The Sikh Times5!1!17

The Sikh Times
VADIVEL
Vel Arch
National Daily
Vol. 9 No. 257
RNI NO. DELENG/2008/25465
sikhtimesindia@gmail.com
New Delhi, Thursday, 5 January, 2017
www.thesikhtimes.net
9971359517
12 pages.
`.2
CH

L U U
IT
E
UU xz U
DO
N'
US
E
YA
AB
- U
DELHI / NCR
THE SIKH TIMES
Anger over attacks on DCWs autonomy
Patiala: Acid attack victims from Rajpura admitted to the Government Rajindra Hospital after being
attacked by a group of Lakard Mandi Dairy owners yesterday, in Patiala on Wednesday.
Sub-Editor
Qaumi Patrika
5 Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg
Press Area, I.T.O.
New Delhi-110002
Tel: 65167910, 41509689
MU
UCU U U
U
UU -
UU U UU U U
NORTH
9873117230
9990052881
9136431501
9868930876
9999006488
9015296785
9650121324
9312813858
9968009076
9968344719
WEST
RAM LAKHAN RAI
PANKAJ KUMAR
SITA RAM BATRA
RAJ KUMAR
ANIL NEWS AGENCY
YOGESH SHARMA
BABU LAL
RAJ KUMAR
GAURAV ARORA
VICKY
SN JHA
HARI DUT SHARMA
9891941107
9910653206
9711550988
9818325438
9899745181
9971156079
9818878007
9654995454
9891144786
9990145012
9818954127
9717538355
EAST
DILSHAD GARDEN RK MISHRA
GANDHI NAGAR
SURESH CHAND MISHRA
MADHU VIHAR
VED PRAKASH
NOIDA SEC 3
BIPIN KUMAR SINGH
NOIDA SEC 26
GANGA PRASAD DIXIT
NOIDA SEC 32
MANVENDRA PRATAP PATHAK
VAISHALI
LAKSHAY ROHILA
VASUNDHARA
LAKSHAY ROHILA
YAMUNA VIHAR
BRIJESH KUMAR
SHAKARPUR
GURSHARAN SINGH
IP EXTEN
GYAN PRAKASH
KRISHNA NAGAR
SURESH CHAND GARG
MAYUR VIHAR 3
RAJENDAR DIWEDI
BHAJANPURA
SATENDAR SINGH
LONI
SHAUKAT ALI
9810325572
9953195040
9810772387
8010595248
9871832406
9818347278
9250807050
9250807050
9136385473
9210795645
9958701848
9136525820
9910343967
9015092511
9899798280
SOUTH
LAJPAT NAGAR
NEHRU PLACE
SAKET
SARITA VIHAR
MEETHAPUR
SANGAM VIHAR
LODHI ROAD
RK PURAM
NIZAMUDDIN
KAILASH KUMAR
NARESH BANWARI
JOGINDER KUMAR
RAVINDER KUMAR
RAJESH SINGH
DINESH KUMAR MISHRA
P.K.KUSHAWARA
RAMESH CHAUDHARY
SUBEDAR PATHAK
9810467356
9718077753
9213713484
9716663161
9350299406
7838805149
9868826743
9818001946
8800155920
CENTRAL
FATEHPURI
KAROL BAGH
C.P.
VED PRAKASH SHUKLA

NARENDAR KUMAR ATAL
MAYANK KUMAR SINGH
9266627310
9899951075
9971316563
U, U
U U U U
U U U S
U U U
UU UU U U U v.
U U
U U
U U
~}{}{}v~,~vxzwxz~z
Mg, U
~}|vzyyzw|
U U
U
yvz~{}~, wxxvz}vy,
|}x}|xx|x|
z, UUU U ,
U, UU,
U
NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: The Delhi High Court on

Tuesday said that jhuggi jhopri (JJ) clusters are normally born out of need and unauthorised colonies are
born out of greed while rejecting the petition of a
colony for regularisation. The court observed that legalising unauthorised colonies in the past has emboldened
encroachers besides causing environmental degradation, traffic bottlenecks and spread of diseases such as
malaria due to lack of drainage facilities. It is pertinent
to mention that people who have set up these unauthorised colonies have neither paid full development
charges to the civic authorities nor provided proper civic
facilities like roads, sewerage, drainage, water and electricity, and as a result of this, diseases like malaria, diarrhoea and tuberculosis are common in Delhi, said
Justice Manmohan. It goes without saying that is
extremely difficult if not impossible to provide adequate
and proper sewage, drainage and roads after an
unplanned colony has been constructed and occupied.
The Sikh Times
The Sikh Times-National

Daily English News Paper
INDERPURI
NAGALRAI
PATEL NAGAR
PUNJABI BAGH
PACHIM VIHAR
RAJA GARDEN
VIKASPURI
SUBHASH NAGAR
TILAK NAGAR
UTTAM NAGAR
PALAM VILLAGE
NANGLOI
Mahila Samiti have lent their support

to the DCW and its chairperson
Swati Maliwal. The DCW has been
facing problems since August last
year after the former LieutenantGovernor Najeeb Jung appointed the
Member Secretary and all files were
routed to the Social Welfare
Department of the Delhi government. There has been a series of
attempt to disrupt the functioning of
the DCW and the police have been
used to stop Ms. Maliwal from exercising powers. While the active functioning of the DCW has given hope
to womens organisations and
women in distress, we understand
that it is also upsetting the highly
patriarchal mindset and the nexus

between them and the political
administration, said Annie Raja,
general secretary of the NFIW. Ms.
Maliwal had alleged harassment by
the Centre last year on several
instances like naming her in an FIR
for allegedly disclosing the name of a
rape victim, alleged irregularities in
recruitment of contractual staff and
non-payment of salaries to the staff
and others. Shabnam Hashmi of
ANHAD said, These attacks are not
just on the DCW but on the fight for
womens rights. Our solidarity is not
with any particular party but with a
body that is working continuously
for women.
HC: legalising unauthorised colonies creates problems
Wanted
ASHOK VIHAR
SHELENDER KUMAR TIWARI
AZADPUR
KAMAL KUMAR KATARIA
AVANTIKA
RAVINDRA KUMAR GAUTAM
KAMLA NAGAR
SANJIV DIXIT
MODEL TOWN
TARSEM KUMAR AGGARWAL
PRASHANT VIHAR DIVYA SAGAR
SHALIMAR BAGH SHELENDER KUMAR TIWARI
TIMARPUR
MANISH KUMAR
ROHINI
CHANDRA PRAKASH PANDEY
GULABI BAGH
HARI KISHAN
Correspondent
NEW DELHI:
JANUARY 04:
Leading women groups came together on Tuesday to express their anger
over the attacks on the autonomy of
the Delhi Commission of Women
(DCW) and claimed that the
womens body was not being allowed
to
function
smoothly.
Representatives from All India
Democratic Womens Association
(AIDWA), All India Progressive
Womens Association (AIPWA), Act
Now for Harmony and Democracy
(ANHAD),
Joint
Womens
Programme
(JWP),
National
Federation of Indian Women
(NFIW), Nirantar and Swastika
1.www.qaumipatrika.com,
2.www.thesikhtimes.net,
3.Google Plus--Qaumi Patrika,
4.Google Plus--The Sikh
Times,
5.Facebook--Qaumi Patrika,
6.Facebook--The sikh Times,
Email: qpatrika@gmail.com,
7.readwhere--Qaumipatrika,
sikhtimesindia@gmail.com,
8. readwhere--The Sikh Times
9. twitter--Qaumi Patrika,
10. twitter--The Sikh Times
U U U U U ~
U U U U U
U U^U U, U
UU U
NAME CHANGE
I, Pawan S/O Jagannath Poojary
R/O T-806, K-6/5, 3rd floor,
sukhdev nagar, kotlamubarak pur,
new delhi-110003 have changed
my name to Pawan Jagannath
Poojary permanently
Classified
I, Bablu Raja S/o Shri Mithu Ram
R/o C-1/4, Shyadri Apartment,
Plot No. 5, Sector-12, Dwarka,
New Delhi-10078, have changed
my name from Bablu Raja to
Vansh Goyal for all future purposes
PUBLIC NOTICE
Aliya Khan w/o Rehan Khan, r/o

3899, Khirki Tafazzal Hussain
Kalan Mahal, Darya Ganj,
Central Delhi-110002, declare
that I have changed my name
from Syeda Aliya Begum to Aliya
Khan.
Be IT known to all that my clients

Neelam Vohra W/o Late Sh. Anil
Vohra R/o A-153, MIG Flat, Brij
Vihar, Ghaziabad, U.P. have
debarred/disowned Akhil Vohra
Alongwith his wife Kavita Vohra
from their all movable and immovable properties due to their disobedience, un-control, disrespectful,
misbehaviour, their dispute and
indulgence in bad activites, My
client shall not be liable for any
transaction.
If made by any one future with them
and shall not be liable for any illagal
act, whatsoever they do. This publication shall be treated the last will of
my clients as they have withdrawn
their all relations with above persons.
Sumeet Sharma, Advocate
M-9871275382
DECLARATION
I, SANJEEV KUMAR KAPOOR

S/O ASA NAND KAPOOR resident of 4/2826, STREET NO-1,
BIHARI COLONY, SHAHDARA,
DELHI-110032, have changed
my name SANJEEV KAPOOR
for all future purpose.
I, Farheen D/O Karamat Ali Khan
R/O H. No. 4210, Third Floor, Gali
Shahtara, Delhi-110006, have
changed my name to Jiya permanently
"It may known to all that my client

Balwant Singh S/o Late Mahiram
R/o 18, Gali No. 2, D Block, Brijpuri,
Delhi and his wife Santara Devi,
have severed all the relations with
their son And his wife and debbarred them from their all movable
and immovable properties whatsoever with effect from today, if any
one deal with both of them, my
clients are not responsible in any
way and both the persons are imdividually liable for the same"
Umesh Chandra Mishra, Advocate
F-325, Karkardooma Courts, Delhi-32,
Mob. No. 09968821316
U U
P U
% .
- v} U
U
U U
U U
UU U
- U
U U P
U
U U
(Q)
Plan to convert mandis

into e-markets cleared
NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: In a bid to modernise trade

and business in the Capital, the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)
government on Tuesday decided to facilitate the conversion of existing mandis into e-mandis. A proposal has
also been approved to construct an e-mandi at Tikri
Khampur in west Delhi at a cost of ?800 crore within twoand-a-half years. Development Minister Gopal Rai
announced the steps following a review meeting with the
Delhi Agricultural Marketing Board (DAMB). The budget passed by the board for 2017-18 stood at ?371.18 crore
for the estimated income while the expenditure proposed was ?434.19 crore. Our main objective is to usher
in more transparency and accountability in this business.
We also want to ensure that farmers get fair value for
their goods, the Minister said. Taking note of demonetisation blues, Mr. Rai added said that the Delhi government had installed 38 POS machines in mandis to
reduce hardships faced by traders and customers. The
conversion of the mandis, the Minister said, was being
done in collaboration with the NAM Group.
After all, if the construction has been carried out in a

haphazard manner without adhering to any scientific
norms like grid pattern, how can a road with adequate
width be subsequently provided, he added. The court
made the observations while deciding in negative a petition filed by Utsav Vihar Residents Welfare Association
seeking direction to the DDA to not encroach/ dispossess any member of the colony from its land. Utsav Vihar
is an unauthorised colony which came up in 1992 on a
private agricultural land of Karala village. It is among the
colonies seeking regularisation by the Delhi government. Part of the colony falls within the alignment of the
roads proposed by the Delhi Development Authority.
The Utsav Vihar RWA had come to the court with a plea
not to dispossess it from the land and also sought a direction to the civic agency to proceed under the Right to
Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land
Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013,
in case any land forming part of the colony is required
for any public purpose. The DDA, on the other hand,

said it had acquired the land in 2007 after affecting demolition and that the land falling in the alignment of 100
metre road has only about nine properties and the RWA
cannot seek relief for the entire colony on that basis. The
court was also informed that the colony's representation
dated September 22, 2012 for regularisation had been
rejected on the ground that the land was required for
construction of a public road. The RWA was contending
that the acquisition has lapsed with the DDA failing to
take over the possession of the land. The court, however, was of the view that affected persons would have to
file individual writ petitions and till the time the appropriate court does not declare that the acquisition proceeding has lapsed, this court is of the view that the right
of DDA to the land cannot be questioned. On regularisation, the court said since the colony's representation
stands rejected and not challenged for two years, no
relief can be sought in relation to it.
Event organisers to pay royalty

for use of copyrighted songs: HC
NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: Any event organiser, if
using copyrighted music or songs in a party, would have
to inform the copyright societies which will issue an
invoice for payment of royalty along with proof of their
rights as per an interim arrangement arrived at in the
Delhi High Court between a firm and three such societies. Under the arrangement, anyone who is going to
hold an event will inform the three societies Indian
Performing Right Society (IPRS), Phonographic
Performance Ltd (PPL) and Novex Communications Pvt
Ltd about copyrighted work to be used. One of these
three, which hold the rights, will issue an invoice for royalty along with proof of ownership of the copyright.
Organisers would have to pay royalty prior to holding the
event, Justice Najmi Waziri noted in his order, while
directing the respondent societies to upload on their
respective websites the [copyright] assignment deeds
along with the list of songs pertaining to such assignment deed. The order came after the societies claimed
they were legitimate assignees of copyrighted works or

are otherwise duly authorised agents of copyright owners and sought to enforce their rights under Sections 18
(assignment of copyright) and 30 (licences by owners of
copyright) of the Copyright Act. They argued that as long
as the owner of a copyright exercises its rights under
Sections 18 and 30, read 19 (mode of assignment of copyright) of the Act, there is no bar on the copyright owner
or his agent or an assignee from monetising the copyrighted works. The court was hearing a plea moved by
the societies against its December 23 decision restraining them from granting licence, as copyright society
under Section 33 of the Act, to play music and songs of
various artistes in public. The December 23 order had
come on a plea by Event and Entertainment
Management Association (EEMA), which has claimed
that the registrations of IPRS and PPL expired in 2013
and Novex was never registered. The court has listed
the matter for further hearing on April 24.
Fog disrupts air, rail traffic in Delhi

Correspondent
NEW DELHI:
JANUARY 04:
Hundreds of air and train passengers
had a harrowing time on morning as
the national capital was engulfed in
dense fog.At least 50 flights were
delayed by hours and two arrivals
had to be diverted to nearby airports
as
Delhi's
Indira
Gandhi
International Airport witnessed zero
visibility conditions.Visibility at the
airport plummeted to below 50
metres from 2.30 am on Tuesday and
started improving only after 10 a.m.
According to the MeT department,

Tuesday saw this season's third
worst dense fog spell after
December 2 and 14.At Delhi airport
on
Tuesday
morning
CAT
(Category) III A and B Instrument
Landing System (ILS) was used to
guide pilots to land in near zero visibility. When the Runway Visual
Range (RVR) the height at which
the runway is visible to a pilot from
air dips below 200 metres, CAT III
A ILS is used and CAT III B ILS
comes into operation when RVR dips
below 50 metres. Passengers had a

tough time as they spent hours waiting inside aircraft for the fog cover to
lift. The Delhi airport's Terminal 1D
was bursting at the seams on
Tuesday morning with many passengers forced to sit on the floors due to
lack of enough seating space. Train
schedules, already reeling under a
huge backlog of delays from
December, were further hampered,
with 55 Delhi-bound trains running
late by hours and 22 trains rescheduled.
A vehicle carrying Guru Granth Sahib during the Nagar Kirtan procession, in Patna on Wednesday.
Another meet ends in protests

Correspondent
NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: Students and
teachers of Jawaharlal Nehru University
(JNU) on Tuesday held a protest outside the
venue of the Executive Council meeting that
was being conducted to pass a number of decisions taken at the 142nd Academic Council
(AC) meeting held on December 26. The
teachers and students representatives said
the decisions taken at the AC meeting were
passed undemocratically and could change
the character of the university. They added
that Vice-Chancellor M. Jagadesh Kumar had
declared that all decisions had been passed
without any discussion taking place. The executive councilmeeting concluded late on
Tuesday and although there was no official

communication from the university or the
members, sources said the executive council
had passed all decisions taken at the 142nd AC
meeting. These decisions include a change in
the admission process following a UGC circular issued on May 5, 2016 that makes the
entrance examination for M.Phil/Ph.D programmes only a qualification exam, making
the interview the sole criteria for admission.
This decision comes despite a struggle since
2012 to reduce the weightage of the interview
in the entrance process, after universityappointed Prof. Abdul Nafel Committee found
rampant discrimination against students from
marginalised communities at interviews. The
other decisions include hiking the fee for the

JNU entrance exam, changing the constitution
of the faculty selection committee to give the
V-C complete power over selection, and introducing certificate courses on Yoga Philosophy.
The drama on the campus started at 2 p.m. As
protests began outside the JNU Convention
Centre where the executive council meeting
was to be held, the administration moved the
venue to the Academic Block. This allowed all
members to reach the venue without facing
any resistance. Protests continued throughout
the five-hour-long meeting at Freedom Square
with teachers and students speaking about the
implications of the ACs decisions, if passed by
the executive council.
THE SIKH TIMES

Edited, Printed, Published
Owned by Simmi Babbar

N - 31, Dr. Mukherjee Nagar
Delhi-110009
Printed at Qaumi Patrika Printing
Press, A-4/A-144, Tronica City
(Loni), Ghaziabad
Corporate Office:
5, Bahadur Shah Zafar Marg,
Press Area, ITO, New Delhi
Editor-in-Chief
Gurcharan Singh Babbar
Mob : 9654077232, 9971359517
Website : www.thesikhtimes.net
Email : sikhtimesindia@gmail.com
RNI No. DELENG/2008/25465
The Sikh Times

National Daily
Vol. 9 No. 257
RNI NO. DELENG/2008/25465
sikhtimesindia@gmail.com
www.thesikhtimes.net
9971359517
12 pages.
`.2
GST deadlock continues over

dual control, high sea taxes
SPL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 4 : The deadlock over the Goods
and Services Tax (GST) continued today with the Centre
and states refusing to budge from their respective positions on issues like control of tax payers and taxing high
sea trade, a stalemate that threatens to delay the rollout
till September. The two-day meeting of the all-powerful
GST Council, the 8th in a row, made little headway in brokering a solution even as non-BJP ruled states saw
September as more likely deadline for the rollout of the
indirect tax regime. The next meeting of the GST
Council, headed by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley
and comprising state representatives, on January 16
would discuss the issue of jurisdiction over assessees as
well as try to reach a finality on taxation of territorial
waters. Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said the
other remaining issues before the GST Council include
ways to fund the compensation to states for GST rollout
and states participation in Integrated GST (IGST). "Working overtime, it should be possible to meet the deadline of September. I am not very optimistic about rolling GST out
in June/July. Because it is a new tax and lot of complexity involved, it would be better to
move in after full preparation. So GST, to my understanding, will be implemented from
September," he said. Isaac said some states wanted the GST revenue from the highest tax
bracket to be shared in 60:40 ratio with the Centre, instead of the present 50:50 sharing.
No objection to
Punjab, Goa voting
same day: Kejriwal
Chandigarh, January 4 : The AAP
has no objection to Punjab and Goa
the only two states where it is contesting
elections going to polls on the same
day, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind
Kejriwal said on Wednesday. Kejriwal
said the people were waiting for the
announcement of the polling schedule
for a long time to bring the Aam Aadmi
Party to power in the two states. (Follow
The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter
@thetribunechd) "Now people will openly support and work for the AAP in
Punjab and Goa," Kejriwal told reporters
here. He added that the AAP won't name
any Chief Ministerial candidate in
Punjab, which along with Goa would
vote on February 4. He said a new Chief
Minister would be elected by legislators
after the polls. In Goa, the AAP has
named former Inspector General of
Prisons Elvis Gomes as the Chief
Ministerial candidate. Kejriwal said his
party had no objection to both Punjab
and Goa voting on the same day. The
AAP leader claimed his party was poised
to win more than 100 of the 117 seats in
Punjab. "The countdown has started for
the ruling parties in Punjab and Goa."
Five states to vote between

February 4 and March 8
New Delhi, January 4 : Assembly
elections
in
Uttar
Pradesh,
Uttarakhand, Goa, Punjab and Manipur
will be held between February 4 and
March 8, Chief Election Commissioner
Nasim Zaidi announced on Wednesday.
The results from all five states will be
known on March 11, Zaidi told a press
conference here. While polling in Goa
and Punjab will take place on February
4, Uttarakhand will vote on February 15
and Manipur in two phases on March 4
and 8. Uttar Pradesh, the country's
most populous state, will go to the polls
in seven phases: February 11, 15, 19, 23
and 27 and March 4 and 8. This will be
the single biggest electoral exercise
since the 2014 Lok Sabha polls and will
involve a total of 690 constituencies, 403
of them in Uttar Pradesh alone. Goa has
40 seats, Punjab 117, Manipur 60 and
Uttarakhand has 70 seats.
TMC MP arrest: Kejriwal attacks

Modi for 'vendetta politics'
New Delhi, January 4 : Delhi Chief
Minister Arvind Kejriwal today lashed
out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi
over the arrest of a TMC parliamentarian
by CBI, deploring the action as "vendetta
politics". Kejriwal, a bitter critic of Modi,
alleged that the arrest of Sudip
Bandopadhyay had its roots in TMC's
opposition to the invalidation of 1,000 and
500 rupee notes. The Aam Aadmi Party
led by Kejriwal and Mamata Banerjeeheaded TMC have been quite vocal
against the November 8 move and the
two leaders had also staged joint protests
on the issue. "This is vendetta politics of
Modi ji. His msg is - Agar kisi ne notbandi ke khilaaf bola to chhodenge nahi.
Really deplorable," the AAP leader tweeted. Bandopadhyay, TMC's leader in the
Lok Sabha, was arrested by the CBI in
connection with the Rose Valley chit fund
scam yesterday.
"There are 4 different rates that have been fixed.

