Vel Arch

The Sikh Times

National Daily

Vol. 9 No. 256

RNI NO. DELENG/2008/25465

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

sikhtimesindia@gmail.com

BJP never did politics of

religious polarisation: Rajnath
SPL CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 3 : BJP never did nor will it do
politics of religious polarisation, Home Minister
Rajnath Singh today said, stressing that the "secular"
parties need to be cautious in the wake of the
Supreme Court order that candidates should not seek
votes in the name of religion, caste or creed. Asked if
his party will raise the issue of Ram temple in the
upcoming Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls, Singh said
the matter is sub-judice. "After the Supreme Court
order, the so-called secular parties should be cautious," he said, adding that the court was "absolutely
right" and politics should not involve caste or religion.
"BJP neither did politics of polarisation nor will it do
in future. I feel if it was doing politics of polarisation,
it would not have got clear majority in Parliament. "It
is for the first time that a non-Congress party has got clear majority in Parliament. Now
to accuse that political party and its workers and volunteers is not right," he said. On the
Supreme Court order, he said, "Whatever Supreme Court has said is absolutely right. I
fully agree with whatever the apex court has said. "Politics should not be on the lines of
caste, cult or religion. Politics should be only in the name of humanity and justice." Home
Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said demonetisation has increased problems for

5.7 magnitude
quake jolts Tripura
Agartala/New Delhi, January 3 : An
earthquake measuring 5.7 on the Richter
Scale hit Tripura this afternoon. No damage to life or property was immediately
reported. According to the National
Centre for Seismology, the epicentre of
the temblor was in Dhalai district in the
north-eastern state. "The 5.7-magnitude
earthquake hit the region at 14:39 hrs.
The epicentre was located at a depth of 28
km in the district," it said.

Set procedure followed in Lt

Gen Rawat's appointment as
Army Chief: Parrikar
New Delhi, January 3 : Defence
Minister Manohar Parrikar on Tuesday
asserted that a set procedure was followed
in Lieutenant General Bipin Rawat`s
appointment as the Army Chief. "A set procedure was followed. There was no seniority principal or it would`ve merely been a
date based computer job," said Parrikar
while speaking at Ministry of Defence`s
`Swachhta Pakhwada` here in the national
capital. Lieutenant General Rawat last
Saturday took over as the 27th Chief Of
Army Staff (COAS). An inevitable controversy had erupted after the government`s
announcement of Lieutenant General
Rawat as the Army chief with opposition
parties accusing the government of politicising the appointment by abandoning the
traditional criterion of seniority.

Punjab Assembly elections:

Will Nitish campaign for Congress?
Patna, January 3 : Will Nitish Kumar
campaign for Congress in Punjab assembly elections? The speculation is rife
after Punjab Congress chief Amarinder
Singh on Tuesday met Bihar Chief
Minister Nitish Kumar over lunch.
Reportedly, Amrinder invited him to
campaign for the party in the state.
Amarinder Singh was in Patna to take
part in the 350th birth anniversary celebrations of the 10th Sikh Guru, Gobind
Singh. Amarinder and party colleague
Asha Kumari invited the Bihar Chief
Minister to campaign for the Congress
in the Punjab assembly election.

Naxals, underlining that intelligence inputs suggest

that they have weakened. The minister refused to
give any specific estimates about the damage inflicted on the guerillas but said the information suggests
that massive problems are being faced by them post
notes ban. "It is correct that Naxals have weakened
post- demonetisation... The intelligence information
received by us shows their problems have increased.
Their strength has reduced," Singh said. On
November 8, the government had announced that
Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes ceased to be legal tender.
When asked about the attack on women in
Bengaluru on New Year's eve, Singh said, "It is not
possible to keeping seeking reports from the state
on every issue. I believe that protecting the modesty
of women is the duty of every state government and
they should take it seriously." On the issue of recent riots in West Bengal, Singh said ministry is in the know of every big problem. "We don't do politics of confrontation. We will
talk it out," he said when asked about reports of a rift between the West Bengal government and the Centre. He also refused to give any clear response whether his views were
taken on the issue of demonetisation. Singh said efforts are going on to bring back
Dawood Ibrahim but those cannot be disclosed in public.

VADIVEL
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9971359517

12 pages.

`.2

Don't sit over development,

Delhi BJP tells Kejriwal
New Delhi, January 3 : The Bharatiya Janata Party
(BJP) on Tuesday accused the Arvind Kejriwal-led Aam
Aadmi Party (AAP) government of "stalling development" in Delhi and asked the Chief Minister not to "run
away" from his responsibilities. "Kejriwal government
has been in power for almost two years now, but the city
has seen no new development project being initiated ...
even dream schemes like free water for all are already
dead," Delhi BJP unit chief Manoj Tiwari told reporters
here. "Instead of criticising the central government and
stalling development work, the Chief Minister should
focus on solving issues of the people of Delhi. Being the
Chief Minister, it is his duty to shoulder such responsibilities," he said. "Water supply is at lowest level even in
the Water Minister's (Kapil Mishra) own constituency,
what to say of areas like Badarpur, Chhatarpur, Bijwasan
or Mahipalpur," Tiwari alleged, showing video clips
from some of these areas. Tiwari also dubbed the "free
water scheme" of the Delhi government as a complete
flop show in the slum areas of Delhi. "People in most
parts of the city complained that the AAP leaders didn't
turn up in their constituencies after winning the elections," he said. Tiwari claimed that certain areas in the
national capital have not received water for months,
while sanitation is in bad shape, with drains overflowing.
He demanded that Kejriwal immediately release the
files pertaining to the delimitation of municipal wards.
"It seems Kejriwal government knows the political writing on the walls and hence they are trying to avoid going
amongst the electorate," he said.

PM asks scientists to keep eye on rise of disruptive tech

SIMMI BABBAR
Tirupati, January 3 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi today exhorted scientists to keep an eye on the rise of disruptive technologies even
as he underlined government's commitment to supporting different
streams ranging from fundamental science to applied science with
emphasis on innovations. In his address at the inauguration of the
104th session of the Indian Science Congress, Modi listed "rapid global rise of Cyber-Physical Systems" as one important area that needed
to be addressed, saying it has potential to pose unprecedented challenges and stresses on the demographic dividend. "But we can turn it
into a huge opportunity by research, training and skilling in robotics,
artificial intelligence, digital manufacturing, big data analysis, deep
learning, quantum communication and Internet-of-Things. "There is a
need to develop and exploit these technologies in services and manufacturing sectors; in agriculture, water, energy and traffic manage-

ment, health, environment, security, infrastructure and Geo

Information Systems, financial systems and in combating crime," he
said. The speed and scale of changes encountered today are unprecedented, he said. "My government is committed to supporting different
streams of scientific knowledge; ranging from fundamental science to
applied science with emphasis on innovations. Some of these important challenges are in the key sectors of clean water & energy, food,
environment, climate, security, and health care," he said. Building a
strong science and technology infrastructure that is accessible to academia, start-ups, industry and R&D labs is a priority of the government, he said, adding they need to address problems of ease of access,
maintenance, redundancy and duplication of expensive equipments in
scientific institutions. "The desirability of establishing professionally
managed, large regional centres in PPP mode housing high value scientific equipment should be examined," he said.

With party symbol in danger,

Akhilesh and Mulayam meet
Lucknow, Januar y 3: Truce attempt between warring father
Mulayam Singh Yadav and son Akhilesh Yadav has reportedly failed.
According to sources linked to Hindi news channel ABP, the talks
between Mulayam and Akhilesh fall apart as both sides could not
strike a compromise. The meeting reportedly lasted for three hours,
but no common ground was reached. According to TV reports,
Mulayam instructed close aide Amar Singh to reach Election
Commission office and submit a memo to secure the party symbol
cycle. According to ABP sources, Mulayam remained firm on the
decision that the national convention called by Ram Gopal Yadav was
unconstitutional and therefore the decision taken on Sunday are illegal. Important to note is that the national executive meeting which
was called by Ram Gopal had replaced Mulayam with Akhilesh as the
national president of Samajwadi Party. The convention also sacked
state unit president Shivpal Yadav and senior leader Amar Singh from
the party. READ Latest Election stories Meanwhile, Ram Gopal Yadav
exhibited a stubborn stand on the controversy, saying that there
would be no compromise between the Akhilesh and Mulayam-Shivpal
camps. He further added that Akhilesh Yadav is the rightful leader of
Samajwadi Party and the election symbol would remain cycle. Both
sides have represented their case before the Election Commission.
With no truce emerging, it could be concluded that EC would take
the final call regarding the poll symbol. Although Akhilesh has the
edge when it comes to the support of SP legislators and volunteers,
Mulayams argument that his (and Shivpals, Amar Singhs) ouster
was illegal holds merit.

Patna: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh serves langer during 350th birth anniversary celebrations of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna on Tuesday. TST Photo

SC trashes plea against

elevation of Justice Khehar as CJI
CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 3 : The Supreme Court on Tuesday once again dismissed a plea
challenging the appointment of Justice JS Khehar as the next Chief Justice of India, saying "it is in the public interest that the curtain should be brought down". The apex court
had dismissed two similar pleas filed in the past fortnight challenging the appointment
of Justice Khehar as the next CJI. Justice Khehar will assume the office of the CJI
tomorrow as the tenure of incumbent Justice TS Thakur ends today. On December 19,
President Pranab Mukherjee had cleared the name of Justice Khehar. "Two petitions
have been filed on the same grounds and had been dismissed. It is the time when we
put the issue at rest. It is in the public interest that the curtain should be brought
down," a bench comprising Justices AM Khanwilkar and DY Chandrachud said. The
bench dismissed the present plea filed by one Tejsing Ashok Rao Gaikwad on the
ground that similar pleas have been earlier heard by the apex court and dismissed. "We
are not inclined to entertain the plea and hence it is dismissed," the bench said.

Advocate Mathews J Nedumpara, appearing for the petitioner, said that Justice Khehar
should be disqualified from being appointed as the next CJI as he "while heading a fivejudge Constitution bench had struck down the National Judicial Appointments
Commission (NJAC) which had benefited him as the judgement had revived the collegium system for appointment of judges in the higher judiciary." Nedumpara had in
the morning mentioned the matter before a bench headed by Chief Justice TS Thakur
for an urgent hearing which directed the matter to be listed today. Justice Chandrachud
said that the averments and arguments were heard in detail in the petitions filed earlier and there was no point in going again into the same thing. On December 30, the apex
court had dismissed the plea filed by a group of lawyers challenging the elevation of
Justice Khehar as next CJI, saying there was "no question" of him being considered
ineligible for the post. The top court had on December 23 termed as "virtually infructuous" a petition filed by the lawyers' body opposing elevation of Justice Khehar observing that the President has already issued a notification in this regard.

Mamata denounces Trinamool

leader's arrest, to protest
Kolkata, January 3 : West Bengal Chief Minister
Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday dubbed the arrest of
Trinamool Congress MP Sudip Bandyopadhyay as
"vendetta politics" by the Centre and announced nationwide protests against the Modi government's "vindictive
attitude". Bandyopadhyay was earlier arrested by the
Central Bureau of Investigation in connection with the
Rose Valley Chit Fund scam. Banerjee demanded the
arrest of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP
President Amit Shah instead. "We strongly condemn the
politically vindictive attitude of Modi and Amit Shah.
They have arrested our Parliamentary Party leader
Sudip Bandyopadhyay. He is a veteran politician and senior leader of our party. "It is all because of our fight
against NoteBandi (note ban). We are and will be with
the people. Nothing can stop us from being with the people and we will continue with our protest against
NoteBandi," she added. "We condemn, condemn and
condemn this," she said in a Facebook post. Banerjee
said her party will launch pan-India protests against the
Centre's vindictive attitude.

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

THE SIKH TIMES

DELHI / NCR

Kin searched for vendor for 4 days after he went missing

NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Family members of 24-year-old Sompal searched for him at Azadpur Mandi for four
days after he went "missing" from the police station.When they asked the cops about his whereabouts, they were
told that he had been released after questioning. They were informed about his death by two policemen who had
come to their house asking for Sompal's photograph on Sunday afternoon.The victim's father, Dayaluram, said
that they were asked to visit the mortuary and handed over the body without any explanation about the cause
of death. Sompal's brother, Tinu, said that the injuries on the body suggested that he was beaten with a stick or
a rod as both knees were broken and there were severe bruises on his face."They might have thrown him off
the terrace to make it look like an accident," Tinu said.Tinu, a fruit vendor at Azadpur Mandi, said that the constables accused of thrashing his brother had been threatening to book him in a false case if he did not pay them
money . Police, however, maintain that Sompal was called for qu estioning as he had three cases of fights and
brawls registered against him.Dayaluram, however, said that small scuffles or arguments usually break out
between vendors outside the mandi over parking their carts. On December 28, Sompal also had a similar fight
that could have been resolved by the policemen at the spot.

Vel Arch

Hospitals refused to treat youth, say kin

TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Family members of
the 29-year-old man who was shot thrice by
three bikers in east Delhi on Friday night have
alleged that timely treatment could have saved
him."Abhay bhaiya was shot around 9.30pm
barely 100 metres from his house in Kanti
Nagar. He was bleeding profusely from the
chest and abdomen. I rushed him to a local
nursing home immediately, but they refused to
treat him saying it was a critical case," alleged
Naveen Soni, the tenant and family friend of the
victim. "I then took him to Hedgewar and Guru
Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospitals, but even they
denied him treatment citing unavailability of
necessary equipment or specialists," he added.
He said that doctors at GTB said they didn't
have
vacant
beds
with
ventilator

support."Helpless, we rushed him to Max hospital in Patparganj, but by then Abhay bhaiya
had died," Soni said.Dr Sunil Kumar, medical
superintendent of GTB hospital, said that he
was unaware of the case. "I have not received
any complaint and we will take necessary
action if the charges are found true," he said.
GTB hospital, which has 1,500 beds, has only
50 ventila tors. The MS conceded that demand
for ventilator-supported beds often exceeds the
supply leading to a crisis.Police said that the
victim, Abhay Kumar, had been living with his
wife and two children in Kanti Nagar since
2006.They were to leave for their ancestral village in Bhagalpur, Bihar on Saturday . "The
family has left for home, but with Kumar's body
," said a relative.Kumar's wife, Shweta, said
that she was preparing dinner when someone

from a nearby CNG kit shop informed her

about the incident. When she saw her husband
lying in a pool of blood, Shweta lost consciousness and fell down.Ashok Kumar, the victim's
brother-in-law, said, "Everything happened
within two hours. We tried our best to save
Abhay , but he died because he was denied
treatment."Police are scanning CCTV footages
of the area where the incident took place.
Police suspect personal rivalry into the shooting. "The victim owned a television and computer repairing centre in Krishna Nagar.He
usually returned to his house at 9.30pm and
there are chances that the men recced the
place before attacking him. His family members and colleagues are being questioned to
know if he had enmity with anyone," said a
police officer.

Three-month nursery race begins

New Delhi: People showing notes outside the RBI as they could not exchange their old currency
notes in New Delhi on Tuesday. PTI Photo

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TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: The sale of forms for nursery admissions in unaided, private schools in Delhi is all set to begin from Monday and parents
are in full preparation for the three-month race. Meanwhile, schools have begun uploading their seat structure and criteria on their websites, though
some schools still had no updates till late on Sunday.Most popular schools have stuck to the guidelines, like maintaining the number of seats
reserved for entrylevel classes in accordance with three previous sessions, giving a proper breakup of the seats as per the requirements.Even
though management quota has been brought back for addition of points in the criteria, several schools have decided to forego it, meanwhile, adding
points for wards of staff.Some of the popular schools like Springdales, Dhaula Kuan, have stuck to the same procedure and criteria, like points for
girl child, single parent, wards or alumni, neighbourhood and sibling."We have kept it like it was last year and have proposed no fee hikes either.
We are ready to start the process from January 2," said Jyoti Bose, principal of the school.The admission process will begin on January 2 with the
sale of forms in some schools and opening of online applications for others. The sale of application forms in most schools will start around 9am until
noon. Schools that are starting application process online expect a rush on the servers for the first few days, but they claim to be prepared for it."We
have a bit of digging going on outside the school,but our teams are ready to tackle any technical issues once the process starts," added Bose.The
last date of submission of forms is January 23, following which schools will start uploading details of general category applicants on January 31 and
points tally for each candidate on February 6.The first list of selected candidates will be released on February 15. The next two days, February 16
and 17, have been set aside for resolution of queries that parents might have about the points allotted to their wards. The admission process will end
on March 31.The current set of admission process is for 1,300 schools that are on private land and receive no government aid.Around 298 schools
built on public land are still waiting for guidelines and schedule notifications to begin the admission process.

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NAME CHANGE

COURT NOTICE
By the order of Mr. H. K.
Goyal, Principal Judge, Family
Court Dehradun(Uttarakhand)
Case No. 229 0f 2015
Smt. Mona ...............Plaintiff
Vs
Manjeet Singh Jangra
S/o Sh. Harmeet Singh
Jangra R/o 5239 Shora Kodhi P.
S.
Paharganj,
Delhi
..................Defendant
Whereas Smt.; Mona wife of
Mr. Manjeet Singh Jangra D/o
Sh. Surender presently at 8A,
Matawala Bagh Colony, P. S.
Kotwali, Dehradun has instituted
the above Suit against you for
Maintenance Under Section 125
Cr. P. C.
You are hereby summoned
to appear in the court in person
or by Pleader on 07th Jan. 2017
at 10 o'Clock to answer the
same, failing which the suit will
be disposed of Ex-Party against
you. Given under my hand and
the seal of the Court this 16 day
of Dec. 2016.
Central Munsrim Family
Court Dehradun Uttarakhand

PUBLIC NOTICE
My Daughter Namely Ms.
Aarti Rani, His Relation Social
and Financial with them due
to the Disobedience. She has
Debarred
them
from
Inheriting his Properties
Movable and Immovable . He
shall not be Responsible for
any of their acts, Deeds and
things. Any Body dealing with
them shall be doing at his /
her risk. Bal singh S/o Arjun
R/o
H.No-3 Block C-1,
Naveen Place Bengali Colony
NajafgarhDelhi -110072

PUBLIC NOTICE
This is for notice of the general
public that a political party is proposed to be registered by the
name of "Republican Party of
India (Rashtrya)". The office of
the party is locality at 67-68, Gali
No. 15, Block-28, Vishwas
Nagar,
Shahdara,
Delhi110032. The Party has submitted
application to the Election
Commission of India, New Delhi
for the registration as Political
Party under Section 29A of the
representation of People Act,
1951-Name/Address of the
office-bearers of the party are as
follows :
President/Chairman : Sh.
Ramesh Chandra, B-1/272,
Aravali Apartment, Sec-34,
Noida, U.P.
General Secretary : Sh.
Jageshwar
Buddhpriya,
Village+Post
office-Cheetee,
Distt. Gautam Budhnagar, Uttar
Pradesh.
Treasurer : Meena Kumari,
Village-Kansara, Post-Bilaspur,
Greater Noida, Distt. Gautam
Buddhnagar, Uttar Pradesh.
If anyone has any objection to
the registration of "Republican
Party of india (Rashtrya)" they
may send their objection with
reasons thereof, to the Secretary
(Political
Party)
Election
Commission of India, Nirvachan
Sadan, Ashoka Road, New
Delhi-110001 within 30 days of
the publication of this notice.
(Ramesh Chanddra) National
President
Republican Party of India
(Rashtrya)

Classified

I, MINA KUMARI BURA W/O

JC-617844K SUB KUMAR
ROKA MAGAR R/o VPOTHAWANG, TEH- THAWANG,
DISTTROLPA,
ZONERAPTI (NEPAL)
have
changed my name from MINA
KUMARI BURA to MINA
KUMARI ROKA MAGAR for all
future purposes and my correct date of birth is 14/03/1973.
I, BISHWODHAN BURA S/O
JC-617844K SUB KUMAR
ROKA MAGAR R/o VPOTHAWANG, TEH- THAWANG,
DISTTROLPA,
ZONERAPTI (NEPAL)
have
changed my name from BISHWODHAN BURA to BISHWODHAN ROKA MAGAR for
all future purposes.
I, Brijesh S/O Jagan Nath
Prasad R/O K-16, laxmi nagar,
delhi-110092 have changed
my name to Brijesh Kumar
permanently
I, VISWASH MAN BURA S/O JC617844K SUB KUMAR ROKA
MAGAR R/o VPO- THAWANG,
TEHTHAWANG,
DISTTROLPA, ZONE- RAPTI (NEPAL)
have changed my name from
VISWASH MAN BURA to
BISWASH MAN ROKA MAGAR
for all future purposes.
I, JC-382495A SUB S PUNNIYA KOTTI S/O SH. M P
SUNDARAM
R/o
VPOMACHANUR, TEH-KATPADI,
DISTT-VELLORE,
(TAMIL
NADU)-632209,
have
changed my daughter's name
from YAMUNA to P YAMUNA
for all future purpose.

I Kanwal Jeet Singh S/o

Bakshish Singh R/o WZ-2K19, Sham Nagar,Delhi-110018
have changed my name to
Kawal Jit Singh
I, VIMLA DEVI W/O PICHU
MUTTU R/o E-514, VISHNU
GARDEN KHYALA, J J
COLONY, NEW DELHI-110018
have changed my name from
VIMLA DEVI to PAKIAMMA for
all future purposes.
I, JC-617844K SUB KUMAR
BURA S/O SUK BAHADUR
BURA R/o VPO- THAWANG,
TEH- THAWANG, DISTTROLPA,
ZONERAPTI
(NEPAL) have changed my
name from KUMAR BURA to
KUMAR ROKA MAGAR for all
future purposes.

I, Rakesh Maharanidin
Shadhu S/o Shri Maharanidin
Gupta R/o D-105, First Floor, DBlock, South Ganesh Nagar,
Delhi-110092, have changed my
name from Rakesh Maharanidin
Shadhu to Rakesh Kumar Gupta
for all future purposes.

I, BIDULATA BAL W/O

14637191L NK DHIRENDRA
KUMAR BAL R/O VILL-MAJHI
PARA,
PO-ACHHUTA
BASHANTA,
TEH-DHANA
MANDAL, DISTT-JAJPUR,
(ODISHA)-754205,
have
changed my name from
BIDULATA BAL to BIDYULATA BAL for all future purpose
and my husband's service
records my date of birth mentioned as 18/05/1976 instead
of 05/06/1978.

Safdarjung Hospitals sports

centre gets additional land
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3:The sports centre at Safdarjung
Hospital, India's first sports injury facility, has been allotted
0.75 hectares of land for further expansion. The decision was
approved by the Delhi Development Authority (DDA), following repeated demands by the hospital authorities. "In the past
six years, the OPD attendance at our centre has gone up from
Rs 2,194 per month in 2010 to Rs 8,260 in 2016. The number of
surgeries has also gone up from 51 to 228 every month," said
Dr Deepak Chaudhry, who heads the sports injury centre. He
said additional land will help expand infrastructure to handle
increasing patient burden. According to him, the land owning
agency, DDA has given in-principle approval for acquiring a
vacant plot adjacent to the AIIMS trauma facility. The sports
ministry last year recognised Safdarjung Sports Injury Centre
as a referral centre for the treatment of athletes. On Monday,
additional secretary (health) Sanjeeva Kumar inaugurated a
bio-feedback digital rehab hip and knee analysis system which
can be used to objectively assess the fitness of an athlete postsurgery. Doctors said they had successfully treated several
international sportspersons, mostly prominent wrestlers.
"Before this centre came up, many sportspersons, who could
not afford to go abroad for specialised treatment, had no other
option. Some of them could not get back to sports at all.

