ˇˆ! ˚˜ !˘ ˛ ! ˝ !˝˘ ˘ %...resume all services with imme-diate effect. continued on page 4...

12
A mid rising political uncer- tainty, fear and panic across the Valley, the Opposition here has come together to warn the Centre against any move to tinker with the special status of the State. Staunch political rivals assembled in the lawns of Farooq Abdullah’s fortified Gupkar road residence and sent an unequivocal message that when it came to protecting the special status enjoyed by the State, they stood shoulder to shoulder. Burying their own political differences, the representatives of mainstream political parties along with the Congress resolved to protect and defend the identity, autonomy and the special status of the State against all attacks and onslaughts — whatsoever. After chairing the all-party meeting, National Conference president and Member of Parliament from Srinagar, Farooq Abdullah, flanked by PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti and PDP patron Muzaffar Hussain Baig, told reporters, “During the all-party meeting it was unanimously resolved that all the parties, will be unit- ed in their resolve to protect and defend the identity, auton- omy and the special status of the State against all attacks and onslaughts what so ever”. Reading out the text of the resolution passed during the meeting he said, “Modification, abrogation of Article 35-A, 370, delimitation or trifurcation of the State would be an aggres- sion against the people of Jammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.” Ironically, there was no reference on the prevailing security situation emerging along the Line of Control due to regular incidents of “unpro- voked” ceasefire violations by the Pakistan army. Farooq Abdullah also said the political parties in this meeting resolved to seek audi- ence with the President of India, the Prime Minister and also other leaders of the polit- ical parties to apprise them of the current situation and make an appeal to them to safeguard the legitimate interest of the people with regard to the con- stitutional guarantees given to the State by the Constitution of our country.” “The political representa- tives will also apprise them of the ‘unwholesome’ conse- quences, both short and long term, bound to follow the ‘unconstitutional’ violation of these guarantees. The repre- sentatives of the political par- ties also resolved to remain united and stand together for safeguarding the identity, autonomy and special status of the State. The all-party meet was also attended by former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, senior National Conference leaders and party MP’s Mohd Akbar Lone, Justice (Retd) Hasnain Masoodi, Mohd Ali Sagar and Congress was repre- sented by former Cabinet Minister Taj Mohi-ud-Din, Sajjad Lone and Imran Raza Ansari of Peoples Conference, Shah Faesal Chairman of Peoples’ United Front, Muzaffar Ahmad Shah, President of Awami National Conference. Farooq Abdullah also appealed to the people of Jammu & Kashmir to keep peace and calm in the Valley. “I also appeal to both the countries, India & Pakistan not to take any step that may accelerate the tension between the two countries,” he said. The situation remained tense in the Valley and former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan, who is the mentor of Jammu & Kashmir State teams, along with age-group aspirants, left for their respective homes after ongoing Under-16 and Under- 19 trials in Srinagar have been postponed due to prevailing security situation in the Valley. The State administration has issued an advisory for all tourists and Amarnath Yatris to leave the Valley due to a poten- tial terror threat. Pathan was in Srinagar to oversee the trials for the U-16 (Vijay Merchant Trophy) and U-19 (Cooch Behar Trophy) and prune the list of probables. “We have for the time being postponed the second phase of junior team trials. We had the first phase from June to July. This was the second phase. However since there has been a Government advi- sory, I had a meeting with Jammu & Kashmir Cricket Association (JKCA) CEO Bukhari and administrator Justice Prasad. Continued on Page 4 F ollowing the assurance of Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan, the resident doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) called off their four-day long strike on Sunday. However, the Safdarjung resident doctors are yet to resume non-essential services. The move came after the Health Minister assured the delegation of Resident Doctors’ Associations (RDA) of AIIMS and Safdarjung hospital that their concerns over the National Medical Commission (NMC) Bill will be duly addressed. In a communique to the AIIMS director, the RDA said during a meeting, the Union Minister assured them of addressing their concerns while drafting the regulations of the NMC. The Minister also told them that the representatives of the AIIMS RDA and students’ union will be consulted while drafting the regulations of the commission. “The Health Minister explained the objectives of bringing NMC Bill 2019 at length and assured us that the apprehensions... Will be duly addressed while drafting the regulations by the NMC once it is constituted,” the AIIMS RDA said in the communique. It referred to section 14 (1) para (2), admissions into undergraduate courses at AIIMS New Delhi, section 15(5) admissions into AIIMS New Delhi vide Exit Test and section 32 (Community Health Providers). “We were also assured by the Minister that representatives of RDA and students unions AIIMS (New Delhi) will be consulted before framing of regulations of the NMC bill under section 57 of the Bill,” the AIIMS RDA said. “In this regard, a GBM of RDA-AIIMS was convened and its executive committee con- veyed that decision of with- drawing on the strike and resuming of all services by the resident doctors with immedi- ate effect,” read the letter. “If the Bill cannot be amended in the present situa- tion, it was also requested that as per section 4 (3) (g) Director AIIMS, New Delhi should be made ex-offico member of the NMC at least in its 1st term,” read the letter. Dr Harsh Vardhan tweet- ed, “Today morning, I have met RDA representatives of Safdarjung and AIIMS. I have clarified their doubts and mis- understanding related to NMC bill. I have explained to doctors that NMC Bill is one of the biggest reform in the medical education sector which is would a blessing for 130 crore population of the country.” “I have appealed doctors to call off the strike so that patients should not get any dif- ficulty in availing healthcare facilities,” the Health Minister tweeted. After a governing body meeting of the RDA AIIMS, the executive committee decid- ed to withdraw the strike and resume all services with imme- diate effect. Continued on Page 4 A fter a series of desertions by party leaders and los- ing the coalition Government in Karnataka, the Congress has finally decided to convene the crucial Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting this weekend to find a suc- cessor to Rahul Gandhi to lead the party. The party on Sunday announced that CWC will meet on August 10 and sources said finding a new party chief is in top on the agenda. The meet- ing would be the first since Rahul had announced his deci- sion to quit as the party chief. The meeting comes after several top party leaders such as Shashi Tharoor, Amarinder Singh, Anil Shahstri, Karan Singh amongst others voiced concern over lack of clarity over the leadership issue and opined that Priyanka Gandhi was the need of the hour. Priyanka has said she is not ready to take the baton since she was newer to the party as compared to her sibling Rahul, who has ruled out the possibility of a Gandhi family member succeeding him Karan Singh on Sunday said Priyanka will be a “unify- ing force” and will enthuse cadres if she takes on the man- tle of party president. Last month, Singh had said he was “aghast” at the disorientation into which the party has fallen following Rahul’s resignation, and urged the working com- mittee to meet immediately under the chairmanship of for- mer prime minister Manmohan Singh and take necessary decisions. Continued on Page 4 T wo separate mass shootings within 24 hours left 30 people dead and several others injured in the US States of Texas and Ohio, including one thought to be a hate crime, the latest in a string of such inci- dents in America that have shocked the nation. The first shooting took place in the southern border town of El Paso in Texas, where a 21-year-old gunman opened fire at a crowded Walmart store, killing 20 people and wounding 26 others on Saturday. Hours later, a man killed nine people before being shot dead by police in Oregon dis- trict, a historic neighbourhood known for its nightclubs, bars, art galleries and shops, in Dayton, Ohio early Sunday, police said. “The shooter is deceased. There are 9 others also deceased. At least 16 oth- ers went to area hospitals with injuries,” Dayton police said. At least 26 others were injured, said Dayton Mayor. Detailed report on P12 A round two lakh jobs have been cut across automobile dealerships in India in the last three months as vehicle retail- ers take the last resort of cut- ting manpower to tide over the impact of the unprecedented sales slump, according to industry body FADA. With no immediate signs of recovery, the Federation of Automobile Dealers Associations (FADA) feared that the job cuts may continue with more showrooms being shut in the near future and sought immediate Government intervention such as reduc- tion of GST to provide relief to the auto industry. “The majority of job cuts have happened in the last three months...It started around May and continued through June and July,” FADA President Ashish Harsharaj Kale told PTI. He further said, “Right now most of the cuts which have happened are in front-end sales jobs but if this (slowdown) continues, then even the tech- nical jobs will be affected because if we are selling less then we will also service less, so it is a cycle.” When asked how many jobs have been cut across the dealerships in India, he said, “Close to about two lakh.” “It is a guesstimate that our members have already cut 7-8 per cent of the jobs in most of the dealerships as the degrowth has been very high,” he added. Around 2.5 million people were employed directly through around 26,000 auto- mobile showrooms operated by 15,000 dealers. Another 2.5 million are indirectly employed in the dealership ecosystem, he added. The two lakh jobs cuts in the last three months are over and above the 32,000 people who lost employment when 286 showrooms were closed across 271 cities in the 18- month period ended April this year, he added. Stating that more dealer- ships have closed in the past three months, Kale said, “We are collating the figures again...In a few cases some (dealers) have gone for closure of outlets, not the main outlets but those which were put up anticipating some geographic reach.” Elaborating reasons for taking the drastic step of cut- ting jobs, he said the ‘margin of error’ in the business in the past few years has really gone down with cost almost doubling in the last three to four years. “The margin that we earn overall as a business has not gone up. Therefore, if we go into a degrowth situation we get into cash loss. So to avoid that, dealers have been cutting down on costs other than man- power...Till March this year none of the dealers went for any manpower correction because we thought this was a tempo- rary slowdown and it will soon recover,” he said. However, he said, “The way the first quarter has panned out despite good elec- tion results and the Budget, the degrowth continued. It is clear now that a proper slowdown has hit us. Now dealers have resorted to cutting manpower.” Terming manpower as ‘the most precious resource of deal- ers’, Kale said, “That is the last thing we try to cut down. When the slowdown started we first decided that we should go for stock reduction. Most of OEMs have supported us. While cutting other variable expenses that we can, we did not touch manpower till March and almost mid-April.” Continued on Page 4 A t a time when Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) Chief and former Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti is busy forging unity among mainstream political parties in Kashmir, the Anti- Corruption Bureau (ACB) has asked her to explain her posi- tion before it regarding the ille- gal appointments in Jammu and Kashmir Bank. The ACB is currently investigating complaints of financial irregularities and ille- gal appointments in the Jammu and Kashmir Bank. Continued on Page 4 A fter fuelling hopes and frenzy about taking some spectacular decision on the status of Jammu & Kashmir, curtailing Amarnath Yatra, and deploying thousands of troops in the Valley, the Modi Government is expected to discuss its option to deal with the troubled State in a crucial Cabinet meeting on Monday morning. Ahead of that meeting, Home Minister Amit Shah chaired a high-level security and intelligence meet on Sunday. The hour-long meet- ing was attended by National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, Union Home Secretary Rajiv Gauba and other senior offi- cials. The additional secre- tary of Jammu & Kashmir also met Shah. While senior officials were tightlipped about the outcome of the high-level meeting that took place in Parliament com- plex, it is understood that the situation in Kashmir and strategies to tackle it was dis- cussed in threadbare. The possibility of the Union Cabinet taking some important decisions on Kashmir seemed very much on the cards with Prime Minister Narendra Modi telling his party MPs to be pre- sent in Parliament from Monday to Wednesday. Modi was addressing them at the end of the two-day conclave of the BJP MPs. Continued on Page 4 RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

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Page 1: ˇˆ! ˚˜ !˘ ˛ ! ˝ !˝˘ ˘ %...resume all services with imme-diate effect. Continued on Page 4 ... Karan Singh on Sunday said Priyanka will be a “unify-ing force” and will

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Amid rising political uncer-tainty, fear and panic

across the Valley, theOpposition here has cometogether to warn the Centreagainst any move to tinkerwith the special status of theState.

Staunch political rivalsassembled in the lawns ofFarooq Abdullah’s fortifiedGupkar road residence andsent an unequivocal messagethat when it came to protectingthe special status enjoyed by theState, they stood shoulder toshoulder.

Burying their own politicaldifferences, the representativesof mainstream political partiesalong with the Congressresolved to protect and defendthe identity, autonomy and thespecial status of the Stateagainst all attacks andonslaughts — whatsoever.

After chairing the all-partymeeting, National Conferencepresident and Member ofParliament from Srinagar,Farooq Abdullah, flanked byPDP chief Mehbooba Muftiand PDP patron MuzaffarHussain Baig, told reporters,“During the all-party meetingit was unanimously resolvedthat all the parties, will be unit-ed in their resolve to protectand defend the identity, auton-omy and the special status ofthe State against all attacks andonslaughts what so ever”.

Reading out the text of theresolution passed during themeeting he said, “Modification,abrogation of Article 35-A,370, delimitation or trifurcationof the State would be an aggres-sion against the people ofJammu, Kashmir and Ladakh.”

Ironically, there was noreference on the prevailingsecurity situation emergingalong the Line of Control dueto regular incidents of “unpro-voked” ceasefire violations bythe Pakistan army.

Farooq Abdullah also saidthe political parties in thismeeting resolved to seek audi-ence with the President ofIndia, the Prime Minister andalso other leaders of the polit-ical parties to apprise them ofthe current situation and makean appeal to them to safeguardthe legitimate interest of thepeople with regard to the con-stitutional guarantees given tothe State by the Constitution ofour country.”

“The political representa-

tives will also apprise them ofthe ‘unwholesome’ conse-quences, both short and longterm, bound to follow the‘unconstitutional’ violation ofthese guarantees. The repre-sentatives of the political par-ties also resolved to remainunited and stand together forsafeguarding the identity,autonomy and special status ofthe State.

The all-party meet wasalso attended by former ChiefMinister Omar Abdullah,

senior National Conferenceleaders and party MP’s MohdAkbar Lone, Justice (Retd)Hasnain Masoodi, Mohd AliSagar and Congress was repre-sented by former CabinetMinister Taj Mohi-ud-Din,Sajjad Lone and Imran RazaAnsari of Peoples Conference,Shah Faesal Chairman ofPeoples’ United Front,Muzaffar Ahmad Shah,President of Awami NationalConference.

Farooq Abdullah alsoappealed to the people ofJammu & Kashmir to keeppeace and calm in the Valley.

“I also appeal to both thecountries, India & Pakistannot to take any step that mayaccelerate the tension betweenthe two countries,” he said.

The situation remainedtense in the Valley and formerIndia all-rounder Irfan Pathan,who is the mentor of Jammu &Kashmir State teams, alongwith age-group aspirants, leftfor their respective homes afterongoing Under-16 and Under-19 trials in Srinagar have beenpostponed due to prevailingsecurity situation in the Valley.

The State administrationhas issued an advisory for alltourists and Amarnath Yatris toleave the Valley due to a poten-tial terror threat.

Pathan was in Srinagar tooversee the trials for the U-16(Vijay Merchant Trophy) andU-19 (Cooch Behar Trophy)and prune the list of probables.

“We have for the timebeing postponed the secondphase of junior team trials. Wehad the first phase from Juneto July. This was the secondphase. However since therehas been a Government advi-sory, I had a meeting withJammu & Kashmir CricketAssociation (JKCA) CEOBukhari and administratorJustice Prasad.

Continued on Page 4

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Following the assurance ofUnion Health Minister

Harsh Vardhan, the residentdoctors of All India Institute ofMedical Sciences (AIIMS)called off their four-day longstrike on Sunday. However,the Safdarjung resident doctorsare yet to resume non-essentialservices.

The move came after theHealth Minister assured thedelegation of Resident Doctors’Associations (RDA) of AIIMSand Safdarjung hospital thattheir concerns over theNational Medical Commission(NMC) Bill will be dulyaddressed.

In a communique to theAIIMS director, the RDA saidduring a meeting, the UnionMinister assured them ofaddressing their concerns whiledrafting the regulations of theNMC. The Minister also toldthem that the representatives ofthe AIIMS RDA and students’union will be consulted whiledrafting the regulations of thecommission.

“The Health Ministerexplained the objectives ofbringing NMC Bill 2019 atlength and assured us that theapprehensions... Will be dulyaddressed while drafting theregulations by the NMC onceit is constituted,” the AIIMSRDA said in the communique.

It referred to section 14 (1)para (2), admissions intoundergraduate courses atAIIMS New Delhi, section15(5) admissions into AIIMSNew Delhi vide Exit Test andsection 32 (Community Health

Providers). “We were alsoassured by the Minister thatrepresentatives of RDA andstudents unions AIIMS (NewDelhi) will be consulted beforeframing of regulations of theNMC bill under section 57 ofthe Bill,” the AIIMS RDA said.“In this regard, a GBM ofRDA-AIIMS was convened andits executive committee con-veyed that decision of with-drawing on the strike andresuming of all services by theresident doctors with immedi-ate effect,” read the letter.

“If the Bill cannot beamended in the present situa-tion, it was also requested thatas per section 4 (3) (g) DirectorAIIMS, New Delhi should bemade ex-offico member of theNMC at least in its 1st term,”read the letter.

Dr Harsh Vardhan tweet-ed, “Today morning, I have metRDA representatives ofSafdarjung and AIIMS. I haveclarified their doubts and mis-understanding related to NMCbill. I have explained to doctorsthat NMC Bill is one of thebiggest reform in the medicaleducation sector which iswould a blessing for 130 crorepopulation of the country.”

“I have appealed doctors tocall off the strike so thatpatients should not get any dif-ficulty in availing healthcarefacilities,” the Health Ministertweeted.

After a governing bodymeeting of the RDA AIIMS,the executive committee decid-ed to withdraw the strike andresume all services with imme-diate effect.

Continued on Page 4

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After a series of desertionsby party leaders and los-

ing the coalition Governmentin Karnataka, the Congresshas finally decided to convenethe crucial Congress WorkingCommittee (CWC) meetingthis weekend to find a suc-cessor to Rahul Gandhi to leadthe party.

The party on Sundayannounced that CWC will meeton August 10 and sources saidfinding a new party chief is intop on the agenda. The meet-ing would be the first sinceRahul had announced his deci-sion to quit as the party chief.

The meeting comes afterseveral top party leaders suchas Shashi Tharoor, AmarinderSingh, Anil Shahstri, KaranSingh amongst others voicedconcern over lack of clarity overthe leadership issue and opinedthat Priyanka Gandhi was theneed of the hour. Priyanka hassaid she is not ready to take the

baton since she was newer tothe party as compared to hersibling Rahul, who has ruledout the possibility of a Gandhifamily member succeeding him

Karan Singh on Sundaysaid Priyanka will be a “unify-ing force” and will enthusecadres if she takes on the man-tle of party president. Lastmonth, Singh had said he was“aghast” at the disorientationinto which the party has fallenfollowing Rahul’s resignation,and urged the working com-mittee to meet immediatelyunder the chairmanship of for-mer prime ministerManmohan Singh and takenecessary decisions.

Continued on Page 4

���� 78���8.953�7(. �8.

Two separate mass shootingswithin 24 hours left 30

people dead and several othersinjured in the US States ofTexas and Ohio, including onethought to be a hate crime, thelatest in a string of such inci-dents in America that haveshocked the nation.

The first shooting tookplace in the southern bordertown of El Paso in Texas, wherea 21-year-old gunman openedfire at a crowded Walmartstore, killing 20 people andwounding 26 others onSaturday.

Hours later, a man killednine people before being shotdead by police in Oregon dis-trict, a historic neighbourhoodknown for its nightclubs, bars,art galleries and shops, inDayton, Ohio early Sunday,police said. “The shooter isdeceased. There are 9 othersalso deceased. At least 16 oth-ers went to area hospitals withinjuries,” Dayton police said.

At least 26 others wereinjured, said Dayton Mayor.

Detailed report on P12

���� .$5�0$67(�

Around two lakh jobs havebeen cut across automobile

dealerships in India in the lastthree months as vehicle retail-ers take the last resort of cut-ting manpower to tide over theimpact of the unprecedentedsales slump, according toindustry body FADA.

With no immediate signsof recovery, the Federation ofAutomobile DealersAssociations (FADA) fearedthat the job cuts may continuewith more showrooms beingshut in the near future andsought immediate Governmentintervention such as reduc-tion of GST to provide relief tothe auto industry.

“The majority of job cutshave happened in the last threemonths...It started around Mayand continued through Juneand July,” FADA PresidentAshish Harsharaj Kale toldPTI.

He further said, “Right

now most of the cuts whichhave happened are in front-endsales jobs but if this (slowdown)continues, then even the tech-nical jobs will be affectedbecause if we are selling lessthen we will also service less, soit is a cycle.”

When asked how manyjobs have been cut across thedealerships in India, he said,“Close to about two lakh.”

“It is a guesstimate that ourmembers have already cut 7-8per cent of the jobs in most ofthe dealerships as the degrowthhas been very high,” he added.

Around 2.5 million peoplewere employed directlythrough around 26,000 auto-mobile showrooms operated by15,000 dealers. Another 2.5million are indirectly employedin the dealership ecosystem, headded.

The two lakh jobs cuts inthe last three months are overand above the 32,000 peoplewho lost employment when286 showrooms were closed

across 271 cities in the 18-month period ended April thisyear, he added.

Stating that more dealer-ships have closed in the pastthree months, Kale said, “Weare collating the figuresagain...In a few cases some(dealers) have gone for closureof outlets, not the main outletsbut those which were put upanticipating some geographic

reach.”Elaborating reasons for

taking the drastic step of cut-ting jobs, he said the ‘margin oferror’ in the business in the pastfew years has really gone downwith cost almost doubling inthe last three to four years.

“The margin that we earnoverall as a business has notgone up. Therefore, if we gointo a degrowth situation we

get into cash loss. So to avoidthat, dealers have been cuttingdown on costs other than man-power...Till March this yearnone of the dealers went for anymanpower correction becausewe thought this was a tempo-rary slowdown and it will soonrecover,” he said.

However, he said, “Theway the first quarter haspanned out despite good elec-tion results and the Budget, thedegrowth continued. It is clearnow that a proper slowdownhas hit us. Now dealers haveresorted to cutting manpower.”

Terming manpower as ‘themost precious resource of deal-ers’, Kale said, “That is the lastthing we try to cut down.When the slowdown started wefirst decided that we should gofor stock reduction. Most ofOEMs have supported us.While cutting other variableexpenses that we can, we didnot touch manpower till Marchand almost mid-April.”

Continued on Page 4

������������� ���������������������������������������� ������������������������������ ������������������ ������������������������� ����������������������������� ������������������� � �

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At a time when Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP)

Chief and former ChiefMinister Mehbooba Mufti isbusy forging unity amongmainstream political partiesin Kashmir, the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) hasasked her to explain her posi-tion before it regarding the ille-gal appointments in Jammuand Kashmir Bank.

The ACB is currentlyinvestigating complaints offinancial irregularities and ille-gal appointments in the Jammuand Kashmir Bank.

Continued on Page 4

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After fuelling hopes andfrenzy about taking some

spectacular decision on thestatus of Jammu & Kashmir,curtailing Amarnath Yatra,and deploying thousands oftroops in the Valley, the ModiGovernment is expected todiscuss its option to deal withthe troubled State in a crucialCabinet meeting on Mondaymorning.

Ahead of that meeting,Home Minister Amit Shahchaired a high-level securityand intelligence meet onSunday. The hour-long meet-ing was attended by NationalSecurity Adviser Ajit Doval,Union Home Secretary RajivGauba and other senior offi-cials. The additional secre-tary of Jammu & Kashmiralso met Shah.

