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ASSENG/2015/64205

PAGE 10 11 INDIAN FISHERMEN ARRESTED BY LANKAN NAVY

Vol. II

Issue 124

Dibrugarh, Monday, November 21, 2016

Artificially created distress

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Pages- 12

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GUN-LOVING INDIA 'GODWOMAN' WHO SHOT WEDDING GUESTS

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ULFA claims responsibility of Pengaree’s ambush Army chalks out unified action Laxman Sharma Digboi, Nov 20

A fresh firing incident was reported this morning amidst the reserve forest indicated that the ban outfits are still confined in the thick impregnable bushes.

However, no confirmed reports of any casualty or otherwise have been surfaced yet as the human mobilization including the media persons were restricted to ensure further loss and bring out effective outcome.

Meanwhile, effective plan of action was also drawn today by unified command during an important sitting at the office of the SP Tinsukia among the top brass belonging to different wings of security agencies of Indian Army and Assam Police to counter terrorism in the entire militant –hit belt of the District sharing common

Over 115 killed as 14 coaches of Indore-Patna Express derail PTI Pukhrayan (UP), Nov 20

The security agencies belonging to various wings of Indian Army including the Madras, Kumaon , CRPF and Assam Rifles have been carrying the intensified form of counterinsurgency operation in the entire vulnerable belt touching Tarani, Talpather, Ratonipother, Mulukgaon and Mungongpother area. boundary with Arunachal Pradesh- a safe hideout locations of the various militants organizations.

According to sources, the security forces have been combing the entire vulnerable areas to hunt the militants who are at large after killing the 3 army personnel on Saturday morning.

In order to deter further sabotage activities of the banned ULFA and to avenge the act, the furious and tragic hit army have been adopting various strategy including, constant patrolling, conducting Mobile Check Post, thorough combing and searching the passengers laden private vehicles in and out. However, the sufferings and pain of the common people of the nearby villages of Muluk Gaon, Kherjan, Dhekiajan and Bhimpather have been seen as the worst aftermath of the Army- Militants conflict after

the said ambush was perpetrated by the ULFA led militant organizations.

The normalcy of lives was severely hit following the restriction of the human mobilization in the areas concerned. The youths have left the place for fear of life leaving behind none to protect their ripen paddy in the field from the menace of the herds of elephants.

Even the customary rites and religious ceremonies came to halt following the terror that gripped the minds of the locals belonging to the said agrarian people. School-going children are abstaining from attending the classes as they felt insecure in the wake of militants-Army tug of war assuming aggressive shape with every passing hours. The cattle and poultry have none to be looked after.

The menace of dilapidated Digboi-Pengaree road condition has yet added miseries to the woes of the

common people.

The condition of the said road stretching an area of 18 kms falling undter Digboi and Margherita LAC is beyond description which has adversely affected the mobilization of common people including the army forces and their vehicle during the operation being carried out.

Significantly, the worst road condition has also been viewed by the common people as one of the potential factors which enable the hiding terrorist groups to effectively attack the slow moving vehicles of the common people or army vehicle causing large scale disaster.

However, the combined counter insurgency with effective layout has already been intensified and the sources added that the desired output would be surfaced very soon as the target have been well set.

Arunachal Pradesh gets its first Department of Reproductive Medicine at RKM Hospital ET Bureau Itanagar, Nov. 20

Arunachal Pradesh gets its first Department of Reproductive Medicine at Rama Krishna Mission hospital, Itanagar.

The inaugural program was graced by Partho Maharaj, Dr Deepak Gowinkar, Specialist

in Obstetrics and Gynecology and officials of the hospital.

When asked about the new service, Dr Gowinkar told, “Infertility is not only a medical problem but also a social issue today. A lot of taboos have been established along with the infertility, one of the main factor leading to the practice of polygamy is infertility among women,

social insecurity among the women folks due to infertility.”

“Till date whenever a couple is suffering from infertility, they had to go out of the state either to Guwahati or any other metro cities like Delhi and Mumbai,” he added.

Hence, Rama Krishna

Mission hospital has now opened this new department under Dr Bengia Chirchi , MBBS M.S, (Obstetrics and Gynecology) .

With a hope for a proper utilization of the service, Dr Gowinkar feels, “this new service will be a lot cheaper as comparison to the other hospitals outside the state and will cut short the travel expenses.”

Four children killed after being hit by train in Assam ET Bureau Behali, 20 Nov

Four boys were killed when a passenger train ran over them near Behali in Assam’s Biswanath district early Sunday.

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District police officials quoted locals as saying that the boys, all adivasis, were walking along the track on their way home from a seasonal fair beside the railway line.

“It was very foggy when the mishap happened about 2am,” a police

officer said.

Northeast Frontier Railway officials said there was no scheduled halt for passenger trains near the spot where the children were run over “due to poor visibility”.

Assam chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal condoled the deaths and directed irrigation minister Ranjit Dutta to visit Borgong and talk to the victims’ families.

CM mourns the death of victims of double railway mishaps A Staff Reporter Guwahati, Nov 20

Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal mourned the death of the passengers killed in Kanpur rail accident. He also condoled the death of four youths mowed down by railway locomotive at Borgong, Behali in Biswanath district today.

Chief Minister Sonowal directed Irrigation Minister Ranjit Dutta to rush to Borgong and talk to victims’ family and convey State Government’s condolences to the bereaved family members. Sonowal also prayed for speedy recovery of those injured in Kanpur railway mishap

Over 115 passengers were killed and more than 200 injured, nearly half of them grievously, in the worst train accident in recent years when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed here in Kanpur rural area in the wee hours today due to suspected rail fracture.

The disaster took place just a little after 0300 hrs when the passengers were jolted out of their sleep as the Patna-bound train jumped the tracks, badly damaging four ordinary sleeper coaches in which hundreds were trapped.

Of the four coaches, the S1 and S2 had telescoped into each other and most of the casualties were feared to have been in these two compartments.

S3 and S4 coaches also suffered severe damage while an AC III tier coach was also affected but casualties in it were not heavy.

As railway personnel assisted by those of army, NDRF and state police carried out the search and rescue operation, the number of casualties kept on increasing by the hour. By evening, 110 bodies were recovered and taken to Mati mortuary in Kanpur rural.

The death toll is over 115, UP DGP Javeed Ahmad said.

Among the dead, 43 have been identified, of which 20 are from Uttar Pradesh, 15 from Madhya Pradesh and six from Bihar and one each from Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Post mortem of 27 identified bodies has been done and they were being handed over to the families. Ambulance facilities were also being provided to the families of the victims to

INDIA'S WORST RAIL DISASTERS The Gaisal crash in 1999 killed at least 290 people

Bihar, 6 Jun 1981: 250 deaths confirmed as passenger train derails on a bridge and plunges into the Baghmati River. Hundreds more are never found, with an estimated death toll ranging from 500 to 800

Firozabad, 20 Aug 1995: 358

Rafiganj, 10 Sept Rajdhani 2002:

people are killed as an express train hits a stationary express train

Express derails on bridge, killing at least 130

Gaisal, Assam, 2 Aug 1999: At least

Khanna, 26 Nov 1998: At least 212

West Midnapore, West Bengal, 28 May 2010: The Calcutta-Mumbai

290 killed as two trains carrying a total of 2,500 people collide

killed as a train collides with a derailed train

passenger train derails, killing at least 100. Police blame Maoist sabotage of the track

transport the bodies, officials said.

the spot that it seems the cause of the accident is rail fracture.

An army man Prabhu Narayan Singh, Anil Kishore of BSF from Rohtas, Bihar, and UP police constable Lakhan Singh from Jhansi was among the dead.

Member (Engineering) of the Railway Board will find out the cause of the mishap and action will be taken against those responsible, he said.

76 passengers were seriously injured in the derailment, IG (Kanpur range) Zaki Ahmad said. 150 other passengers received minor injuries in the mishap.

With several passengers feared trapped, rescue personnel employed cold cutters to break open the compartments as gas cutters produced excessive heat and suffocation hampering their efforts.

"Over 150 injured people have been rushed to nearby hospitals in the area. All hospitals have been asked to be alert. More than 30 ambulances have been pressed into service," he said.

Officials said that prima facie the cause of the accident could be due to track fracture.

Minister of State for Railways Manoj Sinha told reporters at

A number of trapped passengers were rescued.

Teams of army doctors, railway officials and personnel of NDRF, state PAC and other policemen were involved in carrying out rescue and relief operation.

President Pranab Mukherjee, Prime Minister

Narendra Modi, Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and a host of other leaders condoled the loss of lives in the train tragedy.

While Yadav announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the kin of each of the dead in the accident, Modi sanctioned Rs 2 lakh. On his part, the Railway Minister enhanced the ex-gratia grant from Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3.5 lakh to the families of the dead.

The UP government will give Rs 50,000 to those seriously injured and Rs 25,000 for those with simple injuries.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, who visited the injured in hospitals in Kanpur Urban, announced Rs 2 lakh for kin of each of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for the injured.

Chowna Mein: Arunachal Pradesh can become the “Fruit Bowl of India” ET Bureau, Namsai, Nov 20

Deputy Chief Minister, Chowna Mein said that Arunachal Pradesh has the potential to become the “Fruit Bowl of India” if we adopt professional way of agriculture cultivation. He said this while attending the one-day training programme on Large Cardamom conducted by Spice Board of India at Namsai today.

He said that the state has plenty of land with varied climatic conditions ranging from tropical to alpine climate where we can grow varied types of agricultural and horticultural crops.

Contd. on Page 3

Among others Chow Zingnu Namchoom, Namsai MLA, Apur Bitin SP, H N Dubey, Scientist and Resource persons (scientists) from ISRS Calicut attended the programme.

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Following the ambush of an army vehicle near Fasi Bridge at Digboi - Pengaree amidst thick reserve forest of Upper Dehing Reserve on early Saturday morning killing 3 Army personnel of Pengaree, the ULFA C in C claimed responsibility of perpetrating the act in association with 4 other militant organizations of Manipur here this evening by mail to the Assam media house.

Meanwhile, the security agencies belonging to various wings of Indian Army including the Madras, Kumaon , CRPF and Assam Rifles have been carrying the intensified form of counter-insurgency operation in the entire vulnerable belt touching Tarani, Talpather, Ratonipother, Mulukgaon and Mungongpother area.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the Centre would investigate the derailment of the Indore-Patna express, and added that rescue operations were underway.

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

P2 Dead body of a youth found Mithun Baruah, Margherita,Nov 19: A dead body of a youth boy was today found at New Colony Margherita.The dead body has been identified as Pintu Mura (28) resident of Hamukjan Gaon of Ledo. According to sources, in the morning hours, the deceased Pintu Mura along with his friends went to watch Cock Fight at Lalgola Namdang of Margherita where all the friends of Pintu Mura came to their respective homes but Pintu Mura didn't return to his house.

Later in the evening hours, local residents of New Colony saw a dead body where after that police came and sent the dead body for post mortem. Cut marks and other bruises were seen on his neck indicates that the deceased Pintu Mura might have been brutally killed.

Borbheti celebrates 249th "Na Lagua Utsav" ET CORRESPONDENT, JORHAT 20 NOV: The historical Borbheti of Jorhat joined the entire people of Assam in celebrating “Na Khuwa Utsav” on Sunday. The “Na Khuwa Utsav” or a religious festival celebrated by the disciplines of Mayamora on the first or second Sunday of Assamese Aghoon month (First or Second Sunday of November).

The peasants’ first harvest was devoted to the name of God (Almighty) with religious custom and tradition.It is considered auspicious that offering salt by devotees to the Borbheti is also considered to be holy. Chanting devotional songs

HOROSCOPE Aries

Today, Aries, you're in the mood for commitment! Take time to connect with the social world as you seek like-minded people who can share your intimate, individualistic realm.

Ultimately, we all have to figure out how to make our way in society. Today you will feel more sociable than usual. Expect to have some good ideas about ways you can enlarge your social circle.

Taurus

Your scattered energy comes together today in a powerful laser beam of concentrated attention and effort. You will work until you drop, and no one and nothing had better get in your way! Keep up the good pace. You're going to feel more loved than usual, and this changes absolutely everything for you.

Gemini

It seems that the new planetary lineup has just opened up some doors that had previously been shut. You revel in the confidence that people have in you. It isn't that your abilities have changed, just your attitude! People trust you because you exhibit more self-confidence. It's a wonderful feeling, isn't it? Hold on to it at all costs.

Cancer

Leo

Virgo

Libra

Scorpio

Sagittarius

Capricorn

Aquarius

Pisces

There is a possibility that you feel cheated or taken advantage of in some way. Do you feel as if you're paying more than your fair share? The day ahead gives you an opportunity to achieve recognition for your efforts and perhaps redress some grievances. It's odd that despite your tendency to espouse fairness, you feel uncomfortable when the authorities rule in your favor.

You're gifted at bringing people together, there's no doubt about that, Leo. Today will be especially good for participating in or initiating group activities. It's a favorable day for any project related to fellowship and assistance. You might do the groundwork to form a team, discussion group, or charitable endeavor.

The day ahead won't be easy, Virgo. A glimpse at your love life reveals that you will be bridling at certain inhibitions. You long for peace and stability, and at the moment everything is in suspense. Use the day ahead to gain some perspective on the situation. Until the ice melts and the flow of events resumes, why not devote your energy to some other endeavor?

Lately, you've been nursing a feeling that your partner is inattentive. The tension has been building up and today, Libra, you're likely to boil over with the rage that comes from one too many doubts and suspicions. The forecast for love is stormy, without a doubt. But making up after the quarrel promises to be lots of fun.

Some days it's better to be on vacation! That's what you're liable to think today. All your projects are mired in quicksand, and you feel like you're spinning your wheels.

But even if things are momentarily stuck, don't lose faith. Your inner self is gaining stability.

When the time is right, it will be strong and reliable.

Deep inside, don't you have an urge to breathe new spirit into your love life? Of course, some things are more easily said than done. Currently, you don't have much time to devote to yourself, much less your partner. Affection could thrive if given half a chance. The day suggests that you commit yourself to making some decisions that will help bring you and your mate closer.

It's time to get what you need, Capricorn. Your desires don't always go in a direction that does you the most good, and this can cause tension.

You feel as though it's impossible to combine your desires with what is good for you, notably in your love life. You wrestle with whether you should remain in your "creative" cave or share your life with someone. It doesn't have to be one or the other.

Take cover, Aquarius, because today promises to be an emotional roller coaster! Something seems to be askew with your relationships, and you feel torn in opposite directions.

One force is pushing you to enrich your inner universe and another force is pushing you into the arms of someone you've recently met. Stay busy to avoid confrontation.

People are going to think you're a star today, Pisces! Although you may not feel that way about yourself. What's gotten into you lately? Have you lost confidence in yourself? Are you now compensating for it? Do you feel a need for more success in your life? All this is possible, but you will have to take some risks if you're going to progress.

Na Lagua Utsav in Jorhat. Photo by Nekib Ahmed

with musical instruments like Mridanga and Tals, devotees come to Borbheti and offer prayers. Originally it was confined to the disciplines of Mayamora Satra. But now a days lakhs of devotees irre-

Training Workshop

spective of caste, creed and community attend Borbheti on a single day and offer prayers with utmost devotion. The festival has been celebrated every year since 1768.The “Na-lagua Utsav”, starting the use

of new foodstuff, an annual programme, attracts lakhs of people to the place every year and the annual Utsav of this historical important place becomes an annual festival of the historic Malow pathar and lakhs of devotees thronged the place. On Sunday, amidst the sound of gayan-bayan, the festivities were witnessed by large gathering of people.

The community Na-lagua was started with the reading of the Bhagavat at early in the morning. The second edition of " Borbhetir etibritti" was released by District Commissioner of Jorhat, Virender Mortal.

Earlier, the two-day long programme started with lighting of 249 earthen lamps in the evening.

SALUTES TO MARTYRED SOLDIERS

Shradhanjali paid to the martyred soldiers of the Pengeri attack at the Dinjan Army camp in Tinsukia on Sunday. photo by manoj pandey dibrugarh

CHEETAH FOUND DEAD

ET Bureau Guwahati, 20 Nov: A day-long Advocacy cum Training Workshop for implementation of the Clinical Establishment (Registration and Regulation) Act 2010, will be held tomorrow, i.e., on November 21, 2016, at the Assam Administrative Staff College, Khanapara, Guwahati22from 10 AM. Minister, Health and Family Welfare, Assam will be present as the Chief Guest on the occasion.

A Cheetah was found dead at Timtimia village in Jorhat on Sunday. It is suspected that somebody have poisoned the animal. Photo by Nekib Ahmed

Jorhat Air Force Medical Team conduct medical camp in Pasighat

GOLF: IndianOil Servo Masters 2016

Lost & Found column I Miss Disha Gogoi Daughter of Joideep Gogoi of Borbil No. 2, Digboi have lost my original ICSE (HSLC) pass certificate bearing index No T/4444/012 of 2013 Batch from the Carmel School Digboi under ICSE Board.

Finder may please contact at 8812992370.

Manoj Pandey Pasighat, 20 Nov: A Multispecialty health camp was organized today at ALG Pasighat, under the aegis of Eastern Air Command of Indian Air Force as a part of social responsibility towards the local civilian population. The camp was headed by Group Captain KK Pooniwala, Commanding Officer of No. 2 Rapid Action Medical Team

(RAMT) based at Jorhat supported by a team of medical specialist from Air Force Hospital Jorhat. The team included Gynecologist, Pediatrician, Eye, ENT, Skin, Dental and Clinical Medical Specialists.

Local civilian population enthusiastically attended the camp. The camp was a grand success and the local population benefitted from the initiative of the IAF.

Cinema

IndianOil Servo Masters 2016 champion Honey Baisoya takes home a new trophy.

DIGBOI Nov 20: Honey Baisoya, the winner of the IndianOil Servo Masters Golf 2016, was presented his trophy and cheque at the Digboi Golf Links on Sunday morning by Mr. M Pramanik, ED, AOD, IndianOil.

