HOWRAH-DELHI POORVAEXP DERAILS, 15 INJURED Kanpur: Twelve coaches of theHowrah-New Delhi PoorvaExpress derailed near Kanpur inUttar Pradesh early on Saturday, injuring 15 people. The train wasgoing to New Delhi when theincident occurred near Roomarailway station — about 20 kmfrom here — in Kanpur Nagar district around 12.50 am.

EC NOTICE TO SIDHU FORPERSUADING MUSLIMSNew Delhi: The ElectionCommission on Saturday issued a showcause notice to Congressleader Navjot Singh Sidhu for his remarks wherein he askedMuslims to vote en bloc todefeat Prime Minister NarendraModi.

NYAY WON’T ENTAIL NEWTAXES, SAYS MANMOHANNew Delhi: Former PrimeMinister Manmohan Singh onSaturday said that Nyay schemeof the Congress will usher in anera of minimum incomeguarantee in India, end povertyand restart the economic enginewhich has “come to a stop”under the Narendra ModiGovernment. In a statement,Singh said that implementationof Nyay, which envisages toprovide `72,000 per family everyyear to the poorest 20 per centof population, would not entailany new tax on the middle class.

CAPSULE

USUALSUSPECTSSWAPAN DASGUPTA

T

here are many conflicting views of the role being played

by social media in 2019 general election. For many

politicians, and not necessarily those confined to a particular

age group, social media is a strange and unfamiliar beast

that distracts from the ‘real’ campaign-meeting and speaking

to people. Mercifully, this has now become a minority view.

Most political workers recognise that the sheer size of a Lok

Sabha constituency makes personal interaction and door-to-

door meetings with voters almost an impossible task.

Consequently, social media serves as an additional mode of

communication, particularly to voters who like to know what

a party or candidate stands for.

This election, partly as result of pressure from individuals

who have learnt too many needless lessons about ‘fake

news’ and alleged Russian involvement in the Brexit

referendum and the election of US President Donald Trump,

there is an organised attempt to regulate the use of social

media. Companies such as Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat

are also understandably anxious because governments tend

to demand that social media platforms take responsibility for

all that appears on their sites. Consequently, most sites have

set up their own censor boards to monitor content and, if

necessary, block accounts. Many social media activists have

had their accounts blocked as a result. Some of these strong

actions may be warranted but in a large number of cases,

Facebook pages and Twitter handles have been blocked on

account of their political partisanship.

This raises a more fundamental question. One of the

main functions of election campaigns is to expose voters to

different and conflicting perspectives so that they can take

informed decisions. Yet, informed decisions cannot really be

taken on the strength of sanitised party political broadcasts

on Doordarshan. Polemical exchanges may be funny or

offensive but they are

central to electoral

competition. Partisanship is

a key feature of

democracy, and certainly

during an election when

people are choosing their

futures. To censor these

exchanges — unless on

account of unacceptable

offensiveness — makes no

sense. There is, for

example, a professor of

media studies somewhere

in California who has made

it his business to intervene

in Indian political matters.

He is often funny, always

strongly biased against

Narendra Modi and the

BJP, and more often than is strictly necessary, falls back on

four letter words. Yet, I would be absolutely horrified if, for

some reason, Twitter suspended his account in the same

way as it has suspended the handle of Rishee Bagree, a

young man from Kolkata, who posts pro-Modi tweets.

This is a problem that the EC too has been confronted

with. The self-appointed high priests of electoral

decorousness have been urging the EC to come down hard

on all those who are apparently in violation of the Model

Code of Conduct (MCC), Mayawati was barred from

campaigning for 48 hours for urging the polarisation of

Muslim votes, Azam Khan for his personal attacks on

Jayaprada, Yogi Adityanath for his Ali-Bajrangbali remarks

and Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi for describing a political

opponent as Mocambo. The last action was particularly

ridiculous.

However, apart from Azam Khan’s tasteless remarks on

Jayaprada, I could not find fault with what Mayawati said.

