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W eighing in on the ongo- ing protests across the country, former President Pranab Mukherjee on Thursday said the present wave of largely peaceful protests that have “gripped” the country will once again help deepening India’s democratic roots. Addressing the first Sukumar Sen Memorial lecture series at Pravasi Bharatiya Kendra on Thursday, former President said the last few months have witnessed people, particularly the youth, come out on the streets in large numbers to voice their views on issues “which in their view are important”. “Indian democracy has been tested time and again. Consensus is the lifeblood of democracy. Democracy thrives on listening, deliberating, dis- cussing, arguing and even dis- sent. Their assertion and belief in the Constitution of India is particularly heartening to see,” he said. While Mukherjee did not name the Citizenship (Amendment) Act or CAA, in his address, his remarks, par- ticularly his reference to belief of the youth in upholding the Constitution of India, have come against the backdrop of protests against the CAA. Incidentally, at several places protesters, mainly youths, grabbed headlines by simply reading the Preamble of the Constitution. The Modi Government has faced several protests during its second term across the coun- try on issues such as CAA/ NRC/NPR, abrogation of Article 370, and Triple Talaq. Mukherjee’s daughter Sharmistha Mukherjee, a Congress leader, has support- ed the ongoing protests against the CAA and she was detained. This is not the first time that he has spoken out on issues of national importance. Mukherjee had raked up a major controversy by visiting the RSS headquarters in Nagpur two years ago. At that time even people within his own party, the Congress, crit- icised him for showing prox- imity to the ruling BJP at the Centre. On December 19 last year, speaking at the second Atal Bihari Vajpayee Memorial Lecture at the India Foundation, Mukherjee had cautioned against a “majori- tarian Government” against the backdrop of pan-India protests against the CAA. “A numerical majority in the elections only gives a polit- ical party the right to form a stable Government and not a majoritarian one. A numerical majority in elections gives you the right to make a stable gov- ernment. The lack of popular majority forbids you from (becoming) a majoritarian gov- ernment. That is the message and essence of our parliamen- tary democracy,” Mukherjee said. The former President also pointed out that while people have given “strong majorities” to various parties since 1952, not a single one has been elect- ed with over 50 per cent vote. Similarly, delivering Rajendra Mathur Memorial Lecture, organised annually by the Editors Guild of India in December last year, Mukherjee had emphasised that a democ- racy without a free press is like a “blank piece of paper”. “Selective, orchestrated, one-sided, out of context, or motivated reporting and dis- play, aimed at pushing the par- tisan agendas of one group or the other cannot or should not ever be the nature and charac- ter of journalism,” he had said. In October last year, Mukherjee pressed on the importance of dialogue in a democracy while delivering the North East Institute of Advanced Studies Foundation Day lecture in memory of Justice (Retd) KN Saikia in Guwahati, Assam. Mukherjee stated that the soul of India resides in pluralism and cele- bration of its diversity. C hina on Thursday locked down five cities, including Wuhan, suspending all public transport in an unprecedented move to contain the coron- avirus that has infected over 630 people and left 17 others dead, dampening the celebra- tions of the Lunar New Year. On Thursday evening, Chinese officials announced suspension of public transport in five cities - Huanggang, Ezhou, Zhijiang, Qianjiang and Wuhan in Hubei province, official media reported. Wuhan, the city of 11 mil- lion people where the virus is believed to have first emerged, has no trains or planes in or out. Nationwide, a total of 17 people have died, all of them in and around Wuhan. The vic- tims’ average age was 73, with the oldest 89 and the youngest 48. So far 631 cases have been confirmed in 25 provincial- level regions in the country. The Government has sealed Wuhan and Huanggang, a prefecture level city with over 7.4 million people, in an unprecedented effort to curb the spread of the deadly novel coronavirus. The other three cities too have substantial pop- ulation. From 10 am on Thursday, all public trans- portation, including city buses, subways, ferries and long-dis- tance coaches in Wuhan were suspended, and outbound channels at airports and railway stations closed until further notice. The city officials have asked people in both the cities not to leave. W ith Delhi Assembly elec- tions just 16 days away, ruling Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) stepped on the gas to woo the voters. Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal and Union Home Minister Amit Shah were in Maitiala Assembly con- stituency on Thursday to drum up support for their candidates. Kejriwal held roadshows in Uttar Nagar and Vikaspuri areas while Shah held road- shows in Uttam Nagar, Palam and Nagloi Jat. The Union Home Minister launched a tirade on AAP chief and said if a competition to make false promises is held in the country, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal will win the first prize. He also alleged that the AAP leader had forgotten the promises he had made to the people of Delhi. “If there is a competition in the country of making false promises, Kejriwal would definitely get the first prize. I have come to remind you that you forgot the promises you made, but nei- ther the people of Delhi nor BJP workers have forgotten,” said the Union Home Minister while addressing a public meeting in West Delhi’s Matiala constituency ahead of the Assembly polls on February 8. “You became CM with the help of Anna Hazare but couldn’t bring a law for Lokpal and when Modi ji brought it you didn’t implement it here,” he said. For four and a half years the Chief Minister kept saying Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not let him work so development could not be done in Delhi, Shah said. B ihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Thursday lashed out at party leader and former diplomat Pavan Varma for publicly questioning the JD(U)’s tie-up with the BJP for Delhi Assembly elections and raising his differences with the party over the citizenship issue, saying he was “free to go” wherever he likes as the latter reacted saying he would decide on the next course of action after receiving a reply from Kumar to his letter. The Chief Minister also expressed his strong displea- sure and objection over Varma, a national general sec- retary of the party, sharing on the social media a letter wherein he had made mention of the Chief Minister having expressed apprehensions “in private” about the BJP’s “divi- sive” agenda. “He is a learned man for whom I have a lot of respect even if he may not have sim- ilar sentiments for me. But is it proper to share such things in public and not on a party forum? What if I start sharing what he said to me in public?” Nitish told reporters in Patna. On Varma’s repeated demands for “ideological clar- ity”, Nitish said, “The JD(U)’s stand is very clear...He is free to go wherever he likes”. W ith nine days left for their execution, the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape case are yet to inform the Tihar jail authorities about when they want to meet their families for the last time or whom they want to will their assets and the money that they have earned during their incarceration. Delhi Prisons authorities have begun preparations for the execution of the four convicts on February 1 and have con- tracted Pawan, the hangman from Meerut who would be paid 15,000 for each hanging. Meanwhile, the counsel for the convicts, AP Singh told The Pioneer that options are there before him as Akshay Singh and Pawan Gupta’s curative petitions are yet to be filed before the Supreme Court. Once the petitions are filed, the hanging will be stayed till the petitions are decided. The four convicts, Vinay Shrama (26), Akshay Singh (31), Mukesh Kumar (32) and Pawan Gupta (25), who are lodged in separate cells of Jail No 3 where the execution will take place, are scheduled to be hanged at 6 am on February 1, in case they fail to file the cura- tive petition. According to AP Singh, Pawan and Akshay still have options to file curative petitions in the Supreme Court. Pawan and Akshay are yet to request for the “Presidential pardon”. A petition of Pawan claim- ing to be juvenile at the time of crime was rejected by the Supreme Court recently but the advocate said Pawan is still left with option to move a cura- tive petition in the Supreme Court. The lawyer also claimed that Akshay is also left with optiond to file curative petition. Meanwhile, a senior jail official while elaborating about the procedure before executing death-row convicts said after the death warrants were issued, the convicts were asked when they would like to meet their respective families for the last time and if so, who all do they wish to meet. But none of them have responded yet. The official said the con- victs were also asked if they would want to prepare their will, but they have not respond- ed yet. “The families of all the four convicts are allowed to meet them twice a week but the last date of meeting has not been fixed because they still have not responded,” he said. “Dummy execution of the four death-row convicts was performed in the prison last week. The officials recorded the weights of the convicts and then prepared the dummies accordingly with sacks filled with debris and stones,” a senior jail official said. The execution will take place in Jail No 3, the offi- cial said, adding that the Uttar Pradesh Prison authority has confirmed that Pawan Jallad from Meerut will be sent to hang the four convicts. All the four are likely to hanged simultaneously. New Delhi: An Indian nurse working at a hospital in Saudi Arabia tested positive for the novel coronavirus when she and nearly 100 of her Indian colleagues, mostly from Kerala, were screened, the Government said on Thursday. The affected nurse is being treated at the Aseer National Hospital and is recovering well, Minister of State for External Affairs V Muraleedharan said. In a tweet, he said, “Update from @CGIJeddah : About 100 Indian nurses mostly from Kerala working at Al-Hayat hospital have been tested and none except one nurse was found infected by Corona virus. Affected nurse is being treated at Aseer National Hospital and is recovering well.” Detailed report on P2 M adhya Pradesh can create its new image in data centre business. Six hundred ninety acre land is available at nine different places of the state for this business. Upto 75 per- cent rebate in the cost for set- ting up units on Government land can also be given to the interested companies. On the third day of the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting on Thursday, the Chief Minister Kamal Nath held discussions at length with Max Peterson, the Vice President of Amazon Web Service. Peterson informed the Chief Minister that at present, the company is operating at 6 places including New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai. Out of these, the company has data centers in Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai and wishes to start business in Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister, Kamal Nath said that all facilities and resources needed for data cen- tre like land, electricity and work force are available in Madhya Pradesh. The Chief Minister also met Borge Brende, the President of Economic Forum and Malik Mohammad Yunus Ali of Lulu Group. C hhattisgarh Government on Thursday ended the pension of those jailed under the Maintenance of Internal Security Act (MISA) and Defence of India Rules (DIR) during emergency period. Advocate General, Chhattisgarh, Satish Verma confirming it said necessary amendment in the act related to MISA detainees (2008) was done and it was also notified in the state gazette to end the pension. Notable, through an order, General Administration Department earlier directed all the divi- sional commissioners and district collectors to do phys- ical verification of detainees and also instructed the dis- trict treasury officers to stop disbursing the pension amount from the month of February, 2019. The High Court of Chhattisgarh later on around a fortnight ago had given adverse decision and had instructed the government to release the pensions. In fact, the State Government without mak- ing necessary amendment in the act had stopped the pen- sion citing the reason that it would only be continued after physical verification. Meanwhile, through noti- fication in the state gazette the State Government has now ended the pension to the detainees and their family members. Around 300 pensioners are still alive in the state and most of them are widows of detainees. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of ˙ 0! ˇ ˆ ˙ ˇ1/012123 ˛,1 4 !˚˜#$!˜%&’˜(˛ )# !˜(!*(! · majoritarian one. A numerical...

Page 1: ˙ 0! ˇ ˆ ˙ ˇ1/012123 ˛,1 4 !˚˜#$!˜%&’˜(˛ )# !˜(!*(! · majoritarian one. A numerical ... remind you that you forgot the ... for the “Presidential pardon”. A petition

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Weighing in on the ongo-ing protests across the

country, former PresidentPranab Mukherjee onThursday said the present waveof largely peaceful protests thathave “gripped” the countrywill once again help deepeningIndia’s democratic roots.

Addressing the firstSukumar Sen Memorial lectureseries at Pravasi BharatiyaKendra on Thursday, formerPresident said the last fewmonths have witnessed people,particularly the youth, comeout on the streets in largenumbers to voice their viewson issues “which in their vieware important”.

“Indian democracy hasbeen tested time and again.Consensus is the lifeblood ofdemocracy. Democracy thriveson listening, deliberating, dis-

cussing, arguing and even dis-sent. Their assertion and beliefin the Constitution of India isparticularly heartening to see,”he said.

While Mukherjee did notname the Citizenship(Amendment) Act or CAA, inhis address, his remarks, par-ticularly his reference to beliefof the youth in upholding theConstitution of India, havecome against the backdrop ofprotests against the CAA.

Incidentally, at severalplaces protesters, mainlyyouths, grabbed headlines bysimply reading the Preamble ofthe Constitution.

The Modi Government hasfaced several protests during itssecond term across the coun-try on issues such as CAA/NRC/NPR, abrogation ofArticle 370, and Triple Talaq.

Mukherjee’s daughterSharmistha Mukherjee, a

Congress leader, has support-ed the ongoing protests againstthe CAA and she was detained.

This is not the first timethat he has spoken out onissues of national importance.Mukherjee had raked up amajor controversy by visitingthe RSS headquarters inNagpur two years ago. At thattime even people within hisown party, the Congress, crit-icised him for showing prox-imity to the ruling BJP at theCentre.

On December 19 last year,speaking at the second AtalBihari Vajpayee MemorialLecture at the IndiaFoundation, Mukherjee hadcautioned against a “majori-tarian Government” againstthe backdrop of pan-Indiaprotests against the CAA.

“A numerical majority inthe elections only gives a polit-ical party the right to form a

stable Government and not amajoritarian one. A numericalmajority in elections gives youthe right to make a stable gov-ernment. The lack of popularmajority forbids you from(becoming) a majoritarian gov-ernment. That is the messageand essence of our parliamen-

tary democracy,” Mukherjeesaid. The former President alsopointed out that while peoplehave given “strong majorities”to various parties since 1952,not a single one has been elect-ed with over 50 per cent vote.

Similarly, deliveringRajendra Mathur Memorial

Lecture, organised annually bythe Editors Guild of India inDecember last year, Mukherjeehad emphasised that a democ-racy without a free press is likea “blank piece of paper”.

“Selective, orchestrated,one-sided, out of context, ormotivated reporting and dis-play, aimed at pushing the par-tisan agendas of one group orthe other cannot or should notever be the nature and charac-ter of journalism,” he had said.

In October last year,Mukherjee pressed on theimportance of dialogue in ademocracy while deliveringthe North East Institute ofAdvanced Studies FoundationDay lecture in memory ofJustice (Retd) KN Saikia inGuwahati, Assam. Mukherjeestated that the soul of Indiaresides in pluralism and cele-bration of its diversity.

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China on Thursday lockeddown five cities, including

Wuhan, suspending all publictransport in an unprecedentedmove to contain the coron-avirus that has infected over630 people and left 17 othersdead, dampening the celebra-tions of the Lunar New Year.

On Thursday evening,Chinese officials announcedsuspension of public transportin five cities - Huanggang,Ezhou, Zhijiang, Qianjiang andWuhan in Hubei province,official media reported.

Wuhan, the city of 11 mil-lion people where the virus isbelieved to have first emerged,has no trains or planes in orout. Nationwide, a total of 17people have died, all of them inand around Wuhan. The vic-

tims’ average age was 73, withthe oldest 89 and the youngest48. So far 631 cases have beenconfirmed in 25 provincial-level regions in the country.

The Government hassealed Wuhan and Huanggang,a prefecture level city withover 7.4 million people, in anunprecedented effort to curbthe spread of the deadly novelcoronavirus. The other threecities too have substantial pop-ulation. From 10 am onThursday, all public trans-portation, including city buses,subways, ferries and long-dis-tance coaches in Wuhan weresuspended, and outboundchannels at airports and railwaystations closed until furthernotice.

The city officials haveasked people in both the citiesnot to leave.

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With Delhi Assembly elec-tions just 16 days away,

ruling Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) and the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) stepped on the gasto woo the voters. Delhi ChiefMinister and AAP convenerArvind Kejriwal and UnionHome Minister Amit Shahwere in Maitiala Assembly con-stituency on Thursday to drumup support for their candidates.

Kejriwal held roadshows inUttar Nagar and Vikaspuriareas while Shah held road-shows in Uttam Nagar, Palamand Nagloi Jat.

The Union Home Ministerlaunched a tirade on AAPchief and said if a competitionto make false promises is heldin the country, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal willwin the first prize.

He also alleged that theAAP leader had forgotten thepromises he had made to thepeople of Delhi. “If there is acompetition in the country ofmaking false promises,Kejriwal would definitely getthe first prize. I have come toremind you that you forgot thepromises you made, but nei-ther the people of Delhi norBJP workers have forgotten,”said the Union Home Ministerwhile addressing a publicmeeting in West Delhi’sMatiala constituency ahead ofthe Assembly polls onFebruary 8.

“You became CM with thehelp of Anna Hazare but

couldn’t bring a law for Lokpaland when Modi ji brought ityou didn’t implement it here,”he said.

For four and a half years

the Chief Minister kept sayingPrime Minister NarendraModi did not let him work sodevelopment could not bedone in Delhi, Shah said.

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Bihar Chief Minister NitishKumar on Thursday lashed

out at party leader and formerdiplomat Pavan Varma forpublicly questioning theJD(U)’s tie-up with the BJP forDelhi Assembly elections andraising his differences with theparty over the citizenship issue,saying he was “free to go”wherever he likes as the latterreacted saying he would decideon the next course of actionafter receiving a reply fromKumar to his letter.

The Chief Minister alsoexpressed his strong displea-sure and objection overVarma, a national general sec-retary of the party, sharing on

the social media a letterwherein he had made mentionof the Chief Minister havingexpressed apprehensions “inprivate” about the BJP’s “divi-sive” agenda.

“He is a learned man forwhom I have a lot of respecteven if he may not have sim-ilar sentiments for me. But is it proper to share suchthings in public and not on aparty forum? What if I startsharing what he said to me in public?” Nitish toldreporters in Patna.

On Varma’s repeateddemands for “ideological clar-ity”, Nitish said, “The JD(U)’sstand is very clear...He is freeto go wherever he likes”.

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With nine days left for theirexecution, the four

death-row convicts in theNirbhaya gangrape case areyet to inform the Tihar jailauthorities about when theywant to meet their families forthe last time or whom theywant to will their assets and themoney that they have earnedduring their incarceration.

Delhi Prisons authoritieshave begun preparations for theexecution of the four convictson February 1 and have con-tracted Pawan, the hangmanfrom Meerut who would bepaid �15,000 for each hanging.

Meanwhile, the counsel forthe convicts, AP Singh told ThePioneer that options are therebefore him as Akshay Singhand Pawan Gupta’s curativepetitions are yet to be filedbefore the Supreme Court.Once the petitions are filed, thehanging will be stayed till thepetitions are decided.

The four convicts, VinayShrama (26), Akshay Singh(31), Mukesh Kumar (32) andPawan Gupta (25), who arelodged in separate cells of JailNo 3 where the execution willtake place, are scheduled to behanged at 6 am on February 1,in case they fail to file the cura-tive petition.

According to AP Singh,Pawan and Akshay still haveoptions to file curative petitionsin the Supreme Court. Pawanand Akshay are yet to requestfor the “Presidential pardon”.

A petition of Pawan claim-ing to be juvenile at the time ofcrime was rejected by the

Supreme Court recently butthe advocate said Pawan is stillleft with option to move a cura-tive petition in the SupremeCourt. The lawyer also claimedthat Akshay is also left withoptiond to file curative petition.

Meanwhile, a senior jailofficial while elaborating aboutthe procedure before executingdeath-row convicts said afterthe death warrants were issued,the convicts were asked whenthey would like to meet theirrespective families for the lasttime and if so, who all do theywish to meet. But none ofthem have responded yet.

The official said the con-victs were also asked if theywould want to prepare theirwill, but they have not respond-ed yet. “The families of all thefour convicts are allowed tomeet them twice a week but thelast date of meeting has notbeen fixed because they stillhave not responded,” he said.

“Dummy execution of thefour death-row convicts wasperformed in the prison lastweek. The officials recordedthe weights of the convicts andthen prepared the dummiesaccordingly with sacks filledwith debris and stones,” asenior jail official said.

The execution will takeplace in Jail No 3, the offi-cial said, adding thatthe Uttar PradeshPrison authority hasconfirmed that PawanJallad from Meerut willbe sent to hang thefour convicts.

All the four arelikely to hangedsimultaneously.

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New Delhi: An Indian nurseworking at a hospital in SaudiArabia tested positive for thenovel coronavirus when sheand nearly 100 of her Indiancolleagues, mostly from Kerala,were screened, theGovernment said on Thursday.

The affected nurse is beingtreated at the Aseer NationalHospital and is recovering well,Minister of State for External

Affairs V Muraleedharan said.In a tweet, he said, “Update

from @CGIJeddah : About 100Indian nurses mostly fromKerala working at Al-Hayathospital have been tested andnone except one nurse wasfound infected by Corona virus.Affected nurse is being treatedat Aseer National Hospital andis recovering well.”

Detailed report on P2

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Madhya Pradesh can createits new image in data

centre business. Six hundredninety acre land is available atnine different places of the statefor this business. Upto 75 per-cent rebate in the cost for set-ting up units on Governmentland can also be given to theinterested companies.

On the third day of theWorld Economic ForumAnnual Meeting on Thursday,the Chief Minister Kamal Nathheld discussions at length withMax Peterson, the VicePresident of Amazon WebService. Peterson informed theChief Minister that at present,the company is operating at 6places including New Delhi,Mumbai, Hyderabad,Bengaluru, Pune and Chennai.

