˘ˇˆ˙˘˝˛˚˚˜ - The Pioneer · Total population of Odisha as per 2011 Census is 41,974,218...

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The Biju PatnaikInternational Airport

(BPIA) here has bagged theAirport Service Quality (ASQ)award for best airport by sizeand region for the year 2018.

“The BPIA won the ASQaward for being the best airportin terms of size and region (2-5 million passengers in Asia-Pacific),” said a communiqueissued by BPIA Director SureshHota.

In the rank, theBhubaneswar airport was fol-lowed by Chandigarh Airport,

Devi Ahilyabai Holkar Airportin Indore, SM Badaruddin IIAirport in Indonesia, SS KasimII Airport in Indonesia andYichang Sanxia Airport inChina.

“It is a matter of greatpride and pleasure for the air-port to have marked its pres-ence in the World AirportCommunity, i.e., AirportCouncil International by beingNo 1 amongst many. We con-vey our gratitude to our cus-tomers and all stakeholders,who have ranked us high in thesurvey,” the communiqueadded.

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The International Women’sDay is celebrated on March

8. The theme for this year is'Think equal, build smart,innovate for change.' Thetheme focuses on innovativeways in which we can advancegender equality and theempowerment of women, par-ticularly in the areas of socialprotection systems, access topublic services and sustainable

infrastructure.Total population of Odisha

as per 2011 Census is41,974,218 of which male andfemale are 21,212,136 and20,762,082 respectively. Thesex ratio in Odisha declineddrastically from 1086 in 1921to 972 in 2001.

However it has improvedmarginally to 978 as per 2011Census data. The decline inChild Sex Ratio (CSR) is themain cause of concern as itcontinues to decline consis-tently from 967 in 1991 Censusto 950 in 2001 Census to evenlower 934 as per the 2011Census.

The male literacy rate inthe country is 82.1 per cent,female literacy lags at 65.5per cent. As per 2011 census,the literacy in female popula-tion in Odisha is only 64 percent compared to about 82 percent in case of male populationindicate gender gap of about 18per cent. Female work partic-ipation is considered as animportant indicator ofwomen’s involvement in eco-

nomic activities.The female work partici-

pation rate is very low in com-parison to male counterpartfor total, rural and urban pop-ulation. The workforce partic-ipation rate of males andfemales in the country is 54.4per cent and 21.9 per cent,respectively. The workforceparticipation rate of males andfemales in Odisha is 56.11percent and 27.16 per cent,respectively. The educationalbackwardness of girls has beena consequential cause of gen-der inequality in India. Femaleliteracy is important for thedevelopment of the individualas well as society and at thesame time it reduces genderinequality.

Gender equity andempowering women and girlsare critical goals for India.The National Mission forEmpowerment of Women(NMEW) was launched by theGovernment of India onInternational Women's Dayin 2010 with the aim tostrengthen overall processes

that promote all-round devel-opment of women. TheGovernment of Odisha hasimplemented all the welfareschemes framed byGovernment of India as well asthe State has been giving all thepriority to the women as perthe Constitution of India.

The 74th ConstitutionAmendment Act, 1992 for thefirst time provided one-thirdrepresentation to women inurban local self-governmentinstitutions. The 73rdAmendment to theConstitution of India Act hasdrastically changed the Indianpolitical process, with farreaching consequences forIndian federalism, decentrali-sation, gender equality, socialjustice, grassroots democracyand people’s participation inplanning for development.Women are the indispensablepart of the society.

However, many womenhave lived with fear of beingunsafe at certain times of theday and in certain places. Thishas a huge impact on women’s

ability to engage in employ-ment and community partici-pation, social and leisure activ-ities. Communities can take upresponsibilities and play a rolein improving the situation ofwomen by designing safe pub-lic spaces for women.

By the process of empow-erment, women can challengegender discrimination againstall the institutions and struc-tures of the society. It is aprocess to achieve self reliance,liberation, sense

of pride and courage tofight for social injustice.

Women lack access todecent work and face occupa-tional segregation and genderwage gaps. Urban spaces arenot always safe for women,constraining their right tomove freely. Women who arepoor and living in urban slumsface particular challenges.There are no proper access toclean water, improved sanita-tion and durable housing forthem. The lack of safety in theprovision of public servicesputs women in a situation of

vulnerability, and limits theirrights in the cities.

Gender inequalities persistand women and girls benefitless from urbanisation andurban spaces than men andboys. In fact, women and girlsin cities face a range of specif-ic barriers and vulnerabilities inthe form of gender based dis-crimination: gender inequali-ty, violence against women,poverty, unequal participationin public and private decision-making as well as, barriers toeducation, employment, hous-ing and basic services.

Creating safe and inclusivespaces which respond to theneeds of women and men isimperative for increasingsocial cohesion and sustain-able urban development. Allcities should be inclusive, con-venient and safe cities forwomen by helping womenfully access and participate inthe social, cultural, economicand political life of the city.The current development ofurban infrastructure and thebuilt environment needs to be

redesigned to promote greatergender equality in the useand benefits of urban space.Urban development processesmust address these inequalitiesand ensure that women canequally contribute to and ben-efit from urban development.Gender is an important con-sideration when planning anddesigning essential servicesin communities. Often, whenessential services are badlyplanned or missing, womenand girls fear to use thosespaces. While planning anddesigning safe public spacesfor women, planners, design-ers and architects place specialfocus on lighting, landscaping,visibility, pedestrian traffic,street furniture, signage, secu-rity personnel, proximity toother public spaces, proximi-ty to emergency services, andaccess to public transporta-tion.

Neighborhoods with betterlinkages to markets, schools,child care, health, educationand transport services can allincrease women's abilities to bemore productive and participa-tory. Each of these areas shouldbe given particular considera-tion from the perspective of thewomen and girls who use pub-lic spaces. Women’s ideas andexperiences are imperativewhich may influence the designand implementation of theinnovations that shape ourfuture. Only when a womanfeels safe, she will be able todeliver her best performance.This will increase women’saccess to education, skill devel-opment and employment forbetter future prospects.

(Dr Praharaj teaches atDepartment of Architecture,College of Engineering andTechnology, Bhubaneswar)

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With the SpiceJet airlinecommencing direct flight

service from the Veer SurendraSai (VSS) Airport here to threecities. Delhi, Hyderabad andKolkata, starting from March31, the following are the detailsof the flight schedules and tick-et prices. The flight wouldleave New Delhi at 1.15 pm andarrive at Jharsuguda airport at3.10 pm every day. It wouldleave Jharsuguda at 3.40 pm andreach New Delhi at 5.35 pm.

Similarly, the flight woulddepart the Jharsuguda air-port at 4.10 pm and reachHyderabad at 6 pm daily. Onits return journey, the flightwould leave Hyderabad at6.30 pm and arrive atJharsuguda at 8.20 pm. On theKolkata-Jharsuguda route, theflight would leave Kolkata at2.25 pm and arrive atJharsuguda at 3.50 pm regu-larly. It would departJharsuguda at 8.40 pm andreach Kolkata at 10 pm.

The SpiceJet is offering anintroductory promotional farestarting at �3,701 for theJharsuguda-Delhi-Jharsugudaand Jharsuguda-Hyderabad-Jharsuguda routes. Flight tick-ets for the Jharsuguda-Kolkata-Jharsuguda route are availableat a starting fare of �2,560.

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Eminent scientist AjitKumar Mohanty from

Odisha has been appointed asthe head of the BhabhaAtomic Research Centre(BARC), India’s premier mul-tidisciplinary nuclear researchcentre headquartered inMumbai. Mohanty wasappointed as the Director ofthe BARC for a tenure ofthree years, said a UnionMinistry of Personnel orderon Wednesday.

The post had been lyingvacant for the last six months.Mohanty’s appointment hascome amidst brewing tensionbetween India and Pakistan.Currently, Mohanty is posted

as the Director of PhysicsGroup in BARC and Directorof Saha Institute of NuclearPhysics in Kolkata. He hadplayed a key role in setting upthe country’s second deepestunderground laboratory atJadugoda inside the uraniummine.

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BJP leader and party StateCommittee member

Bhuban Mohan Jena onThursday appeared before theSpecial Task Force (STF) of theOdisha Crime Branch (CB) forbeing questioned in connectionwith the allotment of a petrolpump in Kendrapada and adhoc dealership of CompanyOwned Company OperatedRetail Outlet (COCO) in

Paradip to the relatives ofarrested Kendrapada-basedgangster Usman Ali alias Tito.

Jena was reportedly grilledfor over an hour by the inves-tigating officers.

The act against Jena hascome as an affront to the BJPshortly ahead of the generaland Assembly elections in theState.

So, no wonder that protest-ing against the interrogation ofJena, several BJP workersgheraoed the office of the STFhere.

The STF had earlier sum-moned Jena to appear before iton the day.

During an earlier investiga-tion, it had been found thatJena is acquainted with thefacts and circumstances regard-ing allotment of petrol pumpsin the names of the relatives ofTito in Kendrapada andParadip, STF DSP TK Mohantyhad said.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Thursday

appointed formerBhubaneswar MunicipalCorporation Mayor AnantaNarayan Jena as BhubaneswarDevelopment Authority (BDA)Chairman. Jena would assumethe office replacing Housingand Urban DevelopmentMinister Niranjan Pujari.

The appointment cameahead of the elections indicat-

ing that Jena would not be acandidate of the BJD to contestthe Assembly polls. Jena, whorecently ceased to the BMCMayor after completion of histenure recently, was earlierbelieved to be one of the con-tenders to get BJD ticket tofight polls in one of the threeconstituencies in Bhubaneswar.

However, the new assign-ment by the Chief Minister tothe former Mayor clearlyshows that he will be out of thelist of poll candidates.

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One of the wolf pair that wasbrought from Mysore died

at the Nandankanan ZoologicalPark (NZP) on the outskirts ofthe city on Thursday. Theexact cause behind the femalewolf ’s death would be ascer-tained after an autopsy.

Last year, a pair of greywolves had been added toNandankanan. They weremembers of the zoo sinceSeptember 29, 2018.

The two, aged about two

and a half years, were translo-cated from the Mysore zoo inexchange of a pair of mousedeer of Nandankanan underthe animal exchange pro-gramme.

The endangered-speciesgrey wolf is mostly found inwilderness and remote areas ofEurope, Asia and NorthAmerica. This wolf is one of theworld’s most-researched ani-mals in books compared to anyother wildlife species. It is bestknown for its wild behaviourand hunting style.

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The BJD Government isbending all rules and reg-

ulations and spending publicmoney to win the elections,alleged PCC president NirajanPatnaik on Thursday.

“This Government hadcompletely forgotten the issuesof farmers during its last 19years. However, it announcedthe KALIA scheme recently bydiverting contingency fundsin order to gain votes. In thefirst phase, the BJDGovernment utilised Rs 764

crore from the contingencyfunds for the KALIA schemeand utilised Rs 510 crore in thesecond phase,” alleged Patnaikin a statement.

He alleged that while theState’s debt burden is about totouch Rs 95,000-crore marksoon, the BJD is trying its bestto woo voters by distributingmoney officially. TheGovernment has also distrib-uted Rs 250 crore from theFarmers Welfare Fund. NearlyRs 622 crore of 32 differentdepartments have been re-appropriated for the the KALIA

scheme, he alleged further.Patnaik said the BJPGovernment at the Centre isalso not lagging behind. Theyhave started shedding crocodiletears for farmers and distribut-ing money officially throughbank accounts to woo voters.

“When the common manis heavily burdened with somany taxes, both the BJD andthe BJP Governments are mis-using the funds to gain voters.The voters will give a befittingreply to both the parties in theupcoming Assembly andParliament elections,” he said.

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Aseventeen-year-old youthhailing from Haridwar was

killed while 32 others receivedinjuries in a grenade attack atcrowded bus stand in Jammuon Thursday around 11.45 am.

Addressing a Press confer-ence in the evening, IGPJammu MK Sinha said YasinJavid Bhat was nabbed by apolice party at toll plaza inNagrota of Jammu for the ter-ror attack. Bhat was in contactwith Farooq Ahmad Bhat, dis-trict commander of HizbulMujahideen in Kulgam, saidSinha, adding he was arrestedon basis of CCTV footage and

testimony by eyewitnesses. During questioning Bhat

said he had procured thegrenade from Farooq inKulgam and reached Jammu onThursday morning.

The condition of fourinjured people is “critical” and

two of them wereoperated upon bydoctors. Theinjured included11 residents ofKashmir, twofrom Bihar, andone each fromChattisgarh andHaryana, officialssaid.

Ey e w i t n e s ssaid the terrorist lobbed agrenade while passing throughthe general bus stand areawhere several buses wereparked. Due to impacct t of theblast, window panes of sever-al parked buses and shopswere shattered. Majority of

injured received splinterinjuries in their abdomen andchest, said police, adding thatthe deceased has been identi-fied as Mohammad Sharik.

He was among 33 peoplebrought to the hospital. Hesuccumbed to splinter injuriesin the chest, police said.

A high alert was soundedin Jammu immediately after thegrenade strike, which isbelieved to be aimed at dis-turbing the communal har-mony in the region. This is thethird attack on Jammu busstand since May 2018.

“Obviously the intention isalways to disturb the commu-nal harmony and peace,” the

IGP said and requested thepeople to maintain calm.

The blast site along BCRoad was sealed off by policeand a massive hunt waslaunched to nab the attacker,the IGP who rushed to the

spot. Earlier, a police post onthe bus stand premises was tar-geted by suspected terrorists onDecember 29, 2018.

Three people, includingtwo policemen, were injured ina similar grenade attack onMay 24, 2018.

Senior State Governmentofficers, including ChiefSecretary BVR Subrahmanyam,Advisor to the Governor KVijay Kumar, visited thegrenade attack location at busstand. Several political partiesin the State condemned thegrenade strike at Jammu busstand and urged theGovernment to ensure fool-proof security arrangements.

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Two Kashmiris selling dryfruit were thrashed by a

group of saffron-clad men inDaliganj locality here, follow-ing which four people havebeen arrested, police saidThursday.

The incident took placeWednesday evening, the latestin a series of cases in whichKashmiris across the countrywere targeted after thePulwama terror attack thatkilled 40 CRPF personnel.

The assault on theKashmiri vendors, which wascaught on camera, was strong-ly condemned by OmarAbdullah and MehboobaMufti, former CMs of J&K.

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Pakistan’s former PresidentPervez Musharraf has

admitted Masood Azhar-ledJaish-e-Mohammed carried outattacks in India during histenure on the instructions ofthe intelligence agencies,including Inter-ServicesIntelligence (ISI).

“This is a good move. Ihave always said the JeM is aterrorist organisation. Actionshould be taken against them.I am happy,” said Musharraf,who ruled Pakistan from 1999to 2008.

When asked why he hadnot taken action against Jaishwhen he was in power,Musharraf said, “Those weredifferent times. Our intelli-gence men were involved in atit-for-tat with India...This wascontinuing at that time andamid all of this, no majoraction was taken against theJaish. And I also did not insist.”

Musharraf has been livingin Dubai since March 2016. Heis facing the treason case forsuspending the Constitution in2007, for which he was indict-ed in 2014.

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In a significant development,the United Nations has

rejected an appeal of JuD chiefHafiz Saeed, the 2008 Mumbaiterror attack mastermind, toremove his name from its listof banned terrorists, sourcessaid on Thursday.

Notably, the decisioncomes at a time when UN’s1267 Sanctions Committee hasreceived a new request to banJaish-e-Mohammad chiefMasood Azhar after thePulwama terror attack in which44 CRPF men were martyred.

The UN decision to rejectappeal of Saeed, also a co-founder of Lashkar-e-Tayyeba(LeT), came after India pro-vided detailed evidence includ-ing “highly confidential infor-mation” about his activities,sources told PTI.

Saeed was banned onDecember 10, 2008.

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The Congress has becomefirst off the block in nam-

ing candidates for the LokSabha polls in UP and Gujaratwhen its announced the list of15 candidates — 11 for UP andfour for Gujarat — onThursday. Ending all specula-tion about Sonia Gandhi fight-ing eletion due to ill health, theCongress announced that theUPA chairperson will contestfrom her Rae Bareilly LokSabha constituency. As expect-ed, Rahul Gandhi will seek re-election from Amethi.

However, the party has

kept everyone guessingwhether Priyanka Gandhi,assigned with the arduous taskof reviving the party in east-ern Uttar Pradesh, will alsocontest the polls.

There was widespreadspeculation that Priyanka willbe fielded from Rae Bareli. Sonia has beenrepresenting this constituencyever since she launched herselfin politics.

The first list of CongressUP candidates has beenannounced before Priyankarevisits the State to galvanisethe cadres and fine tune hercampaign strategy.

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AICC Odisha in-chargeJitendra Singh on

Thursday said the party’s ‘one-ticket-one-family’ policy wouldbe strictly followed duringallotment of tickets for theAssembly and Lok Sabha elec-tions in the State.

Singh told reporters,“Many leaders seek tickets formore than one member oftheir families. This time, theparty has decided that only oneticket will be given to one of afamily. A party leader can passon the ticket to his or her sonor daughter in case he or shedecides not to contest.”

He reiterated that the party

has decided to give priority toyouths, women and fresh can-didates with more chances ofwinning.

“Youths of Odisha are moreinclined towards politics.Hence, the Congress has decid-ed to have over 50-per cent rep-resentation of youths,” Singhsaid.

On Wednesday, the party’sPradesh Election Committee(PEC) finalised the candidates’lists for all 147 Assembly and21 Lok Sabha seats of the Stateand sent it to the party’s Central

Election Committee (CEC) forapproval. The final list wouldbe published after scrutiny andapproval by AICC presidentRahul Gandhi.

Meanwhile, PCC MediaCell chief Satya Prakash Nayakon Thursday said the names ofCongress leaders being pub-lished as MLA and MP candi-dates in various social media,newspapers and televisionchannels are not true at all.

Notably, Rahul Gandhi isscheduled to visit Jeypore inKoraput district on Friday andaddress a public meeting there.He would also hold an inter-action with a group of womenthere coinciding with theInternational Women’s Day.

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Baijayant Panda has a newhistory behind the forma-

tion of the Biju Janata Dal(BJD) after joining theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP),with which he now “feels athome”.

Panda said that the BJDhad its origin in 1998 as an allyof the BJP. By this, he appar-ently trying to say that the BJDwould not have come intobeing had the BJP not sup-ported its establishment.

But the question is whyPanda, who used to take pride inbeing a founding-leader of theBJD, didn’t choose to be in theBJP fold two decades ago, with-out being part of the new region-al outfit.

Panda, who never fails toswear by Biju Patnaik’s ideals, isnow all praise for the BJP, whichBiju Patnaik had at time pooh-poohed as a “signboard party”and termed it as “communal”.

Though many may notagree, it was a fact that theOdisha unit of the Janata Dal(Secular) which Biju Patnaikwas leading till his demise in1997, was effectively trans-formed into the BJD, a party

named after him, and the BJDdecided to strike an alliancewith the BJP to take advantageof the then Atal Bihari Vajpayeewave in the elections. Thefounding leaders of the BJDinvited Biju Patnaik’s sonNaveen Patnaik to head theparty for added electoral gainson the ground of “Biju legacy”.

The interesting point isBaijayant Panda has onlyrealised the virtues of the BJPafter so many years when hewas forced to quit the BJD forhis criticism of NaveenPatnaik’s style of administrationand his tilt towards the BJP inthe last couple of years, after theBJD made him a Rajya Sabhamember for one term and aLok Sabha member twice.

Panda, according to polit-ical observers, was undecidedabout joining the BJP soonafter being eased out of the BJDas the saffron party was mauledin the Assembly polls in threemajor States last year. But hechose to plunge into the BJPfold with the hope that the BJPwould ride the wave in thisyear’s general elections becauseof Modi’s popularity over theIndian actions against thePakistan-based terror outfits.

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An Assistant Sub-Inspector(ASI) of the Patnagarh

police station Anadi Matari wassuspended by Balangir districtSP K Siva Subramani onThursday on the charge ofassaulting a man, whose new-born baby boy was stolen fromthe Patnagarh hospital ward onWednesday.

The ASI had beat up theman in full public view whenhe was protesting the delay intracing his child by blockingthe Patnagarh main roadalong with his family andmembers of Lakhe GharGanda Samaj. The video of thewhole episode went viral onsocial media leading to a hueand cry.

Demanding suspension ofthe ASI, the family members,relatives and other locals had

continued the protest till dis-trict administration officialsassured action against the ASI.

“Preliminary investigationreveals that the family mem-bers also misbehaved with thepolice official. Further inquiryis underway to find out thedetails. As the CCTV camerasinstalled in the hospital premis-es were not functioning, I haveasked the CDMO for a detailedreport. Efforts are on to tracethe baby,” the SP said.

