the lack of experience of anil ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “hal has...

20
T he stubble burning in Punjab and Haryana is not the sole reasons for air pollu- tion in the national Capital. The weathermen have predict- ed a spike in pollution levels in Delhi-NCR due to entirely dif- ferent factors. “Presently the western dis- turbance is moving away, and the north-westerly dry winds are settling over the areas of northwest plains and Delhi. These north-westerly winds are very light in intensity that they are unable to sway away the pollutants or lower down their concentration in the air,” Skymet said. Moreover, these light winds are likely to bring in pollutants from the northwest plains, spe- cially Haryana region, as dur- ing this time stubble burning is actively taking place in these areas. Apart from this, recent rain over north Haryana and hills during the last few days have helped gather moisture in the Delhi air. This moisture holds pollutants. This can be an added trigger to the already growing pollution levels. The air quality in Delhi dipped to poor level on Saturday with drop in wind speed, and the authorities pre- dicted further fall in the air quality index of the national Capital in the coming days. In the upcoming 24 hours, Delhi and NCR will witness mainly pleasant mornings with thick mist and haze. “Pollution during morning hours and evening hours will be on its peak as the moisture levels are quite high during the time in the form of haze or mist. Again, October 15 onwards a fresh western dis- turbance is likely to affect north-west India which may further worsen pollution levels due to the increasing light winds and moisture which will hold up the aerosol in the lower level,” the Skymet said. According to the System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the Air Quality Index (AQI) in Delhi on Saturday morning was 699, which is considered way above haz- ardous. Adjoining Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Gurugram and Noida too recorded “very poor” air quality levels. “The overall air quality index (AQI) recorded at 4 pm on Saturday stood at 300, which falls in the poor catego- ry and is just one point from being ‘very poor’, according to Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR). The PM10 level (presence of particles with diameter less than 10 microme- tres) in Delhi stood at 243 and the PM2.5 level was recorded at 122, according to the data. On Friday the AQI of the national Capital stood at 154. Meanwhile, recent satel- lite images from the NASA have showed that farmers in Punjab and Haryana have started burning crop residue. The NASA, on its official web- site, stated that burning crop residue in Punjab and Haryana has increased significantly over the past 10 days in and near Amritsar, Ambala, Karnal, Sirsa and Hisar. Burning of paddy straw every year during October and November and wheat straw during April in Punjab and Haryana are the major con- tributors to air pollution in Delhi-NCR as the smoke trav- els towards the national Capital. In Delhi, it mixes with the fog and creates a toxic smoggy winter every year. Meanwhile, the India Meteorological Department (IMD) predicted a warmer winter this year as a result of formation of El Nino, the periodic weather phenom- enon associated with the warming of surface tempera- tures in the Pacific Ocean thought to be responsible for drought in India and other parts of South Asia. I n a horrific incident that sent shivers down the spine of onlookers, the personal secu- rity officer (PSO) of Gurugram Additional Sessions Judge (ASJ) Krishna Kant Sharma sprayed bullets on the judge’s wife and his teenaged son in a crowded market area in Sector 49 of the Millennium City on Saturday around 3.30 pm. The PSO, identified as Head Constable Mahipal, shot the ASJ’s wife in her chest twice and then turned to pump three bullets into the back of her son’s head. As both mother and son lay writhing in pain on the road, diabolical bystanders pre- ferred to capture the gory details on their mobile phones. It took a while before the police was informed about the incident and the critically injured were rushed to a near- by hospital from where they were shifted to Medanta Hospital. The ASJ’s wife suc- cumbed to injuries late on Saturday night. Gurugram East DCP Sulochna Gajraj said prelimi- nary investigation has revealed that the gunner lost his cool after he was reportedly admon- ished for not taking out the car from the parking. However, the police said that the motive behind firing is not clear yet. A video shot by a passerby shows that people started scur- rying for safety as Constable Mahipal opened fire. After the victims fell on the ground, the accused, donning police uni- form, is seen trying to lift the judge’s son to put him in a car, but as he could not do so, he ran away leaving the teenager in the heap of blood. The accused PSO was later appre- hended from Faridabad. ASJ’s wife Ritu, 38, and his 18-year-old son Dhruv had gone for shopping in the Arcadia market. They were accompanied by the judge’s PSO. “Some locals informed the police about gunshots being fired outside the Arcadia mar- ket. When a police team reached the spot, they found Ritu and Dhruv lying in a pool of blood,” the DCP said. “They were taken to Medanta Hospital,” the DCP said, adding, “Constable Mahipal was later arrested from Faridabad.” According to officials, the ASJ was attending a meeting convened by District and Sessions Judge RK Sondhi when he was informed about the incident by the police. The meeting was stopped and judge left for the hospital along with fellow judges. As the news was relayed on the police control room, many police teams were put on the job to nab the accused PSO Mahipal, who had run away after committing the crime. Gurugram Police Commissioner KK Rao himself came on the police wireless net and directed concerned unit to apprehend the accused. He was intercepted by two teams of Crime Branch in Gwal Pahari area in Faridabad and was overpowered. Police said that Mahipal was brought to Sector 56 police station. Sources said that the accused PSO was behaving in a weird manner and was parad- ing as a lunatic. Police Commissioner KK Rao told the media that the accused PSO will be examined by psychiatrists. T he BJP is expecting a state- ment of explanation from Union Minister MJ Akbar on Sunday on alleged harassment charges levelled against him by several women journalists before taking a call on his continuation in the Council of Ministers. As many as nine journalists have accused Akbar of “sexual” exploitation when he served as editor of English dailies. Akbar is returning to Delhi from an official tour of African nations on Sunday. In the midst of growing demand that Akbar should be asked to resign from the Council of Ministers and the RSS as well as his ministerial colleagues Maneka Gandhi and Smiriti Irani virtually backing the women journalists, Akbar’s statement could decide which way the whole episode will set- tle down. While Akbar’s fate will be decided by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah has already said that the party would also definite- ly look into the issue. “We will definitely look into the issue. We have to see whether these allegations are true or false. We have to check the veracity of the post and the person who posted it,” he was reported as saying. Turn to Page 4 A fter meeting some of the past and present employees of HAL in Bengaluru on Saturday, Congress president Rahul Gandhi slammed Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman for questioning the expertise of HAL in building fighter jets to the calibre of Rafale. Rahul told the media, “Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman talked about lack of experience of HAL, but she did not have anything to say about the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for 78 years. His company has been working for 12 days. So, she has no comment about the person who got the contract,” the Congress president said. Turn to Page 4 Related report on P6

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Page 1: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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The stubble burning inPunjab and Haryana is not

the sole reasons for air pollu-tion in the national Capital.The weathermen have predict-ed a spike in pollution levels inDelhi-NCR due to entirely dif-ferent factors.

“Presently the western dis-turbance is moving away, andthe north-westerly dry windsare settling over the areas ofnorthwest plains and Delhi.These north-westerly windsare very light in intensity thatthey are unable to sway awaythe pollutants or lower downtheir concentration in the air,”Skymet said.

Moreover, these light windsare likely to bring in pollutantsfrom the northwest plains, spe-cially Haryana region, as dur-ing this time stubble burning isactively taking place in theseareas.

Apart from this, recentrain over north Haryana and

hills during the last few dayshave helped gather moisture inthe Delhi air. This moistureholds pollutants. This can be anadded trigger to the alreadygrowing pollution levels.

The air quality in Delhidipped to poor level onSaturday with drop in windspeed, and the authorities pre-dicted further fall in the airquality index of the nationalCapital in the coming days. Inthe upcoming 24 hours, Delhiand NCR will witness mainlypleasant mornings with thickmist and haze.

“Pollution during morninghours and evening hours willbe on its peak as the moisturelevels are quite high during thetime in the form of haze ormist. Again, October 15onwards a fresh western dis-turbance is likely to affectnorth-west India which mayfurther worsen pollution levelsdue to the increasing lightwinds and moisture which willhold up the aerosol in the

lower level,” the Skymet said. According to the System of

Air Quality and WeatherForecasting and Research(SAFAR), the Air Quality Index(AQI) in Delhi on Saturdaymorning was 699, which isconsidered way above haz-ardous. Adjoining Ghaziabad,Faridabad, Gurugram and

Noida too recorded “very poor”air quality levels.

“The overall air qualityindex (AQI) recorded at 4 pmon Saturday stood at 300,which falls in the poor catego-ry and is just one point frombeing ‘very poor’, according toCentre-run System of AirQuality and Weather

Forecasting and Research(SAFAR). The PM10 level(presence of particles withdiameter less than 10 microme-tres) in Delhi stood at 243 andthe PM2.5 level was recordedat 122, according to the data.On Friday the AQI of thenational Capital stood at 154.

Meanwhile, recent satel-lite images from the NASAhave showed that farmers inPunjab and Haryana havestarted burning crop residue.The NASA, on its official web-site, stated that burning cropresidue in Punjab and Haryanahas increased significantly overthe past 10 days in and nearAmritsar, Ambala, Karnal, Sirsaand Hisar.

Burning of paddy straw

every year during October andNovember and wheat strawduring April in Punjab andHaryana are the major con-tributors to air pollution inDelhi-NCR as the smoke trav-els towards the national Capital.In Delhi, it mixes with the fogand creates a toxic smoggywinter every year.

Meanwhile, the IndiaMeteorological Department(IMD) predicted a warmerwinter this year as a result offormation of El Nino, the periodic weather phenom-enon associated with thewarming of surface tempera-tures in the Pacific Oceanthought to be responsible fordrought in India and otherparts of South Asia.

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

���11����������� 9+*+9*��

In a horrific incident that sentshivers down the spine of

onlookers, the personal secu-rity officer (PSO) of GurugramAdditional Sessions Judge (ASJ)Krishna Kant Sharma sprayedbullets on the judge’s wife andhis teenaged son in a crowdedmarket area in Sector 49 of theMillennium City on Saturdayaround 3.30 pm. The PSO,identified as Head ConstableMahipal, shot the ASJ’s wife inher chest twice and then turnedto pump three bullets into theback of her son’s head.

As both mother and sonlay writhing in pain on theroad, diabolical bystanders pre-ferred to capture the gorydetails on their mobile phones.It took a while before thepolice was informed about theincident and the criticallyinjured were rushed to a near-by hospital from where theywere shifted to MedantaHospital. The ASJ’s wife suc-cumbed to injuries late onSaturday night.

Gurugram East DCPSulochna Gajraj said prelimi-nary investigation has revealedthat the gunner lost his coolafter he was reportedly admon-ished for not taking out the carfrom the parking. However, the

police said that the motivebehind firing is not clear yet.

A video shot by a passerbyshows that people started scur-rying for safety as ConstableMahipal opened fire. After thevictims fell on the ground, theaccused, donning police uni-form, is seen trying to lift thejudge’s son to put him in a car,but as he could not do so, heran away leaving the teenagerin the heap of blood. Theaccused PSO was later appre-hended from Faridabad.

ASJ’s wife Ritu, 38, and his18-year-old son Dhruv hadgone for shopping in theArcadia market. They wereaccompanied by the judge’sPSO. “Some locals informedthe police about gunshots being

fired outside the Arcadia mar-ket. When a police teamreached the spot, they foundRitu and Dhruv lying in apool of blood,” the DCP said.

“They were taken toMedanta Hospital,” the DCPsaid, adding, “ConstableMahipal was later arrestedfrom Faridabad.”

According to officials, theASJ was attending a meetingconvened by District andSessions Judge RK Sondhiwhen he was informed aboutthe incident by the police. Themeeting was stopped and judgeleft for the hospital along withfellow judges.

As the news was relayed onthe police control room, manypolice teams were put on the

job to nab the accused PSOMahipal, who had run awayafter committing the crime.Gurugram PoliceCommissioner KK Rao himselfcame on the police wireless netand directed concerned unit toapprehend the accused. Hewas intercepted by two teamsof Crime Branch in GwalPahari area in Faridabad andwas overpowered.

Police said that Mahipalwas brought to Sector 56 policestation. Sources said that theaccused PSO was behaving ina weird manner and was parad-ing as a lunatic.

Police Commissioner KKRao told the media that theaccused PSO will be examinedby psychiatrists.

����� 0<:<)�#

The BJP is expecting a state-ment of explanation from

Union Minister MJ Akbar onSunday on alleged harassmentcharges levelled against him byseveral women journalistsbefore taking a call on hiscontinuation in the Council ofMinisters. As many as ninejournalists have accused Akbarof “sexual” exploitation whenhe served as editor of Englishdailies. Akbar is returning toDelhi from an official tour ofAfrican nations on Sunday.

In the midst of growingdemand that Akbar should beasked to resign from theCouncil of Ministers and theRSS as well as his ministerialcolleagues Maneka Gandhi andSmiriti Irani virtually backingthe women journalists, Akbar’sstatement could decide whichway the whole episode will set-tle down.

While Akbar’s fate will bedecided by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, BJP presidentAmit Shah has already said thatthe party would also definite-ly look into the issue.

“We will definitely lookinto the issue. We have to seewhether these allegations aretrue or false. We have to checkthe veracity of the post and theperson who posted it,” he wasreported as saying.

Turn to Page 4

������������� �<09�)+*+

After meeting some of thepast and present employees

of HAL in Bengaluru onSaturday, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi slammedDefence Minister NirmalaSitharaman for questioning theexpertise of HAL in buildingfighter jets to the calibre ofRafale.

Rahul told the media,“Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman talked about lack ofexperience of HAL, but she didnot have anything to say aboutthe lack of experience of AnilAmbani ‘who has never built aplane in his life’.”

“HAL has no debt, Ambanihas �45,000 crores of debt.HAL has been working for 78years. His company has beenworking for 12 days. So, she hasno comment about the personwho got the contract,” theCongress president said.

Turn to Page 4Related report on P6

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Page 2: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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Neil Armstrong may or may notregister on the presentgeneration but Ryan Gosling

will surely make them revel inhistory’s biggest moments — the firstman taking the first steps on theMoon. Gosling’s intense portrayal ofArmstrong through his journey oflife captivates the audience inslowmo and leads through the filmto make it one of those gems youwould like to be with more timesthan one.

The story encapsulates Armstrong’smost private moments, his family life,his camaraderie with fellow astronautsand his spatial passion which comethrough in a quiet and dignifiedmanner. You live Armstrong’s lifethrough Gosling and that’s a hugeachievement for the actor.

Thanks to the excellentcinematography, the movie is sublimewhat with planet Earth being left

behind a zillion miles in quest of abigger, unexplored and dark universefull of secrets that Armstrong brings tolight with a giant leap for humanity byjust one step on the Moon.

The director merges the film wellwith terrestrial and extra-terrestrialconcerns that Armstrong and his strongpersonality face, tackle and steer clearof. The movement and pace of the filmgives it a thriller shell from which itemerges only when emotions are atplay.

The eerie stillness of space is soastoundingly captured by a gingerlyroving camera that even a decibelcomes across as a screechy intrusion tothe ultimate peace that you settle intowith Gosling and his non-gravitationalexistence on the blemished satellite.

Armstrong in his youth is ascaptivating as an engineer as he is as anastronaut. Goslings lives all themoments with clarity and precision,something endemic to any spacewalker, most of all Armstrong.

The movie has been adapted fromJames Hansen’s biography onArmstrong and the writer would behappy with the clean adaptation of thisstunning film on a subject so widelydiscussed over the decades.

A must see.

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�What is your role in Tujhse HaiRaabta”

I play Atharv; it is neither a negativenor a positive character. He is a personwith different shades who brings a lot oftwists and turns in the show. He lovesPoorva played by Anupriya Deshmukhand calls her Mai. �What made you say yes?

There were two reasons. First, in myprevious show, I played a simple andfunny character in the backdrop of avillage but this role breaks the monotony.Second, playing Atharv gives me thefreedom to experiment with my looks,accent, new hairstyle and gives meexposure that I need.�Is there something that you like anddislike about your character?

The one thing that I like aboutAtharv is that he plays pranks on peopleand makes everyone laugh. If someonegets angry with him, he handles thesituation well. What I don’t like abouthim is his unprofessional attitude towardswork; he is mean and not trustworthy. Ifthings don’t go his way, he doesn’t mindbreaking a promise. I don’t like thisquality of his.�How was your experience workingwith the co-stars?

I have bonded well with Reema whoplays Kalyani Deshmukh. Wheneverthere is a shot where I my back is to thecamera, I always tease her and make herlaugh and then she gets scolded by ourdirector. I eat all her lunch every day andhave even misplaced the lunch boxes acouple of times aur isliye woh mujhseykhafa hain. �How did acting happened?

I was in Chandigarh and used to giveauditions everywhere. I weighed a 110 kgback then. I came to Mumbai and wascheated by some people for �2.5 lakh. Iwas depressed and decided to return toChandigarh. I did theatre for five years,started losing weight and gave auditionsside by side. In 2016, I got a call fromRashmi Sharma who asked me to cometo Mumbai to audition for a parallel leadrole. I was not sure if I will be able to bagit. But after a month, I was locked to playGuddu in Santoshi Maa. Then I got mysecond show opposite Prince Narula inBado Bahu. It was my struggling phase.I remember I lost 3 kg in a week bytravelling daily from Kharghar toGoregaon, in the local trains.

�What about Splitsvilla 11?It was an incredible and crazy

experience. There was a lot of pressurebut I am the kind of person who takes allthe decisions and makes things clear from

the start. One thing that went wrong wasthat I kept supporting my friends whowere simply playing their game and whenI needed their support, they were neverthere to support me.

Sometimes I looked bad in the showbut it worked because the end result wasgood. The audience understood that Istand for my people. �Who has been your inspiration?

My inspiration is Ranvir Singh. He isa dynamic person and has a lot ofpositive energy. Be it experimentingwith clothes or playing strong characterslike Alauddin Khilji, he tried to dodifferent role and broke the monotony.He cracks it every time and doeseverything with the same energy. I wishto work with him sometime.�Is there a character you would haveloved to play?

It would have to be Gautam Rode’scharacter in Karn and Saraswatichandra.Though the shows were not superhit, hewas the driving force in the show in awomen-oriented industry.�What does success means to you?

That I have a decent amount ofmoney, recognition for my work, staygrounded and get a lot of time to spendwith my family.�What your fitness regime like?

I am very fortunate to have a brotherlike Prince Narula. He makes sure I go

to the gym every day. I havetrainers — Guddu Rangrez

and Imtiaz Nazir whotrain me the best.�One change that

you would like tosee in the industry?

I want that thescripts should bewritten in a waythat al l thecharacters shouldget enough

exposure. Only the leads

can’t pull off the story.There are other actors as

well who equallycontribute to the story but

they don’t get enough exposure andimportance. The whole cast of a show istalented but they don’t get propertreatment from the production houses.I have been fortunate enough to get thisbut I feel it isn’t the case with everyone.

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Dance Plus Season 4 isback on Star Plus witha much bigger plus.

On air since yesterday, thisseason is different from theprevious three with the tagline'Sapne Sirf Apne Nahin Hote.'This season is a tribute tounsung heroes behindsuccessful individuals.

The three teams are led bycaptains Shakti, Punit andDharmesh. Remo D'Souza isthe Super Judge. Raghav Juyalis the host with 41 contestantson the floor. Each team hasfour contestants, and the showwill run for 18 weeks.

Speaking on how thisshow is different, D'souza said:"Dance Plus redefines the

meaning of dance by focusingon untouched talent fromacross the country. The showpromises phenomenal actsand performances which willbe first on television. It willevolve dance styles throughsolo, duo and groupperformers. It is the only dancereality show made for dancers,created and judged by expertfrom the dancing field. Raisingthe bar for danceperformances, this seasonfeatures top internationaldancing superstars like Jaja andB-Dash, Karen and Ricardo,Poppin John and The RoyalFamily crew,” he added.

D’Souza also said that overthe years, Dance+ had exposed

audiences to new trends andinventive dance forms.

Talking about what thecontestants do after theseshows, D’Souza said: “Realityshows like Dance Plus are aboon for budding dancers.They give them the rightexposure to showcase theirtalent and build a career. Oldergeneration dancers andchoreographers, althoughgood, did not get this kind ofexposure and couldn’t make it.But, times have changed.”

Explaining hissuperpowers on the show, hesaid; “With the creative team,we collectively decide onselection and elimination.Being the super judge I have

extra responsibilities andpowers. For instance, in theauditions, I was amazed at thedancing acumen of A SquareCrew (Abhay & Ayush), andasked them who their guruwas. They said they had beentrained by their father and heis their Plus. Om gave up hisdream of dancing owing tofinancial constraints buttrained his children. I decidedto pass them on to megaauditions as a trio, which hasnever been done on any realityshow! My decision to select thetalented father with the kidswas my way of giving atalented dancer his due! Histalent propelled me to use mypower.”

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Page 3: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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With MeToo movementreaching a feverish pitch

across the country, a group ofjournalists held a protest onSaturday, expressing solidaritywith their women colleagueswho have come out anddemanded proper implemen-tation of the prevention ofsexual harassment act to ensuredignity at workplace.

The protesting journalistsalso sought immediate actionagainst those facing allega-tions of sexual misconduct.

They also demanded theremoval of Union Minister MJAkbar, who has been accusedof sexual harassment by a number of women jour-nalists, when he was an editorof several publications, a fewyears ago.

The scribes also held plac-

ards bearing messages thatsexual harassment at work-place was not acceptable andsaid “accountability beginsfrom the top” with protestingjournalists raising slogans seek-ing removal of Akbar.

The group of journalistsalso passed a joint resolutionseeking justice for the victims.

“Sexual harassment atworkplace is non-negotiable.We salute those women whohave come out and sharedtheir trauma. It is not easy tospeak out and takes a lot ofcourage to speak up aboutsuch incidents,” senior jour-nalist and IWPC president T KRajalakshmi said.

Besides members of theIndian Women’s Press Corps(IWPC), journalists from someprint and electronic mediaassembled in front of the FreeSchool Church on Parliament

Street and raised slogans,demanding proper implemen-tation of the SexualHarassment of Women atWorkplace (Prevention,Prohibition and Redressal) Act.

“We, the assembled jour-nalists today express our com-plete solidarity with all thosewho have come out and spokencourageously against theharassment they have faced bycolleagues and superiors,” theresolution said.

The IWPC president saidsuch incidents need to bechecked also through propermonitoring of the internalcomplaints committee(ICC).”Such cases also showthat ICCs are either not thereor not effective in media organ-isations,” she said.

Union Minister ManekaGandhi and Congress chiefRahul Gandhi on Friday hadstrongly backed women whonarrated their experiences ofsexual misconduct and more asthe MeToo floodgates openedwider with high-profile direc-tors Sajid Khan, Subhash Ghaiand Luv Ranjan the latest to be‘ousted’.

���11����������� 0<:<)�#

After Chief Minister ArvindKejriwal, Public Works

Department (PWD) MinisterSatyendar Jain took a dig at theCentral Government and saidthe Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)Government works for thepublic welfare despite UnionGovernment putting spoke inits day-to-day functioning.

Jain’s reaction came afterthe Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs did not extendinvitation to the Chief Ministerduring the inauguration cere-mony of the much awaited ITOSkywalk and Foot over Bridge(FoB) on October 15.

Earlier, Kejriwal had tweet-ed that it does not matterwhether they have been invit-

ed or not, what matters is thatDelhi should be made morebeautiful and people should getbetter facilities.

“The Delhi Governmentwas not informed about thefoundation laying ceremonyof this project either and it is afact that we have not beeninformed about the inaugura-tion ceremony as well. Theseceremonies, however, are notimportant for us, since thepeople of Delhi had electedtheir Government with a his-toric mandate in February 2015with great hopes. We areanswerable and accountable tothe people who had reposedgreat faith in us,” Jain said.

The PWD Minister furtherissued a statement that con-tained the timeline of the pro-ject from the 2013-18.

He further asked theCentre and its team to contin-ue with their inaugural event.“We will be happy in case theCentral Government and itsnominated representatives con-tinue with the inaugurationceremonies and allow the elect-ed Delhi Government to workfor public welfare without hin-drances,” said Jain.

Meanwhile, Jain also con-gratulated PWD for their work

and for having successfullycompleted the constructionand fitting/decoration work ofthe iconic Skywalk and Footover Bridge (FoB) at one ofDelhi’s busiest and central traf-fic intersection at the ITO.

“The PWD teams workedday and night to complete thefirst of its kind project in Delhiand successfully overcame allhurdles in the execution of this project, which is nowready to be dedicated to thepeople of Delhi.”

Jain took the charges as aminister of PWD in 2015. Hesaid a after the proposal giventhe then Engineer-in-chief ofPWD, the department con-ducted a design competition forthe skywalks.

“The best design (on whichthe Skywalk today proudlystands at ITO) was awardedcash prize of Rs 2.5 lakh. InAugust 2016, the PWD pre-sented the Skywalk design tothe Delhi Urban ArtCommission (DUAC), whichwas impressed by the designand it not only approved butalso offered to provide 80 percent funding for the projectunder the erstwhile JawaharlalNehru National UrbanRenewal Mission (JNNURM),

which is now known asAMRUT (Atal Mission forRejuvenation and UrbanTransformation),” Jain added.

As per the funding agree-ment, the Delhi Governmentwas to provide around Rs 12crore fund for the project outof the total estimated cost ofaround Rs 54 crore.

Jain said, the departmentfaced many ups and down whilepassing the project. “I haveplaced all these facts in publicdomain to put on record theefforts of the Delhi PWD teamover several years in conceptu-alising this idea, coming outwith a unique design, preparinga wonderful Detailed Projectreport (DPR) and finally havingexecuted the construction andbeautification work of this pro-ject which is now ready to beshowcased as a tourist destina-tion,” added Jain.

���11����������� 0<:<)�#

Scores of resident welfareassociations and civil society

groups in the national Capitalon Saturday requested the DelhiChief Minister Arvind Kejriwalrequesting to reduce ValueAdded Tax (VAT) on petrol anddiesel in the city. The peoplefurther claimed that they arealready suffering from risingcost of essential commodities aswell as there is a lack of suffi-cient public transport.

“The Central Governmenthad slashed the rate of petroland diesel by Rs 2.50 per litre

each on September 4. We urgethe Delhi Government toreduce VAT on fuel both petroland diesel in the nationalCapital and bring the fuel pricesdown,” said VK Arora, con-vener, Delhi Residents Forum.

This was followed byreduction of VAT by variousStates, including neighbouringHaryana and Uttar Pradesh,bringing relief to their residents.

With the festival season on,secretary of Mahila PragatisheelAssociation (MPA) Ritu Bhatiasaid the residents are beingforced to use private vehicles inthe Capital due to lack of

affordable and efficient publictransport.

“We urge the DelhiGovernment to immediatelyreduce VAT on fuel and evenlower than the neighbouringStates bring immediate relief ofalready burdened residents

especially during the festivalseason as most of us travel morethan normal days during com-ing festivals days,” Bhatia said.

Manish Chawla anotherresident from Anand Viharsaid, “This is resulting in lossof exchequer to the Delhi

Government which has VAT of27 per cent on petrol and 16.75per cent on diesel as most ofDelhiites daily travel to theneighbouring cities ofGurugram, Noida andFaridabad, for work as most ofthe offices are located in thesecities and get their fuel tanksfilled there.”

“As winters are approach-ing use of BS IV in capital isalso leading to more pollutionin Capital coupled with burn-ing of crops in enamoringStates leading to health issues,”added VN Bali, president, RWAFederation, East Delhi.

���11����������� 0<:<)�#

The Delhi Police on Saturdayclaimed to have cracked the

sensational bank robbery andmurder in Chhawla area ofDwarka district and have twoaccused persons identified asSachin (20) and Parvesh (19)on the charges of armeddacoity and murder.

Police have also identifiedfive others involved in theshooting of 44-year-old SantoshSharma, cashier of CorporationBank, and robbing Rs 3.16 lakhfrom the Khaira village branchnear Chhawla on Friday.

The whole incident wascaptured on CCTV, throughwhich police with the help oftechnical surveillance were ableto track down the 19-year-oldSachin, a resident of Sonipat,Haryana and arrested himfrom Murthal area on Saturday,police said. Parvesh who is alsoresident of Sonipat was arrest-

ed soon after Sachin wasnabbed by a police team.

“On Friday, a police controlroom call was received about anarmed robbery at a bank inChhawla. On reaching the spotit was found that the cashier oneSantosh Sharma was shot on theback. He was immediately takento Vikas hospital in Najafgarhwhere he succumbed to hisinjuries,” Deputy Commissionerof Police (Dwarka) AntoAlphonse stated.

“The statement of the bankmanager Prahbakar Kumarwas recorded, he stated that six

men entered the bank andthree of them had pistols. Theymanhandled with the securityguard and one of the accusedhit him on the head with a pis-tol and snatched his gun. They

went on to shoot the cashier.Police teams were assigned tothe case and they recoveredCCTV footage of the inci-dent,” the DCP said.

“After analyzing the CCTVfootage, police teams were ableto break-through the case withthe arrest of Sachin (19) fromMurthal. The motorcycles usedin the crime were recovered.During interrogation, herevealed the identity of the fiveothers who are still abscond-ing,” DCP said, adding Sachinis not the one who shot thecashier.

New Delhi: There was a per-ceptible nip in the air in thenational Capital with the min-imum temperature plunging to16.6 degrees Celsius.

Day temperature wasrecorded at 31.2 degreesCelsius, which was two notch-es below season’s average, whilethe city registered a minimumof 16.6 degrees Celsius, threenotches below average.Humidity levels oscillatedbetween 88 and 32 per cent.MeT has forecast clear skiesalong with mist on Sunday.