Out of these, the company hasdata centers in Delhi, Mumbaiand Chennai and wishes tostart business in Madhya

Pradesh.The Chief Minister, Kamal

Nath said that all facilities andresources needed for data cen-

tre like land, electricity andwork force are available inMadhya Pradesh. The ChiefMinister also met BorgeBrende, the President ofEconomic Forum and MalikMohammad Yunus Ali of LuluGroup.

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Chhattisgarh Governmenton Thursday ended the

pension of those jailed underthe Maintenance of InternalSecurity Act (MISA) andDefence of India Rules (DIR)during emergency period.Advocate General,Chhattisgarh, Satish Vermaconfirming it said necessaryamendment in the act relatedto MISA detainees (2008)was done and it was alsonotified in the state gazette toend the pension.

Notable, through anorder, GeneralAdministration Departmentearlier directed all the divi-sional commissioners anddistrict collectors to do phys-ical verification of detaineesand also instructed the dis-trict treasury officers to stopdisbursing the pensionamount from the month of

February, 2019. The High Court of

Chhattisgarh later on arounda fortnight ago had givenadverse decision and hadinstructed the government torelease the pensions.

In fact , the StateGovernment without mak-ing necessary amendment inthe act had stopped the pen-sion citing the reason that itwould only be continued afterphysical verification.

Meanwhile, through noti-fication in the state gazette theState Government has nowended the pension to thedetainees and their familymembers.

Around 300 pensionersare still alive in the state andmost of them are widows ofdetainees.

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The amended citizenshiplaw and the situation in

Kashmir are internal issues ofIndia and the country with itsdynamic democracy will findsolutions to these "challenges",Brazilian envoy Andre AranhaCorrea do Lago said onThursday.The envoy told PTIin an interview that his coun-try was following develop-ments on the two issues "withgreat interest".

His comments on the twoissues comes a day ahead ofBrazilian President JairBolsonaro's maiden visit toIndia after he assumed power in January last year fol-lowing a sweeping electoralvictory.

Lago said over 15 agree-ments will be signed during theBrazilian president's visit,including one on the invest-ment protection and facilitationtreaty.

"These (Citizenship(Amendment) Act and

Kashmir situation) are twointernal issues of India thatobviously we are followingwith great interest.

Naturally, in the conver-sations probably the Indiangovernment will bring ele-ments about this but we see thisvery clearly as internal ques-tions of India," he said.

"India being such a dynam-ic democracy with such fan-tastic institutions and civilsociety, we know that withthis a very open society, youwill discuss and you (will) goahead with solutions for thesechallenges," the Brazilian envoysaid.

His remarks comes daysafter envoys of 15 countries,including the US, visited theKashmir valley where theyinteracted with select politicalrepresentatives, civil societymembers as well as military topbrass.

Brazilian envoy Lago wasalso scheduled to visit Jammuand Kashmir, however, he hadbacked out because of his pre-

occupation here.Brazilian President

Bolsonaro will on Friday begina four-day visit to India, pri-marily as the chief guest onRepublic Day and also toexplore ways to boost trade tiesat a time both the largeeconomies are hit by slow-downs.

On whether the slowdownof the Indian economy was amatter of concern, the Brazilianenvoy said it was not as Indiawill probably grow at above fiveper cent.

"We are struggling to growat 2 per cent. We are the coun-try that has been facing moredifficult times.

We had two years of reces-sion and two years of very lowgrowth, but we have a verygood perspective of growingabove 2 per cent this year," Lagoasserted.

"So, it is not a question ofconcern, it has to be interpret-ed as an opportunity because India wants to grow,"he said.

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AGroup of Ministers (GoM),headed by Union Home

Minister Amit Shah, will mon-itor the disposal of over 9,400enemy properties, which arelikely to fetch about �1 lakhcrore to the exchequer.

According to an officialorder, two other high-levelcommittees, one to be headedby Cabinet Secretary RajivGauba and other to be co-chaired by Union HomeSecretary Ajay Bhalla, will alsobe set up for disposal of immov-able enemy properties vested inthe Custodian of EnemyProperty for India under theEnemy Property Act.

Enemy properties werethose left behind by the peoplewho took citizenship of Pakistanand China. The order said anInter-Ministerial Group will beconstituted for the disposal ofenemy properties and it will beco-chaired by the Union Home

Secretary and the Secretary ofthe Department of Investmentand Public Asset Management.Representatives of the Ministryof Home Affairs, dept of eco-nomic affairs, dept of expendi-ture, dept of public enterprises,dept of legal affairs, ministry ofcorporate affairs among otherswill be members of the inter-ministerial group.

The order sai central Govtmay constitute an alternativemechanism comprising HomeMinister Shah, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanand Minister of Road Transportand Highways Nitin Gadkari.There are 9,280 properties leftbehind by Pakistani nationalsand 126 properties left behindby Chinese nationals.

Among the 9,280 proper-ties left behind by Pakistaninationals, the highest 4,991properties are located in UP fol-lowed by West Bengal whichhas 2,735 such estates. There are487 such properties in Delhi.

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Breaking away from tradi-tion, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi will payhomage to fallen soldiers at thenewly-built National WarMemorial here on the RepublicDay instead of Amar JawanJyoti beneath the India Gatearch. Modi had inauguratedthe War Memorial in the IndiaGate complex behind thecanopy on February 25 lastyear.

Amar Jawan Jyoti is sym-bolised by an inverted bayonetand soldier's helmet over it withan eternal flame burning besideit. It was built in 1972 under-neath the India Gate arch tocommemorate soldiers mar-tyred in the India-Pakistanwar of 1971. The three Services

chiefs pay respect on occasionsof national importance at theAmar Jawan Jyoti.

Before commencement ofthe Republic Day parade thisyear, Prime Minister NarendraModi will lead the nation inpaying homage to the fallensoldiers by laying a wreath at

the National War Memorial,the flame of the immortal war-rior, at India Gate, MajorGeneral Alok Kacker, Chief ofStaff Delhi Area said here onThursday in an interactionwith the media.

This will also be the firsttime, Chief of the Defence

Staff(CDS)will take part in theRepublic Day celebrations.Former Army chief GeneralBipin Rawat on January 1 hadtaken charge as the country'sfirst CDS.

Spread over an area ofapproximately 40 acres,National War Memorial com-prises four concentric circles,namely -- the 'Amar Chakra','Veerta Chakra', 'Tyag Chakra'and the 'Rakshak Chakra' withnames of 25,942 soldiersinscribed in golden letters ongranite tablets.

It also includes a central15.5-m obelisk, an eternalflame and six bronze muralsdepicting famous battles foughtby the Indian Army, Air Forceand the Navy in a coveredgallery (Veerta Chakra).

The memorial is dedicated

to soldiers killed during theIndia-China War in 1962,Indo-Pak Wars in 1947, 1965and 1971, Indian PeaceKeeping ForceOperations(IPKF) in Sri Lankaand in the Kargil Conflict in1999, and also those in the UNpeacekeeping missions.

The 42 m-high India Gatewas built during the British Rajas the All India War MemorialArch to honour the soldierswho died in the First WorldWar (1914-1918) and the ThirdAnglo-Afghan War (1919). Thelandmark has the names of sol-diers inscribed on its surface.

Over 80,000 Indianlaid their lives in those cam-paigns and India Gate bearsnames of 13,516 etched over itssurface. Amar Jawan Jyoti wasbuilt to commemorate India's

victory in the Indo-Pak War of1971. So, both flames will havetheir own importance, offi-cials had said ahead of the inau-guration of the National WarMemorial.

Meanwhile, 16 marchingcontingents this year includingsix from the Army and 22tableaus from various statesand departments will take partin the Republic Day parade atRajpath, Kacker said. TheArmy will be represented by aMounted Column of 61Cavalry, eight mechanisedcolumns, six marching contin-gents and a fly past by Rudraand Dhruv Advanced LightHelicopters of Army Aviation,he added. The Army's SignalCorps contingent will be led bywoman officer Captain TanyaShergill.

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The traditional Christianhymn 'Abide with me,' a

favourite of Mahatma Gandhiis back on the list of tunes forthis year's Beating the Retreatceremony at Vijay Chowkhere on January 29. The tunewas part of the annual cere-mony every year since 1950.Beating The Retreat is per-formed every year markingthe end of the Republic Daycelebrations.

Two weeks back theDefence Ministry had

dropped 'Abide with me' fromthe tunes to be played this year which officials saidwas part of an "annual review to introduce newtunes." However, the movedrew sharp criticism fromvarious quarters as the cere-mony this year was end withthe national song VandeMatram instead of 'Abidewith me.'

There are about 30-35tunes played at the ceremonyevery year some of which arechanged but 'Abide with me'has always been there. "

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Congress leader RahulGandhi will hold public

rallies and meetings across thecountry starting with Jaipur onJanuary 28 to highlight thecountry's "economic problems"including rising unemployment.

A Congress office bearersaid Rahul's address in Jaipurwill focus on the youth and stu-dents who are facing problemsbecause of lack of jobs and ris-ing unemployment due to theprevailing economic situationin the country. The public rallycomes ahead of the Unionbudget scheduled to be pre-sented on February 1.

Party sources said the for-mer Congress chief also intendsto address a rally in MadhyaPradesh, where he will focus onissues confronting the farmers,tribals and rural workers.Further, he is likely to addressa meeting of small and medi-

um industrialists, traders andprofessionals at Mumbai, theparty leaders said. CongressGeneral Secretary PriyankaGandhi is likely to join herbrother Rahul in any one ofthem to address the rally.

There are other placesbeing worked out for similarrally focusing particular seg-ments. "The Jaipur rally willgive a message in the countryand will attract attention ofCentre on the burning issues ofcountry," said the party sources

pointing the success of BharatBachao Rally held last monthwhich saw a huge turnout.

A senior Congress leaderalleged the Modi Governmentwas not taking any concretestep on the issues of publicinterest and the economy, butwas busy "diverting" publicattention by bringing lawswhich are unnecessary.

"For the first time, protestsare happening in different partsof the country against a lawpassed by the Parliament.

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The Congress on Thursday targetedModi Government over India slipping

10 ranks on the Democracy Index, say-ing democracy has been eroded anddemocratic institutions debilitated underthe 'tukde tukde gang' in power, and thisshould alarm every Indian.

Senior party leader P Chidambaramsaid, "Anyone who has closely observedthe events of the last two years knows thatdemocracy has been eroded and demo-cratic institutions have been debilitatedthose who are in power are the real 'tukdetukde' gang."

"The world is alarmed by the direc-tion INDIA is taking. Every patrioticINDIAN should be alarmed too," he said

on Twitter.For his part, Congress spokesperson

Abhishek Singhvi said it is natural thatevery proud Indian will deeply feel hurtand pained on finding that India hasslipped 10 ranks from 41 to 51 on theDemocracy Index which is computed bya well-known renowned and a veryobjectively known entity.

The index for India should be risingas it is one of those few countries who havesolid democracy, he said, adding that isthe first time since 2006 when it hasdeclined to this figure.

"This is a red-flag which shouldremind us every minute of our existencethat Diminishing Democracy is what wehave to be eternally vigilant against. Thisis our proud heritage, it is our proudest

possession. We can't allow it to dilute or dimin-

ish even by one millimetre," he toldreporters. Singhvi said democracy hasbeen vibrant, alive and kicking in a bigmeasure only in India, unlike in severalother colonial countries. He saidthat one parameter was of fear.

"Is there not fear palpable in thiscountry? Whether within the rulingparty or outside it, whether it is becauseof misuse of government's power andagencies or of snooping and surveillance.I don't think

we need a thermometer to measurethat. We all understand and we all knowit. Well, that diminishes democracy. ThisDD factor is what we are talking about -Diminishing Democracy," he said.

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Road Transport andHighways Minister Nitin

Gadkari on Thursday askedofficials and developers tostrictly adhere to project sched-ules. "Delays in projects areunacceptable. Adhere strictly toproject schedules," Gadkaritold officials and developers onthe first day of two days reviewmeeting of projects worth �3-lakh crore.

Gadkari told that anyinter-Ministerial issue holdingup a project may be brought tothe notice of the Ministry forintervention to expedite reso-lution. Projects from southernand central zones, includingTamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Puducherry,Telangana, Gujarat,Chhattisgarh, Rajasthan andMadhya Pradesh, were onreview on Thursday.

A total of 500 highwayprojects worth �3 lakh crore arebeing taken up for review onThursday and Fri with a viewto fast-track them. All devel-

opers, contractors and officersof NHAI are linked to portaland it will help sharing of allproject-related information forspeedy implementation.

The projects from north-eastern States, Maha,Uttarakhand, Punjab, J&K,Ladakh, Haryana, Bihar,Odisha, Jharkhand, WestBengal and UP will be reviewedFriday. Issues related to projectsin northeastern States andunder National Highways andInfrastructure DevelopmentCorporation Ltd have alreadybeen reviewed in a separatemeeting held on Jan 7.

Gadkari, along withMinister of State for RoadTransport and Highways VKSingh, launched online webportal 'GATI', which has beencreated by the NationalHighways Authority of Indiaon the lines of PRAGATI.

An official said "Gadkariwill also personally monitor theprojects". The portal 'GATI' canbe accessed from NHAI's web-site, and contractors and con-cessionaires can raise any pro-

ject-related issues on the plat-form, according to a statementby the Ministry of RoadTransport and Highways.

"The issue will immediate-ly come to the notice of every-one...HQ NHAI including topmanagement, and immediateaction will be taken by the con-cerned officer duly updating onthe portal," it said.

The issues raised on 'GATI'will be daily monitored by ateam of NHAI officers and willbe constantly reviewed by thesenior officers of the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) and the Ministry ofRoad Transport and Highways,the statement said. This willbring transparency and speedup the decision making inhighway construction, it added.

During the meeting thenew union territory of Dadra& Nagar Haveli and Damanand Diu has been assignednew vehicle registration mark'DD' after the headquarters ofthe merged union territories ofDaman and Diu, and Dadraand Nagar Haveli.

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After registering a caseagainst city-based Radikal

Foods Ltd and its directors forallegedly duping a consortiumof 10 banks led by SBI to thetune of �820 crore, the CBI onThursday conducted searchesat the residence of the accusedpersons.

The agency claimed tohave recovered incriminatingdocuments after the searches.

The agency has bookedthe accused persons and theentity under Indian Penal Codecharges relating to criminalconspiracy, cheating.

Forgery of documents andpresenting forged documentsas genuine besides relevantprovisions of Prevention ofCorruption Act on a com-plaint from State Bank of India(SBI), leading the consortiumof banks.

"It was alleged that thesaid company availed creditfacilities to the tune of �732crore (approximately) andcheated the complainant bankand other consortium banks by

way of forgery and using forgeddocuments as genuine," theCBI said in a statement.

An alleged loss of �819.48crore as on April 1, 2018 wascaused to the banks. The con-sortium banks consisted of 10banks-State Bank of India,Indian Overseas Bank, OrientalBank of Commerce, EximBank, Bank of India, IDBI

Bank, Bank of Maharashtra,CSB Bank, Vijaya Bank (nowBank of Baroda) and UCOBank.

The accused entities andpersons include Delhi-basedRadikal Foods Limited,Directors of the accused firmSiddharth Chaudhary andAnju Chaudhary besidesunknown public servants.

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The CBI has taken over theprobe into the killing of a

man named Rama LengawNatesan in the United ArabEmirates allegedly by a fellowIndian over some money dis-pute in 2008.

The case has been takenover after a request from theUAE Government under theextradition treaty between thetwo countries. Article 5 of the

treaty prohibits extradition ofown nationals by requestedstate, subject to the conditionthat the requested state shallprosecute the accused underits own law.

In accordance with theprovision, the UAEGovernment had written toIndia on October last yearseeking prosecution of IndreJeet Singh, who is accused ofkilling Natesan in 2008 in thatcountry.

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The Disaster Mitigation andManagement Centre in

Uttarakhand and former IPSofficer KM Singh have beenselected for the SubhashChandra Bose AapdaPrabandhan Puraskar for theircommendable work in disastermanagement, the HomeMinistry announced onThursday.

While the DisasterMitigation and ManagementCentre (DMMC) inUttarakhand, an organisationworking in the field of naturalcalamity relief, has been select-ed in the institution categoryand will be given a certificateand a cash prize of �51 lakh,Singh, who has been workingin the same area, has beenselected for the individual cat-egory and will be given �5 lakhalong with a certificate.

The award is given in orderto recognise the excellent workdone by individuals and insti-tutions in the country in thefield of disaster management,according to a Home Ministry

statement.The award is announced

every year on January 23, thebirth anniversary of NetajiSubhash Chandra Bose.

The award scheme for theyear 2020 was given wide pub-licity, and nominations for theaward were solicited fromAugust 1 last year onwards. Thelast date for receipt of nomi-nations was October 15, 2019.The response to the awardscheme was overwhelming,with about 330 nominationsfrom institutions and individ-uals. For the selection of award,the nominations were scruti-nised by the two high-levelcommittees.

The DMMC in

Uttarakhand discharges thefunctions of the State DisasterManagement Authority underthe Government ofUttarakhand. Since its estab-lishment in 2006, it has coor-dinated various post -disasterfunctions relating to coordi-nation, requisition, informationexchange and media briefing,including those after 2010,2012 and 2013 major disasterincidents.

M K Singh was appointedfounder member of the NDMAin 2005, following his com-mendable work during 2004Indian Ocean Tsunami. In theNDMA, Singh envisioned andhad taken painstaking efforts

to establish, one of its kindspecialist response force, the'National Disaster ResponseForce' from scratch to today'sstrong force of 14,000 person-nel comprising of 12 battalions.

Under the superintendenceand directions of Singh, theNDRF delivered commend-able response in its nascentphase itself during the devas-tating 2008 Kosi floods, thestatement said.

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Minister of State forExternal Affairs, V

Muraleedharan on Wednesdaysaid that about 100 Indiannurses mostly from Kerala whoare working at Al-Hayat hos-pital in Saudi Arabia have beentested for Corona virus, whichhas killed at least 17 people inChina and none except onewas found to be infected withthe pathogen.

He tweeted that the affect-ed nurse is being treated atAseer National Hospital and isrecovering well. The virus haskilled at least 17 people andinfected over 570 people inChina. The virus has alsospread to other countries,including South Korea, Japan,Thailand etc.

A senior Union Health

Ministry said that IndianMission in China is in touchwith Indians in Wuhan and rel-evant Chinese authorities. "Weare closely monitoring theevolving situation. We havealso started hotlines(+8618612083629/+8618612083617for those who wish to getin touch with the Mission.

As on 22nd January,2020,12,828 passengers from 60flights have been screened forNovel Coronovirus symptoms,and no passenger has beendetected in India so far, said theofficial.

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RAIPUR | FRIDAY | JANUARY 24, 2020chhattisgarh 03

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh ChiefMinister Bhupesh Baghel

on Thursday held a pre-budg-et meeting with the represen-tatives of various organisa-tions of industry and com-merce sector for the fiscal year2020-21 at his official resi-dence at Raipur.

In the meeting,Additional Chief SecretaryFinance Amitabh Jain,Principal Secretary to ChiefMinister Gaurav Dwivedi,Principal Secretary ofIndustry Department ManojKumar Pingua, DirectorIndustry Department AnilTuteja, were also present.

The meeting was attendedby representatives of FICCI,CII, Urla IndustriesAssociation, ChhattisgarhChamber of Commerce andCREDAI and other organisa-tions.

In the meeting, the repre-sentatives gave some impor-

tant suggestions to promotecommerce and industrial sec-tor in Chhattisgarh.

Chief Minister hasassured of taking their sugges-tions into serious considera-tion and take decision accord-ingly. Baghel has given con-sent for several suggestions inthe meeting.

The representatives ofcommerce and industrial sec-tor appreciated this initiativeof Chief Minister and said that

State Government's policieshave boosted industry andcommerce sector in the state.The representatives informedthat Chhattisgarh's steelindustry has grown by 5%,whereas other sectors havegrown by 15%.

The representativesinformed that the small-scaleindustrial sector that was onthe road to decline for sevenyears has grown by 16%.Representatives said that the

state government's decisionssuch as waiving off farmers'loans and procuring paddy at`2500 per quintal have hadpositive impact on state'scommerce and industrial sec-tor.

Chief Minister said thatfire brigade centers will beopened in industrial areas ofthe state, sponge and ironindustries of Chhattisgarh willbe provided iron from NMDCon reasonable rates as per therequirements, use of fly ash inconstruction of roads in plainareas such as Raipur toRaigarh will be promoted tostop pollution due to fly ash.