Every second secularist pundit writing in the editorial pages

has been singing the virtues of Muslim consolidation against

Modi. Likewise, on social media at least, there have been

voices encouraging Hindu consolidation in favour of Modi.

Now, we may not like the consolidation of votes on the

strength of identity, but we can scarcely deny its existence

on the ground. By preventing the political players from

speaking about it openly, we are merely driving the

phenomenon underground. We aren’t going to stop identity

politics by this.

Likewise, I don’t see the purpose behind the EC action

against the biopic or the demand for a similar ban on the

Bengali film Baghini, said to be inspired on the life of

Mamata Banerjee. That these films are probably one-sided

in their depiction and hagiographic in nature are probably

undeniable. But so what? There is no misuse of Government

machinery and there is no compulsion to see the films.

Those who do so are doing so voluntarily and paying taxes

in the process. They may or may not get politically

influenced. But does that matter?

The purpose of the MCC is not to ban politics but to

differentiate the acceptable from the unacceptable. Among

those that count as unacceptable are the misuse of

Government machinery, the bribery of voters and

communities, the establishment of a level playing field in the

campaign, the prevention of harassment of citizens (such as

the post-10pm ban on the use of loudspeakers) and some

ordinary civility in the use of language. The intention is to

ensure political discourse is channelled within consensual

parameters.

Unfortunately, apart from the EC, there are the NGO-type

watchdogs who make it their business to be the guardians

of political morality. These are the very same people that

introduced NOTA to the ballot — an exercise in complete

futility since those preferring it have remained a minusculity.

It is their moral pressure to restrict the scope of politics that

has led to EC to impose bans on musical parodies, wedding

cards that called for a vote for Modi and even a book

release. Apart from anything else, these measures are an

assault on Constitutional freedoms. To my mind that is quite

absurd since the ostensible purpose of elections is

democratic choice and the fulfilment of the principle of

popular sovereignty. We need a sense of responsibility but

we don’t need the voters and candidates to be put on a

leash. The festival of democracy must be a festival not a

vipassana.

It is their moral pressure torestrict the scope of politics thathas led to EC to impose banson musical parodies, weddingcards that called for a vote forModi and even a book release.Apart from anything else, thesemeasures are an assault onConstitutional freedoms. Weneed a sense of responsibilitybut we don’t need the votersand candidates to be put on aleash. The festival of democracymust be a festival not avipassana

Festival of democracymust not be vipassana

PTI n NEW DELHI

Allegations of sexual harass-ment have cropped up

against Chief Justice of IndiaRanjan Gogoi prompting him toconvene an urgent extraordi-nary hearing on Saturday andassert that the charges by a for-mer apex court staffer were“unbelievable” and part of a con-spiracy by some “bigger force”to “deactivate” the CJI’s office.

As the allegations by theformer woman staffer who hadworked at Gogoi’s home officein Delhi and dating back toOctober stunned the judiciary,Gogoi said he would not stooptoo low even to deny them.

Anguished over the alle-gations, the CJI warned “thejudiciary of this country isunder very serious threat. Wewill not allow this to happen”.“I will sit on this chair and dis-charge my judicial functionswithout any fear or favour. Iwill decide the cases in theseven months (of his remain-ing tenure as the CJI). I will dothat,” he said.

At the hurriedly calledhearing in Court No 1 presidedby him after the allegationswere carried by some news por-tals based on the affidavit by thewoman, the apex court said itis leaving it to the “wisdom ofmedia” to show restraint and actresponsibly so that indepen-

dence of judiciary is not affect-ed. The court, however, decid-ed not to issue any gag order.

A three-judge specialBench headed by Gogoi wasconstituted after a sworn affi-davit by the woman, copies ofwhich were sent to the resi-dences of 22 apex court judges,became public. In her affidavit,the woman described two inci-dents of alleged molestation byGogoi days after he was

appointed CJI last October andher subsequent persecution.