While senior officials were

tightlipped about the outcomeof the high-level meeting thattook place in Parliament com-plex, it is understood that thesituation in Kashmir andstrategies to tackle it was dis-cussed in threadbare.

The possibility of theUnion Cabinet taking someimportant decisions onKashmir seemed very muchon the cards with PrimeMinister Narendra Moditelling his party MPs to be pre-sent in Parliament fromMonday to Wednesday. Modiwas addressing them at theend of the two-day conclave ofthe BJP MPs.

Continued on Page 4

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After Union Civil AviationMinister Hardeep Singh

Puri advice to cap on airfare toand from Srinagar, the nation-al carrier Air India on Sundayannounced reduction of faresfor flights in and out ofSrinagar, with Srinagar-Delhitickets priced at Rs 6,715 andDelhi-Srinagar at Rs 6,899 tillAugust 15.

The fare drop came barelyan hour after the Air India saidit is capping ticket prices to andfrom Srinagar at Rs 9,500 tillIndependence Day in view ofthe prevailing situation inJammu & Kashmir. Puri hasasked all the Airlines to rein inthe surging Air Fares for pil-grims returning fromAmarnath dham.

According to informationgiven by Air India, if a passen-ger cancels his flight from

Srinagar before August 15 orchanges the date of his journey,he/she will be given a fullrefund for his ticket and nocharge will be imposed in caseof a change made in travel dates.

Despite the Director-General of Civil Aviation(DGCA) directives not toincrease airfare to/fromSrinagar, airfares have surgedvery steeply after the StateGovernment asked Amarnath

Yatra pilgrims and othertourists to cut short their stayand return amid threats of ter-ror attack in the region.

Domestic airlines IndiGo,SpiceJet, GoAir and AirAsiahave hiked their fares betweenthe Rs 10,000 to Rs 20,000range. The usual rates onSrinagar-Delhi route are Rs3,000-3500. Moreover, flightsfrom Srinagar to Jammu havealso spiked up to Rs 16,000.

Also, as per the web portalsof all domestic airlines of theSrinagar route, most of the tick-ets have been sold out.

The Kashmir Governmenthad on Friday issued an advi-sory asking Yatris and touriststo return home as soon as pos-sible. “Unnecessary panic isbeing created by linking this toall kinds of other issues. A puresecurity measure is beingmixed up with issues with

which it has no connection.That is the cause of the panic,”a notice from the HomeSecretary and the DivisionalCommissioner had said.

On Friday, the DGCAasked airlines to operate extraflights to and from Srinagar tofly out Amarnath pilgrimsfrom the valley. Airlines suchas Air India, IndiGo andVistara announced that giventhe turmoil, they were tem-porarily waiving off cancella-tion and rescheduling chargesfor flights to and from Jammu& Kashmir. Vistara, GoAir andIndiGo have waived off can-cellation and reschedulingcharge fee for flights to orfrom Jammu & Kashmir tillAugust 9.Air India also took toTwitter announcing that it willgive a full fee waiver onrescheduling or cancellationfor all flights to or fromSrinagar till August 15.

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The Centre plans to open an“Uphaar Sangrahalaya”

(Gift Museum) where all theGovernment functionaries willbe bound to deposit the giftsthey receive while dischargingtheir duties. The guidelines tothis effect have been framedand the same are expected to beshortly notified.

IAS and IPS officers haveto take prior permission fromthe Government before accept-ing gifts valuing more than Rs5,000. The bureaucrats are evenrequired to inform theGovernment if they acceptgifts of over Rs 25,000 fromtheir relatives or friends.

As of now, the PrimeMinister, his Council OfMinisters and senior officersare bound to deposit the giftsthey receive in foreign coun-tries in the Government’s trea-sure trove — Toshkhana.

According to the draft rulesprepared by the Ministry ofFinance and circulated to allministries and departments, astrong room called UpaharSangrahalaya would be estab-lished in the office of theController General of Accountswhere Government func-tionaries will be bound todeposit the gifts they receivefrom “domestic/unknown”sources. These rules will applyto every person appointed to acivil service or posts (includinga civilian in Defence Service) inconnection with the affairs ofthe Union Government.

The proposal states thatthat the officers should notaccept any gift in case wheresanction of the Government isrefused under the Central CivilServices (Conduct) Rules. Incase the gifts have been accept-ed by the Government func-

tionary and sanction for thesame is refused later on, thesame have to be deposited in thetreasure wallet. But the giftsreceived by the Governmentfunctionaries from near relativesand friends under the specifiedrules need not to be depositedwith the Upahar Sangrahalay.

The decision regarding dis-posal of articles deposited in theUphaar Sangrrahalay willreportedly be taken by the JointController General of Accounts(Administration) of the strongroom. All articles received in theUpahar Sangrahalay will report-edly be valued at the earliest bya board consisting of the JointController General of Accounts,Deputy Controller General andAccounts Officer of theAdministration in consultationwith the Customs Appraiser.And the value assessed by theBoard would be treated as thefair price of the articles.

The proposal said, “UpaharSangrahalay articles such asjewellery etc which are not like-ly to be required for use or fordisplay as laid down in Rule 14of these rules, may be sold attheir book value to anybody(an individual, a firm, a com-pany or an association of per-sons), by Accounts Officer(Administration) Where anarticle has been in the UpaharSangrahalay for more than twoyears, it should be re-valued bythe Board before it is sold bythe Accounts Officer.”

The proposal said the assis-tance of the a Scheduled Bankwould be necessary for dispos-al of gold and diamond articlesand approval of the Boardshould be obtained in caseswhere it is proposed to sell arti-cles at reduced price. It said arti-cles which are neither neededfor any presentation or dispos-al should be sold by e-auction.

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Delayed and deficient mon-soon have raised concerns

over the outlook for agricultureyields, food prices and rural sen-timents. As per the InvestmentInformation and Credit RatingAgency (ICRA) report on‘South West Monsoon 2019-Update’, the overall volume ofrainfall during June-July 2019was considerably below normal,at 90.8 per cent of Long PeriodAverage (LPA), led primarily bythe significant shortfall record-ed in June 2019. Weak El Ninoconditions over Pacific Oceancoupled with cyclone Vayu inArabian sea impeded theprogress.

While the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD)’s latest data, Indiarecorded 453.3 mm rainfall asagainst the normal of 489.3mm, a deficiency of 7 percentso far. As many as 12 sub divi-sions are faced deficient rain-fall across the country. IMD

expects normal monsoon inAugust and September due tofavourable weather conditions.

According to ICRA, nnterms of the major regions,substantial deficit was record-ed in the case of the SouthPeninsula (19 per cent belowLPA), as on July 31, 2019.Moreover, the deficit stood at11 per cent below LPA, 8 percent below LPA and 5 per centbelow LPA, respectively, in thecase of the North-East India,North-West India and CentralIndia. “As many as 14 subdivi-sions received deficient rainfall-- Gangetic West Bengal;Jharkhand; West Uttar Pradesh;Uttarakhand; Haryana,Chandigarh and Delhi;Himachal Pradesh; Odisha;Gujarat region; Saurashtra andKutch; Marathwada; Telangana;Tamil Nadu, Puducherry andKaraikal; South InteriorKarnataka; and Kerala andMahe,” the ICRA said.

“Notwithstanding sub-stantial weekly variation 19

subdivisions received normalprecipitation on a cumulativebasis till July 31, 2019, where-as three subdivisions recordedexcess rainfall,” it said. This islikely to have an adverse impacton agricultural output andincomes in those regions.Moreover, some districts inAssam and Bihar have report-ed heavy flooding in the recentweeks, which may also damp-en the outlook of crop outputin these areas.

“This is likely to have anadverse impact on agricultur-al output and incomes in these

regions. Moreover, some dis-tricts in Assam and Bihar havereported heavy flooding in therecent weeks which may alsodampen the outlook of cropoutput in these areas,” saidICRA adding that temporaldistribution has beenunfavourable with a low 26 percent of instances of normalrainfall across the sub-divi-sions on a weekly basis.

As per AgricultureMinistry’s latest data, area sownto almost all kharif (summer)crops was lagging so far due todeficit rains and floods, with rice

acreage at only 223.5 lakhhectare and pulses in 105.14 lakhhectare. As per the AgricultureMinistry’s latest ministry data,rice — the main kharif crop —has been planted in 223.53 lakhhectare so far in the currentkharif season of the 2019-20crop year (July-June), downfrom 255.48 lakh hectare a yearago. Sowing of kharif cropsbegin with the onset of south-west monsoon and harvestingfrom October onwards.

Similarly, acreage of puls-es was down at 105.14 lakhhectare as against 113.74 lakhhectare, while that of coarsecereals at 136.17 lakh hectare asagainst 145.16 lakh hectare inthe said period.

The coverage of oilseedswas also less so far as 149.49 lakhhectare was covered so far thiskharif season when comparedwith 157.39 lakh hectare a yearago. Among cash crops, areaunder sugarcane and juteremained lower, while cottonacreage remained higher so far.

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Realising that ‘handing overthe control’ of unruly Delhi

Zoo, also known as NationalZoological Park to the CentralZoo Authority (CZA) will notbe an easy affair, the UnionEnvironment Ministry is nowmulling various options —from transferring it to theDelhi Government to bringingit under the ambit of a society— for its better management.

The Delhi Zoo is the onlyzoo in the country under theMinistry however followingallegation of rampant mis-management and irregulari-ties in animal record, it haddecided to handover it to thestatutory body, CZA.

Sources in the Ministryadmitted that while in a bid toget ‘rid’ of the Delhi Zoo fol-lowing various reports of finan-

cial mismanagement andadministrative irregularities,the Ministry may have hastilyannounced its plans to han-dover the management to theCZA, but now it has dawnedupon it that such a step is fullof legal complications.

“For instance, operationof the zoo (Delhi Zoo) by theCZA will amount to conflict ofinterest,” as being regulatorybody, direct control in respectof Delhi zoo would interferewith efficient and unbiasedperformance of regulatory roleof CZA in respect of matterconcerning to Delhi Zoo,” saidthe sources.

They cited certain provi-sions under the WildlifeProtection Act 1972, whichdoes not allow the CZA tooperate a zoo. As per the sub-section (A) of Sec 38 C theCZA has to lay down standards

and norms in operation ofzoos. “And since CZA has toregulate operation and man-agement of zoos and has been

assigned a regulatory func-tion, the CZA cannot operatea zoo,” they pointed out.

Not only this, said the

sources, the CZA officials willhave to delegate powers by thegovernment to exercise powersfor establishment matters of theDelhi Zoo.

Formation of a society isanother option. But it meanslots of homework to be donebefore that can happen. Theyexplained,” the formation of thesociety for management of theDelhi Zoo and its registrationshall involve lots of works likepreparation of bye-laws of thesociety, legal vetting, concur-rence of the Ministry ofFinance followed by consulta-tion and preparation of thenote for approval of theGovernment.

“All of these works are jobof the Wildlife Division and notof the CZA.” The last option willbe to ask the Delhi Governmentto operate Delhi Zoo, which thesources said would be in con-

formity with the provisions ofthe Wildlife (Protection) Act,1972. However, given thestrained relations between theBJP-led Centre and the KejriwalGovernment in Delhi, the trans-fer to the later will, in most like-lihood, might not happensmoothly.

Delhi Zoo from time totime had been in the news forall the wrong reasons. InJanuary 8, 2019, in an explosiveaffidavit filed before the DelhiHigh Court, a panel led by thenCZA member secretary DNSingh (who is retired now),pointed out several irregulari-ties such as fudging of animaldeath data, not carrying post-mortem in case of unnaturalanimal death, concealing ofanimal deaths, and mysteriousnature of deaths among others.The panel had sought actionagainst the erring officials.

New Delhi: Israel greeted Indiaon friendship day with a Twittermessage that featured the song‘yeh dosti’ from Bollywoodblockbuster Sholay, drawing anequally warm response fromPrime Minister Narendra Modiwho asserted that the bondbetween the two countries is“strong and eternal”.

“Happy #Friend-shipDay2019 India! May ourever strengthening friendship& growing partnership touchgreater heights,” the Israeli embassy said in a tweeton Sunday.

The message had the Hindilyrics “yeh dosti hum nahitodenge” (We will not breakthis friendship) of the songfrom the 1975 movie “Sholay”,starring Amitabh Bachchan,Dharmendra and HemaMalini, and emoticons con-veying that Israel loves India.

It had a short montage onvarious meetings betweenModi and his counterpartBenjamin Netanyahu, with themusic from the song playing inthe background. Modiresponded with a tweet inHebrew saying India and Israelhave proved their friendshipover time.

“Thank you and wishing aHappy Friendship Day toIsrael’s wonderful citizens andmy good friend Netanyahu.“India and Israel are time test-ed friends. Our bond is strongand eternal! May the friendshipbetween our nations grow andprosper even more in the timesto come!” he said.

Both Modi and Netanyahuare known to share a greatchemistry which is visible inbilateral meetings. Netanyahu,who failed to form a coalitionafter the April polls, plans to visitIndia ahead of the repeat elec-tions in September. Modi visit-ed Israel in July 2017, the first byan Indian Prime Minister in 70years. During the historic visit,the warmth between Modi andNetanyahu, also known as Bibi,was apparent. PTI

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The CBI is carrying outsearches at the residence of

expelled BJP MLA KuldeepSingh Sengar and otheraccused in connection withthe Unnao rape victim’s acci-dent case, officials said onSunday.

The search operation isspread across at least 17premises in four districts ofUttar Pradesh - Lucknow,Banda, Unnao, Fatehpur, theysaid.

The premises of otheraccused in these districts arealso being searched. Sengar,nine others and 15-20 uniden-

tified persons were booked formurder by the CBI in the acci-dent case.

On July 30, the car inwhich the victim, who hasaccused Sengar of raping her athis residence on June 4, 2017,was travelling was hit by anover-speeding truck in RaeBareli. Sengar, who is facing aprobe since last year, wasexpelled from the BJP thisweek after the Uttar Pradeshgovernment came under criti-cism for not providing enoughsecurity to the victim.

Two of the victim’s auntswere killed, while she and herlawyer were critically injured inthe accident.

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The Union Health Ministryhas asked the Indian

Council of Medical Research(ICMR) to probe into the alle-gations against the Indian armof Swiss food giant, Nestle, forallegedly sponsoring researchin five Indian hospitals in vio-lation of a law that protects andpromotes breastfeeding.

The move followed after anNGO Breastfeeding PromotionNetwork of India (BPNI),wrote to the Ministry com-plaining that the Nestle hadviolated the infant milk sub-stitutes, feeding bottles andinfant foods act, also known asthe IMS Act which prohibitsdirect and indirect sponsorshipof health workers by productmanufacturers.

Nestle, however, has deniedthe allegations stating that thetrials were being conductedafter following all the norms.

In a letter dated August 2,Health Secretary Preeti Sudaninstructed ICMR director gen-eral Balram Bhargava to“ensure that all trials in futureare screened for any infringe-ment of IMS Act”. ThePrint hasseen a copy of the letter.

The IMS Act bars financialinducements, pecuniary bene-fit, and funding of seminars,educational courses, contests,fellowships or research forhealth workers by companiesmanufacturing baby productslisted under the IMS Act.

According to the BPNicomplaint, Nestle India Ltd islisted as the primary sponsorand source of monetary ormaterial support to five hospi-tals conducting the researchtitled “MulticentricObservational Study toObserve Growth in Pretermhospitalized infants”.

The leading manufacturerof infant milk substitutes andinfant foods has been found tosponsor research in hospitalsnamely Cloudnine Hospital,Bengaluru, Institute of ChildHealth, Kolkata, ManipalHospital, Bengaluru, Sir GangaRam Hospital New Delhi, and Calcutta Medical ResearchInstitute, Kolkata, as per the BPNi.

“On examining the ICMRClinical Trial Registry main-tained by the ICMR, BPNI con-firmed that Nestle IndiaLimited, a producer of infantmilk substitutes and infantfoods, is sponsoring research,”said the BPNi letter.

However, the Nestlespokesperson said that“Clinical study for the purposeof scientific information is notprohibited under the IMS Act.The IMS Act does not dis-courage or prohibit dissemina-tion of scientific information.”

In a statement, thespokesperson said the objectiveof the clinical study was toencourage science-basedresearch and all InstitutionalEthics Committee approvalshad been obtained from theparticipating sites.

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In a move to ensure that ben-efits of various welfare

schemes of the ModiGovernment reach the target-ed sections of the society, theBJP has asked its Ministers tohold monthly dinner meet-ings with party MPs andupdate them about theschemes.

A decision to this effectwas taken on the first day of theBJP’s two-day training programme for its MPs on Saturday.

Parliamentary AffairsMinister Pralhad Joshi said allparty MPs from both LokSabha and Rajya Sabha havebeen divided in groups of 20-25 MPs each.

The Ministers will invitethem on dinners and will dis-cuss the Government’s workingand its various welfare schemes,he said. The first such meetingswere held at several Ministers’residence on Saturday, he added.

This exercise will not berestricted to the periods duringparliament sessions alone butwould be continue on a month-

ly basis, he said. Since the BJPcame to power in 2014, it hasbeen consistently engaging itsMPs to spread words about var-ious achievements of the gov-ernment and the welfareschemes begun by it.

After the tabling of theUnion Budget also, the party’stop brass had asked its MPs todiscuss its key initiatives withlocals in their respective con-stituencies. The BJP had alsoasked its MPs to carry out‘padyatra’ in their respectivesegments to inform votersabout various welfare schemesof the Government.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | MONDAY | AUGUST 5, 2019

Holidayers enjoying boat ride on Sunday at Vivekanand Sarovar at Budhapara in Raipur. Photo Santosh Sahu

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel has directed to

introduce a ‘Single WindowSystem’ for all types ofpermissions and no-objectioncertificates for construction ofcolonies and townshipdevelopment.

The state government’slatest move is expected to helpthousands of middle incomegroup families to realize thedream of owning houses.

The single window systemwill be set up in premises ofoffice of collector whererevenue, urban administrationand town planning and otherconcerned department willdeal with the application.Chief Minister has directed

the housing and environmentdepartment to issue a detailedorder within a month.

Recently, Confederationof Real Estate DevelopersAssociation of India(CREDAI) had called on ChiefMinister and raised problemsbeing faced by them for devel-

oping housing colonies andtownship.

They pointed out that theyneeded to get separate noobjection certificates andpermission from revenue,urban development, townplanning and other concerneddepartments which take years

and it finally escalate the totalproject cost.

Chief Minister directed toauthorize district collectorsfor all necessary sanctions andmade Housing andEnvironment department asnodal department. Anadditional collector will bemade nodal officer in eachdistrict office. The builder willsubmit all the departmentalapplication in a single window.The applications afterregistration will be sent to allthe concerned departments.Collector during time-limitmeeting will review the pendingcases and at maximum threemonths, all types ofpermission through additionalcollector will be providedthrough single window.

‘Single window system’ forhousing projects: Baghel

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Ahead of urban andPanchayat bodies’ polls

in state, Pradesh CongressChief (PCC) MohanMarkam is on a whirlwindtour of the state to rejuve-nate the organisation.

He is also taking viewsfrom the booth level work-ers of the party in order torestructure the organiza-tional body.

On Sunday Markamwas on tour of Raigarh dis-trict. Talking to The Pioneerabout his state-wide tour,the tribal leader who wasrecently handed over to thestate party chief post saidthat his main aim was to

strengthen the organizationahead of Urban andPanchayat bodies’ polls instate.

After being elevated tothe coveted post he is atpresent touring across thestate in a bid to understand

the organization and alsothe state of mind of theparty workers so that organ-ization could be restruc-tured according to it.

“Soon followed by elec-tion of our new nationalpresident, the new workingcommittee of the state bodywould also be declared aftertaking consent from him”,he informed.

“I am also getting com-plaints about leaders whohave worked against theinterests of party duringrecently concluded assemblyand Lok Sabha polls andsoon action would be takenagainst them to maintaindiscipline in the party, headded.

PCC chief Markam ona statewide tour toboost organizationSUKMA: Security forces on

Sunday recovered and disposedof a powerful 20 kg ImprovisedExplosive Device (IED) plantedby Maoists in the insurgency-hit Sukma district, police said.

“The bomb was recoveredon Kerlapal-Fulbagdi roadwhich was planted by Naxals forcausing heavy damage to thesecurity forces,” a local policeofficial said.

As soon as the bomb wasdetected a team of bomb-dis-posal squad reached the spotand destroyed the bomb, theofficials said.

Notably, during the ‘NaxalSaheedi Saptah’ observed byMaoists recently, over a dozenIEDs planted by ultras weredetected by security forces inDantewada and Sukma districtsof sprawling Bastar region.

20 kg bombdisposed of inrestive Sukma

STAFF REPORTER n

BALODABAZAR

Under leadership of Ministerin-charge of the district T.S.

Singhdeo, a massive plantationdrive was carried out alongMahanadi river at Sinodha villageof the district in order to save thewater body from land erosion.

Around 8,000 saplings wereplanted in the drive in around 18acres of land and Singhdeo him-self contributed in the drive byplanting saplings.

Speaking on this occasion,Singhdeo underlined the need ofprotecting trees in order to savethe environment. Apart fromproviding oxygen from breathingand food material to eat, the trees

are also needed for a goodamount of rainfall, he said. Alarge number of local citizensfrom all walks of life from

children to elderly persons alsocontributed in the plantationdrive. Singhdeo querying aboutthe well being of the citizen hap-

pily lifted children and enjoyedthe moment. He also advised thechildren to work hard forachieving success.

Saplings planted in 18 acresstretch along Mahanadi

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

The state revenue and com-mercial tax department

has registered a whopping 28percent jump in the revenuecollected through propertyregistry in the current finan-cial year, it was informed dur-ing the departmental review

meeting chaired by RevenueMinister Jai Singh Agrawalhere on Sunday.

Inspector General ofRegistration and Stamps,Dharmesh Sahu informedthat in the ongoing financialyear by the month of July thedepartment has received rev-enue of Rs 406 crore which is

28 percent higher as com-pared to revenue collectedduring the same period in lastfinancial year.

He further informed thatin the same period over85,250 documents were regis-tered which is 18 percentmore than last year. MinisterAgrawal, instructed officialsto simplify the registrationprocess and urgently updateconsumers about the publicwelfare decisions taken bystate government.

He reiterated the stategovernment’s recent decisionto slash the land guidelinerates by 30 percent and slash-ing the registration fee from 4percent to 2 percent for prop-erty up to Rs 75 lakhs.

Agrawal reviewed thepublic facility available at reg-istration offices and directedofficials to make them wellequipped with facilities likewaiting area, drinking water,toilet, ramp for differently-able individuals, notice boardand help-desk.

Revenue through propertyregistry rises 28 percent

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Registrar, CooperativeSociety, under provisions of

Chhattisgarh CooperativeSociety Act 1960 has suspendedthe Board of DistrictCooperative Central Bank,Rajnandgaon for irregularities.The order has been enforcedwith immediate effect.

The order stated that underChhattisgarh CooperativeSociety Act 1960 section 53 sub-section 2, if the Board continuesto function it will directlyimpact the interests of shareholders.

