elapsed since the time of the announcement of the cancellation

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1 ith just 11 days to go for WPrime Minister Narendra Modi s 50-day deadline for depositing the demonetised notes, the Government and Reserve Bank of India (RBI) on Monday added yet another rider that deposits of more than 5,000 rupees in old 500 and 1,000-rupee notes can be made in a bank account only once from now till December 30 that too after explaining why it had not been done so far. The RBI said the amount will be credited into the depositor s account only after the customer gives a satisfactory explanation to two officials of the bank. After surprised cancellation of legal tender of Rs 500 and 1,000 notes, the Government allowed all of the cash holdings with any person to be deposited in bank accounts till December 30. There was no limit on the quantity or value of the junked notes that could be deposited. However, the confusion arose after the Government on December 17 had issued a gazette notification putting restrictions on deposits henceforth. The deposits of old notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations have been reviewed by the Government from time to time. Already more than five weeks have elapsed since the time of the announcement of the cancellation of the legal tender character of these notes. It is expected that, by now, most of the people would have deposited such old notes in their possession, said an official statement. The banks have been advised to conduct due diligence regarding the reasons for not depositing these notes earlier, said the statement, adding that amounts of Rs 5,000 or less may continue to be deposited with banks in the customer s account, as at present. However, cumulative deposits exceeding Rs 5,000 between December 19 and December 30, 2016 will be as per the procedures advised by the RBI in respect of deposits exceeding Rs 5,000, it added. Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Monday night said no questions will be asked if any amount of junked currency is deposited in one go but repeated deposits may raise queries. Explaining the rationale behind the move, Jaitley said all exemptions to certain sectors and utilities, which had been allowed to accept the banned currency post demonetisation, ended last week and all those in possession of the old notes are supposed to deposit them with banks. Anyone who has old currency notes is not allowed to trade in them. He can only go and deposit them with banks, he said. With a view to curtailing queues at banks, holders are encouraged to deposit the entire holding in one go, rather than going repeatedly. If they go and deposit with bank any amount of currency no questions are going to be asked to them and therefore the 5000 rupee limit does not apply to them if they go and deposit it once. But if they are going to gunman wearing a suit Aand tie and shouting Allahu Akbar shot and killed Russia s Ambassador to Turkey as he gave a speech at a photo exhibition on Monday. Turkish police fatally shot the gunman, Turkish station NTV reported. Ambassador Andrei Karlov was several minutes into his speech at the embassysponsored exhibition in the capital, Ankara, when the gunman fired at least eight shots, according to an AP photographer in the audience. The attacker also smashed several of the photos hung for the exhibition. go everyday and deposit some currency, same person, that gives rise to suspicion that where is he acquiring this currency from. In that event a person may have something to worry about. Therefore everyone is advised whatever old currency you have please go and deposit it now, said Jaitley. The RBI too came out with stipulating deposit norms, saying that restrictive conditions will also apply on the cumulative deposit of such notes in a single account when it exceeds Rs 5,000. However, the defunct currency up to any amount can be deposited under the new black money amnesty scheme or Pradhan Mantri Garib Kalyan Yojana, 2016 (PMGKY). The RBI further said certain restrictions have been placed on deposits of specified bank notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations, but there Bengaluru/New Delhi: The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) on Monday slashed interest on deposits to a four-year low of 8.65 per cent this fiscal in tandem with falling rates on savings due to surge in bank deposits post demonetisation. The EPFO provided 8.8 per cent rate of interest on deposits for to its 4 crore subscribers. It maintained 8.75 per cent for and ; it was 8.5 per cent in Detailed report on P10 is no limit for payment of tax using such notes under the taxation and investment regime for the PMGKY, Continued on Page 2 howing solidarity with SRanchi s Nirbhaya, more than a thousand of engineering students on Monday blocked Ranchi-Hazaribagh road at Booty More for over five hours, demanding justice for the girl who was allegedly raped and murdered while she was alone in her house on Friday. The students were demanding immediate arrest of the culprits involved in the heinous crime. Students of Ram Tahal Chaudhary Institute of Technology, where the victim was studying, first marched towards Booty More from their hostels shouting anti-government slogans and blocked the road making hundreds of vehicles stranded on both sides of the road for several kilometres. Later, students from Cambridge Institute of Technology and Birsa Institute of Technology also joined in, creating complete blockade of Booty More during which no vehicle from any side was special court of National AInvestigation Agency (NIA) on Monday sentenced five Indian Mujhideen terrorists including Yasin Bhatkal -- to death in the twin bomb blasts case. One of those handed down capital punishment Zia-ur-Rahman, alias Waqas, is a Pakistani while other three hail from Uttar Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra. Special Court judge T Srinivas Rao pronounced the death sentence on Monday evening after hearing arguments of the defence counsel and the prosecution on the quantum of punishment. The special court had found the five accused guilty in the case of two bomb blasts in crowded area of Dilsukhnagar in Hyderabad on the evening of oung Karun Nair on YMonday announced his arrival at the world stage with an unforgettable triple ton (303 not out) as India broke a deluge of records en route their highest ever Test total of 759 for 7 against England on the penultimate day of the fifth and final match here. The pressure of approaching a triple hundred pales when one has survived a near death experience, said a calm and composed Karun Nair. He notched up the milestone in only his third Test and first series. Nair s unbeaten 303 against England in the ongoing fifth allowed to move. The police after several attempts finally succeeded in convincing the students around 5 pm that the culprits will be arrested soon, the students returned to their hostels. There is an outrage among students we are trying to convince them that the whole team has been roped in to investigate the case which is being monitored by the top police officials. We are quite sure that we will be able to solve the case very soon, said SP City Kishore Kaushal. He, however, refused to share the details of investigations citing reasons that it will not be proper to say anything in this regard. Some leads have been gathered on which work out is being done. We are quite hopeful that the case will be solved very soon, said the City SP. Meanwhile, the students demanded Chief Minister Raghubar Das to come and give assurance that the culprits will be arrested soon by the police. February 21, 2013, killing 18 people and injuring 131 others. Yasin Bhatkal, alies Mohammed Ahmad Siddibappa, hails from Karnataka and was one of the key members of the IM. However the accused number 1 in the case and the founder of IM Riyaz Bhatkal was absconding and Indian Government believes that he was hiding in Pakistan. Continued on Page 2 and final cricket Test put him in the same bracket as Garry Sobers and Bob Simpson on account of converting a debut century into a triple ton. Reflecting on the knock, which has given India a chance to push for victory, he put things in perspective by recalling a boat accident in Kerala, which he survived earlier this year despite not knowing how to swim. I didn t know how to swim. People there rescued me and I was lucky to live again (about the boat accident in his home in Kerala), Nair told official broadcasters. They were also holding placards demanding justice for Ranchi s Nirbhaya. We are demanding justice for Ranchi s Nirbhaya. Even after four days of the incident, the police have not been able to even reach out to any conclusion. We are not able to understand, what they are doing? It is only detaining and releasing the people for interrogations but failed to reach out to any suspect. How much time they need they demanded two days time but failed to reach out to any conclusion, said a second year engineering student Pooja of RTC Institute of Technology. The students alleged that the State Government has failed to maintain law and order in the State as a girl is not safe even in her house. People are disappointed with the State Government as a girl is not safe even in her own house. Seriousness of the matter could be gauged with the fact that the culprits barged into Continued on Page 2 New Delhi: Ending an eight week-long bitter battle in the Tata Sons boardroom, ousted Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry on Monday quit from the boards of six listed companies, including Tata Motors and Indian Hotels. Besides, Mistry also said he is shifting gears and moving away from the extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) to a larger platform. In a two-page statement issued by Mistry himself, he said, Having deeply reflected on where we are in this movement for cleaning up governance and regaining lost ethical ground, I think it is time to shift gears, up the momentum, and be more incisive in securing the best interests of the Tata Group. PNS

2 ongress Barhi MLA Manoj Kumar Yadav has Cchallenged party State chief Sukhdeo Bhagat to initiate action against him and his associates for their deeds. The MLA known for his hostility to the PCC president held a rally at Jamtara on Monday where, he claimed, all the anti- Sukhdeo leaders gathered on a single platform. It was heartening to see over people coming to attend the rally. This apart, two former ministers Banna Gupta and Geeta Shree Oraon were present and the event virtually turned out to be a platform of the Sukhdeo hatao campaign. We would go all out against him and in future hold similar rallies in different parts of the State. If he feels confident why not he is taking action against us, dared Yadav. The rally was called to highlight issues like CNT-SPT amendments, demonetisation and other anti-people steps taken by the BJP-led governments at the Centre and the State levels but ended up completely as Sukhdeo Bhagat bashing event. The programme was called under the banner of the party but barring the rival faction none of the prominent office bearers of the PCC was present over there. Yadav said the leadership at helm had information about the event but it chose not to attend it. We had informed the leadership and the PCC president just like us were informed on previous occasions. Whatsapp message was sent to him, added the MLA, indicating to the extent of communication gap existing at the party level that has only seven legislators in the Assembly. Yadav received full backing of another party MLA in the form of Irfan Ansari who has been the brain behind the rally. The programme was historic in nature. The crowd gathered here can itself narrate the story. When the State Congress president last visited Santhal Pargana, there were not even 100 people around him, said Ansari, who has teamed up with Yadav to dethrone Bhagat at any cost. They had also taken up the matter before the party leadership in Delhi and claimed to have got assurances but due to demonetisation issue it has been put on hold for a while. On the other, Bhagat went on organising a parallel rally on similar grounds at Simdega. Over 10,000 people attended it and the Albert Ekka stadium was full, claimed the PCC president, but sounded defensive when asked about the challenge thrown at him. It is not an issue if some leaders are organising a different programme at some other place on similar issues and not against the party lines. This is not a matter of concern for us though no consent of the party leadership was taken, he said. However, he looked baffled and hinted about a new-look disciplinary committee at the party level in the New Year. The committee and other functions of the party would be more effective and come in new avatars in January. All would see Congress in a new form in coming days, said Bhagat. R From page 1 Under the PMGKY scheme, black money holders can deposit unaccounted cash in account which will be subject to 50 per cent tax and 4-year interest free lock-in for the remaining 25 per cent of the amount. The credit in such cases shall be afforded only after questioning tenderer, on record, in the presence of at least two officials of the bank, as to why this could not be deposited earlier and receiving a satisfactory explanation, the central bank said. Explaining the move, RBI also added that it should be kept on record to facilitate an audit trail at a later stage. An appropriate flag also should be raised in core banking solution or CBS to that effect so that no more tenders are allowed. However, old notes up to Rs 5,000 received across the counter will allowed to be credited to bank accounts in the normal course until December 30, Following the demonetisation of Rs 500 or 1,000 notes on November 8, the Government had allowed people to use such notes for certain public utility bill payment as well as for payment iding on the bandwagon of Cashless Jharkhand Campaign, Ranchi Division of Indian Railways is all set to launch credit/debit card payment facility most likely from Tuesday itself. A senior divisional officer said today that around one and half dozen card swipe PoS machines have already been provided to different points of the division and the system was ready to get them launched on as soon as Tuesday or Wednesday. However, the official didn t rule out a delay of couple of days saying that the decision to go operational with cashless mode of transaction was to be taken by senior zonal officials, who were assessing everything before launching the system officially. We are ready to provide credit/debit card mode payment facility to customers visiting to reservation counters. We have deployed some 17 card swipe machines at different locations in the division so far with at least half a dozen card swipe machines at Ranchi Railway Station ticket reservation Counters along with reservation counters situated at Jharkhand Assembly and High Court. PoS machines have also been deployed at Muri, Ramgarh and a couple of other reservation counters, said Sr. DCM (Ranchi) Neeraj Kumar. At the same time, Kumar also said that the department was keen to provide hassle-free service to customers and was not ready to take too many risks. This is why the senior officials are not at all in any hurry despite our preparedness, and they are spending time on smallest risks before the service is formally launched. So, we might see card swiping machines working on Ranchi Railway Station from tomorrow or day-after. However, it may be postponed for another couple of days, said Kumar. When asked about what were the key areas senior officials might be willing to work more on before launching the system formally, Kumar said that they were pertinent and important, though not many. The biggest challenge is network. We are going to use State Bank of India (SBI) provided card swipe machines, which to the Government hospitals and asked them to deposit the amount in bank accounts. The central bank said that nowdefunct notes in excess of Rs 5,000 shall be credited to only KY-compliant accounts and if the accounts are not KYC-compliant, credits may be restricted up to Rs 50,000 subject to the conditions governing the conduct of such accounts. The equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to an account maintained by the tenderer at any bank in accordance with standard banking procedure and on production of valid proof of identity, the RBI said. The equivalent value of specified bank notes tendered may be credited to a third party account, provided specific authorisation therefore accorded by the third party is presented to the bank, following standard banking procedure and on production of valid proof of identity of the person actually tendering, it added. Meanwhile, in a notification, the Finance Ministry also said that there should not be any limit on the quantity or value of the specified bank notes that are tendered for payment and deposit made under the taxation and investment regime for the PMGKY, work on Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) provided wireless network. So, if network speed is not in sync with load at our reservation counters, the entire cheer may turn in a gloom, especially during Tatkal hours when seats get full within minutes. This is a serious area of concern, said Kumar. The second issue the zonal railway officials have been fighting with is related with the refund. In case a customer decides to get his tickets bought at the counter through card cancelled, and also wants his money back instantly, what to do. Should we use same method as is applied by IRCTC or should take other is what we are working on, Kumar said. He also said that the officials were also working on the issue of possible misuse of card by booking clerk, if any. However, he said that these were minor issues and claimed that it will turn a huge success. He also said that goods booking counters and different types of fines collection like from without ticket passenger at platform and others would also be turned cashless in phased manner. From page 1 Others who were sentenced to death include Mohammed Tahseen Akhtar, alias Hasan, Asadullah Akhtar, alias Hadi, and Aijaz Saeed Sheikh, alias Samar Armaan Tunde.This is the first case in which the members of shadowy organisation Indian Mujahideen were found guilty by a court of law in India. Indian investigation agencies say IM was a home-grown outfit conspiring and carrying out terror attack and waging war against the state. In the twin blast case, the prosecution had told the court that the accused had conspired and executed the terror attack to avenge various incidents of "atrocities against Muslims in India".The court had found all the six convicts, including Riyaz Bhatkal, guilty under the arms and explosives Act and Prevention of Unlawful activities Act on December 13 and sentenced was decided after arguments in the special court in the Charalapally Central Prison on the outskirts of Hyderabad amid tight security. Special public prosecutor in his argument before the court sought capital punishment on the ground that what they had committed was a heinous crime. ikas Bharti (Bishunpur) has Vopened PM Kaushal Kendra (PMKK) in Gumla jointly with F-Tech Skill Development. The centre was inaugurated by Union Minister of Agriculture and Farmer Development Sudarshan Bhagat. This is the only such centre in Jharkhand among 21 in the country which were inaugurated altogether online by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday from Kanpur (UP). Vikas Bharti (Bishunpur) Secretary Padmashri Ashok Bhagat said at the occasion that the organisation will take this honour as an opportunity to combat naxalism in the region. He said that the organisation always remained in favour of retaining local talents and to provide jobs to them locally. Gumla DC Shrawan Kumar Sai, SP Chandan Kumar Jha and others were also present at the occasion. From page 1 her house and murdered after raping her and the police even after 72 hours of the incident are not able to reach out to the culprits. Girls are living under fear as no one knows who will be the next," said another student leader Badal Singh. A semi-naked charred body of the a 19-year old victim of a third semester student of Ram Tahal Chaudhary Institute of Technology was found in the morning inside her own house on Friday. She was alone at home when the incident took place on Friday. Originally from CMPDI Colony of Barkakana, the girl was living with her elder sister in Booti Basti in a rented accommodation.

