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Aunited Opposition onThursday came out in sup-

port of West Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeeafter the Election Commission’sdecision to cut short cam-paigning by 20 hours in theState in the aftermath of clash-es between TrinamoolCongress (TMC) and BJPworkers during Amit Shah’sroadshow on Tuesday evening.

A delegation of theOpposition leaders, led byCongress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi, took up theissue with the EC.

Opposition leaders in thedelegation — Singhvi, BSPchief Mayawati, AndhraPradesh Chief Minister NChandrababu Naidu, AamAadmi Party (AAP) chiefArvind Kejriwal, CPI (M) gen-eral secretary Sitaram Yechury,DMK chief MK Stalin, andAIMIM chief AsaduddinOwaisi — questioned the logicbehind EC’s decision to cutshort campaigning. They askedwhat prevented the poll bodyfrom stopping the electioncampaigning immediately.

In first such action inIndia’s electoral history, theEC had on Wednesday orderedcampaigning in nine WestBengal constituencies to end at10 pm on Thursday, a daybefore its scheduled deadline,following violence betweenBJP and TMC workers inKolkata during a roadshow byBJP chief Amit Shah.

Earlier, Mayawati came out

in support of Mamata Banerjee.“Election Commission hasbanned campaigning in WestBengal, but from 10 pm todayjust because the PM has tworallies during the day. Whenthey had to put a ban why notfrom morning? This is unfair.the EC is acting under pres-sure,” the BSP chief said.

Mayawati added, “It is clearthat PM Modi, Amit Shah, andtheir leaders are targetingMamata Banerjee. This isplanned targeting. This is avery dangerous and unjusttrend and one which doesn’t

suit the PM of the country.” The Congress too accused

the EC of losing its credibilityand independence and saidtime has come to review theprocess of the poll panel’sappointment. Asking whetherthe model code of conduct hadbecome the “Modi code ofmisconduct”, Congress’ chiefspokesperson RandeepSurjewala said the EC ordercurtailing campaigning inBengal by 20 hours is a “darkspot” on India’s democracyand institutions like theElection Commission.

“It appears the ElectionCommission’s action is a part-ing gift” to Modi and the BJPto ensure Modi’s two pre-announced election rallies inMathurapur and Dum Dum onThursday are not hit, Surjewalaalleged.

Kejriwal said the people ofthe State will give a befittingreply to the “perpetrators ofviolence and hooliganism”.

Chandrababu Naidu toothrew his weight behindMamata. “It is disturbing to seeprompt action by the ECI on acomplaint by the BJP and Amit

Shah in Bengal, while conve-niently ignoring the complaintsof TMC,” Naidu tweeted.

Saying that it is high timethat the poll panel acts on com-plaints by the Opposition,Naidu said, “Giving clean chitto Narendra Modi, takingunjustified prompt action afterfalse complaints by BJP, wilfulinaction on genuine complaintsby Opposition parties clearlyraise doubts about the neu-trality, impartiality, and fairnessof the ECI.”

Accusing the EC of goingagainst all norms of democra-tic fair play, SP chief AkhileshYadav said, “The EC’s decisionto curtail campaigning inBengal is against all norms ofdemocratic fair play. I fully sup-port @MamataOfficial ji inher fight to stop the undemo-cratic march of the two and ahalf men who have used andabused every institution of our country for their own gain.”

CPI(M) general secretarySitaram Yechury asked if thepoll body had set the time toallow Modi to address two ral-lies in Bengal in the afternoon.

“If a ban is intended for 72hours, why is it starting at 10pm tomorrow? Is it to allow thetwo rallies of the PrimeMinister before that?” Yechurytweeted.

DMK president MK Stalintweeted, “Ban on campaign innine constituencies in#WestBengal. The EC has oneset of rules for the Oppositionand another for the rulingparty. Highly condemnable.”

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The assassin of MahatmaGandhi, Nathuram Godse,

is in the centre of a fresh con-troversy as BJP’s Bhopal LokSabha candidate Sadhvi PragyaThakur on Thursday describedGodse a “deshbhakt”.

However, she retracted herstatement soon and apologisedwith her party condemningthe comment, but not beforethe Opposition Congress wentto town alleging that insultingmartyrs is in the DNA of thesaffron party. The Congressalso sought an apology fromPrime Minister Narendra Modi.

The Election Commissionhas (EC) sought a report fromMadhya Pradesh chief electoralofficer by Friday on Pragya’sstatement.

Talking to a news channelon Thursday, Pragya had said,“Nathuram Godse was a deshb-hakt (patriot), he is and willremain a deshbhakt. Thosecalling him a terrorist shouldinstead look at themselves.They will be given a befittingreply in this election.”

Pragya made the statementin response to a question overactor-turned-politician Kamal

Haasan’s remarks that Godsewas Independent India’s firstterrorist. The BJP condemned

Pragya’s praise for Godse andasked her to tender an apolo-gy in public.

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West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and

Prime Minister Narendra Modiattacked each other onThursday over the smashing ofthe bust of Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar in the violence dur-ing BJP chief Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata on Tuesdayand traded barbs over buildinga new statue of the 19th centuryBengali icon.

Hours before the bittercampaign came to an end onThursday night, curtailed by aday by the ElectionCommission, Modi said hisGovernment was committedtowards Vidyasagar’s visionand promised to install hisgrand statue at the same spotin Kolkata.

Rejecting Modi’s offer,Mamata said Bengal does notneed BJP’s money and that theState has enough to rebuild thestatue. “We do not seek alms from the BJP,” saidMamata.

The Prime Minister andthe Trinamool Congress(TMC) supremo also tradedcharges as to who was respon-sible for the vandalisation of thebust. While Modi said the bustwas vandalised by “TMC goon-das”. Mamata claimed it wasBJP “hooligans” who haddestroyed the heritage of WestBengal.

“We have been witnessingthe attitude of Didi for long andnow the country is also seeingit. Dedicated to the vision of

Ishwar Chand Vidyasagar, ourGovernment will install apanchdhatu (made up of fivemetals) statue at the very spotand give a reply to TMC goon-das,” Modi told a rally in Mauin Uttar Pradesh.

“The statue of IshwarChandra Vidyasagar was bro-ken by TMC goondas duringthe roadshow of BJP presidentAmit Shah. Those involved inthis act should be given exem-plary punishment,” the PrimeMinister said.

Addressing another rally atMathurapur in West Bengal,Modi alleged that the WestBengal Police, in connivancewith the State Government, wastrying to wipe out evidence ofthe vandalisation.

“Those involved in the actof vandalising the statue shouldbe given exemplary punish-ment,” Modi said, adding,“Police officers are trying towipe out the evidence of theincident in order to save theTMC goons.”

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The Leader of Opposition inthe Rajya Sabha and senior

Congress leader Ghulam NabiAzad on Wednesday hintedthat his party was ready to giveup claims on the PrimeMinister’s post to prevent theBJP-led NDA return to power.

Azad’s statement is beingseen as a subtle hint to allies aswell as prospective partners ofthe Congress that the grand oldparty was flexible on the choiceof Prime Minister and wouldnot force them to accept theleadership of Rahul Gandhi.

Interacting with media inPatna, Azad said, “We havealready made our stand clear.If a consensus is made in thefavour of Congress, then theparty will take the leadershipbut our aim has always beenthat NDA Government shouldnot come. We will go with theunanimous decision.”

“We are not going to makean issue that we (Congress) willnot let anyone else become thePrime Minister if it is notoffered to us (Congress). Weare in the last phase of electionsand I can say on the basis of my

experience during campaign-ing across the country that nei-ther BJP nor NDA is going toreturn to power at the Centre.

“Narendra Modi is alsonot going to become the PrimeMinister for the second time...Non-NDA non-BJPGovernment will be installed atthe Centre after the Lok Sabhaelections,” Azad said.

Leaders such as MK Stalin,Tejashwi Yadav and evenArvind Kejriwal have said theyare ready to support Rahul.

Criticising the saffron

party, Azad said the BJP hasbeen “thoroughly exposed”after coming to power at theCentre as it has followed its ide-ology of “creating hatred anddivide” in society.

Azad also condemned thesmashing of the bust of IshwarChandra Vidyasagar, a notedphilosopher and a Bengal icon,during the clash between BJPand TMC supporters duringAmit Shah’s roadshow inKolkata on Tuesday and saidstern action should be takenagainst the guilty.

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Two Indian climbers havedied in Nepal due to high

altitude sickness near the sum-mit of Mount Kanchenjungaduring an expedition to theworld’s third tallest peak, anofficial said on Thursday.

Biplab Baidya (48) andKuntal Karar (46) died onWednesday night above CampIV after they were unable tocontinue their descent fromnear the 8,586-metre peak dueto hypothermia and snow-blindness.

“Biplab made it success-fully to the summit point whileKuntal fell sick on his way andcould not make it to the top.The Indian duo died whileclimbing down from the peak,”Mira Acharaya, liaison officer

at Nepal’s Ministry of Tourismteam deployed at the basecamp, told PTI.

According to fellowclimbers, the incident occurredwhen the duo were beingbrought to Camp IV from analtitude of 8,400 metresthrough a herculean rescue

operation carried out by ProjectPossible team leader Nirmal‘Nims’ Purja along with the fel-low members.

“They succumbed to highaltitude sickness,” said PasangSherpa, Director of PeakPromotion Ltd, that carried outthe expedition.

They were part of a five-member team of climbers fromWest Bengal, Sherpa said.

“Two Indian climbers anda German mountaineer whoalso suffered from serious frost-bite will be evacuated from thehigh altitude camp as early aspossible,” he said.

Another climber fromChile is missing from aboveCamp IV of MountKanchenjunga sinceWednesday evening.

Continued on Page 4

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The Directorate of Education(DoE) has directed 605

private schools in Delhi todeposit �5 lakh as EnvironmentCompensation Charges (ECC)or face de-recognition for fail-ing to install rainwater har-vesting systems on theirpremises. The National GreenTribunal (NGT) asked the DoEin February this year to directsuch schools to deposit thecompensation within twoweeks.

The fine was originallyimposed as per an NGT orderdated November 16, 2017,which said any institution fail-ing to install rainwater har-vesting systems within twomonths would be liable to payenvironment compensation of�5 lakh.

“Taking cognisance of thenon-compliance of the earlierdirections, 605 private schools

were found defaulters of eithernot having rainwater harvest-ing system installed or havinga yet to be made functional sys-tem,” an official of theDirectorate of Education said.

While the construction hasnot started at 331 privateschools, the rain water har-vesting plants are yet to bemade functional in 274 privateschools in the city.

“We have issued finalnotices to the schools to depositthe compensation within threedays. This shall be treated asfinal opportunity, failing whichfurther necessary action forwithdrawal of recognition ofconcerned schools shall betaken without any furtheropportunity,” the official said.

The NGT had earlierdirected schools and colleges toapproach a committee consti-tuted by it for inspecting thepremises and granting per-mission to institutions for

operating the system.If it was not possible to

install the rainwater harvestingsystem, the institution should

have approached the commit-tee, NGT order read.

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Six terrorists, including a topcommander of Jaish-e-

Mohammad (JeM), a Pakistaninational, were gunned down bythe joint teams of securityforces, while an Army jawanattained martyrdom, three oth-ers sustained injuries and acivilian lost his life in two sep-arate gunfights in SouthKashmir’s Pulwama andShopian districts on Thursday.

According to police spoke-sman, “Three terrorists werekilled in Dalipora of Pulwamaand three others in Handew ofShopian on Thursday.”

Violent protests werereported from Pulwama soonafter the gunbattle. Curfewlike restrictions have beenclamped in Pulwama town andsurrounding villages. Mobileinternet have been snapped asa precautionary step.

Separatists have calledshutdown on Friday against therecent killings.

Till the time of filing thereport, another fierce gun bat-tle was going on in Kandi areaof North Kashmir Kupwara.

Detailed report on P5

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Chhattisgarh Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel on

Thursday strongly condemnedthe statement of BJP candidatefrom Bhopal Lok Sabha seatSadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur inwhich she termed assassin ofMahatma Gandhi a patriot.

Baghel in a tweet had ques-tioned the ability of such a per-son to enter the parliament ofthe country.

Baghel in the tweet said“the intention and ideology ofthe BJP has come to the forewith the statement of this BJPleader. It is horrible that a per-son who is terming killer ofMahatma Gandhi a patriot isseeking entry to the parliament”.

Notable, Pragya, anaccused in the Malegaon blast

case ignited a fresh controver-sy on Thursday by claimingthat Nathuram Vinayak Godse“is and will remain a patriot”.

Talking to a news channelin Madhya Pradesh, she said,“Nathuram Godse was aDeshbhakt (patriot), he is andwill remain a ‘Deshbhakt’.Those calling him a terroristshould instead look at them-selves. They will be given abefitting reply in this elec-tion.”

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The CBI probe into theBofors case relating to the

alleged �64 crore kickbacks inthe purchase of the Swedishartillery guns will continue, theCBI said here on Thursday.

“In view of certain revela-tions made by one MichaelHershman, CBI sought thepermission of the trial court toconduct further investigation inthe Bofors case,” CBIspokesperson Nitin Wakankarsaid in a statement.

The CBI spokesperson saidon May 8 this year, the courthad observed that when inde-pendent right and power isavailable with the CBI to fur-ther investigate the matter ontheir own, if in their wisdom itis necessary to do so then, whystill such application is beingfiled in the court?

“After obtaining legal opin-ion, CBI filed an application onMay 16, 2019 in the court ofCMM, Rouse Avenue Courts,New Delhi, stating that forconducting further investiga-tion under section 173 (8) ofCr.PC (Criminal ProcedureCode), permission of the courtis not mandatorily required byCBI and an intimation to thecourt in this regard will suffice,”Wakankar said.

He further said the probe inthe Bofors case will continue.

The agency’s response cameafter it withdrew from a Delhicourt its application to seek per-mission to further probe thepolitically sensitive �64 croreBofors payoff case for which theCBI has already spent crores of rupees in investigationwithout any convictions in thecase.

Meanwhile, the agency onThursday withdrew from thespecial court a 2018 applicationthat had sought permission tofurther probe the Bofors case.

The agency told ChiefMetropolitan Magistrate NavinKumar Kashyap that it wants towithdraw the application filedon February 1, 2018.

The CBI had moved thetrial court seeking permissionfor further probe in the mattersaying it had come across freshmaterial and evidence.

Taking note of CBI’s stand,the judge said: “For the reasonbest known to the CBI, in casethey want to withdraw theapplication, they have the rightas they are the applicants.”

The court had onDecember 4, 2018 questionedas to why the Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI) required itspermission to further probe thematter.

The CBI had also filed anappeal in the Supreme Courton February 2, 2018 against theMay 31, 2005 verdict of theDelhi high Court dischargingall the accused in the case.

The apex court had onNovember 2, 2018 dismissedCBI’s appeal in which it hadsought an order to condone the13-year delay in filing theappeal against the high courtjudgment.

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Adding 896 square kilome-tre of landscape to the

existing Maenam, FambongLho and Barsey wildlife sanc-tuaries and creating three newprotected areas in Yumsedong,Lachen and Chungthangregions, the pristine ecosystemsharbouring some of the rarespecies, are some of the imme-diate measures that need to betaken to ensure meaningfulconservation goals in Sikkim inthe face of climate changethreats, researchers have point-ed out.

In a study published in thelatest issue of BiologicalConservation, the researchers,after using a combination ofspecies distribution modelling(SDM) and systematic con-servation planning techniques,delineated and prioritised areasfor endemic plant species con-servation under current andfuture climate conditions span-ning between 2050s and 2070s.

They found that plant

species in Sikkim will shiftnorthward and towards high-er elevation from their currenthabitats under future greenhouse gas emission scenarios.To tackle the threat, theresearchers said, “Our analysesshow that to mitigate the effectsof ensuing climate change, asingle large PA with wide geo-graphic and elevational extentsinstead of several smaller PAswould be a more prudent strat-egy for conserving the plant

diversity in the Himalaya.” “The consequences of

warming and altered distribu-tion of plant species entailsredefining the existing bound-aries of protected areas,” saidlead author Maharaj K Pandit,Director, Centre for Inter-dis-ciplinary Studies of Mountainand Hill Environment(CISMHE), University of Delhiand Ngee Anne Kongsi, dis-tinguished professor, NationalUniversity of Singapore.

They asserted that theapplication of this research,would be helpful to the deci-sion-makers in redrawing PAboundaries in the light of cli-mate change.

Pandit explained that,“there are limited genuineempirical studies on theHimalayas that can shed lighton the quantum of impact onbiodiversity patterns due toglobal change, of which climatechange is a part.

“We have to redesign ourbiodiversity conservation plansto keep pace with the changingdistribution patterns of species.

Moreover, biodiversity andlivelihoods in India are close-ly linked. This demands that wesit up and take note and notconsider these warnings a mereacademic exercise.”

According to theresearchers, the severe effect ofclimate change on Sikkimfauna might even lead to seri-ous consequences like theextinction of some species.Hence, “we recommend long-term monitoring and detailedstudies to understand sucheffects and consequences sothat mitigation measures can beundertaken,” they said.

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Aday before the SupremeCourt is to decide whether

his arrest was needed or not,the controversial formerKolkata Police chief RajeevKumar on Thursday reportedat the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA).

Kumar, who was shuntedfrom Kolkata on Wednesdaynight by the ElectionCommission, joined the MHAin the afternoon without get-ting any assignment. TheCentre is waiting for the apexcourt’s order on the CBI’s appli-cation to interrogate Kumar,who was involved in a face-offwith the agency in connectionwith Saradha and Rose Valleychit fund scams.

Following his face-off withthe CBI, Kumar was posted asADG, CID in Kolkata.

Currently, Kumar is onattachment with the HomeMinistry as per the ElectionCommission’s order, said a

senior MHA official. In anunprecedented move, the pollpanel had on Wednesdayinvoked Article 324 andordered campaigning in nineWest Bengal constituencies to

end at 10 pm on Thursday, aday before its scheduled dead-line, in the wake of violencebetween BJP and TMC work-ers in Kolkata.

Kumar was questioned by

the CBI in February this yearin connection with its probe inmulti-crore Saradha chit fundcase. A team of CBI officers wasstopped from entering the res-idence of Kumar, when he wasKolkata Police chief onFebruary 3 when they hadgone to question him in con-nection with the Saradha andRose Valley scam cases.