During the suspended peri-od, for normal functioning andmanagement of bank, a manag-ing committee has been consti-tuted under district collector,Rajnandgaon. NABARD nomi-nated officer, Deputy Registrar,Cooperative Society;Rajnandgaon will be memberswhile Chief Executive Officer, of

Bank will be member secretary.As per reports, earlier notice

was issued to the bank regardingvarious irregularities. The replyof bank is being examined onbasis of its merit and demerits.

District Cooperative Central BankRajnandgaon’s Board suspended

During thesuspended period,

for normalfunctioning andmanagement of

bank, a managingcommittee has

been constitutedunder district

collector,Rajnandgaon

STAFF REPORTER nRAJNANDGAON

Rajnandgaon district collectorJaiprakash Maurya has issued

a circular and directed DistrictEducation Officer to discourageteachers from using the cellphones while classes are inprogress.

The circular stated that onlyin emergency situation the cellphone should be used. The cellphones of teachers should be sub-mitted with Principal and Head

Masters. After the classes, themobile phones should be returnedback to the concerned teachers.

The circular said that it wasfound teachers were using mobilephones while taking classes. It fur-ther stated that state governmenthas fixed school timing from10.00 AM to 4.00 PM and duringthis period the teachers’ atten-dance must be ensured.

If in specified period, teachersare absent then concerned personof village panchayat should be

intimated or if any other sourcesinformation is received, thenthrough Block Education officer,action will be taken against theteacher, like holding back thesalary.

School authorities should beasked to remain alert to avoid anysexual harassment and in case anycomplaint or information isreceived, higher authoritiesshould be intimated. If any teacheris involved, then immediate legalaction should be taken.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh urban administra-tion and labour minister Dr

Shiv Dahariya said on Sunday thatChartered Accountants are com-petent economic handlers andthinkers, so they should openlycome up with suggestions for eco-nomic development of the countryin general and for Chhattisgarh inparticular.

The minister was addressingthe valedictory session of a two-day national worked organized bythe Institute of CharteredAccountants of India in Raipur onSunday. The topic of the workshopwas GST and Insolvency andBankruptcy Code (IBC). Minister said Chartered Accountants in independent India

have been providing professionalservices to several industrialists,business persons and traders giv-ing the country a systematicaccounting system.

“For progress and growth ofcountry and state, CAs can playkey role by asking their clients topay the taxes as per laws. Stategovernment will announce newindustrial policy soon.

Dahariya said, ``state govern-ment waived off the agriculturalloan of farmers and hiked mini-mum support price to Rs 2500 perquintal which brought money inhands of farmers. Now they arebuying tractor, agriculture equip-ment, and other materials of theirneed from traders’’.

Now free WiFiat Maroda RlyStation, Bhilai

RAIPUR: Raipur rail division of SouthEast Central Railway has nowintroduced free WiFi at Maroda railwaystation in Bhilai area.The facility is being provided by RailTel.Earlier the facilities were accessible atRaipur, Durg, Bhilai Power House andTilda railway stations under the Raipurrailway division.

CAs should contribute to economic devp: DahariyaTeachers asked to not usecell phones in classes

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India successfully conductedtwo back-to-back flight tests

of its state-of-the-art quickreaction surface-to-air missiles(QRSAM) against live aerialtargets from a base in Odishaon Sunday.

The Defence Research andDevelopment Organisation(DRDO) successfully test-firedthe two missiles from the inte-grated test range (ITR) atChandipur near here.

"Two missiles were testedagainst two live targets meetingcomplete mission objectivesof engaging the targets.QRSAM, with many state-of-

the-art technologies, engagedthe targets at different rangesand altitudes," an official state-ment said.

The entire mission wascaptured by various electro-optical tracking systems, radarsystems and telemetry systems.

The all-weather and all-ter-rain QRSAM system has beendeveloped for the Army, withsearch and track on the movecapability having a very shortreaction time.

Defence Minister RajnathSingh has congratulated theDRDO on achieving the sig-nificant milestone, the state-ment said.

"The systems are equipped

with indigenously-developedphased array radar, inertialnavigation system, data linkand RF seeker," it said.

The missile, which can bemounted on a truck and storedin a canister, is equipped withelectronic counter measures

against jamming by aircraftradars, defence sources said.

QRSAM uses solid-fuelpropellant and has a range of25-30 km, the sources said.

The first trial of theQSRAM was conducted onJune 4, 2017, they said.

On February 26, 2019, tworounds of trials were success-fully carried out on the sameday.

The two missiles were test-ed for different altitude andconditions. The test flights hadsuccessfully demonstrated theiraerodynamics, propulsion,structural performance andhigh manoeuvring capabili-ties, the sources added.

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The Nepal Government onSunday annulled the citi-

zenship of eight people ofIndian origin on the groundthat they procured the citizen-ship certificate through forgeddocuments.

The decision to cancel thecitizenship certificates of theeight individuals was taken ina cabinet meeting, officialssaid. The eight persons areidentified as Ashok Shah, BindeMahato, Rajendra Mahato,Danadevi Mahato, SushilMahato, Rajeshwar Mahato,Ramkishor Mahato andRajkumar Mahato.

Meanwhile, Rastriya JantaParty-Nepal (RJP-N) joint gen-eral secretary Rakesh Mishratold PTI that the governmentshould properly investigate thematter before taking such deci-sion.

"I doubt whether the gov-ernment had accumulated suf-ficient evidence that Indiannationals were grantedNepalese citizenship certifi-cates.

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An Indian farmer, whoreturned home after failing

to find a job in Dubai, onSaturday ended up winningover $4 million in raffle, thetickets of which he boughtwith the money borrowed fromhis wife.

Vilas Rikkala, who ispresently in Hyderabad, wasthe winner of the Dh15 million($4.08 million) Big Ticket raf-fle, the Gulf News reported.

Rikkala left the UAE 45days ago at the end of his failedeffort to hunt for a job inDubai.

On Saturday, he wasinformed that he has won thehuge prize money.

According to the report,Rikkala and his wife do farmjobs in India and their annual

earnings from tilling rice fieldsamount to about �3,00,000($4,306).

Rikkala had previouslylived in Dubai and worked asa driver.

An inhabitant ofJakranpalli village inNizamabad district, Rikkalahas two daughters. He hasbeen buying raffle tickets in theUAE for two years, includingthe Dubai Shopping Festivalraffle tickets while he workedin the UAE.

After his job efforts failed,he borrowed �20,000 from hiswife and gave the money to hisfriend Ravi, who works in AbuDhabi. Ravi bought three tick-ets under Rikkala's name.

"My wife, Padma, is thereason for the celebration,"Rikkala was quoted as sayingby the report.

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The Janata Dal (United), anNDA ally headed by Bihar

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar,on Sunday announced that itwould go it alone in theupcoming Assembly electionsin neighbouring Jharkhandthat has a BJP-led government.

The JD(U) will also try toemerge as a political alternativein the current situation plaguedby "mob lynching, corruption,and rapes" in that state, theparty's Jharkhand unit chiefSalkhan Murmu said. Reactingto this, the Jharkhand unit ofthe BJP said the party expectsthat the JD(U) would side with

it on development plank."We are looking forward to

contesting as many seats aspossible (in Jharkhand),depending on the number ofwinnable candidates we get. Weare not averse to contesting allthe 81 seats if we get as manygood candidates," Murmu toldPTI here. Murmu made theannouncement here a day afterhe held deliberations withKumar and the party's nation-al vice president and poll strate-gist Prashant Kishor.

"The poll bugle (inJharkhand) will be sounded byNitish Kumar on August 25 atRanchi, five days after thelaunch of a Nitish Lao

Jharkhand Bachao campaign atall district headquarters in thestate to galvanize public sup-port in our favour," he said.

The JD(U) had announcedon June 9 that it will not be apart of the BJP-led NationalDemocratic Alliance (NDA)outside Bihar and will contestthe upcoming Assembly pollsin four states on its own. Theparty took the decision in itsnational executive meeting toattain the status of a nationalrecognised party by 2020.

The JD(U) has emerged asthe second largest party in theassembly polls held in BJP-ruled Arunachal Pradesh. It hasalso made inroads in Nagaland.

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Days after an Indian nation-al was arrested in Pakistan

allegedly for "spying", a manfrom Madhya Pradesh onSunday claimed the arrestedperson was his "mentally-chal-lenged brother" who has beenmissing for the last twomonths.

However, Khandwa dis-trict police said they had noinformation about any suchperson missing from the dis-trict.

Police in Pakistan's Punjabprovince had last week claimedto have arrested an "Indianspy", Raju Lakshman, in thetown of Dera Ghazi Khan.

Speaking to PTI, DilipPindare, a resident of Indawadivillage in Khandwa district, hasclaimed the person arrested by

Pakistan police was his men-tally challenged brother.

"Two persons in civil dresshad come to our house yester-day (Saturday). They showed uspictures on their mobile phone.The person seen in the pictureis Raju, who is my mentallychallenged elder brother," saidDilip Pindare.

Dilip said his fatherLakshman works as a farmlabourer.

He said Raju had beenmentally challenged since thepast 15 years, and it was com-mon for him not to returnhome for one-two months.

"We don't have money andour family couldn't afford treat-ment for his mental illness," heclaimed.

Dilip also said that Rajuhad dropped out of schoolafter he failed in class five.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi asked BJP MPs on

Sunday to shun any negativityand work with a positive mind-set so as to win over even thosewho did not vote for the party.

In his address at the con-cluding session of the two-daytraining programme for over380 party lawmakers, he alsoreferred to the next Lok Sabhaelection, scheduled for 2024,and told them to nurse theirconstituencies in a way thatthey can retain them on thestrength of their work andconduct, sources said.

He cited his own cleanrecord to urge the members ofParliament to keep their per-sonal and professional conductabove board, according to MPswho attended the meeting.

The Prime Minister askedthe MPs to give ample time totheir families but shun “pari-varvaad” (dynasty politics),they said.

The Prime Minister askedthe MPs to focus on people'sparticipation and pro-peoplepolicies, while overlooking pol-

itics, in the interest of their con-stituencies and the nation,Joshi said.

A BJP MP said Modi spokelike a "guardian" and touchedon issues related to political,ideological as well as personalaspects of their lives.

Turning his attention to thenext Lok Sabha polls, he askedMPs to identify booths wherethey did not fare well andwork to strengthen their pres-ence there.

His speech, the sources

said, also focused on properconduct by MPs, and Modi inthis context mentioned hisown long tenure in govern-ment, earlier as Gujarat chiefminister and now as primeminister.

He asked the MPs to standin queues with public andspeak appropriately.

Modi chose to sit amongthe MPs in one of the backrows during the meeting.

BJP vice-president VinaySahasrabuddhe conducted asession on self-developmentfor the lawmakers whileDefence Minister RajnathSingh spoke on the party'scontribution to the country.

A book titled "Sanskritikrashtravad ke shilpi" (Architectsof cultural nationalism), a col-lection of BJP president AmitShah's speeches on personali-ties ranging from Chanakya toparty founder Syama PrasadMookerjee, was also released.

Shah, who is the UnionHome Minister, did not attendthe meeting as he remainedbusy with official work relatedto Jammu & Kashmir, thesources said.

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From Page 1Accordingly, it was decid-

ed that boys need to be sentback home,” Pathan told PTI onSunday.

Earlier in the day, theIndian Army said it has offeredto allow Pakistan to retrieve thedead bodies of the intruders, aday after it foiled an attack bythe neighbouring country’sBorder Action Team (BAT)on a forward post along theLoC in Jammu and Kashmir’sKeran sector.

Meanwhile, the Stateadministration, after issuingan advisory to the tourists andAmarnath pilgrims, have large-ly managed to ensure their safereturn to their native places.Students of NIT, Srinagar werealso dispatched to their homeState via train on their arrivalin Jammu on late Saturdaynight. The State administrationis also expected to enforce cer-tain restrictions on the move-ment of political leaders and inorder to prevent mass assem-bly of people may imposerestrictions in certain vulner-able pockets across KashmirValley. To contain rumor mon-gering the State administration

is also expected to suspendmobile internet services inparts of Kashmir Valley andother parts of the State. On thepolitical front, Jammu &Kashmir National Conferenceon Sunday also convened apolitical affairs committeemeeting to deliberate on theprevailing situation in the State.Party leadership unanimouslyimpressed upon theGovernment of India to clearthe air on current Kashmirconundrum. The party leader-ship called for urgent measuresto infuse confidence among thelocals. The party leadership ina marathon four hour meetingexpressed concern over theuncertain and uptight situationin the State especially in theKashmir region. The leadersunanimously asserted that theparty will fight any infringe-ment upon the special consti-tutional position of the State.Party leadership also assertedthat the party is ready to go anextra mile to defend the State’sinterests both inside and outside parliament. The leadershipalso urged the people to forgeunity in these trying times.They necessitated for main-

taining calm. The leadershipsaid the need of the hour’s callsfor well considered response tothe situation. CPI(M) leaderMohammad Yousuf Tarigami,DP(N) chief Ghulam HassanMir and PDF chief HakeemMohammad Yasin on Sundaysaid the Government’s decisionto deploy additional forces inKashmir and security adviso-ry issued asking tourists, yatrisand outside State students toleave Kashmir immediately,has triggered panic and con-fusion among people in theValley.

In a joint statement both theleaders said, “The panic esca-lated since Kashmir was alreadytense for the past few days afterthe Centre ordered the deploy-ment of 100 companies of addi-tional troops in the Valley.Massive build-up of securityforces, curtailment of theAmarnath Yatra and unprece-dented advisories issued to thetourists, yatris and other civil-ians, all created an atmosphereof heightened insecurity andfear and gave rise to the specu-lation about some major deci-sion in the offing regarding theJ&K’s special status.”

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From Page 1They said the AIIMS

administration also assuredthem that the strike period,August 1 to 3, would be con-sidered as “on duty”.

The NMC Bill providesfor setting up of a NationalMedical Commission in placeof the MCI for developmentand regulation of all aspects ofmedical education, professionand institutions. Doctors aredemanding certain amend-

ments in the Bill. According tothem, if not amended, the Billwill lead to deterioration ofmedical education and degra-dation of healthcare services.

The fraternity is opposingsection 32(1), (2) and (3) of theBill saying it will encouragequackery by providing licenceto practice modern medicine ascommunity health providersfor persons other than thosepossessing MBBS degrees.

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From Page 1Tharoor on his part on

Sunday said the party shouldappoint an interim presidentand then hold internal electionsto senior leadership positionswhich would allay all concerns.

“When we spoke withRahul, he said there should bea culture of accountability. IfRahul has done this, then it isrelevant for everyone.

This principle is not just forone person,” Tharoor saidaddressing a Press conferenceafter the second annual meet ofAll India Professionals’Congress (AIPC) which heheads.

The party is undergoing adeep crisis and elected repre-sentatives at national and Statelevel including Karnataka andMaharashtra have quit thegrand old party to join ruling

BJP. Leaders of the party havecited indecision and confu-sion within the rank and file ofthe party after Rahul’s resigna-tion as a reason to quit.

A host of leaders holdingparty positions, a majority ofthem in the middle-level, hadresigned after Rahul quit toenable restructuring of theparty.

Top Congress leaders havebeen pondering over whocould succeed Rahul and sev-eral rounds of meetings havetaken place, but a decision onhis successor has not beentaken yet.

AICC sources said theCWC will also deliberate torestructure the party at all lev-els. The crucial meet is likely todeliberate on the way forwardfor the party in the wake ofRahul quitting. Issues related

with settling the leadershipquestion are likely to top theagenda, sources said.According to the Congressconstitution, if an exigencyarises then the senior-mostgeneral secretary should dealwith the routine tasks of theCongress president and thenthe working committee shouldname an interim presidentuntil a new president is elect-ed.

Many names have beendoing the rounds as possiblechoice for Congress president,with a debate generated with-in by some party leaders toinstall a young leader to leadthe party. Mumbai Congresschief Milind Deora on Sundayproposed the names of SachinPilot and Jyotiraditya Scindiafor the post of party’s nationalpresident.

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Two separate mass shootingswithin 24 hours left 30

people dead and several othersinjured in the US States ofTexas and Ohio, including onethought to be a hate crime, thelatest in a string of such inci-dents in America that haveshocked the nation.

The first shooting tookplace in the southern bordertown of El Paso in Texas, wherea 21-year-old gunman openedfire at a crowded Walmartstore, killing 20 people andwounding 26 others onSaturday.

Hours later, a man killednine people before being shotdead by police in Oregon dis-trict, a historic neighbourhoodknown for its nightclubs, bars,art galleries and shops, inDayton, Ohio early Sunday,police said.

"The shooter is deceased.There are 9 others alsodeceased. At least 16 otherswent to area hospitals withinjuries," Dayton police said.

At least 26 others wereinjured, Dayton Mayor NanWhaley told reporters.

The first shooting that tore

through a Walmart jammedwith back-to-school shoppersin El Paso on Saturday markedanother bleak milestone in anation pocked by gun vio-lence: the 250th mass shootingof 2019.

And the rampage notchedan even darker statistic: Itoccurred on the 215th day ofthe year, meaning there havebeen more mass shootingsthan days so far this year.

"The ages and genders of allthese people injured and killedare numerous in the agegroups," El Paso Police ChiefGreg Allen said.

"The situation, needless tosay, is a horrific one."

Texas authorities are inves-tigating the El Paso shooting asa possible hate crime, Allensaid.

For several minutes onSaturday morning, the packedWalmart store, where shopperswere busy buying back toschool stuff for their kids, filledwith gun smoke and the echoof gunfire. Footage shot onmobiles appeared to show mul-tiple bodies lying on the groundin the store's parking lot.

Twenty people were killedand 26 others injured in the

shooting in El Paso, said TexasGov. Greg Abbott.

"On a day that would havebeen a normal day for someoneto leisurely go shopping, turnedinto one of the most deadly

days in the history of Texas."President Donald Trump

condemned the attacks as an"act of cowardice" and saidthere could be no justificationfor the killing of innocent peo-

ple."The FBI, local and state

law enforcement are workingtogether in El Paso and inDayton, Ohio. Information israpidly being accumulated in

Dayton. Much has already belearned in El Paso. Lawenforcement was very rapid inboth instances. Updates will begiven throughout the day!" hetweeted.

"God bless the people of ElPaso Texas. God bless the peo-ple of Dayton, Ohio," Trumpsaid.

Marcelo Ebrard, the secre-tary of foreign affairs ofMexico, said six Mexicannationals were among the ElPaso injured.

Victor Guerrero, aspokesman for Del Sol MedicalCenter, said the hospital wastreating 11 El Paso victims.Nine were in critical but stablecondition and two were stable,he said. Patient ages rangedfrom 35 to 82.

The University MedicalCentre of El Paso received 13patients, according to RyanMielke, the hospital'sspokesman.

Mielke said the victims'conditions ranged from minorinjury to fatal.

The authorities identifiedthe El Paso gunman as PatrickCrusius from an affluent Dallassuburb. He was taken into cus-tody after he surrendered to the

police outside the Walmartstore.

The authorities said theywere investigating a manifestoCrusius, who is white, mayhave posted before the shoot-ing, which described an attackin response to "the Hispanicinvasion of Texas."

The manifesto is filled withwhite nationalist language andracist hatred toward immi-grants and Latinos, blamingimmigrants and first-genera-tion Americans for taking awayjobs.

Citing a source familiarwith the investigative process,the CNN said the FBI hasopened a domestic terrorisminvestigation into the shootingto be worked concurrent to thestate investigation, with Texasauthorities taking the lead.

A Twitter account thatappeared to belong to Crusiushas been shut down. Tweets onthe account had praised Trumpand, in particular, his effort tobuild a wall along the US-Mexico border.

The FBI is asking witness-es who took photos or videosduring the shooting to submittheir unedited media to themfor examination.

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Sudan's pro-democracymovement signed a power-

sharing agreement with theruling military council onSunday aimed at paving theway for a transition to civilianrule following the overthrow ofPresident Omar al-Bashir inApril.

Representatives initialed aconstitutional document thatwould establish a joint militaryand civilian council to rule fora little over three years untilelections can be held. Theagreement would establish aCabinet appointed by theactivists, as well as a legislativebody.

The military overthrew al-Bashir in April followingmonths of mass protests againsthis three-decade-long auto-cratic rule. The protestersremained in the streets,

demanding a rapid transition toa civilian authority. They havebeen locked in tense negotia-tions with the military forweeks while holding massprotests.

General MohammedHamdan Dagalo, the deputyhead of the military council,told a joint news conferencethat the deal has ended an erain Sudan's history "character-ized by rivalry and fighting."

"We have entered the nego-tiations as partners and leave asone team. The national will hastriumphed... It is a win-win," hesaid.

Protest leader Omar al-Dagir said a "fair and trans-parent" investigation intorecent violence by securityforces against protesters, andachieving peace with rebelgroups, would be top prioritiesfor the transitionalGovernment.

"There will be no democ-racy without peace," he said."National reconciliation willbe the slogan of the transitionalperiod."

The two sides reached apreliminary agreement lastmonth following internationalpressure, amid growing con-cerns the political crisis couldignite civil war.

That document providedfor the establishment of a jointcivilian-military sovereigncouncil.

A military leader wouldhead the 11-member councilfor the first 21 months, fol-lowed by a civilian leader forthe next 18. There would alsobe a Cabinet of technocratschosen by the protesters, as wellas a legislative council withmajority from the Forces forthe Declaration of Freedomand Change, the main protestcoalition.

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Iran has seized a foreigntanker in the Gulf, state

media said Sunday, in whatwould be the third such seizurein a month amid heightenedtensions with its foe the UnitedStates.

The Islamic RevolutionaryGuard Corps "seized this shiparound Farsi Island which wascarrying around 700,000 litresof smuggled fuel", said aGuards statement quoted bythe official news agency IRNA.

Seven foreign crew werearrested in the operation car-ried out on Wednesday night,said Fars news agency, which isconsidered close to the Guards.

Tensions between arch-enemies Iran and the US havesoared this year afterWashington stepped up itscampaign of "maximum pres-

sure" against Tehran.Ships have been attacked,

drones downed and oil tankersseized since May, a year afterthe United States withdrewfrom a landmark nuclear dealbetween Iran and world pow-ers and began reimposing bit-ing sanctions against the coun-try.

At the height of the crisis,US President Donald Trumpcalled off air strikes against Iranat the last minute in June afterthe Islamic republic's forcesshot down a US drone.

The seizure of the latesttanker would be the third byIran in less than a month inGulf waters -- a conduit formuch of the world's crude oil.On July 18, the Guards saidthey had detained the Panama-flagged for MT Riah for allegedfuel smuggling.

And a day later, they

announced they had impound-ed the British-flagged StenaImpero in the Strait of Hormuzfor breaking "internationalmaritime rules".

The identity of the latestvessel seized and the national-ity of its crew had not yet beenrevealed on Sunday.

The Guards said their boatshad been patrolling the Gulf tocontrol traffic and detect illic-it trade when they seized thetanker.