Out on streets, they

pray for winter to get over
TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3:
Babu Ali, a 28-year-old street
vendor, leads an ironical life.
Though he sells clothes on
the footpath adjacent to
Kashmere Gate ISBT, he can
only afford to wear a light
jacket and a cap to protect
himself from the harsh
cold.After spending 12 hours
on the street, at night he

lights up a chulha (hearth) to

get some warmth. "I fall ill at
times as I don't have enough
money to buy woollens. I pray
daily for winter to end soon,"
he said.Ali is not the only one
on the street trying hard to
earn money for his family. For
these people, winter is not
about
cakes,
fun-filled
evenings and travelling. The
auto drivers, for example,

I Parnav Kamal S/o Parveen

Kamal R/o M-269,Second
Floor, Orchid Island, Sector51,Gurgaon Haryana- 122001
Have Changed My Name To
Pranav Saluja
I, Abdul Rahim S/o Gulam
Mohammad Dar R/o M-27A,
Groud Floor, Lajpat Nagar-II
Delhi-110024, have changed my
name from Abdul Rahim to Abdul
Rahim Dar for all future purposes.

have to brave the draft blowing through their open vehicles throughout the day with
many repeatedly suffering
from cough, cold and fever.
The situation is worse for
those who ply at night."I
cover my nose and head to
protect myself from the cold.
Sometimes I start shivering
while driving at night. I sleep
in the sun during the day so
that I can counter the illeffects of the weather faced at
night," said Santosh Kumar,
an auto driver sleeping inside
his vehicle near Jor Bagh
Metro station.The footpath
adjacent to All India Institute
of Medical Sciences (AIIMS)
is crowded with patients. One
person among them is 80year-old Satnarayan Das who
tells religious stories and
reads excerpts from the Gita
to the patients to earn money.
Das has just one sweater and

a blanket given by someone

eight years ago to keep himself warm. He can't see with
his left eye. His son left him as
the treatment is costly."I cover
myself and sit in the metro station's shade. I can't sleep as
the floor is cold and I do not
have anything to spread on it,"
Das said.The daily wage
labourers in various parts of
the city have come up with a
unique solution to beat the
chill.
They work through the
night to keep themselves
warm with physical activity.
"Like every winter, even this
year I am suffering from cold.
This is the worst time of the
year for me," said Afzal Khan.
Wearing colourful clothes,
decorated caps and woollen
mufflers are a dream for many
of these homeless people and
their only refuge is building a
fire to beat the cold.

North corporation goes

slow on digitisation

Jammu: Activists of Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM) burn an effigy of

National Conference and Congress MLAs during a protest in Jammu on
Tuesday. PTI Photo

NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: The

north corporation is finding it
an uphill task to embrace digitisation. With just six months
left for the deadline to digitise
all property records to get
over, only 35% of the work has
been completed. An additional commissioner, who didn't
want to be named, said the
pace of the work suggested
that the wait for a more transparent and efficient property
tax collection process could
be longer than expected.
North corporation spokesperson Yogendra Singh Maan
said the volume of the work
was huge. "We need to bring
over 10 lakh property records
on to the digital map. Each

Pay property tax on cell towers: South corporation

NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: South Delhi Municipal Corporation will now charge property tax on mobile towers erected in its jurisdiction. Supreme Court recently ruled
that property tax could be levied on mobile towers and telecom companies would have to pay the charges to the civic body as these come under the ambit of land
and building. Assessor and collector of south corporation Randhir Sahay said the civic body is preparing a policy. "After the apex court's ruling, we can bring this
new policy and levy tax on towers. It will increase revenue and will help regulate the towers being run illegally," he said. "A survey is being conducted to identify all
mobile towers under our jurisdiction. It will give a tax boost of about Rs 17 crore," added Sahay. There are 3,670 mobile towers under the south corporation's jurisdiction and 2,537 of them have been erected without approval. Senior officials claim that the new policy would also help ensure that mobile towers are installed only
at the buildings that have structural safety clearance. "Right now, telecom companies directly consult the builder and install the tower," said a senior official. The
one-time installation charge was hiked from Rs 1 lakh to Rs 5 lakh by the erstwhile MCD in 2010, which urged telecom companies to move court.

record involves extensive

data and requires careful handling," he said. The project
was assigned to a contractor
who was working on the project, he said. So far, around 3
lakh property records have
been digitised. The 1,000-odd
corporation properties were
digitised on priority before
the agency moved to bring
private properties on to the
platform.

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

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Bluru cops to file

suo moto complaint
CORRESPONDENT
Bengaluru, January 3 : The day after the incident of
alleged molestation on the New Years Eve in IT city
Bengaluru the cops have decided to take suo moto cognisance of the incidents during celebrations at MG
Road/Brigade Road. police sources said Ashoka Nagar
police are currently examining the CCTV footage.
According to police so far no women have complained about
the incident but they are working on the footage to take
action against the hooligans. The New Years Eve incident
shook the otherwise cosmopolitan Bengaluru and the incident has gone viral in the social media which has become a
powerful weapon. In fact the ruling congress government
has transferred many top police officers the same day in
some of them were supposed to lead on the security. Jyothi
A, state president of National Federation of Indian Women
(NFIW) said Police should book suo moto cases against the
perpetrators when they agree that molestation incidents
have taken place in the public place. According to reports on
New Years Eve, a night of celebration turned into a night of
horror for young women in Bengaluru as goons on bikes
molested women and also passed lewd comments despite a
deployment of around 1,500 policemen in the area. When

asked about the incident, Karnataka Home Minister G

Parameswara defended the State police and stated that such
incidents happen at such events. Events like New Years
or events like Christmas day, or many other events similar to
that, there are women who are harassed or treated badly.
These kinds of things do happen. But we do take proper kind
of care. We also take some precautionary measures in fact
police now and then informed that this is an area where we
have to be extremely careful, said the Karnataka Home
Minister. Unfortunately, what is happening is that on days
like New Years, Brigade Road, Commercial Street, or MG
road, a large number of youngsters gather. And youngsters
were almost like westerners. They tried to copy the westerners, not only in their mindset but even in their dressing. So
some disturbance, some girls are harassed, these kind of
things do happen, he added. We will see, we will discuss
with our senior officers, we will see if there are any alternatives to this kind of events so that women and children are
safe, he said. However after it went viral the police are now
looking at footage to book the hooligans. The new police
commissioner of Bengaluru Praveen Sood who took charge
on the first day of the year said his priority would be safety of
the women and children.

Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee addresses a media conference at her office in Howrah nera Kolkata on
Tuesday regarding the arrest of party MP Sudip Bandypadhyay in Rose Valley Chit Fund Case. TST Photo

Govt to introduce trash skimmers to clean Ganga

CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 3 : Giving a new thrust to
Namami Gange programmes, the Government is set to
introduce trash skimmers for surface cleaning of Ganga
in six more cities in the first week of this month. New
projects have been approved in Varanasi and Haridwar as
well, which include the deployment of sewage treatment
plants in various capacities. The new cities that will
acquire trash skimmers include Rishikesh, Haridwar,
Garh Mukhteshwar, Sahibganj, Kolkata and Navdweep.
As per the officials, the urban local bodies will be the
nodal agency to monitor the work. State Programme
Management Groups and Collectorate office will be
supervising these works under the aegis of Namami
Gange at State and district level respectively. Trash skim-

mers are used to collect and dispose floating waste was

collected and disposed off in an organised manner. The
work of river surface cleaning work was introduce last
year in Allahabad, Kanpur, Varanasi, Mathura-Vrindavan
in Uttar Pradesh and Patna in Bihar. More towns will be
identified for carrying out similar activities later this
year. Meanwhile, spreading its network of Sewerage
Treatment Plants (STP), Namami Gange has approved
two new systems at Haridwar and one in Varanasi.
Haridwar will get 68 Million Litres / Day (MLD) sewage
treatment plant in Jagjeetpur and 14 MLD STP in Sarai at
an estimated cost of Rs 110.30 crore and Rs 25 crore
respectively under Hybrid Annuity based PPP mode.
Apart from this, Rs 8.34 crore has been allocated for tertiary treatment of existing 27 MLD plant in Jagjeetpur, Rs

Keep defence
scenario in mind:
Prez to IADS officers
New Delhi, January 3 : President Pranab Mukherjee
on Monday asked the Defence Account cadre to keep in
mind the overall defence scenario while discharging their
duties as watchdogs when the modernisation of the Indian
armed forces is underway. Addressing a group of probationers of Indian Defence Accounts Service (IADS) of
2015-batch at the Rattrap Bhawan here, Mukherjee said
apart from rendering advice on financial matters their role
should also be to facilitate the process. The Indian armed
forces have a huge responsibility to defend the nation. To
achieve this objective, our armed forces should modernise, Mukherjee said. In this scenario of ever-increasing defence outlay, the responsibilities of the cadre are
bound to increase. Their focus should not be only on the
financial aspects but also on the overall defence scenario,
the President said. He said they need to be careful in discharging their duties of scrutinising financial expenditure
as watchdogs. Mukherjee congratulated the officers for
their success in civil services exams, one of the toughest
in the country. Established 267 years ago, the Defence
Account department was known as the military accounts
department and it remained under the administrative control of the finance ministry till 1983. It came under the control of the defence ministry on the introduction of the integrated financial advice scheme.

5.32 crore has been allocated for tertiary treatment of

existing 18 MLD plant in Sarai under Design, Build,
Operate and Transfer (DBOT) mode. Also, I&D works at
Jagjeetpur and Sarai would be done at an indicative cost
of Rs 81.15 crore and Rs 29.75 crore respectively under
DBOT mode. In another development, in-principle
approval has also been granted for the implementation of
50 MLD sewage treatment plant at Ramana in Varanasi at
an estimated cost of Rs 120 crore under Hybrid Annuitybased PPP mode. The Clean Ganga Mission spans across
five major Ganga basin States including Uttarakhand,
Uttar Pradesh, Jharkhand, Bihar and West Bengal. The
programme envisages River Surface Cleaning, Sewerage
Treatment Infrastructure, River Front Development, BioDiversity, Afforestation and Public Awareness.

BJP trying to hide its failures behind

surgical strike, demonetisation: Cong
CORRESPONDENT
Guwahati, January 3 : Launching a scathing attack on
the BJP, Assam Congress Legislature Party (ACLP) leader
Debabrata Saikia on Monday said that the Prime Minister
Narendra Modi-led Government at the Centre was trying
to cover up the Governments failure in 30 months under
the shield of surgical strikes and demonetisation. Saikia
said this while addressing a Press conference on Monday
and slammed the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance
(NDA) Government at the Centre for failing to fulfill even
a single commitment made to the people of the country
ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls. Modiji had stated
ahead of the 2014 Lok Sabha polls that Congress had ruled
for 60 years in the country and wanted only 60 months for
the Sevak (referring to himself). We would like to remind
him that 30 of the 60 months have already over and nothing has changed in the country and none of their commitments fulfilled, Saikia said adding that the Government is
only trying to cover up their failures by carrying out surgical strike on the other side of the border and demonetisation. There have been attacks on Indian forces even
after the surgical strike by Indian Army on the terrorists
located on the other side of Indian border. Indian soldiers

are getting killed even today due to attack from other side
of the border. Similarly, by demonetisation the
Government has made the innocent and honest civilians to
queue before the banks and ATMs for hours and given
relaxation for the corrupt and dishonest people to convert
their black money into white, said Saikia. Everyone
knows that only six per cent of the black money was in currencies in circulation across the country. However, to
detect the six percent, the government has destroyed the
countrys economy hitting every citizen of the country
hard. Lakhs have lost jobs in different sectors and by
demonetisation the Government has violated the fundamental rights of the citizensto use ones own money
kept in the banks, he said. Saikia said that although 135
people have died due to tension and panic created post
demonetisation across the country, the Prime Minister
and the Government is yet to pronounce a single word of
sympathy for the families, who had lost their keen. He said
that the NDA Government is not the only one who had
tried to fight against the black money. During the last two
years of Congress led United Progressive Alliance (UPA)
Government also Rs 1,30,800 crore of black money had
been exposed and necessary action taken, he added.

Industrialist Samir Thapar

held for trespassing forest
Dehradun, January 3 : Sixteen people, including a
Delhi-based industrialist, were arrested for entering a
forest guest house with arms and ammunition on new
years eve without permission at Lansdowne in Pauri
Garhwal district of Uttarakhand, police said on Monday.
Industrialist Samir Thapar was among the group which
was found trespassing and occupying suites and rooms
at the Kolhuchaur forest guest house without proper
documents and permission, and putting up tents in the
premises, Pauri Garhwal SP Mokhtar Mohsin said. The
group has been booked under the Arms Act, Excise Act,
along with charges of trespassing for entering the forest
area with unlicensed arms and ammunition and large
quantity of liquor, he said. Items recovered from them
included a .300 bore rifle with 23 live cartridges, a .375
bore rifle with 15 live cartridges, a telescope, 171 liquor
bottles of different brands, cooked and uncooked meat
besides eight vehicles, he said.

Pak's swipe at India on Masood

shows its support to terror'
New Delhi, January 3 : Pakistan's statement criticising India's bid to get Pathankot attack mastermind
Masood Azhar designated as global terrorist by the UN
reflected Islamabad's "tacit support" to terror networks
and its uneasiness in talking about it, official sources
said here on Monday. Referring to Pakistan's comment
calling India's move as "politically motivated" and
"replete with frivolous information", they said the establishment was even scared of taking the name of Masood
in its statement. "They are even scared of taking Azhar's
name," the sources said, referring to the kind of support
terror outfits including JeM get from the Pakistani establishment. Talking about India's move against the JeM
chief, Pakistan Foreign Office spokesperson Nafees
Zakaria in his statement did not take name of Azhar.

CIC to hear plea on

PMs air travel bills
New Delhi, January 3 : The Central Information
Commission will hear on Tuesday the case related to disclosure of details of expenses incurred on air travel of the Prime
Minister. The Commission has directed Prime Ministers
Office and Ministry of External Affairs to be present during
the hearing tomorrow at Chief Information Commissioners
office. The case relates to Commodore (Retd) Lokesh Batra
who had sought details of the expenditure incurred on foreign travels of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his predecessors, which the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) had
denied citing sections of the RTI related to security.

SC quashes HCs contempt

action against four scribes

Vel Arch

Ranchi: Centre of India Trade Union (CITU) activists protest against central government over demonetization issue in front of RBI
building in Ranchi on Tuesday. TST Photo

CORRESPONDENT
New Delhi, January 3 : In a relief for
four journalists, whom the Delhi High
Court had held guilty of contempt in
2007 for articles in a tabloid about former Chief Justice of India YK
Sabharwal, the Supreme Court on
Monday set aside the verdict holding
that it exceeded its jurisdiction in dealing with the contempt of a superior
court. A bench of Chief Justice TS
Thakur and Justice AM Khanwilkar
said the High Court did not have the
jurisdiction to pass such an order as it
was not empowered to punish for the
contempt of a superior court, which
itself was not invoking such power
despite being vested with it. The bench

said the apex court itself was empowered under Article 129 of the
Constitution to punish for its contempt
and, if it did not invoke this power, there
is no question of a court subordinate to
it, like the high court, doing so. There
is, from a plain reading of the above,
nothing in the Contempt of Courts Act,
1971 or in Article 215 of the
Constitution which can be said to
empower the High Court to initiate proceedings suo-motu or otherwise for the
contempt of a superior court like the
Supreme Court of India. The power to
punish for contempt vested in a Court
of Record under Article 215 does not,
however, extend to punishing for the
contempt of a superior court. Such a

power has never been recognised as an

attribute of a court of record nor has
the same been specifically conferred
upon the High Courts under Article
215, the bench said in its 14-page
judgement allowing the appeals of the
four journalists. The apex court delivered its verdict on the petition filed by
the four journalists of the now defunct
Delhi tabloid against the HighCourts
decision of taking suo-motu cognizance
of the articles to initiate contempt
action against them. They had moved
the apex court pending the hearing in
the High Court which had on
September 11, 2007 directed them to be
present before it for pronouncement of
quantum of sentence.

TN CM Panneerselvams job on the line

CORRESPONDENT
Chennai, January 3 : Continuation of O Panneerselvam as the Chief Minister of
Tamil Nadu has become uncertain and shaky as a person like M Thambi Durai, the
Deputy Speaker of the Lok Sabha himself coming out in the open and asking VK
Sasikala, the AIADMK general secretary, to take charge as the Chief Minister. In a
statement issued on Monday in his official letter-head as the Deputy Speaker of the
Lok Sabha, Thambi Durai pleaded with his Chinamma (as Sasikala is addressed in
reverence by the cadre) that she should take over the Chief Ministership of Tamil
Nadu with immediate effect. His contention is that the social welfare initiatives
launched by former Chief Ministers late MGR and late Jayalalithaa could be implemented if only the same person holds both the posts (that of general secretary and
that of the Chief Minister). When we were very anxious and worried as to what
would happen to the party and to the crores and crores of party cadres after the sad
demise of Puratchi Thalaivi Honble Amma, who was the General Secretary of the

party for 27 long years, respected Chinamma has come to the rescue all of us, as a
light-house. Likewise, all of us have the unshakeable faith and confidence that the
leadership of Respected Chinamma alone would continue to implement several welfare schemes for the people of Tamil Nadu that were initiated by Puratchi Thalaivar
Dr MGR and Puratchi Thalaivi Honble Amma, said Durai. To justify his demand,
Durai pointed out that people in India do not accept the situation where the leadership of the party is in one hand and the leadership of the Government is in another
hand. The election promises could be fulfilled only when the leadership of both the
party and the Government was in one persons hand, he claimed. The Deputy
Speaker pointed out that in India, Governments have lost their credibility among the
people when the leadership of the party and the Government was in the hands of
two different persons. When the country is going to face parliamentary election in
two years, the AIADMK has to function very effectively to get the wholehearted
support of the people and to continue to win the election, as was done by Puratchi

Thalaivar and Puratchi Thalaivi, I emphatically request that Respected Chinamma

has to immediately take over the leadership of the Government, as the Chief
Minister of Tamil Nadu, said Durai in his five-pages long statement in which he has
sung a lot of paeans on Sasikala. After the release was issued, Durai drove down to
Veda Nilayam in Chennai where Chinamma Sasikala has been staying. The duo had
a 30-minute-long meeting. We do not want the Uttar Pradesh incidents happening
in Tamil Nadu, Durai told reporters while coming out of Veda Nilayam.
Interestingly, the last two days saw a number of Ministers in the Paneerselvan
Cabinet openly airing the demand for anointing Chinamma as the Chief Minister.
Senior Ministers OS Manian, RB Udhayakumar, Sellur K Raju and Kadambur Raju
came out with demands of replacing Panneerselvam with Chinamma Sasikala.
Meanwhile, the Madras High Court on Monday dismissed the petition filed by
Sasikala Pushpa, the expelled AIADMK member challenging the move to appoint
VK Sasikala as the general secretary of the party.

Vel Arch

Ranchi: College students block VVIP Harmu road to protest against the rape and murder of a college girl in Ranchi on Tuesday.
TST Photo

Why HC judges
not transferred: SC
New Delhi, January 3 : The Supreme Court on
Monday questioned the Centre as why judges and chief
justices of high courts are not being transferred despite
the recommendations of the collegium and asked it to
file a status report on such pending transfers with
detailed reasons in two weeks. The apex court said it
gives rise to speculation and misgivings due to continuance of such judges in the same high court and instead
of sitting over the recommendation, the Centre should
return back to the collegium for reconsideration.
Continuance of judges in the same high courts despite
being transferred is giving rise to speculation and misgivings. If you (the Centre) have any problem with the
recommendations then send it back to us. We will look
into it. There is no point sitting over it, a bench headed
by Chief Justice T S Thakur told Attorney General (AG)
Mukul Rohatgi. Justice Thakur, who is demitting office
tomorrow as the Chief Justice of India, has been regularly questioning the government over the appointment of
judges for higher judiciary and both (the Centre and the
judiciary) are at loggerheads with each other over the
issue. The AG said that the collegium has sent back 37
names of judges to the government which is looking at
them. What about the transfers of judges which has
been recommended by the collegium? You are sitting
over them for over 10 months, a bench also comprising
Justices A M Khanwilkar and D Y Chandrachud said.
Rohatgi said he needs to take instructions on the pending recommendations of transfers and sought three
weeks of time. Senior advocate Ram Jethmalani said the
top law officer of the government should have all the
information. I have no information about the transfers.
Give me some time. I will come back in three weeks with
full details, Rohatgi said. Jethmalani said that transfer
recommendation of Justice M R Shah of the Gujarat
High Court is pending since February 2016. I do not
understand why is the government so interested to keep
this man over there, he said.

NSC was awarded for his contribution

towards students' community development.
Delhi, Januar y 3 : Dheeraj Sharma - National
President, NSC honored with Rajiv Gandhi Excellence
Award Dheeraj Sharma - National President, NSC was
awarded with most promising Rajiv Gandhi Excellence
Award, which took place at Taj Palace Hotel in Delhi,
hosted by Maharaja Karan Singh (Member of
Parliament) son of Maharaja Hari Singh also accompanied by Sandesh Yadav . He was applauded by all the dignitaries for his commendable contribution towards the
development of students' community. When proudly
quoted " Being honored for something I've always
believed in and worked for is indeed great accomplishment. I am greatly obliged for the support and trust that
everyone has shown on me which had lead to my nomination. My such achievement is born of great sacrifice,
and is never the result of selfishness." His award is high
motivational source for entire students' community with
the belief that if we want a CHANGE around us then we
should be the CHANGE.

NSC National President's birthday

celebrated in a Noble Manner
New Delhi, January 3 : NSC National President
birthday celebrated for a noble cause. On the special
occasion of Honorable Dheeraj Sharma's birthday, NSC
organized a grand event at its Head Office, New Delhi
where many of his party members were present from
various states. The event was initiated by many of his
party members cutting the cake while wearing mask of
Dheeraj Sharma just to add little humor in the occasion
and then it was followed by conducting various charitable work across many regions in the city. It was indeed a
heart touching celebration as blankets were distributed
to the needy ones sleeping on city footpaths in such
chilly winters. The entire program was planned and initiated by his dedicated party members just to extend
their wishes to their honoring President.

Haj application process goes digital

New Delhi, January 3 : Haj application process on
Monday went digital for the first time with Union
Minister of State for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas
Naqvi launching the Haj Committee of India Mobile
App for clearing applications. Launching the Mobile
App, Naqvi said that Ministry of Minority Affairs has
joined the Digital India campaign in a big way making
several processes relating to Haj digital or online. The
Central Government has been encouraging online
applications for next Haj so that people can get an
opportunity for the pilgrimage with complete transparency and comfort, the Minister said in Mumbai.
This mobile app will be available on Google Playstore
from January 2, 2017.

