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The thriller of an election forthe Rajya Sabha seat involv-

ing Congress president SoniaGandhi’s political secretaryAhmed Patel witnessed onetwist after another till late onTuesday night. The battlereached the door of theElection Commission of India(ECI) after the Chief ElectoralOfficer in Gujarat was forced tohalt the counting of votes fol-lowing a demand from theCongress for the cancellation ofvotes of two rebel MLAs.

As many as three delega-tions each from the Congressand the BJP back to back vis-ited the EC’s office in Delhi to place their sides beforethe Chief ElectionCommissioner and top officialsof the poll panel.

A few minutes before thebeginning of counting after100 per cent voting, seniorCongress leader and the party’spolling agent Shaktisinh Gohil demanded to watch the footage of the votingprocess of two rebel MLAs of

his own party — RaghavjiPatel and Bholabhai Gohil.

Shaktisinh Gohil claimedthat both these legislators dis-played their ballot paper to theBJP’s polling agent. He went onto say that if the decisionwouldn’t come in favour of hisparty, he would take the issueto the apex court.

Objecting to the Congress’demand, Gujarat BJP presidentJitu Vaghani said that fearingdefeat the Congress had takenup this issue hours after theMLAs cast their votes.Countering the argument ofthe saffron party, seniorCongress leader ArjunModhvadia said that Gohilhad taken up the issue in themorning but the returningofficer didn’t pay attention.The imbroglio got entangled to such an extent thatboth the parties took the issueto the ECI.

The polling started at 9 amand ended at around 2 pm withall the 176 eligible voters exer-cising their franchise.

Shankersinh Vaghela, 77,gave the first shock to theCongress by giving his vote toBalwantsinh Rajput of the BJP.

‘’There is no chance for theCongress. I didn’t want to wastemy vote. Hence I decided not tovote for my dear friendAhmedbhai,’’ said Vaghela whohad promised his support toPatel despite quitting theCongress Party last month.

Apart from Vaghela, his MLAson Mahendrasinh, his closeaides and Jamnagar Rural andJamnagar West legislatorsRaghavji Patel andDharmendrasinh Jadeja votedagainst their party’s whip. Threemore MLAs from Vaghela’scamp CK Raulji, AnandChaudhary and BholabhaiGohil too voted for the BJP.

There was more drama instore as one of the two NCP leg-

islators Jayant Patel alias Boskyclaimed that he voted for Patel.However, his party colleague inthe State Assembly KandhalJadeja cast his vote for the BJP.According to Jadeja, he followedhis leader Praful Patel’s whip.

Despite Nitish Kumar’salliance with the saffronbrigade in Bihar, his party’sonly MLA Chhotu Vasavavoted for Patel.

Continued on Page 4

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In a high voltage drama pre-ceding the declaration of

Gujarat Rajya Sabha pollresults, both the Congress andthe BJP desperately knocked atthe door of the ElectionCommission with the formerdemanding the cancellation ofvotes of two of its MLAs, whopublicly flashed their votingpreferences in favour of the BJP.

Both the BJP and theCongress traded charges after

counting of votes, which had tobe suspended as the Congressclaimed its two MLAs hadviolated law regarding theRajya Sabha elections.

The fate of Congress leaderand Sonia Gandhi’s politicaladvisor Ahmed Patel, seekinga fifth consecutive term in theUpper House of Parliament,hangs in balance as the dele-gations from both the partieskept visiting the NirvachanSadan till late at night. The BJPdelegation included Union

Ministers Arun Jaitley, RaviShankar Prasad, Piyush Goyal,Dharmendra Pradhan andNirmala Sitharaman. TheCongress fielded former UnionMinisters Ghulam Nabi Azad,P Chidambaram, SushilkumarShinde and Anand Sharmaamong others. Both the partiessent three back-to-back dele-gations to place their casebefore the ECI.

The Congress was the firstto move the EC demandingcancellation of votes of its two

rebel MLAs for allegedly show-ing their votes to BJP electionagent and leaders other thanthe authorised representativesof his own party. Soon afterthe Congress delegation, ahigh profile delegation led byled by Union Finance MinisterArun Jaitley met the poll paneland reiterated that theCongress demand has no basisin law as the Returning Officerand the observer had notplaced any objection.

Continued on Page 4

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New Delhi: A total of 310Army personnel have com-mitted suicide since 2014 while11 cases of fratricide werereported during the period, theGovernment told Rajya Sabhaon Tuesday.

Nine officers and 19 juniorcommissioned officers wereamong those who committedsuicide between 2014 and July31, this year, Minister of Statefor Defence Subhash Bhamrestated this while replying to aquery on incidents of suicideand fratricide in the Army.

Replying to another ques-tion on the issue, the Ministerlisted implementation of theSahayak system along withother steps to address the prob-lem of stress among the Armypersonnel.

A senior Army officer hadsaid in June that the Army wasactively considering recruit-ing civilian staff in peace sta-tions to reform the colonial-eraSahayak system, in the wake ofrising cases of jawans comingout openly against it.

Under the system, a solid-er is attached to an officer forvarious work, including pro-tecting the officer, maintaininghis weapons and helping himcarrying out his responsibilities.

In the course of his writtenreply, Bhamre also listed ensur-ing superior quality of clothing,food, travel facilities, recreationand establishment of grievanceredressal mechanism as someother steps for management ofstress among soldiers.

Bhamre said 84 Army per-sonnel committed suicide in2014 while in 2015 and 2016,the number was 78 and 104respectively. ��

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Opposition parties led by theCongress on Tuesday did

not allow the Rajya Sabha tofunction on the issue of print-ing of two different kinds of�500 and �2,000 notes andclaiming that such notes wereprinted to benefit the rulingBJP. As the Opposition claimedit was the "biggest scam of thiscentury," Leader of House andFinance Minister Arun Jaitleysaid the Opposition was raising"frivolous issues" and making"irresponsible statements."

The proceedings weremarred by repeated adjourn-ments throughout the day withthe Congress members timeand again rushing into theWell of the House raising slo-gans and the BJP membersengaged with them in a slang-ing match by standing in theaisles. The issue was raised dur-ing the Zero Hour and protestscontinued during the QuestionHour and in the post lunch ses-

sion too. The House was final-ly adjourned for the day at 2.40pm. JD (U) and TMC membersalso backed the Congressprotest.

Raising the issue, KapilSibal (Congress) claimed thatthe mystery of demonetisa-tion last year was now clearwith the distribution of differ-ent kinds of currency notes ofvarious denominations. Hecharged there were two differ-ent types of currency notes one

for the BJP and the other formasses. Sibal also displayed thecurrency notes.

Even as the ruling combinecountered the charge, Leader ofOpposition Ghulam Nabi Azadtermed the circulation of dif-ferent sizes of notes as the"biggest scam of century,"adding "the Government hasno right to remain in office foreven five minutes."

Backing his contention, JD(U)'s Sharad Yadav said how

can two different sizes of cur-rency notes can be in circula-tion and demanded an expla-nation from the Government.Some members, includingDerek O'Brien(TMC) also dis-played the �500 notes issuedafter demonetisation to high-light the different sizes.

Rejecting the Oppositioncharge, Jaitley said there was noprovision in the rules that any-one could "flash any paperand say it is point of order," toraise issues in the Rajya Sabha."There is a misuse of zerohour which is going on," hesaid, adding that the Congressfirst raised the issue of provi-sion for None-Of-The-Above(NOTA) in the ballot for RajyaSabha poll but then discoveredthat the provision had beenmade during their rule.Countering Jaitley, AnandSharma (Congress) said thecredibility of currency waschallenged after the introduc-tion of different sizes of �500and �2,000.

Law Minister Ravi ShankarPrasad demanded that theOpposition members shouldinform as to how and fromwhom they got these currencynotes leading to sharpexchanges between theCongress and the Treasurybenches.

Minister of State forParliamentary Affairs MukhtarAbbas Naqvi said theGovernment was ready for adiscussion on the issue andcharged the Opposition forspreading rumours as they haddone in the past about authen-ticity of �500 and �2,000 notes.Deputy Chairman PJ Kurientried to restore order and wasthen forced to adjourn theHouse twice during the ZeroHour. Similar noisy sceneswere witnessed when theQuestion Hour was taken up byChairman Hamid Ansari, whoadjourned the proceedingstwice. Same situation prevailedin the post lunch leading toadjournment for the day.

New Delhi: The Centre hasasked all universities and edu-cational institutions across thecountry to take students tomemorials of freedom fightersand residences of martyrs in therun-up to the 71 Independenceday celebrations next week.

Students at various uni-versities and educational insti-tutions across the country willalso take a pledge along withteachers and non-teaching staffto make the country a "terror-ism-free, caste-free, corrup-tion-free, uncleanness-free andpoverty-free society".

"Faculty should be request-ed to conduct guided tour ofstudents to memorials of free-dom fighters and places/hous-es of any martyr from military,para-military and police, toacquaint the students aboutcontribution of the freedomfighters," a UGC communica-

tion to Vice Chancellors of alluniversities noted.

"Prime minister's endeav-our to have a terrorism-free,caste-free, corruption-free,uncleanness-free and poverty-free society would only actualisewith the help of the society andmake his vision a reality.Accordingly you are requestedto kindly organise pledge-takingceremony on August 9 at 9.30am," said the communication.

A quiz competition to sen-sitise students about the con-tribution of our freedom fight-ers and the events as theyunfolded during the freedomstruggle besides talks by emi-nent educationists, debates anddeclamation contests areamong the activities listed byUGC for commemoration of75th year of 'Quit IndiaMovement' and 71st year ofIndia's Independence. ��

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The Supreme Court onTuesday sought the

Centre's response on a pleachallenging the special statusgiven to Jammu & Kashmirunder Article 370. The petitionwas filed as an appeal againsta Delhi High Court order stat-ed that Article 370 is a tempo-rary provision of theConstitution and had lapsedwith the dissolution of thestate's Constituent Assembly in1957.

The Bench of Chief JusticeJS Khehar, Justices Adarsh KGoel and DY Chandrachudissued notice on the appealfiled by Kumari VijaylakshmiJha. Her plea was earlier reject-ed by the Delhi High Court inApril this year.

The Bench told the peti-tioner's counsel that the appealwill also involve an earlierdecision given by the apexcourt rejecting a similar peti-tion challenging the validity ofArticle 370. However, the peti-tioner's counsel Anil Jhainformed the Court that thispetition was different from theones previously filed.

According to the petition,the provision of Article 370 wasmeant to be a temporary one in

the Constitution andhad lapsed with thedissolution of State'sConstituent Assemblyon January 26, 1957.

It further said,"Continuance of tem-porary provision ofArticle 370, even afterdissolution ofConstituent Assemblyof Jammu & Kashmir,continuance of J&KConstitution whichhas never got theassent or approval of Presidentof India or Parliament orGovernment of India, regardingmatters like citizenship, whichis in exclusive jurisdiction of theParliament, amounts to fraudon the basic structure of ourConstitution." Further, the peti-tion added that Article 370 wentagainst the sovereignty, integri-ty and unit of the country andsupremacy of Parliament.

In the year 2015, a similar

petition had come up in theSupreme Court demandingscrapping of this provisiongranting special status toJammu & Kashmir. TheSupreme Court dismissed thepetition on the ground that theParliament was the sole author-ity to decide on this questionand it was out of Court's juris-diction to recommend scrap-ping of a Constitutional provi-sion to the Parliament.

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The Motor Vehicles(Amendment) Bill, which

aims to usher in far-reachingreforms in the transport sector,was finally referred to a 24-member Select Committee ofthe Rajya Sabha. The commit-tee will have to submit itsreport to the Rajya Sabha by thefirst day of the next session"without extension of time".

The legislation aims atbringing radical reforms inthe transport sector, rangingfrom hefty fines for trafficrules violations to improvingthe licensing system and check-ing bogus licenses.

A motion for sending theMotor Vehicles (Amendment)Bill, 2017, to the SelectCommittee was moved byMinister of State for RoadTransport and HighwaysMansukh Lal Mandavia in theabsence of Road Transport andHighways Minister NitinGadkari who is travelling. Itwas adopted by the House by

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Outside the Parliament, theCongress repeated its

charge that two different kindsof �500 and �2,000 notes wereprinted post demonetisation"jeopardising the credibility ofIndian currency" and demand-ed that Prime Minister NarendraModi come clear on it. The partydemanded that the Governmentexplain where and how theywere printed as the issue "rais-es questions over financial struc-ture of the country".

Senior Congress leaderKapil Sibal, who raised theissue in the Rajya Sabha, saidthe party would keep flaggingit in the Parliament until theGovernment comes out with anexplanation.

The former UnionMinister also alleged that thedemonetisation move "failed"to achieve its stated objectivesof combating black money,corruption, counterfeit cur-rency and terrorism.

In this context, he demand-ed that the Government explainthe motive behind invalidatingthe old �1,000 and �500 cur-rency notes. "First they shouldexplain which dye was used (forprinting the notes), what typesof notes were printed, at whichprinting press notes of differentsizes were printed. Having dif-ferent size of currency notesjeopardises the credibility of thecurrency. The Prime Minister,Finance Minister, RBI governor

should come to the fore andexplain," Sibal said at AICCPress conference.

The party, however, saidthat the different notes "are notcounterfeit" currencies sincethey are all printed under theaegis of the RBI and theMinistry of Finance and incor-porated most of the securityfeatures published in the offi-cial website of the bank.

He also accused the rulingBJP of spending huge amountof money during Uttar PradeshAssembly polls held earlierthis year. "How was that possi-ble? The Government shouldtell where the notes were print-ed," he said.

Sibal said, according to theRBI's official website, the stan-dard size of the �500 note is 66mm X 150 mm, whereas that ofthe �2000 note is 66 mm X 166mm. He claimed some �500notes were longer, allegedlyranging between 151 mm and153 mm. The "discrepancy"with regard to length was foundin case of �2,000 notes too, hesaid and claimed some noteswere 167 mm long.

The sizes of the right, left,top and bottom borders ofsome notes too allegedly dif-fered from the RBI standardsand so did the designs on theircorners, Sibal added.

"Where were the notes ofsignificantly different sizesprinted? Nowhere in the worldare currency notes of whatev-er denomination of different

sizes. Different size of curren-cy notes has huge global ram-ifications. Indian citizens willbe confused about the authen-ticity of the currency," healleged.

The shade mark on the leftof �500 currency "was darkeron some notes" vis-à-vis othernotes. The placing of Ashokapillar emblem on the notes toowas allegedly not similar. Thebleed lines, on the left and rightside borders of the notes, alsodiffered from each other inlength, he claimed.

The words 'MahatmaGandhi' on some �2000 noteswere printed above the shadedportion at the bottom. Onstandard size �2000 notes, thetext touched the shaded por-tion of the bottom, he claimed.

"The prime minister,hence, should tell the people,why the difference in designs,sizes and features of the notes?Why there are differences inconsecutive notes of the sameseries as well?" he asked.

The leader also sought toknow whether the "different"notes were printed without theRBI's permission. "If they wereprinted with the top bank'snod, why were people alleged-ly not informed about it," hequestioned.