The baby born to JayantiTandi of Telenapalli villagewas stolen by an unidentifiedwoman, claiming to be a rela-tive of the family. Though thehospital cameras were defunct,the CCTV installed in thenearby branch of Andhra Bankhave captured the image of theaccused woman, based onwhich police are carrying outfurther investigations.

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AFoot Over-Bridge (FOB)which was built out of

MPLAD fund for the studentsof the FM College is lying inop-erative for more than a yearwithout a valid reason. The FOBhas been built on the busiestroad of the town which con-

nects Station square withGadagadia square which furtherleads to the Chandipur beach,the defence establishments andthe Balarmgadi fishing base,besides other thickly habited vil-lages. The FOB was necessitat-ed as the road separatesCommerce block, boys’ hosteland Plus II Vocational Collegefrom the main campus estab-

lishments, including the admin-istrative office. Since the stu-dents have to go frequentlyfrom their campus to the maincampus for different reasons, theroad crossing was posing athreat to the safety. In the past,several accidents occurred onthe stretch. The students andteaching staff too encounteredtraffic jam inconveniences.

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Most-sought-after and freeemergency ambulance ser-

vice, 108 Ambulance, complet-ed six years of journey in Odishaon March 5. Since its launch, ithas ferried and saved more than21 lakh valuable lives.

To celebrate the six years ofcompletion, the ZIqitzaHealthcare Limited, operatingand managing the 108 dialambulance service in partner-ship with the NHM Odisha,organised a blood donationcamp in its premises in whichmore than hundred employeeand crew members participat-ed.

Ollywood actress ArchitaSahu attended as guest andappreciated the Ziqitza

Healthcare Ltd for its relentlesseffort to serve public in spitechallenges. She said each per-son who has come forward todonate blood is a champion forlife.

The company is currently

operating 108 emergencyambulance services in all 30districts with 512 ambulancesstrategically positioned acrossthe State so as to respondtimely to all calls for emergencypatient transfer.

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Free cataract operations havebeen conducted on 225 poor

persons of the peripheral areasof the Paradip Port at the PPTHospital in 2018-19 under theParadip Port Trust’s (PPT) CSRinitiative. In a meeting held inthe hospital on Thursday,cheques towards spectacle assis-tance were distributed for post-operation care.

Distributing the cheques,PPT Chairman Rinkesh Roycongratulated Chief MedicalOfficer Dr P Panda, andOphthalmologist Dr DP Sethy,who carried out the successfuloperations along with themedical staffs in associationwith the Paradip SakshyrataSamity (PSS). Paradip Ladies’Club president SubhalaxmiRoy and PPT HODs were pre-sent.

Dr Panda informed that DrSethy and his team along withPSS volunteers made the oper-ations successful. The PPTspent �9,000 per head for thissurgery whereas each surgery

costs about �25,000 in privatehospitals.

Further, the port authori-ties have set a target of 250 freecataract operations of unpriv-ileged people from the periph-ery to be conducted next fis-cal. The PPT Hospital isequipped with state-of-the-art ophthalmic and otherequipments.

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The State Government hasaccorded university status

to the BhawanipatnaAutonomous College by alter-ing the territorial jurisdictionof the Sambalpur Universityunder the provisions of theOdisha Universities Act.

The new university has

been named as KalahandiUniversity, official sources said.It would offer PG courses fromthe next academic session of2019-20.

Notably, the StateGovernment had also onSaturday accorded universitystatus to the RajendraAutonomous College ofBalangir.

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The State Government onThursday hiked allowances

of the Fire Services Departmentpersonnel besides announcingone month’s extra pay.

A Home Department noti-fication said the incentives andallowances in favour of FireService personnel in the rankof Fireman, Fireman Driver,Leading Fireman, DriverHavildar and HavildarMechanic have been revised.

One month’s extra pay ofthe personnel has beenrenamed as Extra DutyIncentive and revised the sameas one month’s basic payincluding grade pay.

Similarly, bicycle allowancehas been renamed as MobilityAllowance and the same hasbeen enhanced from existingRs 75 to Rs 150 per month.Besides, the special dietallowance has been increasedfrom Rs 700 to Rs 900 permonth.

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The Union CabinetCommittee on Economic

Affairs on Thursday approvedconstruction of a third railwayline between Bhadrak inOdisha and Narayangarh inWest Bengal having a length of155 km. The estimated cost ofthe project is Rs 1,866.31 croreand it would be completed by2023-24, official sources said,adding that the project wouldgenerate direct employmentof about 37.2 lakh man-days.

The new line would reducepresent congestion and gener-ate additional optimum capac-ity to cope up with the existing

as well as additional traffic, thesources said.

The busy section betweenNarayangarh and Bhadrak ismainly used for the move-ment of coking coal to steelplants as well as the movementof export ore from the areas ofChakradharpur to severalports. Apart from the heavyfreight traffic, the route has toaccommodate 47 pairs of pas-senger trains including high-speed trains like BhubaneswarRajdhani, Howrah-YesvantpurDuronto, Howrah-PuriDuronto, Sealdah-Puri duron-to & Howrah-Puri ShatabdiExpress. This makes it highlycongested.

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The Karanjia, Paradip andJajpur municipalities have

topped different categories in theSwachh Survekshan-2019, a sur-vey report released by theMinistry of Housing and UrbanAffairs recently. The KaranjiaMunicipality has been adjudgedthe East Zone’s fastest movingcity in population of less thanone lakh category. During thesurvey, a total of 251 citizens ofKaranjia provided their feedback.While 75 per cent of residentialand commercial areas are 100per cent clean, all the public and

community toilets prominentlyhave safe sanitation system anddisplay Swachh Bharat Mission(SBM) messages. More than 85per cent of meat/fish or veg-etable/fruit markets are found tobe clean. All the bus stands andrailway stations are clean.

Paradip Municipality is theFastest Mover City in the EastZone in 50,000- 1 lakh popula-tion category. More than 75 percent of residential and commer-cial areas are clean and morethan 70 per cent CT/PTs areclean and user-friendly and dis-play SBM messages. All theCommunity and public toilets

have linked to onsite safe andclose sanitation system. Majorityof bus stands and railway stationsare clean and without OD spots.

Similarly, Jajpur Municipalityhas topped the category of FastestMover City, East Zone in 25,000-50,000 population category. Morethan 95 per cent of residential andcommercial areas and almost allcommunity and public toiletswere found to be substantiallyclean, user- friendly andequipped with all basic essentialrequirements. The toilets also dis-play SBM messages. Fish andmeat markets were also foundclean.

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District BJD leaders cele-brated the 103rd birthday

of former Chief Minister andlegendary leader Biju Patnaikamid much enthusiasm here onWednesday.

State Planning BoardDeputy Chairman and BJDdistrict president BishnuCharan Das presided over thefunction. Biju Yuva Janata Dalpresident Amarendra Das saidBijubabu was not just a politi-cal leader but a statesman by allconsideration. He was com-mitted to the wellbeing of the

nation, albeit Odisha and Odiaswere his first love. He alsorecounted the event whenBijubabu had relinquished the

entire gift worth thousands ofcrores of rupees offered to himby the Government ofIndonesia following he res-

cued the then IndonesiaPresident.

Among others, lawyerRajkishore Khatua, BJD MahilaState secretary Minati Das,BCJD president PradiptaBhuyan, Zilla ParishadMember Kiranabala Sasmal,Biridi Zilla Parishad MemberLata Das, former Biridi blockChairman Rabinarayan Jena,Jagatsinghpur Municipal BJDpresident Dollagovinda Das,district vice-president DiptiDas, Jagatsinghpur block Vice-Chairman Prasanna Mohantyand block president ManojBhoi were present.

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Forests and EnvironmentMinister Bijayashree

Routray on Thursday launched“Jungle Safari” vehicles forpublic use in the Bharatpurforests here.

The MCL and the Nalcoprovided five eight-seateropen jungle safari vehiclesunder their CSR programme.Two sorties will be madefrom 6 am to 10 am and onesortie from 4 pm to 6 pmevery day. The tariff for each vehicle per sortie is �2,000 only. Online booking facility

through www.eco-tourodisha.com would beavailable for the tourists with-in a week.

Bharatpur Forest abodesAsiatic elephant, spotted deer,wild pig, honey badger, porcu-pine, jungle cat, mongoose,civet, hare, python, cobra andvariety of avifauna and flora.This patch of forest acts asCarbon Sink and Green lungsof the city. It also caters theneed of drinking water of thecity by recharging the hydro-logical cycle.

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Bhubaneswar MP PrasannaPatsani and local MLA

Priyadarshi Mishra conductedgroundbreaking for construc-tion of a railway over-bridge(ROB) at the VSS Nagar level-crossing here on Thursday.

The groundbreaking doneon behalf of the WorksDepartment was coordinatedby the department’s Sub-Division Officer RamakantaMishra and Assistant EngineerRamesh Chandra Sahoo. VSSNagar Railway Over BridgeSangram Samiti presidentKrushna Chandra Sahoo, VSS

Nagar Unnany Parishad vice-president Er Siba PrasadMishra, general secretary DillipDashsharma, treasurerMaheshwar Bishwal, Senior

C i t i z e n s ’Committee sec-retary DrKumuda Mishra,Durga PujaCommittee pres-ident ArtatranaDalai and gener-al secretarySheetal ChandraMohanty pro-vided support.

A total of Rs48 crore has been sanctionedfor the over-bridge and itsconstruction would be com-pleted in one-and-a-half-yeartime, informed the MLA.

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��7�DGP Dr RPSharma on Thursday reviewedthe preparedness of police andCentral Armed Police Forces(CAPF) in South WesternRange at Koraput in view ofthe Assembly and Lok Sabhaelections. Sharma exhorted allofficers to work as a team andensure that ensuing electionsare conducted peacefully with-out any violence. He reviewedthe operational preparednessof the police and guided theofficers to increase intelli-gence-based operations. TheDGP also interacted with thesurrendered Maoists of theSW Range and said, “We aretrying to develop a mecha-nism to motivate the armedcadres to surrender. It is along term exercise, supportof civil society is also neededto help them in joining themainstream. PNS

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The KISS Foundation hasextended a helping hand to

the families of two martyredOdia CRPF personnel,Prasanna Sahu and ManojBehera.

KIIT and KISS founder DrAchyuta Samanta assured thatPrasanna’s daughter and sonwould be provided highereducation free of cost in the

KIIT after completion of theircollege studies. Besides, one ofhis family members wouldbe given a job in KIIT or KISS

as per educational qualifica-tion.

Dr Samanta also assured toprovide free education to the

daughter of Manoj when shewould be eligible for it. Besides,one of his family memberswould also be given a job inKIIT or KISS as per educationalqualification.

The families acceptedSamanta’s help with open heart,expresseding their thanks tohim. “Dr Samanta is a nice andkindhearted person, rarest ofthe rare in the society. Becauseof his assurance, we couldmuster courage and patiencefor our future life,” said familymembers of Prasanna andMonoj.

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The tribals-dominatedGajapati district has been

awarded by the NITI Aayog forbest practices in financial inclu-sion and skill development post-Cyclone Titli, that hit the districtin October 2018. District col-lector Anupam Saha received Rs3 crore as supplementary fundfrom Aayog CEO AmitabhKant at a function held in NewDelhi on Wednesday.

After the cyclone, Gajapatidistrict faced many challengesin transfer of different benefits

to beneficiaries due to lack ofbank branches in remote grampanchayats. Under an agree-ment, SBI and Utkal GrameenBank (UGB) open mini banksand conducted financial trans-actions with people. As manyas 27,463 SHG members have

opened accounts in banks.Under the Deen Dayal

Upadhyaya GrameenKaushalya Yojana (DDU-GKY), 11,460 candidates havebeen mobilized and, of them,over 450 trained in differentcrafts.

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Despite its avowed assertionto de-escalate tension,

Pakistan is yet to open its air-space on its border with Indiaeven though New Delhi hasplaced no such restrictions.There are 11 entry and exitpoints along the India-Pakistanairspace boundary.

The Pakistani airspace wasclosed after the Indian airstrikes against terror campsthere on February 26 and theretaliatory action by thePakistani fighter jets the nextday when they intruded intoIndia in Rajouri sector and triedto target military installations.

In this backdrop, the IAF isin a high state preparedness toproactively engage any per-ceived threat in the presentsecurity situation.

Moreover, the IAF has keptall its bases in Western sectoron high alert and a SU-30fighter jet shot down aPakistani military drone inBikaner sector earlier this weekwhen it tried to gather intelli-gence about India’s military

preparedness. The drone fell inPakistani territory.

Moreover, Army chiefGeneral Bipin Rawat also vis-ited forward locations along theLine Of Control(LOC) inJammu & Kashmir and theinternational border inRajasthan on Thursday to takestock of operational prepared-ness. He instructed troops toremain prepared for all even-tualities in close coordinationwith the Air Force.

The Army had warnedPakistan on Wednesday thatany “provocation or misad-venture” will be responded toin a befitting manner with

“dire consequences” after itstarted targeting civil areasand Indian posts in Rajouri andPoonch with heavy artilleryweapons in the last few days.At least three civilians werekilled and several othersinjured in shelling in the lastone week since the air strikes.Also, more than 60 ceasefireviolations by Pakistan tookplace in the same period.

As regards preparednessto thwart any threat from air,the IAF in a statement said hereon Thursday it is “in a highstate of preparedness, to proac-tively engage any perceivedthreat in the present securityscenario.

A strict vigil in the skies todetect and thwart any act ofaggression from Pakistan AirForce is being maintained.

On the issue of airspace, itsaid “as per A Notice toA i r m e n ( N O T A M ) N o .A0234/19 issued by Pakistan, ithas opened their airspace withOman, Iran, Afghanistan andChina only. The elevenEntry/Exit points located alongIndo-Pak airspace boundaryare still closed.”

A NOTAM is a notice toalert aircraft pilots of potentialhazards along a flight route orat a location that could affectthe safety of flight. Most flightsto and from Europe and the USbesides some other destinationsto India fly over the Pakistaniairspace. Since the closure ofthe airspace, all commercialflights now have to take alter-nate aerial routes, sources said.

Meanwhile, the Army chiefvisited forward areas on theLOC in Jammu & Kashmir andinternational border inRajasthan to review readiness.He toured forward locations of

Barmer and Suratgarh sectorsand was briefed and updated bylocal commanders on the cur-rent operational situation, pre-vailing security scenarios andpreparedness of the forma-tions, an Army statementissued here said.

Rawat expressed his com-plete confidence in the capa-bilities of the Indian Army tothwart any nefarious Pakistandesign to destabilise any situ-ation. He praised high state ofmorale of troops and instruct-ed them to remain prepared forall eventualities in close coor-dination with the Air Force.

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The Centre on Thursdayapproved a proposal for

promulgation of The CentralEducational Institutions(Reservation in Teachers’Cadre) Ordinance, 2019 to pro-vide for the reservation of fac-ulty in appointments by directrecruitment of persons belong-ing to Scheduled Castes (SC),Scheduled Tribes (ST) andSocially and EducationallyBackward Classes (SEBL) incentral educational institutions

It will also restore the ear-lier 200-point roster-basedreservation system in HigherEducation Institutions (HEIs).The new system will considerthe university or college as oneunit, instead of treating depart-ment or subject as one unit.

HRD Minister PrakashJavadekar said the decision willalso now pave the way for fill-ing up of more than 5,000

vacancies by direct recruitmentin teachers’ cadre.

The Ordinance will ensurethat constitutional provisions ofreservation for SC, ST andSEBL in the faculty recruitmentwill be protected and currentimpasse in recruitment wouldbe resolved.

There had been series ofprotests including fromParliamentarians in the Lok

Sabha and Rajya Sabha overthe issue. Javadekar had said inthe Lok Sabha on February 11that the government can “bringan ordinance if its review peti-tion filed in the top court isrejected.

University GrantsCommission (UGC) hadannounced last March that anindividual department shouldbe considered as the base unit

to calculate the number ofteaching posts to be reserved forthe SC and ST candidates, fol-lowing an order by theAllahabad High Court in April2017.

The Supreme Court had lastmonth dismissed a review peti-tion filed by the HRD Ministryafter its special leave petitionagainst the court order wasrejected by the apex court.

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In a first for any paramilitary,Prime Minister Narendra

Modi will attend the 50thRaising Day celebrations of theCentral Industrial SecurityForce (CISF) on Sunday.

“It is a moment of greatpride for the CISF as in the lastfour decades no Prime Ministerhad graced the occasion ofRaising Day parade,” CISFDirector General Rajesh Ranjansaid at the annual press brief-ing on the eve of the RaisingDay on Thursday.

On a question if there wasany specific reason behind thePM’s decision to join the event,the DG said he was not aware.

“I can guess that he maydiscuss the recent Pulwamaattack and the unfortunatedeath of a CISF trooper in aDelhi fire and enhance themorale of Central Armed PoliceForces,” Ranjan said. On aquestion if the CISF will take

over the security of the threeairports in Jammu & Kashmirincluding Jammu, Srinagar andLeh airports, Ranjan said theMinistry of Civil Aviation hascleared the proposal and theUnion Home Ministry has tovet it now. Presently, the threeairports in the insurgency-hitState are secured by the CentralReserve Police Force.

The DG said actorAmitabh Bachchan has narrat-

ed the story of bravery anddevotion of CISF personnel ina 14-minute commemorativefilm made by the force to mark50 years of its raising. The filmdepicts various operationalroles of the Force and has recit-ed a few lines from the famous‘Agneepath’ poem penned byhis father, Late Harishvansh RaiBachchan.

“We are thankful to theactor for the gesture of lending

his powerful voice to the spe-cial film made on the force,”Ranjan added.

During the event the PrimeMinister will review a paradeand address the personnel.

Raised in 1969, the 1.56lakh strong force provides secu-rity to 345 vital installationsincluding 61 airports, seaports,nuclear and space installations,Delhi Metro and different steeland power plants.

New Delhi: A compilation ofPrime Minister NarendraModi’s selected speechesreflecting his vision of takingeveryone along on the path ofdevelopment will be released byFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Friday.

The book titled ‘SabkaSaath Sabka Vikas’ is in five vol-umes and has been brought outby Publications Division,Ministry of Information &Broadcasting. It will be releasedin Hindi as well as English, anofficial statement said.

Eachof thevolumesis cate-g o r i s e din fivesegmentscoveringP r i m eMinister’sideas ong o o dg o v e r -n a n c e ,making India competent andefficient, hailing India’s brave-hearts, farmers and brilliantscientists, taking along thepeople on an inclusive path ofgrowth and hope, and sharingthe message of a resurgentIndia with international com-munity.

Information andBroadcasting MinisterRajyavardhan Rathore will alsobe present at the event.

Last week, Jaitley hadreleased a book titled ‘Mann KiBaat —A Social Revolution onRadio’ —which is based onPrime Minister Modi’s month-ly radio broadcast.

PTI

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Aday after the Governmenttold the Supreme Court

that documents related to theRafale deal have been stolenfrom the Defence Ministry,the Opposition on Thursdayattacked the Centre over the issue.

Congress President RahulGandhi sought to know why aprobe cannot be orderedagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi for a “�30,000-crore scam” when an investi-gation has been initiated intothe theft of official documentsrelated to the fighter jet deal.

Rahul said “gayab ho gaya”

(vanished) is the new taglinethat has emerged in the ModiGovernment and alleged otherthings that have ‘vanished’include two crore jobs foryouths, right prices for farmers’produce, �15 lakh in everyone’sbank accounts, farmers’ insur-ance and promise of eradicat-ing black money after demon-etisation, etc.

Alongwith Rahul, otherOpposition leaders includingWest Bengal Chief ministerMamata Banerjee and BSPsupremo Mayawti also questioned the Governmenton the matter.

Hitting back at PrimeMinister Modi for calling theCongress a “poster boy” ofPakistan for questioning the airstrike on terror camps inBalakot, Rahul said, “It is hewho is Pakistan’s poster boy,not us”. “Prime Minister got ISI

to investigate Pathankot. PrimeMinister went to NawazSharif ’s (family) wedding andwe are the poster boys. He isposter boy of Pakistan huggingMr Nawaz Sharif, calling MrNawaz Sharif to his swearing-in ceremony doingdrama,” he said.

He alleged Modi wasresponsible for delay in deliv-ery of Rafale fighter jets as hewas holding “direct negotia-tions” in the deal and askedwhy there was no investigationagainst him when the govern-ment was talking of probingothers for theft of documents.Repeating his allegation of a“�30,000 crore scam” in theRafale deal, he also accused theGovernment of manipulatinginstitutions to “save” PrimeMinister Modi and said justiceshould be for all.

