ˇ ( ˛ ˛ + * · upsrtc regional manager pallav bose told pti. the move comes close on the heels...

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Karnataka Chief MinisterHD Kumaraswamy on

Friday sprang a major sur-prise by claiming that he wouldseek a trust vote to end the“confusion” triggered by resig-nation of rebel MLAs andasserted that he is “ready foreverything”.

With the resignation lettersof as many as 16 MLAs of theCongress-JD(S) alliance pend-ing with the Speaker, it isunclear how the Chief Ministerwould get the numbers to crossthe halfway mark.

Earlier, the Supreme Courtrestrained the Speaker fromtaking any decision till nextTuesday on the resignationand disqualification of 10 rebelMLAs of the ruling Congress-JD(S) coalition.

Kumaraswamy told theState Assembly that he has“voluntarily” decided to seekthe vote, adding that he willcontinue as the CM only whenhe commands the support inthe House.

Asserting that he did notcome to the Chief Minister’sposition with the intention ofremaining in power forever, theJD(S) leader requested SpeakerKR Ramesh Kumar to fix atime for the confidence vote.

Later, in the business advi-sory committee meeting,Kumaraswamy proposedWednesday for the trust vote.However, no decision wastaken as the main OppositionBJP did not attend the meeting,sources said. A decision was

likely to be taken on Monday,they added.

Senior Congress leaderSiddaramiah on Friday said thedecision to seek a trust vote bythe coalition Governmentheaded by HD Kumaraswamywas taken by the two rulingpartners and asserted it has thenumbers.

The Congress LegislatureParty leader also said he hadbeen talking to disgruntledparty MLAs barring RoshanBaig because he has been sus-pended.

The Assembly met onFriday for a 11-day MonsoonSession against the backdrop ofresignation of 16 ruling coali-

tion MLAs that has raisedquestions over theGovernment’s survival.Kumaraswamy announced hisdecision to brave the trust voteduring the obituary referencetime. The Opposition BJP tookexception to the Chief Ministerraising the matter during obit-uary reference. State BJP pres-ident BS Yeddyurappa latertold reporters that his partywould decide its strategy on thebasis of Kumaraswamy’s speechon the proposed trust vote.

Though Kumaraswamywanted the Speaker to fix atime for the vote, the latter saidas and when the Chief Ministerinforms him about the date on

which he would move the con-fidence motion it will be men-tioned in the list of business.

“He (CM) will have to tellme. The Chief Minister hasspoken his mind that there isconfusing situation and he willnot stick to power. If he tells mewhen he will move a motionseeking trust vote, I will put itfor business the next day,” theSpeaker said.

According to a PTI report,Kumaraswamy was later seenin a relaxed mood in theAssembly lobby and expressedconfidence about the trust voteand getting numbers in favourof the coalition.

According to the report,

Kumaraswamy is said to be indirect talks with at least fourCongress legislators, who haveresigned and is hopeful thatthey will withdraw.

The ruling coalition’s totalstrength is 116 (Congress-78,JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besidesthe Speaker. With the supportof the two independents, theBJP has 107 MLAs in the 224-member House, where thehalfway mark is 113. If the res-ignations of the 16 MLAs areaccepted, the coalition’s tallywill be reduced to 100.

In a related development,the BJP, apparently fearingpoaching of its MLAs by theruling coalition leaders, hasdecided to shift its legislators toa resort on the city outskirts.

In the Supreme Court, theBench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi cited “weightyissues that have arisen” and saidthe matter will be consideredby it on July 16 and the statusquo as of Friday should bemaintained. The Bench, alsocomprising Justices DeepakGupta and Aniruddha Bose,specifically mentioned in theorder that the Speaker wouldnot decide on the issue of theresignation or the disqualifi-cation of rebel MLAs to enablethe court to judge larger issuesraised in the matter.

The Bench noted the issueof maintainability of the rebelMLAs’ petition under Article32 of the Constitution wasraised by the Speaker and theKarnataka Chief Minister.

The case involves issues ofsubstantial importance related

to Articles 190 and 361 of theConstitution, it said, addingthat it also needs to address asto whether the Speaker is oblig-ated to decide on disqualifica-tion proceedings before accept-ing the resignation of MLAs.

The Bench took intoaccount the arguments bysenior advocate MukulRohatgi, appearing for the rebelMLAs, countering the Speaker’ssubmission that the disqualifi-cation plea of the ruling coali-tion in the southern State hadto be decided before taking upthe issue of resignation of thelawmakers.

“In view of the weightyissues that have arisen, we areof the view that the matter beconsidered by us on Tuesday.We are of the view that the sta-tus quo as of today with regardto the prevailing situation bemaintained. Neither the issue ofresignation nor that of dis-qualification be decided tillTuesday,” the Bench said.

Before passing the order,the Bench asked Kumar’s coun-sel AM Singhvi, “Is Speakerchallenging the authority andpower of the Supreme Court. Isit his case? Are you challengingour power to issue directions tothe Speaker? Are you sayingthat we should stay our handsso far as the Speaker is con-cerned? You are suggestingthat he is duty-bound to decideon the disqualification prior totheir resignations.”

Singhvi replied: “Yes, this iswhat is my case.”

Continued on Page 7Related reports on P6

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Ladakh region witnessed aconfrontation between

Tibetans living in India andthose in China last week nearthe Line of Actual Control(LAC) in Fukche area ofDemchok in eastern Ladakh.

However, the Chinesedressed in civilian clothes didnot cross the LAC and wentback after displaying banners.

Giving details of the inci-dent, sources said here onFriday that Tibetans annuallyhold a religious festival DoleTango to celebrate Dalai Lama’sbirthday in Koyul village ofFukche on July 6. In such fes-tival last week, a sizable num-ber of Tibetans had gatheredand waved the Tibetan flag.

A group of Chinese originTibetans came near the LAC ontheir side in two SUVs and dis-played a banner saying, “ban allactivities to split Tibet.” Theywent back and after some time,said sources, adding the villagesacross the LAC are sparselypopulated.

Officials denied reportsthat the Chinese Tibetans had

intruded into Indian territoryadding the action across theLAC was in reaction to theTibetans on the Indian sidewaving the flag.

Demchok is an area thathas seen Chinese transgres-sions in the past. In 2014,there was a fist fight betweenIndian and Chinese troopsduring a stand-off.

China has been pushing itsown successor of the DalaiLama and pressing that anyother appointment should notbe given any recognition.

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Rice sowing has declined ina big way — 23.54 lakh

hectare — in six of the top 10rice producing States. The datashows rice sowing acreage at97.77 lakh hectare as comparedto 121.31 lakh hectare so far.

Similarly, five of top 10pulse producing States haveseen fall in sowing by 14.94lakh hectare so far.

Monsoon deficiency andflood are seen as main reasonsbehind the shortfall in sowingof kharif crops. Monsoondeficit for the country as awhole fell to 12 per cent byFriday.

As per latest data releasedby the Agriculture Ministry onFriday, kharif crops sowingareas overall declined by 38.96lakh hectare till July 12. TheAgriculture Ministry’s data isbased on the information andreports provided by the StateGovernments on kharif cropssowing.

West Bengal, Bihar, Assam,

Uttar Pradesh, Haryana,Madhya Pradesh and AndhraPradesh are the States whichhave witnessed a fall in ricecrop sowing areas this year.

The rice sowing acreage isdown by 2.83 lakh hectare inChhattisgarh, 2.66 lakh hectarein Bihar, 2.57 lakh hectare inAssam, 2.43 lakh hectare inUttar Pradesh, 2.26 lakhhectare in Haryana, 1.99 lakhhectare in Madhya Pradesh,1.82 lakh hectare in WestBengal, 1.22 lakh hectare inArunachal Pradesh, and 0.38lakh hectare in AndhraPradesh.

According to officials ofAgriculture Ministry, someStates have attributed decline inacreage of rice sowing to defi-

cient monsoon while someblamed flood. Assam andArunachal Pradesh havereported flood-like situationwhile other rice producingStates are facing deficient rain-fall due to delayed arrival ofsouthwest monsoon to startkharif crops sowing.

Nagaland, Rajasthan,Maharashtra and Punjab havereported higher rice sowingacreage so far. As per the thirdadvance estimate of rice pro-duction, it is estimated 115.63million tonnes in 2018-19.

Similarly, pulses cultivationtoo is languishing as com-pared to last year, mainly inMaharashtra, Karnataka,Rajasthan, MP and Telangana.

Continued on Page 7

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The 90-year-old iconicLakshman Jhula, a suspen-

sion bridge bridge across theGanga in Rishikesh, was closedon Friday on the recommen-dation of a team of experts whofound that the bridge cannotsustain load.

The bridge, constructedduring the British Raj, hasbeen closed for all traffic andpedestrian movement as mostof its parts are in “collapse” con-dition, Additional ChiefSecretary Om Prakash said.

There has been unprece-dented rise in traffic and pedes-trian movement on the bridgein recent times and the bridgetowers appear to be leaningtowards one side, he said.

The decision was taken as

keeping it operational couldhave been risky, he said.

“It is highly recommendedthat the bridge should be closedwith immediate effect other-wise any big mishap can takeplace anytime,” the team ofexperts had said in its report.

Continued on Page 7

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Alarmed over a spate ofaccidents on the express-

ways, the Uttar Pradesh StateRoadways TransportCorporation (UPSRTC) isplanning to deploy specialdevices in vehicles to preventdrivers from dozing off onlong-distance routes.

The device equipped withspecial sensors will initiallywarn the driver with a beepsound and red light in the eventof him getting sleepy duringdriving and later slow down thevehicle and put emergencybrakes to stop it altogether,UPSRTC regional managerPallav Bose told PTI.

The move comes close onthe heels of an accident on the165-km Yamuna Expresswayon Monday which claimed 29lives. The bus driver apparent-ly fell asleep behind the wheel

and lost control followingwhich the vehicle veered of theroad and fell into a drain.

Bose said the special devicemade with Israeli technique isbeing manufactured by a Pune-based company and costs�40,000.

As a pilot project, thedevice was used in two buseson the Lucknow-Nepalganjroute and two others on theLucknow-Gorakhpur route, hesaid, adding the proposal wassent to MD, UPSRTC DheerajSahu after getting a good feed-back.

The official said Sahu alsogave a positive response to theidea.

A proposal to acquire moresuch devices will now be sentto the Government, Bose said.

Elaborating further on thefunctioning of the device, theUPSRTC regional managersaid it will be deployed on the

dashboard of the vehicle. Thedevice will produce a beepsound and red light warning assoon as the driver’s hold on thesteering wheel slackens due to

slumber.In case, the driver does not

react to the beep sound and theslackness continues, the devicewill automatically put brakes on

the bus, he said.The device will also keep

an eye on the road ahead andalert the driver in case of over-speeding and overtaking, Boseexplained.

Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath hadon Thursday warned trans-port department officials, say-ing they cannot escape respon-sibility for road accidents byblaming drivers and asked theYamuna Expressway authorityto follow safety measures strictly.

He also asked the depart-ment officials to deploy twodrivers on state-run buses onroutes more than 400 km long,so that they can drive the vehi-cle alternatively.

Road safety experts haveoften warned of the dangers ofoverspeeding on wide express-ways, especially in early morn-ing hours and at night.

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Pakistan has told India thatit will not open its airspace

for commercial flights untilNew Delhi removes its fighterjets from forward IAF airbas-es, Pakistan's AviationSecretary Shahrukh Nusrathas informed a parliamentarycommittee. Pakistan fullyclosed its airspace on February26 after the Indian Air Force(IAF) fighter jets struck a Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) terroristtraining camp in Balakot fol-lowing the Pulwama terrorattack in Kashmir.

Aviation Secretary Nusrat,who is also the DirectorGeneral of the Civil AviationAuthority (CAA), on Thursdayinformed the Senate StandingCommittee on Aviation that hisdepartment has intimatedIndian officials that Pakistaniairspace would remain unavail-able for use by India until thecountry withdraws its fighterjets from forward positions,Dawn News reported.

“The Indian governmentapproached asking us to openthe airspace. We conveyed ourconcerns that first India mustwithdraw its fighter planesplaced forward,” Nusrat told thecommittee. He further apprisedthe committee that Indian offi-cials have contacted Pakistanrequesting it to lift the airspace

restrictions. “However, Indianofficials have been told thatIndian airbases are still ladenwith fighter jets and Pakistanwill not allow resumption offlight operations from Indiauntil their removal,” saidNusrat. After the restrictions,all the passenger flights arebeing diverted to alternativeroutes by India, The ExpressTribune reported. The CAAofficial also contested India’sclaim that Delhi had opened itsairspace for Pakistan, the reportsaid. “Pakistani flights fromThailand have not beenrestored since the closure of theIndian airspace. PakistanInternational Airlines (PIA)flights for Malaysia also remainsuspended,” the CAA DGinformed the committee.

Last month, Pakistan gavespecial permission to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sVVIP flight to use its airspacefor his official trip to attend theShanghai CooperationOrganisation summit inBishkek, the capital ofKyrgyzstan. However PrimeMinister Modi's VVIP aircraftavoided flying over Pakistan.Earlier, Pakistan had allowedIndia's former External AffairsMinister Sushma Swaraj to flydirectly though Pakistani air-space to participate in themeeting of SCO foreign min-isters in Bishkek on May 21.

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Ram Janmabhoomi Nyasmember R am Vi las

Vedanti on Friday claimedbarring fundamentalists, theMuslim community supportsthe idea of construction of agrand R am temple inAyodhya.

"Eighty per cent Muslims,barring the fundamentalists,want that the temple be con-structed at the place whereRam Lalla is installed inAyodhya," he told media here."The chairman of the ShiaWaqf Board, Wasim Rizvihas also agreed that Ramtemple be built in Ayodhyawhereas the mosque can beconstructed at any other Shia-majority place in Lucknow,"he said. His comments comein the wake of the SupremeCourt on Thursday seeking areport on the "progress ofmediation" in the politicallysensit ive case of R amJanmabhoomi-Babri Masjidland dispute in Ayodhya andsaid a day-to-day hearingmay commence from July 25if the court decides to con-clude those proceedings.Vedanti, described as work-ing president of R amJanmabhoomi Nyas, also said

there was "nothing in thename of (Mughal ruler)Babur" in Ayodhya and thateverything in the city was "inthe name of Lord Ram".

"There is not even a local-ity, lane or ward named afterBabar in Ayodhya," he said."Muslims need to come for-ward and say that Hindusshould construct their templein Ayodhya for peace, com-munal amity and brother-hood," he said, adding theSunni Waqf Board shouldwithdraw the case. To a ques-tion, Vedanti, a former BJP

MP, said it was most unfor-tunate that in a countrywhere Hindus constitute "90per cent" of the population,people are fighting a case incourt for the construction ofRam temple.

He said no power canbuild a mosque where RamLalla is installed, adding hisstatement could be eithertaken as a 'threat' or 'sugges-tion'. On December 6, 1992,the Babri Masjid, construct-ed at the disputed site in the16th century by Shia MuslimMir Baqi, was demolished.

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Call it honey trap or sexualexploitation, a woman in

Etah has alleged that two sub-inspectors of the district rapedher for the last six months afterblackmailing her with threats toeliminate her husband in anencounter.

The woman reportedlyprovided some evidences tothe senior officers after whichboth the sub-inspectors wereplaced under suspension andFIRs were registered againstfor gang-raping a woman forfive months by threateningencounter of her husband.

A police investigation,ordered after the complaint ofthe victim, says that both thesub-inspectors went to theresidence of the woman withan arrest warrant of her hus-band. Finding her alone in thehouse, both the sub-inspec-tors gang-raped the womanby threatening to kill herhusband in some encounter.

However, the situationturned against the policemenwhen the woman got preg-nant and she contacted seniorofficers of the district andclaimed that the sub-inspec-tors were responsible for it.

In the investigation, thepolice had recovered someaudio clips of the talksbetween the victim and thesub-inspectors and had alsoseized some video clips takenby the sub-inspectors tothreaten the woman.

The two accused sub-inspectors, Yogesh Tiwari andPrem Kumar Gautam, wereposted at the Awagarh policestation in the district.

Meanwhile, in-chargeSenior Superintendent ofPolice Sanjay Kumar said on

Friday that both the sub-inspectors had been placedunder suspension and FIRshad been registered againstthem.

He said if the chargedwould be proved, both thesub-inspectors would bearrested and sent to jail.

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Two dreaded criminals,allegedly wanted in connectionwith a �10-lakh loot in Meerutdistrict, were shot dead in anencounter with police inPallavpuram Phase-2 lateThursday night, police con-firmed on Friday.

Three police personnelalso sustained injuries duringthe encounter.

Senior Superintendent ofPolice in Meerut, Ajay Sahani,said that both the criminals,Shakil and Zakir, were want-ed in connection with a recentcase of looting of �10 lakhfrom a collection agent andcarried a reward of �25,000each on their arrest.

Both the criminals werecritically injured in theencounter which took placenear Uday Park and suc-cumbed to their injuries on theway to hospital.

The injured policemenwere admitted to hospital andtheir condition was said to bestable.

The SSP said both thecriminals were history-sheeters and had over twodozen cases registered againstthem.

Police recovered twocountry-made pistols and Rs4.25 lakh in cash from the pos-session of the criminals.

Lucknow: Parachute candi-date Bhalchandra Yadav, whojoined the Congress just to con-test the last parliamentary elec-tion, was finally expelled fromthe party for six years for “anti-party activities”.

Sources said as Yadav was intouch with Bahujan Samaj Partychief Mayawati and had almoststruck a deal for joining the BlueBrigade on assurance of a tick-et for the coming bypolls to UPAssembly, the Congress hurried-ly removed him from the party.Yadav had unsuccessfully con-tested the 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tion from Sant Kabir Nagar onCongress ticket.

UP Congress spokespersonBrijendra Singh said a discipli-nary committee led by formerMLA Anugrah Narain Singh onThursday took the decision toexpel Yadav from the party.The disciplinary committeelooked into charges of indisci-pline and sabotage by Yadav dur-ing the Lok Sabha polls, partysources said. PNS

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The Uttar Pradesh unit ofBharatiya Janata Party will

soon start a campaign to iden-tify beneficiaries of governmentschemes who will act as ‘brandmanagers’ of the governmentand the party at the villagelevel.

A senior BJP leader told‘The Pioneer’ here on Fridaythat the party leadership hasasked the leaders to identifythe beneficiaries of govern-ment schemes and use them asbrand managers of the party.

“There are over five crore

Lucknow (PNS): The Yogi Adityanath government will seekthe first supplementary budget for the current fiscal 2019-20 onJuly 23. The UP government on February 7 this year had pre-sented the Rs 4.79 lakh crore annual budget for 2019-20, thebiggest ever. The budget was, however, passed by the Assemblywithout any debate. The brief monsoon session of the UPLegislature is beginning from July 18. The session will have sevensittings as per the tentative agenda of the House released byAssembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit on Friday.

On the first day of the session, there will be no business dueto obituary references. On July 19, the government is likely totable the bills replacing ordinances which were promulgated bythe Governor as the Assembly was not in session. On July 22,the House will transact legislative business. The government willtable the first supplementary budget on July 23 and it is likelyto be passed by the House after debate. July 26 will be the lastday of the session. The House may have more sittings as per theagenda adopted by the Business Advisory Committee of theHouse.

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In a development that canspell trouble for BahujanSamaj Party chief Mayawati,

the Enforcement Directoratehas registered a case of moneylaundering against the accusedin the illegal sale of 21 state-owned sugar mills during hertenure as Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister.

The sale of the sugar millsduring Mayawati’s tenure in2011-12 had led to a loss of�1,179 crore to the state exche-quer, officials said.

Sources confirmed thatthe Enforcement Directorate(ED) registered a formal caseof money laundering in con-nection with siphoning ofmoney earned through illegalsale of sugar mills in the state.

The ED sleuths hadreportedly collected certifiedcopies of documents andwealth recovered during therecent raids by Central Bureauof Investigation (CBI) on somesuspects, including residenceof former IAS officer Netram,having close proximity toMayawati.

After registering a caseunder Prevention of MoneyLaundering Act, the ED willnow investigate whether themoney earned through sale ofsugar mills had been spentoverseas or the black moneywas siphoned out of the coun-try and later brought back asearnings through other means.

It may be mentioned herethat the CBI is already probingthe alleged irregularities inthe sale of 21 state-ownedsugar mills during Mayawati’sregime.

The agency has alreadyregistered FIR and six prelim-inary enquires to probe thealleged irregularities.

Present Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath had recom-mended a CBI probe in thematter. The agency has notnamed any official of UttarPradesh government or anypolitician of the state asaccused, officials said.

Seven private persons, whohad allegedly submitted forgeddocuments during the pur-chase of the mills of UP State

Sugar Corporation Ltd. havebeen booked by the agency.

The UP government hadsought a CBI investigationinto the sale of the 21 sugarmills, and forgery and cheatingin the purchase of seven closedmills in Deoria, Bareilly,Laxmiganj, Hardoi, Ramkola,Chittauni and Barabanki, theofficials said.

It is alleged that theMayawati-led government hadsold the 21 mills, including 10operational ones, below mar-ket price, which led to a loss of�1,179 crore to the state exche-quer, the officials said.

Meanwhile, following theraids conducted by the CBI atseveral locations in UP in con-nection with the mining scamand sale of PSU sugar mills,trouble is brewing for the twoerstwhile allies — BahujanSamaj Party and SamajwadiParty.

The CBI investigationcould aggravate trouble forthe two parties ahead of thebypolls to 12 UP Assemblyseats.

The CBI this month con-ducted raids at the residencesof serving IAS and PCS officersin connection with the miningscam during the previousAkhilesh Yadav led SamajwadiParty regime. The CBI alsoconducted raids at multiplelocations, including residencesof retired IAS officers, in con-nection with the privatisationof 21 PSU sugar mills duringMayawati regime (2007-12).

The two key oppositionleaders, Mayawati of the BSPand Akhilesh Yadav of the SP,appear to be in big trouble as

the CBI is probing two freshcases of corruption againstthem.

Both the parties had con-tested the last Lok Sabha elec-tion in alliance but could winonly 15 seats in UP.

The �1,100 crore sugarmills scam, which is unravel-ing the bureaucrat-politicalnexus in selling state assets,involves Mayawati’s formersecretary Netram while amulti-crore sand mining scamlinks Gayatri Prasad Prajapatiwith six bureaucrats in “loot-ing” public resources.

Prajapati, presently in jailwas the Cabinet Minister forMining in Akhilesh Yadav gov-ernment.

Samajwadi Party appre-hends that after Wednesday’sraids at various premises of for-mer SP minister Prajapti andthree IAS officers in UP, the CBIcan question Akhilesh Yadavduring whose tenure the min-ing scam took place.

For Mayawati, the problemstems from the fact that hermost trusted bureaucrat,Netram, who was AdditionalCabient Secretary, has beenraided by CBI in the sugarmills scam.

According to the CBI’s FIR,sugar mills were sold at throw-away prices in 2010-11.Mayawati was UP ChiefMinister from 2007 to 2012.

The by-elections are crucialfor both Mayawati and Yadavbecause, after the poor showingby their parties in the LokSabha polls, they will decidewho is the principal opponentof the Bharatiya Janata Part inUP.

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Communal tension flaredup in Unnao after three

students of a madarsa wereinjured on being brutallyassaulted by another group fornot chanting Jai Shree Ram.

The sensational incidenttook place when both thegroups were playing cricket atthe GIC grounds in Sadar areaof the district on Thursday.

The students sustainedinjuries on head and arms andwere admitted to hospital.

A case was registered andthe police claimed to havearrested one out of the fouraccused named in the FIR.

According to Naeem Khan,the maulana of the madarsa,the incident took place onThursday when students ofDarul Uloom Faiz-E-Aam sit-uated in Sadar area of Unnaowent to the GIC grounds toplay cricket. He alleged thatwhile the students were play-ing, three to four youths arrivedthere and started ill-treating thechildren. He further allegedthat the youths then compelledthe madarsa students to chantJai Shri Ram and when theyrefused to do so, the youthsstarted beating them with acricket bat.

When the madarsa stu-dents tried to flee the spot,stones were pelted on them.

The kurtas of the madarsastudents were torn and one oftheir bicycles was vandalised.

The police reached thespot as soon as they wereinformed about the incident.Circle Officer Umesh Tyagisent the madarsa students toreceive medical assistance.

“There is a madarsa nearJama Masjid and the madarsastudents go to play cricket onthe GIC grounds for half aday. There was a brawl at theGIC grounds while the stu-dents were playing cricketand a case was registered asper the complaint filed bythem. Three students wereinjured and action is beingtaken in this case,’’ Tyagi saidon Friday.

The accused were identi-fied with the help of their

social media accounts follow-ing which the arrest was made.

Superintendent of Policeon Unnao, MP Verma, also saidthat the police were lookinginto the allegations of the stu-dents bing forced to chant JaiShri Ram and this could onlybe confirmed after investiga-tion.

Madarsa and Jama Masjidauthorities have asked police totake stringent action against theaccused and have threatened toprotest if the police fail to takeaction against all the accused.

“We have given all thedetails of the accused to thepolice. According to their socialmedia profiles, they are associ-ated with a right wing group.The madarsa students werebeaten up when they did notchant Jai Shri Ram, theirclothes were torn and theirbicycles were vandalised. Nowit is up to the administrationwhat action they take againstthe culprits,” said the Imam ofJama Masjid.

Meanwhile, in a separateincident in Amethi, a leader ofShivpal Singh Yadav-ledPragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia) was found dead nearthe Amethi railway station onFriday, police said.

Thirty-three-year-oldRohit Agrahari was PSPL stateunit secretary and in-charge of

party affairs in Ayodhya. His body was found in an

orchard along the railwaytracks on Friday morning,Deputy Superintendent ofPolice Piyush Kant Rai said.

The police officer said itappeared that the body wasdumped there after and the vic-tim was killed somewhere else.The body was sent for post-mortem.

Agrahari was a native ofKeshav Nagar in Amethi.

In another incident, fourmembers of a family werecrushed to death when a gar-lic-ladden truck overturnedon their roadside house inGursahaiganj area of Kannaujdistrict on the Grand Trunk(GT) road on Friday morning.

Police said that in the inci-dent, three people were alsoinjured and they were rushedto hospital.

Sources said the accidentoccurred at around 3 am whenthe truck, coming fromMainpuri and going towardsKanpur, overturned on theroadside house after one of itstyres burst.

The deceased were identi-fied as Sonelal (40), his wifeGudiya (38), their 8-year-oldson Thagua and their nephewSahil (10).

The driver of the truckescaped after the accident.

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Lucknow (PNS): The state government on Friday nightsaid that concerted efforts were being made to disturb com-munal harmony in UP and warned of stern action against thosespreading rumours. Denying that in the Unnao incident anyattempt was made to force anyone to chant religious slogan,Principal Secretary (Information) Awanish Awasthi said theclash took place due to dispute during cricket match. Heclaimed that the alertness and swift action of the local author-ities not only brought the accused to book but also helped inmaintaining communal harmony.

Addressing media in the presence of ADG (Law andOrder), Awasthi, who is also holding the charge of PrincipalSecretary (Home), claimed here on Friday night that earliersimilar attempts were made in Kanpur, Aligarh, Agra andMeerut to disturb communal harmony but timely interven-tion of local authorities had foiled the designs of the trouble-makers. He said that instructions had been issued to take sternaction against those spreading rumours to disturb commu-nal harmony in the state.

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beneficiaries of welfareschemes like Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana both rural andurban, Saubhagya Yojana,Ujjwala Yojana and sundryschemes like meritoriousscholarships and even com-munity marriage schemes. Theparty needs to tap them,” thesenior leader said.

He clarified that thiscampaign would start afterthe membership dr ivelaunched by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in Varanasion July 6.

This campaign can be seenas BJP’s beginning for thepreparation of Assembly elec-tions in 2022. The agenda ofthe party is very clear — tomake the beneficiaries feelproud. They will be involvedin all celebrations like Holi,Diwali and national festivalslike Independence Day andRepublic Day. During Diwali,earthen diyas will be lighted atthe doorsteps of the beneficia-ries and during national festi-vals, they will be given impor-tant position during the func-tion.

Another aspect of the BJPcampaign will be identificationof eligible beneficiaries who,despite meeting all eligibilitycriteria, are not getting bene-fit of any government scheme.These families will be linked toBJP’s Jana Samadhan Yojanaand ensured that the benefit ofgovernment schemes reachthem.

The aim of the BJP is toensure that the poor people getbenefits of the welfare schemesand it is not limited to ahandful of people. “All eligi-ble persons should get the ben-efit of government schemes,”the leader said.

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Lucknow (PNS):Humidity made people sweateven as the skies remainedovercast in the state capital onFriday. The city recorded themaximum temperature at 33.7degree Celsius while the min-imum was 24.2 degree Celsius.

The weatherman hasissued a warning of heavy tovery heavy rainfall at isolatedplaces over eastern UttarPradesh. Rain and thunder-shower are likely at a few placesover the state. In Lucknow, theforecast is for partly cloudyskies while the maximum andminimum temperatures areexpected to be around 34degree Celsius and 24 degreeCelsius, respectively onSaturday.

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Aperson allegedly involvedin manufacturing illicit

liquor was arrested by policefrom Bhadua village on Friday.Equipment for distillation ofalcohol were also recovered aswere 20 litres of hooch, twokilograms of urea and a dozenempty bottles. The accusedwas identified as Ram Ratan,who is a resident ofMohanlalganj.

The police said he was amember of an inter-districtgang involved in distilling illic-it liquor. He was going to fill thebottles with hooch when thepolice reached there during aroutine checking drive onThursday night. The policedetained him for interrogationand he was arrested on Fridayafter he reportedly confessed tohis crime.

Meanwhile, the police con-ducted a raid at a gambling denlocated in Nigoha on the inter-vening night of Thursday andFriday and arrested six gam-blers. They were identified asBhullu, Shiv Kumar, Ram Das,Raj Kumar, Surendra, RamaKant and Neeraj.

The police had been tippedoff that the house of Neeraj wasbeing used as a gambling den.

A raid was conducted when thegambling was at its peak.However, the plan got leakedand some gamblers managed toflee the spot before policecould reach there. Packs ofplaying cards and Rs 2,600 incash were recovered by thepolice. Besides, a person, iden-tified as Rohit Gautam, wasarrested on the charge of theftfrom Bhauli locality underBakshi-Ka-Talab police stationon Friday morning. Two smart-phones, a stolen motorcycleand Rs 7,000 in cash wererecovered from his possession.

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A48-year-old man died afterhe fell down from a mov-

ing train near railway crossinggate number 23 betweenDilawar Nagar and Rahimabadrailway stations here on Fridaymorning. The deceased, iden-tified as Pradeep Kumar, was aresident of Kahla village underMalihabad police station.

Gateman Vinay Kumarinformed police that a mutilat-ed body had been spotted nearthe railway track. He added thata passenger had fallen downfrom the train at around 5.45am. One of the residents ofKahla village identified thebody and told the police thatthe deceased was his relative.However, police called otherfamily members to identitythe body to be doubly sure.