"Whether these notes wereprinted inside India? If yes,where and how many? If thesewere printed outside India,why were they printed abroad?"he demanded to know.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Tuesday forced theJammu & KashmirGovernment to withdraw itsaffidavit filed in a PIL relatingto Muslims being given minor-ity benefits in the State wherethey are in majority.

Going through the affi-davit, the Bench headed by CJIsaid, "This affidavit makes funof us. It is a disastrous affidavit."The State represented by senioradvocate Rakesh Dwivedisought permission to withdrawthe same with an apology.

The Court had sought theresponse of both the Centreand State Government on thecontentious issue of who is aminority in the State of Jammu& Kashmir, raised by a Jammu-based lawyer Ankur Sharma.The petitioner informed theCourt that the process of iden-tification of minorities washeld up for want of a MinorityCommission. Due to this,Muslims who are otherwise inmajority were cornering allbenefits and funds aimed atminority welfare.

The Bench, also compris-ing Justices Adarsh K Goel andDY Chandrachud, askedAdditional Solicitor General(ASG) Tushar Mehta appearingfor Centre whether he hadexamined the affidavit filed by

the State Government. Mehtasaid that he did not have theoccasion to read the same.

The Bench said, "See theiraffidavit. It says because of dif-ficulties of State Governmentdue to Amarnath Yatra and theprevailing law and order situa-tion in the State, the authoritiescould not participate in talkswith the Centre."

ASG Mehta informed theCourt that consultations withregard to solving the issue athand was at an advanced stageand there will be a decisionwithin 8 weeks. The bench gavea final opportunity to theCentre extending the time foranother three months.

Sharma in his petitionalleged that the provisions of theNational Commission forMinorities Act were not applic-able to Jammu and Kashmir dueto Article 370 of the Constitutiongiving the state a special status.The PIL sought the setting up ofa state minority commission foridentification of minorities.

According to 2011 Census,the population of Muslims inJammu & Kashmir is 68.31 percent. Due to non-identificationof minorities, the petitionerclaimed that the constitutional-ly guaranteed rights of minori-ties were siphoned away by themajority community. ��

New Delhi: A close aide ofRahul Gandhi had conveyed tothe Government that thearmoured vehicles provided tothe Congress vice president were"suffocating" and a "health haz-ard", a claim rejected on Tuesdayby the Union Home Ministry.

In a letter to the director ofthe Special Protection Group(SPG) Vivek Srivastava, theaide Kaushal KishoreVidyarthee conveyed theCongress leader's reservation inusing Tata Safari armouredvehicle assigned to him whiletravelling in the country.

In the letter, sent on April28, 2016, Vidyarthee said thecurrent fleet of armoured carshave no proper or adequate cir-

culation/ventilation or air inthe passenger compartment.

"To be specific, windows ofthe armoured cars do not retractbeyond a few centimetres mak-ing it impossible for the protectee(Rahul) to meet and greet partyworkers while in the car. Furtherlong car journeys in a suffocat-ing vehicle with less than rec-ommended or acceptable levelsof oxygen itself are a health haz-ard for the protectee," it said.

However, a home ministryofficial refuted the claims, say-ing Rahul is provided withTata Safari armoured vehicle,which is also used by top min-isters like Home MinisterRajnath Singh and FinanceMinister Arun Jaitley. ��

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Tuesday said

that the party must defendliberty and freedom of indi-viduals and institutions.Speaking at the special CWCmeeting here, she alsoexpressed concerns over therise in cases of "self vigilantism".

Her remarks come on a daywhen the party petitioned theElection Commission for can-cellation of two votes of its "dis-gruntled" MLAs during RajyaSabha election in Gujarat.

"Congress must alwaysdefend the liberty and freedomof individual and institutions.Anguished by assault on free-dom; self-appointed vigilantesare a threat to liberty and enemyof pluralism and diversity,"Gandhi said at the meeting.

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a voice vote.The committee includes

Vinay P Sahasrabuddhe, AjaySancheti, Shwait Malik, RamVichar Netam, P Bhattacharya,

BK Hariprasad, PramodTiwari, Javed Ali Khan, ANavaneethakrishnan, ManishGupta, Harivansh, CPNarayanan, Pratap Keshari

Deb, CM Ramesh and VandanaChavan.

The other members of thecommittee are Veer Singh,Kanimozhi, Anil Desai, NareshGujral, Nazir Ahmed Laway,Ram Kumar Kashyap, RajeevChandrasekhar, NarendraJadhav and Swapan Dasgupta.

The bill, which wouldamend the nearly 30-year oldMotor Vehicle Act, 1988 waspassed by the Lok Sabha last yearbut had got stuck in the RajyaSabha where the oppositionhad demanded that it be sent tothe Select Committee for prop-er scrutiny. The parliamentarystanding committee had alsoexamined it. Last week leadersof all parties had decided to sendthe Bill to a Select Committee.

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Chief Minister Raman Singhon Tuesday launched web-

site of “Registrar Firms andEstablishments” for Onlineregistration of firms at a meet-ing of Industry Departmentheld in the Mantralaya here.

Additional Chief Secretary,Industry Department, NBaijendra Kumar, AdditionalChief Secretary, Panchayat and Rural DevelopmentDepartment Amitabh Jain,Health Department PrincipalSecretary Subrat Sahoo,Industry Secretary SubodhKumar Singh, Co-OperativeDepartment Secretary DDSingh and several senior offi-cials were also present in the meeting.

Notably, Chhattisgarh isamong 16 States which hadimplemented the “340-pointBusiness Reform Action Plan2016” to design and implementan online single window systemwith functionality for onlineapplication, payment andapprovals, the CentralGovernment has informed.

The 16 States/UTs imple-mented this reform in 2016 are-Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Haryana, HimachalPradesh, Jharkhand, Karnataka,

Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra,Odisha, Punjab, Rajasthan,Telangana, Uttarakhand, UttarPradesh and West Bengal, itinformed.

Chhattisgarh had a total of306 “Investment Intentions”signed involving proposedinvestment of �3,045,13 croreduring the XIIth plan periodbetween April 2012 toDecember 2016, informs theannual report 2016-17 ofUnion Ministry of Commerce& Industry.

The ‘Investment Intentions’comprised of a combination ofIndustrial EntrepreneursMemorandum (IEM)+Letterof Intent (LoI)+DirectIndustrial Licenses (DILs), thereport informed.

The Department ofIndustrial Policy andPromotion (DIPP) has report-ed that Government of Indiahas been working towardsadopting international bestpractices and has made signif-icant advancement over theyears. Government has takenvigorous measures to make iteasier to invest or to do busi-ness in India by undertakingvarious reforms.

Major national initiativeshave been designed to facilitateinvestment; foster innovationand enhance skill develop-ment. The goodwill generatedby the Government’s hard workand efforts has yielded anunprecedented level of interestamong investors, both foreign

and domestic. A 98-Point Action Plan

for improving the regulatoryframework for business as partof easing the doing business inthe country was shared inDecember 2014. Subsequently,a report titled “Assessment ofState Implementation ofBusiness Reforms” was releasedin September 2015 capturingthe findings after taking thestock of reforms implementedby States.

The assessment, first of itskind, promoted both compet-itive and cooperative federalismamong the States and UnionTerritories (UTs).

The first 98-point ActionPlan created a wave of regula-tory improvement measures

and the need to sustain themomentum of the regulatoryreform; a 340-Point BusinessReform Action Plan for Statesand Union Territories (UTs)was circulated by Governmentto all States/UT Governmentsin the year 2015-16.

In order to ensure that allinformation is readily availableto an entrepreneur intending toset up a business, a compre-hensive single window systemis envisaged with an onlinecommon application form forvarious clearances to indus-try/businesses.

Various States have creat-ed a dedicated Single Windowbody as a one-stop online sys-tem for State level regulatoryand fiscal incentive approvals.

It has provisions for filingapplications, payment, statustracking, online scrutiny andapplication approvals.

DIPP in partnership withthe World Bank Group,released the Business ReformAction Plan (BRAP) 2017 forimplementation by States/UTson April 13, 2017.

The BRAP includes 405recommendations for reformson regulatory processes, poli-cies, practices and proceduresspread across 12 reform areas,that is, labour regulationenablers; contract enforcement;registering property; inspectionreform enablers; single windowsystem; land availability andallotment; construction permitenablers; environmental regis-

tration enablers; obtaining util-ity permits; paying taxes; access to information andtransparency enablers and sec-tor specific reforms spanningthe lifecycle of a typical business.

This year there are 103 newset of reforms (out of 405)focusing on central inspectionsystem, online land allotmentsystem, online single windowsystem for granting construc-tion permits, registration underInter State Migrant Workmen(RE&CS) Act, 1979, approvalfor boiler manufacturer andboiler erector etc. BRAP 2017also includes two new sectorsi.e. Healthcare and Hospitality.The last date to implement thereform is October 31, 2017.

DIPP will carry out a com-prehensive business-to-Government (B2G) feedbackexercise this year wherebyfeedback will be taken frombusinesses on the quality ofimplementation of the reforms claimed by the Statesand UTs. For each State/UT, thescores will be aggregated overall the surveys conducted toyield an overall score for theState/UT.

The feedback scores will beused to generate a ranking ofStates/UTs in terms of reformimplementation. Such a rank-ing will be different from thelast year’s ranking, which wasa ranking of de jure reforms (orreforms based on evidencesubmitted by States).

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Raigarh Airport inChhattisgarh will facilitate

operation of AB-320 type ofaircraft in second phase of itsexpansion, officials informed.

The development ofRaigarh Airport will be donefor operation of 3C Category i.eATR-72/Q-400 type of aircraftin Phase-I and subsequently forAB-320 type of aircraft opera-tion in Phase-II.

The Airports Authority ofIndia (AAI) has signed anMoU with the StateGovernment of Chhattisgarh todevelop the Airport, theyinformed.

Chhattisgarh is aggressive-ly focussing on development ofthree regional airports mainlyJagdalpur, Ambikapur andRaigarh under the RegionalConnectivity Scheme of theUnion Ministry of CivilAviation, officials informed.

Notably, the AAI has com-menced the process for devel-oping small airports inChhattisgarh under theRegional Connectivity Scheme(RCS).

The Union Ministry ofCivil Aviation had earlierreleased the draft Regional AirConnectivity Scheme forstakeholder consultation, withthe twin objectives of promot-ing balanced regional growthand making flying affordablefor masses.

The RCS is the key com-ponent of the National CivilAviation Policy which wasreleased by the Ministry onJune 15, 2016. The scheme,which would be in operationfor a period of 10 years, envis-ages providing connectivity toun-served and under-servedairports of the country throughrevival of existing air-stripsand airports.

This would be achievedthrough a financial stimulus inthe form of Central and Stategovernment concessions, aswell as Viability Gap Fundingto the interested airlines tokick-off operations from suchairports, so that the passengerfares are kept affordable.

The fare for a one hour

journey of appx. 500 km on afixed wing aircraft or for a 30minute journey on a helicopterwould now be capped at Rs2,500, with proportionate pric-ing for routes of differentlengths / duration.

A Regional ConnectivityFund would be created to fundthe VGF requirements underthe scheme. The same would befunded through a levy on cer-tain domestic flights.

The partner StateGovernments would also con-tribute a 20% share to this fund(10% for North Eastern States).For balanced regional growth,the allocations under thescheme would be equitablyspread across the 5 geograph-ical regions of the country vizNorth, West, South, East andNorth-east.

The States have been givena key role under the scheme.The selection of airports whereRCS operations would be donein consultation with StateGovernment and after confir-mation of their concessions.This will be based on the selec-tion of routes by the airlineoperators.

Chhattisgarh is positiveabout additional seat under-writing within as well as withadjoining states for ensuringsufficient passenger load for airservice operators under theRegional Connectivity (RCS)scheme, officials informed.

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Chhattisgarh Governmenthas indicated a demand of

2.5 lakh houses under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana(PMAY) (Urban) in itsRoadmap, the CentralGovernment has informed.

The Government hasapproved central assistance inrespect of 34,166 houses as sub-mitted by the StateGovernment till July, 2017.

In addition, under theCredit Linked Subsidy Scheme(CLSS) component of PMAY(U), interest subsidy has beenreleased for 1013 beneficiaries.

A total of 1,969 housingunits have been constructed inthe State with the central assis-tance under the scheme till July,2017. A total of �515.09 crorehas been sanctioned as centralassistance for the State till July,2017. Out of this, �250.87crore has been released.

A total of 36 cities ofChhattisgarh have been select-ed for Pradhan Mantri AwasYojana (PMAY) ‘Housing forAll’ (HFA) Mission 2022, offi-

cials informed. The cities havebeen divided into 8 clusters.

As per the directions ofUnion Ministry of Housing andUrban Poverty Alleviation,cities will be covered with theirplanning area for preparationof Housing for All Plan ofAction (HFAPoA). TheHFAPoA will include AnnualImplementation Plan (AIP).

Notably, the UnionMinistry of Housing and UrbanPoverty Alleviation(MoHUPA) has launched“Housing for All” Missionthrough PMAY for Urban Areato be implemented during2015-22 as a CentrallySponsored Scheme. The cred-it linked subsidy under theMission, will be implementedas a Central Sector Scheme.

Notably, the CentralGovernment has also approvedconstruction of a total of 7,357houses under ‘AffordableHousing in Partnership’ schemewith Chhattisgarh governmentin the State during the lastfinancial year, officials informed.

The total investment to bemade in the project is �372

crore out of which Centre’s con-tribution will be �110 crore.

Nationally, the CentralGovernment has approved anadditional investment of�16,641 crore for affordablehousing for construction of2,44,267 houses for urban poorunder PMAY (Urban) duringthe first four months of the cur-rent financial year. The UnionMinistry of Housing and UrbanPoverty Alleviation approvedthese proposals for the benefitof urban poor in 11 States.

Central assistance of�3,634 crore has been approvedfor construction of these hous-es under three components ofthe urban housing mission viz,Affordable Housing InPartnership (1,24,642 houses),Beneficiary Led Construction(1,15,989) and In-Situ SlumRedevelopment (3,636 houses).

With these approvals, atotal investment of �51,568crore has so far been approvedfor construction of 9,27,991houses for EconomicallyWeaker Sections (EWS) inurban areas in 20 States underPMAY (Urban) which was

launched in June last year.Central assistance of

�12,604 crore will be providedfor construction of these hous-es. During the last financialyear (2015-16), 6,83,724 hous-es were approved for the urbanpoor in 18 States with a totalinvestment of �34,927 crore.

The State RevenueDepartment in January thisyear had announced that it willallot land at the rate of �1 persquare feet to the UrbanAdministration andDevelopment Department toconstruct low-cost residentialquarters for economically weak-

er sections and poorer sectionsof the society in urban pocketsof the State. The project is tocome up under ‘Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana-Housing for All’scheme, officials informed.

The Government land willbe made available to the urbanbodies. Notably, nearly six lakhpoor families in rural areas ofChhattisgarh will be providedhousing facility under PradhanMantri Awas Yojana (PMAY)during the next three years.