THE SIKH TIMES

STATES

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Repromulgation of Ordinances
fraud on Constitution: SC
AGENCIES
New Delhi, Januar y 3 :
Repromulgation of Ordinances is a
fraud on the Constitution and a subversion of democratic legislative
processes, especially when the
Government persistently avoids the
placing the ordinances before the legislature, the Supreme Court on
Monday ruled. A seven-judge
Constitution bench, by a majority of
6:1, held that repromulgation is constitutionally impermissible and
defeats constitutional scheme
under which a limited power to frame
ordinances has been conferred upon
the President and the Governors.
Justice DY Chandrachud, who wrote
the majority verdict on behalf of
Justices S A Bobde, A K Goel, U U
Lalit and L Nageswara Rao, said, The
failure to comply with the require-

ment of laying an ordinance before

the legislature is a serious constitutional infraction and abuse of the constitutional process. Repromulgation
of ordinances is a fraud on the
Constitution and a sub-version of
democratic legislative processes,
Justice Chandrachud said. Chief
Justice TS Thakur, who wrote a concurrent but separate judgement, said
that repeated repromulgation of the
ordinances was a fraud on the
Constitution especially when the
Government of the time appears to
have persistently avoided the placement of the ordinances before the legislature. The lone dissenting judge,
Justice M B Lokur, was of the opinion
that the repromulgation of an ordinance by the Governor of a state is
not per se a fraud on the Constitution.
There could be exigencies requiring

the repromulgation of an ordinance.

However, repromulgation of an ordinance ought not to be a mechanical
exercise and a responsibility rests on
the Governor to be satisfied that circumstances exist which render it necessary for him to take immediate
action for promulgating or repromulgating an ordinance, he said. The
verdict came on a plea against a
series of ordinances issued by the
Bihar Governor between 1989 and
1992 regarding the taking over of 429
private Sanskrit schools by the state.
We hold and declare that every one
of the ordinances at issue commencing with Ordinance 32 of 1989 and
ending with the last of the ordinances, Ordinance 2 of 1992 constituted a fraud on constitutional power,
the verdict penned by Justice
Chandrachud said.

India, Lanka to set up SOPs

AGENCIES
New Delhi, January 3 : India and Sri Lanka on Monday held a ministerial level meeting in Colombo to work out mechanisms for a permanent solution to the perennial issue
of fishermen between the two countries. To begin with, Sri Lanka will immediately release
51 Indian fishermen from its custody while India will free three Lankan fishermen. Lanka
has also agreed to consider returning a large number of Indian fishing boats. As result of
the ministerial meeting, Sri Lanka is releasing 51 Indian fishermen and we are releasing
three Sri Lankan fishermen. Most significantly, Sri Lanka has also agreed to consider our
request for release of fishing boats, External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas
Swarup said in New Delhi after the meeting. Sources said an understanding was also
reached at the meeting to ensure that there was no physical harm or loss of life caused
while apprehending fishermen by Navy and Coast Guard of the two countries. During the
meeting both sides agreed to a set up Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to expedite
the release and handing over of fishermen in each others custody on completion of
respective legal and procedural formalities. Sri Lanka has periodically freed Indian fisher-

men caught by its Navy but their boats are not often returned. Lankas assurance to consider release of fishing boats is significant given the fact a large number of Indian vessels
were in its custody, affecting livelihood of the Indian fishermen. The meeting was attended by Radha Mohan Singh, Minister of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare from the Indian
side while Mahinda Amaraweera, Minister for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources
Development represented Sri Lanka. The ministerial talks followed the first meeting of the
Joint Working Group (JWG) on fisheries held in New Delhi on 31 December 2016. As
part of the Confidence Building Measures (CBMs) agreed to by both sides, it was decided to intensify cooperation in patrolling and to institute periodic interaction between the
Coast Guard of the two countries. It was agreed to explore the possibility of introducing
effective tracking systems for the fishing vessels and making the use of onboard communication equipment mandatory, said a joint press communiqu issued after the talks. The
Lankan side talked about ending the practice of bottom trawling by the Indian fishermen.
India assured that bottom trawling would be phased out in a graded time-bound manner
within a timeframe keeping in mind the capacity building of the fishermen.

After decade-long stay at hospital

conjoined twins moved to home
AGENCIES
Hyderabad, January 3 : Veena and
Vani, the conjoined twins, have got a
new home in the New Year. The
twins, who were staying in the
Niloufer Childrens Hospital for more
than a decade were on Monday shifted to the State Home for the Children
at Yusufuguda in Hyderabad where
they were warmly welcomed by the
staff and other inmates. After their
parents N Murali and Nagalakshmi
from Nalgonda district abandoned
them due to poverty and left them
behind at the Niloufer hospital, Veena
and Vani were living at the hospital
under the care of the hospital staff.
Though the successive State
Government made many efforts to
get the twins, joined by their heads,
separated through surger y, they
could not succeed due to serious risk
to their lives. Recently Telangana

Government had sought the help

from London based experts who recommended a lengthy and very expensive surgical procedure. But it also
fell through due to the high risk to
the lives of the 14 year old girls.

But it also fell through

due to the high risk to
the lives of the 14 year
old girls.
Another hospital in Australia also
evinced interest in their case at the
behest of a group of NRIs from
Telangana but it also remains inconclusive. Meanwhile Niloufer hospital
authorities sent many reminders to
the State Government to make an
alternate arrangements for their stay
as taking care of them was proving
very expensive for the hospital. The
parents also refused to take them

home on the grounds of their poverty.

With no likelihood of an early breakthrough in their treatment the State
Government started the process of
shifting them from hospital to the
Home run by the Women and
Childrens Welfare Department. The
girls initially refused to move from
the hospital saying they were more
comfortable at the hospital as they
had developed a close bond with the
nurses and other staff members. But
as their stay was also proving very
costly and their stay within in the confines of the hospital was hindering
their normal mental and psychological growth, the officials decided to go
ahead with their plans and finally they
were moved out of the hospital amid
emotional scenes. At the Home one of
the girl inmates held a placard welcoming the twins as others extended
them the greetings of the New Year.

Cong hurls political

googlies at Anurag Thakur
Chandigarh, January 3 : Soon after Anurag Thakur's
innings as the BCCI president came to an end after the
Supreme Court judgement, Himachal Congress leaders
hurled political googlies at the Hamirpur MP. Though Chief
Minister Virbhadra Singh refused to comment on the matter
saying it was between the Supreme Court and the BCCI, his
son Vikramaditya took a dig at Anurag Thakur, who is the
son of former Himachal Chief Minister Prem Kumar
Dhumal, saying Thakur was first removed from the post of
BJYM chief and now he has been removed from the post of
BCCI chief and now Dhumal and his sons would be ousted
from the State polity. Youth Congress workers under the
command of Vikramaditya Singh had burnt the effigy of
Anurag Thakur on Sunday for misleading the Supreme
Court and demanded his resignation. Taking a dig at Anurag,
Himachal Congress President Sukhwinder Singh Sukhu
said, Anurag had lost his credibility by filing a false affidavit
in Supreme Court. He should not have filed a false document in Supreme Court as the politicians must maintain their
morality and honesty, added Sukhu. Another Congress
leader and parliamentary Secretary from Hamirpur District,
Inder Dutt Lakhanpal said that SC decision was historic and
sports associations should be free from political interference.
Sports associations should be governed by people, who
belong to sports only, said Lakhanpal. While Congress leaders kept hurling verbal missiles at the ousted BCCI chief, former CM Prem Kumar Dhumal, father of Anurag, coming to
his rescue and said that the SC decision is against a body not
against an individual.

Ready for two-front war but

want peace, says Army chief
New Delhi, January 3 : Army chief General Bipin
Rawat on Monday said his force is prepared for a two-front
war involving Pakistan and China simultaneously but
emphasised on the need to look at cooperation and not
confrontation with Beijing. His remarks came days after
Beijing raised eyebrows over India testing 5000 km-range
Agni 5 missile which has entire China within its reach. As
far as armed forces are concerned, we are tasked to be
prepared for a two-front war and I think we are capable of
carrying out our task in whatever manner that we may be
asked to do by the political hierarchy, Gen Rawat told
NewsX channel. General Rawat said as far as the northern
border is concerned, army has adopted certain mechanism to ensure that a harmonious relationship is maintained along the Line of Actual Control. He said that today
four border personnel meetings took place at the LAC.
This is to ensure that while we may be competing with
each other for space, economic development, prosperity,
there are also areas of cooperation. And I think that
should be our focus area. Rather than looking at confrontation, we need to look at cooperation with China, he
said. Just before his retirement last month, Air Force
Chief Air Chief Marshal Arup Raha, who was also the
Chairman, Chief of Staff Committee, had said India was
only building its deterrent capability.

Dharmanagar: Women police personnel taking selfie during the Tripura Police Day in Dharmanagar on Tuesday. TST Photo

Ex-Cong, Dalit leader Prasad joins BJP

AGENCIES
Bengaluru, January 3 : In a major political development former senior Congress Minister and respected dalit face in
Karnataka V Srinivas Prasad on Monday joined BJP. Prasad a
powerful dalit leader rebelled against Chief Minister
Siddaramaiah after he was unceremoniously eased out of
Ministry took a decision to join BJP. This political move ahead of
Assembly polls in 2018 is seen as a jolt to the ruling congress at
the time Siddaramaiahs popularity chart has come down with
many controversies. The veteran dalit leader was welcomed into
the party fold by BJP State president and Lok Sabha member BS
Yeddyurappa, Union Ministers HN Ananth Kumar and DV

Sadananda Gowda, Opposition Leader in the Legislative Council

KS Eshwarappa, former Deputy Chief Minister R Ashok, BJP
National General Secretary R Muralidhar Rao, and the InCharge of party affairs in Karnataka, at the party office in
Jaganath Bhavan in Bengaluru. Prasad had quit as Congress
MLA as well as the primary membership of Congress after
being dropped from the Cabinet unscrupulously by Chief
Minister Siddaramaiah, who effected a major reshuffle by dropping 14 Ministers and inducting 13 new faces in October last
year. Prasad had been openly challenging Siddaramaiah about
removing him from the Ministry, without informing and had
termed the Chief Ministers action as nothing, but dictatorship.

Prasad, had served as Union Minister twice, once in the late

Indira Gandhi Cabinet and in NDA Ministry headed by Atal
Bihari Vajpayee. Prasad will seek re-election from Nanjangud
Assembly constituency on BJP ticket in the by-election, to be
held shortly Meanwhile Karnataka Pradesh Congress
Committee (KPCC) president G Parameshwara said that senior
leaders V Srinivas Prasad and Jayaprakash Hegdes decision to
quit the party will not have any bearing on the Congress. The
Congress will find an able leader to contest the ensuing by-election to the Nanjangud Assembly constituency, which fell vacant
following former Minister Prasads resignation as a Congress
MLA a few months ago, he said.

Haryana-Punjab-Chandigarh

THE SIKH TIMES

Punjab is fully charged,

ripe for the polls

AAP announces 2
more candidates

Chandigarh, January 3 : The Aam Aadmi

Party on Monday announced two more candidates, from Mohali and Lehra, for the upcoming Punjab Assembly elections. So far, the
AAP has declared its nominees for 107 seats
out of a total of 117 Assembly segments.
Announcing the names, AAPs Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich (Ghuggi) said
the 48-year-old Narinder Singh Shergill will be
partys candidate from Mohali constituency
and 41-year-old Jasbir Singh Kudani from
Lehragaga assembly seat. Shergill is a progressive farmer and former Sarpanch of
Jhingran Kalan village of Kharar. He joined
AAP in 2014 before Lok Sabha elections, he
said, adding that Kudani, also a farmer by profession, had joined AAP in April 2016. Earlier,
party had announced name of its Legal Cell
head and advocate Himmat Singh Shergill as
its candidate from Mohali, but later shifted
him to contest against the state Revenue
Minister Bikram Singh Majithia from Majitha
assembly segment. Meanwhile, the Bains
brothers-led Lok Insaf Party, which has
entered into an alliance with AAP, has so far
announced four candidates out of the five
assembly seats it is contesting.

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Patna: Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh eating langar with party leader Shakeel Ahmad at Gandhi Maidan
during 350th birth anniversary celebration of Guru Gobind Singh in Patna on Tuesday. TST Photo

Haryana re-organises
administrative units
Chandigarh, January 3 : In a bid to provide transparent and more responsive administration to the people,
the Haryana Government on Monday decided to reorganise the administrative units in the State. While the
number of divisions has been increased from four to
six, the number of Police Ranges have been increased
from four to five in the state. Haryana Chief Minister
Manohar Lal while addressing mediapersons here said,
Now, the state will have six divisions, five Police
Ranges and three Police Commissionerates. He said
that new divisions of Karnal and Faridabad have been
made. The Karnal division will have the districts of
Karnal, Panipat and Kaithal. Similarly, the new division
of Faridabad will include the districts of Nuh, Palwal
and Faridabad. The Ambala division will now have districts of Ambala, Yamunanagar, Panchkula and
Kurukshetra. Gurgaon division would include districts
of Gurugram, Mahendragarh and Rewari, Hisar division will have Hisar, Fatehabad, Sirsa and Jind. The
Rohtak division would include districts of Rohtak,
Jhajjar, Sonepat, Dadri and Bhiwani, said the Chief
Minister. Giving details of Police Ranges, he said that
new Ambala Police Range will cover the districts of
Ambala, Yamunanagar and Kurukshetra. The existing
Karnal Range will include the districts of Karnal,
Panipat and Kaithal. He said that the existing Police
Commissionerate of Faridabad, Gurgaon and
Panchkula would remain as such. The Chief Minister
also announced that cooperative banks in the state
would be made online by January 31 so as to facilitate
the people.On Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) Scheme,
he said that 67 schemes have been identified to be
implemented through DBT by March end.

Will wipe out drugs from Punjab

within 4 weeks, says Amarinder
Chandigarh, January 3 : Hitting out at Arvind
Kejriwal, Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh
on Saturday said the AAP national convener was trivialising the States drugs problem to divert the attention
from substance abuse charges against his partys leaders. AAP workers are themselves making allegations
of drugs abuse against their party leaders, many of
whom are caught in corruption and sex scandals.
Kejriwal was now resorting to diversion tactics by
indulging in blatant lies against the Congress, Singh
said. Rebutting Kejriwals allegation of drug peddling
against Congress, the former Punjab Chief Minister
said the AAP leader was resorting to falsehood in a desperate bid to divert the attention from drug abuse
charges against his partys leaders. Congress is committed to fight the drug menace in Punjab and the State
party chief is committed to wipe out drugs from Punjab
within four weeks of assuming power, a statement from
the party said. Singh also blamed Kejriwal for ditching
the people of Punjab on key issues such as SutlejYamuna Link (SYL) canal. Again challenging Kejriwal
for an open debate on issues vital to Punjabs interest,
Singh said he was ready to debate him on all issue including drugs and SYL.

AGENCIES
Chandigarh, January 3 : The age-old
maxim of ones loss is anothers gain did
not apparently come true in 2016 for the
political parties in Punjab. The year saw
almost all the major political parties lose
something without really gaining anything. The year saw prominent leaders
leaving their parties, shifting loyalties,
changing stands, embracing rivals, and
what not! It was not just the voters who
remained confused but also the politicians.
In fact, none of the major political party
could project itself to be the right choice
for the electorate. The ruling Shiromani
Akali Dal and BJP combine made last
ditch effort to consolidate its dwindling
graph by doling out sops at the eleventh
hour. The Congress party went all out to
rise from the ashes under its new party
chief Capt Amarinder Singh, taking tough
stand on various issues including the
Satluj-Yamuna Link (SYL) canal wherein
all the party MLAs resigned en masse.

Badal terms AAP, Cong

as enemies of Punjab
Reond (Budhlada), January 3 : Terming the Congress
and the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) as the enemy parties of
Punjab, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal on Saturday
called upon people of the State to distinguish between own
people and strangers and ensure that the reigns of State
are given in safe hands. Addressing a Sangat Darshan in
Budhlada Assembly constituency, Badal warned the people of Punjab that the Congress party-which attacked the
most holy place of Sikhism Sri Darbar Sahib, killed thousands of innocent Sikhs in Delhi and always taken away
the rights of Punjab can never think about the betterment of Punjab. He added the Congress has ruled over
country for a long time but has always committed economic, social and religious atrocities on Punjab. He added SAD
was the party that has always worked to safeguard interests of for Punjab, Punjabi and Punjabiat. Terming the
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal as anti-Punjab, he
said that neither Kejriwal was aware of the issues of Punjab

nor he knows about people of the State. He said that the

AAP had no agenda for development and promotion of the
Punjabis and was trying to entice the voters by mere slogan raising. He said that the Governments do not work on
baseless slogans instead one has to set agendas for development and take initiatives to wipe off miseries of people.
Warning the people of the State, Badal said if the Congress
or the AAP comes into power even mistakenly, these parties will stop the benefit of free power, water, atta dal, shagan scheme and many other benefits being given to them.
Answering media query on Assembly segment from
where he will contest the elections, Badal said that he will
follow the orders of party in this context. He said that in
politics the party is supreme and his entire life he has been
following the orders of party. Holding Congress responsible for the Satluj Yamuna Link fiasco, the Chief Minister
said that the Congress leaders are puppets in the hands of
high command.

Temp above normal;

fog in Haryana, Punjab
Chandigarh, January 3 : The minimum and maximum temperatures across Punjab and Haryana hovered
a few notches above normal on Monday, even as fog
reduced visibility at some places in the region.
According to the Met Department here, fog reduced the
visibility early this morning at some places including
Amritsar, Ludhiana, Bathinda and Faridkot in Punjab
and at Hisar and Narnaul in Haryana. Chandigarh
recorded minimum temperature at 9.8 degrees Celsius,
which was five notches above normal. In Haryana,
Ambala recorded a low of 10.2 degrees Celsius, up four
degrees while Hisar's low settled at 9.7 degrees Celsius,
three notches more than the normal limits. Karnal
recorded a minimum of 7.4 degrees Celsius, up by a
degree against normal while Narnaul's low settled at 8.5
degrees Celsius, four notches more than normal level.
Amritsar in Punjab recorded a minimum temperature of
7.9 degrees Celsius, which was five notches above normal. Patiala recorded a low of 9 degrees Celsius, two
notches more than normal level while Ludhiana registered a minimum temperature of 7.9 degrees Celsius, up
two notches against normal.

Sukhbir in secret talks with Capt to shift Ghubayas son from Jalalabad: AAP
AGENCIES
Chandigarh, January 3 : Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) on
Monday stated that the delay by Punjab Deputy Chief
Minister Sukhbir Badal in announcement of his Jalalabad
seat was not without a purpose but fearing strong
backlash from Rai Sikh community. The party, at the
same time, alleged that Sukhbir was in secret talks with
Punjab Congress chief Capt Amarinder Singh to shift
SAD rebel MP Sher Singh Ghubayas son, Davinder
Singh Ghubaya, from Jalalabad to Fazilka. Davinder had
recently joined Congress, and is likely to be fielded from
Jalalabad. The delay in announcement of his Jalalabad
seat by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Badal is not without a purpose and the reasons put forward by the latter
for not announcing the name of his seat are illogical and
merely delaying tactics to strike a deal with PPCC president Capt Amarinder Singh to secure his seat, said
AAPs Punjab convener Gurpreet Singh Waraich
(Ghuggi) and partys campaign committee in-charge and

MP Bhagwant Mann, in a joint statement. They claimed

that Sukhbir Badal was not feeling secure to contest
from his home constituency Jalalabad and fearing strong
backlash of Rai Sikh community which is grossly
annoyed with the Badal family. Ghuggi and Maan stated
that Sukhbir was not sure to win from Jalalabad in the
given political circumstances from where AAP has
thrown a challenge to Badal family. Sukhbir had initially
tried to arm twist Ghubaya by conducting vigilance raid
on the college run by his family. Union Minister
Harsimrat Kaur Badal even humiliated Ghubaya by asking him to leave the party if he was not getting respect
and described him a thankless person, they added.
AAP leaders said that Rai Sikhs, which are in majority in
the Jalalabad constituency, would never vote for the
Badals after Sher Singh Ghubaya had announced that he
would not campaign for SAD. Politically powerful Rai
Sikh community has strong presence in Jalalabad and
feel betrayed by SAD, they claimed. AAP leaders once

Sarna: Scrap blacklist, announce

amnesty for Sikh political prisoners
AMRITSAR, January 3 : Delhi unit of Shiromani
Akali Dal (SAD) has sent a missive to Prime Minister
Narendra Modi to announce scrapping of blacklist of
Sikhs and give amnesty to Sikh political prisoners who
have served over 10 years in jail. Talking to TOI on
Monday, Delhi SAD president Paramjit Singh Sarna
said that the party had sent a letter to the PM and had
also sought appointment to discuss the issue of blacklist and Sikh political prisoners. "There can't be any better opportunity than the birth anniversary of Guru
Gobind Singh to make this announcement since majority of Sikhs want these people to join mainstream and
spend their life peacefully," he said.

Adding a third dimension to Punjabs battle for the ballot, Aam Aadmi Party
emerged as a strong alternative despite
a series of controversies and self-goals by
its leaders that tarnished its spotless
image. It was, in fact, a year of rise, fall,
and rise of AAP. The fourth front never
really emerged but the fragments of the
unbreakable political parties surfaced as a
force to reckon with. Even as the issues of
drug menace, law and order, farmers suicide, mafias, remained in public eye, it was
the sensitive SYL issue that took the centre-stage at the years fag end with the
Supreme Court giving its judgement
against Punjab. In protest, all 42 Congress
legislators, and Amritsar MP Capt
Amarinder resigned from the membership
of the respective Houses. The ruling coalition, among other things, denotified land
acquired for SYL canals construction and
returned to its original owners, besides
holding a days special assembly session
and passing resolutions.

Jammu: Members of Opposition parties National Conference and Congress shout slogans during a protest against the PDP-BJP government during budget session at J&K Legislative Assembly on Tuesday. TST Photo

again challenged Sukhbir to contest from Jalalabad and

not to run after Capt Amarinder to political patronage. If
Congress commits this blunder, it would endorse the
AAP stand that Capt Amarinder and Sukhbir Badal are
fighting assembly election in collusion with each other
against AAP, they said.

Politics intensifies over cricket

issue in Himachal Pradesh
Chandigarh, January 3 : The Supreme Court's decision to remove BCCI president Anurag Thakur has given
his political opponents a golden chance to prepare a
fresh attack on him. Not only Congress, even CPM is
demanding to restore transparency and democratic set
up in Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA),
which is headed by the now sacked BCCI president.
Vikramaditya Singh, president of Himachal Pradesh
Youth Congress, has demanded that Thakur resign even
as member of Parliament following SC's ruling.
Himachal chief minister Virbhadra Singh abstained from
commenting on the apex court's ruling but said, "The
ruling will go a long to cleanse the dirt which was there
not only in cricket but in other sports bodies too. I have
not read the judgment in full and I do not know what the
implication of judgment is." The Congress government
in Himachal had framed Himachal Pradesh Sports
(Registration, Recognition and Regulation of
Associations) Bill, 2015, to regulate the sports bodies
and bring transparency in their functioning, which was
passed by the state assembly in April 2015 but has yet to
get the nod of governor Acharya Devvrat. HPCA was
against this bill. Virbhadra said that sports bill was on the
line of the Lodha panel recommendations but bill had
obstructions and till date matter is running from one
court to another. "What we aimed has been given direction by Supreme Court. We are not against any individual
but we only want that sports institutions are formed in
accordance with law and function in a transparent manner," he said. Vikramaditya said that the ground on
which Anurag was removed from BCCI also applies to be
removed from the president post of HPCA. Himachal
Pradesh Congress Committee president Sukhvinder
Singh Sukhu said that SC's order shows that BCCI was
not functioning properly. Shimla deputy mayor and CPM
state secretariat member Tikender Singh Panwar said
that his party has always maintained that sports and
especially cricket should be freed from the "cricket
mafias" and "cricket corporate". "I personally have a writ
pending in the Himachal Pradesh high court seeking
democratization of the HPCA.