“The maximum and mini-mum temperatures are expect-ed to hover at 33 and 16 degreesCelsius,” the weatherman said.On Friday, the maximum andminimum temperatures settledat 32.4 and 17.5 degrees Celsius,respectively. SR

��0����������� 0<:<)�#

The Delhi Government hasset the ball rolling for the

construction of Foot overBridges (FOBs) and new‘Skywalks’. Around 14 newFOBs and three skywalks will beconstructed in the coming years.

The projects were finalisedafter the Delhi Traffic Policeidentified the busiest areaswhich are also accident proneand submitted the report to theGovernment. Also, the citywill get two more flyovers inthe East and North-East Delhi.The expected time for thecompletion of the estimatedFOBs and the Skywalks is 2020.

Out of three skywalks, twowill be constructed at DelhiGate and Ajmeri Gate and theother one will be constructedin North-West Delhi’s fromPitampura Metro station toRohini district court to decon-gest the Madhuban Chowkintersection on the Outer RingRoad. To facilitate the move-ment of pedestrians on theNetaji Subhash Marg (fromDelhi Gate to Nukkar FaizBazar), a skywalk will be con-structed at Nukkar Faiz Bazar.

The largest skywalk will beconstructed at Ajmeri GateChowk which is considered asone of the most congestedregions of the Delhi as there isa huge movement of pedestri-ans due to the establishment ofNew Delhi Railway Station and

the nearby commercial markets.This upcoming skywalk willconnect the five roads going toGB Road, Chawari Bazar, AsifAli Road, Paharganj and theNew Delhi Railway station.

The locations were identi-fied by the Delhi Traffic Policeunder a mega decongestionproject which was initiated bythe Lieutenant Governor AnilBaijal after the Supreme Courthad asked the Delhi TrafficPolice to find solutions for thetraffic hindrances and howdecongest the city roads.

“Under the decongestionproject, the traffic engineeringteam has divided corridors inthree categories A, B and C asper their importance. The sky-walks, FOBs and the flyovershave been identified under thecategory ‘B’ and ‘C’. Further, it isupon the concerned agencies.However, the team is in touch ofthe authorities concerned,” saida senior traffic police officer.

However, the DelhiDepartment of Home which isheading the project said, “The

concerned departments andauthorities have submitted thetentative specific timings for thetasks. But, the final deadline hasbeen issued to all and it has beentold strictly that by December31 everyone should submit thedetailed project plan with start-ing date of the project.”

Further, the FOBs will beconstructed at various locationsas per their need which includesKarol Bagh metro station,Prashant Vihar near the ele-vated flyover on Outer RingRoad, near National Institute ofHealth and Family Welfare,Mahipalpur market. ChandBagh colony and Bhajnpurapetrol pump, Jagat Puri red lightand Kapshera Border to facili-tate movement of pedestriansgoing/coming from Gurugramin large numbers. An underpasswill be constructed at RithalaMetro station.

Also, as per their docu-ments, which is with ThePioneer, the existing FOB atAnand Vihar ISBT will also beextended on either side of

ISBT Anand Vihar andKaushambi.

Moreover, two more fly-overs will be constructed inNorth East Delhi’s Mandoli redLight and Gangan cinema Tpoint and to ease traffic con-gestion, prevent and reduceaccidents and to cater futurerequirement once SignatureBridge becomes operational.Other flyover will be construct-ed in East Delhi’s Surya Nagarand Ram Prashtha traffic inter-sections to cater the requirementof Vivek Vihar, Surya Nagar andRamprashtha Colony.

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South Delhi MunicipalCorporation (SDMC)

Commissioner Dr PuneetKumar Goel presented acheque amounting to Rs 3.20crore to Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh on Saturday.The amount has been raised bythe SDMC to help the flood-affected people of Kerala and itwill go to the Prime MinisterNational Relief Fund.

The 43,000 employees ofthe SDMC contributed withtheir one-day basic salary for theflood affected persons of Kerala,said Director of Press andInformation Radha Krishan.

South Delhi MayorNarendra Chawla said that thecontribution is a humble

humane help. “It was muchneeded keeping in view thelarge-scale loss of lives andproperties in the devastatingfloods which not onlydestroyed the economy of theState but forced the citizens toput up in open after losing theirhouses,” he said.

Appreciating the decisionof the employees of the SDMCto contribute for a noble cause,Chawla said the civic body willcontinue to render humanitar-ian help to the disaster-affect-ed persons in any other part ofthe country. Last time theSDMC employees had con-

tributed an amount of aroundRs 2 crore for relief measuresof flash flood-affected personsin Jammu & Kashmir.

The SDMC had earlierpassed a resolution exhortingits employees to donate theirone-day salary in the PMNational Relief Fund.

The Commissioner wasaccompanied by threeAdditional CommissionersRandhir Sahay, Rahul Garg,Umesh Tyagi, leader of HouseKamaljeet Sehrawat andDirector of Press andInformation Radha Krishan.

The State of Kerala great-ly affected by unprecedentedfloods due to incessant rain thatcreated havoc last month inwhich several were killed andthousands lost their home.

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Page 4: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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From Page 1Earlier, Minister for Women and Child

Development, Maneka Gandhi on Monday said sheis happy that #MeToo movement has started inIndia. She said “anger at sexual molestation nevergoes away” and the individual “never forgets theperson who did it”.

“It is because of this reason, we have writtento the Law Ministry, saying that the complaintsshould be without any time limit,” she added.

Problem for Akbar further compounded onSaturday when a US-based woman journalistaccused him of sexual harassment. Majlie de PuyKamp of CNN has alleged that Akbar had sexu-ally harassed her in 2007 when she was an 18-year-old intern.

According to reports, Akbar grabbed her andkissed her when she went to thank him on the lastdate of her internship with the newspaper editedby him. Sharing the incident on Twitter, Kampwrote: “I extended my hand to him in gratitude,he shoved his 55-year-old tongue down my 18-year-old throat.”

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From Page 1Escalating his campaign against

the Modi Government over Rafaledeal, Rahul accused it of destroying the“strategic asset” State-run aerospacecompany.

Rahul questioned as to why theorder was taken away from HAL,when it had all the experience. “Whyhasn’t the work given to them? WhyHAL is being destroyed by AnilAmbani, that is the question.”

“They are insulted and hurtbecause their hand work of over 78years has been insulted and questionedby the Government of India throughthe Defence Minister. So the first thingis that they expect an apology from theDefence Minister for insulting HAL.We understand that the DefenceMinister is not going to apologise,” he

added.On alleged corruption, he said

HAL was one of the “modern temples”of India and it was being destroyed“because of corruption that NarendraModi is doing to help Anil Ambani”.

“Every single person here made itvery clear that they have the experi-ence. They have the understandingand Mr Anil Ambani does not havethe understanding,” Rahul said, refer-ring to the HAL interaction… “we arehere to defend the people who aredefending the nation. From theGovernment, we have to defend HAL,”he said.

HAL employees union said that aninteraction was sought with theemployees, but they have decided nottake part as the union was apolitical.

“We had got communication fromCongress office, but we can’t take sidesfor a political party being Governmentemployees, and our union is an inde-pendent union, we are not affiliated toany political party,” the union’s generalsecretary Suryadevara ChandraShekhar said.

�������������� �+���#

Senior Bollywood actorAmitabh Bachchan, who

had through a belated state-ment managed to wriggle outhis initial off-the-cuff remarksover the Tanushree Dutta-Nana Patekar controversy, hasnow come in for tongue-lash-ing from hair-stylist andcelebrity Sapna Bhawnani vis-a-vis the ongoing “Me Too”movement.

Sapna, who shot into famebecause of her participation inBigg Boss, took to twitter andhanded a veiled threat to B-Bigabout his being named by vic-tim women.

Sapna ridiculed the Big-B’sstatement made in an interviewof him published on the occasionof his turning 76 in which he saidthat “no woman should ever be

subjected to any kind of misbe-haviour or disorderly conduct,especially at her work place”.

“This has to be the biggestlie ever. Sir the film Pink hasreleased and gone and yourimage of being an activist willsoon too. Your truth will comeout very soon. Hope you arebiting your hands cuz nails willnot be enough. @SrBachchan

#Metoo #MeTooIndia #come-outwomen,” Sapna tweeted.

She also posted about thereports that she had heardfrom other women. “Have per-sonally heard so many storiesof Bachchan’s sexual miscon-duct and I hope those womencome out. His hypocrisy issooooo tired. #Metoo#MeTooIndia,” she said.

As he turned 76 October11, Bachchan had posted aninterview on his twitter handlein which he said: “No womanshould ever be subjected to anykind of misbehaviour, or dis-orderly conduct, especially ather work place. Such actsshould immediately be broughtto the notice of concernedauthorities, and corrective mea-sures be taken, either throughfiling complaints or a recourseto law”.

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Aweek after she lodged acomplaint with the

Oshiwara police against actorNana Patekar and three othersfor alleged sexual harassment,Bollywood actress Tanushree onSaturday upped the ante bydemanding that Patekar andthree other accused be arrestedand subjected to narco analysis,brain mapping and lie detectorto bring out truth in the case.

In a development thatcame two days after theOshiwara police registered aFirst Information Report (FIR)against Patekar and three oth-ers, Tanushree’s lawyer Nitin SSatpute made an application tothe investigating officer androoted for the arrest of thesenior actor and three other accused choreographerGanesh Acharya, producerSamee Siddiqui and directorRakesh Sarang.

Maintaining that Patekar

and other accused in the casewere “highly influential andhigh-profile persons with“good political connections”,Sapute said that there wasevery possibility about theirputting “undue pressure, fear,coercion and influence” on thewitnesses in the case.

“There are witnesses andeye witnesses to the incidentthat took place on March 26,2008, who are willing to comeforward to record their state-ment, but they are not comingforward as they are scared ofaccused persons. They will notcome forward to record tostatement unless and untilaccused are arrested. It is onlyafter the arrest of the accusedthat they (witnesses) will cometo police station,” Satpute said.

Sapute went on state thatPatekar and other accused weredenying the charges againstthem before the media “Theymay put pressure on the wit-nesses, or accused may produce

bogus witness to record nega-tive statement against the com-plainant. Therefore, fair inves-tigation has to be carried out byconducting Narco Analysis,Brain Mapping and LieDetector Test of the Accusedand witnesses who are sup-porting accused,” Tanushree’slawyer said.

Satpute said that so as to dojustice to his client, “it has nowbecome necessary to arrestaccused and conduct narcoAnalysis, brain mapping and lie

detector test to ascertain theirrole in the offence”.

It may be recalled that onOctober 6, Tanushree hadlodged a written complaintagainst Patekar and three oth-ers under sections 354 (Assaultor criminal force to womenwith intent to outrage her mod-esty), 354-A (Assault or use ofcriminal force with intent todisrobe her) and section 509(word, gesture or act intendedto insult the modesty o awoman) of Indian Penal Code.

Subsequently on the nightof October 10, Tanushree per-sonally visited the Oshiwarapolice station and recordedher statement in continuationof a written complaint.

After she recorded herstatement, the Oshiwara policeformally registered an FIRagainst Patekar and three oth-ers under sections 354 (Assaultor criminal force to womenwith intent to outrage hermodesty and Section 509(word, gesture or act intendedto insult the modesty of awoman) of Indian Penal Code.

On behalf of Tanushree, herlawyer also submitted a 40-pagestatement on the incident to thepolice and also the MaharashtraState Women’s Commission(MSWC). In her complaintlodged with the police onOctober 6, Tanushree hasalleged that the incident tookplace on March 26, 2008 dur-ing the shooting of a song in thefilm “Horn Ok Pleaseee”.

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Pakistan on Saturday warnedof “10 surgical strikes”

against India in response to asingle such attack, in the latestwar of words between the twoestranged nuclear-armedneighbours.

Major General AsifGhafoor, spokesperson of themilitary’s Inter Services PublicRelations, stated this whiletalking to the media in London,where he is accompanyingPakistan Army Chief GenQamar Javed Bajwa on a visit.

“If India dares to launch a

surgical strike inside Pakistan,it will face 10 surgical strikes inresponse,” Ghafoor was quotedas saying by Radio Pakistan.

He also said “those whothink of any misadventureagainst us should have nodoubt in their minds onPakistan’s capabilities”.

The military spokesmansaid the Pakistan Army was thecustodian of the $50 billionChina Pakistan EconomicCorridor (CPEC) and that themega project will strengthenthe economy of the country.

Ghafoor said the armywanted strengthening of

democracy in Pakistan, andclaimed that the general elec-tion in July was the most trans-parent in the history of thecountry.

“If anyone has evidence ofrigging then it should bebrought forward,” he remarked.

He also rejected reports ofrestriction on the media andsaid there was “complete freedom of expression” in thecountry.

He said there were moregood developments in Pakistanthan bad and that the interna-tional media should also high-light the good things.

Bilaspur: In a major setback tothe opposition Congress inpoll-bound Chhattisgarh, itsstate working president andMLA Ramdayal Uike onSaturday joined the ruling BJP.Uike, who represents Pali-Tanakhar constituency, joinedthe BJP in the presence of theparty chief Amit Shah andChief Minister Raman Singh inBilaspur district headquarter.

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The UK Government is allset to double the immigra-

tion health surcharge (IHS)from December, which willincrease the overall visa fees forthe citizens, students, profes-sionals and family membersfrom the non-European Unioncountries, including India.

The IHS, introduced inApril 2015, will rise from 200pounds to 400 pounds peryear, with the discounted ratefor students increasing from150 pounds to 300 pounds, theUK Home Office said, as theproposal announced earlierthis year was put beforeParliament this week.

The move is expected to

raise an estimated 220 millionpounds in extra funding for thestate-funded National HealthService (NHS).

The surcharge allows any-one in the UK on a work, studyor family visa for longer thansix months to access NHS services in the same wayas UK citizens.

“Our NHS is always therewhen you need it, paid for byBritish taxpayers. We welcomelong-term migrants using theNHS, but the NHS is a nation-al, not international health ser-vice and we believe it is rightthat they make a fair contri-bution to its long-term sus-tainability,” UK ImmigrationMinister Caroline Nokes said.

“It is only fair that people

who come to the UK make acontribution to the running ofthe NHS, and even with theincrease we still continue tooffer a good deal on healthcarefor those seeking to live in theUK temporarily,” she said.

The hike will come intoeffect in December followingparliamentary approval andthe minister said theGovernment was step closer toimplementing the changes tothe health surcharge with the proposal being tabled in the House of Commons on Thursday.

“The extra money raisedwill go directly towards sus-taining and protecting ourworld-class health-care sys-tem,” Nokes said.

Tiruchirappalli: The Dubai-bound Air India Express planewas flying at a speed of 250 kmand possibly overloaded whenits tyre hit an equipment usedto guide a pilot to land a flightand then brushed the com-pound wall during take-off atthe International Airport hereearly on Friday, officials said.

Tiruchirappalli airportDirector K Gunasekaran hassaid on-duty Central IndustrialSecurity Force (CISF) person-nel had informed the air traf-

fic control (ATC) about theaccident, following which theair traffic controller informedthe pilots about it.

A day after all 136 peopleon board the Air India Expressplane had a miraculous escape,airport officials on Saturdaysaid airport staff, includingCISF personnel, who informedthe ATC about the accident, arebeing questioned.

According to the airline,the pilot in command, CaptainD Ganesh Babu, has a flying

experience on the B737 aircraftof 3,600 hours. The first officer,Captain Anurag, has an expe-rience of about 3,000 hours onthe B737. Ganesh Babu hadreportedly told officialsthatthere was no problem in theplane and all the cockpit equip-mentindicated to him thatplane was in good shape, air-port officials said.

The officials said the pilotwas supposed to take-off at aparlicular point on the ‘8169runway,’ but he could have

crossed that point before tak-ing off leading to the tyrebrushing the wall.

When the passengers askedabout the “scary rocking” expe-rienced by them, they werereportedly told by the crew thatit was common. “It is notknown when the ATC staffcontacted the pilot after theincident. The exchangebetween the pilot and theground staff, timing etc will beexamined during the investi-gation,” officials said. PTI

Washington: Aiming at pro-moting Hindi and Sanskrit inthe US, the Indian embassy inWashington has announced tostart free weekly classes for thetwo languages soon.

The classes would be of onehour duration and they wouldbe imparted by Dr Mox Raj, ateacher of Indian Culture at theembassy, it said in a state-ment. The classes would beheld at the embassy premises.The exact dates of their com-mencement would beannounced soon.

Hindi classes would beheld every Tuesday from 6 pmto 7 pm. And Sanskrit classesevery Thursday, at the sametime, the statement said. PTI

��������������� *�0��#

Overenthusiasm of somebureaucrats in Jharkhand

threatens to infringe upon theright to privacy of the tech-savvy people of the State whouse social media like theWhatsapp, Facebook or Twitter!

Rising cases of rumourmongering and circulation offake news through the socialmedia has resulted in police allover the country keeping a tabon social media communica-tions happening mainlythrough Whatsapp groupsinformally, but some overex-cited Deputy Commissionersand Superintendents of Policeof the state went too far into

snooping mode on the pretextof keeping an eye on mischiefmongers.

Going overboard, they aregoing on record asking alladmins (administrators ofsocial media groups likeWhatsApp) to add a police offi-cer of their respective policestations in their groups.

Maintaining it was neces-sary to keep strict vigil oninformation disseminating onthe social media, HazaribaghDeputy Commissioner Ravi Shankar Shukla has issueda Do’s and Don’ts that makes itmandatory for all groupadmins to “must includerespective officer incharge/police officer” in

the group.This special guideline is

besides the regular directionsissued by the administration on regulating the social media groups.

Same way the EastSinghbhum Police(Jamshedpur) have on Fridaydirected all group admins tocompulsorily add theWhatsApp number ofJamshedpur Police (709191825)as a member of their groupstoday itself. The move is aimedat keeping a check on thedestructive and anti social ele-ments. The group admins havebeen asked to “seriously con-sider the request” of the EastSinghbhum Police.

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Coimbatore: Over 5,000 devo-tees of Lord Ayappa, mostlywomen, took out a processionhere on Friday protesting theSupreme Court ruling, allow-ing women of all ages to offerprayers at the hill shrine inSabarimala.

They held aloft placardsand raised slogans against theruling, which they termed wasagainst culture and tradition.

The procession was organ-ised by Coimbatore SreeAyappa Seva Sangham. Later,the devotees squatted in themiddle of a road and sang bha-jans for a while.

Former BJP MP and chair-man of coir board CPRadhakrishnan was amongthose who took part in theprotest. Neighbouring Keralahas been witnessing a series ofagitations by various devoteegroups and Hindu outfitsagainst the LDF government’sdecision to implement the apexcourt order without going forany review petition.

On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench,headed by then Chief JusticeDipak Misra, lifted the ban onthe entry of women of men-strual age into the shrine. PTI

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Telangana State HomeMinister N Narasimha

Reddy’s revelation that he wasunable to secure an appoint-ment with the Chief MinisterK Chandrasekhar Rao formany days has created ripplesin the political circles.

It is believed that the ChiefMinister was avoiding meetinghis senior Cabinet colleague as

latter was likely to demand aticket from his home con-stituency Musheerabad eitherfor himself or for his son in law.

Narasimha Reddy ispresently a member ofLegislative Council and holdsthe Home portfolio in the cab-inet for the past four years.

Though he was elected tothe State Assembly fromMusheerabad constituency inthe past, KCR had not given him

party ticket in 2014 saying itwould be embarrassing for himand the party if he were defeat-ed. Eventually K Lakshman ofBJP was elected from the con-stituency. Fact that NarasimhaReddy was unable to meet theCM was revealed by Reddyhimself when one of his sup-porters expressed surprise whyhe was not included in first listof candidates when he was soclosed to the CM.

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In the first of its kind incidentsince the start of its services

Hyderabad Metro trains cameto a grinding halt due to a tech-nical snag and its servicesremained suspended for morethan two hours on Miyapur-Ameerpet route.

Later service from Balangarto LB Nagar was resumed, fivestations towards Miyapur wereclosed in busy morning hourscausing a lot of hardship to theoffice goers. For regular com-muters of 10-month-oldHyderabad Metro this was anunusual experience and it wasfirst time that technical snag hadbrought service to a halt.

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Amid growing concern overthe delay in reaching seat

sharing agreement leaders ofopposition grand alliance“Praja Kutami” (People’sAlliance) met on Saturday in ahotel in city outskirts to discussthe issue.

According to the sourcesall the constituent parties —Telugu Desam, CommunistParty of India (CPI) andTelangana Jana Samiti handedover the list of the constituen-cies they want to contest in thecoming Assembly elections.

Sources said that the dis-cussions were continuing tilllate into the evening in a cor-dial atmosphere and the dif-ferences would be sorted out in

a couple of days. TDP statepresident L Ramanna, CPIstate secretary Chada VenkatReddy, Prof Kodandaram ofTJS and some senior leadersfrom Congress were attendingthe meeting, sources said.

However, there was a biggap between the demands ofthese parties and what themain Opposition Congress waswilling to leave for them.

While TJS of ProfKodandaram was demanding16 seats, the Congress wasready to leave only 8 seats.

The TDP was asking for 15seats and Congress was willingto give 9 seats to the party. Incase of CPI, the left party wasdemanding six and Congresswas agreeable for three seats,sources said.

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Page 5: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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The Army has decided toreform and restructure its

cadre and troop strength in aphased manner to enhanceoperational and functional effi-ciency. The restructuringincludes reducing the troopstrength by over 1,00,000,increase the service tenure ofjawans from 15 to 20 years, anddo away with the rank ofBrigadier for faster promotions.

These recommendationswere part of four in-house stud-ies conducted by the Army inthe past few months and theongoing Army CommandersConference here decided onSaturday to implement them ina phased manner after gettingfeedback from all sections of the12 lakh strong force.

Giving the case of pro-posed reduction of troopstrength by one lakh over nextfew years, sources said theArmy will save at least �5,000crore every year. Moreover, byincreasing the service tenure ofjawans due to better health andfitness standards over the lastfour decades or so, the Armywill save on training a raw

recruit besides reducing pensionbills. At present, the jawan hasto retire after 15 years of service.

As regards doing away withthe rank of Brigadier, officialssaid the Army will be on a parwith the civil services in termsof ranks and promotions. Atpresent, an IndianAdministrative Service(IAS)officer has six steps for promo-tions to the highest rank whilethe Army has nine therebyleading to lot of heartburnamongst ranks.

Giving details of the ArmyCommanders conference heldtwice a year, officials said cur-rent operational, administrativeand human resource challenges

facing the Indian Army werereviewed in detail and futurecourse of actions have beendeliberated.

Four major studies regard-ing restructuring currentlyunderway were presented to thetop brass. The focus of thestudies is holistic integrationthereby enhance the opera-tional and functional efficiency,optimise budget expenditure,facilitate force modernizationand address aspirations.

The first study on 'Re-organisation and Rightsizingof the Indian Army'is focusedon the operational structures tomake them efficient, futureready by taking into account the

operational situation onWestern(Pakistan) andNorthern(China) borders. Thisstudy pertains to reduce troopstrength by one lakh.

The second study is on'Re-organisation of the ArmyHeadquarters,' aimed at inte-gration and preclude the redun-dancies. Over a period of time,with emerging scenarios; newstructures have emerged andmeasures to integrate and syn-ergise the same is underway.

Giving an example, sourcessaid the headquarters ofRashtriya Rifles(RR) raised inthe early 1990s to deal withinsurgency in Jammu &Kashmir is at present located inNew Delhi. The proposal is toshift it to Northern Commandto induce better synergy. TheRR has more than 65 battal-ions(one battalion has 1,000 sol-diers).

The third study on 'CadreReview of Officers' is aimed toincorporate the proposed reor-ganisation, restructuring andendeavours balanced cadre tomeet the aspirations of the offi-cers' cadre. The collegium fur-ther deliberated on the longertenure of flag ranks with a view

to ensure better continuity,achievements of objectives andaspirations. This study dealswith removing Brigadier rank.

The fourth study on'Review of Terms ofEngagement of Rank and File'isaimed to harness the higher lifeexpectancy, ensure youngerprofile and ensure due motiva-tion. It deals with servicetenure of jawans.

The Conference concludedthat the above studies will beimplemented progressively in aphased manner. The phases willcomprise requisite refinements ofthe studies making them prag-matic for implementation.

It was also decided that alloperational aspects of the stud-ies will be validated through testbedding them in exercises.During the deliberations, manyoptions were discussed and itwas decided that all value-inputs will be factored,360degrees evaluation to be under-taken, course-corrections to beinstituted if required and imple-ment the same with specifictimelines. The conference alsodecided on the 'enhancing lin-guistic skill in the Indian Army,'they said.

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With the objective to extendsupport in terms of rescue

of submarines in case of amishap at sea, the Navy hasinducted its first DeepSubmergence Rescue Vehicle(DSRV). With this inductionIndia has joined a select groupof countries having the capabil-ity to locate and rescue sub-marines in distress.

At present US, China,Russia and a few other countrieshave this capability to deployDSRVs.

"Indian Navy joins selectleague of nations with capabili-ty to search, locate and providerescue to distressed submarinesby induction of first DeepSubmergence RescueVessel(DSRV) and associatedkit in fly away configuration,"Navy spokesman D K Sharmasaid here on Saturday after theDSRV was inducted at Mumbai

naval base.Though DSRVs are used for

rescue of personnel in downedsubmarines, they are alsodeployed for various other mis-sions including to lay cables onthe sea bed. Some DSRV ves-sels are air transportable in verylarge military cargo. Sharmasaid the DSRV at Mumbai canbe mobilised from the naval baseto nearest mounting port by air,land and sea. The second DSRVis expected to be inducted atVisakhapatnam in 2019. Theycan rescue a submarine from adepth of 650 metres and JamesFisher Defence of UK suppliedthese vessels.

Induction of DSRVs is partof the Indian Navy's efforts toextend its reach far away fromshore by providing cover to thesubmarines which patrol alongwith warships the critical sealanes in the Indian Ocean andbeyond as part of its missionbased deplolyment.

Incidentally, the Navy lastmonth signed a contract withHindustan Shipyard Limited

(HSL), Vishakhapatnam for theconstruction of two DivingSupport Vessels (DSV), a keyrequirement for submarine sup-port operations at sea. The totalcost of the project is worth overRs 3,000 crore.

The first vessel to be builtover a 36 month period wouldbe followed by the second, sixmonths later. The vessels to bebased at Vishakhapatnam andMumbai respectively, would beof 118 m in length and ofapproximately 7,650 tonne dis-placement,

The Navy undertakes divingoperations in the Indian OceanRegion (IOR) which necessitatesoperations to facilitate variousactivities such as submarinerescue, under water inspection,testing or salvage, and recoveryof objects/ship/ aircraft lost atsea. The DSV enables divers toremain under water for extend-ed durations along with theirequipment. It is also equippedwith a Deep SubmergenceRescue Vessel (DSRV), which iscritical for submarine rescue.

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Difference of opinion seemed to havecropped up among the BJP mem-

bers of Parliament's EstimateCommittee on the ways to calculateGross Domestic Product (GDP) data.The draft report prepared by the BJPveteran MM Joshi who heads the com-mittee is ready for its adoption.

BJP members led by Lok Sabha MPNishikant Dube has reportedly raisedobjection for the report questioning theGovernment's mechanism to calculateGDP data.

BJP MPs indicated that they willnot let the panel's draft report on'Measuring Growth, Employment andIncome' which recommends review ofthe mechanism to calculate GDP to beadopted in its current form.

Some of the BJP MPs and mem-bers of the panel said it is absolutelyincorrect for the report to question theGovernment's mechanism to calculateGDP data.

They reportedly said It is beingdone according to global standards andthe current Government is imple-

menting the same methodology whichwas used by the previous ones, the MPsaid.

Dubey may give a dissent noteagainst the draft report and it will beadopted only after amendments.

The draft report, which was tabledin the Estimates Committee's meetingon Thursday, states that detailed exam-ination reveals several inadequacies inthe GDP measuring mechanism, suchas depletion of natural resources is notbeing taken into consideration.

It also said there is no mechanismto assess whether increase in GDP leadsto happiness among the people.

In the draft report, the committeeconcluded that the mechanism devel-oped for GDP estimation needs reviewand should reflect the ground reality.

The draft report recommendedreview and total revamp of mechanismto calculate GDP and evolve indica-tors/parameters to gauge the environ-mental resource decay, and replenish-ment efforts made to compensate theloss and also to capture these aspects inmeasuring GDP and other economicparameters.

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Accusing the BJP of acting“power hungry” in Goa,

the Congress on Saturdaydemanded that Chief MinisterManohar Parrikar step downand it be allowed to provemajority by convening a spe-cial session of the StateAssembly.

Congress leaders PawanKhera and Goa PCC chiefGirish Chodankar claimedthat the BJP is not removingParrikar from the ChiefMinister’s post fearing that hemight “spill the beans” on theRafale fighter jet deal.

The Opposition party alsoaccused the BJP of “betraying”the people of Goa and “killinggovernance” in the State."Power hungry BJP first mur-dered democracy in Goa andis now killing governancethere. The clamour for powerhas cemented a corrupt, cal-lous and cheat BJP to the CMChair in Goa. The BJP has noconstitutional right to contin-ue in power in Goa, even fora single day,” said Khera.

The Opposition party

alleged that the BJP “usurped”power in Goa through back-door. “People of Goa had giventhe mandate to the Congress.Governor Mridula Sinhashould listen to the voice ofpeople of Goa and Oppositionparties and allow us to proveour numbers on the floor ofthe House.

“A special session of theGoa Assembly should beimmediately convened andthere should be a floor test.This will clear all doubts aboutwho is in-charge in Goa andwho has the rightful claim tohead a democratic govern-ment," Chodankar said. Heclaimed the Congress has amajority in Goa and addedthat "Goans deserve a fulltime chief minister and toensure democracy and consti-tutional functioning, a floortest is imperative".