These houses will be con-structed at the total estimatedcost of �7219 crore. Notably,Union Ministry of Housing

and Urban Poverty Alleviationhas sanctioned 3,128 moreaffordable houses for the bene-fit of urban poor in Puducherry,924 for Telangana and 2,655 forHimachal Pradesh under thePrime Minister’s Awas Yojana(PMAY) (Urban).

In addition, Karnataka wassanctioned 31,424 houses,Madhya Pradesh-27,475,Bihar-25,221, Jharkhand-20,099, Kerala-11,480 andOdisha-2,115 houses underPMAY(Urban).

Notably, Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (Urban) waslaunched by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi on June 25,2015 with the objective ofenabling all poor urban house-holds own a pucca house withnecessary basic amenities.

The Ministry approved1,24,521 affordable houses forurban poor yesterday takingthe total number of such hous-es being constructed underPMAY(Urban) with anapproved investment of�95,671 cr so far. Centralassistance of �27,766 crore hasbeen approved for constructionof these houses. Noting thathousing mission in urban areasis gaining momentum,

Puducherry has been sanc-tioned 3,128 houses in fourtowns under Beneficiary LedConstruction (BLC) compo-nent of PMAY (Urban) at a totalproject cost of �131 crore forwhich central assistance of �47cr has been approved. With this,total number of houses sanc-tioned for Puducherry hasincreased to 3,848.

Puducherry city has got2,093 houses followed byKaraikal-592, Yanam-358 andMahe-85 houses. In Telanagana,

Siddipet has been sanctionedenhancement of 924 housesunder BLC component at a totalcost of about �14 crore forwhich central assistance of �14cr has been approved. Withthis, total number of housessanctioned for the State underPMAY(Urban) has gone up to81,405. Himachal Pradesh hasbeen sanctioned 2,655 housesfor 12 towns at a total projectcost of �102 crore for whichcentral assistance of �40 crorehas been approved. With this,total number of houses sanc-tioned for the State underPMAY (Urban) has increased to4,569 so far. In HimachalPradesh, Nalagarh has beensanctioned 531 houses followedby Nahan-289, Dharamshala-227, Una-217, Mandi-174,Shimla-61, Chaba-57, Bilaspur-37, Solan-27, Baddi-25, Kullu-9 and Parwana-1.

Under BLC component ofPMAY (Urban), the beneficia-ries are provided central assis-tance of �1.50 lakh each for con-struction of a pucca house ontheir own land or for improve-ments in existing house.

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Devashish Nandi hasassumed charge as General

Manager (Human Resources)of Chhattisgarh State PowerHolding Company Ltd (CSPH-CL).

Prior to assuming charge asGM (HR), Nandi was posted asAdditional Chief Engineer (Bilaspur East Region), CSPH-CL, a company press releaseinformed on Tuesday.

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To protest the early adjourn-ment of Monsoon Session

of Chhattisgarh Assembly, theState unit of Congress party isgoing to stage a demonstrationat Jantar Mantar in New Delhion Wednesday.

A large number of party’sState-level senior leaders and

workers on Tuesday left forNew Delhi.

Speaking to media per-sons at Swami VivekanandaAirport here, ChhattisgarhPradesh Congress Committee(CGPCC) President BhupeshBaghel said that the BJP isfrightened as it faces the threatof defeat in Assembly polls slat-ed next year.

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Under ‘Hamar ChhattisgarhScheme’, Panchayat rep-

resentatives of all the four dis-tricts of Surguja division onTuesday reached Raipur on aneducational tour.

They will visit variousplaces of importance in Raipurand Naya Raipur in their two-day visit. The 568 representa-tives from Surajpur, Jashpur,Balrampur-Ramanujganj andSurguja districts would visitJungle Safari, ChhattisgarhState Assembly, Mantralaya,Science Centre, Indira GandhiAgriculture University, 5-D Immersive Dome, Shahid Veernarayan Singh

International Cricket Stadiumand Purkhauti Muktangan.

They will also attend train-

ing session and group discus-sion at Hotel ManagementInstitute, Uparwara.

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District Collector ShrutiSingh chaired a meeting of

officials from various depart-ments to take stock of devel-opment and welfare work

undertaken in the district onTuesday. During the meeting,she directed AgricultureDepartment officers to ensuresufficient stock of seeds andfertilizers for farmers in the dis-trict. The Collector also direct-ed Assistant Commissioner of

Tribal Welfare Department toget provided financial assis-tance to the seriously ill personsof Kamar tribe.

She also gathered infor-mation on water being madeavailable from Sikasar reservoirfor irrigation purposes.

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It is a contrasting tale of anti-terror operations in two dif-

ferent regions in Jammu &Kashmir. The security forceshave so far killed nearly 125 ter-rorists in South Kashmir thisyear but have found little luckin the Northern part of theState where it is specifically tar-geting 90-odd highly-trainedforeign terrorists. This is caus-ing much concern within thesecurity establishment. If notnabbed or neutralised, theseterrorists could go all out dur-ing winter when snowfallblocks all infiltration routes.

In an effort to disturb the“comfort zone” of these terror-ists, now hiding in areas ofHandwara, Pattan Palan, Rajwarforests and Hafruda besidessome other adjoining districts,the Army launched a majorcampaign about 20 days back,first reported by The Pioneer.

Anti-terrorist operationsare now on round-the-clockunlike in the past when theywere generally done twice in aweek in these areas. However,

desired results in terms ofeither arrests or neutralising ofthe terrorists have not come asso far. Three terrorists wereneutralised on Monday butthat is seen too little.

The onset of the apple har-vest season has further com-pounded the problems of theArmy as the orchards are nowfully laden with the fruit pro-viding excellent cover to theterrorists to hide and avoidsecurity dragnet, they said.

Explaining the urgency tomeet the emerging threat, offi-cials said these foreign terror-ists are lying low in the safehouses provided by overground workers (OGWs) orsympathisers and will attackvital installations and otherhigh value targets in wintermonths when infiltration fromacross the Line of Control(LoC) nearly stops.

Admitting that the pres-ence of such large number offoreign terrorists is a matter of“serious concern”, officials saidthese terrorists will pose amajor challenge to the securi-ty forces. While infiltration

levels at present are withinmanageable limits, officials didnot rule out a spurt in infiltra-tion bids in the next few weeks.If a sizable number of them areable to sneak in, the number offoreign terrorists will swell andPakistan Army and ISI will def-initely take advantage of the sit-uation, they said.

Elaborating upon the suc-cess rate in South Kashmir withmore than 40 terrorists killedin the last few weeks, officialssaid this came about due to bet-ter inflow on real timeIntelligence. Due to pressureexerted through operations,the terrorists are forced tomove and it results in almostimmediate tip-off to the secu-rity forces.

With heavy rain likely inhigher reaches of NorthKashmir, the Army will find itall the more difficult to go afterthe foreign terrorists. To over-come this situation, the secu-rity forces are now keepingtrack of OGWs besides furtherstrengthening their surveil-lance grid, officials said. Also,the intensity and tempo ofoperations has now becomerelentless, they said adding thecoming few weeks are crucialto ferret out these terrorists.

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The second half of the mon-soon season (August and

September) is expected toreceive “normal” rainfall in thecountry. The IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD), however, has recordedan overall deficiency of minus 3per cent from June 1 to August7 following which several partsof the country are witnessingdrought-like conditions.

While Tamil Nadu,Karnataka, Kerala, Puducherry(Union Territory), Goa,Meghalaya, Nagaland, andManipur are starved of rain,States like Gujarat, Rajasthanand several parts of the North-East are reeling under floods.The National Capital Regionhas recorded 30 per cent lessrainfall till August 8.

The IMD has predictedgenerous rainfall over thecountry during the remainingtwo months of the monsoonseason. The IMD expects rain-fall estimated to be 100 per centof the Long Period Average(LPA) with a model error ofplus or minus 8 per cent.

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Ahead of the hearing on theAyodhya title suit on August

11 by the Supreme Court, theShia Central Waqf Board ofUttar Pradesh on Tuesday pro-posed an amicable settlement tothe long-standing dispute bysuggesting construction of themosque at a reasonable distancefrom the disputed site of “RamJanmabhoomi” at a place havingpredominantly Muslims. Forworking out this formula, theShia Board further suggested aCommittee headed by a retiredSupreme Court judge to be con-stituted for hearing each partyand deciding on their claims.

The suggestion forms partof an affidavit filed in the courtby the Shia Waqf Board of UttarPradesh, one of the parties to thesuit. Claiming that the disputedsite in question is a Shia Waqfland, the Board seemed open tothe earlier proposal made by theSupreme Court for working outan amicable settlement of thedispute lingering for years.

Interestingly, contrary towhat the Shia Waqf Board hasclaimed in its affidavit, the

Allahabad High Court judgmentof September 30, 2010 said, “Inthe suit of 1945 (R.S. No.29 of1945) in between Sunni and ShiaWaqf Board, it has been heldthat the mosque in question isa Sunni Waqf. During argu-ments, no learned counsel onbehalf of Shia Waqf Board raisedany argument regarding themosque in question to be ShiaWaqf.” It is this judgment whichis under challenge as the three-bench HC decision by a 2:1majority divided the disputedsite equally between three par-ties - Ram Lalla (Lord Ram),Sunni Central Waqf Board ofUP, and Nirmohi Akhara.

The Shia board affidavitsaid, “It is submitted that theSunni Central Waqf Board of UP(a main party to the suit) is underthe dominant control of Sunnihardliners, the fanatics and non-believers in peaceful coexis-tence, who have absolutely nostake in the present case. SinceBabri Masjid was a Shia Waqf, itis Shia Central Waqf Board UPalone that is entitled to negoti-ate and arrive at a peaceful set-tlement with other remainingstakeholders.”

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Home Minister RajnathSingh on Tuesday came

down heavily on Congressvice-president Rahul Gandhifor repeatedly breaching secu-rity protocol within the coun-try and going abroadwithout taking SPGprotection. Informingthe Lok Sabha aboutRahul’s trips in thepast two years, Singhsaid the Congressleader undertook 121planned andunplanned tours dur-ing which he did notuse a bulletproof caron 100 occasions.

Responding to Congressleader Mallikarjun Kharge’s alle-gation that last week’s stone pelt-ing incident in Gujarat couldhave killed Rahul, Rajnath saidthe Congress leader has givensecurity agencies headache byrefusing to follow security pro-tocol. The Home Minister saidRahul used to inform the SPGat the eleventh hour about his

foreign tours, cre-ating problems forthe agency to pro-vide proper secu-rity. He added thatthe offices of theCongress presi-dent and RahulGandhi have beeninformed aboutthe violation.Rahul and Sonia

were not present in the House.In the last two years, Rahul

had been on six foreign toursfor 72 days. He refused SPGcover on these occasions, Singhsaid.

“Where did he go? Hedeliberately did not move withthe SPG cover. It is against theSPG Act enacted byParliament,” he said.

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From Page 1Describing the Congress

demand for cancellation ofvotes in Gujarat as “baselessand an act of desperation’,Union Law Minister RaviShankar Prasad said theCongress had not raised anyobjection during the day buttook it up when it realised thatit was losing the poll.

Earlier, Congress leadersled Randeep Surjewala andRPN Singh met EC and claimedthat votes of Bholabhai Gohiland Raghavjibhai Patel be can-celled as per law since they vio-lated the “secrecy of ballot”.The Congress also produced avideo of the poll proceedingsbefore the commission.

According to the rules, vot-ers for the Rajya Sabha electionshave to show their ballots to theauthorised representative oftheir party before exercisingtheir franchise. “The votes castby these two MLAs are requiredto be cancelled for the reason ofvoting procedure violation,” theCongress said in its memoran-dum to the Commission.Surjewala said the two legisla-tors, instead of showing theirballots to party’s election agent,displayed it to BJP president

Amit Shah and Union MinisterSmriti Irani, which he said,“should not be accepted”.

Immediately, after the visitof the high-profile BJP team,Congress heavyweight PChidambaram led another del-egation to the EC. After themeeting, Chidambarm said,“If the BJP is so confident ofwinning the election then itmust abide by the law. And thelaw is very clear. If the ballot isseen by a person other than theauthorised person then it isliable to be rejected. The BJPwas beneficiary of this law onJune 11, 2016. How was lawchanged in one year? These twoballot papers must be rejected.”

He was referring to theRajya Sabha election inHaryana in which BJP-backedindependent candidateSubhash Chandra had defeat-ed Congress-supported candi-date RK Anand after votes ofseveral MLAs were declaredinvalid.

Objecting to Congress’contention, BJP leaders paid asecond and third visit to theCommission and insisted ontheir demand for immediatecounting of the votes. “Electionis over and the situation of con-fusion should end”, Prasadsaid, adding that the Congressis “crumbling” and “its peopleare leaving the party”.

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From Page 1The JD(U) legislator said

that he voted for the countryand was against the Bihar CM’sdecision to form a Governmentwith the support of the BJP.

Reacting to JD(U) leaderKC Tyagi’s claim that Vasav hadvoted for the BJP, the JD(U)MLA said,”He doesn’t knowwho is Tyagi and he cast hisvote for Patel.”

Interestingly, after castinghis vote BJP’s rebel MLA NalinKotadia said he was given anassurance by the party’s lead-ership to resolve issues relatedto Patidars and hence he voted for the saffron party’scandidate.

However later in theevening he changed his state-ment saying that he voted forthe Congress candidate!

Around 11 am the 44Congress MLAs arrived in abus from a resort in Anandtown. Out of this flock, SanandMLA Karamsibhai Patel gaveanother jolt to his party by vot-ing against his party’s candidateAhmed Patel.

Under tremendous pres-sure over resignations of its sixMLAs from the LegislativeAssembly, the Congress Partyhad shifted 44 legislators to aluxurious resort in Karnataka’scapital Bengaluru on July 28 tocurb more resignations.

These resignations reducedthe Congress’ strength in the182-member Gujarat Assemblyfrom 57 to 51.

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Under fire for allegedlyshielding Haryana BJP

chief ’s son in a stalking case,Chandigarh Administration onTuesday submitted its report to the Centre pertainingto the case.

Following the allegations ofopposition parties againstChandigarh Police for workingunder pressure of BJP in thecase and the issue making

national headlines, theMinistry of Home Affairs hada day before sought a reportfrom the ChandigarhAdministration in the stalking case.

Sources said theChandigarh Administrationhad submitted a report givinga detailed account of investi-gations conducted in the mat-ter so far, registration of FIR,and complainant, VarnikaKundu’s statement.

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In what could be termed as abad monsoon for the Hill

State of Himachal Pradesh thisyear, a total of 173 deaths haveoccurred so far this season,triggering alarm bells in theState Government. Out of this,20 deaths are due to flashfloods, landslides and cloudburst etc. and remaining 153deaths due to road accidents.

The figures came out in areview meeting of theMonsoons in the State,presided over by Chief MinisterVirbhadra Singh.

Additional Chief Secretary(Revenue & DisasterManagement) Tarun Sridhargave details of rain fall datafrom August 1 to 7 which wasabove 55 per cent than normalin the week.

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�"�/$�!��%��"��!��"�*"�?.��'�"�%)�$��%&:Washington: A long-simmer-ing dispute between two topWhite House aides has boiledinto a public battle over thedirection of President DonaldTrump’s foreign policy, with acadre of conservative groupspushing for the ouster ofnational security adviser HRMcMaster.

