Lucknow - The Pioneer

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RNI No.2016/1957, REGD NO. SSP/LW/NP-34/2013-15
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OPINION 8
WORLD 13
SPORT 15
HEADLEY’S CONFESSIONS
ESTABLISH ISLAMABAD’S LIES
35 MIGRANTS
DROWN OFF TURKEY
IN-FORM INDIA PLAY
DEPLETED SL IN T20 TODAY
Established 1864
Published From
DELHI LUCKNOW BHOPAL
BHUBANESWAR RANCHI RAIPUR
CHANDIGARH DEHRADUN
Late City Vol. 142 Issue 38
*Air Surcharge Extra if Applicable
LUCKNOW, TUESDAY FEBRUARY 9, 2016; PAGES 16 `3
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ME IN SCHOOL:
KATRINA KAIF
16 VIVACITY
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‘LeT’s 2 bids before 26/11 failed’ TRAI deals FB a blow,
Headley deposes before Mumbai court,
names mastermind Hafiz Saeed, ISI;
says he abortively planned to wage war
against Indian Army in Kashmir
TN RAGHUNATHAN n MUMBAI
part from linking Pakistan’s
A
Inter-Services Intelligence
(ISI) to the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba
(LeT), terrorist-turned-approver
David Coleman Headley on
Monday made a sensational
disclosure in his deposition
before a special court in the
26/11 attacks case that the terror outfit had made two unsuccessful attempts to attack
Mumbai prior to the 2008 mayhem in which 166 people were
killed and 300 injured.
Deposing before a special
court here through a videoconference from an undisclosed location in the United
States, incarcerated Headley
spoke at length about the training he underwent under LeT
founder Hafiz Saeed and LeT
chief-of-operations Zaki-urRehman Lakhvi; the manner in
which he was dissuaded from
going to Kashmir to wage war
against Indian troops; about his
association with his handler
Sajid Mir and how he got to
know three officers of the
ISI.
Another major revelation
on the first day of the deposition was that Headley named
Major (Retd) Abdur Rehman
Pasha, who once worked with
Khyber Rifles Regimental
Centre, Major Iqbal of ISI,
who was in touch with his handler Sajid Mir and Major Ali,
who interrogated him in the
Landi Kotal jail and later
ensured his discharge from a
Peshwar jail in 2002-03 in an
MARKETS
SENSEX 24,287.42 8 329.55
NIFTY
7,387.25 8 101.85
arms smuggling case.
“Major Ali (who was working for ISI at Landi Kotal)
introduced me to Major Iqbal
because Ali thought that I could
be of assistance in Intelligence
work,” Headley said.
Testifying before the court
of Additional Sessions Judge
GA Sanap, Headley said he
joined LeT in 2002 and
changed his name from
Dawood Gilani to David
Coleman Headley four years
later to hide his identity during
visits to India for carrying
out reconnaissance for the
26/11 attacks.
Responding to a question by
Special Public Prosecutor (SPP)
Ujjwal Nikam, Headley said that
Sajid Mir and Major Iqbal were
happy when he secured the
American passport in his new
name and the Indian visa.
Headley
said
that
Tahawwur Hussain Rana, a
former Pakistan military physician convicted for providing
MAX 24.6 0C (+1)
MIN 08.8 0C (0)
Mainly clear sky.
CAPSULE
INDIA TO GROW AT 5-YR
HIGH OF 7.6% IN 2015-16
New Delhi: India will grow at a
5-year high of 7.6% in the fiscal
ending March, overtaking a
slowing China, on the back of
improvement in manufacturing
and farm sectors, according to
the Central Statistics Office.
However, India’s GDP growth
slowed to 7.3% in OctoberDecember, from the revised
7.7% of the previous quarter.
Still, it bettered the 6.6% in the
same period of the last fiscal.
OVER 50 LAKH TAKE
HOLY DIP AT SANGAM
Lucknow: Over 50 lakh people
took the holy dip at Sangam in
Alahabad on the occasion of
Mauni Amavasya on Monday.
ACCLAIMED POET-LYRICIST
NIDA FAZLI PASSES AWAY
Mumbai: Renowned poet-lyricist
Nida Fazli, who penned several
soulful compositions like Kabhie
kisi ko mukamil jahan nahi
milta died on Monday. He was
78-year old.
YOGESH KUMAR TYAGI
TO BE NEXT DU V-C
New Delhi: President Pranab
Mukherjee has finalised the
name of former JNU professor
and Dean of Law Faculty at
South Asian University Yogesh
Kumar Tyagi for the post of Delhi
University’s Vice-Chancellor.
US-BASED SIKH ACTOR
DENIED ENTRY INTO PLANE
Mexico City: A US-based actor
and designer Waris Ahluwalia
was allegedly denied entry inside
an Air Mexico plane because of
his turban.
lHe
changed his name from Dawood
Gilani to David Coleman Headley to hide
his Pakistani identity before he undertook
reconnaissance missions to India ahead of
26/11 attacks
lLeT made two unsuccessful attempts to
carry out an armed attack on Mumbai —
September and October 2008, prior to the
November 26-29, 2008 mayhem
lHe was motivated by LeT’s founder
Hafeez Saeed and chief of Operations Zakiur-Rehman Lakhvi, who also trained him
lHe knew Major Iqbal, Major Ali and Major
(Retd) Abdul Rehman Pasha of ISI
lHe underwent full-fledged
training under LeT. He identified
support to LeT for plotting an
attack on a Danish newspaper,
had helped him get a five-year
visa to India.
“Rana knew something
about the 26/11 attacks and the
purpose of my visit to India,”
Headley told the court.
Describing himself as a
“true follower of the Lashkar”
who had been tasked with
making a general video of
Sajid Mir as his handler in LeT
lHe was arrested once in Peshwar in 2003
when he went to meet a drug smuggler but
was bailed out by Major Ali
lHe visited India seven times for
reconnaissance in the run-up to the 26/11
attacks and made a “general video” of
Mumbai
lHe gave false information twice to secure
Indian visa
lHe used multiple e-mail IDs for
concealing identity
lHe named six trainers who coached him
in the LeT camps
lHe married thrice
Mumbai, Headley said he had
travelled to India as many as
seven times and passed on
information he collected to
the LeT.
Headley, currently serving
a 35-year sentence in a terror
case in a US jail following a plea
bargain that saved him from a
death sentence and extradition,
was deposing in the trial of key
conspirator of 26/11 attacks
CM seeks relief from
Centre for farmers
PNS n LUCKNOW
WEATHER
MUMBAI TERROR CONSPIRATOR SINGS LIKE A CANARY
hief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav has written a letter to
Prime Minister Narendra Modi
requesting him to release `4741
crore as relief for distraught
farmers who lost their crop in
unseasonal rains and hailstorm
early last year.
“The farmers had suffered a
massive loss due to rains and
unseasonal hailstorm. The estimated loss was `7543.13 crore
but the state got just `2801.59
crore from the National Disaster
Relief Fund. The remaining
`4741.55 crore should be
released at the earliest,” Yadav
said in his letter the content of
which were released on Monday.
The extension of relief to
farmers has become a big political issue with Opposition parties blaming the government for
not providing help to farmers.
The state government, on its
part, has blamed the Central
government for not providing
enough funds.
Yadav in his letter men-
C
tioned that Minister of
State for Home Kiran
Rijuju had on October
21 had said that the
state government
would get `2801.59
crore as relief for farmers who lost their crop
in rains and hailstorm
under the NDRF and the state
would not get any extra money
other than that.
The Chief Minister said
that state had also asked for
funds for setting up infrastructure and help for farmers on different heads under the shortterm and long-term basis. “This
financial help does not come
under the NDRF and, therefore,
the Centre should extend additional financial help to farmers,”
he added.
Elaborating on the break-up
of the fund sought from the
Centre, the Chief Minister said
that `7543.14 crore was sought
as compensation to farmers
who lost their crop; `0.21 crore
for farmers who lost their
dwellings; ` 3.72 crore for fam-
ily members who lost
their relatives in this
natural calamity and
`0.28 crore as compensation for those who
lost their animals in
rains.
“The farmers are
facing the brunt of
nature’s vagary because after
unseasonal rains early last year,
Uttar Pradesh faced drought in
August-September forcing the
government to declare at least 50
districts as drought-hit. The
Centre should help the state in
extending help to distressed
farmers,” Chief Minister said in
his letter. The BJP, however,
reacted sharply saying the state
government should first utilise
the money the Centre had sent
earlier. “It is unfortunate that the
state government has money to
celebrate Saifai festival or the
birthday of SP national president
Mulayam Singh Yadav on a
grand scale but does not have
resources for the poor,” BJP
spokesman Vijay Bahadur
Pathak said.
Zabiuddin Ansari alias Abu
Jundal, two months after he
was pardoned and made an
approver in the case.
During the five-and-a-halfhour-long deposition which
began at 7 am and ended for the
day at 12.30 pm, SPP Nikam
posed more than 150 questions to Headley. The deposition
will continue on Tuesday.
Continued on Page 10
MLA, supporters
face action
Muzaffarnagar: Samajwadi
Party MLA Nahid Hasan was
on Monday booked along with
30 of his supporters for allegedly threatening TV channel
reporters who had gone to
cover the killing of an eightyear-old boy in celebratory firing at Kairana in Shamli district.
A case has been registered
against Hasan and his 30 supporters under Sections 147
(rioting), 342 (wrongful confinement), 504 (insult with
intent to provoke breach of the
peace) and 506 (criminal intimidation) of IPC and under IT
Act after a photographer,
Mukesh, lodged a complaint in
this connection, police said.
An eight-year-old boy was
killed in celebratory firing by
party workers in Shamli district,
leading Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav to order immediate
removal of the area’s SDM and
Deputy SP.
Two crew members of a
news channel who went to the
spot for coverage of the tragedy
were allegedly attacked by
Hasan and his aides. The workers were celebrating the victory of party candidate Nafisa in
the local body polls from the
town.
favours net neutrality
Telecom regulator
bars service providers
from differential
pricing for different
types of data usage
PNS n NEW DELHI
elecom
Regulatory
T
Authority of India (TRAI)
on Monday said no to
Facebook’s Free Basics, Airtel’s
Zero and others of their sort,
and supported net neutrality.
TRAI barred service providers
from charging discriminatory
prices for web access and provided for a penalty of `50,000
for each day on service
providers if they flout the order.
This penalty would be subject
to a maximum of `50 lakh.
The TRAI order is seen as
a setback to Facebook which
had plans to roll out Free
Basics scheme, providing access
to a limited set of websites for
free. Supporters of net neutrality opposed the scheme
and argued that it undermined
the equal-access precepts of net
neutrality and data providers
should not favour some online
services over others.
Meanwhile, Facebook on
Monday expressed disappointment over TRAI’s decision, saying it adversely impacts its free
internet platform Free Basics.
“Our goal with Free Basics is to
bring more people online with
an open, non-exclusive and free
platform. While disappointed
with the outcome, we will con-
NON-DISCRIMINATORY INTERNET
q TRAI Chairman RS Sharma unveiled the details of the regulations,
effective from Monday, titled ‘Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for
Data Services Regulations, 2016’
q ‘Anything on internet cannot be differently priced. This is the broad
point that we have highlighted in regulation,’ Sharma said
q TRAI provided for a penalty of
`50,000 for each day on service
providers if they flout the order. This
penalty would be subject to a maximum
of `50 lakh
q However, service providers have been allowed
to reduce tariff for access in case of providing
emergency services
q Facebook expressed disappointment over
TRAI’s decision, saying it adversely impacts
its free internet platform Free Basics
tinue our efforts to eliminate
barriers and give the unconnected an easier path to the
Internet and the opportunities it
brings,” a Facebook spokesperson said in a statement.
“No service provider shall
offer or charge discriminatory
tariffs for data services on the
basis of content,” TRAI
Chairman RS Sharma said
unveiling the details of the
regulations, effective from
Monday, titled ‘Prohibition of
Discriminatory Tariffs for Data
Services Regulations, 2016’.
“Anything on internet cannot be differently priced. This
is the broad point that we have
highlighted in regulation,”
Sharma said.
Plans which are active in
contravention of the new regulations should cease to exist in
six months, he said, adding that
the new regulations have been
notified in the Gazette and are
effective from Monday. “No
service provider shall enter
into any arrangement, agreement or contract, by whatever
name called, with any person,
natural or legal, that has the
effect of discriminatory tariffs
for data services being offered
or charged to the consumer on
the basis of content,” TRAI said.
However, service providers
have been allowed to reduce
tariff for access in case of providing emergency services.
“We have not defined
emergency services. But in
case of such ser vices,
operators have to inform TRAI
within seven working days,”
Sharma said.
TRAI has rejected outright
the idea of case-by-case
approval to plans that may be
priced differently as was suggested by a panel of officials at
Department of Telecom.
Suspended for 11 yrs, Autopsy rules
out sodomy
DCP gets pink slip charge in Ryan
for doubtful integrity death: Bassi
Tainted Farrooqui
dismissed from
Delhi Police just
two days before
his retirement
PRAMOD KUMAR SINGH n
NEW DELHI
khtar Ali Farrooqui, the
A
Deputy Commissioner of
Police (DCP) under suspension
for more than 11 years, was dismissed by the Ministry of Home
Affairs (MHA) on January 29,
just two days before he was to
retire from the Delhi Police.
Farrooqui a 1978-batch
officer of Delhi Andaman and
Nicobar Islands Police Service
(DANIPS), was embroiled in
several controversies and was
raided by the Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) for amassing wealth disproportionate to
his known sources of income.
He was subsequently suspended by the MHA for gross misconduct and remained under
suspension since May 2005.
“His promotion was stalled
and he was put under the
Doubtful Integrity (DI) list of the
MHA. His other financial benefits were curtailed and his dismissal from the service 48 hours
before he was to finally hang up
his boots meant that he stands
to forfeit all the post-retirement
monetary benefits that he was
entitled to as an officer of the
DANIPS cadre,” said a senior
Delhi Police officer when asked
about Farrooqui’s case.
“Ever since he was
suspended he had stopped
coming to the Delhi Police
Headquarters and nobody really knew where he was”, said the
officer, adding that his whereabouts should be probed.
It may be noted that
Farrooqui was convicted by the
designated CBI court along with
his wife, who was made a coaccused, on December 23, 2014,
under various sections of the
Prevention of Corruption Act.
Interestingly he was once
posted as the DCP of the AntiCorruption Branch of the Delhi
Government.
STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI
elhi Police Commissioner
D
BS Bassi on Monday said
that the post-mortem report of
six-year-old boy Devansh —
who was found dead in a water
reservoir at Ryan International
School under highly mysterious circumstances on January
30 — prima facie does not indicate any sexual assault. “The
post-mortem report has been
received and it is being studied.
Suffice to say that it does not
prima facie indicate any sexual assault,” Bassi said.
However, the AAP
Government on Monday recommended a CBI investigation
into the death of Devansh following demands by the child’s
parents and findings of a magisterial probe which pointed to
“suspicious conduct” of school
authorities.
“Delhi Government on
Monday referred to the CBI the
case of mysterious death of six
year-old student, Devansh,”
said a statement by Delhi
Government. Hope for fair
and speedy justice for
Devansh,” Deputy CM Manish
Sisodia tweeted.
Modi pitches for people’s participation Body of soldier retrieved by
PNS n NEW DELHI
rime Minister Narendra
Modi on Monday called
P
for people’s involvement in
bringing about a change in
rural areas. He was interacting
with over 230 people working
in these areas under the Prime
Minister’s Rural Development
Fellows (PMRDF), a national
scheme of the Ministry of
Rural Development.
The Prime Minister also
invited specific comments and
suggestions to further refine the
PMRDF initiative which was
introduced by the UPA
Government.
Eleven young participants
presented brief accounts of
their work in remote rural and
tribal areas, and Left-Wing
Extremism-affected areas, on
themes such as women
PM invites suggestions to further refine
Ministry’s initiative — Prime Minister’s
Rural Development Fellows
empowerment, maternal and
infant healthcare, education,
nutrition,
livelihoods,
Swachchh Bharat, Ek Bharat —
Shreshtha Bharat, and people’s
participation in governance,
said a statement from the PMO.
Later, in an interactive session with Modi, several participants shared their ideas on
themes such as development of
the North-East, rural education, tribal development,
organic farming, and welfare of
the disabled.
The Prime Minister also
recalled the letter that he had
written to all the fellows, seeking their responses on the
“Narendra Modi App.”
He appreciated the extensive responses that he had
received from the fellows, and
especially emphasised that
there was not a single complaint among the responses.
Modi said that people’s
participation emerges as a common theme among the presentations given on Monday, as
well as from the responses
which he has received. He
stressed that this could be the
most important aspect of
bringing about change.
Modi appreciated the participants for working with dedication and devotion, in rural
and backward areas of the
country, often withstanding
peer and family pressures.
The Prime Minister released
a book — Scripting Change —
which visually demonstrates the
essence of the work being done
by PMRD Fellows across the
country, the statement added.
cutting 30-feet high ice wall
PNS n JAMMU
ix days after a massive
avalanche swept away one
of the forward Indian posts at
a height of 19,600 feet in
Northern Siachen glacier in
Ladakh, rescue workers on
Monday retrieved the body
of a jawan after cutting
through a 30-feet high “ice
wall” at the camp site.
Ten soldiers, including a
Junior Commissioned Officer
were buried in the wee hours
of February 3. Since then rescue teams have been camping
in the area in search of the
bodies of the missing soldiers.
Ministry of Defence
spokesman based in Udhampur, Colonel SD Goswami
S
Ten soldiers were buried
alive in Siachen
avalanche on February 3
said, “After intense search operations on the sixth day, rescue
parties managed to hit the
camp site and recovered the
mortal remains of one martyr.”
The identity of the soldier
whose body was recovered is
yet to be made public by the
Army authorities.
city 02
LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 9, 2016
Belgium has a lot to
offer to UP: Envoy
New radiation
therapy at
KGMU soon Theincident
Indira Nagar shootout
Girl’s kidnapping raises police’s heckles
in which Satish
Yadav suffered firearm injuries
Lucknow (PNS): The kid- later assigned the task of custody. During quizzing by
PIONEER NEWS SERVICE ■ LUCKNOW
ainful sessions of radiation
therapy for the treatment of
tumour with now get smoother
for patients with the use of a
more precise technology. King
George’s Medical University
on Monday got a go ahead
from the central regulatory
body which permitted the use
of linear accelerator in the
treatment of cancer-causing
cells.
Atomic
Energy
Regulatory Board (AERB) has
given a licence to the medical
university for operating a medical accelerator unit. Based on
elgium Ambassador Jan
Luykx said here on
Monday that their country had a lot to offer to the state
of Uttar Pradesh in terms of
business opportunities. While
talking to mediapersons,
Luykx said he had met Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav and
informed him about the expertise of waste water treatment
and renewable energy technologies which their country
had. He also said that they
were looking for business
opportunities in UP.
It may be pointed out here
that the Embassy of Belgium
on Monday presented to the
government of UP the companies from there which wished
to help India’s most populous
state in cleaning the Ganga
within the framework of Prime
Minister, Narendra Modi’s
‘Clean Ganga’ initiative.
The Ambassador said that
they had initiated these
endeavours both at the government and business level.
“Till now we had been mostly
confining ourselves to NOIDA
but the state is larger and UP
is much more than NOIDA
and hence these initiatives
have been taken,” said Jan.
Jan said that they were
looking for collaborations in
diversified sectors. “There are
diversified sectors in which
business can be carried out
which include electronics,
chemical industry, pharmaceutical industry, food processing and renewable energy.”
On being asked about the
advantages of doing business in
Belgium, he said that the coun-
B
Belgium Ambassador Jan Luykx
try was centrally located in
Europe. “We are centrally
located in Europe so the consumer goods find good sales in
our country. We are also a very
open country and have good
purchasing power. There are 80
Indian companies which have
invested in Belgium,” he pointed out.
The Ambassador said that
Lucknow had a lot of tourist
potential. “Lucknow has a lot
of potential to attract tourists
with its monuments and cuisine. Uttar Pradesh has the
biggest attraction in terms of
the Taj Mahal. There are over
20,000 visitors from Belgium
who visit India,” he said. He
said that Belgium was offering
several opportunities for
shooting of films, “Recently the
film, PK, was shot in Belgium.
We have the diamond city to
showcase and a modern fashion hub too. The film shoot-
ings increase the visibility of
the area,” he added.
There was a session organised in the afternoon in which
businessmen of the city from
various fields asked specific
questions regarding doing
business with Belgium which
were answered by a panel of
experts from the country.
There were questions related to
the commercial and social sectors and the educational institutes where the audience
sought specific details on several aspects of doing business
with Belgium.
It was further informed
that Belgium has also specialised in water treatment
and waste management technologies, which were put to
good use to clean soils and
rivers polluted by heavy industries such as steel and coal.
Indeed, as continental Europe’s
first country to industrialise in
the 19th century, Belgium had
a lot of cleaning up to do,
which gave rise to new companies with innovative techniques that were put to good
use and stood the test of time.
It was further informed
that India and Belgium enjoy
a long-standing friendship
having chosen it as their
European hub. In addition, a
sizeable Indian diaspora lives
in Antwerp and Limburg. As a
host city to most European
institutions, Brussels is an
attractive place to do business
in Europe. The quality and
competitiveness of the ports of
Antwerp and Zeebruges as
well as Belgium’s excellent road
and rail networks are a boon
for Indian firms eying a presence in Europe.
Poll rivalry led to shootout
P
the qualifications, AERB has
authorised medical physicist in
Radiotherapy department
Nirmal Kumar Painuly to operate the unit. He has also been
tasked for the protection of
public, workers and environment from radiation hazards.
In addition, he will also be
responsible for the proper disposal of radiation waste.
According to the university administration, the nod for
the medical accelerator unit is
for multiple photon and electron energies. With the new
technology, the precision rate
with which tumour cells are
being targeted will go up. The
medical physicist will decide on
the aspects of proper dosage to
be given to a patient.
was a fallout of rivalry over
block pramukh election.
The facts surfaced during
investigation of the case on
Monday. Police registered a
cross FIR in this connection.
No arrest was made so far in
the case. Police said a group
was celebrating the success of
a contestant who won the election on Sunday evening. “The
revellers passed comment on
their rivals and that snowballed in a verbal spat. Later at
night, when Satish was standing outside his house in Manas
Nagar, the other group reached
there and opened fire on him,”
police said. The cops, however, doubted the claims made by
Satish and his supporters.
Police spokesman of SSP,
Lucknow, said both the parties
accused one another of opening fire on them. “While Satish’s
side alleged that their rivals
opened fire, the other party
made similar allegations,” the
spokesman said. Those named
in the case were identified as
Guddu Vishwakarma, Lallu
Yadav, Sonu Maurya, Vinod
Yadav, Anil Yadav and Satish.
Self-immolation bid
Ritesh Mishra, advocate,
attempted to immolate himself
outside Vidhan Bhawan on
Monday afternoon in protest
against the state government’s
decision to shift Collectorate to
Chinhat. Police failed to a get
a whiff of his intention till he
appeared at Vidhan Sabha gate
number 3 and doused himself
in kerosene. Policemen somehow over powered him and
took him in custody. He told
police were adopting harassing
tactics to end their fast-untodeath outside Collectorate. He
said some policemen set afire
napping of a class VIII girl student raised the heckles of the
Gudamba police for well over
48 hours. The cops heaved a
sigh of relief after the girl was
recovered by Government
Railway Police (GRP) from
Balamau railway station of
Unnao.
As per reports, a woman
dialled the Police Control
Room and informed the cops
that her daughter had gone
missing after she went out for
some work around 9 am on
Monday. The parents later
lodged a case accusing a youth
of their locality of kidnapping
the girl. A police team was
recovering the girl and working out the case.
The local police also alerted their counterparts in GRP
about
the
incident.
Meanwhile, the girl informed
her family that she had been
kidnapped by a motorcycleborne youth and also mentioned its registration number.
While police were searching
for the girl, Unnao GRP
informed her family about
her recovery. She was found
moving around at Balamau
station alone. Later, the girl’s
family, along with a police
team, reached the railway station and the girl was taken into
woman cops, the girl said that
she had fled the house on her
own as she feared punishment
for not completing her homework. She disclosed that her
parents had not deposited fee
at the school and she was
being pestered for the same
everyday. She said that her
mother gave her Rs 50 to purchase milk but she took an erickshaw and reached
Charbagh railway station from
where she boarded a train and
got down at Balamau railway
station. Police said the registration number that the girl
told her parents turned out to
be that of a scooter.
pulses (including Arhar) during a raid on Monday. Police
were asked to crack a theft case
lodged by trader Suman Kumar
Poddar. A police team spotted
a loader carrying some goods
and as he was asked to stop the
vehicle, but he fled leaving
behind the vehicle.
The cops found sacks filled
with pulses. Police later nabbed
the thief, identified as Raju of
Indiranagar. The accused, a
native of Bahraich, took the
help of his aides in committing
the theft at trader’s godown.
the tent in which members of
District Bar Association were
sitting and staging the dharna.
He said in the incident Mridul
Srivastava, advocate, suffered
burns on his leg. Later, a number of lawyers courted arrest at
the Hazratganj police station.
GANG OF THIEVES
BUSTED
With the arrest of four
persons, the Itaunja police
claimed to have busted a gang
of thieves stealing pumping sets
from rural areas of Lucknow on
Monday. They were identified
as Lavkush, Akhilesh, Kanhaiya
Lal and Anil - all residents of
Itaunja.
Police were tipped off by an
informer about a gang ferrying
stolen goods on a loader. A
team laid a trap in Babaganj
area and as the loader passed
by, the cops intercepted it. The
miscreants tried to flee abandoning the vehicle but they
were chased and arrested.
Meanwhile, the Naka
police recovered 23 sacks of
CM to inaugurate Poets, fans express grief
Trauma Centre-2 over Nida Fazli’s death
People should face no inconvenience
by Metro work in Hazratganj: CS
n order to launch Kanpur
Metro rail project by March,
IChief
Secretary Alok Ranjan
hief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav will soon inaugurate
C
Trauma Centre-2 of King
George’s Medical University
(KGMU). Besides, the university administration also plans to
add 200 more beds in the
Cardiology department.
The Chief Minister will
also inaugurate Advanced
Trauma Life Support (ATLS)
for giving treatment to patients
according to international standards. KGMU Vice-Chancellor
Ravi Kant added that other
facilities would also be
launched. These facilities will
NOTICE
JC-641899M Sub/SKT
Satheesh Kumar K of 44 ASC
COY(SUP) Type 'E' Date of
Birth of my wife named Beena
T Mentiond in official Document
is 25.05.1971 incorrect. The
correct Date of Birth is
29.05.1971.
include electron microscopes,
digital slide scanning, Linac,
thalassemia focus and lawn
tennis court.
Meanwhile, gearing up for
the formal inauguration of
Trauma Centre-2 on Rae Bareli
road, the KGMU administration opened new facilities on
Monday. Blood bank services
have started at the new healthcare facility. Incharge of
Trauma Centre-2 Sandeep
Tiwari said the opening of a
blood bank unit would benefit
a large number of patients.
Blood bank service will provide
blood units in the hour of need.
Earlier, blood units were
arranged from the facility on
the KGMU campus.
A selfie that Urdu Akademi chairman Nawaz Deobandi had clicked with Nida Fazli when the latter came to Lucknow
oets and fans on Monday
expressed profound grief on
P
the demise of the noted lyricist
and poet Nida Fazli in Mumbai.
Fazli had penned some of the
most beautiful compositions in
Bollywood films. The poet and
lyricist had attended the
mushaira which was organised
by the Urdu Akademi on
January 27 at the Lucknow
Mahotsav. Chairman of Urdu
Akademi Nawaz Deobandi,
while talking to The Pioneer, said
that Fazli was a strong pillar of
Urdu literature and his death
had caused a void which would
be hard to fill. “He was one
strong pillar in the realm of Urdu
literature. He belonged to that
era of stalwarts which included
Majrooh Sultanpuri, Sahir
Ludhiyanvi and Anand Bakshi.
He was the last from that group
and had been a good representative of Bollywood in Urdu literature and Urdu literature in
Bollywood,” he said.
Deobandi said that the poet
had penned some of the beautiful lyrics in Bollywood. “His
famous songs include ‘Kabhi kisi
ko mukammal jahan nahin
milta...’ and the famous Jagjit
Singh ghazal ‘Hosh walon ko
khabar kya bekhudi kya cheez
hai.’ He wrote several dohas too,”
he added. One of the fans of the
poet, Shweta Srivastava, who is
a teacher by profession, said that
she liked Fazli’s poetry for the
fact that there was a lot of simplicity in the ghazals that he
penned. “There was a lot of simplicity in the ghazals that he
wrote to which the ordinary listener could listen to. His famous
ghazal, ‘Duniya jise kehte hain
jadoo ka khilona hai,’ sung by
Jagjit Singh has a deep meaning
and is easy to understand too,”
he said.
issued directions for getting
necessary approvals before the
Cabinet meeting by February
10. He also issued directions for
necessary action on priority
for finalising the Metro rail
DPRs in Varanasi and Agra
within next 10 days.
The Chief Secretary said
that the opinion of general
public and departments concerned should be taken before
beginning the Metro rail work
in Hazratganj area of Lucknow
so that nobody was inconvenienced. In this regard, he
directed for a meeting of the
Divisional Commissioner,
(Lucknow), District Magistrate,
Senior Superintendent of Police,
SP (Traffic) and senior officials
of Municipal Corporation
before the start of work in the
heart of the city.
The Chief Secretary was
reviewing the progress of
Lucknow Metro Rail project and
Lucknow – Agra Expressway
here on Monday.
He said that as a result of
completion of 90 percent earthwork of Lucknow – Agra
Expressway, completion of
remaining 10 percent earthwork
should be done soon. He added
that DBM (Dense Bitumen
Macadam) surfacing of entire
Lucknow – Agra Expressway
should be completed by coming
June. He directed for deployment of experienced engineers
of Public Works Department on
deputation for beginning the
implementation of Samajwadi
Poorvanchal Expressway as
soon as possible.
Referring to Lucknow –
Agra Expressway, the Chief
Secretary said that work on
under-construction bridges on
Ganga-Yamuna rivers will have
to be expedited for completion
of expressway as per the milestones. Managing Director of
Lucknow
Metro
Rail
Corporation (LMRC) Kumar
Keshav presented the progress
report of works to be complet-
ed by December and said that
civil work of two priority stations and 2-km-long viaduct
had been done according to the
milestones, whereas, civil work
of four stations and 5 Km long
viaduct had been targeted to be
complete by March 2016. He
said that till now all works
were going on as per the timeschedule. It was informed that
an amount of Rs 200 crore from
Infrastructure Development
Fund had been provided for
construction of Lucknow Metro
rail.
Football stadium with int’l standards soon
he City of Nawabs is sure to
make its mark on the interT
national football map with a
new stadium, expected to be
completed early next year, hosting national and international
ties.
Spread on a 25-acre stretch
along Shaheed Path, the stateof-the-art international stadium will have a seating capacity of one lakh and is expected
to cost Rs 8 crore to the state
exchequer. It will be unique in
the sense that it will be in close
proximity of the upcoming
cricket stadium.
The task of building the
modern stadium has been
assigned to the Lucknow
Development Authority (LDA)
and its official and engineers
are already on the job with the
objective of ensuring that the
stadium becomes game-ready
by year-end. For this, LDA has
taken technical assistance from
a Delhi-based company with
expertise in laying sport turfs
and stadiums.
A senior LDA officer said
that besides hiring Delhi firm,
they had also invited groundstaff from Korea with expertise
in laying the main playing
arena. The imported fine polythene will be the base for the
ground which will be in aquamarine colour.
There would be more then
a dozen underground fountains
in and around the ground to
keep the ground cool as temperature goes up substantially
during the course of a game.
LDA has also contacted
Indian Football Association
brass requesting them to provide details of the latest and
sophisticated equipment to be
provided in the stadium and
also at the gymnasium for
training of players.
The LDA official said that
the gymnasium and physical
fitness club would be equipped
with all the modern and highquality equipment difficult to
be matched by any sport complex in northern India. A part
of the gymnasium and fitness
club will also be open to general public. Besides, LDA will
make all possible efforts to
ensure that the purest form of
water is used in swimming pool
and for cooling the ground.
Printed and Published by Vijay Prakash Singh for and on behalf of CMYK Printech Ltd., 4th Floor, Sahara Shopping Centre, Faizabad Road, Lucknow-226016 and Printed at Tin Tin Printech Pvt Ltd., C-33 Amausi Industrial Area, Nadarganj, Lucknow. Tel: (0522) 2438656 / 9336266608.
Editor: Chandan Mitra. Resident Editor: Vijay Prakash Singh. RNI No. 2016/57. Lucknow Telephones: EPABX: 4036600 Fax: 2345582. Allahabad Office: (95532) 2420818, 2421018, 3290460. Kanpur Office: (95512) 2304006, 2304416. Varanasi Office: (95542) 2414294, 2414295. Delhi
Office: Link House, II Floor, 3 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg, New Delhi 110 002. Tel: (011) 23755271-274, 41509074.
city 03
Mulayam asks SP cadre to
gear up for Council polls
PNS n LUCKNOW
EC ISSUES POLL
NOTIFICATION
party of one particular family.”
