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T he much-awaited Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report on the acquisition process of 36 fight- er jets on Wednesday said the NDA Government deal was 2.86 per cent cheaper than the UPA’s offer in 2007, but the Government made major con- cessions to the French vendor by including unwarranted India specific enhancement that led to price escalation. The report said that as per the deal signed by the NDA regime the delivery of the air- craft would be faster by just one month compared to the UPA schedules. While the CAG report con- tradicted the claims made by several Government Ministers that the current price of Rafale jets in flyaway condition was nine per cent cheaper than the UPA’s deal, it said the price of the 36 fighter jets was 17.08 per cent cheaper after equipping it with India Specific Enhan- cements under the new deal. The report tabled in Parliament, noted that the Government overruled the IAF suggestion to postpone six enhancements till more Rafale aircraft were procured in future. The IAF proposal was not accepted by the Defence Ministry which said this would tantamount to dilution of Air Staff Qualitative Requirements (ASQRs). The Ministry said this was also not in consonance with the basic framework pro- vided by the Joint Statement of April 10, 2015 by the Defence Acquisition Council that air- craft must have same configu- ration. Moreover, during negotia- tion of 36 aircraft in 2015, in view of the huge cost escalation and the reduced number of air- craft to be purchased, the Indian negotiation team head- ed by the Deputy Chief of Air Staff proposed to reduce the number of Indian specific enhancements. But the Dassault Aviation, manufac- turer of Rafale jets, stated since its price was a total package the Defence Ministry would have to take up the matter with the French Government. The Defence Ministry, while rejecting the IAF sug- gestion, said reduction of Indian specific enhancements was not considered after due deliberation as it was a tempo- rary deferment only for cost reduction measure. The CAG noted that four of these enhancements were stated to be not required in the technical and staff evaluations. The cost of these four enhance- ments constituted about 14 per cent of the Indian specific enhancements contracted cost. The Ministry stated that “scal- ing down the requirement to limit cash outgo cannot be considered as saving,” the CAG report said. The Rafale deal was inked in 2016 after Prime Minister Narendra Modi and then French President Minister Francois Hollande in a joint statement on April 10, 2015 announced an inter-govern- mental agreement (IGA) to procure 36 jets from France in fly away condition. The NDA Government went in for the IGA after scrap- ping the nearly decade long negotiations under the UPA regime for procuring 126 medi- um multi-role aircraft (MMRCA) often termed as mother of all deals then. Rafale, manufactured by Dassault Aviation of France emerged as the lowest bidder but differ- ences over various issues delayed the final inking of the deal. The MMRCA envisaged buying 18 jets in flyaway con- dition and the remaining to be manufactured by the public sector aviation giant Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL) under a transfer of technology pact. The overall deal at that time was pegged about 45,000 crores. While the Congress has all along alleged wrongdoing in the Rafale deal claiming that the NDA Government bought the each aircraft at a huge cost of 1,600 crore as against the UPA offer of 560 crore. However, the Government in Parliament two years back said the cost of each aircraft without weapons was 670 crores. T he Opposition and ruling party crossed swords over the CAG report on the Rafale deal on Wednesday. Continuing with his ques- tioning of the Rafale deal, Congress president Rahul Gandhi noted that the CAG report did mention the dissent note by negotiators and said he didn’t think it’s worth the paper it’s written on. However, he said the report demolished the Government’s argument on price and faster delivery of the fighter jets. “The CAG report is a cover-up. It ignores the cost of the missing Bank Guarantee and glosses over the suspect costs for India-Specific Enhancements,” Rahul said. Contending that Congress argument of “all institutions were wrong” and only “Dynast is right” cannot stand on its leg, Union Minister Arun Jaitley responded by saying that the Congress and Opposition par- ties stand exposed following the CAG report. “The Government’s argu- ment on price and faster deliv- ery of Rafale jets has been demolished. The only reason for the new deal is to give 30,000 crore to Anil Ambani,” the Congress chief alleged at a Press conference. “The argument given by the Prime Minister for the new Rafale deal was price and faster delivery. This has been demolished,” he said, citing a note by officials. “You say there was no scam, then why are you afraid of ordering a JPC,” he said, reiterating his demand for a joint parliamentary commit- tee to look into the deal. On Tuesday, Rahul had accused the PM of “treason” and violating the Official Secrets Act by acting as Anil Ambani’s “middleman” in the Rafale jet contract, citing an email to claim Ambani was aware of the deal days before India and France finalised it. Reliance Defence, in a statement, had refuted Congress allegation saying the “proposed MoU” mentioned in the email referred to its coop- eration with Airbus Helicopter. But even the CAG could- n’t hide that it may take up to 10 years for the 36 Rafale jets to be delivered,” Rahul alleged at Press conference on Wednesday. W est Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Wednesday asserted that democracy has become “NaMocracy” and the situation in the country is worse than the Emergency. Addressing a mega rally organised by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) at the Jantar Mantar here, the Trinamool Congress chief also declared Wednesday was the Narendra Modi’s last day as Prime Minister in Parliament. “It is Prime Minister’s last day as elected leader in Par- liament today,” she said after the Lok Sabha was adjourned sine die. Everyone is afraid of Gabbar Singh. There are two of them — (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and (BJP chief Amit) Shah,” she said. Launching a blistering attack on Modi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal alleged that he is trying to tear apart the Constitution and destroy democracy. On a day when the CAG report on the 2015 Rafale fight- er deal was tabled in Parliament, Kejriwal said Modi should speak the truth on the agreement between India and France because as Prime Minister, he is accountable to the nation. “Modi Government has “captured” the Anti Corruption Branch in the last four years, he alleged. Attacking Prime Minister, Kejriwal sarcastical- ly said “Who dreams of cap- turing Delhi and Kolkata? The prime minister of Pakistan,” Kejriwal said sarcastically. A host of Opposition lead- ers, including TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu, National Conference’s Farooq Abdullah, Nationalist Congress Party’s Sharad Pawar and CPI(M)’s Sitaram Yechury, spoke at the protest event. Mamata hit out the Centre over the CBI’s bid to question Kolkata Police Commissioner Rajeev Kumar at his residence, saying she had not seen a Government that “stooped so low”. Mamata further said while the Congress and the Trina- mool Congress will contest against each other in West Be- ngal, they will fight together at the national level against the BJP. The statement comes hours after Mamata registered her displeasure with UPA chair- person Sonia Gandhi in Parliament over Congress leader Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury’s attack in the Lok Sabha on her over the Saradha chit fund case. P rime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday took potshots at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over the Rafale issue and made a strong pitch for electing a majority Government in national interest. He said the majority Government brings to pride to the country in the world forum. Modi was addressing the last sitting of the 16th Lok Sabha on its last day. He said the House did not witness any earthquake, an apparent reference to claims of Rahul that his revelation on Rafale would create tremors. Taking a swipe at Rahul, who was not present in the House at that time, the PM referred to the Congress pres- ident’s hug and “winking” episode, saying it was a new thing he witnessed as a first time member of Parliament. “We heard that there would earthquake. The five-year tenure is coming to an end but we did not witness any earthquake,” he said, on a day the much-await- ed CAG report on the contro- versy-hit Rafale deal was tabled in Parliament. “Kabhi hawai jahaz ude. Bade bade logo ne hawai jahaz udaye. Lekin loktantra aur Lok Sabha ki maryada itni oonchi hai ki earthquake ko bhi pach- ha gaya aur koi jahaz bhi utni oonchi par nahi ja paya (They tried to fly aeroplanes but our strong democracy and the dig- nity of Lok Sabha did not allow it or any earthquake),” he said. The PM also referred to an incident in the house in the Monsoon Session when Rahul hugged him and later winked after returning to his seat dur- ing a no-confidence motion against the Government in July last year. “Pahli baar mujhe pata chala ki gale milna or gale padne mein kya antar hota hai. Ye pahli baar mujhe pata chala. Pahli baar...Aankho se gushtakhyo wala khel bhi pahli baar iss sadan mein dekhene ko mila (It is the first time that I realised the difference between embracing someone and imposing oneself...The inso- lence reflected through eyes.. This game was seen in this House,” he said. Narrating another inci- dent, the PM said when “I was responding to Motion of Thanks on the President’s speech, I was witness to ‘athaa- has’ (loud laughter).” Entertainment industry, he said, can learn something as many actors cannot do such kind of acting. Besides recalling several anecdotes, the PM in his 30- minute address also praised Speaker Sumitra Mahajan and leader of Congress Mallikarjun Kharge for playing their respec- tive roles in Lok Sabha. W atch out! The frequency level and duration of the sound you are exposed to through your favourite audio devices such as smartphones can leave you deaf, and that too permanently. Ahead of the World Hearing Day on March 3, the World Health Organisation (WHO) has warned that if safe listening practices are not adopted, at least one in ten peo- ple face the risk of losing hear- ing by 2050. Already, at least some 466 million people, including 93 per cent adults and 7 per cent children have debilitating hearing loss, up from 360 million in 2010. To address this issue, the global health agency and the International Telecomm- unications Union (ITU) for the first time has issued a new international standard for the manufacture and use of these devices, which include smart- phones and audio players, to make them safer for listening. (see BOX). Under its “Make Listening Safe” initiative, the WHO-ITU has asked the manufacturers to make smartphones and other audio players cap volume limit as well as time limits on lis- tening to loud music. “Given that we have the technological know-how to prevent hearing loss, it should not be the case that so many young people continue to dam- age their hearing while listen- ing to music,” said Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General. “They must understand that once they lose their hear- ing, it won’t come back. This new WHO-ITU standard will do much to better safeguard these young consumers as they go about doing something they enjoy,” it said. According to the WHO, at the current pace, the number of people with hearing loss is expected to nearly double to alarming 900 million within next three decades given that smartphone use in developing countries has grown from 45 per cent in 2013 to 54 per cent in 2015 and in developed coun- tries this figure stands at 87 per cent. 1.1 billion young people (aged between 12 years and 35 years) are at risk of hearing loss due to exposure to noise in recreational settings. Noise-induced hearing loss can be caused by a variety of environments and behaviours. For example, 40 per cent of those frequenting such dis- cotheques, clubs, sporting events or music concerts are exposed to potentially damag- ing sound levels. There is evi- dence that those exposed for 20 years to loud sounds are three times more likely to suffer hearing loss. Deafness can have significant financial costs too. The health agency estimates that unaddressed hearing loss costs the world approximately $750 billion each year. T aking exception to the Indian Government not insisting on sovereign guaran- tee as suggested by the Law Ministry while inking the 59,000-crore deal for 36 Rafale fighter jets, the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) has questioned the wisdom of settling for a ‘Letter of Comfort’ from France and highlighted the drawbacks in its report tabled in Parliament on Wednesday. The audit report noted that the 2007 UPA proposed deal included a 15 per cent bank guarantee against advance payments. Flagging concerns over this issue, the CAG in its report said in case of a breach of agree- ment, India would now have to first settle the matter through arbitration directly with the French vendors. If the arbitration award goes in favour of India and Dassault Aviation, the manu- facturers of Rafale, fails to honour it, India will have to exhaust all available legal reme- dies, it said. I n a major relief to former principal secretary Aman Singh, Chhattisgarh High Court on Wednesday placed a stay on the State Government’s order to form an SIT against him. “Justice Prashant Mishra while hearing the case ruled that SIT cannot be formed without FIR and placed stay on the formation of SIT,” Advocate Kishor Bhaduri appearing on behalf of Aman Singh, told The Pioneer. Notably, State home department on the directive of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) had formed the SIT recently to investigate alleged irregularities in the appoint- ment of Aman Singh on con- tract basis with the Chhattisgarh Government under the previous BJP regime. The retired IRS officer Aman Singh who was consid- ered the most powerful bureaucrat of Chhattisgarh in previous Government, had approached Bilaspur high court recently after the new Congress government formed an SIT to probe into Aman Singh’s appointment on contract basis. RNI Regn. No. CHHENG/2012/42718, Postal Reg. No. - RYP DN/34/2013-2015

Transcript of ?52¶d CRWR]V UVR] # )' TYVRaVc eYR_ FA2¶d+ 428 - Daily ...

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The much-awaitedComptroller and Auditor

General (CAG) report on theacquisition process of 36 fight-er jets on Wednesday said theNDA Government deal was2.86 per cent cheaper than theUPA’s offer in 2007, but theGovernment made major con-cessions to the French vendorby including unwarranted Indiaspecific enhancement that ledto price escalation.

The report said that as perthe deal signed by the NDAregime the delivery of the air-craft would be faster by just onemonth compared to the UPAschedules.

While the CAG report con-tradicted the claims made byseveral Government Ministersthat the current price of Rafalejets in flyaway condition wasnine per cent cheaper than theUPA’s deal, it said the price ofthe 36 fighter jets was 17.08 percent cheaper after equipping itwith India Specific Enhan-cements under the new deal.

The report tabled inParliament, noted that theGovernment overruled the IAFsuggestion to postpone sixenhancements till more Rafaleaircraft were procured infuture. The IAF proposal wasnot accepted by the DefenceMinistry which said this wouldtantamount to dilution of Air

Staff Qualitative Requirements(ASQRs). The Ministry saidthis was also not in consonancewith the basic framework pro-vided by the Joint Statement ofApril 10, 2015 by the DefenceAcquisition Council that air-craft must have same configu-ration.

Moreover, during negotia-tion of 36 aircraft in 2015, inview of the huge cost escalationand the reduced number of air-craft to be purchased, theIndian negotiation team head-ed by the Deputy Chief of AirStaff proposed to reduce thenumber of Indian specificenhancements. But theDassault Aviation, manufac-turer of Rafale jets, stated sinceits price was a total package theDefence Ministry would haveto take up the matter with theFrench Government.

The Defence Ministry,while rejecting the IAF sug-gestion, said reduction ofIndian specific enhancementswas not considered after duedeliberation as it was a tempo-rary deferment only for costreduction measure.

The CAG noted that fourof these enhancements werestated to be not required in thetechnical and staff evaluations.The cost of these four enhance-ments constituted about 14per cent of the Indian specificenhancements contracted cost.The Ministry stated that “scal-

ing down the requirement tolimit cash outgo cannot beconsidered as saving,” the CAGreport said.

The Rafale deal was inkedin 2016 after Prime MinisterNarendra Modi and thenFrench President MinisterFrancois Hollande in a jointstatement on April 10, 2015announced an inter-govern-mental agreement (IGA) toprocure 36 jets from France infly away condition.

The NDA Governmentwent in for the IGA after scrap-ping the nearly decade longnegotiations under the UPAregime for procuring 126 medi-um multi-role aircraft(MMRCA) often termed asmother of all deals then. Rafale,manufactured by DassaultAviation of France emerged asthe lowest bidder but differ-ences over various issuesdelayed the final inking of thedeal. The MMRCA envisagedbuying 18 jets in flyaway con-dition and the remaining to bemanufactured by the publicsector aviation giant HindustanAeronautics Limited (HAL)under a transfer of technologypact. The overall deal at thattime was pegged about �45,000crores.

While the Congress has allalong alleged wrongdoing inthe Rafale deal claiming thatthe NDA Government boughtthe each aircraft at a huge cost of �1,600 crore as against the UPA offer of �560crore. However, theGovernment in Parliament twoyears back said the cost of eachaircraft without weapons was�670 crores.

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The Opposition and rulingparty crossed swords over

the CAG report on the Rafaledeal on Wednesday.

Continuing with his ques-tioning of the Rafale deal,Congress president RahulGandhi noted that the CAGreport did mention the dissentnote by negotiators and said hedidn’t think it’s worth the paperit’s written on. However, he saidthe report demolished theGovernment’s argument onprice and faster delivery of thefighter jets.

“The CAG report is acover-up. It ignores the cost ofthe missing Bank Guaranteeand glosses over the suspectcosts for India-SpecificEnhancements,” Rahul said.

Contending that Congressargument of “all institutionswere wrong” and only “Dynastis right” cannot stand on its leg,Union Minister Arun Jaitleyresponded by saying that theCongress and Opposition par-ties stand exposed followingthe CAG report.

“The Government’s argu-ment on price and faster deliv-ery of Rafale jets has beendemolished.

The only reason for thenew deal is to give �30,000crore to Anil Ambani,” theCongress chief alleged at a

Press conference. “The argument given by

the Prime Minister for thenew Rafale deal was price andfaster delivery. This has beendemolished,” he said, citing anote by officials. “You say therewas no scam, then why are youafraid of ordering a JPC,” hesaid, reiterating his demand fora joint parliamentary commit-tee to look into the deal.

On Tuesday, Rahul hadaccused the PM of “treason”and violating the OfficialSecrets Act by acting as AnilAmbani’s “middleman” in theRafale jet contract, citing anemail to claim Ambani wasaware of the deal days beforeIndia and France finalised it.

Reliance Defence, in astatement, had refutedCongress allegation saying the“proposed MoU” mentioned inthe email referred to its coop-eration with Airbus Helicopter.

But even the CAG could-n’t hide that it may take up to10 years for the 36 Rafale jetsto be delivered,” Rahul allegedat Press conference onWednesday.

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West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on

Wednesday asserted thatdemocracy has become“NaMocracy” and the situationin the country is worse than theEmergency.

Addressing a mega rallyorganised by the Aam AadmiParty (AAP) at the JantarMantar here, the TrinamoolCongress chief also declaredWednesday was the Narendra

Modi’s last day as PrimeMinister in Parliament.

“It is Prime Minister’s lastday as elected leader in Par-liament today,” she said afterthe Lok Sabha was adjournedsine die. Everyone is afraid ofGabbar Singh. There are two ofthem — (Prime MinisterNarendra) Modi and (BJP chiefAmit) Shah,” she said.

Launching a blisteringattack on Modi, Delhi ChiefMinister Arvind Kejriwalalleged that he is trying to tearapart the Constitution anddestroy democracy.

On a day when the CAGreport on the 2015 Rafale fight-er deal was tabled inParliament, Kejriwal said Modishould speak the truth on the

agreement between India andFrance because as PrimeMinister, he is accountable tothe nation.

“Modi Government has“captured” the Anti CorruptionBranch in the last four years, healleged. Attacking PrimeMinister, Kejriwal sarcastical-ly said “Who dreams of cap-turing Delhi and Kolkata? Theprime minister of Pakistan,”Kejriwal said sarcastically.

A host of Opposition lead-ers, including TDP chief NChandrababu Naidu, NationalConference’s Farooq Abdullah,Nationalist Congress Party’sSharad Pawar and CPI(M)’sSitaram Yechury, spoke at theprotest event.

Mamata hit out the

Centre over the CBI’s bid toquestion Kolkata PoliceCommissioner Rajeev Kumarat his residence, saying she hadnot seen a Government that“stooped so low”.

Mamata further said whilethe Congress and the Trina-mool Congress will contestagainst each other in West Be-ngal, they will fight together atthe national level against theBJP.

The statement comes hoursafter Mamata registered herdispleasure with UPA chair-person Sonia Gandhi inParliament over Congressleader Adhir RanjanChowdhury’s attack in the LokSabha on her over the Saradhachit fund case.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi on Wednesday

took potshots at Congress president Rahul Gandhi overthe Rafale issue and made astrong pitch for electing amajority Government innational interest.

