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THURSDAY
www.thestatesman.com
05 JANUARY
2017
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Pages 20 |Rs 5|LC
KOLKATA | NEW DELHI | SILIGURI | BHUBANESWAR
OUTDOORS
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DEFEAT ON HIGH WINDS
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THUMBNAILS
P14
DHONI QUITS
AS ODI, T20
CAPTAIN
STATESMAN NEWS SERVICE

New Delhi, 4 January
Sanjiv Tyagi, lawyer get bail: A court

granted bail to Sanjeev Tyagi, cousin
of S P Tyagi, and lawyer Gautam Khaitan in VVIP chopper scam case, saying that whether they tookkickbacks can be probed during trial. P2
Stalin elevated: Heralding a generational change in party leadership,
DMK supremo M Karunanidhi's son
M K Stalin was today appointed the
party's working president that vested him with all powers.
P10
Assange denies Russia hack role:
WikiLeaks has appealed for leaked White
House documents before President Barack
Obama leaves office,as its founder Julian
Assange again denied Russia was
the source of hacked Democratic
party emails that hurt Hillary Clinton's bid for the US presidency. P12
INDICATOR
Sensex
26,633
-10
Nifty
8,190
-1
Gold
27,105
+285
Silver
40,200
+800
PRESS TRUST OF INDIA

Chief Election Commissioner Dr Nasim Zaidi during a press conference

to announce Assembly polls in 5 states in Delhi on Wednesday. sns
expected to dip due to demonetisation. Mr Zaidi

said steps would be taken
to ensure that other illegal inducements are not
used to influence voters.
In UP, the polling will
be held on 11 February (73
constituencies), 15 February (67), 19 February
(69), 23 February (53), 27
February (52), 4 March
(49) and 8 March (40 constituencies).
Strife-torn Manipur
will have polling on 4
March (38 constituencies)
and 8 March (22 constituencies).
Polling will be held for
the 117-member Punjab
assembly and the 40-member Goa assembly together on 4 February while the
70-member Uttarakhand
House will also have it in
a single phase on 15 February. At the heart of this
mega round of assembly
polls will be the fierce
electoral battle in UP where
the raging intra-family
and intra-party war in
the ruling Yadav clan and
their Samajwadi Party
has given a new dimension

to the political situation
there.
With the SP's young
chief minister Akhilesh
Yadav and the party founder and his father Mulayam
Singh being at loggerheads for control of the party and its crucial asset ~
its symbol "cycle" ~ a resurgent BJP is eyeing its
return to power after many
years there on the heels of
its sweep in the state in the
2014 Lok Sabha elections
when Narendra Modi was
spearheading its campaign.
The Mayawati-led BSP
is also set to fight the elections fiercely, with the
Congress being the fourth
player in the UP battlefield
if it does not manage to
have an alliance with the
Akhilesh-led SP. The Capt
Amarinder Singh-headed Congress in Punjab is
desperately seeking to return to power there after
a hiatus of 10 years, where
the ruling
TURN TO PAGE 4
Removal of cash curbs

after RBI review:Jaitley
UP VOTE IN 7 PHASES; OPP WANTS BUDGET PUT OFF
President Pranab Mukherjee with new Chief Justice

JS Khehar of the Supreme Court at the Rashtrapati
(Report on P10)
Bhavan on Wednesday. sns
P7
P15
EC ANNOUNCES
POLLS IN 5 STATES
Setting the stage for a
high-voltage, politicallycritical round of assembly
elections in five states ~ including the high-stakes
Uttar Pradesh, Punjab,
Uttarakhand, Goa and
Manipur ~ the Election
Commission (EC) of India
today announced polling
dates between 4 February and 8 March in what
is expected to be the first
major electoral test on a
mass scale for the Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's
demonetisation move
among other issues.
The polling in the
sprawling state of UP,
which has a 403-member
assembly, will be held in
7 phases between 11 February and 8 March. It will
be a one-day exercise in
Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand. Manipur will have
a two-phase polling. The
counting of votes in all five
states will be done on 11
March.
With the announcement of the election schedule in the five states, the
EC's Model Code of Conduct came into force with
immediate effect.
Declaring the poll schedule at a press conference
here, the Chief Election
Commissioner (CEC) Nasim Zaidi said the EC will
ensure a free and fair
round of elections in the
five states, closely tracking the law and order situation as well as the use
of black money which is
BENGAL FM
WALKS OUT,
CITES FINANCIAL
EMERGENCY
Mahendra Singh Dhoni,

the country's most successful skipper, today
sprang a major surprise by
stepping down as India's
limited overs captain,thereby bringing an abrupt end
to his glorious leadership
tenure.
The 35-year-old Dhoni
under whom India had
won two World Cups and
a Champions Trophy title,
stunned the cricket fraternity by relinquishing the
captaincy barely 11 days before the ODI series against
England.
Dhoni's decision has
now paved the way for
Test captain Virat Kohli to
take over the mantle of the
limited overs team as well.
While expressing his desire
to quit captaincy,Dhoni conveyed to the selection committee that he will be available for selection as a player for the three ODIs and
as many T20s against England starting 15 January.
In his unfinished limited overs career, Dhoni
has so far scored 9110 runs
in 283 ODIs at an average
of 50.89 with 183 not out being his highest score. Besides, the wicket-keeper
batsman has so far made
1112 runs from 73 T20 Internationals.
DETAILS ON PAGE 16
The RBI will remove restrictions on cash withdrawals after assessing the
market situation, Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley
said today even as he
ruled out interfering with
the conditions barring
anyone other than NRIs
and Indians returning
from abroad from depositing the junked notes in
select central bank
branches.
RBI will decide by assessing market situation.
Many a time, actions are
taken in phases, so relaxations are also done in
phases, he said when
asked by when restrictions on cash withdrawals are expected to be removed.
Currently, an account
holder is allowed to withdraw Rs 24,000 per week
from the counters and Rs
4,500 per day from ATM.
The 50-day demonetisation exercise of depositing and exchanging of

defunct Rs 500 and Rs
1000 notes closed on 30 December.
To a question on people not being able to avail
the facility due to some
genuine reasons, the Finance Minister said this
facility was available for
everyone and he would not
like to interfere with the
criteria set by the RBI.
Without committing
to any easing of the restrictions for those who failed
to avail the window, he
said: People in large
number have already ex-
changed. Only a few are

left...we don't go by... Whatever reason, the RBI has
fixed their own criteria.
At least, I will respect
that criteria.
When told that the
Prime Minister in his 8 November address to the nation had also said that people will have opportunity till March 31 to deposit old notes in select RBI
branches, Jaitley said the
Prime Minister had specifically said that RBI
will fix terms and conditions.
The word terms and
conditions was part of
Prime Minister's address,
he said. The Prime Minister, in his address to
the nation, on 8 November had said, There may
be some who for some
reason, are not able to
deposit their old 500 or
1,000 rupee notes by December 30, 2016.
TURN TO PAGE 4
More shame for Bengaluru

Bengaluru, 4 January
The IT capital has been

shamed again.Close on the
heels of the alleged molestation of women on
the VIP roads of Bengaluru on New Years eve,
two scooter-borne men
groped and assaulted a
woman near her home
on the same night in Kammanhalli .
The incident in east
Bengaluru was captured
on a CCTV camera installed on the premises of
a house near the place of
the shocking occurrence.
The camera captured the

brazen manner in which
the men misbehaved with
the lone woman who was
returning home from
work around 2.40 a m on
Sunday morning.
The police which has
picked up 12 suspects on
the basis of the CCTV
footage made available
by the house owner, said
this evening that it would
arrest the accused by tonight. Following detailed
questioning, one of the
suspects is said to have
confirmed his involvement in the gross act, it
is learnt.
According to the police,

the victim was walking towards her house,a bare 40
metres from where she had
got down from an auto rickshaw. It was then that the
two scooter-borne men
entered the narrow lane.
One of them got down
and began groping her
before dragging the victim
to where his friend was
waiting on the scooter
though the girl managed
to free herself .The TV footage shows that the girl was
pushed to the ground by
the duo who made good
their escape immediately
after that.
02
THUMBNAILS
Diamond ring stolen:
A diamond ring, worth
Rs 8 lakh was stolen
from a couple at a fivestar hotel in south Delhi
after they decided to
stay at the hotel on New
Year, police said today.
Sameer Chaudhary and
his wife had come to celebrate New Year's eve
at a five-star hotel in
Chanakyapuri, police
said.Since it got late,they
decided to book a room
and stay at the hotel for
the night, they added.
They checked out from
the hotel on January 1
and after moving a little away from the hotel,
Sameer's wife realised
that her solitaire was missPTI
ing, police said.
Nigerians held: Two
Nigerian nationals and
their woman accomplice have been arrested for duping a man of
Rs 1 lakh, police said on
Wednesday.A complaint
wasfiledinthisconnection
by one Hitesh Vyas on
Tuesday,based on which
police have registered
an FIR against the two
foreigners and the woman,
who hails from Kolkata.
They have been booked
on charges of cheating
and fraud,police said.IANS
You (Manoj Tiwari), along with the other BJP leaders present,
should apologise to the people of Delhi for mocking at them...
WATER MINISTER KAPIL MISHRA
NEW DELHI, THURSDAY 05 JANUARY 2017
FOR ALLEGEDLY MAKING FUN OF PEOPLE STANDING IN ATM QUEUES
SENIOR CITIZEN DIES IN HOSPITAL,

KIN ALLEGES MEDICAL NEGLIGENCE
SMRITI SHARMA VASUDEVA
smriti@thestatesman.com
For 81-year-old Dinesh Kumar Mehra, the world fell

apart on 28 November 2016,
when his wife Kamla Mehra died after fighting an
over two-month battle in a
well known hospital here, allegedly due to medical negligence.
Little did the retired engineer imagine that his wife
was stepping out of their
house in Greater Kailash
for the last time when she was
admitted to Max Hospital, Saket, on 24 September.
Terming the tragic loss of
his wife as a gruesome murder, Mehra narrated the sequence of events.
He said, "My wife Kamla
was admitted to Max Hospital, Saket, after she showed
symptoms of chikungunya.
At the hospital, she was referred from one doctor to the
other for treatment and was
subjected to various tedious
tests. However, one particular test ~ Trans Esophageal
Car driven by minor

hits woman severely
CASE HISTORY
77-year-old Kamla Mehra was admitted two
months ago to Max Hospital, Saket, after she
showed symptoms of chikungunya
The hospital referred her from one doctor to the
other and was subjected to various tedious tests
due to which she died, claims her husband
Doctors allegedly stopped checking on her during
routine patient rounds and kept her lying in a vegetative state, unable to eat or drink or even speak
Dinesh Mehra, husband of the deceased, seeks
help from Medical Council of India and the Delhi
government
Echo (TEE) ~ that uses a long,
thin, tube (endoscope) to
guide the ultrasound transducer down the esophagus,
ruptured her food pipe and
proved to be her nemesis.
Post the rupture, she underwent a surgery which
rendered her speechless.
"We noticed the change
in the attitude of the doctors
after the surgery when suddenly they became indifferent towards us as if they
knew that Kamla would not
survive post this botched-up

treatment," Mr Mehra told
The Statesman.
"The doctors even stopped
checking on her during their
routine patient rounds after
this and Kamla kept lying in
a vegetative state, unable to
eat or drink or even speak,"
he said, holding back tears.
The family wrote to the CEO
of the hospital, Rajit Mehta, seeking his intervention
in the matter but all in vain.
Kamla Mehra breathed her
last on 28 November.
The death certificate issued by the hospital lists
"esophageal injury" as the
first cause of death besides
mediastinitis, prolonged sepsis, multi-organ dysfunction and cardio respiratory
arrest.
The family insists that she
died due to a wrongly conducted test. Categorically denying any allegations of
negligence in the care provided to the patient, Max
Healthcare Authorities, in an
e-mail statement, said,
"Kamla Mehra, a 77 years old
female had approached Max
Hospital, Saket, with complaints of joint pain, chills
and other dengue/chikungunya like symptoms on
September 24, 2016.
During her stay in the hospital, it was found that she
was also suffering from recurring and persistent bouts
of severe breathlessness.
She was advised to undergo a TEE, an invasive diagnostic procedure for diagnosing severe valvular heart
disease.
The patient and her relatives were fully informed

of the risks involved and they
gave an informed consent for
TEE. Unfortunately, while
recovering from this procedure she developed some
life-threatening complications, which are known to
happen in some of the patients. She subsequently
underwent surgical procedures to help save her life.
Unfortunately, in-spite of
our best efforts she suffered
a cardiac arrest and passed
away", the statement read.
Despite being heartbroken and having lost faith in
the hospital, Dinesh Mehra
who lives alone with a domestic help, wants to take this
fight to a logical conclusion,
seeking help from Medical
Council of India and the
Delhi Government.
He said, "I want these big
hospitals to stop running
like money making machines
and provide real medical
care and attention to the
patients so that no one loses a family member to such
callousness."
VALOUR

A 40-year-old woman was hit by a car driven by a minor in

southwest Delhi area. The impact of the accident was such
that the woman's upper body was stuck underneath the car
which had turned turtle due to the impact of the collision.
The entire incident has been captured in the CCTV cameras installed at the gate of an apartment. The accused was
identified as a 17 year old juvenile resident of Dashrath Puri whereas the victim has been identified as Kanta Anand
(40) a resident of Pink apartment. "The lady suffered spinal
injury and undergoing treatment in a Vasant Kunj Hospital
and her condition is stable," the police said.
According to the police the incident took place on January 1 around 3.20 pm when the woman was hit by the car as
she moved out of the apartment. In the CCTV footage the 17year old boy can be seen speeding and approaching the woman. Anand was standing at the gate and within seconds was
flung several metres in the air after being hit by the car. The
car then rams into the car which turned turtle, the women
found herself trapped under the car. The boy tried to escape
but was caught. According to sources, the minor took the car
when his parents had gone for a religious ceremony. "The father of the accused supplies security guards to different ministries.He runs a placement agency," the police said. "We shall
impose harshest of the penal provisions on erring father.Will
submit Social Background Report of JCL mentioning facts
appropriately," said Surendra Kumar, DCP, southwest.
Military personnel rehearse for the forthcoming Republic Day parade at Rajpath in the Capital on Wednesday. Sns
Red tape, apathy in DU

stalling SOL projects
ABHINAV SINGH
at one or other stage.

Other ambitious proposals like
developing an Open Learning Development Centre for SOL, making sepDelhi University's third campus , the arate faculties /departments in SOL,
Campus of Open Learning, may and a separate examination branch
have digitised most of its function- for it are all pending at one or other
ing but it is still allegedly subjected level. SOL always remains in the
to stepmotherly treatment by the uni- news for negative reasons including
versity administration and propos- leakage of examination paper often
als related to School of Open Learn- with the involvement of supervisors
ing (SOL) are delayed. Due to admin- and observers conducting the exams
istrative red-tape and dilly-dallying, who are paid 'nominally' by the varthe fate of several ambitious projects sity.
However, no attention is paid by
of SOL are in peril, said a senior varsity official. SOL has proactively digi- DU towards this problem, alleged an
tised itself and already introduced SOL official. Campus of Open Learnonline audio-video lectures, dash ing is looking toward the Vice-Chancellor for getting pending
board, online admisThe
VC
is
taking
proposals passed, "All these
sions and online fee
transactions, e-li- keen interest in is- proposals have been put
forth by our governing body
brary, etc.
sues related to
and are lying with the uniThe Campus of
SOL
and
we
are
versity administration for
Open Learning has
also successfully very hopeful that consideration. The SOL
managed all admis- some good initia- along with the university administration will soon reach
sions of 2nd & 3rd
tives
or
steps
some final conclusion.
year of DU with an
The VC is taking keen inindigenously de- would be taken by
signed software.
him in the larger terest in issues related to SOL
and we are very hopeful
However, accordthat some good initiatives or
ing to sources, con- interest of SOL
steps would be taken by
ditions are poor at and it's students
him in the larger interest of
SOL (largest revenue generator of DU) due to admin- SOL and it's students," said C S Duistrative apathy and delay in decision- bey,Director,Campus of Open Learnmaking as 81 teaching and about 319 ing. Members of the Executive
non-teaching posts out of 109 and 700 Council (EC), which is the highest
sanctioned respectively, are vacant. decision-making body of the univerPromotions of many employees have sity, said university officials delibbeen withheld for the last 10 years. erately delay the proposals related
SOL faces trouble in making its to SOL , "In principle I agree that the
study content and in introducing new course curriculum or syllabus of SOL
and regular courses should be the
programmes.
According to highly placed sour- same to bring equivalence in both the
ces in the varsity administration,the degrees. However, the university
fate of some important proposals like administration and officials employ
introduction of Choice Based Cred- dilly-dallying tactics and don't put the
it System (CBCS) in SOL, introduc- SOL issues on the agenda item," said
tion of new courses in open learn- A K Bhagi, EC member.
A DU official said officials in
ing, Proposal for implementation of
continuous assessment process as vice-chancellor's close circle often mismandated by Distance Education lead him and purportedly delay the
Board (DEB),proposal of making syl- matters related to SOL. He advocalabus for SOL at par with the regu- ted that there should be more translar courses of the university and many parency on the agenda items to be
such proposals are pending or stuck taken up by the university.
abhinavbismark@gmail.com
DTC BUS MOWS DOWN MAN
SWIMMI SHRIVASTAVA
swimmi.shrivastava@thestatesman.in
The authorities have approved a proposal for a 23-storeyed

building for a doctors hostel at Ram Manohar Lohia hospital. This will make it the tallest building in the New Delhi Municipal Council area.
The plan has already
been sanctioned by NDMC
and the 23 floors will also
include three-level basement parking which is expected to house 300 cars.
Altogether 1.5 acres of
land already within the
campus of the hospital has
been approved with 824
rooms for the hostel.
"The hostel will have
different compartments or
rooms for seperate housing
of male and female doctors.
We have also planned separate rooms for married
doctor couples. The building in itself will be equipped with all the modern
technology including WiFi and separate lifts for different blocks," said Medical Doctors working in
Superintendent of RML the hospital rehospital, Dr A K Gadpayle.
He said the Union min- vealed that there
istry has given approval were only 146
for the project and Rs 181
crore has been sanctioned rooms available in
for the project.
the hostels, despite
At present there are 146
rooms available in the in- the fact that over
stitute for over 600 resi- 600 resident docdent doctors. With only
one-fourth of its 600 resident tors were at present
doctors currently getting
working there
hostel facility, authorities
of Ram Manohar Lohia hospital had approached the Centre with a proposal to construct a new block exclusively
for them in a bid to address the accommodation problem.
Doctors working in the hospital revealed that there were
only 146 rooms available in the hostels, despite the fact
that over 600 resident doctors were at present working there.
"Instead of constructing new hostels, the authorities
prefer to do makeshift arrangements by making two doctors reside in a single room. This practice is being followed
to fill large number of hostel rooms to cut down pendency," a doctor said.
Dr Gadpayle added that doctors required accommodation in the campus as a good number of them, especially
those appointed in clinical departments, have to perform
duties from 24-48 hours at a stretch and have to attend emergency calls.
Although the situation is no different in other medical institutes of the city, what makes the case of RML resident doctors worse is the dearth of private accommodation in the vicinity of the hospital. "There is scarcity of
private accommodation for resident doctors working
here as the institute is locked from all directions by houses meant for senior bureaucrats and members of Parliament. Hence, doctors working here cannot find accommodation near the institute," Dr Gadpayle said.
AW: Tyagis cousin, Khaitan get bail
A 54-year-old man died after being hit by a DTC

bus at the Delhi Gate in Central Delhi's Daryaganj area.
The victim, identified as Munna Lal, was on
his cycle when the incident occurred.
The driver of the bus, identified as Inderjeet
Kumar, has been arrested.
The police said the bus was being driven rashly, when the cyclist came under the bus.
"The deceased was a security guard at a private
company. He was on his way to home when hit by
a bus. The driver has been arrested. A case of rash
driving and causing death by negligence has
been registered," a police official told The Statesman.
The deceased was a resident of Babarpur,
Shahdara.
A special CBI court today granted

bail to Sanjeev Tyagi, cousin of former Air Chief S P Tyagi and lawyer Gautam Khaitan in the AgustaWestland chopper case, saying that
no purpose would be served by
keeping them in custody.
The court also instructed Tyagi and Khaitan not to contact any
witnesses, not to hamper evidence
and not to leave the National Capital Region without prior permission.
Both the accused were given relief by Special CBI Judge Arvind
Kumar on a personal bond of Rs 2
lakh each and one surety of like
amount while imposing certain

conditions on them.
Sanjeev Tyagi, Gautam Khaitan
along with ex-IAF chief S P Tyagi
were allegedly involved in irregularities in the procurement of 12
VVIP helicopters from Britain
based AgustaWestland.
Earlier, the CBI's petition challenging the bail granted to former
IAF chief S P Tyagi in Agusta
Westland chopper scam case on the
ground that he could allegedly
"hamper" the probe will be heard
on January 9, the Delhi High Court
had said.
A notice was earlier issued by
the Delhi High Court to former Air
Chief S P Tyagi in Agusta Westland
chopper scam case, on the plea of
New calendar puts spotlight

on Delhis age-old baolis
23-storey hostel
for doctors to
come up at RML
The idea is also to bring our

youth closer to our heritage,
many of whom now just flock to
Seeking to bring attention to
malls and multiplexes, or visit
centuries-old baolis in the city
baolis without understanding
and celebrate their architectural their significance, noted heritand cultural legacy, Delhi
age activist Sohail Hashmi told
Assembly and heritage activists PTI.
have joined hands to bring out a
While Hashmi conceptualthematic calendar.
ised and provided text for the
Delhi is home to over 20 baocalendar, city-based young heritlis (step-wells), many of which
age campaigner and photogralie buried under earth or obpher Vikramjit Singh Rooprai
scured by modern constructions contributed the photographs.
around it.
Some of the photographs
Spread across the capital city were taken in 2016, while a few
from central to south Delhi,
other a year before that. Some of
many baolis have for ages stoked them were taken even earlier, in
the curiosity of residents, but
different seasons. Baolis is how
several of them have also slipour ancestors used to store waped into oblivion due to lack of
ter.
awareness or preservation.
And, though, it would be a
Delhi Assembly wanted to
great idea to revive these water
come up with a heritage-themed storage mechanism, measure
calendar for 2017. And, so, I sug- must be taken to make sure they
gested baolis as a theme. We firemain in use, otherwise, they
nally selected 12 baolis for it,
will become a breeding ground
from Ugrasen ki Baoli near Con- for mosquitoes, he said.
naught Place to Rajon ki Baoli in
The other 10 baolis which
Mehrauali.
find a place in the calendar in-
clude -- Gandhak ki Baoli, located in Mehrauli and said to bear

the name due to the rich sulphur
(gandhak) found in its water,
Hazrat Nizamuddin Baoli, Red
Fort Baoli, Wazirpur Baoli of
Lodi era and Tughlaqabad Baoli.
The calendar, made both for
wall and table, was released by
Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal
on December 31 under the 'Heritage of Delhi' series at the Delhi
Assembly, itself an iconic colonial heritage building.
This (Gandhak ki Baoli), the
oldest surviving step well in
Delhi is believed to be have been
commissioned by Shams-ud-din
Altamash for use of visitors to
the hospice of Qutb-ud-din
Bahktyar kaaki, the text for the
February month reads. Step
wells are a combination of a
well and stairs that descend to
the level of subterranean water
for easy access. Though Delhi
once had over 100 step wells, we
are now Left with about two dozen, the Delhi Assembly says in
its message on the calendar.
the CBI challenging his bail claiming its probe would be "hampered"
if he remains out.
During the earlier hearing of the
case, the investigative agency had
argued before the court that each
day Tyagi remained out on bail
would lead to its line of investigation being "exposed" and "hampered" and the evidence could also be destroyed.
Former Air Chief S P Tyagi
was granted bail on December 26
by a special court saying CBI has
failed to state the alleged bribe
amount and when it was paid.
He was also asked to furnish a
personal bond of Rs two lakh and
a surety of like amount as pre-requisites for his release on bail.
Suicide note found in City

Square Mall incident
A day after 21-year-old woman allegedly committed suicide at west Delhi's City
Square Mall, a suicide note
has been recovered from a
dustbin located on the third
floor of the mall from where
she jumped to her death.
The suicide note had hinted at a rift between the victim, Shubhangi, and her parents over the former's choice
of a life partner. The life partner in question was also
present with her at the time
of the incident.
Shubangi, the daughter of
a sanitation worker in Delhi's civic department, was
pursuing her graduation
through distance education.
In the suicide note, found
in the bin, she purportedly
wrote that she had made
many mistakes in her life.
In the note addressed to
her parents, she also wrote
that they should have forgiven her for those mistakes but
they didn't fulfill their respon-
sibility towards her, the police said, quoting the suicide

note.
They were upset with her
for not focusing on her studies and making too many
friends, the police said.
Confirming the note, the
police said, "When we were
going through the CCTV
footage, it was found that the
girl had dropped a page into the dustbin. The note has
been addressed to her parents. We are still looking into the contents of the letter".
The CCTV footage of the
mall has shown that the
woman along with her male
companion were seen entering the mall around 1 pm.
She later decides to instead
sit at the lawn in front of the
mall.
They talked for several
hours after which the girl allegedly told her friend that
she wanted to use the bathroom. After waiting for more
than 15 minutes, the man
grew restless and the later
entered the mall to find her
blood soaked body.
If the CBI has to conduct raids on the issue of appointment of OSD to the
Delhi Health Minister, you can imagine where the level of the probe agency
has reached...
DELHI MINISTER SATYENDRA JAIN
SLAMMING CBI FOR CONDUCTING RAID AT THE OFFICE OF HIS FORMER OSD
THUMBNAILS
Offices to remain
closed today: All the
Delhi government offices will remain shut
tomorrow as Lt Governor Anil Baijal has
approved for the holiday after the Delhi government recently sent
a file to the LG office,
seeking declaration
of holiday on the occasion of the 350th
birth anniversary of
Guru Gobind Singh.SNS
Apology sought from
Tiwari:Delhi's Tourism
and Culture Minister Kapil Mishra on
Wednesday sought an
apology from Delhi
BJP chief Manoj Tiwari
for making fun of people standing in bank
and ATM queues. In
a video, Tiwari is
allegedly seen making
fun of the people standing in bank and ATM
queues through a song.
He said the entire
leadership of the BJP
Delhi unit, including
Delhi's Leader of Opposition Vijender Gupta,
was sitting there and
all were laughing
"shamelessly" by thumping the table on your
statement of mockIANS
ing people.
PEOPLE IN DISARRAY AS RBI

STOPS EXCHANGE FACILITY
JUNAID KATHJU
jkathju@gmail.com
As the Reserve Bank of India stopped the currency exchange facility

at specified RBI offices after initially promising it until 31March, people, including foreigners, standing
in a queue to exchange their old notes
there accused RBI of flouting guidelines.
The people said the authorities
have refused to exchange their leftover notes without giving any specific reason. Balbir Kour, a 70-yearold woman who had travelled all the
way from Punjab to exchange Rs 3500
of old notes, was sitting dejected outside at the entrance gate of the RBI
building. "I was hospitalised for a
month and hence couldn't deposit
the money in my home branch
(State Bank of Patiala). I have all the
documents with me to prove my claim
but nobody is listening to my plight,"
Kour said. Accompanied with her
granddaughter, Kour was among the
hundreds of people waiting outside the RBI office hoping to exchange
the demonetised notes.
Mukesh Dankour, a farmer who
hails from Uttar Pradesh, had left
his home early in the morning to
reach the bank on time to deposit
his old notes.
"I had paid Rs 4000 to labourers

who work in my farm but due to the
rush in banks they were not able to
deposit it and returned the money.
I was told by the local bank officials
to come here to exchange it," Mr Dankour said. However, the security
guard at the gate, he said, "didn't let
me inside stating that the money can't
be exchanged."
Jai Kumar Yadav, a shopkeeper
from Uttam Nagar, told The Statesman that he has visited the RBI office for the past four days to exchange
the old notes but to no avail. "Every
day the officials are telling me to come

tomorrow without giving any reason as to why they are not accepting the old notes," he said.
According to the RBI guidelines,
after the 50-day window to deposit
the old currency notes in banks ended
on 30 December, people can still deposit the money with a submission
form at specified branches of the RBI
till 31 March, 2017.
The foreigners waiting outside the
main gate of RBI were also not being entertained even after pleading
before the security guards to let them
talk to any higher official.
"It is crazy out here. I arrived in
India in the morning and since
then I am trying to exchange Rs 5000
which I am carrying with me but they
(RBI) are refusing to take it," Sinta
who hails from London said.
"I even tried to withdraw the
money from an ATM, but all of
them were running out of cash.I have
to go Bodh Gaya tomorrow and I have
no money," she added.
Twenty-five-year-old Charlotte
Malik, who was in England, was carrying Rs 20,000 with her before the
demonetisation took place."I am married to an Indian and was at home
in London when demonetisation
took place. I came back to India yesterday but now I am not able to exchange the money," she said.

SHARBANI BANERJEE
sharbani.banerjee@thestatesman.net
Union Finance minister Arun Jaitley during the meet with the Finance Ministers of the
states in the Capital. Sns
Value Added Tax (VAT) has

shown a negative growth in December 2016 as compared to December 2015 and it will not be possible to achieve the target of tax
revenue in the current financial
year and as a result all developmental works being implemented by the Government may suffer due to lack of resources," he
said.
In addition, Sisodia pointed
out that the Government of India is giving only Rs 325 crore as
a share of Central Taxes to Del-
WOMAN STRIPS
AFTER FAILING TO
EXCHANGE NOTES
A middleaged woman stripped herself outside the RBI office after being
denied to exchange her soiled
notes. When the police tried to
put her on a PCR van, she managed to free herself and stripped
on the gate of the RBI in front
of a large crowd.
Later, the woman has been
identified as a domestic help.She
had come along with her fiveyear-old son. She wanted to
exchange Rs 4,000 in the denominations of Rs 50 and Rs 100.
RBI officials refused to
exchange her notes, citing that
they were soiled ones.She was
carrying a photocopy of an ID
card but she didnt show it to us.
When she was quizzed about her
family,she didnt furnish details
about her husband.She also didnt share the amount she was carrying in the form of old notes,
said a senior police officer. It is
suspected that the woman might
be mentally disturbed. The
video of the incident shows
that the woman is with her
child and the police team,which
includes women police constables,forcing her inside the PCR
van. But the woman managed
to wriggle herself out and later
sat on the gate of the RBI before
SNS
stripping herself.
hi government which is stagnant from the last 15 years.

