9``UR SRT\d >`UZ `_ 2ce $(! - Daily Pioneer

16
D rones may soon be deployed to keep an eye on the menace of rash driving, lane change, over speeding and other traffic violations, partic- ularly on the expressways, to minimise accidents. The auto-pilot drones loaded with a geographic posi- tioning system (GPS) and a powerful camera can provide real-time pictures for better surveillance. The Road Transport Ministry may use this tech- nology first on Delhi-Meerut Expressway and Delhi Vadodara Expressway on a prototype basis. If the experi- ment is successful, drones will be deployed for traffic super- vision on other important national highways to enforce road discipline. A senior road transport official said while the use of CCTVs has somewhat con- trolled rash driving and helped in identification of the offend- ers, haphazard lane changing, especially by heavy vehicles and high speed cars and motorbikes, has emerged a major menace on expressways or new NHs. As per an internal study of the Road Transport Ministry, it has been found that people who obey lane driving end up becoming a victim when oth- ers speeding vehicles change lane swiftly. Drones will keep a watch on them and pass on the mes- sage to the nearest control office which in turn will be referred to the enforcement unit for necessary action, said a Ministry official. The official said currently Hyderabad is using drones to man the traffic and they have been programmed to spot acci- dent sites besides traffic con- gestions. Drones are also being used by various departments, including The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and Railways to mon- itor the progress of projects including the Bullet Train Project. The official explained that this low flying object will be able to take images and videos of drivers violating road disci- pline which includes seat belts, use of mobile phones etc. “As compared with manpower police patrols, drones can cover larger sections in less time and provide real-time feedback more quickly,” said the official. “Drones have been widely used for traffic surveillance and crime investigation by police departments of various states in India. Besides, it can also be very effective in the post-incident analysis,” said a law and order expert. Police believe that drones could play a major role in monitoring traffic move- ments, accident-prone areas and major traffic junctions. In an effort to enforce road and traffic discipline across the country to check accidents, Nitin Gadkari led Road Transport Ministry last month made changes in Motor Vehicle Act and Parliament passed heavy penalties for road offend- ers which include heavy penal- ties and even jail term. A mid growing speculation about him quitting the Congress and floating a new political outfit, Haryana former Chief Minister and senior party leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Sunday supported the Narendra Modi Government’s move to abrogate Article 370 of the Constitution and lashed out at his own party over its stand on the issue. “When the Government does something right I support them. Many of my colleagues had opposed the decision…My party has lost its way. It is not the same Congress it used to be. When it comes to issues of patriotism and self-respect, I will never compromise,” Bhupinder Hooda said at a political rally in his home- town Rohtak. “I was born in a patriotic family, those who oppose (abrogation of Article 370), I want to tell them usulon par jahan aanch aaye, vahan takrana zaruri hai, jo zinda hai to zinda dikhna zaruri hai (It is necessary to clash when it comes to principles, whoever is alive must show it),” the two- time former Chief Minister said. Assembly elections are to be held in Haryana in October The veteran Congress leader said, “I support the deci- sion to abrogate Article 370 but I want to tell Haryana Government that it will have to give an account of its five years and don’t hide behind this decision.” At the rally, Hooda announced a 25-member panel, comprising 12 MLAs owing allegiance to him, to decide the future of the party in the State. “Since the issue (to continue with the Congress or not) pertains to the future of people, I can’t take the decision alone,” he said. The decision of the 25- member committee will be announced in Chandigarh within a week, he added. The rally was a clear signal to the central Congress lead- ership to hand over the party’s reins in the State to Hooda, or he would go his own way ahead of the Assembly polls. For the last four years, the Hooda camp has been pres- surising the party high com- mand to replace Haryana Congress chief Ashok Tanwar with Bhupinder Hooda as party president. Speculations are rife that Hooda and his son Deepender Singh Hooda, former MP, might quit the Congress after they said they were sidelined by the party high command. In view of Vidhan Sabha polls, Hooda also announced various sops including 75 per- cent reservation in jobs for the people of Haryana. “If we form the Government, we will bring a law like Andhra Pradesh, so that 75 per cent of jobs in the state go to the people of Haryana,” he said. Speaking on the occasion, Hooda’s aides Palwal MLA Karan Dalal, Jhajjar MLA Geeta Bhukkal, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee’s former president Phool Chand Mullana, Vidhan Sabha’s for- mer speaker Raghubir Singh Kadian among others openly challenged the party high com- mand from the stage to either declare Hooda as party presi- dent in Haryana or face con- sequences. Notably, the Congress has been out of power in Haryana for five years, having lost to the BJP in October 2014 assembly polls amid factionalism and accusations of corruption against the government led by former Chief Minister Hooda. While the assembly polls are just two months away, the Congress is yet to kick off its election campaign in the state. D efence Minister Rajnath Singh on Sunday thwarted any possibility of an early resumption of dialogue with Pakistan asserting that future talks with the neighbour would be focused only on Pakistan- Occupied Kashmir (POK). Addressing a public rally in Kalka ahead of the flagging off the BJP’s Jan Ashirwad Yatra for the October Assembly polls in Haryana, Rajnath said, “If talks take place with Pakistan, it will be on POK and not on any other issue.” Virtually ruling out resumption of talks with Pakistan, Singh said, “About what should we talk? What’s the issue on which there should be talks? Why there should be a talk? If there would be any talk with Pakistan, it would happen only when Pakistan stops supporting terror from its soil.” Rajnath said for the pre- sent Government, India’s respect, pride and prestige was above all and they were com- mitted to this and it was not any election stunt. On the scrapping of the provision granting a special sta- tus to Jammu & Kashmir under Article 370 of the Indian Constitution, Rajnath said the decision had sent jitters to Pakistan and it became a cause of concern for them. “Now it (Pakistan) is knocking every door and approaching various countries for help. Have we committed any crime? And they are trying to threaten us. However, America, perceived to be the most powerful country in the world by people, has snubbed Pakistan, telling them to initi- ate a dialogue with India,” he said. He also accused Pakistan of wanting to destabilise and weaken India through terror- ism. “At times, Pakistan wants to break our country by using terrorism. But our Prime Minister has shown that he has a 56-inch chest. He took a deci- sion to give a befitting reply after the Pulwama terror attack as our Air Force carried out the Balakot strike,” he said. The Defence Minister also highlighted the development works undertaken by the Government during its second term. “We have carried out a number of development works, but we have not left issues which concern nation’s pride. Whatever we had said in our election manifesto, we are com- mitted to fulfil that, be that the revocation of Article 370,” Rajnath said. The Union Minister fur- ther stressed that the Opposition used to say if any- body touched Article 370, the country would be divided and the BJP won’t be able to come to power. “I want to say it clear- ly that the BJP does not do pol- itics for forming Government. We do politics of nation build- ing. Under no circumstances, we will allow the prestige of our country be tarnished,” he added. On the promises made in their election manifesto, Rajnath said, “Our Prime Minister keeps telling us to remain committed to the promises made in the mani- festo. ‘Pran jaye par vachan na jaye’. We do not go back on what we have promised. We scrapped provisions of Article 370 and 35-A for J&K’s inter- ests, keeping in view the future of its youth…,” he said. Singh appealed to the peo- ple of Haryana to bring back the Manohar Lal Khattar-led Government by helping the BJP realise its target of winning 75 seats in the 90-member State Assembly. Besides Khattar, Union Ministers Narendra Singh Tomar, Krishan Pal Gurjar, Rattan Lal Kataria, a number of MLAs from the State were also present in the rally. A fter remaining closed for two long weeks, since August 5, large number of schools and State Government offices are all set to reopen across different parts of Kashmir Valley amid tight security arrangements on Monday. The State Government spokesperson and Principal Secretary, Planning & Development, Rohit Kansal on Sunday said, “Over 190 primary schools will re-open in Srinagar on Monday.” He said, “We are also restoring full functionality of Government offices across Kashmir Valley to restore nor- malcy. However, ground reports suggested, in the wake of prevailing security restric- tions and absence of mobile communication facilities not many parents would be willing to drop their children to schools. Schools falling under old city area of Srinagar are not scheduled to reopen following security restrictions in place. In Jammu, the mobile internet services, which were restored across five districts of Jammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasi and Udhampur were discon- nected early on Sunday morn- ing as a precautionary measure to prevent spread of baseless rumours. Addressing a Press con- ference in Srinagar, Kansal said, “The process of easing of Prohibitory Orders and pro- viding relaxations continued on Sunday as well”. He said the relaxations were provided in 50 police stations on Sunday as against 35 police stations on Saturday and the duration in the relaxation was increased from six hours to eight hours. Hoping to continue the relaxation in coming days, Kansal said no untoward inci- dent was reported from the areas where relaxation was provided; adding traffic includ- ing public transport plied and shopkeepers opened their busi- nesses. A round 21 people have died in this part of the region as the rain lashed the States of Punjab, Haryana and Himachal Pradesh throwing the normal life out of gear. Eighteen people, including three children, have been killed due to heavy rainfall-related incidents across Himachal that witnessed the highest ever rain- fall for a 24-hour period. Himachal Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur on Sunday said that the State has witnessed tor- rential rains during the last two days resulting in landslides, flash floods and falling of trees. As per the reports received till Sunday evening, as many as eight persons were reported to have died in Shimla district alone. Two persons each have lost their lives in Chamba, Kullu, Sirmour and Solan dis- tricts. Apart from it, one per- son each lost their lives in Bilaspur and Lahaul and Spiti districts due to heavy rains dur- ing the last 24 hours. The Chief Minister said that the State has suffered a loss of about 490 crore in the State during this monsoon season. The Indian Meteorological Department said that Himachal received the highest ever rainfall for a 24-hour period, since records began almost 70 years ago. Heavy rains also remained unabated in Haryana and Punjab too causing floods in some parts, while authorities sounded a high alert in the two States. In the Yamuna river, water level rose dangerously at the Hathni Kund barrage in Yamunanagar. Haryana’s Department of Revenue and Disaster Management has issued a high flood warning on Sunday alert- ing Deputy Commissioners of Karnal, Panipat, Sonipat, Faridabad and Palwal. The dis- charge in Yamuna river is like- ly to increase due to heavy rain- fall in the catchment areas of Yamuna and its tributaries. The deputy commissioners of the five districts have been requested to keep a close watch on the situation. Continued on Page 4 Detailed reports on P2

Transcript of 9``UR SRT\d >`UZ `_ 2ce $(! - Daily Pioneer

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Drones may soon bedeployed to keep an eye on

the menace of rash driving,lane change, over speeding andother traffic violations, partic-ularly on the expressways, tominimise accidents.

The auto-pilot dronesloaded with a geographic posi-tioning system (GPS) and apowerful camera can providereal-time pictures for bettersurveillance.

The Road TransportMinistry may use this tech-nology first on Delhi-MeerutExpressway and DelhiVadodara Expressway on aprototype basis. If the experi-ment is successful, drones willbe deployed for traffic super-vision on other important

national highways to enforceroad discipline.

A senior road transportofficial said while the use ofCCTVs has somewhat con-trolled rash driving and helpedin identification of the offend-ers, haphazard lane changing,especially by heavy vehicles andhigh speed cars and motorbikes,has emerged a major menace onexpressways or new NHs.

As per an internal study ofthe Road Transport Ministry, ithas been found that peoplewho obey lane driving end upbecoming a victim when oth-ers speeding vehicles changelane swiftly.

Drones will keep a watchon them and pass on the mes-sage to the nearest controloffice which in turn will bereferred to the enforcement

unit for necessary action, saida Ministry official.

The official said currentlyHyderabad is using drones toman the traffic and they havebeen programmed to spot acci-dent sites besides traffic con-gestions. Drones are also beingused by various departments,including The NationalHighways Authority of India(NHAI) and Railways to mon-itor the progress of projectsincluding the Bullet TrainProject.

The official explained thatthis low flying object will beable to take images and videosof drivers violating road disci-pline which includes seat belts,use of mobile phones etc. “Ascompared with manpowerpolice patrols, drones can coverlarger sections in less time and

provide real-time feedbackmore quickly,” said the official.

“Drones have been widelyused for traffic surveillance andcrime investigation by policedepartments of various states inIndia. Besides, it can also be veryeffective in the post-incidentanalysis,” said a law and orderexpert. Police believe thatdrones could play a major rolein monitoring traffic move-ments, accident-prone areasand major traffic junctions.

In an effort to enforce roadand traffic discipline acrossthe country to check accidents,Nitin Gadkari led RoadTransport Ministry last monthmade changes in Motor VehicleAct and Parliament passedheavy penalties for road offend-ers which include heavy penal-ties and even jail term.

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Amid growing speculationabout him quitting the

Congress and floating a newpolitical outfit, Haryana formerChief Minister and senior partyleader Bhupinder Singh Hoodaon Sunday supported theNarendra Modi Government’smove to abrogate Article 370 ofthe Constitution and lashed outat his own party over its standon the issue.

“When the Governmentdoes something right I supportthem. Many of my colleagueshad opposed the decision…Myparty has lost its way. It is notthe same Congress it used tobe. When it comes to issues ofpatriotism and self-respect, Iwill never compromise,”Bhupinder Hooda said at apolitical rally in his home-town Rohtak.

“I was born in a patrioticfamily, those who oppose(abrogation of Article 370), Iwant to tell them usulon parjahan aanch aaye, vahantakrana zaruri hai, jo zinda haito zinda dikhna zaruri hai (It isnecessary to clash when itcomes to principles, whoever isalive must show it),” the two-time former Chief Ministersaid. Assembly elections are tobe held in Haryana in October

The veteran Congressleader said, “I support the deci-sion to abrogate Article 370 butI want to tell HaryanaGovernment that it will have to

give an account of its five yearsand don’t hide behind thisdecision.”

At the rally, Hoodaannounced a 25-memberpanel, comprising 12 MLAsowing allegiance to him, todecide the future of the partyin the State. “Since the issue (tocontinue with the Congress ornot) pertains to the future ofpeople, I can’t take the decisionalone,” he said.

The decision of the 25-member committee will beannounced in Chandigarhwithin a week, he added.

The rally was a clear signalto the central Congress lead-ership to hand over the party’s

reins in the State to Hooda, orhe would go his own wayahead of the Assembly polls.

For the last four years, theHooda camp has been pres-surising the party high com-mand to replace HaryanaCongress chief Ashok Tanwarwith Bhupinder Hooda as partypresident.

Speculations are rife thatHooda and his son DeependerSingh Hooda, former MP,might quit the Congress afterthey said they were sidelined bythe party high command.

In view of Vidhan Sabhapolls, Hooda also announcedvarious sops including 75 per-cent reservation in jobs for the

people of Haryana.“If we form the

Government, we will bring alaw like Andhra Pradesh, sothat 75 per cent of jobs in thestate go to the people ofHaryana,” he said.

Speaking on the occasion,Hooda’s aides Palwal MLAKaran Dalal, Jhajjar MLAGeeta Bhukkal, HaryanaPradesh Congress Committee’sformer president Phool ChandMullana, Vidhan Sabha’s for-mer speaker Raghubir SinghKadian among others openlychallenged the party high com-mand from the stage to eitherdeclare Hooda as party presi-dent in Haryana or face con-

sequences.Notably, the Congress has

been out of power in Haryanafor five years, having lost to theBJP in October 2014 assemblypolls amid factionalism andaccusations of corruptionagainst the government led byformer Chief Minister Hooda.

While the assembly pollsare just two months away, theCongress is yet to kick off itselection campaign in the state.

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Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Sunday thwarted

any possibility of an earlyresumption of dialogue withPakistan asserting that futuretalks with the neighbour wouldbe focused only on Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir (POK).

Addressing a public rally inKalka ahead of the flagging offthe BJP’s Jan Ashirwad Yatrafor the October Assembly pollsin Haryana, Rajnath said, “Iftalks take place with Pakistan,it will be on POK and not onany other issue.”

Virtually ruling outresumption of talks withPakistan, Singh said, “Aboutwhat should we talk? What’sthe issue on which there shouldbe talks? Why there should bea talk? If there would be anytalk with Pakistan, it wouldhappen only when Pakistanstops supporting terror from itssoil.” Rajnath said for the pre-sent Government, India’srespect, pride and prestige wasabove all and they were com-mitted to this and it was notany election stunt.

On the scrapping of theprovision granting a special sta-tus to Jammu & Kashmir underArticle 370 of the IndianConstitution, Rajnath said the

decision had sent jitters toPakistan and it became a causeof concern for them.

“Now it (Pakistan) isknocking every door andapproaching various countriesfor help. Have we committedany crime? And they are tryingto threaten us. However,America, perceived to be themost powerful country in theworld by people, has snubbedPakistan, telling them to initi-ate a dialogue with India,” hesaid.

He also accused Pakistan ofwanting to destabilise andweaken India through terror-ism. “At times, Pakistan wantsto break our country by usingterrorism. But our PrimeMinister has shown that he hasa 56-inch chest. He took a deci-sion to give a befitting reply

after the Pulwama terror attackas our Air Force carried out theBalakot strike,” he said.

The Defence Minister alsohighlighted the developmentworks undertaken by theGovernment during its secondterm.

“We have carried out anumber of development works,but we have not left issueswhich concern nation’s pride.Whatever we had said in ourelection manifesto, we are com-mitted to fulfil that, be that therevocation of Article 370,”Rajnath said.

The Union Minister fur-ther stressed that theOpposition used to say if any-body touched Article 370, thecountry would be divided andthe BJP won’t be able to cometo power. “I want to say it clear-ly that the BJP does not do pol-itics for forming Government.We do politics of nation build-ing. Under no circumstances,we will allow the prestige of ourcountry be tarnished,” headded.

On the promises made intheir election manifesto,Rajnath said, “Our PrimeMinister keeps telling us toremain committed to thepromises made in the mani-festo. ‘Pran jaye par vachan najaye’. We do not go back onwhat we have promised. Wescrapped provisions of Article370 and 35-A for J&K’s inter-ests, keeping in view the futureof its youth…,” he said.

Singh appealed to the peo-ple of Haryana to bring backthe Manohar Lal Khattar-ledGovernment by helping theBJP realise its target of winning75 seats in the 90-memberState Assembly.

Besides Khattar, UnionMinisters Narendra SinghTomar, Krishan Pal Gurjar,Rattan Lal Kataria, a number ofMLAs from the State were alsopresent in the rally.

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After remaining closed fortwo long weeks, since

August 5, large number ofschools and State Governmentoffices are all set to reopenacross different parts ofKashmir Valley amid tightsecurity arrangements onMonday.

The State Governmentspokesperson and PrincipalSecretary, Planning &Development, Rohit Kansalon Sunday said, “Over 190primary schools will re-open inSrinagar on Monday.”

He said, “We are alsorestoring full functionality ofGovernment offices acrossKashmir Valley to restore nor-malcy. However, groundreports suggested, in the wakeof prevailing security restric-

tions and absence of mobilecommunication facilities notmany parents would be willingto drop their children toschools. Schools falling underold city area of Srinagar are notscheduled to reopen following

security restrictions in place. In Jammu, the mobile

internet services, which wererestored across five districts ofJammu, Samba, Kathua, Reasiand Udhampur were discon-nected early on Sunday morn-

ing as a precautionary measureto prevent spread of baselessrumours.

Addressing a Press con-ference in Srinagar, Kansalsaid, “The process of easing ofProhibitory Orders and pro-viding relaxations continuedon Sunday as well”. He saidthe relaxations were providedin 50 police stations onSunday as against 35 policestations on Saturday and theduration in the relaxationwas increased from six hoursto eight hours.

Hoping to continue therelaxation in coming days,Kansal said no untoward inci-dent was reported from theareas where relaxation wasprovided; adding traffic includ-ing public transport plied andshopkeepers opened their busi-nesses.

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Around 21 people have diedin this part of the region as

the rain lashed the States ofPunjab, Haryana and HimachalPradesh throwing the normallife out of gear.

Eighteen people, includingthree children, have been killeddue to heavy rainfall-relatedincidents across Himachal thatwitnessed the highest ever rain-fall for a 24-hour period.

Himachal Chief MinisterJai Ram Thakur on Sunday saidthat the State has witnessed tor-rential rains during the last twodays resulting in landslides,flash floods and falling of trees.

As per the reports receivedtill Sunday evening, as many aseight persons were reported to

have died in Shimla districtalone. Two persons each havelost their lives in Chamba,Kullu, Sirmour and Solan dis-tricts. Apart from it, one per-son each lost their lives inBilaspur and Lahaul and Spitidistricts due to heavy rains dur-ing the last 24 hours.

The Chief Minister saidthat the State has suffered a lossof about �490 crore in the Stateduring this monsoon season.

The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment said thatHimachal received the highestever rainfall for a 24-hourperiod, since records beganalmost 70 years ago.

Heavy rains also remainedunabated in Haryana andPunjab too causing floods insome parts, while authorities

sounded a high alert in the twoStates.

In the Yamuna river, waterlevel rose dangerously at theHathni Kund barrage inYamunanagar.

Haryana’s Department ofRevenue and DisasterManagement has issued a highflood warning on Sunday alert-ing Deputy Commissioners ofKarnal, Panipat, Sonipat,Faridabad and Palwal. The dis-charge in Yamuna river is like-ly to increase due to heavy rain-fall in the catchment areas ofYamuna and its tributaries.

The deputy commissionersof the five districts have beenrequested to keep a close watchon the situation.

Continued on Page 4Detailed reports on P2

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An expedition by the DograScouts, which was

launched on July 26, has recov-ered parts of an Indian AirForce AN-12 BL-534 Aircraftthat had crashed in the icymountains of HimachalPradesh 51 years ago.

The aircraft crash had killedall 102 people on board.TheWestern Command hadlaunched the operation to recov-er the mortal remains of over 90missing soldiers who wereonboard the AN-12 BL-534aircraft which went missingover the Rohtang Pass in Kulludistrict on February 7, 1968, saidan official spokesman.

After 13 days of rigoroussearch and recovery operationin Dhaka Glacier at an altitudeof 5240 Meters the team recov-ered parts of the AN-12Aircraft like the aero engine,fuselage, electric circuits, pro-peller, fuel tank unit, air brakeassembly and a cockpit door aswell as personal belongings ofsome passengers who wereonboard the aircraft.

The search area, includinglocation of recoveries, has been

mapped for future reference,the spokesman said.

The expedition was joinedby a team of Indian Air Forceon August 6 to augment thesearch operation and identifi-cation efforts.

The glacier had high levelsof snow accumulation due toold avalanches, precipitous gra-dients, avalanche prone slopesand open crevasses along thecourse which made movement

of the team extremely difficultand energy sapping.

Notably, the aircraft wentmissing over the Rohtang Passon its way back to ChandigarhAir Force base. Since the crash,there were rumours that theaircraft might have strayedinto enemy territory and mayhave been forced to land inenemy territory with all theonboard passengers beingtaken as prisoners of war.

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Punjab Sports and YouthAffairs Minister Rana

Gurmit Singh Sodhi on Sundaysaid that the resurgence ofPunjab in the sporting arena isaround the corner as is evidentfrom the list announced for thenational sports honours such asthe Arjuna Award as well as theDronacharya Award.

The day is not far off whenPunjab, courtesy the pro-activesports initiatives of the presentState Government, wouldreclaim its numero uno spot asthe sports powerhouse of thecountry,” he said.

Sodhi said that the fact that

three players from Punjab —namely Shooter AnjumMoudgill, Athlete Tejinder PalSingh Toor (Shotput) andGurpreet Singh Sandhu(Football) have been recom-mended for the prestigious‘Arjuna Award’ makes the heartof every Punjabi swell withpride. The Minister also con-gratulated the Athletics coachMohinder Singh Dhillon forbeing recommended for thecoveted ‘Dronacharya Award’.

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Eighteen people includingthree children have been

killed due to heavy rainfall-related incidents acrossHimachal Pradesh.

Chief Minister Jai RamThakur on Sunday said that thestate has witnessed torrentialrains during the last two daysresulting in landslides, flashfloods and falling of trees.

He said that as many aseight persons were reported tohave died in Shimla districtalone. Two persons each havelost their lives in Chamba,Kullu, Sirmour and Solan dis-tricts. Apart from it, one per-son each lost their lives inBilaspur and Lahaul & Spiti dis-tricts due to heavy rains duringthe last 24 hours, he added.

The Chief Minister saidthat the state has suffered a lossof about � 490 crore in the stateduring this monsoon season.

Thakur said that all the

deputy commissioners of thestate have been directed tokeep a close vigil on the situa-tion and ensure safety of thelocal as well as of the tourists.

The tourists have beenadvised to stay away from riverbeds as there is always possi-bility of sudden rise in waterlevels due to flash floods andheavy rains, he said.

Lahaul & Spiti district haswitnessed untimely snow onSaturday and Sunday morningdue to which heavy damageshad been reported to crops, headded.

The Chief Minister furthersaid that the State Governmentwould ensure time boundclearances of all the majorroads so as to ensure that thepeople of the state, particular-ly horticulturists does not faceany difficulty in transportationof their produce to the markets.

The DeputyCommissioners have also beendirected to take decision

regarding closure of educa-tional institutions in theirrespective districts as per thesituation well in time so thatthe students do not face anyinconvenience, he added.

The local IndianMeteorological Department onSunday said Himachal Pradeshreceived the highest ever rain-fall for a 24-hour period, sincerecords began almost 70 yearsago.

Meanwhile, hundredsremained stranded after inces-sant rainfall triggered land-slides, snapped road links, ledto shutting down of hydropow-er projects and release of excesswater from dams.

Traffic on the Chandigarh-Manali highway was blockedbetween Mandi and Kullutowns following massive land-slides along the swollen Beasriver. The Mandi-Jogindernagar Highway wasalso closed for traffic.