The move had led to ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjeestaging a dharna in the heart ofthe city, protesting against “theattack on constitutional norms”.The CBI had, however, ques-tioned Kumar for several daysin Shillong from February 9 fol-lowing a Supreme Court order.

The CBI had told the apexcourt that it wanted custodialinterrogation of Kumar, whowas earlier heading WestBengal Police SIT probing chitfund scam, as there was primafacie evidence of his allegedlytrying to destroy or tamperwith evidence and “shield highand mighty” in the case.

However, Kumar’s counselhad countered CBI’s submis-sions and told a bench headedby Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoithat the agency wanted hiscustodial interrogation “just tohumiliate” him and CBI shouldnot be allowed to abuse theprocess of law. Kumar’s coun-sel had told the bench that CBI’sapplication seeking custodialinterrogation of the IPS officerwas a “mala fide exercise”.

Kumar was earlier headingthe West Bengal Police’s specialinvestigation team (SIT) prob-ing the chit fund scam. Theapex court had in May 2014directed the CBI to investigatethe case.

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The Supreme Court onThursday agreed to hear a

Muslim woman’s plea chal-lenging the two Talaq noticesgiven by her husband andsought direction for registra-tion of FIR against him.

A Bench of Justices IndiraBanerjee and Sanjiv Khannasaid it will hear the plea onFriday. Advocate MM Kashyap,appearing for the woman, saidthat her husband after nineyears of marriage has given hertwo notices for Talaq in Marchand May. He said the womangot married on February 22,2009 as per Muslim rites andcustoms and has two childrenof nine years (boy) and six

years (girl).The Bench asked the coun-

sel as to why he did not movethe high court for the relief.

To this, the counsel saidthat apex court had on August17, 2017, held the practice oftriple talaq among Muslims asunconstitutional and thenotices given by the husbandwere violative of that order.

The woman, a Delhi resi-dent in her plea has said thather husband and in-laws start-ed harassing and assaultingher after the marriage for wantof additional dowry and a car.

She said that first notice fortalaq was sent to her on March25 and the second notice wassent to her on May 7, by herhusband.

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The Supreme Court onThursday sought respons-

es from the Centre and CBSEon a plea seeking 10 per centreservation for economicallyweaker sections in the CentralTeacher Eligibility Test (CTET),2019.

Besides the Centre and theCentral Board of SecondaryEducation (CBSE), a vacationbench comprising JusticesIndira Banerjee and SanjivKhanna also issued notice tothe National Council forTeacher Education (NCTE)and asked them to respond tothe petition by July 1, the nextdate of hearing.

The Bench was hearing aplea filed by six petitioners,

who are aspiring to participatein CTET 2019 and are seekinga direction that benefits of‘The Constitution (103rdamendment) Act 2019’ beextended to those belonging tothe economically weaker sec-tions (EWS) of the society.The amendment Act tookeffect on January 16.

Under the amended Act,the Centre has provided for a10 per cent reservation to cit-izens from general category

belonging to EWS, in additionto already existing reservationpolicy for benefit of otherreserved categories such asScheduled Caste, ScheduledTribe, Other Backward Classand physically handicapped.

During the hearing onThursday, the lawyers appear-ing for the petitioners told thebench that since the amendedAct has been passed byParliament, its benefit must begiven to persons from EWS.

“If we will get this relax-ation, we will qualify in theexamination. The amendmentis aimed for upliftment of theeconomically weaker section ofthe society,” the counsel said.

The Bench issued notice onthe petition and said that itwould be heard on July 1.

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Atotal number of six terror-ists including a top com-

mander of Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM), a Pakistani national,were gunned down by the jointteams of security forces whileone Army jawan attained mar-tyrdom, three others sustainedinjuries and a civilian also losthis life in two separate gun-fights in South Kashmir dis-tricts of Pulwama and Shopianon Thursday.

Meanwhile, another fiercegunbattle between terroristsand security forces was goingon till the time of filing thereport in Kandi area of NorthKashmir’ Kupwara district.

To register their presence,separatists have also issued acall for shutdown on Fridayagainst the recent killings in themonth of Ramzan.

According to policespokesman, “three terroristswere killed in Dalipora area ofPulwama and three others inHandew area of Shopian onThursday”.

On the other hand, violentprotests were reported fromseveral parts of Pulwama soonafter the gunfight got over.

To contain the law and

order situation, the districtauthorities imposed curfewlike restrictions in Pulwamatown and surrounding villages.Mobile internet services werealso snapped as a precaution-ary measure.

The police have identifiedthe slain JeM commander asKhalid Bhai, a Pakistaninational. The local terroristswere identified as NaseerAhmad Pandith and UmarAhmad Mir.

Sepoy Sandeep Kumar ofthe Army’s 55 Rashtriya Rifleslaid down his life during thegun fight, police spokesmansaid.

According to policespokesman, “a cordon & searchoperation was launched by thejoint teams of security forces onthe basis of credible intelligenceinput on Thursday morning atDalipora area in Pulwama dis-trict”

“As the police and securi-ty forces were evacuating civil-ians from the neighbourhoodarea around the target house,the hiding terrorists fired indis-criminately. “One Army JawanSepoy Sandeep attained mar-tyrdom and one civilian RayeesDar also lost his life”, saidpolice spokesman.

After the security forcesretaliated, three terrorists werekilled in the ensuing encounterand their bodies were retrievedfrom the site of encounter.

As per police recordsKhalid who was operating ascommander of proscribed ter-ror outfit JeM was involved inseveral terror attacks on secu-rity establishments and civilianatrocities in the area. Many ter-ror crime cases were registeredagainst him.

Police spokesman said,Naseer Pandith had a longhistory of terror crime records

before joining terrorist organ-isation and several terror crimecases were registered againsthim for planning & executingterror attacks in the area afterjoining proscribed terror out-fit JeM. He was also involved inthe killing of a policemanMohammad Yaqoob Shah ofPulwama in 2018 on the eve ofEid. He was also involved insome weapon snatching inci-dents reported from the areabesides several cases were reg-istered against him for hiscriminal activities includingcase FIR No 30/15 & 277/14

under NDPS Act and case FIR No 25/16 pertaining toforgery.

Similarly,Umar Mir wasalso involved in several terrorattacks and was part of terrorgroups responsible for attackson security forces.

According to policespokesman, “a separate opera-tion was launched in Handewarea of Shopian after receivingthe reports of presence of ter-rorists in the area.

During the search opera-tion, the hiding terrorists firedon the search party. In the ini-tial exchange of fire one armyjawan identified as Sepoy Rohitalso sustained injuries. He hasbeen hospitalised and is under-going treatment. The fire wasretaliated leading to anencounter.

In the ensuing encounter,3 terrorists were killed and thebodies were retrieved from thesite of encounter.

“Incriminating materialsincluding arms & ammunitionwas recovered from the site ofencounter. All these materialshave been taken in the caserecords for further investiga-tion and to probe their com-plicity in other terror crimecases”, police spokesman said.

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Nowhera Shaikh, the con-troversial businesswoman,

who was picked up by theEnforcement Directorate onTuesday from theChenchalguda prison oncharges of money launderingmay reveal many startling dis-closures about hawala opera-tions, terrorist links and aglobal move to destroy thetranquillity of the sacred city ofTirupati in Andhra Pradesh,according to persons whoknow her closely.

The Pioneer had reported in2013 about the diabolic planhatched by Nowhera Shaik andher associates to set up anInternational Islamic Universityat Tirupati though she failed toreveal the details like whether itwas a recognised university orwhat was the reason for settingup such an entity in the holy cityof Tirupati. Shaik had intro-duced herself as the chairpersonand managing director of HeraGroup, which she had claimedas a Fortune 500 company.

Interestingly, it was aMuslim businessman whoalerted this writer about Shaik’smove to set up an IslamicUniversity in Tirupati. ShamirBasha, a leading businessmanin Tirupati said the move wasshrouded in mystery.“Nowhera Shaikh claims that

she is from Tirupati. Butnobody had heard her namebefore she started theUniversity. This is going to bea major controversy, perhapsmore in intensity than theRam Janmabhoomi-BabriMasjid issue ,” Basha had toldThe Pioneer.

Though he welcomed theidea for an exclusive college forMuslim women consideringthe backwardness of the group,he said the IslamicInternational College was amatter of concern. “The collegewill draw a number of peoplefrom West Asia to Tirupati. Weare not sure about the kind ofpeople who will be visiting thecity. Tirupati is already facingthreat from various terroristgroups,” Basha had said.

Though the IslamicUniversity did not take off,Nowhera went from strength tostrength. She switched over tomoney dealings which per-sons like Adi Kesavulu Reddyof the YSR Congress describeas hawala dealings and Ponzischemes. “Last heard, she hadmobilised huge funds frommore than 1,72,000 peoplespread all over India. She hadfinancial dealings with dubiouscompanies in Saudi Arabia,”said Reddy.

Bhanu Prakash, BJP leaderof Tirupati, is of the view thatShaik was entrapped with the

demonetisation of November2016. “There was no way forher to escape from that rattrap,” said Prakash, who hasbeen staging a relentless battleagainst the move by Shaik tolaunch the Islamic University.“It has given was to a Madrasaand a school. But her designsto convert Tirupati into a com-munal cauldron has been pre-vented ,” said Prakash.

Two more persons, bothfrom Kerala, have been arrest-ed along with Shaik. BijuThomas is said to be the brainbehind the software of thecompanies owned and operat-ed by Shaik while he washelped in the business by MolyThomas. When her plans toopen the Islamic Universitycame cropper, Shaik tried herluck in politics. She hadlaunched an outfit under theguise of empowering womenand had fielded candidates inthe Karnataka Assembly elec-tion.

“Though we were in thedark about her personal detailswhile she paraded all overTirupati, covering herself inburqa, we came to know thatshe was the same woman whohad been selling tamarind inTirupati market some twodecades ago,” said Reddy.

A fit case to be described asa rag-to-rich story by an illit-erate burqa clad woman!

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ACentral Reserve PoliceForce (CRPF) constable

was injured when a vehiclefrom RSS chief MohanBhagwat’s convoy overturnedafter it suffered a tyre burst atNandori village Warora tehsilof Chandrapur district in east-ern Maharashtra on Thursdayevening. However, Bhagwat is“safe”, reports reaching heresaid.

Bhagwat was returning toNagpur after his visit toChandrapur, when the vehiclein his convoy turned turtle.“The car involved in themishap was a car that wasescorting Bhagwat’s car.Nothing happened to Bhagwat.He returned safely to Nagpur,”a senior police official fromChandrapur said.

The injured CRPF consta-ble, who was one of the occu-pants in the escort car, wasrushed to the nearby Warorarural hospital. Bhagwat waitedat the mishap site till theinjured CRPF constable wasadmitted to the local hospital.

While the official sourcesattributed the accident to a tyreburst, reports quoting eyewit-ness accounts however saidthat the mishap took placeafter the vehicle carrying secu-rity personnel hit a vehicleahead.

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Violent protests rocked pic-turesque Bhaderwah town

of hilly Doda district in the weehours of Thursday followingrecovery of a bullet riddendead body of a local resident ofQilla Mohalla.

As tension mounted in thearea, curfew was imposed bythe district authorities inBhaderwah and its adjoiningareas early on Thursday morn-ing.

At day break, large numberof angry residents came out onthe streets and attacked policestation, Bhaderwah seekingaction against the culpritsbehind the killing.

The deceased has beenidentified as 50 year old NaeemAhmad Shah by the local policein the area.

Shouting slogans againstthe district authorities, angryresidents also took out a marchthrough main markets andvandalised large number ofparked cars in the area.

Window panes of severalhouses and shops were alsobroken in the sporadic inci-dents of stone pelting in SeriBazaar, Takiya Chowk, JamaMasjid Bazar and old bus standarea of Bhaderwah.

Senior Superintendent of

Police, Doda district, ShabirAhmad Malik said, “a deadbody was recovered fromNalthi area, 3 kms fromBhaderwah around 2.00 a.mlate last night”.

He said, “police teams wereimmediately rushed to the spotand at least seven suspectedpeople have been detained sofar from the nearby areas”.

He said, “local residentsalso took out a procession andindulged in stone pelting inwhich several parked vehicleswere damaged”. He said,” i can-not give the exact number ofvehicles damaged during theprotests in the area”.

When asked whether thedeceased,returning home alongwith his livestock, was attackedby active ‘cow vigilantes’ in thearea, SSP Doda Shabir AhmadMalik said, “it is a matter ofinvestigation. Since we have notrecorded any statements i can-not comment further”. He said,“we cannot rely on rumourmongering going on in thearea.”

Deputy Commissioner,Doda, Dr Doifode SagarDattatray, when contacted said,“a suspicious murder took placelate Wednesday night and adead body was recoveredaround 2.00 a.m from Nalthiarea in Bhaderwah town”.

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chhattisgarh 03RAIPUR | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019

Engineering aspirants coming out after appearing in Pre Engineering Test, the examination washeld across the state for entrance into the state engineering colleges. The exam was conductedby Vyavsayik Pariksha Mandal (VYAPAM), Raipur.

STAFF REPORTER nJAGDALPUR

The mass movement forrevival of Indravati

river, the life-line of Bastarregion has been intensifiedwith social activists andlocal citizens pulling theirmight to bring the waterbody back to life.

Their silent march thatstarted from Jora Nullahalong Odisha borderreached the ninth day onThursday. The march willculminate at Chitrakot.

The social activists andcitizens threaten to contin-ue their agitation untiltheir demands are fulfilled.

The activists bravingscorching heat and thornypathways marched aheadto press for the revival of

the river.They are expressing

concern over depletingwater-level of the riverwhich caters to the day-to-day water need of at least200 villages located alongits banks.

The activists underleadership of senior citi-zen Dharampal Saini arealso trying to draw atten-tion of the state govern-ment to have a talk withthe Odisha government tosort out the dispute over

release of water into JoraNullah.

The release of waterinto Nullah by Odisha is amust and so is the con-struction of permanentstructure in Jora Nullah,the activists said.

Movement to reviveIndravati intensifies

STAFF REPORTER n RAIPUR

At Advance Cardio-thoracicand Vascular Surgery depart-

ment of Dr Bheemrao AmbedkarMemorial Hospital, Raipur thefirst ever ‘Aorta Bi PoplitealBypass’ surgery, in Chhattisgarhwas conducted on a 72-year-oldman, to give him a new lease of lifethat also free of cost underAyushman scheme.

According to Dr KrishnakantSahu, a vascular surgeon, and headof the department the diseases istermed as peripheral vascular dis-ease (PAD) and in technical term‘Aorta iliac and popliteal arterydiseases’.

The diseases causes blockagefrom the abdominal aorta topopliteal artery, from abdomen toknee and to remove the blockage,generally bypass surgery is con-ducted. As per an estimate, the

cost of such an operation in aprivate hospital will be above Rs4.5 lakh.

Dr Sahu said, 72-year-oldBalaghat resident, a farmer by pro-fession, was a smoker of ‘Beedi’

since childhood. He does not haveany other diseases. Since last 6months, he had been undergoingtreatment in different hospitalsand finally reached MedicalCollege Hospital in surgerydepartment for amputation of hisleg affected by gangrene up toknee and became septic. He recov-ered a bit from treatment. Duringthe CT-angiography probe, it wasfound that due to blockage fromabdomen to the knees such a situ-ation had arisen.

Dr Sahu pointed out such along y-graft is not available and sotwo different grafts were used tomake it long. After the surgery,now he is alright but a part of hisleg could need amputation as thearea is already dead. He can useartificial part for normal walking.The operation continued for morethan four and a half hours.

A rare bypass surgery conducted at Ambedkar Hospital


After hectic electioneeringfor the Congress party at

different states, on his return toRaipur, Chief MinisterBhupesh Baghel got into actionby holding a review meeting athis official residence onThursday.

Registering his displeasureover drinking water scarcity invarious parts of the state withthe advent of summer, the CMdirected the officials to ensurethat by 2020 all the civic bodiescould get rid of the practice ofsupplying water throughtankers.

A solution to the problemof water shortage should befound under Smart CityProject and Amrit Yojna, hesaid.

Officials had informed thatRs 20 crore was released initial-

ly for drinking water supply inurban areas. Later on anotherRs 25 crore has been madeavailable on demand.

He was holding the depart-mental review meeting in pres-ence of senior officials.

In the meeting he stressedon making fertilizers and seedavailable for upcoming kharifseason, apart from resolvingthe drinking water crisis inurban and rural areas. He also

emphasized on implementa-tion of ‘Narva, Gurva, Ghurvaand Baari (NGGB).

Chief Minister laid empha-sis on rain water harvesting,holding water in ponds andoptimum utilization of surfacewater to address the watercrisis.

He directed the officials toclean existing ponds and topromote age-old tradition ofdigging ponds. Officials

informed that in Bemeteradistricts hand pumps had gonedry in 109 villages. Water isbeing supplied to thesevillages.

Chief Minister directed theofficials that those under-trailprisoners booked for minorcrimes and those prisonerswho have already completedthe term of sentence should bereleased and for this necessarysteps should be taken.

Officials should undertakeall steps to recover money fromfake chit-fund companies, theCM ordered.

Panchayat and rural devel-opment department briefedthat 1898 ‘Gautan’ is underconstruction and that inMungeli, Bilaspur andBalrampur maximum workshave been undertaken. Solarpower is being used for watersupply.


Chhattisgarh Chief Minister BhupeshBaghel on Thursday said that his

predecessor and BJP national vice presi-dent Raman Singh was facing a similarsnub that veteran BJP leaders Lal KrishnaAdvani and Murli Manohar Joshi gotfrom the party’s current leadership.

Talking to media persons after hisarrival from election campaign inMadhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh,Baghel said only because of his (Raman’s)ignorance that he was not used as a cam-paigner in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls bythe BJP.

“The BJP in Chhattisgarh is at presentleaderless as Raman is now retired,” headded.

Commenting on violence that brokeout during BJP national president AmitShah’s rally in Kolkata, Baghel said” “BJPmiscreants executed the violence. Thesame scene was there in Varanasi where Iwas campaigning”, he added.

“For the first time we have witnesseda sign of fear on the face of Amit Shah andit indicates that they are certainly going tolose the elections,” Baghel claimed.

Baghel also claimed that PrimeMinister Narendra Modi will no longer be

able to retain his seat and said that UnitedProgressive Alliance led by Congress willform the government this time.