"Similarly, the local bodies are
not getting any basic and performance grants as recommended by
14th Central Finance Commission
to all local bodies of other states.
The Central governmnet treats
Delhi as a Union Territory for payment of share in Central Taxes
and as a State when 100% central
funding of Centrally-Sponsored
Schemes to Union Territory
comes into the picture," said Sisodia.
With the dates for assembly

elections in five states having
been announced and Delhi also
heading for municipal elections
in a couple of months, political
parties are expecting a low-key
campaign this time due to demonetisation.
The ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1000
notes that had left thousands of
people at the receiving end, has
put political parties into a tizzy.
Sources said grassroots level
workers are paid only in cash.
"There are a number of workers who are paid in cash as they
do not have bank accounts. Besides, they are not very aware
of online transactions. Not just
the workers, in fact there are
many other transactions which
are done only by cash," said a
source.
Eatables which are arranged
for the workers and party members are also paid for in cash."The
election campaign is definitely
going to be hit this time with tepid response as several arrangements such as transportation,
buses, mikes, tents, chairs and
other sundries like caps and

badges, posters are all generally paid for in cash," said the
source.
He said a single bus charges
Rs 5000 throughout the day in Delhi. "When the constituencies are
huge, it becomes difficult to
manage with one bus as we need
more transportation then. Also,
one candidate can show only
three cars for campaigning. But
on the ground more than three
are required which is managed
only by cash. Recently, in Prime
Minister Narendra Modi's Uttar
Pradesh rally, 15,000 buses were
used. Therefore big constituencies will be definitely affceted,"
said the source.
Workers who work at the
ground level are also worried.
"Whenever there is an election,
it is our best time to earn a good
amount. From door to door campaigning to connecting with
people, distributing pamphlets
and other work, we used to get
a good amount on a daily basis.
But this time I doubt I will earn
much. Last time in Delhi assembly elections, my brother and I
joined in work and earned a handsome amount. But now I fear less
work," said a party worker.
Two held in Rs 1,57,000 DCW issues notice to Azmi, K'taka minister

online cheating case

Two persons, including a mechanical engineer, who were

reportedly involved in the online cheating, were arrested from the South Delhi area today.
The accused were identified as Vikas Jha (25) and Ashutosh (23). "Ashutosh is BE (Mechanical) from a prestigious
university in Chennai,"police said.
According to the police, on December 17, one SK Nair
reported that he had lodged a complaint on www.complaintboard.in for non-issuance of cheque book against his bank
account in Andhra Bank. After lodging the complaint, he
received a call on his mobile phone wherein the caller introduced himself as an RBI official and asked for his bank
account number and details of his debit card of Andhra
Bank. When he shared the details, he received an SMS regarding debit of Rs 1,57,000/- from his bank account.
"During investigation, it was revealed that amount of
Rs 1,57,000/- was transferred in various e-wallets like Paytm,
Free Charge, The Mobile Wallet and UDIO," police said.
TIWARI SPENDS NIGHT IN JHUGGI,

URGES DWELLERS TO GO CASHLESS
New Delhi, 4 January: Delhi BJP
president,Manoj Tiwari,spent
last night at a slum in Bhim
Nagar area of Nagloi as part
of reality check on the AAP
government claim on development. In his visit, the BJP
chief created awareness on digital transactions encouraging the slum dwellers the benefits of cashless economy for
the nation. He appealed tom
them to use Mobile Apps especially the Bhim App for
their daily expenses.
Mr Tiwari said that within last three days, the Bhim
App has become the most
popular Banking App to be
adopted by the people. He
claimed is that even Google has

said that Bhim App is the largest App to be downloaded
from its play store.Mr Tiwari
said that AAP is in dismay ever since he announced his campaign to go amongst people to
check ground realities to expose government's claims.
The AAP leaders are shaken
by the public response to my
first mass contacts at Rohini,
Najafgarh and Bawana, he
claimed.He said that after my
New Year night stay at Inderpuri Jhuggi Basti,the desperation of AAP leaders has
come out in open and they are
trying to misguide the people
on frivolous issues.
SNS
The Delhi Commission for Women

(DCW) today issued notice to the
Police Commissioner of Delhi asking him to lodge an FIR against Maharashtra's SP unit chief Abu Azmi and Karnataka home minister
G Parameshwara for allegedly
making sexist comments on the alleged molestation of women on the
New Year's eve in Bengaluru.
In the notice issued to both the
leaders, the commission said that
the DCW is of the considered view
that the statements made by Mr Azmi and Mr Parameshwara constitute a cognizable offence under
Section 509 of the Indian Penal Code.
Their statements have a direct and
adverse impact on women and girls
of Delhi and country.
"The Commission is hereby
submitting this formal complaint

to your good self to seek registration of an FIR against these politicians. You are requested to kindly provide the commission an action taken report on the same at the
earliest," added the notice.
The commission also said that
both these politicians have made
extremely misogynistic statements
and an attack on the modesty of
women. "Through their statements,
these politicians have encouraged
the act of molestation and sexual
violence for they have put the direct onus of these criminal acts on
women and girls. Through their
statements, they have emboldened
rapists and molesters across the
country. The detailed statements as
well as the video-graphic evidence
of the same are enclosed herewith," notice further said.
On New Year's eve, a mob of
drunken men groped women and

heckled revellers on the MG Road
and the Brigade Road in the heart
of Bengaluru.
On January 1, Mr Azmi said: "It
was bound to happen. Women call
nudity a fashion. They were wearing short dresses."
Mr Parameshwara is said to
have blamed the "western ways" of
the youngsters for the molestation. He said it was not uncommon
for crowds to molest women in the
city on Christmas and New Year's
Eve.
The minister was also reported
to have said that "these kinds of
things do happen."
"They try to copy the West, not
only in their mindset but even in
their dressing. So, some disturbance,
some girls are harassed, these kind
of things do happen," the minister
was reported to have said.
Bring final draft on delimitation

of MCDs: Congress to AAP
The Delhi Congress today

criticised the Aam Aadmi
Party (AAP) government for
"sitting" on the final draft order on delimitation of the
three Municipal Corporations of Delhi.
The party demanded that
Lt Governor Anil Baijal
should ask for the file and accord his sanction within
three days, otherwise, the
Congress will go to court
"The AAP government
was sitting on the file of the
final draft order on delimi-
tation of
the MCD
wards in a
bid to delay
the
MCD elections due
in April 2017 as it fears defeat," said Sharmishtha Mukerjee, spokesperson, Delhi
Congress.
She further said the
three Congress opposition
leaders in the MCDs have
written a letter to Mr Baijal
on January 3, 2017, pointing
out the intentional delay"
by the AAP government.
She said as per section 3
03
CAPITAL CORNER
New Delhi, 4 January:
Demonetisation to hit
election campaign,
fear parties workers
Sisodia seeks compensation

from Centre for revenue loss
During the pre-Union Budget
consultations with finance ministers of all the states under the
chairmanship of Union Finance
Minister Arun Jaitley, Deputy
Chief Minister Manish Sisodia
suggested withdrawal of service
tax of 15% which is applicable on
40% of the total revenue collected from air conditioned bus
service imposed by the Centre.
Mr Sisodia informed that the
Delhi government is making all
"efforts" to promote public transport to mitigate the air pollution
in the city and to offset the additional liability of service tax imposed by the Government of India, about 6% of the fare of AC
buses needs to be increased which
will discourage the common man
to use the public transport.
He further pointed out that
the Central Excise Duty of about
12.6% on fully built CNG buses
may also be exempted by the Government of India to reduce the
cost of public transport.
"Besides the Government of
India must compensate the State
Governments for their revenue
losses due to demonetisation.
As a result of demonetisation the
growth of tax revenue under
of the Delhi Municipal Corporation Act, 1957, the Lt Governor of Delhi has been vested with the power of delimiting the wards of the Municipal Corporations of Delhi.
Meanwhile, Chairman of
the Delimitation Committee of Delhi Congress Chattar Singh said Delhi Congress
workers had held a demonstration outside the office of
the Delhi Election Commission in July and submitted
a memorandum demanding
rectification of the flaws in
the delimitation process of
the MCD wards.
Where have all

the birds gone?
CITY'S PARKS NEED DESIGN OVERHAUL
R PRABHAKAR RAO
being planted almost exclusively with Ashoka trees and

palm species. These are not
suitable for most birds. Bush
birds have to hide their nests
in thick foliage so that prey birds
do not notice them. Similarly
ground nesting birds like partridges and peacocks need
groundcover to conceal their
eggs.
But when the undergrowth
is cleared and planted with
exotic grass that is mowed regularly, the ground nesting birds
are threatened. Nectar-feeding birds do not find nectaryielding flowers. Fruit and figfeeding birds are also at great
risk.
Insects are found among
wild grasses and reeds. In their
absence birds like sparrows
that are insect-eaters are at a
disadvantage. Kingfishers need
water bodies and perches to
hunt fish.
Water bodies in many parks
have all been drained and planted with grasses. Instead fountains are installed that only
waste water and are ideal
grounds for breeding of mosquitoes.
All birds need proper feeding, roosting and nesting habitats. These are to be provided
by the natural and/or the builtup space in a city. The ridge and
the parks and gardens of Delhi play a vital role in supporting bird diversity. Water bodies for water birds are equally
important. Unfortunately, over
the years most parks and gardens in Delhi have lost their original form and have been heavily manicured with ornamental plantations. Huge budgets
are allotted for the maintenance of these parks and gardens. They have been designed
to provide the much needed
space for rest and relaxation for
the residents. Other life forms
such as birds have not received
any attention. If one takes a
walk in these parks, there is
hardly any bird call that is
heard except for crows and
mynahs. The blue rock pigeon
has adapted to the constructed
spaces of buildings. These three
bird species dominate the city
space. But this need not be so.
By making small design modifications, these parks and gardens can be made more bird
friendly.
elhi is witnessing a design

of parks that is ecologically dead with no life forms.
By redesigning the parks
we can bring back many bird species that are not seen frequently. A combination of native
trees, bushes, climbers and local grass varieties can immensely help this process.
Habitat ecology should be
adopted by making even small
green patches interactive. A
complete overhaul of horticultural practices is needed.
More than 25 per cent of
the birds of Delhi are migratory. As non-residents, they
visit the city during specific
times of the year, both to escape
unsuitable weather and to ensure species survival. But trees
in Delhi are heavily lopped at
different times of the year, especially in winter, so that birds
find no shelter from cold on denuded trees.
Of the total world bird species of 9956, India harbours
around 1200-1300 of them. As
a mega diversity centre India
has a great responsibility in
maintaining this diversity. It
might come as a surprise that
Delhi has nearly 250-300 species
of birds. Sadly, the situation for
birds in the Capital is deteriorating.
There has been much concern regarding the dwindling
number of sparrows in the national capital. So much so, that
the house sparrow has been accorded the status of the State
bird of Delhi. However, the
fact is that many other birds that
were regularly seen in Delhi are
no longer found here. But this
need not come as a surprise.
Habitat modification accompanied by various other factors
such as severe air pollution,
highly polluted river, mobile
towers and many other factors
have affected the bird population in general. Wetlands have
been lost almost completely
and the natural drains feeding
into the river have been altered drastically. The number
of migratory birds visiting
Delhi has also shown a sharp
decline.
The Yellow vented bulbul and
the White vented bulbul are no
longer seen in Delhi. Bushes and
creepers that are ideal nesting
sites for them are not seen in The writer is Principal, Zakir Husain Delhi
any parks. Parks in Delhi are College, Delhi University.
04
We expect to win all the states...our stakes are the

lowest, but our gains are going to be highest
BJP NATIONAL SPOKESPERSON GVL NARSIMHA RAO
EXUDING CONFIDENCE OF VICTORY DUE TO THE POSITIVE UNDERCURRENT POST DEMONETISATION
ENGAGEMENT WITH PAK

NEEDS TO CONTINUE: GOVT
ASHOK TUTEJA
ashoktuteja@gmail.com
India today ruled out snapping diplomatic ties with Pakistan for its continued support to cross-border terrorism,saying engagement with Islamabad needs to continue.
"(Atal Behari) Vajpayeeji once said we
cant change our neighbourswe have
to deal with them.We deal with them eyes
open but we dont deal with them with
minds closed," Minister of State for External Affairs M J Akbar said at a midterm joint press conference with his colleague in the ministry, Gen (Retd) V K
Singh.While making it clear that terror
and talks could not go together, he said
India hoped Pakistan would see the
path of reason and stop exporting terror."Let there be peace,there will be dialogue...you cant have talks under the shadow of violence."
Mr Akbar did not agree with a suggestion that the surgical strikes conducted by India in September to destroy terrorist hideouts in Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (POK) did not achieve their objec-
tive."Our message has been heard across

the border and by all major powers. Terrorism in any form is not acceptable to
us." On China again blocking listing of
JEM chief Masood Azhar as a global terrorist by the UN Security Council, Mr
Akbar said India expected Beijing would
hear the voice of the world and not India on the issue of terrorism. "Terrorism is a snake that bites the hand which
feeds itwe hope China, as a matured
and responsible nation,will understand
that double standards are self-defeating,
even suicidal."
Gen Singh said it must go to the credit of both India and China that they had
maintained peace and tranquility along
the Line of Actual Control (LAC). "The
two countries have to see how we can reduce our areas of divergences and increase
areas of convergences."
Asked if India was not concerned over
the growing friendship between Russia
and Pakistan following joint military exercises conducted by the two countries,
Mr Akbar noted that New Delhis relationship with Moscow had stood the test
of time.But this did not mean Russia could
not engage with other nations. "We are
sure Russia will not do anything that is

injurious to our security and interests."
On the just-concluded Russia-ChinaPakistan talks on Afghanistan,Singh said
any solution to the Afghan issue must
be Afghan-led,Afghan-owned and Afghancontrolled. On the prospects of Indo-US
relations in 2017, Akbar said New Delhi was confident that the ties between
the two nations would be brighter than
in the immediate past under the Donald
Trump administration. Asked how India looked at its prospects of becoming
a member of the Nuclear SuppliersGroup
(NSG) in 2017,Singh said New Delhi was
confident that it would be inducted into the nuclear cartel, given Indias nonproliferation credentials.
On whether the Prime Minister would
visit Israel in 2017 to commemorate 25
years of diplomatic relations between
the two countries, Akbar said the issue
was being discussed by the two sides.
He hoped the Central Government and
the West Bengal Government would
reach a consensus on Teesta and other
water issues before Bangladesh Prime
Minister Sheikh Hasina visits India in
the near future.
Tribal girl from Bengal

loses battle for life
ABHAY SINGH
Traffickers adopt new modus operandi
abhay8942@gmail.com
After fighting for her life in

a hospital bed for 16 days, a
23-year-old West Bengal tribal girl, who was beaten mercilessly by her employer in
Mukherjee Nagar, died today.
Her mother, who had travelled over 1400 km from
Malda to see her daughter
safe, lost all hope today.
The girl was admitted to
Ram Manohar Lohia hospital
on 19 December after she was
rescued from a house in
Mukherjee Nagar with the
intervention of Delhi Commission for Women (DCW).
The mother said she did
not want her daughter to go
to Delhi but a trafficker
named Mariam persuaded
her to move to Delhi three
years ago. Early this year, she
was placed at the house in
Mukherjee Nagar by a placement agency.
The mother said her
daughter was full of life
and wanted to help the family, which is why she went
to Delhi. The last time the
mother spoke to her, her
daughter told her she would
send some money.
The Statesman was the
first to report about her
mothers journey from Malda
to Delhi when she had only
a cup of tea and a biscuit to
save all her money for her
daughters treatment. After
seeing her daughter in the
hospital bed the mother
The modus operandi of traffickers has

changed in West Bengal as they are now
marrying innocent girls and then selling them in the Capital. This was revealed
when West Bengal Police, Delhi Police
and a team of Shaktivahini rescued a
19-year-old girl from Mahavir Enclave
in south west Delhi.
According to the rescuers, the girl was
trafficked to Capital after a fake marriage
was conducted in South 24-Parganas, West
Bengal. The trafficker arranged a fake
wedding in the village, after which the
girl was trafficked to Delhi where she
was forced into prostitution. When she
objected, the girl was beaten up, said
her rescuers.
Chandrashekhar Bardan, additional
superintendent of police, South 24- Parganas, said the girl left her house on 24
December 2016 and the family reported
the matter to the police on 28 December.
said, I just want my daughter to be all right after which
I will take her to Malda
where I will take proper
care of her and also make
people aware about human
trafficking.
DCW chairperson Swati
Maliwal said she was
shocked by the girls medical
report. She was beaten
mercilessly. There were several fractures in her body,
said Maliwal.
The medical report, a
copy of which is with The
Statesman, said she had
multiple fractures and was
Rishi Kant from Shaktivahini said the

girl was from South 24-Parganas and the
accused trafficker also belonged to Bengal. When the girl met the trafficker he
told her that he earned a good salary and
if she married him he would take her
to Delhi where her life would be transformed.
The innocent girl fell ino his trap as
he blackmailed her saying if she does
not accept his proposal he would kill himself. The girl was taken to Mahavir
Enclave after a fake marriage. All her
dreams were crushed and she was severely assaulted.
After she was reported missing, the
West Bengal Police team began their
investigation. With the help of the NGO,
they got a tip-off that the girl is in
Delhi. A team from two states and the
NGO raided the place and the accused
was arrested. Earlier the girls were
trafficked on the promise of marriage,
but the latest case has revealed new modus
operandi, said Kant.
also suffering from sepsis,

dyselectrolytemia and severe
anaemia.
Maliwal said she will
ensure that the girl and her
family get justice. The DCW
chief has also written to
the Labour Commission
seeking to know the total
number of placement agencies registered. In her FIR,
Section 302 should be added
and placement agencies need
to be regulated in Delhi,said
the DCW chief.
Rishi Kant from NGO
Shaktivahini said a team
from West Bengal govern-
ment will ensure that the

girls body reaches her native
place. He demanded that
Delhi Government should
come up with Placement
Agencies and Domestic
Workers (regulation) Bill.
This death is a clear example of a tribal girl being
beaten to death by her
employer. Scheduled Castes
and Tribes (Prevention of
Atrocities) Act should also
be added, said Kant.
Police are waiting for the
post-mortem report after
which further sections will
be added to the case.
Polls in five...
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
Akali Dal-BJP combine
and the emerging Arvind
Kejriwal-led AAP are the
other two front-runners in a
three-cornered electoral war.
The Congress is also seeking
to retain its incumbent governments in Uttarakhand
and Manipur, which seem to
be a formidable challenge
for the 132-year-old party
which has continued to shrink
across the country in the
face of a rising Modi-led BJP.
The BJP would attempt to hold
on to power in Goa where it
will face stiff challenge from
both the Congress and the
AAP. With the Modi government set to advance the presentation of the Union Budget in Parliament by four
weeks to 1 February, the
Opposition parties, led by
the Congress,have alleged that
this will provide an opportunity to the central government to make populist
announcementsin the Budget to influence the voters
in these states. They have
urged the EC as well as the
President of India Pranab
Mukherjee to demand that
this proposed advancing of the
Union Budget should not be
allowed and that the Budgets
presentation should be
deferred till the completion
of the entire election.
In
a letter to the EC and President Mukherjee, the Congresss Rajya Sabha Opposition leader Ghulam Nabi
Azad has also cited the practise followed by the previous
Congress-led UPA government in early 2012 in the face
of a similar situation when
the then government had
presented the Budget on 12
March 2012. The BJP has
however sought to rubbished
their demand, saying the
Budget is a constitutional
exercise that should not be
linked to the election cycle.
A senior BJP leader did not
reportedly rule out the
announcement of sops for different segments of society in
the Budget, saying Union
Budgets have been presented in the past during elections
and that it could not be any
different this year.
On being asked about the
ECs stand over the Opposition parties demand in this
regard,the CEC Mr Zaidi said
the EC has been examining
it for an appropriate response.
The Commission has
AROUND TOWN
received one representation
sent by some political parties.
This representation is with
regards to presentation of the
Budget. The Commission is
examining this representation and in due course of
time will take a call on this,
the CEC told the press conference.
When asked about the
ECs preparations on the
recent Supreme Court judgment banning the bid to seek
votes on the grounds of religion, caste and creed, the
CEC said : The law department of the EC is preparing
instructions based on the
Supreme Court order. The
order will further strengthen the hands of the Commission and it wants all political parties to follow the order
of the SC on their own as well.
Over 16 crore people will
participate in these polls for
690 constituencies in five
states, for which the EC has
set up 1.85 lakh polling stations.Mr Zaidi said candidates
will have to open a bank
account for all election expenditures.The maximum limit
for expenses for each candidate in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab and Uttarakhand is Rs 28
lakh, while it is Rs 20 lakh in
the case of Goa and Manipur.
On the question of poll funding and black money, the
CEC said the EC has already
asked the government to
slash the current Rs 20,000
limit on anonymous donations to parties down to Rs
2000. In the upcoming polls,
the candidates will have to submit a No-Demand Certificate from agencies dealing
with electricity, water, telephone and also the government accomodations rent
certificate.When asked about
the allegation that the EC
waited for PM Modis 2
January Lucknow rally before
announcing the poll schedule,
CEC Zaidi rejected it, asserting that the EC is an independent,constitutional body
with its own mind.
The EC will issue photo
voter slips to voters ahead of
polling and will also distribute a booklet to guide them
on poll-related matters. The
Commission will be deploying a legion of general
observers, police observers,
expenditure observers and
even micro observers to
ensure a free and fair election
in each state.
REMOVAL OF CASH...
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
They can go to specified offices of the Reserve Bank
of India up to March 31, 2017 and deposit the notes after
submitting a declaration form.
As per the terms and conditions of RBI, NRIs and
Indians returning from abroad will have to physically
show the junked 500 and 1,000 rupee notes to Customs
officials at the airport and get a declaration form
stamped before they can deposit the demonetised currency in RBI during the grace period.
Indians who were abroad during 9 November to 30
December have been given a 3-month grace period till
31 March to deposit the junked notes, while for the NRIs,
it is six months till 30 June.
ENGLISH FILM
Assassin's Creed
PVR Vasantkunj, Delhi
-9:25am, 1:25pm,
6:25pm, 11:20pm,
8:30pm.
Director's Cut, Delhi 9:05am, 11:30am,
4:15pm, 9pm.
PVR Anupam, Saket 9:15am, 4:05pm,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
PVR Select City Walk 9am, 1:40pm, 6:40pm,
11:40pm.
PVR Naraina -9:15am,
4:05pm, 9:05pm,
11:40pm.
PVR Pacific Mall 9:10am, 11:05am,
4:05pm, 9:05pm,
11:40pm.
PVR Vikaspuri 9:15am, 6:30pm.
PVR Prashant Vihar 9:15am, 6:30pm.
PVR Shalimar Bagh 9:15am, 4:05pm,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 10:45am, 1:05pm,
3:30pm, 5pm, 8:35pm,
10:55pm.
PVR EDM -10:05am,
7:20pm.
PVR Mahagun 3:25pm, 8:25pm,
10:55pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -9:25am,
11:05am, 4:05pm,
9:05pm, 11:40pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9am, 1:40pm, 4:15pm,
6:40pm,
9:30pm,11:40pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida 9.45am, 2.10pm,
6.35pm, 11pm.
Wave Cinema,
Kaushambi -9.40am,
3.15pm, 8.45pm,
11.05pm.
Wave Cinema, Raja
Garden -9.45am,
2.10pm, 6.35pm,
11pm.
Spice Cinema Noida 10am, 12:10pm,
2:30pm, 4:30pm, 7pm,
9:15pm, 11:30pm.
Sing
-9:10am, 11am, 4pm,
9pm.
Director's Cut, Delhi 1:55pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Anupam, Saket 1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Select City Walk 9:15am, 11:15am,
4:15pm, 9:15pm.
PVR Naraina -1:40pm,
6:40pm.
PVR Pacific Mall -9am,
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Shalimar Bagh 1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 9:35am, 12Noon,
2:25pm, 7:15pm,
9:40pm.
DT MOIN, Noida 10am, 3:10pm,
8:20pm.
PVR Mahagun -1pm,
6pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -9am,
1:40pm, 6:40pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9:15am, 11:15am,
4:15pm, 9:15pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida
-12.05pm,
4.25pm,
8.50pm.
Wave
Cinema,
Raja
Garden -
12.05pm, 4.25pm,
8.50pm.
Spice Cinema Noida 9:15am, 12:15pm,
4:45pm, 9:05pm.
La La Land
-5:45pm.
Director's Cut, Delhi 9:20am.
PVR Anupam, Saket 5pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 7pm.
DT MOIN, Noida 12:40pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -1:40pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 6:50pm.
HINDI FILM
Dangal
-9am, 9:45am,
10:30am, 10:45am,
11:15am, 12Noon,
12:30pm, 1:15pm,
2pm,
2:15pm, 2:45pm,
3:30pm, 4pm, 4:45pm,
5:30pm, 6:15pm, 7pm,
7:30pm, 8:15pm, 9pm,
9:45pm, 10:30pm,
10:55pm, 11:15pm,
11:45pm.
Director's Cut, Delhi 9:50am, 11am,
12Noon, 1:15pm,
2:40pm, 3:40pm,
4:40pm, 6:20pm,
7:20pm, 8:05pm,
9:55pm, 10:55pm,
11:30pm.
PVR Anupam, Saket 9am, 9:50am,
10:30am, 11:30am,
12:30pm, 1:20pm,
3pm, 4pm, 4:50pm,
6:30pm, 7:30pm,
8:20pm, 9:55pm,
10:55pm, 11:45pm.
PVR Select City Walk 9am, 10am, 11:20am,
12:30pm, 1:30pm,
2:50pm, 4pm, 6:20pm,
7:30pm, 8:30pm,
9:50pm, 10:55pm,
11:55pm.
PVR Priya -9:20am,
12:45pm, 4:10pm,
7:35pm, 10:55pm.
PVR Plaza -9:20am,
12:45pm, 4:10pm,
7:35pm, 10:55pm.
PVR Rivoli -9am,
12:25pm, 3:50pm,
7:15pm, 10:40pm.
PVR Sangam -9am,
9:50am, 12:30pm,
1:20pm, 4pm, 7:30pm,
8:20pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
PVR Naraina -9am,
9:50am, 10:30am,
11:30am, 12:30pm,
1:20pm, 3pm, 4pm,
4:50pm, 6:30pm,
7:30pm, 8:20pm,
9:55pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
PVR Pacific Mall -9am,
9:45am, 10:20am,
11am, 11:45am,
12:30pm, 1:15pm,
1:50pm, 2:30pm,
3:15pm, 4pm, 4:45pm,
5:20pm, 6pm, 6:45pm,
7:30pm, 8:15pm,
9:30pm, 10:15pm,
10:55pm, 11:45pm.
PVR Vikaspuri -9am,
10:30am, 11:30am,
12:30pm, 2pm, 3pm,
4pm, 5:30pm,
7:30pm,
9pm,
9:55pm, 10:55pm.
PVR Shalimar Bagh 9am, 9:25am, 9:50am,
10:30am, 11:55am,
11:30am, 12:30pm,
1:20pm, 3pm, 4pm,
4:50pm, 6:30pm,
7:30pm, 8:20pm,
9:55pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 9am, 9:50am,
10:15am, 10:40am,
11:05am, 11:30am,
12:30pm, 12:55pm,
1:20pm, 1:30pm,
1:45pm, 2:10pm,
2:35pm, 3pm, 3:25pm,
4pm, 4:25pm, 4:50pm,
5:15pm, 5:40pm,
6:05pm, 6:30pm,
6:55pm, 7:30pm,
7:55pm, 9:55pm,
7:45pm, 8:20pm,
8:45pm, 9:10pm,
9:35pm, 10:25pm,
10:55pm, 11:15pm,
11:25pm, 11:45pm.
PVR EDM -10am,
11:10am, 12:20pm,
1:30pm, 2:40pm,
3:50pm, 5pm, 6:10pm,
8:30pm, 9:40pm,
10:50pm.
PVR Mahagun -9am,
10:10am, 11:20am,
12:30pm, 1:40pm,
2:50pm, 4pm, 5:10pm,
6:20pm, 7:30pm,
8:40pm, 9:50pm,
10:55pm.
PVR Ambience,
Gurgaon -9:20am,
10:10am, 11am,
12Noon, 12:50pm,
2:30pm, 3:30pm,
4:20pm, 5:10pm, 6pm,
7pm, 7:50pm, 8:40pm,
9:30pm, 10:30pm,
11:20pm.
PVR MGF, Gurgaon 9am, 9:45am, 10am,
10:30am, 11:50am,
12:30pm, 1:15pm,
2pm, 3:20pm, 4pm,
4:45pm, 5:30pm,
6:50pm, 7:30pm,
8:15pm, 9pm,
10:20pm, 10:55pm,
11:45pm.
Wave Cinema, Noida 9.30am, 10am,
10.30am, 12.15pm,
12.45pm, 1.15pm,
1.45pm, 3.30pm, 4pm,
4.30pm, 5.05pm, 6pm,
7.15pm, 7.45pm,
8.15pm, 9.15pm,
10pm, 10.30pm,
11.25pm.
Wave Cinema,
Kaushambi -9.30am,
10am, 10.30am,
12.10pm, 12.45pm,
1.15pm, 1.45pm, 4pm,
4.30pm, 5.05pm,
5.35pm, 7.15pm,
7.45pm, 8.15pm,
10.30pm, 10.55pm,
11.25pm.
Wave Cinema, Raja
Garden -9.30am,
10am, 10.30am,
12.45pm, 1.15pm,
1.45pm, 4pm, 4.30pm,
5.05pm, 7.15pm,
7.45pm, 8.15pm,
10pm, 10.30pm,
10.55pm, 11.25pm.
Spice Cinema Noida 910am, 9:35am,
10:10am, 10:45am,
11:20am, 12Noon,
12:35pm, 1:10pm,
1:45pm, 2:20pm, 3pm,
3:35pm, 4:10pm,
4:45pm, 5:20pm, 6pm,
6:35pm, 7:10pm,
7:45pm, 8:20pm, 9pm,
9:35pm, 10:10pm,
10:45pm, 11:20pm,
11:50pm.
PUNJABI FILM
Motor Mitraan Di
PVR Pacific Mall 8:50pm.
PVR Logix, Noida 9:45pm.
Spice Cinema Noida
-2:20pm.
A scene from:
Sing
TODAY IN DELHI
ENGAGEMENTS
India International
Centre
&
Raza
Foundation present Art
Matters featuring a
discussion on "Golden
Ratio,
Fibonacci
Sequence and Fractals
in Mathematics, Nature
and the Arts" by Balan
Nambiar and moderated
by Ashok Vajpeyi at the
Seminar Rooms II & III,
Kamaladevi Complex,
40, Max Mueller Marg,
6.30 p.m.
MUSIC &FILMS
Habitat World presents
Opera at Habitat Series
featuring "Bellini's I
Puritani" (Italian & Engsubtitled), Sunit Tandon
introduces a live
recording from the
Metropolitan Opera
House, starring the
sensational
Anna
Netrebko, at India
Habitat Centre, Lodhi
Road, 7 p.m.
FILMS
Habitat Film Club &
Foundation for Universal
Responsibility present
"On The Peaceful Peak"
(Vietnamese/Engsubtitled), directed by
Nguyen Huu Muoi, at
India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, 7 p.m.
EXHIBITIONS
"Down the Ages", a solo
painting exhibition in
water colour & acrylics
by Sarnjeet Singh at
Delhi O' Delhi Foyer,
India Habitat Centre,
Lodhi Road, 11 a.m. to
7 p.m. (till 31 January)
"Of Miles and Me: A
Photo Travelogue", s
solo photography
exhibition by Nipun
Nayyar
at
the
Convention Centre
Foyer, India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road, 11
a.m. to 7 p.m. (till 5
January)
Open Palm Court Gallery
presents a group
painting & sculpture
exhibition by various
artists at India Habitat
Centre, Lodhi Road, 11
January)
Vadehra Art Gallery
presents
"Penal
Colony", a solo show by
artist Madhusudhan,
at D-53, Defence Colony,
11.00 a.m. to 9 .00 p.m.
(till 10 January)
Dilli Haat presents 31st
Annual Dastkari Haat
Craft Bazaar, Opposite
INA Market, 11 a.m. to
9 p.m. (till 15 January)
Khoj Studios presents
"Frozen World of the
Familiar Stranger"
featuring 10 Indian and
international artists at
S-17, Khirkee Extension,
11 a.m. to 7 p.m. (till 11
January)
The Egg Art Studio
presents Fanil Pandya's
"Headhunters", who
uses photography as
an art form and
documents the life and
culture of the Konyak
tribe, a warrior clan
famous for beheading
its victims at 23,
Barakhamba Road, 11
January)
LEISURE
10 MINUTE CROSSWORD
BEETLE BAILEY/Mort Walker
NEED TO KNOW
* Police 100
* Ambulance 102
* Accident & Trauma 109 &
1099
* Fire 101; Fire Service Officer
23314000
* Womens Helpline 1091
* Senior Citizens Helpline 1291
HOSPITALS
* AIIMS 26588500, 26588900
* Moolchand Medcity
(formerly Hospital) 42000000 &
24-hour Chemist Shop 42000447
* Vidyasagar Institute for
Mental Health and NeuroSciences 26924300
* Batra Hospital & Medical
Research Centre 29051280,
29958747
* Deen Dayal Upadhyay
25494402 to 06
* Guru Tegh Bahadur 22585007,
22597262, 22586262
* Lok Nayak Jai Prakash
23231471, 23230733, 23233400
* Dr Ram Manohar Lohia
23365525, 23365988
* Safdarjung 26165032,
26168336
RAILWAY INQUIRY
* General Inquiry 139
* Train Arrival 1331 (North),
1332 (East), 1333 (West), 1334
(South)
* Train Departure 1336 (North),
1337 (East), 1338 (West), 1339
RED EYE/Bill Yates & Mel Casson

ACROSS
1 Digress (5)
4 Ram (3)
7 Supporting beam (6)
8 Tree (6)
9 Petty formal detail
(12)
11 Regulations (5)
12 Numeral (5)
14 Estate-owning aristocrats (6,6)
17 Planet (6)
19 Retriever, for example (3,3)
20 Dried grass (3)
21 Quick (5)
DOWN
1 Small alcoholic drink
(Informal) (7)
2 Made fun of (9)
3 Underpants (1-6)
4 Theme (5)
5 Fruit seed (3)
6 Unit of power (4)
10 Become less serious
(7,2)
12 Excavating vessel
(7)
13 Gland in the neck
(7)
15 Regrettably (4)
16 Beau (5)
18 Expression of disgust (3)
Reservation 18001801407
* INDIGO AIRLINES New Delhi
City Office 43513185, Call
Centre 09910383838,
18001803838, Reservation
43513186; Indigo Airlines
Airport 011-25671580; Terminal
I-B 25671576, Palam Road
25671579, 18001803838
* Jet AIRWAYS Flight Inquiry
and Reservation 39893333
* EMIRATES Flight Inquiry and
Reservation 33773377
* Kuwait Airways Flight Inquiry
and Reservation 23354373
(City), 25652295/96 (Airport)
* Japan Airlines Flight Inquiry
23327104/23327108
SUDOKU
HENRY/Dick Hodgins
SOLUTIONS TO YESTERDAYS CROSSWORD

12 Intransistruck,
ACROSS
DOWN
gence,
11Cognisant,
1 Wreak,
1 Wrist,
14 Spume,
12 Instant,
4 Otter
2 Element,
16 Rainbow, 3 Kittiwake, 13 Nibbles,
(Ricotta),
18 Acerbic,
15 Use up,
8 Inept,
4 Orb,
20
Allot,
17 Witty,
9 Tableau,
5 Therm,
21
Top
up,
19 Bap.
10 Teeming,
6 Roulade,
22 Tasty.
11 Comma,
7 StageBy arrangement with The Independent
Figures in parentheses denote
the number of letters in the words required
(South)
* Toll Free Nos. 1800112511
* SMS Inquiry Nos. 57886,
54959, 5676747
ROADWAYS INQUIRY
* ISBT (General Inquiry):
23868836, 23865181
* Haryana Roadways 23861262
* Himachal Roadways
23717473, 23325320
* Punjab Roadways 23867842,
23860626
* Rajasthan Roadways
23864470
* U.P. Roadways 23868709
FLIGHT INQUIRY
* AIR INDIA Flight Inquiry and
Srabble and Scrabble Tiles are registered trademarks.

