English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ... · Narendra Modi used while ... ranks...

��

As the BJP seeks to rekindlethe politically sensitive

Ayodhya issue, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Mondayaccused the Congress of inter-fering in the Supreme Court’sproceedings on the RamTemple-Babri Masjid case, say-ing that their Rajya Sabha lead-ers intimidate Supreme Courtjudges with the threat ofimpeachment if they don’t stallthe case until after the generalelections of next year.

“If a Supreme Court judgedoes not prepare the time table(for hearing cases) as per their(Congress’s) political inten-tions and wants to hear all todeliver justice on a seriousand sensitive issue, such asAyodhya, then the party’slawyers, who are Rajya Sabhamembers, start the game ofscaring the judges in the nameof impeachment,” Modi said.

Senior Congress leader andRajya Sabha member KapilSibal rubbished PrimeMinister’s claim saying heshould start a new programmeon the lines of “Man ki baat”titled “jhooti baat” so that peo-ple are aware that the state-ments he makes on a weeklybasis are “inconsistent withfacts”.

Prime Minister’s commenton the Ayodhya issue came atan election rally at Alwar,Rajasthan, on a day when thou-

sands of Vishwa HinduParishad (VHP) workers andsupporters trooped into thevenue of the “Dharm Sabha” atAyodhya called by the VHP todiscuss the way forward for theconstruction of the temple.

Sibal, a Supreme Courtlawyer, also said that he had notappeared in the court sinceJanuary 2018 and that neitherthe Congress nor the BJP areparty to the court proceedings.“The Congress is not a party inthese proceedings. Nothingcan prevent the court fromhearing the matter. The CJI hassaid it is not a priority matterfor the Supreme Court, and thePM has no courage to say any-thing against the CJI. Blamingthe Congress for making polit-ical capital won’t help,” Sibaladded.

Modi alleged the Congressthreatened Supreme Courtjudges with impeachmentwhen they tried hearing theAyodhya dispute cases earlierthis year. The PM claimed thatCongress party’s Rajya Sabhamembers, who are also lawyers,had tried to scare away the apexcourt judges to ensure thehearing in the cases is delayeduntil after the 2019 Lok Sabhaelection.

Seven Opposition partiesled by the Congress had moveda notice for the impeachmentof then Chief Justice of IndiaDipak Misra in April this year,accusing him of “misbehav-

iour” and “misuse” of author-ity. Rajya Sabha Chairman MVenkaiah Naidu rejected thenotice, saying the case againstthe then CJI was based on “sus-picion and conjectures”.

Modi said the Congress hasno faith in democracy andjudiciary. “It does not hold dia-logue and stall proceedings inParliament, but the new gamethey are playing now is dan-gerous and this must be debat-ed for a bright future of thecountry.”

“When their shameless tac-tics fail, they use the threat ofimpeachment to bend thejudges to their will. This is adangerous play. The Congressis committing a crime by usingimpeachment to stop lawfulprocedures. They are enslavingthe country using their powerin the Rajya Sabha,” Modi said.

He urged intellectuals toanalyse this “dangerous game”of the Congress in the interestof the country.

The 200-memberRajasthan Assembly is sched-uled to go to polls onDecember 7. The counting ofvotes will take place onDecember 11.

��

An auto-driver was lynchedby a mob in Dwarka's

Uttam Nagar on Saturdayevening after two batterythieves who were riding on hisvehicle diverted the ire of themob blaming the driver for thecrimes.

The victim auto-driver,identified as Avinash Kumar,had picked two passengers,identified as Mani Ram andPrakash, from Uttam Nagar.

Mani and Prakash askedthe unsuspecting auto driver tostop at Mohan Garden for waitfor sometime, police said.

Meanwhile, the auto driverAvinash went to attend thenature's call. When he cameback, a crowd had alreadygathered near his auto andthey were beating Mani andPrakash for stealing car bat-teries.

As soon as the auto driverreturned to his vehicle, Maniand Prakash blamed Avinashfor the thefts claiming that heis the kingpin. In the melee, thethieves placed a stolen batteryin Avinash’s auto and con-vinced the crowd that the autodriver was the mastermind.The furious crowd immediate-ly jumped on him and beat himto death.

The two thieves too facedthe fury of the mob and sus-tained grievous injuries.

Police said all the three

were rushed to hospital whereAvinash was declared broughtdead, while the other two arebattling for their lives.

A case of murder has beenregistered and one person hasbeen arrested for questioning,said police.

��

��

Attacking Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Shiv Sena

chief Uddhav Thackeray said ifthe BJP Government wasdetermined to honour court'sorder why it promised peopleduring elections that con-struction of Ram Temple atAyodhya will start during theirregime.

“The Ram Temple will beconstructed at any costwhether the ModiGovernment returns to poweror not. For some people, RamTemple may be a 'jumla' but forus it is a matter of nationalpride,” he said without takingname of Modi while talking toreporters here on Sunday.

�� !��

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) sponsored Dharm

Sabha did not announce anydate for the construction of RamTemple, but one of its seniorseers claimed that the Centrewill take some decision on thisissue after results of Assemblypolls were out on December 11.

Amid growing demand forthe construction of the RamTemple in Ayodhya withoutfurther delay, Ramji Das ofNirmohi Akhara told VHP’sDharm Sabha on Sunday thatdates for the same will beannounced early next year dur-ing Kumbh in Prayagraj.

Addressing the sabha afterthe inauguration marked bychanting of mantras at theBadey Bhaktmaal ki Bagia,Ramji Das said, “The date forconstruction of the Ram Templewill be declared in the 2019Kumbh which will be held inPrayagraj.”

“It is only a matter of a fewdays, and I request you all toshow some patience,” the seer

remarked.The seers at the Dharm

Sabha administered oath tothe crowd and asked people totake back soil of Ayodhya andmake pledge that they will notlet die down struggle for mak-ing a grand Ram temple atAyodhya.

The Dharm Sabha under-

lined the strong sentiment forBill or Ordinance for RamTemple by the Centre.Chairman of the RamJanmabhoomi Nyas MahantNritya Gopal Das, who presidedover the Sabha, said that peoplestill have faith in the BJPGovernments at the Centre andUttar Pradesh.

��

��

�� !�� !�� "��

�� #��!��!� ��$��

��

Dynasticism, demonetisa-tion and development con-

stituted a three-prongedweapon that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi used whilemounting a chakravyuh-styleoffensive against Congressranks while on the campaigntrail in Madhya Pradesh.

Democracy's worst foe isdynasticism, which has been acharacteristic of the Congressthat can work only for a singlefamily's benefit and cannot betrusted. That party, which is stillwailing over demonetisation, isvexed because more than threelakh fake companies were con-sequently busted, he averredwhile addressing a public rallyin this district headquarters.

The mother and the sonare on bail, the Prime Minister

said without naming CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi and hismother Sonia Gandhi in thecontext of the National Heraldcase.

"The Congress is runningout of steam in this election, sothey have started dragging myparents into politics. NoCongressman would make sucha statement against me or myfamily without the consent ofthe party president (RahulGandhi). It is the 'naamdar'(dynast) who is making hisleaders speak against me," headded.

"My mother sits in herhouse, performing religiousrites, confining herself to aroom, and has never visitedMadhya Pradesh. She does noteven know the 'R' of 'rajneeti'(politics)," Modi said.

"Yesterday, they took the

name of my mother and nowmy father. The Congress chiefis behind this... Naamdar allegesthat the prime minister takesthe names of his family mem-bers. Yes, I have to take theirnames as they were in politics,unlike my family memberswho sit quietly in their homeand do their job," he added."Had my parents held any pub-lic post, they should also havebeen criticised."

��"��#��

�� !�� %��

��

�� RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008

��

��

��

�� !�"�� #� �#$��%��&��#'��()$

�� !�"��#$%&'��" "��!%(��)��

!�"#"!#�$ ��

%!�&'�((��

�� *�(��+� !�"��#��$#%&'#()��*�#'��+��,,-�%'.-)

!"��#$��% !&��

)")��"*+�(,�� /

��

C M Y K

C M Y K

��

�� !��"�� #�� $��%��&�� '�� "��(��

�� !"#��$"�!"%&'!�( ��#�)�*��%�+,-*%��*#�� . /01,,2* 3�+�+4 �� 251��6 7 1��8��*�+�+%��*9��2*#��7/01,22 3�+�4*&��:,;557155,<;;*�� +:,<=<-2-,-0/+'��:��*!%"!��+%�+��'%>?1,,/?2-;,-*!��+%�+�71?#��@%?/2?1,,071,,=*�"!�A!� �!>'��!�+2+,,'��:��*!��*#�� )�*%��B��:�� C�� :#��C��+��:��D��*E��@��:%�+0*#��>�� #�)�* #��9��*%�)E��722,,,1* ��:,227/,22,/55*��@��:87-2*��0*%@"E�*>��#��%��71,2-,2*A+�+��:,21,7/=;<=,,C/=;<<,,*�� @��:E�F��G�� %�+:,<=0;5;5<--*,<=<1=1<15<* ��G��)@��:/��8��*��*8�H �!��*��G��)110,20+&��:,51171-/0//-*1-/0///*1-/0//5+

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

��

Team Building is one of themost important factor that

decides the success of the start-up or any business after prod-uct and planning”, said NemeshSingh, Appointy founder.

Focusing on the sameNPO Headstart, organisedStartup Saturday on ‘TeamBuilding’ at Appointy office onSaturday. The session was takenby Appointy founder NemeshSingh.

Nemesh focused on howthey built their team and cul-ture; and how it is importantfor the founders to create a cul-ture of growth for employees.

“It is very important tofind A grade people for yourcompany who want to learn

and grow and don’t focus juston the money.

Also, it is important toprovide them with a culturewhere they are growing and arefree to grow out of the officealso. There should be a culturewhere you don’t have to forceyour employees to work.

It is important to providethem with growth path”, saidNemesh. Through a presenta-tion Nemesh explained how tofind the perfect employees foryour business who understandthe vision of the company.

Second speaker for the daySanjay Nagpure, a senior HRshared important tips for star-tups for hiring like using dif-ferent platforms for findingskilled employees and provid-ing them with environment

where they can grow and learnmore.

“You can find goodemployees at platformslikeNaukri.com, Shine,Facebook and the best way tofind a good employee is to lookin Linkedin.

Headstart organizes dis-cussions and talks everySaturday to help the startupsand businesses to leverage theirgrowth. Headstart helps indeveloping a roadmap for star-tups and find jobs, internshipsand entrepreneurship oppor-tunities for fresher.

Discussions included legalissues in employee separation,sourcing good applications,keeping the employees moti-vated and organizing teamactivities.

&�� '��

��

Aseminar on ABCD ofTechnology was organised

in city at Hotel Atishay. Thetopics of the seminar wereArtificial Intelligence,Blockchain, Cyber Security,Data Analytics for CharteredAccountants. The seminar wasorganised by The BhopalBranch of The Institute ofchartered Accountants of India.

The programme has beeninaugurated by lighting thelamp by the guest of the pro-gram. CA Abhishek GuptaChairman of the BhopalBranch explained about theimportance of Technology incurrent scenario. The pro-gramme was conducted by CAAnshul Agarwal, Secretary of,Bhopal branch.

In the programme SachinDedhia speaker from Mumbaiaddress the members andexpress his views on theArtificial Intelligence,Blockchain, Cyber Security,Data Analytics. He furtherdescribe on the role and impor-tance of Cyber Security andthreats involved in it. There isan increase in the incidents ofcybercrime and fraud. He sug-gested some software to over-come the threats in CyberCrime. He also focuses onBuilding Blocks and CoreTechnologies for Blockchain.

He briefed the members onthe Bitcoin and Crypto cur-rency. He further explains thatover a period of time the bankswill shift from CBS platform toBlock Chain concepts due to itsrobust technology and securi-

ty feature.CA Rajeev Mehrotrathe second session speakerfrom Kanpur addresses themembers on the uses ofInformation Technology andhow data analaysis are effectivein Income Tax Surveys.

CA Mayank Agarwal, ViceChairman of the branch alongwith the CICASA ChairmanCA Anup Shrivastava, CANavneet Garg ExecutiveCommittee member also par-ticipated in the programme. Inthe program about 100Members has participated inthe seminar.

�� &()�� &�� (��

Bajaria Police have booked amiscreant for molesting an

18-year-old girl on Saturdaywhile she was on her way tohome from college.

Police said that the victimand accused are acquainted andstudy in the same college. Theaccused used to tease her andmolest her forcing her to accom-pany him to different places andon Saturday when she opposedaccused Shivam Yadav started toact obscenely with the victim andescaped the spot. The accusedalso threatened her of life.Thefrightened victim reached policestation and lodged a complaintagainst the accused who wentabsconding and is still missing.The police have registered a caseunder sections 354 and 506 of theIPC and started further investi-gation. Meanwhile Piplani police

have booked a miscreant formolesting a 22-year-old beauti-cian; accused and victim work ata beauty parlour in Sonagir area.The accused identified as AjaySarathe used to molest his co-worker at the beauty parlour inSonagiri. The victim opposedand told accused to mend waysbut accused continued with hisacts after which she lodged acomplaint with the Piplani police.

In her complaint she statedthat from the month of June thisyear Ajay used to harass her at thework and outside the beauty par-lour he would molest her fre-quently.

Based on the complaintinvestigation police have regis-tered a case against Ajay Sarathehas started further investigation.The accused went missing afterthe case was registered andsearch for the abscondingaccused has been started.

��0%#)'1��.223)4�+2#52-)0��1(��6��)'#72-47(�#-

��

Under World HeritageWeek, a heritage walk was

organised by IGRMS in whichstaff from IGRMS and visitorsparticipated.

Heritage walk was organ-ised with an aim to educatepeople about protection,preservation and propagationof world heritage site as theseare invaluable assets formankind.

On this occasion ProfSarit Kumar Chaudhuri,Director, IGRMS said that thevisitor should give the correctinformation about the heritagesite.

This generates respect forheritage in the common peo-ple and they think to partici-pate in the conservation andpromotion of it, only then willpeople join this walk in largequantities and will try to pre-serve this legacy.

The programme wasorganized by P Shankar Rao(Assistant Keeper). On thisoccasion plants were plantedin collaboration with the

Horticulture section of themuseum.

The museum is organis-ing the next chapter of its pop-ular series, Curatorial TalkShow on Tuesday, November27, 2018 from 3.30 pm atRock Art Shelter ConferenceHall.

In this Curatorial Talk,Assistant Keeper of ManavSangrahalaya, Rakesh MohanNayal will speak on ‘Cultureand Traditions of Jaunsar-Bawar of Himalayan Region’.

Besides, the Sangrahalaya

is organising ‘Fusion-2018’ atwo days long festival of fusionmusic entitled as fromDecember 1 to 2, 2018. Indiahas a rich tradition of folk andtribal music which provides aspecial identity to the nation’sculture.

In this festival GuruRewben Mashangva’s popularBand ‘King of Naga Folk Blues’from Manipur and SoulmateBand from Meghalaya willpresent fusion music daily atVeethi Sankul Amphitheatre ofIGRMS from 6.30 pm.

$%�� &��"��'��(��'��"

��

Bhopal Branch of ICAI ofCIRC observed Sports Day

for its members at BHEL SportsClub Bhopal. CA MembersChildren games/ activities likeLemon Race, Drawing andPainting and darting also heldat the sportsday.

The Chief Guest of theProgramme was Harsh Pandey,Superintendent, CGST. Asmany as 90 chartered accoun-tants and children participatedin the event. Games that wereplayed during the sports dayincluded Badminton, Tabletennis, Chess and Carom.

All the participants show-cased a wonderful performanceduring the sports day. All thegames were played in two cat-egories males and females.

The first match ofBadminton was played undermales category. The winner ofthe game (singles) was CAAmit Jain and CA Ankur Jainwas the runner-up of thematch. In females category CASupreet Kaur was the winner

and CA Vaishali Baheti was therunner-up of the match.

In Doubles male categoryCA Amit Jain and CA AnkurJain were the winners of thematch. CA Vijit Baitmutthaand CA Nitin Rai were the run-ner-up. In Mixed DoublesCA Supreet Kaur and CADushyant Sachdeva were thewinners. Mayank Agarwal andCA Vaishali Baheti were therunner-ups.

In Carrom CA MayankAgrawal was the winner. InTable Tennis under males cat-egory CA Zuber Ullah Khanwas the winner of the match. InDoubles under males categoryCA Zuber Ullah Khan and CAShivam Dwivedi were the win-ners of the match. In Chess, CAAkshay Bhagwat was the win-ner of the match.

��

The Bhopalites enjoyed adelightful Sunday evening

with semi classical singing andOddisi dance. The perfor-mances were held at MadhyaPradesh State Tribal Museumunder the Uttaradhikar series.

The programme startedwith Hema Shirdhankar’s semiclassical performance.

. In which she first pre-sented Ab to Rut Maan in RagaPuriya Dhanashree. After this,Raga Puriya DhanashreeChota Kyaal was presentedand in teen Taal 'Barasan LaageBadriya' that left the audiencemesmerised.

After this, the artists pre-sented the song Sab Jhoote JagKe Naate and it was loved bythe audience. HemaShirdhankar, with her fellowartists, wrapped up her pre-sentation with Raga Bhairavi‘Kabir Das' hymn 'NaharwaHanka Na Bhai'.

During the presentation,Hema Shirdhankar wasaccompanied by KhushiShirdhankar and Anushka

Sharma on vocal, Majid Khanon the harmonium and AsheshUpadhyay on tabla.

After the melosious per-formance, Samarjit Dev pre-sented 'Odissi dance' with hisfellow artists. In whichSamarjit Dev started the Odissidance with 'Mangalacharan(Matangi Vandana)'.

Notably, Matangi Vandanais one of the ten great things.At the end of this presentation,Samarjit Dev took a glimpse ofhis dance skills and congratu-lated the audience.

After this, the artists pre-sented the Odissi dance on'Sthayi bantu'. In this presen-tation, the triangular mudra,which is seen on the walls ofmany inscriptions and temples,presented on stage.

After the statues, the artistspresented dance on 'Pallavi'. Inthe same way in which theflowers blossom in Pallavi, theartists attempted to confuse thepace of anger with their danceskills.

After this, the Krishna-centric dance drama was per-formed, in which the artistsperformed Krishna leela onstage. After this, Shiv Tandavwas performed by the artists on'Jata Tavi GaljajalvarvaPavitasthale' and they show-cased the fierce form of Shivaon stage. Samarjit Devwrapped up his presentationwith presenting Moksha withhis fellow artists 'SarvamangalManglya Shiva Sabhartha SaathSaath' leaving the audiencemsemerised.

�� ! "��

"��#��$��%��&�'��&

(�"��!��&��%��

�� 8� ��8�� 9��:��;�� :��

��<��<��

(��)!��*�� +��*��&��!��&()�,-�%�� .��!��

��$��

1��&�0��$#'�2#�'-��'-3:��00�0�'1��)),)#�2+�'1'=��'1(#'&'-'�':��'3)0&��2&'1

�'�'-�>�--�0,)'3�21��$-�$#)�'14��#'4��2102+�8'$10'#7�'>'#�2+��5'-'�'1

�)(�21�9�)0�4)0:��&)��'1(#'&'-'�'��02#('1�0�1(��;$0�217!?�6��'��>2�4'�0�-21(+)0��='-�2+�+$0�21�5$0�%�)1��-)4�'0�+#25�)%)5.)#��2�!:�!?�69�14�'�&'0�'�#�%&�#'4��21�2+�+2-3�'14��#�.'-�5$0�%�>&�%&,#2=�4)0�'�0,)%�'-��4)1��2��&)�1'��21�0

%$-�$#)9�

44�0��,)#+2#5'1%)0�&)-4�'��'�)��#�.'-��$0)$5

�(��!��) �� &�*+�(��

C M Y K

C M Y K

��/�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

��0)12��, � ��-,��!��+�)#��&)�524)-�%24)�2+�%214$%��&'0�%25)��1�2�)++)%��+2#��&)��4&'1�'.&'��-)%��217!?�6:��&)�;��21�()��1(��1+2#5'��21�#)'%&)4��&)0,2��'14�(2��'�=�4)2�5'4)�'��!�,)�#2-�,$5,0�+2#�(�=�1(�,)�#2-��2��&)=)&�%-)0�2+�'�,'#��%$-'#�,'#��21��&)�.'0�0�2+�0-�,09��$#�1(��&)�1=)0��('��21�'14�21�+�14�1(��&)�%25,-'�1��%2##)%�:��&)�%21%)#1)44),'#�5)1�'-�2++�%)#0�>)#)��1+2#5)4�'14�,)�#2-�,$5,�&'0�.))10)'-)4�.��#)(�0�)#�1(�'�%'0)�'('�10��&)�,)�#2-�,$5,�2,)#'�2#9�)0�4)0:�!�%2$1�#��-�@$2#�0&2,0�'14�21)�+2#)�(1�-�@$2#�0&2,�&'=).))1�0)'-)4�.��0$0,)14�1(��&)�#�-�%)10)0�.��&)��2--)%�2#��1�&&�14>'#'�4�0�#�%��+#25��2=)5.)#�! ��2�!A�+2#�0)--�1(�-�@$2#��1.$-39��5�-'#-�:��&)��&2,'-��2--)%�2#�&'0�0$0,)14)4��&)�-�%)10)0�'140)'-)4�21)�%2$1�#��-�@$2#�0&2,�'14�21)�+2#)�(1�-�@$2#�0&2,��1��&2,'-��--��2=)5.)#�!A�+2#�2,)1��--�-'�)�1�(&��'14�0)--�1(�-�@$2#��1�.$-39

��#.�/�/�� $�/�0��&��! ��1!��1%)��&)�524)-�%24)�2+�%214$%��&'0�%25)��1�2�)++)%��1��&)�0�'�)�+2#�&)��4&'1��'.&'�-)%��217!?�6:�%'0&:�(2-470�-=)#:��--)('-�-�@$2#:4#$(0:�1'#%2��%0�'14�2�&)#�5'�)#�'-�>2#�&��0�A69B �%#2#)�&'=)�.))1%21+�0%'�)4�4$#�1(��&)�%&)%3�1(��1%-$4�1(��0�!B9� �%#2#)��1�%'0&:(2-47�0�-=)#�>2#�&��0��?9C��%#2#):��--�%��-�@$2#�>2#�&��0�� 9D?�%#2#):4#$(0�'14�1'#%2��%0�>2#�&��0��9AC�%#2#)�'14�2�&)#�5'�)#�'-�>2#�&��0B9A �%#2#)9�+�)#��&)�524)-�%24)�2+�%214$%��&'0�%25)��1�2�+2#%):�%'0&2+��0��9�?�%#2#)�'14��0�A?�-'3&��1��'4>'1��'14��&&'��'#,$#�4�0�#�%�#)0,)%��=)-�:��--�%��-�@$2#�>2#�&��0� 9! �-'3&�'14��0��?9 D�-'3&��1�0&23��'('#�'14��'140'$#�4�0�#�%��&'=)�.))1�0)�E)4�$14)#�'�.�(2,)#'��21��--�4'�)9��2-470�-=)#�>2#�&��0�!9C6�%#2#)�'14��0�6B9?D�-'3&�1��2#)1'�'14��$1'�4�0�#�%��&'0�.))1�%21+�0%'�)4�#)0,)%��=)-�9��5�-'#-�:�4#$(0�>2#�&��0�C9BA�%#2#)�&'=)�.))1�%21+�0%'�)4��1�'140$'#�4�0�#�%�9��)0�4)0:�1'#%2��%0�>2#�&��0��:!C:6�:???��1�$#&'1,$#�4�0�#�%��'14�2�&)#�5'�)#�'-�>2#�&��0��D9DD�-'3&�&'=)�.))1%21+�0%'�)4��1��'�1��4�0�#�%�9

��"��!��&��(2��&�)+��-)%�2#'-� ++�%)#��'1�&'��'2�&'0��1+2#5)4��&'��0�1%)��&)524)-�%24)�2+�%214$%��&'0�%25)��1�2�)++)%�:�'�,#2&�.��2#��'%��21�&'0.))1��'3)1�'('�10��:DD:6�C�,)2,-)�+#25� %�2.)#�A��2��2=)5.)#�!C:!?�6��1�2#4)#��2�)10$#)�-'>�'14�2#4)#��1��&)�0�'�)9��2�'-��!:B ?�1217.'�-'.-)�>'##'1�0�&'=)�.))1��00$)4�'14�C:BCD��--)('-�+�#)'#50�&'=).))1�0)�E)49��0�5'1��'0�!:A�:AAC�+�#)'#50�&'=)�.))1�4),20��)4��1�&)�,2-�%)�0�'��210�4$#�1(��&�0�,)#�249�14)#��&)�,#2,)#��4)+'%)5)1�:�2�'-�!?:?!:?AB�%'0)0�&'=)�.))1�#)(�0�)#)4�'14�'%��21�&'0�.))1��'3)1�1��B:C�:BB!�%'0)09��2�'-�2+��C:D�:!!A�%'0)0�2+�(2=)#15)1�,#2,)#��4)+'%)5)1��&'=)�.))1�'14�'%��21�&'0�.))1��'3)1�'('�10��C: �:!C��%'0)09�14)#��&)�,#�='�)�,#2,)#��4)+'%)5)1�:��: ?:6C %'0)0�&'=)�.))1�#)(�0�)#)4�'14�'%��21�&'0�.))1��'3)1��1��:�?:A6�%'0)09��)0�4)0:��C:��!�%'0)0�2+�5�0$0)�2+�=)&�%-)0�&'=)�.))1#)(�0�)#)4�4$#�1(��&�0�,)#�249

��-,��!��!��@$2#�0&2,0�>��&�52#)��&'1� ?�,)#%)1��0'-)��1%-$4�1(��6D�%2$1�#�-�@$2#�0&2,0�'14�6!�+2#)�(1�-�@$2#�0&2,0��1��!�4�0�#�%�0�2+��&)�0�'�)&'=)�.))1��4)1��+�)4�'0�0)10��=)�-�@$2#�0&2,09��&)�'%��=��)0�2+��&)0)0&2,0�'#)�$14)#�%210�'1��=�(�-'1%)�'14�'#)�.)�1(�%21��1$2$0-�521��2#)49��-21(�>��&��&�0:��4�0��--)#�)0:�D�.#)>)#�)0:��C�+2#)�(1-�@$2#�,-'1�0�'14�� .2��-�1(�,-'1�0�.)0�4)0��C�+2#)�(1�-�@$2#0�2#)&2$0)0�'#)�.)�1(�521��2#)4�.��%'5)#'09��&)�0&2,0�'#)$14)#�0$#=)�--'1%)�2+��#5)4�+2#%)0�'14�4),'#�5)1�'-2++�%�'-09�#2&�.��2#��'%��21��0�.)�1(��'3)1�'%%2#4�1(��2�>2#3�,-'1��1.2#4)#�5))��1(0�+2#�%21�#2-�21�0'-):��--)('-�0�2#'()�'14��#'10,2#�2#4)#��2�3)),�%&)%3�21�� ?�0&2,0�2+��&)�0�'�)�'14�6C�-�@$2#�0&2,0�2+2�&)#�0�'�)0�>��&�1� �35�#'4�$0�2+��1�)#70�'�)�.2#4)#9

&,�!��2#��,!��-)%��21��255�00�21�2+�14�'�&'0��00$)4�($�4)-�1)0�#)('#4�1(��&),#2%))4�1(0��2�.)�421)�D!�&2$#0�.)+2#)�,2--�1(�4'�9��&)�255�00�21�4�#)%�)4��&'��0�#�%��=�(�-'1%)�0&2$-4�.)�3),��2�%&)%34�0�#�.$��21�2+�'1��%'0&:�5'�)#�'-�2#�'1��2�&)#�3�14�2+��)5,�'��21(�=)1��2�=2�)#09��&)#)�0&2$-4�.)�%21��1$2$0�521��2#�1(�21��1�)#70�'�)1'3'0�'14�%&)%3�,20�09�--�%��-�@$2#�'14�>)',210�0&2$-4�.)�0)�E)4'14��0��#'10,2#��0&2$-4�.)�%&)%3)49��#507-�%)10)�&2-4)#0�%25�1(��2�&)�4�0�#�%��+#25�2$�0�4)�0&2$-4�12�.)�(�=)1�)1�#��>��&2$��,#2,)#�42%$5)1�0�'14�� 0��00$)4�.��&)',,#2,#�'�)��0�#�%��'(�0�#'�)9�#'10,2#�'��21�2+�%255)#%�'-�=)&�%-)00&2$-4�.)�%-20)-��521��2#)4�'14�)*'5�1)49��&)�'1��702%�'-�)-)5)1�02+�2�&)#�0�'�)0�'14�4�0�#�%�0�0&2$-4�.)�521��2#)4�'14�,#2&�.��2#�'%��21�0&2$-4�.)�)10$#)4�21��&)�52=)5)1��2+�'1��702%�'-�)-)5)1�0�2+�&)�4�0�#�%�9�--)('-�>)',210:�'-%2&2-:�'1��702%�'-�'14�&'#5+$-�)-)5)1�00&2$-4�.)�)++)%��=)-��%21�#2--)4��1�%22#4�1'��21�>��&�.2#4)#�4�0�#�%�0'14�0�'�)0�'14�'--��&)��1�)#70�'�)�.2#4)#0�0&2$-4�.)�0)'-)4�D!�&2$#0.)+2#)��&)�,2--�1(�4'�9

�).2�� //��!��&�)+��-)%�2#'-� ++�%)#��'1�&'��'2�0'�4��&'��6:�BD�%25,-'�1�0�&'=).))1�#)%)�=)4�4$#�1(��&)��24)-��24)�2+��214$%��1�!?�6�+#25 %�2.)#�A��2��2=)5.)#�!C�2$��2+�>&�%&�A:C�6�%25,-'�1�0�&'=)�.))1#)02-=)49��&)�66�%25,-'�1�0�(�=)1��2��&)��-)%��21��255�00�21�'14%255��))0�.��,2-��%'-�,'#��)0�&'=)�.))1�#)02-=)49� $��2+��&)�!��%25,-'�1�0�2+��&)�=�2-'��21�2+��24)-��24)�2+��214$%�:��6%25,-'�1�0�&'=)�.))1�#)02-=)49�&)#)�'#)��A�%25,-'�1�0��&'��&'=).))1�2.�'�1)4�#)-'�)4��2��&)�5)4�'�2$��2+�>&�%&��&'=)�.))1#)02-=)49� $��2+��:6�6�%25,-'�1�0�#)%)�=)4��1��&)��'��21'-��25,-'�1��)#=�%)��2-$��21:��:?DD�%25,-'�1�0�&'=)�.))1�#)02-=)49� $��2+�!6�%25,-'�1�0�5'4)�.��4�++)#)1��,'#��)0�4$#�1(��&)�0'�4�,)#�24:��BD%25,-'�1�0�&'=)�.))1�#)02-=)49

�)$�/��/� ��!��"!��/��0�5'1��'0�A�?�%25,'1�)0�2+��)1�#'-��)%$#��;2#%)0�&'=)�.))14),-2�)4�+2#�-'>�'14�2#4)#�'14�,)'%)+$-�=2��1(��1��4&'1��'.&'�-)%��21�7!?�69��-21(�>��&��&�0:� ��&2$0'14�&25)($'#40�%25�1(+#25�2$�0�4)��&)�0�'�)�>�--�'-02�.)�4),-2�)4��1�)-)%��21�4$��91�'-'(&'��4�0�#�%�:�DA�%25,'1�)0�2+��)1�#'-��)%$#��;2#%)0�&'=)�.))14),-2�)4:�!C��1��&�14:��B�)'%&��1��&&�14>'#'�'14��2#)1'�'14��6)'%&��1��'('#�'14��&2,'-9�6��,)#%)1��2+��&)�,2-�%)�+2#%)�&'0�.))14),-2�)4��1��&)�0�'�)�'14�B?�,)#%)1��2+��&)�&25)�($'#40�&'=)�.))14),-2�)4��1�)-)%��21�>2#39� 1)�&)-�%2,�)#�)'%&�>�--�.)�4),-2�)4�+2#0'+)��'##'1()5)1�0�'��'-'(&'�:��'14-'�'14��&2,'-9�;2#�.)��)#%255$1�%'��21:�!?�0'�)--��)�,&21)0�'14�!6:???�>�#)-)00�0)�0�'#).)�1(�$0)4��1��&)�)-)%��219

#3!�"�� &��!�� >274'��)5�1'#�>�--�.)�2#('1�0)4��1��'3&'1-'-��&'�$#=)4��'��21'-�1�=)#0��2+�82$#1'-�05�'14��255$1�%'��21�21��#)'��=)��#'�)(�)0�+2#��4=)#��0�1(:�;�-5�'14��$.-�%��)-'��210�9�&)��)5�1'#�>�--�.)��1'$($#'�)4�.��&'14#'3'1��'�4$:�+2#5)#)4��2#�2+��&)��14$0�'1��5)0�'14��%)��&'1%)--2#�2+��&)1�=)#0��8'(4�0&�,'0'1)�'��'5�21��214'�9�&'�#5'1�2+�%&22-�2+��)4�'��$4�)0�'14��)'1:�8'(#'1��'3)��1�=)#0��:��='3'#��&$3-'�>�--�4)-�=)#�-)%�$#)�21��#)'��=)��#'�)(�)0�+2#��4=)#��0�1(�'14��)>0��6��:��)'4:��'=))1�$#2&��>�--�)*,#)00�=�)>0�21��#)'��=��'14��0�,#20,)%�09��#�4�#)%�2#��122,�820&��>�--�0,)'3�21�%#)'��=)�0�#'�)(�)0�+2#,#24$%��21�'14�'#��%#��%��1'��,'4&�'��>�--�4)-�=)#�-)%�$#)�21#)=�)>�'14�%#��%�05�2+�'#��'14�%$-�$#)9 1��&)�0)%214�4'��2+�&)��)5�1'#:��1)0&��'-=��':�#)��#)4�'44��21'-�4�#)%�2#�2+�$.-�%��)-'��210��),'#�5)1�:�>�--�0&'#)�0$%%)00�0�2#�)0�2+,$.-�%�#)-'��210�,#2+)00�21'-09��'5-)0&��'&)0&>'#�:��),$��4��2#:��'�1�3��&'03'#:��&2,'-�>�--�0&)4�-�(&��21��(��'-�255$1�%'��21�'14��'#3)��1(:��4=)#��0�1(�'14��$.-�%�)-'��2109��)1�2#��2,��#��)#�2+��;��BC9 :�142#)��0&>'1'�&�820&��>�--�4)-�=)#�-)%�$#)�21�,#),'#'��21�2+'4=)#��0)5)1��'14�,-'11�1(9��-23��&'��)#F)):�4�#)%�2#�2+�0�'�)4#'5'�0%&22-:��&2,'-:�>�--�4�0%$00�+�-50:��&)'�)#�'14'4=)#��0)5)1��#)-'�)4��00$)0�>��&�0�$4)1�0��1��&)�0)5�1'#9

��

Governor Anandiben Patelattended the convocation

ceremony-2018 organised bythe ITM University of Gwalioras the Chief Guest.

