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BJP following Bapu's path: CM

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Stressing the importance ofMahatma Gandhi's teach-

ings, Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said that cleanli-ness, swadeshi and self-reliancewere the three basic mantras ofBapu which the BJP govern-ment had adopted in letter andspirit.

Addressing a series of func-tions organised on GandhiJayanti in Lucknow on Tuesday,Yogi said that cleanliness wasreflected the way governmenthad taken up Swachhata cam-paign while One District OneProduct (ODOP) schemewould lead to self-reliance andwould promote swadeshi.

“When the BJP came topower, our sole motto was toempower the poor. We knewthis could be done only throughpromoting local trade and,therefore, the ODOP schemewas launched under which localartisans could get work in theirvillages. This will not only stopexodus to cities but also empow-er rural areas,” the ChiefMinister said.

Besides, Yogi said that hisgovernment's other emphasiswas Swachhata. "We shouldthank Prime Minister NarendraModi for launching the clean-liness drive. In 2014, the nation-al average of ODF was just 23per cent which has rocketed to99 per cent in four-and-a-halfyears. In UP, till October 2, 34districts and over 85,000 rev-enue villages were declaredOpen Defection Free and byNovember 30, the entire UP willbe declared ODF,” Yogi said urg-ing people to join the campaignin a big way.

The CM said that ODFhad led to cleanliness which, inturn, had protected people fromthe menace of dreaded dis-eases like encephalitis, diar-rhoea, AES and hepatitis.

At the function held atShilp Gram in Lucknow onTuesday, 75 rural individualsand 15 organisations wereawarded for their works inSwachhata Mission in UP.Besides, sports persons werealso felicitated for their achieve-ment in international meets.

Yogi said that ̀ 6 crore cash

reward was being given tosports persons from UP for theirachievement for the first time."Such government initiativeswill promote sports and athletesand more sports persons will getthis award," he said.

Asian Games andCommonwealth Games goldmedalists were given Rs 50lakh, silver medal winners Rs 30lakh and bronze medalists Rs 15lakh. Sports persons, who werefelictated, included Soni Punia,Satish Kumar, Ravi Kumar,Saurabh, Sadul Rihan, SudhaSingh, Rakesh Kuma, Divya,Kalit Kumar, Santosh Kumar,Rahul Chaudhury, Jitu Rai,Poonam Yadav, Rajat Kumarand a few others. The CM alsogave away Gold Card to bene-ficiaries of Ayushman BharatScheme.

The function was alsoattended by Governor RamNaik. Both the Governor andthe CM also flagged off khadicampaign vehicles. TheGovernor also hailed the BJPgovernment in the state forworking as per MahatmaGandhi teachings. Governor Ram Naik paying tribute to Mahatma Gandhi at GPO on Tuesday Pioneer

UP sets paddy procurement

target at 50 lakh tons


Ahead of the crucial 2019Lok Sabha poll and in view

of the ongoing farmers' stir inwest UP, the state governmentset an ambitious target ofprocuring 50 lakh tons ofpaddy from farmers. The moveis likely to pump in as much as`8,500 crore into the ruraleconomy.

During the last season,state government agencies pro-cured 43 lakh tone from farm-ers against a target of 50 lakhtons.

On Monday, paddy pro-curement process kicked off inwest and some central dis-tricts and will continue tillJanuary-end. Procurement ineast UP and remaining centralUP districts will start fromNovember 1 and continue tillFebruary.

The UP Cabinet had earli-er hiked the Minimum SupportPrice (MSP) for paddy from`180 to ` 200 per quintal. Theprice was revised from `1,550to `1,750 per quintal for com-mon variety and `1,590 to`1,770 per quintal for Grade-A paddy.

Besides, the governmentannounced a bonus payment of`20 per quintal over the MSP,up from `15 per quintal givenlast year. This way, farmers willpocket an extra `185 to `205per quintal as compared to theprevious year. If the govern-ment is able to meet the pro-curement target of 50 lakhtons, the total payout to farm-ers is likely to be more than`8,500 crore.

In the recent wheat pro-curement season, the govern-ment had crossed its target of50 lakh tons by procuring a

total of 53 lakh tons. Procurement agencies of

the state government and FoodCorporation of India will set uparound 3,000 procurementcentres across UP during thefive-month season (October-February).

Meanwhile, FoodCommissioner Alok Kumarsaid that the paddy procure-ment began in 31 districtsunder Meerut, Saharanpur,Bareilly, Agra, Aligarh, Jhansiand Lucknow divisions andwould last till January 31.

It has been made manda-tory for farmers to get them-selves registered on the portalof Food department for verifi-cation. Alok Kumar added thatso far 1.81 lakh farmers hadalready registered on the offi-cial portal for selling their pro-duce to procurement centres.

“The Revenue departmentwill also verify farmers' claimswith their land records toensure that only genuine farm-ers are onboard to benefit fromthe MSP system,” said the FoodCommissioner.

Move likely to pump in `8,500crore into rural economy

Farmers' stir instigated by

political leaders: Yogi


Claiming that the NDA gov-ernment at the Centre and

the BJP government in UttarPradesh are working for thewelfare of farmers, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanathblamed some political leadersfor instigating farmers for theirvested interest and creatingunruly scenes on the Delhi-UPborder.

"The welfare of farmers isour priority and we are doingthe needful to increase theirincome. But the way thingshappened during the farmers'march on UP-Delhi border isunfortunate. The whole stirsmacks of political designbecause the Centre has accept-ed almost all demands of farm-ers,” Yogi said.

Yogi’s reaction came aftermembers of Bharatiya KisanUnion (BKU) attempted toenter Delhi for their agitation,

tried to plough through barri-cades and clashed with thepolice on UP-Delhi border inGhaziabad on Tuesday.

Addressing media personsin Lucknow on Tuesday, the CMtook a jibe at some leaders say-ing those who could not distin-guish between sugarcane andwild grass and knew nothingabout potato were sheddingcrocodile tears on the plight offarmers. “They instigated thesefarmers to gain political mileageout of the agitation,” he said.“Everyone has the right to go toDelhi but they should not havetaken law in their hands. Whenthe Union government hasaccepted almost all demandsand the state government is alsosympathetic towards them, thenwhy create such a ruckus?”Yogi asked. To justify his point,Yogi said that an NGT rulingdirected that 10-year-old trac-tors be barred from moving inNCR region, but the UP govern-

ment assured farmers that itwould file a review and controlmenace of stray animals."Besides, the state governmenthas given Rs 1.20 crore to eachdistrict to set up cow shelter," hesaid.

About the BJP governmentin UP, the CM said that in ashort period, several welfaresteps had been initiated. “Wewaived loans of 86 lakh farmersat one go while record purchas-es were made of wheat andpaddy by government agencies,”he said.

Speaking about the woes ofcane farmers, Yogi said that hisgovernment had cleared ̀ 26,000crore of cane dues and the restof the arrears of Rs 9000 crorewould be paid by November 30next. The CM said that the gov-ernment had also provided goodprice for potato and pulses whileMandi Parishad was trying toprovide a platform to farmers tomarket their produce.

SP chief lends support to

agitating farmers


Samajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav on Tuesday

extended his party's support tofarmers protesting under theaegis of Bharatiya Kisan Union(BKU) for various issues rang-ing from farm loan waiver to cutin fuel prices. As thousands offarmers tried to march to Delhi,they were stopped on the Delhi-UP border in Ghaziabad wherea clash ensued between thecops and agitators.

“Farmers have come out insupport of their variousdemands. If we look at things inthe past over four years, almost50,000 farmers have committedsuicide, mostly in BJP-ruledstates, including UP,” Akhileshsaid. “The BJP government hasdecided that a package will beprepared for clearing loan duesbut it is still pending. Petrol,diesel prices are constantly being

hiked, demonetisation and GSThave also hit farmers just likesmall traders,” he said.

The former UP ChiefMinister said that the govern-ment had promised farm loanwaiver but the benefit was yet toreach a large number of farmersacross the state. “The cane cropis ready, sugar mills have to startcrushing but payment of canearrears is pending and hencefarmers have come out on thestreets. Sugar is being importedfrom Pakistan while the domes-tic production failed to get amarket,” Akhilesh said.

The SP chief alleged that thePrime Minister announced hikein Minimum Support Price

‘without any preparation’. The‘Kisan Kranti Yatra’ taken outagitating farmers started fromTikait Ghat in Haridwar andneared Delhi to press for theirdemands when they werestopped in Ghaziabad onTuesday morning.

Later, Home MinisterRajnath Singh spoke to UnionAgriculture Minister RadhaMohan Singh and others onTuesday to thrash out a way toresolve the issues and pacifythem. The demands includeimplementation of MSSwaminathan Commissionreport, farm loan waiver, freepower and allowing power con-nections to run tubewells.

The former UP Chief Minister said thatthe government had promised farm

loan waiver but the benefit was yet to reach a large number of farmers

across the state

Maya slams BJPfor police actionon farmersPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Bahujan Samaj Party chiefMayawati slammed the BJP

for cane charging agitating farm-ers on the Delhi-UP border inGhaziabad on the 150th birthanniversary of Mahatma Gandhion Tuesday. The former UPChief Minister termed the inci-dent as the ‘height of policerepression’ and warned the BJPto be ready to face the conse-quences during the 2019 LokSabha elections. In a statementissued on Tuesday, Mayawatisaid that all sections of the soci-ety were in trouble following theanti-people policies of the BJPgovernment at the Centre andUttar Pradesh.

She alleged that the farmers

were particularly in trouble dueto the anti-farmer and pro-market policies of the Modi gov-ernment. Mayawati said thatduring the 2014 Lok Sabha pollcampaign, Modi made tallpromises to farmers like dou-bling their income which ulti-mately proved to be a cruel joke.“The BJP also promised loanwaiver during the 2017Assembly elections but a veryfew farmers were benefited bythe scheme,” she said. Accusingthe BJP government in UP andat the Centre as the most insen-sitive regimes, Mayawati said:“Had the BJP taken care of farm-ers' grievances, the farmers wouldnot have to march to Delhi andthe repressive police action couldhave been avoided.”

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n ALLAHABAD

An all-India programme onthe topic, ‘Ethics in Public

Governance’ was launched inIndian Railways (IR) underMission Satyanishtha on theoccasion of the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi onTuesday. Under it trained train-ers will train the supervisors ofvarious departments of IndianRailways. The two-day-longprogramme was inauguratedby Ashwini Lohani, Chairman,Railway Board, New Delhi.

The General Manager,North Central Railway (NCR),Rajiv Chaudhary, took part inthe programme with all hisofficers at the North CentralRailway Headquarters andheard the views of theChairman, Railway Board, andother dignitaries.

Rajiv Chaudhary, GeneralManager, North CentralRailway, inaugurated the pro-gramme at the NCR head-quarter office by lighting thelamp.

While mentioning thebirth anniversary of MahatmaGandhi, the General Manager,North Central Railway, sharedhis views on ‘Satyanishtha.’ Hesaid that anyone could commitmistakes but accepting one’smistakes was like cleaning upyour mind. That was satyan-ishtha, he said.

The Principal ChiefPersonnel Officer, NishaTiwari, other principal heads ofof all departments, officers,supervisors and other employ-ees were present on the occa-sion.CLEANLINESS CAMPAIGN

On the occasion of GandhiJayanti an extensive cleanliness

campaign and a tree plantationprogramme were organised inthe Railgaon Railway Colony ofthe North Central Railway atSubedarganj under the leader-ship of its General Manager,

Rajiv Chaudhary. He offeredshramdaan under the cleanli-ness campaign.

A tree plantation pro-gramme was also organised inthe Mahadevi Verma Park at

the Railway Colony,Subedarganj.

The General Manager alsoplanted a sapling and inaugu-rated the plantation pro-gramme. All the principalheads of departments, officersand staff also planted saplingson the occasion. Saplings werealso distributed among thestaff for plantation.

He encouraged all the rail-way employees to plant moreand more saplings by explain-ing the relevance of trees in aclean and healthy life. RajivChaudhary also desired tomake the Indian Railwaysclean and comfortable for thepassengers as well and urgedeveryone to contribute to theSwachchh Bharat Abhiyan ofthe Prime Minister, NarendraModi.

Devendra Kumar, ChiefMechanical Engineer, all theprincipal heads of departments,other officers and staff of theNorth Central Railway head-quarters also took part in theprogramme.

Meanwhile the offiice bear-ers of the North CentralRailway Women WelfareOrganisation (NCRWWO)undertook a massive tree plan-tation programme at theRailgaon Colony inSubedarganj here on Tuesday.It was inaugurated by presidentof the organisation, LalitaChaudhary, who plantedsaplings at the MahadeviVerma Park.

On the occasion UrmilaOjha, Nirupama Shrivastava,Nupur Agarwal, NamrataMishra, Dr Mridula Kapoor,Satyalakshmi Vallururi,Poonam Garg, Sangeeta Singhand Kavita Talwar were promi-nent among those present.

Programme on ethics in public

governance launched in IR

V-C and teachers relishing food on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti at the UPRTOU in Allahabad Pioneer

Rajiv Chaudhary, GM, NCR, delivering his speech on the occasion of MahatmaGandhi's birth anniversary in Allahabad Pioneer

CM inaugurates prison HQLucknow (PNS): Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath inaugurat-

ed the newly-constructed prison headquarters inside theSampoornanad Prison Training Institute on Tuesday.

Speaking on the occasion, he said there was a need to turnjails into a centre of creative activities under efforts of reforma-tion. “Negative thought drives a man to crime and it can be less-ened if someone is linked with creative mission. Such a man thenalso contributes to the society,” the CM explained.

He said he had instructed officials to give good allowancesto jail employees. He congratulated the UP prison administra-tion and reform services for the new building and expressed sat-isfaction that it was built on a low budget. He also praised theagency which carried out the work. “More often it happens thatthe construction cost is increased to manifold after revision inthe primary estimate. Our government has stopped such prac-tices and officers had been asked to complete the work in a stip-ulated time and using standard quality goods in the construc-tion work,” he said.

Grocery storeowner stabbedto death

Allahabad: In a shockingincident a 40- year- old grocerystore owner was stabbed todeath at the servant quarters inthe Tej Bahadur Sapru Hospitalpremises under the Shivkutipolice station here late onMonday night. A named FIRhad been lodged and effortswere on to arrest the assailants,the police said and added thatprima facie it appeared thatillicit affair could have led tothe murder but the exactmotive behind it was yet to beascertained.

CO Alok Mishra saidAmar Bharti used to run a gro-cery store in his house.

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Thousands of farmers foughta pitched battle with the

police on Delhi-Uttar Pradeshborder on Tuesday even as theModi Government’s efforts tobroker peace with them failed.

Union Minister of State forAgriculture Gajendra SinghShekhawat was rushed to meetthe protesting farmers. Whilesome farmer groups agreed toconsider the assurances givenby the Government, otherssaid they were not “satisfied”and decided to continue withtheir protest, call for which hasbeen given by Naresh Tikait-ledBharatiya Kisan Union (BKU)demanding loan waiver, high-er support price and steps tosafeguard farmers against ris-ing fuel prices, among others.

The Government said areview petition will be filedagainst the National GreenTribunal’s order to ban dieselvehicles that are over 10 yearsold and several other measureswill be taken to address farm-ers’ concerns.

The Centre also assuredfarmers that it would fix theminimum support prices(MSP) for rabi (winter-sown)crops like wheat at least 1.5times of the production cost. Itwould also try to restrictimports of agri items that areproduced abundant in thecountry.

Shekhawat said a commit-tee of Chief Ministers will alsolook into the farmers’ demands,as he sought to assure the pro-testers that the Governmentwill take forward their cause.

“Representatives of farmersalong with Ministers of UPGovernment Laxmi Narayanand Suresh Rana held discus-sion on a range of issues atRajnath Singh’s residence. Afterthat a consensus was reachedon some issues. The

Government has agreed tosome of your demands,”Shekhawat told the farmers.

The Minister said he hasbeen associated with farmers’issues and he could say with“certainty” on Lal BahadurShastri’s birth anniversary thatthere have been only a few suc-cessful agitations like this in thepast.

BKU chief Naresh Tikait,however, said the farmers are“not satisfied” with theGovernment’s assurance.

“This has not been a gooddecision. All importantdemands have not been accept-ed and we are not satisfied withthis assurance,” he said.

The farmer leader, whose

father Mahendra Singh Tikaithad led a massive farmers’rally in the national Capitalabout three decades ago, saidsufficient talks have not beenheld so far on key issues facedby farmers even as theGovernment has given assur-ances on some demands.

“But, our main demands ofelectricity, sugarcane recom-mendations of Swaminathanreport remain unfulfilled,”Tikait said.

On the next step, he said,“We are sitting here as of nowand this only is our next step.We will discuss this and thendecide on future course ofaction. I cannot decide any-thing alone, our committee

will take the decision.”Yudhvir Singh, Bharatiya

Kisan Union spokesperson,said, “We had a discussion on11 points. Government agreedon seven points but haven’tagreed on four points yet. Theysaid they will have to thinkabout those in next meetingafter which they will tell us asit is a financial matter.”

Tension gripped theNational Capital as thousandsof protesting farmers attempt-ed to forcefully enter the cityprompting the Delhi Police toresort to lathi charge, watercannons and tear gas shells inorder to prevent their advance.

With a spike in politicaltemperature following the use

of force by the police, UnionHome Minister Rajnath Singhheld discussion at length withUnion Agriculture MinisterRadha Mohan Singh and oth-ers to discuss farmers’ issues.

The rally began from TikaitGhat in Haridwar onSeptember 23. Farmers fromplaces as far as Gonda, Bastiand Gorakhpur and the sugar-cane belt of western UP joinedthe agitation. The week-longjourney was planned to end at“Kisan Ghat” in Delhi.

“Our demand is to democ-ratise the procurement sys-tem. We want the Governmentto give farmer producer organ-isations (FPOs) chance to pro-cure it from market but got lit-

tle support what these whiteelephant (NAFED and FCI)receives,” said Binod Anand ofRashtriya Kisan Mahashangha.

Chaos prevailed on theDelhi-UP border as these pro-testers tried to make their wayinto Delhi by barging into thebarricades along with theirtractor trolleys.

Earlier, heavy police pres-ence on Delhi-UP border atGhazipur effectively diffusedand contained the advance-ment of thousands of farmers

from Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, HimachalPradesh, Haryana and Punjab.

Earlier, several protesters,including some elderly, sus-tained minor injuries in clash-es with police officials andwere rushed to hospital forfirst-aid. Seven policemen,including an ACP, were injuredin the melee.

Following no permissionfrom the authorities for theKisan March and in order tomaintain “law and order” more

than 3,000 police personnelwere deployed. Several reservedcompanies of Rapid ActionForce (RAF) were kept onstand-by and were deployed toman the situation.

Police barricades number-ing in hundreds were used toblock the entry point.According to the apex courtdirective, tractors are notallowed to ply on the roads ofthe national Capital exceptthose for the farm purposes.

Continued on Page 5

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n KOLKATA

Abig explosion left an eight-year-old child dead and at

least 10 others injured in acrowded area of Nagerabazar inSouth Dum Dum municipalarea in the northern suburbs ofKolkata on Tuesday.

The explosion took placebeside a fruit stall and a sweet-meat shop around 9.10 amkilling the child who had cometo fetch sweets from the shopwith her mother, who is cur-rently struggling for her life, aneyewitness said. All the 10people injured have sufferedsevere splinter and burninjuries.

The police are trying tofind out the source of theexplosive device but said it was“anything but a handiwork ofpetty criminals who do not usesuch heavy directional bombs.

Ammonium nitrate wasstuffed inside a steel socketabout 8 inch in radius, CID

sources said, adding they didnot find any timer, wire orremote control device assum-ing “pressure could be one of

the reasons for the blast.”A senior officer said, “It

was possibly in transit andwas kept there in a gunny bag.

Perhaps it went off accidental-ly following tremendous pressure.”

Continued on Page 5

New Delhi: Brent crude pricesbreached $85 a barrel mark onTuesday, the highest sinceNovember 2014. Experts pre-dicted price would racetowards $100 a barrel soonerthan expected with around 1.5million barrels per day ofIranian oil expected to gooffline in view of the US sanc-tion against Iran.

The trade deal between theUS and Canada to save theNorth American Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA) has alsoput pressure on Brent prices inexpectation of push to growthand related rise in oil demand.

The twin factors have result-ed in another sharp increase inthe price of petrol and diesel inIndia. Petrol and diesel priceswent up by 17 paise across all

metro cities in India on Tuesday.In Delhi petrol stood at

`83.85 per litre, up 12 paise,and diesel touched `75.25 perlitre, up 16 paise.

In Mumbai, petrol wasprice at `91.20 per litre, up 12paise, and diesel `79.89 perlitre, up 17 paise. PNS

Detailed report on P12

PNS n NEW DELHI/WARDHA

Congress president RahulGandhi on Tuesday said

that Mahatma Gandhi aimed tounite the country but PrimeMinister Narendra Modi isworking to divide it.

“Mahatma Gandhi talkedabout uniting India, Modiji isdividing India....(he) pitchedone community against anoth-er,” Rahul said addressing hispartymen at the CongressWorking Committee (CWC)meeting at Wardha that sawformer Prime MinisterManmohan Singh and UPAchairperson Sonia Gandhi inattendance.

The CWC resolved for a“second freedom struggle”against the Modi Government

to combat the ideology of “hateand violence”, saying the samereason had led to the assassi-nation of Mahatma Gandhi.“You tried Modi (gave him achance)...He broke your trust.Now trust the Congress,Mahatma Gandhi’s ideologyto take India forward,” he toldthe gathering.

Continued on Page 5

Farmers don’t buy assurances, sit-in to continue

Govt accepts 7 of 11 demands readily, promises to consider rest; but BKU not fully satisfied

PNS n NEW DELHI

Opposition parties onTuesday put the blame on

the Modi Government for whatthey described as “brutal policeaction” against thousands offarmers marching towards thenational Capital, with theCongress alleging that the“Badshah of Delhi Sultanatewas drunk with power”.

Reacting to the develop-ment, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi accused theBJP of “brutal beating up” offarmers on the Delhi border onthe International Day of Non-Violence and said that theycannot even air their griev-ances in the national capital.

Samajwadi Party presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav tooextended his party’s support tothe protesting farmers andalleged the farm communityhas been hit hard by the risingfuel prices, as well as due to thedecisions like the GST rollout

and demonetisation.The parties accused the

Central Government of being“anti-farmer”, even as theGovernment went into a hud-dle to mull over ways to con-vince the farmers to call offtheir protest.

The Congress WorkingCommittee, the highest deci-sion-making body of the partywhich held its meeting inMaharashtra, adopted a reso-lution strongly condemningthe police action against thefarmers. Condemning thepolice action, Congressspokesman Randeep SinghSurjewala said if the Centre

can write off huge debt of a fewindustrialists why it could notwaive the loans of farmers.

Hitting out at the policeaction against the farmers,Communist Party of India(Marxist) General SecretarySitaram Yechury said, “Westrongly condemn this actionand atrocities on farmers. Thisonce again demonstrates theanti-farmer attitude of theModi Government.

“The farmers have comeout in support of their variousdemands... If we look at things,in the past over four years,almost 50,000 farmers havecommitted suicide, mostly inBJP-ruled States, includingUttar Pradesh,” Akhilesh said.

Delhi Chief MinisterArvind Kejriwal said that pre-venting a protest march offarmers from entering thenational capital was “wrong”and pitched for allowing thementry into the city.

Continued on Page 5

Opp slams Centrefor police excesses

CWC calls for 2nd

freedom struggle,

now against Govt

Child killed, 10 injured in Kolkata blastBrent oil hits 4-yrhigh of $85/barrelon Iran sanction

Bomb disposal squad at the explosion site in Nagerbazar area at Kazipara in Kolkata on Tuesday PTI

Police use water cannons to disperse farmers protesting on Delhi-UP border during ‘Kisan Kranti Padyatra' to New Delhi on Tuesday PTI

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PTI n NEW DELHI

As the country celebrates the149th birth anniversary of

Mahatma Gandhi Tuesday, theannual ‘International GandhiPeace Prize’, named after Fatherof the Nation, has not beenconferred for the last fouryears. An official of theMinistry of Culture, the nodalagency which receives propos-als for conferring the award,said nominations were madeduring the last four years forthe coveted award, but anapproval has been awaited.

“The nominations arethere, but it is difficult to saywhy it has been delayed,” offi-cial sources said. As a tribute tothe ideals espoused by Gandhi,the Government of Indialaunched the InternationalGandhi Peace Prize in 1995 onthe occasion of his 125th birthanniversary.

Last time, the award was

conferred in 2014 to the IndianSpace Research Organisation(ISRO). The annual award isgiven to individuals and insti-tutions for their contributiontowards social, economic andpolitical transformationthrough non-violence andother Gandhian methods.

The award carries Rs 1crore (10 million) in cash, con-vertible in any currency in theworld, a plaque and a citation.The honour is open to all per-sons regardless of nationality,race, creed or gender. A juryconsisting of the PrimeMinister of India, Leader of theOpposition in the Lok Sabha,Chief Justice of India and twoother eminent persons decidethe awardee each year.

The jury considers suchproposals as have been receivedby the office of the Ministry ofCulture up to April 30 of thatyear for which the award is tobe given. Official sources said

ordinarily, proposals comingfrom competent persons invit-ed to nominate are considered.However, a proposal is nottaken as invalid for considera-tion by the jury merely on theground of not having emanat-ed from competent persons.

If, however, it is consideredthat none of the proposalsmerit recognition, the jury isfree to withhold the award forthat year. Only achievementswithin 10 years immediatelypreceding the nomination areconsidered for the award; anolder work may, however, beconsidered if its significancehas not become apparent untilrecently. A written work, to beeligible for consideration,should have been published.

The first recipient of theaward was Julius K Nyerere,former President of Tanzania in1995, and in the next year ATAriyaratne, Founder Presidentof Sarvodaya Sharamadana

Movement, Sri Lanka was con-ferred with the award. In 1997,Gerhard Fischer of Germanyreceived the award. RamaKrishna Mission was selectedfor the award in 1998 and in1999. Baba Amte has alsoreceived the prestigious award.

The award was jointly

given in 2000 to NelsonMandela and Grameen Bank ofBangladesh. ArchbishopDesmond Tutu won the awardin 2005. After a gap of eightyears in 2013, Chandi PrasadBhatt, noted environmentalistassociated with ChipkoMovement, received the award.

Int’l Gandhi Peace Prize not awarded since ’14

New Delhi (PTI):President Ram Nath Kovindand Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday paid tributesto Mahatma Gandhi atRajghat on his 149th birthanniversary, urging the peopleto rededicate themselves to thevalues espoused by the leaderand fulfil his dreams. Vice-President M Venkaiah Naidu,Congress chief Rahul Gandhiand UPA chairperson Sonia

Gandhi also paid homage tothe father of the nation at hisiconic memorial here amidthe strains of ‘bhajans’. Kovindand Modi also greeted peopleon the occasion of GandhiJayanti and urged people toimbibe the values he stood for.Modi also took to Twitter toextol the virtues of Gandhi,who led the nation to freedom,riding a path of non-violence.

n Also see Page 6

President, PM pay tributes to

Mahatma Gandhi, Shastri

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath garlands the statue of Mahatma Gandhi to mark his 150th birth anniversary atGandhi Ashram in Lucknow on Tuesday Pioneer



Even though the GomtiNagar police were said to be

in possession of “clinching evi-dence” against accused consta-bles Prashant Chaudhary andSandeep Rai in the VivekTiwari shooting case, the deci-sion of the UP police brass toopt for a SIT probe has raisedeyebrows. Well-placed sourcessaid that the SIT probe wasordered to tone down themedia hype and stop differentversions from different policeofficers in the case. “Had theSIT probe not been orderedand an on-spot action not ini-tiated against the accused, itwould have further sullied thealready embattled UP police.The top cops decided that itwas prudent to go for the SITprobe to mellow down themedia glare and also suppressthe protest from the lower-rungcops who had offered to sur-

render their service weapons tothe SSP,” they said. Theyclaimed that the irked consta-bles had the backing of somedisgruntled police officers. “Itsurfaced that the group back-ing the constables wanted to geta cross-FIR registered andhence they asked Chaudhary to

reach Gomti Nagar police sta-tion. Top officers summarisedthe charges after inspectingthe crime scene and asked theGomti Nagar police to send theaccused to jail. But the accusedwere taken to the police stationinstead, which created anoth-er controversy,” they said.

They also claimed that theaccused cops wanted to escapefrom police custody andbecome untraceable. “It wouldhave created another contro-versy and the incident termedan encounter. In that case,police officers would have beenblamed for destroying evidenceand for cover-up of the crimesof constables,” the sources said.

Top officers, however,chose to play down the issue asbaseless and said that the SITwas being headed by an IGrank officer and that the teamwas collecting evidence scien-tifically to avoid any loopholesin the probe.


Even though the uniforms ofmurder accused constables

Prashant Chaudhary andSandeep Kumar were recov-ered, police remained evasivewhen asked if the same wereragged or had blood stains.

Investigating officer (IO) ofthe Vivek Tiwari murder caseand Mahanagar SHO VikasPandey said he had no infor-mation about it. He said he gota sealed packet in which theuniforms were kept and it wassent for forensic test.

Pandey said he had beentasked with investigating thecase and he had started theprobe. “Since the investigationis underway, I cannot share thefindings at this moment,” hesaid. Sources said PrashantChaudhary had claimed thatVivek, who was driving anSUV, tried to run him over withan intention to kill him. He had

claimed that Vivek attemptedto run him over thrice afterwhich he shot him in self-defence.

Not only this, Chaudharyand his wife constable Rakhireached the Gomti Nagarpolice station on Saturdayevening to lodge a cross-FIRagainst Vivek, accusing him ofattempt to murder. Rakhi alsocreated a ruckus at the SSPcamp office, demanding regis-tration of the cross-FIR.

Interestingly, top cops,including the SSP, announcedbefore mediapersons that bothPrashant Chaudhary andSandeep Kumar had beenarrested and were in police cus-tody. The top cops initiallyturned a Nelson’s eye to theindiscipline by Rakhi and tooknote only after the media high-lighted the same. Sourcesclaimed that the initial probewas shoddy and there was novital clue either from the crime

scene or the homes of theaccused.

“The accused cops weresent for medical test hoursafter the incident. Similarly,Sana Khan was also sent formedical test after inordinatedelay,” they claimed.

Meanwhile, the autopsyreport said that the victim suf-fered injuries on his chin afterwhich the bullet got lodged inthe spinal cord after piercingthrough the jaw. The move-ment of the bullet was down-ward and backward.

Reacting to the finding, anexpert commented: “This ispossible only when the accusedshot the victim from a higherangle, maybe after jumpingonto the bonnet of the SUV.The hole in the windscreen wasalso slanted.” The report alsostated that Vivek was admittedto Ram Manohar LohiaHospital at 2:05 am and hepassed away at 2:25 am.


Expediting the probe intoApple executive VivekTiwari murder, the

Special Investigation Team(SIT), led by IG, LucknowRange, Sujit Pandey, onTuesday morning reconstruct-ed the crime scene with thehelp of sole eyewitness andTiwari’s former colleague SanaKhan. Vivek was shot alleged-ly by constables PrashantChaudhary and SandeepKumar in Gomti NagarExtension while he was goingto drop Sana home in VinayKhand around 1:30 am onSaturday.

The probe team reachedthe crime scene to analyse thesequence of events leading tothe murder. Besides Sana, vic-tim’s wife Kalpana Tiwari alsoreached there. During thereconstruction of the crimescene, a vehicle similar to thatof Tiwari’s was used and twobike-borne constables wereasked to intercept it. Later,one of them with a pistol wasasked to aim at the vehicle. Acop was asked to act asPrashant Chaudhary and wasgiven an empty gun to react toa provocation with a man sit-ting inside Mahindra XUV.The team also asked the driverto back down the vehicle toavoid an altercation and try tospeed off.

“The aim was to reach alogical conclusion in the caseand to cross-check the findingsof the crime scene reconstruc-tion with the statement of vic-tim’s family and Sana,” Sujit

said. The IG said that a team offorensic scientists also observedthe reconstruction of the crimescene and noted down theirobservations which would go along way in concluding theprobe. “The SIT is probing thecase considering 72 differentpoints. Some of the pointsinclude whether the SUV wasstationary or moving, whichway did the accused shoot thevictim, how did the SUV suf-fer dents and how the cops’ bikewas damaged,” Pandey said.

Meanwhile, SIT sourcesdisclosed that the team askedSana to narrate the exact posi-tion of the SUV on the fatefulnight. “She was asked whichconstables approached themwhile they were sitting insidethe car. She was also asked whatexactly happened after the bul-let was fired at Vivek. She wasasked if she alighted from thevehicle after the tiff and howdid the airbags open,” theysaid.