Galleria Cinema Dibrugarh Junction Mall

Screen-1 "DR STRANGE 3D " 1ST show at10:00 AM "SHIVAAY" 2ND show at 12:10 PM "AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL " 3RD show at 03:15 PM "DR STRANGE 3D" 4th show at 06:05 PM "SHIVAAY" 5th show at 08:15 PM

The winner took home the newly instituted trophy. The trophy has been designed to represent the ‘Still’ (brass bowl), the precursor of Petroleum refining, used in the Digboi Refinery which was commissioned on 11thDecember 1901. It was used for extracting kerosene from crude petroleum oil.

The engraved ‘flare’ represents the modern technological marvel that the Digboi Refinery is at present.

Screen-2 "AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL" 1ST show at 09:30 AM "PAGLI" 2ND show at 12:30 PM "GAANE KI ANNE" 3RD show at 03:10 PM "PAGLI" 4TH show at 05:50 PM "AE DIL HAI MUSHKIL" 5TH show at 08:30 PM Tele booking timings: 9:00AM to 8:00 PM Tele booking No.: 8876565001/ 8876565002 (Terms & conditions apply)

Ticket Rates Rs. 100/ Rs. 150/Rs. 200/Rs.250/ Rs.300 MORNING SHOWS: Rs.80/Rs.130/Rs. 150/ Rs.200/Rs.250

Website: www.bookmyshow.com

Meanwhile, the significant Pro-Am event of the Indian Oil Servo Masters Golf 2016 was won by professional Shamim Khan and his team.

The Pro-Am event was played in the Team Stable ford format with each team comprising of one professional and three amateurs.

PGTI member Shamim Khan led his team to victory in the Pro-Am event with a total score of 115 points.

Shamim’s team comprised of amateurs Mr. Sachin Singh, Mr. Gautam Goyari and Mr. D P Prasad.

PGTI member Honey Baisoya’s team finished first runners-up with a total of 113 points. Baisoya’s team was made up of amateurs Mr. Y S Kardam, Mr. Zakir Hussain and Mr. Arup K Bhagawati.

PGTI member Shankar Das’ team were second runners-up with a total of 112 points. The amateurs in Shankar’s team were Mr. Tridip Hazarika, Mr. Ajoy Barua and Mr. C K Manchey.

The best gentleman amateur in the 0 - 9 category was Mr. Mridul Shyam with 31 points. Mr. P K Patowary bagged the best gentleman amateur in the 10 - 18 category with 35 points.

The best lady amateur in the 0 – 24 category was Ms. Sabeena Choudhury with 27 points.

The prize for the closest to the pin on hole no. 2 was bagged by Mr. C R Baruah who landed it within 13 feet of the pin.

The prize for the longest drive on hole no. 6 was won

by Mr. Zakir Hussain whose drive landed at a distance of 305 yards.

The prize for the straightest drive on hole no. 14 was won by Mr. N K Devaya.

His drive landed one foot and 11 inches from the centre of the fairway.

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

P3

TELOSAI MELE first lady teacher of Arunachal remembered Bishnu Rana, Tezu, Nov 20: Mishmi intellectual, officials, veteran social workers, learned teacher and several wellwisher paid respect and tribute to the first lady teacher of Arunachal Pradesh, Telosai Mele on her 2nd death anniversary here yesterday at the Dening Keba School premises.

Mele did her early school-

ing from Sadiya and higher education from Margherita (Assam) and joined as a teacher at Tezu in the year 1956 during NEFA. Due to her dedication and exceptional service she was awarded ‘Best State Teacher’ in 1983and retired from service in 1997. Her presence is still felt in the Mishmi society as a land donor for VKV Sunpura

from where number of engineer, administrators, doctors and other alumni continue to occupy higher status of pubic importance, reads Mimu Linggi granddaughter. Satyanarayanan social worker and crusader in spreading joy of reading through Apene Library in Lohit and Anjaw lauded her exemplary service in realizing the Mishmi society the

HOPE Foundation organizes workshop on handloom & handicrafts

Adult education at Soha ET Bureau, Khonsa, 20 Nov: A workshop on Handloom & Handicraft and Adult Education was held at Soha 69 km from here on 19th November under the aegis of H.O.P.E. F O U N D AT I O N (HANGKO MOIDAM OASIS OF PEOPLE’S EMPOWERMENT) in fact as a part of “Back to the Roots” amidst huge gathering of Chief, Gaon Buras from Soha and Barak villages, Religious leaders, villagers and students.

Speaking on the occasion as Chief Guest, Deomali Additional Deputy Commissioner Mr. B. Puroik, appreciated the noble rural initiative taken up by H.O.P.E. Foundation “Hangko Moidam Oasis of People’s Empowerment” adding that such kind of noble work should be given space and supported widely by public masses, leaders, Gaonburas and village chief for individual growth and prosperity of the villagers, larger development of the village community and Tirap as a whole.

Resource person and subject experts dwelled on the topic and gave a detailed presentation on the subject Mr. Pongrem Arangham, Tirap Dy.Director of industries

What we need is lot of research works, proper planning and policies and strong will power. He exhorted the progressive farmers to take advantage as the government policy makers and the administration are here to help. He said, “We must bring in transformation in the agriculture and horticulture sector though slowly”. He said that the govt would keep a special provision in the coming budget for alternate crops for poppy cultivation and expressed hope that with the completion of national highways and coming up of rail routes to the state, marketing facilities will also improve in near future.He said that he is very much a farmer at heart, therefore he is very keen to look for the kind of agricultural crops and methods adopted in other countries whenever he get chance so that there model can be implemented in our

late Mrs. Mele”, he pleads further. Eving Lego Principal Govt. Hr Secondary School, Tezu who was student of Mele during seventies retrospected about her loving and caring nature and had also inspired him much to excel in life. “Such lady of personality was born to serve”, he admires.

In a continued endeavour to pursue her vision of pro-

moting education, all the toppers of X and XII of the 2015 – 16 examination were awarded cash prize and certificate to mark the anniversary. Earlier Badang Tayang, Secretary Daning Keba Society also highlighted briefly about her ideal service in education and urged each and every one to pursue the pace of Late Mele to build a better society.

Changlang North MLA, Pongte appeals people not to encroach govt land meant for PHC and School ET Bureau Changlang, Nov 19: On his fifth leg of tour, Changlang North MLA Tesam Pongte visited Kengkhu village under Changlang North Assembly Constituency and took stock of the functioning of School and the Primary Health Centre. He urged the villagers not to encroach the govt land allotted for PHC and School.

Stating opium addiction as a major challenge, the MLA appealed the villagers to stop taking opium, its cultivation and illicit trafficking.

Pongte who seemed to be committed to bring positive changes in the village assured for development of a playground soon in order to promote games and sports activities in the village. He also gave his words for immediate construction of Mini irrigation channel and upgrading the inter-village track into CC steps which was a long felt demand of the villagers.

He appealed all the Heads of Offices, Changlang who accompanied him to ensure complete implementation of the schemes before releasing the fund.

Deputy Commissioner, Changlang also exhorted the villagers, especially youth not to get diverted towards unhealthy activities like drugs abuse. He opined that woman counterpart can play a vital role in stopping the social menace. He appealed all to help the District Administration in curbing the

problems drug abuse and its illicit trafficking.

The HOOs of various departments also spoke on the occasion and made the villagers aware of the schemes being implemented by these departments and shared vital tips to be adopted during Agriculture and Horticulture farming.

The MLA along with the DC and HOOs also visited government fishery ponds at Rangkatu village and inspected the maintenance of fish ponds.

ITBP’s Mt Kangto expedition in Arunachal may annoy China

informed the participants about the scope and opportunities of traditional designs and utilities of technique and layout. He demonstrated on Handloom and Handicraft techniques which were well taken by the village participants. Dr. A.K. Mishra, Associate Professor, W.R.G.C. Deomali briefed about the welfare scheme and

opportunities of government both at state and centre, and how local artisans can avail such opportunities and develop their own entrepreneurial activities.

Later, Mr. Sonro Songthing, Headmaster of Government Secondary School, Soha shared his views and ideas on

Chowna Mein: Arunachal Pradesh can become the “Fruit Bowl of India” Contd. from Page 1

essence of education. “I’m delighted to know that Mele like personality had brought radical change in education scenario of Mishmi society and the Arunachal at large.

She set a model family where three daughter of her is holding a top post in govt. service and enjoying a better lifestyle. Every one of us should emulate from this family and should be like

state too. He shared his experience of his visit to the Royal Agriculture Project of ISAN (Northeast) region of Thailand where the conditions were quite similar to ours some years ago.

R K Sharma, Deputy Commissioner said that this area is traditionally grower of various spices but what lack is technical know-how and marketing facilities.

Technical knowledge learned must be practically used on ground to have desirable results. He said that the district administration is ready to extend all possible help and assistance in this field.

The Spice Board conducted one day training programme on Large Cardamom at Namsai today. Board is also involved in various extension training programme including field demonstrations while encouraging the farmers on organic farming and Scientific Black Pepper

Cultivation.Spices Board in collaboration with Indian Institute of Spices Research Calicut, Kerala have also conducted three days workshop on Production Management and Onfarm Processing of Spices & and its Prospects on Arunachal Pradesh from November 17 to 19. They have imparted theoretical session for two days on different spices like Ginger, Turmeric and Black Pepper. On the third day, the participants were taken for field visits to plantations at Lathao, Joha and Model Black Pepper Demonstration Plot of Spices Board in Mahadevpur. Around 80 farmers from different parts of Namsai participated in the training programme.

Among others Chow Zingnu Namchoom, Namsai MLA, Apur Bitin SP, H N Dubey, Scientist and Resource persons (scientists) from ISRS Calicut attended the programme.

how adult education can improve the ability to comprehend and apply its utility on self entrepreneurial capacity among the villagers without it many beneficial opportunities may be debarred unknowingly adding that it will empower them with knowledge about the social growth.

Earlier, Komna Moidam, Chairperson H.O.P.E.

Foundation welcomed all the members present and briefed the objectives and beneficial of the workshop. Altogether 185 villagers specially women group actively participated in the programme and benefited from it. The day long programme concluded with interactive session and community lunch.

"Before giving us big things, I want the State to give us basic things”: Arunachal cop Robin Hibu ET Bureau New Delhi, 20 Nov: "If you want to understand my pain, then next time be born like me, with these eyes and face, and in the region that I am, experience prying eyes while roaming with your sister at a market in Delhi." This is how joint commissioner of Delhi police Robin Hibu expressed his angst over discrimination against people from north-eastern states.

At Mail Today's second edition of the Rising North East Conclave, 2016, representatives of the North Eastern community interacted with each other to find ways to end the stereotyping and differentiation based on racial markers against the north-eastern people. MP Bezbaruah, head of the Bezbaruah Committee - that came out with a report on state of the north-eastern community after the death of a female student from Arunachal Pradesh - made a pitch for the philosophy of integration to dominate the approach to mainstream the N-E people.

However, Hibu dealt with the fundamentals. "Before giving us big things, I want the State to give us basic

ET Bureau Itanagar, 20 Nov: In a first, a joint expedition team from the Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) has reached the base camp of Mount Kangto. This assumes all the more significance as Mount Kangto, the highest peak in Arunachal Pradesh, is located right on the India-China border.

The strategic significance of this is immense as the ITBP team has opened the route from Bameng village in the East Kameng district, located 50 km from the Mount Kangto base.

Currently, 54 Border Outposts (BOPs) of the ITBP lie in the East Kameng district, and with the opening of the route, the BOPs will be set up for patrolling in this region. Such a move is likely to annoy Beijing, which claims Arunachal Pradesh to be part of China.

Analysts have welcomed the ITBP's feat. Dr Monika Chansoria, Senior Fellow at the Centre for Land Warfare Studies and a China observer,

believes that the ITBP's feat will bolster the presence of the CRPF and the Army, along the India-China border. Chansoria also points out that the move forms part of India's overall strategy in the region.

"The opening of a new route in East Kameng district (and the scaling of the base camp of Mount Kangto) is in sync with the recent military upgradation of the IAF's airfields and Advanced Landing Grounds in Pasighat, Mechuk (situated 29 km from the China border), Ziro, Aalo, Vijoynagar, Tuting and the strategically vital Tawang," she said.

"This cohesively points to India's growing focus to enhance operational capabilities in key forward areas in the eastern sector that are located 100 km or less from its border with China in Arunachal Pradesh,'' Dr Chansoria added.

In fact, in early November, India had landed its largest military transport aircraft, the C17 Globemaster, at Mechuk.

The ITBP's achievement has come in the wake of Beijing's recent aggressive postures against New Delhi. On July 9, 250 Chinese troops entered the East Kameng district, and stayed there for three hours.

According to sources, the transgression happened around the same time that Beijing had blocked India's bid to be a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG).

Post this, China again entered Indian territory in the Chamoli district of Uttaranchal on July 19, triggering an hour-long confrontation.

In th spring of 1962, prior to the Sino-India war, then prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru had ordered a small number of lightly armed Indian troops to establish presence and control in the forward areas along the Chinese borders, despite intense sabre-rattling in Beijing.

The policy known as 'Forward Policy' was originally intended as a 'game of chess and a battle of wits' .

Exhibition cum talent show on Sadhana Diwas in VKV, Kharsang Joint commissioner of Delhi police Robin Hibu things. Every day I have to shout my lungs out to be heard by my mother when I call her back home. First things first, we want basic infrastructure and connectivity and roads," Hibu said.

Meanwhile, rights activist Alana Golemei underlined the need to break stereotypes.

"People when they return from the Northeast to the mainland are all praises for the land and its people, but the problem starts the moment a student lands from the Northeast to Delhi."

Another panelist, Svetlana, who comes from the same place as Union Minister of State for Home Kiren Rijiju, requested the people of the mainstream to have a bigger and more inclusive heart and look to a solution rather than a statement of the problem.

Lomhom Tangha Kharsang, 20 Nov: Talent show cum exhibition were conducted today in the VKV auditorium at Vivekananda Kendra vidyalaya, under Kharsang circle in Changlang district of Arunachal pradesh. The above competition was held among the School children of primary level which was followed by prize distributions. Sadhana diwas means wholesome contribution by an individual towards the

society through his or her talents. The prizes were given away by the Principal, Mr. Shyamal Chakraborty to the winners of the recently held winter sports competition and exhibitions.

The VKV is the only institution in this region which have done exceptionally well in shaping the lives of the posterity through educational standard in eastern most belt of Arunachal

Pradesh.

The founder, late Eknath Ranade was of the opinion that a students are the backbone of the society who must be equipped and groomed with both physical and mental strength so that they can offer a Sadhana to the society in particular and Nation in general. Sadhana is all about a complete contribution towards the society both with physical and mental aspects by an individuals or a group.

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Workers’ Payment issues? No problem in Hailakandi District A Staff Reporter Guwahati, 20 Nov: Unlike some parts of the State where payment of wages to tea garden workers has become a bone of contention following demonetization drive, in southern Assam’s Hailakandi district it has been a smooth affair without any hiccups, thanks to the slew of initiatives taken by the district administra-

tion. According to District Labour Officer, Alimuddin Barbhuiya, payment of wages amounting to Rs 1,19,70,000 has been disbursed to the plantation workers of 15 out of 17 tea estates on Saturday and the remaining will follow suit.

Tea gardens in Hailakandi district pay wages on weekly basis generally on Saturdays, and in cash.

Barbhuiya said there has been no unrest or uncertainty in the tea gardens over payment of wages in the wake of demonetization owing to prompt action taken by Deputy Commissioner Moloy Bora.

The Labour Officer disclosed that wage payment amounting to Rs 2,38,60,000 has been already disbursed to the

Assam minister Chandra Mohan Patowary hails PM Modi's commitment towards development of Northeast ET Bureau New Delhi, 20 Nov: The precarious connect of the Northeast with the rest of India through the Chicken's Neck Corridor has given rise to the perception of the physical and psychological distance that led to the perceived differences between the Indian core and the north-eastern periphery.

Other than that, the Northeast is integrated with India emotionally as well as physically, said Assam minister Chandra Mohan Patowary at the second edition of Mail Today's North East Rising Conclave 2016.

"The Northeast in general and Assam in particular have always been integrated with the country. The Partition of the country, how-

ever, caused tremendous economic disadvantage to the region. We share a boundary of hundreds of kilometres with Asia and South East Asia, but only a 14-km stretch with India," the minister said.

He also rejected that Assam had ever experienced communal flare ups. "There have been no riots in Assam till date," he added. The long spells of insurgency, the minister said, added to the perception of neglect that had come to mark the difficult relations between Delhi as the power centre and the Northeast. "The perception that there is violence and unrest everywhere and that it is not safe to travel to the region as well as invest, is only a mis-

guards?”

Samujjal Bhattacharya, chief advisor of the AASU asked.

He was speaking at a rally before a satyagraha organised by the student body in Bongaigaon to press for its demand of Constitutional safeguards.

“The Supreme Court has more than once reminded the government that Bangladeshi influx was like an external invasion.

The BJP capitalised on this and made a very important promise to the people during the campaign for the state assembly election earlier this year. But now, it is trying to get more Bangladeshis by amending the Citizenship Act. This is not done,” Bhattacharya said.

He also cited the recent statistics about Bangladeshi infiltrators tabled by the government in Parliament and said that had only vindicated the

manpower. The SBI made special arrangement for smaller denomination notes following instructions from the district administration.

Deputy Commissioner Bora personally visited the bank on several occasions to ensure hassle-free disbursement of wage pay-

ment to garden workers. As tea garden management sought Deputy Commissioner’s help for payment of wages following demonetization drive knowing that it may snowball into a major law and order problem, Deputy Commissioner Bora issued an order HCB 13/ 2016 dated 12th November, directing the District

Labour Officer and Project Director, DRDA to withdraw the requisite amount and make payment to garden owners. It may be mentioned that Reserve Bank of India made certain relaxations in which the tea garden management can hand over the cheques to the DCs for payment of cash to them. Meanwhile,

Deputy Commissioner Bora has asked the tea garden management to take immediate steps to open bank accounts for plantation workers so that the wages can be transferred directly into their accounts.

“The move to transfer wages into the bank accounts of tea labourers is a step in the right direction,” said Barbhuiya.

PEOPLE SCARE OF ARMY OPERATION

giving. This perception emanates from the myopic perspective of India's geopolitical position. The dedicated and honest leadership of chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal has made Assam to come out of the throes of unrest and insurgency. Assam is peaceful and safe," he said.

The minister also gave due credit to the prime minister.