Exhorting the cadres, the
SP chief said, “By keeping
touch with the people and
helping them in redressal of
their problems, you can ensure
the victory of all 35 SP candidates in the Council polls.’’
Expressing displeasure at
the party’s inability to publicise
the achievements of the state
government, the SP supremo
said by way of questioning,
“The SP seems to have become
a party of the deaf and the
dumb. You cannot even says
thanks to Akhilesh for his
good works.”
“No state government in
the country can match the
exemplary work of the UP
government in all fields, particularly infrastructure. I have
asked Akhilesh to devote more
time to the people than on trivial matters in Lucknow,” Yadav
said.
amajwadi Party chief
Mulayam Singh Yadav on
Monday asked party cadre
to ensure the victory of SP candidates on all the 35 seats of
Legislative Council from the
local bodies constituency.
“The elections to these
Council seats are very difficult.
All kinds of poll-related malpractices will come into play.
Money and muscle power will
be freely used and there will be
horse-trading. Stop coming to
Lucknow and the party office
and instead focus in your
respective areas. If you have
grievances, fax them to me, and
they will be looked into,’’ Yadav
said in Lucknow while addressing party cadres at the SP
office.
Blaming the cadre for the
debacle in the 2014 Lok Sabha
polls, Yadav said, “Due to the
misconduct of ministers and
party MLAs, the SP faced the
wrath of the people in 2014
polls. The people punished the
party for their actions. Had the
SP won 35 to 40 seats in the
2014 Lok Sabha polls, we
‘Panchayat polls
indicate SP will
retain power’
Propagate achievements of Modi
govt: Gadkari to BJP workers
S
Lucknow (PNS): The
Election Commission of
India on Monday issued the
notification for the UP
Legislative Council elections.
The last date for filing nominations is February 15.
Scrutiny of papers will be
done on February 16 and the
last date for withdrawal of
papers will be February 18.
Polling will be held on March
3 and the votes will be counted on March 6.
would have formed the government at the Centre. But the corrupt and unwanted activities of
the ministers and MLAs
reduced our tally to just five
MPs. No wonder then that the
people started calling us a
PNS n LUCKNOW
he Samajwadi Party
claimed on Monday that its
T
spectacular victory in the threetier panchayat polls has given
a clear indication that the party
will retain power in the 2017
Assembly polls and Akhilesh
Yadav will lead the state for a
second term.
SP spokesman Rajendra
Choudhary said on Monday
that the people had given a
clear mandate in favour of the
party in the recent panchayat
polls.
He said the SP candidates
had won the elections of district panchayat chairpersons in
60 out of 74 districts and 623
seats of block pramukhs out of
791 where polls were held.
“The panchayat polls have
exposed the tall claims of opposition parties. The people have
also rejected their canard
against the Akhilesh Yadav
government,” he said.
Choudhary pointed out
that the results also exposed the
disconnect of the opposition
parties with the masses. He said
the negative campaign f the
opposition parties had turned
out to be self-defeating.
“The people favoured the
Samajwadi Party only because
it went to the people with a
development-oriented agenda
of all-round development,”
Choudhary said.
Union Surface Transport and Shipping Minister Nitin Gadkari speaking at a Jan
Pioneer
Samvaad programme in Lucknow on Monday
PNS n LUCKNOW
enior leader of BJP and
Union Surface Transport and
SShipping
Minister Nitin Gadkari
on Monday asked party workers to fan out to villages and
make people aware of the good
works done by the Narendra
Modi government at the Centre.
“Go and meet the people
and tell them about the achievements of the Narendra Modi
government. The opposition is
spreading canards against us and
it is the right time to call spade
a spade,” Gadkari said while
Addressing workers and villagers during Jan Samvaad (people interaction) in Lucknow on
Monday.
The senior leader of the
Bharatiya Janata Party held two
meetings, one with party work-
ers and the other with villagers.
In both the meetings, he spoke
about the Union government’s
achievements and how it was
working to redress the grievances of the poor.
He said that no government
had done such good work in
such a short span of time.
“We have seen previous
governments and how they
worked. This is a government
which is working with full
accountability. The schemes are
aimed at bringing a holistic
change in society,” he said.
“Name any sector and you
will see transformation. The
Jan Dhan Yojana has been a
game changing scheme that will
bring the poor into the mainstream of economy. The Start-up
India scheme will generate new
entrepreneurs. Now the youth
will not seek jobs but will give
jobs,” he said.
Gadkari also spoke at length
about his own ministry and how
it was spreading a network of
roads.
“The Union government
has plans to start a cruise from
Varanasi to Kolkata,” he added.
This was the first meeting of
Gadkari with party workers and
it is being seen as the first step
towards gearing up party workers for the 2017 Assembly polls
in UP.
Gadkari held a chaupal
with villagers in Malihabad
where he enquired about their
problems and informed them
about the Central government’s
policies.
The BJP think-tank has
asked the Union ministers to
visit different parts of the state
and halt at least for a night there
and hold discussions with grassroots workers. The aim is to give
talking point to the BJP workers about the achievements of
the Modi government.
“People are fed up with the
misrule of Samajwadi Party
government in the state. Law
and order is bad. You people
hammer on this issue and compare BJP-ruled states where the
pace of development is fast,” he
said.
BJP state president
Laxmikant Bajpai and other
senior leaders were also present
in the meetings.
Congress planning
Assembly, Council
adjourn for day after to disrupt Budget
obituary references session: Naqvi
PNS n LUCKNOW
oth Houses of the UP
Legislature were adjourned
for the day after expressing
condolences on the death of sitting and former members of
the Houses on Monday.
In the Assembly, the House
was adjourned after expressing
condolences to two sitting
Samajwadi Party members
Mitrasen Yadav and Rajendra
Singh Rana. Mitrasen Yadav
who represented the Bikapur
seat (Faizabad) died on
September 7 last year while
Rajendra Singh Rana who was
elected to the Assembly from
Deoband in Saharanpur died
on October 27, 2015.
Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav, Leader of Opposition
Swami Prasad Maur ya,
Bharatiya Janata Party,
Congress and Rashtriya Lok
B
Dal legislature party leaders led
the members in paying tributes
to the departed members while
Speaker Mata Prasad Pandey
read out obituary references.
In the Legislative Council,
the members expressed grief at
the death of Lok Sabha’s former
Speaker Balram Jakhar, state
minister Rajendra Singh Rana,
former members Yashpal
Singh, Baburam MCom, Prof
Ramji Singh.
Leader of Legislative
Council Ahmed Hassan moved
the obituary references.
Leader of Opposition
Naseemuddin Siddiqui and
other senior leaders of the
House recalled the contributions of these deceased leaders.
After obser ving twominute’s silence, Council
Chairman Om Prakash Sharma
adjourned the House for the
day.
PNS n LUCKNOW
nion Minister of State for
Parliamentary Affairs and
U
Minority Welfare Mukhtar
Abbas Naqvi said that the
Congress was trying to create an
atmosphere to disrupt the coming Budget session of
Parliament.
“The Congress has started
making false allegations against
the government and the Prime
Minister. This seems to be the
beginning to prepare grounds to
disrupt the coming Budget session,” Naqvi said while talking to
reporters in Rampur on
Monday. He said the Congress
had disrupted the last two sessions of Parliament resulting in
the loss of 132 hours of
Parliament working and Rs 200
crore of the public money.
“First the Congress disrupt-
Dalit returning to Cong: UPCC
Lucknow (PNS): The UP
Congress claimed on Monday
that dalits were returning to the
party fold and had started reading through the false assurances
given to them by other parties
just for their votes.
“Except for the Congress, the
dalits have been used by political parties. The community has
now read through the designs of
these parties and are fast returning to Congress. The results of
the coming Assembly polls will
reflect this change in the mind-
set of the underprivileged sections of society,” asserted UP
Congress Scheduled Caste
department leader Bhagwati
Choudhary here on Monday.
Choudhary led the second
phase of the Bhim Jyoti Rath
Yatra which concluded on
Monday after covering 14 districts of the Bundelkhand region.
Meanwhile, AICC SC
department general secretary
Christopher Tilak said that dalits and Muslims were the most
harassed in the present Bharatiya
Janata Party-led rule at the
Centre. Referring to the recent
suicide by a scholar of
Hyderabad Central University,
Tilak said that dalit students were
being deprived of scholarships
across the country. “The
Congress will fight for the cause
of the dalits and Muslims in the
country,” he assured both the
communities. UP Congress SC
department is organising a dalit
convention in Lucknow on
February 18 at which Rahul
Gandhi will be the chief guest.
ed the House over Lalitgate
scandal demanding the resignation of Foreign Minister Sushma
Swaraj. The Winter session was
washed out with the Congress
demanding resignation of
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.
The Congress even disrupted
Parliament over the National
Herald issue,” the Union minister said adding that this time the
Congress may come up with
some new issue.
Commenting on AIMIM
chief Asaduddin Owaisi’s recent
visit to UP, Naqvi said that
the party had no base in the
state and Owaisi had come to
disturb amity.
When his attention was
drawn towards the Ram temple
issue, Naqvi said the matter
was in the court. “The issue can
be solved either by mutual consent or by court,” he added.
RLD flays govt for
poll violence
Lucknow (PNS): Rashtriya
Lok Dal state chief Munna Singh
Chauhan on Monday flayed the
Samajwadi Party government for
incidents of violence during the
block pramukh polls. He alleged
that SP leaders deliberately
indulged in violence to win these
polls “There were instances in
which SP leaders and workers
opened fire to intimidate rival
contestants and sway the voters in
their favour. Their act is
condemnable 0 anti-democratic,”
he said.
CM: Freedom
of media will
be protected
TAKES ACTION AGAINST
KAIRANA OFFICIALS
PNS n LUCKNOW
aking stern action against
the erring officials of
T
Kairana block of Shamli district
after a lady reporter and her
camera person were held captive by goons on Monday
morning, Chief Minister
Akhilesh Yadav said that freedom of the media would be
protected and enforced at all
cost.
On the directive of the
Chief Minister, police inspector of Kairana, BP Singh, has
been suspended while the
DySP and SDM of the area
have been attached to Lucknow.
The action was taken after
the lady reporter of an English
news channel and her camera
person were held captive by the
goons of SP MLA Nahid
Hassan on Monday morning.
They were in Kairana to cover
the death of a boy in the celebratory firing by supporters of
Kairana’s SP block pramukh
Nafisa on Sunday evening.
As state president of the SP,
Akhilesh Yadav also issued
show-cause notice to the MLA
and expelled the newly-elected
block pramukh Nafisa from the
party.
The Chief Minister has
directed the Shamli officials to
identify the people involved in
revelry firing and arrest them,
besides cancelling their arms
licences.
Already three persons have
been arrested and FIR has
been registered against five
people.
49 IPS officers shifted
PNS n LUCKNOW
a major reshuffle, the state
transferred 49
IIPSngovernment
officers of superintendent of
police ranks on Monday
evening.
Shiv Shankar Yadav has
been sent to Jaunpur as SP,
replacing Raju Babu Singh, who
will be the new commandant of
30th Battalion PAC in Gonda.
SP (Regional Intelligence,
Meerut) Swapnil Mamgain has
been shifted to Amethi as SP in
place of Heera Lal, who was has
posted as Commandant of 36th
Battalion PAC in Gorakhpur.
Manoj Kumar Jha has been
posted as SP in Ballia in place of
Anees Ahmed, who has been
shifted as Commandant of 34th
Battalion PAC in Varanasi,
replacing Prateep Kumar
Mishra, who has been posted as
SP in Bhadohi.
SP (EOW, Kanpur) Ms
Pushpanjali will be the new SP
of Kanpur Dehat, replacing
Sabharaj, who has been shifted
to Jhansi as SSP in place of
Subesh Dubey, who comes to
Lucknow as SP (Training and
Security). SP at Auraiya, Manoj
Tewari, has been shifted to
Bahraich in same capacity,
replacing Saliqram, who has
been sent to Moradabad as SP
(Regional Intelligence).
SP (CB CID) Mohammed
Imran has been posted as SP in
Lalitpur, in place of Balendu
Bhushan Singh, who will now be
the Commandant of 25th
Battalion PAC in Rae Bareli.
Baburam has been shifted as
SP (EOW, Kanpur) while
Nageshwar Singh will be SP
(EOW, Lucknow). Geeta Singh
will be SP (CB CID) at Lucknow,
Ashok Kumar Tripathi will be
SSP, Etah in place of Santosh
Kumar Singh, who has been
posted as SP (Regional
Intelligence) at Varanasi.
DPN Pandey has been posted as SP (Technical Services), Dr
Arvind Bhushan Pandey as SP
(Human Rights) in Lucknow,
Ajay Kumar as SP (Computer
Cell) at Lucknow.
Ajay Pal has been posted as
SP of Hathras, replacing
Shivshimpi Chinnappa, who
has been sent to Amroha in
same capacity in place of Sanjeev
Tyagi, who has been posted as
Commandant of 44th Battalion
PAC in Meerut.
Sunil Kumar Singh has been
posted as SP at Farrukhabad in
place of Rajesh Krishna, who has
been shifted as SP (Regional
Intelligence) at Meerut.
SP, Kasganj, Himanshu
Kumar, will be the new SSP of
Mainpuri, replacing Rakesh
Shankar who has been posted as
SP (PTS) in Gorakhpur.
Dinesh Pal Singh will be SP
(Crime) at DGP office while
Deepak Kumar Bhat will be the
new SP of Kushinagar, replacing
Atul Sharma, who has been
shifted as SP (Railways) in
Gorakhpur.
Deep Ranjan Verma will be
SP in Traffic Directorate at
Lucknow, Hemant Kutiyal will
be SP of Shrawasti replacing
Ganga Nath Tripathi who has
been posted as Commandant of
RTC at Chunar in Mirazpur.
Rajesh S will be the
Commandant of 45th Battalion
PAC in Meerut while Sonia
Singh, will be SP (Railways) at
Lucknow. SSP (ATS) Umesh
Srivastava has been posted as SP
in Kasganj, while SP of Sant
Ravidas Nagar, Anil Kumar Rai,
has been shifted as SP (Security)
in Lucknow. Hari Narain Singh
has been made SP of Sitapur,
replacing Pawan Kumar, who
will now be SP of Rae Bareli.
Satyarth Anirudh will be SP
of Auraiya and Shiv Hari Meena
the new SP of Mau replacing SP
Upadhyay who has been shifted as SP (CB CID) in Lucknow.
Bharati Singh will be the
new Commandant of 49th
Battalion PAC in Gautam
Buddha Nagar, replacing
Shogun Gautam who has been
shifted as Commandant of 41st
Battalion PAC in Ghaziabad.
Kavindra Pratap Singh has
been made SP (Railways) in
Allahabad, while Rajeev
Mehrotra will be the new SP of
Fire Services in Lucknow.
city 04
Several events at Science Expo on day 4
he fourth day of the
Science Expo at the
T
Regional Science City here on
Pioneer
People at an exhibition organised at Safed Baradari in Lucknow on Monday
‘Yakshagana’ steals show
at Sanatkada Festival
ramanon put on a one-ofa-kind performance of
‘Akshayambara,’ a Kannada
Yakshagana dance drama presented by the Indian
Foundation for the Arts and the
South Asia Women’s Fund at
the Sanatkada Fest here on
Monday.
‘Akshayambara’ is an
experimental Kannada play
that uses both modern theatrical tools and the unique
Yakshagana dance style. The
performance illustrates themes
of gender in theatre and the
way power shifts with fluid
gender expectations.
‘Akshayambara’ featured
Sharanya Ramprakash, a stage
actor, director and one of the
founders of Dramanon at
Bangalore. Over the past eight
years she has directed six fulllength productions that have
had more than 75 shows in various venues across the country.
She received the INLAKS
Theatre Award ’ 14 through
which she trained at the Udupi
Yakshagana Kendra under the
tutelage of Guru Sanjeeva
Suvarna. Madhavi Kukreja, key
organiser of the Fest, said,
“This was a unique performance because generally it is
done by the males but it was an
all-women group which performed,” he said.
A group of schoolchildren
arrived at the Sanatkada Fest to
take part in the festivities.
They were split into two
groups. One group went on
the Schoolchildren’s Heritage
Walk in which they caught a
glimpse of the homes, institutions and monuments that
make up this important cultural and historical hub of
Lucknow. The walking tour
highlighted the often-overlooked architecture and history of the area, which was established in the 19th century
D
under the rule of Nawab Wajid
Ali Shah. The children listened to the interesting stories
and anecdotes that give Kaiser
bagh its charm and were taught
how to identify the symbols
and styles of nawabi architecture around Lucknow. The
walk began at the Press Club
and ended at Baradari.
Afterwards the children took a
tour of the ‘Lucknow ki Rachi
Basi Tehzeeb’ photo exhibit
with volunteers from
Sanatkada’s empowerment
training programme and
explored the many stalls of the
bazaar, talking to the artisans
about their products.
Madhavi Kukreja said,
“This tour was organised so
that the children get a feel of the
Mela apart from the Mall culture which they have been seeing lately,” he added.
There were two sessions of
the UNICEF Kids Corner on
Monday. In the first session
Swatantra Talim once again put
on their workshop ‘Khoj ka
Dabba’ whose goal is to nurture
the spirit of inquiry among
children for mathematics, science, language and geography,
inculcating critical thinking,
creativity and logical thinking
skills. Swatantra Talim “was
born to walk with children who
don’t get the freedom to pursue
their dreams,” and get the
‘talim’ they want and to co-create space – both mental and
physical--where the children
can learn through their own
experiences and make their
own decisions.
During the second session
of the UNICEF Kids Corner ,
Valentina Trivedi presented
stories. She is passionate about
children and learning. She has
used her storytelling talent in
numerous ways, most recently
as a dastangoh both writing
and performing dastans.
The Crafts and Weaves
Bazaar featured exquisite saris,
fabrics, readymade garments,
durries, dupattas, jewellery and
handicrafts. Today’s featured
stalls were chikan stalls.
Sanatkada’s car tour of the
mohallas of different communities and Begum Akhtar’s
mazaar once again left from
Baradari in the morning and
led guests on a route passing
the different mohallas of different communities that make
up the diverse fabric of the city.
The car tour took visitors to
places like Kashmiri Mohalla,
Parsi Anjuman, and Hazratganj
where they will learn about the
places that held special importance to different groups of
Lucknowites.
Akka Bakka had a new
activity, ‘Kumaoni Phad
Storytelling.’. It is a fun venture
founded to explore the creative
and colourful world of art and
literature with children.
Through sessions designed
especially for children, they
explore the world of colours,
papers, forms and mediums, of
expressions and stories that let
them connect better with their
social and emotional selves,
thus strengthening their cognitive and physical motor skills.
There was another screening of Zikr us Parivash ka (in
praise of the angel face), a documentary on Begum Akhtar
directed by Nirmal Chander at
the literary pavilion. One of
the last legendary courtesans of
India, Begum Akhtar was a
well-known singer of ghazal,
dadra and thumri genres of
Hindustani classical music.
Zikr Us Parivash Ka weaves
together the accounts of those
who remember her with
undimmed fondness and
warmth despite the passage of
time. The first film of the
Filmistan Regional Film
Festival, 36 Chowringhee Lane,
on Anglo-Indians, was
screened at the Literary
Pavilion.
Boy kidnapped,
killed in Hardoi
n a sensational incident, the
body of a five-year-old boy
Ikidnapped
in Hardoi on
Sunday was recovered on
Monday. Acting promptly on
the complaint, the police
arrested three persons in this
connection.
As per reports, 5-year-old
Praveen Kumar of Kodari
hamlet of Kasimpur in Hardoi
was playing with his friends
on Sunday afternoon and
later went missing. His family members launched a hunt
but failed to trace him. Later
in the evening, the family
received a call in which the
unidentified caller claimed
that Praveen was in his custody and demanded a ransom
of Rs 2 lakh for his release.
The boy’s father, Chandra
Kishore Maurya, informed
the police about the ransom
call after which a case was
registered.
On Monday, the police
traced the identity of the kidnappers as Shivam aka
Anurag, Sonu aka Pradeep
and Tarku Teli a,, neighbours
of Maurya. They were later
picked up and grilled during
which they revealed that they
had already killed the boy.
On their information, the
body of Praveen was recovered and sent for autopsy.
Meanwhile in Sitapur, a
24-year-old youth was shot
dead by robbers during a loot
bid. As per reports, half-adozen armed miscreants
entered the house of Vinod
Mishra at Umari hamlet in
Kotwali area of Sitapur late
Sunday night. However,
Vinod’s son Brijesh woke up
and resisted the robbers and
one of them shot him dead.
The gang later held the
family members hostage and
looted cash, jewellery and
other valuables. A case was
registered in this regard and
efforts were made to track
down the robbers.
CMS STUDENTS GET
GOLD MEDALS
Three meritorious students
of City Montessori School,
Mahanagar (Campus I) —
Kavya Gupta, Dev Yadav and
Sudheshna Ray — won gold
medals in the second round of
National Science Olympiad
organized by Science Olympiad
Foundation, New Delhi.
Students from several prestigious schools of India and
abroad participated in this contest in which these three mer-
Prof Uday Mohan also gave
them some tips for maintaining good health and advised
them to have nutritious food,
do daily exercise, have adequate sleep and stay away from
stress.
The students listened to his
advice carefully and asked several questions enjoying the
lecture. This was followed
by a ‘Meet the Scientists’ programme in which Dr AK Shah
from the ICAR-IISR, Dr Sudha
Agrawal from CIMAP, Dr RP
Sharma from the Biotech Park
and Umesh Kumar, Project
Coordinator, RSC, Lucknow,
answered the questions from
the students and also shared
the research and career opportunities in the respective institutions.
Later on day 5 ‘nukkad
nataks’ based on the theme
‘Swachchh Bharat’ were presented by the SKD Academy,
CMS branches, LPS and Army
Public School. The powerful
presentations communicated
the message very well to the
audiences. There were musi-
Educational awareness camp
by IGNOU, SSB on skill dev
ndira Gandhi National Open
University Regional Centre,
ILucknow,
and the Sashastra
Seema
Bal,
Frontier
Headquarters, Lucknow, jointly organised an educational
awareness camp on skill development through higher education, especially for in-service
personnel employed in SSB on
Monday at the Frontier
Headquarter, Lucknow. The
camp was attended by approximately 300 officers and
jawans. The IG (SSB), VH
Deshmukh, in his inaugural
address informed the participants about the importance of
Open and Distance Education
System and encouraged them
to take admission in the
IGNOU programmes.
SK Singh, Commandant
(SSB), Lucknow, also encouraged the participants to take
admission in IGNOU programmes and utilise this
opportunity which is being
provided at their doorsteps.
The Regional Director,
IGNOU Regional Centre, Dr
Manorama Singh, in her
address spoke in detail about
the rules and regulations of
IGNOU. She spoke about the
support ser vices which
IGNOU would provide to the
in-service persons of SSB. She
said that all the support services related to academic counselling would be provided to
the SSB persons at their workplace through the Mobile
Study Centre. She also
informed them about online
admissions and made them
aware about their merits.
The Assistant Regional
Director, Dr Kirti Vikram
Singh, told the participants
that the objective of IGNOU
was democratisation of higher education. He spoke in
detail about the flexibility
offered by IGNOU to the inservice persons during admission while pursuing the course
and at the time of examination.
The Assistant Regional
Director,
Anshuman
Upadhyaya, informed in detail
about the certificate programmes offered by IGNOU.
He informed them about the
importance of certificate in the
Anti-human Trafficking
Programme. He said that this
programme had been prepared by IGNOU and the
Ministry of Home Affairs,
Government of India, and it
was highly beneficial for the
agencies working for its prevention as it brought awareness
and provided comprehensive
understanding to the functionaries about anti-human
trafficking.
cal band presentations from
CMS, LPS and Vidyarthi
schools which were enjoyed by
everyone. In all about 750 students participated in the different programmes enthusiastically. The Science Expo will
conclude on Tuesday with a
valedictory function and prize
distribution programme and
Dr Ravi Kant, Vice-Chancellor,
KGMU, will be the chief guest
and Dr MJK Siddique Director,
UP CST, will be presiding over
the function. The Science Expo
will remain open till afternoon.
Eye camp
tragedy: HC
orders relief
LAW REPORTER ■ LUCKNOW
he Lucknow bench of the
Allahabad High Court
T
directed to list a PIL after two
weeks and undertake necessary
exercise in respect of payment of
compensation by the sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) concerned in connection with the
botched surgeries at the
Sultanpur eye camp in which
several patients lost their eyesight in 2005.
A division bench of Justice
Satyendra Singh Chauhan and
Justice Ritu Raj Awasthi passed
the aforesaid order on Monday
on a PIL seeking directions for
proper action in the matter and
provide compensation to victims. A supplementary counter
affidavit was filed on Monday
wherein the state counsel
informed the court that the
payment of compensation had
been made to five persons and
for the rest five persons payment
was to be made by the SDM.
Earlier, in its report, the State
Human Rights Commission
(SHRC) had recommended that
the victim who had lost his
vision completely was entitled to
Rs 3 lakh as compensation. The
patients who had lost their
vision in only one eye in which
the operation was performed
were entitled to a compensation
of Rs 1 lakh and a woman whose
vision was partially lost was entitled to a compensation of Rs
50,000 only. It had also recommended that the amount paid by
the state government to victims
should be recovered from doctors and pharmacists who were
accountable and responsible for
the negligence.
Work begins on CITYBRIEFS
housing project CONFERENCE
Annual convocation SCHOOLSCAN
of IIML on Mar 12
Lucknow (PNS): The
annual convocation of the
Indian
Institute
of
Management, Lucknow, is
scheduled to be held on March
12,, 2016. Naveen Tewari,
CEO and founder of InMobi,
who will be the chief guest, will
deliver the convocation
address too. Tewari is an
expert in creating world-class
organisations from within
India. He built InMobi that is
a mobile ad tech platform
with a focus on making advertising compelling and with
the goal of helping users and
marketers in making smarter
decisions. Tewari’s journey
started with McKinsey and
Company, where he worked on
developing the go-to-market
strategy for a large Indian
conglomerate as it entered the
telecom sector. He also worked
with the top management of a
number of large software companies and consumer product
enterprises in India on various
strategic issues.
He has a Master in
Business Administration
(MBA) from Harvard Business
School (HBS) in Boston.
Tewari obtained a Bachelor of
Technology degree from the
Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT), Kanpur.
Monday started with a popular science lecture on the topic,
‘Health and Life Style.’
Prof Udan Mohan from
the KGMU, Lucknow, delivered a very interesting and
informative lecture in simple
language. In it he described the
health and life style as per standard definitions highlighting
the modifiable and non-modifiable causes of various diseases. “The former causes can
be controlled by us but the latter ones have to be borne,” he
said. He shared with the students that in the 21st century
probably human beings would
be able to live up to 100 years
but with this they have to
learn how to maintain good
health for such a long life
span.
“One has to include good
eating habits and modify one’s
life style for better living. One
should eat what one likes but
one should not be habitual to
any type of junk food.
Consuming junk food and
more dependence on it is not
good for the health of the students,” he said.
He also described the contents of platter consumed on
every day basis which were
related with a balanced diet.
itorious students qualified the
second round owing to their
scientific knowledge and skills.
Science Olympiad Foundation
organises this contest every
year to develop a deep interest
in Science and Mathematics in
the younger generation.
BOOK RELEASE
An inspirational book for
youths, ‘Your Destiny is in
Your Hands’, is slated for release
at a function to be organised
at UP Press Club in Lucknow
on February 15. State Minister
for Vocational Education and
Skill Development Abhishek
Mishra will be the chief guest
on the occasion while educationist and CMS founder
Jagdish Gandhi will preside
over the function. The book
has been published in English.
Renowned personalities from
the field of education, social
work, journalism, administration and several well known
figures will be present on the
occasion.
Lucknow (PNS): The Awas Vikas
Parishad has started construction
of 500 houses for the underprivileged and those belonging to
lower income group. The board
along with the Ministry of Housing
is working on a plan to have a tieup with banks and financial
institutes so that loan can be
obtained on easy instalments.
Sources said that the board’s
officials had completed the
formalities of taking permission and
obtaining ‘no objection certificate’
from all government departments
and institutions for the proposed
residential colony. Board
spokesman said that the digging of
the proposed site would be done in
the presence of the officials of the
mining department. A source said
the step had been taken on the
suggestion of the district
administration with an objective to
check the smuggling of the mud
and clay. The board will also take all
precautions at its level to prevent
excess digging. The houses under
the proposed scheme will be built
at five different sites located in
different places of the state capital.
The estimated cost of a single flat
falling under the economic weaker
section will be Rs 4 lakh while the
person buying the house under the
lower income group will have to
shell out Rs 5.30 lakh.
A two-day national conference on cooperatives with
the theme ‘Regaining leadership
in agriculture finance’ is being
organised jointly by National
Bank for Agriculture and Rural
Development (NABARD) and
Bankers Institute of Rural
Development
(BIRD),
Lucknow. The two-day conference started on Monday. It was
inaugurated in the presence of
NABARD chairman Harsh
Kumar Bhanwala, principal
chief general manager (RBI)
A press conference regarding a tournament of cricket for blind underway at KD
Singh Babu Stadium in Lucknow on Monday. The tournament will begin on
Pioneer
February 10
Suma Verma, NAFSCOB president Dileepbhai Sanghani and
other prominent stake holders.
UDAAN
To provide the platform to
infinite creativity, imagination
and feminine power of students
of various halls of Lucknow
University and affiliated girls’
degree colleges, Kailash Hall,
University of Lucknow, has
been hosting its annual festival,
Udaan, for many years.
Bank of Maharashtra celebrated 81st Business Commencement Day. Zonal manager (Lucknow) VK Sharma interacted with
Pioneer
customers on the occasion
nation 05
WITHDRAWAL OF CUSTOMS DUTY EXEMPTION ON DRUGS’ IMPORT
Govt to gauge impact of decision
Health Ministry
sets up panel as
PMO intervenes
HAVING SECOND THOUGHTS
* The Government is having second thoughts over its recent decision of
withdrawing custom duty exemption on the imports of at least 74 drugs,
including life-saving ones used to treat cancer, AIDS and haemophilia
* The move also follows the public hue and cry against the Finance
Ministry’s notification withdrawing customs duty exemption on the
imports of 74 drugs that is feared to lead rise in prices of such
medicines, making them out of reach of the people in need
* Sources said the Health Ministry had done no ground work to study
the Finance Ministry’s proposal seeking its views on custom duty
exemption on the said drugs
ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI
he Government is having
second thoughts over its
T
recent decision of withdrawing
customs duty exemption on the
imports of at least 74 drugs —
including life-saving ones used
to treat cancer, AIDS and
haemophilia — following
intervention from the Prime
Minister’s Office (PMO).
The move also follows the
public hue and cry against the
Finance Ministry’s notification
withdrawing customs duty
exemption on the imports of 74
drugs that is feared to lead rise
in prices of such medicines,
making them out of reach of
the people in need.
Sources said the Union
Health Ministry has set up a
panel to scientifically study
the impact of the move, that it
is against its policy of providing affordable drugs to the
people and cut down out of
pocket expenditure.
In fact, though the Health
Ministry says that it was caught
unaware by the Finance
Ministry’s notification issued
on January 28, the sources
said that the former had done
no ground work to study the
latter’s proposal seeking its
views on customs duty exemption on the said drugs.
With the PMO seeking
report in the matter, the Health
Ministry officials went into
huddle on Sunday and
Monday, holding meetings
back to back to examine the
notification and its impact on
the health sector.
On Sunday, Health
Secretary BP Sharma, Joint
Secretaries Anshu Prakash and
KL Sharma among others such
as officials from the DCGI
and a few representatives from
the pharma sector deliberated
the matter to discuss next
course of action. The panel will
give its recommendation in
the matter soon.
Though the notification was
issued last month, the issue was
flagged recently by Biocon
Chairperson and Managing
Director Kiran Mazumdar Shaw,
who in her tweet said, “Govt has
introduced 22 per cent import
tax on cancer and life saving
drugs. Previously exempted. Is
this the phasing out of exemptions by MoF? Sad.”
According to her, “The
Department of Revenue has
issued a notification on January
28, withdrawing exemption
from import duty on a number
of drugs, including cancer and
other life-saving drugs. This
will result in excise/import
duties to the extent of over 22
per cent, which will make these
drugs more expensive… There
are over 75 drugs on this list.
This will also impact the
indigenous drugs being manufactured in SEZs, thus
adversely impacting the
Government’s aim of making
healthcare affordable and
accessible to patients in India.”
Experts elaborated that the
move will make treatment of a
multitude of diseases costlier:
Apart from HIV/AIDS, cancer
and haemophilia, the list
includes, kidney stones, heart
rhythm disorders, diabetes,
Parkinson’s Disease, bone diseases, bacterial infections, anesthetic medication, allergies,
arthritis, lupus, menopause,
glaucoma, poisoning by a
chemical or pesticide, growth
failure in children and ulcerative colitis.
TRADER’S PIL AGAINST UP MLC
SC terms both parties
to petition as ‘dubious’,
seeks status reports
New Delhi: Both sides appear
to be dubious,” the Supreme
Court on Monday said in a
sharp reaction as it heard a PIL
by a businessman against an
Uttar Pradesh MLC, who is
accused in money laundering
and criminal cases.