The SIT members alsoexamined the road stretch nearAxis Bank on Maqdoompurpolice outpost road. An SITofficial said that Sana wasasked to pin-point the preciselocation of the murder sceneand narrate the sequence ofevents. After she deposed, theteam conducted a demo tocross-check her inputs.

The IG, Lucknow Range,said that autopsy reports andstatements of witness/com-plaint would be examined.“The findings will then beused to corroborate the same inthe court. It will also give clar-ity on the intention and motiveinvolved in the murder,” saidPandey. Explaining the pres-ence of victim’s wife Kalpana atthe crime scene, the IG said shewas the complainant in the sec-ond FIR and that was why shewas included in the recon-struction process.

The IG said that the SITprobe would take time to con-clude. “The probe was conduct-ed to collect scientific evi-dences to reach a logical end.It will be premature to say if thefindings are against the cops,”Pandey said.


The arrest of five accused,including a MSc (I) stu-

dent, in the PGI dacoity casebrought some respite for theembattled Lucknow police. Thedacoity had taken place in thehouse of businessman MotilalAgarwal early in the morningon Monday and the policefaced a lot of criticism forpoor performance.

Those arrested were iden-tified as Shumail Hasan Rizviof Saadatganj, Vaibhav Sachanand Anuj Gautam (both ofKrishnanagar), DeepakKashyap of Kakori, and Shivaof Sarojininagar. The policerecovered Rs 6.58 lakh in cash,jewellery looted from thehouse, besides a luxury car inwhich they had reached thecrime scene. The police alsorecovered 13 mobile phones, apointed object and country-made pistol from the accused.The case was cracked by a jointteam of anti-dacoity cell, ateam from crime branch andanother of PGI police.

SSP Kalanidhi Naithanisaid Vaibhav was pursuingMSc in Mathematics fromKanpur University and came incontact with gangleaderShumail, who was releasedfrom jail recently.

As per the SSP, Shumailhad committed the similarcrime in the past. He roped inVaibhav and other in his planby luring them with fast bucks.The accused knew each anoth-

er but they used to commitcrime separately before comingtogether for dacoity in MotilalAgarwal's house in SubhaniKheda of PGI.

After the police recoveredsome CCTV footage and theaccused were identified, theinformers were alerted to col-lect information about them.On Tuesday morning, the teamwas tipped off about the gangmoving in a luxury car and thepolice teams laid a trap. “Thegang members were arrestedfrom an underpass in Telibagh(near Chiraiyya Tal locality).They were apprehended andthey owned up their crimeduring interrogation,” the SSPsaid. It surfaced that Shumailhad recced the house two daysback. He shared details with hisaides and asked them to beready for the strike.

On the fateful day, theyreached the house withShumail leading the gang. Theybroke five locks and also dis-mantled the shutter of theshop. Moti Lal and his wifewere in a room on the first floorof the house while their chil-dren were in another room onthe top floor. They tied Motilalwith a rope and gagged him toprevent him from raising analarm. They also locked victim’swife in the washroom.However, they did not harmthe victim or any other mem-ber of his family. The SSPannounced a cash reward of Rs25,000 to the team for crackingthe case.

Apple exec’s killing: SIT reconstructs crime scene

SIT officers and police reconstructing the crime scene with Vivek Tiwari’s wife Kalpana and his former colleague and sole eyewitness Sana Khan on Tuesday Pioneer

Were uniforms of accused copsblood-stained? Police evasive

SIT probe despite ‘clinching

evidence’ raises eyebrows

SOURCES SAID TOP

COPS DECIDED THAT IT

WAS PRUDENT TO GO

FOR THE SIT PROBE TO

MELLOW DOWN THE

MEDIA GLARE AND

ALSO SUPPRESS THE

PROTEST FROM THE

LOWER-RUNG COPS

WHO HAD OFFERED TO

SURRENDER THEIR

SERVICE WEAPONS

TO THE SSP

MSc studentamong 5 held for PGI dacoity


Central Drug ResearchInstitute (CDRI) organ-

ised a unique symposium todiscuss the past, present andfuture of drug development inIndia. CDRI director TapasKumar Kundu conceived thisidea and invited all the formerdirectors, including NityaAnand, VP Kamboj, CMGupta, Tushar KantiChakraborty and MadhuDikshit on the stage togetherto do a retrospection of thedrug discovery and develop-ment and share their futuristicvision on it.

While sharing his perspec-tives towards this, Nitya Anandsaid: “Living with drug researchhas been the most excitingand satisfying portion of mylife. It provided me an oppor-tunity to contribute tomankind. “And more impor-tantly, it has helped me toevolve a very positive outlookon health and disease. That dis-ease is preventable, controllableand curable and not fated to be

with us. And I still live with it,”he said.

He shared his experiencesfrom the inception of thisInstitute uptill this day and howthis Institute helped in thedevelopment of the pharma-ceutical sector in India afterIndependence and research onnational development pro-grammes, basic research incognate areas and appliedresearch and process develop-ment. Former director VPKamboj, said that India wascalled the dispensary of theworld and every third personin it was using the vaccinesmade by India. “The averageage of an Indian was 32 yearsin 1975 which was now 62years. So India has done a lotin the healthcare sector. “Manyinfectious diseases have beeneradicated from India. Someother infectious disease eradi-cation targets in India areleishmaniasis (kala azar) by theend of 2018, filariasis (lymphat-ic) by the end of this year,measles by the year 2020 andtuberculosis by the year

2025.The year 2017 heraldsthe beginning of cell and genetherapy so the CDRI shouldprepare to compete with theworld,” he said.

CM Gupta discussed thepace of drug discovery duringthe early days and also shedlight on the contribution ofCDRI from 1980-2000. He alsomentioned the reasons why thespeed of drug developmentslowed down despite scientif-ic advances between 1980 and2000 and western countriesmoved away fast from us.

While addressing the audi-

ence, TK Chakaborty said thata chemist should be awareabout the biological phenom-enon and a biologist shouldalso learn about the chemicalstructures. “The coordinationbetween the two will lead tomore fruitful research output.Medicinal chemists may con-tribute in a better way byunderstanding the intermedi-ate metabolism during the dis-ease biology for synthesis ofnew molecules,” he said.

Madhu Dikshit said thatthey had to cope with thecompetitiveness in the global

scenario. “Earlier, the Indianpharmaceutical industrysought technologies from theCSIR institutions. The pharmaturnover was Rs 32 crore in1952 which was raised to Rs 2lakh crore in the year 2017. Butdue to the tremendous globalgrowth in biology biotechnol-ogy, in vitro specific assay sys-tems (cell, receptor etc), proteinisolation, characterisation, lig-and interaction and newerdrug discovery platforms Indiais facing more competition indrug development andresearch,” she said.

After the brainstorminglectures by the stalwarts ofdrug discovery in India, Kunduinvited them for a panel discus-sion to know their views onhow CDRI could contribute inimproving the present andfuture of drug development inIndia. All the panelists agreedwith CM Gupta that the upgra-dation of skills in molecularand computational sciences,medicinal chemistry and phar-macology was required. Kundusuggested new research areasfor ageing research and epige-netics research to understandthe biology of diseases. Thepanelists also agreed to changetheir approach towards collab-oration with the industries andacademia to compete in theglobal scenario. “CDRI shouldlay greater emphasis on diseasemarkers and diagnosis alongwith its new drug developmen-tal research programme. Morecollaborative projects can beinitiated for this. New start-upscan be initiated and supportedto fill the gap with the indus-try,” said the scientist.

CDRI ex-directors discuss drug development


The security of JaneshwarMishra Park has been tight-

ened as a precautionary measureto prevent incidents likemolestations of girls and misbe-haviour with female visitors.These measures are beingensured after a review of thesecurity situation. The LDAadministration has sought aservice of Pune-based Armyofficer, who runs a securityagency. He is said to be in thecity for a month to train thedivers deployed near the lake.They will also be made to learnthe use of life-saving gadgets.

The security measures arebeing taken by the LDA admin-istration in the aftermath of thefive incidents with female visi-tors, including a foreigner, in thelast 14 days. The administrationswung into action after the inci-dent with a foreign visitor.

Deputy director and incharge SSSisodhia refused to comment onthe incident. He said foolproofsecurity arrangements werebeing ensured and a vigil wouldbe kept on the movement ofanti-social elements. The lakehas been fenced and a dangerzone marked. A distance of 20metres has been markedbetween the lake and fencing. Asensory alarm will be installedalong the fencing to alert secu-rity personnel whenever anyperson comes in contact withthe fencing. The 20m distancewill give sufficient time to thesecurity personnel to rush tospot and save anyone fromdrowning. Another problem atthe park is the menace of straydogs. However, the inchargedenied this and said it was onlyonce in two or three months thatdogs strayed into the park. Heinsisted that there was no threatto the visitors.

Security beefed

up at Janeshwar

Mishra Park

LU CONVOCATION CAMPUS WALK

The Convocation Campus Walk was flagged off by Lucknow University Vice-Chancellor SP Singh near the cashier office on Tuesday. The walk moved through hostel areaand culminated at Tagore Library where floral tributes were paid to Mahatma Gandhi on his birth anniversary. On the way, floral tributes were paid to Lal Bahadur Shastri atthe hostel named after him

SSP Kalanidhi Naithani addressing mediapersons after the dacoity case wasworked out on Tuesday Pioneer



The birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi was cel-

ebrated with great enthusiasmin the city. A plethora of pro-grammes were organised tomark the occasion and most ofthem focused on cleanlinesscampaigns. The UP Governor,Ram Naik, inaugurated the69th TB Seal programme at theCivil Hospital here on theoccasion of Mahatma Gandhi’sanniversary and made anappeal to the people to makethe state free from TB. TheEnvironment Cell of theKGMU organised a pro-gramme for cleaning theJaneshwar Mishra Park inwhich its students and staffparticipated with great enthu-siasm. The campaign,‘Swachhata hi Seva’ under theSwachh Bharat Mission (SBM),an initiative of the GOI, whichstarted in RDSO on September15 concluded there on October2 on the occasion of the birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi.

On the conclusion of‘Swachhata hi Seva,’ a mini-marathon, ‘Cleanathon’ wasorganised by RDSO. It wasflagged off by Virendra Kumar,Director General of RDSOSports Association, in the pres-ence of a huge gathering of offi-cers, staff and their families,members of RDSO sports teamand schoolchildren.

The Bharat Scouts and GirlGuides were also present withthe cleanliness message in abanner form and with flash-cards. Another highlight ofthe event was the enthusiastic

participation of women, led bythe president, Railway Women’sWelfare Association (RWWA).They outperformed all othersin litter collection en route themarathon. Their purpose ofspreading the message of clean-liness was well served.

Virendra Kumar, DirectorGeneral of RDSO, stressed theneed for cleanliness and saidthat with concerted efforts inRDSO cleanliness had beenachieved but there was alwaysscope for improvement. Healso administered the cleanli-ness pledge to all those present.At the end of the marathon atree plantation drive was car-ried out. Later a drawing andpainting competition based onthe theme of ‘MahatmaGandhi’ was organised atRDSO in which around 100schoolchildren from 6 to 16years of age actively participat-ed. Indira Gandhi NationalOpen University (IGNOU),Regional Centre, in collabora-tion with the Veerangana

Avantibai District Women’sHospital, Lucknow, organiseddifferent activities under the‘Swachhata hi Seva’ campaignto celebrate the birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi onTuesday. On the occasion stu-dents of Madhyamik Vidyalaya,Bindova, along with the doc-tors and officials of theRegional Centre, Lucknow,formed a 500-metre-longhuman chain and propagatedthe teachings of MahatmaGandhi.

Dr Salman Khan,Veerangana Avantibai DistrictWomen’s Hospital, told thestudents about the importanceof health and hygiene in theirdaily lives. Dr ManoramaSingh, Regional Director,IGNOU Regional Centre,Lucknow, welcomed all theparticipants and informedthem in detail about the cam-paign related to Swachhatabeing organised by IGNOU.Kirti Vikram Singh, assistantregional director, requested the

villagers and the students topromote cleanliness in the vil-lage and the school there.

A cleanliness drive wasorganised under which thestudents cleaned the school, thePanchayat Bhawan and the vil-lage temple. A rally was alsoorganised and plantation activ-ities were undertaken. The vil-lagers and students also took a‘Swachhata pledge’ on the occa-sion. The gram pradhan, VijayKumar, teachers of MadhyamikVidhyalaya and the announc-er of IGNOU Gyanvani FMChannel, Anju Srivastava,were also present.

On the occasion of GandhiJayanti, a function was organ-ised by the 1857 MemorialMuseum Residency under theLucknow Circle of theArchaeological Survey of Indiaat the General Wali Kothi, acentrally-protected monument.

A debate competition onthe topic ‘Preservation of theMonuments is necessary for theeconomic prosperity of the

country’ was also organised.A poster and collage compe-tition on the topics like SwachhBharat Abhiyan aur Gandhi keSapno ka Bharat and BetiBachao, Beti Padhao’ was held.Students from the Departmentof Philosophy and Social Work,Lucknow University, the GuruNanak Girls ‘College,Charbagh, Rajat DegreeCollege, Faizabad Road, andthe Rama Degree College,Chinhat, took part in thesecompetitions.

Lucknow Metro RailCorporation (LMRC) organ-ised a programme to com-memorate Mahatma Gandhi.On the occasion, managingdirector Kumar Keshav said:“Bapu’s messages in the field ofcleanliness and hygiene wereshowcased by the school stu-dents through sketching, draw-ing and a fancy dress show inMetro train. Bapu’s ideals con-tinue to inspire us and LMRCis the right platform to reflecthis ideals among the fellow cit-

KMCU CELEBRATES3RD FOUNDATION DAY

Khwaja Moinuddin ChishtiUrdu-Arabi-Farsi Universityon Monday celebrated its thirdFoundation Day ceremony,

which also marked the inau-gural of ‘National VovinamTechnical Training Workshop’.The programme was presidedover by former acting ChiefMinister of UP Ammar Rizvi

while minister Sandeep Singhwas the chief guest. Vice-Chancellor Mahrukh Mirzawelcomed all dignitaries andlaid emphasis on the impor-tance of physical fitness. Hesaid KMCU was already con-ducting regular yoga sessionsand physical education classeson the campus but he hopedthat the training activities beingorganised under the Vovinamtraining workshop would makethe students more aware aboutphysical health and safety. Headded that KMCU had signedan MoU with Brunei Universityand Abbersywth Universityand he would visit AbbersywthUniversity to finalise theexchange programmes betweenboth the universities. He addedthat the university would soonintroduce courses in BTech,LLB and foreign languages.He presented DLit to AmmarRizvi. In his address, Rizvi con-gratulated the university on itsFoundation Day.

ADDITIONAL CHARGED i r e c t o r -

general ofResearch Designand StandardsOrganisat ion( R D S O )Virendra Kumarhas assumedadditional charge as generalmanager of Modern Rail CoachFactory (Rae Bareli).


Avigorous anti-encroach-ment drive will be

launched after Dussehra. TheLucknow DevelopmentAuthority (LDA) administra-tion has identified 36 buildingshaving unauthorized portionsand 30 establishments violatingthe land use rules located indifferent places of the city.

The LDA administrationhad launched a massive anti-encroachment drive in Julyearlier this year and it yieldedresults too, but it was discon-tinued with the commence-ment of Moharram as copswere engaged in processions.

As many as 28 unautho-rised structures were demol-ished and eight establishmentsfor sealed for misuse of landuse laws. Incharge of theenforcement wing AP Singhsaid the success of the drive wasdue to the cooperation of policeforce and district administra-tion. He said notices hadalready been served on ownersof buildings having unautho-rised portions and also thoseviolating land use rules. “The

buildings will be demolishedwithout any further notices,” headded. Stress would on pullingdown unauthorised portions ofthe buildings in Gomti Nagar,he added.

Singh said 14 such build-ings had been identified andthe aim was to make the GomtiNagar a clean place so that itcould be made a smart residen-tial colony in days to come, headded.

However, the condition ofRajajipuram is said to be worsethan Gomti Nagar as a largenumber of unauthorised struc-tures have come up of late.Interestingly, there has been nomajor anti-encroachment inthe area for the past severalyears. Singh said that the anti-encroachment drive was to belaunched in Rajajipuram inJuly but it was called off as thepolice force was withdrawnand deployed on Moharramduties. LDA Vice-ChairmanPN Singh said the anti-encroachment drive would berestored and it would deliverthe goods. The drive would belaunched simultaneously inGomti Nagar and Rajajipuram.

Lucknow (PNS): ResearchDesign and StandardsOrganisation (RDSO) will soonconduct the trial run of ‘Train18’ which, as per its claim, iscountry’s first make in Indiatrain. RDSO will send a team ofscientist to India Coach Factoryin Chennai for expediting this.This train will run withoutengine. This was stated by newlyappointed director generalVirendra Kumar. He wasaddressing mediapersons onthe conclusion of a fortnight-long drive on cleanliness aware-ness which had kicked off onSeptember 15.

The DG said that RDSOwas a premier agency of IndianRailways and was at par with theagencies working for railways inforeign countries. “RDSO haslived upto the expectation ofpassengers and has worked onmaking the travel safer andmore comfortable and it is in noway less than foreign railways,”he said wile thanking the rail sci-entists who worked on the pro-ject. He said that ‘Train18’ wouldbe based on self-propulsion sci-ence with tractor motors placedunder the bogies. “The train hasbeen manufactured by IndianCoach Factory (Chennai) and itwould reach RDSO on October15 for trials and testing. After atrial of 80 days inside RDSO, it

will be ready for use. It will berun in place of Delhi-BhopalShatabdi Express. Senior railwayofficials will decide later if it willbe run on other routes. Initially,it will be a New Delhi-basedtrain,” he added. For the trial runof ‘Train18’, RDSO had decidedthe routes. It will be run betweenAgra and Beena at a speed of 160kmph while at a speed of 115kmph between Moradabad andSaharanpur. ‘Train18’ is lacedwith modern facilities. It willhave aerodynamic nose in whichthe pilot will sit. The bogies ofthe trains will be divided intotwo categories — executive andnon-executive. In the chaircar-type train, the seats in the exec-utive class will be rotatable andthe bogies will be equippedwith LED, Wi-Fi, passengerinfotainment, automatic doors,a ramp opening outside for dif-ferently-abled passengers,CCTV cameras, emergencytalkback unit, modular toiletsetc. It will be different fromMetro trains in terms of speedand comfort level. The DG saidthat RDSO would also conducttrial of the fog vision device.Senior officials, including NKSinha, Om Prakash Kesari,Praveen Khurana, Madhusudan,Saandeep Mathur, SK Singhand VK Agarwal, were alsopresent on the occasion.

Programmes galore to mark Gandhi Jayanti

SCHOOLSCANCITYBRIEFS

izens.” “LMRC is the role modelof an eco-friendly and environ-ment sustainable mode of MassRapid Transportation System(MRTS) and will prove to bethe lifeline of the city in thelong run,” he added.

ICAR-National Bureau ofFish Genetic Resources,Lucknow, headed by directorKuldeep K Lal, organisedactivities to commemoratethe birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi. A lectureon ethos and principles ofMahatma Gandhi was deliv-ered by Dr Sharad KumarSingh, Principal Scientist andSIC, ARTU, Chinhat, ICAR-NBFGR, Lucknow, which wasfollowed by a mass tree plan-tation programme organisedunder the ‘Swachhata hi Seva’programme under the‘Swachh Bharat Abhiyan’ inwhich al l the staf f and

research scholars of theInstitute participated. Asmany as 135 saplings of vari-ous plants like bael, mango,guava, bougainvillea, etc wereplanted in the farm section ofthe Institute. The staff alsoparticipated in a cleanlinessdrive along the Canal RingRoad in front of the Institute.The Regional Science City,Lucknow, celebrated the birthanniversary of MahatmaGandhi. On the occasion sev-eral schools like the NewStandard Public School, RaeBareli, Ramadhin Singh InterCollege, the SKD Academyand Avadh Collegiate alongwith the NCC cadets and NSScadets and scouts participat-ed in the ‘Safai Abhiyan’ heldin its premises.

Mayor Sanyukta Bhatiafelicitated the freedom fightersand garlanded the statue of the

former Prime Minister, LalBahadur Shastri, at the TikonaPark here. The National SocialService Club of Avadh Girls’PG College celebrated the birthanniversary of the Father of theNation, Mahatma Gandhi, andLal Bahadur Shastri onTuesday. The chief guest,Ashutosh Pandey, IAS, ADG,Technical Services, Lucknow,inaugurated the ‘Joy of Giving’programme. ThereafterPandey judged the poster-making competition whichwas based on the topic ‘VotingAwareness’.

Abdul Kalam TechnicalUniversity organised a pro-gramme on the occasion ofMahatma Gandhi and LalBahadur Shastri’s birthanniversaries in which the V-C, Vinay Pathak, and otherofficials paid tributes to thetwo great leaders.

Mayor paying tributes to Mahatma Gandhi. (Right) Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at RDSO

Gandhi Jayanti being celebrated by IGNOU

LDA to crack down

on encroachment

after Dussehra

RDSO to conduct trial

run of ‘Train 18’ soon

CMS STUDENT SELECTEDIN 3 FOREIGN UNIVS

Shreyasi Chauhan, a stu-dent of City Montessori School,Mahanagar campus, securedselection in three universities ofAustralia and Canada. TheUniversity of Queensland andDeakin University (Australia)and University of BritishColumbia (Canada) selectedShreyasi for her academicexcellence. Chief PRO of CMSHari Om Sharma said keepingtrack on past records, this yeartoo, meritorious CMS studentshad been selected in several topuniversities of the world. “Asmany as 61 CMS students havebeen selected this year in theprestigious universities of USA,England, Canada, Australia,Japan, Singapore, Hong Kongetc,” he added.

Gandhi Jayanti celebrations at Allenhouse Public School, Vrindavan Yojana

SR Group of Institutions (Bakshi-Ka-Talab) organised a programmes in whichscholarships were given away to as many as 1,237 students. MLA Avinash Dwivediwas the chief guest on the occasion. He urged the students to draw inspirationfrom Mahatma Gandhi and Lal Bahadur Shastri

OPP SLAMS...“Why are the farmers being

stopped from entering Delhi?It is wrong. Delhi belongs to all.They should be given entry inDelhi. We support theirdemands,” he told reporters onthe sidelines of an event held atthe Delhi Assembly to markGandhi Jayanti.

RJD leader Tejashwi Yadavsaid that by discarding theSwaminathan committeereport, the Modi Governmenthas stabbed the farmers in theback. “Modi ji, though farmers,unlike capitalists, cannot fillyour pockets, but at least don’tget them beaten up. If youwould have seen poverty, youwould not have committed somany atrocities on farmers,” hetweeted in Hindi.

Communist Party of India(CPI) also condemned thepolice action against the agitat-ing farmers. “The farmers whowere on a peaceful marchtowards the national capitalunder the banner of BhartiyaKisan Union (BKU) raisingtheir genuine demands includ-ing waiver of loans werestopped by police at the borderand beaten up on a day whenthe nation is celebrating thebirth anniversary of the Fatherof Nation Mahatma Gandhi,”the party said in a statement.

The Left-affiliated All IndiaKisan Sabha also condemned

the police “brutality” onprotesting farmers andslammed the Government overthe issue.

CWC CALLS FOR...Besides Sonia and

Manmohan, senior Congressleaders Ghulam Nabi Azad,Mallikarjun Kharge, AshokGehlot, P Chidambaramamong others were also presenton the occasion. Holding itsmeeting at Mahadev Bhavan,Sevagram Ashram, in Wardhadistrict of Maharashtra on the149th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi, the CWCalso condemned the use offorce against protesting farm-ers on their way to the nation-al Capital. The Congress pres-ident yet again asked the PrimeMinister to talk about theRafale fighter jet controversy.Modi should explain to thecountry why Anil Ambani’sReliance Defence was chosenover State-run HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL) asthe offset partner of Frenchfirm Dassault Aviation, he said.

“Modi ‘avoided eye contact’when he asked questions aboutthe deal in Parliament, becausethe Prime Minister had ‘lied’ tothe country on the issue,” Rahulalleged. He also alleged that theNDA Government waivedloans worth Rs 3.20 lakh croreof capitalists who were close to

it, but did not write off thedebts of farmers.

The “thieves of India”turned their black money intowhite through the back door,while the common people hadto queue up outside the banksto deposit the scrapped Rs 500and Rs 1,000 currency notes(after demonetisation), headded. Addressing a Press con-ference post the CWC, partychief spokesperson RandeepSingh Surjewala said the CWChas passed two resolutionsrecalling the contribution ofMahatma Gandhi to the“Indian thought process, itssoul and body”. “(Former PrimeMinister) Lal Bahadur Shastri’scall of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’ is notjust a slogan but a way of life.We will continue to fight forfarmers’ rights,” he said.

The CWC underscored thehypocrisy of those who vilifiedGandhi and his thoughts, butare brazenly championing itnow, he said. “The secondfreedom struggle will be againstthe Government that practisespolitics of hate, vendetta, threat,murder, intimidation, crushinghealthy debate and dissent,” hesaid. “Farmers who had cometo seek grievance redressalwere beaten up and lathi-charged. Water cannons andtear gas was also used. We con-demn the autocratic ModiGovernment and the Prime

Minister who is drunk withpower. We express solidaritywith the farmers and resolve toredress their grievances if votedto power,” he said.

CHILD KILLED...A fruit vendor sitting near-

by was also severely injured.Rajesh Kumar Singh,

Barrackopre Commissioner ofPolice said, “A large explosiontook place outside a shop.What caused the explosion isyet to be ascertained. Severalpeople have been injured in theblast,” adding, the police are“investigating the matter. Thebomb squad of the CID hastaken up the case.”

The police are “not rulingout Maoist or terrorist angle,”sources said.

The intensity of the blastwas such that it caused a bighole on the steel shutter of anadjacent shop bending theiron rod and making a similarwhole in another shutter bangon the opposite side of the 20-feet wide lane, sources said,adding the glass panes of themulti-storey buildings hadbeen shattered by the impact ofthe explosion.

While the blast tended toleave the police brass in atizzy, particularly ahead of theDurga Puja when more thantwenty million people willthrong the Puja pandals about

7-8 days, the political partieswere engaged in a slangingmatch accusing each other forthe incident.

Trinamool leader andMinister Jyotipriya Mullicksniffed an RSS hand in theblast saying “going by their pol-itics it seems that the RSSmight have triggered this blastto create tension in the State.”His party colleague and SouthDum Dum municipal chair-man Panchu Gopal Roy said“everyone knows who killedand who assisted in the killingof Mahatma Gandhi. Today theblast assumes significancebecause today is Gandhi’s birthanniversary.”

Reacting to his statements,State BJP president DilipGhosh accused the TMCworkers of triggering the blast.“Everyone knows what theTrinamool Congress cadresare capable of. It is the result oftheir infighting,” he saiddemanding an NIA probe.

The National InvestigationAgency had already startedcollecting information aboutthe incident, sources said.

A similar blast atKhagragarh in Burdwan dis-trict on October, 2014 had lefttwo persons dead. Subsequentinvestigation by the NIA hadtaken the lid off an internation-al network Jamat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1

Crossover Gym organised a 6km ‘Crossover Run For Swachh Bharat’ on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on Tuesday. Founderof the gym Abhishek Pratap Shahi flagged off the run from Kathauta crossing. It witnessed participation of over 80 persons.

FARMERS DON’T...

From Page 1Water cannons were sta-

tioned just beyond the barri-cades to contain protestersadvance. Policemen were alsodeployed in civvies to keep tapon the situation.

“Announcements were reg-ularly made on public addresssystem about promulgation ofSection 144 Code of CriminalProcedure (CrPC) and requestwas specifically made not toattempt entry into Delhi force-fully on tractor trolleys sincethere was no permission,” saida senior police official.

“Despite persuasive meth-ods requesting them to wait till

the outcome of the talks of theirleaders with the CentralGovernment, a section of thecrowd suddenly turned violentand tried to break the barri-cades forcefully through trac-tor trolleys and were also car-rying lathis,” said the seniorpolice official.

“Some protesters alsoresorted to stone-pelting andwielded lathis causing injuriesto police personnel deployedon duty. Under these circum-stances, only the minimumrequired force was used tocontain these aggressive andviolent protesters. However,after using water cannon andtear gas shells on a limitedscale, the situation was brought

under control, and thereafteruse of any force was discontin-ued forthwith, resorting againto persuasive tactics,” said asenior police official.

The city police had onMonday imposed prohibitoryorders in east and northeastDelhi, anticipating law andorder problems as thousands ofBKU members were on amarch from Haridwar slated toreach the national capital onTuesday.

Some of the protestingfarmers claimed that a fewDelhi Police personnel hadresorted to lathicharge againstsome of them. The DelhiPolice, however, denied thecharge.

nation 06LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018

INSHORT

MODI TO RECEIVE UNENVIRONMENTAL AWARDNew Delhi: Prime MinisterNarendra Modi will receive theUnited Nation’s highestenvironmental honour ‘Championsof The Earth Award’ at a specialceremony here on Wednesday.Modi and French PresidentEmmanuel Macron have beennamed as recipients of theprestigious award for theirexemplary leadership andadvocating action on sustainabledevelopment and climate change.

2 GURUGRAM SCHOOLSWIN CITY LEVEL QUIZNew Delhi: Gurgaon-based ShivNadar School and DPS Sector 84has won the Delhi City Level of theWild Wisdom Quiz 2018 organisedby WWF-India, in partnership withthe Central Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE). The WildWisdom Quiz (WWQ) is Asia’sBiggest and India’s only Nationallevel wildlife quiz, said an officialfrom WWF-India.

‘INDIA WILL BECOME ODF INNEXT COUPLE OF MONTHS’New Delhi: Sulabh InternationalFounder Padamshri Dr BindeshwarPathak on Tuesday said that Indiawill be free from open defecationwithin next couple of months.Pathak, who is actively involved inthe ongoing ‘Swachchh BharatAbhiyan’, said that India has so farachieved around 93 percent ofsanitation coverage. Paying tributeto the father of the nation on his150th birth anniversary, Pathaklauded Prime Minister NarendraModi for undertaking campaignfour years ago.

NCRTC HOLDS ‘SWACHCHHTAHI SEWA 2018’ PAKHWADANew Delhi: To commemorate the4th anniversary of ‘SwachchhBharat Mission’, the NationalCapital Region TransportCorporation (NCRTC) observed afortnightly ‘Swachchhta hi Sewa2018’ pakhwada from 15thSeptember. A host of activities wasundertaken by the employees ofNCRTC at their corporate as wellas site offices.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Tuesday said that

the four-year-old SwachchhBharat Mission(SBM) hasemerged as a vibrant massmovement with over 85 millionhouseholds now having accessto toilets for the first time in thecountry. This even as UnitedNations Chief Antonio Guterreslauded Prime Minister NarendraModi for his strong leadershipwith regard to sanitation.

Over the past four years, 130crore Indians have paid tributesto Mahatma Gandhi in the formof the Swachchh Bharat Mission.Completing four years today, ithas emerged as a vibrant massmovement with commendableoutcomes. Over 85 millionhouseholds now have access totoilets for the first time, Modisaid at an event here to mark149th birth anniversary ofMahatma Gandhi.

Launched on October 2,2014, the SBM aims to make allthe States in India open defeca-tion free by 2nd October nextyear.

Political leadership accom-panied by public funding, part-nership and people’s participa-

tion can help the world inachieving total sanitation, hesaid pointing out that India’sshare in the world’s populationthat practised open defecationwas 60 per cent, which has nowcome down to below 20 percent.

Addressing the concludingsession of the Mahatma GandhiInternational SanitationConvention here, he said 90 percent of the toilets constructedare being used even as theGovernment carries out con-stant follow ups to ensure thatcities declared open defecationfree “do not fall back on oldhabits”.

“It is the result of publicparticipation that rural sanita-tion has increased from 38 percent before 2014 to 94 per centnow,” the Prime Minister said.

While 25 States havedeclared themselves as opendefecation free, the number ofsuch villages has gone up to 5lakh, he said. The convention ispart of the Union Government’s‘Swachchhata hi Seva hai’ pro-gramme that kicked off onSeptember 15.

He lauded India’s roletowards sanitation in directionof achieving Sustainable

Development Goal set out to beachieved by 2030. Modi andGuterres signed the DelhiDeclaration which embodiespledge of world communitytowards sanitation.

The result of the survey onsanitation (2018) wasannounced at the convention.Haryana was awarded the firstprize as it emerged the overallfirst State.

