c m y k - the pioneer · 2019-03-15 · uttar pradesh tour from february 11. she may hold a road...

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C ongress leader Sonia Gandhi’s son-in-law Robert Vadra on Wednesday appeared before the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in connection with a money laundering case for the alleged possession of illegal foreign assets. The Congress tried to tactically turned the focus away from him by having Priyanka drop her husband at the Enforcement Directorate office. In what could be seen as a political message, Priyanka said, “I stand by my family. He is my husband, he is my fami- ly...I support my family.” Asked if it was a political vendetta, she said that everyone knows why this is being done. Priyanka’s show of support to her husband came days after an emotional message from Vadra on her appointment as AICC general secretary. Vadra entered the ED office around 3.45 pm, and soon a team of his lawyers reached the ED office at Jamnagar House here. This is the first time Vadra turned up before a probe agency for ques- tioning on charges of dubious financial dealings. However, Vadra has denied the allegations and claimed the cases are an outcome of a political witch-hunt. After dropping Vadra off outside the ED office, Priyanka, who is an SPG protectee, went back in her white Toyota Land Cruiser with a convoy of vehi- cles carrying the elite com- mandos. Vadra was directed by a Delhi court to cooperate with the ED investigation after he approached the court seeking anticipatory bail in the money laundering case. The court had asked him to appear before the ED on Wednesday on his return from London. A team of three ED offi- cials asked Vadra about trans- actions, purchase and posses- sion of certain immovable assets in London. His statement was recorded under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), offi- cial sources said. The case relates to the pur- chase allegedly by Vadra of a London-based property locat- ed at 12, Bryanston Square worth 1.9 million GBP (British pounds). The agency had told the court that it has received information about various new properties in London which belong to Vadra. In December, rhe ED had raided and questioned Vadra’s aide Manoj Arora, an employ- ee of Skylight Hospitality LLP, a firm linked to Vadra. The ED has alleged that the London-based property was bought by arms dealer Sanjay Bhandari for 1.9 million GBP and sold in 2010 for the same amount despite incurring addi- tional expenses of approxi- mately 65,900 GBP on its ren- ovation. “This gives credence to the fact that Bhandari was not the actual owner of the prop- erty but it was beneficially owned by Vadra who was incurring expenditure on the renovation of this property,” the ED had told the court. Arora, a key link in the case, was aware of Vadra’s over- seas undeclared assets and was instrumental in arranging funds, the ED had alleged. Vadra has also been direct- ed by the Rajasthan High Court to appear before the ED again on February 12 in connection with another money launder- ing case being probed by the agency. P riyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday took charge as AICC general secretary at the party headquarters amid celebration and sloga- neering. Priyanka was appoint- ed as general secretary and incharge of Uttar Pradesh east on January 23 by her brother and Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. Along with Priyanka, senior Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia took charge as the AICC general secretary incharge for Uttar Pradesh west. Both Priyanka and Scindia have been appointed with Rahul’s resolve to strengthen the party in the crucial State of Uttar Pradesh, which has 80 Lok Sabha seats. AICC leaders said Priyanka is likely to begin her Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in Lucknow and then address a meeting of UPCC office-bearers. Party workers engaged in UP election related activities exuded confi- dence that Priyanka would go to Prayagraj also to take a dip in the Sangam on the occasion of Kumbh Mela. She along with Rahul may also address a rally later this month. While she met several party workers particularly those hailing from the eastern region of UP, Priyanka had a nearly two-hour long meeting with Rahul and Scindia to chalk out the Congress’ UP game plan. D riven by hunger and cul- tural practices, tribals in many pockets of Odisha are taking to butchering and de- skinning of dead animals and consuming them, exposing themselves to anthrax, a deadly infectious zoonotic disease. Ringing alarm bells, scien- tists from the Indian Medical Council of Research (IMCR)- Regional Medical Research Centre, Bhubaneswar, have called for mass awareness cam- paign and livestock vaccination in villages and monetary incen- tive to the tribals for disposal of dead livestock to combat the unhealthy practice of con- sumption of dead animals. During the household sur- vey conducted in four anthrax- hit districts—Koraput, Rayagada, Sundargarh and Malkangiri—in April- December, 2017, scientists found that of the 88 anthrax cases reported, at least 36 per cent affected persons were engaged in butchering and deskinning and consuming of dead animal, both as part of their cultural practices as also to combat hunger. About 23 per cent of the total 555 respondents admitted to follow practices that pro- scribed burial of dead animals for disposal while about 18 per cent admitted to consuming them. No surprise that during the last 15 years, out of 30 districts in Odisha, 14 with high densi- ty of tribal population, have witnessed outbreaks of anthrax affecting at least 1208 people and killing 436. Koraput was worst affect- ed with total 354 human anthrax cases and 9 deaths reported in last seven years. During the survey, the sci- entists observed that tribals also dig out the buried animal at night and consume the meat. “Meat is dried in sun or in fire and kept hidden for later use. Even the dead animal is con- sumed over a village get- together,” said scientists Debdutta Bhattacharya, Deepika Barla, Sanghamitra Pati from ICMR-Regional Medical Research Centre, (Department of Health Research, Union Health Ministry. Unawareness among the tribals was blatant. “The tribals are at high risk of developing human anthrax …and they are unaware about the diseases and its preventive measures,” said the survey which noted that about 20 per cent of the respondents had never heard about the deadly disease. “Vaccination of cattle is often refused. Often the dead people handling infected dead animals and come in contact with infected body fluids while slaughtering, butchering, skin- ning and consuming the infect- ed meat are at risk,” said sci- entists. A local court Wednesday held seven men guilty of killing two youths in Kawal vil- lage in an attack which is said to have triggered the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots that led to killings of over 60 people. Additional District and Sessions Judge Himashu Bhatnagar convicted Muzammil, Mujassim, Furkan, Nadeem, Janangir, Afzal and Ikbal for killing Gaurav and Sachin on August 27, 2013 and rioting, said district prosecution counsel Rajiv Sharma. The court will pronounce the quantum of their sentences Friday. According to the First Information Report, the two youths of Kawal village under Jansath police station area were battered to death by the five of thee men. The two other accused, Afzal and Iqbal, however, were summoned by the court later under provisions of section 319 of the Criminal Procedure Code when the evidence of their complicity in the killings emerged during the trial. The court convicted the seven after examining 10 pros- ecution witnesses and six in their defence. As per figures given by prosecution counsel Sharma, over 6,000 cases were lodged following the 2013 riots and 1,480 accused were arrested for their alleged roles in the riots. A special investigation team, which probed the cases, had filed chargesheets in 175 cases. Fifty-six of them involv- ing 430 accused resulted in acquittal. The State Government has withdrawn some cases. T he West Bengal BJP on Wednesday said it has can- celled the rally of former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan in Murshidabad dis- trict as the district administra- tion denied permission to land his chopper. Chouhan, a BJP national vice-president, was scheduled to attend two rallies — one at Baharampur in Murshidabad district and the other at Kharagpur in West Midnapore. It has been decided that Chouhan will now attend the rally at Kharagpur and will go there by road from the Kolkata airport. Accusing the State administration of indulging in “vendetta politics”, BJP State general secretary Sayantan Basu said the TMC cannot stop the “march of the BJP by deny- ing permission to land chop- pers.” Earlier UP CM Yogi Adityanath, Union Minister’s choppers were denied permis- sion to land in Bengal. T he Travancore Devaswom Board, which runs Sabarimala temple, on Wednesday made a U-turn to support the Supreme Court’s order allowing women of all ages to enter the shrine as it joined the Kerala Government to oppose a batch of pleas seeking review of the historic verdict. A five-judge constitution Bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi reserved its deci- sion after hearing various par- ties for three and half hours, including those seeking re- consideration of the September 28, 2018 judgement, even as the Board later asserted that its lat- est position was not due to any political pressure. Some right-wing activists have alleged that the Board changed its stand before the court under pressure from the state’s CPI(M)-led LDF Government. The apex court, by a major- ity of 4:1, had lifted the ban that prevented women and girls between the age of 10 and 50 from entering the famous Ayyappa shrine in Kerala and had held that this centuries-old Hindu religious practice was illegal and unconstitutional. However, as many as 65 petitions — including 56 review petitions and four fresh writ petitions and five transfer pleas — were filed in the apex court after its verdict sparked violent protests in Kerala. The five-judge constitu- tion Bench, which had earlier agreed to hear the pleas in an open court, reserved its deci- sion after hearing the parties, including Nair Service Society, Thantry of temple, temple Board (TDB) and the State Government, in favour and against the review plea. The Bench, also compris- ing justices RF Nariman, AM Khanwilkar, DY Chandrachud and Indu Malhotra, was in for a pleasant surprise as the tem- ple board, which also com- prises the State Government nominees, took a U-turn by supporting the verdict and said the people should gracefully accept it. The temple board, in ear- lier round of litigation, had opposed the PIL by Indian Young Lawyers Association seeking to throw open the shrine for all women. Justice Malhotra interdict- ed senior lawyer Rakesh Dwivedi, appearing for TDB, and said, “You had argued against women’s entry”. “The Board has now decid- ed to respect the judgment”, Dwivedi replied, adding, “Article 25 (1) equally entitles all persons to practice religion.” “Women cannot be exclud- ed from any walk of life on bio- logical attributes... Equality is the dominant theme of the Constitution,” Dwivedi said. The Kerala Government, which had taken conflicting stands on women’s entry into the hilltop shrine, supported the verdict and urged the court to trash review pleas. Senior advocate Jaideep Gupta, appearing for the state government, said a constitu- tional court should not worry about law and order problem and “social disturbances”. Exclusion of women from temples is not an essential practice of Hindu religion, he said. At the outset, the bench told lawyers it would hear only those who are parties to review petitions and asked them to confine arguments on grounds for reconsideration of the judgement. Senior advocate K Parasaran, appearing for Nair Service Society, assailed the majority verdict, saying Article 15 of the Constitution throws open for public the secular institutions of the country but doesn’t deal with religious insti- tutions. A round 124 fresh cases, including 104 adults and 20 children, of seasonal influenza H1N1, including a death, were recorded in the national Capital on Tuesday taking the total number of cases in Delhi to 1,019, said a report. According to the national data released by National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) recently, around 1,011 cases were recorded till Monday without any death. A senior official from Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) had revealed that out of 1,011 cases, only 895 cases belonged to Delhi which included 712 adults and 183 children and the rest were acquired from other States. Interestingly, till Monday, the Delhi Government had not reported any death due to swine flu this year, but on Tuesday, the report said one death was recorded. On the contrary, two major hospitals in Delhi, namely Safdarjung Hospital and Ram Manohar Lohia (RML) Hospital, recorded 13 deaths collectively last year. T he Madhya Pradesh Government on Wednesday announced that it would start issuing one-time shop establishment licences to small shopkeepers, who will not have to renew them. At present, the shop esItablishment licences are issued either for three years or five years. But once the stipu- lated period gets over, the shopkeepers need to renew them. While talking to media persons here on Wednesday, Labour Minister Mahendra Singh Sisodiya told that the MP Government has amended the gumasta (Shop and Establishment Act) licence norm. Henceforth, small shop- keepers don't need to renew their licence as they will be issued a one-time licence. According to him, the new norm would come into force within a week. "The licence fees would remain the same. This would benefit about 10 lakh small shopkeepers in the state. The shopkeepers will have to get a new licence only if they change the nature of their business," he said. As a result of this decision, over 10 lakh small shopkeepers, establishments, traders and start-ups of the state will be benefitted. According to the new arrangement shopkeepers and establishments are required to get themselves online regis- tered once during their busi- ness period. After the registra- tion, in case of any change in the form of business, small shopkeepers and traders are required to get amendments in their registration. Along with this, different categories of registration have been abolished and have been limited to just two categories. This has been a long-pend- ing demand of the shopkeep- ers in the state, he said. Responding to a question on the continuation of the Sambal Yojana launched by the erst- while BJP government, the minister said, "We will soon come up with the amendment in Sambal Yojana. Its name would be changed and work is underway to improve the scheme." Under Sambal Yojana, the labourers and poor are getting electricity on flat Rs 200 per month among other benefits. RNI Regn. No. MPENG/2004/13703, Regd. No. L-2/BPLON/41/2006-2008 C M Y K C M Y K

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Page 1: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

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Congress leader SoniaGandhi’s son-in-law

Robert Vadra on Wednesdayappeared before theEnforcement Directorate (ED)in connection with a moneylaundering case for the allegedpossession of illegal foreignassets. The Congress tried totactically turned the focus awayfrom him by having Priyankadrop her husband at theEnforcement Directorate office.

In what could be seen as apolitical message, Priyankasaid, “I stand by my family. Heis my husband, he is my fami-ly...I support my family.”

Asked if it was a politicalvendetta, she said that everyoneknows why this is being done.Priyanka’s show of support toher husband came days after anemotional message from Vadraon her appointment as AICCgeneral secretary.

Vadra entered the EDoffice around 3.45 pm, andsoon a team of his lawyersreached the ED office atJamnagar House here. This isthe first time Vadra turned upbefore a probe agency for ques-tioning on charges of dubiousfinancial dealings.

However, Vadra has deniedthe allegations and claimedthe cases are an outcome of apolitical witch-hunt.

After dropping Vadra offoutside the ED office, Priyanka,

who is an SPG protectee, wentback in her white Toyota LandCruiser with a convoy of vehi-cles carrying the elite com-mandos.

Vadra was directed by aDelhi court to cooperate withthe ED investigation after heapproached the court seekinganticipatory bail in the moneylaundering case. The court hadasked him to appear before theED on Wednesday on hisreturn from London.

A team of three ED offi-cials asked Vadra about trans-actions, purchase and posses-sion of certain immovableassets in London. His statementwas recorded under thePrevention of MoneyLaundering Act (PMLA), offi-cial sources said.

The case relates to the pur-chase allegedly by Vadra of aLondon-based property locat-ed at 12, Bryanston Squareworth 1.9 million GBP (Britishpounds). The agency had toldthe court that it has receivedinformation about various newproperties in London whichbelong to Vadra.

In December, rhe ED hadraided and questioned Vadra’saide Manoj Arora, an employ-ee of Skylight Hospitality LLP,a firm linked to Vadra.

The ED has alleged that theLondon-based property wasbought by arms dealer SanjayBhandari for 1.9 million GBPand sold in 2010 for the same

amount despite incurring addi-tional expenses of approxi-mately 65,900 GBP on its ren-ovation.

“This gives credence tothe fact that Bhandari was notthe actual owner of the prop-erty but it was beneficiallyowned by Vadra who wasincurring expenditure on therenovation of this property,” theED had told the court.

Arora, a key link in thecase, was aware of Vadra’s over-seas undeclared assets and wasinstrumental in arrangingfunds, the ED had alleged.

Vadra has also been direct-ed by the Rajasthan High Courtto appear before the ED againon February 12 in connectionwith another money launder-ing case being probed by theagency.

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Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onWednesday took charge as

AICC general secretary at the party headquarters amid celebration and sloga-neering. Priyanka was appoint-ed as general secretary andincharge of Uttar Pradesh easton January 23 by her brotherand Congress chief RahulGandhi.

Along with Priyanka,senior Congress leaderJyotiraditya Scindia took charge

as the AICC general secretaryincharge for Uttar Pradeshwest.

Both Priyanka and Scindiahave been appointed withRahul’s resolve to strengthenthe party in the crucial State ofUttar Pradesh, which has 80Lok Sabha seats.

AICC leaders saidPriyanka is likely to begin herUttar Pradesh tour fromFebruary 11. She may hold aroad show in Lucknow andthen address a meeting ofUPCC office-bearers. Party

workers engaged in UP electionrelated activities exuded confi-dence that Priyanka would goto Prayagraj also to take a dipin the Sangam on the occasionof Kumbh Mela. She alongwith Rahul may also address arally later this month.

While she met severalparty workers particularlythose hailing from the easternregion of UP, Priyanka had anearly two-hour long meetingwith Rahul and Scindia tochalk out the Congress’ UPgame plan.

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Driven by hunger and cul-tural practices, tribals in

many pockets of Odisha aretaking to butchering and de-skinning of dead animals and consuming them, exposing themselves toanthrax, a deadly infectiouszoonotic disease.

Ringing alarm bells, scien-tists from the Indian MedicalCouncil of Research (IMCR)-Regional Medical ResearchCentre, Bhubaneswar, havecalled for mass awareness cam-paign and livestock vaccinationin villages and monetary incen-tive to the tribals for disposalof dead livestock to combat theunhealthy practice of con-sumption of dead animals.

During the household sur-vey conducted in four anthrax-hit districts—Koraput,Rayagada, Sundargarh andMalkangiri—in April-December, 2017, scientistsfound that of the 88 anthraxcases reported, at least 36 percent affected persons wereengaged in butchering anddeskinning and consuming ofdead animal, both as part oftheir cultural practices as alsoto combat hunger.

About 23 per cent of thetotal 555 respondents admittedto follow practices that pro-scribed burial of dead animals fordisposal while about 18 per centadmitted to consuming them.

No surprise that during thelast 15 years, out of 30 districts

in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, havewitnessed outbreaks of anthraxaffecting at least 1208 peopleand killing 436.

Koraput was worst affect-ed with total 354 humananthrax cases and 9 deathsreported in last seven years.

During the survey, the sci-entists observed that tribals alsodig out the buried animal atnight and consume the meat.“Meat is dried in sun or in fireand kept hidden for later use.Even the dead animal is con-sumed over a village get-together,” said scientistsDebdutta Bhattacharya,Deepika Barla, SanghamitraPati from ICMR-RegionalMedical Research Centre,(Department of HealthResearch, Union HealthMinistry.

Unawareness among thetribals was blatant.

“The tribals are at high riskof developing human anthrax…and they are unaware aboutthe diseases and its preventivemeasures,” said the surveywhich noted that about 20 percent of the respondents hadnever heard about the deadlydisease.

“Vaccination of cattle isoften refused. Often the deadpeople handling infected deadanimals and come in contactwith infected body fluids whileslaughtering, butchering, skin-ning and consuming the infect-ed meat are at risk,” said sci-entists.

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Alocal court Wednesdayheld seven men guilty of

killing two youths in Kawal vil-lage in an attack which is saidto have triggered the 2013Muzaffarnagar riots that led tokillings of over 60 people.

Additional District andSessions Judge HimashuBhatnagar convictedMuzammil, Mujassim, Furkan,Nadeem, Janangir, Afzal andIkbal for killing Gaurav and Sachin on August 27, 2013 and rioting, said districtprosecution counsel RajivSharma.

The court will pronouncethe quantum of their sentencesFriday. According to the FirstInformation Report, the twoyouths of Kawal village underJansath police station area werebattered to death by the five ofthee men.

The two other accused,Afzal and Iqbal, however, weresummoned by the court laterunder provisions of section319 of the Criminal Procedure

Code when the evidence of

their complicity in the killingsemerged during the trial.

The court convicted theseven after examining 10 pros-ecution witnesses and six intheir defence.

As per figures given byprosecution counsel Sharma,over 6,000 cases were lodgedfollowing the 2013 riots and

1,480 accused were arrested fortheir alleged roles in the riots.

A special investigationteam, which probed the cases,had filed chargesheets in 175cases. Fifty-six of them involv-ing 430 accused resulted inacquittal. The StateGovernment has withdrawnsome cases.

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The West Bengal BJP onWednesday said it has can-

celled the rally of formerMadhya Pradesh ChiefMinister Shivraj SinghChouhan in Murshidabad dis-trict as the district administra-tion denied permission to landhis chopper.

Chouhan, a BJP nationalvice-president, was scheduledto attend two rallies — one atBaharampur in Murshidabaddistrict and the other atKharagpur in West Midnapore.

It has been decided thatChouhan will now attend therally at Kharagpur and will gothere by road from the Kolkataairport. Accusing the Stateadministration of indulging in“vendetta politics”, BJP Stategeneral secretary SayantanBasu said the TMC cannot stopthe “march of the BJP by deny-ing permission to land chop-pers.” Earlier UP CM YogiAdityanath, Union Minister’schoppers were denied permis-sion to land in Bengal.

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The Travancore DevaswomBoard, which runs

Sabarimala temple, onWednesday made a U-turn tosupport the Supreme Court’sorder allowing women of allages to enter the shrine as itjoined the Kerala Governmentto oppose a batch of pleasseeking review of the historicverdict.

A five-judge constitutionBench headed by Chief JusticeRanjan Gogoi reserved its deci-sion after hearing various par-ties for three and half hours,including those seeking re-consideration of the September

28, 2018 judgement, even as theBoard later asserted that its lat-est position was not due to anypolitical pressure.

Some right-wing activistshave alleged that the Boardchanged its stand before thecourt under pressure from thestate’s CPI(M)-led LDFGovernment.

The apex court, by a major-ity of 4:1, had lifted the ban thatprevented women and girlsbetween the age of 10 and 50from entering the famousAyyappa shrine in Kerala andhad held that this centuries-oldHindu religious practice wasillegal and unconstitutional.

However, as many as 65petitions — including 56review petitions and four freshwrit petitions and five transferpleas — were filed in the apexcourt after its verdict sparkedviolent protests in Kerala.

The five-judge constitu-

tion Bench, which had earlieragreed to hear the pleas in anopen court, reserved its deci-sion after hearing the parties,including Nair Service Society,Thantry of temple, templeBoard (TDB) and the StateGovernment, in favour andagainst the review plea.

The Bench, also compris-ing justices RF Nariman, AMKhanwilkar, DY Chandrachudand Indu Malhotra, was in fora pleasant surprise as the tem-ple board, which also com-prises the State Governmentnominees, took a U-turn bysupporting the verdict and said

the people should gracefullyaccept it.

The temple board, in ear-lier round of litigation, hadopposed the PIL by IndianYoung Lawyers Associationseeking to throw open theshrine for all women.

Justice Malhotra interdict-ed senior lawyer RakeshDwivedi, appearing for TDB,and said, “You had arguedagainst women’s entry”.

“The Board has now decid-ed to respect the judgment”,Dwivedi replied, adding,“Article 25 (1) equally entitlesall persons to practice religion.”

“Women cannot be exclud-ed from any walk of life on bio-logical attributes... Equality isthe dominant theme of theConstitution,” Dwivedi said.

The Kerala Government,which had taken conflictingstands on women’s entry intothe hilltop shrine, supported

the verdict and urged the courtto trash review pleas.

Senior advocate JaideepGupta, appearing for the stategovernment, said a constitu-tional court should not worryabout law and order problemand “social disturbances”.

Exclusion of women fromtemples is not an essentialpractice of Hindu religion, hesaid. At the outset, the benchtold lawyers it would hear onlythose who are parties to reviewpetitions and asked them toconfine arguments on groundsfor reconsideration of thejudgement.

Senior advocate KParasaran, appearing for NairService Society, assailed themajority verdict, saying Article15 of the Constitution throwsopen for public the secularinstitutions of the country butdoesn’t deal with religious insti-tutions.

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Around 124 fresh cases,including 104 adults and

20 children, of seasonalinfluenza H1N1, including adeath, were recorded in thenational Capital on Tuesdaytaking the total number ofcases in Delhi to 1,019, said areport.

According to the nationaldata released by NationalCentre for Disease Control(NCDC) recently, around1,011 cases were recorded tillMonday without any death.

A senior official fromDirectorate General of Health

Services (DGHS) had revealedthat out of 1,011 cases, only895 cases belonged to Delhiwhich included 712 adultsand 183 children and the restwere acquired from otherStates.

Interestingly, till Monday,the Delhi Government had notreported any death due toswine flu this year, but onTuesday, the report said onedeath was recorded.

On the contrary, twomajor hospitals in Delhi,namely Safdarjung Hospitaland Ram Manohar Lohia(RML) Hospital, recorded 13deaths collectively last year.

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The Madhya PradeshGovernment on

Wednesday announced that itwould start issuing one-timeshop establishment licences tosmall shopkeepers, who willnot have to renew them.

At present, the shopesItablishment licences areissued either for three years orfive years. But once the stipu-lated period gets over, theshopkeepers need to renewthem.

While talking to mediapersons here on Wednesday,Labour Minister MahendraSingh Sisodiya told that the MPGovernment has amended thegumasta (Shop andEstablishment Act) licencenorm. Henceforth, small shop-keepers don't need to renewtheir licence as they will beissued a one-time licence.

According to him, the newnorm would come into forcewithin a week.

"The licence fees wouldremain the same. This would

benefit about 10 lakh smallshopkeepers in the state. Theshopkeepers will have to get anew licence only if they changethe nature of their business," hesaid.

As a result of this decision,over 10 lakh small shopkeepers,establishments, traders andstart-ups of the state will be

benefitted. According to thenew arrangement shopkeepersand establishments are requiredto get themselves online regis-tered once during their busi-ness period. After the registra-tion, in case of any change inthe form of business, smallshopkeepers and traders arerequired to get amendments intheir registration.

Along with this, differentcategories of registration havebeen abolished and have beenlimited to just two categories.

This has been a long-pend-ing demand of the shopkeep-ers in the state, he said.Responding to a question onthe continuation of the SambalYojana launched by the erst-while BJP government, theminister said, "We will sooncome up with the amendmentin Sambal Yojana. Its namewould be changed and work isunderway to improve thescheme."

Under Sambal Yojana, thelabourers and poor are gettingelectricity on flat Rs 200 permonth among other benefits.