He said the majorityGovernment brings to pride tothe country in the world forum.Modi was addressing the lastsitting of the 16th Lok Sabha onits last day.

He said the House did notwitness any earthquake, anapparent reference to claims ofRahul that his revelation onRafale would create tremors.

Taking a swipe at Rahul,who was not present in theHouse at that time, the PMreferred to the Congress pres-ident’s hug and “winking”episode, saying it was a newthing he witnessed as a firsttime member of Parliament.“We heard that there wouldearthquake.

The five-year tenure iscoming to an end but we didnot witness any earthquake,” hesaid, on a day the much-await-ed CAG report on the contro-versy-hit Rafale deal was tabledin Parliament.

“Kabhi hawai jahaz ude.Bade bade logo ne hawai jahazudaye. Lekin loktantra aur Lok

Sabha ki maryada itni oonchihai ki earthquake ko bhi pach-ha gaya aur koi jahaz bhi utnioonchi par nahi ja paya (Theytried to fly aeroplanes but ourstrong democracy and the dig-nity of Lok Sabha did notallow it or any earthquake),” hesaid.

The PM also referred to anincident in the house in theMonsoon Session when Rahulhugged him and later winkedafter returning to his seat dur-ing a no-confidence motionagainst the Government inJuly last year.

“Pahli baar mujhe patachala ki gale milna or galepadne mein kya antar hotahai. Ye pahli baar mujhe patachala. Pahli baar...Aankho segushtakhyo wala khel bhi pahlibaar iss sadan mein dekhene ko

mila (It is the first time that Irealised the difference betweenembracing someone andimposing oneself...The inso-lence reflected through eyes..This game was seen in thisHouse,” he said.

Narrating another inci-dent, the PM said when “I wasresponding to Motion ofThanks on the President’sspeech, I was witness to ‘athaa-has’ (loud laughter).”Entertainment industry, hesaid, can learn something asmany actors cannot do suchkind of acting.

Besides recalling severalanecdotes, the PM in his 30-minute address also praisedSpeaker Sumitra Mahajan andleader of Congress MallikarjunKharge for playing their respec-tive roles in Lok Sabha.

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Watch out! The frequencylevel and duration of the

sound you are exposed tothrough your favourite audiodevices such as smartphonescan leave you deaf, and that toopermanently.

Ahead of the WorldHearing Day on March 3, theWorld Health Organisation(WHO) has warned that ifsafe listening practices are notadopted, at least one in ten peo-ple face the risk of losing hear-ing by 2050. Already, at leastsome 466 million people,including 93 per cent adultsand 7 per cent children havedebilitating hearing loss, upfrom 360 million in 2010.

To address this issue, the

global health agency and theInternational Telecomm-unications Union (ITU) for thefirst time has issued a newinternational standard for themanufacture and use of thesedevices, which include smart-phones and audio players, tomake them safer for listening.(see BOX).

Under its “Make ListeningSafe” initiative, the WHO-ITUhas asked the manufacturers tomake smartphones and otheraudio players cap volume limitas well as time limits on lis-tening to loud music.

“Given that we have thetechnological know-how toprevent hearing loss, it shouldnot be the case that so manyyoung people continue to dam-age their hearing while listen-

ing to music,” said Dr TedrosAdhanom Ghebreyesus, WHODirector-General.

“They must understandthat once they lose their hear-ing, it won’t come back. Thisnew WHO-ITU standard willdo much to better safeguardthese young consumers as theygo about doing something theyenjoy,” it said.

According to the WHO, atthe current pace, the number ofpeople with hearing loss isexpected to nearly double toalarming 900 million withinnext three decades given thatsmartphone use in developingcountries has grown from 45per cent in 2013 to 54 per centin 2015 and in developed coun-tries this figure stands at 87 percent. 1.1 billion young people

(aged between 12 years and 35years) are at risk of hearing lossdue to exposure to noise inrecreational settings.

Noise-induced hearing losscan be caused by a variety ofenvironments and behaviours.For example, 40 per cent ofthose frequenting such dis-cotheques, clubs, sportingevents or music concerts are

exposed to potentially damag-ing sound levels. There is evi-dence that those exposed for 20years to loud sounds are threetimes more likely to sufferhearing loss. Deafness can havesignificant financial costs too.The health agency estimatesthat unaddressed hearing losscosts the world approximately$750 billion each year.

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Taking exception to theIndian Government not

insisting on sovereign guaran-

tee as suggested by the LawMinistry while inking the�59,000-crore deal for 36 Rafalefighter jets, the Comptrollerand Auditor General (CAG)has questioned the wisdom ofsettling for a ‘Letter of Comfort’from France and highlightedthe drawbacks in its reporttabled in Parliament onWednesday.

The audit report notedthat the 2007 UPA proposeddeal included a 15 per centbank guarantee against advance

payments.Flagging concerns over this

issue, the CAG in its report saidin case of a breach of agree-ment, India would now have tofirst settle the matter througharbitration directly with theFrench vendors.

If the arbitration awardgoes in favour of India andDassault Aviation, the manu-facturers of Rafale, fails tohonour it, India will have toexhaust all available legal reme-dies, it said.

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In a major relief to formerprincipal secretary Aman

Singh, Chhattisgarh High Courton Wednesday placed a stay onthe StateGovernment’s orderto form an SITagainst him.

“ J u s t i c ePrashant Mishrawhile hearing thecase ruled that SITcannot be formedwithout FIR and placed stay onthe formation of SIT,” AdvocateKishor Bhaduri appearing onbehalf of Aman Singh, told ThePioneer.

Notably, State homedepartment on the directive ofthe Prime Minister’s Office(PMO) had formed the SITrecently to investigate allegedirregularities in the appoint-ment of Aman Singh on con-tract basis with theChhattisgarh Governmentunder the previous BJP regime.

The retired IRS officerAman Singh who was consid-ered the most powerfulbureaucrat of Chhattisgarh inprevious Government, hadapproached Bilaspur high courtrecently after the new Congressgovernment formed an SIT toprobe into Aman Singh’sappointment on contract basis.

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Co-accused in theAgustaWestland VVIP

copter scam Rajiv Saxena islikely to turn an approver in amoneylaundering case underprobe by the EnforcementDirectorate.

The move is expected tohelp the prosecution inunearthing the larger conspir-acy and nailing other accusedpersons in the case, includingnames of politicians who aresuspected to be beneficiary ofthe ‘proceeds of crime’.

“Rajiv Saxena is a closeaide of the prime accused in the

case Christian Michel and hasbeen operating a dozen a bankaccounts in different Swissbanks with the slush moneygenerated from the vexedcopter deal. Saxena knew aboutthe bribes that were paid toIndians and the shell compa-nies created to route the bribemoney in the AgustaWestlandcase. He is likely to turnapprover and may reveal sig-nificant details on the role ofMichel in case,” said an ED offi-cial.

Michel, alleged Britishmiddleman in the �3,600 crorechopper deal was extradited byUAE authorities to India inDecember last year and ispresently undergoing judicialcustody. Saxena was picked upby Dubai authorities last monthin connection with the moneylaundering case relating to thecopter deal and deported toIndia.

ED is negotiating withRajiv Saxena to turn a witness

in the case, said an agencysource.

“The ED suspects thatSaxena has information on thebribe that was paid to certainpoliticians in India, besidesofficials of the Indian Air Forceand bureaucrats,” said anotherofficial.

The agency on Wednesdaydid not oppose Saxena’s bailplea in a Delhi court providedhe does not leave Delhi.

Special Judge ArvindKumar, who on Tuesday sentSaxena to jail till February 18,said he will hear the matterafter AIIMS submits the reporton Saxena’s health.

Saxena sought bail onmedical grounds stating that hewas suffering from a “heart dis-ease” and “advanced-stageleukaemia” (blood cancer).

“The present application isbeing filed in grave urgency,keeping in mind the medicalcondition of the applicant(Saxena), as any further cus-

tody will have grave andirreparable damage on hismedical condition, which isfragile, and there is likelihoodof contracting other diseasesbecause of his low immunitylevel,” the bail plea stated.

While sending Saxena tojudicial custody for two days inits order on Tuesday, the courthad directed Tihar jail author-ities to take him to All IndiaInstitute of Medical Sciencesfor a medical check-up.

Saxena, who was in ED’scustody since January 31 afterhis deportation from Dubaibefore being sent to judicialcustody on Tuesday, said in hisplea that when all the otheraccused in the case, includingGautam Khaitan, Ritu Khaitan,S P Tyagi, and others were outon bail, there could be “no jus-tification” to deny him thesame relief.

Since his passport is withED, there was no likelihood ofhim absconding, the plea

added.Saxena, a Dubai-based

businessman, is one of theaccused named in thechargesheet filed by ED in theAgustaWestland case.

Maintaining thatAgustaWestland had paid 58million euros as kickbacksthrough two Tunisia-basedfirms, the ED has alleged that“these companies furthersiphoned off the said money inthe name of consultancy con-tracts to M/s InterstellarTechnologies Limited,Mauritius and others, whichwere further transferred toM/s UHY Saxena and M/sMatrix Holdings Ltd, Dubaiand others”.

It was alleged by the probeagency that the two Dubai-based firms were the entities“through which the proceeds ofcrime have been routed andfurther layered and integratedin buying the immovable prop-erties/shares, among others”.

�������# � ��=����/0��&0123

Minister of State forAYUSH, Shripad Yesso

Naik on Wednesday launchedthe e-AUSHADHI portal, foronline licensing of Ayurveda,Siddha, Unani andHomoeopathy drugs and relat-ed matters here.

The e-AUSHADHI portalaims increased transparency,improved information man-agement facility, improved datausability and increasedaccountability, said theMinister here at an event.

“Timelines will be fixed forprocessing of applicationthrough this portal with SMSand e-mail status updates ateach step of the process, “ saidthe Minister while underliningthat such an initiative is areflection of the Government’scommitment towards e-gover-nance, ease of doing businessand Make in India.

Vaidya Rajesh Kotecha,Secretary, Ministry of AYUSHsaid that the Ministry endeav-ours to come out with new ini-tiatives and solutions to addressthe problems faced by practi-tioners, manufactures and con-sumers of AYUSH medicines.

“In this direction, this newe-portal is an acronym forAyurveda, Unani, Siddha andHomeopathy Automated DrugHelp Initiative.

“This portal will not onlyaid the licensing authority ,manufactures and consumers,it will also provide real timeinformation of the licensedmanufactures and their prod-ucts, cancelled and spuriousdrugs, contact details of theconcerned authority for specificgrievances,” said Kotecha.

�������# � ��=����/0��&0123

After a long wait, Gorkhacommunity can now final-

ly hope to have their ownGorkha Welfare Centre at Saketin the national Capital wherethey can avail multifariousfacilities like gym, accommo-dation and library.

West Bengal Chief MinisterMamta Banerjee onWednesday inaugurated andlaid foundation stone of theproposed Centre with a click ofa button from the lawns ofWest Bengal State Guest House(Bangla Bhavan) at ChanakyaPuri here.

The proposed GorkhaWelfare Centre is to be con-

structed at an estimated costRs. 20 crore and will havearound 40 rooms and suitesalong with multifarious facili-ties like conference room,library, gym, recreational roomand medical facilities etc. Itaims to cater to the needs ofGorkha students, officials andgeneral populace visiting Delhifor various purposes, said astatement here.

Among those present onthe occasion at Chankaya Purivenue was Chairman of GTABinoy Tamang while at Saket,the programme was officiatedby Indranil Sen, MoS,Information and CulturalAffairs and Tourism, WB andAnit Thapa, Vice Chairman,GTA.

�������# � ��=����/0��&0123

UPA chairperson SoniaGandhi on Wednesday

alleged that “bluff, bluster andintimidation” have been ModiGovernment’s philosophy andhailed Congress presidentRahul Gandhi for taking oppo-nents “head-on”.

Addressing the CongressParliamentary Party’s generalbody meeting, Sonia Gandhialso praised her son for bring-ing in fresh energy and puttingtogether a team which blendsexperience and youth. In a blis-tering attack on the Centre,Sonia Gandhi alleged that thereis an “all-pervasive atmosphereof fear and strife” across thecountry.

“We go to the forthcomingLok Sabha polls with renewedconfidence and resolve. Ourvictories in Rajasthan,

Chhattisgarh and MadhyaPradesh have given us newhope,” she said at the meetingattended by Rahul Gandhi,former prime ministerManmohan Singh, Congress’leader in Lok SabhaMallikarjun Kharge and Leaderof Opposition in the RajyaSabha Ghulam Nabi Azadamong others.

“Our opponents were ear-lier projected as being invinci-ble. The Congress presidenttook them head-on, mobilisingand motivating lakhs of ourworkers who, with him, gavetheir all. We won in what werebelieved to be their strong-holds,” she said.

Slamming the Modi dis-pensation, the CongressParliamentary Party leader saidthe foundations of “our demo-cratic and secular republic”have come under “systematicassault” by the Government.“Institutions have been sub-verted. Political opponents havebeen hounded. Dissent hasbeen suppressed. Freedom ofspeech — the most basic of allfreedoms — has been sought tobe curtailed and silenced,” the

UPA chairperson said.“Bluff, bluster and intimi-

dation have been the gover-nance philosophy of the ModiGovernment. Truth and trans-parency have been brazenlytossed aside,” Sonia Gandhialleged.

The last five years havebeen a time of unprecedentedeconomic stress and social strainfor the country, the formerCongress president said. “Thenortheast is burning. Alienationin Jammu and Kashmir hasscaled new heights. Dalits, adi-vasis and minorities are beingtargeted. Farmers are facingunprecedented distress. Theyouth is staring at the abyss ofdespair with jobs beingdestroyed on a scale that hasnever happened before,” shesaid, lashing out at the ModiGovernment’s policies.

Addressing the CPP, RahulGandhi asserted that his partywas winning the “ideologicalfight” against the BJP. “We aredefeating the BJP in the ideo-logical fight. We are defeatingthe BJP on the daily newscycle and the Congress party isnow, firmly entrenched in the

mood and spirit of the people,”he asserted. There is only oneparty that speaks for the entirecountry, the Congress chiefsaid, adding that every otherparty speaks for a part of theIndian society.

He described the Rafaledeal as a “systematic robbery”from the Indian defence forcesand alleged that not just thefighter jet contract, but everysingle deal under the Modigovernment had been managedin the same way.

“So there is not a singlestep for the prime minister tostand on, you can see it in hisface, you can see the expres-sion, you can see that, that blus-ter has gone and that is notRahul Gandhi, that is theCongress party, Congressworkers and all of you,” he saidaddressing his party’s lawmak-ers.

“You will get a shock as towhat is going to happen in 2019and this would not have beenpossible if you had not defend-ed our position in Parliament,”the Congress chief, laudingthe Parliamentarians for theirperseverance.

� �� /0��&0123

Amidst heated exchangesbetween Trinamool

Congress and CPM members,the Lok Sabha on Wednesdaypassed a Bill to protect investorsfrom Ponzi schemes. FinanceMinister Piyush Goyal informedthe House that of the total 978unauthorised deposit schemes,326 are from West Bengal.

Goyal said theGovernment will ensure thatno loophole is left while fram-ing rules to implement the billprovisions.

The Banning ofUnregulated Deposit SchemesBill, 2018, will put in place amechanism by which suchdepositors can be compensat-ed. It has incorporated recom-mendations of the StandingCommittee on Finance.

Replying to a discussion onthe Bill, Goyal said out of thetotal 978 cases of unauthoriseddeposit schemes, 326 are fromWest Bengal, which is morethan one-third of the totalsuch schemes.

“The Government hasworked quickly to put an endto such unauthorised depositschemes. We have ensured thatno loopholes are left by usinggreat legal acumen while draft-ing the Bill. I want to assure theHouse that while drafting therules we will ensure there is noloophole,” Goyal said.

The Bill was passed onWednesday-- the last day ofBudget session-- by a voice voteafter short discussion.

The Government expectsthe bill will effectively tackle themenace of illicit deposit-takingactivities, and prevent suchschemes from duping the poorand gullible people of theirhard earned savings.

The bill was initially intro-duced in Parliament on July 18,

2018 and was referred to theStanding Committee onFinance.

Sudip Bandyopadhyay(TMC) said that even thoughparty supports the bill, butponzi cases like Sahara were notbeing investigated properly.

As the bill was discussedmembers of TMC, CPM andCongress used strong wordsincluding that of “mafia don”,“lootera” etc to attack eachother .

While speaking on theissue Mohammad Salim saidsome of the members (fromTMC) should have been in jailfor the Chit fund scam andberated Chief Minister MamtaBanerjee. He said TMC cameto power due to corruption.

Members from the TMCwere protesting in the Wellwhen the discussion on ‘TheBanning of Unregulated DepositSchemes Bill, 2018’ was takenup.

Participating in the dis-cussion, Congress memberAdhir Ranjan Chowdhury saidthe TMC which is in power inWest Bengal, looted the peopleof the state. He also said thatlakhs of people were looted andthat their money should bereturned. Treasury benchesthumped in approval when hewas speaking.

Later, TMC members wereseen shouting slogans againstSalim. Some members of theTMC are under the lens for theiralleged role in chit fund scams.

TMC leader Saugata Roysaid chief minister MamataBanerjee took the trouble of get-ting arrested the main personin Saradha scam and wanted toknow from the central govern-ment as what they were doingin the last five years with respectto the scam. He described oneof the Congress MP who spokeagainst TMC as ‘Mafia don’.

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Well aware of the demandsto preserve the cultural

and identity of the rare DardAryans tribe — believed to bethe original descendants of“pure Aryan race”— from theJammu & Kashmir’s lowerLadakh region, the UnionTribal Ministry awaits for a for-mal communication from theState Government to give themthe status of tribal community.

The Union CultureMinistry has already sharedwith the Tribal Ministry theconcerns of the artists from theDard Aryans community whoat an event held here hadexpressed fears that modern-ization, migration, and reli-gious conversion, etc., threat-en to wipe away their traditionsand culture.

“Dard Aryan’ is not amongthe list of notified ScheduleTribes. The Ministry of TribalAffairs has not formallyreceived any charter ofdemands from the concernedState Government for seekingfinancial help for preservationof cultural heritage of ‘DardAryans’”, said Jaswantsinh

Bhabhor, Minister of State forTribal Affairs in a written replyin Rajya Sabha on Thursday.

However, he admitted that adelegation of artists from thecommunity had presented acharter of demands regardingpreservation of their culture and

other grievances to the Ministerof State of Tribal Affairs.

As informed by theMinistry of Culture, duringthe Seminar on Dard Aryans atIGNCA from 16-21 January,2019, artists from Dard AryanCommunity raised the issues

that due to modernization,migration, and religious con-version, etc., their traditionsand culture are at threat.However, no formal commu-nication has been received byMoTA from the concernedState in this regard.

The Indira GandhiNational Centre for Arts(IGNCA) had organised DardAryan Festival (Aryan Utsav)last month. Virendra Bangroo,an INGCA scholar and curatorof the exhibition showcasingtheir culture and coordinator ofthe Arya Utsav said, “So far, theGovernment has not been ableto do anything for this com-munity. Its policies and pro-grammes are yet to reach them.Not many people in the coun-try know about this rich col-orful legacy, which today standthreatened.”

