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The powerful OBC leaderBhupesh Baghel overcame

all odds and outsmarted hiscompetitors within the party onSunday as he was chosen unan-imously as the leader of theCongress LegislatureParty in a jam-packed butemotionally charged-up meet-ing at party State headquartershere.

Congress observerMallikarjun Kharge informedmediapersons that Baghelemerged as consensus candi-date for the next Chief Ministerof the mineral-rich State. The58-year-old five-time legislatorBaghel will take oath as thethird Chief Minister ofChhattisgarh on Monday at4.30 pm at Science Collegeground.

Kharge said names ofMinisters would be declaredlater “after detailed discussionswith all stake-holders”.

State Congress presidentBaghel faced a stiff challengefrom TS Singhdeo, party’s loneLok Sabha member from State,Tamradhwaj Sahu and formerUnion Minister CharandasMahant.

Shortly after Baghel waselected the CongressLegislature Party leader, heannounced to write off bankloan of farmers within 10 days,a prime poll campaign promisethat led to the BJP’s rout inAssembly elections.

Baghel said the CongressGovernment will unravel theconspiracy that led to thekilling of top Congress leadersby Maoists in the JheeramValley in Bastar in May 2013,

including then State Congresschief Nandkumar Patel, theveteran VC Shukla and triballeader Mahendra Karma.Baghel personally suspects‘political hand’ in the killings.

In his first tweet as ChiefMinister-elect, Baghelexpressed his gratitude towardsCongress president RahulGandhi and said Rahul hadgiven him the responsibility ofbuilding “a new Chhattisgarh”.

“I can assure the great peo-ple of Chhattisgarh that the

new Congress Governmentwould live up to their expecta-tions and wishes.”

The Congress said onTwitter, “We wish him the bestas he forms a Government ofequality, transparency andintegrity starting off with farmloan waiver for farmers as wepromised.” Baghel is Post-Graduate from Pt RavishankarShukla University Raipur andhe was Revenue Minister in AjitJogi-led Congress Governmentin Chhattisgarh that was voted

out in 2003. Baghel has always been in

the centre stage of the oustedBJP Government’s attacks andwas recently jailed for a fewdays in Raipur after he wascharge-sheeted by the CBI forhis alleged role in the circula-tion of a sleaze CD against apowerful BJP Minister inChhattisgarh.

He launched his politicalcareer in early 80s from Durgdistrict under the guidance ofthe late Chandulal Chandrakar.

He joined the Youth Congressin 1985 and was elected to theundivided Madhya PradeshAssembly for the first time in1993.

Hailing from a farmer’sfamily, Baghel is credited withleading the party from thefront in the fight against theBJP and scripting the crushingdefeat of the 15-year-oldregime of Raman Singh.

The Congress won 68 of 90seats. The BJP bagged just 15seats.

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Highlighting the SupremeCourt clean chit to the

Government in the Rafale deal,Prime Minister on Sundayunleashed a vicious attack onthe Congress from the hometurf of its supreme leader, SoniaGandhi, and hurled corruptioncharges against the grand oldparty in defence purchasesmaking stinging jibes like theabsence of “Quattrocchi uncle”or Christian Michel in the BJPGovernment’s defence pro-curement.

The Prime Minister alsoaccused the Congress of tryingto malign and influence judi-ciary.

The Prime Minister wasmaking his first public speechafter the Supreme Court gavea clean chit to the BJPGovernment in Rafale dealand BJP lost the three Hindiheartland States of Rajasthan,Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh to the Congress.

Claiming that country willnever forgive Congress forattempting to weaken theArmy, Modi said the mainOpposition party is disturbedover NDA Government’s per-formance because thisGovernment has carried outdefence deals without involvingpeople like Quattrocchi orMichel.

“Congress’ history indefence deals is involvement ofpeople like Mama Quattrocchior Christian Michel who wasrecently brought to the coun-try,” Modi said while address-ing a public meeting in RaeBareli, the Parliamentary con-stituency of UPA chairpersonSonia.

Earlier, Modi flagged offthe new rake of rail coaches anddedicating projects worth

around �1100 crore for the dis-trict here on Sunday.

He also asked why is it thatwhenever Congress madeattack on the Indian army,people from the across theborder in Pakistan clap andwhy they appreciate the coun-try’s oldest party.

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In what is being described asthe battle cry for the 2019

Lok Sabha elections, a call hasbeen made by the combinedOpposition parties in the coun-try that Rahul Gandhi shouldbe the Prime Ministerial can-didate to take on NarendraModi. DMK president MKStalin who was the host of amammoth public rally atChennai on Sunday evening,asked the people in the coun-try, including all the majorpolitical parties to elect Rahulas the Prime Minister in theupcoming Lok Sabha elections.

“Only Rahul has the abili-ty and capability to defeat thefascist-Nazist-communalNarendra Modi Government,”declared Stalin in the publicmeeting which was attended bya galaxy of Opposition leadersthat included UPA chairpersonSonia Gandhi, Rahul, ChiefMinisters N ChandrababuNaidu (Andhra Pradesh),Pinarayi Vijayan (Kerala), VNarayanasamy (Puducherry)and a host of other leaders.

Earlier in the day, Soniaunveiled the life-size statue oflate DMK chief M Karunanidhi

at Anna Arivalayam, the partyheadquarters in Chennai’sMount Road. Sonia and Rahulflew down to Chennai to attendthe function. It may be notedthat in 2004, it wasKarunanidhi, then DMK pres-ident, who wanted theOpposition parties to endorsethe name of Sonia as PrimeMinister of the country.

“We will build a new India.Welcome Rahul, give thenation good governance. As the

son of Dr Kalaignar, I proposethe candidature of Rahul fromTamil Nadu, “ said Stalin.

This is the first time Stalinor for that matter anybodyfrom the Opposition benchesproposed the name of Rahul forthe post of PM though theCongress leaders had made itknown many times in therecent past that the youngpresident of the party wouldlead the nation and take Indiato new heights.

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To promote tourism in watertransport during Kumbh

Mela beginning from January15, 2019, the Narendra ModiGovernment plans to promotethe use of inland waterways forferrying pilgrims and tourists.

The Inland WaterwaysAuthority of India (IWAI) hasset up four floating terminals,one each at Kila Ghat, SaraswatiGhat, Naini Bridge andSujawan Ghat. In addition,two vessels — CL Kasturba andSL Kamla — and small boatswill be deployed for pilgrimmovement. The ships will ferrypassengers between these ter-minals and also betweenVaranasi and Allahabad, a dis-tance of 60 km. Over 70 Headsof Missions based in Delhihave reached Prayagraj to wit-ness the preparations for the

Kumbh Mela to be held nextmonth.

It is estimated that over 15crore people will visit nextyear Kumbh Mela. The KumbhMela is believed to be thelargest religious gathering inthe world and is held every 12years on the banks of the‘Sangam’ — the confluence ofthe holy rivers Ganga, Yamunaand the mythical Saraswati —in Prayagraj (Allahabad).

Officials said the route forthe water transport service willstretch from Sujawan Ghat toRail Bridge (Naini Side) andthen to Boat Club Ghat toSaraswati Ghat ending at KilaGhat. Multiple terminals will beconstructed on this stretch of 20kms and boats and vessels willbe provided by the MelaAuthority. Fairway with navi-gational aids will be maintainedbetween Prayagraj and Varanasi

with targeted least availabledepth (LAD) of 1.0 m. Five tem-porary jetties at Chatnag, Sirsa,Sitamarhi, Vindhyachal andChunar have also been set upfor embarkment and dis-embarkment of passengers.

Sources also said that aRussian company is expected tostart an airboat service. The air-boat will have an engine of avehicle and carry 16 people ata time. It can cruise up to 80kilometers per hour andrequires a depth of only 1meter.

The Kumbh Mela is a reli-gious Hindu pilgrimage that iscelebrated four times over acourse of 12 years. The geo-graphical location spans fourlocations (each hosts a Melaevery 12 years): Haridwar onthe Ganges in Uttarakhand,Ujjain on the Shipra in MadhyaPradesh and Nashik on

Godavari in Maharashtra(apart from Allahabad).

The UP Government hasdrawn up an estimate of morethan Rs 4,200 crore for thepreparations around next year’sKumbh Mela and has asked theCentral Government to bearmore than half the cost. Thiswill make the mega pilgrimagein 2019 the costliest ever. Thelast full Kumbh Mela in 2013cost less than a third of theamount estimated for nextyear. The Mela, which usuallyextends up to 55 days, drawsmillions of pilgrims fromacross the world, who take theholy dip at the sacred conflu-ence of the Ganga, Yamuna andSarasvati rivers.

The Government alsoplans to run vessels, mini cruis-es and commercial ships in theRiver Yamuna from Prayagrajto New Delhi in near future.

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Finance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Sunday rubbished the

Opposition demand for a par-liamentary panel probe intothe Rafale deal and said theSupreme Court had the lastword on the issue and therecould not be a contrary verdictby a political body. The FM saidthe Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG)’s view on thedeal is not relevant after the SC’sclean chit to the Government.

Citing washout of four day’sproceedings in Parliament,Jaitley said the Congress willprefer disruptions in Parliamentover discussion on Rafale dur-ing the remainder of the session.

Detailed report on P5

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Continuing to target theCentre over Rafale, the

Congress on Sunday urged theSupreme Court to recall itsrelated judgment and issuenotices to the CentralGovernment for contempt ofcourt and perjury, alleging theCentre had provided falseinformation to the apex court.

Addressing a Press con-ference, senior Congressleader Anand Sharma saidthe Government is guilty ofcommitting breach of privilegeof both Houses of Parliamentby misinforming the SupremeCourt that the CAG report onRafale aircraft pricing hadbeen presented to the PublicAccounts Committee ofParliament.

“We demand that the SCimmediately recall that judg-ment which is void. Thisentire episode has dented thedignity of the highest courtwhich cannot be allowed,” hetold reporters.

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Unhappy with the opaqueadmission process of the

Nursery classes, the AamAadmi Party (AAP) dispensa-tion has directed 105 schools inthe national Capital to put onhold their nursery admissionprocess. Directiveswere issued by theDelhi Governmentas the concernedschools failed tomake their criteriapublic within theprescribed dead-line.

The applicationprocess for admis-sions to entry-level classes inover 1,600 private schoolsbegan on Saturday.

The Directorate ofEducation (DoE) has alsoadvised the parents to notapproach these schools till thedepartment issues further orderto avoid any inconvenience tothem in case any penal actionis initiated against defaulterschools.

“In order to maintaintransparency and uniformity in

admission, the admissionprocess of these 105 schools atentry level for session 2019-20shall be on hold till furtherorders,” a senior DoE officialsaid.

“If it is found that the saidschools are taking admissiondespite being prevented to do

so, necessaryaction as pernorms will betaken withoutany furthernotice,” the offi-cial added.

The dis-tance of stu-dent’s residencefrom school, sib-

ling quota, parents being alum-ni of the school, single child,first child are some of the cri-teria listed by schools foradmissions to the entry-levelclasses.

According to the schedulereleased by the DoE, the appli-cation window will be openfrom Saturday and the lastdate of submitting applicationforms for nursery class admis-sion for 2019-20 session isJanuary 7.

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Home Minister Rajnath Singh onSunday said the internal security

scenario in the country has vastlyimproved ever since the NDA Governmentcame to power in 2014. Addressing a ‘VijayDiwas’ function here, Singh said the left-wing extremism-affected districts haveshrunk from 90 to just about 12, whilethere has been an 80 per cent decline ininsurgency in the North-east. “The inter-nal security scenario has vastly improvedduring the last four years,” he said.

The Home Minister said the BorderSecurity Force (BSF), which guards theIndia-Pakistan border, has been givencomplete freedom to retaliate effectively toceasefire violations by Pakistan. Singh saidthe ex-servicemen can play a key role ininculcating a sense of national prideamong the youths. Recalling the heroics ofBrigadier Mohammad Usman, Maha VirChakra awardee and Major SomnathSharma, India’s first Param Vir Chakra,Singh said some youths today have theiridols in cricketers and film stars, but ifsomeone asks them to name Param VirChakra recipients, they may not be able toname even one.

The Home Minister said martyrs likeChandrashekhar Azad and Bhagat Singhwere all driven by passionate patriotism.

“The society has to stand up with theveterans today and an action plan needs tobe framed to preserve individual honourand nation’s integrity among the citizens,”he said. Singh said our armed forces

proved in 1971 that they have the capabil-ity to rewrite history and redraw maps. TheIndian Army has since emerged as a pro-fessional model before the world, he said.

On the occasion, the Home Ministerhonoured families of martyrs and releasedthe first quarterly newsletter of Veterans

India Association, an NGO. Singh alsodeclared that he would contribute his onemonth’s salary to the organisation’s corpusfor martyrs’ welfare. ‘Vijay Diwas’ is cele-brated to mark India’s historic victory overPakistan in 1971 war which led to the cre-ation of Bangladesh.

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Asserting that the NationalDemocratic Alliance

(NDA) was unbeatable, BJPchief Amit Shah said Sundayno ‘gathbandhan’ or ‘maha-gathbandhan’ (alliance) cancome in the way of the BJP andits agenda of inclusive growth.

Addressing the concludingsession of the two-day work-shop of the Bharatiya JanataYuva Morcha here, he said ifeveryone works together, noalliance can stop the BJP fromfulfilling its agenda of ‘SabkaSaath, Sabka Vikas’ (collectiveeffort, inclusive growth).

Shah urged young partyworkers to spread the messageof development to all Indians.He said BJP-led NDA wouldscore a repeat victory in 2019Lok Sabha poll.

The workshop was attended by national office-bearers of BJYM, state presi-dents and district presidentsfrom all States.

The focus at the work-shop was to design a strategyfor BJYM workers, right up tothe mandal level, to reach out

to voters in the run up to the2019 Lok Sabha election.

Various sessions were heldon organisational management,dissemination of key schemesand achievements of theGovernment, and media andsocial media, according to aparty release.

The seven ‘Morchas’ of theBJP are holding country-wideconventions across the countryto step up party’s campaign onLok Sabha-2019. Some of theseconventions will also beaddressed by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and Shah.

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Rejecting demand for a par-liamentary panel probe into

the fighter jet Rafale deal,Finance Minister Arun JaitleySunday described the Congressas “bad losers”, saying that theSupreme Court had the lastword on the issue and therecould not be a contrary verdictby a political body.

The Finance Minster saidthe Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG)’s view on thedeal is not relevant after theSupreme Court’s clean chit tothe Government.

Citing a wash-out of fourday’s proceedings in Parliament,Jaitley said the OppositionCongress will prefer disrup-tions in Parliament over dis-cussion on Rafale during theremainder of the Session.

The Congress, which wasnot a petitioner before the apexcourt, has sought the multi-croreRafale deal to be referred to aJoint Parliamentary Committee(JPC) to go into the price arrivedat by the BJP Government ver-sus the one negotiated by theprevious UPA regime, as alsohow billionaire Anil Ambani’sgroup with virtually no experi-ence in manufacture of fighterjets was selected as an offsetpartner for the deal.

The Congress has allegedthat the French Governmentwas pressurised by the ModiGovernment to includeAmbani group as the offsetpartner as the deal makes itobligatory on the part of theselling country to offer 50 percent of total business to domes-tic Indian players.

“After the Supreme Courthas spoken the last word, it getslegitimacy. A political bodycan never come to a finding

contrary to what the court hassaid,” Jaitley wrote in aFacebook blog, titled ‘Rafale -Lies, Shortlived lies and nowfurther lies?’.

On the Congress claiming‘ambiguity’ in the SupremeCourt judgment said the dealhas been examined by theCAG and is now beforeParliament’s Public AccountsCommittee (PAC), Jaitley saidDefence transactions go to theCAG for an audit review, whichthen are referred to the PAC.

“This was factually andaccurately stated by theGovernment before the court.The audit review of Rafale ispending before the CAG. Allfacts are shared with it. Whenits report is out, it will go to thePAC. Notwithstanding this fac-tually correct statement made,

if an ambiguity has emerged inthe Court Order, the correctcourse is for anyone to apply/mention before the court andhave it corrected,” he said.

The correct picture hasbeen presented to court and itmust now be left to the wisdomof the court to state at whichstage the CAG review is pend-ing. “The CAG review is notrelevant to the final findings onprocedure, pricing and offsetsuppliers. But bad losers neveraccept the truth. Having failedin multiple lies they have nowstarted an innuendo about theJudgement,” he said.

Jaitley said the Congress,having failed in their initialfalsehood, is now “manufac-turing further lies about thejudgement.”

“On facts it lied. The judge-

ment of the Supreme Courtconclusively establishes theCongress party’s vulnerabilitiesin a discussion on Defencetransactions.

“It will be a great opportu-nity to remind the nation of thelegacy of the Congress Partyand its Defence acquisitions -a great opportunity indeed forsome of us to speak,” he wrote.

The Finance Minister, whohad alongside the DefenceMinister led a spirited counter-attack against the Congress onFriday post the Supreme Courtruling, said the opponents ofthe Rafale deal had a choice offorum to present their side, andthey chose the Supreme Court.

“The court conducts a judi-cial review, it is a non-partisan,independent and a fairConstitutional authority. Thecourt’s verdict is final. It can’tbe reviewed by anyone exceptby the court itself,” he said. ?

Ruling out setting up a JPCto go into the deal, Jaitley said,“How can a ParliamentaryCommittee go into the cor-rectness or otherwise to whatthe court said. Is a Committeeof Politicians both legally andin terms of human resourcescapable of reviewing issuesalready decided by the SupremeCourt?”

“On areas such as proce-dure, offset suppliers and pric-ing, can a ParliamentaryCommittee take a differentview of what the court hassaid?,” he said, asking if a con-tract be breached, nation’s secu-rity be compromised and thepricing data be made availableto Parliament or its panel.

He asked what was theexperience of JPC when it tookup the Bofors deal — the onlyoccasion when it investigated aDefence transaction.

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The Public AccountsCommittee (PAC) may not

summon Attorney General andthe CAG over the public audi-tor’s report on Rafale deal, asseveral of the members, includ-ing those from Oppositionparties, are apparently not infavour of the proposal by panelchairman Mallikarjun Kharge.

On Saturday, Kharge hadsaid he will request all mem-bers of the panel to summonthe Attorney General and theCAG to ask them as to whenthe public auditor’s report wastabled in Parliament.

Responding to his remarks,senior BJD MP BhartuhariMahtab said PAC chairman cancall the AG and the CAG in hispersonal capacity but notbefore the entire panel as theRafale deal was not part of itsagenda for 2018-19. The CAGreport on the deal has not beenplaced before the panel, he said.

The controversy was trig-gered after the SC judgment onthe Rafale issue mentioned

that CAG report was present-ed before the PAC, somethingdenied by Kaharge himself. Mahtab, who is longestserving member of the panel,said the remarks of the two offi-cials cannot be recorded ifthey are called in a personalcapacity.

Speaking on the lines sim-ilar to that of Mahtab, TDP MPCM Ramesh said if the mem-bers wish so, the panel may callAG and the CAG but only afterthe report was tabled inParliament. In the 22-member

panel, the BJP has a majoritywith 12 MPs and there is onemember each of its allies, ShivSena and SAD. The Congresshas three members in thepanel, including Kharge. Thereare two TMC MPs and onemember each of the TDP, theBJD and the AIADMK.

The BJP-led NDA MPs inthe panel are strongly opposedto the idea, with the rulingparty members saying it waslike “questioning” the SC.

“The apex court has cate-gorically given a clean chit to

the Government on the Rafaledeal, and it is unfortunate thatCongress and a seasoned politi-cian like Kharge are politicis-ing this sensitive issue ofnational security,” BJP MPAnurag Thakur said.