"We have a visionary PM who attaches great importance to the development of Northeast. He believes that India cannot grow without the growth of the East and Northeast." Punning on the Look East Policy, he said: "We were earlier only 'looking' East. Now we are 'acting' East. This is what the PM has done."

AASU hits out at Assam govt over infiltration ET Bureau Guwahati, 20 Nov: Even as the Citizenship (Amendment) Bill seeking to grant citizenship to Hindus, Christians, Jains and Buddhists from Bangladesh and Pakistan is currently with the Joint Select Committee, the All Assam Students’ Union (AASU) on Saturday reiterated its opposition to the Bill and instead asked the BJP what had happened to its promise of granting Constitutional safeguards to the indigenous communities of Assam.

“This (BJP-led) government had come to power with the promise of granting Constitutional safeguards to the indigenous communities of Assam who have been facing a serious threat from Bangladeshi infiltrators.

But now it is more bent on encouraging more Bangladeshis. What happened to the promise of Constitutional safe-

plantation workers following demonetization of higher currencies on November 8 last. Barbhuiya also thanked the Chief Manager, SBI for his support and cooperation in ensuring payment of weekly wages to workers of tea estates despite severe constraints faced by the branch vis-à-vis shortage of lower denomination notes and

AASU’s stand. “But instead of taking steps to detect and expel them, there is an attempt to encourage more infiltration.

We will not let this happen. Bangladeshis have to be expelled irrespective of their religion or linguistic affiliation. The Constitution, the Supreme Court and the Assam Accord of 1985 are all clear on not distinguishing one infiltrator from another in the name of religion or language,” he said.

The AASU chief advisor also accused all parties – including the BJP, Congress, regional and Left parties – for doing nothing to expel the Bangladeshi infiltrators.

“All parties were in power at one point of time or the other. But what have they done to detect and expel the infiltrators? Delhi’s eyes are only on Assam’s resources and not on the problems,” Bhattacharya said.

ASSAM GOT TALENT

'Assam Got Talent' program in Golaghat. Several talented person from varied filed participated . Photo by Amit Nagori.

After the ULFA attacked on the Army at Pengaree on Saturday, the sufferings and pain of the common people of the nearby villages of Muluk Gaon, Kherjan, Dhekiajan and Bhimpather have been seen as the worst aftermath of the Army- Militants conflict. The normalcy of lives was severely hit following the restriction of the human mobilization in the areas concerned. The youths have left the place for fear of life leaving behind none to protect their ripen paddy in the field from the menace of the herds of elephants.

Ulfa-I gradually gathering strength: Security experts ET Bureau Guwahati, 20 Nov: In the wake of one of the biggest attacks on security forces in two decades, security experts said the outlawed United Liberation Front of Assam(Independent) was gathering strength after having been dormant for years.

security experts observed.

Saturday's attack on the Army's 15 Kumaon Regiment, in which three jawans were killed and four injured, was an attempt to drive home the point that the outfit was not a spent force yet,

The three decades Sahay spoke of had seen many ups and downs in the fight against insurgency. In 1995, eight security personnel had been killed in an ambush in Kamrup district by what

Brahmaputra festival in 2017, announces CM Sonowal ET Bureau GUWAHATI: To package the Brahmaputra as a tourist attraction, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal on Saturday announced that a Brahmaputra Festival would be held in 2017.

Sonowal also pitched for better ties among south Asian countries while flagging off the IndiaMyanmar-Thailand (IMT) car rally in Guwahati on Saturday.

"We are determined to utilize the ample resources given to us.

The Brahmaputra - our lifeline is the strength of our economy. We will promote it in a bigger way. We want to project it as a global destination," Sonowal said while addressing participants and delegates at the car rally that aims to spread awareness about the need for a motorable road connecting the three countries."There are more than 2,300 islands in the river. Visitors will have the unique experience of seeing them first-hand. Besides, people will also get a chance to take a dip in the mighty river," he said.

"In three decades of counter-insurgency operations, we had almost reined in Ulfa-I. We will continue adopting a policy of zero tolerance towards militants," Assam DGP Mukesh Sahay said.

was then undivided Ulfa.

The outfit split in August 2012 when its commanderin-chief Paresh Baruah expelled Arabinda Rajkhowa as chairman. While Rajkhowa went on to lead the pro-talks faction of Ulfa, Baruah headed the antitalks Ulfa-I. On August 12 this year, Ulfa-I unleashed terror in Tinsukia district's Philobari area, killing three Hindispeaking people. On Independence Day, too, cadres of the outfit triggered five IED blasts in Tinsukia and

Charaideo districts.

"These recent activities show that Ulfa-I is desperate to make its presence felt in the state," a security expert said.

DGP Sahay said police had reports of the outfit recruiting cadres. The formation of United Liberation Front of Western South East Asia (UNLFW), an umbrella body of four militant groups from the northeast, also aided Ulfa-I's resurgence in the region, Sahay added.

Two other rebel groups Kamtapur Liberation Organization and National Democratic Front of Boroland (Songbijit) are also part of UNLFW. "Ulfa-I now receives support from NSCN-Khaplang in Nagaland and Arunachal," Sahay said. He added that the use of RPGs showed Ulfa-I had added firepower to its arsenal with the help of other rebel groups.

Suspect cash deposits: I-T department warns violators will face maximum 7-year jail PTI NEW DELHI: Warning people against depositing their unaccounted old currency in someone else's bank account , the tax department has decided to slap charges under the newly enforced Benami Transactions Act against violators that carries a penalty, prosecution and rigorous jail term of a maximum seven years.

In a related development, official sources said that the department has detected over Rs 200 crore in undisclosed income after it conducted over 80 surveys and about 30 searches in cases of suspicious usage of the scrapped currency. About Rs 50 crore has also been seized in these operations since November 8, they said, across various states.

The sources said the taxman has initiated a country-wide operation to identify suspect bank accounts where huge cash deposits have been made post November 8, when government

demonetised the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes.

Such instances where the suspicion is found to be true will be prosecuted under the Benami Property Transactions Act, 1988, applicable on both movable and immovable property, that has been enforced from November 1 this year.

They said the Act empowers the taxman to confiscate and prosecute both the depositor and the person whose illegal money he or she has "adjusted" in their account.

"The CBDT has asked the Income Tax department to closely monitor all such transactions where people are using bank accounts of other persons for hiding and converting into white their black money using the old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000.

"Already some instances have been reported in this regard and the department

is set to issue notices under the Benami Act," the sources told PTI. Primarily, they said, the notices will be issued in cases of huge cash deposits beyond the threshold of Rs 2.5 lakh but in cases where a suspicious report is received from the bank or the Financial Intelligence Unit below this threshold will also be investigated.

"Such an arrangement where a person deposits old currency of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 in the bank account of another person with an understanding that the account holder shall return his money in new currency, the transaction shall be regarded as benami transaction under the said Act. "The person who deposits old currency in the bank account shall be treated as beneficial owner and the person in whose bank account the old currency has been deposited shall be categorised under this law

as a benamidar," a senior official explained.

The Benami Act, the official said, provides that the benamidar, the beneficial owner and any other person who abets or induces the Benami transaction, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a period ranging from 1-7 years.

"The benami amount in the bank account deposited post de-monetisation will be seized and confiscated and the accused will also be liable to fine which extends upto 25 per cent of the fair market value of the benami property," the official said.

The Income Tax department has stepped up its action to check black money transactions, money laundering and tax evasion in the wake of the demonetisation and has issued hundreds of notices of enquiry to charitable and religious trusts to show their account balances and to those who have deposited huge cash in their bank accounts.

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Jitendra Choudhury brands demonOne dies as northeast India etization a drama of NDA and Modi continues to reel under cash crunch

Agartala, Nov 20: 'In the name of recovery of black money, the central government is now staging drama with common people', said Member of Parliament (MP) Jitendra Choudhury.

Speaking at an open conference of Tribal Youth federation (TYF) at Sabroom on Saturday , Choudhury said 'you cannot recover the black money with demonetization of two currency notes and this a gimmick of the Narendra Modi led union government to divert the burning issues of the country'.

The suffering of people has been raised with demonetization of currency notes and people are now standing long queues in front of banks and ATM counters leaving their daily works to collect new circulated notes, said Choudhury adding that the NDA government led by Narendra Modi did not fulfill a single commitment during last 30 months made during the pre-election campaigns.

Now, common people of the country are suffering for livelihood, unemployment problems stand in its peak, suicide rates of

Member of Parliament (MP) Jitendra Choudhury. farmers and tea workers have also been increased along with inflation rates, said Choudhury.

Referring to the recovery of black money, Choudhury pointed out that government should identify the black money holders and should take possible steps instead of demonetization of currency notes.

It may be recalled here that an overexcited rush outside most banks across the country has been continuing after the declaration of demoneti-

zation of currency notes on November 8 night along with different parts of Tripura. People were seen waiting outside many banks as early as 6 a.m. to exchange the now defunct Rs. 500 and Rs. 1,000 notes and withdraw money.

Highlighting the developmental activities of the Tripura government, Choudhury appealed to the activists of TYF to strengthen their organization to fight against the divisive forces of the state. (Agencies)

Over 90% turnouts in Tripura by-polls Agartala, 20 Nov : Over 90 per cent of the 78,400 electorate cast their votes on Saturday in by-elections to two assembly constituencies in Left ruled Tripura, officials said.

"Over 90 per cent voters cast their votes in the two assembly constituencies.

Voting was conducted peacefully, there is not a single untoward incident reported from the two assembly constituencies," additional chief electoral officer of Tripura Debashish Modak told IANS soon after the balloting time was over at 4 p.m.

The by-elections were held in the scheduled caste reserved Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies. The votes will be counted on November 22.

"There is no report of any untoward incident from anywhere in the two assembly seats. Balloting remained peaceful so far," police spokesman Uttam Bhowmik told IANS. He said: "An abandoned bag containing some ex-

plosive materials was found near a polling booth at Singichara under Khowai assembly constituency. Security forces cordoned-off the area to avert panic among the people. Bomb disposal squad has rushed to the tribal dominated area to do the needful."

According to Bhowmik, in both the constituencies some Electronic Voting Machines developed technical snags leading to a halt in balloting for some times, but it resumed after the problems were fixed.

"Heavy security arrangements were made to hold the by-elections in both the assembly segments smoothly. Over nine companies of central paramilitary force -- BSF (Border Security Force) and CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) -have been deployed in the poll-bound assembly segments and their adjoining areas," Director General of Tripura Police K. Nagaraj told IANS. "Besides the central paramilitary forces, adequate numbers of state

forces, including elite and counter-insurgency trained TSR (Tripura State Rifles), have also been deployed in the vicinity of the Barjala and Khowai assembly constituencies," the police chief added.

The Barjala seat fell vacant after Congress legislator Jitendra Sarkar resigned on June 6 following an internal feud within the party while the Khowai seat has been vacant since the death of veteran CPI-M legislator Samir Deb Sarkar.

Five candidates each are contesting from the two constituencies. In all 39,007 voters, including 18,935 females, will be eligible to cast ballot in the Barjala constituency. In Khowai, 39,400 voters are eligible, among them 19,436 are women.

Both by-polls would be four-cornered contests, among ruling Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M)-led ruling Left Front, opposition Trinamool Congress, Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress.(Agencies)

BSF gives proof of rebel presence in Bangladesh Shillong, 20 Nov: The BSF has produced 'documentary proof' to BGB on the presence of Indian insurgent outfits in the neighbouring country during the just concluded Border Coordination Conference at Sylhet in Bangladesh.

"IG of BSF's Meghalaya Frontier PK Dubey conveyed the BSF agenda to BGB, especially security related issues about the presence of cadres of Indian insurgent groups like GNLA, Ulfa, HNLC, NDFB and NLFT in Bangladesh territory.

Trans-border crimes like smuggling of FICN, forest produce and cattle theft in Indian teritory were also discussed. Issue of construction of a

Representative Image single-row fence within 150 yards from the international border was also discussed for obtaining clearance from the Bangladesh government," a statement issued by the Meghalaya Frontier Headquarters of the

BSF here said.

"The BSF delegation included top officials of Mizoram, Cachar and Tripura Frontiers of BSF and deputy inspector general's of all sectors of these frontiers," the BSF release read. (Agencies)

IANS Agartala, Nov 20: Amid the continuing cash crunch in the northeastern states in the wake of demonetisation, an ailing tribal man lost his life in Tripura on Saturday as his family did not have enough money to shift him to a hospital in the state capital.

Manoranjan Debbarma, 61, was admitted on Friday to a government hospital in Kamalpur town, where doctors advised his family members to shift him to Agartala government medical college.

However, his family members could not withdraw enough money as banks refused to make any exception to the set guidelines, a close relative Shyamal Debbarma told reporters.

It's been 11 days since

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the withdrawal of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes on November 8. However the people in semi-urban, remote and rural areas the northeast India are still reeling under a cash crunch as neither bank nor ATM kiosks have enough cash to dispense.

"As banks are putting mostly Rs 100 notes in ATMs, within a few hours the automated teller machines are getting empty. Otherwise, most of the ATMs and the banks have reasonable amount of currency notes with varied denominations including new Rs 2,000 notes," United Bank of India's (UBI) Chief Regional Manager and Deputy General Manager Mahendra Dohare told IANS.

Tripura hospital blamed for patient's death Agartala, 20 Nov: A policeman's family in Tripura has blamed a a private hospital for the death of the personnel because of non-acceptance old currency notes on Friday.

Shaswati Sharma, daughter of deceased Shyamal Sharma (56), alleged that her father was shifted to ILS hospital in a critical condition three days ago.

Shyamal was an employee of police wireless wings.

He was diagnosed with kidney malfunctioning and was advised to be treated in Kolkata. But when the family members went to pay the bill, hospital authorities refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes, she alleged.

"We were surprised at the bill amount (Rs 83000 for one day). On top of that, no notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1000 were accepted.

The PM's statement said hospitals have to accept old notes till December 30, but they refused," alleged Shaswati. The hospital did not discharge the patient though he was critical on Thursday.

"We had a tough time in arranging the money whick took a long time.

After a long battle, a stretcher was managed with doctors on Air India flight to Kolkata on Friday. But he collapsed at the airport," she told the media. (Agencies)

Unakoti set to get World Heritage site tag

Agartala, Nov 20: The eighth century archaeological site Unakoti hill of Unakoti District is set to get World Heritage site tag. Tajesh Gorg, superintendent of Archaeological Survey of India, Aizawl circle said.

He was speaking after inaugurating an exhibition at Unakoti as part of World Heritage Week celebrations on Saturday.

The exhibition will continue till November 25.

He said Unakoti is one of the richest heritage sites of the region but it fails to attract much tourist due to lack of campaign and stressed the need for spreading the message of the eternal apple of the

site to the outside world.

He said the Aizawl circle of the Archaeological Survey of India has recently been set up to look after the archaeological sites of Manipur, Tripura and Mizoram and assured that necessary steps will be taken to improve the Unakoti and other archaeological sites of the region. District magistrate Pramatha Ranjan Bhattacharjee, additional superintendent of police Biplab Deb and other dignitaries were present.

They urged the ASI to take step for better maintenance of the site and publicizing it.(Agencies)

"The situation in the entire northeastern region is gradually improving day by day. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is also providing currency notes of varied denominations," Dohare said in Agartala.

On people refusing to accept Rs 10 coins, Dohare said that people should accept the coins as these are not at all fake or duplicate.

"The RBI has also asked the people to accept the coins without any doubt," he added.

In Mizoram, long queues of people were seen in front of bank branches and ATM kiosks since early morning.

In order to deal with the cash crunch, a section of traders in eastern Mizoram, bordering Myanmar, have asked the people to use pieces of paper as promissory cur-

rency notes to replace official currency till the situation improves.

"We have to find an alternative solution as the cash crunch has hit both the sellers and buyers hard. It is not possible to trade anything unless we evolve an alternate system," P.C. Lalhmachhuana, owner of a hardware store in Khawbung semi-township (in eastern Mizoram), told reporters.

"Local people are happy with the informal system.

The papers bear the value of the amount and the signature of the buyers and sellers on them," Lalhmachhuana added.

Several opposition parties held demonstrations in the region against the central government's move to ban high denomination notes and demanded that the crisis should be resolved im-

mediately.

In Silchar, (southern Assam), though the situation has slightly improved in the four districts in Barak Valley, huge queues of people both outside bank branches and ATM kiosks still continued.

"The banks in Barak Valley have been disbursing huge number of currency notes with denominations of Rs 2,000, Rs 100, Rs 50, Rs 20 and Rs 10.

Gradually, rush in the banks and the ATM booths is reducing," State Bank of India's regional manager Pradip Kumar Pal told reporters in Silchar.

"After the availability of new Rs 500 notes in the banks and the ATMs the situation would improve greatly. However, the new Rs 500 notes are yet to come in the RBI's regional office in Guwahati."

2000 notes make life difficult in Meghalaya

The new Rs 2,000 currency notes have turned out to be a problem for the 'aam aadmi' in Meghalaya as most places where they shop are finding it difficult to give them change.

Shillong, 20 Nov: The new Rs 2,000 currency notes have turned out to be a problem for the 'aam aadmi' in Meghalaya as most places where they shop are finding it difficult to give them change.

The queues outside ATMs have drastically reduced over the last couple of days as none of the kiosks are giving low-value currency notes. "I have tried several ATMs in the city but all of them are giving Rs 2000 notes. I already have a couple of these notes, which are turning to be useless papers as there is acute shortage of low-denomination notes in the

market," said Jacqueline Kharmujai, a state government employee, who took time out from office to queue up outside an SBI ATM near the main secretariat.

People in the rural areas, too, are having a tough time with ATMs in the vicinity and the branches only giving high-value currency notes. "Villagers store currency notes at home as most of them do not have bank accounts," said Edilbert Lyngdoh, a village elder, who has been pursuing his folks to accounts.

However, an officer with a nationalized bank in

one of the villages in the East Khasi Hills has a different story to tell.

"Over the past few days, unprecedented amount of money has been deposited in my branch, mostly Rs 1000 and Rs 500 notes," he said. He added that he had to call the police as people were unwilling to vacate the bank premises even after the closing time.

"The situation will improve in a few days," he said. He pointed out that under provisions of the 6th Schedule to the Constitution; tribal communities are exempted from paying tax.