All rights in the game are owned in the U.S.A by Hasbro
Inc., in Canada by Hasbro Canada Inc., and elsewhere by
J.W. Spear & Sons Limited, a subsidiary of Mattel, Inc.
Directions Make a 2 to
7 letter word from the
letters in each row.
Add points of each
word, using scoring
directions at right, 7letter words get 50point bonus. "Blanks"
used as any letter
have no point value.
All Judd's words are
in The Official
Scrabble Players
Dictionary(MerriamWebster) and OSW
Official Scrabble
Words(Chambers).
Judd's solution
tomorrow.
10-25-12
answer to
previous
puzzle
Sudoku is a number-placing
puzzle based on a 9x9 grid with
several given numbers. The
object is to place the numbers 1
to 9 in the empty squares so
that no row, no column and no
3x3 box contains the same
number. The difficulty level
increases through the week.
05
06
JADAVPUR
UNIVERSITY
Kolkata-700032
A Walk-in Interview will
be held at the AudioVisual Room, Mechanical
Engineering Department,
Jadavpur
University,
Kolkata-700032 on 16th
January, 2017 (Monday)
at 11.30 a.m. for the
recruitment of two JRFs in
DST, Govt. of India sponsored Research Project
entitled Smart Foundry2020 under the supervision of Dr. Goutam
Sutradhar, Department of
Mechanical Engineering,
Jadavpur University.
Tenure: Till the termination of the scheme.
Further details will be
available
from
www.jaduniv.edu.in
Registrar
LEGAL NOTICES
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
(Order 5, Rule 20 of the
Code of Civil Procedure)
In the Court of
Manjusha Wadhwa
Addl. District Judge-08
(West)
Room No. 142,
Tis Hazari Courts,
Delhi.
Case No. 611546/2016.
N.D.O.H. : 30-1-2017.
Harminder Singh
Plaintiff
Versus
P.N.B. & Ors.
Defendants
To,
1. Smt. Satinder Kaur, w/o
Sh. Harvinder Singh, r/o VV134-A, Gali No. 5, Virender
Nagar, New Delhi-110058.
2. Sh. Jatinder Singh, s/o
Sh. Mohinder Singh, r/o VB134-A, Gali No. 5, Virender
The Defendants abovenamed.
Whereas you are intentionally evading service of
summons it is hereby notified that if you shall not
defend the case on the 30th
day of January, 2017, the day
fixed for the final disposal,
it will be heard and determined ex-parte.
Given under my hand and
the Seal of the Court, on this
the 23rd day of November,
2016.
(West)
Tis Hazari Courts, Delhi.
Seal of the Court
CL 03050
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING ATTENDANCE OF

DEFENDANT
In the Court of
Manjusha Wadhwa
(West)
Room No. 142,
Tis Hazari Courts,
Delhi.
Case No. 611545/2016.
N.D.O.H. : 30-1-2017.
Jagmohan Singh
Plaintiff
Versus
P.N.B. & Ors.
Defendants
To,
1. Smt. Satinder Kaur, w/o
Sh. Harvinder Singh, r/o VV134-A, Gali No. 5, Virender
2. Sh. Jatinder Singh, s/o
Sh. Mohinder Singh, r/o VB134-A, Gali No. 5, Virender
The Defendants abovenamed.
the 23rd day of November,
2016.
(West)
Seal of the Court
CL 03051
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING ATTENDANCE OF

DEFENDANT
In the Court of
Manjusha Wadhwa
(West)
Room No. 142,
Tis Hazari Courts,
Delhi.
Case No. 611684/2016.
N.D.O.H. : 11-1-2017.
ICICI Bank
Plaintiff
Versus
Balvinder Singh
Defendant
To,
Old Address :
Balvinder Singh, s/o Sh.
Kawaljeet Singh, r/o H. No.
M-32, Ground Floor, Hari
Nagar, Mayapuri, South West
Delhi-110064.
New Address :
Balvinder Singh, s/o Sh.
Kawaljeet Singh, Proprietor

of Singh Trading Co., C/o B-283,
Ground Floor, Hari Nagar, New
Delhi-110064.
The Defendant abovenamed.
the 21st day of October, 2016.
(West)
Seal of the Court
CL 03053
PROCLAMATION REQUIRING
ATTENDANCE OF
DEFENDANT
In the Court of
Dr. Kamini Lau
Addl. Distt. & Sessions
Judge-02
(Central), Court Room No.
09, Ground Floor,
CS No. : 210/2016.
Ranjit Jain
Plaintiff
Versus
Global Institute of Technology and Management
Defendant
To,
Ravinder Tokas (Chairman),
Global Institute of Technology and Management, 5KM
Milestone, Kheda Khurampur, Farukhnagar, Haily Mandi
Road, Gurgaon, Haryana122506.
The Respondent Abovenamed.
Whereas the plaintiff abovenamed has filed this Suit for
Recovery of Rs. 5,00,000/against you in this Court and
you are intentionally avoiding
service of summons, it is hereby notified that if you shall not
day of January, 2017 the day
the Seal of the Court on this
the 20th day of December,
2016.
Addl. Distt. & Sessions
Judge-02 (Central)
Seal of the Court
CL 03060
NOTICE THROUGH
PUBLICATION UNDER
ORDER 5 RULE 20 CPC
In the Court of
Sh. Manish Kumar
Addl. District Judge
Faridabad.
RCA No. 030/30-4-2016.
Date of Hearing : 10-1-2017
at 9-30 a.m.
Surjan Singh & Anr.
Versus
Smt. Satyawati & Anr.
Notice to Respondents :
1. Smt. Satyawati Lohia, w/o
Sh. Mast Ram, r/o Village Ghitorni, New Delhi.
2. Udhau Das @ Uddu Das,
s/o Sh. Govind Ram, r/o H.
No. 635, Palam Vihar, Gurgaon.
Respondents
In the abovenoted case it
has been proved to the satisfaction to this Court that
the above respondents are
avoiding the service of summons and it is not possible to
get them served in the ordinary way of service. Hence,
publication under Order 5
Rule 20 CPC is hereby issued
against them and they are
directed to appear personally or through some authorized agent or pleader in this
Court on 10-1-2017 at 9-30
a.m., otherwise ex-parte proceedings shall be initiated
against them.
the Seal of this Court on this
the 2nd day of December,
2016.
Addl. District Judge
Faridabad.
Seal of the Court
CL 03056
IN THE COURT OF
SH. AMITABH RAWAT
ARC/ACJ/CCJ, New Delhi
Room No. 01, Ground Floor,
Patiala House Courts,
New Delhi.
Petition No. SC-90/2016.
Prem Sagar Chopra & Ors.
Petitioners
Versus
1. The State
2. ISGEC Heavy Engineering Ltd., through its Authorized Representative having
Regd. Office at Radaur Road,
Yamuna Nagar, Haryana135001.
Respondents
FOR SUCCESSION
CERTIFICATE UNDER INDIAN
SUCCESSION ACT, 1925
To,
All Concerned.
Whereas in the abovenoted
petition the applicant/petitioner has applied for Succession Certificate to the
Hon'ble Court under Section
372 of the Indian Succession
Act, 1925 in respect of the
debts and securities i.e. Total
3040 Equity Shares of Rs. 10/-
each having Distinctive Nos.

2600441 to 2603480, Certificate Nos. 112025 to 112085
with ISGEC Heavy Engineering
Ltd., Radaur Road, Yamuna
Nagar, Haryana-135001, to be
standing in the name of Late
Pushpa
Rani
Chopra,
deceased.
Whereas the 13-1-2017 at
10 O'clock in the forenoon
has been fixed for hearing of
the application notice is hereby given to all concerned.
the Seal of the Court on this
the 19th day of December,
2016.
Administrative Civil Judge
(New Delhi)
Patiala House Courts,
New Delhi.
Seal of the Court
CL 03061
IN THE COURT OF
SH. GAURAV DUTTA
Civil Judge
Senior Division,
Chandigarh.
Civil Suit No. 2144/2016.
Next Date : 25-1-2017.
Manik @ Sanjeev Kumar minor
son of Late Ms. Shakuntla
Devi, aged about 16 years,
resident of House No. 3234,
Housing Board, Near Shiv
Mandir, Dhanas, Chandigarh160014 through his next
friend/Uncle Sh. Meet Lal, s/o
Sh. Mast Ram, resident of
House No. 2539, Sector-25,
Chandigarh.
Plaintiff
Versus
General Public
Defendant
Suit for Declaration to the
effect that the plaintiff is the
only Class 1 legal heirs of
Late Ms. Shakuntla Devi, d/o
Late Ram Sarup, resident of H.
No. 3234, Housing Board
Dhanas, UT, Chandigarh being
her adopted son and is entitled to inherit all her estate i.e.
all movable and immovable
properties including two houses i.e. House No. 3234, Housing
Board Colony, Dhanas, Chandigarh and House No. 1485,
Chaman Colony, Dhanas,
Chandigarh and that the plaintiff is entitled to operate bank
accounts as well as locker in
Central Bank of India, SCO
No. 101-103, Sector-15, Chandigarh Account No. 3009189144,
A/c No. 0184040100003703 in
J&K Bank, SCO No. 803, Sector22-B, Chandigarh, and other
accounts in Punjab National
Bank, Sector-17, Chandigarh
A/c No. 1808000100038809,
State Bank of India, SCO No.
43-48, Bank Square, Sector17, Chandigarh A/c No.
10847681345 and HDFC Bank
Ltd. SCO No. 61-63, Sector-9,
Chandigarh Account No.
13061930006478 of Late Ms.
Shakuntla Devi, d/o Late Ram
Sarup being Class 1 legal heir
and on the basis of Will dated
5-1-2016 and also on the basis
of LIC Policies.
Notice to :
General Public.
Whereas the abovenamed
plaintiff have filed abovementioned Civil Suit before
this Hon'ble Court.
Notice is issued in the name
of Defendant General Public
that in case anybody has any
objection for the grant of
decree in favour of the plaintiff, he or she can file objections to the same on or before
25-1-2017, failing which the
Suit shall be decided in accordance with law.
Civil Judge
Junior Division
Chandigarh.
Seal of the Court
CL 03057
STATE CONSUMER DISPUTES REDRESSAL COMMISSION

"A'' Block, 1st Floor, Vikas
Bhawan, I.P. Estate, New
Delhi-110002.
No. FA-473/2013.
Dated : 22-12-2016.
In the matter of :
Shriram GIC Ltd.
Versus
Suresh Rajak
To,
Sh. Suresh Rajak, s/o Sh.
Lagan Rajak, r/o RZ-C/71,
Mahavir Enclave, New Delhi45.
Whereas an appeal/a complaint against you has been
made to this Commission for
adjudication. You are hereby
summoned to appear in this
Commission in person or by a
pleader or an authorized
agent duly instructed and
able to answer all the material
question in relation to the
appeal/complaint on 10-52017 at 10-30 a.m. sharp.
You are further directed to
file complete reply of your
defense on the aforesaid date
and take note that in default
of your appearance on the
said date the matter will be
heard and determined in your
absence.
the Seal of this Commission on
this the 22nd day of December,
2016.
Registrar
State Commission
A-Block, Vikas Bhawan,
New Delhi-110002.
Seal of the Commission
CL 03052
NOBLE CO-OPERATIVE BANK

LTD.
Head Office : Ragunathpur,
MP-1 Road, Sector-22,
Noida.
Ph. : 0120-403015, 4503013,
Email :
ncblnoida@gmail.com
POSSESSION NOTICE
Whereas the undermentioned being the authorized
officer of the Noble Co-operative Bank Ltd., Noida under
the Securitization and Reconstruction of Financial Assets
and Enforcement of Security
Interest Act, 2002 and in exercise of powers conferred
under Section 13(2) read with
Rule 3 of the Security Interests
(Enforcement) Rules 2002
issued a Demand Notice dated
22nd January, 2016 calling
upon the borrower M/s. SMA
Adiwise Consulting Pvt. Ltd.,
158, Sharda Niketan, Pitampura, Delhi. Through its Directors : Sh. Mahesh Kumar Sharma, s/o Phool Singh, r/o 158,
Sharda Niketan, Pitampura,
Delhi, Smt. Anuradha Sharma, w/o Sh. Mahesh Kumar
Sharma, r/o 158, Sharda Niketan, Pitampura, Delhi and Sh.
Aditya Kumar, s/o Sh. Ashwani Kumar, r/o 19-A, Udham
Singh Nagar, Ludhiana, Guarantor-Mortgagor : Smt. Anuradha Shamra, w/o Sh.
Mahesh Kumar Sharma, r/o
158, Sharda Niketan, Pitampura, Delhi to repay the
amount mentioned in the
notice being Rs. 61,32,731/(Rs. Sixty One Lacs Thirty
Two Thousand Seven Hundred Thirty One) only as on 3112-2015 within 60 days from
the date of receipts of the
said notice.
The borrower having failed
to repay the amount, notice is
hereby given to the borrower
and the public in general that
the undermentioned has taken
Symbolic Possession of the
property described herein
below in exercise of powers
conferred on him/her under
Section 13(4) of the said Act
read with Rule 8 of thde said
Rule on this 29th day of
December of the year 2016.
The borrower in particular
and public in general is hereby cautioned not to deal with
the property and any dealings with the property will
be subject to the charge of the
Noble Co-operative Bank Ltd.,
Noida for an amount of Rs.
61,32,731/- (Rs. Sixty One Lacs
Thirty Two Thosuand Seven
Hundred Thirty One) only as
on 31-12-2015 together with
Interest, Penal Interest, Incidental Expenses, Cost,
Charges etc. till the date of
Actual Payment.
Description of the Immovable Property
All that part and parcel of
the property as stated
below :
Entire Roof/Terrace of Second Floor and above up to
Sky, with common entrance,
passage and staircase, bearing Pvt. No. GA-3, Part of Property bearing No. G-3/3, situated at Model Town Part-III,
Delhi-110009 having roof top
carpet area admeasuring 134
Sq. Meters approx apart from
staircase and passage (Corresponding land area being 4006 Sq. Meters).
Date : 29th December,
2016.
Place : Noida.
Authorized Officer
Noble Co-operative Bank
Ltd.
Noida.
SRI ANIRUDHA Goswami &

Others filed a complain
case before the honourable
State Commission West
Bengal being Case No. CC
322 of 2015 against the Asad
Hingu & Others, Asad Hingu,
son of late Hanif Hingu,
residing at 44 (old) 50/B
(new), Laden Lal Road,
Police Station: Chandmari,
District: Darjeeling is the
Opposite Party No. 2 of the
abovementioned case. Next
day has been fixed on
07.02.2017
before
the
Honourable
State
Commission for appearing
10.30 a.m. otherwise the
matter will be heard ex
parte against him. Please do
the needful.
Hirak Chakrabarti
Advocate
Alipore Judges Court
Mobile No.: 9830531262
CL 03062
PUBLIC NOTICE
Be it known to the public at
large that my clients Smt.
Sunita, wife of Sh. Surender
Kumar Goyal and Sh. Surender
Kumar Goyal, son of Late Sh.
Manu Ram, residents of C175, Street No. 7, Majlis Park,
Azadpur, Delhi declare that
they have disowned and
debarred their son Sh. Ankit
Goyal and his wife Smt. Karnika both residents of C-7/110B, Keshavpuram, Delhi from all
their movable and immovable assets. My clients and
their another son Yash Goyal
have ceased and severed all
relations with them with
immediate effect and if anyone deals with them shall do
at his own risks and costs.
Sanjay Garg
Advocate
C-307, Street No. 9,
Majlis Park, Azadpur,
Delhi-110033.
Ph. : 9212193450,
9990621850
CL 03059
MY CLIENT Shri Debashis

Mukherjee, son of late
Baidyanath Mukherjee of S219, S.S. Bose Sarani,
Baidyabati,
District:
Hooghly is the owner of
land measuring an area of 2
(two) sataks only at Mouza:
Dharmada in Dag No. 236,
J.L. No. 103, Khatian No.
640/1,
Police
Station:
Nakashipara, District: Nadia
has decided to sell, if there
is any objection by anybody,
please intimate me in writing within 07 (seven) days
of this date of Notification,
otherwise the matter will be
treated as ex parte.
Rajat Kumar Sinha
Advocate
Small Cause Court
Bar Association
2 & 3, K.S. Roy Road
Kolkata-700001
I, PRATIM Ghosh shall

henceforth be known as
Protim Ghosh, vide Affidavit
No. 00AB 575701 sworn
before the Notary Public,
Kolkata on 11.07.2016.
I, BAPAN Debnath, S/o.
Swapan
Debnath,
R/o.
Charmajdiya Puratan Bazar
Para,
P.O.:
Charbrahmanagar,
P.S.:
Nabadwip,
Dist.:
Nadia
henceforth
known
as
Dibyendu Debnath, vide an
affidavit sworn before the
Judicial
Magistrate
1st
Class, Nabadwip, Nadia on
28.09.2016.
Dibyendu
Debnath
and
Bapan
Debnath is the same and
one identical person.
MY FATHER Jamser Mia alias
Jamser Ali Mia henceforth be
known as Jamser Ali by virtue
of Affidavit No. 48 before
Executive Magistrate, Dinhata,
Cooch Behar on 03.01.2017.
Nazrul Haque (Son)
Chamta, Sitai, Cooch Behar
LOST & FOUND

IT is notified for the information that my Original Qualifying Examination Certificates of Main Secondary
Examination of Year 2012, Roll
No. 8203747 and Senior Secondary Examination of Year
2014, Roll No. 9177266, issued
by CBSE has been actually
lost. Name of the Candidate :
Anushka Sehgal, d/o Sh. Sanjay Sehgal.
CL 03055
SALES BY
AUCTION
1. AUCTION Generators,
unserviceable stores, 11-112017 at 11-00 at Radio
Research Centre, Ghitorni,
Delhi, Security : Rs. 20,000/2. E-AUCTION Ambassador,
Indigo 2006, on 10-1-2017 at 230. Inspection 9 & 10-1-2017
from 11-00 to 3-00 at Krishi
Bhawan, New Delhi. Security
: Rs. 10,000/-. Detail Accurate
9868215515.
CL 03054
ABRIDGED NOTICE FOR EOI

Expression of Interest is
invited from established
private diagnostic facilities
for establishing Diagnostic
Services in Block Joynagar-I
(Padmerhat RH) under P.P.P.
through
Notice
No.
CMOH/(SPG)/37
dated:
03.02.2017. The complete
information, eligible etc. are
available
in
www.spghealth.gov.in
or
www.wbhealth.gov.in and
office of the undersigned,
last date 12.00 noon of
24.01.2017 & will be opened
on 24.01.2017 at 2.00 p.m.
Sd/Secy., DH&FWS
CL 03058
WEST BENGAL
COOP MILK PRODUCERS
FEDERATION LTD.
LB-2, Sector-III, Salt Lake
Kolkata-700106
E-tender is invited for
supply, installation & commissioning of BMCU (2
KLPD)
&
Homogenizer
(2KLPH) under District Milk
Unions. Interested suppliers
may go through the website: www.wbtenders.gov.in
and www.benmilk.com for
details on & from 05.01.2017.
Last date for submission of
E-Tender is 20.01.2017.
Managing Director
GOVT. OF WEST BENGAL
P.W. (Roads) Directorate
NOTICE INVITING e-TENDER
Superintending Engineer,
Eastern Highway Circle,
Purta Bhavan, Salt Lake, 1st
floor, Room No. 104 & 105,
Kolkata-700091,
invites
online Percentage rate eTender No. 06 of 2016-17 of
SE/EHC for the work of
Const. of left flank (2-Lane)
of Patipukur-Rajarhat Road
from 5.60 to 6.90 km under
Barasat Hwy. Divn.-I in the
Dist. of 24 Pgs. (N), under
Plan
work
2016-17.
Amounting to Rs. 9,41,76,351
(Tender
Id:
2 0 1 7 _ W B PW D _ 9 6 6 7 7 _ 1 ) .
Last date and time of submission of bid is on 27.01.17
up to 1.00 p.m. (Tender
Application & Financial Bid
both concurrently).
The
details
can
be
obtained from the website:
https://etender.wb.nic.in &
Office Notice Board.
For any clarification bidder may contact PWD eTender Help Desk with following Phone No.: (033)
2223-6236. Corrigendum or
Addendum if issued will be
published only on website.
Sd/SE/EHC
P.W.(R) Dte.
KOLKATA PORT TRUST
KOLKATA DOCK SYSTEM
(1) NIT No.: KOPT / KDS /
CIV / T / 2124 / 36 / 1 Dt.:
26.12.2016.
E-tendering for "Repair /
restoration cost for remaining portion of J.J.P. Road
from Hide Road crossing to
Century
Ply
Container
Freight Station gate including restoration of damaged
caused to the road during
laying of water pipeline
across and along J.J.P. Road
by
KMC,
N.S.
Dock".
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
10,88,846.90
(approx.).
Earnest Money: Rs. 22,000.
Cost of tender papers: Rs.
1,500
(non-refundable).
Time of completion: 04
(four) months. Last date of
download: 26.01.2017 (up to
14.00 hrs.). Last date of
online
submission:
27.01.2017 up to 3.00 p.m.
Date of opening of tender:
27.01.2017 shortly after 3.30
p.m.
Details
may
be
obtained
from
www.mstcecommerce.com
/
eprochome
/
www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in
and www.eprocure.gov.in
CIV / T / 2135 / 47 Dt.:
26.12.2016.
E-tendering
for
"Facelifting work of all Dock
gates (N.S. Dock) including
displaying various boards
at gates and display various
board / signal / placard /
direction symbols at inside
Dock and other allied works,
N.S. Dock". Estimated Cost:
Rs. 23,01,912.52 (approx.).
1,500
(non-refundable).
Time of completion: 06 (six)
months. Last date of download: 30.01.2017 (up to 14.00
hrs.). Last date of online
submission: 31.01.2017 up to
3.00 p.m. Date of opening of
tender: 31.01.2017 shortly
after 3.30 p.m. Details may
be
obtained
from
/
eprochome
/
(3) NIT No.: RT / TN / 16-17
/ 18 Dt.: 22.12.2016.
NIT for Water-proofing
treatment at Semaphore
Station
Building
Crews
quarters, Wireless Office,
Security Room (near gate)
and Commander Bungalow
at Hooghly Point Station.
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
8,42,477.50. Earnest Money:
Rs. 16,850. Cost of tender
papers: Rs. 600. Time of
completion:
04
(four)
months. Last date of down-
KOLKATA
SHIMLA
MUMBAI
Statesman House,
4, Chowringhee Square
Kolkata-700 001
Tel: (033) 22127070-76,
(033) 41071700
Fax: (033) 2212-6181 / 7107-1780
Email: thestatesman@vsnl.com
statesmandisplay@gmail.com
The Statesman Ltd.

Cabin No. 305, P. C. Chambers
Near Jodha Niwas
The Mall Shimla-171001, H.P.
Mob: 09418027177
naveensharma.thestatesman@gmail.com
5, Kasturi Buildings Jamshedji

Tata Road, Mumbai-400 020
Tel: (022) 2202 1045, 2202 1394,
Fax: 2204 4877
Email:
thestatesmanmumbai@thestatesman.net
thestatesman.mumbai@gmail.com
DELHI
SCO 56-57 (First Floor)

Near G.P.O, Sectro-17D
Chandigarh-160017
Mob: 09779188811
email: anandjjn@gmail.com
Statesman House,
148, Barakhamba Road,
New Delhi-110 001
Tel: (011) 2331 5911
Fax: (011) 2331 5295
Email:
thestatesmandelhi@thestatesman.net
sman@nde.vsnl.net.in,
delhistatesman@gmail.com
3/10, INS Building
(3rd floor) Rafi Marg,
New Delhi-110 001,
Tel: (011) 2371 8434
Email:
thestatesmandelhi@thestatesman.net
shivaji.samaddar@gmail.com Ishan
House (2nd floor)
A-90, Sector II NOIDA,
UP 201 301
Tel: (0120) 95120-3891800/810,
Fax: (0120) 95120-2547216
SILIGURI
13A, Dabgram Industrial Growth
Centre,
P.O. Satellite Township,
Siliguri-734015
Tel: 2568615, 2568063 and 2568787.
Fax: (0353) 2568296,
Email:
thestatesmansiliguri@thestatesman.net
sil_statesman@yahoo.co.in /
kkc099@gmail.com
CHANDIGARH
BHUBANESWAR
Plot 3A, Zone B, Sector A,
Mancheswar Industrial Estate,
Bhubaneswar- 751 010.
Tel: (0674) 2588060/61/
62/2586371,
Telefax: 0674-2588061
Email:
thestatesmanbhubaneswar@thestatesman.net
statesmanbbsr@gmail.com
HYDERABAD
The Statesman Limited, 2nd
Floor, UNI Building,
A.C. Guards, Hyderabad-500004,
Ph.: 040-2339 1739
Email:
thestatesmanhyderabad@thestatesman.net
thestatesman.hyd@gmail.com
BANGALORE
No. 68, First Floor, Gold Tower, 50
Residency Road,
Bangalore-560025.
Tel.; 9945735845, 080-22229129,
080-22234813
Email:
thestatesmanbangalore@thestatesman.net
tsmbangalore @yahoo.com
CHENNAI
Fagun Mansion (4th floor) 26,
Ethirai Road, Chennai-600 008,
Tel: (044) 28278037, 28279984 Fax:
28224800
Email:
thestatesmanchennai@thestatesman.net
LUCKNOW
2/2, Butler Palace (Near Jopling
Road), Lucknow-226 001,
Ph.: (0522) 2206705, 9415920949
Email:
thestatesmanlucknow@thestatesman.net
soumenbose1975@gmail.com
bose.soumen@rediffmail.com
RAIPUR
Mr. Manish Saluja 53, Sahid
Samarak Complex Bombay
Market, G.E. Road,
Raipur 492001
Tel.: 5035985, (M): 9425202097
RANCHI
11/C, Road#1, Ashoknagar,
Ranchi - 834 002
Fax: (0651) 2247054
Email:
thestatesmanranchi@thestatesman.net
binodenarayansingh@yahoo.co.in
AIR-SURCHARGE; Kathmandu - Rs. 2, Eastern Region - Rs. 1

All other stations in India - Rs. 1
load: 27.01.2017 (up to 3.00

p.m.). Last date of submission: 27.01.2017 up to 3.00
p.m. Date of opening of tender: 27.01.2017 (shortly after
3.30 p.m.). Details may be
obtained
from
/
eprochome
/
(4) e-Tender No.: MED / PR
/ ADVT / 236-1 / 16-17 / 1656
dated: 23.12.2016 is invited
from
manufacturers
/
authorised distributors /
dealers / stockist / agents
for Supply, delivery, installation and commissioning
of
One
No.
Boyle's
Apparatus
(Anaesthesia
Work Station) for use in the
Centenary Hospital, Kolkata
Port Trust. For more details,
please
visit:
www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in /
www.eprocure.gov.in
or
/ eprochome / kopt on and
from 05.01.2017. Date & time
of opening of the e-Tender:
27.01.2017 at 15.30 hrs.
CIV / T / 2137 / 49 Dt.:
27.12.2016.
E-tendering for "Repairing
and renewal of damaged
Coping Stones at Berth No. 2
and 3 and resurfacing with
brick-on-edge soling to the
quay surface of Berth No. 5
to overcome recurring problem of shrubs and swampy
conditions developing during monsoon, N.S. Dock".
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
19,59,307.06
(approx.).
1,500
(non-refundable).
online
submission:
31.01.2017 up to 3.00 p.m.
p.m.
Details
may
be
obtained
from
/
eprochome
/
(6) NIT No.: CE / South /
163 / 2016 / T-09 dated:
27.12.2016.
e-Tender for "Providing
services for upkeepment of
office
premises
of
Superintending
Engineer
(Civil) South Section at 51,
CGR Road and site offices at
Chetla Residential Quarters,
Port Land Park, Remount
Road and Subhash Nagar
for one year from the date
of placement of work
order". Estimated Cost: Rs.
papers: Rs. 600 (non-refundable). Transaction fee for etendering: Rs. 349 (nonrefundable). Time of completion: 12 (twelve) months.
Last date of download:
25.01.2017 (up to 14.00 hrs.).
Last date of online submission: 27.01.2017 up to 3.00
p.m. Date of opening of tender
(Techno-Commercial
part): 27.01.2017 shortly
after up to 3.30 p.m. Details
may be obtained from
/
eprocure
and
163 / 2016 / T-10 dated:
27.12.2016.
e-Tender for "petty miscellaneous building repairing works as may be necessary at Portland Park campus for one year from the
date of placement of work
order". Estimated Cost: Rs.
papers: Rs. 600 (non-refundable). Transaction fee for etendering: Rs. 501 (nonrefundable). Time of completion: 12 (twelve) months.
25.01.2017 (up to 14.00 hrs.).
(Techno-Commercial
/
eprocure
and
598 / 2016 / T-11 dated:
27.12.2016.
e-Tender
for
"Petty
plumbing & sanitary works
as may be necessary at
Subhasnagar CISF Campus,
Ramnagar Wireless Station
& its residential Qtrs.
Campus & Shed, for a period
of one year from the date of
placement of work order".
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
5,99,212.75.
Earnest
Money: Rs. 9,745. Cost of
tender papers: Rs. 600 (nonrefundable). Time of completion: 12 (twelve) months.
25.01.2017 (up to 14.00 hrs.).
(Techno-Commercial
/
eprocure
and
(9) Tender Ref. No. MRN /
SDDS / SURVEILLANCE / II /
2016-17, January 2017.
E-Tender for surveillance
of navigational buoy lights
in the shipping channel for
a period of 3 years.
Estimated Value of the tender: Rs. 123.78 lakh. Offline
Pre-bid meeting: 12.01.2017.
Last date of submission:
27.01.2017. For details of
tender
and
any
corrigendum / addendum
please
visit:
or contact Superintendent,
Dredger & Despatch Service
at: sdds@kopt.in Mob. No.:
9836298700.
CIV / T / 2119 / 31 / 1 Dt.:
30.12.2016.
E-tendering for "Repair
and renovation of CISF
Canteen Building and Gas
Bank
(Store)
including
water-proofing treatment at
the roof and other allied
work at Libyan Warehouse".
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
13,74,786.51
(approx.).
1,500
(non-refundable).
(five) months. Last date of
online
submission:
03.02.2017 up to 3.00 p.m.
p.m.
Details
may
be
obtained
from
/
eprochome
/
CIV / T / 2116 / 28 / 1 Dt.:
30.12.2016.
E-tendering
for
"Development of a Truck
Parking Yard near Existing
Truck Parking Yard at G.C.D.
area and other allied works,
N.S. Dock". Estimated Cost:
Rs. 1,66,12,656.90 (approx.).
Earnest Money: Rs. 3,32,500.
5,000
(non-refundable).
online
submission:
27.01.2017 up to 3.00 p.m.
p.m.
Details
may
be
obtained
from
/
eprochome
/
Haldia Dock Complex
(12) E-Tender No.: KoPT /
Haldia Dock Complex / I&CF
Div / 56 / 16-17 / ET / 409.
E-tender is invited in two
bids for repair and renovation of 2 Nos. "B" type quarters allotted to Port Health
Organisation
at
Chiranjibpur, H.D.C., Haldia.
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
4,85,400.39.
Period
of
Execution:
03
(three)
months. Earnest Money: Rs.
9,750. Last date of submission: 13.01.2017 up to 15.00
hrs. Opening of Cover-I of
the tender: After 15.30 hrs.
on 13.01.2017. Cost of tender
document: Rs. 300 (nonrefundable). Details of the
tender
documents
are
available
in
and have to participate in
bidding process through
this website only. Interested
bidders may contact at
mkacharya.hdc@nic.in
Haldia Dock Complex /
Admn. Div / 10 / 16-17 / ET /
429.
NIT is invited for "supply
and operation of motor
cabs / maxi cabs under
Haldia Dock Complex at
Kolkata". The Estimated
Cost is Rs. 48 lakh. The complete tender document is
available
on
Tenderers may download
the same and submit the
offer on or before the due
date
and
time
of
submission
through
(14) NIT No.: HDC / MM /
OT-08 / 23 / 205 is invited for
supply and delivery of
"Wiring materials" to Haldia
Dock Complex. No offline
submission, bid has to be
submitted online through
MSTC's
e-portal:
within 25.01.2017 up to 3.00
p.m. (IST). For details,
please
visit:
Tenderers should regularly
visit aforesaid websites for
corrigendum / addendum, if
any and no separate press
advertisement shall be
made.
Div / 58 / 16-17 / ET / 432.
bids for repair and maintenance of the roads on emergent basis at different locations at residential zone at
Haldia
Township,
HDC.
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
9,72,335.19. Time of completion: 04 (four) months.
27.01.2017 up to 15.00 hrs.
Opening of Cover-I of the
tender: After 15.30 hrs. on
27.01.2017. Cost of tender
tender can be seen at
or www.haldiadock.gov.in
and the Notice Board at the
office of the Sr. Dy. Manager
(RZ & SPL.R.T.), I & CP Div.,
Haldia
Dock
Complex.
Interested bidders may contact
at
pdasgupta.hdc@nic.in
Div / 59 / 16-17 / ET / 433.
bids for replacing of old
damaged carpet by vitrified
tiles in various office rooms
in the 3rd floor of Jawahar
Tower Connector including
roof treatment works in Dy.
Chairman's Bungalow at
Haldia
Dock
Complex,
Haldia. Estimated Cost: Rs.
8,75,935.50.
Period
of
Execution: 04 (four) months.
27.01.2017 up to 15.00 hrs.
Opening of Cover-I: After
15.30 hrs. on 27.01.2017. Cost
of tender document: Rs. 600
(non-refundable). Bid documents will be available on
MSTC website. Bidders will
have to participate in bidding process through website:
only.
May
contact
at
pdasgupta.hdc@nic.in
(17)
Notice Inviting
Tender:
Haldia Dock Complex
re-invites e-tender for allotment of the following KoPT
land for various purposes
on lease for a period of 30

years without any option of
automatic renewal on 'as is
where is' basis on payment
of upfront premium through
e-tender-cum-e-auction: Sl.
No.: 1, Description of land: 3
separate plots of land msg.
about 2500 sq.mtrs. (plot'A'), 2500 sq.mtrs. (plot-'B')
and 2000 sq.mtrs. (plot-'C')
all in Commercial Zone of
HDC. Purpose of lease: For
Commercial activities. Sl.
No.: 2, Description of land:
About 8575 sq.mtrs. or 2.12
acres in Industrial Zone of
HDC. Purpose of lease: For
development / expansion of
industries. Detail of the tenders may be seen at
& www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in
(18)
Notice Inviting
Tender:
Haldia Dock Complex reinvites tender for allotment
of the following KoPT land
for various purposes on
lease for a period of 30
years without any option of
automatic renewal on 'as is
where is' basis (including
Plant, Building, Storage
Tank etc.) on payment of
upfront premium through etender-cum-e-auction with
first rights of refusal to the
Ex-Lessee:
Sl.
No.:
1,
Description of land: Msg.
2833
sq.mtrs.
in
the
Residential Zone. Purpose
of lease: Construction of
Residential Quarters. Sl.
No.: 2, Description of land:
Msg. 10979 sq.mtrs. in Dock
Zone, HDC. Purpose of
lease: Setting up of Liquid
Cargo Storage Tank and distribution other than class 'A'
& 'B' products. Sl. No.: 3,
100 sq.mtrs. in Commercial
Zone, HDC.
Purpose of
lease: Tailoring Shop-cumShowroom. Sl. No.: 4,
8000 sq.mtrs. in Dock Zone,
HDC.
Purpose of lease:
Storage Tank for edible /
non-edible Oil / Chemicals.
Detail of the tenders may
be
seen
at
Haldia Dock Complex / MM
Div / 38 / 16-17 / ET / 441 is
invited for supply and delivery
of
"Oxygen
and
Dissolved Acetylene (D/A)
Gases on Biennial Rate
Contract Basis". No offline
submission, bid has to be
submitted online through
MSTC's
e-portal:
within 25.01.2017 up to 15.00
hrs. (IST). For details, please
visit:
www.kolkataporttrust.gov.in & www.eprocure.gov.in
Tenderers
should regularly visit aforesaid websites for corrigendum / addendum, if any
and no separate press
made.
Div / 61 / 16-17 / ET / 442.
bids for Procurement of Sal
Timbers for day to day
repair & maintenance to
Fendering System of the
Lead-In-Jetty
at
Lock
Entrance, H.D.C., Haldia.
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
21,29,715.
Period
of
Execution: 05 (five) months.
27.01.2017 up to 15.00 hrs.
document: Rs. 1,500 (nonrefundable). Details of the
tender
documents
are
available
in
bsengupta.hdc@nic.in
(21) NIT No.: HDC / MM /
OT-10 / 23 / 215 is invited for
supply and delivery of "different types of lamps on
Biennial
Rate
Contract
Basis". No offline submission, bid has to be submitted online through MSTC's
e - p o r t a l :
within 30.01.2017 up to 15.00
hrs. (IST). For details,
please
visit:
Tenderers should regularly
visit aforesaid websites for
corrigendum / addendum, if
any and no separate press
made.
(22)
Notice Inviting
Tender:
Haldia Dock Complex
invites e-tender for allotment of 12 acres of KoPT
land in three plots in the
Dock Zone of Haldia Dock
Complex at Haldia on "as is
where is" basis for a period
of 30 years for setting up of
Edible Oil Refinery and / or
storage and distribution of
liquid cargo other than
class A & B POL products.
Details of the tenders may
be
seen
at
Div / 62 / 16-17 / ET / 451.
bids for renovation of
Holiday Home under Haldia
Dock Institute at Quarter
Nos. C 7, 8 & C 13, 14 near
Howrah Bridge, Howrah.
Estimated
Cost:
Rs.
9,95,414.03.
Period
of
Execution: 04 (four) months.
30.01.2017 up to 15.00 hrs.
tender
documents
are
available
in
mkacharya.hdc@nic.in
Working overtime, it should be possible to meet

the September deadline.
KERALA FINANCE MINISTER THOMAS ISAAC
NOT BEING VERY OPTIMISTIC ABOUT ROLLING GST OUT IN JUNE/JULY
THUMBNAILS
Mughal Road closed:
The Mughal Road,
which connects Jammu
regions Poonch district
with Kashmirs Shopian area,has been closed
for vehicular traffic
due to snowfall at Peer
PTI
ki Gali areas.
Bedi meets minister:
Puducherrys Lieutenant Governor Kiran
Bedi on Wednesday met
Union minister Jitendra Singh and discussed
wide range of issues pertaining to administration and new initiatives undertaken. PTI
Bodies put to rest: The
bodies of film producer and realtor Abis Rizvi
and fashion designer
Khushi Shah,who were
killed in a terror attack
at a nightclub in Istanbul during New Years
celebrations,were laid
to rest on Wednesday. PTI
MITRA WALKS OUT OF PRE-BUDGET MEET