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Lets watch Tika Toli StreetPlay and every Child should

be Measles –RubellaVaccinated”, this strong mes-sage was given by Youth inBhopal .

In association withDepartment of Health andFamily Welfare, NationalHealth Mission, Youth Groupwhich is the part of Youth forChildren project which isimplemented by ANSHHappiness Society in collabo-ration with UNICEF MadhyaPradesh .

They actively make advo-cacy on child rights issues likeimmunization, new born care,child marriage etc. in MadhyaPradesh. This Play is directedby Sahil Khan. 14 ArtistIncludes -Sohaib, Anurag,Kanchan, Harshita, Rohit,Harsh, Ritisha, Vikrant, Sahil,Ananya, Rakesh, Shikha,Gourvnik and Krish activelyperformed in the play. Themain objective of this play is to

make everyone aware of thedangerous consequences ofmeasles and rubella diseasesand motivate them for themeasles and rubella vaccinationof children in Madhya Pradesh.

Street play was staged on8th and 5th at 8 places inBhopal which includes - NewMarket, Banganga, PratapNagar, Iqbal Maidan, ParvarishThe Museum School, ThePathfinder English MediumSchool Govindpura and NearSam Girls College, BaghFarhatafza Colony, Aishbaghand Nadra Bus Stand.

In the play, deadly sideeffects and symptoms of diseaseslike cough, cough, fever and reddots were highlighted in a verysimple and interesting manner.Youth said that 47 lakh childrenhave been safely vaccinatedunder this campaign.

Significantly, in India,Measles and Rubella are one ofthe 10 dangerous diseases thatcan put in danger the lives ofchildren.

The objective of this

nationwide campaign is toeliminate measles and controlrubella by the year 2020 inIndia. Measles-Rubella vacci-nation campaign is a specialcampaign to vaccinate all chil-dren of 9 months to 15 years ofage group with one additionaldose of MR vaccine, irrespec-tive of their previous vaccina-tion status.

Through this play theyouth appealed to each child toget Measles - Rubella vaccina-tion which is available in thenearest health center,Anganwadi and GovernmentHospital.

They requested all the peo-ple to abolish the misconcep-tions and rumours in the stateand work on a child's healthwith a positive energy so thatdangerous diseases like Measles- Rubella can be eliminated.

At the end of the play theyouth took oath that theywould not be misled with anymisapprehension and wouldmake their society strongerand healthier.

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Bhopal: Moliere’s classic play of17th century The Miser waspresented on stage with anIndian touch leaving the theatrelovers entirely mesmerised.

The play called ‘Kanjoos’ isadapted and conceptualizedby Hazrat Awara in Hindi andUrdu the play was brilliantlyperformed on Wednesday atShaheed Bhawan Auditorium.The play marked the third dayof 13th Bhopal Rang Mahotsav.

All the theatre buffs of thecity were in whirls of laughteras they watched the play. ThisHindi play that unfolds themystery of a miser in a hilari-ous manner was much enjoyedby the theatre buffs of the city.

Narrating the story ofMirza Sekhawat Baig and hisfamily, the play Kanjoos wasdirected by Seema More. Theplay was wonderfully staged bythe artists of Yamini FilmTraining and Public WelfareSociety, Bhopal.

The play hishlights aboutfive major characters i.e. MirzaSekhawat Baig (the protago-

nist-the miser) his sonFarooque an intelligent and ahandsome youth, his daughterAzra a docile and diplomaticgirl, Mariyam (Farooque’s love)and Nasir (servant and Azra’slove).

The story takes audience toa comic expedition wherethrough comical acts andscenes, the audience unfoldsthe mystery behind miseriesand selfishness. The play wasintellectually designed with themixture of dramatic irony anda serious theme that was pre-sented comically. MirzaSekhawat Baig is a miser whodoes not even trusts his son,daughter and especially theservants of his house. His auntin misery brings a proposal ofa young girl Mariyam who inturns is the lover of Farooque.

Mirza was more than hap-pier when he thought he will bemarrying a beautiful and ayoung girl. On the other handNasir who loves Azra tries toimpress Mirza to get married to her. SR

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Once upon a time there wasa donkey aka Aladad Khan

and he died. But what happensnext revealed the horrifyingface of administration.

The story of a donkey andthe poor common man wastold through a satirical play ‘EkTha Gadha Urf Aladaad Khan’.The play is adapted from thestory by Sharad Joshi, whoseextremely wonderful writingbrings out the worst face ofsociety through the satiricalplay of words. The play wasstaged on Friday at ShaheedBhavan Auditorium.

Directed by PrateekSharma it was brilliantly per-formed by the artists ofPratibimbh Theatre Troupe ofIndian Institute of ForedtManagement (IIFM). It was thelast day of the IIFM annual fest2019. According to the play’stitle, the donkey is a metaphorused for a common man.

The play centers aroundthe 'Nawab' who intends to

become popular and famous atany cost. The play opens upwith the mourning of JagguDhobi whose dear donkeyAladaad Khan is dead, and thevillagers tell the kotwal that aperson has died namedAladaad Khan. The kotwal in

returns makes this as a hugeissue and tells the Nawab thata very well known personalitynamed Aladaad Khan died intheir village.

As the Nawab discoversthis fact he announces variousmega events in the name ofAladad Khan. He then declaresa state mourning for AladaadKhan. Later, Nawab gets toknow that it was actually a don-key not a person.

What follows is not only acomedy of errors but alsoreflects on the present system.It is a comedy that tells thetruth through intertwined sto-ries.

The play was muchenjoyed by the audiences.Somewhere down the line itbrought a huge smile on theirfaces as they burst out laugh-ing at comical situations, it alsosomewhere told about the ill-fated situation of a commonman. Sensible acting skillsalong with a good presentation,the play received much appre-ciation of the audiences.

Bhopal: The Piplani policehave on Tuesday nabbed fivemiscreants who were planningdacoity in Bharat Nagar groundlate in the night on Tuesdayand recovered an iron road, acountry-made pistol and onelive cartridge from their pos-session.

Acting on a tip off threepolice team swung into actionand rushed to the spot wherethe accused were planningdacoity and nabbed five mis-creants and recovered armswhich were planned to be usedduring dacoity. Polcie said thatwhen the dacoits were ques-tioned they confirmed thatthey were planning of dacoityand were waiting for the correcttime to target. The police haveregistered a case under sections399 and 402 of the IPC and sec-tion 25 and 27 of the Arms Act.

The five nabbed dacoitswere identified as Imran,Naeem, Firoz, Shahid and Ajay.

The accused belonged toAishbagh, Nishatpura andTeelajamalpura localities andare habitual offenders whohave past criminal record. Theaccused belonged to Aishbagh,Nishatpura and Teelajamalpuralocalities and are habitualoffenders who have past crim-inal record and have beenbooked under differentoffences.

During the investigationpolice have found that thedacoits were planning to robpetrol pump and in case ifpetrol pump would remaincrowded with vehicles theywould change target anddacoity would be committed inany house of the area.

The accused have con-fessed dacoity and burglariesand have served jail for thecrimes. Police would investigatefor the source of arms andweapons and other crimes bythe five accused nabbed. SR

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Plastic goods worth lakhs ofrupees were gutted in fire

after a major fire broke out ata godown in Old CategorisedMarket late in the night onWednesday; empty plasticsacks were kept in the godown.

The fire which broke out ataround 2 in the night waspacified by more than twodozen fire tender vehicles inmore than 2 hours.

In-charge and on dutyemployee of fire brigadeDeepak Singh said that the firewas massive and was con-trolled before it would spreadto other godowns and nearbyhouses. The timely pacifying offire help in saving adjacentgodown of plastic goods whichwas much larger and had sev-eral times more plastic goodsat the time of the fire. The near-by houses were vacated to avert

any untoward action. Hanumanganj police were

not informed regarding thedetails of the incident and theowner of the godown has notreported the incident to thepolice.

Soon after the informationof fire was received by OldCategorised Fire Brigade morethan 20 vehicles were pressedinto service to contain and con-trol the fire. In the fire no injuryor casualty was reported.

The owner Firoz Khan hadclaimed that the loss was overRs 10 lakh but could not pro-vide details as the godwon isused to store dumped plasticbags and sacks and other plas-tic goods.

The fire tenders have notprovided any reason behind thefire. The fire could be short cir-cuit borne or due to some otherreason which would be inves-tigated.

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Bhopal: Kotwali police have nabbeda 35-year-old man for stealing goldjeweleries worth �25 lakh from jew-elry shop at Chintaman Chouraha onWednesday.

Police said that the accused MukulGupta was nabbed after it was foundthat the gold jewelry was stolen byhim on Tuesday. The accused workswith Shriram Vijayvargiya Jewelersand stole gold jewelry from the shop.

A complaint was lodged with thepolice by the victim Raj Vijayvargiyastating that the accused Mukul usedto work for the past three years andon Tuesday he left the shop for lunchwhile Mukul was at the shop to lookafter the shop and when he returnedMukul was not present at the shop andhis mobile phone was found switchedoff when contacted by the victim.After the victim failed to contact theaccused he checked the belongingsand found that the bag carrying 13

boxes of gold boxes carrying 240 goldbangles worth �25 lakh was missing.

Victim lodged complaint withthe police and based on the complaintpolice started search and nabbed theaccused on Wednesday and recoveredthe gold jewelry from his possession.

Meanwhile, a 24-year-old youthwas robbed at knife point atHarswardhan Nagar under TT Nagarpolice station area in the night onTuesday. Police said that the ShubhamPrajapat who runs a pan shop inHarshwardhan Nagar area was robbedby three miscreants who snatched�700 cash in the evening.

The accused came and at knifepoint frisked victim and took �700cash and other documents and whenthey failed to get cash they tookpackets of cigarettes and escapedfrom the spot. Police have registereda case under section 392 of the IPCand started investigation. SR

Bhopal: As a part of the railway station beautifi-cation drive launched by the Railway Ministry,Sehore railway station in Madhya Pradesh has beenselected and several makeover works are going onthere.

Notably, a couple of months ago, the UnionCabinet had taken a decision in this regard. It wasdecided that the redevelopment of stations acrossthe railway network will have a multiplier effect inthe economy with more job opportunities andimproved economic growth.

At present, the work on wall paintings for thebeautification of Sehore railway station is still inprogress.

Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi’sSwachhata Mission, so far the national transporterhas beautified as many as 10 railway stations in theRatlam division of Madhya Pradesh.

Over the last few months, several stations acrossthe railway network have been redeveloped andbeautified under Railway Ministry’s station rede-velopment and beautification initiative.

Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry is also work-ing towards turning two prominent railway stationsinto multi-modal hubs or world-class transit hubs.This plan is being executed by the Indian RailwayStations Development Corporation Limited(IRSDC). SR

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Bhind: Two transgender werebooked in Madhya Pradeshafter a man's complaint statingthat they forcibly castratedhim.

An FIR was registered asthe man said the two offeredhim a job at their house andthen forcefully castrated himafter making him unconscious.

"Kamal Shakya has filed acomplaint against two trans-gender -- Neetu and Sikandar...We have registered the case andstarted investigating the matter.We have also sent Kamal formedical treatment," said sub-inspector Shrestha Saxena.

Shakya said he used torun a food cart earlier and hadstarted working at the house ofthe two transgender living inthe same neighbourhood.

"Both of them are from our

street only.” “They said they will help

me earn more money and willprovide money for my sisters'marriage. I worked at theirplace for two to three months.Then one day, they gave mesomething to eat after which Ifainted. Later, they took me toDelhi and made me a trans-gender. After 10 days, I cameback home," Shakya said.

"They even came to myhome and beat me up. I com-plained about this last year alsobut nothing happened. That'swhy I have registered an FIRnow," he said. PNS

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Minister for AnimalHusbandry, Fishermen

Welfare and Fisheries LakhanSingh Yadav said that the MilkFederation should adopt pro-fessionalism in its functioning.Milk collection should beincreased by forming new milkproducing societies and newroutes in areas where milk isnot being collected from thecattle keeper.

He mentioned that milkcollection in Gwalior divisionis less than expected. There isa need to pay proper attentionin this regard.

Minister Yadav was review- ing the programmes of MP

State Cooperative DairyFederation at Mantralaya today.

The Additional ChiefSecretary Animal HusbandryManoj Shrivastava, MD MilkFederation Aruna Gupta andDirector Animal Husbandrybesides other officers werepresent at the meeting.

Minister Yadav stated thatmilk collection in Gwalior andJabalpur division is less incomparison to other divisions,therefore it should beincreased.

It was informed in themeeting that on an averageover 10 lakh kilogram milk isbeing collected daily by theMilk Federation from the milk

producers. Vitamin A and Dfortified milk has also beenproduced by the MilkFederation from this month.

In the meeting, facility forhigh quality production, set-ting up of advanced laborato-ries, automation of plants,expansion of cold chain andother issues were also dis-cussed. Also implementationof National Programmes fordairy development in 22 select-ed districts was reviewed.

Minister Yadav alsoreviewed programmes andschemes of the RajyaPashudhan and Kukkut VikasNigam (Paultry DevelopmentCorporation).

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Minister for GeneralAdministration Govind

Singh, Minister for Home BalaBachchan and Minister forPublic Relations PC Sharmaheld discussions with the rep-resentatives of all Employees’Unions as regard to the welfareof employees in a joint meetingat Mantralaya today. Addressingthe programme, PC Sharmasaid that employees’ honour isour religion. He told that all theemployees’ related 68 promisesmentioned in the manifestowill be fulfilled within timelimit.

Sharma said that the stategovernment is committed to

work constantly in the welfareof employees and people of thestate. He mentioned that the

government led by the ChiefMinister Kamal Nath has ful-filled many promises of the

manifesto within a month itself.Before the formation of the

government, CM Kamal Nathmet the representatives of all theemployees’ unions, heard theirdemands and grievances andincluded them in the manifesto.Now all their demands will befulfilled one by one. He furthersaid that besides discharging hisresponsibilities as minister, hewill always stand with theemployees’ unions, wheneverthey need his cooperation.

Minister for GeneralAdministration Govind Singhand Minister for Home BalaBachchan on behalf of the gov-ernment also gave assurance fortaking necessary steps in thewelfare of the employees.

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Former Madhya PradeshChief Minister Shivraj

Singh Chouhan onWednesday accused WestBengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee of unendingcorruption and appeasementand claimed she was the sec-ond leader to divide Bengalafter Lord Curzon, the thenViceroy of British India.

Curzon announced thedecision split Bengal in 1905,which separated the largelyMuslim eastern areas from thelargely Hindu western areas,leading to mass migration andgenocide.

"After Lord Curzon,Mamata Banerjee is the secondleader who has divided Bengalthrough her appeasement pol-itics. She is welcoming infil-trators and beating up ourown brothers and sisters.Bengal will not tolerate this,"Chouhan said at a public rallyhere at Khargapur.

The BJP Vice-President,who came to the rally by roadafter the Bengal governmentdenied permission for hischopper to land, ridiculedBanerjee, saying she is spend-ing more time in trying to stop

the BJP rallies in the state thanrunning her government.

"People in Bengal cannotbe happy till Mamata didiremains the chief minister. Sheis now doing everythinginstead of running the gov-ernment. She is busy impedingthe meetings of BJP," Chouhansaid.

"Mamata didi -- how manyleaders will you stop? How longwould you be able to stopthem? You did not allow myhelicopter to land, I reachedhere by car. If you stop our cars,we will come to Bengal by foot,"he said.

Chouhan alleged thatBengal has become a pinnacleof corruption and wrongdo-

ings, where there are attemptsto throttle peoples' voices andattack those who support thesaffron outfit.

"The bloodshed by ourbrave activists will not go invain. The entire nation standsin solidarity with the oppressedpeople in Bengal. Mamata di,we will not let your autocracyand hooliganism prevail here,"he said.

Launching an attack onBanerjee over her recent dhar-na (sit-in), following a stand-off between the CBI and theKolkata Police, he said thenation wants to know whyBanerjee is trying to save an IPSofficer from the CBI probe inchit fund cases.

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St Paul School and BhopalSahodaya Complex headed

training programme on CBSEExamination and evaluation2019 by CBSE for city coordi-nation CNS, HE and AHE andevaluations in Campion schoolauditorium Bhopal.

Schools registered theirnames for the programme.

The Programme com-menced with the lightening ofceremonial lamp and followedby prayer dance and welcomesong.

The Dignitaries on theoccasion were Anurag TripathiSecretary CBSE, Meena JoshiRegional Officer CBSEBhopal.

The resource persons for

the much awaited programmewere Hilaal Ahmed DeputySecretary Delhi Academicsand Abhisek Bajaj AssistantSecretary Ajmer.

The main agenda for thisgathering was to bring morecredibility and transparency inthe evaluation of class 10 andclass 12 Board examinations2019.

Principals of differentschools along with their teach-ers of different faculties of class10 and class 12 were presenton the occasion.

On the occasion, HilaalAhmed briefed about thedynamics of the spot evalua-tion through power point pre-sentation.

The main nature was tomaximize the authenticity of

work examination and its eval-uation.

In the programme inter-active session of principals ofdifferent schools on variouscriteria followed during eval-uation was held and empha-sized on adhering to markingscheme, technique andmethodology.

Principal of St Paul FrSebi Edattukaran CMI hostand co-coordinator welcomedthe dignitaries and deliveredinaugural address.

At the programme around2000 teachers were presentfrom the western part of thestate and neighbouring dis-tricts.

He said that the teachersare torch bearers and the bestpath makers and innovators.

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The newly formedSpirituality Department in

Madhya Pradesh has startedappointing priests to govern-ment-controlled temples.Detailed guidelines of theappointment process wasdeclared on Tuesday evening.

Preference would be givento candidates from priestlyfamilies as well as those trainedunder the 'guru-shishyaparampara', an official state-ment said.

This is the first time normshave been laid down by thegovernment for appointment ofpriests.

Under the new rulesreleased on Tuesday, the eligi-ble candidate must be at least18 years old, should havepassed Class 8 and completedthe course for priesthood.

He must also be a vegetar-ian, a teetotaller and with nocriminal record. Sons of priestswill get preference if they meetthe eligibility criteria.

It has also been decidedthat if a temple comes under ashrine traditionally run by areligious group, community or

'akhada' with its own priest,then an applicant from thesame background under the'guru-shishya parampara'would get preference.

Ancestry of candidateswould be considered forappointment of clerics to dar-gahs, which are overseen byfamilies. Sub-DivisionalOfficers (SDM) of the RevenueDepartment will oversee theappointment process. TheMadhya Pradesh governmenthas already announced a three-fold hike in the Rs 1,000 hon-orarium given to priests.

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As the financial year iscoming to an end and

with the government facing asevere cash crunch due to theempty coffers, the districtadministration has set rev-enue collection target of �75crore for the ongoing fiscalyear.

Briefing the media per-sons, Gwalior DistrictCollector Bharat Yadav saidthat instructions have beensent out to all departments tocomplete this target within thestipulated time.

According to reliable sta-tistics the state is reeling undersevere financial crisis becausethe official machinery has notbeen collecting the full rev-enue during the past manyyears.

Even last year only �33crore was collected in the dis-trict against the recovery tar-get of �75 crore.

There have been manyinstances where the authorities

failed to collect the pecuniaryfines that were imposed forvarious offences like nonpay-ment of taxes, irregularities inregistration and diversion fees.

Many marriage gardensin the city are still runningwithout paying the diversionfees and penalties.

Whether it is due to thepolitical situation or the laxi-ty of the concerned authoritiesthe fact remains that the taxmachinery has not been ableto achieve the assigned rev-enue collection targets formany years now.

The current financial yearis almost coming to an end butthe total recovery till date isonly �14 crore.

It would be a herculeantask for the administration tocollect the remaining �60 crorein two months.

The authorities are hopingto amass a major portion ofthe target during the RevenueLok Adalat to be held in thedistrict on the 16th of thismonth.

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Bhopal: Panic prevailed inMorarji Nagar after a 23-year-old youth was brutally mur-dered by four armed miscre-ants in the afternoon onWednesday, two others werealso injured in the attack;Aishbagh police have startedsearch for the unidentifiedmiscreants.

Police said that thedeceased Ubez Khan wasattacked by four miscreantsnear his house in the afternoonwhile his uncle Tehzeeb andanother youth of the neigh-hour were also injured in theattack.

Addl SP Zone 1 SanjaySahu said that deceased wasattacked in his neck whileTehzeeb sustained injuries inhis hands and fingers.

The deceased was declareddead when rushed to Hamidiahospital while his uncle isundergoing treatment.Nothing could be said as thefamily members are unawareof any dispute or fight of thedeceased and other injured.

Father of the deceaseddied few months ago and wasa Bhopal MunicipalCorporation (BMC) employee.

The deceased was sup-posed to get a job on compas-sionate ground.

In the afternoon onWednesday four armed mencame and attacked Tehzeeband to save him Ubez tried torescue him but the attackersattacked him in his neck andescaped the spot. Ubez startedbleeding profusely whichcaused his death. SR

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Union Road Transport &Highways Minister Nitin

Gadkari on Wednesday per-formed Bhoomi Pujan for threeNational Highway projects oftotal length of 132 km worth � 2,345 cr in the State.

The foundation stones forthe projects were laid at a

function held atKamakhyanagar in Dhenkanaldistrict.

The projects are: four lan-ing of the 41.726 km Talcher-Kamakhyanagar section ofNH-200/23, (New NH-53) at acost of � 795.18 crore; a 51.1-km Kamakhyanagar-Duburisection of NH-200 (New NH-53) at a cost of � 761.11 croreand a 39.4-km Duburi-Chandikhol section of NH-200(New NH-53) at a cost of �789.23 crore.

These projects would haveappropriate structures toreduce traffic congestion andensure safety of road users.They would include three

bypasses, a flyover,19 vehicularunderpasses, ninemajor and 39minor bridges and45 km of serviceroad.

These NH pro-jects would ensurebetter connectivityof the minerals-rich Angul andDhenkanal dis-tricts with the restof the State. Byreducing trafficcongestion and thetravel time

between places, the projectswould help reduce the operat-ing cost of vehicles and bringdown the levels of pollution. Allthis would help generateemployment opportunities inthe region and improve thesocioeconomic condition oflocal people.

Gadkari urged the StateGovernment for early clearanceof files relating to environment,forest, land acquisition andCRZ in connection with theState’s 450 km-long CoastalHighways project. “If the StateGovernment cooperates, wecan initiate the project workwithin for to six months,” hesaid.

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Union RoadTransport and

Highway, Shippingand Water ResourcesMinister NitinGadkari andPetroleum andNatural Gas, Skill Development Minister Dharmendra Pradhaninaugurated different projects of the Paradip Port and the IOCLRefinery here on Wednesday.

Paradip MLA Dr Damodar Rout, IOCL Chairman PSMishra besides senior officials from the Indian Railways, thePPT and the IOCL were present.

Total 13 projects of � 11,000 crore were inaugurated by boththe Ministers including a polypropylene plant and a mechan-ical coal handing plant.

A MoU was signed between PPT, IOCL and AirportAuthority of India for an airport at Paradip.

Gadkari told that if the State Government co-operates, theCentre is ready for Rs 40,000 crore investment at Paradip.

Pradhan told regarding the performance of ModiGovernment and the development projects for Odisha takenup by the Centre. The programme was organised by the IOCLParadip Refinery and the Paradip Port Trust jointly.

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Odia film director and edi-tor Chakradhar Sahu

passed away on February 6morning. He was born onFebruary 9, 1959.

Sahu was diagnosed withrheumatoid arthritis and hadbeen suffering from breathingproblem for quite some time.He was undergoing treatmentat AIIMS Hospital here.

Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik condoled the demise ofthe veteran filmmaker anddirector. Many arrived at thehospital to pay their lastrespects. Sahu started his filmcareer with “Nila Mastrani” inthe year 1996 and was felicitat-ed with Odisha State FilmAward for Best Editor for thefilm.

His first commercial suc-cess came with “TumakuParuni Ta Bhuli” which wasreleased in the year 2008. Hewas awarded Odisha State FilmAward for Best Director for themovie. Later, he also went onto direct “Kebe Tume NahanKebe Mu Nahin”.

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The district administrationis observing the National

Road Safety Week fromMonday to enhance trafficregulation awareness and con-duct enforcements.

Yet, the traffic signalingsystem remained a grey area inthe town where traffic man-agement is a major issue witha surge in population, includ-ing floating ones.

Interestingly, although themajor traff ic posts areequipped with the CCTV net-works and manned, yet noneof the posts has electronicallyoperated signal gadgets whenthe department is engagingstudent traffic volunteers.

Although in major inter-section points and squares ofthe town including FM Golaii,Station square, Police line ,ITIsquare , Fandi square etc, thesignaling system was intro-duced in 2008 with the ini-tiative of then police headswith the assistance of local

industries, but all of themwent defunct after someyears.

They are neither repairednor replaced due to paucity offunds. In the want of trafficsignal system, these posts aremanned manually by at leasttwo traffic personnel as perrecord between 8 am and 1.45am and from 3.30 pm to 9 pm.

On most of the occasions,it is observed that the trafficmanning personnel arrive latein the post and leave the postearly. With the rise in popula-tion while there is manifoldincrease in the vehiclesincluding four wheelers, ahandful of traffic personnelare seen manning the posts atFM circle, Station, Stationsquare , Police line squareand at times near ITI square.