"The ship was transferredto Bushehr and its smuggledfuel was handed over" to theauthorities in coordinationwith judicial authorities, said astatement. Fars quotedBrigadier General RamezanZirahi, a commander of theGuards who carried out theseizure, as saying the tankerhad been en route to deliverfuel to Gulf Arab States.

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Rescuers recovered morebodies in rough seas where

three ferry boats capsized afterbeing buffeted by fierce windsand waves off two centralPhilippine provinces, bringingthe death toll to 31 with threemissing, the coast guard saidSunday.

Coast guard spokesmanArmand Balilo said the deadwere mostly passengers of twoferries that flipped over insudden wind gusts and pow-erful waves Saturday offGuimaras and Iloilo provinces.Sixty-two other passengers and

crew were rescued.A third ferry, which was

not carrying any passengers,also capsized in the Iloilo Straitbut its five crewmen survived,Balilo said.

Survivors recounted howthe sky suddenly turned darkmidway through their trip, fol-lowed by strong winds and rainthat battered their ferries.

Authorities wondered whya third ferry was allowed to sailabout three hours after twoother ferries overturned almostat the same time at noon in badweather.

Forecasters have warned ofheavy monsoon rains, thun-

derstorms and rain-triggeredlandslides amid a tropicaldepression more than 1,000kilometers (620 miles) off thecountry's eastern coast.

Classes and work were sus-pended in metropolitan Manilaon Friday and Saturday amidheavy rains and flooding,which caused intense trafficjams in low-lying areas of thecapital.

About 20 typhoons andstorms batter the Philippineseach year, making the archi-pelago that lies on the Pacifictyphoon and earthquake beltone of the world's most disas-ter-prone countries.(AP)

Idlib: The chief of Hayat Tahriral-Sham, the main jihadist groupin Syria's northwestern Idlib,on Saturday refused any with-drawal from a future bufferzone after a truce went into effectin the area.

"What the regime could nottake militarily or by force, theywill not get through peacefulmeans or through negotiationsand politics," said Abu Mohamedal-Jolani. "We will never with-draw from the zone."

Jolani made his commentsduring a meeting with reportersorganised by the former Al-Qaeda affiliate group HayatTahrir al-Sham (HTS).

On Thursday the Syrian

government agreed to a truce inthe northwestern region of Idlibon condition that a Turkish-Russian buffer-zone deal isimplemented, according to statenews agency SANA.

Most of Idlib province andparts of Hama, Aleppo andLatakia — which currently hostssome three million residents —are controlled by the HTS.

The region is supposed to beprotected from a massive gov-ernment offensive by theTurkish-Russian deal, but it hascome under increasing fire byDamascus and its backerMoscow since the end of April.

The Government of SyrianPresident Bashar Al-Assad has

accused Turkey of dragging itsfeet in implementing the deal,which provided for a bufferzone of up to 20 kilometres (12miles) between the two sides, freeof heavy weaponry.

"We will not change ourposition, neither at the request ofour friends or our enemies,"Jolani insisted, refusing any ideaof a demilitarised zone.

Air strikes on the Idlibregion stopped on Friday afterthe government's truceannouncement but the fightingsince late April has killed 790civilians in regime and Russianattacks, the UK-based SyrianObservatory for Human Rightsmonitor says. AFP

��� :3633

Ajournalist in the Gulf Coaststate of Veracruz has been

shot dead just days before hewas scheduled to testify beforestate authorities about threatsof violence against him.

The state attorney's officesaid in a statement that JorgeCelestino Ruiz Vázquez wasfound dead at his home short-ly before midnight Friday afterpolice responded to a call alert-ing them to gunshots at the res-idence in Actopan, 60 kilome-ters (37 miles) south of statecapital Xalapa.

Ruiz Vázquez was sched-uled to give statements to

authorities next Tuesday. Healleged that Actopan MayorPaulino Domínguez Sánchezwas behind the threats.

The Committee to ProtectJournalists says Ruiz Vázquezwas the third journalist killedin a single week, and the 10thkilled this year, in Mexico.

Tokyo: A strong 6.3-magnitudeearthquake struck in the Pacificoff Fukushima, northeasternJapan, on Sunday, but there wasno tsunami threat, US andJapanese authorities said.

The quake jolted largeareas in the region at 7:23 pm(1023 GMT) with its epicentrelocated 54 kilometres (34miles) east of Namie, easternFukushima, according to theUS Geological Survey said.

The quake was also felt inTokyo. The JapanMeteorological Agency saidthere were no worries abouttsunami damage.

The agency issued anwarning when the quake hit,but there was no report ofinjuries.Shinkansen bullet trainservices were temporarily sus-pended in the region, publicbroadcaster NHK said. AFP

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British Prime Minister BorisJohnson's Government has

urged EU leaders again to droptheir opposition to renegotiat-ing the terms of Brexit, claim-ing recent European electionsrequired a change of approach.

Johnson, who took officelate last month, says he wantsto leave the European Unionwith a deal but insists the cur-rent terms are unacceptableand if necessary Britain will exiton October 31 with no agree-ment at all.

In an article in the Mail onSunday newspaper, Johnson'sBrexit Secretary Steve Barclaysaid European Parliament elec-tions in May had changed thepolitical dynamic and urgedEU leaders to amend the man-date of their chief negotiator,Michel Barnier.

"The political realities havechanged since Mr Barnier'sinstructions were set," Barclaywrote.

"Since the last mandate

was agreed, 61 percent of all theEU states' MEPs have changed.Such a fundamental shift illus-trates the need for a change ofapproach.

"Mr Barnier needs to urgeEU leaders to consider this ifthey too want an agreement, toenable him to negotiate in away that finds common groundwith the UK.

"Otherwise, no deal iscoming down the tracks."Former prime minister TheresaMay quit after delaying Brexittwice while she tried unsuc-cessfully to get the divorceterms she struck with Brusselsthrough the British parliament.But the EU has refused toreopen the deal, the result of 17months of tough negotiations.

Johnson has ramped uppreparations for leaving with-out any agreement.

However, some British law-makers have vowed to stophim, fearing the economic con-sequences of severing ties withBritain's closest trading partnerovernight.

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Phnom Penh: Khmer Rouge 'brothernumber two' Nuon Chea died on Sundayaged 93, a spokesman for the Cambodia tri-bunal where he was convicted of genocideand crimes against humanity told AFP.

"We can confirm that defendant NuonChea... Passed away this evening on 4August 2019 at Khmer Soviet Friendshiphospital," said Neth Pheaktra, spokesmanfor the tribunal.

The cause of his death was not givenbut he had been in hospital since early last

month.The reign of terror led by "Brother

Number 1" Pol Pot left some two millionCambodians dead from overwork, starva-tion and mass executions from 1975 to1979.

But Nuon Chea, considered the KhmerRouge's chief ideologue, was not arresteduntil 2007.

He and other senior members of theultra-Maoist group were put on trial at theExtraordinary Chambers in the Courts of

Cambodia.The UN-backed court sentenced him

to life in prison last year after he was foundguilty of genocide against the ethnicVietnamese and Cham Muslim minoritygroup.

His lawyers had informed the court thatNuon Chea would appeal, but prosecutorsare now expected to ask the Supreme Courtchamber to terminate his case following hisdeath, according to a court official.

AFP

Damascus: A Syrian pro-gov-ernment newspaper is report-ing 26 soldiers, including sevenofficers, have been killed in anexplosion blamed on a techni-cal error in central Syria.

Al-Watan quoted a militaryofficial as describing Saturday'sexplosion at the Shayrat airbase in the Homs province assevere.

The official news agencySANA reported an explosion

Saturday at the base, saying itkilled an undetermined num-ber of soldiers. It said the blastwas caused by a technical errorwhile transporting ammuni-tion.

The Britain-based SyrianObservatory for HumanRights, an opposition-linkedgroup that monitors the war,put the death toll at 31. It saidthe cause of the explosion wasunclear. AP

���� 0873

The US and the Taliban werethrashing out elements of a

deal to bring a close toAfghanistan's 18-year conflictat the second day of renewedtalks in Doha on Sunday.

The US, which invadedAfghanistan and toppled theTaliban in 2001, wants to with-draw thousands of troops andturn the page on its longest everwar. But it would first seekassurances from the insurgentsthat they will renounce Al-Qaeda and stop other militantslike the Islamic State groupusing the country as a haven.

The talks, now in their

eighth round, began onSaturday with no end dateissued publicly.

A Taliban source told AFPefforts had been made toorganise a direct meetingbetween US envoy forAfghanistan Zalmay Khalilzadand Taliban co-founder MullahBaradar, who heads the move-ment's political wing.

The men have met previ-ously, as recently as May.

A coalition led byWashington ousted the Talibanin late 2001 accusing it of har-bouring Al-Qaeda jihadistswho claimed the September 11attacks against the US thatkilled almost 3,000 people.

But despite a rapid con-clusion to the conventionalphase of the war, the Talibanhave proved formidable insur-gents, bogging down US troopsfor years.

Washington is hoping tostrike a peace deal with theTaliban by September 1 --ahead of Afghan polls due thesame month, and US presi-dential elections due in 2020.

US President DonaldTrump told reporters at theWhite House on Friday that"we've made a lot of progress.We're talking".

"We are pursuing a peaceagreement not a withdrawalagreement, a peace agreement

that enables withdrawal,"Khalilzad tweeted on Friday ashe arrived in Doha after talkswith Pakistani Prime MinisterImran Khan in Islamabad.

"Our presence inAfghanistan is conditions-based, and any withdrawal willbe conditions-based."

In another sign of progress,the Afghan government hasformed a negotiating team forseparate peace talks with theTaliban that diplomats hopecould be held as early as laterthis month.

The Washington Postreported Thursday that an ini-tial deal to end the war wouldsee the US force in Afghanistan

reduced to as low as 8,000 fromthe current level of around14,000.

In exchange, the Talibanwould abide by a ceasefire,renounce Al-Qaeda, and talk tothe Kabul administration.

"After 19 years, PresidentTrump has made it very clearthat his desire is that we devel-op a diplomatic resolution thatpermits us to reduce theresources that are locatedthere... While simultaneouslyensuring that Afghanistannever again becomes a platformwhere a terrorist can strike theUnited States," US Secretary ofState Mike Pompeo saidSunday during a visit to

Sydney.An Afghan official hinted

last week that the governmentof President Ashraf Ghani waspreparing for direct talks withthe Taliban, the details of whichhave yet to be announced.

"We have no preconditionsto begin talks, but the peaceagreement is not without con-ditions," Ghani wrote in Pashtoon his Facebook page on Fridayahead of the talks.

"We want a republic gov-ernment not an emirate," hesaid, a challenge to the Talibanwhich has insisted on revertingto the "Islamic Emirate" nameAfghanistan bore under itsrule.

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Page 6: ˇˆ! ˚˜ !˘ ˛ ! ˝ !˝˘ ˘ %...resume all services with imme-diate effect. Continued on Page 4 ... Karan Singh on Sunday said Priyanka will be a “unify-ing force” and will

Water, water everywhere/ Norany drop to drink.” Thesewords, from an evocativepoem by the famous 18thcentury English poet,

Samuel Coleridge, echo the helplessness ofa harried sailor, his ship stranded in the mid-dle of the sea but with no water to drink asall supplies on it have been exhausted. Thesailor’s desperate cry, uttered over 300 yearsago, seems to ring an ominous bell in Indiatoday as the country battles extreme waterscarcity in several regions alongside exten-sive flooding in many others. This ironicalsituation is the result of prolonged water mis-management, leading to depleted ground-water levels, coupled with a waxing and wan-ing monsoon.

The change in monsoon patterns acrossthe country has been causing significant raindeficit in Uttar Pradesh, Chhattisgarh,Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Delhi over thelast decade as compared to historical rainfallaverages. In other States like Assam, Bihar andKerala, floods caused by an aggressive mon-soon are leaving behind a trail of death anddestruction. The first casualty of the disrup-tion in rainfall is agriculture as an estimated49 per cent of India’s farms depend solely onrain for irrigation. According to the EconomicSurvey 2017-18, farmers without access to irri-gation lose nearly 14 per cent of their incomebecause of rainfall shocks. And among those,who are able to irrigate their fields, 62 per centrely exclusively on groundwater. Since ground-water is replenished only through rain seep-ing into the ground, the vagaries of the mon-soon lead to a vicious cycle of drought-rid-den fields and rapidly depleting aquifers acrossthe country, with the depth of access togroundwater plunging from 7.5 m in 1998 to9.2 m in 2018.

A 2012 World Bank report on ground-water exploitation in India asserted that thecountry recorded the highest dependence onwater from aquifers globally. While 90 per centof this groundwater is used for irrigation, theremainder is used to supply drinking water.Highlighting over-exploitation of 29 percent of groundwater blocks, the report pre-dicted a 60 per cent rise in this figure in 20years, with serious implications for agricul-tural sustainability, food security and econom-ic growth.

However, the crisis is almost upon usmuch before the World Bank’s deadline. InJune 2018, the NITI Aayog had predicted thatthe demand for potable water would com-pletely outstrip supply by 2030 in the absenceof any urgent action. Even more alarmingly,21 cities, including Delhi, Bengaluru, Chennaiand Hyderabad,would run out of groundwa-ter as early as 2020, affecting 100 million peo-ple and leading to an estimated six per centloss in GDP by 2050.

Another complication is the impact ofexcessive groundwater extraction on waterquality as water collected from deeper under-ground is more likely to be contaminated with

harmful chemicals like arsenic,nitrate and fluoride. An evengraver food crisis looms on thehorizon because when irrigationwells go dry, farmers use untreat-ed wastewater laced with indus-trial chemicals and humansewage for watering their foodcrops, which eventually findtheir way into our kitchens. It isobvious that India is sitting on apotential “water” bomb threaten-ing public health by unleashinga spectre of diseases among itsover-populated and under-resourced habitations.

How did India, venerated asa land of rivers and holy waterssince primordial times, achievethis disconcerting status of anation riddled with water defi-ciency and toxicity? “After 1990,cities in India have grown rapid-ly but without considering wherethe resources are coming from”,says Samrat Basak, Director ofthe World Resource Institution(WRI) India’s Urban WaterProgramme. Reflecting on thesocial impact of the water crisis,VK Madhavan, Chief Executiveof the non-profit WaterAid India,contends that soon young girls,especially in rural areas, mightstart dropping out of school enmasse to help their families fetchwater from increasingly remotewater access points. This warn-ing is corroborated by data fromthe India Human DevelopmentSurvey (IHDS), a nationally rep-resentative survey covering

41,554 households in 1,503 vil-lages and 971 urban neighbour-hoods across India, jointly con-ducted by the National Councilof Applied Economic Research(NCAER) and University ofMaryland, the US, in 2004-05and 2011-12. IHDS found thatonly 44 per cent households hadaccess to piped water, with the fig-ure going up by merely four percent between 2004 and 2012. TheIHDS findings also show a sub-stantial decline in the duration ofwater availability — from 5.3 percent in 2003-04 to 3.8 per cent in2011-12 — for households withpiped water in metro cities.Consequently, households with-out indoor water sources spendprecious time collecting water atan average of 80 minutes per day,extending to even three hours forabout 10 per cent of these house-holds. How will the economycounter this time burden andhuge opportunity cost?

Compelled to take cogni-sance of the water crisis, theGovernment decided to prioritisewater management in the latestUnion Budget, to ensure provi-sion of potable water throughoutthe country by 2024 under theproposed “Har Ghar Jal” scheme.Union Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman also announced theformation of a new Ministry, theJal Shakti Ministry, by mergingthe Ministries of Drinking Waterand Water Resources and RiverDevelopment and Ganga

Rejuvenation for overseeing allwater-related issues. TheGovernment has identified 1,592blocks in 256 districts facingacute water scarcity and over-exploitation of groundwater asprospective locations for rainwa-ter harvesting and water conser-vation in the first phase.

Other initiatives, includingrenovation and re-use of tradi-tional water bodies and water-shed development, are slated forthe next phase. The UnionBudget 2019-20 also allocated�9,150.36 crore for the NationalRural Drinking WaterProgramme, marking a massiveincrease of 69 per cent over theallocation of �5,391.32 crore in2018-19.

Water conservationists andexperts are, however, notimpressed, dismissing the Budgetprovisions as a “pipe dream”.Raman VR, Head of Policy at theNGO WaterAidIndia, posits thatin 2017, the Ministry of DrinkingWater and Sanitation itself esti-mated the need for �500,000crore for providing piped drink-ing water to all households. Evenif States contribute half thisamount, the annual requirementtill 2024 would be over �60,000crore, to cover hardware, humanresources, infrastructural, oper-ations and maintenance costs.Where will these funds comefrom?

“There is no evidence tosuggest that merely enhanced

spending will increase bothwater supply and the net areaunder irrigation,” says DrBiksham Gujja, former head ofwater policy at WWF-International and founder ofAgSri, a private organisationpromoting sustainable agricul-ture and water resources man-agement. He argues that the JalShakti Ministry should insteadfocus on developing tools andtechnology for efficient hydro-logical management.

On an optimistic note,India’s relatively wet climate,even in the most arid regions,offers hope even in today’sdire situation. What is neededis efficient and wider imple-mentation of programmes forrainwater harvesting, develop-ment of water storage bodieslike ponds and reservoirs, pro-motion of water re-use andrecycling and better filtrationtechniques for de-contaminat-ing potable water, across thecountry. And these solutionsneed to be enforced now — thetime for long-term planninghas run out!

Coleridge’s hapless marinersurvived the challenges at sea,presumably finding clean waterat the end of his ordeal. But willthe rising tide of India’s popula-tion be equally fortunate?

(The writer is Editor at theNational Council of AppliedEconomic Research. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Sir — Cafe Coffee Day founderVG Siddhartha’s suicide shouldring alarm bells in the corridorsof the all-powerful FinanceMinistry. The mandarins in thebureaucracy and their politicalmasters should no longer pretendthat everything is hunky-dory vis-à-vis the Indian economy.

Only investigations can revealthe details of his business dealsand the debt burden and possiblyoffer reasons that forced theowner of a successful enterpriseto take the fatal step. The stake-holders will get their dues and themarket, too, may stabilise after awhile. But it is time for theGovernment to wake up andsmell the coffee. It is importantthat we learn the right lessonsfrom this unfortunate incident.

Javvadi Lakshamna RaoVisakhapatnam

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Sir — It took widespread publicoutrage for the authorities towake up to the tragic plight of theUnnao rape victim at the handsof a powerful ruling party politi-

cian, whose word was law in theboondocks in Uttar Pradesh.

In a big embarrassment forthe Uttar Pradesh Government,the Supreme Court transferred allcases related to the alleged rapeof a girl in 2017 by the nowexpelled BJP MLA, KuldeepSingh Sengar. In short, the topcourt did everything in its powerto try and ensure justice to thevictim and her tormented fami-

ly, who have been living in fear ofthe goons of the MLA ever sincethe victim mustered the courageto lodge an FIR against him forthe heinous crime. Hopefully,her bravery and courage will notgo waste and the leader and hishenchmen will soon be given thesternest possible punishment per-missible under law.

Having said that, the questionis why did it take so long for the

ruling party to expel Sengar?The BJP leadership owes an apol-ogy to the voters. Regretfully, withthe saffron-clad Yogi Adityanathas the Chief Minister of UttarPradesh, a criminal like Sengarconspired to defy the justice sys-tem after he had raped a minorgirl and then terrorised her andher family.

Vani ASecunderabad

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Sir — Yes, it is true. The way wedrive and behave on the road isset for a transformative coursecorrection, on paper at least,with the Parliament’s green signalto a landmark legislation thataims to improve road safety withstringent laws for errant drivers,contractors in case of faulty roadsand vehicle makers if they fallshort of production standards.

Once the Bill becomes a law,stringent penalties will reduceroad accidental deaths, which inIndia come to around 1.5 lakhannually. It has taken the countrydecades of indiscipline on roads,violating traffic rules and escapingany accountability for poor engi-neering to gain the shameful rep-utation of being the world leaderin road accidents. While most ofthe features of the Bill are welcome,some aspects have the potential tobe misused by the traffic police.Often, traffic police are reported toharass drivers and vehicle ownersfor inadvertent and trivial mistakes.

J AkshayBengaluru

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Earlier this month, Member of ParliamentRajeev Chandrasekhar alleged that socialmedia companies used algorithms to sup-

press, deny and amplify certain conversations,and made a case for India to enact a legisla-tion to check algorithmic bias. Chandrasekhar’sallegation is not new, not in India or anywhereelse. In fact, it is a symptom of a much biggermalaise — a rapidly evolving technologyecosystem with disparate and reactive attemptsat accountability and regulation.

The reason why Governments around theworld and industries have become so con-cerned about Artificial Intelligence (AI) in gen-eral is because it presents vast economic andsocial opportunities. AI systems (ie, comput-er science that emphasises on the developmentof intelligent machines to mimic certain fea-tures of the human brain) have improvedmobility, fostered greater information-sharingculture and are fundamental to many functionsand businesses today, including LinkedIn,social media firms, search engine functions andcab aggregators like Uber. However, with anincrease in the use of AI, multiple issues oftrust, privacy, bias, market dominance andsecurity have also arisen.

On the issue of algorithmic bias itself,Chandrasekhar is right to the extent that var-ious technology companies have skirted theseissues in the past and have been criticised forbeing politically influenced or for using tech-nologies in a manner that is sometimesbeyond their control or are driven by hiddenmotives — often both. Further, due to priceefficiencies and immediate benefits like lowerprices and convenience benefits to consumers,people tend to be “present biased” and are morethan willing to trade off future benefits (say pri-vacy or stronger redressal mechanisms amongother things) for present gratification (likelower prices and convenience).

This common cognitive bias results in atendency to overestimate immediate utility anddiscount future or invisible harms that mayaccrue to communities later, much like the fall-outs of climate change or the impact Facebookon the 2016 US elections, or the impact on civilliberties, attributable to predictive technolo-gy used for policing and facial recognitionapplications. Notably, allegations of AIentrenching bias and discrimination are notlimited to technology companies, they extendto Governments and State authorities as well.Take the example of the discriminatory out-comes of using AI in the US criminal justicesystem and for policing in Australia.

Thus, there have been rising and com-pelling reasons to regulate technology firms,particularly those, who rely on discriminato-ry and biased AI outcomes. However, adopt-ing the right governance framework is becom-ing increasingly difficult, both because AI tech-nologies are becoming more complex and arebeing applied in a variety of different contexts— from helping in procedural vetting of doc-uments to content moderation. They presenttwin capacities for enormous social develop-ment and harm, often together. Therefore,before rushing to draft a law to “regulate algo-rithmic bias” in India, the need of the hour is

to consider and experiment with innovativemodels so as to ensure that the economic gains,social influence and security impact of AI ispositive for all. Thus, engaging and bringingall relevant stakeholders into the conversation— academia, policy-makers and the widercommunity — will be crucial to assessing thechallenges that lie ahead.

In this context, understandably, variousGovernments around the world, as also inter-national organisations, have begun to weigh inon the issues of regulating certain technologycompanies and their use of AI. In India, con-versations around regulating AI and technol-ogy companies have been conflated and thereis no clarity as to how this can be achieved.Further, discussions around technology regu-lation in general have been scattered across reg-ulators (depending on specific subject matter)and are bereft of guiding principles, unlikewhat has been done in several other countries.

