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T he United States signed a landmark deal with the Taliban on Saturday, laying out a timetable for a full troop withdrawal from Afghanistan within 14 months — with the initial drawdown of forces from a total of 13,000 to 8,600 hap- pening in the next 4 months— as it seeks an exit from its longest-ever war. The agreement is expected to lead to a dialogue between the Taliban and the Kabul Government that, if suc- cessful, could ultimately see an end to the grinding 18-year conflict. However, the pace of American troop withdrawal from Afghanistan is condi- tions-based and will depend on how well the Taliban comply with the commitments they have made, the White House said on Saturday after the US and the militant group signed a landmark peace deal. Pakistan needs to help the US solve problem in Afghanistan for a better bilat- eral relationship, a senior administration official has said, asserting that Washington expects Islamabad to play a constructive role in helping implement the historic peace deal with the Taliban. Taliban fighter-turned- dealmaker Mullah Baradar signed the accord alongside Washington's chief negotiator Zalmay Khalilzad, at a gilded desk in a conference room in a luxury Doha hotel. The pair then shook hands, as people in the room shouted "Allahu Akbar" (God is great- est). US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo looked on as the two inked the deal, after urging the insurgents to "keep your promises to cut ties with Al- Qaeda". On the eve of the signing, President Donald Trump urged the Afghan people to embrace the chance for a new future. "If the Taliban and the Government of Afghanistan live up to these commitments, we will have a powerful path forward to end the war in Afghanistan and bring our troops home," he said. But the position of the Afghan Government, which has been excluded from direct US-Taliban talks, remains unclear and the country is gripped by a fresh political cri- sis amid contested election results. The Doha accord was drafted over a tempestuous year of dialogue marked by the abrupt cancellation of the effort by Trump in September. O n a day the US and the Taliban inked a peace deal, India on Saturday said its pol- icy is to support all opportu- nities that can bring peace, sta- bility and end violence in Afghanistan. But at the same time, in an apparent reference to Pakistan, India underscored that sustainable peace there requires an end to externally- sponsored terrorism. As a major stakeholder in Afghanistan, India conveyed to Kabul that its support is for enduring and inclusive peace and reconciliation which is Afghan-led, Afghan-owned and Afghan-controlled. New Delhi said it will con- tinue to extend all support to the Afghan people for realising their aspirations. The US-Taliban deal has serious security implications for India with Pakistan using Afghanistan as strategic depth to counter New Delhi’s military strength and backing the Taliban for years. Hence, India has also con- veyed to the US that pressure on Pakistan to crack down on terror networks operating from its soil must be kept up though Islamabad’s coopera- tion for peace in Afghanistan is crucial. With Islamabad playing a major role in the US-Taliban peace accord, India fears that given Pakistan’s influence over the Taliban, the powerful Pakistan military establish- ment will now fuel cross-bor- der terrorism. T wo of the four death-row convicts in the Nirbhaya gangrape and murder case on Saturday moved a Delhi court seeking stay on the execution of the death warrants, sched- uled for March 3. Additional Sessions Judge Dharmender Rana issued notice to Tihar Jail authorities on the pleas moved of Akshay Singh and Pawan Kumar Gupta, directing the officials to file their response by March 2. In his plea, Singh claimed that he has filed a fresh mercy petition before the President of India, which is pending. Advocate AP Singh, appearing for Singh, said his earlier mercy petition that was dismissed by the President did not have complete facts. Gupta told the court that he has filed a curative petition in the Supreme Court, which is pending. He said that he also has an option to file a mercy petition. Shillong: A migrant worker was stabbed to death in the busy Iewduh market here on Saturday, taking the toll in clashes over the CAA between tribal and non-tribal groups in Meghalaya to two, police said. The clashes during the rally, organised against the CAA and demanding implementa- tion of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) regime, led to tensions, and police clamped curfew in in Shillong. New Delhi: The Delhi Government is considering to issue a WhatsApp number on which people can complain about hate messages being cir- culated on the messaging appli- cation in wake of the commu- nal violence that claimed 42 lives in North-east Delhi, sources said on Saturday. Authorities will invoke provisions of the IPC and the Information Technology Act to take strict action against those who is found circulating hate messages on WhatsApp. T he Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) has clarified that Class X, XII examinations in North- east Delhi will be held as scheduled from March 2. However, earlier the Delhi Government said that in view of violence in the area, schools would remain closed in North- east Delhi till March 7 and the annual class exams had also been postponed since the situ- ation was not conducive for conducting examination in riot-affected areas. Clarifying the decision on conducting the annual exam, the CBSE in its official state- ments said that the annual exams will be conducted as per the schedule. Rama Sharma, Public Relations Officer (PRO), CBSE, said the board has filed affidavit in the Delhi High Court and the court has directed the Delhi Police and the Delhi Government to ensure safety to students and render all help to conduct exams in these areas. Schools in the violence- affected areas of North-east Delhi will remain closed till March 7, the Directorate of Education (DoE) announced on Saturday. “Due to the prevailing unfavourable conditions in North-east district of Delhi, the situation is not conducive for the conduct of examinations in this area. The state of mind of the students may also be tense and traumatised leading to lack of concentration towards preparation for the ongoing examinations,” a senior DoE official said. “Realising the mental state of the students and in order to help them come out of this traumatic situation, it has been decided that all Government, Government-aided and pri- vate schools in the North-east district will remain closed for students up to March 7. However, the heads and staff of the schools will attend as usual. The new date of annual exams will be announced shortly,” the official added. C hief Minister Hemant Soren on Saturday said that Government will strength- en all the internal powers of the State; whether the internal powers are in the field of tourism, youth, natural resources or anything else, the government has set priority to bring out the best of it. The Chief Minister was addressing people during the inauguration of two-day historic Rajrappa Festival in Ramgarh district on Saturday. The CM said, “We the people of Jharkhand will draw a long line of development with our hands not because of others but because of our hard work. We do not lack anything, our youth are hard working and honest. There is no lack of skill and competence among the youth of the State. We need to bind all the forces of the state and all the capabilities in one formula,” he said. Soren said that very soon things will change in the State, which will be seen and felt. “Jharkhand should be recog- nized not only for mineral wealth but also for natural beauty; we have to create such an image. The culture and tra- dition of Jharkhand is very old and popular. Speaking and walking is music here. The peo- ple of Jharkhand keep their cul- ture and tradition with their heart. Turn to Page 4 P resident Ramnath Kovind on Saturday interacted with tribal residents and workers of Vikas Bharti, a Non Government Organisation (NGO) run by Padma Shri awardee Ashok Bhagat at Bishunpur in Gumla district, and stressed on the need of education for uplift of the trib- al community. On a three-day visit to Jharkhand, Kovind had on Friday attended the maiden Convocation ceremony of Central University of Jharkhand (CUJ) in Ranchi. On Saturday, he travelled to Gumla in a bid to meet workers of Vikas Bharti and interact with the members of the tribal community there. “I wanted to visit Vikas Bharti since 2016, but I could not come here due to various hur- dles in the past. The last time I had planned a visit to this place, the rough weather forced me to cancel my plan in the eleventh hour,” Kovind said. During his visit to Vikas Bharti, Kovind also met mem- bers of the Tana Bhagat com- munity. The ancestors of Tana Bhagats were involved in the famous Tana Bhagat Movement of 1914, under which the members of the community stages a Satyagraha against the British tyranny and taxes levied by them. The President also appre- ciated the efforts of Ashok Bhagat in uplifting the tribal community in Jharkhand and working for their welfare. “Ashok Bhagat ji was awarded Padmashree because of his ser- vice to the society, especially the tribal community. I am hon- oured to meet him and the trib- al people of the State,” he said. Sources said that Kovind had one-to-one interaction with the members of the tribal community at Vikas Bharti and spoke about the importance of education. “The purpose of education is to produce noble human beings. A noble man will become a good teacher, a good doctor and a good politi- cian,” he reiterated. Earlier, on Friday he had shared similar views with students of CUJ in Ranchi. Kovind travelled to Deoghar later on Saturday and offered prayers at the famous Baba Baidyanath Dham temple, a Hindu shrine that is one of the major tourist attractions in Jharkhand. The priests gave a warm welcome to Kovind by blowing conch on his arrival. The President took a stroll in the temple premises and offered prayers to Lord Shiva and Parvati. He also interacted with the priests at the temple and spoke about mythology, sources said. Governor Droupadi Murmu accompanied him to the temple. While addressing the Convocation ceremony of CUJ on Friday, Kovind said that understanding the importance of social service is necessary not only for nation-building but also for self-determination. “Everyone should be prepared to repay the debt of society. The entire society contributes in the establishment and operation of a university. Therefore, uni- versities should also fulfil their responsibilities towards the society,” he said.

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The United States signed alandmark deal with the

Taliban on Saturday, layingout a timetable for a full troopwithdrawal from Afghanistanwithin 14 months — with theinitial drawdown of forces froma total of 13,000 to 8,600 hap-pening in the next 4 months—as it seeks an exit from itslongest-ever war.

The agreement is expectedto lead to a dialogue betweenthe Taliban and the Kabul Government that, if suc-cessful, could ultimately see anend to the grinding 18-yearconflict.

However, the pace ofAmerican troop withdrawalfrom Afghanistan is condi-tions-based and will depend onhow well the Taliban complywith the commitments theyhave made, the White Housesaid on Saturday after the USand the militant group signeda landmark peace deal.

Pakistan needs to help theUS solve problem inAfghanistan for a better bilat-eral relationship, a senioradministration official has said,asserting that Washingtonexpects Islamabad to play aconstructive role in helpingimplement the historic peacedeal with the Taliban.

Taliban fighter-turned-dealmaker Mullah Baradarsigned the accord alongsideWashington's chief negotiatorZalmay Khalilzad, at a gildeddesk in a conference room ina luxury Doha hotel.

The pair then shook hands,

as people in the room shouted"Allahu Akbar" (God is great-est). US Secretary of State MikePompeo looked on as the two

inked the deal, after urging theinsurgents to "keep yourpromises to cut ties with Al-Qaeda".

On the eve of the signing,President Donald Trump urgedthe Afghan people to embracethe chance for a new future. "Ifthe Taliban and theGovernment of Afghanistanlive up to these commitments,we will have a powerful pathforward to end the war inAfghanistan and bring ourtroops home," he said.

But the position of theAfghan Government, whichhas been excluded from directUS-Taliban talks, remainsunclear and the country isgripped by a fresh political cri-sis amid contested electionresults.

The Doha accord wasdrafted over a tempestuousyear of dialogue marked by theabrupt cancellation of the effortby Trump in September.

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On a day the US and theTaliban inked a peace deal,

India on Saturday said its pol-icy is to support all opportu-nities that can bring peace, sta-bility and end violence inAfghanistan. But at the sametime, in an apparent referenceto Pakistan, India underscoredthat sustainable peace thererequires an end to externally-sponsored terrorism.

As a major stakeholder inAfghanistan, India conveyed toKabul that its support is forenduring and inclusive peaceand reconciliation which isAfghan-led, Afghan-ownedand Afghan-controlled.

New Delhi said it will con-tinue to extend all support tothe Afghan people for realising

their aspirations. The US-Taliban deal has

serious security implicationsfor India with Pakistan usingAfghanistan as strategic depthto counter New Delhi’s militarystrength and backing theTaliban for years.

Hence, India has also con-veyed to the US that pressureon Pakistan to crack down onterror networks operating from its soil must be kept upthough Islamabad’s coopera-tion for peace in Afghanistanis crucial.

With Islamabad playing amajor role in the US-Talibanpeace accord, India fears thatgiven Pakistan’s influence overthe Taliban, the powerfulPakistan military establish-ment will now fuel cross-bor-der terrorism.

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Two of the four death-rowconvicts in the Nirbhaya

gangrape and murder case onSaturday moved a Delhi courtseeking stay on the executionof the death warrants, sched-uled for March 3.

Additional Sessions JudgeDharmender Rana issuednotice to Tihar Jail authoritieson the pleas moved of AkshaySingh and Pawan KumarGupta, directing the officials tofile their response by March 2.

In his plea, Singh claimedthat he has filed a fresh mercypetition before the President ofIndia, which is pending.

Advocate AP Singh,appearing for Singh, said hisearlier mercy petition that wasdismissed by the President didnot have complete facts.

Gupta told the court thathe has filed a curative petitionin the Supreme Court, which ispending. He said that he alsohas an option to file a mercypetition.

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Shillong: A migrant workerwas stabbed to death in thebusy Iewduh market here onSaturday, taking the toll inclashes over the CAA betweentribal and non-tribal groups inMeghalaya to two, police said.The clashes during the rally,organised against the CAAand demanding implementa-tion of the Inner Line Permit(ILP) regime, led to tensions,and police clamped curfew inin Shillong.

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Government is considering toissue a WhatsApp number onwhich people can complainabout hate messages being cir-culated on the messaging appli-cation in wake of the commu-nal violence that claimed 42lives in North-east Delhi,sources said on Saturday.

Authorities will invokeprovisions of the IPC and theInformation Technology Act totake strict action against thosewho is found circulating hatemessages on WhatsApp.

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The Central Board ofSecondary Education

(CBSE) has clarified that ClassX, XII examinations in North-east Delhi will be held asscheduled from March 2.

However, earlier the DelhiGovernment said that in viewof violence in the area, schoolswould remain closed in North-east Delhi till March 7 and theannual class exams had alsobeen postponed since the situ-ation was not conducive forconducting examination inriot-affected areas.

Clarifying the decision onconducting the annual exam,the CBSE in its official state-ments said that the annualexams will be conducted as perthe schedule.

Rama Sharma, PublicRelations Officer (PRO), CBSE,said the board has filed affidavitin the Delhi High Court andthe court has directed theDelhi Police and the DelhiGovernment to ensure safety tostudents and render all help toconduct exams in these areas.

Schools in the violence-affected areas of North-eastDelhi will remain closed tillMarch 7, the Directorate of

Education (DoE) announcedon Saturday.

“Due to the prevailingunfavourable conditions inNorth-east district of Delhi, thesituation is not conducive forthe conduct of examinations inthis area. The state of mind ofthe students may also be tenseand traumatised leading tolack of concentration towardspreparation for the ongoingexaminations,” a senior DoEofficial said.

“Realising the mental stateof the students and in order tohelp them come out of thistraumatic situation, it has beendecided that all Government,Government-aided and pri-vate schools in the North-eastdistrict will remain closed forstudents up to March 7.However, the heads and staff ofthe schools will attend as usual.The new date of annual examswill be announced shortly,”the official added.

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Chief Minister HemantSoren on Saturday said

that Government will strength-en all the internal powers of theState; whether the internalpowers are in the field oftourism, youth, naturalresources or anything else, thegovernment has set priority tobring out the best of it. TheChief Minister was addressingpeople during the inaugurationof two-day historic RajrappaFestival in Ramgarh district onSaturday.

The CM said, “We thepeople of Jharkhand will drawa long line of developmentwith our hands not because ofothers but because of our hardwork. We do not lack anything,our youth are hard workingand honest. There is no lack of

skill and competence amongthe youth of the State. Weneed to bind all the forces of thestate and all the capabilities inone formula,” he said.

Soren said that very soonthings will change in the State,which will be seen and felt.“Jharkhand should be recog-nized not only for mineral

wealth but also for naturalbeauty; we have to create suchan image. The culture and tra-dition of Jharkhand is very oldand popular. Speaking andwalking is music here. The peo-ple of Jharkhand keep their cul-ture and tradition with theirheart.

Turn to Page 4

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President Ramnath Kovindon Saturday interacted with

tribal residents and workers ofVikas Bharti, a NonGovernment Organisation(NGO) run by Padma Shriawardee Ashok Bhagat atBishunpur in Gumla district,and stressed on the need ofeducation for uplift of the trib-al community.

On a three-day visit toJharkhand, Kovind had onFriday attended the maidenConvocation ceremony ofCentral University of Jharkhand(CUJ) in Ranchi. On Saturday,he travelled to Gumla in a bid

to meet workers of Vikas Bhartiand interact with the membersof the tribal community there.“I wanted to visit Vikas Bhartisince 2016, but I could notcome here due to various hur-dles in the past. The last time Ihad planned a visit to thisplace, the rough weather forcedme to cancel my plan in theeleventh hour,” Kovind said.