Most importantly , theseposts are not manned from thecentre of circle or squaressince there is no space toerect post in the appropriateplaces. The appropriate placesfor erecting traffic manningposts are occupied with light

posts. Another importantshortcomings in the trafficmanning is that neither thecertain required patches havezebra crossings nor the reflec-tors.

Traffic police station OICPrasant Ransigh said that forinstalling signal system whileproposals for 11 posts weresubmitted, five of them wereapproved. Soon they would beinstalled in the major pointsand in those places there won’tbe requirement of two trafficmen.

For capacity building ofthe traffic personnel, someare undergoing one monthtraining in Bhubaneswar whenthe student volunteers areengaged mainly in assistingthe traffic police and stream-lining the parking in the townwhich is a major concern ofthe congested town.

District Collector RameshChandra Rout said since thewidening work of some majorroads was in progress, theshifting of light posts won’t befeasible.

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No mention of Bansapani-Barbil rail link in the Rail

Budget presented in theParliament recently has sparkedresentment among the locals inBarbil and Joda.

The Barbil Vikash Parishadhas threatened to hold a sit-inagainst the apathy of theCentral Government as theproject which is of 18 km dis-tance, has been a long standingdemand.

Convenor of the ParishadIndramani Behera andHrishikesh Jena and SushantaKumar Kar both of whom arerepresentatives in the DistrictPlanning Board have clarifiedthis.

Sources revealed that atpresent the Puri -Chakradharpur express trainwhich has been extended up toRourkela has to cover extra 80km via Barbil to reach the des-tination. It takes more than twohours to reach Barbil fromBansapani via Danguaposi.Last year, the Barbil Bikash

Parishad and the JodaVikash Parishad had held a

dharana in demand of the raillink.

However ,the agitation wascalled off after the RailwayMinistry had given a green sig-nal for the same.

The rail link project is sit-uated in the Asia' s largest ironcorridor from where everyyear the Government is col-lecting crores of rupees as rev-enue. Hence, fund is not aproblem for the project .Onlythere is lack of political willpower, Behera told.

He alleged that thoughCM Naveen Patnaik is writingfrequent letters to the ModiGovernment for differentprojects, but not a single letterhas been written by him aboutBarbil- Bansapani rail link.

Similarly, former BlockChairman Giridhari Naik andothers of Joda have demandeda railway station near Bachuhatting in Ward No. 10 of Jodatown.

It may be noted that theCentral Government in itsinterim Rail Budget 2019-20,has allocated Rs 92 crore for thedevelopment of infrastructurein Keonjhar district.

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On the second day of hisfour-day Dehradun visit,

the Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) chief MohanBhagwat held meets withretired bureaucrats includingformer chief secretaries andeducationalists on Wednesday.He said on the occasion thatinstead of relying solely onmedia reports and books, oneshould come and experiencethe Sangh firsthand to knowabout it correctly.

On Wednesday morning,a small group of retired seniorbureaucrats visited the RSSoffice here to interact withBhagwat. He informed themabout the life and beliefs ofRSS founder Keshav BaliramHedgewar. Speaking aboutthe background, history andformation of the RSS, he alsoinformed them about the ide-ology of the Sangh.

He requested all to visitRSS camps where they will beable to get authentic infor-mation about the organisationfrom close quarters.

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JVM supremo BabulalMarandi has intensified his

pre poll exercise here for theChatra Lok Sabha seat. The for-mer CM of Jharkhand is mak-ing extensive pre poll tours inPalamu and Latehar districtswhere he has so far addressednearly a dozen public gather-ings drawing huge support forthe lady Neelam Devi who isnursing the Chatra Lok Sabhasegment over the last fouryears.

Neelam Devi is accompa-nying Marandi everywhere asa day before his arrival here inPalamu she embarked uponher tour in villages asking peo-ple to be electorally withMarandi by way of sitting andtea taking with them inLesliganj, Panki etc places.

Chatra LS seat has parts of

Palamu like Lesliganj, Panki,Tarhassi, Manatu and Lateharand Chatra as well.

Marandi who is in thisregion over the last three daysaddressing gathering of peoplelast leg at Latehar’s Manika onWednesday today told this cor-respondent in Betla today peo-ple are too fed up with this BJPGovernment and are just wait-ing for polling to take place toroot out this BJP Government.The mood and the pulse of thepeople are against thisGovernment he said.

However, much this veter-an leader labours hard for aunified opposition to BJP in theLS election the RJD is throw-ing spanner in the scheme ofunified opposition fight to theBJP. And the Congress too isnot any behind. RJD chiefAnnapurna Devi, who was herein Daltonganj on Tuesday told

media persons that RJD stakesits claim for Chatra, Palamu andKoderma seats. Sources said ifRJD sticks to its demand thenit is surer to cause chink in thearmour of opposition’s unitedfight to BJP. Sources said JVMhas a strong pitch in Chatra,Koderma and Godda but every-where either RJD or theCongress is up like Congressbatting for Furqan Ansari fromGodda while Annapurna Devigoing for Chatra and Koderma.

RJD has parachuted oneSubhash Yadav from Bihar forChatra LS seat but the man isyet to increase his winnabilitythere. A RJD leader begging foranonymity said this man whohas come from Bihar has noidea of poll chemistry or pollmathematics here. On the otherhand Neelam Devi is fromChandwa of Chatra LS seg-ment.

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The Cabinet on Wednesdayapproved amendments to

the Banning of UnregulatedDeposit Schemes Bill, 2018, andempowered the CBI to takeaction against violators. Theamendments include ban ontheir advertisements.

Addressing the media, LawMinister Ravi Shankar Prasadsaid these comprehensiveamendments would strengthenthe enforcement agency andhelp people who are cheated byPonzi schemes. The amend-ment to the Banning ofUnregulated Deposits Schemes

Bill 2018 is expected to betabled in Parliament soon.

The Bill enables creation ofan online Central data base forcollection and sharing of infor-mation of deposit taking activ-ities in the country. The CBI willbe nodal agency to initiateaction against the violators. TheMinister justified making theCBI the nodal agency and saidthat many Ponzi schemes areoperating in several States andthe State police could not coor-dinate effectively. The Bill alsoadded provisions to fix thecheaters who put advertise-ments in newspapers to fool thepeople. “They will be arrested

immediately if they put adver-tisements to fool people,” saidPrasad. The Bill also makesprovisions to retrieve thedeposits, attachment of fraud-sters’ property, and imprison-ment. To a volley of questionsregarding the timing of theamendments and Saradha scamcases, Prasad said criminal lawscan’t be enforced on old cases.

Union Cabinet chaired byPrime Minister Narendra Modialso approved the proposal forestablishment of RashtriyaKamdhenu Aayog forConservation protection anddevelopment of cows and theirprogeny.

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Page 5: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

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The Government has soughtapplications for chairman

and members of anti-corrup-tion ombudsman Lokpal, near-ly five years after the LokpalAct came into force, officialssaid Wednesday.

An advertisement seekingapplications from desired andeligible candidates has beenissued by the PersonnelMinistry.

For the appointment asthe chairman, a person who isor has been Chief Justice ofIndia or a Supreme Courtjudge is eligible to apply.

Besides, individuals with“impeccable integrity and out-standing ability” having specialknowledge and expertise ofnot less than 25 years in mat-ters related to anti-corruptionpolicy, public administration,vigilance, finance includinginsurance and banking, and lawand management are eligible toapply.

Those with less than 45years of age are not eligible toapply.

According to rules, there isa provision for a chairpersonand a maximum of eight mem-bers in the Lokpal. Of these,four need to be judicial mem-bers.

“Not less than 50 per centof the members of the Lokpalshall be from amongst the per-sons belonging to theScheduled Castes, theScheduled Tribes, OtherBackward Classes, minoritiesand women,” the advertise-ment seeking the applicationsreads.

Upon selection, the chair-person and members shall holdoffice for a term of five years ortill they attain 70 years of age.

The salary and allowancesof the chairman of the Lokpalwill be same as that of the ChiefJustice of India. The memberswill be paid salary andallowances same as that of ajudge of the Supreme Court.

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At the backdrop of protestsfrom various sections,

including Parliamentarians, theCentre on Wednesday said theGovernment will file a reviewpetition in the Supreme Court after its Special LeavePetition (SLP) on faculty reser-vation mechanism for univer-sities was rejected by the apexcourt.

“We will file review peti-tion soon and we will put ourpoint strongly. We are confi-dent there will be justice andreservation will continue as perthe earlier system. The gov-ernment will ensure that reser-vation for SC/ST/OBC is nothampered,” HRD MinisterPrakash Javadekar said.

The announcement comesin the wake of protests byteachers and students bodiesafter the SLP seeking restora-tion of earlier mechanism of

faculty reservation, which iscalculating total posts institu-tion-wise rather than depart-ment-wise, was dismissed bythe Supreme court last month.

The roster system providesthat number of vacancies areconsidered department or wingwise in a college or universityand not total number of postsavailable for recruitment inany institution. This results inlimited seats available forrecruitment by each depart-ment or wing under reservedcategories.

“Earlier universities weretreated as a unit for reservationwhich was the right thing andthe SC/ST/OBC were treated ina just manner.

Initially the AllahabadHigh Court and then theSupreme Court decided thatdepartment wise reservationwill happen which meantreduction in reservation forSC/ST/OBC. The Modi

Government filed an SLPagainst it and it was argued wellbut the Supreme Court did notaccept the SLP,” Javadekar saidbriefing the media outside theParliament.

The University GrantsCommission (UGC) had issueda communication to all uni-versities and higher educationinstitutions (HEIs) to “postpone the recruitmentprocess” till the Supreme Courtissued its verdict on the SLPand that decision has not beenwithdrawn yet, the Ministersaid.

The UGC had announcedin March last year that anindividual department shouldbe considered as the base unitto calculate the number ofteaching posts to be reservedfor Scheduled Caste (SC) andScheduled Tribe (ST) candi-dates following an order by theAllahabad High Court in Aprilin 2017.

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The Union Home Ministryhas launched a massive

recruitment drive to fill 76,578vacancies, including 7,646 postsfor women, in Central ArmedPolice Forces (CAPFs).

In a statement onWednesday, the HomeMinistry said out of thesevacancies, 54,953 posts are forthe constable cadre and theywill be hired through the Staff Selection Commission(SSC).

Out of the 54,953 posts ofconstables, the CRPF, theworld’s largest paramilitaryforce, has the maximum 21,566vacancies, followed by the BSF(16,984 posts), the SSB (8,546posts), the ITBP (4,126 posts)and the Assam Rifles (3,076posts) with the remainingbeing in the CISF and otherCAPFs.

For the entire exercise, theSSC will start a computer-based written examinationfrom this month itself, thestatement said.

The CRPF, which has astrength of 325 operationalbattalions (3,25,000 person-nel) will get nearly 22 more bat-talions (22,000 personnelapproximately). The CRPF is adesignated anti-Naxal, counter-terror and anti-insurgencyCentral Force.

The paramilitary is heavi-ly deployed in Jammu andKashmir, Naxal areas and theNortheast.

The addition of the 22 bat-talions will give a boost to theForce that has for long beendeprived of the reserve com-ponent, leading to fatigueamongst personnel due to continuous deployment in hardareas.

After the completion of therecruitment, the personnel willbe able to get soft postings liketraining and the areas not hitby insurgency or terror.

There are 1,073 vacanciesin various CAPFs at the level ofSub-Inspector, out of which 38posts are reserved for women.The BSF has the maximum 508vacancies of SI, followed by the

CRPF (274), the SSB (206)and the ITBP (85). D i r e c tRecruitment for these postsalso will be made by the SSCthrough a written examinationbetween February-March.

At the level of the AssistantCommandant, there exist 466vacancies for which directrecruitment is being madethrough the UPSC. The resultof the written examination tofill these posts has beendeclared on January 1.

The shortlisted candidateswill appear for physical andmedical examination to beconducted by the SashatraSeema Bal (SSB), the nodalforce, from February 25onwards.

In addition, 20,086 vacan-cies pertain to promotionalposts and in other cadres suchas tradesman, ministerial, med-ical, paramedical, communi-cation and engineering andthese are also being filled by theCAPFs.

Thus, in all 76,578 vacan-cies are getting filled up, thestatement added.

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The BJP on Wednesdayquestioned whether

Congress chief Rahul Gandhiwas behind planting the Armycoup story in 2012 even as itsought the StandingCommittee on Defence to takenote of “fresh reports” on thealleged episode.

Taking a serious note ofwhat he described “new reve-lations” on the alleged coupattempt in 2012, BJPspokesperson GVL NarsimhaRao said he has raised the issuewith the Standing committeechairman Kalraj Mishra who isalso a Union Minister and asenor BJP leader.

“I am a member ofParliamentary Committee onDefence and (this fresh report)is a matter of great concern andI have raised the issue with ourchairman and requested himthat we should find answers tothese questions,” Rao toldnewspersons here.

The BJP’s Rajya Sbhamember claimed that four ofNarsimha Rao Government’sCabinet Ministers were in theknow of things and one ofthem had leaked the report to

a section of the press. Hesought the name of theMinister who had leaked theinformation to the media.

The report in a nationalEnglish daily on April 12, 2012,had claimed that the “alarm’ wasraised in January 16, 2013. Thelead story of the daily suggest-ed an attempt of coup by theArmy. The report then alludedthat an entire unit of infantrybased in Hisar (Haryana) hadstarted moving towards Delhiwhile a section from Agra alsomoved towards Palam.

The BJP leader was react-ing after ‘fresh report’ in anEnglish Weekly ‘SundayGuardian’, this month, allegedthat the UPA dispensationunder Manmohan Sigh hadasked Intelligence Bureau toestablish that the then armyChief Gen. V K Singh (now a

Minister in the Modi-Government) was attempting acoup against the Government.

“The top leadership of theUPA 2 government, in the lastfew months of 2011 and early2012, had informally indicatedto the Intelligence Bureau (IB)to try and establish that theArmy, under its chief, GeneralVK Singh, was attempting acoup to topple theGovernment. This was at atime when the UPA 2Government was reeling undercharges of immense corruptionand the Anna Hazare move-ment was going on. A fewmonths later, despite the IB cat-egorically reporting that therewas absolutely no chance thatGen Singh would carry out anycoup, this fiction was “leaked”to the media..”, the report of theWeekly alleged.

Rao asked if Congressleader Rahul Gandhi was the‘brain’ behind these conspira-cies, and wondered why UPAministers spread these ‘lies’despite the Intelligence Bureaucalling any news about theseattempts ‘false’.

“This Congress party hadnot only indulged in loot, butthey have also played havoc with

national security of this coun-try and played with security,” theBJP spokesperson said.

“This is not just a politi-cal conspiracy but also anattempt to defame the Indianarmy. In January 2012, therewere media reports thatclaimed that the Indian Armywas staging a coup against thethen-Manmohan SinghGovernment. The stories wereplanted by senior leaders of theCongress party, including cer-tain Cabinet Ministers. Thiswas a manufactured coup.Based on the information thatwas given to him, the then-Prime Minister asked the IB topresent facts on the rumour.Even after the IB had clearedthe rumours, the UPA stillplanted the story in mediathat attempted to malign theIndian Army,” he said.

Reacting to the charges, ex-Defence Minister and seniorCongress leader A K Antonysaid in a brief reply, “AsDefence Minister at that time,there were lot of questions inRajya Sabha and Lok Sabha. Ihad given detailed answers.Please go through Parliamentwebsite, you’ll get the answer Ihad given,”

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Both the Houses ofParliament were adjourned

on Wednesday without trans-acting any business. While theproceedings of Lok Sabha wereadjourned for the day after pay-ing obituary to sitting BJDmember from Odisha LaduKishore Swain, Rajya Sabha toowere washed out completely forthe third day in a row over var-ious issues including theCitizenship (Amendment) Billand roster system for reserva-tion in educational institu-tions.

As soon as the Lok Sabhamet for the day, SpeakerSumitra Mahajan informedmembers about the demise ofthe Biju Janata Dal member inBhubaneshwar on Wednesdaymorning.

The debate on Motion ofThanks to the President’sAddress to the joint sitting ofParliament is likely to contin-ue on Thursday where PrimeMinister is expected to reply tothe debate.

The MP from Aska was71. Swain was a member of theparliamentary committee onRural Development and OBCs.Prime Minister Narendra Modiand UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi were among memberspresent when the obituary ref-erence was made.

The Rajya Sabha proceed-ings were within seconds in themorning for post lunch.Thereafter as soon as the upperhouse resumed its proceedingsat 2 PM, RJD, SP, BSP and

TMC members trooped into the well protesting overvarious issues mainly intro-duction of roster system in edu-cational institutions which theyclaim limits the scope of reser-vation for jobs. BesidesCongress members were alsoon their feet to lodge theirprotest.

Deputy Speaker Harivanshasked protesting members inthe well to return to theirrespective seats.

However, the members did

not relent and kept on raisingslogans like “Anti-poor gov-ernment cannot function”.They were also holding plac-ards to protest against the ros-ter system.

He then requested SPleader Ramgopal Yadav to endthe protest as he will be givena chance to speak on the issueduring the Zero Hour. Yadavsaid the government has devi-ated from its promise made inthe House on this issue.

In the meantime,Parliamentary Affairs MinisterVijay Goel tried to pacifyYadav. However, the protestcontinued.

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar saidGovernment is working on theissue and preparing a specialleave petition and review peti-tion for filing in the SupremeCourt.

When the members con-tinued raising slogans andshowing placards, Harivanshsaid, “In this situation, I haveno other option but to adjournthe House till February 7.”

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Ahead of the upcoming Lok Sabhapolls this year, the Ministry of

Finance’s Public Investment Board(PIB) on Wednesday approved metrorail projects of Agra, Kanpur,Ahmedabad phase II and Patna besidesthe Delhi-Ghaziabad-Meerut RapidRail Transit corridor.

Meanwhile, the Delhi Governmentonce again made it clear that its shareof �1138 crore towards the project costhas to be borne by the Centre as it didnot have adequate funds. The questionthus reminas as to who will pay theshare of Delhi Government, sourcessaid.

Sources in the Government saidthat financial implications of the afore-mentioned metro rail projects have beenapproved. The proposals would be sentto the Union Cabinet for approval.

On the Delhi-Ghaziabd-Meerutcorridor of RRTS, Delhi government

has written to Ministry of Housing andUrban Affairs that proposed change inalignment of the project as well aschange of station at Sarai Kale Khanfrom underground to elevated wouldaffect the construction plan of ISBTSarai Kale Khan and the proposed hotelunder the PPP mode to fund the rede-velopment of the ISBT. This will leadto delay in the entire project. Accordingto sources, the after refusing the sharethe project cost by the DelhiGovernment, the question arise whetherthe Centre will pay the share of DelhiGovernment.

The metro rail project of Patna willcost �13,400 crore. As per the DPR, the14.5km east-west corridor will coverSaguna Mor, Bailey Road, PatnaJunction and Mithapur bus stand. The16.5km north-south corridor, on theother hand, will connect Patna Junctionwith the proposed bus stand at Barriyavia Ashok Rajpath, Gandhi Maidan andRajendra Nagar terminal. While the

east-west corridor will mostly be under-ground, the north-south corridor willbe elevated.

For Kanpur and Agra metro, theUttar Pradesh government had reducedthe cost of the projects after the Ministryof Housing and Urban Affairs’s objec-tion. For the Kanpur project, a proposalof �18,143 crore was sent earlier. Now

it has been made �10,908 crores. A total of 32.385 km of metro rail

will be built in Kanpur. As per therevised DPR, two corridors will be builtunder the Kanpur Metro project. Theproposed metro rail of Kanpur city willcover IIT, Rawatpur, Bada Chauraha,Motimahal, Kanpur Central, ISBTJhakarkatti and Naubasta. The Agrametro project cost was estimated to�13,781 crores. Now it has been made�8,262 crores. A 30 km metro rail net-work is to be built in Agra which willconsist two corridors.

The Ahmedabad metro phase IIprojects will cost Rs 7500 crore. As perthe revised DPR for phase-II, the routelength has been shortened to 28.26 km.It will have two corridors - the first onehaving a length of 22.84 km will linkMotera with Mahatma Mandir and thesecond one about 5.42 km-long branchfrom GNLU (Gujarat National LawUniversity) and linking PDPU andGIFT City.

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Defence Minister NirmalaSitharaman will discuss

the entire range of bilateralstrategic and defence issueswith Germany and Swedenrespectively during her four-day two-nation tour startingFebruary 11.

Incidentally, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi hadpaid an official visit to the twocountries in April last year tohold high level discussionsespecially focussing on strate-gic and defence relations.

During her visit toSweden, the defence ministerwill explore possibilities ofindustries from there partici-pating in the “‘Make In India’’programme especially in the

field of defence manufacturing.Sweden’s fighter jet Gripen isin the race for the 110-fighter jet proposed dealfor the IAF costing more than ten billion dollars forwhich the global tender wasfloated last year, sources said

here on Wednesday. Sitharaman will hold wide

ranging discussions with herSwedish counterparts and isalso likely to visit some state ofthe art defence industries there,they added.

In her talks with Germanleaders, the Defence Minister will discuss issueslike terrorism, possibility ofexchanges between officers atthe military level and strategicmatters.

Though India andGermany do not have muchdefence trade, the two sidesmay hold discussion aboutpossible tie-up for manufac-turing submarines as Germanythree decades ago had helpedIndia in manufacturing HDWsubmarines here.

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The bereaved family of lateSquadron Leader Samir

Abrol, one of the two testpilots who died in a Mirage-2000 crash in Bengaluru lastweek, has said while thebureaucracy enjoy its “corruptcheese and wine”, the air war-riors are given “outdatedmachines” to fight.

An emotional poempenned by Abrol’s brotherSushant, posted on Facebook,states it is an “unforgiving” jobto be a test pilot given the risksit posses.

“While the bureaucracyenjoyed its corrupt cheese and wine. We give our warriorsoutdated machines to fight, They still deliver it with all their prowess and might,” Sushant said in thepost that was widely shared.

Abrol and Squadron

Leader Siddhartha Negi, both from Aircraft and Systems Testing Establishment,died after their fighter jetcrashed.

They were conducting anacceptance sortie of theMirage-2000 trainer, whichhad been newly-upgraded bystate-run aerospace companyHindustan AeronauticsLimited, when it crashed onFriday.

Though the two pilotsmade a bid to eject, they werecaught in the flames as theplane crashed with a hugeexplosion.

In another post, Sushant said, “It’s high time wecare not just for lost votes, butalso for our lost pilots to thenegligence of this corrupt sys-tem!!”

The post was also sharedby Abrol’s wife Garima onInstagram.

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The Supreme Court onWednesday sought a

response from activist andlawyer Prashant Bhushan oncontempt pleas by AttorneyGeneral K K Venugopal andthe Centre for his tweetsallegedly criticising the courtover the appointment of MNageswara Rao as interim CBIdirector.

Bhushan was given threeweeks to reply.

A bench of Justices ArunMishra and Naveen Sinha saidit would deal with the largerquestion of whether it is openfor lawyers or any other personto criticise the court in a subjudice matter which wouldlead to influencing public opin-ion. Criticising the court mayalso lead to interference in thecourse of justice, the benchadded.

“This issue required to beheard in length, notice issued,”

it said, listing the matter for fur-ther hearing on March 7.

Bhushan, in his tweets,alleged that the Centre, repre-sented by Venugopal, misledthe apex court on the issue ofRao’s appointment.

On Tuesday, the Centremoved the apex court seekinginitiation of contempt pro-ceedings against Bhushan forhis tweets and said theyamounted to making falsestatement in a pending case.This was days after Venugopal’scontempt petition againstBhushan.

Venugopal, in his con-tempt plea, referred to theextracts of the minutes of the

meeting of the high poweredselection committee compris-ing Prime Minister NarendraModi, Justice A K Sikri andleader of the largest oppositionparty Mallikarjun Kharge.

The Centre’s plea alsoreferred to the contents ofVenugopal’s petition and sub-mitted that they be also read aspart of its plea.

Venugopal’s petitionreferred to Bhushan’s February1 tweets in which he allegedthat the government appearedto have misled the apex courtand perhaps submitted fabri-cated minutes of the meeting ofthe high-powered selectioncommittee.

Through his tweets,Venugopal said, Bhushanappeared to have deliberatelyintended to cast aspersions onthe “integrity and honesty” ofthe attorney general who hadplaced the minutes of the meet-ing before the apex court dur-ing the February 1 hearing.

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The Supreme Court has saidthat linkage of PAN with

Aadhaar is mandatory for filingof Income Tax returns.

A bench comprising Jus-tices A K Sikri and S Abdul Naz-eer said the top court has alre-ady decided the matter andupheld the section 139AA of theIncome Tax Act. The court’s dir-ection came on an appeal filedby the Centre against a DelhiHigh Court order allowing twopersons, Shreya Sen andJayshree Satpute, to file IncomeTax returns for 2018-19 withoutlinking their Aadhaar and PANnumbers.

“The aforesaid order waspassed by the High Court havingregard to the fact that the matterwas pending consideration in thisCourt. Thereafter, this Court hasdecided the matter and upheldthe vires of section 139AA of the

Income Tax Act. In view there-of, linkage of PAN with Aadhaaris mandatory,” the bench said.