At the same time, headded "no constitutionalmorality can be expected fromPrime Minister NarendraModi and BJP chief Amit Shahbecause they are drunk withpower". Replying to a query, hesaid as the Defence Minister,

Parrikar must have had a lot ofinformation on the Rafale deal.

"So we have no doubt thatthe moment the PrimeMinister and the BJP Presidentpressure him or demand hisresignation or they try toremove him, ManoharParrikar will not keep quiet, hewill reveal all the secret infor-mation, important informa-tion, which can expose ourPrime Minister," he claimed.

Khera said the Congresshas been demanding that theGoa Governor convene a one-day special session so that itcan ask the government toprove majority. "The momentwe get the first opportunity, wewill prove it and we will showwe can form the government.Today itself if you call the ses-sion that I am here, we will beable to prove majority in theassembly," he claimed.

Wishing Parrikar a speedyrecovery and long life, he saidhis ailment cannot be animpediment to the aspirationsof the people of Goa as peo-ple of the state want gover-nance, administration andprogress.

Jaipur/ New Delhi: More casesof Zika virus were detected inJaipur Saturday taking the totalnumber of infected people to55, a Rajasthan health depart-ment official said.

The figure was issued bythe department after a reviewmeeting chaired by the addi-tional chief secretary (medicaland health) Veenu Gupta.

The official said of thetotal patients, 38 are doingfine after treatment.

Union Health Ministry offi-cials said fresh mosquito sam-ples have been collected fromvarious parts of Jaipur by a teamfrom the National Institute ofMalaria Research (NIMR).

On Friday, the authoritieshad reported 50 cases of thevirus till then.

The Zika virus was foundin some mosquitoes taken assamples from Sindhi Campand few mosquitoes collectedfrom the densely populatedShastri Nagar had already beenfound to be carriers of the virusleading to suspicion they arebehind the spread of the infec-tion.

Of the total patients, at least11 are pregnant women, the

ministry officials said.The first case had surfaced

on September 22 when an 85-year-old woman with no travelhistory tested positive for thedisease. Fogging and other anti-larvae activities are being carriedout in the Shastri Nagar area toprevent the spread of the virus.

At a review meeting heldon Friday, measures taken tocontain the situation were dis-cussed. The department hasalso issued an advisory forpregnant women staying out-side Shastri Nagar not to visitthe area A control room hasbeen activated at the NationalCentre for Disease Control tomonitor the situation.

The number of monitoringteams in Jaipur has beenincreased from 50 to 170 anda special isolation ward creat-ed at the Hira Bagh TrainingCentre to treat Zika virus-affected patients.

The RajasthanGovernment has been provid-ed information, education andcommunication (IEC) materi-al prepared to create awarenessabout the Zika virus and pre-vention strategies.

The virus, transmittedthrough the aedes aegypti mos-quito, causes fever, skin rashes,conjunctivitis, muscle and jointpain. It is harmful to pregnantwomen, as it can lead to micro-cephaly, a condition in whicha baby's head is significantlysmaller than expected, in new-born children.

In India, the first outbreakwas reported in Ahmedabad inJanuary 2017 and the second inTamil Nadu's Krishnagiri dis-trict in July that year. Boththese outbreaks were success-fully contained through inten-sive surveillance and vectormanagement, the ministry hadsaid earlier.

The disease continues to beunder surveillance of the UnionHealth Ministry although it isno longer a Public HealthEmergency of InternationalConcern under WHO notifi-cation since November 18,2016. PTI

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New Delhi: An animal protec-tion body on Saturday askedthe Centre and States to pre-pare specific plans withrequired financial and techni-cal resources to protect animalsand the livelihood of the peo-ple from any disaster in thefuture.

On the occasion ofInternational Day for DisasterReduction, World AnimalProtection asked the Centre toset up a Veterinary EmergencyFund. It also urged the Centraland all state governments toensure that efforts to reducedisaster risk include animalprotection.

The body said India has

been leading the way in thisregard by integrating animals inthe national disaster manage-ment policy, plans and as wellas in search and rescue opera-tions.

"Today, we urge theGovernment of India to set upa Veterinary Emergency Fundfor effective implementation ofthese initiatives," the WorldAnimal Protection (WAP) said.

"WAP also urges all Statesand UTs to develop their ded-icated State Animal DisasterManagement Plans with allthe required financial and tech-nical resources in place so thatwe can ensure that animals andthe livelihood of the people areprotected from any future dis-asters," it added.

Animal health, welfare andprotection has massive impli-cations for community nutri-

tion, food security and agri-cultural output.

WAP said around 2.5 bil-lion people around the worldare small-scale farmers,herders, pastoralists, fishers orare dependent on forests, andall of them rely on animals fortheir livelihoods. Eighteen ofthe poorest countries are relianton livestock.

Animal-dependent com-munities are extremely vul-nerable to natural disastersand many of the countrieswith the highest density oflivestock keepers are also thosewith high multi-hazard ratings,it said. A comprehensive studyof 78 post-disaster needsassessments, covering 48 devel-oping countries, found thatcrop and livestock lossesamounted to more than USD24 billion, the body said.

WAP recently responded tothe devastating floods in Keralaby providing cattle feed andmineral mixture in the deluge-affected areas of Alappuzha,Pathnamthitta, Kottayam,Ernakulam and Thrissur dis-tricts along with theDepartment of AnimalHusbandry of the Kerala gov-ernment and Indian Red CrossSociety.

This directly benefitted34,852 animals and the liveli-hood of 12,504 households, itsaid. "The recent floods inKerala is a painful reminderthat governments need to pre-pare for natural disasters, saidGajender K Sharma, the IndiaCountry Director of WorldAnimal Protection.

"In addition to the high lossof human and animal life, agri-cultural, fishing and cattle

breeding industries have beenbadly damaged. This will havea long-term effect on the state,"he said.

Target C of the SendaiFramework, an internationalagreement adopted by the UNmember states with the aim ofreducing disaster risk globally,is the focus of this year'sInternational Day for DisasterReduction. It centres on reduc-ing disaster-related economiclosses in relation to globalGDP by 2030, it said.

"To successfully reduce dis-aster economic losses, protec-tion of animals must be takenmore seriously. We have seeneconomies and communitiessuffer from lack of prepared-ness. It is essential that animal-inclusive disaster risk reductionstrategies are adopted," Sharmasaid. PTI

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New Delhi: An officer of the AssamPolice has been conferred with the KirtiChakra posthumously for displayingindomitable courage and exemplaryleadership in fighting ULFA terrorists,Home Ministry official said.

Inspector Lohit Sonowal laid downhis life in Tinsukia district of Assam onApril 19, 2013 in an encounter withULFA terrorists in which two extrem-ists were also killed.

The police officer displayedindomitable courage, exemplary lead-ership dedication to duty and laiddown his life for which he was conferredwith the Kirti Chakra posthumously, aHome Ministry official said.

On the fateful day, upon receivingthe information that a group of suspectedULFA cadres were taking shelter in thegeneral area of Kordoiguri village ofTinsukia district, a joint operation waslaunched by the police and the CRPF.

During the search operation, onepolice team led by Sonowal noticedsome unusual movements in a houseand they cordoned the nearby area andwaited for the first light.

As the operation party approachedthe suspected house, a woman with twochildren came out of the house and on

seeing police presence, she immediate-ly warned the extremists taking shelterinside the house, the official said.

Immediately, the armed extremistscame out of the house and started firingindiscriminately aiming at the police party.

Though the police inspector wasunder direct line of firing, disregardinghis personal safety, he single handedlyfirst managed to rescue the woman alongwith two children, who were caught inbetween the gunfire and quickly duckedhimself behind the nearby trees for tak-ing cover and retaliated the fire.

The extremists continued firingaiming towards Sonowal and tried toescape by taking cover of the tea bush-es nearby and civilians.

During the exchange of fire, onehardcore ULFA terrorist was killed.

Another extremist re-entered intothe house and others fled taking advan-tage of thick tea bushes.

The ULFA militant who re-enteredthe house opened indiscriminate fireand lobbed grenades towards Sonowal.

During the cross fire, Sonowal sus-tained bullet injuries, but eliminated twoextremists in direct exchange of fire.However, Sonowal succumbed to hisinjuries later, another official said. PTI

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Amaravati (AP): The AndhraPradesh Government onSaturday requested the Centreto release �1,200 crore as inter-im relief for restoration mea-sures in Srikakulam andVizianagaram districts that werebattered by cyclone Titli.

The severe cyclonic stormhit the two districts earlyThursday, with winds gustingup to 165 kilometers per hour.Heavy rainfall, ranging from 10cm to 43 cm, was witnessed indifferent parts of the districts.

In a letter to Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Chief MinisterN Chandrababu Naidu said,"The devastating cyclone has hitnorth coastal Andhra Pradesh,badly damaging the infrastruc-ture and derailing normal life inthe region, especially in

Srikakulam and Vizianagaramdistricts." Naidu said the cost ofdamaged properties, crops andinfrastructure has tentativelyworked out to be �2,800 crore.

Horticulture was the worsthit with damages to the tune of�1,000 crore followed by agri-culture (�800 crore), powersector (�500 crore), roads andbuildings, panchayat raj, ruralwater supply, irrigation (�100crore each), animal husbandryand fisheries (�50 crore each),the Chief Minister said further.

"The State Government hasalready started rescue and reliefoperations on a war-footingand I am personally camping inthese districts, visiting the affect-ed areas and supervising therelief and restoration opera-tions," Naidu said. PTI

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Page 6: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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Congress President RahulGandhi, who is attacking

Prime Minister Modi on thecontroversial Rafale fighter jetdeal with the French aerospacecompany Dassault aviationstrategically met some retiredand current employees ofHindustan AeronauticsLimited (HAL) in Bengaluruon Saturday and assured themhis support to fight the injus-tice done to them. He inter-acted with them in front of theHAL corporate office and saidIndian defence need compa-nies like HAL.

He said “HAL, for me, isnot just a company. It is aninstitution. When we got ourindependence, India builtstrategic assets to enter aero-space sectors. The work youhave done is tremendous andthe country owes a huge debtto you.’

“When Mr. Obama saysthere are only 2 countries thatchallenge USA are India andChina, you (HAL) are animportant part of it, “ RahulGandhi said.

“I have come here to listento you how this strategic assetcan be made more effectiveand the type of difficultiesyou are facing,” said RahulGandhi .

Even though the employ-ees union of the HAL official-ly did not participate , someemployees and retired offi-cials shared their views.

Gandhi said he came to theHAL to understand the prob-lems and challenges faced bythe employees. Though thecompany has advised itsemployees to stay away fromthe meeting as per the employ-ment rules and service condi-tions, a few of them metGandhi along with their retiredcolleagues and express theirconcerns over the Rafale Deal.

Prior to his visit to HALGandhi said there was a needto “defend the dignity of India’sdefenders” as he accused theNarendra Modi government of“snatching” the Rafale offsetcontract from HAL and “gift-ing” it to Anil Ambani’s com-pany.

“HAL is India’s strategicasset. The future of India’saerospace industry has beendestroyed by snatching #Rafalefrom HAL & gifting it to AnilAmbani,” the Congress presi-

dent tweeted.Rahul Gandhi said “There

are a couple of questions youhave raised. Two lines forstuck in my mind. These arethe temples of modern Indiaand they are being destroyedand we cannot allow these tobe destroyed. Second point isthat you have worked for 70years. If somebody thinks theycan build their future on yourgraves that won’t be allowedeither. There is tremendousamount of experience you haveand it cannot be destroyed inthis manner. You are fightingfor this and I want to tell youthat we will also not allow it”.

Gandhi assured theemployees who had gatheredand blamed Defence Ministerwithout taking her name forher remarks on HAL and itscapabilities. He said“Somebody said HAL doesnot have the capability. What

about the person who got thecontract? What capability doeshe have? I can see HAL capa-bilities here, I can see 78 yearsof your work. When I wassmall everybody used to talkabout NAT aircraft and HALgave it”.

“You have a history. And Iunderstand that you are painedand hurt. This is as importantto me as any corruption. Youfeel insulted and I understandthat you are hurt and I want tostand with you in your dis-comfort”, he added in his con-cluding remarks.

He blamed the govern-ment and said “What is theexperience the person whogot contract has? You havebeen here 78 years and he hadbeen here for 10 days. Youdon’t have debt in factGovernment took 5000 crorefrom you but person who gotcontract has 40000 crore debt”.

“The public sector is thebackbone of this country andof Bengaluru and of thedefence forces and I’m not justtaking HAL but ISRO,NALand DRDO. We are going tofight for you. This Rafale air-craft is your right and you arethe only company capable.One should look at merit andmake an objective decisionmerit. And based on thatnobody would’ve chosen theother company”, he added.

Sirajuddin a retired HALEmployee, said, “We have beeninsulted and let down. A com-pany of 70 years of experience

is thrown out of the Rafaleagreement. I do not under-stand. A large and experi-enced company that shouldhave been improved but youare killing us.”

“HAL is leading the avia-tion industry in South EastAsia. Do you want to kill thisindustry? It is an insult to aninjury. We will not tolerate this.For the first time in my life, Ihave seen the govt issuing adirective advising employeesagainst attending an event,“he added.

Meanwhile the state BJPattacked Rahul Gandhi andblamed UPA Government forkilling the defence PSU HAL.They posed series of questionsand blamed him for misguid-ing the public. The party alsoblamed UPA for neglectingHAL.

A French news portal —Mediapart — recently quotedDassault Aviation’s deputyCEO as saying that RelianceDefence was given to theFrench company as an ‘oblig-atory’ offset partner for theRafale deal. In its earlier report,the French website had quot-ed former French PresidentFrancois Hollande as sayingthat the Prime MinisterNarendra Modi-led govern-ment had proposed RelianceDefence as the partner for thedeal. The congress in its questto defeat the BJP in the ensu-ing elections is making this amajor poll plank and Rafalehas become a weapon to fire.

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Aterrorist and a cop were killedand another ultra was injured

and hospitalised in different inci-dents while third phase of ongo-ing Municipal elections conclud-ed with mixed voter turnout inKashmir and Jammu divisions ofthe J&K State on Saturday.

An overall 16.4% polling waswitnessed in the Phase-III ofMunicipal Polls-2018 acrossJammu & Kashmir on Saturday.The third phase passed off peace-fully in Kashmir while shutdownwas observed in poll bound areasin Srinagar, Anantnag andBaramulla districts.

Chief Electoral Officer J&KShaleen Kabra Saturday evening inSrinagar said that in Jammu divi-sion 81.4% polling was witnessedin 4 Urban Local Bodies of districtSamba that went to polls whileKashmir division including Leh &Kargil witnessed average 3.5%polling with Municipal CommitteeUri in Baramulla district record-ing the highest of 75.3 % voting.The lowest poll percentage of1.8% was recorded in Srinagar dis-trict.

In Jammu division highestpolling percentage of 85.73% wasrecorded in Bari Brahamana ULB,the CEO said.

Kabra said the cumulativepoll percentage in all the threephases till date is 41.9% with68.4% voting recorded in Jammudivision and 6.7% in KashmirDivision. The final phase of theMunicipal Polls is scheduled to beheld on 16 October.

CEO said that 365 candidatesare in the fray for 96 wards of 8

Urban Local Bodies for the 3rdPhase comprising a total electorateof 193990 electors.

He said the aggregate pollingpercentage in 3rd phase was record-ed at 16.4% while the aggregatepolling percentage in three phasesin the State was recorded at 41.9%.

The statistics revealed thatout of total electorate of 1, 53, 316in Srinagar district, only 1.8 % vot-ers turned up for voting in variousareas of Srinagar district in 3rdphase on Saturday. In Anantnag,3.2 % voter turnout was recordedout of the total electorate of 5469.

Similarly out of 3552 electorsin Baramulla district, 75.3 % voterturnout was recorded.

In south Kashmir’s Pulwamaand north Kashmir’s Bandiporadistricts, some candidates havebeen elected unopposed while inthe other wards no candidate hadfiled papers for the third phasecontest.

Pertinently, low to moderateturnout was recorded in the sec-ond of the four-phased municipalbody elections in Jammu &Kashmir on October 10 withonly 3.4 per cent votersturning to polling booths inKashmir valley while Jammuregion witnessed enthusi-astic 78.6 per cent turnout.The overall percentagestayed at 31.3 per cent, lessthan the 56.7 per centturnout in the first phase ofthe Municipal polls held onOctober 8.

Observers had beendeployed, including micro-observers at 222 hypersen-sitive polling stations in theKashmir Division and 19 in

Jammu Division in 3rd phase.Municipal Elections-2018 are

being held in four phases, cover-ing 79 municipal bodies with anelectorate of about 17 lakh electors.A total of 3372 nominations havebeen filed for 1145 wards.

The Municipal Polls are goingon amid boycott call by theKashmiri separatists and decisionof two mainstream parties—National Conference (NC) andPeoples Democratic Party (PDP)to stay away from the process.

The normal life remainedlargely affected in most of the pollbound areas in Srinagar and otherdistricts of Kashmir Valley duringMunicipal polls on the call ofKashmiri separatist leadershipcommonly called Joint ResistanceLeadership.

Meanwhile, a local HizbulMujahideen terrorist ShabirAhmad Dar was killed in anencounter at Babagund area ofPulwama district in south Kashmirafter gunfight that broke out pre-vious midnight in the district.

An injured terrorist who sus-

tained grievous wounds duringgunfight in south Kashmir’sPulwama area is undergoing treat-ment at Srinagar hospital. Sourcessaid his condition is very criticaland is now under police custodyat the hospital.

The injured terrorist was iden-tified as Showkat Ahmad Dar ofMurran area of Pulwama.

Reports said that two moreterrorists were trapped in the areaout of which one was criticallyinjured and taken to Srinagarhospital by unknown persons.

The third terrorist believed tobe former Territorial Army manZahoor Ahmad Thokar, wasreportedly trapped but he man-aged to escape from the area.Thokar had decamped with ser-vice rifle several months ago anddeserted Army who is consideredas an active Hizbul Mujahideenterrorist.

The situation in the Pulwamatown and adjascent areas wasreported tense and additionalpolice and para military forces per-sonnel in riot gear had been

deployed in the town to maintainlaw and order. Clashes werereported from the area as stonepelting continued in the area. Thetrain services were suspendedbetween Banihal via southKashmir and Srinagar. Internetservices in the district alsoremained snapped.

Suspected terrorists last nightbarged inside the residential houseof cop Javeed Ahmad Lone andfired upon him. In this incident,he received critical bullet injurieswho later succumbed to hisinjuries.

Meanwhile, the normal liferemained affected on 2nd consec-utive day on Saturday in northKashmir’s Kupwara areas to“mourn the killing of AMU schol-ar-turned-terrorist (Dr) MananBashir Wani and his associate” ina gunfight with the security forcesin Shatgund village of Handwaratown on Thursday. His killing trig-gered protests and clashes in manyareas of Kashmir and at least overtwo dozen persons were injured inthe clashes.

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The sustained attacks onBanwarilal Purohit, the Governor

of Tamil Nadu, by various politicaloutfits got a new twist on Saturdayas a senior BJP leader described it asthe fallout of the anti-corruptiondrive launched by the former tocleanse the system ruined by 50 yearsof Dravidian rule while a veteranwriter with Dravidian leaningsdescribed the same as a turf war bysome educationists. .

“The Governor launched a mis-sion to make Tamil Nadu free of cor-ruption. The post of a vice-chancel-lor was being auctioned off at ratesvarying between Rs 20 crore to Rs 30crore. We saw the arrest of a vice-chancellor who was caught red hand-ed while accepting a bribe of Rs 29lakh from a candidate for appointinghim as an assistant professor. We alsosaw how former vice-chancellorswent scurrying and got anticipatorybails to escape from the ignominy ofgoing to jail. The sound and furybeing created in the name ofGovernor are all the birth-pangs ofa new culture in Tamil Nadu,” said

Raja on Saturday. He pointed out thathow Governor Purohit appointednine vice-chancellors of impeccablecharacters since he assumed chargeof the State. A section of journalistsin Chennai expressed their reserva-tions and apprehension over thehijacking of the media by some of thepolitical bigwigs to tarnish the nameof the Governor for furthering theirpersonal agenda including usurpingof power by hook or by crook.

D Anbazhagan, editor, MakkalSeithimayam, a Tamil news portalwhich had brought out many shadydeals perpetrated by the DMK and theAIADMK governments, said that thewhole reports carried by Nakkheeranlooked dubious. “This kind of modusoperandi was unheard of in TamilNadu. What was published as inves-tigative reports about Nirmala Deviand her escapades in the magazineNakkheeran could not be qualified asjournalism,” said Anbazhagan.

Early this year, Anbazhaganhimself was arrested by the TamilNadu Police for a series of reports hehad published on corruption prac-ticed by one of the ministers fromsouth west Tamil Nadu. “Nobody didcome out to protest my arrest and

imprisonment at that time. In factsome of the TV channels had report-ed that I am a fake journalist,”Anbazhagan told The Pioneer.

He pointed out that R R Gopalwas not a journalist but a publishedof a magazine which has a hiddenagenda. “Please remember that hewas acting as a wheeler dealer dur-ing the kidnapping of Kannada filmactor Raj Kumar by forest brigandVeerappan. We do not know for surehow much money was exchanged forreleasing Raj Kumar from the handsof Veerappan,” said Anbazhagan.

The general view in Tamil Naduis that the attacks unleashed on theGovernor by the DMK and the mediahouses supporting the party is aproxy war against PM Modi.

“The real purpose seems to be tolead Tamil Nadu to a mid-term elec-tion and prevent the BJP from spread-ing its wings in Tamil Nadu. The BJPis not at all a threat or force to reck-on with in Tamil Nadu. Hence theattacks on the Governor could be thehandiwork of the powerful educationmafia which has lost an avenue ofincome because of the Raj Bhavan’suncompromising stance against cor-ruption,” said Anbazhagan.

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Suspected terrorists belong-ing to anti-talk faction of the

ULFA triggered a blast atPanbazar area in Assam’s cap-ital town Guwahati on Saturdayinjuring four persons includinga woman.

Police said that an explo-sion took place near the busyMG Road in Guwahati around12 noon today. “Four personsincluding a woman was injured

but their conditions are alright,”said the police.

Senior police officials whorushed to the spot immediate-ly tried to downplay the inci-dent and termed it a low inten-sity blast. However, the explo-sion had devastated a wall nearBrahmaputra river and impact-ed on a bus, which was stand-ing nearby.

Meanwhile, anti talk fac-tion of the ULFA led by itscommander in chief Paresh

Baruah claimed responsibilityfor the blast.

“We are sorry that someinnocent people were injured.However, this explosion wasdirected against those opposingNRC update and against thoseorganisations supporting set-tling of Hindu Bangladeshi inAssam. This explosion is towarn the anti-Assam forces,”Baruah told some local televi-sion channels here over phoneafter the blast.

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Samajwadi Party’s rebelleader Shivpal Singh Yadav,

who has floated SamajwadiSecular Morcha, got a shot inthe arm when Mulayam SinghYadav’s daughter-in-lawAparna Yadav announced hersupport to him on Saturday.

Only a day earlier,Mulayam Singh Yadav hadserved a shock to his son andSP chief Akhilesh Yadav bysharing stage with Shivpal onthe death anniversary of vet-eran socialist leader RamManohar Lohia at a functionin the State capital on Friday.

Aparna, who is married toPrateek, the younger son ofMulayam Singh Yadav,declared her support toChachaji (Shivpal Yadav) andhis Samajwadi SecularMorcha.

At a function in Lucknowon Saturday, Aparna sharedthe stage with the SSMfounder and announced to

work for strengthening theMorcha.

Addressing a gathering,Aparna said, “After Netaji(Mulayam Singh Yadav), Ihave the highest regard forChacha Shivpal. We will worktowards making SamajwadiSecular Morcha stronger.Chachaji would decide theright time for me to join theSSM and contest election.”

Later, reverting to politicalrhetoric, Aparna said that farm-ers were suffering in theBharatiya Janata Party rule inUP and Army jawans weredying on the borders. She saidthat the national mood was fastturning against the BJP andpeople wanted a positive changein the 2019 Lok Sabha poll.

Speaking on the occasion,Shivpal said, “Time has cometo take some big decisions. Wewant to bring change in thesociety. More than 24 partiesare in contact with us and wewill be taking the BJP head-onin the 2019 election.”

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The Yogi AdityanathGovernment is likely to

extend yet another sop toSamajwadi Party rebel leaderand Samajwadi Secular Morchafounder Shivpal Singh Yadav byupgrading his security to Zplus category.

Earlier on Friday, the ChiefMinister had allotted a sprawl-ing bungalow on Lal BahadurShastri Marg, earlier occupiedby the Bahujan Samaj Party, toShivpal. Sources said that analleged security threat to Shivpalcould be the reason for the high-er security. A recent report ofthe Intelligence Bureau men-tioned possible security threat toShivpal, who has rebelledagainst his parent party after anintense power struggle with SPchief and his nephew AkhileshYadav over controlling the party.

At present, Z plus securitycover has been given only toSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav, his father MulayamSingh Yadav and BSP chiefMayawati in Uttar Pradesh.

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ABill proposing up to 65 per cent hike in thesalary of Gujarat lawmakers has been

approved by the Governor OP Kohli.The much-talked about Bill was passed unan-

imously (with support of Congress legislators) inthe monsoon session of Gujarat Assembly in thelast month.The hike in the salaries would causeextra burden of �10 crore annually on the stateexchequer.

Minister of State for Home andParliamentary Affairs Pradipsinh Jadeja had putforward in the House the Gujarat Salaries andAllowances of Members, Speaker and DeputySpeaker of Gujarat Legislative Assembly,Ministers and Leader of Opposition Law(Amendment) bill, 2018 which was passedwithin few minutes.

According to the Bill the members of Gujaratlegislative Assembly will get a monthly salary of�1,16,316, up from �70,727. The Ministers,speaker and Deputy Speaker would get �1.32 lakhas compared to their present salary of �80,000.The State Assembly has 182 legislators as mem-bers, where the ruing BJP party has 99, Congress80 and three are independent.

Since 2005 there hasn’t been a single salaryhike in the salaries of Gujarat MLAs, said Jadejain House while proposing the Bill and maintainedthat the increase in salary would help the law-makers to work better for the people of Gujarat.

Page 7: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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US President Donald Trumphas said Saudi Arabia

could be behind the disap-pearance of missing journalistJamal Khashoggi and warnedWashington would inflict“severe punishment” if he wasmurdered.

The Saudi critic has notbeen seen since he walked intothe kingdom’s consulate inIstanbul on October 2, withTurkish officials accusingRiyadh of murdering himinside the diplomatic mission.

“We’re going to get to thebottom of it and there will besevere punishment,” Trumptold CBS’s “60 Minutes” pro-gram, according to an extractof an interview that wasreleased on Saturday.

“As of this moment, theydeny it and they deny it vehe-mently. Could it be them? Yes,”Trump said in the interview,which was conducted onThursday, when asked ifKhashoggi was murdered bySaudi Arabia. The networksaid it will air the interview infull on Sunday evening.

Trump added the matterwas especially important“because this man was areporter.”

But when asked whatoptions Trump would consid-er, the president said he was notkeen to limit arms sales to thekingdom — a position he has

previously voiced.“Well, it depends on what

the sanction is,” he said. “I’llgive you an example — they areordering military equipment.

Everybody in the worldwanted that order. Russia want-ed it, China wanted it, wewanted it. We got it, and we gotall of it, every bit of it.

He added: “I’ll tell youwhat I don’t want to do. Boeing,Lockheed, Raytheon, I don’twant to hurt jobs. I don’t wantto lose an order like that. Andyou know what, there are otherways of punishing, to use aword that’s a pretty harsh word,but it’s true.”

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The Taliban held talks withthe US special envoy tasked

with finding a negotiated endto Afghanistan’s protracted andincreasingly bloody war, aTaliban official said onSaturday.

In a statement, Talibanspokesman ZabihullahMujahid said the meeting withZalmay Khalilzad was heldFriday in the Middle Easternstate of Qatar, where theTaliban maintain a politicaloffice. Taliban political chiefAbbas Stanikzai led the five-member delegation that dis-cussed with Khalilzad “ways offinding a peaceful end to theoccupation of Afghanistan,”the statement said.

It went on to say that thepresence of “foreign forces” inAfghanistan was the biggestconcern of the Taliban.

Mujahid said the two sidesdiscussed “finding a good wayfor the withdrawal of foreignforces from Afghanistan.”

The US Embassy in Kabulsaid only that Khalilzad was inthe Afghan capital Saturdaymeeting with President AshrafGhani and Chief ExecutiveAbdullah Abdullah.

Khalilzad arrived in Kabulfrom Qatar, winding up his firstofficial trip since being named

special envoy. He also visitedPakistan, the United ArabEmirates and Saudi Arabia.

In a statement Saturday,Ghani said simply thatKhalilzad briefed a meeting ofAfghanistan’s top officials onthe series of meetings he hasheld in the region since begin-ning his sojourn on October 4.

There was no mention of ameeting with the Taliban.

When he was appointedearlier this month, the USState Department saidKhalilzad’s job was to find apeaceful end to a war thatbegan more than 17 years agoand that has cost Washingtonin the neighbourhood of $900billion, according to a reportearlier this year from a USCongress appointed watchdog.Of that $900 billion, JohnSopko, the special inspectorgeneral on Afghan reconstruc-tion, said USD 720 billion was

spent on US military opera-tions.

“During this time, thehuman cost of the struggleagainst Afghan insurgents andterrorist groups has led tomore than 2,400 Americanmilitary fatalities, about 1,100among other members of theNATO-led Coalition, and tensof thousands of Afghan deaths,”Sopko said in a statement ear-lier this year.

