation and the manner in which culturalproducts such as art, music, film and the likeare produced and exchanged.

    Such cultural products in the creativeindustry play an important role in a coun-try’s economy. For instance, the Indian cre-ative industry (largely comprising the mediaand entertainment industry) is poised to beworth $31 billion by 2020 and is expectedto create over a million jobs by 2022.However, this industry has repeatedly high-lighted copyright piracy as a major issue thateats into its profits significantly. While thisis an issue that has practically been aroundsince the beginning of the copyright frame-work, technological advancements havemeant that it is now possible to make per-fect replicas at a scale almost instantaneous-ly and with much easier access.

    One of the first steps to tackle piracy isto understand its underpinnings and toassess the factors that contribute to it. A fewstudies in this regard have been there in Indiaand they indicate that piracy is influencedby several factors — ranging from person-ality-based to social and cultural. However,the overall lack of information about vari-ous aspects of this issue is a problem. Thereis no recent academic literature on the dri-vers of piracy and more importantly, thereis a lack of reliable data on the total size ofthe cultural economy in our country.

    This lack of information complicates pol-icy and law-making in this area. While thestandard legislative response has been to usestringent penalties for copyright infringementwithout accounting for differences in the kindsof infringement and infringers, this approachhas had limited success. Then there are alsoother challenges that relate to tackling digi-tal piracy. We have an overburdened judicialsystem, disparate enforcement mechanisms,a fragmentate supply chain and more gener-ally, the absence of a widespread understand-ing of “copyright.” Additionally, since “law andorder” is a State subject under theConstitution, enforcement relies on respec-tive police forces, making it difficult toimplement centralised and uniform enforce-ment strategies.

    Other measures that have been effectivein controlling piracy include a reduction in

    the “windowing period”between releases abroad and inIndia. This means lesser thetime taken for a new release tobe made accessible throughlegal platforms, the more likelyis it that users will consume suchcontent through legal means.

    This can be effective whensuch content is easily availableon various over-the-top (OTT)platforms for content that ishighly anticipated. Anotherdevelopment that has beeninstrumental in reducing pira-cy rates has been the introduc-tion of online streaming services,making legal content easily avail-able at a reasonable price.However, the effect of the starkincrease in the number ofstreaming services, all with theirown catalogues and separatepricing plans, is yet to be seen.

    Nevertheless, other techno-logical measures can be usefulin this regard. For instance, var-ious forms of water-markingtechniques have been used toidentify the source of piratedcontent, fingerprinting andrelated technologies have beenused by platforms such asYouTube and Facebook, whichhost user-generated content, tocombat infringement by helpingto identify and block the illegaluse of copyrighted content.

    More recently, blockchaintechnology is also beginning tobe explored as a means to com-bat infringement, both as away to establish a chain of con-tact for content and to exposepiracy through the use ofBitcoin rewards to incentivise

    the detection of pirated content.While these methods have vary-ing rates of success in combat-ing infringement, upgrades andinnovations in technology, espe-cially those that combine vari-ous existing methods, can beexpected to make them moreviable in the future.

    The use of soft-lawapproaches along with public-private partnerships have alsobeen effective in targetting pira-cy, especially where they targetrevenue models of thoseindulging in large-scale piracy.For instance, infringing websitelists, which identify websites thathost pirated content, have beenused to reduce advertising, there-by disrupting revenues. Suchlists are usually prepared by lawenforcement or other arms of theGovernment in partnership withthe private sector. For instance,the UK’s Police IntellectualProperty Crime Unit partnerswith experts, companies and lawenforcement agencies in othercountries to counter crime on aninternational scale. It compiled anIWL as part of its “OperationCreative” initiative, which helpedreduce advertising on illegalwebsites.

    More localised and country-specific lists are also being usedto target the revenue of websiteshosting pirated content. In India,the Maharashtra Cyber DigitalCrime Unit, which is a part ofthe State’s cyber police force,works on a model that relies oncollaboration with the privatesector. It has taken down hun-dreds of websites that host pirat-

    ed content and has sent noticesto different brands and networksadvertising on such websites.

    Piracy is, therefore, a com-plex issue with numerous driversand needs to be addressedthrough multiple strategies tar-getting different areas of theecosystem. In this context, areport by the Esya Centre titled,Trends in Copyright Infringementand Enforcement in India,explores the issue of copyrightpiracy and the challenges ineffectively countering it. It exam-ines legislative, judicial, policyand technological best prac-tices both from India and inter-nationally to inform next stepsin this regard.

    What is clear is that in fram-ing responses to piracy that areeffective and time-sensitive, it isessential to have in place judi-cial safeguards to ensure that allinterventions are narrowly tai-lored and aimed only at address-ing piracy. This because of theimpact that these laws can haveon issues of free speech andaccess and because it is impor-tant to also account for fair deal-ing exceptions provided forunder copyright law. Ultimately,copyright forms a part of larg-er goals of increasing innova-tion, promoting research,progress in the arts and sciencesand providing fair wages to cre-ators of various kinds, amongothers. It is essential to situatecopyright in that larger contextand tailor remedies for infringe-ment within those bounds.

    (The writer is a junior fellowat the Esya Centre)

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