07

Friday
Snap POLL
December
2018 Q. Who should be held YESTERDAY’S POLL RESULT:
responsible for deaths Will Christian Michel’s
due to potholes? extradition lead to successful
`3.00 Ÿ Pages 14 State government extradition of other fugitives
AHMEDABAD too?
Civic authority
www.dnaindia.com Road contractor
epaper.dnaindia.com Yes  73%
twitter.com/dna Go to our Twitter handle No 17%
facebook.com/dnaindia @dna, look for #DNAPoll
and vote.
Can’t say 10%

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Pollution killed 1 ‘Michel has 2 more Cong lawyers’ DNA Correspondent

Vishnu Shankar
CBI to question

in 8 people in ’17
correspondent@dnaindia.net
is the son of a
New Delhi: A day after
Prime Minister Narendra
Kerala Congress
leader and Sriram
his Delhi driver
Modi launched a scathing at- DNA Correspondent
tack on Congress over the Parakkat has been an correspondent@dnaindia.net
dicey AgustaWestland chop- NSUI member.
12.4L lives lost across per deal, BJP sokesperson
Sambit Patra said that two
Sambit Patra,
BJP spokesperson
New Delhi: The Central Bu-
reau of Investigation (CBI)

nation to bad air last yr

Cheena Kapoor
cheena.kapoor@dnaindia.net
More than a dozen lakh people died
across the country last year by breathing
bad air, which has slashed the life expec-
tancy of the citizens by 1.7 years, says a
report published on Thursday in the The
Lancet Planetary Health.
The findings, arrived at by the India
State-Level Disease Burden Initiative, a
joint initiative of many insittutes including
the Indian Medical Council Research, re-
veal that of the 12.4 lakh deaths in 2017 at-
tributed to air pollution, 6.7 lakh were due
to outdoor particulate matter (PM), and 4.8
lakh due to household air pollution. 
Over half the deaths reported (51.4 per
cent) were of people under 70 years of age.
Some 26 per cent of the them were prema-
ture.
The report is the first to include com-
prehensive estimates of death, disease
and longevity vis-a-vis air pollution in
each state of the country, which is home
to 18 per cent of the global population.
“It is important to have robust esti-
mates of the health impact of air pollu-
tion in every state to improve the situa-
tion,” said Professor Balram Bhargava,
secretary, Department of Health Re-
search, Ministry of Health & Family Wel-
fare. “The findings systematically docu-
ment the variations among states, which
would serve as a useful guide... There is
increasing political momentum to ad-
dress air pollution.”
Last year, 77 per cent of the population
was exposed to PM2.5 above 40 μg/m3, the
recommended limit by the National Ambi-
ent Air Quality Standards. The nation’s
mean ambient PM2.5 exposure of 90 μg/m3
in 2017 was one of the highest in the world.
“Initiatives across many sectors are be-
SC recommends `5 lakh
relief for pothole victims
New Delhi: The Supreme Court
Committee on Road Safety recom-
mended on Thursday that a compen-
sation of Rs five lakh be paid by the
road owning agency to the family of
pothole victims. The report has been
forwarded to the Centre for its re-
sponse. The Committee expanded
the scope of the compensation to
cover deaths caused by manholes
and open drains. Report, P14
ing undertaken in India to reduce air pol-
lution, including the adoption of renew-
able energy and cleaner fuels, enhancing
public transport options, encouraging
intelligent waste management and adop-
tion of recycling environmentally friend-
ly options. These state-specific findings on
the health impact of air pollution would
help fine tune the air pollution control ef-
forts across the country,” said Dr Tushar
K Joshi, adviser Environmental Health,
Ministry of Environment, Forest and Cli-
mate Change, Government of India.
other lawyers from the Con-
gress party are representing
Christian Michel, the UK na-
tional alleged to be a middle-
man who swung the deal.
Aljo K Joseph, who was a
leader of the Indian Youth
Congress until Wednesday,
had appeared for Michel in
court. He was expelled by the
party following an uproar on
social media. Patra said two
other lawyers of the British
national are also linked to
Rabi sowing declines More videos of Sidhu’s
for 17 out of 20 crops ‘pro-Pak’ rally emerge
Keyur Dhandeo
keyur.dhandeo@dnaindia.net
Ahmedabad: Sowing has
dropped for 17 out of 20 crops
this winter compared to the
previous year due to deficient
monsoon, says a weekly re-
port of state agriculture de-
partment. Farmers’ repre-
sentatives fear that insuffi-
cient irrigation would pose a
threat to what has been sown
so far, hitting productivity.
According to the report,
the state has witnessed win-
ter (rabi) sowing on 16.92
lakh hectare till December 3,
compared to 23.63 lakh hec-
tare for the same period last
year, indicating a drop of
about 30 per cent.
The three-year seasonal
average for sowing stands at
Michel was extradited on Tuesday
the Congress party.
“Vishnu Shankar is the
son of a Kerala Congress
leader and Sriram Parakkat
has been an NSUI member.
All three [including Aljo Jo-
seph] have worked under big
Congress lawyers such as Sal-
man Khurshid and Kapil
Sibal,” Patra told reporters
on Thursday.
NSUI or National Stu-
A farmer inspects damage to wheat
crop in Gandhinagar —File photo
31.36 lakh hectares.
State’s main kharif crop,
wheat, has been sown over 3.63
lakh hectare compared to 6.68
lakh hectare a year ago.
Acreage where irrigation
is available has dropped by
almost 50 per cent. Last year
wheat (irrigated) was sown
over 6.16 lakh hectare, which
has dropped to 3.41 lakh hec-
tare now.  Turn to P4
dents’ Union of India is the
student wing of the Congress.
Stating that Michel is un-
der “full surveillance” of
Congress president Rahul
Gandhi and his mother Sonia
Gandhi, Patra said the party
has been “completely rattled”
by his extradition. Therefore,
it sent out a team of lawyers
to save him, he said.
Full report: www.dnaindia.com
DNA Web team
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Alwar: Zee News has proved
its stand that pro-Pakistan
slogans were raised at a rally
addressed by Congress leader
Navjot Singh Sidhu in Alwar
recently. Singh was cam-
paigning for Rajasthan As-
sembly elections and Zee
News played a video promi-
nently showing the chants of
‘Pakistan Zindabad’ being
raised. The news channel
then questioned
Sidhu, and his par-
ty on their stand
on the issue.
Congress leaders were de-
fiant and accused Zee News
of doctoring the video and
playing it. Sidhu even threat-
ened to file a defamation case
will soon question Christian
Michel’s driver, Narayan Ba-
hadur, about persons visited
by the ‘fixer’ during his stay
here. Michel had allegedly
travelled over a dozen times to
Delhi in the years preceding
the negotiations of the deal
and its subsequent conclu-
sion in 2010. Bahadur was his
driver during those visits. Bu-
reau sources say that CBI
would issue summons to oth-
ers linked to the case.
Congress leader Navjot Singh
Sidhu was campaigning in Alwar
against the channel. Con-
gress supporters launched a
campaign against Zee News
on social media, which was
also supported by a
few media houses and
journalists. Congress
leaders went as far as
possible to tweet suitably ed-
ited videos that omitted the
part where the slogans were
raised. Turn to P4
Related report, P14

PM made oil prices drop: Saudi minister

Siddhant Sibal
correspondent@dnaindia.net
New Delhi: Even as a meet-
ing of the OPEC or the Or-
ganisation of Petroleum
Exporting Countries takes
place in Vienna, Saudi Ara-
bia’s Energy Minister
Khalid al-Falih has said
that Prime Minister Naren-
dra Modi has been “vo-
cal” about the increase
in oil prices and raised
it with Riyadh many
times.
Speaking to report-
ers after the OPEC meet-
ing, the minister, Khalid al-
Falih, said, “We also take the
views of Prime Minister
Modi, who is equally vocal....
We just met him in Bue-
nos Aires. Privately he
made those points. He
does care for Indian
consumers.”
He also disclosed
that PM Modi has met
him three times in India at
various energy events. “He
was very vocal,” he said.
 Related report, P8

Sails return as
shipping tries
to go green
London: As the shipping in-
dustry faces pressure to cut
climate-altering greenhouse
gases, one answer is blowing
in the wind.
European and U.S. tech
companies, including one
backed by airplane maker
Airbus, are pitching futuris-
tic sails to help cargo ships
harness the free and endless
supply of wind power. While
they sometimes don’t even
look like sails — some are
shaped like spinning col-
umns — they represent a
cheap and reliable way to re-
duce CO2 emissions for an
industry that depends on a
particularly dirty form of
fossil fuels.
“It’s an old technology,”
said Tuomas Riski, the CEO
of Finland’s Norsepower,
which added its “rotor sail”
technology for the first time
to a tanker in August. “Our
vision is that sails are com-
ing back to the seas.” —AP

Raj heads to
to polls today

Jaipur: As Rajasthan keeps

its date with polling on Fri-
day, the state election depart-
ment has made adequate ar-
rangements to ensure free
and fair elections. 640 compa-
nies of the Central Reserve
Police force along with 1.44
lakh personnel of the state
police have been deployed
acrosss 199 assembly constit-
uencies for peaceful voting.
The counting of all seats will
take place on December 11,
along with those of the other
four states that went to the
polls.  Full report, P5
 02
daily news & analysis I Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018
in brief
6.9L quintal
sugarcane
bought at MSP
The state government on
Thursday said that it had
bought 6,87,581 tonnes of
groundnut at Minimum
Support Price (MSP) be-
tween November 15 to
December 6 to ensure
that farmers get remu-
nerative prices. Accord-
ingly, 39,392 farmers have
benefited under the
scheme. The state gov-
ernment has so far spent
Rs 393.79 crore for the
purchases. A government
release said that farmers
have been instructed to
bring up to 2.5 tonnes of
groundnut every day.
BJP holds review
meet for 5 LS
seats of S Guj
State BJP chief Jitu Va-
ghani and chief minister
Vijay Rupani, on Thurs-
day, conducted a review
meeting for five seats of
south Gujarat. These in-
clude Valsad, Navsari,
Surat, Bardoli and
Bharuch. BJP general
secretary Bhikhu Dal-
sania was also present in
the meeting.
MICA hosts
Chinese
entrepreneurs
MICA hosted a group of
Chinese entrepreneurs
with varied profiles,
ranging from entrepre-
neurs and CEOs to de-
signers and architects to
initiate collaborations in
various domains. Ses-
sions on India’s culture,
history, education and en-
trepreneurship were
planned for nearly 25-30
Chinese delegates. There
was a session on Gandhiji
by Tridip Suhrud, mem-
ber of the Gandhi Herit-
age Sites Mission of the
Government of India fol-
lowed by a discussion
with renowned architect
BV Doshi.
Restore Somnath temple’s glory
to answer past desecration: Shah
BJP president Amit Shah said
on Thursday that people
should not harbour anger
against those who plundered
the historic Somnath temple
in Gujarat in the past but re-
solve to restore its glory by
“completely covering it in
gold”.
Shah, who’s a trustee of
Shree Somnath Trust, made
the remarks after laying the
foundation stone for a tourist
walkway along the nearby
coast.
“Around one crore devo-
tees come here every year.
The trust has taken many
initiatives to handle the
rush. However, I feel the de-
velopment of the temple is
incomplete,” said Shah.
“For people like me who
are attached to this temple
since childhood, the develop-
ment is meaningless until it
is fully covered in gold,” he
said.
Historical records suggest
that the temple was once cov-
ered in gold and silver and a
number of people sacrificed
their lives to protect it, he
said.
“Though the temple was
destroyed and looted many
times in the past, people
should not hold any grudge
or think about taking re-
venge,” the BJP president
said.
“The only reply is — take
yet another case It was found near Aluva village which is 15km from the heart of city
Leopard pugmarks found on riverbed in G’nagar
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
The forest department was
once again alerted to the pres-
ence of a leopard in Gandhina-
gar district. This time the alert
came after pug marks of the
wildcat were found on the Sa-
barmati riverbed close to Aluva
Village in the district. A forest
official in the know said that
the department has set up traps
to cage the beast but as of now
no sighting has been reported.
“The pug marks found has
been that of a leopard but nei-
ther the forest officials nor the
people who first reported the
pug marks have sighted the
animal. In all probability, the
animal was there in the early
morning,” said the forest offi-
cial.