US President DonaldTrump bemoaned the extraor-dinary cost of the war inAfghanistan while campaign-ing for president, when headvocated an end to USinvolvement in the conflict.

Since then, the US presi-dent announced an Afghanstrategy that called on Pakistanto do more to push the Talibanto the negotiating table and toend safe havens for insurgents,an allegation Islamabad denies.

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One of Iran’s top foreign pol-icy officials has called for

negotiations with “anti-Trumpmovements” in the US todampen the impact of sanc-tions, local media reported onSaturday.

“America is not Trump,”said Heshmatollah Falahat-Pisheh, a conservative law-maker who heads parliament’sinfluential national securityand foreign policy commission,according to reformist news-paper Arman.

“There is a new diplomat-ic atmosphere for deescala-tion with America and it is fit-ting that Iran follows negotia-tion diplomacy and lobbyinganti-Trump movements inAmerica,” he added. He saidthis would help alleviate pres-sure caused by Washington’s“extensive sanction-focusedforce”. The US pulled out of the2015 Iran nuclear deal in Mayand reimposed punishing sanc-tions on the country, hoping topressure Tehran into whatPresident Donald Trump callsa “better deal”.

The US is due to completethe reimposition of sanctionson November 5, targeting Iran’soil sector and central bank.

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Amotorcycle rigged withexplosives detonated at an

election rally in northeasternAfghanistan on Saturday killingat least 14 people, includingcivilians and security forces,officials said.

Khalil Aser, spokesman forthe provincial police chief inTakhar province, said 32 oth-ers were wounded when theexplosives-laden motorbikeparked near the rally in Rustaqdistrict exploded.

“There are a number ofwounded people in criticalcondition,” he said.

The attack took place atabout noon before NazefaYusoufi Beg, a female candidaterunning for a seat in parliamentin October 20 elections, arrivedat the rally, Aser said.

It was not immediatelyclear if she was the target.

Jawad Hajri, spokesmanfor the provincial governor,said Rustaq is a remote districtwhere insurgent attacks havenot occurred in the past and

the candidate’s supporters hadgathered for the rally confidentthey would be safe.

Adeb Hamra, a local resi-dent, said in a telephone inter-view that the district govern-ment hospital has only fourdoctors and was overwhelmedwith dead and wounded, mostof them in critical condition.

No one immediatelyclaimed responsibility for theattack but Taliban insurgentsare active in the province andhave claimed pervious attacksthere. It was not the first attackon a political campaign.

On Tuesday, eight peopleincluding candidate SalehMohammad Achekzai, werekilled when a suicide bomberstruck Achekzai’s home InHelmand province.

He was holding a meetingat the time of the attack inLashkar Gah, the provincialcapital.

On October 2, just daysafter official campaigningbegan, a suicide bomber struckan election rally in easternNangarhar province, killing at

least 14 people and woundingaround 40.

Last week, Taliban insur-gents issued a statement con-demning the elections andwarning candidates andAfghan Security Forces thatthey would be targets if theyparticipate.

The Taliban called the pollsa US-manipulated event tofurther their hold on the coun-try. There are 2,565 candidatesvying for seats in the 249-mem-ber chamber, including 417women candidates.

In the run-up to cam-paigning, five candidates havebeen killed in separate attacks.

Officials from the country’sIndependent ElectionCommission said another twocandidates have been abduct-ed, with their fates unknown,and three others have beenwounded in violence.

Afghan security forcesaccidentally killed three body-guards of an independent can-didate during a raid on a housenear his residence in the east-ern Kunar province.

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Pope Francis has defrockedtwo Chilean bishops for

the alleged sexual abuse ofminors, the Vatican said in astatement on Saturday after ameeting between the pontiffand the president of Chile.

The decision to expel for-mer archbishop Francisco JoseCox Huneeus and former bish-op Marco Antonio OrdenesFernandez — the latest headsto roll in a country hit hard bythe cleric abuse scandal —could not be appealed, it said.

Both were stripped of theirpriesthood “as a consequence

of overt acts of abuse againstminors”.

Defrocking is consideredthe harshest penalty for priestswithin the Church and meansthe offender is forbidden fromexercising any clerical duties atall, even in private.

Scores of new cases ofpriestly sexual abuse of minorshave come to light in Chile,deepening a crisis in theRoman Catholic church thathas also embroiled PopeFrancis. On Saturday, Francismet with Chilean PresidentSebastian Pinera at the Vaticanfor talks on the “difficult situ-ation” in Chile.

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IMF chief Christine Lagardesaid on Saturday she was

“horrified” by reports about thefate of Saudi dissident JamalKhashoggi but still plans toattend an economic meeting inRiyadh this month.

As questions swirl over thefate of Khashoggi — a Saudicritic who has not been seensince he walked into the king-dom’s consulate in Istanbul onOctober 2 — some big businessnames and media outlets havepulled out of the Kingdom’s sec-ond Future InvestmentInitiative. But Lagarde said herplans were unchanged for now,despite international uproarover the case.

“Human rights, freedom ofinformation are essential rightsand horrifying things havebeen reported and I am horri-fied,” she told reporters in Baliwhere the IMF is holdingannual meetings.

“But I have to conduct thebusiness of the IMF in all cor-ners in the world and with

many governments.” “When Ivisit a country, I always speakmy mind... So at this point oftime my intention is to notchange my plans and to be veryattentive to the informationthat is coming out in the nextfew days.”

Her comments came short-ly after US Treasury SecretarySteven Mnuchin said he alsostill planned to attend theOctober 23-25 meeting,dubbed “Davos in the Desert”.

“The answer is for now Iam” still going, Mnuchin said.

“If more informationcomes out over the next week,I will obviously take that intoaccount.” “Obviously I want toexpress concern for MrKhashoggi and his family,” headded.

“We look forward to get-ting results of this investiga-tion.”

Riyadh on Saturday dis-missed accusations that author-ities there had orderedKhashoggi be murdered by ahit squad inside its Istanbulconsulate as “lies and baseless

allegations”.But the row has intensified

with the Washington Postreporting that Turkish offi-cials have recordings madefrom inside the building thatallegedly prove their claimsKhashoggi was tortured andkilled at the consulate.

Bloomberg, the FinancialTimes, The Economist andThe New York Times havewithdrawn as media sponsorsfrom the event amid questionsabout the missing man’s fate.

The CEO of ride-hailingapp Uber, Dara Khosrowshahi,said that he will no longer beattending the event unless “asubstantially different set offacts emerges”.

British entrepreneurRichard Branson said he wouldsuspend two directorshipslinked to tourism projects inSaudi Arabia over the issue.

Amnesty Internationaldemanded the Saudi authoritiesreveal what happened toKhashoggi as it said Riyadh was“responsible at a minimum forenforced disappearance”.

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Social media giant Facebook,which has its largest user

base in India, said that a recenthacking into its system hasaffected about 30 million users.

Facebook product man-agement vice president GuyRosen on Friday said the cyberattackers exploited a vulnera-bility in Facebook’s code thatexisted between July 2017 andSeptember 2018.

The vulnerability has nowbeen fixed, but not before theattackers used an automatedtechnique to move fromaccount to account so theycould steal the access tokens ofusers, their friends, friends oftheir friends, and so on,totalling about 400,000 people.

“The attackers used a por-

tion of these 400,000 people’slists of friends to steal accesstokens for about 30 millionpeople. For 15 million people,attackers accessed two sets ofinformation, name and contactdetails -- phone number, email,or both, depending on whatpeople had on their profiles,”Rosen said.

For another 14 millionpeople, the attack was poten-tially more damaging as thehackers accessed both theirname and contact details aswell as other details like user-name, gender, location, lan-guage, relationship status, reli-gion, hometown, date of birth,device types used to accessFacebook, education, workdetails, places they have recent-ly “checked in” to as visiting,people or pages they follow and

the 15 most recent searches.For the remaining one mil-

lion people whose access tokenwere stolen, the attackers didnot access any information,Rosen said.

He said users’ accountshave already been secured bythe Facebook two weeks agoand they do not need to log outagain or change their pass-words.

The attack did not affectFacebook-owned Messenger,Messenger Kids, Instagram,WhatsApp, Oculus, Workplace,third-party apps, payments,

Pages, and advertising or devel-oper accounts, the companysaid.

Asserting that Facebook isstill looking at other ways thehackers may have used the plat-form, Rosen said, “People’scredit card information wouldnot have been visible to theattackers, as we do not displayfull credit card numbers -- noteven to the account holder.”

“We haven’t ruled out thepossibility of smaller-scale,low-level access attempts dur-ing the time the vulnerabilitywas exposed. Our investigationinto that continues,” he said.

Facebook has been coop-erating with the FBI, the USFederal Trade Commission,the Irish Data ProtectionCommission and other author-ities.

“We don’t have a specificindication of the intention ofthe attackers. And as we havesaid, we are cooperating withthe FBI in an active investiga-tion. As part of the informationthat we will be sharing withusers over the coming days, wewill be including informationas to how they can watch outfor any suspicious e-mails ortext messages or things of thatsort,” Rosen said.

Responding to a question,he said, the company will benotifying people throughFacebook so that they canunderstand what informationwas accessed from theiraccount and which group theywere part of.

“We will also work to con-tact people who may not be onFacebook any longer,” he said.

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The Pakistan Army onSaturday took control of the

security of polling stationsahead of Sunday’s by-polls for11 national and 24 provincialseats.

Final preparations wereunderway to conduct electionsin nine National Assemblyconstituencies in Punjab andone each in Sindh and KhyberPakhtunkhwa, and 24 provin-cial assembly seats, including11 in Punjab, nine in KhyberPakhtunkhwa and two each inSindh and Balochistan.

Most of these seats werevacated by the candidates who

won from more than one seatin the general elections held onJuly 25.

Prime Minister ImranKhan won five seats and vacat-ed four which are also up forgrabs.

For the first time, overseasPakistanis will participate in theelection process through a spe-cial online portal designed bythe Election Commission ofPakistan (ECP). Thousands ofsoldiers will stand guard to pro-vide security at 7,489 pollingbooths to ensure a smoothand peaceful electoral process.

The ECP, while makingsecurity arrangement, desig-nated as many as 1,727 polling

stations “highly sensitive”where extra troops weredeployed and security camerasinstalled.

These include 848 out oftotal 5,193 polling stations inPunjab, 544 in KhyberPakhtunkhwa, 201 in Sindhand 134 in Balochistanprovinces. The deployment oftroops began on Friday andthey would remain on electionduty till October 15.

Soldiers will be deployedinside and outside the pollingstations in order to avoid anyuntoward incident.

They also provide securityduring distribution of electionmaterial and transportation.

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President Donald Trumpsaid he looked forward to

Saturday’s Oval Office meetingwith Andrew Brunson, theAmerican pastor whose releaseafter nearly two years of deten-tion in Turkey was a diplomatictriumph for Trump.

“It will be wonderful to seeand meet him.

He is a great Christianwho has been through such atough experience,” Trump saidin a tweet confirming theWhite House meeting for 2:30pm local time.

The president also assert-ed anew that he had made “nodeal” with Turkey to winBrunson’s long-sought free-dom. “I don’t make deals forhostages,” he said.

Brunson was due at theWhite House following hisbrief stop at a US military hos-pital in Germany for a healthassessment.

Trump also thankedTurkey’s president, RecepTayyip Erdogan, who hadresisted the demands of Trumpand other high-level US offi-cials for Brunson’s release.Erdogan had insisted that hiscountry’s courts are indepen-dent, though he previously hadsuggested a possible swap forBrunson.

Trump said the US greatlyappreciated Brunson’s releaseand said the move “will lead togood, perhaps great, relations”between the US and fellowNATO ally Turkey.

Relations between the twocountries had become severe-ly strained over Brunson’sdetention and a host of otherissues.

Brunson’s homecomingamounts to a diplomatic highnote for Trump, who is count-ing on the support of evangel-ical Christians for Republicancandidates in the November 6election.

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Torrential rains triggeredflash floods and landslides

on the Indonesian island ofSumatra, killing at least 27people, including a dozen chil-dren at a school, officials saidon Saturday. A flash flood withmud and debris from landslidesstruck Mandailing Natal dis-trict in North Sumatra provinceand smashed an Islamic schoolin Muara Saladi village, where29 children were swept away onFriday afternoon, said localpolice chief Irsan Sinuhaji.

He said rescuers retrievedthe bodies of 11 children frommud and rubble hours later.

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Charismatic Malaysianpolitician Anwar Ibrahim

won a by-election for a parlia-mentary seat with a landslidevictory on Saturday in a grandpolitical comeback to help himprepare for his eventualtakeover from Prime MinisterMahathir Mohamad.

Anwar was designated asMahathir's successor after thetwo men set aside a bitter feudand joined hands to win a stun-ning victory in May's generalelection. Anwar couldn't par-ticipate in the election due toa sodomy conviction — acharge that he alleged waspolitically motivated — but he

was freed and received a royalpardon days after the polls.

The Election Commissionsaid Anwar received 31,016votes for the parliamentaryseat in the southern coastaltown of Port Dickson, defeat-ing six other candidates. Hisclosest rival secured only 7,456votes.

He will be sworn in as alawmaker in parliament onMonday.

Anwar was once a high-fly-ing member of the former rul-ing coalition but was convict-ed of homosexual sodomy andcorruption after a power strug-gle with Mahathir, who wasprime minister for 22 yearsuntil 2003.

Anwar was freed in 2004but was once again convictedfor sodomy in 2015, charges hesaid were concocted to destroyhis political career.

Angered by a massive cor-ruption scandal at a stateinvestment fund, Mahathirmade a political comeback andthe two men forged an alliancethat paid off in the May 9national election.

Mahathir, the world's old-est leader at 93, has said heexpects to be in office for atleast two years and will keep hispromise to hand over power toAnwar. Anwar has said hewants to focus on parliamen-tary reforms and will not inter-fere in Mahathir's governance.

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Page 8: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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Washington: China’s econom-ic system is not compatiblewith the norms of the WTO,the Trump administration hassaid, asserting that the inter-national trade body is notequipped to deal with Beijingand its industrial policies.

The Trump administrationis also seeking to redefine theterm ‘developing nations’ ascountries like China, despitebeing the world’s second largesteconomy, are being consideredas developing, that gives themcertain benefits under the WorldTrade Organisation (WTO).

“Too many countries atthe WTO self-designate asdeveloping countries. And as adeveloping country at theWTO, you enjoy additionalflexibilities and exemptionsfrom the rules,” Dennis Shea,Deputy US TradeRepresentative and USAmbassador to the WTO, told a Washington audience on Friday.

“If you look at who some ofthese countries are, though, it’spretty amazing that they’reclaiming to be developing coun-tries at the WTO,” he said.

For example, 10 of the G-20 members claim developingcountry status at the WTO.

China, which is the secondlargest economy in the world,claims developing country sta-tus at the WTO, Shea said.

Five of the six countrieswith the largest GDP per capi-ta claim developing countrystatus at the WTO, he said dur-ing his appearance before theCenter for Strategic andInternational Studies (CSIS), atop American think-tank.

US Trade RepresentativeBob Lighthizer, Shea said, raisedthat issue at the ministerial con-ference in Buenos Aries inDecember and has a real con-versation going on at the WTOabout whether there should bemore differentiation among

developing countries.In July, he said, the US

offered a paper on China’s eco-nomic model and the point ofthe paper was the economicmodel is essentially inconstantwith the WTO norms.

“And I had a big back-and-forth with my Chinese coun-terpart. In fact, people said itwas the most exciting timethey’ve ever seen at a GeneralCouncil meeting at the WTO.And my reaction was, ‘Well, ifthis is the most exciting timethis place must be pretty bor-ing’,” Shea said.

Indicating tightening ofthe US approach against China,Shea said that the middle-of-the-road approach on some ofthe issues, particularly aroundChina, is no longer viable.

“We really need to recog-nise that the economic systemof China is not compatiblewith the WTO norms,” he said,asserting that other countriesneed to speak up on this.

The WTO, as currentlyconstituted, is not equipped tohandle the China issue.

“One of my jobs is to helpeducate the membership aboutthe ramifications of China’snon-market economy, not justfor the US, but for the WTO membership at large,”Shea said.

That is the reason why, heobserved, the US submitted

that paper on the Chinese eco-nomic model at the last gener-al council meeting in July.

The US, Japan and the EUare now engaged in the trilat-eral process, in which they arelooking at ways to share infor-mation.

“They’re looking at a num-ber of areas. One on industri-al subsidies and state-ownedenterprises; another on theissue of forced technologytransfer; and, the third issue on,you know, defining: what arethe elements of a market econ-omy? Can we have a commonunderstanding of what a mar-ket economy is?” the top UStrade official said.

“Part of this effort involvesdevelopment of new rules. Sothe US and the EU and theJapan are engaged in discus-sions, at a technical staff level,about the development of newrules around industrial subsi-dies and SOEs — that’s the fur-thest along — and potentiallynew rules around forced tech-nology transfer,” Shea said.

Responding to a question,Shea said that in China, thereis no independent judiciary,which can resolve disputesamong stakeholders in Chinain impartial manner.

“Should China be kickedout of the WTO if the USloses?” he was asked. “Youknow, yes,” he answered. PTI

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Coal India Ltd (CIL) has dis-patched over 84 per cent of

its coal to the power sector tillOctober 12. 2018, the minersaid on Saturday.

Coal India Ltd is dispatch-ing 1.34 million tonnes of coalper day to power plants inOctober 2018, the miner said.In the wake of the festive sea-son, Coal India Ltd has rushedabout 14-15 rakes a day to WestBengal Power DevelopmentCorporation Power Plants andabout 15 rakes per day toTANGEDCO (Tamil NaduGeneration and DistributionCorporation Ltd) power plants.

From April 2018 toOctober 12, 2018, Coal IndiaLtd has dispatched 1.27 milliontonnes of coal per day against1.16 million tonnes per day to the power sector ascompared to the same periodlast year, indicating a growth of9 per cent.

Recently, power industrybody Indian Captive PowerProducers Association (ICPPA) has requested thePrime Minister’s Office (PMO)to take steps to address theissue of coal availability and itssupply.

ICPPA members includeplayers from key sectors suchas steel and aluminium.

New Delhi: Gold continued itsupward journey for yet anoth-er week and recorded a rise of�150 in its prices to close at�32,050 per 10 grams, amidpositive global cues and pick upin buying by local jewellers tomeet festive season demand.

Besides, the rupee falling toan all-time low against thedollar, making imports costlier,too influenced gold prices.

However, silver endedlower owing to reduced offtakeby industrial units and coinmakers. Bullion traders said afirm trend overseas as rout in

equity markets boosted thegold’s safe-haven appeal.

Furthermore, pick up inbuying by local jewellers tomeet increased demand in thefestive and wedding seasonalso supported the upside inthe precious metal prices, theyadded. Globally, gold ended theweek higher at $1,218.50 anounce and silver at $14.68 anounce in New York.

In the national Capital,gold of 99.9 and 99.5 per centpurity commenced the weeklower at �31,870 and �31,720per 10 grams, respectively, on

lack of buying support butsoon bounced back to hitweek’s high of �32,120 and�31,970 on positive overseascues before ending at �32,050and �31,900 per 10 grams,showing a rise of �150 each.

Sovereign, however, con-

tinued to move in a narrowrange in scattered dealsthroughout the week and set-tled at previous level of �24,600per piece of eight gram.

In volatile movements onalternate bouts of buying andselling, silver ready ended theweek lower by �400 to �39,400per kg and weekly-based deliv-ery by �360 to �38,915 per kg.On the other hand, silver coinsended higher at �75,000 forbuying and �76,000 for sellingof 100 pieces on pick up indemand from coin makersahead of Diwali festival. PTI

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The US wants to prohibitdata localisation to ensure

that there is a free flow of infor-mation across borders, a seniorTrump administration officialhas said, amid reports thatmajor American IT companiesare up in arms against the lat-est Indian directive which kicksoff next week.

Data localisation is an actof storing data on any devicethat is physically present with-in the borders of a particularcountry where the data wasgenerated.

The Reserve Bank of India(RBI), in a circular in April,said all system providers willhave to ensure that the entiredata relating to payment sys-tems operated by them arestored in a system only inIndia.

It gave time till October 15to comply with the mandate.

“We want to have prohibi-tions on data localisation toensure that there’s free flow ofinformation, free flow of dataacross borders, disciplinesaround countries requiring com-panies to give up their sourcecode, permanent ban on taxa-

tion or duties on digital trans-missions,” Dennis Shea, DeputyUS Trade Representative and USAmbassador to the WTO, told a Washington audience on Friday.

“And by the way, SouthAfrica and India want torethink the current moratori-um on those duties,” Shea saidin response to a question at theCenter for Strategic andInternational Studies (CSIS), atop American think-tank.

American financial com-panies are believed to haveapproached the administra-tion against an RBI directivewhich, beginning October 15,requires them to store in Indiaany payment-related data fromtransactions that take placeinside the country.

India has rejected theirrequest of mirroring.

“If implemented, this pol-icy will put an unnecessaryburden on American compa-nies and hurt consumers, whowill endure higher costs andincreased cybersecurity risks,”Republican Strategist AndySurabian, who is also a politi-cal adviser to Donald Trump Jr,wrote in BreitBart News thisweek.

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Soon after India rejected thefindings of the World Bank’s

Human Capital Index (HCI),Indian Economic AffairsSecretary Subhash ChandraGarg said a better metric isneeded for the index to mea-sure the status of human cap-ital in the digital age.

“Human Capital Index usesmetric of industrial era to mea-sure the status of human cap-ital for digital age and its pro-duction system.

“He (Garg) said that a bet-ter metric is needed,” a FinanceMinistry statement on Saturdayquoted Garg, who led theIndian delegation at the IMFsummit at Bali.

Speaking at theInternational Monetary Fund’sDevelopment CommitteeLunch Session on Friday, Garg asserted that there is aneed to recognise that the dig-ital technological changes tak-ing place are more fundamen-tal than even the invention ofthe steam engine, which hadlaid the foundation of theindustrial revolution.

New Delhi: Domestic month-ly diesel consumption fell forthe first time in 10 monthsyear-on-year in September,while petrol sales grew by theleast in four months as recordhigh pump prices denteddemand, Government datashowed on Friday.

Lower local sales of petroland diesel curbed growth inoverall fuel demand to 1.1 percent in September, despitehigher sales of liquefied petro-leum gas and jet fuel.

Domestic fuel consump-tion, a proxy for oil demand,totalled 16.54 million tonnes inSeptember, a decline of about1.3 per cent from August, datafrom the Petroleum Planningand Analysis Cell (PPAC) ofthe oil ministry showed.

A sharp fall in the value ofthe rupee and soaring oil pricesled to record high pump pricesof diesel and petrol, forcing theGovernment to cut taxes onthem and asking retailers to cut marketing margins by 1rupee a litre.

Diesel sales, which accountfor about 40 per cent of refinedfuels used in the country,declined by 0.8 per cent to 6.03

million tonnes in September,the data showed.

Growth in sales of gasoline,widely used for transporta-tion, eased to 4.2 per cent to2.23 million tonnes from thesame month last year, asdemand for passenger vehiclesfell 5.6 per cent in Septemberfrom a year ago.

“It may have some priceimpact but we need to analysethat...last month growth inpetrol and diesel sales wereimpacted as (in) September2017 there was a robustgrowth,” said MK Surana,Chairman of HindustanPetroleum Corp. Agencies

Nusa Dua (Indonesia): Globalfinancial leaders wrapped up anannual meeting of theInternational Monetary Fundand World Bank on Saturdayby urging countries to brace forpotential risks from trade dis-putes and other tensions.

The meetings in Bali,Indonesia, this week were over-shadowed by a spate of finan-cial market turmoil and by thethreat to global growth fromthe trade clash between the USand China over Beijing’s tech-nology policies.

The InternationalMonetary and FinancialCommittee, which advises the

IMF’s board of governors,issued a communique onSaturday urging countries tokeep debt under control, engi-neer policies to ensure credit isavailable in line with their lev-els of inflation and ensure sus-tained economic growth “forthe benefit of all.”

IMF members also pledgedto avoid devaluing currenciesto seek a trade advantage bymaking a country’s exportsrelatively cheaper.

IMF Managing DirectorChristine Lagarde said thatwhile global growth is stillstrong, it has levelled off.

The IMF started the meet-

ings in Bali by downgrading its2018 estimate for global growthto a still robust 3.7 per cent froman earlier forecast of 3.9 per cent.

“I think it’s not inconsistentto have a plateaued growth anddownside risks that are theclouds on the horizon, some ofwhich have begun to open up,”Lagard said. Adding that giventhe level of debt around theworld, “we’ve given strong rec-ommendations and in terms oftrade: de-escalate and pleasedialogue.” Countries shouldseek to ensure their levels ofdebt are manageable and thatpolicies foster growth for all,she said. AP

New Delhi: Internet bankingusers of State Bank of India arerequired to register their mobilenumber (if not done earlier)with the lender by December 1,2018, said the country’s largestbank. Customers who fail toregister it before the deadline,will not be able to access theinternet banking facilities of SBI,the lender said on its online por-tal-onlinesbi.com.

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Page 9: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

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Imagine if the Government chasedsick people with diabetes, put a tax oninsulin and drove it into the black mar-ket, told doctors they couldn’t treatthem… then sent them to jail. If wedid that, everyone would know wewere crazy. Yet we do practically thesame thing every day in the week tosick people hooked on drugs.

— Billie Holiday, in the bookChasing the Scream: The First andLast Days of the War on Drugs

It has been just over two yearssince the movie Udta Punjabreleased and the drug menacein the State became the talk ofthe nation. Cut to 2018. The sit-

uation is no better. A study conductedby the Narcotic Drugs andPsychotropic Substances Act (NDPS)between 2013-15 throws up horri-fying figures. The report finds thatdeterrent punishment has not result-ed in lowering drug crimes. The datacollected suggests that between 70–90per cent of the total drug cases com-ing to Special Courts are intermedi-ate quantity cases. In other words,amounts between small and com-mercial quantities — between 5-10gm in case of heroin as recovery. Thedrug traffickers are still at large.

Neha Singhal, senior resident fel-low with Vidhi Centre for LegalPolicy, an independent think tankwhich released a report: From Addictto Convict: the Working of the NDPSAct in Punjab tells you that the NDPSAct was a great example to look at thisbecause it is one of the strictest lawsin the country in terms of bail pro-visions and mandatory minimum jailterm.

“The law records a very high rateof convictions in Punjab due tosome flawed provisions — one has toonly prove that the person had pos-session of the drug and all thisneeds is police’s testimony. There areno independent witnesses to collab-orate this version. One has found thatthe police have a template— the copwas out patrolling and found a sus-picious looking person. He wasstopped. On searching, he was foundin possession of drugs and he wasarrested. Out of the 13,000 cases(2013-15), 11,000 had this story,”Singhal tells you.

Therefore it can be inferred thatthe law is tackling a group of peoplethat is was never meant to. “The law

was meant to deter drug traffickingbut no one is catching them. The sec-ond point is about how one is catch-ing peddlers and ending up filling upjails with the wrong kind of people.The third point deals with how thede-addiction centres in the State areinadequate to deal with the numberscases and that it needs to increase thenumber with state-of-the-art facili-ties,” Singhal says.

Dr Rakesh K Chadda, Professorand head of Department ofPsychiatry and chief, National DrugDependence Treatment Centre atAIIMS tells you that opioids and alco-hol are the two commonest drug usedisorders seen in clinical practice.“Non-acceptance of the problem ordenial by the patient is a commonissue faced by the treating doctors.Frequently patients and familiestend to discontinue treatment anddon’t come for the scheduled follow-up,” he says and opines that thebiggest challenge is the huge treat-ment gap going up to 90 per cent.“Reasons include both lack of aware-ness about the problem as well as thelack of treatment facilities,” DrChadda says and stresses the needsfor stricter laws for drug traffickingas well as enforcement. “At the sametime, the drug addicts need to be seenwith a medico-social approach andsupported for treatment and reha-bilitation and should not be put injails,” he says.

Hakam Singh, an advocate whopractises in Punjab and HaryanaHigh Court and recently organiseda black week against drug use is morevocal tells you that there are a few rea-sons why the jails are full of small-time peddlers or addicts themselvesand not the traffickers.

‘First, some 20-25 years backlegitimate business — transport andpetrol pump — was done by politi-cal party workers while politics wasleft to the netas. This changed some10-15 years back. All the business wastaken over by the politicians. Theparty workers were left with nothing.They took to dealing in drugs. Theyknew that in order to prosper theyhad to ensure that their leader cameto power or they would get caught.Second, most people in the State arein one way or the other connected todrugs — dealers or users. Who doyou turn to for justice? Third, when-ever there is pressure from the top

bosses and the public for a crack-down on drugs, it is the addict whois caught by the police. If a traffick-er is caught, he gives names of theaddicts in order to save his skin andescapes the net. Four, after jewellery,drug is the second biggest businessin the State,” Singh says who has overa 100 clients, (mostly teenagers)who have cases against them for pos-session of 5-10 gm of heroin.

This scenario he says is nothingnew. “I joined practise six years back.

This is what I have been seeing. Casesthat come to the court are againstpeople who have been caught withless than 10 gm of heroin and thechargesheet against each person isalways the same. Sometimes, back thePunjab High Court while listening toa case asked the cop why is it that thestory is the same — caught a suspi-cious looking person, on probe,found drugs on him,” Singh says.