(Agencies)

Cash crunch paralyses trade at Moreh Imphal , 20 Nov: Trading activities at Manipur's Moreh on the IndiaMyanmar border have taken a hit thanks to the Centre's demonetization drive. Myanmarese traders, who run businesses at Namphalong and Tamu in their country close to Moreh, have stopped accepting the demonetized notes of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 since Prime Minister Narendra Modi's shock announcement on November 8.

Consequently, small-scale Indian traders who faced acute shortage of cash could not fetch goods from the Myanmarese markets.

Businessmen from the neighbouring country, too,

could not fetch goods from India as residents of Moreh continued to spend more time in queues outside banks and ATMs. Moreh, the focal point of the Centre's 'Act East' policy which witnesses transactions of around Rs 5 crore daily, wore a deserted look on Saturday. "Very few people turned up for trading at Moreh, Namphalong and Tamu," a resident told TOI. Meanwhile, publishers of Imphal-based newspapers have stopped publication since Friday. While cash transactions - withdrawal, deposit and exchange - continued in the Manipur capital, residents found it hard to

give the potyeng - a monetary gift given to families holding religious rituals like marriage.

"How can I give the demonetized notes to my best friend on the occasion of his first-born's swasti puja?" wondered Nanda Singh of Imphal West. "I managed to get some new notes to attend the puja. Like me, thousands of people are facing problems while attending ceremonies like marriage," he added. People also queued up outside fuel outlets in Imphal on Saturday despite United Naga Council (UNC)'s indefinite economic blockade on national highways in the state's 'Naga areas'. (Agencies)

Manipur: 1 killed, 3 injured in three separate blasts Imphal, Nov 20 : One person was killed and three others were injured in three bomb blasts here on Sunday.

The blasts came at a time when security had been beefed up in view of the international

Sangai Festival in the heart of Imphal city beginning from Monday.

The first blast was reported at 8 a.m. at Singjamei in which one Vinod Rai hailing from Bihar was killed. His scrap shop is located

near the site of the explosion.

Tw o C R P F t r o o p e r s were hurt when hand grenades were hurled on the campus of All India Radio at 5.14 p.m.

One Assam Rifles

trooper was injured in another blast at 5 p.m. near the office of the defence wing public relations officer.

Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh condemned the violence and told

IANS that the violent incidents shall give a wrong message to the delegates coming here for the Sangai Festival from India and abroad.

No one has claimed responsibility for the blasts so far.

EDITORIAL

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

Today's quote

“

You have to grow from the inside out.

None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul Swami Vivekananda Charlie Chaplin

Promote India’s rich literary traditions, but not at the cost of English One area where India education in the mother always outperformed China, with whom we can never resist measuring ourselves, was in English proficiency. It was with glee that we could point out how Indians were ahead of the Chinese in the IT and IT-enabled services sector, which also brought a fair measure of prosperity as call centres proliferated.

Indians with their greater familiarity with English were much quicker to take advantage of the opportunities in the services sector in a globalising economy. But in what should come as a wake-up call, a new report says English language proficiency among the Chinese improved significantly in the past one year while India’s ranking among non-English speaking countries that use the language dropped a couple of notches. China rose eight ranks to be placed 39th among 72 countries, while India went down by two ranks and is now 20th, says the report on English proficiency prepared by the Swedish education company Education First. The report is based on the EF Standard English Test results of 950,000 adults from 72 countries and regions.

While we need not resort to hand-wringing that all is lost on the basis of one report, there are other worrying markers. The RSS and its affiliates, and several regional parties who thrive by inflaming parochial passions, have been aggressively pushing for

tongue, Sanskrit or Hindi.

Macaulay putras is their derisive term for people they see as the Englisheducated elite. The 19th century English administrator TB Macaulay may have promoted English education in India to serve the colonial enterprise better, and may have been dismissive of Indians and their languages, but it cannot be denied that India and Indians benefited from the spread of English.

It can even be argued that English, which serves as the link language, helps preserve the unity of a country that resembles the Tower of Babel with its multiple languages and even more numerous local dialects. It can be nobody’s case that local languages should be ignored and allowed to die. India is home to two of the great mother languages of the world – Sanskrit and Tamil – and has given birth to several more.

And it is up to governments and educationists to promote India’s rich literary traditions, but does it have to be at the cost of English? Isn’t English too an Indian language now?

Why would we want to lose the edge our bright young minds have in competing on the global stage, whether in academia or the world of business and commerce where more and more Indians are coming into their own? We should aggressively promote English in tune with the aspirations of millions of Indians.

AVOIDING STREET POLITICS Once again, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal are back to threatening street politics, this time over the Government’s demonetisation decision. But their attempt to mislead the people will be rebuffed. Even the naysayers have fully understood by now, the positive impact of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation drive. Both the Chief Ministers must understand that giving an ultimatum to the Union Government to roll back demonetisation, is not the solution to fight the black money menace. Their plan to launch countrywide street protests reflects an absolutely irresponsible way to highlight the gaps in the demonetisation drive. They are well aware that instead of taking the debate to the streets, Parliament is the right forum to question the Government. They can claim that the Government may have not thought about the fallouts of the scheme the way it has unfolded presently. But then, the Government has been adopting all sorts of precautions to help the masses through reliable channels. Definitely, the common people are hurt by the sudden announcement of the drive. In such an environment, Kejriwal has warned the Government: “Take back this decision in three days. Don't test people's patience. Otherwise, there will be a bagaawat (revolt) by people.” It seems, this was done with ulterior motives to defame the Government.

Banerjee went one step ahead by saying: “What will people eat? Diamonds? ATMs? What kind of a joke is this? A crisis of this proportion was not seen even during the Emergency.”

Is it so that both the Chief Ministers are just trying to impress the people with cheap talk? Are they planning to create chaos in the country by bringing out street protests against the Government? That seems to be the plan. If they are worried so much about the hardships borne by the demonetisation drive, they should have addressed public rallies to clear the confusion about the scheme.

Since they represent the people's interests , being grassroots politicians, they should understand that people are generally supportive of the decision. They must be guided by sane economics, rather than fall prey to populist politics. More than the Delhiites, the rest of the countrymen are also by now extremely familiar with Chief Minister Kejriwal's anti-Modi rhetoric. To him, any crisis, stemming from the city municipal corporations to the current monetary reform, is nothing but the ‘failure’ of Prime Minister Modi's governance. However, it is he, and not Modi, that is fooling the people, by simply talking and hurling accusations, either against the Union Government or almost, regularly on the Lieutenant Governor of Delhi. He must stop this. His good old activist mood should be used to fight the cancer of black money. When it comes to Banerjee, she has so much to deliver to her State, and so she mustn’t waste time in the capital, lampooning a sensible Government reform measure. She has not been able to come up with any substantial policy package to tackle the rot left behind by decades of Left-rule in West Bengal. The State is notorious for organised goondaism brought by her own party people. Also, she doesn’t seem to remember the massive Saradha scam in which some of her seninor party leaders were allegedly involved.

P6

Artificially created distress W

ithout adequate preparation or thought, the monetary authorities and the government have taken a drastic step declaring as worthless over 86 per cent by value of the currency notes in circulation with the public. A prior large increase of lower denomination notes should have been ensured through banks and ATMs, so that overall money supply did not reduce and a normal level of activity could be maintained. This was not done, so effectively a very severe monetary contraction has been imposed, the purchasing power of the population has been suddenly taken away, reducing the level of economic activity and causing distress to people, which is getting worse as time passes.

The puzzle

denomination

The government’s rationale for the extreme measure of demonetisation is not clear. There is talk of targeting black money, but the denomination of notes has nothing to do with the existence of black money, which is not held in hoards of notes but is a circulation of unrecorded and undeclared incomes. Those larger-scale activities where income is declared produce white taxable money, while large incomes generated in legal or illegal activities

where these incomes are not declared in order to evade tax constitute black money.

There is a constant parallel flow of black money in the economy. Clearly the monetary authorities or the government itself do/does not naively believe that black money somehow is connected to Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes which they call ‘high denomination’ — if they did, they would not have chosen to issue a new note of Rs.2,000 which is of even higher denomination.

So what is the point of the measure? Investigation of and raids on suspected tax evaders do not require such an extreme step as almost complete demonetisation, which in present conditions of lack of preparedness, amounts to economically disenfranchising the entire population.

The adverse impact on

the economy of sharp mon- pay their suppliers and canetary contraction (to the ex- not obtain enough new tent of around Rs.14 lakh notes to do so. The entire crore) is already evident, chain of supply and distriand the greatest sufferers bution has been thoroughly are the rural population, and disrupted. the urban poor and middle class. The first impact is on In villages the kharif harthe supply chain of goods vest is not yet fully marand services which is dis- keted in many regions, but rupted, and this is then feed- producers are unable to sell ing back to impact produc- their crops owing to the tion. Traders and retailers shortage of the new money. have been Many are being ofdeprived Utsa Patnaik fered drastiovernight of cally lower the funds to carry on their business, and prices for their produce the former can neither which runs the risk of damsource goods after using up age in coming days. Farmtheir existing stocks, nor can ers who have already marthey pay for the transport of keted their kharif crop and the goods to the market. Re- have existing notes in hand tailers cannot sell the goods now cannot buy seed and since customers do not have fertilisers for sowing rabi money to buy them, and since there is no lower dethey can provide goods on nomination or substitute credit to customers only up money available in their to a point since they need to nearest banks. Delayed rabi

sowing is bound to affect future output. The majority of farmers are net purchasers of food, and rural labourers and artisans are entirely dependent on purchase from the market. They are in the greatest distress since they cannot purchase basic necessities for their families with their existing money, and their attempts to change it for new money is fruitless since the latter is simply not available to the required extent in banks.

Even in a relatively organised sector like tea plantations, daily wages in the new money have not been paid to workers who are unable to meet their subsistence needs.

Hitting the most vulnerable The worsening situation in urban areas is well known — not only the wage-earning poor but the middle class too is adversely affected by the overnight artificial and extreme loss of purchasing power involved in the demonetisation exercise. Millions of hours during working days are being wasted by people in standing in long queues at banks, and many are turned away eventually with the new cash running out. For the physically frail and senior citizens, it is a risky and indeed impossible exercise to obtain the new notes. A number of deaths have

taken place already owing to the inability to purchase medicines or obtain timely medical care. The government has admitted that it will take many weeks to fill the gap in money supply.

With the severe loss of purchasing power, the country is being driven into an artificially created recession and the level of economic activity is declining. To prevent further damage to the economy and to relieve distress among the people, the measure of demonetisation should be revoked immediately. The government can replace existing currency notes with new notes, but in a more planned, orderly and phased manner and over a longer period, bearing in mind that the bulk of our population needs humble money to carry on myriad small daily transactions, and Rs.2,000 notes which cannot be changed are of no use to them. Citizens and leaders of all political parties, including the ruling party, should unite to demand immediate revocation of the demonetisation measure before the situation worsens any further. There is nothing to prevent the government from continuing to investigate or raid suspected tax evaders.

Utsa Patnaik is Professor Emeritus, Jawaharlal Nehru University, Delhi.

Views are her personal.

Can the world get richer for ever?

Since the dawn of the industrial age, the world has been steadily getting wealthier, despite setbacks such as the Great Depression and the more recent global financial crisis.

We make more, sell more and consume more than ever before.

Yet, according to the United Nations, nearly three billion people still live on less than $2.50 (£1.70) per day.

So, how can we raise living standards for those who still live in poverty? The answer, according to most governments, is rapid economic growth.

Growth is seen as a panacea for a great many ills. It creates jobs, erodes debts and raises living standards. For politicians, it also generates votes. It is almost universally seen as a Good Thing.

Journalists are complicit in this. We frequently describe rapid growth as "robust".

Slower growth is "anaemic" and an economy in recession is often portrayed as "sick" or "ailing".

'Boiling the oceans' Yet there's a problem here.

We live on a finite planet, but growth is exponential. So an annual increase in gross domestic product (GDP) of 3% might not sound like much but it means an economy will double in size every 23 years.

So does this matter? According to Tom Murphy, professor of physics at the University of California San Diego, it definitely does, as economic growth goes hand in hand with increasing energy consumption.

ing, the quality of your life."

'Work for hands and heart'

"From a physical point of view, if we grew at 3% a year, in about 400 years' time we would actually be boiling the oceans - not because of global warming and CO2, but just because of the heat that is a natural by-product of the energy that we use," he says.

These physical constraints, Prof Murphy says, will start to have an impact - for example, by creating cycles of boom and bust - and will make long-term growth impossible.

Accessible energy This view is not entirely new.

In fact, the English cleric and scholar Thomas Malthus made a similar point back in the 18th Century. His concern was not energy use but population growth.

He believed that the population would grow as living standards rose, and that eventually food supplies would run out. That hasn't happened so far. In fact, we have simply become much better at producing food.

So could we do something similar with energy?

"There's potential to get renewable sources of power that don't produce carbon emissions, that are cheap and easily accessible," says economist and environmental campaigner Yoram Bauman. "The goal is to get

the cost of renewable power below the cost of, say, coal."

Certainly there's little sign of anxiety within the financial industry.

"Historically, people have demonstrated a remarkable ability to deliver economic development and growth, often in the face of appalling manmade and environmental catastrophes," says Joe Seifert, a former investment banker and now the chief investment officer for Indian fund Essar Capital.

"Resource scarcity in areas such as energy and water is a possible constraint, but there are vast natural resources that are untapped and human ingenuity has in the past overcome many such

that he was the richest man in the world and no THE MIDAS TOUCH fairy king had as much gold as

Pramod Pathak

The Midas touch is a popular idiom in English language that denotes successful people, the people having the ability to do everything to their advantage.

It is also to denote those people who have the capability to produce large profits with ease. This, however, is an implication that may not give the right significance of the story, though in the popular parlance this is how ‘the Midas touch’ is used.

The fact is rather different. The Midas Touch is a

story from Greek mythology about the king who lived in ancient Greece. The king had a little daughter named Marigold. Being a king, Midas was rich and had plenty of gold. Yet he was greedy and had great fancy for gold. He always wanted more gold. One day, while he was busy admiring his stock of riches he had stored, a beautiful fairy emerged in front of him.

The fairy was carrying a strange looking wand which had wings.

Midas was told by the

him. But Midas did not seem to be contented. He said that even though he had so much gold, he would like to have more because gold was the best and most wonderful thing in the world. The fairy asked if Midas was sure about his desire.

Midas nodded in the affirmative.

To this the fairy asked what would be that one boon which Midas would like to have. The king said his only wish was that what-

constraints."

The right growth On the face of it, that should be good news for many developing countries, who rely on growth to create jobs and boost living standards.

But growth alone is not good enough, says Ashish Thakkar, founder and chief executive of the Africa-based Mara Group. It needs to be the right kind of growth.

"Growth should not be about speculation and making a quick buck," he says. "It's seen as helping to lift people out of poverty, but we mustn't lose that mindset. It should not be about simply creaming away natural resources."

ever he touched should turn into gold. The fairy said that his wish would be granted and from the next day after sunrise, whatever he would touch will turn into gold.

But the f a i r y warned that the boon would not make him happy. The king was still insistent. The fairy after granting the boon departed.

The next morning as the king woke up, the first thing he wanted was to test whether the boon worked.

He touched the head of the bed, it turned into gold. He

He thinks growth can still have huge benefits for developing countries.

But the well-known - and frequently controversial - Indian environmental activist Vandana Shiva has a very different view.

She believes that current measures of growth place too much emphasis on potentially harmful activities, such as logging or mining, and do not value natural wealth.

"Every story of growth is a story of environmental footprint that was encountered, of social dislocation," she says. "Growth is only measured in terms of commodification. It doesn't measure the life you're living, the nutrition you're eat-

then touched the chair, it turned into gold. This made him ecstatic. He frenetically started touching every object in the room. They all turned into gold. His joy knew no bounds. Soon he felt hungry and called for breakfast. As he touched the bread, it turned into gold. He touched the meat, it turned gold. Not a thing he could eat. All was gold. He picked the glass of water to drink. The moment he touched it, it turned into gold.

Perplexed as he was, the king saw his daughter coming inside. He tried to hug her. She turned into gold.

This shattered the king completely. He cried for help from the fairy. The

She thinks we need to redefine what we mean by wealth and accept that economic growth often comes with a hefty price tag.

"Being rich means living a full life, living a life of meaning," she says. "Having work for your hands and your mind and your heart. Having a wide circle of compassion to give. On that there is no limit."

One person who might have some sympathy for that view is Gillian Tett, the US managing editor of the Financial Times. But she is also a graduate in social anthropology, the study of peoples and how they relate to one another.

She believes the vision of growth put forward by orthodox economists is too narrow.

"People don't think about their lives in terms of numbers in a bank or in terms of numbers and spreadsheets.

They look at their total sense of wellbeing and prosperity.

Maybe that's the kind of thing we should be focusing on much more these days," she says.

So perhaps, if we want to get richer forever, we should go back to the drawing board, and start to rethink what being rich actually means.

(Courtesy: BBC)

fairy came. The king prayed for withdrawal of the boon and promised that he would never again crave for gold. He had realised the truth.

So the Midas touch is not about successful people. Why people fail to learn this lesson is another story. As the Rs500 and Rs1,000 notes were demonetised, many would have now realised the futility of amassing them. Some, however, still did not realise as they bought gold, and in desperation rail and airplane tickets! Who knows many would have gone for an open heart after that broken heart. The moral of the story: Riches should be put to good use rather than being stashed uselessly.

OP-ED

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

P7 Gun-loving India 'god-woman' who shot wedding guests Sadhvi Deva Thakur, a self-proclaimed Indian god-woman who was on the run for three days after firing celebratory shots in the air at a wedding, has surrendered to a court.

The groom's aunt was killed and three of his relatives critically wounded in the incident. The BBC's Geeta Pandey profiles this controversial preacher.

In a video of the incident that took place on Tuesday in the northern state of Haryana, Sadhvi Deva Thakur is first seen firing from a revolver and then a double-barrelled gun. A few of her guards are also seen shooting along with her.

Indian media reports quoted stunned guests at the wedding as saying that the Sadhvi, which is the Hindi word for holy woman or god woman, walked up to the dance floor, asked the DJ to play a song of her choice, and began dancing.

lowed, the Sadhvi and her six guards escaped.

