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WEDNESDAY
www.thestatesman.com
04 JANUARY
2017
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Pages 16 |Rs 5|LC
KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR
OUTDOORS
RESPECTING
THE RIGHTS
OF HOMELESS
PEOPLE
Forecast: Mainly clear sky

Rainfall: Nil
TEMPERATURE
Max: 24.0 (+4); Min: 09.5 (+2)
RELATIVE HUMIDITY
Min: 69%
Max: 100%
SUNRISE
07:15 hrs
PEPS FLAGGING
SAYS HE WONT STICK AROUND TOO LONG
P15
P9
SUNSET
17:38 hrs
SUDIP HELD FOR SCAM,

BJP OFFICE ATTACKED
THUMBNAILS
CBI TO QUESTION HIM, TAPAS PAUL IN ROSE VALLEY SCAM

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
Kolkata, 3 January
David Warner after scoring a century against

Pakistan on Tuesday. Afp
Lawyer replaced: The Supreme

Court replaced noted jurist F S Nariman with senior lawyer Anil Divan
after he expressed his inability to assist
the court in suggesting names for BCCI
administrators.
Ex-minister: Former Puducherry Agriculture Minister VMC Sivakumar
was hacked to death by an unidentified gang in Karaikal. He was on his
way to inspect construction work
when his car was blocked near Nagapattinam district and attacked with
sickles, police said.
CBI charge sheet against Teesta:
A charge sheet has been filed by CBI
against social activist Teesta Setalvad, her husband Javed Anand and
a company run by them for alleged
violation of foreign funding rules.
Metro disrupted: Thousands of
commuters on Delhi Metro's Blue
Line were left stranded as services crawled
for several hours on the snag-prone
corridor due to issues in overhead wiring between Pragati Maidan and
Mandi House stations.
P3
Trinamul Congress MP
and party leaderinthe Lok
Sabha Sudip Bandyopadhyay was today arrested by
the Central Bureau of
Investigation in connection with the multi-crore
Rose Valley chit fund scam
triggering vociferous
protests by the partys top
leadership,including chief
minister Mamata Banerjee
and violence outside the BJP
state head quarters.
Only five days ago another Trinamul MP Tapas
Paul had been arrested in
the same scam.
The two arrests in quick
succession threw the entire
Trinamul leadership party
in a tizzy and party MPs
were huddled together within hours to chalk out their
plan to take the protest to
Delhi tomorrow. A large
number of party supporters hurled stones at BJP
party office and clashed
with rival party activists
throwing vehicular traffic
along a long stretch of central Kolkata out of gear for
several hours in the evening.
The TMC protest near the BJP office in Kolkata. (Inset) Sudip Bandyopadhyay after his arrest. Dilip Dutta
According to CBI
sources, Mr Bandyopadhyay would be flown tonight
to Bhubaneswar where he
would be produced in a
local court as the complaint
against him was filed there.
The MP, escorted by his
supporters, arrived at the
regionalheadquartersof the
apexagencyatCGOcomplex
in Salt Lake around When
askedhetoldthemedia:"Ihave
comeheretofindoutthereason for calling me.
SAYS CMIE
Imphal, 3 January
Rs 5 discount per cylinder for

online payment for LPG: After petrol
and diesel, buying and paying for
cooking gas (LPG) online will get
consumers a discount of Rs 5 per cylinder, officials of petroleum PSUs said.
CEOs meet: With announcement of
Assembly elections to five states set
to be made any day now, the Election
Commission held a meeting with
CEOs of poll-bound UP, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Manipur and Goa.
INDICATOR
Sensex
26,643
+48
Nifty
8,192
+13
Gold
26,820
-20
Silver
39,400
-200
He was quizzed by a
three-member CBI team
for about five hours about
his association with Rose
Valley director, Gautam
Kundu,his foreign tours and
his car that allegedly purchased by Mr Kundu,
according to sources in the
CBI.
The TMC MP had earlier been summoned thrice
by the investigation agency.
The officials showed him
documents seized during
Ibobi rushes to Delhi; CASH CRUNCH

Guv for Central rule HITS BUSINESS,
With Manipur Governor
Dr. Najma Heptullah
recommending the
imposition of President's Rule in the State
by dismissing the Congress government and
the Union Home Ministry asking the Election
Commission to withhold the announcement
of poll dates for
Manipur, state chief
minister Okram Ibobi
Singh accompanied by
a host of other legislators today rushed to
Delhi.
Earlier today, Dr
Jitendra Singh, DONER
minister, called on the
Governor at the Imphal
Raj Bhavan and they
were closeted for some
time. It is believed that
they discussed amongst
others the situation in
the state because of the
crippling economic blo-
In
its report on impact of
demonetisation on economic macros, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy or CMIE
has underlined significant moderation in new
business proposals by
industry and manufacturing sectors in the
October-December quarter.
The study shows new
proposals worth Rs 1.25
lakh crore were mooted
or submitted in Q3
which was a sharp drop
from ana average Rs
2.36 lakh crore in past
nine quarters since the
government headed by
Prime Minister Modi
took over in May 2014.
CMIE says "it was one
of the worst quarters in
ten years for fresh investments on account of
(PG 11)
cash crunch.SNS
Mumbai, 3 January:
ckade, now in its third

month, imposed by the
United Naga Council. At
the end of the day she
apparently made up her
mind that the law and
order situation calls for
invoking Article 356
and recommended that
President's Rule be imposed in the state which
is scheduled to go to
the polls next month.
The Union Home
Ministry is also said to
have moved the ECI to
withhold the announcement of the dates for
the Manipur polls citing
law and order reasons.
raids in several parts of the

city, it was learnt. "The
TMC leader avoided most
of the questions and refused
to reply when asked repeatedly, said a CBI official.
"We quizzed him for five
hours and decided to arrest
him after finding inconsistencies in his statement..He will be taken to
Bhubaneswar and quizzed
face to face with Tapas
Paul who is already behind
bars" said the official.
shailbhatnagar@gmail.com
New Delhi, 3 January
Risk averse senior citizens,

battling falling incomes
from fixed deposits, received
a New Year gift from none
other than Prime Minister
Narendra Modi. Speaking to
the nation on 31 December,
Modi announced a scheme
aimed at retirees that will
give them another option to
earn above normal interest
in a scenario where such incomes are falling rapidly.
The PM launched a
new scheme aimed at retirees and pensioners.
Citizens above 60 years
will now be able to earn 8
per cent interest on a
fixed deposit of up to Rs
7.5 lakh in a bank. What's
more the interest earned
can be withdrawn on a
monthly basis, providing
much needed relief to
those dependent on risk-
The Rs 7.5 lakh fixed

deposit bearing 8% for
10 years is in addition
to savings scheme in
post office fetching
8.5% for 5 years
mum of Rs 15 lakh can be
deposited for a period of 5
years, which earns 8.5 per
cent interest per annum.
The SCSS is renewable for
an additional 3 years after
the first five are completed.
So, in effect, a senior
citizen can get a monthly
income of Rs 15,675 from
both these schemes if he
chooses to deposit Rs 22.5
lakh spread over a FD of

Rs 7.5 lakh in a public sector bank and the Rs 15 lakh
in a post office. If these two
avenues are the only
source of monthly income,
then it is not taxed by the
government because the
annual figure falls below
the tax net.
The Prime Minister
may also be indirectly
hinting at a drop in interest rates in the coming
months as banks are swimming in cash deposited
during the demonetisation
drive. More than Rs 14 lakh
crore has come back in Rs
1,000 and Rs 500 notes after
the government scrapped
their legal tender status in
a bid to curtail black money in the broader economy.
Hence, banks really are not
in need to attract fresh deposits. In fact, lenders such
as State Bank of India recently cut interest rates on
fixed deposits owing to
No truce in SP as war for symbol

rages, Akhilesh meets Mulayam
In the raging war of attrition between the Samajwadi Party (SP) factions affiliated to the party founder Mulayam Singh and
his son and UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, the
critical political asset at
stake remains the party
symbol "cycle", with both
camps seeking to assert
ownership right over it in
the final count-down to the
state assembly elections.
A day after the SP patriarch Mulayam moved
the Election Commission
(EC) of India to stake
claim over the party symbol right ahead of the upcoming EC's announcement of dates for the assembly elections in five
states including UP, the
Akhilesh faction knocked
on the EC's door to stake
its claim over the party and
the "cycle" on the ground
that the Akhilesh-led SP
represent the "real Samajwadi Party" now.
Akhilesh's confidante
and Mulayam's estranged
cousin, Ram Gopal Yadav,
along with other SP leaders, including Kiranmoy
Nanda and Naresh Agarwal, met the full EC bench
this morning and staked
their counter-claim on the
SP and its symbol.
Hours after his camp
staked claim over the par-
ty and its election symbol

'cycle', Akhilesh drove to
his father's residence in
Lucknow and was with
him for nearly two hours,
leading to speculation
about patch-up efforts
which was discounted by
the Chief Minister's camp
as too late.Shivpal Yadav,
Mulayam's brother who is
at loggerheads with Akhilesh, also joined them after coming back from Delhi.
"We told the Election
Commission that more
than 90% of party MPs,
MLAs and MLCs are with
Mr Akhilesh Yadav," Ram
Gopal told reporters after
meeting the EC in Delhi,
thereby making it clear
that the Akhilesh-led SP
should retain the party
symbol.
A senior EC official
said, "Both sides have presented their respective
points of view and gave a
detail verbal presentation
to the Commission," claiming that the EC did not receive any written representation from any side. He also said the EC would take
appropriate steps in this
dispute in due course.
Yesterday, Mulayam ~
accompanied by Akhilesh's
arch rival and his younger brother Shivpal Yadav,
Amar Singh and Jaya Prada ~ had reached Nirvachan Sadan, the EC headquarters, to inform the
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA
He underlined resurNew Delhi, 3 January

gence of India as an economic power, but said the
The outgoing Chief Jusnation cannot progress
tice of India T S Thakur
unless judiciary also gets
today once again expressed
ready to handle the chalconcern over the lack of
lenges that development
judges amid growing pendand progress bring with
ency of cases and asked the
them. Addressing the
judiciary to be ready for
farewell function organised
future challenges to ensure
by Supreme Court Bar
that the nation remains an Outgoing Chief Justice of India (R) Justice T S
Association (SCBA), he
Thakur
shakes
hand
with
newly
appointed
Chief
Jusinclusive society.
said there should not be a
of India Jagdish Singh Khehar during a farewell
Justice Thakur, who tice
race among the lawyers for
function at Supreme Court on Tuesday. Sns
served for almost a year as
becoming a judge or a sethe 43rd CJI, dealt with a
nior counsel while suggestrange of issues in his farewell remember,we will have great- ing that these designations
address in the apex court er challenges in the future and should come uninvited.We
premises and said there are as that is what we have to be pre- have seen the race for becommany as three crore cases pared for, he said.
ing a judge, efforts to become
pending cases in courts across
Dealing with the emerging a judge and very recently the
the country and the issue has areas of litigations,the CJI said, race for becoming a senior adto be tackled efficiently given You will have very, very se- vocate. I have always felt that
rious issues coming up in these distinctions should come
the paucity of judges.
The present has great times not very far from now. to you uninvited.You must not
challenges. We have three You will have issues regard- invite them you must not ask
crore cases. We have prob- ing cyber laws, medico-legal for them.You must be considlems of infrastructure. We cases,genetics and privacy etc. ered deserving and suitable for
have problems of judge You will have issues of mak- such a distinction, he said.
strength being low...But please ing India an inclusive society.
TURN TO PAGE 5
Modi's new year gift for senior citizens

less deposits to run their
monthly budgets. This
scheme has a lock-in for
10 years, which is good as
it captures a higher interest rate for a decade in an
environment where interest rates are headed lower
because banks have surplus cash due to demonetisation. Normally, senior
citizens get paid between
6.5-7.0 per cent as interest
on their fixed deposits.
Citizens can get a
monthly income of Rs
5,000 if the entire Rs 7.5
lakh is deposited under
this scheme. Or, they can
collect an additional Rs
600,000 as interest income
after the 10-year tenure
ends. Interest earned will
be taxed according to their
income bracket.
This new scheme is in
addition to the Senior Citizens Savings Scheme
(SCSS) offered by Indian
post offices where a maxi-
P6
CJI laments lack of judges,

pendency in farewell speech
RETIREES WILL EARN 8% INTEREST ON FD OF UP TO RS 7.5 L IN A BANK
SHAILENDRA BHATNAGAR
THE JALLIKKATTU
POLITICS
OF DMK
cash surpluses in their

treasury.
Therefore, it makes
sense for senior citizens to
use this scheme and lock
in interest rates of 8 per
cent each year for the next
10 years. The smarter retirees and pensioners, who
have a slightly higher degree of risk taking ability,
can use the monthly Rs
5,000 earned as interest income to start a systematic
investment plan in a diversified equity mutual fund.
Over the 10-year period,
the fund is likely to outperform fixed income return.
Apart from fixed income investments, senior
citizens can use the public provident fund to save
on taxes. They can also
deposit a part of their
corpus in a dynamic bond
fund whose net asset value appreciates in a falling
interest rate environment.
apex poll body's full bench

that he continues to head
the party he had founded
and that the resolution
cleared by the rebel SP convention in Lucknow on 1
January to replace him
with Akhilesh as the new
party national president
was "unconstitutional" as
per the SP constitution.
The rebel SP convention
had fired Shivpal as the UP
party chief while ousting
the high-profile leader
Amar Singh from the party fold. In retaliation, Mulayam had again expelled
Ram Gopal while also expelling Mr Nanada and Mr
Agarwal from the party.
As the war between
the two camps for the
control of the SP as well
as selection of candidates for the upcoming
elections reached its climax, the crucial issue
emerging at this decisive juncture is about
the ownership of the party's symbol "cycle".
With the EC gearing
up to announce the poll
dates for the five states within a couple of days, it does
not have time to adjudicate
on this dispute, which
would take months. With
the ball now in its court,
the EC would examine the
dispute and start a formal
process to hear the versions
of both camps, which
might take a long period
for its conclusion.
NOTE BAN FOCUS

OF GST MEET
New Delhi, 3 December: The
eighth meeting of the

GST Council held here
under the chairmanship
of Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not discuss
the most contentious dual control issue. The demonetisation issue dominated the crucial meeting and is now threatening further delay in the
rollout of GST.
Representatives of six
crucial sectors, including
IT, telecom, banking and
insurance, civil aviation
and railways made their
presentations to the
Council to assess the implementation hurdles
under the new GST regime. West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said, Tsunami of
demonetisation has led
to everyone's compensation going up. We want
a GST that is not flawed
and is good for the comSNS
mon man too.
DETAILS ON PAGE 5
Ensure cash supply in rural areas

In order to provide some

relief to the people in rural
areas hit hard by the cash
crunch, the Reserve Bank
of India (RBI) has asked
banks to provide enough
supply to these areas.
Acknowledging that the
new currency notes,being
supplied to rural areas at
present are not commensurate with the requirements of rural population, the RBI today asked
banks to ensure that at
least 40 per cent of the supply of bank notes should
reach rural areas. It said
banks, currency chests
and ATMs in all such areas
should have abundant supply of Rs 500 and Rs 100
denomination notes.
In a notification,the RBI
said banks should advise
their currency chests to
increase the issuance of
notes to Regional Rural
Banks, District Central
Cooperative Banks, commercial banks,white label
ATMs and post offices.
Banks were also told to
furnish daily issuances

along with a weekly summary every Friday. The
RBI directive said notes of
Rs 500 and lower should be
issued, specifying that
notes below Rs 100 should
be issued liberally. Coins
should also be made available on a priority basis, it

added.
The directive came just
a couple of days after Prime
Minister Narendra Modi
in his address to the nation
on the eve of new year
exhorted banks to make
efforts to restore normalcy as fast as possible and
focus on rural areas.
As the rural requirements could vary from district to district depending
on variations in the rural
and urban mix of each

district in terms of relative
shares in CASA deposits
and number of deposit
accounts, to facilitate a
need-based approach in
this regard a certain percentage of allocation has
been assigned to each district depending on the
rural and urban mix, the
circular said.
The 50-day promise on
normalcy of currency by
the Prime Minister ended
on 30 December, but the
cash supply situation is yet
to ease in certain pockets.
As a result,the government
has not lifted the withdrawal ceiling of Rs 24,000
per week from banks.
Over the weekend,however, the ATM withdrawal limit was raised to Rs
4,500 from Rs 2,500 earlier.
While the government and
the RBI have not given an
estimate for the time period it will take to replace the
entire stock of currency,
bankers and economists
have estimated that it will
take until March to fully
replenish the supply of
notes.
02
We are not asking for Kejriwals resignation, but just want

him to face the ground realities and address them...
BJP CHIEF MANOJ TIWARI
NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2017
THUMBNAILS
Woman offered spiked
drink, raped: A 21year-old woman was
allegedly raped after
her drink was spiked
and the accused made
a video of the act to blackmail her, police said
today. The victim registered a complaint yesterday accusing Nishant Mallick of raping her a few days ago,
they said, adding the
woman had met the
accused on Facebook.
The woman in her complaint said she met
Mallick at Saket on his
request and went with
him to Faridabad in
his car. She said Mallick
spiked her drink and
raped her at a flat in Faridabad's Sector-46, police
PTI
said.
Minor stabs ex-girlfriends husband to
death: A minor boy
allegedly stabbed to
death the husband of his
ex-girlfriend out of jealousy in east Delhi's
Kalyanpuri area on the
New Year day,police said
today. Sumit (22) was
stabbed twice while
returning home on January 1 by the 16-yearold school dropout, said
a senior police officer.
Sumit had got married
to the women around
one-and-a-half months
back, he said.
PTI
Dangal goes tax-free
in Delhi too: The Delhi
government today decided to make Dangal
movie tax free. Deputy
Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia in a tweet said,
Dangal movie would
be tax free in Delhi cinemas.Orders issued.Its
an inspiring movie to
promote sports spirit. The film, based on
the life of wrestler
Mahavir Singh Phogat
and directed by Nitesh
Tiwari, released in the
theatres on December
SNS
23.
ACCUSING AAP OF FAILURE ON WATER AND SANITATION FRONTS
Demonetisation:Toyseller forced to take kids out of school

ABHAY SINGH
abhay8942@gmail.com
At around 2 p m today, Mahesh

Yadav, a toy and electronic gadget seller near Rajiv Chowk metro
station, was sitting idle waiting
for his first customer. To attract
customers, he sets up a toy track
and makes two miniature versions of the rabbit and the tortoise race but nobody pays attention.
But the situation was not
same for him before 8 November when demonetisation came
into effect. Mahesh told The
Statesman: My two kids study
in a private school for which I
used to earn a decent amount
before the currency ban. But the
demonetisation
forced me
to take the
harsh
ste p of
pulling
my children out
of school
due to no
earnings.
I had to
send them
back to
my native Mahesh Yadav (Left) and Rajendra Kumar Rao. Sns
place in
Moradabad.
earned around Rs 100-150.
As time passed he was able
Before demonetisation many
to sell some items including 3D children bought different toys
puzzle houses through which he but now parents stop their chil-
dren as they run out of cash if

they buy toys, said Mahesh.
He said he has been selling
toys and other items on this foot-
HC TO HEAR CBI'S PLEA

AGAINST BAIL TO TYAGI
The Delhi High Court today said

the CBI's petition challenging the
bail granted to former IAF chief
S P Tyagi in Agusta Westland
chopper scam case on the ground
that he could allegedly "hamper"
the probe, will be heard on January 9.
Justice I S Mehta fixed the
hearing of the plea filed by the probe
agency on January 9 after Tyagi's
counsel said they would file a
reply on the petition.
Additional Solicitor General
Tushar Mehta, who appeared for
the CBI, told the court that their
plea challenges the bail granted by
a trial court to Tyagi on December 26.
"This is a petition challenging
grant of bail. On the last date, the
high court had issued notice on the
petition and had observed that today
the endeavour will be to finish the
matter. There is some urgency,"
Mehta told the court.
"Renotify the matter for Mon-
day for reply, if any, and disposal,"

the court said.
Earlier, a notice was issued by
the Delhi High Court to former Air
Chief S P Tyagi in Agusta Westland
chopper scam, on the plea of the
CBI challenging his bail claiming
its probe would be "hampered" if
he remains out.
Then,the court had listed the matter for further hearing on January
3.
During the earlier hearing of the
case, the investigative agency had
argued before the court that each
day Tyagi remained out on bail
would lead to its line of investigation being "exposed" and "hampered"
and the evidence could also be
destroyed.
The agency had also said that its
probe was "multi-layered" as it
was spread across several countries
since various companies were
allegedly used to "camouflage the
bribe money".
CBI had admitted before the
high court that though FIR was registered in 2013, the "real core investigation started only a few months
back" and therefore, it did not want

Tyagi to be out on bail till the
charge sheet is filed.
A trial court had granted bail to
Tyagi, who had retired as IAF
chief in 2007, saying CBI has failed
to state the alleged bribe amount
and when it was paid.
While granting the relief,the trial
court also took note of Tyagi's
advancing age and his health conditions and said no purpose would
be served by keeping him behind
the bars.
CBI had earlier argued before the
trial court that Tyagi had allegedly "abused his official position" and
during his tenure as the air chief,
he had made huge investments in
land and other properties and not
disclosed the source of his income.
Former Air Chief S P Tyagi was
granted bail on December 26 by a
special court saying CBI has failed
to state the alleged bribe amount
and when it was paid.All three
accused persons were arrested by
the investigative agency on the allegations of accepting illegal gratification for exercising influence.
path for years but now he is not

able to make ends meet and had
to shift his children to Moradabad.
No parents want their children to drop out of school but I
cannot fight with this policy, said
the toyseller, adding that he is
unable to pay his house rent
which is Rs 3000.
Rajendra, also a father, sells
electronic gadgets in Connaught Place. He is fighting a
lone battle to keep his children
with him. A native of Gonda
area of Uttar Pradesh, Rajendra has been selling gadgets
placed on wooden tables for at
least six years. He said before
the currency ban trade was better but now he is able to earn
only Rs 500-600.
ACCUSED MAY FACE

CONVICTION ON BASIS
OF VICTIMS TESTIMONY
JUNAID KATHJU
jkathju@gmail.com
A Sessions Court here has ruled that

"the accused can be convicted" in sexual assault cases "if the testimony of
the victim is found truthful and trustworthy even in the absence of any medical evidence."
Additional Sessions Judge Gautam
Manan made these observations as he
upheld a juvenile's conviction in a case
of sodomising of a boy aged 10.
The judge ruled that "Forensic evidence in sexual assault cases is only a
piece of corroborative evidence, and if
the testimony of the victim is found truthful and trustworthy even in the absence
of any medical evidence, the accused
can be convicted." The judge further
observed,"It would be seen that the court
has over the years attributed testimony of child witnesses same kind of credibility that it attached to statement of
any other witness if the testimony is
consistent. In the present case, the victim is consistent on material particulars with regard to incident of sexual
assault on him." The Sessions Court dismissed the appeal of the juvenile,
belonging to a North Delhi area, filed
against an order issued by a Juvenile
Justice Board in 2015.

In a tragic incident this evening, a

girl jumped from the third floor of
the City Square Mall in West Delhi. She was rushed to hospital but
her life could not be saved. The girl,
Shubhangni, 21, came to the Mall
in Rajouri Garden with one of her
male friends and jumped from the
third floor. She fell on the concrete
floor inside the mall. She was immediately rushed to a private hospital by people but she died while
being treated.
It happened at 4 pm. It is said that
the two were talking to each other.
She went to the washroom and
talked on the phone before jumping
off the third floor. Due to severe head
injuries, she died in the hospital.
The girl was from Tilak Nagar.
We have collected the CCTV footage
from the mall to know the exact sequence of events. We are also questioning the boy with whom she
came to the mall, said DCP West,
Vijay Kumar. Cops are questioning
her male friend along with the people who were present in the mall at
the time of the incident.
Republic Day parade preparation in Capital on Tuesday. Sns

Eight juveniles have been

apprehended for their alleged
involvement in a case of
dacoity reported in northwest
Delhi.
The juveniles were apprehended following a robbery
complaint filed on January
2 where the victim stated that
he was caught by the teenage
boys, numbering 8-9, at a park
in Shakarpur Colony and was
robbed Rs 3000 and a bag.
The complainant also said
that the juveniles also beat
him severely, but somehow
he managed to catch one of
them.
"He was able to catch one
of the boys while the rest fled
with his robbed belongings.
He raised an alarm and some
passersby caught the boy.
He claimed that one of the
boys was having a knife in
his hand. He made a call on
100 and the police rushed to
The police claimed

that as the complainant was
robbed of his
belongings by more
than 8-9 boys using
a weapon, a
dacoity case was
registered.
the spot," Delhi Police said.
The police claimed that as the
complainant was robbed of
his belongings by more than
8-9 boys using a weapon, a
dacoity case was registered.
A police team was constituted
and deployed to work out the
case. These boys were found
to be Juvenile in Conflict with
Law (JCL).
"The weapon of offence
was recovered from one of the
JCLS. One of their associates
is absconding with the robbed
property. Efforts are on to
apprehend him," said the
police.
Decline in heinous
crimes in 2016
such cases in 2015. Similarly,
in robbery cases a total number of 4431 cases were registered in 2016.In 2015 the numThere has been a slight decline bers stands at a staggering 6971
in the number of heinous cases.
crimes in the capital in 2016
MURDER AND ATTEMPT TO MURDER
Even though Delhi is concompared to 2015. According
to the police data,a total of 7620 sidered the most dangerous big
cases of heinous crimes were city in the country, however,
filed in 2016 at the end of No- there has been a drop in the
vember. The same heinous number of murder cases in
crimes committed in 2015 2016. The total cases of murders registered in 2016 are 473
were as many as 10,462.
The crimes included rape, in comparison to 520 cases in
dacoity, murder, attempt to 2015.Also in an attempt to murmurder, robbery, riots and der, a total of 593 cases have
been reported during 2016
kidnapping for ransom.
over 724 cases in 2015.
RAPE
Rape remains one of the
RIOTS
The riot cases in Delhi
most prevalent heinous crimes
in Delhi. However, there has have seen a 36 per cent decline
been a miniscule decline in ca- in 2016. A total number of rises in 2016. In comparison to ot cases registered in 2016
2017 rape cases registered in stands at 77 in comparison to
2015, 1981 rape cases were re- 122 cases in 2015.
ported in 2016 by the end of NoKIDNAPPING FOR RANSOM
In 2016, the total cases for
vember.
kidnapping
for ransom have
DACOITY AND ROBBERY
The number of dacoities also seen a small improvement.
has also seen a slight decline A total of 21 cases for ransom
in 2016. The total number of were registered in 2016 in
registered cases has fallen to comparison to 35 cases in
44 in 2016 in comparison to 73 2015.
Girl jumps off 3 killed in road mishaps

NW Delhi mall STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
SMALL CONTRIBUTION
8 juveniles held for

dacoity in Shakarpur
Rajendra has three children who are studying in a private school. Their fees are over
Rs 700 and the father is working day and night for their
studies.
I have three children who
study in private schools and I
am somehow paying their fees
as I dont want my children to
leave school, said Rajendra.
While the Central government is pushing hard for digital payments, online transactions for such small-scale vendors is a dream.
Both Mahesh and Rajendra
do not have android phones.
They said to buy a new phone
they have to spend at least Rs
8-10,000 which they cannot
afford.
Three persons were killed in

two separate road accidents
in the Capital.
In the first incident, a 40year-old man was killed and
his son injured after their bicycle was allegedly hit by a
speeding e-rickshaw in outer Delhi's Aman Vihar area,
police said today.
The deceased has been
identified as Charanjeet.
The accident took place yesterday at around 9:30 pm
when Charanjeet was returning home from Nangloi
along with his son Rohit
(18).
The e-rickshaw allegedly dragged the father-son
duo for nearly 20 metres
and when the locals heard
the victims' cries, they rushed out.
The e-rickshaw driver,
Shahrukh, along with the locals, rushed Charanjeet and
Rohit to a hospital where
Charanjeet was declared
brought dead while Rohit was
discharged after treatment.
A case has been registered
against the e-rickshaw driver under relevant sections

of the IPC at the Aman Vihar police station.
In another accident, two
men who were riding a motorcycle without helmet,
died after their bike rammed
a divider in south Delhi's
Fatehpur Beri area, police
said today
The over-speeding motorbike hit the divider killing Vijay (22) and Umesh (32)
yesterday afternoon, said a
senior police officer.
Vijay, who was driving the
bike suffered severe injuries
in face while his friend
Umesh suffered head injuries, said the police.
They were rushed to
AIIMS where they were declared brought dead.
"They had borrowed a
bike from a friend and it is
suspected that they were
over-speeding. The bike was
found 15-20 feet away from
where their bodies were
found," said the police. Both
labourers hail from Uttar
Pradesh and were staying on
rent in Fatehpur Beri area.
Umesh was married.
DEEPA MALIK, ARUNIMA SINHA PLEDGE TO MAKE AREA CLEAN
NDMC ropes in 2 women as brand

ambassadors for cleanliness drive
Bolstering call for cleanliness, the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has
appointed Rio Olympic
medalist Ms Deepa Malik
and first female amputee to
climb Mount Everest Ms
Arunima Sinha as brand
ambassadors of Swachh
Bharat Mission (SBM).
At an NDMC function
in Central Park here, Ms
Malik and Ms Sinha, both
Arjuna Awardees, were administered pledge of
Swachhta in the presence
of hundreds of students,
RWAs, MTAs and visitors.
Ms Malik said, "If a specially-abled person like me
can acclaim fame by wining international awards,
Para Olympic medal winner Deepa Malik (wheelchair bound) and Arinima
Sinha, mountaineer who survived a criminal attack when she was thrown
out of a moving train appointed as brand ambassadors of NDMC on Tuesday.
Sns
why not the citizens of

NDMC area make it
Swachh?" Exhorting the

students and people at
large, she said that now it

has become our joint responsibility to make New
Delhi area a smart city in
reality by extending smart
and modern civic facilities
to the residents of the municipal jurisdiction.
She added, "We would
undertake sustained sanitation drive in different
areas to sensitise the people of different walks of
life to make Swachhta as a
routine and regular exercise in their daily life."
On the other hand, Ms
Sinha urged every individual to follow basic civic
norms with regard to
cleanliness. "You take one
step, others will follow
you," Ms Sinha told the
gathering. She assured
that she and her colleague
would not leave any stone

unturned to make the New
Delhi area clean and beautiful. Ms Meenakashi Lekhi, MP, informed that the
NDMC has decided to
make Parliament Street a
disable-friendly road under the Sugamya Bharat - a
scheme launched by Prime
Minster Modi for persons
with disabilities. She added that NDMC has made all
efforts to make their buildings accessible for the disabled. The Brand Ambassadors also inaugurated a
Public Toilet Utility (PTU)
at R K Ashram Marg to
make the municipal council area an Open Defecation Free (ODF) zone.
Note: Please take photo of
Deepa Malik and Arunima
Sinha.
SODOMY CASE:
JUVENILES
CONVICTIION
STAYED
The accused in sexual assault

cases can be convicted even
in the absence of any medical evidence if the testimony of the victim is found
truthful and trustworthy,
a sessions court here has said
while upholding the conviction of a juvenile for sodomising a 10-year-old boy.
Forensic evidence in sexual assault cases is only a
piece of corroborative evidence and if the testimony
of the victim is found truthful and trustworthy even in
the absence of any medical
evidence, the accused can be
convicted, Additional Sessions Judge Gautam Manan
observed.
The court, while dismissing the appeal of the juvenile,
a north Delhi resident,
against a Juvenile Justice
Board's 2015 order by which
he was sent to a special home
for two years for the offence
of sodomy, relied on the victim's testimony, saying it
was consistent.
It would be seen that
court has over the years attributed testimony of child
witnesses same kind of credibility that it attached to
statement of any other witness if the testimony is consistent. In the present case,
the victim is consistent on
material particulars with
regard to incident of sexual assault on him, the judge
said. The juvenile offender
was held guilty of offences
under the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences
Act (POCSO) and section
377 (unnatural offences) of
IPC. According to the compliant, on March 21, 2014, the
victim was sodomised by
the convict and his adult associate. It was alleged that
the duo tied his hands and
gagged his mouth before
sodomising him.
In his appeal before the sessions court, the juvenile had
contended that there is no forensic evidence to connect him
with the crime.
Dangal movie would be tax free in Delhi cinemas. Orders issued.

It's an inspiring movie to promote sports-spirit by @aamir_khan...
DEPUTY CHIEF MINISTER MANISH SISODIA
WHILE APPRECIATING DANGAL
THUMBNAILS
LG intervention sought
on 2 public issues: Submitting a memorandum
to the newly-appointed
LG, Mr Anil Baijal,
Leader of Opposition
in the Delhi Assembly,
Mr Vijender Gupta,today
sought his early intervention on two important
public issues concerning
the Delhi Government,
namely the Shunglu
Committee Report and
the delimitation of municipal wards.He was accompanied by BJP MLAs
OP Sharma and Jagdish
SNS
Pradhan.
Weekly status report
on environment: Delhi
Environment minister
Imran Hussain today
said his department will
send weekly status reports
of important projects
and works undertaken
in pursuance of Deputy
Chief Minister Manish
Sisodia's instruction in
this regard. The Environment secretary will
send these reports on a
weekly basis to the minister and also to the
Lieutenant Governor,
Chief Minister, Deputy
Chief Minister and
chief secretary, said a
senior government offiPTI
cial.
FACE GROUND REALITIES

OF DELHI: BJP TELLS AAP
New Delhi, 3 Januray
Alleging that the AAP government has failed on water

and sanitation fronts, Delhi
BJP has written a letter to
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, asking him to face the
ground realities of Delhi
instead of resorting to
accusatory politics.
BJP's Delhi unit president
Manoj Tiwari also hit out at
the city government over
alleged delay in finalising the
delimitation of the municipal wards.
This gover nment is
about to complete two years
in office now, and Kejriwal,
wherever he is travelling,
Goa or Punjab, must at least
go and see the civic condition of people in the city,
which voted it to power,
especially the unauthorised
colonies where people are living in hellish condition,
Tiwari told a press conference.
After assuming the reins
of the party's state unit, he
CM invited for a debate

New Delhi, 3 January: In his
first appearance on Facebook live chat as Delhi BJP
chief, Manoj Tiwari today
slammed AAP government
for failing to fulfill its
promises and invited Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal
for a debate on the problems faced by the people.
The Bhojpuri singer and
actor-turned-politician in
an hour-long chat picked up
comments and questions
while attacking AAP government and Kejriwal even
as he said that politics should
come next to solving problems of the people.
I appeal to Kejriwal, his
government and ministers
to come with me on my visits to villages, unauthorised

colonies and learn the problems faced by people. Do not
run away from the problems solve them, politics
can wait, he said.
He said that he was ready
to sit with Kejriwal whereever he liked and respond to his
allegations that he was
stopped from work by the
Prime Minister and Lt GovPTI
ernor.
has been meeting people

and networking with them,
a move that also assumes
significance as the municipal elections are due this
year, and a sizeable chunk
of voters reside in unauthorised colonies.
We are not asking for

Kejriwal's resignation, but
just want him to face the
g round realities and
address them. I went to
Indrapuri area, where a
community space has been
lying locked up for last
Dense fog continues to disrupt air, rail traffic
over two years. Also, toilets

have been choked and DJB
water supply line has run
dry and drains are in bad
shape at several places,
Tiwari alleged.
So, we have written a
letter to him in this regard.
I have also emphasised
that all agencies, the Centre, city and the civic bodies must work together to
bring relief to people from
such poor conditions, he
said.
I have been meeting
farmers, traders in Chandni Chowk, and later in the
day I will visit Nangloi
and stay with people there
tonight. And, at 7 PM today,
I will go live on Facebook
to interact with people, he
added.
Municipal elections are
due this year and the delimitation of the wards is likely to affect the outcome of the
polls. Delhi has 272 wards in
total with 104 each under
north and south corporations
and 64 under east corporation.