Another BJP MP GopalShetty sought to know how thechairman can call the two topGovernment officials on thetopic which was not in thecommittee’s agenda and whenthe CAG report had not beenplaced before the panel.

BJP’s ally partner SAD MPPrem Singh Chandumajra saidit would be unfair for the panelto start questioning theSupreme Court’s order.

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Even as the heart-wrenchingdeath of a male tusker while

he was crossing over the rail-way fence to save his life fromvillagers in Karnataka’sNagarhole National Park onSaturday has shocked thewildlife lovers, various datashows that this incident justadds up to the long list of ele-phant deaths reported fromacross the country.

According to the statis-tics, electrocution, train acci-dents, poaching, habitat lossand poisoning are taking toll onthe jumbos whose number hasdeclined from around 30,000 in2012 to 27,312 in 2017. In otherwords, the country has lost2,330 jumbos in six years.

“The way we are losing,killing elephants is heart-rend-ing. So deep rooted in our cul-ture, held sacred. Intelligent,empathetic, social …yet, this isthe sorry fate of our NationalHeritage Animal,” tweetedauthor and conservationistPrerna Bindra, calling theNagarhole National Park inci-dent ‘heart-broken.’

This is what happens when

we block elephant passages, shesaid asserting that elephants arewide ranging animals, whoneed to move given they arecopious consumers, and seeddispensers shaping forests andeco-systems as they travel. Shehas filed a PIL in the SupremeCourt seeking removal ofspikes and other artificialobjects as fences to allow freemovement of the elephants.

Elephants move long dis-tances and such artificial bar-riers at times can have anadverse effect, she said.

Biologist with WildlifeConservation Society IndiaVidya Athreya? tweeted, “Therailway sleeper fences, has notdecreased conflict and hasworsened the life of elephants.

…Lord Ganesha forgive us forthe way we Indians treat ourelephants...” In fact, last week inKarnataka a tusker was killedafter it was hit by a train atKakanamane near Bage inSakleshpur taluk. The incidentcame a few months after whentwo elephant calves died nearYedakumari on June 3, 2018.

The elephants in the neigh-bouring State Odisha too areunsafe. In the latest incident, inKamalanga village in Odisha’sDhenkanal district, seven ele-phants died of electrocution onOctober 26, 2018. As per theState Forest Department, 109elephants died of electrocutionover nine years to 2018; that is12 elephants a year or an ele-phant monthly.

Within nine months —between April and mid-December this year — 65 ele-phants have already lost theirlives, with 62 of them suc-cumbing to man-made causes.

In the first 10 months of thisyear, 38 elephants have died inAssam. According to aDecember 2017 study byAaranyak, a wildlife NGO basedin Guwahati, betweenSeptember and December 2017,at least forty elephants suc-cumbed to unnatural causes--electrocution, poisoning, colli-sion with speeding trains, andaccidents when the animalswalked into ditches in tea estatesand constructions sites andother man-made structures.

As per the SynchronizedElephant PopulationEstimation India, a report bythe Elephant Division of theUnion Environment Ministry,“as a consequence of beingsqueezed out of their homesand migratory routes, India,home to the world’s largestpopulation of Asiatic elephants(27,312), also ranked first glob-ally over five years to 2017 byelephant deaths.”

During the release of the

report here last year, Elephantexpert and head of AsianNature ConservationFoundation (ANCF) RSukumar had warned that asthe elephants are expanding tonew areas, it could lead to morehuman-animal conflicts.

“This expansion has beenhappening gradually over 30years. It is worrying because itwill be difficult to manage. Thereal challenge is that elephantsare moving to other forest areas,which could increase the poten-tial for conflicts with humans,”he had said suggesting that themaintaining elephant corridorsis need of the hour to save bothelephants and humans.

Authored by experts andpublished by the Wildlife Trustof India (WTI) in collaborationwith Project Elephant and theUK-based NGO ElephantFamily, ‘Right of Passage’, an800-page study identifies andrecords details pertaining to 101elephant corridors across India.

Of these 101 corridors, 28are located in south India, 25 incentral India, 23 in northeast-ern India, 14 in northern WestBengal and 11 in northwesternIndia, it has pointed out.

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Terror group Ansar Ghazwat-ul-Hind, the affiliate of the

al-Qaeda in the IndianSubcontinent, has issued adetailed list of “Dos and Don’ts”for it cadres to evade the glareof the security agencies amid theramped up hits by the securityforces in Jammu & Kashmir.

The advisory by the terrorgroup could be a precursor toattacks by the ultras in Jammu& Kashmir as the outfit is oper-ationally active in the Valley.

The group, led by ZakirMusa who is an engineeringdrop out is a tech-savvy ter-rorist, develops its own apps forcommunication within the out-fit and keeps changing suchapplications, a possible reasonwhy he has been successful inevading the law enforcementagencies in India.

The guidelines includemaintenance of secrecy andsharing of information on theneed to know basis.

“We will rub their (Indian)best Army and tactics intodust...The only thing needed isthat we should ensure that wehave our connection with Allahvery strong and change our warstrategies and make them bet-ter,” says the latest internal com-munication from the outfit.

On secrecy and sharing ofinformation on the need toknow basis, the guidelines stip-ulate, “One of the fundamen-tal pillars of armed fighting issecrecy and its (secrecy) is theprinciple of ‘giving informationon need to know basis’.”

The document also men-tions the Prophet who used tosend raiding parties of theSahaba (Holy army) and writethe target in a letter and orderthe Sahaba to only open the let-ter it reached a specific place.

Mobile phones should beused very less and with pre-caution. Use of VPN and Tor as

also other encrypted and secureapps is also advised.

Internet should also beused when necessary and themedium should be avoided tomake any sensitive communi-cation. The guidelines alsoexhort the cadres to make theirhideouts without the help ofany civilian or private workerand personally take all thenecessary things like utensilsand eatables without outsidehelp. The location of the hide-outs should only be knownthose Mujahideens in the fieldwho are associated with it.

The guidelines also advisethe Mujahideens to stay awayfrom residential areas andwhenever there is a require-ment 2-3 persons should go toany place together.

The outfit has furtheradvised that the movement ofMujahideens should be limited.The mujahideens have also beenadvised to spend maximumtime in hideouts so that the‘enemy” (security forces) doesnot have any clue about them.

“Whenever you make anymovement, analyse everythingaround you and even above youas the Indian Army is nowusing silent drones during thenight whose light is only visi-ble. Such gadgets serve as thebest spies for the security forces

and there is a need to protectthe Mujahideens from suchequipment,” reads the terrorgroup’s advisory.

The Mujahideens have alsobeen advised to frequentlychange the timings of themovement and prefer uncon-ventional time.

After maghrib (evening)prayers, the spies also comeinto action more and to deceivethem the change in timings isa must, it says.

“Do not give away thelocation of your hideouts andother points to anyone in anycircumstances. Division of thearmed work and others in thecells is required so that secre-cy is maintained and in case aMujahideen is arrested or isexposed, other fellow jehadisremain safe.

Even the ansars (fighters)should also follow the guidelinesand should not share any infor-mation about the work of theoutfit to any friend or relativeand should avoid any activitywhich can arouse suspicion inthe minds of the security forces.Whenever the Mujahideenshave to meet, they should opt tomeet at a different point thanthe hideout and should bemutually decided. Such loca-tions should be away from res-idential areas, it added.

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On a day Rahul Gandhicompleted a year as

Congress president, he reiter-ated his commitment to build-ing a strong, united and avibrant party.

Gandhi, after being elect-ed unopposed as the Congresschief, took over his newassignment on December 16last year from her mother, Sonia Gandhi, at the party

headquarters on Akbar Road here.

“On the 1st anniversary oftaking over as Congress presi-dent, I reiterate my commit-ment to building a strong, united and vibrantCongress party.

“I am overwhelmed by thegreetings and messages I’vereceived today and thank eachand every one of you for youraffection and support,” he post-ed on Twitter on Sunday.

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Chhattisgarh PradeshCongress Committee pres-

ident Bhupesh Baghel afterbeing elected as CongressLegislative Party reached RajBhavan on Saturday eveningand staked claim to form thenext Government.

He was accompanied bysenior Congress leaders includ-ing TS Singhdeo. Secretary toGovernor Surendra KumarJaiswal accepted the letter.

Governor Anandiben Patelhas invited Baghel him to formthe new government andextended invitation to takeoath of office and secrecy asChief Minister on December17 at 4.30 pm at ScienceCollege Ground, Raipur.

During afternoon hours, inthe Congress Legislature Partymeeting held at Rajiv Bhawan,state Congress headquarters, inRaipur capital city, Baghel waselected as CLP leader unani-mously.

After the formal electionprocess, Baghel accompaniedby senior Congress leaders T S

Singhdeo, RavindraChoubey, Shiv Dahariya,Kawasi Lakhma, AmiteshShukla, MohammedAkbar and others reachedRaj Bhavan to stake claimto form the government.

While handing overthe letter addressed toGovernor, Baghel toldreporters while recallinghis frequent visit to theGovernor house in recenttimes, “circumstances havechanged. We have arrivedtoday with claim to formthe government. Earlier, Iwas used to visit here forhanding over lettersregarding several demandsfor the people.”

Meanwhile, stateadministration has fast-tracked process for mak-ing all arrangements foroath-taking ceremony inwhich several key oppo-sition leaders at nationallevel are expected tograce the occasion.Congress president RahulGandhi will also attendthe function.

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Chhattisgarh State GuestHouse at Shankar Nagar in

Raipur, ‘Pahuna’ has been mademakeshift Chief Minister’s res-idence for Chief Minister electBhupesh Baghel while the secu-rity has been beefed up in andaround it on Sunday.

As per reports, at presentChief Minister’s residencebased at Civil Lines has notbeen vacated by the formerChief Minister Raman Singh,Chief Minister designateBhupesh Baghel will be staying

at ‘Pahuna’.Authorities say that it

would take a week or more tokeep the Civil Lines-locatedCM House ready for Baghel asthe sprawling house needssome minor renovation.

CM designate BhupeshBaghel after staking claim toform the CongressGovernment at Raj Bhawan,reached ‘Pahuna’ at ShankarNagar on Sunday. ChiefMinister Security officials hadtaken over the ‘Pahuna’ andprovided the necessary secu-rity as per protocol.

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Chief Ministerd e s i g n ate

Bhupesh Baghelalong withsenior Congressleaders inspectedthe preparationof the oath-tak-ing ceremonyvenue atG ov e r n m e ntScience Collegeground premiseson Sundayevening.

Baghel willbe administeredoath of officeand secrecy on December 17 at4.30 pm.

Chhattisgarh Chief

Secretary Ajay Singh, DirectorGeneral of Police A NUpadhayay and other senior

officials briefed Baghel aboutthe preparations undertaken atthe venue.

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Chhattisgarh’s BharatiyaJanata Party president

Dharamlal Kaushik on Sundayextended good luck and greet-ings to Chhattisgarh PradeshCongress Committee presi-dent Bhupesh Baghel for beingelected as Congress LegislativeParty leader.

Baghel will take oath asChief Minister on Monday ina function scheduled at ScienceCollege ground.

Kaushik said, “My hopeand wish is that Baghel shouldwork in the interests of state.”

Kaushik assured that in allthe subjects related to welfareof state, BJP will extend all sup-port and cooperation to thenew government. He statedthat the BJP will play the roleof constructive opposition tomake Chhattisgarh, a powerfulstate.

The BJP has bagged just 15 seats in a 90-member state legislative assembly while the

Congress got 68 seats. The powerful OBC leaderBaghel is credited the main architect of the BJP’swhitewash.

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Jugal Kishore Gilda, AdvocateGeneral of Chhattisgarh, has

quit the office by sending res-ignation letter to Governor ofChhattisgarh on Sunday.

With Congress party get-ting landslide victory in staterecently, chairman of Boardsand Corporations have beentendering their resignationsbefore the new chief ministerBhupesh Baghel takes oath onMonday at Science Collegeground in Raipur.

In this series, J K Gilda,Advocate General ofChhattisgarh citing personal

reason had quit the office bysending his resignation toGovernor.

Gilda had earlier served asDeputy Advocate General andAdditional Advocate Generalfor the state. Gilda hails fromNagpur.

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After the formal announce-ment that Bhupesh Baghel

would be the next ChiefMinister of state, jubilationsstarted all over from Congressstate headquarters RajivBhawan in Raipur toPadum Nagar basedresidence of Baghel in steel

city Bhilai.Thousands of his sup-

porters who were anxiouslywaiting for the announce-ment of his election as aCongress Legislative Partyleader began celebrations inRaipur as well as at his resi-dence in Bhilai. Firecrackerswere burst and jubilant sup-porters danced to the tune ofdrumbeat soon after the con-firmation on Sunday after-noon.

The supporters of Baghelcamped at his official resi-dence C-2 in Shanti Nagar and

at Padum Nagar in Bhilai-3.As the formal declaration wasmade they started exchangingsweets and hugging each otherto celebrate the moment.

Later state guest house‘Pahuna’ in state capital wasmade makeshift residence ofBaghel where legislators aswell as supporters of Baghel allover the state gathered togreet him.

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The aam aadmi in Punjabwill have a new face. For,

the Aam Aadmi Party’s (AAP)rebel faction, demanding com-plete autonomy for the stateunit, on Sunday joined handswith like minded parties toannounce the formation of anew party based on the prin-ciples of democracy.

AAP’s rebel leaders, com-prising suspended MP DrDharamvira Gandhi, sus-pended MLA Sukhpal Khaira,along with Lok Insaaf Party(LIP) MLAs Simarjeet Bainsand Balwinder Bains, andBahujan Samaj Party (BSP)state president Rashpal Raju,joined hands to form a newpolitical front in the state —Punjab Democratic Alliance(PDA).

Launching with the com-mencement of nine-day InsaafMarch that began at TakhtDamdama Sahib at TalwandiSabo and covered 180 kms and54 villages, the PDA waslaunched formally at a rally inMehmadpur near Patiala.

PDA also announced tocontest the ensuing Lok Sabhaelections, while welcoming“more like minded parties andindividuals who maintainequidistance from theCongress, BJP and SAD, sothat Punjab can be saved theagony of corruption, feudalismand draconian family rule”.

“The new political forma-tion of like-minded leadersaims to clean the corrupt poli-ty of Punjab,” said Khaira,MLA from Bholath. ,Khaira,who was unceremoniouslyremoved as the Leader ofOpposition in Vidhan Sabhaby the AAP central leadershipin August and later suspendedfrom the party previousmonth, said that the alliancewould aim to liberate Punjabfrom the clutches of corrupt

traditional parties and the cor-rupt feudal families.

“The actions of these cor-rupt parties and leaders hadruined a glorious state likePunjab for their lust to amassill-gotten wealth by lootingthe people. Punjab is facing acolossal debt of Rs 2.5 lakhcrore, farmers and labourersare committing suicide, lakhsof unemployed youth havetaken to drugs or are migrat-ing to foreign shores becauseof hopelessness, frustrationand dejection,” he said.

Khaira also vowed to con-tinue seeking justice for sacri-lege of Guru Granth Sahib andthe victims of Behbal Kalanpolice firing. “The Congressgovernment has hoodwinkedthe Insaaf Morcha by makingfalse promises on the issue,which will never be imple-mented,” he said.

He announced that if thegovernment failed to renderjustice on sacrilege and Behbalkillings within a month, thePDA would announce anaction plan on the occasion ofMaghi in January.

Dr Gandhi, Patiala MP,condemned the BJP-ledCentral Government forencroaching upon the rights ofthe states, including Punjabthrough gross centralisation.

Suspended from AAP in2015, Dr Gandhi said that thelarger aim of the PDA wouldbe to strive for a federal Indiaand a democratic Punjab.

“It is unfair for the CentralGovernment to unilaterallyimplement schemes for edu-cation, healthcare, rural devel-opment, MNREGA, withouttaking into consideration theaspirations of the people of thestate,” he said.

Other leaders criticisedthe BJP-led CentralGovernment and theCongress-led PunjabGovernment for failing to ful-

fill promises made before theelections.

Simrajeet Bains, presidentof the LIP which was an AAP’salliance partner for 2017 statepolls, targeted the CongressGovernment for its failure toredress the grievances of smalland medium scale industryand its workers.

“The so-called relief of Rsfive per unit electricity chargeshas only benefitted a few hun-dred large industrial houses,while more than 30,000 small-er industries are payingthrough their nose for heavyelectricity tariffs,” he said.

Bains said that the state’semployees are up in armsagainst the draconian policiesof Congress Governmentwhich is playing a cruel joke onits own employees by snatch-ing their dues.

“Teachers are being forcedto work at labour rates of Rs15,000 per month at a timewhen inflation is at its highestpeak. The government hasfailed to implement the reportof sixth pay commission, notpaying DA to its employeesetc,” he said while advocatingto restart the old regular pen-sion scheme that was scrappedby Capt Amarinder Singh in2004.

BSP state presidentRashpal Raju said that theweaker sections and Dalits arebeing exploited through pettywelfare schemes of Atta-Dal,meagre pensions etc, whilethey are being denied theirright of quality education,healthcare, affordable hous-ing and employment.

AAP’s suspended MLAKanwar Sandhu charged theCapt Amarinder Singh ledgovernment for perpetratingthe Akali-sponsored mafia raj.“Congress mafia now contin-ues to rule the roost be it ille-gal mining, liquor trade, trans-port, cable network etc.

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Shiromani Akali Dal’s (SAD)expelled “taksali” (tradi-

tional Akali) leaders on Sundayannounced the name of theirnew party — Shiromani AkaliDal (Taksali) — while unani-mously nominating KhadoorSahib’s sitting MP Ranjit SinghBrahmpura as its president.

The sad turn of events forthe Akali Dal came just a cou-ple of days after the partyobserved its 98th foundationday on December 14, and a fewmonths ahead the crucial 2019Lok Sabha elections.

The name of the new partywas announced by the expelledleaders — Brahmpura, formerMinister Sewa Singh Sekhwanand former MP Rattan SinghAjnala, among others — afterpaying obeisance at AkalTakht, the Sikhs’ highest tem-poral seat.

Talking about the newparty’s political agenda, theytold that the new outfit wouldtake up issues pertaining toPunjab's right over capitalChandigarh, and river waterissues and other rights ofinhabitants of Punjab.

The new outfit will fightagainst the drug menace affect-ing the State, said Brahmpura.

Sekhwan declared that thenew party — SAD (taksali) —would be the “real” Akali Dal“based on the original consti-tution of 1920” with therequired modifications.

“To point out the illegal,wrong, incorrect decisionstaken by the Badals as the con-scious of Guru Sikhs could notbear these wrong deeds doneby them, the new ShiromaniAkali Dal (Taksali) is formed.This party is dedicated to theholy Gurudwaras, Sri GuruGranth Sahib and Sikhs,” saidBrahmpura.

Mincing no words,Bahmpura said that this AkaliDal (Taksali) is aggrieved bythe decisions taken by theBadals, “like pardon to‘pakhandi sadh of Dera Sirsa’for their personal and indi-vidual financial-political gains”.

“Both the Badals and theirassociates are responsible forKotkapura, Behbal Kalan andBargari incidents. The familiesof victims are looking for jus-tice and relief but so far noresult,” he said, while address-ing the press conference in theopen space in front of GoldenTemple complex, sitting onthe ground, as they weredenied permission by theSGPC.

The Taksali Akali leadersdeclared that the Badals wouldnot be allowed to captureGurudwars and other religiousplaces as if these were theirpersonal property.