And, much to the horror of everyone around, shooting.

But this is not the first time that Sadhvi Thakur, vice-president of a fringe Hindu organisation All India Hindu Mahasabha, has been in the news for the wrong reasons.

Reports said families of both the bride and the groom pleaded with her to stop, but their entreaties fell on deaf ears.

It was only when the groom's 50-year-old aunt collapsed after being hit by a stray bullet and three others were critically injured, that the firing stopped.

In the confusion that fol-

ity religion in their own country.

"How do you compete with a line that keeps getting longer? You draw a line next to it that's even longer," she said.

Police registered a case of murder against the seven and, on Friday, the Sadhvi surrendered in a magistrate's court. She has been remanded to police custody for five days. Her guards are still on the run.

"I am innocent. I didn't do anything wrong. It's a conspiracy against me," she told reporters after her surrender. "I'm very sad that someone died at that event," she added.

Last year, police registered a case against her for saying that Muslims and Christians must undergo sterilisation to restrict their growing populations.

"The population of Muslims and Christians is growing every day. To control

this, the government should bring in a law to stop Muslims and Christians from producing so many chil-

dren. They should be forced to undergo sterilisation so that they can't increase their numbers," she told a gath-

ering.

The Sadhvi said she agreed with some Hindu nationalist leaders'

suggestionthat Hindu women must have more children to counter the threat of becoming a minor-

In another controversial remark, the DNA newspaper quoted her as saying that idols of Hindu gods and goddesses should be placed in mosques and churches and that a statue of Nathuram Godse, the assassin of Mahatma Gandhi, should be installed in Haryana.

The Sadhvi was born and grew up in Bras, a small village in Karnal district, and a few years ago set up an ashram in her village. She has a small following and most of her followers are local villagers.

A local journalist says she is a known publicity-seeker with a fancy lifestyle.

The 27-year-old is always dressed in saffron robes from head to toe. She appears to have a fondness for gold jewellery, and guns.

Her Facebook page, man-

aged by her brother Rajeev Thakur, describes her as the director of the Deva India Foundation and has her proclaiming to be "a nationalist".

She joined the Hindu Mahasabha two years ago.

Dharampal Siwach, a senior Hindu Mahasabha member in Haryana, told the BBC that he travelled along with the Sadhvi to their party's Delhi headquarters two years ago.

"She was appointed as the national vice-president of the party after I lobbied on her behalf," he said.

"But soon we stopped inviting her to our functions and events because she was getting photographed with guns and that made us very uncomfortable."

The video of Tuesday's tragic incident is a testimony to her love for weaponry. And this time, it seems, she may have shot herself in the foot. (Source: BBC)

Goodbye, American Film review: Is fantastic neoliberalism. A new era is here beasts a Rowling triumph?

Cornel West (Source: The Gaurdian)

JK Rowling makes her screenwriting debut with this return to the wizard’s world, a prequel set in the 1920s. Is it magical? Critic Nicholas Barber weighs in.

The neoliberal era in the United States ended with a neofascist bang.

The political triumph of Donald Trump shattered the establishments in the Democratic and Republican parties – both wedded to the rule of Big Money and to the reign of meretricious politicians.

The Bush and Clinton dynasties were destroyed by the mediasaturated lure of the pseudo-populist billionaire with narcissist sensibilities and ugly, fascist proclivities. The monumental election of Trump was a desperate and xenophobic cry of human hearts for a way out from under the devastation of a disintegrating neoliberal order – a nostalgic return to an imaginary past of greatness.

White working- and middle-class fellow citizens – out of anger and anguish – rejected the economic neglect of neoliberal policies and the self-righteous arrogance of elites. Yet these same citizens also supported a candidate who appeared to blame their social misery on minorities, and who alienated Mexican immigrants, Muslims, black people, Jews, gay people, women and China in the process.

This lethal fusion of economic insecurity and cultural scapegoating brought neoliberalism to its knees. In short, the abysmal failure of the Democratic party to speak to the arrested mobility and escalating poverty of working people unleashed a hate-filled populism and protectionism that threaten to tear apart the fragile fiber of what is left of US democracy.

And since the most ex-

By Nicholas Barber ( New York Times)

plosive fault lines in present-day America are first and foremost racial, then gender, homophobic, ethnic and religious, we gird ourselves for a frightening future.

ject bailouts for homeowners, oversee growing inequality and facilitate war crimes like US drones killing innocent civilians abroad.

What is to be done?

First we must try to tell the truth and a condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak. For 40 years, neoliberals lived in a world of denial and indifference to the suffering of poor and working people and obsessed with the spectacle of success. Second we must bear witness to justice. We must ground our truth-telling in a willingness to suffer and sacrifice as we resist domination. Third we must remember courageous exemplars like Martin Luther King Jr, who provide moral and spiritual inspiration as we build multiracial alliances to combat poverty and xenophobia, Wall Street crimes and war crimes, global warming and police abuse – and to protect precious rights and liberties.

The age of Obama was the last gasp of neoliberalism. Despite some progressive words and symbolic gestures, Obama chose to ignore Wall Street crimes, re-

Rightwing attacks on Obama – and Trump-inspired racist hatred of him – have made it nearly impossible to hear the progressive critiques of Obama. The president has been reluctant to target black suffering – be it in overcrowded prisons, decrepit schools or declining workplaces. Yet, despite that, we get celebrations of the neoliberal status quo couched in racial symbolism and personal legacy. Meanwhile, poor and working class citizens of all colors have continued to suffer in relative silence.

In this sense, Trump’s election was enabled by the neoliberal policies of the Clintons and Obama that overlooked the plight of our most vulnerable citizens. The progressive populism of Bernie Sanders nearly toppled the establishment of the Democratic party but Clinton and Obama came to the rescue to preserve the status quo. And I do be-

lieve Sanders would have beat Trump to avert this neofascist outcome!

In this bleak moment, we must inspire each other driven by a democratic soulcraft of integrity, courage, empathy and a mature sense of history – even as it seems our democracy is slipping away.

We must not turn away from the forgotten people of US foreign policy – such as Palestinians under Israeli occupation, Yemen’s civilians killed by US-sponsored Saudi troops or Africans subject to expanding US military presence.

As one whose great family and people survived and thrived through slavery, Jim Crow and lynching, Trump’s neofascist rhetoric and predictable authoritarian reign is just another ugly moment that calls forth the best of who we are and what we can do.

For us in these times, to even have hope is too abstract, too detached, too spectatorial. Instead we must be a hope, a participant and a force for good as we face this catastrophe.

You might have thought that after seven novels and eight films, JK Rowling had said everything she had to say about witchcraft and wizardry, but now it seems that Harry Potter’s schooldays were just the beginning. Rowling’s first film as screenwriter is set in the same hocus-pocus universe as Harry’s adventures, but it shifts the action thousands of miles and dozens of years away from Hogwarts – all the way to New York in 1926. And Rowling and her colleagues – especially the film’s director, David Yates, and its production designer, Stuart Craig – romp through this unfamiliar setting with all the glee of schoolchildren who have just been let out for the summer holidays.

Free at last of all those black robes and shadowy gothic corridors, they dazzle us with gleaming skyscrapers and glittering flapper fashions, mythical monsters and other dimensions. To quote Alice Cooper (who used to claim he pinched his name from a witch): school’s out forever.

As exhilarating as all the new sights and sounds are, though, it’s soon apparent that Rowling et al are enjoying their relocation a little too much. A major flaw of the later Harry Potter films was that they crammed in so many characters and incidents from the ever-longer novels that they were baffling to anyone who didn’t know the books by heart.

What’s slightly disappointing about Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them is that, even though it isn’t adapted from a novel, it has a similar problem.

Rowling’s superabundant imagination won’t let the story build up momentum: she keeps shoving minor characters and irrelevant details in its path.

In theory, the film’s hero is Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne), a bumbling British wizard who could be a distant relative of The Doctor. Wearing an overcoat and a bowtie, Newt visits New York with a Tardislike suitcase containing all the weird and wonderful creatures he has gathered on his travels, from flying snakes to four-winged

eagles, from treasure-hunting platypuses to gargantuan rhinos thatglow and throb disturbingly when they catch the scent of a potential mate.

The shy, stooping Newt tries to keep to himself: Redmayne plays him as if he is always trying to hide behind his luxuriant fringe.

But within hours of arriving in Manhattan, he has accidentally switched suitcases with an ordinary human – or No-Maj, to use the American term for Muggle – called Jacob Kowalski (the likeable Dan Fogler). When Jacob opens the suitcase, several magical animals are let loose in the urban jungle.

The timing of this escape is particularly unfortunate.

Apparently, friction between wizards and mere mortals is already so intense that it could explode into war at any moment.

Hmmm. There is something not quite right about this scenario, if you stop to think about it. How can there be friction between the two parties when No-Majs don’t even know that Majs exist?

And why should the Majs care anyway, considering that there are thousands of them all around the world, with their own highly organised and wellresourced society? It’s not like the X-Men series, in which the mutants amount to a handful of feared outsiders. It’s not even like Men in Black, in which humans keep an eye on immigrant extraterrestrials. As an allegory for communities separated by prejudice, wizards and non-wizards just aren’t fit for purpose.

The franchise that lived Still, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them doesn’t let you stop to think about any of this for long.

In order to catch his fabulous wildlife before it causes trouble, Newt teams up with Tina (Katherine Waterston), an earnest police-witch, and Tina’s mindreading sister Queenie (singer-songwriter Alison Sudol), a breathy blonde bombshell who takes an unlikely shine to the rotund Jacob. (Not since Ron got together with Hermione has a man snagged a sorceress so far out of his league.)

When they are dashing around New York together, from Central Park Zoo to a goblin speakeasy, the film is a frantically energetic, sometimes scary caper which glows with romance, wonder and good-natured humour.

But Newt’s monster hunt is only one of many plot strands: there is so much else going on that you often forget about the fantastic beasts altogether. There are the meetings in the steampunk headquarters of the American equivalent of the Ministry of Magic, where the typewriters clack away by themselves and the lifts are operated by grouchy elves (the one truly oppressed minority in the film). There is a puritanical anti-witchcraft evangelist (Samantha Morton) with a downtrodden adoptive son (Ezra Miller). There is a tycoon’s heir (Josh Cowdery) with presidential ambitions, a character whose sole purpose is to tempt reviewers to make Trump comparisons. And there is Percival Graves (Colin Farrell), a wizard police chief who is way too cool and swaggering for a character with the name Percival.

Make no mistake, this is terrific stuff. Almost every scene has something ingenious and beautifully de-

signed for you to gasp at, and the supernatural hijinks are all underpinned by Rowling’s sincere pro-tolerance message. But it’s all at the expense of the supposed protagonists: the nerdy Newt, the warm and cuddly Jacob, the brave Tina and the wide-eyed Queenie. It’s frustrating that the film cuts away from them every two minutes to check in on someone else. And it’s annoying that so many of the characters are under-used.

By the time the film reaches its hectic climax – one of those post-Marvel jobs in which a digital effect wrecks a city – it’s clear that Jacob and Queenie could have been edited out without affecting the central storyline. For that matter, would it have made much difference if Newt and Tina had been edited out, too?

Rowling doesn’t know when to stop, it seems. She can’t help filling her writing with all sorts of minute details which not only stir up memories of the Harry Potter saga but also whet our appetite for all the sequels which are already in the works. She has announced that Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them is the first in a fivepart series, and I’m sure it will be a series to savour.

But if you want to see a film which is satisfying in and of itself, you won’t find it here.

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

NATIONAL

Schemes like Clean India to make country eco superpower: Prez he said while lauding Israel's efforts in making the country a food surplus and water surplus nation.

By Laxmi Devi Chandigarh, Nov 20: President Pranab Mukherjee today said India will become a "modern economic power in the world" if the government's innovative schemes such as 'Clean India' and 'Digital India' are implemented successfully.

As India is on a cusp of second Green Revolution, the country needs to learn from Israel to boost crop productivity by using modern technologies, he said.

"New initiatives which our government has initiated in all areas of economic activity particularly innovative schemes like 'Make in India', 'Clean India', 'Smart India', Digital India -- successful implementation of

Israel's President Reuven Rivlin, who was the guest of honour at the agri-event, said the strengthening of ties between the nations can bring 'magic in the world' as the two countries have potential to scale up.

all these will convert this ancient civilisation into a prosperous, vibrant and modern economic power in the world," Mukherjee said at the inaugural function of CII Agro-tech event here.

To become a modern economic power, he stressed on

"effectively using our resources" and increase farm productivity to the maximum level.

"We have to learn from Israel which has achieved higher yields using waterefficient irrigation technologies to the optimum level,"

"When Israeli companies and Indian farmers are networking, they are doing magic together. You once said that every country has its own way to move forward. India leads the world in innovation and can scale up," he said.

Rivlin shared that India taught Israel about the im-

portance of food security.

"In Israel, we are more concerned about inland security. India taught that the greatest challenge is food security."

On a lighter note, Rivlin said he fell in love with Hindi word 'jugad' and added, "The state of Israel is jugad. There is 'jugad' in the way we work and the innovation...."

Rivlin is on a state visit to India on the invitation of President Pranab Mukherjee.

India and Israel signed agreements for agriculture partnership in 2006 under which Israel has been sharing its best practices and knowledge through professional training programmes.

P8 States flag concerns over ban on old Rs 500/1k notes New Delhi, Nov 20 (PTI) A number of states, including West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, today raised the issue of demonetisation of 500 and 1000 rupee notes and its impact on state treasuries with Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

Before the start of informal meeting that was called to end the deadlock over jurisdiction over assessees under the GST regime, sources said, West Bengal Finance Minister Amit Mitra said the ban on old currency notes would trigger recession as industrial activity would be hurt and tax collection would recede.

Tamil Nadu too joined the chorus saying that industrial activity is hurt and while Uttar Pradesh said factories

in Kanpur and Moradabad have closed operations.

Kerala Finance Minister Thomas Isaac said many states have "reported informally" that they have seen a "significant decline in revenues".

"If 86 per cent of your money disappears, there is a problem for the people.

There is a collateral impact on investments sentiments," Isaac told reporters here.

In a major assault on black money and terror financing, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on November 8 announced demonetisation of 500 and 1,000 rupee notes and asked holders of such notes to deposit them in bank accounts.

As much as Rs 14 lakh

crore or 86 per cent of India's currency has been withdrawn and is getting replaced with new Rs 500 and Rs 2,000 rupee notes.

Sources said that all states were in agreement that their revenues will get impacted and employment will be hit, but nobody demanded a roll back.

While West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, have been demanding a roll back of demonetisation exercise, Samajwadi Party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav demanded a shortterm roll-back of demonetisation move saying that people should be given at least a week's time before the ban on old currency notes.

Self-censorship danger- Opposition climbing same Rs 93 lakh ous for journalism and tree like rats, snakes in seized in Dumka democracy: Joseph flood: Amit Shah PTI Mumbai, Nov 20 : Veteran investigative journalist Josy Joseph today said self-censorship, which had become the norm across newsrooms, was dangerous for both journalism and democracy.

whose book on corruption in India released recently.

"Once journalist gets a job, he has a bank loan and has to pay EMI. So his concern is to protect his salary. So, he starts self-censorship within himself," he said.

Joseph's book "A Feast of Vultures: The Hidden Business of Democracy in India" examines and documents the corruption within the Indian democracy.

"Then when once he goes into newsroom, the editors bring in their vested interest. So there is large and very powerful self-censorship that rules newsroom and I think it is dangerous for both democracy and journalism," said Joseph,

Siddharth Bhatia, founding editor of The Wire, talked about structural challenges and other issues that come in the way of a story being published.

He was speaking during a discussion on "Investigative journalistic stories that never saw light of the day" at Tata Lit-fest here.

"There are three or four things. One is simple

structural problem. Nobody has news budget. Or they are allotted elsewhere. They are allotted to...What is called holy trinity --Films, cricket and astrology. So there is a little bit of problem in terms of allocating resources," he said.

"There is a huge cultural shift. Over the last two decades, I have seen that the role and concept of what journalism for itself stands has undergone massive change," Bhatia said.

"People think journalism is to inform and also to entertain. And (to) just let basic facts out, (in) say, some 200 or 300 words etc," he added.

Samajwadi Party May Take Back All Expelled Youth Leaders LUCKNOW, Nov 20: Fearing the repercussions of a divided house, ruling Samajwadi Party is contemplating taking back all its expelled leaders, if Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav's reinstatement is any signal.

With Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections barely few months away, SP does not want to portary a picture of disunity knowing fully well that dents in its vote bank will help its opponents BSP and BJP in the battle of ballots.

Some of the expelled youth leaders, close to Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, have already met party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav, triggering speculation of their early return to party fold.

MLCs Sunil Sajan, Anand Bhadauria and Sanjay Lather, and youth leaders Gaurav Dubey, Digvijay Singh Dev and Brajesh Yadav among others met Mulayam and have reportedly tendered apology for

their actions that had led to their expulsion from the party, SP sources said.

The youth leaders are said to have pleaded with the party chief to allow them to work for the SP to strengthen it before the assembly polls.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has assured them that he would look into their request, the sources said.

After the return of Ram Gopal Yadav, who was expelled from the party for six years, speculation was rife that others too will also brought back.

Taking a strong view of the protests and sloganeering on the streets during the feud in the first family of Samajwadi Party, the state unit had expelled a number of youth wing leaders, who were said to be close to Akhilesh.

Ram Gopal Yadav's return to SP is widely seen as a vic-

tory for the Akhilesh camp, which has been at loggerheads with Shivpal over party control and poll strategy.

Party insiders said that Ram Gopal Yadav's return heralded return of expelled youth leaders of Akhilesh camp as the Rajya Sabha member had laid down a condition that all those scaked should be reinducted into the party if his expulsion was revoked.

"Talks are going on and it is expected that all expulsions will be revoked after a warning to the youth leaders," a senior SP leader said, adding that party veterans Beni Prasad Verma and Reoti Raman - close to Mulayam Singh Yadav were working overtime to bring Ram Gopal Yadav and others back.

Around 20 office bearers of various youth wings in Lucknow and other districts who had either quit or were expelled from the party, could also return to the original party fold.