During his visit to VikasBharti, Kovind also met mem-bers of the Tana Bhagat com-munity. The ancestors of TanaBhagats were involved in thefamous Tana BhagatMovement of 1914, underwhich the members of thecommunity stages a Satyagrahaagainst the British tyranny andtaxes levied by them.

The President also appre-ciated the efforts of Ashok

Bhagat in uplifting the tribalcommunity in Jharkhand andworking for their welfare.“Ashok Bhagat ji was awarded

Padmashree because of his ser-vice to the society, especially thetribal community. I am hon-oured to meet him and the trib-

al people of the State,” he said.Sources said that Kovind

had one-to-one interaction withthe members of the tribalcommunity at Vikas Bharti andspoke about the importance ofeducation. “The purpose ofeducation is to produce noblehuman beings. A noble manwill become a good teacher, agood doctor and a good politi-cian,” he reiterated. Earlier, onFriday he had shared similarviews with students of CUJ inRanchi.

Kovind travelled toDeoghar later on Saturday andoffered prayers at the famousBaba Baidyanath Dham temple,a Hindu shrine that is one of themajor tourist attractions inJharkhand. The priests gave awarm welcome to Kovind byblowing conch on his arrival.

The President took a stroll inthe temple premises and offeredprayers to Lord Shiva andParvati. He also interacted withthe priests at the temple andspoke about mythology, sourcessaid. Governor DroupadiMurmu accompanied him tothe temple.

While addressing theConvocation ceremony of CUJon Friday, Kovind said thatunderstanding the importanceof social service is necessary notonly for nation-building butalso for self-determination.“Everyone should be preparedto repay the debt of society. Theentire society contributes in theestablishment and operationof a university. Therefore, uni-versities should also fulfil theirresponsibilities towards thesociety,” he said.

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When the trailer wasout for this film,the first thought

that most people wouldhave had is will this moviehave any takers? Will theaudience even like theuncomfortable subject thatthe the film deals withgiven that we live in apatrichal society and thewoman, once she ismarried, has no identity ofher own?

The Indian society laysso much stress on how andwhat the woman of thehouse must do in order toensure her family doesn’t

break even if the very samefamily neglects to see whatthe woman really wants,where her happiness liesand if she has anyaspirations as a woman andwants to pursue them thatgives her the respect andtrust that she has put in aninstituition called marriage.

Thappad is definitely aslap on all our faces.Because we allow ourmothers to bring us up withthe notion that once we aremarried, we have noidentify of our own. That itis okay for the man to takeout his frustration on hiswoman.

That it is okay for himto justify that act by sayingthat he was stressed andfrsutrated. That he couldn’thave hit his boss withwhom he was angry andtook that out on the wife.

That it was a must for thewife to forget and move oneven though the husbanddared to raise his hand onthe wife in front ofeveryone.

Tanvi Azmi’s charactersays: Thoda badarsht karnasikhna chahiye auraton ko,is such a archiac thought.Do we ask the men totolerate? No. Why awoman?

Thodi bahut maar peettoh expression of love hi haina sir? is yet anotherstereotypical mindset ofmen.

Like Tappsee Pannu’scharacter said: Tum apnecompany mein itneemotionally invested thheyyou could not moveon..maine toh apni puri lifeinvest kari hai tumharesaath kaise move onkaroon? And adds: Pata hai

uss thappad se kya hua?..ussek thappad se na muje wohsaari unfair cheezein saafsaaf dikhne lag gayi jiskomain andekha karke movekarti jaa rahi thi.

Kudos to AnubhavSinha, who is also thedirector and MrunmayeeLagoo to have come up withsuch a story. We need moresuch subjects that break thepatriachal mindeset.

Sinha has done a greatservice by making this film.There may be many menwho will not agree and feelthat a slap is a ground for adivorce but the fact remainsthat while it was just a slappar nahi maar sakta.

It is a movie that everyman must watch. And thewoman too so that sheknows that she has anidentity of her own.

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�What made you say yes toplay Timnasa?

First, it is a very powerfulevil role. Second, I love playingnegative roles. So actually therewas no reason to turn down

this role.�What attracts you towardssuch roles?

When it comes to positiveroles, there is not too much ofversatility in them. You have to

give certain expressions andplay it in a certain way. Butwhen it comes to playingnegative ones, there is a lot ofspace for the actors toexperiment with it. You cangive a whole lot of differentexpressions. This is the onething that is extremelyimportant for me. I want thatspace so that’s why I choosenegative roles.�From Splitsvilla 3 toBaalveer Returns, how has thejourney been thus far?

It has been an amazingone. God has been kindenough to me that till now Ihave never given an auditionfor any role. The audience andthe production housesappreciated and liked my workso much so that I keep gettingwork without having to gothrough auditions. There’snothing else that I could have

asked for in all these years.�How did Splitsvilla happen?

It was never a plan to joinbe a part of TV industry. Backin 2009, I was flying withKingfisher Airlines and one daywhile I was working on mylaptop, a pop-up advertisementappeared on the screen thatsaid ‘if you want to be a part ofRoadies click here’. I just clickedthe link and filled the form. Butthe team called me and askedme to be a part of Splitsvillainstead. That’s how I came onboard for the show and becamea part of the industry. And tillnow I never plan anything. Ijust go with the flow.�What was the mostchallenging role that you haveever played?

Timnasa has been the mostchallenging role till now. I dida lot of exercises for it, I learntsword fighting among other

things to bring in that reality inthe character.�Was there a moment whenyou had to go out of yourcomfort zone?

No. There was no suchmoment as such. When I amdressed as a character, Iautomatically get into the skinof the character. I don't have toput in too much of efforts forthe role. I believe it's like aninbuilt quality.�A role that you would say noto?

Anything that involvesnudity and or boldness.�And a role that you wouldlike to experiment with?

A gangster. Something likeHaseena Parkar or MafiaQueens of Mumbai interestsme a lot.�Your fondest memory inthe industry.

Since 2009, the best time

that I am having in the industryis now. Playing Timnasa hasbeen my fondest memory. Therole comes close to my heart.If I go back in time, then when

I got my first show Love UZindagi that aired on Star Plusis the fondest memory.�Is there a checklist that youfollow before taking up

projects?No, not at all. I just go by

my gut feeling. Fortunatelywhatever roles I get are so goodthat there is no reason to say noto them.�Apart from acting, whatkeeps you busy?

I am an entrepeneur and abusiness woman. My brainonly works when I am doingbusiness. Acting is all by heartand business is all by brain.That’s how I work.�Future projects?

I will be doing a web seriesthat will release this year. It isa gangster-based role andpeople will get to know aboutit soon.

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On the instructions of StateGovernment the

advertisements issued for theseventh, eighth and ninth CivilServices Examination ofJharkhand Public ServiceCommission (JPSC) have beencancelled. The Governmenthas decided to put a halt to theexams due to lack of provisionfor reservation in thepreliminary examination. Ithas also been said that a high-

level committee will be formedto deal with the controversiesin the examinations so far.

On the instructions of theState Government, theDepartment of Personnel hascalled back therecommendation sent forconducting this examination.

Secretary, Department ofPersonnel, Ajay Kumar Singhsent a letter to JPSC SecretaryRanendra Kumar asking him tocancel the notice of the seventhCivil Services CompetitionExamination to be held jointlyfor the years 2017, 2018 and2019. Along with this, he hasbeen asked to return therecommendations sent for theappointment for all the postsrelated to it.

The Personnel department

Secretary said that there weredisputes regarding reservationin the fifth and sixth civilservices preliminaryexaminations. “Amendmentswere also made to thecomplaints of the candidatesand results of preliminary

examination. Many petitionswere filed against all theseissues in the High Court. Inview of all these controversies,the State Government decidedto cancel the examination of

the seventh JPSC at present,” headded.

Singh said that due to non-resolution of the said dispute,the seventh civil serviceexamination can also land indisputed. He said that a highlevel committee will be formedto resolve all disputes. “Untilthe recommendation of thiscommittee is received, therewill be no examination held ofthe new civil service,” he added.

It may be mentioned thatJPSC had announced theseventh Civil ServicesCombined CompetitiveExamination on Wednesday.Under this, online forms wereto be filled from 1 to 30 March.

It may be mentioned herethat in the Sixth Civil ServicesExamination, the benefit of

reservation was not given in thepreliminary examination,which was strongly opposed.Due to the disputedexamination, the result had tobe released three times.

After this, the Stategovernment fixed theminimum marks for passingthe preliminary examinationand declared 34 thousandcandidates successful. All thesecandidates appeared in themain examination. However,the revised result was againissued on the order of theHigh Court, in which only6,103 candidates wereconsidered eligible for the mainexamination. The interviewsfor the sixth JPSC examinationare going on amid protest byvarious student outfits.

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Ashutosh Kumar, a resident ofVeer Kunwarr Singh

Colony, Airport Road, Hinoo,Ranchi has filed an FIR onFebruary 28 against VickyKumar and his father SatyadevSingh for entering his house andbeating Kumar and his familymembers brutally.

“The incident occurred ataround 2:30 pm on February 27when Vicky Singh and his fatheralong with about 20 other menstarted breaking the boundarywall of AG Office stating that itwas illegal. On hearing thenoise, when I just stepped out tosee, Singh came to my premises

and started hitting me,” saidAshutosh.

He further added thatSatyadev Singh and his youngerson Sadan Kumar startedbeating him with an iron rod.”When my family membersintervened, about 20 morepeople appeared and startedbeating my father Vakil Prasad,mother, wife and son with rodsand sticks. They even snatchedchains from my mother andwife’s neck and rudraksh chainsfrom our necks.”

“The father and son duohave also hit me so badly that Ihave suffered injuries on myforehead, for which I have gotstitches and broken my left

knee. There is also a CCTVfootage and video clip of thewhole incident where VickyKumar can be seen holding arevolver and threatening to killus,” added the victim.

“Close relatives of SatyadevSingh- Virendra Rai,Vishwanath Singh and a milkman have also raised their handson us. There was also a manwearing a helmet who wasmaking brutal attacks. Oninforming the Airport policestation, the accused tried fleeingaway from the site. The accusedidentified by my father were latertaken into custody by the policewhile some escapedsuccessfully,” said Ashutosh.

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Chief Secretary Dr. DK Tiwariinaugurated the two-day painting

exhibition held at the Audrey House,Ranchi and also released the CoffeeTable Book ‘Tribal and Folk Painting ofIndia’, on Saturday. A total of artists of16 states from Himachal Pradesh toKerala displayed their paintings in theexhibition.

Speaking on the occasion, theTiwari said that the people of Jharkhandare mentally rich and this is reflectedfrom their culture and lifestyle. “Theirrich artistic heritage is admired byeveryone. This platform of paintingexhibition will further enhance thenatural ability and talent of the peopleof Jharkhand,” he added.

He urged the organizers to organizepainting exhibition in the State everyyear. The Chief Secretary said that thepeople of Jharkhand have natural talent.“Apart from music and sports, this talentis also visible in the field of art andculture. They just need an appropriateplatform for developing their skills,” headded. Tiwari said that the Governmentis also in the process of formulating adeliberate policy in this direction. “Thiswill add a new dimension to the artistic

development of the State. TheGovernment is also working on apolicy of providing economic strengthto those who bring glory to the state inthe field of sports and art and culture,”he added.

He said that the paintings that theartists of the State are making will surelybecome famous and priceless later.Tiwari gave the example of world-renowned painter Pablo Picasso, sayingthat at one time his painting was alsorejected, but there was a time when hispainting gained international fame.

The CS has appealed to the citizensto come to Audrey House and enjoy thepainting exhibition. He said that thispainting exhibition is a national levelexhibition and the multicolored colorof the multifaceted culture of thecountry including Jharkhand hasflourished here.

Tiwari said that it will give you morepleasure than cinema. Describing thepainting exhibition as national level, hesaid that every color of life in thesepaintings has come alive from thebrush. In these speaking pictures, themulticolored color of the multifacetedculture of the country, includingJharkhand, has flourished.

The CS appealed to the citizens to

come to Audrey House and enjoy thepainting exhibition and said that it willgive you more pleasure than cinema.Describing the painting exhibition asnational level, he said that every colorof life in these paintings has come alive

from the brush. In these speakingpictures, the multicolored color of themultifaceted culture of the country,including Jharkhand, has flourished.

On the occasion of the paintingexhibition, besides the Chief Secretary,

Welfare Secretary Himani Pandey, Dr.Ramdayal Munda Research InstituteDirector Dr. Ranendra Kumar andother dignitaries were present andDirector Department of Tourism,Sanjeev Besra was also present.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Saturday said

Bundelkhand Expressway willprove to be the developmentexpressway of the region. Tolink Bundelkhand region tonational Capital Delhi throughthe Agra-Lucknow Expresswayand the Yamuna Expressway,the Prime Minister laid thefoundation stone of the 296-km-long BundelkhandExpressway to be built at a costof �15,000 crore.

The expressway will passthrough Uttar Pradesh’sChitrakoot, Banda, Hamirpurand Jalaun districts.

“The project will putBundelkhand on thedevelopment expressway. Itwill definitely change peopleslives in this entire region,” thePrime Minister said after layingthe foundation of theexpressway here by pressing abutton.

“To come up at a cost ofaround �15,000 crores, thisproject will create thousands ofjob opportunities and connectthe common people withfacilities in bigger cities,” hesaid.

Be it the BundelkhandExpressway, the PurvanchalExpressway or the proposedGanga Expressway, they will allincrease connectivity in UttarPradesh and increase jobavenues, Modi said.

Recalling the state of affairsin the Bundelkhand region inthe past, he said, “You must

have seen in the past decadeshow in the name ofBundelkhand and farmers,packages worth thousand ofcrores of rupees wereannounced but farmers didnot benefit.”

“But now the country hascome out of that phase andevery single paisa is reaching itsright beneficiary,” the PrimeMinister said.

Lauding the Uttar PradeshGovernment, Modi said ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath andhis Government is working in“express speed (express gati)”mode.

“Earlier, expressways couldbe seen in bigger cities likeDelhi and Mumbai. But, now,people from Chitrakoot,Banda, Mahoba, Hamirpur andJalaun will avail the benefit ofthe expressway. This moderninfrastructure will develop newindustries here,” he said.

The Prime Minister saidthat “a provision of �3,700crore has been made for theUttar Pradesh Defence Corridor in this year’sBudget.

These two schemes — thedefence corridor and theexpressway — have a deeprelationship. The BundelkhandExpressway will give speed tothe Uttar Pradesh DefenceCorridor, Modi said.

He said that “at one pointof time, this region producedrevolutionaries of India’sfreedom struggle, and in thecoming time it will make Indiaself-reliant in ammunition and

equipment”. “This area of Bundelkhand

is going to become a big centreof ‘Make in India’. The thingsproduced here will be exportedacross the world. Once bigfactories are set up, smallerindustrial units will also gain,”Modi said.

The expressway will besupplementing the nodes of theUttar Pradesh DefenceIndustrial Corridor announcedby the Central Government in

February 2018.“Farmers of this place will

also gain, there will be jobavenues and income of everyfamily will rise. The tourismsector will also benefit,” said thePrime Minister, who alsolaunched 10,000 farmerproducer organisations (FPOs)all over the country.

Bundelkhand is gettingready to not only change itsdestiny, but also of India, hesaid raising the slogan ‘Jai

Jawan, Jai Kisaan’. “Today, you have seen the

defence corridor, this is ‘JaiJawan’. Beginning of FPOs is ‘JaiKisaan’. May Bundelkhandmarch ahead with ‘Jai Jawan, JaiKisaan’,” Modi said.

The Prime Minister said hewas confident that “fromChitrakoot, fromBundelkhand, the aspirationsof Uttar Pradesh and the entire country will get expressspeed”.

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Displaying humane face, theBorder Security Force

(BSF) has decided to rebuild itsconstable Mohammad Anees'house, which was burnt in theriots in North-east Delhi, andhand it over to him as a weddinggift.

According to a senior BSFofficial, Anees (29), who ispresently posted at a BSF campin Radhabari near West Bengal'sSiliguri will be transferred backto Delhi to be with family andprepare for his wedding.

Anees house in North-eastDelhi Khajuri Khas had sufferedextensive damage as it wasburnt by rioters during therecent communal clashes. Whilehis family members are safe, thehouse needs re-building andrenovation work. BSF officialsgot to know about the damageto the constable's parental housein Khajuri Khas from mediareports.