Traffic was hampered on

68 roads across the state andthe maximum 47 blockadeswere in Chamba district, agovernment official said.

A Balley bridge near Kullutown was washed away due toflashflood. As a precaution,excess water was released fromSatluj Jal Vidyut Nigam Ltd's(SJVNL) 1,500 MW NathpaJhakri plant -- India's largesthydro project in Kinnaur dis-trict -- which led to flooding inthe Satluj river, he said.

The state authorities saidthat excess water was dis-charged from the Pandohdiversion dam, located 112 kmupstream of Pong dam, as aprecautionary measure. Theoutflow from the dam was onelakh cusecs. The Pandoh diver-sion dam is located on Beasriver in Mandi district. Itdiverts excess monsoon watertowards Pong dam. Otherwise,it diverts water towards Satlujriver, which feeds the GobindSagar reservoir of the Bhakra

dam.Though the inflow of water

into state's Pong and Bhakradam increased dramaticallydue to heavy rainfall, authori-ties said there is no need forworry as the reservoirs havesurplus capacity.

The Indian MeteorologicalDepartment on Sunday saidthat the entire Kangra districthas been experiencing heavyrain for the past two days.

"The state as a wholereceived 102.5 mm and this was1,065 per cent more than nor-mal for this day. This is thehighest ever rainfall in 24 hoursover the state," IMD said in astatement.

Earlier, the highest rainfallin a day was recorded onAugust 14, 2011, and that was74 mm. The monsoon wasvigorous over the state in thelast 24 hours, the IMD said.

All districts received excessrainfall. 252 mm rainfall wasrecorded in Bilaspur district,

which was 2,586 per cent morethan its normal level. Solan dis-trict received 114.2 mm (1,090per cent), Shimla 104.8mm(2,039 per cent), Hamirpur134.7 mm (1,234 per cent),Kangra 79 mm (204 per cent),Una 147.7 mm (2,138 percent), Kullu 85.9 mm (1,767 percent) and Kinnaur district 25.2mm (1,160 per cent).

The Met Department saidvery heavy to extremely heavyrainfall occurred at someplaces, especially in Bilaspur,Shimla and Sirmaur districts.The hilltop Naina Devi templein Bilaspur district saw 360 mmof rainfall, the highest in thestate.

The state capital- Shimlasaw 153 mm of rainfall,uprooting a large number oftrees in the town and blockingroads.

According to the MetDepartment, light to moderaterainfall is likely at some placesin the state on Monday.

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To provide genuine pesticidesand quality agriculture-

inputs to the farmers in Punjab,the state Agriculture Departmenthas launched a special drive toundertake vigorous inspection ofpesticide and fertilizer shops orgodowns on mass level from overpast 10 days to prevent sale ofspurious agri-inputs.

The state-wide raids havebeen conducted on 410 shops,and subsequently, 207 sampleshave been drawn from variouspesticides and fertilizers andfurther sent for examination, saidthe state Agriculture secretary KSPannu on Sunday.

He said that out of theresults received so far, five sam-ples have been found mis-branded. “FIR has been regis-tered in one case, and in anoth-er case, a complaint has beenfiled with the Police for appro-priate action in this regardbesides seizure of stock at fourplaces,” he added.

Pannu said that the check-ing of pesticide shops would con-tinue till the massive driveagainst unscrupulous dealersreaches its logical end as the soleaim of this move was to prevent

them from selling or supplyingspurious pesticides in the State.

He pointed out that severalflying squads have been pressedinto service for inter-districtchecking. Three teams havealready been assigned theirduties to inspect railway stationsin Mansa district, suspected to betransporting spurious pesticidesfrom neighbouring states, headded.

Raids have been conducted

at Nangal in Ropar district, atGuru Har Sahai in Ferozepurdistrict, a vehicle was caught with10 quintals of pesticide atMalerkotla in Sangrur district, atHarike in Tarn Taran district,and in Bathinda district, fromwhere samples have also beencollected and sent for analysis.

Besides, two suppliers ofspurious material have beenarrested by the police fromSangrur and Delhi separately.

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Troubles pour for Punjab asincessant rains for over 24

hours left three dead and hun-dreds of people homeless withflood-like situation prevailing inthe state.

As Ludhiana DistrictAdministration has declared“precautionary” alert in thewake of heavy discharge in theSutlej river from Ropar head-works, the district administra-tions at Jalandhar and Ropar hasordered evacuations of severalvillages.

Throwing normal life out ofgear on Sunday, the heavy rainslashing the entire state has leftseveral places flooded besidescausing widespread damage toroads and buildings. The situ-ation has led to cancellation ofover a dozen trains as the floodsinundate railway track at severalplaces in Ropar area. Besides,the Ropar DistrictAdministration has orderedclosure of schools and othereducational institutions forMonday.

The government’s DisasterManagement Group, headedby Chief Secretary Karan AvtarSingh, reviewed the steps need-ed to be taken to provide relieffrom imminent threat of floodsin the state.

Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh is expected tothe review State Government’spreparedness to tackle the situ-ation, if so warranted, onMonday.

The government is also

expected to order the specialgirdawari in areas where reportsof damage to crops is beingreported.

The state HealthDepartment has been asked tokeep teams ready and theElectricity Department has beeninstructed to gear up for sup-plying power in relief centres.Water levels in most of the dams— Bhakra, Pong and Pandoh —remained closed to the dangermark.

In a village near Khanna,three of a family died when theroof of their house collapsed fol-lowing heavy rains. Thedeceased were identified asSurjit Singh (35), his wifeBaljinder Kaur (32) and theirson Gurpreet Singh (9). Thecouple's 10-year-old daughterescaped unhurt.

Jalandhar DeputyCommissioner Varinder KumarSharma has asked the sub-divi-sional magistrates (SDMs) ofPhillaur, Nakodar, and Shahkotto get to get 81 low lying andflood prone villages evacuatedto save them from fury offloods in the wake of releasing1,89,940 cusecs of water fromthe Ropar headworks.

Sharma said that arrange-ments for dry fodder for ani-mals have been made, and themandis will be converted intorelied centres, if the need aris-es.

Evacuation process isunderway in dozens of villagesin Anandpur Sahib and NurpurBedi blocks of Ropar district.The teams of National DisasterResponse Force (NDRF) havebeen deployed at Burj villagenear Anandpur Sahib to avoidany untoward incident, whilethe NDRF team has rescuedseveral people from GharatBasti of Anandpur Sahib asSutlej river flooded the area.

The incessant rains led toflooding of fields in NurpurBedi area. Irate, the residents ofBangala Basti blocked NurpurBedi-Ropar road after rain waterflooded the locality.

The heavy rains have alsodamaged a small dam nearChotti Badi Naggal village,where around six cattle havereportedly died.

As per reports, the areas ofPathankot, Ropar, AnandpurSahib, Nawanshahr andFatehgarh Sahib received heavyrainfall with Nawanshahrreceiving 250 mm rainfall, whileFatehgarh Sahib received 140mm.

JALANDHAR DC ORDERSEVACUATION OF 81 VIL-LAGES

In wake of release of 1.89lakh cusec of water from RoparHeadwork, Jalandhar DeputyCommissioner JalandharVarinder Kumar Sharma askedthe SDMs of Phillaur, Nakodarand Shahkot to get 81 low lyingand flood prone villages evac-uated to save them from fury offloods.

The DC has asked theSDMs to get these villages outof which 63 fall in Shahkot subdivision, 13 in Phillaur andfive in Nakodar sub divisionevacuated at the earliest.

“Due to excessive release ofwater from Bhakra Dam, safeevacuation of people and cattlefrom low lying areas is neces-sary,” said Sharma.

Sharma said that theDistrict Administration waskeeping a close watch on theentire situation and they werealready fully geared up to faceany unforeseen eventuality aris-ing out of the prevailing cir-cumstances.

He asked the SDMs ofPhillaur, Nakodar and Shahkot

to be on high alert and coordi-nate and oversee the evacuationoperations of people residing inlow lying areas. “SDMs havealready identified safer places inthe district for movement ofpeople evacuated from these vil-lages,” he said.

“The divers have been puton alert so that they could beroped in if needed,” he saidadding that no stone would beleft unturned for extending ahelping hand to people in caseof any problem.

He added that the DistrictAdministration was in touchwith Army, National DisasterRelief Force and State DisasterRelief Force to tackle with anysort of situation, while appeal-ing to the people residing inthese villages to move at saferplaces immediately.

PRECAUTIONARY ALERTIN LUDHIANA

The District Administrationhas put a precautionary alert inareas around the Sutlej river inLudhiana city after water wasreleased from the RoparHeadworks in the river.

“Two lakh cusec of waterhas been released from theRopar Headworks which takesabout five to six hours to reachLudhiana. Though the situationis under control, a precaution-ary alert has been sounded infew areas around Sutlej river,”said Ludhiana DeputyCommissioner PradeepAgarwal.

“The evacuation centresare ready and well equipped ifthe water level increases.Around 23 villages can be affect-ed if the water level increasesand so we have alerted the vil-lagers,” he said.

The DC said that the rivercan handle around three lakhcusec of water, and there is no

need for panic in the area.Aggarwal said that in dis-

trict, there are about nine points,which are vulnerable and floodprone from where the Sutlejriver moves forward in zig-zagmanner.

“We have made all thearrangements with sand bagsand huge stones etc in case ofemergency. The Sutlej entershere from Samrala side and thelast point is near Jagraon fromwhere it will move towardsFerozepur,” he said adding thatthe Administration has notgiven any instructions for evac-uation in villages so far.

The village drain of KoomKhurd in the district has turnedinto a gushing stream of water.Also, a bridge over the drainwhich connected four to five vil-lages collapsed. People wereseen putting their lives in dan-ger by attempting to cross thedrain by walking over amakeshift bridge of woodenlogs.

Villagers complained thatnobody from the governmenthad arrived in the village to lis-ten to their grievances. The vil-lagers claimed that over 1000acres of farmland weredestroyed.

Local MLA Sharanjit SinghDhillon, who visited the village,accused the CongressGovernment of not makingadequate arrangements for thepeople. “They (the state gov-ernment) surveyed the areafrom a helicopter but did notmake adequate arrangementsfor the people. I can guaranteethat nobody from the govern-ment will come to fix thebridge,” he said.

NAWANSHAHR, BAL-ACHAUR PUT ON HIGH-ALERT

To ensure safety of resi-

dents of 67 villages adjoiningDhussi Bandh of Satluj river inwake of release of excess waterfrom Ropar Headworks,Nawanshahr DeputyCommissioner Vinay Bublaniasked the SDMs of Nawanshahrand Balachuar to get evacuatedthe residents to safer places.

There are 41 low lying andflood-prone villages inNawanshahr,while Balachaurhas 26.

After reviewing the situa-tion of Dhussi Bandh at TajowalMandhala in Nawanshahr andBela Tajowal in Balachaur, theDC directed the concernedSDMs to get expedited thestrengthening of these twopoints that have shown erosiondue to continuous heavy rainand flow of excess water.

Local MLAs Aangad SinghNawanshahar and Ch DarshanLal Mangupur who were takingstock of Dhussi Bandh in thewake of swollen river, asked theDeputy Commissioner to com-plete the work of strengtheningas early as possible so that flowof excess water could not breachthe Dhussi Bandh.

DC said that district admin-istration has called the Armyand NDRF teams to save theresidents from the fury offloods. Though till now, there isno overflow or leakage of riverwater but the administrationwas ready to handle the situa-tion by putting army personnelor NDRF teams immediately, hesaid, adding that the Army andNDRF teams would bedeployed at Nawanshahr andBalachaur, both stations.

“District Education Officerhas been asked to open thenearby schools as relief campswhile divers, boats, tents, fodderfor animals, ration for civilians,medical and veterinary teamshave been put on alert,” he said.

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You are among the 100 gam-ing enthusiasts, who jump

from a plane, parachute onto avirtual island, scavenge foroffensive weapons to kill oth-ers and survive till the end. Thelast person standing is greetedwith celebratory phrase-Winner Winner, ChickenDinner.” That’sP l a y e r U n k n o w n ’ sBattlegrounds (PUBG), theworld’s most popular and con-troversial online multiplayergame.

Colloquially known asPUBG, this battle royale gameis highly addictive and is evenslapped with a ban in fewcountries over its negativeimpact on players.

In India, PUBG has beenunder Central Government’sradar for a long time now withmany sections of the societypushing for a blanket ban onthis online game, which hasbeen blamed for distractingstudents, their poor academicperformances, violent behavior,suicides and even murders.

If you have not been livingunder the rock, you must haveheard the term PUBG in recentnews about the arrest of young-sters in parts of Gujarat forplaying the game despite a banon it.

As the gaming enthusiastsare hooked on to this game likecrazy, a large number of bizarrecases have been witnessed inthe country lately. A 15-yearold boy from Maharashtrastabbed his elder brother todeath for scolding him overplaying PUBG, a 17-year oldboy from Haryana committedsuicide after his mother scold-ed him for playing the game, a16-year-old teen from MadhyaPradesh died of cardiac arrestafter playing the game for sixhours at a stretch, a 19 years oldGujarat based married womanwith a year-old baby soughtdivorce from her husband overhis immense addiction for thePUBG, a 15-year old boy fromPunjab stole Rs 50000 from hisfather’s bank account to spend

money to buy gaming acces-sories and the list of suchbizarre cases goes on.

The PUBG phenomenon isnow also compared to thenotorious “Blue Whale chal-lenge”, which was linked withseveral suicides across India,prompting demands to curbthe menace of the deadly chal-lenge.

The “Blue Whale chal-lenge”, a social network phe-nomenon set 50 tasks over 50days which includes elementsof self-harm and the final chal-lenge requiring the player tocommit suicide. The CentralGovernment had even issuedan advisory in 2017 to theguardians to monitor theirchildren’s online and socialmedia activity to ensure thatthey are not engaging with thedeadly challenge.

While the online gameslike Super Mario, Need forSpeed, Road Rash, MortalKombat among many othersshaped much of the childhoodof 90s kids, the PUBG mobileversion is the latest phenome-non that has grown exponen-tially after its launch last yearwith people of all age groupsfrom various walks of life get-ting addicted it to and com-promising on meals, sleep andtheir social life.

Interestingly, one can playPUBG with friends and voicechat in real time. After playingit quite a few times, I observedthat we tend to play the gameagain and again when we losethe previous match. With prob-ability of winning less with 99other players in this violentgame, the successful comple-tion of a mission definitelygives you an adrenaline rushand you begin to fall into the“chicken trap”.

As you are among 100 oth-ers in the last man standingdeathmatch, the weapons thataid you along the way areinspired by actual weaponslike AK 47, Steyr AUG A3,M16A4, M249 SquadAutomatic Weapon (SAW),Mk 14 Enhanced Battle Rifleand several others. PUBG’stheme song ‘On My Way’, a

slew of vehicles and a map areamong other interesting thingsthat you come across whilelurking to shoot down theenemies in this violent game.

Undeniably, we all haveoften seen the kids and adultsaround us having their headstuck in the mobile game butplaying it for several hours ata stretch everyday can also neg-atively impact mental andphysical health.

Kushal Saini, 22, a finalyear student in the Departmentof Biotechnology, NITJalandhar says, “I and myfriends used to play PUBGeveryday for more than fivehours and till late at night. Weeven had a WhatsApp groupwhere we used to notify otherfriends about the time of play-ing PUBG. The addictionaffected our studies and lifestyleas we used to miss meals some-times and also, never attendedcalls while playing.”

Kushal tells me that heand his friends were addictedto PUBG last year but have gotrid of PUBG addiction now.We are also helping otherfriends in the College campuswho are addicted to PUBG.Whenever we see others play-ing this game for a long timeand getting addicted to it, wesimply delete the game fromtheir mobile and engage themin a conversation to diverttheir mind from the addiction,he adds.

Harjinder Singh, 21, a finalyear student in the MechanicalEngineering Department,Thapar Institute of Engineering& Technology, Patiala says,“The PUBG game is truly anexhilarating experience and agood one for time pass.”

“I play it for about two -three hours every day,” he adds.

It may sound absurd but

the “gaming disorder” is realand has even been classified asa disease in the World HealthOrganisation’s InternationalClassification of Diseases andRelated Health Problems(ICD). The WHO defines thegaming addition as “a patternof persistent or recurrent gam-ing behavior” so severe it takesprecedence over other lifeinterests.

Ankit Mehta, 32, a Delhibased businessman, is addict-ed to PUBG and plays it everyday from 8 or 8: 30 pm onwardsto 2 am or sometimes, evenmore.

Sharing the reasons forplaying the game for severalhours every day, even when atwork, he says, “It acts like ahuge stress buster for him.”

His wife Arvina Mehta,29, however is not happy withher husband’s love for PUBG.She shares, “After reachinghome from work, he startsplaying PUBG everyday andwastes around five or morehours. It is really annoyingsometimes but now, I am try-ing to find new ways to helphim get out of this gamingaddiction.”

Dapinder Kaur, 46, a resi-dent of Chandigarh, is a moth-er of two young boys aged 20and 13. She shares, “Her elderson plays PUBG for some timeand younger son plays othergames on mobile.”

Asked if she worries aboutthe children getting addicted toonline games, she says,“Children should indulge inoutdoor sports. But I also feelthat there is no harm in play-ing mobile games as long assuch things do not affect chil-dren’s daily activities.”

“Even though children donot listen to their parents thesedays but it is the parents who

need to exercise real controland monitor their children’sactivities on phones,” Dapinderadds.

While politicians, acade-micians and parents haveexpressed outrage over PUBG,arguing the game is divertingthe players’ attention fromtheir daily life, the physiatristsfeel that banning is not the onlysolution but parentingapproach and healthy rela-tionship also play a key role indealing with the issues of tech-nology addition and gamingaddiction.

Dr Savita Malhotra,Consultant, the Departmentof Mental Health AndBehavioural Sciences at FortisHospital, Mohali tells me,“These days, youngsters areover indulging in social mediaand mobile games. We haveobserved that mostly, adoles-cents play mobile gamesthroughout the night and tendto live in virtual world.Anonymity on online plat-

forms also gives them comfort.”Dr Malhotra, who was

retired as Dean PGIMER andProfessor Head, Department ofPsychiatry says, “Easy access tothe internet, interactive natureof games, disturbed parentalrelationship, parents neglectingtheir child are among some ofthe reasons of increase in casesof social media and gamingaddiction.”

Some of the consequencesof gaming addiction includewithdrawal from social life,high levels of irritability inchild, behavioral changes,increase in aggression, avoid-ing sleep and avoiding eatingproper meals and health issues.

Dr Malhotra says, “Theyoungsters lack sense of ratio-nality and judgment and tendto get involved in virtual worldand seek pleasure in living avirtual life.”

On how to deal with child’sgaming addiction, she says,“Preventive intervention is bet-ter than the treatment. The par-

ents have to be extremely cau-tious and need to monitortheir children’s online activi-ties.”

As far as treatment of suchcases is concerned, it involvesvarious steps including dealingwith family and the affectedchild, psychological methods,environment, emotional andsocial therapies, she adds.

Notably, as per a surveyconducted last year, close to 62percent respondents in the agegroup of 16 to 24 had said thatthey play PUBG game, makingit the most popular game in thecountry. On reasons of playingit, 46.2 per cent people hadresponded that it was betterthan other games while 24.5per cent people said becauseeveryone is talking about it.

In another survey recently,violent game-PUBG- hadcropped up among variousthings like cigarettes, marijua-na and online betting, on whicharound 40 percent respondentsin India wanted a ban.

Dr Subodh BN, AssociateProfessor, Department ofPsychiatry, PGIMER says,“Violence in online games def-initely affects one’s mentalhealth. Behavior manage-ment, monitoring online activ-ity of children and divertingtheir attention from gamingcan be helpful in dealing withthe internet or gaming addic-tion.”

“Parents and schools play akey role in dealing with suchissues,” he adds.

The experts also feel thatgovernment’s intervention isalso required to put some reg-ulations in place to preventexploitation of young and vul-nerable children on onlineplatforms.

In the end, we would liketo remind that if the violentmultiplayer game is interferingwith your personal life, it’stime to get some help otherwisekeep hunting down the ene-mies to get your hands on thatelusive “Chicken Dinner”.

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Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal on Sunday

said that development works tothe tune of �2,000 crore havebeen carried out in Panchkuladistrict during the last fiveyears.

The Chief Minister wasaddressing the people at MajriChowk in Panchkula districtduring the ‘Jan AashirwadYatra’.

The Chief Minister saidthat the four-lane road fromPanchkula to Yamunanagarhas been constructed at a costof �611 crore. Apart from this,Institute of Fashion Technology(NIFT) is also being con-structed at a cost of �160 crore.

He also said that a road

would also be constructed fromChandigarh Airport toPanchkula, for which, the talkswith Punjab Government hasbeen held. An under passwould also be constructed toconnect Sector 16-17 ofPanchkula by road from rail-way station Chandigarh, hesaid.

Addressing the people inRaipur Rani, the ChiefMinister said that the StateGovernment has left no stoneunturned in providing basicfacilities like electricity, roadsand water.

He said that Panchkula isthe first district of Haryana,where 24 hours electricity isbeing supplied to the people invillages.

In Naraingarh, the Chief

Minister said that theRegional Center forHorticulture University inNaraingarh has been approvedand would be establishedsoon. �850 crore have beenspent on the developmentworks in the last five years,under which sports stadiumsand girl’s colleges are beingconstructed.

Speaking at Bilaspur,Manohar Lal said that we havedelivered more than thepromises we made which alsoincluded election of educatedpanchayats.

This has raised the level ofpanchayats. The StateGovernment has started starrating scheme to encourage thegood work of panchayats, headded.

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Punjab Government hasbrought around 4500 jour-

nalists into the ambit of itsrecently launched flagshipuniversal health insurancescheme — Sarbat Sehat BimaYojana (SSBY).

Spokesperson said thataround 4,500 journalists areexpected to benefit from thescheme, under which theState Government hadextended the Prime Minister’sSehat Bima Yojana beyondBPL families to a total of 42.5lakh families with effect fromJuly 1, 2019.

All journalists, accreditedto the State Government orholding yellow cards, will beeligible to be covered underthe scheme, said thespokesperson.

The State Government willbear the entire premium underthe scheme, for nearly 400 pri-vate hospitals in Punjab havebeen empanelled. Beneficiariesare provided secondary andtertiary care treatment underthe scheme, for which all pub-lic hospitals above theCommunity Health Centre(CHC) level are also empan-

elled to provide secondaryand tertiary care treatment.

The State Governmenthad decided, a few monthsago, to extend the PMJAYscheme to provide cashlesshealth insurance cover of Rsfive lakh per family per year.

While the cost of the pre-mium for 14.86 lakh familiescovered under PMJAY as perSECC data is being borne by theCentre and State in 60:40 ratio,for the rest of the beneficiaries,including the journalists, thestate will bear the entire cost ofthe premium.

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Union Defence MinisterRajnath Singh on Sunday

lauded the working of ManoharLal Khattar Government inthe last five years and said thathe is confident that once again,the BJP would form govern-ment in Haryana.

“The people of the statewould re-elect Manohar Lal astheir Chief Minister,” the UnionDefence Minister said whileaddressing the people afterflagging off ‘Jan AashirwadYatra’ in Kalka here.

Rajnath Singh said thatBJP didn’t have any ChiefMinisterial name in 2014assembly elections, but whenBJP won with full majority,then Prime Minister NarendraModi chose Manohar Lal as theHaryana Chief Minister. Inthe last five years, the results ofworks done by the ChiefMinister proved that he is anable Chief Minister, he said.

Referring to previous StateGovernment regimes, he saidthat earlier, when the leaderswere in power in Haryana, thetopic of corruption was mostdiscussed about them. But nowno such discussion happensregarding present ChiefMinister, he said.

He also appealed to thepeople to mindfully elect their

representative in the upcomingassembly elections, due to beheld in October.

“In Haryana, investment ofRs 85,000 crore has taken placein the last five years. In 'Ease ofDoing Business', Haryana hasreached to third position from14th in the country and isexpected to reach the firstplace in the next two-three

years,” the Union Minister said.Speaking on the occasion,

Haryana Chief MinisterManohar Lal said that in 2019Lok Sabha elections, the BJPwon all 10 seats in Haryana.The mandate received from thepeople of the state in MunicipalCorporation elections,Municipal Committee elec-tions, bye-elections of Jind and

recently concluded Lok Sabhaelections is proof of people’ssupport for work done by thegovernment so far in Haryana,he said.

Development works whichhave been carried out inHaryana in the last five years,have never happened before. Inthis link, development works ofRs 800 crore have been carried

out in Kalka and 120 villages ofMorni have been providedwith water supply. Road net-works have been laid, ROBs arebeing constructed and Pinjoreby-pass is also being con-structed. On 100 acres land ofHMT, Apple Mandi is being setup and industry would be setup in the remaining land, theChief Minister said while high-

lighting his government’sachievements.

Manohar Lal also said thatunder the leadership of PrimeMinister Narendra Modi,Defence Minister RajnathSingh and Home MinisterAmit Shah, a historic step ofrevoking of Article 370 and35A from Jammu and Kashmirwas taken.

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Condemning Punjab ChiefMinister Capt Amarinder

Singh for deciding to celebratethe birth anniversary of formerPrime Minister Rajiv Gandhi,SAD president Sukhbir Badalon Sunday said that it was ashame that the “birthday of aperson primarily responsiblefor orchestrating the Sikh mas-sacre in New Delhi is going tobe celebrated”.

Sukhbir, speaking to themedia after addressing a seriesof meetings in the city, said thatCapt Amarinder and theCongress party should explainwhy they were planning torub salt on the wounds ofPunjabis, particularly Sikhs,by organizing state functionson Rajiv’s birthday? “Rajiv

ordered the killings of ourSikh brothers and sisters. Hermother Indira Gandhi attackedour holiest place ShriHarmandir Sahib with tanksand mortars” he said.