Highest bracket is 28 per cent and of this how much
will be the Centre and state's share, nowhere in the
law it defines and it seems to be taken for granted it is
50:50. Ever since the Independence in the Centre-state
financial relation the imbalance has been growing
wider and states' rights have been curtailed. "That can
be corrected by ensuring that state's share in GST will
be 60 per cent. Many states also supported this. The
Centre did not respond to the demand but it was decided to be discussed later," he said. Isaac said convergence has been growing between the Centre and
states. "The Centre seems to be in a mood to rethink
some of the positions that the Centre has been adopting... On the whole the Centre has been taking a step
backward and if it really takes one more step backward I think we will have a deal." As regards the treatment of IGST, Isaac said one interpretation of the
Constitutional amendment is that IGST tax is levied, collected and assigned by the
Centre. During the meeting states said that IGST cannot be implemented without states'
participation and dual control. He said certain states continue to demand sole control
over assessees with turnover of below Rs 1.5 crore. The total share in revenue of
assessees below Rs 1.5 crore turnover is 15 per cent. The issue of dual control was not
taken up by the GST Council in its meeting today.
Dikshit backs SP
AgustaWestland case:
Two more accused get bail alliance, ready to opt
SIMMI BABBAR
New Delhi, January 4 : A court
here on Wednesday granted bail to
two more accused arrested in the
AgustaWestland VVIP helicopter
deal case. Central Bureau of
Investigation (CBI) Special Judge
Arvind Kumar allowed the bail pleas
of the former IAF chief S.P. Tyagi's
cousin Sanjeev Tyagi and Delhibased lawyer Gautam Khaitan and
said that "no purpose will be served
by keeping (the) accused behind
the bars". The court asked the two
to furnish personal bonds of Rs 2
lakh and sureties of the like amount
each. "The correctness or otherwise of the allegations as to whether
the accused has taken the kickbacks and in what manner he was
connected with the same can only
be looked into during the course of
trial," the court said. Both were
directed not to leave Delhi without
prior permission and join investigation whenever required. They were
also warned against tampering with
evidence or influencing witnesses in

the case. The court noted that the
accused have roots in society.
Lawyer Pramod Kumar Dubey,
while seeking bail for client Khaitan,
argued that he has been falsely
implicated and had joined investigation a number of times as and when
called. Former Indian Air Force
chief S.P. Tyagi was arrested on
December 9 but bailed out on
December 26. The CBI has since
moved Delhi High Court to seek
cancellation of Tyagi's bail. The CBI
has alleged that Tyagi and the other
accused received bribes from
AgustaWestland and helped the
manufacturer win the $530-million
contract to purchase the helicopters
for the Communication Squadron of
the Indian Air Force for ferrying the
President, the Prime Minister and
other VVIPs. The probe agency said
the company was favoured in lieu of
illegal
gratification
accepted
through different companies in the
name of consultancy services.
out of UP CM race
New Delhi, January 4 : Former Delhi chief minister
Sheila Dikshit on Wednesday said she favours a pre-poll
alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav,
and that she is ready to step aside as Congress chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pardesh. I am in favour of an
alliance with the SP. I am ready to withdraw from contention as CM candidate if there is an alliance," Sheila
Dikshit told the media here. Akhilesh Yadav is a much
better chief ministerial candidate than me. Would be
happy to step aside for him," Dikshit added. The senior
Congress leader said nobody in her party had spoken to
her about a possible alliance in the state where elections
will be held in seven phases from February 11. There
have been speculations about ongoing parleys between
the Congress and the Samajwadi Party for alliance in
Uttar Pradesh ahead of the assembly elections. Uttar
Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab, Manipur and Goa will
elect new assemblies between February 4 and March 8.
Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous and politically significant state -- will go to elect its 403-member
state assembly in seven phases: February 11 (73 seats),
Februar y 15 (67 seats), Februar y 19 (69 seats),
February 23 (53 seats), February 27 (52 seats), March 4
(49 seats) and March 8 (40 seats).
VADIVEL
No decision as yet on
SP's election symbol: CEC
New Delhi, January 4 : Chief Election Commissioner
Nasim Zaidi on Wednesday said any question about a possible freeze on the Samajwadi Party's election symbol
'cycle' was "hypotheical" and the poll panel would examine the matter before taking any decision. "Any query on
freezing of Samajwadi Party poll symbol 'cycle' is hypothetical right now," Zaidi told reporters. "Let us first
examine the documents submitted by both the groups,"
Zaidi said, referring to claims by warring factions of the
Samajwadi Party led by its chief Mulayam Singh Yadav
and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh
Yadav. Both factions of the ruling party in Uttar Pradesh
have submitted their representations to the poll panel,
claiming they were the "real" Samajwadi Party. Samajwadi
Party patriarch Mulayam Singh met Zaidi on Monday
while Akhilesh Yadav's close confidant Ram Gopal Yadav
met him on Tuesday. Both staked their claim to the
party's election symbol.
5 Indian-Americans sworn-in
as members of US Congress
Patiala: A child performs at a Nagar Kirtan procession being taken out during 350th birth anniversar y celebration of
Guru Gobind Singh in Patiala, on Wednesday TST Photo
Washington, January 5 : Sealing a historic breakthrough for Indian-Americans, five were sworn-in on
Tuesday as members of the US Congress -- one of them,
Kamala Harris, becoming the first to become a Senator.
Ami Bera, who was the only Indian-American in the 435member House of Representatives and re-elected in the
November elections, was joined by the four others,
increasing the Indian-American contingent to five members in the Congress. All five are Democrats and three of
them -- Harris, Bera and Representative Ro Khanna -- are
from California. The other two Representatives are Raja
Krishnamoorthi from Illinois and Pramila Jayapal from
Washington state. Harris, whose mother was from
Chennai and father from Jamaica, has a dual identity as
both an Indian-American and an African-American. Vice
President Joseph Biden administered her the oath of
office which she swore on a Bible copy held by her husband Doug Emhoff. Afterwards her family and friends
gathered around the couple in celebration. Two of them
were dressed in saris, although Harris wore a two-piece
western outfit in blue.
SC takes up plea for disclosure of

income sources by poll candidates
CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 4 : The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued notices to the Centre and
the Election Commission on a plea for disclosure of sources of income by candidates for parliamentary and Assembly Elections. Citing instances of the exponential increase in assets held by
lawmakers in just five years, the petitioner Association for Democratic Reforms (ADR) said assets
of four sitting Lok Sabha members had increased by 1,200 percent. There was 500 percent
increase in assets of 22 other Lok Sabha members. Rajya Sabha member Anil Madhav Dave
declared an asset growth of over 2,100 percent, the petitioner pointed out. The ADR cited the
example of an Assam state legislator with declared increase of over 5,000 percent in his assets. In
the case of another legislator, from Kerala, the increase in assets is over 1,700 per cent since the
2011 assembly elections. The ADR, in its application to be impleaded as co-petitioner in an earlier
plea filed by Lucknow-based NGO Lok Prahari, contended that a number of people filing self-
attested affidavits on their assets were not disclosing details of Income Tax returns. The petitioner said an analysis of assets declared during the 2014 Lok Sabha elections and 2016 Rajya Sabha
elections, as well as elections to Tamil Nadu, Puducherry, Kerala, Assam and West Bengal assemblies, revealed "abnormal increase" in assets of many members of Parliament and assemblies. The
Supreme Court on July 19, 2016, issued notices to the Centre and the Election Commission on a
plea by Lok Prahari that candidates should disclose sources of income and whether they hold
stakes in entities with business transactions with the government. Lok Prahari told the court that
candidates filing nomination papers were disclosing their assets and those of their spouse, children, and other dependents but not sources of income through which they came to possess these.
The NGO said some lawmakers were thriving on easy money and of the 542 Lok Sabha members,
113 have described their profession as a housewife, social worker, social service and politics. The
court directed the next hearing on the matter on February 20.
STATES
THE SIKH TIMES
TRS responsible for farm crisis
Ahmedabad: Animal husbandry doctors in bird-flu protected hazmat suits stand outside Asha
Foundation NGO for culling birds, at Hathijan in the outskirts of Ahmedabad on Tuesday night.
Correspondent
HYDERABAD:
JANUARY 04:
Telangana Pradesh Congress
Committee president N. Uttam
Kumar Reddy on Tuesday said the
latest report of National Crime
Records Bureau (NCRB) had
exposed the failure of Telangana
Rashtra Samithi Government in
preventing farmers suicides in the
State, while also proving that it was
responsible for the agrarian crisis
in the State. For the second consecutive year, the NCRB has placed
Telangana in second position in the
country in suicides of those in the
farm sector. This clearly shows that
the State Government tried to
downplay farmers suicides, Mr.
Reddy said. Quoting statistics from
Accidental Deaths & Suicides in
India 2015, that was released by the

NCRB on Monday, he said as many
as 1,400 farmers, including 42 agricultural workers in Telangana,
committed suicide in the year 2015.
The figure was 1,347 (including 449
agricultural workers) in 2014 and
there was a 33 per cent increase in
number of farmers/cultivators who
committed suicide, he said. Mr.
Reddy said that of 1,358 farmers, as
many as 632 or 46.5 per cent committed suicide due to Bankruptcy
or Indebtedness. Telangana is also
on top in highest number of female
farmers/cultivators
suicides
accounting for 34.7 per cent of total
cases in the country. Debt-ridden
farmers who voted for TRS in last
elections expecting complete waiver of their crop loans, lost their
Venugopal breaks silence on

row over missing valuables
KOCHI:
JANUARY 04: Former
Greater
Cochin
Development
Authority (GCDA) Chairman N.
Venugopal, beleaguered by insinuating reports over missing valuables
from the GCDA guest house, said on
Tuesday that he had not appropriated
any property belonging to the agency.
He was addressing a press conference
here on Tuesday. He said the ongoing
vilification campaign despite the new
Chairmans statement on missing valuables, had compelled him to openly
argue his case. The GCDAs new
Chairman had stated that the valuables went missing after the former
chairman submitted the verified list of
items at the guest house, he said.
Listing out the items in the guest
house worth ?2.50 lakh bought during
his term, Mr. Venugopal said the maintenance assistant engineer had veri-
fied the list in a day-long exercise after

he stepped down on May 24 last year.
One doormat and three brooms were
found missing, which I had volunteered to replace with new ones. I had
even donated curtains and a small
refrigerator to the agency, he said. A
sofa set, five chairs and an air conditioner were shifted to the GCDAs
aqua tourism project at Mundamveli.
How some of the items, including an
air conditioner, that had gone missing
reappeared should also be probed.
Security personnel at the Collectors
residence near the guest house will
certainly know who returned those
items, Mr. Venugopal said. He said
the abandoned, rundown building,
which was used for storing construction equipment by contractors for the
past 17 years, had been made inhabitable at a cost of ?38 lakh. But this was
after adding ?1.90 crore to the GCDA

exchequer through the auction of two
apartments originally assigned for the
chairman and the secretary, but were
embroiled in some controversies, he
said. He shot down the allegations of
swapping of high value land for low
value plots and underselling GCDA
land in the name of development projects. He said three main roads had
been constructed during his term
the one from Koyithara Bridge to
Shasthri Nagar Bridge, Ambedkar
Road and Justice V.R. Krishna Iyer
Road. Not a penny or land in
exchange was given either for the 35
cents acquired for Ambedkar Road or
the 39 cents for the V.R. Krishna Iyer
Road. The exchange of land for the 53
cents for the latter had taken place
before my term. Only, the audit report
containing critical remarks about this
Subway work delays

trains to Egmore
CHENNAI: JANUARY 04: As many as 10
express trains from southern districts to
Chennai Egmore station reached three
hours late on Tuesday morning as the
speed had to be brought down due to the
construction of a subway near the
Chengalpattu junction in Kancheepuram
district. Trains such as Uzhavan Express,
Rockfort Express, Mangaluru Express,
Salem-Mumbai Express and several others
that were plying from south and south-western parts of the State were stationed outside Chengalpattu in the early hours, railway officials said. Initially Rockfort
Express, plying between Tiruchi and
Chennai Egmore, was stationed at
Ottivakkam railway junction outside

Chengalpattu. Following this, other trains
counting more than 10 were stationed on
the outskirts of Chengalpattu, officials said.
According to railway sources, the road
underbridge construction was going on
between Chengalpattu and Ottivakkam and
the work was carried out during night
hours by enforcing caution drive.
Meanwhile, a defect in track changing point
near Pallavaram delayed EMU train services from Tambaram and ChennaiBeach.
Technical support staff rushed to the spot
and restored the operations in 45 minutes.
Train services became normal from 10.15
a.m., said a railway official.
exchange happened to be published

during my term, he added. The chairman or the executive committee had
not intervened in the collection of rent
of GCDA buildings, which were leased
out for 99 years and five years. The
vacant rooms were auctioned off on
the 10th of every month. Justifying his
two signature projects the laser
show at Rajendra Maidan and the aqua
tourism project at Mundamveli Mr.
Venugopal said the ticket fare for the
projects had to be brought down from
the original Rs.150 and Rs.100 to Rs.70
and Rs.30 respectively at the instance
of late jurist V.R. Krishna Iyer. He also
blamed the GCDA staff for the neglect
meted out to the project during the
past six months. The site at
Mundamveli was a waste dumping
yard, including toilet and slaughter
house waste, before it was utilised for
KTR pledges to make Badi

Baoli Hyderabads pride
Correspondent
HYDERABAD: JANUARY 04: Minister for Municipal Administration
and Urban Development K.T. Rama Rao said that the government
would strive to get Unesco World Heritage Site status for the Qutb
Shahi tombs complex and Golconda fort. We will take all steps possible to make it happen. If budgetary support is needed, we will pitch in
with that as well, he said, presiding over the completion ceremony of
Badi Baoli, inside the tombs complex. The Badi Baoli is one of the
biggest heritage step wells in Hyderabad and has been painstakingly
restored as part of the conservation effort led by Aga Khan Trust for
Culture (AKTC) aided by Tata Trusts and backed by Telangana
Department of Archaeology and Museums. The conservation effort
here shows what can be done with this heritage site. We can do what
Istanbul has done with its heritage, said Mr. Rao as he went around
the site asking questions and clarifying doubts. I have lived in
Hyderabad but I never visited this place in 40 years of my life. I want
that to change and make this a place of pride for everyone in the city,
said Mr. Rao. Speaking about the time frame for conservation, Mr. Rao
said: Ten years is too long a time frame, try to finish it faster. Earlier,
Ratish Nanda of AKTC said: People talk about seven tombs. But here
we have 75 monuments and all of them will be restored along with the
water channels in 108 acres. The completion marks a big step in the
first phase of conservation of the Qutb Shahi tombs complex as a portion of the well had collapsed during the monsoon of 2013 and it took
about three years to restore it.
78 dumpsites to be cleared soon

Correspondent
CHENNAI: JANUARY 04: After inordinate
delay, the Greater Chennai Corporation will
start clearing uprooted trees dumped in various parts of the city. Owing to poor response
from traders in previous e-auctions to dispose
of green waste, the civic body has been unable
to clear the waste from 78 dumpsites till now.
The order for clearing the dumpsites has
been issued on Tuesday following the auction
valued at Rs 50 lakh, a senior official said.
After fire accidents in dumpsites were reported in areas such as Egmore, the civic body initiated various measures to prevent such accidents, stationing fire tenders at the sites and
posting security personnel to report fire on
time. As the frequency of fire accidents
increased, residents in many neighbourhoods
have been requesting the civic body to remove
the uprooted trees. Many OSR lands and playgrounds have been used for the purpose in
areas such as Anna Nagar, Kilpauk,
Kodambakkam, T.Nagar, Adyar, Teynampet
and Kotturpuram. A large number of trees
were uprooted in Anna Nagar. We did not have
land to dump the waste. So we used OSR
lands. A total of 2,366 loads of wood will be
removed from one OSR land at Anna Nagar,
said an official. Children in many localities
were denied access to playgrounds and OSR
lands as they became dumping yards. After
the fire incidents, the officials even monitored
children roaming in the localities. The fire
service personnel will continue to monitor the
78 dumpsites to prevent fire accidents, said
an official. Even as more than one lakh trees
were affected in Cyclone Vardah, the
Corporation removed just 17,000 trees along
Family of Malegaon blasts accused seeks probe into murder allegation

Correspondent
MUMBAI: JANUARY 04: Four days after
a suspended Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS)
officer claimed that two absconding
accused in the 2008 Malegaon blasts
were killed eight years ago, family members of one of the accused sought an
investigation into the allegation.
Ramchandra Gopalsingh Kalsangra a.k.a
Ramjis wife Laxmibai, son Devavrat, and
brother Shivnarayan called for a probe at
a press conference held on Tuesday.
They alleged that Ramji was picked up
ATS officers on October 10, 2008.
Devavrat said he was only 13 then and did
not remember the details. However,
Shivnarayan said he was also an accused
in the case, and the ATS officers tortured
him and his brother in custody.