The top court noted thatwith regard to Assessment Year2018-19, it has been informedthat the two petitioners had filedthe Income Tax returns in termsof the orders of the High Courtand the assessment has alsobeen completed. “We thereforemake it clear that for the assess-ment year 2019-20, the incometax return shall be filed interms of the judgment passed bythis court. The special leave peti-tion is disposed of in the aboveterms,” the bench said in anorder on Monday.

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Page 6: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

Bibi Aasia Noreen, the PakistaniChristian woman who was ondeath row for blasphemy, is final-ly out of the woods. The SupremeCourt of Pakistan recently reject-

ed the final appeal against her acquittal. Butshe might still have to relocate to the West,as living in Pakistan could prove perilousfor her. India could have set an example byinviting her to live in this country.

Imagine if Aasia Bibi were a Christianwoman in India, working in an agricultur-al field alongside Hindu women. Considera hypothetical scenario. Thirsty afterworking under the hot sun, she fetches apail of water for fellow workers, but firstdrinks some herself from the metal muglying beside the well. The other women,suddenly realising that she is a Christian,wonder whether Aasia Bibi had “polluted”their well and “diluted” their religion. Andthen, angered and hurt, Aasia Bibi reactsby telling some horrible things aboutHindu deities as though she had been read-ing BR Ambedkar’s Riddles in Hinduism:The Annotated Critical Selection the pre-vious night.

What options would Hindu womenhave against Aasia Bibi? First, a cat-fightto teach her a lesson on the spot. Second,tell the owner of the land to dismiss herfrom services. Third, to complain to theirrespective husbands about the defilement.Fourth, to tell the priest about a local tem-ple. Fifth, go to Rashtriya SwayamsevakSangh (RSS) and Vishwa Hindu Parishad(VHP) karyakartas. Sixth, to go to the lawenforcing authorities like police and court.

The third and fourth options wouldhave been treated as nothing more than gos-sip-mongering. Also, since Aasia Bibi is nota Bible-thumping Christian missionary,there would be little to excite the RSS andVHP karyakartas. The fifth option ofapproaching the law enforcing authoritieswould be positively dangerous for them asthey would be hauled up under Section 3of the Protection of Civil Rights Act, 1955,to enforce religious disabilities (denyingaccess to water sources). Thus, rather thandoing any harm to Aasia Bibi, they them-selves would have ended up in prison for upto six months besides depositing a penalty.

But on June 14, 2009, Aasia Bibi wasunfortunately in an alternate universecalled Pakistan. She was arrested on chargesof making derogatory remarks aboutProphet Mohammed, based on the evidenceof Mafia Bibi and Asma Bibi. QariMohammed Salam, a local cleric, filed acase of blasphemy with the police, based onhearsay. The case spiralled in importancewith a local court awarding death sentenceto Aasia Bibi for denigrating ProphetMohammed in 2010, and later a Lahorecourt upholding its judgement in 2016.

The Pakistan Penal Code has severalcontroversial sections (and sub sectionsthereof) ranging from 295 to 298-C under

offences related to religion,commonly called “blasphemylaws” that are discriminatoryagainst non-Muslims. The mostdangerous of them are 295-C(use of derogatory remarkswith respect to ProphetMohammed) and 295-B (defil-ing the Holy Quran) whichcarry a punishment of manda-tory death sentence and lifeimprisonment respectively.

Some of these deadly pro-visions were inserted inPakistan’s Penal Code not whenthe Islamic Republic wasfounded but in the 1980s, whenthe rest of the world was seizedwith the idea of progress.Pakistan had inherited someblasphemy laws from theBritish period but those werereligion-neutral. Their basicpurpose was not to defendreligious principles but main-tain communal peace.

In three decades between1947 and 1977, there were only10 reported court judgementsin Pakistan pertaining tooffences against religion. Thecomplaints were made mostlyby Muslims against otherMuslims, by non-Muslimsagainst Muslims. No case wasregistered by a Muslim againstnon-Muslims for committingan act of blasphemy againstProphet Mohammed or “defil-ing” the Quran. But all thesewas about to change soon.

In 1974, when Zulfikar AliBhutto was the Prime Minister,the first amendment in the

Constitution of Pakistan, 1973,was carried out to exclude theAhmediyas from the legal def-inition of being a Muslim. Thelanguage of the amendmenthad a theological overtoneincompatible with modern con-stitutions. It says that a person,who does not believe in theabsolute and unqualified final-ity of the prophethood of theMohammed, is not a Muslimfor the purpose of theConstitution or law.

In 1977, General Zia-ulHaq came to power through acoup d’état. The ensuing 11years saw increasedIslamisation of Pakistan in var-ious spheres. These includedinsertion of five provisionsrelating to blasphemy in thePakistan Penal Code between1980 and 1986. Close to 1,500people have been chargedunder those sections till datethough none were actuallyhanged.

A Federal Shariat Court(FSC) was established in 1980,with the power to “examine anddecide the question whetherany law or provision of law isrepugnant to the injunctions ofIslam”. The FSC’s decisions arebinding upon the Governmentunless the latter successfullyappeals to the Shariat bench ofthe Supreme Court.

When Section 295-C wasintroduced in 1986, it had aprovision of life imprisonmentas an alternative to capital pun-ishment. But in 1990, the FSC

recommended the removal ofalternative provision of lifeimprisonment. Since thePakistan Government did notappeal against this recommen-dation in the Supreme Court bythe deadline of April 30, 1991,the capital punishment withoutan alternative attained finality.

A judgement of PeshawarHigh Court in 2006 expressedserious concern that whenevera person was charged withsuch an offence, the mediagave extensive coverage and theaccused person was abused bythe society/people at large.Even under Islamic injunc-tions, the court added, it is forthe Qazi alone to decide theguilt or innocence of theaccused and none could beallowed to forejudge and con-demn any person accused ofsuch offence without facingproper and fair trial.

Right to fair trial is what theSupreme Court based its caseupon in its judgements (datedOctober 7, 2015, and January,28, 2019). But unfortunately,the court could not discard orchallenge the atrocious rubricof blasphemy laws. This meansthere will be no end to thismadness in Pakistan. Thecourts could not counteractblasphemy because they knowit is an integral part of Islam. Itsmisuse though has been possi-bly as old as its application itself.

Nicholas Mannucci (1638-1717), the Italian adventurer toIndia, relates in his Storia do

Mogor how a rich Jew inAleppo (Syria) outwitted aMuslim Governor, who want-ed to deprive him of his wealth,life and religion by abettingblasphemy in the 16th century.The Governor asked the Jew,who was the greatest Prophetamong Moses, Christ andMohammed? Had the Jew saidMohammed, he would be askedto accept Islam. Had he men-tioned the others, it would beconsidered a blasphemy and hewould be put to death.

The Jew, however, provedcleverer than expected. He nar-rated a story of how a rich manhad a precious stone, whicheach of his three sons wantedto inherit on his death. So hegot two exact replicas madefrom the lapidaire; and gaveaway those to each son so thatone had the original and theother two had replicas. But hetold each to keep it a secret thathe had given him the originaland the false one to others. Butonly the father knew who gotthe original. So God gave threeProphetic religions viz Judaism,Christianity and Islam to threeraces. While each thinks hisreligion is true, God aloneknows the truth. The Muslimgovernor conceded defeat in hismission and even rewardedthe Jew.

(The writer is author ofrecently published book, ‘TheMicrophone Men: How Oratorscreated a Modern India’. Viewsexpressed are his personal)

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Sir — The interim Budget pre-sented by stand-by FinanceMinister Piyush Goyal was clev-erly crafted. It sought to lure allsections of Indian society, espe-cially the middle classes and theworker communities. Althoughthe Opposition termed the measures as a “drop in theocean”, one hopes that theGovernment will rise aboverhetoric and deliver on thepromises. It is true that thepromise of achche din continuesto be a distant dream. Yet, if themeasures as suggested in theBudget are implemented inearnest, the standard of livingshould improve substantially.

No Budget, however, canappease every section of society.The standard deduction limithas been increased from �40,000to �50,000; taxpayers with anannual income higher than fivelakh rupees are surely not ashappy as the ones who will beexempted from taxes for earningless than the stated amount.

One must note that thisyear’s Budget has not made amention about the exact figureof the effective taxpayers’ base.

Last year, the figure was shownto have increased from 6.46crore to 8.27 crore. But this time,only the number of returns filedhas been mentioned. Now, itremains to be seen if this is anintentional one. In any case, ina country with a population ofover 130 crore, a lot remains tobe done.

Hemant Kumar Ambala City

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Sir — In an election year, theBudget was expected to be inter-im. Ironically, this year’s Budgetsounded like a full-fledged one.Earlier, it was the announcementof indirect taxes that added somerelevance to an otherwise large-ly inconsequential presentation —the interim Budget is imple-

mented for only four months ofthe new fiscal year.

Unfortunately, most suchindirect taxes have been ren-dered obsolete by Goods andServices Tax. In their absence, theCentre has proceeded to outlinepolicies that go beyond the usualpractice of setting broad pointersfor the incoming Government.The foray into direct taxationshould have been avoided. The

Budget, at best, should havereduced tax incidence on thelower rungs of taxpayers ratherthan completely exempting alarge chunk from the tax radar.This is misplaced populism. Thesaving grace is that it did not cutdown tax on corporate entities.Fiscal discipline seems to havebeen adhered to, but it looks likeit is based more on hope than onsubstance.

R NarayanNavi Mumbai

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Sir — One needs to expressdeep appreciation to cancer sur-vivors, those who are bravelyfighting the disease and also themedical fraternity. It is a combi-nation of medicine, the fightingspirit and the never-say-die atti-tude which will aid them inrecovery. The answer to canceris: Never give up, fight back.Greater awareness and earlyinterventions are much neededto tackle the disease.

TS Karthik Chennai

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Page 7: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

February 4, 2019, was a signif-icant day for the Himalayas ason this ver y day, the

Kathmandu-based InternationalCentre for Integrated MountainDevelopment (ICIMOD) releasedthe much-awaited first ever assess-ment report on the impact of cli-mate change on the Hindu Kush-Himalayan (HKH) region.

The region — spread over 3,500square kilometres across eightcountries, including India, Nepaland China — is also known as theWater Tower of Asia due to itsreserve of frozen water. The regionis considered to be the core area ofthe Himalayas, which by them-selves, are not the only youngestmountain range but are also con-

ceptually the Third Pole.But thanks to rapid climate

change, the Himalayas hog theheadlines and mostly for all thewrong reasons. The ICMOD’sassessment report is an effort by theinter-governmental body, involvinga massive scientific exercise, com-prising over 300 researchers andspanning over four years.

The report said that the HKHregion is warming faster than theglobal average. And it would con-tinue to do so during this century.This assessment is very concerningas the HKH region is an incrediblyimportant asset for Asia and theworld. It is a key source of water,energy, carbon stocks as well as richbiodiversity. For example, the riversstarting from HKH are home toabout two billion people with thepotential to generate 500 gigawattsof hydropower.

The region is, however, underthreat from climate change in addi-tion to a host of other changes,including ecosystem degradation,outmigration and air pollution.

Usually, mountains warm up fasterthan global averages. Even if welimit global warming to 1.5 degreeCelsius, mountain temperatureswould rise above two degree Celsiusand if current trends continue,temperatures could go up by fourto six degrees Celsius.

This holds dire consequencesnot only for our glaciers but also forfood, energy, ecosystems and for thepeople, who rely on them in termsof ecosystem change, changingwater flow patterns and increasedhazards of disasters.

In a 1.5 degree Celsius world,about one-third of our glacierswill disappear by 2100 and underthe current emission scenario, wewill lose two-third of our glaciervolumes. Many major cities in andnear the HKH region have annualaverage PM2.5 concentrations ofalmost 10 times higher than theguidelines made by the WorldHealth Organisation.

In addition to negative healthimpacts, this also adds to meltingof our glaciers. Already, 70 to 80 per

cent of the habitat in biodiversityhotspots has been lost over the last500 years and one-fourth of theendemic species could be lost by 2100.

Even now, overall condition inthe HKH region is not good aspoverty incidence is one-third ascompared to the national averagethat’s one-fourth.

Besides, over 30 per cent of theHKH population suffers from foodinsecurity and 50 per cent arefaced with some form of malnutri-tion. Moreover, about 80 per centof the rural population living inHKH countries lack access to cleanenergy for cooking. Added to this,there remains persistent genderand social imbalance in develop-mental activities.

Given these circumstances, it iscrucial to bring global attention tothe Himalayas. The ICMOD, withits 350 researchers, practitionersand policy-makers, has put mindstogether to bring out this scientif-ic assessment so that the message isspread without any confusion.

The Himalayas are the lastcitadel of nature and climate changeis breaching it. There is an urgentneed for the HKH countries to stepup efforts to lower greenhouse gasemissions so that runaway temper-atures can be controlled.

In order to get there, it isimportant that they rein in air andwater pollution and promote sus-tainable energy. This will help con-tain biodiversity loss and assistsome of the most poor and vulner-able people to adapt to the environ-ment. Inter-governmental cooper-ation has to be the foundation forthis effort and the ICMOD’s reportcan make for a good start.

Yet another method is to drawthe countries into a meaningful dia-logue so that the importance ofhealth of the HKH region in par-ticular and the Himalayan region ingeneral is emphasised. This willhelp politicians, Government offi-cials, media, business and otherinfluential people work together, intandem with the goals of preserv-ing the environment.

Countries in the HKH regioncan take inspiration from the ArcticCouncil where countries have unit-ed to share information, to jointlydevelop solutions and to speakwith a common voice to the global communities about theimpacts of climate change andother concerns.

The world will not realise as itwill not stand to lose if the HKHregion is climatically compromisedbut HKH countries will surely feelthe adverse impacts of climatechange on the region, and Indiabeing part of the same, must takethe lead and sensitse the countriesof the impending environmentalproblems of the region and do theneedful.

The uniqueness of the HKHregion is its topography and ecol-ogy. They have to be preserved.Ditto for its traditional culture andcommunities. However, this can bepossible only by keeping climatechange at bay at any cost.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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It was expected that the fury and furoregenerated by the Sabarimala imbrogliowould subside with the seasonal closingof the shrine. But controversy has resur-faced and resulted in a public outcry in

Kerala once again. The latest provocation forthe Hindus was the news widely publicised thatthe affidavit submitted by the lawyers of theMarxist Government of Kerala — that con-tained the names of women below the age of50, who entered the Sabarimala shrine — is afabricated list of lies. It has names of men andwomen over 50 years of age, whose age hasbeen deliberately reduced and also the nameof a woman, whose address cannot be traced.

A heap of lies concocted by theGovernment is beginning to get exposed. Butthe question of larger significance, whichmore and more Hindus are asking themselves,that too vocally now is: Why this haste toreform our rituals alone? Why resort to lies,police brute force and false propaganda todemolish Hindu faith?

Marxism and Hinduism in Kerala:Marxism anywhere cannot be tolerant of reli-gion. But in Kerala (and in West Bengal too)the party confronted an Indian reality. Theycould not attack the faith of the organised reli-gions who had well-established vote banks. InKerala, therefore, Hindu faith became the pri-mary object of derision. In this task, they alwayshad the unstinted support of the Western-biased media.

Sanatana dharma and Marxism: As theerudite Purohit Swami wrote in his autobiog-raphy, “Civilisations superstructure may be veryfine indeed but it totters like a house of cards,for the everlasting kingdom is established inman’s hearts and not an inevitable denouementoutwardly to dazzle these eyes.” MarxistGovernments in USSR, Czechoslovakia,Yugoslavia and East European countries did totter like a pack of cards because they did notimprove the inner man.

Marxism and social maladies: Hinduyouths have been the most vulnerable targetsfor this loss of values and Marxist indoctrina-tion. If weaned away from religious moorings,youth become rebellious and Marxist ideolo-gy can then be easily driven into such discon-tented minds. In northern Kerala, these unem-ployed and under-employed youth are beingused as volunteers to carry out the political murder.

The intellectual pauperism: Sloganeeringand repetitions of cliché have stunted indepen-dent thinking minds in the State. “Idioticallypompous” that is what most people have beenreduced to by the communists’ propaganda.They vainly mouth fascism, sangh parivar,renaissance (navodhanam) or any other phrase-ology coined by the communist bandwagon.While Vedantic traditions and faith holdthrough time, the communists are flogging adead ideology.

Sabarimala and its unique tradition:Sabarimala has always been a temple that wasintended to instill qualities of renunciation,peace and bramhacharya. A 41-day period ofdiscipline regarding diet restriction, sleep

control and celibacy is followed by the devo-tees as they prepare for a visit to the holy shrine.Once they put on the bead garland, they arecalled swamys, suggesting they are worthy ofrespect. When the devotee reaches Sabarimala,he is better qualified to realise the ultimatetruth, tatvam asi (thou art that) inscribed at theentrance of the temple. Sabarimala is not justa place of worship, it is a nursery for thosedesirous, who follow the path of yoga. It is forthis very reason that the unique tradition ofSabarimala needs to be preserved.

Yogic traditions and media lies: Can’t thewomen too practise these very virtues and dis-cipline? They can, and it for this very reasonthat all temples, including the temple ofAyyappa, are open to women of all ages. TheSabarimala idol is conceived by the devotees asa naishtika brahmachari, a youth who has con-served all his vital energy and performs tapasfor God’s realisation. He is depicted as sittingin a unique posture, yoga pattasana, whichtantric science says is conducive for the arousalof the Kundalini Shakti. If one observes the idol,with even a rudimentary knowledge of tantraand yoga (the writer claims nothing more), itcan be seen that in this posture of sitting, pres-sure is put on the mooladhara chakra and thelower energy centres of the body. This postureis unique and Ayyappa idol at Sabarimala is theonly deity depicted in this posture.

Is the total sublimation of the vital ener-gy, conceived in the idol, ideally suited to beworshipped by women of reproductive age?

To denounce esoteric religious practices interms of modern-day rationality would be asabsurd as dismissing the bread and wine takenby the faithful Christians during Eucharist asbeing bakery items of gastronomical delightsor giving a biological explanation to the vir-gin’s motherhood of Christ.

Romo Rolland knew the dangers of stateinterference in spiritual matters and he was

prompted to say that had Shri Rama KrishnaParamahansa been born in the West, he wouldhave been subjected to shock treatments.

Gender and Sabarimala: If my right toswing my walking stick ends where your nosebegins, then the feminist bandwagon shouldrealise that the right place to swing their walk-ing stick is not the Sabarimala shrine. The faith-ful women devotees of Kerala realise thisunique nature of the deity and this is the rea-son why they spontaneously carried out ralliesagainst Government interference in Sabarimala.The faithful respect the right to worship for oth-ers and Sabarimala is the only temple (one ortwo local exceptions apart) where age restric-tion for women is followed.

The feminists, who still insist on swingingtheir walking sticks at other worshippers’noses, are State-sponsored activists of varioushues. Many have shady pasts, police cases pend-ing against them and have Maoist affiliationstoo. When the State Government manipulatesthe list of young women, who have alreadyentered the temple premise, it was the culmi-nation of a large game plan that divine inter-vention has exposed.

Gender, Sabarimala and some commonsense: Gender parity is a pre-requisite for thefunctioning of democracy. There are timeswhen you have to give Caesar what is his dueand to God what is due to him. But again, whoshall decide where Caesar’s domain ends andGod’s begin? Justice Indu Malhotra said in herdissenting note that the judiciary itself shouldnot judge matters of spiritual significance.

Media and the propaganda oflies: Ayyappa is no misogynist, nor is his celiba-cy under threat if women visit the shrine.Neither Ayyappa nor his devotees have con-tempt for menstruating women or considerthem unclean. These are arguments concoct-ed by Western-biased media and the commu-nist propaganda machinery. If the true signif-

icance of Sabarimala’s rituals and tradition isto be understood, surely it has to be by usingthe semantics of spiritual literature and not newfangled words imported from an alien culture.To paraphrase Sri Aurobindo’s observations onWestern psychology, the secret of the beautyof a lotus flower cannot be unravelled byanalysing the composition of the mud in whichit grows but it can only be done by looking atthe ideal of a lotus existing in some heavenlysphere above.

The last citadel and the long fight: Keralais the last communist citadel and the LDFwould fight with all collective strength of theGovernment machinery, police force and thenumerical strength of its well-knit party cadreagainst any consolidation of the forces of Hindudharma. They will try to buy over the Christianand Muslim vote banks and also use nefarioustactics of widening caste divide to split the con-solidation of Hindu votes.

For the Hindus of Kerala, the battle is a longdrawn out one. They will be isolated, malignedby the media and curbed by police power. Whatthe Hindus of Kerala need is belief, the peren-nial nature of Sanatana Dharma that has sur-vived greater onslaughts and invasions. ButHindus need to fight without forsaking the spir-it of tolerance and compassion fostered by theirfaith, without becoming cowards in the bargain.

But in the political battle f ield,Governments of the day will only acknowledgethe strength of the vote bank. In the neo-Darwinian political scene of India, it is the sur-vival of the vote bank. And it is here that divid-ed Hindus will have to think wisely, decisive-ly and cast their votes. Hindu religion never didstoop to fascism. It fostered civilisational val-ues and strengthened nationhood. The writingon the wall is clearer now for the Hindus ofKerala than ever before.

(The writer is President, Thapasya Art andLiterary Forum)

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Page 8: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

nation 08BHOPAL | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 7, 2019

Bengaluru: India’s latest com-munication satellite GSAT-31was successfully put into orbit inthe early hours on Wednesdayby an European rocket fromFrench Guiana, in a mission thatis expected to enhance connec-tivity for ATMs and provide foruninterrupted DTH services.

Blasting off from ArianeLaunch Complex at Kourou, aFrench territory located innortheastern coast of SouthAmerica at at 2.31 am (IST),the Ariane-5 vehicle of theEuropean launch servicesprovider Arianespace injectedthe “high power” satellite intothe orbit in a flawless flight thatlasted about 42 minutes.

With a mission life of 15years and weighing about 2,536kg, GSAT-31 is the country’s40th communication satellite tobe built by the Indian SpaceResearch Organisation (ISRO)

and will provide continuity tooperational services on some ofthe in-orbit satellites.

“It gives me great pleasureon the successful launch ofGSAT-31 spacecraft on boardAriane-5,” ISRO’s SatishDhawan Space Centre (SDSC)Director S Pandian said atKourou soon after the launch.

“Congratulation toArianespace on the successfullaunch and precise injection ofsatellite into the orbit,” headded. The GSAT-31 is a “highpower” communication satel-lite with Ku-band, and it isgoing to serve and replacesome of the satellites that aregoing to expire soon, he said.

Arianespace CEOStéphane Israël tweeted: “2019is off to a roaring start for#Arianespace! Flight #VA247,carrying Saudi GeostationarySatellite 1/Hellas Sat 4 andGSAT-31, is a confirmed suc-cess that underscores our lead-ership position in the geosta-tionary launch market.@KACST #HellasSat @ISRO@LockheedMartin.” PTI

Thiruvananthapuram: ThePandalam royal family, the cus-todian of the Sabarimala tem-ple’s jewellery, on Wednesdayslammed the TravancoreDevaswom Board (TDB) forchanging its opinion and nowsupporting the entry of allwomen to the hilltop shrine.

After the TDB announcedits stand in the Supreme Courtas it heard numerous reviewpetitions against its September28 verdict lifting the ban onentry of women of all ages tothe Lord Ayyappa temple, theroyal family’s spokesperson PSVerma said the “true colours”of the TDB had been revealed.

“They have toed the line ofthe Kerala Government. Whenthey earlier said they are with

the wishes and aspirations ofthe Sabarimala devotee, it wasall a bluff.

“Today their true colourshave surfaced and this meansboth the government and theTDB are out to destroy the cus-toms and traditions of theSabarimala temple,” he said.

Noting the court had nowdecided to give another sevendays for written submissions,Verma alleged that this meansthat the temple premises weregoing to witness another show-down when it opens for themonthly pujas on February 12.

“So as far as we are con-cerned, we have not lost hopeas we feel that if there is goingto be another setback, there isan option to file a curative peti-

tion. We will go to any extentto protect the traditions andcustoms of the temple,” headded. TDB president A.Padmakumar denied the board

had changed its stand.“We did not file a review

petition. Instead we filed a‘delay petition’ (requesting thecourt to defer the judgment).

What I have been told is thattoday we were asked about ourstand in relation to theSeptember 28 verdict.

“It was to this that ourcounsel said that they will abideby the court verdict. The courthas also given time till February13 to give in writing if there areany more things that should bebrought before the court.

“We will meet to discuss onwhat needs to be given in writ-ing,” said Padmakumar, a for-mer CPI-M legislator.

“The TDB will abide bywhatever the verdict is,” he said.Asked if there was a shift in thestand, the TDB reminded themedia that the Bharatiya JanataParty’s organ had soon after theSeptember 28 verdic ran a

headline hailing it as “historic”.Former Chief Minister and

Congress leader OommenChandy said the TDB’s somer-sault showed that it was handin glove with the PinarayiVijayan Government.

“Just what Vijayan wanted,the TDB has done,” he said.State BJP president PSSreedharan Pillai said Vijayanhas taken everyone for a ride.