A vibrant mass movement, says PM4 YEARS OF SWACHCHH BHARAT MISSION

New Delhi: Mahatma Gandhi’sfavourite devotional song‘Vaishnava Jan To’ has gone glob-al with artists from over 124countries having contributedmusically in paying homage tohim through the ‘bhajan’.

On the 149th birth anniver-sary of Mahatma Gandhi, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi Tuesdaylaunched a medley version of thefamous ‘bhajan’ by artists fromover 40 countries, during theclosing ceremony of theMahatma Gandhi InternationalSanitation Conference, aMinistry of External Affairs(MEA) statement said.

UN Secretary GeneralAntonio Guterres, ExternalAffairs Minister Sushma Swaraj,Minister of Drinking Water andSanitation Uma Bharti and other

eminent personalities were pre-sent on the occasion.

As part of the 150th birthanniversary celebrations ofMahatma Gandhi, artists fromover 124 countries have con-tributed musically in payinghomage to Mahatma Gandhithrough his favourite bhajan‘Vaishnav Jan To Tene Kahiye’, theMEA said.

The famous Gujarati hymnwas penned by the 15th centurypoet Narsimha Mehta and wasone of the favourite ‘bhajans’ ofMahatma Gandhi who includedit into the roster of prayers rou-tinely sung before his meetings,it said.

All Indian missions abroadidentified local artists or a groupto record the ‘bhajan’ in the run-up to Gandhi Jayanti. PTI

Artistes from 124 nationspay homage to Bapu

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

Farmers protests led by theBharatiya Kisan Union

(BKU) is the fourth one in thepast seven months despite hikein the minimum support priceof 23 kharif crops and subsidyin fertilisers. The protest byfarmers is not a good sign forthe Modi Government ahead ofthe Assembly polls in five States.

A few months back, veg-etable growers were out on thestreets protesting against lowprices in Maharashtra, MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab andHaryana. Then it was the turnof sugarcane farmers ofMaharashtra and Western UttarPradesh. And after that milkproducers dumped their milkon the streets to draw attentionto the glut that had broughtprices down. Ahead of the gen-eral elections of 2019, farmprotests and strikes have caughtthe attention of our political

class. According to National

Crime Records Bureau (NCRB)data, there is an almost eight-fold rise in ‘agrarian riots’between 2014 and 2016 whichinclude conflict over land andwater, resources that have comeunder stress from weather-related shocks and inadequatepolicy response.

“The plight of farmershardly changed despite severalmeasures taken by theGovernment including hike inthe MSP. The daily hike ofpetrol and diesel prices is a bigblow to the farmers duringkharif season,” said YudhvirSingh, spokesperson of BKU.

The BKU leader lamentedthat the Modi Government hasfailed to learn a lesson from theAssembly polls in Gujarat lastyear where rural Gujarat didnot vote to Modi Government.

Farmers who are protest-ing, demanding loan waivers,

clearance of pending sugar-cane payments and implemen-tation of the SwaminathanCommittee Report, free elec-tricity for running tubewellsand PMFBY should be madeapplicable to all crops and pre-mium must be paid by theGovernment, rehabilitation offamilies for farmers who hadcommitted suicide; the assur-ance of a minimum income forfarmers and a monthly pensionof `5,000 for small and mar-ginal farmers who completed60 years of age.

Parmanand Singh of Biharunit of BKU, said the protest isan indication that the currentpolicies of the Government arenot effective and pro farmers.The frequent hike in petrol anddiesel prices has severelyimpacted the plight of thefarmers during the kharif sea-son this year. “Majority of farm-ers have not been benefittedfrom the hike in the MSP in

Bihar due to lack of procure-ment mechanism,” he said.

Last year, the country wit-nessed a massive massive farm-ers’ protests across the country,starting with the MadhyaPradesh and Maharashtra agi-tations of last summer where sixfarmers were killed in police fir-ing and reaching a crescendowith the Kisan Long March thisyear where 35,000 farmersmarched from Nasik toMumbai.

According to RashtriyaKisan Mahasangha’s foundermember Benod Kumar Pandey,the trend is not a good sign tothe Government ahead of theassembly polls due this year infive states and general electionsnext year. “There are threemajor risks that the farmerfaces today, which arise fromthree different sources-prices,trade policies, and resourcestress. One of the major uncer-tainties facing the Indian farmer

is volatility in prices. This hasbeen particularly sharp in thecase of vegetables and pulsesover the past few years”.

“Excess production of veg-etables and pulses invariablylead to a crash in prices, whichoften trigger protests. TheGovernment’s procurementpolicy for cereals ensures thatprices of rice and wheat are lessvolatile than those of otherfood items. The absence of arobust insurance mechanismthat protects farmers from theserisks means that Indian farm-ers are being compelled tomake unhedged bets when theybegin sowing each season.

“With extreme weatherevents such as high tempera-tures and erratic rainfall likelyto become more frequentbecause of climate change, theresource stress facing farmerswill only increase,” Prof AjabSingh of Karnal AgricultureUniversity.

Farmers’ protests not good for Modi GovtMEASURES NOT PAYING OFF

RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI

With the beginning of rabicrop season from

October, the Narendra ModiGovernment plans to raise theminimum support prices ofwheat by `1,735 to `1,840 perquintal, an increase of 6 percent. Prices of Channa that isalso likely to be raised from`4,400 to ̀ 4,620 per quintal, anincrease of 5 per cent. A pro-posal to this effect is expectedto be brought before the nextCabinet meeting as the ElectionCommission may announcepoll schedules for Assemblypolls in five States this week.

Sources said that the UnionCabinet will consider the MSPof all five rabi crops and the rec-ommendation is to increasethem in the range of 2-21 percent from the last year’s mini-mum support prices (MSPs).The announcement of MSP ofrabi crops assume significancethis year as sowing begins fromOctober and the monsoon rain-

fall was 20 per cent deficient inSeptember bringing moisturelevel down. The deficiency ofsouthwest monsoon is over 9per cent this year which couldbe major worrisome of theModi Government.

According to the proposal,Masoor may see a hike from`4,250 to `4,475 a quintal. TheMSP of mustard, the key oilseedcrop of the winter season, is alsolikely to be increased from`4,000 to `4,200 per quintal.

In case of safflower, theMSP may be increased from`4,100 to `4,945 a quintal , anincrease of 20.61 per cent.

Barley MSP is likely to see2.13 per cent increases at ̀ 1,440per quintal. The Governmenthas already announced kharifcrops’ MSPs at 150 per cent overtheir cost. Despite patchy rain-fall in some parts, the AgricultureMinistry has set a foodgrain pro-duction target of 285.2 milliontonnes for 2018-19, a marginalincrease from the previous year’sharvest of 284.8 million tonnes.

ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI

The 12th-centur y oldJanardhanagudi temple in

Kerala’s Wayanad which is in adilapidated state can now finallylook for a facelift with theGovernment recently declaring ita national monument.

An artist’s delight, the temple’shuge stone pillars have nearly 300intricate and elaborate carvings,sculpture of a fishing man, a prim-itive war scene featuring tuskers, astone edict in old Kannada script,figures of Jain deities and sculp-tures of the ‘Dashavathara’. Thetemple was supposed to get thenational tag after the nearbyVishnu temple (Vishnugudi), locat-ed just 700 meters away from it, gotthe same.

A senior official from theArcheological Survey of India(ASI) said that the ancientJanardhana and Vishnu temples atPunchavayal, near Panamaram, inWayanad remain neglected in spiteof an announcement by the then

Union Minister V NarayanasamyCentre in 2009 that the two Jaintemples would be declared nation-al monuments.

These temples have been builtaccording to the temple architec-ture of the Jain community, eachwith a ‘Garbhagudi’ (sanctum sanc-torum), a ‘Navarangam’ (a place forsub deities), a ‘Kalasa Mandapam’and a ‘Gopuram,’

However, while the ASIdeclared the Vishnugudi temple anational monument in September2015, the nearby temple(Vishnugudi) has now finally comeunder the ASI umbrella.

The style of the sculptures and

a stone edict on a wall of theJanardhana temple in old Kannadascript show these temples mayhave been built during the reign ofthe Hoysala or the Vijayanagaradynasties in the Deccan plateaufrom the 12th to the 14th centuries,as per reports.

The temple stands as an exam-ple of craftsmanship of the sculp-tors then and it also houses stoneedict with inscriptions in Tamilmaking mention of the donation ofland to the temple and conduct offestivals throughout the year.

A detailed study of the templecould throw more light on thesocio-economic and culturalaspects of the medieval Andhrabefore the Gajapatis of Odishashot into limelight, say the reports.

The huge stone pillars werebrought from Karnataka, said MRRaghava Varier, historian whostudied the sculptures. The‘Jaladhara’ inscriptions on a copperplate in a Jain temple at nearbyVaradoor confirm it, Dr Variersaid.

Govt plans to raiseMSP on wheat by 6%

PNS n NEW DELHI

On the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti onTuesday, the Indian Railways

announced that the national transporterhas planted 13.26 lakh trees over 1,300 kmof its network from September 15 toOctober 2 this year. Railways Ministryobserved ‘Swachchhta Hi Sewa Pakhwada’across its network during the period andon Tuesday the organisation administeredSwachhta (cleanliness) pledge to its per-sonnel.

Two days each has been proposed tobe devoted to Swachchh Station, SwachchhTrain, Swachchh Neer, Swachchh Parisar,Swachchh Samwad, Swachchh Awarenessacross the entire network of IndianRailways, said a railway ministry statement.

The Ministry also organised aSatyanishtha programme which waslaunched as a Mission in July 2018 forIndian Railways officers and supervisors.On the occasion Chairman Railway BoardAshwani Lohani said that Satyanishtha is

not a vigilance programme but it isbeyond that. “It is positive attitude andright way to do the work. There are 100sof good practices happening every day inIndian Railway,” Lohani said adding thatthe nation is fortunate to have a PrimeMinister who has been talking aboutcleanliness.

The programme aims at sensitisingrailway officers and supervisors about theneed to adhere to ethics and maintain highstandards of probity in public life. So farfour lakhs employees have been trained at300 places about Satyanistha.

Former Cabinet Secretary PrabhatKumar and other board members werepresent whereas all the zonal GeneralManagers were live through video con-ferencing.

Rlys planted 13.26 lakh trees over 1,300km of its network from Sep 15 to Oct 2

Chairman Railway Board (CRB) Ashwani Lohani pays respectsto Mahatma Gandhi whose sculpture was unveiled by himalong with Railway Board members on Rail Bhawan premiseson Tuesday PTI

New Delhi: The CBI has initiated a preliminaryenquiry into the alleged collusion of forest depart-ment officials in tiger deaths and poaching casesreported from protected areas of Uttarakhand dur-ing the past five years.

The agency has set up multiple teams of offi-cials from its Wildlife Wing to look into the deathsand possibly complete its probe within threemonths, the sources said.

During its probe the agency will cover deathsand killing of tigers and leopards reported from theprotected areas of Joshimath, Rajaji National Park,Corbett Tiger Reserve, Pithoragarh, Almora,Haldwani and Kumaon range among others.

The agency has started the inquiry againstunidentified officials of Uttarakhand forest depart-ment and others to look into their alleged “crim-inal misconduct, complicity, involvement, collu-sion” in the incidents of poaching and deaths of wildcats reported in the state. Some of the teams havealready reached at some of the crime scenes to begintheir investigation while some are likely to reachsoon, they said.

It was reported that in last two-and-a-half years,40 tigers and 272 leopards have died in the state.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI)action has come on the orders of Uttarakhand HighCourt which had taken note of the deaths.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Navy and IAF onTuesday launched

Humanitarian Assistance andDisaster Relief(HADR)opera-tion in aid of earthquake hitpeople of Indonesia by ferryingmaterial including drinkingwater, milk, biscuits, medi-cines, tents and generatorsthrough transport planes andthree warships. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Mondayheld a telephonic conversa-tion with Indonesian PresidentJoko Widodo and offered allpossible assistance.

While the Navy diverted

three ships including INS Tir,INS Sujata and INS Shardulfrom Singapore to Palu inIndonesia, the IAF deployedone C-130J and one C-17transport aircraft to airlift med-ical teams and relief material.

Besides HADR bricks ormaterial normally carried byall ships, these ships also haveon board 30,000 litres of bot-tled drinking water, 1,500 litresof packaged juices, 500 litresmilk, 700 kg of biscuits and 20tents. The ships were dis-patched at first light onTuesday morning, Navy offi-cials said here.

A 7.5 magnitude earth-

quake struck the Indonesianprovince of Sulawesi on Fridaytriggering a Tsunami leavingmore than 1,300 dead andlakhs rendered homeless.

The IAF C-130J aircraft iscarrying a field hospital fromAgra while the C-17 aircraft iscarrying National DisasterManagement Authority(NDMA) load, mainly con-sisting tents, generators andmedicines. The C-130 carrying37 medical personnel has takenoff from Hindan for Chennai.From Chennai the aircraft willfly to Kualanamu internation-al airport and then move toPalu.

HADR operation by Navy,IAF in quake-hit Indonesia

Kerala’s Janardhanagudi temple, anational monument, in for facelift?

CBI starts probeinto U’khand tigerdeaths, poachings

New Delhi: India is targeting 40 per centof electricity generation from non-fossilfuel-based resources by 2030 as it looksto tap vast solar and wind potential toreplace reliance on polluting coal tomeet its energy needs, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi said on Tuesday.

Modi said he saw the 121-countryInternational Solar Alliance as the futureOPEC for meeting energy needs of theworld.

Oil cartel OPEC led by Saudi Arabiacurrently meets close to half of theworld’s oil needs.

Speaking at the first Assembly of theISA here, he said the solar power will playthe same role that oil wells have playedover the past few decades in meeting glob-al energy needs.

Humans have in the last 150-200years relied on resources trapped belowthe earth’s surface for meeting energyneeds. But for a secure future, resourcesavailable above the ground like solar andwind energy need to be harnessed, he said.

Stating that the focus must be onrenewable sources for meeting energyneeds, he said India wants to bring all UN

members on board of ISA.Modi said 50 GW of renewable ener-

gy will be soon added to existing capac-ity and non-hydro renewable will con-tribute 20 per cent of total energy.

“This is the right time to invest in solarmanufacturing,” he said adding he saw aninvestment potential of `70,000 crore to`80,000 crore in solar manufacturing.

The Prime Minister said 31 crore LEDbulbs save 40,000 million units of elec-tricity and `16,000 crore in a year.

He said 28 lakh solar pumps can save10 GW of electricity every year. PTI

Will generate 40% of power from

non-fossil fuel by 2030: PM Modi

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres and Union Ministers Sushma Swaraj, Uma Bharti, Hardeep Singh Puri andManoj Sinha at the Mahatma Gandhi International Sanitation Convention (MGISC) at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi on Tuesday PTI

United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres pays floral respect to Mahatma Gandhi on the occasion of his birthanniversary at Rajghat in New Delhi on Tuesday AP

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 nation 07

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

Anew Guinness Book ofWorld Record was created

on the occasion of the 150thbirthday of Father of the NationMohandas KaramchandGandhi when 5149 children inGandhiji’s attire gathered inNalgonda on Tuesday.

The children donning a

white loin cloth, head coveredin a white wig or cap, sportinga reading glass and carrying astick in hand gathered to paytheir respects to Gandhiji in anovel style. The programme tocreate the world record wasorganized by Gandhi GyanPratishthan and Global Familyorganisation. Earlier recordwas of Bengaluru where 4605children in “Gandhi style” hadgathered there.

Interestingly, the newGuinness record was created inthe same Nalgonda districtwhich has a temple dedicated toMahatma Gandhi.

The two-floor temple atPedda Kaparthy village alsoboasts of a library, which hasbooks on all religions in accor-dance with Gandhiji’s teachingsand philosophy of peaceful co-existence.

OMER FAROOQ n HYDERABAD

The fight for the crucialMuslim votes in the forth-

coming Telangana Assemblyelections between the rulingTelangana Rashtra Samiti andthe Opposition Congress hasintensified. While the Congresshas alleged that the TRS is incahoots with the BJP andNarendra Modi, the TRS isbusy wooing the minority bymaking several new promisesin its manifesto.

Telangana State Congresspresident N Uttam KumarReddy has lashed out at the“secret nexus” between the rul-ing Telangana Rashtra Samitiand the BJP and cautioned thepeople that a vote for KCR(Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao) is a vote forthe BJP and Narendra Modi. Atthe same time he also attackedthe Muslim political party Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader-ship for its support to the KCRGovernment.

Addressing a press confer-ence in Hyderabad on Tuesday,Uttam Kumar Reddy said thatMIM’s support to the TRS wasincomprehensible as KCR dur-ing his four and a half year-longrule has not done anything forthe Muslim minority. “Why arethey supporting TRS when theTRS Government failed to ful-fil the promise of 12% reser-vation to the Muslims and

supported the BJP in the elec-tions of President and VicePresident”, he said, warningthat in the Lok Sabha electionsTRS will join hands with theBJP. “This is the reason KCRadvanced the Assembly polls”.

Uttam Kumar Reddyalleged that the Owaisi broth-ers were supporting the TRSfor their own selfish interestand misleading the Muslimcommunity.

Reddy also alleged that theTRS Government had failed inprotecting Waqf properties,90% minority colleges wereclosed because of the nonreimbursement of fee by theGovernment and not even 10%minority youth were sanc-tioned loans.

Recalling the “Alerencounter” in which fiveMuslim under trial prisonerswere killed by the police fouryears ago the Congress presi-dent said that so far not a sin-gle report was prepared an noaction was taken against thepolicemen involved. “KCR

promised to develop old cityinto Istanbul but nothing wasdone”, he added.

Uttam Kumar Reddy’s out-burst came after MIM presidentAsaduddin Owaisi in severalmedia interactions and otheroccasions declared his full sup-port to Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao and exud-ed confidence that the TRS willcome back to power for the sec-ond consecutive term.

AT the same time he alsorepeatedly targeted Congressparty and held it responsible forthe weakening of secularism inthe country. He was critical ofCongress president RahulGandhi for adopting softHindutva line to copy the BJP.

In a related development a

large delegation of Muslimintellectuals led by the stateJamat-e-Islami Hind presidentMoulana Hamid MohammedKhan called on the ChiefMinister K Chandrasekhar Raoin Hyderabad and lauded sev-eral unique initiatives of TRSGovernment for the welfareand uplift of Muslim commu-nity. They appreciated steps likeincreasing the minority welfarebudget to `2,000 crore (20 bil-lion), residential schools for theminority students and ShadiMubarak scheme for the mar-riage of poor girls.

At the meeting, also attend-ed by Deputy Chief MinisterMohammed Mahmood Ali,Hamid Mohammed Khancalled for bringing the minori-ty welfare budget under a subplan so that the unutilizedfunds don’t lapse, setting up res-idential junior and degree col-leges for minority students onthe lines of successful residen-tial schools. “TRS has done infour years what others could notdo in 65 years”, he said.

Chief Minister KCR, whohad invited the delegation athis official residence for dis-cussions ahead of preparinghis party’s election manifesto,had a detailed interaction. Hedenied the reports of possibleunderstanding between TRSand the BJP. He alleged thatthe Opposition Congress wasspreading rumors that theTRS was paving the way forPrime Minister Modi to con-test from Secunderabad. “Thisis an attempt to mislead thepeople”, he said.

ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI

When the whole nationpaid tribute to Mahatma

Gandhi on the occasion ofGandhi Jayanti on Tuesday,Tripura Chief Minister BiplabKumar Deb drew a parallelbetween the Father of theNation with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and said thatModi also could move thepeople of India as Gandhiji did.

“When Mahatma Gandhiused to address the nation, all theIndians from village to towns aremoved. Now these days, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi is alsolike that. I will give just oneexample. When Prime MinisterNarendra Modi addressed thenation from Red Fort andappealed to those who hasmoney, who are self-sufficient togive away LPG subsidy, crores ofIndians who are self-sufficientresponded and gave away theLPG subsidy. He is the PrimeMinister. He could have made alaw. He could have asked thePetroleum Minister to make alaw for making income slab foravailing LPG subsidy scheme.But he did not do that, becausehe knows Mahatma Gandhi,”said Deb at a function, a videoof which went viral on Facebook.

“Why I am giving u thisexample… In this country,Mahatma Gandhi came fromthe land of Gujarat whose oneappeal used to move the peopleof India. Now Narendra BhaiModi also came from the land

of Gujarat and his appeal alsocould move the people equally.1.5 crore people of Indiaresponded to his appeal and gaveaway LPG subsidy,” said Deb.

Last week, the Tripura ChiefMinister landed himself in a con-troversy by saying that Primeminister, Narendra Modi has gota brother who runs auto rick-shaw and mother lives in 10X12house. “He (Prime MinsterModi) has got his mother, whois old but Prime minister doesnot keep her in the Prime min-ister’s official residence. She stilllives in a 10X12 house,” said Debwhile addressing a gathering atAgartala on Saturday.

PNS n GANDHINAGAR

Gujarat Chief Minister VijayRupani attended the sarva

dharma prarthana sabha (all-religion prayer meeting) andpaid obeisance to Gandhiji onhis 150th birthday atPorbandar.

Accompanied by digni-taries, Rupani went round theroom at Kirti Mandir, theerstwhile house of theMahatma where the Father ofthe Nation was born.

After offering flowers at theportraits of Mahatma Gandhiand Kasturba Gandhi, Rupanisaid that Mahatma’s life was hismessage as his philosophy hassolution to all the problemseven now.

Living up to his experi-ments with truth, non-vio-lence and cleanliness could bethe best tribute to Gandhiji,said Rupani, adding that hisfight against untouchabilitycontinues.

Gujarat has alwaysmarched ahead on the pathshown by the Mahatma,establishing his mission forSwaraj to Surajya, meaningSelf-Rule to Good

Governance, he added.CM Rupani asked all citi-

zens to rise up to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi slo-gan for Swachch BharatMission started on Gandhiji’sbirthday. He asked all to adoptGandhij’s principle of trustee-ship, serve the destitute andpreserve and practise thevirtues of life.

Later on the day Rupanilaid foundation stone for KhadiMuseum to be developed nearSabarmati Ashram inAhmedabad at an estimatedcost of `19 crore.


Assam on Tuesday paid richtribute to the Father of the

Nation on the occasion ofGandhi Jayanti with AssamChief Minister SarbanandaSonowal dedicating to the peo-ple India’s tallest national flagat Gandhi Mandap inGuwahati.

The national flag on a319.5 feet pole is the highest inthe country with respect to theaverage elevation of the city.However, it is ranked thirdhighest in the country con-sidering only the height of theflag pole, after at Attari borderwhich is 360 feet and PimpriChinchwad Bhakti ShaktiChawk, Pune, which is 351feet.

Speaking on the occa-sion, Chief Minister Sonowalsaid that the Government ofAssam has resolved to con-tribute its might to the jour-ney of transformation of NewIndia of Mahatma Gandhi’sdream started and spear-headed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Sonowal said thatGandhiji’s philosophy on non-violence, swachhata, untouch-ability is still relevant not onlyin India but outside.

“Even the greats likeNelson Mandela, MartinLuther King followedGandhiji’s philosophy to servethe humanity,” he said addingthat installing the tallestNational Flag in the state wasmotivated by Gandhiji’s prin-ciple of nationalism.

Speaking on Gandhiji’s

importance on cleanliness,Sonowal while referring toPrime Minister NarendraModi who launched SwachhBharat Abhiyan on 2 October,2014 to pay tributes to thegreat leader and present hima Clean India on his 150thBirth Anniversary in 2019,said that Swachh BharatAbhiyan is no longerremained a Government pro-gramme, it has become a massmovement.

“The reflections of SwachhBharat Abhiyan can be seen inentire length and breadth of thecountry where people irre-spective of all class are volun-teering themselves to cleanli-ness movement,” he added.Stating Assam Government’scommitment to ‘swachhata’Sonowal said that hisGovernment has constructed26 lakh latrines in the state overpast two years in theGovernment’s bid to declare theState a open defecation free.

He sought cooperationfrom all sections of the peo-ple to make Assam clean andgreen. He also informed thatthe Government is contem-plating to construct ‘signaturestructure/postcard structure’in each hill of the city toenable the administration aswell as the city dwellers to pre-serve the sanctity of hill areasand discourage theirencroachment.


NSCN (IM) general secre-tary and top Naga nation-

alist leader ThuingalengMuivah has been admitted toa private hospital in New Delhi.Sources in the NSCN (IM)confirmed this on Tuesdayand added that Muivah wasadmitted into the hospital onMonday after he complained of

uneasiness.“It is a routine check-up.

The doctors at the hospital,however, asked him to getadmitted. He is alright and isexpected to be released fromthe hospital in next couple ofdays,” said a senior NSCN(IM) leader from Dimapur.

Muviah has been staying inNew Delhi for some time now.The 84-year old Muivah signedthe ‘Framework Agreement’ withthe Government of India onAugust 3, 2015. TheGovernment of India has statedIndo Naga political dialoguehas entered conclusive phase.Muiva’s long time comrade, IsakChishi Swu, passed away in2016.

TRS, Cong fight to woo Muslims

MIM, othersstand with KCR

UTTAM KUMAR ALLEGEDTHE OWAISI BROTHERS

WERE SUPPORTING THE TRSFOR THEIR OWN SELFISH

INTERESTS ANDMISLEADING MUSLIM

COMMUNITY

IANS n AGARTALA

A40-year-old CPI-M news-paper in Tripura, ‘Daily

Deshar Katha’, has beenordered closed by the Government on technicalgrounds, leading the Marxists to accuse the State'sBJP Government of commit-ting an "illegal" act.

The West Tripura DistrictMagistrate passed an orderclosing down the Bengalidaily, alleging discrepancies inthe changeover of the man-agement.

Communist Party ofIndia-Marxist (CPI-M) leaderand the newspaper's foundereditor Gautam Das onTuesday said the rulingBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)"pressurised the DistrictMagistrate to do the illegalwork as the newspaper wascrit ical of the StateGovernment's misgovernanceand ruling party's undemoc-ratic ways".

The BJP denied the alle-gations. The Distr ictMagistrate and Collector,Sandeep Mahatme, after con-ducting four hearingsbetween September 12 andOctober 1, passed the ordero nMonday night to suspendpublication of the newspaperwhich began publication in 1978.

Das said that since the

BJP-IPFT (IndigenousPeople's Front of Tripura)Government came to power in March, massive attacks had beenunleashed on Left leaders and cadres.

The circulation of "DailyDeshar Katha" fell to 45,000per day, leaving 1,000 vendorsand hawkers jobless.

"The BJP Governmenttr ied to stop issue ofGovernment advertisementsto the newspaper but theycould not do so due to anorder of the Gauhati HighCourt," Das said.

The newspaper was orig-inally owned by CPI-M.

In 2012, the ownershipwas handed over to a regis-tered society.

Last month it was transferred to a newly formed trust.

"All the procedures have

been done and everythingwas conveyed to the Registrarof Newspapers through theDistr ict Magistrate," he added.

Terming the Mondayaction as a "black day" for theIndian media, Das said thateven during the Emergency in1975-77 no newspaper wasforcibly closed down.

"At the behest of BJP, theDM has done the most unde-mocratic and illegal act. The DM even violated thejudicial procedure," the Leftleader said.

He said the managementof the newspaper would soonseek justice from the appro-priate forum.

He said over 200 journalists and non-journal-ists would now become jobless. BJP spokesmanMrinal Kanti Deb said the BJPhad no hand in the DistrictMagistrate's action. "The CPI-M had hidden facts about themanagement. They havecheated the people. The DMhas only curbed the illegalityof the management of the newspaper," Deb told the media.

In New Delhi, the CPI-Msaid: "This is a brazen attackon the freedom of the press.It is a sad day that (the daily) has stopped pub-l ication on October 2, Gandhi Jayanti."

CPI-M daily in Tripurashut; party blames Govt

The DistrictMagistrate and

Collector, SandeepMahatme, afterconducting four

hearings betweenSeptember 12 and

October 1, passed anorder on Monday nightto suspend publication

of the newspaperwhich began

publication in 1978

Top Nagaleader Muivahhospitalisedin Delhi

The 84-year oldMuivah signed the

‘FrameworkAgreement’ with theGovernment of Indiaon August 3, 2015

5K Gandhi lookalikescreate Guinness WorldRecord on Gandhiji’sbirth anniversary

An earlier recordwas of Bengaluru

where 4605children in

‘Gandhi style’had gathered

there

All-religionprayer meetingat PorbandarCleanliness istrue tribute toGandhiji: Rupani

Assam pays tribute to Gandhiji by

installing tallest national flag

A high-mast national flag installed as part of the Smart City project at 'GandhiMandap' on the Sarania Hilltop in Guwahati. This is the third tallest flag-post inIndia with a height of over 300 ft and with a flag of 120 x 80 ft PTI

STATING ASSAMGOVERNMENT’S

COMMITMENT TO‘SWACHHATA’ SONOWAL

SAID THAT HISGOVERNMENT HAS

CONSTRUCTED 26 LAKHLATRINES IN THE STATE

OVER PAST TWO YEARS INTHE GOVERNMENT’S BID TODECLARE THE STATE A OPEN

DEFECATION FREE

On Gandhi Jayanti,Tripura CM draws parallelbetween Gandhiji, Modi

Last week, the TripuraChief Minister landed

himself in acontroversy by saying

that Prime MinisterNarendra Modi has got

a brother who runsautorickshaw

and mother lives in10X12 house

IANS n

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Supporters of various Hinduorganisations on Tuesday

took to the streets in variouscities of Kerala to protestagainst the September 28Supreme Court verdict thatthrew open the Sabarimalatemple to women of all ages.

The protest here was led byformer Travancore DevasomBoard (TDB) president andformer Congress legislatorPrayar Gopalakrishnan whosaid that he will oppose the ver-dict "come what may".

He, along with RahulEshwar, a member of theSabarimala temple 'tantric'family, and hundreds of pro-testers rallied in the city andheld up traffic for a while.

The TDB manages theSabarimala temple.

At Kochi, protesters had atiff with police when the latterobjected to hampering the flowof road traffic.

The largest protest was wit-nessed at Pandalam, wheremembers of the erstwhilePandalam royal family, alongwith a large number of men andwomen walked to the VeliyeKoyikal Temple at Pandalamwhile singing hymns.

The family plays an integralrole in the temple affairs and has

already expressed deep dissat-isfaction over the court verdict.

Protesters also rallied atPamba town, which is situatedon the foothills of theSabarimala temple.

"The court order is notacceptable as every religiousplace has its own traditionswhich cannot be overruled by

a court of law as it affects thesentiments of devotees," said aprotester.

Similar protests were alsowitnessed in Palakkad.

On September 28, theapex court had said that theban on women from enteringthe Lord Ayyappa temple vio-lated their fundamental rightsand constitutional guaranteeof equality.

Until now, girls below theage of 10 and women over 50were allowed to visit the hilltopshrine, located in the WesternGhats and about 130 km fromThiruvananthapuram.

SABARIMALA VERDICT

Ayyappa Dharma Sena president Rahul Easwar and other devotees raising slogansin protest against the Supreme Court's verdict allowing entry of women of all agesinto the Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala, in Thiruvananthapuram on Tuesday PTI

Hindu bodies hold protests in KeralaThe largest protestwas witnessed atPandalam, wheremembers of the

erstwhile Pandalamroyal family, along witha large number of menand women, walked to

the Veliye Koyikaltemple

IANS n PATNA

In the past two and a halfyears, 1.61 lakh people have

been arrested for violating theliquor ban imposed by theBihar Government but only141 have been sentenced sofar, an Excise and ProhibitionDepartment official said on Tuesday.

More than 1.33 lakh casesin connection with violationof the prohibition have beenrecorded since the ban was imposed in Bihar byNitish Kumar-led Janata Dal-United Government on April 5, 2016.

The police have conduct-ed raids on over 4 lakh loca-tions while the ExciseDepartment conducted raidson more than 2 lakh locationsand seized over 16 lakh litresof foreign-made liquor andnine lakh litres of country-

made liquor.Besides, police have seized

thousands of litres of spirit andhundreds of beer bottles dur-ing the raids.

"The law enforcementagencies have been directed toact tough against violators,"Kumar said.

In July 2017, BiharAssembly passed amendmentsto the prohibition law to curbits misuse.

Bihar prohibition:

1.61 lakh held,

only 141 convicted

THE POLICE HAVECONDUCTED RAIDS ON OVER

4 LAKH LOCATIONS WHILETHE EXCISE DEPARTMENT

CONDUCTED RAIDS ONMORE THAN 2 LAKH

LOCATIONS AND SEIZEDOVER 16 LAKH LITRES OF

FOREIGN-MADE LIQUOR ANDNINE LAKH LITRES OF

COUNTRY-MADE LIQUOR

Thiruvananthapuram: Keralamusician and violinistBalabhaskar, who was seri-ously injured in a road acci-dent last week, died here earlyon Tuesday after suffering acardiac arrest, hospital author-ities said. He was 40.