On Rahul Gandhi’s jibe at Modi bycoining “Modilies”, the hashtag trendingin tweeter, Baghel termed PM a “liar” andsaid “right from the beginning he wastelling lie and fooling the people of thecountry. Whether it was his claim of beinga tea seller or may it be his caste, all hesaid were sheer lies,” he said.

Solve problem of water scarcityby 2020: Bhupesh to officials

Female Naxalheld in ChintalnarSUKMA: A female Naxal, carrying areward of Rs 5 lakh on her head, wasnabbed from a forested patch nearChintlanar and Mundval village inMaoist-violence torn Sukma district,police said here on Thursday.

The arrested ultra was identified asSodi Peeso alias Anita (25), a residentof Chintalnar village under Puspalpolice station limits, a local police offi-cer said.

She was nabbed by a team of DRGand district police personnel during ananti-Naxal operation cum area-domi-nation exercise carried out in theforests of Chintalnar, Mundwal, Tulsiand Kirmitti, police said.

In 2011 Peeso was inducted in theNaxal organization by the then MaoistCNM (Chetna Natya Mandali) presi-dent Mangali.

She was allegedly involved inkilling of a resident of ChintalnarDudhi Soni in 2017 apart from otherserious criminal offences like, attackingpolice party, illegally possessing of armsamong others, police claimed.

ROs’ training todayRAIPUR: Training on various aspects of counting of votes forReturning Officers of all the 11 Parliamentary Constituencies willbe held on May 17 at New Rest House auditorium, Civil Lines,Raipur. The training will commence from 9.00 am. The countingof votes cast in 2019 Lok Sabha polls is scheduled on May 23.Office of Chief Electoral Officer, Chhattisgarh has issued a letterin this regard to all the District Electoral Officers and Collectors.One assistant returning officer from each assembly constituencyand Deputy District Electoral Officers from all the 27 districts willalso participate in the training.

Tobacco consumptionis the reason

Dr Krishnakant Sahuthrowing light on gangrene dis-eases said those consumingtobacco or its products mainlybeedi, cigarette, gutkha, uncon-trolled diabetes, atherosclerosisand vacuities, the blood vesselsslowly develops blockage.There is no early detection asthe person does not feel anypain. The blood supply to legsdecreases, the unbearable paincan be felt in legs. When thetotal blood supply to legs stop,then the gangrene develops forwhich amputation is the onlysolution. But now, with the helpof surgery, the blood supply canbe restored to save the legs.


Capital city Raipur will getair connectivity with

north-east from July 20 asIndigo has announced a newflight service from Raipur toMeghalaya’s capital Shillongvia Kolkata. It has issued theflight schedule for the same.

As per the schedule ATRplane from Raipur will com-mence flight at 12.00 PM andreach Kolkata at 2.25 PMTheflight will resume at 2.45 PM

and reach Shillong by 4.25 PM.Similarly, from Shillong itwould fly to Kolkata and reachRaipur Airport by 8.55 PM. Asthere was no direct flight tonorth-east from Raipur, thetravelers had to reach NewDelhi and then take flight toGuwahati and then toShillong.

The booking would sooncommence for the flight. It ishoped that tourists will be tak-ing benefit of this service afterthe direct link.

Raman facing similar fate as Advani and Joshi: BaghelBJP asks Baghel toconcentrate on govt worksRAIPUR: Strongly reacting to the comment ofChief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on former ChiefMinister Raman Singh, BJP said Baghel should notbe concerned about Raman Singh, instead heshould wait for the results of the Lok Sabha polls tobe declared, as it will overturn all his calculations.

BJP state spokesperson SachchidanandUpasane claimed that Chief Minister is shunninghis responsibility and trying to engage his mind insomewhere else to get distraction from lurkingfear. There will be turmoil within the Congressafter the Lok Sabha results, he claimed.

Upasane said people have given him the man-date with a responsibility so it is his duty to workfor their progress and development of the state.Works should be done as per expectations of thepeople.

BJP claimed that it is warning the governmentnot to follow the footsteps of Mamata Banerjeeotherwise it would be its political hara-kiri.Instead of concentrating on day to day work,Baghel is moving around making comments onopposition leaders. BJP had given a responsibilityto former chief minister and he is actively involvedin it, Upasane said.

Raipur to be connected byair with Shillong from July 20

STAFF REPORTER nJAGDALPUR

Two farmers who werearrested in connection

with a cheque-bounce case gotbail from a local court, offi-cials said here on Thursday.

Tularam Murya andSukhdas were presented in thecourt of JMFC (JudicialMagistrate First Class) JMBhagat, who granted thembails.

Notably, both the farmerswere arrested for non-pay-ment of loan. The arrest hadtriggered criticism as the rul-ing Congress party after com-

ing to power had claimed tohave waived off farm loans.

However, the two farmershad denied taking loan andlater it was found that theywere not the defaulters butwere victims of a suspectedforgery.

“Prima-facie documentsproduced by farmers andbased on evidences we havecollected so far, it seems thatthey were duped by someoneelse,” Dr Ayyaz Tamboli dis-trict Collector Bastar told ThePioneer.

According to Dr Tamboli,the district administration has

asked both farmers to make awritten complaint with thepolice so that the forgery angelcould be investigated.

“Tularam Maurya in 2009had taken loan of about Rs 3lakh from agriculture develop-ment branch of the SBIthrough the Kisan CreditCard. He had got Rs 2.30 lakhfor installing drip irrigationand Rs 60,000 for installingfencing,” the Collector saidwhile adding Sukhdas also hadtaken loan for same works.

“We are also expandingthe area of our investigationand have sought information

from horticulture departmentto check if more farmers havebeen duped in such a fashion,”he added.

It may be recalled that theState Bank of India, agricul-ture development branch hadfiled a case under NegotiableInstrumentation Act 1881 sec-tion 138 against the farmersTularam Maurya and Sukhdasafter their cheques bounced.

On the directive ofDistrict Collector, SDM J. R.Markam had carried out theinitial probe and districtadministration had providedlegal assistance to the farmers.

Farmers get bail incheque-bounce case Prima-facie, it seems that they were duped by someone else: Dr Ayyaz


With intention to introducethe ‘Rotavirus vaccine’ in

Chhattisgarh, a state level work-shop for the district immuniza-tion and other health depart-ment officials was held at a pri-vate hotel on Thursday.

Government ofChhattisgarh has decided tointroduce the Rotavirus Vaccine(RVV) as it is considered asmost effective in preventing themost severe and life-threateningcases of Rotavirus diarrhea,which is the foremost cause ofchildhood mortality in India aswell as globally.

During the training, offi-cials intimated that diarrhea isresponsible for about 9% of

under-five deaths globally and10% under five deaths in India,translating to around 1.2 lakhdeath. It spreads primarily bythe faeco-oral route directlyfrom person to person or indi-rectly via contamination.

The vaccine is given orallyto infants in a three-dose sched-ule, at the age of 6, 10, 14 weeks.The vaccine will be co-adminis-tered with other vaccines as perthe national immunizationschedule. The vaccine hasalready been introduced in 11states of the country.

Secretary, Health depart-ment Niharika Barik Singhurged the health officials toensure success of the vaccina-tion drive to bring down childmortality rate in the state.

State level workshop on‘Rotavirus vaccine’ held

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Expressing confidence thatUPA-3 will form the gov-

ernment to prevent its secularfabric from being destroy,Punjab chief minister CaptAmarinder Singh on Thursdayalso pitched for a BJP-muktcountry to protect its unity andfuture.

On a hectic day, the ChiefMinister addressed the PatialaDistrict Bar Association, fol-lowed by a public rally in DeraBassi and also interacted infor-mally with mediapersons invarious places.

The Bar Associationextended its support of theCongress party’s Patiala candi-date, Preneet Kaur, whilethanking the Chief Minister forthe development of the judicialcomplex with its new chambersand providing facilities to thelegal fraternity.

Addressing the Bar, andlater at the public rally, CaptAmarinder accused PrimeMinister Narendra Modi oftinkering with India’s secular-ism, which was its strength andwas now under threat from theBJP. The country today waspassing through grave timesand needed change in the inter-est of its future, and that of itspeople, who need develop-ment, not divisiveness, he

added.Captain Amarinder also

lashed out at the Akalis forplaying politics of religion topolarize the people for theirvested political interests, andblamed them for ruiningPunjab in the 10 years of theirrule, just as the BJP had ruinedthe country in the last fiveyears. The spate of sacrilegecases clearly showed the extentof politicization of religionunder the SAD-BJP govern-

ment, he added, lashing out atthe Akalis for attempting todivide communities withBargari and other sacrilegeincidents.

Later, talking informallywith journalists, he said peopledo not favour Modi’s thinkingof breaking the country bycommunalizing it, adding thatit was time for a BJP-free India.BJP had reached the peak of itspolitical success and was nowheaded for a downfall, he

added. Ups and downs werepart of a democratic polity, andthe Congress had been downfor some time but was now ona rise, said the Chief Minister,asserting that UPA-3 willemerge in response to themood of the country forchange.

Asked about the contest inGurdaspur, he said it was notSunil Jakhar but Sunny Deolwho was on a sticky wicketthere. The BJP could not find

a suitable local candidate,hence decided to field Sunnyout of sheer desperation, headded.

The Chief Minister strong-ly condemned the politicizationof the defence forces, whichhad always been non-partisanand secular in character.Earlier, in Dera Bassi, the ChiefMinister said no prime minis-ter had ever taken credit forfighting the enemy on the bor-ders, unlike Modi, who onlyspoke of ̀ I. I and I’. Punjab wasproud of the achievements ofthe Army and Air Force but didnot want war as, being a bor-der state, it would be worst suf-ferer in case of outbreak of hos-tilities, he added.

Citing the mismanage-ment of the previous regime inPunjab, the Chief Ministersaid his government was fac-ing a fiscal crisis, even as thepeople of the state were suf-fering. Emphasising on indus-trialization as the only solutionto unemployment and eco-nomic problems, the ChiefMinister said his governmentwould make Patiala an indus-trial hub and would generate1 lakh jobs for the youth ofPatiala.

The Chief Ministerpromised development toensure that the state’s youth donot leave for better opportuni-

ties abroad.Expressing concern over

the farmer suicides, which hisgovernment was addressingthrough its debt waiver scheme,Captain Amarinder theCongress manifesto for theLok Sabha elections promisedfull implementation of theSwaminathan Committeereport, which was the onlylong-term solution to the prob-lem.

The Chief Minister flayedthe Modi government fordestroying the nation’s econo-my with demonetization andGST, which was still causingimmense problems to Punjab,forcing his government to delaysalaries at times.

Describing these polls asdecisive for the country’s future,Preneet also underlined thesecular strength of India andsaid the people did not want agovernment that divides them.Modi was asking for votes noton the basis of his work but inthe name of the martyred sol-diers, she pointed out, urgingthe people to vote from theheart, in their own interest andthat of the country.

Preneet spoke about thevarious promises of theCongress led by Rahul Gandhiand assured the people thateach one of them would be ful-filled.

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Simmering discontent isbrewing in Punjab

Congress ahead of the LokSabha polls over the issue ofdenial of ticket to formerMLA and Congress leader DrNavjot Kaur Sidhu which hasstrained the ties between herhusband Navjot Singh Sidhuand the Chief Minister CaptAmarinder Singh.

Dr Sidhu caused politicalripples within the Congress,just days ahead of Lok Sabhapolls, by claiming that themove to f ield her fromAmritsar was scuttled by thetop Congress leadership inPunjab — including the ChiefMinister and state party affairs’in-charge Asha Kumari.

Coming out in her wife’ssupport, Punjab CabinetMinister Sidhu maintained

that she would “not lie”. Hesaid: “My wife has that muchstrength and moral authoritythat she will never lie.”

Sidhu’s assertion came inresponse to an attempt byCapt Amarinder to rubbish DrSidhu’s claims that the ChiefMinister and Asha Kumariensured that she was deniedthe Lok Sabha ticket fromAmritsar.

“Capt Sahab and AshaKumari think that MadamSidhu (Navjot Kaur) does notdeserve an MP ticket. Myticket from Amritsar wasdenied on grounds that I couldnot win because of a train acci-dent in Amritsar on Dussehra(in October last year which left60 people dead). MadamSidhu cannot win, this wassaid by Capt and AshaKumari,” Dr Sidhu had toldthe reporters in Amritsar a daybefore.

Mincing now words, shehad alleged that the ChiefMinister had claimed that healone was capable to lead theCongress to victory on 13parliamentary seats in theState.

Further hitting out at CaptAmarinder and Asha Kumari,she had added that they thinkthat the Sidhu couple is notcapable to “do some benefit forPunjab” — showing herresentment over her husband,who is Congress’ national starcampaigner, “not invited” forcampaigning in the State.

Dr Sidhu had beenassertively campaigning inChandigarh seeking the partyticket to contest from the city’sLok Sabha seat. But the partyhigh command chose the for-mer MP and the former UnionMinister Pawan Kumar Bansal,who had lost in 2014 againstBJP’s Kirron Kher.

Following this, there werereports that the Congressmight field Dr Sidhu fromAmritsar or Bathinda, but theparty denied her ticket fromboth seats and fielded sittingMP Gurjit Singh Aujla andAmarinder Singh RajaWarring, respectively.

Subsequently, the Sidhucouple went into rebel mode,staying away from the politi-cal scene.

Rubbishing the charges as“absolute nonsense” on earlyThursday, the Chief Ministersaid that Dr Sidhu was offereda ticket from Amritsar andBathinda but she turned itdown. “We had said that if shewants, she can fight fromAmritsar, from where her hus-band was an MP, or she cancontest from Bathinda. Sheherself backed off. Where didwe stop it?” asked CaptAmarinder.

He added that she wantedto contest from Chandigarh,“but the party decided that itwas not for her. I am not thechief minister of Chandigarh.It is an independent seat. TheChandigarh ticket was deniedbecause the high commanddecided so”.

The differences betweenSidhu and Capt Amarindercame to the fore when theChief Minister had asked himnot to go to Pakistan for ImranKhan’s oath-taking ceremony,but the former cricketer choseto accept his friend’s invite.

Capt Amarinder, who hasalso got the invitation fromImran Khan, preferred not togo there citing terror attacks inPunjab and killings of Indiansoldiers by Pakistan armedforces.

Relations grew bitter whenthe Punjab Chief Minister hadissued a mild rebuke to Sidhu

last year over his hug toPakistan army chief GeneralBajwa which snowballed intoa huge political controversy.Following which, Sidhu inretaliation took a dig at CaptAmarinder saying thatCongress president RahulGandhi is his captain and thathe went to Pakistan after tak-ing his Rahul in confidence.

Sidhu, reportedly inprotest of denial of ticket to hiswife, had not campaigned forthe party in Punjab. In fact,Sidhu had claimed that he was“not invited” by the state lead-ership or any of the party can-didate.

Addressing the party’s firstelection rally in run-up to2019 polls at Bathinda, Sidhudeclared that he would cam-paign in the state, andBathinda, on the directions herguide Priyanka Gandhi.

Sidhu, challenging the

Badals in their bastion —Bathinda, had asked them torun as “Sidhu is coming” onMay 17 — the last day of cam-paigning for May 19 elections— addressing four main eventsin the constituency.

On Thursday, Sidhu helda road show in Gurdaspur inthe evening where party’s stateunit president Sunil Jakhar ispitted against Bollywoodactor-turned-politician SunnyDeol.

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Chandigarh: PunjabCabinet Minister NavjotSingh Sidhu on Thursdayslammed the Badals overthe issue of farm debt waiv-er, claiming that the previ-ous SAD-BJP governmenthad failed in settling a sin-gle rupee of farmers’ loandespite bringing an act —the Punjab Settlement ofAgricultural IndebtednessAct, 2016 — for the same.

“Positions lying vacant

in most of debt settlementforums at district level werenot filled.

Nothing had happenedduring the previous regime.It showed their intent andlack of interest in protect-ing farmers,” he said.

“They spent Rs 1.50crore on advertisement ofthe settlement of debt. Butnot even a single rupee wassettled,” he claimed.

PNS

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Bhubaneswar: The Central government has extended thedeadlines for various Goods and Services Tax (GST) returnsfor taxpayers registered in cyclone-hit Odisha, an official saidon Thursday.

State Information and Public Relations Secretary SanjayKumar Singh said the Central government has extended thefiling of GST returns in 14 cyclone affected districts.

The deadline for the GST returns (GSTR-3B) for the monthof April 2019 has been extended to June 20. It was supposedto be filed by May 20.

The deadline for Form GSTR-1 (sales return) has beenextended to June 10, said Singh.

"As the power and internet services were affected due tocyclone Fani in Odisha, the state government had requestedthe GST Council to extend the date of GST returns filing,which was accepted," said the Secretary.

Meanwhile, the Additional Secretary in the UnionFinance Ministry, Debasish Panda, on Thursday reviewed thebanking service situation in the cyclone affected districts. Themeeting here laid emphasis on the revival of banking andinsurance services in the state's affected areas.

Panda said that barring Puri district, 99 per cent of banksare functional in other areas of Odisha.

He also said that ATM issues are still continuing in Puri,Khordha and Cuttack districts because of poor connectivitythat occurred due to VSATs being blown away in thecyclone. He assured that almost 90 per cent of the ATMs inPuri and Khordha districts would become functional by endof this week.

IANS

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Batala (Punjab): The BJP-Akali Dal candidate fromPunjab's Gurdaspur con-stituency Sunny Deol onThursday said he has notentered politics with vendettaissues.

Addressing a series of elec-tion rallies in Batala, he saidunnecessary statements werebeing issued against him.

He said he would notwaste his time countering suchstatements and instead workhard towards achieving hisgoal on winning the seat.

The actor-turned-politi-cian said his mind was moreoccupied thinking about cre-ating employment opportuni-ties and development of theconstituency rather thanindulge in mudslinging.

He appealed to the voters

to vote for the candidate whocares about the future of area.

Area legislator LakhbirSingh Lodhinangal said nei-ther Congress candidate SunilJakhar nor Chief MinisterAmrinder Singh could bringimprovement nor initiatedevelopmental works in thearea.

The BJP-Akali Dal hasfielded 62-year-old Deol fromGurdaspur, the seat repre-sented four times by yesteryearactor Vinod Khanna, whodied in April 2017 due tocancer.

Gurdaspur lies in thenorth of Punjab, sharing a bor-der with Pakistan and Jammuand Kashmir. The area is notas developed as other areas inPunjab.