Various renowned person-alities of the country werehonoured with honorarydegrees and citation lettersduring the programme.

Along with this, degreeswere presented to 1080 stu-dents on this occasion.

Students and teachers werehonoured with medals for theirbest research work in differentsubjects.

The Governor congratu-lated the recipients of honorarydegrees and degrees on theoccasion.

She said that the founderand teachers of ITM Universityare entitled for congratula-tions for the achievementswhich are being gained by theUniversity in the field of edu-cation in the country andabroad.

She told the students toremain connected with theresearch work and to move for-ward by reading biographies ofthe great personalities. Shefurther told the students to uti-lize the education to serve thenation.

The Governor mentionedthat the academic institutionsestablished by the Great per-

sonalities of the country areproving themselves useful intheir objectives today too.

Mentioning about Pt.Madan Mohan Malviya,Ravindra Nath Tagore andother personalities, she saidthat these personalities havecarried out exemplary work inthe field of education.

Guruvar Ravindra NathTagore worked to propagateeducation in the rural areas forits development by establishingShanti Niketan.

She told youth to spendtwo days in a year in ruralareas. Moreover, she urgeduniversities of the state topropagate education by adopt-ing villages.

The Vice Chancellor ofValsad University Dr. FaizanMustafa laid emphasis on con-crete works in the field ofhigher education.

Padam VibhushanChandiprasad Bhatt(Environmentalist), PadamVibhushan Prof MaharajaKishan Bhan (InternationalScientist), Padam RatanThiyam (Theatre Director),Padam Shri Deepa Malik(Adventure Sportsperson),

General Dalbir SinghSuhag, Writer and JournalistRavish Kumar, Social ActivistBejwada Gulshan were hon-oured with honorary digressfor their best work in theirrespective fields.

�1'14�.)1��'�)-�'��)140%21=2%'��21�'��1�=)#0��2+��>'-�2#

��

A28-year-old youth com-mitted suicide by hanging

with the ceiling at Dilkhoya vil-lage under Nazeerabad policestation area on Sunday.

Police said that JitendraAhirwar was found hangingwith the ceiling and rushed tonearby hospital where he wasdeclared dead. After thedeceased was declared dead,police were informed andpolice team reached the spotand started investigation.

After the preliminaryinvestigation the body wassent for the post mortem anda case under section 174 of theCrPC and started furtherinvestigation. The reason of thesuicide remained unknownand would be investigated.

Meanwhile, a 54-year-olddied who met accident onNovember 19 at Karond diedwhile undergoing treatment onSunday.

!67�)'#72-4%255��0�0$�%�4)'��-3&2�'=�--'()

��

Hitting out at Rahul Gandhiover his comments on

Rafale deal here on Saturday,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Aditynath said it was hardto guess whether he was speak-ing in India or Pakistan.

Addressing and electionmeeting in Indore's Rau assem-bly constituency, Adityanathalso attacked Madhya PradeshCongress chief Kamal Nathover a video that has gone viraland made a veiled reference tothe origins of UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi with an Italy jibe.

"The country is setting newrecords on the security front andhas developed its hitting capa-bilities, due to which we canenter the territories of enemieslike China and Pakistan. This isupsetting the Congress," he toldthe gathering.Adityanath fur-ther said, "You will be sur-prised at the fake outlook of the

Congress. Do you know whatRahul speaks? Sometimes, wecannot guess from his body lan-guage whether he is speaking inIndia or Pakistan.

"Gandhi has been attackingthe Centre on the Rafale fighterjets deal and has claimed that theaircraft were being bought forprices much higher than whatthe previous Congress-ledUnited Progressive Alliance(UPA) government had agreedto.The Centre, however, hasmaintained that the Rafale dealwas carried out after followingproper norms.

Speaking about the video inwhich Nath is purportedly seentalking about the votes of theMuslim community, Adityanathsaid, "You can remain happywith Ali, we have Bajrangbali. "In the video, Nath is purport-edly heard saying, "If theMuslim community does notrecord a 90-per cent voting, wewill suffer a heavy blow."

+�� -�� .�

��

The rising mercury underthe effect of cyclone Gaja

which trampled few coastalareas has started to shed anddip in the night temperatureshave started to witness acrossthe state as night temperaturedipped to 6 degree Celsiuswhich was recorded inMandla. Met department offi-cial said that the significantchanges in weather conditionwould be witnessed afteraround one week. The cyclonehas disturbed the normalweather pattern and once thisdisturbance would settle, steepdip in the temperatures wouldbe witnessed.

In the past 24 hours tem-peratures recorded steep dip inUjjain division while an oppo-site trend was recorded inRewa, Shahdol and Jabalpurdivisions where temperaturesabove the normal temperature.The state capital recordednight temperature at 12.5degree Celsius which was 3degree Celsius below the nor-mal temperature. The day tem-perature was recorded at 28.8degree Celsius. The majorcities are witnessing normalday temperature while nighttemperatures at lower level.Gwalior recorded night tem-perature at 11 degree Celsius,Indore recorded night tem-perature at 14.3 degree Celsiusand Jabalpur recorded nighttemperature at 11.4 degreeCelsius . Chhindwara, Rewaand Khajuraho recorded nighttemperature at 9 degreeCelsius. Umaria recorded nighttemperature at 8.2 degreeCelsius. Steep dip in the nighttemperatures have started towitness in several areas andgradually the pattern wouldprevail and intense cold con-ditions are likely to be wit-nessed in the next two weeks.

�)#%$#��4�,0'+�)#��'F':��&2,'-#)%2#40��!9�4)(#))0�%)-0�$0

��

Hitting out at the Congressparty over the article pub-

lished in the National Herald,Union Minister DharmendraPradhan here on Sunday saidthat that the Congress partywas spreading lies as it wasscared of defeat in the ensuingMadhya Pradesh assemblypolls.

His comments come daysafter the media house pub-lished an audio clip of analleged conversation betweenBJP candidate from Vidishaconstituency Mukesh Tandonand state-unit chief RakeshSingh, where the formerallegedly said that he had toincur huge expenses to attractcrowds for Prime MinisterNarendra Modi's rallies inMadhya Pradesh as the peopledo not want to listen to himanymore.

Pradhan labelled the arti-cle as fake and added that theBJP had filed an official com-plaint in this regard with theChief Electoral Officer (CEO)of the state. "Cyber Cell is con-ducting an inquiry in this

regard," Pradhan said."Congress mouthpiece

National Herald printed theconversation on Saturday.

The website has published

the audio tape. It is clear thatthe Congress party andNational Herald released thisfake CD. The ElectionCommission has started look-

ing into the matter," Pradhanadded.

Pradhan said the Congresswas making "failed attempts tospread lies" as they were scared

of the prospects of an "immi-nent defeat" in the poll-boundstate.

"It is their failed attempt tospread lies. They are scared oftheir imminent defeat due towhich they have resorted tosuch measures," he added.

Later, a delegation of theBJP lodged a complaint withthe Chief Electoral Officer VLKantha Rao.Madhya Pradeshwill go to polls on November28 to elect 230 members of thestate legislative assembly. Theresults will be declared onDecember 11.

#�� !��*��(��

3�� 3�� 4"�!��-

��

Governor Anandiben Patelsaid at the 70th

Foundation Day function ofthe National Cadet Corps(NCC) that the National CadetCorps is a Triangular ServiceOrganization of the Army,Navy and Air Force, engaged ingrooming the youth of thecountry as disciplined andpatriotic citizens.

It is a medium that devel-ops a sense of unity among theyouth by making them stay indiscipline through militarytraining and military activi-ties. The Governor present-ed certificates to the cadetsand released the magazine'Spandan'.

Patel said that the basis ofdevelopment of our country iscoordinated efforts and unity.Cadets coming from differentregions of the country getfamiliar with our valuablecultural heritage through theNCC camps.

The 'Youth ExchangeProgramme', takes the richcultural heritage of our coun-try not only throughout thecountry but also abroad andmake the country proud.

She said that the partici-pation of girls in NCC is amatter of immense pride forus. The NCC operates sixgirls battalion in the statethrough which the girls haveled NCC in the state, countryand abroad.

The Governor said that it

is necessary for the youth tolink up with NCC to play anactive role in the spirit ofpatriotism, development andcreative work.

The activities of the NCCshow that the hearts of youthof our country are full of thespirit of unity and patrio-tism. Lauding the officers,jawans and associates NCCOfficers the Governor saidthat they have trained thecadets with hard work andhelped them reach the high-

est level. Additional DirectorGeneral of NCC Directorate ofMadhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh, Major GeneralMukesh K Dutta highlightedthe activities of NCC.

On this occasion, BhopalGroup Commander, Brig AnilHooda, Director, GroupCaptain AK Upadhyaya, AirForce Medal and families ofNCC cadets besides dignitarieswere present on the occasion.NCC Cadets presented cultur-al programme on the occasion.

*' �+��,��-.��,��,�� .�/� ,0

,��)�$��!��

��-��!��, 5��$��

��!��$ ��"��"��

5��$��!��!��"��

�'�0��2=)#12#�'�)-�'��D?�&;2$14'��21��'�+$1%��21�2+��

��6�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

�� #�&�� (�� &��,�� -�� ,�� %�� .� ��

/� #�/��)��"��0 �� %�/� �&� �� &1�� 2�� &�� .� ��

��

The two main political par-ties in Punjab — the ruling

Congress and the regionalparty Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD) — are making all outeffort to outdo each other, andclaim credit for the construc-tion of the proposed KartarpurSahib corridor.

While the CongressGovernment in Punjab is pat-ting its back for developmentclaiming that it was the ChiefMinister Capt AmarinderSingh’s repeated meetings andthe Cabinet Minister NavjotSingh Sidhu’s initiative thatled to the corridor, the SAD-BJP combine is giving all thecredit to BJP-led NDAGovernment at the Centre fortaking the “historic” decision.

For Monday’s function tolay the foundation stone of pro-posed corridor, both the partiesare ensuring the maximumpresence of their leaders.Vice-President M Venkaiah Naiduand Capt Amarinder are sched-uled to lay the foundationstone on Monday in the pres-ence of State Cabinet Ministers,Congress leaders, among oth-ers. At the same time, SADdeclared that the party’s lead-ership and workers will alsoparticipate in the ground-breaking ceremony.

“SAD leadership and work-ers will take part in the ground-breaking ceremony of the pro-posed corridor to Kartarpur

Sahib on the Indian soil whilesinging hymns of gurbani onNovember 26. This is an aus-picious occasion for every-body who believes in the wayto God shown by our greatGuru Nanak Dev, as a longstanding demand of the Sikhcommunity has been fulfilleddue to a bold initiative taken bythe NDA Government at theCentre,” said SAD senior vice-president and spokespersonDaljit Singh Cheema.Cheemainformed that the entire SADleadership, under the leader-ship of party president SukhbirBadal, would reach at DurbarSahib, Dera Baba Nanak, in themorning, and after listening toshabads from the holy gurbani,a prayer of gratitude will bemade to the akal purkh (God).

“After the prayer, the san-gat will march on foot to theceremony site while singingauspicious shabads from thegurbani. SGPC president

Gobind Singh Longowal, SADcore committee members, dis-trict presidents, MPs, legisla-tors, former legislators, formerministers, all SGPC membersand entire party leadershipwill grace the occasion,” he saidwhile appealing to the Sikh san-gat to reach at Durbar Sahib,Dera Baba Nanak at 8 am.Irkedover the arrangements by theCentral Government for theevent, Punjab Cabinet MinisterTript Rajinder Singh Bajwademanded the Punjab Congressleadership and the areaMinisters should be accordeddue space in the function.

Bajwa, the State Rural andUrban Development Minister,strongly reacted to the proto-col for the Monday’s functionto lay the foundation stone forKartarpur Sahib corridor whileignoring Punjab Congress lead-ership and the area ministers.

“The list of speakers andthose who would share the stage

had been prepared at the Centrein which the Punjab leaders andlocal Ministers have not beengiven any space,” he pointed.

He said the local religiousleaders were objecting to theduties assigned to UnionMinister and SAD MP fromBathinda Harsimrat KaurBadal, who would proposevote of thanks. “This dutyshould be assigned to PunjabCongress president SunilJakhar who is also the local MP.The Sant Samaj has threatenedto walk out in case she is givensuch role,” he said.Bajwa addednot only local leadership buteven the Ministers from thisdistrict had beenignored.“SGPC chief GobindSingh Longowal too would bethere along with SGPC mem-bers that might create securityproblems keeping in view of theresentment among peopleagainst these leaders on the issueof sacrilege of Guru GranthSahib,” he warned.Lashing outat the Central Government forgoing in for laying the founda-tion stone two days beforePakistan without preparing thelayout, Bajwa said that the hurrywas only to pre-empt theground-breaking ceremony byPakistan Prime Minister ImranKhan on November 28.

What supports Bajwa’sclaims regarding unprepared-ness of ground-breaking cere-mony is the fact that the venuefor the same has been changedtwice. As per the information,the event will now be held at avenue where Punjab CabinetMinister and Dera Baba NanakMLA Sukhjinder SinghRandhawa was to hold a thanks-giving function.Meanwhile,Gurdaspur DeputyCommissioner and the NationalHighway Authority of India(NHAI) officials are also engag-ing in a blame game over prepa-rations. While the DeputyCommissioner Vipul Ujwalargued that the Centre hasgiven the responsibility toNHAI for making arrange-ments, NHAI on the otherhand, maintained that it wasDC’s duty as they knew nothingabout the area.“In such a shortspan of time, things are reallydifficult for both the districtadministration and the NHAI.The function is to be presidedover by the country’s second-most important constitutionalhead. Everything has to be inorder which is not the case rightnow. The authorities shouldtake the help of the army or oth-erwise things may turn bad,”said a local Congress leader.

��

Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on

Sunday sought the personalintervention of Union Ministerfor Road Transport andHighways Nitin Gadkari forexpeditious clearance of roadprojects related to the historictowns of Sultanpur Lodhi,Batala and Dera Baba Nanak,associated with the life of GuruNanak Dev, whose 550thparkash purb (birth anniver-sary) is being observed inNovember 2019.

Amarinder in a letter toGadkari said he was grateful tothe Central Government foracceding to the PunjabGovernment’s request related tothe projects and announce-ments in this regard, especial-ly the opening of KartarpurCorridor to facilitate smoothand easy access to devotees toKartarpur Sahib.In view of thehistoric importance of thesereligious towns, Amarindersought additional allocationof Rs 150 crore under theCentral Road Fund (CRF) forthe upgradation of the roadnetwork in Sultanpur Lodhi,Batala, Dera Baba Nanak andGurdaspur.

He also sought from theUnion Minister four-laning of21.300 km stretch (from RD16.800 to 38.100, which is cur-rently two-laned with 10-metercarriageway), at an estimatedcost of Rs 260 crore. “Thisstretch is part of the Jalandhar-Kapurthala-Sultanpur LodhiNH-703-A, an important high-way which connects the holytown of Sultanpur Lodhi withthe rest of Punjab and beyond,”he said.He added certain

stretches of this highway (0.0 to16.800) are already four-lanedand byepass Kapurthala townthrough a circular road, “but dueto the expected increase in pil-grim traffic during the upcom-ing celebrations, it is imperativeto four-lane the stretch of 21.300kms,” he added.

The Chief Minister alsoimpressed upon Gadkari toimmediately declare TarnTaran-Goindwal Sahib-Kapurthala road as NationalHighway, as it is related to GuruNanak Dev’s lige and connectsSultanpur Lodhi with Amritsar.

He apprised the UnionMinister that the CentralGovernment, vide letter datedNovember 6, 2017, has alreadygiven in-principle approval fordeclaration of aforesaid road as

National Highway.The ChiefMinister further apprisedGadkari that in view of theannouncement to open theKartarpur Corridor, Dera BabaNanak should be connectedwith Batala by a four-lanedHighway to enable the devoteesto visit Kartarpur Sahib by ashort route.

Notably, Sultanpur Lodhi isof great religious significance asGuru Nanak Dev spent 14years here and attained enlight-enment, before embarking onhis missionary travels.

In addition, other impor-tant places linked to GuruNanak Dev are Batala, wherehis marriage was solemnised,and Dera Baba Nanak, wherehe spent the last days of histemporal life.

��/��'��0��/*456��&*7�648�4��4��+49��:��45��;<�=*6��7��*:8�4��;��8�45��>��/��=� �4��6�/�:��8�6�4��6��45�?��6�:��8��45��4��/��4�� 4��6��79*��45��+?��4��7��*��;*66��*6 ��!3�@��;*8��4��5�7�45��;6��*��@�3��!��&*7�648�4��/�4�6��=*6��<�45��A��*6�;B��;��*4

�� "�3 �" ��4��!��*6��:��C�;��6�4;��*=�6*��:6*9�;��4��*6�;��*>4�

�5'#�14)#�02$(&��'44��21'-�'--2%'��21�2+��0��?�%#2#)�$14)#��&)�)1�#'-��2'4�;$14�+2#��&)�$,(#'4'��21�2+��&)�#2'4�1)�>2#3��1�$-�'1,$#��24&�:��'�'-':��)#'��'.'��'1'3�'14��$#4'0,$#�)�'-02�02$(&��+#25��&)�1�21��1�0�)#�+2$#7-'1�1(�2+�!�9 ??�350�#)�%&�G+#25��A96??��2� 69�??:�>&�%&��0�%$##)1�-��>27-'1)4>��&��?75)�)#�%'##�'()>'�H:�'��'1�)0��5'�)4�%20��2+��0�!A?�%#2#)�&)��&�)+��1�0�)#�'-02��5,#)00)4�$,21��'43'#��2��55)4�'�)-�4)%-'#)��'#1��'#'17�2�14>'-��'&�.7�',$#�&'-'�#2'4�'0��'��21'-��(&>'�:�'0��0�#)-'�)4��2��$#$��'1'3��)=�0�-�()�'14�%211)%�0�$-�'1,$#��24&��>��&��5#��0'#

��

Citing Pakistan-based Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI)’s

“nefarious activities” in Punjaband the killings of Indian sol-diers by Pakistan armed forces,Punjab Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Sundaycourteously declined neigh-bouring country’s invitationto attend ground-breaking cer-emony for Kartarpur corridoron November 28; while hisCabinet Minister Navjot SinghSidhu accepted the requestwith “an unalloyed joy”.

At the same time, SAD’s MPfrom Bathinda and UnionMinister Harsimrat Kaur Badalwill also attend the function inPakistan, representing the IndianGovernment along with herCabinet colleague and RajyaSabha MP from Uttar PradeshHardeep Singh Puri. ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swarajhas nominated the two on herbehalf after she expressed herinability to attend the same.Theinvite was sent by PakistanForeign Minister MakhdoomShah Mahmood Qureshi to

Sushma, Capt Amarinder andSidhu, on behalf of the PakistanGovernment to attend the cer-emony at Kartarpur onNovember 28 where their PrimeMinister Imran Khan will per-form the ceremony.Earlier,Pakistan cricketing legendImran Khan had personallytelephoned his friend from thecricket days, Sidhu, to attend thefunction - which he had accept-ed right away considering thepermission from the IndianGovernment.Later, formalinvites was sent to the Indiandignitaries.

Amarinder, in a letter toPakistan Foreign MinisterQureshi, said it is a historic occa-sion, but he regretted his inabil-ity to be present.

“My reason for declining the

invitation was two-fold. Firstly,not a day passes when Indiansoldiers are not killed or wound-ed on the Line of Control inJammu & Kashmir. Rather thanmoving towards normalcy, theseincidents are escalating,” he said.Secondly, the CM claimed thatPakistan’s ISI has started itsnefarious activities in Punjab.

Amarinder even tweetedhis refusal, “Always cherished dream to visitGurdwara Kartarpur Sahib. Regret to decline invite of @SMQureshiPTI@ForeignOfficePk for KartarpurSahib Corridor ceremony.Cannot go while killings ofIndian soldiers & terror attacksin Punjab continue. MayWaheguru bless us with peace& amity! (sic)”

��/�0�� .��#�-�12

�� "��)��*��$�$��

�� $ ��& � � � !,��

� �'#0�5#'��'$#��'4'-�>�--�'��)14��&)�+$1%��21��1��'3�0�'1�>��&�&)#�'.�1)��%2--)'($)�'14��'F�'��'.&'�5)5.)#�+#25��'#��#'4)0&�'#4)),��1(&��$#�

� �&)��1=��)�>'0�0)1��.��'3�0�'1�;2#)�(1��1�0�)#��'3&4225��&'&�'&5224�I$#)0&��21�.)&'-+�2+��&)��'3�0�'1��2=)#15)1�

��,��!�0��

Seven terrorists, an Armyjawan, and a civilian were

killed in separate incidents ofviolence in south Kashmir onSunday amid a massivecounter-insurgency offensivelaunched by the security forces.Separatists have called for ashutdown on Monday againstwhat they called killing of 18Kashmiris in past three days.Police said that six ultras killedin Shopian village wereinvolved in several heinouscrimes including killing ofthree policemen.

Official sources said a jointteam of security forces cor-doned off Batagund village inShopian district of southKashmir during the nighthours to launch an attack on ahouse where suspected terror-ists were hiding. The securityforces had specific tip-off ontheir presence.

During the initial bout offiring, a soldier of 162Territorial Army Nazir Ahmadwas hit by bullets along withanother soldier. They wereshifted to hospital for treatmentwhere Ahmad, a resident ofAshmuji village in neighbour-ing Kulgam district, suc-cumbed to his injuries. Sourcessaid four ultras were killed in

the first round of firing. Therewas a lull of more than an hourwhen terrorists again openedfire. In the retaliatory firing,two more ultras were shot.

The group belonged toHizbul Mujahideen (HM) andLashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT) out-fits and all but one slain ter-rorists were local residentsincluding Abbas Bhat, whohad recently taken over as thegroup’s ‘district commander’ toreplace Zeenatul Islam, whohas joined Al Badr group in thearea. The Sunday gunfight wasthe fourth encounter in southKashmir region in a week’stime. During these gunfights,12 ultras including top com-manders of HM and LeT werekilled, six each in Anantnagand Shopian districts.

Army’s Srinagar-basedspokesman Colonel RajeshKalia confirmed the casualtiesin Shopian encounter.“ O p H i p u r a B a t a g u n d(#Shopian). Two more #ter-rorists killed. Total Six terror-ists killed. Weapons and war-like stores recovered. One sol-dier also martyred. Operationover,” Kalia tweeted.

Locals said after the day-break when the news about theencounter spread in the area,hundreds of villagers marchedtowards the encounter site.

3�� .� �/��4��56��

��

Police officials had a nervouslong-distance face-off with

the tribe who killed anAmerican missionary, in theirlatest bid to locate his body ona remote island, police said onSunday.

The police team, who tooka boat just off Indian-ownedNorth Sentinel island onSaturday, spotted men from theSentinelese tribe on the beachwhere John Allen Chau was lastseen, the region’s police chiefDependra Pathak told AFP.

Using binoculars, officers— in a police boat about 400metres from the shore — sawthe men armed with bows andarrows, the weapons reported-ly used by the isolated tribe tokill Chau as he shoutedChristian phrases at them.

“They stared at us and wewere looking at them,” saidPathak. The boat withdrew toavoid any chance of a con-frontation.

Police are taking painstak-ing efforts to avoid any dis-ruption to the Sentinelese — apre-neolithic tribe whose islandis off-limits to outsiders — asthey seek Chau’s body.

The death of the 27-year-old on November 17 has cast anew spotlight on efforts to

protect one of the world’s last“uncontacted” tribes whoselanguage and customs remaina mystery to outsiders.

Fishermen who took Chauto North Sentinel — which isone of the Andaman andNicobar islands in the Bay ofBengal — said they saw thetribe burying the body on thebeach.

The Sentinelesenormallyattack anyone who goes to theisland and Pathak said policeare monitoring to see if thereis a repeat of an incident aftertwo fishermen who strayedonto the island were killed in2006.

One week after theirdeaths, the bodies of the twoIndians were hooked on bam-boo stakes facing out to sea.

“It was a kind of scarecrow,”Pathak said.

“We are studying the 2006

case. We are asking anthropol-ogists what they do when theykill an outsider,” the policechief added. “We are trying tounderstand the group psy-chology.”

Though Chau’s death isofficially a murder case, anthro-pologists say it may be impos-sible to retrieve the American’sbody and that no charges willbe made against the protectedtribe. Seven people, includingsix fishermen who wereinvolved in ferrying Chau toNorth Sentinel, have beenarrested. The fishermen haveaccompanied the police teamsto the island to help efforts topinpoint where Chau waskilled.

Anthropologists and trib-al welfare experts who have hadthe previous rare contacts withthe Sentinelese have been heav-ily involved with the inquiry.

(��(� �� "��

��7�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

��

Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Sunday he

deliberately kept "politics" outof his monthly radio address'Mann ki Baat' as the pro-gramme was about the aspira-tions of the people and not hisor the Government's achieve-ments. Addressing the 50thepisode of the monthly radioprogramme, he said the "appre-hensions" of the people are not"misplaced" that the pro-gramme could have been usedas a political tool and to dis-seminate his and hisGovernment's achievements.

"The fact is, if a leader getshold of a microphone withassured listeners to the tune ofmillions, what else does heneed? ... When 'Mann Ki Baat'commenced, I had firmlydecided that it would carrynothing political, or any praisefor the Government, nor Modifor that matter anywhere. Thegreatest bulwark in ensuringadherence to my resolve havebeen you," he said.

As a run up to each

episode, the expectations andaspirations of listeners throughtheir letters, online commentsand phone calls are crystalclear, he said. "Modi may comeand go, but this country willnever let go of its unity and per-manence, our culture willalways be immortal," the PrimeMinister said.

He said in an era of socialmedia, he preferred radio as herealised its potential in 1998 asa worker of the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP). In a remoteHimachal Pradesh area, it wasa tea stall owner who told himthe news of India carrying out

nuclear test. "It was matter of great

intrigue to me to see a lone teaseller in a remote, snow-cladhilly place, who possibly keptlistening to the radio the entireday… watching that particulareffect of the news on radio ledme to realise and internalisethat this was a medium thatwas truly connected with themasses… and that it was amighty means of gettingacross," Modi said. The firstepisode of Mann Ki Baat start-ed on the last Sunday ofOctober 2014.

Prime Minister also

expressed concern over a"decline" in open communica-tion between elders and youthsin families, saying the discus-sions generally revolve arounddos and dont's and studies. Hesaid communication would bemore effective if people "accept"instead of "expect" and "dis-cuss" instead of "dismiss". Modiurged people to maintain a bal-ance between rights and dutiesas enshrined in theConstitution.

"If we respect the rights ofothers, our rights will automat-ically get protected and similarlyif we fulfil our duties, then alsoour rights will get automatical-ly protected," he said.

"Today's youth will not doanything which they do notbelieve themselves. And when-ever they believe in some-thing, they follow that, leavingeverything else," he said.Referring to a "communicationgap" between the elders andteenagers in families, he saidthe scope of discussion withteenagers was limited to stud-ies, habits or lifestyle and the'dos and don'ts'.

He said he tries to learnfrom whatever youth are doingor whatever they are thinking."Some people say that theyouth do not have patience butmy belief is that the youth donot have any time to waste.This is the point which helpsthe present day youth becomemore innovative because theywant to accomplish thingsquickly," PM said.

Referring to theConstitution Day beingobserved Monday to mark itsadoption in 1949, he said theextraordinary pace at which thedocument was drafted was anexample of time managementand productivity to emulateeven today. He said the uniquepoint in the Constitution wasthat the rights and duties werevery comprehensively detailed.

"A balance between thesetwo in the lives of our citizenswill take our nation forward. Ifwe respect the rights of others,our rights will automatically getprotected and similarly if wefulfill our duties, then also ourrights will get automaticallyprotected," Modi said.

��.��

�/��@"��

When researchers fromShivaji University in

Kolhapur, Maharashtra, dur-ing a survey of plants variety atthe agricultural fields in drierparts of Karnataka's Belgavidistrict stumbled upon an exot-ic weed 'Ethulia gracilis Delile',they panicked.

They had reasons. This wasfor the first time that a newweed 'Ethulia gracilis Delile' ofthe Asteraceae family wasrecorded which has a history ofpropagating easily and fastly inall habitats negatively affectingnative flora, crop production

and human health as well. The weed was originally

known to be distributed inNorth Cameroon, CentralAfrican Republic, Chad, Sudan,Ethiopia, Uganda and China.However, it has now spread itstentacles in India too, noted theresearchers in their study pub-lished in the latest issue of theCurrent Science.