Meanwhile, PusphendraRathore, the Deputy InspectorGeneral (DIG), BSF on Saturdaymet parents and other family

members of Anees at his home,and assured them all assistancefrom the paramilitary force.

"The BSF chief and DirectorGeneral VK Johri has directedthat all help be provided to theconstable's family followingwhich we have decided toprovide an assistance amount of�10 lakh to the jawan from ourwelfare fund. Also, theengineering wing of the forcewill rebuild the house within afortnight," said the DIG.

"I think we should be ableto put the house in good shapebefore April when the jawan isscheduled to marry," he said,adding that it will be like a"wedding gift" to him.

"The BSF is a family andwhenever a member needs help,all resources are put together forthe task. We have requested the

constable's family to informthem about any other help theyrequire. We are also postingconstable Anees to Delhi verysoon so that he can be with hisfamily and also prepare for hiswedding," said the DIG.

The jawan had joined the2.5-lakh personnel strong BSFin 2013 and officials said he didnot mention a word to hisseniors about the damage to hishouse in the riots.

Anees was posted to WestBengal after he completed a stintin the anti-Naxal operationsgrid in Odisha. His family is alsovery brave and composed. Theywere thankful for the helpextended by the BSF to themand all they wanted was peace,brotherhood and normalcy isrestored, another official of theforce said.

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The three-day AdventureTourism Festival organised

by East Singhbhumadministration in associationwith the State TourismDepartment kicked off amidstgreat at the Dimna area. HealthMinister Banna Guptainaugurated the festival.

Ravi Shankar Shukla, deputycommissioner said that aplethora of adventure activitiesbanana rides, surfing, kayakingand air bubbles rides will beorganised during the festival. Theresponse is overwhelming on theinaugural day. We want toprovide children a platform andan opportunity to experienceadventure thrills whichotherwise they would rarely getin their villages,” added Shukla.It is like a dream opportunity ofnot only witnessing but takingpart in adventure sports in air,

water and land he noted.The water sports at Dimna

Lake are in the form of bananaride, water surfing, kayakingand air bubble ride (waterzorbing).

An official said that the

basic objective of organisingsuch adventure program is toprovide youths a platformwherein they can enjoy few daysaway from the break ofacademics.

The Dalma Sanctuary

located nearly 30 km from thecity in Chandil sub-division ofadjoining Seraikela-Kharsawandistrict and spread in 195 sq kmis best for rock climbing,trekking, rappelling, terraincrossing and others. All the

activities are free for the students.Students coming from far awayplaces are allowed to stay in thecamp during the three-day fest.

Trekking will be conductedat Dalma Hill. Dimna Lake,while parasailing and paramotor

as part of aero sports will beconducted at the vacant stretchnear Bhadodih close to Dimna.Free meals are being provided toall the students staying at thecamp and cultural events wouldbe organised in the evening.

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Three of the five minor girls,who allegedly became

victims of human trafficking,have not yet been traced. Allgirls belong to the scheduledtribe community at variousvillages under Bhandaria policestation area.

After given tips about onevictim by two minor girls, whowere rescued from Karnatakain February, 2019, police couldnot rescue her.

A relative of a victim in herstatement at CWC, Garhwasaid that 15 years old minorShanti (name change) a nativeof Kanjiya village was traffickedby Pradeep Kachhap andPradeep Bada, both native ofJamauti village and AkshaySingh resident of Bijapur villageall under Bhandaria policestation on the pretext ofemployment as domestic helpon January 04, 2012.

After intervening of CWC,Bhandaria police registered anFIR, on the complaint of thevictim's father under sectionsof 368/370/371/374 and 34IPC against all three traffickerson August 01, 2018.

In the complaint, thevictim's father had alleged thatthe above named accused luredhis daughter into a job atRanchi on the pretext ofdomestic help and also said thatshe would also study there.After passing of four years heasked repeatedly to Pradeep forShanti back home, but he didnot bring her back. Pradeephad also taken Rs. 1300/ as atransport fair but did not bring

her back after passing of sixyear.

In second case reported in2017.Three minor girlsChampa15, Sarita, 13 and Bela,16 (name changed) hailed fromKanjiya village underBhandaria police station areawere trafficked from theirvillage on June 24, 2017 bySanauwar, Salamuddin andManita.

Champa and Sarita whoare sisters rescued fromKarnataka and produced beforethe CWC on February 02,2019. Both girls stated that theywere working in a fish packingcompany at Yeshwantpurunder Giri block of Karnataka.They got Rs.6000/ per monthsalary for the work. They alsotipped about third girl Bela thatshe is working in a fish packingcompany at Goa. Afterrecording their statement, theCWC had sent reportalongwith the victims’statement to the Police NodalOfficer for her rescue andfurther action.

"The police have neitherregistered an FIR in this regardnor has the girl been rescuedyet", said CWC ChairmanUpendra Dubey.

In third case one 16 yearold tribal girl Ankita ( namechange) who was traffickedon pretext of employment asdomestic help on April 28,2018, has not been yet rescued.

In this connection CWCsent report to the Nodal Policeofficer for further action.

"In this case also police notlodged FIR nor rescucitated heryet," said the chairman.

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Athree-day Coal India Inter-Company Volleyball

Competition 2019-20 wasorganised at the CMPDI SportsGround. The tournament wasformally inaugurated today byS. Saran, Chairman-cum-Managing Director of CMPDI.On this occasion, Chairpersonof Kasturi Mahila Sabha, MitaSaran and Director (Technical/ ES) of CMPDI, KK Mishra,Regional Director-3, Ranchi,Manoj Kumar, RegionalDirector, Labor Representativeand JCC Member,Representative of CMOAI,General Manager/ Head ofDepartment Apart fromofficers and staff, a largenumber of sports lovers werepresent.

In the inaugural season,Mahanadi Coalfields Limited(MCL) competed withSingaraini Colliery CompanyLimited (SCCL) in the firstleague match of thetournament in which MCL,Sambalpur defeated SCCL . Inthe second league match,

Western Coalfields Limited(WCL) competed against hostteam CMPDI, Ranchi, in whichWCL, Nagpur defeatedCMPDI, Ranchi 25-16, 25-15while in the third league matchSouth Eastern CoalfieldsLimited ( SECL) competedwith Central Coalfields Limited(Ranchi) in which SECL,Bilaspur defeated CCL, Ranchiby 25-18, 25-21 in straightsets.

In this tournament,including host company

CMPDI (Ranchi), EasternCoalf ields Limited(Sanktoria), Bharat CokingCoal Limited (Dhanbad),Central Coalfields Limited(Ranchi), Western CoalfieldsLimited (Nagpur), SouthEastern Coalfields Limited(Bilaspur), NorthernCoalfields Ltd. (Singrauli),Mahanadi Coalfields Limited(Sambalpur), NEC- (Assam)and Singareni CollieriesCompany Limited (Kotha)Guddm) are the participants.

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One critically injured workerof Vedanta-Electrosteels

Steels Ltd (ESL) Laxman Kumar,who was battling for life, died atDesun Multispeciality HospitalKolkata on Friday, officialsinformed.

Laxman sustained severeburn injuries in an accident atSMS unit of ESL at Siyaljori inBokaro on 22 February. Afterfirst aid at Plant, he rushed toBokaro General Hospital (BGH)and admitted in the burn unitwhere plant's doctors and seniorofficers were constantly engagedin the better treatment of theinjured, informed Vivek AnandPRO of ESL.

Later BGH's doctors referred

Laxman to DesunMultispeciality Hospital, Kolkatafor better treatment. Thecompany tried its best to providetreatment and immediately hewas sent to Kolkata along withthe ambulance and otherpersonnel of the plant, he said.

On February24, he wasadmitted to the hospital. Aftertreatment, his health wasimproving and his families alongwith the doctors were satisfiedwith the treatment. But, suddenlyon 28 February, he started havingtrouble in breathing.

Doctors made every effort toget better treatment andimmediately admitted to ICU.Later in the afternoon, he wasdeclared dead by doctors due tocardiac arrest, said Anand.

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The city is all set to celebratethe 181st Birth Anniversary

of its Founder JamsetjiNusserwanji Tata. J N Tata,began his entrepreneurialjourney with a textile mill incentral India in the 1870s. Hisvision inspired the steel andpower industry in India, set thefoundation for technicaleducation, and helped thecountry leapfrog to the ranks ofindustrialized nations.

On March 3, Tata Steelalong with other groupcompanies celebrates the birthanniversary of the founder and

his vision of an industrial futurewith community welfare at itscore. The theme of this year`sFounder`s Day is Future Ready– Connected. Agile. Sustainable.It complements our corporatebrand campaign#WeAlsoMakeTomorrowtalking about making our future- readiness more finite as we startoff the new decade.

Addressing media at centrefor excellence, ChanakyaChaudhary, vice president(corporate services) said: “It is aprivilege for us to carry forwardthe legacy of our Founder,Jamsetji Nusserwanji Tata. Heenvisioned a city built on

fundamentals of sustainableevolution and an inclusivecommunity. We are proud tocelebrate this vision on his 181stBirth anniversary.”

Like every year, there arehost of programs beingorganized to mark thecelebrations including the “SteelExpress Contest”. On March 3,the Steel Express train whichplies between Tatanagar andHowrah, will host a “Quiz -on-the-go” during the onwardjourney, as an extension of thecelebrations being hosted atJamshedpur. The quiz willencompass facets of J.N Tata andthe city of Jamshedpur.

Passengers will get theopportunity to participate andwin on the spot prizes.

The re-branded SteelExpress was flagged off on June18, 2019. as “Jamshedpur onrails”- An exhibition thatshowcased and celebrated the100 years of Jamshedpur and itsgrowth in education, healthcare,culture etc. Tata Steel’s CapabilityDevelopment Division isorganising its 12th TechnicalExhibition titled Techex 2020, anexhibition of engineeringprowess, from March 3-5, 2020.The young trainees at SNTI andNTTF, employees of Tata Steeland its subsidiaries and Tata

group of companies will beshowcasing innovative modelsbased on the principles of scienceand engineering.

A vibrant educationalatmosphere will be on display invarious stalls depicting thetechnical prowess of the youngtalents of the organisation. Atotal of 66 creative ideas withworking models having apotential of wide application invarious manufacturing industriesacross the country will be ondisplay. The event is expected toattract a wide participation ofvisitors from all walks of life,including senior students fromschools, colleges including

Engineering Colleges anddifferent organisations in anaround Jamshedpur.

The illumination at theFounder's Statue in Jubilee Parkand lighting of the Park will beinaugurated by Ratan Tata,chairman emeritus, Tata Sonsalong with N Chandrasekaran,chairman, Tata Sons on March2, 2020 at 6:30 pm.

It will be open for publicviewing from March 3-5, 2020from 6 pm to 11 pm.Simultaneously, there will beillumination at Bhatia Park,Kadma, Nildih Park, Nildih andSir Dorabji Tata Park along withJubilee Park.

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From Page 1The people of the State

have maintained completededication and loyalty to keepthe civilization and cultureintact here. There are manysuch pilgrimage sites andtourist places in our state,which we have to reach peoplein the country,” he said.

The CM said that one

should try to get the fullbenefit of this two-day historicRajarappa Festivalprogramme. This festival willbecome a medium of publicityand will resonate far and wide.It is the thinking of thegovernment to makeRajarappa an important touristdestination in the world map.For this, the State governmentwill work with commitment,he added.

“Our government will

work to develop Rajarappa asa famous tourist destination.Along with Rajarappa, thesurrounding areas should alsobe developed and propagatedto the country and abroad.Rajarappa needs to be placedon the map of India andabroad. Ramgarh is also myhome district and also mybirthplace. The temple of MaaChinnamastika located inSiddhapeeth Rajarappa,associated with the faith of

devotees, holds an importantplace in the entire countrysince ancient times. Theblessings and blessings of MaaChinnamastika remain on thedevotees who reach fromevery corner of the country,”he said.

The CM, on the occasion,unveiled a plank fordevelopment schemes forRamgarh district worth Rs200 crore. Earlier, the CMinaugurated the Rajrappa

Festival by lighting the lamp.Padma Shri nominee MadhuMansoori Hansmukhwelcomed the CM with hissong ‘Jharkhand Kar Kora’.The CM felicitated Hansmukhwith a shawl and memento.

MLAs Amba Prasad, JPPatel, former MLA YogendraMahto, Arjun Ram Mahto,CPMG Shashi Shalini Kujuralongwith several eminentpersons were present on theoccasion.

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As increasing cases ofCoronovirus (COVID-19)

with and without a definedchain of transmission appearfrom the outbreak-hit nations,the World Health Organisation(WHO) on Saturday upgradedthe global risk of the deadlypathogen spread to “very high”

- its top level of risk assessment.The virus is now present in fivecontinents with at least sixnations Iceland, Nigeria,Mexico, New Zealand, Belarusand the Netherlands reportingtheir first cases on Saturday.

However, the global healthagency cautioned againstunnecessary panic, stating thatproper containment, with the

help of an “all Government, allsociety approach” will helpslow down rates of infection,break chains of infection andtake pressure off healthcaresystems around the world.

According to the latestdata, more than 84,500 peopleare infected with the virusworldwide while nearly 3,000have died.

In the meantime, amidincreasing number of COVID-19 cases in Iran, where 43people have died, India’sAmbassador to the country,Gaddam Dharmendra, onSaturday said the authorities areworking to facilitate the returnof those Indians who wish to goback to New Delhi.

India has recently success-fully evacuated around 650Indians from virus-hit Chinese

city Wuhan and a shippingcruise in Japan. While the firstlot of batch have already beendischarged, all the 112 people,who were airlifted from Wuhanon February 28 have beenhoused at an ITBP quarantinefacility and have found to betested negative for coronavirusafter their first samples weretaken, an official said onSaturday. Their quarantineperiod will continue for about

a fortnight. So far, more than50 countries have reportedcases of the deadly pathogen.

Alarmed at the rising casesof pathogens from othernations besides China, WHOchief Tedros AdhanomGhebreyesus at a Press confer-ence in Geneva on Saturdaysaid it would be a “big mistake”to switch from a public healthstrategy of containment to mit-igation, where authorities

accept the virus is spreading. In the last few days, 24

cases had been exported fromItaly to 14 countries and 97 cases had been export-ed from Iran to 11 countries,Tedros said.

WHO Executive DirectorMichael J Ryan said,“Interrupting transmissiongives us an opportunity to stopthe virus and allows us to getready and to prepare”.

“You have a duty to yourcitizens, you have a duty to theworld to be ready,” Dr Ryan said.

Every country should pre-pare for the arrival of the virus,Tedros warned. “Every countrymust be ready for its first case,”Tedros said. “No countryshould assume it won’t getcases. That could be a fatal mis-take. This virus does notrespect borders.”

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The Congress on Saturdayaccused police of carrying

out a “one-sided” investigationinto the violence in Delhi andurged the Supreme Court toappoint amicus curiae to scru-tinise all such cases in whichprotesters and activists are beingslapped with serious charges.

Party’s senior spokespersonAnand Sharma also said the sit-uation is far from normal andan atmosphere of fear is stillprevailing in the nationalCapital. Sharma alleged police“which allowed Delhi to burnfor four days” is carrying out a“one-sided” investigation. Hesaid in the name of action itshould be seen against whomthe action is being taken.

“What is the definition ofhate speech? If the speechesmade by the BJP leaders werenot hate speeches, and theprotests are a threat to the soci-ety as per the cases registered.Shockingly, as per an FIRagainst a group of people andan organisation called UnitedAgainst Hate. And what is thecase...For having said in aspeech that ‘we shall not get upor give up our protest even ifwe have to die for that’. For thatthey were slapped with Section307 of IPC (attempt to mur-der),” he said.

“We urge the SupremeCourt to take cognisance of allthese cases and appoint amicuscuriae to scrutinise all thesecases where people are beingframed and put in jails,” Sharma

told reporters. Amicus curiaeassist a court by offering infor-mation, expertise, or insight thathas a bearing on the case.

“The SC is the custodian ofthe Constitution. The delaysdon’t help. The entire world iswatching this country, it istime that the Supreme Courtintervenes effectively to protectthe rights of the citizens guar-anteed by the Constitution,”Sharma said.