Vineet Joshi, chairman of JoshiFoundation has a similar take andtells you that they have always main-tained that the drug problem needsto solved when the Government,family and society comes togetherwith the Government’s responsibil-

ity at No 3 even though people keepblaming the Government. There arealways black sheep in the police.Whenever there is pressure from theGovernment, the police starts arrest-ing small-time end users and ped-dlers and not traffickers operating thein the State. It is estimated that drugsworth �1 crore are sold in each dis-trict per day, this amounts to �23crore a day. However, the actual costis �50 lakh per district the rest isallegedly distributed among the ped-dlers and the authorities dealing withthe drug menace,” Joshi says and addsthat if the Government is serious inits efforts to tackle the problem itshould put the phone of the localpolice under surveillance.

“If this was done, the real culpritswill be caught. A few months whenthere were deaths due to drug abuse,our foundation had said that thepolice at the district level needs to bemade accountable. One has to under-stand that without the consent of thelocal police ‘parinda bhi par nahinmaar sakta’. Police responsibility hasto be fixed,” Joshi says and tells youthat in most cases when a traffickerdoes get caught, he goes scot-free bygreasing the palm of those in author-ity weakening the case.

The next stage to tackle the drugmenace according to Joshi is the needfor the parents to concentrate on par-enting. “They need to look for signs— blood-shot eyes and things goingmissing from the home. Parentsneed to open the channels of com-munication. They are not teachingvalues. The society too needs toaccept a person who has come out ofthe de-addiction centre. This three-pronged approach will ensure that itis the real traffickers will start com-ing under the net,” Joshi opines.

According to an in-house studyby the Bhatia NeuropsychiatricHospital and De-addiction Centre,around 80 per cent of young peoplein Amritsar are taking drugs, 58 percent start drugs before they reach 20and 80 per cent addicts are in the agegroup of 20-30 years. The scale ofdrug abuse in the State came intolimelight in 2009 through a submis-sion to the Punjab and Haryana HighCourt by Harjit Singh, Secretary ofthe Department of Social Securityand Women and Child Developmentin Chandigarh. Since then, a num-ber of studies and reports have come

out showing how the State has fall-en prey to narco-terrorism.

So much so that around 70 percent of the youth in the State areaddicts and about 66 per cent school-children have used drugs at somepoint. It was a 2015 study by theNational Drug DependenceTreatment Centre (NDDTC) atAIIMS along with NGO Society forPromotion of Youth and Masses,which sent alarm bells ringing.

The study that covered the 10districts of Bathinda, Ferozepur,Gurdaspur, Hoshiarpur, Jalandhar,Kapurthala, Moga, Sangrur, Patialaand Tarn Taran found that addictsspent up to �2.5 crore a day on pur-chasing drugs and that over �7,500crore worth of drugs were beingconsumed in the State annually.

Founder of the Anti DrugFederation in Punjab, SanjeevKhan paints a dismal picture.“The problem is that the youth hasno work. Even college pass outshave nothing to do. They have somuch time to wipe away. Anempty mind is a devil’s workshop.Therefore you will find that mostrecoveries are not more than 5 to10 go of drugs. In order to stop thedrug chain, the Government has tobe stricter. Given the present sce-nario, this is not likely to changein the near future. There is nohope for the youth in the State asfar as drug abuse is concerned. Thesystem is using the youth. The bigfish is eating small fish. All we canbe done is that we protect our chil-dren. We can’t rely on theGovernment. On one end theGovernment claims that they havebroken the chain, but if you read thenewspaper, every day you will findreports of drug recovery. How canthey claim a break in the chain?”Khan asks and tells you that it takestime for people to get addicted toalcohol and bhuki but with drugs likeheroin, it is a one time use that getsthem hooked.

“Such people in order to dodrugs need money. The easiest optionis to drag 10 more people into thechain. Once he does that his drugbecomes free. When we talk to theyouth they say that this is like a busi-ness for them. We need to do drugs,this requires money. How do we dothis? We look for 10 more people.Those 10 people look for another 10.

And the chain continues,” Khanexplains.

The money involved will ensurethe chain the not broken. “Thephrase raaton raat ameer honaapplies here. The chain is so big thatit can’t be broken. The governmentsays get a dope test. The State does-n’t have any facility to test for dope.A normal drug is being referred toas dope test. Men are taking urinesample of their wives. The test showspregnancy. You can only imagine theresult. Look at the de-ad diction cen-tres. Where there should be 40, youhave 100. What will these centres do?The entire system is rotten,” Khanlaments and says that unless thepolice are allowed to have a free handwith no interference, the problem willcontinue.

“Parents need to be vigilant aswell. “They are not open with theirchildren. There is no communica-tion. It is common knowledge that ifyou tell a child not to do somethinghis curiosity makes him to the verysame thing. If a condom ad comeson TV, the channel is changed.How will this help? The world isin their hand — Internet has all theinformation. Parents need to befriends to their child. You can’t tellthem not to do and they will fol-low it. They need an explanationwhich has to be given,” Khansays.

Dr Chadda has a solution tooto tackling the present drug men-ace in the State. “Considering thehuge burden the drug addictionimposes on the society, it’s highprevalence, huge treatment gapand associated myths and mis-conceptions, a public healthapproach aiming at raising publicawareness and creating adequatetreatment facilities is required.The community needs to acceptthat drug addiction is not a badhabit but an illness with a strongbiological as well as a psychosocialbasis and needs treatment. Weneed to develop strong awarenessprogrammes starting from schoolsand colleges and include teachersin creating awareness. A childneeds to be taught how to over-come peer pressure to take drugs.Early identification and treatmentare required. Supply reductionand demand reduction should bethe focus,” Dr Chadda says.

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Rishabh Pant's audacious stroke-play complemented AjinkyaRahane's patient approach as

India reached 308 for four againstWest Indies on the second day of thesecond Test on Saturday.

India are now only three runsshort of West Indies' first innings totalof 311. The Caribbeans could add only16 runs in the morning session afterUmesh Yadav polished off the tail withcareer-best figures of 6/88 in 26.4 overs.

While young Pant celebrated hisODI call-up with a second Test half-cen-tury, an attractive unbeaten 85 off 120balls, vice-captain Rahane slogged hardto remain undefeated on 75 off 174 balls.

Together, the duo added 146 runsfor the unbroken fifth wicket after Indialost in-form skipper Virat Kohli (45) tobe reduced to 163 for 4.

This was after young Prithvi Shawlit up the morning, smashing his wayto 70 off 53 balls to provide an initialmomentum.

It was a day where India's Gen-Nextenthralled the 18,000 odd crowd withspectacular strokeplay.

Shaw's cover and off-drive weretreat for the eyes. The way he slashedShannon Gabriel for a six over thirdman or stood on toes to smash JasonHolder through point was eerily simi-lar to Virender Sehwag's style of play.The 11 fours and a six were out of thetop drawer.

For Pant, it was more about brutepower. He hit back-to-back sixes off left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican (1/76),who had till his arrival had decent fig-ures including the wicket of Shaw.

Pant's approach also gave Rahanetime to build his innings even thoughhe never looked in control. Howevergoing to Australia, India needed its vice-captain to get some runs and to hiscredit he hung around to do the need-ful.

Rahane, on Indian sub-continent,has had problem facing spinners dur-

ing last home season and here Pant wastaking the spinners on most of the timewhile Rahane was seen more com-fortable facing Gabriel for a lengthyperiod of time. The vice -captain hit sixfours in his knock.

The Indians were also helped bypoor fielding from the West Indians.It also didn't help their cause that theirmain keeper Shane Dowrich got a nastyhit on the knee and reserve keeperJahmar Hamilton wasn't up to themark.

Skipper Virat Kohli (45, 78 balls)missed out on an opportunity to add

another ton to his growing list of inter-national hundreds as he looked in notrouble whatsoever during his stay atthe crease.

He hit the cover drive well and ranthe singles as a time when India werein a spot of bother at 102 for 3 afterShaw and Cheteshwar Pujara (10)were out in quick succession.

Earlier, West Indies added only 16runs to their overnight total but RostonChase (106, 189 balls) howeverdeservedly completed his fourth Testhundred before the innings wrappedup.

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Fast bowler Dane Paterson was named man of the match but saidthe award could have been shared by all South Africa's bowlers

as the hosts clinched a Twenty20 series win against Zimbabwe atSenwes Park on Friday.

South Africa took a 2-0 lead in the three-match series with asix-wicket win after restricting Zimbabwe to 132 for seven in their20 overs. It followed a 3-0 one-day series win.

"Credit goes to the whole bowling unit. We kept it tight tonight,"said Paterson, who took two top-order wickets for 22 runs.

South Africa's pace bowlers held sway, with Lungi Ngidi,Paterson and RobbieFrylinck each takingtwo wickets. AndilePhehlukwayo did nottake a wicket but con-ceded only 15 runs infour overs.

Left-arm spinnerTabraiz Shamsi was theonly expensive bowler,taking one for 37, withhis last over leaking 24runs, including threesixes by top-scorer SeanWilliams, but captainFaf du Plessis saidShamsi had bowledthree "really good overs" before being targeted by Williams, whomade 41 off 28 balls.

"It was one of our best games," said Du Plessis. "All the bowlerswere really good tonight and our batters made it look pretty easy."

All six of South Africa's batsmen reached double figures andscored at better than a run a ball, with JP Duminy top-scoring with33 not out. South Africa won with 4.2 overs to spare.

Zimbabwe captain Hamilton Masakadza bemoaned anothertop-order batting failure. "We got off to a little bit of a start but westill lost wickets," he said.

Williams followed up his batting effort by taking two for 25while Zimbabwe leg-spinner Brandon Mavuta impressed again, tak-ing one for 29.

Masakadza said Zimbabwe's infrequent international fixtureswere a factor, "but it's our fifth game (in South Africa) and we shouldbe coming right."

South Africa made four changes from the side that won thefirst match by 34 runs in East London on Tuesday and Du Plessissaid there would be "more experiments" for the final game in Benonion Sunday.

"The plan was to give everyone two games," he said, indicat-ing he would be one of the players sitting out on Sunday.

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England were awarded victo-ry in the second one-day

international against Sri Lanka ona faster run rate Saturday afterplay was halted by heavy rain.

The tourists scored 278-9,with Eoin Morgan smashing 92,but umpires stopped play atDambulla with Sri Lanka on 140-5 after 29 of their overs.

Thisara Perera was on 44 andDhananjaya da Silva on 36 whenplay was halted. The pair had puton 66 for the sixth wicket after SriLanka looked in deep trouble at74 for five.

Heavy rain was still falling anhour after the suspension andEngland recorded a 31-run vic-tory under the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern run rate system.

Earlier captain Eoin Morgan

blasted 92 and Test skipper JoeRoot 71 as England reached 278for nine in their second one dayinternational against Sri Lanka onSaturday.

Morgan hit 11 fours and two

sixes in his 91-ball innings thatformed the core of the Englandscore after Sri Lanka won the tossand put the tourists in. Root hitsix fours in his knock.

Paceman Lasith Malinga

took five for 44 on the trickyDambulla pitch, includingEngland opener Jason Roy withthe fourth ball of the day. ButRoot hit three straight fours offMalinga in the fifth over asEngland grew in confidence.

Adil Rashid and Olly Stoneput on 24 for the final wicket togive England a late boost.

Only 15 overs of the firstODI between the two sides waspossible on Wednesday beforethe game had to be abandonedwithout a result.

A warm up game against aSri Lanka Cricket XI on October6 did not start because of rain.

The third 50-over match is inPallekele on Wednesday. Englandwill also play two Tests and aTwenty20 international againstSri Lanka on the tour, which runsthrough November 27.

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Promising Indian shuttler LakshyaSen settled for a Silver medal after

he lost the men's singles summit clashagainst Li Shifeng of China in straightgames at the Youth Olympics here.

Sen, the reigning junior Asianchampion, lost 15-21, 19-21 in a 42-minute final match to bag the Silver.He had beaten Shifeng in straightgames in the quarterfinals of theAsian Championships in July but onFriday evening, it was the turn of theChinese to turn the tables on the 17-year-old.

In both the games, Shifeng led allthrough and Sen was playing catch-up, eventually failing to succeed.

In the first game, Shifeng took anearly lead and raced to 14-5 in notime. Sen made a fine recovery tonarrow down the gap to 13-16 but hecould not sustain it and Shifengwent ahead 18-13 and then made it20-14 to have six game points.Though Sen saved one game point,the Chinese won the next one topocket the first game in 17 minutes.

The second game was a closerfight than the first but the Chinesewas leading all the time. Shifeng wasahead 8-7 initially but the gapwidened to 12-7 before Sen made it11-14. The three-point gap remainedfor some time before the Chinesemade it 18-14 and then 19-14.

Sen made a last-ditch effort to

save the match by winningthree straight points butShifeng still made it 20-17to have three match points.

Sen was sti l l notthrowing the towel as hereeled off two straightpoints to make it 19-20

and just one point away from adeuce. But his Chinese opponent wasa hard nut to crack as Shifeng won thefinal point to clinch the match andthe gold.

The India admitting to commit-ting early mistakes and gave full cred-it to his Chinese rival.

"He was very good and won thecrucial points. I couldn't push myselftough I managed to prolong the

inevitable," said Sen after his final."But I am happy to be the second

Indian to bring back a medal in bad-minton from such an elite champi-onship," he added.

It was a sort of a revenge for theChinese whom the Indian had beat-en in the quarterfinals of the AsianChampionships earlier this year.

In other events, Indian women'steam notched up a comfortable 3-0win over Poland to enter the semifi-nals of the Hockey 5s competition ofthe 2018 Youth Olympic Games here.

Lalremsiami (10'), captain SalimaTete (14') and Baljeet Kaur (14') con-tributed to the U-18 team's victorywith a goal each at the ParquePolideportivo Roca.

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India recorded its best-ever showing in theAsian Para Games by bagging 72 medals,

including 15 Gold, with the shuttlers addingtwo yellow metals and three Bronze on theconcluding day of competitions here Saturday.

With 15 Gold, 24 Silver and 33 Bronzemedals, India was placed ninth in the over-all tally.

China finished on top with 172 Gold, 88Silver and 59 Bronze for a whopping total of319 medals. South Korea (53, 45, 47) and Iran(51, 42, 43) were second and third respec-tively.

This was India's best ever performance,bettering the last edition (2014) tally of 33medals (3 Gold, 14 Silver, 16 Bronze).

All of India's five medals on Saturdaycame from badminton.

In men's singles SL3 class badminton,Pramod Bhagat defeated Ukun Rukaendi ofIndonesia 21-19, 15-21, 21-14 to clinch theGold medal.

Athletes in the SL3 category generallyhave impairment in one or both lower limbsand poor walking or running balance.Athletes with cerebral palsy, bilateral polioor loss of both legs below the knee competein half-court (lenghtwise) to minimise theimpact of their impairment.

Tarun added another Gold for India onthe final day of the event by beating YuyangGao of China 21-16, 21-6 in the men's sin-gles SL4 class.

The SL4 class athletes have a lesser

impairment compared to SL 3 and play full-court. Players with impairment in one or bothlower limbs, unilateral polio or mild cerebralpalsy fall in SL4 category.

The Bronze winning shuttlers wereManoj Sarkar (men's singles SL3), men's dou-bles SL3-SL4 pairs of Manoj Sarkar andPramod Bhagat, and Ananda Kumar Gowda

and Nitesh Kumar.Para-athletics gave India half

of the medals (36) with sevenGold, 13 Silver and 16 Bronze.Badminton and chess contributednine medals each while para-swimming gave eight medals.

Earlier Friday, Paralympicmedallist Deepa Malik bagged her secondBronze.

K Jennitha Anto clinched the Gold inwomen's individual rapid P1 chess event afterbeating Manurung Roslinda 1-0 in the finalround, while Kishan Gangolli got the betterof Majid Bagheri in the men's individual rapidVI - B2/B3 event to claim the top spot.

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The national selection committeewas left deeply embarrassed after

Mahendra Singh Dhoni declined toplay Vijay Hazare Trophy quarter-finalsfor Jharkhand on Sunday despitechairman MSK Prasad's publicannouncement couple of days back.

The current fiasco now complete-ly established that there is no com-munication between the selectors andsenior players, who decide their ownschedule.

Dhoni, who has been horribly outof touch as a batsman during the pasttwo years, was expected to be a part ofJharkhand's quarter-final againstMaharashtra.

But on Saturday, Jharkhand chiefcoach Rajiv Kumar told reporters inBengaluru that Dhoni has decidedagainst playing the quarter-final, con-trary to what chief national selector hadearlier announced.

"Dhoni feels that it would not befair for him to join us at this stage, giventhat the team has done so well and

reached the quarter-final stage in hisabsence. He does not want to upset theteam balance," Jharkhand coachKumar said.

Since he has only played 22 daysof international cricket this year (15ODIs, 7 T20Is), Dhoni has looked outof sorts as a batsman, whenever he hascome after a long break.

Accordingly, when on lastThursday chairman of selectors Prasadwas asked about whether Dhoni andRayudu will be playing the VijayHazare quarters, he replied: "Dhoni isplaying the knock-outs. About Rayudu,I will check and get back."

Jharkhand topped the groupleague stage with 32 points andShahbaz Nadeem's was their notableperformer with a List A world recordhaul of 8 for 10.

There are now questions beingraised whether Prasad had even con-sulted Dhoni in first place beforemaking a public announcement.

"I would love to know how MSKPrasad gets in touch with Dhoni," asenior BCCI official said.

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Roger Federer admitted that he waslacking "punch" after he wasturfed out of the Shanghai Masters

semi-finals on Saturday by 13th-seed-ed Borna Coric.

The Croatian stunned the Swissgreat 6-4, 6-4 in what was an unusual-ly error-strewn performance from the20-time Grand Slam champion.

The 21-year-old Coric will faceNovak Djokovic in Sunday's final afterthe Serb thrashed Alexander Zverev 6-2, 6-1, leapfrogging Federer to numbertwo in the world rankings.

Federer has not been at his best allweek, dropping sets in the two openingmatches of his wobbly title defence.

The 37-year-old top seed was morelike his old self on Friday, defeatingeighth seed Kei Nishikori in two high-quality sets.

But he made a slow start againstCoric, ranked 19 in the world, gettingbroken in the first game.

There was a subtle shake of the headwhen Federer similarly lost his serve atthe start of the second set.

"I thought he was better, I think hehad more punch on the ball. He servedbetter," said Federer, proclaiming him-self pleased overall with his form.

"I feel like I'm explosive out there,returning well," he added.

"Serving, I think, it's okay, could beeven a little bit better.

"I don't think I played a matchwhere I didn't get broken, so that's some-thing a bit more unusual for me."

In contrast, Coric -- who is into hisfirst Masters 1000 final -- was largelyuntroubled on his serve.

Federer won the Australian Openat the start of this year but has had amediocre season by his sky-high stan-dards.

He exited the US Open in thelast 16 at the hands of unherald-ed Australian John Millman,ranked 55th, and only made thequarter-finals at Wimbledon.

Coric, who has only two careertitles to his name, has now beatenFederer twice -- the previous time wasin the final at Halle this year.

���(����������� Celebrating his 1,000th

match in style, the 14-time GrandSlam winner Djokovic was clin-ical against a shell-shocked

Zverev.The 31-year-old is in imperious

form and this was his 17th ATP vic-tory in a row, as he taught the rising

German star a lesson.Djokovic will be up to second in

the world when the new rankings arereleased on Monday, but he is des-perate to take injured Rafael Nadal'snumber one spot before the year is out.

The world number five -- whobeat Djokovic in their only previousmeeting, last year in the Rome Masters

final -- recovered his poise for a time.The first set went with serve, and

some big serves at that, until Djokovicgrabbed the break to go 4-2 up.

Zverev threatened to unravel andconceded the set in barely 30 minutesafter landing a routine smash into thenet, to gasps from the arena.

The fourth seed, who is yet to win

a Grand Slam despite his undoubtedtalent, angrily threw his racquet at thestart of the second set as Djokovicramped up the pressure.

An increasingly exasperatedZverev issued more punishment to hisracquet at 3-1 down, earning a codeviolation and tossing the battered pieceinto the crowd.

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Manchester United striker RomeluLukaku struck twice as Belgium

maintained their strong start to theNations League with a battling 2-1 winover Switzerland.

When Lukaku found the net withan angled drive on 58 minutes, itlooked like Roberto Martinez's menwould be giving French World Cup win-ner Thierry Henry a winning send-offin his final match as Belgium assistantcoach ahead of an imminent move toMonaco.

The World Cup semi-finalists tooktheir eye off the ball on 76 minutes, andthe King Baudoin Stadium was stunnedwhen Mario Gavranovic poked the ballpast Thibaut Courtois from close rangein after the Real Madrid 'keeper hadbeen drawn by Nico Elvedi headingXherdan Shaqiri's floated cross back intoplay.

But in a busy final period that sawthe hosts turn the throttle Lukaku hadhis second six minutes from time.

Belgium's second win of the fledg-ling tournament keeps them flyinghigh in League A Group 2 following anopening 3-0 win in Iceland.

� �����1���(����� �������, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalicdescribed a 0-0 Nations League drawwith England in a World Cup semi-finalrematch as a "sad" day for football asfans were banned from the clash inRijeka.

Croatia were completing a UEFAsanction after a swastika symbol wascarved into the pitch during a Euro 2016qualifier against Italy over three yearsago.

"The atmosphere is not easy for any-body. It is sad for football but hopeful-ly this is our last time," said Dalic.

"Football is played for the fans. It'ssad the second and fourth team fromthe World Cup are playing behindclosed doors. I don't know who it isgood for."

In front of the empty stands,Marcus Rashford missed two gloriouschances to exact England a small mea-sure of revenge for missing out on theWorld Cup final to Croatia 93 days agoin Moscow.

Eric Dier and Harry Kane also hitthe woodwork for the visitors, who

enjoyed the better of a subdued gamebefitting of the bizarre atmosphere.

"It feels like a game we should havewon," said England manager GarethSouthgate.

"We dictated the flow of the gamefor a long period. The second-half per-formance was excellent, we were push-ing and pushing right to the end and onanother day we would finish thosechances."

However, a point does little foreither side's hopes of usurping Spain,who beat both last month, to progressto the first ever Nations League semi-finals next summer.

Southgate threw on 18-year-oldJadon Sancho for his internationaldebut 12 minutes from time in searchof a winner.

The Borussia Dortmund wonderkid showed some impressive touchesbut couldn't provide a final spark asEngland had to settle for a point.

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India snatched a remarkable goal-less draw against an aggressive

China, walking away with equalhonours in an international foot-ball friendly played against eachother for the first time in 21 yearshere Saturday.

In a keenly-watched matchplayed between the two most pop-ulous countries in the world butstill laggards in the global game,China clearly dominated the pro-ceedings with waves of onslaughtson the Indian citadel but they failedto score a goal.

Chinese forwards' goaldrought continued while theIndians, especially the back-four ofcaptain Sandesh Jhingan, NarayanDas, Pritam Kotal and SubhasishBose, played their hearts out to heldtheir nerves till the end.

The home side had at leastthree clear chances with two beingdenied by the woodwork whiletheir star striker Gao Lin failed tofind the target several times.Custodian Gurpreet Singh Sandhustood like a rock in front of theIndian goal as he denied the homeside at least on four occasions.

It was a remarkable achieve-ment for India as they have drawnagainst a continental top side likeChina in their own den. India wereplaying on the Chinese soil for thefirst time and there were periods inthe match, though few and farbetween, when the visitors threat-ened on the counters.

India had two very goodchances on either side of thebreather, one from Pritam Kotaland another from substitute FarukhChoudhary, and a couple of halfchances.

The draw is also expected totake India higher in the FIFArankings. They are now placed 97th

while China are at 76th spot.On the other hand, China,

coached by 2006 World Cup win-ning Italian coach Marcello Lippi,continued their recent struggle asthey failed to score in three match-es on the trot.

China had lost to an inexperi-enced Qatar team 0-1 last monthbefore playing out a 0-0 drawagainst Bahrain. They have notscored since beating Thailand 2-0in June.

The visitors did not give an

inch to the Chinese attackers, ledby veteran Gao Lin who has playedmore than 100 internationalmatches, for most part while goalieGurpreet made a few fine saves.

The Indians grew in confi-dence as the match wore on andthey even had a very good chancein the 13th minute when SunilChhetri passed the ball back toPranoy Halder who went diagonalto Anirudh Thapa who, in turn,laid it for an onrushing Kotal.

But Kotal's right footer fromthe right side of the box was par-ried away by Chinese goalie YanJunling. That was the best chanceIndia had in the first half.

India got a free kick in the 17thminute and Thapa's delivery foundan unmarked Chhetri making afirst time shot but the ball sailedover.

The 71st minute also saw theIndian crossbar being rattled by aWu Lei volley and it was pure luckfor India as Gurpreet was com-pletely beaten that time.

Towards the end of the regu-lation time, there was a scramblenear the Indian goal-line but thevisiting side, who desperately threwtheir bodies towards the close of thematch, survived as the matchended in a stalemate.

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India suffered a heart-breaking 2-3 loss toGreat Britain to settle for the silver medal

at the eighth Sultan of Johor Cup U-18 hock-ey tournament here on Saturday.

The Silver, however, enabled India tobetter its last year's Bronze medal finish here.

Great Britain, who finished runners-uplast year, secured their second Sultan of JohorCup title by virtue of Saturday's win.

The summit clash Saturday was a repeatof round robin match between the two sides,where Great Britain got the better of Indiaby identical margin.

India made a strong start to the finalearning an early penalty corner opportuni-ty and they capitalised on the chance whenVishnukant Singh scored from a rebound inthe fourth minute.

India's enjoyed the lead for just threeminutes as Great Britain drew level in theseventh minute through Daniel West's fieldgoal.

The second quarter witnessed an evencontest between the two teams as they chal-lenged each other with good playing struc-ture and tested each other's backlines.

Great Britain upped the ante in the thirdquarter and scored two crucial goals in the39th minute and 42nd minute throughJames Oates that changed the course of thematch. A 3-1 lead gave Great Britain theedge going into the final quarter as theIndians looked desperate to turn thingsaround.

The Indians did manage to reduce thescoreline in the 55th minute throughAbhishek but they failed to get another shotat the Britain goal.

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Brazil struggled to a 2-0win over hosts Saudi

Arabia in a stuttering per-formance on a muggy nightin Riyadh in a friendly inter-national.

Manchester City'sGabriel Jesus scored justbefore half-time and AlexSandro powered in a headerfrom a Neymar corner in thesixth-minute of injury time.

Brazil will next playarch-rivals Argentina onTuesday.

Argentina, who will bewithout the rested LionelMessi, beat Iraq 4-0 onThursday.

Brazil will be the moreconcerned team ahead ofTuesday's showdown in

Jeddah as they failed to sparkagainst the game Saudis, whoalmost found themselves agoal up after six minutes,before Casemiro hacked

clear.Jesus, who missed

Brazil's friendly victories overthe United States (2-0) and ElSalvador (5-0) last month,

celebrated his return to theside with a goal just beforehalf time.

Jesus saw a goal-boundheader brilliantly saved bySaudi keeper MohammedAl Owais before Neymarslipped him in to score in the43rd minute.

Tottenham's LucasMoura almost made it twoafter another fine pass byNeymar.

Neymar came close him-self a few minutes later witha shot from just outside thepenalty area.

The Saudis ended thematch with 10 men after Al-Owais was sent off with 10minutes left for handling theball outside the penalty areawhen pressured byRicharlison.

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China'a number one Wang Qiang staged an outstand-ing comeback Saturday to defeat former Wimbledon

champion Garbine Muguruza 6-7 (5/7), 6-4, 7-5 and reachher first Hong Kong Open final.

The world number 24 had already seen off ElinaSvitolina just hours earlier in a rain-delayed quarter final— Wang's highest-ranked top 10 scalp this year — despiteadmitting she had been shaking with nerves ahead of therestarted match.

Wang now faces unheralded Dayana Yastremska inSunday's final, after the Ukrainian teenager dumped outChina's number two Zhang Shuai in the earlier semi-final.

In a see-saw conteststrewn with jaw-droppingrallies and breaks of serve,Wang, 26, saved three con-secutive set points in the firstset tie-break before eventual-ly succumbing 5-7.

She then recovered indramatic style, coming downfrom 0-40 down at 5-4 toclinch the second set.

Down 0-3 in the third set, Wang admitted she wasthinking of going home before a pep talk from her coachstiffened her resolve.

Wang had earlier needed just 10 minutes to wrap upher victory against world number five and top tournamentseed Svitolina, again sealing the 6-2, 6-4 win with an ace.

The 26-year-old Chinese was serving for the matchat 5-2 in the second set when the heavens opened Fridayevening.

Svitolina is still in the running for one of the threeremaining places at the WTA Finals in Singapore laterthis month and she now faces an anxious wait to see ifa quarter-final finish will be enough to secure qualifi-cation.

Wang had grabbed headlines at the French Open withher straight-sets demolition of Venus Williams, offeringa hint of what was to come, and later overcame KarolinaPliskova in both Beijing and Wuhan.

She said she knew little about the 102-rankedYastremska, who powered to a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Zhangto reach her first WTA Tour final.

The 18-year-old — who earlier this year became thefirst player born this millennium to break into the top100 — appeared overwhelmed after the win, lying on herback in Centre Court to soak up the cheers of the crowd.

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I began my production house Mukta Artson October 24, 1978 with the movie Karz with�10,000. God has been kind in terms of busi-ness, quality of my movies and other aspects ofthe entertainment industry. We were always for-ward looking. We began our journey with an aim

to stay for a long haul. I am blessedthat people still love the kind of

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is why Mukta Arts iswhere it is today.�If you had to choose one

project that is close to yourheart, which one would it be?For a director, every project

that he does is close to his heart otherwise hecan’t make the movie. The same applies to me.But if I had to choose one film that was unlikea typical Subhash Ghai film, it has to be Blackand White (2008). There were challengesinvolved. The budget was small and the filmtook a third dimension on terrorism. Most ofthe directors congratulated me and told me thatthis was one of my best works.�What is the atmosphere on your sets like?