Meanwhile, ShubhamAwasthi (26), who was a nativeof Sitapur, died under the mys-

terious circumstance at hisfriend’s house in Mishrapur vil-lage under Gudamba policestation. The police claimed hewas a drug addict and died dueto excessive consumption of

some drug. Shubham’s friendtold the police that the formerwas in depression due to unem-ployment. He is survived by hiswife and two.

The deceased was facingacute financial crisis and wasfinding it hard to make endsmeet for his family. He saidShubham came to Lucknow insearch of a job on July 10 andstayed in his house. He saidShubham was dejected onThursday evening as he wasfound to be unfit for a job thathe was looking for.

Shubham was scheduled toreturn to his native place onSaturday after appearing inanother job interview.

Though his father SatishKumar Awasthi alleged thatShubham was murdered, hefailed to state the motive formurder. Investigating officerArjun Awasthi said probe wasunderway to ascertain thecause of death.

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The Food Safety and DrugAdministration (FSDA) has

received not a single applicationfor setting up of a slaughter ousein Lucknow. According to asenior official of FSDA, over 100court cases had been filedagainst illegal slaughterhouses inthe district. The official said theslaughtering being done in thecity was illegal as legal slaugh-terhouses exist only inBarabanki and Unnao.

“In Unnao, there are sevenlegal slaughterhouses.Shopkeepers are allowed tobring meat from these places.There are also licenced shopswhich bring meat from legalslaughterhouses and can also bepurchased by retailers,” he said.The official pointed out thatrestaurants and hotels wereallowed to purchase meat fromlicenced shops but they couldnot slaughter animals in the city.He added that the illegal shops

had been issued challans in thepast and also removed duringdrives by FSDA, but theycropped up again.

Giving a backgrounder, hesaid as per new norms definedfor slaughtering, there is amulti-departmental approachrequired for obtaining thelicense if one has to set up aslaughter house in the district.

“The slaughterhouses areno longer mechanical and thereare scientific norms which haveto be adopted for slaughteringthe animal. The animals have to

be healthy, clean, sanitised andthen made unconscious.Different techniques are usedfor small and big animals. Theanimals have to be slaughteredin a special manner and theblood has to be drained in a fewminutes. The hides are removedand there are specific norms forthat too. Obtaining an NOC isalso a difficult process,” heexplained. He said it was unfor-tunate that the district had noslaughter house.

“The first problem isobtaining land which has to be

notified under LMC, and itssanitary hygienic conditionshave also to be considered. It islooked into by the NGT. Thepre-mortem and post-mortemhealth of the animals is checkedby the Animal Husbandrydepartment which puts stampswhile FSDA looks into the qual-ity of meat. In the end, we issuethe license and just because theydo not get NOC in the first andsecond steps itself from otherdepartments, we have not yetreceived any application” hepointed out.

“Two trucks of meat cometo Lucknow from Hyderabadand go to big branded compa-nies and hotels. However, thesmall shops where meat isslaughtering are illegal,” he said.He admitted that most were notready to set up a slaughterhousein the district because theywere afraid it might turn out tobe an expensive proposition ifthere was any change in thenorms.

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Lucknow (PNS): DistrictMagistrate Kaushal Raj Sharmasaid under the directions ofChief Minister YogiAdityanath, all governmentdepartments had been direct-ed to ensure one sapling isplanted by each person in thedistrict in the plantation sea-son. The DM held a meeting onplantation with senior offi-cials, including the MunicipalCommissioner, chief develop-ment officer, ADMs, repre-sentatives from LDA and otherdepartments.

Sharma said 26.5 lakhsaplings would be planted in thedistrict, including 10 lakh by theForest department, 12 lakh bythe Panchayati Raj departmentand the rest by other depart-ments. He said within the nextone week, the departmentsmust procure saplings andcomplete their target for August15. He said all the departmentsshould meet a part of their tar-get by August 5 and the remain-ing by August 15. He added thatthe Forest department had alsoappointed a liaison officer forthe purpose.

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With the objective ofenhancing farmers'income, the Yogi

Adityanath government is like-ly to enhance the direct pur-chase of paddy from farmersduring the current seasonbeginning from October 1.

The Centre had earlier thismonth marginally hiked theminimum support price (MSP)for paddy by Rs 65 per quintalto Rs 1,815 per quintal for the2019-20 crop year, while ratesfor oilseeds, pulses and othercereals were raised substantial-ly. Official sources said theFood and Civil Supplies depart-ment had been directed to usetechnology for providing allfacilities to the farmers forseamless procurement of paddyfrom them during the next sea-son and also the payments to them.

The department has beenasked to make all the requiredarrangements for the paddyprocurement before the com-mencement of the season. TheFood and Civil Supplies depart-ment has prepared the sched-ule for the paddy procure-ment. The state governmentagencies every year set up over3,000 paddy procurement cen-

ters. Sources in the Food andCivil Supplies department saidthat arrangements were beingmade for the required numberof jute bags, staff and funds forthe purchase of paddy at theprocurement centres.

The government hasspecifically asked the depart-ment to ensure that middlemenare not involved in paddy pro-curement and the commodityis directly purchased from thefarmers by the official agencies.

The department is alsoworking on finalising the list ofthe rice mills where the paddywill be dispatched for milling.

The official agencies to beinvolved in paddy procure-ment are Food and CivilSupplies department, Food

Corporation of India, UPCooperative Federation,regional food controllers,Registrar Cooperative Societies,UP Agro IndustrialCorporation, UP Food andEssential CommoditiesCorporation, UP CooperativeUnion and NAFED.

During the last paddy pro-curement season (2017-18),the UP government had pro-cured a little over 50 lakh met-ric tons of paddy directly fromthe farmers without involvingthe middleman. The govern-ment had paid special attentionon payment to the farmersand the payment was madedirectly in their accounts byRTGS (real time gross settlement).

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Lucknow (PNS):Agriculture Minister SuryaPratap Shahi NABARD hasbeen playing a critical role inthe development of agricultureand rural sectors in UttarPradesh through its financialand developmental support forthe past three decades.

The minister was speakingat an event to commemorate38th Foundation Day ofNABARD at its headquarters inLucknow. Appreciating thesupport rendered in issuance ofKisan Credit Cards to farmersduring the last year, heappealed to NABARD and var-ious banks in the state to workin tandem with governmentagencies to meet the mam-moth challenge of issuing 25lakh new KCCs in the stateduring the current year. Heacknowledged NABARD’s sup-port to the government to thetune of Rs 6,431 crore for threepriority irrigation projects andto facilitate realising the Centralgovernment’s vision of dou-bling farmers’ income.

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Lucknow (PNS): It isimportant to understand theneeds, choices and expecta-tions of youth with regards tofamily planning and ensurethat the voices of unmarriedpopulations and adolescentsunder the age of 18 years of ageare also well-documented, saidMitashree Ghosh from FamilyPlanning Association of India.

She said aspects required

for building an enabling envi-ronment for adolescents includ-ed ensuring legal rights, policiesand guidelines that respect,protect, and fulfill adolescents’human rights to contraceptiveinformation, products, and ser-vices regardless of age, sex andmarital status.

She said it was important toaddress norms and foster sup-port among communities and

parents for adolescents to getcontraceptive information andservices. She added that deliv-ering on India’s FamilyPlanning 2020 commitmentrequires delving into the chal-lenges of programme imple-mentation mapped to individ-ual needs, and a review of thebarriers to creating an enablingenvironment, keeping in viewthe needs, preferences and

expectations of a burgeoningpopulation of young people inIndia, despite a slow-down inthe decadal growth rate of pop-ulation.

Kalpana Apte, secretarygeneral and CEO of FamilyPlanning Association of India,said: “Around 1.8 billion young-sters are entering their repro-ductive years in the country.Hence, it’s necessary to notjust work closely with allGovernment and private bod-ies, but also get young people’sattention towards their ownsexual and reproductive health.”

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Central Institute forSubtropical Horticulture

(CISH) is collaborating withRemote Sensing ApplicationCentre for horticulture devel-opment. A workshop was organ-ised at Remote SensingApplication Centre for discus-sion on the use of geo-infor-matics in horticulture andreview of CHAMAN project onFriday.

CISH director ShailendraRajan was the chief guest on theoccasion. He spoke about appli-cation of geo-informatics in dif-ferent areas of horticulture. Theworkshop was also attended byDr MM Kimothi, consultant

MNCFC (New Delhi). DrHaldhar, director of RSAC (UP),provided a detailed account ofresearch conducted by institutein collaboration with variousorganisations of the state. Rajanexplained how geo-informaticscould be useful in planning forthe horticulture crop produc-tion. “Developing efficient pack-age of practices and phenolog-ical data can be used for preciseguidance of the farmers to carryout various operations,” he said.He also stressed that greenhouses were mostly designed asper the information available invarious countries but for Indianconditions, GIS maps of differ-ent regions could be utilised fordesigning specific types of green

houses for particular areas.“Another application of thespace technology is to work outthe requirement of rejuvenationand orchards can be charac-terised on the basis of satellitedata. CISH worked out variousniche models which are usefulfor finding out the suitable areafor particular mango or guavavarieties. The technical devel-opment at CISH is helpful inindicating where red-colouredguava can be successfullygrown,” he explained.

He pointed out that underthe CHAMAN project, CISHwas working in collaborationwith MNCFC for developingyield prediction model inmango.

Lucknow (PNS): To equipthe faculty members and teach-ers with the latest teachingtechniques, Amity Institute ofInformation Technology, AmityUniversity, organised a week-long faculty development-cum-training programme. Facultymembers of 21 different edu-cational institutes across thecountry were imparted training.

The training programmewas based on the topic ofresearch methodology and sta-tistical analysis. The pro-gramme was inaugurated byPro V-C, Amity University,Sunil Dhaneshwar and others.Experts trained the partici-pants about latest and innova-tive tools which being used inworld’s best institutions. Theyalso cleared the confusions onvarious issues of researchmethodology teaching. Theprogramme concluded with acertificate and prize distributionceremony.

Participants from 21 dif-ferent organisations took part inthe programme, including fromBanaras Hindu University(Varanasi), HNBG University

(Garhwal), Dhofar University,(Oman), GB Pant University(Pant Nagar), MDU (Rohtak),Lucknow University, IntegralUniversity, Manipal University

(Jaipur), Maharishi University(Lucknow), North Eastern HillUniversity (Meghalaya), DEI(Agra) and ICCMRT(Lucknow).

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A 12-member students’delegation of City MontessoriSchool, RDSO campus, will bevisiting South Africa to partic-ipate in InternationalMathematics Competition(SAIMC). The competition isbeing organised from August 1to 6 at Durban, South Africa,in which students’ teams fromnearly 30 countries will beparticipating. Individual andteam contests will be held forjunior and senior students.The delegation will be led byprincipal Aruna Naidu whileteachers Ashok Kumar Pal,

Pawan Singh and MonikaMalik will be her deputies.Student members of the dele-gation are Atharv Srivastava,Anushka Srivastava, AkarshKapoor, Aviral Srivastava,Karan Aditya, AnubhutiBramhane, Pranjali Pal andSrijan Verma.

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of Management Sciences BhartiRaj Singh said that the risingpopulation was the reason forenvironmental hazards. He saidthat the median age of theworld’s population was esti-mated to be 30.4 years in 2018.

“This shows a very alarmingsituation when average deathrate would be 42.8% withinnext 30 years and might furtherenhance due to environmentalhazard,” he said. He pointed outthat even by introducing stan-

dards of family planning, wecould not control the world population to our expectations.

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launch of its mega initiative,‘Making India Dengue-Free’(pic below). Under this initia-tive, Odomos will be reachingout to over 10 lakh peopleacross the country, educatingthem about prevention frommosquito bites and distributingfree samples of mosquito repel-lent creams to protect them-selves from mosquitoes thismonsoon. The campaign willalso cover students and teach-ers in schools across the coun-try. Flagging off the initiative inLucknow on Friday, Daburconducted an awareness ses-sion amongst more than 1000kids from Prerna Girls Schoolin the city. The session was con-ducted by Dr DK Gupta.

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In view of the approaching‘Shrawan’ month, mayor

Sanyukta Bhatia inspectedcity temples on Friday after-noon. The mayor reviewedcleanliness of temple premis-es and lighting arrangementsat Buddheshwar temple. Shealso planted a sapling at thetemple and gave directions tothe zonal officials for main-taining cleanliness in thepremises.

She then visited Kalyangiritemple in Thakurganj andsaid wastage of flowers shouldbe stopped. She asked theauthorities to make compostwith the flowers offered at thetemple. She later visitedKoneshwar temple in Chowkand on the insistence of thepriest, she issued directions for

improved streetlight arrange-ments on the path leading tothe temple. Thereafter, she

visited Mankameshwar templewhere she issued directions forcleanliness, improved supply

of water, cleaning of drains andcleanliness in the templepremises.

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Allahabad Division is suc-cessfully operating trains

more than its operating capac-ity and following the mantra ofIndian Railway of safety, secu-rity and punctuality. To com-pletely secure the railway trackfrom Allahabad station toSubedarganj, it has been fencedby sleeper and barbed wire nearRUB No 42 (railway head-quarter, Subedarganj). By con-structing this fencing any exter-nal person and animal etc willnot be able to come on thetrack and no one can causedamage to railway property incase the trains were standing inthe loop line in the outer sec-tion of Allahabad station.

In order to make the rail-way track fully safe it has beendecided by the Railway admin-istration to make boundarywalls on the sides of the track.

In its first phase approxi-mately 26 kilometre trackbetween Mughalsarai-Allahabad, 20 km in Kanpurarea, 40 km between Rura-Tundla and 42 km betweenTundla-Ghaziabad ie total of

128 km boundary wall will beconstructed. In the secondphase with a estimated cost of� 200 crore around 56 km ofboundary wall in each sectionof Mughalsarai-Allahabad,Allahabad-Kanpur, Etawah-Tundla and Aligarh-Ghaziabadwill be constructed i.e. a totalof approx 224 km boundarywall. Priority for constructionof boundary wall will be givento the places where the inci-dence of cattle run over aresmaximum. After the comple-tion of the construction ofboundary wall, the track willbe completely safe and thetrains will be able to run attheir determined speed inAllahabad Division and pas-

sengers will be able to reachtheir destination on time andin future speed of the trainscan also be increased alongwith safety of trains.

Special attention is beinggiven to safety, security andpunctuality of the trains by theAllahabad Division and con-stant inspections are done byofficers and inspectors to alertthe employees. Trains arebeing operated at maximum130 km/h in AllahabadDivision but due to the arrivalof stray cattle on the track inci-dents of cattle run over areoccurring due to which theoperation of trains is affectedand they get delayed. Effortsare being made to ensure pre-vention of stray animals ontracks under which the per-sonnel of Railway ProtectionForce (RPF) and Safety depart-ment are going from one vil-lage to another to make the vil-lagers aware that they shouldnot leave their animals loosealong the tracks which led tocattle run over cases, loss oflivelihood of the villagers apartfrom affecting the operationsof trains.

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Asub-divisional officer(SDO) of Uttar Pradesh

Power Corporation Limited(UPPCL) was seriously injuredafter miscreants allegedlyattacked him in Shamli district,police said on Friday. The inci-dent occurred on Thursdaywhen the SDO, Nazim Ahmad,was allegedly attacked by theunidentified miscreants nearJhinjhana town, they added.

Ahmad was seriouslyinjured in the attack and his carwas also damaged. On thebasis of a complaint from theSDO, a case was lodged againstunidentified persons and ahunt was on to nab the accused,the police said.

Meanwhile, in Sambhal, achild was burnt to death andfive others suffered burns whena cooking gas cylinder bursttriggering a fire at a house,police said on Friday. The inci-dent took place in BarkhedaSaunak village in the Behjoiarea of the district,Superintendent of PoliceYamuna Prasad said. Thedeceased was identified asAkash (3).

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Refuting the Oppositioncharge that the Union

Budget for 2019-20 lacks visionand is anti-poor and farmers,Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday said inthe Rajya Sabha it reflects com-mitment to boost investment inagriculture and social sectorparticularly healthcare andeducation.

She also brushed asideCongress leader and formerFinance Minister PChidambaram’s contention thatthe Narendra ModiGovernment has not initiatedany structural reforms andshied away from bold steps andlisted at least 16 such actionsincluding GST, annual dole ofRs 6,000 to all farmers, directbenefit transfer and “radical”changes in Foreign DirectInvestment (FDI) among oth-ers. She also strongly assertedthat the five trillion dollareconomy by 2025 was achiev-able after Chidambaram hadpooh-poohed this target in hisspeech on Thursday.

Devoting nearly 45 min-utes of her one hour and 40minutes reply to the three-daydebate on her maiden UnionBudget in rebuttingChidambaram’s charges madein his assertion on Thursday,Sitharaman said all the targetsmentioned in her Budget,including five trillion dollareconomy by 2024 were “realis-tic” and “achievable”.

In fact, the Minister also said

the former Finance Ministerhad attempted to “slight andridicule” the budget in a “suavemanner” and then went on tocompare the performance of thefive years of the Modi regimewith the targets achieved by theprevious UPA Government.

She said the NDAGovernment in 2014 was sad-dled with an under recovery ofmore than 1.4 lakh crore left bythe then outgoing UPAGovernment. Moreover, infla-tion was also high as admittedby then Finance MinisterChidambaram. She also point-ed out the voluntary disclosureof income scheme initiated byChidambaram as finance min-ister drew strong criticism bythe Comptroller and AuditorGeneral (CAG).

Her sharp reaction cameafter Chidambaram onThursday had termed theBudget as “insipid” and lackingin bold steps and structuralreforms. He also questioned thefive trillion dollar target.

Taking on Chidambaramwho was not present in thehouse as he was away in

Chennai and had informedSitharaman about it, theMinister read out a list of 16reforms undertaken by theNDA Government and saidChidambaram only listed fourreforms during the UPA rule.

Rebutting his assertion of“unachievable” tax projections,she read out numbers to sayincome tax, excise and GST col-lection targets are achievable.

While excise collections willboost with Rs 2 per litre increasein tax on petrol and diesel andan amnesty scheme, GST col-lections will boost by over 14 percent on simplified return filingand tracking of evasion.

“It is not without a plan,”she said on increasing the sizeof the economy from USD 2.7trillion to USD 5 trillion by2024-25. She then went on thechallenge Chidambaram’s com-ment that a money lender canalso calculate regarding fivetrillion dollar economy andsaid if it is the case there is noneed for a government.

As regards the priorities ofthe Budget, she said besidesfocus on agriculture, the plan

includes increasing investmentcoming by way of further lib-eralisation of FDI rules, low-ering of corporate tax to 25 percent to companies withturnover of up to Rs 400 crore,tax cut on electric vehicles,widening scope of voluntarypension scheme for retailtraders and shopkeepers andgiving push to infrastructuredevelopment with an invest-ment of Rs 100 lakh croreover the next five years.

To criticism of her Budgetspeech on July 5 not featuringallocations, Sitharaman readout allocations made inemployment guarantee scheme,irrigation, rural roads, drinkingwater, health, education, cropinsurance and mid-day mealscheme to say funds madeavailable for 99 schemes havingimpact on common man haveall gone up.

Sitharaman said over thelast five years, public sectorbanks have been recapitalised byRs 3.19 lakh crore. “NPA prob-lem has been comprehensivelyaddressed by the Government.”

On farmer supportschemes, she said extendingscope of cash support of Rs6,000 to every farmer, giving 50per cent margin of profit on costof production and timelyannouncement of MSP increasewill help double farmer incomeby 2022. The Minister also saidthe Government is consideringa proposal for pension schemefor farmers above the age of 60.

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Stating that Railways need“big investments” if facilities

like new stations, railway linesand speed trains are to be cre-ated, Railway Minister PiyushGoyal said on Friday for thisreason his Government wouldincrease public-private part-nership even as he rejected thecharge that the national trans-porter would be privatised.

“Privatisation is neededfor new stations, railway linesand speed trains,” said Goyal,who was replying to a debate inthe Lok Sabha to the discussionon Demands for Grants of theRailways.

He said Governmentwould increase public-privatepartnership in the railwayswhich was also initiated by theCongress-led-dispensation atthe centre. “You failed, we arecapable… why shed crocodiletears,” the Minister said whilereferring to the issue of pri-vatisation and the need forinviting private investments inthe railways.

Goyal said railways was infor a big expansion and referredto the Union Finance MinisterNirmala Sitharaman’s Budgetspeech which said Rs 50 lakhcrore was needed to be spenton Railways in the next 10 to12 years. Goyal said Railwaysare spending money in newcoaches and single automaticsignaling system for the entirecountry.

With several Oppositionleaders accusing theGovernment of ushering in pri-vatisation of the railways, Goyalsaid: “There is no question ofprivatisation of the railways. Therailways cannot be privatised.However, if we have to increasethe facilities in railways then

obviously we need investmentsfor it. We have taken a decisionto encourage public privatepartnerships and we will alsocorporatise some units.”

The Minister said Railwayswas running in profit despite Rs22,000 crore paid to workersafter Seventh pay commissionreport. He said Railways bor-rowing was at Rs 18,000 crore.

He said punctuality oftrains was his priority and forthis automatic monitoring oftrains arrival and departuretimes would be in place and itwould be not left to be handledby the station masters as usedto happen in olden times.

Goyal detailed figures toclaim that the ModiGovernment has performedmuch better in boosting bothinfrastructure and safety para-meters of the national trans-porter as compared to the UPAera. The minister also high-lighted how the governmenthad installed around 2,10,000bio-toilets in trains so far and

in next 12 months all trains inthe country would have them.

During his hour-longspeech there were frequentprotests by Congress mem-bers, as their leader AdhirRanjan Chowdhury accusedhim of misleading the Houseand he was backed by his partycolleagues.

He justified ending the tra-dition of presenting a separateBudget for the Railways saying,“Khayali pulao banane kapurana railway Budget ko Modijine khatam kar diya, jahan haz-aro wade kiye jate thay (Modiended the practice of separaterailway budget which madevote bank promises).” He alsowent on to quote Atal BihariVajpayee, “Main hamesha vadeleke nahin, irade leke aaya (Ibring determination/commit-ment and not promises).”

He said track kilometregrew by 39,000 km in 64 years,while in the past five years itgrew by 7,000 km. Similarly, hesaid the railways increased its

running kilometre by 12,000km between 1950-2014, whilefrom 2014-2019, it grew by5,000 running kilometre.

“The work for DedicatedFreight Corridor started in 2007.From 2007 to 2014, they had noteven managed one kilometre oftrack linking. We took on thiswork and in just five years, wehave completed 1900 km oftrack linking,” said Goyal.

He again claimed that dur-ing the Congress rule, not onecoach was manufactured inRae Bareli’s Modern CoachFactory since 2007-2008 till2014 and the first coach wasmade in August 2014 shortlyafter the BJP came to power.There was no protest orresponse coming from theCongress benches.

“We want the MCF toincrease its manufacturingcapacity to 5000 and the trainscoming out of there go to theentire world. We want it to bethe largest factory in the world,”he said.

Goyal said that between2004 and 2009, around 206accidents took place every year,while the number was 153between 2009 and 2011. Hesaid that during the BJP’stenure, it reduced to around100 every year.

Lashing out at successiveState Governments in WestBengal, Goyal said several pro-jects had been held up becausethe State was unable to provideland to railways.

“The oldest project in WestBengal is running from 1974-75. The projects don’t get com-pleted because the Governmentdoesn’t give us land. If they giveus land, work will immediate-ly start,” he said, adding simi-lar problems were also faced inKerala.

�� 4� �*15

Delegates from India andPakistan will meet at the

Attari-Wagah border onSunday to discuss variousissues related to the KartarpurCorridor, including connec-tivity at the Zero Point and thenumber of pilgrims to beallowed. Government officialssaid the construction fromIndian side will be completedby October 31, well before thecommemoration of 550th birthanniversary of Guru Nanak inNovember 2019.

New Delhi had earlier con-veyed its strong concerns toPakistan over the presence of aleading Khalistani separatistin a committee appointed byIslamabad on the project. “Themeeting will discuss modalitiesof the Kartarpur Corridor and

related technical issues,” saidthe officials.

The four-lane highway

connecting the Zero Point ofthe Kartarpur Corridor up toNational Highway-354 is being

constructed by the NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI). The officials saidIndia is constructing a bridgeat the Zero Point and hasurged Pakistan to build a sim-ilar bridge on its side that willprovide safe and secure move-ment of the pilgrims andaddress concerns regardingflooding. The bridge is over acreek, of which the majoritypart falls in Pakistan.

Pakistan said it would builda mud-filled embankment, amove which would not onlylead to flooding in areas on theIndian side but also pose athreat to the structure of thebridge. The construction workat the site of passenger termi-nal complex at Dera BabaNanak in India is on full swing.The work has been planned tobe completed by October 31

before the commemoration of550th birth anniversary ofGuru Nanak in November2019. More than 250 labour-ers and 30 engineers are work-ing at the site in three shifts.The terminal is being built onaround 15 acres of land withcomprehensive facilities tocater to approximately 5,000pilgrims daily.

The passenger terminalbuilding is being constructed by the Land PortsAuthority of India.

The work for it was award-ed to the Shapoorji PallonjiGroup on May 29. The landacquisition process has beencompleted with the support ofthe Punjab government and theproject is scheduled to be com-pleted by October 31.

The total cost of the projectis Rs 177.5 crore.

�� 4� �*15

The Lok Sabha on Fridaypassed the Amendment

Bill to Central Universities Actto set up a Central universityand a tribal university inAndhra Pradesh.

Moving the CentralUniversities (Amendment) Bill,2019 for passage, HRDMinister Ramesh Pokhriyal‘Nishank’ said the Governmenthas allotted Rs 450 crore for thecentral university and Rs 420crore for the central tribal uni-versity. Currently these twouniversities are functioning intemporary facilities inAnantpur and Vijayanagaramrespectively.

HRD Minister said theModi Government has givenAndhra Pradesh two universi-ties and seven institutions ofimportance. Stating that at pre-sent the education departmenthas a budget of Rs 1.25 lakhcrore, he said the Governmentis moving at a fast pace in thearea of education. It has put theeducation sector under focus toensure all round development,he said.

According to the CentralUniversities (Amendment) Bill,2019, the two universitieswill increase access andquality of higher educa-tion and also promoteavenues of higher educa-tion for the people of thestate. The TribalUniversity will pro-vide instructionaland researchfacilities intribal art, cul-ture and cus-toms and

advancement in technology tothe tribal population of India.At present, there is no centraluniversity in Andhra Pradeshwhile other States, except Goa, have one or more suchinstitution.

Setting up a central uni-versity and a central tribal uni-versity in Andhra Pradesh isobligatory under the AndhraPradesh Reorganisation Act,2014 for creation of Telangana.

Participating in the dis-cussion, K Suresh (Cong) saidthat the bill has not mentionedabout detailed funding mech-anism and funding of univer-sities have remained an issue inthe country. There is also nomention about curriculum andadministration of these twouniversities in the bill, he said.

He added that it was alsonot mentioned whethertribals would get reserva-

tion in the central tribaluniversity.

Rajiv Pratap Rudy (BJP)took a swipe at the TDP for

questioning theintentions of PrimeMinister NarendraModi.

� ��(�� 4� �*15

Visitors to the ‘Statue ofUnity’ (SoU), world’s tallest

statue of Sardar VallabhbhaiPatel, will soon also get to enjoythe Jungle Safari housing exot-ic animals and birds as theGujarat Government is in theprocess of developing a worldclass zoo adjacent to the site atKevadia Colony in Narmadadistrict in the State.

Setting up of the SardarPatel Zoological Park is in linewith Prime Minister NarendraModi’s wishes keen to developthe spot as a major tourismhub, said a senior official from

the Gujarat Government oncondition of anonymity.

The Central Zoo Authority(CZA), a regulatory body forzoos in the country, has alreadygiven in-principle approval tothe proposal of developing thezoo to be spread over 200acres near the statue site whichwitnesses around 7 lakhtourists every year. The zoo,which is being developed inphases, is likely to be inaugu-rated in October this year,most probably on the birthanniversary of the iron man.

The official told ThePioneer that last year onDecember 22, the Prime

Minister during his visit to theSoU site had expressed desire

to develop Kevadia as a tourismhub so that the tourists visiting

from far places have full valueof their time and money.

“The Prime Minister want-ed more attraction at the venuewhere kids and families canspend entire day together. Alsoidea is to sensitise and educatethe visitors about the ecosystemand importance of wildlifeconservation.

“The zoo will have five sec-tions each for mammals, car-nivorous, herbivorous andwater animals and a walkthrough aviary besides exoticanimals as per the zoo man-date. We are in the process ofacquiring the animals fromother zoos,” said the official.

Inaugurated by Modi lastyear, the 182 meter tall SoU isalready flanked by 17-km-longpatch of colourful flowers,around 100 varieties of flowers,along the banks of RiverNarmada to make the spotresembling a rainbow of flow-ers set up on earth. In addition,two beautiful lakes — ‘Kamal’and ‘Poyani’ — are also devel-oped.

With a view to give first-hand experience of nature andenvironment to visitors, naturaltreks — Reva Trek, SadhuTrek, Vainkutth Baba Trek,Sardar Trek, and AshwasthamaTrek - have been developed. In

addition to these, the site hasAdventure Park, Garden ofFive Senses, Selfie with Statueand Sardar garden, said theofficial.

Once Sardar PatelZoological Park starts func-tioning, Gujarat will in totalhave eight zoos. The sevenother zoos are Sakkarbaug Zoo,Junagadh; Kamla NehruZoological Garden,Ahmedabad; Indroda NaturePark, Gandhi Nagar; NaturePark, Surat; Rajkot MunicipalCorporation Zoo, Rajkot; SayajiBaug Zoo, Vadodara; andSundervan Nature DiscoveryCentre in Ahmedabad.

�� 4� �*15�

The CBI has booked formerArunachal Pradesh Chief

Minister Nabam Tuki for allegedcorruption in award of contractsworth Rs 3.20 crore for aGovernment project in 2003.

Tuki, the then Minister ofConsumer Affairs and CivilSupplies in Arunachal Pradesh,had allegedly colluded withhis brother Nabam Tagam totake illegal gratification in lieuof the contracts given to devel-op two parking places inNirjulee and Naharlagun in thestate worth Rs 61.43 lakh andRs 2.60 crore, officials said.

Tuki was the CM of theState during 2011-16. Hisbrother Nabam Tagam, NNOsik, the then director civilsupplies, and the then chief

manager United CommercialBank Sohrab Ali Hazarika havealso been booked, they said.

Osik allegedly paid illegalgratification of Rs 30 lakh,which were credited in hisaccount in Itanagar branch ofthe United Commercial Bank.The cheque was initially issued

in the name of Tuki and waslater changed to “yourself ”, theagency alleged.

It said Hazarika, as thebranch manager, helped to getthe amount credited in Tuki’saccount and did not obtain anyauthorisation for alterationsmade in the cheque beneficia-ry column.

