POLE-DANCING ROBOTS SHOW OFF THEIR MOVES

Pole-dancing robots built by Briton Giles Walker perform at a Las Vegas gentlemen’s club on Monday. The event was held to coincide with CES International. Walker said the robo-strippers were an expression about surveillance, power and voyeurism

(TOI)

‘PLAN WAS TO KEEP VIRAT QUIET’

South Africa's wrecker-in-chief Vernon Philander said on Monday they had planned to keep India skipper Virat Kohli quiet and the hosts executed the plan to perfection during their 72-run win in the first Test.

"Virat is a quality player, and the key thing is to keep him quiet, and make sure that we set him up with the other one. I always knew I had the one coming back!" said Philander, who took a career-best six for 42. "It was probably two-and-a-half overs of away-swingers and then the one back at him (Kohli). It was definitely a plan to keep him quiet, and also to drag him across to make sure that when you do bowl the other one, he is on the other side of the off-stump."

Asked if he had told anything to Kohli after the dismissal, Philander said: "Nah, I never said anything to him. It was just obviously on the spur of the moment - I just tried to spur my boys on, and that's what we tend to focus on.

"We knew that Virat was a big wicket to get, and getting him right there and then, I just strived to (enjoy it with) my boys."

With 208 to defend against India, Philander said he knew he had to quickly take the responsibility of spearheading the pace battery and put his team in a good position.

"When you look at the type of score that you have to defend, 208, someone has to make the play. You can't wait for later in the game - because there might not be a 'later on in the game'," he said.

"I knew that I had to bowl overs upfront and put us in a good position, and I just wanted to bowl and make a difference."

His 12th five-wicket haul in Test cricket also included the prized wicket of Ravichandran Ashwin, who had conjured up hopes of a revival for India with a fighting 37.

The 32-year-old seamer credited his skipper Faf du Plessis for the tactics of having Quinton de Kock standing up to the stumps to get rid of Ashwin.

"You have to be open to those suggestions, but I'll have to give this one to 'Faffie'," he said.

"Ashwin, at the time, was batting quite far out of his crease, and the wicket was a touch on the slow side and the ball was a bit older. I also felt that by pushing him back we could get all three dismissals into play."

Ashwin shared a crucial 49-run eighth wicket stand with Bhuvneshwar Kumar to resurrect India's second innings after they were reduced to 82 for 7.

Philander said: "You just have to remain calm. We had it in out arsenal to get those last three wickets. The team with the calmer head was going to come out on top.”

(TOI)

MUKHTAR ANSARI, WIFE SUFFER HEART ATTACK IN UP JAIL

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) legislator Mukhtar Ansari, who is doing time at Banda jail for various criminal cases, suffered a heart attack during a meeting with his wife Asfan Ansari on Tuesday noon.

Seeing Ansari lose consciousness, his wife too suffered a heart attack and both had to be rushed to District Hospital. After their condition slightly improved, doctors referred the couple to Lucknow but they were admitted to Medical College in Kanpur. The doctors at Sanjay Gandhi Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Sciences have been alerted. A close aide of the MLA said that Ansari’s condition was stable.

Principal Secretary (Home), Arvind Kumar after speaking to local officers in Banda, summoned a detail report.

“I have spoken to SSP and DM of Banda and they told me about the heart attack. I have sought a report from them. The MLA will be provided the best treatment,” Kumar said in Lucknow on Tuesday evening.

The don-turned-legislator from Mau constituency had been in various jails of UP for various crimes since 2015.

Jail Superintendent of Banda, Ram Sewak Chaudhary said that Ansari suffered a heart attack while meeting his wife in the prison and she too developed chest pain. “Later they were rushed to Banda district hospital and later the doctors referred the couple to a Lucknow hospital,” Chaudhary said. 

(THE PIONEER)

LINK YOUR COUNTRY'S PRIORITIES WITH DEVELOPMENT, RAM NATH KOVIND TELLS PIO LAWMAKERS

He praised the Indian diaspora saying they have risen to “appreciable heights” in almost all countries where they found a home.

President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday asked parliamentarians of Indian origin to link the priorities of their countries with India’s development and see how the two can intersect.

Addressing the inaugural session of the international conference of PIO (persons of Indian origin) Parliamentarians in New Delhi, the President said India offers opportunities for huge investment, trade and development.

The conference is being attended by parliamentarians from 23 nations.

“...it is important for you to link your individual country’s priorities to India’s development. And to see how these can intersect,” he said.

The President called the parliamentarians “living bridges” who play an important role in enhancing understanding between their countries and the country of their parents and ancestors.

“Indians are proud of our democracy, fabric of pluralism and diversity. This is our greatest strength. And the Indian diaspora has carried such liberal and civic-minded values with it.

“Instinctively, this has made members of the Indian diaspora contribute to public life in countries that they are citizens of,” he said.

For the Indian government, engagement with PIO parliamentarians or with the wider Indian diaspora community is not a transactional relationship or a zero-sum game, Kovind said.

“Rather, we look upon the community and look upon you, the PIO parliamentarians and elected and public representatives, as a living bridge,” he said.

They can help build “economic, people-to-people and strategic connections that will be of benefit to both countries and to all of us”, the President said.

Describing India as one of the fastest growing economies in the world, he said the economy will gallop ahead in the next few decades. “We are also at the cusp of a new India that will achieve certain milestones for our people by 2022, also a year when we will celebrate the 75th year of its Independence,” the President said.

“At such a juncture, India offers huge investment, trade and developmental opportunities. And the development of India will be of benefit to not just the 1.3 billion people of India but will be a voice of hope and prosperity and of peace and stability for our shared world and for all the countries you represent,” he said.