3 aking its citizen-friendly Tservices little closer to common urban residents, the Urban Development and Housing Department today launched three websites today. Launching the websites, Urban Development Minister CP Singh said that the department was trying its best to turn more and more residentfriendly and provide them best available services. He also said that the department was getting ready to begin an eviction drive at illegally possessed government constructed flats soon. The Minister also said that department was in advanced stages of creating single window for citizens, where they could get all necessary certificates and approvals like one from water supply department, fire services department and so on. He said that the department was launching a dedicated call centre which will provide 27X7 services to residents. We have launched the website for Building Plan Approval Management. Now, everything from complaint date to their redresal process will appear online. We have also launched Advertising Policy website, which will help advertisers to communicate with the department more easily and in a transparent manner, said Singh. The sites launched under Online Building Plan Approval Management System has features like time bound approval disposal of construction permit within 60 days, occupancy certificate within 30 days, online Challan facility, availability of list of technical persons on portal with basic details of contact ollowing a brief encounter Fwith a group of Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) cadres on Monday, Latehar Police recovered a huge cache of arms and ammunitions including AK-47 and INSAS Rifles from them. Two armed cadres have also been arrested during the gun battle. An encounter took place between 11 battalion of CRPF and TPC cadres for over half an hour near Kasmar village under Herhanj Police Station today during which huge cache of arms has been recovered including 1 AK-47, 1 INSAS, and bore Rifles along with 650 bullets have been recovered from the spot, said Latehar SP Anoop Birthare. Three mobile phones and in cash has also been recovered, he said. We have also arrested two armed cadres of TPC information, land use identification, telecom tower permission and so on. All the policy papers unveiled on Monday are available on newly launched website of the department. He stressed upon providing affordable housing for all urban residents sooner than later. The Minister said that housing remained one of the basic needs of human beings. It plays an important role in all round development of a person and leads them to contribute to overall development of the country. This is why I am personally very much concerned to provide affordable housing to all, said Singh. Urban Development and Housing Department Principal Secretary Arun Kumar Singh said while launching policy papers that Jharkhand Urban Development Corporation (JUDCO) was playing an important role in development of all 43 Urban Local Body (ULB) areas of the State. However, we all know that there is manpower crunch and we are trying to overcome this problem at the earliest, said Singh. The Minister also discussed long-standing issues before the department like the issue of illegal possession of government constructed flats and illegal hoardings. As far as illegal hoarding is concerned, we have dismantled over 700 hoardings so far, and have come up with a comprehensive advertising policy This will be strictly followed now. Likewise, we will also start forceful vacation of illegal possession of government-built flats within the city and wherever it exists within area of all 43 ULBs, said Singh. who are being interrogated, said the SP. The information gathered from them may further lead to the arresting of more cadres, he added. ounding tough on the griev- coming from some of Sances the MPs about officials paying no heed to their communications, Chief Minister Raghubar Das has cautioned the executive setup in the Government against the practice. The CM s response came to a complaint from Rajya Sabha MP Mahesh Poddar in particular during the 20-point programme implementation committee meet called on Monday. Poddar had raised the issue in the meeting and said that many letters from the representatives like him remain unanswered at department levels. People are the real masters in a democracy and they have elected their representatives to put up their concerns. Officials must ensure that the letters written by MPs or MLAs are answered properly. You should not misguide the people. There should be no hesitation in responding to the communications, said the CM, adding that the attitude often allows middlemen to take control of the situation. During the meeting, the Rajya Sabha MP had complained about lack of response coming from the administration and officials on the issues relating to larger public interest. I raised this issue since many of the letters written by me and the others got no response from the departments. This puts a question mark over the system. The CM took note of it and assured that the practice would not be allowed in future, Poddar told The Pioneer. In another important instruction, the CM directed officials of Food and Civil Supplies Department to report him daily about the paddy purchased at the centres operational in different parts of the State. The issue of their getting non-functional was raised as the members alleged that the produce of the farmers is not being purchased there and they are falling prey to middlemen. Officials claimed that farmers are not turning up to sell paddy while some MPs claimed otherwise. The CM directed the Department to send him a daily report about the paddy procured, added Poddar. Issues relating to missing digital land records in Ranchi also came for discussion since the MPs expressed concern over no one authenticating the existing data which has claimed to be recovered after getting deleted. Also, complains about faulty data entry being made at the camps organised at district level were made before the CM. The members, on the occasion, discussed about minimum wages to labourers, rural electrification under DDU scheme, revision of old-age pensioners list and pollution in the Damodar river. Stressing on greater degree of implementation, the CM called all the political parties together on the issue of development of the State. Issues are there and these can be solved gradually. Political parties should come together in this fight. Work culture should be changed for the people standing last in the queue, be it Ministers or civil servants. I also see an important role of civil society into all this, he said and added that the meeting would take place twice in a year. Notably, all the MPs and MLAs besides top officials in the Government are the members of the committee, only four and that also from the BJP, attended the meeting. Barring the CM and five Ministers anchi University (RU) will Rconduct the final round of student union election for five posts that include president, vice-president, secretary, joint secretary and general secretary on Tuesday. All the 90 selected representatives of 18 constituent colleges and postgraduate departments under RU elected on December 9 will vote through indirect method on Tuesday to select five student union representatives. Approximately, 18 candidates are contesting for the polls for different posts this year. Notably, after the last incident of student clash that took Neelkant Singh Munda, Ramchandra Chandravansi, Saryu Roy, CP Singh and Louis Marandi, no other MLA was present there. Besides Poddar, VD Ram and Ramtahal Chaudhary were attended the meeting. When contacted, BJP legislator from Gumla Shiv Shankar Oraon denied having any prior information about the meeting. The issue was raised there as well and the Planning and Finance Department was told to send information to the members well in advance in future. place during the vote count after the election was concluded at college level, the security at the university s administrative campus has been beefed up ensuring all mandatory arrangements. All compulsory arrangements at Maulana Azad Senate Hall have been complete. The voting is scheduled from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm and will be carried under the supervision of concerned officer-incharges in the stimulated time. The vote counting and oathtaking ceremony are scheduled on December 21. Recently, during a vote count, a group of student union members created ruckus at Marwari College. Taking the stringent action district administration has been asked to ensure proper security measures at University The CM also backed the recent amendments made in the CNT-SPT acts, stating that situation has changed over the years and laws are being simplified depending on the need of the hour. He also stressed on opening bank accounts of labourers and for defining roles of labour inspectors in this endeavour. Deputy chairman of the committee Rakesh Prasad, Chief Secretary Rajbala Verma, Additional Chief Secretary Amit Khare and other senior officials of various departments were present there. Birtharey said the security forces fought a gun battle with the TPC cadres at Kasmar under Herhunj police station. TPC cadres just lost inking Divyang people into Lmainstream by utilising their expertise as a powerful tool in various traits to add on to the existing human resources is the major challenge for the government. According to the 2011 census, approximately 2.68 crore differently-abled people reside in India and, among them, about 1.4 crore Divyang fall in the age group year. Notably, most of them are jobless or else do not pursue any occupation in the absence of basic amenities, despite of the fact that utilizing their skills can yield better results and can contribute in further their ground and fled leaving behind five of their weapons, the SP said. Search operation to trace out the TPC cadres was still on till late in the evening while the report was being filed. Meanwhile in Dumka, a hardcore Maoist Devilal Marandi, allegedly involved in the killing of police personnel including a superintendent of Police, was arrested from his home at Haldipahari on Sunday. Acting on a tip-off that Marandi alias Joseph Marandi was visiting his home, security personnel led by Additional Superintendent of Police (Operations) Emaneul Baski raided the village and arrested him, said Dumka SP Prabhat Kumar. Marandi according to police was involved in several criminal cases, including killing of Pakur Superintendent of Police Amarjeet Balihar in an ambush under Shikaripara police station in 2013 and the officer-in-incharge of Shikaripara police station Sadanand Singh in September 2010 under the same police station, he said. A case was also pending against him in Pakur district in connection with Simaldhav encounter in 2013, the SP said. Marandi was an active member of Santal Paragana North sub-zone of CPI (Maoists). advancement of the economy. A survey report of an US based NGO, VSO revealed that more than two per cent Divyang of the total population of differently abled people across the nation lives in Jharkhand. Presently, the State government covers 1.75 lakh differently abled people under social welfare scheme and gives a monthly remuneration of 600 to each Divyang. The government is doing its part, however, there are certain limitations. To link all Divyang with some constructive traits, equal participation of every sector is must. As per the Disability Act, 1955, State can provide assistance to differently-abled people as per its capacity only, said, Disability Commissioner (GoJ), Satish Chandra. A survey conducted in the six districts of the State, stated that even in technical field or any industry-integrated setup, differently-abled people s representation is very low due to certain restraints. Issues ranging from skilled human resource crunch to scholarship programme for students, due to apathy and negligence of several sectors, differentlyabled people ability are yet not fully absorbed in any segment, be it public or private. A survey specifically focusing on differently-abled people associated with Industrial Administrative Block. Returning officer of the polls cum Associate Professor of Mathematics at Marwari College RR Das said, The voting will be for five posts including president, vice-president, secretary, joint-secretary and deputy secretary. Instructions have been issued to the contestants, officers on duty for the final round of election. This year, we have received 18 nominations for all the five posts. Six contestants have registered for the president post whereas two nominations are for vice-president post. Four students are contesting election for the post of secretary while two contestants are for the post of joint Secretary. For the post of Deputy Secretary, the varsity has received four names. Training Institute (ITI) functioning across the State mentioned the presence of Divyang people that is eventually very less in number. The vital reasons mentioned in the report prepared by a research scholar of Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) have highlighted few essential areas of concern. The report suggests easing guidelines for all Divyang persons at the industries recruiting them, constitution of disability action units at earliest, involvement of more industries to cover differentlyabled people under different professions, enhancement of curriculum at par with technical courses is also required, apprentice for Divyang, reservation in group C and D government jobs must be made mandatory. At present, the ITIs are functioning with partial involvement of differently abled people. Around 32 more ITIs are likely to be established in different districts across Jharkhand in coming days. The State right now does not have any Braille Press. Interestingly, in India only nine Braille Press are in existence, out of nine only five are functional, stated a resource person from VSO while presenting the survey report on inclusion of youth with disabilities in skill development and other their presence in different sectors.

4 he cold weather condition Tis likely to remain in the days to come. The mercury level will dip further as per the prediction of MET department. With no sign in further change in temperature, most parts of the State will remain unaffected leaving north-eastern districts. According to the prevailing condition, a fresh disturbance as a trough at 3.1 km above mean sea level runs roughly along the longitude 56.0 degree east to the north of latitude 30.0 degree north. The feeble western disturbance as trough at 3.1 Km above mean sea level has moved away north eastwards and will have some minor influence on climate. Dry weather condition is prevailing across the State. Highest maximum temperature of 26.6 degree Celsius was recorded at Jamshedpur and the lowest minimum temperature 8.6 degree Celsius was registered at Bokaro on Saturday, said, Senior Scientist, MET Ranchi Centre, Sharma. The north-eastern parts of the State are likely to get more affected in the days to come. Minimum temperature is likely to drop further in North-Eastern parts. At present, there is strong possibility of cold waves affecting the present condition in these areas. However, other parts of the State are likely to remain stable, added Sharma. The district administration has received a blanket consignment a week ago for distributing it in all the 55 wards. Approximately, 23,000 blankets will be distributed among the deprived people this year. For each ward, 57 blankets have been given for distribution to the ward councilors. Similarly, demarcation of main points at major itineraries has been identified for bonfire arrangement. Disaster management team is checking feasible arrangements for bonfire arrangement as well under district administrative official s supervision. Bonfire arrangements have been completed, as many as 30 major points have been identified. Soon basic arrangements like firewood etc. will be ensured for public convenience. However, general physicians have asked public to take precautionary measures to avoid several seasonal diseases and immediately consult the doctors or specialists during an emergency. ity-based Meteorological CCentre has ruled out possibility of cold wave conditions atleast in another one week. We don t expect cold wave conditions in Kolhan region in another one week or so as a western disturbance passing through Jammu and Kashmir is likely to result in a whimsical weather from December 22. The western disturbance would result in cloud formation and this would result in a rise in night readings, explained a duty officer, which also monitors weather. Meanwhile, a low pressure trough over southeast Bay of Bengal coupled with an upper air cyclonic circulation will impact Jharkhand s weather during the next 48-hours. This will lead to a rise in night readings across the state. Moisture incursion is taking place due to the impact of the two weather systems over the Bay of Bengal and this has altered the weather, said a Met official at IMD s Ranchi Meteorological Centre. The minimum reading shot upto 11 degree Celsius in steel city Jamshedpur as against yesterday s 9.7 degree Celsius. Today s night reading in Jamshedpur was one notch below normal. The minimum reading also witnessed a rise in Ranchi and its adjoining areas. The IMD observatory in Ranchi today recorded a minimum temperature of 9.4 degree Celsius against yesterday s 8.6 degrees. Today s minimum reading in Ranchi was n a tragic road mishap, a fac- worker was killed on the Itory spot and another worker seriously injured as the bike they were riding was hit by a speeding mini-truck at Pardih on the NH-33 under Chandil thana area on Monday morning. The deceased was identified as Chitto Singh Sardar (35) and the one sustained injury was identified as Phani Majhi (36), both residents of Tamulia in Kapali thana outpost area close to Mango. Majhi, who has sustained grievous head injury, was rescued by a patrolling team of Chandil thana and subsequently rushed to MGM Medical College Hospital emergency. The doctors at the medical college hospital referred to Tata Main Hospital. Another police team recovered the body of Chito Singh from the mishap spot and shifted it to the MGM Medical College mortuary for autopsy. The police also seized the mini-truck while the driver managed to escape. The mishap victims were on their way to a cement factory at Bhuiyandih on the NH-33. Hospital sources said Majhi who was a pillion rider had sustained grievous head injury. He has been referred to the Tata Main Hospital. Officer-in-charge, Chandil thana, Adikant Mahto who arrived at the mishap spot in an hour said that mishap took place as the mini-truck was plying at a breakneck speed and the stretch was congested with traffic. In the last one decade the rise of vehicles particularly, four wheelers have registered manifold increase with each family possessing at least, twowheeler on an average in city periphery. However, the darker side of the picture is that annually above thousand road accidents are taking place in and around the city and four to five accidents (including small and moderate accidents) daily on an average in which more than 100 odd people are losing their lives. DSP traffic Jamshedpur, Vivekananda Thakur though admitted of lack of technology to detect speed demons but tried to put up a brave front. We admit that we do not have the technology to catch or prosecute speed demons. However, that does not mean that speed restrictions should not be imposed in city in view of the rise in road mishaps, he noted. 0.5 degree less than normal. In Chaibasa the minimum reading witnessed a two degree rise. Today, Chaibasa recorded a minimum of 9.4 degree Celsius against yesterday s 7.5 degrees. Daltonganj today recorded minimum temperature of 8.8 degree Celsius against yesterday s 8 degrees. Statistics revealed that on December 31, 2007, the minimum temperature had dropped to five degree Celsius. The officials said that similar conditions will continue to prevail in the city in the coming days. The poor people on the streets have been the worst hit by the cold wave. Footpath dwellers and poor were seen cluster around bonfires lit from dry woods, used tyres and even garbage to beat the cold. Weatherman forecast that there will be no respite from the cold in the coming days. Significantly, both minimum and maximum temperatures were below normal all over the State. The low-pressure trough can help in formation of clouds and bring down maximum temperatures. The chill being felt at night will then also be felt during the day. Meanwhile as winter slowly set in with delightfully cool breezy nights, the families from the Tibetan colonies are in the city to provide warm comfort with their woollen wears. The sudden drop in temperature during the past few weeks has increased up the sale of woollen clothes and the Tibetans are a happy lot. H azaribagh Deputy Commissioner Ravishankar Shukla today said that to promote cashless transactions the collectorate area and Jhanda chowk area, which is the main market site of the town will be made free Wi-FI zones. Shukla had an interaction with the media persons about the decisions taken till date in implementation of ambitious program of promoting cashless transaction systems and the Swacch Bharat mission in the district here on Monday. Reminding everyone present in the press meet DC Ravishankar Shukla said that our DTO office has become the first cashless office of the state and efforts are on to make all the government offices situated at district headquarter cashless within a month. He also informed that the state government has given the task to make the blocks cashless in phase wise manner and the sadar block has been chosen to be made cashless first. In sadar block we have selected Hutpa and North Okni panchayats to be made cashless and hoped that this target will be achieved soon. Talking about the need of more and more E-pause machines for the success of cashless transactions DC Shukla said that I have talked with the bank officials and they have assured me that by the end of this month they will be in a position to supply the machines to the willing shopkeepers. On the effect of demonetization DC Shukla said that Hazaribagh is a fortunate district where there are so many ational highways (NHs)are Nto be secured in Palamu. Vehicular traffic on NH-75 and NH 98 usually comes to a halt after ten at night. Sources said those who dare travel on these two NHs after ten at night do so at their own risk. Sources said police outpost at Satbarwa on NH-75 and police station Harihurganj on NH-98 even place huge red colour drums on the NHs a reminder not to travel at odd hours of night. Palamu has a brief stretch of NHs. NH-75 starts from Satbarwa and goes upto P Rehla a distance of nearly 63 Kms. Again NH-98 starts from Parwa More and goes to Herihurganj police station the border of Jharkhand Palamu s with Bihar a distance 52 to 53 Kms. NH-75 is more secured in Palamu as here are OP Satbarwa, Daltonganj police station Rajhara police station and Rehla police station. NH-98 is highly vulnerable as it is covered by just Nawa Bazar police station Chhaterpur police station and Harihurganj police station. SP Palamu Indrajeet Mahatha said he wanted NHs to be fully secured for all purposes and under no circumstances NHs here should be any shut as he reiterated NHs are functional /operative 24x7. NH-98 has two valleys called Kanda ghatee and Sultanee ghatee. Sources said Indrajeet Mahatha recently reached Sultanee Ghatee and saw things for himself. Giving his impression about midst piercing chill and Acold waves in numbing nights, poor are braced for worse in Bokaro. Dipping mercury thrown life out of gear across the district, affected people of all age groups. Poor including slum dwellers and rickshaw pullers are worst hit in the township areas. Met official said, cold wave will continue for the next few days and people need to take more precautions. Dipping mercury threw life out of gear across the district, in the lack of bonfire armaments on streets, people are compiled to collect garbage, plastics, poly bags and waste material in every nooks and corner to lit to prevent them from shivering cold and chattering teeth.at the time when district administrative officials are in fray to distribute blankets and light bone fires on the streets, many people including NGOs came forward and distributed around 150 blankets among the poor shivering in the bank branches which worked hard in making the situation normal in very less time. On the basis of his talks with the bank officials he added that by the end of last week of December there will be ample amounts in bank branches and the ATMs which are not working yet will start serving the people. On the issue of Swacch Bharat mission and the special survey program going to start in the month of January DC Shukla said that till today we were urging the people and shopkeepers to use dustbins to dump their garbage but still many shopkeepers are not using it. Now the district administration has decided to go tough against such erring shopkeepers and from tomorrow onwards we are going to charge fines to such shopkeepers. Sultanee Ghatee which is on NH 98 SP Palamu said this location has a notorious past and he wanted to secure this stretch for people to travel without any fear whether it is day or night. Sources said NH robbery/ dacoity/ kidnapping for ransom/ murder/ vehicle loot/ killing of long distance truck drivers etc have been the stigma of this NH 98 here in the past. He did not disclose as to how he would go about this to secure this Sultanee Ghatee. He just mentioned the idea of highway patrolling and night vigil etc here. Mahatha conceded that from Chhaterpur to Harihurganj a stretch of 22 Kms or so there is no mid way police outpost while the surroundings in this stretch is favourable to naxals and the criminals. Sources said this Sultanee Ghatee and its stretch is also infamous for stone mafia. Sources said hundreds of acres of forest land here have been manipulated by the vested interests for stone mining and thereafter its crushing in plant! Sources said Chhaterpur Harihurganj stretch on NH 98 is equally infamous for illegal cattle trade. Bihar s proximity further makes this Sultanee Ghatee a highly porous one said sources where influx and exit of criminals from here or from Bihar is difficult to be ruled out.