In recent days, conservativegroups and a website tied toTrump adviser Steve Bannonhave targeted McMaster asinsufficiently supportive ofIsrael and insufficiently toughtoward Iran. They’ve expressedoutrage about the firings ofseveral aides regarded as sym-pathetic to their views. Anonline campaign — under thehashtag #FireMcMaster —prompted Trump to declare hissupport for his adviser.

The dispute reflects the

tensions at the heart of Trump’sforeign policy coalition.McMaster is one of severalpowerful generals in Trump’sorbit who hail from theRepublican foreign policyestablishment. But Trump isequally sympathetic to theviews of firebrands likeBannon, who are trying topush the party in a new, isola-tionist direction embodied byhis “America First” doctrine.

McMaster and Bannonhave clashed loudly and repeat-edly during recent WhiteHouse discussions overAfghanistan war strategy,according to four administra-tion officials and outside advis-ers. The officials spoke on thecondition of anonymitybecause they weren’t authorised to discuss privateconversations. AP

Bridgewater: PresidentDonald Trump would like tointerrupt his vacation to deliv-er the following message:Don’t call this a vacation.

The President hasdecamped from Washingtonto his private golf club in cen-tral New Jersey. But he hasrepeatedly pushed back on theidea that this is a relaxingAugust getaway, posting onTwitter over the weekend:“this is not a vacation —meetings and calls!”

Trump’s aides are refer-ring to the 17-day break as a“working vacation.” AP

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"��#��!��"��2��3�� Washington: President DonaldTrump and his top envoy to theUN say the latest sanctionsagainst North Korea are neces-sary to try to curb the reclusivenation’s nuclear programme.

Trump on early Tuesdaytweeted, “After many years offailure, countries are comingtogether to finally address thedangers posed by North Korea.We must be tough & decisive!”

UN ambassador NikkiHaley told NBC’s “Today”show that she isn’t sure whetherthe sanctions will work. NorthKorea’s leader, Kim Jong Un,has expressed no interest inwalking away from his nuclearand ballistic missile program,and the country has survivedpast sanctions.

But Haley says the sanc-tions force Kim to rethink his“endgame.” She said, “He has todecide. If he strikes the UnitedStates, is that something he canwin?” AP

7(%!�(��!")!/��!� �"�(�+�"�!��%��$%<�Shanghai: The Chinese Navyand Air Force flexed theirmuscles in live-fire drills in seasadjacent to the KoreanPeninsula, the defence ministrysaid, amid regional tensionsover North Korea’s pursuit ofnuclear weaponry. The “large-scale” exercises were beingconducted in the seas and skiesoff China’s east coast in theYellow Sea and Bohai Gulf, andincluded the firing of dozens ofmissiles, a notice posted onMonday on the Ministry ofDefence website said.

Tehran: Iranian PresidentHassan Rouhani put forward anew Cabinet line-up onTuesday that again included nowomen, despite criticism oftheir absence from hisreformist allies.

“The lack of womenMinisters shows we are tread-ing water,” ShahindokhtMowlaverdi, Rouhani’s outgo-ing vice-president for women’saffairs. He was immediatelycriticised by reformists for its lack of women or youngpeople. AFP

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Nairobi: Kenyans flocked tovote on Tuesday in electionsheadlined by a knife-edge bat-tle between incumbent UhuruKenyatta and his rival RailaOdinga that has sent tensionssoaring in east Africa’s richesteconomy. From first-time vot-ers to those bent with age, fromurbanites to ethnic Samburuwarriors draped in colourfulbeads and carrying spears, thou-sands descended upon pollingstations long before dawn to casttheir ballots. AFP

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Islamabad: Pakistan’s Election Commission on Tuesday issueda notice to the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) asking it to appoint a new leader to replace formerPrime Minister Nawaz Sharif as its chief.

Sharif stepped down on July 28 after the Supreme Court dis-qualified him for not disclosing his assets. After the verdict, heceased to be a member of parliament. He, however, continuedas the president of PML-N. Election Commission of Pakistan(ECP) through the notice told the PML-N that Sharif cannot lead the party after disqualification under the PoliticalParties Order 2002.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s ruling party may field ousted premierNawaz Sharif ’s wife Kulsoom or his daughter Maryam from theseat that fell vacant after he was disqualified from holding office,a senior party leader said. PTI

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Boston: MIT scientists havedeveloped a new artificial intel-ligence system that can detect

sarcasm in tweets better thanhumans, an advance that mayhelp computers automatically

spot and remove online hatespeech and abusive comments.

Detecting the sentiment

of social media posts can alsotrack attitudes towards brandsand products, and identify

signals that might indicatetrends in the financial markets.

PTI

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Hillary Clinton goes on with hereffort named ‘onward together’aimed at funding and support-ing a coalition of Democraticgroups opposing the US

President Donald Trump’s policies. Accordingto Ruby Cramer of Buzzfeed, Clinton hasrecently enlisted Emmy Ruiz and AdamParkhomenko — political operatives from her2008 and 2016 presidential campaigns to helpmanage the organisation. While the Clintonsdeserve to be called ‘veteran fundraisers’, theproblem is that many of their endeavours raisequestions and suspicions. Charles Ortel, aWall Street analyst, who exposed financialfraud at General Electric back in 2007, is pro-ceeding with his private investigation into thealleged fraud of the Clinton Foundation.

In his previous interviews with Sputnik,the analyst shed light on the Clintons’ largestendeavour called, The Clinton Health AccessInitiative (CHAI), highlighting that theendeavour “has never been organised lawful-ly at any time.” What’s more disturbing, how-ever, is that many foreign Governments hadjumped on the CHAI bandwagon with noquestions asked. “Either way — the numer-ous foreign Governments that seem to beassociated with Clinton ‘charities’ havebehaved deplorably,” Ortel told Sputnik com-menting on the matter. He cited a documentreleased by Judicial Watch that was signed inNovember/December 2008 and lists a largenumber of purported foreign Governmentdonors, including Australia, Ireland, GreatBritain, Sweden, Canada, France, Denmark,Norway and the Dominican Republic.

The human immunodeficiency virus(HIV)/acquired immune deficiency syn-drome (AIDS) issue took on a new signifi-cance in the early 2000s, when the GlobalFund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis andMalaria — “a financing institution, provid-ing support to countries in the response tothe three diseases” — was founded in 2002.

The same year the Clintons kicked-offtheir HIV/AIDS initiative pledging to dra-matically decrease the cost of antiretroviral(ARV) treatment. “[Then] in January 2003,George W Bush announced a massive shiftin the US policy, significantly increasing thesums that our [American] Governmentwould send abroad to ‘Fight HIV/AIDS’,”Ortel recalled. In 2006 a new organisationnamed Unitaid entered the stage.

The entity was founded with the assis-tance of former US President Bill Clinton andthen French President Jacques Chirac. It wasofficially established by the Governments ofBrazil, Chile, France, Norway and the UnitedKingdom. For its part, the World HealthOrganisation (WHO) agreed to help Unitaidby operating as the host organisation.

Unitaid was initially “proposed as aninnovative mechanism to accelerate access tohigh-quality drugs and diagnostics for AIDS,tuberculosis, and malaria patients,” JeremiahNorris, the director of the Center for Sciencein Public Policy at Hudson Institute, wrotein his 2006 analytical report. The Clintons’charity was the only private foundation men-tioned by name in Unitaid’s founding doc-uments, which could be regarded as a signthat the organisation saw it as its key part-ner. “The Clinton Foundation will work with

manufacturers and national Governments toorganise the markets of HIV/AIDS com-modities to lower the prices of medicines anddiagnostics. It will provide technical assistanceto ensure the delivery of commodities,”Hudson elaborated citing Unitaid documents.However, judging from Unitaid papers, thematters related to the guarantees of the drugs’quality remained unclear, the scholar noted.

Hudson called attention to the UnitaidMemorandum of Understanding. The memoreferred to “privileges and immunities” of theWorld Health Organisation (WHO) which“shall apply to the staff, funds, properties, andassets supplied to or for the use of theSecretariat of Unitaid.” Indeed, in accordancewith the International Organisations Act,2005 no United Nations body can be held tolegal suit in any jurisdiction.

“For instance, if the Clinton Foundationpurchases sub-standard pharmaceuticalproducts on behalf of Unitaid, which sub-sequently accelerate drug-resistance andmutation of the AIDS virus, the affectedpatients would be unable to seek redress formedical malpractice,” Hudson explained. Itappears that Hudson’s concerns were justi-fied about CHAI turning a blind eye toRanbaxy’s glaring misdeeds.

Citing a report by CongresswomanMarsha Blackburn, namely ‘The ClintonFoundation and The India Success Story: Self-Serving Philanthropy, Watered Down Drugs,and Money in sub-Saharan Africa,’ Ortelrecalled that one of Clinton charity’s majorsuppliers of cheap generic drugs for AfricanHIV/AIDS sufferers was Ranbaxy, which laterpleaded guilty for selling adulterated ARVs.

The shameful story of Ranbaxy’s activ-

ities was described in detail by Katherine Ebanof Fortune. The journalist cited a formerRanbaxy’s employee, Kathy Spreen, who saidthat she found out that “crucial testing data,for many of the company’s drugs did not actu-ally exist and submissions to regulators hadbeen forged” as early as 2004. However, thecompany’s leadership had no scruples on sell-ing adulterated drugs to sub-Saharan Africa.“Who cares? It’s just blacks dying,” oneRanbaxy executive said, as quoted by Spreen.The question arises whether the Clintons wereaware that their major ARVs supplier pro-duced watered-down drugs?

“The earliest evidence I have found of col-laboration between the Clinton Foundationand Ranbaxy is in October 2003,” Ortel toldthe Sputnik. Still, in 2004 WHO issued an offi-cial release that three of Ranbaxy’s main anti-HIV/AIDS ARVs were removed from its listof recommended drugs, throwing into ques-tion their efficiency and quality, Blackburn’sreport highlighted. Nevertheless, CHAI did-n’t halt its cooperation with the firm.Furthermore, it appeared that the issue hadalso been overlooked by CHAI’s generous for-eign donors. “I cannot come up with goodreasons why smart people at the ClintonFoundation would stay involved withRanbaxy and with other manufacturers ofHIV/AIDS drugs and test kits that were notregulated closely enough by Governments,”the Wall Street analyst stressed.

Ortel cited the agreement concludedby Ranbaxy and the Clinton Foundationadding that “it is… mentioned theRanbaxy Annual Report for 2003 but it isnot filed anywhere I have seen inside theUnited States.” “As it is described, the agree-

ment seems to obligate the William JClinton Presidential Foundation to pro-mote the purchase of Ranbaxy drugs, andtherefore strikes me as a ‘business devel-opment’ agreement that normally wouldnot be proper for a ‘charity’ to sign orundertake,” Ortel stressed. “Moreover,the existence of such an agreement seemsto be a material fact that donor nations andprocurement partners should know, priorto working with the Clinton Foundation.Did they?” the Wall Street analyst askedrhetorically. The Clintons’ financial trans-actions also deserve special attention, henoted. “In the Clinton charity case, ongo-ing review of federal tax disclosures sug-gests that donors gave substantially moreto the charities, then the Clinton charitiesdisclose as having been spent on pharma-ceuticals, this variance is particularly truefor the period 2006 through 2010 lookingat publicly disclosed grants to Clinton enti-ties by Unitaid, Governments and largedonors including the Gates Foundationand the US and UK entities called‘Children’s Investment Fund Foundation.’”

What’s behind foreign Governments’reluctance to catch the Clintons’ redhanded?“As a guess, the massive and ongoing supportprovided by Unitaid starting in November2006 to illegally organised and operatedClinton ‘charities’ are impossible to explainwithout generating acute embarrassment andeven legal exposures for individuals and (for-eign Governments) involved,” Ortel stressed.So far, Governments that could act to inves-taigate and prosecute evident wrongdoinghave not yet seen fit to act,” Ortel pointed out.

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Sir — This refers to the report,“Game of RS thrones in full swingin Guj”, (August 8). Exposing thesorry plight in which the grand oldparty finds itself, first the Janata Dal(United) and now the NationalistCongress Party also turned theirbacks on the Congress. ‘A shockingtravesty of democracy’, was how thevery same Congress condemned thesequestering of the Members of theLegislative Assembly of the AllIndia Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam in a resort near Chennaiby VK Sasikala and her cohorts for10 days preceding a ‘confidence vote’.

What the Congress has donenow in flying 44 of its own Gujaratflock to a resort near distantBengaluru and further keepingthem under wraps, is not only con-demnable but holds a mirror toCongress’ hypocrisy. Its lame excusethat “this has been done before” onlymakes it worse. The least the partycan do is to stop sermonising, andconsider the irretrievable depths ithas fallen into within a few years.

NS RajanBengaluru

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Sir — This refers to the editorial,“Setting House in order” (August7). With the election of M VenkaiahNaidu as Vice President, for the firsttime in the country’s parliamentaryhistory all the four top constitution-al posts — President, VicePresident, Lok Sabha Speaker, andPrime Minister — have been occu-pied by persons linked with BJPbackground. Before taking overtheir offices, they have taken oath

to protect and abide by theConstitution. It is a golden oppor-tunity for all leaders to clear manymisgivings about the persons com-ing from the BJP wing and asserttheir commitment in protecting thesecular and plural nature of Indiaand its cultural diversity.

Meanwhile, Naidu enjoys goodrelations with leaders across partylines. However, he will have a chal-lenging task as the Chairman of theRajya Sabha where the ruling estab-lishment is still short of numbersand the Opposition is more disrup-tive, less cooperative.

MC JoshiLucknow

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Sir — This refers to the editorial, “Apeaceful roadmap”, (August 5).Minister of External Affairs SushmaSwaraj has rightly stated that warcan’t be the answer to the stand-offbetween India and China inDoklam. Her pacifying tone islikely to ensure that India andChina are not to escalate tensionsany further. Chinese CounsulateGeneral in Kolkata, Ma Zhanwu,has also struck a conciliatory noteby saying that shared interestsbetween India and China far out-weigh any differences and that bothcountries should resolve this issuethrough rational, constructive andobjective means. So, there is a needfor both countries to engage in ameaningful bilateral dialogue toensure that the Doklam stand-offis resolved soon.

Devendra Khurana Bhopal

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Why is the NationalDemocratic Alliance(NDA) growing at the cost

of the United Progressive Alliance(UPA)? There was a time when theBJP, as a political party, was untouch-able but today it is opposite of whatwas seen in the early 1980s. Politicalpundits believed that the country wasmoving towards a two-front politicsin a coalition era.

But this changed in 2014 after theBJP emerged as the single largestparty with a majority, ending 30 yearsof coalition politics. Since then theUPA is getting weakened; though itshowed its strength in the recentpresidential and vice presidentialpolls where 18 parties jointly put uptheir common candidate knowing it

very well that the numbers were withthe BJP.

The BJP-led NDA now has 33constituents as the party has grownbeyond its own imagination in thepast 27 years since its inception. Infact, it has become the largest polit-ical party overtaking the Congressand has also achieved a pan-nation-al presence. Earlier, its influence wasmostly confined to the Hindi belt asit was seen as a north Indian partyconsisting of Brahmins and traders.But today it has expanded its base toother castes with its social engineer-ing. It has even overtaken theCongress to emerge as the largestparty in the Rajya Sabha.