IANS

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Aday after an FIR was reg-istered against Haryana

Minister of State, ManishGrover for allegedly entering apolling booth without per-mission and disorderly con-duct in Rohtak district of thestate, the Congress hasdemanded his resignation andan inquiry by sitting judge ofHigh Court into the allegedconspiracy of booth capturing.

Haryana Police havebooked the Minister of Statefor Cooperation, ManishGrover and former CongressMLA BB Batra for allegedlyentering a polling booth with-out permission and disorder-ly conduct in Rohtak onpolling day, May 12 inHaryana.

Both were booked onWednesday under Section 188of the IPC (disobedience toorder duly promulgated bypublic servant) and Section131 of the Representation ofthe People's Act (disorderlyconduct in or near pollingstations) in Shivaji Colonypolice station, Rohtak, on thecomplaint of an assistantreturning officer.

As per the complaint,Grover and Batra had alleged-ly entered a polling boothinside a school without per-mission and created ruckuswhen polling was underway inthe Rohtak parliamentary con-stituency, which went to pollson May 12 along with nineother Lok Sabha seats in thestate.

From Rohtak parliamen-

tary seat, Congress’ three-timeMP Deepender Singh Hooda isseeking re-election for a fourthterm.

A day after the polling,Congress general secretary in-charge, Haryana, Ghulam NabiAzad had written to the ChiefElection Commissioner seek-ing appropriate action againstGrover for allegedly intimi-dating voters and illegally sab-otaging of polling in Rohtak, acharge which the BJP Ministerhad vehemently denied.

Grover had termed theallegations baseless and allegedthat there were complaintsagainst Congress workersentering the booth withoutpermission and intimidatingvoters.

BB Batra, while talking tothe mediapersons on Thursday

alleged that Grover, along witha number of muscle men,entered the polling booth tointimidate the voters on thepolling day.

He alleged that Groverentered into an altercationwhen he confronted him forentering polling booths.

“I told him that he cannotgo around intimidating votersand try to influence the pollingby moving around with largenumber of muscle men. As heholds an office of profit, hecould not even become anelection agent or enter boothsto check, so he had not busi-ness to be there,” Batra said.

The Congress leaderdemanded resignation ofGrover and an inquiry by sit-ting High Court Judge into thematter.

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Gurugram: Two persons, including a teacher at a privateschool, have been arrested here for allegedly threatening a tollplaza employee with a toy pistol to demand exemption fromthe tax.

A complaint was filed against the accused, Kashish Lambaand Mohit, under the Arms Act and other sections of theIndian Penal Code at the Kherki Daula police station.

The incident came to police notice after a video went viralon social media platforms.

Shamsher Singh, the Assistant Commissioner of Police ofCrime Branch, said: "Catching the accused was not easybecause the car they used was registered on an address of Basaivillage but they were not living there.

"We used ground level sources to locate their houses. Mohitteaches Physics in a school in Farukh Nagar and lives in an apartment in Sector 86 on DwarkaExpressway while Kashish lives in Sector 17," Singh said.

Kashish and Mohit had dinner at Mohit's flat on May 15and then left for Sector 17.

When they reached the Kherki Daula toll plaza, they hada heated argument with the toll employee when the twodemanded that they be exempted from paying the tax, saidSingh.

One of them pointed a toy gun at the toll employee andthreatened him with dire consequences, said Singh.

By the time security personnel reached there, both man-aged to escape.

IANS

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New Delhi: After the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Lok Sabhacandidate from Bhopal Sadhvi Prag ya Singh Thakur called Nathuram Godse, the assassin of MahatmaGandhi, a "deshbhakt" (patriot), the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP)on Thursday accused the BJP of "destroying the countrybeyond repair".

In a statement, the AAP said the entire country was in astate of shock at the latest statement of terror accused Thakurpraising Godse.

"Who could have ever imagined that Indians would everhear Godse being praised by a mainstream political party andthat too India's ruling party," AAP said.

Stating that the BJP is destroying the country beyondrepair, the AAP said, "All democratic-minded countrymenneed to understand this danger before it's too late."

The AAP condemned Thakur's statement and questionedas to why the BJP was "not expelling her from the party"

IANS

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K hargone (MadhyaPradesh): Movie actor JohnnyKaran, who appeared in morethan 20 f i lms including"Ghajini", "Hera Pheri" and"Tees Maar Khan" and who iscontesting the Lok Sabha elec-tion as an Independent can-didate from Khargone parlia-mentary constituency, is cam-paigning on a bicycle.

Moreover, he has only Rs1,000 in his bank account asper his affidavit submittedwith the nomination papers.

Karan was born andbrought up in MadhyaPradesh and belongs to theBheel tribe.

Though he works inMumbai but he has a dreamto change the situation in the tribal areas inthe state.

He wants to establish aGujarat and Bhojpur-like film industry in these tribalareas.

A B.Com degree holder,

Karan is facing a severe finan-cial crunch.

"I have only Rs 1,000 inmy bank account. Contestingan election is quite expensivethese days therefore I amtaking help from my friendsand using a bicycle for cam-paigning," he said.

Revealing the reasonbehind contesting the elec-tion, he said: "Development oftribal areas is my prime agen-da. Industrialists are acquir-ing their lands that is s lowly destroying their culture and rituals. If I winthen I will raise the issues ofthis section vociferously inParliament."

Khargone is a reservedseat and the main contesthere is between BharatiyaJanata Party's Gajendra SinghPatel and Congress's GovindMujalda.

The constituency will goto the polls on May 19.

IANS

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New Delhi: Delhi-based Jaina goup that ownsKarbonn Mobile has tied up with Japaneseconsumer giants Sansui and Nakamichi fordistributing a range of products includingSmart LED televisions, home audio systems,refrigerators, washing machines, split air-con-ditioners and small kitchen appliances.

The products will also be availableacross leading online marketplaces.

Started as a distribution house, theDelhi firm represents a number of globalbrands such as HTC, Motorola, Samsung,Siemens, Panasonic and Philips (LCDdevices) in the country.

"Jaina Group with its 23 years of excel-lence in digital revolution will be a strongpoint for these brands in the country. Withthese acquisitions, we are optimistic aboutrebuilding and amplifying the niche brands'affinity in the Indian market," said Jainagroup Managing Director Pardeep Jain.

The Group in a press statement said thatit will strengthen the channel base further toensure easy availability and better after salesservice network across the country.

IANS

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New Delhi: Pearson India, part of one of the world's oldest learning companies, haslaunch its MyIsights adaptive assessment modile to aid students effectively prepare fortheir IIT JEE exams as it focuses on the B2C business to accelerate growth, the com-pany said on Thursday.

"Keeping the learners at the core, MyInsights offers assessments and time-basedtests to adjust to the learners' ability level and provide a personalized score and specif-ic learning path for students to master the topic.

"It assesses (identifies generic and specific gaps), measures (the clarity of concep-tual understanding) and analyses students' performance in a convenient way by bring-ing value to the learners. Powered by the algorithm that adapts to each learner's levelof knowledge, the innovative product will provide a unique learning path to supportstudents with their IIT JEE preparation," a statement said.

Targeting to build a robust B2C portfolio of 50 per cent over the next 2 years, thecompany is poised to make a giant leap in the B2C segment with its innovative prod-uct line. As digital disruption in the education sector is heavily underway, students nowexpect new, predominantly digital and cohesive ways of learning, the statement added.

Commenting on the development Pearson India Managing Director Vikas Singhsaid: "We have a formidable presence across all segments of education and now we arelooking at creating a pipeline of innovative digital solutions, well-suited for learners.MyInsights is an innovative platform that combines contextualised learning with world-class technology to offer better learning outcomes for IIT JEE aspirants."

According to recent data, 11 lakh students appear for IIT JEE every year but lessthan one per cent make it to the campus gates.

"This launch is a critical component of our B2C strategy for the Indian market andwe will continue to add new consumer-centric products to strengthen our business inthe country," Vikas Singh added.

In the fast-moving world, where tailored products and customer experience are acompetitive advantage, Pearson India also offers PTE Academic and PearsonProfessional Programmes that help students realize their dream of studying abroad andprofessionals to upskill and reskill to progress in their career respectively. IANS

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President Donald Trump’slatest financial disclosure

report is expected to provide arare glimpse into whether hispresidency has helped or hurthis hotels, golf resorts andother parts of his businessempire.

The report, which is filedwith the Office of GovernmentEthics and set for releaseThursday, will be closely stud-

ied for changes in revenue atkey properties in 2018, includ-ing his Mar-a-Lago resort inPalm Beach, Florida, hisWashington, D.C., hotel and hisDoral golf resort in Miami.

Experts say the Trumpbusiness has taken a hit fromthe president’s divisive policiesand rhetoric, though theTrump Organisation says muchof the business is fine.

Trump’s biggest revenuegenerator among his golf prop-

erties, Doral, took in $75 mil-lion in revenue in 2017. Bycomparison, Trump’s “SummerWhite House,” his golf club inBedminster, New Jersey, gen-erated $15 million.

Mar-a-Lago took in $25million in 2017 and hisWashington hotel generated$40 million.

In total, the disclosurereport for 2017, released a yearago, showed Trump’s assets —including books he has written,licensing deals and other busi-ness ventures — generatedrevenue of at least $453 mil-lion. The report estimated theassets were worth at least $1.4billion. While Trump has notreleased his tax records, he hasbeen filing financial disclosurereports since he ran for pres-ident. The latest report, listing2018 figures, will allow for thefirst time a 12-month com-parison with a previous year.Trump’s report released twoyears ago stated estimates forrevenue over 16 months.

A key part of the reportreleased last year was a foot-note listing a reimbursementof as much as $250,000 toTrump’s former personallawyer Michael Cohen. Cohen,who is serving three years inprison for campaign financeviolations among other crimes,admitted paying hush moneyduring the presidential campaign to silence Stormy Daniels, the pornactress who alleges she had sex with Trump.

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Ten people have been chargedin connection with mali-

cious software attacks thatinfected tens of thousands ofcomputers and caused morethan $100 million in financiallosses, US and European author-ities announced Thursday.

The malware, whichenabled cyber criminals fromEastern Europe to take remotecontrol of infected computersand siphon funds from victims’bank accounts, targeted com-panies and institutions acrossall sectors of American life.Victims included a Washingtonlaw firm, a church in Texas, afurniture business in Californiaand a casino in Mississippi.

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Seoul: North Korea has said itis suffering its worst drought innearly four decades amidreports of severe food shortages.

The official Korean CentralNews Agency said an average of54.4 millimeters (2.1 inches) ofrain fell throughout the coun-try in the first five months ofthis year. It said that is the low-est level since 1982, when NorthKorea received 51.2 millimeters(2 inches) of rain on averageduring the same period.

The report came onWednesday after UN food agen-cies said in a joint assessmentearlier this month that about 10million people in North Koreawere facing “severe food short-ages” after the country had oneof the worst harvests in adecade.

In February, North Korea’sambassador to the UnitedNations, Kim Song, issued anunusual appeal for urgent foodassistance.

North Korean officials haveblamed the food shortage onbad weather and internationaleconomic sanctions that weretoughened after the countryconducted a series of high-pro-file nuclear and missile tests inrecent years.

In a high-stakes summit inVietnam in February, PresidentDonald Trump rejected NorthKorean leader Kim Jong Un’scall for an easing of the sanc-tions in return for dismantlinghis main nuclear complex, apartial disarmament step.

KCNA said the drought isexpected to continue until theend of May. North Korea’s mainRodong Sinmun newspaperreported Wednesday that offi-cials and workers are attempt-ing to find new water sourcesand mobilise pumps and irri-gation equipment to minimisethe damage to agriculture. AP

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Iran’s Foreign Minister said onThursday there is “no possi-

bility” of negotiations with theUnited States to reduce spi-ralling tensions, Japan’s Kyodonews agency reported.

“No, there is no possibility for negotiations,”the news agency citedMohammad Javad Zarif astelling reporters in Tokyo,where he is meeting withJapanese officials.

Kyodo said the commentwas in response to a questionon whether he would be opento bilateral talks withWashington aimed at easingtensions.

It did not immediatelycarry additional commentsfrom Zarif.

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Alabama’s Republican gov-ernor has signed the most

stringent abortion legislation inthe nation, making performingan abortion a felony in nearlyall cases.

“To the bill’s many sup-porters, this legislation standsas a powerful testament toAlabamians’ deeply held beliefthat every life is precious andthat every life is a sacred giftfrom God,” Governor Kay Iveysaid in a statement onWednesday. The bill’s sponsorswant to give conservatives onthe US Supreme Court achance to gut abortion rightsnationwide, but Democratsand abortion rights advocatescriticised the bill as a slap in theface to women voters.

“It just completely disre-gards women and the value ofwomen and their voice. Wehave once again silencedwomen on a very personalissue,” said Sen. LindaColeman-Madison, aBirmingham Democrat.

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Iran is preparing to increaseenriched uranium and heavy

water production as part of itsdecision to stop some commit-ments made under the nucleardeal, an official said Thursday.

“The process of increasingthe ‘capacity and productionpace’ of enriched uranium andheavy water has started sincethe day the president (HassanRouhani) ordered it,” BehrouzKamalvandi, spokesman forIran’s Atomic EnergyOrganisation, told the semi-official ISNA news agency.

On May 8, Rouhaniannounced that Iran wouldstop observing restrictions onstocks of enriched uranium andheavy water agreed under the2015 nuclear deal with majorworld powers.

He said it was in retaliationfor the unilateral US with-

drawal last year from the agree-ment known as the JointComprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA) and sanctionsimposed by Washington onTehran.

Since Rouhani’s announce-ment, Iran has ceased to limitits stocks of heavy water andenriched uranium to 130tonnes and 300 kilogrammesrespectively as agreed under thenuclear deal.

Under the agreement, Iranpledged to reduce its nuclearcapacities for several years andallow international inspectorsinside the country to monitorits activities in return for relieffrom international sanctions.

The deal set a limit on thenumber of uranium-enrich-ing centrifuges, and restrictedits right to enrich uranium tono higher than 3.67 percent,well below weapons-grade lev-els of around 90 per cent.

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Britain’s Boris Johnson con-firmed Thursday he will

seek to become prime ministerwhen Theresa May quits,reports said, as she promised toset out a departure timetableearly next month.

“Of course I’m going to gofor it,” the former ForeignMinister, ex-mayor of Londonand leading Brexit campaign-er told a business event inManchester, northwestEngland, the BBC and SkyNews reported.

The decision comes as lit-

tle surprise as Johnson, one ofBritain’s most identifiable politicians known simply as “Boris”, haslong been known to covet thetop job.

But it effectively fires thestarting gun on a race thatalready has more than a dozenrunners and riders — eventhough there is no officialvacancy.

May has promised to stepdown once the first stage ofBritain’s exit from the EuropeanUnion is secured, but this hasbeen put in doubt by repeatedBrexit delays.

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Amid a highly charged atmos-phere of election campaign-ing, this past week gave ussome humour. Prime MinisterNarendra Modi may not have

delivered on his promises in the past fiveyears but he was kind enough to lend alittle levity to the election trail. In a tele-vision interview recently, on the topic ofBalakot, he said that on the day theairstrikes were to happen, some expertsraised concerns about the cloudy weath-er but he was of the view that India couldbenefit from the bad weather as it wouldaffect Pakistan’s radar technology and aidour Air Force. While the entire episodebecame a subject of joke with manymemes doing the rounds on the internet— some commentators even claimed thatPrime Minister Modi was joking —much like Modi’s tenure as the PrimeMinister, his joke, too, was cruel.

The cruelty of the joke was that whilediscussing and considering such an impor-tant strategic decision, the Prime Ministerchose to disregard the concern expressedby our experts in favour of what he calls “raw wisdom.” It is this “raw wisdom”which has been on display for the past fiveyears. This week’s episode was the latest ofthe many. In my article this week, I will talkabout how it is time we shelved this “rawwisdom” in favour of “scientific temper.”

In his book, The Discovery of India,Former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehruhad said that “scientific temper” is “...therefusal to accept anything without test-ing and trial, the capacity to change pre-vious conclusions in the face of new evi-dence, the reliance on observed fact andnot on pre-conceived theory.” Therefore,the ingredients of scientific temperinclude: (i) the ability to read and learnin order to gain knowledge about a par-ticular subject; (ii) humility; and (iii)being able to change one’s view in the faceof newly-gained knowledge and informa-tion. Let us examine if the Prime Ministerhas been able to display any of theseingredients during his tenure.

Ability to learn: This aspect is limit-ed not merely to reading up relevant mate-rial; it also requires a person to learn fromexperts in a particular domain. The“radar” fiasco by Modi was hardly the lat-est example where he chose to reject expertopinion. Take the example of demoneti-sation. It was one of the worst economicdecisions taken by any democraticGovernment. It was sprung on all of usone fine evening in November 2016.Planning for note bandi was faulty, whichwas evident by the huge lines at ATMs andbanks and the deaths of many elderly peo-ple, who succumbed to the long waitinghours while trying to withdraw money toensure that they could continue their dayto day lives. That wasn’t all.Demonetisation was not just a shock to us,

the citizens, but also to ourexperts. As per reports, thecountry’s central bank, theReserve Bank of India, was noteven consulted before PrimeMinister Modi sprung his greateconomic idea on us, as if thecitizens of India are guinea pigsfor every idea that springsfrom his brain. What was theconsequence of not adopting ascientific approach and not lis-tening to the view of experts ina particular domain? We weretold that this was done toreduce black money and tran-sition to a cashless economy.

However, when the dustsettled, several reports, includ-ing one by the RBI, and vari-ous analysis by domain expertsshowed that none of the mis-sion was accomplished.Reports suggest that blackmoney, in fact, entered the sys-tem as white money. Even thegoal of a cashless economyremains a pipe dream as theeconomy is now at the samecash level as prior to theannouncement of demonetisa-tion. So what was exactlyachieved?

The informal economysuffered a crushing blow,which left the economy stutter-ing. Further, the decision cre-ated havoc in people’s lives.That Prime Minister Modi

undertook this ill-advised diveinto monetary policy was notso tragic than the fact that hetook this decision withouthaving the humility to consultthe experts in this domain.This brings us to anotheringredient of scientific temper.