Mehmood Mujawar, a former senior
inspector in the Mumbai ATS, had submitted an application before a Magistrate
Court in Solapur on August 19. The affidavit claims Ramji and co-accused
Sandeep Dange were not absconding but
had been killed. Their bodies were then
disposed of along with the bodies of the
victims of November 26, 2008, Mumbai
terror attacks. Advocate Prashant
Maggu, who appeared for Sadhvi Pragya
Singh Thakur main accused in the
2008 Malegaon blasts that killed eight
and injured 101 before the National
Investigation Agency (NIA) court, rubbished the ATS investigation and claimed
it was a fabricated case in which innocent
hopes after TRS Government split

the loan waiver amount into several
instalments. On behalf of farmers,
the Congress made repeated
appeals to the State Government
seeking total clearance of crop loan
waiver dues. However, Chief
Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao
ignored our appeals and allowed
the situation to deteriorate further.
The TPCC chief said the causes
that drove farmers of Telangana to
suicides exposed the tall and hollow claims of TRS Government on
development. While Bankruptcy
or Indebtedness drove 384 farmers
to suicide, 395 others took their
lives due to other farming-related
issues which includes reasons like
failure of crop due to natural
calamities.
people were implicated. According to a

charg esheet filed by the Maharashtra
ATS, Ramji and Dange were Ms. Thakurs
confidantes and she gave them her
motorcycle to plant the bombs. The ATS
has alleged that Ramji and Dange planted
the bombs and executed the attack. The
supplementary chargesheet filed by the
NIA mentions the confessional statement
of accused Sudhakar Dhar Dwivedi.
According to the statement, Ms. Thakur
introduced Ramji and Dange to Dwivedi,
and said they were her eliable men.
However, NIA officers said, As provisions of the Maharashtra Control of
Organised Crime Act are not being
invoked in this chargesheet by NIA, this
confessional statement does not have any
evidentiary value. The NIA also discarded the confessional statement of Rakesh
Dhawade. The statement said that
accused Lt Col Prasad Shrikanth Purohit
informed Dhawade about Ramji and
Danges demand for RDX. Dhawade then
arranged for the explosives and handed
them over to Ramji and Dange, who were
later charged with relevant sections of the
Indian Penal Code, The Arms Act, the
Explosives Substance Act and Unlawful
Activities Prevention Act. In the 2006
Malegaon blasts, the NIA submitted an
affidavit in the Bombay High Court that
said Ramji, Dange and others had entered
into a criminal conspiracy to commit terrorist acts in Malegaon that left 35 people
dead and over 100 injured.
roads and cleared branches from 50,000 trees

initially. The Corporation and the police
refused to remove trees uprooted in private
lands of zones such as Teynampet. Remaining
trees uprooted in private lands were cleared
by labourers from various parts of the State,
by collecting wages ranging from Rs.2,000 to
Rs.50,000 from residents. However, officials in
zones such as Adyar reportedly used
advanced equipment to remove trees with
assistance from private companies. The modern equipment were used to help residents of
many neighbourhoods of Adyar zone.
According to a GIS study done by Nizhal, 16.3
per cent of the trees in ward 176 were damaged. Among the uprooted trees, 22 per cent
were indigenous species, said Shobha
Menon of Nizhal. The study should be done
for the entire city, she said.
Natya Kala Achar ya

for Malavika Sarukkai
CHENNAI: JANUARY 04: Renowned Bharatanatyam
dancer and guru Malavika Sarukkai was on Tuesday conferred the title of Natya Kala Acharya at the inauguration of The Music Academys 11th dance festival here.
Susan Tuller, Deputy Consular General, Consulate
General of United States of America in Chennai, who presented the title, said this was her first Margazhi season
and that she was awed by the scores of sabhas in the
city that have thousands of concerts. She congratulated
Ms. Sarukkai on winning the title. The US Consulate
here enjoyed bringing together South Indian and
American artistes, she added. Academy president N.
Murali said Ms. Sarukkai was a wonderful exponent of
Bharatanatyam. Excellence and holistic approach to art
are her hallmarks and she is never afraid to explore and
innovate. To her, innovation is only an organic growth
from within, Mr. Murali said.
430 acres allotted to Patanjali

At its 58th board meeting on
Tuesday, the Yamuna Expressway
Industrial Development Authority
(YEIDA) approved 12 proposals,
including allotment of land to yoga
guru Baba Ramdevs Patanjali. The
authority has approved the 430
acres project in Sectors 24 and 24A
along the Expressway. Of this, 50
acres is yet to be acquired. We
allotted 130 acres in Sector 24 and
300 acres in Sector 24A. The authority approved a proposal that seeks to
revise the layout of Sectors 24 and
24A, said YEIDA CEO Arun Vir
Singh. Authority chairman Sanjay
Agarawal, also the Principal
Secretary (Power) and UP Power
Corporation Limited (UPPCL)
chairman, chaired the board meeting that took place at Noida
Authoritys administrative building
in Sector 6. The UP government
had in November issued an allot-
ment letter granting land to

Patanjali Yogpeeth for industrial and
institutional use, Hem Singh, the
YEIDA Officer On Special Duty,
told. A total of 455 acres was supposed to be given to the group. So
far, we have allotted 430 acres for
industrial use. An additional 25
acres will be given for institutional
use, where Baba Ramdev plans to
set up a university and research centre. Of 430 acre, 380 acres is with
YEIDA. We have started the process
of buying the remaining 50 acre
from farmers. Construction work
will start by the end of this month,
he added Patanjali will have to pay
20 per cent of the total cost [as land
has been allocated] before commencement of work. The remaining
80 per cent will be paid in instalments. So far, we have received ?27
crore from the group, he said.
Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had
laid the foundation for Baba

Ramdevs Patanjali food park and
university on November 30 from
Lucknow, said YEIDA officials. The
authority, which owns land along
the 165-km Expressway, said the
allotment letter will be handed over
to a Patanjali representative in
Lucknow. The land chosen by
Patanjali is located nearly 4 km from
Buddh International Circuit. The
project, with an investment of
Rs.1,666.80 crore, is expected to create direct employment opportunities for over 8,000 people. Baba
Ramdevs key aide Achar ya
Balkrishna had in May met YEIDA
officials to hold the initial round of
talks, besides inspecting land for the
proposed project. After the one in
Haridwar, set up about 10 years ago
and spread across 150 acres, this is
expected to be the largest project
set up by Patanjali in the country.
Ahmedabad: Classical Singer Pt. Ajoy Chakraborty performs on the 3rd day of the 13-day long 37th
Saptak music festival, in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
HARYANA & PUNJAB
THE SIKH TIMES
Navjot Singh Sidhu leaves

Amritsar BJP 'divided'
AMRITSAR, 4 January : The BJP unit in Amritsar is apprehensive of a
possible split in the event of former BJP member of Parliament Navjot
Singh Sidhu+ joining the Congress party even as his wife and BJP MLA
from Amritsar East assembly constituency Navjot Kaur Sidhu has already
shifted loyalty to the Congress ahead of the assembly elections in the
state.A group of Sidhu loyalists held a meeting on Monday to decide the
future course of action if Sidhu announces his decision to join the
Congress party. A leader of a BJP faction, mostly comprising former
Sidhu loyalists, who didn't want to give his name told TOI on Monday,
"We are supporters of Sidhu not because he is a celebrity but a sincere
leader having vision for Punjab and his personality and character is
unblemished. Besides, he is a hope of Punjab."He said sooner or later,
they had to decide whether to stay with the BJP or join Sidhu's bandwagon with Congress party. However, he didn't disclose what transpired in
their meeting. "Let the time come. Everything will be out in open," he
said.FILE: Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh (C) welcomes cricketer-turned-politician Navjot Singh Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur
Sidhu and former Olympian Pargat Singh in Congress party during a
news conference in New Delhi. Photo: TOIWhile expressing ignorance
about any meeting of Sidhu supporters, Somdev Sharma, one of Sidhu
loyalists but a staunch BJP worker who was also spokesperson of BJP
unit, said, "There is no question over his sincerity and clean image, but
Sidhu never even once thought about his supporters and followers who
had been working for him day and night."Sharma said there was much
resentment against Sidhu not because he had shifted loyalty but because
he kept his supporters in dark.While discounting possibility of any split
in the party following Navjot Singh Sidhu's joining hand with the
Congress, district BJP president Rajesh Huny said, "Navjot Kaur Sidhu
had joined the Congress for past nearly over a month, but not a single
BJP worker has gone with her. Similarly, no dedicated worker of the BJP
will side with Navjot Singh Sidhu, as everyone in BJP has now realised
that both of them are opportunists."Sources said that even in the
Congress, Navjot Singh Sidhu could be a threat to the political future of
Captain Amarinder Singh given his political ambitions in the state.After
tough time in selecting a candidate since several BJP leaders including
Rajesh Huny, Rama Mahajan, Sukhminder Singh etc. have staked claim
for the Amritsar East assembly constituency. Huny said, "Yes, I am one of
the aspirants, but we will abide by the party high command's
decision."Top CommentThis moron should also leave this world!!!
Keeping him alive does not add any value to anyone else''s life & such
people are just leeches and parasites, much like the moosli pigs in India!!!
hahaCaptain ZedMeanwhile, there is a tough competition going on for
the ticket for Amritsar Lok Sabha seat which was vacated after the resignation of Captain Amarinder Singh.
Protest after 17 cows, oxen are

slaughtered in Moga village
BATHINDA, 4 January : Nihal Singh Wala town of Moga in Punjab was
on the edge on Tuesday after carcasses of 17 cows and oxen were found
in an animal dumping ground of Bilaspur village. Police officials have
arrested eight people - four each from Punjab and Saharanpur in Uttar
Pradesh - who are suspected to be behind the slaughtering. Another 29
cows, which the group had kept in nearby Tharaj village, have been
seized. Police officials believe that these too were meant for
slaughter.The discovery of the carcasses led to protests by cow protection groups in Nihal Singh Wala with the town even observing a partial
bandh. Shops remained shut till afternoon but opened up after the carcasses were buried.
Vel Arch
Mumbai: Bollywood actor Javed Jafri attends the funeral of Istanbul attack victim
Abis Rizvi, the son of former Rajya Sabha MP Akhtar Rizvi, in
Mumbai on Wednesday.
To shed outsider tag, AAP calls

Delhi MLA Punjab da Jarnail
BATHINDA, 4 January : Taking a leaf from Punjab Congress chief Capt
Amarinder Singh's electoral campaign 'Punjab da Captain', the Aam Aadmi Party
has come up with a similar one-liner, 'Punjab da Jarnail', to counter rival parties'
claims of its Lambi candidate, Delhi MLA Jarnail Singh, being an outsider.Jarnail,
who represents Rajouri Garden constituency in the Delhi legislative assembly,
has been fielded against chief minister Parkash Singh Badal for the upcoming
assembly elections. Though the MLA whose claim to fame is hurling a shoe at a
Union minister, P Chidambaram, in 2009 is yet to start his election campaign, the
Ayur vedic chemist selling

afeem meds raided in Pb
Chandigarh, 4 January : In a first of its kind strike in Punjab, the Narcotics
Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday raided a wholesaler of ayurvedic drugs
in Amritsar and recovered over 1,600 tablets of a drug called 'Kamini' containing afeem (laudanum), the purest form of opium. In the run-up to the
elections, the Election Commission is keeping a close watch on drug abuse
in the state.Apart from Kamini Vidrawan Ras, which is sold at chemist shops
as a herbal formulation, 44 small packs of Barshasha, a Unani preparation
that contains pure opium, were also recovered from S A Medicine Center at
Galia Road in Amritsar. Though the quantity of the drug recovered is not
high, NCB zonal director Kaustubh Sharma confirmed that this was first
such bust aimed at curtailing the misuse of ayurvedic drugs in Punjab."We
had written to the ayurvedic department of the state government stating that
some chemists were selling these drugs without maintaining proper records.
Acting on a specific input we raided the wholesaler and found that he did not
even have authorization to stock the medicine," Sharma said.Till late evening
on Tuesday, officials were checking the records to find out how much drug
the wholesaler was selling on a daily basis. An ayurvedic practitioner can prescribe the medicine and the chemist has to get a 'Form C' filled before sell-
ing the drug and maintain a record of the same. Though, the sale of these
medicines is regulated by the ayurveda department of the state government
but the chemists have to take authorization from the state drug controller
(SDC) office as well.After TOI reported unmonitored production of opioidbased painkiller tramadol, which is not covered under the NDPS Act, this is
second major incident of medicine meant of other purposes being abuse by
addicts.In June 2015, TOI had first reported misuse of these ayurvedic formulations by drug addicts in Punjab, citing a study by PGI, Chandigarh.
There had, however, been no major action taken by the authorities since.
9 months after leaving BSP, Jarnail Nangal

quits Cong too, may join Bains bros
PHAGWARA, 4 January : Former BSP leader Jarnail Nangal resigned from the
Congress on Tuesday, saying that his move to the join the party in March 2016
was the "biggest blunder" of his life.According to sources close to Nangal, he
is in talks with the Bains brothers of Lok Insaaf Party, which is in an alliance
with AAP, and he could be fielded as its candidate from Phagwara.
Ayur vedic chemist selling

afeem meds raided in Pb
Chandigarh, 4 January : In a first of its
kind strike in Punjab, the Narcotics
Control Bureau (NCB) on Tuesday raided
a wholesaler of ayur vedic drugs in
Amritsar and recovered over 1,600 tablets
of a drug called 'Kamini' containing afeem
(laudanum), the purest form of opium. In
the run-up to the elections, the Election
Commission is keeping a close watch on
drug abuse in the state.Apart from
Kamini Vidrawan Ras, which is sold at
chemist shops as a herbal formulation, 44
small packs of Barshasha, a Unani preparation that contains pure opium, were also
recovered from S A Medicine Center at
Galia Road in Amritsar. Though the quantity of the drug recovered is not high,
NCB zonal director Kaustubh Sharma
confirmed that this was first such bust

aimed at curtailing the misuse of
ayurvedic drugs in Punjab."We had written to the ayurvedic department of the
state government stating that some
chemists were selling these drugs without maintaining proper records. Acting on
a specific input we raided the wholesaler
and found that he did not even have
authorization to stock the medicine,"
Sharma said.Till late evening on Tuesday,
officials were checking the records to find
out how much drug the wholesaler was
selling on a daily basis. An ayurvedic practitioner can prescribe the medicine and
the chemist has to get a 'Form C' filled
before selling the drug and maintain a
record of the same.
Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) has already started pasting posters and painting walls
with the one-liner. The party has also targetted Badal by coming up with the slogan "Badal nahi, badlav" ( Not Badal, but change).To counter the "outsider"
claims, Jarnail has said he was ready to vacate his seat in the Delhi assembly, but
would not leave Lambi. AAP has already prepared half-a-dozen open vehicles for
campaigning. Though it is expected that Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) may field
Badal from Lambi, the candidature is yet to be announced. Congress, too, has not
announced its candidate. "It is the toughest fight of Punjab. AAP wants to conquer Punjab with a bang. For that, defeating Akali patriarch Parkash Singh Badal
is most important. We will fight to demolish Badal's regime from his own stronghold," Jarnail told TOI.He said AAP workers had pulled up its socks and was
making plans to start campaigning in all 74 villages of Lambi. "At present, I am
getting my vote deleted in Delhi, so that I can enroll as a voter in Punjab.
Hopefully, I will start my campaign in a day or so," Jarnail said.The Election
Commission had asked Jarnail to get his vote deleted in Delhi if he wanted to
contest in Punjab, citing Section 4 of the Representation of the People Act,
1950.AAP's Bathinda Lok Sabha constituency observer, Romi Bhati, said the
party had prepared an "extensive plan" for "aggressive campaigning" in Lambi to
take on the senior-most SAD leader. "We are putting in more energy to manage
campaigning in a systematic way; we will try to make a place in the hearts of people," he said.The SAD has, so far, rubbished AAP's claims of winning from
Lambi. "Akali Dal is ready to give a crushing defeat to the AAP candidate. Jarnail
should worry about saving his security deposit from being forfeited in Lambi,"
SAD spokesperson Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.
Two from Tricity among 16 held

near Corbett with Samir Thapar
CHANDIGARH, 4 January : Two persons from Chandigarh and Panchkula,
Romi Bhatt and Rohit Singh Daggar, were among the 16 people arrested from a
forest rest house on the fringes of Jim Corbett National Park in Uttarakhand for
trespassing and lighting fires in a reserve forest. The group was charged with
possessing a rifle and cartridges and 171 liquor bottles in violation of the laws.
They were part of a group of 60 including chairman of JCT Ltd and president of
the Punjab Football Association Samir Thapar.
Implementation of Supreme Court

ruling faces tough challenges in Punjab
AMRITSAR, 4 January : The Supreme Court's (SC) ruling that candidates seeking votes in the name of religion, caste, community or language could be disqualified from an election may just endanger the
prospects of parties that rely heavily on 'Panthic' and caste votes in
Punjab.A professor of political science at Amritsar-based Guru Nanak
Dev University (GNDU), Kuldip Singh, felt the real challenge would be
in the implementation of the SC ruling. "The court has given its ruling;
now, the Election Commission will have to follow these directions," he
said. "Deciding which act amounts to violation of the ruling will be
another challenge."He added that many parties banked on religious
and caste votes, and these two issues were the very foundation of such
parties. "If a party has a scheme for Dalits, one can raise a finger that it
is declared to appease a particular caste. However, on the other hand,
the same could be the policy of a particular party," he said.Though none
of the leaders of parties admit to using religious places for political purposes, it is well known that gurdwara complexes and infrastructure are
used for rallies. Sikh charitable body Chief Khalsa Diwan member A S
Mahal said the biggest reason behind this was that politicians often
interpreted the Sikh concept of Miri Piri to their convenience. Miri Piri
lays down that temporal authority and spirtual authority are linked
together.He added that there had been several cases where leaders had
even twisted the Gurbani. "This has to be stopped," he said. "I hope
these practices come to an end with the SC ruling."On the issue of SAD
allowing candidates to contest Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak
Committee (SGPC) elections on its symbol, Prof Kuldip Singh said
SGPC was the only democratically elected religious body in the world.
He said there was no harm if SAD sought votes for SGPC and allowed
its candidates to use its election symbol. "They are not asking votes for
a legislative assembly, but for a religious body. There is no violation," he
said, adding that issues pertaining to religion were being taken up during SGPC elections and not for the state's governance.Another Sikh
scholar, Professor Balwant Singh Dhillon, said the court's ruling was
appreciable, but it couldn't change the principals of religion as
enshrined in the 'Miri Piri' concept. "All politicians, especially Sikh
political parties, have to learn to draw a line between religion and politics," he said.
Congress leaders to meet Election

Commission for ban on SAD, BJP from polls
Moradabad: A rickshaw puller transports blankets as a cold spell hangs over north India, in
Moradabad on Wednesday.
AMRITSAR, 4 January : Punjab Congress has welcomed

the Supreme Court's ruling that political parties can't
seek votes on the basis of religion and caste, and demanded the Election Commission (EC) to "ban" the SAD and
BJP from participating in elections.A day after court's ruling, Punjab Congress vice-president Raj Kumar Verka
described it on Tuesday as "a historic decision". "It will
prevent political parties dividing society in the name of
religion," he said.He said the SAD had played politics in
the name of religion and a Congress delegation would
meet chief election commissioner Nasim Zaidi to seek a
ban on it. "In my view, neither Akalis nor the BJP have the
right to contest elections, following the SC's decision.
After all, both of them invoke religious sentiments to seek
votes from the public," he said.Verka said his party was in
touch with legal experts to challenge the eligibility SAD
and BJP leaders to contest the elections. He claimed that
Akalis often referred to the concept of 'Miri Piri' (temporal and spiritual) in Sikhism, but exploited sentiments of
common voters in the name of religion.Dr Navjot Kaur
Sidhu, a former BJP leader who switched to Congress,

said it was good that the SC had intervened. "Leaders
would normally brainwash gullible people in the name of
religion. Voters should judge a leader from the manifesto,
not the caste or religion he or she belonged to," she
said.Advocating that there shouldn't be any interference
of politics in religion or vice versa, she said the apex
court's judgement would prove to be a milestone in Indian
politics. Hailing the SC's ruling, Shiromani Gurdwara
Parbandhak Commttee (SGPC) former member
Advocate Jaswinder Singh said, "If a political party seeks
vote in the name of a particular religion, it means it is
spreading hatred for other religions. This ruling will put a
check on it."However, he said, the detailed SC ruling on
the subject was awaited. He said it was yet to be seen what
was the provision for people of a particular religion having
mentioned in a manifesto of a particular political party
about the concessions or schemes for them. He said by
and large, the ruling would bring out the true sense of
democracy in the Indian political system.
THE SIKH TIMES