When the NDA was formed in1998, it had 24 partners. The BJPutilised anti-Congress sentiment tothe fullest extent to forge a frontwhich came to power in 1998.However, within 13 months, AllIndia Anna Dravida MunnetraKazhagam (AIADMK) chief JJayalalithaa pulled down the AtalBihari Vajpayee Government butVajpayee came back in 1999 and

ruled till 2004. The NDA lost powerdeluding itself with its ‘India shining’campaign. The UPA built by theCongress president Sonia Gandhi,came to power in 2004 and ruled thecountry for the next 10 years, keep-ing the NDA out. It was only in 2014that the BJP, under Narendra Modicame to power with majority andformed the Government.

In 2014, the BJP had gone topolls with 26 allies. The NDAincluded smaller parties like the ShivSena, the Shiromani Akali Dal(SAD), the Pattali Makkal Katchi,the Republican Party of India(Athavale), the All India NRCongress, the Lok Janshakthi Party,the Telugu Desam Party (TDP), theKerala Congress, the Apna Dal, theManipur Peoples Party, and theNaga People’s Front.

At least six more parties havejoined the NDA now, including thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP), theBodoland People’s Front, the AsomGana Parishad, the Bharat DharmaJana Sena and the MaharashtrawadiGomantak Party.

The latest big catch was thereturn of the Janata Dal(United),JD(U). With the JD(U) allying withthe BJP, the NDA’s numbers are nowvery close to a majority in the RajyaSabha with the support of friendlyregional parties. This has given amajor boost to the Government’s leg-islative agenda.

Moreover, after JD(U) chiefNitish Kumar’s re-entry, the num-ber of States where the BJP is inpower has gone up to 18 of the 29States. The BJP holds majority in 11States, including in ArunachalPradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh,Gujarat, Haryana, Madhya Pradesh,Manipur, Rajasthan, Uttar Pradeshand Uttarakhand.

In Goa and Maharashtra, the saf-fron party shares power as seniorpartner. In five States viz, AndhraPradesh, Bihar, Jammu & Kashmir,Nagaland and Sikkim, it sharespower as junior partner. TheCongress, on the other hand, rules inKarnataka, Mizoram, Meghalaya,Himachal Pradesh, Puducherry andPunjab. However, the BJP is growing

at the cost of the allies.So how has the BJP achieved this?

It has followed various methodsruthlessly to expand its base and winpower. The first is winning the man-date as it has done in Uttar Pradesh,Uttarakhand, Haryana, Assam andJharkhand. Second, are the post-pollalliances as it has done inMaharashtra and Jammu & Kashmir.Coming to power as a coalitionpartner with the PDP in J&K wasindeed a bold step. Third, is by poach-ing on the Legislators of other par-ties, like it did in Manipur and Goarecently. But the most novel methodis by importing Chief Ministers likeit has done recently in Bihar and ear-lier in Arunachal Pradesh.

It is waiting to grab Tamil Naduafter the two AIADMK factionsunite. The BJP is trying to poach onthe UPA constituents as it did inBihar recently.

On the flip side though, techni-cally, NDA won at the hustling’s —it is the BJP that is calling the shotsso much so that the key allies — theShiv Sena, the TDP and the PDP

have been openly unhappy with theBJP’s governing mechanism.

The BJP-PDP alliance in Jammu& Kashmir is a tight-rope to walk.Even in Punjab, the SAD is not toohappy with the BJP. The TDP wantsa special status for Andhra Pradesh.“Parties like Shiv Sena, SAD andTDP are standing strong in theirrespective States. There should beclarity on whether our friendship isneeded (by the BJP)”, the Sena saidin an editorial in party mouthpieceSaamana recently.

The perception presently is thatModi will come back in 2019. TheTruth in Negotiations Act factorwould be a huge advantage to theNDA and it is for the UPA to set itshouse in order. The UPA lacks apowerful leader who can unite thenon-BJP parties and manage theirinherent contradictions, as thedivided Opposition is BJP’s strength.Whether the UPA can revive beforethe 2019 polls is to be seen.

(The writer is a senior politicalcommentator and syndicated columnist)

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An innocent girl child suf-fers rape. That’s shockingand revolting. Angryreactions emerge. Theaftermath of the

incident is that the victim will haveto face a complicated mountain ofworries, problems and difficulties,sans solutions.

Heartless indifferent attitudesof public authorities with sheer apa-thy wil l create miser y and intolerable grief for the unfortunatevictim. Moreover, a rehabilitative lawis far away to heal compounded andmultiplied obstacles.

Lamenting the plight of rape vic-tims, in Delhi Domestic WorkingWomen’s Forum vs Union of India &others, the Supreme Court, in 1994,noted that a major shift in “penelog-ical thinking, reflecting the growingimportance attached to restitutionand reparation over the more narrowly retributive aims of conventional punishment.”

While propounding the thoughtrequiring courts to consider themaking of a compensation order, theSupreme Court indicated broadparametres in assisting the victims ofrape and felt that schemes will haveto be evolved to wipe out the tearsof such unfortunate victims and forimplementation of which necessarysteps should be taken.

In 2014, the apex court, in Re vsIndian Woman Says Gang-Raped,held that the obligation of the State does not extinguish on payment of compensation, as reha-bilitation of the victim is also of para-mount importance.

The statutory provision:Section 357A was inserted in the

Code of Criminal Procedure 1973,vide the Code of Criminal Procedure(Amendment) Act, 2008, which pro-vides for compensation to victims ofcrime. This has thus made it manda-tory that every State Government, incoordination with the UnionGovernment, shall prepare a schemefor providing funds for the purposeof compensation to the victim or hisdependents who have suffered lossor injury as a result of a crime andwho require rehabilitation.

The salient features of thismandatory provision enjoin thatthe State Legal Services Authorityshall decide the quantum of compensation to be awarded underthe scheme of the concerned State Government.

Various States have framed indi-vidual schemes of compensationwhich ranges from one lakh rupeesto �10 lakh. However, there has beenno uniformity. While some of themexist only on paper, there are also afew that have not even been fundedby the respective State Governments.

The factual position:Provisions in the law exist to

ameliorate the plight of an unfortu-nate victim of rape. But the actualrelief is very far away. The schemesof State Governments, even if noti-fied, are unknown to the people andits actual benefits are not accessible to those victims who may actually need it.

The laudable shift of thinking, asadvocated by the Supreme Court, tomake payment of compensation orto provide rehabilitative aid, thusremains illusory. What adds to thewoes of the rape victim further is theslow pace of working of the criminal justice system for trying theoffender for various crimes.

Thus, the traumatised suffererhas neither the means nor theresources for the process to end butto wait for the court to conclude thataid, assistance or compensation befinally awarded upon conclusion ofthe case for awarding of punishmentto the offender. A speedy, friendlyand victim sensitive central legisla-tion on rehabilitation is thus the need of the hour.

Courts to the rescue:In the situation as it exists today,

the Supreme Court, in 1993, in itserudite expression in Nilabati Beheravs State of Orissa, held that theSupreme Court and High Courtsbeing the protectors of the civil lib-erties of the citizens, have not only

the power and jurisdiction but alsoan obligation to grant relief in exercise of its writ jurisdiction under Articles 32 and 226 of theIndian Constitution.

The Supreme Court clearlyrecognised the need for award ofcompensation in writ jurisdiction forcontravention of human rights andfundamental freedoms, thereby pro-vided the much-needed succour tounfortunate victims who cannotreach out to justice under conven-tional legal systems.

Further, in 2012, in Dr MehmoodNayyar Azam vs State of Chhattisgarhand others, the apex court, in anoth-er salutary view, observed that whenthe court moulds the relief by grant-ing “compensation” in writ pro-ceedings for enforcement or protection of fundamental rights, “itdoes so under the public law by way of penalising the wrong doer and fixing the liability for thepublic wrong on the State which has failed in its public duty toprotect the Fundamental rights of the citizens.”

The Supreme Court further stat-ed that “the payment of compensa-tion in such cases is not to beunderstood as it is generally under-stood in a civil action for damagesunder the private law but in thebroader sense of providing relief byand order of making monetaryamends under the public law for the

wrong done due to breach of publicduty by not protecting the funda-mental rights of the citizen.”

Thus, our constitutional courtsperform a yeoman service to theunderprivileged sections of societyin culling out the much-neededrelief whenever needed and forwhich the courts act even suo mototo those in dire need.

The end and the future:Rape is a heinous crime for

which we need swift trial and stringent punishment.Simultaneously, compensationawarded to the victim may be pro-grammed to be rehabilitative or tai-lored to suit the need of the victimand the child so born. In the further-ance of the progressive view and thethinking propounded by theSupreme Court, such crutches offinancial aid neither compound orcondone the offence.

The mandate of the IndianConstitution to secure social justiceto have-nots must not be illusive andmust be promoted. Laws which pro-vide this must be implemented withvigour. Rehabilitation in the truespirit with financial support is ayearning cry. Compensating rapevictims is the obligation of theGovernment and not a charity.

(The writer is an alumni of theSchool of Oriental and AfricanStudies, London, and practices at theHigh Court)

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Anew script for a fresh roundof battle within the first

family of Samajwadi Party isbeing drafted. This time, the warzone is Ram Manohar LohiaTrust headed by Mulayam SinghYadav, who was toppled asparty chief by his son AkhileshYadav on January 1.

Mulayam Singh onTuesday convened a meeting ofthe Trust and sacked fourtrustees supposedly Akhileshloyalists and replaced themwith loyalists of his youngerbrother Shivpal Yadav.

Those who got the bootwere SP general secretaryRam Gopal Yadav, Leader ofOpposition in Assembly Ram

Govind Chaudhary, Leaderof Opposition in CouncilAhmed Hasan and formerMP Usha Verma.

Mulayam Singh nominatedformer party spokesman andcrony of Shivpal Yadav, DeepakMishra, Ram Naresh Yadav,Ram Sevak Yadav and RajeshYadav as replacements.

Mulayam Singh Yadav isthe chairman of the trust con-stituted in 1994 and Akhilesh,Ram Gopal and Shivpalbesides many party leadersare part of the trust.

Shivpal Yadav and formerMP Bhagwati Singh and someother leaders attended the meet-ing of the trust. This was the firstmeeting of Lohia Trust since itsinception that attracted media

glare. The SP patriarch had con-vened the meeting of LohiaTrust at its office on Vikram-aditya Marg. All members of thefamily including Akhilesh andRam Gopal were expected toattend it but both were conspic-uous by their absence.

Ram Gopal Yadav was inDelhi as Rajya Sabha is in ses-sion while Akhilesh preferredto stay away even as the Trust

office is located only a fewyards away from the State SPoffice and his residence.

Talking to the media aftermeeting, Shivpal Yadav claimed,“All is well in the family. Thereis no discord and the family isunited. The perception of disputein the family is a media creation.”

Seeking to downplay theabsence of Akhilesh and RamGopal, Shivpal said, “The inti-

mation of meeting was dulysent to all members. RamGopal Yadav is busy in Delhiand we hope that all memberswould attend the next meetingof Lohia Trust.’’

Political circles are rife withspeculations as to what prompt-ed Mulayam Singh to rush withthe sacking of Akhilesh loyalistsfrom the Trust. A senior SPleader said that patriarchMulayam Singh apprehendedthat Akhilesh might capturethe Trust after his election asparty chief during the party’simpending national conven-tion in September. “Once bit-ten twice shy, Netaji has alreadylost to his son in January so itwas a preemptive strike byNetaji,’’ said the SP leader.

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BJP chief Amit Shah’s three-day itinerary commencing

from August 12 toBengaluru has churnedthe political circles. Hismeeting with religiousleaders and Mutt headshas curious insightsahead of Assembly pollswhich is crucial for bothruling Congress and the majorOpposition BJP which is talkingabout Congress Mukth Bha-rath, the theme coined by noneother than BJP’s political strate-gist Amit Shah. For CongressKarnataka is critical to keep itsidentity as a national party.

Shah’s visit to Bengaluruand his meeting with the pow-erful Vokkaliga pontiff of theAdichunchanagiri after the raidson Power Minister DK Shiva-kumar has seen as to soothen thepowerful Vokkaliga community,

who were upset with raids onShivakumar, a Vokkaliga leader.His visit to mutt is a symbolicgesture to contain possible dam-

age from IT raids. A BJPleader said, “Amit Shah isvisiting theAdichunchanagiri mutt iscrucial for us as we needthe support of Vokkaligas,one of the dominant com-munities in Karnataka.”

His proposed visit to muttsjust after the raid kept politicalpundits thinking about a newpolitical strategy BJP has to ado-pt to counter the Congress. Theinfighting within BJP has dent-ed the image and appeasementpolitics of Siddaramaiah havebeen a major challenge to theparty. The BJP leaders are con-fident of Amit Shah working outa strategy based on their successin many other States to re-enterKarnataka which is seen as thegateway to the South.

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Describing the CruiseTourism as a game chang-

er for both domestic and inter-national travellers, UnionMinister for Shipping, RoadTransport and Highways NitinGadkari on Tuesday expressedconfidence that the CruiseTourism had the huge poten-tial to boost economy.

Inaugurating an event ‘TheDawn of Cruise tourism inIndia’ in Mumbai, Gadkarihighlighted the huge potentialfor Cruise Tourism, particular-ly in view of the reforms under-taken by his Ministry under theSagarmala Project.

Gadkari, who releasedreports on “Road map for SeaCruise Tourism”, “Mumbai PortSOP for Cruise Operations”and “Cruise terminals in India”,the cruise initiative had a poten-tial revenue close to �35,000crore for all stakeholders.

The Minister said that thepromotion of Cruise Tourismwas expected to create over2,50,000 jobs and with this newinitiative, the number of cruiseships visiting India could go upfrom 158 per year to 955 peryear. He also called for greatertransparency, lesser red tape-ism, result oriented time bound

target completion.Gadkari said that the

Ministry was toying with theidea of using Methanol asmarine fuel so as to bring downcost of operations and promoteeco-friendly mode of trans-portation. “Technology up-gra-dation, coupled with reductionin human interface withincreased automation, was nec-essary for smoother and effec-tive service delivery,” he said.

David Dingle, Chairman,Carnival, UK – the biggestcruise line in the world that hasstarted home port operations

from Mumbai Port, presentedCarnival’s plans for India.

While Ravi Kant, Secretaryto GoI, Ministry of Shippinghighlighted India’s develop-ment initiatives for CruiseTourism, Rashmi Verma,Secretary to GoI, Ministry ofTourism, spoke on the growthand future of India as anInternational tourism hub.Maharashtra Minister forTourism J Rawal, Shiv Sena MPArvind Sawant andMaharashtra’s chief secretarySumit Mullick were amongthose present at the function.

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Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister Chandrababu

Naidu on Tuesday met AustralianConsul General to South IndiaSean Kelly and discussed tech-nology support and cooperationin several key areas of Australianexpertise, including mining,road transport, education anddrylands agriculture.