The IGNCA has also takenup various initiatives to pre-serve cultural heritage of theDard Aryans including assis-tance in setting up a few muse-ums in the regions of DardAryans in Leh, Laddakh,Kargil, etc., with the help oflocal community.

In addition, the culturalorganization, with a view topreserve the cultural heritage of‘Dard Aryans’, had also organ-ised a seven-day long workshopat Dha-hanu, Laddakh, Jammu& Kashmir last year for docu-mentation of traditions ofAryan Valley.

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The Bahujan Azad Party(BAP) created by a group of

by 50 IITans on Wednesdayannounced to field nearly 100candidates in nine Statesincluding Uttar Pradesh andBihar in the forthcoming LokSabha polls . The partylaunched in 2017 announcedthat the Election Commissionof India has allotted it “ slate”as election symbol..

“We are here to announcethat our party (BAP) has got itsElection symbol from electioncommission and that is Slate”.This symbol fits well in thevision and mission of thisparty. We also announced tocontest 2019 Lok Sabha elec-tions from nine states- Bihar,UP, Punjab, Maharastra,Telangana, Rajasthan, MadhyaPradesh, Jharkhand, J&K onabout 100 seats,” said Naveenkumar, a pass-out of IIT Delhi,who is leading the party.

At a Press conference,Kumar said that he venturedinto politics realising that this

nation has invested a lot on himand he must pay back to Indiaby serving it. He also stated thatBAP is gradually growing torealise the meaning of Bahujanand now BAP has becomeinclusive and unique party forall progressive citizen, mainlyyouths, farmers, workers andbusinessmen with a dream tocontribute in nation building.

“The party said the mainissues in the election cam-paign will be focus on agendaof employment for all, equaleducation for all, better and freehealth facilities, reviving theeconomy,” said Sarkar

Akhilesh, who graduated fromIIT Kharagpur in 2014. Otherswho are part of this new partyare Sumeet Kumar Jatav, an IITgraduate from Kharagpur,Anand Kumar Maurya, 2006IIT Delhi graduate, now in abusinessman in Bangkok.

Others who are part of thisunique political initiative areAmit, a graduate from IIScBangalore, Dr Komal fromKGMC, Lucknow andProfessor Arun KumarChaudhary, who worked inthe movement of Kanshi Ramfor 27 long year and now ismentor of BAP.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | THURSDAY | FEBRUARY 14, 2019

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Union minister of state forPower and New & Renewable

Energy RK Singh on Wednesdaystated “The power sector is wit-nessing an increased demandwhich is further expected to go upin the near future. The currentconsumption of 1200 units percapita is expected to grow 2-3times at par with the internation-al consumption after each andevery individual of the countryhas access to electricity.”

Singh was addressing theIndian Power Stations 2019, aninternational operation andmaintenance conference inChhattisgarh capital organisedannually by NTPC.

Talking about the issues likedearth of financing available inthis sector, Singh suggested“measures like pre-payment forconsumption of electricity fromboth discoms and end consumers,privatising distribution compa-nies to make the process moremarket oriented”.

The 8th edition of the confer-

ence was attended by over 500delegates and it coincides with thesynchronisation of NTPC’s flag-ship Singrauli power station onFebruary 13th 1982.

Singh opined “We need toefficiently use all the energysources available and devisemeasures to enhance the storageof energy to meet the constantlygrowing demand. Simultaneously,on the operations’ front, it isimperative to not postpone any

scheduled maintenance of thepower plants and not let thepower demand dictate the run-ning of the plants.”

He further added that withinitiatives being undertaken bythe government to augmentpower generation and distribu-tion in the country like theSaubhagya Scheme and flexibilityof power, the government’s direc-tive to fulfil 40% of powerrequirements through non fossil

fuels by 2030 is on track.The government has already

commissioned 98GW of energyrequirements of the target 175GW in the renewable sector. Atthe same time, there has also beenan emergence in the need forcompanies to focus on safety,environment sustainability, relia-bility and efficiency, he said.

AK. Bhalla , Union PowerSecretary said, “We appreciate theefforts undertaken by NTPC to

become a green company with itsincreasing focus on developmentof power from solar, wind andother sources of renewable ener-gy. Also, the initiatives undertak-en to follow best practices andinnovations around fly ash utili-sation and water conservationhave bolstered the process.

Bhalla further added “It isimperative to check and reduceemissions and ensure consump-tion of power through efficient

means, keeping in line with thecommitments of the 2030 ParisClimate Agreement.”

Gurdeep Singh, Chairmanand Managing Director, NTPCLimited said, “We endeavour toprovide the most efficient form ofenergy through safer, greener,more reliable and affordablesources by adopting latest tech-nologies and best practices. Wehave been successful in settingbenchmarks in the sector through

our operations, which has helpedus deliver 24% of the nation’spower requirement through 15%installed capacity. Further, atNTPC, we are open towardscreation and sharing of knowl-edge through learning as well asunlearning not limited to ourplants, but also other governmentorganisations and private utilityplayers.” Prakash Tiwari, Director(Operations), NTPC Limitedsaid, “With rapid growth inrenewables, base load stationsneed to adopt flexibilisation ingenerating and meeting stringentenvironment norms. IPS 2019will address these challenges andevolve best operation & mainte-nance strategies to deal withthem.” In the conference with thetheme of Generating safe, reliable,eco-friendly flexible power dele-gates from power generating andutility companies both stateowned and private sector partici-pated. A total of 11 internationalpapers and 71 domestic papers onissues pertinent to the sector areslated to be presented during thetwo-day conference.

Indian Power Stations 2019

India set to witness 2-3 times rise in per capita power consumption

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel and

Union Minister of State(Independent Charge) forPower, New and RenewableEnergy RK Singh onWednesday jointly reviewedmeeting of ‘Saubhagya yojana’and decided to take electricityto all the villages of the state.

At present, only 553 vil-lages covering total 20,134houses of four districts are yetto be electrified whereas centpercent electrification hasbeen completed in remaining23 districts.

It was informed at the

meeting that at present, mainlythe Left Wing Extremismaffected districts of Bijapur(89.2%), Sukma (84.16%),Dantewada (99.2%) and

Narayanpur (93.08%) includ-ing inhospitable geographicalconditions around 20,134houses could not be providedpower supply.

Out of which, in 266 vil-lages having 7,897 houses fallunder grid availability whileoff-grid has 287 villages having12,147 houses.

A decision was arrived thatin such houses where powersupply cannot be providedthrough pulling power lines,Chhattisgarh RenewableEnergy Development Agency(CREDA) will install ‘HomeLight System’.

According to CREDACEO, a Home Light Systemwill have a 200 Watt SolarPanel and a rechargeableLithium Battery through whichfive LED bulbs, one fan andone mobile charging unit canbe installed in a residence. Thetotal solar unit cost is Rs 50,000which generally is given bystate government as subsidy.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Panchayat Minister TS Singhdeohad to face an awkward situa-

tion in the Chhattisgarh stateassembly on Wednesday when hisdepartment failed to provideadministrative report to legislatorson which discussions were sched-uled to be held on demands forgrants.

He later apologised for to theHouse on the issue and urgedSpeaker to extend the discussionfor any date in future. On requestof the minister, the Chairadjourned the house till Thursday.

As the discussions on demandsfor grants were scheduled to start,Minister for Panchayat and Rural

Development stood and said thatdue to some technical reasons theadministrative report of thedepartment was not yet distributedto all the members. “The other daysome of the copies were distributedto some of the members and theytoo citing the shortage of time hadrequested me for extension of dis-cussions on demands”, Singhdeosaid citing his talk with formerPanchayat Minister AjayChandrakar. However, oppositionmembers including former ChiefMinister Raman Singh and seniorlegislator from Janta CongressChhattisgarh (J), DharamjeetSingh strongly objected to whathad happened in the assembly.

Debate on Demands for Grants of Panchayat department

Minister apologises House forfailure in providing report

RAIPUR: Bharatiya JanataParty state president andLeader of the OppositionDharamlal Kaushik hasappointed the office bearersof BJP Legislative Party onWednesday at a meeting here.BJP national vice presidentRaman Singh was also pres-ent at the meeting.

As per the appointmentsmade, Bheema Mandavi isDeputy Leader ofOpposition, chief whip isShivratan Sharam, whips areMLA Krishnamurthy Bandhiand Saurabh Singh.

Similarly MLA NarayanChandel has been appointedas general secretary and sec-retary is MLA DhamrudharPujari and Ranjana Sahu.Treasurer is Rajnish Singhand permanent secretary isJitendra Verma.

STAFF REPORTER nRAJNANDGAON

Ahardcore Naxal couple, carryingtotal reward of Rs 13 lakh on their

heads and allegedly handling Naxalurban network in Maharashtra, surren-dered in Rajnandgaon, police said hereon Wednesday.

The couple has been identified asNandu Devaji Behade and his wife Satialias Kamla Irpa Kumeti.

“They turned themselves beforepolice after they realised that naxalswere harassing innocent tribals andpoor people,’’ Superintendent of Police(SP) Rajnandgaon Kamlochan Kashyapsaid. In 2004 Behade alias Vivek hadjoined the outlawed CPI (Maoist) whilestudying in Nagpur. He was activelyinvolved in several protests and since2005 to 2009 he worked as student inurban Naxal network.

He was mostly active in Maharashtraand Vivek had handled different respon-sibilities in the Naxal organization.

It was in 2017, when he was appoint-ed as Area Committee secretary ofMaoists’ Central Committee (CC) coor-dination committee and was sent toNagpur to look after the urban network,the official said adding that during hismovement in the forest he carried AK 47rifle. Similarly, his wife Sati was associat-ed with the outfit in 2009 and in 2018,she was inducted in the group of herhusband as a member.

The two were involved in at least 9naxal incidents, including attacks onpolice teams and murder, onMaharashtra and Chhattisgarh border.

Cent-percent houses of statewill have power supply: CM

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Bharatiya Janata Party nationalpresident Amit Shah will address

the booth level party workers meet-ing at Balbir Singh Juneja IndoorStadium, Budhatalab, Raipur onFebruary 15 at around 3.00 pm.

The state unit of the party is gear-ing up for the meeting as after PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s recent visitto Raigarh, it is seen as part of moti-vating the party workers and officebearers for the upcoming Lok Sabhaelection in state.

BJP is facing infighting amongthe senior leaders after a massivedefeat in state assembly polls in

November as it won just 15 out of thetotal 90 seats. The BJP has started aseries of events in state as part ofreaching out to voters.

Amit Shah to visitC’garh on Feb 15

BJP appointsLegislativeoffice bearers

STAFF REPORTER nRAIPUR

Bharatiya Janata Party leg-islator Saurabh Singh on

Wednesday drew attention ofthe house over alleged belowstandard construction workof Sothi Anicut in JanjgirChampa.

Singh charged that theanicut collapsed within sixyears after the constructionand it was a result of substan-dard construction work andwrong design.

In reply,Water ResourcesMinister RavindraChoubey assuredthat soon therepair of the ani-cut would be donein order to protectit from completedamage.

The ministeralso announced tosuspend four officials, SubDivisional Officer, Champa,S.L. Yadav and three Sub

Engineers ofChampa V.S.Kashyap, G.P.Tiwari andS.N. Agrawal.

He alsoordered aprobe into thealleged irregu-larity. Choubeyh o w e v e r ,denied that

there would be any loss to thefarmers due to anicut col-lapse.

Irregularity in Anicut construction in Janjgir Champa

Min announces suspensionof four officials in Assly

Dreaded Maoistcouple surrenders

STAFF REPORTER n JAGDALPURTwo persons allegedly members ofNaxal urban network were arrestedin Jagdalpur, policesaid here onWednesday.

“The accusedidentified as MandraNagesh and BhaveshRao and they werearrested on a tip-offregarding their sched-uled meeting atJagdalpur with a local contractor,”Superintendent of Police (SP)Jagdalpur D Shravan said.

Police have seized cash Rs 5 lakh,12 bore gun bullets, INSAS rifle bul-

lets, AK47 bullets, mobile phones, 25detonators and gunpowder sticksfrom their possession.

According to DShravan, Nagesh a resi-dent of Bijapur wasreleased from jail in2015. He was presidentof Naxal frontal organi-zation DKMS(Dandkarayna KisanMajdoor Sangathan) andhad arrived Jagdalpur to

procure some arms for the Naxals.“They have been booked under

sections of Indian Penal Code (IPC)and we are questioning them fur-ther,” D Shravan informed.

Two alleged members ofMaoist urban network held

The surrendered Naxals receiving cashincentives from police officials.

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

Chhattisgarh Chief ElectoralOfficer Subrat Sahoo said on

Wednesday that District ElectoralOfficer (DEO) to Booth LevelOfficer (BLO) had played a keyrole for free and fair polls inassembly polls held in November.

He was speaking during con-cluding session of a two-day certi-fication course training of DEOand Returning Officers at NewCircuit House auditorium.

On the occasion, based on

assembly election 2018, a photo-feature based book ‘ChhattisgarhVotes’ was released. “It is an exem-plary example of team work. Thebook is on different aspects ofelection where through photo-graphs state-wide election processhas been depicted cutting acrossgeographical boundaries,” SahooStated. Later, CEO administeredoath to the participating officialsto ensure maximum electors arriveto use their franchise and be partof the democratic procedure.

‘Chhattisgarh Votes’- a bookon state election released

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The walls of Punjab VidhanSabha reverberated on

Wednesday with the issues ofLudhiana gang-rape and thelathi-charge on the protestingteachers at Patiala.

The opposition parties cor-nered the ruling Congress overthe deteriorating law and ordersituation in the state, even as theChief Minister Capt AmarinderSingh claimed that the situationhas “improved in the past twoyears” citing figures.

In fact, the issue promptedthe Chief Minister to announcethat he would soon be meetingthe Chief Justice of the Punjaband Haryana High Court tourge him to set special courts tofast track rape cases.

Raising the issue during thezero hour, several leaders fromthe opposition parties — SAD-BJP, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)and Lok Insaaf Party (LIP) —condemned both the incidents,and staged separate walkouts.

Both the SAD-BJP com-bine, and the AAP have sub-mitted separate adjournmentmotions to discuss in detail aserious issue of lathi-charge in

the protesting teachers, includ-ing women, which were reject-ed by the Speaker Rana KPSingh.

SAD MLA ParminderSingh Dhindsa and the Leaderof Opposition Harpal SinghCheema raised the teachers’issue. As the Speaker disallowedthem to speak, SAD-BJP MLAsentered the well of the House,shouting slogans. After a briefprotest, they MLAs staged awalkout.

At the same time, AAPMLA Sarabjit Kaur Manukeraised the Ludhiana gang-rapeissue and that of mercilesslybeating of the female teachersasking the Government to ini-tiate steps to protect the “fairsex”.

“Had the Mullanpur Dakhapolice acted upon the inputprovided by the victim’s friend,the incident could have beenaverted,” she said.

Supporting her, AAP MLAHS Phoolka described gang-rape as a “serious matter”, andsought an assurance from theChief Minister to adopt a zero-tolerance towards such aheinous crime. “Even little neg-ligence by the police officers in

such matter should be takenseriously and such an action betaken to send across a strongmessage,” he said.

LIP MLA Simarjeet SinghBains demanded that the gov-ernment should look into theteachers’ genuine demands. Healso took a dig at the ChiefMinister for being “over-burned”, while asking him tohand over the HomeDepartment to someone else,Bains stated that law and orderhas failed miserable in the state.

AAP MLA Kultar SinghSandhwan maintained that ifthe police would be madeaccountable, everything wouldbe fine. “If the police was alert,the criminals could not have afree run. The people were keenon seeing Capt Amarinder act-ing fast to improve the cripplinglaw and order situation, whichis a cause of concern for the lawabiding citizens,” he said.

As the Speaker refused tofurther take the issue, the AAPMLAs entered the well of theHouse, and staged a walkoutafter a brief protest.Interestingly, the five rebelMLAs did not budge fromtheir seats.

Notably, a 21-year oldwoman was allegedly raped byten men near Issewal village onthe banks of Sidwan canal nearLudhiana, after the car she was

travelling in with her friend wasstopped and she was draggedout.

A case has been registeredagainst six men at Dakha police

station in Mullanpur town ofLudhiana district. The policeofficials have also releasedsketches of suspected men inthe case.

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Taking serious note of Ludhiana gang-rape case, Punjab Chief Minister Capt

Amarinder Singh mooted special court tofast-track rape cases.

He maintained that he would soon bemeeting the Chief Justice of the Punjab andHaryana High Court to urge him to set upspecial courts to ensure speedy justice insuch cases. Responding to an issue raisedduring the zero hour over recent Ludhianagang-rape case, the Chief Minister assuredthe House that he would also request theChief Justice to try all such cases in a fasttrack court on day-to-day basis.

He stressed the need for prompt dis-pensation of justice to the victims, besidesexemplary punishment to the convicts in

such dastardly acts as a deterrent for others.The Chief Minister informed the Vidhan

Sabha that out of six accused involved in thisheinous crime, three had already beenarrested and the remaining would be nabbedsoon.

Asserting there was absolutely no lawand order problem in the state, CaptAmarinder challenged the opposition to adebate on the issue. No major law and orderproblem had taken place in the state sincehis government took over, said the ChiefMinister. The state police had successfullyneutralised all the major gangsters operat-ing in Punjab under the patronage of theprevious regime, besides solving all the casesof targeted killing, he pointed out, addingthat his government had restored the trustof the people in this period.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on

Wednesday said that alongwiththe Kundli-Manesar-PalwalExpressway, Detailed ProjectReport (DPR) is being pre-pared for rail connectivity fromPalwal to Sonipat.

“This is going to be a kindof economic corridor,” said theChief Minister during an eventorganised for discussion withstakeholders on 'HaryanaOrbital Rail Corridor Projectfrom Palwal to Sonipat' by theHaryana Rail InfrastructureDevelopment CorporationLimited (HRIDC), atGurugram.

He said that all the states ofthe country had to establishJoint Venture Company along-with Union Railways Ministryto develop Rail Infrastructurethrough cooperative federal-ism. In this, Haryana has takenlead in the country and con-stituted HRIDC, which is aJoint Venture Company of theUnion Ministry of Railwaysand the Haryana Government.

He said that in the last fouryears, the present StateGovernment has taken note ofinfrastructure in the state.

The Chief Minister furthersaid HRIDC has createdHaryana Orbital Rail CorridorProject to lay new railway linefrom Palwal to Sonipat forwhich DPR is being prepared.A sum of about Rs 4,100 crorewill be spent on the projectwhich is about 130 km longand this project will be com-pleted in three years, he added.

He also said that all thestakeholders will have to mobi-lize the cost of this corridortogether. Apart from theHaryana Government, theStakeholders included Indian

Railways, Maruti Suzuki,Dedicated Freight Corridor,HSIIDC, Model EconomicTownship Limited (formerlyReliance Haryana SEZLimited), All Cargo and otherindustries and financial insti-tutions.

The setting up of theOrbital Rail Corridor, theShatabadi train will passthrough cities of Gurgaum andFaridabad and reachChandigarh and it will nothave to enter Delhi. At pesentpeople from Gurugram orFaridabad have to boardShatabadi train to Chandigarhfrom Delhi, he said.