“The people have beencheated and very soon thepeople will give a fitting replyfor what has happened,” hesaid. Former TDB presidentPrayar Gopalakrishnan, whoalso filed a review petition, saidhe was confident the templecustoms and traditions will beprotected. IANS

PNS n SRINAGAR

Fresh rain and snowfall dis-rupted normal life in

Srinagar and other parts ofKashmir Valley on Wednesdayamid forecast for inclement fortwo more days.

The bad weather forced theauthorities to close the strate-gic 270-km Srinagar-Jammunational highway for vehicularone way traffic. Besides, the airtraffic was also disrupted withcancellation of several flights toand from Srinagar airport.

The MeT department saidthat plains of the Jammu divi-sion will receive rain whilehigher reaches both in Jammuand valley region will receivemoderate to heavy snowfall.

MeT Director SonamLotus said that there will begradual increase in rain andsnowfall across the State fol-lowed by improvement from

Friday forenoon.The fresh snowfall in the

Banihal area caused slipperyroad condition at Zig Postupto Jawahar Tunnel amid badweather condition.

The Officials said freshsnowfall occurred in theKashmir mountains includingon the Pir Panjal range.

Srinagar recorded 1 degreeCelsius while Pahalgam minus0.6 and Gulmarg recordedminus 4.6. In the Ladakh area,Leh recorded minus 4.3, Kargilminus 16 and Drass minus 6.3degrees Celsius.

The Indian MetrologicalCentre in Srinagar has alreadyissued weather forecast thatwestern disturbance will like-ly to affect the J&K.

The forecast said the mainactivity of the system could befrom heavy to very heavy rain orsnow most likely to occur for twomore days. The weather warning

said that the system is likely tocause widespread rain or snowmainly in South Kashmir,Pirpanjal Range (Doda, Batote,Bhaderwah, Ramban, Banihaland Baramulla) includingJawahar Tunnel area.

Traffic Department hadscheduled one-way traffic fromSrinagar to Jammu. They saidnightlong rains triggeredshooting stones in some por-tions of the highway inRamsoo-Ramban sector. Theysaid a fresh major landslide hitthe highway at batteryChashma area in the sector.

The divisional administra-tion Kashmir has put in placerobust contingency plan andprecautionary measures havebeen taken at all levels to meetany weather related eventuality.

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN nCHENNAI

Though the AIADMK lead-ership is yet to disclose the

party’s strategy for the upcom-ing Lok Sabha elections andwho would be its prospectivealliance partners in TamilNadu, many fringe groups havecome out with details of theruling party’s would-be allies.

“The AIADMK is certainto form a winning alliance forthe Lok Sabha elections. Weare in discussions with partieswhich stand for the welfare ofTamil Nadu. The AIADMKwould be the leader of thealliance which we are forming,”said O Panneerselvam, deputychief minister and convener ofthe AIADMK leadership whilespeaking to reporters atMadurai on Wednesday. Noamount of cajoling by thereporters could make theDeputy CM to reveal the par-ties with whom the AIADMKis in dialogue.

He said the elected repre-sentatives (MLAs, PMs includ-ed) and the district secretaries ofthe AIADMK would meet at

Chennai on Friday and a picturewould emerge by the next day.But the CPI, former allies of theAIADMK declared onWednesday that the BJP andAIADMK are going to forge analliance. “It does not require anyintelligence to understand thatthe AIADMK and the BJP havealready forged an alliance for theelections. We all know that the Edappadi PalaniswamyGovernment in Tamil Nadu isthe minion of Narendra Modi and Amit Shah,” saidMutharasan, State secretary, CPI.

While Mutharasanchurned out details of thealliance to be formed in TamilNadu by the AIADMK and theBJP, he was silent about thecombination of parties to be ledby the DMK.

According to Mutharasan,the PMK led by Dr S Ramadossand the DMDK of Vijayakanthtoo will figure in AIADMKfront. But leaders of the PMKand the DMDK remained tightlipped about it. Vijayakanth isundergoing treatment in a UShospital and his close rela-tions including wife Premalathaare attending to him.

Lucknow: BSP presidentMayawati has for the “firsttime” joined Twitter to interactwith the media and masses, herparty said on Wednesday,almost a fortnight after a han-dle in her name appeared onthe microblogging site.

She will be also expressingher views on national and mat-ters of political importance onTwitter, a BSP release said. “Thisto inform you BSP (BahujanSamaj Party) national presi-dent, former Uttar Pradesh CMand ex-MP Mayawatiji has forthe first time decided to joinTwitter for speedy interactionwith media and masses, besidesexpressing her views on various issues of national andpolitical importance throughTwitter,”the release posted onMayawati’s Twitter handle@SushriMayawati said.

The first tweet on@SushriMayawati was postedon January 22. “Hello brothersand sisters. With due respect letme introduce myself to the

Twitter family. This is myopening and inauguration.@sushrimayawati is my officialTwitter handle for all my futureinteractions, comments andupdates. With warm regards.Thank you,” the January 22post said. PTI

MOHIT KANDHARI n JAMMU

Setting the record straightJammu & Kashmir Governor

Satya Pal Malik on Wednesdaysaid that nobody should takeformer Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti’s statementsseriously as her PDP was break-ing up and she was trying tosave the party by commentingagainst the security forces.

“It is election time. Herparty is breaking up and isalready in a bad shape. She isvery worried and facing seriousproblems. Show some sympa-thy towards her by not takingher statements seriously,”Governor told reporters atJammu University.

“She had come to power bysupporting such elements,headded. Governor’s jibe at herinvited sharp reactions fromboth Mehbooba Mufti andOmar Abdullah, instantly.

Governor was apparentlyreacting to Mehbooba’sTuesday statement in theSMHS hospital in Srinagarwhere she had demandedaction against an Army officer,

who allegedly beat a man fromPulwama and threatened to killhim in an encounter.

Mehbooba Mufti took toTwitter to vent her ire. Shewrote, “Instead of taking cog-nizance of the brutality that theyoung boy has been subjectedto, and ordering action againstthe culprits, it is sad that thehonourable governor is talkingpolitics instead. Saddened tosee the constitutional authori-ties taking sides so brazenly.”

“Kashmir is a political issueand can’t be resolved throughmilitary power. Army menhailed as heroes for their brav-ery also need to be heldaccountable if they commithuman rights violations,”Mehbooba tweeted.

“So please lets call a spade

a spade instead of accusing usof demonising the army. I havealso spoken to the CoreCommander to take note ofthis incident,” she added.

Earlier, when Governorwas asked whether her irre-sponsible statements wouldlower the morale of the secu-rity forces, Govenor Malik hitback and said her statementswill not affect the morale of thesecurity forces.We are standingwith our forces and have issueddirections to them to deal withsuch situations. He said if anyspecific complaint is receivedwe order an inquiry to ascer-tain the truth of the matter.

Before Mehbooba Mufti,former Chief Minister andNational Conference VicePresident, Omar Abdullah hadalso reacted strongly to theGovernor’s utterances.“Governor Sb this is an unac-ceptable statement & an unnec-essary interference in politics.At this rate, it won’t be longbefore people stop taking RajBhavan seriously so please con-sider the office you occupybefore you give statements.”

Panaji: Turning the heat on theManohar Parrikar-led coali-tion Government in Goa, itsally Goa Forward Party (GFP)on Wednesday said it is work-ing on a “Plan B” to ensurepolitical stability, irrespective ofthe fact which party heads thenew dispensation in the state.

“Plan B is 100 per centready. Goa will not have sta-bility if it is not done. Does Goaneed a stable government ornot? Irrespective of the partywhich leads (the government),do people need stability ornot? Why do people elect us?For stability or to have a tot-tering government, which mayfall any day?” GFP presidentand Agriculture Minister VijaiSardesai said.

The veiled threat was madeby Sardesai while interactingwith reporters at the state sec-retariat, days after BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) legislatorand Deputy Speaker in theAssembly Michael Lobo saidthe government would be in acrisis if Parrikar steps down asthe Chief Minister.

IANS

PTI n THIRUVANANTHAPURAM

Oldest captive elephant inAsia and Guinness record

holder, 88-year old Dakshayani,died at a care centre atPappanamcode.

The end came followingold age illness, sources in theTravancore Devaswom Board,which owns the elephant said.

In 2016, she was conferredthe “Gaja Muthassi” title andentered the Guinness book ofrecords. Postal department hadalso brought out a postal coveron the elephant.

INBRIEFMANOHAR PARRIKARDISCHARGED FROM AIIMSPanaji: Ailing Goa ChiefMinister Manohar Parrikarreturned to Goa on Wednesday,after being treated at the AllIndia Institute of MedicalSciences (AIIMS) in Delhi forseven days, his office said.

HARDIK HAPPY WITHCENTRE’S 10% QUOTAAhmedabad: In a majorrevelation, firebrand Patidarleader Hardik Patel has statedthat he is satisfied with the 10per cent reservation inGovernment jobs and educationfor economically weakersections in the general categoryannounced by the Centre. Patelalso said he may contest theupcoming Lok Sabha elections.

60 BRAHMINY DUCKSFOUND DEAD IN BHARUCH Vadodara: Over 60 Brahminyducks were found dead undermysterious circumstances inBharuch, Gujarat, a forestofficial said on Wednesday. Thecause of their death was beinginvestigated, said VZ Tadvi,forest official based in Jhagadia.The birds were found dead inthe riverbed of the Narmadaacross three villages onTuesday.

THUNDERSTORMS,RAIN IN PARTS OF UPLucknow: The skies opened upin the Uttar Pradesh onWednesday, adding to thewinter chill. Heavy rain startedearly in the day, disruptingnormal life and greatlyinconveniencing office-goersand schoolchildren. Accordingto the regional MeT office, thereis a likelihood of hail in someareas. The weather conditionsare expected to continue for thenext 24 hours.

CONG YET TO DECIDE ONTIE-UP WITH TDP IN THyderabad: The Congress is yetto take a call on whether to joinhands with the TDP inTelangana for the coming LokSabha elections or fight alone, akey party functionary said onWednesday.

BJP LAUNCHES 25RATHS IN RAJASTHAN Jaipur: The BJP on Wednesdayflagged off a fleet of 25 ‘raths’for its ‘Bharat Ke Mann Ki Baat,Modi Ke Saath’ campaign inRajasthan to seek suggestionsfrom the public for the party’sLok Sabha election manifesto.

SP, BSP TO USEJOINT FLAGSLucknow: After fixing theelectoral arithmetic and forgingan alliance, Samajwadi Partyand Bahujan Samaj Party arenow focusing on electoralchemistry for uniting partycadres. The two allies havebrought out joint flags toencourage party workers towork in coordination. “We havemade a beginning by promotingsolidarity between the twoparties. Already, flags of boththe parties are being used atmeetings of either party. PNS

Lucknow: BSP presidentMayawati on Wednesdayclaimed that the BSP-SP alliancehas left the BJP’s top leadership‘sleepless’ and ‘afraid’, due towhich the party curses thecoalition in all its meetings.

Mayawati’s counter camehours after BJP president AmitShah attacked the alliance at ameeting of booth-level workersin Aligarh. “The BSP-SPalliance has not only made theBJP’s top leadership sleepless,but also afraid and they are outto curse it in all the big andsmall programmes,” the BSPchief said in a party release.

“We got to hear the same inthe Aligarh programme, inwhich the alliance was termeda farce,” Mayawati said. “Thiscursing only encourages thepeople of the ‘sarv samaj’ asso-ciated with the alliance to workhard, in turn adding to the frus-tration of the BJP,” she added.

Mayawati said the BJPcould sense its defeat in theupcoming Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP is sensing that itwill face a drubbing in theupcoming elections and willlose power because of the BSP-SP alliance, and hence is out todefame it, she claimed.

“It is most unfortunate thatthey are trying their best toentangle the leaders of opposi-tion parties and conspiring todefame them among the peo-ple,” she added. The former UPCM said none of the BJP’s planswill work as people were awareof party’s designs and unhap-py about prevailing situation.

“Everyone is aware of howunder the BJP-led central andUttar Pradesh Governmentscasteism, political vendetta andcommunalism have increased,”Mayawati said. On the Ramtemple, she said construction ofthe shrine is not an issue, butthe real issue is whether thecountry will be run accordingto the Constitution or the nar-row mindsets of the BJP andthe RSS — the ruling party’sideological parent. PTI

Mayawati joinssocial mediaTo interact withmedia, people

Sabarimala royal custodian raps board for U-turn

Guv hits back at Mehbooba, sayswe are standing with our forces

BJP ally in Goa‘working on Plan Bfor political stability’

Rivals claims ADMKpoised for BJP ties

Asia’s oldestcaptiveelephant dead

BSP-SP alliance hasleft BJP ‘sleepless’,says Mayawati

Guwahati: Assam FinanceMinister Himanta Biswa Sarmaon Wednesday presented a`1,193 crore deficit budget for2019-20 with no fresh taxesand introducing new schemeslike providing rice to poor at ̀ 1a kg and gold for brides.

The budget also proposedto provide financial assistanceto students, including girlsfrom the minority communi-ty. With an opening balance ofminus `1,799.84 crore, thebudget proposed to have trans-actions of `606.80 crore during2019-20, Sarma told the Houseon Wednesday.

Sarma said for special cat-egory States like Assam, com-

panies with turnover of ̀ 10 lakhare required to register forGoods and Services Tax (GST).However, to give succour tosmall businesses and consider-ing the small base, the govern-ment has raised the GST thresh-old limit to `20 lakh followingapproval of the GST Councileffective February 1, 2019.

Sarma further proposed toraise the threshold limit forregistration under GST forsuppliers of goods to ̀ 40 lakh.However, the limit stays at`20 lakh for suppliers of ser-vices. He said under theNational Food Security Act(NFSA), the Centre providesrice at `3 per kg to 57 lakh

households in Assam coveringa total population of 2.46 crore.

“To further strengthenfood security for our people, wewill provide rice at a furthersubsidized rate of `1 per kg,instead of the present Rs 3 perkg, and the move will benefit 53Lakh households,” Sarma said.

The Government has alsoproposed to give 1 tola of gold(11.66 grams) to brides’ parentsbelonging to the economical-ly weaker sections of the soci-ety. “We shall give one tolagold, costing around ̀ 38,000 asof today, to brides belonging toall such communities of ourstate where it is customary toprovide gold at the time ofwedding under the Arundhatischeme,” he said.

The scheme can be availedby formal registration of themarriages under the Special Marriage (Assam)Rules, 1954 and will reach thebeneficiaries at the time ofmarriage, he said.

Sarma added that the ben-efit is commensurate with thestate’s population policy andwould be made available forthe first two children of afamily and only in caseswhere the bride and groomhave both attained thelegal age of 18 yearsand 21 years,respectively.

The AssamGovernment willverify birth cer-tificates and con-duct medical exam-ination, if required,to ensure claimsare true, he said.

PTI

J&K witnesses fresh rain, snow

A Kashmiri auto rickshaw driver holdsa Kangri to warm himself as it snows inSrinagar on Wednesday AP

Latest communicationsatellite GSAT-31launched successfullyATM networks,DTH servicesto get boost

Assam Budget proposes 1 tola gold to brides, rice at `1!

Page 9: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

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Kolkata: West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee onWednesday slammed theCentre for the interrogation ofRobert Vadra by theEnforcement Directorate,claiming that the BJP wasdeliberately doing it ahead ofthe general election.

Asserting that the BJP willnot be able to scare the

Opposition by the tactics ofsending notices “casually toeverybody”, Banerjee said: “Wewill complain to the ElectionCommission against suchtrend.” “They (the Centre) aredoing it deliberately ahead of thepolls,” the Trinamool Congresssupremo told reporters at thestate secretariat.

Vadra was questioned by

the ED in connection with amoney-laundering probe, daysafter his wife, Priyanka Gandhi,was formally inducted into theparty. Banerjee also said shewould be in Delhi nextWednesday and Thursday,where the Opposition partieswould make a decision ontheir future course of action.

PTI

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Ignoring whip, nine CongressMLAs in Karnataka skipped

the legislature sitting onWednesday, keeping the rulingcoalition on tenterhooks on theopening day of the BudgetSession. The nine CongressMLAs, including RameshJarkiholi, Umesh G Jadhav, BNagendra, Mahesh Kumathalli,who had skipped the January18 Congress legislature party(CLP) meet, official and partysources said.

MLA JN Ganesh, who isdeclared absconding after analleged brawl with a colleaguelawmaker at a resort recently,was among the absentees.

The whip asking all rulingcoalition legislators to be presenton all days of the Budget Sessionof the Assembly was issued onTuesday amid allegations ofrenewed bid by BJP to destabilisethe Kumaraswamy Ministry.The joint Session of the legisla-ture began on a stormy note withthe Opposition BJP questioning

the legitimacy of the JDS-Congress Government.

Unruly BJP members cre-ated a ruckus disrupting theaddress of Governor VajubhaiVala, forcing him to cut shorthis speech and read the lastpara. “We don’t want a bundleof lies to be read. Down down...the Government that has lostmajority and trust,” BJP mem-bers said shouting down Vala.

Stung by the MLAs’ absence,Congress Legislature Party leader

and former CM Siddaramaiahissued another whip to partyMLAs asking them to “compul-sorily” attend the sessionbetween Feb 6 and 15.

Speculation are rife that thefour MLAs are still in touchwith the BJP and may jumpship, as they have not yetresponded to the second noticeissued by Siddaramaiah askingthem to appear before him andexplain their absence from theCLP meeting.

The MLAs had, however,replied pledging their completeloyalty to the party, in responseto the first notice.

MLAs being absent fromthe House om Wednesdaydespite the whip and warningof strict action has caused seri-ous concern to the edgy rulingCongress-JD(S) coalition inthe State.

Four BJP lawmakers werealso absent but the partysources said they had obtainedprior permission.

A JDS MLA also did notshow up. Frontline KarnatakaMinister DK Shivakumar hitout at the BJP for showing dis-respect to the Governor “out offrustration”, on not being suc-cessful to come to power.

“We are aware what threeto four BJP MLAs are doing sit-ting in Mumbai, our party willtake a call on it,” he said.According to BJP sources, theparty would continue its agita-tion against the government inthe assembly and during bud-get presentation on Friday.

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ALashkar-e-Tayyeba (LeT)terrorist was killed in a

shootout with security forces atChakoora village of southKashmir’s Pulwama districtwhile one Central Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) personnel wasinjured in a grenade attack inKulgam district, officials said.

They said a cordon andsearch operation was launchedby a joint team of Army, policeand CRPF after unknown ter-rorists fired upon an armyvehicle passing throughChakoora village in jurisdictionof Awantipora police district.

They said in the retaliato-ry action one terrorist waskilled. He was identified asIrfan Ahmad Sheikh, a localresident who was active as LeTcommander in the area for sev-eral years. The encounter tookplace amid heavy downpour inthe area. Sheikh’s bodydrenched in blood and mudwent viral after the encounter.

They said search operationwas launched by security forcesafter the attack in the area.They said some terrorists were

believed to be hiding in thearea. The search operationcontinued till late in theevening.

Massive clashes erupted inthe village after local youthstook to streets and clashedwith forces conducting theoperation. The protesters pelt-ed stones and bricks on secu-rity personnel who in turnretaliated with tear gas shells todisperse the protesters.

In another incident, sus-pected militants hurled agrenade on CRPF camp of 18Battalion at Laroo area ofKulgam district resulting ininjuries to one paramilitaryCRPF trooper. The injuredwas taken to nearby hospital fortreatment they said.

Meanwhile, a 13-year-oldboy Junaid Iqbal succumbed tohis injuries at a premier hospital after battling for life forfive days. He and his teenage friend had received injuries afteran explosive device they were fid-dling with exploded in a southKashmir village. The explosivewas left over after a gunfight inthe area last week that resultedinto killing of two terrorists.

Bengaluru: The black box ofthe Mirage-2000 trainer air-craft, which crashed inBengaluru last week killingtwo pilots, has been sent toFrance’s Dassault Aviation, theOriginal EquipmentManufacturer, for decoding ofits data, a senior HAL officialsaid on Wednesday.

A black box collects in-flight information and decrypt-ing it gives insights about theaircraft’s activities. PTI

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Even as senior officials of theforest department were in

serious discussion about thenext course of action in the ala Chinna Thambi incident, thehero of the story is continuinghis odyssey in search ofThadagam Forests, his hometurf. At the same time, a newguest in the form of a leopardhas started giving ‘headache’ tothe forest officials.

As on Wednesday evening,Chinna Thambi, who hasendeared himself to the localpopulation through his charm-ing style, was roaming aroundUdumalpet area, according to asenior Tamil Nadu ForestDepartment official. “He hadsugarcane for breakfast andlunch and is taking rest in amango orchard,” said the official.

He said the department hasdecided not to train him askumky (specialist elephant whotrains other elephants) as ChinnaThambi has crossed the maxi-mum age limit prescribed forsuch training. “We are monitor-ing his movements through theradio collar which we tied to hisneck when he was tranquilised

for re-locating. One of theoptions before us is to take himback to Thadagam, his favoritelocation,” said the official.

Meanwhile, on Tuesdaynight a four-year old leopardfrom the nearby reserve forest“trespassed” into an unoccu-pied house in Gudalur insearch of some eatables.

By Wednesday morning,the ‘guest’ was trapped and hasbeen moved to the forestinspection bungalow. “The ani-mal has suffered some minorbruises when it was caged andthe forest veterinary surgeon isattending to him. Once the ani-mal is found to be in goodhealth, we would release itinto the reserve forest at

Anamalai Tiger Reserve,” GRamakrishnan, Range Officer,told The Pioneer.

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In a gruesome incident,extremists believed to be

from the Islamic outfit PopularFront of India (PFI), mur-dered Ramalingam, a 45-year-old Pattali Makkal Katchiactivist at Thirupuvanam townin Thanjavur district of TamilNadu late on Tuesday night.

The incident occurredwithin hours of a video featur-ing the stand-off betweenRamalingam and some of theIslamist activists went viral allover the State.

Ramalingam could beheard in the video questioningand objecting the PFI activists’efforts to convert the people ofhis locality into Islam.

“Within hours of the argu-

ment, a group of people bargedinto the residence ofRamalingam and attacked himwith knives and swords. Theychopped one of his hands and aleg,” said a local resident who didnot want his name to be quoted.

Dr S Ramadoss, leader ofthe PMK condemned the actand asked the Government ofTamil Nadu to arrest the cul-prits behind the heinous crime.Office of the deputy superin-tendent of police, Thiruvidai-maruthur, under whose juris-diction the incident occurredrefused to reveal any informa-tion citing absence of staff.

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Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)president Amit Shah

ridiculed the Samajwadi Party(SP) and the Bahujan SamajParty (BSP) alliance for theupcoming Lok Sabha polls onWednesday, saying party work-ers would put “Aligarh locks”on the shop of “Bua-Bhatija”,referring to BSP supremoMayawati and SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav respectively.

Addressing a meeting of thebooth-level workers of the BJPhere, Shah used the “Aligarhlocks” coinage as the city wasonce known for the lock indus-try, which is now dying.

“BJP workers will putAligarh locks on the shop ofBua-Bhatija,” he said amid anapplause from the gathering.Shah said reporters often askedhim how the BJP hoped to win74 Lok Sabha seats in UttarPradesh with the SP and theBSP joining hands.

“I tell them that if you seethe sea of BJP workers, you willget to know where those 74 seatswill come from,” he added.

The BJP and its ally, ApnaDal, had won 73 of the 80 LokSabha seats in Uttar Pradesh in2014 and five years on, the saf-fron party hopes to increase itstally in the State.

Shah asserted that the gen-eral election would be foughton the lines of Prime MinisterNarendra Modi versus the rest.

The BJP had rid UttarPradesh of goons, he said,adding that Chief Minister YogiAdityanath had successfullytackled the land mafia problem.

“Upar Modi, neeche Yogi(Modi as Prime Minister andAdityanath as Chief Minister).This general election will beModi versus the rest.

“The BJP has rid UttarPradesh of goons, of parivarvad(dynasty). Yogi has tackled theland mafia in Uttar Pradesh.The goons are now scared ofpolice,” Shah said.

Shah claimed that the BJP

was different from other polit-ical parties as poll victorieswere guaranteed by the work-ers in the party and not on thebasis of any leader.

“When BJP workers ask meabout the Mahagathbandhan(the proposed Grand Allianceof opposition parties), I tellthem it is a sham and there isno need to fear it. If MamataBanerjee, Chandrababu Naiducome here to seek your sup-port, will it make any differ-ence? They are leaders only intheir respective states,” he said.

The BJP chief also claimedthat even if “Rahul Baba”(Congress chief Rahul Gandhi)went with “Bua and Bhatija”,the NDA’s tally of seats in theState will go up (from 73 to atleast 74).

“In 2017 (Uttar PradeshAssembly polls), a similaralliance was forged and twoboys (Gandhi and Yadav) fromUttar Pradesh had cometogether. At that point of time,I had declared that the BJPwould win 300 plus seats andthanks to the hard work of ourworkers, we won 325,” he said.

Shah also accused WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee of making continuousefforts to stop the surge of theBJP in the State.

“If Mamata Banerjee thinksthat by denying permission tothe BJP to hold its programmesin West Bengal, she will be ableto stop the party from formingthe Government there, then sheshould clearly listen with earsopen that BJP workers willdemolish the TMC (TrinamoolCongress). The BJP will win 23of the 42 Lok Sabha seats inWest Bengal,” he said.