5 tank man's loss is an Ainfantry person's gain. With the selection of Lt General Bipin Rawat as the next Army chief, the infantry has again bagged the coveted post six years in a row. The last noninfantry officer was Deepak Kapoor, an artillery officer, who served from The other fighting arm, Armoured Corps, missed the bus this time as its senior most officer Lt General Praveen Bakshi, a tank man, was superseded by Rawat. The last tank man to head the Army was Shankar Roychowdhury from 1994 to The NDA Government's decision to supersede two senior most officers including Bakshi and Lt General PM Hariz has led to controversy with allegations of the political dispensation doing away with timehonoured seniority principle besides opting for an infantry officer to lead the Army. The last time the seniority criteria was overlooked in 1983 when the then vice-chief and senior most officer Lt General SK Sinha, an infantry officer, was superseded by his junior General A Vaidya, an Armoured Corps officer. Sinha resigned in protest. As regards the infantry dominating the highest office in the Army, the incumbent General Dalbir Singh Suhag is an infantry man like his predecessors General Bikram Singh and General VK Singh. He took over from Kapoor, an Artillery officer, in Interestingly, all the three successive chiefs including VK Singh, Bikram Singh and Dalbir Singh Suhag were heading the Kolkata based Eastern Command before assuming charge as the Chief. Bakshi too is the chief of Eastern Command and if the seniority principle was adhered to, the Eastern Command would have given the fourth successive chief to the country. Defending the decision to select Rawat, who will take up the new assignment after Suhag hangs his boots on December 31, officials said the selection for the top post is based purely on merit, irrespective of the Corps to which the officer originally belonged. The Government of the day takes the final decision in choosing the most suitable officer mid the feverish demon- debate, the BJP Aetisation will continue with its push in the key poll-bound State of Uttar Pradesh that is likely to have seven-phased elections, beginning February and ending before the commencement of the board examinations in March and April. In the run-up to the keenly fought UP polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi will visit his Lok Sabha constituency Varanasi on December 24 even as Home Minister Rajnath Singh will hold the BJP's mega road-show on the same day on his turf in Lucknow. A week later, Modi will again be in UP as he will address a public rally on January two in UP's capital city BJP is trying hard to make a comeback after a 14-year banishment in the electorally most important State as demonetisation is set to be one of the main poll planks and may leave its mark on the election outcomes. No party is yet assertive enough to claim a clear sweep in the sprawling state with numerous caste calculations. All the party leaders, Ministers, MPs and MLAs of the BJP have been asked by the central leadership to clear misgivings of people, if any, on demonetisation and explain aims and objectives of "cash-less or lesscashless economy" to electorates. BJP leaders have been personally visiting constituencies to organise demonstrations on "cash-less transactions". Towards this end, Minority affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi inaugurated a 'cash-less chaupal' in Muradabad on Monday with 'leading bank managers' in attendance teaching lessons in cash-less operations and mobile-net banking. He said in a way Electronic Voting machines have been 100 per cent successful, the digital banking would also succeed and prove an anti-dote against black money. Naqvi will have a similar chaupal in Delhi on December 21. Seeking to be firm-footed on the demonetisation issue, BJP has mobilized its cadre to redress the difficulties faced by people standing in long queue before banks or Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) to based on various aspects of security situation in the country and the future scenario. In the current situation, counter terrorism and counter insurgency are key issues. Therefore, the background and operational experience of the officers on the panel were considered while selecting the new chief, they said adding Bakshi had only served in plains of Punjab and Rajasthan for most his career unlike Rawat. He served stints on the Line of Control(LoC) and Line of Actual Control(LAC) facing China in the east. Rawat fulfilled the criteria by virtue of his operational assignment as Commanding Officer of 19 Division in Jammu & Kashmir and his outstanding track record, his familiarity of the Army Headquarters and the Defence Ministry in his capacity as vice -chief besides his general dynamism played a role in tipping the scales in his favour, sources said. Incidentally, Rawat served under Bakshi in Eastern Command as a Corps Commander. On the issue of fate of Bakshi and Hariz as both of them are senior to Rawat and the Army is extremely hierarchy and rank conscious, sources said it was up to the individual officers to take a call of either continuing to serve or bow out. Bakshi is due to retire in July 2017 while Hariz retires on December same year. Meanwhile, Roychowdhury on Monday described the political slugfest over the new Army chief 's appointment as "detestable", saying it was the prerogative of the Government to select the chief of Army staff. "It is detestable. You can't stop politicians from commenting because it is a democracy. Their comments are illadvised and ill-informed. It is futile to tell politicians not to drag the Army into this," he said in Kolkatta when asked about the controversy over the appointment of Rawat. Asked whether the morale of the Army gets affected by such political controversies, he replied in the negative. "The morale doesn't get affected. The Army will continue to do its duty but they take note of what has been said. The feeling is always there in their mind. But they know that politicians will always say something to suit their own interests," the former chief said. amil Nadu Chief Minister TO Panneerselvam on Monday sought an assistance of 22,573 crore from the Central Government to undertake relief and reconstruction works in areas affected by cyclone Vardah and reiterated the demand for an 'on account' grant of 1,000 crore for immediate requirements. The Chief Minister submitted a 142-page memorandum to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the evening at his residence. He also handed over a copy of the resolution adopted by state Cabinet recently recommending the Bharat Ratna award for late Chief Minister J Jayalalithaa, in recognition of her services to the nation. The Chief Minister requested to Prime Minister for installation of a life-size bronze statue of Jayalalithaa in Parliament complex. The Chief Minister reiterated the demand for the formation of the Cauvery Management Board and Cauvery Regulatory Committee to implement the final award of the Tribunal in Later speaking to media, Panneerselvam evaded questions on the request of AIADMK leaders that VK Sasikala should assume the office of Chief Minister too, apart from taking over as general secretary of the AIADMK. deposit or withdraw money. "The entire effort" is now focused to have the demonetisation "implemented" in its entirety, said a senior leader who refused to comment on "the decision." The demonetisation has, meanwhile, been "carefully debated" by the main political rivals BSP and SP in the State as both the parties are criticising the fallout of the demonetisation and not the measure itself.. "Ruling SP Government is not cooperating in cash transfers in Uttar Pradesh after it is being air lifted there", said BJP's National Secretary Shrikant Sharma adding the scene is entirely different in Madhya Pradesh where State Government has "facilitated" movement of cash to Banks and ATMs. Asked whether SP has hand in engineering violence after 'note-bandi', Sharma said there were attempts to do that. Shama, who has recently returned from an extensive tour of East UP, maintained that anti-black money measures have got "wide approval" by the people in the state and would "positively impact" poll results. ivisions appeared within Dthe Congress over the the Centre's move to appoint Lt General Bipin Rawat as Army Chief. While Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari questioned the Centre's step, senior party leader and Rajya Sabha MP Satyavrat Chaturvedi supported the Government, prompting the party leadership to intervene to assert that its spokesman's statement was its official voice. Chaturvedi opposed raising questions over appointment of Lt Gen Rawat as the next Army Chief saying politics and Army should not be mixed. But Congress reiterated its stand on the controversial appointment for what it termed as "playing with institutions" and doing politics in the army even as he wondered if the appointment of Lt Gen Bipin Rawat as the next Chief of Army Staff was Centre's ith 23,861 cases of atroc- against SCs and STs Wities during , BJP-ruled Rajasthan has topped the list among States reporting such crimes followed by poll-bound Uttar Pradesh (23,556) and Bihar (21,061 cases), as per the latest Government data. Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Odisha, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil and Gujarat respectively reported 14,016, 9,054, 8,084, 7,565, 6,546, 5,131 and 3,969 such crimes registered under the amended Prevention of Atrocities (PoA) Act. These data were presented at a meeting of a committee to review the implementation of "whimsical cherry picking." "Seniority is an important consideration, but it is not the only consideration. Qualification is also an important factor. So, the Government must have taken the decision considering all factors. I feel that the present man appointed is a general and he a past record. All these things must have been thought about," Chaturvedi said insisting that politics and defence should be kept apart in the national interest. "In terms of the appointment of the Army chief, controversy cannot be welcomed. It has been a tradition are also taken into consideration. The decision of what is supreme for national interest is taken by the ruling Government. Army and politics should be like two poles apart. I don't find it right to play politics over national security, he said. "I am in favour of keeping this issue away from any controversy. I don't want to comment on it," he added. rging for "gender-friend- amenities in forces, Uly" Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Monday said the Government will provide enhanced infrastructure and logistical facilities at border posts where women personnel have been deployed. Singh was addressing after taking salute at the 53rd Raising Day event of paramilitary Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) here. "There should be genderfriendly infrastructure at border posts where women are deployed...i believe there is a deficiency in this regard. This needs to be improved. I believe those border posts where women personnel are deployed, more facilities should be provided there," he said, admitting deficiencies to women posted at far flung areas. Apart from SSB, BSF, ITBP also has deployed women personnel as part of their border guarding charter. Singh said that his ministry will give a serious thought to a pending proposal of SSB to have its own dedictated intelligence wing to aid its ground troops mandated to secure Indian borders with Nepal and Bhutan. "Despite not having a dedicated intelligence wing, you have been quite successful in your operations along the two borders you guard," Singh said. The Home Minister lauded the force for detecting and apprehending narcotics, arms, ammunition and other banned substances estimated at Rs 274 crore when they were he Black Cat Commandos Tof the National Security Guards may be seen marching down the Rajpath this Republic Day. The decision to allow the men from the elite counter-terror force to take part in the event was taken recently during a meeting between the Union Ministries of Home Affairs and Defence. It was also agreed that the force will march in its full armed gear. So far, Army's Special Forces is the only Commando force that has taken part in the Republic Day parade. Apart from NSG, Central Reserve Police Force's anti-riot unit, Rapid Action Force, is also likely to be part of January 26 event where Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed al- Nahyan, will be the chief guest. Following the meeting, the NSG headquarters in Manesar has begun preparations to choose a contingent of about 60 Commandos to showcase its prowess and Commando-style fast march being illegally transacted across the two borders this year. During the event, SSB Director General Archana Ramasundaram said the force was facing vacancies in the officer cadres and has taken some of them on deputation from other sister forces. The past. It is learnt that Black Cats may be seen in their black coloured overalls, balaclava headgear and special assault rifles MP-5 along with the commando dagger. Raised in 1984, NSG is the federal force to undertake counter-terror and counterhijack operations. It has commandos from army and paramilitary units. Till now it was associated with the Republic Day celebrations by providing its crack teams for special combat deployment around the parade route and sanitising it by positioning snipers. About 300 NSG commandoes were deployed to neutralise terrorists in the Pathankot airbase this January. They were also effectively used during the 26/11 Mumbai terror attack in the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act 1989 held here on Monday. The conviction rate has been poor. The Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment observed that during , only 43.3 per cent of the total cases registered (13,8077) were disposed of by courts and 25.7 per cent of total cases disposed of by courts (59,779), ended in conviction. "In certain States, i.e. Andhra Pradesh (6.3 per cent), Gujarat (3.1 per cent), Karnataka (3.5 per cent), Maharashtra (7.6 per cent), Odisha (4.3 per cent), Tamil Nadu (7.5 per cent), Telangana (7.5 per cent) and West Bengal (3 per cent), the conviction rate was in single New Delhi: The Union Home Ministry on Monday asked all States to ensure that there is no commercial exploitation or dramatisation of National Anthem and all movie halls must show National Flag on the screen while the Anthem is being played. MHA's advisory came in the wake of the recent Supreme Court Order. "To elaborate, the National Anthem should not be utilised by which the person involved with it either directly or indirectly shall have any commercial benefit or any other benefit,"the communication said. The Home Ministry said digit," the meeting noted. The committee, headed by Union Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Thaawarchand Gehlot, sought action taken report from State Governments to improve the disposal and conviction rates in such cases. During the meeting, Gehlot pointed out that only 14 States have set up exclusive special courts for speedy trial of cases registered under the PoA Act. However, he rued there was no information about formation of such courts by 22 states and Union Territories including Delhi, Punjab, Jharkhand, Haryana, Goa, West Bengal, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam etc and urged them to do the needful. there shall not be dramatisation of the national anthem and it should not be included as a part of any variety show. It is because when the National Anthem is sung or played it is imperative on the part of every one present to show due respect and honour. The communication said all cinema halls in the country shall play the National Anthem before the feature film starts and all present in the hall are obliged to stand up to show respect to the National Anthem. "Prior to the National Anthem is played or sung in the cinema hall on the screen, the entry and exit doors shall SSB, raised in 1963, has 67 operational battalions (about 67,000 personnel) at present and secures the 1,751-km Indo-Nepal border and the 699-km long Indo-Bhutan border apart from being deployed to render a variety of internal security duties in the hinterland. remain closed so that no one can create any kind of disturbance which will amount to disrespect to the National Anthem. After the National Anthem is played or sung, the doors can be opened. When the National Anthem shall be played in cinema halls, it shall be with the National Flag on the screen," it said. The Home Ministry said the National Anthem or a part of it shall not be printed on any object and also never be displayed in such a manner at such places which may be disgraceful to its status and tantamount to disrespect. PNS Section 14 of the amended PoA Act provides for establishing of exclusive special courts for one or more districts and where number of cases under this Act is less, specification of Court of Session as a Special Court, with powers to take direct cognisance of the offences under the PoA Act. The Committee also wanted to know if the relief amount, that has been raised and made between 85,000 to 8,25,000 depending upon the nature of offence, is being given within seven days to the concerned persons as specified in the PoA Rules amended on April 14, Union Minister Ramdas Athawale felt that the cases could be brought down if intercaste marriages and jobs or land is offered to couples who tie nots breaking the caste barrier. "State Government's should give cash reward of 25 crore to the district which records highest number of inter-caste marriages or make a provision to either give a job or five acre of land to such couple in order to promote intercaste marriage which in turn will help in combating incidents of atrocities," he said. In his recommendations at the meeting, the Minister also talked about setting up of Helplines at the State and district level and forming a designated team of policemen, led by a sub-inspector in each police station to deal with complaints of atrocities.

6 ihar Chief Minister Nitish BKumar seems not in a mood to change his stand on demonetisation even though the leaders of his party JD(U), which he leads, asserted that there could be rethinking over the support to note-bandi in view of the hardships to the people after December 30. The JD(U) national president is one of the few leaders of Opposition parties who had supported demonetisation and was left isolated. Even his ally RJD is totally against the move and has announced its agitation programme across Bihar. he Income Tax department Tsleuths continued their search operation to dig out unaccounted wealth of Surat based tea and bhajiya vendor as till now they could trace out 650 crore belonging to Kishor Bhajiawala. According to a senior I-T official they could dig out information on properties in name of tea vendor turned financier, his family members and associates worth more than 650 crores. Over 300 kilogram of silver, 1.39 crore worth of diamonds, over 6.5 crore in cash in new and old currencies and 15 kilograms of gold has been found across multiple lockers belonging to Bhajiawala and his associates. We are expecting to unearth more unaccounted Nitish on Monday said that he would hold meeting of the party leaders and analyse the entire situation in due course. This is a national issue and we have to take a decision very carefully, he said and added that his strand was known but the party would definitely look into the entire scenario and what result the demonetisation yielded and how it benefitted. But the CM also made it clear that taking a stand on demonetisation after December 30 or completion of 50 days as promised by the PM was not his priority. We are going through large scale money held by Kishore and his family members in the coming days, said the officials. The I-T officials had run into Kishore s treasure when he apparently deposited over a crore into his account post demonetisation. The department began detailed probe in to his bank accounts, lockers and other property since last preparations for 350th birth anniversary of Guru Gobind Singh, being observed as Prakash Utsav Parv, in Patna and Kalchakra in Bodh Gaya in the first week of January. The week. He and his family members were found to be having more than 40 bank accounts. The controversial tea and snacks vendor, who ran a stall in Udhana on the suburbs of Surat city in south Gujarat for over three decades, had turned in to a financier for over a decade. Sources in the I-T department said that officials raided one of Bhajiawala s properties and found an iron locker there which was opened in the presence of his son Jignesh. They found silver utensils weighing 125 kg, share certificates indicating investments worth crores of rupees in stock market and other documents related to properties in Surat area in different names. Sources further said that over the past one week, I-T sleuths seized documents related to 350 properties. successful organisation of these vents is our priority, Nitish told the media. He, however, hastened to add his oft repeated remarks that demonetisation alone Chaiwalla then, a crorepati APaytmwalla now after the elections. That was how Mamata Banerjee continued to sting Prime Minister Narendra Modi for demonetising 500 and 1000 notes. In a scathing attack on the Prime Minister, Banerjee on Monday said Modi had no feelings for the poor people of the country. He is deaf to the sufferings of the people after the note bandi. Everything has taken a big beating from agriculture to small trading to unorganised labour and this Government has no eyes to take a look at the people s hardships, the Chief Minister said. Banerjee was speaking to an audience in Bankura where she went to inaugurate a host of developmental projects. Before the elections he was a tea seller and now he has become a millionaire who endorses Paytm, Banerjee said adding everyone can realize the crisis the country is in but it is only the Prime Minister who does not seem to see anything. They are talking about would not help curbing the black money unless a sustained attack was made on benami wealth illegally amassed by the rich people. Also, he said, total prohibition giving wages of 100-days work through Paytm. But one should remember that you cannot dictate a person as to which mobile one should buy or which App one should opt for. We will not allow the Government to take commission at the cost of the people s blood, the Chief Minister said. Attacking the Prime Minister for favouring the rich while calling himself a Fakir should be enforced in the country since this trade generated a lot of black money. The black money in our country is unlimited and organised attack is needed to curb it, he said. On the cashless economy, Nitish said it was not possible in India. It could be implemented in a limited area and with some efforts cashless transaction could increase automatically but up to a certain limit. He said even in the USA the cashless transaction was not more than 45 per cent. Reacting on the proposal of the Election Commission that the limit for accepting anonymous donations be slashed from 20,000 to 2,000, the CM said that even a single rupee donation should be on record. But, he added, it was up to the Centre to implement such a welcome move of the ECI. efai, the home town of the Sfirst family of the Samajwadi Party in Etawah district will miss the annual event Sefai Festival this year. The festival is known for the extravaganza and the participation of the stars from the Bollywood in the annual event. Officially the festival has been cancelled due to the impending State Assembly elections. However, the cash crunch caused by the demonetisation of the high Value currency notes is also one of the important reasons for the cancellation of the festival this year. The organisers of the festival said this year the model code of conduct is likely to come into force in December itself and if the festival is organised then it may provide a convenient tool to the opponents of the Samajwadi Party ahead of the crucial State Assembly elections, to criticise the party. The organisers said the Festival held every year in December, was not held in 2012 also, due to the assembly elections. Dharmedra Yadav, chairman of the Sefai Mahotasva samiti, who is also MP from Badaun said, The festival commence every year on December 26 and we decided to cancel the festival this year as in the midst of the festival poll schedule for the State Assembly elections is likely to be announced. He said till last year preparations for the festival used to began over a month ahead of the festival schedule and responsibilities were assigned to different persons for organising the festival. This year we neither called any meeting nor discussed the issue due to the impending assembly elections, he said. The festival is usually held from December 26 to January 12 every year. The tradition of the Sefai festival was started by the Samajwadi party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav in 1996 and so far the festival has been held for 28 years. nion Minister of State for UMinority Affairs and Parliamentary Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi has said that the campaign for cashless economy, is an effective mission to establish clean, honest and transparent system. He was speaking at a Chaupal organised by the Ministry of Minority Affairs at Dalpatpur area of the Moradabad district on Monday. Naqvi informed the people about benefits of digital transaction, online and mobile banking. Naqvi said that campaign of cashless Banerjee said he calls himself a Fakir (mendicant) but does he understand what a Fakir means! the Chief Minister said adding this Government has stopped all the developmental work in the country. Even a common man understands the gravity of the issue but our Prime Minister does not understand it. By the time he does so there will be a disaster, she maintained. ttar Pradesh Chief UMinister Akhilesh Yadav on Monday said that no one can ignore women who constitue half of the population. His Government was always committed to facilitate the members of fairer sex to come forward and contribute in the progress of the State as well as the country. Yadav felicitated 392 women (306 mahila pradhan and 86 women and organisations) with Rani Lakshmi Bai Award along with Yash Bharati to 7 others. Speaking at a programme here at Lok Bhawan, Akhilesh said that his Government was always committed to welfare economy, digital transaction will prove to be a successful mission against corruption and the black money. The Union Minister said that India is the largest democracy of the world where 100 per cent electronic voting system has been successful. Similarly, digital transaction, online and mobile banking will be successful. Some people had raised questions when voting through electronic voting machines started. The voting through electronic voting system proved to be a great success as it ensured transparency in elections besides helping the common man. He said in similar manner the transition of the economy from cash based to cash less will succeed. Bank officials helped the people present at Cashless Chaupal in downloading various mobile apps related to digital payment, net and mobile banking and briefed the people about these apps. and security for women who constitute half of the population. Stressing that his Government has been working for the honour, security and progress of women, Akhilesh cited various schemes in Uttar Pradesh being run specifically for them. Besides providing 500 monthly under Samajwadi Pension Scheme to 55 lakh families, my Government had always honoured the females by facilitating them with free laptops, monetary help under Kanya Vidya Dhan Scheme, besides honoring outstanding women who excel in their fields under Rani Lakshmi Bai Mahila Samman, and Yash Bharati n second incident of its kind Iin Andhra Pradesh, a huge amount was deposited in the savings account of a daily wage earning worker prompting the bank and the Income Tax department officials to launch a probe. P Srinivasulu Naidu, a resident of Komatikunta village in Anantapur district, was in for a big shock when the officials of Andhra Bank contacted him over phone to inquire about a deposit of 1.8 crore in his account at Tadipatri branch. A surprised Naidu, who works on daily wages at a stone factory said, I was shocked by their question as I had no idea about this deposit or who had made the deposit. I have never seen such a big amount of money in my life. Leave alone crores I have not seen even thousands of rupees at one time, he told the reporters in his village crore was deposited in Naidu s account on Saturday. The local police was questioning the worker to find out itting outside his small but Stidy shop at Irinjalakkuda, Thrissur, Abraham heaves a long sigh. Basically, Abraham s shop is a bakery but it holds all kinds of Christmas items from cakes to greeting cards and Christmas stars but the only factor missing right now is rush of customers. I have been in this business for 14 years. This is the first time I am seeing such a lean season. People simply aren t coming, he says. The basis of Abraham s despair is the cash crunch his customers are facing since note ban which has now a f f e c t e d Christmas-New Year business after hitting like real estate and construction. According to sources in the association of the State s bakers, the State s Christmas-New Year cake market, which used to be worth 50 crore, is unlikely to realize even 60 percent of that in this season. The Christmas-New Year season accounts for nearly 75 per cent of the annual sale of cake in Kerala, which has about 20,000 bakeries. But I am sure that the sector is not going to meet that target this season. I will be happy if this season brings 60 per cent of the normal sales, said Ansar Abdullah, a bakery owner in Kozhikode. Speaking about the how demonetisation has impacted the sales in the sector of bakery, including cakes and other items, Ansar says that the sales had fallen to ten per cent in the week after demonetisation. Between December 1 and 15, it grew to about 25 percent and now it stands roughly at 40 percent. When the season peaks by December, 22, it may go up to 55 or 60 percent but not beyond that, he says. Sources in the bakers association said that business at the leading bakeries in cities like whether some rich and powerful person had used him to deposit the unaccounted cash in the scrapped denomination of 1000 and 500. The bank officials have also alerted the Income Tax department officials to take up the matter for investigation. In a similar incident last week a poor farmer laborer Pathan Nazeer was also shocked to find that an amount of 1.26 crore in his saving bank account. Again the bank involved was Andhra Bank. Nazeer, a resident of Amilepalle village in Gurramokonda mandal of Chittoor district had opened an account at Andhra Bank Gurramkonda branch only two months ago and had a meager deposit of 192 in it. He came to know about the huge deposit in his account when he deposited 250 in the account and received a message on his phone showing the total amount in his account at 1,26,76,436. Both Anantapur and Chittoor districts are part of the backward and dry Rayalaseema region of Andhra Pradesh. Awards etc, he added. Akhilesh also reminded of Women Powerline (1090) which provide round the clock security to females, 102 to provide free ambulance services to pregnant women to reach hospital and later to drop them back after delivery etc, and said recently an integrated police control room (UP 100) also come-up which facilitates immediate police response to anyone who is in distress. Condemning the pratice of female foeticide, Akhilesh said his Government will ensure strict compliance with the law against it even as he called for a change in mentality to fight the menace. Kochi and Thiruvananthapuram and big towns might survive the cash crunch as customers with the habit of using debit cards were easing the pressure to a large extent but the bakeries in rural areas were certain to be hit by the negative effects of demonetisation. Parameswaran Nair, a bakery owner in a Thrissur suburb said that sales in the third week of December usually gave a picture of the mood of the Christmas market. I must say the mood is dull. I used to sell a minimum of 250 kilos of plum cake in the third week of December. But I haven t sold even 75 kilos after December 15. POS machine would have been a relief but I am yet to get it, he said. Cake sale is not the only area of Christmas-New Year market that has been hit by the cash crunch brought about by currency demonetization but it has affected the sale of Christmas stars, cribs, greeting cards and even garments, say traders. The cash crunch is also likely to affect the New Year festivities in places like Fort Kochi, they say. According to traders, card payment for items like Christmas stars and cribs is very rare as the volume of payment is normally small. The stars I sell here are priced at between 75 and 400 and the cribs cost between 300 and 600. People somehow don t like to use their cards for paying such small amounts, said Lonappan, a trader in Kochi. Meanwhile, a cement merchant in Iritti in Kannur district on Monday became the second person to commit suicide in the State after demonetization allegedly due to losses caused by the cash crunch. The body of Babu (42) of Vilakkode was found hanging from the ceiling of his shop on Monday. A 59- year-old bread wholesaler in Changanassery, Kottayam had committed suicide in his shop on November 28 in similar circumstances.