The account holder’s namein the bank records was “oblit-erated” and was replaced withT Nabam in the specimen sig-nature card. A picture of Tuki’sbrother Nabam Tagam wasalso put on the specimen sig-nature card.

The agency has booked allthe accused for IPC sectionsrelating to criminal conspiracyand forgery besides provisionsof the Prevention ofCorruption Act.

New Delhi: The SupremeCourt on Friday stayed furtherproceedings in the MadrasHigh Court in a case againstTamil magazine ‘Nakkheeran’for publishing articles alleged-ly denigrating Tamil NaduGovernor Banwarilal Purohit.

A Bench headed by JusticeSA Nazeer agreed to examinethe State Government’s pleaagainst the order which stayedthe proceedings against themagazine and its editor. On June4, the High Court had grantedinterim relief to Nakkheeraneditor R Gopal by staying pro-ceedings against him in the casein a lower court.

Gopal was arrested onOctober 9 last year underSection 124 of the Indian PenalCode (IPC) which relates to

“assaulting President, Governoretc with intent to compel orrestrain the exercise of any law-ful power”, triggering a con-troversy.

However, he had walkedfree within hours after a localcourt had rejected the police’splea for his remand andreleased him on a personalbond. The case was filed on acomplaint from the Raj Bhavanover the publication of a seriesof articles in Nakkheeran relat-ed to a woman assistant pro-fessor of a private college whoallegedly asked girl students toextend sexual favours to uni-versity officials in return formarks and money.

Gopal approached theMadras High Court seekingquashing of the case. PTI

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Bengaluru: BJP in Karnatakaon Friday decided to move itsMLAs to a resort near hereamid fears of poaching bid bythe ruling Congress-JD(S)combine after Chief MinisterHD Kumarasway announcedhe would seek a trust vote inthe Assembly despite the res-ignation by rebel legislators.

Every one (BJP MLAs) feltthat they should be togetherand come together to theassembly on Monday... I havesaid okay, State BJP presidentB S Yeddyurappa told reportersin response to a question.

The MLAs were likely tostay put at a resort on the out-skirts of the city, party sourcessaid.

Resort politics is nothingnew to Karnataka and duringan earlier crisis faced by the rul-ing combine its MLAs werestaying at a resort on the cityoutskirts.

The ruling coalition's totalstrength is 116 (Congress-78,JD(S)-37 and BSP-1), besidesthe Speaker. With the supportof the two independents, whoMonday resigned from theministry, the BJP has 107MLAs in the 224-memberHouse, where the half-waymark is 113.

If the resignations of the 16

MLAs are accepted, the coali-tion's tally will be reduced to100.

To a question onKumaraswamy's surpriseannounement and how pre-pared was the BJP to the trustvote, Yeddyurappa said theywould decide their strategy onthe basis of Kumaraswamy'sspeech.

"As a Chief Minister, he hasmade a statement, how can Isay no to it. It is left to him. Wewill decide on the basis of whatthe Chief Minister speaks whenseeks the trust vote," the BJPveteran said.

Amid the crisis triggeredby the resignation of 16Congress and JD(S) MLAs,Kumaraswamy in the Assemblyearlier on Friday said he wouldprove the majority of his

Government on the floor of theHouse and asked Speaker KRRamesh Kumar to fix the timefor it.

On the Supreme CourtFriday restraining the Speakerfrom taking any decision on theresignation and disqualificationof 10 MLAs till Tuesday,Yeddyurappa said it has comeas a moral booster to the rebelswho were 'satisfied' with theorder.

He claimed even the whipissued (asking all ruling MLAsto attend the session) will notbe applicable for the ten.

The MLAs in Mumbai hadcontacted our friends, they allare satisfied with the SupremeCourt verdict, he said, addingthe BJP would wait for the out-come of the next hearing onTuesday. PTI

��7%1�)�� Ahmedabad: Congress leader

Rahul Gandhi on Fridayclaimed that the BJP uses"money power" and "intimida-tion" to topple Governmentsand accused the saffron partyof doing the same in Karnataka.

Sixteen MLAs including13 from the Congress, haveresigned and two Independentshave withdrawn support to the13-month-old Congress-JD(S)coalition Government in thesouthern State.

"BJP uses money power orthreat to topple Governmentswherever it can. You saw thisfirst in Goa, in the Northeast,and now are trying to do thesame in Karnataka. It is theirway of functioning. They havemoney, power, and they use it.This is the reality," Gandhi toldreporters here.

"The Congress is fightingfor truth, because truth makesCongress stronger," he said inreply to a question on what his

party would do now.Reacting to defamation

cases filed against him in dif-ferent parts of the country,Gandhi said, "There is anattempt to suppress, threaten,but this does not matter to me.I do not get scared. I willstand and continue to fight.This is a fight for theConstitution, the country'sfuture. Fight against corrup-tion, against atrocity. This willgo on." PTI

Bengaluru: Three rebelCongress and JD(S) MLAsfailed to appear beforeKarnataka Assembly SpeakerKR Ramesh Kumar on Fridayas sought by him for a person-al hearing over their resigna-tions, official sources said.

The Speaker had on July 9asked the three MLAs to appearbefore him at his office between3 pm and 4 pm on Friday fora personal hearing.

The MLAs are NarayanaGowda of JDS and AnandSingh and Prathap Gouda Patilof Congress.

However, none of themturned up, the sources said.

While Gowda and Patil

remained in Mumbai alongwith other rebels, Singh islearnt to have left for Goa.

Earlier in the day, theSpeaker told reporters that Iwill start the process if theycome..."

The three MLAs are part ofthe first batch of 13 legislatorsof the ruling Congress-JD(S)combine who resigned fromthe assembly last Saturday,dealing a blow to the coalitionGovernment. Later, three otherMLAs quit.

Ramesh Kumar had heldthat the resignation letters ofonly five out of the 13 MLAswere in proper format. Besidesthat of Gowda, Patil and Singh,

the letters of K Gopaliah (JDS)and Ramalinga Reddy(Congress) were found inorder.

He had then fixed July 15for hearing Gopaliah andReddy while asking others tosubmit their resignations prop-erly.

Ten MLAs who moved theSupreme Court alleging thatthe Speaker was not acceptingtheir resignations had appearedbefore him Thursday as direct-ed by the court and submittedresignations afresh.

After the MLAs met him,the Speaker ruled out anyimmediate decision on the res-ignation. PTI

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Thiruvananthapuram: WithCongress lawmakers quittingand cosying up to BJP in vari-ous States, Kerala ChiefMinister Pinarayi Vijayan tooka dig at them, saying the grandold party was giving a helpinghand in the saffron party'smembership drive.

"In various states, the peo-ple's representatives and lead-ers of the congress are joiningthe BJP.

Congress has become aparty engaged in increasing themembership of the BJP," he saidat a function here.

Apparently referring to themass resignations in Congressin various states, including

Karnataka and Goa, Vijayanasked whether a party like that"should remain an orphanwithout a leader" at a timewhen the country was goingthrough a very difficult phase.

He said the Congress lead-ership must be prepared to facethe challenges.

Not only during victories,but also during a crisis situa-tion, there is a need to face itand give strong leadership, hesaid at a function here.

The Chief Minister said theCPI(M) had for long been say-ing that those in the Congresscannot be trusted and nonewere sure when they wouldleave their party. PTI

��

Jammu: The Pakistan Army onFriday violated ceasefire byfiring and mortar shelling onforward posts and civilian areasalong the LoC in three sectorsof Jammu & Kashmir's Rajouriand Poonch districts, drawingbefitting retaliation fromIndian troops, a defence PROsaid.

"At about 0800 hourstoday, Pak army initiatedunprovoked ceasefire violationwith firing of small arms &later shelling with mortarsalong LoC in Mankote,Krishna Ghati sectors ofPoonch district and Nowsherasector of Rajouri district@,Defence Public RelationsOfficer (PRO) told PTI.

The Indian Army is retal-iating beffitingly, he said,adding that there was no casu-

alty or injury to anyone in thefiring and shelling.

Pakistan troops also tar-geted civil ian areas inMankote area triggering fearpsychosis among them, theofficials said.

It may be recalled thatPakistan army resorted to fir-ing and shelling of mortarsalong LoC in Nowshera Sectorin Rajouri district last Friday.

The Indian Army report-ed 1,248 cases of ceasefireviolations (CFVs) and fourcasualties along the Line ofControl this year, DefenceMinister Rajnath Singh said onTuesday.

In a written response to aquestion in the Rajya Sabha,Singh said that January saw 203cases of CFVs, followed by 215in February. PTI

!��&� )� ��!��,�+�.�� Shillong: The Opposition

Congress in Meghalaya hasprotested against the scarcity ofbeef in markets of the State andhas blamed the BJP-backedGovernment for depriving thepeople of their favourite food.

The Congress also demand-ed that the government put animmediate stop to illegal smug-gling of cattle to Bangladesh.

Local butchers protestingagainst cattle smuggling hadrefused to sell beef for a monthforcing the authorities of EastJaintia Hills and South WastGaro Hills districts to imposeprohibitory orders under section144 CrPC along the Indo-Banglaborder.

They had called off theirprotest last weekend after the dis-trict authorities stepped up thevigil Indo-Bangladesh border.

Why has beef disappearedfrom the markets in the state?What is the reason? Where

have the cows gone? It onlymeans that the chief ministerand the state home minister aresleeping. Or they are awake, see-ing and allowing things to hap-pen, Leader of OppositionMukul Sangma said.

The government of the dayshould verify. It is their job. Weare concerned that we havebeen deprived of our most deli-cious beef. The governmentshould have responded. I amtold that there is a smuggling ofcattle going on in which somebig people are involved, healleged.

Mukul Sangma, who headsthe Congress Legislative Partysaid at a meeting here lateThursday night that the partyhas discussed the issue at length.

Cattle are coming toMeghalaya but not reaching themarkets. I think there is a sub-way to divert them somewhereelse, he said in a jibe. PTI

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Aware of the fact that mas-sive alienation had taken

place in her party in the pastfew years leading to debacle inthe parliamentary elections,Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee has askedthe Trinamool Congress lead-ers to restore mass connec-tivity by shunning arroganceand being polite to the gener-al public.

Meeting her party MLAsfor the first time since theconclusion of the Lok Sabhaelections that saw the TMClosing 12 seats to the resurgentBJP, Mamata asked the legis-lators to shun arrogance, con-duct themselves more polite-ly when they meet peopleand apologise for their pastmistakes.

“Our party chief is confi-dent that the TMC will reviveits lost strength for which sheprescribed a simple formula,that is: be polite and apologiesfor your wrongs,” an MLAfrom Kolkata said.

Banerjee’s advice wasreportedly a part of a six-pointagenda prepared by electionstrategist Prashant Kishor whohas been employed by Banerjeefor rejuvenating the party andrebuilding its image in theState.

Arrogance, rampant cor-ruption, bribery, criminalisa-tion and misdemeanor weresome primary reasons identi-fied by the party think tank asthe main reason for its electoraldebacle. Out of the 42 LokSabha seats the TMC whichhad won 34 in 2014, couldmanage only 22 seats conced-ing 18 to the BJP and 2 to theCongress.

��,��(��)��

Mumbai: A court here onFriday refused to provide inter-im protection from arrest tothree men who are accused ofuploading an inflammatoryvideo on mobile app Tik Tokfollowing a lynching incident inJharkhand.

The short video surfacedon the popular video-sharingapp after the death of TabrezAnsari last month.

Mumbai Police filed a firstinformation report (FIR) againstHasnan Khan (21), MudassirShaikh (23) and ShadanFarooqui (23) for uploading thevideo, alleging that they wereindulging in hate-mongering.

The video purportedlyshows some youths saying, "You

may have killed that innocentTabrez Ansari, but tomorrow ifhis son takes revenge, do not saythat all Muslims are terrorists."

The police charged thethree men, who were said tohave a large following on TikTok, under IPC section 153-A(promoting enmity betweendifferent groups on grounds ofreligion, etc.), after which theyfiled an anticipatory bail plea.

Their lawyer Ali KaashifKhan said police should alsohold makers of the mobile appresponsible.

He said police also ignoredthe fact that the accused had inthe past uploaded several videoscalling for communal harmonyand brotherhood. PTI

�� 5*� ��

Guwahati: With the death ofthree more patients, the JapaneseEncephalitis in Assam rose to 71,a National Health Mission(NHM) bulletin said here onFriday.

The number of registeredpositive JE cases also increasedto 334 from 306 on Thursday.

Of the three fresh deathsreported, two were fromDibrugarh and one fromGoalpara district, said the NHMbulletin.

Giving the cumulative fig-ures for JE/AES (AcuteEncephalitis Syndrome), thebulletin said there were 165deaths and 1,280 cases reportedsince January. Measures to con-

trol the mosquito borne diseasethat affects the brain continuedto be taken across the statewhich is currently undergoing atransmission season for JapaneseEncephalitis, NHM sources said.

Treatment and diagnosticcost for JE/AES is being borneby the government at state runhospitals where certain numberof beds in all the ICUs and wardswere reserved for such patients.

"The AES is inflammationof the brain and spinal cordcaused due to viral, bacterial andparasitic causes out of which JEis a virus transmitted throughculex mosquito," HealthMinister Dr Himanta BiswaSarma said recently. PTI

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Four Goa MLAs, includingthree Congress rebels who

joined the ruling BJP a coupleof days ago, would be induct-ed in the state cabinet onSaturday, sources said onFriday. Ten of the 15 CongressMLAs, led by Leader ofOpposition ChandrakantKavlekar, switched sides andjoined the Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP) on Wednesday.Accompanied by ChiefMinister Pramod Sawant, thebreakaway group met BJPpresident Amit Shah and itsworking president J P Naddain New Delhi on Thursday. Allthe MLAs returned to Goa onFriday. However, Sawantstayed back to attend a high-level meeting on the issue ofmining in Goa, which hascome to a standstill followinga February 2018 SupremeCourt order. The meeting willbe held in the national capi-

tal on Friday evening.Shah, who is also the

Union home minister, andUnion Minister of MinesPralhad Joshi will attend themeeting. A top BJP sourcesaid three of the 10 formerCongress MLAs and DeputySpeaker of Legislat iveAssembly Michael Lobowould be sworn-in as minis-ters on Saturday. However, hedid not disclose the names ofthe three former CongressMLAs who would get minis-terial berths.

When contacted, Lobo, aBJP MLA, confirmed that heand three other MLAs wouldjoin the Sawant-led cabinet.Lobo was instrumental inconvincing the 10 Congresslawmakers to switch sides,giving the BJP an over-whelming majority in the 40-member state Assembly, thesources said. In order toaccommodate the new MLAsin the cabinet, Sawant would

be dropping four ministers,most of them from the BJP'salliance partners, the sourcessaid.

Talking to PTI onThursday, Sawant had said adecision on the fate of thecoalition partners in the cab-inet would be taken only afterhe returned to Goa. However,the sources said all the threeministers of the Goa ForwardParty (GFP) -- its presidentand Deputy Chief MinisterVijai Sardesai, Vinod Palyekarand Jayesh Salgaonkar -- wereexpected to be dropped, alongwith Independent MLA andRevenue Minister RohanKhaunte. The GFP, a region-al party, has been with the BJPever since the saffron outfitformed the government inthe coastal state after theFebruary, 2017 Assemblypolls. Meanwhile, Kavlekar,who returned to the statefrom New Delhi, toldreporters at the Goa airport

that he took the decision tojoin the BJP as his Assemblyconstituency had remainedunderdeveloped all theseyears.

"I was in the opposition forlong which was affecting thedevelopment of my constituency.I have taken this step as the BJPis a party which has been pro-development and when I remainin power, it will help the peopleof my constituency," he said.

Besides Kavlekar, the otherMLAs who switched sides areAtanasio Monserratte, JenifferMonserratte, Francis Silveira,Philip Nery Rodrigues, CleaofacioDias, Wilfred D'Sa, NilkantHalarnkar, Isidor Fernandes andAntonio Fernandes.

‘MLAS WHO JOINEDBJP HAVE DUG THEIROWN GRAVES’: Goa MahilaCongress chief PratimaCoutinho on Friday said theCongress MLAs who switchedover to the ruling BJP had"dug their own graves". Ten

Congress legislators in thecoastal state, led by leader ofopposition ChandrakantKavlekar, joined the BJPWednesday night, leaving theopposition party with justfive MLAs in the 40-memberAssembly.

"People are watching you(breakaway MLAs). You havedug your own graves. We(Congress) are here to stay. Asan opposition we are notgoing to shy away. We havestood tall even in the past,"Coutinho said. She allegedthat the 10 MLAs had brokenaway for personal ambitionsand not for the sake of devel-opment of the state. "If theyhave left for the sake of devel-opment, it means they areadmitting that BJP was actingpartial and not lettingCongress MLAs to do theirjob," she said. "I challengethem to contest the electionon BJP tickets and win in theirconstituencies," she said.

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From emerging as the singlelargest party with 17 seats in

2017 to being reduced to justfive MLAs now, the Congresshas suffered a big meltdown inGoa, a state where it was oncea dominant political force. Themain opposition party suf-fered a jolt when 10 of itsMLAs, led by Leader ofOpposition ChandrakantKavlekar, switched sides andjoined the ruling BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) onWednesday.

In the last two-and-a halfyears, the Congress has lost 13of its MLAs to the BJP whichnow enjoys an overwhelmingmajority in the assembly.

In 2017 state elections, theCongress won 17 of the 40assembly seats in the political-ly volatile state, which has a his-tory of legislators switching loy-alties and bringing govern-

ments down.Though the Congress

emerged as the single largestparty, it was outmanoeuvred bythe BJP, with 13 MLAs then,which moved swiftly to form agovernment with the supportof regional parties and inde-pendent MLAs.

The desertion began whenValpoi MLA Vishwajit Raneresigned from the Congress inMarch 2017 soon after gettingelected. He joined the BJP onApril 7, 2017 and was sworn-in as a minister five days laterin the Cabinet led by the thenchief minister ManoharParrikar. The Congress'sstrength was reduced to 16, butit still remained ahead of theBJP, whose tally rose to 14 afterRane was reelected from Valpoiin a bypoll. The Congress faceda second setback in October2018 when its two more MLAs-- Subhash Shirodkar (Shiroda)and Dayanand Sopte

(Mandrem) -- resigned andjoined the BJP. The strength ofthe Congress in the Housewas reduced to 14.

Meanwhile, the BJP, withthe help of its allies, includingthe Goa Forward Party, theMaharashtrawadi GomantakParty (MGP) andIndependents, remained inpower.

However, the BJP saw adrop in its tally when ChiefMinister Manohar Parrikar(MLA from Panaji) and anoth-er party legislator FrancisDSouza died after prolongedillness. The saffron party'sstrength was reduced to 12.

The by-elections for fourassembly constituencies held inApril-May 2019 saw the BJPwinning three of them -Mandrem, Mapusa andShiroda - while the Congressbagged the prestigious Panajiseat, represented by Parrikar for25 years.

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Chennai: A train carrying 2.5million litres of water arrivedfrom Jolapettai in Vellore dis-trict to Chennai, which hasbeen grappling with an acutewater crisis over the past fewmonths, officials said on Friday.

The train with 50 tankwagons (BTPN), carrying50,000 litres of water in each ofthem, reached the filling stationat the Integral Coach FactoryYard in Villivakkam Fridayafternoon.

Around 100 inlet pipesinstalled near the railway trackswould be used to discharge 2.5million litres of water in all thewagons, to be sent to a treat-ment plant after passingthrough a conduit, an official ofChennai Metropolitan WaterSupply and Sewerage Boardsaid.

"After treatment it wouldbe sent for distribution. Thisarrangement has been made forthe next six months until the(advent of the) north-east mon-soon," the official told PTI.

The train was supposed toreach Chennai on Thursday,

but leakages in the valves led tothe delay. Jolarpettai is 217 kmaway from the southernmetropolis.

All the arrangements took

around 20 days to complete.Chennai has been grap-

pling with an acute water cri-sis over the past few months.The southern metropolis is

facing a daily water deficit of atleast 200 million litres, and thefour reservoirs supplying to thecity have run dry.

The Tamil Nadu

Government had earlierrequested the railways to helpthem ferry the water to the city.

Chief Minister KPalaniswami had announcedmitigating Chennai's waterwoes by getting drinking waterfrom Jolarpettai with an allo-cation of �65 crore.

Earlier, speaking after aceremony to receive the train,Municipal administrationMinister S P Velumani said theGovernment would bring in 10million litres of water per day(MLD) through rail fromJolarpettai.

"We have planned to bringin 10 MLD of water and haveallocated �66 crore for thepurpose," he told reporters.

The Government was intalks with the Railways to bringdown the cost of transporta-tion, he said and recalled thatthe Chief Minister had alsowritten to the Railway Ministerto offer the service at lessercost.

He said irrespective of theoutcome, the assurances givenby the CM would be fulfilled,

he added.Fisheries Minister D

Jayakumar, Minister for TamilOfficial Language and Culture'Ma Foi' K Pandiarajan, amongothers, were present at the cer-emony.

Southern Railways said ithas earmarked two rakes (eachhaving 50 BTPN wagons) forthe arrangement, which is like-ly to continue till the water sit-uation improves in Chennai.

It said in a statement thattwo locomotives in pushpullformation have been allocatedto each 'water special' train tocut down on time.

Meanwhile, DMK legisla-tor A P Nandakumar, repre-senting Anaicut in Vellore dis-trict, said in the assembly thatthe party had no objection inwater being supplied toChennai from Jolarpet.

At the same time, addi-tional quantum of water shouldbe pumped for areas under theVellore Combined DrinkingWater Scheme to ensure thatpeople of his district were notaffected. PTI

Guwahati: The Army wascalled for assistance in Assamas the flood situation in thestate worsened on Friday withthe toll rising to six and affect-ing nearly 8.7 lakh peopleacross 21 districts.

Officials said the Army'sassistance was sought in Baksadistrict to aid the personnel ofNational Disaster ResponseForce and State DisasterResponse Force in rescuingmarooned people.

Assam State DisasterManagement Authority(ASDMA) officials said threemore persons died in rain andflood-related incidents inGolaghat and Dima Hasao dis-tricts Friday. While two personsdied in the flood at Bokakhatrevenue circle in Golaghat, onedied in landslide in Haflong inDima Hasao district.

It said about 8.7 lakh per-sons have been hit by the del-uge in Dhemaji, Lakhimpur,

Biswanath, Sonitpur, Darrang,Baksa, Barpeta, Nalbari,Chirang, Bongaigaon,Kokrajhar, Goalpara,Morigaon, Hojai, Nagaon,Golaghat, Majuli, Jorhat,Sivasagar, Dibrugarh andTinsukia districts.

The state has a total of 33districts and till yesterday threepersons had died in floodsand around 4.23 lakh peoplewere affected in 17 districts.

Barpeta is the worst hitwith 3.5 lakh people affected,followed by Dhemaji where 1.2lakh people are hit. They arefollowed by Bongaigaon wherethe number of affected is62,500, ASDMA said.

Massive erosions havetaken place at various places inChirang, Barpeta and Baksadue to the floods, which hassubmerged a total 1,556 villagesand damaged 27,864.16hectares of crop area, embank-ments, roads, bridges, culverts

and other infrastructure in theaffected districts.

The authorities are running68 relief camps and distributioncentres in 11 districts, where7,643 people are taking sheltercurrently, ASDMA said.

The Army, NDRF andSDRF have rescued 1,160 per-sons in the state since Thursdayand have distributed 1,281.35quintals of rice, dal, salt and1,493.46 litres of mustard oil,besides tarpaulin, water pouch,sanitary napkins, baby foodand other essential items.

Currently, Brahmaputra isflowing above its danger-markat Guwahati, at Nimatighat inJorhat, Tezpur in Sonitpur andat Goalpara and Dhubri towns,it said.

Burhidehing river is flow-ing above its danger mark atKhowang in Dibrugarh,Desang river atNanglamuraghat in Sivasagar,Dhansiri river at Numaligarh in

Golaghat and Jia Bharali at NTRoad Crossing in Sonitpur dis-trict. Kopili river is above thered at Kampur in Nagaon,Puthimari river at NH RoadCrossing in Kamrup, Beki riverat Road Bridge in Barpeta,Katakhal river at Matizuri inHailakandi and Kushiyara riverat Karimganj town, theASDMA added.

With the Brahmaputraflowing 2.27 meters above thedanger level at Neematighat,ferry services to and fromMajuli island, which is Asia'slargest river island, remainedsuspended for the fifth dayFriday, Central WaterCommission officials said here.

The Inland WaterTransport Authority of thestate government has kept twoof its vessels ready loaded withanti-erosion materials to meetany situation in the erosionprone areas of the island.

The swirling flood waters

have forced the railway author-ity to control train services dueto "settlement of tracks" inLumding-Badarpur hill sec-tion, Northeast FrontierRailway Chief Public RelationsOfficer Pranav Jyoti Sharmasaid.

Heavy rains have affectedthe train tracks between JatingaLumpur to New Harangajaostation in Lumding-Badarpurhill section of the NF Railway,he added.

As a result, some trainshave either been cancelled orshort terminated, Sharma said.

Kaziranga National Park,the famed habitat of the GreatIndian Rhino and a WorldHeritage site, has been affect-ed too forcing the authorities toset up road barricades on theNational Highway passingthrough it to limit the speed ofvehicles, said KazirangaDivisional Forest OfficerRuhini Saikia. PTI

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Itanagar: Two girls were buriedin their sleep and three otherswere injured after a landslidecaused a boundary wall to col-lapse on the hostel building ofa school in Tawang district ofArunachal Pradesh, police saidon Friday.

The incident occurred atthe hostel of a governmentschool at Namtsering village onThursday when 19 girl studentswere asleep in their rooms,Tawang Superintendent ofPolice (SP) Sagar Singh Kalsisaid.

The landslide triggered byincessant downpour struck theboundary wall with tremen-dous force and it fell on the hos-tel building, a portion of whichcollapsed burying the girls.

The hostel building was ofsemi-pucca type and its wallswere weaker than the boundarywall, officials said.

Chief Minister PemaKhandu expressed grief at thedeath of Genden Wangmu andRinchi Lhamu, students of

classes 5 and 6 respectively, andannounced an exgratia of Rs 4lakh to each of their families.

An official statement saidthree girls were injured in theincident and they have beentreated at hospitals at Lumlaand Tawang.

With the state capital wit-nessing landslips, mudslidesand road blockades due toheavy rainfall for several days,the district administration hasordered closure of all schools inItanagar till Sunday.

Khandu directed the chiefsecretary to personally monitorthe situation and shift the peo-ple from vulnerable areas tosafer places.

A 23-year-old woman wasreportedly swept away by flash-flood in West Kameng districton Monday and is still untrace-able.

The Itanagar-Naharlagunstretch of NH-415, which isbeing upgraded to a four-lanehighway, is the worst hit by themonsoon fury. PTI

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Mumbai: The search for a three-year-old boy who fell into anopen stormwater drain hereWednesday has been stopped, acivic official said Friday night.

Divyansh Singh, who fellinto a drain at AmbedkarChowk in Malad East around 10pm Wednesday, remaineduntraceable even after 48 hours.

The search was finallystopped around 10 pm, thespokesperson of theBrihanmumbai MunicipalCorporation (BMC) said.

The search team coveredover 10 km of drainage line butin vain, another official said.

The team of 50 BMC, FireBrigade and National Disaster

Response Force personnelsearched the drain line by open-ing all manholes along thestretch. The child's fall into thedrain near Goregaon-MulundLink Road was captured byCCTV cameras. Divyansh'sfather Suraj Bhan Singh hadalleged earlier that the authori-ties were not doing enough totrace his son.

"The BMC, fire brigade andNDRF are not showing anyintent to find my son. The firebrigade team did not even havea torch. NDRF jawans came andwent back. Our family wanted toprotest but were stopped by thepolice," Singh had claimed. PTI

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Kolkata/Jalpaiguri: Incessant rain over thepast three days has jeopardised normal life innorth Bengal, creating a flood-like situation inthe low-lying areas and triggering landslides inthe Hills. The weatherman on Friday predict-ed downpour in north Bengal and parts ofSikkim till Monday morning.

Road connectivity between Sikkim andother parts of the country has been severelyaffected with landslides blocking NationalHighway 10, the lifeline of the small Himalayanstate, official sources said.

Water levels in Teesta, Diana, Lish, Ghish,Raidak, Kaljani, Sankosh and Jaldhaka rivershave risen to alarming levels and many areasin Malbazar, Moynaguri and Dhupguri townshave been inundated, they said.

Passenger train services between NewJalpaiguri and Alipurduar through Dooars areahas been suspended, a North Frontier Railwayofficial said. The trains would be taking theCoochbehar route for the time being, he said.

Conditions are likely to worsen in theregion with the Met department forecastingheavy to very heavy rain till Sunday in the fivedistricts of sub-Himalayan West Bengal -Darjeeling, Kalimpong, Jalpaiguri, Coochbeharand Alipurduar. Heavy precipitation has alsobeen predicted in north Dinajpur, southDinajpur and Malda areas till Monday morn-ing. Due to landslides triggered by continuousrainfall, Sikkim and Dooars region of northBengal have been cut off from Siliguri, officialsources said. PTI

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Meanwhile, the Speakertold the Supreme Court theallegation by 10 rebel MLAs ofthe Congress-JD(S) coalitionthat he had made himself“scarce” and was unavailable onthe day of their resignation is“fallacious”. In an affidavit, hesaid that none of these MLAssubmitted the resignation inperson or by hand to him. “Itis therefore patently false tosuggest that the Speaker hadmade himself scarce or wasunavailable”. The MLAs movedthe apex court alleging that theSpeaker was not accepting theirresignations. Their counsel hadtold the top court on Thursdaythat on July 6, when some ofthe MLAs went to submit theirresignations, the Speaker lefthis office through the backdoor. Kumar said that suchallegations not only under-mine the authority of the office

of the Speaker but are absolute-ly “fallacious” to say the leastand have been made only withan “intent to mislead the apexcourt”. He pointed out that thedisqualification petitions ofRamesh Jarkhiholli andMahesh Kumathalli, two rebelMLAs, were filed on February11 and pending consideration.

Kumar further said thatanother rebel MLA, AnandSingh, had resigned on July 1following which the Governorhad written to the Speaker totake action as per the rules. OnJuly 6, the office of the Speakerreceived the resignation lettersof 12 MLAs, he added.

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Built in 1923 over theGanga river, Lakshman Jhula isan iconic landmark in this cityof Uttarakhand that isrenowned as a center for study-ing yoga and meditation.

It connects Tapovan villagein Tehri district on the westernbank of the river with Jonk inPauri district. One of the mainattractions for tourists anddevotees coming to Rishikesh,the pedestrian bridge also usedby two wheelers was namedafter Hindu mythological char-acter Lakshman as it standswhere he is said to have crossedthe river with the help of juteropes. Many successful Hindimovies and serials like “GangaKi Saugandh”, “Sanyasi” andpopular detective serial “CID”have been shot at theLakshman Jhula.