BSP chief Mayawati also

took a dig at the Centre’s dis-closure about the “stolen” doc-uments, saying it was a “verystrange and irresponsiblechowkidari”.

“The Modi Governmentmade a sensational disclosurein the Hon’ble Supreme Courtthat secret documents per-taining to Rafale fighter dealwere stolen from the DefenceMinistry. Very strange & irre-sponsible chowkidari. Isnational security & interest inthe safe hands? Think long &loud,” she tweeted.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee said the theftwas a matter of concern anddescribed the entire matter as‘tamasha’ (farce) and hintedthat its fallout would be knownafter the Lok Sabha elections.“What would the Governmentsay on this? Who is the hiddenperson behind this? There must be an enquiry intoit,” she added.

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In a significant move toensure a “leaner and fitter”

Army to fight modern daywar, the Defence Ministry hasapproved restructuring of theArmy Headquarters based inthe national Capital.

The refashioning will freeup officers for serving activestints in field and operationalformations. The ultimateobjective of the revamping isto reduce 1.5 lakh posts overthe years and save �5,000 to�7,000 crores in revenueexpenditure.

The decision to restruc-ture the Army Headquartersby doing away with someposts by relocating officers inthe field and merging somedepartments for better co-ordination came after the forcesubmitted an in house studyconducted last year to theDefence Ministry.

At least 30 per cent of theofficers now serving in theArmy Headquarters will nowbe available for field duties in

order to maintain operationalreadiness, sources said here onThursday.

There are about 1,000 to1,200 officers now posted inthe Headquarters in variousdepartments.

A new post of MajorGeneral reporting to the ArmyChief is also on the anvil toensure probity and trans-parency in the Army.Moreover, a new post is like-ly to b created to look afterhuman rights aspects since theArmy is engaged in anti-ter-rorist and anti-insurgencyoperations for long in Jammuand Kashmir and the North-east, they said.

As regards merging ofdepartments, they said twoweapons and systems pro-curement agencies were amal-gamated. A new post ofDeputy Chief will coordinatewith military intelligence,operations and logistics wings,was also cleared, they said.

The new Deputy Chiefwill supervise strategy andoperations, intelligence colla-tion, conduct of operations

and the movement of logistics.At present, the DirectorGeneral (Military Operations)and the Director General(Military Intelligence) reportto the Vice-Chief.

Among the other merger,the Master General Ordnance(MGO), who is currentlyunder the Vice-Chief, and theDirector General (Weaponsand Equipment) will now beone department known asCapability Development.

The government has alsogiven the nod for the creationof a single information warfarewing that will subsume twoexisting wings under theDGMI and the DGMO. TheDG (Military Training) willnow be merged with theShimla-based Army TrainingCommand.

The Army also conductedthree other studies and sub-mitted them for approvalwhich is yet to be given. Theseinclude “Reorganisation andrightsizing of the Army”,“Cadre review of officers” and“Review of terms of engage-ment of rank and file”.

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Describing CongressPresident Rahul Gandhi’s

attack on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on the Rafalefighter jet issue as an attempt toshift focus of his narrative of“lies”, the BJP on Thursdayclaimed that the Congress hasbeen cornered as far as the sub-ject of National Security is con-cerned.

“The Congress has in the lastfew days through statements ofits senior leaders has boxed itselfinto a corner. They are gettinghigh TRP on Pakistan televisionbut there is revulsion as far asdomestic opinion in India is con-cerned,” senior BJP leader &Union Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley said during a Cabinetbriefing here .

He told reporters that everyfalsehood the Congress andRahul Gandhi have spoken onthe Rafale issue has been“exposed”, adding that no dynastcan claim that he is above theSupreme Court and the CAG.

“Words were very few, factswere completely wrong and themotivation was also collateral,”Jaitley said of Rahul’s press con-ference. He claimed that the factswhich have emerged about thematter so far have “proved” thatthe Congress and its leader havespoken “lies” on every issue.

“The Congress has in the lastfew days through statements ofits senior leaders has boxed itselfinto a corner. They are getting

high TRP on Pakistan televisionbut there is revulsion as far asdomestic opinion in India is con-cerned,” he said.

Therefore, the motivationtoday was collateral, to shift thefocus and take up an issue whichis “false” and whose every “false-hood” has been exposed, headded.

He also defended the gov-ernment’s stand in the SupremeCourt over publication of criti-cal media reports that they werebased the Rafale documents“stolen” from the defence min-istry and that they violatedOfficial Secrets Act.

“It is obvious that defencenotings of an issue of sensitiveinterest to the country havebeen leaked... We have a very free

press and we respect it. Evenframers of the Constitution saidnational security is an exceptionand that has never been chal-lenged in last 72 years,” he said.

On Congress President’scriticism of the Rafale fighter jetdeal with France , the financeminister said the Supreme Courthas spoken on it and the peti-tioners are taking one morechance, he said, adding that theCAG has already analysed it.

During the day UnionMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadalso launched an attack on theCongress leader saying he nei-ther believes the Indian AirForce nor the Supreme Courtverdict and asked if he needed acertificate from Pakistan aboutthe fighter aircraft.

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In the wake of complaints ofparty workers and volun-

teers about the long gap afterher last visit as also thedemand from them that sheshould come to the State,newly-appointed CongressGeneral secretary PriyankaGandhi will be on a three-dayUttar Pradesh visit, startingFriday.

Priyanka is likely to holda series meetings with theincharges and coordinatorsof Eastern UP region of whichthe party has bestowed herresponsibility.

Interestingly, Priyanka’svisit coincides with PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s visitto the state for holding ralliesand inaugurating projects inthe run up to the Lok Sabhapolls. Modi represents theVaranasi Parliamentary con-stituency of which Priyankahas the mandate to look forher party.

“She will also take thefeedback from the volunteerswhom she had tasked withcertain roles. She had createdan intelligence unit to gatherinformation from booth levelso that next course of actionbe undertaken,” said the partysources.

Priyanka was in the cru-cial state on February 11when she made her debut inactive politics with a massiveroadshow in Lucknow.Congress president Rahul

Gandhi and general secretaryWest UP incharge JyotiradityaScindia were among the otherparty leaders who were part ofit.

Priyanka had then stayedthere for three days and helddiscussions with state partyleaders on election prepared-ness which came as a moralebooster for Congress workersof the state after the party’spoor show in last few electionsincluding 2014 general elec-tion and 2017 assembly polls.

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Patidar leader Hardik Patel will join the Congress and like-ly to contest the Lok Sabha election from Jamnagar con-

stituency in Gujarat. AICC sources said Patel, who led theagitation demanding reservation for the Patidar communi-ty in Gujarat, is likely to join the Congress on March 12 inthe presence of party chief Rahul Gandhi who will be visit-ing the state for the Congress Working Committee.

The Jamnagar Lok Sabha seat is currently represented byPoonamben Maadam of the BJP.

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To reach out to the huge 40-50 lakh migrant population

in the national capital in over1,700 unauthorised coloniesahead of the Lok Sabha elec-tions, the Narendra ModiGovernment on Thursdayapproved a proposal to consti-tute a committee, under theLieutenant Governor of Delhi,to recommend a process toconfer ownership or transferrights to residents of unautho-rised colonies. The 10-membercommittee will submit itsreport within 90 days to theMinistry of Housing andUrban Affairs (MoHUA).

After the report is submit-ted, Cabinet Secretariat will beinformed and further actiontaken after considering rec-ommendations of theCommittee. The decision wastaken at a Cabinet meetingchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

The Committee will com-prise of Vice Chairman, DelhiDevelopment Authority

(DDA), Additional Secretary,MoHUA, Delhi ChiefSecretary, Commissioners ofthree MCDs, Chairman, DelhiUrban Arts Commission,Professor, Urban Transport,School of Planning &Architecture (SPA), UrbanPlanner & Director, NationalInstitute of Urban Affairs, for-mer Director, Delhi FireServices and PrincipalCommissioner, DDA asMember Secretary.

Union Minister Housingand Urban Affairs Hardeep

Singh Puri accused Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwal of“delaying” the process of regu-larising unauthorised colonies.

Reacting to the UnionCabinet’s decision, Kejriwalsought to know what the BJPwas doing in the last five yearsover the issue and alleged thatthey (the BJP) do the samething before every election andlater, forget their promises.

Sources said theCommittee will suggest processor mechanism for conferring/recognizing rights of ownershipor transfer/ mortgage to theresidents of unauthorizedcolonies and consequentialbenefits.

The Committee will lookinto all these issues, examinethe need and recommend theprocess to consider confer-ment/ recognition of rights ofownership or transfer/mort-gage of property for creating anopportunity for redevelopmentof such areas for improving thequality of lives of residents ina planned manner throughurban renewal.

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The indecisiveness of filmstar-turned politician

Vijayakanth in selecting thefront with which he shouldalign for the Lok Sabha electionhas come as an embarrassmentto the BJP, which was countingon his inclusion in theAIADMK-led front. The char-ter of demands submitted byPMK founder S Ramadoss toPrime Minister Narendra Modifor staying in the front too hasshocked the BJP.

Ramadoss has asked theCentre to exempt Tamil Nadufrom NEET and also the imme-diate release of the seven assas-sins of Rajiv Gandhi serving lifesentence in a Tamil Naduprison.

Vijayakanth's intransigencenot to accept the number ofseats allocated by the AIADMKto the DMDK and the absenceof his party leaders and cadrein the election rally addressedby the Prime Minister onWednesday at Kanchipuramhas embarrassed the BJP morethan the AIADMK.

Vijayakanth is insistingthat his party should be allo-

cated seven Lok Sabha seatsand a Rajya Sabha seat whichwas the package given by theAIADMK to the PMK. DMDKgeneral secretary LK Sudhishtold reporters on Thursdaythat in the 2014 Lok Sabha elec-tion, their party had been allo-cated 14 seats by the BJP.

It is a different matter thatthe DMDK had failed to win asingle seat and finished fourthin most of the constituencies.

This has brought to lightthe chaos, confusion and lackof cohesion in the NDA's TamilNadu unit, said a BJP leader inthe State. It was Union PowerMinister Piyush Goyal whoheld discussions with L KSudhish on Wednesday.

"There was no need for theBJP to intervene in the seatallocation discussion with theDMDK. The AIADMK shouldhave sorted out the issue," asenior BJP leader told ThePioneer on Thursday.

Though the PrimeMinister flew down to Chennaion Wednesday to launch thecampaign for the 2019 LokSabha election, the schedule ofwhich would be announced incouple of days, the AIADMKlet him down by failing to

parade the DMDK and theTamil Manila Congress for thepublic rally addressed by theformer.

Even as the Prime Ministerwas addressing the rally, theDMDK was busy holding dis-cussions with the DMK bar-gaining for more seats. Sudhish,brother-in-law of Vijayakanth,who represented the party in itstalks with the BJP was holdingparallel talks with DMK trea-surer Durai Murugan with aplea to accommodate theirparty in the UPA. Murugntold reporters that he had toldSudhish it was too late as therewas no more space in the UPA.

The absence of G K Vasanalso belied the claim by theAIADMK that the TamilManila Congress would jointhe NDA. It is said that Vasan,who was not considered by theDMK for inclusion in the UPAwas struggling to salvage hisparty by anchoring it in any ofthe fronts. "He is having reser-vations against sharing a plat-form with Prime MinisterNarendra Modi as he is stillhoping that he would get a callfrom the Congress HighCommand," said a source closeto him.

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With probability of aC P I ( M ) - C o n g r e s s

alliance getting delayed over thetwo parties’ refusal to sacrificetheir claims on Raiganj andMurshidabad Lok Sabha con-stituencies, the Marxists havebegun preparations to go italone at the hustings, insidesources said.

The CPI(M) had proposeda “no mutual contest” formulafor six seats where the two out-fits have their sitting MPs.Currently Congress has its sit-ting MPs from Behrampore,Jangipur and Malda North andSouth while the CPI(M) has twoMPs from Murshidabad andRaiganj, with the latter being astronghold of late MP andUnion Minister PR Dasmunshi.

According to inside sourcesthe late Congress leader’s wifeDeepa Dasmunshi — also a for-mer Raiganj MP who lost theseat to CPI(M)’s Md Salim in2014 by a paltry 2,500 votes hasrefused to sacrifice her claim onthe seat.

Though the two partieshave been working out on a“plan-B” being — whereby theCPI(M) may be asked to backCongress’ Dasmunshi for thelone Rajya Sabha seat gettingvacated next year — the Left

have started making prepara-tions for an ekla chalo cam-paign, insiders said.

“The State committee hasdecided to begin it early. Wehave the names of our candi-dates ready. We have alreadygiven our proposal of a jointfight. Now it is upon theCongress to decide on the plan.If we fail to come to an under-standing then we are ready fora four-cornered fight,” a CPI(M)State committee member saidadding “the Left Front will domuch better than what somepeople are thinking it will do.”

Meanwhile, Congresssources said party presidentRahul Gandhi had onWednesday sent Gaurav Gogoito CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury for exploringother options to let the alliancesurvive. Gogoi is the Congress’observer for Bengal. It wasthere that the Congress pro-posed the idea of leaving aRajya Sabha seat forDasmunshi. The CPI(M) hasnot given any confirmationfrom its end, sources said.

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Srinagar: National Conferencevice president Omar Abdullahon Thursday asked PrimeMinister Narendra Modi toprove that his words have weightand are implemented on theground following an assault ontwo Kashmiris in Lucknow inUttar Pradesh.

He said Lucknow like inci-dents hurt the idea of India.

Two Kashmiris selling dryfruit were thrashed by a groupof saffron-clad men in LucknowWednesday evening, followingwhich four persons have beenarrested. "What message dothey (attackers) want to convey?What do they want to tell us?That this state is theirs but notits people, that Kashmir willremain part of India, but notKashmiris? When accession(with the Union) took place, itwas not only about land, but itspeople as well.

"You own the land, but notits people, then how do you eventhink that the people here willsay yes they are your integralpart. Just owning the land is notenough, you have to own thepeople here," Abdullah said. Hewas addressing a function herewhere former PDP MLAMohammad Shafi Wani joinedthe National Conference.

Referring to PrimeMinister's speech in the Tonkarea of Rajasthan last month

where he asserted that "ourfight is for Kashmir, not againstKashmiris", Abdullah said eitherhis words were not being imple-mented or they were just a"jumla". "You (PM) have toprove whether your words haveweight or not, you have to provethat when you talk as the PM ofthis country, your words areimplemented or not, you have toprove that the political structureyou have grown up in, learntpolitics from and, to someextent, lead, whether you haveyour say or not in that structure,"the former Jammu & KashmirChief Minister said.

Earlier, in a series of tweets,Abdullah said Lucknow likeincidents hurt the idea of India.

"Nothing will do more dam-age to the idea of India in J&Kthan videos like these. Keepthrashing Kashmiris like this onthe streets at the hands ofRSS/Bajrang Dal goons & thentry to sell the idea of 'atoot ang'(Integral part), it simply won'tfly," Abdullah said.

"Dear PM @narendramodi

Sahib, this is what you had spo-ken against & yet it continuesunabated. This is the state gov-erned by your handpicked ChiefMinister. Can we expect actionin this case or do we file yourconcern & assurances as a jumla,meant to placate but nothingmore?" he asked.

The NC leader also posed aquestion to Union HomeMinister Rajnath Singh, whorepresents the Lucknow seat inLok Sabha, that if he would stepin to deliver justice in this case.

"Jenab @rajnathsingh Sahib.You represent this constituencyin the Lok Sabha, this is the con-stituency where Vajpayee Sbwas elected from & went on tobe PM. If no one else will step in& deliver justice can we expectyou to punish those guilty of thisassault?" Abdullah added. PTI

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Srinagar: A Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) terroristfrom Pakistan was killed in anencounter with security forcesin Kupwara district of Jammu &Kashmir on Thursday, policesaid.

Security forces launched acordon-and-search operationin the Kralgund area ofHandwara in the north Kashmirdistrict late Wednesday nightfollowing information aboutthe presence of some terroristsin the area, a police official said.

He said the cordon wasmaintained during the nightand contact was establishedwith them in the morning afterthe forces zeroed in on the loca-tion.

There was an exchange offiring between the two sides, inwhich one terrorist was killed,the official said.

He said the slain terroristwas identified as a Pakistaninational, known as Anwar, whowas affiliated to the JeM.

Incriminating materials, includ-ing arms and ammunition, wererecovered from the site of theencounter, he added. PTI

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Wayanad (Ker): A suspectedMaoist leader, who has a slew ofcases against him, was killedearly on Thursday morning inan exchange of fire with policepersonnel which lasted for sev-eral hours, officials said.

The gunfight started onWednesday night and went ontill early Thursday morning,they said.

"A resident of Malappuramdistrict, C P Jaleel was killed dur-ing the exchange of fire betweenMaoists and the police. A coun-try-made firing weapon was

found next to his body," KannurRange IG Balram KumarUpadhyay told PTI. He said theforce was on full alert afterthere was an intelligence reporton the movement of Maoists inhilly Wayanad district whichshares border with Tamil Naduand Karnataka. "Two membersof the gang reached a privateresort on Wednesday night anddemanded food for 10 membersof their team and money... Wehave estimated that there werearound five to eight people in thegroup," IG said. PTI

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday inaugu-

rated the 13.5 km long Khapri-Sitabuldi section of the NagpurMetro, by digitally unveiling aplaque marking the occasion.

Addressing the gatheringpresent through video confer-ence after flagging off the firstsection of the Nagpur Metro,Modi said: “The dream of thepeople of Nagpur, of having ametro has now been fulfilled.I congratulate the people of thecity for this feat. It is a specialmoment for me. It gives me akind of double happiness today.Because, it was I who laid thefoundation stone for this pro-ject in 2014 and now I have the

honour of inaugurating thefirst section of the NagpurMetro five years later on behalfof my Government at theCentre”.

The Nagpur metro is thesecond metro service inMaharashtra, after the one inMumbai. Nagpur is the secondcapital of Maharashtra.

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Handing out an ultimatum to defaulting political enti-ties ahead of the Lok Sabha polls in the State,

Maharashtra State Election Commissioner (M-SEC) JSSahariya on Thursday directed 14 recognised political par-ties in the State to submit details of their election expen-diture on or before March 10.

In show cause notices served on various errant par-ties, Sahariya stated that in the event of the political par-ties failing to comply with the M-SEC’s directive, the reg-istrations of errant parties would be cancelled.

As per the notification issued by the M-SEC onOctober 15, 2016, it is mandatory on the parties to sub-mit their election expenditure accounts to theCommission. “We have reminded the political parties inthis regard from time to time. We have issued the latestnotice to defaulting political parties to comply with M-SEC’s directive and avoid getting their registrations can-celled,” Sahariya said.

Among the prominent parties that have been servedshow cause notices are: the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party,Shiv Sena, and opposition parties like Congress,Nationalist Congress Party, Maharashtra Navnirman Senaand Samajwadi Party. The other smaller parties served withshow-cause notices are: the CPI, CPM, Bahujan SamajParty, Janata Dal (S), Lok Janshakti Party, AIADMK,AIMIM and JD(U).

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Chief Minister DevendraFadnavis on Thursday

ruled out the possibility ofMaharashtra going in forsimultaneous Lok Sabha andAssembly polls.

Setting at rest intense spec-ulation in the political circlesabout the possibility of simul-taneous polls in the State,Fadnavis said in Nagpur: “Thetalk about simultaneous polls inthe state is a mere rumourfloated by rival political parties.Take it from me in writing thatthere will not be simultaneousLok Sabha and Assembly pollsin Maharashtra”.

The speculation aboutsimultaneous polls hadstemmed from the fact that theState Government has taken

several major policy decisionsat its Cabinet meeting heldearly this week. This is for thefirst time that the State Cabinetwill be meeting on Friday — forthe second time in a week.Speculation has it that as manyas 50 proposals — includingseveral major policy initiativesaimed at doling sops to varioussections of the people –at itsstate Cabinet meeting sched-uled for Friday.

Fadnavis sought to dis-miss the possibility of simulta-

neous polls in the state, whenmedia persons buttonholedhim for a comment on a tweetput out by MaharashtraCongress spokesperson SachinSawant alleging that the BJP-ledgovernment in the state waspreparing to seek dissolution ofthe State Assembly and go infor Assembly polls along withLok Sabha polls.

“The Shiv Sena, which wasruling the state in alliance withthe BJP in the state in thenineties, had gone in for earlyAssembly polls in 1999. Atthat time, the people hadshown the door to the Sena-BJP Government in the state.The situation is no different thisnow. The Congress is fully pre-pared to face simultaneousAssembly and Lok Sabha elec-tions in the state,” Sawant said.