Mainly clear skies prevailed in the

national capital today even as dense
fog engulfed several parts of the city
during early morning hours hitting
rail and air operations severely.
According to a senior railway official, 50 trains were running late,
while 47 were rescheduled while as
many as 112 flights were delayed because of the dense foggy conditions
with visibility remaining below 50
metres between 2.30 AM and 8.30 AM.
Prakash Sharma
The minimum temperature was

recorded at 9.5 degrees Celsius, two
notches above normal while the
maximum temperature settled at 24
degrees Celsius, four notches above
the season's average, said a MeT department official.
Visibility was recorded at 100 metres at 5.30 AM at Safdarjung which
dipped further to 50 metres at 8.30 AM
before improving to 1,200 metres
three hours later.
At Palam, the visibility was less
than 50 metres, both at 5.30 AM and
8.30 AM, and improved to 1,000 me-
tres at 11.30 AM, the official said.

The humidity level oscillated between 100 and 69 per cent.
The MeT office has predicted
mainly clear skies for tomorrow
with the likelihood of moderate to
dense fog in the morning.
The maximum and minimum
temperatures are expected to hover
at 25 and 10 degrees Celsius, respectively, the weatherman said.
Yesterday, the maximum and minimum temperature were recorded at
24.3 degrees Celsius and 9.3 degrees
Celsius respectively.
Quality of research in
India way behind the West
ABHINAV SINGH
scholars avoid being

caught, she said.
Ms Basra cited the
problem faced by researchers at CIC due to
"The Indian education
the varsity's strict adhersystem fails to provide a
ence to the traditional
conducive environment
format of thesis or refor research & innovasearch presentation.
tion because of which
"The format of rethe quality of research
search presentation is
is extremely poor as
not at all compatible with
compared to the western
the findings of the reworld," opined Associate
search but students have
Professor Amrit Kaur
to mandatorily give their
Basra, who holds the Taexposed to the library
presentation within the
tya Tope Chair at the
prescribed format only.
Cluster Innovation Cen- culture early on. She
said there is no dearth of We are just trend followtre (CIC) of Delhi University, considered a hub talent among Indian stu- ers," said Ms. Basra. She
dents as those who go
advocated that DU should
of research and innovaabroad for research gen- incorporate necessary
tion.
changes so that innovaMs Basra who is also erally excel.
Ms Basra expressed
tion becomes an integral
the Deputy Dean, Forher disappointment over part of the varsity's edueign Students Registry,
the state of research in
cational system.
got several opportuniIndia. "There are very
"Teachers are generties to assess the stufew dedicated researchally indifferent towards
dents of some of the
incorporating innovamost prestigious univer- ers here; most of the
work is just cut-copy and tive methods in educasities of the world. She
said in those universipaste," she said. In DUittion. The teachers themties emphasis is laid
self she said most reselves don't study and
upon developing innovasearch scholars choose it are unaware about the
tive ability and critical
as a second option while
recent trends and develthinking among stupreparing for civil servopments in their fields,"
dents by introducing
ices exam. Even after inshe said.
them to original sources. troduction of plagiarism
Advocating the optiThey are given a chance detecting software like
mum use of Information
to interpret and analyse 'turnitin' which checks
& Communication Techthe subject in-depth, she the originalit\y of the
nology (ICT) in class
added, saying they are
room teaching, Ms Basra
work many dishonest
abhinavbismark@gmail.com
The format of research presentation

is not at all compatible with the findings
of the research but
students have to
mandatorily give
their presentation
within the prescribed
format only. We are
just trend followers
said e-content should be

blended with traditional
means of learning.
"The students should
be given an opportunity
to study the course material themselves through
e-content while teacher
should emphasise on developing innovative
ideas. Classes should be
made a centre of debate,
discussion and free flowing innovative ideas,"
she said. "Unfortunately,
teachers think that if
such things are introduced then their services
would be in peril. A few
teachers are so obsessed
with their ideology that
they teach within that
realm only," said Ms Basra.
She slammed the
practice of rampant introduction of new courses by several universities without thorough
analysis of the research
work going on in that
particular subject. She
said most of those who
study abroad sponsored
by Indian government
scholarship schemes
never return to contribute in nation building.
She termed it both 'brain
drain' and 'money drain'.
Metro commuters on Blue

line had to face harrowing
time this afternoon following
damage to an overhead wire,
which led to overcrowding
across stations and trains.
The incident happened at
around 11:20 am between Pragati Maidan and Mandi House.
This led to bunching of trains
on Blue Line-3/4 connecting
Dwarka Sector-21 to Noida
and Vaishali. Several trains
came to a standstill while others crawled and stood for over
10 minutes at each station on
the corridor.
"On Line 3, flashing of pantograph (a jointed framework
conveying a current to a train,
tram, or other electric vehicle from overhead wires) was
reported from a train approaching Mandi House from
Pragati Maidan, which affected Over Head Electrification
(OHE) wire," said a DMRC official.
Following OHE problem, a
speed restriction of 15 Kmph
was imposed between these
stations (on upline towards
Dwarka) to prevent further
damage to OHE, added the official.
Shailza Sharma, a regular commuter, who was stranded at Rajiv Chowk station
said, "The trains were de-
JNU shifts venue

for EC meeting
New Delhi, 3 January: Aam

Aadmi Party today accused
Delhi BJP chief Manoj
Tiwari of making light of
difficulties in the wake of
demonetisation after a
video surfaced showing
him narrating how he pacified a group of people
queueing for cash by hailing them as patriots.
Delhi Water Minister
Kapil Mishra shared the
small clip on Twitter which
went viral across social
media platforms.
In his defence, Tiwari
wondered how ter ming
someone as patriot was
insulting.
In the video, Leader of
Opposition in the Delhi
Assembly Vijender Gupta
and few others are huddled
around a table where
Tiwari is seen engaged in
a casual chat and also
crooning few self-composed
lines.
I saw people standing
in a queue. I thought what
should I say to please them
and later hailed them as
patriots and how they were
shaping India's future
which made them happy,
PTI
says Tiwari.
layed by around 40 minutes

and overcrowded, causing inconvenience. There was no
space to even stand in the
train."
The train kept stopping
between Patel Nagar and Noida Sector 15 metro stations. At
Pragati Maidan, it stood for
8-10 minutes, then between Rajiv Chowk and Barakhamba
it stopped for 15 minutes because of which I got late for
my coaching," said Anjali
Shakya, who is preparing for
IAS exams.
A DMRC statement said
that the repair work of afffected OHE portion was carried
out in off peak hrs from 2:28
pm to 2:46 pm, during which
train movment was regulated
on Line 3. Therafter, trains
started running as per normal
schedule on Line 3.
Even after the glitch was removed at 2:46 pm, the metro stations witnessed more crowds
than usual days till 6 pm.
Tremors were being felt inside
the coaches during journey and
the halt was not as smooth as
it used to be.
Around 5:30 pm, a handicapped person had to wait for
around one hour at Pragati
Maidan metro station as there
was no space inside coaches
to stand. He waited for a less
crowded train as he found it
was difficult to board the
train.
Thampu blames
mediocre teachers for
poor Stephens ranking
Former St Stephen's principal Valson Thampu, who

was at loggerheads with the
institution's alumni during
his tenure, has
kicked a fresh
controversy by
blaming the college's poor ranking on mediocre
teachers.
A group of
alumni have hit
back, saying
Thampu should
claim responsibility if any
damage has
been done to the college
affecting the recently-released
National and Accreditation
and Assessment (NAAC)
ranking.
Despite being among the
most sought after colleges in
the country, the NAAC ranking of St Stephen's college has
fallen below that of Zakir
Hussain college and Acharya
Narendra Dev college.
Over the years, St
Stephen's has allowed its
native strengths to weaken.
The faculty, barring a handful, are really mediocre. In
saying this, I keep in mind
my professional knowledge
of the college over four
decades.
03
BJP ACCUSED OF
MOCKING PEOPLE
STANDING IN LINE
Metros Blue Line

services disrupted
Women taking rest on a sunny day in the Capital on Tuesday.
I have to say, many of the

initiatives during my tenure
were smothered by the faculty, who are so stuck in the
birdlime of professional
insecurity that they do not
want to be exposed to academic challenges,
Thampu said in a
Facebook post.
The Association of Old Stephanians, an alumni
group,condemned
Thampu's statement as dishonest and misleading.
Thampu was
principal for 8
years. How can he
wash his hands off responsibility? His statement is
dishonest and misleading. It
is preposterous that a former
principal blames former colleagues -- not just seniors and
his contemporaries, but also
younger ones he recruited,
a statement issued by the
alumni group said.
The alumni association
has also urged the college's
Supreme Council to take
immediate action in this
regard.
Thampu demitted office
last year marking end to an
eight-year-long tenure which
was marred by controversies
and series of confrontations
with the alumni.

The Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) administration was literally forced to
change the venue of today's Executive Council
(EC) meeting at the eleventh
hour due to the protest of
students and teachers.
The University administration has already sought
police security in writing
to the Delhi Police Commissioner, in wake of the hurdle created by the demonstrators in the last Academic Council (AC) meeting.
The protesters, both JNU
Students Union (JNUSU)
and JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) were protesting outside the conference
centre before the start of EC
meeting.
JNUTA, while announcing its support to the agitating students requested
the EC members not to endorse the proclaimed Academic Council's decisions
and send the matter back
to it for a proper discussion.
JNU administration has
already issued a notice to
student union president
Mohit Pandey warning him

of action if the protests at
the administrative block
are not stopped.
However, to their surprise, the venue of the EC
meeting was shifted from
there to the administrative block, purportedly at
the last moment to evade
any untoward incident or
eventuality happening at the
high level meeting. However, the protesters got to
know about it and shifted
the protest venue to the
administrative block.
Both teachers and students protested outside the
administrative block while
the EC meeting was on.
The students were however adamant on meeting
the Vice-Chancellor while
others planned to 'gherao'
the VC. According to the information, heavy police
presence was seen outside
the JNU.
What may come out of
the EC meeting is a different matter altogether, however with JNUSU and JNUTA continuing with their
protest, the tussle between
the administration and
students has only intensified.
04
Country's financial health has suffered. This would

have a long term impact on GDP, FDI, employment and
industrial production among others...
CONGRESS LEADER MM PALLAM RAJU
ON DEMONETISATION
OUTRAGE OVER ATTACKS

ON DCW AUTONOMY
Leading women and civil society

groups today expressed outrage
over alleged attacks on the autonomy of Delhi Commission for Women
(DCW) claiming the women's body
led by Swati Maliwal is not being
allowed to function smoothly.
Representatives from All India
Democratic Women's Association
(AIDWA), All India Progressive
Women's Association (AIPWA), Act
Now for Harmony and Democracy
(ANHAD), Joint Women's Programme (JWP), National Federation
of Indian Women (NFIW) and Nirantar and Swastika Mahila Samiti expressed their support to DCW as they
alleged vendetta politics being
played by the Centre.
While the active functioning of
DCW has given lot of hope to women's organisations and women in distress, we do understand that it is also upsetting the highly patriar-
chal mindset and the nexus between them and the political administration, said Annie Raja, General
Secretary of NFIW.
There has been a series of attempt to disrupt the functioning of
DCW and the police have been used
to stop the women's panel chief from
exercising powers, she alleged.
Shabnam Hashmi of Anhad
said, These attacks are not just on
DCW but on the fight for women
rights. Our solidarity is not with any
particular party but with a body
which is working continuously for
women. CPI (ML) Liberation activist and Secretary of AIPWA,
Kavita Krishnan echoed their views

saying, If there is a credible complaint of corruption it should definitely be investigated but the series of raids at DCW office and other such attempts are an attack on
the commission's autonomy.
DCW Chief Swati Maliwal has
alleged in past months that the
commission is not being allowed to
function properly and attempts are
being made to attack its autonomy.
Maliwal had alleged harassment
by the Centre last year on several
instances like naming her in an FIR
for allegedly disclosing name of a
rape victim, alleged irregularities
in recruitment of contractual staff
and non-payment of salaries to the
staff and others.
In fresh confrontation, an LG-appointed bureaucrat had recently cautioned DCW against allowing an a
Delhi-government backed official
carry out work as member secretary, saying it would be untenable
and attract penal action.
BUDGET SESSION FROM JANUARY 31

The first part of the Budget session of Parliament would begin

from 31 January and conclude
on 9 February unlike the earlier practice of end-of-February,
the Cabinet Committee on Parliamentary Af fairs (CCPA)
chaired by Home Minister Rajnath Singh decided on the schedule today.
The meeting which was attended by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, External Affairs Minister
Sushma Swaraj and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Ananth
Kumar decided that the Budget
would be presented on 1 February. In a departure from tradition, the Railway Budget would
be presented along with the General Budget.
The Economic Survey is to
be presented on 31 January. The
move had then caught the political parties by surprise and they
have all vowed to carry out
protests to force the BJP-led
NDA government to revert the
dates back to the traditional
date, which is 28 February.
AROUND TOWN
The Economic Survey is

to be presented on 31
January. The move had
then caught the political
parties by surprise and
they have all vowed to
carry out protests to
force the BJP-led NDA
government to revert the
dates back to the traditional date, which is 28
February
The government had then
reasoned that the advancement
in the date of the presentation
of the budget was to allow the
authorisation of expenditure
by the time the new financial year
begins.
By advancing the Budget, the
need of presenting a vote-onaccount is done away with and
allow government spending in
the first few months of fiscal.
The Budget session is being
advanced as the government
wants the early allocation of
funds for various schemes from
1 April, the beginning of the
financial year.
Minor girl raped
HC: Legalising unauthorised

colonies creates problems
The Delhi High Court

on Tuesday observed that legalising
unauthorised colonies has not only
"emboldened" the buyers of acquired
land and encroachers but also created manifold problems of environmental degradation and traffic bottlenecks.
Justice Manmohan also made a distinction between an unauthorised colony
and a "jhuggi-jhopri" (slum) cluster.
While jhuggi-jhopri clusters are normally "born out of need and necessity for
housing of the poor and under-privileged",unauthorised colonies are normally
"born out of greed with intent to secure
unmerited benefits", said the court.
It dismissed a plea filed by the Residents
Welfare Association (RWA) of Utsav
A 14-year-old girl was allegedly sexually assaulted by two teenagers inside a

public toilet at a transit camp in Anand
Parbat on December 31.
On her way to a nearby shop to buy
groceries, the victim had stopped to use
the toiletwhen the youths purportedly
entered inside and took turns to sexually assault her.
They then threatened her and told her
to not to inform anyone about the incident.
The boys have been apprehended on
the girls complaint and a case has been
registered against them. She was taken
for a medical examination. Police said
that both the accused claim to be juveniles and their ages are being verified.
New Delhi, 3 January:
Vihar, one of the unauthorised colonies

in Delhi,seeking to restrain the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) from evicting
colony members for its proposed 100-metre
road.
The court said the people, who have
cut these unauthorised colonies,have neither paid full development charges to the
civic authorities nor provided proper
civic facilities. The court said: "The people, who have cut these unauthorised
colonies, have neither paid full development charges to the civic authorities nor
provided proper civic facilities like roads,
sewerage, drainage, water and electricity facilities,and as a consequence,diseases
like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis
IANS
are common in Delhi."
AIIMS partners Mobikwik

for digital payments
The All India Institute of

Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
has partnered with MobiKwik with an aim to enable
citizens to adopt digital
transactions amidst demonetisation distress.
The move will enable
payment facility for resident doctors, staff, patients
and visitors. To commence
with, the facility can be
used in the institutions
cafeteria. Payment of doctors consultation, tests and
other services will be made
cashless by the first week of
January 2017. Upasana Taku,
cofounder of MobiKwik,
said: We are proud to support Indians during the cur-
Payment of doctors
consultation, tests and
other services will be
made cashless by the
first week of January
2017
rent situation of cash crunch
and lead Indias transformation into a less-cash economy. AIIMS is the foremost
medical institution in India
and we are glad to have
partnered with them.
MobiKwik is an Indian
mobile wallet major with 45
million users. The company has also launched an
under 1 mb app, MobiKwik
lite to support masses with
low data connectivity and
dated smartphones with
technology limitations in
accessing mobile payments.
A visitor checks his phone at a Digital Wealth Fair organised to

promote e-payments, in Mumbai on Tuesday. Afp
AGRI BOARD APPROVES PLANS FOR NEW WHOLESALE MKT
Converting mandis to e-markets

The new fruit and
vegetable markets is
expected to be built
at a cost of Rs 800
crore. It will be built
in two-and-a-half
years. This market
will be developed
over an area of 70
acres

The Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board (DAMB) today approved proposals to

construct new fruit and vegetable wholesale market
near Tikri Khampur area of
west Delhi and convert all
mandis into e-markets.
DAMB today held its
Board meeting, chaired by
Development Minister
Gopal Rai, and passed the
budget for the estimated
income of Rs 371.18 crore.
The expenditure proposed
is Rs 434.19 crore.
Giving details, Rai said
the new fruit and vegetable market will reduce the
burden from Azadpur

wholesale markets.
The new fruit and vegetable markets is expected
to be built at a cost of Rs
800 crore. It will be built in
two-and-a-half years. This
market will be developed
over an area of 70 acres.
A special consultant
will be appointed to facilitate the changeover, Rai

told reporters here.
Post demonetisation,
the Delhi government has
installed 38 PoS machines
in Delhi mandis to reduce
the hardships faced by
traders and customers.
Changes are also in the
offing for Ghazipur Mandi

where a four-storey building with modern facilities
is being constructed.
There will also be modernisation of the flower
market at Ghazipur. The
budget allocated for this
makeover is Rs 140 crore,
he said.
According to the minister, the fodder market in
Mangolpuri will be redeveloped as the new vegetable wholesale market.
The Gazipur poultry
market will also see
changes at a budget of Rs
120 crore. It will also
house a three-storey building with modern facilities
and 120 shops.
LEISURE
10 MINUTE CROSSWORD
BEETLE BAILEY/Mort Walker
ENGLISH FILM
DT MOIN, Noida 12:40pm.
Assassin's Creed
PVR Ambience,
PVR Vasantkunj, Delhi Gurgaon -1:40pm.
-9:25am, 1:25pm,
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 6:25pm, 11:20pm,
6:50pm.
8:30pm.
Director's Cut, Delhi - HINDI FILM
9:05am, 11:30am,
Dangal
4:15pm, 9pm.
PVR Anupam, Saket - PVR Vasantkunj, Delhi
9:15am, 4:05pm,
-9am, 9:45am,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
10:30am, 10:45am,
PVR Select City Walk - 11:15am, 12Noon,
9am, 1:40pm, 6:40pm, 12:30pm, 1:15pm,
11:40pm.
2pm,
PVR Naraina -9:15am, 2:15pm, 2:45pm,
4:05pm, 9:05pm,
3:30pm, 4pm, 4:45pm,
11:40pm.
5:30pm, 6:15pm, 7pm,
PVR Pacific Mall 7:30pm, 8:15pm, 9pm,
9:10am, 11:05am,
9:45pm, 10:30pm,
4:05pm, 9:05pm,
10:55pm, 11:15pm,
11:40pm.
11:45pm.
PVR Vikaspuri Director's Cut, Delhi 9:15am, 6:30pm.
9:50am, 11am,
PVR Prashant Vihar - 12Noon, 1:15pm,
9:15am, 6:30pm.
2:40pm, 3:40pm,
PVR Shalimar Bagh 4:40pm, 6:20pm,
9:15am, 4:05pm,
7:20pm, 8:05pm,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
9:55pm, 10:55pm,
PVR Logix, Noida 11:30pm.
10:45am, 1:05pm,
PVR Anupam, Saket 3:30pm, 5pm, 8:35pm, 9am, 9:50am,
10:55pm.
10:30am, 11:30am,
PVR EDM -10:05am,
12:30pm, 1:20pm,
7:20pm.
3pm, 4pm, 4:50pm,
PVR Mahagun 6:30pm, 7:30pm,
3:25pm, 8:25pm,
8:20pm, 9:55pm,
10:55pm.
10:55pm, 11:45pm.
PVR Ambience,
PVR Select City Walk Gurgaon -9:25am,
9am, 10am, 11:20am,
11:05am, 4:05pm,
12:30pm, 1:30pm,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
2:50pm, 4pm, 6:20pm,
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9am, 1:40pm, 4:15pm, 7:30pm, 8:30pm,
9:50pm, 10:55pm,
6:40pm,
11:55pm.
9:30pm,11:40pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida - PVR Priya -9:20am,
12:45pm, 4:10pm,
9.45am, 2.10pm,
7:35pm, 10:55pm.
6.35pm, 11pm.
PVR Plaza -9:20am,
Wave Cinema,
12:45pm, 4:10pm,
Kaushambi -9.40am,
7:35pm, 10:55pm.
3.15pm, 8.45pm,
PVR Rivoli -9am,
11.05pm.
12:25pm, 3:50pm,
Wave Cinema, Raja
7:15pm, 10:40pm.
Garden -9.45am,
PVR Sangam -9am,
2.10pm, 6.35pm,
9:50am, 12:30pm,
11pm.
Spice Cinema Noida - 1:20pm, 4pm, 7:30pm,
8:20pm, 10:55pm,
10am, 12:10pm,
2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7pm, 11:45pm.
PVR Naraina -9am,
9:15pm, 11:30pm.
9:50am, 10:30am,
Sing
11:30am, 12:30pm,
PVR Vasantkunj, Delhi 1:20pm, 3pm, 4pm,
-9:10am, 11am, 4pm,
4:50pm, 6:30pm,
9pm.
7:30pm, 8:20pm,
Director's Cut, Delhi 9:55pm, 10:55pm,
1:55pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Anupam, Saket - 11:45pm.
PVR Pacific Mall -9am,
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Select City Walk - 9:45am, 10:20am,
11am, 11:45am,
9:15am, 11:15am,
12:30pm, 1:15pm,
4:15pm, 9:15pm.
PVR Naraina -1:40pm, 1:50pm, 2:30pm,
3:15pm, 4pm, 4:45pm,
6:40pm.
PVR Pacific Mall -9am, 5:20pm, 6pm, 6:45pm,
7:30pm, 8:15pm,
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
9:30pm, 10:15pm,
PVR Shalimar Bagh 10:55pm, 11:45pm.
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Vikaspuri -9am,
PVR Logix, Noida 10:30am, 11:30am,
9:35am, 12Noon,
12:30pm, 2pm, 3pm,
2:25pm, 7:15pm,
4pm, 5:30pm, 7:30pm,
9:40pm.
9pm, 9:55pm,
DT MOIN, Noida 10:55pm.
10am, 3:10pm,
PVR
8:20pm.
PVR Mahagun -1pm,
6pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -9am,
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9:15am, 11:15am,
4:15pm, 9:15pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida 12.05pm, 4.25pm,
8.50pm.
Wave Cinema, Raja
Garden -12.05pm,
4.25pm, 8.50pm.
Spice Cinema
Noida -9:15am,
12:15pm, 4:45pm,
9:05pm.
La La Land
PVR Vasantkunj,
Delhi -5:45pm.
Director's Cut,
Delhi -9:20am.
PVR Anupam, Saket 5pm.
PVR Logix, A scene from:
Noida -7pm. Assassin's Creed
Shalimar Bagh -9am,

9:25am, 9:50am,
10:30am, 11:55am,
11:30am, 12:30pm,
1:20pm, 3pm, 4pm,
4:50pm, 6:30pm,
7:30pm, 8:20pm,
9:55pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 9am, 9:50am,
10:15am, 10:40am,
11:05am, 11:30am,
12:30pm, 12:55pm,
1:20pm, 1:30pm,
1:45pm, 2:10pm,
2:35pm, 3pm, 3:25pm,
4pm, 4:25pm, 4:50pm,
5:15pm, 5:40pm,
6:05pm, 6:30pm,
6:55pm, 7:30pm,
7:55pm, 9:55pm,
7:45pm, 8:20pm,
8:45pm, 9:10pm,
9:35pm, 10:25pm,
10:55pm, 11:15pm,
11:25pm, 11:45pm.
PVR EDM -10am,
11:10am, 12:20pm,
1:30pm, 2:40pm,
3:50pm, 5pm, 6:10pm,
8:30pm, 9:40pm,
10:50pm.
PVR Mahagun -9am,
10:10am, 11:20am,
12:30pm, 1:40pm,
2:50pm, 4pm, 5:10pm,
6:20pm, 7:30pm,
8:40pm, 9:50pm,
10:55pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -9:20am,
10:10am, 11am,
12Noon, 12:50pm,
2:30pm, 3:30pm,
4:20pm, 5:10pm, 6pm,
7pm, 7:50pm, 8:40pm,
9:30pm, 10:30pm,
11:20pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9am, 9:45am, 10am,
10:30am, 11:50am,
12:30pm, 1:15pm,
2pm, 3:20pm, 4pm,
4:45pm, 5:30pm,
6:50pm, 7:30pm,
8:15pm, 9pm,
10:20pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida 9.30am, 10am,
10.30am, 12.15pm,
12.45pm, 1.15pm,
1.45pm, 3.30pm, 4pm,
4.30pm, 5.05pm, 6pm,
7.15pm, 7.45pm,
8.15pm, 9.15pm,
10pm, 10.30pm,
11.25pm.
Wave Cinema,
Kaushambi -9.30am,
10am, 10.30am,
12.10pm, 12.45pm,
1.15pm, 1.45pm, 4pm,
4.30pm, 5.05pm,
5.35pm, 7.15pm,
7.45pm, 8.15pm,
10.30pm, 10.55pm,
11.25pm.
Wave Cinema, Raja
Garden -9.30am,
10am, 10.30am,
12.45pm, 1.15pm,
1.45pm, 4pm, 4.30pm,
5.05pm, 7.15pm,
7.45pm, 8.15pm,
10pm, 10.30pm,
10.55pm, 11.25pm.
Spice Cinema Noida 910am, 9:35am,
10:10am, 10:45am,
11:20am, 12Noon,
12:35pm, 1:10pm,
1:45pm, 2:20pm, 3pm,
3:35pm, 4:10pm,
4:45pm, 5:20pm, 6pm,
6:35pm, 7:10pm,
7:45pm, 8:20pm,
9pm, 9:35pm,
10:10pm,
10:45pm, 11:20pm,
11:50pm.
PUNJABI FILM
TODAY IN DELHI
ENGAGEMENTS
India International
Centre,
Health
Environment
Foundation
and
Consumers
India
present environment
and health series on
"Noise and Health How Sound?", series
moderated by Dr.
Naresh Gupta, DirectorProfessor, Maulana
Azad Medical College,
New Delhi, keynote
address by Dr. A.K.
Agarwal, Former Dean,
MAMC, and
ENT
Specialist; and panelists
are Dr. J.C. Passey,
Director-Professor,
MAMC & Medical
Director, LN Hospital; Dr.
Neeraj
Gupta,
Occupational Physician,
DHS, Govt. of NCT of
Delhi; Dr. Naresh Gupta,
Director-Professor,
Maulana Azad Medical
College, New Delhi; and
Dr. T.K. Joshi, Consultant
and
Expert
in
Occupational and
Environmental Health,
at the Conference
Room-I, 40, Max Mueller
artists at India Habitat

Centre, Lodhi Road, 11
a.m. to 7 p.m. (till 6
January)
Vadehra Art Gallery
presents
"Penal
Colony", a solo show by
artist Madhusudhan,
at D-53, Defence Colony,
11.00 a.m. to 9 .00 p.m.
(till 10 January)
Dilli Haat presents 31st
Annual Dastkari Haat
Craft Bazaar, Opposite
INA Market, 11 a.m. to
9 p.m. (till 15 January)
Khoj Studios presents
"Frozen World of the
Familiar Stranger"
featuring 10 Indian and
international artists at
S-17, Khirkee Extension,
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (till 11
January)
The Egg Art Studio
presents Fanil Pandya's
"Headhunters", who
uses photography as
an art form and
documents the life and
culture of the Konyak
tribe, a warrior clan
famous for beheading
its victims at 23,
Barakhamba Road, 11
January)
29958747
* Deen Dayal Upadhyay
25494402 to 06
* Guru Tegh Bahadur 22585007,
22597262, 22586262
* Lok Nayak Jai Prakash
23231471, 23230733, 23233400
* Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
23365525, 23365988
* Safdarjung 26165032,
26168336
RAILWAY INQUIRY
* General Inquiry 139
* Train Arrival 1331 (North),
1332 (East), 1333 (West), 1334
(South)
* Train Departure 1336 (North),
1337 (East), 1338 (West), 1339
RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson

DOWN
1 Arm joint (5)
2 Component (7)
3 Oceanic gull (9)
4 Sphere (3)
5 Unit of heat (5)
6 Rolled slice of meat
(7)
7 Infatuated with acting (5-6)
11 Aware (9)
12 Immediate (7)
13 Small snacks (7)
15 Exhaust (3,2)
17 Humorous (5)
19 Bread roll (3)
(South)
* Toll Free Nos. 1800112511
* SMS Inquiry Nos. 57886,
54959, 5676747
ROADWAYS INQUIRY
* ISBT (General Inquiry):
23868836, 23865181
* Haryana Roadways 23861262
* Himachal Roadways
23717473, 23325320
* Punjab Roadways 23867842,
23860626
* Rajasthan Roadways
23864470
* U.P. Roadways 23868709
FLIGHT INQUIRY
* AIR INDIA Flight Inquiry and
Reservation 18001801407
* INDIGO AIRLINES New Delhi
City Office 43513185, Call
Centre 09910383838,
18001803838, Reservation
43513186; Indigo Airlines
Airport 011-25671580; Terminal
I-B 25671576, Palam Road
25671579, 18001803838
* Jet AIRWAYS Flight Inquiry
and Reservation 39893333
* EMIRATES Flight Inquiry and
Reservation 33773377
* Kuwait Airways Flight Inquiry
and Reservation 23354373
(City), 25652295/96 (Airport)
* Japan Airlines Flight Inquiry
23327104/23327108
SUDOKU
HENRY/Dick Hodgins
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAYS CROSSWORD

11 Intensive DOWN
12 Extreme,
ACROSS
care,
1 Hal, 3 Owe,
1 Headlong, 13 Vampire,
14 Thermo15 Eagle,
5 Een
2 Lofty,
stat,
16 Sever,
(Halloween),
3 Ominous,
18 Ogre,
17 Ogle.
7 Caffeine,
4 Evens,
19
Grievous,
8 Dusk,
5 Endemic,
20 Eye,
9 Play pos6 Nest,
21
Ewe,
sum,
10 Creature,
22 Rue.
By arrangement with The Independent
Figures in parentheses denote
the number of letters in the words required
PVR Pacific Mall 8:50pm.

PVR Logix, Noida 9:45pm.
Spice Cinema Noida 2:20pm.
NEED TO KNOW
* Police 100
* Ambulance 102
* Accident & Trauma 109 &
1099
* Fire 101; Fire Service Officer
23314000
* Womens Helpline 1091
* Senior Citizens Helpline 1291
HOSPITALS
* AIIMS 26588500, 26588900
* Moolchand Medcity
(formerly Hospital) 42000000 &
24-hour Chemist Shop 42000447
* Vidyasagar Institute for
Mental Health and NeuroSciences 26924300
* Batra Hospital & Medical
Research Centre 29051280,
ACROSS
1 Inflict (5)
4 Freshwater mammal
(5)
8 Incompetent (5)
9 Dramatic scene (7)
10 Abounding (7)
11 Punctuation mark
(5)
12 Obstinacy (13)
14 Froth (5)
16 Coloured arc in the
sky (7)
18 Bitter (7)
20 Distribute (5)
21 Replenish (3,2)
22 Full of flavour (5)
Marg, 6.30 p.m.

DANCE
Habitat World presents
Habitat Concert Series
featuring
"Karna:
Destiny's Child", a
Bharatanatyam recital
by
Baladevi
Chandrashekhar, at
India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, 7 p.m.
EXHIBITIONS
"Down the Ages", a solo
painting exhibition in
water colour & acrylics
by Sarnjeet Singh at
Delhi O' Delhi Foyer,
India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, 11 a.m. to
7 p.m. (till 31 January)
"Of Miles and Me: A
Photo Travelogue", s
solo photography
exhibition by Nipun
Nayyar
at
the
Convention Centre
Foyer, India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road, 11
January)
Open Palm Court Gallery
presents a group
painting & sculpture
exhibition by various
Motor Mitraan Di
Srabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks.

All rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro
Inc., in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by
J.W. Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
Directions Make a 2 to
7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
Add points of each
word, using scoring
directions at right, 7letter words get 50point bonus. "Blanks"
used as any letter
have no point value.
All Judd's words are
in The Official
Scrabble Players
Dictionary(MerriamWebster) and OSW
Official Scrabble
Words(Chambers).
Judd's solution
tomorrow.
10-25-12
answer to
previous
puzzle
Sudoku is a number-placing
puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
several given numbers. The
object is to place the numbers 1
to 9 in the empty squares so
that no row, no column and no
3x3 box contains the same
number. The difficulty level
increases through the week.
05
Naxals have weakened post- demonetisation...Their strength has reduced

HOME MINISTER RAJNATH SINGH
ON THE POSITIVE OUTCOMES OF DEMONETISATION
DEMONETISATION
DOMINATES GST MEET
THUMBNAILS

New Delhi, 3 December
The eighth meeting of the

GST Council held here under
the chairmanship of Union
Finance Minister Arun Jaitley did not discuss the most
contentious dual control
issue. The demonetisation
issue dominated the crucial
meeting and is now threatening further delay in the rollout of GST, even beyond the
targeted timeline.
The representatives of six
crucial sectors, including
IT, telecom, banking and
insurance, civil aviation and
railways made their presentations to the Council to
assess the implementation
hurdles under the new GST
regime.
There were many issues
which were discussed. One
issue taken up was about the
states levying taxes on loading and unloading in ports
and trade in high seas. States
such as Gujarat, Odisha,
West Bengal charge tax on
goods moving within 11 nautical miles of the coastline.
For some states like Gujarat
A dog taking nap on a cold day

in the Capital on Tuesday.
Prakash Sharma
Bus overturns, 16
hurt: Sixteen passengers were injured,
one of them seriously, when a tourist bus
on its way to Noida from
Manali on Tuesday
overturned when the
driver was negotiating
a turn at a roundabout
in Chandigarh, police
PTI
said.
Liquor row: Mizorams
Excise and Narcotics
Department on Tuesday officially denied
campaigns from some
quarters in the social
media that liquor sold
in the wine shops in
the state were not
healthy for human
consumption.PTI
Pongal gift hampers:
Ahead of Pongal on 14
January, Tamil Nadu
CM O Panneerselvam
on Tuesday announced
a gift pack that includes
rice and sugar and
said it would be distributed before the
fest through ration
shops across the state.
PTI
Elephant, calf electrocuted: A female

elephant and her calf
got electrocuted on
Tuesday as they came
in touch with a live electric wire allegedly laid
by a local at a farm in
Chhattisgarhs Surajpur district, forest
PTI
officials said.
prising 17 banks to recover the money owed by the

defunct airlines.
The lenders had moved
the DRT in 2013 to recover
dues on the defunct airline.
SBI had filed three other
applications also, including one seeking Mallyas
arrest and impounding his
passport, for defaulting
on loans.
Mallya, who left the country on March 2 last year and
is now in the UK, has been
declared Proclaimed Offender by a special PMLA court
in Mumbai on a plea of
Enforcement Directorate
in connection with its money
laundering probe against
him in the alleged bank
loan default case.
During the prolonged
hearing, the DRT had disposed some of the IAs filed
by either side.
The unrest and associated misfortune is

neither a result of
failure of government
policies nor the fault
of political system
Jammu, 3 January
Ants will swarm the place

where sugar is, Samajwadi Partys Maharashtra unit
chief Abu Azmi said today
reacting to the molestation
of women on new year eve
in Bengaluru, drawing condemnation from women
activists for his misogynistic comments and calls
for his arrest.
Boys and girls should not
be allowed to roam about
together freely. Western culture has made its way into
India. This should stop.
The more the nudity,
the more a girl is considered
fashionable.Ants will swarm
the place where sugar is,
Azmi said, virtually stirring a hornets nest as women
activists poured scorn on the
the MLA from Shivaji Nagar
in suburban Mumbai.
I dont say all men are
like that in the country, but
a good 25 per cent of this
FACE TO FACE
Chief of the Air Staff Air Chief Marshal B S Dhanoa with Vice-President M Hamid Ansari in the Capital on Tuesday. sns
NAEEM AKHTAR
for the day and allowed the
discussion.
He claimed that the people in Kashmir were feeling
cheated as before the assembly elections the PDP leadership was tooth and nail
opposing Narendera Modi
in the valley and Modi himself in Jammu delivered
speeches against the PDP
leadership but after the elections the two parties entered
into an unholy alliance to
grab power. Jora pointed
out that Modi was put in a
hot spot by Mufti Sayeed
immediately after becoming
chief minister when he
thanked Pakistan and the
pro-Pakistan separatists for

enabling peaceful elections
in the state.
Initiating the debate,
Omar Abdullah, National
Conference chief, blamed
chief minister Mehbooba
Mufti for unrest in Kashmir
by giving conflicting statements on the killing of
Burhan Wani.
He said it was unfortunate
that instead of owning
responsibility for the longestever unrest, Mehbooba was
trying to draw parallels
with the violent incidents of
2010 when the National Conference was in power.
At that time, Mehbooba
asked the centre to dismiss

our government, but now
she was indulging in blame
game. Omar claimed that the
Mehbooba government had
no understanding of the
ground situation and allowed
things to deteriorate. He
accused Mehbooba of having betrayed the people of
Kashmir as a result of which
the unprecedented public
uprising got triggered.
M Y Tarigami of CPM
stressed the need for initiating a purposeful political dialogue with all stakeholders in Kashmir instead
of piecemeal efforts to meet
aspirations of the people.
Sat Sharma, president
of the state BJP, accused the
opposition parties of instigating people against the
PDP-BJP government.
These parties tried to
create communal tension in
Jammu while Kashmir was
witnessing violence. They
were also vitiating the
atmosphere on the issue of

settlement of the West Pakistan refugees belonging to
the Hindu community.
A National Conference
member Showkat Ganai
created flutter in the legislative council when he
described the terrorist
Burhan Wani a martyr.
He, however, clarified it was
his personal view and not of
the party. Meanwhile, education minister Naeem
Akhtar today rubbished the
allegations that the alliance
between the PDP and BJP
was the cause of recent long
stretched unrest in Kashmir,
What happened in the valley during the past few
months is a collective loss
for all of us. The unrest
and associated misfortune
is neither a result of failure
of government policies nor
the fault of political system
but a perpetual cycle of violence triggered in the state
by vested interests.
Let no one die of cold

Their warmth helps them
beat the chill of winters.
When the entire city was
busy with New Year euphoria, volunteers of Umang
Foundation stepped out of
their homes to look for the
homeless, frail and shivering elders in the freezing
nights in Shimla.
The foundation is gifting blankets to the destitute living in rain shelters and bus stands as a
part of its annual campaign Let no one die of
cold through the winters, beginning New Year.
They need blankets
Mumbai/New Delhi/Bengaluru, 3 January
country seems to be full of

patriachal men who have no
respect for women.
Partying late night in
half clad, blindly following
western culture, has never
been our culture. Ladies
from well-to-do families, be
it from Maharashtra, Gujarat, Rajasthan or UP, they
come out in decent attire and
mostly with their family
members, Lalitha Kumar
Mangalam, NCW chairperson, said.
Parameshwar says
statement misinterpreted:
Home minister G Parameshwara said today his statement on the alleged molestation of women on New
Year eve had been interpreted out of context instead of
being taken in its entirety.
In a statement, released
late tonight, he said he sincerely believed the choice of
every citizen should be respected and that women had
equal rights, respect and
protection under the Constitution.
HIMACHAL PRADESH NGO IN LOOK OUT FOR HOMELESS IN FREEZING NIGHTS
archanaphull252@gmail.com
Shimla, 3 January
PTI & SNS
ARCHANA PHULL
ABU AZMI
The
incidence of alleged molestation of women at the IT
capitals major commercial
centre and the subsequent
remarks by state home minister,Mr G Parameshwara,
on New Years eve, have
evoked a sharp reaction from
the public at large which feels
that brand Bengaluru has
been shamed.
This apart, a large section
of parents feel that women
,in particular, should have
done better than to stay that
late in a place where the number of revellers was obviously unmanageable and
unruly,going by past experience.
The first to be slammed
is Mr Parameshwara for
what his critics term as an
insensitive and primitive
remarks when he said that
the youngster attracted
attention when they tried to
copy western standards and
dresses . He added fuel to the
fire by stating that such incidents were common during
New Year and Christmas.
But then Mr Parameshwara
is not known to chose his
SNS
words wisely.
Bengaluru, 3 January:
BJP-PDP unholy alliance cause of J&K unrest: Jora

A senior Congress member
Rigzin Jora today claimed
in the legislative assembly
that the unholy alliance
between the PDP and BJP
was the root cause of the
recent unrest in the Kashmir Valley and not the killing
of terror outfit Hizbul Mujaheedin commander Burhan
Wani. Jora was speaking during the debate on the Kashmir unrest that claimed 78
lives and blinded several
youth due to use of pellet gun
by the security forces to
quell violence.
Noisy scenes were earlier witnessed in the house
when the treasury benches
opposed the adjournment
motion that was moved by
the opposition to discuss
the unrest in Kashmir. However, subsequently the Speaker Kavinder Gupta suspended the agenda listed
made its way into

India
BJP never did politics

of religious polarisation
The Debt Recovery Tribunal here has reserved its

order on the pleas of SBIled consortium of banks
for recovery of over Rs 9,000
crore from beleaguered
liquor baron Vijay Mallya
in the Kingfisher Airlines
case.
DRT presiding officer K
Srinivasan in a recent directive, reserved orders on the
Original Application (OA)
filed by the consortium and
also 30-odd Interlocutory
Applications, including several by Mallya and his companies, without specifying
any date, a DRT official
said today.
This brings the curtains
down on nearly three-year
legal battle in the tribunal
by the consortium com-
No appam in Sabarimala: Kerala Minister for Devaswom and

Tourism Kadakampally Surendran on
Tuesday flayed the
decision of authorities
at Lord Ayappa temple at Sabarimala to stop
production of 'appam'.
Bengal are now demanding

100 per cent compensation for
revenue losses once GST is
implemented.
The most important dual
control issue was not taken
up today, but hopefully will
be taken up tomorrow. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas
Issac said,we still have a long
way to go. The important
issue of dual control or who
will control tax assessees
earning over Rs 1.5 crore will
be taken up tomorrow. The
Council is yet to evolve a consensus on the decision of
sharing administrative powers between the Centre and
states.
After the Council meeting
concludes tomorrow, Jaitley will hold pre-budget consultations with the state
ministers and hear their
expectations from the Union
Budget, which is likely to be
presented in Parliament on
February 1. In the run up to
the annual budget,Jaitley has
already held customary consultations with agriculturists, industry chambers,
economists, and banks and
financial institutions.
NY molestation: Azmi BENGALURU

blames half-clad women SHAMED BY
Boys and girls should
MINISTERS
not be allowed to roam
about together freely.
REMARK
Western culture has
Mallya case: DRT reserves

order on banks plea
Bengaluru, 3 January
PTI
the tax collection is as high

as around Rs 1,200 crore.
Post-GST who will collect
these taxes. Under the draft
IGST law, Centre will take
over these taxes. We do not
want that. We could not
arrive at a consensus on
this and Union finance minister Arun Jaitley assured
that a decision will be taken
after getting it vetted by the
legal department,West Bengal Finance Minister Amit
Mitra said.
Jaitley is of the view that
if there is a constitutional
issue, then it is better to
have a legal opinion. It will
go to the law ministry and
then it will come back,
Mitra added.
At the last meeting the
Council decided to provide
full compensation to states
every two months for the first
five years of the GST rollout.

It has been estimated that the
total compensation would
amount to Rs 55,000 crore a
year.The GST Compensation
Bill will provide a legal backing to the Centres promise
to compensate the states if
their revenue growth rate
falls below 14 per cent in the
first five years of the GST rollout. The base year for calculating the revenue of a state
has been decided as 2015-16.
However, Mitra said,
Tsunami of demonetisation has led to everyones compensation going up. We want
a GST that is not flawed and
is good for the common man
too. Earlier we were thinking that about 4-5 states
would have to be compensated and a fund of about Rs
55,000 crore was being considered. But now at least 1214 states will have to be compensated.Most statestax collection has taken a hit of 3040 per cent due to demonetisation. The Centre had to
rework the entire compensation package and this will
again have to be vetted by the
Council.So states led by West
the most at this time of

the year. During our
drive, however, we are
able to identify the persons, who are to be
urgently rescued to shelter homes, said Chairman of the Foundation,
Ajai Srivastava.
Umang has distributed 3,000 blankets to the
marginalised people,
including the kids in
orphanages, in past three
years. Srivastava, a disability rights activist,
shared that last year, four
elderly persons, were rescued and shifted to the
Old Age Home at Basantpur near Shimla during
snowfall after Umang
took up their plight with
the local administration.

These included Sheikh
Shamim, a mentally sick
elderly man from West
Bengal and ailing Om
Prakash (82) from J&K,
who were living in rain
shelter in very pathetic

condition, and a
Nepalese disabled couple
Rajendra and Ganga
Devi.
Even this year, just as
the Umang started this
drive of looking for people living out in the cold
in Shimla, a concerned
citizen intimated the
organisation about deteriorating condition of an
elderly Sadhu in Shalaghat (Solan district)
ahead of Shimla.
We visited him today
and found that he is suffering from various ailments including paralysis in left limbs and gangrene in right foot apart
from some other prob-
lems. Keeping in view his

physical problems and
biting cold condition, he
is urgently required to be
shifted to some safe shelter, said Srivastava.
The Umang chairman
has already written a letter to the deputy commissioner, Solan in this
regard. The old Sadhu
can be immediately sent
to Old Age Home in Basantpur. He should be
given medical treatment, he said. The
Sadhu has been comforted with a blanket and
food at the rain shelter in
Shalaghat so far by the
citizen, Dinesh Thakur,
who spotted him in the
pathetic condition.
RETURN OF XTH
BOARD EXAMS
AMONG HRD
HIGHLIGHTS
ABHIJEET ANAND
anandabhijeet@thestatesman.net
This year the Committee on

Evolution of New Education Policy submitted its
report with recommendations to the HRD ministry.The
Committee made critical
remarks about the education system.
But
the
Minister
announced the constitution
of another committee to be
headed by an eminent educationist whose name name
is yet to be decided. It is conjectured that the committee
might be headed by Prof J S
Rajput, previously NCERT
director, the only educationist that was there in the earlier committee.A major concern has been that the government may act upon the suggestions of a right-wing organisation and bring about saffronisation. At an IIT Council meet, it was decided to
increase the intake of students
in the IITs. However, the faculty-student ratio is already
strained and by IIT standards the faculty-students
ratio should be 1:10.The minister also said the global
rankings of the IITs need to
be improved. Mega expenditure on this is also in the
pipeline under project Vishwajeet. A central advisory
board of education (CABE)
meeting also took place in
October. There was consensus that the learning outcome
has been affected by the nodetention policy. Also, the
Board agreed that the Class
X exams should return.
The decision to make the
X Board exams compulsory
now lies with the HRD ministry as the governing body
of CBSE has already made
a suggestion in its favour.
Home minister Rajnath

Singh today said he fully
agrees with the Supreme
Court ruling that religion
should not be the basis of politics, and asserted his party
BJPs politics rested on
insaaf and insaaniyat
(justice and fair play).
At an interaction with
journalists, he said, the
Supreme Court is hundred
per cent correct. I agree
with it. My party does not
seek votes on caste or religion, and believes that politics should be on the basis
of issues, and not religion.
He said so-called secular
parties had tried to give a bad
name to the BJP. We have
never done politics of religious polarisation. If the BJP
had done so, it would not
have got a clear majority in
the last Lok Sabha polls. This
was the first time a non-Congress party got a clear majority in the polls.
He said the Centre is
preparing a long-term action
plan to ensure normalcy
and development in Jammu
and Kashmir after the recent
long spell of disturbances
and curfews.
Mr Singh agreed the sit-
uation had remained abnormal for a rather long time,

but it was stabilising now.
The state government was
also making efforts in that
direction.
Asked about China blocking Indias efforts to get
Jaish-e-Mohammad chief
Masood Azhar declared as
an international terrorist,
he said India was pursuing
the issue with China and
hoped it would cooperate.
The home minister said
efforts were also on to bring
back underworld don
Dawood Ibrahim. Mr Singh
said the number of terrorists neutralised in the Kashmir Valley had never been
so high and casualties among
the security forces were
not too high.
Asked about the continuing family feud in UPs
ruling Samajwadi Party,M
r Singh said family fights
could not make anybody
happy.
If the turmoil in the family affected the states interests, it was hoped the next
government in the state
would take care of the damage done. Mr Singh said the
PM had made tremendous
achievements and definitely the NDA would benefit
from them in the UP polls.
CORRUPTION: COURT SLAMS VIGILANCE

Thiruvananthapuram, 3 January: A Vigilance Court here today
slammed the Kerala Vigilance director Jacob Thomas for

showing apathy in proceeding with cases involving ministers.
While considering a petition against the state fisheries
and cashew industry minister J Mercykutty Amma and
her husband in a case related to corruption allegation in
raw cashew import, the court said that the Vigilance books
cases against ministers only after it comes before the court.
The court said the vigilance has registered a case against
Mercikutty Amma only after the complaint came up before
the court and observed that investigation into corruption
charges levelled against former minister E P Jayarajan
and R Sreelekha IPS were also delayed. The court ordered
to complete the verification against Mercykutty Amma
by 17 February. It was on Monday that the director of
Kerala Vigilance ordered a quick verification of the charges
levelled against the state fisheries and cashew industry
minister. The allegation against the minister is that she
and her husband was involved with corruption to the tune
of Rs 10.34 crore that occurred in the import of cashew
nuts by the Cashew Development Corporation and CAPEX
during the months of August and September 2016.
Following the courts criticism, Vigilance director has
given directions to the vigilance officials to take immediate action on the complaints received and has said the
nature of investigation can be decided by the SPs.
SNS
CJI laments...
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
The CJI expressed his fondness for advocacy and said,
in a lighter vein, one amendment I would like to happen
in the Constitution is to let the retired judges practice.
After all, we are lawyers at heart.
Justice J S Khehar, who would succeed Justice Thakur
tomorrow, said the outgoing CJI travelled the country spreading the good word of law and making people aware about
the difficulties faced by the judiciary. He travelled
abroad representing the Indian judiciary, invited foreign
delegations and discussed law with them, he said. In a
lighter vein, Justice Khehar further said, The other day
I told to him (Justice Thakur) about a newspaper report
that he is going to be the Vice President. He laughed it
off. We wish him to be the President, why Vice President.
The farewell function organised by the SCBA saw the
presence of most of the apex court judges and the senior
lawyers of the Supreme Court.
06
Thomas Issac has unleashed a disinformation campaign

against the Union government on the demonetisation issue.
KERALA BJP PRESIDENT KUMMANAM RAJASEKHARAN
ASKING CPM-LED LDF GOVT TO END POLITICAL ENMITY WITH CENTRE
PM STRESSES ON EASE
OF DOING SCIENCE
THUMBNAILS
Panneerselvam assures
relief as TN faces drought
Chennai, 3 January
SAYS INDIA WILL BE AMONG TOP 3 NATIONS IN SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Hyderabad, 3 January
A long queue outside an ATM in

the Capital on Tuesday.
Prakash Sharma
Ktaka minister dies:

Karnataka Cooperation and Sugar minister
H S Mahadev Prasad
(58) died of a massive
heart attack at a private resort in Koppa
in Chikkamagaluru
district of Bengaluru
PTI
on Tuesday.
Non-bailable warrant:An Andhra Pradesh
court issued a nonbailable warrant against
MLA K Appala Naidu
of TDP in a cheque
bouncing case filed
by a businessman. The
MLA had taken a loan
of Rs 20 lakh.
PTI
Election petition
matter: The Madras
High Court on Tuesday dispensed with the
personal appearance
of the Chief Election
Commissioner, which
the judge ordered on
23 December, in an election petition matter.PTI
Naga Hoho allegation:
Naga tribal apex body
Naga Hoho on Tuesday alleged despite turmoil in Naga-inhabited
areas of Manipur, the
state government and
the Centre have been
maintaining lukewarm
attitude towards demands of the people. PTI
Ex-minister hacked
to death: Former Puducherry agriculture
minister VMC Sivakumar (67) was hacked to
death by an unidentified gang in Kadaikal
on Tuesday.He is survived by wife, two sons
and two daughters.PTI
LEGAL NOTICES
Taking a cue from ease of

doing business, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today
spoke about ease of doing
science and the need for
inculcating scientific social
responsibility to allow all
stakeholders including academia, start-ups and industry have access to scientific and technological infrastructure.
The Prime Minister was
addressing an august gathering of Nobel laureates
and distinguished scientists while inaugurating the
five-day-long 104th Indian
Science Congress at Sri
Venkateswara University
in the temple town of Tirupati.
He also said India will be
structure accessible to academia, start-ups, industry

and research and development lab is a priority for government. We need to address
the problems of ease of
access, maintenance, redundancy and duplication of
expensive equipment in our
scientific institutions, pointed out the Prime Minister.
Elaborating on the issue,
Modi said, The need for
establishing professionally managed regional scientific centres in PPP mode
housing high value scientific
equipment should be examined.
On the lines of corporate
social responsibility (CSR),
scientific social responsibility needs to be inculcated to connect all stakeholders including schools
and colleges.
He emphasised on ensuring that everybody should

get access to science and suggested collaborative research
with NRI and foreign scientists and post-doctoral
students.
He also spoke about the
importance of cyber physical system since it can pose
unprecedented challenges on
demographic dividends.
However, it can be transformed into an opportunity by research, training and
skilling in robotics, artificial intelligence, digital
manufacturing, big data
analysis and so on.
He went on to add that the
Union ministry of earth
sciences was working towards launching a Deep Ocean
Mission aimed at exploring,
understanding and harvesting the resources.
DMK to play the Jallikkattu card

Chennai, 3 January
The DMK is looking to anoint

party treasurer M K Stalin
as the working president in
its general council meeting
tomorrow. With just few
days to go for Pongal, Jallikkattu will hog the limelight as DMK is organising
several protests all over the
state for resumption of the
bull taming sport, which
was banned by the Supreme
Court in 2014.
Southern and Central
Tamil Nadu, especially the
districts of Madurai,
Tiruchirappali, Puthukottai,
Thanjavur, Tirunelveli and
Tiruvarur are raging with
anger over the ban on Jallikkattu. The Supreme Court
banned the sport following
complaints from Animal
Welfare activists who
claimed that the ritual was
an act of cruelty.
Ironically, the apex court
order was delivered after the
affidavits were submitted by
the then UPA government
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the Code
of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Pooja Talwar
Judge Small Cause Court/
Addl. Senior Civil Judge/
Guardian Judge (South)
Court No. 2, Saket Courts,
New Delhi.
CS No. : 83021/2016.
Matrix Cellular International
Services Private Limited
Plaintiff
Versus
Om Prakash
Defendant
To,
Om Prakash, Mohalla Purana
Gorakhpur, Gorakhnath Road,
Gorakhpur, Uttar Pradesh.
The Defendant Abovenamed.
Whereas you are intentionally evading service of summons it is hereby notified that
if you shall not defend the
case on the 17th day of January, 2017, the day fixed for the
final disposal, it will be heard
within 10 days.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, on this
the 14th day of December,
2016.
JSCC-cum-ASCJ-cumGuardian Judge (South)
Saket Courts, New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
CL 03043
CL 03040
among the top three nations

in science and technology
by 2030 and it will emerge
as the destination for the best
talents. He added that the
countrys best science and
technology institutions
should strengthen their
basic research in line with
global standards and that
translating these basic
knowledge into innovations,
start ups and industry would
lead to sustainable and inclusive growth. He also mentioned that the scientists
have vastly contributed to
the strategic vision of the
country.
Another empowering
factor for scientific delivery
is the ease of doing science.
If we want science to deliver we must not constrain it.
Building a strong scientific and technological infra-
IN THE COURT OF
SH. SAMAR VISHAL
Commercial Civil Judgecum-Addl. Rent Controllercum-Administrative Civil
Judge
South District,
Room No. 204,
Saket Courts Complex,
New Delhi.
Succ. Petition No. 6036/2016.
NDOH : 17-1-2017.
Deepinder Singh, s/o Late Sh.
Devinder Singh, r/o Riyasat
Farm House, Mandi Road, Sultan Pur, Mehrauli, New Delhi110030.
Petitioner
Versus
1. The State of NCT of Delhi.
2. Smt. Sita Chaudhary, w/o
Late Ch. Devinder Singh, r/o N102, Panchsheel Park, New
Delhi.
3. Sh. Verinder Singh, s/o
Late Ch. Devinder Singh, r/o N102, Panchsheel Park, New
Delhi.
4. Sh. Bhoopinder Singh
(Now known as Bhupi
Phougaat), s/o Late Ch. Devinder Singh, r/o N-102,
Panchsheel Park, New Delhi.
To,
The State/General Public.
Whereas an application
under Section 372 of the Indian Succession Act, 1925 has
been made by Sh. Deepinder
Singh, claiming to be successor of Late Sh. Chaudhary
Devinder Singh, for grant of
Succession Certificate in
respect of the debts/securities
of said deceased.
And whereas the said applicant shall come for hearing on
17th day of January, 2017 at 1000 a.m.
led by Manmohan Singh in

which DMK was an ally.
The DMK and the Congress launched a massive agitation on Tuesday at Alanganallur in Madurai, considered as the hub of the bull
taming sport. Thousands
of people participated in
the event as Stalin declared
that had the DMK been ruling Tamil Nadu, the Jallikkattu would have been
held with fervor. Stalin and
leaders of the Congress
blamed the BJP government at the Centre for the
ban on Jallikkattu. But H
Raja, the national secretary of the BJP pointed out
that the entire blame for the
ban on Jallikkattu lies with
the DMK and the Congress.
Therefore, the public at large

is hereby given notice if any
person has any objection to
the grant of succession certificate in favour of the said
applicant, he may appear and
file objections in writing, in
person or through duly
appointed pleader, on the
said date and time.
the Seal of the Court on this
2016.
Addl. Rent Controller
(South)
Saket Courts Complex,
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
It was the UPA government in which the DMK was

a major alliance partner
that submitted a report to
the Supreme Court demanding a ban on Jallikkattu. Had
they not included the bulls
in the list of animals which
they described as endangered species, the court would
not have banned the sport,
said Raja.
Leaders of the farming
community in Tamil Nadu
suspect the ban on Jallikkattu is a fallout of the deeprooted conspiracy by international agencies that are
out to finish off some of the
rare native bull breeds.
Each Jallikkattu bull
is like a member of the family. No cruelty is perpetrat-
35
YEARS'
goodwill
Kolkata Firm served Army /
Rail / Telecom with 1 cr.
immovable property for
immediate sale, 8697306930.
Annamalai University in
Year
2011,
Regd.
No.
260M11129T00779 has actually lost.
Name of the Candidate:
Reena Kumari, Full Address:
Qtr. No. 06, NHPC Colony,
Balutar, P.O.: Singtam, East
Sikkim-737134.
Tel
No.:
7091473706.
CHANGE OF
NAMES
ed on them during the taming as alleged by the animal

lovers. In fact the possession
of a pair of Jallikkattu bulls
is a status symbol in the villages, said R V Giri, president, Consortium of Indian Farmers Association
(CIFA).
The farmers allege the
ban on Jallikkattu has led
to people resorting to selling the bulls at slaughter
houses, which may result in
the extinction of local breeds.
Animal Welfare Board
of India and PETA are the
two organisations batting for
ban on all kinds of cruelty
on animals. But when these
organisations went to the
court and got orders to wind
up Jallikkattu, culling of
stray dogs, the farmers allege they have been silent on
dog shows and horse races.
The meeting, to be chaired by DMK chief M Karunanidhi, gains significance
as the nonagenarian will
make his first public appearance tomorrow in three
months.
I, SINDHI Gurupreetha Simha

alias Gurupreeth Singh, s/o
Sh. Nissan Singh Sindhi, r/o
6-33, Cheepurupalli, Paravada (Mandal), Visakhapatnam,
Andhra Pradesh, have changed
my name to Siddarth Kumar
Sindhi future for all purposes
as per affidavit sworn before
Oath Commissioner, Delhi, on
2-1-2017.
CL 03046
I, MANGAL Singh alias Sindhi Mangla Simha alias Mangal
Singh Sindhi, s/o Sh. Nissan
Singh Sindhi, r/o 6-33, Cheepurupalli, Paravada (Mandal),
Visakhapatnam,
Andhra
Pradesh, have changed my
name to Gowri Shankar Sindhi future for all purposes as
per affidavit sworn before
Oath Commissioner, Delhi, on
2-1-2017.
CL 03047
I, SINDHI Kuladeep Kour alias
Sindhi Kuladeep Kowar alias
Kuladika Kula Sindi, w/o Aleti
Raja Rao, r/o 6-33, Cheepuru-
Tamil Nadu chief minister

O Panneerselvam today said
the state was staring at a
drought due to failure of the
North East monsoon. He
assured farmers that they
would be given appropriate
relief.
He said all the collectors, barring Chennai, have
been directed to submit
reports to the government
on the status of crops and
drought in their respective
districts by conducting field
inspections.
High-level committees
comprising top bureaucrats
and ministers would be
immediately set up to supervise inspections in the districts, Panneerselvam said,
adding the panels would
tour districts and submit
their reports on 10 January.
Based on field reports of
the panels and collectors, an
announcement will be made
on the drought situation
and all necessary relief will
be given, he said in an official release.

Apart from financial
relief for affected crops (by
the state), farmers who had
insured crops will also be
able to get compensation
from insurance companies,
he said.
Against the backdrop of
recent deaths of farmers in
parts of Tamil Nadu, some
of which were suicides due
to agrarian distress, the
chief minister said they
need not be apprehensive
about the present drought
condition as they would be
provided appropriate relief.
It is the duty of the

Tamil Nadu government,
which follows Amma (former chief minister J Jayalalithaa) to protect farmers
in these despairing circumstances, he said, adding
government would fulfill
its duty.
Stating that 86 per cent
crops were insured in Cauvery Delta areas, the chief
minister said it would be possible for paddy farmers to
get up to Rs 25,000 as compensation per acre based on
the extent of losses.
He said between 1 October and 1 December, Tamil
Nadu expected to get an
average 440 mm precipitation. However, it got only
168.3 mm of rain and 21 of
32 districts witnessed over
60 per cent deficit rainfall.
Panneerselvam said
according to the Centres new
guidelines, drought could be
declared in districts only
after a field inspection on
crop status in at least 10 per
cent of villages in every
district.
Govt to come up with mechanism

to tackle child pornography
An institutional mechanism to tackle child pornography, which has recorded

a rise over the past few
years, will soon be introduced by the government.
The Ministry of Women
and Child Development will
set up a National Alliance
against Child Abuse, which
will comprise of members
from the Ministry of Home,
Law, HR, IT, civil society
organisations and major
web portals.
Thirty-seven per cent of
all internet is pornography
and a major portion of it
involves children. Child
pornography has to be dealt
seriously. All the stakeholders will meet on 16 January to deliberate on the contours of the National
Alliance against Child
Abuse, Union minister
Maneka Gandhi said today.
palli Padmara, Godusuvanipalam, Paravada (Mandal),

Visakhapatnam,
Andhra
Pradesh, have changed my
name to Aleti Ramulamma
future for all purposes as per
affidavit sworn before Oath
Commissioner, Delhi, on
2-1-2017.
CL 03048
IT IS notified for the inforI, RAVINDER Singh alias

mation that my Original
PUBLIC NOTICE
Qualifying
Examination Ravendra Singh alias Ravindhr
That my clients Sh. Mubarak
Certificate
of
Main Singh Shindi, s/o Nishan Singh
Ali, s/o Hazi Rahimuddin, and
CL 03042 Secondary Examination of Shindi, r/o 6-33, GoursuvaniSmt. Shakeela, w/o Sh.
Year 2006 and Roll No. palem, Cheepuru Palli ParMubarak Ali, both r/o I-64,
IN THE COURT OF
3128614
and
Senior avada, Visakhapatnam UrbanMoradi Road, Batla House,
MS. NAVITA KUMARI BAGHA Secondary Examination of 531020, Andhra Pradesh have
Jamia Nagar, New Delhi-110025,
Additional District Judge-04 Year 2008 and Roll No.
changed my name to Ravindar
have disowned/debarred their
Room No. 681,
3221530 issued by CBSE have Kumar Sindhi, future for all
sons namely Mohd. Imran and
South District,
been actually lost. Also, my purposes as per affidavit
his wife Smt. Farida and their
Degree Certificate & Marks sworn before Oath Commistwo children and Mohd. Asim
(Under Order 37 CPC)
Sheet of BBA in Applied sioner, Delhi, on 2-1-2017.
and his wife Smt. Rukhsar,
Suit No. 8007/2012.
Management issued by
CL 03045
from their all movable and
Rajnish Dhaka
Plaintiff
Versus
Sunrise Cafe & Bar Pvt. Ltd. &
Ors.
Defendants
To,
1. M/s. Sunrise Cafe and Bar
Email:
Email:
KOLKATA
Private Limited, Regd. Office :
thestatesmanbangalore@thestatesman.net
UG-1, 2, Southern Park, Saket
thestatesmansiliguri@thestatesman.net
Statesman House,
tsmbangalore @yahoo.com
District Center, New Delhi.
sil_statesman@yahoo.co.in /
4, Chowringhee Square
2. M/s. Sunlight Cafes Private
kkc099@gmail.com
MUMBAI
Kolkata-700 001
Limited, Regd. Office : E-169,
2nd Floor, Mandela Road,
5, Kasturi Buildings Jamshedji
Tel: (033) 22127070-76,
SHIMLA
Kamla Nagar, Delhi-110017.
Tata Road, Mumbai-400 020
(033) 41071700
3. Mr. Kashif Farooq, DirecThe Statesman Ltd.
Tel: (022) 2202 1045, 2202 1394,
Fax: (033) 2212-6181 / 7107-1780
tor, r/o E-491, 2nd Floor, Friends
Cabin No. 305, P. C. Chambers
Fax: 2204 4877
Email:
thestatesman@vsnl.com
Colony, New Delhi.
Near Jodha Niwas
Email:
statesmandisplay@gmail.com
4. Mr. Prashant Ojha, DirecThe Mall Shimla-171001, H.P.
thestatesmanmumbai@thestatesman.net
thestatesmanclassified@gmail.com Mob: 09418027177
tor, r/o E-491, 1st Floor, Greater
thestatesman.mumbai@gmail.com
Kailash-II, New Delhi.
naveensharma.thestatesman@gmail.com
DELHI
Whereas the plaintiff has
CHENNAI
instituted a suit against you for
CHANDIGARH
Statesman House,
under Order XXXVII of the
Fagun Mansion (4th floor) 26,
148, Barakhamba Road,
SCO 56-57 (First Floor)
Code of Civil Procedure, 1908
Ethirai Road, Chennai-600 008,
Near
G.P.O,
Sectro-17D
New
Delhi-110
001
for Rs. 35,50,000/- and interest
Tel: (044) 28278037, 28279984 Fax:
Chandigarh-160017
you are hereby summoned to
Tel: (011) 2331 5911
Mob:
09779188811
28224800
cause an appearance to be
Fax: (011) 2331 5295
email: anandjjn@gmail.com
Email:
entered for you, within ten
Email:
days from the service hereof
thestatesmanchennai@thestatesman.net
BHUBANESWAR
thestatesmandelhi@thestatesman.net
in default whereof the plaintiff
will be entitled, after the expiLUCKNOW
sman@nde.vsnl.net.in,
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A,
ration of the said period of
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
delhistatesman@gmail.com
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling
ten days to obtain a decree for
Bhubaneswar- 751 010.
3/10, INS Building
Road), Lucknow-226 001,
any sum not exceeding the
Tel: (0674) 2588060/61/
sum of Rs. ............ and the
(3rd floor) Rafi Marg,
Ph.: (0522) 2206705, 9415920949
62/2586371,
sum of Rs. ............. of costs
Email:
New Delhi-110 001,
Telefax: 0674-2588061
together with such interest, if
Tel: (011) 2371 8434
thestatesmanlucknow@thestatesman.net
Email:
any as the court may order.
Email:
thestatesmanbhubaneswar@thestatesman.net soumenbose1975@gmail.com
If you cause an appearance
bose.soumen@rediffmail.com
to be entered for you, the
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com
thestatesmandelhi@thestatesman.net
plaintiff will thereafter serve
shivaji.samaddar@gmail.com
HYDERABAD
RAIPUR
upon you a summons for
Ishan House (2nd floor)
judgement at the hearing of
Mr. Manish Saluja 53, Sahid
The Statesman Limited, 2nd
which you will be entitled to
A-90, Sector II NOIDA,
Samarak Complex Bombay
Floor,
UNI
Building,
move the court for leave to
UP 201 301
Market, G.E. Road,
A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500004,
defend the suit.
Tel: (0120) 95120-3891800/810,
Ph.: 040-2339 1739
Raipur 492001
Leave to defend may be
Fax: (0120) 95120-2547216
Email:
obtained if you satisfy the
Tel.: 5035985, (M): 9425202097
court by an affidavit or oththestatesmanhyderabad@thestatesman.net
SILIGURI
RANCHI
erwise that there is a defence
thestatesman.hyd@gmail.com
to the suit on the merits or that
13A, Dabgram Industrial Growth
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
it is reasonable that you
BANGALORE
Centre,
Ranchi - 834 002
should be allowed to defend.
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower,
Fax: (0651) 2247054
P.O. Satellite Township,
50
Residency
Road,
BangaloreEmail:
the Seal of the Court, on this
Siliguri-734015
560025.
Tel: 2568615, 2568063 and 2568787.
thestatesmanranchi@thestatesman.net
Tel.; 9945735845, 080-22229129,
2016.
Fax:
(0353)
2568296,
binodenarayansingh@yahoo.co.in
Addl. District Judge-04
080-22234813
South District,
AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Rs. 2, Eastern Region - Rs. 1
All other stations in India - Rs. 1
Seal of the Court
CL 03044
Child pornography
has to be dealt
seriously. All the
stakeholders will meet
on 16 January...
MANEKA GANDHI
The minister also proposed setting up of a women
helpline, akin to childline to
help women in distress.
Gandhi said her ministry will take major steps
to regulate pre-schools that
are part of Anganwadi centres as also those run by private agencies in the wake of
complaints about violation
of child rights.
The National Commission for Protection of Child
Rights (NCPCR) has recommended a set of regulatory guidelines which will
decide on various issues
such as teacher-student
ratio, curriculum, infrastructure and the age of
admission apart from the
immovable properties, due to

their misbehaviour/misconduct towards my clients and
they are living separately at S3, Pehalwan Chowk, Jogabai
Extension, Jamia Nagar, New
Delhi and severed all relations from their sons and their
wives and grand-children,
henceforth. Any person dealing with them will do so at
his/her/their own risk and
consequences and my clients
shall not be liable for any of
their acts/deeds.
Arun Sharma
Advocate
Chamber No. 605,
6th Floor, Lawyers Block,
Saket Courts,
New Delhi-17.
CL 03049
GENERAL PUBLIC NOTICE