Manohar Lal said that theHaryana Orbital Rail CorridorProject would provide directrail connectivity to main citiesof Haryana such as Gurugram,Faridabad, Ballabhgarh, Palwal,Manesar and it will accelerateindustrial development inSohna, Manesar, Gurugram,Rohtak, Bahadurgarh andKundli.. These industrial citieswill be interconnected whichwill benefit huge population, headded.

He said that throughHRIDC, feasibility study isbeing conducted for laying thenew railway fromYamunanagar to Chandigarhvia Naraingarh-Sadhora,S o h n a - N u h - A l w a r ,Farukhnagar-Jhajjar-CharkhiDadri, Karnal-Yamunanagar,Jind-Hisar and Bhiwani-Loharu.

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Eyeing the ensuing Lok Sabhapolls, the Manohar Lal

Khattar Government inHaryana on Wednesdayapproved setting of a SportsUniversity and a State YouthCommission to empower theyouth of the state.

The state cabinet whichmet under the chairmanship ofChief Minister Mnaohar alsoapproved Haryana State CulturePolicy – KALASH, writtenexam, socio economic criteriaand experience for selection ofGroup C posts in all depart-ments and Group B posts inSchool Education Department.

“The cabinet has approvedthe establishment of State SportsUniversity to promote sportseducation in the areas of sportssciences, sports technology,sports management, sportscoaching besides functioning asthe training centre for selectsports disciplines by adoptingbest international practices,”said an official spokesman.

“Haryana Governor will bethe Chancellor of the University.The Vice Chancellor will be thePrincipal Executive and acade-mic officer of the University andwill exercise general supervisionand control over the affairs ofthe University,” he said.

Apart from this, the cabinethas also approved the HaryanaState Youth Policy, which aimsto empower the youth of thestate to achieve their full poten-tial. The policy aims at address-ing the age-bracket of 15 to 29years with a view to have morefocused approach which is inline with the definition of youthprovided in the National YouthPolicy.

The Department of Sportsand Youth Affairs will functionas the nodal department for theimplementation of the policy byestablishing an appropriatecoordination mechanism, thespokesman said.

A task force under thechairmanship of Chief Secretarywill be formed withAdministrative Secretaries of

concerned departments whilethe Director, Sports and YouthAffairs will be member-con-vener of the task force. The StateGovernment may also consti-tute a State Youth Commissionfor the purpose of overseeingthe implementation of the pro-grammes for educating andempowering the youths in thestate, headed by a chairman andsuch number of members asdeemed fit, the spokesman said.

The cabinet has alsoapproved Haryana State CulturePolicy – KALASH (Kala EvamSanskriti Haryana Neeti) aimedto protect, preserve, conserveand manage rich cultural her-itage of the state, both tangibleand intangible, and to pass it onto future generation and topromote various activities in thefields of Art and Culture so thatvarious art forms get popu-larised with the public.

Under this, the govern-ment will collect, digitize andpreserve the wealth of rarebooks, manuscripts and archivesso as to provide a good resourceto the posterity, he said.

In order to promote differ-ent art forms like IndianClassical Music, ClassicalDance, Theatre, Visual Art,Folk, Traditional andIndigenous Arts and HaryanviFolk Song, Dance and VisualArts like Sanjhi, the governmentwill provide the financial assis-tance to individual artists andregistered organizations. Underthe policy, the state will alsoestablish an Apex LevelAdvisory Council on Cultureunder the chairmanship ofChief Minister.

Besides, a state culture fundwill be established to finance

activities related to achieve-ment of the objectives of culturepolicy, the spokesman added.

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Haryana Government hasdecided that selection and rec-ommendation of the names ofcandidates belonging to GroupB viz teacher, educational super-visor, teacher educator in SchoolEducation Department andGroup C posts in all depart-ments will be done on the basisof written exam, socio eco-nomic criteria and experience.

The selection to the postwill comprise total 100 marksincluding 90 marks for writtenexam and ten marks for socioeconomic criteria and experi-ence. Provided that the HaryanaStaff Selection Commission willbe at liberty to vary the numberof questions, marks per questionand duration written examina-tion.

The written exam will bedivided into two portions com-prising weightage of 75 percent for general awareness, rea-soning, maths, science, com-puter, English, Hindi and con-cerned or relevant subject asapplicable and 25 per centweightage for history, currentaffairs, literature, geography,civics, environment and cultureof Haryana.

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implementation of Delhi-Gurugram-SNB Corridor ofRegional Rapid Transit System(RRTS) was approved by thegovernment. The cabinet alsodecided to nominate

Administrative Secretary, Townand Country PlanningDepartment as nodal officer forsigning of agreements and otherrelated documents withNational Capital RegionTransport Corporation(NCRTC) for the implementa-tion of the project.

Seed capital of Rs 500 croresfrom state exchequer has beenapproved in financial year 2019-20. For the balance Rs 5,936crores, as per current estimates,the State Government will givestate guarantee, as a backstop,for Haryana Mass RapidTransport Corporation Limited(HMRTC) to raise loans.

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The draft of the HaryanaLaws (Special Provisions) Bill,

2019 was approved to make spe-cial provisions for all districts ofHaryana falling under NationalCapital Region (NCR) for aperiod of one year.

This Act will be called theHaryana Laws (SpecialProvisions) Act, 2019 and willhelp to phase out the specifiedagricultural and allied activitiespropelled vehicles that is trac-tors and combine harvestorsusing diesel as fuel from districtsof Haryana falling in NCRgradually in compliance withthe directions of Supreme Courtwithout causing hardship tofarmers and allied in the dis-tricts falling in NCR.

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Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh on Wednesday assured theHouse that the State Government would consider the sugges-

tion of AAP MLA Kanwar Sandhu to provide subsidy for fencingthe fields against stray animals in Kandi areas to the village pan-chayats instead of individual farmers.

At the same time, Capt Amarinder also maintained that theGovernment would also look into the cases where the farmers couldnot have any money to fence their fields.

Capt Amarinder’s assertion came on the query by AAP MLAJai Krishan Rodi regarding checking the problem of wild animalsstraying into the fields in Kandi area. He maintained that thoughthe government provides 50-60 percent subsidy to the farmers who

could fence their fields, there are many marginal andpoor farmers who could not afford that.

The Chief Minister pointed out that theGovernment was already providing 50 percent sub-sidy to farmers for fencing their fields and a pilot pro-ject had been launched last year under which totalsubsidy to the tune of Rs 4.21 crores had been givento 563 farmers in Kandi.

Later, AAP’s “suspended” MLA Sandhu suggestedthat the government should provide subsidy direct-ly to the entire village instead of individual farmers,and in this way, all fields would be taken care of. “Wewould look into it,” said Capt Amarinder.

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Transport Minister Aruna Chaudhary informedthe House that the Department has invited sugges-tions from the people regarding the bus services. “Wehave provided an online sewa called ‘GapIdentification in Public Transport Network’ asking thepeople to give us suggestions on which routes theyare facing problems and any difficulty and on whichroutes there should be a bus service. Once we receivethe suggestions, the same would be considered andwherever possible, bus service will be started,” saidChaudhary while replying to a query raised by AAP’sBarnala MLA Gurmeet Singh Meet Hayer.

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New Delhi: Over 31 lakh students from Class 10 and 12 willappear in board examinations this year at nearly 5,000 centresin the country and abroad, the Central Board of SecondaryExamination (CBSE) said here on Wednesday.

According to CBSE, 18,27,472 students from Class 10 and12,87,359 from Class 12 have registered to appear for the exam-inations this year.

For Class 12, the examinations will begin on February 15 andconclude on April 4. For Class 10, it will start on February 21and end on March 29.

To ease the pressure on students, the board announced thatthere will be 33 per cent more internal choice questions and itwill also give "consideration" to "creative answers".

The CBSE also announced it will try to declare results oneweek earlier than last year.

Over three lakh people, which will include superintendents,invigilators and nodal officers, will oversee the examinations.

After drawing flak last year over the "paper-leak" incident,the CBSE urged the media to confirm with the board before print-ing any "sensitive news". IANS

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With its “unprecedentedmilitary build up and

predatory economics”, Chinaposes the most significant,long-term strategic threat to theUnited States, top AmericanSenators and commanders tolda Senate panel.

They made the depositionon Tuesday while seeking amechanism to address the chal-lenge from the east Asiannation.

“China represents thegreatest long-term strategicthreat to a Free and OpenIndo-Pacific and to the UnitedStates,” said US Indo-PacificCommand chief Adm PhilipsDavidson, while testifyingbefore the Senate’s ArmedServices Committee during aCongressional hearing.

“Through fear and eco-nomic pressure, Beijing isworking to expand its form ofCommunist-Socialist ideolo-gy in order to bend, break, andreplace the existing rules-based

international order,” he alleged.“In its place, Beijing seeks

to create a new internationalorder led by China and withChinese characteristics — anoutcome that displaces the sta-bility and peace of the Indo-Pacific that has endured forover 70 years,” he told theSenators.

In remarks that they madeover Davidson’s deposition, theSenators too appeared to be onthe same page and asked theUS Government to take astrong stand on these issues.

“China presents the mostsignificant, long-term strategicthreat that this country hasfaced in many, many years.China’s Belt and Road Initiativehas left several countries,notably Sri Lanka andMalaysia, severely indebted toChina,” said Senator Jack Reed,Ranking Member of the SenateArmed Services Committee.

Beijing, he alleged, oftentargets corrupt localGovernments that personallyprofit from inflated loans that

leave their state treasuriesbankrupt and beholden toChinese President Xi Jinping’sadministration.

“It is an economic initiativewith significant national secu-rity implications for the UnitedStates. Countering Chineseaggression globally requires torely on our partners and alliesto a greater degree in thedecades to come,” he said.

Davidson told the Senatorsthat the US is working to helpASEAN in this discussionabout code of conduct negoti-ations with China.

“China has essentiallydelivered a draft that dictates tothose ASEAN nations whenand where and who they wouldsail with in the South ChinaSea,” he said.

“Helping them protect theinternational freedom of theseas and airspace that havebeen long established in mar-itime law that the United Statesand others have fought forover the centuries is quiteimportant,” he added.

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Russian Foreign MinisterSergei Lavrov has warned

his US counterpart MikePompeo against any Americaninterference, including using force, in Venezuela which is facing a major lead-ership crisis.

“Lavrov has warned againstall interference in Venezuela’sdomestic affairs including theuse of force threatened byWashington and which is inviolation of international law,”the Russian Foreign Ministrysaid in a statement Tuesday.

“He is ready for talksregarding the Venezuelan issuein line with UN principles,” itadded.

The remarks came after USPresident Donald Trump reaf-firmed earlier this month thatmilitary intervention inVenezuela was “an option”, asinternational pressure rampedup on embattled head of stateNicolas Maduro to step down.

Maduro is facing a chal-lenge from Opposition leaderJuan Guaido who declared

himself acting president inJanuary.

Taking his authority fromthe constitution NationalAssembly leader Guaido viewsMaduro’s reelection last year, ina poll widely viewed as fraud-ulent, as illegitimate.

He is trying to force thesocialist leader from power sohe can set up a transitional gov-ernment and hold new presi-dential elections.

The European Union anda group of European and LatinAmerican ministers have calledfor a fresh presidential election,but Maduro has rejected thesuggestion.

The US has presented adraft resolution to the UNSecurity Council calling forinternational aid deliveries andnew presidential elections.

Venezuelans have facedshortages of basic necessitiessuch as food and medicines asthe economy went into melt-down under Maduro’s leader-ship.

Some 2.3 millionVenezuelans have fled since2015, as hyperinflation ren-dered salaries and savingsworthless.

US aid has been piling upin Colombia at the border withVenezuela but until now thebridge border crossing hasbeen barricaded by the military,under Maduro’s orders.

But the president deniesthere is a humanitarian crisisand has branded the wholeaffair a “political show” and apretext for a US-led invasion.

The Venezuelan militarymeanwhile announced it hadstarted conducting exercises,set to run until Friday, to “rein-force the country’s defensivecapacity.”

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Washington: Amid the ongo-ing Beijing visit of a high-pow-ered US delegation led by itsTrade Representative RobertLighthizer to hammer out adeal with the Chinese, PresidentDonald Trump has said Chinawants a trade deal with theUnited States very badly.

“Things are going well withChina. China wants to make adeal very badly. I want it to bea real deal, not just a deal thatmakes (it) — you know, cos-metically look good for a year.We have a chance to make areal deal with China,” Trumptold reporters Tuesday after hisCabinet meeting at the WhiteHouse.

A high-powered Americandelegation led by Lighthizer iscurrently in China for negoti-ations with his Chinese coun-terparts on a bilateral tradedeal, which, the US says, needsto bring down the bilateraltrade deficit, stop Chinese theftof intellectual property andend coercion of Americancompanies in China. PTI

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US President Donald Trumphas said he was not

“thrilled” by a border securitydeal reached by a bipartisangroup of lawmakers butappeared to express opennessto the agreement to avertanother Government shut-down, suggesting that he willfind sources of money for his

controversial border wall otherthan Congress.

Democrats andRepublicans have struck a dealto offer $1.375 billion for 88.5kilometers of new barriersalong the southern border, aswell as other border securitymeasures to avert another crip-pling Government shutdownover Trump’s wall along theUS-Mexico border.

The funding offer is far lessthan the $5.7 billion Trumpdemanded late last year whenhe triggered a record partialGovernment shutdown that

lasted 35 days. Building a wallalong the US-Mexico border isa campaign promise of the 72-year-old Republican President.

Trump said that he is look-ing at getting USD 23 billion forborder security from varioussources.

“Will be getting almostUSD 23 BILLION for BorderSecurity. Regardless of Wallmoney, it is being built as wespeak!” Trump tweeted as thelawmakers entered into theagreement to prevent another

government shutdown afterFebruary 15.

“Was just presented theconcept and parameters of theBorder Security Deal by hardworking Senator RichardShelby. Looking over all aspectsknowing that this will behooked up with lots of moneyfrom other sources....,” Trumpsaid, indicating that he will bebringing money for the borderwall from other sources aswell.

Earlier in the day, during aCabinet meeting, Trump saidthe wall is being built.

“We’re doing a lot of wallright now. Just started a bigportion of the wall in the RioGrande Valley, which is nowthe biggest area for peoplecoming in. We’ve sealed up a lot

of the areas where people comein,” he said. Referring to thedeal among lawmakers on theborder security, he said he isnot happy with it.

“I can’t say I’m happy. Ican’t say I’m thrilled. But thewall is getting built, regardless.It doesn’t matter. Because we’redoing other things beyondwhat we’re talking about here.So we’ll see what happens,” hetold reporters.

“The Democrats wanteverybody to be able to comeinto our country. We havemany criminals. When youlook at the numbers of crimi-nals that are nabbed,” he saidand accused the Democrats ofbeing “obstructionists”.

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The award-winning head ofa Philippine online

news site that has aggressivelycovered President Rodrigo Duterte’s policies wasarrested Wednesday byGovernment agents in a libelcase.

Maria Ressa, who wasselected by Time magazine asone of its Persons of the Yearlast year, was arrested over alibel complaint from a busi-nessman which AmnestyInternational has condemned

as “brazenly politically motivated.” Duterte’sGovernment says the arrestwas a normal step in responseto the complaint.

Rappler Inc., the news sitewhich Ressa heads, said

National Bureau ofInvestigation agents served thewarrant and she was escortedfrom the Rappler office to NBIheadquarters.

“We are not intimidated.No amount of legal cases, black propaganda, and lies can silence Filipino journalists who continue tohold the line,” Ressa said in astatement. “These legal acro-batics show how far theGovernment will go to silencejournalists, including the pet-tiness of forcing me to spendthe night in jail.”

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Hua Chunying, the spokesper-son of the Chinese Ministry ofForeign Affairs, has a poorknowledge of history andeven geography. Once again,

she claimed recently that ArunachalPradesh is a part of Chinese territory. Soonafter the Indian Prime Minister visitedArunachal Pradesh, she affirmed: “TheChinese Government has never recognisedthe so-called Arunachal Pradesh and isfirmly opposed to the Indian leader’s visitto the East Section of the China-Indiaboundary.”

As usual, South Block issued a weakrebuttal. One wonders why can’t New Delhispeak of the “so-called TibetanAutonomous Region” or lodge a strongprotest each time China does repair workon the road cutting across the Aksai Chinregion of Ladakh? Indian diplomats areprobably too shy for this. But we shouldlearn from China to defend our interestsmore vociferously. Hua’s sharp tongueexpressed hopes that “India will cherish themomentum of warming bilateral ties andnot take any provocative action.” Whatprovocative action? Just the PrimeMinister’s visit to an Indian state? Hua maynot be aware but China’s refusal toacknowledge the McMahon Line is a rel-atively new phenomenon.

Let us go back to 1956. As India pre-pared to celebrate the 2,500th anniversaryof the birth of Buddha, communist Chinawas extremely nervous; eastern Tibet wason fire with the Khampa rebellion, whilecentral Tibet was slowly getting contami-nated by the revolt. After months of pre-varication, Beijing finally allowed theDalai Lama and the Panchen Lama to visitIndia for the celebrations. But Chinese pre-mier Zhou Enlai was really febrile, he wasaware that many Tibetans wanted the DalaiLama to stay on in India; as a result, he vis-ited Delhi thrice in a period of twomonths.

During one of his numerous encoun-ters with Zhou, Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru asked him: “But I do not quiteunderstand what you meant when you saidthat Tibet in the past had not become aprovince of China?” The premier answered:“That Tibet is part of China is a fact but ithas never [been] an administrativeprovince of China and has kept anautonomous character.” For Beijing, theautonomous character would remain onpaper only. Zhou even admitted that Indiaknew more about Tibet’s past history: “Forexample, I knew nothing about McMahonLine until recently when we came to studythe border problem after the liberation ofChina.”

Hua would be surprised to learn thatChina’s premier did not know about theline delineating the border between Indianand Tibet till the early 1950s. Nehruunnecessarily asserted that historical

knowledge was not important:“History is gone.” He, howev-er, added: “My impression wasthat whatever it may be in the-ory, for all practical purposes,Tibet has all along beenautonomous.”

The clever Zhou repeatedthat though people like himnever knew about theMcMahon Line till recently, theKuomintang regime knewabout it. Referring to theMcMahon Line, he spoke of a“secret” pact between BritishIndia and Tibet at the time ofthe Simla conference.

The Chinese do not like toremember that the Tibetans saton an equal footing with themduring the Simla conferencebetween October 1913 andJuly 1914. To give an example,the proceedings of the thirdmeeting of the Tibet confer-ence held on January 12, 1914,mentioned the presence of SirHenry McMahon, GOVO,KCIE, CSI, BritishPlenipotentiary and staff;Monsieur Ivan Chen, ChinesePlenipotentiary and staff andKusho Lonchen Shatra, TibetanPlenipotentiary and staff. Theyofficially sat together for ninemonths; China suffers fromselective amnesia today.