7 ension continues in Manipur Tas fresh incidents of violence were reported from Naga-dominated Senapati district of the State on Monday even as the authorities continued the indefinite curfew imposed in Imphal East district and suspension of mobile internet services in selected areas of the State. Officials said that two vehicles including a bus and a Tata Sumo were set on fire by irate mobs in two separate incidents at Naga Taphou area in Senapati district on Monday afternoon. However, there is no report of any human causality during the violence, the official said. Explaining the details, a senior official of the district administration from Senapati district said that an irate mob set on fire a bus, which was on its way from Imphal to Senapati district. In another incident, some agitating people vandalized a Tata Sumo vehicle, which was on AP co-founder Arvind AKejriwal on Monday named, a dead honest officer Elvis Gomes, a bureaucrat with over 20 years of experience in the State administration, as the party s Chief Minister candidate in the forthcoming State assembly elections. Kejriwal, who was addressing a party rally in Cuncolim Legislative Assembly, located 45 kms south of Panaji, said that it was time that the people of Goa decide to elect common people to the State Legislative Assembly, instead of politicians and leaders from the Congress and the BJP, who the Delhi Chief Minister said, had repeatedly let the State and its people down. But there is a diamond in hree Samast Gujarat Brahm SSamaj (SGBS) an apex organisation of Brahmin community in the State having support of 459 other brahmin organisations across the State, has reiterated its demand for brahmin vikas commission on Monday and announces to launch series of intense agitation programmes in coming days. Gujarat has about 62 lakh Brahmins. A demand for Braham Vikas Commission for economic, educational and social welfare of Brahmins was made before the Government in August last year. Despite the fact, nothing has been done by the Government, said Yagnesh Dave, general secretary of SGBS, adding that a memorandum has also been given for the proposed commission to Gujarat Governor on Friday. Dave who is also the convenor of Braham Vikas Commission agitation committee further said that SGBS was non-political organisation its way from Nagaland to Imphal at the Naga Taphou locality. The indefinite curfew in Imphal East district continued. However, we have suspended the indefinite curfew from Imphal West district for the day today. The suspension of mobile internet services continued in both the districts, a senior official said. The law and order situation has improved as there is no report of any fresh incidents of violence except from the two incidents in Senapati district. Law and order situation has been constantly reviewed and all these candidates. It is Elvis Gomes. The whole of Goa knows. When a person who had never got a chance to indulge in corruption, says I am honest, that is not right. Elvis has been in Goa administration for 20 years. He could have made crores of rupees... He did not make a single paise. He is a dead honest officer, Kejriwal said. Today before you, I am bringing forward a proposal. I propose Elvis Gomes as the next chief minister of Goa, Kejriwal told the AAP meeting. 53-year old Gomes, who joined the AAP in October, soon after retiring from Government service was posted as Inspector General of Prisons. He is likely to contest from the Cuncolim Legislative Assembly seat, in South Goa. NOTICE INVITING e-auction The Executive Engineer (E) PWD DHC & ND/CENTRAL, Ground floor MSO Bldg, IP Estate, New Delhi (Telephone no ) on behalf of President of India invites bid for e-auction of surplus/unserviceable materials. N/W: Maintenance and operation of Street Lighting, High Mast, Subway and FOB on Delhi PWD Road under PWD DHC&ND/Central, New Delhi. File No: Auction/EE(E)/PWD DHC & ND/Central/ Reserve Price : Rs /- Earnest Money: Rs.62197/- & Last Date and time submission of Tender upto 3:00 PM on The tender forms and other details can be obtained from the website: at Tender I.D. NO. 2016_PWD _1 DIP/Shabdarth/2802/16-17 and the demands put before the Government had nothing to do with the upcoming State Assembly polls. He claimed that the agitation to be launched by the community members would be peaceful and within the limits of law of the land. Around a week ago Braham Vikas Commission agitation committee launched a tweeter campaign which received overwhelming response, he said, adding that in a short period Brahmins from all over the country flashed 1.45 lakh tweets. Even the twitter account of the co-convener of Braham Vikas Commission agitation committee Hemang Rawal was blocked. To further intensify the agitation conveners have been appointed at district and Taluka level. Already we have conducted more than 100 meetings across the State to make the agitation successful, he said. Rawal said Brahmins were not demanding reservations for them, but they want a dedicated commission, so that those who are economically backward would get level playing field. adequate forces have been deployed in sensitive areas to tackle any untoward situation, he said. At least 23 vehicles including three buses carrying mostly Naga people were either damaged on set on fire by an irate mob at Lamlong, located only five kms from Manipur capital Imphal on Sunday. The mob also attacked over 300 passengers of the vehicles which were on their way to Ukhrul district from Imphal, who were later sheltered at the first Manipur police battalion headquarters. elangana Chief Minister K TChandrasekhar Rao on Monday vowed that all the accused linked to the notorious gangster Mohammed Nayeemuddin, alias Nayeem, howsoever mighty they might would be punished. However he rejected the demand of the Opposition parties for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe into the activities of the Nayeem gang saying the Telangana police was fully capable of doing the job. The Chief Minister KCR was replying to a discussion on the crimes of the gang led by Nayeem, who was shot dead by the police in an encounter on August 8 at Shadnagar, 40 kms away from Hyderabad. KCR said that for the past two and a half decades Nayeem gang had committee heinous crimes in the State. The activities of the gang which commenced in Bhongir as epicenter gradually spread to the entire State of Telangana, he said. Nayeem who had started out as a left wing radical students union had later joined the Maoists ranks. After his surrender to the police he turned an informant helping the police in anti Maoist operations and later became a full time gangster running a mafia of land grabbing, violent crimes, extortions and the settlements allegedly with the backing from several police officials in Hyderabad and several other districts. He had allegedly accumulated properties and wealth of hundreds of crores of rupees. Holding the previous Governments responsible, KCR sad that during their reigns Nayeem had continued his activities without any hindrance. After the formation of the TRS Government several victims of Nayeem gang approached the Government for justice, he added. Stating that all the details of the case can not be made public at this juncture, he said that all those who helped Nayeem gang, irrespective of which party they belonged to will be brought to book. He had committed most of his crimes in 10 years rule of Congress party in the State, KCR said. n what could be described as Ia landmark judgment, the Madras High Court on Monday declared that all Sharia functioning from mosque premises are illegal and directed the Government of Tamil Nadu to get rid of such religious courts. The First Bench of the Madras Court consisting of Chief Justice Sanjay Kishan Kaul and M Sundar asked the State Government to file a status report to the court within four weeks. The verdict comes at a time when the whole country is discussing the need for a uniform civil code and also in the backdrop of the Allahabad High Court judgment declaring triple talaq illegal. The Madras High Court also said that religious places and other places of worship were only meant for religious purposes and it was the responsibility of the State Government to get rid of Sharia courts functioning from the premises of religious places. The Court order was in response to a public interest litigation filed by Abdul Rehman, a UK based professional who was aggrieved by the acts of such a Sharia Court functioning from the premises of a mosque in rior to addressing PParivartan Rally, Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched various projects relating to skill development and inaugurated the Kaushal Pradarshini (Skill Exhibition) organised by the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship here at the Nirala Nagar Railway Ground on Monday. Later, in his address to the gathering, Modi said that he had launched various schemes for the skill development of youths. He said that in the coming days, the Yuwa-Dhan of India will become the Yuwa- Shakti to show its strengh to entire world. He said India was fortunate to have over 65 per cent population below 35 years of age. If the youths of a country were full of energy, that can introduce its strength to the entire world. If there were facilities for skill development, it will take no time to end poverty, he added. Modi also inaugurated the Chennai s Mount Road. The petitioner said that the Makka Masjid Sharia Council operating from the said mosque was functioning like a regular court. This PIL was filed to safeguard the interests of innocent Muslims who silently suffered at the hands of these Sharia Courts/Councils. These courts had created an impression among the innocent Muslims that such courts were functioning as per Sharia Law and the judgments were religiously binding on the Muslims, said A Sirajudeen, senior counsel who represented the petitioner. Abdur Rehman had earlier approached the Makka Masjid Sharia Court Council in the hope of reuniting with his estranged wife. But the Sharia Court forced him to sign a letter of divorce much against his wishes. He had stated in his petition that the Sharia Courts functioning out of the mosque premises acted as bodies to resolve matrimonial and property related issues. Once the litigants present a case before these councils, they were called over telephone asking them to be present themselves before the court. Whatever decisions made by such religious courts are binding on the litigants as they have been told that the judgements by these courts had divine approval. laying of gas pipeline, several power and energy projects on this occasion. He said it was the right and pride for Uttar Pradesh that its people greatly contributed for installing a stable government at the centre. He said the schemes launched by him on Monday were concentrated for the benefit and uplift of villages, poor, farmer, dalit, destitutes, women and youths. Modi laid the foundation of the first ever Indian Institute of Skills and launched major Skill Development Inititaves. He launched 31 Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Kendras, inaugurated the Drivers Training Institutes across the country and strategic partnership with industries to train and employ 4 lakh youth under PMKVY. It was informed that Uttar Pradesh has so far around 400 active skill development centres covering its 65 districts, run by partners in the ecosystem. Close to 3 lakh youth have already been trained and more than 50 per cent of them have been placed in jobs of their interest. aik C Ratheesh (34), who was killed along Nwith two other soldiers in the terror attack at Pampore in Jammu & Kashmir on Saturday, was cremated on Monday evening with full State and military honours in his native village Kotolipram, Mattannur in Kerala s Kannur district. Thousands paid homage to the martyred soldier after his body was brought to his native village by road from the Kozhikode airport. Minister Kadannappally Ramachandran also paid last respects to the martyr. Those who attended the funeral included PK Sreemathi MP, EP Jayarajan MLA and several other political leaders. Ratheesh was killed in the Pampore attack eight days after he had joined duty after a brief vacation in his village for supervising the renovation of his house. He was on deputation and was attached to the 33 RR for field service in the Bandipore sector for the past three years.

8 E ven since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced his Government s decision to demonetise high denomination notes, his political opponents have been accusing him of acting recklessly and taking a momentous decision without adequate thought or preparation, thereby disrupting the lives of millions of Indians, ruining small businesses and causing longterm harm to the Indian economy. This criticism may not hold if one re-visits some of his public utterances many months prior to November 8 and also examines the growth of black money and black wealth between and the consequences of continued Manmohan Singh style pussyfooting for the nation s economy. So, first, the question as to whether the Prime Minister had foolishly rushed in where angels fear to tread or whether demonetisation was part of a wellthought out strategy. There were several occasions when the Prime Minister touched upon the issue of e-wallets or electronic banking prior to November 8. But there was one occasion on which he made his intentions absolutely clear that was on May 22 this year during his popular show on All India Radio Mann ki Baat. For those who listened to him that day, November 8, would have held no surprises. Obviously, the Prime Minister was mulling this option quite some time ago, because even as early as May a full five months prior to demonetisation he had urged the people in his radio programme to move from cash to a less-cash economy when he said: We have to build a modern, transparent India and we will have to change our old habits. Ages ago, there existed a barter system. Then gradually coins and notes came in. But now, the world is moving towards a cashless society it is possible through electronic technology to get money and also give money; we can buy things and pay our bills. And with this, there is no question of our wallets getting stolen. In the beginning, it may appear to be a bit difficult, but once we get used to it, this arrangement will seem very easy for us. Modi told his listeners that many things had happened in recent years to enable India to move towards a less-cash economy and this included the Pradhan Mantri Jan Dhan Yojana that ensured that almost every family in the country came into the banking system; the introduction of the RuPay card; and finally, lending strength to the overall plan was the Aadhar card and the fact that practically everyone in the country had a mobile phone. The RuPay card, he said, would be useful as both a credit and a debit card. And now-a-days a very small instrument has come which is called Point of Sale with the help of that, be it your Aadhar number or your RuPay card, if you have to pay money to someone, you can do it through that. There is no need to take out any money from your pocket and count it; there is no need to carry around any cash with you. The second endeavour we have started is Bank on Mobile the Universal Payment Interface banking. So, he said, by synchronising Jan Dhan, Aadhar and the Mobile, we can move ahead towards a cashless society. He virtually prepared the minds of his listeners that day to what was coming when he said, If we learn and adapt ourselves to use these services, then we will not require currency..businesses will function automatically..under-hand dealings will stop; the influence of black money will be reduced. So I appeal to my countrymen, that we should at least make a beginning. Once we start, we will move ahead with great ease. He also called upon people he overcome the fear of the unknown. He said 20 years ago, who would have thought that so many mobile phones would be with people. Yet, we caught on to it and now we cannot do without cell phones. Maybe this cashless society assumes a similar form. But the sooner this happens, the better it will be. Could any Prime Minister have been more explicit than this about his intention to launch a major assault on black money, demonetise currency and nudge society towards a less-cash economy? The second line of attack on the Prime Minister is that demonetisation is wholly unnecessary and that he had needlessly put the nation s economy in peril. This is best answered by S Gurumurthy, well-known writer and commentator on economic and political Sir It is heartening that a few leaders from the All India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam, visited the Kauvery Hospital to enquire about the health of Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam chief M Karunanidhi, who is undergoing treatment at the hospital. A new and healthy trend is emerging in Tamil Nadu politics. One only wishes that this transformation stays for ever, irrespective of the leaders political affiliation. Yvonne Fernando Chennai Sir This refers to the editorial, Irresponsible politics (December 17). Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi just has his surname as his credentials. By levelling charges of corruption against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and then not producing any proof whatsoever, he has further lost credibility. People will surely not take him seriously now. The editorial has rightly pointed that Rahul Gandhi should have acted maturely. This is one virtue that he has not obtained in the last decade or so, while being part of active politics. In the past too, he voiced his opinion on a few critical issues and then disappeared. He has a track record of being inconsistent. Bal Govind Noida Sir This refers to the editorial, Irresponsible politics (December 17). Nobody, including the Opposition sans the Congress, takes Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi seriously. Even Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, who is on a mission to outdo the Congress scion, and who also levels unsubstantiated charges against the BJP in general and the Prime Minister in particular, has asked Rahul Gandhi, to explode the information bomb outside Parliament, at a Press conference or in a public meeting. The nitty gritty of the matter is that the Congress, having failed in its attempts to tighten the noose around the BJP Government on demonetisation and stalled Parliament for the entire Winter Session, wants to mislead the people by diverting public attention from the success issues. According to him, Modi was compelled to administer a dose of bitter tea because of the pathetic economic management by his predecessor, Manmohan Singh. If Modi had not taken the tough decision, it would have been disastrous for India s economy. In his lecture at the Vivekananda International Centre in Delhi last week, Gurumurthy presented data to show how Singh had failed. Here are some of his main arguments: Though the gross domestic product (GDP) grew at an envious rate during , it never created new jobs because much of the alleged growth was brought about by asset inflation. Real estate and gold prices sky-rocketed and created a false notion of growth. As a result, while the GDP grew by 8.4 per cent per annum, the number of jobs it created was a measly 2.7 million. Further, the amount of black cash in the economy ballooned and generated black wealth and there was a huge unrecorded economy which demonetisation is putting an end to. The clue to huge asset inflation lay in the rising unmonitored High Denomination Notes (HDN) cash stock with the public. Explaining why demonetisation was inevitable, he said HDNs with the public more than doubled from 34 per cent in 2004 to 79 per cent in On November 8, it was 87 per cent. The average annual rise in HDNs was between per cent from Also, even more worrisome was the Reserve Bank of India s opinion that two-thirds of the 1,000 notes and one-third of the 500 notes that is over six lakh crore rupees never returned to banks after they were issued. The unmonitored HDNs roaming outside banks black cash drove up gold and land prices. The curse asset inflation inspired jobless growth seemed irreversible until a method was found to catch the unmonitored high denomination currency that was fuelling this false sense of growth. Even a week after this lecture, which was widely reported, there has been no credible response to the question why did HDN shoot up the way it did between ? But we do know now as to why hoarders of black money, including political parties, were taken unawares by the November 8 announcement? They never listened to Narendra Modi s Mann ki Baat! (The writer is Chairman, Prasar Bharati. View expressed here are personal) of demonetisation. Let us not forget that the move has yielded billions of rupees as black money. Sagar Singh New Delhi Sir This refers to the editorial, Irresponsible politics (December 17). If Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi had ample evidence against the Prime Minister, why he did not venture to reveal it at the Press conference itself? Elected Members of Parliament must realise the fact that making Parliament dysfunctional, staging violent protests and creating chaotic situations inside and outside the House, are unacceptable to parliamentary democracy. Parliament, which consists of people s representatives, is vitally assigned to translate the will of the people. This includes welfare and development of the country. Are our MPs sensitive to the very principles and conventions of parliamentary democracy? Their action, attitude and outlook do not give hope. Nimai Charan Swain Bhubaneswar