Equating the Badals andMajithia with Aurangzeb,Brahmpura said that thenewly-formed SAD (Taksali)will have full concern with theGurudwaras and religiousactivities. “In this newly-formed Akali Dal (Taksali), allsects would be given adequaterepresentation and the DeputyChief Minister will be select-ed from the SC/BC communi-ty if they come to power.

“Our Sikh brother residing

in foreign countries will also begiven sufficient membershipand leadership in the newly-formed SAD (Taksali) so thatthe glory of Sikh religion canbe spread all over the world,”he said.

On December 2, theexpelled SAD leaders haddeclared that they would floata new political outfit based onthe Akali Dal's old constitu-tion, which was framed in1920.

They had accused SAD,led by Sukhbir Badal, of dis-torting the party’s constitution.The expelled SAD leaders hadtrained their guns at Sukhbir,accusing him of causingirreparable damage to the SADand its cause.

Acting tough, SAD’s corecommittee had expelledBrahmpura and Ajnala fromthe party's primary member-ship for six years, along withtheir sons — former MLARavinder Pal Singh Brahmpuraand former MLA AmarpalSingh Bony — as the twoleaders were allegedlyindulging in "anti-party activ-ities".

Earlier, the party had alsoshown the door to Sekhwan forspeaking against the partyshortly after he had announcedhis resignation as senior vice-president and core committeemember.

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Sunday, December 16,marked the launch of two

new political outfits in Punjab,with the decisive 2019 LokSabha polls just about a fewmonths away.

Both the parties have somuch in common — they arebreakaway faction of the mainpolitical outfits in the State,formed by the rebel leaders ofthese parties, and both theparties are in opposition in theCongress-ruled state.

Senior leaders of theShiromani Akali Dal (SAD)splintered from the party to

form the Shiromani Akali Dal(Taksali), while another out-fit — the Punjab DemocraticAlliance (PDA)

comprised suspended andrebel leaders of the AamAadmi Party (AAP).

With the ruling Congresshas all along been sitting onthe fence closely watching theinf ighting between both the parties, the formationof new political outfits hassent alarm bells ringing in itscamp.

“Infighting was good forus, but with the new politicalparties coming up, things maygo wrong way for theCongress. It may do some-

thing what People’s Party ofPunjab (PPP) did in 2012assembly elections—not win-ning any seat but eating intoCongress’ vote,” a seniorCongress leader told ThePioneer, off the record.

In the past, Punjab hasalways witnessed a one-on-one contest between theCongress and the SAD-BJPcombine. It was only after2014 Lok Sabha polls, thatAAP was emerged as an alter-native in the state by winningfour, out of the total 13 seats.

However, the party failedto keep up the momentum inthe next three years, and fin-ished at distant second to

Congress in 2017 assemblypolls, with just 20 seats in 117-member House. But, the pluspoint is that it has pushed theSAD-BJP combine to the lastspot, becoming the principalopposition party.

But with the emergence oftwo new political fronts, andthe minute possibil ity of their joining hands,the ensuing 2019 elections are expected to be acliff-hanger.

Currently, AAP has fourMPs, out of which two havebeen suspended since 2015.Among them Dr DharamviraGandhi on Sunday announcedformation of Punjab

Democratic Alliance (PDA)with AAP’s rebel MLAs, led bySukhpal Singh Khiara, andothers.

SAD is also represented byfour MPs in the Lok Sabha,out of which its KhadoorSahib MP Ranjit SinghBrahmpura has revolted andon Sunday announced SAD(Taksali). Another SAD MPfrom Ferozepur, Sher SinghGhubaya, has also revoltedagainst the party, with hisson, Devinder Singh Ghubayacurrently being the CongressMLA.

Besides, the Congressparty has three MPs and BJPtwo.

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Vice President M VenkaiahNaidu on Sunday said that

Central Reserve Police Force(CRPF) has played a key role inmaintaining the unity andintegrity of the nation. Thisforce has a glorious past, praise-worthy present and a futurefilled with hope and service,Naidu said at the Passing outParade of the 50th Batch of theDirectly Appointed GazettedOfficers (DAGOs) of CRPF inthe premises of the CRPFAcademy, Gurugram.

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal was also presenton the occasion. The VicePresident said, CRPF person-nel have always won the faithand confidence of the peoplewherever they have beendeployed.

He said CRPF has played asignificant role right from thedays of unification of the coun-try to successfully tackling sep-aratism in the North east andterrorism in Punjab.Appreciating the Civic ActionProgrammes of CRPF, the VicePresident said that such pro-grammes increase the accept-ability of the police among thepublic. He called upon the forcepersonnel to upgrade their pro-fessional efficiency in view ofthe newer challenges arising outof cyber technology.

He also called upon thegovernment and the authoritiesto give attention to the facilitiesbeing provided to the personnelof the force, especially thosewho are posted in difficult andinaccessible areas and also totake special care of the healthand educational needs of thefamilies of the force personnel.Earlier, in his welcome address,Director General, CRPF RajeevRai Bhatnagar, said that CRPFis the world’s largest armedpolice force and is the lead force

in tackling the issues of internalsecurity of the country.

Underlining 78 years ofglorious history of the force,Bhatnagar said that the forcepersonnel have always exhibitsthe highest standards of valourand sacrifice. He said last yearonly CRPF personnel have beenawarded as many as 135Gallantry medals includingseven Shaurya Chakras, whichis a record in itself.

He added that the force hasconstantly been upgrading itselftactically to effectively meetnew challenges.

On the occasion, the chiefguest presented gallantrymedals to the awardees and tro-phies to the trainee officers.Those who were honouredincluded 18 officers/personnel,who received Police Medals forGallantry. Similarly, trainee offi-cers like Nishant Yadav (allround best trainee), GyanendraGiri (best in outdoor subjects),Banai Singh Meena (best inphysical training) and UjwalKumar Tiwari (best firer)received trophies from the VicePresident. With their passingout on Sunday, the officers willundergo specialized counterinsurgency training before beingposted in different parts of thecountry. Earlier, the chief guest,accompanied by Bhatnagarinspected the parade and tooksalute in the colourful marchpast. As many as 48 trainee offi-cers including 4 lady officers,11post-graduates and as many as37 engineering graduates passedout from the academy, afterundergoing a rigorous trainingregime spanning 52 weeks. Likethe previous batches of theDAGOs of CRPF, the 50thBatch too bears a pan-Indiancharacter with the trainee offi-cers representing as many as 16states of the country having dif-ferent socio-educational back-ground.

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As many as 1,862 artists, including 140women, of Puri district will avail monthly

pension of Rs 1,200 each.Under the ‘Mukhyamantri Kalakar Bhatta

Yojana,’ the beneficiaries will get pensionbetween15 to 20 of every month. An amount Rs44, 68,800 has been sent to the local cultureoffices, which will be distributed among bene-ficiaries through ‘Peetha’ programme in eachblock and panchayat. Besides district culture offi-cials, the local representatives will participate thePeetha programme and offer pension. In theensuing month, artists will get two-months' pen-sion, a release by district administrationinformed.

The release said that while 53 artists,including three women in Astaranga block willavail pension, of total 66 including nine women

shortlisted from Kakatpur area. In Nimapara outof total 254 beneficiaries, five are women. In PuriSadar, 186 persons including 49 women will begiven pension. Similarly, in Satyabadi, 93including two women will be benefited and inPipili 175 artists, including a woman, are in pen-sion scheme.

In Brahamgiri 179 artists were shortlistedof whom seven are women.

The number for Krusnaprasad block is 208of which three are women. In

Kanas of total 289, while 23 are women, 134including six women belong to Gop block. InDelanga, 122 artists including two females willbe availing pension. In Puri Municipality, 13males and 29 females will get the benefit.

This apart, 14 persons belonging to KonarkNAC, one in Pipili NAC and four including awoman in Nimapara NAC have been shortlist-ed for pension, informed the release.

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Ranil Wickremesinghe onSunday staged a tri-

umphant comeback as SriLankan Prime Minister to endthe unprecedented politicalturmoil in the country, 51 daysafter he was sacked by his betenoire and PresidentMaithripala Sirisena, who alsodissolved Parliament, contro-versial decisions which werenullified by the Supreme Court.

Wickremesinghe, the 69-year-old United National Partyleader, was administered theoath of office by PresidentSirisena, who had sacked himon October 26 and installedformer rival and ex-strong-man Mahinda Rajapaksa in hisplace. The UNP leader hadrefused to step down assertingthat his sacking was illegal.

His re-appointment comesa day after Rajapaksa resignedSaturday, after two crucialSupreme Court decisions madehis efforts to cling to premier-ship untenable.

“Today marks a victorynot for myself or for the UNP.It is a victory for Sri Lanka’sdemocratic institutions andthe sovereignty of our citi-zens. I thank everyone whostood firm in defending theconstitution and ensuring thetriumph of democracy,”Wickremesinghe said afterassuming office.

A sheepish Sirisena, whohad ruled out reappointingWickremesinghe as prime min-ister, was smiling withWickremesinghe as he handedhim the letter of appointment.

Wickremesinghe’s sup-porters took to streets to cele-brate after he took oath at thePresidential Secretariat for therecord fifth time.

UNP Assistant Leader RaviKarunanayake said that talkswere held Saturday and more

discussions will take placeSunday to select the Cabinet.

The Cabinet is expected tobe limited to 30 and willinclude a few Sri LankaFreedom Party (SLFP) mem-bers who have offered supportto Wickremesinghe.

It is expected a newCabinet will be formed byMonday and a vote on accountwill be passed to provide for therequired provisions until abudget for 2019 is formulated,

Sri Lankan media reported.Earlier, Wickremesinghe’s

party said it was ready to workwith President Sirisena, whowas “misled by some groups”against the unity government.

UNP deputy leader SajithPremadasa said that he was notsurprised that the Presidenthad agreed to appointWickremesinghe as PrimeMinister again despite taking afirm position earlier that he willnot appoint the UNP leader.

“This showed the truecharacter of the President,” hewas quoted as saying by theColombo Gazette.

Premadasa said that thePresident was “misled by somegroups who were against theunity Government” and thisresulted in the Presidentremoving Wickremesinghe.

“But now truth has pre-vailed,” he said. “The party isprepared to work with Sirisenaagain in the government.”

Premadasa said, “Thelessons from the incident mustbe used to strengthen the foun-dation of democracy and pro-mote justice and fairness.”

Sirisena and Rajapaksa suf-fered reversal setbacks sinceOctober 26, forcing the presi-dent to reinstateWickremesinghe.

Rajapaksa, 73, had soughtto secure a majority in the 225-member Parliament but failed.Sirisena then dissolvedParliament and called snapelections on January 5.

However, the SupremeCourt overturned his decisionand halted the preparations forsnap polls.

The Supreme Court onThursday unanimouslydeclared that the dissolution ofParliament by Sirisena was“illegal”.

The apex court on Fridayalso refused to stay a courtorder restraining Rajapaksa

from holding the office ofPrime Minister until it fullyheard the case next month.

Rajapaksa signed his res-ignation letter during a multi-religious service at his homethat was attended by severallawmakers of United People’sFreedom Alliance (UPFA),Buddhist and other religiousleaders. After signing the res-ignation letter, Rajapaksa saidthat following the February 10local government election, theaim of his party is to have ageneral election.

However, he said that hehas no intention of remainingas Prime Minister without ageneral election being held,and in order to not hamper thePresident in any way, heresigned from the position ofPrime Minister and made wayfor the President to form a newGovernment.

Rajapaksa said that since ageneral election can no longerbe held, the UPFA cannotimplement any of the measuresthey had planned to take “toprevent the country frombecoming another Greece.”

Most of the countries hadnot recognised Rajapaksa’s gov-ernment.

The global credit ratingagencies — the Fitch, theStandard & Poor’s and theMoody’s — had also down-graded Sri Lanka’s rating owingto the current political crisis.

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Nearly 200 countries at theUN climate talks have

agreed upon universal, trans-parent rules on how nationscan cut greenhouse gas emis-sions and curb global warming,putting the principles of the2015 Paris climate accord intoaction.

But to the frustration ofenvironmentalists and a groupof countries who were urgingmore ambitious climate goals,negotiators on Saturdaydelayed decisions on two otherclimate issues until next year inan effort to get a deal on them.

“Through this package,you have made a thousand lit-tle steps forward together,” saidMichal Kurtyka, a senior Polishofficial chairing the talks.

He said while each indi-vidual country would likelyfind some parts of the agree-ment it didn’t like, efforts hadbeen made to balance the inter-ests of all parties.

“We will all have to give inorder to gain,” he said. “We willall have to be courageous tolook into the future and makeyet another step for the sake ofhumanity.”

The talks in Poland tookplace against a backdrop ofgrowing concern among sci-entists that global warming onEarth is proceeding faster thangovernments are responding toit. Last month, a study foundthat global warming will wors-en disasters such as the dead-ly California wildfires and thepowerful hurricanes that havehit the United States this year.

And a recent report by theIntergovernmental Panel onClimate Change, or IPCC, con-cluded that while it’s possible tocap global warming at 1.5degrees Celsius (2.7 degreesFahrenheit) by the end of thecentury compared to pre-industrial times, this wouldrequire a dramatic overhaul ofthe global economy, includinga shift away from fossil fuels.

Alarmed by efforts toinclude this in the final text ofthe meeting, the oil-exportingnations of the U.S., Russia,Saudi Arabia and Kuwaitblocked an endorsement ofthe IPCC report mid-waythrough this month’s talks inthe Polish city of Katowice.That prompted uproar fromvulnerable countries like smallisland nations and environ-mental groups.

The final text at the U.N.talks omits a previous referenceto specific reductions in green-house gas emissions by 2030,and merely welcomes the“timely completion” of theIPCC report, not its conclu-sions.

Last-minute snags forcednegotiators in Katowice to gointo extra time, after Friday’sscheduled end of the confer-ence had passed without adeal.

One major sticking pointwas how to create a function-ing market in carbon credits.

Economists believe that aninternational trading systemcould be an effective way todrive down greenhouse gasemissions and raise largeamounts of money for mea-sures to curb global warming.

But Brazil wanted to keepthe piles of carbon credits it hadamassed under an old systemthat developed countries say

wasn’t credible or transparent.Among those that pushed

back hardest was the UnitedStates, despite PresidentDonald Trump’s decision topull out of the Paris climateaccord and his promotion ofcoal as a source of energy.

“Overall, the U.S. role herehas been somewhat schizo-phrenic — pushing coal and

dissing science on the onehand, but also working hard inthe room for strong trans-parency rules,” said ElliotDiringer of the Center forClimate and Energy Solutions,a Washington think tank.

When it came to closingpotential loopholes that couldallow countries to dodge theircommitments to cut emissions,“the U.S. pushed harder thannearly anyone else for trans-parency rules that put all coun-tries under the same system,and it’s largely succeeded.”

“Transparency is vital toU.S. interests,” added NathanielKeohane, a climate policyexpert at the EnvironmentalDefense Fund. He noted thatbreakthrough in the 2015 Paristalks happened only after theU.S. and China agreed on acommon framework for trans-parency.

“In Katowice, the U.S.negotiators have played a cen-tral role in the talks, helping tobroker an outcome that is true

to the Paris vision of a commontransparency framework forall countries that also providesflexibility for those that need it,”said Keohane, calling the agree-ment “a vital step forward inrealizing the promise of theParis accord.”

Among the key achieve-ments in Katowice was anagreement on how countriesshould report their green-houses gas emissions and theefforts they’re taking to reducethem. Poor countries alsosecured assurances on gettinggreater predictability aboutfinancial support to help themcut emissions, adapt toinevitable changes such as sealevel rises and pay for damagesthat have already happened.

“The majority of the rule-book for the Paris Agreementhas been created, which issomething to be thankful for,”said Mohamed Adow, a climatepolicy expert at Christian Aid.“But the fact countries had tobe dragged kicking and

screaming to the finish lineshows that some nations havenot woken up to the urgent callof the IPCC report” on the direconsequences of global warm-ing.

In the end, a decision onthe mechanics of an emissionstrading system was postponedto next year’s meeting.Countries also agreed to con-sider the issue of raising ambi-tions at a U.N. summit in NewYork next September.

Canada’s EnvironmentMinister Catherine McKennasuggested there was no alter-native to such meetings ifcountries want to tackle glob-al problems, especially as mul-tilateral diplomacy is underpressure from nationalism.

“The world has changed,the political landscape haschanged,” she told TheAssociated Press. “Still you’reseeing here that we’re able tomake progress. We’re able todiscuss the issues. We’re able tocome to solutions.”

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British Prime MinisterTheresa May and former

Prime Minister Tony Blair haveexchanged sniping attacks asBritain’s divorce from theEuropean Union keeps get-ting uglier.

May has accused Blair of“undermining” her efforts todeliver Brexit by calling for asecond referendum on whetheror not Britain should leave thebloc. May, of the Conservativeparty, says his comments were“an insult to the office he onceheld.”

Blair shot back, declaringthat May had been “irrespon-

sible” for trying to “steamroll”lawmakers into accepting herdeal or face the prospects of nodeal at all.

The former Labour Partyleader says Sunday he had aright to comment on “the mostimportant decision our coun-try has taken since the end ofWorld War II.”

The comments come amidheated discussions on whetheranother Brexit vote is appro-priate.

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UN chief Antonio Guterrescalled on Sunday for a

“credible” probe into journalistJamal Khashoggi’s murder inSaudi Arabia’s consulate inIstanbul.

“It is absolutely essential tohave a credible investigationand to have the punishment ofthose that were guilty,” Guterressaid at a conference in Doha.

The UN chief said he hadno information on the caseexcept what had been report-ed in the media.

Khashoggi, a Saudi con-tributor to the WashingtonPost, was killed on October 2shortly after entering the king-dom’s consulate in what Riyadhcalled a “rogue” operation.

Saudi Arabia has repeat-edly rejected Turkish demandsto extradite suspects connect-

ed to the murder of the jour-nalist, a critic of Crown PrinceMohammed bin Salman.

Turkey’s foreign ministersaid Saturday that his countrywould “not give up” on estab-lishing the truth about themurder.

“We haven’t received anynew information or outcome ofthe investigation from theSaudi side,” Mevlut Cavusoglusaid, also in Qatar which hasbeen the target of a Saudi-ledboycott since June 2017.

“Turkey will not give up on

this, we will go to the end.”Earlier this month, the minis-ter said Turkey was in talks overa possible United Nationsinvestigation into the killingwhich has provoked globaloutrage.

According to Turkey, a 15-member Saudi team was sent toIstanbul to kill Khashoggi, apalace insider turned critic ofthe regime.

Riyadh has since detained21 people over the murder.

Despite speculation thatthe powerful crown princeordered the hit, the kingdomhas strongly denied he wasinvolved.

The murder has damagedRiyadh’s international reputa-tion, and Western countriesincluding the United States,France and Canada have placedsanctions on nearly 20 Saudinationals.

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Investigations now entangleDonald Trump’s White

House, campaign, transition,inauguration, charity and busi-ness.

For Trump, the political,the personal and the deeplypersonal are all under exami-nation.

Less than two years intoTrump’s presidency, his busi-ness associates, political advis-ers and family members arebeing probed, along with thepractices of his late father.

On Friday, InteriorSecretary Ryan Zinke becamethe fourth Cabinet member toleave under an ethical cloud,having sparked 17 investiga-tions into his actions on the job,by one watchdog’s count.

All of this with the firstspecial counsel investigationagainst a president in 20 years

hanging over Trump’s head,spinning out charges andstrong-arming guilty pleasfrom underlings while keepingin suspense whether the pres-ident — “Individual 1” in pros-ecutor Robert Mueller’s codedlegalese — will end up accusedof criminal behavior himself.