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Kolkata: West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjeeon Thursday said the theft of Rafale files from the UnionMinistry of Defence was a matter of concern anddemanded an enquiry into it.

She also sought the Central Government's versionabout the theft and asked who was the 'chhuppa rustam'(hidden person) behind this act.

In a tweet in Hindi, Banerjee, also the TrinamoolCongress supremo, described the entire matter as'tamasha' (farce) and hinted that its fallout would beknown after the Lok Sabha elections.

"What farce is going on in the country? Documentsare being stolen from the Ministry of Defence itself. Thisis a very dangerous situation for the country," she tweet-ed. "What would the Government say on this? Who isthe hidden person behind this? There must be an enquiryinto it," she added.

Later, in the secretariat, the Chief Minister wonderedif it was not the "fault" of the Government, adding "if aGovernment cannot protect a document, how can thecountry be safe under it"? "The country is under threat.Has there been any FIR lodged in this case? We also runa government and we lodge FIRs if we lose a document,"she said, terming the episode as "big corruption". PTI

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Mumbai: NCP chief SharadPawar on Thursday termed as"shocking" the Centre's state-ment that documents related tothe Rafale fighter jet deal havebeen stolen from the defenceministry, and wondered whatwill then be the country's sit-uation on the security front.

He said it was now obviousthe deal was done for the "ben-efit of some people" and soughtto know why the Governmenthid the theft from Parliament.

He also accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi ofpoliticising the Indian AirForce's (IAF) air strikes onJaish-e-Mohammed's camp inPakistan in retaliation to theterror outfit 's attack atPulwama in Kashmir where 40CRPF personnel were killedlast month.

The Centre told theSupreme Court on Tuesdaythat documents related to theRafale aircraft deal being stolen,prompting the Opposition par-ties to again raise questionsover the �58,000-crore defencedeal which is already mired incontroversy.

"If confidential papers arestolen, then what will be the sit-uation on the security front,"Pawar wondered while inter-acting with NCP workers inKolhapur through video- con-ferencing.

"How can confidentialpapers go missing from theMinistry of Defence. It is clearnow that the Rafale deal wasdone to benefit some people.Why did the Government hidethe theft from Parliament.The papers definitely hadsome important information,"he said.

Terming the Government'sstand on Rafale deal issue assurprising, he said, "These arethe same people who are refus-ing an inquiry into the dealwhile having demanded aprobe into the Bofors case."

Taking a swipe at the prime

minister's earlier remark "nakhaoonga na khane doonga"(would not take bribes, nor letanyone do so), Pawar allegedthat during ModiGovernment's rule, the Rafaleaircraft cost was increased.

"The contract was takenaway from HAL and given to anew company of industrialistAnil Ambani which had noexperience in aircraft manu-facturing," he further charged.

The Government andAmbani have, however, beendenying any wrongdoing.

Further hitting out at Modiover IAF's air strikes inPakistan, Pawar said, "It is notthe Opposition, but PM Modipoliticising the situation, andthat's sad."

India wanted peaceful andfriendly relations with allneighbours, including Pakistan."But Pakistan's intentions arenot similar," he said.

Even the families of mar-tyrs are saying sacrifices of sol-diers should not be politicised,he added.

Pawar also claimed thatduring the recent all-partymeeting over the issue, the BJPdid not have a representative.

Criticising the BJP-ledGovernment over its demon-etisation, he claimed around 15lakh people lost their jobs dueto the note ban decision.

There is no record of howmuch black money wasunearthed, but people had toface lot of hardships, he said.

Pawar also claimed that inthe last two-and-a-half years,"11,000 farmers have commit-ted suicide".

He acknowledged the roleof social media and said itplayed a "very important role"in BJP's victory in 2014.

Referring to the Congress-NCP alliance in Maharashtra,Pawar said two joint rallies havetaken place so far and discus-sions are underway for a cou-ple of seats. PTI

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Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath on Thursday saidindiscipline will not be tolerated in theparty, a day after two elected represen-tatives of the ruling BJP came to blowsduring an official meeting.

The fight, caught on tape, took placeduring a meeting at the district collec-torate in Sant Kabir Nagar in the pres-ence of minister in charge of the district,Ashutosh Tandon.

Speaking at a programme here,Adityanath said, "BJP is a disciplinedparty. Indiscipline will not be tolerated.In this particular case, strict action willbe taken against the guilty."

Sant Kabir Nagar MP SharadTripathi and Mehdawal MLA RakeshBaghel got into an argument at themeeting over taking credit for a newlylaid road.

After a brief exchange of words, theMP got up from his seat and began

thrashing the MLA with his shoe, astelevision cameras recorded the episode.The MLA reacted, landing a few blowson Tripathi.

The incident had left the party red-faced.

Meanwhile, the UP CM exudedconfidence that the BJP will win over 74seats in the northern state, includingAmethi and Azamgarh.

"I believe that people will give usmore seats," he said.

"In the last 23 months, we haveefficiently improved law and order sit-uation in the state. The successfulorganisation of Kumbh and PravasiBharatiya Divas speaks volume aboutthe change in the state administration,"he said. The priest-turned-politicianalso said that there should be no poli-tics on issues related to national secu-rity, while referring to the Pulwama ter-ror attack. PTI

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Gorakhpur (UP): The UttarPradesh parliamentarian fromGorakhpur and 20 others weredetained on Thursday whilestaging a demonstration forgranting reservation to theNishad community under theScheduled Caste category,police said.

Gorakhpur MP PraveenNishad and people from thecommunity were staging ademonstration in Bhagwanpurarea.

Nishad said they weregoing towards the 'mini office'of Chief Minister YogiAdityanath at the Gorakhnathtemple to hand over a memo-randum, but the police used

force and stopped them."The police had used

batons on us. Around 100 peo-ple were injured... I have alsoreceived injuries at my hand.We were demonstrating forour constitutional right," hesaid, adding that even an MPwas not safe under theAdityanath government.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice (SSP) Sunil Gupta saidthe protesters had permissionfor the programme inBhagwanpur only.

The SSP said when theprotesters started marchingtowards the temple, the policetried to stop them but they didnot listen. PTI

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annual pilgrimage to theAmarnath cave shrine in southKashmir Himalayas will beginon July 1, a Raj Bhavan officialsaid here on Thursday.

The decision was taken atthe 36th meeting of the ShriAmarnathji Shrine Board(SASB) which met at the RajBhavan under the chairman-ship of Governor Satya PalMalik, he said.

The SASB manages theannual pilgrimage on the tra-ditional Pahalgam route inAnantnag district and theshorter, Baltal track, inGanderbal district.

Based on the approach setby the Sri Sri Ravi ShankarCommittee, the board decid-ed the 46-day-long yatra will

begin on July 1, the day ofMasik Shivratri according tothe Hindu calender and wouldconclude on August 15, theday of Shravan Purnima andRaksha Bandhan festival, theofficial said.

The Sri Sri Ravi ShankarCommittee had been set up toadvise the board regardingthe duration and schedule ofthe pilgrimage.

After considering the car-rying capacity of the tracksand available infrastructurein the yatra area, the boarddecided to allow 7,500 pil-grims per day on each of thetwo routes, excluding thosetravelling by choppers, tosecure advance registrationfor the pilgrimage, thespokesperson said. PTI

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Bengaluru: Sparking a majorrow, senior Congress leader BK Hariprasad on Thursdayalleged there was a "match fix-ing" between Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and hisPakistani counterpart ImranKhan on the Pulwama terrorattack.

"There is a match fixingbetween Narendra Modi andImran Khan, or else thisPulwama incident would nothave taken place," Prasad, aRajya Sabha member, toldreporters here.

BJP in Karnataka sharplyreacted to Hariprasad's charge,calling it irresponsible andsaying he should be ashamedof making such statements.

Hariprasad's commentscame while reacting to unionlaw minister Ravi ShankarPrasad's attack on Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi on the"stolen" Rafale papers.

Earlier in the day, Gandhiasked why a probe cannot beordered against Modi for a "Rs30,000-crore scam" when aninvestigation has been initiat-ed into the theft of official doc-uments related to the fighter jetdeal.

Hitting back, Prasad said:"I totally condemn blatant lies

of Rahul Gandhi. He does notbelieve the Indian Air Force,does not trust the SupremeCourt verdict that clearly saidthere is no commercial impro-priety in the (Rafale) procure-ment process. He does notbelieve the CAG."

Coming down on theunion government, Hariprasadsought to know how the hugecache of RDX went undetect-ed when the government agen-cies could find beef at differ-ent places.

"People who talk aboutthe security of the nation, theycan detect two kg of beef fromAkhlaq's house, they can detecttwo kg of beef in Kerala guesthouse, they can't detect 350 kgof RDX on the national high-way. It's a shame on them," hesaid.

BJP state general secretaryand MLC N Ravikumarslammed Hariprasad for hisremarks.

"This is a highly con-demnable, irresponsible state-ment. He should be ashamedof making such statements.Where had he mortgaged hisbrain before making such astatement," he said. He blamedthe Congress for terrorism inthe country. PTI

��(��"��*��3�� 4��!�2��'��(��$�� Itanagar: The Arunachal

Pradesh unit of the BJP onThursday blamed the Congressfor instigating people over thePermanent Resident Certificate(PRC) protests which claimedthree lives besides leaving a trailof destruction in the state cap-ital last month.

The development came aday after opposition partiesincluding the Congress, JanataDal (Secular), Peoples Party ofArunachal and NationalPeoples Party on Wednesdaysubmitted a memorandum toGovernor B D Mishra

demanding resignation ofChief Minister Pema Khandu,Deputy Chief MinisterChowna Mein and UnionMinister of State for HomeKiren Rijiju.

The Opposition partiesunder the banner of All PartyCoordination Committee(APCC) demanded the resig-nation of Khandu, Mein andRijiju for their inability to con-trol law and order situationduring the mob frenzy.

"The Congress misled theyouths, took advantage of thePRC issue and incited the

youth, even school-goingminors, to go on a massiverampage from February 22 to24 last, BJP vice presidentDominic Tadar told reportersat party office here, flanked byanother VP Tame Phassang.

While condemning theOpposition for making suchdemand, both the party leadersalleged that the PRC issue wasa handiwork of the Congress."The Opposition parties haveno genuine issue to raise andhence demanded the resigna-tion of Khandu, Mein andRijiju," Tadar said. PTI

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Mumbai: The Bombay HighCourt on Thursday asked theElection Commission of Indiawhy it was hesitant to issuespecific directions to prohib-it political advertisements onsocial media 48 hours beforeelection day.

A bench of Chief JusticeNaresh Patil and Justice N MJamdar posed the questionafter the poll panel submittedthat it was deliberating onbringing in such a direction,and currently, consultingexperts and stakeholders.

"But, how long will the

deliberations go on? Whydon't you take a decision, sayyes, we are going to issue spe-cific orders (to the aboveeffect)?" the bench said.

It was hearing a PublicInterest Litigation (PIL) filedby a lawyer, SagarSuryavanshi, seeking direc-tions to the ElectionCommission of India (ECI) toregulate fake news in the formof paid political ads on socialmedia.

The PIL had also urgedthe court to direct the ECI toprohibit all persons, whether

politicians or private individ-uals, from posting advertise-ments related to politics or theelections, or paid politicalcontent on social media plat-forms such as YouTube,Facebook, and Twitter, 48hours before election day.

During the previous hear-ing, social media platformFacebook had told the courtthat it had introduced a strict"pre-verification processes"for all political ads and paidcontent of "national interest"on their websites in Indiaahead of the 2019 general

elections.The new system ensures

that only bona fide individu-als, who are citizens of India,and political organisationsbased in the country can placepolitical ads.

Twitter and YouTube toldthe bench Thursday that theyonly permitted such politicalads that had been verified bythe ECI.

The social media sites,however, told the court thatthey could not voluntarilyimpose a 48-hour ban assought by the petitioner. PTI

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Jaipur: The RajasthanGovernment has granted Indiancitizenship to 44 Pakistanimigrants living in the state sinceJanuary this year under a specialcampaign, a senior official saidon Thursday.

Additional Chief Secretary(Home) Rajeeva Swarup said ina statement that Indian citizen-ship was awarded to 44 Pakistanimigrants.

He said the migrants hadbeen living in the country from

long time.Out of the total, 15 migrants

of Udaipur, 11 of Pali, six ofJalore and 12 living in Barmerwere awarded Indian citizenship.

The cases had been pendingfor long due to deficiency indocuments, he added. PTI

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Recently, the streets of Delhi witnessedan intriguing sight — hundreds ofwomen marched on the roads, bran-

dishing huge replicas of belans (rolling pins),to protest against increasing perpetration ofgender-based domestic violence and policeapathy towards such incidents. The march waspart of a Mahila Suraksha Padyatra, launchedby the Delhi Commission of Women (DCW)Chairperson Swati Maliwal on February 24,and is scheduled to end on Women’s Day.Maliwal’s aim was to connect with the victimsof gender-specific crimes and women fromall spheres of life across Delhi, highlight thelacunae in security in the city and seek redres-sal from the authorities. She also issued anotice to all DCPs over the pendency ofdomestic violence cases under their jurisdic-tion. The belan being flaunted by the protest-ers was a symbolic reminder for women tobecome self-reliant and use any tool availableto defend themselves when facing physicalabuse at home. However, it also became anironic reminder of the inadequacy of thepolice to protect women from such violence.

According to DCW data, 15,698 cases ofdomestic violence have been registered overthe last five years but chargesheets have beenfiled in only 5,573 cases, signifying an abjectaction rate of only 35.5 per cent for suchcrimes. The gravity of the issue was highlight-ed by the first wave of the India HumanDevelopment Survey (IHDS) in 2005, whichcollected extensive information on domesticviolence as well as women’s earnings andemployment that have a direct bearing onabuse against women. The IHDS, jointly con-ducted by the National Council of AppliedEconomic Research, New Delhi, and theUniversity of Maryland, USA, is a national-ly representative survey covering 41,554households in 1,503 villages and 971 urbanneighbourhoods across India. In an attemptto get to the root of the matter, the IHDS askedwomen in the sample if “in your communi-ty, it is usual for husbands to beat their wives”in the following circumstances: Leavinghome without notifying the husband; failingto pay dowry; neglecting household respon-sibilities; not cooking acceptable meals; andhaving relationships with other men. Whilethe last, that is, extramarital affairs, was themost common reason for violence, 30-40 percent of the women interviewed reported beingbeaten for the other four reasons as well.

The prevalence of gender violence athome is akin to an elephant in the room —it is becoming increasingly rife and brutal inmost parts of the country but is still not seenas an issue demanding serious attention. Oneof the Government’s own leading surveys, theNational Family Health Survey (NFHS-4),released by the Union Health Ministry in2016, revealed that every third woman inIndia has faced domestic violence of someform since the age of 15.

The passage of the Protection of Womenfrom Domestic Violence Act, 2005, was a wel-come measure aimed at tackling the issue, as

it comprehensively definesdomestic violence to encom-pass all forms of physical, emo-tional, verbal, sexual and eco-nomic violence. But despite itsunimpeachable intentions, thisAct seems to have had little effect,as seen from the NFHS report.Among married women experi-encing physical, sexual or emo-tional violence, an alarming 83per cent claimed that their hus-bands were the main perpetra-tors of this abuse, with mothers(56 per cent), fathers (33 per cent)and siblings (27 per cent) of thehusbands following in that order.The grimmest aspect of the datarelates to the nature of violenceitself. As if facing violence fromintimate relatives were not terri-fying enough, a large number ofwomen experienced extremephysical brutality at home —eight per cent suffered eyeinjuries, sprains, severe disloca-tions or burns and six per centhad deep wounds and gashes,broken bones and broken teeth.

The sordid saga does not endhere. What is even more horri-fying to social scientists andactivists working with the abusedwomen is the ratification of suchviolence by victims themselves.The NFHS-4 shows that 54.8 percent of the women aged 40-49years actually justified domesticviolence “against waywardwomen” and even among girlsaged 15-19 years, 47.7 per centagreed for “the periodic need forviolence by husbands.”

The IHDS and NFHS dataare substantiated by data fromthe National Crime RecordsBureau, last released in 2016.The NCRB reports a whopping

rise of 83 per cent in crimesreported against women from2007 to 2016 and this pertainsonly to reported crime, with alarge number of such incidentssurely going unreported. It alsorecorded a 45 per cent rise incruelty and violence committedagainst women by spouses andother relatives during this peri-od. In contrast to the high ratesof violence, the conviction ratewent up only marginally —from 2.6 per cent to 12.2 percent over these 10 years. Whyis such a large number of per-petrators of domestic genderviolence allowed to go scot-free?

Sunita Thakur, a counsellorwith Jagori, a New Delhi-basedwomen’s resource centre, argues,“Protection officers are oftenoverloaded with work and haveno guidelines for implementingthe law.” This argument is corrob-orated by Anuradha Kapoor,Director of Swayam, anotherwomen’s rights organisation inKolkata, who criticises theinvolvement of multiple stake-holders in the process, “rangingfrom protection officers…to ser-vice providers… to the magis-trate…to a lawyer.”

The other problems includeabsence of a uniform protocol forrecording the cases, poor coor-dination between the protec-tion officers and police, women’slack of access to legal recourseand the prevalence of patriarchalattitudes, which deter the womenfrom reporting crime. Further,the victims are often persuadedby the local police to settle thematter themselves “as it is a per-sonal matter between the hus-band and the wife.”

How can women over-come these obstacles to justiceand live with dignity and peacein their homes? According toan Economic Policy WorkingPaper, 2013, of theWashington-based AmericanEnterprise Institute, enhancingwomen’s empowerment interms of employment outsidethe home and possessingwealth or property could leadto a notable decline in theirdomestic abuse by improvingthe bargaining position ofwives vis-à-vis their husbandsand producing non-abusivemarriage outcomes. Indeed,wife-beating is less commonlyreported by working womenwith the ability to supportthemselves financially. A grow-ing body of literature also sug-gests that amendments in theHindu Succession Act by sev-eral States in 2005, whichbrought girls at par with boysfor inheritance of family prop-erty, not only empoweredwomen in their households rel-ative to their male kin but alsoreduced incidences of assaultand suppression against them.

Another solution is theimplementation of far-reachinglegal reforms to provide victimsof violence speedy and fair jus-tice. Ensuring greater autonomyfor women in every sphere, thus,seems to be a critical step in thefight against domestic violence.Until then, however, they mayhave to wield the belan moreoften in their defence.

(The writer is, Editor at theNational Council of AppliedEconomic Research. Viewsexpressed here are personal))��%��

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Sir — Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman is one ofthose brave faces of the armedforces that the nation has come toidentify with recently. The fight-er pilot has scripted a new chap-ter with reports of his bravado inthe face of hostile receptioninspiring millions of Indians. It isvery rare to have national senti-ments rising to the pitch that waswitnessed after his capture. Theentire nation was in a state of“suspended animation.”

Considering the capturedIAF pilot was a trophy thatPakistan wanted to gloat over inthe aftermath of the airstrike onJeM camps in its territory, theydid not bargain, rather weren’tallowed to in the face of mount-ing pressure from the internation-al community.

Pakistan Prime MinisterImran Khan has termed the repa-triation of the captured IAF pilotas a “gesture of peace.” But howwell has India fared in honouringits valiant warrior, who braved thehostile Pakistani reception andquarantine to return home to ahero’s welcome? With the Modi-sarkar milking the second “sur-

gical strikes”, political oppor-tunism and bickering appear tohave eclipsed the saga of heroism.

With general elections roundthe corner, the Prime Minister hasall but made it clear to the nationthat his Government will have norespite till terrorism emanatingfrom the neighbouring country iscompletely annihilated. Basking inits exaltation, the retaliatory attackon the Balakot-based Jaish terror

camp has been well-used as a pollploy by the ruling dispensation.Meanwhile, the Opposition isdemanding the exact count ofterrorist casualties. But inspired byAbhinandan’s daring, the mannerin which the general public hasgone overboard, eulogising theofficer and gentleman, is exasper-ating, to say the least. If the sightof youngsters sporting the IAF offi-cer’s haircut and the ‘gunslinger’

moustache is not enough, theGeneva Convention relative tothe rights of prisoner of wars fea-turing as quips on the social mediais in rank bad taste. Abhinandanis definitely a celebrity today butone who has earned special men-tion for his exemplary courage. Letus not deny him his moment ofglory.