This is to notify all concerned that I/We, being the
panel lawyers for IDBI Bank
Ltd., having its Branch Office
at Shop No. 202, Second Floor,
AVA Court, Sector-47, Gurgaon, Haryana, (the Bank)
hereby give notice that the
Bank during its transit, some
of original documents of following customers have lost
by "Professional Courier'', the
concerned Courier agency on
18-8-2016 and the same is not
being traceable. The details
are mentioned herein below :
Ms. Reena Puri Lekhi, for
Property Flat No. 604, Tower 6,
Uniworld Gardens, Gurgaon,
Haryana-122001 : NOC dated 38-2016, Allotment Letter dated
22-7-2005, Possession Letter
dated 21-3-2007, Conveyance
Deed No. 4662, dated 23-42007, Agreement to Sell dated
4-2-2004 & 12-7-2005.
Mr. Ashish Verma for Property at Flat No. H-804, 8th
Floor, Type-2, Sethi Group,
Max Royal Plot No. GH-2B,
Sector-76, Noida, Uttar
Pradesh-201301, Allotment
Letter dated 10-4-2015, Possession Certificate dated 16-32015, NOC dated 12-5-2015 and
Sub-Lease Deed, Document
No. 1739, dated 29-3-2016.
Mr. Ankur Khare for Property
: Flat No. T-302, 3rd Floor,
Homes 121, Plot No. GH-01,
Sector 121, Noida, Uttar
Pradesh Sub-Lease Deed, Document No. 2300, dated 2-42016.
Ms. Dhruba Jyoti Pukhan
for Property Flat No. U-1201,
12th Floor, Tower-U, Homes121, Sector-121, Plot No. GH-01,
Noida, Uttar Pradesh-201301 :
Sub-Lease Deed, Document
No. 1752, dated 29-3-2016.
Mrs. Navneet Goel, Flat No.
801, Tower-T, 8th Floor, Noida,
Uttar Pradesh-201301, Homes
121 : Sub-Lease Deed, Document No. 3580, dated 5-5-2016.
Mr. Yogendra Singh Thakur
for Property at Flat #126, 1st
Floor, GC-5, Gaur City, 5th
Avenue, GH-01, Sector-4,
Greater Noida, Uttar Pradesh201301, Possession Letter,
dated 18-5-2016.
The notice is hereby given
that if anyone find the above
said documents, return back
the same to the IDBI Bank,
safety and security aspects.

Gandhi said that her ministry was in talks with law
and justice ministry over setting up of a Central Tribunal
for Adoptions. Forty per
cent of the adoption cases
are stuck in various courts
and this has worried me. As
per CARA guidelines, a
court has to dispose a case
within a period of two months from the date of filing
of the adoption petition by
the specialised adoption agency and in two hearings but
it often takes much longer.
So we want that a
National Tribunal be set
up to clear such cases so that
parents dont have to wait
for a year to be able to take
home a child, Gandhi said.
According to a senior
Ministry official, the objective is to have single-point
person dealing with cases
from across the country so
that a child can be declared
legally free for adoption fast.
on its aforementioned address,

as the said properties are
already mortgaged with the
Bank.
This notice also further notifies that no person(s) should
do any legal transaction in
respect of the above said
property without consent of
the Bank, otherwise the same,
will be at her/his/their own
risk and consequences for
which the Bank/Customers
will not be liable/responsible
and the same will not be binding upon the Bank/Customers.
Samir Sabat & Associates
Samir Kumar/Lalit Kumar
Advocates
87-D, Pocket-2, Sector-6,
Dwarka, New Delhi.
Tel. : 011-43020154,
Mob. :
9873668776/8130395391
CL 03041
NOTICE is hereby given
that the following Share
Certificate(s) of Balmer
Lawrie & Co. standing in the
name(s) of Asha Singhania
jointly
with
Sita
Devi
Singhania has / have been
lost and application for
issue of duplicate certificate(s) has been made to
the company. Folio No.
0017262 Share Certificate
Nos.; Distinctive Nos.; No. of
Shares; respectively are:
6947; 3379751 3379800; 50.
6948; 3379801 3379850; 50.
6949; 3379851 3379900; 50.
6950; 3379901 3379950; 50.
63690; 16450571 16450620;
50.
63691;
16450621
16450670; 50. 63692; 16450671

16450708; 38. Any objection
regarding the above should
be made within one month
from the date hereof to the
company / their Registrar
Link Intime India Pvt. Ltd.,
Kolkata. Thereafter the company will proceed for the
issue of duplicate certific
a
t
e
s
.
The public is cautioned
against dealing in the said
shares.
Place: Kolkata
Date: 02.01.2017
NOTICE
It is notice to all, my
clients Kabita Panja & Keya
Panja, wife & daughter of
late Ratan Chandra Panja of
Shanpur, Sahapara, P.S.:
Dasnagar, Howrah are the
joint owners of 07 cottahs
Bastu property in Dag No.
668 (P), R.S. Khatian No. 167
& 166 (bata), L.R. Khatian No.
3333 & 3334 under H.M.C.
Ward
No.
22,
Mouza:
Sahanpur, J.L. No. 2, P.S.: Old
Jagacha
Hal
Dasnagar,
District: Howrah, who have
lost Title Deeds No. 04324 for
the year 1991 & 07904 for the
year 2008, D.S.R. Howrah
along with all relevant documents for which G.D.E. No.
1526, dated: 27.08.2016 has
been
lodged
at
P.S.:
Dasnagar. If any person got
the same contact with me or
any person/s have any
claim, submit me within
15 days from this date failing which no claim or
demand
tained.
shall
be
enter-
Dipak Adak
Advocate
Judge & Court, Howrah
Mob.: 9830865307
UNIVERSITY OF
CALCUTTA
87/1, College Street
Kolkata-700073, India
Department of English,
University of Calcutta
invites applications for the
Ph.D.
programme
in
English. Please see the
University
website:
www.caluniv.ac.in
SUPPLY, installation &

training of Integrated Single
Box ICT Tool (K-Yan). Ref.: eTender
ID:
2016_WIL_
95894_1.
WAPCOS LIMITED
Regional Office (ER) Kolkata
Notice Inviting Tender
(NIT) is hereby invited by the
Chief Engineer & RM (ER) on
behalf of WAPCOS Ltd. from
reputed firm / agencies for
the selection of Consultant
for Project Management
Agency (PMA) for a period
of 2 (two) years for implementation of DDUGJY works
of Thoubal, Imphal-East and
Imphal-West Districts of
Manipur (2nd Call).
Details can be obtained
from WAPCOS Ltd., Regional
Office,
10th
Floor,
Jalasampad Bhawan, Salt
Lake City, Kolkata-700091
and WAPCOS website from
04.01.2017 to 20.01.2017 up to
12.30 p.m.
Any information related to
the NITs will be uploaded in
the website henceforth and
shall not be published in any
newspaper.
CE & RM (ER)
Ph.: 033-23597045 / 23597011
JADAVPUR
UNIVERSITY
Kolkata-700032
NOTICE INVITING TENDER
Sealed tenders are
invited for the following
works (1) Estimate No. C137 (A) / 16-17 Vertical
extension of 5th Floor
level at School of Mobile
Computing
&
Communication (SMCC)
Building at Jadavpur
University,
Salt
Lake
Campus
for
Rs.
1,35,52,776. For details
please refer to the website: www.jadavpur.edu
or office of the consultant
M/s. Haven Consultants
Pvt. Ltd., 14/2, Lake East
6th Road, Santoshpur,
Kolkata-700075. Last date
of issue of tender paper is
16.01.2017.
Registrar
The CBI is following the process of law and the

chief minister should not give a political twist
BJP NATIONAL SECRETARY SIDDHARTH NATH SINGH
ASSERTING SUDIP BANDYOPADHYAYS ARREST IS NOT A POLITICAL VENDETTA
SOHINI PAUL
APPEARS
BEFORE CBI
LEADERS PROTEST MPS ARREST

TRINAMUL CONGRESS MPS TO GO TO DELHI TODAY, MUKUL ROY EXPRESSES SOLIDARITY
Bhubaneswar, 3 January: Sohi-
ni Paul,daughter
of arrested Trinamul Congress
MP Tapas Paul,
appeared before
the CBI here
today for the second time in connection with
the Rose Valley Group chit
fund scam.
Meanwhile, Tapas Pauls
remand was extended by
three more days today by the
court.The CBI produced him
before the court and sought
further remand of four days.
She had appeared before the
CBI responding to its notice.
It is learnt that the CBI officials wanted to know about
her designation and monetary
involvement with the Rose Valley Group when she was
working in the company. SNS
Kolkata, 3 January
The Trinamul Congress

today decided that all the
party MPs will go to Delhi
tomorrow to protest against
the arrest of party MP and
leader of the Lok Sabha
Sudip Bandyopadhyay by
the CBI today.
Trinamul vice-president
Mukul Roy and state president Subroto Bakshi were
huddled together hours after
the arrest and then rushed
to the CBI office in the CGO
complex to express solidarity with Mr Bandopadhyay. Most of the MPs, ministers including Partho Chatterjee, Firhad Hakim and
Jyotipriya Mullick accompanied them.
On the other hand, BJP
national secretary Siddharth

Nath Singh wondered why
chief minister Mamata
Banerjee became so scared
after the arrest of Mr Bandhopadhaya.
Is she worried about her
family members alleged
involvement in the scam?
She is scared that CBI may
knock the door of her resi-
dence? he said.
He asserted the arrest
wasnt a political vendetta
as was being alleged by the
Trinamul leadership. Trinamul chief should know the
sins of her rule are being
exposed by the law now.
The CBI inquiry was ordered
by the Supreme Court and
as such its not a political
vendetta, he said.
The CBI is following
the process of law and chief
minister Mamata Banerjee
should not give a political
twist by questioning the
timing and calling it political vendetta, Mr Singh
added.
Welcoming the arrest,
leader of Opposition Abdul
Mannan said it would
increase the peoples respect
for the judiciary.

Airline operators having more

than 20 aircraft of one type
should compulsorily have simulator training facility within
India, the directorate general of
Civil Aviation has said, months
after detecting lapses at an overseas simulator training facility
used by IndiGo.
Issuing a Civil Aviation
Requirement (CAR), the regulator
today also said domestic operators should progressively
reduce the use of overseas simulator training facilities. Operators with more than 20 aeroplanes of one type shall have
owned/leased simulator capacity within India for that type by
31 December, 2018, the DGCA
said.
In June last year, DGCA had
ordered budget carrier IndiGo
not to train its pilots on one of
the two simulators at a training
centre in the UK following an
inspection of the facility and the
subsequent detection of the malfunctioning in one of the two such

machines.
At present, airlines shell out
a significant amount towards
training of pilots overseas and
having enough number of simulators in the country itself
would help in reducing the overall costs for the carriers.
Coming out with elaborate
guidelines, DGCA said operators
and ATOs (Approved Training
Organisations) should adopt
market-based approach to
increase the utilisation of underutilised simulators first within
the country and then with foreign customers through lease
options. Operators should
increase training facilities in

India through options of offset

clauses in lease/purchase of
aeroplanes, it said.
The latest CAR would be
applicable on scheduled operators and ATOs imparting training to flight crew for type rating
on aircraft with gross weight
exceeding 5,700 kilogrammes.
A320 from the stable of Airbus
and B-777 from Boeing are among
the planes that come under this
classification.
With respect to overseas simulator facilities, the regulator also
said the option should be used
as far as possible only by operators with less than 20 aeroplanes in a fleet. Besides, ATOs
have been directed to enhance
their instructor capacity by
December 2018 to fully utilise
their installed simulator capacity through their own instructors. Late last year, a panel,
headed by BS Bhullar who is now
heading the DGCA, had recommended that airlines should
have simulators for every 20
aircraft in their fleet.
The CBI's arrest of the Trinamul Lok

Sabha Parliamentary Party leader
Sudip Bandopadhyay in West Bengal today over his alleged involvement
in the Rose Valley chit fund scam generated heat in political circles in the
national capital, with the principal
Opposition Congress expressing its
solidarity with the Trinamul and Mr
Bandopadhyay here ~ notwithstanding the contrary position being taken by its state unit on the issue ~ while
slamming Prime Minister Narendra
Modi and his dispensation over their
alleged "political vendetta" against
the Opposition.
Crying foul over Mr Bandopadhyay's arrest, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) also sought
to project it as the Modi government's
"revengeful" strike on the Opposition
leaders over the latter's "united"
campaign against its "anti-people"
demonetisation move.
"Since the day Miss Mamata Banerjee (the Trinamul chairperson and
Bengal chief minister) held a joint
press conference in the national
capital with the Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and other Opposition leaders (against the Modi
Kejri: Centre failed CJI appointment:

to curb black money SC turns down plea
Chandigarh, 3 January
The Aam Aadmi Party

(AAP) chief and Delhi chief
minister (CM) Arvind Kejriwal today said the Narendra
Modi government has failed
to curb black money and corruption.
Speaking to reporters,
Kejriwal alleged the Prime
Ministers (PM) real motive
behind the recent demonetisationdrive was to help
banks waive off loans worth
nearly Rs 8 lakh crore to big
businessmen and industrial houses.
It (demonetisation) didnt end black money or corruption. Its still going on in
the same way. Then why
did he (Modi) do it? Banks
had non-performing assets
(NPAs) worth Rs 8 lakh
crore, he said.
Banks were going bankrupt because of NPAs. So this
demonetisation has brought
Rs 14 lakh crore into the
banking system. Now this
money will be used to waive
off loans worth Rs 8 lakh
crore, Kejriwal added.
The AAP leader alleged
BJP men have been caught
with huge amounts of new
currency notes. Its clear
that the saffron party used
demonetisation to make
money on commission basis.
As banned currency deposited in the banks is more
than the currency that was
in circulation, its clear that
even the fake currency notes
have also been deposited in
banks. Its a massive scam,
Kejriwal said.
He said the BJP has
shared the demonetisation
benefits with its party leaders as the party bought land
with old currency notes
days before 8 November
when the move was
announced. They (BJP)
have made huge money out
of it, Kejriwal alleged. He
also questioned the role of
the Reserve Bank of India.
ry.
The petitioner had sought

direction restraining the
Centre from administering
the oath of office of the
Chief Justice of India to Justice Khehar.
The petitioner had contended that by virtue of being the Chief Justice of India, Justice Khehar would
have the power to recommend the appointment of
seven judges to the top
court.
A five-judge Constitution Bench headed by Justice Khehar had on 16 October declared as unconstitutional the Constitution (Ninety-ninth Amendment) Act,
2014, and the National Judicial Appointment Act, 2014.
The judgment of the Constitution Bench was authored
by Justice Khehar.
The apex court on 30 December also dismissed a
similar petition by the National Lawyers Campaign for
Judicial Transparency and
Reforms and others, seeking
the quashing of Justice
Khehar's appointment as
the next Chief Justice of India.
The Supreme Court today

dismissed a petition challenging the appointment
of Justice Jagdish Singh
Khehar as the next Chief
Justice of India (CJI) to
succeed incumbent Chief
Justice T S Thakur when he
demits office tomorrow
morning.
Justice Khehar will be
sworn-in as the Chief Justice of India by President
Pranab Mukherjee tomorrow. The President had on
19 December appointed
Khehar as the 44th Chief
Justice of the Supreme
Court.
A bench of Justices A M
Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud through a brief order dismissed the plea by
Tejsingh Ashokrao Gaikwad that Justice Khehar is
not qualified to become
the Chief Justice as he
had authored a judgment
holding as unconstitutional the National Judicial
Appointments Commission for the appointment
of judges to higher judicia-
PHOTO GALLERY TO BE BROUGHT DOWN FOR DEVP WORK
Pictorial journey ends

ARCHANA PHULL
archanaphull252@gmail.com
Mandi, 3 January
The local people and the

tourists will no more be
able to get a feel of the
beauty of the hill state of
Himachal Pradesh as the
lone photo gallery~Himachal Darshan~ is set to
be razed to the ground
soon owing to fourlaning
work of the National
Highway-21 from
Nagchala to Manali.
The gallery was set up
by a noted photographer
from Mandi Birbal Sharma 19 years back under
the banner of Puratatva
Chetna Sangh.
The photo gallery is

situated four kilometres
ahead of Mandi at
Bindrabani towards
Manali on the left bank
of river Beas. More than
one lakh photographs
clicked by Birbal Sharma over the last four
decades from every nook
and corner of Himachal
Pradesh adorn the walls
of the gallery, along with
a collection of antiques
and old books.
The visit to Himachal
Darshan, which is maintained by Birbal on his
own, is free of cost.
We have been asked
to vacate the building
housing the gallery by
National Highway
Authority of India
(NHAI) in next three
months. It would be difficult to relocate and reestablish the gallery elsewhere, given the rising
costs and the hassle
involved in handling the
artefacts we have for display. We have no
resources to do it, Birbal told The Statesman.
Photography has been
a passion for Birbal, who
is 60 years old now. His
photographs on nature
and life from inaccessible belts like Bara Banghal and Dodra Kwar (it
now has a road), Chandernahan (origin of Pab-
It is an irony of fate that

Mr Bandopadhayas leader
had asked him to go for the
CBI interrogation with his
head held high, but it ended
up in his arrest.Our petition
in the Supreme Court contended that many influential people are involved in
the chit fund scam and we
have been proved right,
Mr Mannan said.
Miss Banerjee had during the day voiced the apprehension of CBI was likely
to arrest her nephew and
Diamiond Harbour, MP
Abhishek Banerjee. It may
not be baseless as being the
head of the state government
she has access to much more
information than the common man, he said.
CPI-M politburo member Md Salim, demanded the
arrest of the main cul

prit. A lot of time has been
wasted by the CBI due to the
Trinamul Congress chief s
bargaining with Narendra
Modi for mutual political
interests and we think that
Sudip Bandopadhyays
arrest was expected even as
it was delayed deliberately
which the Trinamul supremo was well aware of, Md
Salim said.
The CPI-M leader asked
why the Modi government
allowed two years time to
Trinamul Congress, and
alleged that there was no
logic behind Mamata
Banerjees claim that the
arrests of Tapas Paul and
Sudip Bandopadhaya in
quick succession was the fallout of Trinamul Congress
protest over note ban issue.
Sudip arrest: Cong backs TMC
Airline operators to have

simulator training facility
bar River), Beas kund

(origin of Beas River)
and Kibber village (the
last village on IndoTibetan border in Spiti)
over the decades trace
the history and heritage
of the state. The gallery
was even recognised as a
research centre by Monument and Antique
organisation under
Human Resource Development ministry in 2010.
He said he had taken
up the matter with chief
minister Virbhadra
Singh, political leaders
from Mandi and the revenue authorities to save
the gallery, but to no
avail so far.
government's demonetisation move)

PM Modi has unleashed a new wave
of revenge and political vendetta
against his political opponents....Mr
Bandopadhyay's arrest only reflects
this dictatorial bid to suppress the
Opposition," the AICC's chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala alleged.
He also referred to the CBI's arrest last week of another Trinamul
MP Tapas Paul in this regard, charging that Mr Paul had, on his part, accused the Union minister from Bengal, Babul Supriyo, of being involved in this chit fund scam.
"Why the CBI has not summoned
Mr Supriyo for questioning, and
why Mr Supriyo has not been arrested," Mr Surjewala asked.
"PM Modi is pressuring agencies like the CBI or the ED to target
his political opponents and dissenters," he alleged.
The ruling BJP, however, strongly justified Mr Bandopadhyay's arrest, with the party leader Sidharthnath Singh asserting that law is
simply taking its course in this
scam allegedly involving Trinamul
leaders. He said this was being
done under the Supreme Court's supervision. He also charged that the
Bengal police had sought to derail
the probe in this scandal.
07
Buddhadeb: Left is
very much in politics
Kolkata, 3 January
Veteran CPI-M leader and

former chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee today
sought to allay misconception that Left parties
had tur ned politically
irrelevent in state and
national politics and
claimed that it was on the
contrary.
Some are giving an
impression that the Left
parties are not found in
political arena, but I think
that they are not inclined
to see the reality and we
want to tell them in very
clear terms that the Left are
very much politically
relevent and leftism is based
on sound footing, Mr Bhattacharjee said at a programme to celebrate the
50th anniversary of CPI-M
mouthpiece Ganashakti
here today.
Stating that the Left parties are with the people and
share their woes and sufferings in every moment,
the veteran marxist said
people will have to decide
whether they are content
with the present government of corruption compared to their experience of
34 years of Left Front rule
which was governed by
democratic environment
and pro-people administration.
Slamming the Trinamul
Congress government for
what he said, creating utter
lawlessness all over the
state ever since it took reins
of West Bengal, the former
chief minister said there
prevails total anarchy with
the goons and anti-social
elements ruling the roost in
our state.
He further alleged that
democracy is in peril in
the state where anti-democratic forces are very much
active. The Left parties
will continue to wage their
relentless struggle against
the forces inimical to
democracy, he added.
Mr Bhattacharjee said
identical governments are
Some are giving an

impression that the
Left parties are not
found in political
arena, but I think that
they are not inclined to
see the reality...
BUDDHADEB BHATTACHARJEE
ruling at the Centre as well
as in West Bengal in terms
of their mode and style of
functioning which has
imperilled democracy and
pushed back the pace of
development to the brink of
near collapse.
He alleged the industry
as well as the agriculture
sectors are victims of total
neglect by the state government which has miserably failed to create any
employment opportunities.
Left Front chair man
Biman Bose dwelt at length
on the growth of corruption
in the state under Trinamul
Congress patronage and
said that the arrest of Trinamul Congress MP Sudip
Bandopadhyay by the CBI
in connection with the Rosevalley chit fund scam was
based on specific information.
Our contention is that
as to why big guys are
spared of the CBI dragnet
in connection with the
multi-crore chit funds
scam, Mr Bose said, asking the central investigating agency to probe as to
what transpired at the midnight parleys at Delo in
Kalimpong years back and
who were the participants
to decide on the loot of peoples money.
08
Vol. CXXXXVIII 4
Incorporating and directly descended from

THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Defy and perish
ince defiance of the apex court has ominous

ramifications for national governance, there
can be no divided opinion on the removal of
top office-bearers of the BCCI by a threemember bench headed by the Chief Justice. However, that does not translate into blanket endorsement of the July 18 order by which the court mandated implementation of the recommendations of
the Lodha committee. That the time to debate
those recommendations has judicially expired
does not mean that questions will no longer be
raised about their validity: hopefully, subsequently a less emotionally-charged bench will review
the situation. It was always somewhat controversial that a panel headed by a former Chief Justice
should submit a document that would be adjudicated upon by a court over which he had once
presided: and surely the majesty of the law
would have been enhanced if the Lodha panel had
declined to oversee implementation of its own
recommendations. Legal experts may see nothing
improper in that, to many a layman it just doesnt smell good. What began as a probe into a
match-fixing scandal ~ how many of the fixers
have been criminally fixed ~ snowballed into
populist action to re-for m (as opposed to
reform) the administration of the game. Anurag
Thakur, Ajay Shirke and their predecessors may
not have been the most upright of administrators,
but they are not the villains their Lordships seem
to damn them. Few openly use the term judicial
overreach, but some of the language used by the
court in recent times clearly invites the description of intemperate. It does the image of the
judiciary no credit when some members of the
bench are seen as bullies. For while over the
years the BCCI may have blundered and cut corners, it has done more for players and ex-players
than any other sports body in the country; a pity
that their Lordships did not recognise that, and
lapped up the views expressed by disgruntled elements.
All that, however, is history. What is now
awaited is the arrangement their Lordships will
put in place to retain the special space that
cricket commands. For the alleged commercialisation of the game has generated the funds for
new world-class stadiums, etc., as well as promotional and training facilities that produced international superstars. Those developments were
neither accidental nor incidental, and the apex
court will be required to ensure that the all-round
success of the game is sustained ~ and not just in
the series of matches already scheduled. Success may have gone to the heads of the BCCI
leaders, it also triggered considerable jealousy
because the game, largely, financed itself. If the
judicial action does not preserve financial and
administrative autonomy, what is being played is
not cricket.
Obama strikes back
s he goes through the wrap-up motions of

his eight-year Presidency, Barack Obama
has effected a robust reprisal against Russia... barely a fortnight after he pledged to
respond to cyber-attacks by Moscow during the
elections and at a time and place of our choosing. He has chosen the time, he has chosen the
place ~ during vacation in Hawaii ~ when jollity
is the flavour of the season around the world.
Rarely in American history has the election to the
Oval Office influenced foreign policy so profoundly, throwing up a stark difference in geostrategy
between the outgoing President and the likes of
Donald Trump. Last weeks cache of sweeping
new sanctions entails the expulsion of 35 Russian
diplomats in retaliation against the cyber-attacks
on the Democratic National Committee (DNC),
Hillary Clintons campaign and other political
organizations, in an attempt to influence the election in favour of the Republican candidate. Much
as Trump nudges towards the Kremlin ~ in a dramatic reversal of Cold War animosity ~ President
Obama has pledged further action, even alerting
Americans that they should be alarmed by Russias actions. Significant too is the timing of the
counter-blast; he has utilised his vacation to convey a pregnant statement across the Atlantic ~ I
have issued an executive order that provides additional authority for responding to certain cyber
activity that seeks to interfere with or undermine
our election processes and institutions, or those
of our allies or partners. On closer reflection, he
has spelt out his agenda against Russia three
weeks before the inaugural grandstanding and
the anticipated paradigm shift in bilateral ties. As
much is plain from his caveat ~ I have sanctioned nine entities and individuals: the GRU and
the FSB, two Russian intelligence services; four
individual officers of the GRU; and three companies that provided material support to the GRUs
cyber operations. He has also announced the closure of two Russian complexes in Maryland and
New York.
In the net, Trump at the threshold is likely to
be on a sticky wicket vis-a-vis US ties with Russia. Radically different is the approach to foreign
policy ~ most importantly in relation to Russia,
China, and Taiwan. It is the quadrilateral equation that will be on test as he steps into the White
House in three weeks time. And this is no less
critical than the change in the party in power and
governance in the larger scheme of things. The
measure of success that Putin has scored with the
Russo-Turkish agreement on Syria has been neutralised fair and square. More crippling sanctions
are on the anvil and Mr Obama has hinted that
these remain unstated. It is imperative for him
to counter the very disturbing Russian threats to
US national security. This is the fineprint of the
parting shot to the Kremlin whose diplomacy has
stumbled from Ukraine to the US elections 2016.
Reformed farmland
A member of the
Asia News Network
INDIAN AGRICULTURE IS LARGELY AN