UK too steps back from VGS
Australia and Poland to partner event; Earlier US had scaled down its presence
Chintan Acharya
chintan.acharya@dnaindia.net
After the US scaled down its
presence at the ninth edition
of the Vibrant Gujarat Summit
(VGS), now, the UK has also
stepped away from the list of
partner countries at the event.
The state government did not
get the final confirmation from
the UK and they ultimately
conveyed that they would not
take part in the event as a part-
ner country.
The chief secretary Dr JN
Singh, confirming the develop-
ment, said, “The UK is not join-
ing us in the event as a partner
country as no confirmation ar-
rived from their side.” Earlier,
he had also confirmed the de-
velopment on the US and had
said exclusively to DNA that the
country would not be present at
the event as a partner country.
A senior official in the state
government said, on condition
of anonymity, “The United
City airport to park six
Ambani wedding planes
Tanushree Bhatia
tanushree.bhatia@dnaindia.net
Six of the many charter
planes that would be flying
guests for the high octane
pre-wedding celebrations of
Isha Ambani and Anand Pi-
ramal in Udaipur will be
parked at Ahmedabad air-
port, owing to the space
crunch at Udaipur airport.
The Ahmedabad Airports
Authority at Sardar Vallab-
hbhai Patel International
Airport will be accommodat-
ing six charters for two days
(December 8 and 9).
Confirming the same, of-
ficials at the airport said,
“We had received a request of
accommodating charters
BJP President Amit Shah at Somnath temple
FACT BOX
Historical records
suggest that the temple
was vandalised by
foreign invaders 17
times between the 11th
and the 18th century.
The 1,500-metre tourist
walkway, to be built at a
cost of Rs 45 crore, is
a project of the central
government’s Tourism
department under its
`Prasad Scheme’.
a vow to restore the temple’s
glory. The speed at which the
work is going on, you will
soon be able to see all the
`kalashas’ (ornamental vases
atop the temple’s spires) cov-
ered in gold,” he said.
File photo
An official said that the
animal could have come from
Sabarkantha or Banaskantha
or even Panchmahals. “It is
not uncommon to find the ani-
mal in the district here al-
though it usually does not
File photo of the last event of VGS held in 2017
Kingdom was approached a
couple of times by both the Ex-
ternal Affairs Ministry of the
Government of India and the
Gujarat government separately
for their confirmation, but their
response was in negative. This
here. Six charters will be
parked at Ahmedabad air-
port for two days.”
The city airport has a total
of 33 aircraft parking stands
out of which 13 are reserved
for scheduled flights and the
rest for non-scheduled flights.
While the request to accom-
modate more charters was
made, sources at the airport
said that even six slots are
difficult to manage.
Nearly 200 charter planes
are expected to arrive at
Udaipur airport for the pre-
wedding celebrations and
since Udaipur airport can
only accommodate 22 char-
ters, it has sought help from
Jaipur and Ahmedabad air-
ports.
He also recalled the contri-
bution of the country’s first
president, Rajendra Prasad,
and leaders such as K M Mun-
shi and Morarji Desai in re-
storing the temple after Inde-
pendence. Historical records
suggest that the temple was
vandalised by foreign invaders
17 times between the 11th and
the 18th century. The 1,500-me-
tre tourist walkway, to be built
at a cost of Rs 45 crore, is a
project of the central govern-
ment’s Tourism department
under its `Prasad Scheme’.
PM Narendra Modi and
veteran BJP leader L K Ad-
vani are also the trustees of
the temple.
The temple, one of the 12
‘jyotirlings’, is situated in
Prabhas Patan town, common-
ly known as Somnath. —PTI
venture into urban areas,”
another official said.
The forest official said that
earlier they had also set up a
trap in Piplaj after there were
reports of sighting of a leop-
ard in the area. In that case,
could be because of the impend-
ing financial crisis after Brexit.
However, we have not been in-
formed about the reason for
their refusal to become a part-
ner country in the VGS again.”
Meanwhile, Canada, Czech
Members of VHP carried out a rally in Maninagar on December 6, the day the Babri Masjid was demolished
Ex-IT firm employee held for source code theft
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
The cyber cell of the police on
Thursday arrested a former
employee of an IT company
for stealing the source code of
the company. Interestingly, the
company had no clue about the
theft of the source code and
had, in fact, approached the
cyber crime cell after someone
pretending to be an employee
of theirs approached their cli-
ents in the US offering a better
business deal.
Missing US-based NRI from
Vadodara traced in Daman
A US-based Non-resident
Indian (NRI), who went
missing late last month
while on a visit to this city
in Gujarat, has been traced
to adjoining Union Territo-
ry of Daman and Diu, a po-
lice official said Wednesday.
Mittal Saraiya, who went
missing while visiting a
bank on November 27, was
found in a hotel in Daman,
Anupam Singh Gahlaut,
Vadodara police commis-
sioner, said.
“We had formed several
teams with a total of 90 per-
sonnel to track Saraiya af-
ter his uncle lodged a com-
Young lioness found dead in Talala area
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
The body of a young lion-
ess was found from a farm
in Amblash village of Ta-
lala area in Gir Somnath
district. The decomposed
body believed to be 5 to 6
days old was discovered by
villagers after it started to
stink. Deputy Conservator
too the department could nei-
ther trap the animal nor could
it get any reports of the con-
firmed sighting.
It should be noted that Alu-
va village is around 15 km
away from the Sachivalaya
details
„„Meanwhile, Canada,
Czech Republic,
Denmark, France, Japan,
the Netherlands, South
Korea, Thailand, UAE
and Uzbekistan will be
partner countries at VGS
this time, as mentioned
on the official website of
the event managed by the
state government.
„„Besides these
countries, Australia and
Poland also recently
confirmed that they
would be partner
countries in the event.
Republic, Denmark, France,
Japan, the Netherlands, South
Korea, Thailand, the UAE and
Uzbekistan will be partner
countries at VGS this time, as
mentioned on the official web-
site of the event managed by
ANGRY VOICE
Sandeep Modi, CEO of In-
heritx Solutions approached
the cops after his clients in the
US started getting mail from
the id of one of his employees
Vishal Soni.
In the mail, Soni offered to
do the same work as Inheritx
Solutions for a much cheaper
rate and claimed that many
former clients of the IT com-
pany had moved to the service
offered by Soni.
Investigations revealed
that the mail id of Soni was
created by a former employee
Mittal Saraiya
plaint of kidnapping with
the Karelibaug police sta-
tion,” he said.
The teams were dis-
patched to various parts of
the state, including religious
places, to trace the 51-year-
old NRI, who lives in Florida,
of Forest (DCF) Gir West
Dhiraj Mittal said that
there were no injury
marks on the body and it
was found in revenue
area. “We have sent the
body for post-mortem. We
have also sent some sam-
ples for further investiga-
tion. As of now the cause
of death is not clear,” said
Mittal.
where a leopard had in the
first week of November en-
tered the high-security zone
on a Sunday night.
It was caught on CCTV
cameras and the government
had pressed into service more
ah edabad
www.dnaindia.com I twitter.com/dna I epaper.dnaindia.com I facebook.com/dnaindia
the state government.
Besides these countries,
Australia and Poland also re-
cently confirmed that they
would be partner countries in
the event. Image for representation
The chief secretary said,
AMC to come
“We have got the confirmation
from Australia and Poland and
they have conveyed the mes-
sage to the government for be-
up with water
coming a partner country in
the event.”
The government is still try-
ing to rope in more countries
especially from Africa.
ATMs in city
“Just like the US, no political
entity from the UK will take part
in VGS this time, but their offic-
ers on a mission such as ambas-
sadors or consulates and busi-
ness delegations are expected to Gargi Raval a pilot project
attend the event. We do not see gargi.raval@dnaindia.net „„As a pilot project, 20
any impact on investments com- such ATMs will be set up
ing into Gujarat from the coun- To help citizens quench their across the city in various
tries which are scaling down thirst, the Ahmedabad Mu- gardens and public places.
their presence from the event as nicipal Corporation (AMC) is
partner countries,” sources in coming up with water ATMs „„The objective of the
the government said. in the city. As a pilot project, project is to provide
20 such ATMs will be set up citizens with safe
across the city in various gar- and treated water at a
dens and public places. The
objective of the project is to
provide citizens with safe
nominal price.
and treated water at a nomi- with a single stone. First, it
nal price. will decrease dependency on
The project is being devel- bottled water and second, it
oped under the Smart City will replace AMC Jal swiftly.
project and expression of in- AMC Jal, the civic body’s
terest has been invited for the own packaged drinking wa-
same. “We have invited expres- ter brand has no takers other
sion of interest from parties to than itself. Recently, a contro-
come up with water ATMs. We versy erupted when expired
have decided that there will be bottles were served by the
20 such ATMs across the city civic body.
in the first round. We will in- According to a senior offi-
crease it gradually,” said Amul cial, there are many public
Bhatt, standing committee places such as gardens and
chairman. markets where visitors are
“The project is basically highly dependent on bottled
aimed at providing fresh and water. “Many citizens are de-
Pravin Indrekar/DNA
pure water to citizens at nom- pending upon bottled water
inal cost. The machines will and sometimes, literally hunt
not be vending machines but for water in public places. We
one can draw water as per are aiming to provide clean
their need, ranging from a water to people in such pub-
glass to 20 liters,” remarked lic places,” said the official.
Bhatt. This project is going to be
With this project, the AMC developed under the public-
is aiming to hit two birds private partnership mode.
the intel
Investigations revealed
“For this, he was given a lap-
top. The laptop had the source
code of various programmes.
that the mail id of Soni When Pachani quit he copied
was created by a former the same in the pen drive,”
employee Gaurang said the cops in a release.
Pachani, 29, a resident They said the company
of Gota. Pachani had was not aware that the source
worked with Inheritx from code had been stolen.
2016 to 2017. Source code refers to the
list of programmes, computer
Gaurang Pachani commands, design layout and
2016 to 2017. Before quitting analysis of the programmes.
Gaurang Pachani, 29, a resi- the company, Pachani had met Pachani originally belongs
dent of Gota. Pachani had with an accident and he was to Gondal and had done his
worked with Inheritx from allowed to work from home. MCA from Rajkot.
A’bad has barely any
open space: CEPT
student survey
the US, the commissioner
said. He was found staying in
a hotel in Daman and a team
has been sent to bring him
back to Vadodara, he added. DNA correspondent public space here is 5 square
According to the police, correspondent@dnaindia.net metres, excluding streets
the NRI told them he slipped which is really less. Whereas
into depression after his As part of a massive study on London is 27 and Amsterdam
friend cheated him in the Ahmedabad, masters pro- is 45. If we minus the institu-
US. Saraiya was also facing gramme students of CEPT tional areas, we are left with
financial problems and university have found that nothing. Hence streets are
went to Daman to relax, the the city barely has any open being used as public spaces.
police said. space for the citizens. The ex- We also found that 25 per cent
The NRI had arrived in plorative project was a part of the city earns less than Rs
the city to inquire about the of a studio ‘Understanding 20,000 per month. Through
health of his ailing uncle the city’, offered to founda- this studio, we hope to train
who resides in the Kareli- tion programme students of future planners in a way who
baug area, the police had a masters degree, where 150 can address this problem and
said.  —PTI students took up 150 blocks of bridge the gap.”
1 square kilometre each to The university will be
analyse the areas including hosting an annual exhibition
roads, buildings, pipes, popu- of students work over the
lation etc. weekend. Speaking about the
Speaking about the same, same, Bimal Patel, President,
professor Rutul Joshi, studio CEPT University said, “The
coordinator said, “Through aim of the exhibition is to
the studio, we have made our showcase students work and
city as the textbook. Students also assess tutor’s way and
spent four months on the their methodologies of teach-
field, interacting with the lo- ing. A good institution is
than 300 government staff in- cal residents, understanding known by its students work.”
cluding forest and police de-
partment officials for the res-
the issues, tracking the gar-
bage truck, studying the
Commenting on interna-
tional students, Patel clari-
cue operation. The operation transportation system, fied that the university might
went on for twelve hours be- stormwater lines, land usage, look at it in the future. At the
fore the animal was captured. etc.” moment, we have a lot of ex-
At that time the department Sharing the findings, he change programmes, through
had said that the leopard had said, “The per capita average which they are coming.
entered the complex after trav-
elling through the ravines of
the Sabarmati river, probably
in search of a prey.
It was believed that the blue
bulls that are commonly found
in the wilderness near the
sachivalay were what had
brought the wildcat to the
area.
Twenty days after the Leop-
ard entered the Sachivalaya,
there was another report of the
wildcat being sighted around
the capitol but the department
had rubbished the rumours. The exhibition will be happening at CEPT university
 ah
www.dnaindia.com I twitter.com/dna I epaper.dnaindia.com I facebook.com/dnaindia
in brief
HC stays action
against Kirit Patel
The Gujarat High Court
has stayed any coercive
action against Kirit Pa-
tel, Congress MLA from
Patan in connection
with a complaint of em-
bezzlement filed with
the police by the vice
chancellor of Hemchan-
dracharya North Guja-
rat University. The com-
plaint was filed with the
B division police of Pa-
tan town. Patel who is
an aide of PAAS leader
Hardik Patel is accused
of embezzlement of Rs 1
crore to Rs 1.5 crore
while he was the in-
charge principal of
MSW college.
Guj tops Jan
Arogya Yojana
Gujarat topped in Jan
Arogya Yojana, said
Indu Bhushan, CEO of
Aayushyaman Bharat
Scheme. He was in Guja-
rat to review the pro-
gress in the state under
the ambitious scheme by
the central government
to provide insurance
cover to the poor. He
said that innovative ap-
proaches, carried out in
Gujarat, will also be rep-
licated in other states.
He assured about expe-
diting payments to a pri-
vate hospital to ensure
their high enrolment un-
der the scheme.
High Court
adjourns hearings
The Gujarat High
Court’s division bench
of Acting Chief Justice
AS Dave and Justice
Biren Vaishnav on
Thursday adjourned the
hearing of a petition
seeking the freedom to
consume alcohol at pri-
vate places to December
14. Notably, the court
had directed the state
government to clarify
its stand on the liquor
ban on October 24. How-
ever, the government is
yet to file any reply in
the matter.
Finally, PAAS leader
Kathiriya granted bail
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
A sessions court in Surat on
Thursday granted bail to
Patidar Anamat Andolan
Samiti’s (PAAS) leader Al-
pesh Kathiriya in an attempt
to murder case filed against
him on December 6, 2017, in
city’s Amroli police station.
The court’s verdict has final-
ly paved the way for Kathiri-
ya’s release from jail, which
is likely to be celebrated by
Patidars.
According to Kathiriya’s
lawyer, Yashvantsinh Vala,
he will try to complete the
formalities for his client’s
release on Friday and since
there is a holiday on Satur-
day and Sunday, the PAAS
leader is likely to be released
on Monday. “It is a big relief
for Kathiriya and he will be
finally released from jail,”
he said.
Vala during the hearing of
Alpesh Kathiriya
dual reaction Students laud NID curriculum, calls it extremely relevant
NID students allege roles offered not up to mark
Tanushree Bhatia
tanushree.bhatia@dnaindia.net
Taking a dig at the current
placement process at India’s
premier design institute —
the National Institute of De-
sign, students allege that
there is a mismatch of the
roles being offered to them as
against what they are capable
of. The disappointment is not
new, as the alumni say, add-
ing that number of times the
issue has been raised with
the institute officers, to com-
municate to the recruiters
about what NID is teaching.
“NID’s curriculum is ex-
tremely relevant. There is no
question of it being outdated.
edabad
LRD paper leak: Yashpal Solanki,
2 others held; arrests touch 15
Police say that Indravadan, not Yashpal Solanki directed the leak; kingpin not yet known
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
The Gujarat police on Tues-
day arrested three more peo-
ple in connection with the
LRD exam paper leak case .
Among the three is Yashpal
Solanki, who was believed to
be the brain behind the leak.
The police following the
arrest said that it was not
Solanki but one Indravadan
Parmar who had directed the
entire plan although they are
still not sure if he is the king-
pin of the case.
Apart from Solanki and
Parmar, the third person ar-
rested has been identified as
Rajendra Vaghela. With this,
the total arrest in the case
has touched 15.
Parmar and some others
hatched the conspiracy to ob-
tain the question paper in
advance with the help of a
Delhi-based gang, said Gan-
dhinagar Superintendent of
Police Mayur Chavda.
“Parmar was in contact
with this gang which had
promised to provide the ques-
tion paper for money. He and
some of his accomplices, who
Printer’s firm also under police scanner
Chintan Acharya
chintan.acharya@dnaindia.net
Although the Gujarat govern-
ment has remained tight-
lipped about the name of the
printer’s firm in the Lok Rak-
shak Dal (LRD) recruitment
test paper leak case, the police
have their suspicions regard-
ing the same firm. After five
days, the police have accepted
that they firmly believe that
people from the printing firm
were involved and played a
role in the paper leak.
The district superinten-
the bail application contend-
ed that a year had passed
since the FIR was registered,
but even the police are not
considering the matter seri-
ously. He also contended that
even the CCTV footage of the
incident does not provide
that Kathiriya was present
during the incident. The law-
yer also contended that
Kathiriya was never ab-
sconding and therefore, he
shall be granted bail.
The lawyer also contended
that Kathiriya had already
filed a complaint against Ur-
vesh Jira and Manisha Jira,
the two witnesses in the at-
tempt to murder case regis-
tered against him. He also
contended that the investiga-
tion officer has submitted in
his report that the complain-
ant, Kalpesh Devani, is influ-
enced by BJP, which indi-
cates that the complaint was
filed with prejudice.
Following the arguments,
additional sessions judge
Prashant Jain granted bail to
Kathiriya.
Interestingly, the Gujarat
High Court had granted bail
to the PAAS leader in Novem-
ber in the sedition case filed
against him in 2015 by the
Ahmedabad crime branch
after widespread violence in
the state during Hardik Pa-
tel’s quota stir.
NID prepares us in the best
possible way. However, I feel
the same is not communicat-
ed with the recruiters. They
offer us roles which are too
basic”, said a fourth-year stu-
dent, requesting anonymity.
The placement process at
NID Ahmedabad campus
concluded on Wednesday
whereas the same for Gan-
dhinagar campus will con-
clude on Thursday. This year,
more than 120 companies
have participated in the
placements.
When DNA contacted an
alumnus, who graduated last
year, the student who is work-
ing as a design consultant
said, “The placement officer
The three who were arrested in the case
are yet to be arrested, then
decided to send some candi-
dates to Delhi to collect the
paper,” Chavda said.
Police also said that after
his name emerged in the
case, Solanki had also at-
tempted to commit suicide.
“But before doing so he called
up Parmar who not only gave
Solanki Rs20,000 to help him
while he was on the run but
also asked him not to take
any extreme steps,” the po-
lice said.
Police further said that
Solanki and others had man-
There are two to three layers of people involved
in the scam and their modus operandi
suggests that they could be involved in many
cases of leaking papers in recruitment tests.
Mayur Chavda, Gandhinagar Superintendent of Police
dent of police in Gandhina-
gar, MJ Chavda, said, “The
Delhi-based gang was in
touch with the people at the
press where the papers were
printed. This happened
through a mole in the print-
ing press who would have
provided the paper to the
On the death anniversary of Babasaheb Ambedkar, members of the Ahmedabad Bhim Rathyatra Samiti on
Thursday made a portrait of him with the help of 21,000 diyas in Sarangpur —Pravin Indrekar/DNA
State education board refutes
allegation of Muslim profiling
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
The Gujarat Secondary and
Higher Secondary Educa-
tion Board on Thursday ve-
hemently refuted the alle-
gations levelled against it
in a PIL claiming that the
board is carrying out a reli-
gious profiling of the Mus-
lim candidates appearing
for Class X and XII exams.
In a reply submitted to
the court, the board stated
should know the design do-
main in and out to be able to
better communicate the same
to the companies. Companies
aged to write down the ques-
tions that were leaked to
them in a piece of paper de-
spite the gang’s warning not
to do so. Solanki hid the pa-
per on which he wrote the
questions in a packet of
chips.
Police also said that Solan-
ki had reached his examina-
tion centre on the day of the
exam but had to return after
it got cancelled. Cops said
they will also request the gov-
ernment to debar all the ar-
rested from future exams.
Cops said that two days
Delhi-based gang, we can say
for sure.”
Surprisingly, this agency
has been given the job of
printing papers for recruit-
ment in other departments of
the state government in the
past too.
A very senior official in
in memoriam
that the data of minorities
were being collected as per
a 2012 circular of the Min-
istry of Human Resource
Development to reduce
dropouts of Muslim stu-
dents and make informed
decisions, based on availa-
ble data, for their uplift-
ment. The board also clari-
fied that to take any meas-
ures for the upliftment of
Muslim students, having
the highest drop-out rate
among all religion, data
have only one point of con-
tact which is the placement
office. Many students also
feel exploited as a lot of
LRD test on Jan 6
The chairman of the
Lok Rakshak Dal (LRD)
recruitment board
Vikas Sahay made
an announcement on
Thursday that the test for
LRD recruitment would
be conducted on January
6 with more precautions.
The chairman also
announced that the 8.75
lakh aspirants appearing
for the test would get
free transportation.
before the examination,
around 30 persons, including
some candidates, reached
Delhi, where the gang pro-
vided them with the question
paper and answers.
In return, the gang col-
lected cheques of Rs 5 lakh
from each candidate. Police
have formed several teams to
nab the members of this Del-
hi-based gang, Chavda said.
As many as 8.75 lakh can-
didates were to appear for the
examination for 9,700 posts
of constable across 2,440 cen-
tres.
the state government said,
“The agency which printed
the papers in LRD recruit-
ment test bears great trust of
Gujarat government. This
was not for the first time that
the agency was awarded the
contract. Recruitment test
papers have been printed
there many times in the past
as well.”
However, the official ruled
out the possibility that the
agency could have leaked pa-
pers of previous tests which
was not discovered unlike in
the case of LRD recruitment.
was required.
As far as the allegation
that the board has made it
mandatory for students to
declare their religion as
well as reveal their Aadhar
details, the board has clari-
fied that these sections
were not mandatory for the
students. It has also submit-
ted that it was up to the stu-
dents whether they want to
voluntarily disclose the de-
tails related to their reli-
gion and Aadhar, or not.
times, companies give them
the assignment to work but
even after 6-7 rounds of inter-
views, the students are not
recruited.”
It is a very complex situa-
tion and I do not know how
the institute will address the
issue”, the alumni said.
When DNA contacted
Pradyumna Vyas, Director,
NID, he said, “We make the
students ready with a holistic
design thinking approach. Of
course, our students are
more equipped and there
would be 1-2 companies that
would not offer the role as
expected but overall the sce-
nario is positive.”
 Full report on dnaindia.com
03
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis
Unhappy, HC
judge recuses
from hearing
Alpesh Thakor
takes out Nyay
Yatra for fair
probe in case
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Gujarat Kshatriya Thakor
Sena president and Congress File photo of Gujarat High Court
MLA from Radhanpur, Alpesh
Thakor, on Thursday took out Nirupam Banerjee filing affidavits in a 2017 peti-
a rally demanding a fair probe nirupam.banerjee@dnaindia.net tion filed by Congress’s
in the Lok Rakshak Dal re- Shailendrasinh Bihola seek-
cruitment test paper leak case. Unhappy with the conduct of ing Patel’s disqualification
Thakor also demanded the the state government and a from GMC under anti-defec-
formation of a special investi- BJP leader of Gandhinagar tion rules. Interestingly, Patel
gation team (SIT) for a neutral Municipal Corporation got elected on a Congress
investigation. (GMC), a judge of the Gujarat ticket and later joined the saf-
Thakor gave the name of High Court has recused him- fron party to become a mayor.
Nyay Yatra to this rally that self from hearing a bunch of While counsel for Patel,
he began from Sabarmati petitions on the controversial CB Upadhyaya, had sought
Ashram in Ahmedabad and elections for mayor and dep- adjournments time and
reached the Gandhinagar uty mayor in the civic body. again to file a reply in the
collector office. Here, he gave The judge also lambasted the matter, he eventually clari-
a memorandum to the officer state govern- fied the court on
putting forward his de- ment as well as G’nagar mayor Monday that he
mands. Thousands of people the BJP leader election does not want to
from the Thakor community — Pravin Patels file an affidavit
joined him on this rally. — for “overreaching the pro- and the court can proceed
Talking to media persons, cess of law” in a petition with the arguments of the
Alpesh said, “My first de- seeking the latter’s disquali- contending parties on mer-
mand is a fair probe through fication from GMC under its. Following this, the argu-
SIT. Since the people in- anti-defection rules. ments of Bihola was com-
volved in the recruitment The single judge bench of pleted by his counsel and the
scam were in the past saved Justice AJ Desai has also matter was adjourned to
by the government, no one criticised the high court’s Wednesday as part-heard for
should be spared this time. registry for not following further arguments.
The government should act court’s orders and accepting However, in the meantime,
sensitively for the sake of an affidavit from Patel on Patel filed an affidavit on
unemployed youth of Guja- Tuesday without prior per- Tuesday directly before the
rat who wishes to secure jobs mission from his court. Jus- registry and during Wednes-
in the government through a tice Desai remarked that it day’s hearing, the affidavit
transparent process.” was not “expected from the and the annexed documents
“I also demand that all the registry” as the court had were referred to by the coun-
youths who were to appear in already proceeded with the sel for the state government,
tests be given a compensa- matter on Monday after Pa- something which was nei-
tion of Rs 2000 and hence- tel’s counsel clarified that he ther available with the judge
forth, the results of all re- is not going to file an affida- nor with Bihola’s counsel.
cruitment tests should be vit and the matter be heard This was objected by Bihola’s
announced within a week to on merits. lawyer as Patel had earlier
avoid corrupt practices,” Notably, the court was submitted that he is not go-
Thakor added. miffed with the state govern- ing to file an affidavit.
ment, as well as Patel, for not  Full report on dnaindia.com
AMC collects 18 times more dry waste
DNA Correspondent Earlier, there were only 7 to maining mixed waste. The
correspondent@dnaindia.net
After the trigger event by the
Ahmedabad Municipal Cor-
8 metric tonnes of segregated
dry waste received by the
civic body and the remaining
2,000 metric tonnes was mixed
dry waste collection has in-
creased up to 139 metric
tonnes in four days,” said
Mukesh Gadhvi, deputy mu-
poration (AMC) for source waste which leaves more re- nicipal commissioner.
segregation of waste, the civ- siduals after converting for “From the dry waste, mate-
ic body has received 18 times compost. rial has been recovered which
more dry waste. The change “Day by day, we are getting can be recycled. We have
has been witnessed by the more dry waste. At present, trained around 700 women
door-to-door waste collec- around 80 per cent of the and given them safety gear to
tion’s total dump at the Refuse waste being collected is wet work at the RTS. Those wom-
Transfer Stations (RTS) waste. Before the trigger en are churning out sellable
which collected around 2,000 event, we were getting 7 to 8 items from waste,” added
metric tonnes of daily waste. tonnes of dry waste and re- Gadhvi.
Pradipsinh
discharged
from hospital
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Home minister Pradipsinh
Jadeja has been discharged
from the HCG Cancer Cen-
tre in the city. The minister,
who was given leave at
around 3 in the afternoon,
had undergone surgery for
oral cancer. Doctors said
that following the surgery
the minis-
ter also
under-
went mi-
crovascu-
lar plas-
tic sur-
gery.
D r
K a u s -
tubh Pa-
Pradipsinh Jadeja tel, direc-
tor
HCG Cancer Centre said
of
that the minister who had
been moved to the ICU after
his surgery was able to walk
in his room within two
days. It should be noted that
Jadeja had been admitted
for 11 days after he was di-
agnosed with buccal muco-
sa cancer.
Jadeja, 56, had been in
surgery for over seven
hours including the time
take for plastic surgery, had
not shown any symptoms of
cancer when he was first
diagnosed with the disease.
Jadeja, a four-term MLA,
is a minister of state for
energy, law, and parliamen-
tary affairs. He also holds
independent charge of a
number of other minis-
tries, including police
housing, border security,
prohibition and excise, and
NRG division.

daily news & analysis I Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018
in brief
J&K shivers: Leh
records -8.7
degrees Celsius
Srinagar: There was res-
pite from cold wave condi-
tions in Kashmir on
Thursday morning even
as all weather stations in
the valley recorded sub-
zero temperatures last
night. In Srinagar, the
mercury settled at minus
2.6 degrees Celsius last
night, a MET department
official said. The city had
recorded the lowest this
season two nights ago as
temperature dipped to mi-
nus 3.2 degrees Celsius.
Other places across the
valley and Ladakh region
also experienced sub-zero
temperatures last night.
FDA raids Goa
shacks, hotels
Panaji: The Food and
Drug Administration in
Goa has launched a crack-
down on nightclubs,
beach shacks, restaurants
and other places which
they suspect are serving
substandard food or oper-
ating without licence.
Health Minister Vishwa-
jit Rane said on Thursday
three food outlets at Mor-
jim beach in North Goa
have been closed down
along with a restaurant
attached for providing
substandard food.
Learn about new
tech: IAF chief
Mathura: Air Chief Mar-
shal Birender Singh Dha-
noa on Thursday asked
the force’s commanders to
keep themselves abreast
of emerging technologies.
Dhanoa apprised the com-
manders on the current
security scenario, geo-po-
litical situation and the
role of IAF in dealing
with various contingen-
cies and threats.
tenders & Notices
04 
HC cancels BJP rath yatra in WB
Calcutta High Court denies permission for ‘Ganatantra Bachao Yatra’ just a day ahead of rally
Arshad Ali
arshad.ali@dnaindia.net
Kolkata: In a major set back
to the BJP, the Calcutta High
Court on Thursday turned
down the plea of BJP to take
out ‘Ganatantra Bachao
Yatra’ or the rath yatra that
was supposed to be flagged
off by party national presi-
dent Amit Shah on Friday.
The Cooch Behar district
superintendent of police in
his report at the court on
Thursday had said that the
rally may lead to communal
disturbances.
A bench of Justice Ta-
pabrata Chakraborty said
that the rally would cover 42
constituencies and would last
for not one or two days but for
over a month and intelli-
gence report said that there
was a probability that mem-
bers of a particular commu-
SC raises concern over food
wastage at lavish weddings
Abraham Thomas
abraham.thomas@dnaindia.net
New Delhi: Food that goes
waste at wedding ceremonies
has become a cause of concern
for the Supreme Court.
Pained by the recent death
of three girls due to starvation
in Delhi, the apex court on
Thursday drew a parallel be-
tween the criminal wastage of
food on one hand and the star-
vation deaths on the other.
They send across a message to
authorities to serve public in-
stead of commercial interest of
motels and farmhouses hosting
lavish weddings.
BJP president Amit Shah attends a rally — File Photo
nity could be hurt. The next
hearing on the matter is on
January 9, 2019.
BJP leader Jayprakash Ma-
jumder said that they had in-
formed the district adminis-
tration about the rally on Oc-
tober 29, but no one paid any
heed to it. “We had written to
Picture for representation
The court’s comment came
during the hearing of a motel
owner’s plea against proceed-
ings initiated against him by
the Municipal Corporation and
the Fire Safety Department for
lack of permissions to carry
out his business activities.
On being informed about a
huge water storage facility of
roughly one lakh litre capacity
installed at the premise for host-
ing weddings, the bench headed
by Justices Madan Lokur found
it odd that on one hand, the
Rabi sowing
drops for 17
of 20 crops
From P1
Late onset of monsoon, fol-
lowed by erratic and inade-
quate rains at its fag end, hit
winter sowing this year.
Moreover, farmers are
complaining that even if wa-
ter is available, it is not given
to them. “Growers are con-
cerned about saving their
sowing. This will result in
fall in productivity even as
overall sowing has dropped,”
said Sagar Rabari, founder
and president of Gujarat
Khedut Ekta Manch.
Other major rabi crops have
also witnessed a drop in acre-
age. These include cumin (1.99
lakh hectare, drop of 26 per
cent), gram (1.60 lakh hectare,
drop of 47 per cent) and mus-
tard (1.87 lakh hectare, drop of
13.1 per cent). Sowing of fodder
dropped from 3.01 lakh hectare
to 2.81 lakh hectare and that of
vegetables dropped from 1.1
lakh hectare to 80,114 hectare.
Crops whose acreage did
not drop this year include
jowar, sugarcane, and fennel.
An official of state agricul-
ture department said that de-
layed onset and early with-
drawal of monsoon means
there was lower recharge of
water, and village ponds and
bore wells have not been filled.
the Home Secretary, Chief
Secretary, DG but all fell on
deaf ears so we had to move
court. After all this time, they
have produced a report dated
December 5 saying that there
was a probability of a commu-
nal clash,” Majumder said.
BJP national general sec-
Delhi government complains of
shortage of drinking water, on
the other hand, it grants per-
mission to such motels to store
it in huge quantities.
With hundreds of motels
and farmhouses existing in
Delhi-NCR, the bench, which
also included Justices Deepak
Gupta and Hemant Gupta, said,
“An application has been
moved in the court by Delhi
government (in another case)
requiring Haryana to release
large quantity of water be-
cause of shortage of drinking
water in Delhi....Roughly one
lakh litre water is required by
applicant for carrying on its
business. There are hundreds
of motels and farmhouses car-
rying out similar activities.
One can only imagine the
amount of water required for
carrying on the functions by
the applicant and others simi-
larly placed.”
Zee News busts Cong Kushwaha keeps all guessing
lie on Sidhu’s rally... over exit from saffron alliance
From P1
The Zee News team got in touch
with the common people and
journalists present at Sidhu’s
Alwar rally and procured seven
different videos of the event. A
local journalist even came on
camera to expose the Congress
party and pointed out that ‘Pa-
kistan Zindabad’ was indeed
chanted while Sidhu was ad-
dressing the rally.
Zee News editor-in-chief
Sudhir Chaudhary also took
on Congress leader Randeep
Surjewala for his tweet,
where he alleged that Zee
News had played a fake video
‘Mekedatu dam may deny TN due share of water’
G Jagannath
g.jagannath@dnaindia.net
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Assem-
bly on Thursday unanimously
adopted a resolution urging the
Centre to withdraw its nod giv-
en to Karnataka government to
prepare a detailed project re-
port for constructing a balanc-
ing reservoir across Cauvery
river at Mekedatu.
Chief Minister Edapadi K
Palaniswami moved the reso-
lution, which was adopted af-
stands cancelled
„„BJP’s Jayprakash
Majumder said that they
had informed the district
administration about
Friday’s rath yatra on
October 29, but no one
paid any heed to it then.
„„The HC denied
permission for the BJP
rally after a cop moved
court saying it could
lead to communal
clashes.
retary and Bengal co-observ-
er Kailash Vijayvargiya said
that they would move the di-
vision bench on Friday and if
need be, will go to the Su-
preme Court as well. “We are
waiting for the decision of
the court and after the order
arrives, we will meet and
Wildlife Protection Act
flouted in Avni killing
Nikhil M Ghanekar
nikhil.ghanekar@dnaindia.net
New Delhi: The order of
Maharashtra’s top wildlife
officer authorising a jun-
ior officer to permit cap-
ture or elimination of T-1
tigress was in violation of
the Wildlife Protection Act
(WPA), 1972, the report of
Centre’s panel probing
T-1’s death has revealed.
The report, reviewed by
DNA, said that in delegat-
ing powers under the WPA
to the Chief Conservator
of Forest, Yavatmal, to au-
thorise capture of elimina-
tion of the tigress, section
5 (2) of the Act was violat-
ed. Chief Wildlife Warden
AK Mishra had delegated
authority to Chief Conser-
vator of Forest, Yavatmal,
PG Rahurkar, to authorise
capture or killing of T-1.
and the slogans were actually
‘Sat Sri Akal’. Surjewala had
tweeted a video to buttress
his claim, but Chaudhary es-
tablished that the video was
edited and showed the pro-
ceedings after the ‘Pakistan
Zindabad’ was chanted.
This is not the first time that
Zee News has been attacked. A
similar smear campaign was
launched when anti-India slo-
gans were raised at the Jawa-
harlal Nehru University (JNU)
in 2016. Several questions were
raised after Zee News ran vid-
eos showing an anti-India cam-
paign being raised in JNU.
ter a brief discussion, in the
specially convened Assembly
session on Thursday. The pro-
posed project would have a
storage capacity of 67 thou-
sand million cubic feet, but
Tamil Nadu farmers, political
parties are afraid that the state
would not receive its share of
water if the reservoir is built.
The resolution urged the
union ministry of water re-
sources to immediately order
the Central Water Commission
to withdraw the permission
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then let you know what our
course of action will be,” Vi-
jayvargiya said.
In another development,
state BJP Dilip Ghosh’s vehi-
cle has been attacked on
Thursday, in Cooch Behar. “I
had been there to a temple to
seek blessings ahead of to-
morrow’s rally. While re-
turning, at the Sitai cross-
ing, my vehicle was attacked.
Seven vehicles were dam-
aged, some of our workers
have got injured. It shows
there is no democracy in
Bengal. So our rally to save
democracy is all the more
required,” Ghosh said.
He added that the prepara-
tion of the rally was all done,
people had come over, money
had been spent and vehicles
had been booked. “We will
carry out a meeting and if per-
mission is granted, we will
start the rally,” said Ghosh.
T-1 or Avni was killed
on the night of November
2 by Asghar Ali Khan, two
months after she was de-
clared a man-eater by the
Maharashtra forest de-
partment.
As reported by DNA on
Wednesday, the probe re-
port also said that T-1 was
darted and shot in haste by
an inexperienced team,
which included shooter
Asghar Ali Khan. It also
said that T-1 was shot
without giving due time
for the tranquiliser to im-
mobilise her.
Importantly, the probe
report also stated that the
Asghar failed to produce
any license for the posses-
sion of the gun used for the
elimination of T-1 and
moreover could not even
remember the gun he used
to kill T-1.
Vithika Salomi
vithika.salomi@dnaindia.net
Patna: The suspense over
Rashtriya Lok Samata Party’s
exit from the National Demo-
cratic Alliance (NDA) contin-
ued on Thursday as party
president and Union minister
Upendra Kushwaha kept eve-
ryone guessing by delaying
any announcement related to
his stay or departure from the
saffron alliance.
Kushwaha, who addressed
an open convention of party
leaders in East Champaran’s
Motihari on Thursday, crypti-
Picture for representation
indi
Is CBI Director
untouchable for
his actions: SC
Supreme Court
Abraham Thomas
abraham.thomas@dnaindia.net
New Delhi: The Supreme
Court on Thursday ended
hearing on two petitions chal-
lenging the unprecedented re-
moval of the Central Bureau
of Investigation (CBI) Director
Alok Kumar Verma but opened
room for speculation by won-
dering whether the law or past
court rulings made the Direc-
tor “totally untouchable”.
The bench headed by Chief
Justice Ranjan Gogoi, Justic-
es SK Kaul and KM Joseph
found a reason to suggest so.
On a reading of the Central
Vigilance Commission Act
2003, the bench found a provi-
sion contained in Section 6 of
the Act which protects Cen-
tral Vigilance Commissioner
and Vigilance Commissioners
from removal except on order
of the President or on a refer-
ence by President to the Su-
preme Court. But with regard
to CBI director, no such pro-
tection was prescribed under
the Delhi Special Police Estab-
lishment Act, the law that gov-
erns his appointment.
The bench asked the peti-
tioners, “Can you place the
position of the CBI director
above the CVC? Does it make
the director totally untoucha-
ble? So far as the CVC, VCs are
concerned, there is a special
protection under Section 6.
What was the difficulty for
none spared
Union Min Kushwaha
didn’t spare BJP either.
He launched a 2-pronged
attack on it over the
Ayodhya dispute as well
as for acting as Janata
Dal-United’s “B-team”.
cally quoted Ramdhari Singh
Dinakar, saying: “Hit vachana
nahi tune maana, Maitri ka
mulya nahi pehchaana, To le
mai bhi ab jaata hun, Antim
Sankalp sunata hun, Yaachna
given to Karnataka for prepar-
ing the detailed project report.
“This August House re-
quests the Centre to direct Kar-
nataka not to take up any con-
struction works by it or
through its agencies at Make-
datu or at any other place in
the Cauvery basin of Karna-
taka State, without the consent
of the State of Tamil Nadu,
and in violation of the Final
Order of the Cauvery Water
Disputes Tribunal and the
judgment of the SC,” it said.
what’s the rush
„„Before reserving its
order, SC asked CVC to
explain what “emergent
and extraordinary”
situation arose for robbing
CBI director of his powers
on Oct 23 when the
dispute between the 2 top
officers in CBI was out in
open since July 2018.
Parliament to introduce simi-
lar protection for the CBI di-
rector as well?” Later, the
court asked while there is
CVC to monitor CBI, who is
there to supervise the director.
Senior advocate Fali Nari-
man, who appeared for Ver-
ma, told the court that the
even if a director gets caught
red handed while committing
an offence, the Selection Com-
mittee of Prime Minister,
Leader of Opposition, and
Chief Justice of India has to
be consulted before he or she
is replaced or transferred.
He found the decision of
the Centre to appoint an In-
terim Director to be in viola-
tion of the 1997 SC judgment
in Vineet Narain case which
gave power to select director
to the three-member high-lev-
el committee alone. However,
Nariman did concede that the
power to appoint an acting di-
rector was open to the SC if
such an exigency arrived.
nahi ab rann hoga, sangharsh
bada bheeshan hoga” (You
have not paid heed to good ad-
vice nor valued friendship. So,
I am going ahead with this
resolution… that there won’t
be any further pleas, but a final
battle now).
He, however, did not make
any announcement related to
his “expected exit from the
NDA”. Kushwaha had served
the NDA with November 30 ul-
timatum to finalise the seat-
sharing formula for Bihar, and
was expected to make the “big
announcement” as deadline
expired without any result.
After the Assembly was ad-
journed following the adoption
of the resolution, the CM
wrote to PM Modi urging him
to direct the union water re-
sources ministry to withdraw
the permission given to Karna-
taka on Mekedatu project.
“The action of Karnataka
in proposing a reservoir and
that of CWC in giving permis-
sion for preparation of a De-
tailed Project Report have
caused deep anguish and ap-
prehension in Tamil Nadu.