The Bench headed by
Chief Justice TS Thakur also
sought fresh status reports
from central agencies like
Serious Fraud Investigation
Office (SFIO), Enforcement
Directorate (ED) and Central
Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT)
on alleged activities of BSP’s
Member of Legislative Council
(MLC) Mohammad Iqbal.
Simultaneously, the court
asked the UP Government to
apprise it of the criminal
antecedents of petitioner
Ranvir Singh.
“Both sides appear to be
dubious and cases against both
of them should be taken to logical conclusions. Find put the
facts. This man (Iqbal) has 111
companies and this petitioner
(Singh) appears to be involved
in illegal mining,” the Bench,
also comprising Justices AK
Sikri and R Banumathi, said.
At the outset, Additional
Solicitor-General Maninder
Singh, appearing for the
Centre, apprised the court
about the present status of
probes, being conducted by
SFIO, ED and CBDT, against
the BSP leader.
The Bench asked the ASG
as to why the agencies were not
probing all the 111 companies
and confining the investigation
to six firms only.
The law officer said the
probe conducted so far has
indicated that there was some
nexus with the alleged activities
of former UP Minister Babu
Singh Khushwaha, an accused
in NRHM (National Rural
Health Mission) scam, and the
companies attached to the MLC.
The Bench has fixed the PIL for
hearing on April 25.
PTI
President Pranab Mukherjee pays floral tributes to the portrait of former President Zakir Hussain on his birth anniversary in
New Delhi on Monday
PTI
The moderate Muslim
leadership in India is not
creative enough. They don’t
use social media
effectively, for instance, to
spread the right message of
Islam and negate the stuff
that Islamic radicals are
promoting to lure recruits
and justify their violent acts
— DANIEL PIPES, PRESIDENT, MIDDLE EAST FORUM
RAJESH SINGH n NEW DELHI
oted West Asia expert and
president of Middle East
N
Forum Daniel Pipes has said
that there were many moderate voices among the Muslim
clerics in India who opposed
radical Islam but that they
were not too effective. “My
sense is that they are not doing
enough” to get their viewpoints across, he remarked.
He said that he met several
Muslim religious leaders during his visits to India and was
“impressed” by their clear rejection of violence, which terrorists across the world unleashed
in the name of Islam.
Pipes was speaking at an
interaction organised by the
Dr Syama Prasad Mookerjee
Research Foundation on
Monday. He said the clerics
should be reaching out more
aggressively to their community members to counter the hate
campaign, which the Islamists
have been spreading across.
“The moderate Muslim leadership in India is not creative
enough,” he stated. They did not
use social media effectively, for
instance, to spread the right
message of Islam and negate the
stuff that Islamic radicals were
promoting to lure recruits and
justify their violent acts.
Pipes noted that Indian
Muslim clerics, although wellmeaning, were not “exciting”
Illegal sand mining: Kajol to join Prasar
NGT orders Haryana, Bharati Board as
UP to file affidavits part-time member
PNS n NEW DELHI
PNS n NEW DELHI
oncerned over illegal sand
mining on the Yamuna
floodplains despite a ban, the
National Green Tribunal on
Monday asked the Uttar
Pradesh and Har yana
Governments to apprise it
about the action they have
taken against the violators.
A Bench headed by NGT
chairperson Justice Swatanter
Kumar directed the officers of
Haryana and UP to file affidavits of senior most officers
along with appropriate documents, photographs and action
taken by any departments of
the States themselves. The affidavit should be filed three
days in advance to the next date
hearing, the Bench said. The
date for next hearing has been
fixed on February 24.
The green panel had earlier asked Environment Ministry
about the quantum of illegal
mining being carried out and its
impact on ecology and environment of the Yamuna river
bed. The panel had also questioned the Ministry on the
names and particulars of parties
who have indulged in illegal
mining, building of units, using
of JCBs and heavy machinery for
mining amongst other details.
It further questioned the
Ministry, whether any JCB
ollywood actor Kajol will soon join the Prasar
Bharati Board as a parttime member. This was
decided in a meeting held
on Monday which was
presided by Vice-President
Hamid Ansari, to finalise
on nominees for two
vacant positions of parttime members on the
Prasar Bharati Board.
Shashi
Shekhar
Vempati is the other member to be nominated. He
has long experience of
working with Infosys and
heads an online media
company.
According to sources,
Shashi Shekhar
the meeting was held to
decide on their nomination
Vempati is the
was also participated by the
chief of Press Council of other member to
India CK Prasad along
be nominated
with Secretary, Ministry
of Information & Broadcasting Sunil Arora. The
names of actor Kajol and Vempati have been chosen from 7-8 names, including actors Minhaz
Merchant and Vikram Gokhale. The former Editor
of RSS mouthpiece Organiser, Seshadri Chari, was
also known to figure in the list.
As per the Prasar Bharati Act, the public broadcaster should have six part-time members on its
board, which is headed by its chairman. Two of these
positions had been vacant. The part-time members
have to be persons of eminence in public life. Their
term of office shall be six years, one-third of them
shall retire after every two years.
C
An Indian woman with her two children were rescued by the Ministry of External
Affairs in Kuwait on Monday. The woman, believed to have been deserted by her
husband, is from Andhra Pradesh was found near the Indian Embassy in Kuwait.
She had no money and passport. “We have put mother and kids in a shelter home
in Kuwait. We will see what best can be done for the family,” External Affairs
Minister Sushma Swaraj
MEA photo
‘Muslim clerics must make
voice against radicals heard’
B
(heavy equipments as cranes)
had been seized by the state of
Uttar Pradesh or Haryana or by
any other authority.
The NGT had also issued
notices to four contactors to
show cause to why action be
not taken against them for
indulging in sand mining.
On November 2 last year,
the Tribunal had prohibited
sand mining saying no mining
activity, both legal and illegal,
should be carried out on the
banks of the Yamuna and also
constituted a committee of senior
officers of both states to file their
status report on mining.
The green panel was hearing a plea by NGT Bar
Association alleging that some
private firms were engaged in
the activity and a temporary
bridge was made on the river
obstructing its natural flow.
The plea had alleged that
land mafia was indulging in
illegal sand mining on either
side of banks of Yamuna at
Gautam Budh Nagar area of
Uttar Pradesh and Faridabad
area of Haryana.
people and thus losing out to
the belligerence of terrorbelieving Islamists. He believed
that the moderate voices need
to be encouraged through
think-tanks and the mainstream media as well.
The West Asia expert said
that in India, as in the rest of
the world, moderate Muslims
condemn all acts of terror
unequivocally. “But it’s not
enough to condemn the acts;
it’s the ideology and the ideas
of terrorists (through the misuse of Islam) that have to be
condemned and countered.
Unfortunately, that’s not happening enough”, he observed.
The US-based expert, who
has lectured at universities, is
a historian and political commentator and was for a while
part of the US Institute of
Peace during George W Bush’s
tenure as President, rubbished
the perception that Muslim
youth were taking to arms due
to reasons of poverty or illiteracy. He pointed out that in
India, as elsewhere, the new
terror recruit was more often
the educated Muslim - doctor,
engineer, software expert, academic. It was wrong to say, he
added, that these people have
been brainwashed from the
beginning into believing in
the radical form of Islam.
“They are free-thinkers,
though of the bad kind”, he commented and added that the new
converts to terrorism “are not
Imams or experts on Quran” but
believe in violence because of a
distorted sense of Islam that they
nurture. “They - some of them
are women (even pregnant
women) - decide to blow themselves up, and blow up places
and other people.”
He said that radical Islam
was the third dangerous ideology the world faced, “after Fascism
and Communism”. Pipes
remarked, “It’s certainly not a
revolutionary movement of the
poor but that of the educated…
It’s to do with the Ummah - what
to do for their ones in society.”
Pipes said Islamophobia
was a wrongly-used word to
describe hate-campaigns
against Muslims across the
world, especially every time a
fresh terror attack happened.
“There is plenty of
Islamophobia, but I would not
like to use the term,
‘Islamophobia’. I think ‘antiIslam’ is the right world.”
Dismissing criticism by his
opponents that he was antiIslam, he said, “I am not antiIslam. Remember, Islamic radicals accuse even moderate
Muslims of being anti-Islam.”
He emphasised that “radical
Islam” was the problem and
“moderate Islam” was the solution. Sadly, he added, the moderates did not “have money or
media support, and so they are
less heard”.
INSHORT
Zika virus: Centre
ROCKET LAUNCH BY N
asks southern States KOREA CONCERNS INDIA
to be extra vigilant
PNS n NEW DELHI
s Aedes mosquito is the common source
of spreading dengue and Zika virus, the
A
Centre has asked the Southern States like
Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Puducherry to be
extra vigilant as these regions continue to
report alarming rise in dengue cases.
An official from the Health Ministry said
that the three Southern States in particular
have been asked to intensify anti-dengue drive
to ensure that the Zika virus does not get the
chance to enter through these regions.
This was discussed at a meeting led by
Health Secretary BP Sharma on Monday to
review the preparedness regarding Zika
Virus disease.
The meeting was attended by officials
from National Centre for Disease Control
(NCDC), Indian Council for Medical
Research (ICMR), Airports Authority of
India (AAI), Directorate General of Civil
Aviation (DGCA), Ministry of Home
Affairs, Ministry of Shipping and Ministry
of Civil Aviation in addition to representatives from State governments of Puducherry,
Kerala, and Tamil Nadu.
In addition to the two diagnostic facilities at NCDC and National Institute of
Virology (NIV) Pune,10 new facilities will
become operational by the end of February,
said the official.
The labs are located in Tamil Nadu, Kerala,
Puducherry, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar
Pradesh, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha
and Assam. Another 10 are expected to be
operational in phase-II. A 24X7 control room
for providing information on Zika virus is
now operational at the office of the Health
Ministry. The numbers of the control room
are 23061469 and 23063205.
New Delhi: India has expressed
“deep concern” over the rocket
launch by North Korea and called
upon that country to refrain from
such actions which adversely
affect peace and stability in the
region. India’s reaction comes a
day after North Korea said it had
successfully put a satellite into
orbit with a rocket launch, which
has triggered condemnation from
a number of countries. “The
DPRK rocket launch of February 7
is a matter of deep concern.
While countries have the right to
exploit outer space for peaceful
purposes, this must be in
accordance with international
obligations,” External Affairs
Ministry said in a release.
BHARTI TAKES UP GREEN
ISSUE WITH JAVADEKAR
New Delhi: Union Minister Uma
Bharti has taken up the issue of
green clearances for ambitious
Ken-Betwa river-linking project
with Environment Minister
Prakash Javadekar and is hopeful
of getting necessary approvals
soon, the Water Resources
Ministry informed on Monday.
Work on the project, considered
as first effort of linking rivers
from two different states, was
expected to begin earlier this year
but has been delayed, pending
forest, wildlife and environment
clearances.
MAHIMA UNVEILS COFFE
TABLE BOOK ON TRAVEL
Min mulls to rope in pvt players to look after monuments
ARCHANA JYOTI n NEW DELHI
n a move that may leave the
short-staffed Archeological
ISurvey
of India (ASI) squirming, the Union Culture
Ministry is planning to outsource security, cleanliness and
maintenance of important
monuments to private players.
At present, restoration,
security and maintenance of
the heritage and historical
monuments are under the ASI,
an autonomous body under the
Culture Ministry.
However, as the ASI has a
limited workforce and the
Government is in no mood to
enhance it, the proposal to
hand over some monuments to
private sector for preservation
and maintenance is being
mooted for quiet some time. It
was felt that many of important
heritage and historic landmarks
and buildings were facing
neglect due to resource crunch.
However, such thoughts
have been always opposed by the
ASI on the contention that monuments being of national importance should be handled by the
experts and not private players.
But the Ministry seems to
be seriously considering to
involve private players. Union
Tourism and Culture Minister
Mahesh Sharma on Monday
spoke the Government’s thinking, saying, “We have got suggestions from some sectors
that our tourism places, destinations and monuments like
Qutub Minar, Red Fort internal maintainence can be given
to some private hands. We are
considering this thought.
“All internal arrangements
like cleanliness, security, main-
At present, restoration, security and maintenance of the heritage and
historical monuments are under the Archeological Survey of India
tainence of toilets, greenery
maintainence, restaurants book
shops will be maintained by the
reputed stakeholders for the
convenience of the tourists.
The suggestions in this regard
are being invited from the
stakeholders.”
The Minister was speaking
after the launch of the round-
the-clock free tourist infoline in
12 languages —Arabic, French,
German, Italian, Japanese,
Korean, Chinese, Portuguese,
Russian, Spanish, English and
Hindi at a function here.
The infoline will be available on the toll-free number
1800111363 or on a short code
1363. The `20-crore project is
being implemented by the
Ministry through TATA BSS,
which has been given contract
for three years.
Asserting the Government
accords highest priority to safety and security of tourists, he
said the launch of infoline will
generate confidence among
international travelers who are
worried about their security.
Sharma also announced
that very soon an “Incredible
India Mobile App” to facilitate
tourists in a better way will be
launched by the Ministry.
Srinivas Koppolu, MD and
COO of TATA-BSS said the
infoline service will provide
information relating to travel
and tourism to the domestic and
international tourists/visitors
and to assist the callers with
advice on action to be taken
during times of distress while
travelling in India and if need be
alert the concerned authorities.
Later on the sidelines of the
event, Sharma favoured the
entry of women in Kerala’s
Sabarimala temple, saying there
should be no discrimination on
the basis of caste and gender.
“The government is of the
opinion that there should be no
discrimination in all religious
places on (the basis of) caste
and gender,” he said.
The Minister’s remarks
came against the backdrop of
the Kerala Government defending in the Supreme Court the
ban on the entry of women in
the age group of 10 to 50 years
in the historic temple.
New Delhi: Bollywood actor
Mahima Chaudhry unveiled a
Coffee Table Book titled My
Family Travels authored by
journalist-turned-corporate
executive Varun Soni. The book,
released on January 30, gives
readers a glimpse into the culture
and topography of 10 different
countries from around the world
through the travels and
experiences of one Indian Family.
On the occasion Mahima said this
is the first time that a family has
put together its travel experiences
in the form of a book for
everyone to see.
nation 06
IUMLACTIVIST’SMURDERCASE
Kerala HC orders CBI probe
VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI
ausing much embarrassment to the CPI(M), the
C
Kerala High Court on Monday
ordered a CBI probe into the
murder of Indian Union
Muslim League (IUML) activist
Abdul Shukoor (21) of Ariyil in
Kannur district in 2012.
CPI(M)’s Kannur district secretary P Jayarajan, who is
presently trying to avoid arrest
by the CBI in another murder
case, and party MLA TV
Rajesh are 32nd and 33rd
accused respectively in the
Shukoor murder case.
The Justice B Kemal Pasha
pronounced the order for further probe by the CBI in the
Shukoor murder case, in which
the agency would be concentrating on the alleged conspiracy behind the killing, on a
petition filed by the victim’s
mother. The court passed the
order by ratifying a notification
issued earlier by the State
Government by leaving the
case to the CBI.
Shukoor’s mother had
sought a CBI probe by pointing out that the State police’s
Special Investigation Team
(SIT) which had probed the
I thank Allah for the court’s decision to
order CBI probe, I hope to get justice
through this inquiry. My son had
committed no wrong. I have not been
able to sleep after that incident
— SHUKOOR’S MOTHER
murder had not looked into the
conspiracy behind the crime
properly. The CBI had taken a
position that it could not carry
out a partial probe. The
CPI(M) said it would appeal
against the HC order.
Justice Pasha unleashed
stinging criticisms against the
CPI(M) and the State police’s
SIT. He observed that Jayarajan
and Rajesh were exempted
from the charge of conspiracy
though they were present in the
hospital room where the plot
was finalised and six others
present there were charged for
conspiracy.
According
to
the
chargesheet filed by the SIT in
the first Class Judicial Magistrate
Court, Kannur, Shukoor of
Ariyil in Kannur district was
murdered on February 20, 2012
by a Marxist killer gang, as per
a party court’s decree, in broad
daylight and in full view of
scores of onlookers at a field at
Keezhara, Kannapuram.
The crime, according to the
probe team, was committed as
an act of revenge for pelting
stones at a vehicle in which
Jayarajan and Rajesh were traveling. The CPI(M) leaders were
charged under Section 118 of
the IPC for concealing the
plan to murder Shukoor even
after coming to know about it.
“I thank Allah for the
court’s decision to order CBI
probe,” she said. “I hope to get
justice through this inquiry. My
son had committed no wrong.
I have not been able to sleep
after that incident,” she said,
adding that the police and the
CPI(M) had joined hands to
derail the investigation.
The High Court order is a
big blow to the CPI(M) and
Jayarajan as it has come at a
time when he is waiting for the
same court’s decision on his
bail application in the case
pertaining to the murder of
RSS leader Manoj of
Elanthodath of Kannur in
which the CBI had recently
named him as 25th accused.
The court is expected to take
up the bail plea on Wednesday.
The two CBI probes in two
separate murder cases against
Jayarajan, perhaps the toughest
CPI(M) leader in Kannur,
Kerala’s Marxist heartland, is
sure to be used by the party’s
rivals as an effective campaign
instrument in the coming
Assembly election by bringing
the focus back on the Marxists’
alleged politics of murder.
To make matters worse for the
CPI(M) during the run-up to the
poll, the call for a CBI probe into
the murder of rebel Marxist leader
TP Chandrasekharan of
Onchiyam, Kozhikode on May 4,
2012 has intensified. Opponents of
the CPI(M), including the BJP, are
firm that only a CBI inquiry can
nail the actual conspirators behind
Chandrasekharan’s murder.
Worried Didi warns party
men against bickering
SAUGAR SENGUPTA n
KOLKATA
ontinuous bickering within a poll-bound Trinamool
Congress has led the worried
party leadership, including
Chief Minister Mamata
Banerjee to both “appeal,
admonish and caution” the
party men against “such antiparty activities”, a senior leader
and a State Minister said.
According to sources
Banerjee is particularly perturbed by the regular bomband-gun battles among rival
groups in Birbhum, Malda,
South
24
Parganas,
Murshidabad, two Midnapore
districts the Minister who
attended a brainstorming session of top party functionaries at Banerjee’s Kalighat residence said.
Banerjee is known to have
told the office bearers to reign
in their supporters and ask
them to fight “unitedly against
the CPI(M)-Congress conspiracy otherwise if the party
falls none of us will remain to
fight.” Party general secretary
Partho Chatterjee said “if the
C
Trinamool wins then all of you
will survive and if we lose then
once again the State will go
into the hands of the CPI(M).”
The Trinamool Congress
has suffered a number of casualties in the past six months or
so on account of internal conflicts mostly in Birbhum and
South 24 Parganas. In
Birbhum there are groups led
by district party president
Anubrata Mandal, party MLAs
Gadadhar Hajra, Kajal Sheikh
all of whom are engaged in
fierce turf war losing a number of their muscle men in the
ongoing conflict.
In the past one week there
were at least two cases in
Bolpur sub-division when two
houses were accidentally
blown off killing several party
workers after the bombs stockpiled there exploded. As late as
on Monday three persons
including a party councilor
was seriously injured in Malda
where rival groups fought over
what they said “area domination” before the polls.
The block-level leaders of
the party are so bitterly in fight
against each other that the
leadership is planning to field
apolitical persons like film
stars and players from a large
number of seats insiders said.
According to sources the
Chief Minister also warned
leaders like Arabul Islam and
Kaisar Ahmed and asked them
to work unitedly. “There are
reports that false promises are
being given to people about
distribution of MLA tickets”
Banerjee said asking tickets
would be distributed from the
headquarters and the topmost
leadership would take the final
call on that.
No district-level leaders
should extract money for ticket, she is known to have said.
“No one in the Trinamool
gets ticket without paying for
it. There are reports that the
Chief Minister asking her district leaders not to sell tickets
but their mechanism is such
that if you do not pay you don’t
become an MLA” said
CPI(M)’s Gautam Deb adding
a time had come when the
people of the State had decided to defeat the Trinamool and
bring
an
alternative
Government.
CD suggests plot behind
Kerala bar bribery scandal
VR JAYARAJ n KOCHI
erala’s
beleaguered
Congress-led
UDF
K
Government on Monday got
some ground to take on its critics over the infamous bar
bribery scam involving several of its Ministers after voice
recordings suggesting suspected conspiracy behind the
allegations of bribery raised
against the Ministers came
out in the media.
In the voice recordings,
said to have been found by the
State Vigilance on a CD which
whistleblower Biju Ramesh
had submitted to a Magistrate,
he is heard as stating that the
CPI(M) had assured the bar
owners that it would help them
reopen the 418 bars closed for
lack of required facilities if it
came to power after the coming Assembly election.
The CD also contained
recordings of a statement by
Biju, allegedly made at a meeting of the Kerala Bar Hotels’
Association, that Superintendent
of Police (Vigilance) R Sukesan,
who had investigated the scam,
had instructed him to implicate
four Ministers in the
Government of Chief Minister
Oommen Chandy in the scam.
The
Kerala
Home
Department had on Friday
ordered a Crime Branch probe
against Sukesan charging him
suspected conspiracy with Biju
Ramesh for implicating
Ministers in the scam. The UDF
Government has all the way
been arguing that the scam is the
result of a conspiracy and the
CPI(M) leadership had given
assurances to the bar owners.
In the voice
recordings, said to
have been found by
the State Vigilance
on a CD which
whistleblower Biju
Ramesh had
submitted to a
Magistrate
“Sukesan asked me to stun
the media with some allegations. To my question as to
what I should say, he told me
that I could say there are four
more (Ministers who had been
involved in the scam),” Biju is
heard as saying in the recording. The conversations in the
recordings also suggested that
Sukesan was against the UDF
Government.
Biju Ramesh indirectly
confirmed that the discussions
had taken place but said the
recording was edited. “The
edited version has been leaked
to the media by the
Government itself. I challenge
the Government to release the
unedited version. There are
recordings on the same CD in
which there are statements on
bribes paid to Ministers,” Biju,
himself a bar owner, said.
CPI(M)’s State secretary
Kodiyeri Balakrishnan, who
had given the assurance to bar
owners about reopening the
closed bars as per the recording, denied the charge. “We
have given no assurance to
anybody on reopening of bars.
We don’t dream of dethroning
the Government using the bar
owners,” he said.
Kerala Congress chairman
KM Mani had resigned as
Finance Minister in November
following the charge that he
had taken `1 crore as bribe
from bar owners. Congress
leader K Babu, close confidant
of Chandy, had resigned on
January 23 as Excise Minister
over the charge that he had
taken `10-crore bribe but withdrew his resignation a week
later at Chandy’s insistence.
Biju had also accused
Home Minister Ramesh
Chennithala, who also holds
the Vigilance Portfolio, of taking `2 crore from the bar owners’ outfit when he was State
Congress chief while his loyalist Health Minister VS
Sivakumar was charged with
taking `25 lakh. The Crime
Branch probe against Sukesan
was ordered after Biju leveled
the charge against Chennithala.
“Ramesh (Chennithala)
had requested me not to cause
harm to him. Sivakumar also
had approached me to request
not to reveal his name,” Biju
said on Monday. He threatened
to reveal more stories of corruption of the UDF
Government if the Crime
Branch implicated him in the
case, adding that what had
been revealed so far was only
a part of the rot.
Meanwhile, the State
Vigilance, which was asked by
the High Court to carry out a
quick verification of Biju’s
charge that Babu had taken
`50 lakh from him, submitted
a report in the Special Vigilance
Court in Thrissur exonerating
him. The report said that there
were no evidences against Babu
that warranted the registration
of a case.
Upcoming poll marathon a litmus
test for Cong, Siddaramaiah
KESTUR VASUKI n BENGALURU
he three bypolls and local
body
elections
in
T
Karnataka which will be held
on February 13, are crucial and
litmus test for the Congress
and for the Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah who is facing a
revolt within the party. Even
though Siddaramaiah and his
loyalists are putting up a brave
front, the simmering discontent is evident and explode
during the polls, affecting the
Congress campaign. These
elections are expected to be a
pointer to the Assembly elections of 2018 crucial for both
the ruling Congress and the
Opposition BJP.
Karnataka is facing bypolls
at Hebbal, an urban constituency in Bengaluru, Bidar
and Devadurga in north
Karnataka. Siddaramaiah who
is facing an internal rebellion
in the party has been so far
managing the voices of discontent from the powerful
dominant community leaders in the party and dalits
against his attitude in consolidating his community
Kuruba, a backward class powerful political lobby in the
changing political map of the
State.
Even today many in the
party consider him as an outsider and feel “as he has fulfilled his ambition to become
Chief Minister he has no interest in Congress and would not
bother about it after his stint
as Chief Minister.”
Even
though
Siddaramaiah in his stay of
almost three years as Chief
Minister had a good rapport
with the high command he
had to face a major humiliation this time as his choice of
candidate Byrati Suresh was
rejected by the high command and accommodated former Union Minister Jaffer
Sharief ’s grandson to contest
the by poll at Hebbal. This has
not only annoyed his coterie in
the party but also would
impact the polls. Sulking Chief
Minister was convinced and
after lot of prodding he started campaigning for the party
official candidate at Hebbal.
Many of his supporters say
Chief Minister was upset with
the high command culture.
Siddaramaiah, a clever
politician, survived all odds but
played his card Ahinda
(Kannada acronym for minorities, backward classes and dalits) a new political force which
is expected to change the polit-
ical equations of politics of
dominant communities in
Karnataka. He faced challenge
from G Parameshwara a powerful dalit leader and now
Home Minister was behind
the curtain actor in the cry to
install a dalit Chief Minister.
According to congress
insiders the unexpected snub by
the party high command in
denying the ticket to his candidate in Hebbal by elections has
turned a double-edged sword
for Siddaramaiah — a party win
will not bring any cheer to his
camp but a loss would most
assuredly arm his detractors to
mount another challenge.
Even though the by polls
are expected to be direct contest between Congress and BJP,
by fielding all Muslim candidates in the three constituencies, the JDS of former Prime
Minister HD Devegowda
might play a spoilsport for the
Congress. BJP, the party as
usual putting a united effort to
keep the constituencies intact.
Former Chief Minister
Yeddyurappa and his Lingayat
community is going to play a
decisive role in the by polls too.
However Siddaramaiah
said the win or lose is not going
to be a referendum on his
Government.
Devotees carry their belongings as they return home after taking a holy dip at the Sangam, the confluence of the Ganga and the Yamuna, on ‘Mauni Amavasya’ or new
moon day, the third and the most auspicious date of bathing during the annual month-long religious fair ‘Magh Mela’ in Allahabad on Monday
AP
Six arrested for
travelling in car
with Defence
Ministry sticker
PNS n KOLKATA
he Bengal Police have
arrested six people from
T
Jamalpur village of Burdwan
district while they were travelling in a car with Defence
Ministry sticker.
The incident took place in
the small hours of Monday
when the police intercepted a
white car with a red sticker
affixed on its bumper reading:
“Government of India, Minister
of Defence.” The vehicle had
Kolkata registration number.
The letters were written in
golden, sources said adding the
youth who were coming from
Tiljala area of south-eastern
Kolkata could not give satisfactory answers to queries.
THE VEHICLE
HAD KOLKATA
REGISTRATION
NUMBER
“They gave incoherent
answers and were detained for
questioning” police sources
said adding the six persons
were identified as Sk Irfan, Sakil
Ahmed, Salim, Sk Asrafuddin,
Abu Akhtar, Sk Shahrukh.
They are residents of
Topsia Road in Tiljala area,
sources maintained.
The incident takes place
more than a year after the
Khagragarh blast where two
Jamat
ul
Mujahideen
Bangladesh terrorists were accidentally killed while making
bombs. Khagragarh is barely
half-an-hour from Jamalpur
area also in Burdwan.
The Khagragarh incident
threw the lid off a well-planned
terror conspiracy hatched by
the JMB even as a number of
terror moles were arrested subsequently. As recently as last
year a Trinamool leader and his
son were arrested from Garden
Reach area of Kolkata on
charges of their ISI connection.
A Bangladeshi was arrested early this year while taking
photographs of the Army
Command Hospital at Alipore
in South Kolkata.
Children transporting syndicate in K’taka busted, 16 held
PNS n BENGALURU
olice have busted a syndicate which indulged in illeP
gal trafficking of children to
United States and arrested 16
members, including kingpin by
the Special Investigation Team
(SIT) headed by Additional
commissioner of police P
Harishekaran .
The SIT was formed by the
Commissioner of Police last
year after getting credible
information about a human
smuggling racket operating
in the city. Addressing a Press
conference in Bengaluru
Harisekharan said that 14
teams conducted raids in various places in the city and
arrested 16 people including
the Kingpin Uday Prathap
Singh and two women for
offences under Forger y,
Cheating, Impersonation,
During the
raid several
incriminating
documents, including
Passport, copies of
identity documents,
bank passbook and
photographs of
various male and
female persons,
computers, laptop and
mobiles were seized
Kidnapping, Abduction,
Criminal Conspiracy and
offices under Passport Act.
During the raid several
incriminating documents,
including Passport, copies of
identity documents, bank
passbook and photographs of
various male and female persons, computers, laptop and
mobiles were seized.
He said that interrogation
will be done to ascertain about
the children and their whereabouts in US. The interrogation is going on to ascertain
the facts about the modus of
the crime syndicate.
Harisekharan said that
preliminary investigation has
revealed that the children were
brought from other States and
obtained fraudulent passport,
visa and other travel documents from Bengaluru.
He said that after collecting information from various
sources including Passport
office, FRRO, BBMP and other
State and Central Government
Agencies, it was found that
Kingpin Uday Rudra Prathap
Singh, along with his other
syndicate members lured a
couple or single male/female
and project them as real husband and wife. Accordingly
documents were prepared to
obtain passport and other
travel documents.
The main accused,
through his agents in Gujarat,
Bihar, UP and other places,
bring minor male/female children who are under age of 10
years and pair them with the
couple in the City. All of them
act as family and are put up in
a house. The gang members
used to give them training as
to how they should conduct
and how to feel at home and
as family members. Then the
other team member start
preparing documents like
rental agreement, birth certificate, voter cards, ration
cards and apply for passport as
family members.
After obtaining Passport
through fraudulent menace,
another team in Tamil Nadu
assists the family to get Nonimmigration B1/B2 Visa
(Business and Pleasure Visa)
from US Consulate in
Chennai.
Based on the investigation
so far 16 couple were shortlisted and their antecedents
were verified clandestinely.
Harisekharan said that the
arrested were identified as
Kingpin Uday Prathap Singh,
Micheal alias Ranjit Naren,
Rajesh, Simon, Kushalappa,
Gunashekar, Pavin alias
Praveen, Domnic ArulKumar,
Joison, Manjunath, francis
Chirstopher Anand Anthony,
Sangeetha Prakash, Latha
Vema Reddy, Sudhir Kumar
Kestur, Bhanu Prakash and
Veena Prakash.
K’taka to deport
foreign students
without visa
KESTUR VASUKI n
BENGALURU
n an aftermath of the attack
on a Tanzanian student in
IBengaluru
on January 31, the
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi distributing bicycles to students at a function in Nagaon, Assam on Monday
PTI
Karnataka Government has
decided to deport foreign students who are staying in the
State without proper visa and
papers. Home Minister G
Parameshwara said that the
police are conducting a survey
on foreign students without
papers and they would be
deported.
He said “All foreign nationals, who are staying in
Karnataka without a valid visa,
will be deported. The police
department is conducting a
survey in association with the
Foreigners
Regional
Registration office. We will
involve the Centre in the
process, as the Union
Government has to issue the
deportation order.”
It may be recalled that it
was on January 31 a Tanzanian
architecture student was
assaulted and allegedly paraded naked in a mistaken identity at the outskirts of
Bengaluru. The incident put
pressure on ruling Government
in the State and became an
international issue.
The
Tanzanian High Commissioner
to India John WH Kijazi called
this incident a racist one but
retracted after visiting
Bengaluru as part of a team
accompanied by the members
of MEA. The police have
arrested nine persons in the
incident and also suspended an
ACP, one Inspector and four
cops for dereliction of duty.
nation 07
Nagaland sees exodus ‘If jungle raj in Bihar then atank raj in country’
after mob runs riot B
FAIZAN AHMAD n PATNA
Tension gripped
Kiphire after
young couple’s
bodies found,
Sec 144 imposed
ALTHOUGH THE
SITUATION IS TENSE,
IT IS UNDER CONTROL
NOW. WE HAVE
DEPLOYED THREE
COMPANIES OF IR
BATTALIONS IN AND
AROUND THE DISTRICT
ANUP SHARMA n GUWAHATI
undreds of people belonging to a particular tribe
H
have left the remote Kiphire
town in Nagaland after a mob
went on rampage since Sunday
evening damaging over 20
houses and setting at least four
vehicles on fire.
The problem started on
Sunday evening after the bullet riddled bodies of a young
couple, which were recovered
from an area near Kiphire,
and brought back to the town.
While the slain husband
belonged to the Sangtam tribe,
the dominant tribe in the district, the slain wife belonged to
Tikhir tribe.
Police said that both the
husband and wife were killed
by unidentified miscreants at a
remote location near Kiphire
on late Saturday evening. Both
— KIPHIRE DY COMMISSIONER
the couple a school teacher and
a nurse were posted in Kiphire
and were returning to Kiphire
after visiting their relatives.
It may be mentioned here
that the Kiphire district in
Nagaland is dominated by the
Sangtam tribe while there are
other communities like the
Yimchunger, Tikhir and Sumi.