The woman alleged thatshe was removed from serviceafter she rebuffed his “sexualadvances”. She claimed thather husband and brother-in-law, both of whom were headconstables, were suspended fora 2012 criminal case that hadbeen mutually resolved.

She was later also made toprostrate before Gogoi’s wife

and made to rub her nose ather feet in the Chief Justice’sresidence, she alleged in heraffidavit, adding that her dis-abled brother-in-law wasremoved from service at theSupreme Court.

There was no immediatereaction from the Governmentor any major political party.

The court held the hearingfor about 30 minutes duringwhich Gogoi said indepen-dence of judiciary was under“very serious threat” and“unscrupulous allegations” ofsexual harassment had beenlevelled against the CJI as some“bigger force” wanted to “deac-tivate” the office of the ChiefJustice. He did not elaborate onwho the “bigger force” was thathe was referring to. The CJIalso said the woman had acriminal record and two FIRswere lodged against her.

“How can she become aSupreme Court staff when anFIR was pending against her,”the CJI asked, adding that twocriminal cases were also pend-ing against her husband. Thecourt, which said the judicia-ry “cannot be made a scape-goat”, said the media should notpublish the woman’s complaintwithout verifying its truth.

The CJI said this issue hascropped up when a Benchheaded by him is scheduled tohear “many, many sensitive

cases” next week and this wasalso last few weeks of the LokSabha elections. The CJI didnot name any of the cases.Besides the CJI, the Benchalso comprising justices Arun

Mishra and Sanjiv Khanna,said the “bigger force” behindthe controversy has the poten-tial to shake the faith of publicin the judicial system.

Turn to Page 6

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE nNEW DELHI/LUCKNOW/KOLKATA

Aday after BSP chiefMayawati termed him a

“fake” OBC, Prime MinisterNarendra Modi on Saturday hitback saying the “farzi friend-ship” of the SP and the BSP willfall apart the day electionresults are announced.

Also, the PM took a dig atWest Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee saying the“speed-breaker Didi” has lostsleep after the first two phasesof polls. Modi held back-to-back rallies in West Bengal andUttar Pradesh ahead of thethird phase of polling, sched-uled for April 23.

“You all remember thefriendship that was struck dur-ing the Assembly polls in UttarPradesh that came to an endwith the announcement of theresults and turned into rivalry,”he said in Etah referring to the

understanding in 2017 betweenthe Congress and the SP.

“The farzi dosti of ‘bua’ and‘babua’ will also end the sameway,” Modi said referring toMayawati and her SP counter-part Akhilesh Yadav.

“The date of this friendshiphas also been fixed. After May23, Thursday, this ‘farzi dosti’(fake friendship) will fall apart,”he said. “That day ‘bua’ and‘babua’ will start part 2 of theirrivalry,” the PM said.

At the joint rally of theOpposition alliance inMainpuri on Friday, Mayawatihad said it was SP founderMulayam Singh Yadav who

was a real backward unlikeModi, who, she alleged, was a‘farzi’ or ‘naqli’ backward.

Turn to Page 6

STAFF REPORTER n NEW DELHI

Rohit Shekhar Tiwari didnot share a cordial rela-

tionship with his wife andwas apparently upset over hispolitical career not taking off,according to his motherUjjwala. Her statement camedays after the Delhi Police reg-istered a case of murder intothe death of Rohit, hours afterhis autopsy report stated thathe died of asphyxia due tostrangulation. The case hasbeen transferred to the crimebranch for investigation.

Police on Saturday ques-tioned Rohit’s wife Apoorva inthe mysterious death case.According to Ujjwala, 40-year-old Rohit, and she went toHaldwani to cast their vote onApril 11. They were supposedto return to Delhi on April 12,but changed their plan afterRohit, son Narain Dutt Tiwari,former Chief Minister of UttarPradesh and Uttarakhand, saidhe wanted to meet his people.