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Uttar Pradesh Chief MinisterYogi Adityanath has asked

the Congress, the BahujanSamaj Party (BSP) and theSamajwadi Party (SP) to clari-fy their stand on the issue ofmembers of Scheduled Castes(SCs), Scheduled Tribes (STs)and Other Backward Classes(OBCs) not getting reservationbenefits at the Aligarh MuslimUniversity (AMU).

Addressing a gatheringhere on Wednesday, Adityanathsaid while the Centre was giv-ing crores of rupees to AMU,the opposition parties were notcoming clean on the issue asthey were preoccupied withappeasing minorities.

Only in the BJP, a boothPresident could become the

national President or an ordi-nary party worker could rise tothe position of the PrimeMinister, he said.

This could never happen inthe BSP, the SP or the Congressas they only think of their ownfamilies, he added.

The time has come toinform the people about thenegative politics of these par-ties and re-elect the BJP in theupcoming Lok Sabha polls, hesaid. The CM also asked theparty workers to work hard toensure that offices of the oppo-sition parties are shut forever.

Prime Minister NarendraModi had brought laurels to thenation and now every Indianheld his/her head high as thenation was galloping in globalrankings in various segments,Adityanath said.

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The Indian Army hasdetained three soldiers of

Jammu & Kashmir LightInfantry (JAKLI) to probe theirinvolvement in a conspiracy toreveal whereabouts of their col-league Lance Naik Aurangzebwho was killed by terrorists insouth Kashmir on June 14.

Affiliated with 44Rashtriya Rif les unit,Aurangzeb, who was posthu-mously awarded ShauryaChakra on Independence Daylast year, was travelling to hisnative place in a private vehi-cle on eve of Eid when terror-ists waylaid the vehicle andkidnapped him.

Sources said the trio isbeing quizzed to know if theysomehow leaked informationabout Aurangzeb’s movementout of his battalion headquar-ters in a private vehicle.Aurangzeb was known for hiscounterinsurgency offensivein the area and his proximitywith an Army officer who hascommanded several successfuloperations against militantsincluding killing of SameerTiger, a top-ranking com-mander of Hizbul Mujahideen.

Aurangzeb’s vehicle waswaylaid by terrorists atQalampora village and in ashort duration his body wasfound by a team of police andArmy officials at Gussu village.A video of his kidnapping wasalso released by his abductors.

Media reports earlierclaimed that Aurangzeb’swhereabouts were leaked by alocal woman who had alleged-ly developed a relationship

with him.The three soldiers Abid

Hussain Wani, TajamulAhmed and Adil Wani werehis colleagues. They are alllocal residents.

The Army has not reactedto the reports about the deten-tion and questioning of the sol-diers. The detention came tofore after a youngster AbidTauseef Wani was allegedlytortured by an Army officer inShadimarg camp. Former ChiefMinister Mehbooba Mufti wentto see Wani at Sri MaharajaHari Singh Hospital (SMHS)and accused an Army officerfor torturing the youngster.

A relative of Wani saidthey have lost touch with Abidsince June and the Army is nottelling them anything abouthis whereabouts. “We are wor-ried now. They (Army) alsocalled Tawseef and torturedhim inside the camp. Theywere asking about his involve-ment in the killing ofAurangzeb,” he said.

Aurangzeb was posthu-mously awarded Shaury Chakrawhile as Defence MinisterNirmala Sitharaman trekked along distance to travel to hisnative village in mountainousPoonch district to pay homage.

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Page 10: C M Y K - The Pioneer · 2019-03-15 · Uttar Pradesh tour from February 11. She may hold a road show in ... in Odisha, 14 with high densi-ty of tribal population, have witnessed

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The rupee on Wednesdayended almost flat at 71.56

per US dollar as participantspreferred to wait for theReserve Bank’s interest ratedecision for further cues.

The domestic currency hasbeen trading in a narrow rangeahead of RBI’s monetary poli-cy meeting outcome, scheduledfor February 7.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange market, the rupeemoved between 71.68 to 71.49during the session, before final-ly ending at 71.56, showing again of just 1 paise.

On Tuesday, the rupee hadsettled 23 paise higher at 71.57against the greenback.

“This week, there are rela-tively thin volume trades incurrency markets, as manyAsian markets are shut onLunar New Year,” HDFC

Securities Head, PCG andCapital Markets Strategy, V KSharma said.

He added that volatility forthe USD-INR pair could beconfined to a narrow rangeuntil the release of the policystatement.

According to SunilSharma, Chief InvestmentOfficer, Sanctum WealthManagement, though Indianrupee is the worst performingemerging market currency overthe last one month, it is expect-ed to recover “should crudeprices continue to slide and RBIannounces a rate cut inThursday’s meeting”.

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back’s strength against a basketof six currencies, was trading at96.21, higher by 0.16 per cent.

Foreign funds purchasedshares worth �694.97 crore ona net basis Wednesday, and

domestic institutional investorsbought equities worth �525.26crore, provisional data showed.

The benchmark Brentcrude futures fell 0.76 per centto $61.51 per barrel.

Meanwhile, domestic equi-ty indices darted up for the fifthstraight session Wednesday onacross-the-board buying amidexpectations of a shift in RBI’spolicy stance.

The BSE Sensex vaulted358.42 points, or 0.98 per cent,to close at 36,975.23, while thebroader NSE Nifty gained128.10 points, or 1.17 per cent,to 11,062.45.

The Financial BenchmarkIndia Private Ltd (FBIL) set thereference rate for therupee/dollar at 71.5731 and forrupee/euro at 81.5461. Thereference rate for rupee/Britishpound was fixed at 92.6886 andfor rupee/100 Japanese yen at65.21.

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The Kerala Government willslash the tax on aviation

fuel to 5 per cent from the cur-rent 28.75 per cent for domes-tic airlines, state FinanceMinister T M Thomas Isaacsaid on Wednesday.

Isaac made the significantannouncement in the assemblyduring the discussion on thestate budget for 2019-20.

“The tax on ATF will bereduced to 5 per cent from theexisting 28.75 per cent fordomestic airlines operatingservice from the state air-ports. A revenue loss of �100crore is expected throughthis,” he said.

Aviation fuel accounts fora major portion of operatingcost for airlines.

Not only airports under theUDAN (regional connectivityscheme), but non-UDAN air-ports would also get the newtax breather, Isaac said.

The tax cut is expected tobenefit three international air-ports- Thiruvananthapuram,Kochi and Karipur in the State

as the LDF Government hadalready decided to levy only 1per cent fuel tax from airlinesoperating service from thenewly commissioned Kannurairport.

The announcement comesa day after the Congress-ledUDF opposition had staged awalkout in the State assemblyalleging bias in the tax cut onaviation fuel announced forKannur airport and urgedthem to extend the relief tothree other airports in thestate.

Chief Minister PinarayiVijayan had defended the deci-sion to levy only 1 per cent taxon ATF for airlines operatingfrom the Kannur airport, say-ing it was given as a support tothe newly commissioned air-port.

However, he had evadedthe repeated question of theUDF on why the Governmenthad not implemented the deci-sion of its own cabinet in 2017to reduce the fuel tax to 5 percent for airlines operating ser-vice from all airports in theState.

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The Government hasallowed export of bio-fuels

from special economic zones(SEZs) and export-orientedunits (EoUs) with certain con-ditions, according to a notice ofthe directorate general of for-eign trade.

In August 2018, theGovernment imposed restric-tions on export of bio-fuels fornon-fuel purposes.

After this restriction,exporters operating from SEZsand EoUs made representationsto remove this prohibition stat-ing they only use importedmaterial for export of finalproduct.

They also informedGovernment authorities thatSEZ units have been grantedletter of approval for export ofbio-fuels and EoU units haveobligations to fulfil under anexport promotion scheme.

“Considering the hardshipfaced by the trade communityand the fact that production ofbio-fuels in EoU/SEZ would befrom imported feedstock,therefore, it would not impactthe domestic production/con-sumption. Hence, the restric-tion as applicable to DTA

(domestic tariff area) may notbe extended to EoU/SEZ,” theDGFT notice said.

SEZs and EoUs are export-oriented units outside theambit of domestic customslaws.

“Members of trade andindustry are informed thatexport of bio-fuels for non-fuelpurposes from EoU/SEZ willbe regulated” under certainrules of SEZs and foreign tradepolicy, it added.

It said that the feedstock forproduction of bio-fuel forexport from these areas shouldbe from imported sources only.

Bio-fuels include ethylalcohol, petroleum oil and oilsobtained from bituminousminerals, bio-diesel and mix-tures.

Before August 2018,exports of these items wereallowed without any restric-tions.

India exported ethyl alco-hol worth $276.35 million in2017-18 as against $224 millionin the previous fiscal.

Similarly, export of petro-leum oil and oils obtainedfrom bituminous mineralsincreased to $8 million in2017-18 from $0.54 million inthe previous fiscal.

Biodiesel and mixturesshipments rose to $5.36 millionin the last financial year from$2.73 million in 2016-17.

Last year, the directoratehad also imposed restriction onimport of bio-fuels includingethyl alcohol and other dena-tured spirits, bio-diesel, petro-leum oils and oils obtainedfrom bituminous mineralsother than crude.

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Telecom regulator Trai hasserved a showcause notice

to Airtel over the blackoutfaced by some of its DTH cus-tomers during the switchoverto the new tariff regime,sources said.

The showcause notice wasissued by Telecom RegulatoryAuthority of India (Trai) earli-er this week, and Airtel hasbeen given three days time torespond, they told PTI.

When contacted, an Airtelspokesperson said a few cus-tomers may have experienceddelays in provisioning of chan-nels, owing to a massive surgein last minute requests duringmigration, and that the serviceprovider remains committed toensuring compliance with allregulatory norms.

Trai has unveiled the newtariff order and regulatoryregime for the broadcast andcable sector, which would pavethe way for consumers to optfor channels they wish to view,and pay only for them.

It had said every channelshould be offered a la carte, witha transparent display of rates onelectronic programme guide.

The new framework cameinto effect from February 1.

In a statement onWednesday, Trai said it had“received information thatwhile migrating consumers,one large service provider hascaused blackout on the TVscreen of a few thousand sub-scribers”.

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Jet Airways on Wednesdaystated that a new framework

would be implemented fromFebruary 7 onward under whichif any changes or cancellationsare made seven days prior toflight departure, the domesticpassenger would attract a small-er penalty compared to the rateafter this period.

The carrier also announcedimposition of cancellationcharges of �3,800 on “flex cat-egory” of business-class pas-sengers from February 7onward. Till date, this catego-ry of passengers was exemptfrom cancellation fee, accord-ing to the airline’s website.

According to the newpenalty framework, an econo-my-class passenger would haveto pay an amount in between�2,000 and �3,800 if he or sheis cancelling the seat seven daysprior to flight departure.

If an economy-class pas-senger cancels seat within sevendays of flight departure, he orshe would have to pay anywherein between �2,800 and �4,600.

The new framework statesthat if an economy-class pas-senger makes a seat change, datechange, flight change, etc,. Priorto seven days of flight departure,the charges would be in between�1,500 and �3,500.

However if the passengermakes any such change with-in seven days of flight depar-ture, he or she would have topay a penalty in between�2,300 and �4,300 as per thenew framework.

Business-class passengers,who belong to “classic” catego-ry and “flex” category, would

have to shell out �4,800 and�3,800 respectively, if they arecancelling ticket.

According to the airline’swebsite, no cancellation chargewas imposed on “flex” catego-ry of business-class passen-gers till date.

From February 7, business-class passengers, who belong to“classic” category, would have toshell out �2,300 for making anyseat change, date change, flightchange, etc. The “flex” catego-ry of business-class passengerscan continue to make any suchchanges free of cost.

“As part of the new policy,charges for various changesincluding those for flight, date,sector, booking class, cabin,etc., and refund penalties forticket cancellations at leastseven days prior to the date oftravel will attract lower penal-ties compared to those whoundertake booking changeswithin seven days,” the airlinesaid in its statement.

Senior Vice-President —Worldwide Sales &Distribution, Jet Airways, RajSivakumar said: “The tieredpolicy is a carefully craftedendeavour that allows ourguests the opportunity toamend their domestic travelahead of time offering addi-tional value, choice and con-venience.”

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The Government onWednesday gave its nod to

a proposal for setting up 12,000MW grid-connected solar pho-tovoltaic (PV) power projectswith an estimated viability gapfunding of �8,580 crore.

The decision was taken bythe Cabinet Committee onEconomic Affairs (CCEA)chaired by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi, Law MinisterRavi Shankar Prasad saidhere.

The proposal seeks toimplement “the Central PublicSector Undertaking (CPSU)Scheme Phase-ll for setting up12,000 MW grid-connectedSolar PV Power Projects, by theGovernment Producers withViability Gap Funding (VGF)support of �8,580 crore for self-use or use by Government orGovernment entities, bothCentral and StateGovernments”, an official state-ment said.

With the implementationof the scheme, 12,000 MW ormore of grid connected solarPV power projects would be setup by government producers infour years (2019-20 to 2022-23), thereby creating invest-ment of about �48,000 crore, itsaid.

“The Scheme will mandateuse of both solar photovoltaic(SPV) cells and modules man-ufactured domestically as perspecifications and testingrequirements fixed by MNRE(Ministry of New & RenewableEnergy),” it added.

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The National StockExchange will revise the

trade execution range for cur-rency futures and options con-tract from February 11.

In a circular Wednesday,the exchange said orders shallbe matched and trades shouldtake place only if the trade priceis within the trade executionrange based on the referenceprice of the contract. The ref-erence price for each contractwould be computed on thebasis of various parameters.

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Making yet another strongpitch for people to come

into the US based on merit, USPresident Donald Trump saidon Wednesday that tolerancefor illegal immigration is notcompassionate — it is cruel.

Trump, in his annual Stateof the Union address, said:“We have a moral duty to cre-ate an immigration system thatprotects the lives and jobs ofour citizens”.

The lawless state of thesouthern Mexico border is athreat to the safety, security andfinancial well-being of allAmericans, he said.

“This (moral duty)includes our obligation to themillions of immigrants livinghere today, who followed therules and respected our laws.Legal immigrants enrich ournation and strengthen our soci-ety in countless ways. I wantpeople to come into our coun-try, but they have to come inlegally,” said the US Presidentin his address to a joint sessionof the US Congress.

Trump said his adminis-tration has sent to Congress acommonsense proposal to endthe crisis on southern border.

“It includes humanitarianassistance, more law enforce-ment, drug detection at ourports, closing loopholes thatenable child smuggling, andplans for a new physical barri-er, or wall, to secure the vastareas between our ports ofentry.

“In the past, most of thepeople in this room voted fora wall — but the proper wallnever got built. I’ll get it built,”

Trump said.This is a smart, strategic,

see-through steel barrier --not just a simple concrete wall,he said.

“It will be deployed in theareas identified by border

agents as having the greatestneed, and as these agents willtell you, where walls go up, ille-gal crossings go way down.

“Simply put, walls workand walls save lives. So let’swork together, compromise,and reach a deal that will trulymake America safe,” said theUS President.

Asking the Congress todefend the very dangeroussouthern border, Trump saidno issue better illustrates thedivide between America’sworking class and America’spolitical class than illegal immi-gration.

He said that wealthy politi-cians and donors push foropen borders while living theirlives behind walls and gates andguards. Meanwhile, workingclass Americans are left to paythe price for mass illegal migra-tion -- reduced jobs, lowerwages, overburdened schoolsand hospitals, increased crime,and a depleted social safety net,he told members of the USCongress.

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France’s yellow vest protestmovement joined ranks

with a major union, a first forboth, in a day of nationwideprotests over taxes and buyingpower that brought tens ofthousands into the streets.

Brief scuffles marked themostly calm Paris demonstra-tion on Tuesday.

Police fired several roundsof tear gas, clearing trouble-makers from the Place de laConcorde, which borders theUS Embassy.

Tear gas was also used inLille and elsewhere.

However, tension was min-imal compared with the week-ly protests held since mid-November by the yellow vestmovement to demand fiscaland social justice in a majorchallenge to PresidentEmmanuel Macron.

As protesters marched,lawmakers in the nationalAssembly, the Lower House ofParliament, voted 387-92 topass a bill aimed at preventingviolence during protests, andhelping authorities maintainorder.

The Bill would, forinstance, authorise regionalprefects to prevent people seenas a serious threat to publicorder from protesting, or forceprotesters involved in violenceto pay for damage.

The Bill, which must go

before the Senate, would alsomake it a crime for protestersto conceal their faces — acommon occurrence duringSaturday protests by the yellowvest movement, by both thosetrying to offset the effects oftear gas and by troublemakersconcealing their identities.

Meanwhile, theCommunist-backed CGTunion marched from Paris CityHall to the Place de laConcorde side-by-side withprotesters from the yellow vestmovement, which takes itsname from the safety veststhey wear that are required inall cars.

Union chief PhilippeMartinez cheered the hand-in-hand protests with the yellowvests, promising daily initiativesand “something big” eachTuesday.

He noted overlappingdemands between his unionand yellow vest protesters.“There’s no reason why weshouldn’t demonstrate next toeach other or one behindanother.

What’s important is thatour first day together is a suc-cess, in the middle of theweek,” he said.

“I find business leadershave it easy and it’s time wehold big company bosses in thiscountry accountable,” Martinezsaid. The grassroots yellowvest movement has no anoint-ed leader and an array ofdemands.

However, increasing buy-ing power and ending whatthey perceive as favoritismtoward the powerful at theexpense of the less fortunate areleading demands.

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US President Donald Trumpon Wednesday called for

rejecting politics of revenge,resistance and retribution, butinsisted on building a wallalong the US-Mexico border ashe appeared before a dividedCongress for his annual State ofthe Union address.

His calls for reconciliationwere met with mostly stone-faced silence from Democrats,who bitterly oppose his agen-da and accuse him of hasten-ing the decline in cross-partycooperation.

The president had a record35-day standoff with theDemocrats led by HouseSpeaker Nancy Pelosi over hisproposed controversial wall

along the US-Mexico border,which shut down the govern-ment and postponed theaddress which was earlierscheduled on January 29.

“We must reject the politicsof revenge, resistance and ret-ribution,” Trump told Congressnear the beginning of his Stateof the Union address, claimingin his speech that he is puttingforward “the agenda of theUnited States.”

“An economic miracle istaking place in the UnitedStates — and the only thingthat can stop it are foolish wars,politics or ridiculous partisaninvestigations,” the presidentsaid.

He said that tolerance forillegal immigration is not com-passionate — it is cruel.

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Caracas: Venezuelan militaryofficers blocked a bridge on heborder with Colombia ahead ofan anticipated humanitarianaid shipment Tuesday, as oppo-sition leader Juan Guaidostepped up his challenge toPresident Nicolas Maduro’sauthority. The Opposition-dominated National Assemblyhad earlier warned the armedforces, which make up much ofMaduro’s power base, not tocross a “red line” by blocking aid.

Guaido, who proclaimedhimself acting president onJanuary 23 -- sparking an inter-national crisis -- claims that upto 300,000 people face death ifthe aid is not delivered.

“You know there’s a redline, you know well there’s alimit, you know that medicines,food and medical supplies arethat limit,” lawmaker MiguelPizarro said in a message to themilitary. AFP

Colombo: Sri LankanPresident Maithripala Sirisenasaid on Wednesday that he willimplement death penalty fordrug dealers within threemonths, ending a 42-yearmoratorium on capital pun-ishment in the country.

Sirisena said that executionof drug convicts is a necessityin view of the fast spreadingdrug menace in the islandnation.

“I will implement the deathpenalty during the next 2-3months,” he said while address-ing the parliament. Sri Lanka’slast hanging took place in June1976. Since then successivepresidents have refused to signdeath warrants to hang con-victs. Sirisena took the decisiondespite Sri Lanka becomingparty to a UN moratorium ondeath penalty in 2016.

He said that his decisionwhich was expressed last yearcould not be carried out due tobureaucratic lethargy and thelinks between officials anddrug mafias. PTI

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Iraq’s most senior Shiite cler-ic on Wednesday joined a

chorus of Iraqi politicians andclerics criticizing recent state-ments by President DonaldTrump in which he said UStroops should stay in Iraq tokeep an eye on neighbouringIran.

Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said Iraq aspires to have“good and balanced relations”with all of its neighbors “basedon mutual interests and with-

out intervention in internalaffairs.”

Iraq “rejects being alaunching pad for harmingany other country,” he saidduring a meeting with UNIraq envoy Jeanine Hennis-Plasschaert at the cleric’s basein Najaf.

Both Iraq’s President andPrime Minister have hit back atTrump’s statements to USmedia this week stating that UStroops should stay at a base inIraq so that America can“watch Iran.”

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Pope Francis has acknowl-edged receiving a request

from embattled VenezuelanPresident Nicholas Maduro tohelp relaunch talks to end thecountry’s political crisis butruled out any involvementunless opposition leader JuanGuaido requests it. Francis onTuesday acknowledged that hehadn’t read Maduro’s letter,which he said arrived at theVatican via diplomatic pouch.

He added, “We’ll see whatcan be done.” But speaking toreporters en route home fromthe United Arab Emirates, herecalled that a previous Vaticandiplomatic effort to facilitatetalks between Maduro and theopposition “went up in smoke.”

And he insisted on thebasic diplomatic requirementthat two sides to any conflictmust jointly request externalfacilitation or mediation ofnegotiations.

Vatican City : PopeFrancis says his pil-grimage this week to theUnited Arab Emirateswrote a “new page inhistory of the dialoguebetween Christianityand Islam” and in pro-moting world peacebased on brotherhood.

Telling pilgrims atthe Vatican onWednesday about mak-ing the first-ever papaltrip to the ArabianPeninsula.

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The Indian women's ODI teamcaptain Mithali Raj feels the

side's confidence has gone up fol-lowing the 2-1 series win over NewZealand and it is now aiming toavoid qualifiers for the 2021 WorldCup by staying in top four of theICC table.

India is currently placed thirdin the table after winning thethree-match away series againstNew Zealand 2-1 recently. They arescheduled to host England in thenext assignment of the champi-onship cycle later this month.

"The last time we played theQualifiers, but this time we wantto have direct qualification for2021. With series against Englandand the Windies coming up, wewill definitely look to get maxi-mum points," Mithali was quotedas saying in a release from theInternational Cricket Council.

"...We did not have too manyplayers who had the experience ofthe conditions with only Jhulan(Goswami) and me having touredhere before. So winning two gameshere has given us a lot of confi-dence," she said.

"Losing the third game, we

have come down to number threein the rankings table but I amhappy that India is in the top four,"she added.

The coming month will seefocus on the championship withtwo more series featuring teams inthe upper tiers of the points table— Australia host New Zealand andIndia host England in series start-ing February 22.

These teams are the frontrun-ners to make the cut since NewZealand and four other top teamsget direct entries to the premierevent two years from now.

New Zealand captain Amy

Satterthwaite said her side haslearnt its lessons from the debacleagainst India.

"We have our first real winterat home in 3-4 years coming upwhich gives us a great opportuni-ty to develop our skill sets, so play-ing a quality side like India helpshighlight those areas both individ-ually and as a team," she said.

"The points table is a hard oneto read into much because someteams haven't played as manygames as us. Sitting in second is agreat place to be, but as other teamsplay more games, that maychange," she added.

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Abelow-par India slumpedto its worst ever defeat inT20 Internationals as

New Zealand outclassed thevisitors in all departments to winthe first match of the series bya comprehensive 80-run marginat Westpac Stadium onWednesday.

Batting first, unheraldedkeeper-batsman Tim Seiferttook the Indian bowling apartblasting 84 off 43 balls as NewZealand posted a commanding219 for six.

With the crack openingpair of skipper Rohit Sharma (1)and Shikhar Dhawan (29)departing within the Powerplayovers, the chase became a diffi-

cult one and India was all out for139 in 19.2 overs.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni (39off 31 balls) did play his part butit was always an impossiblechase with wickets falling at reg-ular intervals at the other end.India had never lost a T20International by 50 or more runsprior to this match. India's pre-vious worst was a 49-run loss toAustralia back in 2010.

New Zealand bowlers keptthe pressure on Indian batsmen,especially the two spinners --left-arm orthodox MitchellSantner (2/24 in 4 overs) andleg-spinner Ish Sodhi (2/26 in 3overs).

Senior pacer Tim Southee(3/17 in 4 overs) had the best fig-ures among the bowlers and the

best delivery of the match wasbowled by Lockie Ferguson,who yorked Dhawan.

They kept the batsmenunder tight check and for somelike World Cup aspirant RishabhPant (4, 10 balls), it was a frus-trating little stay in the middleand he simply couldn't get going.

On a pitch where Indianspinners Yuzvendra Chahal(1/35 in 4 overs) and Krunal(1/37 in 4 overs) went for plen-ty, the Black Caps slow bowlersliterally tightened the noose onthe visitors.

While Pant didn't do hischances any good, Vijay Shankar(27 off 17 balls) impressed dur-ing his little cameo but wouldneed to do more in order tobook a place in that World Cupbound squad.

The Pandya bothers —Krunal and Hardik — endureda contrasting day.

While Krunal (he alsoscored 20 off 18 balls) had anokay outing, Hardik wouldquickly like to forget the night-mare (2/51 in 4 overs and 4runs) before India play the sec-ond match of the series inAuckland on Friday.

