Saina, Sindhu enter quarters of Hong Kong Open

Kowloon, Nov 24 (PTI) Newly-crowned China Open champion P V Sindhu and Saina Nehwal entered the quarterfinals of the women's singles competition at the Hong Kong Open Super Series tournament on a fruitful day for Indian shuttlers here.

Sindhu, who bagged her maiden Super Series Premier title last week at the China Open just months after winning the silver at Rio Olympics, trounced Chinese Taipei's Hsu Ya Ching 21-10 21-14, while Saina dished out a gruelling performance against Japan's Sayaka Sato to edge prevail 21-18 9-21 21-16.

Two-time bronze medallist at World Championship, Sindhu will next take on Singapore's Xiaoyu Liang, while fifth seed Saina, who is on her comeback trail after recovering from a serious knee injury, will meet Hong Kong's Cheung Ngan Yi.

In the men's singles, Ajay Jayaram beat China's Huang Yuxiang 21-18 21-19, while National champion Sameer Verma eked out a 19-21 21-15 21-11 win over Japan's Kazumasa Sakai in another match.

Jayaram will take on local hope Ng Ka Long Angus, while Sameer will face malaysian qualifier Chong Wei Feng.

However, it turned out to be a disappointing day for H S Prannoy, who suffered a 21-15 11-21 15-21 loss against Malaysia's Chong Wei Feng.

India asks Pak to stem "terror rot"

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) India today reacted strongly to reports of Pakistan setting up a special group to "expose" New Delhi's alleged atrocities in Kashmir, saying it should focus its energies on "stemming the rot of terrorism instead of expending its breath" in making baseless charges.

External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Vikas Swarup also took a dig at Pakistan Prime Minister's foreign affairs adviser Sartaj Aziz for his remarks that Islamabad would reach out to Indians who are opposed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "extremist policies", saying probably he has not anticipated the kind of reception he may recieve from them.

"Pakistan would be well advised to focus its energies on stemming the rot of terrorism instead of expending its breath in making baseless allegations. He (Aziz) would be well advised to rather woo Pakistanis to end his government s policy of state sponsorship of terrorism," Swarup said.

He was reacting to reports quoting Aziz as saying that Pakistan has set up a high-level committee to formulate "a doable and sustainable" policy to highlight the Kashmir issue globally and is reaching out to Indians who are opposed to Modi's "extremist policies".

Swarup also gave details of the demarche issued to Pakistan Deputy High Commissioner yesterday over the killing of its three soldiers.

He said India strongly deplored the tacit support of the Pakistani army to armed terrorists that came from close to that country's army posts on 22 November, 2016, and targeted an Indian patrol near the Line of Control in Machhal Sector opposite Pakistan s Kel Sector. Three Indian soldiers were killed in the ambush and the body of one of them was inhumanly mutilitated, the MEA spokesperson said.

The government also conveyed its grave concern at the continued attempts to infiltrate armed terrorists from across the LoC to target Indian posts and patrols.

"During the last week alone, there have been 15 instances when terrorists indulged in nefarious actions from the vicinity of Pakistani army posts across the Line of Control," he said, adding Pakistan forces have committed 27 ceasefire violations between 16 and 21 November, 2016 which constitute a clear violation of the ceasefire agreement of 2003.

Swarup also rejected Islamabad's allegation that India was not giving overflight clearance to Pakistan which is in violation of a 1991 agreement.

"Yes, we are aware of what Pakistan has claimed but we categorically reject these allegations. .

Govt extends exemptions on use of old Rs 500 note till Dec 15

New Delhi, Nov 24 (PTI) Facing severe attack in the wake of difficulties thrown up by demonetisation, government tonight extended till December 15 the facility of using old Rs 500 notes in public utilities and included more services like mobile recharge but stopped the over-the-counter exchange of defunct currencies and use of Rs 1,000 notes.

From now on payment of fees up to Rs 2,000 per student has been allowed in schools and colleges run by central and states governments, municipalities and local bodies.

Payment towards pre-paid mobile top-up to a limit of Rs 500 per recharge has also been allowed while purchase from consumer cooperative stores will be limited to Rs 5,000 at a time, an official release said.