To come back to theNehru-Zhou meeting, the

Premier continued on theMcMahon Line: “And now thatit is an accomplished fact, weshould accept it. But we havenot consulted Tibet so far. Inthe last agreement, which wesigned about Tibet [in 1954],the Tibetans wanted us toreject this Line but we toldthem that the question shouldbe temporarily put aside.”

The Chinese Premierbluffed: “But now we think thatwe should try to persuade andconvince Tibetans to accept it.”

Then, Nehru went on hisfavorite argument: “The borderis a high mountain and sparse-ly populated.” He furtherasserted: “Apart from the majorquestion, there are also smallqueries about two miles hereand two miles there. But if weagree on some principle, name-ly, the principle of previousnormal practice or the princi-ple of watershed, we can alsosettle these other small points.”

It is a fact that it is thenationalist government whichmade the communists realisethe extent of the Chinese ter-ritory in the area. It is RenNaiqiang, an influential schol-ar during the Republican era,who first included parts of thenorth-eastern borders of Indiainto the Chinese territory. In1926, long before the beginning

of the Japanese war, Ren hadstarted wandering throughKham. In 1936, as theNationalist Government for-mally established the newprovince Xikang (correspond-ing to Kham province of Tibet),Ren Naiqiang was encouragedby Liu Wenhui, the Governorof the new province, to producea map of the area. Though theChinese had never set a foot inthe area, the new map includ-ed the North East FrontierAgency (NEFA) in China.

At the end of 1949, RenNaiqiang met Marshal HeLong, one of the seniormostgenerals of the People’sLiberation Army (PLA) andexplained why his map wasdependable; the Marshal wasconvinced and ordered thedistribution of copies. OnJanuary 10, 1950, He Longsent his report to Mao Zedongstrongly recommending thatRen’s map should be acceptedand circulated amongst thePLA. It is after this encounterthat China started “claiming”India’s NEFA (today ArunachalPradesh). Before making out-rageous claims, Hua should doher homework and know hercountry’s history. China has notalways claimed NEFA.

(The author is an expert onIndia-China relations.)

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Does Priyanka have sanjeevini?”(February 13) by Kalyani Shankar.The huge turnout at the PriyankaGandhi-Rahul Gandhi roadshowin Lucknow was a demonstrationof the undiminished charisma ofthe Gandhis. By holding aloft aRafale replica at the roadshow, theGandhi scions showed their deter-mination to take on PrimeMinister Narendra Modi relent-lessly.

Priyanka Gandhi’s full-fledged entry into the politicalarena in Uttar Pradesh seems tohave raised the hope of revivingthe Congress’ fortunes in India'smost populous and politicallymost crucial State. This is not tosay that her appeal is limited toUttar Pradesh alone; she certain-ly has a pan-Indian appeal. In fact,Congressmen and women regardher as a new version of IndiraGandhi. Importantly, her sponta-neous connect with the masseswill force the other parties, main-ly the Samajwadi Party andBahujan Samaj Party, to re-strate-gise on the ground.

G David MiltonMaruthancode

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Sir—By its very nature, radioshapes our lives, informing andeven uniting us. By bringingtogether people and far-flungcommunities, it can help usher inpositive change. World RadioDay this year was celebrated onFebruary 13 with the theme,

“Dialogue, tolerance and peace.”One hopes that in a world

with alternative media of commu-nication, radio can still find thevaluable space to help serve as aplatform for dialogue and demo-cratic debate and encourage listen-ers to think of forward-lookingaction. Perhaps All India Radio,which has been serving the mass-es in the fields of education,

information and entertainmentwith distinction, can take thelead in this.

TS KarthikChennai

�������������Sir — This refers to the editori-al, “Another inferno” (February13). The tragedy that engulfed

the Karol Bagh hotel Arpit Palacein the wee hours in Delhi snuffedout 17 lives besides injuringmany others. Casualties couldhave been avoided had the hotelauthorities followed fire safetynorms. The fire, which eruptedon the first floor of the hotel,spread like wild fire to the fourthfloor. It has been learnt that theguests were unable to use corri-dors to escape because of thewooden panels. Equally disturb-ing was the fact that the hotel didnot have proper fire escapes andthe emergency exit door, too, waslocked. To avert further mishapslike this, authorities in theCapital must strictly enforce firesafety norms in each and everyhotel.

While the DelhiGovernment has ordered a mag-isterial probe into this massivefire incident, it must ensure thataction is taken against thosefound guilty so that no hoteldares to repeat the mistake ofoversights in the future. Normsare flouted brazenly and weneed to set an example.

TK NandananChennai

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High incidence of climate-related events such as flashfloods and droughts has

increased dramatically over the pastfew decades. Nature-related flash-points are now assuming disturbingproportions and can be listed as apart of a pattern relating to the break-down of the environment.Consequent changes in the environ-ment at the national and internation-al level have immense ramificationsfor indigenous societies andeconomies. Marked changes, for theworse, do not fail to register on thegeneral public, who are scramblingto adjust to changing scenarios. Butdamage is still being done.

Nations across the world havefailed to recognise that human

impacts on the environment havereached a critical stage and have thepotential to erode conditions uponwhich socio-economic stability isdependent. Human-induced envi-ronmental change is occurring at anunprecedented rate and the windowof opportunity to avoid catastroph-ic outcomes in societies around theworld is closing rapidly. These out-comes include economic instability,large-scale involuntary migration,conflict, famine and the potential col-lapse of social and economic systems.

Historical disregard to environ-mental considerations in most areasof policy has been a catastrophic mis-take and is now spewing undesirabledividends in the form of tempera-tures, which have risen to such anextent that the 20 warmest years onrecord have been in the past 22 years,with the past four years being excep-tional. Coupled with this is the factthat vertebrate populations havefallen by an average of 60 per centsince the 1970s and more than 75 percent of the Earth’s land areas havebeen degraded substantially.

The fact that environmentalbreakdown is occurring in real-time is proven by the fact that since2005, the number of floods across theworld increased by 15 times, extremetemperature events by 20 times; andwildfires seven-fold. Wildlife extinc-tion rates, on the other hand, haveincreased by 100-1,000 times. Apartfrom this, top soil is now being lost10 to 40 times faster than it is beingreplenished by natural processes.And since the mid-20th century, 30per cent of the world’s arable land hasbecome unproductive due to erosion;95 per cent of the Earth’s land areas

could become degraded by 2050. Even as these disconcerting

developments are gaining momen-tum, measures to arrest the same areat best feeble. As environmentalbreakdown becomes more of a real-ity every passing day, complex nat-ural systems are becoming moredestabilised. Consequences of thisdestabilisation are manifesting in theform of extreme weather events andsoil infertility, which in turn impacthuman systems from local to glob-al levels. This process is alreadyunder way, damaging human healthand driving forced migration and

conflict around the world. This phe-nomenon is set to accelerate asbreakdown increases. Due to thehigh levels of complexity, the scale ofbreakdown and systemic nature ofthe problem, responding to the ageof environmental breakdown may bethe greatest challenge that humanshave faced in their history.

The consequences of environ-mental breakdown will fall hardeston the poor, who are most vulnera-ble to its effects and least responsi-ble for the problem. It is estimatedthat the poorest half of the globalpopulation are responsible foraround 10 per cent of yearly globalgreenhouse gas emissions; with halfof emissions attributed to the rich-est 10 per cent of people. Within richcountries, the wealthiest 10 per centcontribute far more to greenhousegas emissions than other incomegroups. In the UK, for instance, percapita emissions of the wealthiest 10per cent are up to five times higherthan those of the bottom half. Inaddition, environmental breakdowninteracts with other inequalities,

such as class, ethnicity and gender.This makes environmental break-down a fundamental issue of justice.

There is an urgent need to seethe environmental problems aroundus as a part of an evolving pattern inorder to find a solution. This willhelp fast developing countries likeIndia to avoid the ill effects of thisbreakdown. We must, hence, seeksolutions that can fundamentallytransform key social and economicsystems and make them resilient tochanging climate patterns. This willalso make societies and communitiesat the grassroot level robust enoughto face the increasingly severe con-sequences of the breakdown.Additionally, India must also rally thesupport of the world in fighting forthe cause of global environment thathas paid the price for growth of thedeveloped nations. Degraded envi-ronment will take hundreds of yearsto recuperate. Hence, it’s importantto stop the environmental break-down now.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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As Tamil Nadu is getting ready for the“festival of democracy” or the gen-eral election, the scenario is that ofwatching Shakespeare’s Hamlet with-out the Prince of Denmark. The

absence of Jayalalithaa from the electoral scenehas taken the sheen away from the fire and furyassociated with campaign season. Whether shewas fighting with her back to the wall or lead-ing her chariot all over Tamil Nadu, Amma wasthe lead star in the arena. The same could notbe said about Karunanidhi, who reminded oneof a hungry jackal in search of its prey. With bothof them leaving the world in quick succession tomeet their makers, politics in Tamil Nadu has lostall charm and character.

The general election is the first major polit-ical battle in the State to be fought withoutJayalalithaa and Karunanidhi or such markedpolarities. M K Stalin, the second son ofKarunanidhi who was appointed president of theDMK following the death of his father, is a paleshadow. His first public declaration a laKarunanidhi that he was proposing RahulGandhi as the prime ministerial candidate fellflat as there were no takers for the announcementeven in the Congress party.

Stalin, who became the party president onlybecause of the fact that he was the son ofKarunanidhi, wanted to replicate what the lat-ter did in the run-up to the 1980 Lok Sabha polls.The AIADMK led by MGR had contested the1977 Lok Sabha poll in alliance with theCongress. The general feeling at that time wasthat the AIADMK and the Congress were nat-ural allies because of the dubious approach ofKarunanidhi towards Indian nationalism and theDMK’s demand for a separate Dravidian nation.The AIADMK-Congress-CPI alliance won 34 outof the 39 seats leaving just five seats to the DMK-Janata alliance. But after the election, MGR pre-ferred to extend support to the Janata Party gov-ernment at the Centre led by Morarji Desai.

Karunanidhi, who was in political wildernesssince 1976 following the dismissal of his govern-ment by Indira Gandhi for opposing the inter-nal Emergency and was struggling to unseatMGR, saw this as a golden opportunity. By thetime MGR declared his support to Morarji DesaiGovernment, Karunanidhi had built a flyoverfrom Gopalapuram in Chennai to the SafdarjungRoad residence of Indira Gandhi. “NehruvinMakale… Varuka... Varuka... IndiayeKaappathidungo” (Daughter of Nehru… wel-come... please save India) was the war cry coinedby Karunanidhi, whose penchant for writing dra-matic dialogues knew no bounds. The 1980 gen-eral elections necessitated by the fall of theMorarji Desai and Charan Singh Governmentssaw the DMK-Congress alliance sweeping theState by winning 37 of the 39 seats leaving MGR’sAIADMK with just two seats. Indira Gandhireturned to power with a massive mandate andshe helped Karunanidhi for the favours receivedby dismissing the MGR Government though itsterm was to expire only in 1982. But in the mid-term election held to the Assembly, MGR stagedan impressive comeback with the front led by himwinning 162 seats out of the 234 at stake. TheCongress-DMK alliance could win only 69

seats and Karunanidhi’s dream ofreturning to Fort Saint George (TamilNadu’s seat of power in Chennai)remained unfulfilled. But he made it apoint to remind the world that it washis slogan “Nehruvin Makale” whichworked wonders in 1980.

Later in 2004, after dumping theBJP over the Prevention of TerrorismAct (POTA) 2002, Karunanidhi sentfeelers to Sonia Gandhi for a possiblealliance with the Congress because hewas being hunted by the then ChiefMinister J Jayalalithaa over corruptioncases. The only difference was thatKarunanidhi had given a small twist inhis slogan of 1980. This time it was“Indiravin Marumagale… IndiavinMarumagalae... Varuka... Varuka...(Daughter-in-law of Indira and India,welcome, welcome). It worked in 2004too and Karunanidhi emerged as a pil-lar and trusted ally of the Congress. Thealliance lasted up to 2013 whenKarunanidhi came out of the UPA fol-lowing the Congress’ non-coopera-tion in extricating his daughterKanimozhi from the 2G spectrum cor-ruption scam in which she was aprime accused. Publicly, the DMKclaimed that it snapped the ties with theUPA because of the latter’s refusal toextend support to a resolution in theUN Human Rights Council meetingcondemning the Sri Lankan govern-ment for atrocities on Tamils in theisland nation. The Sri Lankan Tamilissue had been over in 2009 itself with

the elimination of LTTE chief VPrabhakaran. But Karunanidhi wasadept in finding out explanations andreasons for any kind of situation.

Stalin thought that he would finda place in history books by making adeclaration at Chennai that RahulGandhi would be the prime minister-ial candidate. He made use of theproven slogan coined by his father anddeclared, “Sonia Gandhiyin Makane…Varuka…Varuka...” To add power to hisslogan, he reminded the nation that he,son of Karunanidhi, was re-enactingwhat his late father did from Chennai.But in a changed context, it looked likethe southern dynasty extending supportand servility to the Delhi dynasty.Karunanidhi would not have madesuch a bloomer. Though he took overas party chief in August 2018, Stalin isyet to sort out the issues with hisestranged brother M K Azhagiri. Thereare a lot of challenges within the DMKwhich remain unresolved.

The AIADMK is a house of chaosand confusion since the passing awayof Jayalalithaa in December 2016.Though a churning process is on in theparty, it has not thrown out any hope-ful leadership material. The party is dis-integrating by the day and that too sosoon after the birth centenary of M GRamachandran, the party founder.

2017 marked the birth centenary ofMGR (as he is known) and the 40thanniversary of his coming to power inthe State. Jayalalithaa was particular that

Tamil Nadu should have a governmentled by the AIADMK in the birth cen-tenary year of MGR and she made ithappen through a shrewd move. Buther untimely demise in 2016 resultedin the beginning of the end of theAIADMK.

There are three factions of the partyfunctioning in Tamil Nadu. The orig-inal AIADMK is headed by chief min-ister Edappady Palaniswamy and hisdeputy O Panneerselvam. The AMMK,formed by V K Sasikala, Jayalalithaa’sformer live-in partner at Veda Nilayamand her nephew TTV Dhinakaran, ishoping that the AIADMK leaderswould come around once the party iswiped out in the Lok Sabha election.It is true that Dhinakaran won the by-poll held at R K Nagar, a constituencywhich was represented by Jayalalithaa,demolishing the AIADMK and theDMK. But there are people who suspectthat there was a secret deal betweenStalin and Dhinakaran to ensure thedefeat of the AIADMK candidate.

During earlier elections, there wasclarity of thought and ideas among thelead players. But the absence ofJayalalithaa and Karunanidhi has madethe State look like a rudderless ship.Confusion, chaos and commotionmark the politics in Tamil Nadu. Yes,the Dravidian land is in search of aleader and an institution to sail throughthe troubled waters.

(This is the first part on Tamil Nadupolitics to appear in this column.)

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The Rajasthan AssemblyWednesday passed a Bill

giving a five per cent quota inGovernment jobs and educa-tional institutes to the Gujjarsand four other communitiesagitating for it. The Gujjarprotests led by communityleader Kirori Singh Bainslacontinued in the State for thesixth day even after the Bill waspassed.

Gujjar protesters haveblocked the Delhi-Mumbairailway track in SawaiMadhopur district and sever-al highways since Friday. Trafficis also held up on several roadsin the State.

Bainsla said the commu-nity will wait for more clarityon the Bill before calling off thestir. The Rajasthan BackwardClasses (Reservation of Seats inEducational Institutions in theState and of Appointments andPosts in Services under theState) (Amendment) Bill, 2019was introduced by the newCongress Government earlierin the day.

The Bill sought to increasethe backward classes’ reserva-tion from the present 21 percent to 26 per cent with a fiveper cent quota for Gujjars,Banjaras, Gadia Lohars, Raikasand Gadaria communities.

The statement on theobjective and reasons for thebill said the five castes are themost backward and requiredseparate reservation inGovernment jobs and educa-tional institutes.

“We will remain on dhar-na till there is clarity that theBill passed in the Assembly islegally sound,” Bainsla said.

“It is a sacred document forus and we will take the nextdecision only after taking the

opinion of intellectuals of thecommunity working in differ-ent fields,” he added.

A North Western Railwayspokesperson said two trainswere cancelled on Wednesdaydue to the dharna.

While introducing the Bill,Rajasthan Energy MinisterKalla said the Centre has pro-vided only 27 per cent reser-vation for the backward class-es while their proportion in thepopulation is 52 per cent.

Since the population ofbackward classes in Rajasthan isestimated by the State BackwardClasses Commission to be about52 per cent, the percentage ofreservation for them needed tobe increased, he said.

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Bengal BJP leader MukulRoy tended to get a tem-

porary respite after a divisionBench of Calcutta High Courton Wednesday restrained theBengal Police not to arresthim till March 7. Roy hadbeen named in the FIR for themurder of Satyajit Biswas, aTrinamool Congress fromKrishnaganj in Nadia district.

The Division Bench ofJustices Joymalya Bagchi and MMandal would not grant theoriginal prayer for the antici-patory bail immediately andpostponed the matter to beheard on March 5. However thecourt allowed an interim prayeragainst arrest directing thepolice not to arrest the formerRailway Minister until the mat-ter was disposed off.

The order notwithstand-ing, the saffron leader wasrestrained by the court fromentering Nadia district till fur-ther orders except for the pur-pose of investigation or attend-ing court proceedings.

Biswas a rising leader andpopular organiser from theMatua community thataccounted for more than amillion population in theneighbouring districts of North24 Parganas, Nadia of was shotdead on February 9 while hewas inaugurating a SaraswatiPuja pandal at Majdia villagebarely 10 km from his home.

The two suspectedassailants Kartik Mondal andSujit Mondal were arrestedsoon after the murder but thethird and prime accused fledthe area, police said not ruling

out his sneaking into the neigh-bouring Bangladesh barely afew miles away.

In a sharp reaction Roy hadsaid “in each and every case ofmurder or in Bengal BJP wasbeing implicated,” adding inmost of the cases it was theinternal conflict — for theshare of the booty from varioussources — among the TMCleaders which was responsiblefor such murders.

In the past more thanmonth at least five small ormiddle-rung TMC leaders havebeen assassinated in Bengalwith the ruling party pointingat the undercover BJP assailantsfor such attacks.

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Kolkata: In a smart move theMamata Banerjee Governmenthas appointed Rina Mitra —who was reportedly deprived ofthe chance of being the firstwoman IPS officer to head theCentral Bureau of Investigation— as the State’s principalAdvisor, internal security.

Rina a 1983 batch IPS offi-cer of the MP cadre was serv-ing as a special secretary inter-nal security in the Ministry ofHome Affairs since March2017.

One of the 12 officersshortlisted for the CBI top jobMitra missed the chance onaccount of an “easily avoidabledelay of just one day in theselection process” ensuringthat she was “bumped out ofthe race.”

Winner of Police Medal in1999 and President’s Medal in2008 for outstanding serviceRina earlier wrote in a news-paper that she “qualify on allparameters to be considered forthe selection to head the pre-mier investigation body of thecountry.” She added she was“indeed the senior-most officerfulfilling all the four essentialcriteria including experience inCBI and anti-corruption ,” buton account of an “easily avoid-able delay of just one day in theselection process ensured thatI was bumped out of the race.”