For instance, in Australia, following therelease of a White paper on the governance ofAI by the Australian Human RightsCommission earlier this year, anotherAustralian federal Government agency, respon-sible for scientific research (CSIRO), releaseda discussion paper on AI and ethics, propos-ing a toolkit to assist stakeholders in applyingeight core principles. Similarly, in Europe, theEU High-Level Expert Group comprising 52experts on AI, including representatives fromacademia, civil society and industry, recentlypublished its Ethics Guidelines for TrustworthyAI, following stakeholder consultation ondraft guidelines. The EU guidelines were notbinding, but nevertheless offered stakeholdersa set of guiding principles to follow to indicate

their commitment to achieving “TrustworthyAI.” Most importantly, the EU guidelinesidentified core ethical imperatives such as pre-vention of harm, respect for human autono-my, fairness and explicability.

Therefore, in India, before attempting tocraft laws and regulations, officials and thepublic alike need to better understand in gen-eral the effect of AI and the impact of deploy-ing its uses on individuals and the society ingeneral, while establishing clear policy objec-tives and governing principles. More impor-tantly, policy discussions need to clarify the dif-ference or lack thereof between regulating tech-nology companies deploying AI unethically,and behind regulating all kinds of AI indis-criminately.

Further, regulations in this space need tobe grounded on core principles of data priva-cy, security, consumer safety, ethics and fair-ness. It is instructive to note that at present,there is no cogent and comprehensive data pri-vacy law in India. Simultaneously, it must alsobe noted that the potential impact of certainkinds of AI, including on other human rights,goes beyond privacy, and impacts future ofwork and innovation, decision-making, andhas a profound impact on our democracticprocesses and institutions.

In this context, it is crucial to rememberthat any meaningful policy discussion aroundthe regulation of AI and algorithmic bias inIndia will first need to start by acknowledg-ing that core socio-economic issues and bias-es cannot be cured by technological advance-ments. Acknowledging the inherent bias in oursociological understanding of the world, in ourdatabases and existing jurisprudence, allows us

to control and correct for such bias in thedeployment of any technology, including AI,or at the very least, opens our minds to the pos-sibilities of over-reliance on such AI.

Further, any regulation on AI will need tobegin with the establishment of foundationalconcepts and building on the existing frame-works of law and governance before we moveon to ethical and other challenges that may gobeyond the framework of the law.

Policy will then need to take into accountthe scope of deployment of AI and the impactof such deployment. In the clamour to regu-late technology companies, it must not be for-gotten that there are differences in variousfirms deploying AI and its varied uses. Forinstance, there is a difference between AI usedon an OTT platform to present viewers withchoices of certain kinds of movies over othersand the one used to filter or moderate con-tent on a big social media platform that canlead to real world violence.

A governance framework that does notengage in the nuances of technological uses andthe different kinds of biases — which exist inthe offline and online world, in our thinkingand in the software we build, in power struc-tures and differing incentives, in ourGovernments and businesses — can be bothmisleading and misguided. In correcting fordiscrimination and bias, unless we militateagainst absolute and simplistic understandingsof technology and on drafting laws withoutconsulting the wider community, a law regu-lating algorithmic bias may be more harmfulto the innovation ecosystem in India than nolaw at all.

(The writer is fellow at the Esya Centre)

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India has a robust and vibrantstart-up base of over 40,000companies that is growing at a

steady pace. A digital revolutionpowered by smartphones, a sizeablemiddle class with growing dispos-able incomes and a consequent risein consumerism are some factorsthat have propelled this growth. Thisis not a recent occurrence butrather the latest development in anevolutionary curve that can betraced back to four decades. The late1980s saw the birth of IT companies,some of whom went on to becomegiants on the global economic mapafter the IT revolution. It laid downthe success road for dot-com star-tups like the ticketing website

BookMyShow as well as a number ofindustry portals. India is home to 26unicorns and a rise in their numberhelps bring in more investment.

Now, the bad news. Despite thedevelopments and influx of invest-ment, close to 90 per cent of start-upsfail within the first year. One of theprimary reasons behind this is theirinsistence on catering to a localaudience. An innovative eco-systemthat enables start-ups think beyondlocal shores and devise strategies thatcan cater to wider markets is the needof the hour.

Scout for new marketsFinding customers is an expen-

sive process for start-ups if they donot have brand recognition. It isimportant that they develop busi-ness strategies with an eye on thefuture instead of focussing solely onshort-term results. If they want tostay relevant in the global marketscape, they need to develop a busi-ness plan with an eye for other glob-al markets, targetting countrieswith high mobile and broadbandpenetration, stable political climate,favorable socio-economics, easy tax

and regulatory requirements Success stories Some start-ups having firm

foothold in the country have start-ed making international footprintwith success. Oyo hotels and homes,one of the most famous home-grown hospitality chains, started itsglobal expansion by foraying intoNepal and Malaysia. It then spreadto China, which has a boomingtourism industry with a stronginflux of international tourists, andhas successfully established thou-sands of hotels spread across 28provinces. It is now eyeingIndonesia, Europe and the UK.

Zomato is another desi startupthat initiated its presence in theinternational market starting withDubai in 2012. It now has operationsin 10,000 cities across 24 countries.The cab aggregator, Ola, the ticket-ing platform, Cleartrip, and the craftbeer brand, Bira 91, are a few othercompanies that have successfullyexpanded their operational base.

The right packagingIf a company offers a spe-

cialised product, it needs to think

about how to sell its product acrossmarkets. Products have a standardlifecycle — they start slow, acceler-ate, reach a peak, slow back downand then diminish/disappear. Unlessthey come up with a re-targetted andrefurbished second gen productand start exploring secondary mar-kets, they will lose out on the edge.Finding a secondary market is notas difficult as is thought. Forinstance, Kellogg’s has perfectedthe art of catering identical productsto noticeably different markets.Although a lot of its cereal productstaste similar, packaging is smartenough to set it apart.

Opportunities for Indian play-ers in the global market

Travel providers: They need tofocus on key emerging marketswith a high volume of first-timetravelers. Airline firms should usetheir own channels to attract cus-tomers and build brand image. Bigdata can be mined to createdetailed purchase records of trav-elers. This will help companiesdesign targetted product offeringsand marketing campaigns.

Technology should be leveraged toprovide in-flight amenities likeWiFi, movies et al. Finally, travelagents should be incentivised todrive international sales.

Consumer brands: Asia-Pacifichas one of the fastest growing mar-kets for apparel and retail sales.Divisions should focus on thisregion. As for established markets,online channels play a key role inboosting sales figures. Maintaininga strong online brand image is thekey to driving positive recommen-dations.

Real estate developers: Playersfrom this sector should focus onproviding end-to-end solutions andincrease the wallet share fromexpats. They can offer value-addedservices like furniture, interiordesign and relocation assistance.Firms should organise and advertiseproperty launch events in regionswith a high volume of NRI diaspo-ra. They can tie up with foreign mar-keting agencies to reach out topotential international customersand build an online brand imagethat projects them as a trustworthy

source of information. SaaS: According to a KPMG

survey, over 43 per cent of smallbusiness owners use mobile devicesas their primary platform. SaaSplayers should focus on deliveringcustomised products for small busi-ness owners. The product shouldhave the ability to function bothonline and offline if emerging mar-kets have to be targetted as data isstill expensive in those areas. Astrong online marketing strategy,coupled with direct client contactvia an in-house sales team, is moreeffective than field sales.

What does the start-up eco-system need?

India needs to invest more inR&D and establish a working col-laboration with different countries.This will help solidify the linksbetween multinationals, local com-panies and academic institutions.Innovations need to focus on soci-etal problems such as healthcare,education, transportation, sanita-tion, clean energy and other suchpressing issues that most of thecountries across the world face.

Mindset change: We need tocreate an environment where entre-preneurship is supported by the pol-icy ecosystem. Often, due to pauci-ty of adequate funding and maturementorship, start-ups struggle toexpand or even break even. Theysurvive by adopting short-cut tech-niques, colloquially referred to as thedesi jugaad. However, if start-ups areto really compete with their coun-terparts in the developed economies,they need more seamless access tomarkets abroad, easier access to cus-tomer base and easier access to cap-ital and mentorship.

Start-up cells in embassies:The Government can help booststart-ups’ capacities by establishingdedicated start-up cells withinembassies of different countries orin collaboration with the embassiesof different countries in India. Thiscould be a designated Trade Cell,which is funded by the Governmentand has the sole mandate of help-ing start-ups and SMEs to gain afoothold in markets abroad.

(The writer is president, interna-tional operations, of a leading agri firm)

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Amaravati: The continuingheavy flood in Godavari riveraffected over 74,000 people inparts of East and West Godavaridistricts in Andhra Pradeshon Sunday with nearly 18,000of them being shifted to reliefcamps, officials said.

A second warning signalwas issued at Sir Arthur CottonBarrage at Dowaleswaram aswater flow in the river, whichhas been in spate since last weekfollowing heavy monsoon rains,crossed the 13 lakh cusecsmark on Sunday morning andalmost the entire quantum wasbeing let out into the Bay ofBengal.

However, there were nocasualties reported and teams ofthe National Disaster ResponseForce and the State DisasterResponse Force reached out tothe affected areas with essentialsupplies and food.

All required measures havebeen taken by the Collectors ofthese two districts and the sit-uation was under control, the

state Disaster ManagementAuthority (SDMA) said in arelease.

Power supply remained cutoff while road and communi-cation network were badlydamaged in the two districts, itsaid.

As per preliminary esti-mate, damage to roads andother infrastructure was �6.45crore.

The heavy floods batteredat least six mandals in the twodistricts with the impact moreon East Godavari where 52,500people were affected, theSDMA said adding a total of21,568 were hit in WestGodavari.

In all, people in 280 villagesin both the districts were facingthe brunt of the flood fury, theauthority said.

The famous GoshpadaKshetram on the banks ofGodavari at Kovvuru was inun-dated, following which templeshere were closed.

The water-level touched 29metres at Polavaram dam con-struction site, but all access tothe project remained cut off asthe main approach Kademmasluice bridge submerged.

For the fifth consecutiveday, island villages underDevipatnam mandal of EastGodavari district remained indarkness as power supply wascut off.

Consequently, as many as17,632 people were moved torelief camps where over 35,000food packets have been dis-tributed for them on Sundayafternoon, the release said.

The Yedduvagu andSiddaramvagu bridges in WestGodavari district remain sub-merged, cutting off trans-portation to villages in theregion.

Rice (25 kg to each affect-ed family), kerosene, edible oil,potatoes and redgram daal havebeen supplied for the flood vic-tims in the two districts, theSDMA release said.

In West Godavari, officialsorganised 47 medical camps inthe flood-hit areas to preventoutbreak of communicable dis-eases.

State Panchayat RajMinister PeddireddiRamachandra Reddy spoke toCollectors of the Godavaridistricts and reviewed the sit-uation. PTI

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At least six persons werekilled in rain-related inci-

dents in Mumbai and elsewhereMaharashtra, even as the IndianAir Force (IAF) helicopters air-lifted 58 people marooned in aflooded village in Kalyan talukaof Thane district and the NDRFand the local fire brigade per-sonnel rescued at least 850stranded people from inundat-ed low-lying areas of Kurla andSanta Cruz in Mumbai andVasai taluka in Palghar district.

The skies opened up inMumbai and several parts ofMaharashtra for the secondconsecutive day, inundating therailway tracks at several placesand low-lying areas across themetropolis and adjoining areasand thus affecting the suburbantrain services and road traffic.

Being a Sunday, normal lifein Mumbai remained by andlarge unaffected as sizeable sec-tions of Mumbaikars had cho-

sen to stay indoors. However,people living in low-laying areasbore the maximum of the heavyrains that battered the metrop-olis and adjoining areas.

While a slum dweller iden-tified as one Mehaboob MazarShaikh (20) was swept away inswollen waters of a creek atDharvi in north-centralMumbai, one Mala BhumannaNaagam (52) and her SanketBhumanna Naagam (26) wereelectrocuted in their home nearRaje Sambaji school at SantaCruz’s Golibar Rao in north-west Mumbai.

A 14-year-old boy –PavanPrajapati – was washed away inflood waters at Mori village inVasai taluka of Palghar district.Two persons from Pune – iden-tified as Nitin Shelar, (37) andVaishakh Nambiar (38) –drowned at a waterfall in Satarain western Maharashtra. Thetwo deceased had gone for pic-nic along with others when themishap took place.

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Lucknow: The Uttar PradeshGovernment on Sunday shunt-ed out the District Magistrateand Superintendent of Police ofSonbhadra, besides orderingaction against 13 other officialsafter they were indicted in aninquiry into the killing of 10Gond tribals last month over aland dispute.

Addressing a press confer-ence at his residence, ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath saidFIRs have been registeredagainst against 28 people in thismatter. Twelve primary mem-bers of Adarsh Krishi SahkariSamiti, Umbha, who are alive,will also be booked for grab-bing gram sabha land.

The disputed land inUmbha and Saphi villages alsobe transferred back and regis-tered in the name of gramsabha, he said, while announc-ing that a Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) will look into thematter.

Adityanath said depart-mental proceedings have beeninitiated against SonbhadraDistrict Magistrate AnkitKumar Agrawal andSuperintendent of Police

Salman Taj Patil for taking"one-sided decision" againstthe villagers.

Directives have been issuedto attach Agrawal and Patil tothe Department ofAppointment and Personneland the DGP Headquarters,respectively, he said.

S Ramalingam has beenmade the new DistrictMagistrate of Sonbhadra, whilePrabhakar Chaudhary is thenew Superintendent of Police,officials said.

"The entire matter will beprobed by an SIT. The SIT willbe headed by DIG SIT JRavindra Gaud, and will haveAdditional SP Amrita Mishraalong with three inspectors.DG SIT R P Singh will be mon-itoring the work of the SIT," theChief Minister said.

"Action has been initiatedagainst eight gazetted officials,including the district magis-trate, superintendent of police,additional SP, three circle offi-cers, ARO co-operative andARO (Revenue Department).Seven non-gazetted officials,including three inspectors, oneSI, two head constables and one

constable, will also be probed,"he said.

He said another team willbe set up under AdditionalChief Secretary (Revenue)Renuka Kumar to look into theissue of land grabbing by "fake"societies in the last 60-70 yearsin Mirzapur and Sonbhadra.

"Fake societies inSonbhadra and Mirzapur havegrabbed more than one lakhacre of land. In 1972, then chiefminister Hemwati NandanBahuguna had constituted aprobe committee underMangaldev Visharad. However,no action was taken as a num-ber of Congress leaders wereinvolved," Adityanath said.

"The Government hasformed a six-member teamwhich will probe into the landgrabbed by fake societies inMirzapur and Sonbhadra andthen using it for their person-al use. The probe report will besubmitted in three months'time," he added. In July, 10 peo-ple were killed and 28 injuredin the clash after a villageheadman and his supportersopened fire on a group of trib-als over a land dispute. PTI

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Patna: Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar on Sundaylamented that his ferventrequest for grant of central sta-tus to Patna University twoyears ago was dismissed byPrime Minister NarendraModi denying the institutionmuch needed help.

He said he is hopeful nowthat the university will get itsdue as Vice-President MVenkaiah Naidu is present atthe programme held to observethe centenary of the library ofthe varsity.

Later in his address, Naidusaid he would talk to UnionHRD Minister RameshPokhriyal and find out if mea-sures could be taken to accordcentral university status to it.

Had his request beenaccepted two years ago, theglory of the institute which wasonce considered "the greatestnot just in the country, but thewhole of Asia", could havebeen restored, said Kumar, an

alumnus of the university,referring to its centenary cel-ebrations held in October,2017.

At that programme twoyears ago, Kumar said, he hadrepeatedly requested Modi,who shared the dais with him,"with folded hands" to consid-er the demand for a central sta-tus to the university.

"But my plea was turneddown," Kumar said.

The prime minister, whohad spoken afterwards, haddismissed the request statingthat the idea of granting cen-tral status to universities hadbecome obsolete and PatnaUniversity would do better toavail of the opportunities athand given the government'sthrust on making institutes ofhigher learning world class.

The development hadcome barely a couple ofmonths after Kumar returnedto the NDA and it had led toopposition parties like Lalu

Prasad's RJD launching a bar-rage of ridicule on the chiefminister.

"That was, however, a dif-ferent occasion. Today we arehere to celebrate the centenaryof the library of PatnaUniversity," Kumar said recol-lecting that the vice presidentwas also present at that pro-gramme as the chief guest.

Turning towards Naidu,whom Kumar has known sincethe days they were cabinetcolleagues in the Atal BihariVajpayee government, Kumarsaid, "Now that you are amongus, I hope something would bedone to give this university itsdue. The state government isdoing its bit. But had theCentre agreed to take it over,it would have made a world ofdifference."

The chief minister saidBihar is the land of scholarslike Aryabhatta and Chanakyaancient seats of learning likeNalanda. PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: KeralaIAS officer SriramVenkitaraman, arrested afterthe car driven by him fatallyknocked down a journalist, wason Sunday shifted to the"remand cell" in theGovernment Medical CollegeHospital here from a privatehealth-care facility, police said.

Amid tight security andhigh drama, Venkitaraman,who got himself admitted to theprivate hospital soon after theaccident on Saturday, wasbrought out in a stretcher witha face mask and shifted to themedical college hospital afterbeing produced before a mag-istrate.

The 33-year-old officer wasseen lying motionless on thestretcher with his spectacleson. The IAS officer was shiftedto the Government hospitalafter charges that "five startreatment" was being given tohim in the private hospital,despite being remanded to judi-

cial custody. Venkitaraman hadallegedly driven the car in anintoxicated state and knockeddown K Mohammed Basheer

(35), Bureau Chief ofMalayalam daily "Siraj" while hewas riding a motorcycle in theearly hours of Saturday. PTI

Alappuzha(Ker): Kerala PWDMinister G Sudhakaran,known for making controver-sial statements, on Sundaycriticised IAS and IPS officials,saying there were many peo-ple like arrested IAS officerSriram Venkitaraman in thecivil service.

Venkitaraman was arrest-ed Saturday after a car he wasdriving in an allegedly inebri-ated condition fatally knockeddown a journalist inThiruvananthapuram.

"I had said earlier alsothat there are similar type ofpeople (who drink and drive

in IAS and IPS). They consid-er themselves as God.

They are human beings,"Sudhakaran told reportershere in response to queriesregarding the accident involv-ing the civil service officer.Observing that one shouldnot have a notion that thecharacter of a person wouldimprove if he cleared IASexamination, the minister said,"It is only an exam." The IASofficer, who was allegedlydrunk, rammed his car into abike, killing K M Basheer,bureau chief of a vernaculardaily. PTI

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Activists and people fromvarious walks of life on

Sunday staged a protest againstthe Right to Information(Amendment) Bill, 2019 Billpassed last month by both theHouses of Parliament, a legis-lation that empowers theUnion Government to fixtenures and the salaries ofinformation commissioners.

At a meeting held the AirIndia Modern School of Kalinain north Mumbai, the partici-pants adopted a resolution tofight against the RTI amend-ment "at all levels".

The participants, includingformer Union InformationCommissioner Shailesh Gandhiand activist Anjali Damania,decided to go public and organ-ise a movement against the RTIamendment bill.

Gandhi said that thechanges made in the originalRTI Act without the necessitywere wrong and that theGovernment was not giving“concrete answers” as to why ithad amended the Act.

Anjali Damania said thatafter the amendment, “ the bat-tles have started and now weneed to fight the battle at alllevels”. RTI activist Anil Galgalisaid that the government madechanges in the Constitution byignoring the provisions andrules. “The government is aconducting a new experiment

to put pressure on theInformation Commissionersdirectly so that people cannotexercise their right to infor-mation,” Galgali said.

AAP spokesperson PreetiMemon Sharma charged thatthe amendment had been madeso that the Government couldcontrol the InformationCommissioners by giving thempost retirement benefits “Ineffect, the right to informationenvironment is beingdestroyed,” she said.

Senior journalist HemantDesai said that the Centre wasresorting to politics usingEnforcement Directorate andCBI, while another journalistRavindra Ambekar said that itwas wrong to expect anythingfrom the politicians by thepeople.

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Banda: Irked by his wife cele-brating passage of the anti-tripletalaq bill by the Rajya Sabha, aMuslim man allegedly gave herinstant triple talaq and expelledher from his house in Fatehpurdistrict near here, said police.

"Mufeeda Khatun, a resi-dent of Jigni village underBindki police station celebrat-ed the successful passage of theanti-triple talaq bill in RajyaSabha. This angered her hus-band Shamsuddin who expelledher from the house on August3 after giving hr instant tripletalaq," said Bindki's CircleOfficer Abhishek Tiwari onSunday.

The police have registereda case against Shamsuddin on

a complaint by his wife.In her complaint, Mufeeda

said her husband reached herhome and "divorced" herinstantly pronouncing "talaq"thrice in front of her parents.

The Parliament on July 30,had approved the bill thatmakes instant triple talaq acriminal offence, with the RajyaSabha passing the contentiouslegislation.

Lok Sabha had passed theMuslim Women (Protection ofRights on Marriage) Bill lastweek. With the Rajya Sabha alsoapproving it, the practice ofinstant divorce by Muslim menhas been rendered punishablewith a jail term of up to threeyears. PTI

Madurai: Days after a food vis-a-vis religion wrangle involvingfood aggregator Zomato,arestaurant here has kicked upa row by naming a chicken del-icacy after 'Iyers', a Brahmincaste,while another hotel inTamil Nadu won support byannouncing it will not servethose who link food to religion.

Though the restaurant herehas apologised for naming adish as "Kumbakonam IyerChicken," it has raised ques-tions on the reasons behind itand a Hindu outfit alleged that"cheap publicity" was a key dri-ving factor.

The hotel tendered anapology and removed the pro-motional content on socialmedia after Brahmin associa-tions and Hindu outfits strong-ly protested against it.

Kumbakonam is a town inThanjavur district, the hub ofthe Cauvery delta in TamilNadu, with a sizable population

of Tamil Brahmins.The town is popular for its

distinct coffee flavour and thegeneric term "KumbakonamCoffee" is used by many hotelsto mean the authentic taste ofthe region, a favourite beverageamong Brahmins of the dis-trict.

Hindu Tamizhar Katchileader Rama Ravikumar

alleged the labelling was noth-ing but a cheap publicity stunt.

"You are hurting them andyou are playing with their sen-timents and this may incitetrouble, which is completelyavoidable. This is a cheap pub-licity stunt," he told PTI.

Choosing the town's name,which is not very popular forany specific non-vegetarian

delicacy, unlike many othertowns of Tamil Nadu and fur-ther linking it to a communi-ty that was tied to vegetarianfood has exposed their inten-tions, he said.

On a Pudukottai hotel say-ing it won't serve anyone wholinked food to religion, heasked "what about the demandfor halal tagged food..?, pleasetell me if this is not an attemptto link religion to food?"

Also, he wondered whythat hotel came up with thisslogan now and not before theZomato episode.

The hotel at Pudukottai,about 110 kilometers fromhere, has put up a board saying"No food to those who look atreligion (in food)., food has noreligion."