��'��+++The data shows area puls-

es area lagged at 4.45 lakhhectare in Maharashtra; 3.81lakh hectare in Karnataka; 1.58lakh hectare in Rajasthan; 1.26lakh hectare in MadhyaPradesh and 1.02 lakh hectarein Telangana so far. As per

Agriculture Ministry, pulsesproduction is expected to beover 36 million tonnes thatinclude 10.09 million tonnes ofgram and 3.05 million tonnesof tur. The acreage of coarsecereals sowing is also fallen byover 12 lakh hectare. Coarsecereals was sown at 71.17 lakhhectare as compared 83.30 lakhhectare. Till July 12, Indiareceived 239.2 millimeters ofrainfall as compared to normalof 270.1 mm, which was 12 percent less than normal.According to Central WaterCommission (CWC), waterlevel in 91-odd reservoirsacross the country was 35.10Billion Cubic Meters (BCM) ason July 11, which is 5.69 percent less than the storage levelduring the same period lastyear. In early July, this level was26.94 BCM, which was almost 17.31 BCM less than thecorresponding period of 2018.

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The Supreme Court onFriday ordered com-

mencement of constructionwork on the Delhi Metro’sfourth phase, which is over100 km long and is estimatedto add around 18.6 lakh ridersper day, after the DelhiGovernment said it has agreedto give the go-ahead.

The AAP Government hasasked for starting work simul-taneously on all six corridorsof Delhi Metro’s Phase-IVproject, Transport MinisterKailash Gahlot said on Friday.“It was said by us in the courtthat we have no objection tostarting work on the projectbut work should also startsimultaneously on remainingthree corridors which havebeen left by the Centre in itsapproval to the project,”

Gahlot said in a press confer-ence. It may be recalled thatthe six corridors of the projectwere approved by the DelhiGovernment in December2018. However, the Centre inMarch 2019 dropped three,while allowed the rest.

The apex court directedimplementation of the MetroPhase-IV project while hear-ing a matter in which theEnvironment PollutionControl Authority (EPCA)had recently filed a reportstating that the approval for

the project was held up since2014. The court was informedby the Delhi Governmentcounsel that they have agreedto give a go-ahead to the pro-ject.

The Centre had approvedthe Mukundpur-Maujpur, RKAshram-Janakpuri West andAero City-Tughlakabad corri-dors. The three other proposedcorridors — Rithala-Bawana-Narela, Inderlok-Indraprasthaand Lajpat Nagar-Saket GBlock — approved by theDelhi Government were

dropped by the Centre whilegiving the Metro Phase-IV itsgo-ahead. “The Centre hasnot clarified the rationalebehind picking up three cor-ridors under the project andleaving other three,” Gahlotsaid. He also accused theEPCA of filing a “one sided”report in the court.

“EPCA filed a one-sidedreport. The three corridors leftby the Centre finds no men-tion in the EPCA report,” heclaimed. In April 2019, theDelhi Government had issueddirection to the Delhi MetroRail Corporation (DMRC) fornot starting work on Phase IVowing to financial and corri-dor-related issues. The DelhiGovernment had imposedconditions related to loss shar-ing and loan liability, alongwith its approval to the project.The Centre had told the courtthat project financing has beendone in consonance with theMetro Rail Policy of August2017 and Metro projects ofother cities like Bhopal,Indore, Kanpur, Patna andAgra have been sanctioned onthe same financial pattern asthe Phase-IV here.

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Did this happen to Bengal, really?”This was the question among thetribe that has prided itself instanding apart and shaping thethoughts and culture of a State

by sheer endowment of history than an inter-active understanding of contemporary real-ity, namely the intellectual. Soon after the LokSabha verdict had announced the inevitable,that the syncretic liberalism that the State hadbeen a product of was now slowly endorsinga majoritarian conservatism, Bengal’s intel-lectuals began groping for explanations. Andthrown into a sea of confusion from theirivory tower constructs, they clutched at thenext best thing. Survival. Even if it meantchanging perspectives overnight. If somethinghad fallen, may be there was somethingindeed wrong with it, never mind that theyhad wilfully ignored the signs as long as it wasself-serving and non-threatening, and, there-fore, pragmatically moved on to the next bestthing. Nothing can better explain how a shift-ing bloc of Bengal’s cultural elite has thrivedon every regime change, picking up patron-age to ensure its legitimacy and in the nameof being the people’s conscience, has conve-niently moved on to the next sponsor.Question is do the keepers ever listen to theirown conscience? For if they had, they wouldhave realised that they have failed Bengal.

Nothing can better explain how a groupof intellectuals, fattened by 34 years of LeftFront rule and almost embedded as a pro-foundly political secret society, took up thecudgels when resistance came in the form ofthe Trinamool Congress (TMC) and MamataBanerjee at Nandigram and Singur. And nowthat the trade winds have shifted, they arenegotiating a new pole position in the nameof giving out a conscience call. Nobody isendorsing the Trinamool’s excesses or arro-gance that cost it the Lok Sabha tally but whycouldn’t the intelligentsia nurtured by it effecta course correction from within, rebel ormobilise a movement if needed, force an agen-da on the people and lead them if requiredrather than being glib deserters preening withtheir “I told you so” diagnosis? If only theyhad looked into history, they would haverealised that their predecessors never stoodin the sidelines but plunged deep into the thickof things, that they were not just agitationistsand commentators but revolutionaries, thatthey never depended on patronage of theestablishment but forged their own legacies.Most important, they remained true to thespiritual core of their civilisational identitythan don a garb of foisted ideology.

Would the Indigo Revolt of 1859 havemade such a mark if it didn’t have the sup-port of the Bengali intelligentsia, who built atide of opinion through pamphlets, protestsand dialogue? Bankim Chandra Chatterjeeand R C Dutt supported the anti-zamindariPabna Agrarian Leagues. Had RajaRammohan Roy and Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar not led from the front, theBengal Renaissance would not have become

a reality in colonial India or beenthe bedrock of social reforms thathad an impact across our DNA.Had not the enlightened elitestarted their printing pressesand encouraged sub-altern liter-ature and home-grown opinions,there would not be a discourse oneither democracy or nationalismas we know it today. And thoughBengal revolutionaries are notcredited enough in post-colonialhistory, the fact is they were bornof the urban middle class. Eventhe Leftist, socialist movementand sensibility was birthed by it.And the two icons that Bengal’selite claims lineage to —Rabindranath Tagore and SwamiVivekananda — abandoned theircity comforts and made thecountryside and the dispossessedtheir karmabhoomi. They evenbecame our first global Indians,letting in a cross-flow of culturesto be adapted and learnt from butone that never sequestered theIndic philosophy.

Bengal’s intellectual move-ment bloomed as long as it wasa connective matrix of peoplewithout prejudice and was abouta shared, humanist pursuit of asingle goal. But the moment thebhadralok got gentrified, therewas a categorisation of culture aswhat Bengal thought and othersdidn’t and the consequent imper-viousness to what people reallywanted. In the Left regime, thebhadralok became a part of anenormous cultural czardom with

entitled and guaranteed roles inacademia, the theatre, the artsand films. The Naxalist era didsee activist movements on theground but those were justpyrrhic sparks, not enough todent the deeply-set culture codesthat were quickly appropriated asan extension of the establishment.In the process, State power bredits own brand of “intellectuals”,the kind who kowtowed thanquestioned, the kind who endedup as repressive and intolerant ofotherness. That primarilyexplains why in both the Left andTrinamool regimes they havebeen posited as trophies andmedallions of courtiership ratherthan emerging as a vibrant self-check mechanism, one that couldhave either saved or annihilatedboth regimes that follow a simi-lar template of coercion andpropagation. AleksandrSolzhenitsyn defined intellectu-al in The Gulag Archipelago as “aperson whose interests in andpreoccupation with the spiritu-al side of life are insistent and con-stant and not forced by externalcircumstances, even flying inthe face of them. An intellectualis a person whose thought is non-imitative.” Contemporary intel-lectuals today are just the polaropposite. In fact, they havebecome so cultishly selfish thatthey speak when it serves theirimage and will not stake thelargesse they have accumulatedthrough years of them being

endorsed by their patron regimesto a worthwhile cause of rescu-ing Bengal’s standing. Yes, theyare a civil society alright. Thequestion is, therefore, are theybeing civil about their duties?

It is sad that Bengal is nowcited only in terms of has-beens, the first to abolish feudalsystems, the first to initiate landreforms, the first to devolvepower to the panchayats andfarmers and so on. But look atindices of development and it isa wasteland. This even prompt-ed welfare economist AmartyaSen to argue that the State haspaid for ignoring industrialisa-tion. In fact, the politics ofBengal has been predicated somuch on parties toppling eachother for the throne by foulermeans than fair that there hasbeen no revision of ideologies orideas to revive what could sus-tain it in the first place —growth and development.Without these two, there cannotbe mental enlightenment either.

For all the intellectuals, whostill get the media arclights when-ever they deign to drop a pearl ofwisdom, there are no answers onbettering growth figures, winningback industrial investment andpulling it out of a negative trap ofthe trade unionist era, or improv-ing its human developmentindices like education, whichare dismal compared to evensmaller States. Nobody is absolv-ing the political class one bit for

ignoring governance and admin-istration or being despotic aboutpriorities. The Bharatiya JanataParty (BJP), too, has already fall-en into the same trap of desper-ate power-grabs. But there’s noabsolving the cultural eliteespousing its opinion from thecomfort of Kolkata without evenso much as attempting a connectwith rural society, its aspirationto mainstream itself with the restof India, its right to live a normallife with basic parameters ratherthan being pledged as a facelessvotebank or even its deep desireto break out of the vicious trapof denial and non-recognition.

Such is the deep disconnectthat even films, where SatyajitRay and Mrinal Sen once cap-tured the rural angst, are now allabout urban concerns, relation-ships and gender identities. In theprocess, the popular cultural dis-course, even in literature, hasbecome severely restricted tothe perception of an elite Kolkata,so used to the pandering by boththe Left and Trinamool, that theybelieve they are the agenda andnot the other way around. Theresultant benefits have madethem ideological kulaks ratherthan free-thinkers and change-makers. So when a group ofactivists now criticises Mamataand seeks redress with the BengalGovernor as part of their consti-tutional right and duty, onewould like to ask them where wasthis purification campaign beforethe election or even the last fiveyears when Bengal made nation-al headlines for extortion scams,political violence or child deaths?Why were they so tepid despitebeing coopted in several state-level committees and did not usethem to sound the alarm bells?What stopped them from massresignations or signing off retire-ment benefits? Why have they, asthe protector of Bengal’s soul,been loyal to parties (and theywill in the future too) than theidea of Bengal? Why do the great-est thinking minds in the acad-emia and global institutions notspare a journal to be test-pilotedon the ground? Or remit somepractical wisdom than regretthe state of affairs? One mayargue that they are entitled totheir intellectual freedom andprivileges that come from it. Butthen one expects that intellect toalso rise above what others do.This intellectual corruption,bankruptcy and hypocrisy, onethat privileges personal capitalismover preached socialism, hasfailed the ordinary people ofBengal. And so if the commonBengal labourer is wonderingwhy his mills are shut, doles arepathetically low and he has totravel to plants in Gujarat as amigrant, everybody better beprepared to answer the question.

(The writer is AssociateEditor, The Pioneer)

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Sir — It is laudable that theUnion Cabinet has given nod toamend certain sections of theProtection of Children fromSexual Offences (POCSO) Act,2012. The Bill provides for strin-gent punishment, includingdeath, for sexual assault of chil-dren, as well as fines and jailterms for child pornography.

If indeed the BJPGovernment means what it says,it should immediately appealagainst a special court verdict,which granted life imprison-ment to three main convicts forraping and murdering an eight-year-old girl in Jammu &Kashmir’s Kathua last year.Culprits must be given the deathpunishment.

Shalini GeraldChennai

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Sir — India’s hold on the gameof cricket and the World Cuptournament notwithstanding,New Zealand was always capa-ble of creating this mega-upset.The stars failed when it mattered

the most as India’s World Cuphopes died a painful death at agloomy Old Trafford. India didf ind an unlikely hero inRavindra Jadeja who took theteam to the doorstep of victorybut failed to unlock the door.

True, Jadeja couldn’t takeIndia home, but his 59-ball 77gave a resounding reply to oneand all who dared call the

Saurashtra man a “bits-and-piecescricketer.” Sanjay Manjrekar’s“well done Jadeja” tweet at the endof the match could have beenconsidered reconciliatory had itnot come with a wink.

It’s probably an indicationthat the former India middle-order batsman hasn’t backed offfrom his earlier remark but itdoesn’t matter. Every act of val-

our doesn’t necessarily come withthe winner’s medal and Jadeja willlive with it.

But for all those “bits-and-pieces” professionals, this inningswill be an example of a never-say-die spirit that can makeone believe that nothing is impossible.

P Arihanth Secunderabad

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Sir — After the defection of 15lawmakers from both the JanataDal (Secular) and the Congress,the existing ruling coalitionGovernment in Karnataka ispoised on the edge. If the defect-ing MLAs remain true to theirdecision and vote as declared inthe trust vote, the continuationof the KumarswamyGovernment would be very dif-ficult.

The Congress was wellaware that all had not been wellin the Karnataka Government. Itbecame obvious after the gener-al election. People have now lostfaith in the grand old party. Itneeds drastic reform measuresand organisational elections. Nodoubt, there are eminent andefficient Congress leaders inthe party but it’s time to choosea capable leader as its president,who can take independent deci-sions, free from interference ofthe Gandhis as they are now aspent force.

Nimai Charan SwainBhubaneswar

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Having returned to power for a second termwith a thumping majority, it was expect-ed of the Modi Government to kick off

immediate reforms for the fertiliser sector.Being just the beginning of the five-year term,now is the golden opportunity for it to opt forbig bang reforms as any adverse fall-out in theshort-run (inevitable when harsh measures areimplemented) won’t pose any threat to theGovernment. Alas, it missed the opportunity.

Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman’sBudget, too, had no mention whatsoever of sub-stantive issues pertaining to the fertiliser policyeven as allocation for fertiliser subsidy at about�80,000 crore during 2019-20 (this does not pro-vide for the roll-over of �32,000 crore from theprevious year, including this, total payment wouldbe �112,000 crore) says it all.

The fertiliser subsidy has remained high andon a rising trajectory (only two years back, it was�66,000 crore in 2017-18) despite steps taken bythe present dispensation viz, mandatory neem-coating of urea, issue of soil health cards(SHCs), which were intended to curb diversionof urea to chemical factories and improve effi-ciency of urea use and, thus, bring about reduc-tion in subsidy payments. The anomalous situ-ation arises because successive Governments,including the NDA dispensation under AtalBihari Vajpayee (1998-2004) and the Modi 1.0Government (2014-2019), refused to carry outfundamental reforms. At the outset, let us clearsome basics regarding this sector.

To make fertilisers affordable to farmers, theCentre controls their Maximum Retail Price(MRP) at a low level, unrelated to the cost of pro-duction and distribution, which is higher. Theexcess of cost over MRP is reimbursed to themanufacturer as subsidy. In case of urea, the sub-sidy varies from unit to unit and is administeredunder the New Pricing Scheme (NPS); whereasfor decontrolled complex fertilisers, Muriate ofPotash (MoP) and single superphosphate (SSP),a “uniform” subsidy fixed on per nutrient basis,is given to all manufacturers under the NutrientBased Scheme (NBS).

The cost of transportation (it includes pri-mary movement by rails from the plant and sec-ondary movement from the unloading rake pointby road to the retailer) is reimbursed to urea man-ufacturers under a uniform freight policy. On theother hand, manufacturers of decontrolled com-plex fertilisers/MoP (excluding SSP) get reim-bursement of freight cost only towards primarymovement on the basis of actual rail freight, asper the railway receipts.

Thus, the manufacturers/importers of decon-trolled complex fertilisers, MoP and SSP receivea step-motherly treatment vis-à-vis manufactur-ers of “controlled” urea. In case ofcomplexes/MoP/SSP, even as the Governmentnormally keeps the subsidy unchanged, increasein the cost leads to ever increasing MRP. In sharpcontrast, it keeps the MRP of urea at a low level(the current price @�5,360 per tonne is more orless the same as it was nearly two decades ago)even as all escalations in cost are absorbed byincreasing subsidy.

This results in disproportionately low MRPof urea vis-a-vis the MRP of complex fertilisers,MoP and SSP, prompting the farmers to use more

of the former and less of the latter.Discrimination against complex

fertilisers and MoP is also evident intheir not getting freight subsidy on sec-ondary movement to retail point (SSPmanufacturers don’t even get primaryfreight for movement from plant to rail-head) as also in denial of natural gas —the feedstock used for the making ofammonia — an intermediate used inmanufacture of complex fertilisers —to their plants.

These disjointed policies are at theroot of increasing imbalance in NPK(nitrogen, phosphorus and potassi-um) use ratio, declining crop yield,deterioration in soil health and adverseimpact on the environment. The issueof SHC can at best guide the farmerson proper fertiliser use but it can do lit-tle to stem the opposite impact of theflawed policies.

Low MRP of urea also gives astrong incentive to traders/farmersdivert to chemical industries or smug-gle to neighboring countries where itfetches a higher price. The neem coat-ing of urea (on which the ModiGovernment banked heavily to rein inthis unhealthy practice) has not helpedmuch or else we would have seen theresults in terms of big reduction in sub-sidy (taking diversion @40 per cent),which is not visible.

The extant unit-wise NPS for ureafor subsidy determination does notreward low cost units even while pro-tecting high cost units (thus, we haveunits producing @�20,000 per tonneplus co-existing with others producingat half this cost). Even in the non-urea

segment, where every unit gets the samesubsidy, a manufacturer, who managessome savings, is not sure of retainingit as the Government reserves theright to mop it up on examination ofhigh cost data.

It gives no incentive to companiesto invest in R&D for delivering moreefficient and cost-effective products tothe farmers or explore indigenousresources (at present, India dependsheavily on import for meeting its fer-tiliser requirements viz, nearly two-thirds in nitrogen, 90 per cent inphosphate and 100 per cent in potash).As a result, even as the farmers don’t getmajor break-through in yield, thecountry remains vulnerable to exploita-tion by global suppliers.

The system is also highly prone tothe misuse of subsidy. According to theEconomic Survey (2105-16), 24 percent of the fertiliser subsidy is appro-priated by inefficient manufacturers, 41per cent gets pilfered on way to thefarmers and 24 per cent cornered bylarge farmers. Only 11 per cent of thebenefit actually goes to the poor farm-ers (those with land holding <2hectares). These glaring anomalies canbe addressed by dismantling controlson MRP and the existing system ofrouting subsidy through manufactur-ers. Instead subsidies must be givendirectly to farmers via Direct BenefitTransfer (DBT) (with this, NPS andNBS will go). A mechanism should befound to exclude better-off/rich farm-ers for better targetting and loweringsubsidy to sustainable level.

Early this year, reportedly, the

Finance Ministry and the NITI Aayogwas working on a road-map for DBTfor fertiliser subsidy and even alludedto club this with the assistance @�6,000per annum, that is currently being givenunder PM-KISAN and give the totalamount as quasi-universal basic incometransfer. But it seems the idea has notcaught the attention of the Modi 2.0Government, else it would have madethe announcement to be followed byimplementation say from January 1,2020.

The least the Government couldhave done was to bring the policy forurea at par with that for non-urea fer-tilisers by giving uniform subsidy to itsmanufacturers under NBS (a group ofministers (GoM) under thenAgriculture Minister, Sharad Pawar hadrecommended this way back in 2012).But even this is not done. Alternatively,it could have affected some increase inurea MRP to demonstrate its intent tocorrect the imbalance in its price vis-à-vis complex fertilisers and MoP.Even this wasn’t done.

Another doable was to be more“transparent” in reporting subsidy fig-ures by switching over from the exist-ing cash-based system to accounting ofsubsidies on accrual basis (as recom-mended by the “expenditure manage-ment commission” under Dr BimalJalan, former Reserve Bank of IndiaGovernor in 2015). This, too, was notdone. The Modi Government must notallow these things to linger on. It shouldget cracking on fertiliser reforms notlater than February, 2020.

(The writer is a policy analyst)

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There’s an often repeated state-ment: “Politics should never bemixed with sports.” Ideally,

this should be the case, but the factis that sports and politics do mix andthere’s nothing one can do about it.Sports are played by men and women,many of whom are as much affectedby their respective countries’ politicsas their fans and/or countrymen andwomen. So, despite the many rulesenacted by international sportingbodies to discourage this mix, poli-tics often manage to play a visible rolein how a sportsperson or their fansend up behaving on and off the field.

The most stunning example is theone in which the armies of ElSalvador and Honduras actually wentto war after the former won the deci-sive game during the qualifier series

between the two countries for the1970 FIFA World Cup. The ensuingwar became known as the ‘SoccerWar’ even though the causes of it weremore complex. Relations between ElSalvador and Honduras were alreadytense before the matches.

Clashes between fans of both thenations had already taken place dur-ing the matches. Then, after ElSalvador squared the series 1-1, itsGovernment broke off diplomaticties with Honduras. The El SalvadorianGovernment accused its Hondurancounterparts of unleashing violenceagainst refugees from El Salvador andexpelling 11,700 of them. When ElSalvador won the third game, moreviolence between fans of the two coun-tries in the stands was followed by anactual war between the two nations.

This is just one example. Duringthe 1986 Football World Cup, thememory of the 1982 war for theFalkland Islands between British andArgentinian forces was still fresh.Tension among fans of both the coun-tries was running high whenArgentina met England in the quar-ter-finals. Rioting between support-

ers of the two countries had takenplace just before the match in whichseveral British fans were hospitalised.Argentina went on to win the match,after a controversial goal from its cap-tain Diego Maradona put themahead, kicking off an intense footballrivalry between the two countries.

During the 2004 Football AsiaCup in China, when the home sideplayed their “historical nemesis”Japan (the country had occupiedChina during World War II), thecrowds did their best to drown out theJapanese national anthem with loudchanting and booing. In the late1960s, black American athletes andthe former world heavyweight box-ing champion, the great MuhammadAli, often expressed “black power”symbolism and rhetoric during inter-national meets. Recently, the multi-million-dollar American footballscene was rocked by controversywhen many black major league play-ers refused to stand straight duringthe playing of the American nation-al anthem in a show of dissentagainst what they saw as prevalentracism in the US.

Last week, fighting broke outbetween Pakistani and Afghan fans,outside and inside the stadium dur-ing an after Pakistan’s close gameagainst Afghanistan in the CricketWorld Cup in England. Some Afghanfans also jumped into the ground inan apparent attempt to attack thePakistani players after the match.Pakistan and Afghanistan have hada long history of rocky relations andmistrust.

There are millions of Afghanrefugees in Pakistan, who began toarrive in the 1980s during the anti-Soviet insurgency in Afghanistan,which was funded by the US andSaudi Arabia and willingly facilitat-ed by Pakistan. Just before the match,during this year’s World Cup game,the CEO of the Afghan CricketBoard had told the media thatPakistani cricketers should learnfrom Afghan players. Retaliatoryremarks by some former Pakistanicricket stars, about Afghan playersonce being refugees in Pakistan,fuelled the clashes between the fans.Most eyewitness reports suggest thatthe Afghan fans were more proactive

in this respect.Relations between India and

Pakistan have been rockier andboth countries have fought four warsagainst each other. Yet, interesting-ly, their matches at internationalcricket events have never witnessedany clashes between fans of the twocricket-crazy countries. However, inthe fifth Test match in Karachi dur-ing the 1982-83 Pakistan-India seriesin Pakistan, youth belonging to aright-wing student group invadedthe ground and attempted to attackthe two Indian batsmen who were atthe crease.

Then, in Ahmedabad, during thefourth Test match of the 1987Pakistan-India series in India, thePakistan team walked off the groundafter it was pelted with stones by thecrowd. During Pakistan’s 1999 tour ofIndia, the Pakistan team often trav-elled with security guards and com-mandos after a right-wing Hindunationalist group threatened to attackthe players at their hotels and on theground. The radical outfit had alreadydestroyed the pitch at one venue andannounced that it would release poi-

sonous snakes into the stands if thePakistan series was not called off.

But, surprisingly, despite the factthat Pakistan-India matches oftenattract fans from both the countriesto watch the matches from the stands,there have never been incidents suchas the one witnessed recently duringthe Pakistan-Afghanistan game.

Bangladesh’s relations withPakistan have blown hot and coldever since East Pakistan separated in1971 to become Bangladesh.Thousands of Pakistani troops and afar larger number of ordinaryBengalis were killed during the civilwar. Bengali separatists living inEngland threatened to attack the vis-iting Pakistan team during the 1971England-Pakistan series. ThePakistani squad then refused to signa bat that was to be auctioned to helpthe victims of a cyclone in EastPakistan. Some players claimed thatthe money would end up in the cof-fers of militant Bengali separatists.

In 1979, when the Pakistan teamundertook a short tour of Bangladesh— which was still not an official Testplaying nation — Pakistani players had

to be escorted out of the ground dur-ing a match in Chittagong when ahuge crowd invaded the field to attackthem. The mob followed the team busall the way to the team’s hotel, wherethe police dispersed the enragedcrowd with batons and tear gas.

During a recent run of seminarsby the University Of Chicago’sInstitute Of Politics on the topic of‘Power and Politics of Sports’, speak-ers were of the view that “The sportsworld is bigger and more powerfulthan ever, with athletes wieldingmore and more influence over cul-ture and politics.” In an essay for theNortheastern University PoliticalReview, Meredith McClearly writesthat such an influence has oftenbeen used by heads of state and gov-ernments “to assert their politicaldominance.” This interrelationshipbetween the two often boils overand impacts the behaviour of thecrowds, even when the sports per-sonnel or a Government decides todownplay it. The underlying polit-ical tensions are not lost on thecrowds.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

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Kolkata (PTI): Diversified conglom-erate ITC will foray into new categories andsub-segments in FMCG vertical whichwill be supported by multi-dimensionalinvestments and strategic opportunities foracquisitions, its Chairman Sanjiv Puri saidon Friday.

Addressing the company’s shareholdersat its annual general meeting, Puri said thecompany is seeking to be an engine ofgrowth for Indian economy through avibrant portfolio of future-ready business-es. “Today, around 25 per cent of ITC’s seg-ment revenue is from newer FMCG busi-nesses... To accelerate growth in the FMCGbusinesses, the endeavour is not only to for-tify the existing categories towards deliver-ing industry leading performance but alsoto foray into newer categories and sub-seg-

ments,” he said. Puri further said, “Thiswould be supported by multi-dimensionalinvestments as also strategic opportunitiesfor acquisitions.”

In the last two to three years, ITC hasexpanded its FMCG portfolio by forayinginto new segments. Over 50 products werelaunched last year to strengthen existing cat-egories and enter newer segments, headded. Reiterating the company’s vision, Purisaid, “ITC seeks to be an engine of growthfor the Indian economy through a vibrantportfolio of future-ready businesses that arewell poised to serve the emerging needs ofa growing market through world-classIndian brands.”

These businesses also anchor compet-itive value chains that empower millions offarmers and trade partners, generating

livelihoods for more than 6 million peoplein the country, he added.

Stating that ITC’s annual turnover wasover �18,000 crore, he said the company hadmany brands with multi-crore sales.

Puri said ITC had been able to createunique competitive advantage by leverag-ing on its enterprise strength.

He also said the integrated fruits, veg-etables and perishables value chain hasenabled ITC to foray into new segments witha wide range of offerings including frozenfood, dehydrated onions, potatoes, mangopulp and prawns. ITC is investing in build-ing state-of-the-art manufacturing infra-structure across India to rapidly scale up theFMCG businesses, build an extremely com-petitive supply chain and contribute to thecountry’s Make in India vision, Puri added.

�� 4� �*15

The country’s second-largestIT services firm Infosys

on Friday reported 5.2 percent growth in consolidated netprofit to �3,802 crore for thequarter ended June 30, 2019.

It had posted a net profit of�3,612 crore in the April-June2018 quarter, Infosys said in aBSE filing.

Revenue from operationsof the Bengaluru-based firmgrew 13.9 per cent to �21,803crore in the June 2019 quarter,compared to �19,128 crore inthe year-ago period, it added.

Infosys has increased itsrevenue growth guidance forFY20 to 8.5-10 per cent in con-stant currency. In April quar-ter, Infosys had said it expect-ed a revenue growth of 7.5-9.5per cent in FY 2019-20.

“We had a strong start toFY’20 with constant currencygrowth accelerating to 12.4per cent on year over year basisand digital revenue growth of41.9 per cent. This wasachieved through our consis-tent client focus and invest-ments which have strengthenedour client relationships,” InfosysCEO and Managing DirectorSalil Parekh said.

He added that the compa-ny has consequently raised itsrevenue guidance for the yearfrom 7.5-9.5 per cent to 8.5-10per cent.

In US dollars terms,Infosys net profit grew to USD546 million in the June quar-ter from USD 534 million inthe year-ago period, while rev-enues rose to USD 3.13 billionas against USD 2.83 billion.

The company noted that itscurrent policy entails paying upto 70 per cent of the free cashflow annually by way of divi-dend and/or buyback.

The Board has reviewedand approved a revised CapitalAllocation Policy after takinginto consideration the strategicand operational cash require-ments, it said.

“Effective from Financialyear 2020, the company expectsto return approximately 85 percent of the free cash flowcumulatively over a five-yearperiod through a combinationof semi-annual dividendsand/or share buyback and/orspecial dividends, subject toapplicable laws and requisiteapprovals, if any,” it added.

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Infosys said it would makean additional investment ofUSD 6 million (over �41 crore)in data preparation softwarecompany Trifacta Inc. “Theboard at the meeting held overJuly 11-12 approved a follow-on investment of USD 6 mil-lion in Trifacta Inc,” Infosyssaid in a regulatory filing.

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Equity benchmarks werecaught in a late-session bear

grip on Friday as trading senti-ment remained risk-averse amidglobal headwinds and uncer-tainty over the earnings front.Investors were also cautiousahead of the release of keymacroeconomic data, traderssaid.

Building on its positiveopening, the 30-share BSESensex crossed the 39,000-markin afternoon trade, but suffereda sudden bout of selling to endat 38,736.23, down by 86.88points or 0.22 per cent.

Similarly, the broader NSENifty dropped 30.40 points, or0.26 per cent, to 11,552.50.

In the post-Budget week,the Sensex lost 777.16 points or1.96 per cent, while the Niftydropped 258.65 points or 2.18per cent.

Global equities were tradingflat as investors digested a slew ofeconomic data amid heightenedgeopolitical and trade tensions.Domestic market participantsare also tracking developmentssurrounding India-US tradetalks, traders added.

Top losers in the Sensexpack on Friday included BajajFinance, ONGC, IndusIndBank, PowerGrid, L&T, AxisBank, NTPC, Bharti Airtel,HDFC, HDFC Bank and KotakMahindra Bank, falling up to

2.08 per cent.On the other hand, Vedanta,

Sun Pharma, Tata Steel, AsianPaints, Hero MotoCorp andYes Bank were among the gain-ers, rising up to 2.44 per cent.