Slamming the CongressGovernment for neglecting thedevelopment of the Abohararea, the SAD president said itwas ill-fate of the residents herethat despite being so powerful,Jakhars did nothing for thisconstituency.

Issuing a clear warning tothe police officials found slap-ping false cases against theSAD-BJP leaders and workersformer Deputy Chief Ministersaid that registration of fakecases against Akali-BJP leaderswould cost them their uniform.

“I will not only sack allthose biased cops but willensure the registration of casesagainst them in their ownpolice station as well,” he cau-tioned.

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Punjab Finance MinisterManpreet Singh Badal,

envisioning Punjab as mostfavoured investment destina-tion, has exhorted entrepre-neurs with roots in Punjab toact as State ambassadors toattract more investment.

Manpreet exuded confi-dence that State was on thethreshold of developmentowing to the formidable foun-dation laid by the CaptAmarinder SinghGovernment in the last twoand half years.

“Punjab would soonemerge as the most favouredinvestment destination whichwill transform the state's des-tiny and would positively

impact the lives of its citizens,”he said while interacting witha group of visiting entrepre-neurs with roots in Punjab.

Punjab had taken hugestrides in both traditional aswell as IT and ITES sectors, headded.

Manpreet said that theState was on a right path andall set to leverage the goodwork done, and the investor-friendly policies had alreadyfirmed up investments worthRs 50,000 crores since we tookover in March 2017.

Highly appreciating thestate endeavour for ensuringease of doing business, thedelegation expressed hope thatthis would lead in augmentinga fresh wave of investments inPunjab.

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Three people were killedand six others injured on

Sunday after their SUV skiddedoff the Noida-Greater NoidaExpressway and fell into a 30feet ditch alongside the road,police said.

The expressway hasbecome a death trap formotorists and fatal mishapskeep occurring at this stretch atregular intervals. Police officialssay they are in constant touchwith the expressway manage-ment to minimize accidentsand crashes on this stretch.

According to Circle Officer(CO), Greater Noida-1, TanuUpadhyay, "The incident tookplace around 10 am near theZero Point in Greater Noida'sKnowledge Park police sta-tion area. The Ford Endeavourwas apparently taking a U-turnnear Pari Chowk when it skid-ded off the expressway and fellinto a ditch, about 30 feet lowfrom the road. Three peoplewere killed and six others, whowere injured, were rushed to aprivate hospital where they are

undergoing treatment", shesaid.

A survivor told police thatall of them worked at a call cen-tre and had gone out to cele-brate in the "new car", the COadded. "The group had set offin the car early this morningand went to Aligarh also. Theywere returning from therewhen the incident took place,"she said, citing preliminaryinvestigation.

However, the Circle Officersaid the information was beingverified by police and furtherproceedings were underway. Acase under relevant sections ofthe Indian Penal Code (IPC)has been registered. However,other details, including identi-ty of the deceased and theinjured, were not availableimmediately.

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A12 year old girl was reunit-ed with his father by Delhi

Police with the help of GoogleMaps. The minor girl wasmissing in national Capitalsince March this year.

On March 21 the victimgirl had taken an e-rickshawnear the Kirti Nagar furniture

market. When the minordid not get down at the metrostation, the e-rickshaw driverasked her where she wanted togo, but she did not give anyreply, following which he tookher to the Kirti Nagar policestation at 8.33 pm, a senior offi-cer said.

During an initial inquiry,the girl could not rememberher house and just said she wasfrom "Khurja" village and herfather's name was Jeetan, theofficer said.

Police searched KhajuriKhas and Khureji areas ofDelhi since their names aresimilar to the word 'Khurja', butcould not find any records ofmissing complaints being filed.They took the girl to the near-by JJ colony, but no one couldidentify her.

The girl, who is mentally-challenged, also said that shehad travelled to Delhi by a traina couple of days ago with anuncle named 'Pintu'. He tookoff her clothes in the train's

washroom and left her therewhen she started crying, policesaid.

On March 22, her medicalexamination was conductedand no sign of sexual assaultwas found. A case was regis-tered under Section 354A (sex-ual harassment) of the IndianPenal Code and relevant sec-tions of the POCSO acts. Shewas handed over to an NGOnamed Nirmal Chhaya, thepolice said.

The 12-year-old was takento Khurja village in UttarPradesh's Bulandshahr district

by a police team on four dif-ferent occasions, but they didnot get any clue about her fam-ily, Deputy Commissioner ofPolice (West) Monika Bhardwajsaid.

"We kept trying to trace herfamily but could not get anylead. She was not being able tosay the name of her villageproperly," Bhardwaj said. "Thepolice team had gone to Khurjaseveral times, but no one couldrecognise her there."

When a police team wastaking the girl to Khurja again on July 31, a senior offi-

cer asked her the names ofnearby areas of her village.She said Sonbarsa was hermother's village and there wasa place called Sakapar near hervillage.

Thereafter, with the help ofGoogle Maps, the police got toknow that in Uttar Pradesh'sSiddharthnagar district, thereare villages with the name ofSakapar, Sonbarsa and "Kurja".

Later, her family was alsotraced by the police. On August1, her father Jeetan, a native ofKurja village, came to Delhifrom Gorakhpur, the policesaid.

Jeetan said he brought hisdaughter to the capital fortreatment at the Institute ofHuman Behaviour and AlliedSciences (IHBAS). The girlwent missing on Holi from hissister's house at JJ colony inKirti Nagar, but he did not fileany missing complaint, thepolice said.

Jeetan, who works at ascrap factory in Delhi, said hiswife, who lives at her parent'shouse in Sonbarsa, was men-tally-challenged and she hadalso gone to some randomplace around one-and-a-halfyears ago, according to thepolice. "Around three-fourmonths later, she was traced inLudhiana, Punjab. Similarly,he thought that police willfind his daughter also."

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The Haryana police onSaturday claimed that

State's most wanted criminalKaushal has been arrested inAbu Dhabi of United ArabEmirates (UAE) by the localauthorities on the request of theIndian Government. HaryanaPolice had approached theUnion Home Ministry after

which detailswere sent tothe UAE viaMinistry ofE x t e r n a lAffairs (MEA)and a lookoutnotice wasissued by theInterpol.

K a u s h a lwanted in over100 criminals

cases carried a reward of �fivelakh and is likely to be deport-ed in two weeks, sources said.

Sources in the State policesaid an operation to arrestKaushal had started in January2019. A police team ofHaryana Police had got intouch with Interpol in Dubai tocollect more information aboutthe dangerous criminal. Theinvestigation team had kept aclose watch on his movementsand all his gang members oper-ating from different parts of thestate.

However, Gurugram policeofficials were tight-lipped overthe issuer and refused to com-ment. GurugramCommissioner of PoliceMohammad Akil didn'trespond to phone calls.

Kaushal had jumped paroleafter coming out of Bhondsi jailin December 2016 and hadbeen absconding since then.The gangster was wanted inmore than 200 alleged cases ofextortion, murder, attempt tomurder and kidnapping inGurugram, Faridabad, Rewari,Jhajjar, Palwal and Rajasthan.

Gurugram Police has ini-tiated an operation againstKaushal and his gang andmanaged to arrest over 20people, including his girlfriendand wife who were alsoinvolved in criminal activities.It has around 250 memberswho were mostly engaged inextortion.

Kaushal is a notoriousgangster of Gurugram involvedin over 100 criminal casesincluding murder, attempt tomurder, kidnapping, extortionand running betting rackets inGurugram.

A native of NaharpurRupa village in Gurugram,Kaushal was also involved inthe murders of bookie VijayBatra alias Tantrik, propertydealer Jaydeep alias JD whowas a former gangster, andHaryana Congress spokesper-son Vikas Chaudhary inFaridabad.

Kaushal's wife Roshni wasarrested by SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) head-ed by SP Bijarniya on June 29in connection with the murderof Vikas Chaudhary.

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A50-year-old man died aftera collision between his

motorcycle and a car driven bya 20-year-old student here onSunday, police said. The inci-dent took place on the earlyhours of Sunday near a metrostation in Noida Sector 72 ofthe city.

The deceased has beenidentified as Raunaq Ali, anative of Amroha district inwestern Uttar Pradesh, whoworked as a labourer to earnhis living, a police official said.

"Abhinav Kumar, who wasdriving the car, has been arrest-ed. He is a student at a privateinstitute in Delhi. He has a validdriver's license," the official said.A case has been registered at theSector 49 police station, policesaid and further investigation isgoing on.

From Page 1He was also requested to

keep their disaster manage-ment resources on high readi-ness to tackle any adverse sit-uation.

The officials concerned

with disaster management havebeen asked not to leave theirstation till the situation returnsto normal.

In Punjab, floods werereported from areas likeRupnagar, Fatehgarh Sahib and

Pathankot. Following heavyrains in Aol village nearKhanna, three members of afamily, including a 10-year-old,were killed when the roof oftheir house collapsed.

A few trains were can-

celled in Rupnagar after rain-water flooded rail tracks.Authorities have also orderedclosure of schools in the area.

In the wake of the releaseof nearly two lakh cusecs ofwater from the RupnagarHeadwork, DeputyCommissioner of Jalandhar,Varinder Kumar Sharma hasasked the sub-divisional mag-istrates Phillaur, Nakodar andShahkot to get 81 low-lying andflood-prone villages evacuatedto save them from fury offloods. Jalandhar districtauthorities have asked peopleliving near the swollen Sutlejriver and the low-lying areas toremain alert following therelease of excess water from theBhakra Dam.

In Ferozepur too, authori-ties have ordered evacuation of20 villages due to floods.

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In its bid to provide connec-tivity to the commuters by the

Delhi Metro Rail Corporation(DMRC), a 300-metres walk-way connecting the interchangemetro stations of Blue andAqua lines was inaugurated onSunday.

The walkway, constructedbetween the Sector 51 stationon Aqua Line and the Sector 52station on the Delhi MetroRail Corporation's (DMRC)Blue Line, was inaugurated byUnion Housing and UrbanAffairs Secretary Durga

Shankar Mishra. "The walkwaybuilt by Noida Metro RailCorporation will facilitate thosetraveling to Greater Noida fromvarious parts of Delhi," theDMRC tweeted.

Commuters have beenwaiting for long to get such afacility for travelling betweenthe two cities by transitioningthrough the two corridors.Mishra tweeted about the facil-ity being dedicated to the peo-ple on Sunday.

"I had announced that wewill develop an all-weatherpedestrian pathway & deploy e-rickshaws between the two sta-

tions which will offer free ofcost rides. I feel immenselyproud that the 300 mtr longwalkway announced 4 monthsback has been dedicated to thecitizens today," he tweeted.

The HUA secretary sharedpictures of the new facility. Healso took a ride in an e-rick-shaw.

Keeping in mind the comfort of passengers, theNMRC had also provided free solar powered e-rickshawservices in this stretch to facil-itate connectivity between thetwo metro rail networks, theDMRC said.

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New Delhi: There should beconversation in harmoniousatmosphere between those infavour of reservation and thoseagainst it, RSS chief MohanBhagwat said on Sunday.

Bhagwat said he had spo-ken on reservation earlier aswell, but it created a lot of noise and the whole discus-sion diverted from the actual issue.

Those who favour reser-vation should speak keeping inmind the interests of those whoare against it, and similarlythose who oppose it should dothe vice-versa, he said.

He said discussion onreservation results in sharpactions and reactions everytime whereas there is a need forharmony in the different sec-tions of the society on thisapproach.

Bhagwat was speaking inthe concluding session of GyanUtsav which was on the com-petitive exams.

Earlier, the RashtriyaSwayamsevak Sangh (RSS)chief had advocated for reviewof the reservation policy, draw-ing sharp reactions from manyparties and caste groups.

Bhagwat said the RSS, theBJP and the party-ledGovernment were three dif-ferent entities and one cannotbe held responsible for actionsof another.

Talking about the percep-tion of Sangh’s influence overthe Narendra Modi dispensa-tion, Bhagwat said, “Since thereare Sangh workers in BJP andthis Government, they will lis-ten to RSS, but it is not manda-tory for them to agree with us.

They can disagree as well.” Since the BJP is in

Government, it has to look atthe bigger picture and can dis-agree with the RSS point ofview, he said, adding once aparty comes to power, for it theGovernment and nationalinterest become priority.

Gyan Utsav was organisedby the RSS-affiliated ShikshaSanskriti Utthan Nyas at theIndira Gandhi National OpenUniversity here. PTI

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The CBI on Sunday con-ducted searches at six

places including the office ofMoser Baer India Ltd at OkhlaIndustrial Area in the nation-al Capital and at residentialpremises of present and formerDirectors of the company.

The CBI has registered acase against Madhya PradeshCM Kamal Nath’s brother-in-law Deepak Puri, his wife Nitaand son Ratul and their firmMoser Baer in a case of cheat-ing, forgery, criminal conspir-acy and under provisions of thePrevention of Corruption Actfor cheating Central Bank ofIndia to the tune of Rs 354crore till November 29, 2014.

Besides Moser Baer MDDeepak Puri, whole time direc-tor Nita, then executive direc-tor Ratul, the CBI has alsonamed directors of the accusedfirm Sanjay Jain and VineetSharma besides unknown pub-lic servants and private personsas accused in the case.

The CBI registered thecase on Saturday, a day after itreceived a complaint fromCentral Bank’s Corporate

Finance Branch here on Friday. “Case was registered on

17.08.19 against the company;present and former officials ofthe said company; unknownpublic servants and unknownprivate persons on the allega-tions of cheating and defraud-ing banks,” a CBI spokespersonsaid in a statement.

In his compliant to theCBI, the Deputy GM of theCentral Bank Murali Chitturialleged that “MBIL has causedunlawful loss to our bank to thetune of Rs 354.51 crore as on29.11.2014 and interest there-on by getting unlawful gains.”

As per RBI guidelines toensure there is no leakage of rev-enue, the accused firm andtheir officials allegedly main-tained accounts with a largenumber of banks outside theconsortium. “The sales pro-ceeds generated from the busi-ness working capital funds lentwere not deposited with thecomplainant bank/consortiumbanks and were routed throughother banks, thereby indicatingfraudulent intentions for siphon-ing off the monies, the CentralBank alleged in its complaintwhich now part of the FIR.

MBIL made substantial

investments in subsidiaries andexposure to its related entitiesamounting to Rs 14.56.12 croreinstead of making efforts forredemption of the investmentsand recovery of receivablesfrom sales, MBIL chose towrite them off in order todivert and siphon off the loanamounts. This led to wrongfulgains by the company andtheir officials and wrongfulloss to the lender banks, thecompliant further alleged.

MBIL has direct invest-ment of Rs 735.87 crore in sub-sidiaries as on December 31,2013. However, total exposureof the firm towards subsidiariesand related entities was Rs1,456.12 crore. MBIL gave corporate guaranteeamounting to Rs 2,056.87 croreon behalf of its subsidiarieswithout any permission fromthe complainant bank beforetaking such large exposure onbehalf of its subsidiaries, thebank alleged.

The bank also alleged thatthe accused company and itsdirectors furnished forged doc-uments to buttress their claimstowards promoters’ contribu-tion in the firm.

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Minister of State (MoS) forHRD, Communications,

and Electronics InformationTechnology Sanjay Dhotre hasleft for a five-day long visit to Lithuania, Latvia andEstonia, Latvia, as a part of ahigh-level delegation accom-panying Vice-President MVenkaiah Naidu visiting theseBaltic countries.

After taking charge of thethree Ministries, this will beDhotre’s first formal visit to anyforeign nations. India andBaltic countries have historicalconnect and common linguis-tic roots.

The cutting-edge technol-ogy and innovation ecosys-tem of the Baltic countriescomplement India’s huge mar-ket and appetite for these tech-nologies.

This visit led by the Naiduwill be the first ever high-levelvisit to the three Baltic nations.

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The Congress on Sundayexpressed concern over

what it called the “slowdown”of economy and said the coun-try is facing a situation like that of a “financial emer-gency”. Expressing concernover the economic slowdown,the grand old party stated thesituation is like that of a “finan-cial emergency”.

Congress spokespersonAbhishek Singhvi accused theBJP of diverting the people’sattention from its failures. Heraised the issue of slowdown inautomobile sector.

The trend of the slow-down in the automobile indus-try did not come all of a sud-den. The 31 per cent fall in salesis also the ninth straight dropin monthly passenger vehiclesales, Singhvi said. “Sales havefallen in 12 out of 13 monthssince July 2018, underscoringthe sharp slowdown in theworld’s fourth largest automo-bile market,” Singhvi said atAICC Press conference.

He also raised the issues ofcrashing stock exchange andrising fiscal deficit. The otherissues he raised are fallingGDP figures, shrinking labourforce, recession in real estatesector, continuous weakeningof rupee, and falling foreigndirect investment and foreignportfolio investment.

Criticising the NarendraModi Government, he said,“Ironically, if one looks at

between Modi 1 (Government)beginning and Modi 2, he orshe shall figure that has been aregression in progress.”

Singhvi also accused theNDA government of beingunable to come up with a“sound” monetary policy. “Ithas to consider about the trade-off between unemploymentand inflation,” Singhvi said.

He also asked “why the ratecuts have been announced by

the RBI even after so manydays? Only one-third of the ratecuts have been implemented bythe banks, the substantialchunk has not reached therecipients of credit”.

“Why there is so muchnoise about selling ailing pub-lic sectors but absolutely noprogress on the ground,” heasked. Singhvi added whenPrime Minister Modi assumedoffice, the rupee was at 58.7against the US dollar.

“However, now rupee hasfurther devalued. One USD hasreached Rs 71 and is anticipat-ed to cross Rs 72 limit in thecoming weeks,” he said.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah said on Sunday the

politics of appeasement, whichled to the Partition, was the rea-son for the continuance of the “evil practice” of tripletalaq for so long.

Speaking at an event here,Shah defended the law crimi-nalising triple talaq, asserting thatit establishes gender equality.

“Some people level allega-tions against BJP Governmentthat such action is anti-Muslim.I want to make it clear that thisis only and only to benefitMuslims, not the Hindus, Jainsor Christians,” he said.

It was a “nightmare” forcrores of Muslim women whowere denied of their rights, hesaid. He said 92.1 per cent ofMuslim women supportedcriminalisation of triple talaq.

Coming down heavily onthe Congress, Shah, who is alsoBJP president, said the party has“no shame” and continues tooppose the law on triple talaq.

The Home Minister said ittook several decades to end thisevil practice because of theCongress, which always resort-ed to the politics of appeasement.

Referring to the then RajivGandhi Government’s decisionto bring a law to overturn theSupreme Court judgement inthe Shah Bano case, he said itwould be considered a “blackday” in the history of Parliament.

There is no doubt in theminds of those favouring tripletalaq and those opposing it thatit was an “evil practice”. Peopleshould welcome moves foreradication of any evil practice,but there is Opposition in caseof triple talaq. “The politics ofappeasement is responsible forit,” he said.

Some parties were in thehabit of coming to power on

the basis of vote-bank politics,that’s why such evil practicescontinued, he said. The politicsof appeasement has been ahurdle in the path to achievedevelopment and social cohe-sion in the country.

“When some people arehungry for power, they resortto the politics of appeasement.They are not concerned aboutMuslim women but concernedonly about vote-bank,” he said.

But, “when your intentionis social uplift, you have towork hard for it, you have toplan it,” he said.

“The election of NarendraModi as Prime Minister in2014 was the beginning of theend of politics of appeasementand the 2019 mandate is to endit forever,” said Shah.

The Home Minister saidhad the practice of triple beenpart of Islamic culture, why didso many Muslim countrieshave ended it. That means thisevil practice is anti-Islam andIslam does not support it. Asmany as 19 countries haveended triple talq between 1922and 1963.

“This evil practice of tripletalaq was going on for long and

the Modi Government hasabolished it forever and giventhe Muslim women the right tolive in dignity and equality,” hesaid.

Shah said many peoplesaid it was a civil matter, so whydid you criminalise it.

“When ‘Sati pratha’ (selfimmolation by Hindu wid-ows) was abolished, no oneopposed it. When child mar-riage was ended, no oneopposed it. In case of childmarriage, there is a provisionfor two years jail. Similarly,dowry is a civil matter. Indowry case, if just the demandis made, there is a provision for two years’ impris-onment,” he said.

The triple talaq has beencriminalised to educate people,to create fear among somepeople that “if you do this, youwill be punished”. “Earlier,triple talaq had no provision formaintenance for women. Now,we have made provision formaintenance,” he said.

The Home Minister said hewanted forgiveness fromMuslim women as they had tosuffer for long because of thisevil practice.

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More than two years afterthe enactment of the

Mental Health Act, 2017,around 10 States are yet to setup authorities for the properimplementation of the rulesunder the new legislation. Tenper cent of India’s populationsuffers from mental illnesses,and 90 per cent of them remainuntreated.

“Only 19 States have imple-mented the Mental HealthcareAct so far,” said SanjeevaKumar, Special SecretaryHealth Ministry.

He said 10.6 per cent adultpopulation in the country suf-fers from mental health issues.This is a huge number requir-ing holistic concept of safetynets, legal frameworks andmedical care facilities.

Kumar was speaking at arecent national level reviewmeeting on mental health. Themeet was organised by NationalHuman Rights Commission(NHRC).

The State authorities aresupposed to register and regu-late all mental healthcare facil-ities and publish their detailsonline. They are also requiredto register all clinical psychol-

ogists, mental health nursesand psychiatric social workers.

The Act mandates theStates to have a functionalauthority within nine monthsof the law coming into force,but most of the States havemissed the deadline. The Statesare also yet to draft the rules ofthe Act.

“There is a lack of under-standing among States abouthow to make rules. They needa bit of legal guidance andhandholding,” Preeti Sudan,Health Secretary said.

She said with the lack ofnew rules, the rules of the oldMental Health Act (1987) arestill being followed.

Earlier, inaugurating themeeting, NHRC Chairperson,Justice HL Dattu said that theefforts to improve the mentalhealth care in the country havebeen made but a huge gap stillremains between the require-ments and availability of facil-ities in the sector.

Flagging it as a matter ofserious concern for theCommission, he said that con-

sistent with its policy to mon-itor the mental health sector, itfelt necessary to evaluate theground realities post imple-mentation of MentalHealthcare Act, 2017.

Justice Dattu said there is arequirement of 13,500 psychia-trists but only 3,827 are avail-able. Against the requirement of20250 clinical psychologistsonly 898 are available. Similarly,there is an acute shortage ofparamedical staff also.

According to a study con-ducted by the National Institute

of Mental Health andNeurosciences (NIMHANS) in2016, across 12 States, the preva-lence of depression for both cur-rent and lifetime is 2.7 per centand 5.2 per cent, respectively.Approximately 1 in 40 and 1 in20 people are suffering frompast and current episodes ofdepression all over the country.This survey has shown that thelifetime prevalence of mentaldisorder is 13.7 per cent as awhole, which would mean atleast 150 million Indians are inneed of urgent intervention.

However, there is a long wayto go to meet the needs. TheHealth Ministry official high-lighted that the States are notusing funds dispersed for theimplementation of the Act,which has forced the HealthMinistry to switch up systemsfor the transfer of the remainingamount. The Ministry has nowdecided to reimburse the Statesinstead of paying instalments.

“Despite the system ofmoney dispersal havingchanged, no States have appliedfor reimbursements,” said LavAgarwal, joint secretary, HealthMinistry. He added if the Centrereleases money and the Statesdon’t utilise it, then the man-power cannot be increased.

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Every rupee spent on themanagement of tiger

reserves in the country broughtin indirect benefits worth Rs 346to Rs 7,488 within and outsidethe protected areas, as per thefindings of a Government studywhich analysed 10 of India’s 50big cat habitats. Most of the ben-efits have been indirect.

For instance, noted thereport “Economic valuation oftiger reserves in India: A value+ approach,” a series of reser-voirs and weirs have been con-structed in and aroundAnamalai Tiger Reserve (ATR),which is blessed with 15 riversand 64 streams and has variousrivers and tributaries, under themultipurpose ParimbukulamAliyar, Amaravathi andKadamparai projects. Thesereservoirs supply water to res-idents of Coimbatore andTirrupur districts of TamilNadu and parts of Kerala andgenerate approximately 589MW of electricity annually.

Or for that matter, thereport noted that population ofaround 1,00,000 is dependent

on water supply from theSrisailam Dam in AndhraPradesh’s NagarjunasagarSrisailam tiger reserve andabout 1.2 million gallons ofpurified water is supplied perday to nearby Srisailam town.

It was noted that the 10 tigerreserves Anamalai (TamilNadu), Bandipur (Karnataka),Dudhwa (Uttar Pradesh),Melghat (Maharashtra),Nagarjunasagar-Srisailam(Andhra Pradesh), Pakke(Arunachal Pradesh), Palamu(Jharkhand), Panna (MadhyaPradesh), Similipal (Odisha),and Valmiki (Bihar) whose eco-nomic valuation was carried outoffer protection from disease,predators and parasites, whichis an avoided cost in the rangeof Rs 7.7 crore to Rs 24.15 crore.

These are just a few bene-fits among several that thetiger reserves are providing tothe community, said NTCAmember secretary Anup KNayak. He said, needless to sayforests are source of fresh andclean water. In addition toproviding clean water, forestsalso absorb rainfall, timberproduce, employment, herbs

used for medicinal purpose,refill groundwater aquifers,slow and filter stormwaterrunoff, reduce floods andmaintain watershed stabilityand resilience besides naturalhealing for mental peace.”