st te OfPolls
madhya pradesh
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Rajasthan goes to polls today
State chief electoral officer says all necessary arrangements have been made in polling booths
Yuvraj Shrimal
s_yuvraj@dnaindia.net
Jaipur: As Rajasthan keeps
its date with polling on Friday,
the state election department
has made adequate arrange-
ments to ensure free and fair
elections. 640 companies of
CRPF (Central Reserve Police
force) along with 1.44 lakh
personnel of the state police
have been deployed in 199 as-
sembly constituencies for
peaceful voting.
The counting of all seats
will take place on December
11 along with the other four
states that went to polls.
Rajasthan Chief Electoral
Officer Anand Kumar, while
addressing a press confer-
ence informed that adequate
arrangements have been
made in all polling stations,
including those identified as
sensitive ones, to ensure fair
elections.
“13,832 booths have been
identified sensitive, of that
we have deployed micro ob-
servers in 4,982, videography
in 3,948, webcasting in 3,138
and CRPF personnel in 7,791.
Nearly, 1,44,941 police person-
nel along with 640 companies
of CRPF will ensure free and
fair polling,” said Kumar.
The top official added that
fresh date of the election in
Alwar’s Ramgarh constitu-
ency, where BSP candidate
Lakshman Singh died, has
not been finalised by the Elec-
tion Commission of India
(ECI) so far.
It will be the first time
that EVM (electronic voting
machine) with VVPAT will
be used across the state for
the polling. Over 2 lakh
EVM-VVPAT sets will be
used for polling in 199 con-
stituencies. “Three ballot
machines will be used in
Rohingya Muslims warned against voting After high-voltage campaign,
Hyderabad: Rohingya Mus-
lims who turn up at polling
stations to vote by obtaining
voter id card fraudulently
would be arrested and sent to
prison, the police warned on
Thursday.
The Greater Hyderabad
Municipal Corporation has
identified 105 Rohingya refu-
gees under its limits who
‘Shah isn’t god,
his prediction
exaggeration’
Aizawl: Mizo National Front
(MNF), a constituent of the
BJP-led NEDA, dismissed
saffron party chief Amit
Shah’s remarks that the par-
ty will rule India for the next
50 years if it wins the 2019
general elections, saying he
is not a god and the predic-
tion is an exaggeration.
The principal opposition
party in Mizoram is, however,
confident that the Congress
or the UPA will not come to
power at the Centre in the
next year’s general elections.
Former chief minister
and MNF chief Zoramthanga
in an interview said that his
party and the BJP can never
be allies in the hill state be-
cause of the saffron party’s
Hindutva politics.
“I doubt. He (Shah) is not a
God. He cannot predict that in
politics. Even Modi cannot
predict that. That is his wish-
ful thinking. Nobody can pre-
dict that,” he said, when asked
about Shah’s claim of BJP
ruling for the next 50 years.
The Congress is not com-
ing to power again in 2019 at
the Centre and nobody can
predict how many decades it
will take to form the next gov-
ernment, the veteran politi-
cian from the north-east said.
“For decades, he (Shah)
may predict that Congress
will not come to power. But to
predict for 50 years or 100
years, it is rather an exag-
geration,” Zoramthanga said.
In September, Shah had
said at the BJP’s National Ex-
ecutive meet that the party
will win the 2019 elections
because of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi’s hard work
and then no one can dethrone
it for the next 50 years.  —PTI
1.5L cops deployed
for peaceful polling
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Jaipur: Since the announce-
ment of elections in the state,
the Rajasthan police increased
its preventive actions since the
past several months so that vot-
ing in all the 199 constituencies
can be conducted in a peaceful
atmosphere.
Thus the cops have execut-
ed over two lakh warrants,
confiscated over ten lakh li-
tres of liquor and have also
rounded up over three and a
half lakh individuals under
various Acts.
Moreover, the police have
also confiscated 455 kilograms
each polling booth of
Jaipur’s Kishanpole seat
where 46 candidates are con-
testing. There are 33 seats in
the state where 2 ballot ma-
chines will be used,” he said.
When asked about the se-
curity of EVM machines, the
CEO said as per ‘standing
operating procedure’ all ac-
have obtained Electoral Pho-
to Identity Cards (EPIC) by
enrolling themselves as vot-
ers by giving a false declara-
tion stating that they are citi-
zens of India, a civic body
official said.
“If any Rohingya is found
to have obtained EPIC and
turns up at the polling booth
on December 7, we will arrest
Remembering Babasaheb
Congress Madhya Pradesh unit president Kamal Nath pays tribute to Bhimrao Ambedkar on his death anniversary, during
a meeting of 230 Congress party candidates contesting for state Assembly election in Bhopal on Thursday —PTI
Game changers There has been a 21% rise in new voters compared to 2014
First-time voters likely to play deciding role
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Young voters in the age group
of 18-19, who will use their
right for the first time, hold
the key of Rajasthan assem-
bly election set to be held on
Friday. The desert state has
enrolled 20.29 lakh fresh vot-
ers that is approximately 4.18
per cent of total electorates
of 4,77,89,815.
The young voters’ strength
has witnessed a spike of 21
per cent compared to the pre-
vious election where its
strength was at 16.5 lakh.
The strength of young vot-
ers is definitely decisive of
who will form the govern-
ment in the state, which is
tabbed a semifinal of final
rajasthan
of gold and silver over the past
few months as part of their ef-
forts to maintain law and order
during the elections.
In view of voting on Fri-
day, a huge deployment of
Rajasthan Police force, Para-
millitary forces and cops
from neighbouring states has
been put into force.
Meanwhile, three flying
squads and three static police
parties in each constituency
have already been deployed
which comprises officials
from different central para-
military forces.
“In addition, 600 quick re-
sponse teams have also been
formed,” the DGP said.
tions will be followed and
added that there is no chance
of rigging since the storing
points will be under the
watch of CCTV cameras.
He also rejected any pos-
sibility of a time-consum-
ing process of polling due
to the installation of
VVPAT machines that will
that person without any hesi-
tation,” Hyderabad Police
Commissioner Anjani Ku-
mar said.
Earlier, a GHMC official
had said nearly 190 names of
people suspected to be Roh-
ingya Muslim refugees have
figured in the voters list of
Hyderabad and neighbouring
districts and the officials
Lok Sabha election slated
just after six months.
In 2013, when the BJP
swayed away from the elec-
tion, margin of votes with the
Congress was 37 lakh. The
saffron party had scored 46.05
per cent securing 1.39 crore
fluctuated frequently. Development became a non-
issue, but Ram mandir and caste of Lord Hanuman
were raked up out of context.
Ashok Gehlot, Former chief minister of Rajasthan
and senior Congress leader
telangana
Votes & voters
of the state
The D-Day is here. Some
5 crore voters will be
exercising their right
to elect a government
NRI Electors Third Gender Electors
1,16,456 20,20,156
Total Electors
4,74,37,761
2,47,22,365
MALE
2,27,15,396
FEMALE
Ensuring security
„„640 companies of CRPF along with 1.44 lakh police
personnel have been deployed to maintain law and order in all
the 51,687 polling booths.
„„Of the total polling booths, 13,832 polling booths
have been identified as sensitive and precautionary
measures have been taken.
consume more time in reg-
istering voters and inform-
ing voters with the slip.
The election authority
has appealed to the people
to use C-VIGIL mobile app
if they observe any irregu-
larity in the polling.
“So far, the election au-
thorities have received
were in the process of delet-
ing them.
According to a GHMC
press release, the community
has been migrating to India
as refugees since 2012 and the
influx into Hyderabad start-
ed in 2013. About 5,025 Roh-
ingyas were taking shelter in
Hyderabad and its surround-
ing areas.  —PTI
votes while the Congress re-
ceived 33.71 per cent votes
with 1.02 crore votes.
Therefore, the swing of 20
lakh fresh voters to any party,
be it to the BJP, Congress, or
others, will change the entire
poll dynamics, increasing per-
The level of language used in election
campaign was below par. Issues
in the state on Friday
15 222
Service Young voters
5,1687
Electors
Polling Stations
Assembly
constituencies 199
(Election in Ramgarh
postponed
due the death
of BSP candidate)
2,274
Total candidates
3,784 complaints, of that
3,098 were found correct
and disposed of. Returning
officers have dropped 491
complaints,” he said adding
that no complaint on viola-
tion of codes of conduct has
been received post the elec-
tion campaigning ended at
5 pm on Wednesday.
Telangana set for polls today
Hyderabad: After a high-
voltage campaign that saw
war of words among contend-
ing parties, Telangana is set
for Assembly polls on Friday
with the Congress-led alli-
ance challenging the ruling
TRS, and the BJP seeking to
make it a triangular contest.
More than 1.50 lakh poll-
ing officials including re-
serve staff were giving final
touches on Thursday to make
the election to the 119-mem-
ber House a smooth affair.
Over 2.80 crore electorate
are eligible to exercise their
franchise in the State, which
has a total of 32,815 polling
stations across.
Additional DG ( Law and
order) Jitender on Thursday
said about one lakh police
personnel including 25,000
central paramilitary forces
and 20,000 from other states
are engaged in poll duties.
A senior police official
said security was beefed up at
bordering areas which were
identified as Left Wing Ex-
tremist-affected regions.
Meanwhile, Chief Elector-
al Officer Rajat Kumar in a
press conference said, “Some
political parties expressed ap-
prehensions that there was
20.29L
Voters enrolled
Cities with most newcomers
Jaipur 1.79 lakh
Alwar 1.05 lakh
Nagaur93,0000
centage to one party and dam-
aging prospects of the other.
Hence, the BJP and Con-
gress manifestos largely fo-
cused on youth-centric is-
sues. The incumbent BJP has
promised a monthly allow-
ance of Rs 5,000 to the unem-
Chhattisgarh
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis
Move comes after some blank postal ballots were found in Home Guard
office near state police headquarters in Bhopal —For representation
Cong urges EC to
probe MP blank
postal ballots case
Bhopal: The Congress on
Wednesday submitted a mem-
orandum to the Election Com-
mission (EC), seeking a probe
into the blank postal ballots
found unclaimed at the state
police’s Home Guard office.
The poll panel, meanwhile,
said action has been initiated
against three Home Guard
personnel for “dereliction of
duty” in this connection.
“We have complained to
the EC about Tuesday’s inci-
dent in which unclaimed bal-
lot papers were found in the
Home Guard office near the
State Police Headquarters. We
have also complained about
the lack of security of EVMs
kept in the strongrooms
across the state,” MP Con-
gress Election Affairs Wing
in-charge JP Dhanopia said.
He added that his party
also requested the EC to pro-
vide details of the EVMs re-
placed during the polling.
Assembly polls in Madhya
Pradesh were held on Novem-
ber 28. The Congress has
raised doubts over the securi-
ty of EVMs, which contain the
votes cast to elect a 230-mem-
ber Assembly in the state.
“The postal ballots found
Polling officers check EVMs in Hyderabad on Thursday —AP
In its first
For the first time, the
Election Commission is
using Voters Verifiable
Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT)
in Telangana.
distribution of liquor and
money in some places.
We gave strict instructions
to police and other officials to
deal such incidents sternly.”
“Distribution of voters’
slips was done 100 per cent,”
he said.
Polling will start at 7 am
and end at 5 pm, while in 13
constituencies which were
ployed youth till they get the
jobs while Congress has
made a commitment of
Rs 3,500 allowance.
Senior party leaders and
star campaigners in both the
BJP and Congress have ag-
gressively made the commit-
ment on the employment in
their speeches to allure the
fresh voters.
Congress chief Rahul
Gandhi, in each rally he ad-
dressed, has laid stress on the
employment as the priority
of the government.
As per EC statistics,
Jaipur tops the list of young
voters with 1.79 lakh new vot-
ers followed by Alwar and
Nagaur which have 1.05 lakh
and 93k voters respectively in
the age group of 18-19.
mizoram
EC’s Action
As per EC release,
following an investigation
into the incident, action
was initiated against an
Assistant Sub Inspector,
a constable and a sainik
of Home Guard for
dereliction of duty.
at Home Guards office should
have been delivered to ser-
vice voters, who are posted
outside. It appears that they
had not been given to the
jawans. This should be inves-
tigated,” Dhanopia said.
Reacting to the incident,
the poll commission’s public
relations officer said in a
press release that the post-
man had delivered 124 postal
ballots sealed in envelopes to
an assistant sub inspector at
the Home Guards office, in-
stead of delivering them
separately to the persons to
whom these envelopes were
addressed.
But the officer and employ-
ees did not deliver them to the
persons concerned. Three
polled postal ballots were
found there, it said.  —PTI
classified as Left Wing Ex-
tremist-affected, polling ends
one hour before (4 pm).
As many as 446 flying
squads are in operation in
the state to swing into action
if any irregularity is report-
ed during the elections and
448 static surveillance teams
would also keep a watch on
the situation and would wait
in wings to take action, Ku-
mar said.
Besides, 224 video-surveil-
lance teams and 133 video-
viewing teams have been
pressed into service.
There are 126 assistant ex-
penditure observers and 123
accounting teams. —Agencies
Run for assembly seat
starts with temple run
Banswara: At a time when
entire Rajasthan was abuzz
with high-decibel election
campaign, a centuries old
temple in the Aravallis was
witness to footfalls from the
who’s who of the state’s po-
litical arena.
It is believed that goddess
Tripura Sundari posses mys-
tic power to fulfil wishes of
success in politics, which
draws scores of political big-
wigs cutting across party
lines.
“The number of visitors
during elections increase in
the temple because candi-
dates from different areas
come here to seek blessings
for success. There are many
political leaders who keep on
visiting,” Ashok Panchal,
05
In short
Over `3.50 crore
meant for voters
seized in Telangana
Hyderabad: Over Rs 3.50 crore
in cash has been seized from a
van in Warangal district on the
eve of the Assembly polls in
Telangana, police officers said
on Thursday. The cash was to
be delivered allegedly to some
political leaders for distribution
to influence voters, a police
spokesman said. Acting on a
tip-off, a team of police officers
intercepted the van which was
moving suspiciously late on
Wednesday night and con-
ducted a thorough check of the
vehicle. The check yielded the
huge amount of unaccounted
cash. The person, who was
travelling in the van along with
the money, was identified as F
Reddy. He is known to a con-
testing candidate of Wardhan-
napet assembly constituency,
the police said. Reddy has
been detained.
BSF jawan found
using laptop outside
EVM strongroom
Raipur: A BSF sub-inspector
was allegedly found using a
laptop computer outside a
strongroom housing Electronic
Voting Machines in Bemetara
district of Chhattisgarh, of-
ficials said on Wednesday.
Vikram Kumar Mehra, belong-
ing to the 175th battalion of
the Border Security Force,
was removed from duty at the
strongroom at Mandi after the
Congress raised the issue of
security of EVMs, they said.
The laptop allegedly being
used by Mehra was seized
in front of representatives of
political parties, Bemetara Col-
lector Mahadev Kawre said.
Earlier, when
the election
season began, it was
projected by both the
parties —the Congress
and TRS — as if they
were the only parties
contesting the polls. It
was not a fact, but it
was just a propaganda
to try and mock at our
party and campaign.
Krishna Saagar Rao,
Telangana BJP
spokesperson
It’s his ( UP CM
Adityanath’s)
own fascination. It’s in
nobody’s thoughts in
Karimnagar. Nobody
asked for it (renaming).
It’s for the first time
that I have heard
(somebody favouring
name change).
B Vinod Kumar, TRS
leader, on UP CM Yogi
Adityanath’s comment
on renaming Karimnagar
president of the temple man-
agement committee said.
Chief Minister Vasund-
hara Raje is a frequent visi-
tor to the temple. She was
here during the counting of
the 2013 assembly polls and
even monitored the results of
the 2014 general elections
from the shrine.
Panchal said that the num-
ber of politicians visiting the
temple increases after filing
of nominations begin.
Recently Congress’ Ashok
Gehlot also visited the tem-
ple, which is located at a dis-
tance of 516 km from state
capital Jaipur.
It is believed that this
‘Shakti Peeth’ had a great
prominence during the rule
of emperor Kanishka.  —PTI
 06
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018
 opini n
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The North Sentinelese question

daily news & analysis It is time to challenge the certainty and righteousness of proselytisers who prey on the marginalised

Election hazards
The North Senti-
nel Island episode
has been present-
ed by Evangelists
Congress floats a fake video to discredit Zee TV and those support-
ing them mainly