Also the hotel condemnedwhat it called "bigots," whochose to link food to religionon the background of theZomato controversy.

Several local people laud-ed the hotel for its initiative andsaid it was a step in the rightdirection.

When contacted on thetwin issues, Vice President ofthe Tamil Nadu ThowheedJamath, Abdul Rahman, saidlinking the Brahmin commu-nity to a non-vegetarian deli-cacy was a wrong step.

"Knowing fully well thatIyers do not eat non-vegetari-an, if you name a non-vege-tarian dish after them, whatdoes it mean ?" he asked,adding nothing should be doneto hurt the sentiments of anycaste, community or religion.

On the claim that thedemand for halal tagged foodwas linked to religion, he said:"We say the name of God, it isa prayer and then the meat iscut properly to drain out theblood and make it clean and fitfor consumption...This is a sci-entific method and this is

halal."Preferring only halal meat

is "my right, faith and choiceand this cannot be linking reli-gion to food," he said.

"There is a right to religionin food, only thrusting religionon matters related to food is notcorrect. No one can dictatewhat the other person shouldeat and must not eat."

Asked about thePudukottai hotel's new sloganhe said, "I don't know its inten-tion, but this appears to beaimed at promoting and sup-porting harmony."

Zomato had on July 24refused to resolve the com-plaint of a customer aboutbeing assigned a Muslim deliv-ery executive for his food order.

"Food doesn't have a reli-gion. It is a religion," the com-pany had tweeted in responseto the customer's request forchange of the rider as he was a'non-Hindu'.

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� �����-�����;��1�����<�����������������������������&����������#�+��������� Kochi: Experts from different

research institutes in the coun-try would gather at the CentralMarine Fisheries ResearchInstitute (CMFRI) here onTuesday to analyse the reasonsfor the fluctuating existence ofoil sardine in the southernArabian sea.

The national-level sympo-sium would try to identify thefactors affecting this marinespecies along the south-westcoasts and find ways and meansto address the issue, a CMFRIpress release said here Sunday.

Experts working in theareas of climate change,oceanography, fishery biologyand socio-economics wouldengage in a panel discussion toset a way for the future courseof research on fluctuating trendof oil sardine on a multi-disci-plinary platform.

The meet aims to recognisemicro-level ecological factors ofthe ocean that influence the bio-logical cycle of oil sardine, saidE M Abdussamad, principalscientist of the CMFRI.

He said recent investigationof the CMFRI had indicatedthat climate change, especiallyEl Nino-La Nina episodes, hasa significant impact on the oilsardine.

Based on this, CMFRI hadissued an advisory that avail-ability of sardine from Keralacoasts this year would decreasedrastically depending on theintensity of El Nino.

The collapse experiencingtoday endorses the CMFRIfindings. However, micro-levelanalysis is required to identifyhow various oceanographic andclimatic parameters affect thebiology of the

fish,Abdussamadsaid.Apart from El Nino, various

oceanographic phenomenasuch as increase in the sea sur-face temperature, upwelling andfluctuations in ocean produc-tivity are considered crucialfactors affecting the life-cycle ofoil sardine.

A multi-disciplinaryapproach is essential to analysethese aspects to generate arefined view on this enigmaticfish species, he said. The sardineresource is highly susceptible tofrequent and heavy fluctua-tions, but specific causativeagents for this remain an enig-ma to the researchers, fisher-men and managers, he said,adding that the discussion on amulti-disciplinary approachwould lead to a better under-standing of the reasons behindthe situation. PTI

Jaipur: The bodies of a man anda woman were found hangingfrom a tree in a village farm inAmer area here on Sunday,police said.

It appears to be a case ofsuicide, however, no note wasrecovered from the bodies, Sub-Inspector, Amer Police Station,Mahesh Chandra said.

The deceased were identi-fied as Hanuman Meena (30),and Priyanka Meena (24), of

Netata village, he said.They were missing since last

Thursday, he said, adding thatboth were married to someoneelse and had children.

Priyanka's husband hadlodged a complaint againstHanuman for running awaywith his wife, the officer said.

The bodies were handedover to family members afterpost-mortem and further inves-tigation is on, he added. PTI

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Bengaluru: Facing flak forpresenting a basket of fruitwrapped with banned plastic toKarnataka Chief Minister B SYediyurappa recently, the cityMayor GangambikeMallikarjun has said she 'vol-untarily' paid a fine of �500 forthe violation.

After the photo of her pre-senting the basket went viral,Gangambike was criticisedbecause there is already a banon plastic ban and severaltraders in the city had beenpenalised in the past for stor-ing and using the plastic prod-ucts.

"My photograph of giftinga basket of dry fruits wrappedwith a plastic cover to thechief minister went viral in thesocial media.

Being the first citizen of thecity, I did not wish to sendacross a wrong message to thepeople of the city. Hence, I

decided to pay the penalty of Rs500," the mayor said in a state-ment Saturday.

The Mayor, however,pointed out that there was noclause in the rules for penalis-ing those using plastic thoughthere was such a provisionagainst traders.

She also said there was aproposal to impose fine on theend users of plastic productsand it would be incorporated inthe law.

"In order to spread awareness among masses about the problems posed bypolythene bags, I decided topay the penalty even before thisclause is incorporated in theplastic ban bylaw," the mayorsaid.

Gangambike rued that theplastic ban was in place since2016, yet it had not been effec-tive in curbing the polythenemenace. PTI

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Page 9: ˇˆ! ˚˜ !˘ ˛ ! ˝ !˝˘ ˘ %...resume all services with imme-diate effect. Continued on Page 4 ... Karan Singh on Sunday said Priyanka will be a “unify-ing force” and will

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Guwahati: Expressing concernover pendency of cases, ChiefJustice of India Ranjan Gogoisaid on Sunday that more thantwo lakh cases are in courts for25 years, while over 1,000 caseshave not been disposed of evenafter five decades.

Speaking at a public func-tion here, Justice Gogoi saidthough the judiciary faces crit-icism for the huge number ofpending cases, it is not entirelyresponsible for the delay as theexecutive also has some respon-sibility in the justice deliverymechanism.

"In India, we have a littleover one thousand 50-year-oldcases and above two lakh 25-year-old cases," he said.

The CJI said, out of about 90lakh pending civil cases, morethan 20 lakh are at a stagewhere summons have not beenserved yet.

"This is about 23 per cent ofthe civil cases in the country. Incriminal cases, the figure isworse. Out of 2.10 crore (pend-ing) criminal cases, the totalpendency at the summoningstage is over a crore.

"If summons have not beenserved, how do my judges startthe trial? This is my question tothe executive. The responsibili-ty of summoning solely lieswith the executive arm of thegovernment," Justice Gogoi said.

He said out of the total

pending criminal cases, about 45lakh are petty offences.

Justice Gogoi said he hadaddressed the chief justices ofvarious high courts on July 10,during which he requested themto "go after" the 50-year-old andthose pending for 25 years.

He instructed Gauhati HighCourt acting Chief Justice ArupKumar Goswami to clear suchlong pending cases in Assam assoon as possible.

He also expressed hope thatthe Centre will accept his pro-posal to raise the retirement ageof high court judges to 65 yearsfrom the current 62.

"The immediate result -there will be a freeze of retire-ment for three years. In thesethree years, we can try and fillup the 403 vacancies by good

judges. This is my dream. Itshould be carried out by my suc-cessor Chief Justice (of India)and I don't see why he cannotchange the face of Indian judi-ciary," Justice Gogoi said.

On the trial courts, the CJIsaid already around 4,000 postshave been filled of 6,000 vacan-cies and 1,500 more will be filledup by the end of this year.

"As far as the high courts areconcerned, out of 1,079 posts allover the country, 403 are vacant.I have requested the chief justices(of the high courts) to send theirrecommendations.... Make goodrecommendations," he said.

In Assam and other NorthEast states, there is no casewhich is 50 years old, but thereare 106 cases which are pendingfor 25 years, Gogoi said. PTI

?,���(5�������������������������(H������I�!1� Mumbai: Mumbai Congress

chief Milind Deora on Sundayproposed the names of SachinPilot and Jyotiraditya Scindia forthe post of party's national pres-ident.

Deora told PTI he agreedwith Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh that the newCongress president should beyoung, capable and possess elec-toral, administrative and organ-isational experience, and a panIndia appeal.

"In my view, Sachin Pilotand Jyotiraditya Scindia have allthese qualities and can providestrength to the organisation andvigour to the opposition space,"he said.

He added that he was"unequivocally ruling myselfout" adding that "I know mystrengths and capabilities and Iam willing to work with anyonein the best interest of our party".

Deora said Pilot or Scindiashould be made interim presi-dent at least, and be publiclybacked by the Gandhi family.

"Unless of course, theGandhi family disagrees withmy assessment," he added.

To a query on what if theparty decided on someone otherthan the two, he said, "If theparty collectively decides onsomeone else, I will respect itswisdom. But I will be surprisedif the party or public disagreeswith my assessment."

Responding to a questionon the party's indecisiveness

regarding the new president,Deora said Congress mustrespect the faith 13 crore votershave reposed in the party by tak-ing decisive steps.

"It is high time we, as a party,made a collective call on ourleadership. In my opinion, weneed to put our best foot for-ward, enthuse the cadre andonce again attract the attentionof the electorate," he said.

He said the delay in electinga new congress chief was hurt-ing the party.

"India's single largest oppo-sition party has a huge respon-sibility towards strengtheningthe world's largest democracy,"he said. Speaking about theupcoming assembly polls insome states, includingMaharashtra, Deora said, "Wehave crucial elections coming upin October and further delay canimpact our prospects adversely."

On Rahul Gandhi's s deci-sion to quit, Deora said it wasunfortunate and added that theCongress leader did his best forthe party.

"If he has decided to stay

away from the procedure to pickthe new Congress chief, wemust respect his decision,"Deora added.

When asked if the Congresswill accept a non-Gandhi as theparty chief, the former LokSabha MP said the contributionof the Nehru-Gandhi family tothe party was unmatched.

"We are standing at such acrucial juncture in history thatwe have to depart from con-ventional political routes. It istheir (Nehru-Gandhi family)decision to stay out of the lead-ership race and we must respectit," he said.

On general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi's possible can-didature for the top job, Deorasaid, "Priyanka Gandhi is excep-tionally talented. It is the fami-ly's decision to not be involvedwith the office of the Congresspresident. We must respect thisand move on."

When asked if the leader-ship vacuum hurt the Congressin Karnataka and Goa, Deorasaid many of these events couldhave been avoided if the partyhad a strong and decisive cen-tral leadership. "We do not havethe luxury of time," Deora saidabout the need for the Congressto act fast. Responding to aquestion on whether hefavoured polls for the post ofCongress president, Deora saida call on this would have to betaken by the party's workingcommittee (CWC). PTI

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Within days of Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata

Banerjee launching her publicrelation portals “Didi ke Bolo”(Tell Didi) and “Amar GorboMamata” (Mamata My Pride) inan apparent bid to assuage pop-ular feeling by reaching out tothe masses, one of her keyMinisters Subroto Mukherjee onSunday said things couldboomerang if not followed upscrupulously.

Mukherjee a senior leaderknown for not speaking out ofturn and sans insinuations said“Didi ke Bolo is a good gestureto reach out to the masses andaddress popular issues but at thesame time it is a risky move toobecause if you do not follow upand redress popular grievancesthen you will be in trouble.”

Apparently advised by elec-tion strategist Prashant Kishor— who is professionally direct-ing the Trinamool Congressand Banerjee’s image-makeoverdrill — the TMC supremo hadafter much trumpet blastlaunched the portal Didi keBolo.com and a helpline wherethe people were asked to regis-ter their complaints to enable theChief Minister to directly inter-vene and solve their problems.

In fact the nodal office at theState secretariat Nabanna, hadreceived humungous responsefrom the masses with thousandsof complaints pouring in sincethe launch of Didi ke Bolo.

“A complaint not reachingthe Chief Minister is one thingand the issue officially reachingher but not getting redressedimmediately is another" saidMukherjee. “On one hand this

strategy is full of possibilities forthe Government to performbut on the other hand if this isnot handled and followed upscrupulously then you are in fortrouble as it will not take long forthe popular faith in you to diedown,” he said advising theChief Minister to take care of thefollow-up exercise.

“I will request the ChiefMinister to take up and followup each and every case to redressthem otherwise things mayboomerang,” the Minister said.

Mukherjee is credited withbringing Banerjee, a firebrandyoung leader into the Congressand fetching her a ticket to con-test her first parliamentary elec-tions from Jadavpur con-stituency whence she defeatedthe Marxist heavyweightSomnath Chatterjee to enterthe lower house in mid-eighties.

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Chennai: A police complainthas been lodged by a BJPspokesperson against BishopEzra Sargunam for his allegedprovocative and abusive remarksagainst Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in a Tamil newschannel's digital platform.

The Bishop, a well knownevangelist of the EvangelicalChurch of India, made theremarks in an interview of himby Cauvery News's digital plat-form which was streamed afew days ago.

In his complaint, NarayananTirupathi, BJP's Tamil Naduunit spokesperson, detailed theallegations made by Sargunamand sought the Bishop's arrestand prosecution under IPC 504(intentional insult with intent toprovoke breach of the peace).

The senior functionary, a

well known television face of theBJP in debates, said in his pleathat Sargunam's remarks werebeing circulated in the socialmedia and sought action.

His online complaint wasregistered in the AbiramapuramPolice Station on Sunday and areceipt with acknowledgementnumber was given under theCommunity Service Register(CSR). The crux of Sargunam'sallegation in the interviewappeared to reflect accusationsPrime Minister Modi facedabout a decade ago when he wasthe Gujarat Chief Minister.

When the anchor pointedout that none of the allegationsagainst Modi were proven in acourt of law, the evangelist inhis repartee used a particularword which is also seen asuntenable. PTI

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The Tamil chauvinists inTamil Nadu film industry

has chosen an innovative styleto lampoon superstarRajinikanth’s political dreams.While Kamal Haassan, theother superstar, who tried tobreak into the world of poli-tics with an outfit namedMakkal Neethi Maiam had tomake a hasty retreat followingthe drubbing he received inthe Lok Sabha election heldon April 2019, Rajinikanthhas not yet announced thename of the party he propos-es to launch.

What is known is that“Thalaivar”, as Rajinikanth is

addressed by fans, would beready with the party andplans in time for the nextAssembly election scheduledfor 2021. But the DMK andother outf its are nothumoured by the moves ofRajinikanth. An unsignedarticle published in ‘Murasoli’,the DMK’s mouthpiece inOctober 2018 had lambastedand lampooned Rajinikanthfor his political dreams.

The article was inresponse to Rajinikanth's let-ter to his fans and followersthat those who are after powerand wealth would not haveany place in his scheme ofthings. The Murasoli articleasked how was it possible forRajinikanth to expect his fol-

lowers to work tirelessly formaking him the ChiefMinister while they them-selves should not aspire foranything. It is an open secretthat nothing would be print-ed in Murasoli without theconcurrence of party chiefMK Stalin.

The latest attack onRajinikanth is a film Comali(Tamil for Joker) which por-trays the political dreamshilariously of the protago-nist who was in coma for 16years. Though the moviemaker, a staunch Dravidianactivist, is silent about thecharacter, the teaser of themovie released on Saturdaymakes it clear that Rajnikanthis the target of director

Pradeep Ranganathan andactor Jayam Ravi. By Sundaymorning, the trailer drew aviewership of over one mil-lion.

There is a big fight amongstarts of the Tamil film indus-try to grab the political spacevacated by J Jayalalithaa, theformer Chief Minister, whobreathed her last in 2016.Vishal and Joseph Vijay arethe ones in contention for thechair while there are otherstoo waiting in the sidelines totry their luck. Interestingly,Stalin and other Dravidiannationalists are silent overthe entry of film actors bornin Tamil Nadu while they areopposed to any kind of polit-ical move by Rajnikanth.

Siliguri (WB): The viciouscycle of cross-border cattlesmuggling along the India-Bangladesh border has snow-balled into a major challengefor the BSF which alwaysremains on the receiving end.

On July 11, a BSF soldierlost his hand and suffered seri-ous injuries in a bomb attack byBangladeshi cattle smugglersalong the India-Bangladeshborder in West Bengal.

According to an officialwho spoke on the condition ofanonymity, cattle smugglersfrom India are treated astraders once they cross over toBangladesh.

"All these smugglers needto do is to furnish taka 500 peranimal to the officials inBangladesh afterwards theyare free to sell it to whoeverthey wish," he said.

"Since there is a hugedemand for cattle inBangladesh, smugglers neverlose a single chance to crossover to the neighbouring coun-try where they earn easymoney. The demand and sup-ply chain has to be broken," theofficial said, adding that thesecriminals often open fire at theBSF, killing or injuring theofficials deployed at the border.

According to officials, tensof thousands of cattle are esti-mated to be smuggled toBangladesh annually throughthe porous India-Bangladeshborder in West Bengal.

Floating banana stems arehugely popular for illegallysending cows, oxen and buf-faloes across the border intoBangladesh using the flow ofriver.

Vast rivers with strong

water currents are favourablefor the smugglers who prefersending the cattle after sunsetto avoid detection.

As per the modus operan-di, the smugglers place theheads of the bovines betweentwo strong banana stems andtie them together before theyare pushed in the deep water,allowing the currents to take

the animals to the other side ofthe border where their accom-plices wait for the livestock.

The demand for cattle inBangladesh is always high andit peaks ahead of Eid festivities.

The official said thatBangladesh does not treat cat-tle smuggling from India as acrime as cattle trade is a legalsource of income in

Bangladesh. "A cattle smuggler becomes

a trader once he is inBangladesh and pays taka 500per animal as Customs dutyafter smuggling of cattle fromIndia," he said.

Bangladesh generatesincome at three stages from thisvicious cycle of cattle smug-gling.

First, they get revenue atthe entry of the animal inBangladesh, second in meatexport and third is the indus-tries related to it like textile.

The factors contributing tocattle smuggling include thesupply and demand chain,unabated movement of cattlefrom hinterland to borderareas.

The implementation ofnon-lethal strategy by the BSFalso contributes to the rise in

cattle smuggling besides it is aneasy earning of all the stake-holders in the entire chain.

"The price difference issuch that it is a profitable tradeeven if a cattle is auctionedthrice," the official said. Porusborder and unfenced gaps arefavourable conditions for thesmugglers.

Smuggling of cattle, drugsand narcotics, leather, armsand ammunition has been amajor challenge for the BorderSecurity Force (BSF) and theBorder Guard Bangladesh(BGB) — the border guardingforces of the two countries.

Since it is a source ofincome for the government ofBangladesh, the BSF does notget any support from the BGBto stop cattle smuggling.

Last month, the 48th bi-annual Director General-level

talks between the BSF and theBGB were concluded in Dhakaduring which it was mutuallydecided to enhance coopera-tion to better check crime andsmuggling of cattle and nar-cotics across the 4,096 kmfrontier shared by the neigh-bours. The BGB, however, hasaccepted that cross-bordersmuggling cannot be stoppedcompletely at the Indo-Banglafrontier as it sought greatercooperation from the BSF to

tackle the menace. Brigadier Jalal Gani,

Commander of the North WestRegion, Bangladesh, said thatsmugglers are poor people whoindulge in the illegal activityjust to sustain themselves andnot to lead a lavish lifestyle.

"Regarding the killing ofsmugglers by the BSF, this isour request that we should fol-low the law of the land. Killingis not the solution," the com-mander said. PTI

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��)���.������������������1��������Lucknow: The Samajwadi Party will hold a Day-longprotest across the state on August 9 to highlight thealleged "poor law and order" situation in the State.

The party workers will be staging demonstrationsall over the state on August 9 in which all party MPs,MLAs and office bearers of its different wings will beparticipating, said SP national spokesperson RajendraChaudhary.

"There is complete jungle raj in the state. In everydistrict, there has been a spurt in the crime graph. TheSP workers are being targeted in every district. TheBJP leaders are giving patronage to criminal elementsin the state," said Chaudhary in a statement.

The statement listed a series of demands, includ-ing the shifting of the Unnao's woman rape accusedand BJP MLA Kuldeep Singh Sengar to a jail outsidethe state, allocation of land to tribals of Umbha vil-lage in Sonbhadra district and entering their namesin revenue records. PTI

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Barpeta (Assam): Three suspectedmembers of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) werearrested from different parts ofBarpeta district, police said onSunday.

Police nabbed two sleeper cellmembers and one linkman of JMBon Saturday night, a senior officersaid.

The three have been identified asMustafizur Rahman (25), ShafiqulIslam (29) and Danesh Ali. They wereproduced before a court which sentthem to eight days police remand.

Barpeta Superintendent of PoliceRobin Kumar said Rahman andIslam are trained JMB cadres, whileAli is the linkmen of all jihadi activ-ities in the district.

Last week, four more suspectedjihadis were arrested from differentparts of Barpeta and adjoiningChirang districts.

They were identified as HafizurRahman, Yakub Ali, Sariful Islam andHanif Ali. They were arrested forjihadi activities, police said. PTI

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Lucknow: The condition of theUnnao rape victim who wascritically injured along with herlawyer after their car was hit bya truck in Rae Bareli on July 28is stable, doctors attending toher at a hospital here said onSunday.

King George's MedicalUniversity Trauma Centre in-charge Dr Sandeep Tiwari said,"The condition of both theUnnao rape survivor and herlawyer is stable."

Yesterday, the rape victimhad developed pneumonia.

Because of pneumonia,she has fever and is also beinggiven medication to controlher blood pressure. She isbeing given oxygen through atube inserted in the windpipe,Tiwari said on Saturday.

He stressed that KGMU isfully equipped to provide besttreatment to the two patients.

She and her lawyer suf-fered critical injuries in thetruck-car crash; her two auntswere killed. One of the auntswas a witness to the rape of thewoman in 2017 when she wasa minor.

The victim and her lawyerare under round-the-clockobservation, doctors said.

The Supreme Court will pass orders on Mondaywhether the woman should be moved to AIIMS hospital in Delhi for better treatment. PTI

Hyderabad: At least 12 people,including some women diedand four others were injuredafter the three-wheeler inwhich they were travelling washit by a lorry in Mahabubnagardistrict on Sunday, police said.

The incident happenedatKottapalli village in Midjilmandal of the district when thelorry rammed into the overcrowded three-wheeler vehiclecoming from opposite direc-tion, they said.

The deceased were labour-ers and were returning home,police said adding the vehiclewas at least carrying 16 in itwhen the incident happened.

Telangana Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Raoexpressed shock over the roadaccident.

Rao conveyed his heartfeltsympathies to the family mem-bers and instructed the officialsconcerned to offer best medicalfacilities to the injured, an offi-cial release said.

Meanwhile, a group of peo-ple including family membersand relatives of the deceasedstaged a protest demanding jus-tice, including a compensationfor those killed. PTI

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The country will need to growby 9 per cent every year for

five years continuously and raiseaggregate investment rate to 38per cent of GDP to achievePrime Minister Narendra Modi’starget of turning India into a $5trillion economy, Ernst & Young(EY) has said.

In its latest edition ofEconomy Watch, EY saidassuming India grows by pro-jected 7 per cent in the currentfiscal year ending March 31,2020, the size of the economywill grow to $3 trillion from$2.7 trillion in the previousyear.