Haryana plans investor-friendly land acquisition policy

AGENCIES
Chandigarh, January 3 : In an attempt to minimise the
problems faced in acquiring land for vital projects in the State,
the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Haryana Government would
frame a new policy for land acquisition. The new policy will
facilitate the investors in land acquisition for setting up development projects in Haryana. After attracting investment proposals of more than Rs 6.41 lakh cr during last year, the State
Government has been facing problems to provide land for the
projects. "Considering the existing problems in acquisition of
land, the new policy to be introduced soon will assist the people to acquire land through mutual negotiations," said the

Chief Minister Manohar Lal while talking to mediapersons.

The Chief Minister said, "With the introduction of new policy,
villages or gram panchayats can give their land for setting up
of development projects. The policy would lay down conditions for giving incentives or land acquirement compensation
of more than market price." With previous Bhupinder Singh
Hooda-led Haryana Government facing the wrath for alleged
land scams during their ten years tenure, the present BJP
Government in the State has been treading cautiously on the
issue of land acquisition. Besides providing land to the
investors for various projects, the State Government is also
looking to resolve land acquisition problems for its own proj-

ects. Recently, the State Government had also constituted a

committee to expedite the process of identification and making land available for implementation of Chief Minister's
announcements. Following maiden 'Happening Haryana
Global Investors' Summit' held in Gurugram in last February,
the State Government has so far signed 558 Memorandum of
Understanding (MoUs) with investment proposals of over Rs
6.41 lakh cr. The MoUs are expected to provide employment
opportunities to 7.83 lakh people in the State. Manohar Lal
informed that out of these MoUs, about 100 MoUs have been
finalized and licences have been given for them. Work is in
progress for the implementation of other MoUs as well, he

said. This year, the Haryana Government would also host

'Haryana Pravasi Divas' at Gurugram on January 10 and 11 to
attract investments from entrepreneurs from Haryana who
have set up business ventures abroad and in other parts of the
country. More than 500 delegates have registered for the
event which includes around 300 foreign delegates. The
Government will also hold a series of events including industrial fair, business meets, IT show this year to showcase
Haryana as an ideal investment destination. Dedicating 2017
to skill development and employment generation, the Chief
Minister also announced to soon extend 'Saksham Haryana'
scheme to graduate unemployed youth of the State.

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Editor's
Pen

This year, lets

resolve to listen

olitical discourse in India, and indeed in the

rest of the world, touched a new low last
year. Let us resolve to listen to each other in
a civil manner this year. This applies to all ends of the
political spectrum, including the Left which laments the
most The eternal battle between political opinions got
dirty and messy this past year. This is not to argue that
politics has previously been this clean place; its just
that it appeared that in this past year a lot of dirty laundry made it into the public domain. And while social
media and technology has largely been a force for
good, it was gamed to spread false news and propaganda for terrorist organisations. As your columnist has
argued before, 2016 saw the neglected little guy (in a
matter of speaking) lash out against being ignored. For
some people, the increasing social permissiveness and
rising political correctness made them want to make
their voices heard. This led to the major electoral surprises in the United Kingdom and the United States. It
also highlighted the challenges that traditional political
parties face when they come under the onslaught of
technology and and what one would describe
euphemistically as news from questionable sources.
People on ever y side of the political spectrum
screamed and shouted into the social media abyss and
found willing listeners as well as people to spread their
message. Voices bounced around in this abyss echoing
around, turning made-up facts into the gospel truth.
Facts got drowned in a morass of opinion and conjectures. News became fact-free and television studios the
new battle-fields. But for that one should be grateful
wars were in the television studios rather than on the
streets. Internet trolls have been around from the earliest days of bulletin boards, almost two decades ago,
shielded from condemnation thanks to the anonymity
that the Internet affords its users. And while many on
the left side of the spectrum love to portray themselves
as victims of these trolls, many of them are little better
than trolls themselves; indeed, some crying the most
hoarse about being victims are the biggest perpetrators
of online hatred. The knife cuts both ways, or when it
comes to politics, every single way possible. Things
have become so bad, even humanitarian help to
besieged populations like those in Syria, where war has
raged for the past four years, got stuck in global geopolitics. We have ignored important issues because we
have been caught up in extreme partisanship. Instead
of discussing solutions and improving our collective lot,
our politicians have been busy bickering. Take the last
session of Parliament, where nothing of note, other
than the long overdue move to benefit people with disabilities, got done. Viewers, including young children
on television, were exposed to an opposition determined to not let the government function, and a government quite keen to humour the Opposition. It is disturbing to note, therefore, that conversations about less
democracy or a need to impose order on the Indian
polity have made it into the mainstream. As much as
Indian democracy is chaotic, it is one of the greatest
assets of this great nation of ours. But, an increasing
number of people feel that it is not working. In fact,
sometimes it feels that more work and discussions happen on prime-time news than on Sansad Marg. And one
major reason for that comes back to an initial point this
column raised. Politics and opinions have become echo
chambers, people scream their viewpoints to a willing
audience who then amplify it to people who share those
views. If a dissenting voice raises even a question, its
ethics, morality and even patriotism is questioned. We
have forgotten how to listen to dissenting views and
accept criticism of our faults. To use the words of one of
the unlikeliest political leaders of the past year, we have
all become sore losers. Instead of looking at ways to
improve ourselves and correcting ourselves, we have
used social media in particular to reinforce our biases
and double down on our mistakes because our egos
demand just that. Those who disagree with us are summarily dismissed either as trolls or haters, by many on
the liberal side through a classless casual elitism and
on the right through threats of hate and violence.

OPINION

THE SIKH TIMES

Getting jobs back, the new US order

T

rump believes that globalisation and outsourcing have eaten into American
jobs. He is wrong. Automation, about which he can do nothing, is the prime
cause The main message of 2016 was that we are entering a period of economic and political upheaval comparable to the industrial revolution of 1780-1850, and
nothing expressed that message more clearly than Donald Trump's appointment of
Andrew Puzder as Secretary of Labour. Even though it's clear that neither man understands the message. Puzder bears a large part
of the responsibility for fulfilling Trump's election promise to bring back America's lost
industrial jobs: seven million in the past 35
years. That's what created the Rust Belt and
the popular anger that put Trump in power.
But Puzder is a fast-food magnate who got rich
by shrinking his costs, and he has never met a
computer he didn't like. They're always polite,
they always upsell, they never take a vacation,
they never show up late, there's never a slipand-fall, or an age-, sex-, or race-discrimination
case, he rhapsodised. They also never take
lunch or toilet breaks, they'll work 24 hours a
day, and they don't have to be paid. So out with
the workers and in with the robots. It was not
evil foreigners who stole most of those seven
million American jobs, and will probably eliminate up to 50 million more in the next 20 years.
It's the intelligent machines' that did most of
the damage, starting with simple assembly-line robots and ATMs. (Every Automated
Teller Machine contains the ghosts of three bank tellers.) But the automation keeps
moving up the skill sets. The first self-driving cars are now on the road in the United
States. That's another four million jobs down the drain, starting with taxi-drivers and
long-distance truckers. In recent years, eight American manufacturing jobs have been
lost to automation for every one lost to globalisation, and it will only get worse. A 2013
study concluded that 47 per cent of existing jobs in the United States are vulnerable to
automation in the next 20 years, and the numbers are as bad or worse for the other
developed countries. This is what is really driving the populist revolution that caused

two of the world's oldest democracies to make bizarre, self-harming political choices
in the past year. First Brexit, then Trump. Trump's election means that we are in for a
wild ride in the next four years, but he will ultimately disappoint his supporters
because he is barking up the wrong tree. He cannot bring back the jobs that were lost,
because most of them were not lost to his favourite culprits: Free trade and uncontrolled immigration. Even if Trump understood this, he could not admit it in public,
because there is nothing he can do about it.
He might ban immigrants coming in to steal
American jobs, and he can tear up free-trade
deals to his heart's content, but his own
Cabinet contains people who have built their
careers on eliminating jobs through automation. The main political task for the next generation (post-Trump) in the developed countries will be to ensure that those without work
have an income they can live on, and don't
lose their self-respect. Other ways will doubtless be suggested, but one way of achieving
this that is already getting attention is a
Universal Basic Income (UBI). The UBI
would provide everybody with enough to live
on. Since everybody got it, there would be no
stigma involved in living on it. And 53 per cent
of today's jobs will still be there in 2033, so
those who really wanted to work could top up
their UBI with earned income. There would
still be millionaires. The first national referendum on UBI was held in Switzerland last
June. It was a radical new idea, so of course it was overwhelmingly rejected. But this
idea will not go away, and there will be more like it. The rich countries can stay rich
and stable if they understand the nature of the task but the developing countries
may face a grim future. No UBI for them they are not rich enough; not even China.
But automation is eating into their newly gained industrial jobs too. A recent Citibank
report estimated that 77 per cent of Chinese jobs are at risk from automation, and in
India there is talk of premature de-industrialisation (ie industrial jobs in India may be
peaking right now, and will then go into decline.

Samajwadi Party turmoil New schemes to reduce

demonetisation pains
throws up clear leader
P
R

egardless of the eventual

outcome of the grim internal battle that is on in the
Samajwadi Party, one conclusion is
indisputable: Uttar Pradesh Chief
Minister Akhilesh Yadav has
emerged the winner. The show of
strength he demonstrated, with an
overwhelming number of party
Legislators not just attending a meeting he summoned but also categorically expressing their faith in his leadership, rattled the old guard led by
Shivpal Yadav and backed by
Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam
Singh Yadav. Before they could recover, a party convention', which
Akhilesh Yadavs confidant Ramgopal
Yadav organised with great success,
resolved to oust Shivpal Yadav and
another leader, Amar Singh, from the
Samajwadi Party. Realising the futility
of contesting the growing numbers in
the Chief Minister's favour, Mulayam
Singh Yadav abandoned his plan of
having a counter-convention. Earlier,
Akhilesh Yadav had had the last laugh
when his suspension from the party
was withdrawn within 24 hours of
being issued. Now the Chief Minister
knows that he has the upper hand and
is willing to prepare for the push
comes to shove' situation with greater
confidence than before. Part of the
reason for Akhilesh Yadav's popularity is the low level of credibility his
opponents have. Neither Shivpal
Yadav nor Amar Singh enjoys acceptability among the voters, especially
the younger lot. Both have baggage
that is difficult to disown. If the former has a poor image when it comes
to transparency and integrity in public
duties, Amar Singh is seen as a fixer
and manipulator; worse, the Akhilesh
camp sees him as a party-destroyer

and a family-divider. Such is the animosity that even a known Mulayam

Singh Yadav loyalist who is
presently torn, though, between the
two warring camps Mohammed
Azam Khan, has consistently accused
Amar Singh of disruption. There may
or may not be any truth in these accusations, but Amar Singh or Shivpal
Yadav alone could not have created

to happen, as Mulayam Singh Yadav

has made it known on several occasions that in the tussle between the
Akhilesh Yadav faction and the
Shivpal Yadav group, he is with the
former. Indeed, on occasions, he has
even questioned the Chief Minister's
contribution to the party. The battle
will rage on for a while now. The fight
for the party symbol, for the party

Vel Arch

the crisis within the party (and

arguably within the ruling family)
without the tacit backing of Mulayam
Singh Yadav. Perhaps the party chieftain believes that Akhilesh Yadav
does not have what it takes to steer
the party to an Assembly win in 2017.
But he must have been surprised by
the massive show of support for the
Chief Minister. Perhaps he should
reconcile to the fact that the son has
come out of his father's shadow, and
back him solidly. But this is unlikely

office and for party conventions will

get deeper. The Election Commission
of India will have to decide on allotting the official Samajwadi Party symbol to either of the two factions. With
the Assembly election round the corner, the poll panel may decide to play
safe and freeze the symbol.
Meanwhile, rivals such as the
Bahujan Samaj Party, the Bharatiya
Janata Party and the Congress are
watching the unfolding drama and
hoping to gain from the conflict.

rime Minister Narendra Modi's address to the

nation on December 31, which marked the
end of 2016 and also the 50-day deadline to
exchange high-value currency notes at banks, may not
have been as explosive as the November 8 announcement, but various schemes unveiled by the Prime
Minister will significantly impact the marginalised and
weaker sections of society. The Prime Minister's kitty had
a number of incentives for the populace the poor,
underprivileged, women, senior citizens and small businesses too. As the nation eagerly kept waiting for his
address, with some expecting a cash bonanza, others
anticipated another big bang decision dreams and
hopes of both were shattered as the Prime Minister neither offered freebies nor did he make any earth-shaking
policy decision. Instead, he began his speech on a sedate
note, by saluting the people for enduring the hardship of
demonetisation. At the very outset, he acknowledged that
demonetisation had had a cascading impact on the economy as well as on the citizens of the country. But, he said,
People will have to bear with small-term pain for longterm gain. This set the tone for what was to be unravelled. And gradually, he announced a host of sops for the
poor and the marginalised. In a bonanza package for the
farming community, the Prime Minister said that for 60
days, his Government would bear the interest on crop
loans from district cooperative banks and primary societies for sowing operations this Rabi season. Additionally,
he said that the Government would add Rs 200 billion
rupees to the Rs 210 billion fund created by the National
Bank for Agricultural and Rural Development in
November 2016. He also promised to issue RuPay debit
cards within three months to 30 million farmers who have
kisan credit cards. For the rural people, the Prime
Minister announced a three per cent interest subvention
for loans up to two lakh rupees. Next, in a bid to address
the plight of pregnant women, and also to support institutional deliveries to reduce maternal and infant mortality
rate, he announced the pan-India application of the Indira
Gandhi Matritva Sahyog Yojana, which was until now a
pilot project practised across 53 districts of the country.
Financial aid under this scheme has also been increased
from Rs 4,000 to Rs 6,000, which will be provided in three
installments. For small and medium industries, who were
the immediate sufferers of demonetisation due to a
decline in business, the Prime Minister unveiled a slew of
concessions. He raised credit guarantee for them.

Next surgical strike on the politics of money

S

ince Prime Minister Modi has decided to take the lead to cleanse
political funding, the proposals made by the poll panel must be
acted upon. The Government must circulate its proposals to political parties Prime Minister, Narendra Modis view that the time has come to
discuss the issue of political funding, is a logical corollary to the major campaign he has launched against corruption and black money. In this effort, he
has a strong ally in the Election Commission of India. The Election
Commission has been advocating stricter laws to regulate the funds of political parties and in recent times has even suggested amendments to the
Representation of the People Act. Chief Election Commissioner Nasim Zaidi
has called for a drastic change in the law dealing with anonymous donations
collected by political parties. Currently, a political party is not obliged to disclose the names of donors who donate less than Rs 20,000. This provision
has seen gross misuse by parties across the political spectrum. They
deposit huge sums of cash into their bank accounts and show them as the
aggregation of donations which are less than Rs 20,000. So much so, over 80
per cent of the funds in the accounts of political parties fall in this category.
These funds are generally black and come into a partys coffers via bulk
donations from money bags who traditionally support the party or from
those who wish to convey their gratitude to a party for favours shown. This rule is indeed the source of political corruption and needs to be radically changed. The Commission has suggested that the upper limit for anonymous donations
be slashed to Rs 2,000. Even this may provide an escape route for parties. Zaidi also wants stricter norms in regard to
maintenance of accounts by political parties and audit of accounts. The other menace is the plethora of political parties
in India, with over 1,900 of them supposedly operating in the country. The mushroom growth of political parties has
much to do with provisions in the Income Tax Act, which exempt them from paying tax on voluntary donations. Since
the source of donations below Rs 20,000 need not be disclosed, political parties are floated to park black money. This
needs to be taken cognizance of at the earliest. Yet another big issue is the spending by individual candidates in elections. Earlier, the election campaign would be spread over four weeks and candidates spent money on cycle processions,
posters, wall paintings and so on. Some decades ago, a serious candidate for a State Assembly election spent a couple of

lakhs of rupees. Lok Sabha candidates spent a little more. Now, with the
passage of time, the amounts spent by candidates on elections has touched
astronomical figures. Although the Election Commission has put a ceiling
on election spending and even curtailed the campaign time to just 15 days,
most candidates have a tendency to overshoot these limits and eventually
file false declarations about their election spending. It is whispered that in
many States Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Bihar are some examples winning candidates in Lok Sabha elections spend over Rs 10 crore
on an election. When there are two or more serious contenders for a seat,
the total spending in a constituency could well be over Rs 30 crore, and we
have 543 elected seats in the Lok Sabha! This has been a festering problem
for decades and needs to be addressed, if the Government is serious about
eliminating or curbing the influence of black money in elections. The
Election Commission has sought enhancement of punishment for those
who violate the ceiling on election spending or those who file false declarations about election spending. In his address on December 31, 2016, the
Prime Minister said political parties, political leaders and electoral funding
figure prominently in any debate on corruption and black money. He said
it was time political leaders and parties respected the feelings of honest citizens and understood their anger. Political parties must shun the holier than thou approach and come together to prioritise transparency and take firm steps to free politics of black money and corruption. The other issue Prime Minister
Modi touched upon, and which has a major impact on black money and politics, is the need to end the vicious cycle of
elections and return to simultaneously elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies. He said this would end the
endless cycle of elections, election spending by parties and candidates and also minimise pressure on the administrative machinery. India witnessed simultaneous elections to the Lok Sabha and the State Assemblies in 1952, 1957, 1962
and 1967. This process was disrupted because of the failure of some coalition Governments in the late 1960s to serve
their full term, but much of the blame for disrupting the schedule must be laid at the doorstep of Prime Minister Indira
Gandhi, who called an early election to the Lok Sabha in 1971 a year ahead of schedule. Since then nobody has been
able to synchronise elections to Parliament and State Assemblies again.

RELIGIOUS

THE SIKH TIMES

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Guru Hargobind ji
While in prison, before his execution at Lahore,
Guru Arjun had sent a message to his son, Guru
Hargobind, then aged only eleven, that he should
henceforth maintain an army. At the very time of
his installation as Guru, he insisted that he should
wear two swords, one representing his spiritual
leadership and the other his temporal and political leadership. Soon after it, he constructed in
front of the Amritsar temple, another building
called the Akal Takht (God's throne) as the seat
of temporal power. This place continues to the
present day as the centre of every sociopolitical
deliberation and power of the community. There,
like the two swords he wore, he raised aloft two
flags representing the two aspects of his activities.
He told his followers, "My rosary shall be my
swordbelt and on my turban I shall wear the
emblem of royalty." The Sikhs were already
engaged in the trade of horses and the Guru
advised every Sikh to keep a sword and maintain
a horse, wherever possible. He started recruiting
a regular army. He had a personal bodyguard of
57 horsemen and kept 700 horses, 60 gunmen
and 500 infantry men. Thus a state within a state,
started and developed by the earlier Gurus, was
consolidated by him. When this news reached the
Emperor, he demanded from the Guru the fine
imposed on his father. The Guru was imprisoned
in the Gwalior fort along with other political prisoners of high status. Later he was
released. Guru Hargobind ji in one of the battles There is an important incident which
brings out the religious policy of the Gurus. One Ram Das, a Maharashtra saint, met Guru
Hargobind. He questioned him as to how he reconciled his being a successor to the spiritual seat of Guru Nanak with his living as a soldier, maintaining an army and calling himself a true Emperor. The Guru replied that Guru Nanak had given up mammon (greed
for money). He had not renounced the world, and that the sword was for the double purpose of protecting the poor and destroying the tyrant. These words of the Guru most
clearly bring out the religious and spiritual philosophy of Sikh mysticism, its originality
and its break with the past. Persons brought up in the tradition of old beliefs and ideas of
dichotomy between the religious and the temporal life find it difficult to understand and
grasp the significance of the Guru's system. The problem of comprehension that confronted saint Ram Das was the same as arose with the Nath Yogis in their dialogue with
Guru Nanak. It arises even now with some of our present-day academicians. But, for the
Sikh mystic, participation in life is spiritually essential. Consequently, the defence of moral
life, reaction and responses to challenges from the environment form an integral part of
the Gurus' mystic system. The reply of Guru Hargobind is an unambiguous clarification
of the system of Guru Nanak as understood by the Gurus themselves. This also explains
the various empirical steps taken by the first five Gurus in order to develop their religious
system and organise the Sikhs in the way they did. Saint Ram Das's meeting with the
Guru had a great historical consequence, for he was so impressed by the Guru's thesis

Pancha
Mugha
Anjaneyar
All might be familiar with Sri Anjaneyar who is populalry called with the name "Siriya Thuruvadi" (Periya
Thiruvadi is Garudalwar). And Anjaneyar gives his
seva in various forms. Among those, Pancha Mugha
Anjaneyar is said to have a special power and message to explain to this world. Now, in this article, let
us know about the great thing about him. Pancha
means Five. So, for Pancha Mugha Anjaneyar means
Anjaneyar with Five faces. One of the faces will be of
Anjaneyar's. The other four faces are the faces of Sri
Narasimhar, Sri Garudalwar, Sri Varahar and Sri
Hayagreevar. These five faces have unique characters and shaktis to explain. Pancha Mugha Anjaneyar
The center face is the face of Sri Anjaneyar and it will
be faced towards the direction of east. This face is
seen directly towards ourselves thereby riding away
our sorrows. The next face is the face of Sri
Garudalwar and he is facing towards the direction of
west and thereby by protecting us from diseases and
giving us prolonged life. Sri Varahar is facing
towards North direction and he is capable of riding
our sorrows and blessing us with good life. Next is
the face of Sri Narasimhar who is facing towards
south direction. By facing in this direction, he is riding all of our sorrows, disease and protecting us from
evil things. And in the top center of all these faces is
the face of Sri Hayagreevar and gives us good Gnana
and Bhakti for all of his devotees. So, by worshipping
Sri Pancha Mugha Anjaneyar we are worshipping Sri
Narasimhar, Sri Garudalwar, Sri Hayagreevar and Sri
Varahar and simultaneoulsy we are blessed with
good Gnana, prolonged life and our sorrows are
eliminated.

that he later trained Shivaji, the great Maratha leader, in the same manner. Guru Hargobind sponsored the cause of the downtrodden Hindus
and provided leadership to the oppressed people of Punjab. In this
struggle, he fought six battles with the Mughals in the plains of the
Punjab. People came to him and joined his forces because they felt that
no one else had the power to stand against the Emperor. In one of
these battles he defeated 7,000 Mughal soldiers. Finally, he settled at
Kiratpur. His reputation as a military leader spread and ambassadors
of the hill Rajas waited upon him. The organisation of the Sikhs into a
separate socio-religious group with political implications had started
from the time of the very first Guru. This close and integral combination of the temporal and the spiritual life was a thesis which was foreign to the Indian tradition. No wonder that some of the people around
the Sixth Guru, including his own followers, could not understand the
spiritual character of these military developments. This explains two
points. First, that the transformation of the community into a spirituopolitical organisation could only be gradual, because the Gurus had to
carry the people with them. Unfortunately, they had all been conditioned by the old traditions. The full understanding and acceptance of
the new thesis could only be slow. The Gurus, naturally, had to wait till
their followers fully realised the implications of the new doctrine and
owned its responsibilities. Secondly, it also confirms the view that the
object was to organise a mission and a movement in the empirical
world and not merely to deliver a message and embody it in a scripture
or a mythical tale. The scriptural thesis had to be lived among the people and not in the seclusion of a monastery for the training of a few.
The aim was to uplift everyone irrespective of caste and creed and to
show that each one, howsoever placed, could tread the spiritual path.
This choice was open to everyone and the Guru was there to organise and lead the movement. Hence, the progress could only be gradual both in the education of the people and
in the pace of the movement. The latter could not outstrip the former. The task was stupendous. For, it had to take place in the face of the understandable opposition of one of
the greatest empires of all times. falcon One incident is very significant of the socio-political climate in the Guru's camp. During a hunt being carried out by the Imperial party in
a jungle, the Sikhs also entered the same area in pursuit of game. The Sikhs got hold of
a falcon, which was claimed by the official party. A clash took place and the Imperial
forces were beaten off. But, what is important is the approval of the Sikhs who stressed,
"you are talking of the return of the baz (falcon), we are after your tag (crown)." It clearly shows the independence of political status claimed by the Guru and his Sikhs. The
number and areas of sub-centres of preachings were extended. The Guru himself controlled both the religious centres and the temporal centre at Amritsar. The Guru, thereby, only brought out visibly and symbolically what, in view of the steps that had already
been taken by the earlier Gurus, was inherent in the integrated spiritual thesis of Guru
Nanak. In fact secure and clear foundations had already been laid by him. While the
Gurus, and those engaged in these developments, were fully aware of their responsibility to maintain the original spiritual purity of the religion and the entire movement, to some
outsiders, including historians conditioned and committed to different doctrines and systems of religion and polity, the Sixth Guru s work has seemed to show a departure from
the original growth. But, a departure, as we have seen, it was not.