Shares of Infosys ended 0.87per cent higher ahead of thecompany’s quarterly results.

“Volatility continued givensubdued expectation on Q1FY20 results which is increasingrisk of downgrade in futureearnings. Investors remainfocused on today’s CPI inflationdata to get cues on interest ratetrajectory. Currently market isexpecting reduction in interestrate in the medium-term.

“Lack of stimulus to theeconomy and premium valua-tion is influencing investors tohave a cautious approach in themarket,” said Vinod Nair, headof research, Geojit FinancialServices.

Sectorally, BSE capital goods,telecom, oil and gas, industrials,energy, bankex and financeindices lost up to 1.22 per cent.Metals, basic materials, realty andhealthcare gained up to 0.91 percent. The broader BSE midcapand smallcap indices outper-formed the benchmarks, risingup to 0.41 per cent.

Elsewhere in Asia, ShanghaiComposite Index, Hang Seng,Nikkei and Kospi ended in thegreen. Equities in Europe werealso trading higher in earlydeals.

�� 4� �*15

Dutch bankruptcyadministrator on Fridaymoved the National

company Law AppellateTribunal (NCLAT) on the JetAirways matter, which hasagreed to hear the case here.

A three-member NCLATbench headed by ChairmanJustice SJ Mukhopadhaya alsoasked the Dutch bankruptcyadministrator to assist in theinsolvency proceedings of JetAirways going in India.

Dutch insolvency court

administrator has agreed beforethe NCLAT not to sell the con-fiscated assets of debt-riddenJet Airways.

NCLAT has also issuednotice to the consortium of JetAirways lenders directing themto file their reply within twoweeks. It has directed to list thematter on August 21, for nexthearing.

Earlier, National CompanyLaw Tribunal (NCLT) Mumbai,had rejected Dutch insolvencyadministrator’s appeal torecognise their proceedings.

Jet Airways is facing

Insolvency proceedings in theNetherlands and was declaredbankrupt in response to a com-plaint filed by two Europeancreditors.

In April, H Esser FinanceCompany and WallenbornTransport had filed a petitionciting unpaid claims wortharound �280 crore. Followingthis, a trustee in charge wasappointed by the Dutch courtand it had approached itsIndian counterpart for access tothe financials as well as assetsof the airline.

One of the Jet Airways

aircraft, parked in the SchipholAirport in Amsterdam, hasalready been seized.

Jet Airways, which has notflown since April 18, is goingthrough insolvency proceed-ings in India as well.

A consortium of 26bankers led by State Bank ofIndia had approached theNCLT to recover dues of over�8,500 crore from Jet Airways.

Apart from banks, it alsoowes over �10,000 crore to itshundreds of vendors, primar-ily aircraft lessors and over�3,000 crore to its employees.

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Script Open High Low LTPJPASSOCIAT 2.78 2.78 2.65 2.70RPOWER 4.21 4.34 4.19 4.21INDUSINDBK 1546.00 1562.00 1493.40 1510.35YESBANK 93.20 94.90 91.70 94.15QUESS 445.00 521.00 442.80 480.95GRAPHITE 281.00 304.60 273.25 295.75INDIGO 1354.90 1388.95 1339.30 1356.60SPICEJET 122.50 125.80 121.25 124.80TATASTEEL 464.00 479.60 460.55 472.60DHFL 72.35 72.70 67.60 68.45RELIANCE 1284.70 1299.80 1278.00 1280.60RELINFRA 51.25 53.75 50.20 50.85BAJFINANCE 3478.95 3478.95 3366.00 3377.75LT 1501.70 1501.70 1462.00 1467.30TATAMOTORS 156.40 162.70 153.95 159.30SUNPHARMA 400.20 411.20 397.30 407.70IBULHSGFIN 675.45 679.45 662.00 666.00RELCAPITAL 57.90 60.10 57.10 57.90HEG 1185.00 1251.00 1160.90 1191.65RECLTD 145.80 151.70 142.70 148.80MARUTI 6020.00 6089.45 5955.00 5971.95DISHTV 30.60 32.35 30.30 31.10ADANIPOWER 62.55 65.65 62.55 63.80JINDALSTEL 133.95 141.60 133.40 139.20ICICIBANK 426.70 432.50 423.90 427.05CANBK 281.00 287.30 279.05 283.95SBIN 363.35 366.40 361.50 363.55INFY* 723.30 730.85 719.35 727.10TITAN 1104.95 1128.95 1090.40 1101.25AXISBANK 767.00 768.00 751.10 755.45IDEA 11.75 12.05 11.56 11.73SBILIFE 755.00 789.00 754.00 780.60BEML 916.95 938.70 893.90 903.05WIPRO 267.50 268.45 258.30 259.00

BANKBARODA 126.00 127.25 124.95 125.85JUSTDIAL 769.80 794.00 767.00 783.80HDFCBANK 2415.25 2418.30 2386.70 2393.45FEDERALBNK 105.10 106.85 104.70 106.25PNB 74.70 75.90 73.60 75.35ADANIENT 141.20 143.35 137.95 140.30HDFCLIFE 472.00 484.95 469.75 480.75VEDL 164.85 168.70 162.40 167.70BANKINDIA 86.80 87.90 85.70 87.00PFC 126.95 128.00 122.45 124.00L&TFH 119.30 122.80 119.10 120.45ZEEL 356.50 357.25 348.00 350.50IOC 147.00 147.80 144.45 146.60UPL 631.00 646.50 627.70 629.90CIPLA 554.00 566.05 547.95 555.15ESCORTS 544.85 552.00 538.15 541.65NTPC 129.80 132.50 126.50 128.20STRTECH 165.50 167.50 162.45 163.90JSWSTEEL 267.00 270.75 261.80 268.10TCS 2108.50 2118.00 2094.05 2110.00HDFC 2274.90 2282.40 2251.00 2256.65PHILIPCARB 108.60 116.70 108.20 113.65HINDPETRO 286.05 289.00 280.90 281.50INTELLECT 265.40 287.00 264.85 281.00HEROMOTOCO 2520.00 2583.00 2473.25 2558.50SUZLON 5.10 5.10 4.90 4.95ASHOKLEY 84.80 85.55 83.75 84.90DLF 184.05 188.10 183.30 185.85ITC 277.50 277.50 273.20 274.95NAUKRI 2314.95 2328.70 2141.70 2193.75SAIL 46.75 48.20 46.25 47.20BAJAJFINSV 7675.00 7776.60 7636.95 7751.00KOTAKBANK 1481.05 1494.70 1475.90 1475.95BHEL 65.15 65.60 64.50 64.85APOLLOHOSP 1322.10 1369.60 1318.00 1366.65DBL 409.75 432.00 409.75 415.45DRREDDY 2654.95 2660.00 2587.35 2631.60DMART 1377.75 1389.00 1352.85 1356.70PCJEWELLER 39.70 39.70 38.75 39.15SRTRANSFIN 1047.25 1058.55 1039.00 1046.55BEL 106.55 107.00 104.25 105.20IBREALEST 116.00 118.20 115.80 116.40AUROPHARMA 606.00 608.50 594.00 595.40NLCINDIA 64.40 72.50 64.35 69.40IGL 307.00 314.50 306.00 310.40RAIN 97.00 97.60 94.65 95.25ICICIGI 1065.00 1083.10 1048.00 1060.15

TECHM 666.00 672.60 663.45 667.00PEL 1965.05 1990.00 1939.55 1941.00COALINDIA 235.70 236.30 229.50 231.00JUBLFOOD 1221.05 1233.40 1201.40 1207.95ULTRACEMCO 4544.00 4617.25 4521.00 4564.20SPARC 118.20 126.65 118.20 124.90INDIACEM 96.30 97.85 95.50 96.25ONGC 153.25 153.50 148.15 149.85MFSL 408.45 442.05 408.45 421.10EDELWEISS 169.85 176.30 169.20 173.15ADANIPORTS 412.45 419.10 409.85 415.15IBVENTURES 305.10 309.60 297.35 298.95BPCL 352.10 354.70 345.10 345.70BHARATFORG 465.45 469.50 460.00 462.40ACC 1559.00 1589.00 1555.10 1576.25TATACOMM 513.80 513.80 482.10 491.30HINDUNILVR 1737.90 1738.00 1709.00 1719.20RCOM 1.81 1.89 1.73 1.89HFCL 21.65 22.30 21.45 21.70TORNTPOWER 305.55 309.00 304.90 307.95KPRMILL 571.25 598.50 570.05 594.05AMBUJACEM 213.05 216.15 212.55 214.00UJJIVAN 284.00 289.15 279.40 281.00GODFRYPHLP 770.75 781.50 766.50 774.70KTKBANK 100.75 102.45 100.25 101.50M&MFIN 381.00 386.75 379.40 383.10ASIANPAINT 1331.00 1367.70 1326.20 1360.00GODREJCP 641.00 641.00 625.25 629.00ENGINERSIN 110.10 112.20 107.75 108.60GODREJPROP 938.00 949.50 936.00 942.20EQUITAS 119.90 119.90 114.60 117.85ICICIPRULI 386.70 390.00 381.70 384.95GLENMARK 459.00 459.00 448.55 450.60DABUR 410.00 412.80 406.20 408.05TATAGLOBAL 255.00 260.20 253.15 257.95TATAMTRDVR 75.85 79.10 74.70 77.10BOMDYEING 101.90 102.90 99.50 99.85PETRONET 251.00 251.80 247.15 247.85LICHSGFIN 545.90 545.90 533.60 536.60NCC 86.60 89.15 86.60 87.55TVSMOTOR 430.00 438.15 424.45 433.55SUNTV 469.85 484.30 468.75 478.55HAVELLS 719.00 721.45 709.00 710.70UNIONBANK 78.40 79.35 77.50 78.55RBLBANK 630.10 648.00 630.10 641.20LUPIN 757.75 764.20 751.80 761.85THOMASCOOK 196.35 196.50 190.60 195.50DCBBANK 239.00 244.05 235.05 236.80GNFC 233.15 238.50 231.85 232.40GAIL 149.00 150.00 146.00 146.75TATAPOWER 67.95 69.00 67.20 68.00TRENT 452.90 458.70 447.00 457.90NMDC 110.30 113.40 110.30 111.80SUVEN 235.00 243.00 235.00 239.85DEEPAKFERT 105.20 105.75 101.10 101.80MINDTREE 771.00 771.00 751.00 752.10BIOCON 254.90 255.60 251.55 253.45BERGEPAINT 301.70 310.75 301.70 310.75BHARTIARTL 361.00 361.00 354.25 355.95CENTURYTEX 909.00 932.60 909.00 929.10BRITANNIA 2769.60 2799.50 2751.00 2779.75IDFCFIRSTB 42.85 43.30 42.45 43.10SRF 2760.00 2780.00 2708.65 2740.00M&M 633.65 637.00 628.65 630.50NATIONALUM 46.90 47.95 46.80 47.35JAICORPLTD 102.50 102.50 99.30 99.65PVR 1729.35 1762.20 1720.60 1746.65EMAMILTD 303.00 312.35 302.75 309.95BATAINDIA 1348.00 1356.00 1330.00 1343.95NBCC 55.65 56.10 55.00 55.65VGUARD 234.40 248.85 233.90 247.75HINDALCO 198.00 201.35 197.40 198.95AMARAJABAT 652.75 664.00 647.85 651.10STAR 370.20 380.05 370.20 376.10OBEROIRLTY 561.75 568.85 552.60 555.25HDFCAMC 1928.40 1965.00 1927.00 1947.15BANDHANBNK 557.70 562.40 555.55 561.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2715.00 2752.40 2695.00 2725.25ERIS 481.05 483.45 450.00 453.00NIITTECH 1329.90 1351.55 1329.90 1347.00JISLJALEQS 25.80 25.80 23.70 24.70ITI 88.50 89.35 87.55 87.90ADANIGREEN 49.40 50.75 49.00 49.55WOCKPHARMA 357.45 361.60 352.85 353.75ADANIGAS 164.70 166.50 163.00 163.20SUNTECK 449.10 462.50 446.75 454.85MEGH 61.65 62.15 60.75 61.10VOLTAS 592.00 600.00 584.70 588.90ABFRL 200.65 209.40 200.40 208.60COLPAL 1134.60 1146.05 1126.50 1138.00HCLTECH 1022.65 1029.20 1009.10 1020.90FORCEMOT 1299.80 1306.95 1280.00 1285.35HEXAWARE 359.00 360.70 356.00 358.00CANFINHOME 374.90 376.20 370.10 372.00SJVN 26.50 27.50 25.65 26.60SIEMENS 1249.90 1249.90 1221.00 1231.30GRASIM 917.95 927.65 911.70 916.90RALLIS 154.00 160.75 152.00 154.95DIVISLAB 1613.75 1620.45 1587.35 1607.10KEI 464.50 473.05 458.90 469.70TIINDIA 385.60 414.80 385.60 405.30INDIANB 244.35 245.60 241.50 242.50POWERGRID 208.95 209.80 204.50 204.80MANAPPURAM 130.00 130.65 127.35 129.60RAYMOND 710.00 720.35 703.00 711.55CHENNPETRO 179.85 189.00 178.60 188.95CADILAHC 235.00 239.20 232.70 235.45CONCOR 555.00 565.00 555.00 555.15LTI 1580.00 1609.20 1575.10 1600.30

BALKRISIND 734.00 746.00 725.95 739.00MOTHERSUMI 121.20 121.20 118.20 118.45PTC 64.10 64.25 63.60 64.25MCX 825.00 837.00 816.55 831.00TATAELXSI 845.00 852.75 841.15 849.05MARICO 369.00 373.70 368.65 370.80GSPL 192.60 198.65 192.00 197.05TATACHEM 600.00 603.00 592.75 599.50WABAG 305.15 312.00 300.60 303.20NESTLEIND 11567.00 11715.20 11511.10 11641.10BLISSGVS 159.00 159.50 156.90 158.45CHOLAFIN 282.00 283.30 278.55 279.65SOUTHBANK 13.25 13.25 12.93 13.10HINDZINC 229.50 230.00 224.70 228.30OMAXE 200.45 201.25 199.30 199.45GSFC 87.85 88.20 86.95 87.20OIL 174.00 175.70 170.45 173.65SCI 30.85 31.65 30.15 30.80ASHOKA 130.95 133.00 130.30 131.45CEATLTD 895.05 903.30 888.65 893.80SYNDIBANK 40.00 40.40 39.75 39.95ABCAPITAL 90.50 91.30 90.10 91.00WELCORP 135.90 139.40 135.00 138.90HIMATSEIDE 167.00 169.05 162.40 162.85CASTROLIND 126.50 127.45 125.25 126.85GRUH 286.80 288.90 285.10 286.65UBL 1375.00 1394.35 1350.80 1386.80EICHERMOT 19004.85 19069.05 18875.00 18974.70CGPOWER 21.80 21.80 20.90 21.00MPHASIS 959.00 959.00 930.30 942.85KAJARIACER 568.00 573.05 559.80 567.50SOBHA 551.00 573.40 545.25 567.65GULFOILLUB 845.00 867.95 841.00 860.00APOLLOTYRE 188.50 189.10 186.45 187.35JSLHISAR 75.50 76.25 74.05 74.05HSCL 98.85 98.85 95.00 95.40BAJAJELEC 470.20 481.00 469.70 477.20WESTLIFE 306.05 318.40 306.00 316.60MGL 813.00 815.55 801.25 804.90UFLEX 233.00 234.20 228.85 231.50FSL 51.20 52.75 51.20 52.00RADICO 290.00 290.00 284.50 285.20THERMAX 1028.85 1043.85 1016.00 1040.00SADBHAV 190.00 190.65 182.00 183.85AVANTI 339.45 341.35 329.00 335.45IDBI 34.85 35.30 34.55 35.25CENTURYPLY 146.00 148.60 145.15 147.30PIDILITIND 1185.40 1193.50 1180.00 1187.00RITES 285.30 290.00 285.20 285.60NAVINFLUOR 670.00 670.00 647.35 651.00NOCIL 111.85 112.30 109.80 110.40CROMPTON 226.00 234.40 224.80 229.10EXIDEIND 202.75 205.90 202.55 205.50CHAMBLFERT 161.00 164.25 159.15 162.10INFRATEL 265.70 268.35 262.05 262.65PRESTIGE 272.00 275.50 272.00 272.05EIDPARRY 168.05 174.00 164.75 171.30TRIDENT 59.40 60.70 59.30 60.40HEIDELBERG 191.85 198.20 191.60 196.25IRB 93.00 93.00 91.10 91.10MUTHOOTFIN 617.55 623.90 612.30 620.65ALLCARGO 98.50 99.85 96.85 97.95ORIENTBANK 89.50 89.60 88.70 88.70TATACOFFEE 76.65 78.50 76.55 78.35SHANKARA 382.00 393.00 373.40 378.10KEC 323.50 332.85 323.05 329.85CUMMINSIND 756.90 766.20 752.10 756.50KRBL 238.45 241.20 235.00 235.80SWANENERGY 104.55 104.80 102.95 104.00DELTACORP 168.00 168.00 164.40 164.45SYNGENE 310.15 317.50 310.00 314.35HATHWAY 23.35 25.00 23.35 24.30BIRLACORPN 634.90 654.00 634.90 649.05JINDALSAW 78.00 78.50 76.50 76.65DCMSHRIRAM 529.70 544.75 522.50 535.00KALPATPOWR 505.65 514.50 501.40 509.55VIPIND 426.50 429.00 420.75 427.30JMFINANCIL 76.05 76.25 74.10 74.30LTTS 1659.95 1663.90 1614.85 1628.20GICRE 232.00 232.80 227.00 227.70VENKYS 1575.00 1577.00 1551.75 1566.00RCF 57.05 57.25 56.15 56.35JSWENERGY 68.65 69.80 68.65 69.20MINDAIND 303.15 310.50 302.00 309.00GREAVESCOT 131.00 132.20 129.65 130.10RAJESHEXPO 695.50 697.40 690.60 696.00GMRINFRA 15.02 15.24 15.00 15.09KANSAINER 422.35 439.30 416.70 439.00AJANTPHARM 906.00 906.00 890.85 898.00AUBANK 671.65 679.65 665.00 665.00PAGEIND 20875.55 20996.15 20487.90 20500.00JUBILANT 475.00 478.15 472.00 473.80IBULISL 167.00 173.20 161.50 168.50IRCON 388.85 411.00 387.50 395.15TORNTPHARM 1556.05 1564.20 1539.60 1553.40RAMCOCEM 779.00 782.60 770.00 773.65PNBHOUSING 778.55 780.85 768.65 768.80NILKAMAL 1161.00 1163.00 1144.00 1160.75HUDCO 39.30 39.30 38.50 38.80TV18BRDCST 23.00 23.30 22.55 23.25MAHLOG 460.45 470.00 441.00 470.00PNCINFRA 195.00 195.00 189.00 190.70SONATSOFTW 348.25 354.00 348.25 352.00TAKE 122.50 126.50 122.50 124.75ALBK 47.45 47.65 46.80 47.00JAGRAN 103.75 104.25 101.00 103.80PFIZER 3156.75 3196.80 3135.00 3167.55PGHL 4202.05 4299.00 4202.05 4264.45SREINFRA 16.10 17.05 16.00 16.80

ABB 1508.00 1518.65 1488.00 1503.15FCONSUMER 39.75 39.90 39.25 39.25LAXMIMACH 4785.00 4785.00 4650.00 4664.60VINATIORGA 2093.00 2100.50 2050.00 2060.55INDHOTEL 149.15 150.20 147.20 148.10BDL 304.30 304.30 299.00 299.65PARAGMILK 259.60 261.60 258.95 259.85JSL 31.75 32.30 31.75 32.20ASTERDM 119.65 124.30 119.60 122.35LALPATHLAB 1108.00 1108.00 1070.00 1071.60NHPC 23.95 24.25 23.80 24.10SUNDRMFAST 469.95 479.00 468.00 475.00BAJAJHLDNG 3460.00 3591.00 3460.00 3506.55IPCALAB 955.35 963.45 949.50 963.45HSIL 236.00 242.00 233.80 239.60ORIENTELEC 158.70 160.40 157.80 160.00INFIBEAM 42.85 43.30 42.35 42.55VARROC 454.00 456.45 442.30 453.30IFCI 8.88 8.88 8.60 8.70LEMONTREE 66.50 66.50 64.70 65.00LINDEINDIA 502.85 523.90 502.85 510.90J&KBANK 39.90 40.00 39.20 39.80JBCHEPHARM 366.20 377.00 366.20 376.85LAKSHVILAS 66.20 66.25 64.65 65.00BBTC 911.10 919.85 905.00 914.00UCOBANK 19.00 19.05 18.45 18.50CARERATING 856.20 886.80 850.70 886.80JKLAKSHMI 335.50 335.50 331.00 331.30LAURUSLABS 343.55 363.50 340.45 354.05CAPPL 413.85 417.70 410.50 415.00JKTYRE 78.00 78.00 76.50 77.65APLLTD 543.70 548.25 534.30 538.55TIMETECHNO 91.75 94.00 90.45 91.65AEGISLOG 212.75 212.95 206.25 207.70GRANULES 92.85 94.90 92.85 94.40JKCEMENT 983.25 987.60 965.00 976.95MMTC 22.50 23.10 22.50 22.85THYROCARE 466.00 480.70 466.00 478.55MRPL 60.65 60.65 59.45 59.45GLAXO 1148.00 1160.00 1131.05 1157.60GUJGAS 164.60 166.70 164.10 164.90SUPREMEIND 1089.75 1100.00 1088.75 1091.55ECLERX 670.00 675.00 663.90 663.90FINCABLES 384.10 387.40 383.85 384.00PERSISTENT 610.00 624.05 610.00 622.40SHREECEM 21568.45 21657.00 21253.75 21331.60GODREJIND 483.00 484.00 479.10 481.30CENTRALBK 19.85 20.05 19.70 19.95CYIENT 536.60 541.45 531.80 537.40WHIRLPOOL 1556.00 1570.00 1548.20 1552.85TEJASNET 131.00 133.35 130.75 132.50HINDCOPPER 38.15 38.35 37.80 38.00ORIENTCEM 109.00 109.00 105.15 107.75REPCOHOME 372.95 376.00 371.05 371.15FINOLEXIND 498.20 505.00 497.00 502.00CENTRUM 26.25 26.25 25.05 25.55MINDACORP 101.75 105.65 100.00 103.25SANOFI 5781.00 5848.00 5750.05 5783.05NATCOPHARM 530.60 532.00 527.35 528.50GAYAPROJ 150.00 152.00 142.25 142.25EVEREADY 71.05 73.15 70.00 73.15ATUL 3730.40 3759.45 3720.00 3755.00DEEPAKNI 300.35 302.30 299.00 300.45CUB 204.00 204.90 202.00 204.45HERITGFOOD 403.15 403.50 393.80 394.00ISEC 219.95 221.00 217.40 219.80IDFC 36.05 36.20 35.80 35.90WELSPUNIND 55.75 56.30 55.20 56.30ASTRAL 1303.95 1305.00 1272.00 1282.00GODREJAGRO 494.00 499.50 491.75 491.75CCL 240.00 240.00 236.20 238.25PHOENIXLTD 654.20 658.05 643.20 649.35IEX 144.10 146.10 144.10 145.00JAMNAAUTO 49.90 49.90 48.50 48.65MAHSCOOTER 4204.80 4212.00 4137.60 4160.90BASF 1200.30 1200.30 1174.25 1174.95LUXIND 1163.50 1163.55 1129.45 1140.20TATAMETALI 592.05 596.95 579.20 579.20MAHINDCIE 215.50 216.30 213.05 213.15PIIND 1132.00 1154.30 1129.55 1140.00ADVENZYMES 159.65 162.10 159.60 161.50MAHSEAMLES 420.00 420.00 412.05 413.00GUJFLUORO 909.00 924.35 901.00 914.65NETWORK18 25.10 25.40 24.50 25.40MRF 56154.45 56167.85 55651.00 56167.85HAL 671.10 683.05 671.00 675.80COCHINSHIP 374.00 376.95 373.50 375.60GSKCONS 7516.00 7516.10 7414.00 7439.85GMDCLTD 72.40 72.90 71.50 71.80MAXINDIA 64.95 66.10 64.50 65.10AAVAS 1508.90 1517.10 1489.75 1506.80COROMANDEL 394.90 400.00 393.40 400.00NESCO 558.00 566.20 558.00 560.00

BLUESTARCO 760.00 762.65 745.20 747.30GICHSGFIN 258.70 262.10 257.40 262.00CORPBANK 27.40 27.90 26.95 27.65GHCL 221.70 225.85 221.70 223.00GESHIP* 249.80 255.90 249.80 254.00ADANITRANS 225.05 225.25 222.45 222.70IOB 12.00 12.45 12.00 12.19NIACL 142.05 142.60 140.45 140.65CRISIL 1457.30 1472.50 1431.70 1431.70JETAIRWAYS 48.75 48.75 48.75 48.75RNAM 225.00 225.45 224.85 225.25RELAXO 425.10 429.25 423.00 423.00MOIL 153.05 153.10 150.60 151.60MASFIN 599.00 614.80 591.00 602.55FORTIS 128.10 129.10 127.90 128.60APLAPOLLO 1565.25 1580.90 1557.00 1557.00INOXLEISUR 324.35 324.35 316.45 317.35ALKEM 1781.60 1804.30 1781.60 1798.00ANDHRABANK 22.75 23.00 22.65 22.80EIHOTEL 172.65 173.85 169.10 169.15ZENSARTECH 245.65 248.55 241.30 248.40ABBOTINDIA 8928.70 8950.00 8855.50 8900.00OFSS 3265.00 3302.20 3265.00 3298.00CHOLAHLDNG 495.00 497.50 485.10 487.25MHRIL 234.00 237.80 232.00 234.85BALMLAWRIE 181.00 181.40 180.00 180.50CREDITACC 492.15 492.15 488.15 488.15SUPRAJIT 196.75 204.85 196.60 204.50PRSMJOHNSN 91.95 92.15 91.50 91.55INDOSTAR 352.55 358.55 350.00 352.45ENDURANCE 1001.55 1021.65 999.85 1021.65SHK 126.00 127.20 126.00 126.60GPPL 81.40 82.05 80.75 81.00JYOTHYLAB 161.00 162.90 160.30 162.90BOSCHLTD 16019.05 16070.85 15963.10 16041.65GILLETTE 7170.00 7276.50 7047.60 7160.00DHANUKA 403.95 410.80 396.70 397.80TATAINVEST 880.00 886.95 880.00 880.85GUJALKALI 499.40 503.00 495.00 497.40MAGMA 106.20 108.20 106.05 107.10GET&D 226.05 229.65 223.65 226.10MAHABANK 16.30 16.30 15.85 16.00FRETAIL 478.80 478.80 468.00 472.75VBL 964.80 968.00 962.15 968.00ITDCEM 97.85 100.50 97.50 98.65SUDARSCHEM 314.50 321.00 314.50 321.00SCHNEIDER 91.90 92.00 90.25 91.00MAHLIFE 409.45 410.75 405.10 407.50GRINDWELL 597.45 599.00 584.45 587.30DCAL 215.60 218.25 215.00 216.15ASAHIINDIA 202.20 207.90 200.00 207.00ZYDUSWELL 1370.00 1376.70 1359.40 1367.05SYMPHONY 1221.55 1225.95 1215.35 1215.35LAOPALA 199.20 202.00 193.60 193.60TTKPRESTIG 6324.50 6460.00 6285.00 6365.70TIMKEN 724.75 733.45 716.60 733.45BLUEDART 2621.15 2621.15 2561.55 2561.55FLFL 469.00 474.25 467.25 474.25SOLARINDS 1160.10 1188.00 1155.00 1175.00ITDC 250.00 250.00 243.00 244.30ASTRAZEN 1995.00 2009.00 1987.60 1990.00TVTODAY 275.70 275.70 272.00 275.00AKZOINDIA 1746.30 1755.70 1712.10 1748.85COFFEEDAY 217.05 218.40 216.80 217.05SCHAEFFLER 4500.00 4500.00 4428.80 4450.50GDL 121.00 121.10 119.35 119.90ELGIEQUIP 256.00 266.00 255.00 263.00CERA 2848.85 2912.55 2848.85 2866.70UNITEDBNK 10.01 10.12 10.01 10.10APARINDS 560.00 575.25 556.05 572.55REDINGTON 99.45 102.60 99.45 101.90PGHH 10956.40 10956.40 10750.00 10890.10AIAENG 1759.40 1759.85 1739.35 1750.00NBVENTURES* 91.55 91.95 90.00 90.45TRITURBINE 102.85 102.85 100.25 100.25SOMANYCERA 420.50 429.30 420.50 425.20TVSSRICHAK 1904.50 1929.30 1895.00 1903.50SHILPAMED 343.50 347.80 342.00 347.40GEPIL 852.50 856.90 841.15 841.15MOTILALOFS 671.40 672.90 662.20 662.20MONSANTO 2130.05 2212.75 2130.05 2171.05TNPL 173.00 178.00 173.00 176.55IFBIND 738.95 748.00 737.00 746.10KNRCON 270.90 272.60 270.90 271.25GALAXYSURF 1243.10 1245.00 1233.25 1242.00FDC 167.55 169.40 166.80 169.20SKFINDIA 1953.95 1960.00 1942.50 1942.50STARCEMENT 112.70 114.25 112.50 113.85VMART 2103.15 2116.20 2087.00 2090.00CARBORUNIV 350.55 353.60 350.20 353.60FINEORG 1421.15 1421.15 1384.95 1385.20VTL 1040.40 1042.70 1038.00 1039.70DBCORP 186.00 188.75 185.55 186.95JCHAC 1675.40 1690.80 1664.80 1673.60TCNSBRANDS 785.00 788.85 764.40 764.40BAJAJCON 317.45 320.40 317.45 318.003MINDIA 21800.00 21929.00 21770.00 21911.00TEAMLEASE 2982.50 3026.25 2980.00 2983.45ESSELPRO 130.10 130.60 129.70 130.60BAYERCROP 3340.00 3410.75 3340.00 3393.60INOXWIND 68.00 68.50 67.75 68.40SIS 832.00 865.45 832.00 865.45SHOPERSTOP 479.15 479.15 470.30 470.35SHRIRAMCIT 1506.70 1508.80 1497.90 1497.90NH 233.00 234.55 229.75 229.75HONAUT 23519.00 23581.00 23330.00 23330.00WABCOINDIA 6133.80 6145.00 6126.05 6137.00SFL 1285.60 1285.60 1281.60 1281.60HATSUN 710.00 711.10 710.00 711.10