Pachu MenonMargao

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Sir — A vitriolic ‘anti-Modi’ cam-paign is the order of the day. In thelast four years, Modi has navigatedthe country through tough times.The two surgical strikes cameunder extraordinary circumstancesbut the anti-Modi brigade stoopedlow as to question their veracityinstead of developing other talkpoints. Inquisitiveness and discus-sion are cornerstones of India’sdemocracy. Make no mistake, nopolitical party is an exception tomilking favourable circumstances.

The Prime Minister of a coun-try will boast about the positiveactions of the defence personneland Modi is no exception. Eachand every word spoken by him istwisted to give a new meaning.The other day, the Prime Ministervehemently pleaded that he becrucified for his mistakes if any butthe country be spared by hisbaiters. However, social mediachampions’ went agog with oneliners which presented Modi assaying “Modi is India.”

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Courage comes in different forms. A fewweeks ago, it came in the form of 5,000women, young and old, who marched

10,000 kilometres across the country over 65 dayswith one common aim. These survivors of sex-ual violence wanted to show that they were nolonger willing to be shamed into silence. It wasalso to show that the fear of muscle and moneypower would no longer break their determina-tion to fight for justice and dignity.

During this journey, the ‘Dignity March’ —the first of its kind in India — passed through200 districts in 24 States. In each of these dis-tricts, public meetings, big and small, were heldto reach out to other survivors of rape and theirfamilies, lawyers, law enforcement officers,medical practitioners and civil society groupsworking for women’s empowerment. Here, asdeeply poignant stories were shared, survivorsdrew courage from each other and pledged tocontinue their struggle against injustice.

It didn’t matter whether the dialects theyspoke were different. Neither did age differencesbetween them create any impediments. Sowhether they belonged to Rajasthan, WestBengal, Goa, Bihar, Madhya Pradesh, Telangana,Uttar Pradesh or Kerala, the women overcamebarriers of language, region and religion to speakup against the culture of victim-shaming and sup-port each other.

This was what the Rashtriya Garima Abhiyan(RGA) wanted. Organised by RGA, a coalitionof civil society organisations working against gen-der violence, the march gave the survivors a plat-form to make their voices heard. “Despite fac-ing sexual violence, most women did not reportit”, according to Ashif Shaikh, convenor, RGA.One of the main reasons for this under-report-ing was that women were made to feel guilty forthe violence perpetrated against them. “The‘Dignity March’ gave the women a chance tobreak this culture of silence,” said Shaikh.

The women are not only speaking out butare also daring to take on their perpetrators,something that takes immense courage. Theydo realise that by coming out, the risk of reprisalhas increased, considering they belong to mar-ginalised communities and lack economic andsocial power to combat their influential perpe-trators. Yet, they have not shied away from beingseen and heard. This makes their march againstsexual violence even more admirable andinspirational.

Their stories have re-focussed attention onimpunity in which perpetrators of crimesagainst women roam free. The National CrimeRecords Bureau (NCRB) data revealed thatwhile 106 rapes were reported every day in 2016,conviction rate was just 18.9 per cent. In fact,there has been a steady rise in crimes againstwomen. Cases of rape increased from 34,651 in2015 to 38,947 in 2016.

With nearly 11.4 per cent of total crimesagainst women in India being committed in UttarPradesh, the State ranks a dubious first in thenational list of crimes against women (2014NCRB). In fact, in 2013-14, Uttar Pradesh, whichhas 16.8 per cent share of the country’s womenpopulation, saw an increase of 73 per cent overthe previous year in cases of assault with intent

to outrage her modesty.But here, too, courage has come in

the form of rural women collectiveswhich are standing up against violence.In villages of Deoria district inGorakhpur division, women collectiveshave developed their own helpline toprotect themselves and others from sex-ual violence. Used by the members ofthe collectives in times of distress, thisinnovative helpline has become lifelinefor the 240 self-help groups (SHGs) inthe district. Since each SHG has a mem-bership of 10-15 marginalised women,more than 2,400 women are connect-ed in times of need. It is one of thosegroups that set up a chain of supportthe moment a woman dials the helpline.

The idea of the helpline came onlyafter women formed SHDs with helpfrom the Rajiv Gandhi Mahila VikasPariyojana (RGMVP), a not-for-prof-it organisation working for women’sempowerment in Uttar Pradesh. Afterwomen understood the importance ofcollective strength, they gained the con-fidence to tackle sensitive cases of sex-ual harassment and domestic violence.The decision to create a helpline cameup during one such meeting when theydiscussed how members could accesshelp in an organised manner.

Now, they all know that instead ofbecoming distressed or frightened,they can get the support of the collec-tive with just one phone call. “Just thisknowledge gives them the confidenceto fight for their rights”, said Rita Devi,block president of 240 SHGs.

This self-belief has led them totake on the police when they refuse toregister their complaints in their bidfor justice. They have also cometogether to bring perpetrators tobook even if they belonged to theupper castes. Just how such a helpline

has given courage to the women wasseen when an attempt to assault a SHGmember was made recently. Over 100members rushed to the village afterhearing about the incident throughthe helpline and tracked down the cul-prit. They sat in front of the house ofthe perpetrator (who belonged to anupper caste) and refused to move eventhough they were threatened. Afterseveral hours, when the police realisedthey would not be able to move thewomen unless they took action, theperpetrator was nabbed.

Courage has also come in the wayof women changing traditional cus-toms like gudiya peetna or doll beat-ing. This age-old custom has been anintegral part of Nag Panchami, a pop-ular festival in Uttar Pradesh. It is pop-ular in eastern Uttar Pradesh, partic-ularly in Sitapur district. Here, youngmen between 18 and 25 years of agepound the dolls with decorated sticks,unmindful of the culture of violenceit was perpetuating among youngboys and men.

The first to oppose this custom wasMahila Samakhya, an autonomousunit of the Government’s Ministry ofWomen and Child. It demanded an endto this tradition that devalued girls. Byallowing them to be beaten, the tradi-tion gave boys and men sanction to useviolence against women under thegarb of religion and custom, contend-ed Mahila Samakhya. It asked forgudiya jhulana or placing the dolls ondecorated swings and rocked withrespect at such ceremonies. Some yearsago, Mahila Samakhya organised a spe-cial programme to condemn this tra-dition at the Naimisharanya pilgrimagesite in Sitapur where this tradition wascelebrated with great fanfare.

Expectedly, this met with opposi-

tion. So, public meetings were held toraise awareness and discussions, ques-tioning this custom, began at meetingsorganised by SHGs. Why are onlyfemale dolls beaten? Why are guddas ormale dolls not beaten? When no logi-cal explanation could be found, a col-lective decision was taken by the SHGsto stop following the doll-beating tra-dition. Instead they started placing thedoll on a swing and rocking it. Initially,many of them had to face taunts andeven abuses. But when the women didnot change their decision, many othersfollowed their example.

Today, on International Day forWomen, the courage of these margin-alised women needs to be celebratedmore than ever. They don’t have thebacking of the community and inmany cases, even their families aban-don them. These women from theScheduled Caste (SC) and ScheduledTribe (ST) have had to deal with thedouble-whammy of caste oppressionand gender discrimination. Data showsthat the percentage of women (age 15-49), who have experienced physical vio-lence since age 15, is greater among SCand ST women (35.7 per cent for SCwomen and 31 per cent for ST women)as compared to that faced by otherwomen. Justice is often delayed withtheir cases hanging in court. NCRB datashows that almost 90 per cent of thecases filed under the SC/ST Act remainpending at the end of every year. It takesan average of five years for a trial to becompleted with a majority of them end-ing in acquittals.

Even then, women are no longerwilling to go quietly into the night. Theyhave shown spunk, grit and courage tospeak up. They deserve respect, digni-ty and most of all, justice.

(The writer is a senior journalist)

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Ihave just returned from Kerala,where one of the largestwomen’s collectives in the

country — aiming to provide post-flood relief, building resilienceand confidence among childrenand women from the most margin-alised communities — is underway. At an event presided over bythe State Finance Minister, over3,000 women gathered anddemonstrated the power of engage-ment and empowerment, to be thechange-makers for themselves,their families and the communityat large. The energy in the roomfilled with these fantastic womenwas palpable. They danced,cheered and applauded the role

that women from within theircollective played to rebuild theState after the devastating impactof the floods. It left me with amixed feeling: India is makingprogress for our girls and womenbut the progression is not uniformand is not moving at the pace itshould. This means that moreneeds to be done.

International Women’s Day isa celebration of the rights ofwomen and an occasion to remem-ber the battles that still lie aheadto realise true gender equality inevery sphere of life. It is a day torenew our vows to make the worlda safer, better and fairer place forwomen and girls.

The theme for Women’s Daythis year is #BalanceforBetter —underlining the great inequity andinequality that prevails betweenmen, women and others, whoespouse other gender-based iden-tities. This year India will also cel-ebrate the 187th birth anniversaryof its first woman educationist,Savitri Phule, who faced severesocial oppression when she start-

ed a school for girls along with herfriend Fatima Sheikh in the 19thcentury. We have indeed come along way since then but have milesto go before we achieve true equal-ity.

We have achieved almost uni-versal enrollment for girls in pri-mary school but not all of them goon to complete their schooling.Every one out of six girls in the agegroup of 15-16 years drops out ofschool, almost never to return.Similarly, while India has had ananti-child marriage law for almosta century now, 27 per cent of allmarriages still happen before 18years of age. While today morewomen are joining the organisedjob sector, they grapple with invis-ible glass ceilings and discrimina-tion at the hands of male col-leagues. While there is greaterawareness about the rights of thegirl child owing to campaigns likeBeti Bachao Beti Padhao, the sadfact is that over the last few years,the national Child Sex Ratio hasdeclined from 887 in 2014 to 877in 2016. Moreover, much of this

decline comes from the ‘developed’States like Andhra Pradesh, TamilNadu and Karnataka.

These States traditionally hada more balanced sex ratio at birthbut economic anxieties and deep-rooted social bias against the girlchild have meant that more parentsare accessing sex-selective proce-dures like amniocentesis andsperm or embryo selection to pre-vent the birth of a girl child. Thisis a serious cause for concern. Itmeans that development, educa-tion and economic growth aloneare not enough to ensure genderequality. The role of education iscrucial in the empowerment ofwomen and remains the mosteffective driver of change. Butwithout an equally strong gender-equal foundation, it does not bringlasting change as far as gender bal-ance is concerned. Why else do westill bear the ignominious label ofbeing ‘no country for women’?

The impunity with which par-ents abort female foetuses; relatives,family friends, neighbours andstrangers abuse girls; and the sick-

ening misogyny that exists in ourpublic life point to the gender bat-tle that remains half-won. The vio-lence, intimidation and discrimina-tion that our girls face remain a bloton India and its people.

A 2018 study, World of India’sGirls, on the perception of safetyamong girls, found that half of thesurveyed adolescent girls fear theywould be groped, assaulted andeven raped in public spaces. Moretellingly, perhaps, for our owncollective mindset, almost half ofthe girls felt that their parentswould respond to such instances ofabuse by curbing them insidehomes. The survey also revealedthat one in five parent marries theirgirls early in the interest of theirown safety and well-being.Similarly, brothers of girls, whowere part of the survey, felt theirsisters ought to dress only a certainway and not go out of the houseunaccompanied. In brief, the studyrevealed that anti-women atti-tudes remain entrenched in ourcollective psyche.

Interaction in public spaces is

a crucial component for the devel-opment of girls in their early andlate adolescence as they prepare fora life of adulthood. The opportu-nity and ability to interact in pub-lic spaces enable them to get theireducation, exchange ideas andthoughts with their friends andpeers and offers overall develop-ment. It is essential for the girls todevelop a world view, to pursue acareer, or even go out for recreationor run errands. Such exposure isparamount for girls to become self-confident in their interaction withthe world outside their homesand to become capable to pursuegainful employment and becomeself-reliant.

As a major signatory of the post-2015 Sustainable DevelopmentGoals (SDG) framework, it isincumbent upon India to achievegender equality and equally empow-er all girls (SDG 5 and SDG 10).These global goals give us — thecivil society and women and chil-dren’s rights movements — theperfect tool to ensure that no girl isleft behind in the march of progress

and development. Between the lastWomen’s Day and the one this year,the Indian #MeToo happened andjolted ‘powerful’ men used to get-ting away with exploitation oftheir women colleagues andjuniors. It also shook the publicfrom their silence of convenienceand made them face the elephantin the room that gender-basedabuse and discrimination is.Through the power of socialmedia, it provided a great fillip tothe movement for equal rights forwomen and girls across India.

The courageous women, whobroke the silence and called outtheir abusers, have given millionsof Indian adolescent girls andyoung women the confidence thatthey, too, can raise their voiceagainst discrimination and abuse.We must build on this momentumwith new rigour and must realisethat gender equality can beachieved only if we treat both boysand girls equally. Because balancecan only be for the better.

(The writer is CEO, Save theChildren)

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The Government onThursday approved a

scheme for rebate of all Stateand Central embedded leviesfor apparel and made-up textilesegments, which would makeshipments zero-rated, therebyboosting the country’s com-petitiveness in export markets.

The decision was taken ata meeting of the Union Cabinetchaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi here.

It also enhanced the rebatefor apparel and made-up seg-ments. The made-up segment oftextiles includes products likebed-sheets, blankets and curtains.

Currently, Remission ofState Levies (RoSL), which is tooffset indirect taxes levied bystates such as stamp duty,petroleum tax, electricity dutyand mandi tax that wereembedded in exports, is pro-vided to textiles exporters.

“The decision which also

extends rebate up to March 31,2020, will greatly benefit appar-el & made-ups manufactur-ers/exporters,” Textiles MinisterSmriti Irani said in a tweet.

She said the apparel andmade-ups have a combinedshare of 55 per cent (aroundUSD 21 billion) in the totalIndian textile export basketand the decision to enhancerebate will have a direct impacton these segments, therebyincreasing competitiveness ofIndia’s textile exports globally.

The decision also entailschange in disbursal mechanismwhereby the rebate of all embed-ded state and central levies willbe done through the scrip system.

“Fulfilling one of the pri-mary demands of the industry,Rebate of State and CentreLevies/Taxes will be donethrough IT-driven Scrip Systemthereby preventing delay &ensuring speedy disbursal,”Irani said in another tweet.

The decision will enable

the Government to take vari-ous measures for makingexports of apparel and made-ups zero rated.

“Fulfilling one of the pri-mary demands of the industry,Rebate of State and CentreLevies/Taxes will be donethrough IT-driven Scrip Systemthereby preventing delay &ensuring speedy disbursal,”Irani said in another tweet.

The decision will enable thegovernment to take various mea-sures for making exports ofapparel and made-ups zero rated.

“The proposed measuresare expected to make the tex-tile sector competitive. Rebateof all embedded state and cen-tral taxes/levies for appareland made-ups segments wouldmake exports zero-rated, there-by boosting India’s competi-tiveness in export markets andensure equitable and inclusivegrowth of textile and apparelsector,” an official statementsaid.

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The rupee darted up 28 paiseto close at 70 against the US

dollar on Thursday amidrobust foreign inflows andstrong buying in domesticequities.

This is the third straightsession of gain for the domes-tic currency, during which ithas strengthened by 92 paise.

Forex traders said opti-mism regarding a trade dealbetween the US and China andweakening of the greenbackversus other currencies over-seas also supported the rupee.However, rising crude pricescapped the gains.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange market, the rupeeopened stronger at 70.08 adollar. The local unit moved ina range of 70.15 to 69.94 beforefinally ending at 70.00, show-ing a gain of 28 paise over itslast close.

The rupee Wednesday hadstrengthened by 21 paise toclose at 70.28 against the USdollar.

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Equity indices ticked higherfor the fourth straight ses-

sion on Thursday as investorssentiment remained positiveamid a strengthening rupeeand sustained foreign fundinflows.

The BSE benchmarkSensex climbed 89.32 points or0.24 per cent to finish at36,725.42, while the broaderNSE Nifty inched up 5.20points or 0.05 per cent to11,058.20. The Sensex has nowgained nearly 858 points in foursessions.

Larsen and Toubroemerged as the top performerin the 30-share Sensex packafter the engineering majorannounced large order winsfrom domestic clients.

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The recent reforms ush-ered in by the

Government are creating newlivelihoods across existing andemerging sectors, with eightsegments of the economyalone expected to create over10 crore jobs by 2025, CII saidon Thursday.

“With skill levels risingand substantial growth instartups and new businesses,the quality of jobs is being alsoenhanced, including throughhigher incomes,” CII PresidentRakesh Bharti Mittal told PTI.

According to Mittal, themeasures to promote ease ofdoing business, cut in tax ratesfor smaller enterprises to 25 percent, and reduction in interestrates are creating the rightatmosphere for new businessesto flourish, particularly SMEs.

“This is an effective stim-ulant for job creation,” he said.

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Honda CarsIndia Ltd.

on Thursdaylaunched All-New 10thG e n e r a t i o nHonda Civicin the Indianmarket. TheHonda Civicpromises todeliver an allnew customerdriving expe-rience with its striking sporty design,powerful driving performance,advanced set of key technologies andinnovations, and premium qualityand upscale interior. The Civic isHonda’s longest-running automotivenameplate and its largest-selling modelglobally.

Presenting the All New HondaCivic to customers in India, GakuNakanishi, President & CEO, HondaCars India said, “We are delighted to

expand our product portfolio in Indiawith launch of the iconic and our glob-al best seller Honda Civic. This isHonda’s 3rd new model introductionin FY19 and the launch of Civic com-pletes our premium sedan line-up inIndia.We have received an over-whelming response during the pre-launch phase and we believe that theAll New Civic will have the opportu-nity to revive the executive sedan seg-ment in India.”

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Railways Minister PiyushGoyal laid the foundation

stone for new coaching termi-nal at Nemom and unveiledWAP-7HS passenger locomo-tive through video conferenc-ing on Thursday.

Speaking on the occasion,Goyal said that the presentGovernment has consistentlyfocused on development for allareas in the country. “This newcoaching terminal at Nemomin the ThiruvananthapuramDivision will help in decon-gesting the already overloadedcurrent coaching terminals,” hesaid.

With the commencementof work at this new coachingterminal, Indian Railwayscan start providing largenumber of new trains whichwill either originate or ter-minate inThiruvananthapuram, hesaid.

He further informed thatthere is no ‘Unmanned LevelCrossings’ in the entire state ofKerala and all the stationshave been converted into 100per cent LED lighting.

Indian Railways is com-mitted to faster developmentof Kerala and committed tomake Kerala a better tourismdestination which will helptransform the local economyand give a big boost to thegeneration of the employ-ment and improve customeramenities and facilities for allthe people using trains inKerala, he added.

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Assets worth �28.19 crore ofParamount Airways pro-

moter M Thiagarajan havebeen attached under the anti-money laundering law in a caserelated to alleged bank fraud,the ED said on Thursday.

It said a provisional orderfor attachment of assets hasbeen issued by it under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA).

Seventeen immovableassets in Madurai and Tenkasi(Tirunelveli) and companyshare investments held byThiagarajan have been seized aspart of the latest action, it said.

“Immovable and movableproperties worth �28.19 crorehave been attached under the

PMLA in an ongoing investi-gation against M Thiagarajanand Paramount AirwaysPrivate Limited, Madurai,” theagency said in a statement.

Thiagarajan was the pro-moter and the managing direc-tor of Paramount AirwaysPrivate Limited, a commercialairline company, which till2010 was operating in thedomestic sector, it said. It start-ed operations in 2005 and wasflying passengers to south andeastern parts of India.

Paramount AirwaysPrivate Limited availed variouscredit facilities from fivenationalised banks on the basisof credit insurance policiesissued by Oriental InsuranceCompany Limited, the agencysaid.

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The trade deficit betweenIndia and the US decreased

by $1.6 billion, almost sevenper cent, in 2018 as comparedto the previous year, accordingto the latest official figures.

India recorded a decreasein the deficit from $22.9 billionin 2017 to $21.3 billion in2018, according to the latest fig-ures revealed by the Bureau ofEconomy Analysis onWednesday.

The US trade deficit ingoods and services increased by$9.5 billion from $50.3 billionin November to $59.8 billion inDecember, according to the fig-ures.

For 2018, the US goodsand services deficit was $621.0billion, up $68.8 billion from$552.3 billion in 2017.

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India’s second-largest soft-ware services firm Infosys on

Thursday said it has beenselected by Rolls-Royce PlcUK as one of its strategic long-term partners to deliver digitaland engineering services.

As part of this engage-ment, Infosys will leverage itsturbo machinery and propul-sion practice to offer Rolls-Royce end-to-end complexengineering and digital solu-tions, Infosys said in a state-ment.

Infosys has extensive expe-rience in delivering complexprogrammes in aero and land-based gas turbines spanningcomponent development, man-ufacturing technologies, serviceengineering, support, testingand validation services, itadded.