9 T he problems and the needs of the Gujjar Bakarwal community of Jammu & Kashmir are different from those of other communities. This difference is markedly in language and culture. On this and many other counts, the Gujjar Bakarwal community has its distinct identity. This community mostly inhabits pastures on hilly areas within forests ranges and along the Line of Control. Originating from Rajasthan, Gujarat, and Kathiawar, the Gujjars of J&K migrated to the far north in a hoary past owing to natural calamities. Rajatarangini mentions their presence around ninth century to 10th century across Kashmir s north-western borders. After conversion to Islam, they split into two factions. These people live in the lap of nature and by the side of mountain lakes on Pir Panchal. Pastures, where they graze their herds and flock are called bahak, in their dialect, which is a mix of Punjabi, Pahari and Sanskrit/Hindi. The pastures are unique and breath-taking and for generation after generation, have remained the home of this migratory community. They are fully acquainted with the mesmerising topography of these mountain and their pasture, forests and gorges, where they raise their cattle, families and progeny far from the madding crowd. On these pastures they are born and brought up, and spend the life and pass away. Panjtari and Sari Mastan are the most popular pastures among the scores known to the Gujjars Bakarwals. Historically speaking, the history of Kashmir is more the history of Pir Panchal than the valley itself. In medieval times, the strategic importance of Pir Panchal was immense to the warlords on both sides. A Kashmiri war lord called Damara chief, would seek protection across Pir Panchal if he was defeated in a battle with his rivals in the valley. On the southern side of the Pir, he reassembled his men and carried a counter-attack to regain supremacy in Kashmir. On April 19, 1991, through an Ordinance, the Government of India announced the inclusion of Gujjars and Bakawals among scheduled tribes. Despite a lapse of 25 years, the State Government of Jammu & Kashmir has not implemented it in letter and in spirit to give the full benefit of Scheduled Tribe status to the community. Past State Governments have deliberately obstructed efforts of the Centre for the development of the community. This discriminatory attitude has thrust the community into political, A fter the visit of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon, President of the Kyrgyz Republic, Almazbek Atambayev, is visiting New Delhi on a fourday trip from December 18. President Atambayev s visit comes right after Prime Minister Narendra Modi s visit to Kyrgyzstan in June 2015, which proved a symbolic feat for India s outreach. In fact, reconnecting with Central Asia forms a critical part of India s foreign policy. The visits are taking place, first against the backdrop of Central Asia is speedily getting swamped by the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Second, the region s current secular setting is threatened by rising fundamentalist forces, that are striving to establish Caliphate-i-Rashida in Central Asia. Even the Islamic State (IS) intends to curve out Wilayat Khorasan out of the region. Third, Russia s growing proximity with Pakistan and the Taliban, is threatening to complicate the regional stability. Kyrgyzstan is an ancient nation, with which India had contact, since the time of the Sakas or the Scythians. Since its independence in 1991, Kyrgyzstan has been most supportive of India s diplomatic moves in the UN, and on issues that concerned India. Kyrgyzstan is now a parliamentary democracy, and wants to emulate Indian model through intense parliamentary interactions. India s engagement with Kyrgyzstan, presently is at a nominal, yet at a steady rate. President Atambayev has a natural affection and love for India. He praised the role of India as a champion of democracy, for upholding cultural values in a diverse society. He has been keen to seek closer engagement, as well as high social, economical and educational backwardness. Keeping in view the aforementioned circumstances, a separate geographical entity to be called Gujjarsthan must be created. The Constitution does provide for reorganisation of a federating State; the creation of Telangana out of Andhra Pradesh is a good example. Only then their economic, educational, political and social backwardness could be removed and they will be done justice. It has to be asserted that patriotism of the community has been established by the post-independence history of our country and the State. The community dwells along the LoC. Once their geographical entity is established, they will be most effective in scuttling any effort by our enemy to cross the border clandestinely and indulge in sabotage, of the kind that has value investment from India. Kyrgyzstan offers some big time opportunities for India, especially in its huge hydropower, mineral, agro-business and defence industry potentials. So far, India s current engagement hasn t entailed much of economic interdependence. None of the Indian assistance programmes appeared to have yielded any commercial opportunities for Indian companies. Indian businesses should instead capitalise on the real opportunities; especially exploring smart projects in mining, agro-farming, dry fruits, horticulture, cotton and silk faming, investment in pharmaceuticals, textiles, engineering, construction and small and medium enterprises. These will push direct development processes, people-to-people contacts through increased air traffic and promotion of tourism between India and Kyrgyzstan. Good news is that India has lifted ban on walnut import from Kyrgyzstan. Moreover, projects in specialised sectors like hydro-power, infrastructure, hospitals and IT sector should be pursued on commercial terms. Kyrgyzstan is considered as Switzerland of Asia, and its famous Issyk- Kul Lake is just two hours flight from Delhi. It seems memorandum of understanding, would be signed for strengthening cooperation in the field of tourism. India s cooperation in defence industry sector with Kyrgyzstan, has been sound and beneficial. India should explore joint venture projects for weapons manufacturing and testing in Kyrgyz facilities such as in Dastan Company, that produces well-known torpedo weapon systems including super-sonic 220 mph Skhval-type rocket torpedo. Similarly, leasing of the unique Soviet-built facility ULAN been happening now. During the tribal attack of 1947, the community s members worked hand in hand with Army and the security forces. In the process, many laid down their lives in the 1947, 1965 and 1971 wars. Besides, many Gujjars and Bakarwals were eliminated by terrorists during the ongoing insurgency. supporting the national cause. Gujjarsthan is the region beginning with the southern mountain ranges of the State, making continuous series of ranges from Jawahar Tunnel towards Uri to the west. On its southern side, we have the districts of Poonch and Rajouri, including tehsils of Mahore and Gulab Garh of Reasi district and tehsil Gool of Ramban district. Towards its north and north-west, lie the valley of Kashmir and the Gujjar regions beyond. Between the parallel ranges of these mountains, there are narrow valleys and gorges carrying in their laps, streams and nullahs of pure cold water from the snowy peaks of the mountains. Among the high places of the range are Tata Kootian, Neel Kanth, Keeran, Haji Pir, Ganga Choti and Atoli Pir. The Pir Panchal carries a number of passes connecting Kashmir valley with the northern and north-western areas of Poonch and Rajouri. Thus, historically, geographically, linguistically, culturally and topographically, this is a region which deserves to be given its identity as a territorial unit with fullest autonomous status as Gujjarsathan. It is the only way for its backwardness to be addressed. Then, the region will truly become part of the national developmental programme of the Government of India. (The writer is a resident of Poonch district living close to the LoC, and a Gujjar leader) Torpedo Range is a good option. In pursuance of India s signing of the base document for joining the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation(SCO), this year, Kyrgyzstan is among the first four SCO members states to have ratified India s accession so far. Connectivity is a major issue for India. Despite several key efforts, the obstacles have been hard to triumph over. As a result, India s trade with Central Asia is paltry $1.4 billion, and meagrely $27 million with Kyrgyzstan. Kyrgyzstan can help India create new connectivity opportunities, under the SCO s regional initiatives for opening new routes and transport operations and services, through inter-governmental agreements. An improved connectivity can create opportunities for India s productivity enhancement of goods and services, increase information and communication technology networks; energy networks; people-topeople networks; and promotion of knowledge-based economies. India needs to broaden the scope of its geopolitical engagement. There may be limitations for enhancing economic relations, but Kyrgyzstan is of enormous strategic significance for regional security and great power interests. It is a hub for power-play among great powers; the Russian, American and Chinese agendas here, are well drawn Kyrgyzstan is a border state of China, where the Chinese are mutely expanding their influence, especially on the economic and strategic front. At the same time, Kyrgyzstan is also a trouble-spot for China. The Chinese embassy in Bishkek, has been recently attacked by suspected Uyghur militants. The Fergana Valley has long been an incubator of radical forces such as the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan, Hizbut-Tahrir, and others, having operational links with the Taliban, al Qaeda and other extremist groups based in Af-Pak region. The IS has also recruited its cadre, hugely from this region. Russia s aligning with Pakistan could allow Islamabad to gain more credibility in Central Asia, that might have implications for India. At the same time, Russia will remain an important factor in Central Asia. Hopefully, India can gain from the SCO s security structures, on the movement of terrorists and drug-trafficking and other negative trend of developments in the region, that we know little about. Prime Minister last year rightly touched on India s shared Islamic heritage, and Sufi traditions of Central Asia. New Delhi should take the idea forward as a de-radicalisation means to combat terrorism. There could be no big-ticket items to turn the spotlight on Kyrgyzstan, but the recent high level visits have added a new impetus. The Kyrgyz people had profound likeness for Bollywood, yoga, IT etc. India needs to revive the diluted links. On the cultural front, India needs to intervene in developing the vast treasure of Kyrgyzstan s Buddhist past, found at archaeological sites in the Chu Valley. India should also be generous in extending assistance in the hours of Kyrgyzstan s economic crisis and international debt exceeding $3.7 billion or 62 per cent of country s gross domestic product this year. It had been New Delhi s indecisiveness that had pushed the Kyrgyz people towards China. Hopefully, this mindset will now be reversed. (The writer served as India s envoy to Kyrgyzstan and is currently senior fellow at IDSA)

10 fter Government s major Apush for cashless transactions post demonetisation, telecom regulator Trai on Monday recommended that a reasonable amount of free data access should be provided to rural subscribers on monthly basis and the scheme could be funded from the Universal Service Obligation Fund. In order to bridge the affordability gap for the persons residing in rural areas and to support government s efforts towards cashless economy by incentivising digital means, the Authority recommends that a scheme under which a reasonable amount of data say 100 MB per month may be made available to rural subscribers for free, Trai said. The Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has suggested that the cost of implementation of the scheme may be met from Universal Service Obligation Fund (USOF). Under USOF, the Government charges a cess, Universal Access Levy, from telecom licencees to fund setting up of telecom infrastructure in all uncovered rural and remote areas of the country. Trai recommended =that to increase participation of other entities for incentivising free data, there Only half of the total value of the demonetised notes is likely to be supplied back into the system by December 30 deadline and the cash crunch may be normalised only by end February, says a report. Nearly 50 per cent and 75 per cent of the total value of the extinguished notes can be supplied by December-end and January-end respectively, given the current phase of frantic printing, an SBI Research said on Monday. At the end of February, per cent of the notes could be back into the system under the best case scenario in terms of an optimal currency distribution, it added. It seems that within next two months things would be pretty close to normal. Interestingly, this number can go upto 98 per cent if we disregard the currency composition, the report added. When the Government announced demonetisation of higher currency notes on November 8, there were billion pieces of 500 notes and billion pieces of 1,000 notes amounting to trillion (86 per cent of the value of the total amount of currency in circulation). Transaction charges need to be kept at a minimum level to encourage digital payments and make it ubiquitous as India is a costsensitive market, TRAI Chairman R S Sharma said on Monday. Citing example of the telecom sector, Sharma said mechanism can be worked out to ensure that small payments are financially sustainable. There are three things which are extremely important for digital transactions to become ubiquitous - cost, convenience and confidence. India is an extremely cost-sensitive market...you can t have Rs 5 commission on 100 transaction. That is not going to work, Sharma said speaking at a seminar on Demonetisation to Digital Remonetisation organised by FICCI. Urging financial institutions to emulate the telecom sector where average value of pre-paid digital recharge is 10, is financially sustainable, Sharma said that charges The Security Printing and Minting Corporation of India and Bharatiya Reserve Bank Note Mudran have been working at a frantic pace to replace the demonetised currency with new notes. The RBI on December 10 had said it had supplied to the public 21.8 billion banknotes of various denominations worth 4.61 trillion. Of this 20.1 billion pieces belonged to small denominations (of 10, 20, 50 and 100s) and 1.7 billion notes belonged to higher denominations of 2,000 and 500. In a previous statement on December 5, RBI had said the share of lower denomination notes was trillion with 19.1 billion bank-notes. This implies that during levied on digital transactions should be based on work done principle. My view is that not only in the short run, in the longer run too, if the work done principle is adopted in digital transactions, this whole merchant discount rate (MDR) and other issues will go away. I am not saying that they (banks) should stop earning any money but if they earn money they should earn money in a reasonable manner, Sharma said. He further pointed out that two per cent charge on credit card transactions would prompt people to use alternative, which is cash. That thing has to go in the long run, if we want cashless to continue...otherwise there is a danger than once these incentives end, people will revert back to cash, which should not happen. India has to become cashless, he said. I think there is a need to reduce these MDR and other digital charges... Sharma here is no impact of demoneti- on airline companies as Tsation domestic air traffic surged per cent to lakh passengers in November as low fares and introduction of new routes and services in the winter schedule of the local carriers helped them fly more passengers. All Indian airlines together had transported a total of lakh passengers in November However, seat factor, which is a measure of how much of an airline s passenger carrying capacity is used or average percentage of seats filled in an aircraft, in November almost remained flat compared to October 2016 primarily due to the end of tourist season, according DGCA data released today. Gurgaon-based budget carrier IndiGo continues its domination in the domestic market, having flown lakh passengers during the month and cornered 42.1 per cent market share in this period. As against this, Naresh Goyalowned Jet Airways together with its subsidiary JetLite clocked 17.3 per cent market share by carrying lakh passenger in the reporting period. Air India stood a third with a market share of 12.9 per cent, having flown lakh passengers while budget carrier SpiceJet cornered 12.8 per cent of the total domestic passenger traffic in November, having flown lakh passengers during the period. December 5 and December 10, as much as 1 billion notes were printed in small denomination, implying the total lower denomination currency is valued at trillion if we assume the additional notes were in 100 denomination. Thus the value of high denomination notes comes out to trillion ( trillion net of trillion), the report said. The RBI has said the combined number of pieces of high denomination are 1.7 billion. If we do a scenario analysis by assuming that the maximum number of such pieces is of 500, then the gap between the corresponding value 850 billion and actual value 3,451 billion is maximum, it added. hasing volumes in India, French Ccar major Renault plans to launch more products in the high selling sub-four meter category even as it prepares to get past 5 per cent market share by the end of The company, which currently sells five models in the country including SUV Duster and hatchback Kwid, plans more Made in India products and to introduce one new car each year as parts of its product development strategy. In India most of the cars -- over 70 per cent are less than 4 meters. The weight of mini segment where we have Kwid is 25 per cent. So we have a large space to make our portfolio, Renault India Operations Country CEO and Managing said. Asked about Vodafone s move to challenge in court TRAI s 1050 crore penalty recommendation for denial of interconnectivity to newcomer Reliance Jio, Sharma declined to comment on the matter. This is a free country, every entity has the right of legal recourse and they are well within their rights to go to approach the courts, which is fine. Why should I have any comments, reservation or problems with that, Sharma said on the sidelines. Vodafone last week told the Delhi High Court that the TRAI s recommendation to the Centre to impose 1050 crore penalty on it for not giving interconnectivity to Reliance Jio was an arbitrary decision. TRAI had recommended imposition of a fine of 50 crore for each of the 21 circles of Vodafone, except in Jammu and Kashmir, coming to a total of 1050 crore. is a need to introduce third party (Aggregator) to facilitate schemes which are telecom operator agnostic and non-discriminatory in their implementation. overnment on Monday Gsaid small traders and businesses with a turnover of up to 2 crore will pay less tax if they accept payments through banking and digital means. Under the existing Section 44AD of the Income- Tax Act, 1961, in case of certain assesses (an individual, HUF or a partnership firm other than LLP) carrying on any business having a turnover of 2 crore or less, the profit is deemed to be 8 per cent of the total turnover for taxation....it has been decided to reduce the existing rate of deemed profit of 8 per cent under section 44AD of the Act to 6 per cent in respect of the amount of total turnover or gross receipts received through banking channel/digital means for the financial year , the Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) said in a communication. The decision has been taken to achieve the government s mission of moving towards a less cash economy and to incentivise small traders/businesses to proactively accept payments by digital means, it said. Director Sumit Sawhney told the news agency. With 4-meter plus SUV segment, where the company has Duster, remaining in slow lane, it is the sub-4 meter SUVs and sedans which are bringing in volumes for the industry, he added. So clearly we have to bring vehicles in segments where we are not present and segments which can bring volume to us. This is what the strategy is. That s how there will be one new car coming every year, Sawhney said. When asked if the company is planning to introduce a compact SUV anytime soon in the country to take on Maruti s high selling Vitara Brezza, Sawhney said: I would not confirm anything right now. When I said for the first time It has recommended that scheme for free data must be telecom operator agnostic and must not involve any arrangement between the TSP (telecom service provider) and the aggregator/content provider. It should not be designed to circumvent its regulation on free mobile internet services as mentioned under The Prohibition of Discriminatory Tariffs for Data Services Regulations. Trai in February barred differential pricing on Internet which ended services of platforms like Facebook s Free Basics and Airtel Zero. The regulator in May also released a consultation paper on free data services. The regulator has recommended that the aggregators providing free data service will need to register with the Department of Telecom and it should be a company registered under Indian Companies Act, The validity of registration shall be five years. The registrant shall not either directly or indirectly, assign or transfer the Registration in any manner whatsoever to a third party either in whole or in part, Trai said. etirement fund body EPFO Ron Monday slashed interest on deposits to a four-year low of 8.65 per cent this fiscal in tandem with falling rates on savings due to surge in bank deposits post demonetisation. The Employees Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had provided 8.8 per cent rate of interest on deposits for to its four crore contributing subscribers. It maintained 8.75 per cent for and while it was 8.5 per cent in We have decided the interest rate for EPF subscribers at 8.65 per cent for The decision was arrived at after detailed consultations with all stakeholders. With consensus we have taken this decision, Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya told reporters here. After the 215th meeting of EPFO s apex decision making body, the Central Board of Trustees (CBT), the minister said: In spite of giving 8.65 per cent interest rate, we have surplus of 269 crores. He said that despite reduction, EPF paid the highest rate among others like Public Provident Fund (PPF), where the interest rate is 8.1 per cent; General Provident Fund (GPF), 8 per cent and post office term deposits that start from 7.10 per cent for one year. The overall scenario is such that interest rates are coming down. We are giving the highest interest rate for workers. It indicates our Ministry and our nding an eight week-long bit- battle in the Tata Sons Eter boardroom, ousted Tata Group Chairman Cyrus P Mistry on Monday quit from the boards of six listed companies, including Tata Motors and Indian Hotels. Besides, Mistry also said he is shifting gears and moving away from the extraordinary general meetings (EGMs) to a larger platform. In a two-page statement issued by Mistry himself, he said, Having deeply reflected on where we are in this movement for cleaning up governance and regaining lost ethical ground, I think it is time to shift gears, up the momentum, and be more incisive in securing the best interests of the Tata Group. Towards this end, the objective of effective reform and the best interests of employees, public shareholders and other stake holders of the Tata Group (the very people I sought to protect as Chairman) would be better served by moving away from the forum of the extraordinary general meetings, he added. Forty-eight-year old Mistry, who was unceremoniously removed as Chairman of Tata Sons on October 24, said the objective of effective reform and best interests of employees, shareholders and other stakeholders of the Tata Group would be better served by moving away from the forum of the EGMs. Prime Minister s commitment to protect the interest of employees, he added. The Finance Ministry has been reportedly asking the Labour Ministry to bring the EPF interest rate in alignment with other small saving schemes like PPF of the government. Earlier this year, it lowered interest rate on EPF for to 8.7 per cent from 8.8 per cent approved by the CBT but the step was retracted after protests by trade unions. Interest income from PF investments for has been estimated mainly on the basis of interest income received or receivable in this financial year, including surplus of 410 crore from previous year, an official said. Last year, the interest rate decided was at 8.8 per cent. At that time, along with the income of EPFO, the surplus from the previous year was 1,600 crore. This year, along with the income, the surplus available is 410 crore, EPFO s Central Provident Fund Commissioner VP Joy said on the reduction in interest rate. As the surplus has come down compared to the previous year, interest has been reduced by 0.15 percentage point compared to last year, he said, adding that if we had declared more interest rate this year, surplus from While Mistry, did not specifically say he was resigning from either Tata Sons, where he still continues as a director despite being removed as chairman, or from the this year for next year would have been less. Dattatreya also said that a decision has been taken to reduce EPFO administrative charges from 0.85 per cent at present to 0.65 per cent on total wage on which contributions are payable. The CBT also recommended to abolish administrative charges levied in implementing the Employees Deposit Linked Insurance Scheme, 1976 passing on the benefits of efficiency and computerisation to employers, a Labour Ministry statement said. The Central Board also decided to constitute a subcommittee of CBT with members drawn from employees and employer representatives to make a pragmatic study of employment trends for next 10 years and recommend appropriate administrative charges to the Central Board, it added. The minister said a campaign will be undertaken to meet the twin objectives of increasing the enrolment of new workers, thereby extending social security benefits to all workers and reduce litigation. A target of enrolling 50 lakh workers has been set for the first phase. He said the campaign from January 1, 2017 to March 31, 2017 would focus on a large unorganised sector which constitutes 92 per cent. According to the statement, the 8.33 per cent of the employer s contribution proportionate to the salary of employees in excess of 6,500 shall now be credited to the pension scheme along with the interest accrued in the provident fund account. fter Cyrus Mistry Cyrus AMistry quit from the boards of six listed companies on Monday, Tata firms termed his resignations as a deliberate strategy and Tata Sons hit out at the ousted Chairman saying he was fully aware that overwhelming majority of shareholders was not in support of his actions. Stating that it has taken note of the public announcement of Mistry s resignation, Tata Sons said it would respond adequately to baseless, unsubstantiated and malicious allegations made by him. Mr. Mistry s resignation is a deliberate strategy on his part, knowing fully well that the overwhelming majority of the shareholders were not in support of his actions, Tata Sons said in a statement. It further said: Unfortunately, that we will be launching a mini car people used to say this is a segment where nobody has succeeded. But you know what we got was a game changer in innovation. So, you will see innovation and game-changing products coming from Renault s side in every launch. The company does not want to follow me too strategy, he added. Whatever car we want to bring, we want to bring volumes with that car. We won t bring a car just for the heck of bringing a car, Sawhney said. The company, he said, is in the process of transitioning to mainstream products, moving away from the earlier strategy of having SKD and cross badged products. When we started our journey in India we had a joint venture and we wanted to come back to India very fast, so we adopted a bridge strategy. It was on back of SKD (semi-knocked down) products and cross badging products. This was only done to immediately come back, Sawhney said. With three mainstream products -- Duster, Lodgy and Kwid, the company is now moving more towards the mainstream strategy, he said. India is a very competitive market. Do I see really a very strong future for SKD products? No. Even if I have the best product the cost will never justify. So we are transitioning from bridge strategy to mainstream strategy and with more cars coming up, we are right now in portfolio development mode, Sawhney said. Mr Mistry continues to make baseless, unsubstantiated and malicious allegations using selective disclosures of information against the very institution he claims to have the highest regard for. Responding to the warning by Mistry that he would move to a larger platform where rule of law of and equity is upheld, Tata Sons said it has responded to his charges on multiple occasions and will respond adequately to any allegations made by Mr. Mistry. The company also strongly resented claims by Mistry to align with the values and ethics of Jamsetji Tata and the Tata Group. On the contrary, Mr. Mistry and his family companies have not upheld the high standards and values set by Jamsetji Tata and his successors. Mr. Mistry has done precious little to build the goodwill of the Tata Group, built through the hard work and dedication of its employees, the statement said. Markets regulator Sebi today put in place detailed guidelines for public issuance of Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs) including allocation of units to institutional investors. The trusts, its promoters and directors, which have been barred from accessing the securities markets, or those who are in the wilful defaulter list, would not make any public issue, Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) said in a circular. In an issue made through the book building process, up to 75 per cent would be allocated to institutional investors and 25 per cent to other investors. To facilitate growth of REITs, Sebi last month notified operating firms, sources close to him said he has quit. Both sides told media that operating companies will make regulatory announcements to the stock exchanges shortly. Tata Sons, the holding company of the $103 billion group, has called extraordinary general meeting (EGMs) of listed companies to consider its proposal to remove Mistry as director on their board. Calling his predecessor Ratan Tata coming back as interim chairman after his removal from Tata Sons as illegal coup, Mistry said he had in his representation to shareholders detailed, supported by documents, the governance breakdown in Tata Sons caused by actions of trustees of Tata Trusts. In recent weeks, the conduct of those at the helm of affairs has further unmasked the absence of ethical standards, he said. revised and easier regulations for raising capital through this instrument. Sebi had notified the REIT Regulations in 2014, allowing setting up of and listing of such trusts, which are very popular in some advanced markets. However, not a single trust has been set up in India as of now as investors await further measures, including tax breaks, to make these instruments more attractive. Spelling out norms for REIT s public issue, Sebi said that such trusts can allocate up to 60 per cent of the portion available for allocation to institutional investors to anchor investors.