It will have to grow by 9 percent in each of the five subse-quent years to take the size ofthe economy to $3.3 trillion inFY21, $3.6 trillion in FY22,$4.1 trillion in FY23, $4.5 tril-lion in FY24 and $5 trillion inFY25.

“Assuming an inflation rateof 4 per cent which is the tar-get inflation rate as per theMonetary Policy Framework, areal growth rate close to 9 percent would be required toincrease the size of the Indianeconomy to $5 trillion by FY25.This implies a nominal growthrate of 13 per cent, assuming anaverage annual depreciationof the rupee viz-a-vis the US$at 2 per cent,” it said.

In FY19 (2018-19), thegross investment rate, estimat-ed at 31.3 per cent, was able todeliver a real growth rate of 6.8per cent. The implicit incre-mental capital-output ratio(ICOR) was 4.6, it said. “Thisis relatively high because of

deficient capacity utilisation.”Historically, India’s average

ICOR during the three-yearperiod from FY17 to FY19 hasaveraged 4.23. The highestachieved investment rate inIndia was 39.6 per cent inFY12.

EY said achieving suchlevels would be consistent withthe requirements of our demo-graphic dividend.

In China, average savingand investment rates of close to45 per cent have been main-tained for a long period.

Total investment is thesum of public investment,household investment andinvestment by the private cor-porate sector.

Raising the growth rate to9 per cent in FY21 wouldrequire uplifting the investmentrate to close to 38 per cent ofGDP as against 31.3 per cent in

FY19, it said.“If the inflation rate is

lower than 4 per cent on anaverage and if the exchange ratedepreciation is higher than 2per cent per annum, reachingthe size of $5 trillion would bedelayed even beyond these tar-get years.”

While the central govern-ment plays a four-fold role indetermining the overall invest-ment rate through its bud-getary capital expenditure,spending through PSUs, poli-cy initiatives inducing privateinvestments and coordinationwith state governments, theCentre’s share in country’saggregate investment was quitesmall at 1.6 per cent of GDP inFY19.

As per actuals from theController General ofAccounts (CGA), this consti-tuted only 5.1 per cent of the

aggregate investment. Afteradding central PSU’s capitalexpenditure of 2.4 per cent ofGDP in FY19, the Centre’s con-tribution to the investmentincreases to 4 per cent of GDP,which is 12.6 per cent of thetotal investment.

“This can be substantiallyimproved. The center maytherefore provide a policyframework to induce the stategovernments and the privatesector to uplift their investmentrates,” EY said.

“Furthermore, if the centralgovernment can successfullyreduce its revenue deficit, therewould be room for higher cap-ital expenditure with the samefiscal deficit. It can also induceadditional investment throughthe CPSEs while keeping inmind, the overall constraint ofresources in the form of savingsin the system.”

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The current slowdown inthe Indian economy is

cyclical and growth will pick upin one or two years, former RBIGovernor Bimal Jalan said onSunday.

Jalan further said the gov-ernment has alreadyannounced many reforms, andit is now a question of imple-mentation, particularly interms of investment.

“The slowdown in thegrowth is cyclical. In one or twoyears, I am sure, there will bea turnaround,” he told PTI inan interview.

Jalan also pointed out thatthe situation today is very dif-ferent from 1991 when thecountry faced a severe eco-nomic crisis on the externalfront.

“India is in a very strongposition today, unlike in 1991.If you look at our inflation rate,it’s quite low. If you at look atour reserves, it’s quite high,” heasserted.

Last month, the IMF andAsian Development Bank(ADB) had cut India’s growthforecast, citing global anddomestic headwinds.

According to IMF’s latestprojection, the Indian economy

is estimated to grow at 7 percent in 2019 and 7.2 per centin 2020. The AsianDevelopment Bank had alsolowered India’s GDP growthforecast to 7 per cent for thecurrent year on the back of fis-cal shortfall concerns.

Asked why the private sec-tor still not investing, Jalan said,“It may be due to post-demon-etisation effect or may be theywere waiting for (Lok Sabha)election results.”

On overseas sovereign bor-rowings, he said they should belong term.

“The government hasalready announced that it (over-seas borrowings) will be for 5-20 years, it should not be forshort term,” the former chair-man of the ExpenditureManagement Commission said.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in the Budget for2019-20 had announced thatthe government would startraising a part of its gross bor-rowing programme from exter-nal markets in foreign curren-cies.

Asked what were thebiggest risks for the Indianeconomy, Jalan, also a formermember of Parliament, said hethinks unemployment is a veryimportant problem.

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The Reserve Bank is expect-ed to cut the policy rate by

25 basis points, for the fourthtime in a row, on Wednesday togive a boost to the economy ata time when key indicatorspoint towards a slowdown,opined experts.

The industry also expectsthe six-member MonetaryPolicy Committee (MPC)headed by RBI GovernorShaktikanta Das to take steps toimprove liquidity situation andalso ensure transmission ofrate (repo) cuts to borrowers bythe banks.

The Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) will meetduring August 5 to 7, 2019 forthe Third Bi-monthlyMonetary Policy Statement for2019-20.

Managing director andCEO of Union Bank of IndiaRajkiran Rai G said that theMPC is likely to cut rate by 25basis points.

“At this point of time weneed growth impetus. I am surethey will reduce rates,” he said.

Industry body CII in astatement said the central bankstarted its interest rate easingcycle in February 2019, takingcognizance of the headwinds togrowth and inflation readingremaining below the RBI’s tar-get of 4 per cent.

However, the transmissionof the rate-cuts to the end-con-sumers has remained very grad-

ual and relatively lower than therepo rate revisions, it said

The CII said the RBIshould cut cash reserve ratio(CRR) by 50 bps which willrelease around Rs 60,000 croreinto the system.

“This along with infusingliquidity in the banking systemwill also reduce the burden onbanks’ resources, given the factthat currently, the credit-depositratio is hovering at a high of 77-78 per cent,” it added.

Industry body Assochamsaid that economy requiresfunding at a cheap rate for fur-ther investment to boost thegrowth rate and to speed up thetransmission effect because theinflation is well contained.

“Addressing the liquidityproblem of NBFCs, a rate cutwill help in boosting the eco-nomic growth and consumerspending that may increasethe demand for passenger andcommercial vehicle,’ it added.

When asked for expecta-tions from the MPC,Anshuman Magazine, CBRE’schairman and CEO for India,South East Asia, Middle Eastand Africa said in the light ofincreasing investor confidenceand consumer spending, theeconomic sentiments are cur-rently looking up.

India’s retail inflation mar-ginally accelerated, followingthe third consecutive policyrate cut by RBI to 25 basispoints, he said.

“We expect several indus-

tries and sectors, includingreal estate, to pick up in thecoming times and register sub-stantial growth in the latter partof the calendar year,” he added.

In its June policy review,while reducing the rate for thethird time in a row, the RBI hadsignalled more easing as itlooked to support an economygrowing at the slowest pacesince the BJP first came topower in 2014.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman will meet heads ofpublic as well as major privatesector banks on Monday toreview the flow of credit toimportant sectors of the econo-my, including MSME, automo-bile and housing sectors, accord-ing to an official statement.

Generally, the finance min-ister holds a review meetingwith heads of public sectorbanks and financial institu-tions, but this time the ministryhas also invited major private-sector lenders.

Ashish R. Puravankara,Managing Director,Puravankara Limited said it isvery encouraging to hear theRBI Governor’s advisory tobanks to pass on the benefit ofthe rate cuts announced inJune, down to the industries.

“For real estate sector areduction in the cost of fundsmeans that we can pass that onto our customers directly,which will be encouraging forthe sector at large,” he said.

Edelweiss Research in a

report had said the Indianeconomy is in the throes of abroad-based slowdown—sharpcontraction in auto sales, slow-ing investments and subduedexports.

“In our view, the RBI shouldideally front-load a 50bps ratecut at its forthcoming meetingon 7 August, but the RBI gov-ernor’s recent interview suggestsa more measured approach.Hence, a 25bps rate cut looksmore probable,” it said.

Shanti Ekambaram,President — ConsumerBanking, Kotak MahindraBank too opined that the cen-tral bank is likely to cut therepo rate by 25 bps.

“It will be important tostudy the policy narrative to geta direction of likely futureaction by the RBI, liquiditymeasures, any other structur-al changes etc. Suffice it to saythat inflation will be the cen-tral theme balanced with theneed to boost growth,”Ekambaram added.

While inflation continuesto remain within the RBI’scomfort zone, key indicatorslike automobile sale and almostflat growth in the eight coresector industries showing signsof a slowdown.

India’s economic growthrate slowed to a five-year lowof 5.8 per cent in the January-March quarter of 2018-19, dueto poor performance in theagriculture and manufacturingsectors.

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Industry body CII on Sundayurged the government to

lower the base price for 5Gspectrum, saying the high priceof such radiowaves will haltaccelerated growth of the sec-tor and deter adoption of tele-com services by the masses.

The Confederation of IndianIndustry (CII) cautioned thatparticipation of Indian telecomcompanies may be severely con-strained in the upcoming auctionfor 5G spectrum due to low aver-age revenue per user, and addedthat high reserve prices couldfurther subdue this.

In a representation sub-mitted to the government, theCII made a case for a lower 5Gspectrum reserve price, theauction for which is expectedto be held later this year.

“India’s telecommunicationsector has achieved globalrecognition for the speed of itsgrowth and has the lowest tar-iffs in the world, ensuring accessfor poor users and in remotegeographies. High reserve pricesof spectrum will halt this accel-erated growth and deter uptakeof telecom services by poorersections of society,” the CII saidin a statement.

The association has ques-tioned the current spectrumpricing model arguing thatusing the metric of dollars permegahertz per population is“inappropriate” for Indian mar-

ket where telecom prices are setat very low levels and popula-tion is high. Instead, the CIIrecommended use of dol-lar/MHz/revenue ordollar/MHz/GDP as a metricfor comparing spectrum priceacross markets.

“The population level ofthe country does not translateinto proportionate revenues,resulting in lower cash flows formobile operators,” the CII said.

Further, the approach ofrelying on last auction pricesworked only when there wereno distortions in the auctionprocess, said CII, adding thatground-up valuation of spec-trum is a better approach.

“Also, this approach ofinflating the auction prices toarrive at the reserve price has-n’t been followed in all cases bythe TRAI (Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India) in the past.Where in some case, the TRAIhas reduced the reserve priceeven when the market prices inthe preceding auctions werehigher,” the CII said.

It urged the government torelook the base prices for 5Gspectrum by valuing themground up, using models whichfactor in the current financialstress of the sector.

Highlighting the financialdifficulties being faced by theindustry, the CII noted thatsince 2016, high competition inthe market had led to lowerrealisations.

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In a bid to promote IFSC as anattractive destination for

investment for global re-insur-ers, the government has relaxednorms for setting up shops atGandhinagar internationalfinancial services centre.

The notification of Finance(No. 2) Act, 2019, has paved theway for reduction of the NetOwned Funds (NOF) require-ment for the opening ofbranches of foreign re-insurersin International FinancialServices Center (IFSC) to Rs1,000 crore from Rs 5,000crore.

The significant reductionin NOF requirement with theamendment in the InsuranceAct 1938 is expected to attractglobal re-insurance companiesoperating in financial centreslike Singapore, Dubai, HongKong, Malaysia, London etc. Toset up branches in IFSC inIndia.

The above amendment isthus expected to increase thenumber of foreign re-insuranceplayers in IFSC, Gandhinagarand lead to on-shoring of inter-national insurance transac-tions, a senior finance ministryofficial said.

State-owned reinsurer

General Insurance Corporationof India in 2017 opened itsIFSC Insurance Office (IIO) atIFSC Gandhinagar in Gujarat,the first and only IFSC so far.

Opening an office at IFSCwould allow global players tocater to the needs of customersoutside the jurisdiction of thedomestic economy.

Such centres deal withflows of finance, financial prod-ucts and services across bor-ders.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in her budgetspeech, announced the gov-ernment’s intent to make Indiaa hub for aircraft financing andleasing activities by leveragingbusiness opportunities availablein India’s financial SpecialEconomic Zones (SEZs),namely, IFSC.

Besides, the governmenthas provided several direct taxincentives to an IFSC including100 per cent profit-linkeddeduction in any ten-year blockwithin 15 years and exemptionfrom dividend distribution taxamong others.

Together, these steps willlead to the creation of aspira-tional jobs in insurance andaviation finance and contributeto making IFSC a global finan-cial and IT services hub.

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The UGC hasrecommended

the granting ofInstitution ofEminence (IoE)status to Odisha-based KalingaInstitute ofI n d u s t r i a lT e c h n o l o g y(KIIT).

The decision was taken at ameeting of University GrantsCommission (UGC) where fivetop public universities includingDelhi University, HyderabadUniversity, BHU and IIT Madrasand Kharagpur were also rec-ommended for the same .

KIIT is the only institute inOdisha and among seven pri-vate universities in the countryto be recommended for the IoEstatus. “For this (recommen-dation) Dr Achyuta Samanta,Founder, KIIT... has given thecredit to PM Narendra Modi,Ramesh Pokhariyal Nishank,Minister, HRD and OdishaChief Minister Naveen Patnaik,”a KIIT statement said.

KIIT, an institution forprofessional education, was

started in 1997 and became adeemed University 15 yearsback. . For this Dr. AchyutaSamanta, Founder, KIIT &KISS has given the credit toNarendra Modi, PrimeMinister of India, RameshPokhariyal Nishank, Minister,HRD and Naveen Patnaik,Chief Minister of Odisha.

In addition to KIIT,Samanta, an academician-turned BJD MP, also set upKISS (Kalinga Institute ofSocial Sciences) for tribal stu-dents.At present 50,000 indige-nous students are providedfree food, lodging and educa-tion. The effort is aimed atweaning away poor tribalyouths from the clutches ofNaxalism.

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NMDC received “InnovativeStakeholders Interface”

award at the SCOPE CorporateExcellence Awards 2019 atNew Delhi today.

Shri Sumit Deb, ExecutiveDirector (P&A) received theaward on behalf of NMDCfrom BP Singh, IAS, FormerGovernor of Sikkim andFormer Home Secretary,Government of India.

NMDC received this awardfor organizing an InternationalConference on Minerals &Metals Outlook-2030 at NewDelhi during October 2018.

This conference was attendedby more than 600 delegatesfrom 16 countries.

During the said conferencedeliberations took place onthe future of minerals andmetals worldwide. The seminaralso helped to understand theglobal commodities market forminerals and metals, high-lighting the inter-linkagebetween mineral developmentand economic growth, thedevelopments in the interna-tional metals market that canimpact the Indian metalsindustry and identifyingopportunities in Indian miningand metals.

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) has stayed eviction ofSterling Biotech from itspremises as the debt-riddencompany was going under theinsolvency resolution processand was under the moratoriumperiod.

A two-member benchheaded by NCLAT ChairmanJustice S J Mukhopadhayaupheld the order passed by theMumbai Bench of the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), which had asked SreiInfrastructure Finance, a finan-cial creditor, to hand over thepossession of the A and B wingpremises of Laxmi Towers.

The appellate tribunalobserved that although SterlingBiotech, which is presentlygoing through liquidation, isnot the owner of the premisesit cannot be ejected or dis-turbed during the moratoriumperiod as the company has toremain as a going concern.

“We hold that theAdjudicating Authority(NCLT) has rightly directed theAppellant to hand over the pos-session of ‘B’ Wing premises ofLakshmi Towers and rightly

prohibited the Appellant fromevicting the ‘Corporate Debtor(Sterling Biotech) from ‘A’Wing premises of LakshmiTowers,” said NCLAT.

However, it also said that“So far as the question as towho is the owner of ‘A’ and ‘B’Wings premises of LakshmiTowers and whether theAppellant has any right over thesaid property, such questionsare not required to be deter-mined in the proceeding underthe ‘I&B Code’.”

NCLAT also said if SterlingBiotech is saved during the liq-uidation proceeding or if it issold to a third party along withthe employees then, in suchcase, one may move before theCompetent Court of law forappropriate decision.

Besides, the appellate tri-bunal also said that “theLiquidator cannot sell the assetsof the premises in question.”

Resolution Professional ofSterling Biotech had movedNCLT against the financialcreditor to return the posses-sion of B Wing premises ofLakshmi Towers and restrainSrei Infrastructure Financefrom taking any action in rela-tion to A Wing premises, whichhad allowed it.

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Hyundai Motor India soldover 16,200 units in the

utility vehicle segment in Julyto take a lead over MarutiSuzuki India (MSI) andMahindra & Mahindra(M&M), which have for longdominated the vertical.

Last month, Hyundai sold atotal of 16,234 units of Creta,Venue, Tucson and KonaElectric, while in comparisonM&M sold 16,003 utility vehicles(UVs). M&M sells seven mod-els in the UV segment like XUV500, Scorpio, Bolero and Thar.

MSI on the other handreported sale of 15,178 units inthe UV segment last month. ItsUV portfolio comprises mod-els like Ertiga, Vitara Brezzaand S-Cross.

“Hyundai has strong posi-tion in compact SUV segmentwith Creta. Now with Venue,we have further consolidatedour position in the UV seg-ment,” Hyundai Motor IndiaNational Head-Sales Vikas Jainsaid.

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Government tenders worthover �25,000 crore were

either cancelled or modifiedand re-issued after theDepartment for Promotion ofIndustry and Internal Trade(DPIIT) stepped in to changetheir conditions in order topromote ‘Made in India’ goods,a top official said.

“The department is takingevery step for effective imple-mentation of public procure-ment order, 2017, to promote‘Made in India’ products,” theofficial said.

The government issued theorder on June 15, 2017, to pro-mote manufacturing and pro-duction of goods and servicesin India and enhance incomeand employment in the country.

A tender worth �8,000crore was withdrawn and re-issued with modified condi-tions after the intervention ofthe DIPP. The project wasrelated with setting up of a ureaand ammonia plant for gasifi-cation.

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Satwiksairaj Rankireddy andChirag Shetty on Sunday createdhistory by becoming the first

Indian pair to win a BWF Super 500badminton tournament, stunningreigning world champions Li Jun Huiand Liu Yu Chen in the final ofThailand Open here.

India’s top men’s doubles duo ofRankireddy and Shetty posted a hard-fought 21-19, 18-21, 21-18 win toclaim its biggest career title after bat-tling for an hour and two minutesagainst the third seeded Chinesecombo.

This was not only their first tri-umph at Super 500 level and above butalso the most prestigious doubles titlefor India since the inception of theranking system.

This achievement will also propelthe current World No 16 Indian com-bination into the top 10 for the firsttime, making it the first-ever Indianmen’s doubles duo to enter the elitebracket.

This was the first final of the 2019season for the unseeded Indian pair,doubles Silver medallist at the 2018Commonwealth Games.

During the thrilling summit clashagainst the World No 2 Chinese team,Rankireddy displayed brilliant antic-ipation and extraordinary placementsfrom the front court, while Shetty con-trolled the backcourt effortlessly.

Li and Liu had earlier this yearbeaten the Indians at Australian Open.

“When we played them at theAustralian Open, we lost to them veryclosely. We understood they wereunder pressure today but we hadnone since we were very excited to playour first final,” said Rankireddy.

“I have some shoulder issues so wehad decided that I would play morefrom the front and Chirag from theback. I was focussing more on the ser-vice and the net,” he added.

Rankireddy and Shetty startedattacking from the word go and afterbreaking away from a tied 3-3, theymoved ahead to open up a 10-6 lead,but their Chinese opponents keptbreathing down their necks and madeit 14-14.

It was a closely-fought affair afterthat and the Indian pair could take aslight edge only at 20-18.

Although Li and Liunarrowed the gap furtherdown to 19-20, the Indiansmanaged to win the crucialpoint to wrap up the firstgame.

In the second game, theRankireddy and Shetty managed totake an upper hand at the beginningas they moved up to a 6-2 lead, but theChinese soon bridged the gap to 5-6before catching up with them at 11-11.

After the interval, Liand Liu surged ahead to13-11, but the Indians lift-ed their game and drewparity at 13 apiece.

The Indians then overtook theiropponents to make it 16-14 and thenclimbed to 18-16 before the Chinesepair won five consecutive points totake it to the decider.

Rankireddy and Shetty were slowoff the blocks in the third game butmanaged to make it 6-6. From there-

on, the Indians never looked back andkept their composure to maintain theedge till the end.

Even though the Chinese pairfought back and at one stage reducedthe gap to 18-19, the Indians lookedin no mood to climb down and wenton to pocket two consecutive pointsto seal the match in their favour.

Rankireddy said, “Well, we keptour calm all throughout the tourna-ment. Even when we were down 1-4in the third game, we didn’t lose hope.

We just were steady and did not rushthings to give them a bigger lead.

“We just stuck to our plan of keep-ing the shuttle low and not hurryingthrough the points. I think that real-ly worked and that helped us get thelead at 8-6.”

Intelligent rotation of the shuttlecombined with Rankireddy’s power-ful smashes flummoxed the world’ssecond-best pair whose every come-back was thwarted by the ever-alertIndians.

Even when Li and Liu tried to pro-long the rallies in an attempt to tire outthe Indians, Rankireddy and Shettywere up to the task and never relin-quished their advantage, convertingon their first match point to get themonumental victory.

“It’s the biggest title we have wonso far in our career. Right now I amout of words after playing in a finaland beating the current world cham-pions. I am extremely happy,” saidShetty after the win.

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England forward Jadon Sanchoscored a goal and set-up anoth-

er as Borussia Dortmund beatBayern Munich 2-0 on Saturday todeny the German league and cupchampions a fourth straight SuperCup title.

Sancho, 19, fed Spain forwardPaco Alcacer for Dortmund’s open-er just after the break before clinch-ing the victory and his side’s firsttrophy since 2017 with a clinical fin-ish within the final half an hour ofplay.

“We absolutely wanted to winthis match, it was very difficult,” saidDortmund coach Lucien Favre.

“Bayern were very strong andhad a lot of possession but wedefended well and stayed verycompact.

“We knew that we had to go onthe counter-attack and we did thatvery well.”

Bayern, who pipped Favre’sside to the Bundesliga title last sea-son and lifted the German Cup,were without World Cup winningleft-back and new signing LucasHernandez due to a knee problem.

Dortmund’s big name summerarrivals of winger Thorgen Hazardand Julian Brandt, as well as defend-er Mats Hummels, returning theclub after three seasons in Bavaria,were also ruled out due to injuries.

Bayern captain Manuel Neuersaid errors proved costly.

“We gave Dortmund the matchby making too many mistakes,”Neuer said.

“We made the mistakes all onour own, we gave them possessionand that’s why we conceded thegoals.”

The home side, who finishedsecond in the league last season, hada good early chance.

Portugal winger RaphaelGuerreiro broke down the leftflank and cut-back to find captainMarco Reus inside the penaltybox.

Reus’s effort was then wellsaved by Neuer after less than aminute of play.

Bayern’s best opportunity of thefirst half fell to Kingsley Coman 10minutes later.

He found himself unmarked inthe box but his toe-poke shot wassaved by Marwin Hitz low to theright.