On April 15, the mother-son duo returned to Delhi.While Rohit went to his resi-dence in Defence Colony,Ujjwala went to Tilak Lane and

returned later. “When I cameback, I asked Apoorva (Rohit’swife) about him, she told me hewas tired, so he had dinner andwent to sleep,” said Ujjwala.

“I left for Tilak Lane ataround 11.30 pm that day andreturned around 2 pm the nextday but could not meet my son.I had severe pain in my thumb,so I immediately took anappointment at Max Hospital.Before leaving, I asked Apoorvaabout Rohit. She told me he wassleeping and I thought I should-n’t disturb him,” she said. “Itrusted Apoorva and did notquestion her as to why was Rohitsleeping till so late,” she said.Ujjwala said she reached MaxHospital around 4.30 pm andwent to the emergency ward.

Turn to Page 6

New Delhi: Wing CommanderAbhinandan Varthaman, whobecame the face of the tensemilitary confrontation betweenIndia and Pakistan, has beenshifted out of Srinagar andposted to a frontline air base inthe western sector, officialsources said on Saturday.

It is also learnt that the IAFis to recommend Varthaman’sname for Vir Chakra, the cov-eted wartime gallantry medal,which is the third highest afterthe Paramvir Chakra and theMahavir Chakra. The transfercame after the IAF assessed asecurity threat to WingCommander Varthaman’s lifefrom terror organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM) which hasbeen trying to attack Indian mil-

itary locations and personnel.Varthaman, who was cap-

tured by Pakistan on February27 during an aerial combatwith Indian Air Force, hadreturned to his squadron inSrinagar last month though hewas on a four-week sick leave.

Orders have been issuedfor his transfer from Srinagarto another base in the westernsector, sources said, terming the

transfer as “routine one”.The IAF pilot went on

leave in mid-March after secu-rity agencies completed a near-ly two-week debriefing follow-ing his return from Pakistan.

Sources said a medicalboard will review his fitness tohelp the IAF top brass decidewhether he can return to fight-er cockpit as desired by him.

Varthaman was captured

by the Pakistani Army onFebruary 27 after his MiG-21Bison jet was shot down in adogfight with Pakistani jetsduring aerial combat.

Before his jet was hit, hedowned an F-16 fighter ofPakistan. Varthaman wasreleased on the night of March1 by Pakistan. After he was cap-tured, Varthaman showedcourage and grace in handlingthe most difficult circumstancesfor which he was praised bypoliticians, strategic affairsexperts, ex-servicemen, celebri-ties and people in general.

Tensions between Indiaand Pakistan escalated afterIndian fighters bombed terrorgroup Jaish-e-Mohammed’sbiggest training camp nearBalakot, deep inside Pakistanon February 26.

Pakistan retaliated byattempting to target Indianmilitary installations the nextday. However, the IAF thwart-ed their plans.

Allegation is threat to judiciary: CJI

After sexual harassment charges by ex-SC staffer on Gogoi, SC asks media for self-restraint

New Delhi: A Delhi court onSaturday said it would hear onApril 24, a police plea to can-cel the bail of a former womanSupreme Court employee, whohas accused Chief Justice ofIndia Ranjan Gogoi of sexualmisconduct, in a cheating andcriminal intimidation case.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Manish Khuranalisted the matter forWednesday as the accusedwoman was not served withthe copy of the police’s plea.

The police sought cancel-lation of the bail granted to thewoman on March 12, after thecomplainant claimed that hewas being threatened by theformer Supreme Court stafferand her associates.

An FIR for the allegedoffences of cheating, criminal

intimidation and criminal con-spiracy was lodged against thewoman on March 3, after acomplaint was filed by NaveenKumar, a resident of Jhajjar inHaryana, at the Tilak MargPolice Station here.

Kumar has alleged thatthe former apex court employ-ee had defrauded him of`50,000, which he claimedshe took as part of a bribe,promising him a job at theSupreme Court.