Humility: This is not aconcept that the PrimeMinister is familiar with. Oftenreferring to himself in thirdperson, he rarely displays thisgrace when talking down to usas everyday citizens. Anotherway of expressing humility isby accepting that you werewrong. However, Modi hasnever believed he was wrongand, certainly, has never apol-ogised. Whether it be demon-etisation or insulting the mem-ory of a late Prime Minister,who was assassinated by ter-rorists, the words, “I waswrong and I apologise” do notexist in the Prime Minister’svocabulary. One only hopesthat instead of showering uswith his in-depth knowledge of“radar” systems, Modi willhave the humility to apologisebefore the election season isover. That perhaps could behoping for too much.

Open mind: The thirdingredient of scientific temperis not being rigid in one’sview. On this aspect, too, the

Prime Minister is found lack-ing. Modi has time and againsought to muzzle the opinionsof the Opposition. This has notonly been done in Parliament,where objections and amend-ments to crucial Bills havebeen discarded, but in thepublic discourse as well. In thecase of the Goods and ServicesTax (GST), concerns sur-rounding the infrastructureto implement the GST, asdesired by the BJP, were repeat-edly rejected because of a lackof humility by the rulingGovernment. Contrast thiswith the approach of PanditNehru, who included thoseleaders in his Cabinet eventhough they often spokeagainst him.

As this election season iscoming to a close, I sincerelyhope that Prime Minister Moditells us in his television inter-views a little less about how helikes khichdi and mangoes. Hemust tell us a little more abouthow he plans to imbibe someof the values briefly discussedabove. Unfortunately, this fore-cast looks cloudy and it isunlikely that the PrimeMinister’s “radar” will pickthis up.

(The writer is JharkhandPCC president, former MP andIPS officer. Views are personal)

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Slipping on oil”(May 16).Now that US President DonaldTrump has triggered a trade warwith China, the industrial lobbyin America must be feelingenthused to pursue interests ofmembers who deal with India.Trump, who will be facing re-election next year, would ratherpander to his vote-bank thanconsider the long democraticties with India.

Even as the US uses oilsanctions to subdue Iran, Trumpgives no concessions to India,which has been importing oiland gas from America as analternate source in recent times.Our Achilles heel lies in spend-ing $330 million per day onimporting oil besides the exor-bitant privilege of the US dollarin which oil is traded. Globalefforts towards an alternativecurrency has remained apipedream for decades now.

The US has always used usas a fulcrum for leveraging itsinterests. There is little leewayfor significant strategies.

R Narayanan Navi Mumbai

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Modi, Patnaik warm up”(May 15). Biju Janata Dal chiefNaveen Patnaik, who has beenthe Chief Minister of Odisha for19 years, knows it very well whatsuits him. Yes, he may suffer lossof some seats due to anti-incum-

bency but Patnaik still remainsthe tallest leader in the State. Hehas maintained equal distancefrom both the Congress and theBJP. As long as he keeps his turfOdisha with him and does notsee a strong threat, he does notnot mind supporting anyone atthe Centre.

Bal GovindNoida

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Sir — This refers to the editor-ial, “Ocean of darkness” (May16). In the first place, vandalisa-tion of statues of icons, whichhas seen a rise in recent times,not only goes against the demo-cratic principle but also expos-es the narrow mindset of the

perpetrators. The vandalism of a statue of

educationist Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar at VidyasagarCollege is deplorable. The sub-sequent clashes between theBharatiya Janata Party (BJP)and Trinamool Congress (TMC)workers left none in doubt thatboth parties do not believe indissent. It is a fact that learningis the nucleus of growth anddevelopment. Vidyasagar heldthis in high esteem, which eveninspired Swami Vivekanandaand many other intellectuals.

It is painful and distressingto note that disrespect wasshown to a luminary, who wasrevered by people across thenation. Instead of playing theblame-game, the BJP as well asthe TMC must pay heed to hisethics and ethos of Vidyasagar.The ugly events in Kolkata area blot on democracy; electioncampaigns are not the preroga-tive of any single party. Only animpartial inquiry will pinresponsibility, which must beconducted sooner than later.

KR SrinivasanSecundèrabad

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On May 5 this year, Prime Minister ImranKhan broke ground for Al-Qadir Universityof Sufism, Science and Technology in

Sohawa. Speaking at the event, Khan said that theuniversity will “link science and spirituality.” Headded that spirituality was a “super science”requiring research. He said that the university willimpart knowledge about Sufism and also moderntechnology. Khan then explained that this linkingof spirituality (ruhaaniyat) and science will help theyouth understand the whole concept of “the stateof Madina” — an idea of a perfect “Islamic welfarestate” that is being touted by the current PakistanTehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) regime. To Khan, this ideais directly linked to the original “ideology ofPakistan.”

This will not be the first such university inPakistan. The PPP Government (2008-2013)established the University of Sufism and ModernSciences in Bhit Shah town, home to the shrine ofthe 18th century Sufi saint Shah Abdul Latif Bhittai.Now a full-fledged campus, its stated vision is to“impart modern scientific knowledge and the edu-cation of Sufi saints which focuses on tolerance, har-mony and brotherhood.”

The idea of this university was born from theconcern that over the decades, some rigid and evenviolent strands of the Muslim faith had permeat-ed society and its education system. These need-ed to be neutralised by the study and proliferationof the faith’s more esoteric strands such as Sufism,coupled with modern sciences.

Even though such endeavours can be appre-ciated, I believe Khan wasn’t very lucid in his ownmind about the core purpose of the Al-QadirUniversity. He said he had been planning to buildsuch a university for over 23 years, yet he sound-ed rather woolly about what it was that he want-ed to achieve. In contrast to this, the university inBhit Shah is clear about what it wants to achieve,ie, to encourage empirical thinking through theteaching of modern sciences and ethics and val-ues derived from the works and examples of famousSufi saints.

However, being a populist, Khan ended upmuddling his own vision by unnecessarily politi-cising the whole idea of imparting modern knowl-edge from the platform of Sufism. First of all, onejust can’t see how Sufism is in any way linked tohis spiel about the “state of Madina” or the so-called“ideology of Pakistan”. The “state of Madina” slo-gan — and it is nothing more than that — is derivedfrom the musings of some particular segments ofIndia’s Muslim community, who supported thePakistan Movement. But these segments were notpresent in the leadership circles of Jinnah’s All IndiaMuslim League (AIML), nor were they part of theregion’s Muslim working and peasant classes.

Instead, these segments were largely made upof middle class activists, madrasa students andteachers, imams of mosques and certain Muslimjournalists and newspapers of northern India.Understanding the idea of Pakistan as a 20th cen-tury reinvention of Islam’s first socio-political set-up in Madina was not on the minds of the coun-try’s founders. As demonstrated by MarkusDaechsel in his brilliant study of India’s urban mid-dle class milieu in the first half of the 20th centu-ry, rhetorical proclamations about creating anIslamic utopia mostly originated from activist seg-

ments among urban middle class Muslims. But thefact is, these were largely ignored by the AIML’s topleadership and intellectuals.

For example, in the 1930s, two young Islamicscholars, Abdus Sattar and Ibrahim Chishti, pub-lished a pamphlet called ‘Scheme.’ The pamphletput forward the idea of a ‘Khuda Mard’ (or aMuslim Übermensch), who would defeat the forcesof all other faiths and create an Islamic utopia. Thenthere were Urdu newspapers, such as Inqilaab,which kept harping about the importance of cre-ating a Muslim country, which would re-enact theseventh century ‘Riyasat-i-Madina.’ These are butjust two examples. Daechsel has furnished manymore. But none were taken very seriously by theAIML. Instead, its top cadres were steeped in theideas and works of thinkers such as Sir Syed AhmadKhan, Syed Ameer Ali, Chiragh Ali and AllamaIqbal, who had worked to construct a ‘modernist’strand of Islam, which would navigate the faith’sfuture through science, reason and social and eco-nomic modernity.

Khan and his party seem to have adopted theRiyasat-i-Madina idea from the works and slogansof the milieu, which Daechsel investigated in hisbook. More so, the conceptual (as opposed toempirical) notion of the “state of Madina” was revi-talised by an Indian intellectual and author VenkatDhulipala in his 2015 tome Creating a New Medina:State Power, Islam, and the Quest for Pakistan in LateColonial North India.

Interestingly, the book became popular inPakistan among various conservative outfitsopposed to the ‘modernist’ version of Pakistan’s cre-ation. American historian Gail Minault points outthat Dhulipala’s book — which tries to justify thetheological narrative behind Pakistan’s creation —“is not history from above or below but rather themiddle”. It largely ignores the ideas of the AIML’stop tier leadership and those associated with theMuslim masses. Instead, Dhulipala uses the rav-

ings of the mentioned middle class segments as hismain source material. These segments were large-ly blocked out by AIML.

Riyasat-i-Madina has nothing to do with the“ideology of Pakistan” either. First, as historians suchas Ayesha Jalal and Dr Mubarak Ali have demon-strated, the expression “ideology of Pakistan” or theterm “Pakistan ideology” did not come into beingtill the early 1960s — more than a decade afterPakistan’s creation. The founders used no such term.And even from when it was first coined by the AyubKhan regime (1958-69) till the mid-1970s, this ‘ide-ology’ was driven by the whole idea of “Muslimmodernism” initiated by Sir Syed and evolved byIqbal. It became rigid and myopic after 1979 andeventually stagnant — even destructive.

Khan should avoid projecting his own confu-sion in this context on to his many impressionableyoung followers, who are already confused by thevarious experiments conducted by the state in thename of ideology. It should also be known that thereis not one but at least three strands of Sufism oper-ating in Pakistan. As Katherine Ewing (in ArguingSainthood) and Alix Philippon (in State andNation Building in Pakistan) have shown, there isone version of Sufism, which was created by thestate and exhibits Sufi saints as tolerant and pas-sionate but law-abiding men. Then there is a ver-sion created by the country’s pop culture, which isbasically an artistic variation of the state’s version.And then there is one held by radical Barelvi lead-ers, who reject the State version of Sufism and bringit in line with their own not very tolerant and law-abiding version.

Let science and faith be independent from eachother. They do not need to interact nor clash. Afusion of both in a country like Pakistan will even-tually see faith overwhelm science and becomeincreasingly political and dogmatic. This is neitherbeneficial for faith nor to science.

(The Dawn)

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The Indian electorate is busyexercising its franchise to electits representative to the 17th

Lok Sabha. The battle is now in itslast lap with the seventh phase of vot-ing taking place on May 19. Politicalparties, all of whom contested thepolls with different targets, are wait-ing with bated breath for May 23, theday when the counting of ballots willtake place and the winner will bedeclared. Compared to past decades,this year the nature of electioneeringreached its lowest ebb with bitter slo-ganeering ruling the roost and tem-pers running high. In the melee, thereal issues, which should have attract-ed attention, were buried deep intothe ground.

The general perception among

the people is that political partiesmissed the bigger picture as theychampioned the cause of hurling alle-gations and counter-allegations oneach other and tried to project a bat-tle of personality cults. However,what really captures people’s imagi-nation are the various policies andprogrammes of parties and the lead-ers’ performance report. Leadershipis about the capability to deliver andhas least to do with externalities.

Post the release of election man-ifestoes, most parties and their lead-ers forget about the promises madeand harp on issues that are irrelevantin a manner that is best considered“undemocratic.” Party manifestoesare unlikely to be referred to in thefuture too. Nobody is worried aboutthe agenda for governance.

One of the reasons for vitriolicelectioneering is the fact that thiselection has been reduced as a ref-erendum on Prime MinisterNarendra Modi. The singular focushas been on one man. The electionprocess itself witnessed a presiden-tial style of campaign rather thanbeing based on the Westminster

style of parliamentary democracy,which believes in a multi-party sys-tem. In almost all Opposition rallies,the anti-Modi narrative and aggres-sive public theatrics against theGovernment were high on agenda.Throughout, the Congress made theRafale deal its single-point agenda.It even declared the Prime Ministera chor (thief). That actually ended uplionising Modi and helped him claimvictimhood. So though he failed toperform in governance, he couldmake it look like he was up againstobstacles set up by the anti-establish-ment brigade and was preventedfrom doing so.

The BJP, too, did not lag behind.The Prime Minister lost not a singleopportunity to dig into the Congress’past follies, raising serious allegationsof corruption against it. Besides, ithas also been mocking the maha-gathbandhan with names like ‘MahaThug Bandhan’ and ‘Maha Milawat.’

This writer has been closelymonitoring the pulse of the peopleand it can be said that the numerouscampaigns by various political par-ties have not been in good taste as

none moved back from practisingdivisive political agenda.

The Prime Minister has succeed-ed in convincing the people about hisstrong Government and takingaction against Pakistan-sponsoredterrorism. However, it remains a mil-lion dollar question if he has beenable to breach the regional and castefactors, especially in West Bengal,Uttar Pradesh and Tamil Nadu, andalign them to a more nationalisticline of thinking.

The second reason why the rul-ing party has an edge is the fact thatonly the NDA is contesting in allseats. None of the constituents of themahagathbandhan or the Congressis doing so. However, the prevailingmood of the people is for a respon-sive, responsible, empathetic andproactive government which thinksabout its youth, farmers, the down-trodden, environment, clean andsafer industrialisation and a peace-ful law and order situation. Whateverbe the poll results, the country mustbrace up for effective governance forthe next five years.

This author would like to flag a

few subjects for the new government.The first subject is to factor the envi-ronmental concerns as a core seg-ment of our developmental policies.The changing dimensions of climatechange impacts being faced call fora thorough restructuring of ourplanning process. India has pledgedto ensure Millennium DevelopmentGoals and the foremost effort, there-fore, is to reduce poverty and ensureecological security.

This emphasis on environment,however, does not mean that thedevelopment process should be sac-rificed. It means striking a balance,going for innovative ideas and bring-ing superior technology. In thisregard, though the country is pro-gressing well in meeting the Pariscommitment on climate change, westill need a lot of synergy and coher-ence in our developmental activities.

We need to ensure developmentof tribal areas on priority alongwith 170,000 villages situated inand around 32 million hectares offorests. The management of forestsshould focus on water conservationto recharge our aquifers, ensure

water flow in our rain fed rivers andpromote biodiversity both in forestsand agriculture fields.

The second issue relates toenhancing the agriculture productiv-ity and diversifying the income offarmers from animal husbandry andother primary sectors resources.The disaster management pro-grammes must have a portfolio fornatural resources management.

The new government must alsodecentralise decision-making, cutred tapism in governance, bring far-reaching changes in the educationsector and make health affordable toall. The social sector may not seema priority worth staking all resourcesbut it is this segment which translatesinto a happy electorate. As far asnational security is concerned, ourdefence processes need to be trans-parent and the Kashmir issue dealtwith firmly but sensitively. Till weconfront issues that we do not pre-fer talking about and consign themto vision papers, India will always bea languishing than a winningprospect.

(The writer is a retired civil servant)

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RAIPUR | FRIDAY | MAY 17, 2019 08COUNTDOWNTOFINALPHASE

PNS n NEW DELHI

Ahead of the campaigningcoming to an end for nine

Lok Sabha seats in West Bengal,a delegation of BJP onWednesday met the ElectionCommission (EC) seekingaction against criminals andhistory-sheeters to ensure freeand fair polls in the State.

The Opposition leaders alsomet the poll body to registertheir strong protest to its deci-sion to end the campaigning by24 hours early in the state afterviolence erupted during BJPpresident Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata on Tuesday.

However, the delegationdidn’t receive any satisfactoryanswer from the electoral body,said Congress leader AbhishekManu Singhvi, who led the del-egation.

A BJP delegation, compris-ing Union ministers PrakashJavadekar, Mukhtar AbbasNaqvi and Vijay Goel, met thepoll panel, a day after it invokedArticle 324 of the Constitutionto curtail campaigning by a dayin West Bengal for the seventhand last phase of the generalelections, following violencebetween BJP and TMC workersin Kolkata and alleged thatthere is a “complete constitu-tional breakdown of gover-nance” in the State.

“From the reading of the(EC) order, it can be safely sur-mised that there is completeconstitutional breakdown ofgovernance, and law and order

in the State... The denigrationof the country’s highest consti-tutional bodies like the EC andthe Prime Minister’s Office byTMC chief Mamata Banerjee isitself the biggest danger to theIndia’s democratic traditionsand its constitution,” the BJPsaid in a memorandum.

Besides action againstcriminals, the party alsodemanded that the EC-appointed observers takecharge of non-statutory elec-toral functions like permis-sions, deployment of forcesand maintaining law andorder.”Senior officers of theCAPF (Central Armed PoliceForces) like CRPF or CISF ofany other force may be askedto personally supervise thedeployment of their forces andensure that act strictly in accor-dance with the guidelinesissued by the MHA,” it said inits memorandum.

For his part, Singhvi saidwithout any quasi-judicial pro-cedure, the EC had cut shortcampaigning in West Bengal.“They didn’t decide who wasbehind the violence (at BJPpresident Amit Shah’s road-show in Kolkata). We and mostof the non-NDA parties havealleged that BJP is behind thevandalisation of Ishwar ChandraVidyasagar’s statue and violenceat the roadshow,” Singhvi saidafter meeting with EC.

“If the ElectionCommission does this, then theresult that comes out of it is thatthe person, who is the culprit,

gets the benefit for his wrong-doing and the one, who is inno-cent, have to pay for this as theyhave to cut short their cam-paigning process by 24 hours.If evidence shows that BJPwas behind all this then whynon-NDA parties pay shouldfor it? We have not received asatisfactory response from theElection Commission on this,”he said. Aam Aadmi Party(AAP) leader Sanjay Singh,who was also a part of the del-egation, said, “TMC and otherpeople should decide nowwhether they will go to courtagainst this or not.”

Campaigning was origi-nally scheduled to end at 5 pmon Friday for the nine con-stituencies that will go to pollson May 19.

Meanwhile, the delegationalso complained aboutRaebareli Superintendent ofPolice Vineet Singh to the EC.“Elections were held on May 12in Raebareli, but what hap-pened on May 12 and May 14there was a trailer, according tous, and shows what wrongthings will happen on May 23,”Singhvi said.

“We have informed that SPVineet Singh should immedi-ately be transferred from thereas he is openly getting biasedtowards BJP candidate DineshSingh. Vineet Singh had helpedDinesh Singh’s brother AvdeshSingh in the District Panchayatpolls,” he added. Nine of thestate’s 42 Lok Sabha seats aregoing to the polls on May 19.

PTI n MAHARAJGANJ/BALLIA

BJP president Amit Shah onThursday accused Congress

chief Rahul Gandhi of remain-ing silent after his party leaderMani Shankar Aiyar hurledabuses at Prime MinisterNarendra Modi.