There are three things — fun, freedom anddiscipline. I pamper the people when there is aneed for it. There are more than 150 peopleworking on the sets; this is not including theactors. One has to keep the crew in humour toget the best work out of them on time. But therehas to be discipline as far as timing and workethics are concerned. People know if I get angry,I really let loose but they also know that whenI pamper, everyone knows that they are loved.�How did you manage to give such greatmusic for your films?

Music for my films is born when I write thescript, be it the mukhda, the nature of the music,or the tune. That’s why most of the songs in mymovies didn’t look as if they were forced intothe storyline; they were an integral part of thefilm. I would sit with the music composers and

directors and let them know what I wanted atthe very beginning. This made the songs suchan important part of the movies.�Why is there need to inspire the youth today?

Giving them direction and inspiring is nec-essary given that there are so many options avail-able to them today. There is too much infor-mation out there and the youth is confusedwhich path they need to follow. They need guid-ance.�How crucial is teaching creativity?

It is important that the children be given skilltraining so that they can excel in life. Of course,theory is necessary as well. We have a mantra— accept all, respect all. Do what you love. Forexample, even if a sound technician has the skillshe needs to understand the emotions of thescene so that he can give proper music design-ing for a particular shot. �Where does Mukta Arts go from here?

We are working on Broadways, web-series,theatre and short films.�What about movies? Will it be a typicalSubhash Ghai movie?

Yes, there are a few projects that we areexploring. And no, it won’t be a typical SubhashGhai movie. The subject will resonate today’stime.

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Come navratris and the tradi-tional Luv-Kush Ramleela kicksoff at Ramlila Maidan, every

year bringing in bigger gizmos andwow value to the fare.

“The idea behind starting Luv-Kush Ramleela was to create a uniqueimage of Ramlila. We felt that peoplewere gradually going away fromRamlila so we gave it an essence ofmodern day to it so that more young-sters could connect with it,” Luv-Kushmanaging Committee head AshokAgarwal explains.

“Youngsters are more into socialmedia. After studying these trends, wedecided to add more digital technol-ogy. Last year, more than nine lakhviewers watched Ramlila Live onYouTube, the highest number ofviewers was from European countriesand the rating kept on increasing,” hesaid.

Avtar Gill will portray Vibhishan,Ritu Shiv Puri will be Sita’s motherSunaina. Shankar Sahni will be GuruVashisht, Union Minister of State VijaySampla will be playing the characterof Parvati’s father Himavan. Thisyear, the Luv-Kush Ramleela will behighlighted for the National andinternational audience through tele-vision.

Big names that are a part of thisyear’s Ramlila are Angad Hasija whowill play Lord Ram, Shilpa Raizadawho will play Sita, Vindu Dara Singh,Rakesh Bedi, Raza Murad,Harshwardhan (Central Minister),Manoj Tiwari and Shahbaz Khan.There are a total of 1000 actors in dif-ferent roles. The Ramlila will run forfive hours every day.

The first edition of this Ramlilawas the brainchild of his father RamKishan Gupta. “The first time whenwe organised Ramlila only 4,000 peo-ple came to see it and since then thenumber grows every year. This time,one lakh people are coming daily tosee the grand fare,” he tells you.

“From day one, we wanted tomake this Ramlila different from

others and hum samaaj ke har ek hisseko isse jodna chahate thhey. Therefore,we have introduced actors, TV starsand politicians too, to become a partof it. This Ramlila is an example of themodernisation that has taken placeover the years. We have to grow withtime. Earlier, Ramlila used to takeplace in open fields without technol-ogy and no proper seating arrange-ment. People used to bring their ownmats to sit on. Then the organisersstarted providing mats and then camethe concept of chairs, so it has evolvedover time. And now we use cranes andLEDs in our Ramlila to make it lookmore realistic. At that time there wasno concept of cranes so the flight of

Lord Hanuman couldn’t be shown butnow it is possible through cranes,” hesays.

“Earlier we used to organise a lotof other activities like kavi sammellanand Satya-Narayan katha but for pastfour years, we have stopped all otherprogrammes because we Ramlilashould be in its purest form. Weorganise a fair alongside the Ramlila.There are about 40 shops in the fair,both high-end and low-price shops.The entry for the Ramlila requirespasses which are distributed free ofcost by our volunteers. Four people areallowed on one pass,” he explains.

The scripting this year has beendone by Ashok Agarwal himself

which is 400 pages. “Our committeehas grown to 100 members. Around2,000 people work as volunteers. Thefund-raising is done by the commit-tee members and general people whowant to contribute through dona-tions,” he tells you.

On day one, the entire cast of thisyear’s Luv-Kush Ramleela participat-ed in a full dress rehearsal. Luxuriouslights, charming dresses and a greatsound system added to the glamourof this Epic.

Agarwal revealed that this time

along with artists their performances,costumes Ramlila will be played in 14different languages along with moredigital technology.

The 40-year-old dance-dramawhich kick-started on October 10 willbe showcased till October 21, 2018.

�What is the devotional song that you have released onGanesh Chathurthi about?

My son, Akshay and I were working on a song when a tunecame up — dheen tananana. The tune was very festive andwe decided to do a Ganpati song. Akshay gave the music andthe song is in praise of Lord Vigneshwara. I always wanted toa song on Lord Ganesh. I am happy that this was possible.�How long did it take you?

Usually, the time is spent on getting the lyrics and the tune.It takes three-four days to finalise this. The entire process takesaround two weeks.�What has been your biggest accomplishment?

That I have managed to keep my fans happy for 40 yearsand they have managed to keep me happy and the journeycontinues — that God gave me the strength to stay on. As longas I am able to sing well (for the listeners), I will continue todo what I do as long as I feel vibrant, energetic and content.�Can you share the struggles you faced in the industry?

I got my break in 1977 for Gaman in which I sang a ghaz-al. From there on, I went on to work with people like Laxmi-Kant Pyarelal, Naushad saheb and RD Burman. Also, each yearI would bring out around 40 albums on ghazals. But com-mercially, the 80s-90s was a struggle — not a financial onebut for my voice to be identified and accepted. My voice isvery different. But once it got registered, it has been a greatjourney.�Is the industry kind to any artist?

The industry comprises of just a bunch of people who arereacting to the overall environment. To get a break and for itto click, you need hard work and luck. Every artist has to gothrough it, especially in playback where the movie has to dowell and the song has to connect with the people as well. �What has life taught you?

There are so many. One has to work very hard in life; beambitious. If things happen good, if not drop it. Creativity hap-pens on a black board that is empty. Stay young at heart andyou will get the energy to move forward.�What do you listen to?

I listen to a lot of classical and Blues music. Also, any goodmusic that attracts me.�Tell us about your association with Hungama Spotlight.

I am a musician and had earlier released Afsaane (ghaz-al) as well. When I approached by Hungama Spotlight — alive performance and conversation stage by Hungama Music— I agreed for the one-hour session.�Is there a format that you like to work with?

Yes, Urdu Blues. I would like to do this with a Blues artist;to do something funky.�Is it wrong if we want to hear the ‘good old’ songs?

There is no right or wrong. For a 60-year-old today, songs40 years back puts him in a time-lock. When you hear them,it takes you back in time.�Who should be responsible for good music?

The most important are the people who bring the artistsand the listeners together, the music companies and the media.They have the one responsibility — to propagate all kinds ofmusic.�What are you future projects?

A single, a ghazal album and working with my son Akshaywho has created a fusion album.

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The director, producer-screenwriter, knownfor giving hits like Kalicharan, Karz and

Khalnayak, speaks withShalini Saksena about his journey in

Hindi cinema as his productionhouse Mukta Arts

turns 40

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There’s hardly a fashion eventwhere you can miss theearnest man, not one strandof his silver hair ever out ofplace, his moustache curledup, not with bravado but withcontentment and the neatwrap of a beard never daring

to trespass the trim. He’s ever energetic andinvolved in every show, hardselling the virtuesof our craftsmanship, creativity and style. Eversince he has helmed the Fashion DesignCouncil of India (FDCI), Sunil Sethi has revo-lutionised the business of fashion and changedthe dynamics of the industry, which oncesought Western approbation and which nowtakes pride in celebrating things Indian andselling big at home. He has single-handedlydeveloped the pret market, encouraging youngtalent and street fashion, while hiving off cou-ture as a grander, culture club space. In theprocess, he has birthed a movement of rescu-ing our heritage of textiles and weaves, breath-ing life into Government clusters and ensuringthe weavers and artisans still have reams ofcontinuity.

Relying on his past experience as exporterand merchandiser, he has encouraged a sus-tainable business model of fashion and effec-tively taken it to the online space. Every corpo-rate now wants to endorse a fashion week.Sitting on the cusp of change and welcomingwinds of change, Sethi talks about how brandIndia is now a sensible rather than an emo-tional investment. But yes, he is totally emo-tional about his Ambassador.

Many seasons into fashion weeks, the FDCI— despite being supported by theGovernment — has emerged with an independent, stable identity that has turnedfashion into a serious business. How haveyou helmed the transition?The approach from the very beginning hasbeen to be self-reliant. We have never reallywaited for Government money, though wewere getting support from the Ministries of Textile and Commerce. However, what is more important is that we have theGovernment support in terms of any projectwe undertake, in terms of collaborations. Inthe current fashion week for example, theMinistry of Textile with DC Handlooms curat-ed a special show with us. Such initiatives havehelped us develop and mainstream weaverclusters and revive our textile heritage. Foralmost two years now, we have tried to workwith production hubs of handloom weavers,like those of Telangana ikat and the Banarasibrocade. They even got in Australian designersto work with the fabric and come up withproducts and lines that have contemporarysensibilities and address a global audience.Recently, each fashion designer was roped infor design interventions at weaving centres andclusters and the money was sufficient to takecare of the expenses. Interesting tie-ups likethese have helped us widen the interpretativearc of fashion.

The real evolution has been in the appreci-ation of fashion as a serious cultural and eco-nomic benchmark. Previously, it was associat-ed more with glamour and lifestyle and neithera politician, nor a serious player was ever seenin the front row. Now ministers and politiciansare opening these shows and walking alongsideweavers and craftspeople on the ramp, lendingfashion its rightful dignity as a fine art.Fashion today is going to the next level interms of not only handlooms and handicraftsbut also being adapted across multi-utilityplatforms as one of the drivers of the localeconomy. Corporates are engaging meaning-fully, too.

In fact, a few years ago, the then ChiefMinister of Gujarat, Anandiben Patel, was also

happy to get on the ramp after a show onkhadi and speak to the audience about the tex-tile strength of Gujarat. Jyotiraditya Scindiawalked the ramp along with weavers to focuson our Chanderi project. Our ‘Make in India’man, Niti Aayog’s Amitabh Kant, has alwaysbeen around to appreciate our shows. InMumbai, we did a Banaras night with a chefand a leading hotel. Many of our leadingdesigners presented their Banaras handloomcollections. Union Textile Minister Smriti Iranihad two very successful ‘I love handloom’ and‘cotton school’ campaigns on social media,which nobody had ever thought of before.These are very big statements.

They may be in politics but by promotingtextiles, the region, jobs and emphasising thatthis industry is the second largest employer inthe country, they have changed the perceptionabout fashion and made us feel invested in ourown heritage. Fashion is no longer seen as anunattainable concept beyond the lakshmanrekha. We have crossed the boundary and thatis a very major step, bigger than getting funds from the Government.

How would you define the design revolution,this resurgence of ethnic consciousness andwearing our own identities as it were? I can explain this by citing the example of theIncredible India campaign. We were veryhappy to travel abroad and boast about it, butas soon as the campaign had a global impact,we started looking within. I remember therewas a sudden rush and curiosity among NorthIndians to visit Kerala as the tagline ‘God’sown country’ became popular. That globalrecognition boosted our own sense of self-appreciation.

Then there was this phase of experiencingthe newness of modernity when many peopledismantled their old houses, threw away theirantique furniture, got rid of the wooden archesand replaced them with modern-day architec-tural products. Those ethnic markers, however,found ready acceptance in the West as anIndian accent. The reverse psychology workedagain to reinforce the value of ethnicity. A lotof jaali work and Burma teak have returned ashave old trunks, chests and utilitarian metalitems as a decorative comment on our legacy.

The years of Western minimalism havenow ensured that our ethnicity is not over-the-top, but the fact is that it took at least 30 yearsfor us to realise our worth in the world.Everybody is now realising that the top globalbrands they run after come to us when theyhave anything to do with handicrafts, use ourembroidery, buy fabrics, appreciate our hand-looms. We have something special about ourikats and tie-dye, though variants are availableall around the world, and our weaving process-es. So we have grown into that proud feeling ofbeing an Indian. I remember wearing a Nehrujacket, bundi, or whatever it is you want to callit, for the past 30 years. This has survived onlybecause it is very practical, suited to our cli-mate, can sit as easily on a kurta as on anArmani shirt, is a slip-on, convenient accesso-ry and still lets you wear India on your sleeves.Of course, the politicians always wore it butnow every news reader, every corporate hon-cho, every businessman, almost everybody hasone in the wardrobe. Not that the feeling was-n’t there, it’s just that we are now proud ofwearing Indian.

The same sensibility has permeated fash-ion. There was a time when ethnic, couture,bridal and occasion wear were not considered“with it.” Yet today, this category generatesmassive business. If we as a people are appre-ciative of Indian fashion designers and givingthem round-the-year business and they areable to grow from a mom-pop operation toboutique, factory and a larger scale, then it isperhaps the best time for the Indian fashionindustry.

The domestic customer is now dictatingterms of the market. And it is not just ethnicwear that is getting a boost, our consumer hascoopted Western lines with equal glee, theevening gown now ubiquitous at galas andevents. I remember gowns on the red carpetand at Navy and May Queen balls. Today,everybody wants a gown. Yes, the demand forethnic and Indo-Western has peaked whichhas, in fact, cascaded and streaked into otherlines, be it Western or corporate. Hotels, air-lines, restaurants and brand offices are engag-ing our designers for interventions and styling.Some hotels and big corporations are exclu-sively helping out weaver clusters and buyinguniform saris from them.

So I would say the tremendous absorptivepotential of India is responsible for the spurt inthe fashion industry. The demand of Indiancustomers and the fact that they have startedto appreciate how much difference a fashiondesigner will make in their profile have been acatalyst. After Bollywood and sports, fashion iswhat grabs the most eyeballs and has emergedas a key component of soft diplomacy. It is thisascension which has compelled our designers,some of whom were touting their placementsin foreign stores and partnerships as successesand some who managed to set up individualoutlets overseas, get real.

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How have fashion weekshelped in this transition?

Consistently. Our first fashionweek was in 2000 and it has onlybeen a mere 18 years. In the firstfive or six years, there were notakers at all, but it boomed in thelast 10 years when every small citytried to have an edition of its own.There were many fly-by-nightoperators too, who used the plat-form for promotion rather thangenerating any serious business,but they fizzled out. The FDCIhas consistently stood by the busi-ness of, by, and for the designerand ensured the showcase isintended to fuel big buys andorders. So really there is no com-promise that way. Our sponsorshave stayed with us over the years,which proves our brand worthand credibility. We have had 34editions so far and I have beenpart of the last 10. Within these

10-plus years, 40-45 shows havetaken place during each outing.Some shows have been a con-glomerate of four or five design-ers. I have been a part of morethan a 1,000 shows myself and tomaintain consistency has been ahuge effort by the FDCI and itsteam. The pressure of ensuring aquality outing has meant thedesigner has been on his/her feet,has evolved with the times and iscontinuously churning out newerdesigns, output and innovation.

Ours is not a slow industry.More so in the times of socialmedia when you are exposed toeverything happening then andthere. The awareness is so highthat you can’t afford to be compla-cent anymore. So Indian fashionhas changed much faster in thepast five years than maybe anyother industry. Because it is reallyhappening on a day-to-day basis.

But many people complain of aglut, of too many fashion weeksdiluting their very purpose? I agree there was a big fashionfatigue and I am not even sayingthat we are out of that as yet, butnobody gets tired of looking at afashionable outfit every singleminute on Instagram. So whatyou call fashion fatigue has trans-muted into curiosity. You might

be over-exposed but people arestill consuming it hungrily. That isthe reason why we are still inbusiness. Also, there is a demo-graphic mix of baby boomers tomillennials. One generation ishappy with slow fashion and theother wants fast fashion. Thedemand is taut between these twoarcs. That’s also the reason whyeven online entities now want a

touch-and-feel flagship store.

So how have online retail coun-ters and social media changedthe economics of fashion? Tremendously; they have madefashion gettable. The FDCI islucky to have an e-commerceplayer. That started on the basis ofparticipation in a fashion week.But sooner or later, they had to

develop their own platforms to bestrong enough and they havedone it very successfully. The dayis not far when we might haveonline fashion shows and if themarket goes that way, so will theFDCI. Personally, I am a bit oldworld though and would not wantto let go of the ramp up close.

What do you make of the designfluidity that has spilt over fromwhat we wear to the smallestaccessories and utilities? For a long time, India wasdeprived of foreign products. Justto get hold of an Ikea magazinewas considered a luxury. Peoplewere not exposed to possibilities.Now that they are, they know theycan roll out a thousand productsout of one kind of weave or motif.Imagine the multi-billion scale ofdiversification. We never had adesign school, there was NIFTand that too is also not more than20 years old. What was experi-mental product design can nowbe utilitarian and mass grade.Young people are choosing fash-ion as a career even more nowbecause you have to immerseyourself in it as much as engineer-ing, medicine, or applied scienceto get the results.

How did you find your way intofashion? I did not want to get into myfamily business of automobile

spare parts and even though Ijoined because of family pres-sure, my heart was always set onthe export market of handicrafts,textile and apparel. Fresh out ofcollege, I left for Europe, Canada,and America with a bagful ofsamples. That exposure andexperience worked in under-standing how brand India couldbe marketed. I was fortunate Ihad achieved what I wanted to inmy corporate life before I cameto the FDCI, so I had alreadyworked with the best.

One of the largest sourcingcompanies in the world boughtmy intellectual rights. I achievedlarge turnovers of my own, so Iwas ready to give everything tothe fashion industry withoutexpecting anything in return. It isa blessing in disguise that I got somuch out of the industry. It hasmade me value people. It has putme in the limelight without mewanting it. Even the 20-25 yearsof solid work I did in my earlierfield got more recognition.

I have worked with all fashiondesigners and done manyalliances with them. I have madeso many different products usingtheir inspiration and given themadditional lines to work with.That to me is a very big satisfac-tion. Most importantly, we havealways had a healthy financialposition. The FDCI is now capa-ble of doing many things.

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Heart disease is getting younger by the day inIndia and is striking people at unlikely ages.With increasing lifestyle deviation and spik-

ing stress, its catchment area is ominously increas-ing, taking even children in its grip. According toseveral industry reports, heart disease is becomingawfully common in the ages just after 30 and itbecomes imperative that one takes preventive steps.

Despite noteworthy achievements in healthcareand an increase in life expectancy, the country is fac-ing a serious threat from the increasing non-com-municable diseases(NCDs) and heartailments associatedwith l i festylechanges. Today,NCDs claim asmany as 15 millionlives (61 per cent)between the age of30-70, with 45 percent of them beingaffected by CVDs.A study says, 10 percent of all patientswith heart diseasetoday are under theage of 40.

India has a dis-tinction of beingknown as the heartdisease capital ofthe world and Indians are genetically predisposedto develop heart diseases. This coupled with a seden-tary lifestyle and stress only makes us even moreprone to heart ailments. While everyone likes to havea healthy lifestyle and mostly all are aware of the waysto achieve it, one soon realises how difficult it is tofollow all those practices in the practical world. Withdeadlines at work, dining out, late nights, and earlymornings, it’s easy to miss out on health.

With a little precaution and planning for the dietand lifestyle one leads, one can learn to take care ofthe heart. But while you exercise, follow a healthydiet, avoid stressing yourself and sleep well, protect-ing the heart against uncertainties and medical emer-gencies is also essential. Given the risk factors galore,the assessment of heart health should start early intoday's life. Regular screening and remedial actionsthereafter is the only way to keep your heart healthy.

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The Momo and Blue WhaleChallenges recently spreadenormous fear in the nation,and there is a need for astrong legal framework to

regulate such trends which can be athreat to human lives. In today’s world,almost everyone is living two lives —a life of his own and a life in the virtu-al space. The hectic schedules of today’scomplicated and stressful life have hadsuch a massive impact on the lives ofpeople that they have started living adubious life. To add to this, there arelots of games which are making mat-ters worse. Social media games thesedays are not just addictive, they alsoinstigate suicidal tendencies.

The pattern of luring people orattracting them to such games or chal-lenges starts with a request from ananonymous sender in the form of aninvitation to complete simple tasks. Thisgradually leads up to dangerous ones.In some cases, it even drives individu-als to commit suicide.

Recently, a Class X student inAjmer, Rajasthan succumbed to thethreats of Momo challenge and com-mitted suicide by hanging herself at herresidence. A deeper understanding ofthese fads can probably help oneunderstand what can be done to avoidsuch an unfortunate end.

��� ��((����The latest addition to the list of danger-ous — sometimes even fatal — onlinegames is the ‘Momo Challenge’.According to recent media reports,Momo Challenge has a social mediaaccount called ‘Momo’ on various socialmedia platforms. It deploys the pictureof horror artwork known as ‘MotherBird’. This image tends to draw curios-ity among children and the youth. Oncethey get hooked, it drives them to per-form several dangerous tasks.

The accounts associated withMomo Challenge are connected tothree numbers from Mexico, Columbia,and Japan. If a person wants to quit thegame midway and is reluctant to takepart in the challenge, he is threatenedwith several creepy images that createa strong and terrifying effect. There areclaims that these are malicious attemptsat deriving information about theusers based on their pattern of usageand their behaviour.

The Momo Challenge entails a hor-rifying image of a female whose eyespop out of the sockets. This sender fur-ther sends instructions to the playersand on not following these, they are sentmore such scary videos and clips too.

�(�����(�� ��((����Before Momo Challenge, what domi-nated human minds in a similar man-ner was the Blue Whale game or ‘BlueWhale Challenge’ as it was popularlyknown. The game throws some chal-lenges on a daily basis which the play-ers are required to accomplish. Thegame starts with simple tasks likewaking up in wee hours, listening to aparticular type of music, watchinghorror movies etc. Gradually, the chal-lenge leads to peeling out one’s own skinin particular shapes and sizes. It even-tually leads to suicide.

What makes it tormenting in the

very process is that the participant hasto share photographs showcasing thatthe tasks are completed.

There is a lot of speculation onhow these games are played. Whilesome say that these are done bydownloading these applications onyour phones, some believe that thesegames are played via popular socialmedia platforms.

While there are several instanceswhere social media laws and cybercrime department of our country havetaken an active part in annihilating thedanger, there needs to be done a lot interms of these games. While the mat-ter of banning such nuisances evenreached the top most court of the coun-try, the agencies have not been able toblock access to these addictive and dan-gerous challenges.

As a safety measure and in order toeducate children to stay away from such

dangerous challenges, several warningshave been issued by schools and otherauthorities in order to caution the par-ents or others to remain alert, vigilantand careful for their wards. While self-control is the primary and the mostimportant guideline for any person inmost of the cases, at times these gamesbecome difficult to ignore and avoid. Inmost of the cases, these games aretempting and apparently simple inoutlook,. But once a person getsinvolved and goes further, they becomedeadly and tumultuous.

However, what is required at themoment is a strong regulatory frame-work that would set certain rules andregulations for these online games/chal-lenges. In terms of online games, rules,regulations and limitations are still atthe nascent stage. There seems to be nodefinite law pertaining to online gam-ing. As a result, the laws that are

imposed by the central authorities inconnection to different states andregions are blurred. There is no definitetechno-legal framework that will setlimitations for this online gaming. Infact, unfortunately, the central govern-ment has not been able to enforce cyberlaw diligence and internet intermedi-ary liability law in India effectively. Theneed of the hour is to pass a law ban-ning usage, sharing and accessibility ofsuch games/challenges through socialmedia or otherwise.

The impact of these games isgradually increasing. The death tollgenerating from the Momo Challengeis, in fact, capable of crossing that ofthe Blue Whale Challenge. Thus, thereshould be measures at both the legaland individual levels to regulate suchchallenges and ensure that lives ofhuman beings are not at risk.

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The jury is out on whetherCCTV cameras areimportant in classrooms

or not. The recent Delhi cabinetnod approving the installation ofCCTV cameras in governmentschools and the subsequentquashing of the PIL against theDelhi Government’s proposal toinstall over 1.4 lakh CCTVcameras inside the classrooms ofthe schools, by the Delhi HighCourt are landmark events thatwill go a long way in setting aworthy precedent.

While privacy is an impor-tant concern when it comes tochildren, it really needs to be bal-anced with safety, an area thathas so far been sadly compro-mised. A spate of cases in therecent past have thrown thespotlight on the fact that theschool space which is considered

to be a safe haven for childrendoes not always turn out to benecessarily so when a slew ofsafety measures aren’t followed.Both as parents and schooladministrators we have followedthe coverage of many such casesin media which have left us won-dering about the security of ourchildren as we send them off toschool everyday in the hope ofprocuring a brighter future forthem. Yet sometimes, these veryinstitutions that are supposed tobe the guardians of their future

fail to protect them and they arerobbed of their present.

CCTV cameras are one wayto ensure that there is constantsurveillance and that childrenare always within earshot ofresponsible adults (even if dig-itally). With growing cases ofsexual misconduct, bullying andmore, this certainly is the needof the hour, not only so that youcan monitor the child’s safety butalso so that perpetrators of suchheinous crimes are fearful ofcommitting any wrong action

knowing that their moves arebeing watched.

Also, in Governmentschools or even in some privateones, where issues have beenraised on teacher absenteeism,poor quality of teaching andmore, CCTV cameras can comein handy as they can help onemonitor the quality of educationbeing imparted.

Of course what is requiredis that the footage be passwordprotected and be available onlyto a select few and not to any

strangers lest the security of chil-dren is compromised at anystage. In fact as parents, wewould well be within our rightsto opt for schools that have theseprovisions, where footage isavailable not just on demand butwhich provide access to live feed.

A lot of the success of theinstallation of CCTV cameraswill however still depend on theattitude adopted by both schoolauthorities and parents. Theyneed to view the provision as asafety mechanism for their child

and not turn it into monitoringmechanism where the childfeels that every move of his/ heris being watched. This technol-ogy should not turn one into ahelicopter parent where theyview each and every move of thechild. It goes without saying thatsuch actions will smother thechild and not allow him or herto develop independently to thefull potential.

As long as all of us under-stand that the idea of employ-ing technology is clearly not todetract from the carefree atti-tude of childhood but just tooffer safety which is everychild’s right, there is no way wecan go wrong.

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Love blossoms at the unlikeliest ofplaces, with the unlikeliest of peo-ple, in the strangest circum-

stances and in most spontaneous andnatural ways. An elderly couple grap-pling with the loneliness caused due tothe death of their respective spouses,living with grown-up children, decideto cut across boundaries of religionand social stereotypes to find love andcompanionship at their advanced age,sans its typically youthful haste orrashness of actions. A middle-agedman living in the cocoon of a passion-ate love that was nurtured over letterswith a pen pal but inexplicablysnapped short at a young age, finallyopens up to his wife to find completeacceptance and embraces love. Ayoung woman comes to terms with herdead mother’s extramarital relationshipand unexpectedly finds solace and res-olution in life. Many such well-chosen,heart-warming stories exploring themyriad facets of love are on offer in thecollection, Storywallah.

Storywallah is a bouquet of twentystories written by nine writers fromNeelesh Misra’s famed Mandali found-ed by Misra in 2011, comprising ofhandpicked and closely mentoredupcoming writers. It is this Mandaliwhich churned out the vast repertoireof lyricist, radio storyteller, journalistand writer Neelesh Misra’s extremelypopular shows like Yaadon ka IdiotBox, The Neelesh Misra Show, Qissonka Kona, Time Machine and KahaaniExpress to name a few. The nine writ-ers whose works find place inStorywallah are Anulata Raj Nair (fourstories), Kanchan Pant, JamshedQamar Siddiqui and Manjit Thakur(three stories each), Umesh Pant andChhavi Nigam (two stories each), andShabnam Gupta, Ankita Chauhan andSnehvir Gosain with one story each. Itmust be mentioned that all these writ-ers belong to different age groups,backgrounds and professions.

The stories in the collection probeseveral themes including love andbelonging, companionship and long-ing, memory and nostalgia, parent-hood, community, and death. In theopening story “Wildflower” byKanchan Pant, Nemat is shocked byher discovery of her dead mother’sextra marital affair, and to put it sim-ply, finds it hard to breathe. She findsher mother’s request to “Please try andunderstand my relationship withAnirudh” completely baffling and sheends up climbing several “mountainsof rage and disgust, of hatred and help-lessness”. As she meets and observesAnirudh, the ice begins to melt and for

the first time, she reads her mother’sletter “not as her daughter, but as awoman”, and unravels the deeper con-nection of mind that had sustained hermother. While there is no action per sein the story, the gentle emotionalmovements bind the several threads ofthis poignant story.