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11601.15 11639.55 11538.60 11552.50 -30.40VEDL 164.10 168.65 162.35 167.60 3.95SUNPHARMA 400.50 411.50 397.35 407.55 9.40TATASTEEL 464.30 479.45 460.25 472.60 10.60ASIANPAINT 1332.45 1369.55 1325.45 1362.80 30.35YESBANK 93.25 94.85 91.65 94.35 1.90HEROMOTOCO2502.00 2584.40 2472.40 2557.00 49.20TATAMOTORS 155.90 162.85 154.00 159.00 2.20BAJAJFINSV 7690.00 7779.90 7635.00 7750.00 104.30INFY 722.50 730.60 719.60 730.05 8.55BRITANNIA 2763.00 2800.00 2750.75 2786.05 20.90ADANIPORTS 411.95 419.40 409.60 415.90 3.00BAJAJ-AUTO 2720.00 2751.90 2693.35 2729.85 18.15ULTRACEMCO 4543.80 4618.90 4520.10 4569.55 30.45CIPLA 554.00 566.50 547.20 555.80 3.40TITAN 1104.00 1129.00 1090.00 1102.00 5.00TCS 2102.10 2119.75 2093.10 2108.00 5.45TECHM 665.00 672.90 663.00 667.40 1.70HCLTECH 1016.05 1029.70 1009.00 1022.80 2.00ICICIBANK 427.30 433.00 424.00 427.30 0.75JSWSTEEL 267.30 270.85 261.70 267.40 0.10HINDALCO 199.00 201.45 197.40 198.50 0.05SBIN 363.00 366.55 361.50 363.30 0.10GRASIM 920.00 927.85 911.25 918.90 -0.35UPL 632.00 646.90 627.00 630.80 -0.45KOTAKBANK 1486.95 1494.50 1475.90 1482.95 -1.20RELIANCE 1283.00 1300.00 1278.05 1278.55 -3.00ITC 275.40 276.45 273.10 274.70 -0.95EICHERMOT 18984.15 19100.00 18860.00 18950.00 -84.15HDFC 2270.00 2282.00 2250.75 2250.80 -11.10GAIL 148.35 150.80 145.75 146.60 -0.85IBULHSGFIN 675.95 679.70 661.30 668.00 -4.15HINDUNILVR 1726.80 1738.25 1708.25 1720.00 -10.90M&M 634.10 637.00 628.50 630.05 -4.10HDFCBANK 2418.00 2418.00 2385.05 2390.00 -17.15INFRATEL 264.00 268.45 262.00 262.70 -2.20BHARTIARTL 360.80 360.80 354.15 357.60 -3.15DRREDDY 2648.00 2660.25 2585.15 2630.00 -23.05NTPC 129.85 132.45 126.45 127.35 -1.60MARUTI 6017.70 6090.00 5951.95 5956.00 -75.20ZEEL 357.40 357.85 347.70 350.30 -4.50BPCL 352.75 354.80 345.00 345.60 -4.95INDUSINDBK 1550.00 1562.50 1493.65 1517.05 -24.20IOC 147.00 147.90 144.20 145.55 -2.35AXISBANK 766.10 768.60 751.00 754.05 -12.35POWERGRID 208.60 209.85 204.40 205.00 -3.60LT 1499.00 1499.00 1462.00 1468.00 -27.20COALINDIA 234.90 236.35 229.30 230.50 -4.40BAJFINANCE 3470.00 3470.00 3366.00 3382.00 -69.05ONGC 153.00 153.35 148.00 148.90 -4.20WIPRO 268.00 268.65 258.05 259.80 -7.95

SE 500B

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26977.75 27139.65 26933.25 26983.65 51.55SBILIFE 756.00 789.30 753.35 781.90 27.80MCDOWELL-N 565.10 593.35 560.10 585.60 19.40HDFCLIFE 471.00 485.00 469.10 480.60 12.80NMDC 110.95 113.55 110.50 111.95 1.90UBL 1365.35 1394.90 1351.00 1388.00 22.65ACC 1564.00 1589.80 1554.25 1573.00 23.00AMBUJACEM 213.30 216.25 212.50 214.30 2.60SAIL 46.70 48.20 46.30 47.25 0.50HDFCAMC 1920.00 1965.00 1920.00 1940.20 20.40LUPIN 757.00 764.70 752.00 761.55 7.90ICICIPRULI 383.55 390.30 381.50 385.00 3.70BANDHANBNK 559.30 563.90 555.10 561.05 4.95IDEA 11.65 12.05 11.55 11.75 0.10NHPC 23.90 24.30 23.85 24.10 0.20OFSS 3270.00 3308.45 3255.65 3307.00 24.00CADILAHC 235.00 239.20 232.50 236.00 1.65MARICO 368.15 373.75 368.15 370.15 2.05L&TFH 119.70 122.80 119.00 120.55 0.65BIOCON 252.15 255.70 251.55 254.00 1.35ICICIGI 1061.80 1083.30 1051.00 1062.50 5.50ASHOKLEY 84.60 85.65 83.70 85.45 0.30MRF 56148.00 56291.80 55680.00 56279.95 116.05HINDZINC 227.95 229.95 224.30 228.35 0.30SRTRANSFIN 1051.40 1058.90 1038.20 1044.50 0.95COLPAL 1130.00 1146.85 1125.90 1137.50 0.70DLF 184.00 188.35 183.25 186.00 0.00PGHH 10900.00 10953.50 10730.20 10900.00 -1.35DIVISLAB 1614.95 1621.00 1587.10 1608.00 -0.65DABUR 410.05 413.00 406.00 408.80 -0.45PIDILITIND 1184.15 1194.50 1179.80 1186.00 -1.30BOSCHLTD 16025.00 16100.00 15949.10 16000.00 -24.75BANKBARODA 125.95 127.30 124.95 125.80 -0.20ABB 1517.90 1517.90 1486.00 1505.00 -2.95SIEMENS 1240.95 1244.30 1220.55 1232.00 -3.95BHEL 65.00 65.60 64.40 64.80 -0.25CONCOR 558.50 565.40 555.00 555.65 -2.25INDIGO 1352.00 1389.00 1339.45 1348.00 -6.50SHREECEM 21457.50 21661.05 21214.00 21280.00 -156.75NIACL 142.85 142.85 140.00 140.70 -1.25GODREJCP 638.00 641.00 625.40 629.65 -5.90HAVELLS 719.05 721.75 709.50 712.00 -7.10PETRONET 251.35 252.00 247.25 247.50 -2.75BAJAJHLDNG 3545.10 3574.90 3490.00 3506.00 -40.95PEL 1970.00 1991.00 1939.85 1941.00 -22.60DMART 1370.00 1390.00 1352.00 1356.00 -17.00AUROPHARMA 605.00 608.85 593.80 596.95 -8.35MOTHERSUMI 121.00 121.45 118.10 118.50 -1.70PAGEIND 20972.25 20978.95 20500.00 20530.00 -312.00GICRE 232.40 233.25 226.30 227.75 -4.45HINDPETRO 287.40 289.20 280.75 281.00 -5.60

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Amidst reports of growingpress censorship inPakistan, Foreign

Minister Shah MehmoodQureshi was heckled by aCanadian journalist here alleg-ing that his social mediaaccount was suspended overcomplaints from the govern-ment, according to mediareports.

Qureshi was attending apress conference on ‘DefendMedia Freedom’ here onThursday when the incidenttook place, days after PakistanElectronic Media RegulatoryAuthority (Pemra) suspendedtransmission of three privateTV channels for airing aninterview of jailed formerPresident Asif Ali Zardari.

The move came as thePakistan government decidedto curtail the space given by thepress to jailed politicians likePakistan’s former prime min-ister Nawaz Sharif and Zardari.

Journalist Ezra Levant ofthe Rebel media, a Canadianfar-right political website, inter-rupted and verbally assaultedthe minister alleging that hisTwitter account was suspend-ed over complaints from thePakistan government, the

Dawn newspaper reported.“That’s exactly what I’m

talking about. Twitter didn’tdelete my whole account. Butthey deleted a tweet they saidviolated Pakistani law. Twittersaid that to me in an email. I’min Canada. Twitter is inAmerica. But Pakistan cen-sored us,” he tweeted.

In a video clip of the inci-dent shared by Pakistan jour-nalist Munizae Jahangir onTwitter, Levant said the organ-isers should be embarrassed toinvite a “censorious thug” totalk about free speech.

Levant also accused theminister of adopting doublestandards on free speech, thereport said.

Responding to the allega-tions, Qureshi said, “first of allyou want your sentiments to be

respected. Just look at the toneto the panel you have adopted.Is that the correct way? Youhave a right to ask questions.”

“You have double stan-dards what you call freedom; attimes you are projecting certainagendas,” the minister said.

Replying to a question onPemra's recent decision to takethree television channels off air,the arrest of journalists anddeepening concerns about cen-sorship, Qureshi said therewas “no question of gagging”journalists. “Believe you me,there is no question of gaggingor controlling media,” he toldthe conference co-hosted byBritain and Canada.

“That time has gone andwith the new social media, theadvent of social media, even ifyou want to gag you can gagnothing,” he said.

Further explaining,Qureshi said that three newschannels were taken off and"I'm told for 6-8 hours, andnow they are functioningagain.” He said the channelshad “issues” with the regulato-ry body and “those issues havebeen settled.”

Qureshi was also askedabout an interview of Zardari,which was also abruptly takenoff air.

Pemra had on July 1 takenoff air an interview of the for-mer president which was beingconducted on the premises ofthe Parliament House, whereZardari came to attend aNational Assembly session afterthe speaker issued his produc-tion order.

Qureshi said Zardari, whois currently facing corruptioncharges, was not permitted tobe interviewed in the way hewas, “otherwise he can saywhat he wants to”.

The media curbs imposedby Pemra has been criticised bya media watchdog.

“This is an absolutely unac-ceptable violation of the prin-ciples of media pluralism andindependence during a revela-tion that was clearly in thePakistani public interest,” saidDaniel Bastard, head ofReporters Without Borders'Asia-Pacific desk, in a state-ment on Tuesday.

“We call on Prime MinisterImran Khan's civilian govern-ment to take immediate stepsto ensure that cable transmis-sion of the three TV channelsis restored. The recent surge insudden acts of media censor-ship is exposing the currentregime’s increasingly dictator-ial nature,” he said.

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Former vice president andthe Democratic Party fron-

trunner in the 2020 presiden-tial campaign Joe Biden saidthe US needs to reach out toIndia and other partners inAsia to “fortify” its collectivecapabilities while strengthen-ing cooperation with “friends”beyond Europe.

Laying out his foreign pol-icy vision for America, Bidensaid he will focus to restore dig-nified leadership at home andrespected leadership on theworld stage.

Arguing that America’spolicies at home and abroadare deeply connected, 76-year-old Biden said that if elected,he will advance the security,prosperity, and values of theUnited States by taking imme-diate steps to renew its owndemocracy and alliances, pro-tect its economic future, andonce more place America at thehead of the table, leading theworld to address the mosturgent global challenges.

“We need to look foropportunities to strengthendomestic cooperation withfriends beyond North Americaand Europe, reaching to ourpartners in Asia, includingJapan, South Korea, Australia,India to fortify our collectivecapabilities,” Biden said in aspeech at The Graduate Centerat The City University of NewYork here Thursday.

He said during his firstyear in office, he will organiseand host a global Summit forDemocracy to renew the spir-it and shared purpose of thenations of the Free World.

He said he will bringtogether the world’s democra-cies to strengthen the democ-ratic institutions, honestly con-front the challenge of nationsthat are backsliding, and forgea common agenda to addressthreats to our common values.

The Summit would pri-oritise results by galvanisingsignificant new country com-

mitments in the areas of fight-ing corruption, defendingagainst authoritarianism,including election security andadvancing human rights intheir own nations and abroad.

In a Biden administration,America will lead by exampleand rally the world to meet thecommon challenges that noone nation can face on itsown, including climate change,nuclear proliferation, greatpower aggression, transna-tional terrorism, cyberwarfareand mass migration.

Biden also strongly criti-cised President DonaldTrump’s erratic policies, sayingfailure to uphold basic demo-cratic principles have surren-dered America’s position in theworld, undermined its demo-cratic alliances, weakened itsability to mobilise others tomeet these challenges, andthreatened its security andfuture.

“The world sees [PresidentDonald] Trump for what he is:insincere, ill-informed, andimpulsive. Sometimes corrupt.Dangerously incompetent, andincapable, in my view, of worldleadership and leadership athome,” Biden said.

“The threat that I believePresident Trump poses to ournational security and where we

are as a country is extreme,”Biden said, adding that Trump’s“chest-thumping”, erratic poli-cies and failure to uphold basicdemocratic principles have“muddled our reputation andour place in the world.”

Biden also made a scathingattack on how Trump is deal-ing with China, saying Beijingwas “playing the long game.”

“We need to get toughwith China,” he said.

“The most effective waythat we need to change is tobuild a united front of friendsand partners to challengeChina’s abusive behaviour, evenas we seek to deepen cooper-ation on issues where ourinterests are converged likeclimate change and preventingnuclear proliferation,” he said.

Biden’s campaign said thathe strongly believes economicsecurity is national security andthat is why, as president, Bidenwill pursue a foreign policy forthe middle class.

He said to win the compe-tition for the future againstChina or anyone else, Americamust sharpen its innovativeedge and unite the economicmight of democracies aroundthe world to counter abusiveeconomic practices.

The campaign also addedthat as president, Biden will

end the “forever wars” inAfghanistan and the MiddleEast, which have cost the coun-try untold blood and treasure.He would bring the vast major-ity of American troops homefrom Afghanistan and nar-rowly focus the US mission onAl-Qaeda and ISIS.

Biden also slammedTrump for his relationshipwith authoritarian leaders likeKim Jong-un of North Korea,saying “we do not coddle dic-tators." He said Trump“undermines our Democraticalliances while embracing dic-tators who appeal to his vani-ty… Make no mistake about it— the world sees Trump forwhat he is: insincere, ill-informed and impulsive.”

In North Korea, Bidensaid as president, he willempower American negotia-tors and jump start a sus-tained, coordinated cam-paign with its allies and oth-ers, including China, toadvance the shared objectiveof a denuclearized NorthKorea.

On Iran, he said the his-toric Iran nuclear deal, nego-tiated by the Obama-Bidenadministration alongsideAmerican allies and otherworld powers, blocked Iranfrom getting a nuclear weapon.

Yet Trump decided to castit aside, prompting Iran torestart its nuclear programand become more provocative,bringing the region to the cuspof another disastrous war.

He said if Tehran returns tocompliance with the deal, aspresident he would re-enter theagreement, using hard-noseddiplomacy and support fromAmerica’s allies to strengthenand extend it, while moreeffectively pushing back againstIran’s other destabilizing activ-ities. He stressed that“American leadership is notinfallible — we’ve made mis-steps and mistakes. But let mebe clear — I will never hesitateto protect the American peo-ple.”

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Apolitical transition agree-ment between Sudan’s mil-

itary and a pro-democracycoalition is expected to besigned Saturday, a top AfricanUnion diplomat said earlyFriday.

Mohammed el-HassanLabat’s announcement camejust hours after the Sudanesemilitary claimed it thwarted anattempted military coup.

The transition agreementsets up a joint sovereign coun-cil that will rule for a little overthree years while elections areorganized. The deal is meant tobreak the political deadlockthat has gripped the countryfollowing the overthrow ofautocratic President Omar al-Bashir in April.

Ethiopian mediatorMahmoud Dirir told reportersthat the political declarationwill be “debated on, discussedand signed at the same time.”

Lt. Gen. Gamal Omar, amember of Sudan’s militarycouncil, said the coup attempttook place late Thursday, justdays after the military and thepro-democracy coalition hadagreed to the joint sovereigncouncil.

In a statement, Omar saidat least 16 active and retiredmilitary officers were arrested.Security forces were pursuingthe group’s leader and addi-tional officers who took part inplotting the coup attempt, hesaid.

“The attempted coup camein a critical time, ahead of thedeal with the Forces for

Declaration of Freedom andChange,” Omar said, referringto the group that speaks for thepro-democracy demonstrators.

The council did not revealthe name of the attemptedleader, his rank or other details.The statement also said five ofthe arrested officers wereretired.

The political transition dealis meant to end the impassebetween the military counciland the protest movementsince security forces razed amassive pro-democracy sit-inin Khartoum early last month,killing more than 100 people,according to protest organizers.

In the ensuing weeks, pro-testers stayed in the streets,demanding that the generalshand power to civilian leader-ship.

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Batting for strong Indo-USties, President Donald

Trump's son-in-law JaredKushner, has said there are veryfew countries like India thatpossess the potential for growthand the administration was“very focussed” on furthercementing the bilateral strate-gic ties.

Kushner, 38, who is alsosenior adviser to PresidentTrump, is considered one of themost influential and powerfulindividuals in the White Houseand was addressing the SecondLeadership Summit of the US-India Strategic and PartnershipForum. Listing out the varioussteps being taken by PresidentTrump to make America “morecompetitive globally”, he said:“Part of that comes with obvi-ously the relationship withIndia, where you have a fast-growing economy. You have anamazingly, educated populationthere and then a lot of people

who share a lot of similar val-ues with this country.”

“Forums like this are crit-ically important because whenwe think about the world as itis today, there are very fewcountries like India that possessthe potential for growth inwhat the future strategic rela-tionship can be,” he said.

Whether it’s trade andcommerce, or national securi-ty, there are so many strategicelements of this relationship,Kushner said, adding that a lotof people in the administrationat the President's directionhave been “very, very focused”on India-US ties.

Kushner also presented theUSISPF’s 2019 GlobalExcellence Award toMastercard CEO and President,Ajay Banga. The award toWipro Chairman, Azim Premjiwas presented in his absentia.

Later in a fire-side chatwith Banga, Kushner said thathe is the manager of the immi-gration project of President

Trump. Responding to a ques-tion, Kushner said that Trumpis not anti-immigrant.

“Just to be very clear, thepresident is very pro-immi-grant. He's anti-illegal immi-gration and what he wants todo is make America the land ofopportunity,” wherein peoplewith merit can figure out theways to go to the United States,he said.

“We want to make it amuch more clean system, a

much more streamlined sys-tem, much more fair systemand one where most people willhave the opportunity to try tobecome American citizens,”Kushner said.

“It’s the greatest privilege inthe world to be an Americancitizen and that’s somethingthat we should make availableto people who really want itbadly and who want to earn it,”the top presidential advisorsaid.

“How’s this White Housething turning out for you,”Banga asked Kushner at thestart of the fire-side chat.

“I have to say it’s somethingthat I never expected in my lifethat I would have the privilegeof to serve the country at thiscapacity. For us it's an absolutehonour working for this pres-ident and having the opportu-nity to push forward the changethat he's pushing for this coun-try and for the world has beenabsolutely tremendous,”Kushner said.

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Turkey received the firstbatch of Russia’s S-400 mis-

sile defence system on Friday,the defence ministry said,despite repeated warnings fromits NATO ally United Statesagainst the purchase.

“The delivery of the firstshipment of parts of the S-400long range regional air missiledefence system began as of July12, 2019 to Murted air base inAnkara,” the ministry said in astatement.

The delivery, which wasmade by plane, is likely to esca-late tensions with the US afterWashington warned this weekthat there would be “real andnegative” consequences ifAnkara bought the Russiandefence system.

The US State Departmenthas said that Turkish officialsare fully aware of theCountering America’sAdversaries Through SanctionsAct, a law passed by Congressin 2017 that mandates sanc-tions for any “significant” pur-chases of weapons from Russia.

Washington has threat-ened to remove Turkey from itsF-35 fighter jet programme,giving Ankara until July 31 tocancel the S-400 purchase orhave its pilots kicked off thetraining course and expelledfrom the US.

But Turkish PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan saidafter meeting US counterpartDonald Trump last monththat he was confident Ankarawould not face sanctions forbuying the Russian missilesystem.

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Australia has intensified itssugar related dispute with

India by formally asking WorldTrade Organisation (WTO) toset up a panel to probe if theworld’s second-largest sugarproducer was breaching itsobligations, a media report saidFriday.

In March, Australia wasjoined by Brazil to lodge a for-mal complaint against Indiawith the WTO alleging thatIndia’s continued sugar subsidiesto farmers have led to a ‘glut’ and‘depressed’ global prices.

Australia along with Braziland Guatemala joined hands to

ask the WTO to set up the dis-pute panel to probe if India wasbreaching its obligations.

Australian Financial Reviewreport quoted Australian TradeMinister Simon Birminghamsaying “India has not takenconcrete action to response toAustralia’s long-held concernsand continues to provide subsi-dies in breach of its WTO com-mitments.”

“The longer these unfairsubsidies continue, the greaterthe impact will be on our hard-working Australian cane grow-ers and millers and the region-al jobs they create,” he said.

It says India’s subsidies havecontributed to a global sugar glut

and hurt Australian farmers.“Australia’s relationship with

India is strong and it shows howvaluable the trading system isthat even close partners withgood relations can utilise WTOprocesses to address trade dis-putes.” Agriculture MinisterBridget McKenzie said, “This isabout protecting over 40,000jobs and the regional commu-nities that are supported by oursugar industry.”

Australian government’s lat-est action has come with a viewto support its 2 billion dollarsugar export sector.

The federal governmentaction has been welcomed bylocal cane growers and millers.

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Nepal’s only internationalairport was closed Friday

after a plane skidded off therecently repaired runway, injur-ing two people, officials said.

The country has a poorflight safety record — Nepaliairlines are banned fromEuropean Union airspace —and its airports are notorious-ly difficult to land in.

The Yeti Airlines ATR 72-500, arriving into Kathmandufrom southern Nepal with 66passengers, skidded about 15metres (yards) into the grass.

“Our teams are working toremove the plane and reopenthe airport,” the airport’s gen-eral manager Raj KumarChettri told AFP.

Chettri said that removingthe Franco-Italian-made tur-boprop plane was taking along time because heavy rainhas made the area muddy.

Authorities took 11 hoursto remove a domestic aircraftthat suffered a similar runwayexcursion in September lastyear, months after a Malaysianjet with 139 people on boardhad aborted its takeoff and

skidded off the runway.In March 2018, a US-

Bangla Airways plane crashednear the airport, killing 51

people.The Himalayan nation has

some of the world’s mostremote and tricky runways,

flanked by snow-capped peakswith approaches that pose achallenge for even accom-plished pilots.

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An artificial intelligence (AI)programme has defeated

leading professionals in six-player no-limit Texas hold'empoker, the world’s most popu-lar form of poker, researcherssaid Friday.

Developed by CarnegieMellon University in the USand Facebook AI, the pro-gramme called Pluribus defeat-ed poker professional DarrenElias, who holds the record formost World Poker Tour titles,and Chris Ferguson, winner ofsix World Series of Pokerevents.

Each pro separately played5,000 hands of poker — afamily of card games that com-bines gambling, strategy, andskill — against five copies ofPluribus, according to aresearch paper published in thejournal Science.

In another experimentinvolving 13 pros, all of whomhave won more than USD 1million playing poker, Pluribusplayed five pros at a time for atotal of 10,000 hands and againemerged victorious.

“Pluribus achieved super-

human performance at multi-player poker, which is a recog-nised milestone in artificialintelligence and in game theo-ry that has been open fordecades,” said TuomasSandholm, a professor whodeveloped Pluribus with NoamBrown, a PhD candidate atCarnegie Mellon.

“Thus far, superhuman AImilestones in strategic reason-ing have been limited to two-party competition. The abilityto beat five other players insuch a complicated game opensup new opportunities to use AIto solve a wide variety of real-world problems,” Sandholmsaid.

“Playing a six-player gamerather than head-to-headrequires fundamental changesin how the AI develops its play-ing strategy,” said Brown, whois associated with Facebook AI.

“We’re elated with its per-formance and believe some ofPluribus’ playing strategiesmight even change the waypros play the game,” Brownsaid.

Pluribus’ algorithms creat-ed some surprising featuresinto its strategy.

For instance, most humanplayers avoid “donk betting” —that is, ending one round witha call but then starting the nextround with a bet.

It is seen as a weak movethat usually doesn’t makestrategic sense.

However, Pluribus placeddonk bets far more often thanthe professionals it defeated.

“Its major strength is itsability to use mixed strate-gies,” Elias said.

“That’s the same thing thathumans try to do. It’s a matterof execution for humans — todo this in a perfectly randomway and to do so consistently.Most people just can’t,” he said.

Sandholm and Brown ear-lier developed Libratus, whichtwo years ago decisively beatfour poker pros playing a com-bined 120,000 hands of heads-up no-limit Texas hold’em, atwo-player version of the game.

Games such as chess andGo have long served as mile-stones for AI research. In thosegames, all of the players knowthe status of the playing boardand all of the pieces, researcherssaid.

However, poker is a bigger

challenge because it is anincomplete information game;players can’t be certain whichcards are in play and opponentscan and will bluff, they said.

That makes it both atougher AI challenge and morerelevant to many real-worldproblems involving multipleparties and missing informa-tion.

All of the AIs that dis-played superhuman skills attwo-player games did so byapproximating what's called aNash equilibrium.

Named for the late Nobellaureate John Forbes Nash Jr, aNash equilibrium is a pair ofstrategies where neither playercan benefit from changingstrategy as long as the otherplayer's strategy remains thesame.

Although the AI’s strategyguarantees only a result noworse than a tie, the AIemerges victorious if its oppo-nent makes miscalculationsand can’t maintain the equilib-rium.

In a game with more thantwo players, playing a Nashequilibrium can be a losingstrategy.

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India lifted 271 million peo-ple out of poverty between

2006 and 2016, recording thefastest reductions in the mul-tidimensional poverty indexvalues during the period withstrong improvements in areassuch as “assets, cooking fuel,sanitation and nutrition,” areport by the United Nationssaid.

The 2019 globalMultidimensional PovertyIndex (MPI) from the UNDevelopment Programme(UNDP), the Oxford Povertyand Human DevelopmentInitiative (OPHI) was releasedThursday.

The report said that in the101 countries studied – 31 lowincome, 68 middle income and2 high income — 1.3 billion

people are “multidimensional-ly poor,” which means thatpoverty is defined not simplyby income, but by a number ofindicators, including poorhealth, poor quality of workand the threat of violence.

The report identifies 10countries, with a combinedpopulation of around 2 billionpeople, to illustrate the level ofpoverty reduction, and all ofthem have shown statisticallysignificant progress towardsachieving SustainableDevelopment Goal 1, namelyending poverty “in all its forms,everywhere.”

The 10 countries areBangladesh, Cambodia,Democratic Republic of Congo,Ethiopia, Haiti, India, Nigeria,Pakistan, Peru and Vietnam.

The report said that with-in these 10 countries, data

shows that 270 million peoplemoved out of multidimen-sional poverty from one surveyto the next.

“This progress was largelydriven by South Asia. In India,there were 271 million fewerpeople in poverty in 2016 thanin 2006, while in Bangladeshthe number dropped by 19 mil-lion between 2004 and 2014,”it said.

The report noted that ofthe 10 selected countries forwhich changes over time wereanalysed, India and Cambodiareduced their MPI values thefastest—and they did not leavethe poorest groups behind.

India’s MPI value reducedfrom 0.283 in 2005-06 to 0.123in 2015-16.

Noting the examples ofpro-poor reduction, where thepoorest regions improved the

fastest, the report said thatJharkhand in India reduced theincidence of multidimension-al poverty from 74.9 per cent in2005-06 to 46.5 per cent in2015-16. Mondol Kiri andRattanak Kiri in Cambodiareduced it from 71.0 per centto 55.9 per cent between 2010and 2014.

Ethiopia, India and Perusignificantly reduced depriva-tions in all 10 indicators, name-ly nutrition, sanitation, childmortality, drinking water, yearsof schooling, electricity, schoolattendance, housing, cookingfuel and assets.

In 2005-2006, the popula-tion in India living in multidi-mensional poverty stood atabout 640 million people (55.1per cent) and this reduced to369 million people (27.9 percent) living in poverty in 2015-

16. India saw significant reduc-tions in number of people whoare multidimensionally poorand deprived in each of the 10indicators over this time peri-od. India reduced deprivationin nutrition from 44.3 per centin 2005-06 to 21.2 per cent in2015-16, child mortalitydropped from 4.5 per cent to2.2 per cent, people deprived ofcooking fuel reduced from52.9 per cent to 26.2 per cent,deprivation in sanitation from50.4 per cent to 24.6 per cent,those deprived of drinkingwater reduced from 16.6 percent to 6.2 per cent.

Further more peoplegained access to electricity asdeprivation was reduced from29.1 per cent to 8.6 per cent,housing from 44.9 per cent to23.6 per cent and assets depri-vation from 37.6 per cent to 9.5

per cent. The trends in these 10countries also shine a light onwhere poverty reduction hasbeen uneven, despite the goodprogress overall, it said.

“In all 10 countries ruralareas are poorer than urbanareas. In Cambodia, Haiti,India and Peru poverty reduc-tion in rural areas outpacedthat in urban areas–demon-strating pro-poor develop-ment–and in Bangladesh andDemocratic Republic of theCongo poverty fell at the samespeed in rural and urban areas,”it added.

The report also showedthat children suffer povertymore intensely than adults andare more likely to be deprivedin all 10 of the MPI indicators,lacking essentials such as cleanwater, sanitation, adequatenutrition or primary education.

Child poverty fell marked-ly faster than adult poverty inBangladesh, Cambodia, Haiti,India and Peru. But childrenfell further behind in Ethiopia,and their progress—togetherwith that of adults—stalled inDemocratic Republic of theCongo and Pakistan.

Globally, of the 1.3 billionpeople who are multidimen-sionally poor, more than two-thirds of them—886 million—now live in middle-incomecountries. A further 440 mil-lion live in low-income coun-tries.

Even more staggering,worldwide, one in three chil-dren is multidimensionallypoor, compared to one in sixadults. That means that near-ly half of the people living inmultidimensional poverty—663 million— are children,

with the youngest childrenbearing the greatest burden.The vast majority of these chil-dren, around 85 per cent, livein South Asia and Sub-SaharanAfrica, split roughly equallybetween the two regions.

The report underscoredthat the traditional concept ofpoverty is outdated, demon-strating more clearly than everthat labelling countries — oreven households — as rich andpoor is an oversimplification.

“To fight poverty, oneneeds to know where poorpeople live. They are not even-ly spread across a country, noteven within a household,”UNDP Administrator AchimSteiner said.

The report also highlight-ed a positive trend that thosefurthest behind are movingup the fastest.

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Donald Trump expressedhis mistrust of cryptocur-

rency Thursday, saying it was“not money” and warning thatthose wishing to join the tradewould have to abide by bank-ing regulations.

“I am not a fan of Bitcoinand other Cryptocurrencies,which are not money, andwhose value is highly volatileand based on thin air,” Trumptweeted.

He added that cryptocur-rency, whose electronic naturemakes it nearly untraceable,could facilitate illegal activity.

Cryptocurrency has flour-ished since Bitcoin launched in2009. But when Facebookunveiled plans last month forits own virtual currency, Libra,the announcement rattledfinancial regulators the worldover.

With more than two billionFacebook users, the socialmedia giant’s cryptocurrency— which is slated for a 2020launch and already has multi-ple partners — could com-pletely disrupt the financialworld.

But Trump said that Librahas “little standing or depend-ability.” He also warnedFacebook and other companiesthat, should they launch theirown cryptocurrency, theywould have to abide by bothAmerican and internationalbanking regulations.

“We only have one real cur-rency in the USA, and it isstronger than ever,” he tweeted.