No financial details of thepartnership were disclosed.

New Delhi (PTI): Reliance Capitalplans to reduce its overall debt by �10,000-12,000 crore in the next three to fourmonths through stake sale in two venturesand monetisation of several non-coreinvestments. In a release, the company on

Thursday said it would monetise 43 percent of its stake in Reliance Nippon LifeAsset Management (RNAM) and 49 percent shareholding in Reliance GeneralInsurance Company Ltd (RGICL).

RGICL is a wholly-owned subsidiary

of Reliance Capital. It said it has an over-all strategy to reduce debt by approximately“�10,000-12,000 crore in the next 3-4months”. The transactions would help thecompany to bring down the debt burdenby around 50-60 per cent.

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Equity indices ticked high-er for the fourth straightsession on Thursday as

investors sentiment remainedpositive amid a strengtheningrupee and sustained foreignfund inflows.

The BSE benchmarkSensex climbed 89.32 points or0.24 per cent to finish at36,725.42, while the broaderNSE Nifty inched up 5.20points or 0.05 per cent to11,058.20. The Sensex has nowgained nearly 858 points in foursessions.

Larsen and Toubroemerged as the top performerin the 30-share Sensex packafter the engineering majorannounced large order winsfrom domestic clients.

Other gainers wereMahindra and Mahindra, AxisBank, ITC, SBI, HDFC,PowerGrid, Tata Motors, TCS,Tata Steel and Reliance, risingup to 1.77 per cent.

On the other hand, CoalIndia, Sun Pharma, NTPC,ONGC and Yes Bank wereamong the major laggards,declining up to 3.09 per cent.

“Mid and small-cap took abreather but exuberanceremains due to investors’change in preference to cheapvaluation. On the global front,

market was mixed ahead ofimportant central banks meet-ings, including ECB, Fed andBoJ. Rise in US trade deficitand deteriorating global out-look impacted the sentiment,”said Vinod Nair, head ofresearch at Geojit FinancialServices.

Of the 30 Sensex scrips, 12ended with gains while 18 sawlosses.

The Sensex started off theday on a positive note at

36,744.02 and hit a high of36,830.25 and a low of36,590.88. It finally settled at36,725.42, 89.32 points, or 0.24per cent higher.

The broader NSE Niftyopened at 11,077.95 and shut-tled between 11,089.05 and11,027.10, before ending at11,058.20, showing a rise of5.20 points, 0.05 per cent.

Sectorally, BSE CapitalGoods topped the gainers’chart, spurting 1.51 per cent,

followed by industrials, FMCG,telecom and bank indices.

However, healthcare, IT,teck, realty and oil and gasended in the red.

The market breadth wastilted in favour of sellers as 1,349scrips declined while 1,309advanced. Investor sentimentgot a major boost from a con-stant rise in the Indian rupee.

Meanwhile, foreign port-folio investors (FPIs) purchasedshares worth �1,130.78 crore,while domestic institutionalinvestors (DIIs) offloaded equi-ties to the tune of �878.45 croreWednesday, provisional datashowed.

Asian markets showedweakness, tracking lower WallStreet stocks and awaiting freshdevelopments on the China-UStrade front.

A weaker-than-expectedprivate US jobs data pulled USstocks lower.

Shanghai Composite fell0.14 per cent, Japan’s Nikkeiended 0.7 per cent lower; whileHong Kong’s Hang Sengdipped 0.89 per cent andKorea’s Kospi dropped 0.45per cent.

In Europe, Frankfurt’sDAX dropped 0.49 per cent,while Paris CAC 40 slipped0.39 per cent in their earlydeals. London’s FTSE also fell0.41 per cent.

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Promoters of Bharti Airtelalong with Singapore gov-

ernment’s investment arm GICPrivate Ltd will subscribe to overhalf of the proposed �32,000crore rights issue in a bid toinfuse funds in the company.

“The entire rights entitle-ment of promoter and pro-moter group of approximately�167,857 million (�16,785.7crore) will be subscribed bythem and GIC,” Bharti Airtelsaid in a statement on Thursday.

The statement furtheradded that the promoter andpromoter group will subscribeto �117,857 million (�11,785.7crore) and GIC will subscribeto �50,000 million (or �5,000crore) by way of renouncementin their favour.

One of the promoters.Singapore TelecommunicationsLtd (Singtel), said it wouldinfuse �3,750 crore in BhartiAirtel by subscribing to theproposed �25,000 crore rightsissue of the company.

Singtel announced that “itwill subscribe to 170 millionnew shares in the �250 billionrights issue by regional associ-ate Bharti Airtel (Airtel) at anissue price of �220 per share,for a total consideration of�37.5 billion (approximatelyUSD 525 million), representingthe rights entitlement for itsdirect stake of 15 per cent”.

With this rights issue sub-scription, Singtel’s effectiveinterest in Airtel will be 35.2per cent and the company willcontinue to be the single largestshareholder in Airtel.

The board of Bharti Airtelapproved the rights issue to raiseup to �25,000 crore through theissuance of fully paid up sharesat a price of �220 per share andto raise an additional �7,000crore via the foreign currencyperpetual bond issue.

The GIC has confirmed tosubscribe to this renouncedentitlement on behalf ofGovernment of Singapore andMonetary Authority ofSingapore. “The promoter and

promoter group also reservesthe right to subscribe eitheritself or through investors foradditional shares in the Issue,including in the event of under-subscription by public, inaccordance with the applicablelaws,” the statement said.

Airtel is in the process ofappointing banks to executethis. “The rights issue reiteratesthe confidence of our share-holders in the competitivestrength and sound businessstrategy of Airtel. It shall fur-ther strengthen our balancesheet with desired financialflexibility so as to meet futureopportunities, particularly inthe rapidly transforming Indianmobile market,” Gopal Vittal,MD and CEO (India & SouthAsia), Bharti Airtel, said.

He said the fresh capitalinfusion will help the compa-ny to continue investments infuture rollouts to build largenetwork capacity and createcontent and technology part-nerships to ensure the best cus-tomer experience.

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��%�%��'��&�&��Mumbai (PTI): The rupee darted up 28 paise to close at

70 against the US dollar on Thursday amid robust foreigninflows and strong buying in domestic equities. This is the thirdstraight session of gain for the domestic currency, during whichit has strengthened by 92 paise.

Forex traders said optimism regarding a trade dealbetween the US and China and weakening of the greenbackversus other currencies overseas also supported the rupee.However, rising crude prices capped the gains.

At the Interbank Foreign Exchange market, the rupeeopened stronger at 70.08 a dollar. The local unit moved in arange of 70.15 to 69.94 before finally ending at 70.00, show-ing a gain of 28 paise over its last close. The rupee onWednesday had strengthened by 21 paise to close at 70.28against the US dollar. This is its highest closing level sinceJanuary 8, when the rupee had finished at 70.21.

“There is lot of optimism regarding trade deal between theUS and China. Having said that, volatility is expected to risein coming sessions for the rupee as the country is headingtowards the general election,” said Anand Rathi Shares and StockBrokers research analyst Rushabh Maru.

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Script Open High Low LTPSUZLON 7.92 7.98 6.81 6.93DHFL 150.90 152.10 138.10 141.35JPASSOCIAT 6.55 6.69 6.40 6.61LT 1316.00 1357.00 1310.40 1351.25RELCAPITAL 189.80 193.40 182.45 187.45GRAPHITE 453.80 474.80 446.00 463.95RELIANCE 1262.70 1279.00 1258.90 1269.85YESBANK 236.00 236.00 228.80 231.80WIPRO 279.90 279.90 267.85 268.80INFY 735.00 735.50 720.75 723.25PNB 82.25 86.15 81.40 85.20IBULHSGFIN 725.00 727.90 705.00 719.20TATAMOTORS 191.90 193.40 187.90 189.20RELINFRA 136.65 137.60 132.30 133.30ICICIBANK 372.00 373.95 368.45 370.40SUNPHARMA 458.50 463.20 449.25 450.90TATAELXSI 961.90 997.50 958.00 963.00AXISBANK 722.00 738.40 719.75 732.20SBIN 279.70 282.00 277.65 281.15ENDURANCE 1160.00 1206.60 1151.10 1177.70IDEA 31.60 33.05 31.30 31.95JETAIRWAYS 241.50 250.00 237.65 243.00AVANTI 389.70 416.40 386.00 406.05DBL 595.00 596.60 566.10 573.95RPOWER 12.65 12.75 12.21 12.33IDFCFIRSTB 49.90 51.00 48.65 48.95NAVKARCORP 42.40 46.30 41.75 45.00HEG 2203.00 2274.00 2170.00 2231.10M&M 663.90 677.00 655.00 670.85HINDUNILVR 1717.00 1721.00 1698.50 1703.35BANKBARODA 112.20 116.75 111.05 115.15ZEEL 472.60 478.05 455.00 458.55TCS 2000.50 2021.00 2000.50 2011.50ASHOKLEY 91.35 92.00 89.50 90.75TATASTEEL 522.00 523.25 513.75 520.70JINDALSTEL 167.40 169.55 162.80 167.15BIOCON 609.80 621.55 608.00 611.40SUNTV 622.50 626.55 611.15 613.90IFCI 14.00 14.05 13.72 13.79REPCOHOME 449.90 461.20 436.50 446.35ITC 285.90 290.90 285.60 290.05SUNTECK 388.00 409.80 387.00 394.50RAIN 107.40 112.00 102.65 106.90IDBI 45.70 46.10 43.50 44.05ALBK 51.50 56.00 50.85 54.65PCJEWELLER 78.45 81.45 78.20 79.15SPARC 195.90 198.60 187.90 189.10STRTECH 260.00 270.40 257.10 266.85MARUTI 7059.00 7081.50 7000.80 7030.65EDELWEISS 165.70 165.95 159.35 164.30RCOM 6.07 6.15 5.86 5.91VEDL 178.20 178.90 172.75 175.90HINDPETRO 248.65 253.50 246.50 248.85FORCEMOT 1697.50 1760.00 1660.00 1711.35NHPC 23.90 25.90 23.90 24.80JUBLFOOD 1340.00 1359.70 1315.85 1325.40TECHM 822.95 824.50 806.00 808.10NATIONALUM 58.30 58.30 56.45 57.15ADVENZYMES 156.95 167.30 156.95 163.25BANKINDIA 89.70 92.30 88.55 90.85SUVEN 252.50 272.85 251.10 266.80TATAMTRDVR 96.60 97.55 93.65 94.90COALINDIA 243.90 243.90 233.20 235.15BHARTIARTL 309.50 312.30 307.75 308.75HDFC 1897.00 1897.00 1865.45 1879.45TATAPOWER 72.80 73.90 70.25 70.55IOC 154.90 157.00 149.30 150.55JSWENERGY 69.00 72.80 67.95 70.50WOCKPHARMA 430.00 436.25 423.20 427.75RBLBANK 624.30 631.50 617.40 619.90LAKSHVILAS 81.30 82.35 73.20 73.20MANPASAND 89.45 101.00 86.00 99.20ONGC 155.00 155.50 151.10 152.20PETRONET 227.95 232.95 227.95 229.15INDUSINDBK 1535.00 1544.85 1522.00 1529.20LUPIN 788.00 803.10 786.50 791.10BPCL 372.90 376.85 368.55 370.30DISHTV 41.20 41.20 38.40 38.95BEML 911.10 914.05 876.65 888.85HDFCBANK 2110.00 2129.80 2096.00 2122.65RNAM 185.50 200.80 183.00 194.75MOTHERSUMI 167.05 168.00 161.30 165.25CGPOWER 38.40 38.40 36.20 36.45SJVN 24.10 27.40 24.00 24.90SPICEJET 85.00 85.30 80.80 83.15PHILIPCARB 178.75 183.70 175.60 177.90IBREALEST 79.75 79.75 75.75 76.20ESCORTS 735.00 745.05 726.75 735.10TAKE 142.00 149.30 138.95 143.95UJJIVAN 317.50 325.80 311.40 318.90UNIONBANK 79.05 81.80 78.45 80.10LTI 1670.00 1670.00 1639.00 1645.05KOTAKBANK 1247.65 1248.20 1235.00 1237.05VIPIND 445.50 449.00 430.00 439.90BAJFINANCE 2777.00 2779.95 2727.00 2735.80ISEC 228.00 235.30 222.45 230.50JUBILANT 766.05 794.00 766.00 783.90INFIBEAM 42.50 42.50 40.05 40.55BOMDYEING 123.35 124.40 117.85 118.40HFCL 24.00 24.55 23.45 23.65BEL 92.75 92.75 88.95 89.25POWERGRID 186.50 189.20 184.80 187.25CENTURYTEX 845.00 868.50 833.15 854.30JUSTDIAL 545.00 547.65 531.35 534.90TATACHEM 576.05 585.00 569.40 580.15RAYMOND 818.00 835.00 807.75 815.15SAIL 55.65 56.00 54.20 54.55TITAN 1065.00 1066.85 1041.40 1045.25

L&TFH 141.25 141.75 138.75 140.70GRUH 265.15 266.95 255.10 256.75DELTACORP 255.25 261.00 252.50 259.30STAR 439.10 451.05 435.35 437.90RECLTD 146.00 146.05 143.30 144.75CANBK 252.55 258.30 249.00 256.90ADANIPOWER 51.20 51.70 50.15 50.40JSWSTEEL 290.00 294.00 285.50 289.95MEGH 62.95 65.00 62.00 62.40ABCAPITAL 99.60 102.80 98.00 98.55HDFCLIFE 390.00 393.80 384.15 391.10PEL 2577.00 2584.95 2529.15 2573.95EQUITAS 128.85 130.05 124.80 127.05BATAINDIA 1347.00 1358.00 1338.95 1350.90DEEPAKNI 254.00 260.00 253.00 257.00GNFC 289.65 289.65 279.25 282.20TATAMETALI 631.20 704.10 620.70 672.45J&KBANK 49.50 49.70 45.60 46.10INDIACEM 98.05 98.80 95.55 96.60GREAVESCOT 130.10 134.20 128.90 133.25DMART 1474.95 1496.05 1451.60 1457.95INDIANB 253.80 255.00 247.20 249.80NBCC 60.00 60.00 58.00 58.95EVEREADY 212.00 218.55 209.10 211.25DRREDDY 2690.00 2726.00 2669.25 2686.10IBVENTURES 294.15 294.15 285.60 286.75DLF 177.30 179.00 173.70 175.75JISLJALEQS 62.20 63.40 60.90 62.75GLENMARK 604.00 620.50 600.05 609.55GMRINFRA 16.85 17.70 16.70 16.95HEROMOTOCO 2788.00 2788.00 2726.20 2734.20UBL 1405.10 1416.15 1379.65 1385.75MANAPPURAM 119.75 120.00 117.90 118.65GUJGAS 126.30 131.70 126.00 128.25VENKYS 2240.00 2279.00 2193.35 2207.25NCC 98.75 98.75 96.50 96.75HINDALCO 203.70 203.70 200.00 200.55ASIANPAINT 1399.05 1405.20 1392.05 1397.25ACC 1554.70 1570.35 1536.90 1552.00ORIENTBANK 94.15 97.60 93.05 96.10BAJAJFINSV 6599.80 6663.75 6561.00 6612.40SOUTHBANK 15.10 15.38 14.78 15.17HUDCO 46.40 46.70 45.10 45.25MINDTREE 916.00 935.00 915.00 918.00FRETAIL 441.65 458.80 441.55 449.70NIITTECH 1315.00 1349.45 1315.00 1321.80RADICO 399.00 399.05 389.15 391.00ICICIPRULI 338.55 338.55 328.10 330.30OIL 182.00 182.60 176.90 177.10GAIL 346.65 350.10 343.30 344.20ADANIPORTS 336.00 342.45 334.95 340.85

NMDC 107.30 109.15 106.90 108.75UPL 875.25 875.25 867.85 871.55AUROPHARMA 734.00 740.65 720.80 724.05VOLTAS 590.00 601.80 590.00 593.55BANDHANBNK 505.00 507.00 494.70 497.15DIVISLAB 1720.00 1720.00 1645.25 1652.65FSL 47.50 48.50 46.25 47.15COLPAL 1280.75 1297.80 1257.25 1265.35TVSMOTOR 493.50 493.50 480.35 486.30WELSPUNIND 56.10 60.80 55.75 60.10FEDERALBNK 87.85 89.25 86.60 88.00INOXLEISUR 294.00 299.45 291.30 292.80APOLLOHOSP 1196.00 1201.70 1182.65 1188.25KAJARIACER 565.00 578.05 561.85 565.80JMFINANCIL 85.65 88.40 85.10 86.15KSCL 429.90 433.15 417.95 420.60HAVELLS 714.00 728.00 712.00 719.65BALKRISIND 913.15 925.50 905.00 919.95JAICORPLTD 102.60 102.70 99.45 100.00CIPLA 552.80 552.80 539.00 540.85ABB 1245.00 1290.00 1245.00 1269.45ULTRACEMCO 3975.00 3980.85 3900.85 3914.05NTPC 149.00 150.95 145.55 146.10EIDPARRY 203.60 212.70 202.70 208.80MPHASIS 985.00 1001.80 976.05 995.45SBILIFE 609.45 611.90 590.00 593.15RCF 58.50 58.70 57.65 57.75SCI 39.20 41.95 38.55 39.65INFRATEL 303.30 309.35 303.30 305.10ENGINERSIN 114.90 114.90 111.70 112.40BHEL 69.90 69.90 67.85 68.15GHCL 234.00 244.00 233.80 242.60DCBBANK 197.35 200.20 194.95 195.85DABUR 439.80 441.85 432.20 432.95AMBUJACEM 223.80 224.80 219.30 221.15JKTYRE 93.40 93.65 92.00 92.15NESCO 463.00 467.55 443.15 446.55