FINANCIAL EMERGENCY AND BUDGET HAS BECOME MEANINGLESS
No consensus at GST meet
Budget has already

been announced by
the honourable Prime
Minister... I had to
protest it and I had to
walk out in protest.
A day after his partys leader

in the Lok Sabha, Sudip
Bandyopadhyay, was arrested by the CBI, West Bengal
finance minister Amit Mitra
on Wednesday staged an
angry walkout from a prebudget meeting saying there
is financial emergency in
the country and budget has
become meaningless.
I am saying this with heavy heart that I walked out
of the pre-budget meet after
my presentation, in a protest
in the appropriate manner
that democracy deserves. I
primarily spoke on demonetisation and what it is doing to the economy as the
perspective of the budget.
This is financial crisis of
AMIT MITRA
derailing the economy. The
budget has become relatively meaningless because
a part of the budget has
already been delivered by
the Prime Minister for the
first time in the history of
India, Mitra said on his way
out.
He said the countrys
economic growth has been
sacrificed and Rs 1.26 lakh
crore have been sacrificed
in transaction cost in 50
days, according to research.
Mitra also stressed upon the

problem being faced by the
small and medium enterprises and unorganised sectors post-demonetisation
drive while asserting that
the Central government is
not bothered about the
issues.
During the pre-budget
consultations with the finance ministers of all the states and UTs (with legislature), Jaitley said most of
them gave their sugges-
tions. Common suggestions

made during the meeting
included more focus on
relaxing FRBM limit in
case of states for raising
their borrowing capacity by
raising it by 1 percent or at
least by 0.5 percent, expansion of bank branches in
most remote areas of the
country.
Jaitley added that most
states expressed the need for
giving fiscal stimulus, allocation of high outlay for National Rural Employment
Generation Programmes,
revival of National Rural
Drinking Water Programme, launching of new
schemes for urban poor,
allocation of more funds for
agriculture, irrigation and
service sectors among others.
The two-day meeting of the

eighth GST Council ended
without any discussion on the
most contentious issue of
dual control or who will collect taxes of assessees with an
annual turnover of up to Rs
1.5 crore.
The deadlock continued as
both the Centre and the states
refused to budge from their
respective positions on issues
like control of tax payers and
taxing high sea trade.Demonetisation and compensation
to states dominated the proceedings of the Council's meeting.Of the 11 chapters of the
IGST draft bill, 10 have been
discussed and approved though
some issues remained inconclusive. Two big issues ~ def-
ining territory and dual control ~ are the issues where we

have to reach a consensus.The
dual control issue is a very complex one. But majority of the
states had a positive attitude
in todays meeting,
Union finance minister
Arun Jaitley said. Amit
Mitra, finance minister of
West Bengal, said, We discussed most of the provisions
of the IGST draft Bill but the
dual control issue was not discussed. Well meet again on
16 January. The draft Bill
with the undecided issues has
been sent for legal vetting to
the legal department,Jaitley
said. The GST Coucil has
failed to arrive at a consensus on the dual control issue
in its last five meetings. The
issue was not discussed in the
sixth and seventh meeting.
Patna decks up for Prakash Free transport for divyangvoters

Parv and Kalchakra Puja
Chandigarh, 4 January
MANOJ CHAURASIA
cmanoj28@gmail.com
Patna, 4 January
Bihar wears a festive look

as it is hosting two major religious events ~ the 350th
Prakash Parv by the Sikhs
and the 34 Kalchakra Puja
by Buddhist devotees.
Around a million devotees
are attending both the religious events that are underway at two different places
in the state.
The Prakash Parv is being
organised in Patna to commemorate the 350th birth
anniversary of the 10th Sikh
guru Guru Govind Singh
who spent his early childhood here. More than four
lakh Sikh devotees from
across the country and
abroad have reached Patna
and are participating in the
event which will culminate
with the arrival of Prime
Minister Narendra Modi

tomorrow.
The entire state capital
has been decked up and illuminated to mark the occasion. The state government
has made elaborate arrangements to accommodate huge
number of pilgrims who
have landed in Patna for the
big event.The general refrain
of the devotees is they are
hugely impressed with the
hospitality and arrangement of the government in
Bihar.
Even former Punjab chief
minister Captain Smarinder

Singh couldnt hide his glee
and thanked chief minister
Nitish Kumar for magnificent arrangements. Such
congregations are also
organised in Punjab by the
Akalis but they deck up the
gurudwara only. Here, however, the entire area is spruced up, he exclaimed.
He is not alone. Even
devotees from foreign countries were startled to see the
different facet of Patna.
Similarly, more than one
lakh devotees from across the
globe have reached Bodh
Gaya to attend the Kalchakra
Puja being conducted by
the Tibetan spiritual leader~
the Dalai Lama. The 12-daylong ritual which began on
2 January will come to a close
on 14 January. However, the
organsers are displeased
over the less number of visitors this time.
In order to make the election

process inclusive, over
55,000 handicapped voters in
Punjab will be provided free
transportation in the 4 February state Assembly elections.
While addressing a press
conference, the chief electoral officer (CEO) Punjab,
V K Singh, said the divyangs
(people with disabilities)
will be given assistance so
that they could come to the

polling booths and exercise
their franchise. We are in
talks with some non-governmental organisations
(NGO) who will provide
help to these 55,000 divyangs
across the state.
Listing the new initiatives
taken by the Election Commission (EC) this elections,
Singh said all the candidates will now be required
to furnish a no-dues affidavit at the time of their
nomination stating they
dont have any bills pending

to the government. The CEO
said for the first time, the poll
candidates will be also be
required to declare if they
are Indian citizens or not.
Singh said nearly six
thousand pockets in Punjab
have been identified as vulnerable. After the analysis
of all these booths, these 6,000
booths have been identified
for extra attention during the
polling, Singh added. The
CEO said the voters in 35 of
117 constituencies will be
INTEGRATION OF SERVICES IMPORTANT: GEN RAWAT

Army chief Gen Bipin Rawat today supported the creation of a post of Chief of
Defence Staff saying integration among
the three services and with the Defence Ministry is important.
He also spoke about Lt Gen Parveen Bakshi, who was superseded by him and is currently on a month-long leave, saying the sup-
port extended by him was positive.

Gen Rawat refused to get into the issue
of ranks when told that the post of CDS is
likely to be a five-star rank, which will be
above the three service chiefs.
If one is able to integrate, he said, the
forces will be able to improve procurement procedure. We would be able to also
ensure that we have common logistics, and
of course jointmanship will lead to better
conduct of operations, he said.
Dalits face intolerance in Gujarat jail, denied safe drinking water

Ahmedabad, 4 January
What can be common

between a village well in
Gujarat and a Reverse Osmosis (RO) plant installed in jail
for providing drinking water
to its inmates? Simple, both
are out of bounds for Dalits, whatever the rule books
might say.
This startling revelation
about intense upper caste
tyranny in Gujarats prisons
has come from a lawyer
who spent 110 days in Amreli district jail as undertrial
for the death of a policeman
during the Dalit rally in
protest against public flogging of four youths by selfstyled cow vigilantes at Una
in July last year.
Amreli-based lawyer
Navchetan Parmar, 41, was

among the dozen people
arrested for the police officials death as the letter
seeking permission for the
Dalit rally bore his signature as applicant, although
he was not present at the
spot when the agitators
started pelting stones at
the policemen.
On the very first day
inside Amreli district jail,
a group of undertrials asked
him the reason for his entry
there. When he told about
his involvement in the agitation by the Dalits, the
upper caste Durbars first
started harassing him verbally, with comments about
his caste.
Initially, Parmar mistook it to be routine ragging
often faced by freshers upon
entry into colleges and hostels. As Parmar felt thirsty

and wanted to drink some
water from the earthen
pitcher kept nearby, the
Durbars stopped him and
asked him to quench his
thirst from the tap in the toilet. Parmar had to obey the
orders of the upper caste
Durbars realising soon
enough the caste divide
exists inside the jail too.
In the next few days,
BANTONY CASTLE TO BECOME MUSEUM
Renovation calling
SANJEEV KUMAR
sanjeevbhatia82@gmail.com
Shimla, 4 January
The Himachal Pradesh

Cabinet today cleared
the decks for acquisition
of Bantony castle in Shimla and decided to convert it into a museum.
We have decided to
acquire the entire land
of Bantony Castle, located near Kali Bari in
Shimla. The Cabinet has
accepted the recommendations of the negotiation committee and approved payment of Rs
27.84 crore to the land
owners for the entire
property, said chief minister Virbhadra Singh.
Singh said the British
era building of Bantony
Castle would be renovated. We also plan to develop parks and walking
trails in the area around
it, which would prove to
be a great attraction for
both tourists and locals,
Singh said.
The Congress government took the decision
to acquire the Bantony
Castle as it was reportedly being converted
into a private hotel

through an alleged deal
by some private parties
in the previous BJP government, which the Congress, then in Opposition, had opposed categorically.
It is worth mentioning here that the state
government through the
Department of Language and Culture wanted to acquire Bantony
Castle Estate. The main
objective of setting up of
the museum is for the
use of general public for
promotion of art and
tourism in the state,
besides conservation
and preservation of heritage properties.
The British era building stands as one of the
premium properties of
Shimla as it is located on
the core mall road
between Scandal Point
and Kali Bari Temple.
Like other historic
British era buildings of
Shimla, Bantony Castles
architectural style is
part mock-Tudor and
part chalet, crowned
with sloping roofs and
mini-towers. The estate
was designed by architect TEG Cooper and the
place had a rickety cottage belonging to Captain A Gordon, which
housed army officers
before its construction
in 1880. This building
has also served as a
palace of the Maharaja
of Sirmaur.
Since Independence,
successive state governments in Himachal
Pradesh have tried to
acquire the British era
building in 1968, 1975,
1986, and 2004.
The present Congress
government after coming to power in 2012 had
also carried out Social
Impact Assessment
study before acquiring
the property.
Parmar realised there is an

RO plant for safe drinking
water for the inmates but
this group of 20 to 25 upper
caste Durbars do not allow
any Dalits in its vicinity.
The upper caste tyranny
is not confined to the RO
plant, Parmar told The
Statesman adding that these
undertrials make the Dalit
inmates wash their clothes
and clean their utensils
too.
Sometimes the upper

caste Durbars would wake
up the Dalit undertrials at
2 in the night and ask them
to massage their legs, Parmar said.
One Dalit inmate Paresh
Jogadiya who defied the
orders of the Durbars was
beaten up so severely that
he could not get up for days,
but the jail staff refused to
shift him to the hospital as
it would become a medico
legal case (MLC) which will
finally reach the court, he
narrated.
Parmars complaint to
the jail superintendent did
not evoke any response,
making him realise that all
the caste tyranny and much
more go on with full connivance of the jail officials.
Many of these upper
caste undertrials flaunt

mobile phones through
which they run the towns
bootlegging network from
inside the jail, Parmar said.
He also narrated about how
the staff work hand-in-gloves
with the inmates facing
charges of murder, rape
and bootlegging.
With the assistance of
fellow lawyers visiting the
jail, Parmar has written to
as many as seven authorities including the Chief Justice of the Gujarat High
Court, National Human
Rights Commission (NHRC),
the National Scheduled
Castes Commission, the Bar
Council and the District
Judge. Despite a notice from
the NHRC, the district
administration is yet to
start the mandatory inquiry.
Fulfiling election promise by

stressing on skill development
ARCHANA PHULL
archanaphull252@gmail.com
Shimla, 4 January
Notwithstanding the controversy raked up by his own

minister, Himachal Pradesh
chief minister Virbhadra
Singh today said the Congress
government was fulfilling
its poll promise of unemployment allowance in the
form of skill development
allowance.
Just a few days ago, HP
transport minister, G S Bali
had kicked up a controversy
by reminding his own government that it had yet not
fulfilled the election promise
of unemployment allowance
to the youth after four years
of rule. Bali, who is known
much for his flip flop stand
in his relationship with Virbhadra Singh,once again gave
a handy issue to the opposition BJP to step up momentum against his own Congress
government on this issue.
Rather than giving
allowance to unemployed
youths sitting at home,we are
developing their skills. And
this is need of the hour. It is
on the government to devise
the ways to fulfill the poll
promises, Singh told mediapersons here.
If we give allowance to
the unemployed youth sitting
Chief minister Virbhadra Singh

talking to media persons in Shimla
on Wednesday. Lalit Kumar
at home, it would be as good

as something like pension
being given to the elderly, the
disabled or other categories.
No government can do this
as it is difficult to sustain,
he hastened to add.
Talking to mediapersons,
however, the chief minister,
who was accompanied by
industries minister,Mukesh
Agnihotri, said in a passing
remark,The minister (Bali)
has a habitof changinghisstatement every 24 hours.
Every decision of the Cabinet for the past four years of
Congress rule has been unanimous," he added.
Singh elaborated that the
government had been giving
skill development allowance of
Rs 1,000 per month to the ordinary youth and Rs 1,500 per
month to the disabled youth
covered under the Skill Development Allowance scheme
according to the spirit of the

Congress manifesto. He said
the government had followed
the conditions set for unemployment allowance (referred
in Congress manifesto) for
skill development allowance.
We had even relaxed the
condition of age group for the
unemployed youth for skill
development and had fixed it
to 16-35 years,he said.Singh
said so far 1.52 lakh unemployed youths had been benefitted under the scheme,
which was launched in 2013
with annual budget of Rs 100
crore. We have set up Skill
Development Corporation,
which will implement the Rs
640 crore-Asian Development
Bank-assisted project,to provide employment to 65,000
youth and to upgrade skill infrastructure in the state. The CM
claimed that 45,000 persons had
been given jobs in the government sector and 60,000 in
private sector over the last four
years. On the other hand,
Himachal Pradesh Congress
Committee chief, Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu,on the other
hand, said the party had
applied collective wisdom
while making the poll manifesto of Congress in 2012
assembly elections.If somebody is raising a question on
it,it needs to be redressed,he
said.
able to get print out of the

vote cast by them. For complaints monitoring, a
helpline number 1950 will
remain functional 24X7.
He said while Rs 50,000
will be the maximum cash
limit for anyone to carry during the polls, anyone carrying cash more than this
will be required to explain
it to the authorities. An
information technology App
Suvidha, will help candidates
apply for various permissions for rallies, he said.
07
POLL VIOLENCE
IN MANIPUR
Imphal, 4 January: Even as the
Election Commission of
India announced polls would
be held in Manipur on 4
March and 8 March, the
first report of poll-related
violence has come to the fore.
The incident occurred
in Heirok Assembly Constituency in Thoubal district
when workers belonging to
the Manipur Peoples Party
(MPP) led by its president
N Sovakiran Singh and his
armed police escort descended on a grand feast organised by the Bharatiya Janata Partys intending candidate Th Radheshyam early
morning today at UkhongSNS
shang village.
08
Vol. CXXXXVIII 5
Incorporating and directly descended from

THE FRIEND OF INDIA - Founded 1818
Sickening silence
omen in Bangalore suffered physical

and mental agonies on New Years Eve.
Women across the country were subjected to a high degree of shame when
political elements came up with the customary
male chauvinistic line that the victims had
asked for it. Alas, both the action and reaction
are not uncommon. Yet what really sickens all
right-thinking people, regardless of their sex, is
the silence of the mama-beta leadership of the
Congress party.
Was it not honour-bound to take to severe
task the home minister in its government in
Karnataka who initially made light of the outrageous behaviour, which set the tone for the indifferent attitude displayed by the city police, and
actually facilitated the subsequent flood of
misogynistic comments that confirm the burden
with which Indian women are laden? Condemnation from Sonia Gandhi was expected not
because of the fact of her gender but because
the political party she heads prides itself on
being modern, progressive and liberated
from the archaic thinking that dominates its
major rivals. This was an occasion to convince
young India that it was so different from most
other political elements: it failed to do so.
And in this age of instant communication
there was no valid reason for Sonia or Rahul to
hold back and not strike out in favour of the
harassed Indian woman. The minister who
ought to have been served with immediate
marching orders does not wield the kind of
political clout that should have made the high
command wary of publicly admonishing him.
True that the comments from G Parmeshwaram
were not as disgusting as what was mouthed by
a Samajwadi Party neta in Mumbai: the difference being that the Congress projects itself as
being different.
Or is that difference being obliterated as it
seeks some kind of a tie-up with the Samajwadi
for the upcoming poll in UP? That none of the
Congress spokespersons broached the subject
for three days confirms that it would prefer to
sacrifice the interests of women rather than
call its Kar nataka gover nment to account.
Indian misogyny, it is obvious, cuts across party
lines.
For the people of Bangalore it has been a
double whammy. Their state government has
hardly earned a reputation for efficiency, now
the police has disgraced itself. The strong
force deployed at MG Road/Brigade Road did little to contain the wanton hooliganism, now the
cops seek formal complaints before taking criminal action.
The induction of new officers on December 31 points to gross administrative incompetence. And now a salvage operation is being
launched ~ the image of Bangalore is being
mischievously tarnished, so goes the chant.
Image is a reflection of reality: the truth was
told at MG Road before 2017 dawned.
For a good cause
fter taking oath on 31 December as chief

minister of a full-fledged BJP government, Pema Khandu said, The lotus has
finally bloomed in Arunachal Pradesh
the people will see a new dawn in 2017 under the
new government. Khandu had taken over in
September after the Supreme Court annulled
Presidents rule and restored the Congress government headed by Nabam Tuki. But after a few
days he merged his entire Congress team of 42
members with the regional Peoples Party of
Arunachal Pradesh. The new development ~ the
merger with the BJP ~ came about after the PPA
temporarily suspended Khandu and some of his
colleagues from the party for their anti-party
activities without even serving them showcause notices.
What possibly could have forced Khandu to
take the prompt decision to team up with the
BJP is perhaps his realisation of the uncertainty of his continuation with the support of the
regional party. And he was well aware that when
opportunity arises the regional party is certain
to give him the short shrift. Ever since Governor
JP Rajkhowa (since dismissed) advanced the
date of the assembly session, apparently to
help the Congress dissidents who had sought
Tukis removal, the states politics had been
a rancorous sore. The year also saw Kalikho Pul,
a dissident leader, fulfilling his desire to
become the chief minister. He held the office
for about four months. Sadly enough, within
weeks of being ousted, he allegedly committed
suicide.
The swearing-in of four chief ministers in a
year is in itself a sad commentary on the working of multi-party democracy. The frequent
changes in leadership have already put on hold
any meaning of development plans, mostly
building of infrastructure. If Khandu has opted
for the ruling party at the Centre with the main
objective of rapid development of his state, he
has done the right thing.
Congress Prime Minister Manmohan Singh
gave an assurance that by 2013 the 1,800-km
Trans-Arunachal Highway would be ready but
it is still under construction. Sadly enough even
the strate gic Miao-Vijayanagar Road, that
will open up the most underdeveloped region
in the interior, is behind schedule by many
years.
The plan for a green airfield at Itanagar is
also taking a long time. It may not even come up
at all what with the state authorities now keen
on using the militarys advanced landing
grounds for civilian purposes.
Marshall to Mattiss
A member of the
Asia News Network
GENERAL MATTIS, IS, AS THE RIGHTIST DONALD

TRUMP INTRODUCED HIM, A TRUE GENERALS
GENERAL, AN OLD-SCHOOL AMERICAN WHO
STILL BELIEVES THAT IRAN IS THE PRINCIPAL THREAT
TO US INTERESTS IN THE MIDDLE EAST AND
NOT THE ISIS, STILL CAST IN THE ANTI-RUSSIAN
MINDSET OF THE COLD-WAR ERA AND IS BELIEVED
TO BE INTRINSICALLY CONFRONTATIONIST IN HIS
OPERATIONAL DEPLOYMENTS. THE PROVERBIAL
WALLS TRUMP PROMISED ARE INEVITABLE,
AT LEAST IN THE CRUCIAL POLICY-MAKING
FRAMEWORK OF THE NEXT PRESIDENTIAL
GOVERNANCE
Managing the gig

economy
onald Trump will inherit at least eight active combat

theatres with direct US involvement (Iraq/swathes of
Syria, Yemen, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nigeria,
Cameroon, Somalia and Uganda), up from the three
that Barack Obama inherited in 2009 (Iraq, Afghanistan and
Pakistan). The war-related commitments have increased
from $ 811 billion under the Presidency of George W Bush to
$ 866 billion in the Obama tenure, while the overall annual
Defence spending for 2016 would be approximately $ 600 billion. However, given the aggressive posturing and unpredictable nature of Donald
Trumps position on dealing with terror and managing foreign policy, these
Defence figures could spiral
stratospherically.
In the US context, the
Secretary of Defence is the
key executive whose powers
over the US military are in
the chain of command, second only to those of the US
President. The US Secretary of Defence is also sixth
in the Presidential line of
succession. So, given the
existing operational commitments and the foreboding portents owing to the
growing belligerence of
Chinese threats, the selection of the new Secretary of
Defence in the Trump cabinet is keenly awaited, as the
incumbent would have the
definitive authority, direction and control over the
Department of Defence.
Historically, the US Secretary of Defence has always been a
civilian, except in the case of General George Marshall who
was the Secretary of Defence in 1950-51. He was brought in
to resurrect the morale and confidence of the US forces in
the aftermath of the recent demobilisation and to get them
combat ready for Korea and the ensuing Cold War theatrics.
Therefore, the choice of the Secretary of Defence is a sureshot indicator of the tenor and approach that is sought to be
adopted by the new Trump regime.
Herein, the choice of retired Marine General James
Mad Dog Mattis is a veritable statement of intent. While
it is still subject to a Congressional waiver, as the federal
law requires the Secretary of Defence to be off active duty
for at least seven years, and General Mattis retired as the
11th Commander of the United States Central Command
(USCENTCOM) at Tampa, Florida, in 2013. This 4-star General is part of the popular folklore with monikers like Mad
Dog, Warrior Monk and the ubiquitous imagery of a
stoic and expressionless General with the call-sign Chaos
staring out of posters with statements like, Be polite, be
professional, but have a plan to kill everybody you meet or
Actually its quite fun to fight them, you know. Its a hell of
a hoot. Its fun to shoot some people. Ill be right up front
with you, I like brawling!
Now, a certain amount of brouhaha and swagger comes
naturally to the Marine Corps fraternity and it needs to be
discounted. However, this life-long bachelor with a penchant
for voracious reading is a coldblooded intellectual, who

became a legend much earlier as
a Major-General commanding
the 1st Marine Division during
the 2003 Iraq war, when he
immortalised the 1st Marine
Division motto, no better
friend, no worse enemy.
Unlike the only other forBHOPINDER SINGH
mer veteran as Secretary of
Defence, the Democrat
appointee, General George Marshall, who was an inherent
pacifist (recipient of the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1953 for
his seminal Marshall Plan for the European Recovery Programme) and was also avowedly opposed to the idea of
recognising the State of Israel, General Mattis, is, as the
rightist Donald Trump introduced him, a true Generals
General, an old-school American who still believes that
Iran is the principal threat to US interests in the Middle
East and not the ISIS, still cast in the anti-Russian mindset
of the Cold-War era and is believed to be intrinsically confrontationist in his operational deployments.
Already, the conciliatory tones of inclusiveness that
were alluded to and invoked by Donald Trump after his electoral victory are falling apart with the prospective appointments of Jeff Sessions as the next Attorney General, Mike
Pompeo as the CIA Chief and Michael Flynn as the National
Security Adviser ~ all of them come with taints of racism
or xenophobia and a track record of regressive and incendiary statements. The proverbial walls Donald Trump
promised are inevitable, at least in the crucial policy-making framework of the next Presidential governance.
The quintessential Marine Corp General Mattis will
have to make an unknown and uncomfortable transition
from the familiar Semper Fi intonations and muscular
Oorahs to the more stately sobriety of continuous engagement and disengagement
of the American military
footprint in such a way
that the diminishing might
and respect of the US military is both restored and
protected from the heavy
price it is paying in terms
of personnel lives, material and sustenance investments. The recent thawing,
from a decidedly hostile to
a cautious status of frenemies, on both Cuba and
Iran stands risked with
Trumps advent as he
threatens to reverse better
deals for the US.
Increased military
spending, blunt speak and
concern for the last US
man standing would be logically expected from General Mattis, but at question
is his ability to bring the
requisite political astuteness to manage often contradictory strains and realities such as the Pakistan theatre with its duplicitous and
selective stance on the war on terror. With a track record
of undeterred and apolitical soldiering, the military commitments will have a more military rationalisation as
opposed to the often obfuscated rationales professed by parttime civilian bureaucrats in the Defence set-up or by semiinformed politicos who have hidden angularities to their
statements. While the US Secretary is akin to our Defence
Minister, the formula of an ex-military man at the helm of
military affairs will be put to test. The only parallel example
of a veteran as the Defence Minister in India was Jaswant
Singh, arguably among the finest, albeit, for a short period.
If the appointment of General Mattis was to send an unmistakable message of deterrence to interests inimical to the
US and to prop up the flagging morale of the over-stretched
US forces, then on both counts, the result will be unambiguously achieved. However, the acid test for the Secretary of
Defence goes beyond conventional combat Generalship and
requires statecraft and protracted engagements with enemies that will require General Mattis to go beyond his practised instincts and inclinations. Herein lies the doubt about
someone who famously said, I come in peace. I didnt bring
artillery. But Im pleading with you, with tears in my eyes: If
you (expletive) with me, Ill kill you all.
THE WRITER IS LT GEN PVSM, AVSM (RETD), FORMER LT GOVERNOR OF
ANDAMAN & NICOBAR ISLANDS & PUDUCHERRY
ASIAN VOICES
he gig economy is growing, and is spreading

across many sectors
beyond technology. The
future of work has been a hot
topic over the past year, and
much has been said about how
important it is for workers to
keep upgrading their skills so
that they remain relevant amid
the inexorable march of technology. One aspect of this
future that has been less discussed is how the nature of
work itself is changing.
That is, we are facing a
future where companies could
increasingly offer contractbased, short-term gigs, in
place of permanent jobs.
Nowhere is this more evident
than in the tech sector. The
unofficial mascots of this socalled gig economy are the
Uber driver and the Foodpanda
deliveryman.
Neither is a salaried
employee, but independent,
self-employed workers who use
the Uber or Foodpanda platform as a medium through
which to get gigs ~ whether it is
a paying passenger or a customer who would like food
delivered to his home for a fee.
On the surface, this seems
like a marginal trend, a way for
people with spare time to take
up jobs on
the side to
earn some
extra cash. However, the gig
economy is growing, and is
spreading across many sectors
beyond technology.
There are now Uber-like
third-party platforms acting as
the middleman to connect
healthcare workers to patients
and food and beverage staff to
restaurants and hotels. Workers who take up such gigs are
not listed on any company payroll, and so neither the thirdparty platform nor the business
that uses their services has to
offer them health benefits or
contribute to their Central
Provident Fund (CPF)
accounts.
It is not hard to imagine a
future where businesses, in a
bid to save on headcount costs,
might use third-party platforms to find freelance workers
of all stripes, whether accountants, programmers or salespeople, instead of hiring fulltime staff.
The good news is that most
people today are involved in the
gig economy because they want
to be independent and not
because they have no other job
options. According to the McKinsey Global Institute, 70 per
cent are independent workers
by choice.
Institute director Jacques
Bughin added: There are so
many more people willing to
become independent workers
by choice ~ with independent
work as a source of primary
income. This segment is
growing fast, at 30 per cent a
year.
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Claw of the caged parrot

SIR, With Sudip Bandyopadhyay's arrest, there are now
four Trinamul leaders who
have been booked ~ Kunal
Ghosh, Madan Mitra, Tapas
Paul and Sudip. Ghosh and
Mitra had been arrested in 2013
for their alleged involvement in
the Saradha chit fund scam;
now Tapas and Sudip are
behind bars for their complicity in the Rose Valley chit
fund scam. Mamata Banerjees
charge of political vendetta by
Prime Minister Modi does not
really stick; Sudip and Tapas
were summoned by the CBI
before the demonetisation
announcement on 8 November.
The CBI lacks transparency
and appears to be guided by
political considerations.
The Supreme Court has
referred to the agency as a
caged parrot. It functions in
accord with the diktat of the
Centre. No investigating
agency is credible unless it is
independent and transparent.
At the end of the day, it is
answerable to the people not
least because any chit fund is
engaged in swindling public
money. The nation has a right
to know how exactly Trinamul
leaders and legislators were
involved in these two scams?
And the amount of money they
received from the likes of
Sudipta Sen and Gautam
Kundu. Where is the swindled

money at present? Why doesn't
the CBI also look into the evidence relating to Narada sting
operations? Governments both
at the Centre and in the states
are influencing investigations.
It is a mockery of truth. Intelligence and investigating agencies should be transferred to
the Presidents office to make
them independent, transparent, credible and efficient.
Yours, etc.,Bibekananda Ray,
Kalyani, 4 January.
democracy. Treasury bench

members can speak on even
days and the Opposition on odd
days. Let us not fritter away the
benefits of demonetisation and
undermine a critical issue to
the level of unseemly parliamentary business. However, the
government should first spread
literacy before attempting to
promote a cashless society.
Yours, etc., Ranjan Mathews,
Kolkata, 25 December
ODD-EVEN PARLIAMENT
SIR, Ahead of the Assembly

elections in several states, the
Supreme Court has ruled that
religion, race, caste, community or language will not be
allowed to play any role in the
SIR, Both Houses of Parliament should follow the oddeven rule to rein in those members who ridicule the temple of
EMOTIVE ELECTIONS
electoral process and that election of a candidate would be

declared null and void if an
appeal is made to seek votes on
these considerations. The order
has been passed with a slender
margin ~ four judges in favour
and three against.Religion is a
major factor in the politics of

the BJP, Akali Dal, Indian
Union Muslim League (IUML),
Asaduddin Owaisis All India
Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen
(AIMM), Shiv Sena, and Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP). Narendra Modi is a shrewd politician
as he usually harps on development, preferring the term
Indianness to Hinduism. The
BJPs manifesto for the 2016
election in Tamil Nadu had
stated that it would not allow
non-Hindu places of worship
to come up within one kilometre of a temple. Its MP Subramanian Swamy has said that
the BJPs ideology is to divide
the secular vote and secure a
majority. Some of these parties
confirm the adage that the lawbreaker is more powerful than
the law-maker .
Yours, etc., Bidyut K Chatterjee,
Faridabad, 3 January.
MISPLACED GLORIFICATION
SIR, We should be sensitive about the name of a certain inhuman character called Taimur. We are not so sensitive about
another inhuman character, Dronacharya? The brightest and
humblest student, Eklavya, had once been crippled by
Dronacharya so that he could never use his training in
archery. Unfortunately, we are presenting awards to sports
coaches in the country in the name of Dronacharya, forgetting
that he is an example of what a coach should not be. How long
shall we glorify such brutal characters?
Yours, etc., Sujit De, Kolkata, 4 January.
Too Little Time,