After the bodies were
brought back, the Sangtam
suspected the hands of
Yimchunger tribe behind the
murder and started attacking
the Yimchunger tribe.
Indefinite curfew has been
imposed in remote Kiphire
district in Nagaland after violence broke out in the district
on Sunday following the killing
of a couple at a place between
Wapher and Sekiurnear, near
Kiphire on Saturday.
“Although the situation is
tense, it is under control now. We
have deployed three companies
of IR battalions in and around
the district. One more companies of IR battalion is on the way
to Kiphire. Prohibitory orders
have been issued under Section
144 CrPC. since Sunday,” said
Kiphire Deputy Commissioner
Chumrumo Odyuo.
He admitted that the
Yimchunger people have been
leaving the Kiphire town as
they have started feeling unsecured. “We are trying to help
them move out till the situation
is under control completely,”
said the DC.
“It will not be proper to
term it as a communal tension
so far. However, groups of
mob—involving members
from different communities—
have been damaging public
properties and have set on fire
vehicles. The rampage continued even on Monday despite
curfew,” said the DC while
adding that security deployment have been intensified in
and around the area and to
ensure that the violence does
not spread to other district.
Members of the Chinese community
perform the lion and dragon dance on a
street as they mark Chinese New Year in
Kolkata on Monday
AP
It may take 24 days to
clean Delhi’s garbage
The three civic agencies have 65,000
sanitation workers, 1,500 dhalaos, 500
trucks and thousands of auto-dippers in
place to keep up sanitation services daily
ANKITA SHARMA n NEW
DELHI
ow when the 12-day long
strike called-in by sanitation workers of civic bodies
over delayed salaries payment has been suspended,
the Himalayan task is to
remove garbage mess that
has been piling-up across the
city all these days. According
to officials, it will take workers at least 24 days to clean the
garbage mess in the national
Capital. If the numbers are
anything to go by, around
8,600 metric tonnes of waste
is generated daily and the sanitation workers will have to
clean up 1,03, 200 metric
tonnes of waste.
The three municipal corporations have 65,000 sanitation workers, 1,500 dhalaos,
500 trucks and thousands of
auto-dippers in place to keep
up the sanitation services
N
daily.
Not just that, the corporation is mulling over conducting double shifts and
night shifts to ensure swift
removal of garbage mess.
According to a union of safai
karamcharis, it will take 15
days to remove the garbage.
“It will take around two weeks
to remove the garbage. We
will be working tomorrow
(Tuesday) but not day after as
we have a hearing in Delhi
High Court scheduled on
Wednesday, i.e. February 10.
The next course of action
will depend on what is decided by the HC,” said Rajender
Mewati, General Secretary of
General Secretary of United
Front of MCD Employees’
Associations.
“Even if we conduct double shifts we will not be able
to clean the garbage of two
days, that is; 17,200 metric
tonnes of solid waste. We
have a workforce of 65,000
sanitation workers but it is not
possible to ensure the garabge
for two days could be lifted by
that same workforce,” said a
MCD official.
Criticising the Delhi
Government for roping in
Public Works Department
workers to lift up garbage to
clean up the garbage, Rajesh
Gehlot president of the
Sanyukt Morcha said, “If they
had actually put in money for
our salaries rather than asking PWD workers to lift
garbage, we would have been
back to work then only.”
As per the statistics, the
city generates around 8,600
metric tonnes of municipal
solid waste daily. SDMC generates 3,200 metric tonnes of
solid waste, NMC 2,800 metric tonnes and EDMC generates 2,600 metric tonnes.
Moreover, there are three
landfill sites at Ghazipur,
Okhla and Bhalaswa to dump
the garbage from dhalaos.
According to Delhi Master
Plan 2021, Delhi requires
1,500 acres of land for landfill sites, sources in MCD say
that at least 600 acres of land
is easily required for a new
landfill site.
ihar Deputy Chief Minister
Tejashwi Prasad Yadav has
a pointed poser to the Union
Government in reaction to the
charges of lawlessness and
accusation of jungle raj in the
State. “Terrorists enter the
country unabated and indulge
in mayhem. Should we call
there is ‘Aatank raj’ (rule of terror) in India. But we will not
because this will damage country’s image worldwide,” said
RJD supremo Lalu Prasad’s
younger son on Monday.
Bitter over the Opposition
onslaught on Bihar’s law and
order situation and recent murders, the 26-years old Yadav
said even Prime Minister
Narendra Modi during Bihar
Assembly election campaign
His party would make
dalit scholar Rohith
Vemula, who was
forced to commit
suicide, a poster boy
and give him space
next to BR Ambedkar.
He said he might visit
Hyderabad soon
had been repeating jungle raj
accusation. But the people gave
a strong rebuttal to him, he
countered and alleged that
Opposition was indulging only
in negative politics and leaving
no stone unturned to sully
Bihar’s image just to further
their politics.
Referring to the loot of the
car of his brother-in-law a few
days back near Gurgaon Metro
police outpost, he said, “We can
say jungle raj is prevailing in
Gurgaon which is millennium
city.” Yadav also alleged that five
States have a bigger crime rate
and all of them are ruled by the
BJP. “These people are only
interested to defame Bihar. But
we have got the public mandate
and we believe in progressive
politics,” he added. Reacting
over the criticism by LJP MP
Chirag Paswan, he said he
treated him like his elder brother but instead of any positive
criticism he too was more concentrated on defaming Bihar.
“The Assembly results showed
these parties have lost public
confidence,” he added.
The Deputy CM said he
was in favour of a Youth
Commission and would talk to
CM Nitish Kumar on this issue.
Hailing Nitish, he said the CM
was more focused on the welfare of the youth and students
in his seven commitments
which provided `4 lakh credit
to youths and work has already
started on this sector. Our
concentration, he said, is on the
betterment of youth, including
rural youth, and to provide
them with job opportunities as
well as small entrepreneurship.
Yadav said his party would
make dalit scholar Rohith
Vemula who was forced to
commit suicide, a poster boy
and give him space next to BR
Ambedkar. He said he might
visit Hyderabad soon.
The Deputy CM who was
present at the Janata Darbar of
the CM for the first time,
denied that he would also hold
separate janata darbar at his
residence. “If a department
wise darbar is being held by the
CM there is absolutely no
need for me to hold darbar,” he
said without naming former
Deputy CM Sushil Kumar
Modi who had started Deputy
CM’s janata darbar which he
still maintains.
1-yr-old AAP Govt plans ‘media blitz’
RAJESH KUMAR n NEW DELHI
n the completion of one
year in office on February
O
14, the Aam Admi Party
(AAP) Government is all set to
coin a new slogan ‘Ek Saal
Bemisaal (One Incredible Year)’
to drive home a message that
the administration has done
remarkably well in Delhi.
Prior to the Delhi
Assembly elections, the AAP
had coined a slogan ‘Panch Saal
Kejriwal (five years Kejriwal)’.
Besides, the Government has
also decided to launch aggressive media blitz to mark the
completion of one year. The
Government is reportedly
mulling organise a mega function at either Talkatora Stadium
or Chhatrasaal stadium on
February 14.
At a recent high-level
meeting with his Cabinet colleagues and senior officers,
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal is said to have told his
Ministers to highlight all the
achievements they had made
during their one-year governance.
He is learnt to have told his
Ministers that they should prepare a report card on the performance of their respective
departments so that it can be
highlighted on completion of
the Government’s one year in
office. The CM held the meeting after he returned from
Bengaluru after getting 10-day
of naturopathy treatment for
his chronic cough at a private
medical institute.
Kejriwal’s principal secretary Rajendra Kumar has also
written to all Principal
As the city Govt is about to complete its one year on Feb 14,
Ministers told to prepare report card on the performance of
their respective departments so that it can be made public
Secretaries/Secretaries/HoDs
of
all
departments,
autonomous bodies and public
sector undertakings and sought
summary of all important
achievements/decisions of the
Government during the last
one year.
During the meeting,
Kejriwal also discussed the
future implementation of the
odd-even car formula in Delhi.
“Kejriwal was of the view that
people want to implement the
scheme on a regular basis to get
rid of air pollution and traffic
jams in the city,” said an official.
Of 12 lakh responses, 90%
support odd-even: Govt
Says it has received over 1.8 lakh missed
calls, over 28,000 online responses and
9,000 emails after it asked the people to
express their views on implementation of
the proposed second phase of the
scheme to curb pollution
STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI
ith over 12 lakh responses having been recorded
W
by the city Government on
implementation of the proposed second phase of the
odd-even car-rationing
scheme to curb pollution in
the national Capital, around 90
per cent of people are said to
have supported the scheme.
The Government has
claimed that it has received
over 1.8 lakh missed calls,
over 28 thousand online
responses and 9 thousand
emails after it asked the people to express their views over
the scheme. Besides, AAP
MLAs also held jansabhas
across the city on Saturday and
Sunday to get direct feedback
from the people.
Also, the Transport
Department has reached out to
around 10 lakh people via
phone, said a Government
official, adding that around 90
per cent of the responses
received so far have been positive and people are over-
Prof Tyagi likely to be new DU VC
RAHIBA R PARVEEN n NEW
DELHI
he Dean and Professor of
Faculty of Legal Studies at
T
South Asian University, Yogesh
Kumar Tyagi, is likely to be the
new Vice Chancellor of Delhi
University and would join
office on February 11.
Sources from the Ministry
of Human Resource and
Development (MHRD) said,
however, the name has been
finalised in Tyagi’s favour, the
Visitor President Pranab
Mukherjee’s official approval
was yet to come.
“Tyagi stands to be at the
top of the list of four candidates
which were shortlisted for the
post of Delhi University Vice
Chancellor...but even though
the name is finalised, the official approval from the
President is still awaited,” a
source from the Ministry told
The Pioneer.
Tyagi has a PhD in Legal
Studies from Jawaharlal Nehru
University and LLM in Legal
Studies from Columbia
University. His research interests include international law,
international organisations,
human rights legal theory and
globalisation.
The search-cum-selection
committee had shortlisted four
names for the high profile
post, including Tyagi, JNU
professor (School of Life
Sciences), Rameshwar Nath
Kaul Bamezai, former IIT professor and UPSC member,
Hemchand Gupta and DU professor in Political Science
department,
Bidyuth
Chakraborty. The shortlisted
names were sent to the HRD
Ministry last month beginning which were forwarded to
the Visitor for final approval as
per the appointment process.
whelmingly supporting the
comeback of the odd-even
scheme. The first phase of the
scheme was rolled out on
January 1 and it stayed in force
for 15 days.
The announcement related
to the implementation of the
second phase of odd-even
scheme will be made within a
few days. The meeting also discussed the fallout of the strike
by the municipal corporations.
The CM is said to have told the
officers that measures need to
be taken to ensure there is no
outbreak of any epidemic due
to pile-up of garbage across the
national Capital. He has also
asked the officers to ensure that
measures are taken to make
Delhi a clean city.
The CM is also said to have
told his Ministers and all
departments to prepare a list of
Cabinet decisions which could
not be implemented because of
objections and rejections either
made by Lieutenant-Governor
Najeeb Jung or the Central
Government.
Sources said the list would
provide ammunition to the
Delhi Government to drive
home its point how the Centre
was “not” allowing it to function freely. “Time and again,
the CM and his Cabinet colleagues have been alleging that
Prime Minister Narender Modi
through the Raj Niwas have
been creating hurdles in the
day-to-day smooth functioning
of the AAP Government.”
Source said once the report
card of each department is
ready, it will be analysed thread
bare by the CM’s office. “If any
Minister has not performed up
to the mark, there are chances
that the CM may go for a
Cabinet reshuffle,” said sources.
So far, the AAP has removed
only two Ministers and both
were replaced with new faces.
opinion 08
www.dailypioneer.com
paper with passion
Pakistan nailed again
Headley’s confessions establish Islamabad’s lies
n his landmark deposition before an Indian court via videoconferencing, 26/11
plotter David Headley said little that wasn't already known or expected, but
his testimony is important for two reasons. One, this is the first time in the
history of Indian judiciary that a foreign national is deposing before an Indian
court from foreign shores. A Pakistan-born American citizen, Headley was arrested by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation in October 2009, and in 2013, sentenced to 35 years in prison for his role in the Mumbai attacks that claimed six
American lives among 166 others. India had repeatedly requested US authorities to extradite Headley but the request was denied on grounds of double jeopardy — Headley had already been tried and convicted once; punishing him again
for the same crime violates the principles of jurisprudence. While one may view
this as a limitation of the much-touted counter-terrorism cooperation between
India and the US, it is equally true that getting Headley to depose before an Indian
court has been a significant achievement for Indian authorities. Though a hardened and high-profile terrorist, Headley is still a US citizen and, importantly, a
prize witness for US prosecutors. The plea deal that he has with US authorities
allows him a host of protections and privileges. He turned an approver before
the Indian law some two month ago.
The second issue here is of the
content of Headley's testimony. Apart
from explaining the working methods
of his team and himself, he indicts the
Pakistani spy agency, the InterServices Intelligence, as the mastermind of 26/11. In fact, it was on the
basis of Headley’s testimony that the
US indicted in absentia a serving officer of the ISI, known only as Major
Iqbal, delineating the extent of the
agency's involvement. The ISI of
course, used the Lashkar-e-Tayyeba,
for operational purposes, but, as
Union Minister of State for Home
Affairs Kiren Rijiju observed, Headley's
statement is the final nail in the coffin of Pakistan’s ‘non-state actor' or the
‘rogue official' excuse.
The question now is: What does India do with the evidence at hand? The
material clearly shows Pakistan's role but one has to be delusional to hope that
the establishment there will take any action. Pakistan will merely reject all evidence as false, irrelevant or inadequate, as it has done for all these years and
continues to do so — and as its latest stand on the Jaish-e-Mohammed's role
in the Pathankot attack stands proof. India will continue to pursue diplomatic
channels to pressure Pakistan but no immediate result is likely. Apart from the
Pakistan factor, there are, however, a few other lessons that India and others
can learn: First, counter-terrorism measures need to be improved across the board.
Headley was a heroin addict and a drug-smuggler well-known to the authorities, before he turned to jihadi terrorism. He should have been apprehended much
earlier in the day. Second, spy agencies working towards the same cause need
to coordinate better. Headley and others were being tracked by the US, the UK
and Indian agencies. Yet, due to inadequate information-sharing, no one connected the dots. Third, Headley visited India, from Pakistan, several times on a
valid visa that was issued, shockingly, on the basis of incorrect information.
I
Uncertainty bad for J&K
Mehbooba Mufti must take a call without delay
overnment formation in Jammu and Kashmir is indeed taking longer than
it ought to, even after factoring in the developments that followed the sudden demise of Mufti Mohammad Sayeed, and his daughter and political successor Ms Mehbooba Mufti seeking to re-work the alliance formula with the
Bharatiya Janata Party. The Agenda of Alliance, a document on the basis of which
the Jammu and Kashmir Peoples Democratic Party and the BJP formed a coalition Government which operated for 10 months until the Mufti's demise, is still
intact, and all that is needed for both the parties is to swear allegiance to it and
provide the State effective governance. But from available accounts, Ms Mehbooba
is seeking fresh assurances from the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Government
it heads at the Centre that the agenda will be honoured. Various BJP leaders have
already stated that such shall indeed be the case. However, it appears that the
PDP leader is looking at more concrete promises, though it is unclear what shape
or form would be acceptable to the party. The issue can be resolved if there is
direct communication between her and the senior-most leadership in the BJP,
including party president Amit Shah
and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, for this is happen, certain
groundwork has to be done, and it
must be said that senior leaders of
both the PDP and the BJP are
engaged in that. Given honest intent
and determination, it should not be difficult for the two parties to come to
a settlement for the good of the State.
Unfortunately, the more the process
is stretched, the more there are
chances of misunderstandings being
created and opposition parties getting
a stick to beat both the BJP and the
PDP. Already, there are elements
seeking to fish in troubled waters.
Yet, it cannot be denied that continuing delay on the PDP's part in taking a call on the formation of a
Government, will prepare the ground for options to be explored — one among
them being the dissolution of the Assembly and a fresh election. National
Conference leader and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, whose party had
faced defeat in the last Assembly poll, has called for a fresh election in the backdrop of the logjam, in the hope that his party will bounce back this time around.
But another election at this stage is surely not a desirable alternative, given that
the State had voted less than a year ago and given both the PDP and the BJP
enough number of seats to together form a stable Government which represented the interests of all regions — Kashmir, Jammu and Ladakh. The alternative
to a fresh election is the creation of a new political tie-up, though we don't know
whether it will eventually manage the numbers to govern effectively, because
no other combination seems to add up to a majority. So, finally, while both the
PDP and the BJP have an enormous responsibility to not let the State down, the
final decision rests with Ms Mehbooba.
G
Stinking corporations
and smart city dream
SANDHYA JAIN
The Prime Minister’s project to create new-age urban centres across the country can meet stiff challenge in
his backyard: Delhi. The Municipal Corporations here are mismanaged and, worse, pampered
he selection of the
pampered New Delhi
Municipal Council,
merely three per cent
of the area and population of the capital city, for
upgradation under the Centre’s
Smart Cities Mission, embarrassingly overlapped with the
prolonged strike by municipal
workers of the three Delhi
Municipal Corporations and
highlighted some problems that
have long plagued this city.
The slugfest between the
Delhi Government led by the
Aam Aadmi Party and the
Corporations led by the Bharatiya
Janata Party, their mutual recriminations and sins of commission
or omission, are not the subject of
this column. But the BJP would do
well to concede that in streetfighting and populist rhetoric,
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal is
miles ahead. While there is an element of upper middle class disillusionment with him, his potential to damage the BJP should not
be underestimated.
For the BJP, this is an opportune moment to introspect why
it has lost five successive elections
in the capital over 17 years, and
why loss in the next round seems
foretold, unless the leadership
seriously gets its act together. The
BJP must realise that when it lost
the first round to Ms Sheila
Dikshit, it could not recover
ground because it failed to serve
the citizens as a vigilant
Opposition, which was its primary duty. The soft-spoken Ms
Dikshit thereafter unleashed one
wrong after the other upon the
hapless citizenry (the corruption of the Commonwealth
Games being just one glaring
example), but won three successive terms on the strength of BJP
acquiescence in her misdeeds.
Her first anti-citizen act was
to sell 51 per cent stake in the
Delhi
Electric
Supply
Undertaking to two private firms
(three discoms), opening the
floodgates for domestic electricity bills to spiral out of control.
The BJP, however, repulsed suggestions to protest against the unilateral privatisation of the power
utility. Its indifference killed a
nascent citizens’ protest against
escalating bills, in Rajinder Nagar,
and it was only when Ms Dikshit’s
third term was ending in
ignominy due to the dimensions
of myriad scandals, that it talked
of reducing bills by 30 per cent if
it came to power. By then, the
AAP had captured the imagination of the city, but Mr Arvind
T
Kejriwal’s first election in 2013
ended in stalemate because a sting
operation dented his campaign
for four critical days.
The tragedy, which the BJP
needs to introspect, is why the
party failed to reconnect with voters in 2015, after coming to
power at the Centre and winning
all seven Lok Sabha seats in
2014. One reason is complete failure to understand how prices,
particularly of electricity (a fundamental need in modern society), were hurting ordinary families. Nor was there any appreciation of how the intellectually
agile Mr Kejriwal had apologised for his premature resignation and campaigned on all issues
affecting people’s lives, much as
Mr Modi did on an all-India basis
in the run-up to the Lok Sabha
election. In contrast, the BJP, in
2015, quietly withdrew the pledge
to reduce electricity prices by 30
per cent even as the AAP
promised a 50 per cent reduction
and forensic audit of the discoms.
The financial crisis in the
municipal corporations had been
building up for months, but the
mayors and BJP municipal
We have already lost
the sleeves of the
sweater (of India) —
Bangladesh and
Pakistan. So let's
keep the sweater. It's
getting cold.
Actor
—Kamal Haasan
GARBAGE
MANAGEMENT IS
INTRINSIC TO THE
PRIME MINISTER'S
SWACHCH BHARAT
MISSION. THE
GARBAGE TRUCKS
PURCHASED BY THE
CONGRESS REGIME
ARE DEFECTIVE AND
INCREASE CLUTTER
ON ROADS AND
PAVEMENTS
Councillors have been content to
sit back in the hope that the
Centre can somehow bail them
out directly, without their having
exerted themselves in any way
over the past five years, at the very
least. The very first question that
needs to be asked, therefore, is:
Why were the salaries of lowly
karamcharis withheld, while those
of the elitist IAS and other officers, not to mention the Mayors
and Councillors, were paid?
Under Mr Modi, one expected to
see the rise of a culture of taking
care of the last rung first.
As enraged sanitation staff
pile up garbage on crossroads
across the city, the old punitive
measures of invoking the
Essential Services Maintenance
Act will not work. For a start, the
Corporations must explain what
they have done to improve revenues, if anything. For instance,
several commercial offices have
been waiting for years to get
clearance to operate, with
builders and investors losing
lakhs of rupees in revenue daily.
One such project that was
cleared, was declared ‘un-cleared’
after three months, and the
SOUNDBITE
lapsed demand drafts returned,
without explanation or apology.
Garbage management is
intrinsic to the Prime Minister’s
Swachch Bharat mission. This
writer has previously pointed
out that the garbage trucks purchased by the Congress regime
are defective and increase clutter
on roads and pavements on a
daily basis, as a result of which no
road ever looks clean; the danger
of disease-causing flies and mosquitoes rises proportionately. The
BJP has also not noticed that the
manner in which garbage collection is done makes a mockery of
garbage separation at household
level, wherever this is done.
One solution is to make separation mandatory; transparent
degradable plastic bags for nonbiodegradable waste and black for
wet kitchen waste. These should
be collected separately and diverted directly to landfills or waste
management systems. Regarding
water shortages, rainwater harvesting is a complete failure due
to excessive concretisation of
colony parks. Nor is there penalty for citizens who let treated
water run into rainwater drains.
Another crisis pertains to
parking woes. If Councillors and
officials were alert, they would
realise that, besides the growing
number of large cars, road space
is being misused by citizens who
are planting trees indiscriminately on pavements, and even
directly on the road along pavements, to prevent others from
parking on the public road along
their boundary walls. Others
place large concrete pots or
wiring to deny parking space.
This land grab, not just reservation of one’s own spot, has
assumed menacing proportions
and calls for a crackdown.
Another atrocity is the
SDMC’s penchant for killing local
markets with punitive parking
fees. The Aurobindo Market association had to struggle to recover footfalls lost to sudden imposition of parking fees. Now Yusuf
Sarai is suffering. The worst is
Hauz Khas, where the underground parking had design
defects, was unused for seven
years, never repaired, and now
declared operational. Citizens
shopping for household necessities are being forced to shell out
`40 for parking and shop-keepers are getting hurt. Yet, malls that
need to pay attendants are being
forced not to charge shoppers
who can afford to pay!
Clearly, such corporations
cannot build a smart or clean city.
My creativity did not
match with TV shows I
was doing. I couldn't
get satisfaction, that's
why I couldn't do it.
Censorship is a battle we have fought
on every single film.
Every film, we had
the most insane battles... It's restrictive,
and regressive.
Actor
—Manish Paul
Actor
—Imran Khan
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Mature politician
Sir — This refers to the editorial,
“The ‘happy to help’ motto”
(February 8). At a time when political leaders are in the news for
wrong reasons, such an editorial,
highlighting the good work done
by Union Minister for External
Affairs Sushma Swaraj, has come
as a breath of fresh air. The good
thing about Ms Swaraj is that she
maintains a low profile and keeps
doing her work. This is not only
a sign of a good human being, but
also of a mature politician. She
took swift measures to rescue
and help people from Germany,
Senegal and elsewhere. She is
swift in her action and responds
in liaison with the respective
countries. We need more selfless
and dedicated leaders like her.
Bal Govind
Noida
Exploiting people
Sir — This refers to the editorial,
“Hate politics trounced” (February
8). Despite his British education and
membership of Parliament, and also
due to his being a representative of
the hardcore Muslim-dominated
Hyderabad constituency, All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen chief
Incidents of Bangalore
kind are bad for image
T
his refers to the editorial, “Discard racial mindset” (February 6). The racial
attack on a Tanzanian girl in Bangalore was brutal and needs to be condemned. Africa was the last continent to be freed from the menace of racial
segregation when Nelson Mandela remained in prison for 27 years and came
out from incarceration only to do away with the anti-apartheid policy. It’s saddening that India, which also felt the pain of racism under the British rule is
itself practicing it, albeit sporadically. It sullies our image globally.
While Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi visited Hyderabad twice, to
gain some brownie points when a Dalit student committed suicide, no word
on this issue has been made by him and it is most unlikely to come. The State
Government's contention that it was not a racial attack but a mob fury is not
digestible and is reprehensible. The Union Government’s immediate action on
this issue is laudable. Hope this disparaging incident should be among the last
ones and our image must remain intact globally as a tolerant state.
Sagar Singh
New Delhi
Asaduddin Owaisi loves to make
communal statements. His party’s
defeat in the Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation election is
a good thing.
However, Mr Owaisi has slightly modified his communal posture
by trying to woo the Dalits in his
fold. His aim is to exploit casteism
in Hindu society for his nefarious
agenda by forging an alliance with
radical Dalit leaders like Kancha
Ilaiah on the lines of Rashtriya
Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad’s
‘Muslim-Yadav’ coalition.
M Ratan
Via email
Bringing shame
Sir — This refers to the report, “BJP
questions CM over his minister’s
statement” (February 8). Uttar
Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav is unable to rein in his own
Cabinet colleagues, asking them to
exercise caution in public remarks.
Uttar Pradesh Minister and
Samajwadi Party leader Azam
Khan keeps throwing venom by his
highly irresponsible and malicious
statements, but the Yadavs maintain
silence. By alleging that Prime
Minister Narendra Modi met
Dawood Ibrahim at Pakistan Prime
Minister Nawaz Sharif’s house in
Lahore, Mr Khan has brought
shame to the nation. Mr Yadav must
immediately dismiss Mr Khan
from the party and ask him to apologise to the Prime Minister.
C K Sardana
Bhopal
Lawmakers’ duty
Sir — This refers to the report, “Stop
making excuses, Rahul tells Modi”
(February 6). The entire country is
witness as to how the Monsoon
Session and subsequently the
Winter Session were washed out
due to frequent disruptions by the
Congress. While some legislative
business could be done in the Lok
Sabha, the Rajya Sabha remained
paralysed except for the last three
days, when a few Bills were passed.
Members of Parliament are
elected to make laws and not to
obstruct the business of law-making. Passing laws is the mandate of
Parliament and not of the ruling
Government alone. Instead of
pointing fingers at the Prime
Minister, Congress vice-president
Rahul Gandhi and his party should
do the job for which they have been
elected and stop stalling Parliament.
MC Joshi
Lucknow
Send your feedback to:
letterstopioneer@gmail.com
3rdeye 09
POINTCOUNTERPOINT
We have contended that the Governor of
Arunachal Pradesh was guided by mala fide
intent and he acted for vested interests.
—Arunachal Pradesh Congress leader
GEETARTHA D BARUA
FIRST
COLUMN
Television can never
do justice to books
This is Mehbooba’s moment
The PDP leader must quickly take a decision on continuing the alliance with the BJP and get on with the business of governance
in Jammu & Kashmir. A mid-term poll, though an option in case no common ground can be found, isn’t desirable for either party
he imposition of Governor’s
rule in Jammu & Kashmir on
January 8 was initially perceived to be a temporary
arrangement, under a constitutional requirement. But this weekend
Central rule in the State, in absence of an
elected Government, has completed its
first month. The Legislative Assembly is
under suspended animation and the
political crisis is not showing any signs of
resolution. On February 4, Jammu &
Kashmir Governor NN Vohra picked two
retired Indian Administrative Service officers — Mr Parvez Dewan and Mr
Khurshid Ganai — to be his advisors to
run the affairs of the embattled State.
This is indicative of the fact that
Government-formation in the border
State of Jammu & Kashmir is not round
the corner and if there is no progress in
bridging the gap between the Peoples
Democratic Party and the Bhartiya Janata
Party, to refresh their alliance, the option
of dissolving the Assembly and having an
interim poll will have to be explored.
The crisis in the State erupted on
January 7, following the sad demise of
Chief Minister Mufti Mohammed
Sayeed. Unlike National Conference
president Farooq Abdullah, who was
sworn into the Chief Minister’s office
the same day that his father Sheikh
Mohammed Abdullah passed away, on
September 8, 1982, or Rajiv Gandhi,
who took charge as Prime Minister
hours after his mother Indira Gandhi
was assassinated on October 31, 1984,
PDP president Mehbooba Mufti has
refused to step into her father’s shoes
right away.
For the first two weeks, her party
maintained that Ms Mufti was grief-stricken, shattered, and devastated by the
death of her political mentor and was not
in the frame of mind to take the oath of
office. Since the day of the Mufti’s demise,
the BJP had already made clear that it had
no qualms in offering support to Ms Mufti
if she stakes her claim as Chief Minister
of Jammu & Kashmir. Technically, Ms
Mufti can be elected as the leader of the
legislature only before seeking support of
the alliance partner.
However, it was not grief alone that
prevented Ms Mufti from stepping into
her father’s shoes. On January 17, she indicated that all was not well with the alliance
that her father had stitched with the BJP,
before he took over as Chief Minister on
March 1, 2015. The Mufti had referred to
this alliance as the joining the North Pole
and the South Pole. His daughter had
appreciated her father’s courage to align
with the BJP despite public resentment
against the nationalist party in Muslimmajority Kashmir.
After watching her father’s tenure in
office for 10 months, Ms Mufti said that
the decision to form an alliance with the
BJP was “courageous but unpopular”. Ms
Mufti’s approach to form a Government
in Jammu & Kashmir is full of contradictions. On the one hand, she wants to carry
forward the alliance, but not without fresh
assurances from the BJP’s central leadership that the party will back her
Government’s agenda on political, economic, administrative and financial
fronts. On the other hand, her party compares the Agenda of Alliance — a docu-
T
TV does some things better than classic books, but the
internal workings of the mind, fired by reading, cannot
be sparked by the small screen, writes HARRY MOUNT
f anyone could bring War and Peace successfully to television, it
is Mr Andrew Davies — the master at transforming classic literature into BBC drama. Mr Davies has just the right mix of intelligence and populism to straddle the two forms. Still, for all his talent, War and Peace never convincingly made the leap from page to
screen. It's not his fault. The truth is that telly rarely does justice to
great books. In the end, long, old books and new films are just too
different. Leo Tolstoy was writing over 1,000 pages in 1869, about
events that had taken place only 60 years earlier. To compress that
volume of historical characters and scenes into six hours of compelling television is impossible. Even Mr Davies himself admitted that
he would have preferred eight hours; that he had to drop some scenes
to squeeze everything in.
So, inevitably, you end up with a tide of names and blood ties
that are hard to follow on screen. It's that much easier on the page
— where you can always flick back to remind yourself of things; where
reading impresses details more deeply on the brain than viewing. With
that degree of compression, even a gifted screenwriter like Mr Davies
had to lever in some plot exposition to keep the viewer in the know.
So Adrian Edmondson, as Count Rostov, has to behave like Lord
Grantham in Downton Abbey — striding into the drawing room, newspaper in hand, declaring mournfully to his family, “We are at war.”
The older the book, and the further ago the events it describes,
the more artificial the modern TV adaptation. Tolstoy's readers would
have known all about the battles described in War and Peace — their
fathers and grandfathers fought and died in them. The modern British
viewer doesn't, and so needs more details explained. “Show, don't
tell” is the holy commandment of screenwriters. Anyone adapting
an old classic, with a complicated, history-heavy plotline, has to do
an awful lot of telling and showing.
A foreign setting, and a book written in a foreign language, make
a telly adaptation even trickier. The beauty of Tolstoy's Russian is gone,
as is the intricacy of his references to Russian politics and everyday
life. Artifice creeps in everywhere. So, in this new adaptation, the French
characters speak English with a French accent. But the posh Russian
characters speak English with public school English accents; the peasants speak with northern English accents. Think about it for a second and it's ludicrous. Any screenwriter has to use these tricks, of
course: a BBC War and Peace in Russian would get tiny viewing
figures. But the moment you switch languages, the nuances of the
original immediately vanish.
Telly can do drama at great length. In fact, we've entered a golden age of long-form TV drama. The Wire had 60 one-hour episodes
over five seasons; The Sopranos had 86 episodes over six seasons.
But these dramas were specifically designed for television, and they
logically had the demands of TV built into them. In each episode,
there were concurrent plots, a build-up of tension and a scattering
of sex and violence to perk up the sleepy viewer. It isn't Tolstoy's
fault that he didn't introduce the right degree of sex, violence and
tension every 200 or so pages. But that does mean it all ends up a
bit flat on screen, with little sense of a real cliffhanger at the end of
each episode.
Very occasionally, telly does adapt a classic novel successfully.
The 1981 Brideshead Revisited series was a triumph. But that was
because it was given 11 one-hour episodes to cover a relatively short
book: 326 pages in the Penguin Classic edition. No plot compression required. It helped that the actors, particularly Anthony Andrews
and John Gielgud, mirrored Evelyn Waugh's characters immaculately. The acting in War and Peace was perfectly good — but no one
jumped out of the screen as a Tolstoy original in the flesh. It helps,
too, that Brideshead Revisited was written in English in 1945 —
recently enough for nuances of language and plot to be recognisable to viewers 36 years later, with minimal exposition required.