The scope of the scrutinyhas shaped Trump’s presiden-cy, proving a steady distractionfrom his governing agenda.So far, much of it has beenlaunched by federal prosecutors

and government watchdogsthat eschew partisanship.

The intensity is certain toincrease next year whenDemocrats assume control ofthe House and the subpoenapower that comes with it.

Although Trump dismiss-es the investigations as politi-cally motivated “witch hunts,”his high-octane Twitter accountfrequently betrays just howconsumed he is by the scruti-ny. He’s also said to watchhours of television coverage onmilestone days in the investi-gations.

Almost midway throughhis term, Trump is strugglingto deliver on his central cam-paign promises. He may endthe year without a Republican-led Congress giving him theUSD 5 billion he wants for aborder wall. And he’s pre-viewed few legislative prioritiesfor 2019.

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Yellow vest protesters occu-pied dozens of traffic

roundabouts across France onSunday even as their move-ment for economic justiceappeared to be losing momen-tum on the fifth straight week-end of protests.

The road blockadesremained despite a call byInterior Minister ChristopheCastaner to free the round-abouts from the traffic chaoscreated by the protests. Eightpeople have died in incidentstied to the yellow vest move-

ment, mostly from traffic acci-dents linked to roads blockedby protesters.

The demonstrators aredemanding more measures tohelp France’s workers andretirees and want top officialsin President EmmanuelMacron’s centrist governmentto resign, including Macronhimself.

Despite the cold weather,protesters occupying a round-about near the southern city ofOrange close to a major high-way pledged to keep holdingmore demonstrations, includ-ing blocking fuel depots.

“Mr. Castaner, if you wantus to clear roundabouts, youwill need to offer your resig-nation. We don’t need banditsof your kind,” a protester iden-tified as Nicolas told the BFMTV channel.

Some yellow vest protesters— whose movement takes itsname from the safety garb thatall French motorists must carry— set up a small fire withwooden planks and held a bar-becue at a roundabout near thecity of Reims in theChampagne region. Some ofthem wore Santa hats anddeployed a banner that read

“Revolution 2018.”On Saturday, yellow vest

demonstrators took to thestreets in cities across France,including in Paris, but in far fewer numbers thanon previous weekends: 69,000compared to 125,000 a weekbefore. Paris police had to firetear gas and water cannonacross the Champs-Elysees andsome protesters scuffled withpolice.

In an effort to defuseFrance’s social crisis, Macronhas announced a series of mea-sures aimed at improving peo-ple’s spending power.

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Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said

on Sunday he had issued awarning to Hamas after recentdeadly attacks in the occupiedWest Bank, including twoshootings claimed by theIslamist movement.

Netanyahu referred to acontroversial Gaza ceasefire inNovember that ended the worstescalation between Israel andHamas since a 2014 war.

“I conveyed a clear messageto Hamas — we won’t accept asituation of a truce in Gaza andterror in Judea and Samaria,”Netanyahu told a cabinet meet-ing, using the biblical name forthe West Bank, as is Israel’s offi-cial policy.

“We will exact a high priceover them,” he said of theattacks.

Hamas runs the Gaza Stripbut also has a presence in theWest Bank. Netanyahu’s com-ments came after two soldierswere shot dead at a central WestBank bus station near a settle-ment on Thursday.

On the same day, a babyprematurely delivered after hismother was shot and wound-ed in a separate attack nearbyon December 9 also died.

Hamas claimed responsi-bility for the December 9shooting and another in theWest Bank on October 7 thatkilled two Israelis.

The two Palestiniansbehind those attacks were shotdead by Israeli forces duringarrest raids last week, Israeliofficials said.

Israel’s security forces saythey have also arrested at least37 Hamas operatives in con-nection with recent violence.

Doha: Nobel laureate and for-mer jihadist captive NadiaMurad called for the protectionof women belonging to herYazidi minority until IslamicState leaders are tried forcrimes against the community.

“All the victims need a safehaven until Daesh is brought tothe international courts,” the25-year-old Iraqi said at aninternational conference inDoha, using an Arabicacronym for the jihadist group.

AFP

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Georgia on Sunday swore inits first female president,

Salome Zurabishvili as oppo-sition parties continue todenounce her election as fraud-ulent and demand snap par-liamentary polls.

The inauguration pavedthe way for a new constitutionto come into force, transform-ing the country into a parlia-mentary republic with a large-ly ceremonial president.

The event was held in themediaeval town of Telavi inGeorgia’s eastern winemakingregion of Kakheti.

French-born Zurabishvili,66, took the oath of office in thecourtyard of an 18th-centurymanor that belonged toGeorgia’s penultimate kingHeraclius II.

“The goal of my presiden-cy is to make Georgia’s demo-cratic development and its pathtowards Europe irreversible,”she said in an inaugural speech.

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Aquick glance at the recent Assemblypoll results will invariably lead to a fal-lacious conclusion that the Congress,

with three additional major States in its kitty,is the sole winner, and BJP, a clear loser. Thereis little doubt that the election outcome is con-fusing. The electorate has voted the Congressto power without rejecting the BJP. While inChhattisgarh, the Congress’ victory is con-vincing and clear, so are its defeats inTelangana and Mizoram.

In Madhya Pradesh (a State with thelargest number of seats, 29, in the Lok Sabha,out of the five States that went to polls), thelosing BJP got marginally more votes thanthe victorious Congress. The BJP, even afterbagging 47,827 more votes than its imme-diate rival, had to concede defeat. The BJPhad polled 1,56,42,980 votes and the Congress1,55,95,153. Thanks to the infirmities of ourelectoral systems, the BJP had to contend with109 seats and the Congress romped homewith 114 seats, two short of majority.

In fact, had the BJP polled 4,337 morevotes than it did in seven seats in MadhyaPradesh, it could have well crossed the major-ity mark. The seven seats which it lost by aslender difference are Gwalior South (121),Suwasra (350), Jabalpur North (578),Rajnagar (732), Damoh (798), Biaora (826)and Rajpur (932).

The Congress, on the other hand, suf-fered a loss of only three seats — Jarora (511),Bina (632) and Kolaras (720) — with a smallmargin. In contrast, in 2013, the BJP’s vic-tory in Madhya Pradesh was decisive. Theparty polled 44.88 per cent votes against 36.38per cent by the Congress.

In Rajasthan (25 Lok Sabha seats) themargin between the victor and vanquishedwas razor thin. The Congress’ share of voteswas 39.3 per cent, 0.5 per cent higher thanthat of the BJP’s 38.8 per cent.

The Chhattisgarh results, of course,should set the BJP worrying for the party’sdefeat here was convincing. Its vote sharedropped from 41 per cent in 2013 to 33 percent and that of the Congress improved, from40.3 per cent to 43 per cent. While theCongress has won the three heartland States,it has all but bowed out of the North-East,losing its last government in Mizoram.

What is the political message of this ver-dict? Prime Minister Modi’s detractors willsee the results as a precursor to the 2019 LokSabha polls. But unfortunately for them, eachelection has a different nuance and under-tone. In March 1998, the BJP won 182 LokSabha seats and the Congress dropped to141. By end of that year, Assembly electionswere held in Delhi, Rajasthan and MadhyaPradesh. The BJP was routed. Four monthslater, in April 1999, the VajpayeeGovernment fell by one vote. Fresh parlia-mentary elections followed. The BJP underVajpayee was back in power at the Centre,winning all seven seats from Delhi and per-forming well in the Hindi heartland.

In early 2004, the BJP leadership dis-

solved the Lok Sabha andadvanced parliamentary elec-tions by five months because inDecember 2003, it swept polls inRajasthan, Madhya Pradesh andChhattisgarh. The Vajpayee-Advani duo thought that resultsof these Hindi heartland Statesreflected the general mood infavour of the NDA and, thus, anearly parliamentary electionwould help them easily return topower. However, the BJP lost.

Fast forward to December2013, the BJP lost the Assemblyelection to a newly-foundedAam Aadmi Party in Delhi, butwon all seven Lok Sabha seats inthe April-May 2014 parliamen-tary elections. The electionresults have a lesson for the prog-nosticators of the mahagath-bandhan as well. The Congress-TDP-Left coalition was sup-posed to give a tough fight to theruling TRS and dethrone ChiefMinister K Chandrashekar Rao.However, the KCR-led TRS won88 of 119 seats. Its poll percent-age was 46.9, way ahead of theCongress’ 28.4 per cent.Chandrababu Naidu’s TDP onlywon two seats.

Incidentally, poll resultswere declared the day RahulGandhi completed one year aspresident of his family fief-dom. The post-poll develop-ments — his choice of KamalNath for Madhya Pradesh andefforts to buy peace in Rajasthanby virtue of a patch-up arrange-ment between Ashok Gehlotand Sachin Pilot — provideindications as to how the partywill function under his leader-

ship. Kamal Nath’s selection byRahul Gandhi underlines thefact that the Congress will con-tinue to give precedence topolitical expediency over ethicsor high principles. Kamal Nath,one of the richest politicians inthe country, has been accused ofleading violent mobs againstbeleaguered Sikhs in 1984 dur-ing the riots that followed theassassination of Indira Gandhi.

Here are excerpts from abook, When a Tree Shook Delhi:The 1984 Carnage and ItsAftermath, by HS Phoolka, anadvocate and Manoj Mitta, ajournalist. The book was pub-lished a decade ago and KamalNath has not gone to the courtagainst the charges levelledagainst him. “The leader inquestion was Kamal Nath, whowas at the time of the 1984 car-nage, an up and comingCongress MP from MadhyaPradesh. In a siege that lastedover five hours, Kamal Nath issaid to have been there forabout two hours.

“Given the strategic locationof Rakab Ganj Gurudwara,Kamal Nath’s presence at the siteof violence was confirmed bytwo of the senior-most policeofficers, Commissioner SubhashTandan, and AdditionalCommissioner Gautam Kaul, asalso by an independent source,The Indian Express reporter,Sanjay Suri.

“Another distinguishing fea-ture of the Rakab Ganj episodewas the evidence of politicalcomplicity: The presence ofCongress MP Kamal Nath on

the spot for a major part of thesiege. That he was there at all, forwhatever reason, given that theother Congress leaders werediscreet enough not to hobnobwith mobs in places where theywere liable to be noticed by jour-nalists.

“Since Kamal Nath spentabout two hours in front ofRakab Ganj Gurudwara Gate onNovember 1, The Indian Expressreported the next day that he hadled the mob. The interference ofhis complicity was no reflex reac-tion, as made clear by journal-ist Sanjay Suri, in his report, asalso in his affidavit before theMisra Commission, and oraldeposition before the NanavatiCommission.

“Suri found that KamalNath was ‘controlling the crowd’which he said was looking tohim for direction. Though hecould not vouch for what exact-ly Kamal Nath had told thecrowd, Suri said that ‘somemobs had charged at the gurud-wara’ in the Congress leader’spresence. Equally significant, hetestified that while all thatdrama was going on, the bod-ies of those Sikhs were stillburning on the roadside”.

An interesting sidelight ofthe recently conducts polls wasthat the EVM’s credibility wasrestored. Except for a feebleattempt to question its workingin Telangana, the Congress hap-pily accepted the verdict in therest of the four States.

(The writer is a politicalcommentator and a former BJPRajya Sabha MP)

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Rahul’s day dawns”(December 12). Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi must becongratulated for a job welldone. The Congress, which hadlost all hopes of revival both atthe State and national levelafter suffering a massive defeatin the 2014 Lok Sabha poll,stormed back to power in threecrucial States. The present winsin Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan willcertainly have definite ramifica-tions for the Congress in the2019 Lok Sabha election.

Kamal Nath is a sure bet forMadhya Pradesh. Not only doeshe have experience in hand, butis also a nine-time Lok Sabhamember, who has been UnionMinister for two terms. He issomeone who will bring experi-ence and sagacity to his job.After taking office, it should beaction time for him as well asother Chief Ministers inRajasthan and Chhattisgarh.There is a lot of work thatneeds to be done.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Will submarine optic cableimperil coral reef?” (December14). It must be said that the lay-ing of undersea optical cableconnecting the Andaman andNicobar islands with Chennaifor a distance of 2,246 km willin no way affect the marine life

and the telecom departmentmust go on with the plan of lay-ing the cable across the sea.Admittedly, coral reefs are richin and around these islands andhundreds of varieties of fishspecies are commonly found inthese areas. But considering thestrategic position of theAndaman and Nicobar islands,secure, robust and affordabletelecommunication facilities car-

rying a bandwidth of 100 giga-bits per second have beenplanned for the islands by theDepartment ofTelecommunications. So, the cable connectionbetween the mainland and theislands must not be shelved atany cost citing environmentalproblems.

TK NandananKochi

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Sir — Recently, former RBIgovernor Raghuram Rajan saidthat loan waivers can never bea solution to farm distress.Politicians in their eagerness tocapture power announce free-bies and farm loan waivers.Once they come to power, theystart struggling to redeem theirpromise. The common man ismercilessly targeted by way ofrise in direct and indirect taxesto meet the cost of loan waiver.

With other parties preparingto waive off the loan, the Modi-led BJP naturally has to fall in linewith them for survival.Ultimately, the nation suffers.Posterity will blame previousGovernments for their plight.

The future of the country isbleak if the lawmakers do notunderstand how it impedes apolitical party’s ability to take along-term view. Political interestsare overriding the national inter-est. The nation has everything topay for need but not for greed.

KV SeetharamaiahHassan

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Countries across the worldcelebrated December 12 asthe Universal Health

Coverage (UHC) day to mark thejourney towards achieving ‘healthfor all.’ Over 40 years have passedsince the target of universal healthwas set by the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) Assembly in1977 to ensure affordable healthcareacross the globe. This is an oppor-tune moment to take stock of howwe have fared so far.

There is no denying the fact that‘health for all’, which is a part of theSustainable Development Goals(SDGs), can only be achievedthrough effective communityengagement and universalisation ofhealthcare services. India, too, has

been steadily working towards thisgoal, and like many other nations,our journey towards universal healthcoverage is defined by the reach ofour healthcare delivery system to thelast mile of the population.

Since population coverage isfundamental to this journey, invest-ing in health programmes that deliv-er treatment to families at theirdoorstep irrespective of their socio-economic status will play a key rolein realising the ‘health for all’ dream.One such scheme is the Mass DrugAdministration (MDA), which willsoon be strengthened with the intro-duction of new triple-drug therapythat will help the elimination of lym-phatic filariasis.

A disease that affects the margin-alised sections of society, filariasis isa mosquito-borne infectious diseasethat has become one of the majorpublic health challenges for thecountry today. A known cause ofpermanent disability, it damages thelymphatic system, and if left untreat-ed, it incapacitates individuals dur-ing the peak of their productive

years. Reports from the NationalVector-Borne Disease ControlProgramme indicate that around8.77 lakh cases of lymphedema(swollen limbs) and 3.87 lakh casesof hydrocele (swollen scrotal sac)were caused sue to filariasis in 256endemic districts across India. It alsoestimated that around 20 millionchildren and adolescents suffer fromAcute Adenolymphangitis that on anaverage lasts for about four to sevendays in each episode. People withlymphedema need disability impair-ment services and they must be cov-ered under the Rights of Persons withDisabilities Act, 2016.

The Government of Indialaunched the MDA programme in2004 with a combination of twodrugs — diethylcarbamazine citrate(DEC) and albendazole. Whileadministration of the drug is free ofcost, preventive treatment hashelped the programme reduce infec-tion levels in 107 out of 256 districts.A major challenge is low complianceto the treatment by communities.

A large section of society still

does not know about filariasis andthe importance of consuming MDAmedicines annually. When morethan 65 per cent of the populationfails to comply with MDA treat-ment, it creates a potential reservoirof infection for parasites to feed on,thus reducing the probability of theprogramme’s success. As a result,even today, about 377 million peo-ple in India remain at the risk ofcontracting filariasis. The need ofthe hour, therefore, is to educatepeople about how filaria spreads, itsconsequences, vector-control mea-sures and promote a sense of own-ership of elimination efforts in thecommunity.

Tanzania and Togo are suc-cessful examples of developingcountries that combined communi-ty engagement and effective use ofMDA treatment to eliminate filar-iasis. Recently, Kenya, Samoa andAmerican Samoa rolled out the newTriple Drug Treatment (IDA). Indiawill be the first country in SouthEast Asia to introduce the pro-gramme. The third new drug,

Ivermectin, will prove to be a game-changer for the elimination of filar-iasis. It paralyses not just the micro-filariae but also the adult worm,making IDA a faster means tobreak filariasis transmission. TheWHO has been playing an impor-tant role in establishing link withexternal partners. It is also helpingin expanding the supply of medi-cines and building capacity inendemic countries.

Apart from this, innovativestrategies that include a vector-control component in smart citiesmissions, mandatory web-basedreporting of vector-borne diseasecases, ensuring proper sanitationand sewage facilities, clean watersupply and regulated constructionsites, can help control spread of vec-tor-borne diseases like filariasis.

Fostering collaborations with allrelevant stakeholders — betweenlocal civil society organisations anddepartments, especially at district,block and village levels — can con-tribute to better eliminate lym-phatic filariasis. Local health com-

mittees and governance structurescan be effective mechanisms toensure community participation —people are more likely to use andrespond positively to health serviceswhen they are involved in decisionsrelated to delivery of public healthservices.

Progressive strategies like theseand policies such as the AyushmanBharat National Health Protectionscheme, which aims to holisticallyaddress health at the primary, sec-ondary and tertiary level, can have far-reaching impact in eliminating vec-tor-borne diseases. These efforts,however, should not just be a one-point destination but a long-terminvestment and commitment towardsshaping communities as agents ofchange. It is the responsibility of eachone of us to encourage better health-seeking behaviour and build an inclu-sive and sustainable pathway to forgea truly strong and healthy India.

(The writer is Principal Advisor,Ministry of Health & Family Welfareon public health. The views expressedare personal)

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The Assembly election results of MadhyaPradesh, Rajasthan and Chhattisgarhhave not only set the template for theLok Sabha election, which is expectedto be announced in the first week of

March next year, but has also clearly drawn thebattle lines for what is expected to be one of thefiercest elections ever. For the Congress, thebiggest takeaway from the polls is, undoubtedly,the emergence of Rahul Gandhi as an unassum-ing leader who has shed his past baggage of indif-ference, political immaturity and dynasty to comeon his own. For the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP),the biggest setback has been the demolition of themyth and hype built around the invincibility ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi and party chiefAmit Shah.

Till these elections took place, the BJP hadbecome one big electoral juggernaut, very con-vincingly demolishing one political opponent afterthe other. The routine rout of the Opposition inthe elections had built an aura of invincibilityaround the Modi-Shah duo — the mass connectof Modi and the Chanakya-like strategy of Shahhad become a part of political punditry and wasalso instilled as an ideal combination in some ofthe BJP-RSS workers.

On the contrary, repeated defeats had affect-ed even the body language of the Congress lead-ers, who went into a defeatist mode, occasional-ly without putting up any fight, like in Goa. RahulGandhi and pappu had almost become synony-mous, popularised as it was by WhatsApp groupsof the BJP’s IT cell. So much so that there was atime when even die-hard Congress workersstarted believing the falsehoods doing the roundson how ineffective Rahul Gandhi was as a leaderand how his stewardship was taking the partytowards peril.

December 11, 2018, changed this political nar-rative for all time to come. Its developments havecome barely three months before the announce-ment of the general election, triggering a politi-cal tsunami and throwing open all sorts of pos-sibilities. All of a sudden, there is a spring in thesteps of the Congress workers while in the BJP,an element of doubt has crept in.