“We have no expectationsfrom Centre or the HomeMinistry or Delhi ChiefMinister (Arvind Kejriwal) butwe have hopes from the courts,”he said. At least 42 were killedand over 200 injured in thecommunal riots that broke outin northeast Delhi on Mondayafter clashes between citizen-ship law supporters and pro-testers spiralled out of control.

The areas worst affected inthe violence include Jaffrabad,Maujpur, Chand Bagh, KhurejiKhas and Bhajanpura.

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The Congress and the Leftparties on Saturday criti-

cised the Arvind KejriwalGovernment for sanctioningprosecution against formerJNUSU president Kanhaiya

Kumar and nine others in con-nection with a four-year-oldsedition case.

Congress leader and for-mer Home Minister PChidambaram hit out at theDelhi Government saying theKejriwal dispensation is “no

less ill-informed than theCentre” in its understanding ofthe sedition law even as the CPIvowed to fight both “legally andpolitically” the sedition caseagainst its leader KanhaiyaKumar.

“I strongly disapprove ofthe sanction granted to prose-cute Mr Kanhaiya Kumar andothers for alleged offencesunder sections 124A and 120Bof IPC,” said Chidambaram.CPI alleged that the AamAadmi Party (AAP)Government in the nationalCapital had “succumbed topolitical pressure”.

The Delhi Government onFriday gave a go-ahead to thecity police to prosecute formerJNUSU president Kumar andnine others in connection witha four-year-old sedition case, asthe ruling AAP denied the per-sistent BJP charge of blockingthe proceedings in the matter.

“The national secretariatof the Communist Party ofIndia (CPI) will fight legally andpolitically the sedition chargesagainst party national executivemember and former presidentof the JNU Students’ Union(JNUSU) Kanhaiya Kumar.“The party is confident thatKanhaiya Kumar will come outunscathed as the charges arefalse and politically motivated,”the CPI said in a statement.

The party feels that it isunfortunate that the ArvindKejriwal Government has “suc-cumbed to political pressureand granted permission toprosecute Kumar”, it said.

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The Centre on Saturdayannounced to launch a

week-long campaign on theoccasion of InternationalWomen’s Day with variousthemes beginning Sunday. Thethemes to be observed are edu-cation, health and nutrition,empowerment of women, skills& entrepreneurship and par-ticipation in sports, special cir-cumstances, rural women andagriculture and urban women.

The Ministries of Womenand Child Development,Information & Broadcasting,Health &Family Welfare(H&FW), Human ResourceDevelopment (HRD),Agriculture & Farmer’s Welfare(A&FW), Rural Development(RD), Housing and UrbanAffairs (HUA), Finance,Defence and Home will launch

separate campaigns to observethe International Women’s Day(IWD) 2020 which is celebrat-ed all over the world.

A special programme bycelebrity chef Sanjeev Kapoorwill also be telecast byDoordarshan for a week high-lighting special recipes ofhealthy and nutritious food forwomen during pregnancy andlactating period. Besides, 14women oriented Hindi movieswill be telecast on Doordarshanwhich includes Sarabjeet, Raazi,Tumhari Sulu and Parineeta.

“Doordarshan is alsoorganising special programmesto commemorate the contri-bution of women members ofthe Indian ConstituentAssembly to honour their con-tribution in the foundation ofthe Indian Republic. DD Kisanwill telecast programmes onwomen agriculturists, inven-

tions in agriculture by women,the role of women in animalhusbandry and food process-ing. The regional units of theNews Services Division of AllIndia Radio will also conductextensive programmes fromSunday like talk shows, featuresand exclusive programmes forwomen,” said a GovernmentPress release.

While Health Ministry willorganise camps for women onhealth and wellness andAnaemia, the HRD Ministry willconduct round tables on womenempowerment on the seventhemes in about 40 Central uni-versities around the country.

Roadshows will also beorganised by Housing and

Urban Affairs Ministry duringthis period on Pradhan MantriAwas Yojana (PMAY) inLucknow, Patna andThiruvananthapuram to educateand inform women on how tobenefit from the PMAY scheme.

The Rural Developmenthas invited women Self-HelpGroups (SHGs) to interact anddiscuss various issues related tothe Self-Help Groups withMinister and senior officials.Ministers and Secretaries ofvarious Ministries and expertsfrom different fields will be writ-ing articles in their areas of spe-cialisation related to women.

All regional units of thePress Information Bureau havebeen mandated to organise

round tables on the seventhemes at different universities,

colleges and institutes allacross the country. “Field

outreach programmes are alsobeing organised by PIB andBureau of Outreach andCommunication in differentdistricts of India right from theNorth-East region to Maoistinsurgency affected district ofChhattisgarh,” said the offi-cial release.

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Older people, especially thosewith pre-existing illnesses

such as heart, hypertension,diabetes or lung diseases, aremore vulnerable to Coronavirus(COVID-19) which has taken atoll of close to 3,000 lives acrossthe world in the last two-and-a-half-months.

A Chinese study releasedrecently has found that less than1 per cent of hospitalised patientswere younger than 15 years old,while 42 per cent were 65 andolder. Patients who reported nopre-existing medical conditionshad a case fatality rate of 0.9 percent. Deaths were also rareramong younger people.

“That said, some otherwisehealthy people do seem todevelop a severe form of pneu-monia after being infected bythe virus. The reason for thisis being investigated as we tryto learn more about this newvirus,” said another report.

The evidence gathered sofar from an analysis ofCOVID-19 cases is that thepathogen causes mild disease(i.e. non-pneumonia or mild

pneumonia) in about 80 percent of cases. More severe dis-ease occurs in about 20 percent of cases, with about one infour or five experiencing crit-ical illness, said the report.

How long do symptomslast? Using available preliminarydata, the report of the WHO-China Joint Mission publishedon February 28 by the WHO,which is based on 55,924 labo-

ratory confirmed cases, foundthat mild cases took approxi-mately two weeks for clinicallyrecovery while severe or criti-cal disease had 3 to 6 weeksduration. Time from onset to

the development of severe dis-ease (including hypoxia) tookone week while among patientswho have died, the time fromsymptom onset to outcomeranged from 2 to 8 weeks.

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Accusing the Government of“ruining” the economy by

its “monumental mismanage-ment”, the Congress onSaturday advised the Centre toimmediately give money inthe hands of the poor by mak-ing rural job scheme MNRE-GA “need based”.

Former Union MinisterAnand Sharma said under therural job scheme MNREGA theGovernment should giveemployment for 150 days a yearat a daily wage of �500 to reviverural demand and economy.

“We remain seriously con-cerned about the continuingjob losses which will eventual-ly have an adverse impact onsocial stability and peace in thecountry with a large number ofunemployed youth in the coun-try having no hope and indespair. This government isruining the economy by its

monumental mismanagementand it continues to remain indenial,” Sharma said at AICCPress briefing.

He urged the Governmentto honestly release the numberof jobs lost and not mislead thepeople by giving “the numbersof the changeover from infor-mal to formal as the number ofpeople who are expected innormal course or the employ-ees to come on the providentfund platform”.

NSO data shows that theGDP for the third quarter is at4.7 per cent, which is the low-est of the last seven years,Sharma said.

Noting that this is the sev-enth consecutive quarter whenthe GDP has fallen, Sharmasaid it is a matter of “grave con-cern” that the nominal GDP ofIndia continues to be in singledigit. If 7.7 per cent is the nom-inal GDP which includes theinflation then where is growth,

he said.“If you take out the expen-

diture on defence, publicadministration and other ser-vices of the Government, theactual GDP growth of thirdquarter is 3.7 per cent where-as the third quarter historical-ly shows the strongest growthbecause it is after the kharifcrop so there is a growth inagriculture then it is factored inthe gross value addition and inthe nominal GDP and the realGDP,” he added.

Sharma said the third quar-ter numbers are generally goodbecause it is the festive seasonwhen people go for purchasesconsumption shows a spike.“But that has not happened soeven in festive season peoplehave not spent because peoplehave no money,” he added.

Sharma said there is 9.2 percent fall in the investments,gross fixed capital formationwhich actually is the only mea-

sure of the economy growingand a tangible investmentsgrowing for creation of newassets, new factories and jobcreation that remains in thenegative.

“We are also staring at ahuge fiscal deficit, unmanage-ble revenue deficit. Revenuereceipts are very low bothwhen we look at the GST num-bers and also the income tax.So direct and indirect taxesreceipts are very low and the

Government’s budgetary pro-jections are based on revenuereceipts of �26 lakh crorewhereas up to December thetotal revenue receipts havebeen �11 lakh crore.

“So whether in the fourthquarter the Government canget �15 lakh crore we have seri-ous doubts because GST willcome when factories are pro-ducing and selling, other taxeswill come when people havethe money,” Sharma said.

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The Government’s totalreceipts during April-

January period of current fis-cal stood at �12.82 lakh crore,while total expenditure for thesaid period was �22.68 lakhcrore.

The Government of Indiahas received �12,82,857 croreup to January 2020, an officialstatement said.

Tax revenue stood at�9,98,037 crore, while non-tax revenue stood at �2,52,083crore. Non-debt capital receiptsstood at �32,737 crore, whichincludes �18,351 crore of dis-investment proceeds, the state-ment added.

Besides, �5,30,735 crorehas been transferred to stategovernments as ‘Devolution

of Share of Taxes’ by the cen-tre in the period under con-sideration, which is �11,003crore lower than the previousyear, the statement added.

Under tax devolution, theshare in central taxes is dis-tributed among States based ona formula.

Meanwhile, total expendi-ture incurred by the CentralGovernment stood at�22,68,329 crore out of which

�20,00,595 crore is on rev-enue account and �2,67,734crore is on capital account.

Out of the total revenueexpenditure, over �4.71 lakhcrore is on account of interestpayments and over �2.62 lakhcrore is on account of majorsubsidies.

India’s fiscal deficit in thefirst 10 months throughJanuary stood at �9.85 lakhcrore or 128.5 per cent of therevised budgeted target for thecurrent fiscal year, according togovernment data released onFriday.

Earlier this month, FinanceMinister Nirmala Sitharamanhad raised fiscal deficit targetto 3.8 per cent of the GDP from3.3 per cent pegged earlier for2019-20 due to shortfall inrevenue collection.

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With the viral outbreakspreading to more coun-

tries, the price of oil hasdropped precipitously as glob-al demand weakens even fur-ther. That has sent shares tum-bling for oil giants like Exxonand Chevron while smallerproducers with idling rigs con-tinue to slash jobs.

Hundreds of new cases ofthe virus that causes theCOVID-19 disease have beenannounced in recent days out-side of China. The list of coun-tries touched by the illness hasclimbed to nearly 60 as Mexico,Belarus, Lithuania, NewZealand, Nigeria, Azerbaijan,Iceland and the Netherlandsreported their first cases. Morethan 85,000 people worldwidehave contracted the illness,with deaths topping 2,900. Oilindustry analysts fear that whatthey thought was a containeddisruption may instead lead tomore travel restrictions and

even less oil consumed.“That was the fear all along,

that the virus would not becontained in China,” saidClaudio Galimberti, head ofdemand, refining and agricul-ture at S&P Global Platts.

“There are entire cities, andin some cases regions, that arein a lockdown. When you beginto have a lockdown, peoplework from home, factories shutdown, people don’t travel. Theimpact on oil is very, very bad.”

Oil prices fell dramatical-ly in mid-February, but hadbeen steadily climbing back asthe number of new cases of thevirus in China slowed. In thelast week, however, reports ofthe spreading virus knockedprices down. The benchmarkfor US crude oil fell 16 per centduring the week, settling Fridayat $44.76 a barrel. Brent crude,the international standard,dropped 14 per cent for theweek to its lowest levels sinceJuly 2017, closing Friday at$50.52 a barrel. Meanwhile,

shares of Exxon Mobil tumbledto $49.82 on Thursday, reach-ing a 15-year low, beforerebounding more than 3 percent on Friday. Chevron Corp.Shares hit their lowest level innearly four years on Friday.

The Financial Times report-ed that Saudi Arabia is pushingfor deep cuts in oil productionto help stabilise prices in theface of falling demand. Thenewspaper, citing people famil-iar with the talks, said theSaudis propose to bear most ofthe brunt of a cutback of 1 mil-lion barrels per day but wantRussia and other big producersto join them. Representatives ofOPEC and allies like Russiaplan to meet next week.

If demand for oil and theprice of a barrel continues tofall, that may result in lowergasoline prices — a potentialbright side for consumers, whoaccount for about 70 per centof US economic activity.

Gasoline prices have beenfluctuating in recent weeks, but

nothing significant that couldbe attributed to the coron-avirus, said Jeanette Casselano,director of public relations atAAA. Prices tend to rise for thesummer driving season, but theeffects of coronavirus on theprice of oil could mitigate that.

Lower prices at the pump,however, aren’t necessarilygood for the US economy over-all. When energy prices fall,energy companies tend to cutback on investment and jobs. Afreefall in gasoline prices led toa sharp drop in US businessinvestment in 2016, forinstance — one reason thecountry’s economic growthslowed to 1.6 per cent that yearfrom 2.9 per cent in 2015.

When the coronavirus firsthit, the Energy InformationAdministration predicted glob-al oil demand would fall to100.3 million barrels per day inthe first quarter of 2020, downabout 900,000 barrels, or 1per cent, from what was esti-mated in January.

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Creation of world-classinfrastructure at ports is

important for India to becomea $5 trillion economy, VicePresident M Venkaiah Naidusaid on Saturday.

He also called upon all thechairpersons and administra-tors of ports to make thesefacilities more energy-efficientand environment-friendly assuch efforts were needed tocounter climate change, anofficial statement said.

Interacting with the chair-persons of major port trustsduring the ‘Chintan Baithak’being held by the Ministry ofShipping in Mamallapuram,the Vice-President stressedupon the need to harnessIndia’s vast coast for the sus-tainable growth and develop-ment of the country.

He called for developing allIndian ports on par with otherglobal ports and said the cre-

ation of world-class infra-structure at ports was impor-tant for India to become a $5trillion economy.

He added that India has anexcellent opportunity for port-led development as ports wereinevitable for exports andimports.

Further, he advised theports to adopt best practices toeffectively utilise their financialresources to derive maximumbenefits.

Naidu asked them toreduce logistics cost, dredgingexpenditure and also improveturnaround time.

“We need to create moretransshipment hubs on eitherside of the coasts,” he said.

The three-day ChintanBaithak, ending on Sunday, isan endeavour towards dis-cussing and finding solutions tovarious challenges being facedby the ports and mapping outthe prospects of their growthand development.

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Telecom operator BhartiAirtel on Saturday said that

it has made additional paymentof �8,004 crore towards adjust-ed gross revenue dues to theDepartment of Telecom (DoT).

The payment of �8,004crore is in addition to �10,000crore the company paid onFebruary 17, 2020 in compli-ance to the Supreme Courtjudgment, it said in a regulatoryfiling.

The company said it cal-culated the liabilities on selfassessment basis till December31, 2019 and the paymentincludes interest up to February29, 2020.

The company has carriedout self assessment from FY2006-07 up to December 31,

2019 and interest thereon up toFebruary 29, 2020 in line withthe Adjusted Gross Revenue(AGR) judgment, Bharti Airtelsaid.

“Accordingly the companypaid an additional amount of�3,004 crore towards the fulland final amounts due over andabove ad-hoc amount of�10,000 crore paid on February17, 2020 on behalf of BhartiGroup of companies,” the filingsaid.

The payment included lia-

bilities on Bharti Airtel, BhartiHexacom and Telenor India.

“We have also deposited anadditional amount of �5,000crore, as an ad-hoc payment(subject to the subsequentrefund/adjustment to coverdifferences, if any arising fromthe reconciliation exercise withthe DoT,” Airtel said.

According to DoT esti-mates, Airtel owed nearly�35,586 crore, including licencefee, spectrum usage chargeswith interest on unpaidamount, penalty and intereston penalty till July 2019.

“Based on the aforesaidpayment we have now com-plied with AGR judgment andthe directions in the order ofthe Hon’ble Supreme Courtdated October 24, 2019,” thecompany said.

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Country’s largest lender StateBank of India (SBI) said on

Saturday that the gems andjewellery industry should haveinsurance cover for banks to“lend courageously” to the sec-tor.

He said the presence of aninsurance cover will also lowercapital requirement of theindustry for jewellery exports.

“Absence of an insurancecover is hurting lending to thegems and jewellery industry bybanks. If there is an insurancecover, it will help the bank tolend courageously to the sec-tor,” SBI deputy managingdirector (clients group-I) PNPrasad said here.