11 WASHINGTON: The IMF board is expected to meet shortly to discuss the implications of the surprise guilty verdict against IMF chief Christine Lagarde on Monday in a French court. The Executive Board has met on previous occasions to consider developments related to the legal proceedings in France. It is expected that the Board will meet again shortly to consider the most recent developments, fund spokesman Gerry Rice said in a statement. A French court found Lagarde guilty of negligence over a massive payout to a tycoon when she was finance minister, but she will not be fined or face prison. She was found to be at fault over her decision allowing a dispute over sale of the Adidas sports brand to Credit Lyonnais bank to be resolved by a private arbitration panel rather than through the courts, then failing to challenge the 404-million-euro ($ 422 million) award that followed. PTI French court on Monday Afound IMF head Christine Lagarde guilty of negligence over a massive state payout to a tycoon when she was French finance minister but spared her a fine or prison sentence. The ruling was a rare setback in Lagarde s glittering career but it was not clear how it would affect her position at the International Monetary Fund, whose board was to meet in Washington to discuss the court s decision. A special court in Paris found against Lagarde over her handling of a dispute between the state and flamboyant businessman Bernard Tapie, which ended in a 404-million-euro ($422 million) award for Tapie. The court rapped Lagarde for failing to contest the massive payment, which was linked to Tapie's sale of the Adidas sportswear brand to Credit Lyonnaise bank. Crucially, however, the Paris court exempted her from any penalty, citing her international reputation and the fact that at the time of the events in 2008 she had been busy fighting a global financial inferno. NEW DELHI: Government is planning to start soon a toll free number 1955 for taking feedback of telecom subscribers on call drops. Short code 1955 has been allotted for IVRS system on call drop, an official source said. Provisioning of this number will be mandatory for telecom operators and should be accessible for local and STD calling. As per a letter by the Department of Telecom to operators in last week of November the 1955 number "is for the outbound calls to the subscribers, the IVRS system will have to present a predefined CLI (caller line identification) to the subscribers, through short code State-run telecom firm MTNL has been directed to configure this short code. Telecom operators have been directed not to charge any integration, maintenance, operational fee from MTNL. Official sources said that Telecom Minister Manoj Sinha will launch the service but did not disclose any further details. When contacted industry body, Cellular Operators Association of India said that the industry has sought further technical clarifications from DoT on routing, charges etc for the implementation of the short code 1955 for IVRS system. The response is awaited. The industry remains committed towards addressing the issue of call drops and is continuously working shoulder to shoulder with the Government, enhancing both investment and infrastructure, COAI Director General Rajan S Mathews said. Kendras are iconic state-of-theart skill development centres with modern infrastructure to facilitate skill trainings in the country. MSDE also plans to felicitate skilled candidates who have been trained under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana in Kanpur where the Prime Minister distributed skill certificates to street food vendors, leather industry workers under the recognition of prior learning program of the Government. PTI NEW DELHI: Transportation aggregator Ola said it will invest 100 crore for addition and skilling of one lakh drivers to its platform over the next three years. Ola has signed a MoU with National Skill Development Corporation (NSDC) for training, skill development and empowerment of these driver partners.the joint project will involve Ola and NSDC identifying people from various sections of the society NEW DELHI: Gold imports witnessed a fall of 30.5 per cent to $15.74 billion in April- November of the current fiscal, which is expected to keep a lid on the current account deficit. Total imports of the precious metal in the corresponding period of stood at $22.64 billion. Softening prices of the precious metal globally as well as locally are seen to be at work. However, gold imports grew for the second straight month in November by rising per cent to $4.36 billion, according to the commerce ministry data. Inward shipment had seen fall till September since February this year. It recorded a positive growth in October and last month. The increase in gold imports pushed the trade deficit to about two-year high of $13 billion in November from $10.33 billion in the same month last year. India is one of the largest gold importers in the world and and skilling them to become driver entrepreneurs, Ola said. Ola aims at investing 100 crore in adding 1,00,000 drivers to its platform, it added. The MoU was signed by Ola co-founder and CEO Bhavish Aggarwal and Manish Kumar, MD and CEO of NSDC, in the presence of PM Narendra Modi and Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, Rajiv Pratap Rudy, among others in Kanpur. PTI NEW DELHI: India s largest steel maker SAIL is in preliminary discussions with Japan s Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp and Kobe Steel Ltd on various areas of operations with regard to steel plants. SAIL is in preliminary discussions with Nippon Steel & Sumitomo Metal Corp and Kobe Steel on various areas of operations of steel plants, a source said. The source declined however to divulge further details redit rating agency ICRA says the Cscheme for procurement of wind energy through auction is a positive for the sector but receivables (payment delays by discoms) remain an area of concern. In ICRA s view, continuing delays in the payments by the stateowned distribution utilities (discoms) in key states such as Maharashtra and Rajasthan pose a challenge for the wind energy sector, although some improvement has been seen lately, ICRA said. On the positive side, however, ICRA believes that the MNRE scheme for procurement of 1 gw via the auction route would facilitate the offtake for wind energy players, it added. While there has been some improvement in payment pattern by utilities in Rajasthan, with the implementation of UDAY as well as by the utility in Maharashtra in the last 3 months, a build-up in receivable position is seen, which varies from 8 to 12 months as on November 2016 and thus remains quite significant, says ICRA Ratings Senior VP Sabyasachi Majumdar. MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES NOTICE INVITING E-TENDER Chief Engineer (AF)WAC Palam Delhi Cantt on behalf of President of India invites online item rate/lump Sum bids on Single Stage Two Cover Bid System for the following work:- 1. Name of Work - PROVN OF STANDARD MT & MTRS SECTION AT AF STN PALAM 2. Estimated Cost - Rs Lakhs 3. Period of Completion - 12 Months. 4. Tender ID _MES_93422 For further detail refer web site eprocuremes.gov.in/eprocure.gov.in Note:- 1. Notice Inviting Bid as published in newspapers shall not form part of notice of tender/bid document. 2. Type of tender (Lump sum/item rate etc) shall be as applicable and bid system shall be specifically mentioned as decided by accepting officer. davp 10102/11/3306/1617 MILITARY ENGINEER SERVICES NOTICE INVITING E-TENDER Chief Engineer (AF)WAC Palam Delhi Cantt on behalf of President of India invites online item rate/lump Sum bids on Single Stage Two Cover Bid System for the following work:- 1. Name of Work - PROVISION OF FURNITURE FOR INTEGRATED SHQ (ISH) AT AIR HQ CONN SQN AT AF STN PALAM 2. Estimated Cost - Rs Lakhs 3. Period of Completion - 06 Months. 4. Tender ID _MES_93830 For further detail refer web site eprocuremes.gov.in/eprocure.gov.in Note:- 1. Notice Inviting Bid as published in newspapers shall not form part of notice of tender/bid document. 2. Type of tender (Lump sum/item rate etc) shall be as applicable and bid system shall be specifically mentioned as decided by accepting officer. davp 10102/11/3304/1617 the imports mainly take care of demand from the jewellery industry.for the full year of , CAD stood at $22.1 billion, or 1.1 per cent of GDP, as against $26.8 billion, or 1.3 per cent, in In volume terms, the country s total official gold imports declined to 60 tonnes in April-July of this fiscal, much lower than 250 tonnes in the year-ago period. India imported 650 tonnes of gold in The imports remained stable at around 100 tonnes in November despite fall in sales of jewellery due to the cash crunch following demonetisation. According to experts, the rural demand is affected due to the currency shortage after withdrawal of 500 and 1,000 notes announced on November 8. According the World Gold Council's report, India's gold demand declined 28 per cent to tonnes in July-September this year due to high prices and regulatory changes. PTI but added that the parties (SAIL, Nippon Steel and Sumitomo Metal Corp and Kobe Steel) will be looking at their individual strengths. Domestic steel major SAIL had last month entered into a pact with South Korean giant Posco for technical collaboration for operational improvements. A MoU was signed on November 7, 2016, between Posco and SAIL on technical collaboration for operational improvements and Human NEW DELHI: The consolidation phase in insurance that started with HDFC Ergo acquiring private player L&T General Insurance is expected to continue in the new year, apart from more FDI inflows and perhaps a few more companies hitting the stock market. Four public general insurance companies - New India Assurance Company, National Insurance Company, Oriental Insurance Co and United India Insurance Co -- are gearing up for listing. The announcement to this effect was made in the budget this year. A Cabinet note has Resource Development, it had said. SAIL Chairman PK Singh had said that the MoU is an important milestone in SAIL-Posco s long standing relationship and in future the companies would be collaborating in many more areas. The stateowned firm had reported a decline in standalone net loss at crore for the quarter ended September 30, helped by a strong marketing push and cost optimisation measures. PTI been circulated and post approval, they will go for the listing. In the private space, the largest life insurer ICICI Prudential became the first such player to get listed on stock exchanges. It generated much investor interest in the first-ever public offer in the insurance space in 16 years after it was opened to private players. The 6,057-crore public issue was subscribed times. The reserved portion of qualified institutional buyers was subscribed times and the non-institutional investor category times. PTI