The funeral will be heldhere on Wednesday.

Balabhaskar, who wasseriously injured along withhis wife in a road accident onSeptember 25 on the out-skirts ofThiruvananthapuram, died at12.55 a.m., the AnanthapuriHospital said.

The accident killed theirtwo-year-old daughter andalso injured their driver.

Following an autopsy, thebody was taken toBalabhaskar's alma mater,University CollegeTrivandrum where the vio-linist's tryst with his passionbegan.

Balabhaskar's wife and thedriver are still warded in thehospital.

Doctors said they didtheir best to save Balabhaskarbut he passed away. IANS

Musician, violinistBalabhaskar dead

CM Rupani askedall citizens to

rise up to PrimeMinister

Narendra Modi’sslogan for

Swachch BharatMission started

on Gandhiji’sbirthday

Shillong: The Leader ofOpposition in the MeghalayaAssembly, Mukul Sangma, onTuesday voiced confidence thatthe Modi Government will beousted in the 2019 Lok Sabhapolls because of the "anti-peo-ple" agenda of the BJP and theNDA Government.

"People thought that theBJP was an alternative butnow they have realised andhave seen things that had hap-pened... Therefore, a non-BJPGovernment will be there in2019," the veteran Congressleader told journalists.

Stating that there was noalternative party to the Congressin India, Sangma, a member ofthe Congress' manifesto com-mittee, alleged that "other partiesare not serious in fighting againstthe BJP and they instead are busyin creating division among thepeople". Sangma said the ModiGovernment was "insensitive"to the needs of the people of thenortheastern region. IANS

Modi Govt will

be ousted in

next election:

Mukul Sangma

I

t is a well-known fact that equity markets are risky and investors with high risk

appetite invest in such markets for potentially higher returns. However, liquid

funds, which are high liquidity open-ended income schemes that invest in debt

and money market instruments such as Government securities, treasury bills and

call money among others, have always been a safe haven for risk averse investors

who consider these investment avenues as an alternative to bank savings account

to beat inflation. These instruments have a maximum maturity period of 91 days

and are considered safe because they mitigate interest rate volatility risk. And to

add cherry on top, the net asset value (NAV) is calculated for 365 days as com-

pared to other debt funds where the NAV is calculated only for business days.

Overall, liquid mutual funds can win hands down from bank savings, especially

fixed deposits, not only in terms of returns but also in liquidity and lower tax outgo.

However, for the last one month, investors were in for shock with some liq-

uid mutual funds falling anywhere from one to five percent on a daily basis. Generally,

in stock markets, one has to look at long-term returns, but by nature, liquid funds

are short-term in nature and the negative returns would have proved a nightmare

for investors with an investment horizon of one month or so. The main reason for

this downward spiral has been the quick and successive downgrading of com-

mercial paper issued by IL&FS by ICRAfrom

“ICRAA1+” to “ICRAA4” on September 8 fol-

lowed by another demotion from “A4” to “D”

on September 17, due to overall deterioration

of its financial health. In addition, corporate

bonds and long-term loans of IL&FS were

downgraded from AA+ to BB. Similar downgrades were also witnessed across

the debentures and/or commercial paper of other group companies like IL&FS

Financial Services, IL&FS Tamil Nadu Power Company, IL&FS Energy

Development Company, IL&FS Transportation Networks and IL&FS Education &

Technology Services.

As many as 32 liquid funds from 12 AMCs had exposure of IL&FS and its

group companies to the tune of `2,283 crores as on August 31, 2018 and any

maturities that are due over the next few months would make an interesting obser-

vation. This was a wake up call for all investors who considered investing in debt

or liquid mutual funds safe. By all means, it is a safer option for investors who

have less tolerance to risk, but whether the investment is in equity or debt, qual-

ity of the underlying asset is of utmost importance and one cannot hope to achieve

sustained growth in the value of investment if the quality of the underlying asset,

be it stocks or debt, is poor. For guidance, investors can look towards credit rat-

ing agencies, which are regulated by the Securities and Exchange Board of India

(SEBI) in India and provide a benchmark to investors to help them take correct

investment decisions by analysing companies considering several factors like, finan-

cial statements, lending and borrowing history, level and type of debt, ability to

repay the debt and so on, with poor credit rating indicating that the company is

at a high risk of default. The famous credit rating agencies in India are CRISIL,

ICRA, CARE, Brickwork Ratings, India Rating and Research and SMERAfor small

and medium enterprises. According to the SEBI, long-term debt instruments can

have the highest rating of AAA and lowest of D, where instruments are already

in default or are expected to be in default.

Similarly, the ratings for short-term debt instruments can range from A1 to

D. What is surprising, however, is the quick and sharp downgrade of ratings of

IL&FS from A1+ to D. Were the credit rating agencies caught unaware of the finan-

cial health of IL&FS or are there more skeletons in the cupboard? How will the

investors protect themselves if the credit rating agencies fail to do their job effi-

ciently? In this case, all liquid funds that have high exposure to IL&FS and its group

companies face default risk or credit risk, the probability that it will default on the

required payments on the debt obligations. The other risks that investors in debt

or liquid funds should be aware of are interest rate risk, a risk that an increase in

the general level of interest rates will cause the market value of existing invest-

ments to fall; inflation risk, a risk that an investor faces that the return one earns

on the investment doesn’t keep pace with inflation, and market risk, a risk that

the entire bond market declines. If this happens, the price of the debt or liquid

mutual fund will fall regardless of the type and quality of debt instruments it is invest-

ed in.

So, how can investors protect themselves from the inherent risks? One way

is to follow the strategy of laddering. Buy different liquid mutual funds where the

underlying instruments mature at different times, which will reduce the overall matu-

rity risk and also frees up capital at different times, which can either be used as

income or can be further reinvested. The second strategy is diversification. By

choosing debt funds with different mix of bonds, investors can increase the pos-

sibility of some bonds performing well at times when others are underperform-

ing. These strategies can help investors tide over ups and downs.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, Amity University)

The earthquake and subsequent tsunami that struck the Indonesian islandof Sulawesi last week was remarkable for the tragic scale of devasta-tion it caused. The death toll has crossed the 1,200-mark and casualty

numbers are expected to rise as many bodies remain trapped and voices ofpeople crying for help can still be heard from the rubble of collapsed build-ings. More than two million people have been affected and more than 40,000have been displaced. The damage caused to the island's infrastructure is mas-sive. The quake, of a magnitude of 7.5 on the Richter Scale, sent waves ris-ing as high as six meters and the tsunami's giant waves crashed into theshore they swept along with them all that was in their way. Sulawesi is amajor island of the Indonesian archipelago and the damage caused by theearthquake and tsunami will hit the country's economy hard. For many, thetsunami brought back to mind memories of the 2004 tsunami in the IndianOcean region which followed a 9.0 magnitude quake took a toll of 227,898lives. While the current situation has not reached the apocalyptic levels of2004, and the damage is limited to one country, the fact is that Indonesiais reeling under its destructive impact. Even as rescue workers are battlingagainst time, massive looting of food and other emergency provisions hasbeen reported. International help, it must be pointed out, has been slow incoming and it is the Indonesian Government which is trying but not alwayssucceeding in ensuring relief and rescue measures are in place and help isreaching those who need it most. Tales of individual courage -- like that ofthe ATC operator who lost his life because he stayed at his post to ensurea passenger aircraft took off without incident when the quake struck -- aboundbut are no substitute for coordinated disaster management.

The natural disaster, savage as it is, is not new to the island nation.Surrounded by volcanoes and prone to earthquakes/tsunamis, Indonesiaremains like some other countries in the region woefully unprepared fora powerful earthquake. The country's national meteorological and geophysicsagency BMKG had detected subterranean tectonic movement and issuedan earthquake alert but it failed to gauge its intensity. The tsunami warn-ing too, many complained, came too late. To top it all, the country did nothave adequate equipment and technological tools to conduct quick and effec-tive rescue operations. Of course, accurate detection of impending natur-al disasters is next to impossible; even Japan, for instance, which is knownto have one of the best systems to respond to such calamities, could notdo much in 2011 when a 9.1 earthquake and tsunami struck its coastalregion that left nearly 19,000 dead. The only solution, therefore, is to bebetter prepared. The disaster in Indonesia holds lessons in preparednessfor all, including India.

For only the second time in Indian corporate history, the Government ofIndia has superceded a board of directors and taken over a company.The last time it took over Satyam Computer Services to prevent con-

tagion from spreading in the Indian information technology sector. Now,the Government has been forced to act by taking over Infrastructure Leasing& Financial Services in order to prevent one of India's leading non-bank-ing financial services company from going under and to keep the entire sec-tor afloat. The decimation in the value of several housing finance firms instock markets is an indication of the collapse of investor sentiment in thesector. And even if those companies are completely healthy, the collapseof sentiment, thanks to a missed payment by an IL&FS subsidiary, couldhave meant that it would have been almost impossible to raise the capitalat a reasonable cost that is required for day-to-day operations.

Sentiment is a very important for markets, bankers and the public alike.And the Government was left with few options other than to explore a takeoverof IL&FS. The problems with the company and indeed with India's publicbanking sector and real estate all date back to the heady days of the early2000s and it appears that the Mumbai-based firm invested in and loanedmoney towards projects that in the cold light of a post financial crisis worldwere not sustainable, particularly with valuations that were gold-plated bytheir promoters. There needs to be a through investigation of IL&FS invest-ments, even those at the flagship GIFT City project in Gujarat. Just like withSatyam, financial investigators have to find out if management in IL&FScolluded with promoters of projects and even politicians. If taxpayer moneyis being used to bail out the company and some of their projects, the tax-payer has a right to know why the company set up a myriad of subsidiariesacross the world and whether there was political pressure from on top tosanction projects. As for the rest of the market, this intervention by the FinanceMinistry is likely to soothe some jangly nerves as has been evident in therecent fall of the market. Just like some of the growth was unbelievable someof the companies trading at lows seems quite bizarre. This is what can hap-pen when sentiment collapses even if there is no logical reason for it. India’seconomy continues to grow but repairing and dealing with the ineptitudeof the past and even the present remains a challenge. And with electionson the way and the need to pour vast sums of money into social sectorschemes, the challenges of managing both a ruined financial sector andsocial security schemes is one Narendra Modi wishes he did not have.

To the rescue

The Government’s take over of IL&FS will likely soothe some

nerves but why and how did the situation arise?

Tsunami effect

Well over a thousand people have died and tens of thousands

have been displaced in Indonesia; there are lessons to be learnt

A relook at future of industrialisationwww.dailypioneer.com

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

Adherence to procedure and accurate accounting as well as discipline is important for all enterprises, whether public or private. But the prime objective of any business has to be profit

There are any number of citizens who feel‘just as well that Air India has not beensold, it’s akin to selling the family jewels.’

To put the corporation on sale, wait for sever-al weeks and then fail to get even one offer, how-ever low, was a lesson for the Government tolearn. In fact, for a perceiving observer, theMaharajah story is a compendium of what notto do with a national asset. In principle, the ModiGovernment was right when it stated ‘jis deshki sarkar vyapari, wo desh bhikari’ (in a coun-try whose Government is a trader, that nationwill be a beggar).

The objective conditions in India are such asto require a relook at the Government’s policy ofprivatization as well as future industrialisation. Thefollowing is a bad example but nevertheless it isnot an uncommon one; ur else, the bank NPAswould not have been so enormous:

Quite some years ago, an acquaintance of thewriter wanted a project manager who would later

be suitable for taking over as chief executive. Thegentleman asked the writer to look out for any-one he knew who could fit the bill. To explain,he said what he was about. It was a mini steelplant; its project cost estimate was ̀ 20 crore. Themachinery, the costing of which he could takeliberty with, was worth about `10 crore and heproposed to jack that figure up to `15 crore.Financial institutions would lend at least two-thirds of the `15 crore which meant `10 crore.The capital was to be a total of `10 crore to bedivided into — half by promoters and half by so-called public subscription. The first half was tobe shared between the acquaintance and the Stategovernment, two and a half crore each since thesteel mill was a joint sector unit. If all went well,he would get five crore from the machinery sup-plier and invest only half of that in shares. Inshort, the project would for him make a profitof two-and-a-half crore rupees much before anysteel was produced! This is only an illustrationof how the worst entrepreneurs think. Thewriter’s reaction to the acquaintance was: Whystart siphoning before the project starts? Helaughed and said: “You are too innocent.”

There is a widespread impression that pri-vatization of industry will deliver the goodswhich the public sector has failed to do. We needto look at this belief afresh. Has the communi-ty of entrepreneurs delivered the goods in set-ting up industrial units of its own choice? Yesand no, it is a mixed picture. There are a fewoutstanding performances, some successful

enterprises but there are innumerable cases offailures and closures. Quite a few industrialestates for small and medium units look likeindustrial graveyards. The quality of managersis not greatly different between the private andpublic sectors though the opportunity to be acommitted professional who works hard at hisjob is greater in the private sector.

The prevalence of ill-conceived projectchoices has existed in both sectors. For instance,the Government has promoted some quiteweird schemes like a fruit export corporation ora photo film company. At the same time, someprivate promoters who were essentially tradersdid not graduate to an industrial culture andfailed. Corruption was and remains a commonfactor; the odd entrepreneur drew out cash assome corporations were favorite cash cows of theGovernment, like the State Trading Corporationin its heyday. In skills, ideas and integrity, over-all there has been no significant difference.Kingfisher Airlines and Air India are a useful illus-tration of the failure of integrity in the two respec-tive sectors; in the former case by a private play-er and in the latter by ministers and bureaucrats.To add to the public sector’s woes came the sickand closed units from private sector failures. TheTextile Corporation is one example.

Neither sector is likely to deliver India’snational goods as are necessary to take its indus-trial economy into the super league. Untilrecently, there was an imaginary hope that pri-vate entrepreneurs would help to take over some

PSUs and then proceed to set up large units. Noone, however, had the time to look at the prior-ities of private industrialists. They are either fullyinvested with no financial surpluses large enoughto takeover more industries or themselves sickand have huge NPAs and/or are trapped in insol-vency. Moreover, not many of even the viablebusiness houses have managed to inspire the faiththat can attract unlimited public investment. Thepeople at large have plenty of spare money toinvest; in fact, there is a shortage of investmentopportunities. Foreign industrial giants may notbe in a hurry to set up industrial units with onlytheir money plus the expectation of public sub-scriptions. The Central Government has to stepin and play a financial or investment role. If thatwere possible without scope of Government inter-ference, foreigners could be attracted.

The reason why many a PSU has failed andothers did not succeed was that we did not dis-tinguish between administration and manage-ment or between the importance of disciplinedprocedure and of generating profit. The IAS offi-cer knew the former and generally enforced iteffectively but profit-making was not part of theethos he grew up in. In fact, in Nehruvian India,profit was a dirty word. For many years JawaharlalNehru considered many a profiteer as deservingto being hanged on a lamp post. And often thenew IAS batch began its career with a speech byPrime Minister Nehru. Moreover, the joint sec-retary seldom learnt the tricks of keeping out thefingers of his pecky minister. And yet he acted

the role of a member of the owner family andtried to drive fear in the heart of the PSU unit’smanaging director. Adherence to procedure andaccurate accounting as well as discipline areimportant for all enterprises, whether public orprivate. But objective number one of any busi-ness has to be profit, no doubt keeping in mindfair and legal practice. When it comes to large-scale finance, a resort to the Government trea-sury is virtually indispensible. The question nowis how to reconcile depending on the State and,at the same time, ensuring its non-interference.

The answer would lie in a synthesis of man-agement excellence supported by State financewhile ensuring the protection of every stake-holder. This is possible and it is best illustratedby quoting a live example and then describinga proposed model. Larsen & Toubro was formany years well managed by its two founder gen-tlemen and later their successors. Few commonobservers realized that 54 per cent of the com-pany’s shares were owned by Governmentfinancial institutions. The company was not con-sidered public sector because the President ofIndia i.e. the Government directly did have sharesin it. The Reliance Group later came into Larsen& Toubro and the share holding profile changed.Then they sold out; the company was demergedto split it into two, the profile changed further.

Now for a model for the future, theGovernment should confine its industrial invest-ment to lending money at a reasonable rate ofinterest to its financial institutions like LIC, GIC

and its subsidiaries as well as banks. Suppose aEuropean corporation of repute wants to cometo India in order to manufacture its line of prod-ucts. It needs the economy of scale in produc-tion; at the same time, it may be reluctant toinvest large enough sums to be able to controla majority share-holding. Hence one mustenable the European company to have only 26per cent holding and yet with a guarantee by atleast 25 per cent of institutional holders to votewith the company for a certain number of years.The rest of the shares can be offered to the pub-lic; if individuals do not subscribe to the full bal-ance 49 per cent, the institutions should be will-ing to step in. The European firm would bringwith it its style of management, its technology,its brand equity, all for 26 per cent holding. Itshould therefore be entitled to a royalty onturnover of product sale. Such a scheme shouldbe open to reputable Indian corporates too.

If this model were to succeed to attractindustrial growth, the present PSUs could alsobe dealt with on similar lines. Incidentally, pro-vided the management of greenfield companiesproves to be efficient and cuts down on their ges-tation time substantially, the State could be wellplaced to find funds on a large scale throughdeficit financing. Delays in the completion ofprojects are criminal; they cause inflation andperhaps render the product out-dated. This couldlead to the unit go sick before it takes off.

(The writer is a well-known columnist andan author)

RESERVATION POLITICS

Sir — Lok Sabha Speaker SumitraMahajan deserves acknowledgement forher bold comments against indefinitecontinuance of policy of ‘reservation’,which in fact is also against the basicprinciple of BR Ambedkar. The policyof reservation was incorporated in theConstitution for a limited period of just10 years for the creation of a homoge-neous casteless society.

Unfortunately, vote-bank politicshas made politicians cut across party-lines racing in advocacy for continuingreservation for an indefinite period.

Practically, the policy of reservation isresponsible for making people ofreserved categories separated from thoseof general unreserved category. A poli-cy which could not fulfill its basic pur-pose in stipulated 10-years period, is initself an established failed policy.Otherwise also, main beneficiaries of thepolicy are ultra-rich politicians who arenot excluded as creamy layer of thereserved categories.

Brahmin priests in temples are in factneedier for reservation when people insmall temples search for coins of small-est denomination to offer to the deitiesin temples. Caste-based reservation can

gradually be abolished by not allowingbenefits of reservation to persons andfamilies above some limit, and havingmore than two children in the family.

SC AgrawalDelhi

STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION

Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Progressive law” (October 2). It isindeed a historic decision by theKarnataka Government to give legal pro-tection to good samaritans who rescuevictims on the road. I endorse the viewsof the editorial that it is the bystanderswho are critical entities in ensuring that

medical assistance is available to the vic-tims at the earliest. And we all know thatit can be a matter of life and death if time-ly help is not given to the victims of roadmishaps. Hopefully, now bystanderswill stop making videos and reach outto help the needy.

Bal Govind Noida

IMBIBE GANDHIAN PHILOSOPHY

Sir — This refers to the article, “ForGandhi’s India” (September 30) byPramod Pathak. At a time when we aremaking big strides in the field of devel-opment internationally, news of little girls

dying of hunger, farmers taking theextreme step under the burden of debtsand mob lynching do fly in the face ofMahatma Gandhi’s vision of India.

There’s no dearth of wealth in Indiabut maldistribution is responsible forthe sorry state of affairs. Hence, the realtribute to Gandhiji will be an obser-vance of his philosophy about amelio-ration of the poor, the needy and thedestitute in society.

Azhar Ali KhanRampur

Send your feedback to: [email protected]

By choosing debt funds with a

different mix of bonds, investors

can increase the chances of

some bonds performing well

even at times others do not

The Government has formed a committee of six

Chief Ministers to represent the farmers’

interests and address the issue of farm labour.

—Union Minister

GAJENDRA SINGH SHEKHAWAT

The farmers are not satisfied with the Government’s

assurance. We will discuss it and then decide on

future course of action. I cannot decide that alone.

—Bharatiya Kisan Union chief

NARESH TIKAIT

POINTCOUNTERPOINT

It is a singular honour for me todeliver the 3rd Justice JS VermaMemorial Lecture on ‘Freedom& Responsibility of Media in theevolving media space’. I am,

therefore, thankful to the organisersfor having invited me to share myviews with all of you.

As all of you here are aware,Justice Verma was a highly respect-ed legal luminary, who had served asthe Chief Justice of India and theChairman of the National HumanRights Commission with utmost dis-tinction. He was a firm believer inprotecting fundamental rights, ensur-ing social justice and empowermentof women. Justice Verma was a manof great erudition and his knowledgeand wisdom were tempered with highethical and moral values. Above all,he was an outstanding humanistwho delivered several landmarkjudgements, including the celebratedVishaka case, which set the guidelinesto prevent harassment of women atwork places. He was the Chairman ofthe Justice Verma Committee, whichrecommended amendments to crim-inal law in the wake of the heinousNirbhaya incident in Delhi.

Sisters and brothers, we are liv-ing in eventful times, and will perhapseventually move to a more mel-lowed phase when it comes to cov-erage and dissemination of news.Earlier, news was considered sacro-sanct. News was nothing but unadul-terated reportage of happenings — anunalloyed, distilled presentation offacts. That was the golden epoch ofIndian journalism which saw manya colossus, like Frank Moraes, DurgaDas, Khasa Subba Rau and MChalapathi Rau, besides ShriRamnath Goenka and CR Irani andothers, straddle the stage of news with-out fear or favour. Today, however, wehave news, breaking news and the so-called “fake news”, apart from the con-stant flow of information or disin-formation, ideas, updates, alerts andother content on the digital media.

Thanks to technological advancesand the information and communi-cation technology revolution, thechanging landscape of journalism hasgone through a momentous revolu-tion. Unprecedented changes in the

last few decades with ever-expandingnetworks of 24x7 television newschannels, Print and digital media havechanged the face of the media.

In fact, the digital media providesnews by the minute in a “fastest fin-ger first” mode, with alerts and flash-es on smartphones. In this milieu,with media houses scrambling to flashnews alerts to an ever-widening baseof users, freedom and responsibilityof the media acquire far greater sig-nificance than ever before. In the pre-sent digital era when millions areusing social media platforms, jour-nalists will have to be extra careful inchecking the veracity of informationand guard against ‘fake news’ disin-formation and misinformation.Vested interests and mischievous ele-ments will always try to spread falsestories. In the recent past, we havebeen witness to the unfortunate inci-dents of lynchings due to false infor-mation on social media. Throughsocial media, fake news tends tomorph seamlessly into authenticnews and gets channelised throughrespectable media platforms. This isa dangerous trend and it is here wherethe media needs to tread cautiously.

In fact, the UNESCO has recent-ly published a handbook on‘Journalism, Fake News andDisinformation’ which I am sure willbe useful for journalists and journal-ism educators. In today’s times, thecardinal principles of journalism,such as truth, objectivity, accuracy,credibility, fairness, impartiality,humanity and accountability, seem tohave taken a back seat with news pur-veyors themselves assuming the roleof gate-keepers. Most news channelsare obsessed with lending primacy totheir points of view.

Some of our senior journalistshave become blatantly biased in theiropinions, as their Twitter timelinesreveal. This trend is best witnessedduring debates on television channelsand the manner in which certaindevelopments, events or even trivialincidents get disproportionatelyprominent coverage and get slantedin newspapers or online websites. Thedisturbing trend of mixing newswith views has become the new nor-mal. Thus, the viewer or reader, whohas been reduced to a passive recip-ient of one-sided information, willhave to read three or four newspapersor watch three or more televisionnews channels to get a fairly properperspective of an issue or a develop-ment. At other times, he/she is forcedto take sides based on the channelhe/she watches or the website he/she

relies upon for news. This is rather anunfortunate situation in which we findourselves today.

Some of you may not agree withmy views or may not find them palat-able. But truthful reportage hasbecome a casualty due to a cocktailof commercial interests, ideologicalleanings and insane scramble forbreaking stories. Of course, some sec-tions of the media have become pro-pagandists of a particular ideologyand reduced broadsheet journalismto pamphleteering. In such a scenario,freedom and responsibility cannot beconsidered inseparable. They are asinter-dependent on each other as atelevision channel is on an OB Van ora newspaper on newsprint.

Tolerance, acceptance and assim-ilation of diverse viewpoints have beenthe hallmark of Indian civilisation.This broader vision was reflected bythe founding fathers of the IndianConstitution when they drafted it. Themedia derives its right to free speechfrom the broader ambit of freedom ofexpression guaranteed under Article19(1) (a) of the Constitution. Barring,the infamous dark days of theEmergency period, the judiciary hasconsistently ensured that this freedomenjoyed by the media is not abridgedunder any circumstances.

The freedom of media is notabsolute and is circumscribed by cer-tain reasonable restrictions relating tosecurity of State, public order, decen-cy or morality, defamation and con-tempt of court and sovereignty and

integrity of India.I have always maintained that dis-

sent is always welcome but not dis-integration. Let me elaborate further.A democracy can thrive only whenall shades of opinion are allowed tobe expressed fully and freely. Anyattempt to stifle or shut out contrar-ian viewpoints is unhealthy for ademocracy and will stunt intellectu-al development. At the same time,anarchic forces cannot be allowed tocreate chaos, dissensions and under-mine the country’s unity and integri-ty in the garb of freedom. EveryIndian citizen has a responsibility inprotecting the sovereignty and integri-ty of the country.

The media, which always cham-pions the cause of the underdog andacts as a watchdog, has far greaterresponsibility because of its opinion-moulding influence on society as alsoon those in power. This responsibil-ity becomes all the more acute in adeveloping country like India wherethe perception of the masses is shapedby what they see and read. Not everyreader or viewer can discern the dif-ference between motivated reportageand an unbiased news story. Thisresponsibility is not only confined tonews coverage. The media, particu-larly the television medium, shouldnot promote programmes or serialswhich seek to justify superstitions orpromote irrational beliefs. I feel thatthere should also be some check onsponsored health programmes, whichmake exaggerated claims on benefits

of health products. The social responsibility on the

shoulders of the media is far greaterin a country like India where stillmore than 20 per cent of the pop-ulation is not literate and around thesame number is below the povertyline. Parliament has given the PrasarBharati, India’s public broadcaster,specific responsibilities whichinclude strengthening democracyand democratic values; respectingIndia’s diversity and providing spaceand encouragement to the country’sdiverse cultures; and caring for theunderprivileged.

The Prasar Bharati has beencarrying out these responsibilitieswith utmost diligence. But, I do feelthat in a country like ours where weare still grappling with inequalitywith huge number of people livingbelow the poverty line and not yetliterate, all media houses have thisresponsibility too. In India’s context,every media house must imbibe thequalities of public service broad-caster, to some extent at least.

As long as TRPs dictate the con-tent of the electronic media, thescope for trivialising and sensa-tionalising issues will only increase.Most of the time, prime time debatestend to focus on non-serious issues,which hardly serve to promote thegreater good of the society. And attimes, there is a danger of suchdebates creating an atmosphere ofill-will among groups rather thanforging harmonious relations.

The other issues that require acloser look vis-à-vis freedom andresponsibility include changing pat-terns of ownership or cross-owner-ship, the menace of paid news, mediaintrusion into individual’s privacy inthe name of sting operations and vir-tual media trials of sensational cases.In my opinion, self-regulation is thebest solution and I hope that mediaorganisations and associated bodieswill introspect on the issues flaggedby me. As you are aware, the Press hasbeen described as the Fourth Estatebecause of the game-changing role itplays in a democracy along withLegislature, Executive and Judiciary.From the days of pre-Independencewhen the Press gave a big impetus toIndia’s freedom struggle against Britishimperialism to the current digitally-driven era, the media hascome a long way.

The media should act as abridge between the Government andpeople. It ought to ensure that jus-tice is not denied to the people, par-ticularly the vulnerable and mar-ginalised sections of society. Itshould give equal importance to allregions of the country and all seg-ments of society. Often, we seeexcessive focus on political devel-opments and on events closer to theCapital and major metropolitancities. This must change. The mediamust focus on development and wel-fare. At the risk of sounding didac-tic, let me add that the media mustenlighten people on their rights asonly an informed citizenry can pro-vide the best checks and balances ina democracy. The media should alsoact as an instrument of reformationin the transformation of India intoa leading economic power in thecoming decades. Finally, I would liketo reiterate that MEDIA shouldfunction as ‘Means of Empowermentfor Development through InformedActions’. Swachh Bharat, BetiBachao, Beti Padhao, Per drop percrop, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan andother such programmes should beencouraged and given prominence.Information with confirmation ismore than ammunition.Development should be news ratherthan destruction. Sensationalism issenseless. In Parliament, too, con-structive debate and not obstructionshould get prominence.

Jai Hind.(Text of the speech delivered by the

author, Vice President of India, at thethird Justice JS Verma MemorialLecture on ‘Freedom & Responsibilityof Media in the evolving media space’)

VENKAIAH NAIDU

HIMABINDU KOTA

PRAFULLGORADIA

The 133-year-old Congress during itsheydays would have shuddered tothink of a day when it would have to

resort to crowd-funding to augment itsfinances. The cash-rich party, which hadbeen in power for over 50 of the 70 yearssince Independence, is facing an unprece-dented fund crunch due to various reasons.It has reached the bottom now with theparty launching a 40-day booth committeefund raising programme from October 2.The Congress leadership appealed forfunds in a tweet, “The Congress needs yoursupport and help. Help us restore thedemocracy which India has proudlyembraced since 70 years by making a smallcontribution”. Former Union MinisterShashi Tharoor even tweeted that thereshould be no embarrassment in acceptingthe facts.

With elections due in three BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP)-ruled States —Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh — and 2019 Lok Sabha poll,there is an urgent need for the party tomobilise its resources. Facing a string ofdefeats in State after State since 2014, theCongress coffers are almost empty.Corporate funding too have dried up per-haps because the Congress is not perceivedto be poised for a return. Gone are thestrong State leaders who would collectfunds in States.

The Congress has been tightening itsbelt for some time. According to the partyconstitution, the members are supposed todonate 10 per cent of their earnings and theparty has now asked them to step up theirdonations. The other easy route is to cutdown expenses. With the party ruling bare-ly in four or five States, the Congress haseven stopped sending money to the Stateunits for day-to-day expenses. Budget hasalso been cut by almost half for meetingsand also on celebrations.

In olden days, many political partiesused to collect smaller donations (chanda).

Over the years, this system has disappearedwith parties resorting to make moneythrough deals if it is in power, or throughcorporate donations. They meet the pollexpenses from donations, party member-ship fee and interest earned on fixeddeposits, and other savings. However, withcampaign expenses touching astronomicalfigures with huge election rallies, charteredflights, media advertisements and otherexpenses, opposition parties have beenunable to meet the cost.

The following figures might give a clue.According to the Association forDemocratic reforms (ADR), during the 2014Lok Sabha election, national parties spent`858.97 crore on publicity, ̀ 311.8 crore ontravels, ̀ 104.28 crore on other expenses and`311.47 crore on expenditure towards can-didates. It was shocking that almost 69 percent of the income for these parties hadcome from unknown sources.

Related to that is inequalities in elec-tion expenditure. The ADR notes that thetotal funds collected by all national partiesin 2014 Lok Sabha poll was `1,158 crore,

up from `854.89 in 2009 polls. The BJP col-lected `5.88 billion while the Congressreceived `3.50 billion followed by theNationalist Congress Party (NCP) with`77.85 crore and Bahujan Samaj Party(BSP) with `77.26 crore. The income of theBJP increased by 81.18 per cent to `1,034.27crore while that of the Congress decreasedby 14 per cent to `225.36 crore between2015-16 and 2016-17.

The Congress is still the second richestparty but far behind the BJP. TheGovernment had announced an electoralbond scheme in 2017 but this was notenough and much more needs to be done.

The Election Commission has a long listof suggestions, including decriminalisationof politics, reforms of political parties,auditing of accounts of parties, checkingblack money in polls, making ‘paid news’ anelectoral offence, and punishment for falseaffidavit by candidates and capping ofanonymous donations to 20 per cent.

Several panels have recommended pollreforms, including Goswami Committee(1990), Vohra Committee (1993), IndrajitGupta Committee on State Funding ofElections (1998), Law Commission Reporton Reform of the Electoral Laws (1999),Election Commission’s Proposed ElectoralReforms (2004) and Second AdministrativeReforms Commission (2008). One sug-gestion was state funding but there was noconsensus on this.