WB Governor expresses grief over Kanpur train accident PTI Kolkata, Nov 20 : West Bengal Governor Keshari Nath Tripathi today expressed grief over the loss of lives in the derailment of the Indore-Patna Express near Kanpur.

"It's a very very sad incident. My heart goes out to the family of the deceased persons," Tripathi said on the sidelines after delivering Dr Rajendra Prasad Memorial Lecture here this afternoon.

Nearly 100 passengers were killed and over 200 injured, 76 of them seriously, when 14 coaches of the Indore-Patna Express derailed near Pukhraya in Kanpur dehat district in the wee hours today.

Shah targeted Rahul Gandhi for opposing demonetisation, saying he isn't amused by the reaction of Congress VP as his party's rule were synonymous with scams

PTI Dumka (Jharkhand), Nov 20 : A sum of Rs 93 lakh was seized by police in raids conducted at three places here today.

PTI Chandigarh, Nov 20 : BJP chief Amit Shah on Sunday launched a shrill attack on opposition parties, saying they were climbing "the same tree like rats, cats and snakes" to escape the demonetisation "flood" and appealed to people to give 15 years to Prime Minister Narendra Modi "from panchayat to parliament" to change the country.

Acting on a tip-off that someone has exchanged Rs one crore in Dumka Head Post Office on Friday night, a police team headed by Superintendent of Police Shailendra Prasad Burnwal conducted raid in the house of one Vinay Kumar Singh

Addressing BJP's booth workers here, Shah especially targeted Rahul Gandhi for opposing demonetisation, saying he is not surprised by the reaction of the Congress Vice President as his party's rule during UPA I and II were "synonymous with scams".

PTI Koraput (Odisha), Nov 20 : Maoists killed a villager suspecting him to be a police informer and torched as many as five vehicles engaged in a road construction work in Odisha's Koraput district, a senior police officer said today.

The scourge of black money in the country had become a cancer which needed a surgery, Shah said on demonetisation, adding "after the operation, one has to tolerate some pain, but rest of the life will be healthy."

Tearing into the opposition, the BJP chief said the parties who were questioning the government as to what steps it had taken against black money, were "crying hoarse" after the November 8 demonetisation decision.

Despite having differences, they were putting up a united front to oppose the decision taken by the Narendra Modi dispensa-

in LIC colony and recovered Rs 45 lakh in the Rs 50 and Rs 100 denominations, Burnwal told reporters.

Singh was a clerk in the Dumka Post Office, Burnwal said, adding that the amount has been seized.

In another raid conducted in the houses of Sibu Patwari and his brother Snil Patwari, Rs 16.5 lakh and Rs 31.5 lakh was recovered in the demonetised currency, he said.

Maoists kill villager, set ablaze 5 vehicles BJP chief Amit Shah tion, he said.

passing and all are scared.

"And look what the situation has become. It is like when floods occur and a big tree is there in the middle and everyone wants to climb that tree to save themselves from the raging waters. Rats, cats, snakes, mongoose all climb that tree.

"I want to tell them that people of this country have understood your game, you have exposed yourself," he said during his 30-minute address.

The BJP President appealed to the people of Chandigarh to vote for BJP in the next month's civic polls.

"But when all climb the tree, neither cat eats the rat nor is he scared of the animal.

The mongoose does not attack the snake. All keep staring at the raging waters down below waiting for the floods to recede".

"I want to appeal to people of Chandigarh that we need to give 15 years to Narendra Modi, from Panchayat to Parliament, then this country can change...," Shah said.

"After demonetisation was done by Modiji, Congress, Samajwadi Party, BSP, (Arvind) Kejriwal (AAP), Mamata (Banerjee), all of them have climbed that tree.

Down below demonetisation flood is

Earlier, Congress workers holding black flags staged a protest against Shah. Their attempt to take out a procession from Sector 19 to Sector 27 - venue of the BJP meeting - was foiled by the Chandigarh police.

A group of armed Maoists stormed a camp of the construction company at Bhitarakota village under Pottangi police station on Friday and abducted some labourers and villagers, who were taken inside the dense forest, the officer said.

The Maoists held a meeting inside the forest and released the villagers and labourers in the evening with threat of dire consequences if they supported road construction work.

The ultras also took away the mobile SIM cards of the villagers fearing they

might inform police about the incident, they said quoting a delayed report.

However, the group of Maoists returned to the camp site around night and torched the vehicles and murdered one Jayaram Khillo of the village.

Due to the remoteness of the area, the incident came to light only yesterday, they said.

"The Maoists slit the throat of Khillo.... We have seized Maoists posters from the spot," said Dev Gomang, Inspector In-Charge of Pottngi police station.

Officials said a 10-km road under 'Pradhan Mantri Gramya Sadak Yojana' was under construction from Sorisopadar to Bhitarakota at an estimated cost of Rs 6 crore with around nine km stretch already completed.

KPCC chief non-committal on joint stir against Centre Thiruvananthapuram, Nov 20 (PTI) KPCC today took exception to the party-led UDF Opposition's proposal for a joint stir with ruling CPI(M) in Kerala to take on the Centre for its alleged move against cooperative sector by not allowing the societies to exchange old notes under cover of demonetisation.

"All political parties, other than BJP, have come out against the Modi government's attitude towards cooperative sector. There is no necessity to think about a joint stir.

All parties and coalitions

are in the agitation front," KPCC President V M Sudheeran said in a Facebook post.

He questioned the dharna

by LDF led by Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in front of the RBI office here on November 18, as "first phase" of the stir against what they termed as Centre's move to destroy cooperative sector in the state.

"Actually, it would have been more appropriate if the Chief Minister had observed the dharna in national capital which is the headquarters of Union government,"

Sudheeran said.

Opposition leader in the Assembly Ramesh Chennithala and few other Front leaders had expressed readiness for a joint agitation against the Centre on the issue.

Attacking the CPI(M) in the state, Sudheeran also wanted the LDF government to pull back from its move to dissolve the governing bodies of district cooperative banks controlled by UDF, by ordering an inquiry based on "false complaints."

CPI(M) in the state is following the same line of BJP at the Centre,

Sudheeran said, adding "only if CPI(M) withdraws from its move against the district cooperatives and showed democratic tolerance, there would be trust in its fight against BJP".

The Congress leader was referring to LDF government's plan to set up a Kerala Bank by merging district co-operative banks with state co-operative banks.

UDF, while taking up the matter in the recently concluded Assembly session, had alleged that the plan would "destroy" the three-tier co-operative system that played a key

role in the state economy.

Lashing out at the BJPled government at the Centre, he said there was no let up to the hardship and suffering of people caused by demonetisation of Rs 1,000 and Rs 500 notes.

The Modi government is trying to choke the cooperative sector in the state, he alleged.

However, Sudheeran welcomed the government decision to move Supreme Court seeking permission to district cooperative banks to participate in exchange of demonetised currency notes.

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

EDUCATION

P9

Career in Fashion Designing: Part 1: Accessory Designer Traditionally better known for its textile exports and manufacturing capabilities, India has emerged in recent years as a contender on the global fashion scene.

From a niche and rare career option, with the popularity of Indian designers both in India as well as on the international circuit, Fashion Designing is slowly emerging as a serious discipline, allowing more youngsters to consider it as a viable career option.

India has now grown into a centre of innovation, as far as the fashion industry is concerned.

Before the nineteenth century, clothing design and creation was handled by largely anonymous seamstresses, and high fashion descended from that worn at royal courts.

Fashion design is generally considered to have started in the 19th century with Charles Frederick Worth who was the first designer to have his label sewn into the garments that he created. It is noteworthy that only clothing created after 1858 could be considered as fashion design.

Fashion design is the art of the application of design and aesthetics or natural beauty to clothing and accessories. Designing involves creating original designs which requires an in-depth knowledge of the changing trends of the market. If one is creative and artis-

tic enough to add some style to otherwise cognate items, one can take up a career in fashion designing.

The major functional areas in the industry are designing, merchandising, popularizing and marketing of the various styles and products. Though Fashion Designing is usually associated with only garment designing, there are a plethora of specializations, namely jewellery designing, gemology, footwear technology and accessory designing which can be chosen as per the interest of the individual.

In this article we will focus our attention only in the career as Accessory Designer.

Accessory Designer: Fashion is more than just clothes Fashion these days has become more than just clothes; accessories can be used to transform an entire ensemble. As spending power increases, more people are investing in accessories.

Although accessories are a popular shopping choice for women, men are not lagging far behind as they use sunglasses, wallets, shoes and more.

Due to its versatility, accessory designing is here to stay.

What is an Accessory Designing career?

An Accessory Designer creates accessories such as hats, jewellery, scarves, belts handbags and watches; all of the

sign (CAD) is an added benefit.

Where to study?

1. NIFT (Bangalore, Bhopal, Delhi, Shillong, Hydrabad, Kangra, Rae Bareli) B.Des. (Accessory Design) 2. NID- National Institute of Design (Ahmedabad, G a n d h i n a g a r, Bengaluru) PGDPD (Lifestyle Accessory Design) 3. DNADS Institute, Hyderabad Diploma in Accessory Design 4. Arch Academy of Design, Jaipur BTEC Lifestyle Accessory Design 5. Apeejay Institute of Design, New Delhi; Post Graduate Diploma in Acessory Design

small details that complete a fashionable outfit. Jewellery and leather designing are a part of accessory designing.

Fashion is increasingly becoming an all-rounder impact with more than just the clothes to give a trendy look. Accessory Designers have the freedom to work with a variety of materials: from metals to leather and

beads to satin while still using their creativity.

Skills required Creativity and originality Artistic Skills An eye for detail Fashion knowledge Knowledge of raw materials Patience Good communication

Visualisation skills Precision Course and Eligibility Accessory Designing courses are available at Certificate, Diploma, Graduate and PostGraduate levels.

Eligibility for Under Graduate courses is 12th pass with any stream and eligibility for Post Gradu-

ate courses require a BA degree in any subject.

Entrance Exams Annual entrance exams for Accessory Designing courses are held by various universities which test general knowledge, creativity and basic artistic skills. After clearing the written test, an interview is conducted. Having previous knowledge of Computer Aided De-

Job Profile The work of an Accessory Designer is a lot like that of any other designer. The current trends and styles are researched, materials, processes, and market are all studied and a design is made. When working under an employer his/ her requirement is the basis of the design. After the approval of the design, sample pieces are produced and finally the end product is made.

The resulting accessories are then sold.

Employment opportunity As an Accessory Designer there is a wide

variety in employment opportunities, such as, Freelancing - designing and manufacturing accessories for independent sales Working with an export house for its designing requirements Retail Chains Fashion designers, for collaboration with their apparel Fashion show organisers to design accessories required by various fashion designers Jewellery houses Leather companies Salary An entry-level accessories designer can expect to earn anything from Rs. 1.4 lakhs per annum to Rs. 5 lakh per annum, depending on the brand, company and location.

Famous personalities Sonali Dalwani Eina Ahluwalia Farah Khan Ali Rahul Popli Aruna Seth Scope The scope of designing accessories is endless due to the versatility of the options in accessories and the increase in popularity of accessories. The increasing spending power of the general population also aids the accessories market. A person can design anything from jewellery to shoes and is not limited to the use of only one medium. Indian ethnic accessories have a strong market both in India and internationally.

Science and Mathematics Olympiad: Assessing raw talent at an early stage The driving force behind academic success and achievement of career goal is undoubtedly, "education" and the various academic skills acquired during the learning process. A student in school usually follows school routine and appears in regular class tests and school exams which are specific pattern oriented.

Questions asked are scholastic in nature and mostly non-application driven. As a result when they approach the external competitive world (outside school) class 9 onwards to pursue their chosen career, they come

are application oriented based on learned concepts which requires high order thinking level. A student is required to think holistically while learning a concept and ask questions like "why?" and "why not?". By doing so, a child learns and develops the fundamental blocks to inculcate logical and analytical thinking ability.

It is observed that a student can comfortably develop the skills required for competitive exams very early in their career.

Question can be "HOW?". The best way to initiate such a learning

ams that they are eligible for.

Therefore students should start considering competitive exams which are either conducted by the government and/or sponsored/supported by the government. Like the Science and Mathematics Olympiad conducted by Homi Bhabha Centre for Science and Education (HBCSE). These exams are categorised on the basis of various class categories for the students.

across a situation wherein they start feeling that the competitive exams are very difficult.

The reality is "it is not difficult" but it is purely based on fundamental application and it is logical, analytical and IQ driven. Questions asked

approach is to expose oneself to competitive exams right at time when they become eligible during schooling days and not delay it till the end of class 12.

Hence it's imperative for students to be aware of different competitive ex-

The most popular and prominent ones are listed below : Junior Science

These exams in junior classes helps to assess the raw potential/talent within a child (especially the stage 1 of Junior Science Olympiad and Maths Olympiad); expose the students to the competitive examination model; help develop a sense of competition and preparedness at an early stage.

The art of being successful and reaching the pinnacle of success lies in facing such competitions.

But the question is "how" does it positively impact a student by participating in Olympiads and com-

an international level competition. By appearing in Olympiads a student gets an early exposure to competitive exams thus enabling them to understand the exam structure, marking system, difficulty level and competitive mindset required to do well.

Effective learning in every class To appear in Olympiads a student is required to prepare for it over a period of time. Though the syllabi in stage 1 of Olympiads is almost the same as what they study in school of their relevant class, the difference lies

Olympiad (for students of class 8,9 and 10) Mathematics Olympiad (for students of class 8, 9, 10 and 11) Senior Science Olympiad in Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Astronomy (for students of class 11 and 12)

petitive exams? Well, there are few striking reasons that are worth considering.

Early exposure to competitive exam Olympiads are held at state, region and national level leading to the final stage which is essentially

in the way concepts learnt are applied to solve a question. Whereas in subsequent stages of Olympiad, students need to have in-depth knowledge and understanding in respective subjects as questions involves subjective and practical knowl-

edge.

Hence, by appearing in Olympiads a student is able to develop a whole new perspective to deal with question solving method. In the process a student gets to understand their strengths, weaknesses and areas of improvement and most importantly how to improve so as to do well.

Skill Development: Logical and Analytical thinking and IQ The questions asked in various stages of Olympiads are designed in such a way that it not only tests the student's conceptual skills but also their ability to apply them logically and analytically. Preparatory tools and methods help to develop and nurture IQ. Constant practice helps to sharpen the skills and develop the ability to solve questions.

Helps the students stay academically ahead of others The learning technique and skills deployed during preparatory phase enables a student to solve difficult and tricky questions asked in Olympiads.

As a result performance in school automatically improves and it is likely that a student might move ahead of their peers in school.

Increases speed One of the most vital skills required for competitive exam is time management; in other words average time taken to solve a question. The paper needs to be solved within a fixed time period. Thus acquiring speed in solving problem is very important. This can only be improved with regular practice. Once concepts are

clear and speed is gained it becomes a deadly combination. Such students do wonders.

Accuracy Along with speed one should have the capability to solve the questions accurately. This means probability of getting wrong answers should be minimal. As speed without accuracy is of no use because competitive exams will have negative marks for incorrect answers.

Increase problem solving dexterity In a competitive exam, speed and accuracy work hand in hand. To develop that ability a student needs to sharpen his/ her problem solving dexterity.

This can only be achieved if the student prepares well and starts appearing in different competitive exams.

Profile building If a student is able to crack any of the Olympiads, then they would be conferred with certificates, medals and lots of recognition (recognised worldwide) which gets added to their academic profile. Later when they apply for university admissions in India or abroad they would get an edge over others.

Confidence building Appearing in Olympiads and clearing them will boost the confidence of the students immensely.

They will start believing that they can do well later in larger competitive exams like the JEE Advanced and JEE Main.

Overall grooming Students doing well in Olympiads (in various stages) will help them to attend various "Pre-de-

parture training" camps before participating in international Olympiads.

These camps will be attended by all the brilliant students across India which is anchored by best professors. These are excellent learning grounds i.e. peer-to-peer learning as well as mentor-mentee learning. During these camps students learn lot of things subjectwise and other skills like communication, presentation, solving complex problems, group activities etc.

Helps building strong foundation for IIT JEE and other major competitive exams pertaining to various career options By preparing and appearing in Olympiads (especially Stage 1 of physics, chemistry and astronomy) students will be able to build a strong foundation comprising of IQ, logical and analytical thinking skills which are immensely required for cracking and securing top ranks in coveted exams like JEE Advanced and JEE Main. Even other competitive exam pertaining to various career options assesses a student on these skills.

Hence the likelihood of doing well in those exams will be very high.

Considering all the positives listed above one must start considering the Olympiads. The season for Olympiads starts from October-November and hence students beginning now will get ONE full year to prepare for 2017.

Authored by Partha Halder, B.Tech (Chemical Engineering) - Director at FIITJEE, Punjabi Bagh Centre)

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

INTERNATIONAL

Sikh mistaken for Muslim, abused and harassed PTI Boston, Nov 20 : A 22year-old Sikh, studying at the prestigious Harvard Law School, was allegedly abused and harassed at a store near the campus by a man who mistook him for a Muslim. Harmann Singh, a first year law student at the university, said he was shopping in a store in Cambridge, Massachusetts, while speaking on the phone with his mother, when a man walked in and said to the clerk behind the counter, "Oh look, there's a (expletive) Muslim."

"Over the weekend, I was

confronted by a man who called me a '(expletive) Muslim' and followed me around a store aggressively asking where I was from, and and no one in the store said a thing. I was on the phone with my mom the entire time, and we were both concerned for my safety as this man stood inches away from me," Singh wrote about his experience in The Boston Globe.

"While deeply painful, what happened to me pales in comparison to the hate and violence many of my brothers and sisters have faced across the country," he

wrote. According to Singh, the man started following him around the store, harassing him and asking him where he was from. Singh, who is from Buffalo, New York, said he tried to ignore the man and continue his conversation with his mother, who was worried.

She could hear the man questioning Singh and told her son to leave the shop.

Singh said the man followed him to the checkout counter.

"I told him, 'Hey I'm actually from New York. I live here now down the street. Is there anything I can do to help you?'" Singh said.

Arch-rivals Trump and Romney meets NEW YORK, Nov 20 : Mitt Romney, a moderate Republican, who branded Donald Trump a “con man, phony and fraud” during their election campaign, on Saturday met the Presidentelect and had a “far-reaching conversation” on world affairs, amid reports that he is being tipped to be the next US Secretary of State.