However, what is a matterof serious concern is that thespecies has been recorded forthe first time from India and itis unknown how it got intro-duced here, said the researcherseven as they called for imme-diate measures to curb its

growth before it start creatinghavoc on Indian agriculturalfields.

The second largestangiosperm family afterOrchidaceae, many species ofAsteraceae are weeds in culti-vated fields as well as forestareas. Some of them are aggres-sive invasive weeds and can seri-ously affect the native or localplant biodiversity, human healthand crop productivity, said theteam of researchers comprisingJagdish Dalavi, SnehaBramhadande, ChiragNarayankar, Suraj Patil, ShrirangYadav from Department ofBotany, Shivaji University in

Kolhapur.Hence, this weed should be

eliminated at the earliest, theymaintained.

India is already battlingwith plethora of alien plantspecies that is threatening coun-try's biodiversity, accounting for8 per cent of the global biodi-versity existing in only 2.4 percent land area of the world.

According to WorldConservation Monitoring

Centre (WCMC), 1,604,000species have been described atthe global level.. According toreports, the number of flower-ing plant species endemic to thepresent political boundaries ofIndia is 4,900 out of a total of15,000, i.e. 33 per cent. India isan important center of agri-bio-diversity having contributed167 species to the world agri-culture and homeland for 320species of wild relatives of crops.

A latest Government reporthas focused on 173 species ofinvasive alien plants in India.These include the most seriousinvasives, such as Alternantheraphiloxeroides, Cassia uniflora,Chromolaena odorata,Eichhornia crassipes, Lantanacamara, Parthenium hys-terophorus, Prosopis julifloraand others.

��

The Election Commissionhas brought down the

limit of cash transactions bycandidates for campaigningpurposes from �20,000 to�10,000 per day. This is aimedat checking the flow of excessmoney in electioneering.

In a directive, sent to allchief electoral officers, the ECsaid that for transactionsbeyond �10,000, the candi-dates and parties will have tomake payment using crosscheques, drafts or electronicmeans, including NEFT/RTGS,through the account of thecandidate opened for election-eering.

In April, 2011, the EC hadset the daily cash limit to�20,000. But now it has beenrevised keeping in mind the

amendments in section 40A(3)of the Income Tax Act in 2017.

The new changes cameinto being from November 12and would have a bearing onAssembly polls in Chhattisgarh,Mizoram, Telangana, MadhyaPradesh and Rajasthan.

Now, a candidate cannotreceive a donation or loan incash, in excess of �10,000 froma single person or entity dur-ing campaigning. The electionwatchdog has been pushing forgreater transparency in elec-tion-related expenditure by

parties and candidates.Like individuals, there

should be a ceiling on expen-diture made by political partiesduring polls, according to a2015 Election Commissiondraft document based on the'general agreement' among par-ticipants.

At present, while there is aceiling on campaigning fundfor individual candidates inelectoral fray, there is no suchcap on the money which polit-ical parties can spend for elec-tioneering.

(58'�0)�29(2��:2�(%�+�;1<=�

*(�� !��

��

There seems to be no respitefor the victims of Johnson

& Johnson faulty hip implant.Despite having written threeletters to the Union HealthMinistry seeking clarity fromthe Government on its com-pensation decision, so far thereis no response.

"We are yet to get responsein the matter. We have sentthree letters over a month tothe Health Ministry. We candecide about our next stepafter the Ministry comes upwith its response," VijayVojhala, a victim said.

On October 20, Vojhalaalong with 35 other faulty hiptransplant victims had writtento the Health Ministry seeking

clarification on the compensa-tion process.

"The Government is oughtto give its response. Even if theGovernment is yet workingout any solution, they shouldinform the victims. This will atleast satisfy us that theGovernment is empathetic withour condition," Vojhala sharedhis plight.

Jyoti Sharma, another vic-tim who lives in Haryana'sGurugram has already losthopes from the Government.

She said she doesn't havemuch expectation from theGovernment. "I am alreadyinto a legal battle with Johnsonand Johnson for the past threeyears. I will be happy if the gov-ernment offers a solution, butthere is no certainty that it will

happen," Sharma added. Last month, the victims in

a statement had complained ofa lack of transparency andpatient consultation in thecompensation process, includ-ing lack of information beingmade available regarding theprocess of compensation, delib-erations of the Arya Committeeand the formulation of com-pensation norms.

A four-member panel iscurrently headed by Dr RKArya, Director, Sports InjuryCentre, Safdarjung Hospital,which also includes HealthSecretary Preeti Sudan,Additional Secretary RK Vats,Drug Controller General ofIndia (DCGI) Eswara Reddy.

In October, there werereports that the ministry was

likely to pay between �33 lakhto �1.2 crore to each victim ascompensation.

In 2010, Johnson andJohnson globally recalled hipimplants because more patientswere found to require revisionsurgeries than normally report-ed for such devices.

Last year in February, theHealth Ministry had set up acommittee under former deanof Maulana Azad MedicalCollege Dr Arun K Agarwal tolook into complaints about hipimplant devices. The commit-tee suggested that Johnson &Johnson be made liable to payat least �20 lakh to each affect-ed patient, and the reimburse-ment for revision surgeriesshould continue until August2025.

�/��@"��

In a move aimed at saving donatedorgans from being wasted due to

delay in the transportation process, theUnion Health Ministry is in talks withthe Director General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) for roping in airlines forspeedy transportation..

A senior official from the UnionHealth Ministry said that the talks arestill in the nascent stage as huge costduring transportation is involved in theprocess. "In light of the time sensitivi-ty of organ transplantation, every sec-ond counts. To cut down wastage oforgans and save precious lives, we haveapproached the DGCA. We are not sureabout the private airlines but hope thatour own Air India might come forwardto do the noble job," he said.

When asked who will foot the billfor transportation, the official refusedto give the details saying that the mat-ter is still being discussed with con-cerned authorities.

In developed countries, flight trans-portation is very common. As, mostlyorgan availability and requirement is faraway, air transportation is the most reli-able way to ensure the organ andpatient make it to where they need tobe when time is critical. Presently, inIndia, aerial transport is available in theprivate sector which comes with a hugecost.

In India, organ donation has alwaysbeen on a lower side and around 5 lakhpeople die every year waiting fororgans. Lack of knowledge, awareness,infrastructure are some of the reasonsbehind shortage of organ donation here,said the official.

Nearly 2.2 lakh people await kidneytransplant, of which around 15,000 endup receiving a kidney. At a given pointof time, about 1 lakh people die of liverdiseases in India and only 1,000 get livertransplant. A cadaver or deceased donorcan save up to 9 lives, but despite thisorgan donation is a neglected issue. Theofficial said that at times due to delay intransport, organs also get wasted.

For instance, a kidney can be keptup to 24 hours; for livers up to 10 to 15hours; lungs can be preserved for onlysix hours once they are harvested andfor the heart the maximum time is fourto six hours, with most hearts beingtransplanted within four hours. In theexample of the heart, clearly the donorof the organ when harvested must bephysically nearer the organ recipientthan for other organs.

"Transporting organs within time ismost challenging. If the transportationis through roads, a 'green corridor' iscreated with the help of the police.However, wherever vehicle route is notpossible, aerial corridor is best to reachout the patient in need of the organ,"the official added.

New Delhi: The Prime Minister's Office (PMO)has refused to share details on the quantum ofblack money brought back from abroad, citinga provision of the RTI Act that bars disclosureof information that may impede investigation andprosecution of offenders.

Its response came on an October 16 orderpassed by the Central Information Commission,asking the PMO to provide details of blackmoney within 15 days.

Replying to an RTI query, the PMO said aSpecial Investigation Team (SIT) has already beenformed and its investigation is underway.

"As such, disclosure of all the action/effortsundertaken by the Government at this juncturemay impede the whole process of investigationor apprehension or prosecution of offenders andhence would attract the provision of exemptionunder Sectioan 8 (1) (h) of the RTI Act," it saidin response to the RTI application filed bywhistleblower bureaucrat Sanjiv Chaturvedi.

Such investigations come under the purviewof different Government intelligence and secu-rity organisations which have been excluded fromthe ambit of the RTI Act, the PMO said.

Chaturvedi, an Indian Forest Service (IFoS)officer, had sought information on the quantumof black money brought from abroad since June1, 2014.

In its initial reply to the RTI application, thePrime Minister's Office had in October last yearsaid the query was not covered under Section 2(f)of the transparency law that defines information.

Chaturvedi thereafter moved the CentralInformation Commission which had last monthordered the PMO to provide information with-in 15 days. PTI

5 �� !��

��

To popularise khadi in a bigway, the State-run Khadi

and Village IndustriesCommission (KVIC) has pro-posed to run a five-coach spe-cial train-Khadi Express. KVICchairman VK Saxena told ThePioneer that the Commissionhas sent a proposal to theRailway Ministry and hehopped of positive response.

Saxena said the train isproposed to touch 11 railwaystation including Porbandar,Ahmedabad, Delhi, Mumbai,Patna and Kolkatta.

The sale of Khadi productsrose over three-fold in the lastthree fiscals and 'Khadi Express'train will be run to createawareness about the segment,Saxena said, adding, “the Khaditurnover was �811 crore in2014-15 and it increased to�2,509 crore in 2017-18”.

"We have written a letter toIndian Railways for running aKhadi Express train whichwould exhibit Khadi productslinked with Mahatama Gandhiin view of his 150th birthanniversary," the KVICChairman said.

The five-bogie KhadiExpress train would also havethe facility to sell the Khadiproducts to people and will runthrough all those places in thecountry where MahatamaGandhi had stayed. The trainwill be stationed at those sta-tions for one day.

The demand of Khadiproducts has increased as PrimeMinister Narendra Modi him-self appealed to the people ofthe country to buy theseclothes, he said. Saxena said thesale of Khadi products grew atan average rate of 6.68 per centper annum during 2004 to2014, but it grew at the rate of37 per cent in the last four years.The number of sales outlets forKhadi products has beenincreased to 1,060 in the lastfour years, he said adding exhi-bitions were organised in 50countries on October 2 to cre-ate demand for such product.

�'--�+2#��55)4�'�)�5)'0$#)0��2�%$#.��0�(#2>�&�.)+2#)��0�'#��%#)'��1(�&'=2%�21�14�'1�'(#�%$-�$#'-�+�)-40

��"��!��"��$��&��!��>��"��"��$��#��

��-6��

��# ��!�� !�� 6

-�� ' �� "�)3(��!��!��

'��"��/��!�� .��

6)"�� 6��78��

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt has come to the rescueof a divorcee woman byexpunging the imputationsmade on her character by herlate estranged husband toensure that she leads her "restof her life with a sense of dig-nity and pride".

The top court, however,refused to interfere with thefindings of the Delhi HighCourt and trial court whichhad dissolved her marriagewith her estranged husband onthe ground of cruelty.

A bench of Justices KurianJoseph and Hemant Guptanoted that her estranged hus-band is no more and she can-not contest the matter onmerit.

"It is also submitted that thepetitioner is not concernedabout the marital status but isseriously disturbed about thefindings rendered by theCourts. Since the petitioner hasno objection if the order grant-

ed by the Courts on the groundof cruelty is sustained, all otherimputations on the character ofthe petitioner are expungedexcept the cruelty," the benchsaid.

The woman's husband hasexpired during the pendency ofappeal before the high courtagainst the trial court order.

Advocate DushyantParashar, appearing for thewoman, said that the apexcourt should expunge the find-ing qua the character of thewomen as her estranged hus-band is no more.

"The petitioner beingwomen against whom theestranged husband had allegedher being unchaste...Thealleged allegation by him quaher character and finding tothat effect may be expungedfrom the judgment of thecourts below, so that she canlead her rest of her life with asense of dignity and pride,"Parashar said.

�#��)��)��

New Delhi: The Centre hasincreased by a hundred percent the funds provided for fur-nishing the official bungalows ofthe Chief Justice of India, otherjudges of the Supreme Court, theChief Election Commissionerand other ElectionCommissioners, an official said.

As per the existing norms,the Chief Justice of India gets �5lakh for furnishing works at hisofficial residence, but the fundhas now been doubled to �10lakh, the official said.

Furnishing works includefurniture and electrical appli-ances provided free of rent atthe official residences of theCJI, the apex court judges, theChief Election Commissioner(CEC) and the ECs, added theofficial. He said that a com-munication has recently beensent by the Directorate ofEstates to the Central PublicWorks Department (CPWD)Director General PrabhakarSingh in this regard. PTI

�� "/��7��

�� $�!��%� ��5��+ �� !�� $�!��%� ��!�� !�� )��

New Delhi: Rallying behindMadhya Pradesh Chief MinisterShivraj Singh Chouhan, UnionMinister Uma Bharti said he isBJP'S “USP” in the StateAssembly elections to be held onWednesday.

Bharti, the former ChiefMinister of Madhya Pradesh wasreplaced by Chouhan in 2004,just an year after she was elect-ed to the top post.

“As far as Shivraj SinghChouhan is concerned, he isBJP's USP (unique selling point)in Madhya Pradesh,” she toldPTI. Confident of party's victo-ry in the upcoming assemblyelections, Bharti said there ispro-cumbency also for the partyin the State Assembly elections.

She further said the partywill continue with its winningrun in the State Assembly elec-tions as well under the leadershipof Prime Minister NarendraModi. Responding to questionon the BJP facing a resurgentCongress in Madhya Pradesh shesaid:”The Congress is a dividedhouse. It has no vision for thestate. People of the state are withus, we will win the election.” PTI

New Delhi: India is better pre-pared and better organisedsince a group of sea-borne ter-rorists struck at the heart ofMumbai 10 years back, thanksto a string of security measuresincluding a layered maritimesurveillance, Navy ChiefAdmiral Sunil Lanba has said.

“We have come a longway since then,” he told PTI inan interview in his office inSouth Block on the 10thanniversary of the 26/11.

The Navy Chief said therehas been a paradigm shift incoastal security as vulnerabil-ities and risks were fixed anda layered maritime surveil-lance and security architecturewas put in place, making thecoastline almost impregnable.

"The country is now bet-ter prepared and better organ-ised,” Adm. Lanba said whenasked about possibility of ter-rorists taking the sea routeagain to mount a similar attackon India.

He said the India Navy isnow a potent multi-dimen-sional force, safeguardingIndia's interests in the seas and

that it is fully prepared to dealwith any security challengefacing the country in the mar-itime domain.

On November 26, 2008, 10Pakistani terrorists sneakedinto Mumbai through the sea,arriving by boat from Karachi,and went on the rampage, car-rying out coordinated attackson the main Chattrapati Shivajirailway terminus, the iconic TajMahal hotel, the Trident hotel,and a Jewish centre — all in theheart of the financial capital'sdowntown area.

Over 166 people including28 foreigners from 10 nationswere killed in the nearly 60-hour assault that sent shock-waves across the country andeven brought India andPakistan to the brink of war.

The terrorist strike, theworst in India's history, wasseen as an attack on the coun-try's sovereignty, and itexposed fault-lines in thecoastal security network,intelligence gathering whilealso uncovering the lack of coordination among vari-ous agencies. PTI

�� %�� 78�� 9:;77� �� "'�� !��(��

��-�4/��9�:�� :��

Napoleon Bonaparte is sup-posed to have taken a leaf outof Adam Smith’s The Wealthof Nations and given his ownsarcastic spin and context by

stating that England was, “une nation deboutiquiers” (a nation of shopkeepers).While the Napoleonic attribution andintent behind the expression is often dis-puted, the implied pejoration in a sover-eign’s blind commitment to commercialinterests over moral considerations isuntenable anymore in the civilised anddemocratic world. Modern nation statesvest and repose their sovereignty withcommitments and underpinnings ofmorality to bestow a certain stature, auraand perception that allow the said nation-state and its citizenry to hold their headshigh in popular imagination and belief.

The US like any other nation hasstrived to conjure images and myths of aninfallible and ‘moral nation’ with a height-ened sense of right and wrong governingits actions. Historical events and sovereignactions often betray such simplisticassumptions and posturing, yet the façadeof maintaining and abiding by tenets ofmoral conduct, as much as possible, is nec-essary to retain civility, respect and orderin the global village. As the foremost powerin global affairs, the onus of demonstrat-ing an abiding commitment towardsmorality in all its actions is paramount tosustain its pre-eminence and relevance.

Despite undeniable evidence of con-troversial interferences, misadventuresand immoral conduct in other countriesto protect its own selfish interests, the UShad steadfastly maintained a public posi-tion to the contrary. However, societalpressures due to the easy access of infor-mation were making it difficult for the USGovernment to ‘wrong’, as easily as it wasdone before — the ultimate disbelief in theexistence of weapons of mass destructions(WMDs) in Iraq, supporting allies likePakistan or questioning the US-support todictators were changing the public conver-sations and governmental actions, till thesudden advent of Donald Trump in 2016.

The businessman-turned-President,Donald Trump, has since demolished allpretences of decency, decorum and sobri-ety by brazenly equating his Presidentialtasks to his supposed business acumen,thereby, knowingly sacrificing the ‘high-ground’ of sovereign morality for transac-tional benefits. Even though the actual playof ‘American morality’ in the internation-al affairs was always a stretch, it remaineda standard feature in the aspirations of theAmerican polity.

The reality of American actionsnotwithstanding, a very large majority ofAmerican people truly believe that the USconsistently acted in consonance with itsmoral principles. So while the rest of the

world (especially in the ThirdWorld countries of Africa, LatinAmerica, Middle East and Asia)would militate against the dou-ble-standards and double-speakof the US, the domestic con-stituents in the US would read-ily accept the narrative of‘American morality’ as couchedin the liberal maxims like pro-democracy, anti-imperialismor ‘progress’.

The ‘packaging’ ofAmerican actions and foot-print across the globe wasdone with due concern anddeliberation, so as to ensure amorally justifiable line ofadvancing a societal concernor security concern (eg GeorgeBush’s reliance on the sup-posed ‘security threats’ to theUS from the Iraqi WMDs).

Today no such predicationof US policies to any moralconcerns (or even ‘packag-ing’) is displayed by the flip-pant Trump, as he remainsindifferent to the notions ofpropriety, with utter disbeliefthat others could be motivat-ed by any moral considera-tions. Even his own fellow-Republicans are horrified byhis disdain for moral conven-tions as Senator Ted Cruzcalled him “utterly amoral”,Mitt Romney qualified “dis-honesty is Trump’s hallmark”and Senator Marco Rubiocalled him “a con man.”

Meanwhile, Trumpremains contemptuous of allpeople who invoke ‘morality’to differ with him, by callingthem ‘grandstanders’. In hisown book, The Art of the

Deal, Trump describes hisself-aggrandisement style as‘truthful hyperbole’ where “Iplay to people’s fantasies”. Thisbraggadocio combined withthe inherited riches of thereal-estate business hid hisspectacular failures in theother forays like airlines, foot-ball teams, casinos, et al, whichalso resulted with an infa-mous brush with bankruptcyand the deployment of ques-tionable ethics to wriggle outof the same. Even the land-mark ‘anonymous’ op-ed in theWashington Post alluded to thisspecial trait: “The root of theproblem is the President’samorality. Anyone who workswith him knows he is notmoored to any discerniblefirst principles that guide hisdecision making. …”

Trump’s amorality ofname-calling even extends todiminishing institutional inde-pendence, and recently theChief Justice John Roberts(incidentally a Republicannominee and a so-called ‘con-servative’ judge within the fourto five ‘conservative’ tilt) wasforced to state, “We do not haveObama judges or Trumpjudges, Bush judges or Clintonjudges. What we have is anextraordinary group of dedicat-ed judges doing their level bestto do equal right to thoseappearing before them. Thatindependent judiciary is some-thing we should all be thank-ful for.” Expectedly within threehours, an inelegant tweet fromTrump that insisted on ‘Obamajudges’ was retorted. No one is

spared from the angst, ire andwhat Barack Obama calls the‘manufactured outrage’ ofDonald Trump, not even hisown party men or the ostensi-ble allies of the US.

The most unashamed dis-play of the remorselessly-trans-actional behaviour over anyportents of morality were infull display in the snuffing ofthe Khashoggi murder case. Inan extraordinary move, Trumphas finally stood by the Saudisoverruling his own intelli-gence agency — instead,Trump has alluded to $110 bil-lion worth of military sales and$340 billion of other invest-ments at stake, and then exhib-ited his limitations of philo-sophical profundities by mus-ing ‘the world is a very danger-ous place’.

He shifted from suggestinginitially that this case was the‘worst cover-up ever’ to send-ing a ‘thank you’ note to Saudisfor lowering the oil prices. Thepublic intellectual, scholar anddissenter, Noam Chomsky,laments about the times,“moral depravity defines USpolitics.” The short-termattraction of reckless, inelegantand transactional behaviourthat cannot sustain the long-term interests of the US iscompletely lost on DonaldTrump, as morality becomesirrelevant for him in anincreasingly judgmental andaware world.

(The writer, a military vet-eran, is a former Lt Governorof Andaman & Nicobar Islandsand Puducherry)

#�� )��*��+�� )��

��(�� (��(�� )��!��,�� -�� *�� (��(��

�� $�� (��.��/�� $��(� �� )�� *��($��0��*��1*$0*2��*��,��%��)��(��$��(*��)��(�� -��,�� (��*��&�)!,��$�� (��)��$��34��3+�� *��,��$��5��,��+��*��*$0*��*��

6��+��#�)��(�� (��)�� *��#��*��7��+��#��*$0*��89:��8;�<��)�� %�� $��)��)�� ,4,4��$�� #� ��"��(�� 4�� ,��"��.��(��/��$�� )�� ,��=��*$0*��$��*��>�� %��$�� ) ��>��(�� $��

#� �� &�6��?��

�� "�� @�� #��(��

��(��A�� #�� 6��<:( ��(�� ,�� ,�� (��

�� (��%�� 0�� ,#��)�� #��B��CD<:�#�� (��*�� (��#�5�� 0��150�2�� ,��(��,��>��-�� (�� E,��(��(�� -��(��@�� #�4��%��)��0��<F�� 5��%��&��,�� (��5��1 �52��*��-�� #��(�� *��&�� -��&��

&��4��+��,��"��

��.��"��

-��"��#�.#

��

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Manhandling J&K (November23). The fact that the People’sDemocratic Party and the NationalConference want to form analliance shows that anything is pos-sible in politics. No party can betrusted. It is obviously a difficulttime for the Bharatiya Janata Partyin the State as it clearly has fewfriends there right now.

FT MullaSecunderabad

��

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Manhandling J&K(November 23). Jammu &Kashmir Governor Satya PalMalik was right to dissolve theAssembly. Though the Governoris bound to call the largest partyin the House to form aGovernment, it was not clear ifthe People’s Democratic Party(PDP) and National Conference’s(NC) claims were convincing. Hisdecision has, nevertheless, pre-vented horse-trading.

KR Srinivasan Secunderabad

��

Sir — This refers to the articles,“Doklam redux?” by Claude Arpiand “Fighting pollution in theBeijing way” by Kota Siraj(November 22). Claude Arpi’sarticle describes in detail howChina is developing its areas bor-dering India, spending a goodamount of money with the twin

objective of “guarding of the sacredland and building of happy homes.”If the border people are happy, theynaturally become the first line ofdefence in case of an emergency. On the other hand, Kota Sriraj’sarticle elaborates how Beijing, thecapital of PR China, fights pollu-tion. India needs to learn fromChina on both counts. India shoulddevelop its own border areas,maintain good communication

and keep the local people happy byproviding them employment.

I may digress to add thatrecently, in Arunachal Pradesh,there was a friction between thepolice and the Army. But theNDA Government quickly andcommandably defused the prob-lem, not giving China a chance tofish in the troubled waters.

Regarding controlling pollu-tion, India being a democracy

while China is dictatorial, India’sfreedom of action is necessarilylimited. For instance, during 2008Olympics held in Beijing, theChinese Government directed itscitizens to watch the events on thetelevision rather than in the stadi-um. The Indian Government couldnot have done that. Even with theseconstraints, the IndianGovernment should put somerestrictions on citizens for a betterenvironment.

SC PandaBhubaneswar

� ��

Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Savaging the civilised”(November 23). It was unfortu-nate that an American national,was killed. But he and thosewho helped him get to the islandwere at fault. Why should we dis-turb those who wish to remainundisturbed by modernity?North Sentinel island is not atourist spot, and the tribals thereare not statues to be gawked at.

MohanVia email

�� "��'��6��*:�*4��6D58��(;*8�

�� ?

/)��

�!)�&'�� 0)+

�&2#�7�)#5�'��#'%��21�2+�#)%3-)00�'14��#'10'%��21'-�.)&'=�2$#�%'112��0$0�'�1��&)��1�)#)0�0�2+�&)��-21(7�)#59��$��#$5,��0�.#'E)1��1�&�0�4�0#)('#4�+2#�)�&�%0

14�'��0�,'00�1(��&#2$(&'�,&'0)�2+�#�0�1(��1�2-)#7'1%):�5'1�+)0�'��210�2+#'()�'14��1+#�1()5)1��2+&$5'1�#�(&�09�

�*68�6��6��4��J�#'1'.��$3&)#F))

14�'�'14��&�1'�5$0�0)14�'�0�(1'-��2��&)�>2#-4�&'��&)��&'=)��&)�>�07425�'14�'.�-��2�02-=),#2.-)50�,)'%)+$--�9�

��J�F��2='-

�=)#�.24��0�(�=�1(��??,)#�%)1��2�)=)#��&�1(:.$��>��&�.'%3$,:�21)�>�---20)��&)�52��='��21��2,$��1�)*�#'�)++2#�09�

�;�*6�J��%3��'$0&'-

�1��7�'-��)-)5)1�0��#�)4�2�3�--�5)�4$#�1(��&)�&'..�#,$#�=�2-)1%)9��&)�'#)�0,#)'4�1(�&'�#)4��15�140�2+��'-��,)2,-)9

��;��=J�'�'>'��

� < 5 0 � ' � , 2

1 2 , , 2 8 � , < � ,, + 2 � 2 � � , < 8

��

�&�0�#)+)#0��2��&)�#),2#�:�K�'-+�2+��0�5'��%-20)42>1�.��'#%&L�G�2=)5.)#�!!H9��&)�1)>0��0�#'�&)#4�0�$#.�1(�'0��%25)0�'��'��5)�>&)1�>��&4#'>7

�1(� 2$#� 0'=�1(0� +#25� .'130� �0� '-#)'4�� 4�++�%$-�9��2.0)#='��21��0��&'��%$0�25)#0�'#)�12�-21()#�>)-%25)�10�4)��&)�.#'1%&)0�+2#�>��&4#'>'-�2#�'1��3�14�2+��#'107'%��21��1�,)#021:��&'130��2��&)�4�(��0'��21�,$0&�2=)#�&)�-'0��+)>��)'#0:�>&�%&��&)�,#)0)1��2=)#15)1��223�2� �&)� 1)*�� -)=)-� .�� &)� 0$44)1� '112$1%)5)1�� 2+4)521)��0'��21��1��&)�1'5)�2+��'3�1(�42>1�.-'%3�521)�+#25��&)�#�%&�'14�,2>)#+$-9��2>)=)#:��&)��+'%�-�7��&'0�12��#)'%&)4�)=)#��,'#��2+��&)�%2$1�#�9

� #)5)5.)#� 0))�1(� ,)2,-)�>��&4#'>� %'0&� +#25��0�'��'%&)4��2�.'130�'14�&2>��&)�+�#0��>'00)��$,��1�14�'��1��B6D��1��$5.'��.��9� =)#��&)1)*��!��)'#0:�'#2$14��:�??�52#)�>)#)�0)��$,9��2>)=)#:0�1%)��&)1��&)�1$5.)#�2+��3�2030��1�14�'�&'0�(21)$,�'��'�01'�-<0�,'%)�'14�12>�%25)0��&)�1)>0�2+�&'-+

2+��&)5�0&$��1(�42>19��&)��5)�2+�)1+2#%�1(��&)12�)�.'1:��&)�,#)0)1��2=)#15)1��>'1�)4�)=)#�21)��2(2�4�(��'-�'14�$14)#��&)�1)>��#�5)��1�0�)#:��(��'-�14�'>'0�'112$1%)49� 1)�&2,)0��&'��'--��&)�%21%)#1)4�,'#7��)0�0��2()�&)#��2�#)02-=)��&)��00$)�.)+2#)��1+-�%��1('12�&)#�1�(&�5'#)�21��&)�%��E)109

��5�6�9�4��

�� ;�� 7

�� ;��; ��

� �� 9�� M

�� :��

�� <�

��

��

� � � 7 � � % " * 0 � � � � � " ! #

111�� +'%).2239%25N4'�-�,�21))#��O P�&)�'�-��21))#��O �10�'(#'59%25N4'�-�,�21))#N

�� '�(��) ��*�(��+,-�+./0

India has registered a 77 per centdecline in Maternal Mortality Ratio(MMR) in the last three decades.

The Sample Registration System (SRS),released in July this year, showed a sig-nificant decline in MMR from 556 per100,000 live births in 1990 to 130 per100,000 live births in 2015. India hascommitted itself to the attainment ofSustainable Development Goal (SDG)targets by 2030 by ensuring health ofits most vulnerable populations.Increasing institutional deliveries andreduction in maternal deaths indicatethat we are steadily marching towardsachieving the goals of reducing MMRto less than 70 per 100,000 live birthsby 2030 or earlier.

While there is a lot to cheer, thereis also a lot to achieve. The good news

is that we are getting there. Policies andprogrammes of the Government aredesigned to propel us towards the goal.The life cycle approach employed by theNational Health Mission ensures thebest possible health outcome forwomen through their reproductive life-cycle. In April 2015, India was validat-ed for Maternal Neonatal TetanusElimination (MNTE) ahead of theglobal target of December 2015. Theelimination of tetanus as a publichealth problem means that in India, theannual rate of maternal and neonataltetanus is now less than one per 1,000live births.

The holistic ‘continuum of care’approach has been also adopted in thenewly launched Ayushman Bharatscheme to provide universal health cov-erage through two key components —preventive, promotion and comprehen-sive primary healthcare through the 1.5lakh health and wellness centres(HWCs), and secondary and tertiaryin-patient healthcare through thePradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana.

The HWCs inter alia provide ser-vices for screening and management of

non-communicable diseases ie dia-betes, hypertension and three commoncancers (oral, cervical and breast). Thiswill not only save lives but also resultin productive lives of women, andhealthy families and communities.

Last year, the Ministry of Healthlaunched ‘LaQshya’, a quality improve-ment initiative for labour rooms, andmaternity operation theatres and a safedelivery application, mHealth tool, toenable health workers better managethe quality of care in labour rooms anddeliveries in peripheral areas. Similarly,a 24-hour call centre was set up inTelangana to track pregnant women inthe tribal pockets so as to ensure thatthey get antenatal checkups on time.Innovation, training and better out-reach are helping the Government inbringing down maternal deaths.

Similarly, the Pradhan MantriSurakshit Matritva Abhiyan, launchedin 2016 for providing free and compre-hensive antenatal care services on theninth day of every month to women intheir second and third trimesters ofpregnancy at designated Governmentcentres, has had a huge impact. Over

eight lakh high-risk pregnancies havebeen identified from more than 1.6crore antenatal check-ups conducted at13,100 centres across the country.These pregnancies were periodicallymonitored to ensure safe birth.

The Pradhan Mantri MatruVandana Yojana provides a cash incen-tive of �5,000 to encourage antenatalcheck-ups, institutional delivery andpostnatal care among the marginalisedpregnant women and lactating moth-ers. This has significantly contributedto rein in maternal and neonatal mor-tality. This shall be scaled up to coverall districts of the country. Free mater-nal, newborn and infant care with pro-tection from out-of-pocket expenditureis being assured through the JananiShishu Suraksha Karyakram initiative,which ensures free transport, blood,diet, service fee and laboratory servicesfor all mothers and infants. The dedi-cated army of community health work-ers — over 10 lakh Accredited SocialHealth Activists and Auxiliary NurseMidwives serving at sub-centers with-in villages — ensure a strong primaryhealthcare platform in which women,

adolescents and children receive essen-tial health information and basic ser-vices at home.