The report which wasreleased recently by PrimeMinister Narendra Modi esti-mated that together these 10tiger reserves surveyed provideannual tangible and intangiblebenefits worth Rs 5,96,502.14crore while the monetary valuefrom these surveyed protect-ed habitats ranged from Rs5,094.91 crore to Rs 16,202.11

crore annually.Jointly published by the

National Tiger ConservationAuthority (NTCA) and theIndian Institute of ForestManagement, (IIFM) Bhopal,the study analysed that mone-tary benefits of Rs 346.7 wererealised from and withinMaharashtra’s Melghat tigerreserve per year, while for theNagarjunasagar Srisailam tigerreserve every rupee spent onmanagement costs broughtbenefits of Rs 7,488.60.

While Union EnvironmentSecretary CK Mishra said thestudy provides rationale for

continued and enhancedinvestment in these reserves,Nayak added the monetarybenefits obviously are neitherdirect nor in physical terms.

The findings of the studyare significant amidst frequentongoing debate on develop-ment vs environment, more soafter Union Transport MinisterNitin Gadkari recently said inParliament “a poor country”must decide how far it can goin spending public money toprotect environment and bal-ance out development needs.He was replying to a questionfrom Congress MP K Suresh

who asked if the Ministerwould consider buildingunderpasses on the NationalHighway between Mysuru andWayanad to protect tigers in theBandipur wildlife sanctuaryon the lines of the Pench TigerReserve in Madhya Pradesh.

Among the 10 reserves,MP’s Panna tiger reserve pro-vided tangible and intangiblebenefits of Rs 67.14 crore and Rs20,632.95 crore respectively, thelowest of economic benefitsfrom all ten reserves studied. Thehighest tangible and intangiblebenefits worth Rs 34.33 crore andRs 1,09,664.82 crore respective-

ly were from Jharkhand’s Palamutiger reserve.

Needless to say, the reportdemonstrates that enhancedinvestment in these tigerreserves is economically ratio-nal. Tigers being apex preda-tors, their presence in anecosystem indicates towards awell-functioning and balancedfood chain. As Tigers require alarge area of contiguous forestcover for home and a good preybase for survival, by protectingthem we can also ensure theprotection of other species.That is why they are also calledas “umbrella” species, saidMadhu Verma from IIFM.

The report asserts thattiger reserves, which UnionEnvironment Minister PrakashJavadekar termed as ‘engines ofeconomic growth’, provide ahost of ecosystem serviceswhich are of significant valuein a time when countries areinvesting heavily in climatechange adaptation and mitiga-tion as it looked at tangible andintangible flow benefits thatresult from investment in thesehabitats, including employ-ment generation, fishing, fod-

der, fuelwood, carbon seques-tration, water provisioning,water purification, sedimentretention/soil conservation.

The other areas that wereanalysed were nutrient reten-tion, biological control, polli-nation, gas regulation, climateregulation, gene pool protec-tion, moderation of extremeevents, cultural heritage, recre-ation, spiritualtourism, andm u c hmore.

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Bengaluru: Days after chargesof phone tapping during theprevious coalition Governmentheaded by JD(S) surfaced,Karnataka Chief Minister BSYediyurappa on Sunday said hewill order a CBI probe into theallegations citing demands byseveral political leaders includ-ing Congress.

While former ChiefMinister HD Kumaraswamy,who headed the coalitionGovernment said he was readyfor a probe by even an “inter-national agency”, his alliancepartner the Congress, however,seemed to be a divided house.

“On the telephone tappingissue. Several leaders, includingCongress Legislature Partyleader Siddaramaiah, have saidit should be probed and truthshould come out, so I havedecided to order a CBI probe.Tomorrow itself I will order theprobe,” Yediyurappa toldreporters here.

He also said it was theexpectation of the people of thestate that a detailed inquiryshould be made and the culpritspunished. Yediyurappa'sannouncement comes amidsigns that the scandal was gain-

ing political steam ever sincedisqualified JD(S) MLA AHVishwanath, who served asJD(S) State president andturned rebel later, last weekdropped the political bomb,accusing the HDKumaraswamy Government oftapping phones and spying onmore than 300 people, includ-ing him. Congress leaders,including Siddaramaiah, MMallikarjuna Kharge and homeminister in the alliance gov-ernment M B Patil, had soughta probe while another key partyleader and former minister D KShivakumar has rejected thesnooping charges and appearedto side with Kumaraswamy.

According to reports,phones of those close toSiddaramaiah, who was thethen coalition coordinationcommittee chief, too had comeunder the watch.

Several BJP leaders, includ-ing former Chief MinisterJagadish Shettar, have directlyaccused Kumaraswamy of beingbehind the episode to save hisgovernment which was thenrocked by dissidence within.

The coalition governmentultimately collapsed last month

with Kumaraswamy losing thetrust vote in the assembly.

Reacting to the ChiefMinister announcing a CBIprobe, Kumaraswamy, who hasalready denied the charges, said“Let them do any inquiry,whether it is a CBI inquiry orany other agency of internationalstandard, or let them talk toTrump (US President DonaldTrump) and get it inquiredthrough some one from hisside.” He also hit out at the elec-tronic media for its coverage onthe issue, saying no one can doanything to him and alleged thattheir intention and attemptswere to keep him away frompeople of the state.

Stating that he was notaware as to why his name waslinked to the phone tapping case,he stressed, “If I was involved Iwould have panicked, I'mopen.... There is not even aniota... To point fingers at me.”

The JD(S) leader also askedYediyurappa to bring BJPs pre-vious tenure in the governmentand also that of Siddaramaiahunder the ambit of the CBIprobe. While CongressLegislature Party leaderSiddaramaiah has welcomedthe CBI probe, hoping that theBJP does not use the centralinvestigating agency for “polit-ical vendetta,”Congress on itsofficial Twitter handle has saidthat telephone tapping “was abundle of lies” and a conspira-cy for hate politics.

“I welcome the decision of@BSYBJP to hand over thephone tapping case to CBI.

But in the past @BJP4Indiahas used CBI as its puppet tounleash its venomous politicalvendetta.

Hope @BJP4Karnatakaleaders does not have similarintentions this time,”Siddaramaiah tweeted on

Sunday following announce-ment of probe by the chief min-ister. Asserting that allegationsof 'Operation Kamala' beingdone in Karnataka are as seriousas charges of phone tapping, hesaid in another tweet “I urge@BSYBJP to order CBI investi-gation into alleged OperationKamala also.

I heard they acted on myadvice in phone tapping case &I hope they act on this issue aswell.” However, the stateCongress in a tweet termedphone tapping as “lies” and aconspiracy for hate politics.

Alleging that Yediyurappawas behaving like an “under-ground criminal” after becom-ing the chief minister in an“immoral” way by “OperationKamala” through the backdoor,the party in a tweet said, “InModi administration CBI wasworking as a frontal unit of theBJP. Phone tapping was a (bun-dle of) lies and a conspiracy forhate politics.”

Hitting out at the Congress,senior BJP leader R Ashokaexpressed surprise over differ-ences of opinion on the phonetapping probe within the grandold party. Pointing out that sev-eral Congress leaders, includingSiddaramaiah, had demandeda probe, he said, “Before hand-ing over the probe theydemanded an inquiry... Nowthey are blaming the ChiefMinister, it is not right.” PTI

Lucknow: A photojournalistwith a prominent Hindi dailyand his brother were shot deadin Saharanpur district onSunday morning following analtercation over disposal ofcow dung, promptingOpposition parties to slam theGovernment on law and order.

Chief Minister YogiAdityanath announced an ex-gratia of �5 lakh each for thekin of the deceased, however,the SP and the Congressslammed the ruling BJP overthe alleged collapse of law andorder and failure to provideadequate compensation.

Congress general secre-tary Priyanka Gandhi Vadraalleged that Uttar Pradesh was“in the grip of criminals” andthe state administration wascovering up crimes.

Ashish (23), a photogra-pher with Dainik Jagran news-paper, and his brotherAshutosh (19) were killed bytheir neighbour Mahipal Sainiand his sons, SeniorSuperintendent of Police(Saharanpur) Dinesh Kumar Psaid.

“In the midst of an argu-ment, Mahipal and his sonsentered the house of Ashishand Ashutosh and shot them.Locals rushed the duo to anearby hospital, where thedoctors declared them brought

dead,” the SSP said.Three teams have been

formed to nab the culpritswho are absconding, he added.

“Chief Minister has takencognisance of the Saharanpurincident wherein the journal-ist of Dainik Jagran and hisbrother were shot dead by theassailants,” a statement issuedhere by a senior Uttar PradeshGovernment official said.

“SSP Saharanpur has beendirected to initiate thestrongest action. The stateGovernment stands by thebereaved family in thismoment of grief,” the state-ment added.

Hitting out at theAdityanath Government,Priyanka Gandhi in a tweet inHindi said, “Now, what willyou call this system wheremurders are being committedeveryday by shooting people.Those responsible for control-ling crime are busy in cover-

ups and UP is in the grip ofcriminals.”

Leader of CongressLegislative Party in UPAssembly Ajay Kumar 'Lallu'demanded the resignation ofAdityanath.

“Law and order machineryhas collapsed from Saharanpurto Barabanki,” he said in astatement.

Samajwadi Party chiefAkhilesh Yadav expressed griefover the deaths and demand-ed that the guilty be brought tobook at the earliest.

“During the regime of theSP Government, the kin of thedeceased used to get �20 lakhas immediate financial assis-tance. The BJP Governmentshould do at least this much,”he said.

The BJP expressed griefover the deaths and vowed totake “strong action” against theculprits.

“In the hour of grief, theBJP is with the bereaved fam-ily,” a statement issued by stateBJP chief Swatantradev Singhand general secretary (organ-isation) of State BJP SunilBansal said.

“The guilty persons willnot be spared, and the gov-ernment has already issueddirectives to initiate strongaction against the culprits,”the statement added. PTI

Mumbai: Terming as “crows”the leaders who left the NCPand joined others, party chiefSharad Pawar on Sunday saidfielding fresh faces in theupcoming Assembly polls wasbeing considered by the party.

The Opposition parties inMaharashtra, particularly theNCP, witnessed its MLAs andkey leaders joining the BJP andShiv Sena last month.

“We don't need to worryabout crows (kawale) anylonger, instead focus on partyworkers (mawale) ahead of theassembly elections,” Pawar saidhere.

Three NCP legislators-Shivendrasinh Bhosale,Sandeep Naik and VaibhavPichad- had joined the BJPalong with the party's statewomen wing president ChitraWagh last month.

Besides, NCP's Mumbaiunit president Sachin Ahir andShahapur MLA Pandurang

Barora had also joined theShiv Sena last month.

“The party will considerfielding fresh faces in theupcoming polls. I would insiston giving chance to youth andwomen in the coming elec-tions,” Pawar added.

The former Union minis-ter said Nagpur has become amajor hub of crime and crim-inal activities.

“Maharashtra chief ministeralso hails from the same place.We should raise our voice overthe issue,” he added. PTI

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Mumbai: Maharashtra NCPpresident Jayant Patil on Sundayhit out at the BJP for poachingleaders “groomed” by his partyand the Congress, likening it to“buying ready-made clothes”.

He was speaking on thesidelines of a state-level NCPmeeting here which wasattended by several seniorleaders, amid speculation thatsome of those absent may beon their way to the ruling BJP

or Shiv Sena.“Leaders groomed by us

(NCP-Cong) are now picked upby the BJP ahead ofMaharashtra Assembly elec-tions. It is the Congressificationof the BJP,” Patil said.

He added, “The BJP shouldgive a chance to its party work-ers, rather than inducting ourworkers. Has the BJP lost cred-ibility and is thus inductingleaders from out party.” PTI

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Jammu: Union Minister JitendraSingh here on Sunday said afterthe revocation of the special sta-tus of Jammu & Kashmir, peo-ple should now pray for the inte-gration of the Pakistan-Occupied-Kashmir (POK) withIndia in their lifetime.

He also downplayed thearrest of mainstream politicalleaders and the communicationblockade in the Valley followingthe scrapping of the special sta-tus and bifurcation of the statein union territories.

“We are lucky that it (revok-ing of the special status) hap-pened in our lifetime. It isbecause of the sacrifices of ourthree generations,” Singh saidaddressing a meet on the currentsocio-political milieu in Jammu& Kashmir, organised by thestate BJP at party headquartershere.

He said,”After this historicstep, let us move forward witha positive thinking of freeingPOK from the illegal occupation

of Pakistan and making it anintegral part of the country inaccordance with the unani-mously passed resolution inParliament (in 1994).”

“Let us pray that we see theintegration of POK with thecountry and people freely visitMuzaffarabad (capital of POK),”he added.

Without naming theCongress for the criticism on thearrest of former Chief MinistersOmar Abdullah and MehboobaMufti, the Union Minister saidit was “unnecessarily being madea big issue”. “Under some com-pulsion or reason, theGovernment has taken somesteps to maintain peace. You(Congress) had arrestedNational Conference founderSheikh Abdullah. Such a thinghad not happened in Kashmir,”he said, adding that the leaderswere not being kept in solitaryconfinement.

“They are doing their work-out at the gym, reading books

and even ordering and watchingHollywood movies,” he said.

Defending the move withregard to Article 370, he saidsome people were frustratedbecause they had created a nar-rative in the country that nopower could abolish the specialstatus being enjoyed by Jammu& Kashmir. “We did it...Article370 was a miscarriage of histo-ry and perhaps the gravest blun-der in post-independenceIndia,”he said, adding that it ledto the lack of development anddiscrimination within regionsbut also a “psychological isola-tion that created mental barriers”.

“Former Prime Minister AB Vajpayee talked about insaniy-at (humanity), jamhuriyat(democracy), kashmiriyat torestore peace in Jammu &Kashmir. By this move, we haverestored jamhuriyat (democra-cy) and have done the necessarycourse correction to pave a wayfor inasaniyat and kashmiriyat,”Singh asserted. PTI

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Nagpur: Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi on Sunday saidthe absence of legal awarenesswas the “root cause” of “decep-tion, exploitation and depri-vation” of the rights and ben-efits of the masses.

He also observed that“awareness” about ones' rightsand the means of securingthem are the “powerful instru-ments” to bring social andeconomic progress.

Addressing the valedicto-ry function of the 17th AllIndia Meet of State LegalServices Authority (SLSA) inNagpur, the CJI said legal ser-vices must be constituted to“achieve distributed justice,effective implementation ofwelfare benefits and elimina-tion of social and structural

discrimination against thepoor”.

In his speech, he alsounderlined the importanceof ”legal literacy”,”technologyand acccess” and the “impactand accountability” for deliv-ering the quality legal ser-vices.

Justice Gogoi also said theNational Legal ServicesAuthority (NALSA) and StateLegal Services Authorities arethe “crucial vehicles” for dis-charging the Constitutionalmandate of justice to all on thebasis of equal opportunities.

“These bodies have toensure through their methodsthat justice reaches theremotest corners of the coun-try and the last person,” saidthe CJI.

Emphasising the need for“legal literacy”, Justice Gogoisaid, “awareness of ones' rightsand means of securing thoserights are powerful instru-ments for bringing about socialand economic progress.Absence of legal awareness isa root cause of deception,exploitation and deprivation ofrights and benefits of the mass-es. Legal literacy and legalawarenessgo hand in hand”.

Justice Gogoi said the“legal aid movement” cannotachieve its goal until people areaware about their legal rightsso as their basic rights.

He said “greater aware-ness” translates into better andbroader access.

The CJI observed that con-temporary legal education is

limited to universities trainingfuture lawyers and that itshould go beyond awareness.

“Though education onlegal topics is in school andcollege curriculum. It shouldgo beyond awareness. Whatinstead required is movementfrom near awareness toengagement,” the CJI said.

Justice Gogoi furtherunderlined the need to imple-ment legal knowledge for theoverall good.

“Efforts must be made tosecure concerted engagementof young minds in under-standing and utilising thatknowledge for the benefit ofthe society. Not only law col-leges but the students ofschools and colleges must beincluded in the outreach pro-

gramme. Students and youngpersons have the potential tobecome the ambassadors ofjustice,” said Justice Gogoi.

He also emphasised theneed to focus on 'Technologyand Access' and the need forcustomised legal services as perthe needs of the people.

“Technology and innova-tion should be embraced in allaspects of functions on theprofessionally-managed ren-dering of legal services at allthe levels. It should ensure(delivery of) timely and effec-tive legal services to the needy,”said the CJI.

“Let us use technology toprovide greater informationabout legal aid through mobileapps, provide vital informationto those seeking legal aid about

status of their cases and appli-cations,” he said.

The CJI also underlinedthe importance of “impact andaccountability”, saying in factthere is no better “mirage”than statistics.

“Right to legal aid meansthe right to quality legal aid.Commitment to quality mustbe there in the whole organi-sation,” he said.

To ensure quality, the CJIsuggested a rigorous selectionprocess for empanelment oflawyers.

“If need be there selectionbe made on the lines of theprocess followed for the selec-tion of public prosecutors. Thiswould go all the way in address-ing the complaints of lack ofquality,” the CJI said. PTI

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Gorakhpur: Uttar PradeshChief Minister Yogi Adityanathon Sunday said mere approvalof projects will not ensuredevelopment as people's coop-eration and implementation bythe administration were need-ed to take the state forward.

He also asserted thatGorakhpur was movingtowards a “new era of develop-ment”.

“Surajkund Dham waswaiting to be developed fordecades and now a tourismdevelopment project worth�2.60 crore will be started here.Gorakhpur is moving towardsa new era of development,which is not possible withoutpositive and creative thinking,”Adityanath said here.

“Development cannot takeplace just by approving projectsbut needs implementation bythe administration and coop-

eration of the people,” he said.The chief minister also

said, “Many development pro-jects will come to Gorakhpurand a lot of employment will begenerated. Youth won't have togo to places like Surat, Mumbai,and Delhi etc for jobs, as theywill be able to earn their liveli-hood here itself. The price ofland has increased manifolddue to coming of new industriesand factories in the area.”

Adityanath on Sunday vis-ited the Suryakund Dham to laythe foundation stone of projectsworth �55.30 crore.

The chief minister saidpower supply in the state hasimproved. “Electric cables willbe removed from the roads andunderground cabling will bedone. It will not only help inreducing accidents but theroads could also be widened,”he said. PTI

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Bengaluru: With the muchawaited expansion of ChiefMinister BS Yediyurappa'sCabinet in Karnataka to takeplace on August 20, the wait isnow on for the BJP's centralleadership to clear the list of13-14 probables as Ministersin the first phase, top partyleaders said here on Sunday.

Yediyurappa and the Stateleadership are expected to getclear instructions from thehigh command about those tobe inducted into the Ministryon Monday.

Having run theGovernment with a one-manCabinet for 22 days,Yediyurappa on Saturday final-ly managed to get the nodfrom BJP national presidentAmit Shah to undertake theexercise on August 20.

Yediyurappa, who tookoath as Chief Minister on July26 and proved his

Government's majority on thefloor of the Assembly on July29, is yet to induct anyMinister into his Cabinet.

Meanwhile, the BJP legis-lature party meeting scheduledfor Tuesday morning ahead ofthe cabinet expansion hasbeen postponed.

“On Tuesday, looking at agood time, cabinet expansionwill be done by the afternoon.There will be no legislatureparty meeting that day. We willdo it after four days.

All our MLAs, MLCs,MPs, all our leaders and cen-tral Ministers have beenrequested to attend the swear-ing-in ceremony,” Yediyurappatold reporters on Sunday.

Senior party functionariessaid though many names weredoing the rounds in the media,a clear picture would emergeonce the list submitted by thestate leadership to the high

command is cleared by AmitShah, expected on Mondayafternoon.

Yediyurappa too had saidafter his return here fromDelhi late on Saturday that hewas expecting clear instruc-tions on Monday from thecentral leadership on thosewho are to be inducted intothe Ministry.

“By Monday afternoon wewill get a clear instruction onwho all to be inducted. I haveheld discussions with AmitShah and other leaders,” hehad said.

Asked about the numberof Ministers likely to beinducted on Tuesday, he said“13 to 14 people are likely tobe inducted into the cabinet inthe first phase. There may beplus or minus one or two...Wehave now recommended 13 to14 of them.”

Yediyurappa has had a

tightrope to walk during thecabinet expansion as he has tocraft a fine caste and regionalbalance in view of the largenumber of aspirants, sourcessaid.

However, with no decisionyet by the Supreme Court onthe disqualified Congress-JD(S) MLAs, whose resigna-tions from the Assembly pavedthe way for the BJP to gainpower, the Chief Minister hasno immediate compulsion toaccommodate them.

The then speaker RameshKumar had disqualified 17Congress-JD(S) rebels underthe anti-defection law till theend of the assembly term,which they have challenged inthe Supreme Court.

Only if they get any relieffrom the Apex Court canthese disqualified MLA con-test the bypolls.

Sources said that if they

get re-elected, BJP planned tomake them Ministers aspromised and henceYediyurappa would not be fill-ing all 34 ministerial positionsin one go.

They also said that oneinteresting aspect was thatBJP MLAs have not openlyexpressed their ministerialaspirations or indulged inintense lobbying like in thepast, as they fear it may goagainst them.

However, expressing con-fidence that he would be madea Minister, considering hisseniority, eight-time MLAUmesh Katti Sunday said evenif it did not materalise, hewould “happily” work as a leg-islator for the people of hisconstituency that was affectedby floods, while hoping for alarger representation forBelagavi district in theCabinet. PTI

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A10 year old girl, resident ofMankote area in Mendhar

tehsil of Poonch, early Sundayreceived injuries in fresh inci-dent of ceasefire violation alongthe Line of Control. PakistanArmy late Sunday evening alsotargeted several forward posts inNowhsera sector of Rajouri. Inresponse, the Indian Army gavethem a befitting reply using sim-ilar calibre of weapons.

According to officialsources, 10-year-old girl, iden-tified as Sadiya, daughter of

Mohd Azrat of Dabdaj village ofMankote, received splinterinjuries during heavy shelling inthe area. Local villagers in thearea claimed, for last two daysPakistan army is targeting civil-ian areas in the region. “We areworried as heavy exchange ofshelling took place late saturdaynight”, a senior citizen told localreporters in Poonch when theyvisited the area on Sunday.

Meanwhile, situationremained tense in Nowsherasector where Indian armyreportedly destroyed PakistanArmy post on saturday.

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Forty-nine people have diedin rain-related incidents in

Rajasthan since June 15, anofficial said on Sunday.

Brijendra Singh, OSD,Department of DisasterManagement, Relief and CivilDefence told PTI that there wasno flood-like situation any-where in the State.

In Kota and Baran, theArmy was alerted as a precau-tionary measure, he said.

"Forty-nine people havedied in nearly 20 districts dueto rain-related incidents fromJune 15 to till date in the state.Of the total, 20 people died dueto wall or house collapse where-as six to seven people died dueto lightning. Remaining deathsinclude those who were swept

away by water," Singh said.He said 500 people were

evacuated to safer places withthe help of Army, SDRF, NDRFand local administration fromseveral places inundated due toheavy rainfall in the state.

According to the MeTdepartment, 12 cm rainfall wasrecorded in Degana of Nagaur,11 cm in Makrana, 10 cm inNawa and 10 cm in Buhana ofJhunjhunu during the last 24hours. From Sunday morningto evening, 10 mm of rainfallwas recorded in Kota and 2mm in Churu.

The department has fore-cast light to moderate rainwith thundershower at someplaces in the eastern parts ofthe State and one or two placesin the western parts in the next24 hours.

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The NRC authority is consid-ering recommending strong

action against a senior AssamGovernment official for allegedirregularities in checking docu-ments of people from Chamariaand some nearby areas inKamrup district after which re-verification had to be done,sources close to the developmentsaid.

Kamrup DeputyCommissioner Kamal KumarBaishya has sent a report to theNRC State Coordinator PrateekHajela about two months backon the alleged irregularities by aformer Circle Officer ofChamaria under his districtwhich came to light in 2018.

The report noted how thethen Circle Officer allegedlymade all the affected peopleOriginal Inhabitants (OI) only toreduce his workload, the sourcesclaimed.

He had allegedly ticked theOI column for all the people,including Hindus and Muslims,in the verification list, which less-ened his burden for cross-check-ing the documents as well as thetedious process of finding out thefamily tree of the applicants, theysaid.

"It is not a corruption-relat-ed case. The DC's enquiry hasfound out that the official's qual-ity of verification was very poorand he was not sincere about hisduties," a source said.

The sources told PTI that the

irregularities were initially detect-ed around September 2018, afterwhich the Kamrup districtadministration swung intoaction and found that it wasaffecting the entire Chamariarevenue circle.

The NRC (National Registerof Citizens) authority was theninformed about the developmentand after much deliberations, itwas decided to hold reverifica-tion in these areas.

"It was a good pro-activedecision by the NRC authority tohold the reverification process.

"This shows that they areserious about bringing out anerror-free NRC within the dead-line," a source close to the devel-opment said.

The NRC authority hastaken the report very seriouslyand is likely to recommendstrong action against the erringbureaucrat, who is an AssamCivil Services official, the sourcesconfirmed.

No official comment couldbe obtained from the NRCOffice as the Supreme Court hadbarred them from talking to themedia. The deadline to publishthe final NRC is August 31.

The errant official was trans-ferred from Chamaria early lastyear. A new Circle Officer wasappointed in Chamaria, but heleft the place within monthsseeking a voluntary transfer.

In the second half of 2018,the current Circle Officer wasappointed. She along with thedeputy commissioner informed

the NRC authority about theirregularities and started theprocess of reverification.

Calls made to the KamrupDeputy Commissioner remainedunanswered.

From August 3 afternoon,notices for reverification wereserved across the south ofKamrup district to about 33,000people, asking them to appearwithin 48 hours in NRC SevaKendras (NSKs), almost 400-500km away from their place of res-idence, in several upper Assamdistricts.