12 n estimated 3,000 people, Aincluding dozens of orphans, have left Aleppo in one of the besieged Syrian city s biggest evacuations yet. More than 4,500 civilians have left rebel-held parts of eastern Aleppo so far on Monday. Among them is seven-year-old Bana Alabed, who had tweeted about conditions in the city. A linked evacuation of government-held parts of Idlib province being besieged by rebels started early on Monday. While civilians are being moved to safety, the UN Security Council is to discuss sending monitors to oversee the mass evacuations. There are hopes that countries divided on Syria s fate will come to a rare agreement on the crisis. About 20 buses carrying people from Aleppo have arrived at the staging ground west of the city, said Dr Ahmad Dbis, who heads a team of doctors and volunteers coordinating evacuations. Another 25 vehicles arrived less than two hours later, he said, bringing the total evacuated this morning to around 3,000 people. Dbis said he saw families wrapped in several layers of coats getting off the buses and receiving packs of bottled water and food. One thin young boy was biting into an apple while his family sat on the cold earth behind him. More than 30 buses packed with people had waited overnight in freezing temperatures to leave Aleppo under a complex evacuation deal. Just 350 people were able to leave after Russia and Turkey urged the government to allow five buses to pass its final checkpoint, the Syrian ilitary and police Mdeployed across Congo s capital on Monday amid fears of unrest on the last official day of President Joseph Kabila s mandate. He intends to stay on after the midnight deadline; a court has ruled he can remain in power until new elections, now postponed indefinitely, are held. At least 41 opposition members and activists were arrested in the eastern city of Goma, according to Human Rights Watch and local residents. Anger has been growing since it became clear that the vote once set for November would not take place on time. Political talks between the ruling party and the opposition, mediated by the Catholic church, stalled over the weekend and are set to resume on Wednesday. Congolese officials have said more time is needed to update voter rolls and make other preparations. The ruling party has suggested holding the vote in April Opposition leader Felix Tshisekedi has said new elections must be held in The opposition has not officially called for demonstrations, though many observers expect people to take to the streets as they did in September, when the electoral commission failed to schedule the election. Human rights groups say more he death toll from alcohol Tpoisoning in a Siberian city has risen to at least 41 after the victims consumed a bath lotion, officials said Monday, prompting local officials to introduce a state of emergency on Monday. Responding to the tragedy in Irkutsk, the Russian government also called for tighter regulation of the alcohol market. The sale of lotions and tinctures containing alcohol has been on the rise in recent years as Russia has plunged into recession under the impact of Western sanctions and a slide in oil prices. Poisonings caused by cheap surrogate alcohol are a regular occurrence, but the Irkutsk case was unprecedented in its scale. While local officials in Irkutsk introduced a state of emergency in a desperate bid to prevent more deaths, Russia s top investigative agency opened a probe into the incident and arrested several people suspected of involvement in the sales of the lotion. Irkutsk s regional government said the victims had died of methanol poisoning after consuming the bath lotion. Officials said the bottles with the lotion were clearly marked with warnings that they weren t for internal use. The death toll has been growing quickly since the weekend, and reached 41, local prosecutor Stanislav Zubovsky said. than 50 people died. We can t demonstrate because of the police. They are patrolling and searching people, Jean Eva, an unemployed young man, said Monday. Tonight it s the end of Kabila s mandate. At midnight, we are going to whistle to mark the end of the match. We ll whistle from our homes, in front of our doors. Lots of people got whistles. Observatory for Human Rights said. The departure of the remaining buses had reportedly been delayed until hundreds of people could be evacuated from two northwestern villages under siege by the rebels. United Nations: With Russia s backing, the Security Council on Monday voted to quickly deploy UN observers to Aleppo to monitor evacuations and report on the fate of civilians who remain in the besieged Syrian city. The council unanimously adopted a French-drafted resolution that marks the first show of unity in months among world powers grappling with the crisis in Syria. AFP London: ISIS has offered a $1 million reward for the killing of a Kurdish-Danish woman who dropped out of university in 2014 to fight the terror group in Syria and Iraq. Joanna Palani, 23, is currently behind bars and facing trial in Copenhagen for leaving the country after a 12-month travel ban imposed in June 2015, The Independent reported. Her trial begins tomorrow and if found guilty she faces up to two years in prison under the new laws designed to stem the flow of ISIS militants from Denmark to the Middle East. Palani is often the subject of vicious threats both on and offline following her return to Denmark. The latest offerings of financial reward for her death were made by ISIS social media channels in several different languages over the weekend, the paper said, citing Arab media. PTI Beijing: China and Norway on Monday agreed to normalise political and diplomatic ties after a six-year hiatus over granting the Nobel Peace Prize to a prominent Chinese dissident. Beijing and Oslo also agreed to immediately resume negotiation on a free trade agreement, which did not materialise in 2010 as China put off the decision to conclude it, in a retaliation for granting the peace prize to jailed dissident Liu Xiaobo. Chinese Premier Li Keqiang and Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende held a meeting here today following which China and Norway reached consensus on normalisation of ties, staterun Xinhua news agency reported. Li said foreign ministers of the two countries had candid and in-depth talks, and reached an agreement on the normalisation of bilateral ties. hina on Monday rejected CPresident- elect Donald Trump s charge that it stole an American drone, saying the device was picked up to prevent harm to freedom of navigation in the disputed South China Sea, from where Beijing claims the US is spying on Chinese coast. First of all we did not like the word stealing. This is also not accurate, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying said. His claim had come hours after the Chinese government had said it had been in touch with the US military about the incident. Hua said both militaries are hristine Lagarde, the man- director of the Caging International Monetary Fund (IMF), was found guilty on Monday of criminal charges linked to the misuse of public funds during her time as France s finance minister, a verdict that could force her out of her post. Ms. Lagarde, who began her second five-year term at the Brussels: The European Union on Monday extended for another six months damaging economic sanctions against Russia over its intervention in Ukraine. EU leaders decided at a summit last week to roll over the sanctions first imposed in 2014 and the European Council, which groups the 28 member states, confirmed the decision. The Council prolonged the economic sanctions targeting specific sectors of the Russian economy until 31 July 2017, said the statement from the council. The sanctions target the financial, energy, and defence sectors and items that could be used for both industrial and military means. German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande said last week they wanted the sanctions extended because Moscow was not living up to its Ukraine truce commitments. handling the issue smoothly. She also denied US allegations that the Chinese naval ship picked it up and took it away despite messages from the US survey ship USNS Bowditch which controlled the drone. As really what happened you can see from Defence Ministry statement that the Chinese navy found this unidentified device and examined in a professional manner to verify it, Hua said. No matter how they see this unidentified device, most important thing is that Chinese navy took a professional and responsible decision to do this in order to prevent from causing harm to freedom of navigation, she said. photo published by AChinese military showing its strategic bomber reportedly flying over Taiwan, days after Beijing s spat with US President-elect Donald Trump over his questioning of One China policy, has sparked concerns in the island, official media here reported. The photo published by the People s Liberation Army Air Force (PLAAF) showing a longrange strategic bomber flying within visible range of Yushan, Taiwan s highest mountain, has IMF in February, will not face any jail time, the judge said. The scandal has overshadowed her work at the fund, to which she was appointed in 2011, after Dominique Strauss-Kahn resigned as managing director when he was accused of having sexually assaulted a maid in a New York City hotel. The move is likely to destabilise the IMF as it faces a host of thorny issues, including questions over its participation Washington: The US got it wrong about Saddam Hussein and Iraq, the CIA analyst who interrogated the former dictator has said. John Nixon had numerous conversations with the deposed leader and now says that America was critically mistaken about their intervention Iraq in a number of ways. In particular, he claims, the CIA s view of Hussein s attitude to using chemical weapons was wrong. They were also mistaken about his health, personal habits and his involvement in running Iraq. Nixon also criticised the conduct of George W Bush, under whose leadership America invaded Iraq, saying the former president heard only what he wanted to hear on the topic and reportedly made inappropriate jokes about the missing WMDs. Bush blamed the CIA for Iraq s failures, Nixon said, adding that he called its analysis guesswork. During the interrogations, caused great concern in Taiwan amid debate about whether the mainland will reunify the island by force, state-run Global Times reported. It said the PLA Air Force published the photo on its Sina Weibo account, showing an Xian H-6K bomber flying above the clouds with two mountain peaks rising in the distance. Military commentators on the mainland believe the peaks are of a mountain in Taiwan, which has made many netizens marvel at the PLA s military capability, the report said. in a multibillion-dollar bailout for Greece and uncertainty about the United States role in the organisation once Donald Trump becomes President in January. The verdict was a surprise, after the prosecutor in the trial said last week that the case against her was very weak and did not appear to be enough to win a conviction. It is a theme prosecutors have previously repeated. Mr Nixon asked Hussein if he d ever thought of engaging in a pre-emptive strike with WMDs against US troops based in Saudi Arabia. According to Nixon, writing in the Mail on Sunday, the former dictator s reply was: We never thought about using weapons of mass destruction. It was not discussed. Use chemical weapons against the world? Is there anyone with full faculties who would do this? Who would use these weapons when they had not been used against us? Mr Nixon admitted this was not what we had expected to hear. The main reason the US and British Governments used to justify controversial invasion of Iraq was the supposed risk posed by the WMDs possessed by the country. Hussein then said America had made such a grave misjudgement because the spirit of listening and understanding was not there and some of the blame for this lay with himself. The Independent Jerusalem: Israeli tanks fired shells at a Hamas post in the Gaza Strip today after troops were shot at on the border with the Palestinian territory, the Army said. Shots were fired towards Israeli soldiers by the fence along the largely closed border by unknown assailants, the army said in a statement. In response, tanks targeted a Hamas post. Sources close to the Hamas-run interior ministry said the tanks targeted an observation tower near the Al- Bureij refugee camp in central Gaza. No casualties were reported on either side. Israel holds Hamas responsible for all violence from the territory and often responds with air or tank strikes. However smaller Islamist groups have sometimes claimed responsibility for attacks, including rocket fire. Israel and Hamas have observed a tense ceasefire since the end of their last conflict in August Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza have fought three wars since AFP Abuja: A 12-year-old boy in Ondo state of Nigeria was miraculously rescued after spending three days trapped in a tiny gap between a house and a wall, media reported on Monday. Aduragbemi Saka was visiting a cafe alone when he started playing in 12-inches wide gap between the breeze block wall and a student house. But he got stuck and with no relatives nearby he spent three days crying to himself with passersby ignoring the sounds, the Mail reported. Eventually neighbours heard the boy singing to himself and they looked inside the gap to see him curled up in a ball. The police smashed through the wall and pulled him out covered in dust but still alive in the Oduduwa area. IANS

13 K riti Sanon sparkles the way only someone in the flush of new-found success can. The Delhi girl was back home and we could see how excited she was this time, carrying a little bit of self-pride and her own clothing line. I am so happy to be here, you have no idea. I am in Delhi after a long time but what has happened to the winters, no chill at all. I am very restless today, I want to stand, she said as she waved to the crowd that had gathered to get a glimpse of her. She had an unusually non-starry vibe, one that makes you feel that she s just a girl next door. The engineering graduate decided to move to Mumbai and pursue modelling as a hobby. Little did she knew that her life was about to change, and change for the best. Recalling her beginnings, she told us, My journey I believe has been amazing, Sometimes I really feel whatever happens, happens for the best and sometimes you don t know where you are going. You are just moving and you figure out where you really want to go. I was just moving and figuring out. While I was pursuing B.Tech I thought let s try modelling, it will be a good experience. I have always been someone who loves dressing up and experimenting with style. I am like a typical girl who takes nothing less than one-and-a-half hour to figure out what she wants to wear. So that s how I got into modelling. It was while doing ads that I found out my love for acting which I would have never been able to figure out otherwise. So I think destiny also played its role in putting things together. Nenokkadine, Mahesh Babu s film, happened that time. I gave an audition and got selected. That was the first film I started shooting and it was while working on that project that I auditioned for Heropanti. So I was shooting for both the films almost together. My Tollywood and Bollywood journeys were kind of parallel that time. Also I don t see any difference between Tollywood and Bollywood apart from the language of course. Both the industries are equally passionate about cinema and have equally talented technicians and artists. I personally didn t find any difference. There has been no looking back for this long-legged beauty since. When I was modelling, I was also doing TV commercials and that s when I realised that I was not at all conscious of the moving camera. I could express really well. Then my director came and told me ver imagined a dancing traffic Ecop? Well, sony sab s new show Khatmal-e-Ishque, featuring Vishal Malhotra and Umang Jain, is a romantic tale of a dancing traffic cop. Controlling traffic, that too while dancing, requires skill and patience. I went through a lot of research for the role. I am also a member of a whatsapp group which comprises only Mumbai traffic cops. The experience made me realise that traffic management is a tough job, which we tend to take for granted. I truly appreciate our traffic cops, who work silently all day in the harshest of conditions. I dedicate this character to all our traffic cops and salute them for their efforts, smiles Vishal. Vishal, who became an actor while he was still in early teens, feels that an early start in life is rarely very successful as actors in adulthood. I agree that child artistes haven t really made it big in the Indian entertainment industry. But in my case, I wasn t exactly a child artiste. I was 17 when I began shooting for the serial. So, I think that worked in my favour. Had I been a child artiste, I don t think things would have turned out so good for me, just going by history, he reiterates, adding that it s probably the actor s image of a child on screen that s not easily forgotten by the audience, hence the problem in acceptance as a hero or a heroine. In fact, Vishal says that he is the most unsatisfied man in life. And that s because hel feels that satisfaction kills the drive to do better and more in life in a person. Khatmal-e-Ishque is the first show where he has managed the lead role. The show also has actors like Akhilendra Mishra and Sharat Saxena. that you have that acting bug and you should polish it and try for movies. Once I got into the groove, I realised that this is something I want to do everyday in my life, she added. Is there someone in the industry that she looks up to? Kriti chose the safer side and said, Each and every actor brings something different to the table and has a very different way of approaching the scenes. So as an actor I think it is important to study how other actors work and I am someone who watches a lot of films and admires a lot of actors in terms of how they do what they do. So I couldn t name one, there are many of them. About being an outsider in the film industry, she told us, It is difficult because there s a huge number of young people who have that talent and a dream but the number of opportunities is unfortunately limited. It is very difficult, especially when you don t come from the film background. You know nothing about the industry. You don t know anybody, you don t know how to walk your first step. It is very tricky but I would say I have done it, so it s not impossible. I don t think there is any mantra or pattern here. For me its more about how I feel about the script when I hear or read it. My approach is very instinctive and I ask myself would the audience really want to watch this kind of film? I try not to repeat myself. As an actor, you need to vary, enact different characters and take your graph higher. As a young fashionista, Kriti explained it s personal and she follows nobody. I was always fashion conscious. I don t follow anybody. I go with what I feel comfortable in and what I think looks good on me, she told us. So what is her take on the more assertive role of women actors on screen? I think it has been there always though talked about more now. Look at our classic heroines, each of their characters has been gritty. Since the time I have been watching films, there have been many strong, women-oriented films whih have been appreciated. What has changed is the commercial viability and mass acceptance. In today s time people are willing to put their money on a woman running or holding a film. The pace of the last year has left the actress breathless, both with exhaustion and exhilaration at having finally found her rhythm in Bollywood. Kriti has had a packed schedule this year and is looking forward to two releases next year. I have just wrapped up Raabta and Bareilly Ki Barfi. I am just left with a little bit of patchwork and a few songs. I will have two releases next year, in June and July. Kriti said her colleague Kangana Ranaut is very outspoken and she loves that about her. Praising the Queen star, she said, Kangana is someone who has never followed rules and she has her own mind. Asked whom she would like to style from the Ms. Taken collection, Kriti said: Everybody I know. There are a lot of names, but probably to start of with I think Kangana. ou didn t have to know Yexactly who she was to appreciate Zsa Zsa Gabor. She belonged to a rare, hard-to-catalogue vintage of celebrity, not only the great-aunt of Paris Hilton, but a true ancestor of Hilton s jet-set flamboyance. For such a flashy member of the leisure class, she did plenty, appearing in a number of films, including Orson Welles Touch of Evil; logging enough husbands and flaunting sex appeal, excess glamour and an exotic accent into her senior years. But none of this fully accounts for the enduring recognition she enjoyed and cultivated. Maybe she just knew how to work it. Maybe it happened above and beyond her control. It certainly helped that she was in on the joke. Calling everyone dahlink in her heavy Hungarian accent, which she never managed to lose, the radiant blonde actress, who died in Los Angeles on Sunday aged 99, had 76 appearances in film and TV shows in a career spanning from 1951 to She was a symbol, from the 1950s on, of European style and hha-ohhey ohha-ohhey They repeated in rhythm as they danced in a circle. The Omen wore a kilt and a shawl across their bare chest. The women were draped in long skirts and their chunky neckpieces clang in tune with their movements. Their commander was at the centre with a spear in his hand; his head gear, the pasi, was decked with plastic flowers to signify his status. The men and women danced and hummed in harmony. The performance recreated the tradition of seed-sowing rituals of the Tangkhuls, a tribal group in Manipur. It was one of the many attractions at The North East festival at DLF Place. The folk dance was followed by a fashion show, which opened a new chapter for people unaware of the loin loom and other handlooms from the Northeast. Rinzing Choden, one of the designers, presented flowy gowns with folk motifs, folklore, animal and plant life. Loin is made from bamboo and wood. The weaver sits on the floor and is assisted by another woman who goes back and forth with a bobbin of yarn, helping to build the entire length and width of the warp. The weaver separates the thread of the top layer from the bottom layer. The threads from under the shed stick are then strung with yarn heddles. Warp, shed and yarn heddles are made thread by thread, said the designer. The collections of other designers amply highlighted the unique motifs, colour patterns, silhouettes, weaving techniques and accessories of every north-eastern state. And the fabrics used by them were indigenous wild silks, golden Muga, white Pat and warm Eri, Mekhela chador and tussar silk. Since the design skills of each state are a visual treat, North East s distinctivenessand its closeness to nature were beautifully presented. The outfits, accessories were eye-catching, absorbing as they communicated diverse stories and mythologies. There were collections inspired by tribal accessories made of metals like copper, iron, brass, silver, bamboo and feather that signify their rich heritage and culture. They have a story behind them like a particular kind of headgear of Nagaland symbolises one s family, power and status. Apart from the folk dance and fashion shows, the exhibition also had stalls for people who look for something different to decorate their house. I grew up watching my grand-fathers make these bamboo artefacts. It is our family profession, said Biswajit Biswas, an artisan from Tripura, who has a stall of bamboo and cane craft items. Bamboo mugs, water jars, table mats, wall decorations along with cane earrings, necklaces, pocket mirrors and hair clips were on display here. Young girls huddled around the Manipuri stall of Ibemcha and her niece Ngoureu. Ngoureu was demonstrating how to wear a gamcha, a wrap-around, traditionally worn by the Manipuri women. There is a way to wear it and no matter what you are doing, it won t fall off, she laughed. They were also selling warm stoles made from yak wool, cotton dupattas with floral embroidery and boat-shaped cane purses. Talented craftsmen from Tripura had carved exquisite designs out of driftwood. A stall from Manipur had silk saris, dupattas, suit material and Muga silk shawls. The other stall offered prayer mats and mattresses made from Kauna grass which are said to have medicinal properties. From the same corner of the country, but from Assam was Haider Ali who had carted bamboo and cane chairs, sofa sets and moodas, besides bamboo candle stands, mugs and lamp shades. The Mangaligiri cottons have zari work and ethnic prints, depicting scenes from Indian mythology. There are also Manipuri silk saris that give off a subtle sheen. We apply rice water on the fabric to get this sheen, Abdul explained. He said it takes around one-and-a-half day to make a sari. And usually, when we make these wares, we keep one piece to ourselves for our record. After all, these are hand-made. They are special. flair, of material and romantic extravagance. She was rich in more ways than one. She was playful and outspoken. She was blessed with a ritzy, come-hither name: Zsaahhhh Zsaahhhh! Some of the heavy-lifting that helped sustain the Gabor brand was courtesy Zsa Zsa s lookalike sister Eva, who shared the Gabor pizazz. Eva s star turn in the 1960s as a sitcom socialite on Green Acres has guaranteed her immortality in the pop-culture pantheon and, by association, given Zsa Zsa status beyond her own accomplishments. But Zsa Zsa could be funny, too. In a TV commercial from 1963, a begowned, bejewelled Gabor extols the virtues of the Studebaker Lark, kittenishly calling this midlevel compact so nice, so chic. The car featured new-fangled disc brakes, and in her fractured English, Gabor purrs to the audience, My friend says I would be in jail from coast to coast if I wouldn t have them. In 1989, she hit the brakes and had a celebrated brush with the law while driving not a Lark, but her own Rolls- Royce Corniche convertible. She slapped the face of a Beverly Hills, California, police officer who had the effrontery to stop her for a traffic violation. The officer was rude. She testified at the trial where she was subsequently found guilty of assault. Her arrest became just another sparkling career move. She spoofed the incident in Naked Gun and various other cameo appearances. Dahling, the Zsa Zsa legend cannot die, even in a culture with short memories where attentionseekers jostle for camera time. She lives on, unchallenged, in the cultural ether. Meanwhile, it s not hard to imagine her in heaven right now, tricked out with wings and a Blackglama mink, advising St Peter that the Pearly Gates clash with her diamonds.