He claimed that in June2017, he met the womanthrough a common friend,Mansha Ram, regarding hisemployment and she had toldhim she was a personal assis-tant of a judge in the SupremeCourt and her husband wasalso an officer.

Turn to Page 6

Delhi court to hear cops’plea to cancel bail ofcomplainant on April 24

Farzi dosti of bua, babua willfall apart after May 23: ModiDay after Maya’s

fake OBC jibe, PM

hits back at BSP

chief, SP supremo

Rohit’s spouse grilled for

murder, mother says son’s

ties with wife not cordial

New Delhi: The ElectionCommission on Saturdaydirected Eros Now to immedi-ately take down a web series onPrime Minister Narendra Modiand all related contents tillfurther orders.

Turn to Page 6

EC directs Eros

to stop streaming

Modi web series

IAF recommends

its hero pilot for

Vir Chakra award

Prime Minister Narendra Modi addresses an election campaign for Lok Sabhapolls in Etah on Saturday PTI

Abhinandan shifted out of Srinagar over Jaish threat

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PTI n BHOPAL

The Election Commission(EC) Saturday issued a

showcause notice to Malegaonblast accused and BJP candidatefrom Bhopal Pragya SinghThakur over her remark aboutHemant Karkare, theMaharashtra ATS chief whowas killed in the 26/11 terrorattack, an official said here.

Addressing BJP workershere Thursday night, Thakurhad claimed that Karkare diedduring the attack as she had"cursed" him for torturing herwhen he probed the blast caseas chief of the Anti-TerrorismSquad.

However, after her remarkskicked up a row, she tenderedan apology Friday.

"We took suo motu cogni-

sance of the statement andsought a report from the assis-tant returning officer (ARO) onthe matter. We got the reportthis morning and we haveissued notice, which is return-able within 24 hours, to theorganiser of the programmeand the person who made thestatement," District ElectionOfficer and Bhopal CollectorSudam Khade told PTI.

"We have also sent AROreport's copy to the EC," he said.

Asked about the point ofserving the notice to her as shehas already tendered apology,Khade said, "Let the reply come,then we will decide."

The organiser of theThursday's event had beengiven permission on certainconditions as the model code ofconduct was in force, he said.

EC serves showcausenotice to Pragya onKarkare remark

city 02LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

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PNS n LUCKNOW

Samajwadi Party on Saturdayannounced two more can-

didates for the Lok Sabha elec-tions in Uttar Pradesh.

The party has fieldedPandhari Yadav as its candidatefrom Phulpur Lok Sabha seatand Rajendra Singh Patel fromAllahabad, denying ticket to sit-ting party MP from Phulpur,Nagendra Singh Patel.

In the 2018 bypoll toPhulpur Lok Sabha

seat, SP candidateNagendra Patel, with the helpof Bahujan Samaj Party, haddefeated Bharatiya JanataParty’s Kaushlendra Patel.

Pandhari Yadav is a formerdistrict president of the SPwhile Rajendra Singh Patel

was block Pramukh ofBahadurpur in Allahabad.

The Phulpur Lok Sabhaseat is associated with India’sfirst Prime Minister JawaharlalNehru, who registered threesuccessive wins from the seat in1952, 57 and 62.

The SP also has an impres-sive record on the Phulpur seatfrom 1996 onwards and haswon it five times, including sit-ting MP Nagendra Singh Patel’svictory in the by-poll held inMarch, 2018.

In 2014 Lok Sabha elec-tions, Keshav Prasad Maurya ofthe BJP won from Phulpur butlater joined the Yogi Adityanathgovernment as Deputy ChiefMinister and had to vacate theseat after becoming member ofUP Legislative Council.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Bharatiya Janata Party can-didate from Budaun,

Sanghamitra Maurya, courtedcontroversy by violating theModel Code of Conduct byasking party workers to cast thevotes of those who do notturn up to exercise their fran-chise.