The Australian delegation,comprising representativesfrom Queensland and WesternAustralia, promised the CM toprovide technology support invarious projects and said thatthey are keen on finding moreways to collaborate with theAndhra Pradesh Government.

They said, “The ChiefMinister’s forward-thinking atti-

tude, and development-orientedgoals are great motivations for usto examine investment avenuesin the State and strengthen theAP-Australia ties.”

They said an MoU for set-ting up a university in AndhraPradesh will be signed soon. Thedelegation also said that theyhave been working on aGeological Survey AssistanceSystem, that will enable highquality geological mapping ofAndhra Pradesh. An MoU inthis regard is ready to be signedby the two parties soon.

Sean Kelly also proposed aproject to improve Road TrafficManagement. He explained thatthe investment for this projectwill be minimum for the GoAP,as the system will work on thebasis of revenue sharing, fromfunds collected from violators.BankTech Group of Australiahas come forward to installATMs in rural areas of AndhraPradesh where banking facili-ties are not available.

Sean Kelly, also met withthe State's IT Minister NaraLokesh along with representa-tives of BTI Payments, a JointVenture of BankTech Group.

The Chief Minister waspleased with all the proposals,and he promised the delegationthat the departments of theGoAP will support and coor-dinate as much as they need.

Kelly then informed theCM of the Australia BusinessWeek in India, for which theDeputy Premier of WesternAustralia will be visiting as aspecial delegate. The event isheld at the end of this month,and he requested the ChiefMinister to block some timein his calendar to meet him inVijayawada. The CM happilyobliged.

In the meeting, Lokeshrequested Sean Kelly to extendtechnology support in ImageRecognition to analyze Datacollected using Drones todevelop villages.

Kolkata: In an apparent messageaimed at the electorate — adver-tising a puritan character for itsmembers — the Bengal chapterof CPI(M) on Tuesday recom-mended removal of its RajyaSabha member Ritabrata Baner-jee from the State committee oncharges of leading lavish lifestyle.

Banerjee had been undersuspension for the past threemonths for his personal con-ducts. State CPI(M) secretarySuryakanto Mishra said thedecision to remove the promis-ing leader — from the Statecommittee — who had earneda name for his oratory inParliament had been recom-mended to the central com-mittee. “The final decision willbe taken by the CC. But he mustget some punishment for hisown rectification. We howeverdo not want any extreme pun-ishment.” A party member hadcomplained against Banerjeeafter he tried to allegedly vic-timise him when he raisedquestions over his pricey watch-es and lavish lifestyle despitebeing a communist. PNS

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Already under attack from theYogi Adityanath

Government over properties inAmethi and Lucknow, Congressleaders have now found them-selves in a piquant situation. Forthe last few days, hundreds ofposters complaining of missingMP Rahul Gandhi and a rewardfor any one helping to locate himappeared on numeorous walls inGandhi’s parliamentary con-stituency of Amethi.

While Congress brass wenton the offensive claiming thatsuch propoganda was launchedto defame Rahul and the party,but some locals of Amethiclaimed that Rahul has indeedkept away from Amethi for thelast five months.

The posters read: ‘MP ofAmethi Rahul Gandhi has beenmissing from his constituency.All development work doneunder his MPLAD fund hasbeen paralysed and voters of hisconstituency are feeling insultedand cheated. Anyone who givesinformation about the missingMP would be rewarded:Courtesy People of Amethi’.

It is the second time thatsuch posters have found theirway in Amethi. Such a thing hap-pened soon after 2014 Lok Sabha

polls. Congress MLC DeepakSingh, who hails from Amethi,alleged that Union MinisterSmriti Irani was behind theentire conspiracy.

“Irani is doing everything tomalign the image of Gandhi. TheUnion Minister has done noth-ing for the area and Amethi isreceiving step-motherly treat-ment from the UnionGovernment,” Singh said inLucknow on Tuesday.

Claiming that Gandhi hasprovided livelihood to over 1.5lakh women in Amethi throughself-help groups and initiatedseveral development works fromhis MPLAD fund, the MLCsaid that none other than theGandhi family had done themost for the area.

The State Government hasalready ordered vacating of theoffice of Rajiv Gandhi Found-ation in Amethi while theCongress office land in Lucknowis mired in a dispute.

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Rejecting India's suggestionfor a simultaneous with-

drawal of troops to end thestandoff at Doklam, China onTuesday upped the ante, won-dering what New Delhi woulddo if it "enters" Kalapani regionin Uttarakhand or Kashmir.

India and China have beenlocked in a face-off in theDoklam area of the Sikkim sec-tor for 50 days after Indiantroops stopped the ChineseArmy from building a road inthe area.

China claimed it was con-structing the road within theirterritory and has been demand-ing immediate pull-out of theIndian troops from the dis-puted Doklam plateau. Bhutansays Doklam belongs to it butChina claims the area belongsto it and says Thimphu has nodispute with Beijing over it.

"Even if there is only oneIndian soldier, even for a day itis still a violation of our sover-eignty and territorial integrity,"Wang Wenli, Deputy Director

General of the Boundary andOcean Affairs of China'sMinistry of Foreign Affairs,said. Wang was briefing anIndian media delegation,whose visit was sponsored bythe state-run All ChinaJournalists Association (ACJA),on China's stand on theDoklam standoff.

"It is impossible to have adialogue with India at thistime. Our people will think ourGovernment is incompetent.""Until the Indian side with-draws from the Chinese terri-tory, there will be no substan-tive talks between us," she said,while reiterating Beijing's standthat the only way to end thepresent crisis on the border wasthe withdrawal of Indian troopsfrom Doklam.

Needling India, she raisedthe Kashmir issue and alsoreferred to the Kalapani disputebetween India and Nepal. "Wethink it is not doable for theIndian side to use tri-junctionas an excuse," she said, referringto Indian External AffairsMinistry's assertion that the

road building at the China,India and Bhutan tri-junctionin the strategic narrowChicken's Neck area changesthe status quo.

"The Indian side has alsomany tri-junctions. What if weuse the same excuse and enterthe Kalapani region betweenChina, India and Nepal oreven into the Kashmir regionbetween India and Pakistan,"she said. "Therefore, using thetri-junction as an excuse doesnot hold water at all. It will onlycause more trouble," Wangsaid. This is the first time thata Chinese official sought tobring in the Kashmir issueeven though such a remark hasbeen made earlier by a schol-ar in state-run Global Times.

Asked whether China wasgetting ready for a war withIndia, Wang said, "I can onlysay that for the PLA (People'sLiberation Army) and for theChinese Government, we havethe determination. So, if theIndian side decides to go downthe wrong path or still have illu-sions about this incident, then

we have the right to use any actthat is in line with the interna-tional law to protect our rights."

Wang said India and Chinahad many standoffs before but"we haven't issued any positionpaper till now".

"But this time we have the

position paper and in the posi-tion paper, you can find clearinformation about our positionand possible moves by us," shesaid, referring to a 15-page factsheet issued by the ChineseForeign Ministry few days ago.

"The Indian border troops

are sending a signal of aggres-sion while the signals sent bythe foreign ministry is forpeaceful negotiations. So, wethink these two signals do notmatch with each other," shesaid. Wang also rejected anegotiated solution by restor-

ing status quo with the simul-taneous withdrawal of Indianand Chinese troops to theirearlier positions.

India's position on theissue was made clear byExternal Affairs MinisterSushma Swaraj recently, saying

both sides should first pull backtheir troops for any talks to takeplace, favouring a peaceful res-olution of the border standoff.

Referring to reports in theIndian media that both thecountries' border troops canwithdraw at the same time torestore the status quo, Wangsaid "this is also unacceptablefor China". "Because the factsare clear. It is the Indian troopsthat crossed the mutuallyrecognised boundary into theChinese territory. So, it is theIndian border troops that havethe responsibility to withdraw,"she said.

Skirting any references tothe shrill campaign being con-ducted by the official mediahere, Wang said China is exer-cising restraint and goodwill."In fact, we have expressedmany times the diplomaticchannel is always open and itis so in the past 50 days but itdoes not mean that we will notuse our power to use the actsof defence in line with the UNcharter or relevant interna-tional law."

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Lucknow: Congress’ proposedstir on the occasion of ‘AugustKranti Diwas’ on August 9,received a setback due to differ-ences between district func-tionaries and members of thenewly-formed ‘Jan Andolan Cell’(public agitation Committee).

Sources in the Congressconfirmed that the manner inwhich UP Congress JanAndolan Cell incharge SwayamPrakash Goswami nominatedabout 400 deputies withoutconsulting any district, city oreven senior leaders, majority ofpart workers have decided tokeep themselves aloof fromthe party’s proposed ‘KisanBachao Congress Lao—RozgarLao youth bachao’ stir which isto start on Wednesday.

“Why should we supportthe stir when we are not con-sulted before fixing pro-grammes or while office bear-ers of Jan Andolan Committeewere nominated,” said a districtCongress chief of a eastern UP.

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Once there was a rustic say-ing in Bihar — jab tak rah-

ega samosa mein aaloo, tab takrahega Bihar mein Lalu. Thepotato in the samosa remainsintact and Lalu Prasad is quiteactive in the politics but whatis making headlines these daysis balu (sand)

The irrepressible Lalu Pr-asad is seemingly caught in theillicit mining and business ofbalu with fingers of accusationraised at him for being incahoots with the sand mafiamainly operating in the diaraor riverine areas of Patna,Bhojpur and Saran districts.

The crackdown on the sandmafia started soon after thebreaking of the Mahagathban-dhan Government. As the oper-ation was intensified allegationsstarted flying thick and fastabout Lalu’s link with them andtheir financial support to theRJD. It is alleged that many peo-ple close to Lalu, includinglegislators, are involved in thisillegal business since a long

period and they are mainfinancier of the RJD. Theprominent among them areManer MLA Bhai Birendra.

Birendra is known as a bit-ter critic of CM Nitish Kumarand had been issuing statementsmuch to the chagrin of the JD-(U) leaders when the party hadalliance with the RJD. The policefirst struck at the illegal sandquarrying in the riverine areas ofManer and in the raid about 20people were arrested including aclose relative of the MLA.

Deputy CM Sushil KumarModi, who had launched a sus-tained attack on Lalu and hisfamily for their benami assetsand money laundering, allegedthat sand mafia was mainfinancier of the RJD and thesame mafia was funding theparty for its proposed August 27rally. He said, “Subhash Prasad

Yadav is a notorious sand mafiaand he has three companiesnamely Bradson Construction,Banshidhar Construction andMormukut Construction PrivateLimited and these companieshave got contract of sand min-ing in Patna, Bhojpur, Saran,Vaishali, Jehanabad and Arwaldistrict which is worth Rs 237crores. Yadav is the chieffinancier of the RJD rally.”

The illegal business of sandmining flourished during the 20-months long grand allianceGovernment and Lalu had care-fully managed to take the minesand geology department ofwhich his party’s MuneshwarChoudhary was its Minister.Now this department is headedby Vinod Kumar Singh of BJP.

Some police officials includ-ing two inspectors of Digha andKhaje kalan police stations havealready been suspended for theirsuspected nexus with the sandmafia. During the series of raidsled by either DIG Rajesh Kumaror Senior SP Manu Maharaaj,mountains of sand, diggingmachines, JCB, tractors andboats were seized. Not only thesand mining and quarrying butalso its storage and transporta-tion are also on the police radar.

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Aday when her TrinamoolCongress teamed up with

the Congress to attack theNarendra Modi Government inParliament Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeewent all guns blazing againstthe Centre for “breaking thefederal norms.”

Lambasting the ModiGovernment for “repeatedlyinterfering in State affairs”Banerjee told the StateAssembly on Tuesday howinstead of building consensuson various issues the BJP was“imposing its decisions on theStates with the help of brutemajority” it had in Parliament.

“The repeated interferencesin State affairs only damage the

federal structure of the countrywhere both the State and theCentre have their exclusiverealms of functioning and nei-ther is superior to the other,”Banerjee said citing how “GSTwas forced on the States likeours without our consent.”

She said “despite repeatedappeals to defer the imple-mentation of GST the Centrecoerced us to adopt the newsystem. We also had no otheroption but to follow their

instructions or else we wouldlose access to the Treasury.

“Though we were forced toimplement GST we did not doit from our heart as the newsystem,” led to an economicmess, pushed lakhs of peopleinto complete confusion “evenas we watched helplessly.”

Attacking the Centre forcausing “man made flood” inBengal Banerjee said Bengalrepeatedly asked the DamodarValley Corporation not to releasewater from the dams inJharkhand but its requests werenot heeded and an artificial flo-od was created in the down-stream area causing the State ahuge loss and about 42 deaths.Bengal had suffered a loss of over�300 crore Irrigation MinisterRajib Banerjee earlier said.

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If Telangana Chief Minister KChandrasekhar Rao had

hoped that his support to the BJPon issues such as demonstration,Presidential polls and the GSTwill be sufficient to buy peaceand ensure quid pro quo fromthe BJP leadership and CentralGovernment he was in for a bigdisappointment.

On the one hand, the Centrehas only partially Telangana’sdemand to exempt the ongoingdevelopment projects of theState Government from GST,and on the other BJP was gear-ing up to turn the political heaton the TRS by raising thronesand emotions issues includingofficial celebration ofHyderabad’s integration in India.

While the Telangana Gover-nment had demanded no GSTshould be imposed on the Stateprojects such as irrigation andhousing projects the GST coun-cil has decided to reduce it from18 per cent to 5 per cent revok-ing a strong disapproval from theCM. Soon after the GSTCouncil’s decision wasannounced KCR adopted astrong stand and decided towrite a letter to the PM. On hisinstructions officials of financedepartment prepared a detailreport assessing the impact of 12

per cent GST resulting in ahuge financial burden on theState finances and affect thedevelopment programmes.

The Centre had fixed theGST on the state programs at 18per cent resulting in a tax bur-den of �19,600 and following therecent decision it has comedown merely by 7 per cent. TheState officials suggest that if theGST on these programmes wasreduced to 5 per cent, they willbe able to save another 10,000crore. As per the assessment ofthe officials the GST will causea urgent of �1,500 crore each onthe irrigation project and doublebedroom housing scheme. Thetender process of many projectswas also getting delayed as majorcontractors were apprehensive ofGST and were not coming for-ward to take part in it.

After KCR threatened ofconfrontation with the Centre,union Minister of state BandaruDattayreya has assured the ChiefMinister that the Centre willrevise the GST rate shortly.

Following the assuranceChief Minister said that hisGovernment will adopt a waitand watch policy as GST was anexperiment. He told a meetingthat several countries had adoptthe uniform tax formula butwithdrew it later due to the prob-lems of implementation.

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Mumbaikars on Tuesday pre-pared themselves for a

major traffic disruption onWednesday, when an estimatedfive Maratha community mem-bers across Maharashtra take outa massive “mook” morcha (silentmarch) from Jeejamata Udyan atByculla to Azad Maidan inSouth Mumbai.

Though the Maratha mor-cha will be confined to the busystretch of south Mumbai, therewill be traffic disruptions allacross Mumbai and satellitetowns of Thane and Navi

Mumbai since the people willdescend on the country’s com-mercial capital from differentparts of the state. The city policehave made elaborate prepara-tions across Mumbai to ensuresmooth passage of Wednesday’smorcha. Nearly 7,000 trafficpolice personnel will be deployedalong the morcha route.