Most crucially, the director, Mr Charles Sturridge, ripped up John
Mortimer's script for Brideshead Revisited and rewrote it. Sturridge
incorporated long, original tracts from the book, read out as a voiceover
by Jeremy Irons's Charles Ryder. The big screen version in 2008 was
no good because the screenwriters badly rewrote Evelyn Waugh's
impeccable lines. One of those screenwriters, incidentally, was Andrew
Davies on a rare off-day. Television does some things better than classic books, music and dramatic visuals in particular. But the internal
workings of the mind — the mixture of intellect and imagination —
that are fired by reading long, old, classic novels will never be sparked
in the same way on screen.
Courtesy: The Daily Telegraph
I acted according to the Constitution and
the rule of the law. There was no intention
other than to uphold the Constitution.
—Arunachal Pradesh Governor
JP RAJKHOWA
I
KHURSHEED WANI
During the 10
months that the
coalition
Government was
functioning,
Mehbooba Mufti
didn't come out
publicly on these
contentious issues
though she did say
that the tenure took
a heavy toll on her
father's health. But
now, she says that
the Chief Minister
confronted
“enormous resource
constraints and
frequent
unsettling issues”
ment penned down by the deceased Mufti
and Prime Minister Narendra Modi — as
the roadmap for governance. Ms Mufti is
trying to suggest that there were no preconditions on pursuing the alliance
afresh, but seeks guarantee that the
“sacred document” will be implemented
in letter and spirit.
On February 2, Mr Vohra summoned
Ms Mufti and BJP’s State president Satpal
Sharma to the Raj Bhawan, to discuss
Government-formation, ostensibly following Ms Mufti’s assertions on the subject in meetings with her party legislators
and office-bearers at the ground level. On
her return from the Raj Bhawan, Ms Mufti
spilled the beans and lamented that her
father was not treated well by the BJP.
“Unfortunately, the Mufti’s resolute decision (of aligning with the BJP) was not reciprocated by the Union Government, the
way he expected it to be”, she said.
So, what were the Mufti’s expectations? First, the Agenda of Alliance had
promised that the coalition partners
would safeguard the special status of
Jammu & Kashmir within the
Constitution of India. But in effect, individuals and outfits associated with the
BJP attempted legal tricks to fiddle with
the special status guaranteed under
Article 370.
A plea in the apex court was filed to
do away with Article 35A that would in
effect render Article 370 ineffective. A
Muslim BJP leader from Jammu
approached the Jammu & Kashmir High
Court to stall an earlier verdict of the same
court making hoisting of Jammu &
Kashmir’s State flag compulsory along
with the national tricolour on national
days and over buildings and cars occupied
by constitutional authorities. The BJP did
not prevent these legal wrangles.
Second, as Chief Minister, the Mufti
could not initiate a dialogue with the
Hurriyat Conference nor did he find a situation where he could have set the separatist leaders free. He was trumpeting the
battle of ideas in a democracy, but was
forced to eat humble pie with the re-arrest
of separatist leader Masarat Alam and others who were put under house arrest.
Third, the Mufti had expected
large financial support from the Centre
especially in the aftermath of 2014
floods. But it took a great deal of time
for the Modi Government to announce
the economic package of `80,000 crore
for Jammu & Kashmir on November 7,
2015. Also, the actual package for
flood victims was meagre.
The `7,854 crore flood relief included flood management package for Jhelum
and Tawi rivers. The actual flood relief for
common victims was reduced to mere
peanuts. Also, Union Minister for Power
Piyush Goyal refused the transfer of
power projects to State-owned hydelpower giant National Hydroelectric Power
Corporation. What also hurt the PDP was
Mr Modi’s public remark that he did not
require advice on Kashmir from anybody
— minutes after the Mufti had urged him
to walk an extra mile to reach out to
Pakistan and Kashmiri separatist leaders.
Alongwith BJP MP Jugal Kishore,
Ms Mufti was the co-chair of the coor-
Policy muddle in FDI retail
The Government’s unrealistic policy of barring foreign direct investment in the business-to-consumer segment
has pushed e-commerce retailers to camouflage themselves as market places to access funds from abroad
he Delhi High Court is
hearing a plea filed by the
All-India Footwear
Manufacturers and Retailers
Association, regarding the
alleged flouting of foreign direct
investment rules by e-commerce companies. In its affidavit to the court, the
Department of Industrial Policy
and Promotion has argued that
its job is to formulate policy —
not monitor implementation.
The DIPP added that it has
already laid down a ‘transparent’
and ‘predictable’ policy which
permits 100 per cent FDI in business-to-business transactions in
e-commerce, but only prohibits
in the business-to-customer segment. Further, it does not recognise the concept of a ‘market
place’, which all major e-commerce companies viz, Flipkart,
Snapdeal and Amazon are projecting as their business model.
DIPP is the nodal authority
for all FDI-related issues. If, it was
T
so confident that the much touted ‘market place’ concept has no
validity, then why did it not communicate in clear terms to the
Finance Ministry about the violations under the Foreign
Exchange Management Act?
Why did it wait till the matter
came up in court?
On the other hand, if, the
DIPP felt that the rules were clear
(requiring no clarification), then
why did the Finance Ministry not
take cognisance of the violations
and ask the Enforcement
Directorate to initiate action
against e-commerce companies?
This is all the more reprehensible when the Union Finance
Minister basks in the glory of a
surge in FDI, propelled in large
measure by inflows into e-commerce — and yet there is no clarity if such inflow is permitted
under current regulations.
Now, the court has seen a
prima facie violation of FDI policy by e-commerce companies
and asked the ED to probe 21 ecommerce players in India. If the
investigation is meant to authenticate what is already known,
does this not tantamount to a
sheer waste of time? Last year, the
court had told the Government
to sort out the matter within four
months, but the latter continued
to dilly dally.
To understand what an ecommerce company does, look
at this: The customer registers
his/her request for an article on
the web portal. The portal then
raises an invoice and arranges for
its delivery (from its warehouse)
to the customer’s address. The
company also receives considerations, accepts rejections and
arranges for refund. In short, it
performs all sales-related functions and has all the logistics to
support these.
Operations of e-commerce
companies fall under B2C classification. If, however, e-commerce companies were to accept
reality and declare themselves
retailers, they will find themselves
on the wrong side of the law. So,
e-commerce companies ‘camouflage’ their retailer status under
the so-called ‘market place’
model — a euphemism for a platform where sellers and buyers
conduct transactions.
What pushed e-commerce
companies to take up such an
unhealthy practice? It is the
Government’s unrealistic policy
of barring FDI in the B2C segment. The policy goes against the
contemporary milieu wherein
FDI is badly needed to boost economic activity including in the
retail segment. Foreign funds are
waiting to come in. If you choke
the flow, these will still come in,
albeit in a round-about manner.
Under the extant policy
approved by the UPA dispensation in 2012 and continued by the
Modi Government, 51 per cent
FDI is allowed in multi-brand
retail. But, several riders, such as
30 per cent sourcing from small
enterprises, a minimum investment of $100 million, prior
approval by States Governments
etc, have virtually shut the door
to FDI in MBR. In this backdrop,
permitting FDI in e-commerce
would have been out of sync. So,
that too has been banned.
With FDI in both forms of
MBR banned, foreign funds are
pouring into e-commerce illegally. This too will stop under
orders from the court sooner
than later. Even the money
already invested will have to go
back. The consequences will be
too dastardly to fathom.
The Government allows 100
per cent FDI in single-brand
retail. Recently, rules were
tweaked to permit a foreign
company already in single-brand
retail to sell the brand via e-commerce as well (for example, Ikea
will be able to sell its furniture on
e-platforms). Hundred per cent
FDI is also allowed in wholesale
dination committee to monitor the
implementation of the Agenda of
Alliance. During the 10 months that the
coalition Government was functioning,
Ms Mufti didn’t come out publicly on
these contentious issues though she did
say that the tenure took a heavy toll on
her father’s health. But now, Ms Mufti
says that the Chief Minister confronted
“enormous resource constraints and
frequent unsettling issues”. Her silence
then is quite intriguing.
As of now, the options for Ms Mufti
are limited. She can’t afford to seek a fresh
mandate because her party has nothing
to offer to the people except apologies. In
fact, her fresh public posturing against the
BJP will be counterproductive for her
party. This is well understood by her political rival, the National Conference, that
has been stressing on two options — either
continue the PDP-BJP alliance or hold
fresh elections.
Ms Mufti is aware of the ground situation. One viable option is to provide
good governance for the remaining five
years to offset the ‘negative impact’.
Therefore, she has started stressing on
confidence building measures so that the
PDP can walk together with the BJP.
It is now upto the BJP to accommodate Ms Mufti’s concerns. The BJP’s
predicament is that it can’t take any decision at the State-level. The final call has
to be made by Mr Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. One positive thing for
Ms Mufti is that the BJP would not want
lose Jammu & Kashmir, where it has come
to power for the first time in history.
think
now
UTTAM GUPTA
cash-and-carry businesses. How
ironical that foreign companies
in India can sell, through multibrand platforms, to wholesale
buyers but not to retailers.
Much of the current policy
mess is due to the unnecessary
classifications such as ‘singlebrand’ and ‘multi-brand’, a practice unique to India. The rest of
the world does not differentiate
in retail. Why cannot India follow this practice? Why can’t the
Government allow 100 per cent
FDI in MBR?
Once the anomaly with
regard to foreign investment in
the physical segment is
removed, the Government will
have no problem allowing 100
per cent FDI in e-commerce
retail including the B2C segment. With this, both retailers
and e-tailors will be at a levelplaying field and can engage
with foreign investors in an
open and transparent manner
(no back door entry).
eligion is an attempt to get
control over the sensory world,
in which we are placed, by
means of the wish-world, which we
have developed inside us as a result
of biological and psychological
necessities. But it cannot achieve
its end. Its doctrines carry with
them the stamp of the times in
which they originated, the ignorant
childhood days of the human race.
Experience teaches us that the
world is not a nursery. The ethical
commands, to which religion seeks
to lend its weight, require some
other foundations instead. It's is
dangerous to link up obedience to
them with religious belief.
R
—Sigmund Freud
nation 10
Ryan boy not sodomised, says Bassi
PNS n NEW DELHI
he postmortem report of a
six-year-old boy, who was
found dead in a water reservoir
at Ryan International School in
South Delhi, prima facie does
not indicate any sexual assault,
Delhi Police Commissioner
BS Bassi said on Monday.
“The postmortem report
has been received and it is
being studied. Suffice to say
that it (the postmortem report)
does not prima facie indicate
any sexual assault,” Bassi said.
Bassi’s comments came in
response to mediapersons who
wanted to know whether the
boy was sodomised.
“Initial reading of the postmortem report does not suggest any sexual assault. The
T
POST-MORTEM REPORT
The death
was due to
drowning.
Police will
correlate the
findings of the
postmortem
report with their
investigation into the matter
death was due to drowning,”
Bassi said, adding police will
correlate the findings of the
postmortem report with their
investigation into the matter.
The postmortem report
has been received from the All
India Institute of Medical
Sciences and is being studied.
On January 30, Devansh
Kakrora, a class 1 student at
Ryan International School in
South Delhi’s Vasant Kunj, was
found dead in a reservoir under
the school’s amphitheater, following which the principal of
the school, a teacher and three
non-teaching staff were arrest-
ed for negligence causing the
boy’s death. All of them had got
bail the same day.
A day after the arrests,
police also sent notices to
Ryan
group’s
Chief
Administrative Officer and
northern zone head seeking
information on charter of duty
for the school authority and
construction of the underground water tank.
After the incident, the
child’s father had alleged that
the boy might have been sexually assaulted before death.
On Saturday, the Delhi
Government had said the magisterial probe into the death of
the student indicates a heinous
crime and the investigation so
far has ignored the observations of the child’s parents.
Devansh’s father Hetram
Meena met Bassi on Monday
afternoon and expressed his
doubts over the investigation.
He insisted on a CBI probe.
Meanwhile, CCTV footage
obtained from the school
revealed that the boy was last
spotted alive at the lobby
around 12.15 pm on January
30 and around 1.20 pm he was
seen being rushed the parking
area by the school staff, who
later put him inside a car, a
senior police official said.
He added that it was the
hospital authorities who
informed police about the incident on 2.40 pm.
NURSERYADMISSIONS
14 officials get
seven years’ jail HC to hear Govt’s plea against stay
for embezzlement on scrapping management quota
PNS n NEW DELHI
ourteen officials, including some retired officials of
the
Central
Water
Commission, have been
awarded jail term up to seven
years by a Delhi court for
misappropriating Government
funds.
Besides the 14 convicts,
there were three more accused
who died during pendency of
the case lodged in 2001.
Special CBI Judge Vinod
Kumar convicted them for
various offences punishable
under the IPC, including sections 120-B (criminal conspiracy) read with 409 (criminal breach of trust by public
servants). Six of these 14
accused were also held guilty
for
the
offences
under
Prevention
of
Corruption Act.
“Prosecution has proved
that all the convicts (except A2,
A16 and A17) have dishonestly misappropriated or converted to their own use the
Government
money.
Therefore, I convict them
under section 403 (dishonest
misappropriation of movable
property or converting it to
one’s own use) IPC each.
“All the convicts participated in this criminal endeavour, therefore, I convict all of
them under section 120 -B
F
Besides jail, court
also imposed
varying fines of up
to `2.01 lakh on
the officials,
including some
retired officials of
the Central Water
Commission
read with sections 403 and 409
IPC,” the judge said in a 177page judgement.
The court sentenced convicts YP Sharma, OP Narang,
Jai Kumar Singal, JP Sharma
and SK Aggarwal to seven
years jail term each, while
Chandreshwar Manjhi, Om
Prakash, Shiv Sagar Naik, Om
Prakash and Hayat Singh were
given five years each.
Other two convicts, Jeet
Ram Sharma and BM Ghosh,
were awarded three-year jail
term each, while the remaining two, I Yashudanan and
Natha Ram Suman, were given
one year jail each.
Besides the jail term, the
court also imposed varying
fines of up to `2.01 lakh on the
convicts. Meanwhile, the court
granted bail to four of the 14
convicts, Jeet Ram Sharma, B
M Ghosh, I Yashudanan and
Natha Ram Suman, till March
23 for filing an appeal.
PNS n NEW DELHI
he Delhi High Court on
Monday agreed to hear the
T
AAP Government’s plea against
its single judge’s order partially
staying a notification scrapping
management quota and some
other criteria in nursery admissions in private unaided schools.
The Delhi Government’s
Directorate of Education (DoE)
has in its appeal contended that
its January 6 order scrapping
various admission criteria and
management quota “was validly and lawfully” issued to
ensure that admissions to
entry-level classes like nursery
are made in a “fair and reasonable” manner.
In its plea, listed before a
Bench of Chief Justice G Rohini
and Justice Jayant Nath, the
DoE has said the decision was
taken “without any view to
interfering in the autonomy of
private unaided schools”.
It has said the “objective
was not to deprive private
unaided schools of their autonomy, but to ensure that admission to entry level classes are
made in a fair, reasonable,
rational, transparent and nonexploitative manner.”
The DoE said it was “fully
empowered and competent in
terms of Delhi Schools
Education Act and Rules
framed there under to issue”
the January 6 order.
Terming the practice of
granting admissions under
management quota as being
allegedly “non-transparent and
opaque”, DoE has said the
intention behind the notification was to “prevent maladministration”.
The single-judge by his
February 4 order had stayed
DoE’s January 6 order with
regard to scrapping of management quota as well as 11
other admission criteria, saying
it was issued “without any
authority” and was in conflict
with an earlier decision of the
Lieutenant Governor.
The 11 criteria include
those relating to the proven
track record of parents, their
Sanitation workers divided over ending strike
Majority section
suspends protest
till next hearing
on Wednesday
PNS n NEW DELHI
ith a section of protesting
sanitation workers susW
pending their strike and another deciding to continue it, the
unions of municipal corporation sanitation workers are
divided over calling off their
strike following their appearance in the Delhi High Court on
Monday. A total of 28 unions,
having the majority number of
municipal workers, agreed
before the HC to suspend their
strike and resume work immediately after the corporations
said they had released wages
which would be received by all
within two days.
However, they added that
they will take the final decision
to call off their strike depending on the final hearing in the
case on Wednesday.
On February 10, the HC
will also hear arguments on
issues of payment of arrears as
well as unification of the corporations, which were raised
on Monday by unions representing the workers.
President of United Front
of MCD Employees Rajesh
Mishra said, “We have decided to suspend our strike till
January 10.” However, a minority section of workers from 38
unions refused to comply,
claiming that majority of them
have not received salaries for
January 2016 though the corporations said that wages were
released on February 5.
“All the 38 unions of the
workers who are part of the
Swatantra Mazdoor Vikas
Sanyukt Morcha have decided
to continue the stir. We have
been assured in the court that
salaries of all the employees
will be paid in a couple of
days,” said Sanjay Gehlot, pres-
ident of the Sanyukt Morcha.
The court also took on
record the corporations’ statement that there would be no
impediment in release of wages
to the workers for January.
During the brief hearing, the
unions contended that salaries
were not received by all as
claimed by the corporations.
They also said that trifurcation
of the corporations had resulted in increase in expenditure
by three times and sought
unification of the three civic
bodies.
The court was hearing a
PIL filed by Birender Sangwan
who has sought lifting of the
garbage littered on the streets
by the sanitation workers during their strike and that the stir
be called off as it was causing
hardship to the general public.
The submissions on behalf
of the workers came pursuant
to the court’s notice to their
respective unions on February
5 seeking their response
to the PIL and the claim of the
corporations that salaries
upto Januar y 2016 have
been released.
Another outfit Delhi
Pradesh Safai Karmchari
Sangh also decided to continue its stir.” We will discuss the
developments in our meeting
and then take a decision after
February 10, but at present we
have decided to continue the
stir” said Moolchand, president
of the sangh.
The court on that date
had also remarked that sanitation workers cannot “hold
the city to ransom” by going on
strike if they have been paid
their salary. It had also asked
the Delhi Government
whether it intended to enforce
the Essential Ser vices
Maintenance Act (ESMA). To
this, senior standing counsel
for the Delhi Government,
Rahul Mehra, told the court
that ESMA had been revoked
by the city administration in
2015. However, the petitioner
submitted that ESMA of
Haryana has been extended to
Delhi.
Ward-level garbage system suggested to overcome woes
SAPNA SINGH n NEW DELHI
hile the Capital is facing garbage disposal problems due to inadequate
W
landfill space, experts have suggested
ward-level garbage management system to
overcome the woes in the national Capital.
Taking cognizance of the garbage
matter, city ecologists have said rather than
increasing the transport cost by transferring waste from one place to another, this
can be disposed of at the same place, where
it is generated. Giving the example of zero
waste campus IIT Delhi, ecologist, Anti
Toxic Watch Alliance (ATWA), Gopal
Krishan said 60 per cent of city waste can
be recycled whereas transferring garbage
at landfill sites will contaminate both soil
and ground water. “However, trash has no
calorific value because of organic nature.
Hence, waste to energy plants are also not
the solution to get rid of the waste in the
city,” said Krishan.
He added the current prototype of collection, transportation and dumping of
waste is flawed. “Even if a household is cog-
nizant of segregation of the waste going out
of its doorstep, the waste is all mixed up
while being collected in pushcarts or while
being dumped in the garbage truck, thereby nullifying the objective,” he added.
Elaborating more on the use of
Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) at ward
level, Kafeel Ahmad, senior assistant professor, Jamia Millia Islamia said, “By giving biological treatment to MSW at ward
level, we can control the emission of harmful gases from waste and also reduce load
of garbage at landfill sites.”
proficiency in music or sports,
their empirical achievements,
the gender of the child and
whether the kid was the first
born or adopted
The single-judge was of the
prima facie view that the Delhi
Government’s January 6 order,
scrapping a total of 62 criteria
and management quota, was
“issued without any authority”
and was in “direct conflict”
with the LG’s 2007 order on
nursery admissions in private
unaided schools.
The single-judge had also
said the court was of the prima
facie view “there is nothing in
the 11 criteria which would
show that they are unreasonable or based on whims and
fancies and/or they can lead to
maladministration.”
Ghaziabad lawyers
stage sit-in to
protest delay in
body’s polls
SP SINGH n GHAZIABAD
ver hundred lawyers of
Ghaziabad Bar Association
O
staged a sit-in outside the Bar
Association office in Ghaziabad
on Monday protesting the delay
in holding fresh elections for
the executive body of the association.
Meanwhile the office bearers of the Bar Association refuted the allegations by saying the
elections have been stayed by
the Allahabad High Court.
Unless the High Court vacates
its order, the elections cannot be
held, they said. The leader of the
group Ajayvir Singh said the
term of the existing executive
has expired on January 30,
2016, and it is time to hold election but they are delaying election the election under one or
other pretext. “We want the present executive to announce the
expiry of the term, to submit the
statement of account, to call the
general body meeting and
announce the elections,” he said.
Meanwhile, the Bar Association
president countered the allegation claiming that during annual scrutiny, over 125 bogus
votes were struck off from the
voters list as they were already
the members of the another Bar
Association in Tehsil compound. “It is a violation. But the
Bar Council of India
announced its verdict in their
favour and ordered the Bar
Association to conduct the
election after including them in
the voter list. But contrary to
this, the aspirant of the bar president filed a petition at
Allahabad High Court in which
he challenged the bar council of
India’s verdict,” bar association
president Ram Autar Gupta
said. “We have to wait for the
outcome of the Allahabad High
Court judgment. Till then we
can’t hold the election. So it is
a false allegation that the existing bar association is responsible for the delay,” he said.
ARUNACHAL HEARING
SC: Guv can’t summon
Session at his whims
PTI n NEW DELHI
Nothing wrong if no
confidence motion is
passed in House: SC
he Supreme Court on
Monday said Arunachal
T
Pradesh Governor JP Rajkhowa
cannot summon “at his whims”
the State Assembly Session
after he decided to advance it by
nearly a month to test the
majority of the crisis-hit
Congress-led Nabam Tuki
Government. “The Governor
cannot summon the assembly
session at his whims. The occasion has not arisen here(in
Arunachal Pradesh) as we have
been saying from the beginning.
Here the situation was not so,”
a five-judge Constitution Bench
headed by Justice JS Khehar
observed. Arunachal Pradesh is
currently under President’s rule.
The court also said there
was nothing wrong if a no-confidence motion is passed against
the Tuki government, which
faced a rebellion, in the state
assembly when the Deputy
Speaker was in charge of the
House proceedings after
removal of the Speaker.
The court made the observations when during the hearing senior advocate Rakesh
Dwivedi, appearing for some
rebel Congress MLAs, reiterated his stand that the Governor
was not barred from summoning the assembly session on his
own, without the aid and advice
of the Chief Minister and his
council of ministers. “The only
precondition is that there has to
be some business to be transacted by the House and the
Governor is not barred,” he said.
Once the House is in session,
the Governor has no role to
decide as to what business it
should transact as it is then the
duty of the assembly, the senior
lawyer said. “The general rule
is that the constitutional powers should be construed liberally,” he said, adding that the
Governor has discretionary
powers under special circumstances. The court, which is
hearing a batch of pleas on certain powers of the Governor
under the Constitution, would
resume hearing tomorrow.
The court had earlier questioned Rajkhowa’s decision to
advance the assembly session to
December last year from this
January, asking what difference would it have made if the
sitting was held as originally
scheduled. “What would be
the change or difference if the
Assembly proceedings would
have taken place on pre-scheduled January 14 instead of
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Monday said there
was nothing wrong if a no-confidence motion is passed against
the Congress-led Nabam Tuki
Government in Arunachal
Pradesh Assembly when the
Deputy Speaker was in charge
of the House proceedings after
removal of the Speaker.
“If Dy Speaker assumes
office of the Speaker and is in
charge of the House after the
Speaker is removed and a
group of MLAs stand up and
move no-confidence motion
against the Government (and)
it is passed, then what is
wrong? I do not think there is
anything wrong,” a five-judge
Constitution Bench headed by
Justice JS Khehar said. PTI
December 16,” the Bench had
then asked. On the issue of
Deputy Speaker, the Bench on
Monday said, “If Deputy
Speaker assumes office of the
Speaker and is in charge of the
House after the Speaker is
removed and a group of MLAs
stand up and move no-confidence motion against the
Government (and) it is passed,
then what is wrong? I do not
think there is anything wrong”.
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
‘LET’S 2 BIDS BEFORE...
Headley was accompanied
by Sarah Stricker, a US attorney,
John Theis, attorney for Headley
and his associate Bob Ceder.
From the Indian side, Mumbai
Crime Branch-CID chief Atul
Kulkarni and retired police officer Ramesh Mahale, who headed the investigations into the
26/11 attacks, were present in
the court.
Senior counsel Mahesh
Jethmalani, who was present in
court, clarified that he was not
representing Headley, but was
there at the request of Headley’s
attorney, should they require
any help regarding laws in
India. Headley disclosed that the
same ten terrorists, who carried
out the 26/11 attacks, had made
two unsuccessful attempts to
attack Mumbai in September
and October 2008.
“Sajid Mir told me the plan
failed twice. The first attempt in
September 2008 failed when the
boat hit a rock in the ocean. The
people were saved by the life
jackets but the weapons and
ammunition were lost and the
boat disintegrated. However,
the ten terrorists made it to
shore and returned to Pakistan.”
Asked how many terrorists were
involved in the first and second
failed attempts, Headley said:
“The same group of ten people
was involved in both unsuccessful attempts and the 26/11
attacks.”
Asked who the head of
LeT was, Headley responded:
“Hafiz Saeed”. The SPP showed
him a photograph which
Headley correctly identified as
that of Hafiz Saeed. Asked if LeT
was a militant organisation,
Headley replied in the affirmative. Later, talking to reporters,
Nikam said: “Headley’s deposition has clearly established that
there is a close nexus between
ISI and LeT. He is sticking to the
terms and conditions that were
agreed to between India and the
US Government.”
Asked if the deposition
could be used to mount pressure
on Pakistan to act against masterminds and handlers of the
26/11 attacks, Nikam said: “It is
for the Indian Government to
decide. My effort will be to bring
the truth out”. Earlier, Headley
told the court that he underwent
five to six training courses in
LeT camps for about two years.
“Daura-e-Suffa is a study course
and is held in Muridke in
Lahore while Daura-e-Aam is a
preliminary military training
course held in Muzaffarabad in
Pakistan Occupied Kashmir. In
Daura-e-Khas, which is an
advanced training, I was taught
to handle weapons, explosives
and ammunition,” the LeT operative said. He was also given
‘Daura-e-Ribat’ training, an
Intelligence course in which
setting up of safe houses and
reconnaissance are taught in
Mansera, 40 miles from
Abbottabad, Pakistan. Headley
said he underwent a leadership
training course under Hafiz
Saeed and Lakhvi and identified
his trainers as Abu Furkhan,
Sanaullah, Abu Hamzala, Abu
Usman, Abu Saeed and Abu
Fahdullah.
SUSPENDED FOR 11...
Officers posted with the
Establishment Branch of the
Delhi Police Headquarters confirmed that the dismissal orders
of Farrooqui have been received.
He was dismissed just two days
before was to retire from service.
Farrooqui, a former student of
Aligarh Muslim University, had
joined Delhi Police on May 5,
1978 as an Assistant
Commissioner of Police. His last
posting with the Delhi Police
was as DCP of Supreme Court
security.
Farrooqui’s troubles began
after the anti-corruption unit of
CBI raided his office and official accommodation on April 6,
2005. The CBI during the raid
had then claimed to have found
wealth that was beyond the officer’s known sources of income.
The probe agency had said that
Farrooqui owned a commercial
complex in Batla House and a
flat at Mayur Vihar in East
Delhi. The commercial complex
measuring 1,355 square yards
was estimated to cost lakhs of
rupees.
Farrooqui had been kept
under watch by the CBI for his
dubious activities and the
agency had conducted the raids
after it gathered enough evidence against him. A case of
possessing assets disproportionate to his known source of
income was registered against
him and his wife. As a matter of
record, Farrooqui had headed
the Delhi Armed Police battalion and was subsequently posted as Principal of the Police
Training College (PTC). He
had also served with the ACB as
DCP in the year 2000.
TRAI DEALS FB...
When asked about telecom
operators providing their own
applications or services like
music, movie applications at discounted or reduced rates to their
subscribers, Sharma said, “Let’s
not talk about specific product
or services. Anything available
on Internet should not be priced
indiscriminately.”
If a service is being sold on
the Internet at a price or free
then it should be accessible for
subscribers across all telecom
networks without any differentiation or discrimination in the
price, it added. The regulator
will review this regulation after
two years or any earlier date
which it may consider fit.
“Two years is a big time in
technology space. Review is a
very natural process. We have
provision to review in other regulations as well,” Sharma said. A
debate on net neutrality stirred
across the country after Airtel
decided to charge separately for
Internet-based calls in
December 2014 but withdrew it
later after people protested. The
debate heated up after Airtel
launched free Internet platform
Airtel Zero and later Facebook
also launched its Internet.Org
platform, renamed as Free
Basics.
Talking about difference of
prices on the basis of Internet
speed like 2G, 3G and 4G,
Sharma said that Trai is discussing the same under draft
direction to service providers for
delivering broadband services in
a transparent manner.
The speed of Internet is
essential for accessing online
videos, music and even for
making Internet-based calls
technically known as VoIP calls.
This is the first ever regulation
from TRAI which saw record
participating of 24 lakh people
during the consultation round.
Facebook claimed that the number of comments in support of
Free Basics to be more than 1.35
crore as against TRAI’s official
figure of around 24 lakh. “The
concept of differential pricing
inherently recognises the economic principle of paying differently for different levels of
service and experience like the
differential pricing for the 2nd
class, 1st AC, sleeper class, etc
based on different experiences
and service levels. Facebook
launched aggressive campaign
to defend its Free Basics platform and advocated that zero
rating plans can lead to increase
in Internet adoption at no cost
to the Government, the content
provider or the consumers. It
was available in India only on
Reliance Communications network but the same was put on
hold after TRAI’s order. “Plans
which are active in market,
though may be in contravention
of this regulation, have been
allowed to continue for six
months of their subscription.
While framing this regulation,
we kept in mind consumer
protection,” Sharma said. The
Indian IT Industry through
Nasscom, Internet firms though
IAMAI and many similar
forums have opposed differential pricing of data or zero rating platforms. IAMAI members
include Google, Facebook,
LinkedIn etc.
BODY OF SOLDIER...
Meanwhile, a new camp
has been established at the location to coordinate the rescue
efforts as well as to continue vigil
in the sensitive area. According
to Defence spokesman, the rescue teams are facing frequent
snow blizzards, extreme freezing temperatures, and low visibility apart from the effects of
rarefied atmosphere in such
high altitude. He said the teams
are working round-the-clock
and observing all precautions
since the unstable ice and snow
in the region could trigger fresh
avalanches. Rescue efforts will
continue till all our soldiers are
found, he added.
money 11
We are looking at coming out
with 2-4 GW of solar power
tenders. This will lead to
economies of scale as large
players will come as well as
large capital
UNION MINISTER
PIYUSH GOYAL
BUZZ
FROM
GOVT & CORP
We are seeing a soft start to the year in
banking and financial services, primarily
due to macroeconomic concerns, and in
healthcare on the back of the industry
consolidation in the payer industry.
Because of this reason and based on our
current pipeline, we think we will end the
year within this range
COGNIZANT PRESIDENT GORDON COBURN
Indian economy to grow at 7.6% in FY16 Sensex down 330 points
PNS n NEW DELHI
ountr y’s economy is
expected to record a fiveyear high growth rate of 7.6
per cent in 2015-16 overtaking slowing China on the
back of improved performance in manufacturing and
farm sectors.
Gross domestic product
(GDP) will expand by 7.6 per
cent in 2015-16 compared
with 7.2 per cent a year earlier, according to the Central
Statistics Office (CSO). The
previous high at 8.9 per cent
was recorded in 2010-11.
China grew 6.9 per cent in
2015 while Russia contracted
3.7 per cent. Brazil is forecast
to shrink 3.7 per cent.
However, India’s GDP
growth slowed to 7.3 per cent
in October-December, from
the revised 7.7 per cent of the
previous quarter. It, however
bettered the 6.6 per cent in the
same period of the last fiscal.
On the GDP data,
Economic Affairs Secretary
Shaktikanta Das said: “The
direction of the numbers is
very positive. The policy and
reform
measure
the
Government has undertaken
in last one and a half years are
beginning to show results.”
The economic growth
projection of 7.6 per cent for
C
the current fiscal by CSO has
surpassed the estimates of the
Finance Ministry, Reserve
Bank and other multilateral
agencies.
The CSO’s estimate is
higher than the Finance
Ministry’s mid-year economic analysis, which projected a
growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent
for the current fiscal. It is also
higher than 7.4 per cent estimated by the Reserve Bank of
India.
IMF has projected India’s
growth at 7.3 per cent while
Asian Development Bank
expected India’s GDP to
expand at 7.4 per cent in
2015-16. Moody’s Investors
Service has put the corresponding figure at 7 per cent
for this fiscal.
“Going ahead, we hope to
see a continued momentum
on the reforms front. We look
forward to the Union Budget
giving a positive direction to
the economy. The focus
should clearly be on introducing measures to further
boost domestic investments
and demand,” Ficci Secretary
General A Didar Singh said.