It is time to push through these longpending big-bang electoral reforms tocleanse politics. Prime Minister NarendraModi has been talking of ‘one nation onepoll.’ This could be the beginning but otherissues like criminalisation of politics, useof money and muscle power, transparen-cy in election funding, auditing of accountsof political parties, and their regulation alsoneed to be tackled.

Even the Supreme Court in a recentjudgement has left it to Parliament to checkcriminalisation of politics. Last year, theCourt had also ruled that seeking votes inthe name of religion, race, caste commu-nity, or language of a candidate wouldamount to corrupt practice. No doubt thesecannot be done in a day but it has to startsome time or the other, the sooner the bet-ter. What is needed more is political willand consensus for reforms.

(The writer is a senior political com-mentator and syndicated columnist)

Ensuring electoral transparency

Press freedom and responsibility

Dissent is always welcome but not advocacy of disintegration. A democracy can thrive only when all shades of opinion are expressed freely. Any attempt

to stifle or shut out contrarian viewpoints will stunt intellectual development

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Towards a more humane future

This refers to the article, “Life exists butwill our civilisation survive?” (October2) by Gwynne Dyer. Scientists now

have reliable information that it is the cos-mological evolution which has guidedmatter from simplicity to complexity, frominorganic to organic. It has been noticedthat life is hardly more than a combinationof simple chemicals operating in complexways. Indeed, this new aspect of theresearch highlights Sri Aurobindo's vision.

Sri Aurobindo said, “...Because man is

the last rung at the summit of the ascend-ing evolution; he considers himself as thefinal stage in this ascension and believesthere can be nothing on earth superior thanhim. In that he is mistaken. In his physi-cal nature he is yet almost wholly an ani-mal...an animal in his material habits andinstincts. Nature cannot be satisfied withsuch an imperfect result; she endeavoursto bring out a being who will be to manwhat man is to the animal.”

The problem arises when we start

denying this ascending evolution and tryto cling to our past outdated practices inthe name of culture and tradition even ifthose rituals infringe human rights. Indeed,this ascending evolution gives us hope thatit will make us more humane in future thanwhat we have managed to become at pre-sent. As a matter of fact, we all are activeparticipants in this cosmological relay racepassing over the baton of evolution.

Sujit DeKolkata

THE PIONEERLUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 20188

It is encouraging that Indian Railway staffers will nowhave the power to handle unruly passengers on trains. Allofficials and not just Railway Protection Force officerswill have the power to de-board any passenger found dis-turbing others or vitiating the atmosphere, UttarakhandHigh Court has held, calling for the imposition of finesand even imprisonment for incorrigible passengers benton creating a nuisance. Of course, this must not be takenby railway staff to mean that they can throw people off

the train according to their whims and fancies!

THE PIONEERLUCKNOW I | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 9

50WORDEDIT

COMMENT & ANALYSIS

Power with responsibility

KALYANISHANKAR

Electoral reforms have been much talked about but remain an unfinished agenda.

Political will and consensus is vital. The process must begin soon

Liquid funds:

Laddering can help

INVESTOR

WATCH

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 avenues 10

QUOTE OF THE DAY

Do not confine your children to

your own learning, for they were

born in another time

— Chinese proverb

EXECUTIVE PGDM

The IMI, New Delhi,invites admissions for itsExecutive Post GraduateDiploma in Management(EXPGDM) course for 2019-20. The programme isapproved by AICTE andaccredited by the Associationof MBAs (AMBA).

The programme is a 15-month long full-time course formiddle-level managers whowish to take up leadershiproles and upgrade their skills.It is available in two options — nExecutive PGDM withInternational module: Thisoption consists of 12 months ofcoursework over fourtrimesters of 11 to 12 weekseach, and three months offield research project at the endof the coursework. Of the 12months, five weeks of course-work will be carried out atIMI’s partner Business Schoolin Europe. The remainingclasses will be on IMI’s campusin DelhinExecutive PGDM withoutInternational module: It con-sists of 12 months of course-work spread over fourtrimesters of 11 to 12 weekseach, and three months offield research project at the endof the coursework. The entirecoursework will be held onIMI’s campus in Delhi.

Eligibility: All the partic-ipants must possess a bachelor’sdegree (a minimum of threeyears education) or an equiv-alent qualification recognisedby the Association of IndianUniversities with a minimumof 50 per cent aggregate marks.The candidate must also havea minimum of five years of fulltime, post-qualification, expe-rience as on March 31, 2019.He/she should also have a pro-ficiency in English.

Important dates: The lastdate to apply is October 31,2018. The classes will com-mence from the first week ofApril 2019. For more details,visit http://admission.imi.edu/

EXECUTIVE MBA

The Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT) Madras, iscalling for applications for anExecutive MBA (EMBA) pro-gramme that will help middleand senior level professionalsenhance their careers.

This two-year degree pro-gramme will be the second

batch of EMBA and can bepursued along with a regularcareer, since classes will be heldduring mostly alternate week-ends. With its pragmatic cur-riculum and students withdiverse industry backgroundand ranging work experiences,the EMBA program is the rightplatform for experiential learn-ing the convenient way.

The highlights of this pro-gramme includes technicalinterface to ManagementStudies through cutting-edgecourses such as social mediaand Internet marketing, cybersecurity and its applications, ITfor digital economy, and tech-nology strategy & foresight. Italso includes experiential learn-ing with three capstone work-based projects

Programme structure: Thecourse is divided into eightquarters covered in four semes-ters. There are 30 courses whichconsist of 16 core courses and 14electives. There will be three cap-stone projects which will startfrom the second semester (thirdquarter) and continue throughthe third and fourth semester.

Eligibility: The basic cri-teria to apply is 60 per cent andabove in UG and a minimumof three years of work experi-ence. The online portal willopen by the first week ofOctober 2018 to fill in theapplication form for EMBAentrance examination. Theportal will close in 30 days.

Selection: The selectedcandidates will receive a call let-ter to attend the EMBAentrance exam and personalinterview during mid-November 2018.

Important dates: The appli-cations were open fromSeptember 30, 2018. The resultsof entrance test and interviewwill be declared in December2018, and students will berequested to pay the initial feeto enrol for the programme. Thebatch orientation will take placein December last week.

The classes will commencefrom the first week of January2019.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Samsung India has inau-gurated a new campus with

six new classrooms at theKembodi Government PrimarySchool in Karnataka’s Kolar dis-trict. This will help the schoolscale up to accommodate up to300 students, up from 156 stu-dents earlier. So far, studentsfrom three different classes wereforced to sit in the same class-room for want of space.

An MoU was signedbetween Samsung R&D Institute,Bangalore (SRI-B) and theDepartment of Education,Government of Karnataka for theconstruction of the new campusat the school in February 2018.

The new campus has six class-rooms and an administrativeblock with the necessary schoolfurniture.

This building also has apower backup, rain water har-vesting facility and a RO+UVwater filter for students. Theschool, which was established in1931, will now offer curriculumin both Kannada and Englishmedium from Classes I to VIII.

The new campus was inau-gurated by N Mahesh, Ministerfor Primary and SecondaryEducation, Government ofKarnataka; Manjunath, district

collector, Kolar District; DipeshShah, MD, SRI-B and HarryHeejoon Kang, CFO, SRI-Balong with other dignitaries. “AtSamsung, education is a causethat is close to our heart and westrive to give back to the society.We are committed to helping stu-dents across the state learn andfulfill their dreams. Be it ourMake for India initiative or com-munity centric voluntary activ-ities, our core mission is to con-tribute and propel the growthand development of this region.This school is a step in the rightdirection,” Shah said.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Aditya BirlaEducation Trust hasembarked on yet anoth-

er journey in the field of edu-cation with the unveiling ofthe Aditya Birla EducationAcademy (ABEA). Present atthe event were ABEA founder-chairperson Neerja Birla, CEOSurabhi Goel and programmedirector Prodipta Hore.

The event witnessed akeynote address by Birlawhere she spoke about thevision for ABEA and the larg-

er interest of creating educa-tors who are also lifelonglearners.

“The ABEA is an attemptto nurture the aspirations ofthe brilliant and dedicatededucators who nurture youngminds. It is an opportunity forour educators to evolve withchanging times, in order toimpart new-age education thatis on par with the best in theworld. It is an attempt tobridge the gap between theexisting standards of teachingand the emerging avant-gardeones,” she said.

Ethical hacking contest

PNS n NEW DELHI

The FIITJEE invites appli-cation for its Big Bang

Edge (BBE) Test which isgoing to be held across thecountry on October 14, 2018for Classes V to XI.

This test will help stu-dents realise and maximisetheir current potential fornational and internationallevel competitive and scholas-tics exams. It will provideunmatched academic benefitsfor the students such as stu-dent’s rank at national levelalong with Rank PotentialIndex (RPI) or SuccessPotential Index (SPI) for var-ious competitive exams.

As well as detailed analy-sis of students’ current readi-ness and what needs to bedone for the aspired goalslike JEE Advanced/Main aswell as intermediate mile-stones like Junior Olympiad,National Talent SearchExamination, Class X/XIIBoards, Birla Institute ofTechnology & ScienceAptitude Test & others.

On joining FIITJEE pro-gramme through BBE Test,students will be provided withearly joining academic benefits.For instance on www.mypat.inplatform, students of Class Vto VII can attend IQ cultivationclasses, NTSE Mock tests and

other relevant online tests.And Class VIII to XI studentscan access academic supportfor relevant scholastic exams,early classes for relevant targetexams and many online tests.Further, students enrolledthrough BBE Test will be pay-ing the lowest fee for the ses-sion starting April, 2019.

“The BBE Test will triggera never-ending process of intel-lectual evolution, creativityand growth for aspiring stu-dents. This will set them oncourse for extraordinarygrowth in terms of individual’sability to evaluate their poten-tial, present capability, realinclinations towards pursuinga career of their choice atNational and International lev-els. For students exploring col-lege options abroad, FIITJEE’scareer mentors of USAUninvest will provide a detailedguidance for gaining admis-sions to the world’s best uni-versities,” RL Trikha, director,FIITJEE, says.

Online registration for thetest can be done at www.fiit-jeelogin.com. The last date toapply through online mode orin person is October 11, 2018.Quick registration on mobilecan be done at www.fiitjeelo-gin.com/mobile. For moredetails, visit www.big-bangedge.com or the nearestFIITJEE Centre.

BIG BANG EDGE TEST

Education academy opensPNS n NEW DELHI

Amrita VishwaVidyapeetham is set to

hold the 9th edition ofnational ethical hacking con-test — Amrita INCTF —which exposes students tocomputer security, securecoding practices and theimplications of not adheringto them.

The INCTFJ is an inno-vative learn-hack-win chal-lenge for school students forClasses VII to XII. For freeonline registration, collegestudents can visit

www.inctf.in beforeNovember 5. School studentscan apply online atjunior.inctf.in before October5. Support is also available onWhatsApp Number:8129426557.

Entry is free for all stu-dents. The university willbear the travel, accommoda-tion and food expenses of allstudents during the contest atthe university’s Amritapuricampus in Kerala.

Students will learnthrough mock contests. Afterthis, they will participate inan online contest based on

what they learnt. Fifty final-ists will be selected based onthe outcome of the onlinetest. Online training will beheld from December 22-27,2018. This will be followed bythe final online contest andprize distribution onDecember 28, 2018. There isa ̀ 1.5 lakhs cash prize for thewinning students.

The university will alsohelp set up cybersecurityclubs along with free train-ing and mentoring atschools with good numberof active participants in thecompetition.

Peer learning can be defined asstudents learning from and witheach other in both formal and

informal ways. The learning modulecan provide a support system amongstudents, and the interchanging rolesof teacher and learner create a dynam-ic learning experience.

The learning pedagogy is part ofan active learning strategy, which isbeing increasingly used in schoolsaround the world. In this mode oflearning, students interact with theirpeers and learn from each otherwithout any supervising authority.This creates an environment of opencommunication which is very impor-tant for learning. Research suggeststhat students who engage in an openand free environment perform better.

The best learning happens whenstudents are left to their own devices.It is well known that students becometalkative when the teacher exits theclass. This may not be a bad thing asthe natural interest among students tointeract with each other can be lever-aged to an academic benefit.

In a peer learning groups, studentscan search for, collect, review, analyseand apply their knowledge as per theirindividual capacity. They will engageeach other intellectually, debate eachother’s views, reaching an agreementor a disagreement.

Studies have demonstrated thatthe cognitive process of doing exer-cises together, raising questions andarriving at conclusions will greatly

help assimilate knowledge, enhancinga student’s understanding of the les-son. This process enhances ‘deeplearning’, wherein the information isretained in long term memory, ratherthan ‘surface learning’, where infor-mation can dissipate very fast frommemory retained in the class.

NEED PEER LEARNING PEDAGOGY

One-sided instruction from teach-ers is generally not effective. In theabsence of interactivity, studentsbecome passive receivers of informa-tion. This can make them completelydependent on teachers for all theirlearning needs. It also promotes rote-learning which can be detrimental totheir academic pursuits.

Rigid classroom structures canimpede the academic development ofstudents. Those who work towards get-ting good grades will formulate answersin accordance to what they think theteachers’ questions might be. Thiscan be limiting. Some students don’tparticipate in class due to the fear ofanswering the teacher incorrectly. Thisseverely hinders the student’s expres-sion in the classroom. Most studentsfear the judgement of teachers. Peerlearning removes all these impedi-ments improving the student’s aca-demic and collaborative skills.

With peer learning, studentshelp their classmates by way ofmutual tutoring and feedback. Theyalso get to express their ideas withoutfear of judgement. This can enhance

communication in the classrooms.

OBJECTIVES & BENEFITS

The objective is to developresponsible and autonomous learners.When students are given the respon-sibility of their own learning, it increas-es their engagement in their academicsand creates an atmosphere of collabo-ration and communication. Educatorscan also facilitate effective communi-cation among student groups withactivities that create a productive learn-ing environment. When the environ-ment is encouraging, it can effectivelyblock disruptive or negative behavioursin the classroom and develop positiverelationships. To acquiring knowledge,a collaborative peer learning groupdevelops self-directed learning skills.

It also develops critical thinking,problem-solving, interpersonal andcommunication skills.

TEACHER’S ROLE

In peer learning, students are leftto themselves to discuss and debate.The teachers, however, can play therole of facilitators and moderators.They can issue directives with regardto the agenda of the discussion, pro-vide timely inputs and review theactivity which makes sure that thetime spent in peer learning is fruitfuland in-line with the learning goals.

Not every student is keen on par-ticipating in a peer learning activity.The teachers have to step in to subtlymotivate these students and engagethem by providing creative tasks thatmake learning interesting. Teacherscan also provide additional resourcesto students like audio or video inputsto aid faster learning, which willmake the process more engaging.

To harness the peer learning ped-agogy, we need to first understandwhat it can and cannot do. It shouldbe understood that peer learningcannot replace the instruction from aregular teacher.

AVAILABLE TOOLS

The products and solutionsseamlessly facilitate pedagogies likepeer learning. Some textbooks puta major emphasis on activities thatfoster collaboration and discussionamong students. Computer Masti,

the comprehensive ComputerScience curriculum solution, hashands-on exercises where studentswork as a team to brainstorm and

come up with solutions to challenges.Teacher manuals are also provided tohelp the teacher plan lesson-basedactivities for their class.

TeachNext, India’s largest sellingdigital classroom solution has exper-iments and activities like Think, Pair,Share with videos of experiments andother exercises that students cangroup together and work on. TheNextGurukul portal is a free and openonline platform for the K-12 com-munity where students, teachers andparents can connect. Students canteam up with other students fromacross the country to engage in dis-cussions and learn from each other. It’sa great place to connect, learn andshare with peers. The ecosystemoffers unprecedented support to thestudent community with articles,interviews, hands-on activities, com-petitive papers and more.

Information technology is rapid-ly changing the education system. Theincreasing use of smart devices offermany new learning opportunities tostudents. Technology is also changingeducation from being a teacher-cen-tred instruction to a learner-centrededucation, where students take greaterresponsibility to manage their learn-ing. Pedagogies like peer learning canbe effectively harnessed when insti-tutions actively adopt and integratetechnology to enhance the overalllearning experience.

The writer is co-founder and CEO, NextEducation India Pvt Ltd

Peer learning provides a holistic and qualitatively enhanced education that prepares students to beindustry ready, says BEAS DEV RALHAN

FOSTER PEER LEARNING

UK BOARDING SHOWNOW IN INDIAPNS n NEW DELHI

After proving their success in eight countriesincluding Dubai, Turkey, Singapore, Hong

Kong and Switzerland, the British BoardingSchools Show is coming to India for the firsttime.

The show will provide direct access to 10-15 of the most reputable and long-standingBritish and Swiss schools, allowing parents andpupils to find the best fit for the next stage oftheir education. Parents will be able to speakone-to-one with school heads and admissionsstaff from top boarding schools, and also meetthe UK’s leading British education experts.

David Wellesley Wesley, show founder, said:“Choosing the right educational curriculum foryour children is always a difficult decision aswell as time consulting when you are busyworking parents. We want to make it slightlyeasier by offering a network of best educationoptions under one umbrella, to meet and greetwith leading British schools in an effortlessmilieu. The British Boarding Schools Showallows a window to the possibilities of main-taining the education experience in India com-plemented by the excellence of a British edu-cational environment.”

This event is open to the public, and tick-ets are free of charge with online pre-registra-tion. Schools exhibiting at British BoardingSchools Show 2018 India include AiglonCollege, Chelsea Independent College, EFEducation, Junior King’s Canterbury,Kensington Park School, Badminton School,Le Régent Crans-Montana College; Loretto, TheKing’s School, Canterbury; The King’s School,Canterbury International College; MarlboroughCollege, Oundle School, Stonar andWoldingham School.

PNS n NEW DELHI

The Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman has called upon the

engineering students to use the lat-est technology and skills to help Indiaface cyber war in future.

Delivering the convocationaddress at the 33rd AnnualConvocation of the Vellore Instituteof Technology at the VIT campus inVellore, Sitharaman, said: “In future,wars will be fought less on the bor-ders but more in cyber space. Today,the country is facing the threat ofcyber war with its far-reaching ram-ifications on national security.Besides, one’s personal security andinterests were also threatened bycyber crime. The students, who arequalifying today in science and tech-nology, will have to start working tosee how technology can be adoptedto tackle these twin threats.”

The Defence Minister high-lighted that the Indians have imbibedthe entrepreneurial spirit genetical-ly from their forefathers dating backto the period when the NalandaUniversity was flourishing. “TheBritish colonial era saw the emer-gence of English education which wasintended to educate the Indianpeople to work as clerks and servetheir British masters. This trendwhich started during the colonial rulecontinued for the 50 years afterIndependence. The Narendra ModiGovernment wants to break thechain which fettered the students by

forcing them to take up salaried jobsinstead of starting their own business.The Government has initiated theMake In India programme toencourage the engineers to go in forstart-ups,” she said.

The Minister was making theseremarks in response to the requestof Dr G Viswanathan, chancellor ofVIT, to help remove the chainswhich fettered the growth of edu-cation. She agreed with the view thatthe regulations in the education sec-tor too need to be relaxed.

Dr Viswanathan said that afterthe liberalisation, privatisation andglobalisation regime in 1991-96, allsectors were de-regulated. But de-reg-ulation has not happened so far in theeducation sector. He requested theDefence Minister to help in the de-regulation of the education sector.

“Though India had the poten-tial to become a hub of internation-al education, it contributed just one

per cent of the international studentsthroughout the world. On the otherhand, lakhs of students from Indiawere going abroad for higher edu-cation, and the Government of Indiawas spending ̀ 75,000 crore worth offoreign exchange annually on thesestudents,” the chancellor pointedout.

Dr Viswanathan said that VITwas ranked 13th among the variousengineering institutions in Indiaunder the National InstitutionalRanking Framework (NIRF) of theMinistry of Human ResourcesDevelopment, and first among theprivate engineering institutions.

“A total of 39,000 students werestudying in the four campuses of VITin India. A total of 3,300 studentswere recruited through campusplacements in 2017-18. Till date, 2600students were placed through cam-pus recruitment in 2018-19,” he said.

The guest of honour, Viji

Santhanam, MD, Brakes India PrivateLimited and chairman, SundaramFinance Limited, Chennai, said:“While at present, a majority ofIndia’s population was below the ageof 27 years, this demographic divi-dend will start declining by 2040. Inorder to propel economic growth,India has to make good use of thiscompetitive advantage which it canenjoy only for another 20 years,” hesaid who later distributed the goldmedals and degree certificates to 54candidates.

A total of 6,277 candidatesreceived their degree certificates atthe convocation. Dr Anand ASamuel, Vice Chancellor, VIT wel-comed the gathering. SankarViswanathan, Dr Sekar Viswanathanand GV Selvam, VP, and KadambariS Viswanathan, assistant VP, Pro VC,Dr S Narayanan, Dr N Sambantham,registrar Dr K Sathiyanarayanan ofVIT participated.

Throughpeer learning,students can

search, collect, review,analyse & apply their

knowledge as perindividual capacity.They can engagewith each other

& debate

VIT celebrates 33rd annual convocation

Dignitaries awarding degree certificates to a student at the 33rd Annual Convocation of VIT in Vellore

Bonanza for school

Jack of all trades is the key to be asuccessful entrepreneur. However thereare 15 most sub factors, which will help

you become successful entrepreneurs.

n Vision: It is very important for anentrepreneur is to have a vision, there is adifference between doing a business andbeing entrepreneur. A business can be doneby just some simple transactions but anentrepreneur aims high.

n Career orientation: Are you interested inmore degree of freedom or you like astructured approach to doing work under thepre-initiated instructions. Entrepreneurs aretypically people who need higher degree offreedom in their work and thinking.

n Clarity of purpose: Entrepreneurship is notabout making money but it is about creationof something new. The focus of Entrepreneuris to solve the more important issues inecosystem with business goals.

n Internal locus of control: Who controlsyou? Are you a self-disciplined person or youneed external factors/persons to manageyou. Being an entrepreneur, you need to havea high degree of "Self Discipline" as you arenow your own Boss.

nMulti-tasking ability: Being anentrepreneur, you need to be Jack of alltrades. You may not have support from otherteam members, so you need to do manythings together.

n Be tenacious: All the days will not be thesame, sometimes it may be a windfall, butthere will be rainy days. Are you a personwho can withstand the pressure? Do youhave the patience to wait for some goodclients, instead of jumping here & there toget a job? Do you have never say dieattitude? If you are like this then you can optfor this as a career.

n An open mind: Customer is a king and anyfeedback coming from them needs to betaken in a constructive manner. It may not bealways positive feedback but having an open

mind to evaluate feedback and working onthem so that you don't repeat them will helpyou become successful Gig EconomyProfessional

nHigh achievement motivation: ForEntrepreneurs, the challenges are not onlyexternal but also they challenge themselvesto achieve higher goals.

nRisk taking behaviour: They take risks,most of the time the vision of theEntrepreneur is not understood by others,they believe the idea has lots of risk andothers tend to avoid those ideas. But

entrepreneurs plunge themselves after doinga SWOT analysis and even if the risks arehigher, they opt to go for their ideas.

n Ethics: High ethical standards helps ingetting good team and also good customers,the popular belief that business can't be donewith ethics is a wrong notion, my ownexperience is that doing business with ethicsmay initially pose hurdles but it gives longterm success.

nDetermination: Entrepreneurs should haveclarity of goals and work towardsachievement of those. Come what may, theysuccess has to be achieved.

n Perseverance: Success does not comeeasily, it requires consistent and continuous

efforts. Try and try till you succeed is the key.

nHonesty: Being honest to self is beneficialin development of the personality. It providesa genuine approach to life & work.

n Feedback: One should be open to criticalconstructive feedback. Feedback is alwaysgood.

n Sharing attitude: Whatever one learn &earn, they should be ready to share withothers. It will give a very sense of purpose toperson and help him grow in life. Sharingsuccess is an important trait of anentrepreneur.

The writer is Ajay Sharma, Future of Work Strategist,Founder, Get Me Expert & Flexiorg

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 avenues 11

M I N D I T

The BoustanyFoundation is awardingMBA Harvard Scholarshipfor the class commencingAutumn. The scholarship isawarded to students whodemonstrate a high level ofacademic achievement.

Eligibility: Candidatesmust have an excellent acade-mic background and showconsiderable promise.Although the Scholarship canbe awarded to candidates ofany nation, priority will begiven to candidates ofLebanese descent. Candidatesmay apply for theScholarship only after receiv-ing an offer of admissionfrom the Harvard MBA pro-gramme. English languagerequirements: The MBAAdmissions Board discour-ages any candidate with aTOEFL score lower than 109on the iBT, an IELTS scorelower than 7.5, or a PTEscore lower than 75 fromapplying.

How to apply: Send acopy of your curriculumvitae with photo, GMATscores and acceptance letterfrom. Candidates may applyfor the scholarship afterreceiving an offer for a placeon the Harvard MBA pro-gramme.

Application deadline:The last date of apply is May31, 2019.

TheUniversity of Houston-

Victoria (UHV), Texasoffers International StudentMerit Scholarships to pursueUG and graduate courses.

Eligibility: Be admittedto UHV and registered full-time (minimum of 12 creditsfor UG and minimum of 9-credits for graduate). In orderto maximise the scholarshipopportunity, all spring schol-arship recipients must be reg-istered for full-time courseload online (summer only) orface-to-face. All Spring schol-arship recipients must re-apply for the Fall merit schol-arship before the deadline.Have F-1 or J-1 student visa.Have a demonstrated recordof academic achievement.Submit the completed inter-national student merit schol-arship form. Attend themandatory international stu-dent orientation and plan toarrive to UHV five businessdays prior to the first classday. English languagerequirements: Applicantsfrom outside the home coun-try will often need to meetspecific Englishlanguage/other languagerequirements in order to beable to study there.

How to apply:Applications must be submit-ted via email to international-at-uhv.edu with subject line“merit scholarship” papersubmissions will not beaccepted by the internationalprogrammes.

Application deadline:Spring: November 15.

With the increase in the numberof high-rise buildings and mallsin India, there are plenty of

opportunities in lift technology or ele-vator technology. The technicians aretrained professionals who can handleall the issues connected with the lift/elevator the equipment in commercial,residential and industrial buildings.There are many ITI's run by theGovernment and ITC's run privatelythat conduct courses in Lift technolo-gy. Those who have successfully com-pleted the course can work as liftengineers, supervisors and techni-cians. Depending on the experienceand responsibilities, the remunerationvaries between `25,000-`50,000 permonth.nSt Joseph's Fire & SafetyAcademy, Korba, Chhatishgarh.Course: Diploma in Lift TechnologynBharat Institute of Elevators,Coimbatore. Course: Diploma in LiftTechnologynTUV Rheinland NIFE Academy PvtLtd, Secunderabad. Course: Diplomain Lift TechnologynNational Institute of Fire andSafety, Edappally. Course: Diploma inLift TechnologynRegional Hi-Tech College ofManagement and Engineering, Kochi.Course: Diploma in Lift TechnologynGanga Institute of Education,Rohtak. Course: Diploma in Lift

Technology

STUDY CENTRES MARKETING AT TRUWEIGHT WELLNESS Location: Delhi, Hyderabad, BengaluruStipend: `10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14786Application deadline: October 10, 2018

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (SALES) ATVIKALP INDIA Location: Delhi, BengaluruStipend: `5,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14787Application deadline: October 10, 2018

SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING AT TRIPLOULocation: Delhi, Hyderabad, BengaluruStipend: `2,500 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14788Application deadline: October10, 2018

MARKETING AT SAFEHOUSETECHNOLOGIESLocation: Delhi, Hyderabad,BengaluruStipend: `5,000-`10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14789Application deadline: October 10,2018

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT (SALES)AT BEROMT Location: Delhi, Hyderabad, BengaluruStipend: `10,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14790Application deadline: October 9, 2018

TEACHING (WEB DEVELOPMENT) AT 3DISCHOOLLocation: Delhi, Hyderabad, BengaluruStipend: `8,000-`12,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14791Application deadline: October 9, 2018

CONTENT WRITING AT GYANDHANLocation: Work From HomeStipend: `4,000-`5,000 per monthLink: internshala.com/i/14792Application deadline: October 1, 2018

QUERY: My name isNamrata Joshi. My date ofbirth is May 15, 1992. Pleaserecommend the right careerpath for me as per my astro-logical condition.

BHATT: Born under theEarth sign Taurus you are prac-tical, methodical and a candidperson. Moon in your zodiacsign makes you noble, discreet,dignified with slow and steadyprogress.

You are self-motivated anda go-getter. Once

you set a goal,your determina-tion, combinedwith a relentlessefforts, will allowyou to achieve it.You have certain

traits that a lot of peoplewish they could have. These

traits will help you in yourcareer but the dark side is thatyou can become emotionallyparched if there’s nobody mak-ing you feel special. Your egocan be a stumbling block hencewould advise counseling on aregular basis.

However, you have such agoal-oriented nature that youoften form a notion thatrevolves around. You will exe-cute well and are organised andwork well with others.

Entertainment: You have aunique way of communicatingand connecting with people.Hence there are various optionslike event planning, public rela-tions and media where you canexcel.

Leader: The Sun is yourplanetary leader, you are a bornleader. You can get your audi-ence fired up. You can pursue

a career as amotivationalspeaker, workfor fundraisersand charities, or evenbecome a politician.

Entrepreneur: You haveall the qualities to become anentrepreneuras it gives them thechance for showing their lead-ership qualities. Since Taureanspossess charm and are friend-ly, they have a good relationshipwith their employees and oth-ers in the business.

Finance: Any field relatedto finance is a very good.Taureans are patient, not easi-ly prone to disappointmentbecause of their firm nature andbeing good administrators.With these qualities you are theideal choice for the financecompanies as well as banks.

Your reliable nature andsteady style makes you an idealchoice for the positions of trea-surer or trustee of a charitableorganisation or society besidesa regular business enterprise.

Management: With all thevirtues of persistence, patience,dedication you can do well as anadministrative head and man-ager because Taureans likes towork in a completely structuredmanner. They want to haveclear hierarchy and roles andresponsibilities. They are insynchronisation with their teamand work according to them.With all these qualities Taureansare good in assisting, adminis-trative, management and mar-keting work profile jobs.

— Vinayak Bhatt is a cosmiccounsellor at Vedic Grace and can bereached at either [email protected]/or [email protected]

FORTUNER/VINAYAK BHATT

IMS Design and InnovationAcademy (DIA) organised agraduating show concept 2018 forthe final year students todemonstrate their designs. Vice-chancellor of Dr Bhimrao AmbedkarUniversity Delhi Jatin Bhatt, CEO ofRatna Swarna Jewellers SuyashRastogi and interior designer ofChaukor Studio Tejasvi Bansal werepresent .

The students of four-yeardegree and two-year diploma ofFashion Designing, CommunicationDesigning, Jewellery Designing andInterior Designing exhibited theirproduct like Indian wear, along withwestern clothing, graphics, games,3D animations, home and officeinterior parts and decorations.

The IMS-DIA academic advisorProf Nain Ciao said that studentsexhibited their products and alsoshowcased their knowledge andskills being applied to industry andmarket oriented project.

OP Jindal Global University (JGU)was awarded the second rank onthe Swachh Campus Ranking 2018of all Higher EducationalInstitutions in India. The Ministerfor Human Resource Development,Prakash Javadekar presented thisprestigious award to the foundingVC of JGU, Prof. (Dr) C Raj Kumarand Registrar, Prof (Dr) YSRMurthy. This is the second year in arow that JGU is getting the award.

Upon receiving the award onbehalf of JGU, Prof Kumar said:“Such accolades give us enormousboost, encouragement and supporttowards fulfilling the vision andmission of building an institution ofglobal excellence in India.”

CONCEPT 2018 SHOW

JGU AWARDED

IN BRIEF

As an ever-evolving field,architecture and design con-tinues to invite new talent

and invest in new techniques tostrengthen its reputation as one ofthe most sought-after professionalfields in the country. Having beenbacked by eons of culture and his-tory, architects in India have suc-cessfully assimilated the complexi-ties of the Indian society and cre-atively projected them throughinfrastructure over the years.

Western influences and inwardforeign investment led to an influxof the demands of modern com-mercial structures. Following therampant trend of designing spacesthat are believed to be the epicen-tre of globalisation for the coun-try, mass housing is most likely tobe the largest need of buildingtypology in the next two decades.It will generate huge opportunitiesat all levels of design and plan-ning; from economic and statuto-ry policy, linkages to rapid transitsystems, land allocations, thedesign of housing and industriali-sation of components. It is alsoexpected that niche opportunitieswill be created for mixed-usebuildings that will cater to com-mercial, retail and leisure activi-ties. As urbanisation increases amassive upside in the design offacilities for warehousing, coldstorage, cold chain and transithubs are also anticipated.