The 2012 Republican presidential nominee and one of Mr. Trump’s most vocal Republican Party critics during this year’s election campaign, met privately with the President-elect for about an hour at Trump’s private golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey.

the coming administration and the things that it’s going to be doing,” said Mr. Romney, who during the Republican primary had described Mr. Trump as a “con man” and had asked his supporters not to vote for Mr. Trump.

He had also withheld an endorsement of the 70-yearold billionaire, and slammed him a “phony, a fraud” and accused him of “playing the American public for suckers.”

Mr. Trump walked Mr. Romney out at the end of the meeting and said “it went great.” He did not take any questions.

After the meeting, Mr. Romney offered no hint as to whether he was offered or would accept a role in Trump’s administration.

It is being speculated that Mr. Trump is considering Mr. Romney for the position of Secretary of State in his administration.

“We had a far-reaching conversation with regards to the various theaters in the world where there are interests of the United States of real significance,” Mr. Romney told reporters.

For Mr. Trump, Mr. Romney would bring an immediate burst of knowledge, global credibility, sound temperament and competence to his nascent administration, CNN reported.

“We discussed those areas, and exchanged our views on those topics — a very thorough and in—depth discussion in the time we had,” Mr. Romney said.

His selection would also be seen as a genuine gesture to bind the wounds in the Republican Party and the foreign policy establishment left over from a bitter primary campaign.

“I appreciate the chance to speak with the Presidentelect and I look forward to

It could also open the floodgates for the kind of cred-

ible, experienced Republican foreign policy insiders who Mr. Trump needs to staff crucial, lower-ranking national security jobs, to join the administration.

And since Mr. Trump’s core voters are more concerned with draining the swamp of well known Washington insiders than foreign policy, the State Department may be one place he could put an establishment figure and not sustain much political damage, it said.

“Mr Romney would be a great choice in a sense that would be a signal sent to moderates as well as conservatives,” William Cohen, a former US defense secretary, said.

A Romney appointment would come as a great relief to US allies who are deeply anxious about the direction of Mr. Trump’s foreign policy, and who see alternative names floated as potentially in the frame as secretary of state like Rudy Giuliani and John Bolton with much greater apprehension.

That is because Mr. Romney is squarely within the parameters of accepted US foreign policy orthodoxy, is an internationalist, is well known abroad, and is committed to the notion of free trade, US alliances and a robust US posture in the world, CNN reported.

US daily questions Trump's meeting with Indian partners NEW YORK, Nov 20 : A top American daily has raised questions over the recent meeting between Donald Trump and his Indian business partners, saying the Presidentelect could use his position to advance his business interests.

"Washington ethics lawyers said that a meeting with Indian real estate partners, regardless of what was discussed, raised conflict of interest questions for Mr Trump, who could be perceived as using the presidency to advance his business interests," The New York Times said in a news article yesterday.

Three Indian executives - Sagar Chordia, Atul Chordia and Kalpesh Mehta - had met Trump in New York last week.

The three said that they have discussed expanding their partnership with

The man did not respond and Singh left the store as quickly as possible. He said the most effective way to help people who feel marginalised is to "be there for each other in these moments". A bystander who checks in with the person being harassed in any situation can make all the difference, he said.

The owner of the store told Boston.com that he was going back and forth between the back and front of the shop at the time of the incident that took place on November 11 and saw the man who spoke to Singh come

PTI WASHINGTON, Nov 20: Indo-US ties are so broad and dynamic that pulling back on any aspect will not be in the interest of anyone, a top American official has said while observing that the next administration may want to add their own new areas of focus in the bilateral relationship.

"India-US relations will have to move beyond government to government. India-US relations are global, but they should also be local," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, Nisha Desai Biswal told a Washington audience.

Speaking on the occasion of launch of "US-India State and Urban Initiative" by Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), a top American think-tank, Biswal stressed on building state to state relationships.

"Every successive administration is going to add some new areas of cooperation.

The US-India relations are so broad, so complex, and so dynamic that pulling

"It was not a formal meeting of any kind," Breanna Butler, a spokeswoman for the Trump Organisation told The New York Times, which has been at loggerheads with Trump for the past several months during which Trump has accused the daily of negative reporting about him.

"There may be people for whom this looks O K. But for a large part of the American public, it is not going to be O K. His role as President-elect should dictate that someone else handles business matters," Robert L Walker, former chief counsel of the Senate Ethics Committee, who advises corporations and members of Congress on government ethics issues told the daily.

in. He said he had planned to ask the man to leave, but went to the back of the store when the incident occurred.

Both Singh and the other man were gone when he returned.

He said he was shocked and sorry when his clerk told him what happened. "I don't know where that guy came from and I hope I don't see him again," said the owner, who did not want to be named. Over 200 incidents of hateful harassment and intimidation across the US have been reported since Donald Trump won the presidential election.

Students at West High in Iowa City staged a sit-in against discrimination and hate after the presidential election. Photo taken from The New York Times

"The US-India relations are so broad, so complex, and so dynamic that pulling back on any aspect will not be in the interest of anyone."

back on any aspect will not be in the interest of anyone," Biswal said.

"The next administration will understand that, and might want to build on, and might want to add their own new areas of focus. That doesn't mean that they will move away from what has already been built," Biswal said in response to a question.

"The demand in India for new technologies and capital is high, and the desire in many places in the US to seek new areas of partnership with India is also high," she said pointing out that India-US economic ties are responding to demands that already exist.

2 dead in fighting in Myanmar town on China border YANGON, Nov 20 :- Two civilians were killed on Sunday when fighting broke out in a northern Myanmar town on the border with China, a region long plagued by ethnic rebel insurgencies.

The latest clashes are another blow to civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi's hopes of forging a nationwide peace agreement after years of war in Myanmar's many ethnic minority border regions.

"People from (the) border checkpoint are now fleeing to Muse because of heavy fighting," Aye Aye, a resident of the town, told AFP.

the Trump Organisation now that Trump is President-elect.

THE 45TH PRESIDENT

"Pulling back 11 Indian fishermen Indo-US ties not in arrested by Lankan navy interest of anyone"

Locals in the town of Muse, a hotbed of smuggling, reported that fighting began in the early morning.

The three said that they have discussed expanding their partnership with the Trump Organisation now that Trump is President-elect.

P10

"A man and a woman died because of gunshot wounds after they arrived in hospital this morning," said a worker at the local hospital, asking for anonymity, adding that some 25 others were wounded.

Fighting between Myanmar's military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin state, which reignited in 2011 after the collapse of a 17-year ceasefire, has displaced around 100,000 people and spilled over into parts of neighbouring Shan state.

Muse lies in the north of Shan, not far from Kachin, and is separated from China by a river.

Two rebel representatives confirmed their troops were involved in the clashes.

"We are fighting together with our alliance of ethnic armed groups," Khine Thu Kha, from the Arakan Army, told AFP. The rebels said the groups involved included the powerful KIA, the Arakan Army, the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Myanmar National Democratic Alliance Army.

The latter three have not been invited to the current or last round of peace talks.

One of Suu Kyi's priorities is a peace deal with the patchwork of armed minorities fighting the state.

But continuing fighting in Kachin and Shan states overshadowed the peace talks and it is expected to take years to end the complex conflicts.

In September renewed clashes broke out in southern Karen state between the military and rebels. The northern half of the western state of Rakhine is currently under a military lockdown after a string of deadly attacks against border posts last month.

More than 30,000 people have been displaced and at least 70 people killed in the latest fighting in Rakhine.

Myanmar's military has a long history of rights abuses that has fostered a deep mistrust among ethnic minorities of the central government.

Suu Kyi also has limited control over the army which retains 25% of parliamentary seats as well as key defence and security positions in government.

PTI Colombo, Nov 20 : At least 11 Indian fishermen along with their trawlers have been detained by the Sri Lankan Navy, the military said on Sunday.

The fishermen from Tamil Nadu were arrested yesterday while fishing near Sri Lanka’s Neduntheevu island.

They were found illegally fishing in Sri Lankan waters northwest off the coast of Jaffna’s Delft islet, the navy said.

Around 3,500 fishermen in 634 boats had set out to sea from Rameswaram on Saturday night.

stones and warning through public address system, they said.

The fishermen were detained and taken to Kangesanthurai Port along with their two boats, Tamil Nadu police and state Mechanised Boat Fishermen Association leader P Sesuraja said.

The Sri Lankan naval men also chased away hundreds of other fishermen by allegedly pelting bottles and

On November 4, India and Sri Lanka decided to set up a Joint Working Group (JWG) on Fisheries to meet every three months and hold a meeting between the Ministers for Fisheries every six months during extensive ministerial-level talks in New Delhi on possible mechanisms to find a permanent solution to the emotive issue of fishermen.

Four Pak security personnel killed by gunmen PTI Karachi, Nov 20 : At least four Pakistani security personnel were killed today when gunmen opened fire on their official vehicle in restive Baluchistan province's capital city Quetta.

The restive Baluchistan province has seen an increase in separatist and sectarian violence this year with banned terrorist outfits also carrying out suicide bombings.

In three major suicide bomb attacks since August, over 150 persons Three paramilitary sol- have been killed and diers and one policeman scores injured. were killed when the gunmen opened fire on A suicide bomb attack a Frontier Corps vehicle was carried out at the on the Fatima Jinnah entrance of the Civil road of Quetta. hospital in Quetta in August in which around Two civilians also sus- 70 persons were killed tained gunshot wounds followed by a terrorist and were admitted to a attack on the police hospital. training centre in the city in which two sui"It appears to be a case cide bomber blew themof target killing and ac- selves up killing 64 pocording to eye witnesses lice cadets and two armed men on a motor- army soldiers last cycle opened fire on the month.

FC vehicle and the police constable who was Last week, a suicide on duty," he said. bomber blew himself up in the compound of the Police said the attackers Shah Noorani shrine in escaped unhurt from the the Khuzdar district, spot. killing 54 devotees and security personnel.

166 arrests in Dutch 'anti-fascism' demo

THE HAGUE, Nov 20 : Police on Sunday said they had arrested 166 radical left-wingers at a protest in the Dutch capital The Hague over police violence.

About 200 protesters had gathered for Saturday's demonstration, organised under the slogan "Stop oppression against anti-facists and anarchists".

The city had approved the rally as long as people left their faces uncovered.

"At the start of the demonstration, a number of protesters covered their faces with scarves, hoods and sunglasses," the police said in a statement.

After they refused to unmask, the Mayor ordered the event to end.

"A group of 166 protesters resisted, and were arrested for breaking the law on public demonstrations," they said.

Illegal fireworks, paint bombs, sticks and a hammer were found on the ground when police moved in to make the arrests.

DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

With banks closed on Sunday, long queues at ATMs in Mumbai PTI Mumbai, Nov 20 : With banks across the country closed today, people rushed for cash withdrawal at the ATMs where long queues were seen at some places in the metropolis.

Many of the ATMs in the city and suburbs were working, providing some relief to customers wanting to withdraw small cash. Also, many people managed to withdraw money from some ATMs till late last night.

Sunil Gawde, a resident of adjoining Thane district, said, "While I was going to my home in Thane by local train yesterday night, one of my friend staying in Vikhroli (Mumbai) informed me at 11 PM about an ATM working with very small queue.

"I alighted at Vikhroli station, went to the ATM, withdrew the money in less that 10 minutes and again took the train and went home."

But Vin Rana, a model and actor in the city, did not have a similar experience. He said despite being in queue for two hours today, he did not manage to withdraw cash as the ATM machine stopped by the time his turn came.

With banks closed on Sunday, long queues at ATMs in Mumbai Mamta, a resident of Virar suburb in neighbouring Palghar district, said that people were withdrawing money till late last night in her area and chairs were provided to those standing in queues at the ATMs. "Most of the ATMs are surprisingly working today and near the Old Viva College, people queued up to withdraw cash were provided chairs and offered water. Not only today morning, several ATMs were functional till late night yesterday which is a good sign."

A senior citizen, who was given preference by others in the queue to go inside the

ATM in suburban Goregaon, said, "Although the overall situation seems to be improving with each passing day ever since the government announced its decision to ban old currency notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000, but cash crunch and dry ATMs are likely to aggravate the woes of the common man in the coming days."

Yesterday, all banks operated during the normal working hours and permitted the exchange of the defunct Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes to their respective customers, which saw an ease in the long queues.

BUSINESS P11 Sharia banking: RBI proposes 'Islamic window' in banks PTI New Delhi, Nov 20 : The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has proposed opening of "Islamic window" in conventional banks for "gradual" introduction of Sharia-compliant or interest-free banking in the country.

Both the Centre and RBI are exploring the possibility of introduction of Islamic banking for long to ensure financial inclusion of those sections of the society that remain excluded due to religious reasons.

"In our considered opinion, given the complexities of Islamic finance and various regulatory and supervisory challenges involved in the matter and also due to the fact that Indian banks have no experience in this field, Islamic banking may be in-

troduced in India in a gradual manner.

"Initially, a few simple products which are similar to conventional banking products may be considered for introduction through Islamic window of the conventional banks after necessary notification by the government.

"Introduction of fullfledged Islamic banking with profit-loss sharing complex products may be considered at a later stage on the basis of experience gained in course of time," the RBI has told Finance Ministry in a letter, a copy of which was received in response to an RTI query filed by PTI. Islamic or Sharia banking is a finance system based on the principles of not charging interest, which is

"New rules on network rollout to reduce call drops"

India could become a digital colony, warns Mohandas Pai

"There is a fight between US and China to dominate digitally. And the Indian capital where they are, buying real estate in California?" he asked.

PTI Los Angeles, Nov 20 : With China and the US pumping in massive foreign capital into India's digital economy, a top Indian investor and educationist has warned that the country could become a "digital colony" unless Indian businesses start investing in it.

"India could become a digital colony," warned Mohandas Pai, chairman of Manipal Global Education, referred to possible consequences of the massive money being pumped into India's digital economy by the US and China.

"There is a fight between US and China to dominate digitally. And the Indian capital where they are, buying real estate in California?" he asked.

"If you miss this digital revolution, our big companies would be controlled by Chinese capital which is

very dangerous," Pai warned.

India, which has the world's third largest startup eco system, has received some USD 8 to 10 billion, out of which only USD 500 million are from Indian capital.

"Indian capital are rent (interest) seekers," he said, asking the Indian capital to change their attitude towards money investment.

At the same time, he said digital connectivity, is going to change India in three years and said there is going to be tremendous upsurge of productivity, he said.

In the next 10 to 15 years, the young population of India are going to create a new economy of India, he said.

Nothing can stop India from marching ahead given the country's growth trajectory, its move towards a digital economy along with a bur-

geoning entrepreneur class nothing can stop India from marching ahead.

"Nothing can stop the march of India. All of us have to work together and make sure it happens," Pai said in his address to the World Hindu Economic Forum here which is being attended by Hindu entrepreneurs from across the globe.

Pai said there are "millions of mutinies" happening in India.

"People are challenging the status quo. Hundreds of experiments, technology in their hands and regulatory policies are being broken and Bharat is using its digital infrastructure to grow.

Startups would be the force multiplier," he said.

In his address, Pai said tech entrepreneurs of India are bound to change the face of the country in the years to come.

"The generation that is now coming into prominence are people who do not have the hangout of partition, of Pakistan, of caste and of many thing else that ails the Indian mind of the political leaders in India and in Delhi," he said.

S P Kothari, professor of Management at the MIT Sloan School of Management, said that innovation and entrepreneurship are potent forces for economic development.

"I do believe how countries are governed also matters," he said, adding that the quality of governance and institutions in a country explain the differences of development.

Whirlpool to expand AC, built-in kitchen appliances PTI New Delhi, Nov 20 : Home appliances maker Whirlpool of India, which is aiming to double sales in next four years, expects non-core segments like air conditioners and built-in kitchen appliances to contribute to 20 per cent of total sales by then.

Besides, Whirlpool is also investing about Rs 140 crore in next two years in its existing plants to expand production capacity and manufacture new products.

Whirlpool, which presently exports to neighbouring South Asia and South East Asian countries besides parts of Australia, would increase its contribution as it is scouting for more geographies.

"We are looking to double our turnover in next four years.

We are increasing the contribution from business from the non core which is non washing machine and refrigerators, by growing into other categories," Whirlpool of India Managing Director Sunil D'Souza told PTI.

He further added: "We are aiming to move from current 10 per cent to 20 per cent."

The company posted Rs 3,488 crore net sales in FY16.

"We have set an objective of growing the base business, which is washing machines and refrigerators, and set a target of expanding our portfolio and growing beyond that. So, we are focusing on ACs, water and cooking led by our built-in business," D'Souza added.

Presently, Whirlpool of India is operating plants at Faridabad, Puna and Puducherry and manufactures up to 90 per cent of the domestic needs.

"We had spent Rs 75 crore capex in 2015-16. In the current financial year, we plan to take this number up by 25 per cent.

For the next financial year 2017-18, we intend to increase our capex further by 50 per cent over 2016-17 base," D'Souza said.

He further added: "We have now specific plans at some of

our plants. We would make sure that we would utilise them to the maximum and invest going forward. This would be for the base capacity and also focusing on new product launches."

On exports, he said that the company is looking for new geographies, and its contribution would increase in the coming years.

"Currently exports are about 5-6 per cent of our business, but we aim to grow that significantly as we go ahead," he said.

Primarily, Whirlpool exports refrigerators and washing machines from India.

"We have export markets across Asia and Africa, prominent being South East Asia, Australia and this year particularly, the new market of Morocco. We aim to continue to leverage our strong brand, differentiated products , great quality, competitive pricing and global networks to continue to increase exports," he said.

Operators have often blamed local authorities for creating unnecessary hurdles in deployment of infrastructure, especially in granting permissions, thereby delaying network rollouts.

PTI New Delhi, Nov 20 : Cellular operators' body COAI has said that new rules on installation of mobile towers and laying of optical cables will reduce call drops, rev up broadband speeds and improve service quality for consumers.