Chief Minister assured oftaking the suggestions to startentrepreneurship curriculumin schools, ITIs and skilldevelopment centers of indus-trial areas, to provide facilitiesfor development of cluster ofsmall industries in Nagarnarand other industrial areas,early sanction of proposalsrelated to establishment of

industries in backwards areasof the state, into serious con-sideration.

The representatives ofindustria sector praised thecanal recharging schemeunder Narva, Garva, Ghurva,Bari Yojana of the state gov-ernment.

They also suggested pro-motion of tourism industry,green energy and setting up offood processing industries inrural areas. They also thankedChief Minister for the quickaction taken by ChhattisgarhPolice on his instructions tosafely rescue Praveen Somani,a businessman of Raipur.

The meeting was attendedby BL Agrawal of the CII,Chairman of FICCIChhattisgarh Chapter PradeepTandon, Vijay AnandJhanwar, Ramesh Agrawal ofCII, Urla IndustriesAssociation ChairmanAshwin Garg and JitendraBarlota of ChhattisgarhChamber of Commerce.

CM Baghel assures to incorporatesuggestions of trades & industry

Pre-budget consultation

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has demanded of

the Centre to sanction addi-tional levy on coal extractedfrom coal mines ofChhattisgarh as soon as pos-sible.

As per the state govern-ment's estimate additionallevy will be to the tune of`4140.21 crore.

Chief Minister has writ-ten a letter to Union Ministerfor Mines and Coal PrahladJoshi and has said thataccording to the provisionsof Indian Constitution,Mineral Act and the ordersissued by the Supreme Courtin the context, the state gov-ernment is entitled to theownership of minerals, andto recover royalty, levy andother taxes.

Quoting the relevantprovisions, Chief Ministerhas requested sanction ofadditional levy worth nearly`4140.61 crore as soon aspossible, in larger interest ofChhattisgarh state.

Chief Minister hasmentioned in the letter aboutSupreme Court's order that

the additional royalty on coalexcavated from coal blocks inChhattisgarh state should bepayable to the state govern-ment. He also mentionedabout the letters sent to CoalMinistry of Government ofIndia in last five years,regarding payment of royaltyto Chhattisgarh government.

Chief Minister stated inthe letter that eight coal allot-tees of Chhattisgarh havedeposited additional levy togovernment of India's CoalMinistry at the rate of `295per metric ton. This includes`112.35 crore deposited by

Jaiswal Nicco Ltd, `1185.20crore deposited by JindalPower Ltd, `2082.23 croredeposited by Jindal Steel andPower Ltd, `238.09 croredeposited by Monnet SteelLtd, `234.23 crore depositedby Prakash Industries Ltd,`142.63 crore deposited byRAPL, and `145.49 croresdeposited by Rajasthan StateElectricity ProductionCorporation. Chief Ministerhas requested payment ofthese additional levies byaforementioned organisa-tions to Chhattisgarhgovernment.

C’garh demands additionallevy on coal from Centre

‘Madhupurnam-2020’ dance fest beginsRAIPUR: The dance festival ‘Madhupurnam-2020’ was inaugurated on Thursday at Mahant Ghasidas Memorial Museum openauditorium. It would conclude on January 25.

Culture department director Anil Kumar Sahu said that the dance festival was inaugurated during morning hours onThursday. Around 300 artistes are participating in the event cum competition mainly in classical dance and folk dance. Thecompetition is held from 9.00 am to 6.00 pm while cultural programme is being organised from 7.00 pm to 9.00 pm.

The panel of judges include Sujatha Mahapatra and Meera Das from Odisha, Arti Singh of Raipur, Dr G. Ratish Babu, DollyUike and Khushi Jain from Bhilai and Jayshree Choudhary from Assam.

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Aman committed suicideafter allegedly killing his

wife and three-year-olddaughter in Fundahar area inRaipur on Wednesday policesaid.

What prompted the manto take this extreme step is notyet known, police said.

According to Police aneighbour called emergency

number on Thursday after-noon after they found that noone was responding afterscreams were heard comingfrom house.

“Police entered the roomafter breaking the lock andfound that Praveen Kumar (21) was hanging from theceiling fan. Praveen’s wife,Toshwari Nishad (20) wasfound dead on the bed alongwith three-year old daugh-ter,” said City

Superintendent of Police(CSP) Sunil Sharma.

The CSP further said thatit seems that Praveen, whowas a farmer, strangulatedboth his wife and daughterand then tried to slit veins ofhis wrists.

“The primary investiga-tion suggests that after hiswrists started bleeding, hetied himself to the ceiling fanwith the help of a rope andhanged himself,” said Sharma.

The CSP further saidthat police are investigatingthe reason behind theincident and police aretaking statements of thefamily members.

“Prima facie it seems thatthe couple were havingdispute over Praveen’s liquorhabit,” the CSP added.

A case has been registeredunder section 174 of the CrPCwith Telibadha police station,police said.

Man ends life afterkilling wife-daughter

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Businessman from capital city RaipurPraveen Somani, accompanied by his

family, on Thursday paid courtesy call tothe Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel andthanked him for his initiatives forensuring his safe release after abduction.

During the courtesy meetingSomani expressed gratitude towardsChief Minister and Chhattisgarh Policefor his safe release from abduction.Baghel congratulated Somani on hisrelease and wished him great futureahead.

Baghel on this occasion alsoappreciated the efforts of Chhattisgarhpolice and termed the rescue a majorachievement for them.

Inspector General of Police (IGP)Raipur range Anand Chhabra and SeniorSuperintendent of Police (SSP), RaipurArif Sheikh were also present on thisoccasion.

Baghel later decalered awarding oneincreament to the police officials andemployees who played key role in rescueoperation.

Somani meets CM after safe rescue from captivity

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Aminor fire broke outat NMDC’s Kirandul

Complex in Dantewadadistrict recently but dueto vigilant supervisionand quick action ofcompany management ahuge loss was averted.

According to anNMDC press release thefire incident took placeon January 21 at one ofthe downhill conveyorbelts of its Bailadila Ironore mine- Kirandulcomplex.

The companymanagement not onlymanaged the crisis wellby controlling the firetimely, also ensured theflawless transportationof iron ore RoM (Run ofMines) through otherconveyor belts ofKirandul Complex, therelease said.

This was possibledue to company

leadership which wasmonitored the incidenton minute-to-minutebasis.

The fire accidentoccurred due to frictionat discharge end oftake-up pulley at 11/Cdownhill conveyor belt.

Acting on theinformation, the CISFteams and fire brigadetenders from NMDC’sKirandul and Bachelicomplex immediatelyreached to the spot andcontrolled the fire.

According tocompany officials, RoMiron ore materialtransported throughother conveyor belts ofKirandul complex.

Due to thesemeasures, productionfrom this complex wasnot hampered.Restoration action isunder progress and isexpected to be readysoon.

Fire in NMDC’s Kirandul complex,loss averted due to timely action

STAFF REPORTER n BILASPUR

Members of the cabinet sub-com-mittee constituted for paddy

procurement, namely agricultureminister Ravindra Choubey, forestminister Mohammed Akbar andSchool education minister PremsaiSingh Tekam, visited Bilaspur to holddiscussions with officers and farmerson Thursday.

The ministers held a districtlevel officers meeting and directedto ensure that farmers face noproblem for token or gunny sacks.Congress party leaders’ sugges-tion and complaints of farmerswere also taken up for discussion.

The team then visited villageSendri paddy procurement centreunder Beltara assemblyconstitutency.

Cabinet sub-committeeinspects paddy procurement

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The 4th edition of weeklongKalinga Global Film

Festival (KGFF), the annualevent of the KIIT School ofFilm and Media Sciences, con-cluded on January 22.

Film ‘An IrrelevantDialogue’ directed by MoinakGuho of Satyajit Ray Film andTelevision Institute (SRFTI),won the first prize. HariharaSudhan K won the secondprize for ‘Patharosa’ (SRFTI),while Pratik Gupta of Film andTelevision Institute ofIndia(FTII) received third prize

for ‘Junction’. The awards carrya cash prize of Rs 1 lakh, Rs50,000 and Rs 30,000, for 1st,2nd and 3rd prize, respective-ly, along with a certificate andtrophy. The Special Jury Awardwas given to Ashish Pandey for‘Nooreh’ (Independent) whilethe Jury Mention Award wentto Prataaya Sarkar for ‘LittleThings’ of School of Film andMedia Sciences, KIITUniversity.

The jury members includ-ing Prof Pankaj Saxena, ScreenStudies and Research FTII,Pune, Dr Piyush Roy critic,columnist, curator, scholar and

filmmaker, Tripura Mishra,veteran Odia Actress andMahim Joshi well knownBollywood director, writer andproducer, Jury chairmanPremendra Mazumder, VicePresident, Federation of FilmSocieties of India were presenton the occasion.

The fest started at KIIT inassociation with Federation ofFilm Societies of India (FFSI)on January 18. Around 15 fea-ture films, short films and doc-umentaries from all over Asiain the Asian window and 26films in the student competitivesection were screened.

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Odisha-born ad filmmakerDayanidhi Dahima has

made a mark in Bollywood ashis maiden short movie hasbeen shortlisted for theFilmfare Short Film Awards-2020.

‘Nawab’ is among the 35shortlisted entries for this edi-tion of the prestigious award. It

is the first movie from Odishato have found place in the list.

The less-than-20-minutemovie features AparshaktiKhurana, Mallika Dua, MariaGoretti and Geetika Vidya.

The film has been writtenand directed by Mansi Jain andproduced by the Big BannerFilms in association with theDaya Entertainment Pvt Ltd.

The 28-year-oldRajgangpur youth Dahima hasshifted his base to Mumbaiwhere he forayed into film-making. After completing afilmmaking course from theFTII, Pune, he tried his handson ad filmmaking in Odisha.Later, he also got into celebri-ty management business priorto his entry into Bollywood.

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Ending days of speculationand squabble between

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal Khattar and HomeMinister Anil Vij over the con-trol of CID, the state governmentlate on Wednesday nightbrought a notification divestingVij of the department, which willnow be handled by the CM.

A Haryana governmentstatement said, "Governor ofHaryana, on the advice of thechief minister, has allocatedsome new portfolios to the chiefminister and to two ministers.As per a notification issued bythe chief secretary, the portfoliosof the Criminal InvestigationDepartment, and the depart-ments of Personnel and Trainingand of Raj Bhawan Affairs havebeen allocated to the chief min-ister, Manohar Lal, in additionto his existing portfolios, withimmediate effect," the state-ment said.

Apart from this, the port-folio of Elections has been allo-cated to Transport MinisterMool Chand Sharma while theportfolio of Art and CulturalAffairs, hitherto allocated toSharma, has been allocated to

Education Minister Kanwar Pal,in addition to their existingportfolios.

"Thus, the home minister,Anil Vij, will cease to hold theportfolio of CriminalInvestigation Department andthe transport minister, MoolChand Sharma, will cease tohold the portfolio of Art andCultural Affairs," the statement,issued at midnight said.

The development came afterthe Bharatiya Janata Party offi-cially said the differencesbetween Khattar and Vij over theCID's control have beenresolved. Party in-charge ofHaryana, Anil Jain onWednesday said the issue hasbeen resolved. He said the chiefminister is the head of the gov-ernment and he can keep what-ever departments he wants tohave. Vij had placed the demandthat state CID chief Anil Rao,who is an ADGP-rank officer, be

replaced with Shrikant Jadhav,another senior IPS officer, aftercharging the former with "dis-obedience and negligent behav-iour in official duty".

Rising tensions between theminister and the state CID chiefhad triggered a tug-of-warbetween Vij and the chief min-ister over the control of thedepartment. Khattar recentlysaid the CID remained under thechief minister's control duringthe terms of Bansi Lal and DeviLal, an assertion that appeared tocounter the home minister''sclaim over the department.

After the CID was takenaway from him, a sobre Vij onThursday said he has alwaysmaintained that the chief min-ister is supreme and can takeaway or divide any department,hours after he was stripped ofthe charge of CID. He refused tocomment on the matter any fur-ther.

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In a major bureaucraticreshuffle, Haryana govern-

ment has issued the transferand posting orders of 23 IASofficers with immediate effect.

Amongst the importanttransfers, Siddhi Nath Roy,Additional Chief Secretary,Transport and SkillDevelopment & IndustrialTraining Departments has beenposted as Additional ChiefSecretary, Urban Local BodiesDepartment, relieving VUmashankar of the charge.

V Umashankar, AdditionalPrincipal Secretary to ChiefMinister and Chief ExecutiveOfficer, Haryana Kisan KalyanPradhikaran and PrincipalSecretary, Urban Local BodiesDepartment has now been

posted as Additional PS toCM, CEO, of the Pradhikaranand Principal Secretary toCitizen Resources InformationDepartment.

Dheera Khandelwal,Additional Chief Secretary, Artand Cultural Affairs andEnvironment & ClimateChange Departments, has beengiven the additional charge ofAdditional Chief Secretary,Women and ChildDevelopment Departmentrelieving Deepti Umashankarof the charge, an official releasesaid here on Wednesday night.

Among other IAS officers,Vijay Singh Dahiya, LabourCommissioner and Secretary ofLabour Department has beenposted as Director Generaland Secretary, Department ofAgriculture and Farmers

Welfare in place of ChanderShekhar Khare.

Ajit Balaji Joshi, Exciseand Taxation Commissionerand Secretary, Excise andTaxation Department has beenposted as Director Generaland Secretary, HigherEducation Department andDirector General and Secretaryof Technical EducationDepartment, relieving A.Sreenivas of the charge.

Sreenivas, Director Generaland Special Secretary to HigherEducation Department toDirector General and SpecialSecretary, Technical EducationDepartment, has been postedas Managing Director ofHaryana Dairy DevelopmentCooperative Federation reliev-ing Mohammed Shayin of thecharge.

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Stray cattle are causingdamage to agriculture in

some of the suburban areasof Dehradun l ikeNatthuwala. Regarding this,the residents of Natthuwalamet senior veterinary officerof Municipal Corporation

of Dehradun (MCD) Dr VSati on Thursday.

The loca ls told himabout the destruction causedby the stray cattle in theirfarms. According to one ofthe locals Sushma Badoni,"We have tried everythingbut nothing is done by MCD.We have ca l led MCD,

requested our councillor, andeven some media personshave called the senior vet-erinary officer but all invain. This is the reason wehad to come here to requestMCD to pick the stray cattlebut I don't think we aretaken seriously by the offi-cials."

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Pakistan on Thursday con-ducted a successful training

launch of nuclear-capable sur-face-to-surface ballistic missile ‘Ghaznavi’, which canstrike targets up to 290 kilo-meters.

“The training launch waspart of Field Training Exerciseof Army Strategic ForcesCommand aimed at rehearsingoperational readiness proce-dures during day and night,”the Inter-Services PublicRelations (ISPR), the mediawing of the army, said in astatement.

The ‘Ghaznavi’ missile iscapable of delivering multipletypes of warheads upto a rangeof 290 kilometers, the state-ment said.

Beirut: Iran has long soughtthe withdrawal of Americanforces from neighbouring Iraq,but the US killing of an Iraniangeneral and an Iraqi militiacommander in Baghdad hasadded new impetus to theeffort, stoking anti-Americanfeelings that Tehran hopes toexploit to help realize the goal.

The January 3 killing hasled Iraq’s parliament to call forthe ouster of US troops, butthere are many lingering ques-tions over whether Iran will beable to capitalize on the senti-ment.

An early test will be a “mil-

lion-man” demonstrationagainst the American pres-ence, called for by influentialShiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadrand scheduled for Friday.

It is not clear whether theprotesters will try to recreate aNew Year’s Eve attack on theUS Embassy compound inBaghdad by Iran-supportedmilitias in the wake of USairstrikes that killed 25 militi-amen along the border withSyria.

Iran might simply try touse the march to telegraph itsintention to keep up the pres-sure on US troops in Iraq. AP

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In a sweeping legal victory formembers of the Rohingya

Muslim minority, the UnitedNations’ top court on Thursdayordered Myanmar take all mea-sures in its power to preventgenocide against the Rohingyapeople.

The court’s president, JudgeAbdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, saidthe International Court ofJustice “is of the opinion thatthe Rohingya in Myanmarremain extremely vulnerable.”

The court added that itsorder for so-called provisionalmeasures intended to protectthe Rohingya is binding “andcreates international legal oblig-ations” on Myanmar.

At the end of an hour-long

sitting in the court’s wood-paneled Great Hall of Justice,judges also ordered Myanmarto report to them in fourmonths on what measures thecountry has taken to complywith the order and then toreport every six months as thecase moves slowly through theworld court.

Rights activists immedi-ately welcomed the unanimousdecision.

“The ICJ order toMyanmar to take concrete stepsto prevent the genocide of theRohingya is a landmark step tostop further atrocities againstone of the world’s most perse-cuted people,” said Param-PreetSingh, associate internationaljustice director of New York-based Human Rights Watch.

Hanoi: Two Chinese nationalsin Vietnam have tested positivefor the SARS-like coronavirusand are being treated in hos-pital, officials said on Thursday.

A Chinese man living inHo Chi Minh City was infect-ed by his father who travelledto Vietnam on January 13 fromthe Chinese city of Wuhan, theepicentre of the virus.

The father was hospitalisedon January 17 with a high fever,days before his son showedsymptoms, health officials said.

Both were quarantined andtested positive for coronavirus,a new infection that has alreadykilled 17 people in China andinfected more than 570.

“The patients have shownsigns of good recovery, (their)fever has reduced and they caneat now,” Doctor Nguyen NgocSang said Thursday at a meet-ing at Ho Chi Minh City’s ChoRay hospital.

Vietnam’s deputy healthminister urged all precautionsto avoid any further spread.

“We should immediately

test any suspected cases sothat we can detect (the disease)quicker. We don’t want it tospread to the public,” NguyenTruong Son said at the meetingattended by reporters.

Vietnam shares a longporous border with China andwelcomes millions of visitors ayear from its northern neigh-bour.

Japan, Hong Kong, Macau,South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand,Singapore and the United Stateshave all reported confirmedcases of the new virus after itfirst emerged in China onDecember 31. AFP

Washington: The challenge isbecoming increasingly clearfor House Democrats prose-cuting President DonaldTrump’s impeachment case asthe Senate convenes for a sec-ond day of arguments in thelandmark trial.

No matter how over-whelming the evidence con-fronting Trump, it becomesless compelling when present-ed again and again, day afterday, as Democrats try to con-vince not just fidgety senatorsbut an American public deeplydivided over the Republicanpresident in an election year.

The team led by Rep. AdamSchiff, the chairman of HouseIntelligence Committee, con-structed a gripping account ofTrump’s political pressure onUkraine and attempt to coverup the “corrupt scheme” centralto the charges.

But the limits are apparent.Prosecutors must rely on thesame loops of videotaped testi-mony — ambassadors, nation-

al security officials and even thepresident himself — afterTrump’s GOP Senate alliesblocked new witnesses.

Democrats were oncereluctant to take on impeach-ment during anelection year butare marching toward a decisionby the Senate that the Americanpublic also will judge.

“We’re trying this case totwo juries — the Senate and theAmerican people,” Schiffacknowledged Wednesdayahead of opening arguments.

“The American people arewatching. The American peo-ple are listening. And they dohave an open mind.”

Trump blasted the pro-ceedings in a Thursday morn-ing tweet, declaring them the“Most unfair & corrupt hearingin Congressional history!”

House Democratsimpeached Trump last month,arguing he abused his office byasking Ukraine to investigatepolitical rival Joe Biden whilewithholding crucial military

aid.They also charged him

with obstructing Congress byrefusing to turn over docu-ments or allow officials to tes-tify in the House probe.

Republicans have defend-ed Trump’s actions as appro-priate and cast the process as a

politically motivated effort toweaken the president in themidst of his reelection cam-paign.

Campaigning in Iowa,Biden stood by the effort toremove Trump from office.

“People ask the question,‘Isn’t the president going to be

stronger and harder to beat if hesurvives this?’ Yes, probably. ButCongress has no choice,” hesaid. Senators must cast theirvotes and “live with that in his-tory.” Each side has 24 hoursover three days to present theircase. After the House prosecu-tors finish Friday, the president’slawyers will follow. They areexpected to take only Sundayoff and push into next week.

Then there will be 16hours for senators, who must sitquietly at their desks, nospeeches or cellphones, to askwritten question, and anotherfour hours for deliberations.

“There’s a lot of things I’dlike to rebut,” said Trumplawyer Jay Sekulow at theCapitol, “and we will rebut.”