The sources said that asNRC process is time-bound andthe final document has to bepublished by August 31, all thereverification work has to becompleted as soon as possible.

"The NSKs in entire lowerAssam were already loaded withtheir scheduled reverificationprocess. As there were fewerclaims and objections in upperAssam, so the NSKs there wererelatively less occupied.

"That is why the authoritiesdecided to hold the reverificationof these unscheduled cases inupper Assam districts.

"The only thing is that thenotices should have been servedto the people by giving themsome more time," they added.Many poor people in the southof Kamrup area, with no moneyto fund their travel at such a shortnotice, had to pledge their valu-ables, including gold, cattle or selltheir harvested crops at throw-away price.

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The sea-facing Raj Bhavanon Sunday became the first

such Governor’s residence inthe country that houses aunique museum — a themat-ic underground bunker muse-um which has virtual realitybooths that transports visitorsin time to the 19th centurywhen the bunker was con-structed to fire cannons atapproaching enemy ships.

Spread over an area of15,000 sq.ft, the-first- of-its-kind museum will be thrownopen for the general publicthrough prior online bookinglater during the year.

President Ram NathKovind inaugurated the under-ground Bunker Museum atRaj Bhavan, Mumbai onSunday.

Accompanied by GovernorCH. Vidyasagar Rao, thePresident was shown aroundthe exhibition and given anaudio visual experience of the

history of Raj Bhavan at aVirtual Reality booth in themuseum.

Dioramas of cannons andsoldiers, optical illusions of abunker of infinite length andcannons have also been creat-ed inside the museum.

It may be recalled that inthe second week of August2016, the state PWD officialsdiscovered a 150-meter longunderground British era

Bunker inside Raj Bhavan.Having remained closed fornearly six decades, the bunkerhad suffered extensive wear andtear due to seepage from theoverhead lawn.

As the bunker is part of thehistory and heritage of RajBhavan and also because apart of it lies below ‘JalBhushan’ the office and resi-dence of Governor, a structur-al audit of the bunker was car-

ried out and the structure wasstrengthened.

The bunker has 13 roomsof different sizes. It opens witha 20-ft tall majestic gate.Towards the entrance, thestructure resembles a fort.When opened, the bunker hadrooms bearing names such asShell Store, Gun Shell,Cartridge Store, Shell Lift,Pump, Central Artillery Store,Workshop, etc. The entireunderground bunker wasfound to have a properdrainage system and inlets forfresh air and light.

While carrying out theConservation works, theauthorities have restored theoriginal features of the bunkerand it has been readied as amuseum by incorporating vir-tual reality on the themes ofCannon-firing experience, his-tory of Raj Bhavan and aglimpse of the forts ofMaharashtra.

Earlier, the Presidentunveiled the foundation stone

for the proposed reconstruc-tion of the Governor’s Office –cum – Residence building ‘JalBhushan’.

Mrs Savita Kovind, wife ofthe President, Governor CHVidyasagar Rao, his wife CHVinodha, Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis, Ministerfor Revenue and Public WorksChandrakant Patil and Ministerfor Higher and TechnicalEducation Vinod Tawde wereprominent among those pre-sent on the occasion.

Jal Bhushan, the office andresidence of the Governor ofMaharashtra, has a history ofnearly 200 years. The Househas undergone several modifi-cations and renovations. JalBhushan has been the officialresidence of the BritishGovernors since 1885 andIndian Governors afterIndependence. It has evolvedaround the original ‘PrettyCottage’ built by GovernorMountstuart Elphinstonearound 1820.

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Ramon Magsaysay Awardwinner social activist

Sandeep Pandey here onSunday claimed that he was putunder house arrest on threeoccasions in the past week toprevent him from expressingviews on national issues.

The Lucknow districtadministration, however,rejected the claim.

"In the past one week, wehave been stopped thrice by thepolice and administration fromfreely expressing our views. Iwas put under house arrest onthree occasions (August 11, 16and 17)," Pandey claimed,adding that they were pre-vented from going to Ayodhyafor a two-day programme oncommunal amity on Saturday.

"We were stopped mid-way," Pandey said.

The social activist slammedthe alleged "stalling" of theirprogrammes, saying it seemedas if "there was a ban on thefreedom of expression".

Pandey said on August 16,they were prevented fromgoing to Hazaratganj inLucknow, where they werescheduled to hold a candlelightdemonstration near theMahatma Gandhi statueagainst the scrapping of thespecial status for Jammu &kashmir.

"Police arrived again at myand advocate MohammadShoaib's place to put us underhouse arrest an hour and halfago before the programme,"Pandey had said in a statementissued on August 16.

He said their August 11protest was for the "restorationof democracy" in the Valley.

On the other hand,Lucknow District MagistrateKaushal Raj Sharma rub-bished the claims made byPandey, who had won theRamon Magsaysay Award in2002 in the emergent leadercategory.

"Who is stopping him fromholding protests at the EcoGarden in the city. He cannotstage any protest in Hazratganj— the heart of the state capital— as the High Court hasbanned all protests in the area,"he said.

"The dharna sthal (protestvenue) of the district has beenidentified and he is most wel-come to hold any protest, dhar-na or agitation there for asmany days he likes. Why doeshe deliberately opts for spotswhere protests are notallowed?" the Lucknow DMsaid. Sharma said earlierPandey was told to go to theEco Garden but "he did notcomply" with the orders. TheDM denied that Pandey wasput under house arrest.

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Bengal politicians, includingChief Minister Mamata

Banerjee, Forward Bloc gener-al secretary Debarata Biswas andChandra Bose the grandnephew of Netaji SubhasChandra Bose, on Sundaydemanded an “impartial, thor-ough and comprehensiveinquiry” to ascertain the mysterybehind the great leader’s disap-pearance on August 18, 1945.

“Netaji went on a flightfrom Taihoku Airport inTaiwan” on this day in 1945“only to disappear forever,” theChief Minister tweeted adding“the people have a right toknow about the great son of thesoil.”

Banerjee’s tweet cameagainst the backdrop of asser-tions appearing in the GujaratBJP’s official website whichreferred to Netaji’s death onAugust 18 in a plane crash.

Giving his reactionsChandra Bose, who is a BJPleader too, demanded a “com-prehensive inquiry” into thedisappearance mystery of one ofthe greatest sons of India. Hesaid, about writing a letter toPrime Minister Narendra Modiseeking a thorough inquiry tounravel the mystery once and forall. Similarly former MP andgeneral secretary of ForwardBloc, a party that Bose hadlaunched demanded an “impar-tial inquiry” into his so-calleddisappearance. “Three com-missions — ShahnawazCommittee, KhoslaCommission and MukherjeeCommission — were institutedfirst in 1956, then in 1970 andyet again in 2005 but none ofthem could throw substantiallight on the issue,” he saidadding his party would “neveraccept any story of Netaji’s deathuntil that is proved with evi-dence.”

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The "policies and politics" ofWest Bengal Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee and her party,the TMC, has helped the BJPgain ground in the state, leaderof the Congress in Lok Sabha,Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, hassaid.

He also said that due to theweakening of opposition partieslike the Congress and the Left,the people of the state, "who areopposed" to the TrinamoolCongress (TMC), had enmassedvoted in favour of the BJP.

"It is due to the policies andpolitics of Mamata Banerjeeand her party that the BJP hasgained ground in Bengal.

Banerjee and the TMC deliber-ately weakened the Oppositionparties to create space for the saf-fron camp," Chowdhury toldPTI. His comments come in thebackdrop of the BJP making sig-nificant inroads in the state bywinning 18 out of the 42 LokSabha seats in the general elec-tions. The TMC's tally camedown to 22 seats from 34 in2014.

The Congress won twoseats, whereas the Left failed toopen its account.

Chowdhury, a five-time MPfrom Beharampore seat inMurshidabad district, is knownto be a staunch critic of Banerjee,and has always opposed any sortof alliance with the party.

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Ground Penetrating Radarswere put into use on Sunday

to locate bodies at Kavalapparain Malappuram and Puthumalain Wayanad, where massivelandslides had wiped out two vil-lages, even as the toll in rain bat-tered Kerala climbed to 121 withthe retrieval of more bodies.

A team of experts fromHyderabad started the searchoperations at the two villageswith GPR, which will helpdetect bodies buried undermounds of earth.

A state wide calamity reportissued by the governmenttonight said 121 people have losttheir lives in Kerala in the sec-ond spell of the South Westmonsoon rains since August 8

and that 47,622 people are stillin 296 relief camps.

As per the update, 58 peo-ple have so far lost their lives inMalappuram, 12 in Wayanadand 17 in Kozhikode, thethreenorthern districts, where 21people are still missing.

The report also said that1,789 houses were fully dam-aged in the monsoon.

Meanwhile, over one lakhvolunteers have enrolled for clean-ing work in flood-hit villages inthe northern districts. Kerala's all-women self-help groupKudumbashree has engaged over50,000 members for the purpose.

"Volunteers from various

organisations have identified over15,000 spots in Wayanad. They aremoving in batches and have start-ed the cleaning mission. They willremove the mud and slush fromthe houses, clean wells and thelocality," an official told PTI.

The volunteers will cleanthe wells using "super chlori-nation" method and the stateSuchitwa Mission has arrangedmaterial and equipment for thepurposes, the official said.

State MinistersKadannappalli Ramachandranand TP Ramakrishnan are coordinating the cleaningmission. Thousands of students,from the Students' Federation ofIndia (SFI), National CadetsCorps (NCC) and NationalService Scheme (NSS) havejoined the cleaning initiative.

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Researchers of the RajivGandhi University here

have recently discovered fivenew fish species in various dis-tricts of the State.

The scientific names of thenewly-discovered fish speciesare Mystus prabini, found inSinkin and Dibang rivers inLower Dibang Valley districtand Exostoma kottelati, foundin Ranga river in LowerSubansiri district, a release bythe university said.

Other discovered speciesare Creteuchiloglanis tawan-gensis, found in the Tawangchuriver in Tawang district, Garraranganensis, found in Ranga

river and Physoschistura hark-ishorei, found in Dibang andLohit rivers in Lower DibangValley district, it said.

The team was led by ProfDN Das of the fisheries andaquatic ecology research wingof the Zoology department ofthe university.

"Majority of the water bod-ies in remote areas of the stateare still not easily accessible tothe researchers due to a difficultterrain that includes rain forests,steep hills besides communi-cation problems," Das said. He,however, said his research teamis optimistic that meticulousexploration may result in morediscoveries of new fish speciesfrom the state in the future.

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Three illegal Bangladeshiimmigrants were arrested in

early hours of Sunday near theIndo-Bangla border in WestBengal's Malda district, whiletrying to crossover to India,officials said.

Bangladesh nationalsentered the country for seekingjobs here, they said.

The infiltrators are residentsof Rajshahi and ChapaiNawabganj districts of the neigh-bouring country, an official said.

"Three Bangladeshi nation-als were apprehended atKaliachak area by BorderSecurity Forece personnel," theofficial said.

They have been handedover to Baishnabnagar police sta-tion for further legal action,official sources said.

In a separate operation by ateam of the CriminalInvestigation Department (CID),West Bengal, two drug peddlerswere arrested from Kaliachakarea and one kg of brown sugarwas seized from their possession,police said.The value of the con-traband is estimated to bearound `15 lakh.

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In a rare honour bestowed onIndia’s renowned singer,

President Ram Nath Kovind onSunday called on Bharat RatnaLata Mangeshkar at her resi-dence in south Mumbai andwished her good health.

Sharing a photograph ofhis meeting with LataMangeshkar, an elatedPresident Kovind shared a pic-ture on his Twitter handle anddescribed the singer as “thepride of India” who has “sweet-ened our lives with her soulfulmelody”.

"Delighted to meetMangeshkarLata ji at her resi-dence in Mumbai. Conveyedmy best wishes for her goodhealth. Lata ji, the pride ofIndia, has sweetened our lives

with her soulful melody. Shecontinues to inspire us with hersimplicity and grace#PresidentKovind,” thePresident tweeted.

An equally thrilled singershared more photographs ofher meeting with the Presidentand wrote on her twitter han-dle: “Namaskar, Was deeplyhonoured and humbled, whenthe The President of our coun-try, Shri Ramnath Kovind ji, sogracefully came and met me atmy residence. I stand in grati-tude. Sir, you make us proud!@rashtrapatibhvn”.

President Kovind wasaccompanied by his wife anddaughter. Governor ofMaharashtra and his wifeVinoda Rao along withEducation Minister VinodTawde also visited Lata

Mangeshkar's residence.A living legend, Lata

Mangeshkar is one of the best-known and most respectedplayback singers in the coun-try. She has recorded songs inover a thousand Hindi filmsand has sung songs in over thir-ty-six regional Indian lan-guages and foreign languages

The Dadasaheb PhalkeAward was bestowed on her in1989 by the Government ofIndia In 2001, in recognition ofher contributions to the nation,she was awarded the BharatRatna, India's highest civilianhonour and is only the secondvocalist, after M SSubbalakshmi to receive thishonour. France conferred onher its highest civilian award(Officer of the Legion ofHonour) in 2007.

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Aveterinary doctor fromLatur in Maharashtra, who

had been providing help to theflood-affected farmers in Sangli,died of a heart attack on Sunday,an official said.

Narayan Kharolkar, 51, wassleeping in his room in Sanglicity when he suffered the heartattack, his post-mortem reportsaid. "Some blockages werefound in his heart. However, hehad never suffered an attack inthe past. He had been helpingthe flood-hit farmers in Sanglisince August 15," district animalhusbandry officer, Dr KiranParag, said.

Kharolkar is survived byhis wife and two sons. He hadvisited Sangli during the 2005floods as well to provide helpto the affected farmers, DrParag said.

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Ostensibly, the Airbus A320neoseries of aircraft is an incre-mental change over theextremely successful AirbusA320 series of commercial

aircraft built by the European manufactur-er, one of the most successful airliners inaviation history. By using next-generationhigh-bypass turbofan engines, includingsome with a gearing mechanism to makethem even more efficient, these aircraft areable to burn 15-20 per cent less fuel per pas-senger kilometre than the previous gener-ation of the same aircraft. The increased fuelefficiency not only adds to the profit of theairlines but also allows some to pass on thecost benefits of the more economicalengines to fare-paying passengers. Thesecost reductions will make flying evenmore democratic.

But not all the savings are from theengines as weight is of critical concern forairlines. They have saved weight not just byusing exotic composite materials in partsof the construction but also in the cabin.Then there’s also the fact that the weight ofinstalled seats has been brought down.Thanks to low-cost airlines, which do notoffer hot-food options, the amount of spacein the galleys for food carts and ovens hascome down. This coupled with narrower,slimmer seats and a tight spacing betweenthem, the so-called “seat pitch”, have meantthat some low-cost carriers like IndiGo areable to offer an additional row of six seatson the A320neo over the previous gener-ation. That may not seem like much but ina cut-throat world of low-cost airlines,where margins are frightfully tight, an addi-tional row of costs at little-to-no-addition-al cost on a similar aircraft can make a prof-itable difference.

However, when you fly an A320neoconfigured with 31 rows instead of the usual30 on the previous generation, now calledthe A320ceo, you realise another way theymade space for the additional row. The reartoilets have been removed, or rather the reartoilets as we knew them. They are now hor-ribly narrow, best described as a tinybroom closet where a part of the galley usedto be. To save space further, the cabin atten-dant seats are attached to the front door. Thetoilet is an affront to the dignity of somehuman beings because there is no way alarge person can possibly use it.

One could argue that most A320neoflights are relatively short domestic hops butthis thinking ignores the fact that severaldomestic routes are touching three hoursof flight time and with delays on the groundand in the air, thanks to air traffic conges-tion, it could be four-five hours between thetime a passenger can use toilets attached tomother earth. That, you will have to admit,is a fair bit of time. The other problem isthat because of the A320neo’s new fuel eco-nomical engines, coupled with the fact thatit has slightly better fuel capacity, it can fly

longer than the A320ceo. Thisis particularly evident in the factthat earlier this year, during theParis Air Show, Airbusannounced an extremely long-range version of the biggerbrother of the A320neo, theA321neo, called the A321neoXLR. With an announced rangeof 7,400 km, the plane couldpotentially fly between Delhi tomost of western Europe, carry-ing a full load of 244 passengersif configured in a dense all-economy configuration. That iseight hours of flight time andpossibly nine to 10 hoursbetween the time a passengerboards the plane to the timehe/she disembarks.

There is no doubt that anaircraft like the A321XLR hasimmense potential — not onlycan it serve major Indian citiesto smaller destinations inEurope and north-east Asia, itcan also connect smaller Indianairports like that of Pune, whichhas a short runway, to majoraviation hubs. But if the thoughtof spending eight hours on anarrow-body plane was notbad enough, the thought ofspending time on such a planewith cramped toilets — justthree of them or an average ofone per 80 passengers — andthe possibility of poor toilethygiene by some fellow passen-

gers make for a truly terrifyingexperience. One cannot evenimagine how the poor cabinattendant, who will have to siton that seat attached to the toi-let door, will feel at the end ofa flight. After a long haul, thatshould qualify for a distressallowance.

Which is why, may be it istime for civil aviation authori-ties across the world to step infor the passengers. The lack-adaisical attitude of regulatorsin certifying the Boeing 737Max, the American FederalAviation Administration beinga case in point, has allowedyears of reduced passengercomfort to pass unchallenged.It is not just the overwing exitsthat are ridiculously small butthings like smaller seats andcramped toilets are problemsthat need to be redressed.

Again, an argument will bemade that passengers have achoice; they can pay more andfly on an airline that offers bet-ter facilities like a larger toiletand more space between rows.But as the collapse of JetAirways and KingfisherAirlines proves, the aviationsector is in dire straits, forcingeven larger airlines to offerfewer amenities or cutting backon those that remain. Even ifAir India, which also operates

A320neo aircraft and has notcrimped on the toilet size orpassenger meals, does offercompetitive fares, the crisiswon’t blow away.

There is not always a choicebut to travel on a low-cost air-line, which wishes to fit as manytravellers on seats as possible,either for time reasons or justbecause of the fact that theydominate the skies. This is truenot just in India but prettymuch everywhere else in theworld, too.

The race to the bottomwill continue unless authori-ties step in. Regulations needto be set for minimum seatpitches being allowed on air-craft and the size of toilets aswell as the doors. The fact isthat thanks to better nutrition,an average human is gettinglarger and while the conve-nience of a non-stop flightmight override other concernsfor some passengers, everyone,who flies frequently or infre-quently, will eventually need touse the facilities on a plane oneday, and that day, they willunderstand why this is impor-tant. Hopefully, that day willnot be too late and small air-line toilets would not havebecome fait accompli.

(The writer is ManagingEditor, The Pioneer)

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�����������Sir — China, being a permanentmember of the UN SecurityCouncil (UNSC), seems to bepandering to the whims of its all-weather friend, Pakistan. Thedecision, at the goading of China,to hold a closed-door discussionon Kashmir is a matter of sur-prise as it is a subject that involvesthe internal affairs of India.

Much has changed since1947. The move also shows thebig brother attitude of China,which is struggling with manyproblems back home. Chinamust first concentrate on mak-ing peace with protesters inHong Kong and also show somerespect for Tibet and the UighurMuslims. It has no right to besermonising about Kashmir,which is being sorted out in apeaceful manner in democratictraditions.

Sravana RamachandranChennai

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Sir — The decision made by theBoard of Control for Cricket inIndia’s (BCCI) Cricket AdvisoryCommittee (CAC) to retain Ravi

Shastri as the head coach of theIndian cricket team was onexpected lines. The cricket teamis currently at a crucial stagepost the World Cup loss inEngland and needs his leader-ship to evolve stronger to winfuture games.

Over the years, Shastri hasdeveloped a deep understandingwith the team, especially withCaptain Virat Kohli, and knows

the nuances of cricket and theteam through strength, weak-ness, opportunity and threat(SWOT) analysis very deeply. Heis best suited to lift the boys’morale to the next level and helpensure that the team benefitsfrom his leadership.

It is learnt that during aninterview on Skype, Shastridemonstrated a clear road mapfor team India. There’s no case

of doubting his credentials andhis election for the third timewill help India retain top notchtalent and win games successful-ly.

The Indian team shouldnow make the best use ofShastri’s availability and lookahead to retain many moretitles, especially on foreign soil.

Varun DambalBengaluru

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Sir — To celebrate modern civil-isation and humanity’s achieve-ments as something miraculousis to delude ourselves to themediocrity of our species. Wecannot celebrate everything thathumanity accomplishes. In retro-spect, we need to express, regretand repent sufficiently for thedamage we have have caused tothe environment.

For this, the chief agent is reli-gion, which glorifies humanity asan outcome of divine providence,and places every other creation ofthe almighty on a lower strata. Itis this narcissism and hubris thatmake us behave like masters ofthe universe. The need to find asolution must begin with exam-ining deeply as to why the prob-lem arose in the first place. Theanswers will be obvious andwon’t surprise anyone. If not forglobal warming and climatechange, one wonders what kindof a catastrophe can infuse senseinto the human psyche?

Anoop HosmathMysuru

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Academics are lost for words on how tothank Prime Minister Narendra Modion the historic decision to abrogate

Article 370 as, out of all things that have beenthrown out of gear in Jammu and Kashmir,education has been the worst hit because of it.

Now, academicians hope to witness a swiftand drastic change in the levels of educationin the coming months and academic years.Successive governments in J&K, no matterwhat their political doctrine, have deliberate-ly kept participation in and quality of educa-tion low so that common people of the statedo not understand the injustice being done tothem by their political masters. If this grim sce-nario has to change quickly and have a longlasting effect on the minds and the psyche ofthe people of J&K, then quality education willhave a major role to play as a catalyst of change.

The Modi Government, and all future stategovernments that actually want real integra-tion of J&K with the rest of the country, willbe required to address this very urgent needof the students on a war footing. This push forquality education will no doubt find resonancewith most families of the State as each invari-ably has a few learners.

There are over 10,000 schools in theState, yet the dropout rate is high in J&K andit’s not a secret that it is this early age groupwhich is most vulnerable to provocations andradicalisation. Also, the subversive and anti-national forces would force students, both boysand girls, to participate in stone-pelting fail-ing which they would be subjected to coercionand public humiliation, especially girls.

Apart from middle and high school edu-cation, the government will do well to give afillip to pre-school and childcare facilities thatare pathetic at this juncture. It will not be a dif-ficult task to bring visible change in educationand childcare facilities as the government canexpect wholehearted support of families for thesake of the future of their wards.

It’s not a secret that Article 370 alwaysremained a barrier in the implementation ofmeasures taken by the Centre and statutorybodies to provide quality education in the state.Students from J&K were denied the crucialRight to Education (RTE) which all childrenof the country are entitled to. RTE not onlymakes it mandatory for the Government toensure education for all children of school-going age, but also provide quality education.

It’s no secret that curriculum is the mostimportant component of education. What weteach today decides the future of the nation afew years later. India has witnessed how TBMacaulay’s ‘Minute on Education’ written in1835 for Lord William Bentinck, the governorgeneral of British India, changed the future ofBharat. India has not been able to reverse theeffects of Macaulay’s policies even after over70 years of Independence.

Hence, the curriculum and the local text-books prescribed for the children of the Stateneed to be reviewed immediately. It wasdecided two years ago by the Ministry ofHuman Resource Development (MHRD) andCentral Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)that all CBSE schools must prescribe National

Council of Educational Research and Training(NCERT) books for their students. Now, theCentre can examine the possibility of replac-ing the textbooks in J&K with NCERT booksand give the children the option to do so freeof cost.

The government will have to provideopportunities to in-service but untrainedteachers to undergo training at the earliest.Training through distance mode can be start-ed immediately. Teachers with degrees frominstitutions not recognised by the NationalCouncil for Teacher Education (NCTE) willrequire to be re-trained so that they not onlybecome eligible to teach but also become wor-thy of the job. This will benefit students in thelong run as the degrees and diplomas award-ed to those educated in J&K are often ques-tioned because of the sub-standard educationprovided to them. There exist a large numberof dummy teacher education institutions asNCTE norms did not apply to J&K. Review ofthese colleges can be taken up immediately bythe NCTE and those which do not make thecut can be shut down or given time to followthe council’s procedures.

Simultaneously, the District Institute ofEducation and Training (DIET) can beequipped to undertake refresher programmesfor the elementary level teachers. The MHRDin 2017 had decided to provide opportunitiesto untrained in-service teachers to acquireteaching diplomas though the NationalInstitute of Open Schooling (NIOS) in a recordtime of 18 months. A similar exercise can beundertaken in J&K so that the quality of edu-cation improves exponentially. Teachers fromhigher education institutions may also be pro-vided liberal facilities to undergo special ori-entation and refresher programs, at theHuman Resource Centres established in uni-

versities across India, where the positiveimpact of the abrogation of Article 370 can beexplained. Teachers are opinion makers andthey can become the messengers of change.The exercise of re-orienting all teachers,catering to all levels of learners can bring a pos-itive impact at the earliest.

Without losing time in creating infrastruc-ture, we can use broadcast technology to bringeducation to all levels of learners at theirdoorstep by best teachers from across thecountry. DD Kashir or other Direct to Home(DTH) channels of Swayam Prabha can beused to reach lessons prepared by distanceteaching institutions like NIOS and IndiraGandhi National Open University (IGNOU)to learners in the comfort of their homes.

Once normal telephone services areresumed for the long term, two way commu-nications can also be started so that people canask questions from experts sitting in the NIOSstudios in Delhi. NIOS already has a largenumber of programmes recorded keepingKashmiri Secondary and Senior Secondarychildren in mind.