Too Much to Do
Yogesh Pratap Singh
udges should be of stern

stuff and tough fibre,
unbending before power,
economic or political, and
they must uphold the core
principle of the rule of law
which says, Be you ever so
high, the law is above you.
This is the principle of
independence of the judiciary which is vital for the
establishment of real participatory democracy, maintenance of the rule of law
as a dynamic concept and
delivery of social justice to
the vulnerable sections of
the community.
These words of the
Supreme Court of India evidently elucidate the expectation from its judges. Mr.
Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar, perhaps more than any
other contemporary Indian
CROSSWORD
judge, has demonstrated

this stern stuff and tough
fibre. Erudite, possessed of
intellectual sensitivity and
judicial courage, he led the
five-judge constitution
bench which struck down
the NJAC Act. Justice Khehar also headed a historic
bench that reinstated the
Congress-led Arunachal
Pradesh Government and
held all the actions of the
Governor violative of the
Constitution. Alluding to S
R Bommai v. Union of India
[(1994)3 SCC 1] the bench
avowed that it had all the
powers to put the clock
back. Justice Khehar on
the occasion of Constitution Day responded to the
diatribe from Attorney General for India, by saying
that the judiciary is functioning within its lakshmanrekha. The two judge-
NO 26762
ments of Justice Khehar

had placed government in
an uncomfortable situation;
therefore speculation about
a third supersession was
obvious in corridors of
Supreme Court. However,
perhaps because of his
being a Sikh and from Punjab facing assembly elections or for whatever other
reason, he has taken oath
today as the 44th Chief Justice of India.
It was Justice J.S. Khehar who gave new life to the
collegium after declaring
the governments NJAC law
unconstitutional, although
the majority view was reprimanded by the dissent of
Justice Chelameshwar as
repugnant to the spirit of
the Constitution. Criticizing the functioning of present collegium system, Justice Chelameshwar
observed that absolute independence of any one of the

three branches is inconsistent with core democratic
values and the scheme of
our Constitution. The
amendment only seeks to
restore such balance and
therefore cannot be said to
be destructive of the basic
structure of the constitution. Later, he refused to
participate in meetings of
the collegium.
Justice Khehar proceeded to invite public opinion on ways to improve the
opaque collegium system of
judicial appointments and
after receiving over 11,500
views from the public, the
Bench directed the government to draft a new Memorandum of Procedure
(MoP). This MoP is a persistent bone of contention
between the Centre and the
Supreme Court. The first

challenge before the new
Chief Justice therefore
would be to give meaning to
this dream of the majority
in NJAC case. It is now
inevitable for the Chief Justice of India to unknot the
predicament by addressing
genuinely queried issues of
transparency and accountability in the collegium for
otherwise the conscience of
people will be intimidated.
Delay in filling vacancies in the sanctioned
strength of Courts and in
increasing the sanctioned
strength to meet the
increase in the institution
of cases renders the judiciary inadequate to deliver its
constitutional mandate.
Bringing the judiciary into
this state of adequacy has
been the singularly constant finding of all Government Committees and Commissions on Arrears in
Courts. All these fact-finding bodies have unvaryingly recommended increasing
the strength of judges [See
Rankin Committee 1925 to
the 189th Law Commission
Report of 2004]. These recommendations as well as
those of the All India Chief
Justices Conference have
remained unimplemented.
The same applies to the
implementation of the
orders of the Supreme
Court in All India Judges
Association case [(1993) 4
SCC 288] followed by Brij
Mohan Lal case [(2002)4
SCC247]. Even as there is a
national debate on arrears,
new arrears accumulate
daily. Putting courts in a situation whereby Judges are
unable to deliver the publics fundamental right to
timely justice is to deny
access to justice and thereby undermine the sole purpose of judicial independence and constitutionalism. Hence, the second
major challenge before Justice Khehar would be to foster the relationship where
appointments are made
smoothly.
There is no magic wand
to resolve the present judi-
cial crisis. Increasing

judges strength through an
emotional outburst as by
Justice Thakur will not fix
problems. The government
and civil society are constantly asking what initiatives Supreme Court has
taken for ensuring more
accountability in the judicial wing. Why do constitutional courts in India still
follow the archaic ritual of
long vacations? Why is the
Supreme Court not able to
take concrete steps to abolish the culture of adjournments? Why have initiatives
not been taken to reform
the Bar and to make it more
accountable? Justice Khehar must make some hard
decisions. He must set the
ball rolling by taking some
positive reformative measures otherwise the judiciary of the largest democracy
will succumb under the
weight of its own responsibility and it will be difficult
to resuscitate the diminishing confidence of people in
the judiciary.
Justice Khehar will
retire on 27 August with a
discourteous summer vacation of one and half months
in between. In such a short
stint, no one will be able to
accomplish his dream.
Thus, questions on the functionality of the ritual that
the senior most judge shall
be the Chief Justice too
become relevant. In the
absence of any constitutional provision this convention was nurtured (with
two exceptions) to avoid any
controversies. But this convention unleashes rapid
succession of CJIs with
short stints of one, two or a
few months. Within the
Supreme Court structure
all powers revolve around
the office of Chief Justice
and in the absence of a
fixed minimum tenure, no
chief justice can hope to
reform the judiciary and
thereby ensure its independence on aspects other than
appointment of the CJI.
THE WRITER IS DEPUTY REGISTRAR,
SUPREME COURT OF INDIA.
Present blighted, future uncertain

Mahir Ali
YESTERDAYS SOLUTION
apart from fourth

in scale (6)
2 More than one
pancake roll for the
northern girl to
tuck into (8)
3 Youth exchanging
knight for bishop in
match (6)
4 Where to keep fine
tobacco? Small
sock should hold
enough (8)
5 Hack into all the
same group (3,3)
6 Most expensive
type of sword
picked up in the
streets (8)
8
Utter rubbish
cricket? (5)
ACROSS
uttered Landau
17 Aims to get nothing
7 Note about the
(13)
wrong (5,2)
author inscribed in
10 Theres no rush to
19 Police sergeant
map of the
see galleon?
patrols parts of
Underworld (9)
(3,2,4,4)
beach at Qatar?
9 Middle Earth with
14 School punishment
They need minding
another eclipse (5)
Arizonas introd(2,3,2)
11 Its 3 here, but near
uced has reduced
21 Its pleasant to
midnight perhaps
indolence (8)
take a long bus ride 15 Some hint about
in Washington
but __, however
(7,2,6)
becoming a pub
(15)
12 Debauched cad
landlord? (4,4)
22
She
emerges
from
16 Reading Gaols new
and rou in a state
down river
in Twitter? (8)
(7)
occasionally (5)
18 Film actor from The
13 Have some cheese
Birds makes
sandwiches and a 23 Sadly regrets
critical comments
having ousted
small chocolate
(6)
leader
in
East
cake (7)
19 Depart after
African region (9)
14 British automobile
tossing firework (6)
plant (5)
DOWN
20
Singing mostly out
15 Mass is reduced by
of tune? Try this
1 Enigmatic work,
fusion (3)
register (4,2)
equal tempered
16 An unusual type of
NOTE: Figures in parentheses denote the number of letters in the words required.
(By arrangement with The Independent, London)
he heinous bloodbath at a swanky

nightclub on the banks of the
Bosphorus in Istanbul brought
what had already been a terrible
year for Turkey to an exceptionally
brutal conclusion.
It was a year peppered with terrorist attacks, but its centrepiece
was arguably a coup attempt in
July that apparently came close to
succeeding, followed by a sweeping
wave of state repression that has
deepened fractures in Turkish society amid shifting allegiances on the
Syrian front that have resulted in a
Nato stalwart effectively allying
itself with Russia.
If the idea behind the assassination a fortnight ago of the Russian ambassador to Turkey was to
precipitate a stand-off between
Moscow and Ankara, it has predictably failed. The assassin, an offduty policeman, was killed immediately afterwards, so his precise
motivations may never be known,
but his Remember Aleppo! slogan
while performing his dastardly act
offers obvious pointers.
Syrias largest city was recently wrested from rebel control by
forces allied to the government of
Bashar al-Assad, with the Russians
and Iranians instrumental in producing this result. It has been
claimed that Turkeys president
Recep Tayyip Erdogan helped out
by persuading his Islamist allies
among the Syrian rebels to facilitate the evacuation of eastern
Aleppo.
The Erdogan government was
involved in the Syrian conflict long
before its troops directly stepped
in, and its assistance to Islamist
factions included turning a blind
eye to international recruits
many of them attracted by the militant Islamic State group entering
the war-torn country through the
Turkish border. ISIS turned against
Turkey once this route became a lot
more restricted, and after Ankara
had second thoughts about its initial refusal to permit American and
other Nato forces to use Turkish
bases as a launching pad for
airstrikes against IS on Syrian territory.
Turkeys relations with the US
have frayed markedly since the
abortive coup in July, partly over
Washingtons refusal to extradite
Fethullah Gulen, who is accused of
having masterminded the attempt
to overthrow his former ally Erdo-
09
100 YEARS AGO
OCCASIONAL
NOTE
The Maharaja of Kashmir, in his
speech as President of the Kshattriya Maha Sabha, has given some
frank advice to the Rajput chiefs.
How, he asked, if they hold aloof at
the present juncture from the councils of their jat, can they expect, as
the Rajput community advances, as
it undoubtedly must and will
advance, a continuance of the
esteem in which they are at present
held. He appealed to the rajas and
maharajas to encourage education
and introduce social reforms, as
their personal example is more
potent than mere precept. It appears
that, following on a pledge taken at
Agra in 1913, the Rajput rajas have
given up the entertainment of
nautch girls on ceremonial occasions. The Maharaja of Kashmir
urged that the rajas should now
make a stand against what he
described as the most harmful and
shameful custom prevailing among
the Rajputs, namely, that of exacting dowries from the guardians of
marriageable girls. The custom is,
of course, not peculiar to the
Rajputs. It flourishes everywhere in
India, including Bengal, and, as the
Basanti has just reminded its readers, it is one of those had customs, a
movement for the abolition of
which should rightly take precedence of the demand for political
self-government which is the theme
of the Congress class.
NEWS ITEMS
A WAR LOAN
IN CEYLON
Colombo, Jan 4
It is officially announced today that

the Government of Ceylon contemplates issuing locally, at as early a
date as is practicable, a loan giving
interest at the rate of six per cent
the proceeds of which will be placed
at the disposal of His Majestys Government for the purpose of carrying on the war. The interest and
repayment of the principal at the
end of three years would be guaranteed by His Majestys Government.
This matter has been under discussion with His Majestys Government for some time and it has been
in contemplation to issue such a
loan in February or March, but
owing to the financial position
resulting from the difficulties in
regard to the issue of India Council
Bills it is not now possible to assign
a definite date for the issue. The
loan will be issued when the financial position is regarded as sufficiently favourable and details as to
the conditions of subscriptions and
dates of payment of interest and
repayment of principal will be published in due course.
WILSONS
NOTE OPPOSED
Washington, Jan 4
gan. Whether the advent of the

Trump
administration
will
improve relations remains to be
seen.
Meanwhile, Turkey had visibly
bristled at Russias intervention in
Syria on behalf of Assad, and
things came to a head after its
forces shot down a Russian warplane that had allegedly strayed
into Turkish airspace. Vladimir
Putin resisted any temptation he
may have had to ramp up the confrontation, instead using the incident as a lever to forge an unlikely
informal alliance that had the twin
advantage of facilitating his aims
in Syria while driving a wedge
between leading Nato members.
It was thus Russia and Turkey,
alongside Iran, that jointly
announced a truce in Syria shortly
before the Istanbul atrocity, and
successfully sought the imprimatur
of the UN. The cessation of hostilities does not include ISIS, and is
anyhow not expected to last very
long, but it apparently does cover
Al Nusra, an organisation once formally allied with Al Qaeda that has
played a key role in the rebellion
against Assad and enjoyed Turkish
favours in the bargain, but is also
likely to have borne the brunt of
Russian bombing campaigns.
By some accounts, the primary
pur pose of Erdogans Syrian
adventure has always been to forestall the likelihood of a de facto
Kurdish state on Turkeys border,
and he strove hard to prevent Turkish Kurds from aiding their Syrian
comrades. A ceasefire between the
Turkish state and the Kurdistan
Workers Party (PKK) broke down

in 2015, and the latter claimed
responsibility for some of last
years terrorist attacks, directed
chiefly against security forces
the PKK claims not to target civilians and roundly condemned the
Reina nightclub massacre.
The Americans have heeded
some of Erdogans concerns while
broadly backing the Kurdish Peoples Protection Units (YPG) in
their fight against ISIS (and potentially Assad). But then the US strategy in Syria has anyhow been all
over the place, and last months
truce announcement conspicuously
excluded Washington, demonstrating the extent to which it has been
sidelined.
Turkey under Erdogan, meanwhile, finds itself besieged on three
fronts by the Gulenists, Kurds
and ISIS, which belatedly claimed
responsibility for the 39 deaths and
dozens of injuries at the Reina
nightclub.
The presidents reaction to
Turkeys multiple woes has largely
revolved around clamping down on
all dissent and extending the
breadth and depth of his autocracy,
blaming everyone but his own often
contradictory policies for all that is
going horribly wrong in a nation
that not long ago seriously aspired
to become a fully fledged European
state but has lately been sucked
right back into the Middle Eastern
cauldron, with its present blighted
and its future increasingly uncertain.
DAWN/ANN.
A significant debate took place in

the Senate on a resolution endorsing President Wilsons note. Senator
Lodge vigorously opposed the resolution and declared that Congress
could not be expected to respond to
the clamour for a peace which was
not worth having. President Wilsons action had laid the United
States open to the charge of partisanship. The debate was adjourned.
This indicates that the Senate is
likely to go against President
Wilson.
SCARCITY OF
FOOD IN
GERMANY
The Telegraph publishes an
interview with a neutral, long
resident in Kiel, who says there is
great scarcity of foodstuffs and that
disturbances are frequent.
Dissatisfied workmen are sent to
the front. The submarine losses
have been enormous. The Presidents and Vice-Presidents of the
Parliaments of enemy countries
will meet in conference in Berlin on
January 19th.
PROTRACTED
INDIAN
LITIGATION
In connection with the protraction
of Indian litigation, the Times
strongly endorses the suggestion of
a correspondent that the Indian
High Courts should be given without delay powers similar to those of
English and Dominion courts to
constrain an appellant to prosecute
his appeal diligently and also to
prescribe a reasonable period in
which the record must be transmitted to England.
10
Yes, I am ready for my third innings now, as I served in

the Army and also as Governor of Arunachal Pardesh
FORMER ARMY CHIEF J J SINGH
SAYING HE WAS READY TO TAKE ON AMARINDER AS AN SAD CANDIDATE FROM PATIALA
DMK NAMES STALIN WORKING PREZ

DECISION TAKEN AFTER KARUNANIDHIS POOR HEALTH CONDITION
Chennai, 4 December
The coronation of apparent

heir of Muthuvel Karunanidhi is over in Dravida
Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK)
in Tamil Nadu. In the
absence of Karunanidhi
(93), his younger son and
party treasurer M K Stalin
has been elevated as working president of the party.
The general council of
DMK, the highest decision
making body of the party, on
Wednesday elected Stalin
as the working president by
amending its bylaws. Stalin
still continues to hold the post
of treasurer.
The imminent decision
was taken after Karunanidhi's health condition worsened recently due to a druginduced allergy. The nonagenarian leader could not
attend the meeting as he is
recuperating at his Gopalapuram residence in Chennai,
after a long stay at the hospital. He is out of public
functions for the past three
months.
Stalin, who took charge
The general council

of DMK, the highest
decision making body
of the party, on
Wednesday elected
Stalin as the working
president by amending its bylaws. Stalin
still continues to hold
the post of treasurer.
as the party working president after general secretary
K Anbazhakan announced
the decision, addressed the
general council and said: I
am taking charge of the
party working president
with a heavy heart as our
Thalaivar (leader) is not
well. So I am not here to say
thanks or feel happy, but
humbly accept the general
council's decision."
Soon after the general
council meeting,Stalin called
on Karunanidhi at his
Gopalapuram residence and
sought his blessings. He said
he viewed his elevation only
as a responsibility and will
work under the guidance of
the party president.
This is for the first time

in the history of the more- than- six-decade-old party
that a leader has been given
the responsibility of a working president.In fact,the post
of president was created
only after the demise of
party founder C N Annadurai. Till then the party president post was reserved for
his political mentor and
Dravidar Kazhagam (DK)
leader Periyar E V
Ramasamy. However, when
he was the chief minister,
Karunanidhi became the
first president of the DMK
in 1969 and has been holding
the post till now. Since then
the post of president became
more powerful than that of
general secretary in the party.

Meanwhile, the party
invited the wrath of political opponents and critics,who
alleged that Karunanidhi
has made the party family
holding. Karunanidhi, with
his late nephew Murasoli
Maran, sons M K Stalin, MK
Azhagiri, daughter Kanimozhi and grand nephew
Dayanidhi Maran in plum
posts of party and governments, controlled the party
fully.
Meanwhile, besides the
special resolution to appoint
Stalin as working president,
the Council passed a total of
16 resolutions in which the
demand for the resumption
of Jallikkattu, the bull taming game of farmers, gained
special mention.
General Council also
issued a resolution condemning demonetisation,
for the sufferings it has
caused to the poor. The
meeting started with paying
tributes to the late Tamil
Nadu chief minister Jayalalithaa and social commentator Cho Ramaswamy,
among others.
TENDER
PM only world leader to

run army of trolls:Cong
Justice Jagdish Khehar

sworn in as 44th CJI
Smarting from seemingly

ceaseless barrage of attacks
from the supporters and followers of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi on social
media, the principal Opposition Congress party today
accused PM Modi of being
allegedly the first leader in
the world to run an army of
trolls. The All India Congress Committee (AICC)
alleged that legions of such
trolls have been unleashing a
perverse and divisive social
media campaignat the behest
of PM Modi and the BJP to
attack and abuse those critical of Mr Modi besides
spreading hate,dividing people and causing polarisation
in the society.
Seeking to exposethem,
the AICC spokespersons,Ajoy
Kumar and Shaktisinh Gohil,
told the press conference that
they had conducted a thorough
research of social media for
weeks to conclude that PM
Modi allegedly hosts, follows, encourages and protects these trolls.
Is it not true that this category of trolls followed by PM
are called Super 150? Mr
Kumar asked, charging that
on his Twitter handle Mr
Modi follows 150 of most virulent trolls spouting venom
against his political opponents,dissenters,minorities,
Dalits, tribals and women.
He said they have not spared

even leading journalists,intellectuals and prominent personalities of the country from
various walks of life.
Will PM Modi show
courage of conviction to
constitute a special committee under judicial supervision to identify and punish such scandalous troll
army involved solely in suppression of opinion, abuse,
hate, communal polarisation, threats and pushing
morphed and scandalous
content on social media, Mr
Kumar demanded.The AICC
spokespersons also charged
these trolls with manufacturing fake news to plug
Mr Modi and suppress his
detractors, citing a string of
recent instances. Given the
low entry barrier, relatively hidden identity and zero
accountability, creating and
propagating fake news and
attacking individuals based
on their race,gender,religion,
region and caste has been the
modus operandi of the BJP,
Mr Kumar and Mr Gohil
alleged. On the one hand
the Prime Minister talks
about Beti Bachao, but on
the other his party members
and supporters consistently
attack, troll and threaten
opponents, particularly,
women online. It is unprecedented that the Prime Minister
of the country follows,meets
and actively encourages such
trolls, Mr Kumar alleged.
Senior most Supreme Court judge Justice Jagdish Singh

Khehar was today sworn in as the 44th Chief Justice of India. He became the first Sikh top judge of the country.
Khehar was administered the oath of office by President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan here. The
64-year-old judge succeeds Justice Tirath Singh Thakur and
will hold office of a little over seven months, retiring on
28 August 2017, when he will turn 65. A no-nonsense judge,
Chief Justice Khehar has been described as a "strong judge"
by his predecessor.
The swearing-in ceremony was attended by Vice President Mohammad Hamid Ansari and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Union Ministers Arun Jaitley, Ravi Shankar
Prasad, Rajiv Pratap Ruddy and Prakash Javadekar.
Veteran BJP leader L K Advani too was present as were
sitting and former judges of the top court including former Chief Justices of India R M Lodha and A M Ahmadi,
Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi, and eminent jurist Fali Nariman. NewArmyand Air Force chiefs,Gen Bipin Rawat and Air Chief Marshal Birender Singh Dhanoa too were
present. Khehar was the author of the judgment by a fivejudge Constitution Bench that held "unconstitutional" the
Constitution's 99th amendment paving way for the National Judicial Appointment Commission and the National Judicial Appointment Commission Act,2014.NJAC was brought
by the Modi government to replace the existing Collegium
system of appointing judges.
Besides this, he authored the majority judgment of the
constitution bench, restoring the ousted Chief Minister
Nabam Tuki as Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister. The
verdict was a set-back to the Modi government as it quashed then Governor Jyoti Prasad Rajkhowa's decision to advance the Assembly session from January 2016 to December. Justice Khehar was part of the bench that was headed by Justice K S Radhakrishnan (since retired) that had
on 4 March 2014, sent Sahara Group chief Subrata Roy, his
son-in-law Ashok Roy Choudhary and a Director of the group
Ravi Shankar Dubey to Tihar jail for defying the court's
orders. Born on 28 August 1952,he graduated in science from
Government College, Chandigarh in 1974 and went to on to
do his LLB and LLM from the Panjab University, Chandigarh.
PRESS NOTICE FOR e-TENDERING
INDIAN COUNCIL OF AGRICULTURAL RESEARCH

ICAR-National Organic Farming Research Institute (NOFRI)
The Executive Engineer, IPH Division, Jubbal, invites tenders on behalf of the Governor of
Himachal Pradesh from approved eligible contractors for the following work(s) through e-tendering process :
S.
Name of Work
Estimated Earnest
Time
Last Date of Filing/
No.
Cost
Money
Uploading the tenders
(in Rs.)
(in Rs.)
through e-tendering
1.
Providing LWSS to PC Hab. under GP Dev33,00,900
57,014
6
Last date of uploading
garh, Tehsil Kotkhai, Distt. Shimla (HP).
Months
tenders :
(SH : C/O RCC Filter Bed 23.00 sqmt area,
up to 6-00 p.m. on
RCC Sedimentation Tank 3.00 sqmt. area,
dated 17-1-2017
RCC Sump Well 2 Nos., and Raw Water
Last date of receiving
Tank 1 No. of 4000 liters capacity each at
of original documents
node No. 2 & 3, RCC Collection Tank 10000
related to tenders :
litters capacity, C/O an additional room to
Up to 11-30 a.m. of
existing Pump House at stage 2nd, Provid18-1-2017
ing & laying of Rising Main, Supply and ErDate of Opening of
rection of Pumping Machinery for booster
tenders :
stage, stage-I & II).
On dated 18-1-2017
Tender ID : 2016_HPIPH_14118_1
(11-45 a.m.)
BOQ and tender related conditions can be downloaded from the website :
www.hptenders.gov.in.
(Formerly ICAR Research Complex for NEH Region

Sikkim Centre)
Tadong, Gangtok-737102
Phone No.: 03592/231084, Fax No.: 03592-231238
No. SKM / ST / AICRP Mushroom / 2015 / 192
3791/16-17 HIM SUCHNA AVAM JAN SAMPARK
HOUSING BOARD HARYANA
Dated the, 04th January, 2017
CONSTRUCTION DIVISION, GURUGRAM

TENDER NOTICE
RE-TENDER NOTICE
The Due Date for submission of Tender Notice for supply and installation of scientific equipment Laminar flow and Incubator. Invited vide
this Office Tender Notice No. SKM / ST / AICRP Mushroom / 2015 / 173
dated 16th December, 2016 is hereby extended up to
16-01-2017 and submission of quotation up to 21-01-2017. Other terms
and conditions of Re-Tender Notice shall remain the same.
Note: The tender form, specification of equipment and terms and conditions
can
also
be
downloaded
from
the
website:
http://www.icarneh.ernet.in in such case, the tenderers may submit
the fee of Rs. 500 (non-refundable) in the form of BD drawn in favour
of the Joint Director ICAR-NOFRI, Tadong, Gangtok while submitting
the quotation.
R.K. Avasthe
Joint Director
HIMACHAL PRADESH
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT
E-Procurement Notice
INVITATION FOR BIDS (IFB)
The Executive Engineer, Chamba Division, HP, PWD Chamba-176310, H.P. on behalf of the Governor of Himachal
Pradesh, invites the items rate bids, in electronic tendering system, for construction of the following works from the eligible and
approved contractors registered with HP, PWD.
Sr.
No.
Division
1
1.
2
Chamba
2.
Chamba
Description of Work
3
Special Repair to Link Road Jawahar
Navodya Vidyalaya Sarol, Distt. Chamba
(SH : Construction of Retaining Walls &
resurfacing work in Km. 0/0 to 0/800).
Construction of Retaining Wall at GSSS
Kiri in Tehsil and Distt. Chamba.
Estimated
Cost
(Rs.)
Earnest
Money
(Rs.)
5
16,330/-
Cost of
Tender
Form
(Rs.)
6
350/-
4
8,16,326/-
9,07,724/-
Class
Completion
Period
7
D&C
8
Three
Months
18,160/-
do
do
do
e-Tenders are hereby invited for the belowmentioned works in single stage two cover system i.e.
Request for Pre-Qualification/Technical Bid (Online Bid under PQQ/Technical Envelope) and Request for
Financial Bid (comprising of price bid proposal under online available Commercial Envelope) :
S.N.
1.
Name of Work
Work for the construction of 88 Nos.

Type-IV houses including internal
PH & EI services at Village Sisoth,
District Mohindergarh.
Estimated
Cost
(Rs. in Lacs)
4,50,00,000/-
Earnest
Tender
Time
Money documents Limit
(Rs. in
Fee & e(Lacs) service fee
(Nonrefundable)
5.00
Tender Fee
15
Rs. 15,000/- Months
e-service fee
Rs. 1,000/-
Start Date
& time of
Bid Preparation &
Submission
Expiry Date
& time of
EMD Submission
Online
Expiry Date
& time of
Bid Preparation &
Submission
Opening of
Technical
Bid
9-1-2017
1-00 p.m.
27-1-2017
3-00 p.m.
30-1-2017
3-00 p.m.
30-1-2017
3-30 p.m.
Note :
Interested bidders are advised to deposit Bid Security/EMD before expiry of date and time of bid online
so as to get payment verified. For other terms and conditions of DNIT may visit on website : https://haryanaeprocurement.gov.in. The date of opening of price bid will be intimates to the qualified bidders separately. For
other query may contact to the below address :
For & on behalf of Housing Board Haryana
ER. S. K. GARG
Executive Engineer
Housing Board Haryana, Gurugram,
PRDH-Advt. No. 1063/11/211/1617/45139
0124-2355186
PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT

E-PROCUREMENT NOTICE
INVITATION FOR BID (IFB)
1. AVAILABILITY OF BID DOCUMENT AND MODE OF SUBMISSION : The bid document is available online and bid should
be submitted in online mode on website : http://hptenders.gov.in. Bidder would be required to register in the website which
is free of cost. For submission of bids, the bidder is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the
authorized certifying Authorities (CA) Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in
e-tendering in HP, PWD may obtain the same from the wesbite : http://hptenders.gov.in Digital Signature is mandatory to participate in the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use the same
in this tender.
1. KEY DATES :
Date of Online Publication : 16-1-2017, 10.00 Hours.
1. Document Download Start and End Date : 16-1-2017, 10.00 Hours up to 8-2-2017, 11.00 Hours.
2. Bid Submission Start and End Date : 16-1-2017, 10.00 Hours up to 8-2-2017, 11.00 Hours.
3. Date of Technical Bid Opening : 8-2-2017 11.30 Hours.
4. Submission of Original Documents : The original instruments in respect of cost of documents and EMD should be submitted
to the tender inviting Authority i.e. Executive Engineer, Chamba Division, HP, PWD Chamba by registered post/courier latest (3) working days from the day of Technical Bid opening.
5. TENDER DETAILS :
6. The Tender Document shall be uploaded online in 2 cover.
Cover-1 : Shall contain scanned copies of all Technical Documents/Eligibility Information.
Cover-2 : Shall contain BOQ/Financial Bid where contractor will quote his offer for each item.
7. SUBMISSION OF ORIGINAL DOCUMENTS : The bidders are required to submit (a) original Demand Draft towards the Cost
of Bid Document and (b) original Bid Security/Earnest Money Deposit (EMD) and other Technical Documents in O/o
Executive Engineer, Chamba Division, HP, PWD Chamba as specified in key dates Sr. No. 4 on Tender Opening Date, failing which the bids will be declared non-responsive.
8. BID OPENING DETAILS : The bids shall be opened on 8-2-2017, 11.30 hours in the office of the Executive Engineer,
Chamba Division, HP, PWD Chamba by the authorised officer. In their interest the tenderer are advised to be present along
with original documents at the time of opening of tenders. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening of the
bids as specified, the bids wil be opened on the next working day at the same time and venue.
9. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than Ninety days after the deadline date for bid
submission.
10. OTHER DETAIL CAN BE SEEN IN THE BIDDING DOCUMENTS : The officer inviting tender shall not be held laible for
any delay due to system failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any bid
updates, the Employer shall not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidders responsibility to verify the website for the latest information related to the tender.
The undermentioned has right to extend or cancel the bids without declaring any reasons thereof.
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER
CHAMBA DIVISION, HPPWD CHAMBA
On behalf of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh
The Executive Engineer, (B&R) Division, HPPWD, Baijnath on behalf of the Governor of Himachal Pradesh, invites the
item rate bids in electronic tendering system for each of the following works from the eligible and approved contractors registered with HP, PWD. The Contractor enlisted in appropriate class can tender for his own class as well as one step below as per
Rule 8.1 of Enlistment Contract Rule 2015.
S.
Name of Work
Estimated
Earnest
Time
Cost of
Eligibility/
No.
Cost
Money
Limit
Tender
Class
(Rs.)
(Rs.)
Form
(Rs.)
1.
Construction of 40.80 mtr. span Steel Truss Foot
43,49,175
72,740
Nine
1,500/Class-C
Bridge over Awa Khad between Karori and Rajot.
Months
(SH : Construction 40.80 mtr. span Steel Truss
Foot Bridge).
2.
Construction of 20.00 mtrs. span Foot Bridge
13,13,497
26,300
Six
500/Class-D
over Pun Khad between Village Sarsowa and
Months
Upper Order. (SH : Construction of Sub-Structure, Super Structure and both side approaches).
2. Date of Release of Invitation for Bids through e-Procurement : 4-1-2017.
3. Cost of Bid Form of Tender shall be in shape of Demand Draft (Non-refundable) only in form of Demand Draft in favour of
Executive Engineer, HP, PWD, Baijnath.
4. Availability of Bid Document and Mode of Submission : The bid document is available online and bid shall be submitted
online on website : https://hptenders.gov.in. The bidder would be required to register in the website, which is free of cost.
For submission of bids the bidder is required to have Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized certifying Authorities. Aspiring bidders who have not obtained the user ID and password for participating in the e-tendering in
HP, PWD may obtain the same from the website : https://hptenders.gov.in Digital Signature is mandatory to participate in
the e-tendering. Bidders already possessing the digital signature issued from authorized CAs can use the same in this tender.
5. Submission of Original Documents : The bidders are required to submit (a) original Demand Draft towards the Cost of Bid
Document (b) original bid security in approved form and (c) Form No. 7/8 duly signed by the contractor (in Judicial Paper)
with bid document as per provision of general rules No. 27 with Executive Engineer, Baijnath Division within two days after
the opening of the technical qualification part of the bid, either by registered post or by opening of technical qualification
part of the bid, either by registered post or by hand failing which the bids either by registered post or by hand will be
declared as non-responsive.
Bidders should attach the scanned copies of Cost of Documents EMD (the Earnest Money in shape of Call Deposit of Post
Office or Fixed Deposit/Demand Draft of scheduled bank duly pledged in favour of undermentioned payable at Baijnath)
and other documents as specified in the tender document in the online bid. The original instruments in respect of cost of
documents and EMD are requried to be submitted to the tender inviting authority on or before the time of opening of bids,
failing which the bid will be declared non-responsive.
The detail of cost of documents, EMD specified in the tender documents should be same as submitted online (scanned
copies) otherwise tender will summarily be rejected.
6. Last Date/Time for Receipt of Bids through e-procurement Tendering : 24-1-2017 up to 10-30 a.m. (time). Technical Part of
which will be opened on the same day at 11-00 a.m.
7. The site for the work is available.
8. Only online submission of bids is permitted, therefore, bids must be submitted online on website : https://hptenders.gov.in.
The financial bid shall be opened on 28-1-2017 at 11-30 a.m. in the office of the Executive Engineer, HP, PWD Division,
Baijnath by the authorized officer. In the interest of tenderers are advised to be present along with original documents at
the time of opening of tenders. If the office happens to be closed on the date of opening of the bids as specified, the bids
will be opened on the next working day at the same time and venue.
9. The bids for the work shall remain valid for acceptance for a period not less than 120 days after the deadline date for bid
submission.
10. Other details can be seen in the bidding documents. The Employer shall not be held liable for any delays due to system
failure beyond its control. Even though the system will attempt to notify the bidders of any bid updates, the Employer shall
not be liable for any information not received by the bidder. It is the bidders responsibility to verify the website for the
latest information related to the tender.
EXECUTIVE ENGINEER
BAIJNATH DIVISION, HPPWD, BAIJNATH
ANNA ACCUSES
PAWAR OF SUGAR
CO-OP SCAM
Mumbai, 4 January
Anti-graft campaigner Kisan