The real Gross Value
Added (GVA), a new concept
introduced by CSO to measure economic growth, is projected at 7.3 per cent in this
fiscal against 7.1 per cent in
Apple needs to apply
afresh for single brand retail
NEW DELHI: Apple, the maker
of popular iPad and iPhone
devices, will have to submit a
fresh application for opening
single brand retail stores in
the country, as certain gaps
have been found in the initial
proposal.
The Depar tment of
Industrial Polic y and
Promotion (DIPP) has
explained the gaps to the
company and wants them to
submit a fresh application,
seeking more information on
their proposal for further
processing, according to
sources.
Last month, the company
had filed its proposal seeking
permission for single brand
retailing and sell its products
online.
Apple had not mentioned
the amount of investment
and number of stores it wants
to open.
PTI
Gold zooms to `27,875 per 10 gms;
silver regains `36K mark
New Delhi (PTI): Gold prices surged by `175 to `27,875
per 10 grams at the bullion market on Monday on persistent
buying by jewellers, driven by rising wedding season demand
even as the metal weakened overseas. Silver also regained the
`36,000-mark by rising `250 to `36,050 per kg on increased
offtake by industrial units and coin makers.
Marketmen said increased buying by jewellers and retail
customers to meet the ongoing wedding season demand kept
the precious metals higher.
However, a weak global trend where gold fell from the highest level since October after the US jobless rate slid to a 2008
low and hourly earnings rose more than estimated, bolstering
the case for the Federal Reserve to tighten the monetary policy, restricted the gains. Globally, gold lost 0.8 per cent to USD
1,164.50 an ounce in Singapore.
In the national capital, gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per cent purity surged further by `175 each to `27,875 and `27,725 per ten
grams respectively. Sovereign went up by `100 to `22,700 per
piece of eight grams. Silver ready also rose by `250 to `36,050
per kg and weekly-based delivery by `285 to `36,090 per kg.
However, silver coins continued to be traded at previous level
of `52,000 for buying and `53,000 for selling of 100 pieces.
ICC seeks financial
package for steel sector
New Delhi (PTI): Faced with a difficult business environment in
global as well as domestic market, including cheap imports, the
steel sector has sought a financial package from the government,
industry body ICC has said. In a letter to Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley, it has also suggested establishing a financial institution, along
the lines of Power Finance Corporation, for taking over the debts
of steel companies from banks. The steel sector is passing through
a difficult phase due to factors such as unavailability of key steelmaking raw materials like ore in the absence of grant of leases and
cancellation of coal blocks, said the Indian Chamber of Commerce.
Its problems have compounded due to “non-availability and
unviable prices for iron ore as a result of closure of various mines
due to Shah Commission investigation on illegal mining since 2010”
and “sharp depreciation in Russian rouble, combined with
Chinese over capacity and sharp increase in exports” resulting in
over supply from China and Russia.
ICC Director General Rajeev Singh in the letter said: “Due
to FTAs with Japan & Korea, steel is being imported at import
duty of below 2.5 per cent which does not even take care of the
higher interest costs and logistics costs including infrastructure
bottlenecks.” Under the circumstances the margins of steel companies are not sufficient to service interest cost and loan repayment as they are running at low capacity. The letter says that
while RBI has been tightening its norms on restructuring of loans
and any restructuring of loan makes the account classification
as NPA, banks are not restructuring the loans to avoid NPA and
invoking SDR in steel companies.
2014-15.
The manufacturing sector
is estimated to grow at 9.5 per
cent in 2015-16, up from 5.5
per cent a year ago.
Similarly, in case of agriculture sector, the growth has
been projected at 1.1 per cent
as against a decline of 0.2 per
cent in year-ago period. The
growth of mining and quarrying sector, electricity and
power supply and other services is likely to witness deceleration during the current
financial year.
Referring to the deceleration in GDP growth in the
third quarter, Assocham
President Sunil Kanoria said,
“Government should also take
proactive policy measures in
the upcoming Budget, specifically focused on agriculture,
infrastructure sector, steel,
banking and financial sectors, among others, to revive
the economy.”
According to the data, the
GVA grew at 7.1 per cent in
third quarter of this fiscal
compared to 6.7 per cent in
the same period a year ago.
The GVA for the farm sector contracted one per cent in
October-December quarter
compared to decline of 2.4 per
cent in the same period a year
ago.
However, the GVA for
manufacturing sector grew at
12.6 per cent in the third
quarter as against a growth of
1.7 per cent in the same three
month period a year ago.
Similarly, the GVA for
mining and quarrying sector
grew at 6.5 per cent in the
quarter under review compared to 9.1 per cent growth
in same period a year ago.
The GVA growth for electricity, gas, water supply and
other utility services too
slowed down to 6 per cent
from 8.8 per cent in same
quarter a year ago.
The GVA for construction
grew at 4 per cent in the quarter compared to 4.9 per cent
in same period in 2014-15.
However, the GVA for
trade, hotels, transport, communication and services related to broadcasting grew at
10.1 per cent in third quarter
compared to 6.2 per cent in
the same period a year ago.
Financial, real estate and
professional services grew at
9.9 per cent in third quarter
this fiscal compared to 12.1
per cent a year ago.
Public administration,
defence and other services
grew at 7.5 per cent in the
three month period compared
to 25.3 per cent a year ago.
CSO estimated that the
per capita income in real
terms (at 2011-12 prices)
during 2015-16 is likely to
attain a level of `77,431 as
compared to `72,889 for
2014-15.
The growth rate in per
capita income is estimated at
6.2 per cent during 2015-16
as against 5.8 per cent in the
previous year.
Gro s s Fi xe d C apit a l
Formation (GFCF), a barometer of investment, is estimated at `39.82 lakh crore at
current prices in 2015-16 as
against `38.44 lakh crore in
2014-15.
At constant (2011-12)
prices, the GFCF is estimated at `35.88 lakh crore in
2015-16 as against `34.08
lakh crore in 2014-15.
In terms of GDP, the
rates of GFCF at current
and c onst ant ( 2 0 1 1 - 1 2 )
prices during 2015-16 are
estimated at 29.4 per cent
and 31.6 per cent as against
the corresponding rates of
30.8 per cent and 32.3 per
cent, respectively in 2014-15.
The GFCF is expected to
register growth rate of 3.6
per cent at current prices and
5.3 per cent at constant
prices.
The rate of expenditure
on valuables at current prices
is same as 1.5 per cent in
2015-16 and 2014-15.
PNS n MUMBAI
arket snapped a two days
rally on Monday as
M
Sensex plunged by 330 points
to 24,287.42 ahead of the
release of GDP numbers for the
third quarter as selling pressure
intensified in the second half of
the session on bearish
European cues.
The BSE barometer, which
opened on a flat note, remained
sideways for most part of the
session awaiting quarterly GDP
numbers, but sank heavily on
weak opening in European
shares.
Most markets in Asia,
including China and Hong
Kong, were closed for the
Lunar New Year holiday.
“Continuous fall in oil
prices and slowdown in China
is impacting global markets as
well as India. European market
has reacted negatively on disinflation concerns,” said Vinod
Nair, Head-Fundamental
Research of Geojit BNP
Paribas.
Moreover, the rupee depreciated by as much as 30 paise
against the American currency.
The BSE Sensex resumed
higher at 24,637.41 and firmed
up further to a high of
24,698.95 on early buying in
view of good foreign capital
inflows. However, it dropped
Post Brezza, MSI engineers to
lead development of 3-4 products
NEW DELHI: Maruti Suzuki India
(MSI) is looking at its engineers
to take lead in the development of
at least three to four models, out
of 15 new vehicles to be launched
in the country by 2020, along the
lines of its new compact SUV
Vitara Brezza.
The move is part of Suzuki
Motor Corporation’s (SMC) vision
of MSI shouldering more responsibility in developing India-specific
products while the parent focuses on high-end technology,
according to sources.
“There could be three to
four models that would be developed with MSI engineers taking
the lead out of the 15 models
planned to be launched in India
by 2020. However, no final decision has been taken yet,” a source
said.
These products will, however, be developed on Suzuki
engines and platform and not
from the scratch, the source
added.
Cognizant Q4 net
grows 16.7% to $423.4m
NEW DELHI: The US-based IT
services firm Cognizant on
Monday posted a 16.7 per
cent rise in net profit at $423.4
million for the December
quarter, from $362.9 million
a year ago, helped by growth
in healthcare and North
America and Rest of World
(RoW) geographies.
The company, which has
a large part of its workforce
based in India, met its revenue
guidance at $3.23 billion in
the said quarter, up 17.9 per
cent from $2.74 billion in
October-December of 2014.
However, the management expects negligible
change in January-March of
2016 from the preceding
quarter and has forecast revenues to be in the range of
$3.18-3.24 billion.
For the entire 2016,
Cognizant expects to grow at
9.9-14.3 per cent, translating
into a revenue of $13.6514.20 billion.
While this is in line with
Indian IT industry body
Nasscom’s estimates of 10-12
per cent growth for 2016-17,
it is lower than its own 21 per
cent growth it clocked in
2015.
For 2015, Cognizant saw
net profit rising by 13.2 per
cent to $1.62 billion while revenues were up 21 per cent at
$12.42 billion.
PTI
“These will be like the Brezza,
which followed a unique development process with a special
focus on taste and values of
Indian customers,” according to
the source.
When contacted, a company
spokesperson declined to comment, saying “we do not comment
on our future product plans.”
The 15 new models to be
launched in the next five years in
India are to be mainly spread over
three key platforms, which will
together entail an investment of
$1 billion.
MSI Executive Director R&D, C V Raman lead the design
and development of the Vitara
Brezza, which was developed at
a total investment of `860 crore
with localisation level of 98 per
cent.
The model, that was unveiled
at the Auto Expo 2016, would be
launched in the market in the
coming weeks.
During his visit to India for
the Auto Expo, SMC President
and COO T Suzuki had stated
that the Japanese car major
expected its arm Maruti Suzuki
to shoulder more responsibility in
developing India-specific products.
“The main responsibility of
our Indian R&D is to develop
suitable products for the Indian
market. Maruti Suzuki will be
shouldering more and more
responsibility in this regard,” he
had said.
Suzuki had pointed out that
entry of other global players has
increased competition in India
and “we have to develop more
suitable products for the Indian
market”. Already, Maruti Suzuki
has been ramping up its design
and development capabilities
with an investment of `2,500
crore to set up its R&D centre at
Rohtak which boasts of a test
track, among others.
PTI
Govt may soon come out
with tenders for 2-4 GW solar power
PTI n BRISBANE
he Government is planning
to bring out large tenders for
T
producing 2-4 giga-watts (GW)
of solar power, Union Minister
Piyush Goyal said on Monday.
“We are looking at coming
out with 2-4 GW of solar power
tenders. This will lead to
economies of scale as large players will come as well as large capital...” Goyal told reporters on the
sidelines of the India-Australia
Energy Dialogue here.
The country’s grid-connected solar power generation
capacity has crossed the 5,000
MW mark.
The Government has set an
ambitious target of generating
100 GW of solar power by 202122 under the National Solar
Mission. It is envisaged to generate 60 GW ground mounted
grid-connected solar power and
40 GW roof-top grid interactive
solar power to meet the target.
The Power ministry has
also fixed year-wise targets to
monitor the solar power generation in the country. The target
for the current year is 2,000 MW
and 12,000 MW for the next
year.
The ministry is putting all
efforts through various Central
and State Governments schemes
to achieve the target.
It has also initiated several
schemes for development of
solar parks and ultra mega solar
power projects. Tenders for
around 18,000 MW of solar
projects are expected to be issued
by March 31, 2016.
The Power, Coal and
Renewable Energy Minister said
the tariffs for solar power can
come down by another 10 per
cent from the record low of Rs
4.34 per unit last month.
“When I first said that solar
power tariffs need to come
down, nobody believed me.
Now when they have come
down to record low they believe
me. But looking at the way auctions have gone, it can come
down by 10 per cent,” the minister said.
In November last year, the
solar power tariff had touched an
all-time low of `4.63 per unit fol-
lowing aggressive bidding by the
US-based SunEdison, the world’s
biggest developer of renewable
energy power plants.
Also, the Government will
encourage roof top solar projects
as well as come out with ways to
encourage farmers to start small
solar power projects, he added.
“I want to do something for
farmers and I am thinking of
ways to encourage them towards
solar power. This can also add to
their income. This is my dream,”
Goyal said.
He is heading a delegation of
senior officials for the India
Australia Energy Dialogue.
Industry body CII is also
leading a delegation to the fourday dialogue, which will witness
roundtable meetings between
the government of the two countries as well as businesses from
both sides on energy related
issues.
afterwards to 24,196.84 on fagend selling pressure on the back
of lower European cues, before
finishing at 24,287.42, showing
a loss of 329.55 points or 1.34
per cent.
This was the index’s biggest
single-day fall since January 20.
It had gained 393.65 points in
the last two sessions.
The NSE 50-share Nifty
also moved down by 101.65
points or 1.36 per cent to close
at 7,387.25 after moving in a
range of 7,512.55 to 7,363.20.
Steel stocks extended gains
registered in the previous session after the government set a
floor price or minimum import
price (MIP) for import of a
total of 173 steel products in a
bid to restrict cheap steel
imports which has adversely
affected the domestic steel
industry.
Bhushan Steel surged by up
6.28 per cent, JSW Steel ended
0.99 per cent higher, while
Tata Steel gained 0.19 per cent.
Shares of Jet Airways rallied by 4 per cent after the airline reported a record profit of
`467.11 crore for the quarter
ended December 31, on the
back of lower input costs.
Overseas, Japan’s Nikkei
ended 1.1 per cent higher as
most regional markets
remained closed. However,
European markets traded
lower, extending last week’s
tumble. Key indexes in France,
Germany and the UK slumped
by up to 1.61 per cent. Back
home, 22 scrips out of the 30share Sensex pack endedlower.
Major losers were, Tata
Motors (3.94 pc), ITC (2.72
pc), ONGC (2.43 pc), Sun
Pharma (2.42 pc), TCS (2.36
pc), Wipro (2.25 pc), Infosys
(2.20 pc), HDFC (1.85 pc)
HDFC Bank (1.82 pc), HUL
(1.78 pct), M&M (1.63 pct),
Coal India (1.26 pct), Dr
Reddy’s (1.24 pct), NTPC (1.20
pct), Asian Paints (1.11 pct)
and RIL (1.10 pct).
However, Axis Bank
gained 2.38 per cent, followed
by SBI 2.29 per cent, Bharti
Airtel 1.27 per cent, Lupin 0.97
per cent and GAIL 0.59 per
cent.
Among the S&P BSE sectorial and industrials indices,
IT fell by 1.95 per cent, teck
(1.60 pc), oil&gas (1.48 pc),
energy (1.35 pc), FMGC (1.25
pc), auto (1.03 pc), healthcare
(0.99 pc), power (0.92 pc) and
metal (0.85 pc).
However, telecom, realty
and consumer durables were
the only sectors up by 0.78 per
cent, 0.37 per cent and 0.19 per
cent, respectively.
In broader markets, midcap and small-cap indices
ended 0.23 per cent and 0.02
per cent lower, respectively.
Tata Marcopolo Motors
declares lockout at Dharwad plant
NEW DELHI: Tata Motors today
said a lockout has been
declared at the Dharwad plant
of one of its subsidiaries, Tata
Marcopolo Motors, following
“illegal strike” by workmen
over wage negotiations.
The company said “workmen resorted to an illegal
strike, with mass absence on
January 31, 2016, compelling
the plant’s management to
resort to temporary suspension
of operations on February 1 to
ensure safety.”
“In view of continued deterioration of the situation and in
the absence of a congenial
working atmosphere, with a
continued threat to safety of
people and equipment, the
company declared a lock-out
from February 6,” a Tata
Motors spokesperson said in an
e-mailed response.
The company accused
workers of disruption and jeopardising its operations and reputation in spite of it “undertaking an upward wage revision
every year, even in adverse
market conditions.”
“Tata Marcopolo remains
committed to its well-established principles of strong and
cordial relationship with its
people, with fair, employeefriendly policies at all times, but
will not tolerate any indiscipline and coercive methods to
pressurise for unreasonable
demands,” the spokesperson
said.
The Tata Marcopolo plant
in Dharwad employs over
2,500 people and has the capacity to manufacture over 15,000
buses per annum.
The plant rolls out fullybuilt buses for intra-city and
inter-city transportation, including 16 to 54-seater standard
buses and 18 to 45-seater luxury and low-floor city buses. PTI
INBRIEF
SAMSUNG APPOINTS SRINI SUNDARARAJAN AS HEAD
OF NETWORK BUSINESS FOR SOUTHWEST ASIA
NEW DELHI: Samsung Electronics Co., Ltd. on Monday announced the
appointment of Srini Sundararajan as the Head of Network Business at
Samsung India Electronics Ltd (SIEL). Mr. Sundararajan will be in charge
of managing operations and further developing business opportunities of
Samsung’s mobile network business in Southwest Asia. Mr. Sundararajan
is a recognized leader in the industry for his immense knowledge of the
mobile network sector, with 30 years of experience in various jobs such as
R&D, product management. In his previous role, Mr. Sundararajan led
Alcatel-Lucent India and South Asia business, and contributed significantly
towards business profitability, market development and organizational
management.
SRF Q3 NET PROFIT UP 41% TO `101-CR
NEW DELHI: SRF Ltd, manufacturer of technical textiles, chemicals and
polymers, on Monday reported a 41 per cent jump in its consolidated net
profit to `101 crore for the third quarter ended December 2015. The
company had posted a net profit after taxes, minority interest and share of
profit of associates at `71.4 crore during the same quarter of the previous
fiscal. However, the net sales of the company declined to `1,097.37 crore
during the October-December quarter of 2015-16 from `1,113.15 crore in
the same period of the previous fiscal, SRF Ltd said in a statement.
RINFRA APPROVES RELIANCE CONCRETE MERGER
WITH ITSELF
NEW DELHI: Reliance Infrastructure (RInfra) on Monday said its board
has approved amalgamation of Reliance Concrete Pvt Ltd with itself.
Reliance Concrete Pvt Ltd is a step-down wholly-owned arm of
Reliance Infrastructure Limited (Rlnfra), the company said in a filing to
BSE. “The board of directors at its meeting on February 8, 2016 has
approved a Scheme of Amalgamation of Reliance Concrete Private
Limited, a step-down wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance
Infrastructure Limited (RInfra) with RInfra, subject to requisite
approvals,” the filing said. The filing further said Reliance Concrete has
not carried out any significant operations and thus, the scheme of
amalgamation is proposed with a view to “simplification of the group
structures and fulfillment of a condition precedent to the sale of shares
of Reliance Cement Company Pvt Ltd, the direct holding company of
the Transferor Company.”
money 12
{usp}
Maha aims `4 tn invts
at ‘Make in India’ week A
PSU banks write off 1.14L cr
bad debts during FY 2012-15
PNS n NEW DELHI
PTI n MUMBAI
aharashtra is targeting to
bag `4 trillion in investM
ments during the maiden 'Make
Prime Minister, Narendra Modi being presented a memento by Union Minister for Tribal Affairs, Jual Oram during Paradip
Refinery ceremony to the nation, in Odisha. Chief Minister of Odisha, Naveen Patnaik and Minister of State for Petroleum
and Natural Gas (Independent Charge), Dharmendra Pradhan are also seen.
in India' (MII) week to be held
in the country's financial capital from Saturday.
“We are targeting up to `4
lakh crore of investments
through the agreements,”
Maharashtra
Industrial
Development Corporation's
chief executive Bhushan
Gagrani told reporters on the
sidelines of a curtain-raiser
press conference for MII week.
He however declined to
outline more details like the sectors which will see the investment commitments or companies with whom the state
Government is negotiating.
Declining to quantify investments which his administration
is targeting, Chief Minister
Devendra Fadnavis said it will
be a ‘big number’, and added
that officials have been working
on stitching the agreements
for the last three months. He
said Memorandums of
Understanding are being signed
after full diligence and focus is
also being given to make sure
that the agreements translate
into actual investments on the
ground. He said the state will be
announcing five new policies
aimed at ease of doing business,
during the event.
Senior officials said these
include new frameworks for
retail, electronics, ports, backward classes (SC/ST) and single window clearances.
Maharashtra has been at the
forefront of industrial development in the country, but has
been facing competition from
others like Tamil Nadu, Gujarat,
Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka
and others.
The disparities in the state,
especially with backward
regions like Vidarbha,
Marathwada and North
Maharashtra have also attract-
ed flak from critics.
Over 1,000 business delegates from 60 countries, 2,500
domestic delegates, 192 companies and four heads of state
are expected at the maiden
MII week which will be inaugurated by Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on February 13.
A business forum organised by international news network CNN, and an award show
by Time Magazine for manufacturing is being held as part
of the week, Chief Secretary
Swadheen Kshatriya said.
Maharashtra will be having
a dedicated pavilion at the
venue, and will also have a session exclusively devoted for
the investment opportunities in
the state where industrialists
Ratan Tata and Mukesh
Ambani will be speaking, he
said. The state is focusing on
opportunities in the agro-processing and textiles sectors during the week, which will benefit the farmers, Fadnavis said.
whopping `1.14 lakh crore
of bad loans have been
written off by 27 public sector
banks (PSBs) during FY 201215, with the last fiscal alone witnessing a steep 53 per cent rise
in write-offs as part of the balance sheet clean-up.
For the fiscal ended March
2015, public sector banks have
written off loans amounting to
`52,542 crore, an increase of
52.6 per cent over the previous
fiscal, as per the RBI data.
About one-fifth of bad loans
was written off in 2014-15 as the
gross non-performing assets
(NPAs) at the end of March
2015 rose to `2,67,065 crore.
These 27 banks had written
off `34,409 crore in 2013-14
while `27,231 crore in 2012-13.
So in aggregate, a staggering
`1.14 lakh crore were written off
in the last three fiscals. For 201415, SBI topped the chart of PSBs
by writing off `21,313 crore followed by Punjab National Bank
`6,587 crore and Indian
Overseas Bank `3,131 crore.
Besides, Allahabad Bank's write-
off figure stood at `2,109 crore,
Central Bank of India `1,995
crore, IDBI Bank `1609 crore,
Bank of Baroda `1,564 crore,
Syndicate Bank `1,527 crore,
Canara Bank `1,472 crore and
Uco Bank `1,401 crore. PSU
banks have been witnessing a
continuous surge in bad loans.
As on September 2015, the
gross NPAs of PSBs have
increased to `3,00,743 crore as
against `2.67 lakh crore in
March 2015. Concerned over
mounting bad loans, RBI in
consultation with the government is working on methodologies to clean up balance
sheet of state-owned banks by
March 2017.
RBI Governor Raghuram
Rajan recently announced a
March 2017 deadline for banks
to clean up their balance sheets
which are plagued by high
incidence of bad assets. While
R ajan had assure d t hat
enough capital is available
for public sector banks, he
cautioned that some of the
banks may witness erosion of
profitability in the short run
due to cleaning of books.
Nepal, India to discuss ‘India consumer confidence rises since Aug’
trade & bilateral issues
One day training programme on safety and health for workmen was organized last month at TPS-II Expansion,
Neyveli. The contract workmen and departmental workmen in large numbers participated in the programme
which was conducted by Joint Director, R Rajasekaran, Industrial Safety & Health, Cuddalore Zone, Tamil Nadu.
The programme was inaugurated by S Sankaran, Chief General Manager/TPS-II & Expansion in the presence of
General Managers of TPS-II Expansion and TPS-II with large number of executives.
NEW DELHI: As India and
Nepal look to normalise ties
after months of tense relations, Finance Minister Arun
Jaitley on Monday discussed
bilateral trade and economic
issues with his Nepalese counterpart, Bishnu Prasad Paudel.
The meeting comes ahead of
Nepal Prime Minister KP Sharma
Oli's likely visit to India on
February 19, his first foreign
visit as the country's premier.
Jaitley, who also hosted a lunch for
Paudel, discussed bilateral economic ties with a view to boosting trade between the two coun-
tries, official sources said. India's
assistance to Nepal for reconstruction after the devastating
April earthquake also came up for
discussion. India had extended $1
billion in assistance at a donors'
conference in Kathmandu in
June. Also, Nepal is facing an acute
shortage of cooking gas LPG, fuel,
medicines and other essential
goods as key border trade points
with India have been blocked for
five months due to the Madhesi
agitation. Paudel, who is on a twoday visit to India, had on Sunday
met External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj.
PNS
NEW DELHI: Consumer sentiments in India
rose for the first time in the last four months by
1.2 per cent to 109.8 in January as households
have been relatively upbeat about the purchasing environment, says a Deutsche Borse report.
The MNI India Consumer Sentiment Indicator
fell for four consecutive months since September
to 108.5 in December on the back of deterioration in personal finances amid rising inflation.
While sentiment remains above the 100 level,
meaning optimists still outnumber pessimists, it
has fallen 8.8 per cent over the past year.
“Following four consecutive declines in headline
sentiment, the latest survey provides a tentative
sign of stabilisation,” the report said.
Despite wavering confidence in household
finances, prices and the general economy, households have been relatively upbeat about the purchasing environment, it added.
“This was the first increase in the MNI India
Consumer Sentiment Indicator since August last
year and in that respect it is most welcome,” MNI
Indicators Chief Economist Philip Uglow said.
“While more positive views on buying conditions would usually point to higher consumer
spending ahead, it sits against a backdrop of weak
and still falling sentiment on personal finances
and the current business environment,” he said.
The report further noted that when asked about
the status of the job market since the Narendra
Modi-led NDA Government came to power, 32.6
per cent respondents were uncertain about the
impact of the government's policies on the job
market, while 27.6 per cent said that there had
been no change in the employment market.
However, it said, about a quarter of respondents thought that the job market had improved,
with a mention of the ‘Make in India’ programme.
There was also 14.4 respondents who thought that
it had worsened. Moreover, there was a drop in
confidence in household finances, with current
measure falling to record low.
PNS
Some positives that have emerged from Pathankot terrorist attack
IDBI Bank organised a Customer Meet in New Delhi recently. The purpose of the meet was to interact with different cross
sections of retail customers for identifying action points to further upgrade the customer service. Executive Director, Viney
Kumar, Chief Customer Service Officer, J Ramesh, CGM in-charge of Customer Service, Ranjana Paranjape, and Zonal Head,
Rajeev Kumar, addressed and interacted with the participants. The meeting was well attended by about 75 customers.
Director (Personal), Ravi P Singh along with GM (CC), Chetan Varma, have felicitated Naresh Kumar, Asst GM
(Corporate Communications) on being bestowed with prestigious Hall of Fame Award by Public Relation Council of India
recently in Kolkata. Officials of Corporate Communications Department were also present during felicitation.
Leocadia I Zak, Director, US Trade and Development Agency (USTDA) inaugurating Tata Power Delhi Distribution's Smart
Grid Lab in the presence of and CEO & MD, Praveer Sinha, Tata Power Delhi Distribution.
IAS, Secretary, Department of Public Enterprises (DPE), Ameising Luikham, asked for more vigorous efforts
towards utilization of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) funds in judicious manner while inaugurating the
Workshop. He told that PSEs have to work within the ambit of Companies Act 2013 and the Guidelines of the
Government to undertake CSR activity. Director General, SCOPE, UD Choubey, highlighted the excellent work
done by PSEs for corporate social sector which is a matter of paramount importance providing intangible
benefits to corporate sector, sometimes even better than technology and patent. Madhukar Gupta, IAS,
Additional Secretary, DPE and a galaxy of CPSEs representatives at top level participated in the Workshop.
The 7th batch of MFPU (Male Formed Police Unit)
was on Monday given a grand send off in a
function. The contingent is headed for Liberia
(West Africa) as part of UN Mission in Liberia
(UNMIL). DG of CRPF, Prakash Mishra, was the
Chief Guest on this occasion. Led by
Commandant, Ravindra Bhagat, the 120 strong
contingent of 7 Gazetted officers, 9 Subordinate
Officers and 104 Other Ranks. The main duties of
the MFPU are to provide back up to the Special
Security Service and Liberian National Police for
securing Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which is the
office complex of the President of Liberia. It also
conducts operations jointly with the Armed Forces
of the UN Mission, UNPOL and Liberian National
Police. The Welcome address was delivered by KS
Bhandari, IG RAF. Speaking on the occasion,
Prakash Mishra, DG congratulated the contingent
on being selected to represent the country and
advised them to be role models for the nation.
BY DR RAJESHWAR SINGH
errorism and Drug
Smuggling are Siamese
T
twins. Although both look in different directions, they move
together in one direction. They
support each other, they help
sustain and strengthen each
other andproceed with singleminded determination to move
towards their goal.
In Punjab, their target is just
one: Bleed India. This truism was
once again displayed beyond any
doubt in the recent Fidayeen
attack on the strategic air base in
Pathankot. Just as the dawn was
struggling to welcome the New
Year in the blood-curdling cold,
a sinister, well-armed, welltrained and highly motivated suicide-hugging Fidayeen gang
sneaked into the Pathankot air
base, which housed, besides several ‘vital assets’, 10,000 family
members of air force personnel.
The ease with which the
Fidayeen could move in
Pathankot and commandeer the
vehicle of the district superintendent of police also speaks volumes of the collusion and deeprooted criminal nexus between
drug smugglers and the
Pathankot police. While this
nexus is well-known and needs
to be somehow broken-easier
said than done-it is not confined
to Pathankot only but has its tentacles all over Punjab. Drugs are
doing more damage to the youth
and future of Punjab (and India)
than terrorist bullets.
Although ill-informed
media men and so-called
‘experts’ started tearing into the
Indian response to the Fidayeen
strike, their self conceit blinded
them to the several positives that
were exhibited by the Indian air
force and counter-terrorist
machinery that existed on the
ground at the air base. When
talking about any terrorist strike
and the response of the counterterrorism machinery, the fact
that the 'element of surprise' is
always with the terrorists has
necessarily to be kept in mind.
After every terrorist strike, the
post-mortem that is doe in the
entire media, specially in TV
debates, just does nottake into
account this 'element of surprise'.
Naturally, this gives rise to a lot
of misinformation being disseminated.
My intention is not to run
down anybody or any thesis
about terrorist strikes, it is my
humble endeavour to give a few
valuable tips to whosoever
speaks, writes and discusses on
TV suicide attacks. Urban terrorism is now a fact of life ans we
have tio live with it. The dynamics and mechanics of terrorism
are such that terrorist strikes will
continue to take place, despite
best precautionary measures.
They just cannot be avoided as
it is the job of terrorists to keep
the pot boiling. The efficacy and
effectiveness of our law enforcement agencies can be gauged
only from the time it takes them
to"neutralize" the attackers without substantial "collateral" damage. A lot of misconceptions and
myths get circulated when all and
sundrystart condemning the
anti-terrorism machinery without taking hard realities into
account.
The same was the case with
the Pathankot air base attacks in
which 7 innocent lives were
lost. These deaths need to be
condoled but what emerged
crystal clear was the ‘quick
response’ by the Defence Security
Corps personnel.
It showed beyond any reasonabledoubt that even at that
unearthly hour when the
Fidayeen struck, the reflex action
of DSC Jawan was A-grade.
India should be proud of
suchalert and brave officers and
men. It showed that India has
learnt itslessons in teaching
Fidayeen a lesson of their lives.
Some of the myths that got
circulated after the Pathankot
strike were:
(MYTH 1) The casualties
were very high.
FACT: (a) Only one Air
Force Guard Commando was
killed in direct combat with the
terrorists; (b) In keeping with the
highest traditions of the Indian
armed forces, whose officers
lead from the front, one NSG
officer who died was actually
accidental in nature. He died
while defusing an explosive
device;(c) the bulk of the casualties-five in all-occurred in the
'langar' (cook house) of the DSC
Lines located near the outer
perimeter wall of there air base.
Though unfortunate, the five
DSC Jawan died when they
were not on sentry duty. They
were actually off duty. Hence, the
casualties can in no way be
described as very high. In fact,
they were minimal.
(MYTH 2) Why did it take
so much time to terminate the
operation?
FACT: The aim was to keep
own casualties minimal. No
casualty occurred, except that of
the NSG officer who died accidently while defusing an explosive device, and the deaths in the
'langer' in the first fewminutes,
there was no casualty after contact was established with theterrorists.
The operation was neutralize the Fidayeen was done in a
very deliberate and meticulous
manner to firstly avoid "collateral" damage in terms of own
troops and vital assets like
buildings and airplanes.
The operation was deliberately slowed down so that the
type of weapons and firepower
used by the Fidayeen could be
calibrated andeffectively countered. Further, priority was
accorded to cutting off all escape
routes that the Fidayeen could
take as the final aim was to catch
them alive.
These orders had been given
by the topmost officer supervising the operation, who was
none other than the National
Security Adviser tothe Prime
Minister.
Mr Doval, a hard-bpoiled
Intelligence officer. Critics who
were raising a hue and cry over
why it took so long to end the
operation even when the
Fidayeen were not many in
number probably did not know
that the air base is spread over
2,000 acres.
Naturally,the search and
combing operations took a long
time as they aredeliberately
done very slowly and meticulously, avoiding all kinds ofbooby traps.
That the actual engagement
(fire-fight) with the terrorists
was actually for just 11 hours
speaks volumes of the clinical
manner in which this operation
was carried out. In fact, it
denotes a welcomestep forward
in the war against terror.