Fifty madrasas from Kashmir becameNIOS centres two years ago. The children, whowere pursuing religious education in thesemadrasas are now being provided modern edu-cation too. These madrasas can be providedDTH dish and TV sets so that they can receivethe educational broadcasts.

The Central Government may considerforming a task force to suggest various mea-sures to improve various levels of educationright from pre-school to doctoral studies. Aswift reform, which can be visible on theground in J&K, will be hugely appreciated.

(The writer is Professor of Education at theIndira Gandhi National Open University. Viewsexpressed are personal)

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Even after 72 years ofIndependence, the countryhas failed to bring in the

much-needed administrativereforms in civil services and linkpromotions to acquired knowl-edge and performance.

In fact, favouritism and prefer-ential treatment to some services isthe norm rather than an exception,say senior officers.

This is ironic, given the factthat in the historic judgment givenby the Supreme Court (SC) in 1991in the Mohan Kumar Singhania vsUnion of India case by a three judgeBench, it was recorded that “thereis no denying the fact that the civilservices being the top most service

in the country has got to be kept atheight, distinct from other servicessince top echelons have to governa wide variety of departments.”

However, despite the apexcourt establishing civil services asthe top service of the country thefact remains that the Governmentof India (GOI) is not treating allservices on a par. This is despite thefact that in a few services, especial-ly the Central Secretariat Services(CSS) the candidates selected havehigher merit in comparison to a fewother Group A services.

“Promotional prospects andthe empanelment process are notuniform and there is seriousfavouritism towards a few ser-vices. It is generally believed thatIAS/IFS candidates are brighterthan other services and similarlyGroup A officers have more meritthan Group B officers. But in reality the situation is different,”explained a government official ofCSS cadre who is fighting forequity.

In fact, CSS cadre officers feelthat they are treated as “inferior” to

other Group A services officersrecruited by the Union PublicService Commission (UPSC) likethe Indian Engineering Services(IES), Indian Economic Service(IES), Indian Statistical Services(ISS) and so on.

The CSS is the most importantorgan of the Central Governmentand earlier its officers used to riseto the post of Secretary to theGovernment of India, but gradual-ly the IAS lobby muscled in to getpostings in the national Capital.Delhi has always been considereda plum posting due to the ameni-ties, facilities and good schools inthe Capital, apart from proximityto the corridors of power. Henceover the years, the CSS has beenreduced to just a subordinatedservice.

For instance, in Group A ser-vices, all officers get the JuniorAdministrative Grade (JAG) andNon-Functional Selection Grade(NFSG) in the 9th and 13th year ofselection. However, candidatesselected in 1998 through UPSCcivil services exam who were allo-

cated CSSC got JAG in the 16thyear of their selection and are yetto get NFSG.

While IAS/IFS/IA&AS officersget their Senior AdministrativeGrade (SAG) in the 16th year ofselection and other services startgetting benefits from the 18th or22nd year of selection, for CSS offi-cers there is no SAG. To claim SAGthe CSS officers have to undergo anempanelment process for the postof Joint Secretary.

In fact, promotions for CSSmen virtually stop at the level ofDirector, which is allocated to allofficers of Group A services uponcompletion of 13 years of service.

In some cases, candidates wereallocated Group B services sincethey did not give the complete ser-vice preference in spite of havinghigher merit than several Group Aofficers.

A close examination of scoresof candidates selected in 1998reveals that the first ranker of IASscored 63.56 per cent and 28thranker 59.39 per cent. Bothbelonged to the General Category

(GC) and there was a difference of4 per cent in the score.

An OBC candidate securingrank 143 for the same year scored55.52 per cent and a ScheduledCaste (SC) category candidate with195th rank scored 54.73 per centwhile a Scheduled Tribe (ST) can-didate with 370 rank scored 52.95per cent.

Therefore, the difference inpercentage of marks in comparisonwith the topper is mere 4 per centin respect of GC, 8 per cent forOBC candidates, 8.7 per cent for SCcandidates and 10.5 per cent inrespect of ST candidates. Given thatwithin the GC there is a differenceof 4 per cent, if we take it as a sin-gle unit for the GC candidates, thenthe difference of marks of OBC, SC,ST candidates in comparison withthe last selected candidates withinthe GC in IAS is 3 per cent, 5 percent and 6 per cent, respectively.

But promotions of candidatesselected for IAS from various cat-egories (GC, SC, ST, OBC) showthat all got the SAG scale at thesame time. And for Joint Secretary

empanelment also GC candidatesas well as OBC, SC and ST candi-dates were empanelled together.

“Our point is that when all takethe same exams and qualify andwithin few percentages there is dif-ferences in service category thenthe terms of promotions and careerprospects within the service andempanelment should be done forthe whole batch, may be throughthe process of a written examina-tion so that the best will again geta chance to hold the senior levelposts in the Government of Indiaunder the central staffing scheme,”explained the official.

Though selected in 1998,Group B services officials are stillworking as Deputy Secretary atJAG level whereas the 2010 batchof other Group A services selectedthrough either civil services or non-civil services are eligible to joinGOI as Deputy Secretary fromJuly 1, 2019. In effect, this meansthat someone 12 years juniorbecomes equivalent to an officer ofthe 1998 batch of Group B services.

Several 1998 batch Group A

officers with lower merit thanGroup B services have beenapproved for SAG. “This is majordiscrimination against Group Bofficers. It’s like someone whoaced the IIT-JEE Exam was askedto join some diploma coursebecause of a lower rank or for fail-ing to submit preferences,” theofficer explained.

Fortunately, the ModiGovernment, during the last fewyears has made attempts to ratio-nalise the central staffing postingsby giving opportunities to othercadres like, Indian TelecomServices (ITS), Indian TradeServices (ITS) Railway Services,Indian Forest Services and likewise,instead of just the elite IAS officers.

For better governance at theCentre and State, there should beadequate exchange of CSS officerswith IAS/IPS officers on deputationin State administration so thatthere is a two-way exchange ofexperience and knowledge thatwould be beneficial to all.

(The writer is with the nation-al bureau of The Pioneer)

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The Government plans togive debt waiver for “small

distressed borrowers” underthe insolvency law framework,according to a senior official.

The proposed waiverwould be offered as part of‘Fresh Start’ provisions underthe Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC).

Corporate Affairs SecretaryInjeti Srinivas said discussionshave been held with the micro-finance industry regarding cri-teria for the proposed waiverfor small distressed borrowersfrom the economically weakersection (EWS).

He emphasised that thewaiver — as part of individualinsolvency — would be for themost distressed within theEWS.

“If you have once availed

the fresh start, then you cannotavail it again for five years. Wehave worked out all safeguardsto the satisfaction of the micro-finance industry.

“It will like taking haircuts.At a national level, over a threeto four years period, it will be notmore than �10,000 crore,”Srinivas told PTI in an interview.

As per the IBC, there arevarious thresholds for ‘FreshStart’, including that the grossannual income of the debtordoes not exceed �60,000.

The aggregate value of thedebtor’s assets should not bemore than �20,000 and that theaggregate value of the qualify-ing debts does not exceed�35,000. Among others, such aperson should not be having anown dwelling unit, irrespectiveof whether it is encumbered ornot, according to the IBC.

“We had discussions with

microfinance industry and theirconcerns are being duly factoredin. The idea is not to destroy themicrofinance industry.

“The idea is to give waiverfor small distressed borrowersfrom debt obligations based ona criteria. The criteria has beendiscussed at length with themicrofinance industry,” thesecretary said.

Further, he said that theIBC provisions pertaining topersonal guarantor to corpo-rate debtor would be cominginto effect immediately, fol-lowed by those related to part-nership and proprietorship.

“Then we will look to bringfresh start provision,”” headded.

The IBC provides theframework to deal with dis-tressed assets through a mar-ket-driven and time-boundprocess.

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India’s expo-sure to the

US govern-ment securitiesrose by nearly$6 billion to$162.7 billionat the end ofJune, the high-est level in atleast one year.

Latest data from the USTreasury Department showedthat Japan was the largest hold-er, with holdings of Americangovernment securities worth$1.122 trillion, followed byMainland China whose expo-sure stood at $1.112 trillion.

These are figures at the endof June 2019.

Among the major foreignholders of the Treasury securi-ties, India was at the 13thposition with holding to thetune of $162.7 billion.

The exposure stood at$156.9 billion in May and$155.3 billion in April, accord-ing to the data.

India’s holding in June wasalso the highest in at least oneyear, as per an analysis of thedata from June 2018 when itstood at $147.3 billion.

The substantial rise inexposure also comes at a timewhen the global economy isgrappling with multiple head-winds, including trade war andprospects of slowdown in some

emerging markets.The data showed that the

UK was at the third positionwith holding worth $341.1 bil-lion, followed by Brazil ($311.7billion), Ireland ($262.1 bil-lion), Switzerland ($232.9 bil-lion), Luxembourg ($231 bil-lion), Cayman Islands ($226.6billion), Hong Kong ($215.6billion), Belgium ($203.6 bil-lion), Saudi Arabia ($179.6 bil-lion) and Taiwan ($175.1 bil-lion).

“Foreign residentsincreased their holdings oflong term US securities inJune; net purchases were $63.8billion. Net purchases by pri-vate foreign investors were$63.2 billion, while net pur-chases by foreign official insti-tutions were $0.5 billion.

“... Taking into accounttransactions in both foreignand U.S. Securities, net foreignpurchases of long term securi-ties were $99.1 billion,” theTreasury Department said in arelease on August 16.

$���� )*+�*,%-

The FinanceMinistry has

asked insurancecompanies toexpedite theclaim settlementprocess for poli-cy holders affect-ed by floods indifferent states,i n c l u d i n gK a r n a t a k a ,Maharashtra andKerala, sourcessaid.

The min-istry has askedthe insurers to clear claimsunder various policies includ-ing Pradhan Mantri JeevanJyoti Bima Yojana, PradhanMantri Suraksha Bima Yojanaand Pradhan Mantri FasalBima Yojana quickly, theyadded.

Widespread damage to lifeand property has been report-ed from different parts of thecountry as monsoon rainsplayed havoc in several states.

Regulator Irdai in a com-munication to life insurers saidthat as a result of the heavyrains and floods, there arereports of loss of human livesand loss of belongings in many

states such as Karnataka,Kerala, Maharashtra, Gujarat.

””Initiate immediate actionto ensure that all reportedclaims are registered and eligi-ble claims are settled expedi-tiously,”” said the InsuranceRegulatory and DevelopmentAuthority of India (Irdai).

With regard to claimsinvolving loss of life, where dif-ficulty is experienced in obtain-ing a death certificate due tonon-recovery of body, Irdaiasked the insurers to follow theprocess adopted during the2015 Chennai floods.

They have also been askedto update Irdai about state-wise

progress report on the claimssettled on a weekly basis.

Pradhan Mantri JeevanJyoti Bima Yojana claims dataneed to be submitted separatelywhile including the same intotal claims, it added.

The Irdai has also askedgeneral insurance companiesand standalone health insurersto expedite claim settlements.

The insurers have beentold to ensure that all claims aresurveyed immediately andclaim payments are disbursedat the earliest. They have alsobeen asked to engage adequatenumber of surveyors in theaffected areas.

$���� )*+��*,%-

The Government is likely tocome out with a clarifica-

tion on applicability of theforeign direct investment pol-icy on the digital media sector,official sources said.

The present FDI policy issilent on the fast-growing dig-ital media segment.

In the print media sector,26 per cent FDI is allowedthrough government approvalroute. Similarly, 49 per cent FDIis permitted in broadcastingcontent services through gov-ernment approval route.

But 100 per cent is allowedfor up-linking of non-newsand current affairs’ TV chan-nels, and down-linking of TVchannels through automaticapproval route.

“In the FDI policy, digitalmedia does not find a place. Asthe sector is growing fast, we arelooking at it will come underFDI cap or not,” a source said.The proposal is worked out bythe commerce and industryministry, sources said.

On in the proposal,Deloitte Partner Jehil Thakkarsaid that this is a great move bythe government as it wouldhelp media companies to raiseadditional capital for their dig-

ital media segment.“The government should

clarify about the FDI cap in thesector and whether that FDIwill be coming through auto-matic route or not”, he said.

Thakkar added that at pre-sent a significant part of thegrowth in the media sector iscoming from the digital area.“Additional capital is needed tokeep this growth going and FDIwould be the most welcomingthing in this.”

Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman in her Budgetspeech in July had stated thatthe government would exam-ine suggestions of furtheropening up of FDI in aviation,media (animation, AVGC) andinsurance sectors in consulta-tion with all stakeholders witha view to attracting more over-seas investment.

FDI in India dipped 1 percent to $44.36 billion in 2018-19. Last year, the governmenthad relaxed FDI rules for sev-eral sectors, including single-brand retail, non-banking finan-cial companies and construc-tion. Foreign investments areconsidered crucial for India,which needs billions of dollarsfor overhauling its infrastructuresector such as ports, airportsand highways to boost growth.

$���� )*+��*,%-

Foreign investors pulled out�8,319 crore on a net basis

from capital markets in the firsthalf of August, continuing theirselling spree in the Indian mar-ket amid uncertainty over FPItax and global trade worries.

According to the deposi-tory data, foreign portfolioinvestors (FPIs) sold equitiesworth �10,416.25 crore on a netbasis during August 1-16 peri-od. FPIs, however, invested anet �2,096.38 crore in the debtsecurities during the period.

So far in August, FPIs havebeen net sellers for nine out of10 trading sessions, indicating””extreme negative sentiment””,Himanshu Srivastava, senioranalyst manager research atMorningstar said.

In July, FPIs had with-drawn a net sum of �2,985.88crore from the Indian capitalmarkets (both equity and debt).

“Prevailing uncertaintyover the higher tax on FPI hasnegatively impacted foreigninvestors. They have been exit-ing Indian equities ever sincethe higher surcharge, or ‘superrich’, tax was introduced in thebudget announced on July 5th,”Srivastava added.

$���� )*+��*,%-

Representatives of the threerecognised defence federa-

tions met with officials of theGovt. of India, in meetingschaired by the AdditionalSecretary (DP) on the 14th andthe 16th of August regardingthe one-month strike call tooppose the proposed corpo-ratisation of the OrdnanceFactories. During the meetingit was explained that corpo-ratisation would give the organ-isation greater autonomy indecision making; increasedflexibility in day to day opera-tions which would in turn leadto improved efficiencies andproductivity.

The federations, however,were not satisfied with theviews expressed and remainedfirm on their proposal to pro-ceed on a one-month longstrike commencing from the20th of August.

The Director GeneralOrdnance Factories andChairman Ordnance FactoryBoard, Saurabh Kumar, IOFSreiterated that there was noplan on the part of the Govt. toprivatise the OrdnanceFactories.

$���� )*+��*,%-

Amemorandum of under-standing (MoU) was

signed between OrdnanceFactory Board (OFB) and theCouncil of Scientific andIndustrial Research (CSIR) inKolkata on 16 August 2019.

The MoU was signed byUmesh Singh, Deputy DirectorGeneral of OFB and Dr HarishHirani, Director of the CentralMechanical EngineeringResearch Institute, Durgapurunder CSIR.

This MoU is an umbrellaarrangement under which indi-vidual factories under OFBcan collaborate with specificCSIR laboratories for taking upof new R & D projects. TheMoU will facilitate collabora-tion and exchange of informa-tion between OFB and CSIR ona wide range of technologies.

The MoU has been signedas part of the ongoing efforts toboost the in-house researchand development (R & D)capability of the OFB so as togive a boost to the ‘Make inIndia’ initiative of theGovernment of India.

$�� � )*+��*,%-

Lonza India, a wholly-ownedsubsidiary of Switzerland-

based integrated solutionsprovider for pharma and con-sumer healthcare, announcedits India plan. India being astrategic market for the com-pany, Lonza India withturnover for around 100 mil-lion CHF (Swiss Franc) has setthe target of doubling itsturnover by 2024 with an esti-mated growth of 15 + per cent.

Lonza India, which offersproduct portfolio in India andcovers an entire life sciencesindustry has taken up anaggressive expansion plan byannouncing corporate officesacross the country in the cur-rent financial year. The com-pany aims to facilitate bilater-al businesses and scientificpartnerships with Switzerland,has built a wide network of rep-resentations across India.

Lonza started its operationsin India in 1997 as a liaisonoffice. The office was involvedmainly into sourcing advancedintermediates from India.Lonza came in as a full-fledgedsales and commercial organi-zation with the acquisition ofCambrex Bio Products in 2007.

$�� � )*+��*,%-

State-owned Oil andNatural Gas Corp

(ONGC) has set a target todouble oil and gas outputfrom its domestic and over-seas fields and expand itsrefining capacity three-foldalongside diversification intorenewables in a new visiondocument for 2040, itsChairman Shashi Shankersaid.

ONGC Energy Strategy2040 envisions the companyas “A diversified energy com-pany with a strong contribu-tion from non E&P business;3x revenues and about 5-6xmarket capitalisation,” he said.

The firm produced 24.23million tonnes of crude oil inthe 2018-19 fiscal year and25.81 billion cubic metres(bcm) of natural gas from itsdomestic fields. Another 10.1million tonnes of oil and4.736 bcm of gas were pro-duced from its overseasassets.

It had a turnover of�109,654 crore and a netprofit of �26,715 crore in theyear ended March 31, 2019.As on August 16, it had amarket capitalisat ion of

�164,458 crore.In the company’s latest

annual report, Shanker saidthe ONGC board recentlyapproved the businessroadmap for the companyand its other group entities —‘ONGC Energ y Strateg y2040’.

The ‘Energy Strategy2040’ entails ONGC achiev-ing “three times revenue dis-tributed across explorationand production, refining,marketing and other busi-nesses; four times currentprofit-after-tax (PAT), with10 per cent contribution fromnon-oil and gas business; and5-6 times current marketcapitalization,” he said.

“The strategic roadmapenvisions a future-ready orga-nization whose growth ispredicated on a few importantplanks: consolidation of ourcore upstream business(domestic and international);expansion into value accretingadjacencies in the oil and gasvalue chain (downstream andpetrochemicals) and diversi-fication into renewables (off-shore wind) and select newfrontier plays through dedi-cated venture fund,”” it said.

The document targets

cumulative upstream output(local and overseas) almost dou-bling from current levels with 2per cent and 5 per cent CAGRin domestic and internationaloperations respectively.

With two 35 milliontonnes per annum of oil refin-ing capacity vested in its twosubsidiaries — HPCL andMRPL, ONGC is targeting toraise this capacity to around90-100 million tonnes. Also,expansion is petrochemicalswill be prioritised.

Besides, ONGC plans tomake investments in renew-ables energy sources with a tar-get to create 5-10 gigawattsportfolio with a focus on off-shore wind power. ONGC hasbeen under pressure to reversethe falling output from its agingfields, where natural decline hasset in. It is investing heavily toarrest the domestic fall while atthe same time aggressively lookfor assets overseas.

“The strategic roadmapalso looks to create long termoptionality through investorplay (venture fund corpus ofabout $1 billion) in selectfrontier themes such as cleanenergy, artificial intelligence(AI) or reservoir/field ser-vices technology,” it said.

$���� .%*))!-

Auto major Hyundai MotorIndia Ltd (HMIL) has come

out with no production days thismonth at its Sriperumbudurfacility near here, in view of theprevailing market conditions. Asper the announcement made onAugust 9 at the plant, theKorean auto major said, ””due toprevailing market conditions,there will be no production inpassenger cars, powertrain sys-tem and related support depart-ments””.

Accordingly, there was noproduction on August 10 and12 at the body shop, paint shop,assembly shop, operating in allthe three shifts. From August 9to 21 there will be no produc-tion in engine shop-1 whileengine shop 2 it will be onAugust 10, 24 and 31.

Transmission-1 depart-ment was under no productionday on August 10 in all its threeshifts while transmission-2 onAugust 10 and 12, it said.

The notification to employ-ees said few assembly lines in thementioned departments wouldoperate as per requirement.

A Hyundai Motor Indiaspokesperson told PTI, thedomestic auto industry wasgoing through “unprecedentedtimes of fluctuating marketdemands.”

‘Specific segments areindeed performing really well— the long waiting period forthe newly-launched (Hyundai)Venue and (electric vehicle)Kona and the successful pre-booking figures of similarmodels in other brands is tes-tament to this,” a statementfrom the spokesperson said.

The company said it hasbeen working on multiple strate-gies like “tweaking productioncycles, initiating new internalprojects in this scenario.””

“Our flexible manufactur-ing process is completely alignedto the market pull and is capa-ble of seamlessly handling thevarying market requirements.The specific variances of mar-ket have been incorporated inthe company’s business andoperational plan, streamliningproduction schedules accord-ingly. Both the company’s plantswere operating smoothly as perthe plans,” the statement said.

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State Bank of India andother public sector lenders

on Sunday completed the firstround of bottom-up ideationexercise for further stream-lining the banking sector tohelp the nation become aUSD 5-trillion economy infive years.

Banks embarked on amonth-long campaign begin-ning Saturday on the direc-t ion of Department ofFinancial Services, Ministryof Finance with the aim togenerate suggestions andideas from the branch levelfor preparing a road map forthe future growth of the bank-ing sector.

The move by the FinanceMinistry is aimed at re-invig-orating sagging economy inwhich banking sector hasimportant role to play espe-cially in boosting consump-tion through higher creditflow to the productive sectors.

Some suggestion werewith regard to governmentand regulators which will betaken up at later stage of theexercise, he said, adding, allthese suggestions will be col-lated over the next week andwill be placed at the state-levelmeeting.

Gupta further said, theprimary objective of thismeeting was to identify andfinalise ways and means toincrease credit to various sec-tors of the economy, enhancethe use of technology to bringabout innovation.

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London: British Prime MinisterBoris Johnson will tell EuropeanUnion (EU) leaders that thereneeds to be a new Brexit dealwhen he makes his first tripabroad as the Prime Ministerlater this week.

The UK will leave theEuropean Union (EU) onOctober 31 with or without adeal, Johnson will insist.

Meanwhile, the SundayTimes has printed leaked gov-ernment documents warning offood, medicine and fuel short-ages in a no-deal scenario, theBBC reported.

A source told the BBC thata former minister leaked thedossier to try to influence dis-cussions with EU leaders.

The documents say thecross-government paper onpreparations for a no-deal Brexit,code-named OperationYellowhammer, reveals that theUK could face months of dis-ruption at its ports.

It also states that plans toavoid a hard border betweenNorthern Ireland and theRepublic of Ireland are unlikelyto prove sustainable.

According to the dossier,reported by the Sunday Times,leaving the EU without a dealcould lead to the following situ-ations:

* Fresh food becoming lessavailable and prices rising.

* A hard Irish border after

plans to avoid checks fail, spark-ing protests.

* Fuel becoming less avail-able and 2,000 jobs being lost ifthe government sets petrolimport tariffs to 0 per cent,potentially causing two oilrefineries to close.

* UK patients having towait longer for medicines,including insulin and flu vac-cines.

* A rise in public disorderand community tensions result-ing from a shortage of food anddrugs.

* Passengers being delayedat EU airports, Eurotunnel andDover.

* Freight disruption at portslasting up to three months,caused by customs checks, beforetraffic flow improves to 50-70 percent of the current rate.

The Downing Street sourcetold the BBC the leaked docu-ment “is from when ministerswere blocking what needed to bedone to get ready to leave and thefunds were not available”.

Michael Gove, who isresponsible for overseeing thedevolution consequences ofBrexit, said in a tweet thatOperation Yellowhammer was “aworst case scenario”.

“V significant steps havebeen taken in the last 3 weeks toaccelerate Brexit planning,” headded.

Energy Minister Kwasi

Kwarteng told Sky News’ SophyRidge on Sunday: “I think there’sa lot of scaremongering aroundand a lot of people are playinginto project fear,” he said.

But a former head of theBritish civil service, Lord BobKerslake, who described thedocument as “credible”, said thedossier “lays bare the scale of therisks we are facing with no-dealBrexit in almost every area”.

“These risks are completelyinsane for this country to be tak-ing and we have to exploreevery avenue to avoid them,” hetold BBC Radio 4’s BroadcastingHouse.

Irish Deputy Prime MinisterSimon Coveney said, in a tweet,that Ireland had “always beenclear” a hard border in Ireland“must be avoided”.

The Irish backstop -- theprovision in former BritishPrime Minister Theresa May’swithdrawal agreement that couldsee Northern Ireland continue tofollow some of the same traderules as the Republic of Irelandand the rest of the EU, thus pre-venting a hard border -- was an“insurance policy” designed toprotect the peace process, he said.

The leak comes as Johnsonprepares to travel to Berlin tomeet German Chancellor AngelaMerkel on Wednesday, beforegoing to Paris to meet FrenchPresident Emmanuel Macronon Thursday. IANS

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Pakistani of f icia ls onSunday said they have

taken up the suspension ofPakistani social mediaaccounts that posted mes-sages in support of Kashmirwith social networking giantsFacebook and Twitter, localmedia reported.

“Pakistan authorities havetaken up the case with Twitterand Facebook against sus-pending Pakistani accountsfor posting in support ofKashmir,” Director General(DG) Inter-Services PublicRelations (ISPR) Maj GenAsif Ghafoor was quoted assaying by the Dawn.

Ghafoor reportedly urgedsocial media users to share information aboutaccounts that have been sus-pended already.

He also added that thereason behind the suspensionof social media accounts wasIndian employees working atthe regional headquarters ofthe social media giants.

Facebook has the highestnumber of fact-checking part-ners in India, followed by theUS, said data from thePoynter Institute, according tothe report.

Kabul: At least 63 people werekilled and over 180 injured in asuicide bombing at a packedwedding hall here, reports saidon Sunday. The ISIS has claimedresponsibility for the attack,which has left many relatives ofthe couple getting married dead.