Current and arrears dues payments will be limited to only water and electricity, a facility that will continue to be available only for individuals and households.

However, the release said payments for the transactions under all the exempted categories will now be accepted only through old Rs 500 notes.

"Considering that the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways have continued the toll free arrangement at the toll plazas up to December 2, it has been decided that toll payment at these toll plazas may be made through old Rs 500 notes from December 3 to December 15," it said.

Foreign citizens will now be permitted to exchange foreign currency up to Rs 5000 per week. Necessary entry to this effect will be made in their passports, it said.

Explaining the reason for discontinuance of exchange of the defunct notes, the release said it has been observed that over-the-counter exchange of the old notes has shown a declining trend.

It has further been felt that people may be encouraged and facilitated to deposit their old Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes in their bank accounts. This will encourage people who are still unbanked, to open new bank accounts, it said.

Consequently, it said, there will be no over-the-counter exchange of old notes after midnight tonight.

The exemptions were initially announced by Prime Minister Narendra Modi when he disclosed the demonetisation scheme on November 8. Subsequently there have been modifications in these measures.

The release said the government has been reviewing the issues arising out of the cancellation of the legal tender character of the high denomination notes.

The Government has also been receiving various suggestions in this regard. After due consideration of all relevant aspects, decisions relating to certain operational aspects of the Scheme have now been taken, it said.

There has been large scale criticism of the government in the wake of severe hardships faced by a cross-section of people following demonetisation of high denomination currency.

Trump picks Indian-American Nikki Haley as UN ambassador

Washington, Nov 23 (PTI) Nikki Haley was today picked by President-elect Donald Trump to serve as US ambassador to the United Nations, becoming first Indian-American to be appointed to a cabinet-level post in the US administration.

44-year-old daughter of Indian immigrants, Haley is first woman tapped by Trump for a top-level administration post during his transition to the White House.

Citing a source familiar with the decision, CNN reported that President-elect Trump has picked South Carolina's Governor Haley to be the US ambassador to the United Nations.

The move, which will be announced later today, comes as Trump advisers are seeking to diversify his ranks and marks his first female appointment to a cabinet-level post, The Washington Post reported.

Trump's plan to offer the job to Haley, a rising Republican star, was first reported by the Post and Courier.

Haley has already carved out a legacy for herself, serving as her home state's first female and first minority governor.

Haley, who is serving her second term, has worked on trade and labour issues as governor but brings little foreign policy experience. Her views on various US military and national security matters usually fall within the Republican Party's hawkish mainstream.

Trump met with Haley on Thursday at Trump Tower in New York as part of the round of meetings the president-elect has held.

With her appointment to the top diplomatic post in UN, Haley has become the first woman and minority to join Trump's administration. She would replace Samantha Power.

She would also be the first ever Indian-American Cabinet rank official in any administration. The Cabinet position would require confirmation by the Senate.

Haley was critical of Trump during the primary campaign and had backed Senator Marco Rubio in the Republican primary.

However, before the general elections, she switched her position, saying she would vote for Trump.

Born Nimrata "Nikki" Randhawa, Haley is the first minority and female governor of South Carolina, a deeply conservative state with a long history of racial strife.

Survey on Modi App: 93 pc support demonetisation

New Delhi, Nov 23 (PTI) More than 93 per cent of the five lakh people who participated in a survey on Narendra Modi App have supported demonetisation, the PMO said today a day after the Prime Minister sought public feedback on the issue.

"I thank people for the historic participation in the survey. It's satisfying to read the insightful views & comments," the Prime Minister tweeted along with the results of the survey conducted on Narendra Modi App.

"Unprecedented response to App Survey, record number of citizens share their view," said the title of a write-up on narendramodi.in whose link was shared by the Prime Minister on his twitter account.

The survey result was read out by IT and Telecom Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad at Cabinet meeting this evening, prompting the Prime Minister to say that it "reflects the mood" of the people.