Rina’s appointment is like-ly to come in handy for theState Government on manycounts, sources said addingthe TMC might now becomeprivy to various irregularitiesduring the BJP rule in MP“which in turn can be used inthe election campaigning.”PNS

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In a tragic mishap, a South Koreanprofessional paraglider was killed

after his glider crashed on a stony ter-rain at the hill station of Panchgani inSatara district of western Maharashtra.

Giving the details of the incidentthat took place on Tuesday evening,Station officer of Panchgani Police sta-tion RN Kaple said on Wednesday thatthe paraglider, identified as one SangTaek Oh (45) had taken off in his gilderfrom Rajpuri point located on the out-skirts of Panchgani.

“While in the air, he could not con-trol his glider because of the strongwinds coming from the opposite direc-tion. He lost track of his route. Insteadof landing at the pre-determined point,he went round the circles and crashedon stony terrain in the forests locatedin the vicinity of Panchgani,” Kaple said,quoting a team of paragliders thatspotted Sangh Oh and rushed him to anearby hospital.

Late on Tuesday, a local moun-taineering team tracked him down tothe spot where the glider had crashedand rushed to Government hospital atWai town, where he was declared deadupon admission. “He had sufferedsevere injuries. He had succumbed tothe injuries before he was brought to thehospital,” a doctor who examined himsaid. After a post mortem, thePanchgani police handed over Sang Oh’sbody to the officials of the SouthKorean Consulate.

A trained paraglider, Sang Oh wastraining for an international soloparagliding competition that began atPanchgani on Tuesday. More than 100paragliders from different parts of theare participating in the competitionwhich will continue till Sunday.

Paragliding, which has become apopular adventure-cum-recreationalsport in hill resorts and tourist desti-nations of Maharashtra, has beenattracting professionals, amateurs andtourists from the across world for morethan five years now.

Following the mishap, theMaharashtra Government is likely toimpose restrictions and lay down guide-lines for paraglinding sport to ensureagainst mishaps like the one witnessedon Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Panchgani policehave registered an offence under section304 A (Causing death by negligence)against one of the organisers from aMumbai-based company.

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Congress general secretaryand and east UP in-charge,

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra onWednesday asserted that thefight in the forthcoming par-liamentary elections would bebetween Rahul Gandhi andNarendra Modi.

Replying to a question onher ‘muqabla’ (contest) withPrime Minister NarendraModi, Priyanka said, “Kar torahe hein Rahulji, Modiji semuqabla (Rahul Gandhi isalready taking on Modi).”Confident of her party’s victo-ry, she claimed that the 2019hustings would essentially be aModi versus Rahul battle ofballots.

Priyanka also played downthe questioning of her husbandRobert Vadra in connectionwith a land scam in Rajasthan’sBikaner district byEnforcement Directorate inJaipur, saying, “These thingswill keep on happening, I amdoing my own work.”

On Tuesday, Priyanka hadaccompanied husband RobertVadra to ED’s Jaipur officewhere he was questioned in acase related to a land scam inBikaner. Vadra was interrogat-ed for over eight hours by theED on Tuesday while his moth-er Maureen Vadra was also pre-sent.

Talking about her meetingswith party leaders from dis-tricts, Priyanka said, “It is niceto see the enthusiasm of partyworkers. They waited for mefor so long. I thank them. I amlearning more about the organ-isation, how its works in theregion and how district andblock committees function. Iam taking down details.”

The Congress leader toldthe waiting media persons, “Iam learning a lot about the out-fit and how it is structured. Iam getting views on how tofight the elections.”

Besides meeting party del-egations, Priyanka also metrepresentatives of a pensioners’association to discuss their

demand for revival of a pensionscheme replaced by a new dur-ing the Atal Bihari Vajpayeeregime.

Head of NationalMovement for Old PensionScheme (NMOPS), AjayKumar Bandhu, said that theemployees were against thenew scheme under which apart of their fund was invest-ed in stocks.

Bandhu said that PriyankaGandhi assured the delegationthat the old system would berestored if the Congress wasvoted to power.

She also assured that theissue would be made part of theCongress party’s manifesto.

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Robert Vadra, Congresspresident Rahul Gandhi’s

brother-in-law, was quizzed bythe Enforcement Directorateofficials here for nine-hours onWednesday after he appearedbefore the agency for the sec-ond consecutive day in con-nection with an alleged landscam in Bikaner district ofRajasthan.

Vadra’s questioningresumed after he reached theED’s zonal office at BhawaniSingh road at 10.26 am. He wasgiven a one-hour lunch breakand he left the ED office ataround 8.40 pm for the airport.

Vadra and his motherMaureen had appeared beforethe ED on Tuesday. While hismother was allowed to go aftersome time, Vadra was grilledfor nearly nine hours.

The Rajasthan High Courthad asked Vadra and his moth-er to cooperate with the agencyafter they approached it seek-ing directions that no coerciveaction be taken against them bythe ED. A case was registeredby the ED in 2015, taking cog-

nisance of a clutch of FIRs andcharge sheets filed by theRajasthan police after theBikaner tehsildar complainedabout alleged forgery in landallotment.

It is understood that theagency wanted to question himabout the operations of SkylightHospitality Private Limited,allegedly linked to him, whichpurchased land in the area.

It also wanted to confrontVadra with the statements ofthose said to be linked to him.

Last week, the ED hadquizzed Vadra in Delhi forthree days in connection witha money laundering probeagainst him for allegedlyprocuring assets abroad in anillegal manner.

AICC general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra had onTuesday dropped off her hus-band and mother-in-law at theED office here, taking time offfrom her four-day UttarPradesh trip.

In a Facebook book, Vadrahad accused the NarendraModi Government of beingvindictive ahead of the LokSabha elections.

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Lucknow: The Congress onWednesday roped in a littleknown local outfit Mahan Dalin an alliance in Uttar Pradeshfor the Lok Sabha polls.

The announcement wasmade in the presence ofPriyanka Gandhi Vadra, thenewly appointed Congress gen-eral secretary for east UttarPradesh. Jyotiraditya Scindia,another general secretary of theCongress looking after westernUP, and Keshav Dev Maurya ofthe Mahan Dal announced thealliance at the state Congressoffice here.

“I welcome Keshav Mauryaji. We will fight the electionsjointly. Rahul ji has given us thetask of creating a politicalatmosphere in which everyoneis taken along and all sectionsof the society are represented,”Priyanka Gandhi said.

“We will contest with fullmight,” she asserted.

Maurya said, “TheCongress has always thoughtabout the welfare of Dalits andbackward castes. It is the onlyparty which thinks of takingeveryone along with itself.”

“At present, there is an

atmosphere of anarchy in theentire state. The alliancebetween Congress and MahanDal will last long,” he said.

The Mahan Dal had forgedan alliance with the Congressfor the 2009 and 2014 polls.

It had joined the Congress-led United Progressive Alliancein 2014 but contested the 2017UP Assembly elections sepa-rately. In the western UttarPradesh, the Mahan Dal con-tested three Lok Sabha seats ofBadaun, Nagina and Etah,though it faced defeats in allthese constituencies. PTI

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After she came in for a lotof flak from social media

users for using “Sushri” in herTwitter handle, BSP SupremoMayawati on Wednesdaydropped the title from her username on the microbloggingplatform.

When the former UttarPradesh chief minister madeher debut on Twitter earlierthis month, she used the han-dle @SushriMayawati.

“Sushri” is a title usedbefore the name of a woman toexpresses respect and rever-ence. She was criticised by sev-eral social media users forusing the title in her handlewith some alleging she waseulogising herself.

“My twitter accountopened as @SushriMayawatibut now it is @Mayawati,” sheposted on Wednesday. Shejoined the Twitter the “firsttime” on February 6 to interactwith the media and masses.

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Two recent events under-played by the media has

caused ripples in political TamilNadu and are being discussedin a hush-hush manner by allpolitical parties in the State.

Monday saw RelianceGroup Chairman MukeshAmbani calling on DMK pres-ident MK Stalin at the latter’sresidence in Chennai. Theentire Stalin clan was in atten-dance to receive the billionairebusinessman Mukesh Ambaniand his wife Nita Ambani.

The Reliance Group chair-man and his wife called on theStalins to invite them for themarriage of their son Aakash tobe held in the month of March.Later in the day Stalin tweetedthe pictures of the country’srichest man’s visit to his homein Chennai.

“It was a pleasure to receivea courtesy call from ThiruMukesh Ambani, ChairmanReliance Industries Limited,in Chennai earlier thisevening,” Stalin tweeted.

But what surprised thepolitical commentators inTamil Nadu is the timing of thevisit. The Reliance GroupChairman did not call on ChiefMinister EdappadiPalaniswamy or any otherpolitical bigwigs in the State.Moreover they pointed outthat Mukesh Ambani had notinvited Stalin for the wessing ofhis daughter which was solem-

nised earlier this year. The factthat the Reliance Group did notattend the last month’s GlobalInvestors Meet convened by theAIADMK Government too hasnot gone unnoticed.

Yet another VIP who madeit to the residence of the DMKchief in late January was RatanTata, chairman emeritus of theTata Group. This visit too wasdescribed by the DMK office asa courtesy call. Ratan Tata is abusiness baron who does notcall on political leaders and thattoo at their residences. Hence

his visit to Stalin’s house isbeing watched seriously butwithout any hype in the media.The Tata Group which is head-ed by Tamil Nadu bornNatarajan Chandrasekaran, toowas conspicuous by theirabsence during the GIM heldat Chennai.

The only link that comn-nects the Tata Group honcho tothe DMK was the Neera RadiaTape of the infamous 2GSpectrum Scam in which thetelephonic conversations fea-tured Ratan Tata andKanimozhi, Stalin’s step-sister.The visits of Mukesh Ambanito Stalin’s residence comes at atime when there are mediareports about the strained tiesbetween the Reliance GroupChairman and the BJP topleadership.

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Akey member of the bannedCPI (Maoist) Central

Committee surrendered beforethe Telangana Director Generalof Police (DGP), M MahendarReddy here Wednesday, alongwith his wife.

Sudhakar and his wifedecided to give themselves upas they were frustrated with the'wrong trends' developing inthe outfit and also due to theirhealth problems, Reddy toldreporters.

Sudhakar carries a rewardof �1.25 crore on his head inJharkhand region and �25 lakhin Telangana, while his wifecarries a reward of �10 lakh onher head.

The DGP said Sudhakarhad disclosed that there wereinternal differences among topleaders and also between lead-ers of local tribes andTelangana leaders.

Sudhakar also revealed thatMaoists were ill-treatingwomen cadres and putting

them under all sorts of pres-sure. Due to the domination ofthe male cadres, some womenwere committing suicide, hesaid.

Sudhakar also said thefunctioning of the CPI (Maoist)leadership in Bihar and

Jharkhand was totally antago-nistic to revolutionary ideolo-gy and not people centric.

The party functioning haddeteriorated and was more onthe lines of criminal gangswho loot people and amasswealth for their development,

using the party as a platform,Reddy said.

The DGP said that afterSudhakar's surrender, the CPI(Maoist) Central Committeehas 20 members, the PolitBureau seven members and theCentral Military Commission,four.

Sudhakar also said thatmany cadres, sensing the fastdeteriorating standards in thefunctioning of the CPI (Maoist)due to lumpanisationtrends,were willing to give upextremism.

Reddy said the party wasunable to conduct or imple-ment any programmes basedon Marxist Leninst Maoist ide-ology in their Eastern RegionalBureau area.

Most of the leadership andcadres were interested only inmaking money, he said on thecurrent status of the party.

The DGP asked otherCentral Committee membersto surrender and join the main-stream and added that most ofthe CC members were suffer-

ing from age related health-problems. In their EasternRegional Bureau area, the totalarmed underground cadrestrength was about 500 while inDandkaranya, the armed cadrestrength is about 2,000 andmilitia strength, about 7,000.

However, in Sukma andBijapur districts (ofChhattisgarh) militia is strong,Reddy said.

The DGP said Sudhakarhad grasped the reality that theerstwhile Maoist CommunistCentre cadres are autocraticand encouraged lumpen ele-ments in the party, who workedonly to provide financial aid totheir families by extorting hugesums of money from contrac-tors and businessmen as 'partylevy'.

The couple also disclosedthat there are groups in theparty on caste basis.

Nepotism and regionalismwhich had crept into partyorganisation roots was alsothe reason for them to surren-der, the top police official said.

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Patna: A posse of privatebodyguards, hired by RJDMLA Tej Pratap Yadav, wereon Wednesday found roaminginside the Bihar Assemblypremises, prompting the Statepolice chief to order an enquiryinto the security breach.

The mercurial elder son ofRJD supremo Lalu Prasad,however, defended himselfsaying “who would provide

security to me if I do not takecare of my own safety”?

The muscle-bound safari-clad private bodyguards werespotted by lens men of newschannels and when asked whatthey were doing inside thecampus, well inside the area towhich entry is prohibited with-out valid passes, they repliedwith a terse “no comments”.

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Two Hizbul Mujahideen ter-rorists, including one of the

main recruiters of the outfit,were killed in an encounterwith security forces in Jammu& Kashmir’s Budgam districton Wednesday, police said.

“Based on a credible inputabout the presence of terroristsin Gopalpora area of Chadoorain Budgam district, a cordonand search operation waslaunched in the interveningnight (of Tuesday andWednesday),” a policespokesman said.

He said when the searchoperation was underway, theterrorists fired on the securityforces. The search party retal-iated and it led to a gunfight inwhich the two were killed, headded. The spokesperson saidthe duo have been identified asHilal Ahmad Wani and Shoaib

Mohammad Lone, alias Mursi.“Incriminating material,

including arms and ammuni-tion, was recovered from thesite of encounter,” he said,adding that police have regis-tered a case and initiated aninvestigation. As per policerecords, the official said, bothterrorists were affiliated toHizbul Mujahideen.

“They were wanted by thelaw for their complicity in a seriesof terror crimes, including attackon security establishments andcivilian atrocities. Wani had along history of terror crimerecords and was involved inseveral terrorist cases,” he said.

“He was the main personresponsible for recruitmentinto the terrorist fold and wasthe longest surviving terroristwho was operating across thesouthern and central belts ofthe valley ever since he hadjoined terrorist ranks in 2015.

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The body of a man fromP a k i s t a n - o c c u p i e d

Kashmir, who died while try-ing to sneak into India sixmonths ago, was exhumed andhanded over to the PakistanArmy at the LoC in Poonchdistrict on Wednesday, officialssaid. The body of 34-year-oldMohamamad Arshad, a resi-dent of Kotli Gujajran area ofPoK, was exhumed from agraveyard at Mohra Kampala inNoushera sector of Rajouridistrict on the orders of DMMohamamd Aijaz Asad, theofficials said.

They said Ahmad wasfound dead near the LoC atSair-Jhanger in Laam sector onJuly 23 last year and was sub-sequently buried at the grave-yard after his identity could notbe established. He died report-edly due to electrocution whentrying to sneak through wiresinto the Indian side.

District magistrate Asadordered that the body beexhumed after the IndianArmy, on humanitarian ges-ture, forwarded a request bytheir Pakistani counterpartsfor handing over the body tohis family across the LoC, theofficials said. They said thebody was exhumed in presenceof senior police and civil offi-cers from the graveyard onTuesday and handed over tothe Army to be sent to his fam-ily, the officials said.

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The CBI on Wednesdayallowed Kolkata Police

Commissioner Rajeev Kumarto return to Kolkata after ques-tioning him for five consecutivedays here in connection withchit fund scam cases, an offi-cial said.

A team of 12 senior CBIofficers examined Kumar forhis alleged role in tampering ofevidences in the �2,000 croreSaradha chit fund scam, whichthe agency is probing.

Kumar was also questionedabout the Rose Valley ponziscam. After examining himfor over 30 hours sinceSaturday, the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) onWednesday afternoon allowedthe senior IPS officer to returnto Kolkata, the official told PTI.

On Wednesday, he hadarrived at the CBI office around9.30 am and he was let offaround 12:30 pm, he said.

According to officialsources, the Kolkata Policechief had written to the probeagency seeking a “break” as heis required to prepare a reply tothe contempt petition filed bythe CBI against him and twoother senior officers in theSupreme Court. Kumar leftfor Guwahati from where he isscheduled to fly to Kolkata.

Two other senior KolkataPolice officers who had beenwith Kumar since Saturdayalso left with him, sourcessaid. The CBI had also ques-tioned former TrinamoolCongress MP Kunal Ghoshseparately and along withKumar on Sunday and onMonday.

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The Government onWednesday called back the

retired technocrat AshwaniLohani to head the cash-strapped national carrier AirIndia as chairman and manag-ing director for a second timewithin two years.

Lohani, who will assumeoffice on Thursday, headedthe carrier from August 2017 toSeptember 2017 when he wasmoved to the Railway Board asthe chairman, from where heretired in December 2018. Heis a 1980-batch IRSME (IndianRailway Service MechanicalEngineering) officer hailingfrom Madhya Pradesh.

“I will take charge tomor-row,” Lohani told PTI overphone from New Delhi.

It was during his tenure thatAir India made its first operat-ing profit of �105 crore in FY17since the merger of IndianAirlines and Air India in 2007.

Earlier in the day, theCabinet committee on appoint-ments cleared his re-induc-tion on a contract basis for one-year tenure.

“The appointments com-mittee of the Cabinet hasapproved the appointment ofAshwani Lohani to the post ofchairman and managing direc-

tor of AirIndia onc o n t r a c tb a s i s f o rone year oruntil fur-t h e rorders,” thed e p a r t -ment ofpersonneland train-ing said.

Lohani succeeds the 1985-batch Karnataka cadre IASPradeep Singh Kharola, whoearlier this month was appoint-ed as the civil aviation secretaryfollowing the superannuationof RN Choubey.

Lohani was appointed asthe Railway Board chairman inAugust 2017 and retired inDecember 2018. He also head-ed ITDC and the Rail Museumin New Delhi, previously.

As the attempt to sell AirIndia, which has a debt pile ofaround �51,000 crore, came acropper last May, the ModiGovernment is now workingon many initiatives, includinghiving off a significant chunkof its over �55,000-crore debtinto an special purpose vehicleand selling 98 percent stake inthe ground-handling armAIATSL to turn around the ail-ing airline.

The carrier’s net loss nar-rowed to �5,337 crore in FY18from �6,281 crore a year ago, asper the latest Public EnterprisesSurvey 2017-18.

One of Lohani’s first deci-sions as the Railway Boardchairman was to ban gifts andceremonial welcomes andfarewells. He is also the manbehind Train 18, the country’sfastest train that will have itsinaugural run from New Delhito Varanasi on February 15.

As the Railways’ senior-most bureaucrat, he was alsopart of the team that worked onthe Mumbai-Ahmedabad bul-let train project.

As the head of both theRailways as well as Air India, hewas able to bridge the gapbetween his office and employ-ees, using WhatsApp groupsmostly, say those who haveworked with him.

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Snapping its six-day winningrun, the rupee on

Wednesday settled 10 paiselower at 70.80 against the USdollar amid rising crude pricesand heavy foreign fund out-flows.