A video clip of the BJP can-didate surfaced on the socialmedia where she is seen tellingparty workers to ensure centper cent voting on April 23.

Sanghamitra Maurya is thedaughter of UP LabourMinister Swami PrasadMaurya.

“If required you can vote in

the name of voters who do notturn up. Such small wrongthings are acceptable but itshould be in small number.Every vote is crucial and henceif required, you can vote for themissing voters,” she is seen say-ing in the video.

Earlier, the BJP candidatehad triggered controversy bystressing that she was a bigger“gundi” than the criminalswho harass the local people.

Dr Sanghamitra Maurya ispitted against sitting SP MP andSamajwadi Party chief AkhileshYadav’s cousin DharmendraYadav.

Polling in Budaun will beheld in the third phase on April23.

Lucknow (PNS): All mem-bers of the Gandhi family arelikely to be in Amethi and RaeBareli on Monday where theywill campaign to retain theirprestigious seats.

Sources confirmed thatCongress president RahulGandhi, United ProgressiveAlliance chairperson SoniaGandhi and All-India CongressCommittee general secretaryand east UP in-charge PriyankaVadra Gandhi, will reach RaeBareli on Monday morning.While Rahul will proceed toAmethi, Sonia Gandhi andPriyanka will stay back in RaeBareli.

The sources further con-firmed that Sonia Gandhi andPriyanka would hold two sep-arate meetings in Rae Bareli andalso meet party workers andleaders in Bhuemau GuestHouse to assess the situation.

Sonia Gandhi also has plansto visit some villages and hold‘chaupals’ to get first handaccount of on-going work andconnect with the villagers toensure her victory.

Sonia Gandhi and Priyankawill also stay in Bhuemau GuestHouse on Monday night andcontinue campaigning onTuesday before the UPA chair-person flies back to New Delhi.

Amethi District CongressCommittee spokesman AnilSingh said that Rahul Gandhiwould hold roadshows in Tiloiand Salon Assembly segmentsof his parliamentary con-stituency on Monday.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Aday after sharing the stagewith old rival MulayamSingh Yadav, Bahujan Samaj

Party chief Mayawati came out indefence of Samajwadi Party leaderMohammad Azam Khan’s sexistremark against Bharatiya JanataParty candidate Jaya Prada inRampur Lok Sabha constituency onSaturday.

The Election Commission hadimposed gag order on Khan fol-lowing his derogatory commentsabout Jaya Prada.

“Chowkidar of BJP, Jaya Prada,attempted to spoil the poll atmos-phere. The people of Rampur mustensure her defeat in the election byrecord votes,” Mayawati said at a pollrally of SP-BSP-RLD alliance inRampur.

Making a fervent appeal forensuring the victory of SP candidateAzam Khan, the BSP chief said,“Please ensure the victory of AzamKhan by a record margin. Thealliance will fulfil the unfulfilleddreams of Ram Manohar Lohia,Chaudhary Charan Singh andKanshiram.’’

Playing the caste card to the hilt,Mayawati said, “The quota ofreserved seats for Scheduled Castes,Other Backward Classes andScheduled Tribes has remained

unfilled in government depart-ments and same is the case withreservations in promotion forSchedules Castes state employees.The exploitation and persecution ofSC, ST and OBCs has risen sharplyduring the (Narendra) Modi ruleand government works are beingoutsourced and given to private sec-tor without making provision forreservation for SC, ST and OBCs.’’

Dubbing the Congress and BJPas ‘two sides of the same coin’, theBSP chief said, “The Congress wasthrown out of power in 1989 LokSabha polls following the Boforsscandal in which kickbacks weretaken by Congress leaders and nowit is the turn of the BJP to be dis-lodged from power for corruptionin acquisition of Rafale fighter jetsfrom France.’’

Mayawati accused the BJP andCongress of “offering allurements”at election time and asked peoplenot to fall prey to them.