“There will traffic diver-sions. Important roads will eitherremain closed for traffic or madeone-way, while arterial roads willbe opened to ensure smooth pas-sage for the procession partici-pants,” Deputy Commissioner ofPolice and Mumbai policespokesperson RashmiKarandkiar said.

Jammu: An Indian Army jawanwas targeted by the sharp shoot-ers of the Pakistan Army alongthe Line of Control in KrishnaGhati sector of Poonch when hewas guarding one of the for-ward posts on Tuesday.

The provocative act invit-ed strong Indian retaliation inthe same sector. The grievous-ly injured jawan succumbed tohis fatal injuries before reach-ing the nearby hospital.

However, Defence sourcesin Poonch claimed IndianArmy jawan attained martyr-dom after Pakistan Army ini-tiated ‘unprovoked’ firing onIndian Army posts in KG sec-tor around 2.50 pm.

Indian Army retaliatedstrongly and effectively. In theheavy exchange of fire 21-year-old Pawan Singh was seri-ously injured and succumbedto his fatal injuries. PNS

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In a stunning-but unsubstantiated-claim,a senior Chinese official said on Tuesday

that Bhutan has acknowledged that the Doklam area where the Indian and Chinesetroops are engaged in a standoff does notbelong to it.

China’s top diplomat on the boundaryissue, Wang Wenli, told a visiting Indianmedia delegation that Bhutan has conveyedto Beijing through the diplomatic channelsthat the area of the standoff is not its ter-ritory.

She provided no evidence for theclaim, which is at the complete variancewith Bhutan’s stated position and actions.Bhutan had protested to the Chinese Government, accusing it of vio-lating a bilateral pact after its troops triedto construct a road in the Doklam area onJune 16.

“After the incident, the Bhutanesemade it very clear to us that the place wherethe trespassing happened is not Bhutan’sterritory,” said Wang, who is the DeputyDirector General of the Department ofBoundary and Ocean Affairs of the ChineseForeign Ministry.

She went on to say that “Bhutanese findit very strange that the Indian border troops

are on the Chinese soil,” and implied thather views have been gleaned fromBhutanese state media and legal blogswhich have “more convincing information”.

A statement issued by India’s ExternalAffairs Ministry on June 30 said, “On June16, a PLA (People’s Liberation Army) con-struction party entered the Doklam areaand attempted to construct a road. It is ourunderstanding that a Royal Bhutan Armypatrol attempted to dissuade them fromthis unilateral activity.”

India had also cited the BhutaneseForeign Ministry as emphasising that “theconstruction of the road inside Bhutaneseterritory is a direct violation of the 1988and 1998 agreements between Bhutanand China and affects the process ofdemarcating the boundary between thesetwo countries. They have urged a returnto the status quo as before June 16, 2017.”

India also conveyed to the ChineseGovernment that the road constructionwould represent a significant change ofstatus quo with serious security implications for it. India says both sidesshould first pull back their troops for anytalks to take place.

Wang said Bhutan is observing theactions being taken by both Indian andChinese troops from its territory.

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Nepal’s Deputy Prime MinisterKrishna Bahadur Mahara has

said his country will not take anysides in the ongoing Sikkim stand-off between India and China.

Nepal wants India and China touse “peaceful diplomatic means” toresolve the issue, said Mahara, whois also the Foreign Minister.

“Nepal will not get draggedinto this or that side in the borderdispute,” he told reporters.

“Some media reports areattempting to drag us in favour ofone or the other side, but I want tomake it clear that we have nottaken any side in this matter,”Mahara said.

He said Prime Minister SherBahadur Deuba will pay an officialvisit to India from August 23 to 27and necessary preparations are goingon for the same.

However, detailed itinerary ofthe visit is yet to be finalised,Mahara said. He also told media per-sons that Chinese Vice Premier

Wang Yang will arrive in Nepal onAugust 14 on an official visit.

The Chinese leader’s visit will bedevelopment-centric, and it cannotbe linked with the Prime Minister’s visit to India in any way,he added.

India and China have beenlocked in a standoff in Sikkim sec-tion’s Doklam area since June 16after Chinese troops began con-structing a road near the Bhutan tri-junction.

Bhutan has protested to China,saying the area belonged to it andaccused Beijing of violating agree-ments that aim to maintain the sta-tus quo until the boundary disputeis resolved.

India says the Chinese action tolay the road was unilateral andchanges the status quo. It fears theroad would allow China to cut off India’s access to its north-eastern states.

Doka La is the Indian name forthe region which Bhutan recognis-es as Doklam, while China claims itas part of its Donglang region.

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�� 2 � ParsvnathDevelopers, SQS India, JKumar Infra and PrakashIndustries figure among 331“suspected shell companies”,referred to market regulatorSebi by the Government andfacing probe for alleged taxevasion and other frauds,even as they denied anywrongdoing on their part.

The regulator has askedthe exchanges to restrict trad-ing in shares of 331 suchcompanies, some of whichhave investments by severalwell-known domestic andforeign investors and themove spooked overall marketsentiments on fears aboutpossible action against moresuch firms.

The benchmark Sensexslumped 260 points whilethe Nifty cracked below thecrucial 10,000-mark.

While trading has alreadybeen restricted to just once a

month (on first Monday ofthe month) in shares of 162companies from the list, oth-ers may soon face similar oreven stricter curbs, the regu-latory and market officialssaid.

In addition to the curbsimposed by the capital mar-ket regulator and the stockexchanges, these companiesmay face further actiondepending on the outcome ofthe probes by the income taxdepartment and the SeriousFraud Investigation Office(SFIO), among other agen-cies.

Last month, Pr imeMinister Narendra Modi hadsaid 37,000 shell companiesindulging in tax evasion hadbeen detected and more thanthree lakh firms were underthe scanner for suspiciousdealings, post demonetisa-tion announced in Novemberlast year.

West B engal (127)accounts for the largest num-ber of companies on the listof 331 suspected shell firms,referred by the corporateaffairs ministry to Sebi.

Besides, Gujarat andDelhi also account for a largenumber of such firms, againstwhich the capital market reg-ulator Sebi has recommend-ed trading restrictions by thestock exchanges.

While at least 124 com-panies are believed to beunder scanner for alleged taxevasion, further 175 firmswere being investigated by theSerious Fraud InvestigationOffice (SFIO).

Reacting to Sebi’s action,rea lty f irm ParsvnathDevelopers and SQS IndiaBFSI Ltd expressed shock onfinding their names in the listof suspected shell compa-nies.

Some other companies

from the list also issued state-ments to deny any wrongdo-ing.

“We are shocked to findour company’s name amongstthe list of suspected shellcompanies as a result of

which, our equity shares...Arebeing shifted to GSM VI onthe stock exchanges.

“As a result, our compa-ny’s securities may be tradedonly once in a month on atrade to trade basis and Sebi

has envisaged a “financialaudit” thereby implicitly cas-tigating us and tarnishingour reputation,” ParsvnathDevelopers said in a regula-tor y f i l ing to the stockexchanges.

Parsvnath said that it isnot a shell company by any“stretch of imagination”.

J Kumar Infraprojectssaid it is not a shell companyand suspicion of the regula-tor is uncalled for.

“Our company’s compli-ance track record both withthe exchanges and Registrarof Companies have beenimpeccable”.

The company said thatmajority of its clients consistof Government authoritiesand listed out Delhi Metro,Mumbai Metro and JNPTPort connectivity as some ofthe projects underway.

Prakash Industries saidthat directions issued by Sebi

are “totally devoid of meritand uncalled for. Besides,there has never been a occa-sion when our company hasindulged in any kind of mal-practices in stock market”.

SQS India BFSI Ltd hasexpressed shock that it hasbeen placed under the sur-veillance list even as it hasbeen complying with all thenorms under Companies Actand Sebi regulations.

“... We would provide allthe necessary details andextend all assistance to coop-erate with the authorities andget the matter resolved quick-ly,” the company said.

Pincoin Spirit, also iden-tified under suspected list,categorically stated that thecompany has been followingall the rules and regulationsstipulated under CompaniesAct and Sebi norms.

“We are ready to provideall the necessary information

and extend all cooperation tothe regulator to resolve theissue so that the name of thecompany is excluded from theshell companies list at the ear-liest on merit basis,” it said.

As part of efforts to curbthe black money menace, theCorporate Affairs Ministryhas already cancelled the reg-istration of more than 1.62lakh companies that have notbeen carrying out businessactivities

for long.The ministry is imple-

menting the Companies Actand firms are required to beregistered under this law.

While the term ‘shellcompany’ is not definedunder the Companies Act,Corporate Affairs MinisterArun Jaitley, last month, toldthe Lok Sabha that manysuch entities have been foundto be indulging in large scaletax violations. ��

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Arvind Panagariya, whoabruptly resigned as vice-

chairman of NITI Aayog toresume teaching in the US, onTuesday said he did not know atthe time of joining that his termwill be co-terminus with that ofthe government even as he dis-missed suggestions of two powercentres forcing his exit.

In an interview with thenews agency, Panagariya, 64,cited several examples of howwestern universities are verystringent about not extendingleaves, which is what forced himto return to Columbia Universityat the end of the month eventhough the Prime Minister’sOffice wanted him to continue till2019.

Asked if knew of such ruleswhy did he not make it clear tothe Government about his returnto teaching when he was appoint-ed the first vice chief of the pol-icy body in 2015, he said he wasnot told that his term would run

concurrently with the term ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

“I did not know my tenurewill be co-terminus with theGovernment, how would Iknow? Is there a letter?” he said,adding he accepted the appoint-ment after a phone call camefrom the Prime Minister’s Office.

On the phone, he said he wastold he will be vicechairman and“beyond that I knew nothing. Isaid OK. I want to do this so Iaccepted.”

Panagariya, who took over

the reins of a body that was setup after dismantling the PlanningCommission that used to set five-year growth roadmaps, dismissedreports of any differences ordual power centres in NITIAayog were reasons for his exit.

“No, no, no,” he said, whenasked if the numerous occa-sions NITI Aayog had differ-ence of opinions with otherwings of the Government wasthe reason for his exit.

He also dismissed exis-tence of dual power centres in

NITI Aayog saying, “You goand talk to my staff.”

“You have to ask thosewho are writing those reports... I can only tell you (that) noinstitution can run with two ormore power centres. There hasto be one power centre,” hesaid.

The erstwhile PlanningCommission, like the NITIAayog, was headed by PrimeMinister and had a vice-chair-man. It, however, did not havea CEO.

Also, unlike the lastPlanning Commission vicechairman Montek SinghAhluwalia, Panagariya thoughenjoying cabinet rank, does notattend Cabinet meetings.

Panagariya is scheduled toleave Niti Aayog on August 31and will be succeeded by well-known economist Rajiv Kumar.

“You will have to ask those(who talk of differences beingthe reason). I can only tell youwhat my interaction withPrime Minister was.

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��2�Businesses can startfiling their first tax returnunder the new Goods andServices Tax (GST) regime asthe GST Network has startedthe facility for return filing andpaying taxes on the portal.

“The window for filingGSTR-3B has opened onAugust 5 and is fully function-al now. Taxpayers can log intotheir account at the GST Portaland file their GSTR-3B returnany time. They can also maketax payment using internetbanking at the portal,” GSTNChairman Navin Kumar said.

The GST returns for

July and August will be filed onthe Goods and Services TaxNetwork (GSTN) portal byfilling up GSTR 3B form inwhich the taxpayer needs toprovide consolidated details ofoutward supplies and inputcredit.

The taxpayer has to file asummary of self-assessed lia-bilities, input tax credit (ITC)and details of tax payment.

The last date of the filingthe GSTR-3B for July 2017 isAugust 20, 2017, and the samefor the month of August 2017is September 20.

The GSTN, in a statement

said, that in GSTR-3B a tax-payer has to provide detailsunder three sections.

In the first section, thesummary details of liabilities onoutward supplies and inwardsupplies subject to reversecharge including tax paid onzero-rated supplies are to beprovided. Also, the taxpayerhas to give details of interstatesupplies and the integratedgoods and services tax (IGST)paid.

In the second section, thetaxpayer has to declare self-assessed ITC available, ITCreversals and ineligible ITC.

In the third section, thetaxpayer has to declare thedetails of payment of tax withaccumulated ITC and/or cashavailable in cash ledger.

“The taxpayer is requiredto file his return by electroni-cally signing either using DSC(compulsory for companies) orthrough Electronic VerificationCode (EVC) sent on taxpayer’sregistered mobile,” GSTN said.

Later, when the taxpayerfiles GSTR 1 and GSTR 2, thedetails furnished in GSTR-3Bwould be compared with thedetails generated from the decla-rations in GSTR 1 and GSTR 2

and in case of short payment oftax, the taxpayer will have to payany additional amount alongwith interest through GSTR 3, itadded.

Over 71.30 lakh excise, ser-vice tax and VAT payers havemigrated to the GSTN portal andover 15 lakh new assessees haveregistered on the portal.

The final GST returns for Julywill have to be filed by these busi-nesses by September 5 instead ofAugust 10.

Companies will have to filesale invoice for August with GSTNetwork by September 20 insteadof September 10 earlier. ��

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Bharti Airtel on Tuesday saidit has sold 6.75 crore shares,

about 3.65 per cent stake, in itstower firm Infratel for �2,570crore.

The company sold part ofBharti Infratel equity heldthrough its wholly-owned sub-sidiary Nettle InfrastructureInvestments Limited through asecondary share sale in thestock market, both at BSE andNSE.

“The sale was for a totalconsideration of over �2,570crore and was executed at aprice of �380.6 per share, rep-resenting a discount of 4 percent to the previous day’s clos-ing price,” Bharti Airtel said ina statement.

Bharti Airtel will use theamount realised from the trans-action to lower its debt. Theconsolidated net debt hasdecreased to �87,840 crore at theend of June 2017 from �91,400crore in the previous quarter.

6��2�Infosys co-founderand former UIDAI chairmanNandan Nilekani today swore bybig data, saying it will addressissues of economic growth andjobs and help small businessesavail of loans that have eludedthem so far.

“The fact that we are talkingof using big data is not just sometechnical mumbo-jumbo, it isactually creating a cycle ofinvestment and growth forIndia’s small businesses, whichwill lead to economic growthand jobs,” he told reporters at anevent organised by CII here.

Big data refers to huge com-plex number sets that are noteasily dealt with by traditionalprocessing application software.It faces challenges like capturingdata, storage and data analysis.

Nilekani was asked to assessthe state of the Indian economy,especially in terms of jobs andoverall economic growth, as thecountry is close to celebrating its70th Independence.

“With companies becomingdata rich due to availability ofdigital footprints through GST,

some eight million small busi-nesses in GST will start gettingloans. When they start gettingloans, they will grow and whenthey grow, it will create jobs,”he added.

Small businesses were notgetting loans due to lack of busi-ness data on performance,Nilekani reasoned.

On NPAs, he said theReserve Bank of India is doingits best to address the issueunder RBI Governor Urjit Patel.