In Umesh Pant’s “Nails”, Simmi callsoff her engagement from what lookedlike a picture-perfect relationship withSumit for a seemingly frivolous reason:He chides her to prim her nails. Thewriter cleverly employs the eminentlyfeminine stereotype of long nails to asurprising effect: Sumit’s strong reactionto her long nails gets Simmi thinkinghard about the “correlation betweenlong nails and goodness”, about whetherthe steering of her relationship was inher own hands, and where was theindependent, chirpy and sprightlyyoung Simmi of yesteryear. JamshedQamar Siddiqui’s protagonist, a

divorced, single mother in “A DivorcedGirl”, defies the stereotype of “Divorcedwomen (don’t) say no” to come out of asuffocating alliance to reaffirm herindependence and her right to live herown life on her own terms; she realises,“In one second, it felt as if all of societyhad compressed itself...in Gaurav’simage.... Like society, Gaurav too feltthat he was doing me a favour by mar-rying me, and that in my gratitude Iwould do whatever he asked of me”.

Manjit Thakur’s “Satrangi” the read-er finds the beautiful bride Satrangi’sdreams of a romantic wedding nightshattered to pieces, the contrast betweenher and her husband Chandramohan isskilfully brought out: “There was nocomparison. Chandramohan had smalleyes, hers were big and kohl-lined. Hisnose was bulbous, hers was sharp…Chandramohan was uneducated andSatrangi had topped the whole dis-trict…She wrote poetry and stories, and

everyone had known that she wouldmake something of her life”. Thepoignancy of the story is enhanced withthe discovery of an intense but mellowlove blossoming with the ghost of themansion, young Robert Clive. Satrangi’sgrowing affection towards Robert is nat-urally marked by a growing alienationwith the world around her. The storydepicts contrasting notions of life anddeath with respect to love.

Of her four stories included in thiscollection, it is “Amaya” where AnulataRaj Nair’s craft finds a completeexpression. Amaya, a young widow ofa martyred soldier, decides to live withher in-laws for the rest of her life. Herlife is punctuated by loving memoriesof her husband’s love for her and thebrief but happy time they had spenttogether: “When she was in his armsshe felt no pain could touch her. Lifewas so carefree when he was with her”.She discovers that she is pregnant witha part of Prashant growing within her,and she weaves new dreams for thenew life, “She sang sweet lullabies asshe prepared for the beautiful daysahead”. But her desire to continue liv-ing her life the way he liked her to beis brutally dashed by her conservativein-laws: When she decides to wear abright orange saree that Prashant hadliked, she is reminded of her widow-hood, “It was Prashant’s favourite,right? Well he is not sitting here nowto appreciate you in it”. When herdaughter is subjected to similar shack-les of tradition, Amaya’s weaknessgives way to a newfound strength andshe decides to take her daughter away,“If I keep killing my dreams and wish-es, who will keep (my daughter)’salive? Prashant would never havewanted me to be sad”. The narrativeflows beautifully through the differentstages of Amaya’s life and moves thereader into a recognition of a youngwoman’s desires.

All in all, this book does a fascinat-ing job at capturing the distinct flavourof life making its way through small-towns and big cities.

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Imagining Lahore, HaroonKhalid’s fourth book in India,compares the Lahore of proverbswith the Lahore of today.Through a mix of nostalgia and

the angst that comes from the madnessof urban life, he imagines what Lahoremust have been like in its golden daysand what it might have been today hadhistory run a different course. His keenhistorian’s eye helps him dig up cultur-ally loaded anecdotes that got “parti-tioned” in 1947 and makes the Indianreaders wonder how many more ofsuch anecdotes must still lie buried,waiting to be dug up again.

Could you describe your first memo-ry of Lahore as a city with a uniquecharacter? From where do most of your initial discoveries aboutLahore’s past come?Lahore is home for me. So, growingup, I could never reflect on its idio-syncrasies. It was the only normal Iknew. I began experiencing a new citysoon after my graduation, when I wasintroduced to Iqbal Qaiser. He is alocal historian who has worked exten-sively on the history of the city. Ibegan traveling around with him,exploring abandoned temples, gurd-waras, and other historical structures.Through him I was able to seethrough the rush, the overcrowdedresidential quarters and imagine thehistoricity of a locality, or its history.

One of the most astonishing discov-eries for me was of a locality quite closeto my home, which I used to pass on adaily basis without giving secondthought to it. I learned that this is a his-torical village which might even predatethe arrival of the Mughals. It was discov-eries like these, the extraordinary storiesof many ordinary localities aroundLahore that led me to write this book.

Is Pakistani youth becoming moreaware of how distorted stories of thepast are often fed to young people inorder to serve the interests of a few?I don’t think so. Meta state narrativescan be very complicated to peelthough, particularly if one is not pro-vided the right tools. I don’t think thisis a problem unique to Pakistan. I see asimilar pattern all over South Asia,India, Bangladesh. What makes thisnarrative so pervasive is its introduc-tion to the children at a young age,through school text books, popular dis-course and media.

Which traits of its illustrious past has the modern day Lahore managedto retain? I think Lahore today is in many ways a

completely new city, a post-Partitioncity. It is not that iconic multi-religiousmetropolis that made it one of themost exciting cities of British-India.But then in many ways it is still thesame city. Its hard for me to pin-pointexactly what those characteristics are. Ifeel like it’s a cultural spirit that per-vades all over the city and can be expe-rienced in the courtyards of its Sufishrines, its festivals, its foods, its edu-cational institutions, and its attitudes.

Dulla Bhatti is a figure that is stillremembered and celebrated in someparts of India. To find out that hisgrave is in Pakistan makes a 20-some-thing Indian reader wonder howmany more of such intriguing storieswe have lost to the Partition. Do youhave some more of such anecdotesthat you could share here?I don’t think stories are lost due to

Partition. Like everything else, even thestories are partitioned. Thus they havebecome lost to a segment of a broadersociety while they remain alive in otherplaces. From Pakistan’s perspectivethere are several such stories that welost to the communalisation of historyand culture. The stories of GuruNanak, Guru Arjan, Bhagat Singh, LalaLajpat Rai, Kartar Singh Sarabha areonly few of the myriad stories that welost. They are also the stories of PuranBhagat, whose temple still exists inSialkot, or the story of Parhlad Bhagatwhose temple once was the centralshrine in the ancient city of Multan.

If you could have it your way, couldthere have been a way to moderniseLahore without compromising on its cultural identity?Absolutely. Right now there are strictspatial divisions that divide the modern

from the traditional. The traditional inthis interaction often is reduced toghettos. If it was up to me I wouldmake the walled city of Lahore the cen-tre of the city with Lahore flankingboth sides of Ravi. I would also like toincorporate dozens of historical ham-lets within the city, instead of cagingthem within walls as suburban commu-nities develop around it. Within certainlocalities and streets there needs to be ablanket ban on the use of cars.

In news reports and travelogues,Lahore is still talked about as the cul-tural hub of Pakistan. Do you agree? I think this is a title that Lahore stilldearly holds onto but I don’t feelLahore still retains that central positionit once did. I think one issue has beenthe overall decline in cultural activitiesin the city. Basant was banned manyyears ago and concerts have become

rare due to terrorist threats. The spacefor cultural activities has shrunk allover the country. Lahore was once thecapital of the Pakistan Film Industrywhich played an important role in giv-ing Lahore the title of cultural hub. In1990s the movie industry also experi-enced a gradual death, thus deprivingthe city of its special position. In therecent years there has been a revival ofthe film industry but that has beenmore Karachi centric.

As far as show business is con-cerned Karachi is now the heart of theindustry. Lahore was also once the hubof literary activities in the country. Itwas once home to writers such as FaizAhmed Faiz and Manto. In many waysthese literary activities have survivedand there are regularly meet ups andthere is a resistant vernacular literaryculture, however it is far from theLahore of the 1950s and 1960s.

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The practice and theoretical ren-dering of the SDGs (Sustainable

Development Goals) is here to stayin the larger international system. Inthe context of international organ-isations, as an aftermath of theWorld War-I, the lengthening shad-ow of then empty seat at the Councilof the League of Nations (LON), stillholds a grim grain of relevance.

American President WoodrowWilson aimed to make the UnitedStates a member of the LON andalso as a key player in the interna-tional arena. As the AmericanSenate rejected the President’s offerof a legislation to make US a mem-ber of the League’s Secretariat andthe Council, the argument whichbecame fetid was that the length-ening shadow of the Americanempty chair had a final debilitatingimpact upon the future of theLeague of Nations as it lost its legit-imacy and power sans America’s for-malised presence. This year thegreen Granite backdrop of theGeneral Assembly witnessed amixed narrative for the entirepanoply of world states.

American President DonaldTrump deftly occupied his seat ofpower at the United Nation’sGeneral Assembly with theAmerican representative, NikkiHalley, by his side and charted outhis “Novae World Order” withquintessential American and nation-al interest oriented talk. He eclecti-cally congratulated the nations ofthe larger world in having stuck tothe task of ameliorating the humansecurity conditions. He categoricallyhailed the Indian nation for beinga true blue historically “Free soci-ety set-up” which had left no stoneunturned to elevate the impover-ished section of the denizens, who,were mired in the quicksand ofpoverty, malnutrition, disease andunemployment. Much earlier inthe National Security Strategy of2017, President Trump had eggedon India and Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to assume a glob-

ally acceptable leadership role play-ing for the Indian nation and tomove up the ladder of being a super-power.

The SDGs are not a new grainof salt as they have their roots hid-den in the global welfare idiom ofthe Indian state’s pantheon andalso in the entrepreneurial zeal ofthe United States of America. TheAmerican President in his UNGAaddress in New York charted out thetrajectory of allies and foes alike,which, the US is confronted with inthe contemporary context. Heappreciated the entire world as partof global war on terrorism for hav-ing extricated out the ISIS in nations

such as Syria and Iraq. He ear-marked Iran as the key threat for theentire West Asian and the globalcomity of nation states. He declaredIran and its attendant establishedunder Khomeini as being the glob-al sponsor of terrorism in West Asiaand beyond. Last year, the AmericanPresident in his UNGA address tothe world had solicited internationalcooperation to get rid of the “RocketMan” Kim-Jong-Un. North Korea’sriddance was the last year’s pet peevebut with the Trump-Kim summitbecoming the nom de plume ofdemilitarisation and disarmament,the attention is focused on Iran withnew sanctions being slapped on it.

Along with the American strate-gic ire comes the declaration to theIran’s trade partners not to do com-merce and trade with Tehran as thatwould attract sanctions, but nationssuch as Turkey have ignored theTrump’s clarion call despite a fracasdelimiting the horizons of the US-Turkey relations. But, in a manner,President Trump recognised themultilateral nature of the interna-tional system with gory conse-quences for the forces inimical toAmerica’s interests.

He declared as he had done inhis campaign trail, that, there can beno more free lunches from theAmerican fold, and the European

nations and others will have to payup for the American securityumbrella ushering in, “AccountableSecuritisation” as the smooth sail-ing factor for the world’s larger well-being.

The drawing of frontiers andfences is akin to what PresidentTrump premises his larger policy on.The President congratulated hisestablishment for having signed anew trade deal with Mexico in thecontext of what President calls as the“slighting of the sovereignty” forWashington. The narrative of glob-al cooperation with the clarion callto be co-equals in contributions tointernational organisations was one

of the oft-repeated refrains of thePresidential communication to thelarger world of recalcitrant nationStates, both in the context of spatialterrorism and geo-economics. Still,the new role playing envisaged forNew Delhi is a “first” in many sens-es that nations such as India can actas bridges to the orient and can playa domineering role in the upkeep ofbalance of power and peace in theAsian continent.

Power, prosperity and peace,emerged as the tripod-foundation-al elements of the US foreign poli-cy which included a moral-liberalentreaty to the larger comity ofnations. President Trump castigat-ed the brutal regime of Bashar-Al-Assad and congratulated thereforms being undertaken in Riyadhalong with the stability role play forIsrael in a new West Asian region-al order in the near future. InisClaude’s seminal work on the UnitedStates is now read more as a classictext and its title itself pinpointstowards the larger role of the UnitedNations as the Book is titled “FromSwords into Ploughshares.”

The Washington Post writesthat the initial part of PresidentTrump’s Speech consists of boastsstraight out of the hyperbole of hisPresidential campaign trail. Theposer can be that how can, “address-ing the threats facing the World andtalking about a vision to usher in alifeline to the larger humanity” beequated with plane jane rhetoric andmumbo jumbo?

President Trump was not wrongin declaring that United State’seconomy had added 10 trillion dol-lars in wealth and unemploymenthad receded by half and the stockmarket is at an all-time high inAmerican history. He contended,“The United States is a stronger,richer and safer country” now withthe 2018 military budget beingaugmented to 716 billion dollars, animprovement over 700 billion dol-lars in 2017. The idiom being thestratagem to increase the girth and

the striking might of the AmericanDefense establishment.

In a way the unilateralism, withits precedent, patriotism, is thebulwarks of President Trump’s twinpegs of foreign policy and gover-nance. Still, the US might be with-drawing as of now, but not into aself-imposed shell as PresidentTrump believes in his own MonroeDoctrine of the contemporarytimes. The core refrain of theAmerican intent apart from the pre-sent entreaty at the United NationsGeneral Assembly is that the US isnot retreating inside a cocoon butit is being more practical and busi-ness like in factoring in the trans-actional costs with the rest of thenations. Thus, akin to his NationalSecurity Strategy of 2017, theUNGA speech was a reiteration ofwhat the United States intends tomete out to the rest of the comity ofnations which might have its stereo-typical bluster but is definitely well-conceived and well delineated. Thenew liberal order of the Demos ishere to stay even if it appears hard-nosed to some of the other forces inthe World system. With issues suchas Jude aspirant Bret Kavanaughrankling the domestic political fir-mament and allegations arisingfrom a few domestic quarters,President Trump can count on anovae veneer to his foreign policywhich has characteristically con-cluded that it is not only Moscow,but a blithe Beijing too which hasunwelcomingly intervened in theAmerican electoral process.

The United Nations GeneralAssembly utterings spell a newaggression with an intent to clarifythe American approach in a fastchanging comity of nations whichis something on the lines of the,“New World Order” approach ofPresident George Bush in the year1991.

(The writer teaches InternationalRelations at Indian Institute of PublicAdministration, Delhi)

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Ending tuberculosis (TB) isan important global prior-

ity today. The first-ever UnitedNations General AssemblyHigh-Level Meeting on TBwas convened on September 26where heads of states and rep-resentatives of states made keycommitments towards endingthe disease. We now stand at acrucial moment in TB historyas we approach the targets setwithin the SustainableDevelopment Goals and theglobal mandate for expansionof universal health coverage.

One of the challenges withachieving these goals lies indiagnosing and treatingpatients accurately and effi-ciently. This is particularly per-tinent for India where 4.45 percent of deaths in the countryare attributed to the disease(Global Health Data Exchange,2016). Studies indicate that inIndia, only 60 per cent of TBpatients are successfully diag-nosed, 45 per cent completetreatment, and 39 per centachieve recurrence-free sur-vival. (Subbaraman R,Nathavitharana RR,Satyanarayana S, Pai M,Thomas BE, The TuberculosisCascade of Care in India'sPublic Sector: A SystematicReview and Meta-analysis.PLOS Medicine)

India has recently madegreat strides in access to andcoverage of evidence-based TBservices to reduce losses alongthe cascade of care. The Joint

Effort for Elimination ofTuberculosis (JEET) project,for example, which will cover45 cities and 406 districts, aimsto amplify TB care coverage byconnecting patients in the pri-vate sector with free-of-costtreatment and benefits availableunder the national TB pro-gramme and standardisingtreatment protocols in the pri-vate sector. Also, since 2013,through the Initiative forPromoting Affordable andQuality TB Tests (IPAQT), pri-vate sector diagnostic labs areproviding WHO-endorsed TBtests at substantially reducedprices, which would otherwisebe unaffordable for a largesection of the population.

While access and coverageare foundations of a high-quality health system, achiev-ing improved health outcomesalso requires a focus onimproving processes of care.India's new National StrategicPlan does envisage the imple-mentation of certain QualityImprovement systems for TBcare, however, studies havepointed out that processes ofTB care (i.e., extent to whichpatients receive recommendedcare) in India in both the pub-lic and private sector fall shortof national and internationalstandards. (Quality of tubercu-losis care in high burden coun-tries: the urgent need to addressgaps in the care cascade,International Journal ofInfectious Diseases, Volume

56, 2017, Pages 111-116, ISSN1201-9712)

Fortunately, well-estab-lished methods to monitor andimprove processes of care existand are easily adapted to theIndian context. QualityImprovement methods werefirst introduced in the 1920s to

reduce variation in manufac-turing processes and therebyproduce a consistent product.These methods evolved furtherand were applied with greatsuccess to the automotiveindustry, particularly by com-panies like Toyota in Japan, inthe 1980s and have since

become established in nearlyevery industry, includinghealthcare. At its basic core,Quality Improvement involvesthe use of facility-level data byfront-line providers to drivecontinuous process improve-ment. For example, the Modelfor Improvement which

embraces the Shewhart Cycle,commonly known as Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) is acommon Quality Improvementframework in which a team ofhealth workers develops anaim, identify changes to test intheir system, implement thosethat are successful, and then

assess their impact on the pre-defined performance measures.The cycle is repeated continu-ously to achieve and sustainhigh-quality care.

Nascent QualityImprovement efforts relatedto TB care are now beingreported around the world.Studies in Uganda have shownthat quality indicators of TBcare can be measured usingdata routinely collected in TBregisters and used to driveperformance improvement.South Africa recently becamethe first country to develop andimplement a formal TB QualityImprovement programme on anational scale. The latterrequires the national TB pro-gramme to lead the develop-ment of a formal QualityManagement Plan that estab-lishes a technical workinggroup or committee, a set ofcore performance measures,expectations for implementingQuality Improvement activities,plans for staff capacity buildingand patient/communityinvolvement.

These elements of gover-nance, which include nationalmonitoring of core measures,are necessary to sustain thehealth system's focus on qual-ity in the face of environmen-tal changes that affect the sta-bility of healthcare organisa-tions and the workforce.(Bardfield J, Palumbo M, GeisM, Jasmin M, Agins B. ANational Organizational

Assessment (NOA) to BuildSustainable QualityManagement Programs in Low-and Middle-Income Countries)

Such a system would helpIndia's national TB programmequickly identify real-time chal-lenges and implement risk mit-igation strategies. To test theefficacy of this system inimproving programmatic out-comes, the TB programme canconsider piloting it in selectedsites across the country.

A fundamental concept ofimprovement is that every sys-tem is perfectly designed toachieve exactly the results itachieves. ComprehensiveQuality Improvement systemswill be vital to perfectingIndia's national TB programmeand ensuring that every TBpatient successfully completestreatment. India has estab-lished the foundations of a sys-tem to transform the quality ofits TB care. Now, all that is leftfor the country is to implementchange.

(Dr Adithya Cattamanchi isan Associate Professor ofMedicine and co-Director of theImplementation ScienceTraining Program at theUniversity of California SanFrancisco. Dr Bruce Agins is theDirector of HEALTHQUALInternational and Professor ofEpidemiology at the Universityof California San Francisco,Institute for Global HealthSciences)

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In contemporary India, genderhas become a point of discus-sion not just in the sphere of

academia, but also in media, andcoffee houses as well as dinnertables. While spilling over of dis-cussions is a step in the rightdirection, there remains a truththat cannot be wished away —discrimination and inequalitybased on one’s gender. Gender:Discrimination and Inequality inContemporary India is a collec-tion of essays edited by JayaShrivastava, which takes a look athow gender is constructed, per-formed, and censored in India.

Shiv Kumar Yadav’s essay,‘Gender Discrimination andInequalities: Status, Causes andSolutions’, is a succinct summaryof the issues that plague women.Yadav draws mostly from litera-ture, and dwells on the nature of awoman’s role as described inprominent texts. Women havebeen generally regarded, even inreligious texts, and in texts of lit-erary prominence, as second classcitizens and those who must sub-mit to their assigned male coun-terparts to hope for any growthand development. The essay is anattempt to locate how power isgenerated and distributedthrough one of the most powerfultools of knowledge, books.

Nikhil Kumar along withMukesh Bharti and Preeti Misratake the arguments forwardthrough their exploration of sex-ual minorities, and Nikhil Kumartakes a look at the philosophicalaspect of discrimination based

along the lines of gender.Society is an undeniable and

powerful force that reaffirms andcensors gender roles. RituAgarwal and Anuja, in theirrespective research, give us aglimpse of how society framesdiscriminatory practices againsta gender, particularly women,and validates it through repeti-tion, and the threat of punish-ment and social exclusion.

The growing debate on TripleTalaq, along with an opening up ofvoices of Indian Muslim women,avenues have opened up for criti-cally analysing the arena of mar-riage and the autonomy of womenwithin it. Added to it is the dimen-sion of technology, minutelyassessed by Faisal Akhtar and AsifAkhtar Khan in ‘GenderInequality and Mobile Phones:Problems and Conclusions forDeveloping Nations’.

In India, property andwomen have always shared anuneasy relationship. From own-ership to occupation and labour,women have had to negotiateserpentine paths to stake a claimin property. As the global econ-

omy spreads out its vast andintricate net, an increasingnumber of women have joinedthe workforce. However, as thesection on economy in the textpoints out, that is just tip of theiceberg. While opportunitiesfor women might have increasedin number, a glaring lack ofawareness and access to equal

pay continue to plague femaleworkers across disciplines.

Along with a gender-orient-ed gap in pay, there are alsomultiples cases of sexual harass-ment, both documented andundocumented, that continue tohound not just women, but any-one who does not identify withthe binary of male or female.

While protests have existed inIndia from a long time, thenature and demands of thesame have undergone massivechange over the years.

From physical marches toonline protests, the very nature ofexpressing dissent and registeringprotest have shifted with the risein technology and the globalisa-

tion of economy and lives. However, a personal favourite

from the eclectic collection ispossibly the take on KhabarLahariya, a rural media projectby certain women of UttarPradesh and Bihar. Neelu Sharmaand Gopal Singh provide aninsight into how protests in theera of online dissemination of

information function at thegrassroots. Run by a group ofrural women journalists, KhabarLahariya originated fromBundelkhand, a place plaguedwith caste and gender based vio-lence, low literacy rates, andpoverty. With a readership of80,000 people comprising mostlyof people from rural and semi-rural areas, the platform providesaccess to the world.

The collection is definitely abird’s eye view of the currentsocio-cultural and political sce-nario in a country that has strug-gled with maintaining a healthysex ratio in most of its States eventoday. While they do provide aninsight into numerous areas, likeGovernment funds for womenand minorities, to the publichealth services, brought to theforefront in recent times bymovies like Pad Man and Toilet:Ek Prem Katha, a lot still remainsto be written about. The essayshave looked at specific communi-ties and geographical locations,and yet, various areas, like that ofNorth-Eastern India or parts ofSouth India have not beenexplored. The thrust of theresearch is concentrated alongparts of North and Central India.

The book might have madeinroads into certain areas, but itwould be best to say that most ofthe research is still at a nascentstage. Be it the case study ofmobile phones or the history ofwomen’s movements in India, aneed for further investigation witha bigger sample size is required.

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As a Prime Ministerial candi-date, Narendra Modi hadfought the Lok SabhaElections from two places —Vadodara seat of his home

State Gujarat and Varanasi in UttarPradesh, the largest State in the country.Later, he relinquished the Vadodara seat.Now, as another Lok Sabha poll inchescloser, there is speculation over the num-ber of seats Modi will contest from.

Recently, the BJP’s Odisha unitoffered him Puri seat to fight from.The party has passed a formal proposaland sent it to Modi. This must benoted that Odisha will face theAssembly Elections along with LokSabha. The BJP believes that if the PMfights from Puri, then the party willbenefit in both elections. At the sametime, many leaders of Bihar BJP wantthe PM to contest from their State. ThePatna Sahib seat was proposed forModi, from where Shatrughan Sinha isthe party MP. Modi might also berequested to fight from either East orWest Champaran amidst the year-long150th birth celebrations of MahatmaGandhi. On the other hand, leaders ofGujarat have also urged him to contestfrom the State, and there is a proposalfrom the South as well. But one thing iscertain: He will fight from Varanasi.

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Think about this scenario: The Leftleaders standing with Mamata

Banerjee and jointly fighting the BJP.Sounds impossible? Well, nothing isimpossible in Indian politics. NitishKumar had formed his party against LaluPrasad, but later both joined hands; theTDP was formed against the Congressideology, but the two parties might fighttogether; rivals SP and BSP have alsocome closer. In the same vein, it mightnot be surprising if the TMC and Leftfront go together in West Bengal.

It is common knowledge thatMamata had formed the TMC to wipeout the Left Front from the State follow-ing the treatment meted out to her fel-low men. She chose the political route toseek retribution, and snatched powerfrom the Left after a long-drawn battle.Now, it seems that Mamata’s biggestenemy has changed — the BJP hasreplaced the Left. And that is why shehas reached out to the Left Front to stop her old ally, the BJP. Mamata hasannounced a big rally of the Oppositionparties in Kolkata on January 19, and ispersonally sending out all invites. Shehas invited the CM of Kerala andCommunist leader P Vijayan. Mamatasaid that apart from the CPM, she willalso invite leaders from the CPI, RSP,and Forward Bloc. The stand of the Leftleaders isn’t clear yet, but Mamata hassent a strong political signal.

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BJP’s National President Amit Shah ischallenging the Opposition leaders

to debates. Shah’s challenge has beenaccepted, but the question is how will

the debates be conducted and who willspeak on behalf of Shah? Will Shahengage in verbal duel with theOpposition leaders? There are manycountries where election debates areconducted. In India, they are organisedonly in the JNU at the time of studentunion elections, where all candidatesput forward their viewpoints. Now, ifShah has thrown down the gauntlet tothe Opposition parties on the issue ofdevelopment, then why shouldn’t thedebates be held before elections?

Recently, Shah addressed thePurvanchal Mahakumbh Rally in Delhi,where he declared that he was ready fora debate with CM Arvind Kejriwal onthe issue of development. Kejriwal thenasked him to decide the time of thedebate, but the BJP didn’t reply. If Shahand Kejriwal are indeed ready, what’sstopping them from a debate?

After a few days, Shah challengedthe Congress President Rahul Gandhi,saying they should have a debate on theissue of development. The Congressalso accepted the challenge, but nodebate took place. This was followed bya slew of suggestions on social mediaon the model and way to conduct thedebates. Many people said Sambit Patrashould be sent for the debate on behalfof the BJP, so it won’t matter whocomes from the Opposition’s side.

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What will the leader of SuheldevBharatiya Samaj Party — the

alliance partner of the BJP in UP — OPRajbhar do? The BJP leaders are keepinga hawkish eye on him in the same waythey are tracking Upendra Kushwaha inBihar. Both leaders have been the BJP’strump cards against Yadav politics in thetwo States. But as of now, they are nothappy with the BJP. Sources say Rajbharmight make a big announcement at theend of this month. He is gearing up for apolitical function on October 27, wherehe will revive the demand for reserva-tion. He wants the MBC category to becreated within the OBC category, so thatbackward castes can benefit.

Before this, he had been raisingother issues, such as corruption in theYogi Government. Although he is a partof that very Government, he says workin his constituency has been stuck dueto corruption. Now, he has starteddemanding reservation within reserva-tion. In the meantime, he also doesn’tmiss any opportunity to heap praises onthe Opposition parties, which couldexplain the BJP’s apprehensiveness.However, this is also being said that hecan break his relationship with the BJPon October 27. Though this is also truethat he is awaiting the results of fiveStates, just like Kushwaha.

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What will the Government do withthe 40 lakh people left out of the

Assam National Register of Citizens(NRC) final draft, which was released onJuly 31? The correction process, whichcommenced on September 28, will con-tinue till November 23. Documentsapproved by the court and NRCRegistrar are being accepted afresh andwill be investigated subsequently.According to speculation, post-investiga-tion, maximum four to five lakh nameswill be added to the NRC list. Even afterthat, 30 to 35 lakh people will still be offthe list, giving them the tag of illegalimmigrants from Bangladesh. WhileAmit Shah is calling them termites,claiming they would be thrown out ofthe country, there is news that India haspromised Bangladesh that no oneexcluded from the NRC would be sentback to that country. Such claims arebeing made by only Bangladeshi leaders,but they are naming the top leaders ofour country. HT Imam, political advisorof Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina, toldjournalists at Dhaka that PM Modi hadassured Hasina that no one would besent back from India. Elections are duein Bangladesh in the next few months, soit is possible that Imam’s statement ispolitically motivated.

Some days ago, Sayeed Najib Ul Haj, a

prominent leader in the BangladeshGovernment, also said that the top leader-ship of India had promised that no onewould be sent back to Bangladesh. Hesaid Minister of State for Home AffairsKiren Rijiju had assured him that all thesepeople are a part of the Indian economyand would be taken care of. Now thequestion is if no one would be sent back,then what’s the point of the NRC?

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Till date, only the Congress had beenup in arms against the Rafale deal.

The entire Opposition has not been unit-ed on this, like it was on the Bofors scan-dal. But now, the Left parties have decid-ed to hold an agitation against it. TheLeft has also decided to organise JanAdalats where experts on Rafale andother strategic issues will be invited.Some former Army officers will also becalled to give minute details of the deal.

The Congress had been focusing onthe Rafale price and Anil Ambani’s com-pany, which had been included as an offset partner. Now, it is being said thatthe Left will raise other minute issues.Meanwhile, questions are also beingraised on S-40, a deal with Russia, and itsoffset partner. But it’s not clear whetherthe Left will raise this issue. The Left isall set to hold protests against the deal inthe country after the Jan Adalats.

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AHalloween decoration hanging inthe window of a North Dakota

home is so scary that it promptedcalls from concerned neighbours andat least one plea for police assistance.The sign reading “Help Me,” whichappears to be written in blood, is part of Becky Muhs’ display for her favorite holiday at herWest Fargo home.