F
ake news is here to stay. And it is not the BJP that is saying as another tragic
it. The confirmation came from the Congress party on case of missionary
Wednesday during cricketer-turned-Punjab minister Navjot martyrdom at the
Singh Sidhu’s speech in the course of an election rally in Al- Iain Buchanan hands of violent
non-believers.
war, Rajasthan. The original Zee TV news clip had people in It raises a number of vital issues con-
the Sidhu rally shouting “Pakistan Zindabad” (glory for Paki- cerning human rights. Perhaps the
stan) slogans, which was provocative enough to raise hackles. most important is this: why is the Chris-
The incident was captured on a live broadcast on Facebook tian proselytisation of marginal com-
and recorded by several participants on their mobile phones munities still promoted, still possible
during the course of the rally. Sidhu’s recent visit to Pakistan and still indulged?
There are three answers — one politi-
and his fraternal meetings with leading anti-India lights in cal, one cultural, one religious. Politi-
that country, have more than raised eyebrows here. No sooner cally, many marginal communities (es-
had the video gone viral on the hyper-active social media, the pecially remote tribal communities) live
Congress realising that the narrative was damaging, posted a in strategically important areas –—bor-
counter video, reportedly doctored by Congress’s communica- der regions, mineral-rich areas, timber-
tion in charge Randeep Surjewala. The new version had the lands and militarily significant zones.
Culturally, “civilisation” abhors the
same individuals in the crowd mouthing “Pakistan murdabad” survival of the “pre-civilised”— the no-
(down with Pakistan) — a small but significant tweak. Under- madic, the pastoral and the Neolithic
standably rattled by the clip and in an effort to throw their small tribe, among others.
weight behind Sidhu, Congress supporters posted a “trimmed” The civilised man is also an imperial
version of the video. Surjewala, in blatant disregard to the man — subsistence alternatives must be
rules of the game, claimed that news portals were spreading co-opted, incorporated, controlled, and
at the very least patronised. Part of the
misinformation. Interestingly, the video posted by him on problem with complex industrial socie-
Twitter, omits the ‘sloganeering’ part. Clearly, the desire and ties is an intolerance of self-sufficient
need to control the narrative is becoming too important for simplicity. India owes it to itself to go beyond the purely religious objection to Christian missionising and examine the global forces, which define it —iStock
the Congress, which is willing to propagate fake news in an Religiously, the animism of such mar-
effort to popularise its version in the traditional and social ginal communities poses a threat to the- widely broadcast or amplified. for wrong-doing.
media. The point is simple. Any video that is morphed, comes istic beliefs. This is a particular problem The loudest voices are those of the Among other things, this leads to a
with Evangelical Christianity, which has West’s “Human Rights” industry, which rather benign view of the behaviour of
into the category of fake news and this clip is no different. But evolved a determined and doctrinaire is closely embraced by a vast and com- missionaries overseas — fed partly by
the fake news industry is so well organised that it is not mere- response to “the other” — whether it be plex machinery for shaping global and ignorance, and partly by a sense that the
ly a question of one doctored video. It has the potential to animist, secular, Hindu, Muslim, or Bud- local activism to the West’s secular and Christian mission must be equated with
become the launch pad for a full-fledged campaign, as has hap- dhist, “the other” must be converted. religious agenda. civilisation.
pened in this case. The fake Congress video was picked up by The North Sentinel Island residents, The two largest cogs in this machin- Such myopia has increased dramati-
party acolytes — some of whom are the country’s leading jour- as such, challenge the certainty and the ery are World Vision and Youth With a cally over the past 40 years, as the secu-
righteousness of the proselytisers. Mission: both are deeply entrenched in lar West has managed to define a global
nalists — who leave behind their objectivity at home when There are many other resistant com- the highest echelons of US politics. order largely in its own terms, with
they come for work. They, in turn, used it as a campaign, and munities, large and small — from the World Vision is effectively a branch of International Reconciliation Coalition decisive help from its Christian mis-
as can be expected, re-tweeted the same video that Surjewala major non-Christian religions to small the US State Department, especially un- and through a firm integration with the sionaries.
had shared, without a care for objectivity. Quite clearly, the tribes in the Amazon, the New Guinea der the Democrats, and both groups are global corporate world. By contrast, of course, the behaviour
Congress and its spokespersons’ objective is to influence the uplands, or various Asian borderlands. close to the Washington power-broking In the case of the North Sentinel af- of non-Christians (even other Abraham-
narrative by using social media, fake news and tools. Not sur- The evangelical movement identifies clique known as “The Family”. fair, these two agencies are organically ic faiths like Islam) is scrutinised ruth-
over 3,000 cultural groups to be targeted Combined, the two agencies have al- linked to the main culprits in the field. lessly, misunderstood, and demonised.
prisingly, Zee TV’s open challenge to the Congress, has not for proselytisation. Eventually, most of most 20,000 full-time workers operating The All Nations International Minis- India owes it to itself to go beyond the
elicited any response. In many ways, this has major ramifica- these will be penetrated and under- in over 170 countries in over 1,000 bases; try, of which John Allen Chau was an purely religious objection to Christian
tions going ahead, not just for the media, but also for the con- mined — by a multitude of tactics, both both are extremely well-funded (for agent, was founded by Floyd McClung, missionising and examine the global
duct of free and fair elections. India has been perpetually is- overt and covert. years, World Vision’s budget exceeded one-time International Director of Youth forces, which define it. These forces are
suing warnings to Facebook and Twitter about the dangers And they will be transformed for a the routine budget of the United Na- with a Mission, and is now run by Mary subverting countries like India in a far
posed by fake news to democracy and elections, but the key very simple reason. Because the domi- tions) and both have complex, diverse Ho, who for many years was a World Vi- more comprehensive and profound way
nant global imperialism is still white and tightly integrated corporate struc- sion manager in Hong Kong and Taiwan. than most people realise.
question is this: while it may be easy to get global companies and Christian — and because religious tures, more powerful and more success- And the West has always been reluc- So pity the poor Sentinelese. Like the
to heel, acting against political rivals and Indian companies imperialism is always the handmaiden ful than many large global corporations. tant to enquire too deeply into the af- Huaorani of Ecuador, or the Yanomami
who act on their behest, is going to be, by no means, easy. of secular imperialism. Such agencies help define much of fairs of organised Christianity — both of Brazil, or the Hewa of New Guinea,
And why the silence from the “Hu- the “human rights” agenda through at home and overseas. or the Akha of Thailand or the Pashto
man Rights” industry? Because by and their close political connections, Western culture is deeply, sublimi- of Afghanistan, they are now in the

For justice
large, it is in cahoots with the proselytis-
ers. Of course, there are local and inde-
pendent activists fighting injustice in
every country, but their voices are not
Witness protection was long overdue
through their own “human rights” sub- nally Christian, and even committed front lines of a war for the last few rem-
sidiaries, such as World Vision’s Inter- secularists have trouble avoiding Chris- nant souls of the unreached — and the
national Justice Mission and Youth tian parameters in their arguments, and “uncivilised”.
With A Mission’s Template Institute and often gloss over the Christian capacity Writer is an expert on Evangelical Christianity

A
t the core of the criminal justice system is the well-being
of the witness whose importance in a trial cannot be over-
QUOTE HANGER slowburn
stated. A witness’s testimony has the power to ensure that
only the guilty is awarded punishment. But despite his/her
crucial role in the scheme of things, the testifier is often the
Vinay Sahasrabuddhe Sanjoy K Roy UN food agency steps up aid to Yemen
@vinay1011 @SanjoyRoyTWA
T
he UN food agency says it’s planning scores of skeletal children in an over-
most vulnerable element in a trial, subject to intimidation and
in extreme cases silenced forever. But with the Supreme
Salutations to It takes over 4000 people to to rapidly scale up food distribution to crowded hospital in the capital, Sana’a.
help another 4 million people in Yem- He said the children he saw had a chance
Court’s approval of the witness protection scheme drawn up Bharatratna Dr Babasaheb make @ZEEJLF what it is and bring to en over the next two months, more than of survival. Currently, the World Food
by the central government, it is expected that the scheme will Ambedkar! Let his work continue to life the amazing list of authors that @ a 50 per cent increase in the number Programme spends $100 million to feed 8
reached now — if access can be main- million people a month in Yemen.
be enforced in letter and spirit by the states, Union Territories inspire us for centuries! NamitaGokhale_ ad @DalrympleWill tained in the poor, war-stricken country,
and the Centre. Just to ensure that the stakeholders do their
string together each year according to an AP report. The target
bit in this regard, the apex court mandated that the scheme
“shall be the ‘law’ under Article 141/142 of the Constitution,
Neeti population includes some 3 million wom-
en and children who need special support
Christmas is bleak for
@neeti_ns
till the enactment of suitable parliamentary and/or state leg-
islations on the subject”. Why was the court in such a hurry? The domination of Real
to prevent malnutrition. The roll-out will
require safe, immediate and unimpeded
1 million UK children
I have told my manager
estate and Gold in the portfolio of
A
In the Vyapam scam several witnesses were killed. In the access for food and other vital supplies. million children under the age of 10,
The World Food Programme and the in England and Scotland, are facing
Asaram case, three people have been killed and several as- individual investors as regards to about my dream to debut at the Food and Agriculture Organization have “Dickensian” levels of poverty as
saulted and threatened with dire consequences. No wonder
witnesses turn hostile and culprits go scot free. The SC had physical assets continues as they Madison Square officially determined that 73,000 Yemeni
civilians in rebel-controlled cities are
they prepare for Christmas, a charity
says. The charity drew on government
once observed that witnesses are the eyes and ears of the jus- together held ~92.1% of the pie. Garden. After enduring famine conditions, according figures of low-income families with chil-
tice system and when a witness is threatened or killed it is not #IndiaWealthReport2018 winning an Olympic to two diplomatic sources. While interna- dren of that age that are experiencing
only the witness who suffers but the very act is considered an tional aid agencies have long warned of material deprivation. The charity also
assault on the fundamental right of a citizen to a free and fair Harsha Bhogle medal, I had spoken severe hunger in Yemen, a full-blown
famine will only be declared if 20 per cent
highlights a 30% rise in the demand for
financial advice over the past three years.
trial. In India since 1958, witness protection has been debated about a desire to fight
and discussed by several committees and commissions. In @bhogleharsha of the population of any town or district The government said since 2010, 300,000
in the country of 28 million experiences fewer children were living in poverty.
2007, the UPA government had planned to bring in a law. As India have a toe in the at the MSG arena severe hunger. While visiting Yemen two Nearly half of children in lone-parent
late as 2017, the Centre and the states couldn’t reach a consen- door. And that is what Pujara and — Vijender weeks ago, World Food Programme Ex- families live in poverty, compared with
sus on the bill, leading to a stalemate. One can now hope to see ecutive Director David Beasley met one in four of those with two parents.
Rohit and Ashwin have done. Singh, Boxer
light at the end of the tunnel.
send your feedback to editor@dnaindia.net

Vaccinating children key to stronger collective immunity

Any parent will
tell you that hav-
ing children is one
of life’s greatest
joys and biggest
challenges. As a
mother, keeping
my six-year-old
protected and
Shilpa Shetty healthy is a big
concern. After all,
no parent wants to see their children
get sick and suffer. No one wants their
kids to miss out on school and jeopard-
ize their chance at a brighter future.
And, certainly, no parent should have to
cope with the loss of a child.
If a child at my son’s school ever
misses classes due to an infectious ill-
ness, all parents are immediately noti-
fied so that swift action can be taken to
ensure the other kids don’t catch it. The
school also checks that every child is
immunised as vaccines are one of the
most effective ways to protect against
several life-threatening diseases like
pneumonia and diarrhoea.
In India, as around the world, immu-
nisation has played a big role in protect-
ing children against infectious diseases.
Smallpox, which cost thousands of chil-
dren their lives till only a few decades
ago, was eradicated globally in 1980. Sim-
ilarly, the government’s Pulse Polio im-
munisation program helped eliminate
the dreadful disease in India in 2014.
Luckily, this generation of children
won’t remember how this disease pain-
fully paralysed hundreds of children.
However, despite progress, I can’t
help but wonder if we are doing enough
today to make sure our children are
safe and healthy tomorrow.
Take the case of pneumonia, for in-
stance. It’s a serious lung infection that
can affect anyone and which makes
breathing difficult, causing bouts of
painful coughing and wheezing. In in-
fants and young children, severe pneu-
monia can make eating and drinking
difficult, and may cause convulsions,
loss of consciousness and even death.
Young children especially children un-
der the age of two are particularly vul-
nerable to this disease — every year In-
dia loses over 1.5 lakh children to pneu-
monia before they can celebrate their
fifth birthday.
The real tragedy is that many of
these deaths are easily preventable. Vac-
cinating against the leading causes of
the disease, coupled with other simple
interventions such as washing hands
and exclusively breastfeeding for the
first six months of life can considerably
reduce the risk of pneumonia.
There are several vaccines that pro-
tect against causes of pneumonia,
many of which are available for free un-
der the government’s national immuni-
sation program. The government also
provides life-saving vaccines against
diseases like diarrhoea and measles,
which can prove to be dangerous for
children, through the Universal Immu-
nisation Programme. Yet, despite the
availability of these vaccines, there are
still many parents who are either una-
ware of the benefits of immunisation
or are misinformed by rumours circu-
lating on WhatsApp and other social
media platforms. This results in many
parents hesitating to vaccinate their
children, leaving them exposed to the
risk to a host of dangerous illnesses.
We are fortunate that today, treatment
is often available for most of our chil-
dren and in many cases, infections are
overcome in a matter of days if the child
receives appropriate treatment. What we
sometimes fail to take into account are
the broader and long-term impacts of
frequent illnesses, which make children
more prone to diseases in the future and
can impair development and capacities
to learn. Further, for those children
whose access to an education is already
threatened by economic vulnerabilities,
missing school days could lead to them
eventually dropping out of school, re-
sulting in the loss of a secure future.
Vaccinating children also protects
against high costs of treatment. In a
country like ours, where there is still a
lot of economic inequality, treating dis-
eases like pneumonia can often prove to
be expensive for lower-income families.
Vaccinating children ensures that par-
ents don’t have to stay at home looking
after their sick children, thus losing
their daily wages. It also reduces the
risk of hospitalisations, which might
drive families further into poverty.
When we become parents, we sign an
unspoken contract — that we will pro-
tect our kids no matter what. Why, then,
should we hesitate to adopt proven
methods such as immunisation that
protects our children from serious dis-
eases that can even prove to be fatal?
The more children are vaccinated, the
stronger the collective immunity of our
community. It’s important, therefore,
that we come together — as parents and
citizens — to ensure that no child is left
behind in this fight against diseases.
Together, we can gift our children a safe
and secure future, so that they can grow
up to become who they want to be.
Author is an actor and entrepreneur