UNORGANISED SECTOR AND THE ROOT CAUSE OF
THE CRISIS IS THE INCOME-DEFICIT. THIS CALLS
FOR MARKETING EXTENSION, NOT JUST PRODUCTION
EXTENSION. THIS WOULD MEAN BETTER
PRODUCT PLANNING AT THE FARMERS
LEVEL, PROVISION OF MARKET INFORMATION,
SECURING/ACCESSING MARKETS FOR FARMERS,
PROVISION OF ALTERNATIVE MARKETS AND
MARKET ORIENTATION IN TERMS OF IMPROVED
PRACTICES
Three signals
from Apple
The farmer is the only man in our economy who buys everything in retail, sells everything at wholesale, and pays the
freight both ways.
~ John F Kennedy
he development paradigm has traditionally treated agriculture as the prime mover, the engine to sustain people,
a promoter of property and power, the launching pad for
development as well as the foundation on which the economic edifice can and does rest. The agricultural commodity market remains at the heart of agricultural development
and is an important element in achieving the farmers well
being. The availability of the market is as important as irrigation. It relates to the
quantity that has to be
grown, the method of cultivation, and the method of
profitable sale.
The importance of
this crucial aspect has largely been ignored by the
agricultural policy makers
and mainstream economists. Since independence,
the major problem that
confronts small and marginal farmers is the lack of
proper marketing. In spite
of several attempts to
reform, agricultural markets largely suffer from
poor competitiveness, fragmentation, inefficiency,
presence of middlemen,
and frequent price manipulations. Indeed, agriculture in India has now become a relatively unrewarding and hopeless profession due to the
unfavourable price regime.
Farmers are on a treadmill in which the downward pressure on the price that they receive ~ and/or the upward
pressure on inputs needed for production ~ force them to
adopt new technologies to enhance the scale of production
in an attempt to continue in the farming profession. But
farming is one of the few enterprises that pays retail prices
for inputs and sells its produce at wholesale prices. As the
financial returns of farmers decline per unit of output, in
order to reap the same returns as before the farmers are
generally advised that they must expand operations. The
treadmill that it creates is indicated by the adage, We grow
more corn to feed more cows, to make more milk, to buy more land, to grow more corn. Those who survive under the
process of scale enlargement usually have large enterprises, a good education, and enormous working capital. They
are highly organised and enjoy a premium for the commodities they sell because of their large quantity. They pay less
for inputs as also interest on borrowed money, and are in a
position to earn a profit through the use of hired labour.
But as regards small and marginal farmers, a mere
increase in production with improved farming techniques
is not the panacea for the problems that they face. Indian
agriculture is dominated by small holders, with 85 per cent
of all operated holdings being marginal or small and 63 per
cent being just marginal. Adoption of technology enables
them to produce more, but their produce is sold for less. The
scenario can aptly be described with the words of Joannes
Stobaeus, Farming is a most senseless pursuit, mere
labouring in a circle. You sow that you may reap, and then
you reap that you may sow. Nothing ever comes of it. A similar trend has been noticed in livestock farming as well.
The share of farmers in the total retail price has
declined and the marketing/trader share has increased.
The average farmers are so poor and indebted that they are
not in a position to wait for better prices. A recent survey
conducted by the National Sample Survey Organisation
(NSSO) revealed that nearly 50 per cent of Indias 90 million
farmers were indebted to either banks or money lenders.
They are compelled to dispose of

their products immediately after harvest to clear their dues, so
that they can borrow again. The
prices remain low at the time of
harvest. Thus the semi-feudal
tenure-based relationship and
the interlocked contracts lead to
forced commerce or distress
sales in Indian agriculture.
Immediately after the harvest,
JAYDEV JANA
the supply consists of the completely unrewarding sales of indebted farmers. Worse still,
contracts for agricultural commodities are interlocked with
credit in order to depress commodity prices below those
which would result from unconstrained transactions, and
raise interest rates above those of the market.
The policies on procurement and Minimum Support
Price (MSP) for some agricultural commodities, intended to
plug distress sale, have been of little help to farmers. The
MSP fixed by the government has not been regulated effectively and it remains on paper due to lack of a proper marketing system, regulations, policies, awareness, punishment
etc. As a result, while the traders and rich farmers profit
from MSP, poor and marginal farmers are victimised by
exploitative prices.
There are many ways by which farmers can dispose of
their surplus produce. Commodities are sold to village
money-lenders, the rural markets, and cooperative marketing societies. According to one estimate, around 85 per cent
of the wheat, 75 per cent of oilseeds and 35 per cent of cotton in Punjab are sold by farmers in the villages. Often the
money lenders act as commission agents of the wholesale
traders. The chain of middlemen in agricultural marketing
is so large that the share of farmers is reduced substantially. For instance, a study has revealed that farmers get only
about 53 per cent of the
price of rice, 31 per cent
being the share of middlemen and the remaining 16
per cent being the marketing cost. In case of vegetables and fruit the share is
even less ~ 39 per cent in
the first and 34 per cent in
the latter. The share of
middlemen in the case of
vegetables was 29.5 per
cent and in case of fruit
46.5 per cent. Some of the
intermediaries in the agricultural marketing system
are village traders, brokers, wholesalers and
retailers, money-lenders,
and so on. The number of
unregulated markets in
the country is substantially large. Brokers, taking advantage of the ignorance and
illiteracy of farmers, use unfair means to cheat the peasantry both in terms of weight and quality.
The Government of India introduced major reforms by
implementing the Agricultural Produce Marketing (Regulation) Act (APMRA) during the 1960s and Seventies. This has
been a major driving force behind the achievements of the
Green Revolution. But the gains brought about by APMRA
have been diluted over time. Markets are not adequately regulated. Under the APMRA, the prices are determined and
driven by Agricultural Produce Market Committee (APMC).
The monopoly rights enjoyed by APMCs on the first sale of
commodities have been disappointing. However, political
will is required to dismantle this centralised monopoly and
make it compete with other players such as big retailers.
Integrating fragmented agricultural markets can ensure a
better deal for farmers and also help consumers who suffer
frequent price increases on account of local shortages.
Small holders have to contend with the risk of high
market-price fluctuation risk. Many are unaware of the
daily prices and often depend on middlemen, who exploit
them. There is a marginal presence of modern channels like
retail (supermarket) buyers, food processors, and wholesale
cash n carry players. The supermarkets procure only A
grade produce, offer APMC market-based prices and do not
buy regularly with pre-committed orders. The contracting
agencies still do not attend fully to the market risk, let alone
the production risks of the growers. Indian agriculture is
largely an unorganised sector and the root cause of the crisis is the income-deficit. This calls for marketing extension,
not just production extension. This would mean better product planning at the farmers level, provision of market
information, securing/accessing markets for farmers, provision of alternative markets and market orientation in
terms of improved practices. To safeguard farmers from
exploitation by middlemen the plan called ulavar santhal
(farmers market), where the farmers can directly sell their
products at reasonable prices to consumers, can be introduced.
ASIAN VOICES
ndonesia needs to prove its

commitment in the information and communications technology sector by
focusing on becoming a research & development hub for the
sector and a knowledge-based
economy. The Indonesian government has just enacted the
new Industry Ministry Regulation No. 65/2016 on local content.
Information and Communications Technology (ICT) companies, especially those producing laptop computers, smartphones and tablets, are the
main targets. They are now
required to meet a threshold of
30 per cent domestic content in
terms of hardware, software or
investment.
In response, Apple, a United States giant tech company
headquartered in Cupertino,
California, has pledged to dedicate funding of about US$44
million to support a three-year
Research and Development
(R&D) program in Indonesia. In
return, Apple now has the right
to market all types of its
iPhone in the country. Apple
lags slightly behind its competitors. Samsung is now leading
the Indonesian smartphone
market, obtaining a quarter
share, followed by
Chinas
new baby Oppo with one-fifth.
Thus, for some, the R&D policy
offered by Apple might be seen
solely as an effort to facilitate
penetration of its latest iPhone
7 in Indonesia, the largest market in Southeast Asia.
However, irrespective of its
motives, we can still perceive
the initiative as a big milestone
that will potentially re-address
the pathways of the Indonesian
economy toward a more knowledge based-nation.
Previous studies have
defined the importance of
investment in R&D and human
resources. Renowned economist Paul Romer (1990)
explains these two aspects are
essential elements for countries aiming to achieve a
greater economic output.
Robert Barro (1991) empirically
studied the performance of 98
countries from 1960 to 1985 and
assured poorer countries they
could catch up with richer
nations provided that they
invested in a higher level of
human capital.
Therefore, Apples commitment has sent Indonesia at
least three important signals.
First, R&D has long been
missing vocabulary. Indonesian
R&D performance remains
very, very weak. At the country
level, we trail far behind other
developing nations, let alone
advanced ones.
IN MEMORIAM
GUHA NARESH (1923 January 4,
2009) In loving memory. Chinu,
Moni, family and friends.
(PL1848)
MANDI BHABANANDA In loving

memory of Baba, who left for his Heavenly Abode this day in 2008. We miss you.
Moushumi, Soumya, Mary, relatives
and friends.
THE WRITER IS A RETIRED IAS OFFICER
(PL1847)
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
PM presents a mini-budget
SIR, This is with reference to
your editorial, Atonement
attempt? (3 January). Narendra Modi has trained his team
to hoodwink the people. I agree
with your observation that a
Hitlerian streak was evident in
a senior ministers comment
that the people had accepted
demonetisation because there
was no violence at banks. Is
that an invitation to trouble?
In his address to the nation
on New Years eve, the Prime
Minister suggested that if the
governments in the past had
initiated a demonetization
drive after Independence, the
country would have been
spared the increase in black
money. We are now witnessing
only the cumulative effects
of past failure.
In course of his presentation, Mr Modi skirted the
ground reality. He must be
acutely aware that the film
industry thrives on black
money in the manner of the
real estate business.
These two segments are yet
to be targeted by Mr Modi. Perhaps he wants to give them a
TAKEN FOR A (BULLET) RIDE

SIR, This refers to your editorial, Basics under-valued (2
January). What an irony that while the Ahmedabad ~ Mumbai bullet train project will cost more than Rs 1 lakh crore,
financial constraints continue to impede track renewal,
replacement of coaches, modernisation of signalling systems
and recruitment of personnel in the Indian Railways. Most of
the railway tracks need immediate replacement/maintenance.
Can the government afford the luxury of a bullet train?
Misplaced priorities and criminal negligence towards passenger safety are causing one rail accident after another. And yet
we are being taken for a bullet ride.
Yours, etc., Sujit De, Kolkata, 2 January.
channel through the voluntary
disclosure scheme. On New
Years eve, the Prime Minister
presented a mini-budget ~ a
month before the scheduled
date of presentation... February 1.
Yours, etc., Rupam Guha,
Kolkata, 3 January.
RISE OF SASIKALA
SIR, Apropos your incisive editorial, Chinamma sheds chin
(2 January), Chinnamma
Sasikala has become Amma in

Tamil Nadu. She has taken over
as general secretary of the
AIADMK ~ a post held by Jayalalitha since 1990. The crucial
question is whether she will be
able to steer the party and fill
the vacuum left by Jayalalitha.
Sasikala Natarajan, her longtime aide and confidante, had
performed the funeral rites,
highlighting her importance in
the scheme things. She was a
trusted member of Jayalalithas family. She too has
been a resident of Poes Garden.

The Chief Minister would often
refer to her as her sister.
O. Panneerselvam, who is
also believed to be close to
Sasikala, has been chosen as
the chief minister only after
Sasikala ruled out any need for
a change. You have rightly stated that sycophancy is the hallmark of the AIADMK. Panneerselvam has been chosen as
the head of a caretaker government as he has been a consistent Jaya loyalist.
The party leaders may yet

prefer Sasikala as the Chief
Minister, replacing Panneerselvam. But as Sasikala marches
on to fulfill her political ambition, she remains hobbled by
the Rs 58-crore disproportionate assets case, now pending
before the Supreme Court.
Yours, etc., SS Paul,
Nadia, 2 January.
KASHMIR & POK

SIR, In the New Year, Pakistan
should accept certain truths,
however unpalatable. The first
is that it will never get Kashmir. The second is that its demand does not have the support
of any other country, including
the United Nations. India also
demands POK and there is no
possibility of getting it until
something disastrous happens.
Yet another ground reality is
that Kashmir and POK will
remain with India and Pakistan respectively. It is time for
both nations to conclude an
agreement accordingly.
Yours, etc., Muktipada Panda,
Bhubaneswar, 2 January.
Respecting the rights

of homeless people
Bharat Dogra
hen working hard at our

workplace or travelling in
difficult conditions, we
comfort ourselves with the
thought of resting after
reaching home, but what if
there is no home to go to?
This is the cruel reality for
millions of homeless people in our country. The precise number is difficult to
provide as homeless people
are most likely to be left out
in census counts. Indications are that their number
is well in excess of 3 million. This number is likely
to go up significantly if
those on the verge of homelessness or very precariously housed people are
also included.
Homeless people are
most exposed to all weather
extremes, cold waves as
well as torrential rains, and
this is just one of the reasons which exposes them
more to illness and disease.
Most homeless people also
suffer from varying levels
of hunger and malnutrition as assured or adequate
income to meet basic minimum needs is not available
to the overwhelming majority of them. While suffering the most from hunger
they are the ones who are
least likely to get subsidised food from ration
shops due to lack of residence proof. Another reason is the denial of essential sanitation facilities and
sometimes even clean
drinking water. Vulnerability to mental health problems is also very high. The
homeless are also most
exposed to road accident
injuries as well as workplace accidents. They are
also the ones who are least
CROSSWORD
likely to be able to access

proper medical treatment
many of them do not have
the basic identity papers
for obtaining care in government hospitals.
The homeless face high
levels of insecurity. This
insecurity comes on the
one hand from goons and
criminals who exploit and
terrorise them in various
ways. On the other hand,
some insecurity also comes
ironically from policemen
who often beat them indiscriminately or pick them
up to send them forcibly to
beggars homes.
These problems are
particularly acute for
homeless women and children. Given the increasing
NO 26761
insecurity generally of
women in many cities, one
shudders to think of what
homeless women have to
endure. They as well as
homeless children are very
vulnerable to sexual
exploitation. Children are
vulnerable also to substance abuse. The problems
of homeless people have
been generally discussed in
the context of big cities
such as Delhi and Mumbai,
while the problems of
homeless people living in
smaller urban agglomerations have been almost
completely neglected. However, as I found during a
recent visit to Sumerpur
town of Pali district
(Rajasthan), migrant tribal
workers from remote vil-
lages were spending their

night in a most inhabitable
part of the town, plunged
in darkness, denied any
facilities, exposed not just
to mosquitos but even scorpions and snakes. With the
accentuation of the livelihood crisis as well as
increasing social disintegration, the number of
homeless people in India is
increasing. In some places
the slum dwellers pushed
to the outskirts of cities
and far away from previous
livelihoods as a part of
slum demolition drives
have been forced to start
living as homeless people
near their employment
places. To give an example,
a community engaged in
the highly creative work of
collecting used clothes in

exchange for new utensils
and then selling clothes
after mending and cleaning
them was based in Raghubir Nagar area of West
Delhi where they had their
huts as well as work sheds.
Their huts were demolished creating a livelihoods
crisis as they were sent far
away. Finally, to save their
work several of them had
to stay back at night in the
open as homeless people.
Government efforts to
help homeless people are
confined mainly to providing them shelters at night,
and even these efforts pick
up mainly during the winter months. But when other
government policies, sharp
inequalities and social dis-
integration are causing an

increase in the number of
homeless people these
efforts can have only a limited impact. Despite this
limitation, however, a shelter-based approach can also
give some good results if
these shelters become a
hub for integrating several
needs of homeless people,
combining safety, nutrition,
health and information
with shelter. Good results
can be realised if volunteers from within the
homeless people can be
given important responsibilities and their close
involvement is assured.
They will need some training and motivational support, and with such modest
help they can play a very
important role in taking
forward the programmes
for helping the homeless.
Giving such responsibility to carefully selected
representatives of the
homeless along with adequate budgetary support is
possible once there is
recognition of and respect
for their rights. Most homeless work in very adverse
conditions to not only support themselves but also to
send badly needed economic support to elderly people,
children and women in
remote villages. These
include villages affected by
various disasters. Initiatives that help homeless
people in cities also help
their dependents in villages. Hence the needs of
homeless people should get
high priority in urban
planning and governance.
THE WRITER IS A FREE-LANCE
JOURNALIST WHO HAS BEEN
INVOLVED WITH SEVERAL SOCIAL
MOVEMENTS AND CAMPAIGNS.
MELTING POT ARATI R JERATH
YESTERDAYS SOLUTION
ACROSS
1 Plotters almost all
conveyed in taxis
(6)
4 Stocky bumpkins
taking drug time
after time (8)
9 Like athlete left
with extremely
skimpy clothing
(6)
10 Philanthropist
erupting in rage,
entering church
(8)
12 Mountain in part
of Africa (5)
13 Worker takes
heavy lorry round
cold polar region
(9)
14 Head roofer not
ordering drink
(3,3,3,4)
record (4-4)
2 Creature born in
ridge close by (5,4)
3 Admit Spanish red
wine is inferior to
the French (3,4)
5 Womans conclusion about painting is pathetic (57)
6 Leading pair of
competitors, note,
at Olympic venue
showing spirit
(3,4)
7 Sound position, in
a sense (5)
17 Wave hats in races 8 Ditch fish angler
finally caught (6)
(6,7)
11 A lord watches out
21 Uncultivated
for a country pile
public mostly
(6,6)
heard to complain
15
Carefully examine
(9)
tool
thats out of
23 Disposed of old
action
(5,4)
Italian coin (5)
16 A variety of trades,
24 Friend tours
so diverse (8)
European country
18 Accidentally find
thats not very
lamp not switched
majestic (8)
off? (5,2)
25 Place in which I go 19 Run in front of one
to eat a lot (3,3)
downhill racer?
26 Steep rocks in
Thats not so safe
Maryland area (8)
(7)
27 Supple dancer
20 Two Englishmen
down under findlifted high in the
ing wartime weaair? (6)
pon (3-3)
DOWN
22 Swiss mathematician turned up on
1 Accountant trembtoboggan? No
led, receiving
good (5)
bachelors finance
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required.
(By arrangement with The Independent, London)
Youth troika?
While there is much talk of a
possible electoral pact between the
Akhilesh faction of the Samajwadi
Party, the Congress and RLD, not
many know that scions of the families that run these three political
Eleven Media
apologises
ANN
leven Media Group of Myanmar,

a member of the Asia News Network, has informed fellow members including The Statesman
that a comment piece published
as part of the Asian Editors Circle series on 5 November 2016
under the headline Myanmar
one year after Suu Kyi, and
which had led to the arrest of
the author, Dr Than Htut Aung,
the papers CEO and Editor, contained some wrong and baseless allegations against the
Yangon region and its chief
minister. The news organisation
has agreed to apologise to
authorities in Myanmar in order
to secure the release of Dr. That
who had suffered a heart attack
while incarcerated. The media
group has requested ANN member newspapers to also publish
the following apology:
Eleven Media Group and
Eleven Media Group CEO featured the opinion article titled
A year after the polls published
by the Daily Eleven newspaper
n news agencies, members of
ANN (Asia News Network), in
the Daily Eleven and posted it
on the Facebook page.
Eleven Media Group sent
the article for the column on
global affairs alternatively written by members of ANN formed
with 22 media from 21 Asian
countries. However, it is deeply
regrettable that the concerned
editorial group published the
article Myanmar: a year after
the Nov 8 polls together with a
photo of State Counsellor Daw
Aung San Suu Kyi, which is likely to cause misinterpretation.
It is also regrettable that
some points mentioned in the
editorial were wrong and
groundless accusations regarding the Yangon Region chief
minister and the Yangon Region
government.
The CEO and those responsible from Eleven Media Group
would like to express their sincere apologies to the Yangon
Region chief minister and the
government for damage caused
by the article written based on
inaccurate and groundless information.
100 YEARS AGO
A Doval hand in Delhis affairs

he appointment of Anil Baijal as
Delhis new Lt Gover nor is
expected to bring National Security
Advisor Ajit Doval into play in the
affairs of the Capital. The PMs
principal secretary Nripen Mishra
was the go-to person for former LG
Najeeb Jung. Political watchers
believe that Doval will now take
over the Delhi portfolio on behalf
of the Centre and work closely with
Baijal.
The Baijal-Doval aixs is an old
one. Both were part of L K Advanis
core team when the BJP patriarch
was union home minister in the
Vajpayee government. Doval was a
key person in the Intelligence
Bureau while Baijal was Advanis
trusted home secretary.
Baijals shift to Vivekananda
Foundation started by Doval was a
natural progression. In fact, when
Narendra Modi took over as prime
minister, Baijals name figured
prominently as one of the choices
for principal secretary. Doval was
one of his big backers. Although he
lost out to Nripen Mishra, it was
widely believed that Baijal would
be given an important assignment
sooner rather than later.
His name came up again to succeed N N Vohra as J & K governor.
But the situation in the Valley has
been so volatile that the Centre
decided against a change of guard
at the top till normalcy returns.
The first indication that Baijal
was tipped for an assignment related to Delhi came when M M Kutty
was appointed chief secretary.
Kutty is known to be close to Baijal.
Modi wanted Kuttys name to be
run past Baijal before the appointment. Significantly, Jung was deliberately kept out of the loop on this.
Doval has rarely attended a
Delhi function. But he did make it a
point to be present when Baijal was
sworn in as LG. Pure friendship
may have motivated him to come
but for Delhi watchers, his presence was an indication of things to
come as the Baijal era begins in the
Capital.
09
parties have been in touch for a

long time and are good friends now.
Akhilesh, Rahul Gandhi and
Jayant Chaudhary, who is heir-inwaiting to take over RLD, apparently talk to each other directly and
regularly over phone and through
SMS. This is independent of their
parents who often have no clue
what their kids are up to. And
much to everyones frustration,
they have not kept party elders in
the loop either.
The push for a grand SP-Congress-RLD alliance is coming from
the three political scions. Now that
Akhilesh Yadav has revolted, it
remains to be seen whether the
friendship will mature into a political alliance. Will the troika form a
youth front to take on Modi and
Mayawati?
CBI director
Suspense continues over the

appointment of the next CBI chief
as the Modi governments plans of
confirming Gujarat cadre officer
Rakesh Asthana in the post seem to
be running into rough weather.
Several hurdles have come up.
One is that Asthana has not yet
been empanelled as a special director. He remains an additional director and is therefore too junior to be
appointed director of CBI.
Another problem is a Supreme
Court judgement that the choice of
a CBI director should be from
among serving officers of the four
senior-most IPS batches. Asthana

belongs to the 1984 batch. There are
serving officers from the 1979, 1980,
1981 and 1982 batches who ought to
be considered as per the SC order.
This virtually rules Asthana out.
A third issue that has cropped
up is the mishandling of the arrest
of former Air chief S P Tyagi in
the Agusta Westland bribery case.
Tyagi had to be released on bail
after the Supreme Court rapped the
CBI for not doing its homework and
presenting substantive evidence of
a money trail. This is being seen as
a black mark against Asthana in
his first big case as acting CBI
director.
The Modi government is now
in a fix which is why it continues to
postpone holding the meeting of
the three-member appointment
committee. The members of this
committee are the Prime Minister,
Leader of Opposition and Chief
Justice of India. Congress leader in
the Lok Sabha who is nominated to
fill the position of LoP, Mallikarjuna Kharge, has written a protest
letter to the PM asking why the
meeting is not being held. This is
the first time in 10 years that the
CBI is led by an acting director.
Backing out
There was a minor ripple when
President Pranab Mukherjee suddenly called off a visit to the
Maulana Azad Urdu University in
Hyderabad recently. He was to give
a convocation address to graduating students of the university.
He had accepted the invitation
but cancelled at the last minute.
Embarrassed university authorities put out a story that the President had taken ill and could not be
present.
Interestingly, the Presidents
team released photographs of
Mukherjee on his morning walk
that day. It was done almost as if to
contradict the version of the university. The move suggested that
the President was unhappy about
certain reports he had received
about the university and thats why
he dropped out at the last moment.
The universitys chancellor is
Zafar Sareshwala from Gujarat.
Sareshwala is an unabashed Modi
bhakt and had got into trouble with
his community for praising the
Prime Minister.
ACCIDENT IN
DALHOUSIE
SQUARE
A serious collision took place yesterday morning near Holwells Monument in Dalhousie Square, between a
motor-car belonging to Superintendent Raha, of the Excise, and a motorcycle ridden by Mr. James Knox,
Superintendent of the Licensed Measurers Department of the Chamber of
Commerce. Mr. Knox received several
bruises and a severe shaking. He also
complained to Inspector Haldane, of
the Customs, who came to render him
first-aid, of severe internal pain. A
European gentleman took Mr. Knox in
his motor-car to the Presidency General Hospital where he was admitted as
an in-patient. The motor-cycle was
completely smashed.
MR. JINNAHS
ELECTION
Delhi, Jan 3
The result of the inquiry directed by

the Governor-General in Council into
the election of the Hon. Mr. Muhammad Ali Jinnah to the Imperial Legislative Council has already been
notified and he has been declared
duly elected. The report of the
inquiring officer is a confidential
document and cannot therefore be
published but the Government of
India were satisfied that there was no
ground for any imputation with
regard to the propriety of the Hon.
Mr. Jinnahs conduct in connection
with his election and that he was
fully exonerated from the charges
brought against him.
MALAY STATES
Singapore, Jan 3
In the Federal Council the Sultans of

Selangor and Perak moved and seconded an annual war contribution of
half-a-million sterling, which, with
the proposed contribution from the
Straits Settlements, makes one million from the Malay States. The meeting, presided over by the Governor,
reported that the contribution of the
Straits Settlements to the Our Day
fund was fifty thousand sterling.
Many Asiatics made generous contributions.
10
Anything is possible. Who would have thought

that their expulsion would be revoked
SENIOR SAMAJWADI PARTY LEADER AZAM KHAN
ON THE POSSIBILITY OF A PATCH-UP BETWEEN THE TWO FACTIONS OF SP
Akhilesh image wont impact BJP

Notwithstanding the impression that UP chief minister

Akhilesh Yadav has gained
in image after the family
power struggle, a top BJP
leader today said it will
have no impact on chances
of his party in itsdirect
fight either against SP or
BSP in most of the state's 403
assembly seats.
Akhilesh image is good
among our (BJP) voters but
they are never going to vote
for him.... Whatever is happening in his family has
diverted the media's attention from main poll issues
but for the masses issues like
land grab and poor law and
order under his govern-
ment remain important, he

told reporters.
A day after the party
held a massive show of
strength at its 'Parivartan
Rally' in Lucknow, he said
there is an atmosphere in
BJP's favour in the state as
prestige of the Modi government is very high following demonetisation and
surgical strikes.
BJP has a common presence in almost 90 per cent
of the total assembly seats,
he claimed, with either SP
or BSP being its main rivals.
There will be fewer than 50
seats where the fight is
between SP and BSP, he
argued. While he reiterated
his party's position that SP
is its main challenger to
power, he termed Mayawati-
led BSP as a waning force

which will slowly fade away.
BSP was an ideological
movement which ended with
Kanshi Ram. It takes 10
years or so for such movement to fade away, he
claimed.
Asked if an alliance of SP
and Congress will see a consolidation of votes, especially Muslims, against BJP,
he played down such a contention arguing that things
are different on ground. He
noted that BSP is fielding
over 135 Muslims and it
will have a bearing on how
the community votes.
He said caste barriers
are breaking away in UP,
which has often seen voting
along these lines, in favour
of BJP.
TENDER
LALU MUST BE SCARED

AFTER AKHILESH SAGA
SUSHIL MODI SAYS RJD SUPREMO SHOULD FEAR COUP BY HIS SONS

Patna, 3 January
Senior BJP leader Sushil

Kumar Modi today took
potshots at RJD supremo
Lalu Prasad saying that he
must be scared of his sons
fearing coup by them against
his leadership on the lines
of what UP CM Akhilesh
Yadav did to his father and
SP patriarch Mulayam
Singh Yadav.
I get a feeling that Lalu
must be scared of his sons,
the Deputy chief minister
Tejaswi Prasad Yadav and
health minister Tej Pratap
Yadav, and fearing coup by
them against his leadership at some stage, he told
reporters on the sidelines
of Janata Durbar at his official residence.
Sushil Modi said the RJD
supremo burnt his fingers
by trying to mediate between
the warring father Mulayam
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of his own as his ministers

sons may do the same to him,
he said.
The senior BJP leader
also egged on Lalu's sons to
take a cue from the young
UP CM and snatch the RJD
leadership if the two wanted to get out of the shadows
of their father, whose rep-
FAKE CANDIDATE BJP not to project CM

LIST ON SOCIAL candidate in UP polls
MEDIA UPSETS STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE
UKHAND BJP
PANKAJ DHIMAN
Dehradun, 3 January: Uttarakhand BJP is facing a new

problem these days. Every
now and then, a list of fake
BJP candidates becomes
viral on the social media, creates confusion and agitates
those aspiring leaders who
fails to figure in the list.
BJP is yet to announce its
candidate list for the state
Assembly polls, but of late
many such list have found
in social media. Acting on
the party list for Uttarakhand Assembly election
being circulated on the social
media, BJP has decided to
act and provide clarification.
Uttarakhand BJP spokesperson Vinay Goyal says,
The list of BJP candidates
available on different social
media websites are baseless and confusing. Some
anti-party elements are creating mischief. We request
the BJP members not to
believe such news.
The BJP issued this
statement through a Press
release in Dehradun on
Tuesday. The right of
declaring list of party candidate rests with the central
parliamentary board. Presently the issue has not been
discussed in the board, the
press release states.
Many fake BJP fake list
have figured in different
social media website. Many
list includes name with
small notes like final name
and candidate yet to be
SNS
decided.
Desperate to return to power

in Punjab after ten years, the
Congress appears to be in a
fix over announcing its remaining 40 candidates, as the
party fears the rejected candidates would rebel against
the official candidates.
Punjab Congress chief
Captain Amarinder Singh
and ticket aspirants have
been camping in New Delhi
for over a month now, but
apparently a consensus is
still eluding over the final
candidate list of the 117
Assembly segments.
Even as the other political parties including the
ruling Shiromani Akali Dal
(SAD) and Aam Aadmi Party
(AAP) have already announced most of their candidates and are busy with
their poll campaign, Congress is clearly lagging
behind. The Congress will
hold yet another brainstorming session on 6 January on the matter.
The on-going infighting
within the Congress after
announcement of 77 tickets
has also made the task difficult as the party fears further rebellion against official candidate will severely dent its prospects.
Congress insiders said
that top party leaders like
Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and
DIRECTORATE GENERAL
INDO-TIBETAN BORDER POLICE
Singh Yadav and his chief

minister son Akhilesh Yadav
over leadership of the Samajawadi Party (SP) on the eve
of Assembly polls in Uttar
Pradesh as his best laid
plans to broker peace
between them came
unstuck.
Instead he got a headache
New Delhi, 3 January: We do

not like feud in any family,
home minister Rajnath
Singh today said on the battle between chief minister
Akhilesh Yadav and his
father Mulayam over control
of Samajwadi Party, even as
he skirted queries on
whether he could be BJP's
chief ministerial candidate.
Singh said that the party
has gone to elections many
times without a chief ministerial face and it will project the work done by Prime
Minister Narendra Modi.
Asked about the feud in
SP, Singh, who is a former
chief minister of Uttar
Pradesh, told reporters: I
believe whatever loss had to
happen, has happened and
the next government will
compensate.
We cannot express happiness about a family feud.
We are sensitive people. It
hurts us, he said.
Asked whether he would
like to return to party work,
he replied, When I get such
friends here, I do not miss
Ashok Road (BJP Headquarters).
PTI
Punjab elections:
Cong in a fix over
final candidate list
pankajdhiman30@gmail.com
Chandigarh, 3 January
e-Procurement Tender Notice
SP leader Ram Gopal Yadav comes out after meeting Election Commissioner
over SP symbol issue, in the Capital on Tuesday. sns
utation has been tainted

after the conviction in fodder scam case.
The RJD supremos sons
must get out of fathers
shadow by taking over the
party leadership or they
will be left with playing
flute for the remaining life,
he said referring to Lalu's
elder son Tej Pratap playing
a flute recently at a photoop here.
On the Prakash Parv,
underway in Patna to mark
350th birth anniversary of
Guru Govind Singh, the
tenth Sikh guru, Modi, a former deputy chief minister,
said that the Narendra Modi
government at the Centre
has provided Rs 41.53 crore
for various infrastructure
for the festival for which
lakhs of Sikh people from
across the country and
abroad have thronged the
state capital to take part in
the festivity.
DONT LIKE FEUD

IN ANY FAMILY,
SAYS RAJNATH
Ambika Soni are concerned

about the candidates where
winnability is much doubtful and Opposition candidate
is strong.
The earlier two lists did
not mention the names of
constituencies from where
the candidates, who have
recently joined the Congress from SAD or the BJP,
are contending for the ticket. These include Amritsar
east, claimed by former BJP
legislator Navjot Kaur Sidhu
who joined Congress last
month, and Phillaur which
is eyed by Sarwan Singh
Phillaur, the former SAD legislator from Kartarpur.
Congress general secretary Asha Kumari, who is
also partys Punjab election in-charge, said, There
are some seats where competition is stiff due the
strong candidatures. The
Central election committee is looking into it, she
said.
Amarinder seeks Nitishs
support: Punjab Congress
chief Amarinder Singh
today invited Bihar chief
minister Nitish Kumar, to
campaign for the Congress
in coming Punjab Assembly
elections. Capt Singh who
was in Patna today to participate in the historic 350th
birth anniversary celebrations of 10th Sikh Guru
Gobind Singh, said that during a meeting they discussed
common issues pertaining
to Punjab and Bihar.
The BJP will go to the

ensuing assembly elections
in Uttar Pradesh without
naming a chief ministerial candidate. The party
intends to fight the polls on
Prime Minister Narendra
Modis development agenda.
We have a bigger face.
We succeeded in Maharashtra without announcing a CM candidate; we
succeeded in Haryana without a CM candidate. We
succeeded in Jharkhand
without a CM candidate.
We have found that people are willing to vote for
development and vote for
party. The strategy differs
from state to state. But in
UP, we have decided not to
project anybody as CM candidate, said senior BJP
leader and Union Information and Broadcasting
Minister Venkaiah Naidu.
In a preview of the BJPs
game plan for poll-bound
Uttar Pradesh, Naidu said
the party would have to
only convince people about
the development initiative
of the Modi government at
the Centre as against the
work of SP and previous
BSP and Congress governments in Uttar Pradesh.
Naidu claimed that people
of the state are looking to
Modi as a mascot of development. He slammed the
ruling Samajwadi Party
government for its alleged
failure to deliver on the
development front. He
accused the state govern-
ment of being indifferent

to the Centres developmental programme such
as housing schemes for
urban poor.
The minister said the
central government has
written 14 letters to the
ruling SP government in
Uttar Pradesh asking it to
send its proposal on the
housing scheme for urban
poor. This, he said, despite
the Centre sanctioning
whatever the state asked for.
If I go to UP and tell this
story, people will be up in
arms against the ruling
party. I never made it an election issue. But now I have
to tell people that if you have
a BJP government at the
Centre and then have the
same government in the
state, then you will get benefit directly, Naidu said.
The BJP leader also did
not see any realignment of
political forces in Uttar
Pradesh taking shape
against the BJP in the state.
Mulayam Singh and son
are falling apart, the son is
coming close to the Congress
party...Let us see how it
goes. But real realignment
(is that) people are going
with Modi...people of UP are
looking to PM as mascot of
development, the BJP
leader said.
Naidu denied that the
BJP had chalked out any
specific electoral strategy
for Uttar Pradesh polls. He
however claimed that a new
block of population which
was earlier averse to the
par ty was now drawn
towards it in the wake of
demonetisation.
Guj farmers march Muslims keeping close watch

against note ban ends on developments in UP
Ahmedabad, 3 January
Meerut, 3 January
The 20-day march to state capital Gandhinagar, organised by farmers, demanding

waiving off the farm loans,
declaration of a date for
disbursal of the crop insurance amount and compensation for the losses suffered due to demonetisation, ended today.
The 450-kilometre march,
themed as Khedut Vedana
Yatra(farmerspain march),
was organised by the Khedut Samaj Gujarat (KSG)
to highlight the plight of
the farmers due to various
reasons, including the crash
in prices of farm produce and
the effects of demonetisation.
Though the marchers
were stopped from entering the state capital today
owing to the preparations for
the forthcoming Vibrant
Gujarat Global Investors
Summit, their memorandum was handed over to a
government official.
The Khedut Vedana Yatra
had passed through six districts in Saurashtra region,
including Gir Somnath,
Junagadh, Rajkot and Botad
before reaching Gandhina-
Muslims are in a fix over the

ongoing tussle for power
within the Samajwadi Party
(SP) and seem to be in a
state of confusion on extending their support in the current situation. This might
affect the prospects of not
only the SP but also other
political parties in view of the
forthcoming Assembly election in the state.
Muslims, which is a dominant section of the voters
in western UP, seem to be in
a state of confusion due to
the ongoing tussle in the SP.
Since the SP is believed to be
a favourite choice of the
Muslims here who are keeping a close watch on the
developments. Any major
twist can affect their inclination towards the party.
The Muslim presently
have adopted a policy of
wait and watch, said Amir
Sikander, who is in the real
estate trade in Noida. Amir
feels that the party symbol
Cycle could be a decisive
force as people identify the
party with its symbol.
Mulayam has been the
face of the party all these
gar today. Among other

things, the memorandum
demands announcement of
an agriculture policy, 100
per cent increase in minimum support prices (MSP)
for crops, cancellation of
the changes made in the
Gujarat Agriculture Land
Ceiling Act, law for land
acquisition and halt to acquisition of land for the Delhi
Mumbai Industrial Corridor
(DMIC).
The farmers also demanded a compensation package
for the losses suffered by the
vegetable farmers and horticulturists due to the note
ban decision.
If our grievances are not
addressed, then will give a
call to farmers across Gujarat
not to vote for BJP in the next
Assembly elections, Khedut
Vedana Yatra convenor Mr
Sagar Rabari told journalists at the end of the march.
years but now people have

started admiring Akhilesh
Yadav. Also, both Shivpal
Yadav and Amar Singh who
are standing with Mulayam
in the present situation do
not have acceptability among
the Muslims.On the contrary,
Muslims in the party have
shown their inclination
towards Akhilesh Yadav.
Hence the community might
decide in favour of the son
in case of a division, opines
Sofia Anjum and adds that
the situation is, however,
very dicey at the moment.
The current situation
has tarnished the image of
the party and it is likely
that it might pay the price in
this election, says Adil
Masood. Though no clear
indication is coming by large
from the Muslims yet the confusion is evident inspite of
their old love with Mulayam
and his party, he added.
Asima Qasmi, chairman
of Tayyab Trust, whose
organisation has been working for rehabilitating the
victims of Muzaffarnagar
riots, feels that Muslims still
have hope from SP as they
feel that it is the only party
that had extended open support to them. It could as well
be a calculated move of the