Baburao alias Anna Hazare
has simultaneously filed
two civil and one criminal
PILs in the Bombay High
Court, against former Union
agriculture minister Sharad
Pawar and his nephew, Ajit
Pawar, who was Maharashtras deputy chief minister.
He accused these Nationalist Congress leaders of
defrauding the state exchequer, cooperative sector and
people of the state to the tune
of Rs 25,000 crore in sugar
cooperative scam. The criminal petition prays for a
probe by Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) as well
as the forming of an SIT or
special task force appointed by the HC.
Mr Hazare claims that
enough circumstantial evidence is on record to
establish corruption and
the deliberate financial
mismanagement.
The petitions which are
likely to come for initial consideration of the HC in next
few days, extensively relied
on reports of the various
committees as well as serious irregularities highlighted in Comptroller and
Auditor General's reports
over the years, to make a
strong case against the
Pawars. The fraud, according to Mr Hazare , was neatly planned and executed
between 2006 and 2015.
The modus operandi,
stated Hazare, was, to
obtain fresh operating
licences from the state government for running lossmaking sugar cooperative
mills. The second step was
to make the state government stand guarantor to
get new loans from district
co-operative banks and other
financial institutions. The
Next was to default (deliberately) on these borrowings
and get the factories certified as sick units. Citing sickness and unviability, the
banks were prodded to categorise their lending as bad
or non-performing assets.
Next was to buy these sick
sugar mills using frontmen or private sector
investors.
SENSEX
NIFTY
GOLD
SILVER
40,200
26,725
26,366.15
29 DEC 30
02
03 04JAN
29 DEC 30
+87
+231
39,700
27,105
8,103.60
+267
+231
THUMBNAILS
8,190.50
26,633.13
02
03 04 JAN
29 DEC 30
02
+380
+335
03 04 JAN
R PER 10 GM
29 DEC 30

02
03 04 JAN
+500
R PER KG
RATE CUTS TO HELP NEW CUSTOMERS

BENEFITS OF LOWER RATES WILL NOT BE AVAILABLE TO CRORES OF EXISTING BORROWERS: BANKERS
PRASHANT MUKHERJEE
Prashantmukherjee10@gmail.
com
This file photo shows the logo of

General Motors at the North
American International Auto
Show in Detroit, Michigan. Wall
Street stocks rose early on
Wednesday following a bullish
December auto sales report from
General Motors. AFP
Bajaj Auto strike:

Workers of Bajaj Auto
will go on a two-day
hunger strike on 7 and
8 January in front of
the company's Akurdi plant in Pune to
protest against the
"anti-workers activities"
of the management. PTI
FDI concern:No-frills
airlines IndiGo and
SpiceJet have raised
security concerns
over the government's
decision to allow 100
per cent foreign ownership by non-airline
players in the Indian
PTI
carriers.
Future tie-up: IT
major Cognizant has
entered into a strategic partnership with
Kishore Biyani-led
Future Group to transform its FMCG arm
Future Consumer Ltd
(FCL) into a connectPTI
ed enterprise.
IBM India MD: Technology giant IBM has
said it has appointed
Mr Karan Bajwa managing director of its India
operations. He succeeds Vanitha Narayana,
who has been elevated as chairman of IBM
India.
PTI
NBCC bonus: Stateowned construction
firm NBCC, in a filing
t o B o m b ay S t o c k
Exchange on Wednesday, said that it will
issue one bonus share
on every two held in
the company this
financial year.
PTI
SAIL production:
Country's largest steel
maker SAIL has produced 10.18 million
tons of saleable steel
in April-December
period of this fiscal,
registering a 15 per
cent growth over the
year-ago period. PTI
CURRENCY
CURRENCY*
US$
EURO
UK POUND
YEN
SW FR
CAN$
SING$
MAL RIN
THAI BAHT
(IN RUPEES)
71.99
74.92
88.16
0.61
70.98
53.75
50.75
16.62
2.06
*THOMAS COOKS SELLING RATES
The euphoria appears to be

short lived. Despite massive cuts in home loan rates
announced by banks after
Prime Minister Narendra
Modis New Year's eve
address, the benefits of lower
interest will not be available
to crores of existing borrowers whose loans are
linked to base rate. The
reduced rates are only for
new customers, bankers
said.
The fine print of the rate
cut suggests, both public
and private sector banks
have only reduced their
MCLR (marginal cost of
funds based lending rate) and
not base rates. Majority of
customers' home loans are
linked with base rate. So,
existing customers converting their loans to lower
rates have to pay hefty con-
version charges of up to 50
basis points of loan outstanding besides service
tax. The total outstanding
individual housing loans
of 26 PSU banks were Rs 4.4
lakh crore in 2014-15.
Home loan lenders led
by State Bank of India (SBI)
and ICICI Bank have dropped
their rates significantly for
new home loan borrowers.
The way it has been done
once again shows how the
lenders continue their stepmotherly treatment of existing borrowers.
The only exception being
recent borrowers who have
taken home loan from banks
(and not housing finance
companies) after 1 April
2016, who are all set for a
bonanza albeit after a delay,
said Mr Harsh Roongta,
Sebi-registered investment
advisor.
Take the case of a customer who has loan outstanding of Rs 30 lakh taken
at 9.5 per cent. For reducing
Daikin plans third

AC unit in India
Hyderabad, 4 January
Keeping in view the

increasing demand, Japanese air-conditioner maker
Daikin has plans for setting
up its third manufacturing plant in India and
is evaluating various
locations and options, a
top company official said
today.
The company is in talks
with Maharashtra, Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana
governments in this regard.
Any decision, however,
on setting up the third manufacturing unit is likely
to be taken only after March
2018, Daikin Air-conditioning India managing director Kanwal Jeet Jawa said
here.
We have one manufacturing facility at Neemrana
in Rajasthan. Already we
TRAI SEEKS
PUBLIC VIEW ON
NET NEUTRALITY
New Delhi, 4 January: Telecom
watchdog the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India

today launched final consultation on controversial
net neutrality issue on which
telecom operators and Internet-based companies are at
loggerheads.
The Trai has today
released a consultation paper
on Net Neutrality (NN). The
purpose of this second stage
of consultation is to proceed
towards the formulation of
final views on policy or regulatory interventions, where
required, on the subject of
NN, the Trai said.
Last date for public comments on the paper is 15 February and for counter comments is 28 February.
The regulator has already
conducted the first round of
consultation to understand
PTI
key issues.
have decided to put up a second factory also at Neemrana.. about 40 acres of land
with an investment of Rs 600
crore plus. The second unit
will be operational from
September this year, Mr
Jawa said.
With the second plant
coming up, the production
capacity will go up to 12 lakh
room air-conditioners a year,
from the present five lakh
units, he said.
Current capacity will not
be sufficient after 2018. So
at that time, we will take a
call to set up it (third factory) either in Maharashtra
or AP or Telangana, Mr
Jawa said.
Daikin Air-conditioning
India had a turnover of Rs
2,750 crore in the last financial year. It is expecting to
clock a turnover of Rs 3,500
crore in the current financial year.
EUPHORIA OVER LOWER INTEREST FADES OUT

The fine print of the rate cut suggests,
both public and private sector banks
have only reduced their MCLR (marginal
cost of funds based lending rate) and
not base rates. Majority of customers'
home loans are linked with base rate
Home loan lenders led by State Bank
of India (SBI) and ICICI Bank have
dropped their rates significantly for new
home loan borrowers. The way it has
been done once again shows how the lenders continue their step-motherly
treatment of existing borrowers
While SBI forced the banking sector to reduce their MCLR, most banks have
not revised their base rates for more than a year. HDFC, for example, last
reduced its base rate in October 2015
In order to achieve monetary transmission by ensuring that lending rates are
sensitive to policy rates, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has made it mandatory
for banks to adopt the MCLR as the benchmark for lending, instead of the base
rate, from the beginning of FY17
it to the present rates of
say 8.65 per cent, the customer will have to pay conversion fee of Rs 16,000 plus
service tax at the rate of 15

per cent, taking the total fee
to Rs 18,400. While the conversion charges are payable
FDI UP 27% AT
$27.82B IN
APR-OCT
USFDA warning
letter to Wockhardt
Foreign direct investment (FDI)

into the country grew by over
27 per cent to $27.82 billion
during April-October this fiscal. The FDI stood at $21.87
billion in April-October
2015-2016, according to the
Department of Industrial
Policy and Promotion.
The main sectors which
have attracted the foreign
inflows include services,
telecom, trading, computer
hardware and software and
automobile.
India receives maximum
FDI from Singapore, Mauritius, the Netherlands and
Japan. The inflows increased
by 23 per cent to $55.6 billion
in the last financial year.
FDIs are considered crucial for India, which needs
around $1 trillion for overhauling its infra sector. PTI

The US Food and Drug

Administration (USFDA)
has issued a warning letter
to Wockhardt for violating
current good manufacturing
practice norms, including its
failure to ensure proper
clothing for workers at its
Ankleshwar plant in
Gujarat. In the letter to
Wockhardt chairman and
group chief executive officer Habil Khorakiwala, the
USFDA said inspectors during inspection from 7 to 15
December 2015, found significant violations of current good manufacturing
practice (CGMP) regulations for finished pharmaceuticals as well as for active
pharmaceutical ingredients
(API).
The USFDA has already
banned import of products
upfront, the benefits of

reduced EMIs are available
only during the entire tenure
of the loan.
from the facility into the US

market since 5 August 2016.
Elaborating on the violations at the plant, the
USFDA noted that the company failed to ensure that
manufacturing personnel
wear clothing appropriate
to protect drug product from
contamination.
Our
investigator
observed employees working in gowns that had unravelled stitching extending
from hoods, zippers, and
pants. Your firm approved
these gowns for operations...you should have discarded these garments, it
noted.
The other violations
include the firm's failure to
establish and follow appropriate written procedures
designed to prevent microbiological contamination
of drug products purporting to be sterile.
Even as banks' cost of

deposits have come down
sharply after demonetisation, as they garnered huge
low-cost deposits, the benefit of reduced cost is available only to new customers.
This is a loophole being
exploited by banks linking
loan rates to various types
of benchmarks such as the
base rate and MCLR, a
banking sector expert said.
While SBI forced the
banking sector to reduce
their MCLR, most banks
have not revised their base
rates for more than a year.
HDFC, for example, last
reduced its base rate in
October 2015.
In order to achieve monetary transmission by ensuring that lending rates are sensitive to policy rates, the
Reserve Bank of India (RBI)
has made it mandatory for
banks to adopt the MCLR as
the benchmark for lending,
instead of the base rate,
from the beginning of FY17.
GOVT CLEARS 29
INVESTMENT
PROPOSALS
New Delhi, 4 January: The
Expenditure Finance Commission (EFC) under ministry of finance cleared 29
proposals of various ministries involving expenditure
of about Rs 2.11 lakh crore
during the last year.
Besides, Public Investment Board (PIB) headed by
the expenditure secretary
cleared 12 proposals involving an expenditure of Rs
28,673 crore. Three proposals of the ministry of power
worth Rs 8,612 crore were
cleared by the board during
the calender year 2016.
Proposals of the ministry of external affairs and
ministry of road, transport
and highway involving
investments of Rs 7,291
crore and Rs 6,461 crore,
respectively, were also
PTI
cleared.
Reeling under cash

crunch, the services sector contracted for the second consecutive month in
December as the demonetisation move took a
heavy toll on business
activities and led to the
sharpest fall in over
three years in new
orders, a monthly survey
showed today.
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey
further showed that the
business confidence
slumped to the third-lowest level in its 11-year history, while suggesting
that any imminent recovery was unlikely from the
demonetisation-triggered
New Delhi, 4 January: To fur-
ther tap into the 51-million

strong small and medium
businesses (SMBs) market
in the country, Google's
India-born chief Sundar
Pichai today announced a
number of initiatives to
help these enterprises go digital.
Mr Pichai, who is scheduled to visit his alma mater
IIT Kharagpur tomorrow,
said the company is working on products for India that
can be expanded globally.
When we solve for a
place like India, we solve for
everyone around the world.
That has led us to grow our
team here and spend more
time and ensure the products are useful for everyone,
he said at a Google event
here. He added that SMBs
are a growth driver for the
Indian economy.
It is important that they
have the right tools and
skills to digitise. We believe
it is important for us to
invest in training and equipping these individuals and
small businesses to accelerate their jour ney of
growth, he said.
Over 8 million Indian
SMBs are already using
Google's platforms.
A joint research study by
Google-KPMG estimates
that 68 per cent of the 51 million Indian SMBs are off-line.
It also states rising Internet
penetration and greater
uptake for digital by SMBs
could help increase their
contribution to India's GDP
by 10 percentage points,
taking it up to 46-48 per
cent by 2020.
Profits of digitally
engaged SMBs grow twice
as fast (compared to their
off-line peers) and they are
also able to grow their customer base significantly, it
added.
The report cited the lack
of understanding of the
benefits of digital technologies and technical skills
as the essential reasons for
PTI
being off-line.
PADMANABHAN
NOMINATED NEW
TATA POWER CHIEF
Rupee rebounds, up
28 paise vs US dollar
Mumbai, 4 January
Mumbai/ New Delhi, 4 January
Country's second biggest

private sector lender HDFC
Bank today cut its benchmark lending rate by up to
0.90 per cent, joining over a
dozen banks and housing
finance companies that have
slashed rates in last few
days.
The bank's asset liability committee decided for a
cut of 0.75-0.90 per cent in
marginal cost of fundsbased lending rate (MCLR)
across multiple tenures.
When contacted, its executive director Kaizad
Bharucha confirmed the
move and said this has primarily been driven by the
huge amount of liquidity in
the system due to demonetisation.
The rates have been calculated based on liquidity
position and all benefits

have been passed on to borrowers. The new rates are
effective from 7 January, he
said.
State-run lender Canara
Bank today said it has
reduced the minimum cost
of funds based lending rates
(MCLR) by up to 75 basis
points for various maturities. The new rates are effective from 7 January, the
bank said in a statement
here.
Meanwhile, mortgage
firm DHFL today reduced its
home loan lending rates by
0.5 per cent in line with
competitors.
Following the reduction,
rates on home loan for various maturities will vary
from 8.60 per cent to 9.10 per
cent.
The government's recent
decision to provide interest
rate relief to home buyers
and to those who wish to plan

a home in 2017, as well as several past initiatives have
created a growth-enabling
and conducive environment
for the housing finance sector, DHFL chief executive
officer Harshil Mehta said
in a statement.
We will continue to be
prompt and responsive to
any initiative in the external environment, as we also
continue to undertake several internal measures to
benefit our customers as
part of our commitment to
enable access to home ownership for the LMI segment,
he said.
Yesterday the country's
largest mortgage lender
HDFC reduced its home
loan rates by up to 0.45 per
cent.
Besides, Indiabulls Housing Finance reduced rates
by similar basis points.
Tata
Power today said Mr S Padmanabhan has been nominated as chairman of the
board of directors of the
company.
Mr S Padmanabhan,
additional director on the
company's board, has been
nominated as chairman of
the board of directors of the
company effective 4 January
2017, Tata Power said in a
BSE filing.
Last month, Mr Padmanabhan was appointed
the additional director.
Prior to joining the Tata
Power board, he was the
executive chairman of Tata
Business Excellence Group
(TBExG) and was recently
given the additional responsibility as head of group HR
for Tata Sons. Mr Padmanabhan has been associated
with the Tata Group for
PTI
over 34 years.

The rupee made a roaring
comeback today after a twoday downfall against the
American currency and
ended higher by 28 paise at
68.05 following a fresh bout
of dollar selling by banks and
exporters. This is the biggest
single-day gain in one
month.
A weak dollar sentiment
across the board alongside
unwinding of long positions by speculative traders
ahead of key US macro data
release largely supported the
recovery momentum, a forex
dealer said.
At the Interbank Foreign Exchange (Forex) market, the domestic unit commenced slightly better at
68.29 a dollar from overnight
close of 68.33 and maintained its stellar performance throughout the ses-
Services sector contracts for 2nd month

downturn.
The Nikkei India Services PMI, which tracks
services sector companies on a monthly basis,
stood at 46.8 in December,
largely unchanged
from November's 46.7
reading.
A reading above 50
means expansion while a
score below this level
denotes contraction. The
index had slipped into
the contraction territory
in November and
remained in that zone in
December as the demonetisation move, involving
scrapping of high-value
old currency notes, led to
the sharpest fall in new
business since September 2013.
This follows another
GOOGLE
INITIATIVES TO
HELP INDIAN
SMBS GO DIGITAL
HDFC Bank,Canara,
DHFL cut lending rates
DEMONETISATION TAKES HEAVY TOLL ON BUSINESS ACTIVITIES AND LEADS TO SHARP FALL IN NEW ORDERS
11
SURVEY FINDINGS
The Indian service economy ended 2016 on a
grim note, with the average PMI activity index
reading for the October-December quarter being
the lowest since early 2014
MS POLLYANNA DE LIMA,
ECONOMIST AT IHS MARKIT
The Nikkei India Services PMI, which tracks services sector companies on a
monthly basis, stood at 46.8 in December, largely unchanged from November's 46.7 reading. A reading above 50 means expansion while a score below
this level denotes contraction
The Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey further showed that the
business confidence slumped to the third-lowest level in its 11-year history,
while suggesting that any imminent recovery was unlikely from the demonetisation-triggered downturn
PMI data set released on
Monday that showed that
the manufacturing sector
also contracted in December, its first shrinkage in

a year, which together
suggested towards a slowdown in the overall GDP

growth rate.
The Indian service

economy ended 2016 on a
grim note, with the average PMI activity index
reading for the OctoberDecember quarter being
the lowest since early
2014, said Ms Pollyanna
De Lima, economist at
IHS Markit and author of
the report.
With factory production also softening, activity across the private sector saw the biggest drop
in over three years.
The seasonally adjusted Nikkei India Composite PMI Output Index ~
which maps both the
manufacturing and the
services sectors ~ stood
at 47.6 in December compared with 49.1 in
November.
Combined with the

manufacturing PMI, data
suggest that Indian GDP
is set to grow in Q3 201617, but a slowdown is likely, Ms Lima added.
Indian services
providers signalled optimism on the 12-month
outlook during December, although the level of
optimism has fallen to
the third-lowest in over
11 years of data collection, the survey said.
Of concern, business
confidence among service providers plunged to
one of the lowest in the
series' 11-year history,
suggesting that an imminent rebound from the
rupee demonetisation
downturn is unlikely,
Ms Lima said.
sion driven by robust dollar

supplies.
It finally settled at the
day's highest level of 68.05,
revealing a smart gain of 28
paise, or 0.41 per cent.
The local unit had depreciated by a whopping 41
paise in last two sessions, giving a tepid start to New
Year.
Meanwhile, foreign funds
sold shares worth Rs 500.49
crore yesterday, as per the
provisional data.
In worldwide trade, the
dollar retreated from a 14year high against a basket
of currencies as investors
turned cautious ahead of
FOMC latest minutes release
and other key macro data.
The US dollar index was
trading lower at 102.95 in late
afternoon deals.
The RBI fixed the reference rate for the dollar at
68.1791 and for the euro at
70.9949.
FMCG FIRMS TO
SEE 5-6% DROP
IN BOTTOMLINE
Mumbai, 4 January: Fast mov-
ing consumer goods (FMCG)

companies are likely to
report a 5-6 per cent drop in
net profit during the third
quarter due to the hit on
sales that they witnessed
post-demonetisation drive,
says a brokerage report in
the run-up to the earnings
season beginning this week.
We expect the third
quarter to be a dismal period for the FMCG companies
as their aggregate revenue
and net profits are likely to
decline by 0.2 per cent and
5-6 per cent, respectively,
Kotak Institutional Equities
said in its pre-earnings season report today.
The report attributes
this fall to a 120 bps pre-tax
aggregate margin contraction.
PTI
12
In Turkey, no ones way of life is under any

threat. It is my duty to protect everyones right
THUMBNAILS
Manslaughter: Israeli soldier may get 20 yrs in Palestinian killing

THE INDEPENDENT
Beirut, 4 January
People visit ice sculptures

illuminated by coloured lights at
the Harbin Ice and Snow Festival
to celebrate the new year in
Harbin on Wednesday. AFP
Tunisia-cell: Tunisian
security forces have
dismantled a 13-member terrorist cellthat
was funnelling young
recruits to jihadist
groups,authorities said
today,as part of a growingcrackdownonextremists.The suspects,aged
between 22 and 43,were
arrested yesterday in
Hergla, the interior
ministry said in a stateAFP
ment.
Uganda protest: At
least 400 Ugandan
workers at a Chineseowned construction
company went on strike
to protest alleged sexual harassment by
managers and poor
pay. The angry employees staged a demonstration outside the
offices of the stateowned China Railway
Seventh Group in KamAP
pala.
Iraq copter crash:
An Iraqi attack helicopter crashed on
Wednesday south of
the Mosul battlefield,
killing all four crew
members, security officials said.The helicopter was a Russianmade Mi-35 gunship.AFP
Train derails: A Long
Island Rail Road commuter train derailed
in Brooklyn,New York,
injuring dozens. New
York Fire officials have
said 100 people were
injured in the Wednesday derailment. AGENCIES
ARAB MILITANTS
CLAIM 2 PIPELINE
BLASTS IN IRAN
IN NEW CONFLICT
Dubai, 4 January:An
TURKISH PRESIDENT RECEP TAYYIP ERDOGAN

AFTER CLUB ATTACK
Arab
separatist group has claimed
two pipeline bombings in
Iran's oil-rich south and
threatened to launch more
attacks in the coming year
as the country tries to boost
production following the
nuclear deal with world
powers.
Iranian state media and
officials did not immediately comment on the claim
by the Arab Struggle Movement for the Liberation of
Ahwaz, which said it bombed
the pipelines early yesterday
mor ning in Khuzestan
province.The militants
released online video they
said showed one of the
pipelines exploding. The
Associated Press could not
immediately verify the
footage, though previous
attacks have been attributed to the group.
The separatists' statement said the bombings
came in response to Iran's
Oil Ministry publishing a list
of 29 international companies qualified to bid for projects following the atomic
accord.
The group said 2017 will
be very different to previous years since the movement has prepared detailed
and precise plans to carry
out a number of high-quality important operations
against the Iranian enemy
state.Coordinated pipeline
attacks could hinder Iran's
efforts to recoup cash lost
under international sanctions. The country has boosted production to around 3.8
million barrels of oil a day
since the deal.
Iran has faced low-level
separatist unrest from Kurds
in its northwest, the Baluch
in its east and Arabs in its
south since the 1979 Islamic Revolution.
AP
An Israeli soldier who shot

dead an immobilised Palestinian assailant as he lay on
the ground has been convicted of manslaughter by
a Tel Aviv military court. The
21-year-old attacker, Abdel
Fateh al-Sharif, was shot
and wounded after attempting to stab an Israeli soldier
in the incident in Hebron last
year.
As he lay on the ground,
Sergeant Elor Azaria, who
arrived on the scene 12 minutes later, shot him in the
head.The killing was cap-
tured on video and widely

shared by human rights
activists.The controversial
trial has dragged on for
months, centering as it does
on Sgt Azarias mental state
at the time - and the extent
to which the judges found
him to be acting out of selfdefence or revenge.
Sgt Azaria was aware
that his actions in shooting
the wounded Palestinian
assailant would result in
loss of life, Justice Maya
Heller said, and that the terrorist did not pose a threat,
in a damning verdict which
dismissed the soldier's
defence case. The Israeli
Defence Force (IDF) medic,

now 20, did not act in accordance with army protocol,
the three-judge panel found,
and the claim that he felt
threatened during the incident was not justified.
Manslaughter carries a
prison sentence of up to 20
years under Israeli law. Sgt
Azaria will be sentenced
on a later date and can
appeal both the conviction
and sentence to the Military
Appeals Court.
Protesters supporting
the soldier's case outside
the court appeared deflated
by the decision, which makes
Sgt Azaria the first member
of the IDF to be convicted

of the charge in 12 years.
More than 150 Palestinians have been fatally shot on
suspicion of carrying out terrorist attacks since October
2015, Human Rights Watch
(HRW) noted.
"Todays conviction is a
positive step toward reining
in excessive use of force by
Israeli soldiers against Palestinians, said Sari Bashi, the
organisation's Israel advocacy director.Before the verdict was handed down there
were already calls to pardon
the 20-year-old, including
from high level politicians
such as Justice Minister
Ayalet Shaked and Education Minister Naftali Bennett.Defence Minister Avigdor Lieberman described the
decision as a "tough verdict",
but called on those who did
not like it to "respect the ruling and keep the peace."
Despite a long-term peace
process and the general reconciliation of Israel with
Egypt and Jordan, Israelis
and Palestinians have failed
to reach a final peace agreement. The key issues are:
mutual recognition, borders, security, water rights,
control of Jerusalem, Israeli
settlements,Palestinian freedom of movement.
Rajaa (C), holds a poster of her son Abdul Fatah al-Sharif as Palestinians
gather in the street in the West Bank town of Hebron on Wednesday, during
the trial of Israeli soldier Elor Azaria (portrait-C) who killed Sharif, a wounded
Palestinian assailant as he lay on the ground posing no apparent threat. afp
HEALTHCARE REPEAL PUTS OBAMA ON PENCE
OBAMA BACK TO CAPITOL TO ADVISE DEMOCRATS TO TAKE ON REPUBLICANS IN BATTLE TO ABOLISH HEALTH REFORMS
AGENCIES
Washington, 4 January
President Barack Obama

travelled back to the Capitol to give congressional
Democrats advice on how to
combat the Republican drive
to dismantle his health care
overhaul. Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence is meeting
with GOP lawmakers to discuss the best way to send
Obama's cherished law to its
graveyard and replace it
with - well, something.
The separate strategy
sessions were coming on
the second day of the new,
GOP-led Congress. In 16
days, Republican Donald
Trump replaces Obama at
the White House, putting the
party's longtime goal of
annulling much of the 2010
health care overhaul within reach. Plenty of questions
remain, including the repeal
bill's details, costs and when
it would take effect. Republicans also face divisions over
the next step - replacement
legislation - that will likely
take months or years to
resolve.
While they can hardly
US President Barack Obama walks alongside Representative Frederica Wilson

(C) as he arrives for a meeting with the House and Senate Democratic Caucuses to discuss the Affordable Care Act at the US Capitol in Washington, DC,
Wednesday. afp
prevent the GOP repeal

effort from proceeding, the
president and House and
Senate Democrats were
meeting Wednesday to discuss how to best defend a law
that's extended health insurance coverage to 20 million
Americans and which
Obama considers one of the
proudest pillars of his legacy.
"The more the people
understand what's included
in the Affordable Care Act

and how they benefit from
it, the more popular the
program is, and the harder
it is for Republicans to have
political support for tearing
it down," White House
spokesman Josh Earnest
told reporters Tuesday, using
the law's formal name. "The
president's message to them
is that they should be out
there telling the stories of
their constituents who are
benefiting from this law,"

Earnest said. "I think that's
certainly the most important
thing they can do."
Pence met Wednesday
morning with House Republicans to discuss their health
care drive and planned to
attend a lunch with Senate
Republicans.
Republicans eager to
show quick action against
Obama's health care law
took an initial procedural
step Tuesday, introducing a
budget bill that would have
to be considered under a parliamentary procedure that
would prevent Democrats
from using a Senate filibuster to protect the health
care law.
Republicans control the
Senate by a 52-48 margin, but
it takes 60 votes to end a filibuster, a procedural roadblock that can kill legislation. The Senate was expected to complete the budget by
next week.
House approval would
follow. "This is the first step
toward relief for Americans struggling under Obamacare," said House Speaker Paul Ryan.
Trump posts his doubt on spy machine

ASSOCIATED PRESS
New York, 4 January
His inauguration less than

three weeks away, President-elect Donald Trump is
raising new doubts about the
nation's intelligence community, tweeting fresh criticism at the same people who
will help inform his most
sensitive decisions once he
takes office.
Trump charged Tuesday
on Twitter, without evidence, that the timing of an
upcoming intelligence briefing on suspected Russian
interference in the 2016 election had been delayed. "Perhaps more time needed to
build a case. Very strange!"
he wrote, using quote marks
around the word "intelligence."
Trump's tweet, in line
with repeated criticism of
his nation's intelligence
leaders, caused confusion
among intelligence officials,
who said there was no delay
in the briefing schedule.
The fresh clash came as
Trump took further steps to

fill his Cabinet and key
White House positions, with
his attention shifting toward
the challenges of governing.
Trump's plans for repealing President Barack
Obama's signature health
care law are expected to be
the focus as Vice Presidentelect Mike Pence and secretary of state choice Rex
Tillerson meet with top
Republicans on Capitol Hill
on Wednesday.Pence issued
a direct challenge to Washington Republicans Tuesday:
"The president-elect has a
very clear message to Capitol Hill. And that is, it's time
to get to work." Trump sig-
naled he would not bless all

of the GOP's priorities on
Capitol Hill, openly questioning the timing of the
House Republican push to
gut an independent ethics
board just as the new Congress gathered.
"Do they really have to
make the weakening of the
Independent Ethics Watchdog, as unfair as it may be,
their number one act and priority"? Trump tweeted. The
House GOP later dropped the
effort.Trump promised to
hold his first formal news
conference since his victory next week in New York.
He has already waited longer
than any other presidentelect in the modern era to
hold his first exchange with
journalists. Most have held
such events within days of
their elections. It was unclear
if the news conference would
be the venue for his delayed
announcement on how he
plans to avoid potential conflicts of interest involving
his businesses after taking
office.
Turkey nails Istanbul nightspot killer Assange denies Russia hack

ASSOCITED PRESS
Istanbul, 4 January
Turkey has identified the

gunman in the Istanbul
nightclub massacre, the foreign minister said Wednesday as the president vowed
that the country won't surrender to terrorists or
become divided.
The gunman, who killed
39 people during New Year's
celebrations at the Reina
club, is still at large. But FM
Mevlut Cavusoglu said
authorities had identified the
man, without providing
details."The identity of the
person who carried out the
attack on the Reina nightclub has been established,"
Cavusoglu told Anadolu in
a live televised interview.
Turkish police, meanwhile, detained 20 suspected IS militants, including
11 women, believed to be
linked to the attack, the
state-run news agency
reported. The operation was
launched in the Aegean
port.Anadolu said the sus-
Flowers and pictures of victims have

been laid in front in front of the
Reina nightclub on Wednesday in
Istanbul. afp
pects were from the largely Muslim Russian republic

of Dagestan, from China's
Muslim Uighur minority
and from Syria. It said they
are thought to have lived with
the nightclub attacker.
IS has claimed responsibility for the attack, which
also wounded nearly 70 people. Of those killed 27 were
foreigners, many from the
Middle East. IS said a "soldier of the caliphate" had car-
ried out the mass shooting

to avenge Turkish military
operations against IS in
northern Syria.
The private Dogan news
agency said that Wednesday's
police operation targeted
three families who had
arrived in Izmir about 20
days ago from Konya - a
city in central Turkey where
the gunman is thought to
have been based before carrying out the nightclub
attack. It said 27 people,
including women and children, were taken into custody.At least 16 people were
previously detained in connection with the attack,
including two foreigners
stopped at the international terminal of Ataturk Airport after police checked
their cellphones and luggage.President Recep Tayyip
Erdogan said that the attack
aimed to set Turks against
each other and deepen fault
lines, but that the country
would not fall "for this game."
Erdogan made the comments in a live speech from
Ankara, the first time he has

publicly addressed the nation
since the attack.
Responding to accusations in the past that Turkey
had given support to the IS
group, Erdogan said that "to
present the country - which
is leading the greatest struggle against Daesh - as one that
is supporting terrorism is
what the terror organization
wants."
Erdogan said that "to say
Turkey has surrendered to
terrorism is to take sides
with the terrorists and terror organizations." Erdogan also said that "in Turkey,
no one's way of life is under
any threat. Those who claim
this have to prove it. It is my
duty to protect everyone's
rights."It was in response to
a campaign before the attack
by some government supporters who warned against
New Year's celebrations
they depicted as a Western
or Christian tradition, as well
as some social media postings that seemed to support
the attack.
role,seeks Obama papers

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
WikiLeaks has appealed for

leaked White House documents before President
Barack Obama leaves office,
as its founder Julian Assange
again denied Russia was
the source of hacked Democratic party emails that hurt
Hillary Clinton's bid for the
US presidency.
System admins: Don't let
the White House destroy
US history again! Copy now,
then send to WikiLeaks at
your leisure, the secretspilling website announced
on Twitter, shortly before
Assange gave an in-depth
interview to US network
Fox.
We are issuing a
US$20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest
or exposure of any Obama
admin agent destroying significant records, the tweet
said.
Assange gave Fox an
extended interview at the
Ecuadoran embassy in London where he sought refuge
in June 2012 to escape extradition to Sweden for questioning about an alleged
rape.
He shed no light on who
provided Wikileaks with
thousands of hacked emails
from the Democratic Nation-
MEXICOS NOTORIOUS JUAREZ TAKES NUANCED VIEW OF ITS 2010 BORDER BARRICADE
Trump wall may not block history

AGENCIES
Ciudad Juarez, Mexico, 4 January
Mexicans overwhelmingly say they oppose the

wall U.S. President-elect
Donald Trump has
promised to build along
their northern border.
But in Mexico's Ciudad Juarez, where extensive fencing was erected
by the US to secure the
border between 2007 and
2010, residents have a
more nuanced view of
what a wall can mean.
They say the Juarez
fence has both caused
and relieved problems in
the city and nearby
areas.
Some say the barrier
has made life in Juarez
better, diverting drug and
human traffickers to
more remote spots where
crossing the border is
easier. Others say the
high fence bred a new
kind of crime in the city,

encouraging drug dealers
who find it harder to get
wares across the border
to divert some of their
product to expanding and
serving a local market.
Juarez's newly elected
mayor, Armando Cabada,
sees both sides. He says
the fencing, cameras,
sensors and stricter controls on border bridges
have stopped flagrant
crossings of undocumented Mexican
migrants into downtown
El Paso, Texas, which sits
just across the fortified
border, in sight of his
wood-panelled office.
On balance, however,
the negatives have outweighed the positives, he
says. He notes that shortly after the wall was
built, Juarez was plunged
into a hellish war
between cartels that
made it the murder capital of the world, while El
A U.S. Border Patrol mobile watch tower stands on the bank of Rio Grande
on the U.S.-Mexico border on Wednesday near McAllen, Texas. afp
Paso remained the safest