Forex traders said dollarbuying by oil importers andstrengthening of the green-back against major currenciesoverseas weighed on thedomestic unit.

At the Interbank ForeignExchange (forex) market, therupee opened on a strong foot-ing at 70.48 and rose further totouch the day’s high of 70.40.

However, it pared the ini-tial gains and finally closed at70.80 per dollar, down by 10paise against its previous close.

The rupee had surged 48paise to end at a one-monthhigh of 70.70 against the USdollar Tuesday. In the last sixtrading sessions, the rupee hadgained a hefty 110 paise.

“Dollar buying by the state-run banks on behalf of oilimporters has dragged therupee lower from the day’shigh of 70.40,” HDFCSecurities Head, PCG and

Capital Markets Strategy, V KSharma said.

Sharma further noted thatcrude oil prices are on anuptrend on expectation oflower supply by theOrganization of the PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC)and this could also weigh onthe domestic currency in theshort term.

Brent crude, the global oilbenchmark, was trading at$63.46 per barrel, higher by1.67 per cent.

Meanwhile, the dollarindex, which gauges the green-back’s strength against a basketof six currencies, rose 0.09 percent to 96.79.

Extending its fall for thefifth consecutive session, theBSE Sensex gave up early gainsto end 120 points lowerWednesday. In similar move-ment, the NSE Nifty fell below10,800 and settled 37.75 points,or 0.35 per cent, lower at10,793.65.

Foreign portfolio investors(FPIs) sold shares worth a net�676.63 crore, while domesticinstitutional investors (DIIs)bought equities to the tune of�713.10 crore Wednesday, pro-visional data showed.

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Telecom regulator TRAI onWednesday asserted that

operators cannot charge TVviewers more than their usualmonthly outgo under the ‘bestfit plan’ to be offered during thetransition period, and cau-tioned that the regulator willtake action on any such com-plaint.

“TRAI has clearly askeddistribution platform owners(DPOs) to ensure that for con-sumers, the monthly outgounder the best fit plan shouldnot exceed the payout permonth of existing plan of thesubscriber,” TRAI SecretarySK Gupta told PTI.

Gupta said TelecomRegulatory Authority of India(TRAI) is monitoring the situ-ation and will take action onconsumer complaints, if any, on

the issue.“TRAI has directed DPOs

to give best fit plan to cus-tomers who have not exercisedtheir option as of now, in orderto protect their interest andensure that they do not face anyinconvenience,” Gupta said.

The regulator had Tuesdayextended the timeline for con-sumers to make their channelpreferences till March 31, 2019.

TRAI had said that the bestfit plan should be designedbased on consumers’ usagepattern and language spoken.

The regulator had said thatsubscribers will be free tochange their best fit plan at anydate and time on or beforeMarch 31, 2019 and the DPOwill convert their best fit planinto a desired pack (opted bythe consumer) within 72 hoursof subscribers making theirchannel preferences known.

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Observing that the CentralGoods and Services Act was

enacted with the laudable object of“one country one tax”, the MadrasHigh Court on Tuesday dismissedthe anticipatory bail applicationsfiled by nine persons apprehend-ing arrest under the provisions ofthe Act.

Justice Anand Venkatesh, inhis order, said, “Where theaccused persons are charged ofviolations of the CGST Act,involving colossal loss of revenueto the exchequer and the inves-tigation is at a very nascent stage,prudence demands that thiscourt should lay off its handsfrom investigation and allowcomplete independence to theprosecuting agency to proceedfurther with the investigation.”

According to the prosecu-tion, various organised firms andpeople have involved themselvesin issuing fake invoices, withoutactual supply of goods or ser-vices, and are also receivingfake invoices without receipt ofgoods and availing input taxcredit to cheat the exchequer.

In the present case, thecompanies concerned hadinvolved in issuing fake invoic-es without the supply of goodsand received fake invoices with-out receipt of goods and there-by, committed offences underthe CGST Act, 2017, it said.

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Union Power Minister, RKSingh on Wednesday

said “The power sector iswitnessing an increaseddemand which is furtherexpected to go up in the nearfuture. The current con-sumption of 1200 units percapita is expected to grow 2-

3 times at par with the inter-national consumption aftereach and every individual ofthe country has access toelectricity.”

RK Singh was addressingthe Indian Power Stations2019, an international oper-ation and maintenance con-ference organised annuallyby NTPC.

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Former Nissan boss CarlosGhosn on Wednesday

shook up his top legal team as

he vowed to prove his inno-cence and defend himself withvigour against charges of finan-cial misconduct.

In the latest twist to a sagathat has gripped Japan and thebusiness world since his stun-ning arrest in November, Ghosnconfirmed in a statement fromhis detention centre that he hadhired a new lead counsel.

He replaced former prose-cutor Motonari Otsuru withhot-shot lawyer JunichiroHironaka, who has a history oftaking on high-profile cases andenjoys an enviable acquittal ratein a country where almost everytrial results in a guilty verdict.

“I look forward to defend-ing myself vigorously, and thisrepresents the beginning ofthe process of not only estab-lishing my innocence but alsoshedding light on the circum-stances that led to my unjustdetention,” said Ghosn, 64.

Earlier Otsuru’s firm issueda brief statement saying only thathe and another lawyer had “sub-mitted letters of resignation tothe court as the defence lawyersfor the case of Mr. Ghosn”.

The surprise shake-up cameon the eve of an expected firstmeeting between the TokyoDistrict Court, prosecutors, anddefence lawyers to discuss the out-lines of Ghosn’s eventual trial.

Ghosn thanked Otsuru andhis team for their “tireless and dili-gent work and courage during theinterrogation phase of my incar-

ceration” and hailed his formercounsel as a “very capable andintelligent man and lawyer”.

The Franco-Lebanese-Brazilian tycoon has languishedin a Tokyo detention centresince November 19 on threecharges of financial misconductand has seen two bail requestsrefused, with the court judginghim a flight risk.

In an interview with AFPand France’s Les Echos lastmonth, he slammed his ongo-ing detention, saying that therefusal to free him “would notbe normal in any other democ-racy.” He faces charges that heunder-reported his incomebetween 2010 and 2015 to thetune of five billion yen ($46million) and continued to do sofor a further three years.

Ghosn also stands accusedof a complex scheme to try topass off personal foreignexchange losses to Nissan andusing company funds to reim-burse a Saudi contact whostumped up collateral for him.

He told AFP in Januarythat the allegations against himand his arrest were “a story ofbetrayal,” insisting “there isnot one yen that I have receivedthat was not reported”.

Speaking outside his office,Hironaka, 73, confirmed that hehad been asked to join the legalteam after consulting with thetycoon and his family. “I believehe (Ghosn) remains consistentabout fighting,” Hironaka said.

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Lignite production in thecurrent quarter ending on

31st December, 2018 is 60.97LT compared to 63.05 LT in thecorresponding period of 2017-18. Lignite production wasrestricted to requirements forpower generation and outsidesale. Power sale in the currentquarter ending on 31stDecember 2018 is 5430.78 MUas against 4992.37 MU in thecorresponding period of pre-vious year registering a growthof about 9%.

Profit after tax for the peri-od for current quarter ended31st December 2018 is �329.49crore compared to �313.80crore in the correspondingperiod of previous year, regis-tering a growth of about 5%over the corresponding periodof previous year.

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New Delhi: Film Federation ofIndia proposes a formula for areinforced PPP (Public PrivatePartnership) with GoI(Government of India) towardsboosting footfalls in cinemahouses, creating more jobs,realising the industry’s truepotential as a contributor to thenational economy and expand-ing its footprint and strength-ening its presence in Indiaand across the world. PNS

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Petroleum MinisterDharmendra PradhanWednesday said theGovernment is consideringmandating biofuel from usedcooking oil as advanced biofu-el which can be blended withbiodiesel.

The Government has set atarget of 20 percent blending ofethanol with gasoline and 5percent blending of biodieselwith diesel by 2030 under thebiofuel policy.

“We have set a target ofblending 5 percent ofbiodiesel with diesel by 2030.But today the biggest chal-lenge is availability of thefeedstock. We have recog-nised the hazards of usedcooking oil and also realisedthat it can be used as feed-stock for biodiesel.

“This will help us meetthe demand for feedstock tosome extent,” he said whileinaugurating a facility thatconverts used cooking oilinto biodiesel.

The facility at the Midcestate in Nerul, near here is setup by Muenzer Bharat, thelocal subsidiary of the Austrianclean energy major MuenzerBioindustrie Gmb, which isthe largest player in this seg-ment in the Central Europe.The company was set up in2016.

Admitting that unlikeEuropean nations, we do nothave any regulations for usedcooking oil (UCO), Pradhansaid “we, however, are now tak-ing various measures in thisregard and hope that withthese initiatives we can gener-ate nearly 2 million tonne offeedstock for biodiesel.”

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Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited (‘MLDL’), the realestate and infrastructure development arm of the Mahindra

Group, on Wednesday concluded the fifth edition of ‘Confluence’,its thought leadership platform presented by Mahindra WorldCity. The knowledge forum convened in New Delhi addressedthe theme of ‘Thinking Cities: The Rise of Resilience’ this year,focusing on the role of citizenry, policy-makers and corporatesin making cities more resilient.

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Teenage sensation NicoloZaniolo bagged a brace as

Roma beat Porto 2-1 in theirChampions League last 16,first-leg clash at the StadioOlimpico on Tuesday.

The 19-year-old got hisfirst Champions League goalin the 70th minute in Rome,adding a second six minuteslater to inflict a first defeat onPorto in this year's top-tier European competition.

But Adrian Lopez pulled a vital goal back for thePortuguese club after 79 minutes to ensure they remain in thehunt going into their home leg on March 6.

"It's an incredible night, I'm speechless and never wouldhave expected such a thing," Zaniolo told Sky Sport Italia.

"But we've got the second leg coming up, we shouldn't haveconceded the goal."

The night belonged to the youngster from Tuscany whohas become a fan favourite since arriving from Inter Milan,where he never played a top-flight game, in exchange for RadjaNainggolan last summer.

On Tuesday, he was given an ovation by an ecstatic homecrowd who see him as the heir to club legend Francesco Totti.

The match sparked into life midway through the secondhalf as Zaniolo netted with a precise finish after Edin Dzeko'slay-off.

He soon had his second when Dzeko went on the counter-attack, his shot bouncing off the post with Zaniolo on handto tap in the rebound.

"Celebrating under the 'curva' is an extraordinary feeling,"said Zaniolo. "I can't describe it. I hope to score many more."

"Zaniolo is not a surprise any more," said Roma captainDaniele De Rossi. "His physical strength is incredible for a guyof his age and he combines it with great technique. He is alreadya great player, but he will become a great champion."

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Manchester United caretakermanager Ole Gunnar Solskjaeradmitted his side were shown

how much they still have to improveafter being swept aside by an injury-hitParis Saint-Germain 2-0 in the first legof their Champions League last 16 tie onTuesday.

Presnel Kimpembe and KylianMbappe struck in a seven-minute spelljust before the hour mark as PSG dis-played their credentials to finally becomechampions of Europe for the first time,especially once they get the world's mostexpensive player Neymar and EdinsonCavani back from injury.

After a run of 10 wins and one drawin 11 games since Solskjaer replaced thesacked Jose Mourinho in December, afirst defeat for the Norwegian is a real-ity check for United's revival and theyhave a mountain to climb when thesides meet again for the second legon March 6.

The English giants will alsohave to cope without PaulPogba in three weeks' time ashe was sent off a minutefrom time to round off a ter-rible night for the hosts.

������� ���� �PSG showed they still retain plen-

ty of world class talent despite their bigname absentees as United struggled tocontain the slick passing of ThomasTuchel's men in midfield and the paceof Mbappe in attack.

Angel di Maria was roundly booedby the home support on his return toOld Trafford after an unhappy one-sea-son spell with United after signing fora then club record £60 million in 2014.

But the Argentine silenced hisdetractors by setting up both goals andalso mocked the throwing of a beer bot-tle at him by pretending to drink fromit.

For all PSG's injury problems, adouble blow also rocked United in theseconds before half-time and at the

break as Jesse Lingard and AnthonyMartial limped off to be replaced byAlexis Sanchez and Juan Mata.

The home side never recovered theircomposure as PSG produced a stunningsecond-half display to all but book theirplace in the last eight despite David deGea's best efforts in the United goal.

Kimpembe was left completely

unmarked to side-foot home Di Maria'scorner from point-blank range on 53minutes.

A brilliant team goal then doubledUnited's trouble soon after whenMbappe was again too quick for VictorLindelof and Eric Bailly to meet DiMaria's low cross.

"The first goal is always going to be

important and the way we concede it isdisappointing," added Solskjaer.

"The second goal was quality bythem. The ground he (Mbappe) makesup that boy to get in the box, to all thestrikers that want to be poachers that'show to get in the box."

Thereafter only De Gea stood in the

visitors' way as he stayed big to blockMbappe's attempted chip as he boredown on goal again before Juan Bernat'srising drive was then diverted wide.

And any hope of a United comebackin Paris suffered another huge blowwhen Pogba was dismissed late on forcatching Dani Alves with a raised boot.

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Indian shuttlers, including P VSindhu and Saina Nehwal, have

been handed tough draws at theAll England Championships,where the country has not wona title in the last 18 years.

Olympic and WorldChampionship Silver medallistSindhu, who had reached thesemifinals here last year, will openher campaign against SouthKorea's Sung Ji Hyun, whileIndonesia Masters championSaina takes on Scotland's KristyGilmour in the first round ofWorld Tour Super 1000 tourna-ment, which begins on March 6.

Sindhu will have to be cau-tious against Hyun, who haddefeated her at the Hong KongOpen last year. If she gets pastHyun, the Indian is likely to facethird seed Chen Yufei in thequarter-final.

Former world No 1Saina, who had reachedthe All England final in2015, made a good startto the new season with asemifinal finish at theMalaysia Masters and a title winat Indonesia.

But the London OlympicsBronze medallist is expected toface world No 1 Tai Tzu Ying ofChinese Taipei in the quarter-finals. Saina had lost her last 11encounters against Tai, who had

an injury-marred end to the lastseason.

The Indian duo will alsofancy their chances after three-time world champion CarolinaMarin of Spain has been ruledout due to the knee injury.

In men's singles, KidambiSrikanth will take on FrenchmanBrice Leverdez in the openinground. He is likely to meet worldNo 1 Kento Momota in thequarters. The seventh seeded hadlost to Momota five times lastseason.

Sameer Verma, who reachedthe semifinals at World TourFinals, will start his campaignagainst former world No 1 ViktorAxelsen of Denmark.

Among others, B SaiPraneeth and H S prannoy willface each other in the openinground with the winner likely totake on Anthony Ginting.

Indian women's dou-bles pair of AshwiniPonnapa and N SikkiReddy will be meetingseventh-seeded Japanese

duo of Shiho Tanaka andKoharu Yonemoto, while

Meghana Jakkampudi andPoorvisha S Ram will square upagainst Russia's EkaterinaBolotova and Alina Davletova.

In men's doubles, ManuAttri and B Sumeeth Reddy willface China's Ou Xuanyi andRen Xiangyu in the first round.

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Making a transition into thesenior circuit this year, India's

teen badminton sensation LakshyaSen says he needs to work on hisspeed and stamina as he eyes tobreak into the top 30 BWF rank-ing by the year end.

"My target is to break into top30 by this year," the 17-year-oldshuttler said.

"It is an Olympic qualificationyear, so entry into tournaments willbe difficult. Depending on my per-formance and ranking I will pickevents. For the time being I willplay the Super 100 and Super 300events mainly.

"Olympic qualification isextremely tough. Last year, myranking was 69-70 early in the year

but I missed out on many seniortournaments since I played a fewjunior events. So my ranking wentdown," he added.

Lakshya, who had reachedthe finals at the 2017 edition andsemifinal at last edition of theNationals, is eager to get the seniornational title under his belt.

"Senior national championshipis a big event for me. I have played3-4 times before, in fact, last twoyears I have been playing bothjunior and senior and so it is oneof my target this year," he said.

Lakshya had a fabulous 2018where he won the Asian JuniorC’ship and a Silver and Bronze atthe Youth Olympics and WorldJunior Championship respective-ly before capping the season witha title at the TATA Open.

��� �� Lewis Hamilton hasdelivered an ominous warningto his Formula One rivals byvowing to improve on hisalmost flawless championship-winning campaign in hisMercedes car.

The British driver emergedfrom his winter hibernation atSilverstone on Wednesday tosee the car he hopes will firehim to a sixth world title.

The 34-year-old won 11 ofthe 21 races in 2018 to beatFerrari's Sebastian Vettel andsecure his fifth championshipwith two rounds to spare.

And as he enters the firstcampaign of the new two-yeardeal that will earn him $52 mil-lion a season, a fully refreshedHamilton is ready to extend hisdominance of the sport.

"2018 was a great year, butI feel like 2019 can be even bet-ter," he said. "I want to achievemore, I want to continue tokeep pushing. I feel energisedand I am ready to attack."AFP

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Top seed Kei Nishikori wastested by a stubborn oppo-

nent before finally puttingaway Pierre-Hugues Herbert3-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Tuesday at theRotterdam Open.

The Japanese world num-ber seven needed an hourand a quarter to get on trackagainst a player who hadreached the Montpellier finalbarely 48 hours earlier againstJo-Wilfried Tsonga.

Second seed KarenKhachanov, winner of theParis Masters tit le lastNovember, fell in a shock toDutch wildcard TallonGriekspoor, who recoveredfor a 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 upset of theRussian.

The defeat leavesKhachanov winless here inthree attempts.

Victory marked the sec-ond Rotterdam upset for the211th-ranked local, who putout Stan Wawrinka a year agoin his hometown for his firstcareer ATP Tour-level win.

Nishikori next facesErnests Gulbis, who beatMarius Copil 6-2, 6-4 in a bat-tle of qualifying lucky losers.

Milos Raonic and DenisShapovalov scored a first-round double for Canada,with both powering ahead in

straight sets.Raonic, the fourth seed,

fought past German PhilippKohlschreiber 7-6 (10/8), 7-5on the back of 21 aces.

Shapovalov, seeded 10th,defeated Croatian FrankoSkugor 7-5, 6-3.

Raonic had to work to getpast a 2016 semi-finalist at theAhoy stadium. The Canadianset up a second-round meet-ing with Wawrinka, whom he

beat in an Australian Openmarathon last month.

Shapovalov dominatedCroatian qualifier Skugor intheir first-time meeting asboth made Rotterdam debuts.

Gael Monfils earned anupset of Belgian eighth seedDavid Goffin 7-6 (7/5), 7-5,while former championTomas Berdych beatFrenchman Gilles Simon 7-6(10/8), 6-4.

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Abusy international calen-dar unfolds for Indian

boxing from Thursday withthe 70th Strandja MemorialTournament in Sofia, Bulgariawhere Asian Games Gold-medallist Amit Panghal (49kg)will be eyeing a second succes-sive top finish.

India will have a 19-strongrepresentation, 10 of themwomen, in the annual show-piece of the European calendarwhich gets underway followinga draw on Thursday morning.

Amit has not competedafter picking up Gold at theAsiad in Jakarta.