"The rules will enable operators to improve coverage and capacity and address the issue of call drops, ultimately benefiting consumers. It will allow telecom companies to provide broadband at better speeds as the rules provides clear direction to State and local bodies on laying down of fibre cables," COAI Director General, Rajan Mathews told PTI. Overall, he said, the newly-notified Right of Way or RoW rules by Telecom Department will improve customer's experience of telecom services.

"The rules are comprehensive, and will address critical issues faced by industry in installation of cell towers and deploying fibre in various States.

DoT, by notifying these rules under Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, has asserted the Centre's right to giving instructions to local authorities and municipalities to ensure time-bound rollout of telecom network," Mathews said.

Operators have often blamed local authorities for creating unnecessary hurdles in deployment of infrastructure, especially in granting permissions, thereby delaying network rollouts.

Telcos also complained to have shelled out abnor-

mally high prices for RoW and face different levies. At times, charges have been as high as Rs 7 crore per kilometre for laying underground cables.

According to DOT's notification late last week, the authorities involved in granting RoW permit will now have to grant such permission within 60 days of application. While rejecting an application, they will have to record reasons in writing.

If the authority concerned does not reply within 60 days of application submission by telecom operator, the approval "shall be deemed to have been granted", as per the new rules.

To check arbitrary fee levied by various agencies on network rollout, authorities have been barred from imposing any fee, charge, lease rental, licence fee other than the expense, they would incur as consequence of proposed work, including cost of restoring damage to road or other infrastructure.

Every application under the rule "shall be accompanied with such fee to meet administrative expenses for examination of the application and the proposed work as the appropriate authority may, by general order, deem fit", DoT has said.

Such fee to meet administrative expenses cannot exceed Rs 1,000 per kilometer, it said.

"DoT has prescribed reasonable rates, and specified time-bound authorisation. Hopefully, the States and local authorities will follow them in letter and spirit," Mathews said.

Both the Centre and RBI are exploring the possibility of introduction of Islamic banking for long.

(Reuters File Photo) prohibited under Islam.

"It is also our understanding that interest-free banking for financial inclusion will require a proper process of the product being certified as Sharia compli-

ant will be required both on the asset and liability side and the funds received under the interestfree banking could not be mingled with other funds and therefore, this bank-

ing will have to be conducted under a separate window," it said.

The central bank's proposal is based on examination of legal, technical and regulatory issues regarding feasibility of introducing Islamic banking in India on the basis of recommendation of the Inter Departmental Group (IDG).

RBI has also prepared a technical analysis report which has been sent to the Finance Ministry.

"In case it is decided to introduce Islamic banking product in India as suggested, RBI would require to undertake further work to put in place the operational and regulatory framework to facilitate introduction of such products by banks in India," the letter said.

Liquidity to stay, rates may fall further: SBI PTI New Delhi, Nov 20 : Additional liquidity that is coming into the banking system following demonetisation will not go away in a "hurry" and may pull down interest rates further, the country's largest lender SBI said.

"The recent government's move on demonetisation is a welcome one. A huge amount of money is coming into the savings and current accounts. This huge amount of deposits has turned the system liquidity into surplus and we believe that this extra liquidity will not go away from the system in a hurry, which may push down the interest rate further," a top SBI official told PTI in an interview.

On November 8, the government surprised the nation by declaring Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currencies invalid to check black money and fake notes, giving a 50-day window to exchange these old notes within a cap or penalty provision for unaccounted money.

Thus, SBI's cash deposits have swollen by over Rs 1.27

lakh crore as on November 17 because people are compelled to put their money in bank accounts due to invalidity of these high-denomination currencies and the note exchange policy.

Also, SBI expects inflation in November to slip below 4 per cent. In October, retail inflation was at 4.20 per cent while wholesale inflation eased to 3.39 per cent.

"Our expectation is that the inflation in November will be below 4 per cent. Also, the recent demonetisation will support easing inflation by affecting consumer demand adversely.

Hence, we are still expecting another round of repo rate cut by 25-50 basis points (0.25-0.50 per cent) in 2016-17," the official said.

In its last monetary policy in October, the Reserve Bank had cut the key repo rate -- at which it lends to banks -- by 0.25 per cent to 6.25 per cent.

RBI has cut repo by 1.75 per cent since January 2015.

State Bank of India (SBI) trimmed its fixed deposit rates on select maturities by

up to 0.15 per cent last week on account of cash flush due to invalidity of highvalue notes.

"Cash being deposited at SBI branches belong to customers, as such customers are at liberty to use it the way they want.

Interest will be paid on the balance outstanding as per the applicable rates (SB or Term Deposit A/c)," the official said.

Asked about where the bank plans to invest the surplus, SBI said these funds will be invested in reverse repo and T-Bills in the short term.

"Subsequently, the funds will get deployed as commercial paper (CP) and for addressing credit requirements of customers depending on the availability and duration of funds," the official added.

Listing the pluses of the government's move to make these notes invalid, SBI said more and more people will come to the banking channels to exchange and deposit their higher denomination notes.

UDAN push: Alliance Air set to induct 10 ATRs PTI New Delhi, Nov 20 : Air India's regional arm Alliance Air has finalised the agreement for leasing 10 new turbo-prop planes as it gets ready to fly to unserved and underserved airports under the government's regional connectivity scheme.

The national carrier is anticipated to be a significant player in the ambitious UDAN (Ude Desh Ka Aam Naagrik) scheme -- that seeks to boost regional air connectivity as well as make flying more affordable for the masses.

Gearing up for more regional flights, Alliance Air has been working on expanding its fleet by leasing more number of 72seater ATRs. A senior official said Alliance Air has finalised the agreement for leasing ten new ATRs or turboprop planes.

Currently, Alliance Air has 10 ATRs and two of them are 42-seater ones.

It is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Air India and operates 39 point-to-point air services daily to 34 cities from six base stations -Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Bhopal. Majority of its destinations are tier-II and tierIII cities.

Earlier this year, Alliance

Alliance Air set to induct 10 ATRs

Air had invited bids for leasing of the twin turboprop planes for 12 years.

From its current fleet, the airline plans to phase out a few aircraft and replaced them with new planes.

With some of the leading private carriers yet to evince keen interest in UDAN, the government is banking on the national carrier for the initiative to be a success.

For UDAN -- which would based on both subsidised and marketbased pricing mechanism -- fares would be capped at Rs 2,500 for one-hour long flights.

In this regard, the government has set up the Regional Connectivity Fund (RCF) -- that would be 80 per cent financed by the Centre and the rest by respective states.

An amount of up to Rs 8,500 would be levied on

every flight in major routes to fund UDAN. The levy, effective December 1, would be for an entire flight and the price of each ticket could go up depending on the number of seats in that particular flight.

"The levy for an up to 1,000 kilometre length of scheduled flight will be Rs 7,500 per flight, Rs 8,000 for a 1,000-1,500 km flight and Rs 8,500 for flights above 1,500 km," Civil Aviation Secretary R N Choubey said earlier this month.

It would be applicable only on scheduled domestic flights operating on major routes and excludes regional flights.

According to the Civil Aviation Ministry, the proposed levy is a small amount but can go a long way in bringing more travellers and cities to the Indian aviation network.

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DIBRUGARH, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 21

P12 Succi’s header earns Chennaiyin a point against ATK India get crucial breakthroughs Match Awards: Club award: Shared by both clubs

after Cook-Hamid defiance

Amul Fittest Player of the Match: Javi Lara Winning Pass of the Match: Eli Sabia Swift Moment of the Match: Debjit Majumder ISL Emerging Player of the Match: Zakeer Mundampara Hero of the Match: Davide Succi

Succi’s header earns Chennaiyin a point against ATK

Chennaiyin, Nov 20 : Chennaiyin FC came from behind to draw 1-1 against Atlético de Kolkata in front of almost 25,000 fans at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Chennai on Sunday evening. Helder Postiga’s first-half header was cancelled out by another header from Davide Succi in the second period as the teams played out their second draw of Hero Indian Super League 2016.

The visitors had the first chance of the evening and were unlucky not to have taken the lead inside three minutes. Lalrindika Ralte put in a dangerous ball from the left into the six-yard box, which

Postiga headed onto the post as the hosts survived an early scare.

Chennai’s first shot on goal came two minutes later with their topscorer Jeje Lalpekhlua’s strike from outside the penalty area narrowly missing the target. Before long Hans Mulder forced Debjit Majumder into a quality save as the ATK shot-stopper tipped the Dutchman’s effort on goal over the crossbar for a corner. The home side started seeing more of the ball with the game settling down but they suffered a setback in the 20th minute after star striker Lalpekhlua had to come off due to injury.

The breakthrough eventually came six minutes before half-time after Javi Lara found Pritam Kotal with space on the right. Kotal’s pin-point cross into the box was headed into goal in emphatic fashion by Postiga to give Kolkata a 1-0 lead heading into the break.

Succi had Chennai’s first attempt on goal in the second period after a defence splitting pass in the 56th minute put the Italian in behind ATK’s defence. His shot from a tight angle, however, went wide of the target to the disappointment of the home support.

Chennai should have been level in the 66th

minute when a quality free-kick from the right by Zakeer Mundampara made its way to an unmarked Bernard Mendy inside the six-yard box.

The robust Frenchman’s header though flew disappointingly over Kolkata’s goal.

Succi had another opportunity to score an equaliser after a low cross from the right had ATK’s backline in sixes and sevens in the 71st minute. The Italian picked up a loose ball following Majumder’s failed attempt at collecting the cross before sending his effort into the side netting.

Mundampara then went close five minutes later through a deflected shot from range that forced

Majumder into a save.

The Super Machans equalised from their next attack with Eli Sabia retrieving a corner before crossing into the danger area. This time Succi made no mistake as his header hit the back of the net, making it 1-1 with 13 minutes to play.

Chennai piled on the pressure in the last 10 minutes desperate for a late winner. Manuele Blasi rifled a shot from distance two minutes from full-time but the Italian’s shot was wide of the target and failed to test Majumder in goal.

Succi had the last chance of the game soon after courtesy of a lay-off by Raphael Augusto to the Italian striker. His shot goal-wards, however, was always on the rise and flew above the frame of the goal as both sides settled for a point.

Indian eves Family Illness Sends Pakistan Captain Misbah-ul-Haq Home lose 2nd T20I Christchurch, Nov 20 Azhar Ali will take Pakistan captain over as captain against WI :Misbah-ul-Haq has and no immediate women pulled out of the New decision was made PTI Mulapadu (Andhra Pradesh), Nov 20 : Indian women suffered a batting collapse to lose the second T20 International by 31 runs and help West Indies women take an unassailable 2-0 lead in the three-match series, here today.

Sent into bat, West Indies women made 137 for five and then bowled out the hosts for 106 in 18.1 overs.

WesT Indies score was built around four batters -- captain Stafanie Taylor (47), Deandra Dottin (35), Hayley Matthews (27) and Merissa Aguilleira (21).

For India, medium pacer Shikha Pandey picked up two wickets giving away 29 runs.

Chasing the target, India never recovered from an early batting colapse and their innings eventually folded with the loss of six wickets for just 33 runs.

Only three India batters managed double digit scores with captain Harmanpreet Kaur (43) being the top-scorer 43.

Other Indians to score double digit scores are Deepti Sharma (24) and Meghna Singh (17).

For West Indies, Anisa Mohammed (3/23) and Deandra Dottin (3/24) took three wickets each, Indian women had earlier lost the first T20 International by six wickets on last Friday.

Zealand tour to return home because his father-in-law is critically ill, a team spokesman said on Sunday.

Misbah received the news early Sunday and headed to the airport with his wife and daughter as soon as the match ended.

about flying out a replacement before the second Test starts in Hamilton on Friday.

New Zealand won the first Test by eight wickets midway through the fourth day.

Misbah-ul-Haq is Pakistan cricket team's Test captain.

Boxing Federation plans league next year PTI Haridwar, Nov 20 : Eager to make up for the lost time, the recentlyformed Boxing Federation of India (BFI) is planning to launch a domestic league next year, the details of which will be worked out after settling a "few issues".

"We need to have a league, we are just trying to settle down a few things. But in 2017, we are definitely going to launch a league," BFI President Ajay Singh in an interaction on the sidelines of the ongoing National Women's Boxing Championships here but did not dwell on the issues left to be sorted.

It is to be noted, that professional boxing scene in India got a boost after amateur boxing hit a downward spiral owing to an administrative mess which lasted four years starting 2012 and ended in September this year with the formation of BFI. "We are well behind at this stage because of the lost time, so it will take time to build things. We

Representational Purpose need to build our infrastructure bottom up," Singh said in an interaction on sidelines of the ongoing National Championships for women.

Promising to put together a professional team of support staff and coaches, Singh said the BFI would ensure that the domestic coaches benefit from the foreign talent which will be on board by the time the national camps resume in January.

"We will put together the best possible coaching

team.

It's not only about the coaches though, it's also about a sports psychologist, a nutritionist, physiotherapists, the whole support staff has to be there.

A team has to be there, so we have to put a whole team in place," he said.

"We need to broad-base our talent pool both for the players as well as the coaches. So by holding national championships, we will identify players, as far as the coaching staff is concerned, (the incum-

bents) have done a terrific job, obviously we need to strengthen that department.

We are not limited to coaches in India, we will find the best global talent that we can.

"We are already talking to some people, we are in the process of identifying people, both male and female coaches.

We would try to introduce them to the camps as soon as possible. Also it's important that we upgrade the skills of our coaches.

We want to have a trainthe-trainers programme here, get foreign talent to come and train our coaches," he added.

On the contentious issue of Indian Olympic Association's continuous delay in giving BFI recognition, Singh said the mater is close to resolution.

"IOA has formed a committee to consider our application for recognition and we are hopeful that we will get affiliation from IOA, very soon. They have no reason not to recognise," he said.

Alastair Cook is given out to the last ball of the day. (Photo: AFP) New Delhi, Nov 20 : Indian spinners were thwarted by a splendid display of ultra-defensive batting by England before the hosts edged ahead dismissing rival skipper Alastair Cook on an engrossing fourth day of the second cricket Test in Visakhapatnam today.

In pursuit of an uphill victory target of 405, England finished the day at 87 for 2, thanks to a dogged defiance from skipper Cook and young Haseeb Hameed, who brought back memories of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers’ ‘batathon’ at the Feroz Shah Kotla, last year.

It was fascinating final two sessions where Cook (54, 188 balls) and 19year-old Hameed (25, 44 balls) added 75 for the opening stand but more importantly consumed 50 out of the 150 overs that England require to bat in their second innings.

Cook showed enormous

patience en route his 53rd Test half-century which came off 172 balls — his slowest in longest format.

The captain’s resistance finally ended when Ravindra Jadeja trapped the skipper leg before with the final delivery of the day. England require 318 runs more on the final but they would be very happy if they could even manage a draw.

India have three full sessions tomorrow to grab the remaining eight wickets and take a 1-0 lead in the five-match series.

If Cook’s experience came to the fore, Hameed defied his age and showed temperament of highest order batting for more than three hours.

Hameed faced 24 overs en route to his 25 before Ashwin gave the breakthrough at the fag end of the day as the ball kept low trapping the righthander plumb in-front.

In desperation for some-

thing special, Ashwin finally delivered a shooter right in middle and leg in his 13th over of the day, and there was no way that Hameed could keep it away as he was trapped right in front for an agonising end.

The opening partnership also provided a study in contrast to their struggling Indian counterparts as the strategy was just to block and delay the inevitable.

India’s frustration was summed up when Kohli used up both his DRS review in space of six balls against captain Cook but to no avail.

England reached 50 in 37.1 overs, a tad faster than their slowest of 38.5 overs in the second innings against Sri Lanka at The Oval in 1998.

Ashwin had earlier bowled 8-3-12-0 in his first spell during the second session and with little assistance from the pitch he was brought in only in the 43rd over.

Sindhu wins maiden Super Series Premier title PTI Fuzhou, Nov 20 : Olympic silver medallist P V Sindhu clinched her maiden Super Series Premier title after edging out Sun Yu of China in the finals of the USD 700,000 China Open badminton tournament here on Sunday.

Sindhu, who became the toast of the country after becoming the first Indian women to win a silver at Rio Games, continued her rampaging run as she lifted the prestigious title after beating Sun 21-11 17-21 21-11 in the summit clash that lasted an hour and nine minutes.

World No. 11 Sindhu had come into the match with a 2-3 head-to-head record but then statistics counted little when she took the court at the Haixia Olympic Sports Center.

Sindhu dished out a dominating game as she zoomed to a healthy 11-5 lead early on. The Indian looked sharp and athletic as she engaged in a fast-paced game to bamboozle her opponent.

Eventually it was a cross court return which earned Sindhu a massive 12 game points at 20-8. A couple of smashes on Sindhu's forehand and backhand and a drop going to the net helped Sun save three points. But Sindhu sealed the opening encounter after dominating a parallel game and finishing it with a return that hit Sun's face.

In the second game, Sindhu had a slender 6-3 lead which she extended to 11-7 and 1410. But Sun soon broke the rhythm by mixing her strokes and coming up with

P V Sindhu steep and powerful body smashes to catch up with the Indian at 14-14.

A sharp smash and a superb return on Sindhu's backhand helped Sun grab a 18-16 lead which became 19-16 after the Indian lost a video referral. At 20-16, Sun hit the nets but she roared back into contest when Sindhu's stretched low return at the forecourt could not cross the net.

Back to her winning side of the court, Sindhu once again started with new exuberance as the duo locked themselves in a battle of supremacy. As a result service changed hands too quickly as they moved together till 6-6.

But Sindhu moved ahead with a couple of powerpacked returns which Sun failed to negotiate. The Chinese also faltered with a lift and also hit wide as Sindhu reached 10-6.

A few errors helped Sun make it 8-10 before Sindhu entered the interval with a 11-8 advantage.

Sindhu continued to extend her lead even as Sun tried to vary the pace of the rallies but her errors continued to pile up as the Indian was soon 19-11 up. Sindhu then grabbed the match point when Sun let go of the shuttle as it kissed the back line and then the Indian pushed the shuttle at the back, leaving the Chinese stranded before letting out a joyous scream.

Saina Nehwal had clinched the China Open in 2014 before finishing runners-up last year.

Sindhu had reached her maiden Super Series final at the Denmark Open last year but the title eluded her then as she lost in straight games to 2012 Olympic champion China's Li Xuerei.

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Editor: Prahlad Hammey

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