Bayern’s inability to make themost of the ball in first 45 minutescame back to bite them almostimmediately after the break.

Sancho attacked down the leftdrawing four Bayern defenders

with quick step-overs.The teenager fed striker

Alcacer at the edge of the box whobeat Neuer with a low shot for a 1-0 lead on 48 minutes.

Dortmund’s lead was doubledwith 22 minutes to go from a clin-ical counter-attack.

Sancho was free once again onthe right wing, he burst into the boxbeyond Bayern’s back-four andnutmegged the experienced Neuerto make it 2-0.

Influential Sancho left the fieldwith 10 minutes to play after seem-ing to be hurt following an off-the-field challenge by Joshua Kimmich.

Bayern coach Niko Kovacbrought on Portugal midfielderRenato Sanches and France WorldCup winner Benjamin Pavard late-on but they were unable to find thegoals to retain the title and the early-season bragging rights.

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Manchester City drew firedthe first shot in their bat-

tle for supremacy with rivalsLiverpool on Sunday as theysnatched the Community Shieldwith a 5-4 penalty shoot-out winafter a 1-1 draw at Wembley.

Raheem Sterling gave Citya first half lead before JoelMatip grabbed a late equaliserfor Liverpool in the annualcurtain-raiser to the Englishtop-flight season.

In the shoot-out, City keep-er Claudio Bravo saved fromGeorginio Wijnaldum, withGabriel Jesus driving in thewinning kick after successfulefforts from Ilkay Gundogan,

Bernardo Silva, Phil Foden andOleksandr Zinchenko.

The jubilant celebrationsfrom City's players and fansshowed inflicting an early psy-chological blow on Liverpoolwas a moment to savour, regard-less of the supposed warm-upstatus of the glamour friendly.

With City installed asfavourites to win the title for athird successive season andLiverpool expected to presentthe strongest challenge to PepGuardiola's side, their meetingon the eve of the season was awindow into what to expectthis term.

After pipping Liverpool tolast season's Premier Leaguetitle with 98 points to their

rivals' 97, City went on tocomplete an unprecedenteddomestic treble by adding theFA Cup to the League Cup they

won earlier in the campaign.But Jurgen Klopp's men

didn't dwell on that painfulnear-miss as they won the

Champions League just weekslater.

On the evidence of thishard-fought contest, which fea-tured both flashes of qualityand signs of rustiness, there willlittle to separate the two teamsas they go head-to-head for themajor prizes once again overthe next 10 months.

Retaining the CommunityShield trophy they won 12months ago would improveCity's belief that they can repeatlast season's remarkable silver-ware haul, but Liverpool couldtake encouragement as wellafter they finished stronglyenough to have won.

The only dark cloud forCity was an injury to Leroy

Sane, who limped off in the10th minute holding his rightleg after collapsing while chas-ing a long pass.

Sane was playing on theday reports claimed his agentshad agreed a contract withBayern Munich, who are keento sign the Germany winger.

City's victory was a well-time riposte for Guardiola,who this week hit back atKlopp's claim that the champi-ons live in a transfer "fantasyland".

Guardiola gave a debut toSpain midfielder Rodri, whojoined from Atletico Madridfor a club record £63 million(69 million euros) in the close-season.

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Australia’s Nick Kyrgios overcame a mid-match meltdownand his rival’s shoe repair delays to defeat Greek top

seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and reach the ATP Washington Openfinal.

The 52nd-ranked Aussie hammered 19 aces, saved amatch point and often played to the crowd in a dramaticand emotional 6-4, 3-6, 7-6 (9/7) victory over Tsitsipas,whose broken shoes caused two third-set delays.

Tsitsipas, who becomes world number five on Monday,fell behind a set and a break, took advantage of Kyrgios los-ing control with racquet slams and call complaints to forcea third set, only to fall in the tie-breaker.

Kyrgios will play for the $365,390 (328,851 euro) topprize against 10th-ranked Russian Daniil Medvedev, whoeliminated German lucky loser Peter Gojowczyk 6-2, 6-2.

The 24-year-old Aussie beat Medvedev this year inRome in their only prior meeting.

Kyrgios, who improved to 4-1 against top-10 rivals thisyear, seeks a sixth career ATP title and his first sinceAcapulco in March.

“It’s probably one of the best tournament weeks of mylife,” Kyrgios said.

Medvedev, 23, seeks his fifth ATP title after taking hismost recent crown at Sofia in February.

Italy’s 62nd-ranked Camila Giorgi, a 2018 Wimbledonquarter-finalist seeking her third WTA title, and 79th-ranked American Jessica Pegula advanced to the women’sfinal at the US Open tuneup tournament.

Kyrgios excited the crowd throughout with such flam-boyant moves as underhand serves, between the legs shotsand leaping drop shots. Other times he would just swat away.

“He was on fire in some moments,” Tsitsipas said.“It felt like sometimes he didn’t care at all. It’s proba-

bly his plan to put you out of focus.”Kyrgios admitted, “I’ve always been able to play high

level tennis. I just need to be more consistent. I have to bementally tougher.”

It was the Greek star’s first match against Kyrgios, whois of Greek and Malaysian heritage. Each man won 91 points,hit 58 of 91 first serves, won 48 of 58 first-serve points and16-of-33 second serve points.

“His serve was just unreal first set. I couldn’t do any-thing with it,” said Tsitsipas.

“I haven’t seen anything like it.”

0������ ����� �US teen Coco Gauff, the 15-year-old who electrified

Wimbledon with a fourth-round singles run last month, cap-tured her first WTA title on Saturday in women’s doubles.

Gauff and partner Catherine McNally, who combinedto win last year’s US Open junior women’s doubles title,defeated Hungary's Fanny Stollar and American MariaSanchez 6-2, 6-2 to hoist their inaugural WTA trophy.

The teens jumped into each others arms and later huggedin celebration of the breakthrough milestone triumph.

Gauff defeated idol Venus Williams in the first roundat Wimbledon and rescued two match points on the way tobeating Polona Hercog in the third round before eventualchampion Simona Halep eliminated her.

Gauff, in her first post-Wimbledon singles appearance,qualified for the Washington main draw but lost her firstmatch 6-4, 6-2 to Kazakhstan’s Zarina Diyas.

McNally, a 17-year-old American who made only herfourth WTA appearance in singles, took her first three tourmatch wins to reach the semi-finals, where she lost 7-6 (7/5),6-2 on Saturday to Italy’s Camila Giorgi.

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China’s Zheng Saisai surprised seventh-seededMaria Sakkari 7-6 (7/5), 6-2 on Saturday to line

up a title clash with second-seeded ArynaSabalenka at the WTA tournament in San Jose,California.

U n s e e d e dZheng knockedoff her third seed-ed opponent ofthe week, afterdowning eighth-seeded AmericanDanielle Collinsand fourth-seededUS teen AmandaAnisimova in athree-set quarter-final marathon onFriday night.

On Sunday,Zheng will beseeking a firstWTA singles titlewhen she takes onSabalenka, the world number 10 who defeated fifth-seeded Croatian Donna Vekic 6-4, 6-3.

Sabalenka, of Belarus, reached her first finalsince she won the Shenzhen Open in January.

She and Vekic traded six service breaks in thefirst seven games before Sabalenka pocketed theset.

Sabalenka broke twice more in the second setto capture the match in just under 80 minutes, afterthe players combined for 14 double faults and 10service breaks.

“I don’t know, I just hit the ball as hard as Icould and everything was going in,” Sabalenka saidof the key to her victory. “Probably was a lucky dayfor me.”

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Defending champion RafaelNadal heads the field for

the ATP Montreal Masters thatstarts on Monday with NovakDjokovic and Roger Federeropting out of the key US Opentuneup.

With Djokovic and Federerputting a return to action onhold after their dramaticWimbledon final, 33-year-oldNadal will be seeking to retainthe title he earned last year inToronto, when he beat risingstar Stefanos Tsitsipas in thefinal.

The Greek is back, takingthe fourth seeding behind a pairof fellow young guns in num-ber two Dominic Thiem ofAustria and Germany’sAlexander Zverev, seeded third.

Federer and Djokovic aren’tscheduled to resurface untilthe Cincinnati Masters starts onAugust 12, giving them onetournament prior to the August26 start of the US Open atFlushing Meadows, the finalGrand slam of the year.

Federer has been trainingon hardcourt at home inSwitzerland after falling toDjokovic in a dramatic five-setfinal at the All England Clubthree weeks ago, in which theSwiss great held two matchpoints.

Djokovic has been picturedrelaxing at various European

beach resorts with his familyprior to picking up the racquetonce again.

Nadal, meanwhile, is pacinghimself after another seasonmarred by injury, insistingdespite the pleas and induce-ments of Cincinnati officialsthat he won't decide whether toplay there until he sees how hefeels after Montreal.

“Depending on what hap-pens in Montreal, I’ll take adecision on Cincinnati,” hesaid.

“Cincinnati is still anoption. But I want to arrive wellprepared and ready for the USOpen, the last major of the sea-son.”

Nadal could face a chal-lenge in the second round aftera bye, with a possible matchagainst Australian Alex deMinaur — winner of theAtlanta title last weekend.

Second seed Thiem haspurposefully left it late for thehardcourts, preferring to stay aslong as possible on Europeanclay by entering both Hamburgand Kitzbuehel.

Thiem, beaten by Nadal inthe last two Roland Garrosfinals, has a special goal drivinghim when he lands in fran-cophile Canada.

“I’ve never won a match inCanada, I’d like to change that.”he said.

“I’m just hoping to playwell.

“Canada is a big goal — I’mreally hoping to get a win there.”

Thiem will open his cam-paign against either CanadianDenis Shapovalov orFrenchman Pierre-HuguesHerbert.

Third seed Zverev, whowon the title here two years agowith a win over Federer in thefinal, will open against eitherBriton Cameron Norrie orHungarian Martin Fucsovic.

Tsitsipas will bid to betterhis 2018 finals showing butmust first get past either home-grown Milos Raonic, the 2013finalist, or American TaylorFritz, runner-up to de Minaurin Atlanta.

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Taiwan shuttler Chou Tien-chenclinched the men's singles title at

the Thailand Open badminton tour-nament on Sunday, in a thrilling finalagainst Hong Kong opponent AngusNg Ka Long.

Both players collapsed afterthird-seed Chou eked out victory 21-14, 11-21, 23-21 in a 67-minutematch at Bangkok’s Indoor StadiumHuamark.

“I love you guys, thank you,” the29-year-old winner told the crowd inan on-court interview.

Former world champion andhometown favourite RatchanokIntanon was denied a third ThailandOpen title later on Sunday whenChinese top seed Chen Yufei defeat-ed her 22-20, 21-18.

In women’s doubles, Japaneseseventh seeds Shiho Tanaka andKoharu Yonemoto fended off Du Yueand Li Yinhui, the eighth seedsfrom China, in three close games.

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Lewis Hamilton regained hismomentum in the drivers’

world championship with a mem-orable strategic victory on Sundaywhen he overcame young rivalMax Verstappen to triumph in atense and thrilling HungarianGrand Prix.

The 34-year-old defendingfive-time champion started third onthe grid in his Mercedes and, afterstalking the 21-year-old Dutchtyro for most of a fascinating tac-tical contest, finally swept into thelead on lap 67 of a stirring 70 laps.

Hamilton’s record seventh winin Hungary and 81st of his careerwrecked Red Bull’s hopes of turn-ing Verstappen’s maiden pole posi-tion into victory and increased hislead in the title race to 62 pointsbefore the sport’s European sum-mer break.

Verstappen, who led most ofthe race before his tyres faded,came home 17.796 seconds behindin second and clocked a record racefastest lap for the Hungaroring aftera late pit-stop.

Four-time champion SebastianVettel was third for Ferrari aheadof team-mate Charles Leclerc,Carlos Sainz of McLaren and PierreGasly in the second Red Bull.

Kimi Raikkonen was seventhfor Alfa Romeo ahead of Hamilton’sMercedes team-mate Valtteri Bottaswho had been forced into an earlypit-stop after a first lap incident.

British rookie Lando Norris

was ninth in the second Mercedesand Alex Albon 10th for ToroRosso.

“What a drive, what a strategy,”said Hamilton’s race engineer PeterBonnington. “Only you could makethat work today.”

Mercedes matched Red Bull’sstrategy until gambling with a lateadditional pit-stop that leftHamilton with 20 laps to make upa 20-second deficit on fresh tyres— a move that worked withVerstappen complaining to histeam before he lost the lead “mytyres are dead”.

“They rolled the dice and itworked for them, unfortunately,”Red Bull team boss ChristianHorner told Verstappen.

“But you drove your heart out.”

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Star India grappler VineshPhogat has bagged her

third consecutive Gold inwomen’s 53kg category afterwinning the Poland Openwrestling tournament inWarsaw.

The 24-year-old pre-vailed 3-2 over local wrestlerRoksana in the final of thecompetition.

Vinesh had earlier beat-en Sofia Mattson of Sweden,the Rio Olympics Bronzemedallist, in the quarterfinalsof this international tourna-ment.

The top Indian womanwrestler had stood atop thepodium at Grand Prix ofSpain and at the Yasar DoguInternational at Istanbul,

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The Haryana Steelers playedtheir heart out, but went

down 28-35 to the TamilThalaivas in the Pro KabaddiLeague in Patna on Sunday.

Vikash Kandola bolsteredthe Haryana team after makinga return to the side, but theThalaivas found a way to main-tain their lead in the last fewminutes of the match.

The Haryana Steelers got offto a great start through fantas-tic raids by Kandola and Naveenin the opening minutes of thematch.

Vinay pulled off a brilliantraid point in the sixth minuteand Sunil scored a tackle pointin the next minute which helpedHaryana take a four-point lead.

Kandola widened the gapbetween the two teams when hehelped Haryana carry out an allout of the Tamil Thalaivas teamin the eleventh minute.

Naveen and Vinay backedup Kandola with a few raidpoints as the Haryana Steelersended the first half with a nine-point lead at 19-10

The Tamil Thalaivas tried tofight back through a tacklepoint and a few raid points, butraiders Kandola and Naveenensured that Haryana stay in thelead. Dharmaraj Cheralathantackled Ajay Thakur in the 26thminute as the Haryana Steelerstook a five-point lead at 24-19.

However, the TamilThalaivas gained momentumthereafter and clinched raid andtackle points quickly.

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England finally saw the back of SteveSmith but only after a second cen-

tury in his comeback Test sawAustralia compile a potentially match-winning lead in the Ashes opener atEdgbaston on Sunday.

Ashes-holders Australia, biddingto win their first Test series away toEngland in 18 years, were 356-5 at teaon the fourth day — 266 runs ahead— with the hosts a bowler down in theabsence of James Anderson.

Smith made 142 following his 144in the first innings of the match — theformer Australia captain's first Testsince the end of a 12-month ban forhis role in last year's ball-tamperingscandal in South Africa.

Matthew Wade, in his first Test fornearly two years, was 86 not out afterputting on 126 for the fifth wicket withSmith.

Only three times have a side mademore than 150 in the fourth inningsto win a Test at Edgbaston.

Smith is just the fifth Australiabatsman to score a hundred in bothinnings of an Ashes Test, followingWarren Bardsley (1909), ArthurMorris (1946/47), Steve Waugh (1997)and Matthew Hayden (2002/03).

Having reached lunch on 98 notout, Smith went to three figures in stylewhen he cover-drove England pace-man Stuart Broad for his 10th four in147 balls faced.

������� ������He celebrated by removing his bat-

ting helmet and waving his bat joyous-ly towards the Australia changingroom.

And while there was applausefrom a packed crowd, there were alsorenewed chants of "Crying on the telly,we saw you crying on the telly" in a ref-erence to the emotional press confer-ence Smith gave in Sydney after he wassent home from South Africa.

"When he goes out to bat, it'salmost like he's in a trance-like state,"former Australia captain Waugh toldChannel Nine.

"He knows exactly what he's try-ing to do, exactly what the oppositionare trying to do... he analyses every balland it's like a computer, he spits out theanswer," added Waugh, now a mentorto the Australia squad.

England captain Joe Root broughthimself on to bowl his part-time off-breaks and deployed Joe Denly's occa-sional leg-spin in a desperate bid forwickets on a sluggish pitch.

Wicketkeeper Wade, playing as aspecialist batsman, with Australia cap-tain Tim Paine behind the stumps,reverse-swept Root to complete a 70-ball fifty.

Wade was given out lbw to Broadby Wilson on 69 but his review showedthe ball going over the top of thestumps.

The new ball, however, did even-tually give England the wicket theycraved.

Chris Woakes, on hisWarwickshire home ground, got adelivery to deviate in the air outside offstump, with Smith edging an intend-ed drive to wicketkeeper JonnyBairstow.

The match was in the balancewhen Australia resumed on 124-3, alead of just 34 runs, with Smith 46 notand Travis Head unbeaten on 21.

Smith, cleared of concussion afterbeing hit on the head by a Ben Stokesbouncer on Saturday, has now scoredmore than 1,000 runs in his past 10Ashes innings.

England were once more lookingto Broad, who took 5-86 in the firstinnings, to lead their attack in theabsence of Anderson, their all-timeleading Test wicket-taker.

Lancashire paceman Andersononly managed four overs in Australia'sfirst innings 284 before breaking downwith a calf injury.

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Krunal Pandya's twolast-over sixes afterRohit Sharma's char-

acteristically sublime 67 lift-ed India to 167 for fiveagainst West Indies in thesecond T20 Internationalhere on Sunday.

Rohit scored his runs off51 balls, setting India up fora challenging total beforePandya and Ravindra Jadejapropped up the innings bysmashing 20 runs in thefinal over, which was bowledby Keemo Paul.

In the process, Rohitbecame T20 internationals'most prolific six-hitter, goingpast Chris Gayle with 106maximums. He struck sixfours and three sixes in thematch.

Sent into bat, India wereoff to a quick start as theyreached 50-run mark in theseventh over, with Rohitdoing the bulk of scoring.

Rohit found the gapswith ease, clipping Paul offhis pads for a six over deepmidwicket. The World Cuphighest scorer then swepthim for a four as the Indiansupped the tempo.

Keemo Paul gave WestIndies their first break-through when he bowledShikhar Dhawan with theIndian scorecard reading 67for one in the eighth over.

Two quite overs followedas Indian captain Virat Kohlijoined Rohit, who broke theshackles with a six over deepmidwicket, Sunil Narinebeing the bowler, and thenbrought up his 17th half-cen-tury in this format with a sin-gle to long-off.

Nicely getting under-neath the flight of left-armspinner Khary Pierre, Kohligot going with a neat six.

Well settled at the other

end, Kohli's deputy Rohitthen smashed CarlosBrathwaite for a six and fouras India's hundred came upin the 13th over.

It took a fine catch fromShimron Hetmyer to bringan end to Rohit's stay in themiddle -- he hit one high upin the air off Oshane Thomaswith just over six overs left inthe Indian innings.

Rishabh Pant (5) per-ished quickly, top-edgingOshane into the hands of

third man fielder KieronPollard.

Sheldon Cottrell thenhad the big one, sendingKohli's middle stump cart-wheeling for a 23-ball 28with a perfectly-executedyorker and performing histrademark salute celebra-tions.

By that time tough,Kohli became the highestrun scorer among Indians inT20 cricket, includingdomestic tourneys.

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Ottis Gibson and his entireSouth African coaching team

and management staff have losttheir jobs, Cricket South Africa(CSA) announced on Sunday.

The decision, taken during aboard meeting last week, follows adisastrous South African WorldCup campaign in which theProteas finished seventh of the 10teams.

The clean-out comes shortlybefore a tour of India next monthduring which South Africa willplay their first three Test matchesin the new world Test champi-onship.

In a statement, CSA said afootball-style team manager would

be appointed, who would takecharge of all aspects of the nation-al team, including the appointmentof a coaching staff, the captain orcaptains and medical and admin-istrative personnel.

The team manager will reportdirectly to a Director of Cricket, anew position.

Former South African playerCorrie van Zyl, currently in chargeof cricket pathways at CSA, will beacting Director of Cricket until afull-time appointment is made.

The statement said Van Zyland CSA chief executive Thabang

Moroe would appoint an interimmanagement team for the tour ofIndia as well as an interim selec-tion panel and captain.

Faf du Plessis, the current cap-tain, was on Saturday night namedSouth African Cricketer of the Yearand it would be a surprise if he wasreplaced.

Sunday’s statement said noneof the current team management,including coaches, would beretained.

“This change will herald anexciting new era for the SA cricketand will bring us into line with best

practice in professional sport,” saidMoroe.

Former West Indian player andcoach Gibson was appointed SouthAfrican team coach in 2017. His con-tract was due to expire next month.

Gibson said during the recentCricket World Cup that he was keento continue in the job but hisprospects plummeted when SouthAfrica were among the first teams tobe eliminated from contention for aWorld Cup semi-final place.

Van Zyl, 57, played in one unof-ficial Test during South Africa’syears of isolation and in two one-dayinternationals in 1992 following thecountry’s return to official interna-tional cricket. He had a brief spell asSouth African coach between 2009and 2011.

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Senior pacer BhuvneshwarKumar is happy with the com-

ing up of bright prospects likeNavdeep Saini and says he’s alwaysready to guide the youngsterswhen they come in to the nation-al team.

The 29-year-old Bhuvneshwartook two wickets for 19 runs toplay an important role in India'sfour-wicket win against the WestIndies in the first T20International here on Saturday.

“As a senior player you alwayswant to perform. Even you couldnot perform you have to con-tribute to the team. That is the firstthing I want to do and luckily I did

that,” Bhuvneshwar said at thepost-match press conference.

“When young players likeNavdeep Saini does well andKhaleel (Ahmed) does well, youwant to always talk to them. Youwant to make them comfortable.That is the first thing I want to doand I always guide them,” headded.

Bhuvneshwar was all praise forSaini who starred in the India’s winwith figures of 3/17 in his Indiadebut match.

“Just before coming into theteam he played for India A againstWest Indies A in West Indies. Thatis why he did well. When you dowell at international level, it givesyou a lot of confidence,” said the

senior pacer.“He has bolwed really well.

The most important thing is, hehas proved in different stages. Heplays so much of cricket, in IPLand for India A. So when he cameinto the (senior national) team hewas very confident.”

Asked about the switchingfrom ODI cricket to T20 format,he said, “Not really mental adjust-ment because T20 and ODI are thesame, not the same format but youhave to bowl deck bowling in ODIand T20 as well.

“It is only that T20 is a short-er format and when you go toODI, it takes more load on thebody. This is something we alwaystake care of.”

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Turkey last month.“The biggest positives from

wrestling against strong oppo-nents are it forces me out of mycomfort zone, makes me pushmy limits, and teaches importantlessons! Happy with my perfor-mance at the #PolandOpenExcited by this start as a 53 kgwrestler, now onwards andupwards,” Vinesh tweeted.

“As always, thank you toeveryone out there for the con-stant stream of good wishes,love, and support A big thankyou to my coach Woller Akos,physio Rucha, @IndiaSports,@FederationWrest, and@OGQ_India.

“I thank god for the oppor-tunity. #lookingforward# m a k e e v e r y d a y c o u n t#1YearToGo,” she added.