Gaurav Solanki (52kg),

who won Silver at this event lastyear, will be aiming for a bet-ter finish on the podium thistime around.

Gaurav Bidhuri (56kg), onthe other hand, will be seekinga strong return to top-flightcompetition after recovering

from a back injury that kepthim out of action for most ofthe last year.

In the women's team,Sonia Lather (57kg) would beeager to put behind a disap-pointing 2018, during whichshe ended medal-less at theAsian Games.

Also there in the squad arePinki Rani (51kg) and LovlinaBorgohain (69kg). Missingfrom the line-up is the celebrat-ed MC Mary Kom, who wonSilver in the last edition.

The Indian boxing contin-gent had clinched its best evermedal haul of 11 in the last edi-tion of Strandja Memorial.

After this, India will com-pete in the International Boxing

Tournament at Chabahar cityof Iran from February 22 to 28.

The team for this tourna-ment features Manish Kaushik(60kg) and India Open Gold-medallist Sanjeet (91kg).

Close on the heels will bethe 38th Gee Bee InternationalTournament at Helsinki,Finland from March 7 to 10.

The squad for this tourna-ment comprises, among others,Shiva Thapa (60kg), SachinSiwach (52kg) and SumitSangwan (91kg).

The performances of themale boxers in these threetournaments will be crucial totheir chances of making thesquad for the Asian C’ships,which will be held in April.

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Olympic Silver medallistP V Sindhu on

Wednesday said she stillhas lots to learn and needsto add a few more shots toher repertoire to dominateworld badminton.

With Silver medals at allthe major events, includingthe Olympics, WorldChampionship, AsianGames and CommonwealthGames, Sindhu has been aformidable force in theworld in the last three years.

But the world No 1 taghas eluded her with ChineseTaipei's Tai Tzu Ying stamp-ing her authority at the topwith 14 title triumphs since2016.

Asked if she needs toadd strokes and deception todominate world badminton,Sindhu said: "Definitely yes.It is only the starting for me.I have a lot more to learn. Ihave good strokes but Ihave to keep learning newstrokes everyday.

"But I think only oneplayer can't dominate bad-minton, because the game ischanging right now as a lotmore players are comingup. Also on a particularday, you have to be 100 per-cent, can't be even 1 % hereor there, if you count 1 to 20in the world, all are of thesame standard, so have to be

focused all the time."One of the favourites to

claim the All England tro-phy next month, Sindhusaid she is working hard tobreak India's 18-year-oldtitle jinx at the prestigioustournament.

"After this week, onlytwo weeks will be left for theAll England. I knowCarolina Marin will not bethere (due to injury) but itwon't be easy, because thereare some very good playersand on that day who givesbest will win," Sindhu said.

"Each round will becomparatively very tough.Each point is important forme. I am playing Sung JiHyun in the first round andit would be important forme to focus from the firstround," added the 23-year-old, who had reached the

semifinals of the All EnglandChampionship.

Asked about ending the titledrought for India, Sindhu said:"Hopefully yes, I think it will bereally good if someone breaks itsomeday and definitely we willwork for that."

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Ole Gunnar Solskjaer admittedManchester United had been

handed a reality check after ParisSaint-Germain cruised to a 2-0 win.

It was a dispiriting evening forSolskjaer, who had sparked suchenthusiasm among United's playersand fans since replacing the sackedJose Mourinho in December.

"Today is a reality check for uson the level of top teams. They hadthe momentum after the first goaland controlled the game," Ole said.

"You could see that we hadn't

played at this level for a while andwe will have to learn.

"It was an experience that cango either way, it's not going to be aseason-defining one, it's one wehave to learn from."

United now face a huge task toreach the quarter-finals andSolskjaer called on his stars to pro-duce a vastly improved display inthe French capital.

"Mountains are there to beclimbed aren't they? You can't laydown and say this is over," he said.

"We will go there, play ourgame and improve from today."

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England ended a disappointingTest series with the consolation

of a comprehensive victory overthe West Indies on the fourth dayof the third and final Test in StLucia on Tuesday.

Thrashed in the first twomatches of the series to surrenderthe Wisden Trophy after ten yearsin English possession, the touristsgained a measure of consolation incompleting a 232-run victory witha day to spare.

Set an improbable target of485 after Joe Root declared hisside's second innings at 361 for fivefollowing his dismissal for 122, thehome team were eventually dis-

missed for 252 deep into the finalsession when Ben Stokes hadKeemo Paul caught and bowled.

Paul, hobbled by a leg injurywhich prevented him from bowl-ing throughout most of theEngland second innings, onlycame out to bat as last man toallow Roston Chase to complete adeserved fifth Test century.

Chase was on 97 whenShannon Gabriel was ninth out,but the young all-rounder hungaround long enough for the tallright-hander to reach three figures,cutting Joe Denly to the backward-point boundary to achieve thelandmark.

He finished unbeaten on 102off 191 balls with 12 fours and onesix embellishing his innings.

James Anderson, who blewaway the West Indies top order

with three wickets before lunch,had no more success with the ballbut his devastating early impactensured that it was only a matterof when, not if England wouldhave completed a massive victoryon the fourth day.

Moeen Ali also claimed threewickets while Mark Wood, thetearaway fast bowler who took fivewickets in the first innings, snaredthe important scalp of Shai Hope.

His six wickets and impact onthe game earned him the 'man ofthe match' award.

West Indies' only period of rel-ative comfort at the crease came inthe afternoon session when Chaseand Shimron Hetmyer put on 45runs for the fifth wicket.

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Martin Guptill returnedto form with an

unbeaten century as NewZealand powered to aneight-wicket win overBangladesh in the first one-day international in Napieron Wednesday.

Bangladesh set NewZealand a modest run chaseof 233 after suffering anearly collapse and the BlackCaps overhauled it in 44.3overs, finishing at 233 fortwo.

It is Bangladesh's fifthtour to New Zealand andthey are yet to win a matchin any format, with theirnext chance coming in thesecond ODI in Christchurchon Saturday.

Bangladesh captainMashrafe Mortaza said histeam were adjusting to NewZealand conditions and stillhoped of a breakthroughvictory.

"We bowled well butwe were struggling batting.We just lost too many wick-ets early," he said.

Guptill and HenryNicholls pressed their caseto open the batting at theWorld Cup as New Zealand

made light work of the tar-get.

Guptill, returning frominjury, put a poor run ofscores behind him with acommanding 117 not out.

His 15th ODI centurycame off 103 balls and

included six fours and threesixes.

Nicholls looked com-fortable in just his third out-ing since being promoted upthe order, scoring 53 beforea tame dismissal when theball hit his pad and rolledonto the stumps.

Veteran batsman RossTaylor also contributed anunbeaten 45.

Mohammad Mithunwas the pick of Bangladesh'shitters, grinding out a hard-fought 62 after coming tothe crease with Bangladeshreeling at 42 for four after adecision to bat first back-fired.

Mohammad Saifuddinprovided support with agritty 41 as Bangladesh werebowled out for 232 withseven balls of their allotted50 overs remaining.

Spinner MitchellSantner and paceman TrentBoult took three wicketsapiece for New Zealand.

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Wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar ledVidarbha's fightback with an unbeat-

en half-century as the Ranji championsremained in hunt for a first innings lead afterthe second day of their Irani Cup matchagainst Rest of India.

After restricting Rest to a modest 330 onthe opening day, Vidarbha ended the secondday at 245 for 6 with Wadkar and AkshayKarnewar (15 not out) holding fort. Thehosts still trail by 85 runs.

Vidarbha openers skipper Faiz Fazal (27)and Sanjay Ramaswamy (65) looked com-fortable in the beginning and put up a 50-run stand.

But as things were looking good,Karnataka spinner Krishnappa Gowthamstruck, removing Fazal, who was caughtbehind by rival wicketkeeper Ishan Kishan.

One down Atharva Taide (15) did notlast long after being trapped in front of thewicket by young leg-spinner Rahul Chahar,who impressed everyone with his sharp legbreaks.

However, Ganesh Satish (48) thenjoined hands with Ramaswamy as the duotried to resurrect the Vidarbha innings withtheir 64-run third wicket stand.

Satish struck four boundaries and a six,while Ramaswamy's innings was laced withnine fours. However, after Ramaswamy'sdeparture, Vidarbha lost two quick wickets— Mohit Kale (1) and Satish — as theyslumped from 146 for 3 to 168 for 5.

Then wicket-keeper Wadkar, who tooktime to settle, started the fightback as he builthis innings first in company of Aditya Sarvate(18) and later on with Karnewar.

Wadkar conjured an important 58-runstand with Sarvate and then has added 19runs for the unbroken stand for the seventhwicket with Karnewar.

For ROI, five wickets were shared by thespinners, two each by Gowtham (2-33) andDharmendrasinh Jadeja (2-66) while Chaharreturened with figures of 1-68.

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Former Pakistan captainMoin Khan believes the

present national team has thefirepower to break its WorldCup jinx against India and reg-ister the country's maiden winover the neighbours in theupcoming ICC 50-over mega-event in the UK.

In six times in the WorldCup so far, Pakistan have neverdefeated India.

And India and Pakistanwill meet again in the WorldCup at Old Trafford on June16.

"This present team is verycapable of recording a first winover India in a World Cupbecause there is talent, there isdepth and variety and SarfarazAhmed has now gelled thesquad well," Moin said onGTV News channel on Tuesdaynight.

But Moin, who featured inmany famous matches againstIndia and was a member of the1992 and 1999 World Cupteams, said this time he is con-

fident of Pakistan win."I say this because our

boys beat them (India) in theChampions Trophy two yearsback and I just feel that inEnglish conditions in June wehave better bowlers," he said.

Moin feels India andEngland would be the teams tobeat in the World Cup.

"This should be a very

interesting World Cup and Iam backing Pakistan to beatIndia. Our boys are in goodspirits and it is good they willgo into the competition afterhaving played ODI matchesagainst South Africa, Australiaand England," he said.

He also supported themove to have three weekstraining camp in England

before the World Cup, sayingthis would help the players inacclimatising comfortably tothe English conditions.

"Pakistan has been oneteam which has done well inEngland in the last many yearsand in May-June the weathercan be unpredictable and thereis moisture in the pitches," saidMoin.

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Spin great Shane Warne feels theyoung Rishabh Pant can play as a spe-

cialist batsman in the Indian ODI teamand even backed the talented youngsterto open alongside Rohit Sharma.

With India closing in on their final15 for the World Cup, Pant has got asolid endorsement from Warne.

"There has been talk if Rishabh Pantcan play in the side. I think Dhoni andPant both can play. I can't see whyRishabh Pant can't play as a batsman, heis outstanding. Maybe even open the bat-ting with Rohit Sharma," Warne toldIndia Today.

"I know Shikhar Dhawan does agreat job but Rishabh Pant opening thebatting with Rohit Sharma could be pret-ty cool too for India. Go with some ofthese X-factor type things and tacticalbattles, where you surprise the opposi-tion," said the Australian legend.

Warne wants India to experimentwith their top-order in the upcominghome series against Australia, startingFebruary 24 with the first T20.

"It could be worth throwing RishabhPant at the top of the order for a coupleof games and see how he goes. Maybeagainst Australia now and experimentand see how he goes for the World Cup.

"Dhawan may have a role to playsomewhere else. But I am really lookingforward to seeing what India havebecause they have a lot of players whocan do a lot of roles," said the 49-year-old.

Talking about Indian cricket, Warnesaid its national team can dominate theworld for years.

"I think India can now have a dom-inant time in world cricket if they cankeep their players on the park, the play-ers stay hungry and value the opportu-nity and be grateful to play Test crick-et.

"Yes they can make money from IPLand make a fortune. But if they can keepthe hunger up to compete in the high-est form of the game, that is tests, theycan dominate world cricket for a longtime," Warned added.

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Vishwa Fernandotook four wickets

as underdogs SriLanka heeded newcaptain DimuthKarunaratne's call to"compete in every ses-sion" on the first dayof the first Test againstSouth Africa atKingsmead onWednesday.

South Africa,o v e r w h e l m i n gfavourites against ateam seemingly indisarray, were bowled out for 235. Sri Lanka was 49for one at the close.

Left-arm opening bowler Fernando dismissed bothSouth African opening batsmen cheaply as the hostsfound them floundering at 17 for three after being sentin on a pitch which offered bounce and swing on a par-tially overcast morning.

Fernando, 27, playing in his fourth Test, went onto claim career-best figures of four for 62. Kasun Rajithatook three for 68.

Wicketkeeper Quinton de Kock, batting at num-ber six because South Africa picked five specialistbowlers, gave the South African innings somerespectability by hitting 80 off 94 balls before he waslast man out.

Sri Lanka lost Lahiru Thirimanne, caught behindoff Dale Steyn for nought, but Karunaratne batted con-fidently to be 28 not out at the close, while new capOshada Fernando went on the attack when SouthAfrican captain Faf du Plessis turned to spin bowlingas the light faded to finish on 17 not out.

Vishwa Fernando arguably owed his place in theteam to the fact that three of Sri Lanka's leading fastbowlers were missing because of injury. But he pro-duced a superb opening spell, having Dean Elgar caughtbehind and bowling Aiden Markram with a ball whichswung back into the stumps.

Temba Bavuma and Du Plessis rode out the earlystorm and gradually started to change the momentumin a 72-run partnership which was ended in the lastover before lunch when Du Plessis was caught downthe legside by wicketkeeper Niroshan Dickwella offRajitha for 35.

Bavuma looked the most assured of the SouthAfrican batsmen but was run out for 47, when a straightdrive by De Kock ricocheted off bowler Fernando's bootinto the stumps at the bowler's end.

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Putting India and England as favourites towin the forthcoming ICC World Cup,

batting great VVS Laxman on Wednesdaysaid Virat Kohli and Co are peaking at theright time after their historic ODI series tri-umphs in Australia and New Zealand.

"It's all about peaking at the right timewhich is so important. The World Cup is along format so every player should be at hisbest physically and mentally if India has towin the World Cup. They start as favourites.For me, India and England start asfavourites," Laxman told reporters.

The World Cup kicks off in Englandfrom May 30 with India taking on SouthAfrica in their opening game on June 5 inSouthampton.

The Indian team edged Australia 2-1 inthe three-match series and then went on tothump New Zealand by a healthy margin of4-1 in the 50-over format.

India will now take on Australia at homein five ODIs and two T20s starting February24.

"I think brilliant. The way they played,I would like to congratulate the entireteam," Laxman said.

"The way they played right from the

Australia series to the New Zealand series...and it's not only one or two players who haveput their hand up. Everyone has con-tributed. So it's great to see bowling and bat-ting departments contribute," he added.

Talking about the Bengal team whichfailed to make the final at home last seasonafter finishing third in the Super LeagueGroup B of the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy,Laxman said: "The preparation has been real-ly good. We had a lot of match simulation.In T20 cricket, better than nets is match sim-ulation. It has been a very realistic practice.We played a couple of games too."

Bengal open their domestic T20 cam-paign against Mizoram in group D tie at theBarabati Stadium in Cuttack on February 21.

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Igenuinely believed that I couldhit a six," Indian wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Karthik said as

he reflected on refusing a single tonon-striker Krunal Pandya in theseries-deciding third T20International against New Zealand.

On Sunday night at Hamilton,things did not go as per plan in thefinal over, in which India needed 16runs, and the 33-year-old has noqualms in accepting that. Karthikrefused a single to the big-hittingKrunal off the third ball of the overleading to some debate on whetherhe took the right decision.

"I think Krunal and I battedreally well from that situation(145/6). We were able to bring thematch down to a place where thebowlers were under pressure. Webacked ourselves to do the job. Andat that stage (after refusing the sin-gle), I genuinely believed that Icould hit a six," Karthik said onWednesday.

Over the last couple of years,Karthik has emerged as one of themost effective finishers for India inthe shorter formats.

He faltered at Hamilton but itwas only him and Krunal who took

the game to the final over afterIndia were 145 for six in the 16thover, needing another 68 off 28balls.

"As a middle-order batsman,a lot of times you have to trustyour ability to play those bigshots under pressure. It is alsoimportant to trust your partner atthat time. It did not come off onthat occasion but those thingshappen in the game of cricket."

Both Krunal and Karthikshared an unbeaten 63-run standoff 28 balls but it was not enoughto save the series. India lost thegame by four runs and series 1-2.

"Some days you are able to hita boundary, some days the bowlerdoes a good job. And there, youhave to give credit to Tim Southeefor the way he executed thoseyorkers under pressure. One mis-take there and I am sure wewould have take him down," saidKarthik.

Asked if the team manage-ment had a word with him on nottaking that single, Karthik said:"They were all aware of the situ-ation and knew we both did thebest we could. On that day, wewere not good enough. But thesupport staff, as it has been around

for a long time, understood it (ourgame plan).

"As I said, you keep practisingthose situations and because thebelief I had in overcoming thosesituations in practice, I trustedmyself do the job in the middle. Iwas not able to deliver that day.That is what sport is. The moreyou back yourself, the more con-sistent you become in finishing thegame."

Having made his internation-al debut almost 15 years ago,Karthik has managed to play only26 Tests, 91 ODIs and 30 T20s.

But over the last 24 months,his stop-start career seems tohave found second wind and hehas featured in as many as 20ODIs and 21 T20Is besides mak-ing a Test comeback after morethan eight years.

Karthik, who has creditedMumbai stalwart Abhishek Nayarfor his recent success, can't recol-lect days when he has batted bet-ter.

"If you go by the results, def-initely yes (his best run in inter-national cricket). There is somecontinuity and that feels good. Theteam has also done well so it hasbeen a great couple of years to be

a part of."Despite consistent perfor-

mances, Karthik will have to be ontop of his game in the upcomingT20 and ODI series againstAustralia, India's last before theWorld Cup in May-July. And he isready to prove himself again.

"As an international cricketer,you have to keep reinventing thewheel, being consistent is part ofit. There will be questions askedand you have to keep answeringthem (with your performances).

"If you read into those thingstoo much (of proving yourselfrepeatedly), it only pulls youdown. It is important that what-ever opportunities you get, you dothe best you can."

Has team management toldhim that number six is the spot forhim in the batting order?

"Not really. They are also veryflexible in in their approach. Idon't think they have fixed me atnumber five or six.

"They just believe that what-ever opportunity they will give meat any position, they know that Iwill do the best that I can. Theyknow that I am able to finishgames, irrespective of the battingposition," added Karthik.

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The International CricketCouncil (ICC) on

Wednesday suspended WestIndies fast bowler ShannonGabriel for four ODIs in thewake of his "inappropriate"comments directed at Englandcaptain Joe Root.

Gabriel's remarks were inbreach of the ICC Code ofConduct, for which he was alsodocked 75 percent of his matchfees.

Gabriel, who receivedthree demerit points, had accu-

mulated a total of eight demer-it points during a specifiedperiod of 24 months, the ICCstated.

While what exactly Gabrielsaid wasn't audible, but accord-ing to a BBC report, theEngland captain Root washeard saying,"Don't use it as aninsult. There's nothing wrongwith being gay."

Gabriel admitted theoffence after the end of thematch on Tuesday and accept-ed the sanction proposed bymatch referee Jeff Crowe andno formal hearing took place.

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