14 or generations, traditional heal- knew that music and dance Fers have the power to heal and even today several classical singers feel that tunes have the power to take one out of himself for some time. But Shikha Nehru Sharma, a doctor turned nutrition expert, wants to show that dance has the same powers of healing and is also a major stress-buster. In the times when the stress of managing deadlines and achieving success is weighing on everyone s mind, it becomes even more important to find ways to reduce stress and anxiety. We all should work towards finding peace despite the pressures of everyday life, she said. The nutrition and weight management expert surprised the audience at the Alliance Francaise with her debut Bharatanatyam performance. The dance performance was a preface to her book launch, to prove the points she made in her book Health, Stressmanagement and Fitness via Bharatanatyam. Sharma realised by practical experience that Bharatanatyam is the perfect antidote to stress, which helps achieve a state of inner balance and peace. After completing my medicine, I started practising in the heart care unit at a F rom the solemn-faced men and women he etched during his time in post-war France, to his spiritual landscapes of Benaras, Ram Kumar s artistic process is marked by quiet contemplation. This approach is evident in the 73 works that are part of the exhibition Ram Kumar: Traversing the Landscapes of the Mind. The gallery space at Claridges is adorned with many arresting works of the veteran artist, who was a fiction writer before he picked up brush and paint. The exhibition shows his life through selective works from different periods of his career. It includes his early figurative works and gradual movement into abstraction where silence reigns supreme. One of the paintings is a rare figurative work by the artist who later embraced abstracts. A painting showing youngsters clad in formal black suits, against the city at night, stands in contrast to the more vivid portraits of Benaras. His figurative phase continued till the 1950s when human figures started receding into the background before finally vanishing. The abstract cityscape series on Varanasi has been celebrated over the years for the artist s individualistic take on a city that left a lasting impression Government hospital. I often encountered cases when a person got a heart attack because of wrong diet and mostly because of stress. So my whole concept began from there as how to ensure preventive health care by correct nutrition and stress management, she said. However, with her mission to spread stress management, came a tougher obstacle. As my work grew and the mental pressures of following my dream with passion and determination took their toll on my health, I found I could treat myself with the correct nutrition and ayurvedic medicines. But the stress was getting difficult to manage. Once while searching for solutions to fight stress, I stumbled upon the word Natya Yoga, also known as Bharatnatyam, which was a combination of breathing, exercise, meditation and music. I thought I had found the antidote. This was that Eureka moment for me and over time it proved right. She also shared the benefits of on him. Benaras, Ram Kumar felt, blurred the line between life and death. An abstract, dated 1993, has the artist painting the ancient city standing witness to all that happens on the river, teeming with people and boats. The artist draws attention to the many facets of the city with his astute use of colours and textures. A cityscape showing rows of houses in muted shades of beige, brown and yellow juxtaposing the water is the artist s way of emphasising the plight of widows Bharatanatyam in her book and explained how dancing to the intonation of Sanskrit mantras and shlokas is like praying in motion. She said, Initially when I joined the classes, it was a tad difficult to pick up on the dance form but gradually I realised that it gave me a lot of positive energy and took a lot off my mind. Sharma found that Bharatanatyam not only helped her manage stress but also improve concentration, memory, build flexibility and strengthen her spine and back. The foot-tapping movements are like acupressure that help press all the points of the body connected to the feet. They also help increase concentration power essential to dance, she added. Training for more than two years now, she said that Bharatnatyam has also improved her mind and body coordination and fitness levels. She discovered that it may have application in learning subjects like geometry and maths via the beats of rhythm. Unlike most of the dance forms which are fluid in nature, in Bharatnatyam you have to draw a straight line while dancing. The dance form uses nodal geometric shapes, natural angles that the axis of the body makes with the limbs while dancing. Also, every motion uses the cardinal numbers 3, 4, 5, 7 and 9 to arrive at a sum of 32, which is the basic numerical structure of Bharatnatyam, she explained. With other dancing forms taking the centre stage lately, Sharma wanted that Bharatnatyam should be well-practised too for it has ample of healing properties. Apart from the book, I will try to tell more and more people about how this dance form can curb stress. Even now, I try to spread a word through the lectures I deliver, she concluded. erendipity Arts Festival witnessed an Sidyllic mix of music, arts, and theatre, as well as a speaker zone where budding artists were exposed to the finer nuances of their chosen art practice by experts including industry veterans like Prashant Panjiar, Dinesh Khanna, Manisha Parekh. A constant stream of art enthusiasts kept the energies flowing along the bank of river Mandovi. One of the highlights of the day was Drishti, an innovative dance workshop by acclaimed Indian classical dancers Anwesa Mohanta, Bindu Juneja, Parwati Dutta and Priti Patel wherein each performer provided philosophical and physical insights and perspectives to their respective dance forms such as Sattriya, Kuchipudi and Kathak. While most workshops kept audiences verbally and visually engaged, the Sarguja clay relief craft workshop by Sundari Bai got people to exert beyond their eyes and ears. Hailing from the Rajwar community of Sarguja district, Chhattisgarh, where who came to the holy city to die; it is an impression of the sombre side of the city where dead bodies await befitting funerals. In some paintings, Ram Kumar uses solid hues to denote the vibrancy of the city and in others, using black, grey and white, he paints sordid images, reflecting on what he perceives to be a ghost town with its narrow, crowded alleys. The strokes vary with the hues, meditative in some cases and turbulent in others. The three sections are divided into his landmark Sad Town series: other figurative works, travel landscapes and black-and-white drawings. But before he turned to landscapes, one can easily say that he was fascinated by human figures. Terrorised faces, lonely people estranged from each other occupied his other canvases. These paintings reflect his brief dalliance with the communist movement in France. In his other paintings, dated 2010 and 2013, Ram Kumar chooses happier tones to showcase landscapes, perhaps denoting his shift in views. The exhibition is on at Saffronart state-ofthe-art gallery space at The Claridges till December 31. ome of the art-works in Sdisplay at the DAG Modern were nearly half a century old. The gallery bought together a range of artistic expressions by putting up for a coveted line-up of close to seventy artworks of fourteen prominent modernist masters of the 20th century, who left India in their youth and did most of their work abroad. Memory and Identity featured fourteen Indian artists who left their native country to live and work abroad. Their destinations were cosmopolitan: Paris, London, New York, Oslo, Copenhagen. Some found near-immediate success. The avant-garde painter F. N. Souza ( ), often called the Indian Picasso, left for London in 1949 and become one of the first post-independence Indian artists to earn international recognition. Modernist painter S. H. Raza ( ) also made a distinct impression on the European art scene. He left for Paris in 1950 and within six years had won a sought-after critics award, the Prix de la critique. Sharing about how did the idea about the exhibition came up, curator Kishore Singh said that they wanted to know what people perceive from these art works. Western art critics have a tendencyfairly or otherwise-to interpret these works through a foreigner s lens and, thus, to frequently classify Eastern works as exotic. Still, it s hard to deny that some degree of ethnic identity is indeed present in these works. But how would these same paintings, drawings, and sculptures be read by Indian critics? And to what extent are these works a product of their native and adopted cultures?, he said. Does the artist s ethnic identity mean art too has an ethnic identity? Perhaps that depends on the definition of ethnic identity. While overt nationalism is absent from the featured works, hints of Indianness run through the exhibition. Raza, for instance, spent years working on an image that has been linked to the tradition of tantra, and Souza s erotic pen-andink drawings have some semblance to the Kama Sutra. Meanwhile, Sakti Burman s many-armed and multi-headed figures evoke classical depictions of Hindu deities, said Singh. The intriguing show raised all these questions, and more, as it explored what it means to be native, to belong, and the ways the past leaves an indelible mark on any artist, regardless of nationality. motifs of deities, nature, life adorn the walls and doorways of homes, Sundari Bai brought a slice of tradition to the Old GMC grounds. A popular name, her commissioned works can be seen at the Ghasidas Museum in Raipur and in the form of an installation in the State Assembly Building. Another slice of tradition came alive in the form of The Portuguese Passport by Khel Tiatr. As Khels are usually performed in open spaces, it made for a perfect choice for the street engagement initiative envisioned for the festival. An assemblage of theatre sketches performed by contemporary Tiatr performers, the performance revolved around the narrative of migration and the Portuguese passport. A few hundred meters down the road, ephemeral stories and philosophical thoughts captured by photographers from across the world unfolded as Serendipity Street took over the Jardim Garcia D Orta (Municipal Garden) with its cosmos of beautiful imagery. The youth got their due when emerging talent in music took to the stage with Young Stars a project by Colin D Cruz, where they had professionals backing them to showcase their skills. The highlight of the fourth day was the Speed Networking Zone, a special zone that encouraged everyone present visitors, delegates, artists, curators, participants, et al to meet, greet, and exchange notes.

15 Y oung Karun Nair on Monday announced his arrival at the world stage with an unforgettable triple ton (303 not out) as India broke a deluge of records en route their highest ever Test total of 759 for 7 against England on the penultimate day of the fifth and final match here. It was a day that solely belongs to the 25-yearold Karun, who become the second Indian batsman after the legendary Virender Sehwag (twice) to hit a triple hundred in Test match cricket. During his marathon 381-ball innings, Karun hit 32 boundaries and four huge sixes as India took a huge lead of 282 runs before England finished the day at 12 for no loss. With 90 overs remaining on the final day and a reasonably good track to bat on, England will fancy their chance of at least saving the Test. Karun, who has been touted as one of the next big hopes in Indian cricket for his prolific scores in domestic cricket, showed just why he is highly rated. Karun scored 232 runs in a single day and enthralled a select Chepauk crowd with shots all around the ground. The best part was his ability to use the entire 360 degree of the ground hitting his shots. Equally adept at front and backfoot play, he was quick to use his feet against England spinners with their premier tweaker Moeen Ali returning with dismal figures of 1/190 in 41 overs while Liam Dawson (2/129) and Adil Rashid (1/153) also proved to be expensive. Call it poetic justice, it was another identical loopy leg break from Adil Rashid -- a throwback to what he had exactly bowled to KL Rahul on Sunday when the opener was on the cusp of double hundred. Rahul was unlucky but Karun's lazy cut shot escaped a diving Alastair Cook as the entire Indian dressing room led by captain Virat Kohli gave Karun a standing ovation. It is an irony that this chance that Karun got was a lucky one considering he was not in line for a Test debut during the series. He was picked for the series after Rohit Sharma suffered hamstring injury. Then a freak injury for Rahul opened the Test 'door' for Karun in Mohali where he was unfortunately run-out. Once Rahul was fit in Mumbai, Karun was expected to sit out but this time it was Ajinkya Rahane, who was ruled out due to a finger fracture. Karun didn't get too many there also but Rahane being ousted meant that he got another opportunity. ndian pacer Ishant Sharma, English Ibatting star Kevin Pietersen and South African speedster Dale Steyn were among the biggest names to be released by their respective franchises ahead of the Indian Premier League's 10th edition next year. As many as 140 cricketers, including 44 overseas players, have been retained, while 63 were let go by the eight franchises for season 10. Ishant, who just returned to the Indian Test team after a long injury layoff for the ongoing fifth and final match against England in Chennai, fetched Rs 3.8 crore from Rising Pune Supergiants in the players' auction last year. Rising Pune Supergiants had finished seventh in the last edition of the league. Rising Pune Supergiants (11), Royal Challengers Bangalore (10) and Kolkata Knight Riders (9) were the franchises to release a major chunk of the players. England's former star batsman Pietersen earned Rs 3.5 crore from Pune and South African pace spearhead Steyn had gone for Rs 2.3 crore to debutants Gujarat Lions. Pietersen, who couldn't play last season following an injury, has been released by the Pune along with Ishant, all-rounder Irfan Pathan and spinner Murugan Ashwin. Delhi Daredevils, who spent Rs 8.5 ife has changed in a matter of few Lhours for Karun Nair, India's second triple centurion in Tests and the Bangalore boy admits that it will take some time to sink in. "Everyone is being very nice to me. They have congratulated me. I think it will take a couple of days for myself to sink in. The dressing room atmosphere has always been really good and they have always backed me in whatever I have done," Karun said at the day end press conference. Asked as to when he thought about getting to a triple century, Karun said it was only after he reached 280 that his partner Ravindra Jadeja started egging him on to reach the milestone. "I think it never took place in my mind. Once after I crossed 250, the team management had certain plans of crore on all-rounder Pawan Negi, have set the player free after he couldn't feature in most of the matches for the team. Kolkata Night Riders have released their overseas players -- Jason Holder, Colin Munro, John Hastings, Brad Hogg and Morkel, while Sunrisers Hyderabad have axed Trent Boult and Ashish Reddy, among others along with Morgan. Other big stars to be omitted included former Australian left-arm pacer Mitchell Johnson (Kings XI Punjab), South Africa Morne Morkel (Kolkata Knight Riders), New Zealand duo Corey Anderson and Martin Guptill (Mumbai Indians), Australia's Nathan Coulter-Nile (Delhi Daredevils) and England's ODI skipper Eoin Morgan (Sunrisers Hyderabad). going after the bowling and declaring. So I think within the space of five overs, I got to , that is when I started thinking and Jaddu kept egging me on to not throw it away and get to 300 easily." The 25-year-old said that there were nerves during each of the milestones on 99, 199 and 299. "Obviously, there are some nerves. You can't be thinking negative at that point. You just have to watch the ball and just get over that moment. You just have to feel that moment, being there." ngland coach Trevor Bayliss Eon Monday conceded that his team's fielding has been below par and last three dropped catches in the ongoing Test against India cost them 500 runs. India broke a flurry of records en route their highest ever Test total of 759 for seven declared against England on the penultimate day of the fifth and final match here. "Our catching is still below par. I think the last three catches we dropped cost us 500 (runs). That's disappointing. It is something that we should keep working on," said Bayliss at the post match press conference. "We are a team that hasn't got a lot of natural athletes. We have got very good cricketers. We haven't got lot of slippers (slip fielders). Across the board we just got to get better," he added. Bayliss admitted England were just not in the game on Monday. "I think most of them have gone through days like that and probably won't be the last time they'll go through it. It's never easy when it happens. You got to give credit to the Indian team and their batters, they played extremely well. We just weren't in the game today," he said. Stating that this is the best batting pitch in this series, Bayliss The pressure of approaching a triple hundred pales when one has survived a near death experience, said a calm and composed Karun Nair after becoming only the second said: "It's a good wicket. The best we have had in this series. Look at times we struggled to bowl to the fields the captain had set. That just makes it very difficult. They have got some good batters who obviously play spin very well. In home conditions they can make it very difficult, which we saw today." The coach said although England did not get desired results in the last seven Tests they had played in the sub-continent, the players never stopped trying. "One thing I can say about the seven Tests, including the two in Bangladesh, is that the guys haven't stopped trying. It's not as Indian batsman to score a triple hundred in Test cricket on Monday. Karun's unbeaten 303 against England in the ongoing fifth and final cricket Test put him in the same bracket as Garry Sobers and Bob Simpson on account of converting a debut century into a triple ton. Reflecting on the Those who have seen him bat in domestic cricket were always sure that he would succeed as no one Indian player has scored more runs in firstclass cricket in past three seasons (total) than the stockily built Karun. The triple hundred will surely increase positive 'problems' for Kohli and coach Anil Kumble as they will have to take a tough call once a fit Rahane is back in the scheme of things against Australia. Karun got some good support on Monday with Ravichandran Ashwin 967) adding 181 runs for the sixth wicket. Ashwin became the first Indian cricket, who has now scored more than 300 runs and taken in excess of 25 wickets in a series. The 138-run seventh wicket stand with Ravindra Jadeja (51) also enabled Karun to carry on with his attacking mode. All his four sixes were a treat. Against leftarmer Dawson, he stepped out to loft straight. A rising delivery from Stuart Broad (2/80) was given the ramp shot treatment. Resuming at the overnight score of 391-4, Nair and Murali Vijay (29) found the going a bit tough against the duo of Dawson and Stuart Broad. While Dawson bothered Vijay with his slow deliveries, Broad almost had his man when he induced a slight nick off the Tamil Nadu batsman but umpire Simon Fry felt otherwise and England didn't have any reviews left. In the next over, Nair blasted Dawson for his first six over long-on, while Vijay picked up a boundary off Ben Stokes behind point in the 121st over. One over later, Nair sliced Stokes behind point to pick up another boundary and along with it, his maiden Test century. He celebrated the achievement by raising his bat. Vijay's fall in the 124th over brought Ashwin to the crease and after a few overs, Nair once again repeated his treatment to Stokes, picking up successive boundaries off the bowler to keep the scoreboard ticking. Ashwin picked up his first boundary when he late cut a Dawson delivery behind point. Just before lunch, Adil Rashid was introduced into the attack and Nair hit him through extra cover as India took lunch after the 135th over. The 25-year-old Nair hit 11 fours and a six as he completed his maiden Test hundred in 217 balls. For the England team, it will be a series that their bowlers would like to forget in a hurry. Their premier spinners conceded in excess of 150 plus runs and the pacers did not have anything to look forward to on a docile track. While the batsmen made merry, one can always debate whether skipper Kohli could have declared a bit earlier than allowing Karun to reach his triple ton on the day. if they haven't put in and stopped trying. Yes, on this tour we have been outclassed," he stressed. Bayliss said while India were in a better position, England would look to play out the day tomorrow for a draw. "The players don't want to get on the plane with a loss. they want to play out the day." On Alastair Cook's captaincy, the coach said: "To be honest I haven't spoken to him about it. To be honest I won't be speaking to him about this. It's a decision only he will know the answer to. He is done it for so long, whether I say yes or no won't change his mind. knock, which has given India a chance to push for victory, Karun put things in perspective by recalling a boat accident in Kerala, which he survived earlier this year despite not knowing how to swim. "I didn't know how to swim. People there rescued me and I was lucky to live again (about the boat accident in his home in Kerala)," Karun told official broadcasters. Karun, who is originally from Kerala, was taking part in a temple festival when the boat he was on capsized in river Pampa in Kerala. "This is the best knock I've played in my life. There were many situations in the middle when I had to play differently, with (KL) Rahul, (Ravichandran) Ashwin and (Ravindra Jadeja) Jaddu. I have to thank them for supporting me, egging me on," Karun said at the end of the fourth day's play. singles MUMBAI: NEW DELHI: PUNE: LONDON: njuries to some key play- and poor form of some Iers others have forced defending champions Mumbai to make a few changes to their squad for the knock out Ranji Trophy quarter finals against Hyderabad to be played at Raipur from December The reigning champions will be without the services of opener Akhil Herwadkar, lower order batsman Shubham Ranjane. The biggest miss will be pace bowler Dhawal Kulkarni all of who are out due to injuries. The Mumbai selectors have brought in Kevin Almeida, who scored a triple hundred in a local tournament. More notable inclusions include in-form batsman Eknath Kerkar into the 15-strong squad while recalling off-spinner Akshay Girap. Also included in the squad are Praful Waghela, fit-again Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr) and Vijay Gohil, who were not part of the squad that played in the last group game against Punjab. Aditya Tare (Captain), Abhishek Nayar, Shreyas Iyer, Suryakumar Yadav, Siddhesh Lad, Praful Waghela, Kevin D Almeida, Shardul Thakur, Balwinder Singh Sandhu (Jr), Tushar Deshpande, Royston Dias, Sufiyan Shaikh, Vijay Gohil, Akshay Girap and Eknath Kerkar.

16 W ith his team 1-0 down and toiling against Arsenal, Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola slipped and tumbled to the ground in the technical area after kicking the ball back into play. Guardiola got back to his feet, dusted himself down and gestured to his team to keep going. On a day of recoveries in the English Premier League, City answered its coach's call. City scored twice in a stirring secondhalf performance to rally to a 2-1 win over Arsenal in a match between two teams battling to stay in sight of in-form league leader Chelsea. After Leroy Sane equalized in the 47th minute, Raheem Sterling scored the winner in the 71st minute when he collected a stunning cross-field ball from Kevin De Bruyne, cut inside and drove a low finish in at the near post. City moved into second place and back to within seven points of Chelsea, which has won 11 straight games to take control of the title race nearly halfway through the season. "Seven points is still a huge distance from a team who made 11 wins in a row," Guardiola said, who urged his team to "be there as much as possible and wait for (Chelsea) to fail." Tottenham also rallied to a 2-1 win after falling behind early to Burnley. Danny Rose grabbed the winning goal - in the 71st minute, like Sterling - to leave fifth-place Spurs a point behind Arsenal, its north London rival. Arsenal is nine points behind Chelsea. In the day's early game, Southampton recovered from falling behind in the sixth minute to beat Bournemouth 3-1, with striker Jay Rodriguez scoring twice. Arsenal squandered a lead to lose 2-1 for the second time this week - and just like against Everton on Tuesday, Arsene Wenger blamed his players' second-half tiredness as well as the referee. "The referees are protected like lions in the zoo," the Arsenal manager said, having complained that both of City's goals should have been disallowed for offside. Sane canceled out a fifth-minute goal from Theo Walcott by racing onto David Silva's pass - potentially from a marginal offside position - to slot past Arsenal goalkeeper Petr Cech. Wenger also felt Silva was offside, and in Cech's line of vision, when the goalkeeper was beaten by Sterling's low shot. Guardiola preferred to talk about the "exceptional pass" from De Bruyne that set Sterling free for the winner, which meant City has come out of a tough spell - capped by a chastening 4-2 loss at Leicester last weekend - with two straight victories this week. "We are learning little by little," said Guardiola, who has been criticized by some for not adapting his tactics to the Premier League. Burnley manager Sean Dyche was aggrieved that Tottenham substitute Moussa Sissoko was still on the field to set up Rose for his winning goal. Moments before playing in Rose, Sissoko had been booked for a high challenge on Stephen Ward. Burnley took the lead against the run of play at White Hart Lane through Ashley Barnes in the 21st minute, but conceded a strike by Dele Alli six minutes later. It was Spurs' fourth win in their last five games in all competitions Rodriguez has been looking for a performance to kick-start his career since returning from a long spell out with damaged knee ligaments. Two second-half goals to cap a comeback at Bournemouth might just be it. Rodriguez scored from close range in the 48th, then fired in a dipping shot from the edge of the area in the 85th to triple his goal tally for the league campaign. Rodriguez had just forced his way into England's squad when he sustained a cruciate knee ligament injury in April 2014 that ruled him out for more than a year. He had a poor campaign as he recovered from the injury, and had been below Charlie Austin in Southampton's pecking order of strikers before Austin hurt his shoulder this month. With Austin potentially out for up to four months, Rodriguez might have a prolonged run in Claude Puel's team.nathan Ake's header put Bournemouth in front in the sixth minute, before Ryan Bertrand equalized in the 14th. Southampton climbed to seventh.