To address issues, like early mar-riages, poor nutrition and genderinequality, the Government in 2016 hadlaunched the Mission Parivar Vikas in146 high fertility districts across sevenStates — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh,Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Chhattisgarh,Assam and Jharkhand. This has helpedimprove access to contraceptive servicesby introducing new concepts like nayipahal kits which made family planninginformation and commodities easilyavailable for newlyweds.

Besides, the Centre is putting inplace a system to study and find waysto eliminate disparities in maternalhealth outcomes across India. States arebeing encouraged to focus on monitor-ing safe (child) birthing guidelines.Also, the Government has espoused itscommitment towards building ahealthy nation by boosting the healthbudget by 11.5 per cent (�52, 800 crore)in 2018-19 over the previous year’s �47,352.51 crore. Healthy women areimperative to building healthy families,

healthy communities and a healthynation. The multiple policy decisionsin maternal health and nutrition witha focussed approach have got us this farand we are hopeful that these will takeus closer to achieving our targets. Thesteady decline in maternal deathsneeds to be sustained and acceleratedto achieve the national target of reduc-ing MMR to less than 100 by 2020.

The Government with thePartnership for Maternal, Newborn &Child Health is co-hosting the 4thPartners’ Forum in New Delhi onDecember 12-13 to provide a platformfor national and global health leaders,healthcare providers, academics, civilsociety, women, and more than 1,000partners from over 52 countries. It willdiscuss common ideas and strategiesso that every woman, child and ado-lescent is protected from prematuremortality and can achieve the best pos-sible state of health. With collectiveenergy, we shall be able to ensure thatwomen of our country are healthy, thusmaking for a healthy nation.

(The writer is Secretary, Ministry ofHealth & Family Welfare)

��

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

��!�" ��,�E��,��!��!��0��/��&�/��"�,F��!�� !�G��!� ��E��&(

H/��&��!�@��

��"�F/��&��G�!�&&!� "� �� ,/�(��0��"��!/��&�� !��&�� (H�� !�� !�

�)&'�(<50,28�)&'��

Government officials from all levelsas well as the common man havejoined hands to lay the foundationfor an inclusive financial system andensure holistic growth and develop-

ment of the country. Financial inclusion todayis limited to not just universal gateways but hasremoved all obstructions for the deprived(poor and weaker sections) and opened up a for-mal financial system also for the marginalised(financially-excluded). In the backdrop offinancial inclusion, what needs to be har-nessed in complementarity is technology. If bothare seen together, they project the evolution ofa new era, named as FinTech era.

Simply put, FinTech means ‘financial tech-nology’, which means usage of financial servicesvia software and e-enabled systems. FinTech canalso be deciphered as Digital Financial Services(DFS). In order to have an umbrella view, it isessential to ponder upon certain basic questions:What remains missing in the pie to achieve fulldigital financial inclusion (FinTech)? CanInformation and Communication Technologies(ICT) usage infuse the desired financial inclu-sion level in India? Can it be treated as a steptowards holistic digital financial inclusion?Can this help a developing nation like India tomeet its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),like reduction in poverty, hunger and inequal-ities? Electronic financial literacy can actuallyguarantee a step forward to reach the actualpotential.

Missing planks: First and foremost inorder to achieve full digital financial inclusion,digital adoption is a must. As per the WorldBank’s report, ‘World Development Report2016: Digital Dividends’, India is not at par withits peer nations like China, Brazil, Russia andSouth Africa when it comes to technology inclu-siveness. The Digital Adoption Index explainstechnology diffusion for three segments of aneconomy: People, businesses and Governments.Astonishingly, India scores the worst for busi-ness (0.29); technological diffusion in compar-ison to people (0.45); and Government (0.77).

Our second challenge is to ensure ‘univer-sal access’ and ‘wider usage’. The benefits of fin-tech were only recently extended by PrimeMinister Modi so as to include inclusion, con-nectivity, ease of living, opportunity andaccountability.

It is unfortunate that over the years, the per-ception of seeing the poor as non-bankableclients has not seen any change. Informationasymmetry (unawareness/lack of full informa-tion, especially among the marginalised sec-tions) and higher transaction cost further aug-ment concerns.

Several other contemporary financial para-meters —which can play the much-desired roleand that remain largely missing in the currentset-up — include the role of institutions; tech-nological infrastructure (digital literacy) andfavorable climate for investments where conven-tional financial systems, like ponzi finance (bor-rowing afresh at much higher rates to settle olddues), can be addressed pro-actively (NIPFP,2018).

Has ICT usage infused the desired financialinclusion level in India? The current exposureand adoption of digital financial inclusionreveals that India has a long road to go beforeit is fully recognised as a digital financial econ-omy. As per Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, “Financial litera-cy is an amalgamation of knowledge, attitude,financial awareness, skills and behaviour, nec-essary to make sound financial decisions andultimately achieve individual financial well-being”.

The dilemma is that the country’s official lit-eracy rate stands at 74 per cent, and this chiefly

comprises people who can barelysign their names. Historically, too, theusage of electronic modes throughPoint of Sale machines, ElectronicPrescription Service and UnifiedPayments Interface transactions,among others, have witnessed spuronly momentarily due to no-substituteavailability during structural transfor-mation measures (from RBI database2017-18 of EPS composition).Competitive indices (GCI Report,WEF 2017) given by the WorldEconomic Forum confirmed the dete-rioration in score and rank of easyaccess to loans and venture capitalavailability in 2017 over 2016.

The ability to adapt a holisticinclusive system and meeting SDGgoals — increasing account ownership(a measure of financial inclusion) —to an extent endorses gender equality. Rising disparities amongthe rural and urban consumer (con-firmed by rising Gini co-efficient of0.28 in rural areas and 0.37 in urbanareas in 2011-12, SWIID database) forcredit access opportunities (micro-finance) question the efficacy offinancial inclusion to bridge theinequality gap.

As per the recent 2017 GlobalFindex database, inclusiveness offemale (77 per cent hold accounts) andyounger (71 per cent hold accounts)sections were much lower compared

to the older (83 per cent holdaccounts) sections of the countryAdditionally, in the present scenario,there’s an imbalance in the economyas supply has not been able to copewith the demand.

There are a variety of issues sur-rounding digital financial literacy,the major being the challenge of edu-cating consumers to conduct onlinefinancial services. For a country likeIndia, electronic financial literacyplays a key role as it is considered anessential adjunct to the promotion offinancial inclusion.

In order to have a holistic andinclusive financial set-up, India’s size-able informal economic sector (con-sisting of domestic help, daily wageworkers, farmers, fishermen, con-tract labourers and micro entrepre-neurs, among others) needs to bebrought within the ambit of the for-mal banking sector.

Much has been said and done.Still, the current structure is insuffi-cient to capture potential financialinclusive gains.

Way forward: The most rationalway to place financial inclusion effec-tively is through permanent, unani-mous and technologically sustainableinitiatives. Many recent structuraltransformations have enabled rippleeffects through spending multipliersto influence the standard of living of

the underprivileged (financiallyexcluded). This can mark a future wel-coming step towards ‘financial inclu-sion’. India is home to 17.5 per cent ofthe world’s population but approxi-mately 76 per cent of its adult popu-lation does not fathom even basicfinancial concepts (S&P Fin ServicesLLC Survey).

For an average Indian, financialliteracy is yet to become a primemotive. The key instrumental agentcan be technology that can instilldeeper f inancial inclusion.Undoubtedly, many pedals in thesystem need to function simultane-ously, including infrastructure, betterInternet connectivity, more value-added services, regulatory support,removing blockades in penetration ofpayment technology and most signif-icantly, digital financial literacy so asto achieve the desired level.

In India, the need is to connectwith the lower income groups andeconomically feeble sections as alsowith the millennials who are closelyknitted and entail tailor-made finan-cial products. Thus, the responsibili-ty lies with each one of us to activelyparticipate in augmenting financial lit-eracy levels to create a new econom-ic order.

(The writers are Senior ResearchFellows, Faculty of ManagementStudies, University of Delhi)

$��)��

�� $��

��

; �� ;��7

�:��<��M��; ��

��

�� ;; ��

�� 9��

�� Q��:��

��;;��

��

��

,�� #��,��1��(��

,��0�(�� 2�#��#��(��1��#�� 2�#��,�� (�� (��,��,��(��3 ��,��+?+��5��

#��(��(��#��)��,��(�� ,��(�� #��G�� (��4�� -�� ,�� #��H��&�� 0��G�� 0��-�� 3�� @��

�� .��,��/��$�� 6��G�� G��(�� *��(�� @��"�� #��H��&�� 4�� ,� �� ,�� H��&��(��(��

,�,�� -��!�� CD<I��(��#�� "��#��5��-��(� ��4�� !#,��.6�� %��(��%��(�� -��E/

#��,�� (��CD<J��-��,��(��#�� (,��,��4��(��K��$�� )�� ,��%��K�� K��,��(�� )��,�� (��#� ��,�� )��#�� !�� (��(��

#�� .��,��/��#� ��C<�� (��,��CD�� >��,�� (?�� -�� ,��

��

�� @=� , + < 5 , * 8 2 A 5 � � ( 2

� �1��2�� .�3

4&'�5�!&" )%5,%

��& �5�%0

�&)�#$-�1(�)-��)��24'��312>0��&'��>��&2$��'1$5.�-�%'-�%2#4��2��&)��)0�:��0�0�'�$0�'521(��&)

-�.)#'-�%-'00)0��0�2,)1��2�0)#�2$0�42$.�

;<82�)02B2

�'��&)>��)4()0<�%'0)�.)(0�&)�@$)0��21�2+�&2>�%-20)�&)��0&2$-4�.)��2��&)��'14��&)�#�'--�)0��1�'$4��#'.�'9��&)�#�>2)+$-#)%2#4�21�&$5'1�#�(&�0��0>)--7312>1�'14�21-��()�0&�(&-�(&�)4�.��&)�,-�(&��2+�)4()09��&)�>'��&)��&'=),#20)%$�)4��&)�#�,#2*��>'#>��&�#'1��1��)5)1�&'0.))1�$1�=)#0'--�%214)51)49��

0��I

111��

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0 ��>

��,&��&,��

Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee has yet another

feather in her cap. In what couldbe used as a unique selling pointby the ruling TrinamoolCongress in the coming gener-al elections, Mamata’s State hasrecorded a 175 per cent jump inforeign direct investment in thefirst quarter of 2018.

As per latest reportsreleased by the Department ofIndustrial Policy andPromotion (DIPP) Bengal hasrecorded an investment of $3,912 million between Apriland July 2018 as against a totalFDI of $ 1,410 million in 2017-2018. This is about 175 per centjump in terms of foreign invest-ment proposals which havebeen converted into reality,State Finance Ministry sourcessay quoting the DIPP whichfunctions under UnionMinistry of Commerce.

For the relevant periodAndhra Pradesh has receivedan investment of $ 9,770 mil-lion, Maharashtra has receivedan investment of $ 16,152 mil-lion while for Karnataka thefigure is $ 11,802 million.Gujarat has seen an investmentof $ 2,786 million.

“This means that though

the Bengal has lesser investmentin terms of million dollars theupswing in terms of percentageis remarkable. It is the highestat about 175 per cent whereasKarnataka, Maharashtra andGujarat have received a negativegrowth. Only AP has recordedpositive growth at 21 per centwhich is far behind Bengal,” saidan official adding the jump inforeign investment was a directfallout of the Chief Minister’sdogged effort towards bringingforeign capital.

In 2016-17 Bengal hadreceived a foreign investment ofonly $ 320 million which wentup to $ 1,410 million in 2017-18.

Incidentally Mumbai hasrecorded about $ 86,000 millionlast fiscal that has come down toabout mere $ 16,000 this year. “Ifyou add the investment propos-als that are likely to be imple-mented in the coming monthsthen the net foreign investment

for Bengal would jump furtherup to about $ 7,000 million.

Hailing the “right policy”and steady inflow of foreigninvestment senior functionaryof Kolkata Merchant Chamberof Commerce S Roy said thatthe “steady inflow” of foreigninvestment only buttressed thefact that the “State is moving inthe right direction” insofar as itsindustrial policy was concerned.

“It is a proof of changingattitude of multinationals vis avis the industrial climate inBengal,” said another MCCofficial hoping, “Bengal willsoon enter the list of elitegroup of states in terms ofbringing foreign investment.”

Incidentally the ChiefMinister has for the past sev-eral years been travelling tocountries like the UK,Germany, Italy, Singapore etc tobring foreign investment. “Theimproving investment recordsonly show that MamataBanerjee has been able tochange the negative image ofBengal at world level,” said StateMinister Subroto Mukherjee.

On whether the achieve-ment could work as a USP forthe TMC in the coming electionsthe TMC leaders said the partywould try to showcase all theachievements before the voters.

��;�� .�� '"��

Sabarimala: Around 60 pil-grims, who breached the secu-rity zone near Sabarimala's'vavarunada' area and startedchanting prayers despite pro-hibitory orders, have beendetained by the police.

Due to previous incidentsof violence at the hill-topshrine, the police had imposedstrict restrictions on the devo-tees at Sannidhanam. The pro-testers were staying back near'vavarunada' and chantingprayers, even as there was animposition of Section 144 thatprohibits assembly of morethan four people at a spot,police said.

The detained protestersare being taken to the Pamba

police station, which is around3.5-km downhill. Hundreds ofprotesters have been arrested inthis first week of the annualtwo-month-long 'Mandala-Makaravilakku' season ofSabarimala, which commencedon November 17.

Earlier, the protestersdetained in similar circum-stances were arrested, taken tothe Maniyar police camp andwere sent to judicial custody bythe court subsequently.

The shrine has been wit-nessing frenzied protest over thedecision of the state governmentto implement the September 28verdict of the Supreme Courtallowing women of all ages toenter Sabarimala. PTI

:8�� !�� Jaipur: Western Rajasthan's

Pokhran Assembly constituen-cy is set for a close fight onDecember 7 between a Hindureligious leader fielded by theBJP and son of Muslim ‘peer’ pit-ted against him by the Congress.

The BJP candidate, PratapPuri, is the head of the Taratara'math'. The Congress' ShaleMohammad is the son ofMuslim religious leader GaziFakir, who has a large number offollowers both within India andacross the border in Pakistan.

Both Puri and Fakir holdconsiderable sway among theircommunities, making thePokhran constituency inJaisalmer district one of theState's most hotly contested seats.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister and senior BJPleader Yogi Adityanath andCongress President RahulGandhi will address rallies insupport of Puri andMohammad, respectively, onMonday, setting the tone forthe rest of the campaign in theregion better known for thenuclear tests in 1998.

Puri expressed confidencethat the BJP will win thePokhran seat and blamed theCongress for making the con-test "communal" by fielding aMuslim candidate against him.

Protection of Hindus and

cows has always been animportant issue, he said.

"Hindutva is in my veinsand the party is going to winthe election which has beenmade communal by theCongress by fielding a Muslimcandidate against me," the BJPcandidate said.

Religious leaders shouldbe in politics for its purifica-tion, Puri (51), who hails fromthe influential Rajput commu-nity, said.

"The people are with theBJP because they have faith inthe party's policies and inleaders like Narendra Modi,"he said.

His Barmer-based 'math',which holds considerable influ-ence in the entire Jodhpurdivision, is pulling out all stopsto win over the electorate, con-ducting social and religiousactivities.

"We hold drug de-addic-tion camps, provide educationto poor children and work forcow conservation, besides con-ducting several other socialactivities," Puri said.

The Congress candidate,Mohammad, said his focuswas core issues like drinkingwater and other basic ameni-ties for people in Pokhran,which has a total electorate of1.94 lakh.

"People here face difficul-ties in getting drinking waterand fodder for cattle. The con-stituency lacks healthcare facil-ities and I am focusing on that,"he said.

Mohammad (41) had lostthe 2013 assembly electionsfrom the same seat to BJP'sShaitan Singh with a margin of34,444 votes.

Mohammad's father, anoctogenarian, boasts of a strongfollowing in the Sindhi Muslimcommunity and has severalcriminal cases against him.

There are an estimated55,000 Muslim voters and45,000-48,000 Rajput voters inPokhran. It also has around35,000 Dalit voters, accordingto the candidates.

Pokhran is one of the twoassembly constituencies of thedesert district of Jaisalmer.

The second constituency,Jaisalmer, will also see a directcontest between BJP candi-date Sang Singh Bhati andCongress' Roopa Ram.

The BJP chose Sang SinghBhati over its sitting MLAChotu Singh Bhati, while theCongress has fielded Ram forthe second time after 2013.

A total of 11 and 18 can-didates are in the fray inPokhran and Jaisalmerrespectively. PTI

��"��

&�� (��$�� )��(��$�� !�� 3 �� &�� 3�� $ �� + "�%�� ,��

Kochi: High rise buildingsshould not be permitted on thesteep slopes of the WesternGhats as the areas are landslideprone, says a study on therecent Kerala floods.

The study conducted by asix-member expert panelappointed by the Rajiv GandhiInstitute of DevelopmentStudies (RGIDS) emphasisedon the need for a new con-struction policy on resorts bothpublic and private, especially inthe affected hill districts.

"Government may regulatethe public from constructinghuge houses and other buildingsin areas of Western Ghats in gen-eral and to have strict restrictionsin the ecologically sensitive areas.Reclamation of flood plains fordwelling sites is to be curbed",said the panel in its report.

In the relatively flat areas of

Western Ghats (Wayanad,Palakkad and Idukki) specialattention should be given forfarming vegetables, fruits andhorticulture, said the reporttitled: "Kerala Floods 2018-The Disaster of the century".

The flood was unprece-dented and rainfall in hilly dis-tricts were three times more, andthe State was also not preparedfor such a mega scale of disas-ter, as it has not experienced aflood of this magnitude, exceptthe recorded one in 1924.

While 483 people andthousands of livestock werekilled, the disaster incurredimmense losses on the state'sinfrastructure, as many roads,bridges and thousands of hous-es were damaged /washed away.

The report said reservoirswere already full in July endunlike other years and there

was no place in the reservoirsto accommodate any moreexcess rain water.

"Considering the safety ofdams, the water had to bereleased from all dams. Therespective district administra-tions could not take adequateprecautionary steps as they werealso deprived of any informationregarding the quantum of waterrelease, duration and the likelyplaces of inundation, etc", it said.

It alleged that lapses weremany as the dam water scouredriver beds and low-lying areaswere flooded.

"The sea was also roughwith high tide and wave setupnot allowing water to flow out;all this added to the flood andrelated problems. The ecosys-tem damage is beyond anassessment", it said.

Large quantities of agri-

cultural produce were lostputting the livelihood of farm-ers at risk.

The report said the floodhas opened the vision on whatthe future development is to be.

The present developmentplan, with scant regard to thefragility of the environment,needs restructuring to with-stand the frequent onslaught ofdisasters, especially in the lightof climate change, it said.

"The deluge exposed thevarious deficiencies in the sys-tem. Flouting and violating thenorms compounded the prob-lems. The lack of coordinationand timely decision making byresponsible authorities aggra-vated the flood into a disaster.

"Apparently the authoritiesdid not give adequate attentionwith the seriousness, it deservesto, the weather forecasts by

agencies such as IMD", it said.The committee was head-

ed by Michael Vetha Siromony(Rtd IAS and formerAdditional Chief Secretary tothe Government of Kerala).

The members of the com-mittee include Dr Oommen VOommen (Former Chairman,Kerala State BiodiversityBoard), John Mathai (FormerScientist, National Centre forEarth Science Studies),Muhammed Ali Rawther M(Former Director, Kerala StateElectricity Board Ltd), andThomas Varghese (FormerDeputy Chief Engineer,Irrigation Department,Government of Kerala).

RGIDS Director B S Shijusaid analysing the impact offlood across the sectors, theCommittee has put forth sev-eral suggestions and recom-

mendations.It has recommended a

strategy to rethink operationsof hydel power stations so as tomaximise power generation,thereby avoiding opening ofspillways to control flood situ-ations, which needs to be devel-oped, he said.

"The Committee has calledfor institutionalising a properstrategy for opening of themajor dams with advanceinformation to district author-ities concerned, local bodiesand public, through all sourcesof media", Shiju said.

"An appropriate watermanagement system should beevolved for maximising usageof water storage in reservoirsfor electricity generation/irri-gation as well as other domes-tic purposes", the study said.

PTI

��0�3� �'��

�� G� ��H�

Angry locals blocked theBatote-Kishtwar National

Highway at Thathri areaSunday over the death of aretired Army officer, demand-ing arrest of the accused, offi-cials said.

Retired Army officerMohd Hafiz (60) was killedand several others wereinjured in a clash between twogroups at a polling booth inDoda district during the thirdphase of the Jammu &Kashmir panchayat electionson Saturday, police said.

"After post-mortem of thedeceased, the villagers joined

by locals at Thathri refused totake the body to his native vil-lage Joura for last rites. Theykept the body on the highwaydemanding assurance fromthe district magistrate,"Thathri SDM Mohd AnwarBanday said.

The protesters sought thedistrict administration's inter-vention into the matter andassurance from the Dodadeputy commissioner to imme-diately set up a SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) to naildown the culprits. They alsodemanded a government jobfor the kin of the deceased.

The SDM said he tried topacify the protesters andassured them of arresting theculprits at the earliest butthey are insisting on assurancefrom the DM itself .Meanwhile, hundreds of vehi-cles remained stranded oneither side of the highway atThathri town since 9 am.

+�� %��"�& ��#$�� !��"��

,��!�� $�� !�� !��

� ��!��$��

,� ��!��

Ahmedabad: A 2007 Ajmerdargah bomb blast accused, whowas on run since the last 11 years,was arrested on Sunday by theATS from Bharuch in Gujarat.

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA), which is prob-ing the case, had announced areward of Rs 2 lakh on head ofthe accused, identified asSuresh Nair. As per the NIA,Nair had allegedly supplied abomb to the planters at thefamous sufi shrine in Rajasthanand was also present at the spot,the Gujarat Anti-TerrorismSquad (ATS) said in a statement.

Three persons were killed

and 17 others injured in the blastthat occurred on October 11,2007. After he was apprehend-ed from Bharuch, Nair wasshifted to Ahmedabad for fur-ther investigation, the ATS said.He is a resident of Thasara inKheda district of Gujarat.

"Officials of Gujarat ATShad received a credible infor-mation that Suresh Nair will visitShukaltirth in Bharuch in nearfuture, following which a closewatch was kept at the place," theagency said, adding that Nair wasapprehended from the spot. Hewill be handed over to the NIA,it said. PTI

��4�� ((��<�4��

�� M��

With just three days leftfor the Mizoram

Assembly elections, ChiefMinister Lal Thanhawla onSunday said the Congress isopen to form a post-pollalliance with like-minded par-ties, excluding the BJP andMNF, if the ruling party fallsshort of majority.

He, however, claimed thatsuch a situation will not ariseas the Congress will get fullmajority on its own.

In Mizoram, support of 21MLAs is needed to form aGovernment in the 40-memberAssembly, which is going topolls on November 28 and thecounting will take place onDecember 11. "If like-mindedparties come to me and want tosupport my leadership, thenthey may (be) welcomed,"Thanhawla told PTI during aninterview when asked if theCongress is willing to form apost-poll alliance if it does notget a simple majority.

Asked with whom theCongress is comfortable toform an alliance, he said, "Idon't know at this moment.But certainly not the BJP, cer-tainly not the MNF. Let thetime come."

Refusing to predict a num-ber, the senior Congress leadersaid his party will get a com-fortable majority.

"I am quite confident thatI will continue to be in powerand I will hold the fort for theCongress (in North East). Allindications are there," headded.

Mizoram is significant forthe Congress as it remains theonly state under the party's rulein the region compared to asmany as five just about twoyears ago, which includedAssam, Meghalaya, ArunachalPradesh and Manipur.

Thanhawla said there is nodifference in the campaign this

time compared to that in pre-vious two terms as big crowdscan be seen in party meetingsand "large number" of peopleare joining the Congress.

When pointed out thatsenior Ministers and politicalleaders have left the party in thelast two months, he said, "Idon't see any worker leavingmy party at this stage. Butunwanted and corrupt peoplehave left. Congress workersare very grateful and they aremuch inspired because thesecorrupt people have left the party."

At least five CongressMLAs have resigned from theAssembly and the party in therun-up to the polls and joinedeither the BJP or the MizoNational Front (MNF).

Those who have resignedinclude state's Home MinisterR Lalzirliana, former HealthMinister Lalrinliana Sailo, for-mer Fisheries Minister BuddhaDhan Chakma and MLAHmingdailova Khiangte.Besides, Mizoram AssemblySpeaker Hiphei resigned earli-er this month.

Asked about anti-incum-bency factor as alleged by theopposition MNF, Thanhawlasaid, "Not all. Only MNF isfeeling anti-incumbency fac-tor. They don't have anythingto point fingers at me -- noscandal, no misuse (of funds).How can they say anti-incum-bency wind is blowing inMizoram? It's only their wish-ful thinking."

On MNF PresidentZoramthanga's comment thatall roads of Mizoram are in"ICU", the Chief Minister said:"He is a good speaker. Hismouth speaks a lot. He has abig mouth. I have seen myroads. I have travelled myroads. So, who is telling lie andwho is telling the truth, you caneasily differentiate and know.Lies do not have legs. They fallon the waste side."

<(�� #�� "�#�� 2�� 4Thiruvananthapuram: The

CPI (M)-led KeralaGovernment lacks a blueprint,while the Centre has beenmeting out a step-motherlytreatment to the the flood-hitstate, hampering rebuildingefforts, a senior Congressleader said on Sunday.

The monsoon rains thatbegan lashing Kerala on May29 led to the death of 417 peo-ple. The rains and the conse-quent deluge caused unprece-dented destruction and forcedmore than a million people totake shelter in relief camps.

Ramesh Chennithala,who is also the leader of theopposition in the KeralaLegislative Assembly, toldreporters here that today(Sunday) marked 100 days ofthe worst-ever flood to havehit the State.

"What is most unfortunateis that the Pinarayi Vijayangovernment has only talked ofrebuilding a new Kerala, whenthey do not even have a blue-print for it. While the loss has

been pegged at �40,000 crore,all that has come is a mere�600 crore from the Centreand the State Governmenthas managed to raise a mere�3,633.72 crore," saidChennithala.

Chennithala said thatVijayan had miserably failed tokeep his promises to the flood-affected people.

"Around 1.4 million peo-ple were displaced andVijayan had said each one ofthem would be given �10,000.Even after 100 days, only 5.9lakh people have got thepromised money,"Chennithala added.

The Chief Minister hadpromised that small traderswould be given an interest-freeloan of �10 lakh and �one lakhwould be given as bank loan tobuy home appliances that weredamaged. However, not onesuch loan has been sanctioned.

Chennithala added thatagricultural crops on 56,439hectares were damaged, caus-ing a loss of �1,345 crore.

"The primary reason whyfunds are not coming is thatVijayan went hammer andtongs against the StateGovernment employees andsought to coerce them to con-tribute a month's salary...Instead of asking for help, hechallenged the employees andit resulted in antagonisingthem," said Chennithala.

Lashing out at the Centre,Chennithala said PrimeMinister Narendra Modi nowknows that the Bharatiya JanataParty in Kerala was not goingto do any wonders electorallyand hence he has taken an anti-Kerala position. IANS

Jammu: Jammu & Kashmirunit of the BJP Sunday calledupon its leaders to gear up forthe next Lok Sabha polls aswell as the State Assemblyelections, which are expectedto be held together.

Chairing a meeting of hisState leaders in the party head-quarters here, BJP State presi-dent Ravinder Raina stressedupon the leaders to doubletheir efforts in establishingcontacts with the masses andapprise them of the worksdone by the Union as well asthe State Government, whichthe party had partnered withthe PDP till June this year.

Raina also stressed uponthem to expedite the setting upof party cells on various issues,saying these cells play an impor-tant role in both the Lok Sabhaand the state assembly elections.

"We stress upon the impor-tance of cells in coming monthsand the leaders of the cells havean important role in theupcoming Lok Sabha electionsas well as the assembly elec-tions," he said.

The BJP's State unit chiefasked the leaders to take allthe schemes initiated byPrime Minister NarendraModi to the masses and striveto generate "warm contact"with the prominent people ofthe society. PTI

Agartala: CPI(M) general sec-retary Sitaram Yechury onSunday called for a unifiedmovement for ouster of theBJP-led NDA from power inthe 2019 Lok Sabha electionsand prescribed a three-prongedaction plan for it.

Addressing an open sessionat the 22nd CPM Tripura stateconference here he asked thepeople to strengthen the partyand other Left parties in mobi-lizing anti-BJP votes across thecountry to set up a secularGovernment.

Yechury also accused thesaffron party of spreading hatredand intolerance in the country.

"There are three thingsthat have to be done—BJP andits ally political parties shouldbe defeated. The number ofMPs from the CPM and otherLeft parties in Parliamentshould be increased and analternative Government withpro-people policies should beestablished at the Centre. PTI

��%�)� #��0��*��#��

�%��!��C-6� ��:�D�� !��"��$�

�C�&��-�2$��C��&��7-.��$�� &�(��

1=$�&1�� "�� 987>�+��

=��!�� $�� !�� 1��"��

�� "��&8��

+�� -��&�� 8��

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0 ��.

�, ��/��

An observation made by theMadras High Court on

“freebies culture” in TamilNadu last Thursday whilehearing a habeas corpus peti-tion has evoked widespreadsupport from the commonman. A division bench ofJustices N Kirubakaran andAbdul Quddhose, while hear-ing the petition filed against thepreventive detention of a blackmarketeer last month wantedthe Government to furnish alldetails like the steps it has takento eradicate smuggling of ricemeant for distribution throughfair price shops (under PublicDistribution System).

The person detained hasbeen held for facilitating smug-gling of rice meant for distrib-ution among the Below PovertyLine (BPL) section of the soci-ety. Justice Kirubakaran ques-tioned the propriety of dis-tributing free rice among allsections of the society throughthe PDS and said such riceshould be made available onlyto poor people (holders of BPLration cards).

“Providing freebies to allpeople irrespective of theireconomic status is counter-productive. Such culture hasmade people lazy and led to asituation where migrant work-ers from northern States wereexpected to perform menialjobs,” said JusticeKirubakaran who is knownfor speaking his mind outwhenever he comes acrossinjustice and apathy on thepart of powers that be.

“It is obligatory in the partof the Government to providebare necessities like rice andgroceries only to the needypoor people. But successiveGovernments have extendedthe benefits to all for politicalbenefits. The peoples’ minditself got changed to expecteverything free from the

Government,” said the judges.Over the last two decades,

Tamil Nadu has emerged asthe capital of freebies offeredby the State’s two main polit-ical parties. The DMK and theAIADMK blame each otherfor offering voters freebies atthe time of general election.During the 2006 assemblyelection, the DMK literallyshocked the electorate withfree colour television sets andmixies along with eice at therate of �1/- per kg.

It paid rich electoral div-idends to the DMK whichromped home, though withreduced majority.

But AIADMK leader JJayalalithaa paid it back in the2011 assembly election byoffering voters mixies,grinders, table fans, lap topsfor all high school studentsand bicycles for girl students.

While promising the vot-ers that she would continuethe free distribution of theabove mentioned goods ,Jayalalithaa offered subsidisedscooties to al l workingwomen in the State during the2016 assembly elections andwalked her way back to FortSaint George.

Taking a cue from TamilNadu, other States too beganfreebie culture upsetting theeconomies of the exchequer.Though there is general feel-ing among the people that thefreebie culture has corruptedthe minds of the people, noone was willing to bell the cat.The observations made bythe judges has set the ballrolling again.