Vol 12 n Issue No. 34 RNI: GUJENG/2007/22424. Printed and Published by Prashant Saxena on behalf of Diligent Media Corporation ltd. Printed at Bhaskar Printing Press, Survey No.148 P, Nagdevta Mandir, Changodar, Bavla Highway, Sanand, Ahmedabad (Gujarat) and Published at Diligent Media Corporation
Limited, Venus Atlantis Building, Unit No. 201 to 208, 2nd Floor, 100 Feet Road, Prahladnagar, Satellite, Ahmedabad 380015. Phone: 079 4060 2000. Editor: Yatish Rajawat Responsible for selection of news under PRB Act.
 w rld 07
www.dnaindia.com I twitter.com/dna I epaper.dnaindia.com I facebook.com/dnaindia
EU judges to rule on Brexit as yellow vest anger endures
France fears ‘great violence’
in brief
on eve of May’s crucial vote
Japanese kids pounding
steamed rice into a cake to
celebrate the New Year —AFP
16 bodies found
after attack in
Indonesia’s Papua
Indonesian security forc-
es have retrieved the bod-
ies of 16 people in the af-
termath of a massacre by
suspected separatist re-
bels in restive Papua
province, the military
said on Thursday. The
confirmed deaths, be-
lieved to be of construc-
tion workers, mark the
deadliest bout of violence
in years to hit a region
wracked by a low-level in-
dependence insurgency.
The bodies will be evacu-
ated to the town of Timi-
ka from the remote dis-
trict of Nduga, a moun-
tainous region where the
attack happened Sunday,
local military command-
er Binsar Panjaitan said.
“The latest information is
that 16 bodies have been
found,” Panjaitan told re-
porters in Papua. The
dead had not been identi-
fied and the military did
not supply details about
how they were killed.
Burundi to shut
UN rights office
The Burundi govern-
ment has ordered the
United Nations Human
Rights Council to shut
its office in the coun-
try within two months,
foreign ministry and
UN sources said on
Thursday.
2 mn religious minorities detained
Washington: An estimated
8,00,000 to 2 million religious
minorities are currently be-
ing detained in internment
camps in China, the Trump
Administration has told law-
makers, who have expressed
serious concerns over the
massive human rights viola-
tions in the Communist na-
tion’s Xinjiang province.
The situation in resource-
rich Xinjiang has been res-
tive as the native Muslim Ui-
ghurs have been resisting
Justices to decide on Dec 10 if Britain can withdraw its plan to leave in March
T It’s my deal,
he EU’s top court will say
on Monday whether Brit-
ain can unilaterally halt
Brexit, potentially offering a
boost to those opposed to
leaving the European Union
on the very eve of a crucial
and tumultuous vote in the
British Parliament.
In statement on Thursday,
the Court of Justice in Lux-
embourg said the justices
would deliver a ruling at 9 am
on December 10 in a case
brought by Scottish politi-
cians who argue Britain can
simply withdraw its plan to
leave in March, without wait-
ing for the approval of the
other member states.
Prime Minister Theresa
May is battling to get a Brexit
deal that she negotiated with
the European Union through
parliament and insists there
is no question of her stop-
ping Brexit.
But in a vote scheduled for
Tuesday, the treaty faces
heavy opposition from law-
makers both for and against
Britain leaving the bloc.
Acting with almost un-
precedented speed in a case
that the court took up only
in October, and on which it
held a hearing only last
week, a legal adviser to the
court said on Tuesday that
Britain could indeed make a
U-turn entirely of its own
accord. Such advice is usu-
ally but not always followed
by the judges.
The legal clarification of
Article 50 of the EU treaty,
under which May last year
triggered a two-year count-
down to departure, matters
because opponents of Brexit
increasing settlements of
majority Han Chinese from
other provinces.
China appears to have set
up a series of secret intern-
ment camps used to lock up
hundreds of thousands of
ethnic Chinese Muslims,
whose existence has long
been denied by authorities.
At a Congressional hear-
ing, Scott Busby, Deputy As-
sistant Secretary of State at
the Bureau of the Human
Right Democracy and Labour,
Anti-EU, pro-Brexit demonstrators protest opposite Houses of Parliament in
London on Thursday. —AFP
task in hand
„„EU negotiator Michel
Barnier said on Thursday
that British lawmakers
will have their country’s
future in their hands when
they vote next week on
the Brexit deal struck with
Brussels.
want to hold a second refer-
endum that would give Brit-
ons a choice of staying in the
EU. According to an advocate
general at the ECJ, that
choice is entirely theirs to
make and does not need EU
approval.
That makes the prospect of
a new referendum credible, ac-
cording to supporters of a
“people’s vote”. The British
electorate voted in 2016 to leave
the EU by 52 per cent to 48.
EU leaders have long in-
sisted they would welcome
Britain changing its mind,
but many EU officials and
alleged that Beijing was sup-
porting similar repressive
moves by other authoritarian
regimes across the globe.
“The US government as-
sesses that since April
2017, Chinese authorities
have indefinitely detained
at least 8,00,000, and possi-
bly more than 2 million,
Uighurs, ethnic Kazakhs
and members of other Mus-
lim minorities in the in-
ternment camps,” he said.
—PTI
„„British MPs look set in
the December 11 vote to
reject the accord struck
by Prime Minister Theresa
May, but Barnier issued
a blunt rebuff to Brexit
supporters pressing to
renegotiate.
legal experts had assumed
that the approval of either all
or most of the other 27 mem-
bers states would be needed
to halt Brexit altogether.
It is far from clear whether
or how Britain could organ-
ise a new referendum.
If May wins her vote on
Tuesday, the withdrawal is
likely to proceed as agreed
with Brussels last month. If
she loses, her own position
could be in jeopardy, there
could be a move for a new
election, or possibly to hold a
new referendum.
—Reuters
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis
Paris: French authorities
are worried that another
wave of “great violence” and
rioting will be unleashed in
Paris this weekend by a hard
core of several thousand ‘yel-
low vest’ protesters, an offi-
cial in the French presidency
said on Thursday.
Despite capitulating this
no deal or no week over plans for fuel taxes
that inspired the nationwide
Brexit at all,
revolt, President Emmanuel
Macron has struggled to
quell the anger that led to the Students demonstrate against French government on Thursday in Paris —AFP
says UK PM worst street unrest in central
Paris since 1968. perate bid to defuse the worst named for fluorescent jackets
London: Prime Minister Rioters torched cars, shat- crisis of Macron’s presidency. French motorists are re-
Theresa May said on Thurs- tered windows, looted shops The Elysee official said in- quired to keep in their cars,
day that British lawmakers and sprayed and anti-Macron telligence suggested that erupted in November over
faced a choice ahead of a vote graffiti across some of Par- some protesters would come the squeeze on household
on her Brexit deal: approving is’s most affluent districts, to the capital “to vandalise budgets caused by fuel taxes.
her deal or facing an exit even defacing the Arc de Tri- and to kill”. Demonstrations swiftly grew
with no deal or even the re- omphe. Scores of people were The threat of more violence into a broad, sometimes-vio-
versal of Brexit. hurt and hundreds arrested poses a security nightmare for lent rebellion against Ma-
May said she was speaking in battles with police. the authorities, who make a cron, with no formal leader.
to lawmakers about giving Prime Minister Edouard distinction between peaceful Education Minister Jean-
parliament a bigger role in Philippe announced late on ‘yellow vest’ protesters and Michel Blanquer urged peo-
whether the Northern Irish Wednesday that he was scrap- violent groups, anarchists and ple to stay at home. Security
backstop arrangement would ping the fuel-tax increases looters from the deprived sub- sources said the government
be triggered, though she gave planned for 2019, having an- urbs who they say have infil- was considering using troops
few details. May said some in nounced a six-month suspen- trated the movement. currently deployed on anti-
parliament were trying to sion the day before, in a des- The yellow vest protests, terrorism patrols. —Reuters
frustrate Brexit and that she
did not think another refer-
endum on Brexit was the
right course.
“There are three options:
one is to leave the European
tenders & Notices
Union with a deal... the other
two are that we leave without
a deal or that we have no
Brexit at all,” May told BBC
radio. “It’s clear that there
are those in the House of
Commons who want to frus-
trate Brexit... and overturn
the vote of the British people
and that’s not right.”
May repeatedly side-
stepped questions on wheth-
er she would delay the Dec. 11
vote but did hint at possible
concessions on the Northern
Irish backstop.
“There are questions
about how decisions are tak-
en,” she said. —Reuters
07
Friday
December
2018
Ahmedabad
www.dnaindia.com
Sensex
35312.13 572.28 q
Gold 10 gram 30965.00
US $ 70.91 0.44 p
news in numbers
moneyedit Sensex dives 572 pts on
Nov PMI a
silver lining in
macro data
T
here’s a thick silver lin-
ing in the macro data
that is buoying senti-
ments. It’s the Nikkei India
Manufacturing Purchas-
ing Managers’ Index (PMI).
This crucial indicator of
the manufacturing sector’s
health rose to an 11-month
high of 54 in November
from 53.1 in October. This
data has given confidence
to the Reserve Bank of In-
dia, which has used it in
its commentary to convey
that a slow turnaround
was taking place in manu-
facturing. It’s heartening
to see that the high PMI for
manufacturing is support-
ed by an expansion in out-
put and domestic and ex-
port orders.
This bright spot in the
data, though, gets slightly
clouded by the slowdown in
the index of industrial pro-
duction (IIP) to 4.5% in Sep-
tember. What’s salvaging it
is the capacity utilisation
figure, which, after a long
gap, finally seems to be im-
proving. Capacity utilisa-
tion, measured by the Re-
serve Bank of India’s order
books, inventories and ca-
pacity utilisation survey
(OBICUS), moved up to
76.1% in second quarter
from 73.8% in first quarter.
All this has infused con-
fidence in the apex bank to
assess that the overall busi-
ness sentiment in the third
quarter will remain “sta-
ble, with sustained opti-
mism about production
and exports”. Economists
are also viewing this data
as a growth booster, which
could blunt the impact of
base-effect on growth in the
third and fourth quarters.
ST smart
US trade deficit
hits 10-year high
The US trade deficit hit a
10-year high in October
as Americans used a
stronger dollar to snap
up record imports, the
government reported
Thursday. The result
showed the trade gap has
continued to swell de-
spite the punitive tariffs
imposed this year on al-
lies and adversaries
alike by President Don-
ald Trump, who has who
has sought to shrink def-
icits he blames for job
losses. And that is likely
to subtract from growth
in the final quarter of
2018, economists say.
Amid Trump’s high-
stakes trade war with
Beijing, the total trade
gap rose 1.7% to $55.5 bil-
lion, driven by all-time
high imports, according
to the Commerce Depart-
ment. The deficit in
goods trade with China
likewise continued to ex-
pand, rising 2% to $38
billion, seasonally ad-
justed, as key exports
like soybeans fell.
‘OMOs to continue
till March-end’
Reserve Bank of India
(RBI) will continue to
inject liquidity into the
banking system through
open market operation
(OMO) purchases till the
end of this fiscal, its
deputy governor Viral
Acharya said. In the
current financial year,
the central bank has
conducted OMO
purchases to the tune of
Rs 1.36 lakh crore, with
over Rs 1 trillion of the
infusion in the last three
months, he said. Late
last month, the RBI had
announced that it would
conduct purchases of
government securities
under OMO for an
amount of Rs 40,000
crore in December to
meet liquidity needs.
Nifty
10601.15 181.75 q
95.00 q
EURO 80.39 0.39 p
14% - Government’s contribution to National Pension Scheme for its employees has risen to from 10% earlier
oil jitters, global sell-off
Polls outcome, arrest of Huawei CFO in Canada keep investors on edge
Ahana Chatterjee
ahana.chatterjee@dnaindia.net
Mumbai: The benchmark
stock market indices lost
more than 1.50% on Thursday
following a global sell-off and
investor coverns over crude
oil prices, rupee and upcom-
ing state election results.
The BSE Sensex plunged
572.28 points, or 1.59%, ended
at 35312.13. The 30-share
gauge has lost 928.87 points
in the last three sessions.
The broader NSE Nifty
lost 181.75 points, or 1.69%, to
settle at 10601.15. During the
intra-day trade, the 50-share
index went as low as 10588.30.
A fresh foreign fund out-
flow and rupee falling below
71 per dollar during the in-
tra-day trade also made the
investors cautious.
“Capital markets had a
rough day, as they are trying to
navigate too many data points
such as re-emergence of sharp
weakness in Indian rupee,
Opec meeting outcome in
terms of production cut and
upcoming results of five state
assembly elections. The nerv-
ousness is quite evident as
there is sharp sell-off across
the industries, especially in
those stocks where there are
corporate governance con-
cerns,” said Jagannadham
Thunuguntla, senior vice-
president and head of re-
search at Centrum Broking.
Maruti Suzuki, Tata Mo-
tors, YES Bank, Adani Ports
and Reliance Industries were
the biggest laggards among
Sensex pack, tanking as
much 4.63%.
The broader market too
did not a very cheerful day as
both the BSE Midcap and
Smallcap indices ended low-
er by 1.54% and 1.36%, re-
spectively.
“We feel investors should
be ready with a shopping list
of stock ideas, as markets
can surprise on upside if
macros stabilise, and elec-
tion results come out palat-
able to markets,” Jagannad-
High bank funding to
realty fuelling crisis
Dipu Rai
dipu.rai@gmail.com
New Delhi: With banks and
non-banking finance compa-
nies (NBFCs) funnelling
huge money into real estate,
banking sector crisis has
entered the housing
market. High leverage
and intertwined banks
and shadow banks have
created the risk that is turn-
ing into a housing crisis.
RBI data shows that banks
are funding high-cost hous-
ing more than any other pro-
ducing sectors of the econo-
my, including large Indus-
tries. Banks have also
hard cash
Indian investors putting more money in financial assets
DNA Money Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Mumbai: Slowly but surely,
Indian investors are turning
away from gold and real es-
tate and towards financial
assets such as direct equity,
mutual funds, bank deposits,
bonds, insurance, etc. And
this trend is likely to
strengthen going ahead.
According to the India
Wealth Report 2018 by Karvy
Private Wealth, financial as-
sets are likely to grow at a
compounded annual growth
rate (CAGR) of 16.99% over
the next five years as com-
pared to 9.34% CAGR for
physical assets. The share of
financial assets in individu-
als’ wealth will increase to
FTSE 100 Nikkei 225
6921.84 100.92 q 21501.62 417.71 q
Silver kg 36330.00 120.00 q Brent Crude $/barrel 60.58 0.20 p
British pound 90.35 0.24 p UAE dirham 19.30 0.09 p
IL&FS Financial Services
ever-greened loans: SFIO
Ateeq Shaikh
ateeq.shaikh@dnaindia.net IL&FS Transportation Share price on BSE in `
100
Mumbai: IL&FS Financial
Services Ltd (IFIN) was into 82.45 80
ever-greening of loans to the
extent that it also wrote off 60
Rupee per $ Intra-day movement Sensex losers
bad debt to extend fresh loans.
p0.43 pts p0.61 % chg Inverted scale 70.40
In the last three fiscals, loans 12.85 40
Scrip Close price % chg worth Rs 3,871.70 crore were
70.55 Maruti Suzuki 7209.70 -4.63 sanctioned by IFIN to window 20
Prve close 70.47
70.70 Tata Motor DVR 88.60 -4.22 dress its balance-sheet.
70.82 70.85 Tata Motors 162.40 -4.02 “It has been found that 0
there have been multiple in- Jan 1, 18 Dec 6
70.90 71.00 Yes Bank 168.30 -3.08
stances where the borrowers
71.15 Adani Ports 363.90 -2.74 of IFIN, other than group
Loans to arm ITNL
9:00 am Dec 6, ’18 17:00 pm *% chg over previous close companies, were extended
additional credit facility by
S&P BSE Sensex IFIN so that they could ser-
violated RBI norms
Intra-day movement 35925 vice their outstanding, inter-
est and principal repayment
572.28 pts 1.59 % chg
obligations and avoid de-
Previous close 35884.41
35785
faulting and/or classifying
35694.25 the account as NPA (non- Ateeq Shaikh
35645
performing asset),” reads ateeq.shaikh@dnaindia.net
sprucing up
35312.13 35505 the ‘Interim Report of IL&FS
balance-sheet
Ltd and its Subsidiaries’ by Mumbai: IL&FS Financial
35365 Serious Fraud Investigation Services Ltd (IFIN) violated
`3,872 cr
Dec 6, 18
Office (SFIO). Reserve Bank of India’s pru-
35225 The report was submitted dential norms on exposure to
9:15 am 15:30 pm by the Ministry of Corporate the group companies by ad- Loans sanctioned by IFIN to
Affairs (MCA) to the Nation- vancing Rs 1,630.05 crore to window dress its balance-sheet in
al Company Law Tribunal’s IL&FS Transportation Net- last three fiscals
(NCLT) Mumbai Bench on works Ltd, revealed an in-
Monday.
The multiple instances of
ever-greening included loans
terim report by the SFIO.
“Investigations revealed
that IFIN had advanced Rs
`1,630 cr
Its loan to IL&FS Transportation
provided to IL&FS Group 1,630.05 crore to ITNL violat- Networks Ltd
Re tracks crude, falls
ham said. companies and to Ind-Bhar- ing the prudential norms
All the 19 sub-sectoral in- ath Group, Gayatri Group, (credit concentration) for the loans to ITNL were lay-
dices compiled by Sensex A2Z Group, Varun Shipping, exposure to group compa- ered through Kanak Re-
44 paise to `70.90/$
were in the red at the end of Housing Development nies framed by the sources Management Ltd (Rs
the day, with BSE Energy & Infrastructure Ltd, RBI. In order to bypass 183 crore), Tierra Enviro Ltd
taking the pole position and Parsvnath Group, Un- the above-mentioned (Rs 380.50 crore), Unique
falling 2.35%. Other top los- itech among others. norms, the loans ulti- Waste Processing Company
ing sectors were Realty and Manju AB For example, during mately advanced to Ltd (Rs 462 crore), Sabarmati
Auto (2.26%), Telecom manju.ab@dnaindia.net the financial year (FY) ITNL were layered Capital Two Ltd (Rs 701
(2.11%) and Consumer Dis- 2015-16, the amount through the eight crore), Livia India Ltd (Rs
cretionary Goods and Ser- Mumbai: A day after Reserve Bank of India (RBI) sharp- classified as ‘ever-greening group companies of IL&FS 560 crore), Motalayja Gas
vices (1.83%). ly revised downwards its inflation forecast for the second of loans’ in the report stood Ltd,” reads the SFIO report. Power Company Ltd (Rs 340
“Markets have been be- half of the fiscal, global crude oil prices fell by 2.5%, re- at Rs 1,452.60 crore. It was the This was done to keep crore), Rapid Metro Rail Gur-
having extremely volatile for newing expectations in the market that a cut in interest exact same amount the sub- ITNL healthy so that it could gaon South Ltd (Rs 935 crore)
last one month and still rates could be a possibility in the next policy announce- sequent fiscal. However, dur- keep servicing debts and and Gujarat Integrated Mar-
there’s no sign of slowing ment on February 5. ing the FY2017-18 this figure other requisite payments. itime Complex Private Ltd
down, thanks to the upcom- Business houses are waiting for rates to soften so that came down to Rs 966.50 crore. In order to fund IL&FS (Rs 465 crore).
ing events – Opec meet and they can access cheaper credit and step up production to During FY18, an amount Transportation, IFIN continu- “The credit appraisal
assembly elections results. meet the growing consumer demand. RBI on Wednesday of Rs 280 crore was extended ously raised funds from the memorandums (CAM) of
Such condition poses threat had lowered its retail inflation forecast for the second half to Flemingo Group’s Geowork market, including debentures loans given to these eight
mainly to the traders as they to 2.7-3.2% from 3.9-4.5% earlier. Infra Projects Private Ltd, of Rs 3,900 crore and commer- companies reveal that loans
end up losing on both sides,” RBI has been hitching its lower inflation projections while the same Group’s differ- cial papers to the tune of Rs were sanctioned without
Jayant Manglik, president at on food prices and on the cost of oil. The depreciating ent entity – Oscar Infra Pri- 2,730 crore, in addition to the any clear purpose or against
Religare Broking, said. rupee will make its oil imports more expensive. vate Ltd was sanctioned a bank loan of Rs 8,500 crore and a specific project in hand.
Fall in the Asian markets “RBI’s inflation projections are lower than what we loan of Rs 100 crore each dur- inter-corporate deposits of Rs Funding of high-value loans
due to the arrest of a top ex-
ecutive of Chinese telecom
have estimated. They have said in the policy that exclud-
ing oil and food the core inflation is still sticky. But oil
ing the previous two fiscals of
2015-16 and 2016-17. The total
980 crore. IFIN had sourced
75% of its funding from the
should be given for a specific
purpose or for specific pro-
giant Huawei in Canada also
triggered the Indian equity
prices will keep inflation low,” said Gopikrishnan MS,
managing director of India financial markets at Standard
amount sanctioned to the Fle-
mingo Group stood at Rs 480
public as well as banks.
For the purpose of bypass-
ject in hand on the basis of
some project feasibility re-
market on Thursday. Chartered Bank. crore for these three years. ing the central bank’s norms, ports,” the report said.
Opec to consider PM Modi’s view before output cut
DNA Money Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net Dousing oil price
G20 Summit in Argentina.
“Consumer is a very im-
that need to be withdrawn.
“We hope that we will come to
pumped a massive amount „„Opec allies could portant part of our delibera- an agreement where all pro-
of money into real estate via Mumbai: Prime Minister cut output by 1 mn bpd tion even though they are not ducers will contribute with
NBFCs and housing finance Narendra Modi’s efforts to if Russia contributed physically with us in the equal cuts across the board.
companies (HFCs), which bring down the oil prices are 150,000 bpd of it room,” Al-Falih said. “So far from my consultations
have 60% exposed to devel- being taken into considera- Opec is said to have tenta- with colleagues we have not
oper financing. tion by oil producing nations „„If Russia contributed tively agreed to an oil-output reached that,” he said.
In the last four years, the of Organisation of Petroleum around 250,000 bpd, cut on Thursday but was On whether Opec could
total lending to develop- Exporting Countries (Opec). the overall cut could waiting to hear from non- fail to reach a deal, Al-Falih
ers is about Rs 4 lakh The oil producers’ cartel exceed 1.3 million bpd Opec heavyweight Russia said all options were on the
crore, where banks will consider Modi’s with se- before deciding the exact vol- table. Possible output cuts by
have financed only Rs riousness before taking a umes for a production reduc- Opec and its allies ranged
1.80 lakh crore and the decision on cutting output to ly vocal about the issue. We events in India where he was tion aimed at propping up from 0.5-1.5 million barrels
rest of the amount Rs 2.2 support falling prices, Saudi just met him in Buenos Aires very vocal.” crude prices, the reports per day (bpd), and 1 million
lakh crore is financed by NB- oil minister Khalid Al-Falih (during G20 summit) and pri- India has been raising the said. Oil prices fell by around bpd was acceptable, he said.
FCs and HFCs. According to said Thursday. vately he made those points issue of volatile oil prices 5% on Thursday. Al-Falih said that US will
Ambit Capital, “Market Speaking to reporters af- very strongly that he does during its meet with oil pro- Al-Falih said that going by not benefit from an oversup-
share of NBFCs/HFCs in ter the Opec meet, Al-Falih care for Indian consumers ducing countries especially the supply-demand, Opec be- ply market from an extended
real estate developer financ- said, “We take the views of and is very serious about it. Saudi Arabia. It was one of lieves that there is substantial period of time where invest-
ing rose to about 60% from Prime Minister Narendra I have also seen him at three the key issues India raised at volumes out there as a result ment flow start.
just 30% four years ago”. Modi seriously who is equal- times at various energy the recently concluded 13th of release in spare capacity (With inputs from Reuters)
Financial assets are likely to grow at 16.99% CAGR over next five years as compared to 9.34% for physical assets
67.98% by financial year (FY) but that was also because of Provident fund will also
2022-23 from 60.22% in FY18. fortunes change the base effect of demoneti- continue to see growth, said
As against this, the share of sation in the earlier year, Bhave “as more people join
„„Share of financial
physical assets will reduce assets in individuals’ Bhave said. the workforce. Post office de-
from 39.78% to 32.022%. However, currency circu- posit scheme is expected to
wealth will rise to 67.98%
Individual wealth is ex- by FY23 from 60.22% in lation continued to be at an do well because of the large
pected to double to Rs 762 all-time high and it grew reach. We also expect small
FY18; share of physical
lakh crore by FY23. Of this, assets will reduce from 39.2%. The share of cash as savings schemes to grow
financial assets are expected part of individuals’ wealth over 10%.’’
39.78% to 32.022%
to touch Rs 518 lakh crore increased to 7.45% in FY18 as The report projects that
and physical assets will grow „„Individual wealth against 6.28% in FY17. over the next five years, di-
to Rs 244 lakh crore. may double to Rs 762 The Sukanya Samriddhi rect equity will grow by al-
According to the report, lakh crore by FY23. Of Scheme, too, saw good most double as compared to
in FY18, the total individual this, financial assets will growth of 56.26%, though the fixed deposits and bonds.
wealth in India saw a growth be Rs 518 lakh crore base was small. Similarly, “This is the time for indi-
of 14.02% to Rs 392 lakh instruments preferred by vidual investors to be over-
crore from Rs 344 lakh crore ultra-high net-worth indi- weight on equities as there is
in the previous fiscal. Of viduals and high net-worth a very high probability of
this, financial assets grew ings will go to financial as- 30.32%, mutual funds 34.5% over FY17. The growth in individuals also saw good the Sensex trebling. We be-
17.42% to Rs 236 lakh crore sets than physical assets,’’ and unlisted equity 36.83% savings bank deposits growth, such as 33.46% jump lieve a sustained bull run is
while physical assets grew said Abhijit Bhave, CEO, in FY18. The share of these (7.39%), fixed deposits and in alternative investments in place, though returns
9.24% to Rs 156 lakh crore. Karvy Private Wealth. assets within individuals’ bonds (7.69%) and current and 25.84% rise in interna- from equity will be lumpy,’’
“Incrementally, more sav- Direct equity grew wealth also saw an increase deposits (4.3%) was a drag, tional assets. Bhave said.
 c mpanies
www.dnaindia.com I twitter.com/dna I epaper.dnaindia.com I facebook.com/dnaindia
Deal
boodmo.com
raises capital from
Street Ukranian pvt fund
Online automotive spare parts marketplace boodmo.
com said Thursday it has raised Rs 7 crore from an
undisclosed Ukrainian private investment fund. With
this, the startup has received a total funding of Rs 27
crore, the company said in a statement. “With this fresh
funding, we plan to improve the warehouse
management systems with the aim of handling more
inventory at the hubs on a monthly basis and expediting
the product delivery process. This will, in turn, help us
improve our overall performance,” boodmo.com
managing director & co-founder Oleksandr Danylenko
said.
Sansan closes
Series E funding
Sansan Inc., the parent
company of the Eight
apps, Japan’s leading
business card organiser
and professional social
networking platform
has raised
approximately Rs 186
crore in Series-E
funding, taking funding
to date to
approximately Rs 7,050
crore. Sansan’s Series E
investment was led by
Japan Post Capital, T.
Rowe Price, SBI
Investment, and DCM
Ventures.
In brief
Uniparts India
files for IPO
Uniparts India, the
manufacturer of
engineering systems and
solutions, has filed draft
papers with markets
regulator Sebi to float an
initial public offering.
The IPO comprises fresh
issuance of shares worth
Rs 100 crore besides an
offer for sale of
1,30,60,770 stocks by
existing shareholders,
according to the draft
red herring prospectus
(DRHP).
Muthoot Finance
net profit up 9%
Muthoot Finance posted
a 9% rise in standalone
net profit to Rs 483.83
crore in the second
quarter ended
September 2018. Its net
MUTHOOT FINANCE
Share price on BSE in `
470.00
415.90 410
Jan 1, 18 Dec 6
profit stood at Rs 445.71
crore in the
corresponding period a
year ago. Total income,
however, fell to Rs
1,650.11 crore during the
reported quarter as
against Rs 1,661.86 crore
in the same period of
the previous fiscal, the
company said in a
regulatory filing.
Zydus to raise via
share sale to
investors
Zydus Wellness
Thursday said it is
planning to raise Rs