Earlier, Seifert, whose pre-

vious best score in T20Internationals happens to be 14,was promoted to open alongsideColin Munro (34 off 20 balls)and they added 86 runs in only8.2 overs in a whirlwind start.

Seifert's knock had sevenfours and half a dozen sixes, set-ting the tone for a big total.

Seifert showed the intentstraightaway as he gaveBhuvneshwar Kumar the charge,picking the knuckle ball early,dispatching it over mid-wicketfor a six. The next shot was afour as he stood and hammeredpast the bowler.

With Munro hitting KhaleelAhmed (1/48 in 4 overs) for twosuccessive sixes, New Zealandwas off to a blazing start scoring44 off the first four overs.

Seifert was lucky to survive

when Dhoni dropped a sharpchance after the batsman hadedged one off Krunal.

But he promptly put thenext delivery into the stands,moving across towards off andsweeping it over backwardsquare leg.

There wasn't any sign ofovert footwork but he shuffledenough inside the crease tomake room for the big shots andin the process disturbed the lineand length of the bowlers.

The elder Pandya finally gota breakthrough when Munrowas caught in the deep off VijayShankar.

But Seifert never let themomentum drop and hit twomore sixes off Krunal, who justkept on pushing the ball througha flatter trajectory.

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Smriti Mandhana remained anunstoppable juggernaut with

a record-smashing half centurybut the Indian women's cricketteam failed to make it count,going down by 23 runs in theopening T20 Internationalagainst New Zealand onWednesday.

Mandhana held the recordfor the fastest fifty by an Indianbefore the match and she bet-tered it by a ball during her 58-run knock at the WestPacStadium. The 22-year-old faced34 balls in all but reached the 50-mark off 24 deliveries.

However, New Zealandpacer Lea Tahuhu played a deci-sive role with three scalps off herfour overs to derail India's pur-suit of a 160-run target whichwas going smoothly till the timeMandhana was at the crease.India eventually folded for 136in 19.1 overs.

Leg-spinner Amelia Kerr(2/28) clinched the crucial wick-ets of Mandhana and Indiancaptain Harmanpreet Kaur towreck the visitors' chances. Off-spinner Leigh Kasperek alsopicked up a couple of wickets.

"Obviously we didn't get thestart we wanted but it was pret-ty good to come back and win.It's just about keeping calm," saidTahuhu, who was adjudgedplayer of the match for her per-formance.

Harmanpreet, on the otherhand, blamed India's loss on apoor batting effort, especially inthe last 10 overs.

"I think bowlers did reallywell as we expected. We didn'tbat well in the last 10 overs. Thatis only area where we are alwaysstruggling," she pointed out.

Veteran Mithali Raj, whocaptains the Indian ODI side,was dropped from the match.

"We are looking to givechance to young girls, that's the

only reason," said Harmanpreetwhen asked about Mithali'sabsence from the line-up andwhether her experience wouldhave come handy here.

Mandhana and JemiamahRodrigues (39 off 33 balls) com-bined for a 102-run second-wicket stand that should havebeen a solid foundation for therest of the line-up.

But India collapsed in theface of an inspired performanceby Lahuhu.

From 101/1, the visitingteam was down to 117/6 in amatter of five overs that turnedthe match on its head.

Harmanpreet (17 off 15balls) played out a small cameo,including a massive six off Kerr,but couldn't steer the teamhome, failing to find any supportat the other end.

Mandhana was her usualaggressive self and played anoth-er strokeful knock, studded withseven hits to the fence andthree sixes.

Earlier, opening batswomanSophie Devine smashed a 48-ball 62 in an enterprising inningsto take New Zealand women toa challenging 159 for 4 from 20

overs after being put into bat.Devine's aggressive innings

was laced with six boundariesand two sixes. She and captainAmy Satterthwaite (33) shareda 69-run stand for the thirdwicket to steer New Zealand outof trouble after a stuttering start.

Spinners Radha Yadav andPoonam Yadav dimissed SuzieBates (7) and Caitlin Gurrey (15)cheaply to reduce the homeside to 47 for 2 at the end of theseventh over. But the Indiansfailed to make further dents withDevine and Satterthwaite deny-ing them any success for 8.3overs.

Devine and Satterthwaite fellin the space of six deliveries offthe bowling of Arundhati Reddyand Deepti Sharma in the 16thand 17th overs respectively butNew Zealand still made a lateflourish by scoring 38 runsfrom the final 3.3 overs.

Wicketkeeper Katey Martinremained not out on 27 from 14balls as the home team scored 16runs from the final over.

Martin hit a six off the sec-ond ball of the final over as wellas from the last delivery of theinnings.

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India skipper Rohit Sharma on Wednesday said thata line-up with eight specialist batsmen should have

chased down the 220-run target set by New Zealand,however steep it might have looked for a T20 match.

India folded for 139 in 19.2 overs collapsing to theirworst-ever defeat by 80 runs in the first T20 game.

"It was a tough game. We were outplayed in all threedepartments. We didn't start well and we knew that 200was not going to be an easy chase," he said after the game.

"We have chased such (big) targets in the past andthat is why we played with eight batsmen. But we did-n't have (even) small partnerships and that made ittougher. New Zealand though played well, they had part-nerships. We need to go to Auckland, have a look at theconditions and take it from there," he added.

Outplayed 1-4 by India in the ODI series, Black Capsskipper Kane Williamson was happy to finally see histeam produce a "complete performance" in the first T20I.

"Fantastic performance all around, everyone rose andit was one of those complete performances that yousearch for. The top-order was superb and we built part-nerships that helped us," Williamson said.

"But it has finished now, we move on in a day's timeand we have another game. Hope we can keep themomentum through the series having set the tone."

Opening duo of Tim Seifert (84) and Colin Munro(34) lay the foundation for New Zealand's total beforethe bowlers returned to complete the job.

"Seifert and Munro were outstanding. It really wasa good experience for the boys. Some of the short con-tributions were of great importance. Daryll bowled real-ly well and played a good cameo down the order. Wehad the runs on the board, but the bowling and field-ing too was of high standard," Williamson said.

Seifert, who was adjudged the 'Man of the Match'for his 43-ball 84, said he was happy to live up to theexpectations after his selection in the team.

"It was a great way to start the series and the boysare really happy. It feels great to go up the order. I hada look at the first two overs and then took it from thereand put pressure on the bowlers," he said.

"I have been selected for a reason and it feels niceto have backed my ability," he said when asked abouthis big-hitting prowess.

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Fielding restrictions in the first sixPowerplay overs is challenging for

any bowler but according to KrunalPandya it was the middle overs thatproved costly during India's 80-runloss to New Zealand in the first T20International.

"In the Powerplay as well as in themiddle overs also, we gave away plen-ty of runs," Krunal said at the post-match media conference after Indiafolded for 139 while chasing 220.

He maintained that the targetwasn't easy to chase.

"Yes, obviously I guess, when youare chasing 218 (220), it's not that easy.Initially, we gave away (too many)runs and kept on leaking runs in themiddle overs as well. So no matterhow the pitch was, the scoreboardpressure was obviously there," theBaroda all-rounder said.

Krunal felt that India's defeat was"a combination of both poor bowlingand some great batting by the BlackCaps".

"They batted really well and webowled a few loose deliveries as well.So it was a combination of both."

A couple of catches were droppedincluding one by wicketkeeperMahendra Singh Dhoni, when Manof the match Tim Seifert hadn'tscored much.

Seifert went on to smash 84 off 43balls with seven fours and six sixes.Dinesh Karthik also dropped a sitterin the deep.

When asked if wind and coldconditions posed a problem while

fielding, Krunal replied: "No not thatmuch. It was fine. In fact, it was goodweather to play. As far as the wind isconcerned, it wasn't difficult to catchthe ball so I guess it was absolutelyfine."

"Dropping catches is a part andparcel of the game. One day youmight take a blinder like Siraj andthen another day two catches (Dhoniand Karthik) get dropped as well. It'sjust that you have to learn from everygame," he said.

New Zealand's Tim Southee wasthe pick of the bowlers with figuresof 3 for 17 and Pandya lauded hisefforts.

"I did play against him (recently)in an India A game when we came forthe A tour. I always knew that he wasa good player but today he provedwhy," he praised the senior pacer.

However Krunal seemed confi-dent that the team will make acomeback in the next game atAuckland.

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The repeated failure of the middle-order toup the game when it matters has convinced

Indian women's team vice-captain SmritiMandhana that she has to "practically bat for18 to 20 overs" for the side to stay in the huntduring stiff chases.

Mandhana smashed a 58-run knock off34 balls but the Indian team failed to make itcount and was dismissed for 136 while chas-ing a target of 160 in the opening T20 onWednesday.

"My wicket along with Jemimah's turnedout to be crucial. If you get out back-to-backin T20s, it proves costly. When you are chas-ing 160 and the run-rate is above 7 or 8, nexttime we have to plan and play better. It did-n't work out today," Smriti said after the match.

"Practically, I would say I have to bat till20 overs that is the best option. The more Ibat till 18 overs, we won't collapse because ifthe top three or four batters can bat till the 18-20th overs then the rest can revolve aroundthem. So tactically that is what I will try to do,"Mandhana said, indicating the absence of afinisher in the line-up.

Mandhana bettered her record of fastestfifty by one delivery, fetching this one off 24deliveries.

Asked if it was her best, she responded:"You never know what your best is. I can't limitmyself to a 60 and say it is my best. If I canchase any total and if I win matches for India,then only it would be my best."

Mandhana said though Indian concededa few runs in the end, the team should havebeen able to chase the target.

"We almost got our run-rate under 7,which was great but definitely we gave away10-15 runs extra in the end while bowling. Wehad got (Suzie) Bates and (Sophie) Devine butthe wicket was good and batters should havechased the target," she said.

"The way we played the ODI series, eventoday we were cruising till the 12th over butin T20s there is always a collapse. So, the nexttime we have to keep that in mind as a bat-ting unit.

Down 0-1 in the three-T20I series,Mandhana said the team will be under pres-sure.

"Being 1-0 down, we will be under thepump, everyone will be aiming to be betterthan what we were today and win the next twomatches for India, that is what we are think-ing and not what happened today."

Wind came into play at the WestPacStadium and Mandhana said she kept that fac-tor in mind while taking on-field decisions.

"We were thinking of taking pacers andspinners from whichever way the wind wasgoing. According to the wind, we were think-ing of bowling at the stumps or outside thestumps," she said.

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Doing some of these nice things forother people will not only bringhappiness to others, but also to

yourself.Too often the trend in our society is

for people to be separated from others orto be cut off from the great mass of human-ity, and in doing so to be dehumanised alittle bit more with each step.

Cars have taken us off the streets,where we used to greet each other and stopto chat. Cubicles have taken away a bit ofthe humanity in working, as have factoriesand even computers to some extent.Television has planted us firmly in our liv-ing rooms, instead of out with other peo-ple. Even movie theaters, where many peo-ple get together, cut us off from true con-versation because we’re staring at a bigscreen.

And while I’m not railing against anyof these inventions (except perhaps thecubicle), what we must guard against is thetendency of that individuality to have usfocused on ourselves to the exclusion ofour fellow human beings. The tendencytowards selfishness rather than giving, onhelping ourselves rather than helping ourbrothers and sisters in humanity.

Smile and be friendly. Sometimes asimple little thing like this can put a smileand warm feeling in someone else’s heart,and make their day a little better. Theymight then do the same for others.

Call a charity to volunteer. You don’thave to go to a soup kitchen today. Just lookup the number, make the call, and makean appointment to volunteer sometime in

the next month. It can be whatever char-ity you like. Volunteering is one of the mostamazing things you can do. Donate some-thing you don’t use. Or a whole box ofsomethings. Drop them off at a charity —others can put your clutter to good use.Make a donation. There are lots of waysto donate to charities online, or in yourlocal community. Instead of buying your-self a new gadget or outfit, spend thatmoney in a more positive way.

Redirect gifts. Instead of having peo-ple give you birthday or Christmas gifts,ask them to donate gifts or money to a cer-tain charity. Stop to help. The next time yousee someone pulled over with a flat tire,or somehow in need of help, stop and askhow you can help. Sometimes all they needis a push, or the use of your cell phone.

Teach. Take the time to teach some-one a skill you know. This could be teach-ing your grandma to use email, teachingyour child to ride a bike, teaching your co-worker a valuable computer skill, teachingyour spouse how to clean the darn toilet.OK, that last one doesn’t count. Comfortsomeone in grief. Often a hug, a helpfulhand, a kind word, a listening ear, will goa long way when someone has lost a lovedone or suffered some similar loss ortragedy.

Help them take action. If someone ingrief seems to be lost and doesn’t knowwhat to do, help them do something. Itcould be making funeral arrangements, itcould be making a doctor’s appointment,it could be making phone calls. Don’t doit all yourself — let them take action too,

because it helps in the healing process.Buy food for a homeless person. Cash

is often a bad idea if it’s going to be usedfor drugs, but buying a sandwich and chipsor something like that is a good gesture.Be respectful and friendly.

Lend your ear. Often someone who issad, depressed, angry, or frustrated justneeds someone who will listen. Ventingand talking through an issue is a huge help.Help someone on the edge. If someone issuicidal, urge them to get help. If they don’t,

call a suicide hotline or doctor yourself toget advice. Help someone get active. A per-son in your life who wants to get healthymight need a helping hand — offer to gowalking or running together, to join a gymtogether. Once they get started, it can haveprofound effects. Do a chore. Somethingsmall or big, like cleaning up or washinga car or doing the dishes or cutting a lawn.Give a massage. Only when appropriate ofcourse. But a massage can go a long wayto making someone feel better.

Send a nice email. Just a quick notetelling someone how much you appreci-ate them, or how proud you are of them,or just saying thank you for somethingthey did. Show appreciation, publicly.Praising someone on a blog, in front ofcoworkers, in front of family, or in someother public way, is a great way to makethem feel better about themselves.

Donate food. Clean out your cup-board of canned goods, or buy a couplebags of groceries, and donate them to a

homeless shelter. Just be there. Whensomeone you know is in need, sometimesit’s just good to be there. Sit with them.Talk. Help out if you can. Be patient.Sometimes people can have difficultyunderstanding things, or learning to dosomething right. Learn to be patientwith them.

Tutor a child. This might be difficultto do today, but often parents can’t affordto hire a tutor for their child in need ofhelp. Call a school and volunteer yourtutoring services. Create a care package.Soup, reading material, tea, chocolate any-thing you thinks the person might needor enjoy. Good for someone who is sickor otherwise in need of a pick-me-up.

Lend your voice. Often the powerless,the homeless, the neglected in our worldneed someone to speak up for them. Youdon’t have to take on that cause by your-self, but join others in signing a petition,speaking up a a council meeting, writingletters, and otherwise making a needheard. Offer to babysit. Sometimes par-ents need a break. If a friend or other lovedone in your life doesn’t get that chancevery often, call them and offer to babysitsometime. Set up an appointment. It canmake a big difference.

Simply finding ways to express yourlove to others, whether it be your partner,child, other family member, friend, co-worker, or a complete stranger just expressyour love. A hug, a kind word, spendingtime, showing little kindnesses, beingfriendly it all matters more than youknow.

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Did you know that a woman can’t bearrested after six in the evening andif she is being taken into the policecustody after that, there has to bea woman guard around her all the

time till she’s there. Well, actress Swara Bhaskercame to know the fact recently.

There are laws that lay down the substan-tive rights of the masses, pertaining to the ben-efits of the people. However, due to lack of prop-er awareness, such provisions hardly yield anyjustice, highlights Swara as she speaks about theforthcoming drama on Colors, Courtroom.

She says, “There are numerous laws whichpeople don’t know about but should be awareof. The show will make these legal proceduresand important laws accessible to people in aninteresting way.” It is because none will everspecifically open a book to read about laws, elsethey would have been lawyers.

She says that there’s a fear that grips peo-ple when they first hear of court and legal pro-cedures. “They always want to avoid them.They start thinking about the high court andrepeated visits to the lower ones for case pro-ceedings, feeling that the next 25 years of theirlives might just get wasted doing this.Pendency is a great issue in our country. Butthat is also because common people hardlyknow the exact court procedures and the waylaw works in the country,” says Swara. Shehighlights that it’s interesting “how law ismade for people’s protection and that in turn

puts them into trouble.”The actress says that when she got to know

about the show, she found it very “interesting”even though she is not a part of it, she wanted

to support it.The Anarkali of Aarah actress believes

that it’s important for our society to ques-tion the right and wrong of things. She

says, “In our country most people actwithout thinking. We are just reacting

to things. Such shows are important forthem to know, think, question and actaccordingly.”

There have been shows likeCrime Patrol, Savdhaan India, thathave showed numerous real-lifecases of crime against humanity andalerted the society. Swara believesthat such shows are capable ofanalysing fear as well as tracing the

criminal mindset.She says, “It depends on the way

a particular crime is portrayed. Nosubject in itself is good or bad.” Shebelieves that if you choose to“fetishise” a crime or “sensationalise”it and show it in a “dhinchak way byusing sensational headlines around it,it will only make it seem justified to

those who have a pervert mindset. Wedon’t need to look at fiction for sensation-alising any crime as our TV soaps and

news channels are enough. Many ofthem report on such heinous events

in an irresponsible manner.”Giving an example, she talks

about the film Talvar, a repertoryon Arushi-Hemraj murder case of

2008. She exclaims, “There’s adifference in the way the filmshows the case as compared tosome TV shows that have triedto show the same case in a sen-sational manner. No subject initself is good or bad. It’s impor-tant for people who create fic-tion to show a crime in a sensi-tive manner that makes peoplealso delve deeper into it serious-ly and as something that isunjustified.”

Adding on to that, she saysthat showing a rape or molesta-tion of a woman that objectifiestheir body and fetishises the vio-lence in a perverse manner “canonly make the crime appearpleasurable and justified to somepeople. It’s all a game of percep-tion.”

Even though the actress hasbeen trolled by multipleaccounts, she continues to bevery active on social mediawhen it comes to raising con-cerns over crimes againstwomen. She says that she does-n’t believe in making socialmedia as a courtroom of justicejust like it increasingly is becom-ing one.

“Social media has become acourt in itself and I am verymuch against this idea. Youcan’t replace the judiciary withmob lynchings, virtual trails orany kind of revolution onTwitter. It’s for connecting andsocialising and spreading views,not for making a jury out of it,”says she.

Recalling the Mumbaiattacks of 26/11, she says thatwhen Kasab had been caught,“there was an anger and joshamong people to kill him byhanging him on the streets.Such a dangerous thing to doand ask for! There was mob vio-lence all around. Indeed he wasterrorist and had to be punished.But not in this way.”

She goes on to add, “Wehave to be very careful when wetalk about justice. We can’t turninto inhuman carnivores ordevils in order to get justice.Hence, there’s a court and aroom of people who have readabout the Constitution and lawto give justice to us. They knowthe way and are much qualified,trained and smarter than uscommon people to take law intheir hands. Let it happen therational way.”

Swara, who was trolledincessantly for her masturbationscene in her film Veere DiWedding, says that she doesn’tregret doing or saying anythingthat she does, especially onsocial media. “I don’t ever regretit. I don’t feel the need to. When

you are under the public eye,you have to have a thick skinand be firm on whatever yousay. People will always dig some-thing out of it. This doesn’tmean you stay quiet against thewrong.”

Talking about challengingpatriarchy at home, she says thatit will be done only when westart speaking up. It is some-thing that equally affects theboys as it does to the girls. “Thefirst step to challenging it is tosay something against it andstop it. If someday a girl is tiredor has an injury and she has toserve tea to her father, why doesnot the son do it in that case?Why only the daughter? If thechild comes back at 3 ‘o’ clockin the night, the mother willwake up to ask about servingfood for him/her. Why?”

Hence, it “begins” with suchbasic habits, she says, addingthat “fighting for it is a later sce-nario, the first thing is to learnhow to recognise it.”

Talking about her previousopening on sexual harassment atthe workplace, she says thatwomen don’t know what is hap-pening to them. “When I sharedabout the incident, I realisedthat just because the harassernever touched me, it doesn’tmean that it wasn’t harassment.I managed to save myself. Irealised at that time it didn’t feellike harassment to me becauseof a lack of awareness. To recog-nise, we need to break thesilence and start conversations.”

She says that women havebeen raising their voices sincetime immemorial but it’s onlynow that our ears have risen tohear them out. “The Vishakhacase is an example and it was inthe late 1990s. We are fightingfor the same thing even today —sexual harassment at workplace.It’s been three decades since,”says Swara.

Talking about the #MeToomovement, she says that we arelooking at the movement in justone way — how many womenhave come and spoken againsttheir harassers.

But she feels we shouldn’tjudge the campaign only on thatbasis. “We should look at it as acathartic movement which isbreaking a silence and teachingto recognise the wrong. It is alsoabout accepting and recognisingthat this happened to me yearsago and today I have the courageto speak up against it. Peoplethrough this, could realise thata certain person wasn’t just astupid or insane man, rather hewas a predator,” she says.

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From kundali to tarot card reading,people across the globe have beencurious about predicting their future.

Everyone has been trying to alter their des-tiny with gemstones to warding off evil andwanting to know what future has in storefor them. But do these fortune-tellers evenexist? They sure do, in tales.

Actress Sana Sayyad plays the charac-ter of Drishti in StarPlus’ new offering —Divya Drishti, a narrative of twin sisterswho are blessed with powers, they havebeen separated by fate but hope of reunit-ing with each other keeps them going.Sana’s character, who is born with a super-power, can see the impending forthcom-ing and Divya, on the other hand, canchange them.

Sana explains that in the show, asDrishti and Divya try to reunite with eachother on every full moon’s night, a threatlooms over them. The wicked witch orpishachini, who is equipped with a power-ful dagger and has a hollow eye, hauntsDrishti by malevolent visions of her. Thereare certain events including the witch’s reg-ular appearances that make her wonderwhether her gifted superpowers are reallya boon or a mere jinx?

Sana says, “The show has been con-ceived keeping in mind the new wave ofconcepts that comes with a little elementof thrill and keeps viewers on the edge ofthe seats.”

She feels that these days, such kind offictional shows are “quite in trend.” Eventhough people don’t believe in it, they enjoywatching it. She says, “Every genre has acertain kind of audience.”

She hasn’t done anything of this kindbefore and this is the reason why Sana isexcited to play such a character. “InitiallyI had no idea how to react on the script. I

had to do a lot of home work like watch-ing a few series and films. I am still tryingto adapt to a lot of things. The whole ideaof working hard, showcasing somethingnew and the challenges that I had to ful-fill just got me on it,” says Sana.

The actress shares that the show has gotmany layers to it. Having superpowers isthe “USP” but apart from that there areother relevant things as well. “You’ll see thebonding between two sisters, a lot of thrill,suspense, twist and turns, moral values,romance and friendship.”

Sana explains that the show’s storytelling value is good versus evil. She says,“Conflict of good and evil is a concept thathas survived for over ages and has longbeen ingrained into literature. The fight isconsidered to be universal. It is usually seenthat the good must defeat the evil, and thisis also that journey in its simplest form. It’salways important to showcase the achayiki burayi pe jeet type of content.”

Today, we cannot imagine ourlives without the internet. It’s notan era of gaining knowledge

through spending hours in librariesand with books. It’s a Google Searchera. However, not many are aware ofthe impact it has on people and aboutcreating a safer and better internet.

On the Safer Internet Day, anonline marketplace company releaseda survey about 2019 internet behaviourand impact. The survey with 26,000+netizens revealed internet behaviourand attitude towards safety — bothonline and in general — with an aimto drive awareness and call for actionto all users and play an active roletowards creating a better and saferinternet for all, especially the youngerlot. The survey covers respondentsbetween 18 to 55 years of age fromDelhi-NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore,Ahmedabad, Chennai and Hyderabad.

As per the survey, a majority ofnetizens neglected cybersecurity prac-tices in their personal lives. Around 57per cent respondentsshowed negligencetowards their safety —both online and offline.Around 56 per cent ofnetizens freely sharedtheir personal detailslike mobile number ontheir professional or offi-cial social mediaaccounts. Over 14,543users made theircontact numbersvisible online onaccounts l ikeL i n k e d I n ,whereas only11,648 users did-n’t share it.

There were some personalrevelations too. While 6,355 netizenssaid that they regularly monitor theirchildren and what they do online,

9,600 of them never did it, whereas,around 10, 236 netizens said thatthey don’t have children. The totalgraph showed that 60 per cent of theparents in the surveyed group didn’tmonitor the content their kids con-sume online.

Moving on to personal awareness,around 67 per cent said they skippedreading the ‘terms & conditions’ or anyother safety/legal guidelines whilesigning up to a website or using a prod-uct. There only 8,689 users who readthe terms and conditions against17,502 users who didn’t.

The survey also revealed some reg-ular habits like changing of pass-

words. While 54 per cent of the peo-ple said they had not changed the pass-words to their social media accountsin the last six months to a year, 31 percent admitted they cannot even recallhow long had it been since they lastchanged their passwords.

A similar neglect towards safetymeasures was also observed withpolice verification of household staff.Around 75 per cent confirmed thatthey had not conducted a police ver-ification or did not know if one had tobe done. About only 25 per cent con-firmed having observed this processfor household staff. Respondents fromDelhi were the highest among thosewho said they observe this process forhousehold staff, followed by thosefrom Mumbai.