Bhai Daya Singh ji

Bhai Daya Singh was one of the Panj Piare or the Five
Beloved celebrated in the Sikh tradition. He was son of
Bhai Suddha, a Sobti Khatri of Lahore, and Mai Diali. His
original name was Daya Ram. Bhai Suddha was a devout
Sikh of Guru Tegh Bahadur and visited Anandpur more
than once to seek his blessing. In 1677, he travelled to
Anandpur along with his family including his young son,
Daya Ram, to make obeisance to Guru Gobind Singh, this
time to settle there permanently. Daya Ram, already well
versed in Punjabi and Persian, engaged himself in the
study of classics and gurbani. He also received training in
the use of weapons. In the historic divan in the Kesgarh
Fort at Anandpur on 30 March 1699, he was the first to
rise at the Guru's call and offer his head, followed by four
others in succession. These five were the first to be admitted to the fold of the Khalsa and they in turn administered
the rites of initiation to Guru Gobind Singh who called
them collectively Panj Piare. Daya Ram after initiation
became Daya Singh. Although the five enjoyed equal status as the Guru's close confidants and constant attendants,
Bhaa Daya Singh was always regarded as the first among
equals. He took part in the battles of Anandpur, and was
one of the three Sikhs who followed Guru Gobind Singh
out of Chamkaur on the night of 7 December 1705, eluding the besieging hordes. He was Guru Gobind Singh's
emissary sent from the village of Dina in the Punjab to
deliver his letter which became famous as Zafarnamah,
the Letter of Victory, to Emperor Aurangzab, then camping at Ahmadnagar. Bhai Daya Singh, accompanied by
Bhai Dharam Singh, another of the Panj Piare, reached
Ahmad nagar via Aurangabad, but found that it was not
possible to have access to the Emperor and deliver to him
the letter personally as Guru Gobind Singh had directed.
Daya Singh sent Dharam Singh back to seek the Guru's
advice but before the latter could rejoin him with fresh
instructions, he had managed to have the letter delivered,
and had himself returned to Aurangabad. A shrine called
Gurdwara Bhai Daya Singh marks the place of his sojourn
in Dhami Mahalla. Bhai Daya Singh and Bhaa Dharam
Sidgh returned and, according to Sikh tradition, they rejoined Guru Gobind Singh at Kalayat, a town 52 km southwest of Bikaner (28 4'N, 73 - 21'E) in Rajasthan. Bhai Daya
Singh remained in attendance upon the Guru and was
with him at the time of his death at Nanded on 7 October
1708. He died at Nander soon after and a joint memorial
there for him and for Bhai Dharam Singh known as
Aaigitha (lit. burning pyre) Bhai Daya Singh and bhai
Dharam Singh marks the site of their cremation. Bhai
Daya Singh was a learned man. One of the Rahitnamas,
manuals on Sikh conduct, is ascribed to him. The
Nirmalas, a sect of Sikh schoolmen, claim him as one of
their forebears. Their Darauli branch traces its origin to
Bhai Daya Singh through Baba Dip Singh.

About 7 Hills of
Tirumala-Tirupathi
Bhaktas while traveling from Keezh (lower)
Tirupathi to Tirumala (Mel Tirupathi), we have to
travel 7 hills only after traveling these hills, we can
reach the Tirumala, where the Kali Yugha Deivam,
Thiruvenkadamudayaan is giving his seva to
Bhaktas. The following details explain about the 7
Malais (mountains).
Virushabahtri:
This is the first hill we will be crossing. This mountain is also called as "Erunndhumalai". Once, there
lived an arakkan (demon) by named "Virushasooran", who gave lots of trouble to the people, but
he was a great Narasimha bhaktan. Because of this,
he had got a varam (boon) that his death should
come only by the Emperumaan. But even though he
was a great Narasimha bhaktan, he was giving trouble to the people and finally the Perumal through
his Vishnu Chakkaram killed him and as requested
by him at the time of his death, this mountain is
named as "Virushabathri" (or) "Virushasalam".
Neelathri:
After crossing the first hill, Virushabathri, we will
be traveling to the second hill, which is called as
"Neelathri". It is also called as "Neelamalai". This
name is given to this hill to remember the blue colour
of Sri Vishnu. (Sri Vishnu has another Thirunaamam
as "Neela megha Shyamalan")
Anjanathri:
This is the third hill, we will be traveling to get the
seva of Sri Balaji. This hill is named as "Anjanathri",
since Anjana devi, mother of Lord Hanuman, did a
strong tapas and as a result of this only, the hill is
named as such. This mountain is also called as
"Anjanasalam".

Vel Arch

Seshathri:
The fourth hill is Seshathri hill, which is next to
Anjanathri hill. It is believed that Aadhiseshan is
turned as the series of hills and withstanding the
Nindra Kola Thiruven kadamudayan. To explain the
greatness of Aadhiseshan, this fourth hill is named as
"Seshathri" (or) "Seshaasalam".
Garudathri:
It is believed that the Perumal came to this sthalam on
Garudan and to explain this, this 5th hill is named as
"Garudathri" (or) "Garudaasalam".

Narayanathri:
This is the sixth mountain found
while traveling to Tirumala. This
hill is named so that it explains
the 6 characters (Om Na ra ya na
ya) of Sriman Narayanan.
Thiruvenkadam:
This is the final mountain and this
is also called as "Eazhu Malai".
Bhaktas will be ver y happy to
cross this 7th hills, since after
crossing this, they will be getting
the seva of Thiruvenka-damudayan, who is said to extract all
kinds of sorrows of human life.
This 7th hill is also named as
"Venkadathri". This hill is said to
have the character of curing diseases and is said to contain
medicinal values. Once, there
lived an andhanan, by named
Purandharan. He had a bad character and led his life by enjoying
with women and as a result of this, he got some sort of
incurable diseases. And after being left out by the
women, he came to this Tirumala and finally he was
cured completely. His body was badly affected and is
termed to be "Kadam". And after he reached this
mountain, his Kadam, the sin was turned to Punyam
(Opposite to sin) and his body turned as pure as gold
(Which becomes pure after being treated with fire).
Because of this, this Tirumala is also called as
"Venkadam". Eazhumala, Tirumalai, Vadamalai are
the other names of Thiruvenkadam.

A Glimpse of Muslim Spain

When you think of European culture, one of the first things that may come to your mind is the
renaissance. Many of the roots of European culture can be traced back to that glorious time of
art, science, commerce and architecture. But did you know that long before the renaissance
there was a place of humanistic beauty in Muslim Spain? Not only was it artistic, scientific and
commercial, but it also exhibited incredible tolerance, imagination and poetry. Muslims, as the
Spaniards call the Muslims, populated Spain for nearly 700 years. As youll see, it was their civilization that enlightened Europe and brought it out of the dark ages to usher in the renaissance. Many of their cultural and intellectual influences still live with us today.Way back during the eighth century, Europe was still knee-deep in the Medieval period. Thats not the only
thing they were knee-deep in. In his book, The Day The Universe Changed, the historian
James Burke describes how the typical European townspeople lived:The inhabitants threw all
their refuse into the drains in the center of the narrow streets. The stench must have been
overwhelming, though it appears to have gone virtually unnoticed. Mixed with excrement and
urine would be the soiled reeds and straw used to cover the dirt floors. (p. 32)This squalid society was organized under a feudal system and had little that would resemble a commercial economy. Along with other restrictions, the Catholic Church forbade the lending of money - which
didnt help get things booming much. Anti-Semitism, previously rare, began to increase.
Money lending, which was forbidden by the Church, was permitted under Jewish law. (Burke,
1985, p. 32) Jews worked to develop a currency although they were heavily persecuted for it.
Medieval Europe was a miserable lot, which ran high in illiteracy, superstition, barbarism and filth.During this same
time, Muslims entered Europe from the South. Abd al-Rahman I, a survivor of a family of caliphs of the Muslim empire,
reached Spain in the mid-700s. He became the first Caliph of Al-Andalus, the Muslim part of Spain, which occupied
most of the Iberian Peninsula. He also set up the Umayyad Dynasty that ruled Al-Andalus for over three-hundred years.
(Grolier, History of Spain). Al Andalus means, the land of the vandals, from which comes the modern name
Andalusia.At first, the land resembled the rest of Europe in all its squalor. But within two-hundred years the Muslims
had turned Al-Andalus into a bastion of culture, commerce and beauty.Irrigation systems imported from Syria and
Muslimia turned the dry plains. into an agricultural cornucopia. Olives and wheat had always grown there. The
Muslims added pomegranates, oranges, lemons, aubergines, artichokes, cumin, coriander, bananas, almonds, pams,
henna, woad, madder, saffron, sugar-cane, cotton, rice, figs, grapes, peaches, apricots and rice. (Burke, 1985, p. 37)By
the beginning of the ninth century, Muslim Spain was the gem of Europe with its capital city, Cordova. With the estab-

lishment of Abd al-Rahman III-the great caliphate of Cordova - came the golden age of
Al-Andalus. Cordova, in southern Spain, was the intellectual center of Europe.At a time
when London was a tiny mud-hut village that could not boast of a single streetlamp
(Digest, 1973, p. 622), in Cordova there were half a million inhabitants, living in 113,000
houses. There were 700 mosques and 300 public baths spread throughout the city and its
twenty-one suburbs. The streets were paved and lit. (Burke, 1985, p. 38)The houses had
marble balconies for summer and hot-air ducts under the mosaic floors for the winter.
They were adorned with gardens with artificial fountains and orchards. (Digest, 1973, p.
622) Paper, a material still unknown to the west, was everywhere. There were bookshops
and more than seventy libraries. (Burke, 1985, p. 38).In his book titled, Spain In The
Modern World, James Cleuge explains the significance of Cordova in Medieval
Europe:For there was nothing like it, at that epoch, in the rest of Europe. The best minds
in that continent looked to Spain for everything which most clearly differentiates a human
being from a tiger. (Cleugh, 1953, p. 70)During the end of the first millennium, Cordova
was the intellectual well from which European humanity came to drink. Students from
France and England traveled there to sit at the feet of Muslim, Christian and Jewish scholars, to learn philosophy, science and medicine (Digest, 1973, p. 622). In the great library
of Cordova alone, there were some 600,000 manuscripts (Burke, 1978, p. 122).This rich
and sophisticated society took a tolerant view towards other faiths. Tolerance was unheard
of in the rest of Europe. But in Muslim Spain, thousands of Jews and Christians lived in peace and harmony with their
Muslim overlords. (Burke, 1985, p. 38)Unfortunately, this period of intellectual and economic prosperity began to
decline. Shifting away from the rule of law, there began to be internal rifts in the Muslim power structure. The Muslim
harmony began to break up into warring factions. Finally, the caliphs were eliminated and Cordova fell to other Muslim
forces. In 1013 the great library in Cordova was destroyed. True to their Islamic traditions however, the new rulers
permitted the books to be dispersed, together with the Cordovan scholars to the capital towns of small emirates.
(Burke, 1985, p. 40) The intellectual properties of the once great Al-Andalus were divided among small towns.the
Christians to the North were doing just the opposite. In Northern Spain the various Christian kingdoms united to expel
the Muslims from the European continent. (Grolier, History of Spain) This set the stage for the final act of the Medieval
period.In another of James Burkes works titled Connections, he describes how the Muslims thawed out Europe from
the Dark Ages.

THE SIKH TIMES

Was Maya's take on SP feud,
Shivpal fate prophetic?
LUCKNOW, Jan. 3: BSP chief
Mayawati had foreseen that Akhilesh
Yadav would emerge stronger after crushing Mulayam Singh Yadav's brother
Shivpal, said political experts, on the basis
of observations she made of the Yadav
family feud.Political observers said that
soon after Akhilesh and Shivpal engaged
in an open show of acrimony at SP office
on October 25, Mayawati appeared "sympathetic" towards Shivpal when she
accused the SP chief Mulayam Singh
Yadav of being driven by 'Putra Moh' (love
of his son, UP CM Akhilesh Yadav) and
making his younger brother the scapegoat
in the family crisis. On November 4 too,
when Akhilesh embarked on his 'rath
yatra', Mayawati made two observations
that hinted at her strategy of denting the
SP. She said categorically that the recent
ruckus by SP leaders inside the CM's official residence reminded her of the guest
house incident in 1995 in which she was
attacked following her decision to withdraw support from the SP.She also cited
the October 24 incident in which SP MLC
Ashu Malik had accused SP MLA and minister in Akhilesh's cabinet Pawan Pandey
(who was later sacked from the party) of
beating him inside CM's residence. Malik
is close to Shivpal, while Pandey is one of
the key members of Team Akhilesh. "In a
way, Mayawati sympathised with the person close to Shivpal,'' said a political
expert. Mayawati accused Akhilesh of
being like his father in beating opponents
through "violence". She also took on
Akhilesh's rath yatra, saying those present
were the same who created ruckus not
only outside SP chief'shouse but also
inside the CM's official residence.

UP-UTTARKHAND

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Will Maya net Muslim voter out

of SP troubled waters?

Dont want TV channels

to relay feud like soap opera
TST Correspondent
ETAWAH, Jan. 3: Be it the elderly or young, in Saifai the
native village of Mulayam Singh Yadav all were in favour of an
early solution for the ongoing tussle in the Yadav 'parivar'. Village
head and Samajwadi Party veteran Mulayam Singh Yadav's childhood friend Darshan Singh Yadav said it's a game plan of rivals,
who, by hook or crook, want to wrestle power from SP.Those
native to Saifai say the SP supremo has come a long way since he
entered politics in 1962 winning a state assembly seat, contesting for the regional Samyukta Socialist Party, and later founding
the Samajwadi Party in 1992. "Netaji toiled hard to raise the party.
We are all hopeful that the family will come out of the difficult
phase victorious," they said. "Such issues prevail in every family,
but it all dies down soon. So we are all praying to God for a permanent solution instead of giving TV channels a chance to relay
it like a soap opera for TRP," said a local of Etawah, preferring
anonymity."I have full confidence in Netaji. He has fought bigger
battles and this time too he will defeat them and come out of the
crisis," said 81-year-old Darshan Singh Yadav. He added,

"Elections are round the corner and it's my humble advice to

Shivpal, Ram Gopal and Akhilesh to be wary of the rivals' gameplan. People of Saifai are always concerned about our
'Dhartiputra' (son of the soil) and his clan," said Darshan, who
has won the gram pradhan election seven times.Another elderly
villager, Manik Chandra, said, "It's Netaji's hard work that helped
Akhilesh put on the CM's cap. He must respect his father's decisions like a good son. Things will be sorted out soon among
Mulayam, Akhilesh, Shivpal and Ram Gopal, and they will unite
again and work together to win 2017 assembly polls."Many locals
and party workers were seen assembling in front of Ram Gopal
Yadav's house in Saifai on Sunday evening. "People of Etawah are
very worried about the ongoing tussle and are praying day and
night for unity among the family members, as well as the party"
said Rajiv and Sanjay, siblings who stays opposite Ram Gopal's
house.The lane leading to Mulayam Singh Yadav's kothi in Saifai
wore a deserted look. Most locals in the area were either glued to
the TV sets or checking out messages on their phones. The party
office in Civil Lines area of Etawah too wore a deserted look.

LUCKNOW, Jan. 3: As chief minister Akhilesh Yadav took full control of Samajwadi
Party on Sunday, it prompted the BSP chief Mayawati to come up with a strategy to project
the young CM as having dumped his father and SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, with whom
Muslims have been siding strategically since the Ram Temple movement of early 1990s.Keen
to cut into the Muslim vote bank of Samajwadi Party, Mayawati is learnt to have decided to
get the perception of 'Mulayam being dumped' setting in among the minority community
through a series of public meetings organised by her party cadres. "The perception of Mulayam
being a crusader of Muslim politics has been very strong through the years and Akhilesh is
nowhere close to his father's image among minorities," said a senior BSP leader close to
Mayawati.Another BSP leader cited Shivpal Yadav's letter on Sunday stating that "Some people facing CBI probe are helping the BJP". A similar charge was levelled by SP leader Naresh
Agarwal accusing Amar Singh of being a BJP agent in Mulayam's camp.Political experts
said the situation gives Mayawati another chance to win the Muslim vote bank crucial in UP
assembly elections, due shortly. BSP sources said Mayawati has been keeping close watch on
the development since the feud in the Yadav family broke out around three months
ago.Mayawati was silent throughout the squabble between Akhilesh and his uncle Shivpal
and waiting to see who emerges a clear winner in the battle for SP reins. Earlier, she had targeted Mulayam for being driven by 'Putra Moh' (love of his son Akhilesh) making his brother Shivpal a scapegoat in the overall crisis. She had been attempting to drive a wedge in the
SP by claiming that Yadav vote bank would get divided between Akhilesh and his uncle
Shivpal, while appealing to Muslims to vote for her party Political experts said clear division
only furthers the hope of Mayawati to combine Muslims with her core Dalit vote bank.

Vel Arch

Rejected by kin, couple kill selves

KANPUR, Jan. 3: Bodies of a teenage
boy and a girl were found hanging together in Sahejpur village of Sikandara in
Kanpur Dehat district on Sunday.Police
claimed that Anupama, 17, daughter of
Shivnath of Jatiyapur village, and Saurabh,
18, son of Bholey Singh of Faridpur village
in Auraiya district, were in love but faced
opposition from their families as they were
related to each other.Though their families
claimed Anupama and Saurabh committed
suicide, the police were investigating from
various angles."Post-mortem examination
has been conducted and viscera has been
preserved. A a forensic team was sent to
the site on Monday to collect evidence.
The bodies have been handed over to their
families for cremation," station house officer Vikas Rai told .According to the police,
the girl and the boy had reached their
grand-mother's residence in Sahejpur on
Saturday evening. Their grand-mother
found the bodies hanging from a nylon
rope in one of the rooms on Sunday
night.She informed their parents and
neighbours who alerted the police. The
police are questioning both families.

Uttar Pradesh minister's

vehicle involved in mishap
HARDOI, Jan. 3: An official vehicle of
a Uttar Pradesh minister rammed into a
cart on Lucknow road in city area here,
leaving one person dead.The incident took
place last night when the official vehicle of
Minister of State for Rural Development
Omkar Yadav was returning from Badaun
after dropping him and hit a cart, killing
its operator, chat stall owner Madan Lal
(45) on the spot, police said.Enraged over
the incident, locals thrashed the driver
identified as Mohit and pelted stones on
the vehicle damaging it by the time the
police force arrived.

Jammu: Members of Opposition parties National Conference and Congress shout slogans during a protest against the PDPBJP government during budget session at J&K Legislative Assembly in Jammu on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Villages near Tehri Lake, Devalsari and

Ranikhet to be developed for eco-tourism
TST Correspondent
DEHRADUN , Jan. 3: In a move
expected to give a boost to the fledgling
homestay and eco-tourism initiative in
Uttarakhand, the state forest department in collaboration with the Japan
International Cooperation Agency
(JICA) is going to train a number of villagers and provide them tips on welcoming and taking care of tourists
(Dehradun): The training will be imparted to 20 villages near Tehri lake, 10 villages in Devalsari near Munsiyari and 10
villages around Ranikhet, officials said.
The training programme is being conducted as part of the community-building initiatives undertaken by JICA and
would be funded by the agency at an
estimated cost of Rs 20 crore. Anup
Malik,, chief project director told , "The
selection of the villages near an established destination has been done in such
a way that it benefits both the destination as well as villagers. The Tehri lake
is emerging as a major tourist destination and there are many villages around
it which have no roads. So tourists can
reach to these villages doing trekking
and enjoy the experience of their unique

'It's more than a poll

symbol for Netaji'
LUCKNOW, Jan. 3: As the battle
for SP symbol intensified on Monday,
takes a look at how the cycle catapulted the political careers of Mulayam &
AkhileshEven with his fleet of cars,
Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam
Singh Yadav never hesitated to
undertake his cycle yatras during the
early 1990s and that is what established his `dharti putra' (son of soil)
character."When a two-day convention was held in November 2 ,1992 to
announce formation of Samajwadi
Party after breaking away from
Chandra Shekhar, I had proposed
bicycle for party symbol," recalls former Union minister and now Rajya
Sabha member of the SP, Beni Prasad
Verma, talking to and adding that
later the party got the election symbol allotted by the Election
Commission. Verma added that since
most leaders, including Mulayam

Singh Yadav, Mohan Singh,

Bhagwati Singh and others had come
from humble economic backgrounds
and faced social hardships, the party
was unanimous in choos ing the bicycle as it is the car rier of the poor and
vulnerable.In the early 90s, Mulayam
often undertook cycle yatras, meandering through villages and towns
and interacted with the masses to
reach his message to them. "For
Mulayam Singh Yadav, bicycle is not
merely an election symbol, he has an
emotional connect with it since his
youth and later on, when he bought a
second-hand jeep, he gave his bicycle
to his younger brother Shiv pal
Yadav," says an SP veteran "In those
days, when Netaji would be out of
Etawah, I would use that cycle and
along with my friends we would tour
the Jas want Nagar constitu ency on
bicycles," recalls Shivpal.

culture. This move will generate livelihood for local people and, the destination will get further promoted."
Devalsari is another destination which is
endowed with bountiful Devdar forest at
low height of 1200 meter. The area has
been acknowledged by wildlife experts
and biologists to be having astounding
varieties of butterflies and birds and,
also rare species such as Himalayan
gecko lizard and, flying squirrel which
was spotted sometime ago by divisional
forest official. In Ranikhet , the destination ear marked is Soni Mahadev temple, ancient Shiva temple around which
some ten villages have been targeted
under the project. Though Ranikhet is
well known as a destination, however
the tourism has not been able to spread
its tentacles to the villages which are
slightly far from the Central area. Under
the project, the villages around the temple will come to the limelight. According
to Malik, the department would help the
shortlisted villagers in renovating a portion of their houses if needed as homestays and, also provide basic training in
attending the guests and cooking meal
for them.