WDAY-TV reports thatMuhs and herhusband begangetting mes-sages fromneighboursover theweekendasking if they were OK,and one neighbour evendialed 911, leading to avisit from a police offi-cer. Muhs says the inci-dent ended in a laughand that the officerdidn’t ask her to takethe sign down.

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AMichigan man curious about a rockhe’d used for decades as a doorstop

now knows its secret: it’s a meteoriteworth $100,000. In fact, the nearly 23-pound hunk of iron and nickel is the

sixth largest meteorite found inMichigan, according to theSmithsonian Museum and

Central Michigan University.David Mazurek said he took his

doorstop to the university forexamination after seeing

reports in January ofmeteorite piecesselling for thou-sands of dollars. “Isaid, ‘Wait a

minute. I wonder how much mineis worth,’” Mazurek said.

University Geology ProfessorMona Sirbescu first identified

the piece as more than just arock. She then sent two smallslices of the rock to theSmithsonian for confirmation.“I could tell right away that

this was something special,” shesaid. “It’s the most valuable spec-

imen I have everheld in my life,monetarily andscientifically.”

Mazurek saidthe meteorite camewith a barn he bought in 1988 inEdmore. He said the farmer who soldhim the property told him it landed inhis backyard in the 1930s.

“The story goes that it was collect-ed immediately after they witnessedthe big boom and the actual meteoritewas dug out from a crater,” Sirbescusaid. More tests are being conductedto see if the meteorite contains rareelements. “What typically happenswith these at this point is that mete-orites can either be sold and shown ina museum or sold to collectors andsellers looking to make a profit,”Sirbescu said.

The Smithsonian and a mineralmuseum in Maine are considering pur-chasing the specimen. Mazurek saidthat when he sells the meteorite, he’lldonate some of the money to the uni-versity. “I’m done using it as a doorstop.Let’s get a buyer!” Mazurek said.

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Around a thousand dogs and their owners

marched on Britain’s parlia-ment on Sunday demanding an end to Brexit via a second vote on theterms of the country’s exit from theEuropean Union. Organisers of the so-called “Wooferendum” cam-paign argued that animals would suffer from leaving the EU, sayingthere would be a shortage of vets and a rise in pet food costs.

Bulldogs, both English and Frenchbreeds, were among those walkedthrough central London to ParliamentSquare. One grey Schnauzer wore ahomemade banner declaring “Brexit’sBarking Mad”.

The march backed a wider cam-paign for a ‘People’s Vote’ on Brexit, atwhich Britons would have the chanceto vote on whatever Brexit deal PrimeMinister Theresa May is able to bringback from Brussels.

At several ‘Pee Stations’ along theroute, dogs were encouraged to urinateon images of Brexiteers like formerforeign minister Boris Johnson and ex-

UK Independence Party leader NigelFarage — key faces in the 2016 Brexitreferendum campaign.

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AWashington state karaokehost is raising money for

breast cancer awareness bysinging the same GarthBrooks song for 36 hoursstraight. CliffSatterwhite, a Seattle-area karaoke host, saidhe is raising moneyfor the Real MenWear Pink breastcancer awarenesscampaign and mark-ing October’s BreastCancer AwarenessMonth by holding aone-man 36-hourkaraoke session with“Friends in Low Places” asthe only song. This willmark Satterwhite’s fourthmarathon karaokefundraiser.

“My attempt will feature onesinger, one song, no sleep breaks

and only a 2-5 minutebreak between songs forwater, food and bath-

room, that’s really whatsets it apart,” he told

KCPQ-TV. “The last threeyears have taught me so much

in terms of preparation,pace and when and

what to eat. I’velearned those areall key factors inthe success ofthis event.”

The goal ofthe attempt,which beganTuesday atStars Bar andGrill in Federal

Way and isscheduled to end

around noonWednesday, is to raise

at least $10,000 for thebreast cancer awarenesscampaign.

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Taylor Swift has made her firstforay into US politics, publiclyendorsing two Democrats for

the upcoming midterm elections,while aligning herself to fight forLGBTQ rights, gender equity, and anend to the “terrifying, sickening andprevalent” racism in the US. “In thepast I’ve been reluctant to publiclyvoice my political opinions, but dueto several events in my life and in theworld in the past two years, I feelvery differently about that now,”Swift wrote on social media onSunday night, in a plea for her youngfans to register and vote. The postaccrued 360,000 Instagram likeswithin the first hour.

“I always have and always will castmy vote based on which candidate willprotect and fight for the human rightsI believe we all deserve in this country.I believe in the fight for LGBTQrights, and that any form of discrimi-nation based on sexual orientation orgender is WRONG. I believe that thesystemic racism we still see in thiscountry towards people of color is ter-rifying, sickening and prevalent.

“I cannot vote for someone who

will not be willing to fight for dignityfor ALL Americans, no matter theirskin color, gender or who they love.”

In the post she backs Democratsin the key state of Tennessee, sayingshe “cannot support” MarshaBlackburn, the Republican candidatefor the Senate who was endorsed byDonald Trump last week, and hasvoted with Trump almost all the time.(“I’m politically incorrect and proud ofit,” the arch conservative said in her2017 Senate announcement video.)

When the Royal SwedishAcademy of Sciences inStockholm announced the

Nobel prize for physics this week,anyone wanting to find out moreabout one of the three winners wouldhave drawn a blank on Wikipedia.Until around an hour and a half afterthe award was announced on Tuesday,the Canadian physicist DonnaStrickland was not deemed significantenough to merit her own page on theuser-edited encyclopedia. The over-sight has once again highlighted themarginalisation of women in scienceand gender bias at Wikipedia.

Strickland is an associate profes-sor of physics and astronomy at theUniversity of Waterloo and formerpresident of the Optical Society, butwhen a Wikipedia user attempted tocreate a profile for her in March, thepage was denied by a moderator.“This submission’s references do notshow that the subject qualifies for aWikipedia article,” said the moderator.

Soon after Tuesday’s announce-ment, however, the Wikipedia com-munity scrambled to build up a pro-file, completing sections on her

research, biography and her awards.But the belated recognition contrastedwith that afforded to Strickland’s col-league Gérard Mourou — with whomshe shared the award — who had aWikipedia page in 2005. Stricklandshared the award with Mourou andArthur Ashkin for their work on pulselasers — widely viewed as a precursorto precise machining and lasersurgery. She is the first woman to winthe award since it went to MariaGoeppert-Mayer in 1963.

Australian researchers say theyhave developed a new tool thatcould help students cramming

for exams — a font that helps thereader remember information.Melbourne-based RMIT University’sbehavioural business lab and designschool teamed up to create “SansForgetica”, which they say uses psy-chological and design theories to aidmemory retention. About 400 univer-sity students have been involved in astudy that found a small increase inthe amount participants remembered— 57 per cent of text written in SansForgetica compared with 50 per centin a plain Arial. Typography lecturerStephen Banham said the font had anunusual seven-degree back slant to theleft and gaps in each letter. “The mindwill naturally seek to complete thoseshapes and so by doing that it slowsthe reading and triggers memory,”

Banham told the Guardian.Senior marketing lecturer Janneke

Blijlevens said the concept of “desir-able difficulty” underpinned the font’sdesign. “When we want to learnsomething and remember it, it’s goodto have a little bit of an obstructionadded to that learning process becauseif something is too easy it doesn’t cre-ate a memory trace,” she told theGuardian. “If it’s too difficult, it does-n’t leave a memory trace either. So youneed to look for that sweet spot.”

The font was designed with year12 students cramming for exams inmind but could also be used to helppeople studying foreign languages andelderly people grappling with memoryloss. Blijlevens is keen to test the fontin other contexts such as proofread-ing. Banham, who has created about20 fonts, said the typeface would bebest used for short texts.

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Michael Caine has writtena self-help book,although he’s never readone himself — heprefers thrillers. “Len

Deighton, that sort of stuff.” He has alsonever seen a therapist. “I think youhave to be mad to have therapy!” Helaughs, looks at me, waits for the joketo land. I laugh too. He is Sir MichaelCaine, after all — 85 years old,Hollywood icon, star of films like TheIpcress File, Alfie, Get Carter, The ItalianJob and A Muppet Christmas Carol, andmore than 100 others, with a voice sofamous that it is used in talking birth-day cards. He is also charming, goodcompany, and although his hair isdowny and his eyes rheumy, he still hascharisma. “No,” he says, serious now. “Iwould never go and see a psychiatristmyself. Because I’ve sorted myself out. Iwon’t say I don’t believe in psychologybecause I don’t know anything about it,and obviously it has done a great dealof good for a lot of people, so it is avalid thing, but…”

In many ways he’s right; he has sort-ed himself out. He’s self-made in thepurest sense, surviving slums andtrenches, pushbacks and heartbreaks,failure, discrimination, alcoholism andgrief. He has strived, thrived, succeeded— professionally and personally. He’swon two Oscars (and been nominatedfor six), he’s been married for 45 years,he’s got a big house in the country and apenthouse apartment in London’sChelsea Harbour — which is where wemeet, sitting at the far end of a vast din-ing table, the shelves crowded with pho-tographs of him and his grandchildren,him being knighted by the Queen, himand his wife Shakira on his 38th birth-day, cutting a massive pavlova.

Blowing the Bloody Doors Off: AndOther Lessons in Life is Caine’s thirdmemoir. He has also written analmanac of surprising facts called NotMany People Know That and a thrillerabout a terrorist attack involving aplane flying into a skyscraper, con-ceived before 9/11 and consigned to thedrawer thereafter. This new book isostensibly a how-to guide for movieactors. There are sections about block-ing and learning lines, being on timeand always remembering to carry apencil. But really it is about how toovercome adversity, offering personalanecdotes interwoven with homespun

wisdom such as, “It doesn’t matterwhere you start…”

Michael Caine was born MauriceMicklewhite Jr in 1933, the son of acharlady and a Billingsgate Market fishporter. The family lived in a two-roomflat, “with no electric light, no fridge,kino inside loo, no hot water”, and as ayoung boy Caine had to wear surgicalboots after contracting rickets. Hisfather gambled on the horses and Cainerecalls being three years old, totteringdown the stairs to answer the door tothe debt collectors. The book is redolentwith this sort of detail, but for Caine theprocess was not a Knausgårdianunspooling of deep memory, as he satthere with his green pad and felt-tippen, writing his life in capital letters.

His past is part of his mythology,and as such you get the sense that thiswas all set down and solidified longago, stories told and retold. “I have amemory like a computer. I rememberevery detail of everything about every-thing,” he says. During the SecondWorld War, Caine was evacuated, firstto a family who locked him in the cup-board under the stairs, Harry Potter-style. He was rescued by his motherand they moved, with his youngerbrother Stanley, to a farm in Norfolkwhere there were fresh milk and eggs,pheasants to shoot and rabbits to hunt.Caine was cured of rickets and wassoon towering over his 5ft 1in mother.

“I was six when the war broke out,and although it was a tragedy for theworld, it was the best thing that everhappened to me,” he says. The teacherin the local school saw his potential,tutoring him to win a scholarship to agrammar school, and instilling in him alifelong love of reading. After the war,the Micklewhites returned to south-eastLondon and the luxury of a prefabricat-ed council flat. Caine didn’t like school,but he did like acting at the local youthclub and he loved cinema. “I lived inthe cinema. I grew up watchingAmerican movies because I never sawanyone like me in British movies,except as some kind of gangster, a killeror a scumbag.”

The England of Caine’s youth wasdefined by class. “It used to be harmfulbecause it kept people, as they used tosay, ‘in their place’.”’ But Caine didn’twant to follow his father’s path; hewanted to be an actor. First, though, hehad to do two years of national service.

After eight weeks of army training, hejoined the occupation force in Berlin in1951. Then he served in Korea. Thiswas, he says, one of the toughest trialsof his life: Rat-infested trenches, nightsspent in no man’s land, thinking he wasgoing to be killed. But for all the terrorand horror, it was in Korea that he dis-covered that he wasn’t a coward; that ifhe was attacked, he would fight back.

He returned to London and, after adispiriting stint in a butter factory, got ajob in a repertory theatre in Horsham,West Sussex, being paid “two pound 10 aweek”. But he didn’t care how bad themoney was. “I just wanted to become thebest actor I could possibly be. There wereno thoughts of fame or riches or stardombecause I knew, and a million people toldme, that was absolutely impossible.” Henever gave up, even though he was toldagain and again that he would nevermake it, he didn’t look right, he didn’tspeak right. He never gave up, evenwhen he fainted on stage during a pro-duction of Wuthering Heights, from cere-bral malaria contracted in Korea. Henever gave up, even after he got marriedto an actor called Patricia Haines andhad a baby, Dominique, and life was sotough on their tiny actors’ incomes thatthe marriage failed, and, “young andbroke and desperate”, he walked out onhis family when his daughter was onlyeight months old.

In the book, he admits that he wasnot the father to Dominique that heshould have been, or indeed the hus-band he should have been, but has triedto make it up to his daughter in theintervening years. They have a relation-ship now, she raises horses and doesn’thave any children.

Caine had been working for nearlya decade when he got his break in thefilm Zulu, in which, surprisingly, heplays a lieutenant rather than a private.This only happened, he says, becausethe director, Cy Endfield, wasAmerican. England was then strictlystratified, but by the 1960s that socialorder was being challenged by a newgeneration of actors, writers, directors,artists, musicians and fashion design-ers. Caine was part of that revolution,most notably with his performance inAlfie, about the amoral adventures of acockney-about-town.

“None of us changed any-thing on our own, weall changed it togeth-

er; and we were really lucky to have thewriters, like Harold Pinter and JohnOsborne. Before them, no one hadwritten anything about the workingclass.” Caine has of course played manynon-cockneys; most recently FredBallinger, a classical-music composer,in Paolo Sorrentino’s Youth. But he con-tinues to be cast to type — his latestrole is as Brian Reader, the criminalpensioner who masterminded the 2015Hatton Garden heist, in the new filmKing of Thieves. And class is still anissue for actors.

By the 1970s, Caine was an interna-tional star. He had achieved so muchmore than he had ever thought possi-ble. And yet he was drinking more thana bottle of vodka a day. “Just a littledrop of vodka after breakfast. It was thetension. I drank to calm myself.” He istrying to be blasé, like this wasn’t aproblem, wasn’t indicative of anythingdeeper, and in those days a tot of vodkaafter breakfast might not have beenconsidered so unusual. “It was Shakirawho came along and stopped all that,so I really owe my life to her.”

He is a happy man, who enjoys thethree grandchildren who visit him athis house in Surrey most weekends,who likes to spend spare moments onhis own, gardening and cooking. He isstill being offered parts, although thelast two were both based in retirementhomes. The only real sadness for himnow is the fact that so many of hisdear friends are dead, people likeRoger Moore, who was, he says, sec-ond only to Shakira in the nicenessstakes. And his Mayfair Orphans, agroup that included Johnny Gold, theowner of Tramp nightclub, photogra-pher Terry O’Neill and tailor DougieHayward. “There were about 12 of us,and now there are only a few left. Wemeet every week. The value of theones who are left is so great.”

I ask him for one last piece of wis-dom — how he deals with grief, a sub-ject he has more experience of thanmost. This is the one time in the inter-view when he pauses, when he hasn’t gotthe funny line or an anecdote. He lookslike he might cry. “The way to managegrief is to get it all out. There are peoplearound you who need you. So I grieveterribly but for a very short time —

because you’ve got to moveon, you’ve got to survive.”

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Page 19: the lack of experience of Anil Ambani ‘who has never built a plane in his life’.” “HAL has no debt, Ambani has 45,000 crores of debt. HAL has been working for …

Iam talking about human bodies. Just likewe, souls, are parts of God (Gita 15.7),our bodies are parts of the material cre-

ation of God. A soul can reach the highestpeak of liberation and Vaikuntha. And, ahuman body can perform amazing some-times quite unbelievable feats. The follow-ing examples will illustrate what I mean.

Let me begin with Shri RamakrishnaParamhansa. He looked upon the Deity ofgoddess Kali as his mother and the motherof the universe. He used to spend a lot oftime in samadhi. One day God appeared infront of him in the form of Adi Shakti andhe immediately felt a strong bond towardsGod’s Kali form. How many of us have suchfortune of having darshan of God in per-son? But due to Shri Ramakrishna’s totaldevotion towards God’s deity form, he wasblessed like very few are.

The next example is of SwamiVivekananda. He did know fear. When hewas informed that he had been accepted asa delegate to speak at the ChicagoParliament, he was courageous. He spoke infront of a crowd of seven thousandalthough coming from a poor country likeIndia and speaking about Hinduism.

Socrates is my third example. At somepoint in his life, he had the realisation thathe was a soul, not a material body. Thismade him very courageous. When he wassentenced to death because of propagatingsomething his peers could not accept, that

is being very different from what theybelieved, he was sentenced to death bydrinking a mixture of poison hemlock. Hedrank it without hesitation.

Einstein is my fourth example. He was atheoretical physicist, who developed thetheory of relatively, one of the two pillars ofmodern physics. He died in 1955 but histheory has not been challenged even todaywith so much research going on with suchadvanced equipment and facilities. Einsteindidn’t have the benefit of these.

Bill Gates is my next example. He is anAmerican business magnet, investor, author,philanthropist, humanitarian, and principalfounder of Microsoft Corporation. Hewished to give charity unlimitedly.Therefore, God gave him enormous wealth.He has so far given $35 billion to charity.

The last example is of LataMangeshkar. She began singing activelyin 1942. She has recorded thousands of

songs in many languages. These are solo,duet and chorus backed.

These are topmost examples but thereare millions of other examples of personswho have done wonders. What makes themqualified to do so? These are some of thequalities. One should have one or more ofthese. A link with God is at the top of thelist. If God is pleased with someone, there ispractically no limit to what one can achieve.There must be a strong/deep desire forsomething. There should be purity of heart.One must be a very good person. He or shemust have public welfare uppermost inmind like Bill Gates has, who has givenaway fruits of his labour to others.

God gives such persons exceptionalbodies. They have sharp intelligence, muchmore than an average person possesses.Their minds are controlled, which is notnormally the case. They are blessed withgreat memory. They have tremendous senseof doing the right things. Needless to say,they have remarkable abilities. God givesthem opportunities galore.

So what is the conclusion? Both thesoul and the human body have greatpotential. A soul, as mentioned earlier,can achieve the ultimate goal. Similarly, ifwe are deserving we will be given bodies,in which the sky is the limit to what wecan achieve materially.

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Te Amo is a popular phrase that is used in manylanguages to express the feeling of passionatelove to somebody. “I love you” in English is Te

Amo in three languages namely Italian, Spanish andMexican. Incidentally, Te Amo is a popular Italiansong, too, that was released in 1977. And yes, Te Amois also part of a Hindi song from the film Dum MaroDum. Te Amo or I love you is then a universal feelingin some form or the other. But why Te Amo? That isthe question. We often wonder what is the power thatdrives the world. It is this issue that often stirs thehuman mind that tries to find the answer in God,Nature or even Boson or the Bose particle as probableforces that seem to drive this world. But is that so?Famous Physicist and the man who gave the Principleof Lever, Archimedes is supposed to have once said —give me a place to stand and I shall move the earth.Maybe, he could have if he had found the place tostand. But why in the first place will someone want tomove the earth. There has to be some very strong rea-son, some intense motive powerful enough to drivesomeone to that level of craziness. It is this motive thatdrives this world. And this motive is love. Passionatelove. It is the power of the love that made Adam defyGod’s diktat to please Eve. It was this love that pushedLord Rama to run behind the Golden deer to fulfillSita’s desire. It is this love that we find magnified in thelegend of Radha and Krishna. It is this love that givessomeone a reason to do all those things that are seem-ingly impossible. The story of the Mountain Man,Dashrath Manjhi of Bihar in India, is that great saga oflove that drove an individual to single-handedly to cre-ate a passage through a mountain with only a hammerand a chisel. From Psychologists to ManagementGurus have all tried to find answers to the basic ques-tion what motivates. Yet, they have failed to realize thisbasic truth that Love is the greatest motivator. Thepower that drives human beings to action. Little won-der mystic Indian Saint Kabir had said that the worldhas not been able to acquire knowledge despite readingvolumes of thick texts. Only those who understand thelanguage of love can become knowledgeable. Lovegives compassion and compassion gives power to sus-tain. If someone wants to understand the force thatdrives this world he needs to understand love. And thebest explanation is given, again by Kabir, in thefamous couplet that says that love is not grown in thefarm lands, not is it sold in the market place. Anyonewho wants it, be it the king or the pauper, has to offerhis head to obtain it. The meaning is that whosoeverwants love must shun his ego. Love is spiritual andnot a material thing. It is driven by the heart not thehead. Philosopher J Krishnamurthy says that love isthe only force that can end insanity, hatred and vio-lence from this world. Love always seeks to give. Itnever desires to take.The world runs on the wheels oflove. Rightly did Mozart, the famous music composer,say: “Love is the soul of the genius.”

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How do you respond whenfaced with a setback inlife? How do you copewith change and disrup-tion around you? How do

you respond to challenges? Do you livein the present or while away your timeworrying about the future? Responsesto the above questions determinewhether or not you are poised for suc-cess in life and whether or not youpossess the ‘seventh sense of optimism’.The Power of Positivity: Optimism andthe Seventh Sense, a book authored byrenowned academician, leader and lifecoach, Dr Padmakali Banerjee is notonly a riveting read but also serves as a‘tool’ to develop this coveted seventhsense. It helps in completely transform-ing the readers’ lives .

The book analyses different facetsof optimism, providing a solid theoret-ical framework to measure the level ofoptimism in an individual’s life. It alsooffers a comprehensive approach thatcan be used to develop optimism and apositive mindset, which is a prerequi-site to leading a happy and fulfilled life.It brings us closer to the highest psy-chological need of human beings —‘self -actualisation’.

The book is divided into seveninteresting chapters that have catchytitles. The second chapter, titled“Knock the ‘t’ off of can’t” offers sto-ries from the lives of people likeGautama Buddha, RabindranathTagore, Mohandas KaramchandGandhi, and Swami Vivekananda.They evidence that the “highest levelof optimism inculcates a sense of loveand compassion in all human beings”.All success stories have one thing incommon — an underlying sense ofoptimism and hope to make a massivechange in whatever domain one isinvolved in. The author points outthat there is plenty of research-backedevidence which proves that “an opti-mist disposition of people helps themto anticipate positive outcomes abouteverything.” It eventually helps inensuring longevity of life, faster recov-ery from illness, better quality ofsleep, high immunity levels, gracefulaging and better survival rate of ter-minally ill patients.

The most important section of thebook is where the author unveils herinnovative method conceptualised formeasuring the seventh sense of opti-mism through a robust frameworkcalled PEROMA that creates a mecha-nism for reviewing, measuring,enhancing and sustaining optimism asan attitude for an organisation’s or anindividual’s success. The frameworkuses ‘Optimism Index’ (Oi 1.1) — a powerful psychometric tool andOAM model — which reveals a step-by-step process to improve self-efficacy and to predict success.

PEROMA is a framework whichdenotes various dimensions of opti-mism. It stands for Positive Emotion,Relationship network, Meaningfulnessand Achievement. The test to calculatethe Optimism Index includes 60 itemsmeasuring various dimensions of thePEROMA framework. Thus, besidesthe overall score of optimism, whichranges from (100-300), Oi computesscores on the six dimensions of thePEROMA framework.

A significant and ground-breakingcontribution of the psychometric test,Optimism Index is used by the authorto classify all individuals into ten cate-gories based on the different bands oftheir scores. The categories given bythe author are aptly based on the criti-cal skills required for success in mod-ern professional life. These are:Collaborator, entrepreneur, energetics,synergist, networker, analyst, innova-tor, go-getter, expert and most impor-tantly, a leader. These categories aresuch which emphasise a particularaspect of the individual’s personalitybased on elements of PEROMA. Forexample, out of the ten categories, if aperson falls under ‘Collaborator’ — heor she indicates ‘high’ levels of compe-tence under Relationship Network ofPEROMA.When an individual wouldreceive this type of complete profilingin the test report, it would helphim/her to understand behaviour andidentify the core strength that can helpmaximise his/her potential. Therequired help for the process is alsoprovided in a step-by-step guide elabo-rated through the OAM model. Thiscompletes the picture for someone

who can identify the lacunas in one’spersonality and understand its theoret-ical basis. It gets hand holding to sig-nificantly change the attitude anddevelop the seventh sense.

Human beings are the most pow-erful resource in the world. In today’sworld full of uncertainty with techno-logical disruptions at mind bogglingpace, only those countries/organisa-tions can succeed which continuouslywork towards developing the humancapital. Organisations have to give thatcongenial environment, opportunitiesfor training and development to theirhuman capital through which they canstrive to reach their highest potential.

This book offers the solution toorganisation’s problems as they canscreen the applicants on basis of thetest scores to identify an individual’spositive/ negative attributes of person-ality. It also helps individuals as thescores would help one to identify one’score strength so that their potential canbe maximised. The OAM Model isagain a pioneering method based onsolid research by the author who is atrained psychologist. It has six stepswhich need to be followed in order tomove closer towards having the sev-enth sense in us. The power of themodel and this step-by-step approachlies in the fact that an individual canpractice it on his own with some inter-ventions by trained personnel duringthe initial stages. In order to illustratethis fact, the author elucidates severalcase studies where these interventionsworked in the lives of people.

Among the many facets of OAM,Dr. Banerjee says that “Mindful medi-tation” is the most effective tool inreinforcing our beliefs and dealingwith inner conflicts”. Her passion andbelief in the supremacy of mindfulmeditation to bring “one’s attention tooccurrences in the present moment asthey occur to oneself” is evident in thebook. In our struggle to be successful,we often fail to realise that the ultimateaim of life is to be ‘happy’ — now andalways. Dr Banerjee’s book shakes us tothe core to remind us that “Every timeyou are happy, you win.”

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Durga Puja festivity is midwaythrough. I wish the seeker’sendeavours prove to be rewarding.

This festivity is dedicated to the epitomeof ‘Shakti’, Mother Goddess Durga. At theoutset, let me make it clear, ‘Shakti’ shouldnot be equated with ‘Energy’ as we ordi-narily understand. Energy is just a force,which doesn’t have an expressed intent inits own right. If not directed a particularway, it may hit upon whatever comes itsway. On the contrary, intrinsic to Shakti isconsciousness, which makes it self-intelli-gent. That is how Shakti-s emanatingfrom the ‘Primal-source, involuntarily fol-lowed an orderly course of progressiveevolution, which eventually culminated inthe manifest plural world. Had naturewith its huge network of field players (TheShakti-s) been devoid of self-intelligence,they would not have been in harmonyand balance. But for which, the worldwould not have sustained for so long.

Consciousness element is supposedlyeternal, all-pervading, incorruptible, andall-knowing. Its versatility is such that itmanifests varied ways on different sets ofexistences as per their individualisticneed. Plants and vegetable world havejust the touch sensation. Worms arebelieved to have touch and taste sensation.

Smelling sense gets added on to an ant.Bees have sight sensation also. All the fivesenses — smell, touch, taste, sight, andhearing — are manifest in higher animalsand human beings, but with a difference.All existences live or inert, but forhuman beings, are bound by their prede-fined design parameters, with no scopeto make any exception. They just goabout by their natural flow, and there-fore, don’t need to work upon to enhancetheir indwelling potential. Humanbeings, on the contrary, could guide theiractions by choice and discrimination.

With choice option in hand, sense ofduality comes into play, as is evident inthe making of human mind. That is whatmakes us take varying stance over thesame issue. We may react and respond toexternal prompting different ways. Alsoself-excite conflicting thoughts andremain stuck to them for long. We arearmed with discriminatory ability to fil-ter off the undesirables and pick up theright lead. The paradox, however, is thatthe faculty of discriminate intelligencedoesn’t come into play involuntarily. Itneeds to be consciously invoked. Theirony, however, is that caught up in theusual mills of life, we lose the sense ofalert needed to bring into play our dis-

criminatory abilities. Even more sobecause of our individualistic ego.

Here again, the probability of use andmisuse of choice option remains equal.And there is nothing like free lunch inthis world. So, one has to bear with theconsequences of good or bad choicesmade, with carryover effect stretchingeven to posterity, as we are bound by acause-effect chain. The impressionsthereof, particularly negative emotions,add to a heavy baggage carried over fromthe past. These thought-imprints keep ustoo much involved in our inner world.So, mind is hardly left with the spaceneeded to objectively process ourthoughts. Over a period of time one getsfatigued, stressed, and hardly left with thespirit need to carry on the productiveaspirations in right earnest.

The problem gets even more com-pounded during the current phase of theyear, as Sun that nourishes and sustainsus with its vital energy remains at itslowest ebb. For, it closes up with westernhorizon coinciding with southern hemi-sphere. It, therefore, reaches the farthestpoint from the part of the globe we livein, which lies in northern hemisphereand towards the east.

We, therefore, need to periodicallyrejuvenate ourselves. It is pertinent to

note here that all about life is a play ofenergies. Even our thoughts are nothingbut energies playing within our mind.And, because of our dualistic nature, wecould use it either way — productively orunmindfully towards self-defeating ends.All the more, because even the weathercycle is undergoing transition from rainyseason to the winders. So, we also needto withstand the impact of seasonalchange and be well geared up to faceemerging challenges. It is with this endin view that Shardeya Navaratra has beentimed during this phase of the year.

During the nine-day prayer regime,we align our individual consciousnesswith the one inherent in the conceptunderlying Mother Goddess’s form. Inthe process, we rekindle our indwellingenergies, and raise our sense of alert. Ourconsciousness level gets considerablyraised during the process enabling us tojudiciously use the resources in hand —physical prowess, skillsets, and wisdom— towards productive ends.

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