On the first day of open-ing arguments, Schiff appealedto senators not to be “cynical”about politics, but to draw onthe intent of the nation’sFounding Fathers in providingthe remedy of impeachmentand removal. AP

Davos: US Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchin on Thursdaysaid a post-Brexit trade dealbetween the United States andBritain was a top priority andhe expected such an agree-ment by the end of the year.

The top US economic offi-cial made his comments beforeheading to London to lay outways the two countries couldreach a quick accord after theUK leaves the EU on January31.

Responding to Mnuchin’sremarks, the spokesman forBritish Prime Minister BorisJohnson declined to offer atimetable.

“Both sides have been clearin public that they want to agreean ambitious free trade agree-

ment as quickly as possible,” thespokesman said.

“Once we have left the EUin just over a week’s time we’llbe free to start having discus-sions with countries around theworld including the US,” headded.

Mnuchin’s UK counterpart,Sajid Javid, will embark ontrade talks with both the EUand the US, in the hope of spar-ing the British economy anyshort or medium-term shocksof Brexit.

Javid told the US “theywanted to accomplish boththese deals in 2020. That’s obvi-ously an aggressive timeline,”Mnuchin said on the sidelinesof the World Economic Forumin Davos.

A UK-US deal “is anabsolute priority for President(Donald) Trump and we expectto complete that with them thisyear, which we think will begreat for them and great for us,”he added.

US Commerce SecretaryWilbur Ross insisted the UKand US would have an easiertime striking the deal than theEU, given close existing ties.

“There are far fewer issuesbetween the UK and US thanthere are between either of usand the EU because oureconomies are both very simi-lar,” Ross said.

Stressing financial services,Ross underlined “there’s alreadya pretty high degree of integra-tion and coordination.” AFP

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Alarge water-bombing planecrashed while fighting fires

southwest of Sydney onThursday, killing all three UScrew on board, Australian offi-cials said.

New South Wales RuralFire Service commissionerShane Fitzsimmons saidauthorities lost contact with theCanada-owned C-130 Herculesaircraft, which was operating inthe Snowy Monaro region,shortly before 1:30 pm (0230GMT) Thursday.

Fitzsimmons said all threepeople killed in the crash wereresidents of the United States,

one of several countries thathave sent crews of specialistfirefighters to help battleAustralia’s devastating bush-fires.

“Our hearts are with allthose that are suffering what isthe loss of three remarkable,well-respected crew that haveinvested so many decades oftheir life into firefighting andfire management,” he said.

The incident brought thedeath toll in Australia’s bush-fires to at least 32 since the cri-sis began in September.

The cause of the crash wasnot immediately known, butFitzsimmons had said earlier inthe day that high winds were

making flying the big tankers“very difficult”.

Canadian firm CoulsonAviation, which owned theplane, grounded operations ofits other large air tankers fight-ing fires in New South Walesand Victoria states “pendingreview” of the aircraft,Fitzsimmons said.

Initial reports suggested a“large fireball” was causedwhen the plane “impactedheavily with the ground”, hesaid.

“We’ve got a number offirefighters and a number ofcrew that are in the area andworking to contain and workaround the fire,” he said.

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North Korea will send adelegation to the Munich

Security Conference for thefirst time in the 56-year histo-ry of the top diplomatic gath-ering, organisers said onThursday.

An MSC spokespersonconfirmed that North Koreanvice Foreign Minister Kim SonGyong would attend nextmonth’s event.

The announcement comesa month after Pyongyangdeclared it was abandoningmoratoriums on nuclear and

intercontinental ballistic missiletests.

The self-imposed ban ontests had been the centrepieceof two years of nuclear diplo-macy between the US andNorth Korea, including threemeetings between the twocountries’ leaders DonaldTrump and Kim Jong Un.

Also expected to attendthe Munich talks this year areUS Secretary of State MikePompeo, Defense SecretaryMark Esper and the leader ofthe House of RepresentativesNancy Pelosi.

The Iranian foreign min-ister Mohammad JavadZarif is likewise expected toattend.

Founded in 1963, theMunich SecurityConference hosts hundredsof high-ranking officials anddozens of world leaders eachyear to discuss security chal-lenges.

The 2020 edition will beheld from February 14 to 16.

The programme andfull list of participants is tobe published in the comingweeks.

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The first night of argu-ments in favor of President

Donald Trump’s impeachmentbefore the US Senate wasjudged not ready for primetime by many of the nation’stelevision executives.

ABC, CBS and NBC allstuck with regularly scheduledprograms like “Chicago Med,”“Criminal Minds” and“Modern Family” Wednesdayevening instead of showing theHouse managers’ evening ses-sion at the impeachment trial.That lasted about two hours,15 minutes.

CNN and MSNBC carriedthe trial in full. Fox News

Channel, after showing Rep.Adam Schiff speak for abouta half hour, interrupted for astory about a child supportcase involving former VicePresident Joe Biden’s sonHunter, and never returned.

Even two PBS stations inthe New York area showed sci-ence programming and“Antiques Roadshow” insteadof the trial Wednesdayevening. PBS said it gave itslocal stations the option toshow the trial or not.

The calls Wednesdaynight are significant because ifthe top networks decided notto pre-empt programming onthe first full night the caseagainst Trump was laid out,

chances are they won’t reversecourse later unless the unex-pected happens.

Daytime was an intriguingcontrast, since the top threebroadcasters and cable newsoutlets all carried Schiff ’s ini-tial stand at the podium,which lasted more than twohours.

It was rare for anyone intoday’s media world to com-mand full television attentionto that extent.

The Senate’s rules for thetrial, which required using asingle camera on the speak-er and didn’t allow reactionshots of senators, only servedto accentuate Schiff ’s mes-sage.

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One person was killed andseven others injured

when a gunman opened firein a busy downtown area ofthe US city Seatt le, police said on Twitter, addingthey were searching for suspects.

The police said at leastone suspect was being soughtin connection with the inci-dent, which took place onWednesday. Footage from thescene showed officers tendingto casualties on the pave-ment near Third Avenue andPine Street, BBC reported.

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Traditionally, the US administra-tion has benefitted from the mil-itary experience that resides inthe “White House.” Prior totheir political ascendancy,

around 29 of the 45 US Presidents haveheld military experience. However, theincumbent President Donald Trump hasbeen an exception. He has had a contro-versial past of medical deferment that pur-portedly kept him out of military enroll-ment during the Vietnam War. Post theWorld War II, in the midst of the cold warera, nine successive US Presidents were for-mer combatants till the tenures of BillClinton, Barack Obama and now Trump.Even the US Congress and Senate have hada substantial presence of veterans (they rep-resented more than half of Congress formuch of the late 20th century), who havedebated and drafted security policies inpursuance of national objectives.

Given that the post World War II peri-od entailed bloody American militaryinvolvement in places like Korea, Vietnam,the Middle East, Somalia and Afghanistan aswell as other covert wars and operations, thereassuring presence and understanding of theaccompanying security sensitivities added thenecessary nuance, steel and perspective ongovernance. But the last 12 years have seena gradual reduction in the representation ofveterans (till very recently) in both Houses.Trump though has displayed himself withmisplaced enthusiasm for military trappings,bravado and parades to posit his own sur-rogate muscularity in pursuit of politics.

Most of his interventions, allusions andinvocation with military imperatives havebeen high on instinctive showmanship andtheatrics but have been low on efficacy. Hestarted his tenure by appointing the iconicMarine Corps General James Mattis as theSecretary of Defence. The latter was foundto be too rational, grounded and a well-readprofessional for Trump’s boorish and ficklepreferences. The US President authorised theusage of the “mother of all bombs” (GBU-43/B Massive Ordnance Air Blast, the mostpowerful non-nuclear explosive) inAfghanistan. Today, he is negotiating “peacetalks” with the Taliban, which has alreadyaccounted for well over 2,000 US casualties.He got the US military to rashly rain 59Tomahawk cruise missiles (each costingapproximately a million and a half dollars)on a dilapidated airbase and then anotherhundred on an industrial site in Syria, amongother military commitments. Today, mostSyrian lands have been lost to his bête noire,Bashar al-Assad’s Syrian Government.

Units of the US Special Forces, in con-junction with allies — Saudi Arabia and theUnited Arab Emirates — conducted oper-ations along with supporting militias in theYemen theatre. As a result, a ragtag Armyof Iran-supported Houthi rebels have beencocking a snook at the much larger, afflu-ent and better armed forces of the US and

its allies. While he did get to“take out” a past his prime AbuBakr al-Baghdadi and morerecently the IranianCommander of Quds Force,Major General QassemSoleimani, the essentialAmerican foothold in theMiddle East remains shaky andis desperately in need of a “pull-out” to limit further damage.

Taking militaristic decisionsis inevitable for a superpowerthat is mired in protecting itshegemonic interests across theglobe. However, recent deci-sions and the fate of the Trump-led US military’s involvementacross the globe warrant seriousintrospection. It’s not that “team”Trump did not have competen-cy but his impatience with rea-son and restraint has ensuredthat the likes of Mattis have left,got fired, joined his “echo cham-ber” or, as mentioned in thefamously anonymous Op-ed inThe New York Times, are part ofthe silent “resistance workingwithin the Trump administra-tion.” The Op-ed, authored by asenior person in the Trumpadministration, evocativelynoted his leadership style to be“impetuous, adversarial, pettyand ineffective.” Further, it wentto express the conundrum of thehapless staff, who would “pri-vately admit their daily disbeliefat the commander-in-chief ’scomments and actions.”

A thoroughbred profession-al, Mattis became a typical suf-

ferer of Trump’s foolhardinesswhen he refused to carry outkilling orders of Syrian leaderBashar al-Assad, to make warplans to attack Iranian facilitiesand opposed the decision of theUS’ troop withdrawal fromSyria. On Mattis’ resignation, theformer combatant was hailed asthe “last adult” in the Trumpadministration. Questions nowabound if Soleimani would havebeen “taken out” today if Mattiswas still around.

The decision to up the antewith Iran did have the backingof some veterans like four-stargeneral Jack Keane and formerDirector of the CentralIntelligence Agency DavidPetraeus among others. But asCongressman Adam Smith said,“Trump has no idea what he’sdoing but isn’t afraid to do it.”This unheeding trait has led tomultiple forms of militaryadventurism with little to showon the ground at a time whenTrump is in the last leg of his firsttenure.

The usual phenomenon ofspectacular military actions,resulting in a bipartisan “rally-ing around the flag” and, there-by, bumping up the crucial pres-idential approval ratings, is anold hat (in all democracies).After the Gulf War, former USPresident George HW Bush’sapproval ratings went up from58 per cent to 89 per cent. Hisson, George W Bush’s invasionof Iraq got a similar spike from

58 per cent to 71 per cent.Barack Obama’s elimination ofOsama bin Laden took his rat-ings from 44 per cent to 51 percent. But Trump’s Soleimaniaction did not result in anynoticeable jump. He continues tolanguish in the mid-40 approvalpercentages. Clearly, Trump haspolitically abused the “militarycard” too often and it no longerresonates. On the contrary, hisembarrassing description of“beautiful weapons” in the seri-ous business of deploying the“last resort” responsibly dimin-ishes the statesmanship andrestraint required of his position.

What deliberately polarisingpoliticians like Trump alsoachieve is that they dangerous-ly “divide” perceptions withinthe veteran community, whichis usually bipartisan on securi-ty matters and goes by military“facts.” This sort of brazen pol-itics has alienated the likes ofTrump’s fellow Republican andformer combatant Senator JohnMcCain, whose professionalintegrity as a soldier was affront-ed by usurpers like him.

Matters of military need tobe spared from political appro-priations. Else, the requiredinstitutional ethos and percep-tions are weakened. Followingthis, the overall national securi-ty preparedness, too, wouldstand diminished.

(The writer, a military veter-an, is a former Lt Governor ofAndaman & Nicobar Islands)

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Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “BJP’s new chief” (January 21).With the advent of JP Nadda asthe BJP president, the party maysee a change from the diktat-styleof the earlier dispensation to oneof consultation, if not consensus.

Voices of the BJP cadre fromthe State as well as district levelsmay yet get a chance to be heard.And that should prove useful aftera string of recent poll reverses,equally attributable to a failingeconomy, consolidation of theOpposition, protests against theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and amorphous ideologiesclouding local issues.

That said, the policy approachthat ran the party till now is get-ting transplanted to Home Affairsin the national canvas. Federalismis losing currency and an unfamil-iar brand of nationalism is beingsought to be implemented. Asunease of the States and the com-mon man gets palpable by the day,the future does not augur well.Nadda will have an important rolein deciding what the party mustfocus on next.

R NarayananNavi Mumbai

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Sir — In a shocking tragedy, eightIndian tourists from Kerala,including four children, died thisweek due to a possible gas leakfrom a room heater at a resort inDaman in Makwanpur district ofNepal. They were part of a 17-member tourist group who hadchecked into Everest Panorama

resort at Daman, a popular touristdestination in Nepal.

According to the SP of DistrictPolice Office, Makwanpur, thetourists turned on the gas heaterin the room and later suffocateddue to some defect in the device,leading to carbon monoxide leakresulting in death.

The group — travelling toPokhara from Kerala — werereturning home. On the way,

they had stopped at EverestPanorama Resort in Daman. Gasheaters that are not installed cor-rectly or have become faulty overtime can cause a carbon monox-ide leak. As carbon monoxide isa colourless, odourless and taste-less gas, it becomes difficult todetect it. To prevent such hazards,hotels should inspect and rectifysuch appliances regularly. Thetourism Ministry in Nepal, too,

should have mechanisms to avoidsuch mishaps. Also, tourists stay-ing in hotels in cold places shouldbe aware of such silent dangers.

M PradyuKannur

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Sir — At a time when he isembroiled in impeachment pro-ceedings, US President DonaldTrump has once again expressedhis desire to “help” India andPakistan resolve their dispute.With elections round the corner,it is all but common for politiciansto intensively work towardsimproving their image.

However, New Delhi must becomplimented for beating offanother unwanted diplomaticadvance by making it clear thatthere is no scope for mediation byanybody. Now, the rulingGovernment must refrain fromgaining unwanted attention onthe Kashmir issue. It must strikea conversation with all stakehold-ers and leaders in the Valley.

AditiVia email

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India is one of the fastest-growingeconomies in the world and the dri-vers of this growth can be credited

to the burgeoning millennial popula-tion, growing middle-income house-holds and an increasing representationof women in the workforce. All thesefactors contribute to economic growthby boosting retail consumption, there-by providing a highly positive outlookfor businesses in the country.Meanwhile, as far as the market poten-tial is concerned, the retail industry pro-

vides a robust platform for multiple stakeholders, including the con-sumers, distributors, manufacturers and additional sectors like trans-portation, logistics and so on. In fact, according to the RetailersAssociation of India (RAI), around 43 million people in the coun-try are employed in the retail sector and the industries that supportthose businesses. In fact, the sector is generating employment at afast pace, taking the second position after agriculture in terms of cre-ating direct as well as indirect employment opportunities.

Despite the retail industry’s positive contribution towards thecountry’s economy, 2019 witnessed many players struggling to sus-tain the growth chart. Even though they are expecting growth torebound in 2020, it will all depend on factors like the recovery inthe manufacturing and other sectors, availability of finances in thehands of consumers to make easy retail consumption decisions andof course, the forthcoming Union Budget 2020 that will be present-ed by Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman on February 1. This willbe her second Union Budget and the retailers have many expecta-tions from the Modi Government in its second term.

Accelerating the process of national retail policy: It is a harshreality that India to date has been unable to develop a robust man-ufacturing sector despite two decades of economic and trade liber-alisation. Structural issues like scarcity of resources in the form ofraw materials and trained labour force, lack of capital and credit facil-ities and inadequate infrastructure are causing major hindrances inthe operations of small retail traders. This is also affecting the export-competitiveness of a large number of Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs). So, in this year’s Union Budget, these play-ers want the Government to speed up the formulation and imple-mentation of the National Retail Policy, as this would provide a sig-nificant boost to the development of 65 million small traders in thecountry’s retail sector and expedite/promote the ease of doing busi-ness in the country.

Promotion of digital and modern retail: The Indian retail indus-try is currently dominated by e-commerce and it is expected to growto $200 billion by 2026 driven by rising smartphone penetration, thelaunch of 4G networks and increasing disposable incomes. That said,the competition is only increasing day by day. Bearing in mind thenew-age consumers’ speedy adoption of technology, offline retail play-ers must also modify their strategies to keep their brands relevant,the brand experience even and their products and services accessi-ble across multiple channels. They are expecting the Governmentto modernise its retail by upgrading the use of Point of Sale Machinesthat would help retailers to access the customers’ information andefficiently manage their inventory, thereby improving their revenue-generation and profitability.

Boosting the consumption story: Due to the deceleration inthe economy, retailers both small and premium ones, are bearingthe brunt of a consumer class that has become careful in its purchas-ing decisions. This slowdown in consumption has dampened thedemand in the retail segment. Retail players are hoping that the UnionBudget will be pro-consumption and will come out with a slew ofmeasures that will make small-ticket credit and additional cash acces-sible in the hands of the middle class. This will positively impact theretail industry by increasing demand and also provide a much-need-ed boost to the economy.

GST on clothes: Clothes are subject to five per cent GST if thetaxable value of the goods is less than �1,000 per piece, whereas, thesale value of clothing that exceeds �1,000 is subject to 12 per centGST. Retailers expect the Budget to focus on increasing the thresh-old for the five per cent slab to �2,000 from the �1,000 that is leviedat present to give a fillip to the sector.

(The writer is Founding Director of a chain of value retail stores)

The Union Budget announced in2019 was in many ways a land-mark one for pushing e-mobili-

ty. Not only was the Goods and ServicesTax (GST) on electric vehicles slashedto five per cent, the Budget alsooffered major incentives for buyers ofelectric vehicles (EVs) in the form ofincome tax rebates on loan. These mea-sures were designed to push the sale ofEVs, which have been on the top of theGovernment’s priority list in recentyears. These incentives were addition-

al to the major commitment announced under the Faster Adoptionand Manufacturing of Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (FAME-II) schemeto boost EV infrastructure. However, the sale of EVs remained luke-warm with an analysis suggesting that just 1,309 units of e-cars weresold between April and November 2019. With the economic slow-down and falling demand hitting the auto sector hard, the industryneeds a slew of measures that will address concerns on both thedemand and supply sides. With the Union Budget round the cor-ner, there are hopes that the Finance Minister (FM) will announcemeasures to revive consumption, put more disposable income intothe hands of the people as well as more sops for EVs. Importantly,the FM must give a policy push to e-bicycles which have the poten-tial to be at the forefront of an e-mobility revolution.

Revive demand: In its annual review, the International MonetaryFund (IMF) said that the declining consumption and investment,accompanied by falling tax revenue have arrested India’s GDP growth.The IMF also called for “urgent” policy actions to reverse this slow-down. Falling demand has been at the centre of the current slow-down and the country needs measures that can put more incomesinto the hands of people and revive consumption. Cutting incometax rates and readjusting income tax slabs might be a tough call at atime when the Government’s revenues are shrinking but it might alsobe the bitter pill the economy needs. An income tax exemption onincome up to �5 lakh can positively impact salaried taxpayers andboost consumption. It can also spur buying among people who havedeferred automobile purchases in view of the deceleration. However,just monetary measures will not be sufficient. The economy also needsa major fiscal policy push to increase employment and income. TheGovernment must announce broad measures to infuse expenditurein strategic sectors like manufacturing and infrastructure and cre-ate income-generating avenues in the rural economy. This also includesrevisions in GST slabs to create a low tax economy.

Institute a supportive scrapping policy: Earlier this year, theFM announced a scrap page policy aimed at shunting out old vehi-cles and increasing production. The policy is aimed at serving thetwin objectives of reducing emissions and boosting consumer demand.The Government must ensure a quick rollout of the scrap page pol-icy to encourage the replacement of older vehicles and must also laydown positive incentives for customers to push the disposal of oldervehicles. The incentives may include exemption on road taxes for con-sumers and low interest loan schemes for purchase of new commer-cial vehicles. According to the Society of Indian AutomobileManufacturers (SIAM), the commercial vehicle industry suffered adecline of 22 per cent in sales between April and November 2019.We hope a supportive scrapping policy can help revive some of thislost demand.

Extend FAME II benefits to E-bicycles: E-bicycles have recent-ly been categorised under EVs to get tax benefits. However, they donot get the benefits designated under the FAME-II scheme. We hopethe Government recognises the need to promote e-bicycles as muchas the need to promote e-cars. While e-cars address the concern ofpollution, they do not solve the problem of traffic congestion. E-bicy-cles are both eco-friendly, space-friendly and also offer a viable solu-tion to the anxiety that comes with lack of charging infrastructureas they can be easily pedalled back in case of battery loss.