Gurugram: People commute on a road during foggy morning of winter in Gurugram on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Forest fires by poachers trapping

musk deer in the Himalayas?
PITHORAGARH, Jan. 3: In the
months of November and December
when high-altitude areas of Dharchula
and Munsiyari reel under sub-zero temperatures, forest fires have become
unusually common, leading to suspicion
that poachers are setting them off to trap
endangered animals like musk deer.
Since the first week of November, 2016,
residents of Munsiyari and Dharchula
have reported witnessing smoke of forest fires more than six times in different
parts of the two blocks. Fires were
reported from the foothills of
Panchachuli and Rajrambha peaks, van
panchayat of the seasonal village of
Burphu, Chipla Kedar forest of Askot
Musk Deer Sanctuary and van panchayat
of Pato village in Munsiyari in the last
two months. On December 16, van panchayat forests of the seasonal village of
Gunji in Dharchula block also caught
fire. "BRO and ITBP personnel were
deployed to put it out," district magistrate
of Pithoragarh, Ranjit Sinha, had said
then. He also promised to put in place an
inquiry into the incident. Most recently,

on December 28, locals of Munsiyari

again spotted smoke at the foothills of
Panchachuli peak. Shekhar Kumar
Neeraj, who heads TRAFFIC, the wildlife
trade monitoring network of World Wide
Fund for Nature, told , "Although I am
not aware of these winter forest fire incidents in Uttarakhand, this is a definite
approach used by poachers to trap and
kill musk deer at such high altitudes."
Vinay Bhargav, DFO of Pithoragarh,
denied the occurrence of any fires in the
region. "According to National Remote
Sensing Centre, there was no indication
of forest fires in Pithoragarh. The smoke
was due to clouds that are the result of
blasting in the hills for road construction
to Basantkot in Gori river valley," he said,
adding that previous incidents of forest
fire were due to burning of grasses by villagers of Ringu Chinkot. However, the
gram pradhan of Basantkot, Rudra
Singh, said he saw smoke rising from the
foothills of Panchachuli and Rajrambha
peaks a few times. "The smoke was due
to fires set by poachers and smugglers
who travel that far to hunt animals like

7 killed in three road

accidents in Uttarakhand
TST Correspondent
DEHRADUN, Jan. 3: Seven
people were killed in three separate
road
accidents
in
Uttarkashi,Dehradun
and
Pithoragarh districts on Saturday.
In the first incident, four people
died after the vehicle they were
travelling in fell into a 100m deep
gorge on Hanol-Mahendrath road,
some 7km from Tyuni. "A police
team rushed to the accident spot
on Saturday morning. With the
help of local villagers, four bodies
trapped inside the vehicle were
recovered," said Rakesh Shah, in
charge, Tyuni police station. The
victims were identified as Vikram
Singh (38), Shyam Singh (36),
Bishen Das (44) and Tula Ram
(52). The accident occurred when

the four victims from Annu village

in Tyuni tehsil were returning after
paying obeisance at Hanol temple.
"We believe that the driver lost control over the vehicle while negotiating a sharp turn on the hilly road.
The family members of the victims
have been informed and bodies
have been sent for autopsy," said
Shah. In another accident that took
place at Devidhar in Uttarkashi district, a truck driver was killed after
the heavy vehicle skidded off the
road and fell into a ditch. The driver was later identified as 28-yearold Kamal Singh from Pauri district. Devendra Patwal, district disaster management officer of
Uttarkashi said, "Local residents
informed us about an accident that
had occurred between Naulapani

and Dunda. The truck driver was

found dead and his body has been
sent for postmortem." In yet another road accident on Saturday
evening, a driver and conductor
were killed after an oil tanker fell
into a 150m deep gorge in
Pithoragarh district. According to
superintendent of police (SP)
Pithoragarh Ajay Joshi, "The oil
tanker was travelling to Haldwani
after
unloading
diesel
at
Kanalichena in Pithoragarh." The
accident occurred at Matela bend
near Gurna temple, 15km from district headquarters.

musk deer," he said. The forest ranger of

Munsiyari, Levraj Singh Pangti too said
he saw smoke from fires at Munisiyari.
"Forest guards were sent to inspect
these parts. We also went to Pato and
Burphu villages but couldn't find anyone
who might have started the fires." Pato
and Burphu are seasonal villages, and
fires broke out only after all the families
migrated down to Munsiyari. Rajendra
Kumar,, the principal chief conservator
of forests of Uttarakhand, said, "Forest
officials have already been asked to
patrol the region for the next few days to
watch out for fires." Chief wildlife warden
of Uttarakhand, D V S Khati also said
incidents of fire inside Askot Musk Deer
Sanctuary are being investigated. But villagers near Panchachuli said forest officials don't have the logistics to travel that
far and investigate the incidents. "The
poachers have weapons and a single forest guard can't deal with them. The
places are very remote and any inspection needs a team of at least 5 men. Who
will walk 50 km to catch poachers?" said
Munsiyari resident Mahesh Singh.

Sacked from BJP, Daya on dais at Modi rally

LUCKNOW, Jan. 3: Has expelled leader of the BJP, Daya Shankar Singh
rejoined the party? It appeared so, the way Daya Shankar , who has earlier
been the party's vice- president was greeted and welcomed by senior leaders
of the party at Prime Minister Narendra Modi's Parivartan Rally in Lucknow
on Monday. Daya Shankar had been expelled by the party for six years for his
alleged unsavoury remarks against the BSP chief, Mayawati.Daya Shankar
had so far been attending small rallies and the Parivartan Yatra of the BJP in
different districts and also sharing dais with the BJP leaders. But the way he
reached at Modi's rally along with his supporters and was taken note of by
most of the BJP leaders and state functionaries and the manner in which
party MP Harish Dubey welcomed him, it was apparent he is back in the
party.Daya had been sacked from the party for his sexist remark against
Mayawati and though no formal and written orders were issued by the party
leadership against him, he was dismissed. Soon after, BSP organised a
protest and demonstration to shame Daya Shankar for his remarks and
ended up saying nasty things about his mother and daughter. His wife Swati
Singh was quick to react and countered the remarks with a hugely supported demonstration. As Daya faced imprisonment, BJP stood by Swati and
recently she was elevated as head of the BJP-Mahila Morcha. Speaking to the
, BJP spokesperson Hriday Narain Dixit said no written orders were issued
against Daya Shankar Singh when he was dismissed.

Rebellion, show of unity, sting

operations, Congress sees it all in 2016
DEHRADUN, Jan. 3: In the 16 years of existence of Uttarakhand, 2016 was a year which the
Congress leaders will never forget. From being
witness to the biggest rebellion within their
party (when 10 MLAs switched sides) to showing unity under extremely tough circumstances
of central rule, Congress went through various
ups and downs in the year that was. Besides, the
differences between CM Harish Rawat and state
chief Kishore Upadhyay remained in the limelight for most of the year. Dissent among
Congress leaders in the last few years has not
been hidden. Barely few months before the Lok
Sabha elections in 2014, Satpal Maharaj had quit
the party and the differences between former
CM Vijay Bahuguna and his successor Harish
Rawat were visible on several occasions. Finally,
Bahuguna led a team of 9 rebel lawmakers

against the party during the budget session in

the state assembly on March 18. It was followed
by the imposition of central rule in the state,
which was withdrawn after Rawat proved his
majority in the House on May 10. The move of
the rebels came as a major surprise and shock to
the party as it comprised senior leaders like
Bahuguna, minister Harak Singh Rawat, former
minister Amrita Rawat and Subodh Uniyal.
Congress state chief Kishore Upadhyay termed
2016 as a nice learning experience with the loyalists standing by the party and opportunists
deserting it. "For us it was good year as we faced
some tough times but eventually were successful in sailing through. We can say that all's well
that ends well," he said. According to Upadhyay,
2016, however, was not a good year for politics.
"Rebels have served a wrong example and the

state had to suffer because of it. Several projects

got delayed only because of the childish
approach of the rebel MLAs," he added.
Upadhyay's recent statement on one ticket per
family left several seniors in an awkward situation as the children of a number of senior members, including the CM, Indira Hridayesh and
Yashpal Arya are in the race for tickets. On
being asked about his differences with the CM,
Upadhyay said that both were dedicated members of the party and there were no differences
between them. "It is only a difference of opinion,
which is healthy for the party and the state. This
shows people have right to express their opinion
in the party," said the Congress leader. By the
mid of 2016, things started looking better for the
Congress as party nominee Pradeep Tamta won
the Rajya Sabha seat in June.

Ahmedabad: Classical singer Shubha Mudgal performs at India's biggest musical program "37th SAPTAK
annual music festival" in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. PTI Photo

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

INTERNATIONAL

THE SIKH TIMES

ISIS claims New Years

mayhem in Turkey
AGENCIES
Istanbul, January 3 : The Islamic
State jihadist group on Monday
claimed the shooting rampage inside a
glamorous Istanbul nightclub on New
Years night that killed 39 people, as
police hunted the attacker who
remains on the run. Anti-terror police
made their first arrests over the attack,
which unleashed scenes of panic
among party-goers at one of Istanbuls
swankiest venues and killed mostly
foreign tourists. The shooting took
place just 75 minutes into 2017 after a
bloody year in Turkey in which hundreds of people were killed in violence
blamed on both IS jihadists and
Kurdish militants. In a statement circulated on social media, the jihadist
group said one of the soldiers of the
caliphate had carried out the attack
on the Reina nightclub. It accused
Turkey, a majority-Muslim country, of

being a servant of Christians, in a possible reference to Ankaras alliance

with the international coalition fighting IS in neighbouring Syria and Iraq.
This is the first time IS has issued a
clear and undisputed claim for an
attack inside Turkey, despite being
blamed for several major strikes in
Istanbul and other cities over the last
year. It has in the past however
claimed individual assassinations of
Syrian anti-jihadist activists in the
south of Turkey. The IS statement said
the attack was in response to Turkeys
military intervention against the
jihadists in war-ravaged Syria the military presses a four-month incursion to
oust jihadists from the border area.
The Dogan news agency said anti-terror police have detained eight suspects. But there was no indication of
their relationship to the attacker. In
the last few weeks, the forces have

encountered fierce opposition from

the jihadists around the town of AlBab. The army said Turkish war
planes launched new air strikes
around Al Bab. Arriving by taxi at the
plush Reina nightclub on the shores of
the Bosphorus, the gunman produced
a weapon, reportedly a Kalashnikov,
and shot dead a policeman and civilian
at the entrance. According to the
Hurriyet daily, the gunman then fired
off four magazines containing a total of
120 bullets around the club, as terrified guests flung themselves into the
freezing waters of the Bosphorus in
panic. But after changing clothes, the
gunman left the nightclub in the ensuing chaos and has managed to evade
security forces. Interior Minister
Suleyman Soylu said yesterday that
intense efforts were under way to find
the gunman, and expressed hope that
he would be captured soon.

Vel Arch

Palm Springs : Kirsten Dunst, from left, Octavia Spencer, Kimberly Quinn and Theodore Melfi arrive at the 28th annual Palm Springs
International Film Festival Awards Gala on Monday, Jan. 2, 2017, in Palm Springs, Calif.

Israeli police question Netanyahu over corruption allegation

AGENCIES
JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu was grilled by police investigators for over
three hours at his official residence Monday night, opening what could be a politically damaging criminal investigation into suspicions that he improperly accepted gifts
from wealthy supporters. Netanyahu has repeatedly
denied wrongdoing, but the involvement of the national
fraud squad indicated questions raised about him are considered serious enough to merit an investigation. Police
said Netanyahu was questioned "under caution," a term
signaling that anything he said could be used as evidence
against him. Israel's Justice Ministry later issued a statement saying Netanyahu was questioned "on suspicion of
receiving benefits from business people." The ministry
said investigators also had looked into suspicions of campaign finance irregularities and double billing for travel

Trump accuses
CNN of using his
'worst' photo
WASHINGTON: US President-elect Donald Trump on
Tuesday complained that a prominent television channel
used his "worst" picture ever as the cover art for a new
book about the 2016 Presidential election. "CNN just
released a book called 'Unprecedented' which explore the
2016 race & victory. Hope it does well but used worst cover
photo of me," he tweeted. The book "Unprecedented",
which was released in December, was written during the
election and is a chronicle of the President-elect's surprising win. Written by a CNN writer, the news channel
describes the book as a deeply reported account on the
fight for the presidency between Trump -- "a blustery billionaire and reality TV star with no military or government
experience, no respect for the rules of politics and no fear
of offending people" -- and former Secretary of State Hillary
Clinton, The People's magazine reported. There are actually two versions of the book's cover -- an "Inaugural edition"
featuring a stern-looking Trump and another version that
contains a collage of different photos from the election,
including a large picture of Trump speaking at a podium.
It's unclear which cover photo the 70-year-old Presidentelect was referencing as being "the worst". Top Comment
Well the mainstream media in US is highly biased against
Trump! They tried their best to malign him to help
Crooked Hillary to win but failed miserably! Now they have
even resorted to twist facts &am... Read MorePdasnrb This
isn't the first time the President-elect has criticised the
media for using "bad" photos of him. In November, Politico
reported that during an off- the-record meeting with members of the media, Trump complained to NBC News
President Deborah Turness that the network wouldn't run
a "nice" picture of him and instead chose one that made
him look like he had a double-chin.

expenses, but determined there was not enough evidence

to merit criminal charges. Netanyahu has denied what he
calls "baseless" reports about the investigation. "We've
been paying attention to reports in the media, we are hearing the celebratory mood and the atmosphere in the television studios and the corridors of the opposition, and I
would like to tell them, stop with the celebrations, don't
rush," he told a meeting of lawmakers from his Likud
Party earlier Monday. "There won't be anything because
there is nothing." Israel's Channel 2 TV has said that
Netanyahu accepted "favors" from businessmen in Israel
and abroad and that he is the central suspect in a second
investigation that also involves family members. The newspaper Haaretz said billionaire Ronald Lauder, a longtime
friend of Netanyahu's, was linked to the affair. Channel 10
TV has reported that Netanyahu's oldest son, Yair, accepted free trips and other gifts from Australian billionaire

James Packer. In late September, Lauder was summoned

by police for questioning "related to a certain investigation
conducted by them and in which Mr. Lauder is not its subject matter," said Helena Beilin, Lauder's Israeli attorney.
"After a short meeting, he was told that his presence is no
longer required and that there shall be no further need for
additional meetings." Netanyahu, who took office in 2009,
has long had an image as a cigar-smoking, cognac-drinking socialite, while his wife, Sara, has been accused of abusive behavior toward staff. Opponents have portrayed both
as being out of touch with the struggles of average Israelis.
Over the years, reports have been released about the high
cost of the Netanyahus' housekeeping expenses. In one
case, he was chided for spending $127,000 in public funds
for a special sleeping cabin on a flight to London. Even
their costly purchases of scented candles and pistachio-flavored ice cream have been derided.

South Korea calls Trump's

tweet 'clear warning' to North
SEOUL: South Korea said Tuesday that US presidentelect Donald Trump had sent a "clear warning" to North
Korea with a tweet dismissing Pyongyang's ballistic missile claims. "North Korea just stated that it is in the final
stages of developing a nuclear weapon capable of reaching
parts of the US," Trump tweeted. "It won't happen!"
Trump's tweet came a day after North Korean leader Kim
Jong-Un appeared to try to pressure the incoming president by announcing his country is in the "final stages" of
developing an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM).
Kim also said his country had significantly bolstered its
nuclear arsenal last year. Washington has repeatedly
vowed that it would never accept North Korea as a
nuclear-armed nation, but Trump has not previously clearly stated his policy on the isolated Stalinist state.
"President-elect Trump's message is significant since it is
his first mention of North Korea's nuclear programme and
can be seen as a clear warning," South Korean foreign

ministry spokesman Cho June-Hyuck told a briefing. Cho

said the incoming US administration was clearly aware of
the "gravity and urgency" of Pyongyang's nuclear threat
thanks to South Korea's "active outreach". US policy on
the North would remain largely unchanged, he said.
"They are maintaining an unwavering stance on the need
for sanctions on North Korea," Cho said. Trump also
blasted Beijing for not doing enough to help stop North
Korea's nuclear programme. "China has been taking out
massive amounts of money & wealth from the US in totally one-sided trade, but won't help with North Korea," he
tweeted. "Nice!" Following Trump's remarks, a Chinese
foreign ministry spokesman again declared that Beijing
would "stay committed to denuclearisation" on the peninsula. "Efforts made by the Chinese side are obvious for all
to see. We hope that relevant parties would refrain from
words and deeds that will lead to the escalation of tension," Geng Shuang told reporters.

Duterte seeks strategic

shift from US to China
Manila, January 3 : The Philippines is tilting away
from its traditional ally the United States towards China in
a bid to normalise relations following a longstanding territorial dispute, the countrys incoming ambassador to
Beijing said on Monday. Manila has been one of
Washingtons most loyal allies in Asia, but Philippine
President Rodrigo Duterte has threatened to end the
decades-long alliance after the US criticised his bloody
war on drugs that has killed over 5,000 people since he
took office in June. His fiery rhetoric against the US has
been followed by overtures to China as he has sought to
assuage Beijings concerns over Manilas competing
claims to the South China Sea. The new Philippine ambassador to China, Jose Chito Sta. Romana, told AFP the
move represented a strategic shift in our foreign policy.
We were one-sidedly imbalanced in favour of the US, he
said. We are not abandoning our alliance with the US....
We are basically trying to normalise our relations with
China. Beijing claims most of the South China Sea
despite competing claims from the Philippines and other
Asian countries, but a UN-backed tribunal ruled in July
that Chinas claims had no legal basis in a resounding victory for Manila.

Iran denies receiving

Saudi invite for hajj talks
Tehran, January 3 : Iran has denied receiving any
invitation from Saudi Arabia for talks on the hajj, after a
row between the arch-foes saw its pilgrims stay at home
last year. The Al-Hayat daily reported on Friday that
Saudi pilgrims minister Mohammed Bentin had opened
discussions with more than 80 countries, including Iran,
to work out the details of the 2017 hajj. No invitation
from Saudi Arabia has been received by Irans Hajj and
Pilgrimage Organisation or the foreign ministry, the
head of the Hajj Organisation, Hamid Mohammadi, was
quoted as saying in Iranian media reports on Monday.
Once the invitation was received, Iranians would only be
able to take part in the hajj if the Saudi side secures the
conditions of dignity and security for them, said
Mohammadi. Iran was doing all it could to open the
blocked path to the hajj, he said.

Paks landmark Hindu marriage Bil inches closer to enactment

Islamabad, January 3 : The muchawaited bill to regulate marriages of
minority Hindus in Pakistan today moved
closer to reality after a Senate committee
approved the landmark draft legislation,
nearly four months after it was passed by
the National Assembly. The Hindu
Marriage Bill 2016 will become a law after
it will be passed by the Senate, the upper
house of the Parliament. The Senate
Functional Committee on Human Rights
unanimously approved the much-awaited
Hindu Marriages Bill, paving the way to its
presentation in the Senate. The Senate

committee under the chair of Muttahida

Qaumi Movement Senator Nasreen Jalil
took up the bill for discussion and later
approved it. Considered as a comprehensive and widely-acceptable family law for
Hindus living in Pakistan, the bill will
enable the Hindu community to get their
marriages registered and to appeal in
courts of law in cases of separation. There
are penalties for violating the provisions of
the bill, which allows Hindus to finally
have a proof of marriage document called
the shadiparat, similar to the nikahnama
for Muslims. The bill also allows separated

Hindu persons to remarry.Clause 17 of the

bill states that a Hindu widow shall have
the right to re-marry of her own will and
consent after the death of her husband
provided a period of six months has lapsed
after the husbands death. The Dawn
reported that soon after the bill was
approved, the Committee Room 4 in
Parliament House echoed with jubilation
as senators and officials of different ministries started thumping their desks.
Minority member in National Assembly
Ramesh Kumar Vankwani called the move
a new years gift for Hindus living in

Pakistan. Today, we are proud to be

Hindu Pakistanis after the approval of the
bill. Hindus will now be able to get registered their marriages and also apply for
divorce under family laws, he said. Top
constitutional expert Senator Aitzaz Ahsan
said the bill is in accordance with the
essence of the Constitution. After passing
through the committee stage, the bill will
be presented before the Senate where it is
sure to win bipartisan support. The bill
will be applicable to all Pakistan minus
Sindh province which last year separately
adopted its own Hindu marriage law.

Japan representative to Taiwan

says bilateral ties at their 'best'

Havana: Female soldiers march through Revolution Square during a parade in honor of late Cuban leader Fidel Castro in Havana,
Cuba, Monday, Jan. 2, 2017. Soldiers and party militants marched in a show of solidarity and homage to Castro who died in
November of last year.

AGENCIES
TAIPEI: Ties between Japan and
Taiwan are at their best, Japan's representative on the island said on
Tuesday, at the unveiling of a new
name for Japan's representative office
that has riled China. Japan and Taiwan
have extensive business ties and also
share concern about an increasingly
assertive mainland China. But Japan,
like most of the world's countries,
maintains only informal relations with
Taiwan, which Beijing regards as a
renegade province. Japan has diplomatic ties with Beijing - recognising
China's position that there is only
"one China" and Taiwan is part of it.
"Currently Japan-Taiwan relations are
at their best, but we should take further steps to develop a good relationship," Mikio Numata, Japan's chief
representative, said at a ceremony
with Taiwan's vice foreign minister,
Leo Lee. The ceremony was to official-

ly change the name of Japan's office

on the island - its de facto embassy - to
the
Japan-Taiwan
Exchange
Association. It had been called the
"Interchange Association, Japan"
since it was set up in the 1970s. Since
then, Japan has grown to become
Taiwan's third largest trading partner
and second largest source of foreign
tourists. China has criticised the name
change because it includes the word
"Taiwan". Its foreign ministry
spokesperson Geng Shuang repeated
opposition on Tuesday, saying China
had lodged representations with
Japan about it. Japan should "not send
any wrong messages to the Taiwan
authorities or the international community and not cause new interference in Sino-Japan ties", Geng told
reporters in Beijing. Numata said the
name change was to make it clear who
the parties were. "The goal was to put
'Japan' and 'Taiwan' in the name to

clearly point out the counterparts of

the exchange," he said. Many major
countries, including the United States
and Britain, operate representative
offices in Taiwan under various
names. The US mission is the
American Institute in Taiwan.
Business relations between the mainland and Taiwan have grown significantly over the past decade but tension has increased since the island
elected a president from an independence-leaning party last year. China distrusts President Tsai Ing-wen and has
stepped up pressure on her following
a protocol-breaking phone call
between her and US President-elect
Donald Trump. Trump later cast
doubt on the US commitment to the
"one China" policy and on the weekend, he did not rule out meeting Tsai
in future. Geng said there should be
no official contacts between the
United States and Taiwan.

BUSINESS

THE SIKH TIMES

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

10

PSUs seek exemption from

paying government huge dividends

Amritsar: Bollywood Actor Jackie Shroff and Pollywood actor Guggu Gill along with other star cast during the
promotion of their upcoming movie ''Sardar Saab'' in Amritsar on Tuesday.