The projected large-scale mod-ernisation in agriculture wouldlead to a growth in demand forexpansive facilities for hydroponicfarming and greenhouses.Landscape, streetscape, and urbanspace design will grow exponen-tially, with the urban areas becom-ing more streamlined, and, generalpublic perception and demandincreasing from people.

There will be a large invest-ment in manufacturing industryand workspaces. These buildingtypologies offer opportunity inintelligent building and energymanagement systems. Studentswho apply themselves to the devel-opment of building automation

systems and energy control systemswill have great potential forgrowth.

To succeed in this field profes-sionals and students must focus onthe building engineering aspects ofthe structure along with the designitself. They should further practicethinking of the design as a part of alarger eco-system rather than inisolation. On-ground training andunderstanding the minute nuancesof the trade are also a few aspectsthat should be given importancewhile building a foundation in theprofession.

The Government’s vision ofbuilding smart cities can only befulfilled by tapping into the poten-tial of equally passionate and smartworking individuals that are opento exploring out-of-the-box ideasand implementing them with con-scious zeal. The epoch that we arecurrently living in offers each oneof us an opportunity to collectivelydesign more mindful and sustain-able infrastructure; by striking abalance between ancient values andmodern technology. It is also cru-cial to learn the art of opposingwithout being disagreeable and cre-ating consensus in situations ofuncertainty to succeed in the busi-ness.

‘New talent key

to smart cities’

It is time that we struck a balance betweenancient values and modern technology byinvesting in new ideas, says AMIN NAYYAR

Amin Nayyar,Founder-CEO, ANA DesignThe XLRI conducts the XAT

exam for admission intoXavier Association of

Management Institutes (XAMIs).For this academic season XATwill be conducted on January 6,2019 in an online mode like lastyear. The only change that the examundergoes this year is the exclusionof essay writing. But before wedelve into the exam-taking strate-gy, let us look at a few pointers thatone needs to keep in mind:

nThere won’t be two papersspanning five sections. There willbe just one paper comprising foursections. The four sections areVerbal Ability (VA) and LogicalAbility (LA), Decision Making(DM, Quantitative Ability (DA)and Data Interpretation (DI), andGeneral Knowledge (GK).

nThe duration for the exam is180 minutes.

nThere is no sectional timelimit but there are sectional cut-offs.

nIt is unclear at this point atwhich stage of admission, the firstshortlisting stage or during finaladmissions, the marks scored in theGK section will be considered.

nThe DM section of XAT isone of a kind. There will be a mixof behavioural, managerial andmathematical questions. Thesequestions require meticulous analy-

sis. These questions mostly poseethical, management or HR relat-ed dilemmas.

nThe scoring pattern can be alittle perplexing. Each questioncarries 1 mark. For every wronganswer, 0.25 marks are deducted.Also, 0.05 marks are deducted forevery un-attempted question,beyond 8 questions.

nThe XAT offers 5 options foreach objective question.

The best way to tackle the dif-ferences is to take mocks and solveprevious year papers in the onlineformat. This will help the studentsget better acquainted with the for-mat of the paper.

VA & LAStart with the verbal section.

Forty minutes would be ideal for thissection. Reading comprehensions(RC) comprise 50% of this section.It is important to read the passagecarefully and understand what isbeing asked in the question. Also, bewary of the traps set by the questionsetter. There would be three-fourlengthy RCs. It’s important to lookat answering 70% of the questionswith an accuracy of 85%-plus. Thiswould ideally take about 25 minutes.

Fill in the blanks and parajumble questions wouldn’t take toomuch time. You should look atattempting most questions from

these topics.The XAT is known to throw in

a surprise by setting a comprehen-sion type question on a poem. Tryto focus on the inference here sincequestions wouldn’t generally befactual here. This section compris-es 24-26 questions. An attempt of18-20 with 80% accuracy, in 40minutes, would be close to a 98%-plus. The cutoff would be around11-12 at max.

DM & ARThis section tests the students'

ethical bend and contrary to per-ception and is the easiest section toscore in. The best practice for thissection is from the previous yearXAT question papers, and the trickis to get into the mindset of the papersetter and analyse the logic behindthe mentioned scenario. Each DMcase carries an objective that needsto be fulfilled. While attempting thequestion you must look for anoption that fulfills this objective andnot the option that sounds best.

It is ideal to spend around 40minutes on this section. This wouldspan about 7 situational cases andone of them would be mathematicalin nature while the others would besituational. Aim to attempt 18-20questions with 80% accuracy. Ascore of 11-plus would ensure thatthe cutoff is cleared.

QA & DIThe final section in this saga is

QA and DI. The best way to attemptthis section is to tell yourself that youhave 65 minutes to answer 15 of the26-28 questions in this section. Yes,an attempt of 15 with 80% accura-cy will help you scale all cutoffs withease.

Start by first solving questionsfrom your areas of strength. Solvequestions from Arithmetic andAlgebra and then move to Numbers.In DI there may appear some unseengraphs and pictorial depictions, butthey may not be necessarily complex.Attempt the DI caselets and see ifyou can solve it without taking anexcess amount of time. I would rec-ommend spending around 6-8 min-utes percaselet and aim to solve acouple of questions from each.

The last section that is GK, theaim should be to score more than5 marks. The way to prepare for thissection is to be thorough with thecurrent affairs of at least the last 6months. The time one shouldspend on this section is 10 minutes.

The time remaining should bespent on the section which helps inmaximising your overall score. It isbetter to leave a question unan-swered, if you are not sure about it,than fetch a negative marking.

The writer is Group Product Head,Career Launcher

XAT’s

THE WAY TO GOXAT’s

THE WAY TO GOIn order to ace the changed format of XAT exam scheduled for January 2019, oneneeds to keep a few pointers in mind, says GAUTAM BAWA

ONCE ALL THESECTIONS HAVE

BEEN ATTEMPTED,THE REMAININGTIME SHOULD BE

SPENT ON THESECTION WHICH

HELPS INMAXIMISING

OVERALL SCORE. ITIS BETTER TO

LEAVE A QUESTIONUNANSWERED, IF

YOU ARE NOT SUREABOUT IT, THAN

FETCHINGNEGATIVE MARKING

money 12When trade stops, sometimes the warstarts. So trade is the way to stopwars. Trade is the way to build uptrust. It’s not the weapon to fightagainst each other. Today we seeMade in China, Made in America,Made in Switzerland or Made inGeneva. 2030 will seeMade in Internet

Jack Ma, Founder, Alibaba

We have taken a slew of stepsto promote inland water

transport, which has beenneglected so far. A study has

projected traffic at 21.89 MT onNational Waterway 1

(NW-1) by 2021

Nitin Gadkari, UnionMinister of Water Resources

GOVT

FROM

BUZZ

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018

INDIAN OIL PLEDGES FOR SWACHCHH BHARATIndian Oil’s RefineriesHeadquarters gave a fillipto the ongoing nationalcampaign of ‘Swacchtahi Sewa’ on MahatmaGandhi’s birthanniversary, whenhundreds of IOCianscame together early inthe morning at the iconicIndia Gate and pledgedtheir utmost support in creating a ‘Clean India’, befitting Gandiji’s dreams.Ranjan Kumar Mohapatra, Director (HR), Indian Oil, led the Indian OilPeople and other city residents in the celebrations, by administering anddigitally signing the Swachhta Pledge. He later flagged-off 10 ‘Swachhtaawareness vans that would reach out to a number of localities across thecity to motivate the people for adopting clean and hygienic living andmake the national movement a success.

NMDC ORGANISES ‘SWACHCHH BHARAT ABHIYAAN’ NMDC Limited organised4th Anniversary of‘Swachh BharatAbhiyaan’ on Tuesday atits headquarters inHyderabad and also in allits major projects acrossthe country spreadingthe message of CleanerIndia — Greener Indiabeing the motto ofSwachh Bharat Abhiyan. N Baijendra Kumar, IAS, CMD, NMDC, the ChiefGuest inaugurated the programme at Head Quarter, Hyderabad whereNarendra K Nanda, Director (Technical); TRK Rao, Director (Commercial)and senior officials were present.

B u s i n e s s C o r n e r

AFP n HONG KONG

Oil prices built on gains onTuesday after another blis-

tering rally but most marketswere in retreat as tradersbrushed off a positive leadfrom Wall Street and the US-Mexico-Canada trade deal.

Crude has motored inrecent weeks on concerns aboutsupplies after sanctions areimposed on Iran next month,while OPEC’s decision not toramp up output, upheaval inVenezuela, a strong dollar anda drop in oil rigs have alsopushed prices higher.

“Right now, we’re just in abull market for oil because ofthe prospects of a very tightmarket later on in the year,”John Kilduff, founding partnerat New York-based hedge fundAgain Capital LLC, toldBloomberg News.

Both main contractsjumped almost three percentMonday and clocked up freshgains in Asia, with observersand key players in the sectornow eyeing USD 100 a barrel.

Kim Kwangrae, a com-modities analyst at SamsungFutures, added: “The market’svery keen to figure out the sizeof the impact from the Iraniansupply disruptions andwhether Saudi Arabia and

Russia are able to make up forthe losses.

“At the same time, the US-Mexico-Canada Agreement isalso improving the overall sen-timent on oil.” New Yorktraders sent the Dow and S&P500 higher after the UnitedS t a t e s - M e x i c o - C a n a d aAgreement (USMCA) wasannounced Sunday to replacethe North American Free TradeAgreement (NAFTA).

The deal drew an end tomonths of uncertainty afterDonald Trump had threatenedto tear up the decades-oldNAFTA.

However, Asia was unableto follow suit. Hong Kongreopened after a long weekendto fall 2.5 percent, with dataindicating a drop in Chinesemanufacturing activity dentingsentiment.

The “HSI is trading with anegative bias, playing catch upfrom yesterday’s holiday, inreaction to the weaker China(manufacturing) data”, saidStephen Innes, head of Asia-Pacific trade at OANDA.

“It’s more than apparentHong Kong investors are in nomood to join the revampedNAFTA festivities.” Sydneyshed 0.8 per cent, Singapore fell0.5 per cent and Seoul was off1.3 per cent.

Wellington, Taipei, Jakartaand Manila were also welldown.

But Tokyo edged up 0.1 percent after the Nikkei onMonday saw its highest close in27 years with the yen at itsweakest since November.

Markets in China wereclosed for a holiday.

London fell 0.5 per cent inthe first few minutes of trade,while Paris lost 0.7 per centand Frankfurt shed 0.8 percent.

In forex trade the eurofaced selling pressure on con-cerns about Italy’s financesafter its populist governmentagreed a massive spendingboost that blew out its budget,while eurozone finance minis-ters warned Rome to abide byfiscal rules.

High-yielding and emerg-ing market currencies weremostly down as dealers lookedfor safer bets. The dollar broke15,000 Indonesian rupiah forthe first time since 1998 duringthe Asian financial crisis, whileMexico’s peso and the SouthAfrican rand were more thanone percent off against thegreenback.

South Korea’s won, theAustralian dollar and theRussian ruble were also sharplylower.

Crude heads to $100

barrel, Asia mkts down PTI n NEW DELHI

Indraprastha Gas, India’sbiggest city gas retailer, is

looking at setting up CNGdispensing stations within res-idential housing complexes toease queues at CNG pumps, itsManaging Director ESRanganathan said.

IGL also plans to foray intoe-vehicle charging segment bysetting up charging facility at itsCNG stations, he said.

The company, which retailsCNG to automobiles and pipedcooking gas to householdkitchens in the national capitaland its suburbs, is facing pres-sure to cut queues at CNG sta-tions that have led to trafficsnarls in many parts of the city.

It has already set up oneCNG dispensing pump at a res-idential housing complex inNoida on pilot basis, he said.

“All we need is a 10x10metre area - a space equivalentto one used for parking of fourcars. We will set up CNG sta-tion and man it as well.Residents of the housing com-plex will get priority filling,”he said adding the companywill be responsible for therunning and upkeep of thefacility.

Ranganathan said IGL isalso setting up e-vehicle charg-ing facility and has tied up witha Dutch company.

IGL, he said, plans to add

a record 60 CNG dispensingstations and give piped cook-ing gas connections to at least2 lakh households this fiscal.

The company has adopteda dealer-franchise model inthe push for rapidly expandingthe network.

The company, with 452CNG stations in Delhi, Noida,Greater Noida, Ghaziabad andRewari, has started giving thefranchise to dealers who ownlands. “We already have twoCNG dispensing stations oper-ating on dealer model andhave given letters of intent(LoIs) for another 21 whichwill be commissioned withinthe current financial year,” hesaid.

Ranganathan said the com-pany opened 30 CNG stationslast year and in 2018-19 it hasa target to open 50. “Thoughthe target is 50, we are confi-dent of putting up 60 stations,”he added.

The company, which hasover 9.6 lakh piped cooking gascustomers, has a target to add3 lakh this fiscal. “We gave 1.5lakh piped natural gas (PNG)connections in last financialyear and this year we are con-fident of crossing 2 lakh. Wecan achieve 3 lakh target asareas currently out of boundlike Cantonment areas areopened up for us to laypipelines and give connectionsin kitchens,” he said.

IGL to set up CNG stationsin housing complexes

PTI n NEW DELHI

Flipkart has significantlyexpanded its infrastructure

and delivery operations aheadof the festive sale, an invest-ment that the Walmart-backedcompany believes will helpfurther strengthen its capabil-ities in the long-term.

Flipkart, which will host itsBig Billion Days (BBD) salefrom October 10-14 this year,has doubled its warehousingcapacity and now has over 65fulfilment centres and morethan 60 ‘mother hubs’ that willcater to the expected spike indemand during the festive sale.

“BBD pushes us to innovatein every area, including supplyand logistics. It helps us buildcapabilities for long-term. EachBBD is bigger than the previousone and sets a new normal —for both business and innova-tion — for the future,” FlipkartSenior Vice President ofEngineering (Supply Chain)Krishna Raghavan said.

“We have been workingmultiple months in advance andhave doubled our storage capac-ity this year. This not only helpsin speedier delivery to customersbut also enables sellers to stockand better plan their inventory inadvance,” he said but declined tocomment on investment details.

Raghavan added that thecumulative capacity now standsat about 9.5 million sq ft.

The company has also

expanded its network of deliv-ery hubs from 600 to over 900this year to enable 1.8X deliverycapability per day compared toa normal day. Besides, about30,000 new delivery staff havebeen added over the past manyweeks, including freelance work-ers who are part timers. Thesepersonnel were inducted after aproper background screeningand given training for 1-4 weeks.

“While the hiring numberdoes see a ramp-up ahead ofBBD, it is also important to notethat we have been expanding‘Fquick’ or the freelance net-work, which now has affiliatesfrom 40 cities...This provides uscapacity flexibility at our lastmile delivery hubs, leading tospillage reduction and cost effi-ciency — not only during saleperiod but beyond that as well,”he said.

He also cited an example ofgeo-coding of addresses usingmachine learning, artificial intel-ligence and data science to ensurefaster and effective delivery evenin remote parts of the country.

Raghavan said the focus ofall these initiatives is to ensurefast and efficient delivery acrosscategories, be it large appliancesor grocery. The network has alsobeen strengthen to supportFlipkart’s product exchange pro-gramme that has been expand-ed aggressively, especially intier II cities and beyond.

About 20 million peopleare expected to shop on vari-

ous e-commerce platformsduring the festive sale nextmonth, translating into sales ofaround $3 billion for playerslike Amazon and Flipkart,according to a report byresearch firm RedSeer.Flipkart’s rival Amazon Indiawill kick off its festive sale fromOctober 10-15.

The RedSeer report statesthat the share of items likeelectronics and furniture duringthe sale could be higher this yeardue to various affordability ini-tiatives being undertaken by thee-commerce players. Mobilephones currently account for alion’s share of sales on the twoleading e-commerce platforms.

Like in offline retail, e-commerce companies see asignificant jump in sales dur-ing Dussehra and Diwali. TheSeptember-November periodtypically generates a majority ofthe annual sales of these com-panies, which prepare monthsin advance for the sale event.

The festive sale not onlybrings in discounts and deals forcustomers but is also an annualshowdown of sorts between thetwo largest players — Flipkartand Amazon India. The com-petition between Flipkart andUS-based Amazon this year isexpected to be even fiercer asboth companies have investedsignificantly through the year toramp up product offerings aswell as logistics infrastructure toensure speedier delivery.

Innovations for festive sales help buildcapabilities for future, says Flipkart

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Government plans toauction two limestone

blocks having reserves ofaround 600 million tonne(MT), in October.

Of the two blocks, one is inAndhra Pradesh and the otheris in Gujarat, according to anofficial document.

The Chintalayapalle-Abdullapuram-Korumanipalli(CAK) limestone block inAndhra Pradesh with reservesof 104.68 MT will be auc-tioned on October 12.

The Bhatvadiya block inGujarat with reserves of 477.2MT will go under the hammeron October 17, the document

said.Meanwhile, the auction of

two iron ore blocks in Odishahaving reserves of around 100MT has been deferred, it said.

The Centre had earlier saidit was considering granting allapprovals, including environ-mental clearance, to mineralblocks before putting them upfor sale, a move that may givea push to the auctions.

Government says Indiamay not make much progressin auctioning of mineral blocksin the future unless issues relat-ed to green clearances andland rights are addressedupfront.

It has given in-principleapproval to provide singleclearance for environment andforest to the new lease holdersof the 288 mining leases expir-ing in two years.

From the 50 mineral blocksauctioned so far, theGovernment will earn a rev-enue of `1.81 lakh crore overthe lease period.

Union Govt plans toauction 2 limestoneblocks in OctoberGOVERNMENTWILL EARN AREVENUE OF `1.81LAKH CRORE OVERTHE LEASE PERIOD

PTI n NEW DELHI

State-owned Oil andNatural Gas Corp

(ONGC) is not in ahurry to sell its stake inIndian Oil Corp andGAIL (India) and willwait for the right pricebefore offloading theshares, a senior compa-ny official said.

ONGC holds 13.77per cent stake in oilrefiner IOC and 4.86per cent in gas utilityGAIL India.

“It is true that we arenow a fully integratedcompany. We are India’slargest oil and gas producer andthe acquisition of (oil refiner)HPCL has extended our pres-ence in the downstream indus-tries.

“And so naturally, it nowdoes not make sense for ONGCto hold stake in Indian OilCorp (IOC). But, we will waitfor the right price,” said theofficial.

ONGC, he said, got over`3,000 crore in dividendincome from investments inIOC and GAIL in 2017-18financial year.”This is a decentreturn on capital and can helpme hold on to shares for long,”he said. “I am in no hurry tosell the stake. We will wait for

the right price.”ONGC’s 13.77 per cent

stake in IOC at Monday’s clos-ing price of `153.80 apiece onBSE is worth over `20,500crore. Its 4.86 per cent stake inGAIL is worth close to `4,200crore at Monday’s closing priceof `380.75.

“IOC shares were trading ataround ̀ 195 in January and arenow at `153-154. It doesn’tmake sense to sell the shares atsuch a big loss,” the official said.

ONGC, he said, is gener-ating enough surplus mainlybecause of international oilprices spiking to four-year highand the rupee plummeting toan all-time low.

It is using these to pay off`24,881 crore loan it had takento buy Hindustan PetroleumCorp Ltd (HPCL) for `36,915crore.

A third of the loan hasalready been pre-paid, he said.

ONGC had borrowed Rs24,881 crore on a short-termloan to fund buying of theGovernment’s 51.11 per centstake in HPCL. The remainingcame from its cash reserves.

The official said the pace ofrepayment may slow down inthe third and fourth quartersowing to outgo on taxes anddividend as also the fact thatcapital spending would peak bythen.

Initially, ONGC con-sidered selling its stake inIOC and GAIL to fundthe acquisition, but it hasnever found the rightprice to offload the shares,he said.

The short-term loanONGC availed had a pro-vision to prepay withoutany penalty.

ONGC had held talkswith Life InsuranceCorporation of India(LIC) for selling IOC andGAIL shares but the state-owned insurer insisted onbuying them at 10 percent discount to the pre-vailing price. ONGC thus

decided against the share sale.ONGC’s purchase of

HPCL created India’s first inte-grated oil company. This wasONGC’s biggest acquisitionand second buyout of 2017-18after its `7,738 crore acquisitionof 80 per cent stake in GujaratState Petroleum Corp’s KGbasin gas block.

HPCL added 23.8 milliontonne of annual oil refiningcapacity to ONGC’s portfolio,making it the third largestrefiner in the country after IOCand Reliance Industries.

ONGC already is majorityowner of Mangalore Refineryand Petrochemicals, which hasa 15-million tonne refinery.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Th eGovernment

is mulling per-mitting 100 percent foreigndirect investment(FDI) in insur-ance broking togive a boost tothe sector, sources said.

The FDI policy, at present,allows 49 per cent foreigninvestment in the insurancesector that encompasses insur-ance broking, insurance com-panies, third party adminis-trators, surveyors and lossassessors as defined by theDepartment of IndustrialPolicy and Promotion (DIPP).

The DIPP is an arm of thecommerce and industry min-istry which deals with FDIrelated matters and promotingease of doing business in thecountry.

Representations have beenmade to the Government timeand again on the issue thatinsurance brokers should betreated at par with other finan-cial services intermediaries,where 100 per cent FDI is per-mitted.

“Insurance broking is likeany other financial or com-

modity broking services. Theissue was recently discussed ina high level inter-ministerialmeeting. The Government ispositively looking at the mat-ter,” sources said.

The official, however, clar-ified that the FDI cap for insur-ance companies would remainat 49 per cent.

The finance minister hasrecently held meeting on thesubject and the PrimeMinister’s Office too has soughtviews of the DIPP on the mat-ter.

Industry experts have stat-ed that the insurance sector isbeing impacted due to weakdistribution networks.

There is a need to strength-en the distribution network tosupport the sector as a whole.

Insurance penetration inthe country was 3.4 per cent in2015 against the world averageof 6.2 per cent.

Govt considering 100%FDI in insurance broking

PTI n GUWAHATI

Oil major ONGC onTuesday said it is carrying

out a drinking water project inover 50 schools across Assamin this financial year, entailingan investment of `1.68 crore.

During 2017-18, ONGC’sSchool Drinking Water Projecthad benefitted more than10,000 children in 32 schoolsin Sivasagar and Charaideodistricts of Assam that entailedan investment of `1.07 crore,the PSU behemoth said in astatement.

“In financial year 2018-19,the project is being extended to52 schools, which would ben-efit more than 15,000 schoolchildren, at a project cost of`1.68 crore,” the statementsaid. “Providing clean and safedrinking water in schools inand around ONGC’s opera-tional area is a CSR initiativeby ONGC Assam Asset in

association with ONGC’s AllIndia OBC & MOBCEmployees WelfareAssociation,” the companysaid.

As part of this initiative,the project was inaugurated atRohdoi and Hahchara HighSchool in Sivasagar by ONGCExecutive Director (AssamAsset) S D Maske earlier thisweek.

On receiving the feedbackfrom the students, Maskeannounced financial supportof `25,000 for sports items andassured to extend financialsupport for construction ofgirls’ toilet at Rohdoi HighSchool under CSR initiative.

Similarly, he announcedfinancial support of `25,000 forsports items and Chemistrylaboratory equipment, whileassuring to extend financialsupport for various items forlibrary at Hahchara HighSchool.

ONGC to provide `1.68 crfor drinking water projectin 50 Assam schools

PTI n NEW DELHI

Realtors body NAREDCOon Tuesday said it has

signed agreement with theMinistry of Housing andUrban Affairs to provide skilltraining and jobs in the con-struction sector for 2.5 lakhpoor people.

“NAREDCO has enteredinto a Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) withthe Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs, Government ofIndia, to strengthen the skilltrainings and employmentopportunities in the construc-tion sector for the urban poorunder Deendayal AntyodayaYojana-National UrbanLivelihoods Mission,” the asso-ciation said in a statement.

On the partnership,National Real EstateDevelopment Council(NAREDCO) PresidentNiranjan Hiranandani said:“There are two objectives ofthis MOU, first is to provide

employment to urban poorwaiting to enter constructionsector and secondly up-skillthe semi-skilled constructionworkers working on construc-tion sites to a skilled category.”

NAREDCO would ensurethe implementation of thisinitiative through training . Amajority of the fresh andupskilling training programmewill be delivered at the con-

struction sites. The trainingcurriculum under this initia-tive will range from minimum80 hours (10 days) to a maxi-mum of 6 months.

“...Through this collabora-tion 2,50,000 urban poor willbe trained,” NAREDCO said.The association would beresponsible for the overallimplementation, achievementof the targets and outcomes.

NAREDCO inks pact with Housing andUrban Affairs Ministry for skill training

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Information andTechnology Ministry has

asked Facebook to provide an‘update’ on the impact onIndian users on account of therecent hacking incident whereabout 50 million accounts onthe social media portal wereaffected, sources said.

According to senior ITofficials, who did not wish tobe named, Facebook hasMonday been verbally askedto update the government onthe number of Indian usersimpacted by the recentattack.

They added thatFacebook officials have saidthey were analysing the issueand will revert in two days.When contacted, Facebookdeclined to comment on thequery.

India asksFacebook forupdate onhacking impact

ONGC not in a hurry to offload stake in IOC, GAIL

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 world 13

GLOBE TROTTING

Tyrese Gibson, Samantha welcome first child

Los Angeles: “Fast and Furious” starTyrese Gibson and social worker wifeSamantha Lee became parents to theirfirst child, a baby girl on Monday. The 39-year-old actor shared the news onInstagram, alongside the footprints of thebaby, whom the couple have namedSoraya Lee Gibson.“Father God we loveyou for delivering on your promiseprincess Soraya Lee Gibson is here... 8pounds 6 Oz our lives just changed for-ever... “My wife is the real champion. 30hours of labor. I witnessed first hand thestrength of a woman... Thank you Jesuswe are so humbled by your grace and loveand favor...” Gibson wrote. The couple gotmarried in a surprise Valentine’s Day cer-emony last year.Lee, 29, learnt the newsof her pregnancy in late January.Gibsonis already a father to 10-year-old daugh-ter, Shayla, whom he had with formerwife, Norma Mitchell.

Nicole Kidman to be honoured with

Career Achievement Award at HFALos Angeles: Nicole Kidman will receive theHollywood Career Achievement Award atthis year’s Hollywood Film Awards (HFA).According to HFA, the 50-year-old actor isbeing honoured for her chameleonic per-formances in movies such as “To Die For”,playing Virginia Woolf in “The Hours”,“Eyes Wide Shut”, “Moulin Rouge!”, “Lion”and “Dogville”, among others. “With threefilms coming out before the end of this year,Kidman has already received praise for hertransformative performance in KarynKusama’s ‘Destroyer’ and in Joel Edgerton’s‘Boy Erased’,” the statement on the awardsofficial website read. The Oscar-winningactor is also being recognised for her career-long support of independent filmmakers, par-ticularly women. “Through her productioncompany, Blossom Films, she has taken thisto a new level. Among the many projects shehas produced, last year’s ‘Big Little Lies’ wasa phenomenon that entered not only the cul-tural, but the social zeitgeist,” the statementfurther read.The 22nd annual awards cere-mony will take place at Beverly Hilton onNovember 4.

Post-Brexit, UK unveils new

tougher immigration plans

PTI n LONDON

British Prime MinisterTheresa May on Tuesday

unveiled a major post-Brexitoverhaul of the UK’s immi-gration system, which she saidis aimed at a level playing fieldfor nationals from all countriesby ending “freedom of move-ment once and for all” forEuropean Union (EU) citi-zens. Indians may benefit fromthe new rules, which will focuson highly-skilled migration asopposed to low-skilled work-ers, but an added obligation oncompanies being required tosponsor families of such high-skilled professionals may provea hurdle in the long term.

“When we leave (the EU)we will bring in a new immi-gration system that ends free-dom of movement once andfor all. For the first time indecades, it will be this countrythat controls and chooses whowe want to come here,” Maysaid in a statement.

“It will be a skills-basedsystem where it is workers’skills that matter, not wherethey come from. It will be asystem that looks across theglobe and attracts the peoplewith the skills we need,” shesaid.

“The UK government saidthe new so-called skills-basedsystem will make sure low-skilled immigration is broughtdown and “set the UK on thepath to reduce immigration tosustainable levels,” a key man-ifesto pledge of the rulingConservative Party.

The new regime, details ofwhich are yet to be fully spec-

ified, is expected to be in placeby 2021 once the transitionperiod for Britain’s exit fromthe EU is complete.

Under rules for skilledworkers, applicants will con-tinue to be required to meet aminimum salary threshold,which may be hiked further,and have their families spon-sored by their future employ-ers.

“Successful applicants forhigh skilled work would beable to bring their immediatefamily but only if sponsored bytheir future employers,” thegovernment statement noted.

There are also plans tointroduce in-country securitychecks to be carried out tomake operations faster at pass-port control at the borders, asimilar system of prior autho-risation currently operated bythe US.

This new “swift system ofe-gate visa checks” for visitorscoming into the UK on short-stay tourist or business tripswill be limited to “low riskcountries”, which is unlikely to

include India.The proposals follow a

crucial government-commis-sioned report from theMigration AdvisoryCommittee (MAC) last month,which had recommended thathigh-skilled workers must begiven priority over visa appli-cations from low-skilled work-ers.

The report was based onan immigration policy thathad a level playing field for EUnationals and applicants fromother countries, proposalswhich were accepted by theUK Cabinet last week.

A White Paper detailingexactly how the new systemwill work will be published inthe coming weeks, ahead of anew Immigration Bill to be laidout before Parliament nextyear, the government said.

The announcement waswidely expected since theMigration AdvisoryCommittee had called for anend to “preferential access” toEU workers after Brexit. Under the EU’s current free

movement rules, citizens fromwithin the 28-member eco-nomic bloc have so far beenable to enter the UK freely andlook for work on arrival asopposed to strict visa normsthat apply to non-EU workersfrom countries like India.

The current cap on skilledworkers is set at 20,700 peryear for migrants from non-EU countries like India, some-thing the committee had rec-ommended should be doneaway with.

However, whether thiswould ultimately benefit skilledprofessionals from countrieslike India will depend on theadditional requirementsimposed upon applicants andthe UK-based companies seek-ing to employ them.

UK Home Secretary SajidJavid will lay out some of thecontours of the new plans aspart of his speech to the ongo-ing Conservative Party annu-al conference in Birminghamlater on Tuesday.

The major immigrationoverhaul announcement isbeing seen as a counter-pointto the arrival at the conferenceof the British PM’s key Brexitrival, former foreign secretaryBoris Johnson, who is due tomake a speech attacking herstrategy on negotiating an exitdeal with the EU.

The issue of migrationcontinues to be a highly con-tentious one, with control overborders to end free movementof people from member-coun-tries having played a crucialpart in the campaign for leav-ing the EU in the June 2016Brexit referendum.

Suicide attack in Af kills13AFP n JALALABAD

At least 13 people werekilled in a suicide attack on

an Afghan election campaignrally on Tuesday, officials said,in the latest violence ahead ofthis month’s legislative vote.The attack is the first suicideassault since campaigning offi-cially kicked off last Friday forthe parliamentary elections,preparations for which havealready been marred by bloodyviolence.

More than 40 people werewounded when the militantblew himself up among sup-porters of candidate AbdulNasir Mohmmand in theKama district of the easternprovince of Nangarhar, provin-cial governor spokesmanAtaullah Khogyani said.

Mohmmand was alive,Khogyani confirmed, but hedid not say if the candidate hadbeen hurt in the blast.

Provincial health directorNajibullah Kamawal put thedeath toll slightly higher at 14.

Some of the wounded werein a critical condition, he said.

An AFP reporter sawnumerous ambulances deliv-ering bodies and woundedpeople to a hospital in theprovincial capital of Jalalabad.

Sayed Humayun, who hadbrought his injured cousin tothe medical facility, said scoresof people had been inside a halllistening to Mohmmand speakwhen the bomber struck.

“I heard a big explosion,”Humayun told AFP.“For awhile I could not see, I thoughtI was blinded, but later I saw Iwas surrounded by bodies andpeople covered in blood.” Theforce of the blast caused theceiling to collapse on top of thegathering. “There are still peo-ple trapped under the rubble,”

Malik Zeerak, who was at therally, told AFP. No groupimmediately claimed theattack, but the Islamic Stategroup has taken responsibili-ty for most of the suicidebombings in recent months.

Violence has plagued therun-up to Afghanistan’s long-delayed parliamentary vote,which is scheduled for October20. Five candidates have beenmurdered in targeted killings,according to the IndependentElection Commission, andthere are fears violence willescalate.