Policy measures to reduce viability gap of EVs: More measuresmight be needed to reduce the viability gap of EVs. The Governmentmust support the sector in different ways to make EVs more afford-able and viable. These measures can include exemption on road tax,lower power tariffs for charging EVs, exemption of parking fees forEV users and exemption of permit costs among other measures.

(The writer is Chairman and MD of a leading motor company)

At a time when the economy ofIndia is experiencing a slow-down, the country is hoping for

a balanced Union Budget by FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharaman onFebruary 1. The middle-class is antici-pating relief in income tax and Micro,Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs) are looking for incentives. Itis also crucial for the FM to formulatepolicies which ascertain 6.5 per cent realGDP growth for the fiscal year 2020-21.

Time to revamp MSMEs: While the economy is still facing a liq-uidity issue and MSMEs are bearing the brunt of the deceleration,achieving 6.5 per cent growth is a challenge but not impossible. Ifthe Government could save Non-Banking Financial Companies(NBFCs) and MSMEs, the scenario would turn favourable within afew months. Recently, the PHD Chamber of Commerce and Industry(PHDCCI) requested the Government to change the definition ofMSMEs in response to alterations in the economic environment ofthe country in the last couple of years. MSMEs are the backbone ofthe Indian economy and the country cannot compromise with theirhealth. Hence, a changed definition will help the sector enhance itscontribution to employment-generation, poverty-alleviation andresource improvisation. A large number of MSMEs are strugglingwith financial challenges and without subsidies their sustenance isdifficult. It is shocking that out of the 6.33 crore MSMEs in the coun-try, only 0.05 lakh are medium enterprises. They are usually deprivedof the Public Procurement Policy which mandates 25 per cent pro-curement from the micro and small enterprises. They are also barredfrom availing delayed payment reliefs through facilitation councils.

Need for sector-specific measures: Besides considering the prob-lems of MSMEs, Sitharaman must also address the issues of under-performing sectors such as real estate, energy and telecom. There isan urgent need to reinforce sectors which strengthen the infrastruc-ture of the country but are reeling under the impact of the down-trend. Last year, Sitharaman relieved large businesses by cutting cor-porate tax to 22 per cent, but businesses cannot flourish until MSMEsbecome secure and stable. The Government should also lower thetax burden on MSMEs by slashing the Goods and Services Tax inkey sectors. The real estate sector, which is one of the growth pro-pellers of the economy, has been struggling for almost a decade. Toinfuse life into this sector, the Government must consider its long-pending demands such as getting industry status, a single-windowclearance mechanism, dropping the circle rate section from the IncomeTax Act, elimination of taxes on vacant property, reduced land acqui-sition cost and tax rationalisation on Real Estate Investment Trusts.

Telecom, yet another crucial sector is hopeful that theGovernment will take measures to resolve the burgeoning debt issuesin the Budget. Telecom companies are also demanding reduction inlicence fee, Spectrum Usage Charges and relief in levies.

No compromise with liquidity: The next big challenge beforeSitharaman is increasing liquidity in the market because it is direct-ly proportional to the growth of MSMEs, especially start-ups. TheIL&FS and DHFL fiascos had drastic repercussions on the financialmarkets, and one of the main reasons for the huge impact is the lackof availability of alternative options to bank funding. Now, Public SectorBanks have decided to cut their Marginal Cost of Funds-based LendingRates (MCLRs) which will be beneficial for the economy as it willimprove liquidity in the market. Lower MCLRs will mean that NBFCscan borrow from banks at lower rates and the NBFCs that operatein SME lending and housing will benefit the most. It will strength-en the capitalisation structures of HFCs and help revive the real estatesector. Also, to bring back positive sentiments in the market and tocounter the decelerating growth, better liquidity is needed and a lowerMCLR would help meet this to a great extent. Industry pundits believethat stability in the sector will be regained by the first quarter of 2020.They are optimistic about increased demand for credit because urban-isation is taking place at a fast pace. Plus, there is a thriving start-upculture in the country and retail and e-commerce sectors have highpenetration even in semi-urban areas. The Government should alsokeep inflation under control and it must not go beyond six per centfor at least three quarters. If all these issues are addressed, makingIndia a $5 trillion economy will be a realistic goal.

(The writer is founder, CEO, of an investment management firm)

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The term “financial weapons ofmass destruction”, coined bybillionaire Warren Buffett for

derivatives, is not without reason.They can be used both for hedgingand speculation and their marketsworldwide have grown to a humon-gous level, reaching about $1.2quadrillion, almost 10 times that ofthe world GDP.

However, the use of derivativeshas also brought giant corporationsto their knees during past globalfinancial meltdowns. One cannot for-get the bankruptcy of corporationslike Enron and Barings Banks due towrong speculative moves involving

derivatives. Since they are a double-edged sword, one has to be extra cau-tious while using them.

What are derivatives anyway?These are instruments that derivetheir value from any underlyingasset, which could be either a stockor a commodity.

Any investor or corporation canput money in any one of the popu-lar derivatives for hedging or specu-lative purposes. Corporations usethem for hedging if they want toreduce an existing risk or protectthemselves from any volatility in theprice of an underlying asset by tak-ing an offsetting position, whereasspeculation is trying to make profitdue to any price changes.

Several analysts believe that theIndian stock markets are set to risefurther in 2020 and may end higherby at least 13 per cent. It is being pre-dicted that Nifty might end above the13,000 mark. Similarly, the expecta-tion for the BSE Sensex is that it willgo above the 46,000 level. So, if weconsider a bullish market for this year,what are the derivative strategies that

an investor can use in this type ofmarket where the prices of underly-ing assets are set to rise? Although thegeneral belief is that stock marketswill be bullish, there will certainly bevariations as is natural.

In case the markets are extreme-ly bullish, investors should go aheadwith a long-call strategy. This is oneof the simplest approaches and canbe used by beginners in the deriva-tives market. There is only one trans-action involved, i.e., buying calloptions. It helps investors use thepower of leverage and make poten-tially unlimited profits and at thesame time cap their losses. In theworst case scenario, when the mar-kets do not behave as anticipated, lossis limited to the price of buying thecall options.

A reverse call ratio spread is alsoan extremely bullish strategy wherean investor can sell an option at alower price, usually in-the-money orat-the-money and buy more optionsat the higher strike price, which isout-of-the-money, of the same under-lying asset. So if an investor sells one

option and buys two options with ahigher strike price, a reverse calloption strategy is created.

When the market outlook ismoderately bullish and the investoris expecting some upward movementin the underlying asset, a long-callladder strategy could be initiated.This strategy has the potential ofearning from time decay if it expiresin the range of the strike price. Thisstrategy is created by buying one in-the-money call, selling one at-the-money call and selling one out-of-themoney call of the same underlyingasset with the same expiry.Experiments can also be made withdifferent strike prices.

Another income-generatingstrategy that can be initiated in amoderately bullish market is a cov-ered call option which can be creat-ed by using a stock and an option.This strategy is created by purchas-ing a stock and simultaneously sell-ing a call option, which is out-of-the-money, usually on the higher side.

When the markets are becomingmore neutral, buying a long-call

would not be the best strategy to use.In a moderately bullish market,investors could take a short putoption strategy, wherein they goshort on a put position, i.e., they areobliged to buy the underlying assetin future at a predetermined price ifthe buyer wishes to exercise hisoption. This strategy will be helpfulfor investors if the price of theunderlying asset increases moderate-ly or even remains at the same level.In a flat market, this strategy will bebeneficial as it gives investors achance to earn some upfront moneyin the form of premium which can beadjusted against some margins.

Another strategy for a moreneutral or flat market with a bullishview is bull put spread option, whichinvolves two put options, both shortand long. It is created by one short putwith a higher strike price and onelong put with a lower strike price. Buthere the expiration date remains thesame. This strategy has a higherpotential of being profitable as it isbeneficial in situations when theprices are steady or are rising.

In case an investor has sufferedany losses due to price fall, a stockrepair strategy is there and can helpthe investor recover their losses evenif the prices of the underlying assetshow slight improvement.

This strategy is created by buy-ing one at-the-money call and at thesame time selling two out-of-themoney call, of the same underlyingasset with the same expiration. Thetrick here, though, is that the strikeprice of the sale should be very closeto the buying price.

As one can see, there are differ-ent derivative strategies for differentmarket outlooks. However, taking abet with derivatives can be verydangerous as by paying a small pre-mium, investors can end up initiat-ing very large transactions and if themarkets do not move the way theinvestors anticipated, the losses canbe huge. These transactions shouldonly be undertaken by an expert withknowledge about stock markets andin particular, derivatives.

(The writer is Associate Professor,Amity University, Noida)

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Srinagar: To promote health-care based on alternative med-icine in Jammu & Kashmir, theGovernment will set up 50-bedded hospitals in every dis-trict of the newly created UnionTerritory at a cost of � 12 croreeach, Union Minister ShripadNayak said Thursday.

The Union Minister ofstate for AYUSH and defencealso said the hill-resorts ofGulmarg, Patnitop andPahalgam will be promoted asmedical tourism destinations.

Addressing an event atSKICC, he gave an overview ofwellness centres being estab-lished in J&K to promoteaffordable healthcare, particu-larly in rural areas, and assuredliberal funding for upgradingthe health infrastructure. Hecited the success of the 100-bedded All India Institute ofAyurveda in New Delhi, estab-lished in 2016, and said simi-lar hospitals will be set upacross India, including Jammu& Kashmir.

“Everyday 2,000 patientsvisit the hospital for treatment.

It will be setup in other placesacross India including J&K,” hesaid.

The Union Minister later e-inaugurated various projects,which included heritage light-ing from Dalgate to Nishat andNishat to Hazratbal at an esti-mated cost of � 9.98 crore.

An official spokespersonsaid a number of delegationsmet the Minister and raisedtheir issues. The business com-munity sought his help tomake the Jammu-Srinagarhighway an all-weather road.

Several ministers visitedthe Kashmir valley as part of apublic outreach programme.Union Minister for Law andJustice Ravi Shankar Prasadinaugurated an indoor sportsstadium in Baramulla in northKashmir and participated inevents related to the socio-eco-nomic development of the dis-trict.

The M inister also laid thefoundation stone of a mini-pavilion block at JhelumStadium in Baramulla, thespokesman said. PTI

Shillong: The United Democratic Party(UDP), a coalition partner of the rulingMeghalaya Democratic Alliance (MDA), onThursday said the Citizenship Amendment Actis a wake up call for all States in the North-Eastto act against illegal immigration from neigh-bouring countries and influx of non-indige-nous people.

The UDP executive met here and debat-ed at length on the issue of CAA and the InnerLine Permit, according to its general secretaryJemino Mawthoh.

He said the UDP opposed the CAA inprinciple. We are opposing it because we dontsee any rationale here. Let us wait for the wis-dom of the Supreme Court to make its inter-pretation in this regard.

When CAA was passed, it was a wakeupcall for the States of N-E and for the people ofMeghalaya. Although this issue is a commonone for the North East and the Centresapproach is fragmented, all the states in theregion must work together to find a solutionagainst illegal immigration from the neigh-bouring countries and influx of non-indige-nous people, Mawthoh told journalists after themeeting.

He said, We have been battling the issuesof influx and illegal immigration for the lastfour decades now. This is the right time for theNorth East states to come up with somethingwhich is oncrete for the protection and safe-guard of the indigenous people. PTI

Bengaluru: JD(S) patriarch HDDeve Gowda on Thursday calledon secular regional parties andCongress to fight against the “divi-sive policies” of the CentralGovernment like the CitizenshipAmendment Act and NationalRegister of Citizens with aCommon MinimumProgramme.

The former Prime Ministeralso accused Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of fulfilling the“long standing anti-Muslim agen-da” of Jana Sangh and HinduMahasabha, and leading the coun-try to the margins of danger.

Gowda said that during thesetrying times, regional parties andthe Congress still believing in sec-ular principles have to fight with aCMP “to avert the disaster that mayexplode anytime.”

It was a matter left for biggerleaders to decide, but the JD(S),being a small party, should be readyto fight these acts at any level andbe ready to go to jail if such a sit-uation arose, he said, addressing a

JD(S) convention here.Alleging that attempts were

being made to treat Muslims as sec-ond grade citizens of the country,he accused Modi of “fulfilling thenearly 70-year-old anti Muslimagenda” of the Jana Sangh andHindu Mahasabha, after his partywon over 300 seats in the LokSabha in the 2019 parliamentarypolls.

Pointing to nationwide agita-tions, he said “this government hasled the country to the margins ofdanger...”

Noting that Congress andJD(S) as “secular parties”, hadformed a coalition Government inKarnataka that eventually col-lapsed, the regional party’s nation-al President said he would not dis-cuss who was right or wrong andreasons for the Government to fall.“But somewhere we have stum-bled,” he said. “How the BJPGovernment was formed inKarnataka, how long will it survive,where did we stumble...Let’s notdiscuss about it. PTI

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Newly elected BJP nationalpresident JP Nadda on

Thursday slammed theCongress for opposing theCAA, saying the leadership ofthe party was suffering from“mental bankruptcy” and daredRahul Gandhi to “speak eventen lines” on the amended law.

“The Congress has lost allhopes. Its leadership is suffer-ing from ‘manasik diwaliyapan’(mental bankruptcy). Thestatements issued by the partyin the last eight months reflectthat they are intended to helpPakistan,” he said.

Daring Congress leaderRahul Gandhi to “speak eventen lines” on the Citizenship(Amendment) Act, Nadda saidthe Congress was provoking

Muslims.“If he (Rahul) speaks even

ten lines on CAA, then we willacknowledge him,” he said.

The BJP chief said therewas no need to be afraid of theCAA as it was the law of thepeople and accused theCongress of conspiring to fanriots in the state and the coun-try.

“Congress leaders havesupported those who spreadviolence. The party is upset andtheir leaders have given state-ments in the language ofPakistan,” he said.

Seeking to allay “appre-hensions created by theCongress” that minority com-munity members will lose theircitizenship under the new law,the BJP chief said, “The CAAis to give citizenship and not to

snatch it. Those who do notknow anything about the laware misguiding the people.”

Nadda was addressing apublic meeting here in supportof the amended law three daysafter taking over the reins fromUnion Home Minister AmitShah.

The 59-year-old leaderfrom Himachal Pradesh waselected as BJP’s 11th presidenton Monday after he emerged as

the only nomi-nee in the fray.

In anapparent refer-ence to theleaders of theBSP and the SP,he said, “Thesedays Dalit lead-ers are oppos-ing the CAA.

These Dalit leaders and theCongress hardly know any-thing about the CAA and areonly spreading canards to mis-lead people.”

Nadda said the politicalinnings of the two parties wasover and they have under-stood that times have changedand the country is marchingrapidly under the leadership ofPrime Minister NarendraModi.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath said in his addresssaid that in a democracy,everyone has the right to speakin a democratic way but thosewho cause chaos should not beunder any kind of illusion asthe government has a solutionto every problem.

“The Government willrecover the losses from thosewho damaged public property,”he said. He said protesters whodestroyed public property onthe signal of PFI and SIMI havenow realised that their assetswill be confiscated.”Now, thesepeople are trying to ruin theatmosphere by using theirwomen and children as ashield,” he said, adding that pre-vious governments used toplead with miscreants.

Stressing that opposition

parties have created their votebanks by focussing on conflictsbetween communities,Adityanath said ever sincePrime Minister Narendra Modicame to power, all such issueshave been resolved.

Therefore, the oppositionparties “are trying to spreadconfusion”, he said. “TheOpposition is upset with theabrogation of Article 370. Theyare speaking the language ofPakistan,” he added.

The Chief Minister furthersaid, “The CAA is connectedwith India’s heritage. It has beenthe tradition of India to protectthe people who come here forshelter. The CAA is a law forgranting citizenship not fortaking citizenship away. Theopposition must understand itsreality.”

Jammu: Two prominentKashmiri leaders on Thursdayadvocated the release of allpolitical detainees, includingthree former Chief Ministers,as a goodwill gesture on theRepublic day.

Ghulam Hassan Mir andMohammad Dilawar Mir, bothformer ministers, also demand-ed the restoration of broadbandservices to mediapersons andtraders besides compensationto those involved in the agri-culture and horticulture sec-tors.

“The country is celebrat-ing the Republic Day (January26) and the tradition has beenthe release of some detainees.Even some convicted personsused to get relief in the coun-try on the occasion,” they said.

“People are in preventivedetention and it would be goodif all of them, including the for-mer chief ministers, arereleased as a goodwill gesture,”Hassan, who is the president ofthe Jammu and KashmirDemocratic Party Nationalist,told reporters here.

He said some of the peo-ple, who are lodged in jails out-side the Union Territory,should be brought back if theirdetention is imperative onsecurity reasons.

The duo, who was part ofa group of former ministersand legislators led by AltafBukhari who met the LtGovernor G C Murmu earlythis month, also batted for therestoration of broadband ser-vices to mediapersons andbusinessmen.

“At a time when the coun-try is celebrating the RepublicDay, the people of Jammu andKashmir should be freed fromthe curb. We want to live anormal life,” Hassan said.

Referring to their meetingwith the Lt Governor onJanuary 7, Hassan said the del-egation submitted a memo-randum on socio-political andeconomic interests of people.

“After our meeting, wenoticed some positive headwayon some of our demands likethe release of some politicalleaders and the youth lodged in

outside jails,” he said. “The restoration of the

Internet is the demand fromboth regions of Kashmir andJammu and it should be madefully functional,” he said,adding reports of the restora-tion of the facility in Kashmiris not a reality.

The leaders also asked theUnion government to tell thepositives that have emerged fol-lowing the scrapping of the spe-cial status of J-K in August lastyear.

In response to a questionon the week-long public out-reach programme by the BJP,he said, “We should not feelobsessed with it. If they havecome on a visit, it is good andthey will themselves see theground situation. The questionwill be raised what they havedone after their visit.”

On the possibility ofassembly elections, he said it ispremature to talk about it at themoment because the assemblyseats have to be increased inaccordance with the reorgani-sation act. PTI

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The Chief of Army Staff (COAS)Gen Manoj Mukund Naravane

on Thursday visited forward areasalong the Line of Control in Jammuregion to review the prevailingsecurity situation with field com-manders on ground zero. ArmyChief was briefed and updated byLt Gen Harsha Gupta, GeneralOfficer Commanding, WhiteKnight Corps and commanders onground.

Before heading for the fieldvisit, Army Chief was briefed byLt Gen Ranbir Singh, ArmyCommander Northern Commandon the prevailing situation alongthe Line of Control and also in thehinterland at Udhampur basedNorthern command headquarters.

Ministry of Defence PRO inUdhampur, in a press statementsaid, “The Army Chief was appre-

ciative of the efforts put in byNorthern Command to meet thechallenges posed by inimical ele-ments.

Defence PRO said, during hisvisit to the forward location Army

Chief also interacted with the sol-diers and lauded them for theirunwavering dedication to duty,selfless devotion and high standardof professionalism. “The need toremain prepared for all contin-

gencies was also reinforced byCOAS during his interaction withthe troops”, Defence PROsaid.

Army Chief also commendedthe standard operating proceduresinstitutionalized to ensure safe-secure environment and mis-sion readiness of the troops. Heconveyed his satisfaction on thepeople friendly measures under-taken in quick time frame.

In the evening, Army ChiefGen Manoj Mukund Naravanealong with Lt-Gen Ranbir Singhcalled on Girish Chandra Murmu,Lieutenant Governor, J&K anddiscussed prevailing security situ-ation. Defence PRO said, “TheLieutenant Governor was appre-ciative of the synergy between theArmy, other security forces and thecivil administration in maintainingpeaceful law and ordersituation”.

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Lucknow: The Opposition parties onThursday slammed Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath for warning anti-CAA protesters that ‘azadi’ slogans raisedby them will be treated as sedition.

While the Samajwadi Party drew ananalogy with the British rule, the Congresstermed it “a language of dictators”.

The UP CM in a rally in Kanpur onWednesday had said,”If azadi slogans areraised here like they used to be raised inKashmir, then it will come in the category of sedition and stringent actionwill be taken by the government.”

Reacting to it, Senior SP leader RamGovind Chaudhary said the British too“had described freedom fighters as ter-rorists”. “Now their successors or thosewho had sided with them are termingthose raising azadi slogans traitors,” hesaid. He said there was no need to to get“perturbed” by such warnings. “Theircountdown has started and that is whythey are ranting,” Chaudhary said.