Hence, by no stretch of
imagination can it be said that
the operation was either prolonged or took too long to terminate. The air base security
staff need to becongratulated for
securing all the valuable assets
which were actually air borne
within minutes of the sudden
attack. This fact is not knownto many.
(MYTH 3): Why was it
announced on the very first day
that the operation was over?
FACT: The two terrorists
were holed-up inside a building
and they just could not move out
or carry out any of their sinister designs as anair-tight cordon
had been thrown around them.
This encounter site was so tightly secured that the Fidayeen had
no options but to either die or
surrender.
They were finally neutralized on January 3. Hence, the
operation, in a practical way of
speaking, was actually over on
the first day itself. Buty it was not
called off as search and combing continued. It was the media
which hyped it. Mopping up
operationcontinued for a few
days more.
(MYTH 4 ): Why were the
Army's Special Forces not
employed?
FACT: This was a blatant
canard as the Special Forces were
kept in readiness to move in any
moment in case the need arose
not just at the air base but at
other military installations in
entire Pathankot district.
(MYTH 5): Even when
there was advance information
about the Fidayeen attack, how
could they enter the air base?
FACT: Security personnel
were deployed to protect vital
installations and assets in and
around Pathankot, which has
the distinction of being the
largest cantonment in Asia and
has several military installations.
Further, due to the tactical
situation-- the exact location of
the Fidayeen was not known nor
was it certain whether they had
already entered the air base-it
was decided to first secure the
vital assets and 10,000 civilians
and dependents of air force
personnel present at the air
base. Due to this significant factor and criticality of time,it
would have been counter-productive to first secure the 25kilometrelong outer parameter.
Hence, the main consideration
was on securing the aircrafts,
radars, anti-aircraft batteries.
Ammunition/POL dumps, etc.
This strategy greatly helped in
countering and containing the
Fidayeen.
(MYTH 6): There was no
Centralised decision-making
apparatus and also there was
lack of synergy on the ground.
FACT: Nothing could be
farther from truth than alleging
that there was no Centralised
decision-making and no synergy on the ground. Little knowledge is always dangerous and it
was this lack of knowledge that
prompted some critics to make
this allegation and assumption.
The sudden Fidayeen attack
would have taken a different
shape if time was wasted in convening meetings of the Cabinet
Committee on Security and the
National Crisis Management
Committee of the Union
Cabinet.
The criticism that there was
no Centralised action or synergy on the ground is most
unwarranted. An accurate reading of the situation and analysis
of the intelligence inputs led to
the pre-positioning of specialised forces on the ground to
deal with the emerging threat
andsituation.
On the ground itself, complete synergy among the forces
was seen. Exemplary coordination was also on display which
helped the security forces choose
the firepower and type of
resources to deal with theevolving tactical picture and requirements. Minute-by-minute
reports were sent to the National
Security Adviser, Mr. Doval,
who, in turn, kept the members
of the CCS duly informed.
(MYTH 7): Why was the
Army not involved in the entire
operation?
FACT: Nothing could be
farther from the truth than this
unwarranted criticism Perhaps
lack of knowledge led to this
allegation beingleveled. The real
picture is:
✮Infantry columns played
a leading and vital role in the
operation - maintaining a tight
inner and outer cordon, providing fire support to the strike
elements of the NSG, carrying
out search and areasanitization
operations inside the air base.
✮Army columns were
mobilized on 01.01.2016 itself,
well before the first contact was
established with the terrorists at
03.30 hours on 02.01.2016. Since
the afternoon of 01.01.2016,
Army columns were assisting
the local police in strengthening
nakas and beefing upsecurity at
the air base.
✮The first persons to be
involved in formulating the
strategy after news of the sudden
attack reached the NSA were the
Army Chief and the Air Chief
who initiated the necessary
actions. Both were present in the
first meeting called by the NSA
at 1500 hours on 01.01.2016).
✮ Lt. Gen. KJ Singh, GOCin-C, Western Command was in
overall commandof the operation.
✮ The NSG contingent
present at the air base consisted
of 320specially selected and
trained Army soldiers from the
Special Action Group (SAG) component of the NSG and
Special Forces units.
The counter terrorism and
counter hijack task force of the
NSG was led by Maj. Gen.
Dushyant
Singh,
IG
(Operations), NSG, himself an
Infantryofficer, who only recently relinquished command of an
Infantrydivision in Jammu (and
hence was intricately familiar
with the general modus operandi of Fidayeen terrorists).
✮ The Army had deployed
9 Infantry columns (70 soldiers
in eachcolumn) in addition to
bomb disposal squads, engineering, medical element and
casspier mine / armour protection vehicles.
Since we Indians will have
to live and suffer terrorist
strikes by ultras of all hues, we
would do well to do our
homework and collectall
details before jumping in
front of TV cameras and air
all kinds of misinformation
and lies about terrorist attacks
as such utterances only go to
help the terrorists, who need
condemnation and not theforces fighting them at great
risk to their life and limb..
(Dr Rajeshwar Singh,
Formerly Police Officer of
Uttar Pradesh Govt, is currently Deputy Director of
Directorate of Enforcement).
world 13
LUCKNOW | TUESDAY | FEBRUARY 9 | 2016
Pak behind rise of int’l
jihadi forces: Report
PTI n WASHINGTON
akistan’s powerful intelligence service has long acted
P
as the “manager” of international jihadi forces and it may
have been involved in the rise
of the ISIS, a leading US daily
said, in a stinging commentary
on Pakistan’s “intervention” in
a number of foreign conflicts.
Underlining that experts have
found “a lot of evidence” that
Pakistan facilitated the Taliban
offensive, an op-ed in the New
York Times said, “This behaviour is not just an issue for
Afghanistan. Pakistan is intervening in a number of foreign
conflicts.”
“Its intelligence service has
long acted as the manager of
international mujahedeen
forces, many of them Sunni
extremists, and there is even
speculation that it may have
Islamic State militants during a parade in Syria.
been involved in the rise of the
Islamic State.” It said that
File Photo
though Pakistan denies harbouring the Taliban and al-
Qaida, and points out that it,
too, is a victim of terrorism,
“many analysts have detailed
how the military has nurtured
Islamist militant groups as an
instrument to suppress nationalist movements, in particular
among the Pashtun minority, at
home and abroad.” “Pakistan
regards Afghanistan as its backyard. Determined not to let its
archrival, India, gain influence
there, and to ensure that
Afghanistan remains in the
Sunni Islamist camp, Pakistan
has used the Taliban selectively, promoting those who further its agenda and cracking
down on those who don’t.
The same goes for al-Qaida
and other foreign fighters,”
wrote Carlotta Gall, the North
Africa correspondent for the
NYT. It said there are reports
that Pakistan had a role in the
rise of the Islamic State.
Three soldiers Madhesis call off protest, end
killed in attack Indo-Nepal border blockade
on Afghanistan
epal’s agitating Madhesis
army bus
on Monday called off their
N
nearly five-month long blockPTI n WASHINGTON
PTI n MAZAR -I-SHARIF / AF
Taliban suicide bomber
threw himself against a
bus carrying Afghan soldiers in
the north of the country on
Monday and killed three of
them, officials said. The incident in Balkh province comes
as the militant group steps up
attacks across the country in
the fifteenth year of its insurgency against the Westernbacked government in Kabul.
The defence ministry said three
soldiers died and eight were
wounded in the blast, which
occurred in a relatively stable
region. A spokesman for the
provincial governor, Munir
Ahmad Farhad, said the
bomber ran towards the bus as
it slowed down for a speed
bump in Dehdadi, a district
close to the provincial capital
Mazar-i-Sharif. The Taliban,
whose hardline regime was
toppled by a US- led coalition
in 2001, later claimed responsibility. The group have stepped
up their campaign against government and foreign targets in
Afghanistan this winter, when
fighting usually abates, underscoring a worsening security
situation.
A
ade at the Indo- Nepal border,
bringing relief to the country
suffering severe shortages of
fuel, medicine and other supplies due to the protests against
a
new
Constitution.
“Considering the current crisis
facing the nation and the public necessity and aspirations, the
ongoing protest programmes of
general strike, border blockade, government office shutdown have been called off for
now,” said a statement issued
after the meeting of United
Democratic Madhesi Front
leaders. “The agitation will
continue till our demands are
addressed,” the statement
added.The announcement to
end the border blockade comes
ahead of Prime Minister K P
Oli’s trip to India on February
19, the first overseas visit of the
new Nepalese premier. The
UDMF has announced only
three protest programmes
including a torch rally, a lathi
rally and a people’s vote collection campaign in district
headquarters. Nepal’s Madhesi
community, largely of Indian
origin, are opposed to the new
Constitution that divides their
ancestral homeland under the
seven-province structure and
have led an ongoing blockade
of key border trade points with
India.
The agitating community
that shares strong cultural and
family bonds with India is
demanding demarcation of
provinces, fixing of electoral
constituencies on the basis of
population and proportional
representation, and have
launched a protest for months
that has claimed at least 55
lives. The agitation by
Madhesis in Terai region bordering India paralysed services in Nepal and triggered
huge shortage of essential supplies, including fuel and medicines, as theprotesters blocked
all border trade points between
the two countries. Except the
Raxaul-Birgunj border point,
trade has resumed at all other
posts. The Raxaul-Birgunj
point was opened briefly a
couple of days ago, but it was
closed again. The blockade led
to strain in the bilateral ties,
with Kathmandu accusing New
Delhi of imposing an “unofficial blockade”. However, India
maintains that it has imposed
no such blockade, and the
restrictions are a result of security concerns as Madhesis are
protestingthe new Constitution
in the Terai region of Nepal
bordering India.
The UDMF leaders also
noted that the comments made
by Sadbhawana Party
Chairman Rajendra Mahato, a
key leader of the agitating
alliance, have dealt a blow to
the Madhes agitation.
Jihadi John’s
‘Beatles’ gang
unmasked
London: British accomplices of
slain Islamic State (IS) terrorist executioner “Jihadi John”
were unmasked on Monday as
Londoners who formed part of
a so-called “Beatles” terror
gang. Mohammed Emwazi
became known as “John” in reference to John Lennon, lead
singer of the iconic British
rock group, due to his English
accent. Emwazi was killed in a
US drone strike in Raqqa,
Syria, last November following
his masked appearance in gruesome propaganda videos showing him executing hostages
with a knife. It has now
emerged that two of his gang
members with English accents
were given the nickname of
“Paul” and “Ringo”, a reference
to other Beatles Paul
McCartney and Ringo Starr.
“Paul” has been identified as
31-year-old Aine Davis, who is
in custody in Turkey for suspected terrorism, and “Ringo”
as 32-year-old Alexe Kotey, a
Londoner of Ghanaian and
Greek-Cypriot background
whose whereabouts are
unknown. The identity of the
fourth member dubbed
“George”, referring to George
Harrison, has yet to be confirmed. Davis’ wife, 27-year-old
Amal el-Wahabi, became the
first woman to be jailed for terrorism offences connected to
Syria in 2014 after she was
caught paying a smuggler
20,000 euros in cash for her
husband in Turkey. The group
are believed to be responsible
for the beheadings of around 27
mostly Western hostages. Kotey
travelled to Gaza in 2009 on an
aid convoy organised by Viva
Palestina, led by UK Respect
Party MP George Galloway, a
BuzzFeed report said. “I have
never heard of him until
Monday.
AP
Name of Myanmar’s next Prez
to be known on March 17
PTI n NYAPITAW
he names of Myanmar’s next president
and two vice presidents will be revealed
T
on March 17, an official said on Monday,
setting a clear timeline for the transition
of power from a military-controlled government to democracy icon Aung San Suu
Kyi’s party. Parliament chairman Mann
Win Khaing Than announced that the
upper house, the lower House and the military will have to select one candidate each
for the three posts before March 17, and
submit them to parliament on that day.
While Suu Kyi herself is barred from
becoming president, there are growing
signs that her talks with the military to
remove a constitutional hurdle blocking
her path can be completed by March 17.
Once the three names are put before the
664-member parliament, all members
will take a vote. The person with the largest
number of votes will become president,
and the other two will be vice presidents.
It isn’t clear when the vote will take place,
but the current president’s term ends
March 31 and the successor must take
office April 1. Given that Suu Kyi’s National
League for Democracy party has a majority in both houses of parliament, it is certain to get the president’s post and one of
the vice presidential positions. The NLD
won a landslide victory in the November
8 general elections. But Suu Kyi has been
stymied by the Constitution’s Article 59 (f),
which says anyone with a foreign spouse
or children cannot hold the executive
office. Suu Kyi’s late husband was British
as are her two sons. Still, she has been
negotiating with commander-in-chief
Honey can destroy harmful fungus, save lives
London: Scientists have discovered a powerful link
between a medicinal type of
honey and the destruction of a
fungus that can cause blindness
or even death. In the first-ofits-kind study, Zain Habib
Alhindi, from University of
Manchester in UK used different concentrations of
Surgihoney, a biologically
engineered honey that produces chemically reactive molecules containing oxygen, to
test how effective it could be in
destroying the fungus
Fusarium.
Fusarium is found on
plants and in soil and can
cause devastating infections in
vulnerable people. Alhindi discovered even the lowest concentrations had a significant
effect in breaking down the cell
wall of the fungus, demonstrating its potential as a future
treatment for patients.
“Chronic infections, such as
those found in long-lasting
wounds comprise about 60-80
per cent of infectious diseases
in humans and the way fungi
invade wounds is associated
with the use of broad-spectrum
antibiotics,” Alhindi said.
“However, we know that
biofilms - thin layers of
microorganisms, which group
together - contribute to the
severity and delayed healing of
chronic wounds,” she said.
“Through my research I
wanted to show the potential
for honey as a healing agent to
break through these biofilms
and in doing so increase the
process of healing. What I
found amazing is that honey
actually works better than some
antifungals,” she added. PTI
Gen. Min Aung Hlaing on having the
clause suspended. The clause can be legally scrapped only through a 75 per cent plus
one vote in Parliament. The military
holds 25 per cent of seats in parliament all
unelected which means the NLD cannot
scrap the clause on its own. However, the
clause can be suspended by a simple majority, but because all this is uncharted territory nobody is sure if that would be
allowed. In separate but identical broadcasts late Sunday, Sky Net and Myanmar
National Television, both pro-government, said “positive results could come out
onÂ the negotiation for the suspension of
the constitution Article 59 (f).” “I think
everything will be fine,” Kyaw Htwe, a
senior member of the NLD, told The
Associated Press.
“The negotiations will be positive for
our leader Aung San Suu Kyi to become
president,” said Kyaw Htwe, who is also a
member of parliament. But Yan Myo
Thein, a political analyst, advised caution.
At least 35 migrants drown off Turkey
Istanbul:At least 35 migrants drowned in
two accidents in the Aegean Sea on
Monday as they tried to cross from
Turkey to Greece, Turkish media said.
Twenty-four died when their boat sank off
the district of Edremit in the western
province of Balikesir in an apparent bid to
reach the Greek island of Lesbos.Four people were rescued both by air and by sea in
a search and rescue operation by the
Turkish coastguard, Dogan news agency
said. The accident came shortly after 11
migrants died inanother boat sinking
further south, off the port city of Izmir, also
apparently trying to reach Lesbos, the
agency
said.
The coastguard rescued three people.
Turkey, which is hosting at least 2.5 million refugees from Syria’s civil war, has
become the main launchpad for migrants
fleeing conflict, persecution and poverty
to Europe. The deaths came as German
Chancellor Angela Merkel was meeting
Turkish officials in Ankara for talks on
reducing the influx of migrants to Europe.
The Turkish government struck a deal with
the EU in November to halt the outflow
of refugees, in return for three billion euros
(USD 3.2 billion) in financial assistance.
The EU on Wednesday finally reached an
agreement on how to finance the deal. But
the deal and the onset of winter do not
Survivors pulled
out from building
two days after
Taiwan quake
Performers take part in a night parade to celebrate Chinese New Year in Hong Kong on Monday. The Lunar New Year this year
marks the Year of the Monkey in the Chinese calendar.
AP
In this Monday, Feb. 1 photo, Myanmar’s pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi, center, arrives to participate in
the inaugural session of Myanmar's lower house parliament in Naypyitaw, Myanmar. Myanmar's parliament, led
for the first time by pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi's party, began a historic session Monday that will
install the country's first democratically elected government in more than 50 years.
Tainan: At least four people,
including an 8-year-old girl,
were rescued on Monday from
a high-rise Taiwanese apartment building toppled by a
powerful quake two days earlier, as frustration grew among
families waiting for searchers to
reach their buried loved ones.
More than 100 people are
believed to still be under the
debris in a disaster that struck
during the most important
family holiday in the Chinese
calendar the Lunar New Year.
Saturday’s quake killed at least
38 people in Tainan city in
southern Taiwan, all but two of
them in the collapse of the 17story building. Even though the
6.4-magnitude quake was shallow, few buildings were reported to have been damaged,
which experts said was because
Taiwan’s building standards are
high.
Authorities have managed
to rescue more than 170 people the vast majority in the
immediate hours after the
quake from the folded building
using information about the
building layout and the possible location of those trapped.
Five survivors were believed to
have been pulled out on
Monday , and at least four on
Tuesday. One of them, Tsao
Wei-ling, called out “Here I am”
as rescuers dug through to
find her, Taiwan’s Eastern
Broadcasting Corp. reported.
She was found under the body
of her husband, who had
shielded her from a collapsed
beam, the government-run
Central News Agency reported. Tsao’s husband and 2-yearson were found dead, and five
other members of the family
remained unaccounted for, it
said.
AP
A Macedonian police officer checks identification documents of migrants, before allowing them to cross the border
from Greece, near the southern Macedonia's town of Gevgelija, Monday, Feb. 8, 2016. European Union nations
anxious to stem the flow of asylum-seekers coming through the Balkans are increasingly considering sending
more help to non-member Macedonia as a better way to protect European borders instead of relying on EU
member Greece.
AP
appear to have deterred the migrants, with
boats still arriving on the Greek islands
daily. The International Organisation for
Migration (IOM) said the number of
refugees and migrants who perished in the
Mediterranean in January alone topped
360. In January, almost 62,200 migrants
and refugees entered Europe through
Greece, according to the IOM, most of
them from Syria, Afghanistan and Iraq.
GLOBE
TROTTING
Gigi Hadid & Swift get in
pampering with a salon visit
Los Angeles: Gigi Hadid along with Taylor
Swift heads into
Voila Nail Salon
on Friday in
Beverly Hills,
Calif.The 26-yearold singer was
joined by her
friend Gigi Hadid
for some pampering that day.This is
at least the second
time that Taylor
and Gigi have
hung out together
this week. They
previously watched
the Grease Live
special together
and sang along to
songs
like
“Hopelessly
Devoted to You,”
which Gigi thankfully caught on video for the fans.
Beyonce honours Panther
Party during halftime show
Los Angeles: Pop
star Beyonce gave
out a political
statement with her
performance at
Super Bowl with
her
backing
dancers dressed as
members
of
armed
rights
group the Black
Panthers. The 34year-old megastar’s crew joined
her in giving millions of viewers a
black-power salute
as Beyonce belted
out her new politically charged
power anthem,
“Formation.” “OK,
ladies, let’s get in formation!” she sang, tweaking the 50th anniversary of the Super Bowl with
a nod to the 50th anniversary of the 1966 founding of the Black Panther Party. At one point,
her dancers formed an X on the field, an apparent reference to Malcolm X, the black rights
campaigner. In her black jacket with studs and
gold accents, Beyonce also paid homage to the
King of Pop, Michael Jackson. Other than that,
Beyonce danced side by side with Bruno Mars
and, in a grand finale, with Coldplay’s Chris
Martin as the audience spelled out “Believe in
Love” with rainbow-coloured placards. For a
very brief moment during her energetic performance, the star nearly stumbled, but she
recovered in no time. The Pepsi Super Bowl 50
halftime took place at Levi’s Stadium in the San
Francisco Bay Area.
Angelina Jolie, Brad
Pitt gets new tattoos
Los Angeles:Angelina Jolie Pitt has added three
new tattoos to her
already inked back.
The 40-year-old
actress was spotted
with the new inkings while working
on her new film
“First They Killed
My Father” in
Cambodia. The
designs are said to
be in the yantra
style, which is a traditional Buddhist
form of body art
that originated in
Southeast Asia.
They are typically
hand-etched by
monks, reported
People magazine.
The new tattoos are reportedly Buddhist blessings for peace, love and a prosperous life.
However, it is unclear if they were technically
yantra tattoos or simply in that style, the magazine added. In the photos, Jolie’s upper back
appears covered in intricate geometric designs.
The actress already has a number of tattoos on
her back and arms. Jolie’s new directorial venture is based on a memoir about life under
Cambodia’s Khmer Rouge regime.
sport 14
Chinappa beats
‘aggresive’ Pakistani
rival to clinch gold
PTI n GUWAHATI
player Joshna Chinappa clinched the gold in
individual squash after beating Maria Toorpaki
SWazirtarwomen's
of Pakistan in a tense and ill-tempered summit clash
All that glitters is GOLD
India continue their dominant run by grabbing 48 yellow metals on Day 3
MEDALS TALLY
PTI n GUWAHATI
ndia's might found no challenge in the 12th
South Asian Games with the country's
archers, wrestlers and weightlifters clinching
a majority of gold medals to ensure a third successive day of supremacy for the host country
here on Monday.
While compound archers scooped all five
gold medals on offer, wrestlers also annihilated
competition to grab five yellow metals out of six.
Courtesy the strong showing by them, India
continued to top the medals' tally with a count
of 72, which includes 48 gold, 18 silver and six
bronze medals.
Sri Lanka held on to the second spot with 59
medals (11 gold, 25 silver and 23 bronze). Pakistan
was a distant third in the tally with 29 medals (4
gold, 11 silver and 14 bronze) in their kitty.
The golden run began early on Monday for
India in Shillong with compound archers grabbing all the five gold medals on offer along with
two silver medals to rule the roost.
The Indian archers topped the medals chart
ahead of Bangladesh, who finished with two silver and two bronze medals and third placed
Bhutan (0-1-1).
The compound trio of Purvasha Shende, Jyoti
Vennam and Lily Chanu Paonam started the gold
rush for India downing their opponents from
Bangladesh 228-217 in the morning session.
Purvasha went on to win a hat-trick of gold
medals as she also emerged the individual champion and bagged her third in mixed pair event
with Asian Games team gold and individual silver medallist Abhishek Verma.
Ranked world No.5, Chauhan Rajat lived up
to his reputation, edging out Verma 144-142 to
emerge the individual champion in a thrilling
men's final in the afternoon session.
On the wrestling mat in Guwahati, Indian
grapplers simply destroyed their opponents to
finish with 14 gold medals out of a total 16 on
offer. Despite being represented by a second
string team, the home wrestlers proved too strong
for their South Asian neighbours as they
grabbed five more gold out of six on offer, besides
I
INDIA
SRI LANKA
PAKISTAN
BANGLADESH
NEPAL
AFGHANISTAN
MALDIVES
Gold
48
11
4
3
1
0
0
Silver
18
27
11
5
4
2
0
Bronze
6
23
14
19
7
5
1
Total
72
61
29
27
12
7
1
SOUTH ASIAN
85kg) and Kavita Devi
(women's 75kg) won a
gold each as the home
lifters ran away with all the
honours. With the four gold
on Monday, India have so far won 11 gold medals
(6 in men and 5 women).
The cyclists also brushed aside competition for
a third day on the trot to win both the gold medals.
The Indian teams won the women's 40km
time trial and men's 70km time trial events to
take their medal count to five gold, three silver
and one bronze on the third and penultimate day
of the cycling competitions here.
In women's 40km team time trial final, the
Indian quartet of T Bidyaluxmi, Rutuja Satpute,
G Manisha and Chaoba Devi bagged the gold in
a time of 59:23.5secs. Sri Lanka and Pakistan took
the silver and bronze respectively.
In men's 70km team time trial final, the home
team of Arvind Panwar, Manjeet Singh, Deepak
Kumar Rahi and Manohar Lal Bishnoi took the
gold in one hour 29 minutes and 37.840 seconds.
Medals trickled in from wushu competition
as well with M Punshiva Meitei clinching a gold
medal and Swachacha Jatav bagging a silver in
the men's and women's Nanquan events.
India now have two gold, one silver and one
bronze in their kitty.
However, after two days of domination in the
pool, India on Monday shared the spoils with Sri
Lanka in the swimming competition. Both
India and Sri Lanka won three gold medals each
during the day, while Bangladesh won one.
In all, India won three gold, four silver and
one bronze.
GAMES
a silver, on the concluding day on Monday.
Indian wrestlers thus ended their campaign
with a whopping 14 gold and two silver. India
won gold in all the eight women's categories,
while their men counterparts won six gold and
two silver.
Shilpi Sheoran began the gold count for India
as she beat Farzana Sharmin of Bangladesh in
the women's 63kg final bout. Rajani and Nikki
made it an all-gold affair for Indian women in
the Games by defeating Bangladesh's Shirin
Sultana and W Weerasingh of Sri Lanka, respectively in the 69kg and 75kg categories. Among
men, Mausam Khatri and Pardeep won a gold
each in 97kg and 74kg respectively, while
Mandeep had to settle for a silver as he lost to
Pakistan's Zaman Avwar in the 125kg final bout.
There was no stopping the weightlifters
either as India grabbed all the four gold medal
on Monday.
Victor Abilash Christopher (men's 105kg),
Pardeep (men's 94kg), VIkas Thakur (men's
Rays rally to
edge Lancers 3-2
PTI n NEW DELHI
efending champions Ranchi Rays came from behind to
eke out a 3-2 victory over Kalinga Lancers in the Hockey
D
India League here on Monday. With this win Ranchi Rays
go top of the table with 27 points.
The first quarter of the match between the table toppers
Kalinga Lancers and Ranchi Rays started on an attacking note
with both the teams pressing hard.
Kalinga Lancers drew first blood in the 9th minute with
a field goal from Dharamvir Singh. The visiting team made
a comeback in the next minute with an excellent penalty corner conversion from the
Rays captain Ashley Jackson.
The second quarter
started with Ranchi Rays
building up pressure on the
home team with lots of
passes and strong midfield
play. The away team put
together some good attacking moves but failed to
equalise. The score at halftime stood at 2-1 in favour
of Kalinga Lancers.
Ranchi Rays started the
third quarter on an attacking note. Kalinga Lancers
were put on the backfoot from the start of the quarter and
weren't allowed to go past the half line. The third quarter
ended with the score still at 2-1 in favour of the home team.
The fourth quarter started with the home team looking
energised and playing with a new strategy of pressing hard
to score. The pressing game soon gave the opportunity to
the away team to counter attack and they scored in the 49th
minute through Mohd Amir Khan which gave Ranchi Rays
a one-goal lead at a critical juncture of the game. Kalinga
Lancers started pressing hard in order to equalise and got
an opportunity to score in the 53rd minute but failed to convert the penalty corner. The last moments of the game saw
numerous attacking moves but none of them were converted into a goal and Ranchi Rays won the match.
Sandeep Sejwal, who has already won two
gold medals for India at SAG, added another gold
to his kitty, by winning the 50m breaststroke for
men with a new Games record of 28.79 seconds.
V Malvika won the women's 800m freestyle
event while P S Madhu bagged the third gold for
India by winning the 100m backstroke for men.
GUTTA URGES BAI TO CHANGE ATTITUDE
SHILLONG: Star shuttler Jwala Gutta on Monday
once again asked the Badminton Association of
India to stop the "step-motherly treatment"
towards its doubles players, saying its high time
the federation changes its attitude.
"I've won medals at the highest level but
you're still not capitalising on the achievement.
The doubles are still being given a step-motherly treatment. You need to change your attitude,"
a concerned Jwala told on the sidelines of the
12th South Asian Games here.
"After Ashwini and I, there is nobody and
that is the plain truth. It's the doubles I'm more
worried about," a three-time medalist in the
Commonwealth Games 2006, 2010 and 2014
lamented. "If we want to compete with China,
we have to encourage all the events. We can't just
bank on singles all the time. Doubles is taken seriously everywhere except India."
"We keep talking about China but if you
see...They have at least six players in men's,
women's doubles and mixed doubles. They give
a lot of importance to their doubles players,"
she added.
She pointed out that they won a team bronze
in the Thomas Uber Cup in 2014 and with the
Asian Team Championships coming up in
Hyderabad from February 15, there's no one
India can bank on expect for her and Ashwini.
"We still have not done anything to strengthen our team. As a team we are just Saina, Sindhu,
myself and Ashwini. There's nobody else we can
bank on. That is because we are not paying attention to our doubles. That's why we're not producing good doubles players," she said. "Asian
Team Championship is coming up but we don't
have a second pair. Even we cannot bank on our
third singles — we just have Saina and Sindhu.”
to make up for India's disappointment in the men's event
here on Monday.
Top seed Chinappa, ranked 14th in the world, recovered from one set down to beat second seeded Wazir 1012, 11-7, 11-9, 11-7 at the brand new squash facility at the
R G Baruah Sports Complex here.
With Chinappa's gold, India has so far won three
medals in squash with Sourav Ghosal and Harinder Pal
Singh Sandhu having grabbed a bronze each after losing
to their Pakistani opponents on Sunday.
Chinappa, one of the few top Indian players to have
opted to play in the SAG, thus gave some solace to the team
management after men's players failed to reach the final.
The women's final match had all the drama which was
witnessed during the men's semifinals with Chinappa
expressing unhappiness to the match officials with the
"aggressive" play of Wazir who was seen as trying to be a
bit physical with the top-ranked Indian.
Wazir, ranked 50th in the world, won the first set 1210 after a neck-and-neck
contest but she got
injured midway in the
second set at 7-7 as blood
came out of her left eyebrow region after contact
with Chinappa and play
was stopped for a while to
get her treated.
The Pakistani was
immediately given first
aid and she resumed play
after a few minutes. It
looked like the break gave
Chinappa time to ponder
on her game and the
glamorous Indian started
dominating the match
from there on.
Wazir looked tentative just after coming
from her injury break
and Chinappa did not
take much time to take
the second set 11-7 and
level scores at 1-1.
The third set saw
Chinappa taking a 5-2
lead but Wazir came back
with some superb shots
to make it 6-6 and then 86. By then there was tension among the crowd at
the stands, but a calm
Chinappa just went about
her job and brought the score to 9-9 and then 10-9 before
taking the set.
In the fourth and final set, Wazir gave some fight initially but later frittered away as Chinappa won it 11-7 to
give India the first gold in squash in this edition.
Chinappa later made it known that she was not happy
with the way the referees handled the match and that she
did not enjoy playing the match as her opponent was "very
aggressive" and "not playing fair".
"Wazir is a good player but she was very aggressive.
Fortunately, I won the gold but I did not enjoy playing the
final. I play in the professional circuit and there, these kind
of things, likes lot of interference and blocking (by rival
player) does not happen," she said after the match.
"I tried to keep my self calm but I had to let them
(match officials) know what was happening on the court.
I cannot let things happening all the time," said Chinappa,
who argued with the referee on a couple of occasions.
"I am a kind of player who plays fair, without these
interfering and blocking etc. Doing all these is not nice for
the spectators and also for the game," she added.
Asked if the referees should have handled the situation better, she said, "I don't want to be in trouble again
but I feel it is their job to control the match and stop all
those things. They should have done better."
SINGLES
Naive India fall short to Pak
PTI n GUWAHATI
lacklustre India suffered a 1-2 defeat
at the hands of arch-rivals Pakistan
in their much-anticipated group match
of men's hockey event at the 12th
South Asian Games here on Monday.
Muhammad Arslan Qadir scored
both the goals for Pakistan in the 11th
and 37th minutes while Indian captain
Mandeep Antil pulled one back in the
55th minute of the match at the
Moullana Tyabulla Stadium.
The much-awaited match of the
Games played between second string
sides of the two countries did not rise
to any heights as there were few very
goal-scoring chances.
There was not much spark either on
the field as both sides lacked creativity
for most of the time. This was the first
time both sides were playing against
each other after the controversy in the
2014 Champions League match in
Bhubaneswar.
The Indian side, without a host of
top stars, lacked coordination and had
mispasses galore as they have not played
together often and the defence was vulnerable.
The two sides are though expected
to play in the final again on February 12
as they should finish first and second
after the round robin league of the four
teams taking part in the Games.
There was not much to differentiate between the two sides in the first half,
though Pakistan had slight edge. The
inexperienced Indian defence gave
space to the Pakistan forwards especially at the right flank.
From one such early raid, Pakistan
took the lead in the 11th minute. In a
fast build-up deep from Pakistan half,
Fareed Ahmed sent a pass to
General. The House unanimously
authorised Singh to appoint one joint
secretary from India, a treasurer from
Afghanistan and one executive member
from each SAF countries.
PCB TAKE IND-PAK ISSUE WITH ICC
A
LAHIRI HOLDS ON FOR T-33 FINISH
Pakistan’s Fareed Ahmed (centre) in action against India on Monday at Guwahati
Muhammad Arslan Qadir whose push
on the run beat Indian goalkeeper
Pankaj Rajak.
India had a chance to equalise
three minutes from the first half as they
got a penalty corner but leave along taking a strike, Umar Mohammad did not
even take the push properly to the penalty corner stopper and thus wasted it.
Pakistan made it 2-0 within two
minutes of resumption with the Indian
defence once again found wanting.