There were also numerousattacks on voter registrationcentres, including a suicideblast at a centre in Kabul thatkilled dozens. The latest attackcomes amid predictions for

Afghan battle deaths to top20,000 this year — includingcivilians and combatants.

That would be the highestnumber since the start of theconflict in 2001 and makeAfghanistan deadlier thanSyria.

More than 2,500 candi-dates will contest the vote,which is seen as a test run fornext year’s presidential elec-tion.

But preparations have beenin turmoil for months.

Bureaucratic inefficiency,allegations of industrial-scalefraud and an eleventh-hourpledge for biometric verifica-tion of voters threaten to derailthe election and any hope of acredible result. The interna-tional community is pushing

hard for the vote to happenbefore November’s ministerialmeeting in Geneva, which theUnited Nations says is a “cru-cial moment” for the Afghangovernment and its foreignpartners to demonstrateprogress.

Some 54,000 members ofAfghanistan’s beleagueredsecurity forces will be respon-sible for protecting more than5,000 polling centres on elec-tion day.

More than 2,000 pollingcentres that were supposed toopen will be closed for securi-ty reasons.

It is a daunting task as theTaliban and IS, which havevowed to disrupt the ballot,ramp up attacks across thecountry.

Afghan Security personnel inspect the site of a suicide attack in the Kama district of Nangarhar province, east of Kabul,Afghanistan on Tuesday. AP

AFP nSTOCKHOLM

Three scientists on Tuesday wonthe Nobel Physics Prize for

inventing optical lasers that havepaved the way for advanced precisioninstruments used in corrective eyesurgery and in industry, the jury said.Arthur Ashkin of the United Stateswon one half of the nine millionSwedish kronor (about $1.01 millionor 870,000 euros) prize, while GerardMourou of France and DonnaStrickland of Canada shared the otherhalf.

Ashkin, 96, was honoured for hisinvention of “optical tweezers” thatgrab particles, atoms, viruses andother living cells with their laser beamfingers. With this he was able to usethe radiation pressure of light to movephysical objects, “an old dream of sci-ence fiction,” the Royal Swedish

Academy of Sciences said.A major breakthrough came in

1987 when Ashkin used the tweez-ers to capture living bacteria withoutharming them, the Academy noted.Ashkin, who made his discovery

while working at AT&T BellLaboratories from 1952 to 1991, is theoldest winner of a Nobel prize, beat-ing out American Leonid Hurwiczwho was 90 when he won the 2007Economics Prize. Meanwhile

Mourou, 74, and Strickland — onlythe third woman to win the PhysicsPrize — won for helping develop amethod to generate ultra-short opti-cal pulses, “the shortest and mostintense laser pulses ever created bymankind,” the jury said. Their tech-nique is now used in corrective eyesurgery.Mourou was affiliated withthe Ecole Polytechnique of France andthe University of Michigan in the US,while Strickland, his student, is a pro-fessor at the University of Waterlooin Canada.

Speaking by phone to the acad-emy, a moved Strickland said she wasthrilled to receive the Nobel prize thathas been the least accessible forwomen. “We need to celebratewomen physicists because they’re outthere... I’m honoured to be one ofthose women.” Before her, onlyMarie Curie and Maria Goeppert

Mayer had won the physics prize, in1903 and 1963 respectively. The RoyalSwedish Academy of Sciences has inthe past lamented the small numberof women laureates in the sciencefields in general.

It has insisted that it is not dueto male chauvinism bias on the awardcommittees, instead attributing it tothe fact that laboratory doors wereclosed to women for so long. “It’s asmall percentage for sure, that’s whywe are taking measures to encouragemore nominations because we don’twant to miss anyone,” the head of theAcademy, Goran Hansson, said onTuesday. Last year, US astrophysicistsBarry Barish, Kip Thorne and RainerWeiss won the physics prize for thediscovery of gravitational waves,predicted by Albert Einstein a cen-tury ago as part of his theory of gen-eral relativity.

Laser pioneers win Nobel Physics Prize

PTI n BEIJING

The US has accused aChinese naval ship of con-

ducting “unsafe and unprofes-sional” manoeuvres when oneof its warships entered thewaters of the disputed SouthChina Sea. China on Tuesdayexpressed its strong dissatis-faction and firm opposition tothe US warship sailing near theislands and reefs claimed by itin the South China Sea (SCS).

“On September 30, withoutpermission of the Chinese gov-ernment, the US destroyerDecatur entered neighbouringwaters of islands and reefs ofChina’s Nansha Islands,”Chinese Foreign Ministryspokesperson Hua Chunyingsaid in a statement on Tuesday.

The Chinese naval ship iden-tified the US vessel, warned andexpelled it, Hua said, stressingthat China has indisputablesovereignty of the Nanshaislands (Spratly Islands) and itsadjacent waters.

An official US statementdescribed the move by theChinese destroyer as “unsafe”because it moved within 41metres of the US warship. USPacific Fleet deputy spokesmanNate Christensen said theChinese destroyer had“approached USS Decatur in anunsafe and unprofessionalmanoeuvre in the vicinity ofGaven Reef in the South ChinaSea”. “The PRC destroyer con-ducted a series of increasinglyaggressive manoeuvres accom-panied by warnings for Decatur

to depart the area,” the HongKong-based South ChinaMorning Post quotedChristensen as saying.

After the Chinese shipcame within 45 yards (41metres) of Decatur’s bow itmoved to prevent a collision,the report said. Apart fromChina, Vietnam also lay claimon the Spratly Islands. China isengaged in hotly contested ter-ritorial disputes in the SouthChina Sea. Vietnam, thePhilippines, Malaysia, Bruneiand Taiwan have counterclaims over the vital transitroute for world trade.

The US has been sendingperiodic air and naval expedi-tions to assert its right of thefreedom of the navigation inthe SCS. The movement of the

US naval ships and aircraftthrough the area has increasedsince President Donald Trumptook the office. China routine-ly objects the US presence toregister its claims.

Hua said that with jointefforts of China and the mem-bers of Association of SoutheastAsian Nations (ASEAN), thecurrent situation in the SCS hascontinued to stabilise and getbetter, while repeated provoca-tive US moves under the pre-text of the so-called “freedomof navigation operation” havethreatened the peace and sta-bility in the region.

She said that such USmoves are against the commonwill of countries in the regionand the basic internationalnorms, the state-run Xinhua

news agency reported onTuesday.

“The Chinese side stronglyurges the US side to immediatelycorrect its mistakes and stopsuch provocative operations,”Hua said, adding that Chinawould take all necessary mea-sures to safeguard its nationalsovereignty and security.

The unsafe andaggressive manoeuvres by theUS and Chinese ships tookplace amid the trade warbetween the world’s two largesteconomies. Both the countrieshave been slapping tariffs on bil-lions of dollars’ worth of theirexports.

The US also imposedsanctions on a Chinese militaryunit importing Russian weaponsystems.

Pak cuts CPECinvestment inrailways by $2bn citing hugeburden of loansIslamabad (PTI): Pakistan hasslashed the Chinese investmentin railways by USD 2 billion cit-ing a huge burden of loans, giv-ing credence to reports that thenew government led by PrimeMinister Imran Khan may scru-tinise the multi-billion dollarCPEC, a media report saidTuesday. Railways MinisterSheikh Rasheed Ahmad saidthat the share of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor(CPEC) in the railways hasbeen reduced from USD 8.2 bil-lion to USD 6.2 billion.

“Pakistan is a poor countrythat cannot afford huge burdenof the loans,” Rasheed toldreporters in Lahore. “Therefore,we have reduced the loan fromChina under the CPEC for railprojects from USD 8.2 billion toUSD 6.2 billion. The CPEC islike the backbone for Pakistan,but our eyes and ears are open,”he said.

The announcement givescredence to reports that thenew government led by Khanintends to scrutinise the USD 62billion infrastructure and powerprojects, which the PML-N gov-ernment had initiated under theCPEC.

The Express Tribune report-ed that CPEC’s investment sharefor Pakistan Railways was USD8.2 billion, which was to beutilised for upgrading MainLine-1 (ML-1) a colonial-era linestretching 1,872 km fromKarachi to Peshawar. Previousrailways minister Saad Rafiquehad termed the upgrading ofML-1 as vital for railways futureas it would bring as many as 171trains on track per day againstthe current 32.

Washington (PTI): USPresident Donald Trump hasslammed “tariff king” India forimposing “tremendously high”tariffs on American productslike Harley Davidson motorcy-cles and said he has spoken toPrime Minister Narendra Modiwho is going to reduce theduties “substantially”. Trump’scharges against the alleged highIndian tariffs, for the secondtime in a few days came duringhis White House news confer-ence where he announced a newtrade deal with neighbouringMexico and Canada.

Describing India as a “tar-iff king”, Trump reiterated hisallegations that New Delhi hasa high tariff rate on variousAmerican products and claimedthat New Delhi wanted to havea trade deal with the US pri-marily to keep him “happy”. Ashe announced the key elementsof the US-Mexico and CanadaAgreement or USMCA, thePresident listed out at the tradedeals that are under negotia-tions, including with Japan, theEuropean Union, China andIndia. He alleged that India puts“tremendously high tariffs” onAmerican products and raked

up the issue of Harley Davidsonmotorcycles. “When we sendHarley Davidson motorcycle,and other things to India, theycharge us very very high tariffs.I have spoken to Prime Minister(Narendra) Modi and he isgoing to reduce them substan-tially,” he said.

Trump said the relationshipwith both India as well as thecountry’s Prime Minister Modi“is great”. He, however, rued thatno one from the previousregimes had ever spoken withthe Indians.

“No body ever spoke tothese people (Indians). He(Modi) said, no body ever spoketo me. I am not trying to beoverly dramatic. We have hadpresidents of the United Statesand (US) Trade Representatives,they never spoke to India. Brazilis another one,” Trump said,adding that “they charge uswhatever they want”.Noting thatthe tariff on motorcycles was100 per cent, the president saidit was like a barrier.

India has already reduced itsubstantially, but it is still toohigh, Trump said, adding thatwho is going to buy it as it costsso much.

He also warned againstimposing similar tariffs onimport of Indian products.

Trump said India wanted tohave a trade deal with the USand the negotiations are beingcarried out by the US TradeRepresentatives RobertLighthizer. When US officialsasked Indians why they want tohave a trade deal with America,Indian officials told them thatthey want to keep the USPresident happy, Trump toldreporters.

India wants trade dealwith US primarily tokeep me happy: Trump

Resolution in US Congress tohonour ‘Congressional GoldMedal’ to Mahatma GandhiWashington (PTI): A resolu-tion has been moved in theHouse of Representatives tohonour Mahatma Gandhi withthe prestigious CongressionalGold Medal, the highest civil-ian award bestowed by the USCongress, in recognition ofhis promotion of peace andnon-violence.

Co-sponsored by fourIndian-American lawmakers— Ami Bera, RajaKrishnamoorthi, Ro Khannaand Pramila Jayapal — theresolution was introduced byCongresswoman CarolynMaloney on September 23.

Tulsi Gabbard, who is thecurrent co-chair of the HouseCongressional Caucus on Indiaand Indian-Americans, is alsoone the co-sponsors of theresolution, which has been

sent to the Committee onFinancial Services andCommittee on HouseAdministration for necessaryaction.

The Congressional GoldMedal is the highest civilianhonour given by the USCongress and very few for-eigners have been recipients ofthis award.

US accuses China of conducting unsafe manoeuvres in SCS

Rainer Weiss of MIT (left), and Kip Thorne (middle) and Barry Barish (right), both ofCaltech, won the Nobel Prize in physics for their leadership roles in the LIGOexperiment.

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 world 14

Indonesia quake-tsunami toll tops 1,200

AFP n PALU

More than 1,200 people arenow known to have died

in the quake-tsunami thatsmashed into Sulawesi,Indonesia said Tuesday, aspolice pledged to clamp downon looting by survivors takingadvantage of the chaos.

There were reports ofofficers firing warning shotsand tear gas to ward off peo-ple ransacking shops in Palu,a coastal city ravaged by a 7.5-magnitude quake and thetsunami it spawned.

Almost 200,000 peopleare in need of urgent help, theUnited Nations says, amongthem thousands of children.

Survivors are battlingthirst and hunger, with foodand clean water in short sup-ply, and local hospitals areoverwhelmed by the numberof injured.

Police said Tuesday thatthey had previously tolerateddesperate survivors takingfood and water from closedshops, but had now arrested35 people for stealing com-puters and cash.

“On the first and secondday clearly no shops wereopen. People were hungry.There were people in direneed. That’s not a problem,”said deputy national policechief Ari Dono Sukmanto.

“But after day two, thefood supply started to comein, it only needed to be dis-tributed. We are now re-enforcing the law.” “There areATMs. They are open,” headded.

“If people steal, we catchand investigate.” Despite offi-cial assurances, desperationwas evident on the streets ofPalu, where survivors clam-bered through wreckage hunt-ing for anything salvageable.

Others crowded arounddaisy-chained power strips at

the few buildings that stillhave electricity, or queued forwater, cash or petrol beingbrought in via armed policeconvoy.

“The government, thepresident have come here, butwhat we really need is foodand water,” Burhanuddin AidMasse, 48, told AFP.

Rescue efforts have beenhampered by a lack of heavymachinery, severed transportlinks, the scale of the damage,and the Indonesian govern-ment’s reluctance to acceptforeign help.

As if to remind the worldof the tectonic fragility ofIndonesia, a series of quakeshit the island of Sumba onTuesday, albeit hundreds ofkilometres from Palu.

The official death tollfrom the tragedy in centralSulawesi stood at 1,234,according to the government.

The Indonesian military isleading the rescue effort, butfollowing a reluctant accep-tance of help by PresidentJoko Widodo, internationalNGOs also have teams on theground in Palu. Among thedead are dozens of studentswhose lifeless bodies werepulled from their landslide-swamped church in Sulawesi.

“A total of 34 bodies werefound by the team,” IndonesiaRed Cross spokeswomanAulia Arriani told AFP afterthe grim discovery, addingthat 86 students had initiallybeen reported missing from aBible camp at the JonoogeChurch Training Centre.

Arriani said rescuers facedan arduous trek to reach themudslide and retrieve the vic-tims. “The most challengingproblem is travelling in themud as much as 1.5 hours byfoot while carrying the bod-

ies to an ambulance,” she said.Indonesia is the world’s

most populous Muslim-majority nation but there aresmall pockets of religiousminorit ies, includingChristians, across the archi-pelago of 260 million people.

The United Nations Officefor the Coordination ofHumanitarian Affairs warnedMonday that there were191,000 people in urgent needof help after the quake-tsuna-mi, among them 46,000 chil-dren and 14,000 elderly —many in areas that aren’t thefocus of government recoveryefforts.

The dead — many yetuncounted, their bodies stilltrapped in the rubble of col-lapsed buildings — are also asource of concern for author-ities.

In Indonesia’s hot, equa-torial climate, bodies quickly

begin to rot and provide abreeding ground for deadlydiseases.

At Poboya — in the hillsabove the devastated seasidecity of Palu — volunteers havebegun to fill a vast grave withthe dead, with instructions toprepare for 1,300 victims to belaid to rest. Trucks stackedwith corpses wrapped inorange, yellow and black bagsare bringing their load to thesite, where the bodies aredragged into the grave asexcavators pour soil on top.There were glimmers of hopeamong the countless tragedies.

Two people havebeen plucked from the 80-room Hotel Roa-Roa,Indonesia’s search and rescueagency said, and there couldstill be more alive. And forAzwan, who — like manyIndonesians — goes by a sin-gle name, there was joy whenhe was reunited with his wife,Dewi, after 48 hours of fear-ing the worst as he searchedhospitals and morgues.

The 38-year-old civil ser-vant struggled to keep hisemotions in check as he toldhow the couple had beenreunited two days after Dewihad been swept away by thetsunami. “I was so happy, soemotional — thank god Icould see her again,” Azwantold AFP.

But for some, the searchyields only sorrow as theytrudge around open-airmorgues, where the dead layin the baking sun — waitingto be claimed, waiting to benamed.

The InternationalCommittee of the Red Crosssaid it was working to reunitefamilies who had become sep-arated during the disaster andwas providing “forensic ser-vices” to those carrying outthe grim task of identifyingvictims.

PTI n ISLAMABAD

Pakistan’s deposed primeminister Nawaz Sharif on

Tuesday appeared before ananti-corruption court hearinggraft cases against him, in hisfirst court appearance aftergetting bail last month in amajor corruption case thatwrecked his political career.Sharif appeared before theaccountability court after JudgeMuhammad Arshad Malik onMonday warned that he maycancel his surety bond andissue arrest warrants if the for-mer premier failed to appearbefore the bench After a briefhearing, the court adjournedhearing of Al-Azizia and HillMetal corruption case againstSharif till Wednesday, RadioPakistan reported.

On the orders of theSupreme Court, the NationalAccountability Bureau had filedthree corruption cases againstthe 68-year-old three-time for-mer prime minister. A topPakistani court last month sus-pended the jail sentences ofSharif, his daughter and son-in-law in the Avenfield corruptioncase, one of the three corrup-tion cases. The trio werereleased from a jail followingthe court order.

Apart from the Avenfieldcase, the Sharifs face jail termsif they are convicted in twomore corruption cases relatedto the Al-Azizia and theFlagship Investment cases. Thecases against the familystemmed from the PanamaPapers case in April 2016.

The Flagship InvestmentLtd case is based on informa-tion the NAB had obtainedfrom the report filed by theJoint Investigation Team con-stituted by the Supreme Courtto probe money laundering

allegations against Sharif andhis family. The court had sum-moned Panamagate joint inves-tigation team head and prose-cution’s star witness Wajid Ziato record his statement onMonday. However, Zia’s state-ment could not be recorded asthe former premier and hiscounsel did not appear for thehearing.

Expressing anger over theirabsence, Judge Malik onMonday remarked, “A suspectcannot skip a hearing on hisown will.”

The judge was furtherirked when defence counselKhawaja Haris requested,through his associateMunawwar Iqbal Duggal, for atwo-day adjournment ofFlagship, Al Aziziya and HillMetal Establishment case hear-ings, to health issues.

When the judge inquiredabout Sharif ’s absence, Duggalsaid that the accused was sup-posed to appear and soughttime to find out why the formerprime minister did not turn up.“Neither the suspect nor thecounsel are present. Am I sup-posed to wait all day?” JudgeMalik asked. “I adjourned hear-ings of other cases to hearyours, please tell me what youall want,” he further said.Headded, “I will write down anorder and then you all keepchallenging it.”

A woman makes her way through the rubble of houses in Balaroa neighborhood in Palu, Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, Tuesday,

‘If Musharraf failsto appear, he maybe forced to returnin disgracefulmanner’Islamabad: Irked by formerdictator Pervez Musharraf ’sfailure to come back to Pakistanand face ongoing cases againsthim, Chief Justice Saqib Nisaron Tuesday warned that if the“courageous commando” doesnot appear soon, he may beforced to return in a disgrace-ful manner. Chief Justice Nisarmade the remarks whenMusharraf ’s lawyer told thethree-judge bench that hisclient “respects the court” butwas unable to return due to hismedical condition and reser-vations over the provision ofsecurity, Dawn newspaperreported.

Musharraf, 75, who hasbeen living in Dubai since2016, is facing the high-profiletreason case for suspending theConstitution in 2007. The for-mer military ruler left forDubai in March 2016 for med-ical treatment and has notreturned since. His lawyer toldthe court that there were nocharges against the formerpresident in the Lal Masjidoperation case and demandedto know what the case againsthis client was, the paper report-ed.

He may not face anycharges in the Lal Masjid case,but he is facing a treason casefor which he must appear incourt, replied Chief JusticeNisar. If Musharraf returnsvoluntarily, he may be able todo so respectably otherwise hemay be compelled to returnunder circumstances whichare not “graceful”, the top judgewarned. “The commando whoused to describe himself as a‘courageous commando’ shouldtoday display that courage,”the top judge was quoted assaying by the paper.

“Why is the courageouscommando not returning?” heasked. “I told you before that ifhe returns, he will be provid-ed security,” the top judge said.He also advised that the formerdictator should get medicaltreatment in Pakistan, thepaper said.

“I am giving you this assur-ance. It is the assurance of thehighest court in the country,”Chief Justice Nisar said andadded that: “As long as(Musharraf) is alive, it is hisduty to appear before thecourt.” He further said that itwas not acceptable for a citizento leave the country and notreturn while a case againstthem is underway in courts.

The chief justice alsopromised that the former mil-itary ruler would not be arrest-ed upon his return, and thatwhatever the outcome of thecases, it would be strictly in linewith the law. The court orderedMusharraf ’s lawyer to submithis medical report within aweek and adjourned the hear-ing until October 11.

Pak court allows auctioning ofFinance Minister Dar’s assetsIslamabad (PTI): An anti-cor-ruption court in Pakistan onTuesday directed authoritiesto auction the assets and seizethe bank accounts of abscond-ing former finance ministerIshaq Dar in a graft case filedagainst him in the PanamaPapers scandal. The case aboutowning “assets beyond knownmeans of income” is amongfour graft cases filed by theNational Accountability Bureau(NAB) following the SupremeCourt’s order of July 28 againstDar and ousted prime ministerNawaz Sharif and his family.

The decision came on anapplication filed by the NAB,seeking auction of Dar’s assetsand asking the court to appointa beneficiary of recoveredamount, Dawn newspaperreported. The court said thatthe Punjab’s provincial gov-ernment will be responsible for

auction. It empowered theprovincial government todecide whether to sell or keepthe seized assets, the reportsaid. Judge Mohammad Bashirhad reserved the verdict on theapplication on Monday afterthe anti-graft watchdog sub-mitted details of Dar’s assets.

The NAB had earliermoved the Islamabad-basedaccountability court for theauction of movable and

immovable properties ownedby Dar, a close aide of Sharif,as he has been in Londonsince October 2017.

Dar, the father-in-law ofSharif ’s younger daughter, wasalready declared as absconderin the corruption case after hewent to London in October lastyear but never came back toface the trial.

The case of asset beyondmeans was launched againstDar in September 2017 on theorders of Supreme Court afterit disqualified Sharif andordered corruption casesagainst him, his childrenMaryam Nawaz, Husain andHasan and son-in-law (retd)Captain Muhammad Safdar.

The anti-corruption watch-dog already seized all of mov-able and immovable assets of67-year-old Dar located inLahore and Islamabad.

UK to make it legal for all couples to strikecivil partnership

London (PTI) The UK gov-ernment on Tuesday announcedplans to change the marriagelaw to make it legal for all cou-ples to enter into a civil part-nership.

Under current rules, onlygay couples have the right tocivil partnerships. PrimeMinister Theresa May said in astatement at the ongoingConservative Party conferencein Birmingham that she wouldend the discrimination againstopposite-sex couples.

“This change in the lawhelps protect the interests ofopposite-sex couples who wantto commit, want to formalisetheir relationship, but don’t nec-essarily want to get married,” shesaid. “As home secretary, I wasproud to sponsor the legislationthat created equal marriage.Now, by extending civil part-nerships, we are making surethat all couples, be they same-sex or opposite-sex, are giventhe same choices in life,” sheadded.

The move is aimed at pro-viding greater security forunmarried couples and theirfamilies, in terms of tax andinheritance issues. The UK’sSupreme Court had unani-mously ruled in favour of a het-erosexual couple who hadlaunched a legal bid to beallowed to have a civil partner-ship in June.

The court had ruled that the

Civil Partnership Act 2004 wasincompatible with the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights,which had led to the expectationthat the government wouldhave to respond with a legalchange in due course.

The UK’s Civil PartnershipAct 2004 set up a formal frame-work for same-sex couples, giv-ing them legal and financial pro-tection in case the relationshipended – as in marriage. But thelaw defined them as a “rela-tionship between two people ofthe same sex”. Later, theMarriage (Same Sex Couples)Act 2013 legalised same-sexmarriage in England and Walesand the Marriage and CivilPartnership (Scotland) Act 2014did the same there, giving gaycouples the choice between amarriage or a civil partnership.However, the same choice hadbeen unavailable to heterosex-ual couples.

Tuesday’s announcementtakes into account the morethan 3.3 million unmarriedcouples in the UK who livetogether with shared financialresponsibilities. But these house-holds do not have the same legalprotections as those who havea civil partnership or marriage.The UK government said therewere “a number of legal issuesto consider, across pension andfamily law” and ministers wouldnow consult on the technicaldetail.

Germany to ease immigration rulesBerlin (AFP): Worker-starvedGermany will ease immigra-tion rules to attract foreign job-seekers, including giving well-integrated irregular migrantsin employment a shot at stay-ing, ministers said on Tuesday.In a deal hammered out aftermarathon talks deep into thenight, Chancellor AngelaMerkel’s centre-right CDU,their Bavarian allies CSU andthe centre-left SPD agreed ona new strategy to combat fast-ageing Germany’s workershortage.

Migrants without resi-dency permits who are await-ing decisions on their asylumapplications or their deporta-tion may get to stay if they aregainfully employed and canshow they have joined thefabric of German society.Jobseekers from outside theEU — including, for example,cooks, metallury workers or ITtechnicians — can also come to

Germany for six months to tryand find employment, pro-vided they speak German.

Manpower from the blocof around 500 million peoplewould not suffice to keep theGerman economy ticking, thecoalition noted.

“That’s why we need work-ers from third countries,”Interior Minister HorstSeehofer told a press confer-ence about the strategy that hasyet to become a law and bepassed by parliament.

At the same time, the min-isters were at pains to stress thecontinued “separation of asy-lum and employment migra-tion”, mindful that Germanyhas been deeply polarised bythe arrival of more than a mil-lion asylum seekers since 2015.

Immigration has becomea hot potato issue in recentyears over the record influx ofmostly Muslim migrants, manyfleeing war in Iraq or Syria.

Railing against the newcomers,the far-right AfD has becomeGermany’s biggest oppositionparty with more than 90 seatsin the Bundestag.

The government minis-ters stressed that the newimmigration rules are notdesigned to allow failed asylumapplicants to win residency inGermany by switching over tobecome employment migrants.

Rather the new rulesareaimed at providing a “prag-matic solution” for migrantswho, for instance, have been inGermany for a protracted peri-od because they cannot bedeported if they face the risk oftorture in their country of ori-gin.

A list of criteria would bedrawn up for such cases, saidthe ministers.

It’s a “pragmatic solutionthat reflects reality,” saidEmployment MinisterHubertus Heil, adding that it

would avoid cases of Germany“sending the wrong peopleback”.

With unemployment at arecord low since reunifica-tion, companies in Europe’sbiggest economy have beencomplaining that a chronicshortage in workers is threat-ening growth.

In the areas of mathemat-ics, computing, natural sci-ences and technology, a record338,200 jobs went unfilled inSeptember, reported businessweekly Handelsblatt onTuesday, quoting data from theCologne-based GermanEconomic Institute.

Economy Minister PeterAltmaier said the new ruleswill be of particular help toGermany’s small-and-medi-um sized companies, “which inthe past have suffered as theyare in competition with bigcompanies that have poachedthe well-trained people”.

Exercise can help cut depression, schizophrenia symptoms

PTI n LONDON

Exercising two or three timesa week can reduce symptoms

of depression and schizophrenia,according to experts who sug-gest that a structured physicalactivity regime can comple-ment standard medication andpsychotherapy to better treatmental health conditions.

Based on compelling evi-dence from a meta-review ofexisting research, the EuropeanPsychiatric Association (EPA)has issued new guidelines to pro-mote exercise as a key additionaltreat for mental health condi-tions. A global team of scientistscollaborated on the new EPAguidelines published inEuropean Psychiatry, which sug-

gest a regime of structured exer-cise should be added to standardmedication and psychotherapy.Researchers found that exercise

can effectively reduce mentalhealth symptoms, improve cog-nition, and strengthen cardio-vascular fitness among patients

with depression and schizo-phrenia.

Their analysis demonstratesthat moderate intensity aerobicexercise, two to three times aweek for at least 150 minutes,reduces symptoms of depressionand schizophrenia and improvescognition and cardiorespiratoryhealth in schizophrenia spec-trum disorders. Evidence alsosupports combining aerobicwith resistance exercise toimprove outcomes for individ-uals with schizophrenia spec-trum disorders and majordepression.

The EPA guidance was alsoendorsed by the InternationalOrganization of PhysicalTherapists in Mental Health(IOPTMH). “Our comprehen-

sive review provides clear evi-dence that physical activity hasa central role in reducing theburden of mental health symp-toms in people with depressionand schizophrenia. Our guide-lines provide direction for futureclinical practice,” said BrendonStubbs, from King’s CollegeLondon in the UK.

“Specifically, we provideconvincing evidence that it isnow time for professionally-delivered physical activity inter-ventions to move from thefringes of healthcare and becomea core component in the treat-ment of mental health ondi-tions,” said Stubbs. Long-termoutcomes and full recoveryamong people with mental ill-ness are often poor, even for

those receiving appropriatemedications. People with men-tal illness also experience verypoor physical health and dras-tic physical health inequalities,which lead to this populationdying up to twenty years pre-maturely.

“Signs and symptoms ofpremature cardiovascular dis-eases can be identified early inthe disease course of mental dis-orders, when patients are in theirthirties to forties,” said Kai GKahl from Hannover MedicalSchool in Germany.

The study provides evi-dence that physical activity playsan important role in reducingcardiovascular symptoms andimproving physical health andfitness.

Paris (AFP): The US-led militaryalliance battling the Islamic Stategroup faces “a tough fight” to oustthe jihadists from their last hold-outs in Syria, US DefenseSecretary Jim Mattis said onTuesday. While the extremistshave lost almost all of the self-declared “caliphate” they heldacross Iraq and Syria four yearsago, Mattis warned that destroy-ing the group completely was“still going to take some time”.

“Make no mistake about it,as ISIS has collapsed inward, intheir own way they have rein-forced the centre as they’ve beenforced into what is now less than

two percent of their original ter-ritory,” Mattis told reporters inParis. “So it’s going to still be atough fight, I don’t want anyoneto be under any illusions,” headded.“We will be successfulbut it’s still going to take some

time.” Last month the militarychief of France, which has troopsin the US alliance fighting IS,estimated the jihadists would losetheir last Syrian territory byJanuary.

Francois Lecointre predicted“the end of the physical caliphateof Daesh before the end of theyear, probably late autumn”, usinganother name for IS.

IS has lost all of its urbancentres in Iraq and late lastmonth US-backed Kurdish andArab fighters launched a freshoperation to oust the group fromits last holdouts in southeastSyria.

Sharif appears beforeanti-corruption court

US Defense Secretary warnsof ‘tough fight’ to oust ISIS

A child dances as she is silhouetted by a balloon moon installation at a art district in Beijing, China on Tuesday The installationart is part of a parent and child event coinciding with the Chinese National Day. AP

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 sport 15

IANS n MADRID

The pressure is on FC Barcelona andcoach Ernesto Valverde when they play

Tottenham in the Champions League atWembley on Wednesday.

Although Wembley has a place inBarca's folklore after they claimed their firstEuropean Cup there in 1992 and defeat-ed Manchester United in the rebuilt sta-dium to win the 2011 final, the trip comesat a bad time with players out of form andValverde seriously questioned after a poorrun of performances and results.

Saturday's 1-1 draw at home toAthletic Club Bilbao was Barca's third con-secutive Liga Santander without a win andfollowed a defeat away to bottom of thetable Leganes and a 2-2 draw againstGirona in the Camp Nou.

Valverde rotated his squad in allthree of those games to deal with the busyfixture list with new signings and fringeplayers so far failing to convince, but it washis decision to leave Leo Messi and SergioBusquets on the bench at the start of thegame against Athletic which really angeredfans.

Anyone who saw Messi's perfor-mances in last summer's World Cupshould know that it is simply impossiblefor the Argentinean to play every game,but the fact is what he is so important toBarca's cause, leaving him out is a risk forthe coach and by doing so Valverde lefthimself open to criticism.

Messi will be back in the side inLondon as Barca look for a result whichwould give them six points from theiropening two group games.

Busquets will also start alongsideIvan Rakitic and Philippe Coutinho inmidfield, while Valverde may have todecide whether or not he continues withOusmane Dembele in attack or decides toplay and extra midfielder, such as ArturoVidal.

Samuel Umtiti and Sergi Roberto areboth out injured, so Clement Lenglet andNelson Semedo will partner Gerard Piqueand Jordi Alba in defence.

Tottenham cannot afford to lose afterconceding late goals away to Inter Milanin their first group game and will be with-out England midfielder Dele Ali.

However, Harry Kane looks to bereturning to top form and he and CristianErikson, often cited as a possible Barca tar-get, will be two of the players Barca needto beware of on what promised to be anepic night in a legendary stadium.