HCLTECH 1053.00 1053.00 1032.00 1034.60DCMSHRIRAM 479.70 481.40 450.10 457.00CANFINHOME 289.00 299.90 285.45 291.90BHARATFORG 516.05 524.90 512.15 516.30SIEMENS 1019.75 1033.50 1013.10 1021.80NESTLEIND 10330.90 10357.10 10161.00 10196.85GODREJAGRO 518.15 527.05 514.10 519.60SYNDIBANK 36.50 38.05 36.05 37.55HSCL 123.10 123.10 119.15 120.30LICHSGFIN 490.00 490.00 481.70 488.05BAJAJ-AUTO 2923.90 2925.00 2900.00 2909.95EMAMILTD 399.45 402.00 390.00 391.05HINDCOPPER 51.85 51.85 49.80 50.05BRITANNIA 3089.00 3089.00 3031.30 3041.90ICICIGI 973.75 980.00 946.05 950.60NOCIL 142.45 142.55 138.50 139.85MARICO 337.00 339.60 332.65 337.00SADBHAV 229.00 240.50 224.55 233.05TIINDIA 383.00 396.40 380.70 384.40MUTHOOTFIN 569.00 578.30 562.00 571.85GODREJCP 707.70 715.40 703.00 706.10SRTRANSFIN 1244.25 1246.20 1221.00 1228.90PERSISTENT* 684.00 684.00 630.10 640.30KEC 278.35 280.25 269.40 273.85PFC 115.00 115.25 112.05 112.40LAXMIMACH 6099.00 6382.00 6080.00 6271.80EICHERMOT 21575.05 21668.50 21386.75 21501.85IGL 292.00 294.00 287.95 289.50JINDALSAW 94.55 96.10 92.50 93.10MFSL 409.05 415.75 405.10 409.30GUJFLUORO 976.15 1000.00 976.10 992.35BLISSGVS 178.00 178.20 171.60 173.30IDFC 40.00 41.20 39.90 40.05COFFEEDAY 285.00 293.55 284.10 290.20MINDAIND 333.05 348.95 330.95 340.35WELCORP 118.00 122.50 116.50 119.80INDHOTEL 140.10 142.85 138.55 142.10LTTS 1550.00 1550.00 1522.00 1527.20EXIDEIND 225.35 227.40 223.20 224.00PAGEIND 23349.50 23833.00 22987.45 23131.35INDIGO 1231.00 1233.00 1209.60 1222.40FCONSUMER 48.30 50.50 48.30 50.15HEIDELBERG 172.95 177.50 170.55 175.70DEEPAKFERT 140.50 145.80 135.90 136.60PRSMJOHNSN 88.60 92.75 85.80 91.45HEXAWARE 363.05 363.05 349.75 350.65SHANKARA 473.00 474.05 449.85 453.25GRASIM 820.00 824.10 808.95 810.10PNBHOUSING 903.90 903.90 887.00 888.95CADILAHC 328.55 333.75 324.10 327.10ABFRL 222.30 224.50 219.90 223.35M&MFIN 440.55 441.40 435.00 437.40EIHOTEL 189.95 192.30 187.05 189.45TATAGLOBAL 198.25 199.70 196.20 196.55NIACL 207.95 208.00 192.10 197.70CHOLAFIN 1307.40 1322.00 1291.00 1299.60KTKBANK 121.00 122.25 118.70 120.75OMAXE 206.70 207.15 204.50 205.05APOLLOTYRE 219.90 219.95 215.90 216.25JAMNAAUTO 61.70 61.90 60.20 60.55BAJAJELEC 472.25 482.95 472.00 481.20PIDILITIND 1141.30 1148.55 1132.00 1135.75COROMANDEL 461.15 477.00 460.70 472.10AARTIIND 1525.05 1538.70 1470.00 1481.15AJANTPHARM 989.00 993.45 971.00 975.60JSL 42.00 42.25 40.55 41.45NAUKRI 1735.00 1735.00 1695.00 1708.50VIJAYABANK 44.90 46.80 44.50 46.10CUMMINSIND 735.00 744.75 725.00 740.05KEI 392.20 394.95 381.20 390.75ASHOKA 139.00 139.00 133.35 135.00TRIDENT 67.80 67.80 65.30 66.25TORNTPOWER 248.80 249.90 244.70 248.55MOTILALOFS 590.00 609.15 588.55 603.05HINDZINC 267.65 270.85 266.30 269.90RALLIS 159.60 163.30 157.55 161.25MGL 892.85 895.00 875.00 878.80AUBANK 582.95 596.90 576.00 580.80MCX 741.65 746.00 730.25 734.70DENABANK 12.39 12.83 12.20 12.59TIMETECHNO 105.40 108.50 101.30 104.45IRB 149.95 149.95 147.10 147.60ASTRAL 1190.00 1229.00 1183.95 1194.35CYIENT* 670.75 672.90 667.00 668.10INTELLECT 199.70 200.10 193.05 194.60GUJALKALI 523.00 523.00 510.90 513.65GODFRYPHLP 905.00 940.80 905.00 932.70CASTROLIND 165.40 165.60 161.35 161.80VGUARD 218.00 220.25 215.00 216.70ITI 98.80 99.25 96.70 97.40RAJESHEXPO 576.90 580.15 572.50 574.85BBTC 1286.00 1286.80 1263.40 1274.15SRF 2363.00 2378.00 2345.00 2352.90TTKPRESTIG 8856.10 9030.70 8383.00 8575.10IPCALAB 871.95 880.75 863.80 869.30BERGEPAINT 307.95 307.95 299.00 300.80RELAXO 755.95 764.80 747.25 748.90THOMASCOOK 220.05 220.05 214.50 216.60LUXIND 1270.00 1300.85 1250.10 1263.95OFSS 3507.00 3521.00 3437.00 3449.35NATCOPHARM* 571.75 572.65 562.75 567.95GODREJIND 514.20 517.70 508.20 510.70NAVINFLUOR 639.45 657.00 632.00 639.80VMART 2690.00 2822.40 2690.00 2787.95TATACOFFEE 91.05 91.95 90.00 90.35AMARAJABAT 759.90 759.90 741.35 744.05ADANITRANS 208.95 211.40 197.00 205.15LEMONTREE 79.00 82.10 78.20 80.05PARAGMILK 246.00 246.00 240.30 241.15

RAMCOCEM 720.00 730.45 708.45 720.90OBEROIRLTY 483.00 484.00 475.05 478.00MMTC 28.95 28.95 27.80 28.00BIRLACORPN 552.40 561.00 540.00 547.55LINDEINDIA 545.05 562.20 544.00 554.50MAXINDIA 66.90 66.90 65.10 65.40MOIL 165.70 165.80 162.80 163.85VINATIORGA 1610.00 1638.70 1598.10 1622.40CROMPTON 224.00 224.90 217.90 218.70NLCINDIA 68.90 69.70 68.25 68.65ADANIGREEN 36.45 36.45 35.05 35.65CONCOR 494.95 494.95 482.00 484.75GSFC 98.60 99.50 97.40 98.70GICRE 250.55 253.65 246.05 249.15DCAL 206.05 211.00 203.00 204.30TV18BRDCST 36.85 36.90 36.00 36.20CHENNPETRO 255.20 260.80 253.10 255.85BOSCHLTD 18942.75 18942.75 18443.50 18509.45TEJASNET 187.95 188.30 176.20 180.15DBCORP 192.25 195.00 189.05 193.20GRINDWELL 554.00 572.50 552.70 565.10BAJAJHLDNG 3235.00 3299.00 3235.00 3274.05WABAG 327.00 328.35 319.65 326.20JSLHISAR 94.00 94.00 91.45 91.80MAHINDCIE 240.55 241.00 237.85 238.20CEATLTD 1135.50 1135.50 1113.20 1122.50KANSAINER 437.35 440.00 432.10 434.25MERCK 3525.00 3540.00 3430.05 3459.55UFLEX 218.80 223.95 216.45 217.90SCHNEIDER 109.00 109.80 104.70 105.30SREINFRA 31.40 31.40 30.35 30.50HIMATSEIDE 175.95 180.65 175.25 178.25CAPPL 407.50 423.00 399.30 411.05CORPBANK 30.00 31.00 29.90 30.15ZENSARTECH 212.85 219.20 209.70 217.40SANOFI 5700.00 5718.95 5556.00 5594.25GPPL 89.10 90.80 88.00 89.00GODREJPROP 700.00 704.90 691.00 696.90HERITGFOOD 485.00 505.00 485.00 495.00KRBL 378.70 381.75 365.55 368.75HSIL 240.00 246.20 237.10 242.40TATACOMM 612.50 615.00 606.60 611.15MAGMA 113.10 117.00 112.40 115.20JYOTHYLAB 191.00 194.85 185.00 187.15GSPL 172.85 173.15 170.00 170.25SYMPHONY 1334.40 1342.50 1304.00 1315.25SONATSOFTW 337.10 343.00 329.70 338.60IBULISL 330.00 330.00 304.00 318.20SOMANYCERA 358.00 374.50 358.00 365.75CARBORUNIV 381.45 383.95 380.45 380.85ASTRAZEN 2080.00 2080.00 1956.25 1968.05CENTURYPLY 188.95 189.90 184.05 187.80WHIRLPOOL 1574.80 1586.50 1560.00 1569.80GESHIP 287.00 290.45 285.70 286.90KNRCON 235.85 239.20 232.10 234.55WESTLIFE 369.90 373.70 363.00 368.70PFIZER 3291.30 3298.50 3201.10 3222.60KPRMILL 584.15 592.80 579.45 589.30BASF 1429.90 1460.00 1393.00 1428.75KALPATPOWR 404.90 406.50 394.50 402.55BHARATFIN 969.05 970.20 957.35 961.45SUNCLAYLTD 3001.00 3190.00 3001.00 3104.50MRPL 71.40 71.85 70.30 70.80INOXWIND 77.90 80.50 75.50 76.50MINDACORP 151.00 151.00 144.00 145.20FORTIS 134.25 135.70 134.15 134.70BDL 287.95 287.95 278.00 279.35TRENT 338.00 338.40 333.50 334.50SHK 153.00 154.00 148.70 151.40PRESTIGE 206.00 208.20 204.25 205.15GRANULES 105.90 106.65 102.65 103.80ELGIEQUIP 264.30 265.70 257.15 260.30PNCINFRA 135.00 136.80 134.20 135.40PVR 1538.55 1540.00 1512.00 1519.80QUESS 761.00 772.00 754.85 763.00COCHINSHIP 386.85 386.90 376.15 378.45ISGEC 5377.60 5488.00 5205.00 5283.70JKLAKSHMI 341.55 345.30 338.15 341.75TORNTPHARM 1798.30 1799.00 1771.00 1775.80GALAXYSURF 1069.75 1093.05 1002.60 1083.90IOB 14.69 14.80 14.16 14.28SUNDRMFAST 527.00 529.20 517.00 522.20PTC 81.00 81.80 78.75 79.15SUPRAJIT 212.00 216.00 205.90 214.95JKCEMENT 781.10 805.40 772.80 801.55TATAINVEST 840.00 852.00 838.00 846.60CCL 298.90 298.90 288.00 292.80ANDHRABANK 26.25 27.25 26.05 26.85ATUL 3412.80 3425.00 3350.00 3362.25THERMAX 998.00 998.90 975.00 979.65MHRIL 218.55 221.40 215.15 220.00MRF 58693.00 58693.00 57742.50 57936.45AEGISLOG 206.00 206.00 200.35 203.00NETWORK18 34.75 34.90 33.90 34.30NAVNETEDUL 108.75 110.50 106.50 108.15GICHSGFIN 254.00 254.00 248.00 249.00HAL 697.70 697.70 679.55 681.75GLAXO 1312.00 1320.00 1290.00 1302.103MINDIA 23129.15 24100.00 23129.15 23818.85CENTRUM 35.55 36.25 34.60 35.30UCOBANK 19.85 19.85 19.25 19.45MAHABANK 13.38 13.55 13.25 13.34ASAHIINDIA 277.55 277.55 267.20 268.70ALLCARGO 108.95 109.90 106.60 108.00LAOPALA 210.00 216.00 208.40 211.60REDINGTON 89.90 93.85 89.90 93.15VBL 814.55 820.40 810.00 812.35ASTERDM 155.90 158.00 154.00 156.70SYNGENE 588.25 590.05 584.50 586.65

SUPREMEIND 1092.95 1102.70 1075.10 1081.15MAHLOG 468.55 495.70 468.00 487.25IFBIND 925.45 940.10 881.75 886.25ITDC 288.00 288.00 280.05 281.10IEX 159.95 160.95 158.00 160.45APLAPOLLO 1380.00 1413.70 1368.60 1402.50JBCHEPHARM 339.30 339.90 330.10 335.10ZYDUSWELL 1274.65 1324.85 1263.25 1290.15PIIND 969.00 970.75 962.05 965.90ORIENTCEM 81.80 83.05 80.75 81.40LALPATHLAB 1021.50 1023.30 1005.15 1009.00SWANENERGY 114.40 114.40 108.50 109.65GREENPLY 148.00 148.00 141.35 145.75SHREECEM 17550.00 17666.60 17368.25 17527.70VTL 1042.00 1063.00 1039.20 1049.90INDOSTAR 346.00 360.00 345.60 354.70BLUESTARCO 663.60 663.60 655.00 659.75GSKCONS 7139.80 7160.10 7060.00 7065.85JAGRAN 105.15 105.15 101.00 102.20NBVENTURES 110.75 111.15 108.50 109.35GDL 124.50 125.75 121.00 123.90PGHH 10670.00 10716.45 10225.00 10399.85ABBOTINDIA 7410.00 7410.00 7250.15 7282.95BLUEDART 3240.00 3312.00 3190.00 3235.65THYROCARE 539.00 539.00 525.00 526.40FINOLEXIND 540.00 540.00 523.50 533.35CENTRALBK 32.20 32.40 31.60 32.00BALMLAWRIE 188.65 188.65 186.00 187.05NILKAMAL 1389.50 1401.75 1373.40 1376.35SOBHA 439.95 441.70 435.25 436.30TIMKEN 589.90 600.00 582.45 592.60TVTODAY 345.00 345.00 333.65 336.50ITDCEM 116.10 117.85 115.00 115.35FINCABLES 430.00 435.00 424.20 433.00SIS 831.10 850.00 825.25 844.25CHAMBLFERT 162.35 165.60 162.35 164.40TNPL 207.00 210.35 207.00 208.00GMDCLTD 85.35 86.20 83.80 85.15SHARDACROP 371.25 375.10 366.00 371.85HONAUT 22129.40 22189.00 21415.00 21996.80CUB 189.05 190.75 186.50 187.65AKZOINDIA 1768.15 1768.20 1741.10 1752.70TEAMLEASE 3000.00 3040.00 2976.25 3015.65APLLTD 545.00 546.00 541.35 544.00CRISIL 1515.30 1516.50 1491.65 1492.55SUDARSCHEM 344.75 345.80 341.85 344.80SHILPAMED 382.60 384.45 374.15 378.80WABCOINDIA 6518.45 6624.00 6396.00 6417.55SKFINDIA 1959.95 1967.05 1945.05 1950.10CARERATING 1010.80 1012.45 991.80 999.05MAHLIFE 380.00 380.00 371.60 374.20ERIS 616.25 621.25 605.05 614.30SCHAEFFLER 5455.10 5545.00 5366.15 5535.20FDC 174.95 176.90 173.75 175.55MONSANTO 2660.00 2660.00 2585.00 2614.85TVSSRICHAK 2344.95 2344.95 2205.00 2239.25JCHAC 1895.10 1976.90 1895.10 1916.15SOLARINDS 1035.00 1062.70 1029.65 1033.55CERA 2495.40 2588.00 2495.35 2576.00DHANUKA 441.60 449.75 435.00 438.05GEPIL 816.50 829.95 815.00 829.05BAJAJCON 356.70 357.25 348.25 349.05HATSUN 671.30 685.00 670.00 674.95TRITURBINE 110.00 112.90 110.00 112.35NH 226.45 233.25 220.00 223.80AIAENG 1780.50 1810.00 1775.25 1793.55FORBESCO 2220.00 2263.95 2220.00 2221.15GILLETTE 6497.10 6497.10 6405.55 6441.50ALKEM 1753.95 1758.15 1744.15 1748.85PHOENIXLTD 639.05 640.00 619.95 626.25ESSELPRO 114.00 114.50 110.00 112.75KIOCL 145.50 146.75 142.50 145.15SHOPERSTOP 486.55 490.10 483.00 487.00BAYERCROP 4300.00 4300.00 4266.00 4281.45LAURUSLABS 351.50 352.75 351.00 351.50STARCEMENT 100.00 101.65 95.85 99.40ECLERX 1036.10 1050.10 1029.00 1035.00APARINDS 659.15 664.50 652.95 656.50GET&D 294.25 296.65 293.45 296.10SUPPETRO 217.00 221.45 217.00 220.00FLFL 427.50 431.85 427.00 430.65GULFOILLUB 860.00 880.05 859.90 879.95RATNAMANI 887.00 897.00 880.00 887.50GAYAPROJ 168.45 169.20 167.05 167.80TIFHL 481.00 489.00 475.65 489.00SFL 1362.00 1388.80 1340.05 1382.85SHRIRAMCIT 1674.65 1677.50 1670.00 1670.05

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11077.95 11089.05 11027.10 11058.20 5.20LT 1323.85 1357.30 1310.00 1350.00 33.00M&M 661.70 677.50 654.20 671.80 12.90AXISBANK 720.75 739.45 720.75 734.25 13.65SBIN 279.45 282.50 277.65 281.95 3.85POWERGRID 187.00 189.50 184.60 186.95 2.45ITC 286.70 291.00 285.85 289.50 3.75ADANIPORTS 338.00 342.50 335.00 340.70 3.65HDFCBANK 2109.60 2130.00 2095.00 2125.20 20.95INFRATEL 305.90 309.50 304.45 305.55 3.00TATAMOTORS 191.40 193.45 187.80 190.30 1.50TCS 2005.00 2024.05 2000.20 2015.00 15.40HINDPETRO 248.10 253.70 246.50 247.90 1.45HINDUNILVR 1706.35 1720.00 1699.80 1707.35 7.55RELIANCE 1264.00 1279.80 1258.15 1270.00 5.20EICHERMOT 21549.00 21700.00 21411.25 21549.00 45.05ASIANPAINT 1398.60 1405.50 1392.00 1395.50 1.80TATASTEEL 519.85 523.20 513.55 521.50 0.65JSWSTEEL 290.40 294.00 285.40 289.95 0.00GAIL 344.55 350.35 343.05 345.00 -0.35INDUSINDBK 1534.90 1544.95 1520.15 1531.00 -3.85BAJAJ-AUTO 2927.00 2927.00 2900.00 2919.50 -8.10HDFC 1892.00 1892.00 1865.20 1879.00 -6.20BAJAJFINSV 6580.10 6668.60 6565.00 6581.70 -27.45ICICIBANK 371.50 374.00 368.50 370.30 -1.65KOTAKBANK 1244.00 1246.00 1235.20 1235.70 -5.60MARUTI 7078.00 7092.50 7002.00 7020.00 -36.90BHARTIARTL 310.00 312.20 307.00 307.40 -2.00UPL 877.00 877.00 867.25 871.40 -5.95HCLTECH 1047.60 1050.50 1032.00 1035.00 -8.25BPCL 373.55 376.95 369.00 369.70 -3.00CIPLA 547.65 550.00 539.65 542.95 -4.60DRREDDY 2690.00 2725.90 2668.90 2669.10 -24.55GRASIM 821.00 824.35 808.50 812.35 -7.75HINDALCO 203.75 203.75 199.90 200.55 -2.20TITAN 1069.00 1069.00 1039.00 1044.00 -11.95INFY 734.00 734.50 720.55 723.30 -9.20IBULHSGFIN 725.00 727.30 704.20 721.10 -9.40BAJFINANCE 2774.95 2782.30 2725.00 2730.20 -36.50YESBANK 235.50 236.00 228.65 231.85 -3.45VEDL 178.95 178.95 172.60 175.85 -2.65HEROMOTOCO 2770.00 2779.00 2721.00 2724.95 -40.90ULTRACEMCO 3978.80 3987.80 3900.35 3917.80 -60.85TECHM 823.55 825.45 806.25 809.00 -14.55ONGC 154.80 155.50 151.50 152.00 -2.80SUNPHARMA 459.50 463.00 448.80 450.65 -9.90NTPC 149.10 150.60 145.50 145.60 -3.35WIPRO 280.00 280.30 267.50 269.00 -8.45ZEEL 476.25 478.55 454.90 456.00 -14.90COALINDIA 243.00 243.00 233.35 234.45 -8.30IOC 155.45 157.20 149.15 149.55 -5.35

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 27598.55 27668.55 27393.95 27429.50 -128.60NHPC 24.00 25.90 23.90 24.85 0.95BANKBARODA 112.00 116.90 111.15 115.20 3.10IDEA 31.60 33.10 31.30 32.10 0.85ABB 1252.00 1294.90 1244.75 1271.00 26.45NMDC 107.75 109.30 107.00 108.60 1.60HAVELLS 714.00 728.00 711.15 720.90 7.20ASHOKLEY 90.95 92.10 89.40 91.30 0.70HINDZINC 268.15 271.20 266.50 269.50 1.40PETRONET 228.00 233.00 227.55 228.50 1.15AMBUJACEM 221.50 224.90 219.15 221.20 0.95LUPIN 788.00 803.50 785.30 792.00 2.95ACC 1550.00 1571.85 1537.00 1558.70 4.30BRITANNIA 3045.00 3069.00 3028.70 3034.95 8.10MARICO 336.95 339.60 335.25 337.50 0.65GODREJCP 706.40 716.00 703.95 706.90 1.20PEL 2568.00 2585.85 2525.90 2579.90 2.85HDFCLIFE 390.60 394.00 384.30 390.40 0.35SIEMENS 1019.70 1034.15 1012.40 1020.10 0.90L&TFH 141.80 141.80 138.75 140.80 -0.25LICHSGFIN 488.95 489.95 481.40 488.10 -1.85SHREECEM 17540.00 17696.90 17290.55 17400.00 -74.20CONCOR 488.40 490.85 481.10 484.20 -2.70COLPAL 1281.30 1298.00 1262.00 1267.90 -7.85MCDOWELL-N 563.95 568.50 558.10 559.15 -3.90INDIGO 1234.00 1234.00 1210.00 1220.10 -8.60DABUR 438.75 441.80 432.10 432.80 -3.95PIDILITIND 1144.50 1149.90 1130.00 1131.05 -11.00SRTRANSFIN 1244.75 1248.15 1220.00 1228.00 -12.45SUNTV 622.00 626.95 610.65 614.85 -6.90DMART 1471.05 1499.00 1451.60 1453.00 -17.35DLF 176.95 179.05 173.60 175.15 -2.20ICICIGI 977.00 979.00 946.00 957.00 -12.10ABCAPITAL 100.00 102.75 97.80 98.50 -1.30BANDHANBNK 506.00 507.00 494.20 494.50 -6.55CADILAHC 330.95 333.65 324.00 325.95 -4.40GICRE 250.40 254.30 246.00 247.10 -3.35MRF 58570.00 58594.85 57645.10 57699.00 -867.40AUROPHARMA 735.00 740.80 720.10 722.40 -10.95BHEL 69.20 69.25 67.75 68.00 -1.10MOTHERSUMI 168.00 168.00 161.10 165.25 -3.05SAIL 55.45 56.00 54.20 54.40 -1.05OFSS 3515.20 3526.00 3437.55 3443.00 -67.50BOSCHLTD 18875.25 18937.95 18405.00 18499.00 -376.20BIOCON 607.05 621.35 607.05 611.20 -14.90PGHH 10651.00 10690.05 10381.00 10385.00 -283.50SBILIFE 610.00 612.40 590.00 590.85 -17.10OIL 182.00 182.95 176.75 177.40 -5.35BEL 92.75 92.75 88.90 89.35 -2.75ICICIPRULI 340.95 340.95 327.70 328.40 -13.00NIACL 208.50 208.50 196.20 197.65 -7.85

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The European Union (EU)has issued an ultimatum for

the UK to come up with somefresh proposals by Friday tobreak the deadlock over ongo-ing negotiations to strike a dealin time for the March 29 Brexitdeadline.