The SP leader alleged that the CM wasthreatening women against those hellbent on dividing the country. “Azadi is thebirthright of all countrymen and thosedenying it will have to depart in the samemanner as Hitler,” the SP leader said. PTI

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The National InvestigationAgency, probing the case of

arrested Jammu & KashmirPolice DSP Davinder Singh, onThursday carried out searchesat multiple locations inSrinagar.

The searched locationsinclude one residence of DrMurtaza at Gulshan Nagar areain Srinagar where Singhallegedly used to provide shel-ter to the terrorists includingNaveed Babu of HizbulMujahideen.

Preliminary probe hasrevealed tht Singh not onlyused his residence atIndiranagar but also houses atChanpora and Sanat Nagar forproviding shelter to the ter-rorists who were facilitated bythe disgraced police officer.Besides owing a house each inIndiranagar and Sanatnagar,Singh also had ahome in Jammu which aresuspected to have been builtfrom the “proceeds of crime” of

facilitating the terrorists’-movement in and out of theValley.

A five-member NIA teamis stationed in Srinagar forfurther probe even as seniorsupervisory officials havereturned to the nationalCapital.

Background checks ofSingh by the federal probeagency has revealed that in1997 he was accused in a theftof a Amul butter van owned bythe family members of a formerDeputy CM.

However, he was said tohave been taken off the hook atthe behest of his then boss andSSP despite an FIR being registered in connectionwith the incident, sources said.

In 1992, Singh had alleged-ly sold the drugs seizedfromsmugglers and the policedepartment had suspendedhim and recommended his

dismissal from service.However, an Inspector Generalof the Jammu & Kashmir policehad saved him from adversedepartmental action, sourcessaid.

They said about six servingsenior police officers are underthe scanner of the probe agen-cies for their suspected collu-sion with Singh.

Meanwhile, the NIA onThursday produced Singhbefore a designated court inJammu that granted his 15-dayNIA custody along with fourother accused in the case.

“Today, five arrestedaccused namely DavinderSingh, Syed Naveed MushtaqShah, Irfan Shafi Mir, RafiAhmad Rather and Syed IrfanAhmad in case RC-1/2020/NIA/Jammu, were pro-duced before the NIA SpecialCourt, Jammu. The Court hasgranted 15 days’ custody of theaccused to NIA till February 6,2020,” the NIA said in a state-ment. All the five accused willbe subjected to custodial inter-rogation by the NIA.

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Thane: A private tuition teacher here inMaharashtra has been booked for allegedly asking an eight- year-old student to do“450 sit-ups” for not completing her homework, police said on Thursday.

The girl, studying in Class 3 at a school inThane district, took ill after the incident on Fridayand had to be admitted to a hospital, they said.

Before this incident, the teacher, identifiedas Lata, last month also allegedly stripped the girland beat her with a cane stick for not doing thehomework, Naya Nagar police station sub-inspector Sohel

Pathan said quoting the complaint filed bythe child’s mother. On Friday, the teacher askedthe girl, a resident of Shanti Nagar locality in MiraRoad area, to do 450 sit-ups as punishment for not doing her homework, theofficial said.

When the girl returned home from thetuition classes, her mother saw the child wasunable to walk and found swelling in both herlegs, he said. PTI

Mumbai: Shiv Sena leaderSanjay Raut claimed onThursday that after VinayakDamodar Savarkar, BalThackeray was the one whochampioned Hindutva inIndian politics, and now somepeople were trying to follow thesuit.

January 23 is the birthanniversary of the late ShivSena founder.Speaking toreporters here, Raut saidThackeray did not hold anyGovernment post, but he con-ducted himself like Greek kingAlexander.

“He united people andinspired them to fight. AfterVeer Savarkar, it was BalThackeray who lit the flame ofhardline Hindutva,” he said. PTI

Aizawl: Names of more than 11,000Bru community people living inrelief camps in Tripura will bedeleted from voters’ list of theirhomeland Mizoram, following anagreement that allows the tribals topermanently settle in Tripura, asenior official said on Thursday.

Thousands of Bru communitypeople have been living in reliefcamps in Tripura since 1997. Theyhad fled Mizoram to reach theneighbouring state because of eth-nic clashes. By now, the total number of these internally dis-placed people has risen to around34,000.

The process of deletion of Bruvoters from the state voters’ list islikely to be undertaken once therelief camps are closed down,Mizoram Chief Electoral Officer(CEO) Ahish Kudran told PTI.

“The action regarding deletionof names of the Bru voters will betaken probably during the next roll

revision following provisions of theRepresentation of the People Actand taking approval from theElection Commission,” he said.

There were a total of 12,081 Bruvoters in six relief camps in Tripurain the Lok Sabha polls in April lastyear. Only 33.54 per cent of thosevoters exercised their franchise at 15polling booths set up exclusively forthem at a village on the Mizoram-Tripura border. Kundra said theexact number of Bru voters couldnot be determined now as a sectionof them have returned to Mizoramduring the final and ninth roundrepatriation in October after the lastroll revision.

He expressed hope that the Bruvoters, who did not return toMizoram before the quadripartiteagreement signed on January 16,would be included in Tripura’s elec-toral role.

The pact signed by representa-tives of the Brus, the central, Tripura

and Mizoram governments in NewDelhi allows these tribal people topermanently settle in Tripura.

The agreement was signed one-and-a-half months after the latestinitiative to send the Bru refugeesback to Mizoram failed. Of the tar-geted 4,447 families, Tripura ChiefMinister Biplab Kumar Deb lastweek said only 350 families could berepatriated.

Deb said it will take at least sixmonths to resettle the 34,000 oddmembers of the community who areliving in Tripura for 23 years. T h eBrus are staying in six camps atKanchanpur and Panisagar sub-divisions of North Tripura district.They get free ration and a cash dolefrom the Centre.

The vexed Bru issue startedfrom September, 1997, followingdemands of a separate autonomousdistrict council by carving out areasof western Mizoram adjoiningBangladesh and Tripura. PTI

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Pravin Wategaonkar andSanjay Shirodkar have

lodged a complaint with theCBI, Mumbai, against a privateroad toll collection company, aspecial purpose vehicle pro-moted among others by M/sReliance Infrastructure andJTEG, China Consortium andAxis Bank had illegally col-lected �1,780 crore from theuser of Pune-Satara Highwayduring the last six years.

In their complaint lodgedwith the CBI on Wednesday,Wategaonkar – who is a Thane-based RTI activist -- andShirodkar – an activist fromPune, alleged that M/s P.S.Toll Road Pvt. Ltd, SpecialPurpose Vehicle promoted by

various companies was – as perthe contract — was to completeconstruction of the six-laningof 140 km Pune-SataraHighway in 30 months fromOctober 1, 2010 to March 31,2013.

“The construction is stillincomplete. NHAI had specif-ically rejected request for longerconstruction period of 3.5 yearsinstead of 2.5 yrs in the pre-bidmeeting. Completion of sixlaning in 2.5 yrs was thereforeessence of the contract,” thecomplaint stated.

According to the com-plainants, the Ministry of RoadTransport & Highways (MORTH) had on December16, 2013 issued amended rulesgoverning levy of toll onNational Highways and pro-

hibited collection of user fees/toll on Highways where Six-laning was delayed beyond thescheduled completion dates.

In case of Pune Satara, sixlaning was scheduled to becompleted by March 31, 2013and taking into account per-missible extension solely due todefault on part of NHAI, byanother nine months i.e.December 31, 2013.

“ P.S.Toll Road Pvt Limitedhad no authority in view ofamended rules to collect userfees since January 1, 2014 with-out completing construction ofsix laning. Extensions grantedby NHAI to constructionschedule are in violation of bid-ding terms and amount tofavoring concessionaire,”Wategaonkar alleged.

“User fees/ toll collectedsince Last 6 years is illegal, malafide and amounts to cheatingvehicle users on Pune-SataraHighway by M/s P.S. Toll Road.Toll Revenue of about � 1,780crore has been illegally col-lected in the last six years,” thetwo activists alleged.

Another allegation that thecomplainants have made is inrespect of fund diversion of tollcollected, in violation of con-tract, by concessionaire ofabout � 225 crore upto March2012 until detected by CAG inMarch- July 2014.

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In a meticulous operation, theIndian Coast Guard (ICG)

on Thursday coordinated therescue of 13 Indian sailorsfrom a distressed Merchanttanker MT Reem 5 which wason passage from Basrah inIran to Hazira in India, about210 NM from Okha.

Upon receiving a distresscall at 8: 05 am that a tankerhad reported flooding inengine room and was sinkingrapidly, the Maritime RescueCo-ordination Centre,(MRCC), Mumbai, establishedcontact with both the ship andMRCC Karachi as the positionwas 90 Nautical Miles insidePakistan Search and RescueRegion.

The MRCC — which

works under the ICG and isresponsible for co-ordinatingthe air-sea rescue in Mumbaiand an extensive area of theArabian Sea and also the terri-torial waters of Mumbai —identified MV Ganga whichwas operating in close vicinityand directed the vessel to res-

cue the crew in distress.“All the 13 crew have been

rescued by MV Ganga at 1140hours today despite severerough sea conditions. Status ofMT REEM 5 is being moni-tored closely,” an ICGspokesperson said here in theevening.

Bengaluru: The KarnatakaGovernment on Thursday saidit has taken necessary steps toban organisations involved inanti-social activities and hassent the required information tothe Centre in this regard.

Deputy Chief Minister C NAshwathnarayantold reportersin Mysuru that ‘mercilessaction’ would be taken againstsuch outfits and they would alsobe banned.

“To ban them we have sentjustification to the central gov-ernment and have taken nec-

essary steps in this regard andwe will continue to take neces-sary steps.

Their roots have nowspread. So systematically we willtake legal action against themand thereby enforce control,” headded. Recently state HomeMinister Basavaraj Bommaihad said that steps had been ini-tiated for legal action and ban-ning organisations like PopularFront of India (PFI) which areallegedly involved in anti-socialand terror-related activities inKarnataka. PTI

Mumbai: NCP chief SharadPawar said on Thursday thatrepresentatives of minoritycommunities had conveyedthat they would not mind if hisparty joined hands with theShiv Sena, but the BJP must bekept away from power inMaharashtra.

The Shiv Sena and BJPcontested the State Assemblypolls together in October lastyear, but parted ways followingdisagreement over sharing thechief ministerial post for two-and-half years on rotationalbasis. The Shiv Sena, NCP andCongress then came togetherand formed government in thestate after long deliberations,notwithstanding the Sena’saggressive Hindutva ideology.

Referring to it, Pawar, at anevent organised by the NCP’sminority cell, recalled that nostep was being taken (at thattime) in the state for three-fourweeks (by the Shiv Sena-BJP)towards Government formation.

Pawar said suggestionswere invited about a possibletie-up with the Shiv Sena frompeople in Maharashtra as wellas Uttar Pradesh, Bihar andDelhi.

“We were told on behalf ofthe minorities that if you wantto take Shiv Sena along, youcan do so, but keep the BJPaway. The minorities welcomedthat step (of taking the ShivSena on board),” Pawar told thegathering. PTI

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In yet another son rise in theThackeray family, the

Maharashtra Navnirman Sena(MNS) on Thursday launchedits chief Raj Thackeray’s sonAmit Thackeray in active pol-itics and declared his electionas a leader of MNS.

Nearly ten years after lateShiv Sena chief Bal Thackeraylaunched his grandson Adityaat a Dussehra rally, MNS’senior leader BalaNandgaonkar, a confidant ofRaj, announced the launch ofAmit Thackeray into activepolitics and declared that hehad been elected as the partyleader.

Amit’s mother Sharmila,wife Mitali, grandmotherKundatai and sister Urvashiwere present along with him onthe stage on the occasion. Rajwas, however, not present on

the stage on the occasion. TheMNS chief was watching theproceedings from a nearbyroom, party sources said.

After Nandgaonkardeclared Amit Thackeray’s elec-tion as the MNS leader, he washonoured on behalf of theparty’s youth wing with a shawland sword, amid thunderousapplause from the party work-ers present on the occasion.

Born in Mumbai on May24, 1992, 27-year-old Amit ispopular among the MNS’youth wing workers, throughhis posts on Facebook,Instagram and other socialmedia.

Having graduated fromMumbai’s Ruparel College,Amit has completed his stud-ies in architecture. Like hisfather Raj, Amit is also a goodcartoonist. He is football play-er.

On January 27 last year,

Amit married Mitali Borude, aprofessional fashioner design-er . Amit’s wife Mitali and sis-ter Urvashi are good friends.Together, they launched a clothbrand “The Rock” a few yearsago.

The launch of AmitThackeray into active politicsbrought back the memories ofAditya Thackeray’s initiationinto politics at the hands of hisgrandfather Bal Thackeray. Atthe Dussehra rally held onOctober 17, 2010, BalThackeray launched the party’syouth wing and anointed as hisgrandson Aditya as its head.

In the run-up to theOctober 2019, Aditya took aplunge into electoral politics,contested the Assembly elec-tions from Worli constituencyand is now a Cabinet Ministerin the Maharashtra Cabinet,headed by his father Uddhav.

New Delhi: BJP ally LokJanshakti Party on Thursdaywelcomed the Centre’s decisionthat giving details about par-ents’ birth will be optional forpeople during the NPR exer-cise.

LJP president ChiragPaswan expressed confidencethat it will help end “confusion”over the issue. Paswan said hisparty had suggested to the Government that answering some of the ques-tions, which have created con-fusion among people or areused by opposition parties to“mislead” them, in the NationalPopulation Register exercise should me madeoptional.

It was being said that manypeople may not have birthdetails of their parents, and the

entire issue was used by oppo-sition parties for their divisivepolitics and spreading confu-sion, he said, asserting that thegovernment has taken a gooddecision and his party wel-comes it.

Union Minister PrakashJavadekar had said onWednesday that giving date ofbirth or place of birth of par-ents is optional in the exercise.“If you don’t have it or don’tremember, don’t give it ...Answering many any ques-tions are optional,” he said.

Opposition parties, whichhave been protesting against theexercise, have said that a largenumber of people, especially thepoor, in the country do not havedetails of their parents’ birthdates or places. PNS

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Maharashtra NavnirmanSena (MNS) chief Raj

Thackeray said here onThursday that more than theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and National CitizensRegister (NRC) which wouldhappen in due course, theCentre’s top priority should beto ‘deport’ all illegal Muslimimmigrants from Pakistan andBangladesh to their respectivecountries and his party wouldextend its full support to theModi Government in this task.

Addressing his party work-ers at a State MNS conventionheld at the NESCO grounds atGoregaon in north Mumbai,Raj said: “Like other countries,India should also become verystrict in enforcing immigration

laws. We may be in inconve-nienced a bit, but it is okay.Mind you, our country is sittingon a volcano or live bombs. Wehave no idea what will happenwhen. Things like CAA andNRC will happen. But, theCentre’s top priority should beto throw out illegal Muslimimmigrants from Pakistan andBangladesh. For the purpose, Iwill extend my full support tothe Union Government”.

Raj said that he hadreceived some “explosive infor-mation” which he would passonto Union Home MinisterAmit Shah and state chief min-ister Uddhav Thackeray. “I donot know about other states.But, there are some places inMaharashtra moulvis from dif-ferent go there. We do not knowwhat they do there. We do not

get know anything therebecause even the police are notallowed inside these places.The hunch of the police officialsis that a big conspiracy is beinghatched at these places. I do notwant to talk about it here. I willmeet them and pass on theinformation to the UnionHome Minister and state chiefmister,” Raj said.

The MNS chief announcedthat his party would take out amassive morcha to the AzadMaidan on February 9 todemand immediate deportationof illegal Muslim immigrantsfrom Pakistan and Bangladeshto their respective countries.

Extending his indirect sup-port to CAA and NRC, Raj said:“There can be a debate onCAA and NRC. ... But, sud-denly there are so many mor-

chas against CAA and NRC.Thousands of Muslims havecome on the streets. Some peo-ple told me that the Muslims areventing out their pent up angeragainst the revocation of Article370 in Kashmir and theSupreme Court verdict on theRam Janmabhoomi. I wouldlike to know as to how manyIndian Muslims participatedin these morchas and howmany are from outside. If somany Muslims from outside areparticipating in these morchas,why should we support thesemorchas?” Alluding to the spec-ulation that his party waschanging his party’s ideology,Raj indirectly hinted at thepossibility of his party gettingcloser to Hindutva ideology.said: “I am both Marathi andHindu. I have not changed my

religion. If some people try toundermine Marathi, I will goafter them. Similarly, if some-one tries to undermine Hindureligion, he would not retaliate”.

Raj said that he would sup-port all the honest Muslims inthe country. “Muslims like latePresident Abdul Kalam, formertest cricketer Zahir Khan andlyricist Javed Akthar are ours. Iam not opposed to Muslimspractising their religion quiet-ly. But, why do the Muslimsneed to use loudspeakers atMasjids while offering Namaz.When we Hindus do not dis-turb you through our aaratis,why there should be a distur-bance to us because namaaz.Please offer namaz but why doyou need loudspeakers forthat?,” the MNS chief asked.

The MNS chief took an

indirect pot shot at Shiv Sena bysaying: “I am not the one whochange my colours to be a partof a government? ( in referenceto the Sena joining hands withthe NCP and Congress to forma government in the state). I amthe same that I was. My opin-ions have not changed. I amnot the one who changes mycolour and becomes a part of agovernment”.

“ I am not the one to criti-cise someone for the sake ofmere criticism. I had criticisedPrime Minister Narendrawhenever necessary. There havealso been occasions when I havecongratulated him on the issueslike abrogation of Article 370from the Constitution andSupreme Court verdict on theRam Mandir issue,” the MNSchief said.

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Davos: The World EconomicForum on Thursdayannounced new internet secu-rity principles, developed by agroup of leading ISPs and mul-tilateral organisations, to helpprotect up to one billion users.

Unveiling the new initiativehere at its 50th annual meeting,the WEF said BT, DeutscheTelekom, Du Telecom, Europol,Global Cyber Alliance, InternetSociety, Korea Telecom,Proximus, Saudi Telcom,Singtel, Telstra and ITUendorse these new principlescombatting high-volumecyberattacks, protecting up toone billion consumers in 180countries.

While certain cyberattacksfocus on specific organisations,the majority target the largestnumber of internet users pos-sible. Such attacks are often rel-atively easy for cybercriminalsto undertake and can causeserious harm.

The impact of indiscrimi-nate malicious activity onlinecan be significant and carries anestimated global price tag ofUSD 6 trillion in 2021, the WEFsaid. The new principles askISPs to protect consumers bydefault from widespread cyber-attacks and act collectively withpeers to identify and respond toknown threats. PTI

New Delhi: Union Minister of State for Shipping(Independent Charge) and Chemicals & FertilizersMansukh Mandaviya on Thursday met SecretaryGeneral of International Maritime Organization (IMO) KitackLim at the 50th Annual Meeting of World Economic Forum atDavos, Switzerland. Mansukh Mandaviya Shipping (I/C) andChemical & Fertilizers with the Secretary General, IMO KitackLim in meeting at the 50th Annual Meeting of World EconomicForum at Davos, Switzerland. In this meeting, mutual discus-sions were held regarding various Global Maritime issues con-cerning India like Ban on Single Use Plastic by India for reduc-ing Marine Pollution, Availability of low Sulphur fuel comply-ing to IMO 2020 Convention and installation of Mahatma GandhiBust at IMO Headquarter, London.

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Microsoft CEO Satya Nadellaon Thursday said data pri-

vacy must be seen as a humanright that needs to be protectedand have full transparency.

Speaking here at the WorldEconomic Forum (WEF)Annual Summit 2020, Nadellasaid it also needs to be ensuredthat the huge data being usedwith consent is for the good ofthe society. During a conver-sation with WEF Founder andExecutive Chairman KlausSchwab, Nadella also favoureda debate on CEO pay and allkinds of remuneration, includ-ing return on capital.

Asked what was his recipefor doing good and at the sametime doing well as the most valu-able company in the world,Nadella said, “It comes down tohaving that core business design:when you do well, the worldaround you does well.” “Peopleand institutions are all part ofour society, so if you don’t thinkabout the broader systems, it’snot stable,” he added. “Thequestion ultimately goes back towhat is the market saying andwhat is society saying?”

Referring to the book ‘TheNarrow Corridor’, he said youhave to find what works, so noone loses out. It is in the long-term interest of the sharehold-ers that we do the right thingby the stakeholders, he empha-

sised. “CEOs in today’s worldhave more to do to communi-cate that stakeholder capitalismis for the shareholders’ long-term benefit,” Nadella said.