Citing an ISIS statementissued in Arabic, Khaama Pressreported that the attack, “whichtargeted a gathering of non-believers”, was carried out by ISsuicide bomber Abu Asim Al-Pakistani.

Earlier, the Taliban, in astatement, rejected any involve-

ment in the Saturday nightattack, saying that they con-demned incidents which targetwomen and children.

A suicide bomber targeteda wedding hall, packed withhundreds of guests, late onSaturday night.

Interior Ministryspokesman Nusrat Rahimi saidthe blast, that took placearound 10.40 p.m. was a suicidebombing, TOLO News report-ed. He also expressed appre-hensions that the number ofcasualties might increase.

Sources and witnesses said

the Shahr-e-Dubai weddinghall, located in police district 6(PD6), was packed with guestswhen the explosion occurred.

Afghan President AshrafGhani condemned the attack.

“I strongly condemn theinhumane attack on the wed-ding hall in Kabul last night.My top priority for now is toreach out to the families of vic-tims of this barbaric attack. Onbehalf of the nation I send myheartfelt condolences to thefamilies of those who weremartyred,” he said in a tweet.

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Over 100,000 people dressedin black took part in the

pro-democracy protests hereon Sunday, amid severe warn-ings from Beijing. Rains could-n’t dissuade people from fillingthe Victoria Park then spillingout to occupy major roads in alldirections, the BBC reported.

The protests were sparkedby an extradition bill, which hassince been suspended by theHong Kong Government.

Subway railway stationswere forced to shut after gettingclogged with protesters head-ing to the rally.

Though the authoritiesdidn’t grant permission to

organisers Civil Rights HumanFront for the march, the sheerweight of numbers around thepark meant that activists had toshift to streets. However, thepolice had allowed demon-stration in Victoria Park.

Wong, a protester, said,“We have been fighting formore than two months, butthere has been no governmentresponse. We could just comeout again and again.”

Activists and the policehave clashed over the past 10weeks with the security forces

frequently firing tear gas andrubber bullets, but this week-end’s rallies have been peaceful.

China, which has built upsecurity forces in nearbyShenzhen, has likened theprotests to terrorist activity.

After increasingly violentclashes in recent weeks, there’sbeen a concerted effort to winback public support for thedemocratic reforms by focusing on larger peacefulgatherings.

Last weekend, activists

occupied the airport, leading tocancellation of hundreds of flights.

The turmoil has plungedone of Asia’s leading financialcentres into crisis. Many busi-nesses remained closed onSunday, amid fears of violence.

Mass protests erupted inJune over the Hong KongGovernment’s now-shelvedextradition bill, the SouthChina Morning Post reported.The administration droppedthe draft legislation on June 15and city leader Carrie Lam laterdeclared it dead.

Since then protesters haveescalated the campaign withstreet demonstrations and non-cooperative action.

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A35-year-old woman inNepal was allegedly

thrashed and forced to eathuman faeces by a group of vil-lagers in the latest attack linkedto accusations of witchcraft,police said on Sunday.

A group of five womenbeat the victim and force-fed

her human excreta at Birta vil-lage of Bhangaha area inMahottari district on Monday,they said.

The accused have beenidentified as Sabita Devi,Poshila Danuwar, Indra DeviSingh Danuwar, SukeshworiDevi and Rajeshree Anuwar, Superintendent ofPolice Shyam Krishna Adhikari

said. Sukeshwori and Rajashree

have been taken into policecustody, he said, adding thatthey have initiated an investi-gation into the matter.

The practice of accusingwomen of being witches andassaulting or killing them is stillcommon is some parts ofNepal, although it is illegal.

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The Libyan navy said onSunday 335 migrants had

been rescued and one bodyrecovered in separate opera-tions off the coast, as they triedto cross the Mediterranean toreach Europe.

Nine children were among57 migrants in a wooden boatrescued Saturday about 40 nau-tical miles from the town ofZuwara, west of Tripoli, navy

spokesman General AyoubKacem told AFP.

He said they were fromEthiopia and Egypt.

It came days after Libyannavy patrols on Tuesday “res-cued 278 migrants on boardfour inflatable boats north-west and northeast of Tripoli”,Kacem added.

The operations took placeoff the coasts of the cities ofKhoms, 120 kilometres (75miles) east of Tripoli, and

Sabratha, located 70 kilometreswest of the capital.

According to the state-ment, 128 Sudanese were in theboats, in addition to migrantsfrom Chad, Egypt, Niger, Beninand Eritrea, including 35women and 11 children.

One body was also recov-ered by the coastguard. Libya,which has been wracked bychaos since the 2011 uprisingthat killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi, has long

been a major transit route formigrants, especially from sub-Saharan Africa.

In general, migrants res-cued at sea are first met byhumanitarian agencies thatprovide medical care and food.

They are then taken intothe charge of the body workingto combat immigration at theinterior ministry of the UN-recognised Government ofNational Accord.

On August 9, the Libyan

navy accused the authorities offailing to manage migrants rescued at sea, claim-ing that it could be forced to letpeople go free once broughtback to land.

Despite the risks, migrantscontinue to attempt to reachEurope by sea, preferring totake their chances than stay inLibya, where they are subject toabuse, extortion and torture,according to humanitarianorganisations.

Madrid: Authorities on Spain’sCanary Islands say around2,000 people have been evacu-ated due to a wildfire that hasravaged more than 500 hectares(1,235 acres) since it broke outless than 24 hours ago.

At least 250 firefighters,

nine helicopters and two planeswere working Sunday to tack-le the flames near the town ofValleseco on Gran Canariaisland in the Atlantic Oceanarchipelago, the provincial gov-ernment said in tweets.

Officials say the blaze “hasgreat potential” to spread andhave ordered evacuations in atleast six towns.

The island suffered anoth-er ravaging fire last week.

Wildfires are common insouthern Europe during thehot, dry summer months.

Nearly half of Spain’sprovinces were on alert Sundayfor high risk of fires, accordingto the country’s weather agencyAEMET. AP

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London: A waiter in a cafe near Paris wasshot and killed by a customer irate over delayin preparing the sandwich he had ordered,reports said on Sunday.

The incident occurred in the Paris sub-urb of Noisy-le-Grand on Friday evening.

According to the deceased man’s col-leagues at the pizza and sandwich shop, thecustomer shot the waiter in the shoulder afterlosing his temper over the time it took todeliver the meal, the BBC reported.

Though medical aid arrived soon, thewaiter succumbed to his injuries on the spot.

The attacker fled the scene and is still tobe apprehended.

The killing has stunned local residentsand shopkeepers, though some of them com-plained that crime has increased in the areaand more instances of drug trade and pub-lic drunkenness were being been reported.

IANS

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s presidential hopefulGotabhaya Rajapaksa, who played a key roledefeating the LTTE to end the country’s brutal civilwar, has claimed that a terrorist group in the Northis planning to harm him during the election cam-paign, according to a media report.

Gotabhaya, 70, the brother of former strong-man Mahinda Rajapaksa, complained to PresidentMaithripala Sirisena that his intelligence officers haveinformed him that there is an attempt to use a sniperrifle and a special type of gun imported fromMalaysia for this attack.

He asked the president to investigate the mat-ter and take appropriate action, Sri Lanka Mirrorreported. The former defence secretary told themedia that not only him but Douglas Devananda,a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, and Karuna Amman,a politician and a former rebel, are also at risk. PTI

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At least 50,000 people arehomeless after a massive

fire swept through a crowdedslum in the Bangladesh capitaland destroyed thousands ofshanties, officials said Sunday.

The fire broke out at inDhaka’s Mirpur neighbour-hood late on Friday and razedaround 2,000 mostly tin shacks,fire services official ErshadHossain told AFP.

“I could not salvage a sin-gle thing. I don’t know what willI do,” 58-year-old AbdulHamid, who ran a tea stallinside the slum, told AFP as hebroke down in tears.

Authorities eventually gotthe blaze under control and no-one was killed, although sever-al people had minor injuries,firefighters said.

Many residents — largelylow-income garment factoryworkers — were not in the slumas they had left their homes tocelebrate the Muslim Eid al-Adha holiday with their fami-lies. “Otherwise, the damagewould have been bigger,” localpolice chief Golam Rabbanisaid.

Around 10,000 people havetaken refuge in crammedcamps at nearby schools closedfor the weeklong holiday,according to Hossain.

“We are providing themwith food, water, mobile toilets,and electricity supply,” munic-ipal official Shafiul Azam toldAFP, adding that authoritieswere trying to find permanentaccommodation.

Some families have erectedtarpaulins to shelter them frombouts of rain during the mon-soon season, but the wet con-ditions have turned the fieldsmuddy.

Experts say fires are fre-quent in Dhaka due to laxsafety measures. At least 100people have been killed so farthis year in building fires acrossthe densely populated metro-politan city.

Gaza City: Three Palestinianswere killed by Israeli soldiers inthe northern Gaza Strip, thePalestinian health ministry saidSunday, hours after three rock-ets were fired at Israel from theblockaded enclave.

The ministry said anotherPalestinian was hospitalised inthe shooting that came after theIsraeli army said an attackhelicopter and tank had fired at“armed suspects” along thebarrier that separates Israelfrom Gaza.

“We just identified a num-

ber of armed suspects fromGaza approaching the securityfence with Israel. We firedtowards them,” the army said astatement posted on its Twitteraccount.

The latest violence cameafter Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip fired threerockets at southern Israel lateSaturday, the Israeli army said,in the second such attack in 24hours.

There were no immediatereports of casualties.

The army said two of the

projectiles had been intercept-ed by its Iron Dome aerialdefence system but it did notspecify what happened to thethird rocket.

Air raid sirens had sound-ed in the southern town ofSderot and its surroundings.

On Friday Palestinians inGaza fired a rocket at Sderot, inwhat the army said was the firstsuch attack since July 12.

In response, Israeli war-planes struck at least three tar-gets in the Gaza Strip early onSaturday but caused no casu-

alties, a Palestinian securitysource said.

The strikes hit a Hamasobservation post in BeitHanoun, in the northern GazaStrip, an unidentified targetnear Gaza City and openground near Deir El Balahin the central part of the terri-tory, the source said.

An Israeli army statementmentioned only two strikes,against “underground targetsbelonging to the Hamas terrororganisation in the northernand central Gaza Strip”. AFP

London: Leaked British gov-ernment documents havewarned of disruptions across thecountry in the event that the UKleaves the European Union with-out a trade deal on October 31.

British Prime Minister BorisJohnson has said he is preparedto charge out of the EU regard-less of whether he is able to rene-gotiate the Brexit deal struckwith Brussels by his predecessor,Theresa May, over the next 10weeks.

The Sunday Times pub-

lished what it said were confi-dential Government memosoutlining the consequences oftearing up May’s deal, warningthat a sudden British exit couldlead to a decrease in the supplyof fresh food.

The memos also warn of“significant” disruptions to drugsupplies that could last for up tosix months. Britain’s CabinetOffice did not immediatelyrespond to a request for com-ment by The Associated Press.

AP

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Iceland on Sunday honoursthe passing of Okjokull, its

first glacier lost to climatechange, as scientists warn thatsome 400 others on the sub-arctic island risk the same fate.

A bronze plaque will beunveiled in a ceremony start-ing around 1400 GMT to markOkjokull — which translates to“Ok glacier” — in the west ofIceland, in the presence oflocal researchers and theirpeers at Rice University in theUnited States, who initiated theproject.

Iceland’s Prime MinisterKatrin Jakobsdottir,Environment MinisterGudmundur IngiGudbrandsson, and the UnitedNations High Commissionerfor Human Rights MaryRobinson are also due to attendthe event.

“This will be the first monument to a glacier lost toclimate change anywhere in theworld,” Cymene Howe, associate professor of anthro-pology at Rice University, saidin July.

The plaque bears theinscription “A letter to thefuture,” and is intended to raiseawareness about the decline ofglaciers and the effects of cli-mate change.

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Adrone soared over a blazing hotcornfield in northeastern

Colorado on a recent morning,snapping images with an infraredcamera to help researchers decidehow much water they would give thecrops the next day.

After a brief, snaking flightabove the field, the drone landed andthe researchers removed a handful ofmemory cards. Back at their comput-ers, they analysed the images forsigns the corn was stressed from alack of water.

This US Department ofAgriculture station outside Greeleyand other sites across the Southwestare experimenting with drones, spe-cialised cameras and other technol-ogy to squeeze the most out of everydrop of water in the Colorado River— a vital but beleaguered waterwaythat serves an estimated 40 millionpeople.

Remote sensors measure soilmoisture and relay the readings byWi-Fi. Cellphone apps collect datafrom agricultural weather stationsand calculate how much water dif-ferent crops are consuming.Researchers deliberately cut back onwater for some crops, trying to getthe best harvest with the leastamount of moisture — a practicecalled deficit irrigation.

In the future, tiny needlesattached to plants could directlymeasure how much water they con-tain and signal irrigation systems toautomatically switch on or off.

Getting more bang for the buckis a goal for scientists looking for bet-ter ways to help farmers manage theuse of water. They're using sensorsto help control the flow of watergoing to plants and to improve thequality of crop yields.

“It’s like almost every monthsomebody’s coming up with some-thing here and there,” said DonAckley, water management supervi-sor for the Coachella Valley WaterDistrict in Southern California. “Youalmost can’t keep up with it.”

Researchers and farmers arerunning similar experiments in aridregions around the world. The needis especially pressing in seven USstates that rely on the ColoradoRiver: Arizona, California, Colorado,Nevada, New Mexico, Utah andWyoming.

The river has plenty of water thissummer after an unusually snowywinter in the mountains of the USWest. But climatologists warn theriver’s long-term outlook is uncertainat best and dire at worst, and com-petition for water will only intensi-fy as the population grows and the

climate changes.The World Resources Institute

says the seven Colorado River stateshave some of the highest levels ofwater stress in the nation, based onthe percentage of available suppliesthey use in a year. New Mexico wasthe only state in the nation underextremely high water stress.

The federal government willrelease a closely watched projectionon whether the Colorado River sys-tem has enough water to meet all thedemands of downstream states infuture years.

The river supplies more than7,000 square miles (18,000 squarekilometres) of farmland and supportsa $5 billion-a-year agricultural indus-try, including a significant share ofthe nation’s winter vegetables,according to the US Bureau ofReclamation, which manages mostof the big dams and reservoirs in theWestern states.

The Pacific Institute, an environ-mental group, says the river also irri-gates about 700 square miles (1,820square kilometers) in Mexico.

Agriculture uses 57 per cent to70 per cent of the system’s water inthe US, researchers say. The problemfacing policymakers is how to divertsome of that to meet the needs of

growing cities without drying upfarms, ranches and the environ-ment.

The researchers’ goal is under-standing crops, soil and weather socompletely that farmers know exact-ly when and how much to irrigate.

“We call it precision agriculture,precision irrigation,” said HuihuiZhang, a Department of Agricultureengineer who conducts experimentsat the Greeley research farm. “Rightamount at the right time at the rightlocation.”

The Palo Verde IrrigationDistrict in Southern California is try-ing deficit irrigation on alfalfa, themost widely grown crop in theColorado River Basin.

Alfalfa, which is harvested as hayto feed horses and cattle, can be cutand baled several times a year insome climates. The Palo Verde dis-trict is experimenting with reducedwater for the midsummer crop,which requires more irrigation butproduces lower yields.

Sensors placed over the testplots indirectly measure how muchwater the plants are using, and theharvested crop is weighed to deter-mine the yield.

“The question then becomes,what’s the economic value of the lost

crop versus the economic value of thesaved water?” said Bart Fisher, athird-generation farmer and a mem-ber of the irrigation district board.

Blaine Carian, who growsgrapes, lemons and dates inCoachella, California, already usesdeficit irrigation. He said withhold-ing water at key times improves theflavour of his grapes by speeding upthe production of sugar.

A micro-sprayer near Coachella,California, delivers water directlyabove the roots of a plant or fruit tree,minimising waste.

He also uses on-farm weatherstations and soil moisture monitors,keeping track of the data on his cell-phone. His drip and micro-spray irri-gation systems deliver water direct-ly to the base of a plant or its rootsinstead of saturating an entire field.

For Carian and many otherfarmers, the appeal of technology isas much about economics as savingwater.

“The conservation’s just abyproduct. We’re getting better crops,and we are, in general, savingmoney,” he said.

But researchers say water-savingtechnology could determine whethersome farms can stay in business atall, especially in Arizona, whichfaces cuts in its portion of ColoradoRiver water under a drought contin-gency plan the seven states ham-mered out this year.

Drone-mounted cameras andyield monitors — which measure thedensity of crops like corn and wheatas they pass through harvestingequipment — can show a farmerwhich land is productive and whichis not, said Ed Martin, a professorand extension specialist at theUniversity of Arizona.

“If we’re going to take stuff outof production because we don’t haveenough water, I think these technolo-gies could help identify which onesyou should be taking out,” Martinsaid.

Each technology has benefitsand limits, said Kendall DeJonge,another Agriculture Departmentengineer who does research at theGreeley farm.

Soil moisture monitors mea-sure a single point, but a farm has arange of conditions and soil types.Infrared images can spot thirstycrops, but only after they needwater. Agricultural weather stationsprovide a wealth of data on the recentpast, but they can’t predict thefuture.

“All of these things are tools inthe toolbox,” DeJonge said. “None ofthem are a silver bullet.” K�&

In Rob Reiner’s 1992 film, A Few GoodMen, it was actor Jack Nicholson’s ‘Youcan’t handle the truth’ that became a

sensation in the era when social media didnot exist. And the drama became iconicin the history of global cinema. However,not many have known that the film wasoriginally adapted from an eponymousBroadway play (of 1989), which was writ-ten and directed by Aaron Sorkin, who isknown to have written the stage editionof To Kill a Mockingbird.

It’s the same script that theatre direc-tor and actor Nadir Khan has picked upfor his next theatrical direction forAadyam’s fifth season. Ask him about whydid he choose the very play to adapt forhis next direction, hesays that its lines andcharacters are veryiconic and have stayed“relevant” to thetimes. “And it’s whenwriter Devika Sahnicame up to me withthe script. I wasinstantly drawn to it.In a way, I hadn’tchose the script but itchose me. And I likescripts which havegood plots and theability to stay with aperson. In fact, thedialogues in the play are very witty andsmart,” he says.

The plot is inspired by true events andis a courtroom drama which follows thetrial of two US Navy Mariners accused ofmurdering one of their own. The storyhighlights the inherent flaw of a systemthat rewards following orders ‘no-ques-tions-asked’, and the potential culpabili-ty of those executing the orders. So whatkind of research was involved to under-stand the structure or make any particu-lar changes in the script? He explains,“First. We haven’t changed it much. Thesame things are said in just a different wayand setup. Second. Yes, some research isalways involved. It was done to understandthe American Military judiciary systemand how it functions. I read a few thingsabout what are their legal procedures incase an officer commits a punishablecrime to understand the process of theplay. Another part of research went intounderstanding the kind of costumes thatshould be given to the characters.”

The drama stars Ira Dubey as the per-sistent lawyer Lieutenant CommanderJoanne Galloway, Rajit Kapur asLieutenant Colonel Nathan Jessep, NeilBhoopalam as US Military lawyer DanielA Kaffee in the lead roles. Ask Nadir aboutwhy he chose the particular cast for thecharacters, he says, “The characters in theplot are very fierce and witty people. Andfor that, I needed a strong cast. And Ira,Neil and Rajit were actually the ideal ones.”

Whereas, Rajit’s reasons for joiningthe cast were different. He says that Nadiris a good friend. “But it’s not just becausehe’s a friend but is also an accomplished

director. I share a certain equation withhim. And when you have that, there hap-pens to be a mutual trust and understand-ing. So when he said that he couldn’t thinkof anyone else for this role, I juggled myschedules to make it happen,” he tells usand laughs.

The cocky, arrogant lawyer LieutenantKaffee accuses Colonel Jessup of order-ing the killing of a US Marine atGuantanamo Bay. While talking about hischaracter, he says, “It’s definitely a chal-lenging part for me since I have neverplayed the role of a military officerbefore. In the play, Jessup’s authority isbeing questioned. It showcases what hap-pens when somebody in power is beingquestioned. His personality is quite tough.Well, how else would you describe a guywhose life motto is, ‘Walk softly and carryan armoured tank division.’ Jessup isn’tafraid of anything or anyone and is usedto people challenging him. He shouldn’tever have to explain himself, especially tosome desk jockey and he never backsdown. So the way my character looked atthings and made a perspective was very

important and I kept that in mind.”Nadir, who has also directed anoth-

er courtroom drama, 12 Angry Jurors (alsofor Aadyam), tells us about his fascinationwith courtroom dramas. “They alwayshave in store some suspense and mystery.I feel that they are very intriguing and canhold the audience. However, 12 AngryJurors is very different than this one. Thisplay is more about the code of moralityrather than the lack of justice. It reallyquestions whether one can handle thetruth or not and how,” says he.

This isn’t Nadir’s first stint withAadyam. Apart from 12 Angry Jurors, he

has previously brought to the stage,#SingIndiaSing, The Hounds of Baskerville,I Don’t Like It. He says, “Five years in arow with Aadyam is pressure enough. Andwhen you’re doing a text as iconic as thisone, you better make sure you’ve got acracking cast to match Sorkin’s superbwriting. Thankfully, we’ve managed to dothat.”

Ask Rajit about what was his researchwhile getting into the skin of his charac-ter, he says, “I didn’t have to read or watchanything to do that. Nadir had done it allfor me. He was very clear about what hewants and how he wants it. I won’t denythat I haven’t watched the film. It was yearsago when it first came out. However, I did-n’t want to watch it again to be influencedby it. It is important for me as an actorbecause it’s evident that people draw com-parisons. For me, the most importantthing was to bring out that character inmy own way. I haven’t let the film affectmy performance at all.”

The actor believes that since it’s a play,there are not much things to play aroundwith. For instance, the location. He says,

“You don’t have the liberty to shoot in reallocations, of course. You have to imaginecertain things in a play and I think, thatis the beauty of it.”

In this era of social media, does hefeel that theatre is facing a pushback dueto the advent of the digital platforms? Hesays, “Not at all. Even with online chan-nels, more and more youngsters are get-ting attracted to theatre. I can recall,when we were in college, we only saw 35plus people in the audience but that’s notthe case today. Of course, social mediais a big thing but there is simply no com-parison. It’s tough but it has always beenthat way. When television came, every-body said live performances will nothappen anymore. But they are stillgoing on. So live performances are hereto stay.”

Danish Hussain, Ashwin Mushran,Tavish Bhattacharya, Junaid Khan,Sukant Goel, Kenny Desai, SiddharthKumar, Suresh Venkat, Sahir Mehta,Zeus Paranjape and Rohit Dandwani areamong the others in the cast.

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CAN YOU HANDLE THE TRUTH?

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�7(8�%����9�% �8#In this documentary, hopes soar when a Chinese

company reopens a shuttered factory in Ohio. Buta culture clash threatens to shatter an Americandream. The film release on Netflix on August 21.

:*��%�77��'7(� �In Belgium, a tough detective teams up with a

damaged elite cop to hunt a 10 commandments-inspired vigilante with a penchant for theatrical tor-ture. Starring Dirk Van Dijk, Marie Vinck, KarlijnSileghem, the thriller will be release on Netflix onAugust 30.

�(�����$�� Romance, rivalry and radical mystery collide as

a group of teens attend a remote island sleepawaycamp in this suspenseful and supernatural drama.Starring Lisa Ambalavanar, Ellie Duckles, SavannahBaker, the series releases on Netflix on August 30.

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There are a few commonthings between theincessant rainfall in

Mumbai and a potential warbetween the US and Iranafter its drone was shot downby the Iranian forces. Whilethe former was a result of the‘fury’ of the nature and wascaused by some geologicalfaults, whereas the latter wasthe ‘fury’ of antagonistichuman minds, which wascaused by the faults in thehuman psyche and character.In Mumbai, the movement ofclouds led to heavy showers,which, in turn, led to destruc-tion and devastation of prop-erty and habitats. In the lat-ter case, the rough andrugged motives, deep in theminds of men, led to clash-es. And in both the cases, theforces — geological and psy-chological or political —became active due to certaingaps. In the first example, theoutbursts were in a flood-prone area and in the latter,in the anger and hatred-prone human minds.

There was lightning inboth the cases — electrosta-tic behavioural — but nosafety or remedial measureswere taken in either of thecases. However, this shouldnot point towards a mis-leading conclusion that the

natural catastrophes are moredevastating than the man-made ones. History is evi-dence that man-madecalamities could lead to deathand destruction on a gigan-tic scale. World War II is oneof the major examples, whichwas caused mainly by thefaults in the personality of adictator and his coterie,which was enough to illus-trate what a massive destruc-tion the eruption of volca-noes in human minds canlead to. But one might won-

der as to whether there is anylink between the humanmind and natural calamities?Can the faults in the charac-ters of humans lead to a cat-astrophe?

If we seek answer to thefirst question on the basis ofthe philosophy of karma, theanswer would be positivebecause as per the philoso-phy, there shouldn’t be anysufferings without faults inour moral structure. Theanger and actions of the richand the powerful maydestruct the habitats of thosein the remote areas. Worldhas seen many such examplesof devastation as a conse-quence of intense enmityand hatred between two dif-ferent nations.

Furthermore, the twoevents might be connected.Faults in human minds andactions could lead to a natur-al calamity too as it’s after all,man-made industrialisationthat has led to a destructionand an upheavel in the nat-ural ecosystem. Also, thosewho are not affected by thesetremors may also be partlyinstrumental as, for example,people of a superpowernation are instrumental indi-rectly for the immense suffer-ing inflicted on a developingnation. But even if manypeople find it hard to believethat there are such connec-tions, there should be no hur-dle in believing that ‘faults’and fissures in human moral-ity do lead to sufferings.