2,574.99 crore through
issue of shares on a
preferential basis to
fund the acquisition of
Heinz India. The Zydus
group firm’s board
Thursday approved
issuing equity shares of
face value of Rs 10 each
on a preferential basis
to Cadila Healthcare,
True North, Pioneer
Investment Fund and
Zydus Family Trust,
Zydus Wellness said in a
filing to the BSE.
Biju Balendran to
head Renault
India
In a top-level management
rejig, Renault-Nissan
alliance Thursday
announced the
appointment of Biju
Balendran as the
managing director and
chief executive officer
(CEO) for Renault Nissan
Automotive India
(RNAIPL). Balendran is
replacing Colin
MacDonald who moves on
to a new role in Europe.
Besides, the organisation
announced the
appointment of Sambath
Kumar as the chief
finance officer (CFO) for
Nissan India operations.
Fric Bergen
raises funds
Sauce and dip maker
Vivan Foods Pvt. Ltd,
which sells products
under the brand Fric
Bergen, has raised an
undisclosed sum from
early-stage investment
platform Mumbai
Angels Network,
according to a report.
The company will use
the fresh capital to offer
new products. Going
forward, the company
said it will increase its
focus on selling its
products in more retail
outlets.
‘Our bookings for next
quarter are 20% higher’
M
ahesh Iyer, CEO &
executive director,
Thomas Cook (In-
dia) Ltd (TCIL),
spoke about re-
structuring at TCIL,
acquisition of Kuoni and
future acquisition plans dur-
ing an interview with Swati
Khandelwal of Zee Busi-
ness.
„„ There has been a lot of
nervousness about the
debt level of your parent
company. Will this nerv-
ousness have an impact
on Indian operations?
Not at all as Fairfax took
over the Indian operations
of Thomas Cook in 2012 and
since then the Indian opera-
tions of our company are
directly controlled by the
Fairfax group. But the brand
licence agreement enables
us to use Thomas Cook’s
brand name. Apart from
485
this, we don’t have any asso-
460 ciation with Thomas Cook.
435
„„The company has gone
through restructuring in
385
the recent past. What’s
360 the current status?
We are carving out Quess,
one of our portfolio invest-
ments, that has grown and
gone public, as part of our
restructuring exercise.
In the process, we are giv-
ing direct ownership of
Quess to the shareholders of
Thomas Cook that share-
holding of Quess. This is the
restructuring that we are go-
ing through at present.
No changes are be-
ing introduced in
Infosys hires 7K US workers, inaugurates tech hub
New Delhi: IT firm Infosys
on Thursday announced in-
auguration of its new tech-
nology and innovation hub
in Hartford in the US.
The company also an-
nounced that it has hired
more than 7,000 American
workers in the last 18
under lens Meng Wanzhou was arrested as US authorities have been probing Huawei since 2016
Huawei CFO arrested in Canada on US request 5G phones next year
Julie Gordon
Vancouver: The daughter
of Huawei’s founder, a top
executive at the Chinese
technology giant, was ar-
rested in Canada and faces
extradition to the United
States, roiling global stock
markets as it threatened to
inflame the Sino-US trade
tensions afresh.
The shock arrest of Meng
Wanzhou, 46, who is Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd’s chief
financial officer, raises fresh
doubts over a 90-day truce on
trade struck between Presi-
dents Donald Trump and Xi
Jinping on Saturday - the day
she was detained.
Her arrest, revealed late
on Wednesday by Canadian
authorities, is related to US
sanctions, a person familiar
CESC biz demerger faces delay
WB electricity regulator’s approval unlikely to come soon; co lines up big FMCG plans
Sumit Moitra
m_ sumit@dnaindia.net
Kolkata: Ahead of the list-
ing of demerged entities of
his flagship CESC, Sanjiv
Goenka has lined up ambi-
tious plans for his new
FMCG foods business even
as demerger of his power
businesses into generation
and distribution entities is
getting delayed.
“We have a very ambi-
tious plan to reach Rs 10,000
crore of turnovers in the
next five years for our snacks
business. Work is on for dif-
ferent things. Turnover
would come from a combina-
tion of organic and inorgan-
ic growth,” Goenka, chair-
man of RP-Sanjiv Goenka
Group said.
Current turnover of the
packaged snacks business is
Rs 50 crore a month being
carried out by two compa-
nies, Guiltfree Industries,
which owns the homegrown
TooYumm brand, as well as
Apricot Foods, which was
acquired for its e-Vita brand
of snacks.
Both these companies
would be part of CESC Ven-
the business of TCIL, which
is solely into travel and tour-
ism. In fact, in H1FY19, we
have seen our travel busi-
ness growing at about 17%
and passenger growth has
been around 12%. Our for-
ward bookings for the com-
ing quarter is higher by
about 20% and this is a rea-
son that we are excited to see
what the future is holding
for us.
„„ You have acquired des-
tination management
business from Kuoni this
year. How is it contribut-
ing to the business?
At the time of acquisi-
tion, it had a loss of about
months as a part of its ongo-
ing commitment to acceler-
ate the pace of digital inno-
vation for American enter-
prises.
“The Hartford hub will
help Infosys work more
closely with its clients in the
region and will serve as the
OnePlus to launch
with the matter said. Reuters
was unable to determine the
precise nature of the possi-
ble violations.
Sources said in April that
the US authorities have been
investigating Huawei, the
world’s largest telecoms
equipment maker, since at
least 2016 for allegedly ship-
ping the US-origin products
to Iran and other countries
in violation of the US export
and sanctions laws.
The arrest and any poten-
tial sanctions on the world’s
second-biggest smartphone
maker could have major re-
percussions on the global
technology supply chain.
The US stock futures and
Asian shares tumbled as
news of the arrest height-
ened the sense a major colli-
sion was brewing between
10,000cr 50
` `
powering
Turnover the company is eyeing for
ahead
FMCG foods business
tures, to be listed along with
Spencers’ Retail.
The brands jointly con-
trol 3.5% of what Goenka
described a “western India
flavours” that includes bhu-
jias, chips and extruded
snacks. “Breakeven of the
FMCG food business is likely
to happen by fiscal 2020,” he
said while launching new
flavours under the TooY-
umm brand.
While manufacturing is
taking place in smaller,
$3.5 million, but has reached
break-even in the first half
of fiscal 2019. So, our esti-
mates for the full year is that
we should be at a breakeven
or at a marginal loss, but
there will be a substantial
improvement from the pre-
vious year.
„„ Are you planning more
acquisitions in FY19?
Our latest acquisition is a
start-up because we felt that
the new millennials are us-
ing technology to get across
the customers and we
thought that it is the right
platform to invest. We don’t
have any specific targets
that we go after, but clearly
if there is a good opportu-
nity at an attractive price we
will acquire it. At the stan-
dalone level, we are debt-
free and are able to generate
about Rs 200 crore of free
cash every year. Hence, have
fairly deep pockets to ac-
quire.
„„ Will currency deprecia-
tion have an impact on
your business in the ongo-
ing quarter and the next?
Is there any conscious
shift in the international
and domestic travel pat-
tern?
The currency volatility
did not have any impact on
our business even when it
was at its peak in August-
September season because
holiday is a category
where plans are
postponed but
not cancelled.
global Hub for Infosys’ In-
surTech and HealthTech ef-
forts. The hub will feature
living labs for the future of
insurance, the future of
healthcare and the future of
manufacturing amongst oth-
ers,” Infosys said in a BSE
filing.
Meng Wanzhou, executive board director of Huawei
the world’s two largest eco-
nomic powers, not just over
tariffs but also over techno-
logical hegemony.
Huawei is not listed, but
China’s second-largest tele-
com equipment maker, ZTE
Corp, sank nearly 6% in
Hong Kong while most of the
current sales per
month
NCLT approved
the demerger
but said we need
to get approval for the
PPA from the
Commission
 Sanjiv Goenka, chairman,
 RP-Sanjiv Goenka group
mostly outsourced plants, a
large 40,000 tonne a year unit
spread over 27 acre at Telan-
gana at an investment of Rs
247 crore is coming up to be
completed by the third quar-
ter of fiscal 2020.
“In two years we would
have plants in all four re-
gions of the country,” Goen-
ka said.
The concept of baked
multi-grain snacks are
catching on, popularised by
TooYumm though campaign
Mercedes tops vehicle sales satisfaction
for luxury brands in India: Jd POWER
German carmaker Mercedes-Benz has topped sales satisfaction in the luxury vehicles
segment followed by rival BMW in India, according to a study by JD Power
28%
luxury car buyers
shop around for other internet as one
models before making of their key informa-
a purchase decision
Edelweiss arm
to raise `1K cr
via NCD route
New Delhi: Edelweiss
Group NBFC arm ECL Fi-
nance (ECLF) on Thursday
announced the public issue
of bonds to raise up to Rs
1,000 crore for business
growth and meeting corpo-
rate expenses.
It will issue secured re-
deemable non-convertible
debentures (NCDs) aggregat-
ing to Rs 250 crore, with an
option to retain over-sub-
scription up to Rs 750 crore
(aggregating to a total of Rs
1,000 crore, Edelweiss Finan-
cial Services said.
The NCDs offer an effec-
tive yield of 10.20% per an-
num for 39-month tenure,
10.42% per annum for 60
months and 10.64% for 120
months. Edelweiss shares
ended 4% lower on BSE.
—PTI
Infosys COO UB Pravin
Rao said the inauguration of
Hartford technology and in-
novation hub is an impor-
tant milestone in the com-
pany’s ongoing efforts to
help American enterprises
revitalise their core busi-
nesses. —PTI
nearby national bourses lost
at least 2%.
MSCI’s benchmark for
global stocks declined 0.61%,
and the US markets were on
track to open lower by 1% or
more. Investors stampeded
for the safety of government
debt, pushing the yield on
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis
cr
` 247cr
it has invested
in Telangana
manufacturing unit
featuring Virat Kohli and is
even finding market over-
seas. “Guiltfree is exporting
its snacks to Dubai, Oman
and Qatar and there is a de-
mand traction. We will also
look at the European Union,”
Goenka said.
While Goenka is current-
ly awaiting the listing ap-
proval from the Securities
and Exchange Board of In-
dia any time, following
which demerged entities like
Spencer’s Retail and CESC
Ventures would listed at the
exchanges, the approval of
the state electricity regula-
tor for a power purchase
agreement between the pro-
posed power generation and
distribution entities of
CESC, earlier expected to
happen in the second quar-
ter, has been delayed.
And with the chairman of
West Bengal Electricity Reg-
ulatory Commission, R N
903 – score of Mercedes-Benz
900 – score of BMW
888 – Audi
65% 49%
of use the contact the dealer
directly prior to their
first physical visit of
tion sources the dealership
NCLT rejects HDFC’s insolvency
plea against RHC Holding
New Delhi: The National
Company Law Tribunal
(NCLT) on Thursday dis-
missed HDFC Ltd’s insol-
vency plea against RHC
Holding, observing that the
non-banking financial com-
pany does not come under
the purview of the IBC Code.
A two-member principal
bench headed by NCLT pres-
ident justice M M Kumar
dismissed the plea of HDFC
Ltd, which had moved the
tribunal to recover an
amount of Rs 41 crore.
RHC Holding, promoted
by Malvinder Mohan Singh
and Shivinder Mohan, had
taken a loan of Rs 200 crore
from HDFC in April 2016.
RHC Holding had paid the
interest for the first quarter
on time but later started de-
faulting on it.
According to HDFC, even
after adjusting the proceeds
from the sales of the pledged
share, a substantial amount of
Rs 41.09 crore remained due.
To recover the remaining
amount, HDFC filed an insol-
vency plea against RHC
Holding before NCLT.
Subsequently, Japanese
drug major Daiichi Sankyo
had moved NCLT to stay the
insolvency proceedings
the US 10-year Treasury note
back below 2.9% to its lowest
level in three months.
Huawei is already under
intense scrutiny from the US
and other western govern-
ments about its ties to the
Chinese government, driven
by concerns it could be used
by the state for spying. It has
been locked out of the United
States and some other mar-
kets for telecom gear. Huawei
has repeatedly insisted Bei-
jing has no influence over it.
Meng, one of the vice
chairs on the company’s
board and the daughter of
company founder Ren
Zhengfei, was arrested on
December 1 at the request of
US authorities and a court
hearing has been set for Fri-
day, a Canadian spokesman
said. —Reuters
Sen retiring in November
resulting in the Board of the
regulatory body having just
one member with two posts
falling vacant, the approval
is not likely to happen any
time soon.
“NCLT approved the de-
merger but said we need to
get approval for the PPA from
the Commission whose con-
cern is charging an appropri-
ate tariff,” Goenka said.
In order to decide on the
impact of the demerger on
CESC’s power tariff, the for-
mer regulator head is be-
lieved to have raised concern
over utilisation of assets of
CESC by other businesses
being demerged which might
have taken place.
“Pending receipt of the
above approval from
WBERC, the Board of direc-
tors at its meeting held on
October 12 has decided that
with effect from October 1,
2017, the appointed date spec-
ified in the Scheme (of de-
merger), the non-power in-
vestments of the company be
demerged into two entities
as was planned in the
Scheme,” CESC said in its
annual report.
52%
of these buyers rely on friends & family paperwork comple-
compared prices of the as their primary source tion, working out
same model across of information while
multiple dealerships
HDFC
Share price on BSE in `
1944.20
1687.35
Jan 1, 18 Dec 6
court battle
„„RHC Holding had
taken a loan of Rs 200
crore from HDFC in April
2016
„„According to HDFC,
a substantial amount
of Rs 41.09 crore
remained due
against RHC Holding.
The tribunal Thursday
observed that RHC Holding
was a non-banking finance
company as per the certifi-
cate of registration issued by
the banking regulator RBI.
“Respondent company be-
ing a non-banking finance
company remain outside the
purview of the code (Insol-
vency and Bankruptcy
Code),” NCLT said.
Hawaii: Chinese handset
maker OnePlus will join the
growing roster of handset
makers rolling out their 5G
smartphones with a flagship
device next
year, featuring
the latest Qual-
comm Snap-
dragon 855 mo-
bile platform.
Speaking at
the Snapdragon
Tech Summit
here, OnePlus
CEO Pete Lau
said the com-
pany will have
the first flag-
ship smartphone to feature
the Snapdragon 855 that will
be rolled out next year in Eu-
rope in partnership with tel-
ecom operator, EE.
Lau did not share any
09
Jet Airways to
pay salaries in
instalments
till April
Mumbai: Crisis-hit Jet Air-
ways will pay salaries to its
senior staff, including pilots,
in instalments till April,
sources said.
The full-service carrier,
which has been grappling
with financial woes, would
give this month 75% of the
October salary, of which 25%
is expected to be credited on
Thursday, they added.
The sources said the pay-
ment schedule was discussed
with pilots during their
meeting with Jet Airways
CEO Vinay Dube.
As per the latest schedule,
salaries would become cur-
rent from April 2019 and
100% of March salary would
be paid in April itself, they
added.
According to the sources,
25% of the October salary, as
well as 75% of the November
salary, would be paid in Jan-
uary.
Further, 25% of the No-
vember pay along with full
December salary would be
given in February. Around
25% of the January salary
would also be paid in Febru-
ary, the sources said. —PTI
The study measures
overall satisfac-
75%
tion in dealership
facility, delivery
process, dealer
sales consultant,
the deal and deal-
deciding on brand ership website
With RHC Holding “hav-
ing excluded from the defi-
2100 nition of the corporate per-
2000
son, the present application
filed under section 7 of the
1900 code against a financial ser-
vice provider is not main-
1800
tainable”.
1700
Daiichi Sankyo had
claimed, “a decree to recover
1600 money against RHC Hold-
ing”.
The Delhi High Court has
already granted a status quo
over the sale of assets by
RHC Holding.
A tribunal in Singapore
had passed the award in fa-
vour of Daiichi holding that
the Singh brothers had con-
cealed information that In-
dian company Ranbaxy was
facing a probe by the US
Food and Drug Administra-
tion and the Department of
Justice while selling its
shares.
The high court on Janu-
ary 31 had upheld the inter-
national arbitral award
passed in the favour of Dai-
ichi and paved the way for
enforcement of the 2016 tri-
bunal award against the
brothers who had sold their
shares in Ranbaxy to Dai-
ichi in 2008 for Rs 9,576.1
crore. —PTI
more details of the planned
device, but said: “we know
that the 855 is the most pow-
erful chipset, it is definitely
the one and only choice for
our phone”.
However, it re-
mains to be seen
whether the 5G
handset will make
its way to India,
which is a key mar-
ket for OnePlus.
5G services --
which promise to
bring in faster data
speeds for users --
are expected to be
rolled out in the
US, parts of Europe, South
Korea, China and Australia
in 2019.
In India, such a rollout
would happen after spec-
trum auction. —PTI
 07
Friday
December
2018
Ahmedabad
www.dnaindia.com
MOTOR SPORT
ball game
Uncapped Hamza
in SA squad for
Pakistan series
South Africa have
named uncapped mid-
dle-order batsman
Zubayr Hamza and fast
bowler Duanne Olivier
in their squad for the
three-Test home series
against Pakistan start-
ing in Pretoria on De-
cember 26. Cape Town-
born Hamza, 23, averag-
es almost 50 in first-class
cricket but has had a
modest domestic season
to date with two fifties
in nine innings and an
average of a little over
31. Olivier has been re-
called as a replacement
for the injured Lungi
Ngidi, who will miss the
entire Pakistan tour that
also includes five One-
Day Internationals and
three Twenty20 fixtures.
The second Test will be
played in Cape Town
from Jan 3-7, with the se-
ries finale in Johannes-
burg from Jan 11-15.
Squad: Faf du Plessis
(captain), Hashim Amla,
Temba Bavuma, Theu-
nis de Bruyn, Quinton
de Kock, Dean Elgar,
Zubayr Hamza, Keshav
Maharaj, Aiden
Markram, Duanne Olivi-
er, Vernon Philander,
Kagiso Rabada, Dale
Steyn
on the tube
(All Live)
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Gugale frustrates Mumbai with century
Pune: Maharashtra opener
Swapnil Gugale hit a century
as the hosts powered their
way to 298/3 against Mumbai
on the opening day of their
Elite Ranji Trophy Group A
game on Thursday.
Put in to bat at the MCA
International Stadium in Ga-
hunje on the outskirts of the
city, Gugale (101, 191b, 15x4)
and his opening partner Chi-
rag Khurana (71, 106b, 12x4)
laid a solid foundation
with a 146-run stand.
The two batsmen, with
their effective stroke play,
made life difficult for Mum-
bai bowlers, who missed
the experience of key pac-
ers Dhawal Kulkarni
Ranji
and Tushar Deshpande, Trophy —PTI
both out with injuries.
After Khurana fell, one
down Jay Pande (68*) joined
Gugale to share 52. But soon
VOLLEYBALL US Olympic gold medal-
list David Lee will headline the first Pro Volleyball
League draft and auction in New Delhi on Dec
14. Six teams will participate in the league to be
held in Kochi and Chennai from Feb 2-22, 2019
India’s Jehan Daruvala, 20, has signed up for Prema for the first season of next year’s FIA Formula 3 Championship
Pujara stands tall amidst ruins
India’s No. 3 scores 123 to bail team out from precarious 41/4; shares vital partnership of 62 with Ashwin; visitors finish Day 1 at 250/9
India in
Australia
First test
Adelaide: Cheteshwar Pu-
jara rose to the occasion with
a maiden century in Austral-
ia, pulling India out of a deep
hole to a respectable 250/9 on
Day 1 of the first Test here on
Thursday.
Pujara showed the same
grit and gumption that is
typical of him en route a 246-
ball 123 that kept India in the
game after being reduced to
127/6 in the 50th over.
It took a brilliant direct
throw from Pat Cummins to
remove him on what hap-
pened to be the final ball of
an absorbing opening day
one of the four-Test series.
Skipper Virat Kohli opted
to bat in ideal conditions but
the top-order once again
failed to apply themselves
against the potent pace trio
of Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazle-
wood and Cummins.
Anything close to 250
looked a mountain to climb
with India reeling at 56/4 at
lunch. But Pujara stood tall
amid the ruins to save India
from embarrassment on way
to his 16th Test ton. His fight-
ing effort comprised seven
fours and two sixes.
The 30-year-old put on two
crucial partnerships with
the lower-order batsmen to
ensure India give their bowl-
ers something to bowl at.
Post tea, Pujara added 62
runs with R Ashwin (25) for
the seventh wicket. The lat-
ter played watchfully, unlike
the Indian top-order, and
played a great
role in this mi-
nor recovery.
Cummins
finally got the
breakthrough
in the 74th over
when Ashwin
edged to second
slip. Ishant
Sharma (4)
then put on 21
runs with
Delhi’s Gautam Gambhir (L) in his
last first-class match against Andhra
in New Delhi on Thursday —PTI
after completing his
fourth first class century,
Pune-born Gugale was
cleaned up by right-arm
medium pacer Shubham
Ranjane (2-30). Skipper
Rahul Tripathi (25 not
out) was holding the fort
with Pande at stumps.
Brief scores: In Pune:
Maharashtra 298/3 in 87 ov (SM
Gugale 101, CG Khurana 71, JS
Pande 68*) vs Mumbai
India’s Cheteshwar Pujara plays a square cut en route to 123, his 16th Test century, against Australia on the opening day of the first Test in Adelaide on Thursday —REUTERS
Pujara, pushing the score
past 200 in the 79th over.
Of the two Indian open-
ers, KL Rahul (2) looked out
of sorts against their ex-
press pace, and was unsur-
prisingly dismissed cheaply.
Murali Vijay went for a
cover drive against Starc
and only ended up edging
behind. Kohli then
walked out to bat a lot ear-
lier than anticipated. He
looked a lot more confi-
dent, but an awe-inducing
diving catch ended his
short stay at the crease.
Usman Khawaja dived
to his left and held a
stunning one-handed
catch at gully off
Cummins as Kohli
was sent back with
India reeling at
19/3 in 11 overs.
—PTI
Virat Kohli (L) walks back to the
pavilion after being dismissed
by a blinder of a catch taken by
Usman Khawaja (R) at gully in
Adelaide on Thursday —AP
One of my top-5 Test knocks, says Pujara
Adelaide: Cheteshwar
Pujara said his hundred
on Thursday ranks
among the top five of
his 16 centuries in
Tests. “It (Thurs-
day’s knock) is one
of my top innings
in Test cricket, I
could say top five.
I can’t rate if it
was one of the
best but the
teammates
were appreci-
ELITE
Group A & B
In Indore: Hyderabad 124 in 35.3
ov (H Agarwal 69; A Khan 7/23) vs
Madhya Pradesh 168/1 in 46 ov (A
Rohera 81*, R Patidar 51*)
In Vadodara: Chhattisgarh 129 in
39.4 ov (S Tai 3/36, SK Singh 5/23)
vs Baroda 165/7 in 45 ov
In Valsad: Gujarat 340/8 in 88 ov
(PK Panchal 69, P Chawla 109*; A
Mishra 4/78) vs Railways
In Rajkot: Saurashtra 288/9 in 91
ov (Jaydev Shah 97; J Suchith
5/104, P Deshpande 3/78) vs
Karnataka
In New Delhi: Andhra 266/7 in 86
ov (R Bhui 150*; S Bhati 5/35)
vs Delhi
In Mohali: Himachal 244/5 in 90 ov
(NR Gangta 58, AR Kalsi 50, RR
Dhawan 61) vs Punjab
FOOTBALL France’s Ligue 1 game
this weekend between Thierry Henry’s (in
pic) Monaco and Nice, coached by Patrick
Viera, is postponed amid fears of “yellow
vest” protests over rising living costs
did you know?
n Cheteshwar Pujara reached
14,000 runs in first-class
cricket during his knock of 123
in Adelaide on Thursday
ating, they were saying it was
one of the best,” he said. “...
people have always said that
I have scored more runs in
India. But at the same time,
you also need to look at the
number of matches we play
in India. If we have played
more number of matches in
India, obviously I will score
runs there,” he reasoned.
Pujara conceded that the
top-order should have batted
better on Day 1. “We should
have batted better but they
ELSEWHERE
In Chennai: Tamil Nadu 249/6 in
90 ov (B Indrajith 87, S Khan 82*;
Warrier 3/42) vs Kerala
Group C
In Agartala: Haryana 258/7 in 90 ov
(CK Bishnoi 82, RM Dagar 114; MB
Mura Singh 3/54, AS Sarkar 3/47)
vs Tripura
In Povorim: Services 184 in 71.3
ov (R Chauhan 75; V Prabhudesai
5/52, A Pandrekar 3/27) vs Goa
27/1 in 14 ov
In Jammu: Jammu & Kashmir
290 in 71.4 ov (P Rasool 87, I
Pathan 91; S Kumar 6/90) vs
Uttar Pradesh 31/3 in 14 ov (Md
Mudhasir 3/17)
In Ranchi: Jharkhand 172 in 71.1
ov (B Mohanty 5/44, R Mohanty
3/51) vs Odisha 27/3 in 13 ov
In Jaipur: Assam 108 in 28.1 ov
(AV Choudhary 5/38, N Singh 3/33)
10
SCOREBOARD
Australia vs India
1st Test, Adelaide Oval, Adelaide
Toss: India, bat first
India (1st innings) R B 4s/6s SR
KL Rahul c Finch b Hazlewood 2 8 0/0 25.00
M Vijay c Paine b Starc 11 22 1/0 50.00
C Pujara (run out) 123 246 7/2 50.00
V Kohli c Khawaja b Cummins 3 16 0/0 18.75
Rahane c Handscomb b Hazlewood 13 31 0/1 41.93
R Sharma c Harris b Lyon 37 61 2/3 60.65
R Pant c Paine b Lyon 25 38 2/1 65.78
Ashwin c Handscomb b Cummins 25 76 1/0 32.89
I Sharma b Starc 4 20 1/0 20.00
Md Shami (batting) 6 9 1/0 66.66
Extras (LB1) 1
Total (for 9 wickets, 87.5 ov) 250 (2.84 runs per over)
Fall of wickets: 1-3 (Rahul, 1.6 ov), 2-15 (Vijay, 6.6
ov), 3-19 (Kohli, 10.3 ov), 4-41 (Rahane, 20.2 ov),
5-86 (Sharma, 37.3 ov), 6-127 (Pant, 49.1 ov), 7-189
(Ashwin, 73.6 ov), 8-210 (Sharma, 82.4 ov), 9-250
(Pujara, 87.5 ov)
Bowling: M Starc 19-4-63-2, J Hazlewood 19.5-3-52-2,
P Cummins 19-3-49-2, N Lyon 28-2-83-2, T Head
2-1-2-0
We got it a bit
wrong in end,
says Starc
Adelaide: Australian pacer
Mitchell Starc was satisfied
with his team’s bowling ef-
All in a day’s play Session 3
forts on Thursday but rued
that it allowed India to wrig-
Session 1 gle out of a precarious posi-
Pujara reaches ton,
tion.
Top-order fails against quicks falls in day’s last ball
“I thought we bowled re-
India top-order fail to capitalise on good batting conditions to Cheteshwar Pujara scores ally well for four hours, prob-
be reduced to 56/4 after winning the toss. The Australian pac- a gritty 123 in punishing ably pretty well for another
ers strike regularly with the Kookaburra ball with KL Rahul and conditions to help India hour and probably got it a bit
Ajinkya Rahane falling to loose shots to catches in the slips. wrong at the end there,”
claw back. Pujara, in the
Scores at lunch: India 56/4 in 27 ov (Pujara 11*, Sharma 15*) Starc said.
course of his 16th Test
“Cheteshwar Pujara bat-
century, reaches 5,000 Test ted a lot of time. He’s some-
Session 2
runs. He runs himself out one who likes to absorb pres-
Rohit, Pant don’t capitalise on starts in what was the day’s last sure and bat a long time, and
Cheteshwar Pujara plays a gritty innings to keep the Austral- ball in an attempt to retain credit to him he scored a fan-
ians at bay even as India lose 2 wickets in this session. Rohit strike in the next over to tastic hundred today.
Sharma looks good for a big knock on his comeback Test after shield No. 10 Md Shami. “I think if you asked us at
Scores at stumps: the start of the day if we’d
missing 9 Tests but throws away with a stroke of madness. take losing the toss and India
Rishabh Pant too perishes after playing a little cameo. India 250/9 in 87.5 ov (Md
being 9 for 250 at stumps, I
Scores at tea: India 143/6 in 56 ov (Pujara 46*, Ashwin 5*) Shami 6*)
think we’d bite your arm off,”
he added.
n zone The 28-year-old pacer, how-
ever, said it is still early stage
108 2
No. of innings Cheteshwar Pu- No. of 50-plus scores Cheteshwar Pujara has in 4 Tests (7 and they will need to work
jara has taken to reach 5,000 innings) in Australia, and both have come in Adelaide — hard to achieve a win.
runs in Tests (in his 65th Test), 73 in 2014-15 and 123 in 2018-19 “You can’t judge a wicket
the 12th Indian to do so. Interestingly, India’s until both teams have had a
2
former No. 3 batsman Rahul Dravid also No. of times Virat Kohli has won the toss in 9 overseas crack. One good day isn’t go-
reached his 5,000 runs in his 108th innings Tests in 2018 when he called right on Thursday. The only ing to win a series. It’s going
(63rd Test). Coincidentally, both Pujara and other time this year came in Johannesburg, and India won
to go a long way to helping
Dravid reached 3,000 runs in 67 innings and the Test. He lost the toss in the other 7 Tests, and India lost the win a Test but it’s nothing to
4,000 in 84 innings. match in 6 of them win a series,” he said.
Australia were brilliant in
the field throughout the hot
day, and the turning point
perhaps came when Usman
Khawaja leapt to his left to
dismiss Virat Kohli cheaply
with a stunning catch.
also bowled well in the first ence of first-class and Test you can’t do the same when “Usman Khawaja 3.0 isn’t
two sessions. I knew that I cricket and that came in you are batting with a (top it? He’s on fire,” Starc said.
had to stay patient and wait handy today,” he said. order) batsman. When you “He’s made a huge effort over
for the loose balls. The way Pujara added that the are just 1 or 2 down, you can’t the last nine months I guess
they bowled, they bowled in wicket wasn’t as easy to bat play the same shots. and it’s showing in his bat-