Addressing a rally inMaharajganj, he termed Aiyar“guru ghantal” (shrewd). “ManiShankar Aiyar used abusivewords against PM Modi butRahul baba remained silent,”Shah said.

Aiyar had stirred a con-troversy recently through anarticle in a newspaper, remind-ing readers of his “neechaadmi” comment made againstModi in 2017. He was sus-pended from the party for hisstatement.

“Can anyone tolerate abu-sive words against the PM,”Shah asked voters. Referring tothe Balakot airstrike, the BJPpresident claimed that whilethere was excitement in thecountry and people were dis-tributing sweets, there was“mourning” at the offices ofRahul Gandhi and SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh Yadav.

“The glow on their faceshad vanished as if their ownhad died,” he alleged. Referringto Zakir Naik, Shah said thecontroversial Islamic preacherbelieved that if the Congress or

the Mayawati-Akhilesh Yadavalliance came to power hewould not be caught.

Zakir Naik, now abroad,has been accused of deliveringinflammatory speeches besidesmoney laundering.

“Due to his influence, hun-dreds of people were killed interror attacks in Sri Lanka. Thisperson is promoting terrorismand inciting people. Whensomeone asked him whenwould you go to India, hereplied, when the Congresscomes to power,” Shah claimed.

“I want to tell him that theBJP is going to form the nextgovernment and If you dared to enter the country, youwould be brought to book,”Shah said.

Shah also claimed that dur-ing the 55 years when theGandhi family called the shots,no initiative was introduced forfree medical treatment. “OurAyushman Bharat scheme hasbenefitted around 26 lakh peo-ple. Our government tried toimprove the living standards of50 crore people of the country,”the BJP chief said.

He said the support for theBJP was coming from thehearts of the people. “I have vis-ited many states. Wherever Iwent, I only heard Modi-Modi.This is not an election slogan.It is coming from the hearts ofthe people,” he said.

PTI n BIKRAM (BIHAR)

Prime Minister NarendraModi has carefully avoided

speaking on the issue of cor-ruption during campaign, butwe have not allowed him toescape, Congress presidentRahul Gandhi said onThursday, claiming it will be“bye-bye” for him on May 23.

Addressing a rally in thePataliputra Lok Sabha seg-ment, from where Misa Bhartidaughter of RJD supremo LaluPrasad is in the fray, Gandhiattacked Modi for skirtingquestions on promises he hadmade like Rs 15 lakh in bankaccounts of all poor and cre-ation of two crore jobs.

Asserting that the ruling BJPwas headed for a defeat in theLok Sabha polls, the Congresschief claimed Modi would get abefitting reply from the peopleangry over his failure to fulfilpromises made five years agowhen votes in the current elec-tions are counted on May 23.

In a veiled attack on theinterviews given by the PrimeMinister, including the one tothe Bollywood star AkshayKumar, Gandhi said questionsand answers are choreographedto skirt the issue of his promis-es. All that we hear from Modiji these days are inanities like

how he eats a mango and whyhe wears half-sleeved kurtas.Repeating the slogan ofChowkidar chor hai which hasrankled the BJP, Gandhi saidModi must answer the questionswe have been raising withregard to the Rafale deal. Whyhe got the contract awarded toAnil Ambani, why he agreed topay much more for the fighteraircraft than had been earlieragreed to and why Rafale wouldnot be manufactured in India.He owes an answer to thenation on these counts.

Modi has travelled theentire country for his cam-paign, addressing rallies withthe help of tele-prompters. Hehas carefully avoided speakingon the issue of corruption. Butwe have not allowed him toescape. My challenge to him foran open debate on corruptionstill stands. He has been badlyexposed and, on May 23, it willbe a bye-bye for him, Rahul said.

Speaking about his pro-posed NYAY scheme, Gandhisaid financial assistance of Rs72,000 per year to poor fami-lies would boost demand, lead-ing to setting up of more indus-tries and in turn fueling pro-duction and creation of jobs. Itwill propel the economy likediesel propels a tractor.

Rahul also accused Modi of

making Bihar a berozgaari(unemployment) ka centre andcharged the Nitish KumarGovernment in the State withfailure to provide relief to farm-ers through measures like waiv-er of loans unlike in Congress-ruled States where it has beengiven top priority.

The Congress president,who toured the state in the firstfour phases of elections butskipped the next two, urged thepeople to vote for Misa Bharti,showering praises on her fatherserving sentences in fodderscam cases for his fight for

social justice. Earlier, Bhartisyounger brother TejashwiYadav, who has emerged as thepartys de facto leader in theirfathers absence, called the BJPcandidate Ram Kripal Yadavpaltu chacha no. 2 (turncoatnumber two).

Yadav has been using theepithet paltu for Chief Ministerand JD(U) president NitishKumar whose exit from theMahagathbandhan two yearsago made the RJD lose powerin the state and stripped him ofthe Deputy CMs post.

Ram Kripal Yadav, now a

Union Minister, was a closeaide of Lalu Prasad, who quitthe RJD to join BJP ahead ofthe 2014 parliamentary elec-tions and won from Pataliputraseat defeating Misa.

In a show of unity withinthe jailed RJD chiefs family, hiswife Rabri Devi and elder sonTej Pratap Yadav too attendedthe rally where other leaders ofthe Opposition alliance like for-mer Union Minister and RLSPchief Upendra Kushwahabesides ex-CM and HAMfounding president Jitan RamManjhi were also present.

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n DUM DUM

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Thursday ended

his unprecedented war ofwords with Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee by calling heran arrogant person who wouldsoon be punished by the peo-ple for considering Bengal herpersonal property.

Attacking the ChiefMinister for “her ballooningarrogance” Modi said “Mamatadidi has tormented democracyas nobody has just because ofher arrogance.

“This is because she thinksthat Bengal is her personal prop-erty. But the freedom-lovingpeople of Bengal have readthrough your party’s mischiefand have decided to teach you alesson,” Modi told a rally at DumDum, in South 24 Parganas.

Comparing the situation inBengal with that of terror-hitJammu & Kashmir, Modi said“even in terror-hit Jammu &Kashmir the panchayat andthen general elections did notsee a single incident of violencewhereas in Bengal each andevery phase of elections havewitnessed violence.”

From the first phase to thesixth phase “there was not adistrict or not a seat that didnot witness violence and blood-shed,” he said alleging “this isall the result of your balloon-ing ego. You think that Bengalis your personal property andyou are getting angry out of thefrustration of defeat staring inyour face.”

Modi said, “Didi’s angerstems from the fact that thepeople have rejected him andshe cannot accept this truth,”adding “I advise you Didi toaccept the truth that the peo-ple have rejected you. You con-sidered yourself the supremeleader of Bengal but you forgotthat the people are the supreme

in democracy.”In an apparent bid to allure

the youth he said “Didi you arefacing not the old Left but theyoung of 21st century genera-tion of Bengal who would giveyou a befitting reply.”

In what experts called a bidto divide the State along lin-guistic lines Modi said

“Banerjee had problems withthe people of UP, Bihar andother States living in Bengal butshe does not have problemswith the infiltrators.”

Apparently aware that thedamage of Ishwar ChandraVidya Sagar’s statue by allegedBJP youth had hurt the Bengalisentiments Modi said he wouldget a new 5-metal statue con-structed.

Criticising Banerjee for“insulting the ElectionCommission, CAPF and otherconstitutional institutions” forallegedly “playing partisan rolein the elections,” Modi said“these are the same bodieswhich saved you from the Leftviolence. Had they not beenthere in 2009 and 2011 youwould never have been theChief Minister of this State.”

He said, “you are free todream to become a PrimeMinister but you have no rightto abuse the constitutionalauthorities of the country.”

SAUGAR SENGUPTA nDIAMOND HARBOUR

The last day of a truncatedseventh phase campaigning

saw Bengal Chief MamataBanerjee hitting out both at theBJP and its “buddy” ElectionCommission for teaming up todefeat the “sane democraticforces” and vouched not toyield an inch of land to theLotus symbol.

Calling Prime MinisterNarendra Modi a “liar” and BJPpresident Amit Shah a “goon-da” who ignited communalfire wherever he went, theChief Minister held the latterresponsible for breaking ofrenaissance icon IshwarChandra Vidya Sagar’s statue.

Referring to the Tuesday’sincident Banerjee told a hugerally at Diamond Harbour, “itis the habit and culture of theBJP to break statues. Theyhave done it with the statues ofother stalwarts like BRAmbedkar too.”

It were the “goondas led bythe BJP president — a habitu-al riot-monger — who brokethe statue of our national icon,”Banerjee said rejecting Modi’soffer to erect a grand statue ofthe social early 19th centurysocial reformer.

Rejecting the PrimeMinister’s offer to rebuild a“panch dhatu” (five-metals) stat-ue of Vidya Sagar she said“Bengal does not need your help.We are solvent enough to hon-our our own icons. We don’twant to take help from you.”

Calling Modi a “liar whopromised to build the RamTemple in Ayodhya but wentback on his promise,” she saidthe BJP leaders “should holdtheir ears and do sit-ups fortelling lies and spreading aviolent culture in India.” Shesaid “first build the RamTemple and then build thestatue of Vidya Sagar.”

The BJP leaders had insult-ed the Bengalis by hurtingtheir sentiment and that thepeople of the State would takethe proper revenge for the act,she said. Asking the people notto vote for those who callBengal a bankrupt state shesaid Shah was a “goonda netawho called Bengal kangal (des-titute),” adding the people ofthe State were waiting for May19 when they would “not giveBJP a single vote.”

Attacking the ECI forworking in the interests ofPrime Minister Narendra Modiand his saffron outfit she thun-dered: “Modi is afraid of me(Banerjee) and the Bengali

electorate which is why he hasnow decided to invoke the ECto subjugate the State. But I canassure you that till I am alive Iwill never let that happen andfight the battle till the last.”

She said the EC had beensold out to the BJP. “ECI seemsto have been sold out to the BJP,which is why it is acting in apartisan manner.” While hernephew and MP AbhishekBanerjee said, “Lotus cannotbloom inBengal as it only blos-soms in mud and the water inBengal is as clear as crystal”Banerjee said despite mediahype and violent attempts tocapture power “like they did inTripura,” the “BJP will get zeroseats in Bengal.”

The junior Banerjee is con-testing from Bengal’s port townsouth of Kolkata from where hewon last time by more than two

lakh votes.This time round Diamond

Harbour is witnessing a multi-cornered fight with TMC’sAbhishek Banerjee contestingagainst the BJP’s Nilanjan Royand CPI(M)’s Fuad Halim.

Attacking the EC for givingthe Opposition parties a trun-cated last phase slashing thecampaign time by more than aday Banerjee said this wasdone to suit Prime Ministerbecause “the BJP has no organ-isational or grassroots baseand it depends solely uponModi,” alleging the poll timewas shortened keeping in viewthe Prime Minister’s publicrallies on Thursday.

“The campaigning endswith PM’s rallies. This is abiased way of handling thepolls. I am sorry to say that butI have to say it” Banerjee said.

PTI n MAHARAJGANJ

Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra on

Thursday had a dig at PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’sclaim of a “56-inch chest”, ask-ing where his heart lies.

Addressing an election rallyhere in support of Congresscandidate Supriya Shrinate,Priyanka Gandhi asked, “Youboasted about your 56-inchchest, but where is your heart?”

The Congress leader alsoquestioned claims of national-ism. “The PM talks aboutPakistan while speaking onnationalism. For him, nation-alism is all about speaking onthe work done to counterPakistan. Employment andfarmer issues are not national-ism to him,” she said.

Priyanka Gandhi accusedthe Prime Minister of solelyconcentrating on marketingstrategies and dubbed him“arrogant”.

“In the past five years,Modi was seen going to everyplace across the world, but henever bothered to meet farm-ers of his own country,” she saidterming the PM anti-farmer.

She lambasted theGovernment over an initiativeit took for farmers. “They haveannounced Rs 6,000 per year

for farmers under the KisanSamman scheme. But thescheme is an insult to farmersas a family of five would get justRs 2 per day,” she said.

In comparison, theCongress had announced theNyuntam Aay Yojana (NYAY)under which Rs 72,000 wouldbe given every year to eachpoor family, the Congressleader said.

Commenting on the jobsituation, she said, “Five crorejobs were destroyed in the pastfive years. As many as 24 lakh

posts are lying vacant in gov-ernment departments while50 lakh people lost their jobsdue to demonetisation.”

She promised that theCongress would fill vacantposts in government depart-ments. “We are confident thatafter coming to power, theMGNREGA would bestrengthened by increasing thelabour days from 100 to 150.Labourers would get wagesregularly,” she added, refer-ring to a rural employmentgeneration scheme.

Law & order worse than J&K: PMPrime Minister Narendra Modi atan election rally in Mathurapur,south of Kolkata, on Thursday AP

Congress president Rahul Gandhi with party’s Patna Sahib candidate Shatrughan Sinha and others during a roadshow in Patnaon Thursday PTI

Kolkata: Abhishek Banerjee the nephew of Bengal ChiefMinister Mamata Banerjee on Thursday threatened PrimeMinister Narendra Modi with a legal notice for accusing him ofillegally occupying building from where he was running his partyoffice. Modi had earlier alleged that “Bhatija” (Abhishek) was ille-gally occupying the building from where the TMC ran its partyoffice in his constituency. “Apologise within 48 hours or I shallsend you a legal notice for telling the lie,” he said. Elsewhere atDurgapur Railway Station a man was arrested by the GRP forcarrying unexplained cash amounting to Rs 70 crore. He was car-rying the cash in a trolley bag. Earlier two men, including analleged former PA of State BJP president Dilip Ghosh was arrest-ed from Assansol Station with Rs 1 crore. PNS

Didi’s nephew threatens PM with libel

IN BENGAL

EC is BJP’s buddy, says MamataMamataBanerjeeaddresses anelection rally inMathurapur,Kolkata, onThursday AP

BJP delegation leave after meeting with the ElectionCommission of India, in New Delhi, on Thursday PTI

Congress leaders Ahmed Patel and Abhishek Manu Singhvi talk as they leave along with other party’s leadersafter meeting the Election Commissioner, in New Delhi, on Thursday PTI

Congress general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra during anelection campaign inMaharajganj, UP, on Thursday PTI

On May 23 it will be ‘bye-bye’ for Modi, claims Rahul

Where your heart lies,Priyanka asks PM

Rahul kept mum whenAiyar abused PM: Shah

BJP seeks action against criminalsfor free & fair polls in Bengal

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Half a dozen candidatesfrom among the top 10

richest candidates in the fray inthe ongoing Lok Sabha elec-tions are from the Congress,according to the NationalElection Watch (NEW) and theAssociation for DemocraticReforms (ADR).

While Ramesh KumarSharma, an Independent fromPatliputra, is in pole positionwith declared assets worth over�1,107 crore, the second, third,fourth and fifth slots are cap-tured by Congress nominees.

The second in the list isKonda Vishweshwar Reddy,the Congress candidate fromChevella in Telangana, withtotal asset of �895 crore.

Nakul Nath, the Congressnominee from Chhindwara, is

the third richest in the fray withassets worth �660 crore, fol-lowed by another CongressmanH Vasanthakumar in the fourthspot, who is contesting fromKanyakumari in Tamil Naduwith assets of over � 417 crore.

With assets worth over�374 crore, Congress leaderJyotiraditya Scindia, who isseeking re-election from Guna,is fifth. He was richest in recent-ly concluded sixth phase.

YSR Congress Party’sVijayawada candidate is in thesixth position with assets worthover �347 crore. Congress lead-ers Uday Singh, contesting fromPurnia in Bihar, and DK Suresh,contesting from BangaloreRural in Karnataka, are seventhand eighth in the list with assetsworth �341 crore and �338crore, respectively.

K Raghu Rama Krishna

Raju, the YSRCP candidatefrom Narsapuram, is ninth withassets worth over �325 crore,while TDP’s Jayadev Galla, whois contesting from Guntur, is inthe 10th spot with assets worthover �305 crore.

According to ADR, asmany as 48 per cent contest-ing the 2019 Lok Sabha pollshave declared graduation andabove educational qualifica-tions. Of the 7,928 candidates,3,808 (48 per cent) havedeclared graduation and aboveeducational qualifications.

“While 3,477 (44 per cent)have declared their education-al qualifications between ClassV and Class XII pass, 3,808 (48per cent), graduation andabove,” the ADR said. While253 candidates have declaredthemselves to be just literate,163 candidates are illiterate.

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With the stage set for thefinal phase of polling for

the Lok Sabha elections, one ofthe key battles will be for thePatna Sahib seat in Bihar wheresenior BJP leader and UnionElectronics and InformationTechnology Minister RaviShankar Prasad is taking onrebel-turned Congress candidateBihari babu Shatrughan Sinha.

But in the mid of the fren-sied elections what has goneunnoticed is how voters in theState’s Digital Villages, part ofthe Modi Government’s e-gov-ernance mega initiative, havechosen to vote.

After all, it is Prasad, theUnion Minister from Bihar,who spearheads the digitalmovement at the behest ofPrime Minister Narendra Modi.In Patna region alone, as manyas 30 Common Service Centre(CSC), a special purpose vehi-cle (SPV), to provide basic elec-tronic services such as bankingto villagers have been set up.

Overall, in Bihar, there area total of 80 such Digi Villages.Even the remotest one likeFathua, Bakhtiyarpur, has nowbeen rechristened like DigiGaon Fathua.

Then there are villages likeKahra (Saharsa), one of themost backward villages of thecountry, Andalee in Supaul,Kolhar, Gauripanda andDaniawan in and around Patnawhile those in the remotesareas are Jamuniya, Misrauliyaand Machragawa in Saran to

name a few. They are all part ofthe 2.5 lakh villages across thecountry where Prasad’sMinistry has been mandated toset up basic facilities.

“For the last couple of years,villagers have been availing of allservices of government likebanks, pensions and otherfinancial services, passport sub-mission, education enquiriesand many more right at theirvillage door steps, thereby sav-ing the villagers from travellingto main district headquarters ortownships,” locals pointed out.

They said smaller villageshave more of hutments but theyhave been taking pride in nam-ing their village with the prefixDigi. But will such developmentinitiatives trump the caste fac-tors at play in Bihar? Residentsfrom a cross-section of vil-lages came up with mixed reac-tions but the common under-lining outcome was that castearithmetic goes hand-in-handwith developmental agenda.