SP to establish the leadership
of Akhilesh Yadav, who has
been building his own voter
base on the agenda of development to counter a similar agenda from BJP, said
Qasmi .
But contrary to this, Qazi
Zainur Rasheedin, Nayab
Shahar Qazi and city president of Jaimat-e-UlemaHind, feel Mulayam has his
own respect and has been carrying the party on his shoulders all these years. The
way Akhilesh has acquired
power has raised questions
about his own style of working, quips the Qazi, adding
if division takes place, it
could drift the Muslims away
from the party in this election.Some in the community
are, however, hopeful of a
compromise. On the condition of anonymity, a member of the muslim community said if SP divides, it
would benefit the BJP more
and even the BSP. SP had a
strong chance of coming
back to power which they
have given to the opponents
on a platter, he said hoping
that a compromise could
still bring the situation back
in their favour.
SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
8,034.85
26,210.68
SILVER
39,400
26,595
26,643.24
8,192.25
26,820
39,150

28 DEC 29
30
02 03 JAN
+433
+231
THUMBNAILS
Gold prices:Gold prices

recouped marginally at
the Mumbai bullion
market due to mild
demand by jewellers
and retailers amid bearPTI
ish global cues.
ACMA: Automotive
component makers body
ACMA asked the government on Tuesday
to restore weighted
deduction of 200 per
cent on research & development expenditure as
part of its Budget wishPTI
list.
Airtel offer:Telecom
operator Bharti Airtel
upgraded on Tuesday
its existing unlimited
calling schemes by adding
3GB free 4G data, worth
up to Rs 9,000 for 12
months, for non-users
of its 4G services.
PTI
CIL: In a bid to ensure
adequate availability,
state-owned CIL will this
month begin the second
phase of auction of coal
linkages for the non-regulated sector and is likely to put on offer 14.5 million tonnes of fuel. PTI
CURRENCY*
US$
EURO
UK POUND
YEN
SW FR
CAN$
SING$
MAL RIN
THAI BAHT
(IN RUPEES)
71.84
75.31
88.39
0.61
71.28
53.80
50.71
16.60
2.06
*THOMAS COOKS SELLING RATES
HUDCO FILES
DRAFT PAPERS
WITH SEBI FOR IPO
New Delhi, 3 January:
Staterun Hudco has filed draft

papers with capital markets regulator Sebi to raise
funds through an initial
share sale as part of the government's disinvestment
drive. The initial public
of fer will see sale of
200,190,000 equity shares
~10 per cent stake ~ by the
Central government through
an offer for sale (OFS) route,
as per the Draft Red Herring
Prospectus (DRHP).
A discount of up to 5 per
cent on the issue price for
retail investors and Hudco
employees would be given.
The paid-up capital of
Housing and Urban Development Corporation (Hudco)
is Rs 2,001.90 crore as on
March 2016. The government holds 100 per cent
PTI
stake in the company.
+157
+231
28 DEC 29
30
+225
+335
28 DEC 29
02 03 JAN
R PER 10 GM
30
02 03 JAN
+250
R PER KG
11
THIRD QUARTER WAS ONE OF THE WORST IN TEN YEARS FOR FRESH INVESTMENTS, SAYS A CMIE REPORT
New Delhi, 3 January: Google's
In its report on impact of

demonetisation on economic
macros, the Centre for Monitoring Indian Economy
(CMIE) has underlined significant moderation in new
business proposals by industry and manufacturing sector in the October-December
quarter.
The study shows new
proposals worth Rs 1.25 lakh
crore were mooted or submitted in Q3 which was a
sharp drop from an average
Rs 2.36 lakh crore in the past
nine quarters since the government headed by the
Prime Minister Narendra
Modi took over in May 2014.
CMIE says "it was one of
the worst quarters in ten
years for fresh investments
on account of cash crunch
severely impacting the unorganised manufacturing sector that operates on cash supply." Apparently many of
these new proposals were

pending processing because
lenders were more busy
accepting old scrapped notes
across the counters rather
than other banking functions.
The assessment of CMIE
found support in yesterday's data released by
Nikkei's purchasing managers' index or PMI for
December.
According to the Union
commerce ministry, core
sector growth ~ such as
cement ~ slumped to 4.9 per
cent in November against 6.6
per cent in October. Mr SK
Sinha of India Ratings
Research said cash-dependent unorganised manufacturing units across the
country were worst hit on
account of the note ban. It
also hit consumption
demand.
Banks busy with deposit
taking in barred Rs 500 and
Rs 1000 notes could hardly
process fresh investment
CENTRE FOR MONITORING INDIAN ECONOMY STUDY

The study shows
new proposals
worth Rs 1.25 lakh
crore were mooted
or submitted in Q3
which was a sharp
drop from an average Rs 2.36 lakh
crore in the past
nine quarters since
the government
headed by the Prime
Minister Narendra
Modi took over in
May 2014
The assessment of
CMIE found support
in yesterdays data
released by Nikkeis purchasing managers' index
or PMI for December

The Centre today termed as

premature the plea by
telecom major Vodafone
challenging Trai's recommendation to impose Rs
1,050 crore penalty on it for
not providing interconnectivity to Reliance Jio.
Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Sanjay Jain,
appearing for the Centre,
argued before Justice Sanjeev Sachdeva that Vodafone's plea was a complete
abuse of process of court
as the Telecom Regulatory
Authority of India (Trai) had
only made a recommendation and the government
was yet to form an opinion.
The ASG opposed the
maintainability of the petition, saying once the Department of Telecommunica-
tions (DoT) of the ministry

of communication takes a
decision, then it is an appealable order.
He also questioned
whether the telecom major
had any material with it to
show that the government
would be influenced by Trai's
recommendation. The court,
thereafter, gave the ministry and Trai two weeks
time to file their reply on the
issue of maintainability of
the petition and listed it for
hearing on 6 February.
During the brief arguments, the court suggested
that before forming an opinion the DoT may also consider objections raised by
Vodafone in its plea along
with the recommendation of
Trai. However, senior advocate Rajiv Nayar, appearing
for Vodafone, did not agree
with the suggestion and
Bombay Dyeing to
invest 100 crore
Bombay Dyeing and Manufacturing Company has
earmarked more than Rs 100
crore to support its various
revamp plans. It has drawn
up a major strategy to revive
its textile retail business
and is looking for a turnaround in 2017-18.
Speaking to reporters
here today, Mr Nagesh Rajanna, Bombay Dyeing CEO
said: We are re-inventing
and major investments are
lined up.
The re-invention started
more than a decade ago,
soon after the company
decided to exit textile manufacturing.
Manufacturing will be
outsourced. From now till
2020, the Wadia group-owned
company plans to invest
more than Rs 100 crore in the
brand, double its multi-
brand outlets to 10,000, more

than double its franchise
stores to 500 from 200 as of
now and introduce 3-4 new
products every year, Mr
Rajanna said.
Mr Rajanna said these
measures would help the segment more than treble its revenues to Rs 1,000 crore by fiscal 2020 from Rs 305 crore last
year.
The retail in textile segment currently contributes
17 per cent to the company's
overall revenue. It will
expand to 33 per cent by
2020, he added.
Stating that eastern India
had a huge potential in the
sector, Mr Rajanna said that
market share in this region
could be enhanced from 12
per cent at present to over
20 per cent.
Mr Rajanna said Bombay
Dyeing is aiming at revamping the loss-making flagship textile business.
Domestic investment agency

Motilal Oswal too expects
market outlook to be uninspiring
but wants investors not to ignore
some stock specific action in
the year ahead
Morgan Stanley's Mr Ridhan Desai ~ head of Indian

equities research ~ has commented that but for demonetisation the earnings from the
markets could have been better than the previous quarter
ended 30 September 2016
proposals, says the research

agency.
A combination of these
factors resulted in uniform
cut in the GDP estimates
from 7.6 per cent in 2015-16
to under 7 per cent for the
current FY 2016-17.
Voda plea against Trai

suggestion premature
Kolkata, 3 January
CURRENCY
02 03 JAN
CASH CRUNCH IMPACT SIGNIFICANT
SNS & PTI
Chinmoy Gangopadhyay
assumed charge as Director
(Projects), PFC, on 1 January.
He has more than 35 years of
experience in power sector,
serving organisations like
NTPC, PFC and PFCCL. He
has been with PFC for more
than 25 years.
30
GOOGLE PLAN
FOR INDIA TO BE
RELEASED TODAY
Mumbai, 3 January
Apple:The commerce and

industry ministry is not
in favour of extending
concessions to Apple for
setting up manufacturing unit in India as no
other firm has asked for
any incentive,government
sources said today. PTI
28 DEC 29
urged the court to decide

whether Trai exceeded its
jurisdiction by giving the recommendation.
On 22 December 2016,
the court had refrained from
directing the Centre or any
other authority not to act
upon Trai's recommendation
as no one except the regulator was a party in the
case. The court had, thereafter, made DoT a respondent
in the matter.
On last date of hearing,
Vodafone had claimed that
Reliance Jio (RJio) has gone
to the Competition Commission of India (CCI) with
the recommendation of Trai.
TRAI has recommended imposition of a fine of Rs
50 crore for each of the 21
circles of Vodafone, except
in Jammu and Kashmir,
coming to a total of Rs 1,050
crore.
than in bond purchasing

which is seen in most emerging markets on account of
growth in the United States
economy and appreciation
in the US dollar.
Domestic investment
agency Motilal Oswal too
expects market outlook to be
uninspiring but wants
investors not to ignore some
"stock specific action" in
the year ahead.
It also explains stocks
will be preferred over bonds
because shares offer 7 per
cent or more yield (earning)
against bond's 6.5 per cent.
That also explains why foreign portfolio investors
withdrew from debt market
and stayed net invested in
equities.
In view of huge jump in
deposit collection and
softening lending rates
Motilal Oswal revised the
(stock) target prices of State
Bank of India and ICICI
Bank to Rs 310 and Rs 275
respectively.
India-born CEO Sundar

Pichai will announce some
key initiatives for Indian
small and medium enterprises (SMEs) tomorrow as
part of the tech giant's
efforts to bring more businesses online in the country.
Information technology
minister Ravi Shankar
Prasad will also join Mr
Pichai and other senior
Google leaders during the
event.
Small and medium businesses are the backbone
of the Indian economy
and are powering the next
wave of the country's
growth. At Google, we are
excited about partnering
with businesses to help
them unlock exponential
growth through the power
of digital, Google said in
an invitation. Mr Pichai is
also scheduled to visit his
alma mater, IIT Kharagpur,
PTI
on 5 January.
Morgan Stanley's Mr Ridhan Desai ~ head of Indian

equities research ~ has commented that but for demonetisation the earnings from
the markets could have been
better than the previous
quarter ended 30 September
2016.
The earning growth cycle,
he added, has been put off
by at least two quarters.
But he sees more asset
deployment or allocation
by funds, especially foreign
funds, in Indian equities
OVL QUALIFIES
TO BID FOR IRAN
PROJECTS
HDFC,BoI,others cut
lending rates by up to 0.9%
New Delhi, 3 January: ONGC
Videsh Ltd, the overseas

arm of state-owned Oil and
Natural Gas Corp (ONGC),
has won rights to bid for oil
and gas development projects in Iran.
OVL is among the 29
international oil companies from more than a dozen
countries that Iran has prequalified to bid in the upcoming tender for oil and gas projects, according to the list put
out by National Iranian Oil
Co (NIOC).
Others on the list include
Royal Dutch Shell Plc, China
National Petroleum Corp
(CNPC), Total SA of France,
Russia's Gazprom and Eni
of Italy. Iran is hoping to
attract as much as $150 billion in foreign investment
in its oil, gas and petroPTI
chemicals sectors.
Joining the rate cut bandwagon, several banks and

housing finance companies,
including HDFC, today lowered their lending rates by
up to 0.9 per cent ~ which
will lead to cheaper home
and corporate loans.
Among banks, Corporation Bank, Bank of India and
Punjab & Sind Bank slashed
their marginal cost of funds
based lending rate (MCLR).
Taking a cue from State
Bank of India and other
major lenders, mortgage
finance company HDFC Ltd,
Indiabulls Housing Finance
too reduced lending rate by
up to 0.45 per cent.
Loans up to Rs 75 lakh will
attract interest rate of 8.7 per
cent per annum, while it will
be 8.75 per cent for higher
amounts, HDFC said in a

statement.
A woman applicant will
get a discount of 0.05 per cent
in interest rate.
HDFC's earlier benchmark rate was 9.1 per cent.
Besides, Bank of India
reduced its MCLRs up to 0.9
per cent. For one year, the
MCLR is now 8.50 per cent,
down 0.75 per cent.
However, over night
MCLR has been reduced by
0.9 per cent to 8.1 per cent
effective 7 January. Another public sector lender Punjab and Sind Bank lowered
the one-year MCLR to 8.75
per cent, down by 0.8 per cent.
At the same time, it also
slashed base rate or the
minimum lending rate by
0.05 per cent to 9.70 per cent
effective tomorrow.
Corporation Bank also
lowered 1-year MCLR rate
by 0.7 per cent to 8.75 per cent.

Spurt in deposit due to
demonetisation has provided banks space for lowering lending rate.
The reduction in lending
rates may prompt increase
in credit offtake which has
moderated substantially
putting burden on balancesheet of banks. More banks
are expected to cut the lending rate in the coming days.
Even fixed deposit rates are
expected to come down and
announcement to this effect
would be made in the next
few days.
Banks have switched to
MCLR as their new benchmark lending rate from June
last year, replacing the base
rate system for new borrowers. It is calculated on the
marginal cost of borrowing
and return on net worth
for banks.
Maximum call drop

Indices regain positive
momentum on fresh buying on Aircel network
Mumbai, 3 January
Regardless of prevailing
cynicism, stock indices of
Bombay Stock Exchange
and National Stock
Exchange tided over the
choppy start to today's business. The 30-share Sensitive Index of BSE and Nifty
of NSE regained positive
momentum on fresh buying
interest in bank and auto
shares by investors.
The reason for positive
mood was the meeting in
Delhi to carry ahead discussion on key issues related to Goods and Service
Tax called by finance minister Arun Jaitley.
Dalal Street analysts say
events such as this often generates optimism expecting
some encouraging outcome.
More so from today's meet
since the FM yesterday
TURNAROUND
Bank shares
turn around
wiping out
Mondays losses
hoped that resolution of
pending issues could make
it possible to implement
GST from 1 July.
Days before releasing
earnings data for OctoberDecember quarter Infosys
Technologies stock sank
more than 2 per cent intraday following not so encouraging message by its CEO
Vishal Sikka to his employees in which he cautioned
them of "long road ahead and
not easy one."
He wanted them to give
up "lackadiasical" attitude
towards greater value creation. IT sector companies
usually open the earning season. Bank shares turned

around wiping out Monday's losses, albeit in a small
measure, as investors expect
credit growth on account of
cut in lending rates.
SBI chairman Arundhati Bhattacharya had said
she was hopeful about credit picking up in the first three
months of 2017.
The Sensex today closed
at 26,643.24 (+47.79) points up
0.18 per cent. Nifty at 8,192.25
(+12.75) points gained 0.16
per cent; Bank Nifty settled at 18,035.60 (+66) points
an increase of 0.37 per cent.
In Sensex 19 shares ended
up and 11 down. For Nifty
the ratio was 28:23. Gainers
in Sensex included Axis
Bank at Rs 454.95, up 1.85 per
cent, ICICI Bank Rs 254.50,
up 1.07 per cent, ITC Rs
243.50, up 0.96 per cent and
SBI Rs 244.75, up 0.47 per cent.
High call drop rate was registered on the network of

telecom operator Aircel during both normal and heavy
traffic hours in the July-September 2016 period, as per
the latest report of telecom
regulator Trai.
Call drops on Aircel network during non-peak hours
breached set benchmark in
Assam, Bihar, Jammu and
Kashmir, North East telecom
circles, as per Performance
Indicator report of the Telecom Regulatory Authority
of India (Trai). In Bihar, the
call drop rate on its network was close to 6 times
high compared to set parameter of 2 per cent in a
month.
As per the Trai benchmark, not more than 2 per
cent calls on a telecom operator's network in a month
should get automatically

disconnected during nonpeak hours and 3 per cent
during heavy traffic load on
networks. The regulator
conducts tests on both 2G and
3G networks of companies.
Call drops during nonpeak hours were registered
on 2G network in Jammu
and Kashmir and Reliance
Communications CDMA
network in Rajasthan.
During peak hours, call
drop on Aircel network was
registered across 12 out of
22 telecom circles. Highest
call drop rate of 19.05 per cent
was registered in Assam
circle.
Call drop level on Telenor
network was registered in
five out of six circles where
it operates, followed by
Vodafone in four circles
and BSNL and Tata Teleservices CDMA network in
one circle each during peak
hours.
GOVERNMENT NEEDS TO CUT CORPORATE TAX AND CLEAN UP BANK BALANCE-SHEETS: EXPERTS
2017-18 could be make-or-break year for govt

Year 2017 could well be a

'make-or-break year' for
the NDA government,
depending on how it manages to utilise the likely
gains of Rs 2.20 lakh
crore on account of
demonetisation to spur
economic growth to over
8 per cent, say experts.
The government needs
to cut corporate tax,
clean up bank balancesheets, and pump in more
money into infrastructure if it wants to propel
India to 8 per cent growth
trajectory in the nearterm, they said.
2017-18 could be a
make or break year for
the government and all
will depend on the success of demonetisation

drive. If black economy
can be converted into
white, then interest rates
would come down in the
long-run and push India
to a 8-8.5 per cent growth
trajectory, KPMG (India)
partner & head of tax
Girish Vanvari said.
EY India chief policy
advisor DK Srivastava
said the economy was
passing through a phase
of investment slowdown,
and demonetisation drive
has also led to consumption slowdown.
The authorities are
aware of this and they
might come up with a fiscal stimulus programme
for next fiscal. The government will get addi-
tional room for spending

as extra resources to the
tune of 1.5 per cent of
GDP, or Rs 2.2 lakh crore,
garnered by dealing with
old money and tax collection from unaccounted
deposits would be enough
to stimulate the economy, Mr Srivastava said.
The stimulus can
come in the form of additional spending in road,
railways, and other construction sectors which
will have a multiplier
effect on jobs, he added.
Listing three major
challenges that need to be
watched, experts said the
effects of demonetisation
could last till March-end
before it stabilises.
Besides, global developments and GST rollout
EXPERT OPINION
2017-18 could be a
make or break year
for the government
and all will depend on
the success of demonetisation drive
EY India chief policy advisor DK Srivastava said the economy was passing
through a phase of
investment slowdown,
Indian economy
is likely to grow 7
per cent in current
fiscal and further to 7.4 per
cent next
fiscal
would also be keenly

watched.
It would be hugely
positive if reform agenda
is pursued with reduction in corporate tax rate,

digital penetration, NPA
cleaning and investing
the money garnered from

black money for infrastructure. If black money
comes into the system,
then interest rates would
come down and push
growth to 8-8.5 per cent,
Mr Vanvari said. Srivastava said that with large
amount of money coming
in, the government may
look at lowering corporate tax rate and bring it
in line with those prevailing in the US and UK and
thereby prevent flight of
capital. It could also raise
the I-T exemption limit to
Rs 3 lakh in the upcoming Budget to give more
disposable money in the
hands of people.
I expect the Indian
economy to grow 7 per
cent in current fiscal and
further to 7.4 per cent

next fiscal. Only after the
adjustments with regard
to demonetisation, GST
roll out and shifting the
fiscal year is over and settled, we could see India
achieving the 8 per cent
growth potential in about
two years time, he said.
Relentless implementation of the policies
shall go a long way in
achieving the true
growth potential of
India, Nangia & Co Managing Partner, Rakesh
Nangia said.
Sluggish world economy may keep crude oil
and commodity prices
low, but a good monsoon
and growth in domestic
demand shall keep India's
GDP high, he said.
12
N Korea said it is in final stages of developing a nuclear

weapon capable of reaching US. It wont happen.
PRESIDENT-ELECT DONALD TRUMP
REBUKING NORTH KOREA LEADER KIM JONG-UNS CLAIM
THUMBNAILS
US sets summer date to wrap up Mosul war against ISIS

THE INDEPENDENT
Berger dies: Booker

prize-winning English novelist and pioneering art critic John
Berger, has passed
away at the age of 90.
A lifelong Marxist
intellectual, Berger
died at his home in a
Paris suburb on
PTI
Monday.
Iraq attack: An attack
carried out by the
Islamic State group
on a police station in
the Iraqi city of Samarra has left three members of the force dead,
officers said on TuesPTI
day.
Migrants suitcase:
Guards on the border
of Ceuta,Spains enclave,
say they have recently detained one Moroccan suspected of attempting to smuggle migrants
concealed in a suitcase and another suspected of hiding
migrants in a car. PTI
Indonesia ferry fire:
Indonesian police have
arrested the captain of
a tourist ferry, Mohamad
Nal, that caught fire on
New Year's Day, leaving 40 people either
dead or missing. The
Zahro Express was
carrying at least 247 people on the day of the
accident.
PTI
US heist: In a Hollywood-style New Year's
eve robbery, a trio of
burglars broke into a
Manhattan jewellery
store whose owner
was away in India and
managed to flee with
USD 6 million worth
of precious gems. PTI
Diplomatic row:Nigeria has urged urgent
diplomatic action after
one of its citizens died
in a violent confrontation
with South African
police,in what they called
a barbaricand extrajudicial killing. PTI
GERMANY PLANS
TO OVERHAUL
BERLIN SECURITY
Berlin, 3 January: Germanys
interior minister today outlined plans for an overhaul of

the country's security apparatus, seeking greater federal powers on domestic intelligence and the enforcement
of migrant expulsions in the
wake of the Berlin truck
attack.
The minister, Thomas de
Maiziere,also called for wider
oversight for federal police as
well as for a crisis management centre to be set up.
We don't have federal
jurisdiction to deal with
national catastrophes. The
jurisdiction for the fight
against international terrorism is fragmented, he
wrote in a guest column for
the daily Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
The federal police's scope
of action is restricted to railway stations,airports and border controls,he wrote,stressing that it is time to reexamine Germany's security
set-up.After Tunisian suspect
Anis Amri allegedly rammed
a truck into a crowded Christmas market on December 19,
it swiftly emerged that the asylum seeker had slipped
through the net of security
services.
Amri had been under surveillance since March,but German police dropped their
watch in September,thinking
that he was a small-time drug
dealer. The failed asylum
seeker should also have been
deported months ago but
Tunisia had not provided the
necessary paperwork until
after the attack.
De Maiziere said federal
departure centres should be
set up to hold asylum seekers
in the weeks or days leading
PTI
up to their expulsion.
has also been criticised.

Officials had previously
claimed when the assault
had begun on 17 October last
year that Isis would be driven out from the city by
Christmas.
Now, with just 60 per cent
of the eastern side of the city
reclaimed after two and a half
months of fighting, many
observers expect the fight
could take much longer than
originally thought, and claim
many more lives in the
process.
Iraqi officials say the
pace of the battle has slowed
as Iraqi troops and allied
militias try to minimise
civilian casualties. Isis has
also stepped up its attacks
three months to eliminate

Isis from the country, but on
Monday, during a visit to a
French base near the Iraqi
city of Irbil, French Prime
Minister Francois Hollande
echoed Mr Abadis comments, as well as pushing the
timeline back until mid2017.
It was confirmed to us
that we could possibly
achieve this goal in spring,
in any case before summer,
he told a media conference.
Analysts gave similar
estimates. I would think that
summer 2017 would be the
long estimate on recapturing Mosul, Joel Wing, the
analyst behind the Musings
on Iraq blog, told local news.
There doesn't appear to be

any consensus on how western Mosul will be like compared to the east. Heavy
fighting and future pauses
could all lead to the campaign
being finalised by the summer.
The US commander of
the campaign has said that
the entire war against Isis
- ending their ability to hold
land in both Iraq and Syria,
where Isis clings onto its de
facto capital of Raqqa could take as long as two
years. People need to rest,
Lt. Gen. Stephen J. Townsend
told The Daily Beast. They
need to assess how things are
going because they are not
going as fast as we thought.
REPUBLICANS BID TO DISMANTLE ETHICS PANEL
WORKERS JAILED
IN SAUDI UNPAID
WAGE UNREST
Beirut, 3 January
The operation to oust Isis

from its last stronghold in
Iraq may not be completed
until the summer, several
observers have said, as
attempts to drive militants
from the city of Mosul have
slowed to a gruelling streetby-street fight.
The US-led coalition is
currently facing fierce
counter-attacks including
suicide bombings, sniper
fire and improvised explosive devices which have
resulted in heavy losses.
A perceived lack of prebattle planning before Operation Inherent Resolve began
Iraqi special forces patrol the Al-Quds neighbourhood after recapturing it from Islamic State group jihadists, on Tuesday, during an ongoing operation to retake the city of Mosul. AFP
on civilians elsewhere in the

country since the fight for
Mosul began.
Sixty-four people died
on Monday alone in five different car bombings across

Iraq, and two bombs in
Baghdad on New Years Eve
killed another 24. Iraqs

Prime Minister Haider alAbadi said last week that he
estimated it would take
NEW HOUSE RESOLVES TO VOTE EIGHT YEARS OF OBAMACARE OUT, HEALTH SUBSIDY IS ANOTHER TARGET
AGENCIES
Washington DC, 3 January
Members of the 115th Congress will be sworn in at noon

on Tuesday, setting off an
aggressive campaign by
Republicans who control
the House and the Senate to
dismantle eight years of
President Barack Obama's
Democratic policies. On
Monday, Republicans in the
U.S. House of Representatives agreed to weaken a nonpartisan ethics watchdog
on the grounds it had grown
too intrusive, prompting
Democrats to charge they
were scaling back independent oversight ahead of
a new legislative session.
As they returned to Washington following a holiday
break, House Republicans
voted in a closed-door meeting to place the Office of Congressional Ethics under the
oversight of the House
Ethics Committee, giving
lawmakers greater control
over an independent body
charged with investigating
their behaviour. The measure was added to a broad-
Trump objects to GoP vote to gut ethics office

AGENCIES
Washington, 3 January
President-elect Donald
Trump criticised House
Republicans Tuesday for
making one of their first
acts a vote to gut the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, arguing
that tax reform and health
care should be higher priorities.
"With all that Congress
has to work on, do they really have to make the weakening of the Independent
Ethics Watchdog, as unfair
as it may be, their number
er rules package that is
expected to pass when the
House formally convenes
on Tuesday.
The ethics office was created in 2008 following several corruption scandals,
but some lawmakers have
charged in recent years that
it has been too quick to
investigate complaints
one act and priority," Trump

asked over Twitter the
morning after the surprise
and secretive move by the
House GOP. "Focus on tax
reform, healthcare and so
many other things of far
greater importance!" he
added. Trump's comments
came after GOP House
members voted behind
closed doors Monday to
give lawmakers themselves
ultimate control over the
Office of Congressional
Ethics, the independent
body created in 2008 to
investigate allegations of
misconduct by lawmakers.
The office was created after

several bribery and corruption scandals sent members to prison. The ethics
change, which prompted a
furious outcry from Democrats and government watchdog groups, is part of a rules
package that the full House
will vote on Tuesday.
Speaker Paul Ryan, RWis., who had argued
against the unilateral rules
change Monday night,
issued a statement Tuesday
down playing the change
and insisting that the OCE
will operate independently though under the over-
lodged by outside partisan

groups.
The body will now have
to deliver its reports to lawmakers, rather than releasing them directly to the
public, according to a summary released by Republican Representative Bob
Goodlatte. It will be renamed
the Office of Congression-
al Complaint Review.
The OCE has a serious
and important role in the
House, and this amendment
does nothing to impede their
work, said Goodlatte, who
sponsored the measure.
House Democratic leader
Nancy Pelosi, who created
the ethics office while House
speaker following com-
sight of the member-only

House Ethics Committee.
"All members of Congress
are required to earn the public's trust every single day,
and this House will hold
members accountable to
the people," Ryan said.
Ryan and Majority
Leader Kevin McCarthy,
R-Calif, had pressed for a
bipartisan approach at a
later date, but Republicans
defied their leadership. The
119-74 vote reflected the
frustration of many lawmakers, but it was a setback
for leadership caught off
guard.
plaints that lawmakers were
unable to effectively police
themselves, said Republicans
were eliminating the only
independent body charged
with monitoring their
actions.
Evidently, ethics are the
first casualty of the new
Republican Cong ress,
Pelosi said in a statement.
The move comes as Republicans who control both

chambers of Congress are
poised to repeal major portions of President Barack
Obamas health and environmental regulations and
enact a conservative agenda once Republican President-elect Donald Trump
takes office on 20 January.
Another major target is
Obamas signature health
care law, which Republicans have long sought to gut
and blamed as a primary
cause for a lackluster economic recovery. Presidentelect Donald Trump encouraged a wholesale overhaul
of the system, tweeting
hours before the new Congress convenes Obamacare
just doesnt work, is unaffordable and, it is lousy
health care. Majority
Republicans are also targeting decades-old programmes that millions of
Americans rely on every
day, such as Social Security and Medicare as they
seek to shrink both the size
of the federal budget and the
bureaucracy in Washington.
Dozens
of foreign workers have
been sentenced to flogging
and jailed for unrest during
protests over unpaid wages
by Saudi Binladin Group several months ago, reports
said today.
Al-Watan newspaper and
Arab News did not give the
nationalities of the 49 workers, and foreign embassy staff
contacted by AFP could not
immediately provide details.
Al-Watan, which has followed the Binladin case
since early last year, said an
unidentified number were
sentenced to four months
jail and 300 lashes for destroying public property and
inciting unrest.Others were
jailed for 45 days by the
court in Mecca.
Construction sector workers were left waiting for
salaries after a collapse in
oil revenues left the kingdom
unable to pay private firms
it had contracted. Arab News
reported in May that unpaid
workers had torched several Binladin Group buses
PTI
in Mecca.
Riyadh, 3 January:
Turkish media airs selfie British envoy to EU quits Brexit talks

of nightclub assailant
THE INDEPENDENT
Britains ambassador to the

EU has suddenly resigned,
just weeks after his warning that striking a new trade
deal could take a decade
sparked a major row.
Ivan Rogers was expected to stay in his post until
at least the end of 2017, but
has walked out early - leaving officials in shock over
the loss of one of Britains
most experienced EU negotiators.
He did not explain the reasons for the move, according to people who have seen
his note to diplomatic staff,
the Financial Times reported.
However, clear tensions
with No.10 were laid bare
when he warned it could take
until the early mid-2020s
for the EU to agree and ratify a comprehensive trade
deal with Britain.
The Daily Mail claimed
the knives were out for Sir
Ivan, with demands for him
to be replaced with a diplomat who is more energetically pro-Brexit.