STURRIDGE AN EXTRA WEAPONNEPALES: It was a sight that just a fewmonths ago would have beenunthinkable — Liverpool a goal down ina big game, and Mohamed Salah hauledoff by Jurgen Klopp.

Klopp got the goal he craved fora 1-1 draw at Chelsea on Saturday thatpreserved Liverpool's unbeatenPremier League start, not viaSalah's immediate replacementXherdan Shaqiri, but anotherlate substitute, Daniel Sturridge.

A reborn Sturridge is now Liverpool'sjoint top scorer so far this season with fourgoals despite remaining behind Salah,Roberto Firmino and Sadio Mane inKlopp's pecking order.

That he has remained there to becounted on at all, though, is a huge boostto Klopp's quest to both go one step fur-ther in the Champions League this seasonand deliver a first-ever Premier Leaguetitle, 29 years after they last won the Englishtop flight.

Sturridge has endured an injury-rav-aged three years since Klopp took charge.

Farmed out to West Brom in Januaryin a bid to refind his form and fitness,Sturridge's hamstring went again in histhird game and he never scored for theBaggies as they were relegated.

"He was always a bit unlucky withinjuries and stuff like that. That's how itis, timing in life is pretty important," addedKlopp. "Now, the timing is perfect. Weneed him desperately and he is fit."

ANCELOTTI SHUFFLING NAPLES: Four months have passed sinceCarlo Ancelotti arrived in Napoli afterMaurizio Sarri's departure for Chelseawith the promise of finding the missingpiece in the jigsaw to end the southernItalian side's near three-decade wait for the

Scudetto.The former AC Milan and

Chelsea coach's arrival was hailed byclub owner Aurelio DeLaurentiis as the start of a newera at San Paolo Stadium.

Under Sarri, Napoli cameso close to toppling Juventus last seasonwith a record 91 points.

Ancelotti -- with a cabinet full of tro-phies won in five top European leagues -- promised not "a revolution" but to addthe finishing touches to give the team thefinal push.

But seven games into the Serie A cam-paign, Ancelotti's side are already sixpoints behind Juventus who are lookingeven stronger then ever with CristianoRonaldo.

The Champions League -- whichAncelotti had promised would not playsecond fiddle to their Scudetto ambitionsas it had done under Sarri -- has also got-ten off to an uninspiring start with a goal-less draw at Red Star Belgrade.

Three-time Champions League win-ner Ancelotti's side host Jurgen Klopp'sLiverpool on Wednesday in the SanPaolo needing a win from a tough GroupC which also includes Paris Saint-Germain.

Last weekend's 3-1 defeat to Juventusin Turin saw Napoli's hopes of a third titleand first since Diego Maradona's daysback in 1990 take a knock.

"A defeat can happen, just as Juventuscan lose to Napoli, we have to keepimproving but I'm convinced we'll becompetitive right until the end," insisted

Ancelotti.Ancelotti — whose last league crown

was with Bayern Munich in 2017 —is con-vinced he will find the right formula todeliver the title to Napoli's long sufferingfans.

"The passion and the enthusiasm ofthis club and these fans make it all moreexciting," he said.

WEAPON FOR DORTMUNDDORTMUND: Jadon Sancho hopes his rep-utation for being a "weapon" off the benchfor Borussia Dortmund will win theEngland Under-19 international a start-ing berth against Monaco in theChampions League on Wednesday.

The 18-year-old wants a place inLucien Favre's line-up after once moreproving his worth on Saturday, when hehelped seal a 4-2 comeback Bundesligawin at Bayer Leverkusen with two dev-astating assists.

He set up Marco Reus for the equalis-er at the BayArena a minute after com-ing on, and he then sent Paco Alcaceraway on a counter-attack for the secondof the Spaniard's two late goals asDortmund went top of the table.

He has appeared as a substitute ineach of Dortmund's six Bundesliga out-ings this season, but he did start in theiropening Champions League game, whenthey won 1-0 at Club Brugge to get off tothe perfect start in Group A.

Sancho now craves a regular startingberth after providing six assists as well asone goal in the Bundesliga, although headmits he is at his best running at tiringdefences as a substitute.

The English teenager's tally of sixBundesliga assists makes him the top goalprovider in all of Europe's top five leaguesso far this season.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Delhi Dynamos will look to start their campaign on awinning note when they lock horns with FC Pune City

in their Indian Super League season opener here onWednesday.

The Dynamos would look to forget a disappointing lastseason, when they finished eighth. However, they also expe-rienced an incredible six-match unbeaten run, which includ-ed draws against three of the four semi-finalists as well asa 5-1 rout of Mumbai.

The hosts will try to notch up a win in front of theirhome supporters at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium.

Delhi Dynamosenjoy a good head-to-head record againstthe visitors -- FC PuneCity have managed to

defeat Delhi only once in their eight encounters and thehosts would want to keep the record intact.

New head coach Joshep Gambau will be relying on theirnew recruits in the midfield including Bikramjit Singh,Mihelic and Spaniards Marcos Tebar and Adria Carmonato secure them the three points.

FC Pune City, who finished fourth last season, will hopeto break their Delhi jinx.

After Ranko Popovic resigned, the Pune outfit appoint-ed Brazil U-17 and U-20 World Cup winning-coach MarcosPaqueta, but within a month the Brazilian too terminatedhis contract. The club quickly brought in Miguel AngelPortugal, who had left Delhi Dynamos at the end of lastseason.

The club had relied on captain Marcelinho and hisdeputy Alfaro to take the team forward last season, but Punehave addressed the over-reliance on their attacking pair bysigning Iain Hume, ISL's all-time top-scorer, as well as Indiainternational Robin Singh to take some of the pressure offthe duo.

Forward Ashique Kuruniyan, who impressed with astring of performances last season will also be keen to pickup from where he left.

Pune also have the experienced pair of Ashutosh Mehtaand Keenan Almeida to boost their defence.

PTI n KUALA LUMPUR

The world hasn't ended for us,"India's U-16 coach Bibiano

Fernandes said on Tuesday after histeam missed qualification to the FIFAU-17 World Cup by a whisker.

Needing a win to qualify for theage-group global showpiece, Indiacrashed out of the AFC U-16Championship following a narrow lossto title contenders South Korea onMonday night.

Bibiano said, despite the defeat, hisside "showed the world what India iscapable of."

"The world hasn't ended for us,"Bibiano said.

"We go back and begin again. TheU-16 Championship is over and it istime to look forward to the U-19Championships. This was an experience

and we go back enriched," he stated.The coach said he was extremely

proud of his side's performancethroughout the tournament.

"The boys gave their hundred per-cent in the match. Wehave showed the worldwhat India are capable of.We pipped Iran in ourgroup and finished aheadof them to qualify for thequarterfinals. The matchagainst Korea proved thatit wasn't a fluke," Bibianosaid.

The morning after, Bibiano's phonehas been flooded with messages, includ-ing one from national team captainSunil Chhetri.

"Yes, he messaged me last nightafter the match," the coach smiled.

"His support means a lot to us, spe-

cially the boys. They look up to himand when he has said that he is 'thebiggest fan,' it's their biggest inspiration.A big thank you to him from all of us,"Bibiano said.

The Indians conceded just one goalin four matches, after 336 minutes ofopen play.

"We know how strong KoreaRepublic were and we knew what theycan do to us. We played our high press-ing game with compact defending, butit was one moment where we fell com-placent and Korea scored," Bibianosaid.

"This team has the potential to goa long way and it is evident with theresults that the team has delivered. Itis never easy to play Korea Republic orIran, but this team showed that notonly we can give the likes a hard timebut aim for a win," he added.

AFP n TOKYO

Top seed Marin Cilic crashedout of the Japan Open in a

shock 3-6, 6-4, 7-6 (7/1) defeatto Germany's Jan-LennardStruff in the first round onTuesday.

The former US Openchampion looked to be in com-plete control after pocketing thefirst set with a brutal drive vol-ley, but things quickly unrav-elled for the Croatian whenStruff suddenly caught fire.

After Struff, ranked awhopping 50 places below Cilicat 56 in the world, had levelledthe match, normal serviceappeared to have resumed inthe deciding set.

Cilic, who reached the finalof this year's Australian Open,broke for 3-2 with a peach of abackhand that dipped vicious-ly onto Struff 's toes, but theGerman struck back — notonce, but twice — to force atiebreak.

Struff smashed the break-er, snaffling it 7-1 with his ninthace to complete the upset aftertwo hours, 18 minutes.

He next plays FrenchmanJeremy Chardy, who edged a

war of attrition with BosnianDamir Dzumhur 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.

Earlier, three-time GrandSlam winner Stan Wawrinkabeat Taylor Fritz 6-3, 6-4 whileeighth seed Richard Gasquetalso advanced, the Frenchmanousting another American,Denis Kudla, 7-6, 6-3.

Frances Tiafoe restoredsome pride for the UnitedStates by beating Germany'sMaximilian Marterer 7-5, 6-4.

Cilic's demise will boost KeiNishikori's hopes of winning athird Japan Open crown afterthe local favourite won thetournament in 2012 and 2014.

OSAKA ENTERS CHINA OPENROUND 3BEIJING: Naomi Osaka is keento move on from the "bitter-sweet" memories of last month'sUS Open triumph and she didjust that with a ruthless displayat the China Open on Tuesday.

The young Japanese starthrashed unseeded AmericanDanielle Collins 6-1, 6-0 in just53 minutes on Beijing's outsidehard courts to saunter intoround three.

The 20-year-old Osaka,whose maiden Grand Slam wasovershadowed by SerenaWilliams's row with the chairumpire in New York, faces10th seed Julia Goerges next inthe Chinese capital.

Osaka's reputation is grow-ing fast and organisers onTuesday said that she hasbooked her place in the season-ending WTA Finals Singaporefor the first time.

But the world number sixhas appeared to struggle withthe fall-out from the tempes-tuous final at the US Open,where Williams branded chairumpire Carlos Ramos "a thief "and later accused him of sex-ism. "For me, I don't know, Idon't know, the memory of theUS Open is a little bit bitter-sweet," Osaka said on Monday.

"Right after, the day after, Ireally didn't want to thinkabout it because it wasn't nec-essarily the happiest memoryfor me."

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PTI n MUMBAI

Jamshedpur FC began theirIndian Super League campaign

on a winning note as they defeat-ed Mumbai City FC 2-0, courtesygoals by Spanish Mario Arques andPablo Morgado, here on Tuesday.

Arques (28th minute) andMorgado (90+5 minutes)scored for Jamshedpur asthey defeated the hosts inan enthralling contest.

Mumbai had theirshare of bad luck, whenthey twice put the ball intothe opposition net, but onboth the occasions, it was ruled off-side. The home side also missedseveral opportunities to get backinto the game.

Jamshedpur began on anattacking note, having a better ballpossession. The visitors had achance in the eighth minute toopen account, but Spanish MarioArques failed to connect a crossfrom Jerry Mawihmingthanga.

But the deadlock was brokenin the 28th minute when Arques'header went into the right-cornerof the goal to give Jamshedpur a 1-

0 lead.Mumbai created a few chances,

but were unable to get the equalis-er.

At the half-way mark,Jamshedpur were 1-0 ahead.

After the change of ends, thehosts had another great chance toequalise, but again faltered.

Chances came thick andfast for Mumbai, but theywere unable to converteven one.

In the 59th minute,Sougou's header was

thwarted away by Roy. In the77th minute, Pranjal Bhumij on

the left-wing cut it backwards toRaynier Fernandes who crossed intowards the far post. MohammedRafique ran and headed the ballinto the goal, but the referee ruledit as an off-side.

Mumbai scored again, thistime from a free kick, but the ref-eree ruled it as an off-side.

Jamshedpur then doubledtheir lead in the stoppage time. Ina brilliant counter-attack, SergioCidoncha played to Morgado, whoran in and slotted the ball into thefar corner of the goal.

BARCA PREPARE TO FACE SPURS

Barcelona return to Wembley for CL tie against Tottenham; Napoli host Liverpool in decisive clash

Atletico players train during the practice session; (right) Liverpool players celebrate after Sturridge scores the equaliser against Chelsea in Premier League clash AP

Indian player battles for ball against Korean opponent in AFC U16 Championship match IFT

Lionel Messi prepares to take free kick during the La Liga game against Girona FCB

Delhi Dynamos players train during the practice session ahead of ISL clash

Dynamos seek

winning start

The world hasn't ended for us: Bibiano

Cilic bundled out of Japan OpenJAMSHEDPUR BEATMUMBAI 2-O IN ISL

Sunil Singh,Charul, emerge winnersPNS n LUCKNOW

Sunil Singh and Charul wonthe men’s and women’s title

in the walk championshiporganised by Maharana PratapSamajik Unnyan Samiti on theoccasion of Gandhi Jayanti onTuesday. Minister Swati Singhgave away the prizes.International players like VijaySingh Chauhan, Gulab Chand,SAI executive director RAchnaGovil were also felicitated. RESULTS: (50-60 women’s)1-Charul Amani, 2-ShashiPrabha, 3-Savitri Arya, 4-Chaya Singh, 5-Mohini Singh,6-Madhu Singh, 7-Kiran Arya,8-Krishna Singh, 9-NirmalaKhare, 10-Shashi Nimesh(50-60 men’s) 1-BP Singh, 2-Sanjay, 3-Hanuman Prasad, 4-Nand Lal Yadav, 5- SanjeevKumar, 6-Harinam Singh, 7-Dharmnath Rai, 8-RKChandra, 9-ajesh Singh,Praveen Singh(60-70 men’s) 1-Sunil Singh, 2-Vishram Prasad, 3-BS Bisht, 4-Ganesh Kumar, 5-JK Singh, 6-VK Sharma, 7-VN Mishra.

LUCKNOW | WEDNESDAY | OCTOBER 3, 2018 sport 16

PTI n RAJKOT

He could be in line for aTest debut against WestIndies but Prithvi Shaw

shouldn't curb his attacking styleof batsmanship provided he getsthe nod, feels India vice-captainAjinkya Rahane.

"I am happy for Shaw. I haveseen him since his young days,we used to practice together, heis an attacking opener and donewell for India A and got thereward," he said.

Rahane however didn't com-mit on who among Prithvi andMayank Agarwal will partner KLRahul in the opening Test inRajkot, starting October 4.

"Personally we don't knowthe combination what we aregoing to play. But there is nopressure, it is an opportunity forevery individual to express our-selves. I wish him good luck andI am sure he will do well. I justwant him to play as he has beendoing for Mumbai and India Aand I think he will be fine,"Rahane said.

"It is a good opportunityparticularly for youngsters likePrithivi, Mayank and Siraj as theyhave all done well in domesticcricket. So as a batsman they canscore runs, as a bowler they canpick wickets. It is all about goingout there and giving your bestwithout thinking much aboutfuture," he added.

After a disappointing outingin England, Rahane lead Mumbaito victories over Baroda,Karnataka and Railways in theVijay Hazare Trophy last monthand he said it provided himgood match practice ahead of theWest Indies series.

"After coming back fromEngland, I was just looking to dowell for Mumbai at that point oftime and get some match prac-

tice (although it was white ballcricket) ahead of the West Indiesseries. Vijay Hazare was a goodmatch practice for me," saidRahane.

"I always believe whether it isa domestic, international or prac-tice match, it brings a differentpressure and I think it helped meto prepare. I am really confident

and looking forward to do welland keep contributing towardsmy team."

India will need to quicklyadapt to the different yet famil-iar home conditions at home todominate the two-Test seriesagainst West Indies, feels theIndian vice-captain.

India had failed to bringtheir best in English conditions,losing the five-Test series 1-4 lastmonth.

"Here we have to see how thewicket behaves, it is hot here, sowe have to adapt to the condi-tions quickly during the practicesessions," Rahane said.

"We know the Indian condi-tions and we know how to goabout our job and what shots toplay here. England was different,so we will have to quickly men-tally switch.

"Each and every match isequally important and we are justlooking to play to our standards,rather than thinking about ouropponents. It is important tostart off well, we have two prac-tice sessions before the Testmatch starts," he added.

The 30-year-old Mumbaikarsaid the focus of the team is toimprove its own game withoutthinking about their opponents.

"It was a great achievement towin Asia Cup and players, whogot an opportunity there did well,but this is a new series and wecan't take them lightly. We haveto focus to improve our owngame," said Rahane.

"No matter whom we play,whether it is Australia, Englandor West Indies, it is important toimprove our own standard. Ourgoal will be to play some goodcricket, definitely to dominatefrom the f irst match andimprovement as a batsman, as abowler and as a team, that wouldbe the focus."

PTI n NEW DELHI

Senior off-spinner HarbhajanSingh on Tuesday said that

he is finding it "difficult tounderstand" the parametersused by the MSK Prasad-ledselection committee for pickingthe national squad.

After spending time onthe bench for six consecutiveTest matches againstAfghanistan and England, theselectors dropped Karun Nairfor the West Indies Test series.

"This is a mystery thatneeds to be solved. How can aperson sitting on the bench forthree months become so badthat he is not good enough toremain in the squad,"Harbhajan questioned theselection committee's decisionduring an interaction.

"Trust me, I am at pains tounderstand the thinking ofthis selection committee andthe parameters that they areusing for selecting nationalsquads," said the man who

has over 700 internationalwickets across formats.

The 'Turbanator' cannotbut feel for the young Nair, whoremains the only Indian, apartfrom Virender Sehwag, to havea triple hundred in Test crick-et.

"I find different set of rulesfor different players. There aresome who are given a long ropeto succeed while for select oth-ers they don't even get one

chance to fail. That is not fair,"Harbhajan said.

Harbhajan then put forth a hypo-thetical question.

"What if Hanuma Vihari fails intwo Test matches against West Indies?Though I would never wish some-thing like that for any player. I wishhim (Vihari) all the very best.

"(In case Vihari is not able todeliver) so you will go back to Nairbut will he be battle ready with con-fidence for Australia tour? "

India's third highest wicket-takerthen asked a probing question as towhether the team management is onthe same page with the selectioncommittee.

"If team management did not

play Karun for five Tests, then itmeans that he couldn't inspire con-fidence in them.

"Well, my question is whether theselectors were able to convince thecaptain while naming Karun forEngland series? If not did they seri-ously consider the name that teammanagement had in mind," he ques-tioned.

For someone who played inter-national cricket for 18 years,Harbhajan knows very well howpoor selection policy can affect themorale and team performance.

"Hope all concerned with teamselection undergoes course correctionbefore they decide on the Australiatour," he signed off.

PTI n RAJKOT

West Indies coach Stuart Law is notreading much into India's recent

troubles in overseas Tests and says hisfast-improving team faces a huge chal-lenge against the world number one sidein the two-Test series starting here onThursday.

"We have spoken a lot (ahead of theseries). We played two good home seriesagainst Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. At thesame time, I don't read too much intoIndia's form in England. I was therewatching pretty closely. It was a lot clos-er than the 1-4 scoreline. England werejust able to win the crucial moments,"Law said on Tuesday.

"India are the number one side, weare further down the ladder (at 8). We areplaying in their own backyard, it is a hugetask. Not many teams have come hereand won. We understand that but on theflipside we are getting better and better,"said the Australian, who will joinMiddlesex after the tour of India andBangladesh.

The last time West Indies won a Testseries against India was at home in 2002.The team has lost six straight seriesagainst India since then.

Law, however, sounded confidentgoing into the series opener.

"We spent good eight days (in Dubai)before we came to India. It was 45 degreesduring the day in Dubai so heat herewon't be an issue. Then we had a goodcouple of days in Baroda (only tourwarm-up), the pitch was similar lookingto what I see here today. Preparation hasbeen good.

"We have talked a lot but it is timenow to stop talking. It is time the boysshow what they have got on the field.Touring India has always been tough forteams, we have to show the world that wecan play the game and grab hold of thoseopportunities," said the 49-year-oldcricketer-turned-coach.

Indian openers struggled againstthe moving ball in England. Askedabout the West Indies opening combi-nation of Kraigg Brathwaite and KieranPowell, Law said batting in the top-order

is only getting tougher."Look we are seeing a pattern arise

that batting at the top three and four hasbecome quite difficult. We are in a sim-ilar position. Kraigg and Kieran haveopened the batting plenty of timestogether and they have been good so farhere, they are in good head space.

"We have got our plans obviously andthe boys have to show it in front of fanat-ical crowds against the world number oneteam. Something we should enjoy andnot fear," he reiterated.

Pace has been West Indies' strengthbut Law is also relying on his spinnersto trouble the Indian batsmen, likeMoeen Ali did in England.

"Moeen Ali really took to India inEngland, bowling into footholes. We gotto use what is available. Roston Chase isa bit taller than Ali, bowls at similar pace.Devendra Bishoo and Jomel Warricanhave got some good control as well. Pacehas been our strong point but the spin-ners can also do the job."

Having said that, Law feels it will betough bowling to Virat Kohli and Co.

"He is great in other countries andnot just in India. Kohli is a great batsman.Like I said it is not bowling to the name,it is about bowling to the batsman, thenyour job becomes a bit easier. And he isnot the only one in the batting line up.You guys have got billions of people tochoose from and the batters who arecoming through are the best in theworld."

Law joined the West Indies inFebruary 2017. He got a tad emotionalwhile talking about his time with theCaribbean unit.

"It has been a fantastic two years.They are a great bunch of guys. I considerthem as my sons if you like. They try,don't shy away from hard work which wehad to instil in them and it is beginningto show in results. But we would haveliked far more positive results.

"The result that I am actually seeingnow is that we are preparing better andexecuting better. We have seen at U19level that there is a lot of talent. It justhas to be nurtured well back in theregion," he added.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Young Himmat Singh smashed his maid-en List A ton as Delhi comfortably beat

Andhra by 73 runs in a group B encounterof the Vijay Hazare Trophy on Tuesday.

With this victory, Delhi took a big stridetowards quarter-final berth from the groupas they now lead the points table with 18from six games.

It was Himmat's unbeaten 75-ball-102,laced with nine fours and four sixes, thatmade the difference as Delhi scored 314 for5 after being put into bat. Unmukt Chand(62) and Nitish Rana (52) also helped them-selves to half centuries.

In reply, Andhra managed 241 all outin 49.5 overs with a collective effort from thebowlers.

Left-arm seamer Kulwant Khejroliya(2/29 in 6 overs), Pawan Negi (2/41 in 10overs) and Nitish Rana (2/9 in 2 overs) didbulk of the damage.

Earlier, Delhi started in a whirlwindfashion with Chand and Gambhir adding75 runs for the opening stand. After his bril-liant 151 against Kerala, skipper Gambhirscored 37 while Chand's 62 off 80 balls hadnine fours and a six.

However, left-handed Rana andHimmat added 97 runs in 14.4 overs. Rana'srun-a-ball 52 had two fours and three hugesixes.

Once Pranshu Vijayaran (8) was dis-missed, Himmat upped the ante in companyof Lalit Yadav (23 off 14 balls) as the duoadded 56 in 5.3 overs to take Delhi past 300-run mark.

India discard Karn Sharma was thebowler who suffered most in the hands ofRana-Himmat pair as he went for 94 runsin 10 wicket-less overs.

Andhra were never in the chase as

Gambhir used as many as eight bowlers.DB Prashanth (54 off 69 balls) was the

only significant scorer for Andhra. FormerIndia U-19 captain Ricky Bhui contributed48 while India prospect Kona Bharat (2) wastrapped leg-before by Khejroliya.

Elsewhere, Mumbai continued theirruthless showin the Vijay Hazare Trophy, asthey hammered Goa by seven wickets intheir Elite Group A clash here on Tuesday.

After bundling out Goa for a paltry 186,Mumbai chased the target losing onlythree wickets in the process and in 36 overswith opener Akhil Herwadkar (108 not out)starring in the team's dominant victory.

Mumbai have not lost any of thematches in the ongoing national One-Daytournament so far.

In another Elite Group A match,atneighbouring Alur, wicket-keeper-batsmanAkshay Wadkar scored an unbeaten 82 tohelp Vidarbha defeat Maharashtra by threewickets, with just four balls to spare.

And at the M Chinnaswamy Stadiumhere, Gurkeerat Manns hundred helpedPunjab defeat Railways by 58 runs via theVJD method.

Yuvraj Singh (96) also played his partto perfection to contribute to his teams win.

MANIPUR WIN WOMEN'S FOOTBALL C'SHIPCuttak: Manipur claimed victory in the final of the 24thSenior Women's National Football Championships,defeating hosts Odisha in the summit clash by a 2-1margin here. The result marked the 19th occasion that thestate from the northeast of India won the trophy, havinglost out in the final to Tamil Nadu last time around. Thefinal, held at the Barabati Stadium, was a nail-biting affair.After a tense start, it appeared as if the first half would endgoalless but it was Manipur who took the lead thanks tocaptain Bala Devi, who found the net in the 45th minute.Soon after the break, Irom Prameshwori Devi doubled herteam's lead with a goal in the 50th minute. The hostscontinued to strive for a comeback and found a goal withnine minutes to play via midfielder Arati Sethi. However,Manipur defended well to hold on for the win and went onto lift the trophy.

SAM CURRAN WINS YOUNG CRICKETER AWARDLondon: England all-rounder Sam Curran won the CricketWriters' Club young cricketer of the year award on Tuesdaywhile his Surrey teammate Rory Burns was named CountyChampionship player of the year. Curran, 20, made his Testdebut against Pakistan in June and ended up as England'sman-of-the-series in a 4-1 success over India. He isaveraging an impressive 36.50 with the bat and 23.23 withthe ball after five Tests, with a highest score of 78 and bestbowling figures of four for 74 with his left-arm swing.Surrey captain Burns led from the front with a tally of 1,359runs at an average of 64.71, including four hundreds, asthe County Championship title returned to the Oval for thefirst time since 2002. The 28-year-old finally forced his wayinto the England squad, where he will now have a chanceto fill a vacancy at the top of the order following AlastairCook's retirement from international cricket.

INDIAN PADDLERS REACH CAREER-BEST RANKINGNew Delhi: Top Indian paddlers Manika Batra, AchantaSharath Kamal and G Sathiyan achieved career-best worldrankings in the latest chart released by the InternationalTable Tennis Federation (ITTF) on Tuesday. Manika, whobecame the first Indian woman to win a singles Gold atCommonwealth Games, was rewarded for her consistentshow as she moved up to World No 55, climbing one rungup the order. The 36-year-old Sharath, who had clinched ahistoric team Gold at Commonwealth Games and a Silverand Bronze in men's doubles and singles at the 18th AsianGames, jumped four places to grab the World No 31 spot.He had achieved a ranking of 32 in May 2015. Sathiyan toojumped four places to reach the World No 36 spot. He hadwon three medals in the Commonwealth Games and aBronze (men's team event) in the Asian Games.

INDIA BEAT ENG BY 7 WICKETS IN BLIND T20I Bengaluru: Sunil Ramesh (108) slammed a superbcentury as India thrashed England by seven wickets in theopening T20I match to take a 1-0 lead in the three-matchbilateral cricket series for Blind here on Tuesday. Englandposted 150 for 7 at the end of the 20 overs after captain EdHossel won the toss and opted to bat first. Debutant Nakulstruck in the very first ball, removing Matt Dean to giveIndia a great start. But England rode on a good partnershipbetween Luke Sugg and Peter Blueit (40) before Justinplayed a cameo of 10-ball 22 to propel them to 150.Chasing the total on a good batting track, India got off to afantastic start with a century partnership between Sunil(108) and Nakul (27). Sunil anchored the chase, bringingup his 50 off 22 balls and then scored an unbeaten match-winning hundred to take India home by scoring 152 forthree in 12.3 overs. The second match will be played at thesame ground on Wednesday.

YASHASVI, SPINNERS STAR IN IND COLTS WINDhaka: Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal's 92 and left-arm spinnerSiddharth Desai's four-wicket haul ensured an easy 51-runwin for India against Afghanistan in an U-19 Asia Cupencounter, here on Tuesday. Batting first, India were all-outfor 221 in 45.3 overs with Jaiswal scoring 92 off 93 ballswith 13 boundaries and a six. Opener Jaiswal resurrectedthe innings when India were down in the dumps at 14 for3, adding 62 runs for the fourth wicket with Prabh SimranSingh (17). However, more important stand was of 80 runsfor the fifth wicket with Ayush Badoni, who scored 65 witheight fours and a six. Seamer Azmatullah Omarzai and leg-spinner Qais Ahmed took three wickets apiece. Whilechasing, Afghanistan started off well with 56 run openingstand but lost the momentum in the middle overs whenleft-arm spin duo of Desai (4/37 in 7.4 overs) and HarshTyagi (3/40 in 10 overs) operated.

BHAJJI BATS FOR NAIR, SLAMS SELECTORS

SINGLES

Delhi beat Andhra in Vijay Hazare

Yuvraj Singh plays a shot during his innings File Picture

We have a huge challenge ahead: Law

‘Prithvi should play his natural game'

Ajinkya Rahane feels teenage sensation shouldn’t curb his attacking style of batting

PTI n DUBAI

Holding on to the number one position despite a 1-4 lossto England, India will look to maintain their status in the

ICC Test rankings when they host West Indies in a two-matchseries.

In the series that starts on Thursday, India will be look-ing to ensure they do not lose any points in a bid to maintaintheir top position.

India lead the table with 115 points but only stand to gainone point even with a 2-0 series win owing to the large dif-ference in rating points with the West Indies.

On the other hand, India can slip to 108 points with anunlikely 2-0 loss and Australia could overtake them if theydefeat Pakistan 2-0.

For the West Indies, even a 2-0 series win will at best helpthem bridge the gap with Pakistan and Sri Lanka but will notpull them up from their present eighth position.

Pakistan host Australia for a two-match series in the UnitedArab Emirates starting Sunday, with both sides having thechance to improve their positions in the Test team rankings.

The series gives Pakistan the opportunity to edge Sri Lankato sixth position if they are able to complete a 2-0 series winover the opposition, while a 1-0 series win will be enough forAustralia to overtake South Africa and claim second positionbehind India.

Pakistan will move to 97 points if they win both Tests andahead of Sri Lanka on decimal points while Australia, whoare presently on 106 points and behind South Africa only ondecimal points, will move ahead with a series win. They willadvance to 107 points with a 1-0 win and to 109 points if theyprevail 2-0.

India captain Virat Kohli would be aiming to consolidatehis position at the top of the table since he is ahead of bannedAustralian run-machine Steve Smith by only one point.

Cheteshwar Pujara (sixth) and Lokesh Rahul (19th) willbe other leading India batsmen in the series while the spinpair of Ravindra Jadeja (fourth) and Ravichandran Ashwin(eighth) would be looking to capitalize on home conditions.

The West Indies boast of Kraigg Brathwaite in 13th posi-tion while three of their fast bowlers are in the top 20 - ShannonGabriel (11th), Jason Holder (13th) and Kemar Roach (19th)— and would be hoping to get some help from the Indian wick-ets.

For Australia, Usman Khawaja is the leading batsman in20th position in the absence of Smith and David Warner, whileMitchell Starc (joint-14th) and Nathan Lyon (16th) are the lead-ing bowlers.

Pakistan opener Azhar Ali is in 15th position and 672points, just one behind South Africa's Hashim Amla, whileleg-spinner Yasir Shah, formerly a top-ranked bowler, wouldbe looking to find his way back from 18th position after miss-ing this year's tour of Ireland and England due to a groin injury.

India aim to maintaintop spot in Test

Virat Kohli speaks to Sanjay Bangar during nets session ahead of 1st Test PTI

Karun Nair in a file picture

PTI n RAJKOT

Lead West Indies pacer KemarRoach will miss the opening

Test against India as he has beenforced to fly back to Barbadosfollowing the death of his grand-mother.

He will rejoin the squadmidway through the first Testbeginning here on Thursday.

"Kemar is not back yet. Hehad a bereavement in the fam-

ily and will be joining the teammidway through the first Test,"West Indies coach Stuart Lawsaid on Tuesday.

"Kemar Roach is a veryexperienced fast bowler withgreat skill. He is one of our lead-ers. It is a big loss. Having saidthat, Shannon Gabriel has beenoutstanding in the last couple of

Tests, that too in similar condi-tions to India."

Roach has played 48 Tests,taking 163 wickets at 28.31.

The Australian cricketer-turned-coach howeverexpressed confidence in theabilities of the pace attack com-prising Gabriel (37 Tests), cap-tain Jason Holder (34), Keemo

Paul (1) and the uncappedSherman Lewis, who replacedthe injured Alzzarri Joseph.

"Missing Kemar is a big holebut we have got some bright tal-ents coming through in KeemoPaul and Lewis. Sometimes it isbetter going with the known tosurprise the opposition. Pace hasbeen our strength," added Law.

ROACH TO MISS 1ST TEST

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