This brings forth the most plausible question:Will the Modi magic work or not? Even thoughparty spokespersons keep hammering the fact thatthe Prime Minister’s personal integrity is intactand that issues for Assembly and Lok Sabha pollsare entirely different, this is hardly convincing forboth sceptics and supporters. They know it wellthat victory in the Assembly elections in these veryStates five years ago, in 2013, had set the ballrolling for the saffron party and it built on themomentum of the wave in May 2014.

Five years down the line, that pace is now withthe Congress and it will expectedly follow it tillthe 2019 Lok Sabha poll. In fact, the Grand OldParty was building a thrust ever since it made cru-cial headway in the Gujarat Assembly polls inDecember 2017, where for the first time, Modihad to campaign really hard and Shah had to useall his electoral arithmetic to romp home. A resur-gent Congress had given the BJP a run for itsmoney in a State which for long had been con-sidered a laboratory for Hindutva politics.

There was more to follow. Karnataka was

widely billed to go the BJP way. This iswhat the spin doctors of the party hadprojected — the sulking Yeddyurappawas back with the BJP, moneybags werewith the party managers, the CongressGovernment was facing anti-incum-bency and what not. Everything wassupposedly going for the BJP andagainst the Congress. But that was notto be. The BJP failed to get a majorityon its own. “Congress-mukt Bharat wastoo arrogant a slogan,” said a BJP leaderon condition of anonymity, adding thatthis was a classic case of unrealistic pol-itics, bereft of grassroots reality. Hehoped that this slogan would never beraised now, and even if it did, it wouldinstantly become a matter of ridicule.

Similarly, the systematic targetingof the likes of Jawaharlal Nehru, IndiraGandhi and Rajiv Gandhi were in badtaste and the appropriation of otherCongress stalwarts by extolling thevirtues of the likes of Sardar Patel andNetaji Subhash Chandra Bose did notquite have the intended effect. “Leavehistorical figures alone for historybooks and academic discussions, notfor electoral rhetoric and as poll issue,”summed up the leader.

In the run-up to the Lok Sabha poll,obviously, the BJP will try to turn it intosome sort of a presidential election,pitching Modi versus Rahul, and ask-ing people if they would vote for anuntested, unwilling and timid leader orgo for the qualities of “a time-tested,strong face with muscular politics.”

The BJP’s second strategy would beto polarise the election with a strongpitch for building the Ram Mandir atAyodhya. But given the fact that the

issue has already been milked to the hiltby the party for over the last quarter ofa century and which yielded rich elec-toral dividends up to a point, this plankhas reached a saturation level. The BJPcan no longer hope for the same resultand the law of diminishing returns willautomatically apply. This is what hap-pened in the three States.

So what’s the way forward for theBJP? First, it has to abandon theCongress-mukt Bharat pitch. Second, itmust draw a list of achievements of itsmajor decisions — demonetisationand GST — and keep hammering abouttheir long-term benefits repeatedlyand see how much traction it gets.Third, now that it has been cleared bythe Supreme Court in the Rafale jetdeal, it should keep the Opposition inthe loop for future acquisitions ratherthan being defensive about them.Fourth, it would have to stop pitchfork-ing the Modi-Shah axis and democra-tise its intra-party discourse. “At pre-sent, party MPs are treated more likebooth-level workers to whom directionsare hurled and there is no process ofconsultation or listening involved,” aBJP MP told this writer after the pollresults.

Last but not the least, it would haveto stop polarisation of votes throughhawkish leaders like Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanath. He willhardly attract any new votes as theAssembly elections of Karnataka,Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan andChhattisgarh, where he campaignedextensively, have proved that therearen’t many takers for the religion card.At the same time, it would damage the

body politic of India. Already, bannershave come up in Lucknow extolling thehardliner Yogi as “Prime Ministermaterial” and Modi has been paintedas some sort of a liberal.

Similarly, what’s the way forwardfor the Congress? Right now it is thedefault Opposition party in severalStates and is expecting to get the anti-incumbency votes from those whoexpected too much from the firstmajority Government of the BJP indecades. This complacency has to end.First, it has to come out with anaggressive and workable solution to theproblems it has been highlighting. Itshould spell out what it would do tosolve farm distress beyond loan waivers.Second, if traders and small enterpris-es are distressed, what is the solutionto the woes? Third, offending sloganslike “chowkidar chor hai” should bebanned; it is similar to “Congress-muktBharat” and even worse.

It should articulate what its policieswould be at the Centre and how differ-ent they would be from the ones fol-lowed by the BJP Government? It alsohas to spell out its plan for job creationand how it proposes to go about it.

The days of sloganeering are over.The youth had a lot of expectations in2014 and will have similar expectationsin 2019 as well. Hollow and emotive slo-gans will no longer yield electoral div-idends. Both parties should come withpolicies, which are implementable withdetails of how they intend to proceed.That would be the key to gaining thetrust of our electorate.

(The writer is Senior Editor, ThePioneer, Chandigarh)

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The normal life went out ofgear in Kashmir Valley on

Sunday on first day of three-dayshutdown called by the sepa-ratists to protest against thekilling of seven civilians near anencounter site in south Kashmirwhere three terrorists and a sol-dier got killed on Saturdaymorning. The Army appealedto the people not to pay heed tothe separatists’ call to marchtowards the headquarters of theXV Corps in Srinagar onMonday while as GovernorSatya Pal Malik appealed to thepeople to keep a distance fromareas where anti-militancyoperations were in progress.

Police and paramilitarypersonnel were deployed instrength in sensitive parts ofKashmir to prevent assem-blage of people or anti-gov-ernment protests against thespree of killings in southKashmir’s Pulwama district.At least seven civilians werekilled with firearms onSaturday afternoon aftercrowds of people stagedprotests and attempted tomarch towards the encountersite in Sirnoo village ofPulwama. Three HizbulMujahideen terrorists includ-ing a former army soldierZahoor Ahmad Thokar, whohad deserted the armed forces

last year to join terrorist rankshad been killed in theencounter.

An Indian army soldier,29-year-old Sowar KishanSingh, was also killed in theencounter. A native of Bhinchrivillage of Ratangarh Tehsil inChuru, Rajasthan, had sus-tained gruesome injuries in theencounter and later succumbedat 92 Base Hospital in Srinagar.

The separatist leadership inKashmir—Joint ResistanceLeadership (JRL) comprisingSyed Ali Geelani, MirwaizUmar Farooq and Yasin Malikcalled for three-day shutdownagainst the killings and askedpeople to march towards XV

Corps headquarters onMonday. The army has foiledsuch attempts in the past.

Shops, business establish-ments and fuel stationsremained closed while publictransport was generally off theroads in summer capitalSrinagar. The traffic move-ment was very low on Srinagar-Jammu National highway andmost of the inter-district routes.Restrictions under Section 144were imposed in districtPulwama.

The train services acrossKashmir remained suspendedfor the second consecutive dayfor security reasons. Themobile internet services in

Srinagar, Pulwama andShopian districts were sus-pended as a precautionarymeasure.

Sources sad that many civil-ians wounded in the indiscrim-inate firing were battling for lifein various hospitals in Srinagar.

Reports of shutdown havebeen received from ChenabValley’s Banihal, Khari,Bhadarwah, Doda, Thathri,Gandoh and Kishtwar areasagainst Pulwama civilian killings.

Reports said thousands ofpeople participated in thefunerals of slain terrorists andcivilians in Pulwama district.

Former legislator SheikhAbdur Rashid was briefly takeninto custody when he attempt-ed to march towards the officeof United Nations MilitaryObservers Group in India andPakistan (UNMOGIP) to pre-sent a memorandum seekingthe international body’s inter-vention in stopping killings inKashmir. Activists of NationalConference also staged aprotest march.

Meanwhile, GovernorSatya Pal Malik while express-ing grief over the loss of civil-ian lives has directed DivisionalCommissioner, Kashmir toinquire into the Pulwama inci-dent. He appealed to the peo-ple not to go near such areasduring or immediately afteranti-terrorist operations.

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Jaipur: A galaxy of politicalleaders and Congress workerswill descend on the premises ofthe historic Albert Hall inJaipur on Monday for the oath-taking ceremony ofAshok Gehlot as Chief Ministerof Rajasthan.

A fine example of Indo-saracenic, a revival architecturalstyle mostly used by the Britishin the later 19th century, thefoundation of the iconic struc-ture was laid in 1876 during thevisit the Prince of Wales, AlbertEdward, to Jaipur.

The construction was completed in 1887 by the archi-tect Samual Swinton Jacob,who was the director of JaipurPWD then.

Located in Ram NiwasGarden outside the old citywall, the hall is a museumwhere thousands of peoplevisit during the tourist season,usually during the winters.

On Monday morning,Congress leaders Gehlot andSachin Pilot would take oath aschief minister and deputy chiefminister of Rajasthan respec-tively at Albert Hall.

Several senior Congressleaders and hundreds of partyworkers are expected to attendthe event.

“Congress president RahulGandhi, former prime minis-ter Manmohan Singh and otherleaders will attend the cere-mony,” Gehlot told reportersSunday.

Oath-taking ceremonies

are usually organised at the RajBhawan. However, the functionin 2003 and 2013, whenVasundhara Raje took oath asChief Minister, was held atJanpath outside the RajasthanAssembly building. And this time, Albert Hall hasbeen decided as the venue forthe event.

“There would be a largenumber of guests and leadersof various political parties willattend the ceremony. So, Albert Hall was finalised,”Satyendra Singh Raghav, thePradesh Congress Committeespokesperson said.

“The ceremony will beheld in the open... Seatingarrangements are being madeto accommodate about 11,000people,” an official of the pub-lic works department said.

Nearly 2,000 VIP guestswill attend the function.

Leader of Opposition inLok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge,Puducherry CM VNarayanasamy, Punjab CMAmarinder Singh, formerHaryana CM Bhupinder SinghHooda and others wil attendthe function.

Allies of the Congress party will also be present dur-ing the ceremony at Albert hall,a distinctive landmark in Jaipur where cultural func-tions are also held on differentoccasions.

With its beautiful archi-tecture dominated by oniondomes, archways and terraces,the building of the hall becamean integral part of its display, itsarchitecture and stone orna-mentation became a source ofreference for varied classicIndian styles of design fromMughal to Rajput.

The corridors were deco-

rated with murals in a varietyof styles, including theRamayana, reproducing paint-ings from illustrations in thePersian Razmnama preparedfor Emperor Akbar.

European, Egyptian,Chinese, Greek and Babyloniancivilizations were portrayed inthe murals to enable the peopleof the region to compare andcontrast them with their ownand develop their knowledge ofthe history and art. PTI

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Jaipur: Senior Congress leaderAshok Gehlot, who will be tak-ing oath as Chief Minister ofRajasthan on Monday, saidoutgoing Chief MinisterVasundhara Raje was “careless”in fulfilling people’s expecta-tions despite a huge mandatein the last elections.

Holding Raje responsiblefor the financial condition ofthe state, Gehlot said she couldhave done more work if shewanted. “What is the financialcondition of the state is knownby all. The BJP got a hugemandate in the last electionsand people had expectationsfrom Raje, but she was carelessand passed five years in care-lessness,” Gehlot said. PTI

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Faizabad: Taking a veiled dig atCongress chief Rahul Gandhi,Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath has said peo-ple have started showing theirgotra and janeu (sacred thread)to become prominent in thecountry’s politics.

Addressing a gathering inthe district on Saturday hesaid, the people who haddescribed themselves as acci-dentally Hindus were now real-ising that they were Hindus inthe real sense and it was a vic-tory of Sanatan faith.

He said Google failedbefore the epic Ramayana,which was written by sageValmiki, and he asserted that the knowledge of the spir-itual books was correct instead of what the searchengine said.

“The word Kumbh hasstarted becoming prevalent. Ithas become a fashion andtrademark for the branding ofone’s programme... These dayspeople are showing their Gotraand janeu to become promi-nent in the country’s politics,”Adityanath said without nam-ing Gandhi.

“The people who described

themselves as accidentallyHindu are now realising thatthey are also Hindus. (They arerealising) it is not accidentaland we are Hindus in the realsense. Now they are remem-bering their janeu and Gotra.I think this is the victory ofIndia’s Sanatan faith. This is thevictoy of our beliefs,” he said.

He claimed the people whowere criticising the KumbhMela were trying to destroy theIndian culture and were con-spiring to disgrace the country

with the help of foreign funds.The BJP leader claimed

that they were trying to defame Hindu religion over theSabrimala issue when everybody knew the traditionof the temple.

He claimed that those whohad never been to temple wereissuing statements over theissue and a similar environ-ment was being created overthe grand Kumbh Mela byterming it an anti-Dalit con-vention. PTI

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The BJP is maintaining a leadin Assam panchayat polls

by pocketing 41 per cent of thetotal seats and marching aheadof the Congress which secured32 per cent of the seats, ascounting continued for thefifth day on Sunday.

The BJP has bagged 10,953seats, followed by the Congress8,646, Independents 2,927 ascounting for the 26,808 postsacross the State continued,Assam State ElectionCommissioner (ASEC) said ina press release.

The Asom Gana Parishad(AGP), an alliance partner ofthe BJP-led Government whichcontested independently, was inthe fourth position with 1,853seats till Sunday evening whileminority dominated, the AllIndia United Democratic Front (AIUDF) of theOpposition, bagged 1,309posts, the ASEC said.

As per the results declaredfor 25,787 seats by the State

Election Commission, 20,990posts are of gaon panchayatmembers (GPM), 2,192 are ofgaon panchayat presidents(GPP), 2,186 are anchalik pan-chayat members (APM) and419 are zila parishad members(ZPM). The BJP has won 8,730GPM seats, followed by theCongress 6,971, AGP 1,580,AIUDF 1,018, BPF 54, CPI(M)31, CPI 4, TMC 2 andIndependents 2,596.

For the GPP posts, BJP hassecured 991, Congress 759,AGP 137, AIUDF 130, BPF 2and Independents 173.

In the APM seats, BJPbagged 1,020, Congress 769,AGP 117, AIUDF 136, CPI(M)and TMC — 1 each andIndependents 142.

The ASEC said that inZPM constituencies, BJP won212, Congress 147, AGP 19,AIUDF 25 and Independents16. The elections were held intwo phases on December 5 and9 to elect 21,990 GPM, 2,199GPP, 2,199 APM and 420 ZPMacross the state, recording anoverall 82 per cent voting.

Of the total 78,571 contes-tants, 734 had been electeduncontested.

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Agartala: Tripura ChiefMinister Biplab Kumar Deb onSunday urged Bangladesh towork in close coordinationwith India to strengthen boththe nations.

Deb was speaking hereafter laying wreath in memoryof war martyrs on the occasionof ‘Vijay Diwas’, celebrated

every year on this day to markIndia’s decisive win overPakistan in 1971, and the birthof Bangladesh.

He said Tripura shares along history of friendship withBangladesh, and the stateplayed a crucial role in the 1971war. “People of Tripura wholeheartedly supported the war...

India is the closest neighbourof Bangladesh... I hope this his-toric relation would strength-en both the countries infuture,” Deb said. BangladeshAssistant High Commissionerin Tripura Kiriti Chakma saidhis office here observed ‘VijayDivas’ with a seminar on theliberation of Bangladesh. PTI

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Srinagar: Srinagar experiencedthe coldest night of the seasonon Saturday night as the mer-cury continued its downwardspiral in most parts of theKashmir valley and Ladakhregion. Srinagar, the summercapital of Jammu & Kashmir,recorded a low of minus 5.6degrees Celsius Saturday night,down from minus 4.2 degreesCelsius the previous night,MET officials said Sunday.

It was the coldest night ofthe season so far in the city,they said.

The night temperature inthe city has dropped over fivedegrees since Thursday as thevalley is moving closer to the40-day harshest winter period,locally known as ‘Chillai Kalan’,which begins December 21.

The officials saidQazigund, Kupwara and Lehalso experienced the coldestnight of the season Saturdaynight along with Srinagar.

Qazigund, the gateway

town to the valley, in southKashmir recorded a low ofminus 5.6 degrees CelsiusSaturday night, compared tothe previous night’s minus 5degrees Celsius.

The officials said it was thecoldest December night inQazigund in the last four years.The town had recorded a low

of minus 5.9 degrees Celsius onDecember 27, 2014.

The nearby Kokernag townrecorded a low of minus 5.7degrees Celsius Saturday night,up from minus 6.6 degreesCelsius the previous night,they said.

Kupwara in north Kashmirsaw the mercury going down

from minus 4.5 degrees Celsiusthe previous night to settle ata low of minus 6 degreesCelsius Saturday, the officialsaid. They said it was the cold-est December night in Kupwarain the last five years.

The night temperature inPahalgam, which serves as oneof the base camps for the annu-

al Amarnath yatra in southKashmir, settled at a low ofminus 9.3 degrees Celsius,compared to the previousnight’s minus 9.5 degreesCelsius. The ski-resort ofGulmarg in north Kashmirrecorded the minimum tem-perature of minus 9.5 degreesCelsius , Saturday, up twonotches from the previousnight, the officials said.

The mercury in Leh town,in Ladakh region, went downfrom the previous night’s minus13.9 degrees Celsius to settle ata low of minus 15.6 degreesCelsius Saturday night.

Leh was the coldest place inJammu and Kashmir.

The officials said the mer-cury in the nearby Kargil townsettled at a low of minus 10.8degrees Celsius, compared tominus 10.2 degrees Celsius theprevious night.

The MeT Office has fore-cast mainly dry weather for theweek ahead. PTI

0 ��;��$�<8&� "%��Gaya: Tibetan spiritual leader,the Dalai Lama, on Sundayarrived in Bodh Gaya where he will stay in a monastery for23 days.

The Dalai Lama, whoreached Gaya international air-port by a chartered plane, pro-ceeded to the monastery fromthe airport amid tight security,Gaya District Magistrate andBodhgaya Temple ManagementCommittee (BTMC) chairmanAbhishek Kumar Singh said.

He will visit Mahabodhitemple on Monday morning tooffer prayers, Singh said.

A large crowd was waitingon both sides of the road to geta glimpse of the Nobel PeacePrize winner, he added.

Earlier, on his arrival atGaya aiport, senior officials,including Magadh divisionalcommissioner T Bindeshwari,Magadh range DeputyInspector General (DIG) BinayKumar, District MagistrateAbhishek Kumar Singh, SeniorSP Rajiv Mishra, BTMC secre-tary N Dorje and Airport direc-tor Dilip Kumar welcomedhim. PTI

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The Meghalaya Governmentwas “unhappy” with the

decision of the Punjab Cabinetapproving �60 lakh compen-sation to the Sikh communityresiding here who were affect-ed during the June riots, a StateMinister said on Sunday.

Meghalaya Urban AffairsMinister Hamletson Dohlingurged the Punjab Governmentto reconsider the Cabinet deci-sion to grant the relief to theaffected Sikh community inShilling and said it would “addmore fuel to the fire” as theState Government is trying tosolve the issues amicably.

“We are unhappy with thedecision and we request them(Punjab Government) not toadd fuel to the fire,” Dohlingsaid. The Punjab Cabinet hadearlier this week approved theproposal for providing �60lakh as compensation to theSikh community against dam-age caused to their propertiesduring violence in Shillong inJune earlier this year.

Of the �60 lakh sanctionedby the Punjab Cabinet, �50lakh is earmarked for recon-struction of Khalsa MiddleSchool as the building wasdeclared unsafe.

The rest of the amountwould be given to Sikhs whoseshops and truck were damagedin the riots. Dohling said thehigh level committee appoint-ed by Meghalaya Governmentheaded by Deputy Chief

Minister Prestone Tyngsong istaking into consideration allaspects of the case and is try-ing its best to solve the issuesamicably.