Speaking at an event,organised by ICC here, he saidthe exposure of SBI to the jew-ellery industry is around Rs20,000 crore, adding that the

lending growth to the sectorhas been muted at present.

The SBI official said the“trust of the bankers on thegems and jewellery industry isnot there” because of its prac-tices “which caused misery tothe banks”.

Fugitive diamantaire NiravModi has allegedly defraudedstate-run Punjab National Bankof over Rs 14,000 crore.

The gem and jewelleryindustry should be more trans-parent in terms of ownership,management and valuation,Prasad said.Some kind of cred-it guarantee will give freedomto the gems and jewelleryexporters in the MSME seg-ment, he said.

Prasad also said goldshould be treated as a source ofinvestment in the country.”Forthat, there is a need to createawareness among the public,”he said.

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Coal India Ltd is likely toRegister a 13-per cent on-

year rise in production inFebruary to 66 million tonnes,sources said on Saturday. Theworld’s largest miner had pro-duced 58.05 million tonnes inthe corresponding month ayear ago. Cumulative produc-tion for the April-Februaryperiod is expected to be 517.5million tonnes, they said.

“The daily average pro-duction has inched higher tonearly 2.5 million tonnes com-pared to little over 2 milliontonnes in the month of January.Till February 28, cumulativemonthly production was 63.5million tonnes” the sourcestold PTI. Offtake, however,continues to be muted. It islikely to be 54.5 million tonnesin February, a growth of near-ly 6 per cent on a year-on-yearbasis.

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The Government has spent�4.71 lakh crore on interest

payments and �2.62 lakh croreon subsidies up to January 2020,monthly account of the UnionGovernment stated on Saturday.Total expenditure incurred bythe government of India is�22,68,329 crore (84.06% ofcorresponding RE 19-20), out ofwhich �20,00,595 crore is onrevenue account and �2,67,734crore is on capital account.

Out of the total revenueexpenditure, �4,71,916 crore ison account of interest paymentsand �2,62,978 crore on accountof major subsidies, it said. TheGovernment has received�12,82,857 crore (66.41% ofcorresponding RE 19-20 of TotalReceipts) up to January 2020comprising �9,98,037 crore taxrevenue (Net to Centre), A�2,52,083 crore of Non TaxRevenue and �32,737 crore ofNon Debt Capital Receipts.

Non-debt capital receiptsconsist of recovery of loans

(�14,386 crore) and disinvest-ment proceeds (�18,351 crore).As much as �5,30,735 crore hasbeen transferred to state gov-ernments as devolution of shareof taxes by Government of Indiaup to this period which is �11,003crore lower than the previousyear, the Finance Ministry said.

On Friday, the NationalStatistical Organisation statedthe April-January fiscal deficithas reached 128.5% of �7.67lakh crore revised FY20 target.

The fiscal deficit is theshortfall in a government’sincome compared with itsspending. It essentially meansthat the government is spend-ing more than its means.

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman has set a fiscaldeficit target of 3.5% of GDPfor the year ending March2021. The government is aboutto miss the deficit target for thethird year in a row, pushingshortfall to 3.8 per cent of theGDP in the current fiscal ascompared to 3.3 per cent pre-viously planned.

Islamabad: Internet giants,including Facebook, Googleand Twitter, have threatened tosuspend their services inPakistan over the new censor-ship rules introduced by thegovernment, according to amedia report. The PakistanTehreek-e-Insaaf governmentannounced a new set of rulesto regulate social media activ-ity and has given all digitalcompanies and social mediaplatforms three months toadhere to the new regulations.

Under the new rules, socialmedia companies will be oblig-ed to disclose any informationor data to a designated inves-tigation agency, when sought.Failure to abide by any of theprovisions will entail a fine.

In a letter written to PrimeMinister Imran Khan onFebruary 15, the Asia InternetCoalition comprisingFacebook, Twitter, Google,

Amazon, Apple and othertech giants urged the govern-ment to revise the new sets ofrules and regulations for socialmedia, the News Internationalreported on Friday. PTI

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More than 200,000 peoplehave been affected by

floods that have ravagedRepublic of Congo since lastyear, authorities said Saturday.

The Government hasissued an urgent internationalappeal after the flooding alongthe Congo and Ubangi rivers inthe country's north, inundatingcommunities and washingaway homes and cattle.

President Denis SassouNguesso has blamed the weath-er disaster on "climate disrup-

tion" and declared "a state ofnatural disaster and humani-tarian emergency".

On Saturday the govern-ment appealed for further helpas the number of people affect-ed by the heavy floodingjumped to 213,000 from an ear-lier estimate of 170,000.

"The challenges are enor-mous and we are working toprovide an effective response.We hope our partners willhelp us," Christian Aboke-Ndza, cabinet director at theministry of humanitarianaffairs told AFP.

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Turkey on Saturday threat-ened to allow tens of thou-

sands of refugees to leave forEurope and warned Damascuswill "pay a price" as PresidentRecep Tayyip Erdogan steppedup pressure after dozens ofTurkish troops were killedinside Syria.

At the Turkish border,Greek police clashed with sev-eral thousand migrants whowere already gathered at theentrance into EU territory.

Young migrants lobbedrocks at Greek riot police astear gas wafted through thetrees on the frontier. Turkeyand Russia, which back oppos-ing forces in the Syria conflict,

held talks to try to defusetensions triggered after theTurkish troops were killed,sparking fears of a broader warand a new migration crisis forEurope.But Erdogan raised thestakes on Saturday and vowedto allow refugees rkey which hesaid can not handle new wavesof people fleeing Syria.

It already hosts 3.6 millionSyrian refugees.

The comments were hisfirst after 34 Turkish troops

were killed since Thursday inthe northern Syria province ofIdlib where Moscow-backed

Syrian regime forces arebattling to retake the last rebelenclave.

"What did we do yesterday?We opened the doors," Erdogansaid in Istanbul.

"We will not close thosedoors ...Why? Because theEuropean Union should keepits promises."

He was referring to a 2016deal with the European Unionto stop refugee f lows inexchange for billions of eurosin aid. In Athens, GreekPrime Minister KyriakosMitsotakis held an emergencymeeting to discuss the border.

Erdogan said 18,000migrants have amassed on theTurkish borders with Europesince Friday, adding that thenumber could reach as many as30,000 on Saturday.

Thousands of migrantsstuck on the Turkish-Greekborder at Pazarkule were inskirmishes with Greek policeon Saturday who fired tear gasto push them back, accordingto AFP photographer in thewestern province of Edirne.

Ahmad Barhoum, a Syrian

refugee, said he was trapped atthe border since Friday.

"If they do no open we willtry to cross by illegal means. It'sout of the question for us to goback to Istanbul," he told AFP.

"I hope that they will endup letting us in so that we canstart a new life in Europe wor-thy of human beings," said

one Egyptian refugee.In 2015, Greece became the

main EU entry point for onemillion migrants, most of themrefugees fleeing the Syrian civilwar. The pressure to cope withthe influx split the EuropeanUnion.

"Greece yesterday cameunder an organised, mass, ille-

gal attack... A violation of our borders

and endured it," governmentspokesman Stelios Petsas saidSaturday after the emergencymeeting with Mitsotakis."We averted more than 4,000attempts of illegal entrance toour land borders."

A Greek police

source said security forces firedtear gas Saturday againstmigrants on the Turkish sidebecause they had set fires andopened holes in border fences.

Armed policemen and sol-diers patrolled the Evros rivershores- a common crossingpoint - and warned with loud-speakers not to enter Greek ter-ritory. Drones also monitoredmigrant movements."I believethat the borders have beenprotected," Defense MinisterNikos Panagiotopoulos toldSkai television.

According to HellenicCoast Guard, from early Fridayto early Saturday 180 migrantsreached the islands of EasternAegean, Lesbos and Samos insea crossings. The UNsaid nearly a million people --half of them children -- havebeen displaced in the bitter coldby the fighting in northwestSyria since December.Turkey said its forces destroyeda "chemical warfare facility,"just south of Aleppo, in part ofits military retaliation after itssoldiers were killed in Idlib.

"We would not want thingsto reach this point but as theyforce us to do this, they will paya price," Erdogan said.

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South Korea reported itsbiggest surge in new coron-

avirus cases on Saturday asconcerns grew of a possibleepidemic in the United Statesand the World HealthOrganisation raised its riskalert to its highest level.

The virus has rapidlyspread across the world in thepast week, causing stock mar-kets to sink to their lowest lev-els since the 2008 global finan-cial crisis over fears that the dis-ease could wreak havoc on theworld economy.

More than 2,900 peoplehave died and over 85,000have been infected worldwidesince it was first detected in thecentral Chinese city of Wuhanlate last year.

The vast majority of infec-tions have been in China butmore daily cases are nowlogged outside the country,with South Korea, Italy andIran emerging as majorhotspots.

South Korea has the mostcases outside China, with 3,150infections as 813 more patients

were reported on Saturday - thecountry's biggest increase todate.

North Korean leader KimJong Unwarned top party offi-cials of the "serious conse-quences" of failing to preventan outbreak on their side of theborder.

The impoverished nation,with a weak and ill-equippedhealthcare system, has closedits borders to prevent thespread of the disease into itsterritory.

The virus has also spread tonew zones in recent days,reaching nine new countriesincluding Azerbaijan, Mexicoand New Zealand, as well asreaching sub-Saharan Africawith Nigeria reporting its firstcase.

"We have now increasedour assessment of the risk ofspread and the risk of impactof COVID-19 to very high atglobal level," WHO chiefTedros Adhanom Ghebreyesustold reporters on Friday.European nations are scram-bling to contain the outbreak asnew infections mounted inseveral countries - many linked

to virus hotspot northern Italy- including in France where asurge of new cases was con-firmed Friday.

President EmmanuelMacron on Saturday chaired aMinisters' meeting on curbingthe outbreak, after officialswarned the epidemic hadreached a "new stage".

"The virus is circulating inour territory and we must curbits spread," French HealthMinister Olivier Veran said

Friday.Meanwhile in the US,

health officials reported threemore cases of the new coron-avirus transmitted to peoplewho did not travel overseas orcome in contact with anyoneknown to be ill, indicating thedisease was spreading in thecountry.

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Somali security forces havestormed a camp of a Sufi

militia forcing their leaders tosurrender after fighting inwhich 12 people were killed,officials and witnesses said onSaturday.

Fighting broke out betweenthe army and the Ahlu SunnaWal Jamaa (ASWJ) militia onThursday night inDhumasareb, the capital of thesemi-autonomous Galmudugregion, and intensified onFriday.

"The Somali forces tookfull control of the base of therival militias and the situationis normal now, the leaders ofthe Sufi militias have surren-dered to the force comman-ders," Abdullahi Ahmed, aSomali army commander toldAFP by phone.

According to witnesses,most of the Sufi fighters sur-rendered during heavy fightingin the evening before theSomali security forces managed

to make their way into theirmain base late in the morning.

The leader of the Sufigroup Sheikh Mohamed Shakirwho was leading the fightagainst the Somali securityforces briefed the press aftersurrendering to the govern-ment forces.

"We have decided to com-promise for the public afterlearning the situation was get-ting worse leading to moreproblems," Shakir said.

"The government isresponsible for our securityand that of the town and thepublic as we have headed ourweapons to them," he said.

Earlier this month, theparliament of Galmudug elect-ed Ahmed Abdi Kariye, a for-mer minister backed by thefederal Government, as presi-dent of the region.

ASWJ leader Shakir reject-ed the result and declared him-self president. A formerGalmudug president, AhmedDuale, also claimed victory byforming his own parliament.

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AUS court Friday suspend-ed its decision to block a

key asylum policy of DonaldTrump's administration whichhas forced many applicants towait in Mexico while theirclaims are processed, allowingborder officials to continueenforcing the White Housedirective.

The policy - known as"Remain in Mexico" and part ofthe US president's signaturecrackdown on migration -hasbeen used to send tens ofthousands of asylum seekersfrom Central America back toMexico, but was placed onhold by the Ninth CircuitCourt of Appeals in SanFrancisco on Friday.

The court initially ruled thepolicy "is invalid in its entire-ty" under US law concerningmigrant rights and UN refugeeprotocols, and should beblocked "in its entirety."

But just hours later, thecourt unanimously voted tostay its order, US media report-ed, with the three-judge paneltelling the government andthe plaintiffs to file writtenarguments by Monday andTuesday next week.

After welcoming thecourt's initial ruling theAmerican Civil Liberties Union-- one of the groups that chal-lenged the government in court-- said the suspension was a"temporary step."

"We will continue workingto permanently end thisunspeakably cruel policy,"attorney Judy Rabinovitz saidin a statement to US media.

Earlier, the White Househad blasted the block, warningit could "flood the nation'simmigration system" and "pre-sent unchecked coronavirusentry risk."

The San Francisco courthad allowed the policy to goahead last year, pending theappeal, overruling a districtjudge who had ruled againstthe measure.

The district judge hadheard evidence that migrantsreturned to Mexico under thepolicy faced discrimination,physical violence, sexualassault, corruption and lack offood and shelter.

More than 60,000 peoplehave been returned to Mexicounder the program since itwas introduced in January2019, according to the WhiteHouse.

"The policy is facially and

flatly illegal," tweeted HarvardLaw School constitutionalscholar Laurence Tribe.

On Friday, the US Customsand Border Security shut downthe Paso Del Norte crossing insouthern Texas as news of thecourt's block spread on socialmedia.

"CBP stopped traffic atPaso Del Norte bridge at 7:20pm Friday preventing the abil-ity for a group of migrants toillegally and forcefully surgethrough the port of entry," theforce tweeted.

The West Texas branch ofthe CBP added that the cross-ing - one of the busiest - wouldremain closed overnight,although no other ports wereshut.

Earlier, a Department ofJustice spokesman said theTrump administration had"acted faithfully" and slammedthe court's ruling which "high-lights the consequences andimpropriety of nationwideinjunctions."

The White House said itwas "considering all availablelegal options to seek furtherreview of this decision," andcalled the asylum policy "huge-ly successful."

The number of detainedmigrants soared in recent yearsas hundreds of thousands ofpeople, mostly from CentralAmerica, poured into theUnited States, with many seek-ing asylum.

A crackdown including the"Remain in Mexico" policy hasseen border apprehensionsplunge in recent months.

The figure stood at fewerthan 37,000 last month, frommore than 58,000 a year earli-er.

But Refugee Internationalwarned Friday that the asylumpolicy "means the differencebetween life and death" formigrants "cruelly pushed intoharm and deprivation inMexico."

In a separate ruling Friday,the same appeals court alsostruck down the Trump policyof blocking anyone enteringillegally without going throughan official port of entry fromapplying for asylum.

"Together, the two deci-sions represent a significantsetback for the Trump admin-istration's efforts to restrictasylum applications," saidStephen Yale-Loehr, a CornellLaw School professor.

"This issue is surely head-ed to the Supreme Court," headded.

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The top civil servant in theUK Home Office at the

centre of a row over a strainedrelationship with Indian-originHome Secretary Priti Patelresigned from his post onSaturday and said he plans tosue the government over his"constructive and unfair" exit.

Philip Rutnam, PermanentSecretary in the department ledby 47-year-old

Patel, said there had beena “vicious and orchestratedcampaign” against him over thelast 10 days and pointed thefinger of blame at the minister.

“The Home Secretary(Patel) categorically denied anyinvolvement in this campaignto the Cabinet Office. I regretI do not believe her,” he said ina statement.

“Even despite this cam-paign, I was willing to effect areconciliation with the HomeSecretary, as requested by theCabinet Secretary on behalf ofthe Prime Minister. But despitemy efforts to engage with her,Priti Patel has made no effortto engage with me to discuss

this,” the statement said.Rutnam said his experience

formed part of a wider patternin government and that heplans to take legal action on thegrounds of constructive dis-missal. “I believe that theseevents give me very stronggrounds to claim constructive,unfair dismissal, and I will bepursuing that claim in thecourts. My experience has beenextreme, but I consider there isevidence that it was part of awider pattern of behaviour,” hisstatement adds.