OPINION
Apex Court brings cricket into 21st century
Editor's
Pen
Involve the States more

in higher education
Every year, India dreams of its higher educational institutions rising up to world standards in terms of ranking,
number of peer-reviewed publications, and awards for
research. It dreams of this despite reports that almost
three-fourths of the graduates emerging from these
colleges and universities are adding little value to
research and innovation as a result of the poor-quality
education that they have received. The Central government's solution to this problem is simple: increase the
number of institutions under its control, whether it is
the Indian Institutes of Technology or the medical institutes, and hope that the quality improves. By repeatedly doing this, the Centre is limiting its role in improving
the quality of education and research given that it controls only some hundred institutions in the country,
which produce less than 1 per cent of the total number
of graduates in the country every year. On the other
hand, State universities produce over 95 per cent of the
nation's graduates, including from the private college
system through the affiliation route. Yet they have little
presence in bodies that frame policies and decisions
regarding regulation or funding. All the major decisions and initiatives only deal with the Central institutions, with the Centre also seeing some hope from the
emerging private universities which are driven purely
by money power and political patronage. With the gap
in quality of education and research widening between
the Central and State institutions, the dream of India
becoming the R&D hub of the world, of expanding the
manufacturing sector, of creating over ten million jobs
annually, or becoming the knowledge superpower is
becoming harder to realise. Ironically, the States do not
seem to realise the depth of the problem either; the
most they do is to ask the Centre to locate the next, say,
IIT in their State. In this context, it is important for the
States to redefine their role in higher education. The
Central government's virtual abandoning of its responsibility to improve higher education and research in the
country - and not just in institutions that are under its
wing - is a trend that is unlikely to change. The only
option for the States is to take greater charge to
improve the quality of these institutions. This would
mean that States will have to tie up closely plans on
improving higher education with economic planning
and infrastructure.
The world's most successful

secret society has been given a
lesson in transparency and that
is cause for celebration. No tears
need be wasted on the panjandrums who have been running
the Board of Control for Cricket
in India and its State associations
like personal fiefdoms. The
Supreme Court finally reeled in
the long rope it had given the
BCCI, and so tripped up its senior officials. If there was contrition among the officials, these
remained
unexpressed.
Yesterday's powerhouses will be
tomorrow's forgotten men, their
frown and wrinkled lip and sneer
of cold command erased forever.
Inevitably, some good men will
be thrown out with the bad, and
there will be much churning as
the old order makes way for the
new. The saner elements of the
board will wonder if it had to
come to this, when, with greater
maturity and common sense, the
BCCI might have emerged with
some dignity. For the BCCI
brought about its own downfall,
aided by nothing more than its
hubris and cavalier disregard for
the laws of the land. You cannot
ignore a Supreme Court judgement, as the BCCI did, and hope
that nothing will change. It wasn't just
arrogance, it was foolishness of the
highest order. The BCCI brought about
its own downfall, aided by nothing more
than its hubris and cavalier disregard for
the laws of the land Would past presidents like Chinnaswamy and Sriraman,
Gaekwad and Bindra, Dungarpur and
Dalmiya have allowed things to come to
this pass? It is convenient to believe they
wouldn't. But there is false memor y at
play here, a harking back to a golden era
that never existed. Ghulam Ahmed, former off spinner and board vice-president, put it succinctly, "There are no values in the board." The Anurag Thakurs
and Ajay Shirkes are paying the price for
the culture that men like those mentioned had brought into the BCCI.
These men ran the best sports body in
the countr y, and somehow believed that
Vel Arch
they had a divine right to do so. Players

kowtowed to them, politicians and businessmen chased them, and they clung
on to power with a touching desperation.
The current dispensation extended that
culture and refined it. They, like their
predecessors, failed to understand the
connection between actions and consequences. At any time in the BCCI's
eight-decade histor y, the Supreme
Court could have stepped in and ruled
as it did now. Accountability and transparency were never in the BCCI's handbook for officials, but public scrutiny
was not as intense as it is now, and in
some cases the good that an official did
outweighed the bad, and all was forgiven. Brinkmanship - a tactic much
favoured by the BCCI to bring other
cricket boards and indeed the
International Cricket Council to its
knees - is not a strategy guaranteed to

impress the Supreme Court. That the
highest court gave the BCCI more than
six months to comply with its order
when it could have acted even as deadlines were ignored is a testimony to its
benevolence. But how did a three-time
Member of Parliament, which is what
Anurag Thakur is, and sundr y other
luminaries, misjudge the seriousness of
the situation? Was this a proxy war
fought on behalf of his political masters
by Thakur, or was the board, recognising the inevitable, preparing for a
scorched earth response? The first will
have to remain in the realm of speculation till a lead actor in the drama spills
the beans. We shall soon know about the
second. The BCCI's death wish has been
one of the features of the whole saga.
Thakur came in as the bright, young
Only stirs over river, no long term solutions

Agitations over the distribution of water in the Cauvery river are not new or surprising given the extreme dependence on agricultural and economic activity in
the river basin. Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are fighting over water in a drying
river, paying little attention to framing long-term solutions. South India has
always been highly dependent on the monsoon, which is uncertain and risky.
Over the past few decades, the south-west monsoon has become unpredictable
and has reduced in intensity. What does this mean for the Cauvery? The amount
of water the river receives during the summer rains is becoming increasingly
unreliable. In good years, when the river receives enough rainfall, there is no
discord between the two States. In bad years, like the one we are facing now, it
turns into a gargantuan political crisis. Unfortunately, the number of bad years
is only going to worsen. The Cauvery river's fertile basin has encouraged the
growth of forests, agriculture and industry, all of which coexist in an uneasy
manner and are now threatened. We need to pay attention to land use at the
regional level. Dense forest cover once helped reduce the likelihood of flash
flooding, retaining water on hill slopes to enable slow percolation and recharge
of the tributaries. Deforestation across the basin has contributed to reduction in
rainfall, soil erosion, and flooding, with hundreds of thousands of trees being
decimated to make way for plantations, urban construction, and agriculture. In
the place of forests, plantations of water-hungry trees such as eucalyptus and
acacia are further reducing the water table. In Coorg, local groups have agitated
against the felling of lakhs of trees for the construction of a new railway line from
Mysuru, and a high-tension power line. They have received little support from
the local and national administration despite warning of the effect on the river.
These are not isolated incidents; deforestation is widespread along the length
and breadth of the river. Tree clearing is now threatening even previously protected sites on mountain heights and steep slopes, sensitive zones where soil
erosion further impacts river recharge. Rapid urbanisation has converted fertile
agriculture, forests and wetlands into concreted areas that are unable to retain
rainwater or channel them into tributary streams that feed the Cauvery.
Urbanisation demands concrete; concrete requires sand. In the districts surrounding the Cauvery, rampant sand mining has altered the natural topography
of the river, eroding its banks, widening the river, and altering water flow patterns. Despite warnings from environmentalist groups and farmer coalitions,
and interventions by the court, this practice continues unchecked. It is no surprise that the wells that replenish farms across the basin are running dry - or
that desperate farmers are reduced to abandoning agriculture and renting their
farms to sand contractors for sand storage, thus becoming complicit in their own
destruction. The large number of dams across the river contribute to a significant decrease in the river's capacity for water storage. Siltation in dams and connecting river channels has reached alarming proportions. Industries along the
Cauvery and its tributaries send large volumes of polluted water that, far from
being of use to farmers, destroy their land beyond redemption. There is no farming activity for kilometres on the side of tributaries such as the Noyyal, polluted
by Tiruppur's textile industry. The toxic sludge from industrial effluents builds
up on the river bed, further reducing its capacity for storage. Despite abundant
discussion, government funding for de-siltation of the river's channels remains
conspicuous by its absence. Widespread changes in farming and agricultural
patterns exacerbate the problem. Once an area of millet cultivation, the Cauvery
basin has transformed into a location for the cultivation of high-yield paddy and
sugar cane, both water-intensive crops. There needs to be a redesign of the farming system, keeping in mind in particular the water requirements of the crops
planted after the onset of the south-west monsoon. What are Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu planning to do in terms of developing more water-smart agricultural strategies? There is little discussion on this. Though a politically charged
topic, it is one that must be addressed through conversations with farmers who
seem well aware of these issues. They need better alternatives and greater state
assistance in facilitating explorations of alternative cropping strategies, including an examination of a possible return to millet farming (which is more nutritious as well as water-efficient), or to multi-cropping of vegetables, or even to the
development of more water-efficient varieties of paddy. While Karnataka and
Tamil Nadu struggle to find workable solutions to the distribution of water in the
river during years of drought, the writing on the wall is clear. As climate change
makes its impact visible, we are going to face many more seasons of drought and
points of conflict. It is important that we think long term and in a coordinated
fashion across the basin. We need to find ways to recharge the river, increase
inflow of water, clean up hotspots of pollution, and increase the efficiency of
water use. For this, we must take up afforestation along the river on a war footing, move to water-efficient cropping, limit industrial pollution of rivers, ban
excessive sand mining, and limit the growing consumption of water for cities and
towns along the river. This requires conversation and cooperation across the
basin, not reactive conflict. Given the politically charged minefield that the
Cauvery water-sharing issue has become, can we hope for reasoned, concerted
action?
face of the board. There

was an energy about
him which makes his fall
a disappointment. At 42
he was the man who
replaced the old guard.
Yet, within weeks, the
cozy club he had tried to
break up when N.
Sinivasan was in charge,
quickly reshaped itself
into a new cozy club.
His fall is a cautionar y
tale for those who set
out to change the system but is absorbed by
it. The Supreme Court's
ruling will also impact
other sports which have
been resisting change
like the BCCI. And that
is good news for Indian
sport. The domestic season has been unaffected
by the BCCI's problems.
This has been the case
traditionally, and is one
of the true blessings of
Indian cricket. There
are enough dedicated
officials to ensure that
the show goes on. A
generational change has
been forced upon the
BCCI, which is otherwise happy to continue with sons and
nephews (never daughters and nieces)
and other relatives keeping ever ything
in the family. Now State associations will
have to change their registrations where
necessar y, holding general body meetings in order to advance this. Legal procedures need to be followed. There is a
temptation to believe that cricketers
make the best administrators. This is a
common fallacy. There are cricketers
who have made excellent administrators, but being able to play the square
cut is no guarantee of managerial skills.
The names of corrupt cricketer-officials
are well known. There is a long road
ahead, mostly uncharted. But a start has
been made. The new system may not be
perfect, but it is better than the old one.
Accountability ensures that.
Secularising polls
The Supreme Court has grappled with the question
whether a provision in electoral law that makes it a corrupt practice to use religion, race, caste or language as
a ground for canvassing votes in an election is a bar limited to the groups to which candidates or their rivals
belong, or whether it is a general prohibition on sectarian appeals. Section 123(3) of the Representation of the
People Act, 1951, as amended in 1961, gave rise to this
doubt. By a four-three majority, a seven-member Bench
has ruled that it is a general prohibition on the use of
religion or any other communal or sectarian value in
the electoral arena. The minority favoured limiting the
ambit of the sub-section to cover only candidates who
sought votes on such grounds, or the rivals they wanted the voters not to back on similar grounds. That secularism is the bedrock of our democracy is undisputed.
That the electoral process ought not to permit appeals
to the electorate on these narrow grounds is equally
beyond doubt. Against this backdrop, it is only logical
that the Supreme Court should decide that it is a "corrupt practice" for candidates to use any caste or communal parameters to canvass for votes or to discredit a
rival, regardless of whether the candidates themselves
belong to such religious, communal or linguistic
groups. It is interesting that the dispute turned on a single pronoun, 'his', that was introduced in the 1961
amendment. The majority opinion favours a 'purposive
interpretation', holding that it covered the candidates as
well as the voter. It finds support in legislative history
and our constitutional ethos. The purpose of the amendment was to widen the scope of the particular corrupt
practice. Given that secularism is a basic feature of the
Constitution, it has been interpreted in the light of
Parliament's intention to prohibit any religious or sectarian appeal for votes. There is a justifiable worry that
a wider interpretation may lead to eliminating from the
poll discourse political issues that turn on religion,
The power of the new 2000-rupee notes at work

In the British comedy 'The Million Pound Note', based on a short
stor y by Mark Twain, the protagonist, Henr y Adams, played by
Gregor y Peck, an impoverished salesman, arrives in England.
However, lady luck smiles at him when he passes the house of two
rich gentlemen, who had wagered a million pounds. He unwittingly gets caught between the two eccentric brothers, who hand over
an envelope containing a one-million pound note to him. They do
not disclose the value of the money that was in the envelope. One
of the brothers, Oliver, has a bet with his brother Roderick
Montpelier that the mere possession of the note will enable Adams
to buy whatever he needs without ever encashing it, while his
brother believes it has to be spent for it to be of any use. Adams is
himself shocked when he discovers the note in the envelope. He
leads a lavish life, staying in a classy hotel, eating in restaurants
and buying clothes. He also falls in love with a rich woman. People
mistake him for an eccentric millionaire and are more than happy
to admit him into social circles. To cut the long stor y short, all hell
breaks loose when the Duke of Frongal, who is meanwhile evicted
from the hotel, decides to hide the note. Adam realises that the possession of the note had not only become troublesome, but led to his
losing his dignity and also love. He then decides to return the note
to the brothers. Recently, my situation also became somewhat similar to what Adam had to go through. It took nearly two hours to withdraw
money from the bank after standing in a line meant for senior citizens.
Surprisingly, in spite of the bank's best intentions, there was only one
teller who was ser ving people standing in the regular queue and the one
meant for senior citizens. By the time my turn came, the teller had run out
of money. However, since he knew me personally, he managed to get a
wad of 2,000-rupee notes, leaving me bereft of smaller denomination cur-
rency. My first stop was the grocer's shop. I bought all items
for our immediate requirement. When I produced the 2,000rupee note, the shopkeeper gave me a wr y smile and told me
he had no change and that I could pay him later. My second
stop was the barber shop. I did not disclose to him that I was
carr ying a 2000-rupee bill, fearing he would refuse to cut my
hair. When I produced the note, which was the unkindest cut
of all, he went on a diatribe against the government.
Fortunately, as I was a regular at the salon he agreed to take
the money later. In both the cases, my personal relations
bailed me out of tricky situations. I realised that our countr y,
that has successfully sent Mangalyaan to the Red planet, has
turned watches into computers, has let down its people when
it came to converting a higher denomination bill. My luck
ran out when I handed over the note to my wife. When she
produced the note to the vegetable vendor, he gave her a
mouthful, and took the vegetables back. This was the last
straw on the camel's back. She admonished me for the
extraordinar y delay in getting the notes converted, and
accused me of being solely responsible for the embarrassment she was put before the vegetable vendor. Like Adams,
I started losing my mind and dignity. I'm just wondering
whether it would be worthwhile to go again to the bank and exchange the
money for smaller denominations, before I lose my dignity and probably
even my wife.
RELIGIOUS
THE SIKH TIMES
Histor y of Guru Govind Singh

The tenth and the last Guru or Prophet-teacher of the
Sikh faith, was born Gobind Rai Sodhi on Poh 7, 1723
sk/22 December 1666 at Patna, in Bihar. His father, Guru
Tegh Bahadur, the Ninth Guru, was then travelling
across Bengal and Assam. Returning to Patna in 1670, he
directed his family to return to the Punjab. On the site of
the house at Patna in which Gobind Rai was born and
where he spent his early childhood now stands a sacred
shrine, Takht Sri Harimandar Sahib, one of the five most
honoured seats of religious authority (takht, lit. throne)
for the Sikhs. Gobind Rai was escorted to Anandpur
(then known as Chakk Nanaki)on the foothills of the
Sivaliks where he reached in March 1672 and where his
early education included reading and writing of Punjabi,
Braj, Sanskrit and Persian. He was barely nine years of
age when a sudden turn came in his life as well as in the
life of tile community he was destined to lead. Early in
1675, a group Kashmiri Brahmans, drivels to desperation
by the religious fanaticism of the Mughals General,
Iftikar Khan, visited Anandpur to seek Guru Tegh
Bahadur's intercession. As the Guru sat reflecting what
to do, young Gobind Rai, arriving there in company with
his playmates, asked Why he looked so preoccupied.
The father, as records Kuir Singh in his Gurbilas
Patshahi 10, replied, "Grave are the burdens the earth
bears. She will be redeemed only if a truly worthy person
comes forward to lay down his head. Distress will then
be expunged and happiness ushered in." "None could be
worthier than yourself to make such a sacrifice,"
remarked Gobind Rai in his innocent manner. Guru Tegh
Bahadur soon aftenwards proceeded to the imperial capital, Delhi, and courted death on 11 November 1675.
Guru Gobind Singh was formally installed Guru on the
Baisakhi day of 1733 Bk/29 March 1676. In the midst of
his engagement with the concerns of the community, he
gave attention to the mastery of physical skills and literary accomplishment. He had grown into a comely youth
spare, lithe of limb and energetic. He had a natural
genius for poetic composition and his early years were
assiduously given to this pursuit. The Var Sri Bhagauti Ji
Ki, popularly called Chandi di Var. written in 1684, was
his first composition and his only major work in the
Punjabi language. The poem depicted the legendary contest between the gods and the demons as described in
the Markandeya Purana . The choice of a warlike theme

for this and a number of his later compositions such as
the two Chandi Charitras, mostly in Braj, was made to
infuse martial spirit among his followers to prepare them
to stand up against injustice and tyranny.
Much of Guru Gobind Singh's creative literary work was
done at Paonta he had founded on the banks of the River
Yamuna and to which site he had temporarily shifted in
April 1685. Poetry as such was, however, not his aim. For
him it was a means of revealing the divine principle and
concretizing a personal vision of the Supreme Being that
had been vouchsafed to him. His Japu and the composition known as Akal Ustati are in this tenor. Through his
poetry he preached love and equality and a strictly ethical and moral code of conduct. He preached the worship
of the One Supreme Being, deprecating idolatry and
superstitious beliefs and observances. The glorification
of the sword itself which he eulogized as Bhaguati was to
secure fulfilment of God'sjustice. The sword was never
meant as a symbol of aggression, and it was never to be
used for self-aggrandizement. It was the emblem of manliness and self-respect and was to be used only in selfdefence, as a last resort. For Guru Gobind Singh said in
a Persian couplet in his Zafarnamah: When all other
means have failed, It is but lawful to take to the sword.
During his stay at Paonta, Guru Gobind Singh availed
himself of his spare time to practise different forms of
manly exercises, such as riding, swimming and archery.
His increasing influence among the people and the martial exercises of his men excited the jealousy of the
neighbouring Rajpat hill rulers who led by Raja Fateh
Chand of Garhval collected a host to attack him. But they
were worsted in an action at Bhangam, about 10 km
northeast of Paonta, on 18 Assu 1745 sk/18 September
1688. Soon there after Guru Gobind Singh left Paonta
and returned to Anandpur which he fortified in view of
the continuing hostility of the Rajput chiefs as well as of
the repressive policy of the imperial government at
Delhi. The Guru and his Sikhs were involved in a battle
with a Mughal commander, Alif Khan, at Nadaun on the
left bank of the Beas, about 30 km southeast of Kangra,
on 22 Chet 1747 Bk/20 March 1691. Describing the battle in stirring verse in Bachitra Natak, he said that Alif
Khan fled in utter disarray "without being able to give
any attention to his camp." Among several other skirmishes that occurred was the Husaim battle (20
Februaly 1696) fought against Husain K an, an imperial
general, which resulted in a decisive victory for the
Sikhs. Following the appointment in 1694 of the liberal
Prince Muazzam (later Emperor Bahadur Shah) as
viceroy of northwestern region including Punjab, there
was however a brief respite from pressure from the ruling authority. In 1698, Guru Gobind Singh issued directions to Sikh sangats or communities in different parts
not to acknowledge masands, the local ministers, against
whom he had heard complaints. Sikhs, he instructed,
should come to Anandpur straight without any intermediaries and bring their offerings personally. The Guru
thus established direct relationship with his Sikhs and
addressed them as his Khalsa, Persian term used for
crown-lands as distinguished from feudal chiefs. The
institution of the Khalsa was given concrete form on 30
March 1699 when Sikhs had gathered at Anandpur in
large numbers for the annual festival of Baisakhi. Gurb
Gobind Singh appeared before the assembly dramatically on that day with a naked sword in hand and, to quote
Kuir Singh, Gurbilas Patshahz 10, spoke: "Is there present a true Sikh who would offer his head to the Guru as
5 Battles in Which Sikhs Were Outnumbered