The Digital Villages have

been equipped with solar light-ing facility in their communi-ty centre, energy efficient LEDassembly unit, sanitary napkinunit with active participationon Asha and Anganwadi work-ers and Wi-fi Choupal, officialspointed out adding these vil-lages would also have the reg-ular CSC services like Aadhaar,banking, telemedicine, educa-tion, financial services etc.

“This is a very significantstep in transformation of corearea of governance and give therural India a comfortable life bythe use of technology for over-all community empowerment,”said Dr Dinesh Kumar Tyagi,CEO of CSC.

While an investment ofabout Rs 10 lakh is required forturning one village into a dig-ital one, the Centre is likely tospend Rs 10,000 crore in settingup one lakh digital villagesacross the country in the nextfive years. CSC will set up20,000 digital villages everyyear in the next five years.

Varanasi: Amid election fever in Varanasi, PrimeMinister Narendra Modi’s popularity in this holycity can be seen from streets to stands, with book-sellers saying titles written on him are flying offthe shelf ahead of the polls in his constituency.

Among the books doing well are “The RealModi” and “Narendra Modi: Ek Sakaratmak Soch”,

according to booksellers in the temple town. Whilethe first one is an old paperback edition in Hindi,it is the second title that is catching the eyes of read-ers in the temple town. Printed by publisher ApurvaShah of Ahmedabad, “Narendra Modi: EkSakaratmak Soch” is an unusual book as it is shapedlike cut-out put up during election rallies. PTI

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Reliance Industries and itsBritish partner BP plc have

made their first bid for an oiland gas exploration acreage inover eight years by bidding forone of the 32 blocks up for auc-tion in latest licensing roundthat saw mining major Vedantaputting in as many as 30 bidswhile State-owned ONGCvying for 20.

Bidding for 14 blocks onoffer in the Open AcreageLicensing Policy (OALP)round-II and another 18 oiland gas blocks and 5 coal-bedmethane (CBM) blocks onoffer in OALP-III closed onWednesday.

Official sources saidVedanta, which had walkedaway with 41 out of the 55blocks offered in OALP-I lastyear, bid for 30 areas.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp(ONGC) bid for 20 blockswhile Oil India Ltd (OIL) bidfor 16. Indian Oil Corp (IOC),GAIL (India) and SunPetro bidfor two blocks each, they said.

RIL-BP made an offer forone block in the Krishna

Godavari basin.This is the first time that

BP is bidding for an explorationacreage in the country. It hadentered the country buying 30per cent stake in RIL’s 21 oil andgas exploration blocks in 2011for USD 7.2 billion. All but acouple of blocks have sincebeen relinquished.

Mukesh Ambani-ownedRIL had on its own bid for sixblocks in the ninth round ofNew Exploration LicensingPolicy (NELP) but did not winany block.

NELP has since beenreplaced by HydrocarbonExploration Licensing Policy(HELP) under which OALPbids round have been held.

Sources said the block RIL-BP bid for is the same which BPhad demarcated during theexpression of interest (EoI)stage.

India had in July 2017allowed companies to carve outblocks of their choice with aview to bringing about 2.8million sq km of unexploredarea in the country underexploration.

Under this policy, calledopen acreage licensing policyor OALP, companies areallowed to put in an EoI forprospecting of oil and gas in

any area that is presently notunder any production or explo-ration licence.

The EoIs can be put in atany time of the year but theyare accumulated twiceannually.

The blocks or areas thatreceive EoIs at the end of acycle are put up for auctionwith the originator or the firmthat originally selected thearea getting a 5-mark advan-tage.

The two windows of accu-mulating EoIs end on May 15and November 15 every year.EoIs accumulated till May 15are supposed to be put onauction by June 30 and those inthe second window byDecember 31.

BP made the EoI for ablock in the window providedfor OALP-II which closed onMay 15, 2018. However theEoIs collected in this windowwere put on bidding only inJanuary this year, a delay of sixmonths.

A month later, theGovernment offered another23 oil and gas blocks and CBMblocks in third round, forwhich EoIs accumulated byNovember 15, 2018.

Sources said OALP-II andOALP-III ran concurrently.

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Indian cr icket legendSachin Tendulkar on

Thursday took the covers offGerman carmaker BMW’slatest generation of their X5Sports Utility Vehicle. TheGerman carmaker which isanother phase of growth inthe Indian market is in themidst of a complete modelline-up change and the X5 isthe latest new car that thecarmaker launched after thenew X3, X4 and plans tolaunch the larger X7 in thecoming months . TheMunich-based carmakerwhich invented by hat theydescr ibe as the ‘Spor tsActivity Vehicle’ segment in

1999 with the f i rst X5believes that the fourth gen-eration model will show howthe segment has evolved overthe years.

Speaking to the mediaHans-Christian Baertels,President, BMW India saidthat he expects the luxurycar market in India to recov-er in the next few monthsand the carmaker was stillbullish about the luxury seg-ment despite a slowdownover the past few months.The BMW X5 will be avail-able with a petrol and dieselengine and in three trim lev-els. Prices will range frombetween �72.9 lakh and�82.4 lakh and will be local-ly produced in India.

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The ongoing trade warbetween the US and China

will help India tap export oppor-tunities in both the countries inareas such as garments, agricul-ture, automobile and machinery,according to trade experts.

Professor at Indian Instituteof Foreign Trade (IIFT) RakeshMohan Joshi said the US hasbroadly targeted intermediatecomponents from China, par-ticularly machinery and elec-tronics, whereas China is tar-geting American automotiveand agricultural productsincluding Soybean.

“These areas offer hugeopportunities for India. Strongopportunity is unfolding forIndia in apparel and readymadegarments as after China, Indiais the only country in theworld to match the scale ofoperations and integrate itssupply chain for global cus-tomers,” Joshi said.

He added that India needsto make use of this opportuni-ty to significantly enhance itsexports especially in informa-tion and communicationstechnology (ICT) and theautomotive sector.

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President Donald Trump hasbarred American compa-

nies from using foreign-madetelecom equipment posing anational security threat, a moveaimed at banning Chinese giantHuawei from US networksamid an escalating trade warbetween the world’s two largesteconomies.

President Trump signedan executive order onWednesday which did notdirectly name any country orcompany, but officials havepreviously named Huawei a“threat” and asked allies not tobuy equipment for the next-generation 5G networks fromthe world’s largest provider oftelecommunications.

Under the order that willtake effect in the coming days,Huawei will need a USGovernment license to buyAmerican technology.

Soon after the executiveorder — “Securing theInformation andCommunications Technologyand Services Supply Chain” —was signed, the Bureau ofIndustry and Security (BIS) ofthe Department of Commerceannounced that it will be addingHuawei Technologies Co. Ltdand its affiliates to its Entity List.

The Department ofCommerce alleged that Huaweiwas engaged in activities thatare contrary to US nationalsecurity or foreign policy inter-est. As a result, sale or transferof American technology to a

company or person on theEntity List requires a licenseissued by the BIS, and a licensemay be denied if the sale ortransfer would harm USnational security or foreignpolicy interests.

The listing will be effectivewhen published in the FederalRegister.

“This action by theCommerce Department’sBureau of Industry and Security,with the support of the Presidentof the United States, placesHuawei, a Chinese-owned com-pany that is the largest telecom-munications equipment pro-ducer in the world, on theEntity List,” CommerceSecretary Wilbur Ross said.

This will prevent Americantechnology from being used byforeign-owned entities in waysthat potentially undermine USnational security or foreignpolicy interests, Ross said,adding that it has been done atthe direction of the president.

In the order, Trump deter-mined that the unrestrictedacquisition or use in the US ofinformation and communica-tions technology or servicesthat are subject to the jurisdic-tion or direction of foreignadversaries augments the abil-ity of those foreign adversariesto create and exploit vulnera-bilities in information andcommunications technologyor services and that can havepotentially catastrophic effects,and thereby, constitutes anunusual and extraordinary riskto US national security, foreign

policy and economy.Trump “is incredibly” com-

mitted to preventing adversariesfrom turning American infor-mation and communicationsinfrastructure into a liability asopposed to an asset, a senioradministration official said.

The executive orderaddresses this imperative byempowering the Secretary ofCommerce to prohibit trans-actions involving informationand communications technol-ogy or services that aredesigned, developed, manu-factured or supplied by personsowned by or controlled by orsubject to the jurisdiction ordirection of a foreign adversary,the official said.

Responding to questions,the official said the order wasdirected at any transactioninvolving information andcommunications technologyor services and controlled by orsubject to the jurisdiction of aforeign adversary that meetsthe criteria enumerated in theexecutive order.

Regulations issued by theDepartment of Commerce inthe coming days will detail howdeterminations will be made onwhether a transaction meetsthe criteria listed in the exec-utive order, the official said.

Cutting across party lines,US lawmakers praised theadministration’s announce-ment. The US and China arelocked in a trade battle that hasseen mounting tariffs, sparkingfears the conflict will damagethe global economy.

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China on Thursday warnedof retaliation against US

President Donald Trump’sorder that effectively barredChinese telecom giant Huaweifrom the US market, sayingBeijing will take “necessarymeasures” to safeguard rightsand interest of its businessfirms.

Escalating the bruisingtrade war with China, PresidentTrump signed an executiveorder on Wednesday barringAmerican companies frominstalling the foreign-madetelecom equipment posing anational security threat, a moveapparently aimed at banningHuawei from US networks.

Trump’s decision risksescalating tensions with Chinaas the world’s two largesteconomies clash over whetherHuawei — the world’s largestprovider of telecommunica-tions equipment - poses a spy-ing risk to Western infrastruc-ture networks.

The US and China arealready locked in a trade bat-tle that has seen mountingtariffs, sparking fears the con-flict will damage the globaleconomy.

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Finance Commission helddiscussions with the finance

ministry on fiscal and eco-nomic management as well asrationalisation of expenditurerelated to centrally sponsoredschemes, an official statementsaid Thursday.

During the meeting, whichhappened on Wednesday, the15th Finance Commissionobserved that the GDP num-bers suggest continued highgrowth over the medium termeven though there have beenfluctuations within the overallglobal trend.

“On the expenditure trend,there were discussions withregard to rationalisation of theCentrally Sponsored Schemesin sync with the new life cycle,they being co-terminus withthe finance commissions,” thestatement said.

Centrally sponsoredschemes are schemes that areimplemented by state govern-ments but are funded by theCentre with some portion offunding being borne by states.

The Commission also notedthat the revenue projections ondirect taxes are healthy thoughon indirect taxes, there havebeen periodic fluctuations.

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The Taiwan Excellence pavil-ion at the Taiwan Expo

2019 is creating a major buzzas visitors are treated to somesterling products and hi-techgadgets. The overwhelmingresponse received during thefirst edition of the Expo urgedthe participation of TaiwanExcellence this year as well.

Scheduled from May 16 to18 at New Delhi’s PragatiMaidan, Taiwan Expo is animportant platform to forge anetwork between Taiwaneseand Indian companies forexploring business opportuni-ties together. It is organized bythe Bureau of Foreign Trade,MOEA and Taiwan ExternalTrade Development Council(TAITRA), in association withFederation of Indian Chambersof Commerce and Industry(FICCI) and support fromIndia Trade PromotionOrganization (ITPO).

During the three-dayevent, Taiwan Excellence pavil-ion will prove to be a majorhighlight as it showcases arange of tech products thatdefine the innovation ofTaiwan.

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New Delhi: The second editionof Taiwan Expo 2019 beingorganised by Bureau of ForeignTrade (MOEA) and TaiwanExternal Trade DevelopmentCouncil (TAITRA) onThursday witnessed potentialhealthcare companies fromTaiwan looking for associationin Indian market. The Expowitnessed Taiwan-India MedicalCooperation Forum providingIndian companies an opportu-nity to learn about Taiwan’s cur-rent healthcare development, itsdiverse strength in the field ofmedical equipment, economic,trade etc. and the areas inwhich the two countries can co-operate in the future.

The “Taiwan HealthcarePavilion” themed as “MedicalScience and Technology” andfocuses on Taiwan’s high-qual-ity services, such as medicalservices, materials, biotech,and Smart Healthcare equipment. PNS

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Sebi on Thursday slappeda �2 lakh fine on IFCI

Financial Services for “lack-adaisical behaviour” as itfailed to comply with powerof attorney guidelines.

IFCI Financial Services isa depository participant ofNat iona l S ecur it i esDepositories Ltd and CentralDepositories Securities Ltd.

In 2010, the regulatorhad issued guidelines tostandardise the norms to befollowed by stock brokersand depository participantswhile obtaining power ofattorney (POA) from theirclients.

Accordingly, the stan-dardised POA was requiredto be implemented latest byMay 31, 2010 in case of newclients and September 1,2010 for existing clients, Sebisaid in its order.

However, pursuant toinspection conducted by theregulator in September 2014,Sebi observed that IFCI hadimplemented the circular forthe new clients but had notcompletely updated the POAfor existing clients.

As per the submission byIFCI, there were 1,651 exist-ing clients whose POA hadto be updated even after theregulator’s inspection teampointed out its findings tothe entity in 2015, Sebi said.

Even four years afterIFCI was intimated aboutnon-updation of POA, Sebisaid the entity is still seekingtime to implement the cir-cular.

The regulator noted thatthe entity has adopted “lack-adaisical behaviour” and itwas expected from the reg-istered market intermedi-aries to adhere to directionsissued by Sebi within stipu-lated timelines.

Therefore, it finds thatthere is a violation of theSebi circular by IFCI, theregulator said, and imposeda fine of �2 lakh on IFCIFinancial Services.

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Ajax were crownedDutch champions for

the 34th time onWednesday after theycruised to 4-1 win at DeGraafschap that completeda domestic double a weekafter their crushingChampions League exit atthe hands of TottenhamHotspur.

Goals from LasseSchoene, Nicolas Tagliaficoand Dusan Tadic, whobagged a second half-brace, saw Erik ten Hag'sside win their eighth leaguematch on the bounce andformerly win the title aftereffectively sealing the deal atthe weekend.

Ajax came into the finalmatch of the season threepoints clear of closest rivalsPSV Eindhoven with a 14-goalhigher goal difference after

they beat Utrecht 4-1 and thedefending champions lost 1-0at AZ Alkmaar on Sunday.

Those results made a firstdouble in 17 years — Ajax wonthe Dutch Cup on May 5 — anear-certainty, and in the endmade PSV's 3-1 win overHeracles irrelevant.

However the flamboy-ant Amsterdam outfit, whocaptured hearts as theirscintillating football tookthem to the brink of a firstChampions League final inmore than two decades,nonetheless turned on thestyle in their final gamebefore their stars are soldoff in the summer.

Midfielder Frenkie DeJong will leave forBarcelona in the summerfor an initial 75 millioneuros ($89 million), whilecentre-back Matthijs deLigt, who sent Juventus

packing with a bullet head-er in the quarter finals, couldfollow his teammate toCatalonia.

Also coach Franck DeBoer admits that forwardsHakim Ziyech and DavidNeres would also all be target-ed by Europe's biggest clubscome the end of the season.

��■ "7)�(

Bayern Munich coach NikoKovac has hinted that

departing veterans ArjenRobben and Franck Riberywill not be in the startingeleven for their f inalBundesliga appearance againstEintracht Frankfurt onSaturday.

Bayern need to avoiddefeat against Frankfurt if theyare to secure a seventh succes-sive Bundesliga title, and Kovacsuggested on Thursday thatpragmatism may come beforesentimentality when it comesto Robben and Ribery.

"As a coach you alwayshave to be a coach on the onehand and a human being onthe other, and they are notalways compatible," said Kovac.

At a press conference onTuesday, Robben had voicedhis hope of making one finalstart for Bayern at the AllianzArena, and joked that he wouldscore two goals if he played 90minutes.

"Of course Arjen wants toplay," said Kovac.

The Bayern coach said hehad already spoken to bothRobben and Ribery about theirroles on Saturday, but refusedto confirm whether they wouldbe in the starting line-up.

"I am going to leave you inthe dark on that one," he toldreporters.

Kovac confirmed thatJames Rodriguez would beunavailable against Frankfurt,and said Thiago and JoshuaKimmich hoped to return tofull fitness in time to play.

Goalkeeper Manuel Neuer,who has been out with a calfinjury since April, is alsoexpected to miss out.

Bayern hope to wrap up aleague and cup double in thenext two weeks, but their suc-cess has not stopped questionsabout Kovac's future.

Amid speculation he maybe fighting for his job, theBayern coach made an emo-tional plea for more empathyin football on Thursday.

"I have learned how diffi-cult it is to stay a normal per-son," he said of his first seasonat Bayern. "We have to learn tohave more empathy."

"If I slap you, then the painwill fade after a while, but itwill be worse for the soul," hetold reporters.

"We have to see the personin front of us and not just pilein all the time."

��@ Jack Marriott scoredtwice as he started and finisheda dramatic revival that sawDerby County beat LeedsUnited 4-2 on Wednesday tocomplete a 4-3 aggregate come-back win and reach the EnglishChampionship play-off final.

Former Chelsea andEngland midfielder FrankLampard is now one game awayfrom taking the Rams backinto the lucrative PremierLeague in his first season as amanager, with Aston Villa theiropponents at Wembley on May27.

Leeds took a 24th-minutelead on the night through StuartDallas after Kalvin Phillips' free-kick came back off the post.Derby though equalised on thenight just before half-time whensubstitute Marriott capitalisedon a mix-up between Leedsdefender Liam Cooper andgoalkeeper Kiko Casilla

moments after coming on.They draw level on aggre-

gate straight after the breakwhen Harry Wilson played inMason Mount, who cut insidefrom the left and beat Casilla.

Derby then went ahead inthe tie for the first time in the58th minute when Cooperneedlessly conceded a penaltyfollowing a pull on MasonBennett in the area, with Wilson

scoring from the spot.Derby's 3-2 aggregate lead

did not last long, however, withDallas scoring his second goal ofthe game when he struck a pre-cise shot into the far corner.

Derby's winner arrived inthe 85th minute when Marriottcharged through on goal anddinked the ball over Casilla justbefore the keeper could get tothe ball. AFP

��■ '<"1

Lazio lifted the Coppa Italiafor the seventh time on

Wednesday after late goalsfrom Sergej Milinkovic-Savicand Joaquin Correa guidedthem to a 2-0 final win overAtalanta on a night in Romedogged by fan violence.