NEW DELHI, 3 January : Some top state-run firms, under

immense pressure to pay a large dividend to fund government spending, are seeking exemption from making huge
payouts as that may affect their capital expenditure plans
and ratings, officials and industry executives said.The
government is insisting that public sector companies pay
the maximum possible dividend in this challenging financial year so that additional resources are available for state
programmes without breaching the fiscal deficit target, a
source with direct knowledge of the matter said.The government is also encouraging PSUs to meet their capital
spending needs through fresh borrowings. Every staterun firm must pay a minimum dividend of 30% of its net
profit or 5% of net worth, whichever is higher subject to the
maximum dividend permitted under the law, according to
a guideline issued last year.A state company is expected to
pay the maximum dividend possible until it can justify that

Revenues of IT companies may contract 3% this year

BENGALURU, 3 January : The New Year is unlikely to be kind to Indian IT firms. After
experiencing a horrible 2016, Indian IT companies had hoped for some respite. But
cloud, automation and artificial intelligence are expected to cut into how much companies can earn.Experts see a 3% contraction in revenue this year due to cloud, automation and cognitive and expect more clients to want to do things themselves rather than
outsource.If 2016 was difficult I expect 2017 to be harder. We also see a trend of revenue compression driven by automation, cognitive and cloud and we expect that this
alone will reduce revenues from the existing book of business by 3% in 2017, Peter
Bendor-Samuel, CEO of analyst firm Everest Group, told ET.Bendor-Samuel added that
while he does not expect the Indian outsourcing industry to contract, he does see a
deceleration of growth and higher pressure to cut prices.Also Read: Road ahead not

BankBazaar launches
paperless mutual fund platform
COIMBATORE, 3 Januar y :
Financial marketplace BankBazaar.com has
announced the launch of its paperless and presence-less mutual fund (MF) platform. With this, investors would be able to evaluate, select and purchase the product within minutes.BankBazaar's MF platform has OTP (one time password)-based
eKYC process which makes investment instant, paperless, and presence-less.
Markets regulator SEBI currently permits investment of Rs 50,000 in a financial
year per asset management company for investors using Aadhaar-based eKYC
using OTP-based authentication.BankBazaar's MF platform offers mutual fund
products on one-time investment model. The company said that its MF platform will
present mutual fund products of all major fund houses and include monthly investment SIP (systematic investment plan) option by the end of this quarter."The platform is based on advanced technology to provide real time portfolio options to customers based on their current financial profile," BankBazaar said. "The search
results are optimised based on the inputs provided by the customer and consist of
funds that have fared well in a long-term performance analysis," it said.In addition,
BankBazaar will offer a personalised dashboard that will allow customers to track
all their investments at one place. Customers can also invest more or redeem anytime through this dashboard. With this instant customisation option,
BankBazaar.com said it has de-jargonised the entire mutual fund purchase, making
it simple especially for new investors."MFs allow for goal-oriented wealth creation.
As an inflation-proof investment that can be invested in both debt and equity asset
classes, MFs provide var ying degrees of returns for customers across all levels of
risk appetite," said Ajit Narasimhan, head- savings & investment categories,
BankBazaar.com.The instant, paperless, presence-less MF product by BankBazaar
comes with a simplified application process and portfolios for ever yonefrom the
highly risk averse to the more adventurous investor, he stated.BankBazaar said it
gets an average of 10 million visitors per month. The company raised $80 million
through funding from investors such as Amazon, Fidelity Growth Partners, Mousse
Partners, Sequoia India and Walden International.

easy, Infosys CEO Sikka tells employeesThe industry already expects growth to be
challenging. Customers have been delaying finalising their IT budgets and smaller
firms like Mindtree have said they will move away from a full-year strategic plan to craft
plans each quarter based on how the year plays out.Industry lobby Nasscom has
already cut the growth target for the sector to 8-10% from 10-12%.Making matters worse
is the fact that European clients are facing the aftermath of Britains vote to exit the EU,
and US clients are watching if President Elect Donald Trumps harsh rhetoric on outsourcing will turn into protectionist policies.In addition, pursuing robotic process
automation (RPA) is the number one priority for operations leaders, which is slowing
down outsourcing activity as increasing numbers of clients explore RPA investments as
an alternative to using Indian services, said, Phil Fersht, CEO of HFS Research.

Premji, Sikka warn of

dangers to world, IT
BENGALURU, 3 January : The heads of Wipro and Infosys sent letters
to their respective employees at the turn of the year, both warning of
serious dangers facing the world and their industry.While Wipro chairman Azim Premji focused on the political, social and climate risks - "the
fast unfolding environmental crisis, and the acts of forces to turn this
world into one filled with conflict and suspicion" - Infosys CEO Vishal
Sikka dwelt on a point that he has made many times before - the threat
of the Indian IT industry becoming obsolete in the absence of it innovating and failing to adopt automation.For a globalized industry like IT
services, the recent political and social developments pose huge risks.
Premji said four principles would guide actions in the quest for a better
world - finding a common ground, having concern and respect for others, staying connected as a society , and committing to values such as
integrity and honesty. "It's not that only people in public life can play a
part, but each one of us in our own roles can make a difference, and we
as a company can make a substantial difference," Premji said in his letter.The billionaire, who has committed half of his wealth to philanthropic activities, recalled a recent visit to a school in Sirohi in Rajasthan
where a young girl asked him about his achievements.The school, supported by the Premji Foundation, serves a severely disadvantaged community . Premji said the question made him feel really happy and fulfilled."It is not as though this question has not been asked of me before.
But that moment and the question, was suffused with the child's genuine curiosity and pure heart, and so became a moment of great clarity
and insight for me. The greatest fulfilment is in knowing that the work
that we are doing at the Foundation has some role in shaping confident,
thinking, caring and ethical human beings like her," he wrote.Sikka
urged his employees to embrace automation and be innovative to survive the rapid and disruptive changes in the world of technology . He

said it would be a difficult time ahead for the Indian IT industry if it continues to depend solely on cost arbitrage and work as reactive problemsolvers."We will not survive if we remain in the constricted space of
doing as we are told...By standing still instead of moving forward decisively , we will face the brunt of the disruptive forces, as our industry
has already started to see," Sikka said.The former SAP executive said a
lot of the work that came to Infosys and to others in the IT industry can
already be done with AI (artificial intelligence) systems. He noted that
he was surrounded by five magazines that had AI as its cover story . "So
as I think about all this...we need to harness the dual forces of automation and innovation," he said.Like Premji, Sikka also noted the political
and social disruptions, naming in particular Brexit, Donald Trump's victory , demonetization, terrorism and the migrant crisis. But Sikka
believes the biggest disruption is the one that has been "proceeding
irreversibly and unstoppably in our times, the accelerating force of technology and digitization."

Rupee recovers 14 paise

against dollar in early trade
MUMBAI, 3 January : Rupee recovered by 14 paise to 68.08 against the
dollar at the Interbank Foreign Exchange in early trade on Tuesday on
fresh selling of the US currency by banks and exporters. Dealers said
fresh selling of the American unit by exporters and banks and the dollar's weakness against other currencies overseas supported the
rupee.Further, a higher opening in the domestic equity market influenced the rupee uptrend, they added.On Monday, the domestic currency had lost 30 paise to 68.22 against the US dollar due to huge demand
for the American currency.

India Inc can enrol employees

under EPF amnesty scheme
MUMBAI, 3 January : Companies which have not enrolled their employees as members under the Employee Provident Fund (EPF) scheme will now get a chance to do
so, against payment of a minimal damage fee of Re 1 per year of default.Additionally,
if the employee wasn't enrolled earlier and his/her share of contribution was not
deducted from salary, the employer company had to pay this sum also in addition to
the past defaults of its own contribution. Now under the amnesty scheme, only the
employer's contribution has to be deposited.The objective of the amnesty is to
ensure enrolment of employees and spread the benefit of the EPF
scheme.Companies having 20 or more employees are required to mandatorily enrol
those employees under the EPF scheme who have a salary of up to Rs 15,000 per
month.The EPF scheme is optional for those drawing a higher salary . However,
once an employee opts for the scheme, he or she cannot opt out.Both the employer
and employee are required to contribute 12% per month towards EPF against the

the funds retained were being optimally leveraged to

ensure higher investment, according to the
guideline.Some of the top state firms, including a few oil
firms, are seeking exemption from this. We have always
paid a handsome dividend. This year too our dividend will
likely be higher than the minimum set by the government.
But we cant pay as much as has been demanded by the
government this year. That would hurt our investment
plans, a senior executive at a large state-run firm said.A
large dividend outgo means companies are left with less
cash to fund their investment plans, inducing them to borrow more. Increased borrowing can affect their credit ratings and make funds costlier, the executive said.Finance
chiefs at state firms have been intensely negotiating with
government officials to reduce the demand for dividend
from their companies, sources said. Some of these companies, in fact, have succeeded in this, they added.The government received about Rs 34,000 crore out of the total
dividend of about Rs 58,000 crore declared by 112 state
firms in 2014-15. The dividend was about 44% of the net
profit of state firms.A quarter of the total dividend came
from oil sector companies that are also among the most
profitable. Along with coal and power, the oil sector contributed nearly two-thirds of state firms total profit in 201415. Nearly half the state firms profits came from Oil &
Natural Gas Corp, Coal India, NTPC, NMDC, Power
Finance Corp, Indian Oil, Rural Electrification Corp and
Bharat Petroleum.ET View, 3 January : PSUs holding surplus cash must payThe government's demand for a higher
dividend payout makes sense only when state-owned companies are sitting on a pile of cash at a time when the economy badly needs investments to grow. This is especially
true for companies in sectors such as gas, power and even
coal where the capex needs are large.

employee's basic salary plus dearness allowance. However, under the amnesty ,
interest at the rate of 12% on the amount due for delayed deposit of the contribution
will be payable for the period of delay .This amnesty scheme, which comes into force
from January 1, is open until March-end.March 31, 2015 was nearly Rs 3,000 crore.
"More damaging is that there is an equally large number of companies (especially
micro, small & medium enterprises, or MSMs), say in the garment or auto ancillary
sector, who do not enrol their employees at all," adds the government
official.PaneerMania at Dunkin' Donuts! Starting at ?85*Dunkin' Donuts & MoreGet
the all-new electric car in IndiaMahindra ElectricRecommended By ColombiaSonu
Iyer, partner and leader people advisory services at EY India, explains, "Companies
that had not enrolled employees under the EPF scheme for the period beginning
April 1, 2009 to December 31, 2016 can take advantage of the amnesty scheme by
making a declaration to the regional employee provident fund office."

'Railways manages operating ratio of 94

per cent despite pay hike, flat growth
NEW DELHI, 3 January : Indian Railways is expected to
have an operating ratio of 94% for the current financial
year despite the huge liability of seventh pay commission
and negligible growth in the freight loading, railway minister Suresh Prabhu has said.Operating ratio shows how
much of revenue goes into meeting expense. Lower the
ratio better it is for the railways.We have got a huge liability in the form of seventh pay commission award. The
growth in coal and steel loading has been flat. Keeping
all this mind, I think we have done a decent job by controlling the operating ratio at 94, Prabhu said at a function on Monday.Railways faces an additional burden of
Rs 32,000 crore because of the seventh pay commission
award. In the budget, the railway minister had targeted
an operating ratio of 92%. Prabhu said savings from
diesel and electricity bill will let the national transporter
offset the impact of flat growth.

I spent time handling Ratan

Tata's demands: Mistry
MUMBAI, 3 January : As chairman of Tata Sons, Cyrus
Mistry says over time his role revolved around handling
the "demands and views" of Ratan Tata on a "full time
basis" rather than running the $108-billion Tata conglomerate.Mistry, in a reply to the National Company Law
Tribunal (NCLT), presented copies of emails, minutes of
board meetings and other documents as evidence to back
allegations about interference by Ratan Tata and other Tata
Trusts members, especially Noshir Soonawala and R
Venkataramanan, in the running of the Tata Group. Tata
Trusts holds 66% in the group's parent company.Mistry's
affidavit came after NCLT, a quasi-judicial body, told him to
show proof of charges levied against Ratan Tata and others
by his family-owned firms through a petition in the tribunal.
Mistry's family-owned firms, which hold a little over 18% in
Tata Sons, had cited mismanagement and oppression of
minority shareholders to seek supercession of the company board.Mistry's affidavit says the email exchanges

between him and Ratan Tata were as high as "555" in number, demonstrating the "incessant interference" from Ratan
Tata during Mistry's tenure, which ended with his ouster
as chairman on October 24, 2016.Mistry cited several
instances when some Tata trustees allegedly interfered
with operations of listed Tata Group companies. Such interference was seen in Tata Motors' fund-raising plans and
Tata Power's acquisition of Welspun's renewable energy
business, he said. Mistry also said Ratan Tata had pushed
for higher sales of the loss-making Nano cars to Ola instead
of Uber as he had a personal investment in Ola. Mistry said
Soonawala often interfered in crucial board decisions but
tried to put across such interference as being done in his
"personal capacity" and almost always discouraged a written reply from Mistry.The former Tata Sons chairman said
it was not only him, but even other senior officials of various group companies had to respond to "queries and interventions" from Ratan Tata.

Mumbai: Neha Banerjee poses after winning the ''Miss Perfect Women 2016'' title in Mumbai on Tuesday.

SPORTS

THE SIKH TIMES

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

11

Bopanna axing result of Davis

Cup pullout versus Spain
CHENNAI, 3 January : To send out a strong message to the players
who pick and choose tournaments when it comes to representing India,
Rohan Bopanna was axed from the Davis Cup side since he pulled out of
the Spain tie feigning injury, AITA sources have claimed.Bopanna's opting out of the World Group Play-off tie in September 2016 did not go
down well with the All India Tennis Association (AITA). It is widely
believed in the AITA circle that Bopanna just made an excuse that he was
injured.Bopanna, known for his superior service skills on the Tour, on the
final day of the tie, September 18, posted a video on Instagram, showing
him enjoying a dance with his friends in a bar in Bangalore the previous
night."We have not closed our eyes. If a player does not have that special
feeling to play for the country, he does not deserve to be in the team. It
was a crucial tie and we expect players to put up their hands and get
ready for the challenge," an AITA insider, privy to the matter, said.The
selection committee chairman SP Misra insisted that Bopanna's pull out
was not discussed at the meeting to pick team for New Zealand but said
they had instructions to choose three singles players and a doubles specialist.Bopanna (28) is higher-ranked than Leander Paes (59) but the veteran player was preferred over the former.However, AITA secretary general Hironmoy Chatterjee did drop a hint that Bopanna's giving a miss to
the Spain tie was an issue."All ex-Davis Cup players are selectors. They
discussed all matters including the past results against New Zealand and
Rohan opting out of the Spain tie. After detailed discussion they have
selected the team. I feel all concerned should honour and accept their
decision," Chatterjee said without elaborating much.Bopanna defended
himself, saying he indeed was injured and was not fit to play a five-setter
if required."I am surprised somebody will think like that. Right after my
mixed doubles at the US Open when I went to the physios there, they
said some fluids were there and my knee was swollen so I had to take 10day off. I gave an advance notice that I need to take 10-day off," he
said.Asked about the video of him dancing that he had posted, Bopanna
said it did not mean he was fit to play a competitive match."For me to do
one sprint of 100metres, yes, I can do it but if I have to constantly serve
and volley for five sets, it's not possible. I never said, I could not run, I
could not walk, I could not jump. I was not 100 per cent fit. As a tennis
player that is where I am looking at it. Who knows if they call me to play
singles like they did in Chandigarh? So I am looking at it as overall picture. They need to understand the player," explained Bopanna.Bopanna
further questioned AITA's selection criteria."We need to check what are

the norms to pick teams and not just for the Davis Cup. If there is system,
I don't think Indian tennis will have any issue. We need to ask the
Federation what the norms are?"I am not feigning injury. I was very clear
that I was injured. Even last time to play against New Zealand, I took two
12-hour flights. That's my first priority to play for India. I did not go home.
They are qualified physios and when they tell you something, you need
to respect them."Asked if playing with Leander Paes, with whom he was
forced to play at the Rio Olympics, was an issue and if that influenced his
decision in any way? Bopanna said, "It was not at all a factor."You are first
one saying something like that. I feel sad that some people think so low.
I have been the highest-ranked tennis player, if they think I am the first
choice to play, I am ready to go ahead and play but those things don't really make a difference. The physios asked me to rest and I respect
that."Misra said Bopanna can always come back since Leander won't be
there for long."Rohan is a great player and ranking was not the sole criteria to select the players. If that was the case, Yuki (Bhambri) would not
have been there. Going by the current form it was an unanimous decision
to have Leander and Saketh (Myneni)."There were directions from the
Executive Committee to have three singles players. There were only two
factors: that how well Leander and Saketh played against the Olympic
gold medallist during the Spain tie and that Saketh and Rohan had not
done well against New Zealand.

Asuncion: Loic Minaudier, of France, rides his KTM motorbike during the first stage
of the Dakar Rally between Asuncion, Paraguay and Resistencia, Argentina.

Tare, Nayar strengthen Mumbai's grip

New Delhi, 3 January : Aditya Tare (83) and Abhishek Nayar (58) drove
Mumbai to a position of strength with a 121-run stand for the sixth wicket to take
their team to 406 all out, stretching their overall lead to 101, at the end of Day 3
of the first semifinal of the Ranji Trophy 2016-17 clash at the Saurashtra Cricket
Association Ground in Rajkot on Tuesday (January 3).Tare, the Mumbai captain,
stroked a gritty 181-ball 83 while Nayar made a crucial 143-ball 58 to lead
Mumbai's resistance as the duo added 121 for the sixth wicket to swing the game
in their favour. Mumbai made a shaky start to the day and though they were keen
on playing positive cricket, they lost Shreyas Iyer early on. The right-hander
played a poor shot, chasing a wide one from Vijay Shankar, and edged it to the
wicketkeeper. Reduced to 190 for 5, Mumbai had allowed Tamil Nadu back in the
game.With both teams trying to snatch the first-innings lead, the standard of
cricket too rose, setting up a promising contest. Mumbai, as expected, rose to the

Our biggest strength is

women's singles: Ajay Jayaram
MUMBAI, 3 January : Although pencilled in to play
the first singles for his team Mumbai Rockets in the
Premier Badminton League, India's Ajay Jayaram is of the
opinion that world no 3 women's singles player Sung Yi
Hyun of South Korea is his team's trump card."We have a
fairly well-balanced team. Our biggest strength is women's
singles. She (Hyun) is in great form. She has a fair chance
against anyone," said Jayaram ahead of his team's seasonopening tie against Delhi Acers here at the NSCI Stadium
on Tuesday."I will be playing first. I had a good season and
feeling quite confident. I'm hoping I can pull off crucial
wins," said world no. 19 Jayaram who, along with another
top Indian shuttler - H S Prannoy - will be figuring in men's singles.Mumbai
take on Hyderabad Hunters on January 4 to complete their home engagements of the season.Prannoy said things won't be easy for both in PBL."It's
going to be tough for both of us. Both the men's singles are going to be crucial. If we can pull out a couple of matches then we will be placed well to
make the semis," said the world no. 28.The team is to be led by ex-South
Korean international Lee Yong Dae who had won the 2008 Olympics mixed
doubles gold and the 2012 Games men's doubles bronze.Jayaram said the
men's and mixed doubles are an unknown quantity as both would be made

up of scratch combinations."The men's doubles is a bit of a

scratch combination; even mixed doubles is the same. It will
be interesting to see how they fare," said Jayaram about his
team's chances.Dae is expected to partner Thailand's N
Phusnhphupet in men's doubles and Pole Nadidzda Zeiba in
the mixed event.For Jayaram the 11-point format and trump
matches are unknown territories, Prannoy felt that the shortened version would see fast paced play.From past experience
he said there would be added pressure on the chosen ones
when playing the trump match as a loss would lead to a negative point for the team."I have not played much of 11 points to
figure out how it works for me and can't give the right answer.
(But) I feel from the beginning it will be intense and pacy. It will be quite
tough as it's quicker and shorter," said Jayaram."I did not play any trump
match last year," he pointed out when asked how tough it would be to take
on the added burden."We did not lose a single trump last season. But I am
not sure whether it will be ideal for Thomas and Uber team championships.
It's okay in these sorts of leagues," he added."I saw the 11-point matches
yesterday (played in Hyderabad). It was a bit slow. But from the first point
the pace will be high. We need to be smart about when to slow down and
when to increase the pace," said Prannoy.

Kane Williamson leads

New Zealand to 1-0 lead
New Delhi, 3 January :
Kane Williamson scored
an impressive, unbeaten
knock of 73 from just 55
balls to anchor New
Zealand in a successful
chase of a sub-par but
tricky
target
against
Bangladesh in the first
Twenty20 International
(T20I) at the McLean Park
in Napier on Wednesday
(Januar y 3). In a game
where bowlers from either
side dominated most
parts, Williamson nullified
Mahmudullah's efforts to
ensure the hosts kickstarted 2017 on a bright
note with a six-wicket victor y.Opting to bat first,
Bangladesh were rocked
early as Imrul Kayes
couldn't keep his bat away
from a Matt Henry delivery that was angled across
the left-hander. Luke
Ronchi completed the
catch behind the stumps to
give Henry a successful
return to the side, since
his last T20I appearance
way back in Januar y
2016.Debutants
Ben
Wheeler
and
Lockie
Ferguson soon dug their
teeth into the Bangladesh
top-order, as Tamim Iqbal,
Sabbir
Rahman
and
Soumya Sarkar had all
been sent packing inside
the powerplay overs.
Ferguson redeemed himself after a forgettable OneDay International debut,
and became just the second player after Michael
Kasprowicz to pick up two

wickets off the first two

balls of his T20I career.
Shakib Al Hasan, the senior-most player of the current Bangladesh T20I lineup, joined forces with
Mahmudullah to arrest the
slide.The pair put on 37
runs before Colin de
Grandhomme dismissed
Shakib for 14. At this
stage, on 67 for 5 in the
11th over, Bangladesh
were in desperate need of
a partnership. Mossadek
Hossain put his hand up as
he and Mahmudullah
added 30 more runs, to
drag Bangladesh's total
close to 100. Wickets con-

tinued
to
fall
but
Mahmudullah's 47-ball 52
gave the visiting bowlers a
sub-par total (141/8) to
defend.New Zealand didn't
enjoy the best of starts
either. Neil Broom, who
enjoyed a successful ODI
comeback, was dismissed
in the second over by
Rubel Hossain. Mustafizur
Rahman too struck in his
very first over to remove
Colin Munro for a secondball
duck.
Kane
Williamson fought on,
even as two more wickets
fell, giving Bangladesh
some hope to pull off an
upset.

occasion to tighten their game and were able to resist Tamil Nadu's attack successfully. While Tare ensured that Mumbai didn't go into a shell, Tamil Nadu
were met with some staunch resistance from Nayar.The left-hander again pulled
the team out of a tricky situation and was keen on frustrating the bowlers. Tamil
Nadu, for some inexplicable reason, decided to stick with the old ball for 99
overs. They took it just one over before the mandatory time and tasted success
soon after.Nayar fell only after Mumbai had taken the first innings and the scorecard stood at 311 for 6. While there was still plenty of work left to be done, the
left-hander fell in one of the most unluckiest ways possible. The new ball did keep
low every now and then and Baba Aparajith trapped him in front with the one that
rose just above the ankle, bringing an end to a magnificent stand.Tare had looked
assured in his innings and chased a wide one from T Natarajan only to hand
Ganga Sridhar Raju a low catch at cover just ten runs later. With the first innings
lead gone, it was crucial for Tamil Nadu to wrap things up quickly and push for
a win to make it to the final.However, Balwinder Sandhu (32) and Shardul Thakur
(52) were able to blunt every possible attack from the bowlers and added crucial
44 runs between them for the eighth wicket. They not only added the runs but
were able to frustrate the bowlers and wear down the fielders - something that
could well prove to be crucial later on in the game.By the time Sandhu was dismissed, edging one behind to the 'keeper off Shankar, the lead had swelled to 60.
Having spent more than 130 overs on the field, the effects showed on the bowlers
as well, with all of them dishing out freebies from time to time.Shankar was
rewarded for his gritty effort and ended with a four-wicket haul while Shardul
kept frustrating Tamil Nadu. The last wicket pair batted for over 15 overs before
Thakur was castled by Aparajith to ensure Tamil Nadu have spent 150 overs on
the field so far.Brief scores: Tamil Nadu 305 (Baba Indrajith 64, Vijay Shankar 50;
Abhishek Nayar 4-66, Shardul Thakur 4-75) trail Mumbai 406 (Aditya Tare 83,
Suryakumar Yadav 73; Shankar 4-59) by 101 runs.