U.S. city of its size. After
the border got tighter,
Cabada said, "the narco
traffickers had to battle
much harder to cross
their drugs into the United States, and a lot ended
up staying here."
The increased local
supply of drugs changed
social dynamics in the

city and addiction and
petty crime soared, he
said.
It is hard to isolate
causes of the chaos that
engulfed Juarez in 2008
when the Sinaloa and
Juarez cartels fought
over trafficking routes,
but the belief that tighter
controls contributed to
the city's deadly, downward spiral is widespread among business
leaders, security officials
and politicians consulted
by Reuters. The city of
1.4 million saw murders
rise from 336 in 2007
when work on the fence
began, to 3,057 in 2010
when the work was mostly concluded. Only two
people were murdered in
El Paso in 2010, down
from eight in 2006.
Last year murders
were back below 2007 levels and normal life has
begun to return, but
strong demand for
methamphetamines in
Juarez has triggered a
local turf battle and a
new spike in violence,
Cabada and city security
officials said. Drug use in
Juarez is among the highest in Mexico, government health surveys
show.
A poll conducted in
May by Baselice & Associates Inc for Cronkite
News and other media
groups spoke to 1,500 people in 14 border cities in
Mexico and the US. It
found that 72 percent of
respondents on the U.S.
side and 86 percent on the
Mexican side said they
were opposed to building
a wall. Esteban Sabedra,
a factory worker living in
working class Anapra, on
the western fringe of
Juarez, is among the
minority of Mexicans
who would like to see
more secure fencing.
Sabedra's home is a
city block away from a
rusting, low wire fence in
place since the 1980s separating Juarez and El
Paso, that the U.S. Customs and Border Protection is now replacing
with 1.3 miles of 15-foothigh steel bollard barricade.
al Committee and from Clinton campaign chief John

Podesta.
WikeLeaks released the
documents during the US
election campaign in what
US intelligence reportedly
concluded was an attempt
by Russia to tip the election
in favor of Clinton's Republican rival, Donald Trump,
who went on to win the
White House.
Assange insisted, however, that no Russian government-linked party was
the source of the hacked
material.
The source is not the
Russian government. It is not
state parties, the 45-yearold Australian told Fox.
Pressed as to whether
he thought the leaks of the
Podesta and DNC emails
led to Trump's election in
November, he said: Who
knows, it's impossible to
tell.
FORMER CIA
MAN RULES OUT
SADDAM WMD
The first
man to interrogate Saddam
Hussein after his capture by
US forces in 2003 has said it
quickly became clear he had
not developed weapons of
mass destruction.Former
CIA analyst John Nixon was
tasked with questioning the
Iraqi dictator after he was
found hiding in a cave in
December 2003. He said all
the White House wanted to
know was if there was any
evidence that Hussein was
developing weapons of mass
destruction.
But talking to Hussein,his
advisers and subsequent
research had led him to the
conclusion that Iraq's nuclear
weapons programme had
ended years earlier.His team
were regarded as failures
after they came to that conclusion, he told the BBC.
Nixon added that he was not
invited to debrief the then
president George W Bush
until 2008 - two years after Hussein's execution. THE INDEPENDENT
London, 4 January:
We further call on all states to take steps to show that

there are consequences to the DPRK's unlawful conduct
PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY PETER COOK

WHILE SPEAKING ATDAILY NEWS CONFERENCE
THUMBNAILS
US ASKS N KOREA TO
REFRAIN FROM
PROVOCATIVE ACTIONS
NORTH PLANS TO TEST INTERCONTINENTAL BALLISTIC MISSILE
Pakistan Minister for Information and Broadcasting Marriyum

Aurangzeb walks with officials
as she leaves The Supreme
Court in Islamabad on Wednesday, after a case hearing over
the Panama Papers. Pakistan
Premier Nawaz Sharif has been
under growing pressure from
opposition parties, mainly Imran
Khan's Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf
(PTI) over alleged corruption
charges against the prime minister's family. AFP
Indonesia-Oz: Indonesia said today it has suspended military cooperation with Australia,
reportedly due to training materials deemed
offensive, in a fresh
flare-up of tensions
between the neighPTI
bours.
China attack: Eleven
school children were
injured today when a
manwithaknifeattacked
them at a kindergarten
in China's Guangxi
Zhuang Autonomous
Region.
AP
Quake-Fiji: A shallow 7.2-magnitude
earthquake struck off
the coast of Fiji,the US
Geological Survey said,
but there were no
reports of damage and
a tsunami warning
PTI
was lifted.
The Pentagon today asked

North Korea to refrain
from provocative actions
amid
re por ts
that
Pyongyang is planning to
test an intercontinental
ballistic missile that is
capable of reaching the
United States.
We further call on all
states to take steps to show
that there are consequences
to the (Democratic Peoples Republic of Korea)
DPRK's unlawful conduct,
Pentagon Press Secretary
Peter Cook told reporters
at his daily news conference. DPRK is the official
name of North Korea.
Cook made the remarks
while responding to questions on statements coming
from the North Korean
leadership on launching
an ballistic missile capable
of reaching the US.
We call on the DPRK to
refrain from provocative
actions and to make the
strategic choice to fulfil
its international obligations and commitments
and return to serious talks.
We reaffirm our iron-clad
commitments to defend
our allies to utilising the

full spectrum of US extended deterrence capabilities,
Cook said. Multiple UN
Security Council resolutions, he said explicitly
prohibit North Korea's
launches using ballistic
missile technology or further development of a ballistic missile programme.
We call on all states to
use every available channel and means of influence to make clear to North
Korea and its enablers that
launches using ballistic
missile technolo g y or
efforts to advance North
Korea's ballistic missile
capabilities are unacceptable, he said.
The UN resolution, Cook
said explicitly prohibits
North Korea from engaging in ballistic missile tests
and from developing this
technology.
19 injured after blast in Pakistan

Peshawar, 4 January
Mexico surname:
Public registry officials in northern Mexico say they have registered the country's first
baby named with the
maternal surnames of
both parents. The tradition is to give babies
two last names the
father's surname, followed by the mother's
paternal surname. AFP
We would call on the

North Koreans to refrain
from provocative actions,
he said, adding that there
are ample reasons why
North Korea should not
carry out something of a
provocative nature. Cook
said the United States is
working closely with the
South Koreans to install
and de ploy a missile
defence system as quickly
and efficiently as possible.
We will do everything
we can working with the
South Koreans to do that.
We think it's an important
part of our broader missile
defence efforts in support
of our ally and in support
of the region as well, he
said. Cook said the international community is uniformly challenging North
Korea to once again not
car ry out provocative
actions. This is a country
that has demonstrated an
unwillingness to be part of
the international community, and we're once again
calling on all players, all
countries to use what influence they have to get North
Korea not to engage in
these kind of provocative
actions, he reiterated.
A roadside bomb today struck a police

van, injuring at least 19 people, including five policemen, in Pakistan's northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Province.
According to police officials, the van
was targeted when it was on routine
patrolling of Dera Ismail Khan, a gateway to Pakistan's troubled tribal region
bordering Afghanistan.
Two women and a child were also
among 19 those injured, police said.
The bomb which had been planted near
the circular road, General Bus stand,

weighed between five to seven kilogrammes, police officials were quoted as
saying by Express Tribune.
All injured were shifted to a nearby
hospital. Police reached the site and collected evidence after cordoning off the
area.
Violence has declined in recent years
following a series of military offensives
in the tribal areas as well as concerted
efforts to block the militants sources of
funding. But the remnants of militant
groups are still able to carry out periodic
bloody attacks, particularly in the northwest.
S KOREAN REPORTERS
COULD FACE LEGAL
STEPS IN DENMARK
A
northern Denmark judge
says she is strongly considering taking legal steps
against South Korean journalists for violating Danish
law by filming inside a courtroom the daughter of the
impeached South Korean
president's confidante during a detention hearing.
Malene Urup says South
Korean reporters filmed
and spoke to Yoora Chung
on Sunday, hours after her
arrest on an international
warrant. The interviews
eventually were posted on
South Korean news media's
websites.
Urup told The Associated Press on Wednesday that
reporters were informed in
Danish and English several
times about the ban and
asked to delete the videos.
Urup said that she hadn't decided when or how
many would be reported to
the police for violating Danish law, adding we take
this very seriously. The
penalty if convicted is a
AP
fine.
Copenhagen, 4 January:
Floods force 23,000 to

leave homes in Malaysia
Kuala Lumpur, 4 January
Floods in two northeast

Malaysian states have now
forced almost 23,000 people
from their homes and extra
relief centres have been
opened, rescue officials said
today.
Seasonal flooding hits
Malaysia's east coast states
every year and regularly
results in mass evacuations.
The latest round has forced
authorities to evacuate 10,038
residents from Kelantan and
12,910 people from neighbouring Terengganu, officials said.
Heavy rain in the past
five days has also caused 101
schools to be closed. Many
roads are impassable and
train services to some destinations in Kelantan have
been suspended.
But no deaths have so far
been reported in the two
states.Che Adam Abdul Rahman, civil department force
chief in Terengganu, told
Flood evacuees gather at a school used as a relief centre in Malaysia's northeastern town of Rantau Panjang bordering Thailand on Wednesday. AFP
AFP the number of evacuees rose sharply to 12,910

from 4,352 the previous day.
They are being housed in
139 relief centres that provide
food,drinks and medical aid,
he said.It is still raining heavily. Some 30 village roads are
closed and water levels at some
places are about one metre
deep and we are using boats
to evacuate villagers, he
said. In Kelantan, which suffered massive floods and
Pak police arrest 100 clerics

celebrating Taseers killing
Lahore, 4 January
Over 100 clerics were among

150 people arrested today in
Pakistan's Punjab province
for trying to hold a rally to
'celebrate' the killing of liberal governor Salmaan Taseer
in 2011 over the controversial
blasphemy issue.
Defying prohibitory
orders,clerics gathered here
to hold a rally on Main Boulevard in Gulberg area to 'celebrate' Taseer's sixth death
anniversary, local media
reported.
Protesters belonging to
religious parties like Sunni
Tehreek, Tehreek-i-Khatme
Nabuwat and Tehreek-i-Labbaik Ya Rasool (SAW) were
among those who had planned
to march from Kalma Chowk

to Liberty Chowk in Lahore
to eulogise Taseer's killer
and express support for blasphemy laws.
Taseer was killed on January 4, 2011 in Islamabad by
his bodyguard Mumtaz Qadri
for allegedly criticising the
blasphemy laws in the country
a
hugely
sensitive issue in the country. A police official said that
the clerics had planned two
separate rallies in Gulberg and
the Mall Road areas of the city.
The government banned the
Gulberg protest while allowing the clerics to hold a rally
on the Mall Road.
Defying government decision,hundreds of supporters
of the three religious groups
gathered in Gulberg for a
rally but police went into
action,disrupting the protest

and arresting around 150 of
them,over 100 of whom were
clerics,local media reported.
Protesters also put up
dozens of banners in Lahore
and other cities declaring
Qadri as a hero.Senior police
officials said no one had permission to hold a rally in
Lahore. They added that the
Punjab government had not
allowed the demonstrators to
hold any rally in Lahore and
police would block routes
and make arrests if necessary.
Main area and arterial
roads were blocked and police
personnel were heavily
deployed across the city. Due
to the diversions, capital of
Pakistan's most populous
province also witnessed severe
traffic jams along certain
routes.
Indian womens group in UK

protests against domestic abuse
London, 4 January
One of Britain's largest Indian community organisations

helda protest in London's iconic Piccadilly Circus, highlighting the plight of some of
thefirstgenerationmigrantIndian women in the UK who are
abused and exploited by their
spousesandletdownbythesystem.
Members of Indian Ladies
in UK (ILUK), a 14,000-strong
women's group made up of
firstgenerationfemalemigrants
from India,braved the Decembercoldandbecamehomeless
for one night, sleeping rough
on the frigid streets of London
on December 23.
Theywantedtoshedlighton
the plight of scores of women
who have been left physically,
mentally and emotionally
abused and destitute by their
spouses.
Among the protesters wasa
woman from Gujaratwhose
British-Indianhusbandtookher
toIndiainmid2016onlytoabandon her and kidnap her children and take them to his parent's home in Madagascar.
The woman who was identified as 'C' was left stranded in
Delhiwithoutmoneyorhertravel documents.
She soonmade contact with
ILUK which helped organise
a passport and an airline ticket back to Britain where she is
currentlypursuinglegalaction
against her husband and his
family.
ILUKanditsmembershave
also organised accommodation and counselling for her as
well as representing her in
court.
Another woman from
Hyderabad, returned to London in October after a visit to
India to find that she had been
locked out of her home by her
IT executive husband who
claimed that he had obtained
a divorce through the triple
talaqsystemof Islamicdivorce.
Shewaslefthomelessbefore
she made contact with ILUK
who organised help for her.
Many of the victims often
have little knowledge about
how to find help in what is,for
many, a largely alien country
and are often turned away by
police and local councils with
the excuse that they have no
recourse to public funds,a reference to their residency status in the UK. Poonam Joshi,
founder of ILUK,said,These
are young women who come
here with great hopes and
dreams and are left in the lurch
bytheverypeoplewhotheytrust
the most their partners. I
firmly believe that we as a
communityneedtocometogether to help,support and empower these women so they can
become better integrated into
their new homes.This protest
isawayof highlightingthework
that we do and appeal to both
the Indian and British governments to do more to protect
these young women.
Youths play a traditional pillow fight game on a bamboo pole during festivities marking the 69th anniversary of Myanmar Independence Day on the outskirts of
Yangon on Wednesday. Various traditional and local events were held on the holiday which marks the 69th anniversary of the country known before as Burma
when British colonial rule ended on January 4, 1948. AFP
3D SUBSURFACE IMAGES BY NASA PROBE HAVE UNVEILED
What lies beneath Mars poles!

Scientists using data

from a NASA probe have
unveiled 3D subsurface
images of Mars polar ice
caps, showing previously obscured layering,
larger volume of frozen
carbon dioxide and
bowl-shaped features
that may be buried
impact craters.
The information will
help scientists better
understand Martian climate changes and may
allow them to determine
the age of the polar caps
without using climate
models.
The 3D data volumes
were assembled from
observations by the
Shallow Radar
(SHARAD) onboard
NASA's Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO)
during more than 2000
orbit passes over each
Martian pole.
We have applied
industry-developed techniques in a very novel
fashion to a martian
dataset, producing 3D
volumes that are each
over 600 times larger
than any terrestrial or
planetary dataset of this
kind, said Nathaniel E
Putzig, a senior scientist
at the Planetary Science
Institute in the US.
It is gratifying to see
so plainly in the
SHARAD volumes structures that took years of
effort to characterise
with the single-orbit profiles, Putzig said.

Layering seen at the
surface of the martian
polar caps has been
studied for decades. It
has long been thought to
represent a record of climate changes on that
planet.
The interior struc-
tures of the caps

remained a mystery
until the arrival of
radar sounders at Mars
in the last decade.
An early version of
the north polar 3D volume helped to assess the
quantity of water ice
transferred to the polar
caps in the most recent
retreat from a martian

ice age.
First looks at the
south polar 3D volume
indicate that previously
mapped deposits of carbon dioxide ice are
somewhat larger than
reported.
In both polar 3D volumes, known impact
craters in and near the
polar caps that are partially filled with ice have
distinctive bowl-shaped
signatures in the radar
data, and similar signatures are found elsewhere within the polar
ices but without any surface expression.
Whether the latter
structures truly are
impact craters remains
to be determined.
13
NEW SMART BED CAN

ADJUST ITSELF TO
STOP YOUR SNORES
Washington, 4 January: A USbased company has developed a smart bed that can automatically adjust itself in
order to stop one from snoring and provide maximum
comfort for a sound sleep.
The smart bed, unveiled by
Sleep Number at the CES
trade show in Las Vegas,
automatically adjusts to help
both partners sleep comfortably all night. Today we
are excited to unveil the
future of sleep: the Sleep
Number that redefines what
people should expect from
their bed,said Shelly Ibach,
CEO of Select Comfort, USbased manufacturer that produce the Sleep Number mattresses. The matress provides
self-adjusting comfort
throughout the night. As
sleep positions change during the night, each partner
can sleep comfortably. AFP
major destruction of homes

and infrastructure in December 2014, 10,038 people have
been displaced by flooding.
The figure rose from 4,906
Tuesday, said Zainuddin
Hussin,the chief of the state's
civil department force.
Zainuddin said 74 relief
centres are operating in
Kelantan but rainfall was
scattered and many rivers
were no longer overflowing
their banks.
CHINA BACKS
PHILIPPINES FOR
ASEAN PRESIDENCY
Beijing,4 January: China today
said it supports the Philippines for assuming the rotating presidency of ASEAN as
the two countries warm up
to each other, shelving their
bitter maritime dispute over
the South China Sea.
China hopes to push relations with ASEAN to a new
level, China's Foreign Ministry spokesman, Geng
Shuang told a media briefing
here.
Relations between the two
nations which were frozen
over the maritime dispute
improved after Philippines
President Rodrigo Duterte
came to power last year.
China claims the whole of
the resiurce-rich South China
Sea but its claims are contested by its neighbours Vietnam, the Philippines,
Malaysia,Brunei and Taiwan.
Duterte has downgraded
ties with traditional ally the
US following criticism over
his violent anti-drug campaign in which over 5,000
people were killed and has
improved ties with China.
The Chinese government
has always regarded Association of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) as a priority
in its diplomacy with neighboring countries, Geng said.
China and ASEAN commemorated the 25th anniversary of relations between
the two sides in September,
2016.
During their meetings,
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang
and leaders from the 10
ASEAN members agreed to
lift China-ASEAN cooperation
to a new level, which demonstrated the firm resolve of the
two sides to deepen mutual
trust and enhance cooperation, said Geng.
This year marks the 50th
anniversary of the founding of ASEAN and it is also
the China-ASEAN year of
tourism cooperation,he said,
adding that China is ready to
work with the regional bloc
to enhance policy communication,alignment of development strategies and pragAFP
matic cooperation.
Emiratis banned from

keeping wild pets
Dubai, 4 January
The private ownership of

wild animals has been outlawed in the United Arab
Emirates,where keeping exotic creatures as pets is a status symbol for some, reports
said today.
Wildcats including endangered cheetahs are known to
have been domesticated in the
UAE and neighbouring Gulf
countries,with some even spotted being taken outside in the
middle of big cities.
In October, one such outing with five tigers on a beach
near Dubai's iconic Burj AlArab hotel was captured on
video and went viral on social
media, while others have
been filmed driving around
with lions.The new law bans
dealing in and ownership of
all types of wild and domes-
ticated but dangerous animals, Gulf News daily said.

Such animals can only be
kept at zoos,wildlife parks,circuses,breading and research
centres, the newspaper said.
Anyone who takes a leopard, cheetah or any other
kind of exotic animal out in
public will face a jail term of
up to six months and a fine
of up to 500,000 dirhams (USD
136,000), it added.
Al-Ittihad,an Arabic daily,
said those who use wild animals to terrorise others
would face jail or fine of up
to 700,000 dirhams.
The legislation also imposes new restrictions on traditional pets. Dog owners are
required to get permits and
keep the animals on leashes
in public, the reports said,
adding that those who fail to
obtain the licences face fines
of up to 100,000 dirhams.
he Benami Transactions (Prohibition) Amendment Act, 2016, which

came into force on November 1 last,
is an amendment to the earlier Act
of 1988. The amendments have
been put into place to stem transactions in assets bearing front
(third and unrelated party) or fictitious names and check evasion of
law through dubious means.
The Government amended the
earlier Act instead of introducing
a new one, effectively blocking an
escape route for those who had
entered into benami transactions
since 1988. The reason it did this
is because penal provisions contained in a new law cannot be
applied with retrospective effect, and
all violations prior to its enactment
would have otherwise circumvented action.
Definition of benami
A transaction is deemed benami if:
The underlying property is acquired
and held in the name of one person, but has been paid by another
person who is the actual beneficiary
and will enjoy the immediate or
future privileges associated with
that property. Effectively, the owner
merely acts as a front and does not
enjoy the asset, per se.
However, properties bought in
the name of ones spouse or child,
or those held jointly with siblings
or lineal ascendant or descendent
will not be treated as benami if they
have been paid for from known
sources of the individual. Likewise,
assets held by (i) a Karta, or a
member of Hindu undivided family for his benefit or benefit of
other members in the family provided the consideration for such
property has been provided or paid
for from known sources of the
Hindu undivided family or (ii) a person in a fiduciary capacity e.g. a
trustee, executor, partner, director
of a company are also not treated
as benami.
The underlying property is in a
fictitious name, meaning the socalled owner does not exist, or is
otherwise untraceable. The Government also has power to exclude
properties held by charitable or religious organi-sations from this definition.
The term property has been
defined comprehensively to
include all categories of assets
whether movable (such as gold,
stocks, mutual fund holdings and
bank deposits), immovable (such
as flats or land), tangible, intangible, corporeal, or incorporeal,
any conversion into other form of
such property and also the proceeds from such property. It
includes any right, interest, legal
documents or instruments that
prove the title to or interest in
the property.
The person on whose name the
property has been bought is
called the benamidar and the
property acquired is benami
property. The person who
finances the deal is the real
owner.
Although the Government had
enacted the Act in 1988 to curb
benami transactions, the law was
never enforced due to lack of provisions in the Act for its imple-
Unmasking
real owners
14
Government, which will enable it

to fast-track the process of providing affordable housing to the indigent and reduce the rising scarcity of land. People trying to escape
the clutches of the law by selling
off such Benami assets or depositing the black money into the
accounts of their employees will
not be let off the hook because
proceeds from sale of such properties as well such deposits are
also considered Benami under the
Amended Act and will attract
stringent penalties, including
imprisonment.
The Amended Act is also likely
to impact the process of bringing
transparency in the real estate
market and minimising title risks
NOT ONLY ARE THE

PENALTIES MORE
STRINGENT, THE
POSSIBILITY OF
CIRCUMVENTING THE
PROVISIONS OF THE
AMENDED BENAMI
TRANSACTIONS ACT
IS ALSO
LIMITED, SAYS
ASHOO GUPTA
mentation. The Amendment Act
bars the real owner from retransferring the property held
benami from the benamidar or
front.
Re-transfer of a benami property will be deemed to be void.
Properties held benami are liable
for
confiscation
by
the
Government without payment of
compensation. Any person found
guilty of engaging in benami
deals risks rigorous imprisonment for a term ranging between
one and seven years, in addition
to a fine which may extend to 25
per cent of the fair market value
of the property. Under the earlier
Act the penalty for entering into
a benami transaction was imprisonment up to three years, or a
fine, or both.
Unearthing benami
properties
There are several ways in which
benami transactions may get
uncovered. Some of them are:
Ascertaining disproportionate
income: The tax department
keeps a check on high-value transactions. These transactions provide an inkling to the tax authorities to look into the persons
sources of income to ascertain
whether he has the means to purchase such a property. Once it is
established that the person does
not have the income to purchase

the underlying property, they will
try to find the real owner.
Search and seizure: During such
operations, if the tax authorities
find bank pass books/shares/property documents in the names of
other individuals in the custody of
the person whose premises is being
searched, it is quite likely that the
assets will be benami.
The dispute route: In case there
is a dispute between the real owner
and the benamidar, the real owner
may approach the court for relief.
If the court holds that the property is benami it will in addition to
dismissing the proceedings also notify the tax department.
The Amended Act stipulates
penalties for providing false information. If any person required to
furnish information under the
Amendment Act knowingly submits false information or document, he faces rigorous imprisonment of anything between six
months and five years. He shall
also be liable to a fine of up to 10
per cent of the fair market value

of the property. No prosecution
shall be instituted against any
person without previous sanction
of the Central Board of Direct
Taxes (CBDT).
The Amended Act provides a
complete execution mechanism
and gives the Initiating Office or
the Approving Authority or the
Adjudicating Authority the power
to require any officer of the
Central or State Government or
local body or officer responsible
for registering and maintaining
books of accounts or documents
containing records of transactions relating to properties or any
other person to furnish information in relation to any person or
matter related to a benami deal.
It directs Income tax authorities, officers from Customs and
Central Excise, Narcotics Drugs
and Psychotropic Substances Act,
Securities and Exchange Board of
India, Reserve Bank of India,
Foreign Exchange Management
Act etc. to assist the authorities in
enforcement of the Amended Act.
The Initiating officer can provi-
sionally attach a property if on

the basis of data available with
him he believes that the benamidar may alienate the benami property.
The Amended Act also provides for an appellate mechanism
consisting of an adjudicating
authority and appellate authority.
Appeals against orders ofthe
appellate tribunal will lie in the
high court.
People generally enter into
Benami transactions in order to
park their untaxed money. With
the implementation of the
Amended Act, exit from such
Benami investments especially
real estate, will become not only
difficult but unpopular as well,
due to the severe penalty such
transactions attract.
People will be inclined to
renounce such property rather
than make an attempt to reclaim
it because the externalities are so
high.
With the enforcement of the
Amended Act, an archived catalogue of land across India will
become
available
to
the
by adopting the practice of providing authentic names in property transactions thereby boosting
investments and transactions in
the real estate sector.
Henceforth, proper implementation of the Amended Act will
induce confidence in investors
and increase accountability for
black money.
This new piece of legislation is
well curated and if implemented
diligently it could have a substantial impact in curbing the circulation of black money and restricting benami transactions. The
Government will do well to build
in adequate safeguards ensuring
that the power vested in officers
to confiscate properties or otherwise prosecute individuals isnt
misused, and that the common
man is not at the receiving end of
unnecessary and unwarranted
harassment.
THE WRITER IS A PARTNER AT SHARDUL
AMARCHAND MANGALDAS & CO. THE VIEWS
EXPRESSED ARE PERSONAL.
SHE CAN BE REACHED AT
ASHOO.GUPTA@AMSSHARDUL.COM
REFUSING TO ANSWER QUESTIONS IS NOT CONTEMPT OF COURT, SAYS SUNIL GARODIA
he issue of criminal contempt of court

has been the subject of intense
debate in recent times. It has been
taken up for utterances by eminent
people like ex-Supreme Court judge
Markanday Katju while blogging
about the apex court judgment in the
Soumya rape case and again when
he referred to a judge as Mister during the court hearing.It has also been
taken up when plaintiffs, defendants or their lawyers have either
made written or oral derogatory
remarks against the court. But the
Delhi High Court,in the case Kuldeep
Kapoor vs Sushanta Sengupta, had
initiated contempt proceedings
against the accused for not answering questions posed by the court.
The matter came up before the
Supreme Court in Court on its Own
Motion vs Kuldeep Kapoor and ors.
recently. The Supreme Court
ordered that there can be no contempt in the instant case as the
behaviour of the appellants was not
contemptuous.
In the Delhi High Court, the order
was written by Justice Swatanter
Kumar (now retired) who had in the
case Court on its own Motion vs Gulshan Bajwa had earlier held forth
on contempt thus, the meaning of
the expression contempt in normal parlance is an act of state of
despising, the conduct that defies
the authority or dignity of a Court.
It is so because such conduct interferes with the administration of justice and is liable to be punished. Even
in its liberal construction, it conveys a strong feeling of combined
dislike and lack of respect. In order
to protect the dignity of Court and
ensure proper administration of justice, the Legislature has enacted the
Contempt of Courts Act, which
deals with the various situations
and varied conduct of parties,
counsel or any person to ensure that
the orders of the court are implemented and administration of jus-
tice is not hampered.

Every citizen has a Fundamental Right of personal liberty and
freedom of expression. Despite
such Right, this Act granted jurisdiction to the court to punish for contemptuous behaviour made in writing or verbally.While reasonably pro-
tecting these rights and circumventing the Courts jurisdiction to

punish for contempt, the initial
Contempt of Courts Act, 1926 was
replaced by the 1971 Act. The Legislature intended to caution the
Courts that even where prima facie
a contempt was committed, it still
may not punish such a contempt if

it had not substantially interfered
with due course of justice and the
defence was bona fide. Whatever be
the enactment or the situation neither the Legislature is intended
nor the courts vested with the duties
of administration or dispensation
NOT QUITE, YOUR LORDSHIP
of justice can condone acts of substantial interference with the administration of justice coupled with contempt in the face of the Court.
These acts of contempt may be
attempted by the party, their counsel and for that matter any person.
The mode of committing such
offence may be by filing applications,
affidavits or submissions etc. Whosoever including an Advocate for a
party, who are also called Officers
of the Court, commits grave offences
of contempt with the feeling of
impunity and repeatedly, then there
can hardly be any scope left for any
Court to hold that they are entitled
to the benefit of the provisions of
Section 13 of the Act.
While the above lucidly describes
situations where contempt can be
applied, the judge perhaps forgot
to consider sub-section 3 of Article 20 of the Constitution while
ordering contempt proceedings
against Kuldeep Kapoor in the
instant case. The sub-section states
that no person accused of any
offence shall be compelled to be a
witness against himself. It is a well
established principle of law that no
one can be forced answer questions
in court that can be used later to
incriminate him in another case.
Kuldeep Kapoor and others were
accused of submitting forged documents and affidavits in court and
for providing false addresses in them.
When the court asked him why he
had provided false addresses in the
papers submitted in court, the
accused refused to answer the question. Taking this as an affront to the
court that lowered its dignity and
impeded justice, the court ordered
contempt proceedings. But if the
accused refused to answer the question, he was protected by sub-section 3 of Article 20 of the Constitution. He had allegedly submitted
fabricated documents in court. If
he answered the question about the
address, whether in the affirmative

or not, he could have been pulled
up under Section 191 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). So in refusing
to be a witness against himself, the
accused was protected under Article 20 and no contempt proceedings
could be initiated for that reason
alone.
The Supreme Court was clear
about this and hence dismissed the
case in Kuldeep Kapoor and ors. vs
Court on its own Motion in very short
order. While stating that the accused
did not behave in a manner that
could be construed as contemptuous, it also stated that proper notice
was also not served on them under
Section 15 of the Contempt of
Courts Act, 1971. While the apex
court did not refer to the right
under Article 20, it is implicit in the
manner in which the court chose
to set aside the contempt order.
The court said we feel that the
entire exercise done under the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 was not
proper and therefore we set aside
the impugned order imposing punishment upon the appellants.
Judges have been initiating contempt
proceedings very liberally. This will
have the effect of diluting the real
reason for which the contempt section exists in the statute books.
While thinking of contempt, judges
should keep only one thing in mind
whether the accused has behaved
in a manner that is likely to lower
the prestige and dignity of the
court, thereby making a mockery
of the legal process, rule of law and
the laws of the country. To pull up
anyone for contempt just because
he refuses to answer questions put
to him by the court is not correct,
especially if he or she has the right
to remain silent under sub-section
3 of Article 20.
THE WRITER IS EDITOR-IN-CHIEF OF
WWW.INDIACOMMENTARY.COM
THUMBNAILS
15
KOVALIK SHOCKS CILIC FOR HIS BIGGEST WIN
PAES BEGAN THE 2017 SEASON AND HIS PARTNERSHIP WITH ANDRE WITH A DEFEATAS THEY CRASHED OUT OF THE CHENNAI OPEN
Go abroad: Somdev
Devvarman has criticised the All-India
Tennis Association,
saying it is not interested in creating a
good system. Devvar man, who had
announced his retirement on Monday, also
asked budding tennis
players to go abroad for
training.
Phelan sacked: Hull
City said they had
"parted company" with
manager Mike Phelan on Tuesday, with
the club in trouble in
the Premier League relegation zone. "The
search for a replacement has begun and
an announcement will
be made in due course,"
they added.
Manes belief: Sadio
Mane believes he is leaving Liverpool in good
shape as he prepares
to spearhead Senegals Africa Cup of
Nations challenge.
The 24-year-old says the
squad are strong enough
to make up for him playing in the showpiece
tournament in Gabon.
Conte rebuttal: Antonio Conte has dismissed complaints of
his rival managers
over Chelsea getting
a longer rest during the
festive period and said
they were angered by
his sides position at
the top of the Premier
League table. Chelsea
have a five-point lead.
Draxler moves: German international
Julian Draxler has
joined Paris Saint Germain from Wolfsburg
on a four-year deal.
The 23-year-old attacking midfielder has
signed a contract for
a reported 36 to 40 million euros that will
keep him at the French
club until June 2021.
Boxers prepare:Their
season-opening assignment in Serbia just
five days away, Indias
women boxers have
been practising on
two shifts in a national camp, reinvigorated by a new coaching
team and support staff
headed by Gurbax
Singh Sandhu.