“The BJP is completelyagainst this freebie cultureand we have been campaign-ing against it,” said ThirupatiNarayanan, party spokesman. But N Gopalaswamy, formerchief election commissionerof India said the commissionwould not be able to do any-thing to check this phenomenon.

� �� (�� "��,�� ?��

��

Aday before VHP’s DharamSabha at Ayodhya, Chief

Minister Yogi Adityanathoffered olive branch to sadhusand approved construction ofa 221 metre high Lord Ramstatue near the banks of Saryuriver in the temple city.

The announcement wasmade by the CM on lateSaturday night in the Statecapital after finalising thedetails of the construction fol-lowing presentation by fivecompanies.

Additional chief secretary(Information) Avnish Awasthisaid here on Sunday that whilethe height of the Ram statuewould be 151 metres, its over-head umbrella would be 20metres while the pedestalwould be 50 metres. He said thestatue will be made of bronze.

Awasthi said there will bea provision for a “modernmuseum” inside the base thatwill showcase the history ofAyodhya and the entire“Ikshvaku Vansh” right fromKing Manu to the present sta-tus of “Ram Janmabhoomi”.

The proposed museum willalso house detailed descriptionof all the “Avatars” of LordVishnu and will also havearrangements for depiction onthe topic “Bharat ke samastaSanatan Dharma” using State ofart techniques.

A representational photo-graph of the statue was also

shared with the media.The artisans , who had

built the Sardar Patel statue inGujarat , were expected tobuild this Lord Ram statue.“For the selection of appropri-ate land for this statue, soil test-ing, as well as wind tunnel test-ing, is going on at present,” saidthe official.

The Government did notdivulge other important aspectsof the statue, such as its possi-ble cost.

��"� ��"��997�� +�� %�� /��3�!��

��

@��" �4�� 4��

Lucknow: With Ram Templeissue gaining momentum, peo-ple in Ayodhya believe that reli-gion can help in reviving theeconomy of this ancient city aslocal say Hindu devouts visit thisplace from far off places acrosscountry but lack of infrastruc-ture prevents them to stay back.

Official records suggestthat over 30 lakh pilgrims visitAyodhya annually – this figureexcludes people who gather atmelas from surrounding areas.People from across the country– particularly from Gujarat,Maharashtra, Bengal and SouthIndia — visit Ayodhya for pay-ing obeisance at local temples.

“This is a huge numberand can help in reviving theeconomy of the region,” DrParesh Pandey of Saket DegreeCollege says. “Why not developAyodhya on the lines of Varanasiand Allahabad? Ayodhya is asimportant for Hindus asVaranasi is. The difference isKashi symbolises ‘moksha’ (sal-vation) while Ayodhya sym-bolises ‘karma’- which asks peo-ple to fulfil their ‘putra dharma’and ‘karma dharma’.

But Ayodhya lacks the infra-structure required for promotingreligious tourism. “The fact is wedo not even have proper hotelsin Ayodhya despite having such

a good footfall of pilgrims. Thedharamshalas are of poor qual-ity. Only good hotels are foundin Faizabad and they are bothfew and expensive,” Dr Pandeysays. “Imagine having hotelswith river facing rooms or roomsfacing the Ram temple. This willadd to religious tourism and peo-ple will start flocking toAyodhya,” he says.

Local residents claim thatthe link between Ram andAyodhya is so strong that of the6,000 Hindu shrines and tem-ples said to be in Ayodhya,more than 4,000 are connect-ed with Ram. Faizabad had apopulation of 167, 544 with

50,000 of them in Ayodhyaaccording to the 2011 Census.The literacy rate of the regionis around 86.52 per cent whichis higher than the national lit-eracy average of 74.04 per cent.

“This is basically an agri-cultural belt, but agriculturalproductivity has been steadilycoming down because ofrepeated fragmentation offarmland. Smaller the farm,lesser the yield and this hasadversely affected the economyof the region,” says Dr Pandey.

With reasonably good edu-cational institutions in the region,the literacy rate is good. Thrivingon the academic excellence of

students, hundreds of coachinginstitutions have mushroomed inthe twin cities of Ayodhya-Faizabad. The flourishing coach-ing institutions have proved to be‘good business’ for those who runthem or those who teach inthem. But they are largely ‘out-siders’, lament local residents.

“The economy is actuallydriven by religion,” says PradeepPathak. “Every second monthyou have a religious festival in theform of melas stretching fromMagh to Kartik Purnima. Thesemelas are organised on the banksof Saryu river and providesources of income for people andsmall traders,” he said. PNS

��

President of the PragatisheelSamajwadi Party (Lohia)

Shivpal Yadav met GovernorRam Naik on Sunday andexpressed his concern over the“large and unlawful” gatheringof people in Ayodhya. He ques-tioned the wisdom of the UPgovernment in allowing theDharma Sabha in Ayodhyadespite the prohibitory ordersin force in the temple town.

Coming out of the meeting,the former Minister said it wasa matter of grave concern thatdespite prohibitory orders, lakhsof people were allowed andeven facilitated by the StateGovernment to gather in thetemple town. He added that itwas an attempt by some forcesto stoke communal passionsthat posed a danger to the har-mony in Uttar Pradesh as wellas the nation. Shivpal Yadav,along with the party leaders, leda march from the party office onLal Bahadur Shastri Marg to theRaj Bhawan.

Shivpal Yadav, who is theyounger brother of SamajwadiParty patron Mulayam SinghYadav, also questioned thesilence of the Yogi Adityanathgovernment on the DharmaSabha being held in Ayodhya

by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) on Sunday.

“A similar situation hadarisen in 1992 and it is foreveryone to see what hap-pened...the matter is beforethe Supreme Court and every-one should show patience,” hesaid while pointing out thatthere was a large stretch of landon the banks of the Saryu riverwhich was under governmentcontrol and that a Ram templecan be constructed there. “Whythis obstinacy to build a Ramtemple at the spot where Babrimosque was razed,” the PSP(L)leader said. He also warned thatthe BJP and its affiliates shouldnot do anything that threatenedthe communal fabric and leadto riots and violence. “Thereare better things for the stateand the central governments todo rather than going on name-changing spree of districts andinstalling statues,” he added.

��

Ending over eight months ofsuspense, the Samajwadi

Party and the Bahujan SamajParty are likely to announcetheir political alliance for the2019 Lok Sabha elections onDecember 14. The announce-ment of the formal alliancemay be made either inLucknow or Delhi and may bemade jointly by BSP chiefMayawati and SP presidentAkhilesh Yadav.

The date has been chosenas Kharmas is commencingfrom December 15 and willlast till January 15 on MakarSankranti. In north India asper the Indian calendar duringthe duration of Kharmas, noauspicious tasks are under-taken during this period. Somespecific activities are strictlyprohibited and people do notinitiate any new tasks andmaking any new beginning isnot considered favourable.

The BSP had extended itssupport to SP candidates forbyelections to the Gorakhpurand Phulpur Lok Sabha seatsheld in March this year and SPhad wrested both the seatsfrom the BJP. Later, in May, SP-supported Rashtriya Lok Dalcandidate had wrested theKairana Lok Sabha seats fromthe BJP and also the SP hadwrested the Nurpur Assemblyseat in Bijnor district in thebyelection.

The Samajwadi Partysources said the alliance wouldalso include the Rashtriya LokDal and Apna Dal (KrishnaPatel faction) and two LokSabha seats are proposed to beoffered to the Congress. BothSP and BSP have fielded theircandidates in all 230 Assemblyseats in Madhya Pradesh –thus damaging the electoralprospects of the Congresslocked in a direct fight with theincumbent BJP. The BSP fur-ther damaging the Congressand benefiting the BJP hasentered into alliance with for-mer Chhattisgarh chief min-ister Ajit Jogi-led JanataCongress and contesting all theseats in Naxal-infested State.

“We are waiting for thepoll results of Assembly elec-tions in Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh and Chhattisgarh and

as per our assessment theCongress will do reasonablywell in all the three States,” saida senior SP leader adding “weapprehend that the Congresswill outrightly reject the offerof two Lok Sabha seats in Uttar

Pradesh but we wish to keepthe channels of communicationopen with the grand old party”.Congress sources said the offerof two seats is ‘ridiculous andthe party rejects it with the con-tempt it deserves’.

��)��%�)�)��1(��

�� -�-�

��&�,��

It will be business as usual forMumbaikars as they observe

the 10th anniversary of the26/11 terror attacks onMonday. But with memories ofthe mayhem wreaked by 10Pakistani terrorists that hadclaimed 166 lives and left morethan 300 others injured havingmore or less faded, they haveone relief that unlike in the pre-vious two decades since 1993Mumbai serial blasts, terror hasnot revisited them during thepast seven years.

Justice may have unfortu-nately not been done to the fam-ilies of those killed and injuredin the form of prosecution of thePakistan-based conspiratorsbehind the mayhem, but theyhave reconciled with the pastand are leading a normal life.

“I can never forget as towhat happened on that night ofNovember 26, 2008 when I wascelebrating my birthday withmy husband, in-laws and afriend at Hotel Taj, but I havemoved on in life since then.Now I am preparing to cele-brate tomorrow,” says AmritaRaichand, model-actress andchief who hosts TV showMummy ka Magic. She isamong hundreds of those whowere struck at the 26/11 terrorsites but survived the attacks.

Vaishali Ombale, daughterof assisant sub-inspectorTukaram Omble, who was killedafter capturing the Pakistani ter-rorist Mohammed Ajmal Kasabon the night of November 26,2008, has also come to termswith life without her martyredfather. “Life would have beenmuch better if my father were tobe alive. But, you cannot changecertain things in life. We havemoved on since the 26/11attacks. My sister is now aclass-I officer and I am doingM.Ed. And things are normal athome,” says Vaishali.

There have been some pos-itives in terms of enhancedsecurity mechanism, since the26/11 attacks. While the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) wasstrengthened, a hub of National

Security Guard (NSG) has beenset up. Similarly, Force One, acommando force, was raised,while the

Maharashtra IntelligenceAcademy (MIA) has come inbeing. All police stations acrossMumbai and elsewhere inMaharashtra now have dedi-cated Anti-Terror Cells (ATCs).Quick Reaction Teams (QRTs)are also in place. The coastalsecurity too has been beefed upsignificantly.

However, former intelli-gence official and security ana-lyst Shirish Inamdar calls forcontinuous vigilance. “The cit-izens need to vigilant aboutthings happenings aroundthem. They need to followbasic security drills and assistthe police during securitycheck-ups. They need to checkbelow the seats while they go inbuses and trains and reportunidentified objects or anysuspicious activity to the police.In essence, all of us follow fourPs -- prepare, protect, preventand pursue,” Inamdar avers.

While the nineties whenthe metropolis witnessed seri-al blasts that claimed 257 livesand left 713 others injuredand two terror acts, the periodbetween 2002 and 2011 provedto be worse for Mumbai – forthere were as many as many asnine blasts – including the26/11 attacks in which 166 peo-ple were killed and the July 11,2006 serial blasts in seven localtrains, in which 187 killed and824 others injured – during

these nine years. Fortunatelyfor Mumbaikars, there have notbeen any terror attacks inMumbai since July 14, 2011.

Though the events that hap-pened on the night of November26, 2008 may have been forgot-ten, the tenth anniversary of the26/11 attacks deserves a recall.Having sailed from Karachishores a few days earlier afterhijacking an Indian fishing ves-sel, killing its crew, ten Pakistaniterrorists at a small fishing baynear Colaba in south Mumbaion the late evening of November26, 2008. They divided them-selves into groups of 2 to 3 andheaded to their meticulouslyplanned terror sites.

The sites that they target-ed were They targeted theworld heritage buildingChhatrapati Shivaji MaharajTerminus (CSMT), Hotel TajMahal Palace & Tower, HotelTrident, Nariman House,Leopold Café and CamaHospital, Wadi Bunder.

While Abdul Rehman, AbuAli and Abu Soheb marched tothe Leopold Café in Colaba andthen laid siege at Taj MahalPalace Hotel, Abdul RehmanChota and Fahad Ullah head-ed to the Trident-Oberoi Hotel.

Nasir Abu Umar and BabarImran alias Abu Aakasha tar-geted Nariman House housingthe Jewish Chabad House, andtrio - Isamal Khan, Abu Ismailand Ajmal Amir Kasabunleashed terror at CSMT,Cama Hospital and itsprecincts, before proceeding

towards Chowpatty.All the targets were within

a radius of around 4-5 km areain south Mumbai, where thestate secretariat, business andcommercial hubs, deluxe hotels,residences of ministers, bureau-crats, diplomats, scientists andbusinesss big wigs are located.

Assistant sub-InspectTukaram Omble was instru-mental in catching Kasab aliveat Gairgaum-Chowpatty onthe night of November 26,2008.Omble, it may be recalled, hadheld onto Kasab even after hehad been grievously injured bybullets pumped into him by thelatter. Omble died he could berushed to the hospital.

While nine of the ten ter-rorists were killed by the secu-rity forces during the attack, theremaining one- --MohammedAjmal Kasab – was caughtalive by the police at GirgaumChowpatty on the interveningnight of November 26-27, 2008.

After 11-month long trialthat saw a trial court sentencehim to death on five counts –including mass murder, crimi-nal conspiracy and waging waragainst the nation and two halfyears of subsequent incarcera-tion, Kasab was hanged todeath in Pune’s Yerawada centralprison on November 21, 2012.

Nine Pakistani terroristsmay have been killed duringthe 26/11 attacks and the lonecaptured gunman Mohammed

Ajmal Kasab may have beenhanged, but the Pakistani-based conspirators like HafeezSaeed, the founder of Jamaat-ud-Dawa and Lashkar-e-Taibaand his close aide Zaki-ur-Rehman Lahhvi, the chief oper-ations commander of Lashkar-e-Taiba are roaming free.

So are a team of sharp-shooters, map readers, com-munication experts and physi-cal trainers including ZararShah, Abu al Qama Abu Qahafa,Abu Hamza, Muzammil aliasYousuf and Ibrahim alias Ali,who were involved in trainingthe 10 fidayeens who carried outterror attack on Mumbai fromNovember 26-29, 2008.

Meanwhile, on the occa-sion of the tenth anniversary26/11 attacks, several functionshave been planned on Mondayin memory of those killed atvarious terror targets includingChhatrapati Shivaji Terminus,Taj Mahal Palace Hotel, OberoiTrident, Jewish Chabad houseand Leopold cafe.

As a mark of respect andgratitude to the police andsecurity officers martyred inthe 26/11 attack, MumbaiPolice have organised atMartyrs' Memorial, PoliceGymkhana, Marine Drive,Mumbai on Monday morning.

Flower tributes will be paidat the memorial of 26/11attacks’ martyr TukaramOmble at Girgaum Chowpatty

in south Mumbai.Omble was instrumental in

catching Kasab alive atGairgaum-Chowpatty on thenight of November 26,2008.Omble, it may be recalled, hadheld onto Kasab even after hehad been grievously injured bybullets pumped into him by thelatter. Omble died he could berushed to the hospital.

Mumbai’s Jewish outreachcentre and one of 26/11 targetsChabad House --better known inthe past as Nariman House – willbe renamed as Nariman LightHouse’ on the occasion of the10th anniversary of the mayhem.

The event, which comes 10months after Israeli PrimeMinister Benjamin Netanyahuvisited the place, will also markthe unveiling of a memorial onthe Nariman House terrace tohonour all the victims of theterror strikes.

The Chabad House was oneof the main chosen targets of 10Pakistani terrorists who sneakedinto south Mumbai, throughthe Arabian Sea route and dis-embarked at a Colaba fishingjetty, barely a stone’s throw away.

The Chabad House is a par-tially re-built five-storey struc-ture, a grey coloured building atColaba in South Mumbai –which had suffered heavy dam-age owing to an intense firingindulged in by the two Pakistaniterrorists holed up on its premis-es during the 26/11 attacks.

C�,+�%00�:28�%8B�<;��?ECC�%,,%(F�

,288<8�,� 21�02� �'#%&��!:��BB /��)#�'-�.-'0�0�#2%3��$5.'�:�!�D�3�--)4�D� ��1F$#)4� %�2.)#�!B:��BB /��-'0��1��'�$1('�0�'��21:��>2�3�--)4:�C?7,-$0��1F$#)4��;).#$'#��!D:��BB6/��>2�3�--)4��1�.-'0�0��1��#'#��1��&'1)� �)%)5.)#�!:�!??!/��-'0��1�.$0��1��&'�32,'#:��>2�3�--)4:�CB��1F$#)4� �)%)5.)#�A:�!??!/��-'0��1��$5.'��)1�#'-�0�'��21:�!!��1F$#)4� 8'1$'#��!D:�!?? /��-'0��1)'#��-)��'#-)�0�'��21:�2=)#� ?��1F$#)4� �'#%&�� :�!?? /��-'0��1��#'�1��1��$-$14:�� 3�--)4:�2=)#�6?��1F$#)4� 8$-��!B:�!?? /��-'0��1�.$0��1��&'�32,'#:��&#))�3�--)4:� ?7244��1F$#)4� �$($0��!�:�!?? /��-'0�0�'��E'=)#��'E'#:��'�)>'��2+�14�':��3�--)4:�2=)#��?��1F$#)4� �'�� :�!??A/��-'0��1�%&'>-�'��&'�32,'#:�21)�3�--)4� 8$-��:�!??A/��-'0��1�0)=)1�-2%'-��#'�10:��6D�3�--)4:6!C��1F$#)4� �2=)5.)#�!A7!B:�!??6/�1�+�4'�))1�'��'%30N.-'0�0:��AA�3�--)4�'14�2=)#� ??��1F$#)4� 8$-�� :�!?��/�!A�3�--)4:��??�,-$0��1F$#)4��1��#�,-)�.-'0�0��1�M'=)#��'E''#:��'4'#�'14� ,)#'��2$0)�

#��-��3��/��.�� -��

(� � �� )�� $�2��!"�� "��9:;77��!��78�� !�� %��

��/�� '��(,

��

With thousands of Hinduactivists and Ram Lalla

followers congregating toAyodhya for the mega 'DharmSabha' calling for immediatenod to construct a grand Ramtemple, senior Samajwadiparty (SP) leader Azam Khanon Sunday lashed out at theBJP and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi calling them"anti-Muslim".

Speaking in Bulandshahrdistrict, the former state min-ister said that if Modi wantedMuslims to migrate out ofIndia, he should also let themknow the way to do it, andthey would go.

By stoking communalpassions the ruling party wascreating an atmosphere offear in the State and the coun-try, he said reminding them ofsimilar situations createdahead of the razing of the 16thcentury Babri mosque inDecember 1992.

��/��=�� >��6��

��C�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

��

Railway projects account forover 60 per cent of the 358

central sector projects that arefacing cost overrun for variousreasons, with their cost esca-lating by �2.46 lakh crore.

A total 216 projects of rail-ways are facing total cost over-run of �2.46 lakh crore, as perthe flash report of the Ministryof Statistics and ProgrammeImplementation for July 2018.

The statistics ministrymonitors central sector projectsenvisaging an expenditure of�150 crore and above each on

regular basis.According to the report,

the total original cost ofthese 216 projec ts was�1,65,343.22 crore. The totalanticipated cost of these pro-jec ts i s es t imated at�4,12,160.04 crore, whichindicates overall cost escala-tion by 149.28 per cent.

The ministry monitored350 projects of Indian Railwaysin July this year. The study stat-ed that as many as 65 projectsof railways out of the moni-tored 350 projects reportedtime overrun or delay of 3months to 374 months.

After railways, power sec-tor reported the second high-est incidence of overall costoverrun. Out of the 110 pro-jects monitored by the ministryin the power sector, 45 report-ed cost overrun of �63,973.82crore.

The total original cost ofthese 45 projects was�1,78,005.08 crore which esca-lated to total anticipated cost of�2,41,978.90 crore.

The report stated that outof the 110 power sector pro-jects, 36 reported time overrun(delay) of 1 month to 135months.

1($�� 4��1?,$&=��-��

��

After the success of a pilotproject, the Maharashtra

Government plans to extendthe Chief Minister’s agriculturalsolar feeder scheme in the restof the state.

The pilot project of thescheme was introduced lastyear in two places in RaleganSiddhi in Ahmednagar andKolambi in Yawatmal.

“The scheme is a total suc-cess and will be extended to theentire state. This is a gamechanger and solar units will beset up in the Government landwhere there is evacuation facil-ity,” Maharashtra StateElectricity TransmissionCompany (Mahatransco)director Vishwas Pathak said.

Under this programme,the farmers are supplied powerduring the day with the help ofsolar generation.

When asked about the pri-vatisation process of powerdistribution for Malegaon andKalwa-Mumbra sections, hesaid the project is on fast trackand the tendering process isunderway now.

“The entire process is like-ly to be completed soon,” headded.

Pathak further said theprivatisation of Bhiwandi issuccessful and hence we havedecided to go in for privatisa-tion of power supply in the twoareas, where the bill collectionis very low.

“Already a number of com-panies have participated in thetendering process, includingTorrent Power, which managesthe powerloom town ofBhiwandi and the best suitedone would be picked up,” headded.

Pathak also said there hasbeen a growth of power con-sumers from 2.15 crore to 2.45crore and to meet this growth, thecompany is taking every effort.

“There was an acute short-age of meters recently due tothe fact that 16 lakh meterssupplied by two companies,one from Hyderabad and theother from UP, were found tobe faulty and had to be replacedon priority. These two compa-nies have been blacklisted, hesaid and added that the legalprocess was underway for“recovery of losses,” he said.

When asked about the trans-mission and distribution lossesincurred by state discomMahavitaran, he said the com-pany could reduce it from the past17.50 per cent to 14.50 per cent.

“We do not claim that wehave achieved and met everytarget but to a large extent wehave performed and broughtthe power scene to a good posi-tion as regards supply, distrib-ution and reducing the prob-lems which were faced earlier,”he said.

�� !��8��%� ��F�� "��B��

�'&'��2�)*�)14��0'(#��02-'#�0%&)5)'%#200��&)��'�)

��

Reliance Jio has emerged asthe top telecom service

provider in terms of adjustedgross revenue (AGR) at �8,271crore for the July-Septemberquarter, according to Traidata.

The Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India’s (Trai) lat-est data showed that newlymerged Vodafone Idea record-ed an adjusted gross revenue(AGR) — earnings frommobile phone services — of�7,528 crore, followed by BhartiAirtel at the third positionwith an AGR market share of�6,720 crore for the said quar-ter.

The Government’s revenue

share of licence and other feesis determined on the basis ofthe AGR from access services.

BSNL revenue marketshare stood at �1,284.12 crorein July-September.

In the previous April-June2018 quarter, Jio led the charton standalone basis with�7,125.7 crore AGR. However,the combined AGR ofVodafone and Idea, which werein the process of merger, wasmore than that of Reliance Jioat �8,226.79 crore.

Separately, Vodafone’sAGR was �4,483.69 croreand that of Idea was 3,743.1crore. Bharti Airtel’s adjust-ed gross revenue was�6,723.5 crore.

However, in terms of grossrevenue, Vodafone Idea ledthe chart with �13,542 crore.Airtel followed with �11,596crore GR and Jio was at thirdposition with GR of 10,738crore.

According to Trai, Jio ledAGR market share in 11 out of22 telecom circles, Airtel in 6and Vodafone Idea in 5 telecomcircles.

6��.��,��.�� .��,��7�� .�8.�9��.�A��%)8 ��CC��!�� &,��

��

Public sector firms IndianOil, Bharat Petroleum and

Hindustan Petroleum plan toadd 4,450 retail outlets acrossGujarat in a bid to expand itsnetwork and meet growingfuel needs, an official said hereSunday.

The three oil companiesSunday launched the process ofselecting eligible dealers forthese outlets from a single

online platform, nearly fouryears after a similar exercisewas taken in 2014, the officialsaid.

“Three PSU oil companieshave together issued a jointadvertisement for dealershipafter a gap of around fouryears. Expansion of the petrolpump network is required tomeet growing fuel needs andfor the convenience of cus-tomers,” Indian Oil ExecutiveDirector (Gujarat), SS Lambasaid Sunday.

The three companies seekto add 4,450 retail outlets inGujarat, comprising 2,350 ofIOC, 998 of BPCL and 1,102 ofHP, he informed. They alreadyoperate around 4,000 petrolpumps in Gujarat.

“With new highways get-ting added and distance fromurban centres growing, we arealso looking to expand our net-work in rural and far-flung

areas,” Lamba added.Many norms have been

eased to allow more people toparticipate in the process,Lamba said, adding thatunlike last time, when theminimum qualif icationrequired was having passedClass XII, this time thosehaving cleared Class X couldalso apply.

Only those selected on thebasis of online forms will haveto submit documents for fur-ther consideration, which saveson unnecessary paperwork,Lamba added.

Also, for the first time, acomputerised “draw of lots”and “bid opening” will be heldunder an independent agencyto bring in more transparency,he said.

A candidate can go towww.Petrolpumpdealerchayan.In to apply for the outlets, theIO ED informed.

%��-��! ��-��!��

��

Nissan’s former chairmanCarlos Ghosn has denied

allegations of financial mis-conduct, claiming he had nointention of making falsereports, Japanese media saidSunday.

The Brazil-born tycoon,who has not spoken publiclysince he was arrested lastMonday, told prosecutors hedid not intend to understatehis income on f inancialreports, public broadcasterNHK said.

Without exercising hisright to remain silent, Ghosnadvocated his view to prose-cutors, NHK said, quotingunnamed sources.

Ghosn was sacked asNissan chairman Thursday, aspectacular fall from grace forthe once-revered boss whosearrest and ouster havestunned the business world.

Prosecutors accuse Ghosnand fellow executive GregKelly of under-reporting theformer chairman’s income byaround five billion yen ($44million).

Kelly also denied the alle-

gations, saying Ghosn’ssalaries were paid appropri-ately, news reports said.

Local media reportedSunday that Nissan hadformed a “secret” team ear-lier this year to probe thealleged financial miscon-duct.

A small team involvingNissan’s board members car-ried out its internal probeconfidentially on concerns

about possible destruction ofevidence by Ghosn, Japan’sKyodo News reported, quot-ing unnamed sources.

Ghosn is being held cus-tody in a Tokyo detentioncentre.

On Wednesday, prose-cutors successfully appliedto extend his custody for anadditional 10 days as theystepped up their question-ing.

��

Jawaharlal NehruPort Trust’s Special

Economic Zone (SEZ)is expecting to rake in�900-1,000 crore fromauction of a 300-acreland parcel meant forindustrial area, a topofficial has said.

The land, whichwill be auctioned byDecember-end, falls under the670-acre SEZ developed nearthe port.

To make the auctionprocess attractive, the JNPT hasrelaxed certain norms in theSEZ which includes easy exit bytransferring assets to anotherentity.

“We expect not less than�900-1,000 crore from thelargest land pacel in the SEZmeant for industrial and man-ufacturing activity,” a top JNPTofficial told.

JNPT SEZ had received avaluation of �13 crore an acrein the auction for a 44-acre plotfor warehousing, against areserve price of �2 crore.

However, JNPT is expect-ing the land parcel to fetch

around �3 crore an acre as theland use may not be that attrac-tive to buyers and can only beused for industrial and manu-facturing activities.

A pre-bid meeting hasbeen proposed in December.

Sources said Taiwanese ITmajor Foxconn and Dubai-based DP World have evincedinterest to participate in theauction.

Foxconn emerged as thesecond highest bidder in the44-acre plot for warehousingbut lost to DP World.

Foxconn, the largest con-tract manufacturer of mobilephones and TV panels in thecountry, had earlier announcedinvesting $5 billion inMaharashtra.

6'��:��,�;<<$%=<<<�� -�.��

<�� 1�� !��0�� "�� !��

��

Ashok Leyland, flagship ofthe Hinduja Group, inau-

gurated a new dealership,Himgiri Automobiles Pvt. Ltd.,in Greater Noida. The dealer-ship is located near NTPCNetra, Ecotech II, Malakpurwhich is one of the busiestroute in the area. It connectsfeeder roads with Noida-Greater Noida Expressway, GTRoad and further connects thebusy Delhi-Agra-Aligarh-Mathura routes.

Himgiri Automobiles hasbeen partners with AshokLeyland since 2010. This istheir 7th touch-point of AshokLeyland. This modern, 3S deal-ership (sales, service andspares) is spread over 32,000 sq.ft. and will cater to the entirerange of Ashok Leyland vehi-cles with 14 (9 Mechanical , 3Accidental, 1 Washing, 1 WheelAlignment) fully-equippedbays.

Inaugurating the dealer-ship, Anuj Kathuria, President— Global Trucks, AshokLeyland, said, “North Indiaand NCR region is one of ourfastest growing markets. We are

constantly devising strategiesfor this market and building in-roads to be closer to our cus-tomers. We already have a verygood equity in the market ascustomers here are alreadyaware of the robustness andreliability of our productswhich leads to better margins,better profitability and hassle-free operations. These attrib-utes and following the philos-ophy of ‘Aapki Jeet, HamariJeet, we have witnessed anincrease in demand from theregion, achieving a command-ing market share of 30% in theM&HCV and ICV segments.With our trusted partners,Himgiri Automobiles, we arecertain we will further expandour family of customers.”

Present at the inaugura-tion, Anil Goel, MD, HimgiriAutomobiles Pvt. Ltd., said,“We have seen this brandgrow from strength tostrength, whether it is theirinnovative products or theirconstantly evolving technolo-gies. We are equally thrilled tobegin our relationship withthem and together we willbuild an even stronger brandin this region.”

�0&23��)�-'14�-'$1%&)0�1)>4)'-)#0&�,��1��#)'�)#��2�4'��

The Garhi Winter Show2018 was inaugurated on

Sunday at the Lalit KalaAkademi Art Galleries ofRabindra Bhawan, MandiHouse, New Delhi by AdeshKumar Gupta, Mayor, NorthMCD and Uttam Pacharne,Chairman LKA. The inaugur-al ceremony took place in thegracious presence of JS CultureMinistry, Nirupama Kotru,Rajan Shripad Fulari, SecretaryLKA, and other practicingartists, art critics and art loversin a great number.

Around 250 artworkscomprising of paintings, sculp-tures, graphics, ceramics etc. byover 130 artists have been puton display.

Inaugurating the WinterShow 2018, the Chief GuestAdesh Kumar Gupta congrat-ulated the participating artistsand said, “This is my secondvisit to the Lalit Kala Akademiand I feel honoured to be here.I congratulate Pacharne forhis innovative ventures in thefield of art since his joining theLKA as its Chairman. Artistsalways connect with the natureand the same can be witnessedin the artworks exhibited in this

show. All the work here arereally beautiful and unique inthemselves.”

Uttam Pacharne,Chairman, Lalit Kala Akademi,in his inaugural address, reit-erated the glorious history ofGarhi Regional Centre of LKA,“The Garhi artists’ studio wasestablished in 1976 when theDDA had allotted a four-acreland area with an aim to pro-mote art. It was the profoundand determined conceptual-ization of well-known artist

Prof. Sankho Chaudhuri thattook shape into what we knowtoday as the LKA RC Garhi.Garhi studios have given the artworld artists such as Gogi SarojPal, Arpana Caur, SubodhGupta, Bharti Kher, DattatrayaApte, Jayant Gajera etc. toname a few. At present, over350 senior as well as youngartists are practicing at the RCGarhi. I congratulate all theparticipating artists in the showand express my hearty greet-ings to them.”

Congratulating the partici-pant artists, JS, Culture Ministry,Government of India, NirupamaKotru appreciated the efforts ofthe Akademi in the promotionof arts. She also promised everypossible aid from the CultureMinistry for the same.

The show will be on forpublic viewing till 3rdDecember, 2018 from 12 noonto 8 pm everyday at the LalitKala Akademi Art Galleries(nos.), Rabindra Bhawan,Mandi House, New Delhi.