The resignation comes justdays after he and Patel hadissued a joint statement in aneffort to quell media reports ofdiscord within the HomeOffice. “The Home Secretaryand Permanent Secretary aredeeply concerned about thenumber of false allegationsappearing in the media,” a UKHome Office spokespersonsaid on Monday, when thegovernment took the rare stepto issue a formal statement toquash rumours circulatingaround the frosty relationshipbetween the minister and hertop civil servant.

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Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe onSaturday pledged another emergency

package to tackle the coronavirus, appeal-ing for cooperation as he faces criticismover drastic prevention measures.

The plan comes as the Governmentramps up its response to the virus,which has infected at least 230 peopleacross the country and been linked to fivedeaths. "We will swiftly compile asecond emergency package" by usingreserve funds worth more than 270 bil-lion yen ($2.5 billion) in around 10 days,Abe told a news conference.

In mid-February the Government setaside an initial 15.3 billion

yen for the fight against the virus,including money to boost testing,strengthen inspections at borders andsupport manufacturers of face masks.

"On my own responsibility, I will takethe best possible measures against vari-ous issues," Abe said Saturday.He also vowed to speed up the intro-duction of legislation aimed at easing theimpact of the virus on people's lives.

But Abe added that "we cannotscore a victory in this battle only with thegovernment's efforts".

"It is not easy to battle against theenemy that you can't see or know well,"he said."But I'm convinced we will cer-tainly overcome this." On Thursday Abeurged schools nationwide to close for sev-eral weeks to prevent the spread of thenew coronavirus.

The government cannot orderschools to shut, a power that belongs tolocal councils, and authorities in manyregions said they were not consultedabout the decision.

Some local governments expressedopposition to the idea along with parents

in need of child care.Authorities say the coming two to

three weeks will determine whether theoutbreak can be contained, a majorconcern in the run-up to the TokyoOlympics in July.Abe pledged "full prepa-rations by maintaining close coordina-tion" with the Tokyo government and theInternational Olympic Committee.TheJapanese government has asked organ-isers to consider cancelling

or postponing other major events,with everything from football matches toconcerts already cancelled in recentdays.But a state visit by Chinese PresidentXi Jinping planned for the spring"remains unchanged right now", Abe said.

Japan has also fielded criticism overits handling of a quarantined cruise shipwhere more than 700 people tested pos-itive for the virus.

The Diamond Princess's operatorthis week confirmed all passengers havenow left the ship, while crew were dis-embarking to enter a new quarantine.

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Major cherry blossom festivals in Japanhave been cancelled due to the dead-

ly new coronavirus, the latest in a grow-ing list of events quashed as the epidem-ic spreads globally.

The traditional spring celebrationsin Tokyo and Osaka, which attract millionsof people wanting to seeing the white andpink flowers, will not go ahead as plannedin April.

"We are sincerely sorry for those whowere looking forward to the viewing... Butplease give us your understanding," theJapan Mint in Osaka said Friday.

Other cherry blossom events -fever-ishly anticipated by locals and tourists -arelikely to follow suit, according to localmedia.

Organisers of Tokyo's NakameguroCherry Blossom Festival said people couldstill enjoy the blooming trees that growalong public roads.

Trees in Tokyo will soon be in fullbloom, with friends, families and col-leagues typically flocking to parks forsometimes raucous, alcohol-fuelled cele-brations.

The cancellations come as authoritiesstep up efforts to tackle the outbreak inJapan, which has reported more than 230infections and five deaths.

Schools are closed and the govern-ment is urging people to work fromhome or commute during off-peak hoursand avoid large gatherings.

The operator of Tokyo's two Disneyresorts -Disneyland and DisneySea - saidFriday the parks would be closed foraround two weeks due to the virus.

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Qatar has confirmed itsfirst case of coronavirus,

state media reportedSaturday, after a 36-year-oldQatari woman who was evac-uated to Doha from Irantested positive.

Qatar on Thursdayrepatriated a number of itscitizens from Iran which isbattling the worst outbreakoutside China - and con-fined them to a 14-day peri-od of quarantine, theGovernment said. TheHealth Ministry said theinfected patient had beenadmitted to hospital.

"This had been expectedbecause of the virus's spreadacross the region and othercountries, alongside theexponential increase in thenumber of cases," the healthministry said according to theQatar News Agency.

Iran on Saturday report-ed nine new deaths from thenovel coronavirus and 205fresh cases in the past 24hours, bringing its overall tollto 43 dead and 593 infected.

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Singapore on Saturdayconfirmed four new

patients of coronavirus, tak-ing the total number ofcases to 102, according tothe Nation's HealthMinistry.

The new cases, whichinclude a domestic workerfrom the Philippines, wereall linked to the WizlearnTechnologies cluster, a tech-nology hub here, ChannelNews Asia quoted a state-ment from the health min-istry as saying.

The deadly virus epi-demic which broke out inChina has so far claimed thelives of 2,835 people whilethe number of confirmedcases climbed to 79,251,Chinese health officials saidon Saturday.The virus hasalso spread across the world,with a rising number ofcases reported in more than50 countries and territo-ries, the report said.

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Anustup Majumdar struckan unbeaten century to

once again become Bengal’ssaviour after a familiar toporder collapse as he single-handedly took his side to 275for nine on the opening dayof their Ranji Trophy semifi-nal against a star-studdedKarnataka at Eden Gardenson Saturday.

Fresh from his career-best 157 from a similar posi-tion in the quarterfinals,Majumdar slammed anunbeaten 120 (173 balls; 18x4,1x6) to revive Bengal inningsafter they were asked to batfirst.

In an almost action replayof the Odisha match, Bengalwere staring down the barrelon Saturday also with theirtop batsmen, including skip-per Abhimanyu Easwaran(15) and Manoj Tiwary (8),back in the pavillion afterplaying reckless shots.

The scoreboard read aprecarious 62/4 when theonus fel l once again onMajumdar af ter Tiwar ydeparted in trying to hit spin-ner K Gowtham across theline.

There was worse to follow

for Bengal when Ronit More(2/45) gave a double blow, dis-missing a well-set SudipChatterjee (20) and ShreevatsGoswami (0) in four balls asthe home side were totteringat 67/6 at lunch.

But the veteranMajumdar, whoreturned to Bengal in2016 after poor formwith the IndianRailways, was full of poiseas he revived the innings inthe last two sessions with acentury stand for the ninthwicket with Akash Deep (44).

Al l-rounder Shahbaz

Ahmed also played his partwith a 72-run partnershipwith Majumdar that came inquick time (119 balls).

Majumdar spent fourhours and 11 minutes duringhis unbeaten knock from 173balls. He notched up his ninthfirst class hundred, seventh inRanji Trophy, with a flick inthe square leg boundary offMithun.

Karnataka were also lack-lustre on the field and droppedtwo catches — by wicketkeep-er S Sharath and skipper Nair asBengal scripted an amazingrecovery.

SAURASHTRA MAKE 217/5�:8��2� Led by ArzanNagwaswalla' three wickets,Gujarat bowlers produced adisciplined show and restrictedSaurashtra to 217 for five on theopening day in other last four

game.For the hosts, only

Sheldon Jackson (69 notout) was able to converthis start at the SCA stadi-

um.Initially, it seemed Gujarat

skipper Parthiv Patel's decisionto put Saurashtra in backfired,but the bowlers made a splen-did comeback and pegged thehosts back on two occasions.

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Spinner Radha Yadav flummoxed the rival bat-ting line-up with a career-best 4/23 before

Shafali Verma’s blistering 34-ball 47 powered Indiato a seven-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the ICCWomen’s T20 World Cup here on Saturday. Optingto to bat, Sri Lanka were restricted to a modest113 for nine in their final Group A match withleft-arm spinner Radha (4/23) running throughthe rivals’ batting line-up, including claiming theprized scalp of skipper Chamari Atapattu.

Shafali, then, top-scored as India chased down

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Indian batsmen showed intentbut their reckless shot selec-tion took them only as far as

242 on an eventful opening dayof the second Test against NewZealand, here on Saturday.

Prithvi Shaw (54) andCheteshwar Pujara (54) hit con-trasting half-centuries to take thefight to the rival camp. However,Hanuma Vihari’s (55 off 70 balls)dismissal at the stroke of tea tilt-ed the scale in New Zealand’sfavour as they gained a clearupper-hand by stumps.

Kyle Jamieson (5/45) in aninspired post-tea spell blew awaythe middle and lower-order tofinish with his maiden five-wick-et haul in only his second Test.

The hosts ended the day at 63for no loss with both theToms—Latham (27 batting) andBlundell (29 batting)hardly troubled byIndian pacers.

The pitch will bebest for batting ondays two and three which meansthat for Virat Kohli and his men,the catch-up game starts from thesecond day itself as ignominy ofa 0-2 series loss looms large.

On a green-top, three Indianbatsmen showed that scoringruns wasn’t difficult.

Shaw’s lunging drive after hissecond half-century in Tests andVihari and Pujara’s ill-timed pullshots were a testimony that theirdismissals were more aboutprofligacy than New Zealand’sbowling.

Rishabh Pant, who has beenpreferred over a much-accom-plished Wriddhiman Saha, pure-ly on batting skills, played a lazyshot to find his stumps rattled.

From 194 for four with astandard first innings total of 350

looking imminent, India lostfive wickets for 22 runs in a peri-od of six overs and it could wellhave a decisive impact in the finaloutcome of the contest.

Jamieson, in his post-teaspell, got rid of Pujara, Pant andUmesh Yadav in quick successionas India lost a golden opportuni-

ty to press home the advantage.The 32 boundaries and three

sixes with a run-rate of 3.84 in 63overs will not able to tell the storyhow Indians fluffed their linesduring the day.

The immensely talentedShaw displayed improved foot-work that saw him drive elegant-

ly as the likes of Trent Boult(2/89) and Colin deGrandhomme (0/31) were guiltyof over-pitching in trying to getsome swing.

There were square drivesand a few on-drives while he alsoplayed and missed a few. He didlive dangerously but more impor-

tantly had the scoreboard tickingeven when Pujara was stuck atthe other end.

Neil Wagner bowled abouncer and Shaw hooked himfor maximum to reach his half-century. Having added 50 runswith Pujara, the senior partnershould have ideally calmed the

inexperienced one, who insteadof playing for lunch, lunged at afuller delivery from Jamieson tobe brilliantly caught by Latham.

Kohli’s poor tour just gotworse when Tim Southee (2/38)got one to shape in slightly find-ing him plumb in-front. AjinkyaRahane jabbed with limited foot-work as Pujara looked moreassured about his off-stump evenas he hit occasional drives butmostly holding one end up.

It was young Vihari, whochanged the course by counter-attacking the trio of Boult,Southee and Wagner in quicktime.

Interestingly, when Pujarawas on 49, Vihari was on 13 andby the time he got out for 55, hav-ing hit 10 boundaries, India’snumber three was on 53.

Vihari looked comfortablyagainst Wagner as he played aslash over point to complete hisfifty and then another pull-shotoff the very next delivery. ButVihari played one shot too manyas Wagner bowled a slow bounc-er to take him out of equation.

Once India came out to batafter tea, Jamieson changed thetactic from bowling fuller to hisusual back of the length line thatcould create disconcertingbounce or the batsmen.

Pujara got a good bouncerand there was no balance whilegoing for the pull-shot. Indianinnings was in total disarray bythen and result was another daywhere stars promised a lot anddelivered too little.

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India skipper Harmanpreet Kaur on Saturday said theteam management has given Shafali Verma the freedom

to play her natural game, which has set the Women’s T20World Cup ablaze.

The 16-year-old announced her emergence on the glob-al stage by becoming the second highest run getter in theongoing tournament. She has so far scored 161 runs, hit-ting 18 fours and nine sixes in four matches at an astound-ing strike rate of 161. “Shafali is someone who loves to playbig shots, and we don’t want to stop her. She should con-tinue doing the same and she should continue enjoying hergame,” Harmanpreet said after the match.

India entered the semifinals with an all-win record andthe captain insisted it is important to continue the win-ning momentum.

“It’s really important to keep the momentum when youare winning games. You really work hard, so you can’t affordto lose that momentum.”

“Today I tried to be positive and got a few boundaries.In the upcoming games I’ll try to give my best,”Harmanpreet said.

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the target in just 14.4 overs.The win meant India

entered the semifinals with anall-win record. This was India’sfourth successive victory in thetournament as theHarmanpreet Kaur-ledside consolidated theirposition on top of thegroup with eight points.

The 16-year-oldShafali, who wasdropped twice in the secondand fourth over, hit sevenfours and a six in her knockbut was unable to reach hermaiden fifty for the secondtime in the tournament, get-ting run-out in the 11th over.

She had scored 46 against

New Zealand in her previousouting.

Kaur and opener SmritiMandhana again squanderedtheir good starts, departing for

15 and 17, respectively.Mandhana mistimed

the ball to KavishaDilhari in the fifth overwhile the skipper depart-ed while trying to clearthe long on fielder in the

10th over.For Sri Lanka, Udeshika

Prabodhani (1/13) andShashikala Siriwardene(1/42)picked up a wicket each,before the duo of JemimahRodrigues (15) and DeeptiSharma (15) sealed the victo-

ry.Earlier, Sri Lanka were dealt

a blow when opener UmeshaThimashini (2) tried to go for abig shot off a Deepti Sharmadelivery, only to be caught byRajeshwari Gayakwad in thethird over.

In-from skipper Atapattu(33) continued to attack, hittingfive fours and a six, and stitcheda 30-run partnership withHarshitha Madavi (12).

However, left-arm spinnerGayakwad tightened the screwsin the eighth over, bowling awicket maiden while dismissingMadavi.

The introduction of Radhain the ninth over worked asimmediately after hitting a sixover deep wicket, the Sri Lankancaptain was caught at square leg.

Sri Lanka then suffered abatting collapse as Radhaaccounted for HansimaKarunaratne (7) and HasiniPerera (7) in her next over. Shealso dismissed wicket-keeperAnushka Sanjeewani (1).

The demand for recognising issuesrelated to sustainability in highereducation is slated to growexponentially the world over.Educational leaders have a unique

opportunity to lead the creation of a newinstitutional consciousness on sustainability. It iseducational leadership that will lead in enablinga new consciousness and intellectual orientationfor a sustainable world.

The leading universities of the world havedemonstrated a deep, persistent and sustainedcommitment to interdisciplinarity. Theimportance of crossing disciplinary boundariesin teaching, learning and research is yet to befully realised within the Indian higher educationsystem. Institutional mechanisms need to beestablished within universities to enable studentsto learn across schools, departments andprogrammes across the entire university. Thebig debates of our time will not be addressed byknowledge and understanding of singlediscipline, but our ability to drawn upon theexpertise from many disciplines with a view toproducing solutions.

At the Caspian Week — World EconomicForum 2020 sessions at Davos, the two keypanels: “Education & Leadership for SustainableWorld” focussed on educational leadership,sustainability, inclusive development,institutional cultural change, and pedagogies ofsustainability. The second panel was on “TheRole of Global Universities in PromotingSustainable Futures”, where the discussionfocussed on challenges that universities areconfronted with today and that globaluniversities can play a specific role in advancingthe cause of sustainable development.

Higher education institutions in particularhave a central role to play in achieving a newsense of individual consciousness andintellectual orientation towards creating asustainable future. Institutional leaders have theopportunity to intervene and addresssustainability issues in multiple forms. They canfoster new institutional consciousness towards asustainable world; there are some key steps thatneed to be initiated. Universities can be crucialpartners in the initiation of dialogue betweenregional scholars, academics, policymakers,researchers and relevant state-level agencies.International collaborations between academics,researchers, international institutions and non-profit foundations engaged in the study andpractice on related areas can increase potentialto study previously unexplored approaches andpotential funding sources for research andinitiatives related to sustainability.

Universities can affect deep and meaningfulchange in local communities and can shape as

to how they respond to sustainability issues overthe long-term. Adopting approaches to addresssustainability and sustainable futures incurriculum, research agendas, infrastructure(energy/water conservation and wastemanagement), campus engagement, publicinstitutional engagement, diversity andaccessibility indicators, and institutionalenvironmental footprint are some example ofthis initiative.

There is more. Specific initiatives are neededat the institutional level. Investing in researchthat is valuable to local communities will leadthe way to an intellectual consciousness. Thisincludes developing research networks with(in)local communities. Relevant disciplinary areasthat could lead and contribute to such networksinclude public policy, law, architecture,journalism, management, environmentalstudies, and liberal arts. Working incollaboration with local governments is anotherarea for greater exploration by universities andinstitutional leaders.