Chennai, 4 January
Little known Jozef Kovalik

(in photo)caused the biggest
upset of the Chennai Open
as he knocked out world

number six and tournamentfavourite Marin Cilic in a
gripping pre-quarterfinal,
here today.
Qualifier Kovalik, win-
ner of just two Challenger

titles in his career, was up
against a Grand Slam winner but made Cilic's life as
tough as possible with his
never-say-die spirit and in the
end was a proud winner.
Kovalik, ranked 117,
showed nerves of steel in a
hard-earned 7-6(5) 5-7 7-5 win
over the 'rusty' top seed.
Cilic, who ended the 2016
season with a career-best
rank of six, was pushed by
the Slovakian in two hours
and 48 minute match and was
rewarded with the biggest win
of his career.
The 24-year-old Slovak
refused to be in awe of a superior opponent and impressed
with his ground-strokes. He
had nothing to lose and everything to gain as he threw
everything back at Cilic,who
has won this tournament
twice (2009, 2010).
Kovalik next faces Daniil Medvedev, who shocked
eighth seed Yen-Hsun Lu 64 6-3 in his second round.
It is first time since 2010
that a top seed has lost his first
match after Robin Soderling
had lost to Robby Ginepri.
The Slovak said it was
Serena upset, Venus pulls out
Auckland, 4 January
Serena Williams suffered a

shock second-round defeat at
the Auckland Classic on
Wednesday following her
sister Venus earlier withdrawal with an arm injury.
Top-seeded Serena blamed
the wind for a string of
unforced errors in her first
event after a four-month layoff as she was sent packing
6-4, 6-7 (7/3), 6-4 in a two-hour,
14-minute arm wrestle with
world number 72 Madison
Brengle (in photo).
"Im trying to think of a
word thats not obscene but
thats pretty much how I
played," Serena told reporters.
"I just couldnt get used to
the wind.My opponent played
in the exact same conditions
so obviously she was used to
it and her game was more suited to it but it was just really
annoying me for whatever
reason."
Second-seed Venus decided to quit after suffering a sore

right arm during her struggle to a 7-6 (7/2),6-2 first-round
victory over 18-year-old New
Zealander Jade Lewis playing in her first WTA tournament.
Serena, playing in her
first tournament since losing
in the semi-finals of the US
Open in September,was looking for a bold showing in
Auckland,both to prepare for
the Australian Open and to
celebrate her New Year
engagement to Reddit cofounder Alexis Ohanian.
After blaming rust for
her sluggish first-round win
over Pauline Parmentier on
Tuesday, she succumbed in
abject fashion a day later
with a double-fault on match
point at 4-5 in the third set in
the blustery conditions.
"I didnt hit any returns
in the vicinity of the court,"
lamented Serena.
"Ive never returned like
that in my life -- a little frustrating especially since I

worked so hard in the offseason.
"I can take solace from the
fact conditions wont be like
this in Melbourne."
Brengle dropped her second service game but at 4-1
down reeled off five consecutive games to take the first
set.
In the second set she saved
five set points before losing
the tie break to Williams
and in the final set she held
her nerve as games went
with serve until Williams
double faulted on match
point.
"Probably my least
favourite conditions Ive ever
played in," said Serena."I really abhorred the conditions.
It was way too much for me.
This is almost not a great
opportunity to assess your
game. At this rate at least I
can get out of these conditions
and get to somewhere better,
some warm weather."
Brengle goes through to
meet seventh seed Jelena
Ostapenko in the quarterfinals while Venuss withdrawal
gifted
Japa
nese teenager Naomi Osaka
a berth in the final
eight where she will play
eighth-seed Croatian Ana
Konjuh.
The 36-year-old Venus
Williams had complained of
"feeling old" after dropping
her serve four times and
serving eight double faults
against Lewis who was half
her age.
JAYARAM AND PRANNOY PULLED OFF SPECTACULAR WINS
Mumbai down Delhi

Mumbai, 4 January
Local lad Ajay Jayaram

and Kerala-born H S
Prannoy (in photo)
pulled off spectacular
wins over more fancied
rivals to power Mumbai
Rockets to a clean sweep
of all five matches and a

6-0 score-line against
holders Delhi Acers in
the Premier Badminton
League here.
The home team fired
on all cylinders in a clinical display to beat the
defending champions at
the NSCI Stadium with
Ajay providing the early

momentum with a shock
opening men's singles
victory over world no. 2
Jan Jorgensen of Denmark.
The India world no. 19
won the first game of the
trump match, for Delhi,
in dramatic fashion over
extra points at 15-14
before breezing through
the second 11-4 in the two
players' first-time meeting to give the hosts an
early advantage late last
night.
While Jayaram's win
was huge, Prannoy
fought off a nervy Korean world No. 4 Son Wan
Ho to hand Mumbai a 2-0
lead. The 11-9, 11-9 win
over Son meant that the
loud Mumbai crowd saw
yet another top-5 player
losing.
Such was the pressure
Prannoy put on Ho that
the Korean ended up netting his serve when the
home boy was up match
point.
The mixed doubles,
which was a do or die
encounter for Delhi, saw
their team of Russian
Ivan Sozonov and India's
Maneesha K put up a
fight, but eventually it
was Mumbai's Korean-
Polish combine of Lee

Young Dae and Nadiezda Zieba who won 11-5, 811, 11-9.
Mumbai Rockets then
had Ji Hyun Shung win
her trump match, downing Delhi's Mumbai-born
lass Tanvi Lad 11-6, 11-8.
And finally, Lee Young
Dae and Nipithphon P
carved out a straight
game win over Ivan
Sozonov/Vladimir
Ivanov 11-9, 10-9 to complete the rout.
The fine victory also
boosted the Rockets to
the second place on the
table with a 6-0 points
advantage behind Chennai Smashers who yesterday demolished Bengaluru Blasters 5-0 for
their first win in two
contests
Results: Mumbai
Rockets bt Delhi Acers 60 (Ajay Jayaram bt Jan
Jorgensen (Trump) 15-14,
11-4; H S Prannoy bt Son
Wan Ho 11-9, 11-9; Young
Dae Lee/Nadiezda Zieba
bt Ivan Sozonov/Maneesha K 11-5, 8-11, 11-9; Ji
Hyun Shung (Trump) bt
Tanvi Lad 11-6, 11-8; Lee
Young Dae/Nipithphon P
bt Ivan
Sozonov/Vladimir
Ivanov 11-9, 10-9).
hard to believe that he has

won against a top guy but it
gives him confidence that he
can match them.
It's a new experience for
me to beat a top guy. This is
the best match I have played
in my career.Now I know that
I can beat them. I have seen
him playing on TV on big centre courts. He had never seen
me so it was good and also it
was first match for him of the
season and I had played three
matches already, Kovalik
said after his superb win.
Cilic looked a bit rusty at
the start as it took him almost
10 minutes to hold the first
service game in which he
saved a breakpoint and fought
off five deuce points. He
eventually sealed it with an
ace. Kovalik impressed with
his ground-strokes, specially backhand, retrieving ability and the court coverage.
He managed to stretch points
by engaging Cilic in rallies.
PAES-ANDRE LOSE
Veteran Indian tennis star

Leander Paes began the 2017
season and his partnership
with Andre Sa on a disappointing note as they crashed
out of the Chennai Open
with a straight sets defeat

against rising stars Divij
Sharan and Purav Raja, here
tonight. Paes and his 111th
partner were sent packing 46 4-6 in 67 minutes by Sharan
and Raja, who enjoyed a successful 2016 season with four
Challenger level titles and
silently broke into top-70.
Both Raja and Sharan are
establishing themselves as
force to reckon with as they
look for their third ATP
World Tour title at a home
event. Paes, at age of 43 was
relatively quick and played
a few amazing points but
lack of practice with new
partner going into seasonopener proved to be his bane.
On the other side,Raja and
Sharan were exceptionally
sharp, especially left-hander Sharan, who stood like
a rock at the net and also
served superbly.
Sharan also impressed
with his reflexes as he found
a few jaw dropping volleys.
The winners stood out with
their returns as they did not
give much room to their
opponents to dictate points.
It's an amazing win with
Paes across the court, Sha-
ran said.
It's tough to play Indian
players. He is legend of Indian tennis. We played against
a great team. I am sorry
guys, but it was our day, a
humble Raja said after the
win.
The Indo-Brazilian pair
saved a breakpoint and then
a decisive point on Sa's serve
in the third game with Paes
sending down a sharp volley
between the two Indian players. Paes was sharp at the net
and also served well but Sa,
who arrived here only yesterday, struggled to pick up
volleys, half volleys and also
miscued strokes.
Sharan hit a crushing
forehand service return winner on Paes' serve and then
Sa sent a volley out to hand
the opponents chance to
break. Sharan was quick to
take the chance as he found
a volley winner past the
Brazilian on the breakpoint.
Left-handed Sharan came
out to serve for the first set.
At 15-15, a desperate Paes
found a heart-stopping lob
winner near the baseline to
put pressure on the rivals but
Sharan was up to the mark,
responding with well controlled serves to take the set.

Conceding a break in the
first game of the second set
was not what Paes and Sa
needed but the Brazilian lost
his serve with Sharan yet
again playing the crucial
points extremely well.
The Delhi boy served out
the next game at love to take
a 2-0 cushion. The match
was slipping out of the hands
of Paes and Sa and they
needed to break back.
However, Sa again struggled to hold the fifth game and
soon they were gasping 1-5.
Paes held his own while serving to stay in the match and
played two great strokes to
have rivals 0-30 when Raja
came out to serve.
They created two break
chances and converted second to keep themselves alive.
Andre managed to hold this
time and the Indo-Brazilian
pair had reeled off four
games on the trot and the fans
were loving the duel.
Sharan,who was the most
consistent of servers tonight,
did the job for his side with
a clean 10th game,closing the
match with an ace.
INDIAN EVES BEAT BANGLADESH TO Coe backs new Bolt event

WIN 4TH SAFF CHAMPIONSHIP
Sydney, 4 January: World athletics

Siliguri, 4 January
A dominant India defeated

Bangladesh 3-1 to win their
fourth consecutive SAFF
Women's Football Championship title at the Kanchenjunga Stadium, here today.
The Indian eves, in the
process, are now unbeaten
in 19 matches having won 18
and drawn one.
India's first goal came
in the 12th minute through
striker Dangmei Grace, who
got a slight touch and the ball
slowly rolled into the empty
net with rival goalkeeper
Sabina Akhtar caught in a
dilemma.
It set the tone for the
match. The match being a
final meant that Bangladesh
had to shrug off their defensive aspirations and that
allowed India the width and
space.
In the first 20 minutes,
India had earned four corners and every time Bala
Devi touched the ball,she created something out of nothing.
In fact, Kamala Devi
should have doubled the
lead in the 17th minute
when Bala set her a free-
header, but it narrowly sailed

out.
However, Bangladesh
withstood the stor m,
regrouped, and eventually
equalised in the 40th minute
through Sirat Jahan Shopna as both teams headed into
the interval locked at 1-1.
After the change of ends,
India were again faster off
the blocks. The hosts pressed
high and hard even as
Bangladesh depended mostly on counter-attacks.
The break came in the
60th minute when the irrepressible Bala was pushed
inside the box as the referee pointed to the spot and
2016 AIFF Player of the
Year, Sasmita Malik gleefully
converted the opportunity.
With just 30 minutes
remaining, it was quite a task
for Bangladesh to come back
and it went worse for them
seven minutes later when
goalkeeper Sabina, who was
having a decent game till
then, misjudged the bounce
of a harmless Indumathi
shot from long and it rolled
in. Spurred, the Indians did
go all out as they smelt more
but but their perseverance
failed to yield any more
goals.
HARYANA CONTINUE FINE RUN

New Delhi, 4 January: Haryana
Hammers posted their second consecutive win in the
second edition of the Pro
Wrestling League by defeating UP Dangal 5-2, here today.
Haryana Hammers won
the toss and decided to block
the men's 74kg category,
while Uttar Pradesh team
chose to block women's 58kg,
thereby denying the spectators a chance to watch much
fancied Geeta Phogat in
action against Rio Olympics
bronze medallist Marwa
Amri of Tunisia.
The Phogat sisters ~ Geeta
and Babita ~ have been in the
limelight after the Aamir
Khan-starrer biopic on their
struggles,'Dangal',has turned
out to be a huge box office success.
But even Babita failed to
make up for her sister's
absence from the mat as she
was quickly handed a 0-4
defeat by fall verdict by Rio
Games bronze medallist
Sofia Mattsson of Sweden in
women's 53kg as Haryana
Hammers took an unassailable 4-2 lead in the match.
Call it the 'Dangal' effect,
the stadium was near about
full and the title track of
the Bollywood movie added
to the excitement to actionpacked evening at the K D Jadhav Indoor Stadium here.But
the UP team could not capitalise on all the hype.

With foreign wrestlers
like Magomed Kurbanaliev,
Elitsa Yankova, Abdusalam
Gadisov and Sofia Mattsson
dominating the show,
Haryana registered a comprehensive win.
However, it was not the
star wrestlers who hogged the
limelight today but the lesser known Indian girls in
Indu Chaudhary and Kiran.
Although both of them lost
their respective bouts but not
before giving a tough fight
to two Rio Olympic medallists. They showed a lot of
character and a never say die
attitude during the two most
keenly fought contests of
the evening.
Earlier, the first bout was
contested between Amit
Dhankar of UP Dangal and
Russia's Magomed Kurbanaliev, representing
Haryana, in men's 70kg.
The 2016 World Championship gold medallist
Magomed began aggressively, scoring points early
on to make life difficult for
the Indian and went into
the break with a comfortable
4-0 lead. The Russian continued to dominate in the second round also and eventually sealed it off with an easy
8-0 victory.
PTI
chief Sebastian Coe threw his

support today behind a new
team event spearheaded by
Usain Bolt, saying the sport
needed brave, bold ideas to
stay relevant.
Nine-time Olympic champion Bolt will headline the
inaugural Nitro Athletics in
Melbourne next month, captaining the 'All-Stars' in the competition. The meet will feature six teams -- including Australia, China, Japan, England
and New Zealand -- and feature
non-traditional events such as
middle-distance and hurdles
relays in an attempt to broaden athletics' appeal.
International Association
of Athletics Federations president Coe said the new-look format across three days was
exactly what the sport needed
to keep fans interested.
Athletics, in its traditional form, remains the cornerstone of the Olympic Games,
he said in a statement released
by the event organisers. And

our world championships
remain an incredibly strong and
attractive event. However we
need innovation and more
opportunities for our athletes
to interact with fans and show
their personalities.
Nitro Athletics is a great
example of what can be done
and what needs to be done to
revolutionise how we present
our sport and how our fans connect with the sport and the athletes.
Coe,who has been pursuing
a reform agenda since becoming president in 2015, said athletes and fans wanted to have
more fun,and the team element
in Melbourne was a way to
achieve this.
Athletics is a global sport
with a global following, but we
need events that bring back the
fun, the kids and the crowds
and...add a different dimension
to the record-setting events
like the world championships,
he said.
AFP
CONTROVERSY CORNER
200 RUSSIANS
NAMED IN
DOPING REPORT
Monaco, 4 January
The world athletics body

said that it had been sent
the names of 200 Russians
by international doping
investigators who would be
checked if they applied to
compete as neutral competitors this year.
The International Association of Athletics Federations said it had been
given the names by investigators working for Canadian lawyer Richard
McLaren (in photo), who
has alleged there was a
state-sponsored doping
system in Russia.
As the list of names
emerged, IAAF president
Sebastian Coe decried a system which he said had
let down Russian athletes.
Russia has been suspended from international competition since 2015
and the IAAF said it had
sent new criteria to the
Russian federation for athletes to take part in international competition as
neutrals.
Taking part as neutrals
may be the only way for
Russians to take part in the
world athletics championships in London in
August.
One of the criteria
requires athletes to show
they are not directly implicated in any way (knowingly or unknowingly) by
their national federations
(RusAF) failure to put in
place adequate systems to
protect and promote clean

athletes, said an IAAF
statement.
The IAAF has been
forwarded around 200
names of Russian athletes
by the McLaren investigation team and it will
assess the evidence and
intelligence from the
McLaren report and elsewhere in respect of any athlete who applies for neutral
athlete status under the
guidelines, it added.
Other critieria will
include whether any
coach, doctor or other support person with whom the
applicant has worked has
ever been implicated in the
commission of any antidoping rule violation.
Athletics authorities
will also look at how many
doping samples have been
given by the athlete and the
circumstances in which
they were given.
Coe had harsh words for
those who had pulled the
strings in the Russian system.
Russian athletes have
been let down by a system
that should have protected them and celebrated
achievements -- not one that
created doubt and expulsion from competition. We
continue to find ways to create parallel and credible
systems of independent
testing of Russian athletes so they have alternative avenues to get back
into competition whilst
we continue to work with
RusAF on reinstatement,
Coe added.
THUMBNAILS
Smith sunset: Former West Indies batsman Dwayne Smith,

playing for Barbados
Pride, will retire from
domestic one-day cricket ahead of this month's
Regional Super50 competition. The 33-yearold said he knew he was
no longer part of the
selectors' plans.
Oz plan: Cricket Australia has indicated
Australia will play
two Tests in Bangladesh
this year. Australia have
not played in Bangladesh
since 2006 and, outside major tournaments, the teams have
played just two one-day
series against each
other since then.
Ali removed: Pakistan Cricket Board
chairman Sheharyar
Khan on Monday decided to relieve Basit Ali
of his position as head
coach of national
women's cricket team
after his allegedly
physical clash with
another former cricketer, Mahmood Hamid,
in Karachi.
Tougher league: The
I-League is more
demanding as a competition than the Indian Super Lea gue,
Mohun Bagan's new
defender Anas Edathodika said in Kolkata on
Wednesday. He joined
training ahead of the
club's first match in the
league,against Churchill
Brothers.
U-17 Cup:National midfielder Eugeneson Lyngdoh feels hosting the
U-17 Fifa World Cup later
this year will give Indian football a muchneeded fillip, besides
serving to develop a
strong senior squad.
I think it's a great
platform, specially for
kids" he said.
PLAYING WITH FIRE

Executive committee chairman Najam Sethi
(photo, left) has said the Pakistan Cricket
Board will hold its Super League final in Lahore
this year. Reportedly assured of air-tight security, he claims to have cancelled plans
and the booking for Dubai Stadium
to stage it on 7 March.
For more updates
Postal Reg. No. DL (ND)-II/6088/2015/-16-17
www.thestatesman.com
DHONI QUITS LIMITED OVER CAPTAINCY

HE HAS BEEN INDIA'S MOST SUCCESSFUL CAPTAIN HAVING WON MULTIPLE WORLD CUPS FOR THE NATION
SNS & AGENCIES
New Delhi,4 January
As if the off the field troubles were not enough, the

Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI)) today
received another jolt this
time on the field with Mahendra Singh Dhoni again springing a surprise by announcing his decision to step down
as limited overs captain of the
national team.
The 35-year old Dhoni,
had also suddenly quit Test
captaincy during the Australia tour in 2014 in Melbourne.Dhoni however made
it clear that he will be available for selection for the
three ODIs and as many T20s
against England starting 15
January.
In his unfinished limited
overs career,Dhoni has so far
scored 9110 runs in 283 ODIs
at an average of 50.89 with
183 not out being his highest
score.
Besides, the wicket-keeper batsman has so far made
1112 runs from 73 T20 Internationals.
Interestingly,Dhoni's decision came a day after Anurag
Thakur and Ajay Shirke
were removed as president
and secretary of the BCCI by
the Supreme Court for fail-
ing to implement the Lodha

Committee recommendations.
Commenting on Dhoni's
sudden announcement,
Rahul Johri,Chief Executive
Officer of the BCCI said,
On the behalf of every Indian cricket fan and the BCCI,
I would like to thank MS
Dhoni for his outstanding contribution as the captain of the
Indian team across all formats.
Under his leadership,
the Indian team has touched
new heights and his achievements will remain etched
forever in the annals of Indian cricket.
Dhoni has been India's
most successful captain.
Under his leadership India
have won the ICC T20 World
Cup in 2007, the ICC ODI
World Cup in 2011,ICC Champions Trophy in 2013 and also
reached the top of the Test
rankings in 2009.
While he continues to be
available as a player, the
Champions Trophy in England could be an indicator
whether he would continue
as a player till 2019 World Cup.
India's double World Cup
winning skipper will be playing a competitive match after
77 days against England
which could be an indicator
as to how long he will continue with his illustrious

career.
In fact,chairman of selectors MSK Prasad had a long
chat with Dhoni recently in
Nagpur during Jharkhand's
Ranji Trophy semi-final,
where there certainly were
some discussions about his
future plans.
While no one can question
his fitness and glovework,but
not getting enough matches
with India playing lot of
Tests and Virat Kohli's sublime form with the willow also
made it a difficult decision
for Dhoni.
The decision also means
that Kohli will get exactly twoand-half-years to prepare his
team for the Champions Trophy. While the national selectors are not ready to say anything on record but in private
they had all maintained that
its very tricky for any player to stay away from one format and then straightaway
come and perform in another format. With emergence
of young turks Ishan Kishan
and Rishabh Pant, the pressure was increasing on the
Jharkhand dasher considered
by many as one of India's
finest finishers.
There is a school of
thought that sudden change
of guard in BCCI has also

made Dhoni a bit sceptical
about keeping his leadership as no one knows what
lies ahead for the Board.
Dhoni wanted to leave on
his own term and that's
specifically the reason for this
decision keeping the Champions Trophy in mind.
The six matches against
England will be Dhoni's
chance to keep himself in the
reckoning for the Champions
Trophy as there are a few
hard-hitting contenders in
fray. KL Rahul, the emerging star, is a decent glovesman while Pant and Kishan
can also come into the fray.
Parthiv Patel also has
done his cause no harm with
some good performances
against England in Tests.
Meanwhile, the sporting
fraternity to congratulated
Mahendra Singh Dhoni on
his glorious captaincy career
with cricket legend Sachin
Tendulkar leading from the
front, saying it's a day to celebrate his successful career
and respect the decision.
Dhoni, the country's most
successful skipper, today
sprang a major surprise by
stepping down as India's limited overs captain, thereby
bringing an abrupt end to his
glorious leadership tenure.
The 35-year-old Dhoni

under whom India had won
two World Cups and a Champions Trophy title, stunned
the cricket fraternity by
relinquishing the captaincy
barely 11 days before the
ODI series against England.
Congratulations to MSD
on a wonderful career as a
captain leading India to success in both T20 and ODI
World Cups. I have seen him
emerge from an aggressive
player to a steady and decisive captain. It's a day to celebrate his successful captaincy and respect his decision. Wish MSD the very
best as he continues entertaining us on the field with
his exploits, Tendulkar
wrote on his congratulatory
message.
Sacked BCCI president
Anurag Thakur too congratulated Dhoni on his
achievement as captain.
I congratulate @msdhoni on an illustrious career
as Capt who led #TeamIndia
to memorable victories in
T20WorldCup 2007 & 2011
@ICC WorldCup!, Thakur
tweeted.
Another former India captain
Krishnamachari
Srikkanth tweeted: Sign of
a true leader is to know when
to pass the baton!Thank u for
Bumrah destroys Ali and Khan lead Pak fightback

Jharkhand hopes
AGENCIES
Nagpur, 4 January
Pacer Jasprit Bumrah produced his career-best spell

in first-class cricket as
Gujarat staged a sensational comeback to beat
Jharkhand by 123 runs and
reach their second ever
final of the Ranji Trophy
cricket tournament, here
today.
Bumrah finished with
figures of six for 29 and
alongside veteran pacer R
P Singh plotted the downfall of Jharkhand, who
were skittled out for 111 in
their second innings after
being set a target of 235 runs
on day four of the semifinal here.
Gujarat turned it around
in dramatic fashion after
starting the day at 100 for
four and were just 82 runs
ahead of first-time semifinalists Jharkhand.
Manpreet Juneja and
Chirag Gandhi came up
with valuable knocks of 81
and 51 before Gujarat were
all out for 252 in their second innings, setting Jharkhand a very gettable target
of 235.
However, R P Singh and
Bumrah tor mented the
Jharkhand batting line-up
to fire Gujarat into their first
Ranji Trophy final since
1950-51 when they had lost
to Holkar by 189 runs.
16
While R P's efforts stood

out in the first innings,
Bumrah took over from
him on day four. The former
India left-arm pacer contributed to the victory with
a match haul of nine wickets while Bumrah bagged
seven.
The result also marks
Gujarat's steady progress in
domestic circuit. They were
champions in the T20 Syed
Mushtaq Ali Trophy in 2015
before lifting the 50-over
Vijay Hazare trophy the
following season.
In the crucial chase,
Jharkhand were up against
it ever since their openers
Pratyush Singh and Sumit
Kumar fell without scoring.
Feeling the heat, captain Saurabh Tiwary decided to take on the opposition
bowlers before R P trapped
him in front of the stumps.
Jharkhand suffered a
body blow in the 19th over
when their leading rungetter Ishank Jaggi played
on to his stumps off Hardik
Patel, leaving his team in
disarray at 27 for four. Jaggi
had earlier scored a sublime
129 to help his team take the
first innings lead.
Brief scores:
Gujarat 390 and 252(Juneja 81; Nadeem 5/69). Jharkhand 408 and 111 in 41 overs
(Kaushal Singh 24; Bumrah
6/29).
Sydney, 4 January
Azhar Ali (in afp photo) and

Younis Khan kept Pakistan
afloat after rookie Peter
Handscomb made it three centurions in Australia's big
first innings declaration at
the third Sydney Test today.
The tourists, who have
already lost the series after
defeats in Brisbane and Melbourne, made a rocky start
after Steve Smith called a halt
at 538 for eight leaving seven
overs for Pakistan to negotiate before tea.
They lost debutant Sharjeel Khan and Babar Azam
in one Josh Hazlewood over
before the interval with just
six runs on the board.
But the in-form Azhar
and 114-Test veteran Younis
steadied the ship with a century stand and took the
tourists to stumps at 126 for
two. Azhar, who scored an
unbeaten 205 in last week's
Melbourne Test, was on 58
with 39-year-old Younis providing support on 64 to trail
Australia by 412 runs.
Azhar had an escape nearing stumps on 51 when David
Warner could not hold a

sharp one-handed catch at legslip off Nathan Lyon. Azhar
was eight runs short of
Mohsin Khan's 1984 record
for the most runs (390) for Pakistan in a series in Australia
having tallied 382 at the close,
while Younis raised his 1,000
Test runs against Australia.
Handscomb completed
his second century in just four
Tests to join David Warner
(113) and Matthew Renshaw
(184) in another huge Australia innings against the
beleaguered tourists. The 25year-old right-hander was
out in bizarre circumstances
when he went back in his
crease to cut Wahab Riaz
only for his bat to dislodge
the leg bail and he was given
out hit wicket for 110.
Handscomb,brought into
the Australian team along
with Renshaw in a shake-up
after the Hobart Test debacle against South Africa in
November, batted for 205
balls in 319 minutes.
Renshaw's epic knock
ended inside the first halfhour Wednesday when he
played paceman Imran Khan
on to his stumps.
The 20-year-old Renshaw's

first century in his fourth Test
came off 293 balls with 20
fours in 413 minutes. He
shared in a 142-run stand with
Handscomb.
Debutant
Hilton
Cartwright hit the highest
score by an Australian number six this season with 37
before he was bowled by
Imran.The Zimbabwe-born
all-rounder,brought in for his
Test debut at the expense of
Nic Maddinson, looked solid
during his 97-ball stay which
eclipsed the previous highest of 26 by Mitchell Marsh
against South Africa in Perth

in November.
Matt Wade made 29 before
he was caught sweeping
Azhar and upon Mitchell
Starc's dismissal for 16, skipper Smith called a halt, giving his bowlers 25 minutes
at the Pakistan batsmen
before tea.
Hazlewood struck twice in
five balls with Sharjeel caught
by Renshaw at slip for four
and he snared Babar leg
before wicket for nought.
Pakistan spent almost 10
hours in the field after toiling for almost 11 hours in Australia's massive 624 for eight
declared first innings in Melbourne last week.
They showed the gruelling effects of the back-toback Boxing Day-New Year
Tests with Mohammad Amir
and leg-spinner Yasir Shah
nursing leg injuries and
paceman Wahab Riaz leaving
the field at one stage holding
his right side.
SCOREBOARD
Australia 1st innings (overnight
365 for 3)
Renshaw b Imran
184
Warner
c Sarfraz b Riaz
113
Khawaja
c Sarfraz b Riaz
13
Smith
c Sarfraz b Shah
24
Handscomb hit wicket b Riaz 110
Cartwright b Imran
37
Wade
c Babar b Azhar
29
Starc
c sub b Azhar
16
O'Keefe
not out
0
12
Extras (b5, lb1, w2, nb4)
Total (8 wickets dec)
538
Fall of wickets: 1-151, 2-203, 3244, 4-386, 5-477, 6-516, 7-532, 8538
Bowling: Amir 24-2-83-0, Imran 274-111-2, Riaz 28-4-89-3, Shah 40-2167-1, Azhar 14-0-70-2, Shafiq 2-012-0
Pakistan 1st innings
Ali
batting
58
Khan c Renshaw b Hazlewood
4
Azam lbw b Hazlewood
0
Khan
batting
64
0
Extras:
Total: (2 wickets, 41 overs)
126
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-6
Bowling: Starc 10-2-34-0,
Hazlewood 11-3-32-2, O'Keefe 7-111-0, Lyon 9-1-34-0, Cartwright 40-15-0.
the entertainment skipper u

r an #Inspiration @msdhoni
#livinglegend.
Among other to congratulate Dhoni on his glorious
captaincy tenure are ace
shooter Gagan Narang and
actor Sushant Singh Rajput,
who potrayed Dhoni's role in

his biopic.
3 ICC titles and some
glorious highs. Captain
@msdhoni thank you for the
memories! Wish you finish
on a sparkling note, Narang
tweeted.
Tamil Nadu eye victory

Rajkot, 4 January
Skipper Abhinav Mukund

and Baba Indrajith smashed
elegant centuries as Tamil
Nadu, in search of an outright win, declared their second innings at 356 for six to
set a tricky target of 251 runs
before former champions
Mumbai in the semifinal of
the Ranji Trophy, here
today.
Mukund made 122 off
186 balls with the help of 11
boundaries, while Indrajith scored 138 off 169 deliveries with 13 fours and one
six to set the platform for
Tamil Nadu's total in the second innings.
Mumbai's first-innings
total was revised to 411
when they were awarded
five penalty runs due to
Tamil Nadu's batsmen running on the pitch in the 74th
over. That meant their target became 251 from the 256
Tamil Nadu had set.
At stumps on the fourth
day and penultimate day,
Mumbai were five for no loss
with young Prithvi Shaw (2
not out) and Praful Waghela
(3 not out) negotiating the
remaining five overs of the
day.
The match is interestingly poised as Mumbai
still need 246 runs to win
with a full day's play remaining for Tamil Nadu bowlers
to bundle out their opponents and enter the final of
the Ranji Trophy for the
ninth time in the history of
the tournament.
Having conceded the

first innings lead on the
third day yesterday, Tamil
Nadu had no option but to
push for an outright victory.
Having entered the
fourth day with a 101-run
deficit, Tamil Nadu had
were forced to seize the
momentum with some
aggressive batting and they
did so by scoring over four
runs an over in their second essay.
Tamil Nadu was also
helped by some patchy fielding from Mumbai players
who faltered when put under
pressure.
Mukund and V Ganga
Sridhar Raju (28) shared 64
runs for the opening stand
before Balwinder Sandhu
got the first breakthrough
in the form of Raju.
But then Indrajith joined
hands with Mukund and the
duo played aggressively
and piled up 185 runs for the
second wicket to push Tamil
Nadu forward.
Wicket-keeper Dinesh
Karthik (24) and Vijay
Shankar (24) also played
good hands to help Tamil
Nadu's cause.
For Mumbai, Sandhu
(2/67) and Vijay Gohil (2/110)
picked up four wickets
between them.
Brief Scores:
Tamil Nadu: 305 & 356 for
six in 78 overs (Baba Indrajith 138, Abhinav Mukund
122; Balwinder Sandhu
2/67).
Mumbai: 411 & 5 for no
loss in 5 overs.
NIRANJAN SHAH AND KASI VISWANATHAN SAY THEY WON'T RESIGN AS THEY 'DON'T NEED TO'
Major officials fading out as reforms take centre-stage

Niranjan Shah (in photo),

who has ruled Saurashtra cricket for more than
four decades, says he is as
good as out of the state
body after the Supreme
Court's order on implementing reforms in Indian cricket as recommended by the Lodha commission.
Shah said there was no
need for him to resign as
secretary of the Saurashtra Cricket Association
with the Lodha panel's
recommendations making him ineligible for any
position in cricket administration.
The Lodha panel has

stipulated an age cap of
70 years for officer-bearers in the Board of Control for Cricket in India
as well its state associations. Shah is 72.
I am out (of Saurashtra cricket) after the court
order. There is nothing
much to say really and
there is no need to resign.
The court order very
clearly states the eligibility criteria, Shah said.
Asked if he would be
in any advisory role within the SCA, Shah said:
That is for the next set of
office-bearers to decide.
All I can say is that I
leave Saurashtra cricket
as a satisfied man. The
SCA is one of the bestrun associations in the

country, he added.
Shah has also held several positions in the
BCCI, including secretary and vice-president.
Talking about the road
ahead of the SCA, Shah
said confusion persisted
over how the recommended reforms needed to be
implemented, especially
the ones relevant to a
three-year cooling offperiod after each term.
Confusion also prevails in the Tamil Nadu
Cricket Association,
headed by N Srinivasan.
TNCA secretary Kasi
Viswanathan said the
Supreme Court order had
made him ineligible for

his position. There is no
question of resigning. I
have already been TNCA
secretary for more than
10 years and therefore I
am ineligible. The TNCA
is calling an executive
committee meeting to discuss how to implement
the Lodha recommendations, Viswanathan said.
In another development, praising the
Supreme Court's decision
to appoint a two-member
committee to oversee
reforms in the BCCI,
some Olympians and
Arjuna Award-winners
from other disciplines
today backed Bishan
Singh Bedi and Kirti
Azad to undertake the

task.
Clubhouse dispute:
A dispute reportedly
cropped up at this evenings
Cricket Association of Bengals conclave at Dr BC Roy
Clubhouse to plan the organisations reform-centric
restructuring, with it being
said that Biswarup Dey
should be aloowed to carry
on as he, by initially being
only an assistant secretary
for two years in his multirole tenure, had not got to
the end of the road yet.
Sources in the CAB, requesting anonymity, said the
argument was deemed legally untenable. A working
committee meeting was set
for 9 January.
Printed and published by SHIVAJI SAMADDAR for THE STATESMAN LTD, Statesman House, 148 Barakhamba Road, New Delhi Editor: RAVINDRA KUMAR, Resident Editor: USHA MAHADEVAN Printed at The Indian Express Pvt Ltd, A-8, Sector 7, NOIDA 201301(UP). The Statesman Ltd. RNB REG. No. M-8905,RNI No. 507/57

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