CWG medalist Pinki

Jangra turns professional
NEW DELHI, 3 January : Following in the footsteps of former world champion L Sarita Devi, Commonwealth Games bronze medalist boxer Pinki Jangra has
decided to turn professional but will not give up on her amateur career either.The
former national champion has signed up with the Sporty Boxing Private Limited,
the commercial arm of the Indian Boxing Council (IBC), a licensing body for professional boxers in India.Pinki, who was a part of the ongoing national camp here,
will now be training at the National Boxing Academy in Rohtak, where the IBC is
currently conducting a camp for its women boxers."I have decided to turn professional but I have not given up on my amateur career either.

Lower order guides

South Africa to 392
New Delhi, 3 January : South Africa's lower
order added some vital runs to help their side
register 392 in the first innings of the second
Test at Newlands in Cape Town. The hosts
were bowled out on Tuesday (January 3) after
Lahiru Kumara picked up six wickets.
Kumara's heroics were preceded by Quinton
de Kock's brisk century in the morning session, his third in Tests.De Kock started off proceedings with a bang as he hit the very first
ball of the day through the covers to pick up a
boundary. Sri Lanka, though, struck in the second over with veteran Rangana Herath sending
Kyle Abbott back. He pitched it on a good
length and found some turn to take the outside
edge as the batsman attempted to dab the ball.
The finger went up immediately as the replays
also confirmed the nick. It was Herath's 356th

Test wicket and it

took
him
past
Chaminda Vaas's tally
to
become
Sri
Lanka's second leading wicket-taker in
Tests.Even though
fielders were stationed in the deep for
de Kock, the left-hander managed to
cream one through the covers off Herath to
move into the eighties. He went past 1000 Test
runs in the process, becoming the quickest
wicketkeeper-batsman to reach that landmark
in only 21 innings.A terrific straight drive down
the ground then took him to the nineties as
Mathews introduced Kumara into the attack in

search of a breakthrough. But he reached his

century with a streaky boundary courtesy an
inside edge that missed the stumps. It was followed by some massive celebrations as he
jumped up and let out a roar. The knock certainly pleased him to the core as his team needed it badly after being reduced to 169 for 5 at
one stage.But three balls later, he edged one
behind to be dismissed for 101. Dinesh
Chandimal, who was back behind the stumps,
took a decent catch to get rid of the centurion.
By this time, with the hosts still 14 away from
going past 350, the visitors sensed an opportunity to get rid of the last two wickets pretty
quickly. Vernon Philander and Keshav
Maharaj, however, showed plenty of resistance
and added 40 runs for the ninth wicket to frustrate Sri Lanka.

Hope to be in best form in All

England Championship: Saina

Cape Town: South Africa Quinton de Kock, center, rects after making over one hundred runs during their 2nd
Test against Sri Lanka in Cape Town, South Africa, Tuesday.

HYDERABAD, 3 January : Back in

action after recovering from a knee
injury, star shuttler Saina Nehwal says
she needs good match practice to be at
her best in the prestigious All England
Championship in March."I am happy
with my improvement. My movements
are still sluggish. I still need good match
practice," she told reporters here late
last night after losing to top-ranked shuttler Carolina Marin in a Premier
Badminton League (PBL) match.Saina
had sustained an intra-articular injury
(inside the joint) in her right knee and
had lost in the group stage in the Rio
Olympics. She later underwent a surgery
and was on rehab.She made a comeback
in the China Open, but lost in the opening round in a grueling contest.
Subsequently, she took part in the
Macau Open Grand Prix Gold badminton

tournament where she lost in the quarterfinals.Saina, who lost to Marin 14-15 511 in the women's singles match
between
Awadhe
Warriors
and
Hyderabad Hunters, said she could have
won the first game."I gave her a tough
fight. I could have won the first game.
The Gachibowli stadium (venue of the
match) is fast. I could not control the
shuttle. She (Marin) already played here
(the previous day). She was used to the
conditions," said the 26-year-old Saina,
who is playing for Awadhe Warriors in
the ongoing PBL.Marin was quick and
sharp on the court in the match, she said,
adding that her on court movement still
needed improvement.Saina, who is currently ranked 10th in BWF world rankings, hinted that she could next play in
the Malaysia Open at the end of this
month.

THE SIKH TIMES

DELHI

New Delhi, Wednesday, 4 January, 2017

Metro defers cashless move after bumpy start

TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Delhi Metro's cashless drive at
10 stations, started on January 1, made a rocky start
with commuters stranded in long queues at half of these
stations, reprising the scenes outside banks and ATMs
across the country in the last couple of months. Happily,
though, the Delhi Metro Rail Corporation (DMRC) was
bold enough to defer the trial by the end of Monday.
Arvind Kejriwal,, Delhi CM, berated the trial on Sunday
itself, promising to hold an inquiry into the decision of
DMRC to offer only one e-wallet vendor, Paytm, to customers in its cashless drive. DMRC conducted the cashless drive in Rohini East and West, MG Road, Mayur
Vihar Phase I, Nirman Vihar, Tilak Nagar, Janakpuri
West, Noida Sector 15, Nehru Place, and Kailash
Colony. According to the plan, commuters could travel
from these stations only using smart cards or by buying
tokens through Paytm and, consequently, these stations

kept only one counter open for cash transactions. By

Monday evening, however, DMRC put out a statement
saying: "Application of e-wallets in present form are not
suitable for our use due to large volume of transactions.
Therefore all other digital options of making payment
over the counters are being re-examined. However, all
existing aspects offered towards digitalization for commuters mentioned are continuing." Across the 10 stations that the surveyed, the drive was a mixed bag.
The four counters selling tokens at the MG Road station continued to run entirely on cash-mode with
scores of people lined up in front of them during the
morning rush hour. The situation was similar at the
Rohini stations, where commuters preferred using
cash to buy tokens. At the Mayur Vihar Phase I station,
DMRC shut down all cash counters, deploying three
token-vending machines. With only one of it working,
commuters stood in long queues during the morning

office hours. Also, DMRC had no one to guide commuters, most of whom had never used a vending
machine. "They have closed the cash counters; only
one token-vending machine is working here and there
is no one to guide us," Sagnik Banerjee, a local resident, said. Bhupendra Singh,, at Rohini East station,
said he had never used e-wallets before. "Cash facility
should also be available for those who do not have
cards or mobile wallet apps. These decisions do more
harm than good," he said. Some commuters, though,
were very positive of the drive. "It is a good initiative
and can succeed if it is planned well," Shreya Gupta, a
student, said. "We are running an awareness drive by
distributing pamphlets and educating commuters
about the various available modes of payment; one POS
machine is operational at the smart card recharge
counter. The idea is to turn the station into less-cash,
not cashless," an official said.

A calendar
tribute to
Delhi baolis
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: The annual
calendar released by the Delhi assembly pays tribute to the city's twelve
ancient baolis and the need to revive
them to decrease dependency on
Yamuna. The twelve baolis featured
in the calender include Agrasen ki
baoli, Wazirpur baoli, Feroz Shah
Kotla baoli and Red Fort baoli among
others. "There is an urgent need to
preserve baolis which either get
encroached upon or converted into
multistorey buildings. Mohalla committees need to revive these traditional waterbodies," said historian Sohail
Hashmi. He said using the traditional
wells, streams and step wells will
decrease the capital's dependency on
Yamuna. The government has also
expressed its concern about the
depleting waterbodies. A meeting is
scheduled between Hashmi and
water minister Kapil Mishra this
week to focus on the issue.

12

Manoj Tiwari takes slum

fight to Ar vind Kejriwal
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Delhi BJP chief
Manoj Tiwari would submit a report to
chief minister Arvind Kejriwal on the
problems faced by the people living in
Inderpuri Gas Godown slum. Tiwari had
stayed here on New Year's Eve and plans
to organise a fund-raiser to fix the problems should the AAP-led Delhi government fail to do so. "The government has
constructed a toilet block, but there is no
water. How will the people use it?" said the
North East Delhi MP, adding that BJP
would "definitely work towards improving
the situation". Tiwari said he had raised
the issue with DJB chief Kapil Mishra, but
he had refused to even acknowledge the
problem. "I told him to visit the area if he
doesn't believe me," Tiwari said. Mishra
wasn't available for a reaction. The residents of the slum apparently told the

actor-turned-politician about the persistent water problem. "The community centre is lying closed. There is a liquor shop
in the area that should be closed immediately," said Tiwari, who also asked MP
Meenakshi Lekhi to look into the problem. With the municipal polls around the
corner, BJP has been trying to expand its
footprint in slums and unauthorised
colonies that are considered AAP strongholds. Tiwari's night stay is one of the
many events planned by BJP to appeal to
this constituency. On Tuesday, he's supposed to spend a night at Bhim Camp in
Nangloi. Elsewhere, BJP's SC wing held
an 'aabhaar march' from Valmiki Temple
on Mandir Marg to Dr B R Ambedkar's
statue at Jhandewalan to express gratitude
to the government for naming an app after
Dr Ambedkar.

Encroachments in way of
Savitri flyover expansion

Bodhgaya: Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and monks offering special prayers during the Kalchakra Initiation
ceremony in Bodhgaya on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Gold worth Rs 60 crore

seized at IGI last year
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: From taping it to their toes, hiding it in
their kids' diapers, to concealing it in their body cavities and even
swallowing it, smugglers have tried every trick in the book to
sneak in drugs, gold, jewellery and other valuables at IGI airport.
But they failed to evade the vigilant eye of the customs department each time. More than 220kg gold worth Rs 60 crore, drugs
worth Rs 40 crore, and other valuables were seized and as many
as 130 people arrested last year. Thirteen cases were registered
under the Narcotic Drugs and Pyschotropic Substances Act, in
which 6kg cocaine, 2kg heroin and other drugs, including
steroids, were seized worth Rs 40 crore. Officials also seized
80kg corals from a passenger who had come from Dubai. Senior
officers said demonetisation led to increased currency seizures
in the month of December. The total amount of foreign exchange
seized was around Rs 6.5 crore and 11 people were arrested. A
customs officer said most of the cases were cracked either on
the basis of tip-offs or through passenger profiling by a team led
by deputy commissioner Govind Garg. Talking about the weirdest seizures of the year, the officer said, "One man had tried to
hide gold worth Rs 75 lakh in a papaya, while another had concealed gold plates in the heels of his shoes."

LG on Twitter, office moves

against fake handles
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: A day after lieutenant governor Anil
Baijal joined Twitter, his office on Monday asked the police to act
against fake handles posting misleading posts in his name.
These posts are critical of chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and the
elected AAP government. The LG's office is planing to take up
the matter with Twitter and get the account verified. Going by
fake posts, including those on the Shunglu committee that
looked into the decisions of the AAP government, the virtual
impostors seem to be well aware of the tussle between the AAP
government and Baijal's predecessor, Najeeb Jung. Two such
accounts@AnilBaijal_LG and @AnilBaijal_have garnered a
substantial following since December 28, the day Baijal was
appointed to the post. "Jung has left behind 400 files of the Delhi
government. Now I am in a dilemma as to whether to approve or
return them," tweeted @AnilBaijal_. Referring to CM Arvind
Kejriwal's criticism of PM Narendra Modi, the other fake handle
says, "Sir, using such language does not behove you irrespective
of differences of opinion." In his first tweet on @LtGovDelhi, the
LG wished Delhiites on New Year.

Lack of instructions delays EWS admissions

NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: The delay in guideline for EWS admissions has left parents baffled. Schools say they have received
several queries regarding the availability of forms, but are having to turn them away as they are still awaiting instructions.
Sources said the EWS guidelines are being delayed because
the government wants to release the circulars for both EWS
admissions and admissions to private schools on DDA land
together. "The government is serious about the issue as the
high court will be video-taping the draw of lots. So the authorities are taking their time to go through the due process," said
a source. Senior officials in the department of education said
that the EWS guidelines are expected to be out next week.
Lawyer-activist Khagesh Jha said EWS admissions this year are
expected to be riddled with issues. "EWS admissions are mostly for those living in cluster houses and slums.

TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: To expand the existing Savitri
flyover in south Delhi to a double flyover and accommodate additional traffic once the Metro station at the
Savitri turn towards GK-II opens, PWD will require to
expand the Ring Road at this juncture. PWD will, on
behalf of Delhi government, fund a survey of the road
which will be undertaken by the local SDM. "There is
one gas depot, a couple of offices etc on this road which
have already been declared illegal in a previous survey.
Since there has been dispute over this claim, we have
requested for another survey to be undertaken for
which a report will be submitted within a week or so.
The portion of the road in question is a major bottleneck
and residents have been demanding action against
encroachment for several months," said Saurabh
Bharadwaj, GK MLA. A senior PWD official said that
there are two possibilities if the identified constructions
were found to be encroachments. "If the land is theirs
but the construction is found to have been carried out on
the right of way, the concerned parties will be paid adequate compensation and then the encroachment will be
razed. If it is an outright encroachment with no right to

Police version on custody

death riddled with holes

TST Correspondent
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Six days after a 24-year-old fruit seller,
Sompal, was allegedly picked up and thrashed to death at Adarsh
Nagar police station, neither have murder charges been levelled
against six suspended policemen nor anyone arrested. No one has
been dismissed either. The FIR clearly indicts the policemen for
hatching a conspiracy to destroy evidence and get the body
declared "unidentified" by dumping it in a deserted area. Late on
Monday evening, the case was transferred to the crime branch. The
National Human Rights Commission has also issued a notice to the
police commissioner. The brazen manner in which the body was
dumped raises the question whether more policemen were aware of
the custody death and remained silent. The police station has at
least 100 men on its staff. Though the conspiracy was clear to the
police brass on December 30, when the body was found, an FIR was
filed only the next day at 8.40pm. There is no explanation for this
delay and the cops say they were just inquiring. Two policemen had
detained Sompal outside Azadpur Mandi on December 28 after they
found him arguing with another vendor. He was taken to the police
station and allegedly beaten up. A few hours later, his body was
found in the courtyard. Even if the improbable police theory that
Sompal jumped off the terrace of the four-storey building in a bid to
flee is bought, how did six policemen take out the body without others at the station getting to know before dumping it at a spot 6km
away? The police version is that the room in which he was detained
had not been locked and the terrace door was open. The second and
third floors have offices of the investigating officers. Sompal might
have been kept in one of the rooms on the third floor from where he

supposedly reached the terrace.No one is able to explain why he

was left unattended in a room instead of being put in the lock-up. No
one seems to have noticed him walk up the stairs to the terrace
though. Moreover, no one saw or heard the man falling and lying
bleeding on the ground. The spot where he fell is in the courtyard,
just a few feet away from the entrance to the police station. The
probe so far has revealed that the policemen picked up the man in
a Gypsy and drove off on the pretext of admitting him to a hospital.
However, there is no record of this in the police station. The initial
autopsy has revealed that his knees were broken and he had head
injuries too. The spot near Majlis Park Metro station where the
body was dumped is a deserted stretch that seemed to have been
carefully chosen to pass off the murder as an accident. Now, with
National Human Rights Commission knocking on their doors, the
police seem to be doing damage control.

the land, the buildings will be removed without any compensation," said the official. The directions issued in a
recent meeting between the MLA, PWD and residents
said: "SDM Kalkaji will carry out the survey. It will also
be cross checked from the consultant who has developed the proposal for the flyover." Chetan Sharma,,
chairman of the federation of GK-II complex RWAs, said
that the flyover itself would take at least two years to
come up but the Metro station is likely to be ready by
April or May. "This will further constrict the road and
when the construction on the flyover starts, this road
will become unusable," he said.

Parents fail to wade

through maze
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: Confusion prevailed days after
the Directorate of Education told schools on public land to
await new guidelines before starting nursery admissions.
Parents failed to figure out the schools supposed to follow
this order as the DoE uploaded on its website a single list
of all private, unaided schools, without distinguishing the
ones built on public land. Hassled parents have had to
consult multiple lists before making a decision. "The list
keeps changing. I noticed that they increased the number
to 298. They need to release the revised list soon," said
Sachin, a parent. Sources said the number of schools on
public land that have lease obligations is expected to
increase because authorities are making a fresh list. This
explains the increase in the number of schools on public
land from 285 to 298. The revised list may name over 350
schools in the city, sources said. Banking on this loophole,
some schools have started the admission process based
on last year's guidelines. "I wasn't sure the category in
which a school that I am interested in falls into, so I went
to inquire. School authorities said they will admit students
based on last year's guidelines. It was only later that I got
to know that the school was built on DDA land and had
started admissions prematurely," said a parent. Those
who stay in and around Dwarka complained that as most
schools in their area are built on DDA land, they are left
with no other option but to wait. "There are no schools in
my area that have started admissions yet. They tell me
they're waiting for the new guidelines. I took three days
off for this purpose but now it seems a waste," said another parent, who stays in Dwarka.

AAP hits back with chaurahe pe charcha

NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: AAP borrowed from Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 2014 'chai pe charcha' campaign to hit back at him
for demonetisation. The drive named 'chaurahe pe charcha' saw senior party members and MLAs leading rallies across the city
and talking to people about the impact of the note ban. In Laxmi Nagar, AAP's Delhi convener Dilip Pandey and MLA Nitin Tyagi
led volunteers who got the locals to sign a notice, "dismissing" the PM for failing to curb black money, terrorism and corruption.
"People have hundreds of questions for the PM relating to the Sahara-Birla diary, the connection between Paytm and BJP, loss of
livelihood for thousands of people, lack of money and the failure of the PM's claims that demonetisation will bring back black
money, end terrorism etc. Since he has failed on so many counts, we have issued this notice in which the public at large has dismissed him as the PM," Pandey said. At a vegetable market, many complained about loss in business. Avdhesh Kumar, who owns
a cycle repair shop, spoke about how his relatives were forced to serve 'khichdi' at a wedding in Bihar's Siwan. "There has been
a major loss in business and I personally do not believe that this move has affected the black money economy.

Fire probe finds gaps

in AIIMS safety shield
NEW DELHI, Jan. 3: An inquiry into the
pathological lab fire at AIIMS on December 23
has found major gaps in safety parameters at the
premier hospital. It has been found that a technician was boiling xylenechemical used to
process tissuesin the lab that led to fire and
short-circuit. The exit door on the first floor of the
administrative block, was closed permanently,
forcing students to leave it through windows.
"Many paraffin boxes, highly combustible, were
lying unused in the lab. If the fire wasn't controlled in time, the whole teaching block could
have caught fire," V Srinivas, deputy director
(administration) of AIIMS, told . The pathology
department has set up an internal committee to
fix responsibility and take preventive measures,
he said. On Monday, AIIMS launched a drive to
clear all fire exits and corridors. "We have already
removed nearly 120 tractor loads of condemned
material and paraffin boxes from the first-floor
corridor in the pathology department," said a senior official. The heads of all departments have

been asked to deposit duplicate keys to open their

rooms in case of any fire during odd hours. In the
past two years alone, AIIMS has witnessed at least
four incidents of minor and major fire. In one such
fire in February 2015, thousands of files related to
departmental inquiries, legal documents and
estate records were destroyed. Fire officials said
that not only AIIMS, multiple incidents of minorto-medium fire were reported from all government hospitals throughout the year. "We do fire
safety drills and even suggest structural changes
to improve safety," said an official. Under Delhi
Fire Services Act 2010, 22 rules have to be fulfilled to get safety clearance. But the lack of fire
safety measures at Delhi hospitals was highlighted in a CAG audit that found nearly 80% of the government-run hospitals not complying with basic
measures. Ram Manohar Lohia Hospital, for
instance, did not have compartmentationspecific doors that are used to prevent spread of fire or
smoke to other parts of a buildingin accordance with the set standards.

Ahmedabad : Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani and former Chief Minister Anandiben Patel at the inauguration of the Sabarmati River Front Flower Park in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. PTI Photo

Delhis cosplayers go pro, earn upto Rs 25k per event

TST Correspondent
New Delhi, Jan. 3: The word cosplay is a portmanteau of costume and play, referring to the art
of dressing up and pretending to be popular fictional characters, usually from science fiction, comics
or anime. In the West, where cosplay is a multimillion dollar industry, cosplayers are no less than
celebs. Indian cosplayers may not have attained
that star status yet, but many of them are slowly
turning to it full-time now. Professional cosplayers
- although few - are a quickly growing tribe in the
country. Delhi, particularly, is home to several individuals who cosplay full-time or in a semi-pro setting, earning good money from it round the year.
We take a look at the pros of the field from the city.

For most cosplayers, the foray into the field began

as a hobby or chance encounter that eventually
grew into something more substantial over the
years. Twenty-three year Akanksha Sachan proudly claims to be one of the first cosplayers in the
country. "I started in 2010 when there were no conventions in India. In fact, I didn't even know what I
was doing was called cosplay," she says, adding, "I
was a fashion design student at NIFT as well as an
anime buff. I combined the two and designed costumes of some of my favourite characters. It was
later when I researched that I realized that what I
was doing was already a global phenomenon."
Today, Akanksha travels around the country participating in various cosplay events and has even

worked in the promotional campaign of Captain

America: Civil War, where she cosplayed as
Captain America for a cinema hall chain. For 26year-old graphic designer Gaurav Thakur, cosplay
happened due to his urge to create a Spiderman
costume. He says, "I am a big Spiderman fan and
when Comic Cons began in India, I wanted to go as
Spiderman. The first costume I made in 2013 was
ridiculed, after which I decided to learn how to
make a proper costume. I ended up winning the
competition the next year, which helped me get a
couple of gigs and workshops in Delhi." How
important cosplay is to Gaurav becomes evident
when he tells you that he rescheduled his
December 2015 wedding as it was coinciding with

the Delhi Comic Con. Cosplayers say that even

though the money they get is way less than what
some of their western counterparts make, it is
quite healthy. Cosplayers are usually hired by companies - mostly gaming companies or film studios to dress up as their characters at big events or
launches of their next product. Events like comic
book launches, film promotions and game launches are where these cosplayers make the bulk of
their money. In addition, senior cosplayers are also
invited to judge cosplay competitions across India
and sometimes abroad as well. Aorin Shariyari, a
24-year-old Delhi-based cosplayer, says, "The
money depends on how famous a cosplayer is,
which is determined by their social media follow-

ers. The more popular you are, the more a company will pay you. For a 2-3 hour gig of judging an
event, I charge about Rs 10,000, but for a bigger
event where I have to make my own costume, I
charge as much as Rs 25,000 per day." Aorin has
been working full-time with a gaming company
since 2014 as their official cosplayer, a job for
which she draws a monthly salary. Another avenue
of making money in the world of cosplay is by conducting workshops or participating in other promotional events held before big comic cons. Ajay
Kapoor, a 27-year-old who cosplays as 'The
Procrastinator Man', says, "Winning competitions
is the easiest way to get gigs because that tells people that you have skills.