We need to develop interdisciplinary globalnetworks focused on sustainable development.These could include research partnerships onexchanging institutional and pedagogical bestpractices, and transnational dialogues andforums to deliberate and explore newapproaches to institutional governance thatbetter address sustainability concerns.

For universities to play an effective role inadvancing sustainable local, national, regionaland global development, students must be madeactive stakeholders in existing and futureapproaches to sustainability. A primary mode ofcultivating sustainability consciousness is bygrounding relevant themes, issues, challengesand concerns within the curricula whilefocussing on experiential learning, clinicalprogrammes, capstone projects and communitylevel engagement.

Of particular focus must be those that relateto the most critical local, national and regionalissues. A greater range of relevant pedagogicalinterventions is then made possible throughcurricula that are aligned towards addressingthe challenges of sustainable development. Asecondary focus area is to orient facultymembers to design and teach courses that aremore closely aligned with institutional, nationaland global sustainability agendas.

While research funding for related areas isimportant, institutional incentive structures forresearchers can go a long way in encouraginggreater research on sustainable developmentthemes. One way to address this is forinstitutional leaders to prioritise research sub-themes that may contribute directly tosustainable local and national developmental

concerns. This prioritisation could imply notonly actively setting institutional researchagendas on a periodic basis, but alsoincentivising researchers who choose to work onthese areas through greater research support,more accessible dispensing of availableinstitutional funding, adjusting institutionalteaching and research responsibilities, andmaking available necessary infrastructure forsuch research. All of this has to happen inrecognition of the extended time horizons,longer study periods and lack of immediate anddemonstrable outcomes that such research mayrequire.

Locally, Fostering community networks willencourage exchange of ideas. These couldinclude networks for institutional, research,teaching and student related initiatives thatencourage greater transnational exchange ofcurrent practices, ideas, and problem-solvingapproaches. Of crucial importance will be therole that universities play in not onlyencouraging and nurturing greater participationof young students in such networks, but alsocreating opportunities for greater cross-borderinteractions with peers and enabling students toundertake leadership roles in exploring newapproaches to sustainable futures.

Then, institutions adopting interdisciplinaryapproaches in research, teaching, learning,policy and practice will be key to actingprogressively on sustainability issues. Foruniversities, this means that investing increating opportunities and pathways forinterdisciplinary interactions will be essential.One approach to this is to institutionaliseinterdisciplinarity across core functions. Forinstance, in course offerings, the availability ofinterdisciplinary, cross-listed electives is a usefulway to encourage students to think and learnoutside their own subject areas. Universitiescould also enable greater interdisciplinaryinteractions within their campuses, for instancethrough conscious and deliberate design of theirphysical infrastructure and facilities, andoffering greater support for teachers andresearchers who undertake interdisciplinaryinitiatives and projects.

Higher education institutions necessarilyneed to be as representative as possible of theirhost communities and regions in order tosurvive and thrive. Universities have a greaterobligation to accomplish such representationgiven the public character of their mission andpurpose, and the broad societal goals theycommit to achieve. These aims take on greatersignificance in developing economies, and giventhe value that a robust higher education systemcan add to achieving national developmentalgoals. These include providing adequately

representative access, particularly tomarginalised groups of citizens; balancing suchaccess with the provision of universityenvironments that are of global standards;helping our students bridge gaps incommunication and thinking skills that canmeet the requirements of globalised careers androles; and perhaps most importantly,institutionalising efforts to identify and correctdisparities in diversity and inclusion indicators.

Universities are confronted with thechallenge of embracing globalised modes offunctioning and expansion while simultaneouslyremaining rooted, mindful and responsive tolocal, national and regional developmental andsustainability concerns.

Eventually, the role that academic leadershipplays in creating a beneficial environment willbe key to creating a systematic process forsustainability. Approaches to creatinginstitutional environments that are conducive tothe study and practice of sustainabilitynecessarily need to be whole-system oriented.

Such approaches could take the form ofmaking sustainability a lived experience withincampus environments and spaces. Hencesustainability as a concept is then not farremoved from the everyday experience ofteaching, learning, working and residing withincampus environments.

There is a need to build an attitude ofconservation of natural and other resources.Institutions need to move towards adoption ofalternate technologies, increasing green cover,water and energy conservation, reducing waste,and increasing intra-campus awareness of itscarbon footprint within host regions.

Leaders must bring greater awareness ofadverse impacts of developmental trajectorieson local/host communities while, interweavingsustainable objectives into all aspects ofuniversity activities including administration,pedagogy, and residential life.

While 21st century universities must serveas bastions for academic and scholarly work,they must also serve as models of organisationalinnovation, agility in a complex world, creativenegotiation with change, and representative indemographic, identity and design with local andnational communities. These are key elementsthat will determine the preparedness ofuniversities to contribute to building moresustainable futures while preparing studentsmore adequately to intervene in sustainabledevelopment efforts.

Prof C Raj Kumar, a Rhodes Scholar is theFounding Vice Chancellor of OP Jindal Global

University. He was the only VC from India to beinvited to speak at the WEF, 2020 at Davos,

Switzerland

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Defining justice has never been easy as there is alwaysan element of subjectivity in the concept.Understanding the idea of justice may be only a lit-

tle less daunting than verifying the number of stars in ourgalaxy. If the latter ranges from 100 to 400 billion, the num-ber of definitions of justice are only slightly less astronom-ical as they, too, range from 7 to 8 billion. Every individualhas at least one definition of justice, depending on his orher experience and interpretation of that experience.Sometime, the same person can have a different idea in dif-ferent situation. The one thing that can be said about theidea of justice is that it is continuously evolving. Naturally,the law must also change to keep pace with the changingconnotations of justice. Law is the tool that the society hasdeveloped to dispense justice. However, the pace of changeof law is not in tandem with the changing idea of justice.One case in point is the proposed change in the law to tryminors as adults. It is only after the serious public outcrythat a change in Juvenile Justice Law is being felt. It wasalways evident that heinous and serious crimes committedby technically Juvenile offenders needed to be treated as adultcrimes. The rising number of cases involving juveniles inpremeditated heinous crimes were alarming, hence the pun-ishment needed to be the same as that given to an adult.However, there are many other issues involving the ques-tion of law, justice and fairness which need serious consid-eration. The one, and most rampant, issue is the act of insti-tuting false criminal cases on innocent people to harass,intimidate or sometimes even force compliance for achiev-ing wrong ends. The key issue in these cases is the overreliance on eye witnesses. Any person with criminal intentcan find out two or three witnesses and file a case againstany unsuspecting person in order to gain unlawful advan-tage. There is an ancient Indian village proverb saying thatto settle scores don’t go for a civil suit or “Diwani”. Rather,go far a criminal case, which is termed “Faujdari”. The unfor-tunate part is that even in this technology driven 21st cen-tury the trick works. The courts are aware of this hard real-ity, but precious little has been achieved. It is time to makeamends. For some five centuries the Lady Justice has beenstanding as a blind-folded statuette with a balance in onehand and sword in the other. It is time the blindfold isremoved. The allegorical personification of the moral forcein the judicial system needs a rethink as justice is beingderailed by the unscrupulous who have the wherewithal.Justice can certainly be more impartial if Lady Justice cansee the faces of evil with her own eyes. From King Solomonto Suddhodana to Vikramaditya to Ranjit Singh history hasmany examples. They relied more on wisdom, conscienceand judgment rather than evidences of witnesses of doubt-ful virtue and were able to dispense justice. Atop the oldBailey Courthouse of London the Lady Justice stands with-out blindfold, perhaps to suggest this. The crowding at topcourts is more due to motivated concoctions rather thanany genuine grouse. Public opinion as John Galsworthy saidis always in advance of law. Public is now feeling the pinch.

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Our thoughts are dominated bylust, greed, anger, hate, etc. In oldage, our thoughts turn towards

our aging bodies. If we allow thesethoughts to linger, we are in serioustrouble. Because they reinforce “tamo-guna” — the mode of darkness.

There are three modes, which con-stitute our bodies. These are: the modeof goodness, the mode of passion andthe mode of darkness. The mode ofgoodness is the most desirable, becausethis is illuminating and free from dis-eases on account of purity. The modeof passion suffers from the fault ofattachment because of our faulty desires.Normally, this mode dominates the psy-che of most people. The mode of dark-ness causes delusion, because it is bornof ignorance. These modes exist in dif-ferent percentages in us. Ideally, themode of goodness should have the high-est percentage, followed by the mode ofpassion and we should have the leastpercentage of the mode of darkness.

The wise try to reinforce the high-er modes and reduce the percentages ofthe lower modes by their thoughts,deeds, etc. The secret to managing thesemodes within us lies in the way wethink. To work on ourselves, we needto reform our thinking. Because ourthoughts cause the most damage, thatis, they have a large share in changingthe relative proportions of the threemodes. Thoughts of love, compassion,cooperation, forgiveness, etc. increasethe percentage of the mode of goodness,which benefits us immensely. On theother hand, if we reinforce the mode ofdarkness by our impure and negativethoughts, this gives rise to fears, anxi-eties, depression, etc. This mode canbecome so potent that it can even kill,as happens in suicides. There is no out-

side force involved in such deeds; the selfcommits this senseless act.

Let us understand how this danger-ous mode establishes its control in us.Lust thoughts appear in the mind at acertain age. If we allow these thoughtsto rule, we end up causing harm to our-selves without realising. Lord Krishnahas warned of this enemy in severalverses of the Gita. The lust may exist formany things, of which lust for tasty foodand illicit sex are the most damaging.

It is said that lust leads to the doorsto hell. Greed and its related thoughtsare common and not far behind in hurt-ing us. The same is true of angrythoughts. Hate takes us to an entirelylow level. One may even end up beingborn in lower species in the next birth!

Focusing our attention to our bod-ies, we only harm ourselves; we don’tallow our bodies to perform their func-tions, which they do quite well. Thishuman body is a thing of marvel.Normal care by eating, sleeping, beingactive and entertaining the self appro-

priately is what we really need to do; ourmiseries will be reduced drastically.(Bhagawad Gita, 6.17)

So what should we do? As soon asharmful thoughts appear in the mind,we need to seek help from God. By our-selves, we may be helpless in controllingthem. Saintly persons go a step further;they think of God a lot. God is preparedto help and guide. This is the cosmicdesign. When we do that our lives takean about-turn. Not only do we get theperfect guidance and requisite help, wealso get the elusive peace. This in turnleads to ‘sukha’ or the real happiness,which is different from transitory sensepleasures. However, this practice is noteasy. Because we have to act on twofronts. One, we must desire to shun badthoughts and two, we should desire tohave God-related thoughts. This is‘tapasysa’. Either we convince ourselvesof the right way or the tamoguna willcreate havoc in our lives. +��������������������������������������������

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You suffer countless losses,diseases, heartbreaks inlife and feel sorry for your-self. And here, oscillatesthe pendulum — good,

bad, right, and wrong. One momentyou like yourself, the other you donot. Duality has its day. Delusion hasits way!

At times such as these, the firstquestion that comes to your mind is— “Why me? What did I do deservethis?” The answer to this lies inunderstanding the concept of sam-skars.

Every action and thought thatcrosses your mind leaves an imprinton your destiny, it gets stored in thekarmashaya, an ethereal hard disk soto say, to be fructified at a later pointin this life or future lives. This storeddata is called samskars.

These samskars fructify, decidingthe course of your life because inattaching emotions to your actionsyou gain a sense of ownership towardsthese actions. When your destiny ispaired with the data stored in yourethereal hard disk, those stored sam-skars, fructify in congruence with the

rays of the planets. So, if at a particular time your

destiny is meant to provide you withwealth, good looks, luxury, goodtimes, the stored samskars that matchyour destiny at the time will fructi-fy.

On the other hand, if physicalpain, loss in business, difficult days,are a part of your destiny at a partic-ular time, then the karmas matchingthis negative period will come to foreand fructify. And what you receive inthe fructification of these past karmas,you take ownership of and begin thecycle all over again, reloading yourkarmic matrix instead of exhaustingit.

You have thoughts all day, everyday. You think about your thoughts,about why you have these thoughts,feel good about some and chastiseyourself for some. Of course you do,they are your thoughts, right? Wrong!They are thoughts that you receive,which come and go through yourmind.

Our minds should be open vesselsallowing these thoughts to enter

and leave, watching them from a dis-tance, in third person. Instead we lidthe vessel as soon as a thought comesfloating in, paint it in emotion andmake it ours. It then adds to ourkarma, positive or negative depend-ing on the thought. And before youknow it, one thought links to anoth-er and you gain ownership of a longchain of thoughts.

The positive samskars will be con-verted in the future into Bhog (plea-sure and riches). The negative sam-skars into Rog (debt, disease, and mis-fortune). And divine deeds will getconverted into Yog (spiritual evolu-tion).

One can extend this point to thefate of countries as a whole too.Countries can be divided into thosethat offer lesser comforts and luxu-ries called Tapo Bhoomi, where peo-ple exhaust more of their negativekarmas and also practice penance andausterity. And other countries thatfulfill the Rajasic experience calledRajo Bhoomi, are where people enjoyand exhaust their positive karmas, bygetting consumed by luxury, comfortand wealth.

Spiritually evolved people knowhow to re-balance their karma and

negate samskars through the practiceof recitation of advanced mantras andperforming a lot of seva, thereby tilt-ing the balance in favour of perceivedpositivity.

When your thoughts, which arenot really your own, lead you to per-form actions you consider worthy ofpride, you take ownership of theseactions and add to your samskars. Itcould be something as simple as help-ing an elderly cross a road to some-thing as large as donating a large sumof money to charity. You feel goodabout yourself and add to your pos-itive karma.

When positive samskars fructify,rewarding you with good days, pros-perity, health, you tend to spend it inindulging your whims and fancies.Some become vain, some abuse thisreward and eventually end up with amassive karmic negative tilt.

It is important to realise thatwhile it is your past actions that haveearned you such luxuries, it is yourdestiny that lead you to earn themand you as an individual have no rolein it.

Credit for the good deeds orblame for the bad, neither is yours totake. These rewards are automatical-ly fructified to balance the karmic bal-ance sheet thereby leading to auto-matic exhaustion and redemption ofstored samskars.

Knowledge or gyan helps peopleto re-examine the above principlesand use them for personal evolution.

There are essentially 3 types of peo-ple:

● The astute, who understand thissubject and try to improve their bal-ance sheet by simply reducing theirdesires, thereby spending less of theirpositive karmas.

● The more astute, who practicetapasya including voluntary suffering,for example fasting, long hours ofmeditation and spiritual sadhana.

● The most astute, who understandthe only way to transcend karma is tonot take ownership of their actions,thereby exhausting the all kinds ofsamskars and karmas and eventuallyfreeing themselves from the shacklesof karmic connections.

It takes a certain level of spiritu-al evolution to be the third type ofperson but that is the ultimate goal.

May this dawn upon you and mayyou succeed in your endeavour.

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Crystals are conductors of healing,uplifting energies. Sometimes, youmight find that you don’t ‘feel’ the

same way around them, as you did before.Nothing has changed in those crystals, but,as ‘mood mirrors,’ they’re trying to show youthat, possibly, something has changed withinyou — for worse, or, for better.

Should you be willing to treat this in aintrospective manner, you might allow yourcrystals to become trustworthy guides, thathelp you understand your day-on-day trig-gers. Eventually, you’ll know when to bringwhich crystal to the forefront, and witheveryday that passes by, you will find thissmall team of guides to be indispensable.The energy exchange can be quite intense,so, like you, crystals need time and space todetox and recharge. While some identify asubtle, but significant difference between theidea of cleansing, clearing and chargingcrystals, I personally find that these termsare largely interchangeable.

���������������� ����������Some do well under clean, pure, run-

ning water, or sunlight. Others aren’t meantfor water, or the sun at all — they may dis-solve, or fade. Take note of specific dos anddon’ts from your vendor, depending on thecrystal you get. If sunlight works for yourchosen crystal, opt for the gentle warmth ofthe early morning, or late evening sun.

Charging under the full moon, withdirect exposure, is popular. I quite like bury-ing my crystals in the earth, the mud of mypotted rose plants. Most crystals come fromthe Earth’s bedrock, so I feel they would liketo hibernate there. The rose is the flower ofthe heart and resonates personally, but youcan go with whichever one is your favourite.