He said there are fourinterconnected componentsneeded for the world to col-lectively achieve more thisdecade — power broad eco-nomic growth through techintensity; ensure that this eco-nomic growth is inclusive;build trust in technology andits use; and commit to a sus-tainable future.

Asked about a possiblebifurcation of economy andtech between China and theUS, Nadella said, “Every coun-try cares about their nationalsecurity, I would urge us tothink about what should hap-pen.” “If we should ‘conscious-ly decouple’, all we will do isincrease the overall transac-tional costs of our economy.“The last 30-year period hasbeen an amazing period ofmarket access, but we need togrow up because the world ismore complicated,” he said.

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Asserting that the Indianeconomy is well-poised to

take off, Union minister PiyushGoyal on Thursday said thereis a lot of enthusiasm for mak-ing investments in the country.

Speaking at a session at theWorld Economic Forum (WEF)annual summit here, theCommerce and IndustryMinister also said the govern-ment will hold discussions withBritain and European Union onfree trade agreements. Britain isset to leave the European Unionby end of January.

“... Things have once againstarted showing an uptrend...Economy is well poised to takeoff from here,” Goyal said.

According to him, theenthusiasm to make invest-ments in India is infectious. Atleast four or five companieshave said that more than 50 percent of their total workforcewould operate out of India inthe coming years. Some ofthem are big names, he noted.

On RCEP, Goyal said it was

an “unbalanced trade agree-ment, which was really not ful-filling the guiding principles onwhich RCEP started abouteight years ago, therefore Indiachose not to participate in it”.

Out of the RCEP countriesIndia already has bilateral tradeagreements with ASEAN 10with Japan and Korea, we are

close to concluding negotia-tions with Australia which wehave restarted now and in thenext 6 to 8 months we are canclose a bilateral trade partner-ship with Australia, he said.

“RCEP was effectivelybecoming a free trade agree-ment between China and India.I don’t think India is ready to

engage unless we see opengovernment, better trans-parency, regulatory practicesbeing followed, and a greatermarket access for Indian goodsand services on a reciprocalbasis,” he said.

Speaking at a session on‘Strategic Outlook: India’ atthe WEF 2020 here, Goyalsaid “trade negotiations arevery complex issues. You donot negotiate trade with dead-lines and in a hurry”.

Asked about the creditcrunch in the Indian economy,State Bank of India ChairmanRajnish Kumar said he believesthe credit market will be backto stability and normalcy soon.

“There has been a series ofsteps... Bank recapitalisationhas happened, PSU banks,which control about 60 per centof the assets in the country arereturning to profits...”, he said.

He added the course cor-rection that was required hashappened and banks are muchmore cautious than what wewere earlier. He further stressedthat “we are ready to lend”.

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Reliance Jio on Thursdaypaid �195 crore to the tele-

com department to clear alladjusted gross revenue duesaccounted till January 31, 2020,according to an official source.

“Reliance Jio has paid �195

crore for AGR. This includesadvance money that companyhas paid for the month ofJanuary, 2020,” the source said.

The company has madeprovision of �177 crore to payfor the Government revenueshare based on the SupremeCourt judgement dated

October 24, 2019. Rivals of Jio,Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea have cumulative liability of�88,624 crore and have sought more time from thedepartment.

The apex court has setJanuary 23 as the deadline topay adjusted gross revenue

(AGR) dues. However, com-panies have requested the DoT(Department of Telecom) togive them time to make pay-ment based on the outcome oftheir modification petition list-ed for hearing before theSupreme Court next week,sources said.

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India Inc is banking on thebudget to see a reduction in

personal income tax to revivethe sagging consumptiondemand after getting thebiggest tax break by way of asteep reduction in corporate taxrates, says a pre-budget survey.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will increase theincome tax exemption limitfrom �2.5 lakh per annumcurrently, majority of respon-dents surveyed by tax consul-tancy firm KPMG opined.

The majority of respon-dents also feel that the govern-ment in the forthcoming Budgetto be unveiled on February 1will increase the standarddeduction and give more incen-tives for housing loans. TheGovernment had slashed cor-porate tax rates to 25 per centfor old companies and to 15 percent for new companies pro-vided they are ready to foregoall the existing exemptions.

Though the move washailed by many as a booster doseto revive growth it has belied theexpectation as growth has sincethen fallen to more than six-yearlow of 4.5 per cent in theSeptember quarter from 5 percent in the previous quarter.What more the advance estimatelast week has pegged the full-year real GDP growth at 5 percent while the nominal GDPgrowth at a 48-year low of 7.5per cent, down from the budgetestimate of 13 per cent.

Also, most of the old-gen-eration companies have decid-ed to draw from the existing

incentives and not to switch tothe new tax regime. However, inthe pre-budget survey involving215 companies by KPMG Indiathis month, more than half ofthe respondents plan to opt forthe lower tax regime of 22 percent by giving up availableincentives from next fiscal.

A majority of respondentsalso believe that the tax rate forforeign companies should alsobe reduced in light of tax cutsfor domestic companies.

A further stimulus by wayof personal tax cuts is alsoanticipated. “Majority antici-pate the basic exemption limitof �2.5 lakh for individuals willbe increased. They also expectan increase in the income limitat which the maximum mar-ginal rate of 30 per cent kicksin. If implemented, this canhelp spur consumer demand bycomplementing the interestrate cuts delivered since lastyear,” says the survey.

A majority of the respon-dents also believe that thefinance minister will not intro-duce an inheritance tax. This isin line with the overall expec-tation, that there exists a needto provide a fiscal stimulus byreducing taxes on individuals.

About 50 per cent of therespondents expect tax holidayfor exports available to SEZunits to be extended to units setup beyond March 2020.

Dispute resolution contin-ues to be an area of concern formost companies with almosthalf of them believing that theapproach of taxmen to tax dis-putes are not in line with inter-national norms.

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The rupee depreciated by 7paise to close at 71.26

against the US dollar onThursday as the spread of adeadly new virus from China stoked fears of a globalpandemic.

However, softening crudeprices and strong domesticequity market restricted therupee’s fall, forex dealers said.

At the interbank foreignexchange market, the localcurrency opened on a weaknote at 71.21. During the day,it swung between a high of71.16 and a low of 71.35.

The Indian currency final-ly settled at 71.26, registering aloss of 7 paise over the previ-ous close. “USD/INR Pair trad-ed in range of 71.20–71.30, asmarkets looks out for newtriggers rupee keeps trading in

range but with weak bias dueto corona virus being spread inChina, which can dampeninvestment infusion. Rupeecan be range of 71.20-71.35 incoming sessions,” JateenTrivedi, Senior ResearchAnalyst (Commodity &Currency) at LKP Securitiessaid. Investor remained anxiousover the spread of a deadly newvirus from China as it is bigexport market for many coun-tries. More than 570 peoplehave been infected with thecorona virus.

“In the last couple of ses-sions most Asian currencieswere weighed down as thespread of a flu-like virus inChina stoked fears of a globalpandemic. Euro rose ahead ofthe important ECB policy state-ment that will be releasedtoday; expectation is that thecentral bank could hold ratesunchanged. We expect theUSDINR (Spot) to quote in the

range of 71.05 and 71.50,”Gaurang Somaiyaa, Forex &Bullion Analyst, Motilal OswalFinancial Services said.

Global crude benchmarkBrent was trading 1.46 percent down at USD 62.29 perbarrel. Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back’s strength against a basketof six currencies, fell 0.03 percent to 97.49.

The BSE Sensex settled271.02 points, or 0.66 per cent,higher at 41,386.40. Likewise,the broader NSE Nifty closed73.45 points, or 0.61 per cent,down at 12,180.35.

The 10-year Indian gov-ernment bond yield was at6.63 per cent. In the fourth spe-cial open market operation(OMO) auctions, the ReserveBank of India on Thursdaybought �10,000 crore worth oflong-term securities and sold�2,950 crore worth of short-term Government bonds.

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On a day when the SupremeCourt-mandated deadline

for Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea to pay �88,624 crore inpast dues ended, theDepartment ofTelecommunications (DoT) onThursday decided not to takecoercive action against default-ers during pendency of theirappeals in the apex court forrelaxations in the order.

While Bharti Airtel andVodafone Idea did not pay thedues, billionaire MukeshAmbani-led Reliance Jio paid�195 crore to clear all out-standing against it, officialsources said.

Parallelly, Oil MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said the�3-lakh crore sought by theDoT from non-telecom PSUs,such as GAIL, Oil India Ltdand PowerGrid, was a result of“communication gap” as thesefirms are not liable to pay anydues following the SupremeCourt’s October 24 ruling thatnon-telecom revenues of tele-com firms should be includedfor considering payments ofGovernment dues.

OIL and GAIL, which were

not a party to the litigation thatled to the October 24 order,filed clarificatory applicationsin the Supreme Court.

Following the October 24order, the DoT had sought�1.47 lakh crore from BhartiAirtel, Vodafone Idea and 13other telecom companies.Parallelly, it raised a demand of�1.72 lakh crore from gas util-ity GAIL India Ltd, �48,000crore from Oil India Ltd,�40,000 crore from PowerGrid,�15,019 crore from GujaratNarmada Valley Fertilizers anda few more demands on firmssuch as RailTel.

Official sources said thedirector of the licensing financepolicy (LFP) wing has issued adirection that departmentsconcerned should not take anycoercive action, until furtherorders, against the licensees incase they fail to comply withthe Supreme Court order.

Bharti Airtel and VodafoneIdea, whose review petitionsagainst the October 24 orderwas rejected by the SupremeCourt last week, communi-cated to the DoT that they willnot pay the dues by the dead-line and will instead away forthe outcome of the subsequent

modification petition filedseeking relaxation in payments,they said.

The petition is listed forhearing in the Supreme Courtnext week. TataCommunications, in which thegovernment holds 26.12 perstake, has also made no provi-sion for the DoT’s demand of�6,633 crore. “We are in dis-cussion with the telecom min-istry. We had given them ourreply (on the demand raised),”Pradhan told reporters here.“Possibly because of a com-munication gap, theGovernment of India’s onedepartment has raised suchdemand on PSUs under anoth-er government department.”

He said parallel to discus-sions with the DoT, theSupreme Court has beenapproached on the issue.

The government’s demandfrom such companies increasedmany times more than their networth and the Centre askedthem to go to the SupremeCourt against such dues.

While Oil India Ltd filed aclarificatory/modificatory peti-tion on Wednesday, GAILapproached the apex court onThursday.

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New Delhi: Governmentthink-tank Niti Aayog willdevelop a national data andanalytics platform to make allgovernment data accessible tostakeholders in a user-friend-ly manner. Releasing the VisionDocument for the NationalData and Analytics Platform(NDAP), Niti Aayog vice-chairman Rajiv Kumar saidthat the NDAP will strive toensure that the data is assured,consistent, coherent and cred-ible. PTI

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As the Government workson divesting debt-laden

Air India, Union MinisterPiyush Goyal on Thursday saidif he was not a minister, hewould be bidding for the air-line. Air India has been in thered for long and the govern-ment is now in the process offinalising the contours for itsdisinvestment.

Responding to a queryabout proposed disinvestmentof Air India, BPCL and othercompanies, Goyal said in thefirst term, the Governmenthad inherited an economy which was in prettyterrible shape.

Steps were taken to put the

economy back in shape and ifthe government had looked atdivesting these jewels, it wouldnot have got a great value.

He was talking at a sessionon ‘Strategic Outlook: India’ atthe WEF 2020 here.

“If I weren’t a ministertoday, I would be bidding forAir India. It has some of thebest bilaterals the world over...A well managed and efficient Air India with lotmore good aircraft put in usingthese bilaterals is nothing shortof a gold mine to my mind,”Goyal said.

Bilaterals refers to an agree-ment between two countriesthat allows each other’s airlinesto operate services with a spe-cific number of seats.

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La Liga’s heavyweights were both given a scareby third tier opponents in the Copa del Rey

on Wednesday as Barcelona needed two lategoals to beat Ibiza and Real Madrid dug deepfor victory over Unionistas de Salamanca.

Barca sit 44 places ahead of Ibiza and Madrid56 above Unionistas but the lowly duo both cameclose to extraordinary upsets, only for Ibiza tolose 2-1 and Unionistas 3-1 in front of their jubi-lant home fans.

With Lionel Messi rested and not even onthe bench, Antoine Griezmann proved the sav-iour for Barcelona, scoring twice in the secondhalf, including a 94th-minute winner, after PepCaballe had given the hosts a fairytale lead at CanMisses.

“Scoring gave them confidence,” said Barcacoach Quique Setien. “We were a bit sloppy, wegave the ball away and that gave them life. It was-n’t easy.”

Discomfort was more fleeting for Madrid,who conceded an equaliser in the second halffollowing a brilliant run and finish fromUnionistas’ Alvaro Romero, only to restore theiradvantage five minutes later.

Juan Gongora turned the ball into his ownnet after Gareth Bale, back from injury and ill-ness, scored his first goal for his club sinceSeptember 1.

Bale’s celebrations were notably muted andhe had to go off in the second half.

“He sprained his ankle a little,”said coach Zinedine Zidane. “Idon’t think it’s much but tomorrowwe’ll see.”

At the end, Unionistas fanswere waving their scarves withpride just as Ibiza’s supportershad applauded their team off, even

though Griezmann had dashed their hopes justmoments before.

Elsewhere, holders Valencia beat Logrones1-0 while Segunda strugglers Tenerife knockedout La Liga’s Real Valladolid with a surprise 2-1 win.

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Rafael Nadal and Nick Kyrgiosreached the Australian Openthird round on Thursday after

the weather-disrupted tournamentfaced a new challenge: dirty rainwhich left courts muddy andunplayable.

After a day of clean-up opera-tions and delays, Australia’s Kyrgiosfought his way past Frenchman GillesSimon in four sets and Wimbledonchampion Simona Halep stamped herclass with a win over Britain’s HarrietDart.

Nadal, a 6-3, 7-6 (7/4), 6-1 win-ner over Argentina’s FedericoDelbonis, miscued a shot that hit aballgirl in the head, but he meltedhearts when he apologised and gaveher a kiss on the cheek.

“I was so scared for her, honest-ly,” the 19-time Grand Slam winnersaid. “The ball was quickand straight on the head.She’s a very brave girl.”

Kyrgios, increasinglypopular with home fansafter his fundraising efforts forAustralia’s bushfire crisis, was cruis-ing at two sets up when he droppedthe third set and with it, his compo-sure.

But just when it looked like hewould suffer one of his trademarkimplosions, he rallied for a 6-2, 6-4,4-6, 7-5 victory.

“I definitely lost my way a littlebit... but I decided to refocus,” Kyrgiossaid of his mini-meltdown in thethird set. “I could have gone to a verydark place in the fourth set but I putit away.”

Kyrgios and Nadal stay on coursefor a fourth-round clash and the nextinstalment in their grudge matchafter the Aussie hit back at criticismfrom the “super salty” Spaniard lastyear.

Their victories followed a day ofupheaval caused by the dirtyrain, the latest weather prob-lem at a tournament which hascontended with bushfiresmoke, heavy downpours andstrong wind.

Rain mixed with a duststorm coated the Melbourne Parkfacilities in a fine layer of mudwhich took hours to clean and mademany outside courts temporarilyunusable.

'I WAS FREAKING OUT'As action resumed Alexander

Zverev, another man who has a run-ning feud with Kyrgios, showedsigns of a return to form as he

downed Egor Gerasimov 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, 7-5.

The German seventh seed hasbeen practising up to seven hours aday after a winless ATP Cup and the

hard work paid off as hesafely reached the thirdround.

“Definitely much bet-ter than the ATP Cup.Now in the third round,I’m very happy about

that,” said the 22-year-old, who beatItaly’s Marco Cecchinato in roundone.

However, fifth seed DominicThiem had a scare as he was takento five sets by Australia’s 140th-ranked Alex Bolt before recoveringhis composure to win 6-2, 5-7, 6-7(5/7), 6-1, 6-2.

“It was all of a sudden a reallytight third set that shouldn’t happen.

That’s why I was freaking out insideand also outside today,” said the two-time French Open finalist.

A nosebleed was one of DaniilMedvedev’s biggest challenges in hiswin over Spanish qualifier PedroMartinez, while Gael Monfils, whoinjured his racquet hand playing com-puter games before the tournament,downed Ivo Karlovic.

In the women’s draw Halep beatDart 6-2, 6-4, while Belinda Bencicknocked out former French Openchampion Jelena Ostapenko — shewas playing despite the sudden deathof her father this month.

Two-time Major winnerGarbine Muguruza, who scaled

Mount Kilimanjaro in theoff-season as she searchesfor a return to form, dis-patched home hope AjlaTomljanovic 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.

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Manchester United werelabelled an “embarrass-

ment” as pressure mounted onOle Gunnar Solskjaer followingBurnley’s shock 2-0 victory,while Tottenham boosted theirtop four prospects with a 2-1 winover Norwich on Wednesday.

Solskjaer’s side suffered athird defeat in their lastfour Premier Leaguegames to put the Unitedboss’s job security backunder the microscope.

Burnley’s first top-flight win at Old Traffordsince 1962, secured byChris Wood’s 39th minuteopener and a Jay Rodriguezthunderbolt after the break,exposed the flaws in a lacklus-tre United side who have madetheir worst start to a season since1989-90.

The majority of OldTrafford was on its feet whenchants of “stand up if you hateGlazers” echoed around theground in reference to United’sowners.

Executive vice-chairman EdWoodward was also subjected tomany other abusive chants,while those few fans whoremained in the stadium booedSolskjaer and his players at full-time.

Former United defenderRio Ferdinand, a PremierLeague and Champions Leaguewinner with the club, slammedthe performance and called forthe US-based Glazer family totake action to stop the rot.

“I can’t defend this,”Ferdinand told BT Sport. “Theseyoung kids now in schoolsaround the country, they are notgoing to be wearing ManchesterUnited shirts.

“Fans are walking out after84 minutes! It’s an embarrass-ment. People at the top need tolook and see this and makechanges, put a plan in place thatpeople can sit there and seewhere we are going now. I don’tsee it.”

Fifth placed United are sixpoints behind fourth placedChelsea as they battle to quali-fy for next season’s ChampionsLeague via a top four finish.

Solskjaer admitted Unitedhad only themselves to blame,but he claimed the youngsters inhis side deserved some patience.

“The boys have given every-

thing they’ve got. They are expe-riencing this period for the firsttime in their lives, some ofthem,” he said.

“Of course I’m going toback them. I’m going to be hereto help them get through this.When you’re at Man Unitedthere’s always going to be criti-cism.

“We can’t do anything buthold our hands up andsay ‘this isn’t good enoughfor this club’. Of coursewe’re disappointed in thepoints tally and perfor-mances, we’re still fifth inthe table.”

Tottenham needed alate winner from Son

Heung-min to snap a four-game winless streak in the leagueand breathe new life into theirpush for a top-four spot.

ALLI ENDS DROUGHTDele Alli’s opener had ended

a three-game run without evenscoring in the league for sixthplaced Spurs before TeemuPukki’s penalty 20 minutes fromtime for bottom-of-the-tableNorwich.

South Korea forward Son’sstooping header 11 minutesfrom time hauled JoseMourinho’s men within sixpoints of Chelsea.

Elsewhere, Ayoze Perezscored twice as third placedLeicester ended their two-matchwinless league run with a 4-1victory over West Ham that wasmarred by an injury to theirleading scorer Jamie Vardy.

Vardy limped off just beforehalf-time at the King PowerStadium with his side 1-0 aheadthanks to Harvey Barnes’ 24th-minute opener, with the wingerthen setting up Ricardo Pereirato fire home the second inadded time.

Five minutes after the inter-val, Wilfred Ndidi was adjudgedto have bundled Sebastien Hallerover in the area and Mark Noblescored from the penalty spot.

However, Leicester earned adebatable penalty of their ownwhen Kelechi Iheanacho wasdeemed to have been broughtdown by Angelo Ogbonna andPerez made no mistake from 12yards.

The former Newcastle play-er then swept home his side’sfourth goal to lift them backwithin three points of second-placed Manchester City.

������ Neymar set up the firsttwo goals with curling set piecesas Paris Saint-Germain wontheir French League Cup semi-final 3-0 away to Reims on achilly Wednesday night.

PSG will face Lyon, who beat Lille onpenalties on Tuesday, in the final at the Stadede France on April 4.

This was PSG’s second cup match inthree days and coach Thomas Tuchel con-tinued to shuffle his squad.

Neymar and Kylian Mbappe, whowere unused substitutes as PSG won in theFrench Cup at Lorient on Sunday, startedwhile Mauro Icardi and Angel di Maria whobegan that game, shivered on the bench ona below-freezing evening in Champagnecountry. Neymar set up the first goal forhis fellow Brazilian Marquinhos, anotherstar brought back after a coach-enforcedrest, after nine minutes.