<��%��&� ��6� ��<� ��

��

The Reserve Bank will holdthe rates for the remainder

of the fiscal year ending March2019 and is likely to go for“measured hikes” in FY20 asinflation inches up,Singaporean lender DBS hassaid.

Decision on rates will bemajorly influenced by themovement in oil prices and alsothe currency, which weretermed as “wildcards” by itshouse economists.

In a report that comesdays after the headline inflationprint eased to a surprising 3.31per cent for October, the lenderlowered its consumer priceinflation (CPI) expectationsfor FY19 to 4 per cent from 4.4per cent earlier.

It can be noted that underits medium term inflation tar-geting framework, the RBI iscommitted to anchor the pricerise at 4 per cent with a leewayon either side.

�-$��

��

Six firms, including Ernst &Young LLP and Deloitte

Touche Tohmatsu, are in therace for advising the FinanceMinistry on two merger andacquisition (M&A) deals.

The four other entitieswhich have bid for advising onthe deals are ICICI Securities,IDBI Capital Market andSecurities, SBI Capital Marketsand RBSA Capital AdvisorLLP.

These firms would bemaking their presentationbefore the Department ofInvestment and Public AssetManagement on November26, as per a notice on theDIPAM website.

DIPAM had last monthfloated a Request for Proposal(RFP) to engage one advisorfrom consulting firms/ invest-ment bankers/ merchantbankers for assisting it in theprocess of two M&As in theenergy sector.

��6�� !��5��9�=��

-��/�� A%AB8��3�, � �'�-��

��CC�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

,8<,,�0),8<,,�0))1<'2�

/��!��2�*��45��J �&)�4)'�&��2--��112#�&)#1��'-�+2#1�'�0�027%'--)4K�'5,�;�#)L�#20)��2�6D:�2++�%�'-00'�4�-'�)�21��'�$#4'�:�'44�1(�&'��&)�.-'E)�>'0�'-520��+$--�$14)#�%21�#2-9��'-�;�#):��&)�0�'�)+�#)�'$�&2#��:�0'�4��1��0�-'�)0�.$--)��1��&'��&)�+�#)�J >&�%&.#23)�2$��21��2=)5.)#�6�J>'0�B6�,)#�%)1��%21�'�1)49

�0��!��/�0��&�4�7�J �>��E)#-'14�>'0�=2��1(21��$14'��21�'1�)%-)%��%�#'1()2+�5)'0$#)0��1%-$4�1(�',#2,20)4�%210��$��21'-'5)145)1��2�,#)0)#=)�%2>&2#10�0,)'#&)'4)4�.��'-�=)0�2%3�+'#5)#�>&2�>'0�10,�#)4�.��'-3�1(��2�&�0�&)#49

)��!��1� ��0��6�6�J ;�=)�;�11�0&�1'��21'-0J �>2�.$0�1)00�)*)%$��=)0�'2>1)#�2+�-)('-�+�#5:�'�-)'4�1(��)*)%$��=)�'14��&)�#�,�-2��J >)#)3�--)4�>&�-)�21�'�&$1��1(��#�,>&)1��&)�#�,#�='�)�,-'1)�%#'0&)4�1�M�5.'.>):�,2-�%)�0'�49��&)&$1��1(��#�,��2��&)�02$�&)#1�+#�%'1�%2$1�#��21��'�$#4'�9

��

European Union leaders onSunday approved a historic

Brexit deal, holding out hopesof close future ties even as onedeclared Britain’s withdrawalafter four decades a “tragedy”.

The 27 leaders of the blocmet without Prime MinisterTheresa May to endorse theagreement, which sets the stagefor Britain exit from the bloc onMarch 29.

“EU27 has endorsed theWithdrawal Agreement andPolitical Declaration on thefuture EU-UK relations,”European Council PresidentDonald Tusk tweeted, as theleaders waited for May to jointhem. Arriving for a specialsummit in Brussels, EuropeanCommission President Jean-Claude Juncker, head of thebloc’s executive arm, said it wasa “sad day”.

“To see a country like GreatBritain...Leave the EU is not amoment of joy nor of celebra-tion, it’s a sad moment and it’sa tragedy,” he said.

Michel Barnier, the formerFrench foreign minister whonegotiated the deal on behalf ofthe bloc, added: “We willremain allies, partners andfriends.”

May, who arrived inBrussels on Saturday eveningfor final talks with Tusk andJuncker, was due to join theother leaders later in a highlysymbolic moment.

Forged during 17 monthsof tough negotiations, the

withdrawal agreement coversfinancial matters, citizens’rights, Northern Ireland andarrangements for a 21-monthpost-Brexit transition phase.

A short political declara-tion that accompanies the textsets out hopes for future secu-rity and trade ties.

But it is not the final stage,as the House of Commons inLondon must still approve thedeal — and many MPs havewarned they will not back it.

Until the agreement isapproved, all sides are stillplanning for the potentially dis-astrous possibility that Britainleaves the EU with no newarrangements in place.

Media reports in Londonon Sunday suggested some ofMay’s own ministers weresecretly working with EUdiplomats on a “Plan B” in caseparliament rejected the agree-ment next month.

But Austrian ChancellorSebastian Kurz, whose countryholds the rotating EU presi-dency, said: “It is important thateveryone in the UK is awarethat the result that is nowavailable is the result.

“It will certainly not berenegotiated and there will beno further room for manoeu-vre.” Dutch Prime MinisterMark Rutte added: “Overall, Ithink this is the max that wecan all do, both Theresa Mayand her government as well asthe European Union.

“No victors here today,nobody winning, we’re all los-ing — but given that context,

this (agreement) is acceptable.” Tusk said on the eve of the

summit that “no-one will havereasons to be happy” whenBrexit happens, but he said theterms agreed would “reduce therisks and losses”.

In London, euroscepticsin May’s Conservative partyand their Northern Irish allieswarn they will not support theagreement, which they arguekeeps Britain too close to theEU. But in an open “letter to thenation” on Sunday, May said itdelivered on the 2016 referen-dum vote to leave, and was a“deal for a brighter future”.

Britain remains deeply

divided over the decision, butthe prime minister said thatfinally leaving could be “amoment of renewal and rec-onciliation”.

“To do that we need to geton with Brexit now by gettingbehind this deal,” she said.

The summit risked beingderailed by a late objection tothe deal by Spain over theBritish territory of Gibraltar.

Prime Minister PedroSanchez threatened to reject itunless his country kept a vetoover future changes to EU tieswith “The Rock”, which bordersSpain and which it has longclaimed.

��

European Space Agency’sspace probe Mars Express

has beamed back an image ofan intriguing part of the RedPlanet’s surface — a rocky,fragmented, furrowed stretchthat was shaped by flowingwind, water and ice.

Lying at the boundary ofthe northern and southernhemisphere, the region is anexample of past activity on theplanet.

Mars is a planet of twohalves. In places, the northernhemisphere of the planet sits afull few kilometres lower thanthe southern; this clear topo-graphic split is known as themartian dichotomy, and is anespecially distinctive featureon the Red Planet’s surface.

Northern Mars also dis-plays large areas of smoothland, whereas the planet’ssouthern regions are heavilypockmarked and scattered withcraters.

This is thought to be theresult of past volcanic activity,which has resurfaced parts ofMars to create smooth plains inthe north — and left otherregions ancient and untouched.

The furrowed, rock-filledescarpment known as NiliFossae, sits at the boundary ofthis north-south divide,researchers said.

This region is filled withrocky valleys, small hills, andclusters of flat-topped land-forms (known as mesas ingeological terms), with somechunks of crustal rock appear-ing to be depressed down into

the surface creating a numberof ditch-like features known asgraben.

As with much of the sur-rounding environment, anddespite Mars’ reputation as a

dry, arid world today, water isbelieved to have played a keyrole in sculpting Nili Fossae viaongoing erosion.

In addition to visual cues,signs of past interaction withwater have been spotted in thewestern (upper) part of thisimage — instruments such asMars Express’ OMEGA spec-trometer have spotted clayminerals here, which are keyindicators that water was oncepresent.

The elevation of Nili Fossaeand surroundings, shown inthe topographic view above, issomewhat varied; regions to theleft and lower left (south) sithigher than those to the otherside of the frame (north), illus-trating the aforementioneddichotomy.

This higher-altitude ter-

rain appears to consist mostlyof rocky plateaus, while lowerterrain comprises smallerrocks, mesas, hills, and more,with the two sections roughlyseparated by erosion channelsand valleys.

This split is thought to bethe result of material movingaround on Mars hundreds ofmillions of years ago.

Similar to glaciers onEarth, flows of water and icecut through the martian terrainand slowly sculpted and erod-ed it over time, also carryingmaterial along with them.

In the case of Nili Fossae,this was carried from higherareas to lower ones, withchunks of resistant rock andhardy material remaining largely intact butshifting downslope to form

the mesas and landforms seentoday.

The shapes and structuresscattered throughout this imageare thought to have beenshaped over time by flows ofnot only water and ice, but alsowind.

Examples can be seen inthis image in patches of the sur-face that appear to be notablydark against the ochre back-ground, as if smudged withcharcoal or ink.

These are areas of darkervolcanic sand, which have beentransported and deposited bypresent-day martian winds.Wind moves sand and dustaround often on Mars’ surface,creating rippling dune fieldsacross the planet and formingmulti-coloured, patchy terrainlike Nili Fossae.

7:� ��-�@��;��8��

&�� *�� (��)� ��"� �� */��&��

��

The Brexit deal marks a clearvictory for Ireland — one

no-one in Britain saw comingand one which has raised theIrish government’s standing athome and abroad.

Ireland is tethered toBritain through a commonhistory, enmeshed economiesand a border with the Britishprovince of Northern Irelandthat held up negotiations formonths.

Some British hardlinershad argued that Ireland wouldsimply follow along in any exitdeal — a sentiment that causedoutrage among many Irish andhelped harden resolve.

At the centre of the disputewas a legal guarantee to keepthe Irish border open, knownas the “backstop”, which IrishPrime Minister Leo Varadkarand his EU allies insisted onand Britain eventually and veryreluctantly agreed to.

Ireland was opposed toBrexit and is fearful both of theimpact on trade with biggesteconomic partner Britain andany destabilising influence on

the 1998 Good FridayAgreement, which ended threedecades of sectarian conflict.

When the draft accord waspublished earlier this month,Irish politicians across thespectrum lauded it as the bestpossible outcome for theRepublic in contrast to thedeep divisions in the Britishparliament over its merits.

“The Irish government’skey preferences were all reflect-ed in the divorce settlement,”said Etain Tannam, a senior lec-turer at Trinity College Dublin.

“Bi-partisan party supportin the Irish parliament for thegovernment’s Brexit policy hasbeen noteworthy since thewithdrawal process began,” shesaid. In the tug of war of inter-national interests, Ireland’s gov-ernment now has greater trac-tion and is earning a reputationas a shrewd bargainer -- at thesame time as Britain’s prestigeis on the wane.

“The places have changed.Britain, not Ireland, is the rel-atively small and isolated coun-try,” Irish columnist FintanO’Toole wrote in a column forthe Guardian newspaper.

(��$��-��-��,��)��

��

US President Donald Trumphas said migrants at the

southern border will not beallowed into America until acourt approves their claimsindividually.

Trump’s comments camein the wake of a caravan of peo-ple — mostly from three LatinAmerican countries ElSalvador, Guatemala andHonduras — inching closer tothe US-Mexico border with theintention of illegally enteringAmerica, a trend that has beengoing on for the past severaldecades.

In the last two weeks,approximately 5,000 CentralAmerican migrants havearrived in the Mexican bordercity of Tijuana, just south ofCalifornia.

“Migrants at the SouthernBorder will not be allowedinto the United States untiltheir claims are individuallyapproved in court,” Trumptweeted Saturday.

He said illegal immigrantswould be caught and detainedand not released inside thecountry, as was the practice ear-lier.

“We only will allow thosewho come into our countrylegally. Other than that our verystrong policy is ‘Catch andDetain’. No ‘Releasing’ into theUS... All will stay in Mexico,”Trump tweeted.

He said all these years ille-gal immigrants have been tak-ing advantage of the earlier US’policy of ‘catch and release’,under which they were released

inside the country and asked tocome back to report to a courtat the next hearing on their asy-lum application.

Trump, who hasannounced to end the ‘catchand release’ policy, argues thatthose immigrants who were letoff never come back to thecourt hearings and it becomesvery difficult to identify themonce they mix up with thelocals.

“If for any reason itbecomes necessary, we willCLOSE our Southern Border.There is no way that the UnitedStates will, after decades ofabuse, put up with this costlyand dangerous situation any-more!” he asserted.

Meanwhile, US media onSaturday reported that theTrump administration hasreached an understanding withthe leaders of the incomingMexican government thatwould allow migrants applyingfor asylum in the US to remainin Mexico while they await acourt’s decision.

0�4�� /�� !�� !�� '��

��

Thirty people drowned andmore than 60 were feared

dead after a pleasure boat sankin Lake Victoria, Ugandanpolice said Sunday, in the lat-est such incident on Africa’slargest body of water.

“Thirty bodies have beenrecovered and 27 people res-cued,” said police spokespersonZura Ganyana, adding the boathad sunk 150 metres from thelakeshore.

“According to one of thesurvivors there were more than90 people on board,” saidAsuman Mugenyi, director ofoperations for the Ugandapolice.

Witnesses claimed the ves-sel may have been rushed backinto service following a reno-vation in order to take advan-tage of the profitable end-of-year party season. The boat car-rying nearly 100 revellers sank

in bad weather on Saturday inthe latest deadly incident toaffect passenger boats onAfrica’s largest lake.

Lawn games at the MutimaCountry Resort, close to thecapital Kampala, were pushedaside Sunday to make way foran open-air morgue wherepolice collected the bloatedbodies of victims. Boat rides,with drinking, dancing andmusic, are popular on the lake.

“It’s a big party,” saidWashington Serunjogi, whosesister Justine Namayanja wasmissing after taking the cruiseon Saturday.

“Justine had been on threecruises before and I knewsomething was wrong yester-day because she always updat-ed her WhatsApp andFacebook with selfies but lastnight she didn’t,” Serunjogisaid. Serunjogi said that, likemany Ugandans, his sister didnot know how to swim.

�� AB��:��

��

Around 100 Syrians havebeen hospitalised with

breathing difficulties in Aleppo,state media and a monitor saidon Sunday, after allegationsrebels fired “toxic gas” on theregime-held city the previousday. A rebel alliance in nearbyIdlib denied any involvement inthe alleged attack. State newsagency SANA reported “107cases of breathing difficulties”in an updated toll on Sunday.

The Syrian Observatoryfor Human Rights, a Britain-based monitor, said a total of 94people were hospitalised, butmost had been discharged andthe 31 cases that remainedwere not critical.

Late Saturday, state mediaaccused rebels of launching anattack with “toxic gas” on thenorthern city in what healthofficial Ziad Hajj Taha said wasa “probable” chlorine attack.

On Saturday, an AFP pho-

tographer saw men, womenand children being treated at anAleppo hospital for breathingdifficulties.

Some were sitting, whileothers lay down, breathingthrough with oxygen masks.The regime controls Aleppocity, but rebels and jihadists arepresent to the west of the cityin the country’s last majoropposition bastion of Idlib.

But a rebel coalition thereon Sunday denied involve-ment.

“We at the NationalLiberation Front deny thecriminal, lying regime’s allega-tions that revolutionaries tar-geted the city of Aleppo withany missiles and especially notany containing chlorine gas,” itsaid. Other groups in the areainclude the jihadist-dominatedHayat Tahrir al-Sham allianceand the Al-Qaeda-linkedHurras al-Deen group, neitherof whom have commented onthe alleged attack.

��- ��%<<�� ,,.�-++��.��.��.��*.�>��0��..��

��

British Prime MinisterTheresa May has written a

“letter to the nation” vowing tocampaign with “heart andsoul” for her Brexit deal onceEU leaders sign off on it thisweekend. May, who hopes toseal the divorce agreement andoutline of future ties withEurope at a Brussels summitSunday, faces a daunting chal-lenge winning the support ofBritain’s Parliament.

The Sunday Telegraphreported that members of herown cabinet and EU diplo-mats are secretly working on“plan B” proposals, fearinglawmakers will reject the cur-rent deal. But in the letter pub-lished in several newspapers,May insisted her agreementwould “honour the result” ofthe 2016 referendum — when52 per cent backed Leave —and be “a moment of renew-al and reconciliation”.

“It will be a deal that is inour national interest — onethat works for our wholecountry and all of our people,whether you voted ‘Leave’ or‘Remain’,” May wrote onSaturday.

*�� 8��

��

Sri Lankan PresidentMaithripala Sirisena on

Sunday made it clear that hewould never reappoint oustedPrime Minister RanilWickremesinghe even as heaccepted that the action ofremoving his arch-rival hascreated “some form of politicalunrest” in the country.

Sirisena last month abrupt-ly sacked Wickeremesingheand replaced him with formerstrongman Mahinda Rajapksain a controversial move termedby many as unconstitutional.

The controversial action onOctober 26 led to a political cri-

sis in the country with bothWickremesinghe andRajapaksa claiming to be thelegitimate prime minister.

Sirisena, addressing theColombo-based foreign corre-spondents, said: “There is nopossibility that I will be re-

appointing him(Wickeremesinghe).

“There is some form ofpolitical unrest in the countrydue to my decision, but I do notconsider it as a serious politi-cal crisis”.

The President said that heand Wickremesinghe haddeveloped serious policy dif-ferences on their approach togovernance.

“The first one was on theappointment of the Cabinet. Ihad entrusted a committee ofacademics to recommend waysto appoint a cabinet based ona scientific division of subjects.But Mr Wickremesingheignored those recommenda-

tions,” he said.Sirisena said that

Wickremesinghe appointedone ministry to handle both thehigher education and the high-ways.

One of the major issues ofconflict was Sirisena’s opposi-tion to Wickremesinghe’s nom-inee to the post of Central Bankgovernor Arjuna Mahendran,a Singaporean national.

“I told him(Wickremesinghe) that heshould not be appointedbecause he is a non Sri Lankan.He insisted that he(Mahendran) be appointed,”Sirisena said.

The President said that

Mahendran was responsiblefor the biggest financial scamin the country over the CentralBank’s issuance of bonds.

A probe had foundMahendran guilty of providinginsider information to a deal-er linked to his son-in-law.

“He (Mahendran) isabsconding and RanilWickremesinghe knows hiswhereabouts,” Sirisena said,adding that he would appointa special probe onWickremesinghe’s three yearsas prime minister, accusinghis government of being cor-rupt.

The President describedWickremesinghe as a propo-

&��.��>�-��-��

Two persons have beenarrested in Pakistan in con-

nection with the recent terrorattack on the Chinese consulatehere in which seven people,including three terrorists, werekilled, media reports said onSunday.

Those arrested are thebrothers of Abdul RazzaqBaloch, who was one of thethree militants of the outlawedBalochistan Liberation Army(BLA) which claimed the attackon Friday, Dawn news report-ed. The investigation agencies

found that one of the slain mil-itants, Razzaq Baloch, belongedto Kharan district of the restiveBalochistan province, it said.

Raids were carried out indifferent areas of Kharan onSaturday and MohammadAslam and Khosti were takeninto custory, the report said.

Balochistan HomeMinister Mir Saleem AhmadKhosa said that Razzaq Baloch’sname was on the missing per-sons’ list over the past twoyears.

A large number of peoplementioned in the list had goneaboard for terrorism training,

he said. The Minister claimedthat BLA commander Aslamalias Acho had been injured ina gun battle with security forceslast year, but he managed toescape. On Friday, three heav-ily-armed suicide bombersstormed the Chinese consulate,killing four people including two policemen beforebeing shot dead by securityforces which foiled the daringattack in the high-security zone.

Nine hand grenades,Kalashnikov assault rifles, mag-azines and explosives wererecovered from the possessionof the terrorists.

��,.� ��,.,�?�� .��..�� ,�� ,-�.�

��

Romania’s President has wel-comed the Brexit agree-

ment saying it will protect therights of hundreds of thousandsof Romanians in Britain.

President Klaus Iohannissaid Sunday that while mostEU members were sad thatBritain was leaving the bloc, ifthe agreement passes it “willprotect Romanians and otherEuropeans who are in Britain.”

��>� ��8��

*�� !�� %��

At least 21 people have diedand tens of thousands dis-

placed by heavy rains that havebattered Iraq over two days, theHealth Ministry and UnitedNations said on Sunday.

Women and children wereamong the dead, health min-istry spokesman Seif al-Badrtold AFP. Some had drowned,but others had died in caraccidents, were electrocuted, orwere trapped when their hous-es collapsed. At least 180 morewere injured, he added.

Iraq and neighbouringcountries have been hit byheavier-than-average rainfallin recent weeks, resulting indeaths and widespread damage.

"�C�� -1(��1��0� ��

C M Y K

C M Y K

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0 ��C�

��■ ��

Virat Kohli fired the openingsalvo on the Australia tour witha match-winning 61, helping

India win the third T20 Internationalby six wickets and draw the three-match series 1-1 here on Sunday.

Kohli's sublime 41-ball knockand his 60-run unbeaten stand withDinesh Karthik (22 not out off 18)gave India the much needed series lev-elling win ahead of the all importantTest series beginning December 6 atAdelaide.

The captain's perfectly executedchase in 19.4 overs came after ShikharDhawan (41 off 22 balls) and RohitSharma (23 off 16 balls) provided aflying start to the innings.

Earlier, Krunal Pandya tookcareer-best figures of 4-36 as Australiawere restricted to 164-6 in 20 overs.

Australia won the opening T20 byfour runs while the second game wasa washout, putting additional pressureon India who came here at the backof winning six T20 series in a row.

Chasing 165, Dhawan andSharma put on 50 runs off just 28balls.

Both batsmen took the aerialroute with aplomb and hit seven foursand four sixes between them to leavethe Australian bowlers clueless.

Mitchell Starc (1-26) had got thebreakthrough in the sixth over, trap-ping Dhawan lbw via DRS referral. Itput a momentary break on scoring asno runs were scored off the next eightballs, resulting in Sharma's dismissal,who played on off Adam Zampa (1-22).

KL Rahul (14) started off byscoring a monster six, and added 41runs for the third wicket with Kohli.India crossed 100 in the 12th over, butthe former started struggling for tim-ing and holed out shortly afterwards.

It became a double blow asRishabh Pant was out for a first-ballduck, gloving behind off a slower short

ball from Andrew Tye (1-32).India were in bit of a bother at that

stage, but Kohli and Dinesh Karthik(22 not out off 18 balls) brought outtheir shots. The latter played a perfectfoil to Kohli as he struck a four and a

six to bring down the asking rate.Kohli meanwhile reached his

19th T20I half-century off 34 balls andtook India home with two balls tospare.

This was after Pandya's orthodox

left-arm spin came in handyduring the middle overs afterthe hosts had sped to 68-0after winning the toss and opt-ing to bat.

Aaron Finch (28) andD'Arcy Short (33) then pro-vided a cautious start to theinnings. Their partnershipput pressure on the Indianfielding, shoddy again, andRohit Sharma put down a sit-ter off Finch (on 22) at thestart of the eight over offPandya.

Kuldeep Yadav (1-19) thenprovided the much-awaitedbreakthrough as Finch wasout caught sweeping at shortfine leg.

It opened the doors to theAustralian middle order.Glenn Maxwell (13) survivedan lbw shout via DRS offYadav, but Short and BenMcDermott (0) were dis-missed lbw off successive ballsin the tenth over as Pandyapegged Australia back.

The quick wickets dis-turbed Australia's momen-tum and they never reallyrecovered, losing wickets atregular intervals in the secondhalf of their innings. They hadheld back Chris Lynn (13) buthe couldn't provide the requi-site impetus, run-out in the 18thover.

In between Pandya alsoaccounted for Maxwell, caught bySharma in the end, as also thevital wicket of Alex Carey (27)who held the Australian middleorder together after the initial set-backs.

Marcus Stoinis (25 not out off 15balls) played an attacking cameo atthe end, and put on 33 runs withNathan Coulter-Nile (13 not out) asAustralia finished with a score justabove average (151) at this ground.

��■ � ��

Australia breezed to theirfourth Women's World T20

title, thrashing England byeight wickets in the final here

on Saturday.England faltered with

the bat after winning the toss, struggling to 105all out in 19.4 overs with opener Danielle Wyatt(43) being the top-scorer.

Pacer Megan Schutt (2/13), leggie GiorgiaWareham (2/11) and all-rounder AshleighGardner (3/22) led Australia's clinical effort

with the ball.Chasing a comfortable target,

Australia raced to victory in 15.1overs with Gardner and captain MegLanning remaining unbeaten on 33and 28 respectively.

Interestingly, England had alsomustered 105 against Australia inthe final of the 2014 edition and

even on that occasion, the team fromDown Under cruised to a famous win.With another emphatic win on

Saturday, Australia extended their dominance in the show-piece event of the shortest format, lifting their fourth tro-phy in tournament's sixth edition. Australia is also the mostsuccessful team in ODI World Cup with six titles.

However, Australia had not won a major event sincetheir World T20 triumph four years ago, makingSaturday's triumph sweeter.

Their sole loss in the tournament came against Indiain the group stage before they bounced back to beat theWest Indies in the semifinals.

Lanning, who hit the winning run, said being out-played by India did not affect the team's morale headinginto the knock-outs.

"The last two World Cups really hurt and we had tochange a few things and move it forward. The groupembraced it and it was a very satisfying win. The lossagainst India did not rock us — maybe a couple of yearsbefore it would have rocked us — but we were very calm,"said Lanning.

For her all-round show, Gardner was named Playerof the Match and Alyssa Healy collected the Player of theSeries award from the great Vivian Richards.

��■ � � ��

In a day of sublime and ridicu-lous cricket, Jos Buttler halted a

batting collapse while Moeen Aliclaimed key wickets to keepEngland on track for victory in thefinal Test against Sri Lanka.

The home side were reeling at53-4 at the close of the third dayas they chased an unlikely 327 toavoid suffering only their thirdwhitewash series defeat on hometerritory.

Dilruwan Perera took KeatonJennings lbw with the first ball ofthe third day to shake England

who at one stage looked in trou-ble on 39-4 after more failures bytheir top-order batsmen.

But after the scare, spinnerLakshan Sandakan made basicblunders that set the tone forEngland to score 230 and set theirsights on a third straight win.

The left-arm spinner hadStokes caught at cover on 22,then at slip on 32, only for replaysto show Sandakan had oversteppedthe bowling line on each occasion.

Stokes had to be called backfrom his march to the pavilionboth times. He shook his head indisbelief as he walked off for

lunch.Buttler was given out lbw on

27 to part-time spinnerDhananjaya de Silva, but the deci-sion was overturned by a reviewwhich deemed the ball was head-ing over the stumps.

The pair came back to com-plete an 89-run fifth wicket standthat rescued England and becamethe centrepiece of the secondinnings total.

Jos Buttler made 64, Stokes 42and Ben Foakes an unbeaten 36.England scored just 11 boundaries,with the lower order batsmensweeping singles and doubles tobuild the score.

Spinner Perera took a cred-itable 5-88 to pass 100 wickets inhome Tests but Sri Lanka's battingcrumbled in the hour they faced,and an England victory inside fourdays looks near certain.

Moeen Ali opened the bowl-ing for England and took openersDanushka Gunathilaka for sixand Dimuth Karunaratne for 23 onthe spin paradise pitch.

Jack Leach claimedDhananjaya de Silva, who failed toscore, while Stuart Broad took abrilliant catch off Stokes to endAngelo Mathews' innings afternine balls which produced fiveruns.

��!��/�!�#�!��$��0/Melbourne: 14�'� #)%2#4)4� �&)�#� 0)%214� �2,7�?+�1�0&� �1� �&)� �� '14'� �)-.2$#1)��2#-4� �$,� 2+�2-+� '+�)#� �1�#.'1� �'&�#�� '14� �'('1F))�� &$--'#,#24$%)4� '� 0)%214� 0$%%)00�=)� �>27$14)#� D?� �1� �&)+�1'-� #2$14� &)#)� 21� �$14'�9� �'&�#�� '14� �&$--'#+�1�0&)4�21��!7$14)#�,'#�!DA��2�0&'#)��&)��?�&�0,2�'+�)#��$14'�<0�+2$#025)0�#2$14:�>&�-)��)-(�$5�>21�&)� �2$#1'5)1�� +2#� �&)� +�#0�� 5)�>��&�'� �2�'-�2+�! 7$14)#� !A�9� �)-(�$5<0� �&25'0� ��)�)#0� '14� �&25'0�)�#��'44)4�'�+2$#7$14)#�,'#�A6��1��&)�+�1'-�#2$14��2>�1�.��&#))�0&2�0�'��&)��)�#2,2-��'1��2-+��-$.�&)#)9�20�0��$0�#'-�'�,#24$%)4�'�0�2#5�1(�+�1�0&�2+�0)=)17$14)#�,'#�A��2�%-�5.��2��)4�0)%214�,-'%)�'-21(0�4)�)*�%2�GAAH�'��!?7$14)#�,'#9

�� 0��/��3��/Abu Dhabi: �)>�+�=)7��5)�%&'5,�21��)>�0��'5�-�21%-'�5)4�&�0��&�>�1�2+��&)�0)'021�21��$14'��>&)1&)�4#2=)�&�0��)#%)4)0��2�'�>)--7F$4()4��#�$5,&��1�'1�1%�4)1�7+�--)4�0)'0217)14�1(��.$��&'.��#'14��#�*9�&)� 7�)'#72-4� �#��21:� >&2� 0�'#�)4� +#25� &�0� 6 #4,2-)�,20��21:�%'5)�&25)�!9��0)%2140�'&)'4�2+�&�05'�1��-)�#�='-�+2$#7��5)�%&'5,�21��)#5'1��).'0��'1�)��)-�2+�;)##'#�9��&)�>�1�%'5)�'+�)#�'�#'%)��&'��.)('1>��&� '1�&2##�+�%�2,)1�1(� -',� %#'0&� +#25�>&�%&��%2�$-3)1.)#(�)0%',)4�$1&$#�:�&�0�.-'E�1(��)1'$-�� %'#&'=�1(�.'##)-7#2--)4��1�2��&)�.'##�)#09��$�%&5'1��'*�)#0�',,)1�+�1�0&)4��&�#4�'&)'4�2+�&�0��)4��$--��)'575'�)��'1�)-��%%�'#42:��1�&�0��??�&�#'%)�+2#��)4��$--'14� ��?�&� 2=)#'--� .)+2#)� 52=�1(� �2� �)1'$-�9�)��#)5)1�7.2$14� �>27��5)� %&'5,�21� ;)#1'142�-2102� +�1�0&)4� ��&� +2#��%�'#)1� �1� &�0� ��&� '14+'#)>)--�',,)'#'1%)9

��"�&�� /��0��Caen: �'4'5)-�;'-%'2�0)%$#)4��&�)##��)1#��&�0�+�#0�>�1�'0��21'%2�.200�>��&�'�+#))73�%3��&'��>2$-4�&'=)5'4)� &�0� 5'1'()#� ,#2$49� �&)� �2-25.�'1� 0�#�3)#0�#$%3�>��&�'�4�,,�1(�0)�7,�)%)�1�1)�5�1$�)0�'+�)#��&).#)'3:� '14� �)1#�� %2$-4� .)� 0))1� 05�-�1(� 21� �&)�2$%&-�1)� '0� &�0� ,-'�)#0� %)-).#'�)4� ;'-%'2<0� >�11)#>�-4-�9� R<5� &',,�� +2#� �&)� �)'5:� '--� �&)� +'10:� >)1))4)4� �&'�:� )=)1� �+� �� >'0� 12�� '� 5'�%&� +2#� �&),$#�0�0:R� 0'�4� �21'%2� %2'%&� �)1#�� '+�)#>'#409;'-%'2<0� +�+�&� -)'($)� (2'-� 2+� �&)� %'5,'�(1� 0)%$#)4�21'%2<0� +�#0�� >�1� �1� '1�� %25,)��21� 0�1%)� �&)2,)1�1(�4'��2+��&)�-)'($)�0)'021:�'�5�0)#'.-)�#$1�2++2#5� �&'�� &'0� -)+�� &)5� 0)%2147.2��25� �1� ��($)� �4)0,��)� �'�$#4'�<0� >�19� �&)� =�%�2#�� %'5)� 0)=)1('5)0��1�2��)1#�<0�#)�(1�'��21'%2:�>&)#)�'�&20��2+�1F$#�)0� &'0� +$#�&)#� %25,-�%'�)4� '1� '-#)'4�� 4�++�%$-�0�'#��2�&�0��)1$#)9

/�,/�� ,��&��K3$�Kolkata: �&)� =�0��1(� �&$#%&�--� �#2�&)#0)5.'##'00)4��2&$1��'('1� 7?�'+�)#�+2#5)#��#�1�4'4'14� �2.'(2� �1�)#1'��21'-� ��--�0� �-'E'� 5'4)� '0�$11�1(�#)�$#1��2��&)�%��:�&)'4�1(��1�'�.#'%)��1��&)7�)'($)�21��$14'�9�;2#%)4��2�-)'=)��&)��'�4'1�'+�)#,'#��1(�>'�0�>��&��'0��)1('-�)'#-�)#��&�0��)'#:��-'E'-223)4��1�25�12$0�+2#5�'14�0�#$%3��1�'�0,'%)�2+�+2$#5�1$�)0� G��0�� '14� ��&H� �2� .)%25)� �&)� -)'4�1(0%2#)#�>��&�+�=)�(2'-0��2�&�0�1'5)9��)�&'4�0%2#)4�'&'�7�#�%3��1��&)�#�C7!�>�1�2=)#��&�--21(��'F21(��1��&),#)=�2$0�5'�%&9��',�'�1��'>4'��))0'��4#)>��&)�+�#0�.-224� �1� �&)� !�0�� 5�1$�)� >��&� '1� )'0�� ',7�1� -21(.)+2#)� �&)��2'10� F$5,)4� �2� 0)%214� 0,2��>��&� 1�1),2�1�0�+#25�+�=)�5'�%&)09��2&$1��'('1�G6H�0-�,,)4�2� +2$#�&� �1� �&)� �'.-)9� �&$#%&�--� �#2�&)#0� 1)*�� +'%)�23$-'5��)#'-'9 ��

�"#<&7�

��■ ��

Acareer-best hundred fromHaris Sohail and a maiden

century from Babar Azamhelped Pakistan post a big totalto boost their chances of a series-levelling win against NewZealand in the second Test inDubai on Sunday.