If you have singing bowls for medita-tion, you can charge your crystals to theirsounds, too. And, if you want somethingeven simpler, then, just the warmth of your(clean) hands, moisturised with something

gentle, so as to not disturb the compositionof the crystal. If you are unsure, use an oilthat complements the crystal and rub a fewdrops into your palms. I personally findfrankincense, myrrh, cedar, sandalwood,moringa and jojoba work with most.Otherwise, think of why you’re using a crys-tal, find an essential oil that serves the samepurpose; and add a few drops to a carrier oilthat suits your skin, before application.

����� ����������������Storing your crystals properly is a fun-

damental step. And, if you like to wear themas you are going about your day, they willstill comfort and support you. But, when yousit down to work with them in a meditativeor prayerful way, it helps to designate a spe-cial space to do so. It doesn’t matter if thisspace is a small corner, where you can sit ona mat and work with your crystals, or a full-fledged altar. What you don’t need is exter-nal cacophony, your phone ringing constant-ly, and dirty sheets, mat, clothes, or hands. If

you practice other methods of divination,you can keep the associated material in thisspace. Even if you don’t, you can just keepsymbolic talismans, that represent your hob-bies, work, family, personal beliefs and soon. You can add your favourite flowers, ordecorate this space with the colours thatuplift your spirits.

As an extension of the ‘mood-mirror’thought, sometimes, try including colours,or souvenirs that you tend to avoid. See howthey make you feel in the presence of yourcrystals, and think about why you avoidthem. The avoidance could be a nudgetowards an energy block, one that could layall your diligent efforts to waste if you ignoreit. This is probably what needs the mostwork. Remember, while ‘out of sight, out ofmind’ makes convenient sense, it doesn’t talkabout what may have left sight and mind, tolodge itself deep into the soul.

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In a gentle way, you can shakethe world, thus said

Mahatma Gandhi, the apostleof non-violence in India. Andthis is what the Muslim womenof Shaheen Bagh seem to haveset out to do. A motley groupof powerless, politicallyinsignificant Muslim womenhave spearheaded a women-allsit-in protest for the past 78days in a Muslim middle-classlocality. Of them, some areeducated, some illiterate, someyoung, and some old, dadis asthey are called. They areprotesting against theCitizenship (Amendment) Actor CAA, claiming that the lawis anti-constitutional andaimed at taking away their cit-izenship if combined with theNRC and the NPR.

For the protesting womenof Shaheen Bagh, the sit-in isfor their survival, to save theirfuture generation. In doing so,the women have challenged thetradition and expectation oftheir non-engagement in thepublic sphere, which is reflec-tive of the conservative patri-archal Muslim society.

Their grit and determina-tion have given new strength tothe protest, attracting peoplefrom other faiths, includingsome Hindus, to espouse theircause. A group of Sikh menand women have put up a lan-gar (community kitchen) pro-viding food to these women forthe past one month.

The most striking featureof the protest is its Indian-ness.Indian freedom struggle heroesand other national icons areconspicuous by their presencein the wall paintings andposters at the protest site. Theyplay national anthem and chantslogans of Vande Mataram andInquilab Zindabad and hoistIndian tricolour. These givetheir protest an impression ofstruggle to save their Indian

identity.While Indian history is

replete with the male activism,non-Muslim women too havespearheaded movements forgender and environmentalrights like Narmada move-ment, Chipko Movement. ButMuslim women have seldomled any movement. In fact, theyhave been discriminated at

two levels: as Muslims in aplural society and as womenwithin their community. Theirvoices have been either com-pletely stifled or not given dueconsideration in the past evenduring issues of vital impor-tance like the Ayodhya dispute,the Shah Bano case, the tripletalaq, etc.

Aruna Asaf Ali and Hazrat

Mahal were some exception,because they didn’t belong tothe lower middle class unlikethe women at Shaheen Bagh. Inpre-Independence India, thefirst feminist movement inAsia was started by a Muslimwoman Rokeya SakahawatHossain, a Bengali womanwho was ranked by the BBC assixth greatest Bengali in 2004.

She advocated education asliberating force for women andstarted a school in Kolkatawhich she ran till her death in1932. Her books Matichur andSultana’s Dream have beenpart of great feminist literature.

The Shaheen Bagh protesthas a different contour andcontext. This is a protestmovement born out of partic-

ular situation which affectsthe protesting women’s exis-tence, as they say. They are notonly going through an emo-tional trauma of spearheadingthe protest but also staring ata future with dark possibilities.

Bereft of any charismaticleader, the Shaheen Baghprotest has sparked many othersimilar protests across India.

They have all seen womenparticipation. It is a protestwhich is not based on any ide-ology. Yet the protest has beenable to break the “exclusiveidentity” tag with the supportof many people from the otherfaiths.

The protest has immensesocial implications also. Thiscould be harbinger of a liber-ating movement for theMuslim women from theclutches of patriarchy and spearhead the change inthe Muslim society.

It is difficult to see how theprotest will go further. TheGovernment has stated itsstance and the Supreme Courtis yet to hear the matter.Moreover, skirmishes betweenanti-CAA protesters and oth-ers that culminated into com-munal riots a few days agothreatened the continuationof the Shaheen Bagh sit-in, butthe peaceful manner in whichthe protest is going on havescotched such apprehension.

The protesting women, liketheir counterparts in otherprotests led by women, haveinvested their emotion into itand that is why they haverefused to either budge fromtheir demands. At the sametime, they have not allowedanti-social elements to hijacktheir peaceful protest.

To recall again Gandhijiwho said “strength does notcome from physical capacity. Itcomes from an indomitablewill”, the women of ShaheenBagh are fighting their battlewith this indomitable spirit tosave their children’s future andthe idea of India which pro-fesses a unique pluralistic soci-ety with equal protection of lawto all communities.

(The writer is Deputy NewsEditor, The Pioneer. Viewsexpressed are personal)

Making capital out ofspeeches are the skills of

world leaders and there are fewbetter at it than United StatesPresident Donald Trump.Having embarked on his maid-en visit to India since assum-ing office in 2017, PresidentTrump, along with First LadyMelania Trump, daughterIvanka Trump and son in lawJared Kushner, arrived in Indiaon the of February 24, 2020.Making the visit a family affairwas a move that was muchappreciated by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi in his welcomeaddress at Ahmedabad’sMotera Stadium. Speakingbefore a gathering of hun-dreds of thousands of peoplefor the lavishly organised“Namaste Trump” event, Modistressed on how the presence ofthe entire Trump familyaccords a “family-like sweet-ness” to India-US ties andwent on to individually wel-come each member of theTrump family in his speech.The Prime Minister furtherstated that India-US ties are “nolonger just another partnership;it is a far greater and closer rela-tionship”.

It is this very connotationthat brings to the forefront thedifferent expectations Indiaand the US have from eachother. Such difference restswith their mutual perceptionwhere India sees the US moreas a friend and the US perceivesIndia as just another strategicpartner in Asia that will facil-itate its China containmentstrategy. The praise on India asa successful and progressivedemocracy in Asia had little todo with Washington’s Indiapolicy outreach that willstrengthen the India-US ties.To what extent Trump’s word-ings, known for theirpompousness, will actualiseinto a serious policy outlook onIndia in Capital Hill needs tobe seen.

The US outlook towardsAsia has for almost a decadenow been highly China-centric;the Obama Administration’s

“pivot to Asia” stemmed froma growing alarm of Chinesefootprints across the region.Having labelled China a revi-sionist power, the US hasturned its focus on defenceengagements in South Asiaand maritime security in theIndia-Pacific, leaving aspectslike technology, trade, cultur-al ties and economics into coldstorage. President Trump’s“America First” policy, whichsaw admission into his addresswhen he made clear that “abooming America is greatthing for India and it’s great forthe world”, exemplifies thatAmerican interests in India andAsia are limited to ensuring USstatus-quo and dominance.During his trip, not showingany willingness to discuss withIndia the trade tensions onlyvalidated his transactionalapproach of the current USpolicy.

Trump’s speech, which ref-erences to Bollywood, SwamiVivekananda and famousIndian cricketers, resembled tosome extent the address byPrime Minister Modi in 2016before the US Congress andalso followed along the lines ofwhat previous US Presidentshave said. A continuity inIndia-US relations was main-tained, while enunciating the“absolutely incredible” poten-tial for India to grow. Statingthat Modi is a “true friend” andthat “America loves India”,Trump spoke highly of theprogress Modi has delivered toIndia in his years as the PrimeMinister.

There are other key take-aways from Trump’s Moteraaddress; first is the Americanacceptance of India as an “eco-nomic giant” and a widerappreciation of India’s rise inthe global world order; allwhile being “a miracle ofdemocracy”. Although Trumpdid not mention China byname, his statement praisingIndia’s rise by promoting thegrowth of its people indirectlydrew a parallel against “a nationthat seeks power through coer-

cion, intimidation and aggres-sion”. This non-mention ofChina was partly because ofIndia’s decision to not official-ly endorse a US-led order in theIndia-Pacific which is based onthe China-containment strate-gy; however, while saying thatIndia and the US will together“protect a free and open India-Pacific”, Trump did put acrossAmerican expectations fromIndia in the maritime region,excluding “inclusivity”.

Secondly, Trump for theentirety of his speech did notaddress contentious issues ofIndia’s internal politics likeabrogation of Article 370 andconditions in Jammu &Kashmir (J&K). The topic ofKashmir is still a matter ofdebate in the US echelons;

India has made repeatedattempts to try and smoothenthe US perceptions. With fourUS Senators writing toSecretary of State Mike Pompeoover the question of Kashmirbefore President Trump’supcoming visit to India, theprudence of the topic stillremains high. The IndianGovernment’s decision to takegroups of envoys on tours toJ&K, while stressing that thesetours will soon become a reg-ular activity, is laced withattempts at proving that nor-malcy prevails in the IndianState. US Ambassador KennethJuster’s J&K tour helpedsmoothen diplomaticexchanges; the visit by PresidentTrump is also partly thanks tothe same tour. While not direct-

ly addressing these concerns,Trump made repeated refer-ences to India’s “extraordinarydiversity” with “millions andmillions of Hindus, Muslims,Sikhs, Jains, Buddhists,Christians, and Jews” prayingtogether. His concludingremarks asked “every Indian —North and South, Hindu andMuslim” to be proud whilehighlighting that it is this veryunity in India that makes it“admired around the Earth”.

Thirdly, speaking about thegrowing defence partnershipbetween India and the US,Trump appreciated the recent-ly conducted tri-service mili-tary exercise “Tiger Triumph”between the two countries.While saying that America’srelations with Pakistan “are

very good”, Trump assured thatIndia and the US are togetherwhen it comes to the fightagainst terrorism, building onIndia’s concerns regardingcross-border terrorism byPakistan. Announcing the sign-ing of defence agreementsworth $3 billion with India overthe course of his visit, Trumpunderscored his administra-tion’s commitment to providingIndia with “some of the bestand most feared militaryequipment on the planet”.However, it must be noted thatthe deal is not one that is new;it is a pending purchase of 24MH-60 Romeo helicopters forthe Indian Navy and 6 AH-64EApache helicopters for theIndian Army from Americangiant Lockheed Martin.

Fourthly, by steering clearof discussions on the “minitrade war” India and the UShave been engaged in for overseventeen months now, Trumpmade it clear that Indian expec-tation of any relaxations by theUS are in vain. Trump said thatefforts to expand economicties between India and the USwill be a primary focus areaand that the countries will be“making very, very major —among the biggest ever made— trade deals”. India would bewise to note that Trump’s“America First” approach willbe guiding the trade talks, asmade clear by his emphasis ona “booming America”. PrimeMinister Modi, for his part,seems to be holding his own asenunciated by Trump, whocalled Modi “tough negotiator”twice during his Moteraaddress.

In the Joint Statementreleased in conclusion ofTrump’s first state visit to India,the two leaders declared thatIndia-US ties will be upgradedto the level of a ComprehensiveGlobal Strategic Partnership.Trump and Modi’s personalchemistry, as fostered byTrump’s promotion of Modi asa great leader and Modi’s wel-come of Trump in a familialmanner espousing the ideals ofhis welcome-tweet “Atithi DevoBhava” (guest is God), haspresented a rosy picture ofIndia-US ties. However, inorder to reach the true poten-tial of their envisioned“Comprehensive Partnership”,this relationship will need tohave concrete substance ratherthan rhetorical wordings thattheir leaderships have chosenso far to orchestrate. Not tooverlook, this must not ditheraway the focus on the tradetensions which are limitingthe potential of the India-USrelationship to emerge as themost effective partnership inIndi-Pacific region.

(The writer is an EditorialAssistant at the RoutledgeStudies on Think Asia, London)

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Picking up threads from the previousissue, it is now time to see how cre-ation moved forward on to the

earth plane. Moon plays from the front asthe carrier of cosmic energies, serving asthe interface between the cosmic worldabove and life mechanism on earth plane.Thus, comes into place a life cycle, whichruns in succession, as would runningwater of the perennial river Ganges origi-nating from Lord Shiva’s hair locks imply.Travelling from the source to the sea,water extends life all through its run.Remember, but for water there would beno live form-existence. Even sciencebelieves that the first live existenceemerged in water. Water running downthe river stream as also in the sea evapo-rates, leaving behind all impurities, takesthe form of cloud, and again rains back torecharge the water bodies on earth.Similarly, all forms of life run in succes-sion in a cyclic order.

Coming back to Lord Shiva’sentourage, it exemplifies multitude ofexistence forming this world. The divinebeings are personification of the cosmicforces, vital to creation, sustenance, andrecycling of existential order. Humanbeings armed with intelligence and

awareness level, higher than other crea-tures, the onus lies on them to worktowards qualitative existence of the livingorder. Devilish existence imply ignorantpeople with lower intelligence level andprimarily driven by animalistic instincts.They, therefore, are not expected to beconscious about their collective obliga-tions. It also implies all negative orienta-tion of mind that may prove detrimentalto harmonious and peaceful coexistence.

The presence of invisible existencesuch as ghosts, make out a purposefulreference. These unseen creatures sym-bolise invisible existence in the interven-ing period between two successive form-existence, reflecting upon continuumbetween successive lives. Lord Shiva’sentourage, thus, presents a picture of allseen and unseen existence forming thisliving world.

Lord Shiva, despite evolutionary bar-rier of incommunicability amongst thevaried creatures forming His entourage,through His selfless force of love, remainsin accord with all of them. Overlookingtheir individualistic vagaries, as His eyes,half open and half closed would signify,He carries them all along. Purposely so,because He knows that all creatures, by

themselves, are imperfect, and incapableof meeting existential needs by them-selves. But all put together, complementand supplement each other. Their limita-tions apart, each is simultaneously alsoarmed with such virtues, as would benecessary to nourish and sustain the col-lective existence.

Take the case of termite, which other-wise spoils wood, paper, and if left unat-tended even crops. But then, they dighole deep inside the soil structure tofacilitate entry of oxygen and activate cre-ative potential of the earth mass. In theprocess, the termite eats earth mass. Todigest it, its body releases necessaryenzymes. Having consumed a small partfor its own sustenance, it excretes the rest,and that being rich in enzyme, furtheradd to the fertility of the soil. The termitehas to however meet its end before thecrop comes up, but not before serving thecause of larger existence. It, thus, comesout that there is nothing in existence,without a specific assignment in supportof the collective existence.

Lord Shiva, therefore, in order to getthe best out of one and all and facilitatesmooth run of the worldly order, pur-posely ignores their individual limita-tions. But it doesn’t come about easy. Hehas to absorb all the negatives appearing

as by-product during the run of the worldprocess, as would His poison fed blueneck imply. He does that in the largerinterest of the existential order, but forwhich the very existence may becomequestionable.

Serving as provider, He nourishes thewhole living order with all His resourcesin hand — the cosmic energy drawnthrough lunar crescent, water stream ofriver Ganges. Lord Shiva enjoys the confi-dence of all, as He selflessly serves themall without any sense of differentiation,with the sole noble objective to ensure asmooth run of the existential order. Hisselflessness is exemplified by being barebodied, despite being the source andeffective cause of creation.

To sum up, there is a system in place,which includes the primal source; themanifest plural world; and with lot ofintervening dynamism playing inbetween, which drives us all individuallyand collectively. The existence as such issymbolised by Lord Shiva, who deservesbeing termed as God.

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