the right areas. I also felt that on, and that he needed to take “Also, the difference is, I ting and now it’s showing in
our top order should have a lot of time to play his shots, had batted for two sessions his fielding. A great catch
batted better but they will which again reflected poorly and I knew what the pace and and probably one he’ll keep
learn from the mistakes,” he on how the Indian top-order bounce of the pitch was. I bringing up now as well, so a
said on Thursday. batted on Thursday. was set, so I could play my great effort from him.
“Hopefully we will bat “It has to be different be- shots. I was a bit disappoint- “It was a great catch and
well in the second innings. cause when you are batting ed but I had to take that sin- hopefully he’s going to have
As far as my innings is con- with the tail, you never know gle because only last two a great couple of days with
cerned, I had prepared well how long they can bat. You balls were left and I wanted the bat as well,” said the
and overall I have the experi- have to take your chances but to be on strike.” —PTI pacer. —PTI
Yasir beats Grimmett’s record;
vs Rajasthan 153/2 in 56 ov (MK
Williamson hits fighting 139*
Abu Dhabi: Record-break-
Lomror 77*) ing Yasir Shah had to share did you know?
the day’s honours with New
PLATE n Yasir Shah is the quickest to
Zealand skipper Kane Wil- 200 Test wickets in 33 Tests.
In Sovima: Nagaland 126 in 37.3 ov
liamson on Thursday as the But, in terms of balls, India’s R
(Homendro 3/46, Th Kishan 3/32,
third and final Test heads to- Ashwin is quickest to the mile-
K Priyojit 3/20) vs Manipur 173/3
wards a gripping final day in stone, taking 10,248 balls. Yasir
in 46 ov (M Raghav 109*)
Abu Dhabi. is third fastest by balls, 10,900.
In Patna: Arunachal Pradesh 84 in Earlire in the day, Shah col- Clarrie Grimmett took 13,934
39.5 ov (Vivek 3/26, A Aman 4/26) lected the one wicket he need- Pakistan’s Yasir Shah (C) celebrates balls to reach 200 wickets
vs Bihar 250/1 in 48 ov (I Kumar ed to become the fastest to 200 his 200th wicket on Thursday —AFP
127*, B Kumar 72*) wickets in Test cricket. The
In Wayanad: Puducherry 418/4 in rest of the day belonged to Wil- ticipation with New Zealand watchman Will Somerville
90 ov (M Viknesh 78, PK Dogra liamson, who played a master- resuming at 26/2 and Yasir leg before for four with his
253, D Rohit 59) vs Sikkim ly innings, and was 139 not out taking the ball to bowl the 13th delivery of the day, he
In Dehradun: Meghalaya 294/5 in as the Kiwis reached 272/4 by third over. reached the 200-wicket mark
84 ov (P Bisht 154, Y Nagar 91) vs the close. Williamson had great He needed just one wicket in just his 33rd Test, becom-
Uttarakhand support from Henry Nicholls, to break a record set 82 years ing the seventh Pakistani to
who made 90 not out during an ago by the great Australian the milestone. —AFP
Star Watch unbroken fifth wicket partner- leg-spinner Clarrie Grim- Brief scores: New Zealand 274
Dinesh Karthik, 4 (5b, 1x4), Tamil ship of 212 that has given New mett, who had needed 36 & (o/n 26/2) 272/4 in 104 ov (K
Zealand a lead of 198 with six Tests to reach the milestone
Nadu vs Kerala Williamson 139*, H Nicholls 90*;
wickets remaining. of 200 Test wickets. S Afridi 2/55, Y Shah 2/107) vs
The day began in high an- When Shah trapped night- Pakistan 348
 sP rt
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hot on heels
Curry shines in
Warriors win
over Cavaliers
Stephen Curry scored 42
points to lead the Golden
State Warriors to a 129-
105 victory over the
Cleveland Cavaliers on
Wednesday in an NBA Fi-
nals rematch in name
only. Curry drained nine
three-pointers and Kevin
Durant added 25 points
on nine of 16 shooting as
the Warriors pulled away
in the second half against
a Cleveland team that
bears little resemblance
to the LeBron James-led
Cavs that battled the War-
riors in the last four
championship series.
Cavani rescues
PSG in stalemate
Edinson Cavani saved a
point for Paris Saint-
Germain as the Ligue 1
leaders slipped for the
second time in a week
with a hugely entertain-
ing 1-1 draw at Stras-
bourg. The Uruguayan
striker fired home a
71st-minute penalty to
maintain PSG’s unbeat-
en record after 16 games
despite a disjointed per-
formance without in-
jured star attacker Ney-
mar, equalising Kenny
Lala’s own spot-kick for
the spirited hosts four
minutes before the
break on Wednesday.
Ex-natl champion
swimmer dies
Seven-time former na-
tional champion swim-
mer Arun Kumar Shaw
passed away following a
prolonged illness, an of-
ficial of the Bengal Am-
ateur Swimming Associ-
ation said. He was 82
and is survived by his
wife. “He was suffering
from age-related prob-
lems and breathed his
last at 8.45pm Wednes-
day at his residence in
Ravindra Sarovar,” the
official said. Shaw was
the first swimmer from
Bengal to receive the Ar-
juna Award in 1967.
NEROCA eye
second spot
Manipur-based side
NEROCA FC will look to
grab the second spot on
the points table with a
victory over a struggling
Indian Arrows side
when the two teams
meet in an Hero I-
League fixture in Im-
phal on Friday. Neroca’s
Spanish coach Manuel
Fraile will be happy
with the fact that his top
target-man Nigerian Fe-
lix Chidi has found his
scoring boots back with
three strikes in the last
three games.
1 Kolkata-based professional
2 leaders City and actually
3 Stopwatch: Burnley 1 (Cork 54) lost
Send in your answers to
sportsdna@gmail.com. Names
of the first 10 winners will be
published tomorrow
fight back malaysian star aims to play 2020 olympics
Cancer-hit Lee eyes badminton return
Lee Chong Wei
Minnows France shock Argentina
World No. 20 down No. 2 & Olympic champions to cause biggest upset and qualify for knockout; Spain eliminated after NZ draw
Bhubaneswar: Minnows
France stunned Olympic
champions Argentina 5-3 to
cause the biggest upset of
the tournament in their
must-win last Pool A match
and book a place in the
knockout stage of the men’s
hockey World Cup here on
Thursday.
After New Zealand and
Spain played out a 2-2 draw
earlier in the day, world no.
20, the lowest ranked side in
the competition, France
needed an outright win to
qualify for the cross-overs
and they came out with in-
tent to achieve the goal.
France ended their pool
engagements on the second
spot behind toppers Argen-
tina (6 points) on four points
on account of a better goal
difference than New Zealand
(4 points).
France secured the sec-
ond spot with a goal differ-
ence of +1 as against New
Zealand’s -2 (minus 2).
Spain will have to pack
their bags and leave early as
they have been eliminated
from the tournament.
As per the format of the
tournament, the top four
teams from four pools will
directly qualify for the quar-
terfinals while the second
and third placed sides will
play cross-over matches
against teams of other pools
for the remaining four last
eight berths.
In the last Pool A match,
France scored four field
goals through Hugo Genestet
(18th minute), Aristide Cois-
ne (26th), Gaspard Baumgar-
ten (30th) and Francois Goy-
et (54th), while the other goal
came from a penalty corner
conversion by skipper Victor
Charlet (23rd). World no. 2
Argentina’s goals came from
Chadha, Singh’s teams win Pro-Am events Under-strength Manchester
DNA Correspondent
sports@dnaindia.net
Mumbai: Teams led by profes-
sionals Ankur Chadha and
Digvijay Singh won the two
Pro-Am events of the Indo-
MIM Presents Bengaluru
Open Golf Championship,
powered by Britannia, GoAir
and principal partner Karna-
taka Tourism. The events were
played in the Team Scramble
format where the best ball was
chosen on every shot including
the putting green.
In the first event, Guru-
gram-based professional An-
kur Chadha led his team to
victory with a total score of
53.5. His team comprised ama-
teurs Karan Kadam, Adit
Morzaria and Anees Ahmed.
Raju Ali Mollah’s team fin-
ished runners-up with a total
score of 54.8. Mollah’s team
was made up of amateurs Mr-
Sujit Somasunder, Shafik
UP edge out Haryana Steelers
New Delhi: UP Yoddha pro-
duced a superb allround dis-
play to eke out a thrilling 30-
29 win over Haryana Steelers
in an encounter of the Inter
Zone Challenge Week at the
Pro Kabaddi Sea-
son 6 here Thurs-
day.
Shrikant Jad-
hav and Prahsant
Rai scored 8 points each to
lead Yoddha to victory at the
Thyagaraj Sports Complex.
Monu Goyat scored 11
points but it wasn’t enough as
Haryana Steelers failed to
qualify for the playoffs. —PTI
Kuala Lumpur: Malaysia’s
former world number one
Lee Chong Wei could return
to the badminton training
court within a fortnight after
fighting back from nose can-
cer, an official said on Thurs-
day.
The three-time Olympic
silver medallist, who has
spent nearly five months on
the sidelines, is already doing
light fitness work after re-
ceiving a clean bill of health
from doctors, Malaysia’s bad-
minton chief said.
“He sounded cheerful,”
France’s Victor Charlet (2L) celebrates after scoring a goal against Argentina during the group stage match at the
2018 Hockey World Cup in Bhubaneswar on Thursday —AFP
the sticks of Lucas Martinez
(28th) and two penalty cor-
ner strikes from Gonzalo
Peillat (44th, 48th).
Earlier, New Zealand
fought back two goals down
to hold Spain to a 2-2 draw in
their penultimate Pool A
match and qualify for the
knock-out stages of the
World Cup here. —PTI
United gift Arsenal draw
Winning professional Ankur Chadha (2R) and his team comprising amateurs
Karan Kadam, Adit Morzaria and Anees Ahmed receive their prizes from
Harish Kumar Shetty, President, KGA (3R), M G Bhatt, Hony. Secy., KGA (C)
and Gaurav Patwari, Regional General Manager, GoAir (2L)
Ahmed and Vivek NJ Rao.
Mayurnath bagged the
prize for the closest to the pin
on hole no. 8. His tee shot
landed four feet and one inch
from the pin. However, the In-
credible India Closest to the
Pin contest on hole no. 13 was
won by Lt. Gen. J Jayaram.
Action during match between UP Yoddha and Haryana Steelers on Thursday
said Norza Zakaria, presi-
dent of the Badminton Asso-
ciation of Malaysia, after
speaking to Lee on the phone.
“Yes I think so,” he added,
when asked to confirm re-
ports that Lee would resume
playing in training in two
weeks.
Norza also told the Star
Online: “I’m sure he will be
ready by the time the Olym-
pic qualifying period com-
mences on May 1.”
Lee, now down at 15th in
the Badminton World Federa-
tion rankings, last played
pakistan suffer twin blows
Pakistan’s World Cup campaign suffered twin blows on
Thursday with skipper Muhammad Rizwan Sr ruled out of
the remainder of the tournament with an injury while vice-
captain Ammad Butt banned for their last Pool match against
Netherlands because of a serious on-field offence. However,
Butt’s suspension didn’t go down well with the Pakistan team
management with manager Hasan Sardar terming the FIH
decision as “bias”.
His tee shot landed two feet
and eight inches from the pin.
The prize for the straightest
drive on hole no. 2 was won by
Nitin Jajoo. His drive landed
on the line marking the centre
of the fairway. The straightest
drive on hole no. 18 prize was
won by Pradeep Kar.
competitively at the Indone-
sian Open in July.
After losing to world
champion Kento Momota of
Japan in the semifinals, he
flew to Taiwan for specialist
proton therapy — where the
cancer is targeted with a
beam of protons — and chem-
otherapy.
But last month Lee, 36, in-
sisted he was not going to
hang up his racket.
“I want to come back to
court,” he told a press confer-
ence, adding: “As of now, I am
not retiring.” —AFP
In the second Pro-Am
event, Gurugram-based pro-
fessional Digvijay Singh led
his team to victory with a to-
tal score of 52.9. His team
comprised amateurs Vineet
Chhabra, Shashank Sinha
and Sridhar Vishwanathan.
Delhi-based professional
Honey Baisoya’s team fin-
ished runners-up with a total
score of 54.Alka Chowdhry,
Sangeeta Jagadesha and Za-
far Ahmed were part of Bai-
soya’s team.
The prize for the closest to
the pin on hole no. 8 was won
by Vineet Chhabra. Mean-
while, The Incredible India
Closest to the Pin contest on
hole no. 13 was won by Srid-
har Vishwanathan. His tee
shot landed seven feet and
three inches from the pin. The
prize for the straightest drive
on hole no. 2 was bagged by
Ravi Sharma and R B Tiwari
clinched the straightest drive
on hole no. 18.
Icardi eyes
Ronaldo
match-up
Milan: Mauro Icardi said he
was relishing the chance to
measure himself against
Cristiano Ronaldo for the first
time as Inter Milan travel to
Turin on Friday looking to
inflict the first defeat of the
season on Italian champions
Juventus and keep the Serie A
title race alive.
Juventus have set a frenet-
ic pace this season since sign-
ing Ronaldo, making a record
start with 40 points after the
first 14 games in Serie A.
Napoli are second -- eight
points behind Juventus --
with Inter Milan 11 points
adrift of the champions in
third.
A defeat for Inter in the
‘Derby D’Italia’ between the
two northern giants would
likely be a killer blow to their
ambitions and leave Juventus
free to claim an eighth con-
secutive title.
“I’ve played (Juventus)
many times but this is the
most important since I’ve
been here,” said Icardi.
“I won’t settle for a draw.
We must go there without
fear. “I can’t wait to play
against Cristiano Ronaldo, it
will be a pleasure to have him
up front. But he’s not my
problem, (defenders) Stefan
de Vrij and Milan Skriniar
are there.” —AFP
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis
HOW THEY STAND
Pool A
Country M W D L GD P
Argentina 3 2 0 1 2 6
France 3 1 2 1 1 4
New Zealand 3 2 1 1 -2 4
Spain 3 0 2 1 -1 2
Pool B
Country M W D L GD P
Australia 2 2 0 0 4 6
China 2 0 2 0 0 2
Ireland 2 0 1 1 -1 1
England 2 0 1 1 -3 1
Pool C
Country M W D L GD P
India 2 1 1 0 5 4
Belgium 2 1 1 0 1 4
Canada 2 0 1 1 -1 1
South Africa 2 0 1 1 -5 1
Pool D
Country M W D L GD P
Germany 2 2 0 0 4 6
Netherlands 2 1 0 1 4 3
Pakistan 2 0 1 1 -1 1
Malaysia 2 0 1 1 -7 1
MATCH STATS
Argentina France
44.00 Posessions (%) 56.50
61.96 Pass Accuracy (5) 63.07
3 Shots 17
19 Circle Entries 23
3 Penalty Corners 5
Playing today (Pool B)
5pm: Australia vs China;
7pm: Ireland vs England
Live on: Star Sports Select 1
Stopwatch: Argentina 3
(Lucas Martinez 38, Gonzalo
Peillat 44(PC), 48(PC)) lost to
France 5 (Hugo Genestet 18,
Victor CHarlet 23(PC), Aris-
tide 26, Gaspard Baumgarten
30, Francois Goyet 54); Spain
2 (Albert Beltran 9, Alvaro
Iglesias 27) drew with New
Zealand 2 (Hayden Phillips
50, Kane Russell 56(PC))
Manchester: Jose Mour-
inho accused his Manchester
United players of shooting
themselves in the foot as he
saw his under-strength team
gift Arsenal
two goals in a
2-2 draw that
extended
their winless
P r e m i e r
League run to
four games.
United, who started with
Paul Pogba and Romelu Lu-
kaku on the bench, showed
great spirit to twice come
back, with equalisers from
Anthony Martial and Jesse
Lingard earning a much-
needed point.
But, after a defeat at Man-
chester City and dispiriting
draws with Crystal Palace
and Southampton, United
are now 18 points behind
closer to the relegation posi-
tions than they are first
place.
United also trail Chelsea
and Arsenal, who are now
unbeaten in 20 games, by
eight points in the battle for
a place in the top four.
And Mourinho, who saw a
bad David de Gea error and
Marcos Rojo own goal twice
hand Arsenal the lead, be-
lieves the performance con-
tinued their run of self-in-
flicted harm.
“We scored four goals and
Mumbai City down Chennayin FC
Mumbai: Local boy Raynier
Fernandes and Modou Sou-
gou scored on either side of
the break as Mumbai City
FC defeated Chennaiyin FC
2-0 in their Indian Super
League match here on
Thursday.
While 22-year-old Fer-
nandes (27th minute) opened
Mumbai’s account, the lead
was doubled by Sougou (55th
minute) with a stunning
header as the hosts with this
win raced to the second posi-
tion in the points table.
Earlier, both teams
began on a steady
note. In the 10th min-
ute, a defensive error
by Anirudh Thapa
helped Sougou take
control of the ball.
Sougou put a through ball
for Rafael Bastos inside the
11
‘Start is good, need
to carry momentum’
Mumbai: Impressed by the
good start of the Indian team
in the ongoing men’s hockey
World Cup in Bhubaneshwar,
former captain Sardar Singh
on Thursday said the team
needs to keep the momentum
going and play as a collective
unit.
“The start has been good.
In the tournament, Belgium,
Holland, Germany, Argentina
and Australia are some of the
best teams. We have started
off well and need to keep the
momentum going and con-
tinue with same energy,”
Sardar said.
He was speaking to report-
ers here on the sidelines of a
promotional event.
India began their cam-
paign by thrashing South Af-
rica 5-0 and then drew 2-2 with
against a strong Belgium side
in Group C.
Sardar wants the Indian
squad to play as a cohesive
unit once they make the quar-
ter-finals and not just depend
on two-three players. “Tour-
naments like World Cup or
Olympics come once in four
years, so we have been prepar-
ing for this for a long.
They (the players) know
the value of such matches
and how every second counts.
They will not come back.
“Our main match will be
the quarterfinals. And on that
day, it will not just be about
— (PR) Sreejesh, Manpreet
(Singh) we need to play as a
complete unit and play to the
potential. Only energy (per-
formances) by two or three
players won’t help (in the
quarterfinal). The four quar-
ters that we have (in the
match), we have to fully con-
centrate in the quarters. If we
play that well, we can make it
count,” said Sardar.
Manchester United’s Marcos Rojo is embraced by manager Jose Mourinho
after being substituted off against Arsenal on Wednesday —Reuters
n zone
16
Manchester United
manager Jose Mourinho
has only lost one of his
16 games against Arsenal in the
Premier League (winning seven and
drawing eight)
we drew 2-2,” joked Mour-
inho. “But we scored four
goals and even in matches
like today where we play
well, we always shoot our-
selves.
“Sometimes we miss
chances with an open goal,
other times defensive mis-
takes but tonight there was a
fantastic spirit, good perfor-
mances. —AFP
Mumbai City FC’s Modou Sougou
celebrates after scoring a goal
box on the left but his
shot didn’t have
enough power to
trouble Sanjiban
Ghosh.
However, soon
after that Mumbai
intensified their at-
tack and the move paid
off as Raynier drew
Sardar Singh
Our main match
will be the
quarterfinals.
And on that day, it will
not just be about —
Sreejesh, Manpreet we
need to play as a
complete unit and play
to the potential.
Sardar Singh,
Former India hockey captain
Sardar also praised cur-
rent team coach Harendra
Singh as one of the best in the
business.
“Like now we have Haren-
dra, who is one of the best
coaches. Over the last 10 years
he has grown immensely (as
a coach). When he was with
the women’s team and junior
team, he had tasted success,”
recalled Sardar.
There were talks in some
quarters that the vastly expe-
rienced Sreejesh, who is the
team’s number one goalkeep-
er, has become a bit slow, but
Sardar brushed them aside.
“If we see the Champions
Trophy, Sreejesh got the play-
er of the tournament. He is
one of the best in the world,”
he pointed out. —PTI
did you know?
Arsenal are now unbeaten
in their last 20 games in all
competitions, their longest
such run since November 2007
(28 games).
to Liverpool 3 (Milner 62, Firmino 69,
Shaqiri 90+1); Everton 1 (Richarlison
38) drew with Newcastle 1 (Rondon
19); Fulham 1 (Kamara 42) drew with
Leicester 1 (Maddison 74); Manchester
United 2 (Martial 30, Lingard 69) drew
with Arsenal 2 (Mustafi 26, Lacazette
68); Tottenham 3 (Kane 9, Moura 51,
Son 55) bt Southampton 1 (Austin
90+3); Wolves 2 (Jimenez 59, Jota 63)
drew with Chelsea 1 (Loftus-Cheek 18)
first blood.
Bastos made the run from
the left side and found Fer-
nandes unmarked at 10 yards
from the penalty area. And
the former Air India player’s
grounder beat a diving
Ghosh.
For Chennaiyin, their best
chance came in the 32nd min-
ute when Raphael Augusto
beat his marker but his fee-
ble attempt was saved and
striker Carlos Salem couldn’t
capitalise on the rebound.
Mumbai could have gone
2-0 up in additional time, but
Sougou shot’s sailed above
the bar as the first half end-
ed.
After the change of ends,
Mumbai extended their lead
to 2-0, courtesy a brilliant
header by Sougou in the 57th
minute. —PTI
 07
Friday
December
2018
Ahmedabad
www.dnaindia.com
Recently, speculations were rife that Shah Rukh Khan will be seen in an extended cameo in
No cameo Sujoy Ghosh’s suspense thriller Badla, as Taapsee Pannu’s boyfriend. However, a source has
rubbished the reports of him joining the cast, which also includes Amitabh Bachchan. Our
for SRK informer maintained, “There are no such talks happening with Shah Rukh at all. He has no
special appearance in Badla. He’s just co-producing the film.”
Kai Po Che’s hit ‘I broke into
team reunites tears when I saw
for Kedarnath Priyanka as a bride’
Abhishek Kapoor outside the Kedarnath Temple
I
n 2013, filmmakers
Ronnie Screwvala and
Abhishek Kapoor came
together to back a new
talent — Sushant Singh
Rajput — for his debut
film Kai Po Che! Five
years later, the trio is set
to light up the silver
screen with a tragic love
story, Kedarnath.
Interestingly, this film
marks Sara Ali Khan’s
foray into Bollywood.
While Kai Po Che!
garnered much love and
adulation from critics as
well as cinegoers, the
trio is excited and
confident about their
new release.
Backed by Ron-
Sushant Singh Rajput
Why Salman tops the
Forbes India celebrity list
After Hrs Correspondent
T
he Forbes list of highest-paid
actors was out a couple a
days ago and among the
Indian celebrities, Salman
Khan has emerged as the numero
uno with earnings of `253.25 crore
between October 1, 2017, and
September 30 this year. This is the
third consecutive time that
Dabangg Khan has aced the list.
It’s hardly surprising that he is
on top of the heap as the superstar
has been delivering blockbusters
over the last few years. This time,
too, it was no different, though the
52-year-old actor had only two
releases. His Tiger Zinda Hai raked
in around `339 crore* at the box
office, and even a ‘flop’ like Race 3
grossed around `166.15 crore*,
which is equivalent to what hit
films usually garner!
Not only that, 2018 saw
Salman hosting two TV shows —
Dus Ka Dum (DKD), which
returned after nine years and Bigg
Boss that he has been anchoring
for nine seasons in a row. He
reportedly got `78 crore for 26
episodes of DKD and is said to be
charging `14 crore per episode for
BB12. This year, he also made an
appearance as a special guest on a
show called Comedy High School,
for which he was reportedly paid
`4 crore for four hours!
Besides films and TV, Salman is
one of the most sought-after stars
for brand endorsements. He is the
face of nearly 10 brands, which
include a wide range of products
from soft drinks (Appy Fizz) to
footwear (Relaxo) to innerwear
(Dixcy Scott Innerwear). His
endorsement fee reportedly ranges
between `4-5 crore for a day.
As Forbes magazine states,
“This Bollywood mainstay
continues to produce and star in
hits such as Tiger Zinda Hai,
cashing in on backend profits.
Coupled with a slew of
endorsements from Suzuki
motorcycles to Chlormint gum,
he remains one of India’s top
earners.”
Disclaimer: Note to reader: Some of the content/coverage that appear in our special ‘feature’ page/s may be paid for by the concerned brands. Such page/s will be appropriately declared as ‘features pages’ (e.g. reader engagement feature, etc.)
nie Screwvala of RSVP Sushant plays a
and Pragya Kapoor hardworking pithoo who
of Guy In The Sky piggybacks tourists to the
Pictures, Kedarnath is a shrine. Adding quirk to
tragic love story that the story is Sara, who is
has been directed by seen as a full-of-life colour-
Abhishek. The movie, ful character. The makers
which is set against the are hoping that the former
backdrop of will win over the audience
the 2013 Utta- with his innocence and
rakhand simplicity, while the latter
floods, has will steal the show with
been shot her cheerful small-town
extensively girl avatar. The trailer has
in the piqued the curiosity of
picturesque critics as well as viewers
holy town. who are excited to watch
Sushant and Sara’s tragic
romance unfold on the big
screen.
Kedarnath releases
today.
Salman Khan
After
The Nawab’s
noble
gesture
The actor will provide jobs to
10 girls associated with an NGO
Madhu Chopra talks about her daughter’s grand wedding Harshada Rege ideal channel for such an
S
initiative.” The 10 girls
Nayandeep Rakshit aif Ali Khan are in the age group of
P
recently launched 18 to 22 years and will be
riyanka Chopra and his own fashion provided with training
Nick Jonas’ wedding brand — House of before they begin work.
last week was a perfect Pataudi. Now, the actor The source adds, “The
amalgamation of has joined hands with an girls will attend special
Indian and Western NGO, which provides training classes post their
cultures, as they took their education and job college and they will be
nuptial vows according to opportunities to girls who paid for it.”
Christian rituals and come from lesser-
Hindu customs.
For Madhu Chopra
privileged backgrounds.
Ten girls from the
Saif has
(PC’s mother), seeing her foundation will be hired always been
‘little girl’ tying the knot to work for his clothing a big supporter of
was a dream come true. line. Says a source, “It
She tells us, “It was an was Saif ’s idea to causes that help
emotional moment for collaborate with the NGO women become
everyone. I broke into tears that looks after girls’
when I saw Priyanka education and women’s independent. He
dressed as a bride. I had empowerment to create felt the clothing
waited for this day all my job opportunities. He has
life.” She was always been a big
brand was the
always keen that supporter of causes that ideal channel for
her daughter
should have a prop-
help women become
independent. He felt the
such an initiative
er Indian wedding. clothing brand was the A source
“We followed all
the rituals to the T.
There were no
shortcuts. I wanted
an Indian shaadi
for her and Priyan-
ka knew that. She
fulfilled my wish.
It’s lovely to see the
amount of love peo-
ple have for her and Madhu Chopra
Nick,” she adds.
For the Catholic
ceremony, the Quantico
actress wore a gorgeous
Ralph Lauren white gown
with a 75-feet veil, while her
husband opted for a black Nick Jonas and Priyanka Chopra Jonas
tuxedo. The doting mother
exclaims, “I was at a loss of
words. When I saw It was an emotional moment for
Priyanka, I couldn’t control
my emotions. The white
everyone. I had waited for this day all my
gown was so beautiful. My life. I wanted an Indian shaadi for Priyanka
baby looked like a princess.” and she fulfilled my wish. It’s lovely to see the Saif Ali Khan
For the full story, log on to amount of love people have for her and Nick
www.dnaindia.com
Deepika reclaims World’s
Sexiest Asian Woman crown
Deepika Padukone reclaimed the crown as the Sexiest
Asian Woman In The World. Like last year, the Piku
actress grabbed the top spot in the list published by
UK-based Eastern Eye newspaper. DP managed to
Top 10
beat competition from around the globe
richest
Indian
celebrities
Styling
Salman Khan
`253.25 Cr
Aafia
Virat Kohli
`228.09 Cr
Akshay Kumar
`185 Cr Anushka Sharma ensured that her
Deepika Padukone character in Zero looked authentic
`112 Cr
Mahendra
Singh Dhoni
`101.77 Cr
Aamir Khan
`97.5 Cr
Amitabh Bachchan The actress with
`96.17 Cr Anushka Sharma
Shah Rukh Khan in Zero
Ranveer Singh
`84.67 Cr
After Hrs Correspondent had to wear outfits that
Anushka plays a scientist with
A
seemed right for the
nushka Sharma cerebral palsy in the film. So, she character. They had to
Sachin Tendulkar went the extra
couldn’t be shown wearing clothes that be fluid and not
`80 Cr mile to play Aafia
Bhinder, a girls usually do. Director Aanand L Rai,
restrictive,” says a
production source.
Ajay Devgn
scientist with cerebral
palsy in Aanand L Rai’s
Anushka and designer Aki Narula had The Sui Dhaaga: Made
In India actress went
`74.5 Cr Zero. The role demanded multiple meetings to get the look right  through a three-month
commitment and rigorous prep, during
A source
attention to detail and the which she worked with
Source: Forbes India actress ensured that she an occupational therapist
infused life into it on care and sensitivity. A that girls usually do, due and an audiologist to
screen. lot of attention was given to her condition. Aanand play Aafia effortlessly.
Aafia is a special to how she would be and Anushka discussed While on set, she used
character for Aanand, presented on screen. this at length with the wheelchair even
who along with writer “Aafia’s styling had to be designer Aki Narula and when she wasn’t
* India nett box office Himanshu Sharma authentic. She couldn’t be held multiple meetings to shooting to stay in her
collections from penned the role with shown wearing clothes get the look right. She character.
reliable trade sources
 After
Leisure daily news & analysis
Ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018
13
Marjorie Orr
Your year ahead will be go-ahead, focussed, a time when your confidence and enthusiasm will stay high no matter what. Though you’ll be sorting out
IF IT’S YOUR muddles at home and not always see eye-to-eye with loved ones. Be realistic and pitch your expectations down and you’ll fare better. Sorting out your
BIRTHDAY TODAY finances will also be a high priority since you know you need to put long term security above instant treats. Your social life will be unpredictable.