In just over 24 hours of the survey, more than 5 lakh people have participated and expressed their opinion, it said, adding "This is a staggering number by any stretch. No opinion survey conducted in India, on such policy or political issues, even comes close to sampling so many responses."

More than 93 per cent people support the move to demonetize the old 500 and 1000 rupee notes, it said. Of the over 5 lakh responses so far, only 2 per cent have rated the move as 'very poor' or 'one star', the survey result said.

More than 90 per cent of the respondents feel the government s move to tackle black money is above four-star rating, the survey result says. 73 per cent of them give it five-star rating of 'brilliant'.

On the overall fight against corruption, more than 92 per cent of respondents either rate the government as 'very good' or 'good' while 57 per cent of them rate the fight as 'very good'.

"As high as 86 per cent people believe that some so- called anti-corruption activists are now actually batting in support of black money, corruption and even terrorist financing!", the write-up said. .

SC dismisses Kejriwal's plea against Jaitley defamation case

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) The Supreme Court today dismissed Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's plea seeking stay on trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case filed by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley.

A bench of Justices P C Ghose and U U Lalit, while dismissing the plea, said that under the Evidence Act, a judgement given in a civil proceeding is not binding on the criminal case.

"We have seen the judgements. We can't interfere with the judgements of the Delhi High Court and the trial court. The petition is dismissed," the bench said.

Senior Advocate Ram Jethmalani, appearing for Kejriwal, said that if the High Court pronounces judgement in the civil proceedings, then the subordinate court would have to follow the law in the case which is based on the same facts and circumstances.

He sought staying of the criminal defamation case filed by Jaitley against Kejriwal before the trial court and said that the civil proceedings before the High Court shall be continued.

The Delhi High Court had on October 19 dismissed Kejriwal's plea seeking stay of trial court proceedings in a criminal defamation case, saying, there was no "illegality" in continuing it simultaneously with a civil defamation suit in the high court.

The high court had said there was "no prejudice" on account of a pending civil suit and there was no "double jeopardy" and as such Kejriwal's plea was "devoid of merit".

It had said the criminal and civil defamation cases were "different in nature".

Besides a civil defamation suit in the high court, Jaitley had also filed a criminal defamation complaint in a lower court alleging Kejriwal and five AAP leaders -- Raghav Chadha, Kumar Vishwas, Ashutosh, Sanjay Singh and Deepak Bajpai -- had defamed him in the Delhi District Cricket Association (DDCA) controversy.

On April 7, the trial court had granted bail to Kejriwal and others in the case after they had appeared before it.

Jaitley had on December 21, 2015 filed the criminal defamation case against the AAP leaders and sought their prosecution for offences that entail a punishment of up to two years in jail.

Jaitley, in his civil defamation suit in the high court, has sought Rs 10 crore in damages from Kejriwal and the five AAP leaders for issuing allegedly false and defamatory statements against him and his family in connection with alleged irregularities in DDCA when he was its president.

PM has created a new normal, will clean and expand economy: FM

New Delhi, Nov 22 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi has created a "new normal" of white transactions with crackdown on black money, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley said today, asserting that demonetisation will lead to a jump in private investment and more public spending on welfare measures.

Addressing BJP parliamentary party over the fallout of the decision, he took a dig at Rahul Gandhi saying on the one hand the Congress leader says the demonetisation decision was selectively leaked to BJP top brass and on the other he claims "that even Finance Minister, that means I, was also not aware".

Speaking at length, Jaitley explained all aspects of the move and said, "Demonetisation has direct relation with poor, with poverty and with poverty alleviation" and said once the replacement of currency reaches a reasonable level, the restrictions will be eased.

Explaining the likely positive outcomes of this move, Jaitley said the country annually borrows Rs 4-5 lakh crore and after this move and these funds can be used for public spending for development of rural areas and uplift of poor.

About Rs 8 lakh crore will be collected from income tax this year and Rs 8.5 lakh crore from indirect tax but despite that another Rs 4-5 lakh crore is required to bear expenses for running the country, he said.

"..so if the honest tax paying system establishes in the country...then do we need to borrow money...and in the case these borrowings of about Rs 4-5 lakh crore annually can be utilised in rural areas for poverty alleviation and other similar measures," Jaitley added.