However, contradictory to theoverall neglect, there also existed ahigh degree of awareness with finan-

cial safety. Around 68 percent said that they had

never shared their OTP orpassword for their bankaccount, social media

accounts, laptop orphone with any-one.

L a v a n y aChandan, gener-al counsel of thesaid company,said, “The inter-

net dominates ourlives like nothing

else. It is in our inter-est, therefore, to useit in a manner thatcontinues toimprove the qualityof our lives whilestaying safe by

implementing thesame level of cautionwe exercise in the realworld.”

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The Kiru Hydro ElectricProject is being imple-mented by the Chenab

Valley Power Projects PrivateLimited (CVPPPL) and is ajoint venture between theNHPC Limited, Jammu andKashmir State PowerDevelopment CorporationLimited (JKSPDC), and PTCIndia Limited.

Satya Pal Malik, Governorof Jammu and Kashmir, DrJitendra Singh, Union Ministerof State for Development ofNorth Eastern Region, DrNirmal Singh, Speaker, Jammuand Kashmir LegislativeAssembly, Jugal KishoreSharma, Member ofParliament, Lok Sabha andShamsher Singh, Member ofParliament, Rajya Sabha alsograced the occasion.

During the address Modisaid that the hydro electric pro-ject shall not only meet theincreasing energy requirementof the state but also providedirect and indirect employ-ment opportunities to thou-sands of persons during theconstruction phase and there-after during the operationphase.

Kiru HEP, to be construct-ed on River Chenab in theDistrict Kishtwar, in Jammuand Kashmir, is one of thebiggest hydroelectric projectsunder implementation in thestate. The project is scheduledto be completed in 54 monthsat an estimated cost of Rs. 4708

crore. The annual generationfrom the project shall be 2272MU. The project envisagesconstruction of 135 m highconcrete gravity dam and anunderground power housewith four units of 156 MWeach (624 MW).

The Government ofJammu and Kashmir hasaccorded a waiver of free powerat decremental rate for thefirst five years and the waterusage charges for the first tenyears after the commissioningof the project besides theexemption of levy of tolls on allimports. It has also given a con-sent for wavier of nine per cent

state GST for the project onorder to keep the project costand its tariff at the minimum.The government will get 12 percent free power from the sixthyear of the commissioning andthe water usage charges after 10years.

The welfare of the peopleaffected from the hydroelectricproject shall be taken care ofthrough the proper implemen-tation of a comprehensive reha-bilitation and resettlementplan. The cost of the land forhouse and house constructionassistance, scholarship to chil-dren of the project affectedfamilies, training program for

skill development and so onhas been included in the plan.Also, a provision of Rs 29crore has been earmarked inthe plan for infrastructuraldevelopment in the projectaffected areas to improve thesocio economic condition ofthe people.

An additional one per centfree power towards Local AreaDevelopment Fund (LADF)shall be provided by the CVPP-PL with a matching contribu-tion by the Jammu andKashmir Government after thecommissioning of the projectas per the Hydro Power Policyof the Government of India

and an annual revenue ofapproximately Rs. 25 croreshall be available for the infra-structural development andwelfare schemes for the ProjectAffected People on a continu-ous basis over the life of theproject.

Extensive corporate socialresponsibility (CSR) activitieshave also been taken up in theregion for the development oflocal area. The construction ofthe project will also lead to aconsiderable improvement ofthe roads and bridges as well asthe communication systemsand electric supply system inthe region, thereby developingthe area socio-economically.

The state of Jammu andKashmir is bestowed with hugehydro potential and in theKishtwar region there are manyprojects in the pipeline forconstruction. This potentialhas to be harnessed so that thestate can become the powerhouse of the country which willbring about an overall develop-ment of the region as well.

In a similar instance, theFFoundation Stone of the 1000MW Pakal Dul HE Project ofCVPPPL was also laid by thePrime Minister Narendra Modiin May 2018 and the construc-tion of the project is inprogress. The third project ofthe company- 540 MW KwarHE Project, is also ready tobegin construction after gettingan investment approval of theproject.

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The Vezley Foods is showcas-ing its range of soya-based

products for the vegetarianfood lovers at the ongoing 33rdInternational Crafts Mela atSurajkund in Faridabad. Thevisitors to the fair can enjoy fin-ger-licking snacks like nugget's,shawarma, chop sticks andsoya chhika.

The company’s managingdirector, Amit Bajaj said,“Unfortunately soya has beenignored in the food market fora long time. We have intro-duced this magic bean with anew thought which tastes goodtoo. Today we face many healthrelated problems like bloodpressure, obesity, diabetes andso on and one of the biggest rea-sons behind this is an unbal-anced and an unhealthy diet.Our products are an alternateto junk food since they arehealthy. We believe in healthy

and delicious food for all andno compromise is made withthe quality, hygienic and thenutrition value of the products.”

Commenting on the healthbenefits of the key ingredient—soya, Bajaj said that soya is oneof the best sources of protein.Soya has a substance namedLecithin, which is very good forthe skin and is also beneficialfor a healthy heart. “Soya con-

tains all essential amino acidproteins which are required forthe body. Besides, soya is richin vitamin, carbohydrate, fibre,iron and calcium and can pro-vide all necessary nutrition tothe body in case one does notconsume meat, fish or eggs.One can consume good, unsat-urated fat from soya whichcontrols cholesterol,” addedBajaj.

The 20th edition of the largest theatre festi-val of Asia-Bharat Rang Mahotsav (BRM),

is being hosted in Delhi which has broughttogether over 100 national and internationaltheatre acts in a 21-day long spectacle.Organised by the National School of Drama,the 20th BRM has put forth some very innov-ative ambiance performances and street playssince its beginning.

Some interesting plays included ‘BesureGramophone Wala Mechanic’, a play by IndiraGandhi Delhi Technical University for Women(IGDTUW). The play revolved around an oldmechanic who owns a repairing shop and isgiven a 72-year-old gramophone to repair. Whatif the instrument goes beyond repair? Anotherplay, ‘Kahkasha’ by the Jesus and Mary College,revolved around hyper masculinity. It exploredthe themes of childhood learning at hom, howmasculinity and femininity are complete oppo-sites with no flexibility. The play talked aboutissues of body image and how it’s not just awoman’s problem. Special emphasis was placedon eating disorders and muscle dysmorphia andnormalising the fact that men have them too.The play also addressed the correlation betweenthe problematic representation of male char-acters in pop culture and how it propagatesideas of hyper masculinity.

Some notable plays that have been per-formed in this year’s festival were ‘AbhimanyaSundari Thirukalyanam’, a Tamil play drama-tised from the Mahabharata’s story ofAbhimanya Sundari Thirukalyanam; ‘Titas

Ekti Nodir Naam’, a Bengali play which talkedabout the fishermen societies residing on thebanks of Titas in Bangladesh; ‘King Oedipus’,a Bengali play which followed the abode ofCadmus, who was burnt to ashes because of thewrath of the Gods; ‘Ananyaa’, a Marathi playwhich is a story of an ordinary girl, Ananya,who possessed the potential to do somethingextraordinary and ‘Shifa…The Healing’, aHindi play which was based on the HIV+ peo-ple talking about the positivity of life and aboutsearching within oneself, to find a new way oflife.

Ambiance performances are a daily featureof the BRM which showcase a colourful land-scape of the culture. These performancesshow the lesser known local, traditional, andfolk forms from the states to the heart of thenational capital. They are being performed atintervals within the NSD premises at the audi-toriums before the plays. Some notable perfor-mances include Laihroba, Bamboo Dance andGidda.

The Prime MinisterNarendra Modi dedicated

the 220 kV Srinagar-Drass-K a r g i l - K h a l t s i - L e hTransmission System, in astep towards powering Ladakhand connecting the country’snorthern most part to theNational Grid. He comment-ed, “I got the opportunity oflaying the foundation stone ofthis project and today, again,I have got the opportunity todedicate this project. Withthis over �2,000 crore project,the problem of electricity inLeh-Ladakh is going to beminimised.”

The PM had laid the foun-dation stone for this project onAugust 12, 2014 and within 4.5years, the project has been suc-cessfully completed.

Built at a height of around3000-4000 meters, thisapproximately 335 km longtransmission line has beenconstructed by the Power GridCorporation of India Limited(POWERGRID), a Navratnacompany of the Governmentof India, under the Ministry ofPower. Under this project, thefour new state-of-the-art220/66 kV Gas Insulated Sub-stations built at Drass, Kargil,Khaltsi and Leh, will help toensure 24x7 quality power inall weather conditions.

This project will not onlyhelp evacuate surplus power ofthe Kargil and Leh Hydel sta-tions of NHPC in summers,but will also supply power tothe region in winters whentemperatures dip and thehydro electricity generation

does not match up. The pro-ject will meet the powerdemand of Ladakh region ateconomical rates.

This transmission projectof approximately �2,266 crorewill result in minimising themassive use of diesel generat-ing sets during winters, andthus will not only help inprotecting the environment,but will also save on theimport expenditure in for-eign currency, which is beingincurred on crude oil, there-by benefiting the state exche-quer. It will also give a boostto the tourism sector, especial-ly the hospitality industry inLadakh, as quality electricity atreasonable rates will be acces-sible due to non-reliance ondiesel.

This task executed byPOWERGRID in unforeseenweather conditions was madepossible by immaculate projectmonitoring skills, high teamspirit and strategic planningand with the use of moderntechnologies. The line remainssnow covered for nearly six

months with the minimumtemperature going down to aslow as -40 degree Celsius atDrass. Therefore, speciallydesigned tower foundationswere constructed with theassistance from the Snow andAvalanche StudyEstablishment (SASE) to spothe tower foundations, as thework force braved the chal-lenge of working at lesser oxy-gen levels.

The event, where the PMmade the announcement, dur-ing his recent visit to Jammuand Kashmir, was attended bySatya Pal Malik, the Governorof Jammu and Kashmir, DrJitendra Singh, Union Ministerof State for Development ofNorth Eastern Region alongwith Haji Anayat Ali,Chairman, Legislative Council,Jammu and Kashmir, JamyangTsering Namgial,Chairman/Chief ExecutiveCouncillor, LAHDC, FerozAhmed, Chairman, LAHDC,Kargil, and Chering Dorjay,Member of LegislativeCouncil, Leh.

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England Lions will be one ofthe innumerable stops that

out-of-form opener KL Rahulwill encounter in his road toredemption as he gears up toplay for India A in the first unof-ficial Test.

The match will also featuretwo of India's quickest bowlersin young Avesh Khan and thenot so young Varun Aaron,who will be keenly watched bythe national selection commit-tee.

Virat Kohli wants threemore fast bowlers which willbroaden the base of the currentpool of speed merchants andthat's the specific reason whyinjury prone not known for hisconsistency has been recalled.

It's all about sheer speed andsame for Avesh, who has reallyintimidated the domestic bats-men during the season.

Rahul hasn't exactly set thestage on fire during the limitedovers games having come backfrom an interim suspension forhis sexist comments on a televi-sion chat show.

India chief coach RaviShastri has recently made it clearthat he would like Rahul to playa lot of A games in order toregain form.

The India 'A' team led byAnkit Bawne, comprisingdomestic performers, will befavourites against the Lions,who have not had the best oftime on the tour so far.

Kerala all-rounder JalajSaxena finds a place after astrong Ranji Trophy season ashas Siddhesh Lad along withspinners Shahbaz Nadeem andMayank Markande.

The visiting Englishmen,on the other hand, have had atough time, being hammered inthe five-match ODI series, los-ing 1-4 and will look forredemption.

Captain Sam Billings hasbeen in good form and will lookto carry it into the longer formattoo. The young team includesplayers with Test experience,including Ben Duckett and OlliePope.

Lanky paceman JamieOverton has impressed withhis performances and will beassisted by Tom Bailey. Thespinners-Danny Briggs andAmar Vardi will have a big roleto play on a track expected to bebowler-friendly on the evidenceof the recent Ranji matches.

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Saurashtra stared down the barrelafter Cheteshwar Pujara's secondsuccessive failure that put defending

champions Vidarbha on the brink of anencore after a stirring fourth day of theRanji Trophy final on Wednesday.

Left-arm spinner Aditya Sarwate onceagain turned out to be star batsman'snemesis as he was trapped leg before fornought with Saurashtra tottering at 58 for5 in their pursuit of 206.

Sarwate (3/13 in 10 overs) bamboo-zled the Saurashtra batsmen after beinghanded the new ball on a track that offeredturn and variable bounce.

Saurashtra were best chasers duringthe knockout stage but their reliable bats-men came a cropper in the most-impor-tant clash.

Going into the final day, Saurashtrawho have ended runners-up twice in thepast, need to score 148 more runs on atricky track with Vishvaraj Jadeja (23) andKamlesh Makvana (2) set to resume thechase.

It will be more about the battle ofnerves, considering that lower-order bats-men from both the sides have shown thatscoring runs is not impossible, if the appli-cation is correct.

Earlier, left-arm spinnerDharmendrasinh Jadeja (6/96) had cleanedup the Vidarbha top-order early in the dayto hand Saurashtra an advantage but totheir credit, the hosts did extremely wellto reach 200 after being reduced to 147 foreight.

Mohit Kale contributed 38 off 94 ballsand Sarwate, batting at number eight, pro-duced a combative 49 after hosts resumedthe day at 55 for two.

Sarwate faced 133 balls in hisfighting knock and hit five bound-aries, negating the good workdone by Saurashtra bowlers.

Sarwate, who was thelast man out in Vidarbhainnings, then returned torattle the Saurashtra top-order with his left-armspin. In a mesmerising spell,Sarwate dismissed first inningscenturion Snell Patel (12), HarvikDesai (8) and Pujara (0) in his firstfive overs, and conceded just 13runs in his 10 that he bowled onthe day.

India pacer Umesh Yadav,who was expensive in his first twoovers, returned for a second spellto sent back young Arpit Vasavada(5), who fished one outside off tobe caught behind.

Sheldon Jackson (7) was guiltyof playing a reckless shot as hestepped out to hammer Akshay

Wakhare, completely missed theball and was bowled.

At the start of the day,Jadeja came out with aclear plan of bowlingwicket-to-wicket on theslow VCA stadiumtrack to register the

most significant figuresof his first class career,

helping Suarashtra bundle outthe hosts for an even 200.

Jadeja scalped four batsmen,including key man Wasim Jaffer(11) and Ganesh Satish (35), in thefirst session.

This was after Suarshtra beganwith a two-pronged pace attackwith captain Jaydev Unadkat andChetan Sakariya attacking in tan-dem. But it was Jadeja, who pro-duced a sensational spell in whichhe dismissed both the overnightbatsmen.

First it was Jaffer, who strug-

gled when a delivery kept low. Theresultant faint edge was pouched bysubstitute wicket-keeper Avi Barot.

Barot has been doing the dutybehind the stumps since Vidarbhainnings in place of Snell Patel, whowas hit on helmet by Umesh.

Jadeja then trapped Satishwith a full-length ball. The TVreplays showed an inside edgecarried to the silly-point fielder.Later the officials changed thedecision as he was declared caughtby Vishvaraj.

Vidarbha failed to recoverfrom the twin blows even asSaurashtra skipper Unadkatuprooted stumps of AkshayWadkar, who went without both-ering the scorers.

In first 11 overs of the morn-ing, Vidarbha had lost three wick-ets and added just 18 runs.

Unadkat after bowling eighttesting overs, took himself off theattack but continued with a pacerfrom one end, handing the ball toleft-arm seamer Chetan Sakariya.

Soon off-spinner KamleshMakwana was introduced into theattack, replacing Sakariya and hedelivered in his third over of thespell, sending back dangerousAkshay Karnewar (18).

It was a flighted ball outside off,Karnewar went for an expansivedrive and ended up edging to firstslip where Desai took a comfort-able catch.

The hosts lost remaining fourwickets in the post-lunch sessionwith Jadeja taking two more tocomplete his six-wicket haul.

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The fairy tale run of RealKashmir Football Club in

the I-League continued as theclub from the Valley defeatedGokulam Kerala FC by a soli-tary goal to go to the top ofpoints table on Wednesday.

The match between the'Snow Leopards' and Gokulamwas played at the TRC Groundin chilling weather conditionsamid a mix of rain and snow-fall with none of the teamswilling to yield the ground.

Ivorian strikerGnohere Krizo scoredthe all-important goalin the 51st minute tohand Real Kashmirfull three points from thematch.

The win propelled theJammu and Kashmir side tothe top of the table with 32points, dislodging ChennaiCity FC (30 points) which,however, have two games inhand over Real Kashmir.

Chennai City will take onIndian Arrows on Friday whileReal Kashmir will meet EastBengal at home on Sunday.Each team will play 20 match-es in the league.

It started snowing beforethe match and heavy rainslashed the ground later on. Thetwo sides played a goal-lessfirst half as controlling the ballbecame difficult for the play-ers of both the teams due towaterlogging in many patches

of the SyntheticAstro Turf pitch.

Real Kashmirshould have taken

the lead in the first half butKrizo missed several easychances to put his side ahead.

Mason Robertson, son ofhead coach David, who wasplaying behind Krizo in a 4-4-1-1 formation, also missed acouple of chances to score.

However, it was Krizo whobroke the deadlock after thebreak, pouncing on a reboundin front of the Gokulam goalin the 51st minute.

Local boy Farhan Ganiaesaw his fierce shot from thetop of the box stopped byGokulam custodian ArnabDas but Krizo was well placedto tap in the rebound.

After taking the lead, RealKashmir players relaxed a bit,allowing a window of oppor-tunity for the team from

Kerala to push for an equalis-er.

While Kerala strikerMarcus Joseph was waywardin most of his attempts at thegoal, Real Kashmir goalkeep-er Bilal Khan was in top formto deny the visiting team.

Real Kashmir had thechance to double their lead inthe 80th minute butAbednego Tetteh, who cameon for Krizo in the 73rdminute, shot wide of Das'right post from 15 yards.

This was the ninth cleansheet for the Real Kashmir,which has the meanestdefence in the I-League thisyear, having conceded onlyeight goals in 16 games so far.

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Bundesliga leaders BorussiaDortmund crashed out of the

German Cup on Tuesday, losing apenalty shoot-out at home to WerderBremen following a 3-3 draw afterextra time.

Goalkeeper Jiri Pavlenka wasBremen's hero in the shoot-out as hesaved Dortmund's opening attemptsfrom Paco Alcacer and MaximilianPhilipp as Bremen won the last-16 tie4-2 on penalties.

It finished 1-1 over 90 minutesafter Dortmund captain Marco Reusrifled home a direct free-kick to can-cel out an early goal by Bremen's MilotRashica.

The game exploded into life withfour goals in extra time as Brementwice equalised, through substitutes

Claudio Pizarro and Martin Harnik,to force penalties after Chelsea-boundChristian Pulisic and Achraf Hakimihad scored for Dortmund.

"It's a bitter defeat," admittedDortmund striker Mario Goetze.

"We shouldn't have concededtwo equalisers in extra time and thento lose on penalties is really tough."

Peru veteran Pizarro, who turns41 in October, was delighted with his56th German Cup goal.

It meant third-choice keeper EricOelschlaegel made his Dortmunddebut against Bremen, the club he leftlast June after six years.

Earlier on Tuesday BayerLeverkusen, who pulled off a shock 3-1 win over Bayern last Saturday, wasanother big name casualty as theyslumped to a 2-1 defeat at second-divi-sion Heidenheim.

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I-League leaders Chennai City FC on Wednesday signed a dealwith Swiss champions FC Basel, which has nurtured current

Liverpool star Mohamed Salah, to sell 26 per cent of its share,becoming the first Indian side to do so with a foreign club.

Established in 1893, FC Basel has been Swiss national cham-pions 20 times and has qualified for the group stages of the UEFAChampions League more times than any other club of Switzerland.They made it to the Round of 16 in 2017-18 of the top-flightEuropean club competition.

Both Chennai FC co-owner Rohit Ramesh and FC BaselPresident Bernhard Burgener refused to divulge the financialaspect of the deal but said the partnership will focus on co-oper-ation for setting up of, among other things, a residential YouthAcademy in Coimbatore and rolling out of football schools acrossTamil Nadu in Phase-1.

Rohit said that despite the sale of 26 per cent stake to FC Basel,his club has not given anything to the Swiss club in terms of deci-sion making.

Burgener said his immediate focus would be on making thealready established academy (at Coimbatore) a word class facil-ity with expertise from FC Basel and also produce good coach-es through the introduction of a top-class coach education sys-tem.

Asked why he chose an Indian club instead of one in China,he said, "In China, most of the academies have government con-trol. It is not so in India."

As part of the plan for the Coimbatore academy, it was revealedthat it would provide free education and boarding facilities fortalented players from the age group of 10-18 so that they couldstudy, play and focus on a career in football.

All India Football Federation General Secretary Kushal Dassaid:"This (26 per cent share) deal with a legacy club ofSwitzerland to provide capital and technical know-how is to mindthe first ever in Indian football. I will all the success to both theclubs."

Das said a new coach of the Indian senior football team tosucceed Stephen Constantine is not expected before April-May.

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India Fed Cup coach AnkitaBhambri reckons a good

serve will be the key on indoorcourts when Ankita Raina andKarman Kaur Thandi fight itout with higher-ranked playersin the Fed Cup.

India will begin their cam-paign at the Asia/OceaniaGroup I against Thailand onThursday before clashing withformidable hosts Kazakhstanon Friday.

Getting past Thailand isnot expected to be too hard forIndia with Ankita and fast-improving Karman in goodform.

Thailand's best-ranked sin-gles player is PeangtarnPlipuech, who is placed at 297while Punnin Kovapitukted isway lower at number 657.

"To be very honest, the girlsare improving every year.Karman is stronger and fitterwhile Ankita is also strong andhas more experience. Theyneed to put it together,"Bhambri said.

The matches will be playedindoors due to the sub-zerotemperature in the city.

"It is important to servewell (indoor) and reach out tothe ball faster. If you start apoint well, the chances of end-ing it well also get better,"Bhambri said.

Kazakhstan's world num-ber 43 Yulia Putintseva andZarina Diyas, ranked 96, wouldbe the tough obstacles forIndia, if they are to top Pool A.

The winners of Pool Aand B, which has four teams,will clash to determine whichnation qualifies for the WorldGroup II.

"It's always tough to playtop-100 players. Ankita hadplayed the match of her lifeagainst Yulia last year. Thatexperience should help her,"opined Bhambri.

Pool B features China, whohas world number 40 ShuaiZhang and world number 42Saisai Zheng, along with Korea,Indonesia, and Pacific Oceania.

In all likelihood, Chinawill top Pool B and it will bebetween India and Kazakhstanin Pool A.

"The plan and determina-tion is the same. I have alwaysplayed my best tennis whenplaying for the country andhope to do the same," said 25-year-old Raina, who is at acareer-best rank of 165.

"I am not looking at therankings and focusing onmyself and the game I want toexecute. Also, I am analysingthe opponents' game," sheadded.

Talking about conditionsand courts, Raina said, "I amable to adapt much better sinceI have been here three timesbefore."

Bhambri said raising thegame at the right time would beimportant.

"We had good practice, wehit for 3-4 days and in Fed Cupanything can happen. You canbe favourites or underdogswhen you step out, you alsostep up," Bhambri said.

Karman, 20, said she isfeeling confident about hergame.

"Going into the Fed Cupthis year, definitely I haveimproved. I have beaten manygirls in top-200 and with top-100 players. I have learnt a lotand hope to get some wins forIndia," she said.

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NorthEast United FC willlook to avoid any hiccups

and strengthen their positionin the top four when they hostan unpredictable DelhiDynamos FC in a Hero IndianSuper League fixture onThursday.

The Highlanders current-ly occupy the last play-offspot, having tallied 23 pointsfrom 14 games.

With just four moregames left to be played andJamshedpur FC and ATKbreathing down their neck,NorthEast United needs tomake the most of their homegames.

Eelco Schattorie's side haswon just two of the sevenmatches they have played athome. Dropping points atthis juncture could potential-ly endanger their bid to reachthe ISL play-offs for the firsttime.

"It is difficult for them(Delhi) to qualify. They canplay without any pressure. Itis always a completely differ-ent mindset if you have todeliver something.

"We are in a positionwhere we need to win andthey are in a position wherethey will try to get a result. Ifyou can score quickly againstsuch a team, you can breakthem down because of lessmotivation," Schattorie said.

Schattorie will be aware

that Delhi held FC Goa to agoalless draw in their lastclash and will be out to playspoilsport, again.

The Dutchman will alsobe concerned with his ownteam's results, picking up onlyone win in their last fivematches.

Delhi Dynamos, on theother hand, finally seem tohave some wind in their sails.They have picked up sevenpoints from a possible nine intheir last three matches.

However, a disastrous ini-tial half of the season has allbut put paid to their play-offhopes. The Dynamos, howev-er, will be confident of show-ing everyone that they cangive any team a run for theirreputation.

"If we win our remainingmatches, the team will bemore motivated. We knowmaybe we won't qualify forthe play-offs but if we win thenext games, we will get con-fidence.

"In our home match, welost to NorthEast United 2-0.Now if we win tomorrow inthe away game the team willget great confidence," saidassistant manager MridulBanerjee.

Delhi do have a couple offitness concerns though.Midfielder Bikramjit Singh isinjured while Adria Carmonais not expected to feature inthe starting XI despite travel-ling with the squad.

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