1) Battle of Chamkaur 43 Singhs Vs 1 million
Mughal Forces on December 6, 1705 in
Chamkaur, Punjab. Only three Singhs survived. Of those martyred two were Guru
Gobind Singh's own sons. Mughal chronicler
described the Sahibzade's fighting valor as a
crocodile parting waters. Read more about it
here: http://sikhism.about.com/od/HistoricEvents/p/Battle-Of-Chamkaur-AndMartyrdom-Of-Elder-Sahibzadas-December1705.htm Battle of Chamkaur Sahib 2) Siege
of Anandpur Sahib May 1705 - December 1705
at Fort Anandpur Sahib, Punjab. The siege
numbered one million soldiers of the Mughal
Imperial Army against 10,000 Sikhs under the
control of the founder of Khalsa Panth, Guru
Gobind Singh Ji. In 1705 Anandpur came
under an extended siege by the allied forces
of the Mughals and the hill chiefs. Provisions
were completely exhausted and the Khalsa
lived on leaves and the bark of trees. The
Sikhs of Majha made up their mind to go
home. The Guru would not let them leave
unless they signed a disclaimer saying that
they were no longer the Sikhs of Sri Guru
Gobind Singh Ji. Out of hundreds of Sikhs,
only forty put their thumb impression on the
disclaimer; they were then permitted to leave
Anandpur. This was during the siege of Sri
Anandpur Sahib, which lasted eight months
long, resulting in about 10,000 Sikh Soldiers
under the 10th Master, Sri Guru Gobind
Singh Ji giving a devastating defeat to the one
million Mughals who had invaded the holy
city. Each of the Hill Rajas, except about three

groups, fought along side the Mughal
Imperial Army. 3) Battle of Wan, 22 Singhs Vs
2,000 Mughal Troops in 1726 at Wan Tara
Singh Village, Taran Taran Distt, Punjab. A
government informer, Chaudhry Sahib Rai of
Naushahra Pannuan, complained to the
Faujdar of Patti, Jafar Begh that Tara Singh
harbored criminals. The faujdar sent a contingent of 25 horse cavalry and 80 foot soldiers
to Wan, but Tara Singh's colleague Sardar met
them in the fields, fought back and routed the
invaders leaving several dead, including their
commander, nephew of the faujdar before
achieving martyrdom himself. Ja'far Begh
reported the matter to Zakariya Khan, who
sent a punitive expedition consisting of 2,000
horses, 5 elephants, 40 light guns, and 4 cannon wheels under orders of his deputy,
Momin Khan. Tara Singh had barely 22 men
with him at that time. They kept the Lahore
force at bay through the night, but were killed
to a man in the hand to hand fight on the following day. Their heads were taken back to
Lahore and thrown in a dr y well where
Gurdwara Shaheed Singhania now stands in
Landa Bazar. The Gurdwara Sahib now marks
the site where the dead bodies of Bhai Tara
Singh and his 20 companions were cremated.
Tara Singh. 4) Battle Defending Darbar Sahib
in Amritsar 1764, 30 Singhs Vs 30,000
Afghans. 30 Singhs Against 30,000 Afghan
Force, Singhs Defended Sri Harmandir Sahib
Ji till Last Breath. Battle is often Described as
Mata Jito/Sundari Ji
Mata JITOJI was ji was the wife of Guru Gobind Singh (16661708), the daughter of Bhai Ram Saran, a Kumarav Khatri of
Bijvara, in present-dayHoshiarpur district of the Punjab. She
was married to Guru Gobind Singh at Anandpur on 4 April
1684. The father-in-law had desired that the bridegroom
should come at the head of a marriage party to Lahore where
the ceremony should be performed with due dignity. The
fateful events leading to the martyrdom of Guru Tegh
Bahadur intervened, and in the changed circumstances it
was not possible for the young Guru to go to Lahore.
Therefore a temporary encampment was raised near the village of Basantgarh, 10 km north of Anandpur, and named
Guru ka Lahore where the nuptials were held on 23 Har 1734
Bk/21 June 1684. Mata Jito ji became Mata Sundari ji after
marriage as was the custom in Punjabi families. On 30th
March 1699, Guru Gobind Singh created Khalsa at
Anandpur. He declared that this Khalsa will be both Saints as
well as Soldiers. When Gobind Singh was preparing amrit
(nectar) for initiating the Khalsa, on this occasion , stirring
clean water in an iron bowl with a khanda or double-edged
sword, Mata Sundari ji, as the tradition goes, came with
sugar crystals (Patasha) which were dropped into the vessel
at the Guru's bidding. Sweetness was thus added to the
alchemy of steel. Mata Sundari ji was the first Khalsa
Woman. Four sons were born to Mata Jitoji/Sundajiji Ajit
Singh, Jujhar Singh (14 March 1691), Zorawar Singh (17
November 1696) and Fateh Singh (25 February 1699). Mata
Sundari Ji raised her four sons on the martyrdom tales of
their grandfather Guru Tegh Bahadur and great great
grandfatherGuru Arjan Dev ji. She told them a Sikh never
runs from a battle field. It was because of her teachings that
all her three sons attained Martyrdom Jujhar Singh when
was only 15 years old fighting with Mughals at Chamkaur,
Zorawar Singh and Fateh Singh who were only 9 and 6 years
old at the hands of Wazir Khan, Mughal Governor of
Sarhind, when the young Sahibzades would not convert to
Islam. Consequent upon the evacuation of Anandpur on the
night of 5-6 December 1705, Mata Sundari, along with Mata
Sahib Devan, was escorted by Bhai Mani Singh to Delhi. She
rejoined Guru Gobind Singh in 1706 at Talvandi Sabo, where
she heard the news of the martyrdom of her sons also of the
death of her aged mother-in-law, Mata Gujari. She went back
to stay at Delhi while Guru Gobind Singh left Talvandi Sabo
for the South. At Delhi, Mata Sundari adopted a young boy
whom she named Ajit Singh because of his resemblance to
her own late son, Sahibzada Ajit Singh. After the passing
away of Guru Gobind Singh at Nanded in October 1708, the
Sikhs looked up to her for guidance. She appointed Bhai
Mani Singh to manage the sacred shrines at Amritsar and
also commissioned him to collect the writings of Guru
Gobind Singh. She also issued under her own seal and
authority hukamnamas to sangats.
a "Marriage with Death." Jathedar Baba

Gurbaksh Singh made a decision to stay at
Harmandir Sahib in 1764 to defend it against a
huge Afgan Force that was approaching. He
led Singhs that fought valiantly against an
Afghan force of 30,000. They defended Darbar
Sahib, and caused heavy causalities in the
Afgan Army. They are remembered as one of
the most fearless Khalsa warriors of all time.
He and other Singhs who stayed became shaheed martyrs for the Chardi Kala spirit of the
Panth. After this Battle, the Khalsa Panth
became stronger then ever. Misls joined
forces which would lead to the Khalsa Raj.
These Sikhs Could have left Darbar Sahib
after the decision of the Sarbatt Khalsa. Their
valor is an example of the kind of Jathedars of
the time who were fearless and stood against
injustice. Shaheed Baba Gurbaksh Singh. 5)
Battle of Saragarhi 21 Singhs Vs 10,000
Afghans in North West Frontier Province of
the British Empire which is now KhyberPakhtunkhwa, Part of Pakistan. The Battle of
Saragarhi fought by The 36th Sikh Regiment
in 1897, is one of the Greatest Battles of All
Time and is recognized By UNESCO and
British Parliament. Though they could have
honorably retreated or surrendered, 21
Singhs chose to defend their post against a
horde of 10,000 enraged Pathans. A Singh at
his signal post was able to relay detailed
minute by minute information about this battalions resistance to attack, until he too gave
his life.
a sacrifice?" The words numbed the audience who looked on in awed silence. The
Gurb repeated the call. At the third call Daya
Ram, a Sobti Khatri of Lahore, arose and
humbly walked behind the Guru to a tent
near by. The Gurb returned with his sword
dripping blood, and asked for another head.
At this Dharam Das, a Jat from Hastinapur,
came forward and was taken inside the
enclosure. Guru Gobind Singh made three
more calls. Muhkam Chand, a washerman
from Dvarka, Himmat, a water-carrier from
Jagannath puri, and Sahib Chand, a barber
from Bidar (Karnataka) responded one after
another and advanced to offer their heads.
All the five were led back from the tent
dressed alike in saffron-coloured raiment
topped over with neatly tied turbans similarly dyed, with swords dangling by their sides.
Guru Gobind Singh then introduced khande
da pahul, i.e. initiation by sweetened water churned with
a double-edged broad sword (khanda). Those five Sikhs
were the first to be initiated. Guru Gobind Singh called
them Panj Piare, the five devoted spirits beloved of the
Guru. These five, three of them from the so-called lowcastes, a Ksatriya and a Jatt, formed the nucleus of the
self-abnegating, martial and casteless fellowship of the
Khalsa. All of them surnamed Singh, meaning lion, were
required to wear in future the five symbols of the Khalsa,
all beginning with the letter K the kes or long hair and
beard, kangha, a comb in the kes to keep it tidy as
against the recluses who kept it matted in token of their
having renounced the world, Kara, a steel bracelet,
kachch, short breeches, and kirpan, a sword. They were
enjoined to succour the helpless and fight the oppressor,
to have faith in one God and to consider all human beings
equal, irrespective of caste and creed. Guru Gobind
Singh then himself received initiatory rites from five disciples, now invested with authority as Khalsa, and had
his name changed from Gobind Rai to Gobind Singh.
"Hail," as the poet subsequently sang, "Gobind Singh
who is himself Master as well as disciple." Further
injunctions were laid down for the Sikhs. They must
never cut or trim their hair and beards, nor smoke tobac-
Why did Guru Gobind

Singh go to Nanded?
Guru Gobind Singh travelled to Nanded
accompanied by Mughal Emperor Bahadur
Shah in 1707-1708. For my readers to understand as to why they came to be together
when the Mughal rulers were otherwise
fighting against the Gurus and their followers, its necessary to briefly know the background leading to this event. And before I go
further, let me clarify that readers should
not confuse the name of Bahadur Shah with
the last Mughal Emperor Bahadur Shah
Jafar. Their rule was almost 150 years apart
and the later was deposed by the British in
1857 after the battle of Delhi and banished to
die a lonely and ignoble death in Rangoon,
Burma (Myanmar). The popularity of Guru
Arjan Dev, the 5th Guru of the Sikhs, caused
much concern to the Mullahs and in particular to Shaikh Ahmad Sirhindi (15691624),
leader of the Naqashbandi School of thought
which countered the liberal policies of
Emperor Akbar reign, the 3rd ruler of the
Mughal dynasty. They all prodded Emperor
Jahangir, the 4th ruler, for strong action
against Guru Arjan Dev. Jahangir wrote in
his autobiography titled Jahangirnama,
The Hindus going to this Guru is understandable but even the stupid Muslims are
going to him. I think I will ask him to either
change his ways or accept Islam. Guru
Arjan Dev was arrested in June 1606 on flimsy charges and as an alternative to being letoff, conversion to Islam was offered. But he
stood his ground and was tortured in
Lahore, now in Pakistan. When extreme torture did not break him, it was decided to
wrap him up in a freshly skinned cowhide
and throw him out in the hot June sun: The
fresh hide would shrink and squeeze him
into submission. Guru Arjan Dev asked for a
last wish to be fulfilled, before certain death:
He wanted to wash off his bloodied body so
that the hide of the holy-cow would not be
defiled. His tormentors found it very amusing and permitted him to enter Ravi River for
a bath which runs west of the city. He went
into Jal Samadhi (Deep Meditation in
Water) and never came out. Gurdwara
Dehra Sahib, Lahore stands on the site of
his martyrdom. Guru Arjan Dev's subject to
torture by the Mughals Guru Arjan Dev was
made to sit upon a hot-plate while he was
offered conversion on Islam for being let-off
Guru Arjan Dev's subject to torture by the
Mughals_2 Hot sand was poured upon Guru
Arjan Dev as he sat upon a hot-plate. By torturing a divine personality of Guru Arjan
Dev eminence, Jahangir had unwittingly
started digging the grave of the Mughal
Dynasty.
11 fascinating facts about Guru

Gobind Singh, the Tenth Sikh Guru
Januar y 16 is celebrated as the birth anniversar y of
Guru Gobind Singh, one of the ten preachers of the Sikh
religion. Guruji was born as Gobind Rai on December 22
in 1666, according to the Julian Calendar. However,
according to the lunar calendar, the day of Januar y 16 is
considered as the birth date of Guru Gobind Singh and
the day is celebrated accordingly. Guru Gobind Singh
was The Tenth Nanak or the last of the Sikh preachers to
live. His teachings have inspired the Sikh community
and others for generations. The Sikh community celebrates this day offering prayers at gurudwaras and
remembering Guruji's words of wisdom. On his 350th
birth anniversar y, we bring to you 10 amazing facts
about Guru Gobind Singh: 1. A LEADER AMONG US
Gobind Rai, who would later be named as Guru Gobind
Singh, was born to the ninth Guru of Sikhism, Guru Teg
Bahadur and Mata Gujri at Patna Sahib or Takht Sri
Patna Sahib (now in Patna). 2. SON OF A MARTYR He
was only nine when he became the Tenth Sikh Guru. He
ascended after his father Guru Teg Bahadur accepted
martyrdom in the hands of Mughal Emperor Aurangzeb
to protect the Kashmiri Hindus. 3. SCHOLAR AND WARRIOR As a child, Guru Gobindh Singh learned many languages including Sanskrit, Urdu, Hindi, Braj, Gurmukhi
and Persian. He also learned martial arts to become
adept in combat. 4. TO THE HILLS Guru Gobindji's
hometown was the city of Anandpur Sahib in the present
Rupnagar disrict in Punjab. He left the town due to a
scuffle with Bhim Chand and proceeded to Nahan, a
place in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, following an invitation of Mat Prakash, the king of Sirmur. 5. PREACHING IN HILLS From Nahan, Guru Gobind Singh proceeded to Paonta, a town beside the river Yamuna in
South Sirmur, Himachal Pradesh. There, he founded the
Paonta Sahib Gurudwara and preached about the Sikh
principles. Paonta Sahib remains an important pilgrim
site for Sikhs. Guru Gobindji also wrote texts and had a
substantial number of followers within three years, the
time he spent there. 6. A FIGHTER In September 1688,
at the age of 19, Guru Gobind Singh fought the Battle of
Bhangani against an allied force of Bhim Chand, Gar wal
king Fateh Khan and other local kings of the Sivalik
Hills. The battle lasted for a day and thousands of lives
were lost. The Guru came out victorious. A description

of the battle can be found in Bichitra Natak or Bachittar
Natak, a part of the Dasham Granth, which is a religious
text attributed to Guru Gobind Singh. 7. RETURN TO
HOME In November 1688, Guru Gobind returned to
Anandpur, which became known as Chak Nanaki, agreeing upon an invitation from the dowager queen of
Bilaspur. 8. FOUNDER OF KHALSA On March 30 in
1699, Guru Gobind Singh gathered his followers to his
home in Anadpur. He asked for a volunteer to sacrifice
his head for his brothers. Daya Ram offered his head and
the Guru took him inside a tent and later emerged with
a bloody sword. He again asked for a volunteer and
repeated the feat. This went on for three more times. At
last, Guru emerged from the tent with the five volunteers
and five headless goats were found in the tent. These
five Sikh volunteers were named as Panj Pyaare or 'five
beloved ones' by the Guru. The five volunteers were

Daya Ram, also known as Bhai Daya Singh; Dharam Das,
also known as Bhai Dharam Singh; Himmat Rai, also
known as Bhai Himmat Singh; Mohkam Chand, also
known as Bhai Mohkam Singh; and Sahib Chand, also
known as Bhai Sahib Singh. They were the first Sikhs. 9.
KHALSA, THE WAY OF LIFE At the gathering of 1699,
Guru Gobind SIngh founded the Khalsa Vani "Waheguru ji ka Khalsa, Waheguru ji ki fateh". He
named all his followers with the title Singh, meaning
lion. He also founded the principles of Khalsa or the Five
'K's. The five 'K's are the five principles of life that are
to be followed by a Khalsa. These include Kesh or hair,
which means to leave the hair uncut to show acceptance
to the form God intended humans to be; Kangha or
wooden comb, as a symbol of cleanliness; Kara or iron
bracelet, as a mark to remind a Khalsa of self-restraint;
Kacchera or knee-length shorts, to be worn by a Khalsa
for being always ready to go into battle on horseback;
and Kirpan, a sword to defend oneself and the poor, the
weak and the oppressed from all religions, castes and
creeds. 10. FIGHTING THE MUGHALS After repeated
conflicts with Gar wali and Mughal leaders, Guru Gobind
Singh wrote a letter to Aurangzeb in Persian, which was
later famously named as Zafarnama or the Epistle of
Victor y, reminding him of the misdeed the Mughals had
done to the Sikhs. He fought against the Mughals later
in battle of Muktsar in 1705. 11. PASSING THE LEGACY
After Aurangzeb's death, Guru Gobind Singh no longer
remained an adversar y to the Mughals. The next
Mughal emperor, Bahadur Shah was friendly with Guru
Gobind at first. He even named the Guru as Hind Ka Pir
or the Saint of India. But later on, Bahadur Shah was
influenced by Wazir Khan, Nawab of Sirhind, to attack
the Sikh community. Wazir Khan sent two Pathan assassins Jamshed Khan and Wasil Beg to attack the Guru
during his sleep at Nanded, the Guru's resting place.
They stabbed Guru Gobind Singh in his sleep. The Guru
killed Jamshed, the attacker, with his sword, while other
Sikh brothers killed Beg. Guru Gobind Singh named
Guru Granth Sahib, the religious text of the Khalsas and
the Sikhs, as the next Guru of the two communities. He
left his bodily form and on October 7 in 1708.
UP & UTTARAKHAND
2007 CRPF camp attack accused

visited Pak, got passport with ISIs help
Vel Arch
Bodh Gaya: Tibetan Spritual Leader Dalai Lama begins to draw the sacred Mandala during the
13-day long 34th Kalchkra iniations at the Kala Chakra ground in Bihar's
Bodgyaya on Wednesday.
RAMPUR, 4 January : Mohammad Faheem Ansari, an