“It is called the UnitedStates Dollar!”

A high-level G7 workinggroup is expected to produce apreliminary report on asset-backed cryptocurrencies nextweek when the group’s financeministers meet in France.

“The more we, the inter-national regulators, investigatethis project, the more we haveserious questions and poten-tially reservations,” saidFrancois Villeroy de Galhaut,head of the French centralbank.

His American counterpart

at the Federal Reserve alsobroached the topic Wednesdayand Thursday when testifyingbefore Congress.

“I think we need to do avery careful, patient, thoroughassessment of what the risks

really are,” Jerome Powell saidThursday, adding that the sizeof Facebook’s social media net-work points to Libra’s “systemicimportance.”

Some American politicianshave called for a total freeze onFacebook’s Libra project.

Facebook has pledged todeliver a stable virtual curren-cy that lives on smartphonesand could bring over a billion“unbanked” people — adultswithout bank accounts or thosewho use services outside thebanking system such as paydayloans to make ends meet —into the financial system.

The ubiquity of smart-phones means digital walletsfor Libra could expand the useof banking, credit card servicesand e-commerce in developingnations.

'��P?>�� Tokyo (AP): A Japanese cryp-tocurrency exchange hasreported a hack causing theloss of 3.5 billion yen, or $32million, worth of virtualmoney.

Tokyo-based Remixpoint,which runs the BITPointexchange as well as travel,used car and energy business-es, apologized Friday, acknowl-edging the losses were con-firmed starting Thursday.

The losses, which includebitcoins as well as Ethereum,Ripple and other kinds ofcryptocurrencies, are underinvestigation.

Of the losses, about twothirds affect customers whilethe rest of the missing assetsbelonged to the company,according to a company state-ment.

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Growth in export-reliantSingapore suffered a sur-

prise sharp contraction in thesecond quarter, official datashowed Friday, sending a starkwarning that US-China tradetensions are hurting the glob-al economy.

The city-state’s grossdomestic product shrank anannualised 3.4 percent, sharplydown from 3.8 percent growthin the first three months of theyear and well off forecasts of aslight expansion.

On a year-on-year basis, itexpanded just 0.1 percent, thetrade ministry said, markingthe slowest rate since the glob-al the global financial crisis in2009 and also well short of esti-mates.

With its heavy dependenceon foreign trade, Singapore isoften seen as an indicator of theglobal economy’s health.

The dismal figures were thelatest sign trade tensionsbetween Washington andBeijing are having a majorimpact on export-relianteconomies across the world.

“The ongoing US-Chinatrade war... is negativelyimpacting Singapore’s keymanufacturing and export sec-tors,” said Stephen Innes ofVanguard Markets.

And Chua Hak Bin, aneconomist at Maybank KimEng Research in Singapore,

added: “Singapore is the canaryin the coal mine, being veryopen and sensitive to trade.”The data “points to the risk ofa deepening slowdown for therest of Asia,” he added.

The key manufacturingsector was hard hit, contracting3.8 percent year-on-year, com-pared with a 0.4 percent declinein the previous quarter.

The data added to con-cerns about a slowdown in theexport sector — non-oildomestic exports plunged inMay by the most sinceFebruary 2013, driven by heavyfalls in the electronics sector.

Some analysts are now bet-ting Singapore could slip intoa technical recession -- twostraight quarters of economiccontraction — in 2020.

There is also a greaterchance that the MonetaryAuthority of Singapore, thecentral bank, will ease mone-tary policy in a bid to supportthe economy, economists say.

For the past year, Chinaand the US have been raisingtariffs on each other’s exportsin an increasingly bitter tradewar that is weighing on theglobal economy and markets.

There are growing signs ofthe negative impact across Asia— factory activity in the regionhas slowed, while data to bereleased Monday is expected toshow China’s economy grew atits slowest rate in nearly threedecades in the second quarter.

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Police in New York had tobreak up fights between

supporters and opponents ofTaiwan’s President Tsai Ing-wenon Thursday during a visit tothe United States which willlikely infuriate Beijing.

Taiwanese media broadcastfootage of the clashes outsidethe Grand Hyatt, where Tsai isstaying during her two-dayUS trip.

Opponents of Tsai — manywaving Chinese flags — chant-ed slogans and fought with sup-porters, while one man wasseen being detained and hand-cuffed by police.

Tsai is spending two daysin New York ahead of a visit todiplomatic allies in theCaribbean.

Normally the head of astate passing throughAmerican soil would not sparkcontroversy but Taiwan haslong found itself in a precari-ous and unusual diplomatic sit-uation.

The democratic island hasruled itself for seven decadesbut most countries do not rec-ognize it — including theUnited States, which switcheddiplomatic recognition fromTaipei to Beijing in 1979.

Yet Washington remains itsmost powerful unofficial allyand biggest arms supplier.

China sees Taiwan as partof its own territory and hasvowed to one day seize it, byforce if necessary.

It bristles at any countriesthat might lend Taiwan diplo-matic support or legitimacy.

With the US currentlyengaged in a trade war withChina, relations between Taipeiand Washington have warmedconsiderably.

Unlike the last threeAmerican presidents, who werewary of angering Beijing,Donald Trump has rampedup relations with Taiwan.

Last week the StateDepartment approved $2.2 bil-lion arms sale to Taiwan,including battle tanks and anti-aircraft missiles, the first big-ticket military deal for theisland in years.

Tsai transited through theUS during a trip to the Pacificearlier this year, as well as lastyear's visit to Paraguay andBelize, both prompting officialChinese protests.

“Taiwan will not succumbto intimidation,” her office saidin a statement released as theUS visit kicked off, withoutspecifically mentioning China.

“All difficulties will onlystrengthen our determinationto go out to the internationalcommunity.” On Thursdayevening Tsai met with envoysfrom the 17 remaining coun-tries that still recognize Taiwan.

She will attend a businessforum on Friday and meetstudents on Saturday morningbefore heading to theCaribbean. Tsai will visit Haiti,St Vincent and the Grenadines,St Lucia, and St Kitts andNevis, which all recognizeTaiwan. China has poached fiveof Taipei’s dwindling number ofallies since Tsai became presi-dent in 2016.

Haiti has vowed to main-tain ties with Taipei despiteneighboring DominicanRepublic establishing relationswith China last year.

Taiwan pledged a $150million development loan toHaiti, while Beijing reportedlyoffered the DominicanRepublic investments and loansto the tune of $3 billion.

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Google contractors regular-ly listen to and review

some recordings of what peo-ple say to artificial-intelligencesystem Google Assistant, viatheir phone or through smartspeakers such as the GoogleHome.

The company acknowl-edged that humans can accessthose recordings after some ofits Dutch language audio snip-pets were leaked. Google prod-uct manager David Monseesacknowledged the leak in ablog post Thursday, and saidthe company is investigatingthe breach.

“We are conducting a fullreview of our safeguards in thisspace to prevent misconductlike this from happening again,”he wrote.

More than 1,000 record-ings were obtained by Belgianbroadcaster VRT NWS, whichnoted in a story that some con-tained sensitive personal con-

versations — as well as infor-mation that identified the per-son speaking. Google says nouser account information isassociated with the recordings,and reviewers are instructednot to transcribe backgroundconversations.

But VRT reporters couldhear spoken home addresses insome of the recordings, andwere able to track down thespeakers. Some of these con-versations were not directed atAssistant and happened eitheras background noise or as a

mistaken recording whenAssistant thought it was beingspoken to, but wasn’t.

Google says contractorslisten to recordings to betterunderstand language patternsand accents. Its user termsconfirm recordings may beused by the company, statingAssistant “records your voiceand audio on Google servicesto improve speech recogni-tion.” Monsees wrote thatGoogle works with contractorsaround the world to analyze therecordings.

“These language expertsreview and transcribe a smallset of queries to help us betterunderstand those languages,”he wrote.

Google’s terms don’t explic-itly say that people review therecordings, but do state thatdata could be analyzed as thecompany updates services orcreate new features.

The company acknowl-edged earlier this year that itsreviewers listen to anonymous

recordings in response to aBloomberg report revealingthat Amazon’s Alexa also usescontractors to listen to record-ings. Amazon confirmed thereport.

Google’s recording featurecan be turned off, but doing someans Assistant loses some ofits personalized touch. Peoplewho turn off the recording fea-ture lose the ability for theAssistant to recognize indi-vidual voices and learn yourvoice pattern.

Assistant recording is actu-ally turned off by default — butthe technology prompts usersto turn on recording and othertools in order to get personal-ized features.

Google Assistant is avail-able on more than 1 billiondevices, including smartphonesand smart speakers. It's madequite a dent in the smart speak-er market — still the primaryplace where people use voicetechnology — but still trailsbehind Amazon.

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Iran on Friday demanded thatthe British navy release an

Iranian oil tanker seized lastweek off Gibraltar, accusingLondon of playing a "dangerousgame" and threatening retribu-tion, while London announcedit was sending a destroyer to thePersian Gulf amid heightened

tension.The comments from Iran's

Foreign Ministry came the dayafter police in Gibraltar, a Britishoverseas territory on the south-ern tip of Spain, said they arrest-ed the captain and chief officerof the supertanker suspected ofbreaching European Unionsanctions by carrying a shipmentof Iranian crude oil to Syria.

Foreign Ministryspokesman Abbas Mousavi toldIranian state news agency IRNAthat "the legal pretexts for thecapture are not valid ... Therelease of the tanker is in allcountries' interest."

"This is a dangerous gameand has consequences," hewarned.

During Friday prayers,Kazem Sedighi, an adviser toIran's Supreme Leader AyatollahAli Khamenei, threatened retri-bution.

"Rest assured, Britons willsoon feel the slap of the power-ful hands of the IslamicRepublic," he said.

The British navy saidThursday it had stopped threeIranian paramilitary vessels fromdisrupting the passage of aBritish oil tanker through theStrait of Hormuz, a critical ship-ping lane at the mouth of thePersian Gulf.

Iran's Revolutionary Guarddenied any incident hadoccurred in the strait.

That brief but tense stand-

off is believed to have stemmedfrom the British seizure of theIranian tanker off Gibraltar onJuly 4.

On Friday, the BritishMinistry of Defence said it wasmoving up its timetable forrelieve the HMS Montrose, afrigate operating in the PersianGulf, with the larger HMSDuncan destroyer in the wake ofthe recent developments.

"This will ensure that theUK alongside international part-ners can continue to supportfreedom of navigation for vesselstransiting through this vitalshipping lane."

The Iranian tanker inter-cepted last week was carrying 2.1million barrels of light crude oil,

the head of Gibraltar's govern-ment said Friday.

A senior Spanish official hadpreviously said the interceptionwas carried out at the request ofthe United States, but Gibraltar'sChief Minister Fabian Picardotold parliament no other gov-ernment had asked the territo-ry to act. "These importantdecisions about breaches of ourlaws were certainly not decisionstaken at the political behest orinstruction of any other state orof any third party," he said.

He said the ship is suspect-ed of breaching European Unionsanctions on Syrian PresidentBashar Assad's government andthat any nation with a claim tothe vessel and its cargo can file

a claim in court.Iranian Foreign Minister

Mohammad Javad Zarif scoffedat the accusation Iran was vio-lating sanctions, which he said"are meant "to stop Europe frombuying Syria's oil, they are notabout another country selling oilto Syria." Zarif spoke in aninterview Thursday with thepro-Iran Lebanese satellite newschannel Al-Mayadeen.

"This is a very childish andridiculous excuse by the British,"he said. "They should officiallyannounce that we are servants ofAmerica and act on behalf ofAmerica. America has returnedtheir favour well by insultingtheir ambassador and theirprime minister."

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Waiting excitedly for theshow to begin in the cozy

and intimate indoor auditoriumof the Akshara, the somewhatyoung-looking audience spentmost of their time taking picturesof the beautiful set-up on thesmall wooden stage, under dul-cet lighting. A divan covered ina white sheet accompanied bytwo white bolsters sat in betweentwo tall white candles, whichheightened the intensity oncethe show began. Two decorativesilver bowls had been placed oneither sides of the divan, whichall three pairs of Dastangos (nar-rators) drank water from, regu-larly. An enthusiastic and respon-sive audience helped the story-tellers gain confidence with occa-sional laughs and applause. Whatseemed to be a mixed audience,in terms of age, enjoyed every bitof the dastaans or stories andended with them making plans ofthem wanting to attend theDastangoi Summer Festival at theAkshara.

For those of you who aren’tfamiliar with the word, Dastangoisimply means the art of story-telling. Derived from two Persianwords dastan and goi that meansimply “to tell a dastan.” A das-tan was an epic about adventure,magic and warfare, which wereusually recited or read aloud. Inthis tradition, the story of Hamzaseemed to stand out early on. ThePersian versions of the storynarrated the life and adventuresof Amir Hamza, supposedly anuncle of the Prophet Mohammed.Marked out by fairies, djinns andprophecies, Hamza travels todifferent lands and even as ayoung child shows great skill andcourage. Summoned by the chiefminister of the King of Persia dueto his proficiency, to aid the Kingin his troubles, encounteringmany journeys, beings, speciesand realms, Hamza remains vic-torious and unvanquished rightto the end.

Akbar was very fond of the

narrative and would recite ithimself. In fact, one of the firstartistic projects under him wasan illustrated version of theHamza story, which came to beknown as Hamzanama. It was amammoth task which consistedof over 1,200 folios, each at leasta yard and a half by a yard in size,making it a one of a kind project.Nothing of that size, ambition orscale was ever attempted again bythe Mughal Empire, with regardto the Hamza story. The next two

centuries saw various Persianversions of the Hamza story cir-culated in India, with an occa-sional mention of the Dastangos,who performed them. While theHamza story was performed andrecited in many other parts of theIslamic world, in places as faraway as Morocco and Indonesia,in most other places it was a partof a musical story-telling tradi-tion.

The Dastangoi Collectivewas founded by Shamsur

Rahman Faruqi, MahmoodFarooqui and Anusha Rizviaround 2005. Mir Baqar Ali,who passed away in 1928, is saidto be the last greatest Dastangoof Delhi. Farooqui tells us howhe revived the tradition duringa performance with his schoolfriend. “We now have around 50to 60 people in the country whoare properly trained in the art ofancient Urdu story-telling orDastangoi. We are very happy tosee it growing. People are doingit in Pakistan and just the otherday I got a call from someone inNagpur, who informed me thathe was doing it there,” says he.

Senior dastango, PoonamGirdhani tells us that she start-ed her life as a theatre actress butshe finds Dastangoi a very flex-ible format to work in, both as aperformer and in terms of thestorytelling. For instance, shesays, “I recently incorporated thestory of Buddha into a dastan.You can easily spin storiesaround contemporary politicsand happenings as well, whichmakes it an exciting form towork in.”

Farooqui says that theresponse from the audienceseems to be very supporting,warm as well as encouraging.“On the first day of the festival,we had a totally new and quiteyoung audience, who weren’twell-versed in Urdu at all, yetthey were receptive and support-ive. It’s so wonderful to seeyoungsters supporting and show-ing enthusiasm. We usually con-duct workshops where we areable to select a few people.However, Dastangoi needs yearsof practice and cannot be donein simply two months,” he adds.Farooqui further tells us that thetradition is far from dying andgives us an opportunity to exper-iment with the way we narratestories. “The Veda, Ramayana,Mahabharata were all meant tobe recited aloud and Dastangoiis also done on the same basis.”

It was 25 years ago when he first cameto Mumbai with dreams of becomingan actor. But because of his physique

and appearance, actor-director SaurabhShukla was offered roles which werefunny and comic. As he came from a the-atre background so he didn’t want to dojust that. “I have refused a lot of work inmy initial years. It makes sense if I do itnow. But it did not then. People think Iam choosy but back then when I did that,they probably would have thought thatI do not have brains.” Narrating aninstance, he says, “This incident proba-bly sums up my whole journey in theindustry. I was coming back from NewYork. I was at the airport, there were alot of Indians. Just being in virtue of filmsand seemingly star-struck, some of themcame up to me and said that they are abig fan of mine. You definitely respect thatand you have a constant smile on yourface. And I can recall a man saying ‘MrShukla, I am a big fan of yours’. I gentlythanked him. I moved ahead. But thisman came back to me and told me thathe wanted to make a correction. He said‘more than you, I am a big fan of yourchoices.’ And that’s about it,” he says.

And indeed Shukla is known for hisextra-ordinary film choices, be it KalluMama of Satya, Judge Tripathy of JollyLLB, Tapasvi Maharaj of PK or anantagonist in Ajay Devgn-starrer Raid.No matter if it’s a negative character ora positive one, the actor, who is all set forFamily of Thakurganj, knows how to slayit rather effortlessly.

Shukla tells us that he loves acting tothe core. He feels alive when he’s at it. Hesays, “When I practice my art, I love beingthe part of the whole process. I have awarm corner towards it. I don’t adoreanything more than acting, not writingand not even directing.” In a bid to putit in a more refined way, he explains, “Ilove cars. I drive them myself. But morethan the cars, what I love is the fact thatwhere the car is taking me. The destina-

tion matters. So instead of a swanky car, whichdoesn’t take me anywhere, I would rather pre-fer a simple one, which takes me to differentplaces.”

The actor shares that it was the storylinethat first fascinated him towards the film. “Ithas so many characters and that too, very wellastounded ones,” says he. Another thing thatgrabbed his attention were its screenplay anddialogues. The language that has been used,he says, is quite ornamental. “Dialogue-baazijisse bolte hain,” he says it as if he was puttingit forth as one of his dialogues of a film. Headds, “It has been a tradition in India since thebeginning. People still remember Raj Kumarsahab’s dailogue, ‘Sheeshon ke gharon meinrehene vaale log dusron ke gharon par patharnahi mara karte.’ Such dialogues stay with theaudience and become household phrases. Myprevious roles have been a lot different. Thelanguage has been simpler and realistic.Surely, it also has dialogue-baazi but in a veryhidden and subtle manner. So, that way, thefilm is an interesting combination of orna-mented language played in a realistic way.”

Shukla has backed films which didn’t nec-essarily have commercial scripts and they haveturned out magnificently. So what has beenhis process of choosing a script? He answersswiftly, “Every actor has a different criteria ofpicking it. First, the storyline has to bestrong. Second, the character. I examinewhether my character is interesting andimportant. Third, you need to know your co-actors. Will they be able to reach at a certainpoint? You need to be one of them and simul-taneously shine with them. It’s a choice andtrust me, it’s not an easy one.”

There would have been countless theo-ries on evolution and how a person trans-forms with time. But the actor believes thatevolution is simply a natural process and onecannot plan it. “It takes its own course. Weall move towards evolution and it is becauseof our surroundings and the choices that youmake. And in turn, it’s always those choicesthat make us and help us evolve.”

Talking about how original content hasbecome the most important thing for both

filmmakers as well as actors, and eventhe viewers, Shukla says that it wasnot the case previously. Sharinganother instance, he says, “In1993, when I came to Mumbai,I wrote for Satya, KamalHaasan, Sudhir Mishra andeven Rajat Kapoor. My writ-ing has always been appre-ciated but I never claimedmyself as a professionalwriter. Me and myfriends, TigmanshuDhulia, Victor (VijayKrishna Acharya)and Kannan Iyerused to discussstories togetherand then go to differ-ent producers with ourrespective stories. Weused to tell them that thisis our original story ideasand how can we work on it.The producers questionedthat why should they doexperiments with our storieswhich are so new and fresh?Please come up with some-thing that has been done ear-lier. They were afraid toinvest in something thatmight not land themdesired results. This was thereal issue that we were fac-ing. And then we came upwith a strategy. We went tothe producers with our orig-inal story ideas but tell themthat the story was aRomanian film, which no onehas seen.”

However, today, he says,the same producers talk aboutoriginality. “They tell us thatplease come to us with some-thing original and new, whichis a great transition. So whatwe saw and felt decades agohas come alive today,” he adds.

The web platform has beenallowing many to push bound-aries. Shukla agrees. “It’s a won-derful space. But one mustunderstand that a medium isnever good or bad. It’s thepeople who makeit that through thecontent. So it’s notnecessary that badwork cannot bedone on a digitalmedium too. It justdepends on the con-tent,” says Shukla as hesigns off with a hugesmile on his face.

(The film releaseson July 19.)

National award winning filmmakerSujoy Ghosh, after making his

mark with Kahaani and Badla, is step-ping into the world of web series withhis forthcoming show, Typewriter.

The process of writing stories for along format medium such as a webseries is quite tough, and Typewriterwas a learning process. “I literally hadto unlearn so much from my habit ofwriting the script of a film, which hasa duration of just three hours. I havealso written a short film, and this (webseries) is such a long format of story-telling. I had a hard time in the begin-ning. The good thing is that now I amdone with my first web series, so I canwrite and direct another one with theease I do a film. Creatively, I know thepath,” he added.

A self-taught writer, Sujoy said hewould have loved to take all the liber-ty that a web series normally offers —of being experimental, exploitative andindulgent as a creative writer but heavoided the temptation because he didnot want to be a ‘selfish’ one.

“That is why it was important forme to find the right balance and I haveto say that the Netflix team helped meto stay at it. I learnt the process in writ-ing,” said Sujoy, who, besides hisacclaimed feature films, has also wonapplauds for the short films, Ahalya andAnukul.

Sujoy does not keep any specificactor in mind while writing a script, andhe has his reasons for casting PurabKohli, Paulami Ghosh, Jisshu Senguptaand a group of children in the show.

“I live in the characters as I writethem, so I know their physical appear-ance, their essence, which I look for inthe actors I casts. If Jisshu does not looklike (his character) Amit, then as adirector it is my failure, because I haveto bring out the character through theactor’s personality,” he explained.

“Purab is very talented and so is

Palomi Ghosh. Her personality has arelatable factor, which worked for thestory,” said Sujoy.

However, the director conductedseveral rounds of auditions and work-shops to select the child actors for theshow.

“This is the first time I worked withchildren, so for me it was a new expe-rience. I never worked with a child artistbefore apart from Aarna Sharma.”

“In fact, I wanted to cast Aarna inKahaani 2 but that did not happen. Forthe other children on the show, I heldworkshops to decide the right group ofkids who would be interactive,” sharedthe filmmaker who has worked withiconic actors such as AmitabhBachchan, Soumitra Chatterjee,Saurabh Shukla, Parambrata Chatterjeeand Vidya Balan.

(The show premieres on Netflixfrom July 19.) —(!�"

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Actress Parineeti Chopra has said that shewould love to do an action with her cousin

sister Priyanka Chopra Jonas in future.“We would love to do an action film

together. We talk a lot about working togeth-er in the same film but the subject of the filmhas to be correct,” said Parineeti, when askedif she would like to do a film with Priyanka.

Parineeti was interacting with the mediain Mumbai, at the launch of the song, UP hilezilla hilela, from her forthcoming film,Jabariya Jodi. Her co-star Sidharth Malhotraand film’s director Prashant Singh were alsopresent.

In her new film, Parineeti does a desiavatar. When the media pointed out that hercousin Priyanka was known as the originalDesi Girl, she couldn’t agree more. “I think inthis industry and in this world, there could beonly one Desi Girl. I will not try to competewith her (Priyanka Chopra) but Sidharth andI are really desi in this film. I think there is oneand only desi girl and nobody can take herplace,” she said.

Parineeti Chopra and Sidharth Malhotraearlier worked together inHasee Toh Phasee and thebig-city audience lovedtheir chemistry in thatfilm.

Jabariya Jodi is setagainst an entirely differ-ent backdrop than theurban landscape ofHasee Toh Phasee andParineeti admitted shewas apprehensive if theaudience would accepttheir new film.

“Honestly, beforethe trailer of this filmwas launched, I wasbit worried. It’stotally a new worldand we didn’t knowif Hasee Toh Phaseelovers wouldaccept us or not.However, we areactually excitedand motivatedafter theresponse to thetrailer, becausethe kind offeedback we aregetting is reallypositive. So, nowour fingers, legs andarms are crossed. Ihope that on August 2,there will be the samemadness in the theatres.”

The plot of JabariyaJodi revolves around AbhaySingh (Sidharth Malhotra),who is famous for getsforced weddings done.He is a badass until he meets and falls in lovewith Babli Yadav (Parineeti Chopra), who haspolitical ambitions.

Apart from Sidharth and Parineeti, the filmalso features Aparshakti Khurana, SanjayMishra, Neeraj Sood, Gopal Dutt, Javed Jaffrey,and Chandan Roy Sanyal in pivotal roles.

(The film will release on August 2) —(!�"

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The one subject that filmmaker RakeyshOmprakash Mehra likes the most to work uponis ‘people’ as they become easier to relate to in

everyday life. And in the process, encourage otherswith a greater sense of purpose and meaning. Andit’s the same drive that had led him to create filmslike Rang De Basanti, Delhi-6, Bhaag Milkha Bhaagand many more. Layers keep unravelling with everyvisit to his films, be it after long intervals as their sub-jects stay ever-relevant. But as Rang De Basanti marksits 12th anniversary, he feels, “Rather than a delight,it is very disheartening to see the film being relevantto the times and the audience even today. However,only a few parts of it and not in totality.”

But why? He says, “When you start thinking interms of people and their context, it’s a cycle, whichhas been going on since forever. The world has beendivided and ruled by religion since the beginning.There has been nothing new. So it’s a cycle, it keepscoming back in different ways.”

Among other things in history, the film takes oneback to the 2002 MIG-21 crash when an Indian AirForce Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21bis had crashed intoan office building in Jalandhar, Punjab, killing eightand injuring 17 people on the ground. Since 1970 to2018, around 170 Indian pilots have been killed inMIG-21 crashes. “The film talks about corruption andeven today, it prevails widely. Back then, during thetime of George Fernandes, the then defence minis-ter, there was a BJP government for 18 months whenwe made the film. That’s what struck me. There wasa �2,000 crore corruption scandal in the defence. TheMIGs were going down. Pilots were dying. Iresearched. They sat on the MIG-21 wearing a G-suit,there were front-face photographs in all the news-papers that they went for a joyride. They had declaredthe plane safe but they are crashing even today. Soit’s a cycle. The first scene where they come with thesaffron flags — I feel it is present even today. Theyare very much there. Hence, I don’t want it to be rel-evant. It’s sad. Ab voh cheez huye 12 saal hogye hain.Aage badho aur khatam karo (It’s been 12 years sinceit first took place. They should move on and finishthe case).”

There is no price for a human life in this coun-try, he feels. “Humare desh mei insaan ki keemat kyahai? Kuch bhi nahi. The dignity of labour is a high-ly refined concept. Life is very cheap. Millionscan keep dying and it would be in the nameof service. ‘Somebody has to risk it. It’s theirjob,’ they say. We think creating wealth enti-tles us. If I become Mukesh Ambanitomorrow, it does not entitle me. I creat-ed wealth from people’s resources, whichhas to go back. You are not entitled to keepit, it’s not yours to keep. You are not therichest man in the world. You have usedresources beautifully because you had anamazing mind to use it,” says he.

The two characters — LakshmanPandit (played by Atul Kulkarni) andAslam (played by Kunal Kapoor), hepoints out, could be found in the coun-try even today. “History is witness thatHindus and Muslims have been encour-aged to hate each other and wanted eachother to be wiped out. But in the film, aHindu and a Muslim had come together.And this is what I have made. I felt verystrongly and, not to forget,this was 12 years ago.”

So what droveyou to make the filmat that time? Hesays that all that heshowcased in thefilm was inspiredby real-life experi-ences and stories.The reason — itconnects. “I knew aWahida Rahman,from real life, whoplays the mother of aflight lieutenant AjayRathore (played by RMadhavan). I knew afriend of mine who losthis life in Sri Lanka fly-ing in helicopter. Whenexperienced thingscome to picture, yourelate to life,” adds he.

Films should be cre-ated keeping “perpetu-ity” in mind, or sobelieves the director. Sayshe, “The moment you createcontent keeping Friday and num-bers in mind, you are dead, atleast I am (laughs). For me, thework should be perpetual.Looking at the numbers islike living in a cocoon.Just by attaining num-bers at the box officedoes not mean thatyou are growing at all.It is the overall evolu-tion in the larger picture. So I come from that space

where growing is the need. The content should belike my favourite book which I will stare, see it againand discover something new everytime I go back toit. When I read To Kill a Mokingbird or Devdas orany other book, I feel kuch to naya ho raha hai yaar.People would have watched Rang De.., when itreleased, in a different way than they would watchit today.”

So, for him, it’s about going to the core of a storyand finding out why he wants to tell the story andwhy should it be told. The idea just has to be newand original everytime, without ignoring the failures.He says, “Just like a human being, content and sto-ries are unique but subjective to interpretations. Evenmy story is open to how you interpret it. Same thingshappen to people but everyone writes it in a differ-ent way. There is no one formula that I own. I havenot invented the Ford Mustang in metallic red thathas suddenly got the fancy of the world. Now we canmake one million more cars and replicate the suc-cess. But a second film cannot be replicated. The onlything we can replicate is platforms — the point of pur-chase. So we can have more and more screens (notmobile screens but theatres) but not the same con-tent.”

Talking about the idea of platforms and how thereis a need to have more of them and even find alter-natives to those which are out of reach, he reflectsupon how if someone has a “brilliant thought” andwants to make a film, s/he will not get a start, “if s/heis not in Mumbai, struggling. And why should she getit? This is the idea.” He says that it indirectly does affectthe storytelling. “I have asked this from the Delhi gov-ernment that why can’t we create filmmaking facili-ties out of Delhi itself? If someone wants to create afilm, s/he would survive in Mumbai for approximate-ly six months with his/her savings and budget as thecity is very expensive. Even more than Tokyo. So howwill one sustain? It might take six years for them tocome around and express themselves with their firstfeature film, documentary or anything. Unless webuild an alternative, the revolution won’t be massive.It is easier to sustain here, in Delhi or even the NCR.Or maybe even Rajasthan. Also they don’t need to readthe tabloids. They do not present the idea of cinema.Conversations and platforms are very important. More

and more representation not in terms of just meet-ing the content but more in consuming it as their

voice is so important,” he says and goes on toquestion, “But when the content does not thereach the audience, how will they consume it?It’s a loss for both the viewers and the creators.Currently, there are only 8,000 screens in thecountry and they are only reducing. The min-imum need right now is 30,000 screens. Ina way, we need to launch 22,000 screens bytomorrow morning. Then the content willgo on at least some of the screens. And thepeople will watch it. It would be the chanceto grow,” says he.

The Screening Room, an endeavourby PVR, at Ambience Mall, VasantKunj, offers a platform for those cine-ma lovers who want to engage, co-cre-ate films, socialise and collaborate with

like-minded people. “It’s a screen for neti-zens to look beyond the mobile screensand create more space for filmmakers to

evolve. This will help creative minds andeven independent filmmakers

to prosper and connect,”says Mehra.