The Meghalaya UrbanAffairs Minister said, “The deci-sion is nothing but to misleadthe people of the nation becausenot a single stone was thrown atthe school or the Gurdwara dur-ing the protest in June.”

He claimed that theMeghalaya police had handledthe situation and all efforts areon to end the problems there(Punjabi lane) once and for all.

Meghalaya Chief MinisterConrad Sangma will soonspeak to his Punjab counterpartin this regard, he said.

Clashes erupted when abus driver and his friend wereattacked at the Punjabi Lanearea and they received injuries.

As rumours of the assault-ed victims dying in hospitalspread on social media, localpeople grouped together andwent to attack the residents fol-lowing which the entire areawas put under curfew for overa month.

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Kolkata: West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee will not attend theswearing-in ceremony of Congressleader Kamal Nath as Madhya PradeshChief Minister, official sources said onSunday.

There was, however, no reasoncited for Banerjee not going to Bhopalfor the swearing-in ceremony onMonday, an official of the ChiefMinister’s Office (CMO) said.

Trinamool Congress MP DineshTrivedi will be representing the party atthe event, which the Congress intends

to showcase as a picture of Oppositionunity. “I have been directed by the partychief (Banerjee) to be present atMonday’s swearing-in programme,”Trivedi told PTI.

Asked whether he was carrying anymessage for the function, Trivedi said,“There is no message as such. My goingthere is a message itself.”

The Congress has invited leadersfrom across the political spectrum.

Apart from party chief RahulGandhi and United ProgressiveAlliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia

Gandhi, Banerjee, Andhra PradeshChief Minister Chandrababu Naidu,Bahujan Samaj Party supremoMayawati and Samajwadi Party presi-dent Akhilesh Yadav were invited forthe event.

Banerjee, who had earlier floated theidea of a federal front of regional par-ties, has been seen recently exchangingbonhomie with Naidu, and her coun-terparts from Delhi and Telangana,Arvind Kejriwal and ChandrashekarRao respectively, apart from DMK pres-ident M K Stalin. But, the same warmth

has not been seen for the Congress.Nath, a nine-time parliamentarian

from Chhindwara seat and currentlypresident of the Madhya PradeshCongress, will become the first ChiefMinister of a Congress Government inthe central Indian State after a gap of 15years. Digvijaya Singh was the lastCongress Chief Minister of the State.

The BJP had snatched power fromthe Grand Old Party in 2003 and wenton to retain it till its narrow defeat in the recently-held Assembly election. PTI

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Aday after the BengalGovernment denied per-

mission citing law and orderreasons to the BJP organisingRath Yatra in the State, the saf-fron party said it would movethe High Court once againseeking orders directing theadministration to clear theYatra gridlock.

Bengal BJP president DilipGhosh on Sunday said hisparty would move the HighCourt “once again to knocksense in this autocraticGovernment.”

The Trinamool Congresswas “intentionally influencingthe administration to with-hold the permission for theRath Yatra which has no reli-gious implication but a purelypolitical programme. In fact wewere asked by the top officerspresent during the meetingand we made it clear that thisis a political programme andhas nothing to do with any reli-gious issue,” Ghosh said addingthe Government was still

blocking the Yatra because theruling party was convinced ofBJP’s rising graph in the State.

“Bengal is a fit case forArticle 356 and we will take thisissue up at a future date if suchundemocratic situation con-tinues,” he said adding the “bystopping the Yatra on law andorder grounds only shows thefeeble administrative conditionin the State,” he maintained.

Earlier the representativesof the BJP and the StateGovernment engaged in bilat-eral talks following a HighCourt order. After the talks theGovernment denied permis-

sion to the Yatra saying “theareas proposed to be coveredby the Yatra are, because ofpublicity and propaganda grad-ually turning into communal-ly sensitive pockets. Intelligencereports indicate that publicperception is that the religiousovertones of the Yatra will beturned into a propaganda.”

It also quoted intelligencereports saying “in several dis-tricts, organisations with overt-ly communal agenda like theRSS, Bajrang Dal and the VHPwould actively join the ‘Yatra’.This is grave apprehension of‘breach of peace’ and commu-nal violence during and in theaftermath of the Yatra.”

On Sunday senior StateMinisters including Jyoti PriyaMullick and Sadhan Pandeyquoted from a speech ofSadhwi Saraswati — who onSaturday while delivering apublic speech from the dais ofHindu Jagran Manch askedthe Hindus to “spend Rs 1,000each and get yourselves swords… and behead those whoindulge in love jihad,” — say-

ing “these people from theSangh Parivar are trying toignite communal riots in theState and the Yatra will onlyadd fuel to fire.”

The Government had donethe right thing by denying per-mission to the Yatra, they saidsuggesting the State would inevery likelihood use theSadhwi’s speech to buttress itsarguments in the Court.

Meanwhile the CPI(M),alleged the TrinamoolCongress was trying to “pro-vide oxygen to a moribund BJPwhich was licking its woundsafter the electoral defeat inHindi heartland.”

The Government by deny-ing permission to the Yatra was“making the BJP more relevantknowing full well that theydon’t have the organisationalstrength to organise such ahuge show. Denying permis-sion to them will lead to pressstatements and street cornermeets which will only help BJPcollect sympathy from the mar-ket” senior CPI(M) leaderTanmoy Bhattacharya said.

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General OfficerCommanding-in-chief,

northern command, Lt GenRanbir Singh on Sunday led hismen and celebrated the 47thanniversary of Vijay Diwas, marking India’s militaryvictory over Pakistan in 1971 war.

The celebration commem-orated with a wreath-layingceremony at ‘Dhruva ShahidSmarak’ by Lieutenant GenSingh at Udhampur garrisonwith traditional enthusiasm, adefence spokesperson said.

Each year December 16 iscelebrated as ‘Vijay Diwas’ tocommemorate India’s victoryover Pakistan in 1971. Thevictory is unique and unpar-alled as it was on this day that93,000 Pakistani troops sur-rendered to the Indian Armyeventuating in subsequentsecession of East Pakistan intoBangladesh.

On this occasion, the Army

commander complimented therank and file of northern com-mand for their steadfastness,dedication and selflessness, thespokesperson said.

He said the ArmyCommander exhorted all ranksto rededicate themselves inthe service of the nation andconfront new challenges withprofessionalism and courage.

The spokesperson said agrand and solemn wreath-lay-ing ceremony was also organ-ised with full military honoursat ‘Balidan Stambh’ here.

A large number of servingand retired soldiers were pre-

sent on the occasion, he said.General Officer

Commanding (GOC), TigerDivision, Maj Gen SharadKapur paid tribute to the gal-lant soldiers at ‘Balidan Stambh’.

Among others, Maj Gen(retd) Goverdhan SinghJamwal, Hony Capt (retd) BanaSingh and a large number ofserving officers, junior com-missioned officers and jawansof the ‘Tiger Division’ paidhomage to the brave soldiers,who laid down their preciouslives for the country during the1971 Indo-Pak war, he said.

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Panaji: Ailing Goa ChiefMinister Manohar Parrikar onSunday inspected an under-construction bridge onMandovi River here, the firsttime he has been seen in pub-lic since returning to the stateon October 14 post hospitali-sation in Delhi’s AIIMS.

He later inspected the workof a bridge over Zuari Rivernear Agassaim village, some 15kilometres from here.

Parrikar, who is sufferingfrom a pancreatic ailment,has been recuperating at hisprivate residence near here since October 14 and thisis the f irst t ime he has moved out of the house, offi-cials said.

A senior Chief Minister’sOffice functionary Sunday saidParrikar travelled fromPorvorim to Merces inspectingthe bridge, the third over theMandovi.

The bridge, which isexpected to be completed nextyear, will connect Panaji to therest of north Goa. PTI

Lucknow: To facilitate pil-grims arriving in large numbersduring the Kumbh Mela in2019, the railways has proposedrunning 800 special trains fromvarious stations of Allahabaddistrict, an officials has said.

These trains would be inaddition to the regular trainsrun by the North CentralRailway (NCR). PRO NCRAmit Malviya said, “Six specialtrains will come to Allahabadfrom different railway zones ofthe country for pilgrims andtourists participating in theKumbh Mela.”

He said the railwaysplanned to operate four to fivespecial trains to ferry 5,000Pravasi Bhartiyas fromAllahabad to New Delhi. Theywill be in Allahabad to partic-ipate in the Kumbh Mela after

attending the Pravasi BhartiyaDivas at Varanasi.

The Pravasi Bhartiyas willbe taken to New Delhi forRepublic Day celebrations.

He also said branding ofthe Kumbh Mela will be doneon 1,400 coaches of specialtrains and the originating trainsof the NCR by vinyl wrapping,

to take the message about thereligious fair across the coun-try. The coaches will havecolourful and attractive imagesof Kumbh Mela and landmarkstructures of Allahabad.

“The railways have givenspace for ‘Paint My City’ ini-tiative at its stations and resi-dential colonies which is anoth-

er big branding exercise for theKumbh Mela,” Malviya said.

He also said that to pro-mote local culture, the NorthCentral Zone Cultural Centre,under the Ministry of Culture,will be co-opted to put up stallsin passenger enclosures show-casing the art, culture and her-itage of Allahabad and sur-rounding areas.

“Four big enclosures tohouse about 10,000 pilgrimshave been constructed atAllahabad Junction railwaystation. These will have vend-ing stalls, water booths andticket counters, LCD TVs, pub-lic address system, CCTV cam-eras and separate toilets blocksfor men and women. Similarpassenger enclosures have alsobeen built at other stations,” thePRO said. PTI

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In an apparent effort to ensurehis party hog the entire cred-

it for launching a major devel-opment project ahead of the2019 Lok Sabha polls, ShivSena president UddhavThackeray on Sunday per-formed the “bhoomi puja” forMumbai’s ambitious �15,000crore 29.2-km coastal roadproject, amid a boycott of thefunction by his party’s seniorruling alliance partner BJP.

Maharashtra ChiefMinister Devendra Fadnaviswas conspicuous by his absenceat the foundation ceremonyheld at Amarsons garden nearthe Breach Candy Hospital insouth Mumbai, in the presenceof Mumbai Mayor VishwanathMahadeshwar, State IndustryMinister Subhash Desai, Sena’s

south Mumbai MP ArvindSawant, Uddhav’s wife RashmiThackeray and son Aditya.There were also no BJP func-tionaries at the function.

Sources in the ruling BJPsaid that the Sena had not invit-ed Fadnavis for the function.As a consequence, the BJPleaders and corporators stayed

away from the function.Sources in the Sena attrib-

uted the party’s decision not toinvite Fadnavis or any otherBJP leader for the coastal Road“bhoomi puja” to the BJP-ledMaharashtra Government’sdecision of not inviting Uddhavfor the “bhoomi puja” cere-mony of two metro projects tobe performed by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi atKalyan in the neighbouringThane district on December 18.

Ahead of Sunday’s function,a poster war had brokenbetween the Sena and BJP. Whilethe Sena on put up postersannouncing the “bhoomi puja”for the coastal road project, theBJP put up banners at the junc-tion of the Shiv Sena’s head-quarters “Sena Bhavan” thank-

ing Prime Minister Modi andChief Minister Fadnavis forissuing necessary permissionsfor taking up the coastal roadwork speedily. The BJP also putup posters along Lady JamshedjiRoad at Mahim in south-centralMumbai.

To be developed by theShiv Sena-ruled BMC andState-run Maharashtra StateRoad DevelopmentCorporation (BMC) in fourpackages, the coastal road willconnect Marine Lines in southMumbai with Kandivli in northMumbai. Along the 29.2 kmstretch, the coastal road willhave tunnels, bridges, inter-changes, elevated stretches androads on reclaimed land, alongwith pedestrian underpassesand foot over bridges (FoBs).

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Kolkata: The BangladeshGovernment, on the occasionof ‘Vijay Diwas’, on Sundayposthumously honoured 12Indian Armed Forces person-nel for sacrificing their livesduring the 1971 India-PakistanWar. Describing the honouringof the families of the martyredpersonnel as a great initiativeby the BangladeshGovernment, GOC-in-CEastern Command of theArmy Lt Gen M M Naravanesaid the process of honouringmartyred soldiers will contin-ue in the years to come and itwill strengthen the bondbetween the two countries.

“We were forced into thisconflict because of a humani-tarian crisis of gigantic pro-portion, resulting in the anni-hilation of Pakistan Army andthe birth of Bangladesh,”Naravane said.

“Very rarely it has hap-pened that when two countriesfight, a third country is born,”he said.

The BangladeshGovernment has decided tohonour over 1,600 IndianArmed Forces personnel wholaid down their lives in theeastern theatre during the 1971Indo-Pak War.

Vijay Diwas (victory day)is celebrated every year on thisday to mark India’s decisive winover Pakistan and the birth of

Bangladesh.The families of seven

Indian Army soldiers, two AirForce, two BSF personnel andone Navy personnel werehanded over ‘Sammanana’plaques by Bangladesh Ministerof Liberation War Affairs A KM Mozammel Haque at theIndian Army’s EasternCommand Headquarter FortWilliam here.

Prior to this, a wreath lay-ing ceremony was held at VijaySmarak to pay respects to themartyred soldiers.

Honouring soldiers whowere martyred in the war in theeastern theatre commenced in2017 with the Bangladeshprime minister giving awaythe plaques to families of sevensoldiers, he said.

The GOC-in-C of EasternCommand, the Flag Officer

C o m m a n d i n g - i n - C h i e f ,Eastern Naval Command, AirOfficer Commanding-in-Chief,Eastern Air Command, retiredArmed Forces officers andleaders of a Bangladeshi dele-gation visiting India for theoccasion, laid the wreaths at thememorial.

The Bangladesh delega-tion included 30‘Muktijoddhas’, who took partin the liberation war, and sixserving officers of Bangladesh’sArmed Forces.

Describing December 16 asthe most glorious day in the lifeof every Bengali, Haque saidthe fruits of freedom wereachieved after suffering a nine-month long genocide by thePakistani forces, wherein 30lakh people lost their lives andtwo lakh women were raped.

“The Indian soldiers foughtfor our cause and laid downtheir lives,” he said.

Following the wreath lay-ing ceremony, four Hawk train-er aircraft of the IAF per-formed a fly past over theVijay Smarak in a ‘MissingMan’ formation, which is anaircraft manoeuvre used tohonour the dead or missing.

This was followed by threehelicopters from the ArmyAviation Corps, which flew attree-top level, with one show-ering rose petals over theAssembly. PTI

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Kottayam: The Kerala Policeon Sunday denied entry tofour transgenders who came for a darshan to theSabarimala temple.

Speaking to the mediahere, Ananya, one of the four,said that they were subjected toridicule, threats and was askedto return by the police atErumely, the first base camp atthe temple town.

“We began our pilgrimageon Saturday from Ernakulamand the special branch wing ofthe police was witness to theprayers and all the ritual func-tions that we undertook. Butwhen we reached Erumely, the

top police official was very rudeand so was the female officials,”said Ananya.

“First they said, we will notbe allowed to visit the templein the ladies dress and they

asked us to change to a man’sattire. Initially, we refused andafter some time, we decided wewill change, but the policechanged their minds and askedus to return.” PTI

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Mumbai: Following the releaseof builder Samir Bhojwani,who had falsely claimed own-ership of the two plots onwhich Dilip Kumar’s bungalowwas built, the legendary actor’swife Saira Banu Khan hasrequested to meet PrimeMinister Narendra Modi todiscuss the issue.

The 96-year-old actor’sbungalow is located in theupscale Pali Hill area of Bandra.

On Sunday, Banu’s requestwas shared on Kumar’s officialTwitter account.

“Request from Saira BanuKhan: The Hon’ble@PMOIndia Shri @naren-dramodi Sir, Land Mafia SamirBhojwani released from jail. Noaction taken despite assur-ances by CM @Dev_Fadnavis.Padma Vibhushit betrayed,

threatened by money and mus-cle power. Request meetingwith you in #Mumbai,” thetweet read.

Earlier this year Banu hadapproached police and lodged acomplaint against Bhojwani. InJanuary, the Economic OffencesWing (EOW) of the MumbaiPolice had registered a case ofcheating against the builder forallegedly trying to grab thebungalow of the veteran actor.

The police officials sus-pected that Bhojwani forgedcertain documents to grab theproperty. After the offence wasregistered, a team of EOWsleuths raided Bhojwani’s res-idence in Bandra from wherethey seized weapons, includingknives and daggers. Bhojwaniwas arrested by EOW in Aprilthis year. PTI

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Mining company VedantaLtd on Saturday wel-

comed the National GreenTribunal order to resumeoperations at the company’sfacility in Thoothukudi inTamil Nadu, and said thoseaffected by the plant’s closurewill get back their source oflivelihood.

In a statement issued lateSaturday, Vedanta Ltd’s SterliteCopper Plant, Chief Executive Officer, P Ramnathsaid, “We welcome the ordergiven by the National GreenTribunal on allowing us toresume operations of our copper smelter at

Thoothukudi”. “We are happy that all

those affected by the closurewill get back their source oflivelihood and the town ofThoothukudi will revert backto normalcy,” he said in thestatement.

Stating that the companyhad been operating smelter byadapting “best practices” fol-lowed globally, the officialnoted, “We thank the peopleof Thoothukudi for the faithreposed in us and for theirsupport”.

“We will continue to workfor the welfare of the commu-nities around the region andremain committed to grow sustainably along with

the people of Thoothukudi,”he said.

The National GreenTribunal on Saturday set asidethe Tamil Nadu Governmentorder for closure of VedantaLtd’s sterlite copper plant atTuticorin, which was at thecentre of massive protests overalleged pollution, saying itwas “non-sustainable” and“unjustified”.

The Tamil NaduGovernment, meanwhile, said it would challenge in theSupreme Court the NGTorder setting aside the closure of the Vedanta Ltd’sSterlite Copper plant inTuticorin in the wake ofprotests by locals.

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Bengaluru: At least six peoplewere killed in an explosion ina boiler at a sugar factory inBagalkot district of Karnatakaon Sunday.

“Six people have died onthe spot due to the blast in theboiler of the sugar factory inKulali village,” a police controlroom official told IANS fromMudhol, about 550 km north-west of Bengaluru.

At least three others wereinjured in the blast, the officialadded. Chief Minister H.D.Kumaraswamy directed dis-trict officials to shift the injuredto hospitals immediately andasked for the site to be inspect-ed to ascertain the cause of theexplosion. “The death of the sixpeople in the blast in the sugarfactory is saddening. Bagalkotdistrict officials have been

directed to conduct a probe andsubmit a report. The State gov-ernment will provide compen-sation to the deceased’s kin,” astatement from the ChiefMinister’s Office said.

The sugar factory is run bythe Nirani Group — owned bythe Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)lawmaker from the state,Murugesh Nirani, and hisbrothers. PTI

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People will soon be able tomake calls and access

internet through their phonesduring air travel and shipvoyage within Indian territo-ry as the Government hasnotified rules for providingsuch services.

Indian and foreign air-lines and shipping companiesoperating in the country canprovide in-flight and maritimevoice and data services in part-nership with a valid Indiantelecom licence holder.

“These rules may be calledthe Flight and MaritimeConnectivity Rules, 2018. Theyshall come into force on the

date of their publication in theOfficial Gazette,” the notifica-tion dated December 14 said.

The in-flight and mar-itime connectivity (IFMC) canbe provided using telecomnetworks on ground as well asusing satellites.

The services can be pro-vided by a valid telecomlicence holder in Indiathrough domestic and foreignsatellites having permissionof the Department of Space, itsaid.