Indian national who was alleged to be a member of
Lashkar-e-Taiba, who was recently acquitted in the 2008
Mumbai attacks case, and is now being tried for his role
in the 2007 attack on CRPF camp in Rampur, visited
Pakistan and obtained a passport there on fake papers,
Manpreet Singh Vohra, then ambassador to Pakistan,
told the court of additional district and sessions judge
here. Vohra, who is now ambassador to Afghanistan, said
he obtained this information with officials in Pakistan at
that time. Public Prosecutor Dalwinder Singh told the
court that Pakistan's ISI had helped Ansari get the passport.Speaking with TOI, additional district government
counsel Dalwinder Singh said, "Manpreet Singh Vohra
had carried out the investigation into a Pakistani passport recovered from Faheem Ansari at the time of his
arrest by the anti-terrorism squad (ATS) and the sleuths
of the special task force on February 10, 2008. At that
time, Vohra was the deputy high commissioner of India
In middle of cycle race, MSY

and Akhilesh hold truce talks
LUCKNOW, 4 January : Hours after it approached the Election Commission in Delhi to
stake claim to the Samajwadi Party and its election symbol, the Akhilesh faction was
back on the negotiating table with party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Tuesday,
keeping political circles agog with possibilities of a truce between the two sides.The
three-hour meeting, which began between Mulayam and Akhilesh with Shivpal joining
them after returning from Delhi, remained inconclusive. Although the Akhilesh camp
agreed to a re-engagement, there was no visible softening of stance. However, the very
fact that they had agreed to meet was seen as a last-ditch effort by the two sides to save
the party symbol from being frozen by the Election Commission -- an eventuality that
could seriously undermine their poll performance.The fear of SP losing its election symbol was echoed by party's Muslim face and minister in the Akhilesh cabinet and an oldtime Mulayam man, Mohammed Azam Khan. He said Muslims in UP, who constitute
19% of the electorate and who had sided with SP in the 2012 assembly polls, identify
Congress appoints 36-member

state election committee for UP
LUCKNOW, 4 January : Congress president Sonia
Gandhi on Tuesday approved a 36-member Pradesh
Election Committee (PEC) for poll-bound Uttar
Pradesh. UP Congress Committee (UPCC) chief Raj
Babbar has been designated chairman, while former
UPCC chief Nirmal Khatri will be the co-chairman of the
PEC. The 36-member PEC also has Congress' chief ministerial candidate Sheila Dikshit, Congress legislature
party leader Pradeep Mathur, Rajya Sabha members
Sanjay Sinh, Pramod Tiwari and PL Punia, and former
MPs Salman Khurshid, Sriprakash Jaiswal, Jitin
Prasada, RPN Singh, Gayadin Anuragi and Mohsina
Kidwai, among others.The PEC has been asked to collect applications from ticket-seekers and recommendations from district and block Congress committees, run
background checks on applicants and make initial recommendations
to
the
Congress
screening
committee.Latest CommentFor the leader of most of
these regional political parties we are NOT an Indian but
a voter of a particular religion, cast. They are all living
the best of the life by dividing and ruling us..... Wis...
Read MoreParvin SinhaThe screening committee will
then recommend a further filtered list of namesone or
two names on ever y seatto the Chief Election
Committtee. Chaired by Sonia, the CEC will then take a
final call on ticket distribution.Sources in the Congress
said Babbar and Khatri had already prepared a preliminary list of Congress probables for forwarding to the
screening committee. The high command may also
appoint the chairperson of the screening committee
shortly.
themselves with the party symbol. The subtext was its absence in elections could hurt
SP's prospects. "The minorities want the SP government to continue in UP," Azam told
reporters in Delhi.SP sources said the Akhilesh camp was unwilling to compromise on
his anoinment as the party president and being the arbiter of ticket distribution, while
the Mulayam camp was adamant that Shivpal be accommodated in the party, at par with
Akhilesh. Later in the evening, Mulayam and Shivpal had another round of meeting
which lasted at 11 pm. The two reportedly discussed the eventuality of going for a parallel preparation for the elections. Meanwhile, Azam announced that he would meet
Mulayam on Wednesday to make on last attempt for a rapprochement.Earlier in the day,
Ram Gopal Yadav, the architect of the coup who has sided with Akhilesh, dismissed
reports of any truce. "UP CM Akhilesh Yadav is the president of the Samajwadi Party
and we have already informed the Election Commission about it," he told reporters in
Delhi.Top CommentUP will remain a sh*thole.
Congress releases earthquake, calls

demonetisation 8/11 on Indian economy
BAREILY, 4 January : In the 16-page booklet titled
"Earthquake: 8/11 Attack on Indian Economy" to be circulated among party workers, the Congress has called
Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move
"the most expensive 50-day PR stunt to project him as an
anti-corruption crusader." The booklet suggests that with
genuine steps to unearth black money, the central government could have created awareness for digital transition without causing alleged damage to the economy and
distress to the common man.The 11-point booklet calls
notebandi a "Modi-made disaster" and claims that the PM
did not consult economists before finalising the move.
Even the chief economic advisor Arvind Subramanian
was kept in the dark, the booklet claims.Citing the example of BJP's Kolkata unit that deposited Rs 3 crore in
banks a day before demonetisation was announced on
November 8, the party claims in the booklet,
"Demonetisation has turned out to be the biggest scam of
independent India."The booklet, which quotes noted
economists like Nobel laureate Amartya Sen, raises questions over the way notebandi was implementation, calling
it a "monumental mismanagement by the BJP government".Taking a dig at the frequent changes in RBI rules
on the note ban, the booklet calls RBI "Reverse Bank of
India" and attacked the central government for "destroying the credibility of the premier institution."
Norms announced for closure

of AKTU eengineering colleges
LUCKNOW, 4 January : In a game-changer, private engineering colleges of of APJ Abdul Kalam Technical
University seeking closure will now have to adhere to a set
of rules and regulations laid down by the state government. Also, colleges will have to ensure adjustment of their
students in other affiliated colleges of AKTU. There are
close to 4 lakh students studying in 600-plus institutions in
Uttar Pradesh.UP's technical education department has
Street vendor killed by ministers driver in Hardoi

LUCKNOW, 4 January : Official vehicle of a UP minister
ran over a street vendor killing him on the spot in Hardoi
district on Monday night. The driver, identified as Mohit
was under the influence of alcohol and was arrested after
public overpowered him.On Monday evening, Mohit was
heading back to the city from Baduan via ShahjahanpurHardoi-Lucknow route in an SUV car that belongs to minister of state of rural development department Omkar
Yadav, an MLA from Sahaswan constituency in Baduan.At
the wheels of the red-beacon car, Mohit ran over Madan
THE SIKH TIMES
Lal (35), a chaat vendor at 8.30pm in Nagkhoti area when

the latter was heading back home. Instead of stopping,
Mohit fled but locals intercepted the vehicle near the
Collectorate.They beat up the driver and two other occupants of the car. little children. District police superintendent and ADM tried to pacify the mob before they could
have set the SUV on fire.Latest CommentDriver thought
HE was the minister after being in so much close contact
with him ?annumallyaMohit was arrested and put in lockup in Hardoi Kotwali.
for the first time framed a policy for private engineering

institutions seeking instant and complete closure. To shut
down, institutes will have to provide branch-wise details of
students enrolled, their category along with scholarship
details, amount earned from students' tuition fee and other
fee, salary of teaching and non-teaching staff and court
cases if any pending against the institution. Furnishing all
details, the institute may apply for closure online and provide a hard copy to the government.Principal secretary
technical education Monika Garg said, "There was no
record of the number of institutions closing down every
year citing shortage of students as reason. Each institution
was doing it individually. All they did was move an application to the university without furnishing any details. The
biggest concern was adjustment of their students in other
institutions, so a need for the policy was felt.''As many as
90% engineering seats remained vacant in the state for academic session 2016-17. There are hardly any takers for
branches like computer sciences, civil and mechanical
engineering in the state colleges. 89% seats are lying
vacant in mechanical and civil engineering streams, while
only 23% candidates confirmed admission to computer science branch of engineering.
in Islamabad."Recommended By ColombiaAccording to
Singh, after the Mumbai attack, both India and Pakistan
governments had exchanged the information through
dossiers where it was revealed that Faheem Ansari had
managed to get the Pakistani passport on fake identities.
Ansari had been earlier accused of conducting reconnaissance for the Mumbai terror attacks of 2008 but was subsequently acquitted of those charges."In his testimony
before the court, Vohra said that the recovered Pakistani
passport had Ansari's photograph under the name of
Hassan Hammad, a resident of Rawalpindi. During the
investigation, Pakistani authorities told the Indian officials that Ansari visited Pakistan and used forged papers
to obtain the passport," Singh told TOI.According to the
ADGC, Faheem Ansari had travelled to Pakistan on an
Indian passport while he came back through Nepal.
Sleuths of ATS had also recovered a pistol from his possession at the time of his arrest from the Rampur bus
stand in February 2008.According to Dalwinder Singh,
all the CRPF camp attack accused Imran Shahzad,
Mohammad Farooq (both Pakistan nationals)
Shahabuddin alias Saba, Jang Bahadur, Mohammad
Sharief, Gulab Khan, Mohammad Quasar and Faheem
Ansari - were produced before the trial court under tight
security. The hearing was carried out and the defence
counsels appearing for the accuseds were also allowed to
cross examine Manpreet Vohra. The next hearing of the
case is on January 16.Seven CRPF jawans and a rickshaw
puller were killed in the terror attack on the CRPF camp
here on December 31, 2007. All the accused were arrested by ATS and UP police within 40 days of the attack.
Three were arrested from Lucknow while five from
Rampur, Including Faheem Ansari.
Four railway officials

suspended in SealdahAjmer train derailment case
KANPUR, 4 January : Four railway officials including
Station Master of Rura railway station have been suspended in the Sealdah-Ajmer derailment case that took
place at Rura railway station. Divisional Railway
Manager, Allahabad division, Sanjay Kumar Pankaj has
suspended these officials. A probe team of North
Central Railways (NCR) observed 'Ultra Sonic Fault' and
found these officials having not done their duty properly in terms of maintaining 'safety'. The derailment had
taken place on December 28 last year at Rura railway station, leaving 68 passengers injured. There was no casualty in the severe train accident but 15 coaches of the
Sealdah-Ajmer express had got derailed.Chief Public
Relations Officer (CPRO), North Central Railways
(NCR), Bijay Kumar informed that four railway officials
including station master Rura on duty Mahesh Kumar
Umar Vaishya, Traffic inspector Dharam Singh Meena,
Senior section engineers - SK Verma and RP Singh have
been suspended. Kumar said that some fault on the part
of these officials has been observed because of which
they have been suspended. He also mentioned that
DRM, Allahabad Division, Sanjay Kumar Pankaj has suspended these officials.He said that the inquiry of
Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was still going
on in the Rura derailment case.
In a first, Lucknow University

to invite kin to convocation
LUCKNOW, 4 January : For the first time in Lucknow
University's history, family members of distinguished
persons after whom LU medals have been named, will
be invited to the convocation. Also, for the first time, all
186 medals will be distributed from the dais on the convocation day. LU medals are named in two ways. One,
LU institutes medals on its own in the name of great personalities. Second, people can donate money to institute
medals in the name of their family members. In LU's history, over 100 medals have been instituted by people in
various departments. "Tracing all families would be difficult but we are trying to reach out and invite as many
as possible through contacts and addresses provided in
LU records," said LU vice-chancellor SP Singh. A separate section, Philanthropic Lobby, with seating arrangement will be made in convocation pandal for these families and LU alumni who are known for their contribution
to the university, he added. Among the families to be
invited are those of paleoboanist Birbal Sahni, physict
Edith Evelyn Wali Mohammad, and zoologist KN Bhal,
all of whom headed departments of their respective
streams at LU.
Cashless health cover for 15 lakh

state employees, pensioners
LUCKNOW, 4 January : From May this year, around 9
lakh state employees and 6 lakh pensioners and their family members will have access to cashless medical services
at the best of hospitals across India.Though no limit has
been fixed to the cost of medical treatment, the facility
would be available for emergency and critical ailment. This
will be possible through the employees' cashless treatment scheme rolled out by the state government here on
Tuesday."The scheme has been approved by the state cabinet and enrolment of state employees has begun," said
Alok Mitra, chief executive officer, State Authority for
Comprehensive Health Insurance, which is coordinating
the implementation of the scheme. Mitra added that enrolment for pensioners will begin in a week's time.Once the
scheme is implemented, a beneficiary will only have to go
to the listed centre and give a thumb impression on a biometric reader to avail the facility (the system is linked to
Aadhaar card).SACHI has entered into several memorandums of understanding (MoUs) with 1,500 hospitals,
including 800 private facilities, across India for the purpose. The list includes centres like CMC Vellore, PGI
Chandigarh and AIIMS, New Delhi in the public sector

and Tata Memorial Hospital, Medanta Medicity in
Gurugram, Narayana Health hospitals in Bengaluru from
the private hospitals."A host of health services have been
covered in the two categories. Emergency services
include cases of accident, angioplasty, valve replacement,
etc, while critical ailments like joint replacement and organ
transplant have been covered too," said Mitra.Officials at
SACHI informed that enrolment will have to be done
through their website. One needs to click the link for the
scheme where details like name, employee identity number, department, address, etc are to be filled. Details of
family members will have to be entered thereafter.A system generated link containing a login identity and a password confirming registration would be sent to the applicant, while the details would be forwarded to the drawing
and disbursing officer (in case of employees) and chief
treasury officer (for pensioners) for verification. Once this
is done, an insurance identity card would be emailed to the
applicant."The system has fixed time for clearance of documents at the end of DDO/CTO.
Bikaner: Eunuchs dance as they take part in a Kalash procession on the occasion of the All India
Eunuchs Conference, in Bikaner on Wednesday.
INTERNATIONAL
THE SIKH TIMES
Modi's war on cash pushes

Indian eco into contraction: Hanke
Washington: House Paul Ryan of Wis. places his hand over his heart as he thanks the members of the
House of Representatives following his re-election to his leadership position, during a ceremony in the
House Chamber on Capitol Hill in Washington.
Suspected rebels
storm Philippine jail
KIDAPAWAN JANUARY 04: Nearly 160 inmates
escaped after suspected rebels attacked a jail in the
southern Philippines before dawn on Wednesday, and at
least six people were shot dead as pursuing government
forces traded fire with gunmen. Acting provincial jail
warden Peter John Bongngat Jr. said a guard was killed
and an inmate was wounded in a gunbattle when dozens
of gunmen stormed the North Cotabato District Jail in
Kidapawan in one of the countrys biggest jailbreaks in
recent years. Kidapawan city in Cotabato Province is
about 930 kilometers or 580 miles southeast of the capital Manila. Bongngat and Kidapawan police chief Leo
Ajero said gunfire continued for hours after the attack as
army troops and police, some in armoured tanks, hunted through the surrounding forests for the 158 escaped
inmates and the gunmen who freed them. Local village
leader Alexander Austria told The Associated Press by
telephone that he and his men captured one escaped
man. We heard the gunfire and we sprang into action to
guard our village, Austria said. We were afraid the
escapees could try to enter our village to hide or take
hostages.
Washington, Jan 4 : Criticising

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's
decision to demonetise higher value
currency notes, noted American
economist Steve H Hanke today said
India's "war on cash" has pushed its
economy into contraction as anticipated. "#Modi has officially steered
#India s economy into contraction as
a result of his war on cash. Just what
I anticipated would happen," Hanke,
an American applied economist at
the Johns Hopkins University in
Baltimore, Maryland said in a series
of tweets. "Manufacturing takes the
hit as the war on cash in #India
adversely impacts the economy.
#Modi," he added. Hanke, who is
also a Senior Fellow and Director of
manufacturing sector contracted in

December as new work orders and
output took a knock for the first time
in 2016. The Nikkei Markit India
Manufacturing
Purchasing
Managers' Index (PMI) -- an indicator of manufacturing activity -- fell to
49.6, down from 52.3 in November.
The index came in below the crucial
50 threshold -- which separates contraction from expansion -- for the first
time in 2016 in December.
WikiLeaks urges leaks of

departing Obama White House docs
Washington, Jan 4 : 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 secret-spilling 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 National 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
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 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
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.
Malaysia's worst flooding in
decades in 2014 forced some
118,000 people to flee. Prime
Minister Najib Razak came

under fire after photos
showed him golfing with US
President Barack Obama during the emergency. With a
snap general election expected this year, Najib will visit
Terengganu and Kelantan on
Saturday to oversee the evacuations, his aide said. Votes
from the two states will be crucial for the ruling United
Malays National Organisation.
Floods have also struck 10 villages in Malaysia's Sabah
state on Borneo island due to
heavy rain, the official
Bernama news agency reported.
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-year-old
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." "But if it did, the accusation is that the true statements of
Hillary Clinton and her campaign manager, John Podesta, and the DNC head
Debbie Wasserman Schultz, their true
statements is what changed the election."
He said his organization was not political
in nature but aimed to provide facts governments do not. "We have a perfect
record, authenticating the information we
publish," Assange said. "We try to preserve that reputation. What else do we
have a record for?" Assange is wanted for
questioning in Sweden into allegations by
a woman who accused him of rape during
a 2010 visit to Stockholm. He has denied
the allegation, insisting they had consensual sex. He has refused to travel to
Sweden for questioning, fearing he would
be extradited to the United States over
WikiLeaks' release of 500,000 secret military files on the wars in Afghanistan and
Iraq in 2010.
Indonesia suspends military

cooperation with Australia
Malaysia floods force 23,000 to leave homes

Kuala Lumpur, Jan 4 : 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
the Troubled Currencies Project at

the Cato Institute in Washington, DC
further said, "Demonetization will
cause #India to slip from the leaders
board for economic growth in
#2017." Referring to interest rate cut
by some Indian banks post demonetisation, the eminent economist
said,'Indian #banks have slashed
interest rates to stave off economic
decline and to spark investment. A
#demonetization disaster @zerohedge." Prime Minister Narendra
Modi on Novermber 8 had
announced demonetisation of Rs
1,000 and Rs 500 notes making them
invalid in a major assault on black
money, fake currency and corruption. Following demonetisation, the
JAKARTA JANUARY 04: Indonesia said on

Wednesday that it had suspended military cooperation with Australia over an alleged insult of
Indonesian state ideology. Indonesian military
spokesman Major General Wuryanto said that
cooperation has been suspended indefinitely, and
that the decision was made after considering
many matters. Although Maj. Gen. Wuryanto
declined to give the exact reason for the decision,
he said among the factors were reports of an
Indonesian instructor saying that a laminated
paper displayed at the Australian Special Forces
base where he worked was insulting. This is not
a protest ... we would like to establish a useful
cooperation for the two nations based on mutual
respect, Maj. Gen. Wur yanto told The
Associated Press. Technically, it is not running
well. Australian Defence Minister Marise Payne
said in a statement that Indonesia had informed
Australia of the decision. Some interaction

between the two militaries has been postponed
until the matter is resolved. Cooperation in other
areas is continuing, Ms. Payne said. According
to Indonesian media reports, the allegedly insulting paper displayed at the Special Forces base
contained words that demeaned Pancasila, a set
of vague principles that mandates belief in one
God and unity among Indonesias 250 million
people. Ms. Payne said Australias army has
looked into the serious concerns that were
raised and the investigation into the incident was
being finalised. Military ties between the two
nations had been improving since 2013, after
Indonesia downgraded its relations with Australia
over the alleged bugging of phones belonging to
Indonesias then-President Susilo Bambang
Yudhoyono, his wife and members of his inner
circle in 2009.
IWT: US asks India, Pak to Turkey warns Syria talks at

work together to resolve issue
risk over truce violations
Washington, Jan 4 : US Secretary of State
John Kerry spoke to Pakistani Finance
Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar over
phone on Indus Water Treaty issue and
encouraged both the South Asian neighbours to work together to resolve their
differences. "I can confirm that he
(Kerr y) did speak on the 29th of
December with Finance Minister Dar. "I
am not going to read that out in any great
detail," State Department spokesperson
John Kirby told reporters at his daily
news conference. "The Indus Waters
Treaty has served, as a model for peaceful cooperation between India and
Pakistan for now 50 years. "We encourage, as we have in the past, India and
Pakistan to work together to resolve any

differences," Kirby said. However, he
refused to entertain questions on if the
US has offered help to India and Pakistan
resolve the issue. "As I said, we encourage India and Pakistan to work together
bilaterally to resolve their differences,"
he said. "We are in regular communication with the Indian and Pakistani governments on a wide range of issues," Kirby
said. Earlier, Pakistan had sought support
of the US on the implementation of the
Indus Waters Treaty (IWT) with India
even as Secretary of State John Kerry
had called for an amicable settlement of
the issue between New Delhi and
Islamabad.
Correspondent
Ankara, Jan 4 : Turkey today warned that
planned Syrian peace talks co-sponsored by
Russia were at risk, calling on the Damascus
regime of President Bashar al-Assad to halt violations of a ceasefire. Foreign Minister Mevlut
Cavusoglu said Iran, the main backer of Assad
along with Russia, must put pressure on allied
Shiite militias to abide by the truce that is to
form the basis for a ceasefire. If the truce is
properly observed, he said the peace talks
would start on January 23 in Kazakhstan's capital Astana under the auspices of Turkey and
Russia. "If we do not stop the increasing violations, the Astana process could fail. After the
ceasefire, we see violations," Cavusoglu told
the state-run Anadolu news agency in an interview. "When we look at who commits these violations, it is Hezbollah, in particular Shiite
groups and the regime," he added, referring to
the powerful Lebanese Shiite movement supporting Damascus. Last month, a process sponsored by regime ally Russia and rebel backer
Turkey saw the start of a truce which is meant
to lead to negotiations in Astana this month.
But earlier this week, the process was already
under threat after a dozen Syrian rebel factions
suspended talks on negotiations accusing
Assad of violating the four-day-old ceasefire.
Cavusoglu called on Iran to "put pressure on
Shiite militias and the regime" to stop such violations. The deal, brokered by Turkey and
Russia, saw a ceasefire begin late December

and the "main forces of the armed opposition"
sign a document expressing a readiness to
start peace talks. While Moscow is Assad's
most powerful ally, Turkey has repeatedly
called for Assad to go. But as the countries continue their warming relationship, they have
been working together closely on Syria.
Moscow and Ankara are guarantors of the talks
and the ceasefire but Tehran, conspicuously, is
not. Cavusoglu also said Russian officials
would be coming to Turkey on January 9 and
10 to discuss the Astana process. More than
310,000 people have been killed and millions
forced to flee their homes since the conflict
broke out in March 2011.
China to launch record number

of 30 space missions this year
BEIJING: JANUARY 04: They will
be launched by Long March-5
Chinas largest carrier rocket and
Long March-7 rocket. China plans to
conduct a record number of 30
space launch missions this year as
part of its efforts to expand its ambitious space programme, authorities
said. The record-breaking space
launches will be launched by Long
March-5 and Long March-7 rockets,
China Aerospace Science and
Technology Corporation said. Long
March-5 is Chinas largest carrier
rocket. The successful test launch of
the vehicle in November in South
Chinas Hainan Province will pave
the way for space station construction, state-run China News Service
reported. China recently released an
official white paper on its space missions stating that it will launch a
lunar probe in 2018 to achieve the
worlds first soft landing on the far
side of the Moon and a mission to