“Don’t be swayed by ‘hawa-hawai’ BJP manifesto full of allure-ments. The promise of ‘achhey din’by the BJP has proved to be as hol-low as the ones given by earlierCongress governments at theCentre,” Mayawati said.

“BJP’s Sabka Saath, Sabka Vikas’has been reduced to a ‘jumlebaazi’.Similar alluring promises are beingmade by the Congress also,” she

said.Attacking the Union govern-

ment on demonetisation andgoods and services tax (GST),Mayawati said that both the stepswere carried out in a hurry with-out any preparation. “This onlyresulted in heightened povertyand unemployment. Small andmedium traders are most unhap-py and the economy has been hitand corruption has peaked,” sheclaimed.

Addressing the rally, SP chiefAkhilesh Yadav claimed that the BJPwould not be able to get a single seatin the first and second phases of thepolling held on April 11 and 18 andalso in the third phase voting slat-ed for April 23. “We are confidentthat the BJP will not be able to open

its account in the first three phas-es of polling,” Yadav said.

“The country is passingthrough a very sensitive phase.Every section of society has beentroubled. Farmers and youths aresuffering. In a democracy, thosewho trouble people are taken to taskby the same people when the timecomes,” Akhilesh said.

Attacking the BJP for termingthe alliance as ‘mahamilavat’,Akhilesh said that it was going tobring about ‘mahaparivartan’ (bigchange).

“The BJP leaders say that a newcountry will be made but the allianceis saying that the country is going toget a new prime minister and thenonly a new country will be made,” hesaid.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Campaigning for the third phasepolls in 10 Lok Sabha constituen-

cies in Uttar Pradesh will end onSunday evening.

Polling in the third phase will beheld on April 23.

The third phase poll in Rohilkhandregion of UP will decide the fate ofUnion minister Santosh KumarGangwar (Bareilly), Samajwadi Partypatron Mulayam Singh Yadav(Mainpuri), actor-turned-politician andBJP candidate Jaya Prada and SP leaderMohammad Azam Khan (Rampur),BJP candidate Varun Gandhi (Pilibhit)and Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party(Lohia) chief Shivpal Singh Yadav(Firozabad).

Campaigning in this phase, the SP-BSP-RLD alliance sought vote forMulayam Singh Yadav in Mainpuri onFriday. Congress president RahulGandhi also addressed a meeting inBudaun in support of party candidateSalem Sherwani.

An interesting contest is being wit-nessed in Rampur where Jaya Prada ofBJP is pitted against bitter rival and SPcandidate Azam Khan. Recently, theElection Commission had bannedKhan from electioneering for 72 hoursfor making derogatory remark againstJaya.

Leading the poll campaign of theBJP, Prime Minister Narendra Modiaddressed meetings in Moradabad onApril 14 and at Etah and Bareilly onSaturday. BJP president Amit Shahalso addressed a couple of rallies in theconstituencies going to poll in thisphase, while Chief Minister YogiAdityanath criss-crossed the region,

addressing several rallies each dayalong with other senior leaders. UnionHome Minister Rajnath Singh alsocampaigned rigorously in this phase.

The 10 constituencies going topolls in the third phase are Moradabad,Rampur, Sambhal, Firozabad, Mainpuri,Etah, Budaun, Aonla, Bareilly andPilibhit.

Except for Budaun and Mainpuri,the rest of the eight seats of this phaseare held by the BJP. In most of the con-stituencies, there is a direct fightbetween the SP-BSP-RLD alliance andthe BJP but the presence of Congress insome constituencies has queered thepitch, giving an edge to the BJP. A strong1.76 crore voters — 95.56 lakh malesand 80.92 lakh females — are expect-ed to exercise their franchise in the thirdphase of polls at 20,116 polling boothsto decide the fates of 120 candidates inthe fray.