“In case of using satellitesystem for providing IFMC,the telegraph message shall bepassed through the satellitegateway earth station locatedwithin India...And such satel-

lite gateway earth stations shallbe interconnected with theNLD (national long distance)or access service or ISPlicensee’s network for furtherdelivery of service,” the notifi-cation said.

The IFMC services will beactivated once the aircraftattains a minimum height of3,000 metres in Indian airspaceto avoid interference with ter-restrial mobile networks.

The IFMC licences will begranted against annual fee ofRe 1 for a period of 10 yearsand the permit holder willhave to pay licence fees andspectrum charges based onrevenue earned from providingservices.

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An average Indian house-hold is saving up to �320

every month on purchase ofcommonly used goods includ-ing cereals, edible oil and cos-metics post GST implementa-tion, a finance ministry sourcesaid citing an analysis of con-sumer expenditure data.

The Government rolledout the Goods and Services Tax(GST) on July 1, 2017, amal-gamating 17 different centraland state taxes including exciseduty and sales tax or VAT.

The GST not just madeIndia one market by levyinguniform tax rates on goods andservices, it also did away withtax-on-tax prevalent in theprevious system.

Also, GST rates have beenlowered on an array of com-monly used goods and serviceswhich resulted in monthly sav-ings for consumers, the sourcesaid.

An analysis of householdexpenditure pre and post GSTrollout shows tax rates havecome down on as many as 83items including on food andbeverages as well as daily usegoods like hair oil, toothpaste,soap, washing powder andfootwear.

If a household spends�8,400 a month post GST on 10goods — cereals, edible oil,sugar, chocolates, namkeenand sweets, cosmetics and toi-letries, washing powder, tiles,furniture and coir productsand other household products— its monthly savings wouldcome to �320, the source saidreferring to the expenditureanalysis.

On a monthly spending of�8,400 on these regular useitems, the tax paid underGST is �510. This comparesto �830 tax charged previ-ously, resulting in a saving of�320.

In the old system, the cen-tral Government would levyexcise duty when a good is pro-duced in a factory and the StateGovernments would chargeVAT on top of this. This meantthat consumer not just paidVAT on the basic price of thegood but also on the exciseduty charged by the centre.

With the introduction ofthe new indirect tax, that pat-tern has been eliminated. TheGST is levied at the consump-tion end or when the final con-sumer buys the product orservice.

The source said an array ofgoods including milk powder,

curd, buttermilk, spices, wheat,rice, nutrition drinks likeHorlicks/Bournvita, pasta, idlidosa batter and mineral waterare taxed at lesser rate underthe GST than previously.

Household goods of dailyuse like curry paste, toothpowder and paste, hair oil,soap, cosmetics and perfumes,detergents, butter bans, sanitaryware and footwear too attractlesser tax now.

The source said that wheatand rice have been exemptfrom tax under the GST asagainst 2.50-2.75 per cent taxincidence previously. Similarly,tax on milk power is down to5 per cent from previous 6 percent.

Similarly, sugar confec-tionary is taxed at 18 per centpost GST, as against 21 per centin the earlier indirect taxregime.

The tax rate on sugar andedible oil has come down to 5per cent under the new tax sys-tem, from 6 per cent earlier.Also namkeens and sweets arenow taxed at 5 per cent, asagainst 12 per cent/7 per centearlier.

Also tax rate on washingpowder and tiles has comedown to 18 per cent from 28per cent earlier.

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Housing sales are estimatedto have increased by 25

per cent this year at 3.1 lakhunits in nine major cities of thecountry, driven by improveddemand especially for afford-able homes, according toPropTiger.Com.

The nine cities tracked byNews Corp-backed PropTigerare — Mumbai, Pune, Noida,Gurgaon, Bengaluru, Chennai,Hyderabad, Kolkata andAhmedabad.

Last year, housing saleswere hit due to lingeringadverse impact of note ban, thenew realty law RERA thatcame into effect from May2017 and the GST implemen-tation.

“The downslide in homesale numbers has been arrest-ed and the sector has movedout of bottom of sales cycle.Since building within the dead-line is mandatory under thereal estate law, completion rateof housing projects hasimproved, too,” it said in a year-ly-round up for the housingmarket.

On new supply, the realtyportal said that only 1.9 lakhnew units were launched in2018, down 22 per cent fromthe previous year.

The developers exercisedcaution in launching new pro-jects as they have to strictly fol-low deadlines under the pro-visions of the new real estatelaw RERA. Liquidity crunchand unsold stocks also restrict-

ed new supply.As per data, the Mumbai

Metropolitan Region (MMR)alone will sell more than 1lakh units in 2018, 34 per centhigher than the previous year.Pune is also reporting anincrease of 47 per cent in salesin 2018 over the previousyear.

Both the cities benefitedfrom a proactive real estate reg-ulator, it added.

Southern cities also record-ed increase in sales volumecompared to previous year. Innorth, Noida has shownimprovement in sales on theback of price cut undertaken bymost developers.

“Combination of drop innew launches and improve-ment in sales has broughtdown inventory overhang tothe lowest in the past fiveyears. Currently, we have only29 months of unsold invento-ry at aggregate level of the ninecities.

“There will be over 7.5 lakhapartment and villa propertiesavailable for sale with devel-opers in the top 9 cities as onDecember 2018. Unsold inven-tory decreased by 14 per centin 2018 as compared to 2017,”PropTiger said.

The company noted thatthe Indian real estate sectorhas undergone a massivetransformation in the pasttwo years on the policy front.2018 has been the year ofimplementation and adapta-tion by the stakeholders ofthese policy changes.

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Industry body Nasscom hascollaborated with the Indian

Institute of Technology, Madrasfor its FutureSkills Platformthat is targeted at re-skilling/upskilling four mil-lion people on digital skills.

Under its FutureSkillsPlatform, Nasscom aims to re-skill/upskill four million peo-ple from the IT-ITeS industry,students entering the workforceand employees of other indus-tries/government on digitalskills.

“The partnership (withIIT-Madras) will facilitate thebuilding of an able workforceto support the industry andother stakeholders. This willensure that there is plenty oftrained manpower for the jobsbeing created in the evolvingecosystem,” Nasscom said in astatement.

The partnership will bedirectly with the Sector SkillsCouncil (SSC) which is theeducation and skill develop-ment initiative of Nasscom.

The SSC and IIT Madraswill work towards building askills academy and establish aprogram with extensive cours-es and training programmesto facilitate skill building inthe institution, the statementsaid.

This partnership will helpNasscom build a future-readyworkforce, ready to work withemerging technologies and cut-ting-edge skills in IT and con-tribute meaningfully to thetech sector, he added.

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Nikos Kardassis, the for-mer CEO of Jet Airways,

who made a come back to thecarrier in an advisory role andwas tasked to turnaround thecash-strapped airline, has onceagain parted ways with it, asource said.

The Greek-American avi-ation veteran in his third comeback to the Naresh Goyal-con-trolled Jet Airways in May thisyear was roped-in to revive thefortunes of the full service car-rier following its dismal finan-cial performance since Januarythis year.

“Kardassis, whom Goyalroped-in to help him in the air-line’s turnaround plan, hadgone on leave to his native placein November but after that hedid not return,” said a sourceprivy to the development.

The former chief executiveparted ways with the airlineafter Goyal initiated discussionswith his investment partnerEtihad Airways for furtherstake sale to garner funds, saidanother source.

Jet Airways did not

respond to queries on theissue.

Amid persisting financialturbulence, the airline has beenimplementing a turnaroundplan, which includes both costsaving and revenue enhance-ment.

With three back-to-backquarterly losses and a net debtof �8,052 crore as onSeptember 30, the airline is alsoworking on ways to raise fundsand reduce costs.

The UAE national carrierEtihad Airways holds 24 percent stake in Jet Airways, whichit acquired in 2013.

“Kardassis had in 2013also quit the airline as its chiefexecutive officer as he waslargely kept out of discussionson the deal with Etihad at thattime,” said the source close tothe development.

Goyal had broughtKardassis on board to help himand the senior management oncost-saving and productivityimprovements, in the after-math of �636.45 crore loss inFY 18, with March quarter lossalone of a massive �1,036crore.

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The Government is planning tolaunch broadband services readiness

index of states based on parameters likeinfrastructure, approval processes andutilisation of high speed Internet, a toptelecom department off icial saidSunday.

“According to a study by ICRIER (aresearch firm), $100 billion investmentwill have seven-fold multiplier effect onGDP. There is a need of a national mis-sion to make this happen. We are goingto launch broadband readiness index forstates which will be vital for investments,”Telecom Secretary Aruna Sundararajantold.

She said the Ministry of Electronicsand IT has also shown interest in statesreadiness index and want to expand itfurther.

The telecom ministry will hold firstworkshop on implementation of theNational Digital Communications Policy(NDCP) which envisages $100 billioninvestment in telecom sector by 2022,broadband connectivity at 50 megabit persecond speed to every citizen, telecomconnectivity at every corner of India andcreating 40 lakh jobs.

“This is first preparatory nationalworkshop on implementation of NDCPin which 25 states have confirmed to par-ticipate. Here we will launch National

Broadband Mission to achieve objectiveof broadband for all,” Sundararajan said.

Industry leaders and associationswill discuss at the NDCP workshopissues they are facing in states especial-ly in rolling out telecom infrastructurewhich in turn impact investments.

“We want to ensure that 5G is notlimited to urban areas. It should reachrural areas. For this, we have to work withstates to ensure that there is 100 per centpenetration of optical fibre cables.Without massive OFC penetration, 5Gservices will not expand. States have toprovide smooth right of way permis-sions,” Sundararajan said.

5G networks are said to providebroadband speed of 1 Gbps.Theoretically, a high definition 2-hourvideo can be downloaded in 5 seconds atthis speed.

The telecom secretary said there is aneed to increase mobile tower base bythree times and OFC rollout by four-foldsto achieve ‘broadband for all’ targetunder the National Broadband Mission.

“We have to roll out wifi services inrural and urban areas. To deliver bene-fit of NDCP to people and create jobs,states have to come forward. We will docomparative evaluation of all states andhighlight best policies for other states toadopt it,” Sundararajan said.

The telecom ministry has floated ten-der to roll out 10 lakh wifi hotspot across

all 2.5 lakh village panchayats. At present, 1.21 lakh panchayats are

ready with broadband services infra-structure. The DoT has awarded task toroll out wifi services in 62,0000 pan-chayats to TelecommunicationsConsultants India Limited (TCIL) and isworking with ITI for setting up wifi hotp-sots in other panchayats.

“Broadband services have been start-ed in all panchayats covered under Phase1. Now we are looking at utilisation ofbroadband where states need to come for-ward and identify institutions like school,police stations etc that are to be con-nected with wifi,” Sundararajan said.

She said states have to ensure thatthere is enough electronic equipmentavailable at their institutions to start usingBharatNet broadband network for vari-ous services like tele-medicine, e-health,e-education etc.

“DoT is working to create state-of-the-art telecom infrastructure in nextfour years and we want states to draw aroad map to start using it. At the work-shop, we will work on yearly targets thatStates need to achieve,” Sundararajansaid.

She said the telecom ministry willdiscuss with states usage of broadbandfor development at aspirational dis-tricts, enhancing connectivity in Naxal-affected areas, north eastern states andislands.

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Ahead of the planned specialaudit of telecom operators,

industry body COAI hasfavoured a single audit exercisethat meets the requirements ofmultiple stakeholders like thetelecom department and sectorregulator Trai.

“The DoT is entitled to doaudits and we can’t argue withthat. But can we get to a pointwhere a single audit exercise isconducted by one entity that isagreed to by all parties as com-petent, to do detailed checksrequired by various stakehold-ers like CAG, telecom depart-ment and Trai,” CellularOperators Association of India(COAI) Director GeneralRajan Mathews said.

Mathews said the author-ities that require audits to beconducted can spell out theirrequirements and the detailsthey need, to the firm selectedfrom the pre-qualified list.

The firm that audits canthen issue reports based onthe individual specificationsof various agencies thatrequire such audits to be con-ducted.

“Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai), forinstance, requires billing auditto be conducted and that tiesalso into the revenues (revenueaspect is something that gov-ernment’s audit will dwell intoas well) ...These are inter-twined issues and a singleaudit makes sense,” Mathewssaid.

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As many as 369 infrastruc-ture projects, each worth

�150 crore or above, haveshown cost overruns to thetune of over �3.58 lakh croreowing to delays and other rea-sons, a report said.

The Ministry of Statisticsand ProgrammeImplementation monitorsinfrastructure projects worth�150 crore and above.

“Total original cost ofimplementation of the 1420projects was �18,05,667.72crore and their anticipatedcompletion cost is likely to be�21,63,672.09 crore, whichreflects overall cost overruns of�3,58,004.37 crore (19.83% oforiginal cost),” the ministry’slatest report for September2018 said.

Of these 1,420 projects,369 reported cost overrunsand 366 time escalation.

According to the report,the expenditure incurred onthese projects

till September 2018 is�7,83,503 crore, which is 36.21per cent of the anticipated costof the projects.

However, it said the num-ber of delayed projects decreas-es to 300 if delay is calculatedon the basis of latest scheduleof completion.

For 651 projects, neitherthe year of commissioning northe tentative gestation periodhas been reported. Out of 366delayed projects, 100 haveoverall delay in the range of 1to 12 months, 69 have 13 to 24months, 91 projects reflectdelay of 25 to 60 months and106 projects show 61 monthsand above delay.

It also said the averagetime overrun in these 366delayed projects is 45.95

months.The brief reasons for time

overruns as reported by variousproject implementing agenciesare delays in land acquisition,forest clearance and supply ofequipment.

Besides, there are otherreasons like fund constraints,geological surprises, geo-min-ing conditions, slow progressin civil works, shortage oflabour, inadequate mobilisa-tion by the contractor, Maoistproblems, court cases, con-tractual issues, ROU/ROW(right of use/right of way)problems, law and order situ-ation, among others.

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As many as 52 projects forrail connectivity to ports

are underway entailing aninvestment of �44,605 crore,an official said Sunday.

T h e s e p r o j e c t s a r ebeing undertaken by theIn d i a n Po r t R a i lCorporation Ltd (IPRCL)a n d t h e M i n i s t r y o fRailways.

IPRCL has taken up 32projects worth �18,253 croreacross nine major ports, ofwhich eight projects worth�175 crore have been com-pleted, a Shipping Ministryofficial said.

The official said in addi-tion, 23 rail connectivityprojects worth �24,877 croreidentified under Sagarmalahave being taken up by theMinistry of Railways, out ofwhich seven projects entail-ing �2,491 crore investmenthave been completed.

Sagarmala is a port-leddevelopment programme ofthe country which seeks toreduce logistics cost for bothoverseas and domestic trade.

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The revenue departmenthas imposed anti-dump-

ing duty for five years on aChinese chemical used inmaking detergents to guarddomestic players from cheapimports from the neighbour-ing country.

The levy on ‘Zeolite 4A’[Detergent grade] has beenimposed on recommendationsof Directorate General ofTrade Remedies (DGTR) afterconducting a probe in thisregard.

The duty in the range of$163.90-207.72 per tonne ofthe chemical will remain inforce for five years (unlessrevoked, superseded oramended earlier), said theCentral Board of IndirectTaxes and Customs (CBIC) ina notification.

DGTR, the investigationarm of the commerce min-istry, had conducted the probeon complaint of Gujarat CredoMineral Industries andChemicals India which allegedinjury to the domestic indus-try on account of the cheapimport from China.

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Cristiano Ronaldo scoredfrom the spot as Juventus

saw off city rivals Torino 1-0to hammer home their dom-ination in Serie A.

Juventus travelled to theStadio Olimpico after theiryear-long unbeaten recordaway from home ended witha shock 2-1 ChampionsLeague defeat by Young Boysin Bern.

But Ronaldo slotted in his 11thleague goal this season, and 5,000th forJuventus in Serie A, after 70 minutesafter Torino goalkeeper Salvador Ichazofouled Mario Mandzukic.

Juvenuts are now 11 points ahead of sec-ond-placed Napoli, who travel to Cagliarion Sunday.

Inter Milan are third, 14 points behindthe leaders, after Mauro Icardi's 76th-minute penalty sealed a 1-0 win overUdinese on Saturday.

Torino proved dangerous for the cham-

pions with Andrea Belottiforcing a one-handed savefrom Juventus goalkeeperMattia Perin, with ArmandoIzzo nodding over after 51minutes.

But a poor backpass fromSimone Zaza to Ichazo saw theTorino goalkeeper foulMandzukic and five-timeBallon d'Or winner Ronaldomade no mistake from thespot.

The Portuguese is nowlevel with Serie A's top scorer KrzysztofPiatek of Genoa on 11 goals.

It was the seventh straight leaguewin for unbeaten Juventus since beingheld by Genoa.

Earlier, captain Icardi got Inter back towinning ways with a 1-0 victory overUdinese. Icardi slotted in after 76 minutesat the San Siro with a cheeky 'Panenka' intothe centre of goal after a penalty was award-ed for a Seko Fofano handball.

It was the 25-year-old's ninth leaguegoal this season and 120th for the club.

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Karim Benzema shot Real Madrid towithin two points of La Liga lead-

ers Barcelona with the winner in ascrappy 1-0 win over Rayo Vallecano,while countryman Antoine Griezmannfired a brace in a 3-2 win over RealValladolid to take Atletico Madrid levelwith Barca.

Benzema's 13th-minute strike wasenough for Real to move up to thirdon 29 points, two behind Barca, whotravel to Levante on Sunday night, andsecond-placed Atletico.

However they were made to sweatfor the victory points by plucky Rayo,who are second-from-bottom butwould have snatched a point in stop-page time had Sergio Ramos notcleared the second of Thibaut Courtois'double saves, from Alex Alegria andEmiliano Velazquez, off the line.

Little was seen from Real stars suchas Luka Modric, who was presentedwith his Ballon d'Or ahead of the matchat the Santiago Bernabeu, and fansshowed their displeasure at the end ofan uninspiring contest.

Earlier, Griezmann struck the win-

ner for Diego Simeone's Atleti 10minutes from the end after Valladolidhad fought back from a two goal half-time deficit.

The Frenchman had played a keyrole in building the early lead. The

World Cup winner laid on NikolaKalinic's second goal of the season inthe 26th minute with a superb throughball, then put his side two up on thestroke of half-time.

After Kiko Olivas handledGriezmann's long-rangeshot, and refereeUndiano Mallencopointed to the spot aftera video review, theFrenchman slottedhome a neat penalty.

The hosts came roaring back in thesecond half, twice forcing fine savesfrom Jan Oblak before FernandoCalero scored for the hosts from a56th-minute corner.

Saul Niguez then inadvertentlypushed Enes Unal's header into hisown net nine minutes later, andValladolid pushed for victory.

However Griezmann stole thethree points in a frantic finale, coolysteering home the winner after ascramble in the box following a corner.

On Sunday, Sevilla pulled level onpoints with Barcelona and AtleticoMadrid atop the Spanish league afterbeating Girona 2-0 at home.

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Agritty Belgium defeatedformer champions theNetherlands in sudden

death in a thrilling summit clashto win their maiden men's hock-ey World Cup title at the KalingaStadium here on Sunday.

Olympic Silver medallistBelgium created history by ekingout a 3-2 win in the penaltyshoot-out after the final match ofthe game's showpiece eventended in a goalless draw.

It was a great day forBelgium hockey as the countryregistered its second biggestinternational title after theOlympics Silver in Rio in 2016.

In the last edition of theWorld Cup at The Hague inNetherlands, Belgium had fin-ished fifth.