There was even speculation that his comments
were deliberately leaked to
the BBC, last month, to
undermine his position.
Today, a gover nment
spokesman said, Sir Ivan
has taken this decision now
to enable a successor to be
appointed before the UK
invokes Article 50 by the end
of March.
Nevertheless, the loss of
Sir Ivan will be seen as a blow
to the Treasury and the rest
of the Government as it
wrestles with what Theresa May has promised will be
a smooth Brexit.
Hilary Benn, the Labour
chairman of the Commons
Brexit Committee, told the
BBC the resignation was
not a good thing.
Benn said I think that
it means that the Government will have to get its
skates on to make sure there
is a replacement in place so
he or she can work with Sir
TRUMP ACCUSES
CNN OF USING HIS
WORST PHOTO
Israel backs Bill to shield

PM from graft probe
London, 3 January
AGENCIES
Istanbul, 3 January
Turkish state media aired

new footage on Tuesday of
a man believed to be the gunman who killed 39 people at
a nightclub, showing a grim
selfie video of the suspect
as he circles Istanbuls most
famous square.
The camera never leaves
the mans unsmiling face as
he walks through Taksim
square, one of Istanbuls
prime tourist spots, during
the 44-second video broadcast on state-run Anadolu
television and other media.
It wasnt immediately
clear if it was filmed before
or after the New Year's massacre at the Reina nightclub,
or how the footage was
obtained. The gunman, who
hasnt been publicly identified, is still at large.
The Islamic State group
claimed the attack on Mon-
day, saying a soldier of the

caliphate had carried out
the mass shooting to avenge
Turkish military operations
against IS in northern Syria.
Layan Nasser, an 18-year-old
Arab Israeli dental assistant
who had traveled to Istanbul to celebrate the New
Year with friends, was
among the dead. Thousands
attended the teen's funeral
on Tuesday in the Israeli city
of Tira.
She had dreams to work,
to progress, to study, to raise
a family, but unfortunately
the terror put an end to her

dreams, Tira mayor
Mamoun Abd El Hai said.
At least 14 people have
been detained in connection with the attack. Two foreigners were detained at
Ataturk airports international terminal on Tuesday
after police checked their
cellphones and luggage,
according to Anadolu. Hurriyet newspaper said that a
woman identified by Turkish media as the wife of the
massacre suspect has told
police she didnt know her
husband was an IS member.
Turkey has been rocked
by violence in the past year,
carried out by IS as well as
by Kurdish militants. The
government survived a failed
coup and is fighting against
Kurdish insurgents. Parliament votes on Tuesday on
whether to extend the state
of emergency was declared
after the coup attempt.
SCIENTISTS AT VARSITY OF ROCHESTER REVEAL
New retinal imaging may

help prevent vision loss
Scientists have developed a new non-invasive retinal imaging

technique that could
help prevent the onset
of vision loss in diseases like glaucoma the second leading
cause of acquired
blindness worldwide.
Researchers at the
University of Rochester
Medical Centre in the
US hope their new technique could prevent
vision loss via earlier
diagnosis and treatment for these diseases.
The method can noninvasively image the
human retina, a layer of
cells at the back of the
eye that are essential
for vision.
The group led by
David Williams from
the University of
Rochester was able to
distinguish individual
retinal ganglion cells
(RGCs) which bear
most of the responsibility of relaying visual
information to the
brain.
There has been a
longstanding interest
in imaging RGCs
because their death
causes vision loss in
glaucoma, the second
leading cause of
acquired blindness
worldwide.
Despite great efforts,
no one has successfully
captured images of
individual RGCs, in
part because they are
nearly perfectly transparent. Instead of imaging RGCs directly, glaucoma is currently diagnosed by assessing the
thickness of the nerve
fibers projecting from

the RGCs to the brain.
However, by the time
retinal nerve fibre
thickness has changed
detectably, a patient
may have lost 100,000
RGCs or more.
You only have 1.2
million RGCs in the
whole eye, so a loss of
100,000 is significant.
The sooner we can
catch the loss, the better our chances of halting disease and preventing vision loss,
said Williams.
Ethan A Rossi, assistant professor at the
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in the US and his
colleagues were able to
see RGCs by modifying
an existing technology confocal adaptive optics
scanning light ophthalmoscopy (AOSLO).
Washington,3 January: US Pres-
ident-elect Donald Trump

today complained that a prominent television channel used
his worstpicture ever as the
cover art for a new book
about the 2016 Presidential
election. CNN just released
a book called 'Unprecedented' which explore the 2016 race
& victory. Hope it does well
but used worst cover photo of
me, he tweeted. The book
Unprecedented,which was
released in December, was
written during the election and
is a chronicle of the Presidentelect's surprising win. Written by a CNN writer,the news
channel describes the book as
a deeply reported account
on the fight for the presidency between Trump
a blustery billionaire and
reality TV star with no military or government experience, no respect for the rules
of politics and no fear of
offending people and former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, The People's magaAFP
zine reported.
THE INDEPENDENT
Tel Aviv, 3 January
Israeli Justice Minister Ayalet

Shaked has appeared to give
her backing to a Bill that
would grant sitting premiers
immunity from certain types
of criminal prosecutions, a
day after Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu was
questioned by police over
gifts he may have received
from business leaders.
The Bill,proposed by politician David Amsalem of Mr
Netanyahus ruling coalition Likud party,would amend
the law to stop police from
investigating sitting prime
ministers for fraud, bribery
and breach of trust, The
Times of Israel reported.
Similar laws are already on
the books in France,Ansalem
noted.
Despite some support for
the proposed legislation, the
Times of Israel points out that
even if it passed three readings in Israels parliament to
Ivan in the transition, the

handover".
The United Kingdom Permanent Representation to
the European Union
(UKRep) is the Governments face in negotiations
that take place in Brussels.
Sir Ivan Rogers represented the UK at weekly
meetings in the EU Council,
dealing largely with political, financial, justice, policing and foreign policy issues.
But, last month, he infuriated Eurosceptics when it
emerged he had warned the
Government a free-trade
deal with the EU could take
full decade to achieve.
Publicly, Downing Street
insisted the ambassador
had simply been communicating the views of some
European leaders, rather
than giving his own assessment. But Dominic Raab, a
former minister and a Leave
campaigner, said Sir Ivan
was "scarred by his own
pessimistic advice in the
past".
A recent book about the
become law, it could not be

applied retroactively and
therefore would not shield
Netanyahu from the current
investigation.
The Prime Minister was
questioned on Monday over
allegations that he has accepted a string of valuable gifts
from at least two businessmen
during his time in office as
part of a long-term investigation into more than 50
individuals.
He has denied any wrongdoings, telling the critics to
put any celebrationsof his
political downfall on hold.
Justice Minister Ayalet
Shaked, of the Jewish Home
party, gave the proposed bill
her support whilst speaking
to a radio show on Monday
night, saying the proposal
should come with several
other elements in order to
enable [the Prime Minister]
to handle state affairs appropriately.
As a matter of principle,
the Prime Minister should be
EU referendum campaign
revealed how some Conservatives blamed Sir Ivan
Rogers for preventing David
Cameron from demanding
more from his EU renegotiation.
In All Out War, the Sunday Times political editor
Tim Shipman quoted one
Cameron adviser saying he
had been beholden to Sir
Ivan and his own EU adviser, Tom Scholar.
The extract read: They
were status quo. They were
happy to take No for an
answer, happy to believe
things werent possible when
they could be possible.
Ive lost count of the
number of times Ivan threatened to resign. The ambassador was said to have gone
over advisers heads directly to Mr Cameron, after dismissing their arguments.
He would send emails
that were the stuff of legend,
saying why didnt we know
anything? We were just
politicos, we didnt understand, the aide added.
like everyone else, there

should be no difference, she
said.
In France, they dont
investigate an incumbent
president, but only after his
term has ended.Its something
we could consider; it would
have to be part of other elements, not just on its own,
she said.
Ms Shaked, Mr Ansalem
and others have linked the
police investigation to
attempts to remove Mr
Netanyahu from office.
There is a motivation to
remove the right wing from
power,Mr Ansalem charged
in an interview with Army
Radio.
We need to take away any
motivation other than that pertaining to the investigation
itself. There is a basic democratic principle that the people chose someone to lead the
country. That is the most
important principle and it
takes precedence over all
others.
In France, they don't investigate an incumbent

president, but only after his term has ended
ISRAELI JUSTICE MINISTER AYALET SHAKED

DEFENDING ISRAELI PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU
THUMBNAILS
PARK REFUSES TO
TESTIFY IN TRIAL
COURT DELAYED THE START OF ORAL ARGUMENTS AS WELL
A displaced Iraqi man from

Mosul's eastern neighbourhoods
arrives with his daughter to the
Al-Quds neighbourhood, as Iraqi
special forces advance in an
ongoing military operation
against Islamic State (IS) group
jihadists, on Tuesday. AFP
Pak-Taseer: The son

of a Pakistani politician killed for opposing the country's harsh
blasphemy laws says
he is now receiving death
threats for supporting a Christian woman
on death row for insultPTI
ing Islam.
Oz murder: An elderly Australian man serving time for killing his
wife and two grandchildren was charged
today with the murder
of a fellow inmate after
an apparent attack with
a sandwich toaster. AP
China salt: China
has started an overhaul
of its salt industry,
easing a monopoly
that has existed in
some form for more than
2,000 years and predates the Great Wall.
New regulations went
into effect at the start
PTI
of this year.
UK dog: A style-concious woman in Scotland has spent thousands of pounds to
make sure each of her
seven dogs has their
own individual style
and wardrobe. Fiona
Gordon, 31, who looks
af t e r F l o e e, M ya ,
Hamish, Angus, Theo,
Ellie and Isla full time,
has an obsession with
AFP
canine fashion.
Nine judges of South Korea's Constitutional Court sit during the first hearing arguments for South Korea's President
Park Geun-hye's impeachment trial at the Constitutional Court in Seoul on Tuesday. AFP
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Seoul, 3 January
South Korean President Park

Geun-hye refused to testify
today in the impeachment trial
that will decide her future,
prompting the prosecutors to
question why she has publicly
denied the charges of corruption but will not do so
before the court.
After Park's refusal, the
Constitutional Court delayed
the start of oral arguments
and asked her to testify on
Thursday, when some of her
current and former aides are
also scheduled to testify.
The court cannot force
her to appear but can proceed
without her if she refuses
twice to appear at the hearings.
Lawmaker Kweon Seong
Dong,the chief prosecutor in
the trial, questioned why
Park cannot defend herself in
court when just two days ago
she vehemently rejected the
accusations of corruption in
a hastily arranged meeting
with reporters at Seoul's presidential Blue House.
It's not good etiquette to
the justices and also inap-
propriate for the president,as

the defendant of the impeachment trial,to say this and that
to the media outside of court,
Kweon told reporters.
Lee Joong-hwan, Park's
lawyer,said she does not plan
to appear Thursday and will
probably not testify during the
impeachment trial.
The trial in the Constitutional Court must decide
within six months of her
December 9 impeachment
whether Park should permanently step down or should
be reinstated to office.
If the court formally
removes Park from office, a
presidential election will be
held within 60 days.
Park has been accused of
colluding with a close confidante to extort money and
favors from companies and
allowing the friend to manipulate government affairs.Her
friend, Choi Soon-sil, Choi's
niece, and several former
government and presidential officials have been indicted,and a special prosecution
team has been investigating
bribery suspicions between
Park and business giant Samsung.The investigators want
to bring home Choi's daughter, Yoora Chung, who was

arrested in Denmark,as they
look into the suspicions that
Samsung sponsored Choi in
exchange for government
favors. Cho June-hyuck,
Seoul's Foreign Ministry
spokesman,said that the ministry is preparing for the
extradition of Chung,and that
her passport will be invalidated if she doesn't hand it in
by next Monday. Speaking to
reporters in Denmark,Chung
said she's willing to return to
South Korea if she could continue to be with her 19-monthold-son.She also said Samsung
took back a horse and car it
had provided her.
The country's former
health minister was arrested on allegations he forced the
National Pension Service to
support a merger between two
Samsung affiliates last year.
The deal shaved the fund's
stake in one of the companies
by an estimated hundreds of
millions of dollars,but allowed
Samsung scion Lee Jae-yong
to promote a father-to-son
succession of leadership and
boost corporate wealth at the
group.
Massive fire damages major market in Dhaka

Dhaka, 3 January
A massive fire today partially destroyed a major market

in the Bangladeshi capital
close to the diplomatic area,
forcuing authorities to deploy
the Navy to douse the fire.
The fire broke out at the
DCC Market in Dhaka's Gulshan-1 area. Over 600 shops
caught fire around 2:00 am
(local time).
It is feared that most of the
shops have been gutted.
Part of the market that
houses raw goods collapsed,
The Daily Star reported.
As many as 22 firefighting
units were on the spot to fight
the fire. No deaths have been
reported in the incident so far.
Two firefighting units
from the Navy and 20 units
from the Fire Service have been
working to douse the blaze,
the Dhaka Tribune reported.
Some shop owners suspect it to be an act of sabotage,
but Dhaka North Mayor
Anisul Huq said an electrical
malfunction may have caused
it.
Can't say how this massive fire broke out, Gulshan

police's Deputy Commissioner
Mustak Ahmed said.
The fire service said the
flames started from the eastern part of the mall and later
spread.
A shop owner said the twostorey mall has almost 250
shops.Furniture shops occupy a large portion of the
ground floor along with some

eateries.
The kitchen market portion
on the ground floor's eastern
side has been burnt down.The
four-storey Gulshan Shopping Centre adjacent to it,however, remained unaffected,
the bdnews reported.
Meanwhile, several firefighters were injured in the
incident,leaving the operation
Pakistan seeks peaceful ties

with neighbours: Sharif
Islamabad, 3 January
Amid a chill in Indo-Pak ties,

Pakistan Prime Minister
Nawaz Sharif today called a
high-level meeting and
reviewed the current status
of the country's ties with its
neighbours and strategic
partners.
Sharif said Pakistan
believes in peaceful co-existence with all countries of the
region and looks forward to
establish strong and mutually
beneficial relations with them.
He chaired a high-level meeting at the Prime Minister's
House here and reviewed the
current status of Pakistan's
relations with its neighbours
and strategic partners,according to an official statement.
Peaceful coexistence,
mutual respect and economically integrated region must
be our shared objective and
we must strive for realising

this objective. This could be
possible only when we demonstrate a commitment to our
aspirations of peace,progress
and prosperity, Sharif said
during the meeting. His
remarks come amid severe
chill in Indo-Pak ties after Pakistan-based terrorists attacked
an Indian army base in Uri
in September. Sharif added
that China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) was
a cornerstone of our own
quest for regional connectivity and shared prosperity.

The meeting evaluated
various policy options in
response to different challenges in regard to foreign relations. It focused on issues
pertaining to regional,external and internal security situation.It also reviewed bilateral and multi-lateral relations
with neighbouring countries,
future roadmap for regional
stability and maintenance of
mutually beneficial relations
with all countries in the
region and beyond.
Finance Minister Ishaq
Dar, Interior Minister Nisar
Ali Khan,army chief General
Qamar Javed Bajwa,ISI chief
Lt. Gen. Naveed Mukhtar,
Advisor on Foreign Affairs
Sartaj Aziz, Special Assistant to PM Tariq Fatemi,
National Security Advisor
Lt. Gen. (R) Nasser Khan
Janjua and other senior officials attended the meeting.
2 Russian Navy ships arrive

in Manila for goodwill visit
Rear Admiral Eduard Mikhailov (C), deputy commander of the Russian Navy's
Pacific fleet, speaks during a press briefing with Philippine Navy officers following the arrival of the Admiral Tributs anti-submarine ship to Manila on
Tuesday.
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Manila, 3 January
Two Russian Navy ships

arrived in Manila today for
a goodwill visit amid President Rodrigo Duterte's moves
to bolster ties with Moscow,
including a possible weapons
deal.
Rear Adm Eduard
Mikhailov, deputy commander of Russia's Pacific

Fleet, said a wide range of
equipment was brought on
the anti-submarine ship
Admiral Tributs and the sea
tanker Boris Butomato to
demonstrate to the Philippine
military during the five-day
visit.
You can choose ...to coop-
erate with United State of

America or to cooperate with
Russia, but from our side we
can help you in every way that
you need, Mikhailov told
reporters through an interpreter after a welcoming ceremony.
It is the third such Russian visit to the Philippines
but is the first under Duterte's
administration.Russian ships
also made trips to the Philippines in January 2012 and
May 2016. This week's visit
will include meetings between
naval officials, as well as the
opening of the ships to the
public and Russian tours of
historical places in Manila.
Since becoming president
in June, Duterte has had an
uneasy relationship with
the United State, saying he
wants to boost ties with
China and Russia whose
leaders he has met recently
as he revamps Philippine
foreign policy.
People wade through a flooded street in Malaysia's northeastern town of Rantau Panjang, which borders Thailand. Emergency services in Malaysia deployed
boats and trucks on Tuesday, as thousands of villagers were stranded after four days of heavy rain caused flooding in east coast states, officials said. AFP
HEADING FOR ITS SIXTH PRINT RUN
Mein Kampf becomes German bestseller

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Berlin, 3 January
The first reprint of

Adolf Hitler's Mein
Kampf in Germany
since World War II has
proved a surprise bestseller, heading for its
sixth print run, its publisher said today.
The Institute of Contemporary History of
Munich (IfZ) said
around 85,000 copies of
the new annotated version of the Nazi leader's
anti-Semitic manifesto
had flown off the
shelves since its release
last January.
However the respected institute said that far
from promoting farright ideology, the publication had enriched a
debate on the renewed

rise of authoritarian
political views in contemporary Western
society.
It had initially
planned to print only
4,000 copies but boosted
production immediately
based on intense
demand. The sixth print
run will hit bookstores
in late January.
The two-volume work
had figured on the nonfiction bestseller list in
weekly magazine Der
Spiegel over much of
the last year, and even
topped the list for two
weeks in April.
The institute also
organised a successful
series of presentations
and debates around
Mein Kampf across
Germany and in other

European cities, which
it said allowed it to measure the impact of the
new edition.
It turned out that
the fear the publication
would promote Hitler's
ideology or even make it
socially acceptable and

give neo-Nazis a new
propaganda platform
was totally unfounded,
IfZ director Andreas
Wirsching said in a
statement.
To the contrary, the
debate about Hitler's
worldview and his
approach to propaganda
offered a chance to look
at the causes and consequences of totalitarian
ideologies, at a time in
which authoritarian
political views and
rightwing slogans are
gaining ground.
The institute said the
data collected about
buyers by regional
bookstores showed that
they tended to be customers interested in
politics and history as
13
well as educators and

not reactionaries or
rightwing radicals.
Nevertheless, the IfZ
said it would maintain a
restrictive policy on
international rights.
For now, only English
and French editions are
planned despite strong
interest from many
countries.
The institute
released the annotated
version of Mein
Kampf last January,
just days after the copyright of the manifesto
expired.
Bavaria was handed
the rights to the book in
1945 when the Allies
gave it control of the
main Nazi publishing
house following Hitler's
defeat.
momentarily suspended.
Later, the firemen and
shopkeepers removed a number of gas cylinders stored
behind the kitchen market.
The fire service said
unavailability of a nearby
water source has made it
hard for them to work. Firefighters had to connect their
hoses to as far as the Gulshan
Lake.
CHINA TIGHTENS BORDER

RULES IN TIBET TO
COUNTER SEPARATISTS
Beijing, 3 January: China has
tightened border rules in

Tibet, extending the already
stringent rules to ports,trade
zones and scenic spots, citing growing incidence of
separatist and terrorist
activities amid efforts to
make the remote Himalayan
region South Asia's trade
hub.
The designated border
areas under Sunday's new
regulation now include land
ports, trade zones and scenic
spots, expanding the scope
of the old regulation that has
been in effect since 2000,
state-run Global Times
reported late yesterday.
As Tibet further opens up
with fast economic development, border areas have
witnessed more disputes
and diverse criminal activities, including those involving separatism,illegal migration and terrorism,the report
quoted Badro, deputy head
of the Tibet border police, as
saying.
It also quoted Wang Chunhuan, deputy director of the
Theoretical Marxism Institute of the Tibet Academy of
Social Sciences (TASS) who
backed the amendment,
explaining what the update
in rules meant.
The update of border
regulation provides a legal
foundation to combat potential terrorist activities in
the future brought by the further opening-up of Tibet as
the Belt and Road initiative
has positioned Tibet as a
gateway to South Asia, even
though the border areas do
not face severe terrorist challenges at present in general, Wang said.
The new regulations came
as China is trying to make
Tibet a hub for trade and
transport to South Asia
through Nepal with road
and rail connectivity.
While the previous proChina Nepalese Prime Minister, K P Sharma Oli, had
signed a transit trade deal
with Beijing in March last
year to counter Nepal's
dependence on India, his
successor Pushpa Kamal
Dahal alias Prachanda is
under pressure to implement the deals.
AFP
Key proteins that make

Zika deadly identified
In a first comprehensive
description of the Zika virus
genome, scientists have identified seven key proteins
that may make the virus so
deadly.
Over the past year, scientists have learned that it
can cause a range of dangerous health problems,
including birth defects such
as microcephaly and neurological problems such as
Guillain-Barre syndrome.
However, they do not
know which Zika protein or
proteins are causing harm,
or exactly how these proteins
cause damage.
Now, a new study by scientists at the University of
Maryland School of Medicine (UM SOM) in the US has

for the first time identified
seven key proteins in the
virus that may be the culprits
behind this damage.
The study is the first
comprehensive description
of the Zika virus genome.
The mechanism of this
virus has been a real mystery, said the lead researcher
on the study, Richard Zhao,
a professor of pathology at
UM SOM.
These results give us
crucial insight into how
Zika affects cells. We now
have some really valuable
clues for future research,
said Zhao.
Zika virus has infected
hundreds of thousands of
people around the world,
mostly in the Americas. In

the US and its territories,
more than 38,000 Zika cases
have been reported so far,
most of them in Puerto
Rico. There are no vaccines
or treatments to prevent or
treat the symptoms of Zika
infection.
To test the virus, Zhao
used fission yeast, a species
that in recent years has
become a relatively common way to test how
pathogens affect cells.
Fission yeast was originally used to make beer,
particularly in Africa, where
it originated.
Over decades, fission
yeast has been used by many
scientists to find out mechanisms and behaviour of
cells.
NEW DELHI WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2017
Machines that ape brain cells

THE CURRENT CAPABILITY IN MASSIVE COMPUTING CAN
SPEED UP THE PROGRESS OF DRUG DESIGN, WRITES
S ANANTHANARAYANAN
nowing the biochemistry of the body is one way

of designing therapy to deal with medical conditions. Most known drugs or herbal remedies,
however, were not discovered in this way but
after centuries of trial and error. Modern medicine has analysed traditional cures to arrive at
the functional chemicals, which has helped drug synthesis and also to understand physiology.
Such wisdom, however, does not help the development of new drug remedies, which must rely
on intense and largely, blind assays of the great
variety of preparations or substances and their
effects on pathogens or body processes.
A way to accelerate the process has been the
use of machine learning and computer-based
artificial intelligence, which can find patterns
in the features of known effective substances
and screen out the less promising lines of inquiry. An improvement in this strategy, which
was used to scan 72 million compounds and create a tractable list of promising candidates for
anti-cancer application, has been reported by
researchers Artur Kadurin, Alexander Aliper,
Andrey Kazennov, Polina Mamoshina, Quentin
Vanhaelen, Kuzma Khrabrov and Alex Zhavoronkov, from Moscow, Tatarstan, St Petersburg
and Dolgoprudny in Russia, Truro, in Cornwall, the University of Oxford and John Hopkins University.
Their paper in the journal, Oncotarget, begins with the words, despite the many advances in biomedical sciences, the productivity
of research and development programmes in
the pharmaceutical industry is on the decline.
It explains that nearly 90 per cent of clinical trials for all disease categories end in failure, and
almost 95 per cent fail in the case of cancer. The
main reason, the paper says, is that trials have
to start without a hint of where to look and the
huge effort needed leads to high prices of cancer drugs.
The methods of machine learning have been
strikingly successful in trend analysis, based
on just some known examples. Areas of application include analyses of customer trends, improving availability of products and services,
traffic control, health administration and automated diagnosis. Machine learning is now capable of voice and image recognition, even surpassing human ability, and has been successful
in running driverless motor vehicles in a busy
street.
The basic method used is to make rapid calculations with a set of known data to find a
mathematical formula that fits their distribution. The formula is then tested on some more
known examples and if it qualifies, then it is
likely to make correct predictions with
unknown data too. An elementary example,
from a popular course on machine learning

that is offered online by Stanford University, is
to consider the prices of apartments as a function of the covered area, the number of rooms,
bathrooms, windows, location, et al. Computeraided analysis could discover a relationship
among many of these, which could predict the
price of apartments, given its features, to help
sellers or buyers.
Another application would be to connect the
Housing prices
Best fit curve
Training data
Area
Straight line
Exact fit
(limited use
for prediction)
Price
Boundary
Cancer diagnosis
Malignant
Age
Malignant instances: X
Benign instances : O
Benign
Tumour size
A neural network
Layers of virtual neurons
I
n
p
u
t
s
Output
tumour size, age of the patient and some other

features, in the case of cancer, with malignancy.
The formula, as developed from known cases,
could be regulated to predict malignancy either
in most malignant cases, or rarely to make a
mistake, depending on the priority.
While predictions like this were first made
purely by varying and refining the formulae
used a process which is possible with large
data and the help of computers it was soon
realised that the animal brain seems to perform
a lot better through a different angle of attack.
In playing a game of chess, for instance, one
way a computer could go about it is by working

out all possible moves and counter-moves, by
both players, from a given board position, and
then choosing what move to make. It was seen
however, that human players were able to do
better than even powerful computers that
planned several moves ahead.
It was then realised that the human brain did
not follow the brute force method of the computer, but seemed to take in some features of
the chess board position, which may seem to be
unrelated, and use these, and experience, to
play in a more effective way. And the mechanism by which the brain did this was by charting the manner in which arrays of brain cells
reacted to the different inputs of features of the
chess board. Given a set of responses by brain
cells, the same responses were either strengthened or weakened, depending on their outcome.
Over a series of actual instances, the brain
adapts to making more effective responses and
continues to learn with experience. This is the
mechanism that leads not only to good chess
playing but also how a child internalises the
nuances of a language faster than years of study by scholars.
Computers were now programmed to simulate this architecture by creating virtual neurons, or software that behaved like brain cells.
In a simple instance of recognising a single feature, the feature could be presented to a single
virtual neuron. The neuron responds at random, from a pair of choices. If the answer is
correct, there is feedback that adds to the probability of that response, and if the answer is
wrong, the feedback lowers the probability. We
can see that this device would soon learn,
through a random process, to consistently
make the correct response.
We can also see that the same process could
deal with a choice of more than only two
responses and we could also have a brace of
artificial neurons that would send their
responses to another set of neurons, and so on.
By creating this kind of network, and sending
feedback from layer to layer, it is possible to
develop a computer system that can identify an
image as being that of a car or a pedestrian, for
instance, and then if the pedestrian was a man
CHROMOSOME NUMBERS
TAPAN KUMAR MAITRA
EXPLAINS THE LIFE CYCLES OF
SEXUAL ORGANISMS
homologous sets of chromosomes). Moreover, the chromosome number would continue to double for each succeeding
generation - an impossible scenario. Thus, for the chromosome number to remain constant from generation to generation, a different type of cell division must occur during the
formation of gametes. That special type of division, called
ince gametes are haploid, they cannot be produced from meiosis, reduces the chromosome number from diploid to
diploid cells by mitosis because mitosis creates daugh- haploid.
ter cells that are genetically identical to the original
Meiosis involves one round of chromosomal DNA repliparent cell. In other words, if gametes were formed by cation followed by two successive nuclear divisions. This
mitotic division of diploid cells, both sperm and egg would results in the formation of four daughter nuclei (usually in
have a diploid chromosome number, just like the parent separate daughter cells) containing one haploid set of chrodiploid cells. The hypothetical zygote created by the fusion mosomes per nucleus. The principle of meiosis starts with
of such diploid gametes would be tetraploid (possess four a diploid cell containing four chromosomeass. A single
round of DNA replication is followed by two cell divisions,
meiosis I and meiosis II, leading to the formation of four
haploid cells.
Meiosis and fertilisation are indispensable components
Cell division
of the life cycle of every sexually reproducing organism,
because the doubling of chromosome number that takes
place at fertilisation is balanced by the halving that occurs
during meiosis. As a result, the life cycle of sexually reproducing organisms is divided into two phases a diploid
(2n) phase and a haploid (1n) phase. The diploid phase
begins at fertilisation and extends until meiosis, whereas
(a) Bacteria
the haploid phase is initiated at meiosis and ends with fertilisation.
Organisms vary greatly in the relative prominence of
the haploid and diploid phases of their life cycles. Fungi
are examples of sexually reproducing organisms whose
life cycles are primarily haploid but include a brief diploid
Gamete fusion
phase that begins with gamete fusion (the fungal equivaSporic meiosis
lent of fertilisation) and ends with meiosis. Meiosis usually takes place almost immediately after gamete fusion, so
the diploid phase is very short, and, accordingly, only a
very small fraction of fungal nuclei are diploid at any one
Spores
time. Fungal gametes develop, without meiosis, from cells
(b) Fungi
that are already haploid.
Mosses and ferns are probably the best examples of
organisms in which both the haploid and diploid phases
Gamete fusion
are prominent features of the life cycle. Every species of
(fertilisation)
these plants has two alternative, morphologically distinct,
multi-cellular forms one haploid and the other diploid.
For
mosses, the haploid form of the organism is larger and
Sporic meiosis
more prominent, and the diploid form is smaller and more
short-lived. For ferns, it is the other way around. In both
cases, gametes develop from pre-existing haploid cells.
Organisms that alternate between haploid and diploid
(c) Mosses
multi-cellular forms in this way are said to display an
alternation of generations in their life cycles. In addition
to mosses and ferns, eukaryotic algae and other plants
Gametic
exhibit an alternation of diploid and haploid generations.
meiosis
In all such organisms, the products of meiosis are haploid
spores, which, after germination, give rise by mitotic cell
division to the haploid form of the plant or alga. The haploid form in turn produces the gametes by specialisation of
Gametes
cells that are already haploid.
On the other hand, the best examples of life cycles domGamete fusion
inated
by the diploid phase are found in animals. In such
(fertilisation)
organisms, including humans, meiosis gives rise not to
(d) Higher animals
spores but to gametes directly, so the haploid phase of the
life cycle is represented only by the gametes. Meiosis in
The relative prominence of the haploid (1n) and diploid (2n) phases of the life
such species is called gametic meiosis to distinguish it
cycle differ greatly, depending on the organism, (a) Bacteria exist exclusively
in the haploid state, (b) Many fungi exemplify a life form that is predominantly from the sporic meiosis observed in spore-producing
organisms exhibiting an alternation of generations.
haploid but has a brief diploid phase. (c) Mosses (and ferns as well) alternate
between haploid and diploid forms, both of which are significant components
Meiosis is thus gametic in animals and sporic in plants.
in the life cycles of these organisms. (d) Higher animals are the best examples
of organisms that are predominantly diploid, with only the gametes representing the haploid phase of the life cycle.
THE WRITER IS ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, HEAD, DEPARTMENT OF BOTANY, ANANDA

MOHAN COLLEGE, KOLKATA, AND ALSO FELLOW, BOTANICAL SOCIETY OF BENGAL,
AND CAN BE CONTACTED AT tapanmaitra59@yahoo.co.in
or a woman.
In applying this process to drug
design, a large number of features of
many candidate substances, whose
therapeutic value is known, is presented to neural networks, to generate responses of whether the substances are useful in cancer therapy
or not. The feedback of whether the
responses were correct is the
process by which the network
learns the importance of different
combinations of features. Large
computer facilities are able to simulate extensive neural networks and
train the system with a range of features, to filter out substances of doubtful potential and reduce the load at the final stages of
drug research.
While these applications of machine learning deal with classification, even discovering
classes, or discrimination, other applications
are of generating instances that should lie
within a given or discovered class. These applications are useful in image generation, synthesising a texture or cleaning signals of noise. An
application in drug research would be to go
from characteristics of known curative agents
to the specifications for new drugs.
The authors of the Oncotarget paper made
use of available databases of drug characteristics and an advanced machine learning technique where one part of the programme tries to
generate new instances that cannot be distinguished from a base set while another part (as
an adversary) works to uncover these generated instances. The result is an optimum of
similarity with novelty, or new and effective
drug templates.
The paper describes a trial where the system
was trained with the features of 6,252 compounds that were effective against MCF-7, a
recognised line of breast cancer cells. The system was then used to screen 72 million compounds from a freely accessible database of
compounds and small molecules. The properties of the resulting set of 69 compounds, culled
out of the 72 million, were then assessed with
the help of another database of compounds
that had anti-cancer capability. It was found
that several of the 69 compounds were known
as anti-cancer agents and most were related to
a group of highly effective cancer drugs.
This is a significant achievement, that a computer trial has isolated a biologically relevant
subset out or a very large collection, an exercise
that would not have been possible through laboratory methods. While nature, after centuries
of evolution, provides us with a nearly infinite
variety of substances, we now have a machine
learning procedure that helps us sift through
the mass to find those that serve specific purposes.
THE WRITER CAN BE CONTACTED AT
response@simplescience.in
Message in a
starry bottle
SCIENTISTS ARE SET TO BEGIN SPEAKING TO ALIENS
DESPITE WARNINGS THAT IT COULD TRIGGER EARTHS
DESTRUCTION. ANDREW GRIFFIN REPORTS
major programme to try and
speak to aliens has been
launched despite warnings
that it could lead to the destruction
of humanity.
Meti stands for Messaging Extraterrestrial Intelligence and is a new
project that will look to send out
signals into space so that extraterrestrials can pick them up. It will
start doing that from 2018 allowing
humanity to get in touch with aliens,
rather than waiting for them to talk
to us.
But scientists have long warned
that sending out such messages
could be dangerous, and that alerting
aliens to our existence might lead to
our complete destruction. That has
ning whether or not messages can be

sent out into space, or what those
messages should say. That means
that Meti and other groups can send
out their signals despite any
objections.
But those behind Meti say that it
will instead be used as a way to
learn and share information, if it
is successful. The team will now look
to work out how best to do that, and
put together a message that could be
understood by other living things in
the distant universe that we might be
able to make contact with. The initial
message is likely to use basic
mathematical and scientific
concepts.
The group hopes to raise $1
PLUS POINTS
Rare celestial sight

A comet is set to be visible from
Earth for the first time in what could
be millions of years, Nasa has
announced.
The comet, named C/2016 U1
Neowise, will be close enough to
Earth between now and 14 January
to potentially be seen in the night
sky with binoculars or even the
naked eye. It was first detected by
Nasa in October and is currently
heading past Earth on its way
towards the sun, where it will pass
through the orbit of Mercury before
heading back to the outer Solar
System.
Paul Chodas, manager of Nasas
Centre for Near-Earth Object
Studies, said, C/2016 U1 has a good
chance of becoming visible through
a good pair of binoculars, although
we cant be sure because a comets
brightness is notoriously
unpredictable. The best chance of
seeing the comet is to look in the
south-eastern sky just before dawn.
The comet will be seen further south
every day until it disappears from
sight sometime in mid-January.
C/2016 U1 has an orbit that could
take millions of years, meaning this
could be the first and last time it gets
so close to Earth. Comets typically
only have a lifespan of one or two
million years. But while it is likely to
be comparatively near to us, the
comet is still many millions of miles
away and poses no threat to the
planet.
Scientists are not entirely sure
whether to class C/2016 U1 as a
comet or an asteroid but believe it is
more likely to be a comet.
BEN KENTISH/THE INDEPENDENT
Male pregnancy
Scientists have unlocked some of the
genetic secrets of the weird and
wondrous seahorse, including its
exotic eccentricity of male pregnancy.
Researchers said recently that
they sequenced the genome of a
seahorse species for the first time
and identified the genetic underpinning for certain peculiarities in
this equine-looking fish group that
inhabits coastal waters around the
world.
Seahorses boast a host of oddities.
Males, not females, carry and give
birth to babies. They swim upright,
not horizontally. They have horselike heads, tube-like snouts and no
million to start that work. Some of

that money will go towards building
or borrowing a powerful transmitter
that can send a message out into the
universe.
Scientists have tried in the past to
send out messages into space. Those
have included Nasas pioneer 10 and
11 spacecraft that carried messages
written onto plaques and a record, as
well as radio messages that have
been sent out into the universe. It
isnt clear whether any of those have
ever been received.
Some have suggested that we
might have received similar messages ourselves, but most scientists
believe that we have so far failed to
hear or talk to any alien life.
teeth. They have grasping tails to

grip sea grasses and corals to avoid
being swept away by currents. Their
bodies are covered in bony plates.
Unlike most fish, they lack tail and
pelvic fins. Their eyes work independently, letting them look forward and
backward simultaneously. And they
can change colours to camouflage
themselves.
They are such iconic animals,
one of the examples of the
exuberance of evolution, said
evolutionary biologist and genome
researcher Axel Meyer of Germanys
University of Konstanz, one of the
researchers in the study published in
the journal Nature.
Their numbers are declining due
to habitat destruction and harvest by
humans, added molecular biologist
Byrappa Venkatesh of Singapores
Agency for Science, Technology and
Research.
The researchers analysed the
genome of the Southeast Asian tiger
tail seahorse, which reaches 10 cm
long and boasts a yellow-and-black
banded tail. It had the fastest rate of
molecular evolution among any fish
whose genome has been studied.
Male seahorses possess a brood
pouch. During mating, a female
deposits eggs into the males pouch.
The male fertilises the eggs
internally and carries them in the
pouch until they hatch, releasing the
fully formed offspring into the sea.
A gene present in other fish that
plays a role in egg hatching
underwent duplication in the
seahorse and assumed a new role,
helping the advent of the male
pouch.
THE INDEPENDENT
THE JAPAN NEWS/ANN
A car moves along the Extraterrestrial Highway near Rachel, Nevada, US on the east
side of Area 51.
included Stephen Hawking, who has

warned that sending out signals
could put us in danger.
Earlier this year he said that we
should be wary of responding to
any messages from aliens. Doing so
would probably be like when the
Native Americans first met Christopher Columbus, he said in September, and in that case things didnt
turn out so well for the people being
visited.
And Professor Hawking has
suggested that any civilisation we
did make contact with is likely to see
us as no more developed than bacteria. As a consequence it might not
actively look to kill us but wipe us
out just because it doesnt care about
us.
There are no regulations gover-
14
THUMBNAILS
Nadal gameplan: Rafael
Nadal hopes a change to his
schedule will lead to success
in the Australian Open.After
opening his season in Doha
for seven of the past eight years,
Nadal has this year opted to
begin his Melbourne campaign at the Brisbane International.
Going pro: Following in the
footsteps of former world
champion L Sarita Devi,Commonwealth Games bronze
medallist boxer Pinki Jangra
has decided to turn professional
but will not give up on her amateur career either, it was
reported.
Santosh Trophy: A wary