Mars in the same year. Wang Yu,
general director of the Long March-5
programme, has said 2017 is a critical year for Chinas new generation
of carrier rockets and the Long

March-5 rockets will carry Change-5
probe to the space, adding the probe
will land on the Moon, collect sam-
ples and return to Earth. On the

other hand, Long March-7, the more
powerful version of Long March-2,
will send Chinas first cargo spacecraft Tianzhou-1 into the space in the
first half of 2017, according to Wang
Zhaoyao, director of China Manned
Space Engineering Office. Tianzhou1 is expected to dock with Tiangong2 space lab and conduct experiments
on propellant supplement. China
conducted 22 launch missions in
2016 and 19 in 2015. The country
successfully tested its Long March-7
rocket in June last year and has gradually shifted to new generation rockets that reduce the use of toxic rocket fuels. In the next five years, China
plans to provide space and aviationrelated ser vices to countries
involved in the One Belt and One
Road initiative, such as satellite communications, navigation and weather
forecasting analysis.
Flat Rock: Ford President and CEO Mark Fields addresses the Flat Rock Assembly Tuesday, Jan. 3,
2017, in Flat Rock, Mich. Ford is canceling plans to build a new $1.6 billion factor y in Mexico and
will invest $700 million in a Michigan plant to build new electric and autonomous vehicles. The factor y will get 700 new jobs.
THE SIKH TIMES
BUSINESS
10
2017 needs return

of top tech investors
Washington DC: Indian American Congressman from Illinois Raja Krishnamurti at the Indiaspora Gala in
Washington DC on Tuesday.
MUMBAI, 4 January : Indian startups, which did not

break a sweat to raise capital in 2014-15, saw the balance
of power shift to investors in the past year. Most significantly, the fat cat, large cheque writers and a string of
hedge funds, which aided the headiness in the market,
cooled off completely resulting in a prolonged uncertainty in the ecosystem.Tiger Global, the biggest shareholder in Flipkart, took a wager on 17 new companies in 2015,
creating a never-seenbefore euphoria among local startups and fuelling valuations even for young companies.
The New York-based investment fund pulled back to the
extent of not making any investments last year.Ditto for
Japan's SoftBank and Yuri Milner's DST Global, both of
which made zero fresh investments in 2016.Data gleaned
from venture capital funds indicated the average round
size for companies that raised more than $35 million
stood at a little under $89 million last year against nearly
$124 million a year ago. As many as 25 startups were able
Mid-level professionals were in

demand in 2016, RecruiteX report says
CHENNAI, 4 January : The recruitment indices for December 2016 show an inclination
towards hiring experienced professionals, with an 11% rise in demand for mid-level professionals who have 2-5 years of experience.Professionals with 10-20 years of experience saw 10% rise in demand and those with over 20 years of experience also saw 9%
rise in demand in December 2016."Professionals with 2 to 5 years of experience have
the right combination of experience, energy and passion to adapt quickly, pick up new
skills and capitalise on training and development opportunities to accelerate both their
own and the company's growth," says Nilanjan Roy, head of strategy, Times Business
Solutions.'Recruitment Practices Survey 2016' with inputs from over 800 employers captures how recruitments panned out over the year. The findings of this survey corroborated facts from December 2016 RecruiteX report with 60% surveyed employers claiming that middle level staff was indeed the most hired experience category of 2016, followed by junior level employees (25%) and senior staff (15%).Among industries, IT,
BPO/ITeS, automobile, BFSI and healthcare sectors mostly hired for the mid-level
while manufacturing and retail sectors hired most at junior levels.2016 was a better hiring year compared to 2015According to the RecruiteX report, hiring posted an average
2% rise during Nov-Dec 2016. While November saw a 10% rise in demand, December
2016 registered a 6% drop. Nonetheless, overall 2016 was a better year for recruitment
than 2015, according to the 'Recruitment Practices Survey 2016' with nearly 60%
employers saying that overall hiring improved in 2016, in comparison to 2015.Of the 60%
employers who said hiring improved in 2016, 75% said it was up by less than 5%, 20% said
IndiGo, SpiceJet raise red flag

over FDI norms in aviation
NEW DELHI, 4 January : 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 carriers.Spicejet CMD
Ajay Singh and IndiGo president Aditya
Ghosh have recently raised this issue during
their meeting with Commerce and Industry
Minister Nirmala Sitharaman. During the
meeting, the two airlines said aviation is a
"sensitive sector" and the FDI policy relaxation would have "security implications",
according to sources. Spokespersons of
IndiGo and SpiceJet could not be immediately reached for comments.The meeting also
assumes significance as the government is
considering removal of an anomaly restrict-
ing foreign direct investment (FDI) in the

civil aviation sector.The sector is faced with a
Catch-22 situation where a foreign investor,
excluding overseas airlines, can acquire up
to 100 per cent stake in a local carrier.
However, at present they cannot seek a
scheduled operator's permit since it can only
be given to a company where substantial
ownership and effective control is in the
hands of Indian nationals. Restricts and prevents foreign investors from acquiring a
domestic airline, there is a need to amend
Aircraft Rules, 1937, to facilitate FDI in the
sector. Due to this anomaly, the moment foreign investors buy 51 per cent or a controlling stake in a domestic airline, the scheduled air operator permit gets withdrawn.
FDI up 27% at $ 27.82 billion

in Apr-Oct this fiscal
NEW DELHI, 4 January : 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
(DIPP).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. Foreign
investments are considered crucial for India, which
needs around $1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure
sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost
growth.
it was up by between 5% and 10%, and 5% said it grew by over 10%.About 10% said hiring
was comparatively slower than last year while 30% said it was stable and no major
changes were recorded.Industry-wise analysis revealed that 60% IT sector and BFSI
sector employers stated hiring was up in 2016, compared to 2015, 50% employers in the
manufacturing sector said it was up, 70% of healthcare sector employers said it was up
and 50% BPO/ITeS employers said hiring was higher this year compared to 2015.About
50% employers of automobile sector said hiring was stable in their sector and there were
no major changes in hiring volume compared to 2015.
to rack up more than $35 million against 40 in 2015, even

as average deal sizes across early stages remained largely unaffected.While Chinese investors like Tencent and
strategics such as South Afri ca's Naspers stepped in to
fill the void through a mix of late-stage financing and
mergers and acquisitions (M&As), the repercussions of
a prolonged dearth of heavyweight investors backing
companies to scale up to the next stage will start to
become more acute in this year.An investor in a global
tech fund, which has a substantial exposure to India, said
capital is critical for consumer internet businesses to
build infrastructure and to bring users online through
discounting in markets like India."It was a similar situation in China between 2007 and 2013 when they needed
billions of dollars to build the market. Global sentiments
will also need to pick up and that may happen with a successful Snapchat IPO.We would need a trigger," he said.
Investor pullback was evi dent throughout 2016 in the US
as well, where cros sover funds that had fuelled the latestage boom slowed down considerably even as they readjusted their portfolios by marking down valuations of
their companies."This ecosystem behaves like a food
chain and when any part of it gets disrupted, it obviously
has upstream or downstream effects. In 2016, it required
VCs to reserve a lot more capital for their portfolio companies and therefore less capital was available for new
investments. Even as one wants to think independently
as a VC, and back one's conviction as a founder -reality is
that the food chain till IPO exists for a reason," said
Avnish Bajaj, MD at early-stage fund Matrix Partners
India, which has backed Ola, Practo and Quikr, among
others.While these investors turned cautious, Amazon
and Uber, which are fighting a bit ter battle with Indian
rivals Flipkart and Ola respectively, strengthened their
commitment locally .
Best investment options

for millennials in 2017
New Delhi, 4 January : India's 700 million millennials are transforming the
way business is done. By 2021, over 64 per cent of India's workforce will
be below the age of 30. With unique consumption patterns and fast-paced
lifestyles, millennials are redefining the investment landscape in
India.Millennial investors are a study in contradictions. Young and entrepreneurial, most millennials embrace risk if it means high payoffs in the
short-term. But with sustainability and social impact also high on their list
of priorities, stable investment options that promise assured long-term
gains are also popular. With this in mind, let's take a look at 5 of the best
investment options for millennial investors in 2017.ELSS Mutual
FundsELSS or equity-linked savings schemes are a type of diversified
mutual fund that offer the highest returns (14 per cent - 16 per cent) of
any investment instrument. An ELSS Systematic Investment Plan allows
small amounts to be invested every month, giving millennial investors the
flexibility to enjoy the benefits of investing even as they finance their lavish lifestyles.Life InsuranceAlthough life insurance penetration in India
remains below a dismal 3 per cent, ambitious millennials in it for the long
haul are increasingly turning to life insurance policies as a viable, attractive investment instrument. While many view it as a way to secure their
financial independence, others consider it a means to achieve long-term
goals, such as planning an early retirement.For adrenaline junkies and the
more adventurously-inclined among millennials, life insurance policies
are a no-brainer.As with other investment options, life insurance policies
qualify for tax exemption. Investors can claim exemptions on life insurance premium payments up to Rs 1.5 lakh under section 80C in the name
of the taxpayer, taxpayer's spouse or children.Unit Linked Insurance
PlansFor investors looking for the best of both worlds, United Linked
Insurance Plans (ULIPs) are worth exploring. ULIPs provide risk cover to
the investor that is supplanted with qualified investments into stocks,

mutual funds, or bonds.ULIP investments are also eligible for tax savings,
with up to to Rs 1.5 lakh exempt from taxable income under Section
80C.Employee Provident Fund (EPF)Unpopular among millennial
investors as it may be, the Employee Provident Fund is nevertheless a
good alternative to the capital market for those looking for a robust investment option and a healthy retirement fund.Top CommentULIP Big NO
NO You end up only Paying charges :)Kautilllya RajFixed Deposits Fixed
deposits offer a higher rate of returns than savings accounts and are a
great choice for risk-averse millennial investors.The longer lock-in period
of 5 years might put off anyone looking for quick gains, but an increasing
number of young investors are beginning to realize the benefits of investing into fixed deposits. With their long tenure, FDs encourage a savings
habit and instill a sense of financial discipline in a generation accustomed
to living beyond their means.
Rupee bounces 12 paise

on dollar's global weakness
MUMBAI, 4 January : The rupee firmed up by 12 paise to 68.21 against
the US dollar on Wedesday at the Interbank Foreign Exchange after selling of the American currency by exporters and banks intensified.Dealers
said fresh selling of the American unit and the dollar's weakness against
other currencies overseas, barring yen, gave the rupee more
muscle.Further, a higher opening in the domestic equity market supported the rupee uptrend, they added. Latest CommentHope theres a rollback on fuel prices expected due to rupee bouncing back as well!
Centre, states agree upon contours of GST

laws but April deadline looks difficult
NEW DELHI, 4 January : Making further progress towards the goods and services tax
regime, the Centre and states broadly finalised the contours of the law that will govern this
levy. But states raised a few more issues, even as the contentious one on tax administration remained unresolved. A number of states said the April 1 deadline to roll out GST
looked difficult to meet and that a realistic target could be June or July.Still, the eighth
meeting of the GST Council reached consensus on most of the provisions of integratedGST, the law for interstate sales, and other issues related to the central GST and state GST
previously left undecided.Parliament will need to pass the I-GST and central GST laws
before the tax system can be implemented. States will need to pass state GST rules. The
council will meet on Wednesday to deliberate the issue of administration of the tax, the
issue of dual control.April 1 rollout of GST definitely not possible, said Thomas Isaac,
Keralas finance minister. Gujarat finance minister said it could even be September.The
West Bengal finance minister said the council did not even touch on the issue of dual control, which was fundamental to the GST rollout, and that slabs on 1,500 items were yet to
be decided. We cannot have a GST that is non-sustainable, flawed and states will not give
up their rights, Amit Mitra said, adding that the demonetisation tsunami derailed the
process.Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia said there may be a one- or twomonth delay from April 1.The finance minister in BJPruled Haryana, Abhimanyu Singh
Sidhu, said the draft of the model integrated-GST was more-or-less finalised. He was also
optimistic that the dual control issue would be resolved on Wednesday.Realistically speaking, it is a difficult deadline (April 1). But I would still not say it is absolutely unlikely. I still
see it as a possibility, he said.Six sectors including banking and insurance, IT and telecom,
and civil aviation made presentations before the GST Council, pressing for a single registration either with Centre or states under the new regime.COMPENSATIONThe largely
settled issue of compensation was raised again as some states argued that a Rs 55,000
crore fund proposed via the cess on luxury and sin goods may not be sufficient.States that
arent ruled by the BJP said post demonetisation, their revenue loss would go up and states
could together lose as much as Rs 90,000 crore.
After several exits, Tata Sons now

seeks to oust Cyrus Mistry from board
MUMBAI | AHMEDABAD, 4 January : Tata Sons has
served a notice to remove former chairman Cyrus
Mistry from its board as the battle between the two
camps threatens to sever the Mistry familys direct
involvement in the board decisions of the Tata Groups
holding company.Two top people in the know told ET
that a notice was sent to Mistry on Tuesday. The decision
to remove him was in the works, but a meeting on
Tuesday morning of senior members of the Tata Group
finally decided to bite the bullet and start the process of
expelling Mistry from the position he has held since
2006.A formal meeting of shareholders to ratify the move
will be held in early Februar y after the National
Company Law Tribunal hears the petition filed by Mistryfamily owned entities against Tata Sons on January
31.Mistry, the scion of the Pallonji Mistry family, is Tata
Sons largest individual shareholder along with brother
Shapoor Mistry. They together own 18.4 per cent of Tata
Sons equity.This development may not come as a sur-
prise to many following the recent events at Tata Group.

The Mistry camp has hurled accusations at Ratan Tata
and the Tata Group over many alleged misdemeanours,
which are likely to have hurt the 149-year-old groups
image. In an interview to ET on December 19, the day he
stepped down from the operating companies of Tata
Group, Mistry had said he had no plans to leave the Tata
Sons board. No I wont. Not unless they plan to throw
me out, he had said.In an email response, Tata Sons
said: No such decision (to remove Mistry from the
board) has been taken by the Tata Sons board.In recent
days, the Tata Group and Cyrus Mistrys office have
been exchanging legal notices. Such reckless failure on
your part in discharging your fiduciary, legal and contractual duties has caused irreparable harm and damage
to Tata Sons and the Tata Group and our client intends to
exercise all legal rights and pursue all remedies, said a
notice issued by law firm Shardul Amarchand Mangaldas
on behalf of Tata Sons.
Mumbai : Bollywood actor Aamir Khan along with his wife Kiran Rao and music composers Ajay Gogavale and Atul
Gogavale during the launch of a music video shot.
SPORTS
THE SIKH TIMES
11
Coe says sport must

innovate, backs new Bolt event
Sydney: Pakistan's Younis Khan ducks under a deliver y from Australia's Mitchell Starc during their
cricket test match in Sydney, Australia, Wednesday.
Smashers sail
past the Blasters
MUMBAI:
JANUARY 04: Chennai
Smashers, powered by controlled performances from P. Kashyap, P.V. Sindhu and the
doubles pair of Chris Adcock and Gabrielle
Adcock, marched ahead 4-0 after just three
matches before eventually winning 5-0
against Bengaluru Blasters in the Vodafone
Premier Badminton League. Denmarks rising talent Viktor Axelsen defeated Tommy
Sugiarto in straight games for Bengalurus
first point, whose decision to name the concluding mens doubles tie as the Trump
match featuring Koreans Yeon Seong Ho and
Sung Hyun Ho proved wrong. Chris Adcock
could do no wrong, playing his part to perfection in the doubles contests. Sindhu turned
out be the ace in the Smashers pack, winning
the Trump tie against the gritty Hong Kong
player Cheung Ngan Yi 12-10, 11-6. The lithe
Indian overcame moments of self-doubt to
register her first victory of this edition.
Cheung surged to a 5-0 lead and was up 6-3 at
the break before the Indian, cheered on by
the fans, clawed back.
Correspondent
Sydney, Jan 4 : World athletics
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. IAAF president Coe said the
new-look format across three days
was exactly what the sport needed
to keep fans interested. "Athletics,
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. "We
need brave, bold ideas that engage
fans in events and across a range of
platforms. The only thing stopping
us is our imagination and the
courage to try something new." The
meet will involve 24 athletes, both
men and women, with all eyes on
Bolt who will kick off preparations
for what is expected to be his final
major competition, the world championships in London in August. The
Nitro series will take place at
Melbourne's Lakeside Stadium on
February 4, 9 and 11, with Coe
attending the final day.
Women boxers gear up for season-opening assignment in Serbia

Correspondent
New Delhi, Jan 4 : Their season-opening
assignment in Serbia just five days away,
India's women boxers are sweating it out in
two shifts in the ongoing national camp, reinvigorated by a brand new coaching and support staff headed by the long-serving former
men's coach Gurbax Singh Sandhu. With a
team of 16 coaches to assist the 70 boxers
training at the Indira Gandhi Indoor
Stadium, women boxers have unanimously
given a thumbs up to the change that has
taken place. The coaching staff was
revamped by the Boxing Federation of India,
which took charge of the sport in September
last year, ending four years of administrative
bedlam. For the tournament in Serbia which
starts January 9, only the national champions have been picked in a bid to incentivise
participation in the National Championships,
which had suffered in the past owing to
dwindling participation of the established
stars. "It's been a fantastic experience to par-
ticipate in the camp so far. There is increased

focus on strength training and we are being
constantly monitored for what we are doing
right or where we are going wrong. There is
greater stress on putting a system in place,"
former junior world champion Nikhat
Zareen, who won a bronze medal at the
Nationals, told PTI. Sandhu was in charge of
men's boxing for over two decades before
being shifted to the women's camp and has
with him a team of 7 men and 8 women to
run the camp. The veteran, who is a
Dronachar ya awardee, is handling a
women's camp for the first time and said he
has adjusted well to the change. "We are
doing tests and measurements to assess the
boxers and that will prove to be crucial in
getting the best out of them. I am focussed
on putting a strong system in place," Sandhu
said. The assistant coaches in the team
include accomplished names such as
Dronacharya awardees Jagdish Singh and
Jaydev Bisht, India's first Commonwealth
Handscomb cruises after