Marquinhos, playing in centraldefence and as captain, raced in to meetan outswinging Neymar corner.

He outleaped the static Reims defend-ers and his powerful downward headerhad rebounded into the roof of the netbefore goalkeeper Predrag Rajkovic couldget close to it. After 31 minutes, Neymaragain aimed for Marquinhos with an inswinging free kick.

When the centre-back missed the ballit caught the man marking him, AlaixysRomao, by surprise and he nodded ittoward goal where fullback GhislainKonan sliced the ball into his own net.

Neymar, who produced a combativedisplay, and Mbappe, booked for a latehandball, played the full 90 minutes eventhough the game was settled by the 77thminute.

After 73 minutes, Reims midfielderMarshall Munetsi received a straight redcard for scything down Marco Verratti.

Four minutes later, substitute NianzouKouassi forced a rebound over the line toput PSG, eliminated in the quarter-finalslast year, three up and sure of a place inthe final. AFP

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Juventus coach MaurizioSarri complimented

Cristiano Ronaldo’s moth-er as the Portuguese starextended his scoring streakin a 3-1 win over Roma toadvance to the Italian Cupsemi-finals on Wednesday.

The Portuguese starpicked up a Gonzalo Higuaincross after 26 minutes, finish-ing off from an angle in theAllianz Stadium.

It was the 34-year-old’s12th goal in eight consecutivegames in which he has playedin all competitions for the

Turin giants but his first in theItalian Cup.

The five-time Ballon d’Orwinner has also scored sevengoals in four matches played in2020. “I believe that the com-pliments should be made to hismother,” said Sarri of Ronaldowho has now scored in 15 dif-ferent club competitionsthroughout his career.

“He is in super form phys-ically. In terms of explosivenesshe is doing well, he takes greatcare of the details.

“It is difficult to improveon an individual level. We aretalking about one of the great-est of all time and I would liketo help him win a sixth Ballond’Or.

Rodrigo Bentancur addeda second goal after 38 minuteswith defender LeonardoBonucci nodding in a thirdjust before the break.

Cengiz Under pulled agoal back for Roma five min-

utes after the break,rifling in from a distancewith the ball hitting thecrossbar and bouncing inoff goalkeeper GianluigiBuffon in the Juventusgoal.

Buffon denied AlessandroFlorenzi and AleksandarKolorav to keep Juventus oncourse in the competition theyhave won 13 times.

Juventus will play eitherAC Milan or Torino in thesemi-finals.

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Indian men and womenare just one win away

from securing their maid-en qualif ication forOlympics, following theircontrasting victoriesagainst Luxembourg andSweden respectively in theTeam Qualifier here onWednesday.

India’s men’s highestranked player G Sathiyantook some time adjustingto the pimpled rubber ofLuka Mladenovic but otherthan that it was a straightforward tie for the fifthseeds who play 11th seedsSlovenia in the all-impor-tant round of 16 clashtoday.

A quarterfinal finish

guarantees qualification forthe Tokyo Olympics. Indiahas never qualified as ateam in Olympic history,limiting its participationto individual events.

Sharath Kamal andHarmeet Desai got Indiaoff to a winning start, beat-ing Gilles Michely and EricGlod 11-9, 16-14, 116 inthe opening doubles.

In the subsequent sin-gles, world number 30Sathiyan lost the first twogames against Mladenovicbefore fighting back to pre-vail 8-11, 9-11, 11-3, 13-11,11-6.

Veteran Sharath,ranked 33, conceded agame to Glod but eventu-ally won 11-3, 11-3, 12-14,11-5 to complete a 3-0 vic-

tory.The seedings suggest

that India are a much bet-ter side than Slovenia butSharath said it will be 50-50 contest.

“They have a prettybalanced team,” he said,referring to the presence of40th ranked Darko Jorgicand 62nd ranked BojanTokic in the Sloveniancamp.

Slovenia beat Iran 3-1in their round of 32 match.

Like the men, theIndian women too are awin away from creatinghistory. The 17th seedspipped 11th seeds Sweden3-2 after Archana Kamathsaved a match point tobeat Linda Bergstrom inthe fifth and deciding rub-ber. She won 11-8, 8-11, 9-11, 11-7, 13-11.

However, the founda-tion of the memorable vic-tory was laid by top-rankedIndian Manika Batra, whowon both her singles, beat-ing Bergstrom andChristina Kallberg 3-1 and3-2 respectively.

The Indians will haveto produce something spe-cial if they are to down amuch stronger Romania inthe pre-quarterfinals.

Manika, ranked at 61,is the sole Indian in thetop-100 while Romaniaboast of 19th rankedBernadette Szocs and 31stranked Elizabeta Samara.

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Indian football team captainSunil Chhetri on Thursday

made it clear that he is yet todecide when to hang up hisboots though he did not havemany games left for the coun-try.

The 35-year-old Chhetrirecently said that he did nothave too many games left to playwith the national side and thatis the reason why he won’t sethimself any long-term goalsgoing forward.

“I am on the other side ofmy career. I have already played112 games for my country andI am not going to play 250games. That is what I meant thatI do not have many games left.I do not know when I amgoing to stop but I love thisgame,” Chhetri, said.

Chhetri, the second highestinternational goal-scorer amongactive players after CristianoRonadlo said, “I feel really ener-getic. So I will keep going asmuch as possible. But the fact is,I am on other side of my careerand not going to play 100 gamesmore for my country. So, what-ever it is, 10, 20, 30, 40, 60, I

don’t know how many, but asmany as I can, I will give mybest,” he said.

He also said that Indianfootball was going in the rightdirection but there was a longway to go.

“We have improved a littlebit and have to go a long way. Ithink everyone who is involvedwith it, corporate houses, play-ers, coaches, government, AIFF,fans, media have to cometogether and put the best footforward to take it to a differentlevel. We are going in the rightdirection, but the goal is far. Wehave to work really hard,” hesigned off.

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�������� Sania Mirza’s firstGrand Slam outing after materni-ty leave ended with an early exit asthe Indian ace retired mid-way intoher women’s doubles first-roundmatch due to a calf injury.

Sania and her Ukrainian part-ner Nadiia Kichenok, who cameinto the major after winning thedoubles t it le at the HobartInternational, were trailing 2-6, 0-1 against the Chinese team ofXinyun Han and Lin Zhu when theIndian called it quits.

Sania has injured her leg dur-ing practice. Her right calf strappedheavily, Sania struggled to movefreely on the court. It also affect-ed her serve.

Kichenok was also struggling atthe net, often missing easy put-away volleys.

Serving at 2-4, Sania was bro-ken by the Chinese and they servedout the set easily.

The Indian took a medial time-out after the first set. Soon after, theIndo-Ukrainian pair was broken inthe first game of the second set andSania found it difficult to contin-ue.

Sania had also pulled out of themixed doubles event, forcing com-patriot Rohan Bopanna to pairwith Kichenok.

Also representing India in themixed doubles is veteran LeanderPaes, who has teamed up withJelena Ostapenko, who had won2017 French Open.

They are pitted against localwild card entrants Storm Sandersand Marc Polmans. PTI

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Preparations for the World Cup ontop of their agenda, India will takeon an injury-hit New Zealand in a

rare five-match T20 International seriesstarting today during which seam-friend-ly wickets would be a major challenge forthe visitors.

Unlike most overseastours, this will be a quick startfor the Indian team. The teamarrived in Auckland onTuesday and Thursday was when they hitthe nets ahead of the tour-openinggame.

On the plus side, this hectic sched-ule helps the team management maintainconsistency in team selection as they con-tinue experimenting across the availablesquad in a World Cup year.

Despite injury issues to key white-ballpersonnel like Shikhar Dhawan, HardikPandya, Deepak Chahar andBhuvneshwar Kumar this past homeseason, the bench strength has comeacross adequate and raring to go for chal-lenges ahead.

It begins at the top where KL Rahulhas stepped up as a key part of India’swhite-ball plans.

Skipper Virat Kohli dropped hintsthat Rahul’s newfound confidence in hisdual role as batsman-keeper has givenvital options to the team.

According to Kohli, Rahul will con-tinue to keep wickets in both ODIs andT20Is, but will open in the shortest for-mat while returning to the middle-orderin the 50-over format.

It could mean that Prithvi Shaw isbeing primed for an ODI debut and apotential pairing with Rohit when thethree-match series begins on February 5.

The skipper also indicated a changein middle order plans. With Rahul keep-

ing wickets, the fit-again Rishabh Pantcould lose his spot in the playing eleven.

Manish Pandey is expected to play asthe fifth specialist batsman and ShreyasIyer will regain his spot at number four.

Pandey, Iyer and Pant batted togeth-er in the nets on Thursday, while SanjuSamson hung around, only to pad uplater on. The Kerala batsman didn’tseem to be in contention for the firstT20I.

Pant and Pandey could both fit intothe playing eleven should India opt forfive bowlers and leave out the sixthoption in Shivam Dube. WashingtonSundar and Ravindra Jadeja are theother two all-round options.

The Yuzvendra Chahal-KuldeepYadav combination is yet to play a gametogether since the 2019 ODI World Cup,and it remains to be seen if things willchange in this aspect.

In the pace department, MohammedShami and Jasprit Bumrah are assured

starters, while the toss-up will be betweenShardul Thakur and Navdeep Saini.

New Zealand had beaten India 2-1 inthe T20I series last year. The Black Capsalso won 2-1 in the T20I series duringtheir Sri Lankan tour, and then drew 2-2 at home against England in a five-matchseries.

Despite the recent good record in theshortest format, there is a downbeat moodin the hosts’ dressing room thanks to the3-0 shellacking received in Australia overthe past month.

It hasn’t helped matters that the dis-appointing loss to their trans-Tasman rivalshas raised questions about KaneWilliamson’s future as captain.

For the moment, New Zealand’s lead-ing batsman is happy to lead the side acrossall formats, but his position is up for reviewafter the shattering defeat to Australia.

As always, they have a dearth of all-rounders to choose from but need to bal-ance with pickings in the pace department,

which is missing the services of TrentBoult, Matt Henry and Lockie Fergusonowing to injuries.

It remains to be seen if the Black Capsopt for two spinners in Ish Sodhi andMitchell Santner given the really shortboundaries at Eden Park, venue for the firsttwo T20Is.

TEAMSIndia: Virat Kohli (capt), Rohit Sharma,KL Rahul (wk), Manish Pandey, RishabhPant, Sanju Samson, Shreyas Iyer, ShivamDube, Ravindra Jadeja, Kuldeep Yadav,Yuzvendra Chahal, Mohammed Shami,Jasprit Bumrah, Shardul Thakur, NavdeepSaini, Washington Sundar.New Zealand: Kane Williamson (capt),Martin Guptill, Ross Taylor, ScottKuggeleijn, Colin Munro, Colin deGrandhomme, Tom Bruce, Daryl Mitchell,Mitchell Santner, Tim Seifert (wk), HamishBennett, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee, BlairTickner.

����������� England captainJoe Root on Thursday was lookingforward to the prospect of two of theworld’s fastest bowlers operating ona pace-friendly pitch in the fourthand final Test against South Africa,starting at the Wanderers today.

Root said Jofra Archer hadbowled with “good pace” in practiceon Wednesday after recovering froman elbow injury which kept him outof the second and third Tests — bothof which England won.

He said that if Archer had nolingering signs of injury or soreness,England would have a “really good

selection headache”.Mark Wood startled several of

the South African batsmen in thethird Test in Port Elizabeth, bowl-ing bouncers at around 150kmh.

Archer is also among the world’ssmall club of 150kmh bowlers.

“It would be nice to see howthey go together,” said Root. “I thinkthey would be a relentless barrageof pace which is exciting, especial-ly on a surface such as you typical-ly get here at the Wanderers.”

He also said that it would be “avery big achievement” if Englandcould complete a series win.

Meanwhile, SouthAfrican skipper Faf duPlessis said his sideneeded to dig deep tosalvage a series draw.

“How strong are we mentally inthis last hurdle? We know where wehave been a little bit poor in ourgame plans,” he said.

Du Plessis said Temba Bavumawould replace Zubayr Hamza in theXI, but there would also be achange in the batting order, withRassie van der Dussen moving upto number three, the position filledby Hamza in the first three Tests.

He is also hoping that VernonPhilander, who will retire frominternational cricket after the match,would finish his Test career “withthe storybook ending he deserves”on a pitch where he has done wellin the past. AFP

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Pakistan’s T20 skipperBabar Azam has defend-

ed the decision to recall vet-erans Shoaib Malik andMohammad Hafeez, sayingthe experienced duo’s pres-ence will help the team in itspursuit of retaining thenumber one spot in theshortest format.

Desperate to hold on toits numero uno status inT20 rankings, Pakistan hasrecalled Malik and Hafeezin the team for the three-match series againstBangladesh.

“I felt that we neededthese two (Malik, Hafeez)seniors. They were part ofthe number one team lastyear,” he said.

“I gave my opinion tothe selectors and they heardme. Their presence will helpme and the team. I will learnfrom them on captaincy aswell,” Babar added.

The 25-year-old bats-

man also said Pakistan isunder no pressure in theseries against Bangladesh,especially after the thrash-ing in last T20 series againstSri Lanka at home.

“No there is no pressurefor us because what is doneis done but we will not tryto repeat the same mistakeswe did against the Lankans,”Babar said.

He made it clear thatthey were not takingBangladesh lightly.

“Bangladesh have agood combination ofyoungsters and seniors andit will be a good competitiveseries. Their players havethe advantage of havingcome here fresh out of theBPL (Bangladesh PremierLeague),” he said.

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The Indian women’s cricket captainHarmanpreet Kaur in her pre-

departure press conference for T20World Cup on Thursday saidhandling pressure would be cru-cial in the upcoming ICCWomen’s tournament in Australia,something that her side couldn’tdo in the last two global show-pieces.

India made a semi-final exit fromthe last T20 World Cup and in the pre-vious ODI World Cup, they had fin-ished as runners-up.

“We were quite close in the last twoWorld Cups, the only thing is we haveto keep in mind how to handle pressurein the tournaments, last two WorldCups we lacked in handling pressure,”Harmanpreet said.

“This time we want to enjoy ratherthan taking more pressure on ourselves,thinking that it is a big tournament. Wehave to avoid thinking like that andfocus on giving our best,” she added.

The 30-year-old batswoman, whohas played 104 T20s, said the teamneeds focus on enhancing skills insteadof thinking about the pressure of beingat a big stage.

“Last few World Cups, we put our-selves under too much pressure of play-ing in a big tournament. This time

rather thinking that we are going for abig tournament, we just want to focuson our skills, how we should play andhow to make the team win,” she said.

“That will be very important for usand when we focus on these things, we(will) produce better results,” she added.

She counted spin bowling as one of

the strengths of her team.“...They always give us break-

throughs. So I am looking forward tohow our spinners perform there (inAustralia) and see what they do for theteam,” said the skipper.

India will, in all likelihood, openwith the experienced Smriti Mandhanaand young Shafali Verma and accord-ing to Harmanpreet, the duo will havea crucial role to play.

“They both (Smriti and Shafali) arevery important for the team and theyalways give their best...The first six oversare going to be important for us.

“Good start is important for theteam and whenever they get a goodstart, we never look back. They bothhave very big role to play,” she said.

Asked what will be her message fornew players like Shafali and the 16-year-old Richa Ghosh, Harmanpreet said theywould be encouraged to play their nat-ural game.

“...Don’t take any pressure becauseif we play freely without any pressure,you will give your 100 per cent,” she said.

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Former India leg-spinner LaxmanSivaramakrishnan has applied for a

position in the national selection panelalong with former off-spinner RajeshChauhan and left-handed batsmanAmay Khurasiya.

All the three former India interna-tionals have confirmed that they areoffering their candidature for a placein the selection committee. The lastdate for applying is today, January 24.

The other two confirmed appli-cants are former junior selector PritamGandhe and current junior selectioncommittee member Gyanendra Pandeybut both have completed their four-year tenure in one committee and areunlikely to be considered as per Lodhanorms.

It is understood that among appli-cants, the “senior most Test cap” willbecome the chairman and ifSivaramkrishnan gets the nod, he willbe the senior-most having made hisTest debut in 1983 (vs West Indies inAntigua) as a 17-year-old.

The BCCI will be replacing MSKPrasad (South Zone) and Gagan Khoda(Central Zone) from the current com-mittee.

Former junior chairman of selec-tors Venkatesh Prasad and formerIndia batting coach Sanjay Bangarcould also throw their hat in the ring,which will make it an interestingthree-way battle for the chairman’sposition. It is learnt that both playersare undecided. Also there is no clari-ty whether former India speedsterAjit Agarkar will apply or not.

������� Christchurch’s Hagley Oval willhost the summit clash of next year’sWomen’s Cricket ODI World Cup, it wasannounced on Thursday.

The 50-over tournament which will runfrom February 6 to March 7 will be playedacross six cities.

Auckland will host a bumper openingweekend at Eden Park, before the focusshifts to matches in Wellington, Hamilton,Tauranga, Dunedin and Christchurch.

The tournament, featuring 31 matchesbetween February 6 and March 7, will becapped by a final in Christchurch underlights at the Hagley Oval, one of NewZealand’s main Test venues.

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������� Suranga Lakmal took four for 27 toset up Sri Lanka for a 10-wicket win overZimbabwe in the first Test on Thursday.

Resuming on 30 without loss and need-ing 157 to make Sri Lanka bat again,Zimbabwe recovered from the loss of threeearly wickets to Lakmal to reach lunch at 120for three.

The tall pace bowler struck again imme-diately after, removing Brendan Taylor for 38,and Zimbabwe slumped to 170 all out, los-ing their last seven wickets for 50.

Sri Lanka needed just 14 to win and theopeners Oshada Fernando and Dimuth

Karunaratne knocked off the runs in threeovers. Angelo Mathews was named man ofthe match for his 200 not out in Sri Lanka’sfirst innings of 515 for nine declared. AFP

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Already through tothe quarterfinals after

two resounding wins on thetrot, defending championsIndia will be keen to main-tain their unbeaten runwhen they face NewZealand in the final Group A tie of the ICCU-19 World Cup here today.

India, who are atop their group withfour points, had cruised to a 90-run vic-tory over Sri Lanka in their openingencounter before outclassing debutantsJapan by 10 wickets withe disciplined bowl-ing effort. The Priyam Garg-led side willstart as favourites against New Zealand.

New Zealand, on the other hand, wereunlucky to share a point with Japan aftertheir match was washed out inPotchefstroom last week. However, theymanaged to clinch a late winner againstSri Lanka and book a place in the lasteight.

New Zealand, who had finished eighthon home soil in 2018, will be looking tofollow a similar trajectory as their seniorcounterparts, who reached the finals of themen’s World Cup last year, in this editionof the U-19 showpiece.

Having won the warm up matchesagainst Zimbabwe and Afghanistan andthe quadrangular series, the Indian teamwould not want to lose the rhythm at anycost.

In their previous outing, India leg-spinner Ravi Bishnoi (4/5) took four wick-ets while pacers Kartik Tyagi (3/10) andAkash Singh (2/11) shared five scalpsamong themselves to help the four-timechampions bundle out Japan for 41.

Also on the batting front, Jaiswal (59),Garg (56) and wicketkeeper Dhruv Jurel(52 not out) impressed with half centuriesagainst Sri Lanka while Tilak Varma (46)and Siddhesh Veer (44 not out) also pro-vided useful contributions.

However, the Indian team is yet to betested against a strong opposition.

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The loss still rankles him but ViratKohli on Thursday said he can’t real-

ly bring himself to think of revenge whenIndia take on New Zealand for the firsttime after the Kiwis sent his side pack-ing from the ODI World Cup last year.

The Black Caps defeated pre-tour-nament favourites India by 18 runs in thesemifinals of the showpiece in Englandand today’s tour-opening T20I is the firstclash between the two sides since then.Kohli has spoken repeatedly about howdevastating the loss was for him person-ally.

“Even if you want to think ofrevenge, these guys are so nice you can-not get into that zone,” said Kohli at thepre-match press conference.

“We get along really well with theseguys and it’s all about being competitiveon the field. As I said in England, theyare probably one side that has set theexample for teams to play internation-al cricket,” he reasoned.

Williamson and his men had drawneffusive praise for their grace in the after-math of a heartbreaking World Cup finalloss to England, a game that was decid-ed on boundary count after scores weretied.

“It is not about any kind of revenge— it is two quality sides playing goodcricket. It is a challenge to beat NewZealand here and we are totally up forit,” Kohli said.

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