The Netherlands, on theother hand, failed to matchPakistan's record of a fourthworld title for the second con-secutive edition. The Dutch hadfinished runners-up to Australiafour years ago in front of theirhome crowd. They last won aWorld Cup title way back in 1998in Utrecht.

Incidentally, it was theNetherlands' second consecu-tive match that went to shoot-outin the tournament after their vic-tory over Australia in the semi-finals on Saturday.

In Sunday's shoot-out,Belgium goalkeeper VincentVanasch outmatched his Dutchcounterpart Pirmin Blaak bymaking four saves to hand hisside their maiden World Cuptitle.

There was hardly anything toseparate the two sides in theshoot-out as they were levelled 2-2 after five tries. While JeroenHertzberger and Jonas de Geusscored for Netherlands, Florentvan Aubel and Victor Wegnezwere on target for Belgium.

However, the shoot-out wasnot without drama as Belgiumneeded Arthur de Sloover toscore from their fifth and lastattempt to win the game and hedid so, sending the Red Lions

bench into wild celebrations.But the Dutch goalkeeper

asked for a referral for a foot andthe goal was later withdrawnafter TV replays showed the ballindeed touch De Sloover's feetwhile he was pushing it into thenet past Blaak.

The reversal meant that thematch went into sudden deathand Van Aubel was given theresponsibility by Belgium to take

the f irstopportunity

and he duly con-verted it.

It was then Netherlands' turnto score and continue the suddendeath but Hertzberger falteredthis time as Belgium goalkeeperVanasch came up with anotherbrilliant save to hand his side thebiggest win of their careers.

The title clash, which waswitnessed by none other thancricket legend Sachin Tendulkarand Odisha Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik, turned out to bea fierce contest between the twoEuropean sides.

While the Netherlands tookthe early initiative and attackedcontinuously in the first twoquarters, Belgium made a strongcomeback after the change ofends.

Belgium, though, had thefirst chance but Tom Boon'sdeflection in the second minutewent just wide. Minutes later,Hertzberger's reverse struck theside-netting.

It was a midfield slugfestbetween the two teams as bothcreated chances but lacked thefinal touch inside the oppositioncircle.

The Netherlands had twopenalty corners in the match butthe Red Lions defended stoutlyto deny them any inroads.

Belgium, on the other hand,failed to secure a single penaltycorner in the game.

Two minutes after half time,Belgium skipper Thomas Briels'shot was saved by Dutch goalie

Blaak.Belgium pressed hard in the

final 10 minutes of the game,putting relentless pressure on theDutch defence but a break-through eluded them.

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Last edition champions Australiasecured a consolation Bronze medal

after mauling England 8-1 at the at theKalinga Stadium on Sunday.

Tom Craig (9th, 19th, 34th minute)scored a hat-trick while Jeremy Hayward(57th, 60th) struck twice for Australia inthe Bronze medal play-off. Blake Govers(8th), Trent Mitton (32nd) and TimBrand (34th) were the other goal gettersfor Australia.

World number 7 England's lonegoal in the lop-sided match came fromthe stick of Barry Middleton in the 45thminute.

This was Australia's fifth Bronzemedal in the history of the tournament.The last time the Kookaburras had to besatisfied with a third-place finish wasway back in 1994 in front of their homecrowd in Sydney.

The victory also enabled Australia tofurther increase their head-to-headrecord against England.

After sitting back in the initial min-utes, Australia secured their first penal-ty corner in the sixth minute but Govers'flick was deflected well over the post.

However, it did not take long forGovers to register his name in thescoresheet. He scored his seventh goal ofthe tournament with a reverse hit afterreceiving a through ball.

A minute later, the Kookaburras

doubled their lead when Craig scoredfrom close range with a rebound fromBrand's pass after his initial try was savedby England goalkeeper Harry Gibson.

Australia made the scoreline 3-0 intheir favour four minutes into the sec-ond quarter through another fine fieldgoal by Craig, following a brilliant link-up play with Jake Harvie and Govers.

Australia went into the half timebreak with a comfortable 3-0 lead.

Mitton then extended Australia'slead in the 32nd minute with a reboundafter Hayward's try from a penalty cor-ner was saved by Gibson.

Before England could settle downfrom the setback, Australia pumped intwo more goals within a minute to makethe contest a completely one-sidedaffair.

First, Brand finished off a fineMitton pass for the fifth goal and thenCraig got the sixth one for Australia andcompleted his hat-trick with anotherfield strike.

England scored a consolation goaljust seconds before the end of thirdquarter with Middleton finishing off intoan empty goal from a Phil Roper pass.

Australia scored their seventh goalin the 57th minute when Haywardconverted a penalty corner. Australiathen secured back-to-back penalty cor-ners in the final minute, the second ofwhich was converted by Hayward to seala convincing win.

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Charlie Austin shatteredArsenal's 22-game unbeaten

run as the Southampton strikerpunished a howler from Gunnersgoalkeeper Bernd Leno to seal ashock 3-2 win on Sunday.

Austin settled a thrillingPremier League clash at St Mary'swhen he headed home with justfive minutes left after Leno mis-judged Shane Long's cross.

Southampton had twicetaken the lead through DannyIngs, only for HenrikhMkhitaryan's brace to drawArsenal level on each occasion.

Leno's mistake and Austin's

predatory finish handed Arsenaltheir first defeat in 15 leaguegames and brought a stunninghalt to their longest unbeaten runin all competitions since 2007.

Unai Emery's fifth placedteam hadn't lost since a 3-2defeat at Chelsea in August andthe north Londoners' first setbacksince the summer leaves themtwo points behind the fourthplaced Blues, who won atBrighton on Sunday.

While it was a bitter after-noon for Arsenal, Southampton'sfirst win in 15 matches in allcompetitions was cause for muchcelebration.

Southampton manager Ralph

Hasenhuttl, taking charge ofhis first home game, danceda jubilant jig on the pitch atfull-time after securing themaiden victory of hisreign.Chelsea put a week ofnegative headlines for the behav-

iour of their fans behindthem on the field thanks toan inspired Eden Hazard ina 2-1 victory at Brighton onSunday.

The Belgian providedhis ninth assist of the season for

Pedro Rodriguez to open thescoring and then chalked up hisninth goal of the campaign, butfirst in 13 games for club andcountry.

However, Chelsea failed tobuild on their 2-0 lead andendured a nervous finale afterSolly March pulled one backwith his first goal of the cam-paign.

Victory saw Chelsea open upa three-point lead over Arsenal infourth and close back to withinseven points of leadersManchester City.

Brighton had only previous-ly been beaten at home byTottenham Hotspur this season.

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Arelieved P V Sindhu let out a joyousscream when she finally laid herhands on a Gold medal by claiming

the World Tour Finals with a win over 2017world champion Nozomi Okuhara here onSunday.

With the straight-game victory, com-ing after seven straight finals losses, Sindhubecame the first Indian to achieve the feat.

Playing her third successive season-ending finale, Sindhu, who had lost in thesummit clash to another Japanese, AkaneYamaguchi, to settle for a Silver in the lastedition, prevailed 21-19, 21-17 in a matchthat lasted an hour and two minutes.

This was her career's 14th title but theyear's first. Prior to this in 2018, she has wonSilver at the World Championships, AsianGames, Commonwealth Games, ThailandOpen and India Open.

Dubbed a bridesmaid after fallingshort of Gold on a number of occasions,Sindhu finally broke her jinx, screamed andsunk to her knees.

Saina Nehwal had reached the finals of2011 World Super Series Finals, while JwalaGutta and V Diju finished runners up at the2009 edition.

Sindhu, an Olympic and WorldChampionship Silver medallist, was com-posed and held her nerves at the crucialmoments to stay a step ahead of theJapanese through the match.

F��1��G��H�P V Sindhu on Sunday hoped no one

will ever question her ability to win big titles,relieved at breaking the finals jinx with ahistoric triumph at the World Tour Finals.

After losing seven successive summitclashes, Sindhu finally settled her finalsblues to lift the prestigious season-endingtrophy.

"I feel really happy. I have no wordsbecause it is my first win this year after com-ing and losing in the finals, so it is memo-rable. The year has ended on a beautifulnote," said Sindhu, who won Silvers at theCommonwealth Games, Asian Games andWorld Championships this year.

"Somewhere every time people havebeen asking me the same question. I hopethe question won't again come to me, ask-ing why all the time coming to the finals Ilose. I think I can say now that I won Goldand I am really very proud."

Her mentor and chief India coachPullela Gopichand also stressed on theimportance of Sindhu crossing the final hur-dle.

"There has been a lot of talk of her los-ing the finals and I think that at least, not

for anybody else but for Sindhu'smind, I think it is important she wonin the final with a comprehensive bigwin," he said.

"People have been waiting forit and it is great to have this win atthe end of the year."

Talking about her title win, worldnumber six Sindhu said: "The last to lastyear I lost in semifinal and last year I fin-ished runners up. This time I am the win-ner, so it is a beautiful tournament for me

as I won all matches in the leaguestages and also the semifinals andfinals.

"I would definitely enjoy themoment as I am here. Next we havethe Indian league (Premier bad-

minton League), so I will go directly forthat and I hope do well there so that wouldbe all for the year."

Sindhu, who had lost in the finals inthe last edition, said she sometimes lostfocus during the title clash.

"It was a good match. Overall there wasa lot of rallies. Sometimes I was remem-bering about the last final but I tried tofocus again on the match," she said.

"Whenever I play against Okuhara orYamaguchi I never think it would be easy.I know every time it would be tough.Today also the rallies were 30-40 strokes,but I gave my 100 percent and I won.Okuhara also played very well."

Asked about her targets for next year,Sindhu said: "Next year it will be Olympicqualification year and we have to keep our-self fit and strategies which tournamentsto play and we will have Malaysia andIndonesia coming up next year."

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Captain Virat Kohli became the sec-ond fastest to reach 25 Test centuries

before Indian pacers made Australialabour for an overall 175-run lead,leaving the second match evenly poisedon Sunday.

Usman Khawaja scored an unbeat-en 41 runs as Australia reached 132 forfour at stumps on day three. Tim Paine(8 not out) was keeping company at theother end.

Earlier, the Indian skipper scored123 runs off 257 balls. It was his sixthTest hundred on Australian soil, joiningboyhood hero Sachin Tendulkar, and hebecame the second-quickest batsman inTest history to score 25 Test hundreds(in 127 innings) after Sir DonaldBradman's 68 innings.

Post tea, Aaron Finch (25 retdhurt) didn't come out to bat after beinghit by Mohammed Shami (2-23) in the13th over. He retired hurt but scanscleared him of serious damage on hisright hand's index finger.

It was a fiery spell of fast bowlingfrom the Indian pacers. Marcus Harris(20) too had been hit on the helmet ear-lier in the eighth over off Jasprit Bumrah(1-25).

The opener, dropped on 1 off IshantSharma (1-33) at first slip by CheteshwarPujara, added 26 runs with Khawaja.

Harris was bowled off Bumrah in

the 18th over, attempting to leave theball, assuming it would move away onlyfor it to crash into the stumps. Itbecame two wickets in four overs asShaun Marsh (5) was caught behind offShami.

Australia's lead had barely crossed100 at that stage, as Khawaja and PeterHandscomb (13) put on 21 runs. Therewas a lot of chatter in the middle whilethe latter was at the crease, owing to con-troversy over Virat Kohli's dismissal ear-lier in the day. Ishant trapped him lbwin the 26th over as Australia were

reduced to 85 for three. The big part-nerships weren't coming as Khawaja andTravis Head (19) added another 35 runs,helping the hosts cross 100 in the 30thover.

Head threw it away just like he didin the first innings, holing out to thirdman off Shami. Only Khawaja stood tallamong the regular wickets and anchoredthe Australian innings.

Earlier, India lost their last six wick-ets for 60 runs to hand Australia theadvantage.

In the morning session, Kohli scored

a masterful hundred as India reached252 for seven at lunch.

From overnight 172 for three, Indiamade a torrid start to the day as AjinkyaRahane (51) was caught behind off Lyonon the fourth ball of the first over.

Hanuma Vihari (20) though was upto the task of batting out the next pas-sage of play, as he put on 50 runs withthe skipper for the fifth wicket.

He soaked up pressure at one end,even if not scoring too many runs, whileKohli went about his business at theother end as India garnered 42 runs in

the first hour of play.In doing so, Kohli took India past

200 in the 80th over, and then reachedhis hundred off 214 balls.

This was also his 34th hundred asIndian skipper across formats, secondonly to Ricky Ponting's 41 centuries asAustralian captain.

The celebrations though were cutshort as Australia used the second newball to good effect with Vihari caughtbehind off Josh Hazlewood (2-66) in the86th over.

Kohli fell before lunch, edging PatCummins (1-60) to second slip whereHandscomb just got his fingers under theball. TV replays were not sufficientenough to overturn the on-field umpire'ssoft signal of dismissal.

The visitors lost another wicket inthis short passage as Mohammed Shami(0), again batting ahead of Ishant, edgedLyon behind first ball.

Post lunch, India lost their last threewickets for 31 runs and were bowled outfor 283 runs in their first innings.Nathan Lyon (5-67) took his 14th five-wicket haul in Test cricket as Australiatook a 43-run lead in the first innings.

Post lunch, India's first inningslasted only another 12.3 overs as thelengthy tail refused to wag for the sec-ond time this series.

In doing so, Lyon equalled MuttiahMuralitharan with seven five-wickethauls against India in Test cricket.

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Opener Tom Latham's unbeaten cen-tury put New Zealand in charge of

the first Test against Sri Lanka inWellington on Sunday, as the Black Capsraced past the tourists' first-innings totaland looked to build an imposing lead.

Latham was 121 not out at stumps onday two with New Zealand cruising at 311for two in reply to Sri Lanka's modest282.

It was a frustrating day for SriLanka's bowlers on Basin Reserve pitchthat transformed into a batters' paradiseafter wreaking havoc during the tourists'innings on day one.

Black Caps skipper Kane Williamsonnarrowly missed out on his own centu-ry, falling for 91, and all New Zealand'sbatsmen got good starts, with Jeet Ravalmaking 43 and Ross Taylor not out on 50.

While the Sri Lanka attack workedhard, they could not build pressure andthe two New Zealand wickets that fellwere the result of rash shots from Ravaland Williamson. That was not an issuefor Latham, who meticulously crafted hisseventh Test century from 219 balls andnever looked rattled at the crease.

He combined with Williamson for a162-run partnership, laying the founda-tion for a huge total from a line-up that

has eight wickets in hand and has plen-ty of batting to come.

Sri Lanka will now be hoping for adramatic New Zealand collapse on daythree to salvage any hopes of a win.

Earlier, they added just seven to theirovernight total before Tim Southeecoaxed an inside edge off Kumara toclaim a six-wicket innings haul.

Kumara's departure for a duck leftDickwella stranded on 80 not out after heled a rearguard action for Sri Lanka.

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Tensions flared-up towards theend of day three with none other

than the two captains, Virat Kohli andTim Paine, exchanging verbal volleysas the second Test between India andAustralia headed for a nail-biting fin-ish.

The Indian skipper was outcaught at second slip, and while thecatch was referred to the third umpire,it wasn't overturned on account of softsignal.

It led to quite a talkative Kohli onthe field during Australia's secondinnings, which carried on untilstumps, with both captains exchang-ing words.

"If he messes it up, it's 2-0,"Kohlisaid, which was picked up by themicrophone after he and his team-mates made a loud caught-behindappeal for Paine in the final over ofthe day.

The Australian captain did nothold himself back and replied "You'vegot to bat first, big head".

The hosts star-spinner NathanLyon, however, played down the inci-dent. "I think Tim just asked himwhere he was going for dinner that'sall. I've played enough cricket againstVirat to know what he's like, and I'mnot worried about what he's doing or

what India's doing," said Lyon."Virat is a great player, he plays on

emotion, we all know that, and to behonest I'm not too concerned howVirat reacts or the way he conductshimself. I'm just worried about whatwe can control in the Australian dress-ing room and I thought as bowlers wecame out today and performed pret-ty well," he said.

Kohli was his usual animated selfbut his on-field antics did not go downwell with former Australian playersMike Hussy and Allan Border.

"Kohli is out of control ... I don'tlike his attitude at the moment,"Hussey was quoted as saying by

Macquarie Sports Radio, while formercaptain Border told Fox Cricket: "Idon't think I've ever seen any captaincarry on like that."

With India batting last on atricky surface, chasing anything above250 will be a big ask.

Lyon said: "The wicket seems likeit's starting to play a few more littletricks. We were expecting the cracksto play a little bit more."

"We were pretty happy with theway we bowled and we know thatcome the second dig we can bowlmuch better than that. So we can takea few lessons off that first innings," headded.

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Chief national badminton coachPullela Gopichand has set his eyes

on ending the 18-year-old wait for anIndian to become an All Englandchampion next year after P V Sindhuclinched the season-ending WorldTour Finals title.

Gopichand was the last Indian towin the All England Championship in2001, achieving the coveted feat after21 years of Prakash Padukone's 1980title.

Asked about the targets, Gopichandsaid: "For us the 2020 would be a bigone, and then 2022, so basically theCommonwealth, Asian Games andthe Olympics are the big event but hav-ing said that the All England will be thetarget next year.

"It has been quite a while since wehave won the All EnglandChampionship. It will be almost 20years since Prakash sir won and thenI won the Championship so I hope thistime it doesn't take so long."

Speaking about, Sindhu's win in thefinal he said, "I think it is a fantastictournament."

"The way she has played, she hasbeaten players of quality. To beat(Akane) Yamaguchi, (Nozomi)Okuhara, Ratchanok (Inthanon) inthe same tournament is special. She fin-ishes the year on a high. She has wonmedals in the major events and that wasthe target this year," he said.

"It is great to end the year like thisbut more important is to start the nextyear with a similar win."

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India were "surprised" at the on-field umpire's call that ledto skipper Virat Kohli's controversial dismissal but the team

has moved on and is focused on restricting Australia to alow score in the second Test, pacer Jasprit Bumrah said onSunday.

Kohli's dismissal triggered a controversy after PeterHandscomb took the catch at second slip off Pat Cummins'bowling and on-field umpires deferred to the third umpirewith a soft signal of out, meaning only conclusive evidencecould overturn the decision.

However, TV replays were not sufficient enough to over-turn the decision, which left the Indian fans and Kohli dis-appointed as the skipper walked off the ground withoutacknowledging the ovation for his superb innings of 123.

"We were a little surprised by the on-field call but nowthat it's been done means it's been done. We will move for-ward with the game. That's about it," said Bumrah when askedabout the controversial decision.

Virat Kohli scored his 25th Test hundred to help Indiascore 283 runs in their first innings. But the last six wick-ets fell for 60 runs which meant that they surrendered a 43-run lead.

Talking about Kohli's knock, Bumrah said, "Obviously,we were in a bit of bother at the start (of the day), and thenthe way he played, the way he carried his whole innings wasinfectious.

"He has been doing all the time and he is an inspiringleader. He leads from the front. So, it's a good thing for theteam and hopefully he will keep doing it in future as well."

The hosts finished day three on 132-4 and took an over-all 175-run lead in the second Test.

Bumrah said that they would want to restrict Australiato as few runs as possible on day four.

"Tomorrow the first session will be important. We wantto take early wickets, so it will restrict the total to as less aspossible and that will help us to chase it in the fourth innings.In my eyes, our team is capable of chasing any total but wewill try to minimise as much as possible," he said.

"If you see the match, nobody has really gotten out (toballs that come) off the track. The crack is just there but itdoesn't do a lot. It's only in the mind. So yeah, we will nottake that into consideration (while batting)," he added.

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