Terming the decision as historic, he said that Modi with his courageous step has created a new normal of white transactions.

"...what was normal from last 70 years that this much in cash and this much in cheque... but now Prime Minister has created a new normal," he said.

"Today every honest citizen feels that a premium has been given for his honesty. In long term this landmark step will increase the size of official economy and reduce the shadow economy," he said.

Giving rationale behind this move, the Finance Minister said in developed countries currency is normally 4 per cent of GDP but in India it is 12 per cent of the GDP.

Therefore, most trade happens in cash and is out of banking system. As a result black money, fake currency, and non-compliance of tax are attached with it, he added.

"Today you see lakh of crores of rupees which was in cash has come into banking system. This is low cost money. Now banks will have capacities to provide more loans for infrastructure development, agriculture and private sector...

banks have also started reducing interest rates," Jaitley added.

The cessation of legal tenders Rs 500 and 1000 is followed by remonetisation so that alternative currency should reach people.

"Once this remonetisation reaches reasonable level, we will take back all restrictions but till then there will be a difficulty for some days," Jaitley said.

Lodha panel moves SC to appoint G K Pillai as BCCI observer

New Delhi, Nov 21 (PTI) The apex court-appointed Justice R M Lodha committee has moved the Supreme Court seeking a direction to appoint former home secretary G K Pillai as an observer to "guide" BCCI in the administrative works including award of contracts, transparency norms and holding of future domestic, international and IPL matches.

The committee, in its third status report submitted in the apex court on November 14, has also sought a declaration from the bench headed by Chief Justice T S Thakur that all office bearers of cash-rich BCCI and state cricket bodies, who are in violation of laid down norms with regard to 70 year age cap, citizenship and tenures, "cease to hold office forthwith".

"While the day-to-day administration of BCCI is presently carried out by the CEO and certain managers who assist him in this regard, there would be a need to appoint an observer who would guide the BCCI in its administration, particularly with reference to the award of contracts, transparency norms, audit, etc., for domestic, international and IPL cricket to be played hereafter.

"The committee recommends that G K Pillai, former Union home secretary be appointed as the observer, with a power to appoint auditor and all necessary secretarial staff, assistance and remuneration as may be determined appropriate by the committee," the report, filed through panel's secretary Gopal Sankaranarayanan, said.

It referred to recommendations, approved by the court, on criteria for holding posts in BCCI and state cricket bodies and said that they include that a person should be an Indian citizen and below 70 years of age.

The office bearer should not be "insolvent, or of unsound mind" or a minister or government servant, it said, adding that criteria also included that such a person should not be holding "any office or post in a sports or athletic association or federation apart from cricket".

It also said that the person is "incapable if an office bearer has been in office for a cumulative period of 9 years, besides being charged by a court of law for having committed any criminal offence".

"Several office bearers at both the BCCI and the state associations continue to hold the posts although they stand disqualified as per the order of this court. It is submitted that those individuals who fall foul of these norms be declared to cease to hold office forthwith," the panel said.

Aditya Varma, Secretary of Cricket Association of Bihar who had filed the case in the SC on the issue, welcomed the move of the panel, saying that many states like Bihar would benefit from it.

Toll mounts to 143 in Indore-Patna Express derailment

Pukhrayan (UP), Nov 21 (PTI) The death toll today mounted to 143 in the Indore-Patna Express derailment here in Kanpur rural area as rescuers wrapped up their operation with little hope of finding any survivors after overnight efforts to pull out trapped passengers from the mangled bogies.

All the 14 derailed coaches of the Patna-bound train 19321 have been removed from the tracks. Many distraught people were sifting through the luggage and other belongings piled up at the site to look for any clue about their missing loved ones.

"I am looking for my brother. Who knows what has happened to him? He may have changed his seat... we have searched everywhere," said Ramanand Tiwari.

After seeing bodies of three of his family members, Nirmal Verma was inconsolable.