Talking about cre-ativity and business,the two main thingsin cinema, and howbalancing both couldbe strenuous, he says,“It’s not arduous orlimiting, but veryempowering. Thestarting point for me isto tell a story, creative-ly express myself andtry to say somethingwith it. It is limited tomy talent and feeling.And then once my feel-ing is out through thefilm, I make money. It isempowering that way. ButI also at the same timegiving myself a chance orkeep a probability for fail-ure. We are people whowrite and direct films, getactors and singers to actand sing in it and then

people consume it. So there area lot of emotions getting trans-ferred to a lot of people collective-ly. And it is so much fun as well.It is like playing Holi, which youcan’t play alone. Apne hi rang

lagaoge kya?”He ends with a laugh as he

walks towards creating anoth-er film, which he hopes willbe another phenomenon.

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Did you know that the Nile has a remark-able biodiversity and cannot be filmed eas-

ily because it is full of hippos, elephants andcrocodiles at any given time? Or that theMississippi changes character by the bend orthat Amazon as a river is nearly twice as bigof the entirety of India? These unknown factsare being showcased for the first time in Earth’sGreatest Rivers, which has not only document-ed a scarce water resource but looked intricate-ly into what sustains them and what we needto do to not lose them.

�What prompted you to come up with a con-cept?

Rivers are the arteries of life on earth. I havecombined natural history, geography, geologyand people to present a holistic view of riversthat reveal them as complete entities. The riversare much more than just standing on a bankand looking across a channel of water to theother side. The most exciting thing we did wasto look at them from a height. They appear likea tree-network, the main channel breaks up intobranches forming a network, which shows howbig and far reaching a river is. We also want-ed to take the audience on the ultimate rivercruise that one could dream of.

�How different was filming across the threewaterways? What were the challenges?

The Nile was tricky because it is the world’slongest river and flows through various coun-tries. It is quite challenging to film on a riverwhere there are hippos, elephants and croco-diles. Mississippi was tough because thereeverything, from filming coyotes in minus tem-peratures, in the rocky mountains with mos-quitoes chewing the crew alive, acted as a chal-lenge. Some parts of the Mississippi are verycontrolled and industrial, so it was hard to findgood sequences. But we were proud to get ateam onto the giant river barges, which basi-cally joined together to make it almost explod-ing. We travelled down almost hundreds ofmiles of the Mississippi in seconds and this willbe an interesting watch for the Indian audience.Now looking at Amazon, I thought the surfacearea of India is about 3.287 million sq km andthe river is nearly twice as big of its entirety.The challenge here was to find the right loca-tion as its size and scale is mind-blowing.

�Tell us something interesting about thewildlife habitats surrounding these rivers.

In the Nile, the most interesting thing wasthe ruin hunting lodge of Idi Amin. For all kindof trail camera in the ruins of the huntinglounge, it was like an absolute conversion of theJungle Book. In the upper water of the Niles,there are big beds of papyrus trees. Papyrus isthe word ‘paper’ and what the ancient Egyptiansused to write on. What we didn’t know aboutthem is that the Papyrus bed breaks up intofloating islands. When the sun sequences in theNile, it is like a ballet of dancing islands ofPapyrus trees — a beautiful sight. It is amaz-ing to go to a place which is so transformed.The Amazon has different colours and chem-icals, which is another interesting thing that wefound. The water is so distinct that it gives anenriching experience altogether. Some majortheories about Mississippi are that it reachedas far it should and it was a delight to watchbecause it surfs you from the cold icy Northto almost the tropical South. Spring in this river

arrives with the arrival of thousands of giantwhite pelicans, an incredible symbol of spring.A river so seasonal in the temperate world.

�All these rivers are known to be quite tor-rential as waterways. Were there any specialpreparations that you made for filming?

We had one scene when the Blue Nile wasflooded which gave us a really exciting footage.When it floods, you need to choose your tim-ing of filming carefully and also be cautiousabout your safety as there is a lot of water. WithAmazon, we got lucky because we got someamazing footage from its parts. We got aremarkable footage in the upper reaches of theAmazon when the whole forest gets flooded.I am happy we timed it well as such floods hap-pens over months in Amazon. If there is a slowrise of water, it’s hard to prepare because it isdifficult to predict. We used drones to fixedpositions on GPS and that’s how we showedthe rise of the Amazon over months and it isthe first time you’d see a massive transforma-tion of a landscape by a giant river in flood.

�Any memorable incident or anecdote youremember from the shoots?

I’ve been interested in tropical fish sincechildhood. I kept one in an aquarium. Becauseof my interest in it, it got me absorbed in riversand its life all around the world. I was about12 when my brother and I had an interest forfishes and it was absolutely amazing when wewere in the Amazon to find some pools wherethe water is as clear as an aquarium. It was sucha dream come true. One of the fun things wetried were making little remote-control boatswith cameras on and they managed to get upclose and personal with some hippos in theNile. Another funny incident that happenedwas when we found a dam where water wasgushing out and it was making the fish quiteconfused and the pelicans basically had amassive fight to catch them. It was a treat tothe eyes to see the contrasting characteristicsof the pelicans at the Mississippi.

�Rivers around the world are drying up. Insuch a context, what should we as common-ers do to ensure their conservation?

The main thing we all need to do is cher-ish fresh water and value it. It is an amazingcommodity. Use it carefully. All we need todo is to really try and minimise pollution -chemical pollution and plastic pollutionbecause fresh water is fine as. The rivers seemto be so giant, such a huge entity but we needto also realise how fragile they are. There arethings we need to take care of and respect andI think really value and think of the freshwater you use.

�The show premieres in India this month.What would your message to the audience?

Having major theories, I really think thatrivers really are the life blood of our planet.They carry the ultimate commodity, thatmakes life that we all depend on which is freshwater and we need to ensure they flow. Weneed to ensure that they have clean water andwe need to prep them so that they can con-tinue to be nice to the lands. Rivers are a truepart of our haves and they are vital elementsof our future, we need them.

(The show premieres on July 29 at 9 pmon Sony BBC Earth.)

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Defending championNovak Djokovic

reached his s ixthWimbledon final Fridaywhere he will face RogerFederer at the All EnglandClub. Federer edged outNadal 7-6, 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 intennis’ greatest rivalrymatch where the twomet for the 40th timefor a place in the 2019Wimbledon final.

World numberone and four-t i m eWimbledonw i n n e rD j o k o v i cbooked his25th GrandSlam finalappearancewith anervy 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2triumph overSpain's 23rdseed RobertoB a u t i s t aAgut.

"This hasbeen a remark-able tournamentfor me and to bein another final isa dream cometrue," said the topseed.

"I had to dig deep,Roberto was playing hisfirst semi-final at a GrandSlam and he was not reallyoverwhelmed.

"It was a really close

opening four to five games ofthe third set that could havegone either way — thankful-ly it went mine."

The 32-year-old will gointo Sunday's final seeking a16th major title with a careeradvantage over both his greatrivals.

He leads Federer 25-22."I will watch Federer and

Nadal. I am a fan of thatmatch up — it's one of themost epic rivalries of all

time."Watche d

by a RoyalB o xc r a m m e dwith sportsand movieA- l i s t e r s— DavidBeckham,R o d

Laver, GaryPlayer, JudeL a w ,D a m i a n

L e w i s—

Djokovic swept through thefirst set with breaks in thesecond and eighth games.

It seemed certain thatDjokovic was going to spenda lot less time on court in thissemi-final compared to 12months ago when he neededfive sets and five hours and 15minutes to beat Nadal.

However, Bautista Agut,who had already defeated theSerb twice this year, eventu-ally settled and broke for 2-1 in the second set.

Djokovic fought off twobreak points, via a 23-shotrally, in the fifth game.

But the 31-year-oldBautista Agut held his nerveto eventually level the semi-final at 6-4 off a fortuitous netcord.

Djokovic, increasinglyirritated by a restless crowd,broke for 4-2 in the third setand held for 5-2 off the backof a lung-busting 45-shotrally.

The set was secured, iron-ically off another

net cord which fellthis time in the

Serb's favour.Bautista Agut,

who had planned tobe in Ibiza this week

for his stag party, foughtoff break points in the open-ing game of the fourth set.

But Djokovic wasrelentless and tightened hisgrip, breaking twice for a 4-1 lead, and eventually claimedvictory on a fifth matchpoint.

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Retired South Africa greatA B de Villiers on Fridaybroke his silence on the

controversy surrounding hisinternational comeback thatnever happened, saying he didnot demand an 11th hourreturn before the World Cup.

In a detailed statement, deVilliers gave his side of thestory after he was criticised forpicking and choosing interna-tional assingnents afterannouncing his retirement lastyear.

“I made absolutely nodemands at all. I certainly didnot try to force my way into theWorld Cup squad on the eve ofthe tournament, and did notexpect to be included. Therewas no burning issue from myside, and no sense of injustice,”said one of the modern greatswho played 114 Tests and 228ODIs. In the middle of SouthAfrica’s World Cup campaign,a media report had claimedthat the 35-year-old hadoffered to come out out ofretirement a day before thesquad for the event was to bepicked but the team manage-ment rejected it.

South Africa crashed outof the tournament with threewins in nine games.

De Villiers said he was pri-vately asked on the day of hisretirement if he was open toplay the World Cup and he didnot offer. “During the weeksand months that followed (his

retirement), there was no for-mal contact between CricketSouth Africa or the Proteas andme. I didn’t call them, and theydidn’t call me. I had made mydecision and the Proteasmoved on, enjoying successunder the expert guidance ofcoach Ottis Gibson and theoutstanding captaincy of Faf duPlessis.”

During his chat with cap-tain and friend du Plessis, deVilliers said he made it clearthat he was available only ifrequired.

“Faf and I have beenfriends since we were at schooltogether and, two days beforethe World Cup squad wasannounced, I contacted himfor a chat. I had been in decentform during the IndianPremier League and casuallyrepeated what I had said whenasked a year earlier, that I wasavailable if required... But onlyif required.”

It hurt de Villiers that hisprivate conversation with theskipper was leaked in themedia following the team’s

loss to India. “Then, out of theblue, on the evening after theProteas lost to India, sufferinga third successive World Cupdefeat, elements of our privateconversation were disclosedto the media, and distorted tocast me in the worst possiblelight.

“The story was not leakedby me, or anybody associatedwith me, or by Faf. Maybesomeone wanted to deflectcriticism. I don't know. As aresult, I was unfairly describedas arrogant, selfish and indeci-sive but, with all humility, myconscience is clear.”

Notwithstanding the con-troversy over his comeback, deVilliers said his relationshipwith the national team playersremains strong as ever.

"Now, at this stage of mylife, I would like to continuespending time with my fami-ly and to play in selected T20tournaments in SA and aroundthe world.

"I have been massivelyproud to have played for, andindeed captain, my country onthe cricket field. My relation-ships with the Protea playersremain as strong as ever, andI will always be available tosupport and assist the nextgeneration," he added.

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Barcelona announced the signing ofAntoine Griezmann on Friday after the

Spanish champions paid La Liga rivalsAtletico Madrid the 120 million euro ($135million) release clause required to sign theWorld Cup winner.

"The player will sign a contract withhis new club for the next five seasons,through to 30 June 2024, with a buyoutclause of 800 million euros," Barca said ina statement.

Friday's announcement brings to anend a dispute between the two clubs andGriezmann, who had long aimed to moveto the Catalan giants.

The 28-year-old failed to show up forhis side's pre-season gathering on Sundayafter he had announced in May he wouldbe leaving the Wanda Metropolitano,even though he could not reveal his des-tination until his release clause droppedfrom 200 million euros to 120 millioneuros at the start of the month.

Last week Atletico accused Barcelonaand Griezmann of a "lack of respect" afterthe Barca president Josep Maria Bartomeurevealed the two clubs had held talks aboutthe former Real Sociedad forward.

Atletico also claimed that Griezmannhad told the club that he had struck a dealwith Barcelona in March, just days beforethe second leg of their Champions Leaguelast-16 tie with Juventus, which saw themdumped out by a Cristiano Ronaldo hat-trick after winning the first leg 2-0 inMadrid.

Griezmann joined Atletico in 2014and has scored 133 goals in 257 appear-ances, lifting the Europa League in 2018.

He won the Golden Boot at Euro 2016when France were beaten in the final onhome soil by Portugal before helping toguide his team to World Cup triumph inRussia last year.

The sale of Griezmann comes afterAtletico stumped up a whopping 126 mil-lion euros to sign rising star Joao Felixfrom Benfica last week, making the 19-year-old one of the five most expensiveplayers in history. The fee was a recordpaid by the capital club and the highest

ever received by a Portuguese outfit, andthe inevitable sale of Griezmann helpsfinance such a huge transfer for a youngplayer.

Felix burst onto the scene last season,scoring 20 times and making 11 assists inall competitions for Benfica as they won

the Primeira Liga and reached the quar-ter-finals of the Europa League.

On Friday Atletico also unveiledFelix's former Benfica teammate IvanSaponjic, the 20-year-old arriving aftersigning a three-year deal with the Spanishclub.

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Former Australia captainSteve Waugh believesthat his country has the

best phasing out policy for thebiggest names unlike the sub-continent where it becomesdifficult to move on onceplayers attain legendary status.

Waugh was asked thequestion in context of thedebate surroundingMahendra Singh Dhoni'sfuture in international crick-et after India's semi-final exitfrom the World Cup.

"It's interesting. Australiadefinitely do that. It doesn'tmatter who you are becauseyou have got to move on,"

Waugh said when asked aboutCricket Australia's retirementpolicy and his own exit frominternational scene in early2004.

But Waugh, one ofAustralia's most successfulskippers, feels that it wont becorrect to equate Australia'ssituation with India.

"May be in the sub-conti-nent you get a bit more leewaywith 1.4 billion people follow-ing you. People no longerremain people. They becomelegends, Gods. It's very hard tomove on," he said.

"It becomes increasinglychallenging when people getto a certain age. MahendraSingh Dhoni you are referring

to is still a great player," saidWaugh.

The World Cup winningformer captain is, however,happy with Australia's overallperformance consideringwhere they were 12 monthsback.

"I think it's a fair commentthat Australia have done wellin the World Cup compared towhere they were 12 monthsago," he said on his country'sdefeat against England atEdgbaston on Thursday.

"Once they got to thesemi-finals, there were highexpectations. They might bedisappointed this morningbut overall I think AaronFinch did great job as captain

as well as a player," Waugh,who is a brand ambassador ofICC's community cricket tour-nament called Criiio.

Talking about the initia-tive, he said, "I think it's a greatinitiative and it is what sportis all about. It's about sports atgrassroot level and peopleenjoying it. Learning aboutsportsman spirit."

Asked to whom he wouldput his money in Sunday'sfinal between England andNew Zealand at the Lord's, hereplied: "I don't put money onsport. I expect a great final asNew Zealand has been play-ing well. They have nowreached two finals. So I expecta good match."

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It was called a game-changing moment of

brilliance but NewZealand batsman MartinGuptill says his direct hitthat ran out M S Dhoniin the World Cup semi-final against India wasmore a case of luck doingits bit for him.

With that run out inthe 49th over, India'shopes ended in the tensesemifinal at Old Traffordon Wednesday. The for-

mer champions wentdown by 18 runs againstthe last edition's finalists.

"I did not think theball was actually comingto me, I tried to getthere as soon as I could.Once I got hold of theball, I thought it wasactually quite straight.Lucky enough to get adirect hit from out there,lucky for us he was out ofhis ground," Guptill saidin a short videouploaded by the ICC onsocial media.

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Shreyas Iyer made a match-defining 77 before the

bowlers, led by left-arm pacerKhaleel Ahmed, guided IndiaA to a 65-run win over WestIndies A in the low-scoring firstunofficial ODI here.

India A were in a spot ofbother at 22 for 3 after optingto bat on Thursday before Iyerand Hanuma Vihari stitched 95runs for the fourth wicket to laythe foundation for the team’s190-run total.

At a time when the spot-light is on the middle-orderproblems of the senior teamfollowing India’s semifinaldefeat to New Zealand in theWorld Cup, Iyer made a casefor himself with a timely knockthat came off 107 balls and wasstudded with eight fours andone six.

Iyer had the challengingjob to repair the innings afteropeners Rituraj Gaekwad,Shubman Gill and skipperManish Pandey departed insidethe first eight overs.

Iyer, in the company ofVihari, who made a patient 34off 63 balls, resurrected theIndian innings but once theduo departed, it all just fellapart for the visitors.

After Iyer was run out byRovman Powell in the 36thover, West Indies A skipperRoston Chase (4/19) ranthrough India’s lower-orderwith his off-spin to bowl outthe opposition in 48.5 overs.

Pacer Akeen Jordan (3/43)too shone with the new ball for

the Caribbeans. Defending the total,

Khaleel (3/16 off 8 overs) pro-duced a fiery opening spell andwas ably supported by the spintrio of Axar Patel (2/16), RahulChahar (2/32) and WashingtonSundar (2/37) as India A bun-dled out West India A for 125in 35.5 overs.

Jonathan Carter and Powellcontributed 41 runs each,among only the three WestIndies A batsmen who couldreach double-digit scores.

The second unofficial ODIof the five-match series will beplayed at the Sir VivianRichards Stadium in NorthSound, Antigua on July 14.

*�� !G��-�� +�� APIA: Indian weightlifter AjaySingh Friday created a newCommonwealth record in theclean and jerk category enroute to a gold medal at theC o m m o n w e a l t hChampionships here on Friday.

The 22-year-old, who iscompeting in the 81kg catego-ry, also smashed the nationalrecord in the clean and jerkevent by lifting morethan double his body weight(190kg) to score vital pointsat the Olympic qualifyingevent.

The Asian Youth andJunior WeightliftingChampionships bronze medal-list had earlier pulled off a cleanlift of 148kgs in the snatchevent, taking his total to 338kg.

This is also Ajay’s person-al best and 18kgs more than his320kg (142kg+178kg) effort atthe Asian Championships heldin Ningbo, China in April.

The other Indian in the81kg category, Papul Changmaifinished behind Ajay to clinchthe siver medal.

Changmai, who hadbagged the gold medal in theSenior National WeightliftingChampionship in February,lifted a total of 313kgs(135kg+178kg).

P Anuradha lifted 221kg(100kg+121kg) to grab the firstplace in the men’s 87kg catego-ry, while Commonwealth goldmedallist RV Rahul settled forthe second spot by lifting 325kg(145 kg+180kg) in the 89kgevent.

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The New Zealand head coach GaryStead gives his team a 50/50chance at the Sunday Final when

the Black Caps take on resurgent hostsEngland at The Lord's Cricket Ground.

"We are giving ourselves a 50/50chance of winning and we have to be justa little bit better than England are onSunday," he said.

This will be the second successiveWorld Cup Final for the New Zealandteam after 2015 which they lost toeventual champions Australia.

New Zealand, tagged as the eternalunderdogs by the media and the Beringcommunity had on 2015 sagged underthe big moment pressure but this timeround, Stead says his team is betterequipped. Sounds true when one wouldsee the way they handled it against theintense semi-final against India.

"It's pressure on both teams, it is howyou handle that and what's made of it.The exciting thing is neither team haswon a World Cup ... you are going tohave a different winner than last time ...but India and England were the two whowere touted as winners then maybe thereis more pressure on them, " he said.

Gary Stead was earlier a ground staffat Lord's where he will now guide histeam to pick up the king's pie on Sundaybut he cherishes his run back then whenhe cleaned dressing room windows orwas on scoreboard box duty as partof his job.

It is as. If an occasion for NewZealand as it will be for Englandwhen the two sides will fight outthe final battle at the Mecca ofcricket this Sunday.

The game to be telecastfree to air in both coun-tries where rugbyscores over all else,is being touted asthe biggestboost to thegame. NewZ e a l a n dbeing sev-eral timezones awayfrom the realaction, will betuning into theSunday Final at 9.30 pm

which means an entire night out. "Manypeople can stay up late and Monday willbe a public holiday back home becausemost of New Zealand will be up watch-

ing the game," he said.But for now he is focused on the

last of the three key goals that hadbeen set for the team to navigatethis biggest tournament of cricket.

"There is a fight and steelinessin the way we have played. We

don't have to play the perfectgame but what we do

have to do is to be ableto adapt to the condi-

tions in front of ussometimes work-

ing out a 240 is agood score," hesaid.

S t e a dinvested a lot ofconfidence in

the Kiwi middleorder "especially

with the likes of Kane(Williamson) and

Ross (Taylor)", he said."We have seven guys who were part

of that squad so we will certainly lean ontheir experiences."

But at the end of the day, if we stripeverything back it is a game of cricket....there will be a winner at the end of it.There will be loser at the end of it youwill have one team that will be happy andone team that will be disappointed so weare trying to keep things as real as wecan" Stead said.

For Stead, this World Cup wasnever about 300 plus scores somethingwhich he had said at the beginning of thetournament. And this came through inthe semifinal against India too.

Gary is mighty pleased about theway the semi final panned out againstIndia. "A lot of characteristics we talkedabout within our team came through,"he said.

"When we started the game, wethought it was a game of 300 but wequickly worked out that maybe 250 wewould be happy to get to ... the openingbowling spell of Matt Henry and Trent

Boult was absolutely superb. The Indianbowlers bowled to us upfront as well butwe took the edges and got some edgesthere which put us on the front foot butI guess it was a little bit of a game of attri-tion as well so never thought we wouldblast them outright the way through but240 was good knowing the way our guysstruggled with the bat," Stead said.

He was all praise for the partnershipof Jadeja and Dhoni and said it "was out-standing and it was also a very goodexample of our guys withstood thepressure," he said.

New Zealand have been up anddown in the tournament but Stead ishappy that as a team they worked onthree key goals. "We have achieved twoof them now we have just one to go," hesaid.

In an all out defence of underper-forming star Michael Guptill who hasbeen having a horrible tournament so farwith the bat, Gary said: "There are nopromises in cricket but I am still confi-dent that the man has big match expe-rience under his belt, he has big hundredsin New Zealand and he has done it inEngland in the past as well. Hopefully hecan show what's on offer on Sunday," headded.

Stead is well aware of the hostility ofthe English bowlers when the two teamsmeet in the Final. "I don't see anythingfriendly in the middle when bowlers arecoming at you at 150 km per hour speed.Both teams will really play the game real-ly hard in the middle," he said.

In the semi final against India thewicket really suited Mitchell Santner andthen those guys who could come into thewicket and bowl quite fast ... there wasenough variation. "The spinners whoattack the stumps are a little bit moredangerous. Mitchell's spell of 2 for 6 or7 was unbelievable and world classbowling. But it still shows when Jadejacame hard at them you need to be brave."

Talking of Santner withstanding allthe pressure, Stead said: "He is a specialbowler for us. He has really good con-trol of line and length and his ability inT20 cricket helps him in the longer gameas well," Stead said.

For Stead it has been particularly sat-isfying to have won a lot of tight gameslike the ones against Bangladesh, WestIndies and India. "It's been a number thatcould have gone either way," he said.

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CricketCradle

Ruthless and relentlesswith both bat and ball,

England should be full ofconfidence after theirsemi-final victory overAustralia.

It was great to watchthem do what they dobest, they didn’t show anysigns of nerves and start-ed really well which helpsyou settle, both as anindividual and as a team.

They didn’t really giveAustralia a sniff and that’sso impressive — oursemi-final from the 2017ICC Women’s World Cupwas a nail-biter, but thisperformance was reallycomprehensive.

In tournament crick-et it’s about gainingmomentum and havingthat confidence going intothe most importantmatches.

They were obviouslygoing to be anxious butthey were outstandingand got into the gamefrom the start.

They perhaps would-n’t have wanted to chase ifEoin Morgan had won thetoss but the way Jason Royand Jonny Bairstow start-ed, taking time to assessthe conditions and thenstriking the ball superbly,it was excellent.

Setting a platformwas always going to be theway of denying theAussies a sniff in whatcould have been a trickychase.

It was a good toss tolose in the end, there wasa little bit of moisture inthe surface and ChrisWoakes and Jofra Archerbowled beautifullysuperbly to make themost of it.

The first ball went forfour but from ball twothey found the lengths,got consistent movementand were able to do lots ofdamage.

Eoin (Morgan)looked to have a reallygood game as captain, he

attacked a lot, kept com-ing at the Australians andthey were always fightingagainst the start.

England were relent-less, and it was really niceto see Adil Rashid getthree wickets as well.

He’s been a bitunlucky this tournamentbut for him to be firing isa real plus for England. Itdoes turn at Lord’s andwith the slope as well, hecould really importantfor that final.

England seem to bein a very different place tothe side that lost againstAustralia at Lord’s.

The confidence levelsseem really different, theyhad a sit down andworked things out andthey’ve managed to goback to doing what theydo best.

They’re committedto how they want to playtheir cricket, how theywant to be positive, smartand aggressive and we’re

seeing that pay off now.In a weird way those

losses might have helpthem re-focus a little bit,and get back to what’sbeen so successful forthem.

The way Englandhave been playing in theirlast three games, they’veeffectively had threeknockouts and they’veput in their best perfor-mances.

As a captain it’salways a nervy one whenyou head to the knock-outs. You don’t know howeveryone is going to go —you’re the one everyonelooks at to steer the ship,be very clear on the direc-tion of the team and it’s atricky job.

Morgan does thatvery well with the bat andin the field, he backs hisbowlers and wants themto pursue positiveoptions.

England have somany match-winners,from 1-11 they havesomeone who can winthem a game. And whenyou have that, it takes thepressure off everyone —if it’s not your day thenthe odds suggest thatsomeone else will come inand back you up.

England are in a real-ly good place, they’ve hadthree knockout gameswhich they’ve won andthey’ll take so much con-fidence going into thefinal.

They’ll probably befavourites but they’ll bebrimming with confi-dence, they’ll have thenerves of an occasionthey’ve never been inbefore.

But when they’replaying cricket like theydid against Australia, it’san exciting time to be aplayer and supporter.

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England head coach Trevor Bayliss has nointention of staying in the job, even if his

side go on to win the World Cup and theAshes. Australian Bayliss, 56, is set to stepdown at the end of his current deal inSeptember. “I have always been a believer thatfour or five years is long enough, whether youare doing well or not,” Bayliss told BBC radio.“It is time for a new voice for the boys, tohopefully take them to another level.”

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Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena and MariasErasmus of South Africa were on Friday

appointed as the on-field umpires for theWorld Cup final between hosts England andNew Zealand at the iconic Lord’s on Sunday.Australia’s Rod Tucker will be the thirdumpire while Pakistan’s Aleem Dar will be thefourth official, the ICC said in a statement. SriLanka’s Ranjan Madugalle will be the matchreferee for the summit clash. All the officialsappointed for the final were also in charge ofthe second semifinal between England andAustralia.

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Martin Crowe’s batting was grace personi-fied and had he been alive, he would

have been the first one to acknowledge thatKane Williamson probably is the greatestbatsman to have played for New Zealand,feels former wicketkeeper Ian Smith. FromBert Sutcliffe in the 50’s to Bevan Congdonand Glenn Turner through the 60’s and 70’sand Crowe in 80’s, unarguably New Zealand’sbest player of reverse swing, Williamson withhis stylish batting and able leadership has sur-passed them all, according to 62-year-oldSmith. “Kane is so highly ranked in the world,so it’s no surprise that he is seriously highlyranked in New Zealand too. Probably our bestplayer and when you combine leadership withit, I think we can safely say so,” Smith said. “Iwas a great friend of Martin Crowe. I thinkeven Martin would have acknowledged thatKane is pretty special, and it’s hard to denythat” said Smith, who was a part of NewZealand team that reached semi-final in 1992.

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It was called a game-changing moment ofbrilliance but New Zealand batsman Martin

Guptill says his direct hit that ran out M SDhoni in the World Cup semifinal againstIndia was more a case of luck doing its bit forhim. With that run out in the 49th over,India’s hopes ended in the tense semifinal atOld Trafford on Wednesday. The formerchampions went down by 18 runs against thelast edition’s finalists. “I did not think the ballwas actually coming to me, I tried to get thereas soon as I could. Once I got hold of the ball,I thought it was actually quite straight. Luckyenough to get a direct hit from out there,lucky for us he was out of his ground,” Guptillsaid in a short video uploaded by the ICC onsocial media.

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Aeuphoric England captain Eoin Morgansays he never imagined that his side

would be making its first World Cup final in27 years after the disappointing preliminarystage exit it endured in the 2015 edition.“Everybody out there on the field and even inthe changing room loved every ball that wasbowled. There was no lack of commitment,application and we had a bit of a day outwhich, it’s cool when it happens like that, par-ticularly when the bowlers bowl like that, it isawesome,” Morgan said. “I think as a team wehave learnt to enjoy ourselves, particularlydays like this, even if they don’t go well. If youhad offered us the position to play in a finalthe day after we were knocked out of the 2015World Cup, I would have laughed at you,” hequipped.

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Cricket World Cup chiefs on Friday warnedfans wishing to attend the final at Lord’s

between England and New Zealand againstpaying thousands of pounds on secondaryticket websites. The prospect of witnessing thehost nation make history has led to a frenzieddemand for tickets, with some put up for saleon unofficial resale platforms. The cost ofmany of the tickets exceed $1,250 while someare upwards of $5,000. The InternationalCricket Council reiterated its stance that it is“actively monitoring and taking action”against those trying to sell on secondary plat-forms. Cricket's governing body warned it can“cancel the accounts and tickets we see beingsold on secondary sites” and that the only waysupporters can guarantee a ticket is throughthe official resale site.

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From the outside Jofra Archerdoes not seem to be affected

by nerves and according to theman himself that is true of thisentire England team.

Archer set the ball rollingwith his very first delivery of theICC Men’s Cricket World Cupsemi-final victory over Australia,trapping Aaron Finch leg beforefor a duck as England marchedto an eight-wicket win atEdgbaston.

The success was as compre-hensive as it was impressive withArcher later shaking up AlexCarey with a rapid bouncer andthen removing Glenn Maxwelljust as the big-hitting all-rounderwas preparing to tee off.

And for Archer, it was clearfrom the moment the team gottogether on Thursday that theywould be ready for England’s firstICC Men’s Cricket World Cupsemi-final in 27 years.

He said: “I’m really calm. Yougot that feeling, even when wewere at breakfast, I don’t thinkanyone looked nervous. I mightbe wrong.

“Everyone just lookedfocused from the time we gotinto the ground. It’s those littlethings that make you think theguys are ready.

“I’ve always been like this. Itry not to get nervous becausethen you do things you are notmeant to do. The calmer you are,the better you are in a situation.”

It has been a remarkable risefor Archer, who only made hisinternational bow against Irelandat the start of May.

He finished with figures of2/32 from his ten overs in thisgame, but the fast bowler insistspersonal glory takes a back seatto the team’s success in reachingthe final against New Zealand atLord’s.

He added: “It hasn’t sunk injust yet. I’m just happy to playgames and win games.

“We probably would havebatted first. Personally I like tobowl first and get the work done.Emotions were definitely flyingafter that (first wicket). Everyonelooked a lot more focused andswitched on.

“I’m just glad the team isdoing well. I could be doing ter-ribly but as long as the team iswinning, I’m alright.

“It’s been mixed feelings atLord’s. Sometimes I do ok, some-times I don’t do as well as I’d like.Hopefully Sunday goes England’sway, not just my way butEngland’s way.”��3D(��$��

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