He praised the Indian diaspora saying they have risen to “appreciable heights” in almost all countries where they found a home.

The President gave some examples of the work done by members of the Indian diaspora, like farmers in countries as far apart as Italy, Bolivia and Tanzania.

“They (Indian diaspora) are instrumental to the tech start-up ecosystem of Silicon Valley. They form the backbone of the economy of Dubai and other major business cities in the Gulf region. The global financial centres of New York, London and Singapore would simply not be the same without the Indian diaspora,” he said.

Mr. Kovind lauded the achievements made by the PIOs and other Indians living overseas.

“As a country, we are very proud of what our Pravasi Bharatiya brothers and sisters have done. They have embellished the identity of India and of the Indian people all over the world,” he said.

They, he said, have remained true to Indian culture and retained a strong and commendable bond with their roots, even when living thousands of miles away.

“I would go to the extent of saying that if Indian cuisine and Indian films have a global market today, it is because the diaspora has taken them to distant lands,” the President said.

The conference is being hosted by the Antar Rashtriya Sahayog Parishad-Bharat along with the PIO Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA).

(THE HINDU)

US TO PAK: ELIMINATE TERROR NETWORKS WITHOUT DISTINCTION

 The US has conveyed “specific and concrete” steps to Pakistan that it could take to eliminate terror networks on its soil without any distinction, a Pentagon official said on Tuesday. The remarks came as the US in recent days stepped up efforts to put pressure on Pakistan to do more to combat terrorism. The Trump administration last week suspended nearly $2 billion in security assistance to Pakistan for its failure to take decisive action against terror groups like Taliban and Haqqani Network.

“Our expectations are straight forward: Taliban and Haqqani leadership and attack planners should no longer be able to find safe haven or conduct operations from Pakistani soil,” Pentagon Press Secretary

Army Col Rob Manning told reporters during an off-camera news conference. He said the US had conveyed “specific and concrete steps” to Pakistan that it could take to eliminate terror networks on its soil. “We stand ready to work together with Pakistan to combat terrorist groups without distinction,” Manning said.

He reiterated the amount — $900 million in Coalition Support Fund to Pakistan — has been suspended, not cancelled or reprogrammed.                

(THE PIONEER)

MUELLER MAY QUIZ TRUMP ON RUSSIA PROBE

Special Counsel Conveyed Interest To Prez Lawyers Last Month

Matt Apuzzo & Michael S Schmidt

Washington: The special counsel, Robert S Mueller III, told President Trump’s lawyers last month that he will probably seek to interview the president, setting off discussions among Trump’s lawyers about the perils of such a move, two people familiar with the discussion said on Monday.

No formal request has been made and no date has been set. White House officials viewed the discussion as a sign that Mueller’s investigation of Trump could be nearing the end. But even if that is so, allowing prosecutors to interview a sitting president who has a history of hyperbolic or baseless assertions carries legal risk for him. Mueller has already brought charges against four of Trump’s former aides. All face accusations of lying to the authorities.

Trump’s lawyers have long expected that Mueller would eventually ask to speak with the president. Ty Cobb, the senior White House lawyer on the case, has for months pledged full cooperation, saying Trump has nothing to hide in an investigation into whether his campaign worked with Russian operatives to try to influence the 2016 presidential election. Trump’s lawyers are expected to try to set ground rules for any interview or provide answers to written questions. If Trump were to refuse outright to cooperate, Mueller could respond with a grand jury subpoena. The White House had no comment on the discussions about a possible interview, which were first reported by NBC News.

One person familiar with the discussions said Mueller appeared most interested in asking questions about the former national security adviser, Michael T Flynn, and the firing of the FBI director, James B Comey — not the broader question of possible collusion with Russia. Those topics signal an interest in whether Trump tried to obstruct justice. The person spoke on condition of anonymity.

The obstruction investigation focuses on whether Trump broke the law by asking Comey to end the investigation into Flynn and whether he fired Comey to try to hinder the FBI investigation into Russia-related matters. Shortly after dismissing Comey in May, the president told Russian diplomats in an Oval Office meeting that doing so had relieved “great pressure” on him.

Trump has sat for depositions before and shown discipline when under oath. His testimony in civil cases reveals a canny ability to avoid being cornered and a frank acknowledgment that he uses “truthful hyperbole” or “innocent exaggeration.” But he has never faced questioning from someone like Mueller, a veteran prosecutor and former FBI director. And the stakes have never been higher. President Bill Clinton was impeached on a perjury charge over his grand jury testimony about his relationship with a White House intern.

Solomon L Wisenberg, one of the lawyers who questioned Clinton, said Mueller would probably wait until his inquiry was nearly complete to question the president. Wisenberg said that while Trump often makes statements to the public that are inflammatory or untrue, the president has shown he can be disciplined, as he has curtailed his criticisms of Mueller in recent months. NYT NEWS SERVICE

(TOI)

2 YOUTHS OFFER JOYRIDE, RAPE MINOR GIRL

A minor girl was allegedly gangraped by two youths who offered her a joyride outside the Gurudwara Bangla Sahib on the night of January 5.

Confirming the gang-rape, BK Singh, Deputy Commissioner of Police (New Delhi) said, “The complainant was walking along the footpath of the Baba Kharak Singh marg at around 9 pm when the accused, Paramdeep Singh along with his cousin, started following her.

One of the accused, Paramdeep introduced himself and offered her a ride in his White Swift Dzire car, which was parked in the parking lot of the Bangla Saheb Gurudwara.”

(THE PIONEER)