To another query, Nilekanisaid it is a necessity to put inplace privacy infrastructure tosecure big data as more andmore people are using it throughmobile phones.

On the issue of having a reg-ulator for data security, Nilekanisaid India is waiting for thereport of the Data ProtectionCommittee headed by formerSupreme Court judge B NSrikrishna, which is lookinginto issues of data security, pri-vacy and sovereignty. ��

��6��2�Steel major Tata Steelon Tuesday said it is optimisticabout prospects of the domes-tic steel sector, and hopes toramp up the production capac-ity of its Kalinganagar plant tocapture growing opportuni-ties.

Addressing shareholdersat the company’s 110th annu-al general meeting here, TataSteel chairman NChandrasekaran said the glob-

al steel demand is expected togrow at 1.3 per cent in 2017 and0.9 per cent in 2018.

The demand for steel inChina will remain flattish whilein Euro zone it will be mildlypositive. Steel demand in thecountry is expected to grow sig-nificantly at 6-7 per cent perannum in the next two years,he said.

“We are optimistic of 2017-18 being a better year for the

domestic steel industry and weare set to capture these oppor-tunities. We will endeavour toramp up our production capac-ity, particularly at Kalinganagar,and leverage our new and dif-ferentiated product range,”Chandrasekaran said.

The plant achieved thefastest ramp-up for a greenfieldproject and it will be an impor-tant growth driver for the com-pany, he said. ��

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6��2� Infosys Co-Founder Nandan Nilekaniconsiders himself lucky to havemissed out on his IIM entranceexam, as he would not havebeen associated with NarayanaMurthy, who built Infosysalong with four other founders.

“I was very fortunate tohave missed my IIM entranceexam.. I was looking for a joband walked into a small com-pany where NarayanaMurthy gave me one.. Weshared a great relationshipthereafter, and then, ofcourse, Infosys began and therest is public history,” he toldat an event organised by CIIhere on Tuesday. ��

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Cheteshwar Pujara has neverbeen known for sledgingopposition batsmen but he is

not averse to the idea if it helps thebowler. "I do make a lot of noisewhile playing FIFA. And these daysyou see I am making a lot of noiseon the field. I am learning the tricksof sledging. If you need to sledge aparticular batsman, you need tosledge. It helps the bowlers," Pujarasaid while interactive session withAjinkya Rahane for bcci.tv.

Talking to each other post their217-run stand, which helped Indiawin the second Test here and there-fore the series, the pillars of India'sbatting in the longest format gave aninsight into their mindset.

People perceive Rahane as areserved individual, which he feelshe is not. "I am not as reserved aspeople think. I like to talk, in fact Ido talk a lot with my wife," quippedRahane during the chat with histeammates.

While they even sledge whenthe need arises, both Rahane andPujara go about their business in acalm and composed manner. Thatnature is something that helps bringout their best on the field.

"I have been a quiet person sincechildhood, maybe it is because of myfamily background. But staying calmhelps a lot on the field, especially inTests. However, I am not as reservedas I used to be," said Rahane beforepointing towards Pujara.

Their conversation then head-ed towards the emphatic win in thesecond Test with both playing a keyrole in taking India past 600. "It wasnot easy with the ball turningaround (playing on a track thatoffered turn and bounce). I wantedto take my time initially. I was visu-alising (in the dressing room) howto play against the spinners. I want-ed to unsettle them," said Rahane.

Rahane also threw light onbecoming an improved slip fielder.

"I remember dropping a lot ofcatches in my early days. It hurt me

and I started working on that aspect.Last time we came to Sri Lanka, Idecided take 100 catches in everysession and I am still working on mycatching," he said.

The chat ended with Pujaratalking about his penchant for thebig hundreds.

"I remember scoring a 300 inmy first U-14 match. It all startedfrom there. I always felt if you want

to win four-day games, you need toscore big runs to win it for yourteam. A 100 is not enough," Pujarasigned off.

C�� 7Sri Lankan cricketers should not

be demoralised by extraneous ele-ments in the social media and geton with the game, Team mentorAravinda de Silva said during a

motivational session here.With Sri Lanka facing flak after

their dismal show in the ongoingTest series, the Cricket Board hereconducted a motivational session onMonday night for the national teamahead of this week's third and finalTest. The injury-marred Sri Lankalost by an innings and 53 runs in lastweek's second Test against India. Thehosts lost the first Test by 304 runs.

They had also suffered a defeatagainst bottom-ranked Zimbabwein a home ODI series, besides mak-ing early exit from the ChampionsTrophy in June.

Young players should "not to bediscouraged by extraneous elementsthat seek to demoralise them viasocial media and gossip sites", for-mer captain de Silva was quoted assaying by a Sri Lanka Cricket state-

ment. Fans ridiculed the Sri Lankanteam after their recent perfor-mances with one post joking that SriLanka had in fact won the secondTest because they had played twoinnings to India's one.

Government Minister Harshade Silva also mocked at the team byposting a picture of himself withIndian skipper saying: "Told ViratKohli #India Cricket to go easy on#SriLanka next Test. 600 a bit toosteep."

Sri Lanka has been goingthrough a difficult phase ever sincethe retirement of senior players,Kumar Sangakkara, MahelaJayawardene and ThilakaratneDilshan.

After Sri Lanka bowed out ofthe Champions Trophy, the playerswere accused of having "pot bellies"

by the country's sports minister.Former skipper Arjuna

Ranatunga also had recently accusedthe team of spot-fixing during thefinals against India in the 2011World Cup.

Sri Lanka Cricket said that theplayers had met with top officialsand coaches yesterday in an attemptto regroup after "facing what is per-ceived to be a slump in their per-formance and ranking."

The board also said it is doingits best to rectify "a series of admin-istrative and strategic missteps overthe past several years."

However, the team has gotsome support from chief selectorSanath Jayasuriya, who urged"everyone to stay focused andremain positive with the 2019 WorldCup as their singular goal".

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India's Ravindra Jadeja onTuesday edged out

Bangladesh's Shakib Al Hasanto claim the top-rank amongall-rounders apart from main-taining pole position in thebowlers' chart in the latest ICCrankings.

Jadeja currently has 438points among the all-rounderswhile Shakib has 431 points.

Cheteshwar Pujara(888 points) gained aplace to be third amongbatsmen while Virat Kohli (813points) maintained his fifth posi-tion. Steve Smith and Joe Root arestill Nos 1 and 2 in the list of batsmen.

The significant gainer is AjinkyaRahane (776 points), who has climbedfive places to sixth in the list. Opener KLRahul is at number 11 with 737 points.

Incidentally, the match which putJadeja on top of the heap is also the onewhere he breached ICC Code of Conductto be handed a one-Test suspension.

In the recently-concluded secondTest, which India won by an innings and

53 runs, Jadeja contributed an unbeat-en 70 and also took seven wickets,

including a five-for.Jadeja also gained nine places to

take 51st rank among batsmen whileIndia's wicketkeeper-batsman

Wriddhiman Saha has attained a career-best 44th position after moving up fourplaces.

In the bowlers' list RavichandranAshwin (842 points) dropped a

place to be third with JimmyAnderson a notch below Jadeja.

Pacers Mohammad Shami(20th) and Umesh Yadav(22nd) have also madenotable gains.

England all-rounder Moeen Ali hasfinished the series against South Africawith a career-best rank of 21 amongbatsmen, 18th among bowlers andfourth in the table for all- rounders.

His rise in the rankings was due toconsistent performances as he becamethe first player to score 250 runs and take25 wickets in a four-Test series.

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Indian women's team fast bowler JhulanGoswami on Tuesday revealed that she

was so upset with her performance in thefirst two matches of the Women's WorldCup, that she asked the coach TusharArothe to "drop" her.

However, Arothe not only backed thelanky pacer from Bengal but also got fullsupport from captain Mithali Raj, andeventually Jhulan turned out to be instru-mental in India's runners-up finish atLord's last month.

"I was very disappointed of my show inthe early stage of the World Cup," Jhulan saidafter being felicitated by Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee at Cricket Association ofBengal's annual awards ceremony at theNetaji Indoor Stadium.

"After the match against the WestIndies, I told my coach Tushar, 'I'm not bowl-ing properly and you can drop me next time.'

But he said 'no, I want you to be there andlead the bowling attack'," the speedsteradded.

Jhulan said the coach's inspiring wordsworked wonders for her as she worked overtime with Mithali and went on to producea gem of a delivery to castle Australia skip-per Meg Lanning for a duck during India'ssplendid 36-run win to oust the defendingchampions in the semi-final.

"Australia match was important for us.They are the best team in the world.Lanning is one of the best cricketers and verystrong square of the wicket. I wanted to makesure to bowl in right areas.

"I told Mithali that I would bowl to herlike I would to Lanning and she would giveme feedbacks. Luckily everything went inour way," the 34-year-old said.

Jhulan was wicketless in first twomatches — 0/39 against England and 0/37against the West Indies — but claimed 10wickets in remaining seven matches.

�� 0��0��

The tune blaring across the stadiumsound system was unmistakable:

"Jamming" by Bob Marley. The flag thewinner paraded around the track wasfamiliar, too: The black, green and goldcross of Jamaica.

That 110-meter hurdler Omar McLeodwas at the center of this celebrationMonday wasn't all that big a surprise. ThatMcLeod was the first from the island to dothe honors at this year's world champi-onships still feels like something of a shock.

The 23-year-old from Kingston didwhat Usain Bolt and Elaine Thompsoncould not the previous nights in the 100meters — namely, powered toward the fin-ish line and left the field behind to bringa gold medal home to a country that hascome to expect nothing less.

"I took it upon myself to reroute thatand bring that spark back," said McLeod,who adds this gold medal to his Olympictitle from last year. "I'm happy I did that."

McLeod won in 13.04 seconds, whilethe world-record holder, American AriesMerritt, finished fifth. It marked the firstdisappointment of the meet for the US Ona straightaway where Justin Gatlin and ToriBowie won the 100 and Christian Colemanfinished second to Gatlin and one spotahead of Bolt.

The US got shut out of the medals inthe 110 hurdles for the first time since theworld championships were first contestedin 1983. That, plus the unlikely notion ofMcLeod, not Bolt, breaking the ice at the

top of the podium for Jamaica wereExhibits 1 and 1a of why they run the races.

"Everyone in the hurdling game is hur-dling well," said Merritt, who was com-peting in his first major competition sincea kidney transplant after the 2015 worlds."The event is much deeper than it has beenin a long time."

Sergey Shubenkov of Russia finished0.1 seconds behind McLeod for the silvermedal, though that prize will go innobody's column.

Shubenkov came in as the defendingworld champion, but was not able to com-pete at the Olympics last year because ofthe doping scandal that has engulfed hiscountry. He is one of 19 Russians cleared

to compete in London this year — his anti-doping regimen judged to be robustenough to return to competition.

But with Russia's track federation stillsuspended, all 19 of the Russians are com-peting as neutral athletes. They are wear-ing aqua, red and pink uniforms with nohint of the Russian flag or any otherRussian symbol.

"Not a big deal," Shubenkov said."There are a lot of people in my hometown,it's 4 or 5am, and they're not sleeping. Itmeans a lot for my family. It means a lotfor every person in my country that waswatching it, supporting me. The color ofthe vest doesn't matter."

�� Nirmala Sheoran produced a forget-

table performance in the women's 400msemifinals to finish among the bottom trioas India's disappointing show in the WorldAthletics Championships continued on thefourth day on Tuesday.

The 22-year-old Nirmala clocked 53.07seconds, well below her season's as well aspersonal best of 51.28, as she finished sev-enth in semifinals heat number two and22nd overall out of total 24 competitors atthe Olympic Stadium here.

Top two from each of the three semi-final heats and two fastest finishers fromthe remaining runners qualify for the final.

Bahrain's Salwa Eid Naser led the fieldgoing in the final with a 50.08 secondseffort while defending champion and RioOlympics silver medallist Allyson Felixclocked the second fastest in 50.12.

�� /� �!� �

Veteran left-arm spinnerRangana Herath has been

ruled out of Sri Lanka's thirdTest against India owing toback pain.

With Sri Lanka alreadylosing the series and a hecticTest season ahead, the teammanagement decided on rest-ing the veteran spinner.

Herath was injured in thefirst Test while fielding butrecovered sufficiently to play inthe second Test.

Herath joins the list ofother Sri Lankan players likeall-rounder Asela Gunaratne,pacers Suranga Lakmal andNuwan Pradeep, who have allbeen ruled out of the series.

In the 39-year-old'sabsence, left-arm spinnerMalinda Pushpakumara will beleading the spin challenge, arole he has been prepared foras and when Herath retires.

Meanwhile, former seam-er Rumesh Ratnayake has beenappointed as the new fast

bowling coach of Sri Lankanteam, its cricket board said onTuesday.

The 53-year-old Ratnayakewill replace ChampakaRamanayake in the nationalteam which is currently facinga whitewash against India athome in a three-match Testseries.

"Sri Lanka Cricket ispleased to announce the

appointment of RumeshRatnayake as the Head of FastBowling for SLC," Sri LankaCricket said in a release.

"Ratnayake will head theNational Fast Bowling pro-gramme, spearheading its tal-ent identification, skills devel-opment and training process-es in cohesion with theNational High Performanceplan."

Ratnayake is known for hisnine-wicket haul against Indiain 1985/86 which resulted inSri Lanka's inaugural Testseries victory against India - aseries in which Ratnayake'smatch bag was 20 wickets.

Ratnayake whose careerwas cut short by injury has ainnings best bowling figure of6/66.

Meanwhile, last night, SriLanka Cricket conducted amotivational session for theirnational team ahead of thisweek's third and final Test.

Sri Lanka faced a barrageof criticism after being beatenby India by an innings and 53runs last Saturday in the sec-ond Test match. The visitorshad defeated Sri Lanka by 304runs in the first Test.

To boost the saggingmorale of the team, formerTest great Aravinda de Silvagave the pep talk and advisedthe team to ignore commentson social media and gossipwebsites and get on with thegame.

��

Anil Kumble has been paid hisdues of close to �1 crore by

the BCCI, marking a closure tohis acrimonious episode as thehead coach of the Indian crick-et team.

The BCCI made the disclo-sure on its official website as partof a monthly exercise of pub-lishing payments above �25 lakh.

Kumble was paid approxi-mately �48.75 lakh each as "pro-fessional fees" for May and June,the Board has claimed.

Kumble had controversiallyquit two days after theChampions Trophy Final lossagainst Pakistan in London inJune, calling his partnershipwith captain Virat Kohli "unten-able".

Ravi Shastri, whom Kumblehad replaced, was called back tothe national team as the newhead coach till the 2019 WorldCup.

Shastri beat the likes ofVirender Sehwag and TomMoody for the high-profile job.

India pacer Ishant Sharma,

who is no more a regular in theTest squad, was also paid close to�1 crore.

The prize money of �45 lakheach too was released to themembers of Indian women'scricket team, which finishedrunner-up to England in theICC World Cup Final.

One time benefit payment of�35 lakh each was released to for-mer India cricketers includingVivek Razdan, Sarandeep Singh,Salil Ankola, Reetinder Sodhi,Yograj Singh and Robin Singh.

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