Milinkovic-Savic's fineheader set Lazio on their waywith eight minutes left at theStadio Olimpico, seconds aftercoming on as a substitute,before Correa sealed victory inthe closing moments of thematch.

The victory books Lazio aticket to next season's EuropaLeague, much-needed forSimone Inzaghi's side as theyare eighth in Serie A, fourpoints off the European berthswith two games left to play.

"We really wanted thisCup," said Inzaghi.

His side's win was marredby clashes outside the stadiumbetween Lazio's hardcore"Ultras" supporters and policebefore the game.

Atalanta had eliminatedholders Juventus in the quarter-finals and been bidding to wintheir second Coppa Italia andtheir first major honour sincethey won the competition in1963.

For the side from Bergamo— who are still in the runningto qualify for the ChampionsLeague for the first time — itis their third defeat in thefinal after missing out in 1987and 1996.

�� Gian Piero Gasperini's side

head to Serie A champions Juve

on Sunday looking to keephold of fourth place, with ACMilan and Roma both threepoints back.

"It's a pity, but finals are likethat," said Gasperini. "Thedecisive moment of the matcharrived in the second half andwe lost on a corner kick.

"We now head to Sunday,because there is a place in thenext Champions League todefend. We'll overcome thisdisappointment, even if ourrun in the tournament was agreat experience."

Atalanta had arrived inRome on a 12-match unbeat-en run since the end ofFebruary. They had beatenLazio in both Serie A meetingsthis season.

But they could not find away past their solid opponentsand failed to take their chancesin a nervy game, with PapuGomez denied by ThomasStrakosha in the Lazio goalwithin the first minute.

Atalanta's top scorerDuvan Zapata and midfielderMarten De Roon also squan-dered two quickfire efforts on26 minutes, before Gomez hitthe post with 14 minutes left.

Seconds afterwardsMilinkovic-Savic made analmost immediate impact aftercoming on after a month outinjured to replace Luis Alberto,who had just missed a chancefor Lazio.

The Serb broke throughleaving Pierluigi Gollini pow-erless, and Correa finished offa counter-attack minutes laterto award Inzaghi his first majorhonour since winning the com-petition as a Lazio player in2009.

��■ *.'.�(

Experienced left-arm pacerMohammad Aamir was on

Thursday included in Pakistan'sWorld Cup squad after theirbowlers were taken to the clean-ers by England recently.

The thrashing by Englishbatsmen in a T20 Internationaland two ODIs has alarmed theselectors, who were initially notkeen on picking Aamir for theshowpiece owing to lack of form.

Though Aamir is suspectedto be suffering from chicken poxand is to have a medical exami-nation done in London, a reliablesource said that the team man-agement, including captainSarfaraz Ahmed and head coach

Mickey Arthur, expressed confi-dence in the bowler and allowedhim time to recover.

"The chief selector Inzamam-ul-Haq is also in agreement withthe team management but hewants to first be sure Aamir canbe fit by the time the World Cupstarts from May 30," the sourcesaid.

He said the team manage-ment and chief selector are nowawaiting the medical report ofAamir.

"If the cricket board confirmsthat Aamir can make a recoveryin two weeks time, the manage-

ment and chief selector will wanthim in the World Cup squad," thesource said.

The lacklustre performanceof the bowlers in the matchesagainst England forced the teammanagement to go back to Aamir,who was not part of the 15-mansquad named initially.

"They are also keeping aclose look at Asif Ali who hasscored two successive half-cen-turies in the ODIs and if he con-tinues his form he might well beincluded in the World Cup squadbut at whose cost this has to bedecided," he added.

��■ )15�612(

Former captain DilipVengsarkar feels trying out KL Rahul at No 4 is an option

India can explore in the WorldCup since he has the techniqueand temperament to succeed inEnglish conditions.

One of Indian cricket's bestchairmen of selectors, the 'Colonel'is confident that Virat Kohli'smen will have a smooth ride to thesemi-finals and can take it fromthere on.

The number four positionhas been a bone of contention afterAmbati Rayudu failed to make thecut despite being given an extend-ed run in the run up to the tour-nament.

"We have a settled openingpair in Shikhar (Dhawan) andRohit (Sharma). Virat Kohli is phe-nomenal at No 3. I feel that K LRahul could be an option at No 4.He has the technique and cancomplement the top three well. Ibelieve No 4 should be a special-ist batsman," Vengsarkar said.

Even though the pitches areexpected to be flat during theshowpiece, Vengsarkar, who him-self played three World Cups

(1979, 1983, 1987) with two inEngland, felt that Rahul's tech-nique provides him an advantage.

"Since he is a specialist open-er, in case of early wickets, hecould provide stability. Also in along tournament, if required hecan open the innings. I feel that heshould be a part of playing XI,"Vengsarkar said about Rahul, whofinished second in the IPL run-getter's list with 593.

The 63-year-old opined thatthe biggest advantage for India willbe their experience of playing a fullseries in the United Kingdom lastyear.

"In England, the weather canbe fickle and that can have aneffect on the performance.Adaptability will always be the key.But to Indian team's advantage,they played in England during thesame time last year. We have hadan exposure to those conditionsand that's good thing. We shouldtry and use it to our advantage,"said the member of the victorious1983 World Cup team.

The veteran of 116 Tests and129 ODIs is also not worriedabout Yuzvendra Chahal andKuldeep Yadav's dip in form dur-ing the Australia series.

"I am sure both Chahal andKuldeep must have worked ontheir game as to what went wrongagainst Australia. Once they getthere, they must carefully assessthe conditions and accordinglydevise the strategy," he said.

As far as the semi-final line-up is concerned, Vengsarkarnamed India, hosts England anddefending champions Australiaas the favourites to reach the lastfour stage.

"At this moment I can't predictabout the fourth team. Yes India,England and Australia have theteam to go all the way," he added.

��@ Australian firebrand NickKyrgios was disqualified from theItalian Open after an expletive-ladenrant on Thursday as defending cham-pion Rafael Nadal swept into the thirdround along with top seed NovakDjokovic and Roger Federer.

Kyrgios grabbed the headlineswhen he suffered a spectacular melt-down on Court Three againstNorwegian qualifier Casper Ruud.

The controversial 24-year-old,who had marked his presence inRome by criticising Djokovic andNadal in an interview on Wednesday,starting arguing with the umpire in thethird set.

World number 36 Kyrgios hadlevelled the match at one set all but wasgiven a game penalty early on in thethird set for swearing.

His response was to kick out at awater bottle before throwing a chaironto the court, packing his bag andthen storming off court, shouting I amfucking done''

Kyrgios was automatically dis-qualified with Ruud winning 6-3, 6-7 (5/7), 2-1 to advance to the thirdround against former US Open cham-pion Juan Martin del Potro.

Kyrgios had already been at thecentre of controversy duringWednesday's washout when he toldthe NCR Tennis Podcast that Djokovichad "a sick obsession with wanting to

be liked" and that the Serb's post-match celebration was "cringeworthy".

Nadal was described by theAustralian as "super-salty".

Meanwhile, Nadal crushedFrance's Jeremy Chardy 6-0, 6-1,with Federer, a four-time runner-up,easing past Portugal's Joao Sousa 6-4,6-3, and Djokovic beating CanadianDenis Shapovalov 6-1, 6-3.

All three are in action again laterin the day to make up time after play

was washed out on Wednesday.Nadal meets Georgian Nikoloz

Basilashvili, with Federer up againstCroatian Borna Coric, and Djokovicfacing Germany's PhilippKohlschreiber.

World number four DominicThiem slammed tournament organ-isers after he was dumped out 4-6, 6-4, 7-5 by Spain's Fernando Verdasco.

Japan's Kei Nishikori, the sixthseed, got past American Taylor Fritz6-2, 6-4 and next meets Jan-LennardStruff.

In the women's competition,world number one Naomi Osakafought back after losing her serve earlyto ease past Dominika Cibulkova 6-3, 6-3 against the 33rd-ranked Slovakwho she also beat last week in Madrid.

She was at risk of losing her worldnumber one ranking to Simona Halepbut the Romanian was knocked outby Czech teenager MarketaVondrousova losing 2-6, 7-5, 6-3having needed to win the tournamentto regain top spot she last held in mid-January.

Halep's defeat also guaranteesOsaka's top seed at the French Open.

Next up for the Japanese player onthe clay of the Foro Italico is Romania'sMihaela Buzarnescu.

Czech second seed Petra Kvitovaeased past Yulia Putintseva ofKazakhstan 6-0, 6-1. AFP

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Virat Kohli's limitedover deputy RohitSharma's MumbaiIndians topped thepoints table with 18points in 14 gamesand then went on towin the recordfourth trophy afterbeating arch-rivalsChennai in the final.

But Sharma also failed to perform as per his staturein this year's edition. The three-time IPL winningcaptain decided to open the innings but could onlymanage two fifties in 16 innings, that too came inthe last four games of the league round. However,his leadership skills were just out of the box onceagain and he made superb use of the resources avail-able, affecting the match result time and again.Going into the World Cup, his presence and advicewill surely help Virat.

��&��(16 Innings, 521 runs)

After being tradedfrom SunrisersHyderabad to hishometown team,Shikhar Dhawanleads the battingchart for the newlook Delhi Capitalswith 521 runs. Heplayed a vital role inleading Shreyas

Iyer-led Delhi to reach its first playoffs since 2012.The 33-year-old Delhi lad started from where helast left in 2018 (497 runs in 16 innings) andsmashed 51 runs against Chennai Super Kings inhis second innings in Delhi colors. And then afterscoring the match-winning 97* against Kolkata inaway time, he scored a hat-trick of half-centuriesagainst KXIP, Rajasthan Royals and RCB, all ofwhich came in the winning cause. His presence atthe top not only helped Delhi to get off to a goodstart but also his experience came handy in help-ing youngsters like Prithvi Shaw, Iyer and RishabhPant at the top.

&��(14 Innings, 593 runs)

Moving on frompoor disastrous Testform, supremely tal-ented KL Rahulonce again foundhis mojo back afterdonning KXIP jer-sey. The third high-est run scorer of2018 edition (659runs in 14 innings),

India's reserve opener for the World Cup, Rahulcompleted his 2019 campaign with 593 runs in 14matches, scoring six fifties and a 100 againstMumbai Indians which came in a losing tie. Withyet another tremendous show, the right-hander bats-man not only justified his selection in the WorldCup squad but also put forward a strong case fornumber 4 position in the Indian batting line up. Hiswide range of shorts and ability to clear boundarieswith ease makes him one of the highlighting fac-tor and going be the experience he has of interna-tional cricket, he is surely going to challenge VijayShankar for the starting XI spot, consideringShankar failed to make much of an impact.

��$��(12 Innings, 416 runs)

The biggest posi-tive for India fromthis edition ofIndian PremierLeague is the rav-ishing form of for-mer Indian skipperMahendra SinghDhoni. The three-time World Cupveteran is in great

touch this year and after winning Man of the Seriesaward against Australia in the three-match ODIseries in January. The 2.0 version of vintage Mahiis in full swing in this IPL too. Even after suffer-ing from back spam and fever because of whichhe missed out two games (both of which Chennailost), Dhoni single-handedly took Chennai SuperKings to the playoffs, this time not just by his pres-ence but also through his explosive batting in slogovers which made a big difference in the end.Often being criticized for not having fancy figuresin IPL, Dhoni twice improved his best individualfigures first by scoring 75* off 46 balls, 4 fours and4 sixes against Rajasthan Royals and then 84* off48 balls, 5 fours and 7 sixes against RoyalChallengers Bangalore. And during this process,he smashed Jaydev Unadkat for 28 againstRajasthan and Umesh Yadav for 24 against RCBin the final over of the innings, refreshing the tagof being the Best Finisher of the game. Also, hisaverage of 83.20 says a lot about his consistency.

&��5��(12 Innings, 162 runs)

Kedar Jadhav missed last year's edition due to aninjury in the very first game of the tournament and

this year even afterfeaturing in all the14 games, the bat-ting all-rounderfailed to leave anyimpact on the fieldscoring just 162runs before pullingout of the tourna-ment because ofanother injury

scare. Going by his performances in theInternational arena he is surely going to be the partof starting XI in the World Cup but theMaharashtrian batsman struggled to find runs inthe last competitive tournament before the Cricket'sbiggest showpiece.

��5� ��&��(14 Innings, 244 runs, 1 Wicket)

Vijay Shankar wasguilty of puttingIndia on the vergeof losing Nidahastrophy final in hisfirst India call-upagainst Bangladeshback in March 2018before DineshKarthik's last overheroics helped

India to win the game and trophy. But a year afterin his second chance against New Zealand hebrushed aside blues of past to not just erase badmemories of his first senior team spell but alsosecure World Cup berth in the expense of AmbatiRayudu. And coming into this IPL a lot was expect-ed out of Vijay Shankar to showcase his caliber butthe Tamil Nadu all-rounder performed even aftergetting opportunities to bat up higher the order.

��&��&(13 Innings, 253 runs)

Senior wicket-keeper batsmanDinesh Karthik'sselection in place ofyoung flamboyantRishabh Pant raiseda lot of questionswhen the squadwas announced onApril 14 withexperts agreeing

with the fact that Karthik's glove work proved deci-sive in his selection. But by the business end of thetournament, disappointing end of Knight Riderscampaign and Pant's match-winning inningsagainst Rajasthan Royals and Sunrisers Hyderabadhas left DK to prove his worth and silence criticswith an impactful performance in the World Cup.

��&�� (15 Innings, 402 runs 14 Wickets)

Returning back tothe field after a dis-appointing periodwhere he sufferedtemporarily sus-pension fromIndian setup forloose comments onwomen in a televi-sion reality showthat caused havoc

and injury that ruled him out of domestic seriesagainst Australia. Hardik Pandya made most of thisyear's Indian Premier League tournament byshowing what he brings to the Indian set up withhis presence in the line-up. The 25-year old

Baroda all-rounder hard hitting in the slog oversin almost every game and his crucial breakthroughsplayed a pivotal role in Mumbai's successful cam-paign this time. Also with the inclusion of Dhoni'strademark Helicopter shot and the charismatic useof batting crease to tackle Yorkers, the fast bowl-ing all-rounder updated his batting style and it looksmore compact than ever. What made him more spe-cial is his spectacular fielding efforts.

��5��5�(9 Innings, 106 runs, 15 Wickets)

Considering theweather in Englandduring summer thatcould offer somehelp for the spin-ners, RavindraJadeja booked hisplace as a thirdspinner in theIndian set up. Theleft-arm bowler had

a satisfactory campaign in 2019 where apart frombeing regular among wickets, the left-handedlower order batsman played some vital knocks atthe end of the innings. However there wasn't anyremarkable performance from him but given thatKedar Jadhav is suffering from an injury, the 2013Champions Trophy leading wicket-taker can makea place in the starting XI as a potential numberseven batsman.

&�� (9 Matches, 4 Wickets)

India's leading wicket-taker in the ODI format sincemaking his debut, Kuldeep Yadav had a forgetful IPLcampaign in 2019. The joint leading wicket-taker forKolkata Knight Riders in 2018 edition (17 wickets),

Yadav failed to getwickets this seasonand after getting just4 wickets in ninegames he eventuallylost his place evenfrom the startingeleven. India's firstchoice finger spin-ner, Kuldeep wasconsidered as India's

biggest weapon in the bowling front especially afterhis outstanding performance against England in 2018tour, where he took 9 wickets in three games. Eventhough his IPL outing affected his confidence, he isstill going to pose a serious threat to the overseas bats-man considering the fact that they still struggle tounderstand his deliveries and also the presence ofMahendra Singh Dhoni behind the wickets makeshis look a completely different bowler.

�Q��(14 Matches, 18 Wickets)

Unlike Kuldeep, hispartner in Indiansetup Chahal had animpressive IPL sea-son but because ofyet another disap-pointing show by hisside RoyalC h a l l e n g e r sBangalore, his per-formance didn't gain

enough spotlight. Playing under Virat Kohli, heproved his worth by being the regular wicket takerand time again helped RCB to get breakthroughswhenever the team demands one such. Being a smartbowler who understands the batsman brain, Chahal'svariation in length and quick comeback after beingsmashed for boundaries makes him an asset. Also,his partnership with Kuldeep in the XI, where bothof them compliments each other well will prove tobe a decisive factor going into the World Cup.

��&��(15 Matches, 13 Wickets)

Two times PurpleCap winner in IPL,B h u v n e s h w a rKumar also got thechance to leadS u n r i s e r sHyderabad this timein absence of regularskipper KaneWilliamson in quitea few matches. But

he didn't look that effective as he was some of the pre-vious campaigns. Considered as one of the most eco-nomical players and also someone who provide earlybreakthroughs, Bhuvi didn't look that impressive inthe slog overs and was taken into cleaners, thus leak-ing too many runs in the end. His economy rate of7.81 runs per overlooks impressive when it comes toany other T20 bowler's statistics but going by his stan-dard it was his second most expensive one. Also forthe second time only in the last six years, he failedto cross the 15 wickets barrier.

5��(16 Matches, 19 Wickets)

Probably the bestbowler in interna-tional cricket at themoment, JaspritBumrah time andagain showed whyhe is the worst night-mare for any bats-man in the world incurrent time. Hisperfect yorkers,

slower and bouncers are not just easy to understandbut also hard to tackle. The 25-year old Bumrah forthe fourth consecutive season crossed the 15 wick-et mark and what's more impressive this time was hisbest ever economy of 6.63 runs per over. But the high-lighting spell was his super over against SunrisersHyderabad in the league match at Wankhede. Hehelped Mumbai Indians to easily chase down the tar-get of 9 runs with three balls remaining. Also his smartbowling in the final game against Chennai earned himpraise from Mumbai Indians mentor and cricket leg-end Sachin Tendulkar, who referred him as the bestbowler in the world at this stage (death overs).

��(14 Matches, 19 Wickets)

Playing for new franchise Kings XI Punjab, Shami forthe first time featured in all the 14 games of IPL inhis seven years association with the cash-rich league.And the right arm medium pacer made the most ofit by picking 19 wickets, which is just two less than

his combined sixseason dismissals.He finished the cam-paign as the leadingwicket-taker ofKXIP and sixthoverall in the bowl-ing chart and van-ished the tag of notbeing able to deliverin the shortest for-

mat. After his strong comeback in India's Test andODI setup, his IPL performance has not just put for-ward a strong case for starting XI spot but also revamphis career.

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@aa SRT\d >R^ReR d]R^d 64 - Daily Pioneer

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