While the EuropeanCommission’s spokesperson saidthat “no solution” was in sight asBritish ministers left Brusselsafter talks on Wednesday, theUK has claimed that “reason-able” proposals to satisfy BritishMPs’ concerns about being tiedto EU rules post-Brexit hadbeen made.

“These are very sensitivediscussions, we are in the meatof the matter now. We’ve put for-ward some proposals, very rea-sonable proposals, are we arenow really into the detail of thediscussion,” said UK Attorney-General Geoffrey Cox.

“Both sides have exchangedrobust strong views,” said Cox,who, along with Brexit SecretaryStephen Barclay, are in charge offinalising a renewed Brexit dealthat would stand a better chanceof being voted through by theUK Parliament in a crucial votenext Tuesday.

British Prime MinisterTheresa May is seeking legally-

enforceable changes to the con-troversial “backstop” clause inthe withdrawal agreement – aninsurance policy designed toprevent physical checks on theborder between UK territoryNorthern Ireland and EU mem-ber-country Ireland.

MPs, who had decisivelyrejected the agreement earlierthis year, are due to vote for asecond time on the deal in a so-called “meaningful vote” nextweek. If they reject the deal onceagain, they will get to choose between leaving the EUwithout a deal, a prospect not supported by a majority ofMPs, or deferring the UK’s exit from the economic blocbeyond the scheduled date ofMarch 29. The House ofCommons remains deeplydivided on all of the optionsavailable at this late stage in thenegotiations.

“If the Prime Minister’sdeal does not get approved onTuesday then it is likely that theHouse of Commons will vote toextend the Article 50 procedure,to not leave the EuropeanUnion without a deal, andwhere we go thereafter is high-ly uncertain,” said UKChancellor Philip Hammond.

Meanwhile, OppositionLabour Party leader JeremyCorbyn met senior

Conservative Party back-benchers proposing the UKenter a Norway-plus relationshipwith the EU, which would keepthe UK in the single market andCustoms Union, maintainingfree movement of people.

This soft Brexit option hasfew takers across the politicalspectrum, with many favouringa much harder Brexit and oth-ers calling for a second referen-dum to put the issue back to thepublic. At this stage in theprocess, the practical deadlinefor securing changes to thewithdrawal agreement is beingpegged as Sunday night.

If there is a breakthrough,May is likely to travel to Brusselsover the weekend to sign offchanges with EuropeanCommission President JeanClaude Juncker.

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Amortar attack on a large cer-emony attended by

Afghanistan’s chief executiveand other leading governmentfigures in Kabul on Thursdaykilled three people and injured22 others, officials said.

The attack claimed by theIslamic State group represents amajor security breach and marksa resumption of violence in thecapital after weeks of calm amidongoing peace talks between theUS and Taliban in Doha.

“Stay calm, the area of theblast is far from us,” said formerlower house speakerMohammad Younus Qanoonifrom the stage during a livebroadcast of the outdoor event.

But moments after the an-nouncement, another explosion

and gunfire could be heard thatsent people running. A secondunidentified voice then ad-dressed the screaming crowd,saying: “I request my country-men to stay calm. The mortarattack is far from the gathering.”The blasts took place during aceremony marking the 24thanniversary of the death of Sh-iite Hazara leader Abdul AliMazari that was attended bymany of the country’s politicalelite, including Afghanistan chiefexecutive Abdullah Abdullahand ex-president Hamid Karzai.

IS later claimed the barragesaying its fighters targeted theceremony with mortar fire,according to a statement pub-lished by the group’s propagan-da agency Amaq.

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It’s International Women’s Day and guesswhat could be the most surprising ele-

ment? An airline announced a thought-ful initiative, #PadsOnBoard whereby itwill provide sanitary pads onboard towomen travellers on request, startingfrom today.

This makes Vistara the first Indian air-line to offer sanitary pads on flights with-in India. The airline will provide ISO cer-tified, bio-degradable and organic sanitarynapkins made from plant-based fibres thatare free of plastic, toxins and perfume.

Recognising the need for this essen-tial amenity, the airline introduced this ser-vice to assure women travellers of a com-fortable flying experience. The cabincrew will also make in-flight announce-ments to create awareness among travellersthat sanitary pads are now availableonboard.

Additionally, to celebrate the big day,all-women crew and pilots will operateretro-themed flights between Delhi andGoa. The cabin crew on these flights willbe dressed in limited-edition retro-styleuniforms, and customers will be invitedto dress retro as well, and will be welcomedwith memorabilia and served specialdishes.

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Even though not everyfilm is made to impactpeople’s mindsets buteach of it has the powerto chronicle the tiniest

change in the society. However,there is a stark difference when awoman directs a film to when aman does.

The IAWRT Asian Women’sFilm Festival has been making theconstant and conscious efforts tomake this difference reflectedand showcase narratives woven bywomen filmmakers from differentparts of Asia. Since the festivalentered its 15th edition this year,Gauri D Chakraborty, director,

felt that she had to make itmore “befitting” now that sheis assigned to work for it.

“Even though the Bollywoodis beginning to change andincreasingly shifting towardsappreciating women, how manytimes have we seen them celebrat-ing the spirit of women and thefemale filmmakers in the indus-try?” questioned Chakraborty.She believed that this is not justabout Bollywood or other Indianfemale filmmakers, rather a uni-versal purview.

While the festival, held at theIndia International Centre (IIC),this year received 755 film entriesfrom 37 different countries,choosing out on around 50 filmsfrom 20 countries were sometough choices to make. “Initially,after the first round for selection,we cut it down to 257 films, andthen finally moved on choosingon a total of 51 films from at least20 different nations.”

Even though women directorsare taking charge of cinema andmaking an effort to make the soci-ety realise of concerns that areimportant to be looked uponresponsibly, there have beendebates around the commercialprospects of stories driven byfemale characters, general percep-tions around women on the filmsets, and the truth that evenfemale-centric films have been, attimes, misogynistic and regressive.

Chakraborty felt that while

going through the selectionprocess, they didn’t want anythingto be “clichéd.”

“We chose films which high-light the current discourse, andthe filmmakers who are aware ofwhat is happening in the societytoday and are able to tell throughtheir research what society actu-ally needs when it comes toempowering women and enablethem to express themselves freely,”said she.

The three-day festival marked

debates on the #MeToo movementand how it has been a “criticaltime” for the film industry andeven the women to be awakenedand realise what has been wrongover the years that now need achange. Led by Bina Paul andNupur Basu, the debate included60 other representatives fromvarious organisations includingthe UN Women. One amongmany other subjects was alsofemale gaze and a gaze at them —how women on the film sets are

looked upon through variouslenses.

“Though female gaze is avery academic term, it’s interpre-tation is very subjective. It’s impor-tant to also show and include thewoman’s perspective when itcomes to cinema. A woman’s nar-rative through the cinematic formgives us a view into their worldand how they look at other thingsaround them. Men need to under-stand what the systems mean tothem and what they want. They

are a voice of all the other womenwho have been suffering but areunable to speak up,” she said,adding that the debate went on tobe very “dynamic and concrete.”

The festival also showcased aspecial art work installation titled,Bioscopewaali, that made onereminisce about the age-old bio-scopes and how peeping throughits lenses could still give a toughcompetition to the currentadvanced technology — TVs andsmartphones.

Chakraborty shared that sur-prisingly there were people of allage groups who were delighted tosee the installation. She said,“The impact was completely dif-ferent. I didn’t imagine that thiswould be so attractive to people,especially the senior people. Theyfelt as if something very close tothem from their childhood hascome back. They were eager to seewhat the bioscope showed. Eventhe children of the current gener-ation were happy as they hadnever seen it before.”

One of the most loved yester-year entertainers, Chakraborty’sbioscope gave a surge of nostalgiaamong the more mature genera-tion who have run around on thestreets, fascinated, behind thebioscopewalla as soon as heentered their gullys. She said thatthe bioscope showed visuals ofgender texts and people couldchoose what they wanted to seefrom a set of films and videos. “Ifelt it was a great idea to representfilm and cinema. It was after all,one of the first ways that cinemacame to houses, knocking onpeople’s doors,” said she.

The festival also saw a two-day workshop conducted spe-cially for underprivileged adoles-cent girls, titled The LittleDirectors, led by Meena Sabnaniand Samina Mishra.

Women are often stereotyped andassociated to being “emotional.”

On International Women’s Day, KaraRivers, programme manager of Snapchattalks about how the social media platformis about creativity and self-expression,making it a place to portray one’s true self.

She brings six women artists fromacross India who have “unique perspec-tives on what it means to be women andto use Snapchat as a ‘microphone’ toempower them and give them a voice.”

Sumouli Dutta, from Kolkata, shares,“There are different kinds of women in theworld, all striving to do and give their best.By my doodle, I want to keep it Indian andshowcase that being desi can also be fun.”

Mira Malhotra, from Mumbai, sharesone of her experiences from which herdoodle has been inspired, “When Ireturned to India after the Gulf War ended,I could spot the difference between thefreedom that women experience in Indiaas compared to that in Saudi Arabia. I hadto delve deeper into the Indian culture. Mywork is inspired by both being an outsider,and an insider as well from witnessing theevolution of the Indian culture in the lastdecade.”

She adds, “My idea was to use thepower of women, their femininity and howthey are stronger when together. All of thefive concepts tie in to power: Women’spower as shown in Indian concepts ofdivinity (Goddess); power of friendshipbetween women (saheliyan, saheli swag);power of the sisterhood (sister shakti); andpower of women’s protest (mahila may-hem/stand together).”

Tanya Eden from Mumbai, believes in“overcoming hate and judgement every-day.”

She says, “As a woman this is what

inspires me to create my artwork onSnapchat, serving it back with boldnessand a hint of humour to represent women.The focus is to present a liberal, powerfulyoung woman who speaks her truth in thelocal slag lingo, sporting a bindi and non-traditional dresses,” and adds, “We are lib-erated today, but our journey has overcomehuge hurdles of judgement. Women inIndia come from diverse backgrounds, tra-ditions, religions and a misogynistic soci-ety. We have grown up thinking that thiswas the norm and been a blind eye to it.Being ‘woke’ today, we fight our past tobuild a better future, and celebrate theWomen’s Day in honour of our journey.”

Chaaya Prabhat and Sandhya Prabhat,sisters from Chennai, believe in bringingout the ‘extra-ordinariness of the ordinaryIndian woman.’ They say, “It aims to por-tray power, creativity and free expression,and hearty female friendships in theIndian context.”

For Parvati Pillai, from Kerala,“being a woman is about camaraderie,courage, determination and inner beau-ty. My stickers focus on independence,sisterhood and love which are animportant part of being an Indianwoman in the current time. ThisWomen’s Day, I hope my stickersinspire women to continue to overcomebigotry and live their lives to theirfullest. My art is a tribute to thewomen who inspire me to be strongerand better everyday.”

Jyotirmayee Patra, from Odisha,says, “I create art related to life and well-ness. I practice and promote self-loveand self-empowerment through mywork. The stickers are a combination ofbold and organic lettering, especially thewarm tones like reds and yellows whichare some of the significant colours in theIndian festivals. The type and illustra-tions are inspired by Indian matchboxand packaging graphics. Some of the slo-gans/ phrases are in Hinglish which is themillennial lingo.”

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Studies and research on womenchefs the world over are few and farbetween. However, a 2014 researchcame as a huge surprise to JoannaJames, a journalist-turned-film-

maker who is also the daughter of a femalerestaurateur, Val James. When she decidedto make her first documentary about hermother’s journey as a chef, restaurantowner and a single mother, she had no ideathat her mother’s struggle to establish her-self in the culinary industry was an ordinarystep among other women.

Joanna James’s film, A Fine Line unveiledas a love note to her mom in which shechronicled the difficulties that Val Jamesovercame, from finding bank loans tobabysitters — as she established her ownrestaurant in the early 1990s in centralMassachusetts. Eventually the documentarygrew into a much bigger story filled withdozens of additional voices from across theindustry. “I suddenly realised that what mymother had faced was part of a larger dis-cussion. I wanted my mom’s story to be thecompelling factor that moved everythingforward, but to also weave in the stories ofother female chefs,” said James.

THE INDIAN STORYMoving to the Indian scene. There are fewwomen chefs who climbed up the ladder toexecutive chef domains. One remembersNeeta Nagaraj of Taj Hotels who joined

Jaypee.She was

a frontrunner in

research aswell as haute

cuisine diploma-cy, if not an inspiration

to many younger womenchefs across the country. Despite

numerous examples and testimonies onthe internet, few studies have been done onthe challenges and success of women chefs.Even lesser studies are done with an aim toidentify the barriers women face and howthey have succeeded to achieve top chefs’positions in different specifics of culinaryhaute cuisine.

Fewer still are objective evaluations ofan entrepreneurial path, its motives, and theadvantages it offers to these women chefs.Among the few who have climbed the lad-der is chef Veena from The Imperial whohas a number of awards and accolades upher sleeve. Humble yet ingenious, versatileand charming, her prowess at Thai cuisinegoes back to her days in South East Asia andher family kitchen in which she watched the

matriarchs cook up different authenticrecipes. In India there are very few execu-tive chefs among women.

At the Imperial ever since 1996, chefVeena has been attached to the Spice RouteKitchen, as their Chef De Cuisine creatingcutting edge globally-renowned menus forevery season and occasion, throughout theyear. In her two decade long association, shecontinues to create different versions ofSouth East Asian cuisine for Neo-Thai foodlovers. Spice Route’s reckoning among thebest names on the global haute cuisinegraph is something chef Veena is proud of.

GENDER PERCEPTIONSWhile most might not voice it, but barriersfor women chefs are many. These includegender perceptions about their skills, capa-bilities and conforming to the work-life bal-ance. To face them, they have to be resilientwhile at the same time keep learning andcontinue to prove their competence at alltimes and at all levels. There are also veryfew instances of women chefs being giventhe chance to acquire management and lead-ership skills. It is not easy to be wholly ded-icated to careers at the expense of one’s ownfamily and social responsibilities.

History is full of examples of womenwho in pursuit of better balance moved toother niches of the profession or followedthe entrepreneurial path. The need of thehour then is better time management,flexibility and opportunities for profession-al evolution. Studying women in manage-ment positions in this Haute Cuisine fieldis particularly interesting because of thedichotomy of cooking which is considereda female task in the domestic sphere andmale one in the professional. In India toowe are in dire need of qualitative and quan-titative research so as to research gender bar-riers and success factors for women to lead-ership.

The research statistics also show thatmany female chefs believe that offering men-torships and apprenticeships, and havingthem in leadership positions, is critical toestablishing equal opportunities within theworkplace and policies that provide morework-life balance. Of great fame are someorganisations that are set up to helpadvancement of career and leadershipavenues for women. In India too we needorganisations like the James BeardFoundation and Les Dames d’Escoffier thathave established programmes aimed specif-ically at helping women advance within theculinary industry. Indeed this Women’s Day,we must admit we have a long way to go.

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Similar to fashion, baking alsoexplores, reinvents and reimaginecountless possibilities. It simply

means that baked delicacies that werepopular in 90s are now comparative-ly very less. For instance, an ice-creamcake which was a rave decades ago butsince then it is rarely served or eaten.Every year adds something new to abaker’s recipe and allows him/her toexperiment with new ingredients.

This year holds tremendousopportunities for gregarious bakerswho pave the culinary road ahead.Here are a few delectable treats, ingre-dients and techniques that chefs areexperimenting with.

A SOFT SPOT FOR BROWNBUTTER

Brown butter or Noisette butter isquite popular among chefs who bakespicy or salty food as well as amongchefs who are masters of sweet delica-cies. Expect more baked foods to bemade using brown butter in 2019. Beon the lookout for cinnamon sconesmade using brown butter or thoseslathered in brown butter creamcheese.

USE OF NATURAL COLOURS Artificial colours are no longer

being used in bakery products. Cakersfavour natural colours extracted fromfruits, vegetables, and various otherplants. Not only do natural coloursenhance the appearance of finishedbaked products, but they also enrichits taste. The added bonus — they arehealthier.

QUIRKY IS INPicture perfect edibles like deco-

rated cakes and pastries can be heart-breaking at times as one worriesabout ruining them. This is the major

reason why baking ideal food will notbe taken so seriously. Cakes will nolonger be a picture-perfect sculp-tures. In fact, it’s better if they don’t andinstead look offbeat and have a quirkyshape. Baking is supposed to be enjoy-able as is eating. Rather than focusing

on the aesthetical appearance of a cake,a greater emphasis will be placed onenjoying it while eating it.

RETRO BAKINGJust like in fashion, baking trends

too make a comeback after a certain

time. This is likely to be the case in2019. You can expect more nostalgicbaked treats like tea cakes that werefrequently served with the beverage afew decades ago. When searching fora good dessert at an upmarket bakeryor bistro in 2019, expect to see sconeson the menu.

TANGY TOUCH TO A SWEETDESSERT

Finally in 2019 many sweet dish-es will be accompanied by a fresh tangyflavour. Expect extra tanginess intarts and sour creams.

While baking is taking a tradition-al route today by using natural flavoursand discarding aesthetics in favour of

authenticity, therecould be surprisesahead as well. The con-tinuous experimenta-tion and effort frombakers will see a com-bination of dessertsthat were never eatenbefore and a resurgenceof those which werelast enjoyed duringchildhood.

THE CULINARYCHRONICLES

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Mahendra Singh Dhoni'sfinal homecoming forms

a poignant subplot of an utter-ly dominant Indian team's quest

for an unassailable 3-0 lead inthe third ODI against Australiaon Friday.

A 3-0 lead in the five-match series will be a perfectparting gift for Ranchi's

favourite son, who, in all like-lihood, will be seen wearing theIndia Blues for the last time athis home ground.

There has been a sense ofdéjà vu every time Dhoni has

stepped on to the field in theongoing series.

It reminded many ofTendulkar's penultimate Testseries against Australia in 2013,when the cheer from the standswould amplify with each pass-ing match.

Something similar has beenhappening at every ground inthis series, with the fans possi-bly beginning to realise that thelegend may not be aroundwhen India next play at home.

Amidst the emotional sidestory, the Indian team is grap-pling with a few teething issuesregarding its top-order bat-ting, especially senior openerShikhar Dhawan's poor form,which has affected India's startsof late.

Despite Dhawan havinggone off the boil with only twohalf-centuries in the last 15ODIs, India are unlikely totinker with the winning com-bination of the first twoencounters.

KL Rahul, who is back inform, may have to wait till Indiaclinch the series, but the teammanagement could well tryhim out at the No 3 position.

The two victories — by sixwickets and eight runs —weren't exactly convincing butpulling off close matches underpressure will certainly add tothe confidence.

The bowling has been

superb in both games withAustralia failing to reach 250but save Virat Kohli, whostamped his class with anoth-er hundred on a slow Jamthatrack, none of the other bats-men have looked the part so far.

Vice-captain Rohit Sharma,the second most consistentplayer in this line-up, lookedgood in the first game before hegot out.

Kedar Jadhav and Dhonishepherded India in the firstmatch and didn't trouble thescorers in the next.

Ambati Rayudu, whoseonly significant knock was the90 against New Zealand in thelast away series, has also beeninconsistent and can bereplaced with Rahul.

Rayudu, who has retiredfrom first-class cricket, hasfound it difficult and his pri-mary problem has been notbeing able to rotate the strike.

If Dhawan is persisted with,the best way to give Rahul atleast three games is to bringhim at No 3 and the skippercoming at No 4 in place ofRayudu.

There are no such worriesabout Indian bowling as theyhave performed as a unit. Thebiggest gain in the second gamehas been Kedar Jadhav andVijay Shankar performing theircombined role of a fifth bowlerto perfection.

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˘ˇˆ˙˘˝˛˚˚˜ - The Pioneer · Total population of Odisha as per 2011 Census is 41,974,218...

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