"Whoever I tried to look for is dead. My brother, my elder sister-in-law, daughter.... I haven't found my mother yet. I fear I will find her in the same condition," said Verma who was to travel with his family to a wedding but couldn't get leave from work and was supposed to join them later.

"143 bodies have been found so far, out of which 110 have been identified," according to IG (Kanpur range) Zaki Ahmad.

While 120 bodies were pulled out till last night, some others were found as rescuers later cleared the wreckage.

Chief Medical Officer Kanpur Ramayan Prasad said 105 bodies have been handed over to family members after postmortem and free ambulances were provided.

24 bodies have been sent to Bihar, 25 to Madhya Pradesh and 56 in several districts of UP.

83 of the 202 injured passengers were admitted in hospitals of Kanpur and neighbouring Kanpur-Rural districts while rest of them have been released, Prasad said, adding 73 of them were seriously injured.

Amid scenes of tragedy, a number of good samaritans took it upon themselves to provide succour to the traumatised passengers and help out the rescuers and others on site and in hospitals by providing food and water.

Volunteers from several NGOs, RSS, Sikh organisations and even from many political outfits remained at the accident site till late in the night as rescuers struggled to pull out passengers trapped in the mangled bogies.

The volunteers visited injured victims and the distraught families in the hospitals and distributed drinking water, tea, snacks and fruits among them.

Coaches 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.

Railway personnel assisted by army, NDRF and state police carried out the search and rescue operation overnight under floodlights.

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

A high-level probe had been ordered by Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu, who today promised "strictest possible action" against the guilty.

Making a suo motu statement in the Lok Sabha, he said a separate investigation will be held aided by latest technical and forensic analysis. .

India, China agree to keep borders 'tranquil and peaceful'

Beijing, Nov 21 (PTI) India and China today agreed on the need to keep their borders "tranquil and peaceful" as army chief General Dalbir Singh Suhag held talks with top Chinese military officials, including his counterpart, amid frequent transgressions by the PLA along the LAC.

Kicking off his four-day visit, General Suhag met General Li Zuocheng, the head of China's ground forces which have undergone major restructuring in the last three years.

Suhag was welcomed by Gen Li with a Guard of Honour at the Bayi Building. Later, both held official talks in which a wide range of issues of mutual interest were discussed.

They both noted with appreciation the 6th India-China Joint Training Exercise 'Hand-in-Hand' 2016 which is currently going on in Pune and agreed to further expand defence exchanges between the two armies, a statement issued by the Indian Embassy said.

Later Suhag held talks with Chinese Air-force General Xu Qiliang, who is also the Vice Chairman of Central Military Commission, the high command of China's military.

During the meeting Suhag and Xu "reiterated their desire to keep up the momentum of defence exchanges and the need to keep the borders tranquil and peaceful", the statement said.

Gen Xu also accepted invitation to visit India.

Suhag also extended an invitation to Li to visit India, which he accepted hoping to make it soon.

The Chief of Army Staff's delegation is comprised of four senior Army Officers, holding key posts in the Indian Army.

Suhag will also visit Xian and Nanjing, where he will visit key military installations, as well as interact with General Liu Yuejun, Commander of the Eastern Theatre Command, the statement said.

During the visit, General Suhag is expected to discuss a host of issues including efficacy of mechanism put in place to deal with transgressions of troops aggressively patrolling the areas claimed by both the countries.

Several such transgressions by Chinese troops specially in the Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh sectors in the recent past resulted in long standoffs between troops on both sides.

While relations between the two militaries improved with constant visits by high-level officials including the Defence Ministers, officials say the relations remained tenuous with steady increase of Pakistan-related issues affecting their growth.

General Suhag's visit also comes at a time when relations between the two countries were stressed by issues like the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), China blocking India's membership in the Nuclear Suppliers Group and move to impose a UN ban on JeM Chief Masood Azhar.

However, officials on both sides say despite contentious issues, both sides managed to keep up the dialogue at the highest level going, ensuring peace and tranquillity along the 3,488 km long Line of Actual Control (LAC).

Besides the constant interactions under the Border Defence Cooperation Agreement (BDCA) to address ground level issues, the two sides also held 19 rounds of talks to resolve the border dispute.