ARIES TAURUS GEMINI CANCER LEO VIRGO

Mar 21 - Apr 20
Perhaps you are thinking of
reaching out for the holiday
brochure, or of taking up a new
hobby or interest. There are
favourable winds urging you on to broaden
your horizons in whichever way you chose.
Sometimes you can deceive yourself into
thinking that it’s just as well to avoid
confrontations. But Neptune emphasised at
the moment has a habit of bringing secrets
out into the open at the wrong moment and
in quite the wrong way.
Apr 21 - May 20
New financial ventures could
begin now which will pay off in
future if you give them the right
push. You have to be sure of
your facts before you move. But if all the
details are tied down, then you’ll be pleased
at the result. There are influences around at
the moment prompting you to be charitable
and give of yourself to others. Your energy
won’t be limitless so work out a way of
being helpful without doing anything too
strenuous.
May 21 - June 21
The New Moon in your opposite
sign is important where close
relationships are concerned.
This is the time to start afresh.
Let bygones be bygones. There could even
be new romances round the corner for the
unattached. You will get your satisfaction
out of making sure that other people’s lives
are a little bit easier. Not that you want to be
zapping around being terribly strenuous or
stretching yourself in any way — but the
desire to help is certainly there.
June 22 - July 23
Today is a good day to start a
new diet or exercise regime. You
can muster up the willpower
because you know you need to
boost your stamina and get yourself
streamlined for the days ahead. So stick
your colours to the mast and get going.
There are deceptive influences around which
can end up in muddles or situations not
turning out to be quite what was expected.
Keeping your feet on the ground and being
absolutely straightforward will help.
July 24 - August 23
If recently you have been stuck
behind the scenes or ducking
out of sight, today you have a
chance to get your chance to
shine in the spotlight and kick up your
heels. If you attempt tasks that require clear
thinking and attention to detail, you won’t do
it well. You’ll end up in a muddle and have
to go back and redo it later. So get out of
ruts and routines and push dreary chores to
one side. If you go with the flow, you will
get where you want to go just as quickly.
Aug 24 - Sep 23
Think about what changes you
can make in your life that will
bring you more emotional
security over the next 12 months.
You want to feel there is a reassuring nest
which you can retreat to when the outside
world gets too aggravating. You may be
feeling rather day dreamy, or a bit irritable
without really knowing why. Don’t be
discouraged, just take everything more easily.
There are some days you can’t get practical
matters together no matter how hard you try.

LIBRA SCORPIO SAGITTARIUS CAPRICORN AQUARIUS PISCES

Write to Sept 24 - October 22 Oct 23 - November 22 Nov 23 - Dec 22 Dec 23 - Jan 20 Jan 21 - Feb 19 Feb20 - March 20
Marjorie Try to manage your time better, You’ll be keen to get new You’ll be making good You will want to clear quiet There may be a casual This is the time to sow the
Orr streamline your efficiency and financial plans moving, resolutions for your year ahead. space for yourself to be aware encounter today with a new seeds of new ideas at your
clear up communication cautiously and steadily. Decide how you want to change of what is beginning now. acquaintance. It may not seem workplace. They will bear fruit
with your
muddles today. There may be Whatever starts now will bear your image to match the person Maybe it will just be an insight important at the time but could in the future if you start off on
queries at nothing obvious at the moment, but if you fruit in future if you make the effort and you want to become. Think about changing turn into a good friendship in future. If you the right foot with real commitment. Maybe
into the past or yourself, which gives you
afterhrs@ take steps early on you can prevent keep your focus. You may not be as active your hairdo or accessories. Be bold and be the key to how to change the future. So give are interested in mystical, psychic kind of you have been deceiving yourself or letting
dnaindia. situations blowing up in future. You as you normally would be today. Certainly yourself. This is a great day to pamper your yourself permission to retreat into a corner, things, this is a good day to listen to your other people pull the wool over your eyes.
net certainly want a bit more glamour or fun. you won’t want to confront others or to be body. So use the time wisely for a little meditate and wind yourself down. You intuition and explore below the surface. Often it’s easier not to say when you
www. There may even be a hint of publicity assertive, or indeed to face up to the nastier tender loving care, and you’ll bounce back won’t really feel any huge need to leap out You do want to find a new meaning and discover you have been let down. But don’t
star4cast. around with Mars close to Neptune. You sides of life. With Neptune around you want revitalised. Look after your health and in a into getting too many things done. Your purpose in your life, and the influences tell little white lies just to keep the peace. It
com want to bring a little more spice into life harmony, so you will go out of your way to few days’ time you’ll find you are much physical energy may be lower than usual, around at the moment in a subtle way can always comes out into the open at the
without too much extra effort. soothe other people. more active again. so take the hint. be extremely helpful. wrong moment.

Baby Blues pick your brain

Down teeter, tier, tire, trait, treat, tree, trite
1 Pulsates (6) retire, retiree, retreat, rite, tart, tear,
2 Arboreal rattier, REITERATE,
bushy-tailed attire, eater, irate, iterate, rate, ratter,
rodent (8) spellathon
3 Females in
general ? (4)
4 Illness (7)
5 Belarus capital
(5)
6 Nil (4)
7 Quack remedy
(7)
12 An expression
of impatience
(3)
The Pajama Dairies 14 To pass (2,2)
18 Ex-England hidato
paceman Tru-
man (4)
19 Atomic
research center
(8)
20 Sweepstake or
prize draw (7)
21 Field event
(4,3)
crossword 24 Trophy (3)
Across 20 Med. country (3) 25 Fairy king (6)
1 Threw (6) 22 Ewe’s mate (3) 26 Excavated or
5 Frequency unit (3) 23 Simple organism with unearthed ?
8 Veni, __, vici (4) tube-shaped body (5) (3,2) crossword
Tina’s Grove 9 Black poetically (4) 24 Impudence (5) 29 Alaskan city (4)
10 Ways, courses, jour- 26 Pair (3) 30 Island of solutions
neys (6) 27 Thrash (4) Hawaii (4)
11 Begins or starts a 28 Face or confront
journey ? (4,5) boldly; dare (5,2,2) sudoku
13 Bjorn ___ : Swedish 31 Indulge or gratify (6)
tennis great ? (4) 32 A metric weight (4) To solve a Sudoku puzzle, every digit must appear once in:
15 Black/white diver (3) 33 “Nope!” (4) Each of the vertical columns; Each of the horizontal rows;
16 Cook in oven (5) 34 Psychic power (3) Each of the boxes.
17 Entangled with (5) 35 Soup dish (6)

spellathon How good is your vocabulary?

Spell out as many words of
four or more letters as you
can from the letters in today’s
diagram. In making a word,
Tinkersons each letter must be used only
once and each word must
contain the letter in the centre.
There should be at least one
nine-letter word! Plurals,
foreign words, and proper
nouns do not qualify.
Rate yourself
15 Average; 17 Good; 20 Wow!

Blondie

lockhorns
noughts&crosses
 Today is 6th December. We observe this day as Sanhati
Dibas in #Bangla. Just like a human body is incomplete second
front
without all organs, India is incomplete without all
communities, religions, castes, creed and gender. Let us
pledge to uphold the secular fabric of India.
—Mamata Banerjee, West Bengal Chief Minister
page
14 www.dnaindia.com I twitter.com/dna I epaper.dnaindia.com I facebook.com/dnaindia ahmedabad I FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2018 I daily news & analysis

`5L compensation ‘Congress is attempting

snapshot Mika detained
‘No one can in Dubai for
to muzzle voice of media’
confine Ram sending photos

for pothole deaths

Lalla in jail’ to a 17-yr-old
DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
SC committee recommends road-owning agency pay New Delhi: Popular Bolly-
wood singer Mika Singh was
on Thursday detained by au-
Abraham Thomas thorities in UAE after a minor
abraham.thomas@dnaindia.net girl alleged that he harassed
New Delhi: The Congress Zee News always believes in
party is in a tight spot after the democratic system of the
Zee News brought to light a country. We believe in the le-
video that shows ‘Pakistan gal system so will take all the
Zindabad’ slogans were raised
at an election rally addressed
steps within the legal frame-
work to seek justice. We have
by senior party leader Navjot sent our written complaint to
Singh Sidhu. However, party News Broadcasters Associa-
leaders remained defiant and tions and another to the Edi-

Keshav Maurya, Uttar New Delhi: In what might be

Pradesh Deputy CM
I am a product of the
1
Ram Janmabhoomi
movement. No one
can confine Ram Lalla in
jail, and no one can stop the
construction of the temple.
The allegations levelled by
(Uddhav) Thackeray ji are
devoid of truth. Ram Lalla is
‘anaadi anant’ (eternal and
unending), and it is impos-
sible to confine him in jail.
The BJP is in favour
2 of the Ram temple’s
construction as per a
judgement of the Supreme
Court or through mutual
agreement (among parties).
And if both the options are
exhausted, then the legisla-
tive route must be explored.
The BJP accords highest
priority to an agreement for
paving the way for construc-
tion of the temple.
The people of the
3 country know that it
was the VHP, which
struggled and fought for
Ram Janmabhoomi. Every
a big step towards achieving
a permanent compensation
scheme for victims of pot-
hole deaths, the Supreme
Court Committee on Road
Safety has recommended a
compensation of Rs 5 lakh to
be paid by the road-owning
agency as immediate suc-
cour to the deceased’s family.
The Committee report has
been forwarded by the Su-
preme Court to the Centre for
its response.
Limiting not just to pot-
hole deaths, the Committee
chaired by former apex court
judge, Justice (Retd) KS Rad-
hakrishnan in its report has
expanded the scope of com-
pensation to deaths caused
due to manholes and open
drains. This is perhaps the
first time ever that an effort
has been made to punish the
road-owning agencies — the
municipal agencies, state
governments or National
Highway Authority of India
(NHAI) — have been made
personally liable for deaths
due to potholes.
Over the last five years
(2013-17), potholes claimed
pothole payout her. A complaint has been
lodged against the singer for
apex court also calls for centre’s response harassing a 17-year-old girl.
After the accusation, Mika
whose road is it? has been detained and was be-
`5Lakh 14,936
ing questioned by the local
authorities, said a member of
his team. The singer who was
in Dubai to attend a Bollywood
award function and was re-
Compensation to be paid to kin Total deaths between 2013-17
portedly arrested from a bar.
According to reports, the
singer has been accused of
sending indecent photo-
graphs to the girl, who hails
from Brazil.
However, this is not the
first time Mika is involved in
a controversy revolving
round harassment. Earlier
too, in 2016, a Mumbai-based
model had filed a complaint
of molestation against the
3 states top singer, while Mika had lodged
death rate a counter-complaint against
her alleging extortion.
A year before that, Mika
4%
was arrested and released on
deaths bail for allegedly assaulting a
accounted for doctor during one of his con-
by 8 states certs. Prior to that, he was ar-
alone Uttar Pradesh rested at the Mumbai airport
Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra,
Maharashtra
4,415 for allegedly carrying curren-
cy beyond permissible limit.
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat,
2,136 Madhya Pradesh
instead accused Zee News of
playing a ‘fake video’. DNA
spoke to Zee News Editor-in-
Chief Sudhir Chaudhary:
„„ Congress says Zee News
has shown a fake video and
no ‘Pakistan Zindabad’
slogan was raised. Is it a
correct allegation?
I outright deny the allegation
that the video is fake. It is 100
per cent authentic. To prove
this, we have at least seven
other feeds that were being
recorded live and every feed
has the same slogan at the
same time. It has become fash-
ionable now that when a lead-
er of Congress is caught red-
handed, the party comes to his
defence by terming the video
to be a fake. This is nothing
but yet another Congress tac-
tic to get out of the situation.
Zee News completely stands
by its video.
„„ Sidhu has also threat-
ened and claimed “nani
yaad dila denge”. How do
you respond?
I strongly object to the lan-
guage used by Navjot Singh
Sidhu. The Congress always
Fake news is the
biggest menace
right now.
Unfortunately, a lot of
fake news is being
manufactured by political
leaders and parties.
Media is only the
messenger.
Sudhir Chaudhary,
Editor-in-Chief, Zee News
claims that the party believes
in freedom of expression and
in democratic values. They
are the oldest party of the
country, but when one of its
prominent leaders uses such
foul language, it is clearly an
attempt to muzzle the voice
of the media for not toeing
their party line. It shows that
the Congress and its leaders’
arrogance is at its zenith.
„„ Even the Editors Guild
of India has not spoken on
the issue. What is the next
course of action?
tors Guild of India. We have
also sent a complaint to the
Election Commission of In-
dia. If need be, we will move
the court. So, we are register-
ing our protest against the
stance taken by the Congress,
but in a democratic way. It is
disheartening that the Edi-
tors Guild has not taken cog-
nizance, but I hope that a
large part of the media will
support our campaign. I also
believe that this is not just
our fight, it must be seen as
the fight of the entire media
fraternity.
„„ Is Sidhu doing this on
his own or does he have
his party’s backing?
In such a large set-up like
Congress, a leader like Sidhu
can’t do it alone. You must
have seen that when he went
to Pakistan, his own Chief
Minister Amarinder Singh
didn’t want him to go. But
after returning from Paki-
stan, Sidhu stated clearly
that his captain is not Am-
rinder, but Rahul Gandhi.
Rahul disagreed then, but
this has the full top brass’ ap-
proval for his actions.

In Udaipur, all roads lead to Isha-Anand

West Bengal, Bihar, Tamil
devotee of Lord Ram and I
stand firmly with the families
14,936 lives across the coun- Nadu and Andhra Pradesh 1,385
try. Shocked by these num-
of the karsewaks, who were
bers, the bench of Justices
sprayed with bullets in

wedding, establishments get a facelift

November 1990 during the
SP regime. However, there is
no such proposal under the
consideration of the state.
Lord Ram devotees
4 do not have any
animosity with the
Muslims. In fact, it is the
rival political parties which
practice Muslim appease-
ment and vitiate the peaceful
atmosphere. —PTI
Madan B Lokur, Deepak
Gupta and Hemant Gupta
said, “It is not at all accepta-
ble that such a large number
of deaths take place due to
potholes on roads. To add to
the problem, there is no pro-
vision for grant of compensa-
tion to the legal representa-
tives of the victims who have
to live with an unforeseen
tragedy which arises only
due to lack of concern by the
authorities.”
To take a comprehensive
view about the recommenda-
tions, the Court directed the
Centre to submit its response
latest by January 10. The
bench said, “The high num-
ber of deaths indicates that
the concerned authorities
whether they are municipal
corporations or state govern-
ments or NHAI or other such
bodies or organizations are
not maintaining roads effec-
tively... Unfortunately, there
is no criminal action taken
against the concerned au-
thorities for their negli-
gence.”
On July 20 this year, the
Supreme Court had sought
the assistance of the Justice
Radhakrishnan Committee
to work out a compensation
scheme for victims of pothole
deaths. The Committee iden-
tified eight states accounting
for more than four per cent of
the deaths in the country.
Priyanka Kachhava complex at Udaipur’s Trans-
priyanka.kachhava@dnaindia.net port Nagar to accommodate
Jaipur: When it comes to a
Reliance staff involved for
the ceremonies. “The resi-
big fat Indian wedding by a dential structure has been
tycoon for his only daughter, reworked to comfortably
a makeover for an entire city lodge the staff over the next
is par for the course. This four days. Two flats inside
weekend, all roads in the building have been de-
Udaipur seem to be leading molished to create a bigger
to the Isha Ambani-Anand dining hall for guests staying
for plying these vehicles.
Chauffeurs who will be ferry-
ing guests will follow marked
routes that will be tracked via
GPS by security personnel. “A
customised app has been com-
missioned to guide the
chauffers just like app-based
cabs Uber and Ola use to fa-
cilitate customer trips,” a
source said. If any of the ve-

BJP may field Madhuri for LS from Pune

DNA Correspondent
correspondent@dnaindia.net
Pune: Bharatiya Janata Par-
ty’s Pune leadership was
thrown into a tizzy after Bol-
lywood actress Madhuri Dix-
it-Nene’s name surfaced as a
possible BJP candidate for
Pune Lok Sabha seat in 2019.
Though not confirmed by
the party leaders yet, the
speculation about the ‘Dhak-
Dhak’ girl’s possible foray
into politics took the social
media by storm.
Earlier in June, BJP presi-
dent Amit Shah had visited
Madhuri’s home in Mumbai,
as a part of the BJP’s ‘ con-
tact for support’ campaign.
Post the visit, rumours start-
ed to make rounds about her
entry into politics.
More recently, sources
said that the BJP leadership
carried out an internal sur-
vey, where it emerged that
Madhuri’s name led the pack
as a possible candidate for
the Pune LS seat.
Meanwhile, the local BJP
leadership in Pune claimed
that they were unaware of
any such survey. “There is a
well-established process in
the party to select candidates.
As far as Lok Sabha elections
are concerned, the central
parliamentary board has the
power to select the candi-
date,” said BJP city president
Yogesh Gogawale.
The constituency is cur-
rently represented by Anil
Shirole, who remained una-
vailable for comments.
Piramal wedding fiesta,
quite literally. For a picture-
perfect backdrop to the pre-
wedding ceremonies being
held in the City of Lakes, not
only the interiors of luxury
properties — Oberoi Udaivi-
las and City Palace — but
roads leading up to these
have also been given a face
lift.
“Establishments at Hari
Das Ji Ki Magri, the road
that takes one to Udaivilas,
have been worked upon,” a
source in Udaipur said. Sev-
eral structures along the
road have been painted anew
Anand Piramal with Isha Ambani
and fitted with lights to
please the high-profile
guests.
Local sources say the Am-
banis have leased a 90-flat
at the property,” a source told
DNA. The hosts are to report-
edly reconstruct the same
after use, once the weekend
affairs in Udaipur are over,
before handing it back to the
The Ambanis have hired a
fleet of luxury cabs, including
BMWs and Mercs, to transfer
guests to venues. The hosts
have shortlisted 10-12 routes
hicles deviated from course,
the security staff will get an
alert about the diversion.
With around 50 chartered
flights expected to bring Am-
bani guests to Udaipur’s
Dabok airport over the week-
end — including Tata’s Vist-
ara fleet — the air traffic
controller is gearing up to
handle heavy traffic.

Breakthrough test to detect all Hilton sued for $100m

types of cancer within minutes for nude shower video
Melbourne: Scientists, in-
cluding one of Indian origin,
have developed a quick test
that can detect all types of
cancer from blood or biopsy
tissues within minutes.
The test, developed by re-
searchers from the Universi-
ty of Queensland in Austral-
ia, who have discovered a
unique DNA nanostructure
that appears to be common to
all cancers.
Cancer is an extremely
complicated and variable dis-
ease and different types of
cancer have different signa-
tures. It had been difficult to
find a simple signature that
was distinct from healthy cells
and common to all cancers.
“This unique nano-scaled
DNA signature appeared in
every type of breast cancer
we examined, and in other
forms of cancer including
prostate, colorectal and lym-
phoma,” said Abu Sina, from
University of Queensland.
“We designed a simple test
using gold nanoparticles that
instantly change colour to
determine if the 3D nano-
structures of cancer DNA are
present,” said Matt Trau, a
professor a University of
Queensland, adding “So we
were very excited about an
easy way of catching these
circulating free cancer DNA
signatures in blood.”
This has enabled an en-
tirely new approach to detect
cancer non-invasively in any
tissue type including blood.
“This led to the creation of
inexpensive and portable de-
tection devices that could
eventually be used as a diag-
nostic tool, possibly with a
mobile phone,” said Trau.
The new technology has
proved to be up to 90 per cent
accurate in tests involving
200 human cancer samples
and normal DNA.—PTI
New York: A Chicago wom-
an is suing Hilton Worldwide
for $100 million saying that
she was filmed naked in the
shower by a hidden camera
while a hotel guest — in foot-
age uploaded with her name
onto multiple porn sites.
The unnamed plaintiff
sued the hotel giant for negli-
gence citing “severe and per-
manent psychological inju-
ries,” “severe mental an-
guish, emotional distress and
other damages” such as
medical expenses and loss of
earnings.
The woman was a guest at
a Hampton Inn and Suites
hotel in Albany, the capital of
New York state, in July 2015
while taking a bar exam after
graduating from law school.
She was recorded, fully
nude, while taking a shower
by a hidden video camera, the
19-page lawsuit claims.
But she was blissfully ig-
norant until September 2018,
more than three years later,
when she received an email
saying “this is you right?”
with a link to the video on a
porn site published with her
full name. The same person,
claiming “I’m a perv,” then
sent threatening emails, pro-
fessing to know where she
went to university and where
she worked. “We take the
safety of our guests incredi-
bly seriously, and find the
details included in the
civil filing distressing,”
said a spokesperson for
Hilton.  —AFP

1964-2018 champion of organic farming, he helped redeem 174 native seeds

TN’s native paddy hero Jayaraman passes away

G Jagannath
g.jagannath@dnaindia.net
Chennai: ‘Nel’ Jayaraman,
who redeemed 174 native va-
rieties of traditional paddy
seeds in Tamil Nadu, passed
away on Thursday at a city
hospital where he was under-
going treatment for cancer.
His life-long crusade to
protect native paddy made
him a celebrity among the
farmers in the Cauvery delta
districts — better known as
the rice bowl of Tamil Nadu.
Born in a nondescript vil-
lage, Adirangam, Jayaraman
was a Class 8 dropout, who
followed the footsteps of his
late mentor, Nammalvar and
promoted organic farming.
His experiments and obser-
vations made him realise
that native paddy varieties
are best suited for coastal
districts, which are other-
wise prone to climate varia-
tions. His untiring efforts
earned him the nickname —
‘Nel’ — paddy seed in Tamil.
In 2006, Jayaraman start-
ed ‘Nel Thiruvizha’, a one-of-
its-kind paddy seed festival
in his native village, where
he distributed 2 kg seeds of
‘Nel’ Jayaraman dedicated his life
to the protection of native paddy
the native varieties free of
cost to the farmers in the
state. He had inducted over
40,000 farmers into organic
farming and increased paddy
production.
In 2011, Jayaraman re-
ceived the Tamil Nadu gov-
ernment’s award for the best
organic farmer for his con-
tribution to organic farming.
In 2015, he bagged the Na-
tional Award for best Ge-
nome Saviour. He had also
authored several books re-
garding protection of native
paddy varieties.
Since 2016, Jayaraman or-
ganised the Paddy Seed Fes-
tival, one of the largest seed
festivals in Tamil Nadu.
A couple of weeks ago, 51
rice varieties from Jayara-
man’s collection were
handed over to the Indian
Council of Agricultural Re-
search to be preserved in a
vault of the National Bureau
of Plant Genetic Resources
(NBPGR).
Chief Minister Edappadi
K Palaniswami condoled his
death and deputed ministers
R Kamaraj and OS Maniam
paid homage on behalf of the
government.