Melghat is a greenheaven in easternMaharashtra. It hasbeen declared atiger reser ve in

Amravati district and its generallandscape showcases hills andravines dotted with jagged cliffsand steep climbs. Blessed withabundant flora and fauna, it feelsheavenly to live here. And yet, thereality is far from idyllic.

Although its natives live closeto nature, the rural residents ofMelghat’s Chikhaldara block arefamiliar with diseases like dysen-tery, anaemia and malnutrition.Generations of Korku women —nearly 80 per cent of the inhabi-tants belong to the Korku tribe —have been caught in the viciouscycle of child marriage, early preg-nancy and caring for malnourishedchildren. Fortunately, the APJAbdul Kalam Amrut Yojna, initi-ated in December 2015, took a steptowards breaking this cycle of dis-tress and inter-generational malnu-trition.

At Jaitadehi village, anganwa-di worker (AWW) Sunita Meshramhas spent the last couple of yearsmeticulously executing the AmrutYojana scheme among the Korkuwomen who fall under the aegis ofher anganwadi. Under this scheme,every tribal woman in her thirdtrimester of pregnancy is entitledto a free and nutritious meal everyday, which continues for threemonths after delivery so that thenewborn is healthy. The menu con-sists of bhakri/roti, rice, pulses,green vegetables, jaggery, ground-nut ladoos, boiledeggs/banana/nachni halwa and soymilk.

Initially, Meshram used to pre-pare the protein-rich meal andasked pregnant women and lactat-ing mothers in the village to cometo the anganwadi to have the meal.“But soon I realised neither didthey understand why I wanted

them to visit the aganwadi to eatthe nutritious food but often times,they were simply unable to cometo us,” she says. So she changed herapproach. Not only did she explainto them the nutritional value of themeal she had made for them intheir own dialect, she also decid-ed to go into their homes andensured that they had the food.

“If it is difficult for them tovisit the anganwadi, we take themeal to their house and I makesure that they eat it in my presence.The meal includes sabzi-roti, dal-chawal, groundnut laddoo, cucum-ber, lemon and an egg. Nowadays,

we typically have around 12 to 20women visiting the anganwadi forthis meal. Our constant engage-ment, particularly the home visits,is fetching us great results,” sheadds.

Sanjay Dur ve, ChildDevelopment Project Officer(CDPO), Chikhaldara block, says,“Our quantitative data reveals thatthe percentage of low birth weighthas come down from 29-32 percent to 12-15 per cent. This is agreat achievement and the bestpart is that it has improved thequality of life of tribal mothers.Apart from making the mealsunder the scheme, AWWs likeMeshram are also keeping a recordof the weight and immunisationschedule of the infants.”

What do the tribal women inJaitadehi think about Meshram’swork? They would break into asmile. Once shy and quiet, theyreveal that they have been able tocome out of their shell, thanks tothe inclusive approach of theAWWs. Puja Korku, 20, a newmother Rita Korku, soon to bemother, 19, visit the anganwadidaily to have their specially-pre-pared meal. They say, “She speaksto us in our language which makesit easier to comprehend everything.We appreciate her effort. Tai hasexplained that the meal providesthe mother and the child with bal-anced nutrition. The laddoo andegg gives us adequate protein andenergy.”

Clearly, communicating withthem in their own language putsthem at ease and has made the oth-erwise conservative tribals morereceptive to Meshram’s involve-ment. This approach is being usedto drive home the message ofhygiene and hand-washing amongchildren in the area as well.

In Chikhaldara block’s Jamlivillage, a partnership between thelocal anganwadi and health sub-centre has yielded a remarkable

innovation that is changing theway children wash their hands. Notused to washing up after their dailyablutions or even before havingmeals, they commonly sufferedfrom gastro-intestinal ailments.Repeated bouts of dysentery result-ed in severe weight loss andanaemia. The government healthworkers put their minds togetherand developed the tin hand-washfountain. “We have created a sim-ple device to aid in hand-washing.A tin with approximately five-litre capacity, which is fastenedwith a rope, is fixed at a height ofaround four feet on a tree or to apole. The other end of the rope ishung loose. The tin is filled withwater. When the loose end of therope is pulled, the tin tilts and thewater pours out. When the rope isreleased, the tin straightens,”explains Kirit Khanna, anganwadisupervisor, Jamli and Dr AnkushMankar, medical officer, Jamlihealth sub-centre.

CDPO Durve says, “We speakto the community in their Korkudialect telling them about the needfor hand-washing. We have beenconducting hand-washing demosin villages and this strategy hashelped in publicising the concept.In the anganwadis, the childrenmake it a point to wash their handsbefore having their meal.”

During the Poshan Pakhwadaheld earlier in the year by healthworkers, interactive sessions abouthand-washing were conducted.These demonstrations received apositive response from tribals;many households have alreadyinstalled the tin hand-wash foun-tain. “Anganwadi workers havebeen visiting homes talking topeople about the device. They areasking mothers to attend the ses-sions at anganwadis. I’m glad thatthe villagers have participatedwholeheartedly in this develop-ment,” Durve says.

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Parenting is an art that involves manyaspects with which parents can help thekids learn, grow and evolve as a better

individual. According to experts, an impor-tant part of this process involves nurturingthe kids with proper concentration power.It not only makes them sharp but also devel-ops a disciplined lifestyle that is inevitable.Here are some tips that are effective inimproving concentration power in kids.

Understand the child’s needEvery child is different and his/her grasp-ing power is unique. It’s the duty of parentsto understand the needs and process accord-ingly. Some children process informationeasily when they see it, some are good athearing and understanding, and some needpractical knowledge of the subject. It isimportant to understand which categoryyour child falls under, mostly because thiswill help them understand informationbetter and the learning will be more longterm than short term.

Healthy and green foodEating healthy food has a direct link to howwell a child concentrates and there are dif-ferent foods that help increase a child’s con-centration. Eating junk food or food rich insugar makes a child sluggish while food richin proteins such as almonds, eggs and leanmeat has the ability to raise awareness andincrease concentration levels! An interest-ing study at the University of Ulster, UKshows that eating toast and baked beans forbreakfast increases cognition. Experts saythat eating greens and fruits inject the bodywith antioxidants which in turn boost yourbrain power.

Offer a distraction-free environmentIt is important to have a study room in thehouse or a corner, where a child can sit inpeace and concentrate while studying.While some children requite soothing andcalming environment, others thrive in anenvironment that las a lot of hustle and bus-tle. Understanding what kind of environ-ment your child prefers to study is the first

step to increase the concentration level inhim/her.

Play focus gameParents should make it a habit of playingwith kids every evening and involve somesort of focus games that will improve atten-tion and concentration power. Also, studieshave shown that gadgets actually reduceattention span and memory power of chil-dren, so they should be used sparingly or notat all.

Discipline and routine in lifeMaintaining a disciplined life is difficult butnot impossible. Developing this skill at an

early age in kids help them build concentra-tion power and lead a healthy lifestyle. Thisalso helps with time management programthe child’s brain to know when he has tostudy and play.

Proper breaks and sleepIt is important to understand that the bodyneeds rest to be active again. It has beenproven that most children are able to con-centrate best after a good rest. A power napfor twenty minutes after school or in theafternoon should also do the trick toincrease concentration.

(The author is the managing director ofCambridge Montessori Pre-School.)

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World number one NovakDjokovic wilted under

pressure from Daniil Medvedev,falling 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 to the ninth-seeded Russian in the CincinnatiMasters semi-finals.

Medvedev’s upset win onSaturday sent him into a titleshowdown with another unex-pected finalist, 16th-seededBelgian David Goffin, whodefeated France’s RichardGasquet 6-3, 6-4 to reach his firstATP Masters 1000 final.

“I don’t know how I turnedit around, I was so tired after thefirst set and I thought I might notbe able to keep up the intensity,”said Medvedev, who has compet-ed in 15 hardcourt matches sinceJuly 30.

“But I had a momentumchance in the second set and thecrowd gave me energy,” added theRussian, who will be playing hissecond Masters series final ineight days, after falling to RafaelNadal in Montreal last Sunday.

“It’s a great feeling to win andbeat the number one. That showsI deserve to be in this final.

“I played an unbelievablematch, I’m very happy.”

Medvedev also beat Djokovicin their last meeting, on clay atMonte Carlo in April.

He’s 1-1 against Goffin, withboth of their matches played thisseason — at the Australian Openand Wimbledon.

Kuznetsova, a two-timeGrand Slam champion who sentBarty packing, will be in searchof her 19th WTA title — whenshe takes on American MadisonKeys in the final.

Keys, the 2017 US Openrunner-up, defeated compatriotSofia Kenin 7-5, 6-4.

“I’m really feeling great aboutmy tennis.

“When I was down breakpoints in the second set, I was justthinking that I knew I could breakback, that was my biggestthought.

“I’m super-happy to be in myfirst final here. I love gettingmatches under my belt before aGrand Slam.”

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India’s double Silver medal-list P V Sindhu will look toproduce another master-

class when she resumes herquest for an elusive Gold at theBWF World Championshipsbeginning here from today.

Sindhu has been the mostconsistent performer in theWorld Championships in thelast few years with two back-to-back Silver and as many Bronzemedals but a Gold medal has sofar eluded her.

The 24-year-old Indian acehas always managed to find herbest form in the WorldChampionships, producingsteller performances but shemissed the trick in the summitclash twice.

While she lost to NozomiOkuhara of Japan in an epicbattle, lasting 110 minutes inthe 2017 edition, Olympicchampion Carolina Marin ofSpain stopped her in the sum-mit clash in 2018.

Sindhu, who is seeded fifth,is coming into the prestigiousevent with a runner-up finish atthe Indonesia Open last monthand has been working on herfitness and defence in her pur-suit to outlast her opponents.

She received a bye in thefirst round and will open hercampaign against eitherChinese Taipei’s Pai Yu Po orBulgaria’s Linda Zetchiri.

“I’ve been working on mydefence, physical fitness andalso on-court skills. I havetrained hard and I hope I cando well. I have to perform wellbut there is no pressure,” Sindhusaid.

If she wins her first match,Sindhu is likely to meet BeiwenZhang of USA in the thirdround and is expected to faceChinese Taipei’s Tai Tzu Ying inthe quarterfinals.

If everything falls intoplace, then Sindhu may collidewith compatriot Saina Nehwalin the semifinals, provided theformer world number 1 toocrosses the initial rounds.

Eighth-seeded Saina, whoboasts of a Silver and Bronzemedal in the World

Championships, will take onthe winner of the matchbetween Switzerland’s SabrinaJaquet and Netherland’s SorayaDe Visch Eijbergen in the sec-ond round after getting a bye.She is likely to face MiaBlichfeldt of Denmark next.

Saina’s likely opponents inthe quarterfinals will be China’sChen Yu Fei, who had clinchedthe All England Championshipearlier in the year.

In the men’s singles, formerworld number 1 KidambiSrikanth, who had reached theIndia Open finals in March, willlook to put up a good showafter recovering from a kneeproblem which he sufferedahead of the Sudirman Cup.

The seventh seeded Indian,who has gone without a title inthe BWF World Tour for thelast 22 months, will openagainst Nhat Nguyen of Irelandin a repeat of the opening clashof the 2018 edition.

Sameer Verma, who alsowas bothered by a shoulderissue, is in the same half asSrikanth and will open againstLoh kean Yew of Singapore.

The 10th seeded shuttlerwill face a tough challengeagainst second seed Chou TienChen of Chinese Taipei in theprequarterfinals if he clears theearlier rounds.

Swiss Open finalist B SaiPraneeth will face Canada’sJason Anthony Ho-Shue in theopening round, while H SPrannoy’s first-round oppo-nent will be Finland’s EetuHeino.

In the doubles, Indian pairsof Manu Attri and B Sumeethreddy, MR Arjun andRamchandran Shlok and ArunGeorge and Sanyam Shuklawill also be in the fray.

In the women’s doubles,Ashwini Ponnappa and N SikkiReddy, Jakkampudi Meghanaand Poorvisha S Ram and PoojaDandu and Sanjana Santoshwill also look for a good outing.

The mixed doubles pair ofPranaav Jerry Chopra and Sikkitoo will look to go deep in thetournament when they beginagainst the English pair of BenLane and Jessica Pugh.

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Wicketkeeper Rudi Second hasbeen ruled out of South Africa’s

Test tour of India in October due toan injury and Heinrich Klaasen willtake his place in the squad, CricketSouth Africa said.

The CSA said Second, one of thenew caps in the Proteas squadannounced on August 13 to playthree Tests in India in October, has suf-fered an injury while practising withthe South Africa A side. He willrequire immediate surgery and he hasconsequently been ruled out of thetouring party.

Second’s place with be taken bywicketkeeper/batsman Heinrich

Klaasen.“Klaasen is part of the one-day

squad for the South Africa A tourand he will now be added to thesquad in Second’s place for thefour-day series that will assist hispreparation for the Proteas Testseries,” said CSA Acting Directorof Cricket Corrie van Zyl.

The Test series begins onOctober 2 in Visakhapatnam.

CSA also confirmed that thesecond Test will now be played inPune (October 10-14) while thefinal Test will be held in Ranchi(October 19-23).

Klaasen is yet to make his Testdebut and has featured in 14 ODIsand nine T20Is for South Africa.

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Captain Dimuth Karunaratne scored122 as Sri Lanka chased down 268 for

the loss of just four wickets to win the firstTest against New Zealand at Galle onSunday and take a 1-0 lead in the two-match series.

Karunaratne posted his ninth Testhundred along with enjoying a record-equalling opening partnership of 161with Lahiru Thirimanne, who made 64, asSri Lanka collected their first points of theWorld Test Championship.

Former captain Angelo Mathewschipped in with an unbeaten 28 as SriLanka finished off the game before lunchafter the morning session was extendedbecause only 22 runs were needed at thescheduled time for the interval.

Karunaratne enjoyed some luck on theway to his century, dropped on 58 at for-ward short leg by Tom Latham while wick-etkeeper BJ Watling missed a stumpingchance on the same score. He batted forover five hours, facing 245 deliveries, andhit six fours and a six.

Karunaratne and Thirimanne’s standequalled the record for the highest open-ing partnership in Tests between the twocountries. In 1991, John Wright andTrevor Franklin had also put on 161 for thefirst wicket in Hamilton.

The opening stand was pivotal in SriLanka achieving the highest successful runchase in Galle, easily surpassing the pre-

vious best of 99. Resuming play on 133 forno loss, Sri Lanka required 135 from theremaining three sessions.

New Zealand finally got their break-through when Thirimanne was trapped legbefore by William Somerville. Given notout by umpire Richard Illingworth, NewZealand overturned the decision onreview.

Kusal Mendis soon fell after taking onSomerville, hitting him for a four and a sixfrom the second and fourth balls he faced.

Angelo Mathews joined Karunaratneand the pair put on 44 runs for the thirdwicket to steady the ship.

Sri Lanka lost Kusal Perera afterKarunaratne’s dismissal but Dhananjaya deSilva (14) joined Mathews and helped SriLanka knock off the remaining runs withtwo sessions to spare.

Mathews brought up the winning runswith a single to fine leg off Boult.

The second and final Test begins inColombo on Thursday.

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Big-bodied spin bowling all-rounderRahkeem Cornwall believes he is well-suit-

ed to the longest format and credited his con-sistent performance in first-class cricket to hismaiden call up to the West Indies squad for theTest series against India.

C o r n w a l lfirst played first-class cricket in2014 and has 260wickets from 55first-class match-es along with2224 runs. Herecently scoredtwo half-cen-turies in twounofficial ‘Tests’against India.

“I believe theTest format suitsmy game becauseof the consisten-cy a player needsover a long peri-od of time to besuccessful, andI’ve enjoyed thatchallenge so farin my careerplaying first-classc r i c k e t , ”Cornwall toldthe Cricket WestIndies website.

There is apossibility thatCornwall mightmake his Test debut during the opening Testwhich starts on August 22 as part of the WorldTest Championship.

“The feeling (on getting called up) is great— it’s something I’ve been pushing to achievefor a long time,” said the 26-year-old, who is6’6” tall and weighs around 140 kilograms andcouldn’t make it to the squad earlier due to fit-ness issues.

“The feeling would be great if I waspicked in the first Test. I just would want to goout and perform and don’t disappoint myfriends and family.”

In 2018-19, Cornwall claimed 54 wicketsin nine matches at an average of 17.68 toemerge as the leading wicket-taker. In inter-national A-team cricket, most notably in the2018, he clinched 19 wickets at an average of18.42 during their 3-0 home series win versusEngland Lions.

In the recent series against the touringIndia A, Cornwall took nine wickets in sixmatches.

“The A-team preparation has been verygood,” he said.

“England Lions and India A were two qual-ity opposition teams featuring guys that playedTest cricket. Overall it has been very challeng-ing and it was a good place to test skills thatI’ve been trying to perfect every year in ourdomestic competition.

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In recognition of Virat Kohli’s phenom-enal success in international cricket,

the DDCA has decided to name onestand at Feroz Shah Kotla Stadiumafter the India captain.

Bishan Singh Bedi and MohinderAmarnath are the two other Delhi play-ers who have stands after their names butthe honour came their way after theirretirements.

Kohli will be the youngest activecricketer to be bestowed with the hon-our of a stand being named after him.

“Virat Kohli’s outstanding contribu-tion to world cricket has done DDCAproud. We are happy to honour him forachieving certain milestones and unbeat-able captaincy record,” DDCA PresidentRajat Sharma said in a statement.

Virender Sehwag and AnjumChopra are the other Delhi players whohave gates named after them while theHall of Fame has been named after for-mer India captain MAK Pataudi.

The state cricket body will also felic-itate the members of Indian team at theJawaharlal Nehru Stadium on September12.

The DDCA function will documentKohli’s exceptional talent and successever since he took over charge in all for-mats of the game and the state body can-not think of a better tribute than this.

“To cherish these memories, DDCAwanted to dedicate a stand in his name.I am sure the ‘Virat Kohli Stand’ will bea source of inspiration for Delhi’s youngcricketers. We are also delighted thatTeam India is not only led by a Delhiplayer but it also has a opening batsman(Shikhar Dhawan), a wicket keeper(Rishabh Pant) and a lead bowler (IshantSharma).”

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Ishant Sharma grabbed two early wick-ets as India produced a disciplined bowl-

ing effort to reduce West Indies A to 79for four at lunch on the second day of thethree-day warm-up game here on Sunday.

Ishant was the peak of the bowlers ashe claimed the wickets of opener JeremySolozano (9) and first-down BrandonKing (4) in his first spell of five overs, whileUmesh Yadav too found his rhythmearly, dismissing Darren Bravo during hisfive overs giving away just seven runs.

Opener Kavem Hodge (45), who wasdropped at slips in the third over, held onto one end but regular loss of wickets atthe other end affected the hosts' innings.

Hodge was five runs short of a half-century at the break and giving him com-pany was Jonathan Carter (2).

West Indies A still trail India 218 runswith six wickets in hand.

Earlier after a delayed start due to rain,India declared their first innings at theovernight score of 297 for five.

In reply, opener Solozano was the firstto leave after his flat-footed drive found

an edge and landed in the safe hands ofKL Rahul as West Indies slipped to 16 forone in 4.2 overs.

King (4) was then dismissed in theninth over when he played a loose driveonly to be caught behind by Rishabh Pantas West Indies slipped to 30 for 2.

Bravo (11) then tried to stitch a part-

nership with Hodge but after adding 21runs he edged an Umesh Yadav deliveryto second slip with Rahul completing theformality.

In the 27th over, a direct throw frommid-on by Ravindra Jadeja ended the briefstint of Jason Mohammed (6) as WestIndies A were reduced to 77 for four in26.1 overs.

On the opening day, CheteshwarPujara struck form with a fine centurywhile Rohit Sharma hit 68 as Indiashrugged off initial wobble to score 297for 5.

Pujara and Rohit stitched 132 runstogether for the fourth wicket to take Indiato a strong position after being reducedto 89 for 3 at lunch on Saturday.

Test specialist Pujara got going in hisfirst competitive match of the West Indiestour as he retired after making 100 off 187balls during which he struck eight foursand one six.

Rohit fell after making 68 off 115 balls.He hit eight fours and one six. After Pujararetired in the final session, Pant andHanuma Vihari pushed the Indian totalfurther to reach near the 300-run mark.

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Australia’s Steve Smith has beenruled out of the last day of the sec-

ond Ashes Test with concussionagainst England at Lord’s, saying he felt“groggy” on Sunday morning.

“I started to feel a little bit of aheadache coming on last night as theadrenaline got out of my system butI was able to get a good night’s sleepin, but I woke up feeling a bit groggyand with a headache again,” Smith said.

“I had some tests done and thensome further assessments deemed tobe a mild concussion, so I’ve beenruled out of this Test match unfortu-nately.”

The series is the first being playedunder the International CricketCouncil’s new concussion substituteregulations, part of the inauguralWorld Test Championship.

These allow players who have suf-fered head or neck injuries to be

replaced fully by a substitute, who waspreviously restricted to fielding alone.

Marnus Labuschagne, on the fieldas 12th man when play resumed onSunday, became the first concussionsubstitute in Test history afterAustralia’s request was approved bymatch referee Ranjan Madugalle.

There are doubts whether starbatsman Smith will feature in the thirdTest at Headingley starting onThursday, with an Australia teamspokesman saying “the short turn-around is not in his favour”.

As for his prospects of playing inthe third Test, Smith said: “Obviously,there’s a quick turnaround betweenTests.

“I’m going to be assessed each day,hopefully I will be available, but it’s cer-tainly up to the medical staff.

“It’s certainly an area of concern,concussion, and I want to be 100 per-cent fit. There’s obviously a few testsI have to tick off and time will tell.”

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Jofra Archer took two wickets andstruck Test cricket’s first concus-sion substitute, Marnus

Labuschagne on the grille of his hel-met as England pushed for anunlikely series-levelling victory in thesecond Ashes clash at Lord’s onSunday.

Australia were 46-2 in theirsecond innings at tea on the final dayof the second Test.

That left them needing 221more runs in a minimum of 35 oversto reach an unlikely victory target of267.

Test debutant Archer also struckSteve Smith on the neck with a rapidbouncer during the star batsman’s 92on Saturday.

Smith was passed fit to resumehis innings on Saturday but furthertests on Sunday sidelined him withconcussion.

Now there are doubts overSmith’s availability for the third Testat Headingley starting Thursday,with an Australia spokesman sayingthe “short turnaround is not in hisfavour”.

Australia, bidding for their firstAshes campaign triumph on Englishsoil in 18 years, lead the five-matchseries 1-0 after a 251-run win atEdgbaston last week.

In that match, former captainSmith marked his first Test sincecompleting a 12-month ban for hisrole in a ball-tampering scandal inSouth Africa with superb innings of144 and 142.

Under new protocols intro-duced for the inaugural World TestChampionship, Australia couldreplace Smith with a full, batting sub-stitute in Labuschagne.

World Cup-winning fast bowlerArcher also took an impressive 2-59in 29 overs on Saturday and the 24-year-old Sussex quick was in thewickets again on Sunday with two fortwo in seven balls.

David Warner’s miserable seriescontinued when the left-hander fellfor five — his fourth single-figure inas many innings — when he edged

Archer to Rory Burns in the slips.And Australia were 19-2 when

Usman Khawaja was caught behindoff a fine ball just outside off stumpfor two.

Archer’s first ball toLabuschagne, a bouncer that sailedover the batsman's head, was calledwide.

His second, timed at 91.6 mph,was much straighter andLabuschagne could not get out of theway.

The batsman required severalminutes of on-field attention before

resuming his innings and laterbravely drove Archer down theground for a well-struck four.

Earlier, Ben Stokes, missed twiceon Saturday and the beneficiary ofan Australia decision not to reviewa rejected lbw appeal, scored 115 notout before captain Joe Root declaredEngland’s second innings on 258-5.

The left-handed batsman slog-swept off-spinner Nathan Lyon fortwo sixes in as many deliveries onthe way to a 160-ball century, hisseventh in Tests and second againstAustralia.

Stokes also hoisted pacemanPeter Siddle for a six into theGrandstand before Root eventual-ly called a halt. His innings includ-ed 10 fours.

Jos Buttler (31) gave Stokesgood support in a fifth-wicket standof 90 before hooking Pat Cumminsto long leg.

Although the sun was shiningby the tea interval, rain — which hadalready washed out five sessions inthis match, delayed the start ofSunday's play by over an hour andso made a draw more likely.

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England fast bowler Jofra Archerinsisted he had no intention to

hit Australia’s Steve Smith duringthe second Ashes Test, saying“everyone’s heart skipped a beat”after he felled the star batsman witha fearsome bouncer at Lord’s.

In an interview with BBCRadio before Sunday’s final day, heinsisted: “That is never the plan (tohit a batsman).”

“You are trying to get a wick-et first. To see him go down, every-one stopped and everyone’s heartskipped a beat,” he added.

“After he got up he was mov-ing around and you breathe a sighof relief. No-one wants to see any-one getting carried off on a stretch-er. It was a good challenge, a real-ly good spell.

“For me, I wouldn’t like to seeit end like that.”

Archer insisted he was just try-ing to force Smith out of his com-fort zone.

“I’ve never seen Smith get outof his own accord until yesterday,so I was just trying to rattle him,”he told Sky Sports.

“I was trying to get him out.You don’t ever want to see anyonecarried off on a stretcher, or youdon’t want to see them missing aday, or a game, especially with whathappened a few years ago as well,”said Archer.

“It’s never a nice sight.”

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