Sohail knocked a snail-paced147 in nine hours and 34 min-utes while Azam made anunbeaten 127 to steer Pakistan toan imposing 418-5 declared onday two at Dubai stadium.

New Zealand negotiatednine overs without losing a wick-et for 24 under lights in overcastconditions before umpires calledoff the day with two oversremaining.

Openers Jeet Raval wasunbeaten on 17 with threeboundaries while Tom Lathamwas five not out.

With the Dubai stadiumpitch starting to turn ace leg-spinner Yasir Shah could be thekey to Pakistan gaining a big firstinnings lead.

New Zealand, who lead theseries 1-0 after a narrow four-runwin in the first Test in Abu Dhabilast week, still trail by 394 runswith all ten wickets in hand.

Sohail improved on his pre-

vious best of 110 scored againstAustralia at the same venue lastmonth while Azam passed hisprevious best of 99, againstAustralia in Abu Dhabi lastmonth.

He added an invaluable 186runs for the fifth wicket withAzam as the two frustrated theNew Zealand's attack in the firsttwo sessions.

The Pakistani batsmenadded 82 between lunch and tea,scoring faster than in any of thepervious sessions.

Sohail took 309 balls to reachthree figures and then waved hisbat toward the dressing room,apparently pointing to his team-mate Azhar Ali, run out after amix-up with Sohail on Saturday.

He was finally dismissedsoon after tea, caught behind offpaceman Trent Boult. In all hefaced 421 balls and hit 13 bound-aries.

Azam ably supported Sohailand hit 12 boundaries and twosixes. He added 58 for the sixthwicket with skipper SarfrazAhmed who made 30 not out.

Medium pacer Colin deGrandhomme has figures of 2-44while left-arm spinner Ajaz Patel,who took seven wickets in thefirst Test, has taken one wicketfor 91.

$�� $�� "�A;C:��&�� 98��:��"��=��!��7#7

61��"�*"#'"�;��%"#

�#'>1�0)#�)0��0�+'�#�#)+-)%��212+�&2>�>)�,-'�)4/ ��#'��■ ��

�&)��7��0�'-)5'�)��0�'�R+'�#�#)+-)%��21R2+� &2>� 14�'� '14� �$0�#'-�'� ,)#7

+2#5)4� �1� �&)� �&#))75'�%&� �!?1�)#1'��21'-� 0)#�)0:� =�0��1(� %',�'�1��#'��2&-��0'�4�21��$14'�9

R��-)=)-�0)#�)0��0�'�+'�#�#)+-)%��212+�&2>��&)��)'50�&'=)�,-'�)4:R��2&-�0'�4� '�� &)� ,20�75'�%&� ,#)0)1�'��21%)#)521�9

�&)� 03�,,)#� -'$4)4� �&)� ,)#+2#75'1%)�2+�&�0�.2>-)#0:�>&2�#)0�#�%�)4�$0�#'-�'��2��AC�+2#�0�*�'+�)#��&)�&25)�)'5�>'0�A6�+2#�21)��1�69 �2=)#0:�'14&�0�.'�05)1�'-�3)9

R =)#'--:�03�--�>�0):�>)�>)#)�.)�7

�)#�21��&)�4'��&'1��$0�#'-�'9��&��&).'--:�>)�>)#)�52#)�,#2+)00�21'-��24'�9��&2$(&��>'0�'��6?�>�%3)�9R

R�&)1� 2$#� 2,)1)#0� ()�� 1�2� �&)E21)� �&)�<#)�4�++�%$-�� 2�0�2,9��&�1(0.)%25)�,#)��)'0��>&)1��&20)��>2($�0�G�2&��'14��&�3&'#H�42��&)�F2.�+2#$0:R��2&-��0'�49

�$0�#'-�'1� �!?� %',�'�1� �'#21;�1%&�0'�4/�R14�'�.'��)4�)*�#)5)-��>)--�1��&)�,2>)#�,-'�9��<0�'->'�0��2$(&��2.#�1(��.'%3�+#25��NAD9��&)�>'��&'�>)� +2$(&�� >'0� .#�--�'1�9� �2&�� '14�&'>'1�'#)��2�'--��4�++)#)1��0��-)0�2+.'�05)1�>&�%&��0��2$(&�+2#�.2>-)#09�&'�<0�>&��&)�<=)�.))1�0$%&�'�(2242,)1�1(�%25.�1'��219R

$�� 3�� 6�� 98��

�� *!�� 0��98��

& � ��2 �� "��

&��"�� A9��C��

��*!�� A��0��98��2$�&)#1��'#0�.)'��1(-'14�.��6>�%3)�0��1�0$55��%-'0&

2�"�� $��"�%��■ � ��

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly isnot surprised at the women's cricket

team's decision to drop senior most play-er Mithali Raj for its World T20 semifinalagainst England, saying he faced thesame fate when he was at the peak of hiscareer.

Mithali, the ODI captain, had twoback-to-back fifties against Pakistan andIreland but was rested for the final leaguegame against Australia due to a knee issueand also didn't feature in India's eight-wicket semifinal loss to England.

"No! I also have also sat in the dugoutafter captaining India. When I saw MithaliRaj being dropped, I said 'Welcome to thegroup'," Ganguly said.

"Captains are asked to sit, so just doit. I have done it in Faisalabad. I didn't playan ODI game for 15 months when I wasprobably the best performer in one-daycricket. It happens in life. The best in theworld are at times shown the door," the 46-

year-old said recalling the 2006 second Testagainst Pakistan.

Ganguly, however, said it's not the endof the road for Mithali.

"You should always remember you arebest because you did something andthere's an opportunity again. So I am nottoo disappointed seeing Mithali Raj beingasked to sit out. I have not been disap-pointed to see the reactions on theground," he said.

"But I am disappointed because Indialost the semifinals because I thought theyhad the team to go the distance. It happensas they say there's no guarantee in life."

Commenting on World Cup winningformer Indian skipper MS Dhoni, who'sform is on the wane of late, Ganguly saidhe still has the power in him to hit big sixesand should be allowed to go on a high.

"He's a phenomenal cricketer. But justlike everyone else he has to perform. I wishhim all the luck because we want cham-pions to go on a high. I still feel he can hitthe ball in the stands," Ganguly said.

�� ,�� 3��&�� 98�0��(��

��■ ��

�&)��255��))�2+��45�1�0�#'�2#0�%2$-40$5521�14�'1�>25)1<0��)'5�03�,,)#

�'#5'1,#))��'$#�'14��&'-��'F�+2--2>7�1(��&)�0)1�2#�520��,-'�)#<0�%21�#2=)#0�'-25�00�21� +2#� �&)� �2#-4� �!?� 0)5�7+�1'-'('�10��1(-'149

�%%2#4�1(� �2� '� �2,� �� 2++�%�'-:��&'-��5�(&��,$��'%#200�&)#�=�)>�,2�1��1>#��1(� �2��G�#�%3)�� ,)#'��210H��'.'�'#�5:�>&2��0�'-02��1�%&'#()�2+�>25)1<0%#�%3)�9

R��0�$14)#0�224��&'��'�5))��1(�>�--�.)&)-4�0221�&)#)�'14��2��0�-�3)-��2�0,)'30),'#'�)-��2��'#5'1,#))�:��&'-�:��'5)0&G%2'%&� �'5)0&� �2>'#H:�5'1'()#� �#$,��

�&'��'%&'#�'� '14� �2$#� 0)-)%�2#� �$4&'�&'&��2�$14)#0�'14�>&'��-)4��2��&'-�<025�00�21:R�'�0)1�2#��2++�%�'-�0'�49

�2��%&�)+��124��'��>'0�$1&',,��&'�,-'�)#0<�'()1�0�'#)�5'3�1(�$10'=2$#��%2575)1�0�'.2$��)'5�0)-)%��219�R�&)�%255)1�05'4)�.��,)2,-)�>&2�',,)'#��2�.)�'002%�7'�)4�>��&��&)�14�'1�>25)1<0��)'5�&'=).))1�=�)>)4�>��&�%21%)#19��$%&�0�'�)5)1�05'4)��1��&)�5)4�'�'#)��2�'--��$1%'--)4�+2#:R�'��0'�4�21��$14'�9

��0� %255)1��>'0� �1� #)+)#)1%)� �2� '�>))��+#25�'�-'4��%'--)4��1�0&'��$,�':�>&2%-'�5)4��2�.)�'�+#))-'1%)�0,2#�0�'()1��'14(2��)142#0)5)1�0�+2#��&'-�9�1�'��>))��&'�>'0�-'�)#�4)-)�)4:��$,�'�%'--)4��'#5'1,#))�R%&)'�:�-�'#�'14�$14)0)#=�1(R9

��.��.!�� .=�@�.��

� ��%�& � �� "��A7D;B7#<��*7��&!�7��*!��

C M Y K

C M Y K

A ��)�!��"&@�"&7!�9�4& B5�B��!�"

C��%D

��'�2��?(= ?<%E

��

Trying to change several habits at onceis too much for anyone. Instead, con-centrate on one behavioural changeuntil it becomes routine, then add a sec-ond one. If you’re overwhelmed by too

many changes, you most likely won’t accomplishany of them.

No matter what type of habit you want toadopt, you may discover that changing your every-day behaviour is more demanding that youexpected. It could happen that you’ve triedbefore to adopt this new habit, but it got deflect-ed from your goal.

When the habits you’re trying to adopt are dif-ficult, it is unrealistic to think that once you’vecommitted to adopting them, you’ll practice themevery day without fail.

Reports show that missing a day does not, infact, have a significant impact on your ability toadopt a new habit. The crucial thing is to recov-er from the fault fast.

Missing one day is acceptable, but doing thisinto five days may disturb your ability to makeyour new habit part of your automatic daily activ-ity. You should leave faults in the past, and to focuson what you have to gain by holding with yourgoal of developing a new habit.

Even though for creating a new habit it’s notnecessary to have a partner or group that reallyholds you responsible; what matters is that otherpeople know about the habit you’re trying todevelop, and will know if you break it. You mustbe aware that others will know if you don’t keepup with your habit is sufficient motivation formany people to stick with their goals.

We set goals for ourselves, often called reso-lutions. What we actually envision is a brighterfuture, brought about by the desired change in ourdaily routine or habits.

You may want to lose weight, increase yourclient base or stop smoking. This means you haveto alter an existing behaviour and insert a newone in its place.

What is your motivation for wanting to devel-op a new habit? Will it improve your life? Envisionthe outcome if you don’t make the change.

Then decide how you are going to make thechange. If you want more clients, make more con-tacts; if you want to get more done in the day, getup an hour earlier; if you want to be healthier,instill an exercise regimen into the daily routine.Set a goal and then give yourself a timeline tocomplete it.

If a new habit is too difficult to maintain,mostly likely it will fall by the wayside. Choosea realistic new habit that you desire and know youcan accomplish. Start small, like cutting back onthe number of cups of coffee you drink each day,or making one lunch date a week with a poten-tial referral source.

You’re bound to slip up one or more times asyou work your way towards your new behavior.Be patient with yourself and accept the slip. Thenrecommit to the new habit.

It is possible that anybody could set an ambi-tious goal or target for himself, but those whomake interesting the activities they need to under-take to attain the goal have higher chances of suc-cess.

Spend any amount of time on the to-do listmerry-go-round, and working starts to feel likea burden. Instead of enjoying what you do, youjust do it so it can be over with and you can getpaid.

We spend a lot of time trying to find ways tobe more productive. There’s nothing wrong withfinding ways to spend our time more effective-ly.

But instead of just doing more work in lesstime, it is also important to find ways to enjoy thework we are doing.

Whether you are an employee who needs todevelop a more positive attitude toward work, oran employer in search of HR software to makeyour job less stressful, there are things you cando to make work more enjoyable.

Regardless of what we are doing, there are

usually some positive aspects to it. If the results are the most positive aspect of

your task at hand, then focus on results. If some-one’s life will be better because of your efforts,focus on that. You will get a lot more enjoymentout of your work when you choose to focus onthe positive aspects of everything you do.

Because our minds are constantly pulling usin different directions, it is easy to lose sight ofwhat really matters. The only way to get the trulyimportant things done is to be ruthless at remov-ing and ignoring distractions. There is no short-age of valueless busy work that can easily rob usof our time and energy. Don’t let that happen toyou. Work is much more enjoyable when we focuson the things that really matter.We enjoy our livesmore when it feels like we are contributing valueto the lives of others. This applies on every level.

If we work as part of a team, then we should

look for ways to add value to the group. If we workfor a company, then we should seek to add valueto the company. If we are entrepreneurs, then weshould focus on adding value to those we serve.

The more value we create, the more we willbe valued by those around us. Even if we current-ly have a job that is less than ideal, we can still enjoywork more by adopting the right perspective.

The important point here is that we spend abig chunk of our lives working. If we can enjoywhat we do, it makes our whole life more enjoy-able.

Consistency is the key to establishing a newhabit. Do the same thing day after day to set itfirmly in your mind and routine.

If possible, set a schedule for the new behav-iour, and stick to it. Be accountable, either bytracking the new habit on a chart or interfacingwith others.

�-0��-�)*�*+-��*0��&��

'��..��1��.�.��.��-�1� .�.��.=�� +� +��-��2��-�� +� �1��.,��-..�� +=�,�,��4�2�

;�� ;;�� :� ��;��9�� 9��:��

�� ;�� ;�� ;;�� :� ��

�� ;��

C M Y K

C M Y K

�,��&��@�,�?��+�-5�� 0�%#)'��1(�'�-2��2+�.$EE'521(�52=�)�(2)#09��&�-)�0&22��1(:�&)�'%�2#�>'0�0))1�-�+��1(�52#)��&'1�?�,)2,-)�.��$#10�'14�%'##��1(�&)5��2��&)�+'��&�0&#�1)9��&)�'%�2#$14)#>)1��#�(2#2$0��#'�1�1(�+#25�&)�-2%'-�� 2#�%'##�)#0��2�5'07�)#��&)��)%&1�@$)9�%�#)00��21�&�0�.'%3��1�&)�+�-5��0�>�11�1(�5�-7-�210�2+�&)'#�0�'%#200�&)�%2$1�#�9��&)�#'�-)#�,2#�#'�0��&)�2$�&+$-�-2=)�0�2#�2+��&)�4$2�0)�'('�10��&)�.'%374#2,�2+��&)��'#'3&'14+-2240��&'��&��1!?� 9��&)#)�'#)�&#))�021(0�+#25�&)�+�-5��&'��&'=).))1�#)-)'0)4�J�� '14��&)�+�-5#)-)'0)0�21�)%)5.)#�D9

;�-55'3)#� &��&,�1�0'�0�'%�#)00��&'0#'�0)4��&)�.'#�+2#�&)#0)-+��1�%�1)75'�>��&�&)#�#2-)�2+��)&5'��'$#J��&)�14�'1�0,��J��1��&)�52=�)� ��K�-�'�,)#+2#5)4�@$��)�%&'--)1(�1(0%)1)0��1��&)�52=�)9��&)�>2$-4.)��#)5.-�1(�.)+2#)��2$�0'�4'%��21�.$��&)�525)1��&)�%'57)#'�#2--)4:��2$�0'>��&)�,)#+2#5)#�1�&)#��'3�1(�2=)#�)=)#��&�1(9��&)&'0�#'�0)4��&)�.'#��1�'%��1(�+2#&)#0)-+:L��)(&1'�0'�49

��1()#�@,�� >&2�(2�&��%&)4�'�+)>�521�&0�'(2��2524)-��"��!0�� 0'�0-2=)��0�12��)'0��.$��&)��0��#��1(��2.)%25)�52#)�-�3)�8)0$0�&#�0��J�,'��)1�:�3�14'14�0)-+-)009�&)�0�1()#�,20�)4�'&)'#�+)-��&'130(�=�1(�12�)21�02%�'-�5)4�'��1>&�%&�&)��'-3)4'.2$��&�0�#)-'7��210&�,9K�)-'��210&�,0'#)�&'#4�'14�-2=)�01<��'->'�0�)'0�.$��&'13��2$8)0$0�+2#�0&2>7�1(�5)�&2>9�=)#��4'��0�'-)'#1�1(�,#2%)00:�#��1(��2�.)�52#)-�3)�&�5:�,'��)1�:3�14:�0)-+-)00:�.2��(2��'�-21(�>'�9��$�(240�(#'%)��0�0$++�7%�)1�:L��).)#>#2�)9

�!��"��

�,��" ��A�!��

��$��&��!�� -�'!��!��!��"��-�;��!�

�� #-<$��&��$��!��"��!��

��!��$��!��!��"��-'��&�� D�"��$� ��-�G�:��F�!��

$�$��C6�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

= 2 ' ' 2 �

Though our contemporary leaders are more of keyboard warriors, therewas a time when rulers used much more subtle and deadly tacticsto defeat their enemies. Ancient Indian kings employed an army of

visha kanyas (poison maidens), who, according to legends, could take downany adversary with a single kiss. However, no one can be sure where truthends and myth begins about the historicity of these venomous assassinsand the superhuman-like aura surrounding them.

Historically speaking, the cloak of mystery concealed the identity ofvisha kanyas for too long. But folklore surrounding their existence havealways fascinated viewers across age groups. Colors’ newest offering, VishYa Amrit: Sitaara will be centered around this concept that was once con-sidered an extremely powerful way to take revenge.

The show is set in Vikralgadh village in Rajasthan and traces the jour-ney of a girl Sitaara, who is oblivious of her own identity. Abandoned ininfancy by her mother played by Shilpa Saklani, she is brought up by herfather who is a loyal courtier in the palace.

Shilpa explains that the story takes a sharp turn when Sitaara embarkson a journey that forces her to choose between good and evil. She’s a girlof high integrity and is willing to stand by her convictions at all times, andagainst all people, even when it means standing up against people whomight have cared for her.

“The show has been conceived keeping in mind the new wave of con-cepts that comes with a little element of thrill and keeps viewers on theedge of the seats. My (onscreen) daughter Sitaara is torn between thelove for her mother who is evil personified and her own value systemwhich prevents her from doing anything but good. The viewers will love

to see this tussle between sin and virtue and see herchoose the path of righteousness going against the

wishes of her mother,” says Shilpa who’s famousfor her role as Ganga in Kyunki Saas Bhi KabhiBahu Thi and has also been a part of shows likeLavanya, Kkusum, Jassi Jaissi Koi Nahin, andKya Hadsaa Kya Haqeeqat.

Visha kanyas were well-known for theirbeauty and used seduction as their tool to escapea dangerous situation. They could easily bring

empires to their knees. Shilpa says, “When Imet the team and they narrated the story,

they actually took me through theentire journey of how visha kanyas

came by. I was very thrilled andwanted to be involved in the

series because it’s a hardcorenegative role and for 14

years of my life I was play-ing positive characters inevery serial so I decid-ed that if I wanted to

come back after my sab-batical, it had to be some-

thing darker. Also, all othergenres are tried and tested but

this one is not. So I wanted totell everyone out there ‘Visha

kanya hoti hai panga mat lena’.”She adds, “The sabbatical was just

to enjoy and chill. I did Kyunki Saas BhiKabhi Bahu Thi for eight years and I wasreally tired of acting. I was destiny’s childand had everything that one coulddream of. Honestly, that’s why I decid-ed to turn into a house wife and I was

so happy doing all the household choresand turning into someone who wouldmake a new kind of a paneer every single

day. I did that for four years and I reallyenjoyed it. I am coming back with this show

now only to make my husband happy.” (The show airs from December 3

at 10:30 pm.)

There’s more to relationships than justa physical and emotional connect,believes actor Vikrant Massey, who

is all set to deliver yet another power-packed performance after Mirzapur in hisforthcoming web series Broken ButBeautiful.

He feels that relationships are an inte-gral part of any person’s life. There is a“growing-up phase” in everyone’s lifewhere he understands love and other feel-ings as he grows. But these emotions are“universal, irrespective of language barri-er or any other thing.”

Talking about his character of Veer inthe Alt Balaji show, he says that preparingfor it turned out to be very “intense.” Thestory revolves around a guy and a girl(played by Harleen Sethi) in the city whohave been hit by their fates so badly that

they are now too shattered to move ahead.Veer is an ambitious person, who loves

his wife madly. But one fateful night, heloses all that he had including the love ofhis life. This, to Vikrant, is something thatis true of real life. “It’s indicative ofuncertainty, that no matter how much youplan and step out, there are things whichyou can’t predict. It’s life that takes you for-ward, you don’t take life ahead,” he says.

The actor was so “overwhelmed” bythe role that he accepted it instantly. Ittaught him that life and relationships arenot just about physicality and sentimen-tality, rather a connect that is beyonddebate and even verbal understanding.“There are no words to explain a relation-ship that is deep in its own existence. Andthat’s how the show portrays the relationbetween Sameera (Harleen) and Veer,”adds he.

The actor who shot to fame with theshow, Balika Vadhu, says that the transi-tion from that 16-year-old Vikrant to thecurrent has been a “seamless” one, but hehas “evolved” a lot over the time.

From the show Dharam-Veer, tofilms like Lootera, Dil Dhadakne Do,Death in the Gunj, Lipstick Under MyBurkha, web series Mirzapur, the actor hasplayed numerous critically-acclaimed andwidely-accepted versatile roles.

So how does he choose his roles? Sayshe, “Just one thing, the content and thestory are a priority. And the question thatwho is saying this story? Me. It doesn’tmatter how it gets delivered to the soci-ety, I just want to be a part of good sto-ries.”

One, who has worked for the televi-sion, big screen, and now for the digitalplatform, can be called a master of exper-iments and exploration. But for Vikrant,it has all been the “same.” He says, “I hadnever thought that I would get a chanceto work with Zoya Akhtar or Vikramaditya

Motwane. I have never paid attention tothe platform I was working for. But whenI actually started working in films, it didbring a sense of satisfaction because it tooka lot of time to understand the way themedium worked. But now that I haveexplored different platforms, I feel thateverything is the same as well as differentin their own way. There are pros and consof every media. But yes, I am still explor-ing films.”

However, what is the most challeng-ing one among all the three platforms? “It’sTV, for sure,” he answers. “Working andshooting for it is like a nine to five job,every day, every month. You need to be onyour toes to meet serious deadlines. Thereare days when you are on the sets foralmost 24 hours, which is physically andemotionally tiring,” he adds.

He feels that the one “advantage or aplus point” in the digital space is that it let’syou explore the wide array of options andhave experiences, and that “it connects youto a larger arena around the world” as itis immediately accessible to everyone.

Giving the example of Mirzapur, hesays that the show was available to almost202 countries within one night. So “isn’tthat kind of an exposure humongous?”

A recent PIL alleged that some of thecontent on the online portals like AmazonPrime Video, Netflix, and Hotstar isobscene and needs to be regulated underthe Cinematograph Act of the Indian PenalCode. Vikrant strongly opposes censoringonline content as it is a “platform of oppor-tunities to showcase talent” to the world,which films cannot show, because they arelimited. “We censor the theatre content as welleven though this shouldn’t be done. Thereshould be proper certification. Even TV hascensorship, which is the biggest among all. Sowhere do we showcase the hunar?”

More than censorship of content, theactor says, it is the kind of content that isgoing which should be the focus. He rais-es some questions, “Is it really nudity orabusive language, vulgarity or sexually-indecent stories, that should be banned?Shouldn’t the content that promotesmisogyny and sexual harassmentagainst women be scrutinised moreclosely? It is also one of the platformsfrom where reality takes a shape.”

He adds, “Even today, there areshows on TV that show women asworking in kitchens and gettingtormented every now and then bytheir ‘cruel’ mothers-in-law.Shouldn’t this come in the spec-trum? Rather the regressivecontent that objectifieswomen, I feel, should be cen-sored.” (The showbegins from November 27.)

It hasn’t been long that therupee was found to be theworst-performing currencyin Asia this year. And adepreciating currency means

that the out-bound tourism indus-try will take the hit. Because of theweaker currency value, touristsand travellers are now tempted toexplore low-cost luxury travelspots, a trend spotted around theworld. For instance, travellersfrom Barcelona to Beijing arecashing in on Argentina’s cheapcurrency as the country grabsheadlines as a go-to destination.

Similarly, Indians are increas-ingly opting for cheaper destina-tions like Vietnam, Cambodia,Nepal, Sri Lanka and Bhutanwhile giving costlier places a miss.Such a trend has been termed as“luxury for less” by many travelcompanies. Balu Ramachandran,head of Air and Distribution,Cleartrip, said that the continuingdepreciation of the rupee againstthe dollar has made short haul des-tinations hotspots for leisure trav-ellers. “We have seen 35 to 40 percent growth in bookings for short-haul destinations like Bangkok,Singapore, Colombo, Denpasarand Sharjah (in 2018 as comparedto 2017’s graph), which is highercompared to the national averageof 21 per cent. Travellers are notstrict about aligning their travelplans with how the value of rupeehas changed with regard to thecurrency of the destination coun-try but overall are looking atshort-haul destinations which aremore economical,” he said.

He has observed that around40 per cent of these bookings aremade less than 15 days before thetrip date, which indicates that a lotof people plan such trips at the lastminute. Around 25 per cent ofthese trips are one to seven daysof duration. He names Nepal,Colombo, Bangkok and Phuket inThailand, Maldives and Indonesiaas the most visited destinationsamong Mumbaikars. The thing tobe noted here is that a 40 per centincrease in total bookings of thesedestinations has been noticedsince the rupee value starteddepreciating.

Karan Anand, head relation-ships, Cox and Kings, adds anoth-er place to the list — Turkey. Hesaid, “This is due to the devalua-tion of their currency by 30 percent vis-a-vis the dollar.” He point-ed out that such places add greatvalue in the low-cost luxury seg-ment as they offer cheap deals.“There has been a 15 per centincrease in the number of peopleopting for this type of travel.Within India, some properties inGoa also fit the bill,” he added.

Roshan Dsilva, CEO ofTripVillas.com, called Sri Lankaand Cambodia some of the “major

beneficiaries” of the depreciationof the rupee. “Both these locationsoffer a luxury experience at anexcellent price and so have becomevery popular with the well-heeledIndian traveller.”

By visiting these places, theyare actually pleasantly surprised byall costs — including eating out,staying in five-star resorts andhotels, enjoying a spa and visitingvarious tourist attractions. “Theseare turning out to be much cheap-er than any other value vacationsin India itself.”

Well, what are the alternativesif the travellers wish to cut stay

costs? He said that the primaryalternative is to stay in a holidayhome instead of a hotel, wheretravellers end up saving 50 per centon the accommodation rent.However, Manmeet Ahluwalia,marketing head, Expedia, seemedto be disagreeing on the fact thatit is only and mostly Asian coun-tries that Indians are choosing. Hesaid that even though they areworking according to their setbudget, they also try to find alter-natives to visit and explore placesoutside the continent. He said thatwith the spread of social media,the trends have started pointingtowards a more aware and excit-ed society which wants to exploreas much as they can.

Giving examples, he said, a fewplaces in the Eastern Europe likePoland, Croatia, Hungary, Sloveniaand more are preferred in terms ofbudget. He said, “People do cutshort their durations of the trip orchoose a less-costly hotel/resort tostay in, but do not cut off vacationseven outside Asia. We have alsoobserved a high trend in bookinghotels that are off the city centre,which are usually much cheaperand more affordable. The neareryou are to the center of the city, thehigher is the cost of your accom-modation. So, the location is alsokept in mind.”

Adding to this, he gave his ownexample saying that if he plans avisit to France, he will also try toaccommodate another places thatis near by. It’s not just about thecurrency depreciation but alsoabout a combination tour.