Muhammad Arslan Qadir was left to
take a free strike for Pakistan's second
AP
goal in the 37th minute.
India forced one penalty corner very
soon but failed to score from that as
Gagandeep Singh's strike was blocked
by the goalkeeper.
It was left to captain Mandeep
Antil to pull one back for India as he
connected an Abbay Ekka long hit
with a diving effort.
India made some last-ditched
efforts to find the equaliser but the
attack lacked teeth against a Pakistani
defence well manned by captain
Muhammad Irfan.
SCOTTSDALE: Indian golfer Anirban
Lahiri carded an improved two-under
69 on the final round to continue his
American journey with a creditable T33 at the record-breaking Waste
Management Phoenix Open here. It
was rookie Lahiri's second finish
inside Top-35 in three weeks on the
PGA Tour, where he has a full card for
the first time. Lahiri, who opened the
week with a stunning five-under 66
that gave him a share of the first
round lead in a PGA Tour event for the
first time ever, had slightly a rough
time on the greens thereafter. But the
28-year-old had four birdies, three of
them on his second nine, the front
section of the TPC Scottsdale, and two
bogeys. Japan's Hideki Matsuyama
scored a stunning win over Rickie
Fowler in an epic four-hole play-off.
SINGH ELECTED AS PREZ OF SAWF
GUWAHATI: Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh
has been elected the President of South
Asian Wrestling Federation at its
General Body Meeting here. Sharan,
who is the President of Wrestling
Federation of India (WFI), was
unanimously elected for the top
position in South Asian Wrestling
Federation on February 5, on sidelines
of the SAG. Tabiur Rehman from
Bangladesh was elected as Secretary
KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) has taken up the issue of
cancellation of bilateral series with India
last December, as per an MOU signed
between the two boards in 2014 to play
six bilateral series, with the ICC. An
official in the board told PTI that
chairman Shaharyar Khan had brought
up the issue at the recent ICC board
meeting in Dubai and stressed the need
for boards to respect bilateral
agreements. "Shaharyar did take up this
issue at the ICC meeting and pointed
out that India had not played Pakistan in
a bilateral series since 2007 and it had
caused loss of millions of dollars to the
PCB in estimated revenues," the official
said. He said Shaharyar made the point
that if the BCCI had to seek government
clearance to play Pakistan in a bilateral
series it should not have signed the
MOU in the first place.
‘DOOR IS SHUT ON KP’S RETURN’
JOHANNESBURG: England limitedovers captain Eoin Morgan says the
door is "completely shut" on a return for
Kevin Pietersen for the World Twenty20
next month. Pietersen has become a
T20 specialist since his acrimonious
departure from the England setup
following the 2013-14 Ashes series,
and the batsman has returned some
impressive performances in the South
African and Australian T20 leagues. But
speaking to The Daily Mail, Morgan
says "Kevin will not be picked. That's
from me." Pietersen was the secondhighest runscorer in South Africa's
Ram Slam late last year, with 401 runs
from just seven games at an average of
80.20. He was the third-highest scorer
in Australia's Big Bash League. Agencies
sport 15
INDIA TARGET HAPPY HOMECOMING
Upbeat Men in Blue will look to continue their winning momentum against Islanders in first T20
Want Raina to
FIGURATI
B
bat No.4: Dhoni
17
PTI n PUNE
oosted by their 3-0 clean sweep of
Australia Down Under, a confident
India would seek to continue their winning momentum when they take on a
depleted and new-look Sri Lanka in the
first of three T20 here on Tuesday.
After the comprehensive series triumph in Australia, these three matches
would certainly act as the springboard for
the hosts to begin their preparations for the
Asia Cup T20 Championship which is
beginning in Bangladesh later this month
and the World T20 in March-April in India.
India will also look to win the T20
series to retain their number one position
in the ICC T20I Championship table,
which they achieved after sweeping aside
Australia last week.
Even in the absence of a top shot like
Kohli, who has been rested by the selectors before the more important Asia Cup
and the World T20 events, the home team's
batting strength looks pretty formidable for
the new-look attack of Sri Lanka, the
defending World T20 Champions.
In Rohit Sharma, who was also in top
form in Australia, and Shikhar Dhawan —
who took time to get going Down Under,
the home team has a set of right-left openers who have repeatedly given the side great
starts and they could be a handful for the
largely inexperienced Lanka bowling attack
on the Indian batting tracks.
The riches are evident in the rest of the
batting order with the likes of Suresh
Raina, captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and
the recalled Yuvraj Singh, present along
with the fit-again Ajinkya Rahane and
Manish Pandey who played a match-winning knock in the final ODI at Sydney.
In fact, Pandey would be very eager
to stamp his class in the T20 format too
ahead of the Asia Cup and World T20
events for which he has not found a place
in the squad.
In bowling too, the same attack that figured in the series in Australia, including
Bhuvneshwar Kumar who is not part of the
Asia Cup or World T20 squad, would be
seen although he may not be among the
first choice for seam-up stuff in the pres-
Yuvraj Singh needs 17 more
runs to complete 1000 in T20
internationals. He would be the
fourth India batsman to complete the
majestic milestone.
Sri Lanka have lost five of the six
most recent T20s they have played.
The teams have won one match
apiece in the T20s they have played in
Faisel Features
India.
5
PITCH&CONDITIONS
Pune has generally been a high-scoring
domestic venue. It has hosted only two
previous international matches — one of
them a T20 in which 157 was comfortably
chased down. The weather is expected to
be good for this encounter.
ence of Ashish Nehra and Jasprit Bumrah,
who had impressed with his unorthodox
action and extra pace in Australia.
With the matches being held in conditions favouring the slow bowlers more
than the pace men, India are expected to
go in with their regulars Ravichandran
Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja, along with the
vastly experienced Harbhajan Singh who
did not make the playing 11 in the three
games Down Under. Also left-arm spinner
Pawan Negi, the highest Indian buy in the
IPL auction, is also in the squad and he
would be itching to make the playing XI.
On the other hand, the visitors, who
are being led by batsman Dinesh
Chandimal, will be without their regular
T20 captain Lasith Malinga and Test skipper Angelo Mathews for the entire series
as they are nursing a knee injury and a
groin strain respectively. Experienced allrounder Tillakaratne Dilshan has also
been ruled out of the opening game due
to a hand injury.
Also absent from the visitors' line-up
are seasoned bowlers — pacer Nuwan
Kulasekara and spinner Rangana Herath
— to make the attack appear a bit thin.
Rampaging India face Lanka in SF
To fill up for the lack of experience
in the squad, the Lanka selectors have
recalled veteran Dilhara Fernando at the
age of 36 after putting the tall and wellbuild pacer in cold storage in 2012.
Fernando was selected in the squad
on the basis of his recent form in a domestic T20 competition where he picked up
11 wickets in four games.
His inclusion is a gamble that the
Lankans will be hoping pay off on this
short tour which concludes at
Vishakapatnam on February 14.
Dilshan, who is expected to be available from the second game in Ranchi on
February 12, has been covered by the
inclusion of newcomer Niroshan
Dickwella, who was adjudged the best
batsman of the Super T20 provincial tournament which concluded recently in the
Emerald Isle.
Seekuge Prasanna, Thisara Perera and
Milinda Siriwardana are the all-rounders
in the squad which has some others such
as Danushka Gunathilaka, Dasun
Shanaka, Asela Gunaratne, Kasun Rajitha
and Sachithra Senanayake, who are largely unfamiliar to the Indian fans.
BINURA OUT OF SERIES: CHANDIMAL
The already depleted Sri Lanka team
on Monday suffered another blow with
left arm fast bowler Binura Fernando
being ruled out of the T20 series against
India after sustaining a hamstring injury.
"Left-arm fast bowler Binura
Fernando injured his hamstring when
bowling in the nets yesterday. He has been
ruled out of the entire series. He will be
replaced by Shaminda Eranga", Sri Lanka
captain Dinesh Chandimal said.
The squad is already without regular
T20 and Test captains Lasith Malinga and
Mathews, both recovering from injuries,
plus a few other experienced players.
All-rounder Tillakaratne Dilshan is
also nursing a finger injury and will miss
tomorrow's game but is expected to be
available for the second match at Ranchi
on February 12.
"Dilshan has a finger fracture. He will
not be available for tomorrow but is coming for the second and third games," he said.
PTI n PUNE
nwilling to tinker with the line-up in view
of next month's World Twenty20, India
U
captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni on Monday
said the team will prefer Suresh Raina in the
No.4 slot in the series against Sri Lanka even
though vice-captain Virat Kohli's absence has
opened the No.3 position.
"It did cross our minds (to use Raina at
no. 3) but it will be slightly better if he (Raina)
bats at the position in which he will most likely bat in the World T20," Dhoni said at the
before the first game of the three-match T20
series on Monday.
"We need to give him that exposure as we
are a team, which
doesn't play many
T20s. It's usually
one-game a series.
This (three-game)
series gives us the
opportunity to
expose him to No.4
slot for a considerable period of time.
It will be more
appropriate to keep
him at No.4 so that
he gets adjusted
rather than use him at one drop and ask someone else to bat at 4," Dhoni explained.
At No 3, Raina has scored more runs (471
with a hundred — 101 against South Africa
at Gros Islet, West Indies — to boot) in 15
games compared to No 4 position, where he
has notched up 238 runs.
"It's only the T20 format (that India will
be playing for a while). After this series there
is the Asia Cup, some warm-up games and the
World T20. It has given us time to get into the
groove as in different formats the requirements
are different. I feel it will give us time to adjust.
The last three games in Australia (that India
won for a 3-0 sweep) will also help us. And
the conditions here will be exactly what we will
get in the ICC World T20," Dhoni said.
WI shock Pak,
reach semis
PTI n FATULLAH
PTI n MIRPUR
ndefeated so far, three-time
champions India will look to
continue their rampaging run
when they take on Sri Lanka in the
semifinals of the Under-19 cricket World Cup at the Sher-e-Bangla
National Stadium here on Tuesday.
India have had an invincible
run in the tournament so far,
defeating Ireland, New Zealand
and Nepal to top Group D.
Skipper Rishabh Pant and
Sarfaraz Khan, who have amassed
252 and 245 runs respectively in
the tournament so far, have been
the bulwark of the Indian batting
order. The 18-year-old from
Haridwar had laid the foundation
in their last game with a 96-ball
111 after opening the innings and
he would look to set the tone Afghanistan but lost to Pakistan
tomorrow as well. Sarfaraz, on the in the league stage.
In the quarterfinals, Sri Lanka
other hand, has been the epitome
of consistency as he scored three bounced back with a comfortable
six-wicket win over England and
fifties in four games so far.
they would be keen to
Armaan Jaffer
make it to the finals
and
Mahipal
Lomror too have U-19 World Cup like they did in 2000.
Charith Asalanka
contributed when
needed and India will depend on (194) and Avishka Fernando (143)
them to take the side to the finals. have scored maximum runs for Sri
Their bowling unit too has Lanka and islanders will depend
put up an combined effort with on them again on Tuesday.
Avesh Khan (9) emerging as the
highest-taker. Mahipal and ‘TEAM SHOULD GIVE THEIR ALL’
Mayank Dagar too have chipped
India Under-19 cricket coach
in with seven and five wickets Rahul Dravid on Monday said his
respectively so far.
team will have to produce a good
Sri Lanka, on the other hand, all-round performance to outwit
finished second behind Pakistan Sri Lanka in the ICC World Cup
in pool B, winning two of the semifinal on Tuesday given that
three games in the group stage. both sides are well aware of what
They beat Canada and to expect from each other.
Shimron Hetmyer and Tevin
Imlach hit half-centuries as the
SWestkipper
Indies upset Pakistan by five
U
The power-packed Indians
breezed through Group D with an
all-win record against New
Zealand, Nepal and Ireland,
before crushing Namibia by 197
runs in the quarter-final.
Sri Lanka bounced back after
a 23-run defeat to Pakistan in the
last Group B match to stun a
strong England side by six wickets in the quarter-final.
The in-form India are rated
favourites, having won a triseries in Sri Lanka last December,
which also featured England, but
Dravid refused to take the victory for granted.
"We know what to expect
from them. They have a couple of
seamers and a lot of good spinners.
They bowl a lot of spin. Having
said that, they also know what to
expect from us," said Dravid.
"It should be a good contest.
We have been playing very good
cricket of late and the lead-up to
the tournament was good. We
need to play well, irrespective of
whether we bat or bowl first. If we
play good cricket and bring our
A game to the party, we will give
ourselves a good chance to win."
India's batting has been led by
aggressive left-handed opener
Rishabh Pant, who followed a 18ball half-century against Nepal
with 111 off 96 balls in the quarter-final. Sarfaraz Khan has shored
up the middle-order with three
half-centuries in four matches.
Sri Lanka coach Roger
Wijesuriya said his side's impressive win over England left him
optimistic about the semi-final.
"India is a strong side, a good
all-round side," said Wijesuriya.
wickets to cruise into the semi-finals
of the ICC U19 Cricket World Cup
here on Monday.
Hetmyer scored 52 and Imlach
made 54 to ensure a gallant 113 by
Umaid Masood went in vain as the
West Indies surpassed Pakistan's 227
for six with 10 overs to spare.
Pakistan's defeat prevented an allAsian semi-final despite Umaid's Man
of the Match-winning performance,
but the WIndies played better all-round
cricket to emerge deserved winners.
Umaid came to the crease in the
15th over with Pakistan struggling at
40 for four and rebuilt the innings in
the company of Salman Fayyaz after
half the side was back in the hut by the
21st over. Umaid, who had scored 13
not out and 10 in previous matches, hit
15 boundaries and two sixes before he
was out in the final over.
Salman remained unbeaten on a
defiant half-century, which included
three hits to the fence and a six.
The revival came after a twowicket burst by seamer Chemar Holder
and fiery fast bowling by Alzarri
Joseph, who conceded just 28 runs in
his 10 overs.
The Caribbean flair was evident as
the West Indies raced to 100 for one by
the 16th over. Hetmyer and Imlach put
on 77 for the second wicket to take the
score to 122 for one, before two needless run outs saw the total slip to 147
for four. Shamar Springer was the fifth
batsman to fall for 37 when 38 runs
were still needed for victory, but Jyd
Goolie (26*) and Keemo Paul (24*) saw
their side home.
SDMC for conditional
occupancy certificate
to DDCA for T20 WC
NEW DELHI: Civic authorities on
Monday agreed to grant DDCA an
occupancy certificate for Ferozshah
Kotla stadium here on the condition
that it ensures compliance of 60
safety related issues within 20 days,
brightening chances for hosting of the
T20 World Cup matches at the venue.
The Delhi and District Cricket
Administration (DDCA) will also
have to furnish a bank draft of `50 lakh
as "security" deposit which will be "forfeited" if it fails to ensure compliance
of safety aspects, officials at SDMC said.
The decision by the SDMC to
issue the conditional certificate came
hours after Delhi High Court asked
the civic body whether it can give the
permission to host the matches if
DDCA complies with the safety measures within three weeks. The SDMC
will inform the court on Tuesday
about its decision.
The court also observed that a
conditional final occupancy certifi-
cate cannot be granted, adding that
it does not want anyone to say later
that something untoward happened
there due to lack of compliances or
due to some minor deviation.
HEARING ON PLEA ON FEB 23
A Delhi court on Monday decided to consider a criminal defamation
complaint filed by DDCA and its vice
president Chetan Chauhan against
Arvind Kejriwal and suspended BJP
MP Kirti Azad for allegedly defaming
the cricketing body by making "scandalous" remarks.
The matter came up before
Metropolitan Magistrate Jagminder
Singh who put up complaint for Feb
23 for consideration and hearing
arguments. The petition alleged that
the defamatory Statements were
made by Kejriwal and Azad, who
himself is a member of DDCA, to
remain in the public eye and to gain
PTI
political mileage.
Fitting farewell for Baz as Kiwis clinch series 2-1
AP n HAMILTON
rendon McCullum marked
his last one-day internaB
tional for New Zealand with a
match and series victory over
Australia on Monday.
McCullum's farewell
seemed likely to be soured by a
dramatic batting collapse which
saw New Zealand lose its last six
wickets for 23 runs to be all out
for 246, but the bowlers dismissed Australia for 191 with
more than six overs to spare,
winning by 55 runs to clinch a
2-1 series victory.
Australia had been on target for victory when on 164-5
but the controversial dismissal
of Mitch Marsh exposed the tail
and New Zealand's bowlers
quickly wrapped up the win.
Marsh was given out caught
and bowled by Matt Henry
when his forcing shot hit the toe
of his boot and carried to the
bowler who took ball low down.
Neither Henry nor any of
the New Zealand fielders
appealed, thinking the ball had
hit the ground, and it wasn't
until the incident was replayed
on the big screen at Seddon
Park that spectators saw the ball
had come off Marsh's boot and
began to boo.
English umpire Ian Gould
then referred it to the third
umpire, who gave Marsh out.
But the Australians questioned whether the matter could
be referred to replay if none of
the New Zealand players
appealed and the umpire on the
ground had not given a decision.
"It wasn't until we saw
something on the big screen
that the decision went upstairs
so I was a bit disappointed
about that," Australia captain
Steve Smith said.
Also joins 200 ODI sixes club
Brendon McCullum completed the
sixes double Monday as he signed
off his one-day international career
with a trademark blockbuster of an
innings in the third one-day
international against
Australia in Hamilton.
One of the biggest
hitters in the game,
McCullum smacked the
ball over the boundary
three times in his 47 off
27 balls to take him to
200 sixes from 260
one-day matches to go
with his 100 Test sixes.
His power-hitting
approach gave New
Zealand a rollicking
start in the series
decider with the home team 84-1
in the 10th over when McCullum
was dismissed.
McCullum shares the world
record for Test sixes with
Australian Adam Gilchrist and is
fourth on the ODI list which is
headed by Shahid Afridi with 351.
Sri
Lanka's
Sanath Jayasuriya hit
270 ODI sixes in his
career and the West
Indies' Chris Gayle
smashed 238.
McCullum
received a guard of
honour from the
Australian
team
when he walked to
the crease and was
given a standing
ovation from the
8,000 crowd when
he left. After this match he will play
in two Tests against Australia
before retiring from cricket.
"He was out, there was no
doubt about that, but if I get hit
on the pad next time and it's
missing leg do I stand there and
wait until it's going to show that
on the big screen."
McCullum produced a signature innings on his farewell,
hitting 47 runs from 27 balls to
give New Zealand a bold beginning as it batted after losing the
toss. He hit three sixes to lift his
tally to 200 sixes in 260 one-day
internationals, placing him
fourth on the all-time list
behind Shahid Afridi (351),
Sanath Jayasuriya (270) and
Chris Gayle (238).
But after Martin Guptill
made 59 and Grant Elliott a
laborious 50, New Zealand's
frail middle order tottered and
then collapsed, slumping from
223-4 to be all out for 246.
The total seemed inadequate, especially when Australia
started strongly with Usman
Khawaja making 44. New
Zealand's bowling attack was
depleted by the absence of fast
bowler Trent Boult, who was ill,
and allrounder Mitchell
Santner, who has a foot injury.
But Henry led the attack
superbly, taking 3-60, including
the wickets of David Warner
(16), George Bailey and Marsh.
Ish Sodhi, who replaced Santner,
dismissed Smith and Glenn
Maxwell and Doug Bracewell.
McCullum was able to
savor a last and memorable win
over New Zealand's greatest
rival. "I've been incredibly lucky
to play for 14 years and to represent my country and to play
with some great blokes," he said.
"When you play against
Australia you have to turn up
and play your best cricket and
tonight for 80 percent of the
game we were outstanding."
vivacity 16
‘Nobody liked
me in school’
She enjoys immense popularity as
a Hindi film celebrity today, but
KATRINA KAIF says nobody liked
her when she was in school.
“I was always a shy
Cancerian child. I really
didn’t speak to anyone. I
wasn’t very popular and
nobody really liked me
in school. My first
friend was an Indian
boy who was really
very nice to me.
When I was about 16,
then I think I started
making friends and
started getting more
popular,” Katrina said
on chat show.
While she has been in
the limelight for her
rumoured
relationships with
actors like Salman
Khan and Ranbir
Kapoor, Katrina said
that if she has to date
a person, one thing
she would notice
would be his
persona and the vibe around
him. “You should get a vibe from
the person. Also, a guy should
smell good,” the actress said.
Katrina will next be seen onscreen
in forthcoming film Fitoor.
PANKAJ KAPUR's solo
play Dopehri received
a standing ovation at
the ongoing Bharat
Rang Mahotsav. The
play is a novella
originally written 20
years ago by Kapur and was first
staged in Delhi. Dopehri is set in
the streets of Lucknow where sits
the haveli of an old lonely woman,
Actor Kajol is all set to
join the Prasar Bharati
board as a part-time
member with a
committee headed by
Vice President Hamid
Ansari choosing her
for the position from a
list of eminent names. Sources
told that a meeting of the threemember committee headed by the
Vice President and including Press
Council of India chief C K Prasad
as well as I&B secretary Sunil
Arora had met on Monday to
decide on nominees for two vacant
positions of part time members on
the Prasar Bharati Board.
Travolta gets a
standing ovation
JOHN TRAVOLTA walked on to
The Late Show with Stephen
Colbert to not only be welcomed
by the host himself but also an
audience full of fans who
welcomed him with a
standing ovation!
Travolta will be seen
playing a pivotal
role in the
upcoming show
The People v.
O.J. Simpson:
American Crime
Story that
premiered on
February 10 at
10pm on Star
World Premiere
HD! As he talked
to Colbert, Travolta
shared with the
audience, his
excitement about
playing Robert
Shapiro, the lead
council on the OJ
Simpson case that
shook America’s very
foundation 20 years
ago as one of the
most sensational
and publicised crime in the history
of crime. When asked if he faced
any pressure playing a real person
he said, “I don’t mind that,
because it gives you a blueprint to
work from. I kind of enjoy that.”
‘Priyanka was
my first choice’
Prakash Jha, who has directed the film Jai Gangaajal, is
also making his acting debut with the film. He is play the
role of a corrupt police officer and says that he could not
think of anybody better. By Arjita Mishra
riyanka Chopra has been making headlines all across the country. But if we see that how police
over the world with her US-based show functions, and if we talk about the technologies,
Quantico and Jai Gangaajal has come at the then UP is the only state where police provides
right time. Unlike the FBI agent that she plays in the tele- the facility of 1090 to help their public. They
vision series, Chopra will be seen playing a hard-hitting have solved five lakhs case of women
harassment. They are also digitalising
cop in the Prakash Jha directorial venture.
And just not direction, Jha has, for the first time, Lucknow.” He added, “There is something
stepped in front of the camera, too. Although he will be good and bad in everyone. Police wants to
seen playing a role of a corrupt police officer, BN Singh. take action but they cannot take the action
Through his film, he tried to show the relationship of because of someone else. So, we have to
society with police and also the cases of farmers sucide decide whether police is not good or the
person who is ruling them
and land grabbing.
is bad.”
Jha, who had also directed
The director-turnedGangaajal in 2003 said, “We can
actor shared with us that
say that Jai Gangaajal belongs to
few years ago, while travthe same genre as Gangaajal was.
elling, he had met a police
It depicts the story of an honest
officer who had taken a
police officer but it is not a sequel
transfer from the police
of Gangaajal.”
service to an institution.
He, however, mentioned that the
The fact suprised the
society has changed a lot since
director. “It was a big
2003. “Thirteen years ago, I had
statement that he made.
made Gangaajal and in the climax
So when I asked the
of the movie, there was a dialogue
reason why he took such
where Ajay Devgan says, ‘Samaj ko
a decision, he said, ‘In
police waisi hi milti hai jaisa ki samaj
India, police can only work
chahti hai’ That was the theme of the
if people want them to
film.” He told us that today, the sociwork otherwise they cannot
ety that we live in has changed comwork. For me, society has
pletely. “The kind of pressure that
always been the hero. I do
the cops have to face now and also
research on society — how
the people who are leading the socithe work is being done, how
ety today is quite different from
people react and how society
2003,” he pointed out.
is changing. So if I find anything
The blinding case of Bhagalpur
interesting, and if I think that the
inspired Jha to make Gangaajal
particular story needs to be told, then I
and while he was doing research for
make a film on the subject,” said the direcanother film he came across other
I
DO
MY
tor.
major issues that inspired him to
RESEARCH ON
make Jai Gangaajal.
When Jha was asked about his sudThe story revolves around a
den
flair for acting, he explained that when
SOCIETY AND IF
politician who wants a woman
he was writing the character of BN Singh,
I FIND ANYTHING there was no one else he could think of,
superintendent of police in his area
because he wants her to sign files
except for himself. “While writing the
INTERESTING,
and not interrupt in his illegal
script, the only face I could imagine for
work. But the newly appointed SP
the role of BN Singh was of myself. I could
AND IF I THINK
is Abha Mathur (Chopra) who is
not imagine anyone else for this role. I got
THAT A
clear about her duties and is willing
connected with it,” he said and added, “I was
to go to any length to discharge
the junior artiste on the set because all of
PARTICULAR
them. Her headstrong attitude is
were experienced in terms of acting
STORY NEEDS TO them
reflected in the first thing she says
and they were giving me tips (laughs).”
after taking her post, “Aap ye mat
Chopra was his first choice for the film.
BE TOLD, THEN
samajhiyega ki main yaha kursi
“Whenever she got time between Quantico
I MAKE A FILM
table par baith ke salami thokwane
and Bajirao Mastani, we did this film. Our
aayi hoon.”
organised planning was the reason that we
ON
THE
SUBJECT
Sharing his thought on UP
were able to finish the film on time,” he conPolice, the veteran director said,
cluded.
photo Sunny Mathews
“The image of UP police is worst
P
nough with your ubiquitous greasy chilli paneer
or honey and chilli-glazed chicken. Also, drop
that fork and pick up those chopsticks that you’ve
been wanting to learn to use for a while now. It is time
to get serious and explore the wonderous world of delish Asian cuisine.
Last year, in October, foodies in town tried out
Asian food from Indonesia to Japan in Delhi under
one roof with the first edition of Asian Hawkers
Market. The idea was derived from the Noodle
Market in Sydney. “All four of us (including
Siddharth Mathur, Atul Sikand, Tanveer Kwatra)
have worked earlier together for other events. Atul
and I, we are the co-founders of the Delhi Gourmet
Club, all of us were thinking of doing something concerning Asian food. The concept of Hawkers market came to us from the noodle market that happens
in Sydney. They call it the Sydney Noodle Market,
we thought of doing something on those lines,” said
one of the organisers.
“The time when we started, we already had established food festivals but they were generic. They had
everything, we did not want to go that route. If we followed them, then how could we stand out? Then we
thought, what is the second most loved cuisine after
Indian cuisine. It was Asian. The spices are closer to
our palate, that is why we chose Asian food,” he said.
Atul Sikand added, “I attended a food festival myself
and there were a lot of options available, which was
bit confusing for me as a consumer. So, we came
up with this idea of small portions and affordable
prices. We wanted to be theme focussed, that is why
we chose the oriental cuisine. You can call it India’s
favourite cuisine outside India.”
E
WHAT’S NEW
The festival is like a test market not only
for the restaurants but also for the chefs.
This time, many restaurants would be
making their way to the Delhi’s social
circuit through Asian Hawkers
Market. “There are a lot of new
restaurants coming in not only to the
event but making their way to
Delhi. In fact, they will be launching with us. The Bento Cafe,
Hawkers chowk and Honk, they are
new restaurants which would be
showcasing their dishes for the first
time at any food festival. Pa Pa Ya of
Mumbai, for the first time would
make a grand entry with us at the
Asian Hawkers market. There is
going to be a lot of newness, not only
in terms of the restaurants but also the
dishes,” said one of the organisers. Not
only this, delivery services like Thai
crate would also be debuting with the
food festival.
THE NEW FOOD
Asia on wheels
As the Asian Hawkers Market
makes its way to the social circuit
with its second edition, organisers
tell Riya Sharma that many
restaurants would be launching with
the festival itself
The words echo
Renowned poet NIDA FAZLI
passed away at 78. He left behind
his souldful compositions like
hoshwalon ko khabar kia. By TN
RAGHUNATHA
nown for his soulful compositions like “kabhie kisi ko mukamil jahan na milta’ ‘Aa bhi
jaa, aa bhi jaa’, ‘Tu Is Tarah Se Meri Zindagi
Mein’ (Aap To Aise Na The) and ‘Hosh Waalon
Ko Khabar Kya’, renowned poet—lyricist Nida Fazli
is no more.
Fazli breathed his last at his suburban
Mumbai residence following a heart attack. He was
78 and is survived by wife and a daughter.
Muqtida Hasan Nida
Fazli — better known as
Nida Fazli was a recipient
of the Sahitya Akademi
award.
Born in Delhi in a
Kashmiri family, Fazli
had attended school in
Gwalior. His father was
also an Urdu poet.
During the partition, his
parents migrated to
Pakistan, but Fazli decided to stay in India.
Mourning the death
of Fazli, noted singer Lata
Mangeshkar said, “Aaj
mashhoor Shayar Nida
Fazli sahab ka inteqal
hua is baat mujhe bahut dukh hai.Allah unhe jannat ataa farmaaye ye meri dili dua.”
Fazli will long be remembered for his elegant
presentation and exclusive use of colloquial language for ghazals, nazms and dohas in Urdu and
Hindi.
Some of Fazli’s famous ghazals include
“Kabhie Kisi Ko Mukamil Jahan Nahi Milta”, ‘Aa
Bhi Jaa, Aa Bhi Jaa’ (“Sur“), Tu Is Tarah Se Meri
Zindagi Mein (Aap Toh Aise Na They) and Hosh
Waalon Ko Khabar Kya (Sarfarosh).
Congress President Sonia Gandhi and party
Vice President Rahul Gandhi condoled Fazli’s
death. “A Sahitya Akademi and a Padma Shri
awardee, he will be remembered forever for his
writings which enthralled an entire generation,”
Sonia said.
Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra
Fadnavis said Urdu literature had lost a popular
figure in Fazli’s demise.
Urdu novelist Rahman Abbas said Fazli was
a bright symbol of Indian literature. “I am saddened
by the news of demise of Nida Fazli. He was very
close to me, and I had spoken to him a week ago,”
Abbas said.
Fazli wrote the title song of TV serials like
Sailaab, Neem ka Ped, Jaane Kya Baat Hui and Jyoti.
The composition Koi Akelaa Kahaan was his
another popular composition sung by Kavita
Krishnamurthy.
Fazli also worked with late ghazal singer Jagjit
Singh in 1994 and together they brought out an
album Insight, which got appreciation for its soulful poetry and music.
Filmmaker John Mathew Matthan, who
directed Sarfarosh — a film which featured his song
“Hoshwalon ko khabar kya” said, “It’s a great loss
for this film industry. He was such a renowned
poet. Coincidentally, today is also Jagjit Singh’s
birth anniversary and I have worked with both of
them in my film Sarfarosh.”
“Heartbroken to hear of the demise of Nida
Fazli-saab. Not just a brilliant lyricist, he was a true
poet, with a brave social voice. RIP,” composersinger Vishal Dadlani stated
K
Apart from your sushi and dimsums, you are going
to see some new dishes like chinese bhel, chilli idlies
and chilli chicken dosa. “I call it a playground for a
chef. You can do whatever you want to, you have direct
access to the patrons. Your customers are there, you
can be as innovative as possible. You can get the direct
feedback then and there. Then, you can actually put
up these things back at the menu. We have 35 restaurants participating and this is the reason why I call it
a playground,” said Tanveer Kwatra chef, executive chef
at Le Meridien, Gurgaon.
“We were the ones who introduced Okonomiyaki(
Japanese pancake) last time. And, it was a success
among those who came to attend the festival. Taking
que from that, this time, we are putting up a cart which
is only going to sell Japanese pizza,” he added.
“With all of this, you will also see a lot of
Vietnamese influences in the dishes that are going to
be showcased at the festival. We have something for
everyone— even restaurants like En, who serve authentic Japanese are also going to be there. It is going to
be a mix of Asian as well as modern Asian which you
call pan asian,” he said.
THE ‘CART’ VALUE
What stands out at most of the food festivals is
the way how a stall presents itself. Some choose to bring
some part of their innovative set-up to the festival,
some choose an ordinary stall to sell the food. But,
here, we are going to see as many as 14 carts lending
you the flavours from Asian kitchen. “We have got
a lot of emphasis on carts this time. We have approximately 14 carts which would be selling dishes on the
wheels. So, those who don’t have enough product to
participate with, can present themselves in this way,”
said Sikand.
EYE CANDY BAR
One of the destination bars, this place has
already hosted big names like Skrillex,
Rehab, Bassjackers and many more. But,
this time, the bar is also going to mark its
entry to the food festival. Get ready to
experience and taste some nice cocktails
along with your pitchers, sangrias et al.
“Having all of this in our kitty, we
thought that it was the time to show the
product to the masses and enter the market. We would be developing some nice
cocktails and of course, Asian influenced
drinks will also be served,” said the chef.
ENTERTAINMENT
As the last time witnessed many dance
parties, this time, Delhi’s first boy band is also
going to be launched at the event. With this,
selfie sessions and discount coupons are also
to look out for.
The second edition of Asian Hawkers market is going
to take place from February 12 to February 14 at the
Select Citywalk mall.

Lucknow - The Pioneer

Transcription

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