Bengal, tutored by coach
Mridul Banerjee,made the Santosh Trophys final phase on
Monday after beating Odisha
2-0 in a preliminary-stage
competition in Bokaro.Jiten
Murmu and Monotosh Chakladar scored for the winners.
Mumbai Marathon:Ethiopia's
Ayele Abshero and Dinknesh
Mekash, a two-time winner,
head the elite fields at the
14th Standard Chartered
Mumbai Marathon to be held
on 15 January.The 26-year-old
Abshero, a former world
junior cross country champion,
would be looking to make a
big impact on his first trip to
India with a personal best
time of 2 hours,4 minutes and
23 seconds,the best among those
who have entered the race.
DDCA writes to BCCI for
payment of Rs 2 crore: On
the verge of bankruptcy due
to severe fund crunch,a beleagueredDelhiandDistrictsCricket Association (DDCA) has
requested the BCCI CEO
Rahul Johri through observer Justice (Retd) Mukul Mudgal to release Rs 2 crore on adhoc basis for hosting ODI
match against New Zealand.
DDCA treasurer Ravinder
Manchanda said that the association is in a messy situation
as funds are lacking to pay its
staff,electricity bill as well as
hotel bills for the various
state teams that are playing
BCCI tourneys.
DJOKOVIC SURVIVES DOHA SCARE

LOST OPENING TWO SERVICE GAMES AND STRUGGLED WITH STRUFFS BIG SERVES
Doha, 3 January
Novak Djokovic (in afp

photo) battled back from 51 down against world number 63 Jan-Lennard Struff to
claim his first victory of
the season at the Qatar Open
on Monday.
The world number two
lost his opening two service games and struggled
with the Germans big serves
in the early exchanges.
But the Serb rallied in
determined fashion to eventually take the first-round
match 7-6 (7/1), 6-3.
It wasnt a great start, I
was 1-5 down, it didnt look
very good, Djokovic said
after winning in just under
90 minutes.
He attributed his slow
start to early-season rustiness rather than any longterm concerns over his form,
following a relatively poor
second half of the season in
2016.
I guess I had to get more
time to get the engine started. Its the first match of the
year, you never know how
youre going to start.
I mean, I was a bit flat
on my feet, and Struff, credit to him for playing aggressive, hitting the serves well,
and ripping (the) ball from
the baseline.
But I stayed composed
because I knew, I believed
that I could find the rhythm,
start reading his serve better, and thats what happened.
Djokovic, who is the
defending champion in
Doha, hit 17 winners but also
20 unforced errors.
In total, his opponent
thundered down nine aces.
The 12-time Grand Slam
winner is looking to reclaim
his number one ranking
Yuki demolishes Ramkumar to enter second round

Chennai, 3 January
Indian Davis Cupper Yuki

Bhambri provided a fillip to
his comeback bid by steamrolling local hero Ramkumar
Ramanathan as he walked
into the second round of
the ATP Chennai Open with
a commanding 6-1 6-1 win,
here today.
Having lost crucial six
months last season due to
tennis elbow injury, Yuki
made a good impression
early in the season as he literally toyed with Ramkumar,
who disappointed with his
lacklustre show.
It was the most-talked
about match from Indias

perspective, considering
that countrys best singles
players were playing but
the match never rose to the
expectations.
Even as Yukis real test
begins now since he plays
better opponents, qualifying
for the main draw and then
advancing to the second
round would boost his
morale. He also proved that
the faith posed in him by
selectors, who picked him in
the Davis Cup squad despite
his low ranking, that if he
is fit, he is countrys best singles player.
In the entire 52-minute
match, Yuki lost only seven
points on his serve, out of
which two in the opening set,
and had wild card entrant
Ramkumar scurrying for
cover.
from Andy Murray, who is

also in Doha, and is the
tournaments number one
seed.
If matches go to form the
rivals will meet in a mouthwatering final on January
7.
Before the tournament,

Murray said Djokovic would
be his main rival this season, but the Serb said 2017
would be about more than
two players.
We have the return of
(Rafael) Nadal and (Roger)
Federer that we cannot count
out in any circumstances
because of their history
and results and the quality
of players that they are, he
said.
Also on Monday there
were victories for Dustin
Brown, who edged past
Argentinas Facundo Bagnis
in three sets in the first
round of the singles, 6-1, 67 (2/7), 6-4.
And number four seed,
Belgiums David Goffin,
who beat Murray in an exhibition event in Abu Dhabi
last week defeated Robin
Hasse of the Netherlands,
7-6 (7/4), 6-2.
Mur rays be gins his
attempt to win the Qatar
Open, an event he last won
in 2009, with a first-round
match against Frances Jeremy Chardy on Tuesday.
The newly knighted Scotsman though was in action
in the doubles on Monday,
but he and partner Mariusz Fyrstenberg lost in
straight sets to David Marrero and Nenad Zimonjic.
Hope to be in best form

Hyderabad, 3 January
Back in action after recovering from a knee injury, star

shuttler Saina Nehwal says
she needs good match practice to be at her best in the
prstigious All England Championship in March.
I am happy with my
improvement.My movements
are still sluggish. I still need
good match practice, she
told reporters here late last
night after losing to topranked shuttler Carolina
Marin in a Premier Badminton League (PBL) match.
Saina had sustained an
intra-articular injury (inside

the joint) in her right knee and
had lost in the group stage in
the Rio Olympics. She lter
underwent a surgery and
was on rehab.
She made a comeback in
the China Open,but lost in the
opening round in a grueling
contest. Subsequently, she
took part in the Macau Open
Grand Prix Gold badminton
tournament where she lost in
the quarterfinals.
Saina, who lost to Marin
14-15 5-11 in the women's singles match between Awadhe
Warriors and Hyderabad
Hunters,said she could have
won the first game.
India seek fourth title

Seeking
their fourth title in a row,
defending champions India
take on Bangladesh in the
summit clash of the South
Asian Football Federation
Womens Championship
here tomorrow.
India have won all the previous three editions of the
tournament and tomorrow
at the Kanchenjunga Stadium, they face a team with
whom they had played out
a goal-less draw at the group
stage. India had entered the
final after a 3-1 drubbing of
Nepal while Bangladesh had
beaten Maldives 6-0 in the
other semifinals. Bangladesh
are playing in their maiden
final of the SAFF Womens
Siliguri, 3 January:

Mumbai, 3 January
Rio Olympic silver medalist

Pusarla V Sindhu won her
trump game after facing some
anxious moments as Chennai
Smashers drubbed Bengaluru Smashers 5-0 in a Premier Badminton League contest at the NSCI Stadium here
today.
After Kashyap gave Chennai a 1-0 lead by outclassing
his less experienced but currently higher ranked rival
Sourabh Varma, Sindhu
secured two points for her
team by winning the trump
game against Cheung Ngan
Yi, also in straight games, to
help Chennai take 3-0 lead.
Then the husband-wife
doubles pair of Chris and
Gabrielle Adcock from Britain
provided the Smashers with
the winning 4-0 lead by edging out Bengaluru's KoreaIndia combine of Yeon Seong
Yoo and Ashwini Ponnappa
in three games in a thrilling
mixed doubles match,to render the last two matches in the
tie inconsequential.
The victory was Chennai's first of the season as they
had lost to Hyderabad Hunters
Jaipur Ninjas,making their debut in the Pro

Wrestling League Season 2,began on a bright
note as they defeated NCR Punjab Royals 52 in the second tie of the action-packed
extravaganza at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium here today.
Jaipur Ninjas, who won the toss, decided
to block the 65 kg Men's category. Punjab, led
by 2016 Olympics Gold medalist Vladimir
Khinchegashvili, won the toss and blocked
the 48 kg Women's category.
The first bout was contested between Jitendra from Punjab and Georgian Jakob
Makarashvili from Jaipur in the 74 kg Men's
category. Jitendra began positively, scoring
points early on before Makarashvili staged
a comeback, banking on his experience and
power to outdo Jitendra.Jaipur won the first
bout 12-4.
19-year-old Manju Kumari was the next grappler from Punjab, taking on Pooja Dhanda
from Jaipur.Initially,both wrestlers were unable
to score points even as Pooja gave away one

point to Manju due to passivity.In the second
round, Pooja came back with more purpose,
scoring four points to win the 58 kg Women's
bout and give Jaipur a 2-0 lead in the tie.
The final bout of the tie was a heavyweight
contest in the 97 kg Men's category between
Jaipur captain Elizbar Odikadze and Punjab's
Krishan Kumar.Jaipur's prized catch Elizbar
kept scoring against Krishan and ended
winning the bout 12-0. Jaipur registered
their first victory of the season by defeating
Punjab 5-2.
after she was stripped off a

medal for failing a 'gender test'
during the Doha Asian
Games, former athlete Santhi Soundarajan is set to file
a human rights violation
case against the authorities,
including Athletics Federation of India and Indian
Olympic
Association.
Soundarajan, whose silver
medal she won in 800m at the
2006 Asiad was taken off by
the Olympic Council of Asia,
has filed complaints at the
National Commission for
Schedule Castes and Schedule Tribes, National Commission for Human Rights
and National Commission
for Women.
Gopi Shankar, head of
the report of the test done in

2006 in Doha and it is ten years
now? I filed an RTI to get the
report, she also filed another RTI but she has not got the
report on the basis of which
she was banned and medal
taken off, Shankar told PTI
from Madurai. Now she has
filed a complaint at the National Commission for Schedule
Caste and Schedule Tribes (in
September last) in which
Sports Ministry was the party.
She has also filed a complaint at the National Human
Rights Commission last
month that action be taken
against AFI, IOA, SAI and
Sports Ministry for subjecting to human rights violation
during the test in Doha, he
added.
pti
HE DENIED HAVING TO PLAY WITH PAES IN OLYMPICS INFLUENCED HIS DECISION
Bopanna axed for skipping Spain tie

Chennai, 3 January
To send a strong message

to those players who
choose the tournaments
they will play in when it
comes to representing
India, Rohan Bopanna (in
photo) was axed from the
Davis Cup side since he
pulled out of the Spain tie
citing an injury, All-India
Tennis Association
sources have claimed.
Bopannas opting out
of the World Group playoff tie in September 2016
did not go down well with
the AITA. It is widely
believed in AITA circles
that Bopanna was not
really injured. Bopanna
on the final day of the tie,
18 September, put a video
on ***Instagram,*** showing himself enjoying a
dance with some friends
in a bar in Bangalore the
previous night.
We have not closed
our eyes. If a player does
not have that special feeling to play for the country,
he does not deserve to be
in the team. It was a cru-
cial tie and we expect our

players to put up their
hands and get ready for
the challenge, an AITA
inside told PTI.
Selection committee
Chairman SP Misra
insisted Bopannas pullout had not been discussed at the meeting to
pick the team for the New
Zealand encounter but

said they had had
instructions to choose
three singles players and
a doubles specialist.
Bopanna (28) is higherranked than Leander
Paes (59) but the veteran
was preferred. However,
AITA secretary Hironmoy
Chatterjee did drop a hint
that Bopanna missing the

Spain tie had been an
issue.
All selectors are exDavis Cup players. They
discussed all matters,
including past results
against New Zealand and
Rohan opting out of the
Spain tie. After a detailed
discussion, they selected
the team. I feel all concerned should honour

and accept their decision, Chatterjee said.
Bopanna defended
himself, saying he had
indeed been injured and
not fit to play a five-setter,
if required.
I am surprised somebody will think like that.
Right after my mixed doubles matches at the US
Open when I went to the
physios there, they said
some fluids were there
and my knee was swollen
so I had to take a 10-day
respite. I gave an advance
notice that I needed to
take a 10-day spell of
rest, he said.
Asked about the video
he had posted, Bopanna
said it did not mean he
was fit to play a competitive match.
For me to do one
sprint of 100 metres, yes, I
can do it but if I have to
constantly serve and volley for five sets, its not
possible. I never said I
could not run, I could not
walk, I could not jump. I
was not 100 per cent fit.
As a tennis player that is
where I am looking at it.

Who knows if they call
me to play singles, like
they did in Chandigarh?
So I am looking at it as an
overall picture. They need
to understand the player,
explained Bopanna.
Bopanna questioned
AITAs selection criteria.
We need to check the
norms to pick teams - and
not just for the Davis Cup.
If there is a system, I
dont think Indian tennis
will have any issue. We
need to ask the federation
what the norms are. I am
not feigning an injury. I
was very clear that I was
injured, he said. Asked if
having to play with Leander Paes at the Rio
Olympics had been an
issue, Bopanna said: It
was not at all a factor. I
feel sad that some people
think so low. I have been
the highest-ranked tennis
player, if they think I am
the first choice to play, I
am ready to go ahead and
play but those things
dont really make a difference. The physios asked
me to rest and I respect
that.
3-4 in the tournament opener on January 1 in Hyderabad.

It was Bengaluru's first loss
in two ties,after their 4-3 win
over Delhi Acers.
The top match of the day
was Sindhu versus her Hong
Kong rival Cheung.Although
the Indian star won in straight
games (12-10 11-6) she, with a
current world ranking of 6,
had to come from behind in
both games.The Indian shuttler trailed 0-5 and then 0-3
against her Hong Kong rival
who is ranked 19.
Sindhu had to save a gamepoint to win the first game over
extra points and then fought
back well in the second after
trailing her rival before taking full control of the match.
CONTROVERSY CORNER
GUARDIOL A
EXIT HA S
BEGUN
NGO Srishti Madurai, said

that Soundarajan is now
planning to file a petition at
either Madras High Court or
the Supreme Court.
AFI President Adille
Sumariwalla, however, said
that the federation cannot do
much because Soundarajan
was banned and medal
stripped off by the OCA during the Asian Games.
Shankar said due to lack
of documents, including the
report of the test conducted
in Doha in 2006 on the basis
of which Soundarajan was
banned and stripped off her
medal, she has not been able
to file human rights violation
complaints.
Can you imagine that
Soundarajan was not given
Championship.
Indian head Coach Sajid
Dar admitted that on surface his side seem to be the
favourites but warned his
players from being complacent. We have huge respect
for Bangladesh. They have
made it to the final and it was
not presented to them on a
platter. They have earned it,
Dar said.
The last time we played
Bangladesh in the group
match, it ended in a goalless
draw. We learnt quite a few
lessons from that match
and
have
tried
to
rectify them. We cannot
afford a repeat, he said at
the pre-match press conPTI
ference.
Chennai Smashers drub

Bengaluru Blasters
Jaipur Ninjas outshine Punjab Royals Soundarajan to file human

rights case against sports bodies
New Delhi,3 January: Ten years
15
TIM RICH
London, 3 January
After the seventh red card

of Manchester Citys season, Pep Guardiola (in
photo) yesterday defended
his teams disciplinary
record, arguing bizarrely
that English football was
against his style of football.
To compound the mood
of anger and fatalism that
surrounded Guardiola
after a hard-fought 2-1 win
over Burnley, NBC broadcast an interview with
him in which he talked
openly of retirement once
his three-year contract
with Manchester City was
up.
I will be at Manchester for the next three seasons, maybe more, said the
City manager. But I am
arriving at the end of my
coaching career of this I
am sure. I will not be on the
bench when I am 60 or 65
years old, of that I am
sure. I feel the process of
my goodbye has already
started.
Fernandinhos straight
red card for a wild tackle
on Burnleys Johann Berg
Gudmundsson meant the
midfielder would face a
four-match ban. This was
only the Brazilians third
game back since being
sent off for pushing Cesc
Fabregas over an advertising hoarding at end of
Citys 3-1 defeat by Chelsea
at the beginning of December. The Burnley manager, Sean Dyche, argued
that City should have been
reduced to nine men when
Bacary Sagna kicked out
at George Boyd after Burnley had pulled a goal back.
In a terse and awkward
Press conference, Guardiola seemed furious both at
Fernandinhos dismissal
and referee Lee Masons
failure to protect his goal-
keeper, Claudio Bravo, who

dropped a high ball under
pressure in the build-up to
Burnleys goal. He seemed
to argue that the world
and especially the world of
Premier League football,
was ganging up against
Manchester City.
Ask the referee, not
me, was his response
when asked about Fernandinho, who has now
been dismissed three times
in the space of six weeks.
We try to play football,
right. My teams, always in
my career, try to play football. I cannot control other
circumstances.
Guardiola was sarcastic when pressed as to why
there had been so many red
cards from the team
with the most ball possession.
He added: It is always
our fault. It is always Citys
fault. I saw other games. All
around the world the Burnley goal would be a foul on
Claudio Bravo. All around
the world the rules say
the goalkeeper in the sixyard box cannot be touched.
I saw it happen to Maarten
Stekelenburg in the Everton-v-Middlesbrough game
at the beginning of the
season and it was the same
it was a goal. Okay, so I
have to adapt and understand there are special
rules in England. Now I
have learned, we are going
to play.
Dyche, however, thought
Manchester City fortunate
to have only one man dismissed. Sagna received a
yellow card for kicking
out at Boyd but the Burnley manager thought it
should have been a straight
red. Guardiola said he had
rested rather than dropped
Sergio Aguero, whose goal
from the substitutes bench
ultimately proved deciTHE INDEPENDENT
sive.
THUMBNAILS
Bangla loss: New

Zealand thumped
Bangladesh (141 for
eight, Mahmudullah
52) by six wickets,
thanks to an unbeaten 73 from skipper
Kane Williamson in the
first T20I at Napier
on Tuesday.Williamson,
73 not out from 55 balls,
never seemed pressured.
Divan chosen: The
Supreme Court on
Tuesday replaced Fali
Nariman with Anil
Divan after the former had informed it
he would not assist it
by recommending
administrators for the
cricket board, having
previously represented
the sporting institution
as a lawyer.
SUNNYS CHOICE
Sunil Gavaskar wants Sourav Ganguly (photo,
left) to take over as head of the Indian cricket
board, given the way things are. Asked to name
someone who would fit the bill, Gavaskar told a
television network: The board has very good
bench strength and Ganguly is someone who took
over as captain and turned things around when Indian
cricket was coping with a match-fixing scandal.
For more updates
Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2015/-16-17
www.thestatesman.com
WARNER HITS CENTURY BEFORE LUNCH
FIRST AUSTRALIAN SINCE BRADMAN 87 YEARS AGO TO ACHIEVE THE FEAT IN THE OPENING SESSION ON THE FIRST DAY OF A TEST
SCOREBOARD
Sydney, 3 January
Hall of Fame: Former

Australia player Arthur
Morris was on Tuesday posthumously
inducted into cricket's Hall of Fame by exskipper Steve Waugh
during the tea break
on the opening day of
the third Test between
Australia and Pakistan in Sydney.
Pak ploy:The Pakistan
Cricket Board was
said to have invited world
champions West Indies
to play two Twenty20
matches in Pakistan
in March 2017 after
the Caribbeans had
proposed two T20 matches in Florida, United
States of America,
between the two teams.
Balaji chosen:Kolkata
Knight Riders named
Laxmipathy Balaji as
their bowling coach
ahead of the 2017 Indian Premier League.
Having retired from firstclass cricket in 2016,
he remains associated with the Tamil Nadu
team as their bowling coach.
David Warner (in photo)

joined the illustrious company of Don Bradman and
Victor Trumper with a Test
century before lunch as
rookie partner Matthew
Renshaw flourished for his
maiden hundred against
Pakistan today.
Warner smashed a whirlwind 18th Test hundred off
78 balls in just 117 minutes
while 20-year-old Renshaw
blossomed after claiming
his century in 282 minutes
in the third Test in
Sydney.
At the close, after winning
the toss, Australia were 365
for three with Renshaw taking his score to 167 and fellow newcomer Peter Handscomb on 40.
Warner became the first
Australian since Bradman
87 years ago to make a century in the opening session
on the first day of a Test, and
the only batsman to achieve
the feat in Australia.
Bradman made 105 in
Leeds in 1930 on his way to
334, with fellow-Australians
Trumper hitting 103 in Manchester in 1902 and Charlie
Macartney scoring 112 at
Leeds in 1926.
Elgars best drives

South Africa
Cape Town, 3 January
Dean Elgar (in photo) hit a

career-best century to guide
South Africa out of trouble
on the first day of the second Test against Sri Lanka
at Newlands on Monday.
Elgar made 129 before
falling to the second new ball.
South Africa were 297 for six
at the close after being sent
in to bat.
The left-handed Elgar
batted imperturbably while
wickets fell at the other end,
with Sri Lanka's seam
bowlers taking advantage of
a well-grassed pitch and
overcast sky.
Stephen Cook was out to
the fourth ball of the match
before a run had been scored.
Two more wickets fell to
teenage fast bowler Lahiru
Kumara with the total on 66
and South Africa were still
struggling at 169 for five
when Elgar was joined by
Quinton de Kock.
Elgar and De Kock shared
a 103-run partnership for the
sixth wicket. With the sun
coming out during the afternoon, South Africa were
getting on top when Elgar
pushed at a ball from Suran-
ga Lakmal and was caught

behind.
It was a rare false stroke
in a 230-ball innings which
included 15 fours. It was
Elgar's sixth Test century
and two runs better than his
previous highest Test score,
made against Australia in
Perth in November.
De Kock was unbeaten on
68 at the close. On 41, he
reached 1000 Test runs in 23
innings.
Kumara, 19, took three for
86 and bowled with pace
and aggression. He is playing in only his third Test and
sixth first-class game,
His first victim was
Hashim Amla, bowled
between bat and pad by an
in-swinger for 29. Five balls
later JP Duminy gloved a legside catch to a diving wicketkeeper Kusal Mendis.
Later he had Temba Bavuma caught at deep square leg.
But the touring side will
feel they did not take full
advantage of the seamerfriendly track as they took
as many wickets in the second two sessions as they had
before lunch when South
Africa were teetering on 693 after losing the toss and
being put into bat.
SCOREBOARD
South Africa (1st Innings)
Cook c Mendis b Lakmal
0
Elgar c Mendis b Lakmal
129
Amla b Kumara
29
Duminy c Mendis b Kumara
0
du Plessis c Mathews b Herath 38
Bavuma c Tharanga b Kumara 10
de Kock not out
68
Abbott not out
16
16
7
Extras (lb2 w4, nb1)
Total (for six wkts, 90 overs) 297
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-66, 3-66, 4142, 5-169, 6-272.
Bowling: Lakmal 21-3-69-2;
Pradeep 15.4-3-46-0; Mathews 143-30- 0 (1w); Kumara 17-1-86-3
(1nb, 3w) Herath 14.2-3-34-1; de
Silva 8-0-30-0.
Australia 1st innings

M Renshaw not out
167
D Warner c Sarfraz b Riaz 113
U Khawaja c Sarfraz b Riaz
13
S Smith c Sarfraz b Shah
24
P Handscomb not out
40
8
Extras: (B-2, LB-1, W-1, NB-4)
Warner was finally out 20

minutes after lunch, caught
behind by Sarfraz Ahmed off
Wahab Riaz for 113 off 95
balls with 17 fours.

That's obviously an honour and privilege to be
amongst the greats of the
game, Warner said. It's

great to be out there with
those guys. Hopefully I can
continue with that great
start and positive approach.

The only other player to
post a century before lunch
on the first day of a Test was
Pakistan's Majid Khan (108)

against New Zealand at
Karachi in 1976.
Warner's knock eclipsed
his previous fastest century at the SCG -- off 82 balls
in last year's Test against the
West Indies. Vice-captain
Warner has now scored 5,206
runs in 60 Tests at an average of 49.11.
In contrast to Warner's
dazzling century, 20-yearold Renshaw provided the
steady foil, painstakingly
taking almost five hours to
bring up his maiden Test century.
Renshaw fought back
from a head-rattling blow on
the grille of his batting helmet from speedster Mohammad Amir on 91 to go on and
claim his resilient hundred.
Renshaw also successfully overturned a leg before
wicket decision to leg spinner Yasir Shah on 137 when
a review showed he had
Total: (For 3 wkts; 88 overs) 365

Fall of wickets: 1-151, 2-203, 3244.
Bowling: Amir 16-1-58-0, Imran
17-3-81-0, Riaz 19-4-63-2, Shah 302-132-1, Azhar 4-0-16-0, Shafiq 20-12-0.
edged onto his pad.

It was a timely innings for
the Yorkshire-born youngster ahead of next month's
demanding four-Test tour of
India where he faces a challenge for his opening spot
from the fit-again and vastly more experienced Shaun
Marsh.
There were precious few
successes on a deflating
first day for the tourists
after their shattering innings
defeat in last week's second
Melbourne Test to lose the
series.
Usman Khawaja was put
down on three by Babar
Azam in the gully off Imran
Khan before he too was
caught behind off Riaz for
13.Skipper Steve Smith,
playing in his 50th Test,
was caught behind cutting
Shah for 24, his lowest score
of a series in which he
scored centuries in each of
the first two matches.
Mumbai in commanding position Jaggi leads Jharkhand fightback

Rajkot, 3 January
Nagpur, 3 January
Aditya Tare (in photo) played

a captain's knock while
Abhishek Nayar and
Shardul Thakur complemented their fine bowling
effort with half-centuries
to help Mumbai take the allimportant first innings lead
over Tamil Nadu in the
semi-final of the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament,
here today.
Tare made a fine 83 off 181
deliveries with the help of
nine boundaries to held
together Mumbai's first
innings. He was ably supported by Nayar (58) and
Thakur (52) as Mumbai
made 406 in their first
innings in reply to Tamil
Nadu's 305 before being
bowled out at stumps on
the third day of the five-day
marque encounter.
Mumbai, thus, enjoy a
lead of 101 runs over Tamil
Nadu with the match interestingly poised with two
full day's play remaining.
Nayar (4/66) and Thakur
(4/75) were the star bowlers
for Mumbai earlier as they
picked up eight wickets
between them during Tamil
Nadu's first innings.
Resuming
at
the
overnight score of 171 for
Ishank Jaggi led Jharkhand's spirited fightback

with his 15th first-class hundred, and helped his side take
the crucial first innings
lead against Gujarat at
stumps on day three of the
Ranji Trophy semifinal,
here today.
Jharkhand, who were
trailing Gujarat's 390 by 176
runs with five down before
play began on day three, rode
on Jaggi's brilliance to end
their first innings at 408.
Left-arm spinner and
this season's leading wicket-taker, Shahbaz Nadeem,
then put Gujrat under pres-
four, Mumbai lost Shreyas

Iyer (36) early.
But then Tare and Nayar
joined hands and the duo
shared 121 runs for the sixth
wicket to take Mumbai to a
strong position.
Soon after overwhelming Tamil Nadu's first
innings score, Nayar and
Tare departed in quick succession. But Thakur and
Balwinder Sandhu (32)
played sensibly to ensure
Mumbai take at least 100
runs lead over their opponents. Right-arm medium
pacer Vijay Shankar turned
out to be the pick of the
bowlers for Tamil Nadu
with figures of four for 59

from 20 overs. Shankar got
good support from Baba
Aparajith who picked up
two crucial wickets of Nayar
and Thakur with his off-spin
bowling.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu: 305 all out
in 115.2 overs (Baba Indrajith 64, Kaushik Gandhi 50,
Vijay Shankar 50; Abhishek
Nayar 4/66, Shardul Thakur
4/75).
Mumbai: 406 all out in
150.3 overs (Aditya Tare 83,
Suryakumar Yadav 73,
Abhishek Nayar 58, Shardul
Thakur 52; Vijay Shankar
4/59).
sure in their second innings,

reducing them to 100 for
four at close of play and just
82 ahead going into day four.
But it was Jaggi's effort
with the bat that allowed
Jharkhand to comeback
into the match. The 27-yearold, who scored his fourth
century this season, has
been instrumental in taking
Jharkhand to their first
ever Ranji Trophy semifinal
alongside Ishan Kishan and
Nadeem. Jaggi shared a 92run stand with Kishan for
the fourth wicket yesterday and today anchored a 70
and 97-run partnerships
with overnight batsman
Rahul Shukla (27) and
Kaushal Singh (53) respec-
tively.
Jaggi, who was overnight
40 not out, went on to make
a memorable hundred. It
was a rather entertaining
innings with a 70 plus strike
rate and comprising 15 fours
and a six.
Kaushal too played his
part well with a 92-ball 53
while Shukla frustrated the
opposition with a 66-ball 27.
Veteran pacer R P Singh
was the stand out bowler for
Gujrat with a six-wicket
haul. Brief scores: Gujarat
390 and 100/4 in 37 overs
(Samit Gohel 49, Bhargav
Merai 44; Nadeem 3/36).
Jharkhand 408 in 102 overs
(Ishank Jaggi 129, Kaushal
Singh 53; RP Singh 6/90).
Cricket board awaits chief

Kolkata, 3 January
Relentless, and intense, speculation in the media notwithstanding, several sources

close to the Cricket Association of Bengal said this
evening they were not sure
Sourav Ganguly would be
urged to fill the leadership
void in the Board of Control
for Cricket in India after the
ouster of its top duo yes-
terday.
But the sources, speaking
on condition of anonymity,
conceded Ganguly, CAB
president, was eligible for
the BCCI chief's position,
given that the "cooling-off
period" mandated by the
Lodha committee, was
enforceable only after a
three-year term. "Ganguly
won't be due for it before
2018," a source said.
Ganguly's annual term as
CAB chief ends in June,

but that - unlike what has
been suggested in some segments of the media - cannot
stop him from stepping into
the BCCI.
"But it could be too early
for him to be considered
for the position," said a
source, adding: "It isn't as if
India is short of more experienced, widely recognised
people who'd fit the bill,
after all."
PRASAD, GANDHI AND SINGH LIKELY TO CHOOSE LINE-UPS FOR LIMITED-OVER MATCHES
Time up for Khoda and Paranjpe

The national cricket

selection panel is set to
shrink in the wake of the
Supreme Court's order to
implement the Lodha
committee reforms and
both Gagan Khoda and
Jatin Paranjpe will have
to call it quits as they do
not fulfil the recommended criteria. Going by the
Lodha panel's suggestions, the senior selection
committee is supposed to
be a three-member team
with only Test players.
When the Board of
Control for Cricket in
India announced its
selection panel in September, it was said to
have defied the apex
court. But then, the new
committee never had any
formal contracts in place.
Therefore, MSK
Prasad, Devang Gandhi
and Sarandeep Singh -all former Test players will now be selecting the
team for the One-Day
Internationals and Twenty20s against England.
The selection is scheduled for 5 January.
Khoda, with two ODIs,
and Paranjpe, with four,
do not qualify.
I will have to check
what the new rules will
be. Normally, the board
secretary is the convener
of the meeting that picks
the senior team. In his
absence, the joint secretary convenes the meeting, BCCI joint secretary Amitabh Chaudhary
told PTI.
Officials in the board
feel that, keeping in mind
Khoda and Paranjpe's
good work till now, they
could be made talent
coordinators, a rank
below the selectors, and
also suggested in the
reforms by the Lodha

panel. Talent coordinators need not be Test
cricketers and Khoda and
Paranjpe could fit the
bill. They will be needed
to track domestic performances and analyse
these but they might not
have to attend selection

committee meetings.
World Cup
Mithali Raj will lead a 14member Indian squad to
the women's World Cup
qualifiers to be held in
Colombo from 3 February
to 21 February. The Indi-
an team last played in the

Asia Cup Twenty20 competition in Bangkok
where they defended
their title with an
unbeaten run. Their two
main players, Harmanpreet Kaur and Smriti
Mandhana, are currently
playing in the women's
Big Bash tournament in
Australia. India's next
big event will be the qualifying competition. They
are in Group A alongside
Sri Lanka, Ireland, Zimbabwe and Thailand
while South Africa lead
Group B, comprising
Pakistan, Bangladesh,
Scotland and Papua New
Guinea. India will play a
warm-up match against
South Africa before their
opening qualifier against
Sri Lanka on 7 February.
Each side will play
four matches in the first
round, following which
the top three sides from
each group will progress

to the Super Six stage,
carrying forward the
points they earn against
sides which have progressed to the Super Six
stage from their group.
The top four sides
from the Super Six stage
will complete the eightteam line-up for the
women's World Cup 2017,
and the top two sides will
battle it out for the title
in the 21 February final.
The World Cup will be
staged in the UK from 26
June to 23 July.
Team: Mithali Raj
(captain), Harmanpreet
Kaur, Smriti Mandhana,
Thirush Kamini, Veda
Krishnamurthy, Devika
Vaidya, Sushma Verma
(wicketkeeper), Jhulan
Goswami, Shikha
Pandey, Sukanya Parida,
Poonam Yadav, Ekta
Bisht, Rajeshwari Gayakwad, Deepti Sharma.
Printed and published by SHIVAJI SAMADDAR for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR, Resident Editor: USHA MAHADEVAN Printed at The Indian Express Pvt Ltd, A-8, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301(UP). The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57

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WEDNESDAY

Pages 16 |Rs 5|LC

KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR

Forecast: Mainly clear sky

SUDIP HELD FOR SCAM,

CBI TO QUESTION HIM, TAPAS PAUL IN ROSE VALLEY SCAM

David Warner after scoring a century against

Lawyer replaced: The Supreme

Rs 5 discount per cylinder for

Ibobi rushes to Delhi; CASH CRUNCH

ckade, now in its third

raids in several parts of the

Risk averse senior citizens,

The Rs 7.5 lakh fixed

lakh spread over a FD of

No truce in SP as war for symbol

ty and its election symbol

PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

He underlined resurNew Delhi, 3 January

Modi's new year gift for senior citizens

CJI laments lack of judges,

RETIREES WILL EARN 8% INTEREST ON FD OF UP TO RS 7.5 L IN A BANK

cash surpluses in their

apex poll body's full bench

NOTE BAN FOCUS

eighth meeting of the

Ensure cash supply in rural areas

In order to provide some

furnish daily issuances

should also be made available on a priority basis, it

and urban mix of each

We are not asking for Kejriwals resignation, but just want

NEW DELHI, WEDNESDAY 04 JANUARY 2017

ACCUSING AAP OF FAILURE ON WATER AND SANITATION FRONTS

Demonetisation:Toyseller forced to take kids out of school

At around 2 p m today, Mahesh

dren as they run out of cash if

HC TO HEAR CBI'S PLEA

The Delhi High Court today said

day for reply, if any, and disposal,"

back" and therefore, it did not want

path for years but now he is not

ACCUSED MAY FACE

New Delhi, 3 January

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

A Sessions Court here has ruled that

New Delhi, 3 January

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

In a tragic incident this evening, a

Republic Day parade preparation in Capital on Tuesday. Sns

STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

Eight juveniles have been

The police claimed

Girl jumps off 3 killed in road mishaps

8 juveniles held for

Three persons were killed in

against the e-rickshaw driver under relevant sections

DEEPA MALIK, ARUNIMA SINHA PLEDGE TO MAKE AREA CLEAN

NDMC ropes in 2 women as brand

why not the citizens of

Swachh?" Exhorting the

large, she said that now it

would not leave any stone