Renshaw falls for 184
Correspondent
Sydney, Jan 4 : Peter Handscomb posted his
fourth half-century in four Tests as Australia
pressed on after the loss of young opener Matthew
Renshaw in the third Test against Pakistan today.
Handscomb, brought into the Australian team with
Renshaw in a shake-up after the Hobart Test debacle against South Africa in November, was working
towards his second Test century on the second
day. At lunch, Australia had progressed from their
overnight 365 for three to 454 for four with
Handscomb on 83 and debutant Hilton Cartwright
looking solid on 25. The home side added 89 runs
in the first session off 29 overs under sunny skies.
Renshaw's epic knock ended inside the first halfhour when he played paceman Imran Khan on to
his stumps for 184. The 20-year-old rookie'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 fellow newcomer Handscomb, who
raised his fourth 50 off 109 balls. Zimbabwe-born
Cartwright, brought in for Nic Maddinson at number six for the Sydney Test, caressed a sweet cover
drive for four from his first ball in Test cricket off
Mohammad Amir. But Cartwright had an escape
on 25 just before the break when dropped by veteran Younis Khan at slip off Azhar Ali. The powerfully-built all-rounder shared in a 68-run stand with
Handscomb for the fifth wicket. Pakistan were
showing the gruelling effects of the back-to-back
Boxing Day-New Year Tests with Amir and legspinner Yasir Shah nursing leg injuries and paceman Wahab Riaz leaving the field holding his right
side.
Games silver-medallist Mohd Ali Qamar, former World silver-medallist N Usha, and
Asian quarterfinalist and multiple-time
national champion Chhote Lal Yadav among

others. An average day starts at 6:30 in the
morning for the girls, who undergo training
and physical conditioning for close to three
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 39year-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 leg-slip 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
hours in the first shift. They reassemble for

another round of training in the afternoon
session. In addition to this, individual training is handed out to the girls twice in a week
and they also undergo lectures on technical
rules. "Earlier, there used to be just one programme and we would work on it through
the year but now, there is diverse approach
and we are experimenting in our training.
Like, there is emphasis on strength right
now before we eventually move to competitive training ahead of tournaments," said a
boxer, requesting anonymity. Three rings in
place to handle the load of 70 campers and
the boxers are also quite pleased with the
increased coaching staff which is ensuring
better attention to all. "It is a pleasant change
for us, there is equal focus on all the girls
and that is helping us stay motivated. In fact,
there are motivational lectures twice a week
which is quite good," said another boxer,
who did not wish to be named. The team for
Serbia will leave on the night of January 8.
Ganguly dismisses suggestion

he is front-runner for top job
Kolkata, January 4: The transition
phase for the Board of Control for Cricket
in India (BCCI) will be dictated by the
administrators who will take over soon. It
was learnt on Tuesday that the process of
transferring power to the new set of
office-bearers is to be finalised under the
supervision of the administrators. It is a
long way off, said a source when asked
who the next president could be.
According to sources in the Lodha
Committee, the administrators, to be
picked by senior advocate Gopal
Subramanium and Anil Divan, would run
the cricket affairs in the country until
things are in place for a new set of officebearers to take over. There is no need for
an interim president if none qualifies to be
one. The administrators are competent
enough to form a panel that will oversee
the conduct of the game. The new officebearers are to be elected on the basis of
the new constitution that will be uniform
and binding on all the State associations,
said the source. The process would begin
with the appointment of administrators.
Fresh elections will be held for the officebearers under the supervision of the
Lodha panel. Cricket wont be disturbed
because competent people would be in-
Azhar, Younis lead Pakistan

fightback after Aussies declare
Correspondent
Sydney, Jan 4 : Azhar Ali 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
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
(184) in another huge Australia

innings against the beleaguered
tourists. The 25-year-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.
charge before the new set of office-bearers take over the responsibility, the
source confirmed. Speculation had been
rife that the senior-most vice-president of
the Board would replace Anurag Thakur
as the interim president. But it is understood that no such move was on the anvil
as far as the Lodha Panel was concerned.
None of them (vice-presidents) meets
the criteria set by the Supreme Court ruling, asserted the source. Even as Sourav
Gangulys name cropped up, he was
quick to dismiss the suggestion that he
was a frontrunner for the post of Boards
president even though he qualifies.
Bhambri knocks out

off-colour Ramkumar
CHENNAI: JANUARY 04: At
the Aircel Chennai Open,
Ramkumar Ramanathans stock in
the recent years has been built on
one memorable victor y over
Somdev Devvarman in 2014 and a
run to the quarterfinal last year.
On Tuesday, he gave the impression of someone resting purely on
those past laurels, slumping to a
dispiriting 53-minute 6-1, 6-1 loss
to Yuki Bhambri. For the 22-yearold, it was, more than anything
else, the harshest of lessons on the
unforgiving nature of tennis where
one is only as good as his last
result. I couldnt have played better, said Bhambri after the match.
But the 24-year-old didnt even
have to bring out his best to beat

Ramkumar. In the opening four
games, local lad won a paltry four
points. For the whole match, it was
25 out of 80. Bhambri played the
smarter tennis. He hurried
Ramkumar and made quite a few
forays towards the net. He was
aided in no small measure by an
opponent who repeatedly hit
short. And on the few occasions
that Bhambris approach was off
the mark, Ramkumar failed to
make him pay. Like, in the seventh
game, down 1-5, he had both the
player and the court at his mercy
but drilled the ball straight at
Bhambri who redirected it for a
winner.
'Easiest thing is to stop and

say I had a good career'
Correspondent
Chennai, Jan 4 : In the twilight of
his career, Mikhail Youzhny would
only set realistic targets for himself
but still has enough fire in his belly to
fight it out with physically better players. Youzhny feels the "easiest things
is to stop" and reflect on a successful
journey. From winning 10 career singles titles, making two Grand Slam
semifinals and getting a place in the
top-10, Youzhny has seen it all in an
almost two-decade long career.
Despite tasting success at the top
level, he does not mind playing at the
Challenger level now. He had started
the 2016 season with three
Challenger titles and ended it with a
first round loss. Youzhny is also one
of only 10 active players to have
reached the quarterfinals of all
Grand Slams. So what keeps him
motivated and getting down to
Challenger circuit? "Lot of things

keep you motivated. I had a good
career and good results. I had some
tough years, I dropped a lot (in ranking) some years ago. Easiest thing is
to stop and say you had a good career
and do something else. But I try to
fight back, try to take some steps forward. We must decide, if we are
ready to continue, and I am ready to
fight. I still enjoy the game, I feel I
can still play," Youzhny said after
making the second round of the
Chennai Open with a win over India's
Saketh Myneni. Youzhny said instead
of looking back he will look forward
but he himself was not sure how long
will he continue. "We can always look
back and say, I have played those
semis (US Open in 2006, 2010), I was
world number eight. It's interesting
how long I can keep it (body) in good
shape. There is good motivation for
me inside to continue. Interesting to

make some right decisions to try and
continue well. "I don't know what
happens tomorrow. Can I do something more? Last year was pretty
good for me, I showed I am not bad, I
can beat some good players."
Youzhny said it would be prudent if
he stays realistic and not do not think
of past achievements. "I don't think
about it. If I make a goal to be top-20,
somebody will say you were top 8,
why top-20 now. It can't be No. 5 five
or 1, you have to be realistic, lot of
younger players are playing, there
are physically better than me." Asked
if there was something he could have
done to convert those semifinal finishes at the US Open into wins,
Youzhny, father of two, said it's difficult to say. "You never know. I tried
my best to play well. I don't think
about the results and rankings now.
Cape Town: Sri Lanka team members celebrate after taking the wicket of South African Hashim Amla
during the 2nd Test cricket match between South Africa and Sri Lanka, in Cape Town, South Africa,
Wednesday.
12
DELHI
THE SIKH TIMES
Delhi: Snag leads to

hour-long Metro delays
CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 4: Hundreds of commuters on the
Delhi Metro's blue line were hit by delays lasting more than
45 minutes because of a technical snag on Tuesday afternoon. Trains on the blue line connecting Dwarka, sector 21
to Noida City Centre and Vaishali crawled at a restricted
speed of 15 kmph, while long stopovers were reported at stations across the 50-km stretch between Pragati Maidan and
Mandi House stations. The snag in the overhead line, detected at 11.30 am and rectified by 2.45 pm, triggered a cascading effect, delaying train services through the day. "I was
travelling from Noida to Karol Bagh for work. I was late by
more than an hour. The train I was travelling in was crawling
at 5-10 kmph, and at every station, it stopped for 5-10 minutes," said Jyoti Narwal, an accountant who works at a private firm. Despite repeated announcements apologising for
the delay and promising further updates, commuters faced a
harrowing time. "The announcements came only after 10
minutes of waiting at each station. We had to repeatedly
check with the train driver, who told us it was a technical
snag. I gave up at Mayur Vihar Metro station and de-boarded. I had to cross a Metro construction site on the main road
and flag an autorickshaw to meet my family doctor in Tagore
Garden - an hour late," said Sumit Singh, an engineer. A
Delhi Metro spokesperson said, "A speed restriction of 15
kmph was imposed around 11:20 am between Mandi House
and Pragati Maidan stations on the up-line towards Dwarka.
It was done to prevent further damage to an overhead electric wire line which was facing problems." "Repair work of
the affected portion was carried out during off-peak hours,
during which train movement towards Dwarka was regulated on line 3," the spokesperson added. The last time train
services were affected on the blue line was only two weeks
ago, due to a drop in circuit at around 9.15 am between
Yamuna Bank and Indraprasth stations. Scheduled servicing
on December 25 also affected services. The blue line is the
busiest one, carrying 30 per cent of the Metro's riders on a
daily basis. Metro officials say they are more prone to trouble here because most of the corridor is overground,
exposed to weath-er and environmental factors.
New Delhi: Union Food Processing Industries Minister Harsimrat Kaur and Textiles Minister Smriti Irani after a Cabinet meeting
at South Block in New Delhi on Wednesday. TST Photo
Magistrate to probe Delhi lockup death

CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, January 4: The Delhi government has
ordered a judicial probe by a magistrate into the custodial
death of a 24year-old fruit seller at Adarsh Nagar police station in northwest Delhi. The preliminary postmortem
report says that the body of the man, Sompal, had blunt
force injuries across the body with ante-mortem -before
death -injuries on the face, head and knees. While a fall from
a height and the circumstances --whether he was thrown off
or jumped on his own -will be clear only in the final report,
the cause of death is stated to be excessive bleeding and
external as well as internal injuries, said police sources. The
autopsy has been conducted by a medical board at AIIMS
and the final report is expected by the end of this week, said
sources. This not only indicates that the man was assaulted
at the police station before his death but also indicts the
cops who had brought him there. The report will pave the
way for punitive action and the cops will have no choice but
to arrest the rogue policemen for culpable homicide and

destruction of evidence. Meanwhile, a magistrate will soon
record the statement of the six accused cops along with that
of the IO who first reached the spot where the body was
found. The magistrate will also record statements of other
policemen, including duty officers. The judicial inquiry will
also probe lapses on the police's part and ascertain why an
FIR was registered on the night of December 31 when,
according to their own admission in the FIR, the facts of the
case had emerged a day before. Delhi Police has prepared
an elaborate report on the incident and the action taken by
the police. This will be sent to the ministry of home affairs
and National Human Rights Commission. Meanwhile, in yet
another flip flop, the police brass has decided not to let
Crime Branch probe the case of custodial death, sources
said. The reasons for this are not known but sources say the
senior officials decid ed that the district investigation unit of
north-west Delhi will probe the case. Special commissioner
Delhi: BRT to be
redesigned for Rs 80 crore
CORRESPONDENT
NEW DELHI, January 4: Almost a
year after work started to dismantle it,
PWD is all set to redesign the controversial BRT corridor. The 6.2-km
stretch from Ambedkar Nagarto Lajpat
Nagar Metro station will be made a
regular road at a cost of roughly Rs 80
crore. In February last year, officials
had said that the entire work of dismantling and redesigning the Rs 190crore corridor would cost Rs 10.97
crore. "This was when the plan was to
convert this stretch into an ordinary
road. The work would have included
redesigning of junctions, installation of
a new signalling system, subways, foot
overbridges, etc. Now, there is a plan to
construct five half submerged or
humped subways along the stretch and

redesign it completely, which is why
the budget has increased," said a senior official. The humped subways will
include retail outlets, along with public
conveniences, like toilets. Officials said
that the stretch would not be given any
new foot overbridges and that pedestrians would either use the subways, one
of which already exists, or cross the
road at-grade. "The subways will be
less than 1m below ground level so that
they are safe for pedestrians. All junctions will have demarcated crossovers
for pedestrians and non-motorised
vehicles while major junctions will
have table tops to allow pedestrians to
cross over quickly," the official said.
The existing foot overbridge near the
Ambedkar Nagar T-junction and subway nearDefence Colony flyover will

both be replaced by humped subways.
Sources said that the plans would be
submitted to UTTIPEC shortly and
once administrative and financial
approvals were received, PWD would
invite tenders. "Construction work
itself will take about a year but the
exact time-frame will be determined by
utility shifting," said the official. Under
the redesigning plan, some part of the
slip roads will be converted into public
spaces. Officials said this would be
done at locations where the slip roads
were used for parking. Meanwhile, special on-road parking will also be created between Chirag Delhi and
Ambedkar Nagar.
13-year-old girl raped at

Anand Parbat transit camp
Patna: BJP MP and actor Shatrugan Sinha during 350th birth

anniversary celebration of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna on
Wednesday. TSTs Photo
New Delhi, January 4: A 13-year-old girl was allegedly

sexually assaulted by two youths inside a public toilet at a
transit camp in central Delhi's Anand Parbat area where her
family was shifted as part of the Kathputli Colony relocation
drive. The incident happened on December 31 when the girl
was on her way to a shop to buy groceries and had gone to
the toilet, police said. The youths, including a juvenile,
entered the toilet and allegedly sexually assaulted her, they
added. They threatened her with dire consequences if she
reported the matter to anybody. On returning to the camp,
the girl did not inform anybody but after she complained of
stomach pain, she was taken to a hospital and a medical
examination indicated sexual assault, police said. The girl
has identified the accused and a case under section 376
(punishment for rape) of IPC and provisions of Protection of
Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act has been registered. The accused are known to the victim since they all
lived in Kathputli Colony area before they were relocated to
the transit camp as part of the Kathputli Colony relocation
drive. While one of the accused is a juvenile, police are verifying the age of the other. Police said the second accused
claims to be a juvenile but it is suspected that he is 21.
A man was drugged and sexually assaulted in

Delhi, but couldn't report it because he is gay
CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 4: Unfortunately, being a homosexual is still a crime in India, and while the LGBTQ community
has been fighting to get a valid place in the country's social
fabric, little has been achieved over the years. There are still
gay and lesbian couples who can't accept their sexual orientation in the open; not even in front of their parents, let alone
society as a whole. In such a scenario, what can the homosexuals do if they are raped? This is the question that a viral
Facebook post has brought to the fore. Facebook user Arnav
Barbaad, who lives in the US, shared a couple of screenshots
of the conversation he had with his friend - who is gay - staying in India. The friend alleged that he was drugged and then
sexually assaulted by another guy he had gone out with. In the
conversation, the man, evidently depressed, said he cannot
report because the police will arrest him on charges of being
a homosexual and accuse him of going out with the guy willingly. But does that allow the other man to rape him? This is
the question people on social media are asking. Here's what

Barbaad wrote. My friend was drugged, raped and assaulted
today. However, he can't report it to the police or he will be
arrested with the rapist as well. Why? Because he's a gay and
he aspired for love and affection in a society that outlaws it for
people like him He's a researcher at a top institution of India,
he is also a screenplay writer and a poet, but nope, all that matters is his sexual orientation. I can only imagine the frustration, the anger, the helplessness he feels right now. Not only
was his rights to his body breached, but his rapist gets to walk
away free and continue with his heinous crimes without a single repercussion. Oh and this wasn't done by a lurker in one
of those shady, isolated streets. The criminal is another student of the same prestigious university. Seems Delhi is equally unsafe for some men, but they don't even legally have a
voice. However, as pointed out by a user, the victim can indeed
file a complaint because section 377 criminalises unnatural
sex and not being an LGBTQ member.
S B K Singh will monitor the probe. Sources pointed out that

the Crime Branch should have taken over the case according to norm. There is a standing order in this regard.
Officers agreed that an impartial probe cannot be carried
out unless it is done by a unit out of the district or range
where the accused cops were posted. The action taken
against rogue cops in this case has puzzled many in the
department as well. For a force which has dismissed its
staffers for throwing stones at women or for other derelictions, mere suspension in this grave crime is intriguing.
Sompal, 24, was found dead near a drain on December 30,
two days after he was taken to the police station by cops
after getting embroiled in an argument at Azadpur Mandi. A
probe has revealed that he mysteriously "fell off " the terrace of the police station after which cops dumped his body
at a deserted stretch near a Metro station to make it look
like an accident or an unidentified body case. An FIR has
been registered against the policemen.
'Dangal' made tax free in Delhi

New Delhi, Januar y 4: Delhi Deputy Chief
MinisterManish Sisodia yesterday announced that Aamir
Khan-starrer 'Dangal' would be tax free in the national
capital. Announcing the government's decision, Sisodia,
who also heads the Entertainment department, said that
they have issued an order in this regard. The Deputy
Chief Minister also said that it is an "inspiring movie" to
promote sports-spirit.
Delhi and District Cricket Association

may get an administrator soon
New Delhi, January 4: The Delhi and District Cricket
Association (DDCA) may soon see an administrator running the show. The Delhi High Court, which had earlier
received a scathing report from the court-appointed
observer Justice Mukul Mudgal on the functioning of the
DDCA, is likely to give its verdict in a day or two, according
to sources. The court had earlier reserved its verdict.
Senior officials in the association say that a former
Supreme Court judge is likely to be appointed administrator. While Justice Mudgal refused to comment, DDCA
treasurer Ravinder Manchanda said, "We have learnt that
there could be an administrator. We are also going to meet
Justice Mudgal on Wednesday and will apprise him of the
grave situation we are in.
Delhi mall suicide: Woman leaves note

in bin, hints she was upset with parents
DELHI, January 4: Seconds before allegedly committing suicide at west Delhi's City Square Mall, 21-year-old
Shubhangi had put a one-page alleged suicide note in the
dustbin outside the washroom on the third floor from
where she jumped off on Tuesday afternoon. Vijay Kumar,
deputy commissioner of police (west), confirmed that the
note was recovered later in the evening after they scanned
CCTV camera footage of the mall and found that one of the
cameras had captured her throwing a paper in the dustbin.
"We took out the paper from the dustbin. It was a suicide
note which the woman had addressed to her family members," said the DCP.

The Sikh Times5!1!17

Încărcat de

Informații document

Drepturi de autor

Formate disponibile

Partajați acest document

Partajați sau inserați document

Opțiuni de partajare

Vi se pare util acest document?

Este necorespunzător acest conținut?

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

The Sikh Times5!1!17

Încărcat de

Drepturi de autor:

Formate disponibile

The Sikh Times

Vol. 9 No. 257

RNI NO. DELENG/2008/25465

New Delhi, Thursday, 5 January, 2017

New Delhi, Thursday, 5 January, 2017

THE SIKH TIMES

Anger over attacks on DCWs autonomy

VED PRAKASH SHUKLA

NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: The Delhi High Court on

The Sikh Times

The Sikh Times-National

Mahila Samiti have lent their support

patriarchal mindset and the nexus

HC: legalising unauthorised colonies creates problems

Aliya Khan w/o Rehan Khan, r/o

Be IT known to all that my clients

I, SANJEEV KUMAR KAPOOR

"It may known to all that my client

Plan to convert mandis

NEW DELHI: JANUARY 04: In a bid to modernise trade

After all, if the construction has been carried out in a

for any public purpose. The DDA, on the other hand,

Event organisers to pay royalty

they were legitimate assignees of copyrighted works or

Fog disrupts air, rail traffic in Delhi

According to the MeT department,

below 50 metres. Passengers had a

Another meet ends in protests

Tuesday and although there was no official

other decisions include hiking the fee for the

THE SIKH TIMES

Owned by Simmi Babbar

RNI No. DELENG/2008/25465

The Sikh Times

Vol. 9 No. 257

RNI NO. DELENG/2008/25465

New Delhi, Thursday, 5 January, 2017

GST deadlock continues over

Five states to vote between

TMC MP arrest: Kejriwal attacks

"There are 4 different rates that have been fixed.

evidence or influencing witnesses in

SC takes up plea for disclosure of

THE SIKH TIMES

New Delhi, Thursday, 5 January, 2017

TRS responsible for farm crisis

India 2015, that was released by the

Venugopal breaks silence on

fied the list in a day-long exercise after

after adding ?1.90 crore to the GCDA

Subway work delays

Ottivakkam railway junction outside

exchange happened to be published

KTR pledges to make Badi

78 dumpsites to be cleared soon

Family of Malegaon blasts accused seeks probe into murder allegation

him and his brother in custody.

hopes after TRS Government split

people were implicated. According to a

roads and cleared branches from 50,000 trees

Natya Kala Achar ya

430 acres allotted to Patanjali

ment letter granting land to

laid the foundation for Baba