�� ($2� � *2 +$��"��3-� 45�($ �( ��

*��.��

%��0�� 4�(0��1�2�52#)�=)#0'��-)�#2-)0:�&)�'-02�0�'140�'('�10��&)2.F)%��+�%'��21�2+�>25)19��

�!��0��"F�5��))@�G)��@)��+'--�1(�%$##)1%��1))4�12��,$��2$#��#'=)-�,-'10�21�&2-49��)'4��2�'�,-'%)�>&�%&��0�%&)',)#:�,�%3�'�&25)0�'��2=)#�'�&2�)-�'140�'��'�-��-)�4�0�'1%)�'>'��+#25��&)�%)1�#)�2+��&)�%��:�0$(()0��)*,)#�09��

��C?�� ; �

�� :�� :��

�� ;��

�"��!&&:*"!#�&"#67'�*!��7��*��#�7�0+�#!*07��+�*!�*�7�*�"��

�'1120):�'�1$�#��21'-0$,,-)5)1�:�+2$14�1'�$#'--��1+#$��0�0$%&�'0�%#'1.)##�)0�%'1�'�4�1�0-2>�1(��&)�(#2>�&�2+��$52$#0'14��5,#2=)�%'1%)#��#)'�5)1�:�'0�$4��&'0�0&2>19

�&)�+�14�1(0�0&2>)4��&'�5'1120)�)1&'1%)4��&)�)++)%�0�2+�%&)52�&)#',��1�5�%)>��&�5$-��,-)��,)0�2+�%'1%)#9��0-2>)4��$52$#�(#2>�&:'14�&)-,)4��1%#)'0)��&)�-�+)�0,'1�2+�025)�5�%)9�$52$#0�$0)�52#)�(-$%20)��&'1�12#5'-:�&2>)=)#:��0�=)#�&'#4��2�%21�#2-��&)�'52$1��2+�(-$%20)��1��2$#�.24��&#2$(&�4�)��'-21)9��)0)'#%&)#0�+2$14��&'��5'1120)�%'1�1�)#+)#)�>��&�(-$%20)��2�#)4$%)�&2>�5$%&�0$('#�%'1%)#%)--0�%'1�$0)9K�$52$#0�1))4�'�-2��2+�(-$%20)��2�(#2>:�02�-�5��1(��&)'52$1��0&2$-4�0-2>�%'1%)#�,#2(#)00�219��&)�,#2.-)5��0�&'��12#5'-��00$)0�1))4�(-$%20)�'0�>)--:�02�>)�%'1<�%25,-)�)-��#)52=)��+#25��&)�.24�:L�0'�4��)=�1��'1:�#2+)002#�'��&)��'1%)#��)0)'#%&��)'�021�10��$�)9�

0!�"#"'��'!#;*�� 7�*�� "��#��&��$5'1�'1%)0�2#0�,-'�)4�-��-)�2�12�#2-)��1�4#�=�1(�5'55'-)*��1%��21��1�'1%�)1��+#�%'1)%20�0�)50:��10�)'4��0�#)-'�)4�2�)1=�#215)1�'-�%&'1():�0'�#)0)'#%&)#0�2=)#�$#1�1(4)%'4)0�2+��&�13�1(�21�'1%�)1�&25�1�1��5,'%�09

�)%'$0)�&$5'1�'1%)0�2#0�>)#)�,#)0)1��1��+#�%'�+2#1)'#-��0)=)1�5�--�21��)'#0:��>'0�'#($)4��&'��&)��-�3)-�%'$0)4�)*��1%��210�)'#-�)#��1��+#�%'��&'1�'1�>&)#)�)-0)9K+�&25�1�40�>)#)�#)0,210�.-)�+2#��&)�)*��1%��21�2+�5)('7&)#.�=2#)0:�>)�>2$-4�)*,)%��&)�#�4)%-�1)��2�.)�52#)�0�),7-�3)�'14��2��#'%3�.)&'=�2$#'-�2#�'4',��=)�5�-)0�21)0��1�&$5'1)=2-$��21:L�0'�4�,20�42%�2#'-�0%�)1��0��82&1��2>'1�+#25��&)='#0��9�K��0��10�)'4�(#'4$'-�,-'��1(�2$��2=)#�1)'#-��+�=)�5�--�21�)'#0:�-21(�.)+2#)��&)�',,)'#'1%)�2+�'1��&25�1�1�#)52�)-�%','.-)�2+��'3�1(�42>1�)-),&'1�70�E)4�,#)�:L�&)�'44)49

�$�74�#)%�)4�&�,12�&)#',��4)-�=)#)4�.�,0�%&2-2(�0�0�%'1�,2�)1��'--��2++)#�'�1)>�#)'�5)1��2,��21�+2#��##��'.-)�.2>)-�0�14#25)G��H:��&'��'++)%�0�'#2$14�21)��1�+�=)�,)2,-)>2#-4>�4):�0'��#)0)'#%&)#09

��0�4�++�%$-�7�27�#)'��%214��21:�>��&0�5,�250�-�3)�'.425�1'-�,'�1:�.-2'��1(:4�'##&2)':�'14�%210��,'��219��%%2#4�1(��2��&)�0�$4�:�,$.-�0&)4��1��&)��'1%)��'0�#2)1�)#2-2(�'14��),'�2-2(��F2$#1'-:�&�,12�&)#',��&)-,)4�#)-�)=)�G��H0�5,�250�+2#�025)�,'��)1�0�+2#�'0�-21(�'0�1�1)�521�&0�'+�)#��&))14�2+��#)'�5)1�9��&)0)�,'��)1�0�#),2#�)4�'�(#)'�)#�2=)#'--�5,#2=)5)1��1��&)�#�%214��219�K�)�42�12��312>�)*'%�-��&2>�($�74�#)%�)4�&�,12�&)#',��>2#30:�.$��5'��%&'1()�,'��)1�0<�5�140)��'14��1�)#1'-�%2,�1(�5)%&'1�050:)1'.-�1(��&)5��2��1%#)'0)��&)�#�%21�#2-�2=)#�'$�2125�%�.24�,#2%)00)0:�0$%&�'0�&2>��&)��,#2%)00�,'�1�'14�524$-'�)�($�'%��=��:L�0'�4�-)'4�#)0)'#%&)#��'#-'�;-�39�

�)0)'#%&)#0�&'=)�4)=)-2,)4'�12=)-��)0��1(�3��&'��%'14)�)%��0%&)#�%&�'�%2-�G�9%2-�H�J�'�4)'4-�,'�&2()1�J�5$%&�52#)@$�%3-��&'1�)*�0��1(5)�&2409

�&)�3��4)�)%�0��9�%2-�?��D:�%25521-��+2$14��1(#2$14�5)'�:�'14��0%210�4)#)4�52#)�-�3)-��2�%'$0)�0)=)#)��--1)00)0��&'12�&)#�+2#50�2+��&)�.'%�)#�'9�K $#�(2'-��0��2�()��&)��)0��1(�2�2%%$#�'0�%-20)�'0�,200�.-)��2��&)�02$#%):L�0'�4��%&')-��)4)#:�,#2+)002#�'��&)�1�=)#0��2+��)0�)#1� 1�'#�2:�'1'4'9�K�&�0��)%&12-2(��0�12��21-��+'0�)#:�.$��<0�-)00)*,)10�=):�)'0��2�$0):�'14��%'1�2%%$#�#�(&��1��&),#2%)00�1(�,-'1�9L

;224�0'5,-)0�'#)��1%$.'�)4�+2#�'�+)>�&2$#09��0'5,-)��0��&)1�,-'%)4�21�'�,'49��+�)#��5�1$�)0:��&)�,'44�0,-'�0�21)�#)4�-�1)��2�0&2>��>2#3)4�,#2,)#-��J�'14�'0)%214��+��&)�0'5,-)�%21�'�10��9�%2-�� D9�K�<0�=)#�5$%&�-�3)�'�,#)(1'1%��)0�:L��)4)#�0'�49

$�$��1��%�$"&2�C7

�� !�"��#�!�$#%�&&�'%%"(�&#)�*�25)1�>2#3�1(�1)'#�.$0�#2'40�'#)�'��&�(&�#�03�2+4)=)-2,�1(�.#)'0��%'1%)#:�4$)�2��#'++�%7#)-'�)4�'�#�,2--$��21:#)0)'#%&)#0�&'=)�>'#1)49

�&)��)'5:�+#25�1�=)#0��2+��#-�1(��1��%2�-'14:'1'-�0)4��&)�%'0)�2+�'�>25'1>&2�4)=)-2,)4�.#)'0��%'1%)#�'+�)#�0,)14�1(�!?��)'#0>2#3�1(�'0�'�.2#4)#�($'#4�'��&)�.$0�)0��%255)#%�'-.2#4)#�%#200�1(��1��2#�&��5)#�%'9��&)�>25'1�>'0�21)�2+:'��-)'0�:�+�=)�2�&)#�.2#4)#�($'#40�>&2�4)=)-2,)4�.#)'0�%'1%)#�>��&�1� ?�521�&0�2+�)'%&�2�&)#�'14:�'��'12�&)#1)'#.��%#200�1(:�'�%-$0�)#�2+�0)=)1�2�&)#�%'0)0�>'0�12�)49�%%2#4�1(��2��%&')-��-.)#�021:��&)�+�14�1(0�K�1+)#�'%'$0'-�#)-'��210&�,L�.)�>))1�.#)'0��%'1%)#�'14�=)#��&�(&)*,20$#)0��2��#'++�%7#)-'�)4�'�#�,2--$��21�%21�'�1�1(5'55'#��%'#%�12()109��-�13�.)�>))1�1�(&�0&�+��>2#3�'14%'1%)#�>'0�'-02��4)1��+�)49�&)�(#2$,�2+�>25)1�'--�4)=)-2,)4�'�%'1%)#�.)-�)=)4��2&'=)�.))1�%'$0)4�.��)*&'$0��+$5)0��1�>&'��#)0)'#%&)#0&'=)�.#'14)4�'��1)>�2%%$,'��21'-�4�0)'0)<9

!��+!��,��!'&�,�#��#�+

B�!��"��!�&��G�8��,-�'��

�� -�� -��-� ��=)1�&�(&-�7�#'�1)4�5�140�%'112�0$0�'�1�'�&)'-�&��)%2125��+��&)�421��+2--2>��&)�)�&�%0�2+�0,�#��$'->�0425:�0'�0��8� �� 8 8

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0

Have you ever wondered whatit means to be empathetic? Toput yourself in another’s shoes

and actually feel what they are theyare going through? Empathisingwith people allows us to build rela-tionships which are based on under-standing and acceptance. Lonelinessis the biggest vice in today’s societyand it can be managed with empa-thy. We need to invest in peoplearound us, link ourselves with oth-ers and develop an interface withthem.

Most importantly, we need toinculcate the concept of empathy inchildren. To enable the develop-ment of a child’s emotional quotientand help them grow into dignifiedand civil adults, empathy needs to beintroduced to them when they areimpressionable and open to learning.

One of the mediums to facilitatethis could be music.

Helps express themselvesIt allows children to express their

angst and negativity in a construc-tive manner providing them with anoutlet through which they can pre-sent their real-self. Music creates aspace for them where they feel safeand are able to actually comprehendtheir feelings, able to make sense oftheir emotions and gauge theirresponses to different situations.

Maintains peace and harmonyThe reverberation of notes allowschildren to connect on a plane ofconsciousness that is far removedfrom the reality they are facing. Thefluidity of music allows them toimmerse themselves in the beat, therhythm, the tonality and the tempo.It allows them to work in harmonywith each other while playing andperforming. This enables them tobecome one identity and a part ofsomething that is bigger than them.It encourages children to connectwith one another on an abstractlevel, allows them to gain insightand perspective into lives of people

who are performing with them.

Inculcates leadership skillsMusic therapy and compositionallows children to learn, play andcompose basic musical concepts.The idea is designed to create a broadambit of empathy builders in thecommunity, enable children to makeand co-create music collectively,engage the community in activitiesrelated to empathy and inculcateskills of leadership in children. Itallows for the creation of peer edu-cators who can further the conceptof music therapy, harmony andlearning.

Enhances confidenceThrough musical therapy variousactivities are designed and pursued,focussed on learning and creatingmusic in a collective manner. Theseinclude writing empathy songs witha friend, making musical instrumentsand performing for the community.The expected outcomes of such ini-

tiatives include enhancement of peerlearning skills and confidence amongchildren, creation of communitychange agents and engagement withcommunities to build long-termempathy and wider participation.

One such project is the AmaniIndia project which focusses onunderprivileged children and com-bines learning theory from the YaleCentre for Emotional Intelligencewith music therapy and music-making. Through the reverberatingmedium of music, children are ableto collectively engage with eachother on an abstract level and con-nect on a different plane of con-sciousness with the objective ofgaining insight and perspectiveinto each other’s life.

The fluidity of music allowschildren to immerse themselves inthe beat, rhythm, tonality and tempo.It enables them to play and composemusic.

The expected outcome includeenhancement of peer learning skillsand confidence among children, cre-ation of community change agentsand engagement with communitiesto build long-term empathy andwider participation.

Breaks through socio-culturalboundariesIt also gives their thoughts a struc-ture and improves their articulation.They are able give their thoughts astructure, which permits them tocommunicate with the world in a bet-ter manner. It allows for the develop-ment of their social, cognitive andbehavioural skills. The ultimateobjective of combining learning withmusical therapy is to help childrenconnect with one and other, breakthrough socio-cultural and econom-ic boundaries, and encourage chil-dren to immerse themselves in acraft, creating a space for themwhere they learn how to becomecompassionate, happy and joyfulpeople.

(The author is associated withan NGO that works for children.)

There’s a widespread tradition amongmany Muslims that it’s better for womento pray at home than in the mosque. But

in Kosovo, an old Ottoman-era tradition isbucking that trend, with religious authoritiesseeking to establish the training of women asspiritual teachers in mosques.

Each day, scores of women gather aroundAgime Sogojeva, a spiritual teacher known asa mualime, in the Haxhi Veseli mosque inKosovo’s northern town of Mitrovica. They dis-cuss the Quran, their rights as women and dailypractices, in a scene unthinkable as little as adecade ago.

Sogojeva is one of some 100 female theolo-gians aiming to revive Muslim traditions inEurope’s newest country. They teach at threeMuslim high schools, at Muslim centres, or theywork voluntarily.

The move to establish the religious train-ing of women in mosques — where women areallocated places in a separate room from themen — is seen by some as a way to makeKosovo’s approach to Islam more gender-bal-anced at a time when many in the West viewIslam as oppressive toward women.

Although in much of the Muslim worldwomen teach other women, it is more commonfor that to occur at home or in event halls ratherthan in the mosques themselves. In some veryconservative Islamic societies, women aregenerally distanced from mosques for socialrather than religious reasons.

In Kosovo, there has been a significantincrease in the number of women attendingmosques in the past 20 years, said BesaIsmaili, a 43-year-old professor of English at theFaculty of Islamic Studies in Pristina.

“The women were not only denied access,but their contribution was not recognised suf-ficiently,” she said. “We try to break up thosestereotypes, those misconceptions.”

Kosovo has a strongly patriarchal societybut also a long secular tradition, with religiousidentity significantly weakened during decadesof communist rule. Most of its ethnic Albanianmajority population is Muslim, but religiousexpression was generally lax even after the fallof communism in the late 1980s. The country

declared independence from Serbia in 2008,nearly a decade after a 1998-1999 war againstYugoslav forces by ethnic Albanian fighters.

Recently, however, it has seen a rise of reli-giously-inspired violent extremism, with morethan 300 Kosovo citizens joining the IslamicState group as foreign fighters in Iraq and Syriasince 2012. A quarter of those were women andchildren, often forced to follow their husbandsinto the war zone. About 180 Kosovo citizensare still active with extremist groups in Syria

and Iraq, and the women are held in camps.But Kosovo authorities claim no citizen has

joined a fundamentalist group over the past twoyears, a development partly attributed to theempowering of women through the creationof female Islamic teachers.

“Extreme nationalism becomes less presentwhen Islam is explained to women,” Ismailisays.

Funding for about a dozen of the femaletheologians comes from Turkey’s Directorateof Religious Affairs, or Diyanet, which assiststhe Islamic Community of Kosovo, or BIK, thecountry’s executive for Muslims.

These female preachers are active membersin about 800 mosques countrywide, said ResulRexhepi, BIK secretary general, modernisingwomen’s life and increasing their role in soci-ety.

“Mualime are good for the whole society,”he said.

BIK officials claim that the introduction ofthe female Muslim preachers in the mosqueshas reduced sexual violence at home, assistedwomen who were raped during the war,helped mothers with their children’s educationand increased the participation of women invoting in elections. There are no official figuresto support such claims.

During the past decade or so some 1,100girls have graduated from three Muslim highschools and 300 women from the Faculty ofIslamic Studies.

Enisa Bekteshi, a 21-year old student, saysit is easier for a female teacher to explain “somedelicate issues a woman is reluctant to ask animam, a man.”

E��

Ethics has always been an important priority for peo-ple across the globe. It consists of a number of good

attributes such as honesty, forbearance, commitment,redemption, reliance, charity, patience, intelligence,serenity, altruism, generosity and so on. However,today, it is widely believed and said that business andethics do not go together and hence it is not possible foreveryone to follow an ethical path to earn money.

It was quite astonishing when one of the world’s mostprestigious business schools released an official statementsaying that they won’t start a business ethics course eventhough they have been given a handsome grant by thegovernment for the said purpose. The faculties explainedthat the business school, which had three expert profes-sors in its staff for the subject, tried their level best fora year to teach it as a part of its regular curriculum butthey failed to evoke an interest in the students. Theauthorities therefore decided not to keep any staff forteaching ethics to business management students whichclearly shows that most businessmen wish to earn moneywithout being guided or controlled by any principles.There is evidence in society that sooner or later, themoney earned without any ethical principles playshavoc in one’s personal, familial and public life. Not onlydoes it create a parallel economy but it generates anatmosphere of corruption, leading to a moral break-downof the society.

This is true not just for businesses abroad but alsonearer home as we are familiar with this wide-spread evil.

The recent IT raids on some top business houses andthe press criticism of certain government deals presentsa gloomy picture before us. Even if we give scope for manyof the scandals being untrue and much of the criticismbeing biased, it can be said that all is not well with busi-ness and state deals as far as ethics is concerned. Add tothis, deficit financing, that has become a widely preva-lent practice. It has had a bad effect on the moral stan-dards of the people, on the currency value as well as theeconomy. The result is that almost all nations to-day arein debt with weak economies and almost all industrial-ists and rich men are directly or indirectly, dependenton the borrowings from banks which makes use of bondsor fixed deposits, the savings of the middle class and thepoor people. Also the planned economy almost every-where is near its exhaustion point and is seeing a severeresource crunch.

This shows that even the highly-trained minds can-not sustain an economy in a healthy state if it is divorcedfrom the ordinary rules of ethics or principles of spiri-tual wisdom. The best thing, therefore, is to observe moralnorms and to base our economy on ethics, for withoutthat there cannot be peace and happiness in the world.

G��.��+�� ,��.��2�2� +�@-,��.��.�� ,�� ,8-�,�� B�,�2�=��-��0,� �1�,.��- .�=�.��1�� 1� �.��+�.,

��"��

�� +��,�.�+�.�� -,��,��.�� .��+�2��.�� ,�+�.�� .��.��@� B�@��

@��& � ��@��!5�

��

�� ;�� 9��

�� ;�� ; ��

�� '�(��) '��*�(��+,-�+./0 ��C?

��■ ��

Agritty Sameer Verma produceda sensational performance todefend his men's singles title,

making up for the failure of his com-patriots in the other finals at the $150,000 Syed Modi International hereon Sunday.

World No 16 Sameer defeatedChina's Lu Guangzu 16-21, 21-19, 21-14 in a pulsating summit clash to liftthe trophy for the second successivetime even as Saina Nehwal, men's dou-bles pair of Satwiksairaj Rankireddyand Chirag Shetty and women's dou-bles combination of Ashwini Ponnappaand N Sikki Reddy bite the dust.

Sameer's performance helped himgather enough ranking points to sur-pass Japan's Kenta Nishimoto at No 8in the Race to Guangzhou Rankingsand qualify for the year-ending BWFWorld Tour Finals to be held inDecember.

Olympic Silver medallist P VSindhu is the only other Indian to havequalified for the prestigious tourna-ment in China.

"I am really happy that my effortspaid off and I could qualify for theWorld Tour Finals. Even before thetournament I knew that I had achance of qualifying if I win the tour-nament, so that was the target," said

Sameer.Earlier, former champion Saina

failed to produce her best, losing 18-21, 8-21 to young Chinese Han Yue -- a 2017 world Junior championshipSilver medallist — in a lop-sidedwomen's singles summit clash.

Commonwealth Games Silvermedallists Satwiksairaj and Chiragalso went down 11-21, 20-22 to secondseeds Fajar Alfian and MuhammadRian Ardianto of Indonesia to settle for

the runners-up prize in the men's dou-bles competition.

Commonwealth Games Bronzemedallist Ashwini and Sikki alsocouldn't live up to the expectations, los-ing 15-21, 13-21 to third seededMalaysian pair of Chow Mei Kuan andLee Meng Yean in women's doublesfinal. The Indian pair had lost in thefinals in the last edition as well.

Sameer then brightened up thedismal day with his never-say-die

attitude to claim his third title of theseason, following victories at SwissOpen and Hyderabad Open.

Sameer squandered an 8-4 lead tolose the opening game. In the second,he looked in better control, leading 13-8 and 18-16 before taking the matchto the decider. In the third, he erased7-10 deficit to eventually seal the con-test.

"I was under pressure in the firstgame. I was not able to control theshuttle. He had a good attacking gameand the shuttle was fast but I made agood comeback in the sec-ond, I controlled it better. Iknew I had to win this match.So I was just playing foreach point," he said.

The Indian constructedthe rallies well with his reper-toire of strokes to dominateearly in the opening game. Heled 6-2 initially, before extending it to8-4. However, Lu rode on his threesmashes to claw back at 8-8.

After the interval, Sameer levelledthe scores with three straight points.But Lu again turned the tide, smash-ing his way to a comfortable 20-14 lead.Sameer saved two points before anoth-er smash earned Lu the braggingrights.

In the second game, Sameer ekedout a 10-7 lead after some exciting ral-

lies. The Indian grabbed an 11-8 leadat the breather after Lu hit long.

After the break, Lu kept findinggaps in his rival's defence to narrow thelead to 13-14 and then turned thetables when Sameer hit the net.

A wide smash from Lu again gavethe lead to Sameer at 17-16. But twoprecise returns helped Lu to draw par-ity at 18-18.

Another fast-paced rally endedwith Lu hitting wide and he found thenet next to hand two game points toSameer, who hit an accurate return at

the backline to bounce backin the contest.

Sameer used themomentum of the secondgame to dominate early in thedecider, leading 7-3 but Lureeled off seven straightpoints to led 10-7.

The Indian thenunleashed three smashes, including abody smash, to make it 10-10. Lu wentto the net next as Sameer managed aslender 11-10 advantage at the break.

The Indian then pounced on thechances to eke out a 16-12 lead withthe help of better net game and a cou-ple of rasping shots.

Lu then hit long and wide to handover six match points to Sameer, whoconverted them as the Chinese hit thenet.

��■ ��

Dipa Karmakar needs to win nothing lessthan a Gold in the upcoming World Cups

to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sayscoach Bisweswar Nandi, who is targeting a podi-um finish for the ace gymnast at the 2019 WorldChampionships in Stuttgart.

Dipa made a strong start to her qualifyingbid for the Tokyo Olympics by winning a Bronzeat the Artistic Gymnastics World Cup inCottbus, Germany on Saturday.

"I didn't hope that she would do so wellgiven the strong field, which had lot of medal-lists. But I'm satisfied with the way she per-formed. She had very less time to prepare forthe event and she did very well. I made her crya lot during the last few months. So very satis-fied," Nandi said from Cottbus.

"It is a good start but to qualify for theOlympics, she will have to win Gold in the next3-4 events of the world cup she participates in.Second or third position won't matter," headded.

The Cottbus meet is part of an eight-eventqualifying system for the 2020 Games, underwhich a gymnast will make the cut based ontheir best three scores.

The three events where Dipa might partic-ipate next are World Cups in Baku, Melbourneand Doha.

Nandi said: "We haven't decided yet whichwould be those events. I alone can't take thatdecision. We will discuss with SAI, SportsMinistry and Gymnastic Federation of India(GFI) to take a call about the future events.

"But the main target for us is to do well atthe World Championship in Germany next year.That is an event where even a 3rd or 4th placefinish can earn you a berth at the Olympics. Sothat would be the main target for her," Nandisaid.

On Saturday, Dipa scored an average of14.316 on her two vaults. She was 0.412 adriftoff the Gold-medallist Rebecca Andrade, whofinished with 14.728.

"Bronze medal in vault event to finish mycampaign at 2018 Cottibus World Cup. It wasoverwhelming to compete against some of thebest athletes in the world!! Aaj ye Bronze bhiGold lag raha hai! (Today even the Bronze feelslike Gold)," Dipa tweeted after her win.

��■ ��

India's M C Mary Kom, who wona historic sixth world title, was

adjudged the best pugilist of the10th World Women's BoxingChampionships here.

The AIBA panel which chosethe Indian as the best among thecompetitors was a richly deservedhonour to the 35-year-oldManipuri, whose endurance, per-severance and the never-say-dieattitude is unparallel in history.

Speaking at the official pressconference, Mary Kom recalled herparticipation in the New Delhievent held in 2006.

"At that time, boxers fromfewer countries had participated. Itwas not even included in Olympics.Though we won eight medals,four Gold included but com-petition is much tough nowa-days and considering the fact,our results here (one Gold,one Silver and two Bronzemedals) were great," saidMary.

"As far as organization, this onewas better than what it was in2006."

Asked to compare the win herewith earlier Gold medals, theManipuri said it was difficult toremember.

"But this one was very special.I was under pressure and had tochange my weight category also. Iwon my last Worlds Gold in 2010and then the change of weight forOlympics happened. Pressure wassomething I always felt but don'tknow how to put this Gold along-side the earlier five," she reasoned.

However, Mary distinctlyremembered that she had won fiveon the trot. "Even Katie Taylor hadnot done that," she said.

Sonia Chahal claimed theSilver medal in 57kg, while LovlinaBorgohain won a Bronze in 69kg.

Lovlina pointed out how theNew Delhi championship has given

the Indian boxers the confidencethey needed.

"This Championship gave usthe confidence that we too can beatthe best and we should fear none.We have beaten many top andworld champion boxers in the lastfew days. But we need to work evenhard from here on," said the youngAssamese pugilist.

Simranjit Kaur, who wasunlucky to lose in the semifinals,agreed with her teammates.

"We need to work on strength-ening ourselves more and the waywe have competed in the Worlds isa good sign for the future ofIndian boxing," said the Punjab girl.

��■ � ��

Cristiano Ronaldo continued his hot form for Juventus onSaturday as he and Mario Mandzukic scored both goals

in the second consecutive game to help the Serie A leaders openup a nine-point lead at the top of the table with a 2-0 win overstruggling SPAL.

Ronaldo slotted home Miralem Pjanic's free-kick after 29minutes in Turin to join Genoa's Krzysztof Piatek at the topof the Serie A scoring charts with nine goals, beforeMandzukic sealed the three points on the hour mark in a sim-ple warm up for Tuesday's crucial Champions League visit ofValencia.

The pair also scored both in Juventus' 2-0 win over ACMilan before the international break, and Ronaldo's strike washis seventh in eight games in all competitions for his new club,for a total of 10 goals this season.

"Cristiano does things that catch opponents off guard andthat's exactly what we need," said coach Massimiliano Allegri.

"Cristiano moves and thinks so quickly, he sawDouglas Costa coming out the corner of his eye andpulled the pass back. We need to all improve in thatsense, being able to think ahead to the next move."

SPAL, fighting relegation, were no match forAllegri's reigning champions who are eight pointsahead of Napoli.

Bustling Ronaldo, 33, also played a role in Juve's secondscored by Mandzukic, who was wearing the captain's armbandfor the first time.

Ronaldo latched onto a long ball and pulled it back forDouglas Costa, whose shot was cleared into the path of theCroatian, who gobbled up he opportunity to win the match.

"The opening goal changed the game and I was very angrythat we were slow to react and allowed Ronaldo togo clear," said SPAL coach Leonardo Semplici.

"It's the first time I've seen Ronaldo up close andmy forwards should learn from the attitude that achampion like this puts into every game.

"We need to improve on the details if we want toavoid being put under pressure."

��■ � ��

Mauricio Pochettino believesTottenham are capable of "big things"

this season if they consistently reach theheights of a 3-1 win over Chelsea atWembley that barely reflected Spurs'dominance.

By inflicting Maurizio Sarri's firstcompetitive defeat as Chelsea boss to moveabove their London rivals into third in thePremier League, Tottenham couldn't havestarted a big week in better fashion witha do-or-die Champions League clashwith Inter Milan and the North Londonderby against Arsenal to come.

"We need to be humble and recognizeplaying like this we can do big things," saidPochettino.

"Our challenge is to keep going andbe consistent. That's our challenge for therest of the season."

Victory saw Spurs close back to with-in five points of leaders Manchester Cityand three points of second-placedLiverpool.

A title challenge is likely to be beyondPochettino's men given the relentlesspace being set by City, but just qualifyingfor the Champions League for afourth straight season would be seenas success given the upheaval as theclub wait to move into their stadi-um and a host of injuries to play-ers involved at the World Cup.

Dele Alli is one of nine play-ers in Pochettino's squad to havesuffered a muscle injury after hisexertions in Russia, but back fitand close to his best, the England inter-national headed Spurs in front fromChristian Eriksen's free-kick.

"Chelsea are a top side and they havemade some great signings but we are a topside ourselves," said Alli.

"At 2-0 we could have sat back but wedidn't. We created a lot of chances - maybeon another day if we had been more clin-ical we could have scored more."

Chelsea 'keeper Kepa Arrizabalagacould have done better as he got a handto Alli's header and the world's mostexpensive goalkeeper was questionedagain as he stood motionless and HarryKane drilled home from long range to giveSpurs a 2-0 lead inside 16 minutes.

The visitors felt aggrieved as they

could have had a penalty seconds beforeKane's goal when Juan Foyth appeared totrip Eden Hazard inside the area.

However, they could have no com-plaints as an 18-game unbeaten run in allcompetitions since the Community Shield

in August was comprehensively ended."I think we played very badly in

all directions - physically, mentally,technically and tactically," said Sarri.

"I knew we had some problemsand with this performance today itwas clear to everybody we haveproblems to solve.

"I think in the last three or fourmatches we have started not really

very well."Spurs' solitary second-half goal was

delivered in style by Son as he accelerat-ed past Jorginho and David Luiz beforeslotting his 50th goal for the club into thefar corner.

Kane then somehow fired over withthe goal at his mercy and Alli also skeweda great chance off target as Sarri bellowedat his side to regain some composure.

The Italian managed to make a differ-ence with the introduction of Ross Barkley,Pedro Rodriguez and Giroud from thebench.

And it was Giroud who grabbedChelsea's consolation five minutes fromtime when he powered home CesarAzpilicueta's cross at the back post.

��■ ��

Atletico Madrid came within a whiskerof their first league win over

Barcelona in eight years on Saturday onlyfor Ousmane Dembele to dash theirhopes with a dramatic equaliser ininjury-time.

Diego Costa looked tohave won a dreary contestat the WandaMetropolitano when heheaded in his first La Ligagoal since February with 12minutes left, as Atleticoprepared to go top of thetable with a long-awaited victory.

Instead, Barca produced anotherfightback as Dembele, on as a substitute,slid home a cool finish in the 90th minuteto earn the visitors a 1-1 draw.

Costa almost had it, scoring his firstgoal in 18 league games to surely endAtletico's winless run against Barca in theleague, which stretches back to February2010.

But Dembele, dropped by coachErnesto Valverde for the defeat to RealBetis before the international break,proved his worth by applying a clinicalfinish when it mattered most.

The opening 45 minutes were almostentirely forgettable, distinguished solelyby the fact it was the only time this sea-son that a first half had failed to witnessa single shot on target.

The frustration spurred Atleti on andin the 77th minute they scored,Griezmann's corner drifting its way to theback post where Costa headed in.

But Dembele instigated the come-back against Rayo Vallecano last monthand did the same again here as the ballspilled out to the 21-year-old at the backpost. He took one touch inside, before fir-ing it into the net.

��@��G�'��&�"�H��&'��&'B��)#5'�>�10��)4��24��2$#1)��'14�%2--)%��)12$(&�,2�1�0��2�@$'-�+��+2#�2#-4��2$#�;�1'-0Q��'�1'�-20)0��1�0�#'�(&��0)�0

� ��$��3�� AD"��

� ��$ �%��%��*�� 2 ��+� �� 0��

� ��

��*%#77'��<!&'"#�%��*!�D:�&" + !��!&+��"��9

��,��'��#6��

!-�� !��.��

1�!�� "�� +�9#8��

�� ,�� .�� .��$��$.��$.��,�

� ��%�� 2�"�� +

C M Y K

C M Y K

English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ... · Narendra Modi used while ... ranks...

Documents

Transcript of English News Paper | Breaking News | Latest Today News in ... · Narendra Modi used while ... ranks...