BYPOLL TO AGRA (NORTH)ASSEMBLY SEAT ON MAY 19

By-election to Agra (North) assem-bly seat in Uttar Pradesh will be heldalong with the seventh and last phaseof Lok Sabha polls scheduled on May19. This was announced by the ElectionCommission on Saturday. The seat fellvacant following the death of sitting BJPMLA Jagan Prasad Garg on April 10.

The Election Commission saidthat the notification for the assemblybypoll would be issued on April 22 whilethe last day for filing of nominationswould be April 29. The papers wouldbe scrutinised on April 30 and candi-dates could withdraw their papers onMay 2. Polling will be held on May 19and counting of votes will be taken upon May 23.

PNS n LUCKNOW

Several candidates whose nom-ination papers were rejected

during scrutiny for DhaurahraLok Sabha seat in Shahjahanpur,created a ruckus with one ofthem climbing a tree and threat-ening to commit suicide.

During scrutiny on Saturday,authorities rejected seven nom-ination papers, and this led to aprotest by the candidates insidethe office of the returning offi-cer. They raised slogans againstthe authorities for wronglyrejecting their papers.

Sarv Samaj Party candidateFadali, who was among thosewhose papers were rejected,climbed a tree near the collec-torate and threatened to end hislife by jumping down. Later,

District Magistrate ShailendraKumar Singh pacified the can-didate after which he climbeddown.

The candidates whosepapers were rejected were most-ly Independent and they allegedthat in order to avoid addition-al electronic voting machines(EVMs) in polls, the authoritieswere forced to keep the numberof candidates to 16. Each EVMhas a capacity to display 16 can-didates but if the numberincreases then the authoritieshave to attach additional EVM.

A total of 22 candidatesfiled nomination papers forDhaurahra constituency butafter rejection of seven papers, 15candidates are in the fray and thelast date for withdrawal of nom-ination is April 23.

PNS n LUCKNOW

The war of words betweenthe Congress and the SP-

BSP-RLD alliance is likely toescalate in the coming days inUttar Pradesh with Congresschief Rahul Gandhi andSamajwadi Party presidentAkhilesh Yadav starting to tar-get each other.

At an election meeting inBudaun on Wednesday, RahulGandhi had alleged that thealliance was indirectly support-ing the Bharatiya Janata Party inUttar Pradesh as neither thealliance partners had supportedthe Congress over Rafale issuenor were they saying a word overcorruption in the NarendraModi regime. Rahul alsocharged that the SP and BSPwith being scared of the BJP.

Though Bahujan Samaj

Party president Mayawati inher speeches criticised theCongress along with BJP in thesame voice, Akhilesh has hith-erto refrained from making crit-ical comments against the grandold party.

However, on Friday,Akhilesh termed Congress as“desh ki sabse badi dhokebajparty’ and was annoyed with theact of the party against his fam-ily.

“The Congress is no differ-ent from the BJP. It was duringCongress regime that the CBIprobe into disproportionateassets case was initiated againstNetaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav),my wife Dimple, and myself.Then the case was closed butnow again a Congress leader hasfiled a review petition in theSupreme Court (in the originaldisproportionate assets case).

We do not fear the CBI or theED,” Yadav said.

Sources in the SP said inLucknow on Saturday that theparty president was peeved overthe presence of VishwanathChaturvedi during the filing ofnominations of Congress can-didate Pramod Krishnam fromLucknow on Thursday.

Chaturvedi was the mainpetitioner in the CBI probe intodisproportionate asset (DA) caseagainst Mulayam, Akhilesh andDimple which was filed in 2005.He had filed the PIL in 2005 andrecently moved a petition inSupreme Court seeking reopen-ing of the DA case against theYadav family.

“Chaturvedi is one of theproposers of Congress candidateAcharya Pramod Krishnamfrom Lucknow seat and this hasirked the SP president,” the

sources said.Meanwhile, confusion over

Congress candidate from PatnaSahib (Bihar) Shatrughan Sinhacampaigning for his wife and SPcandidate from Lucknow,Poonam Sinha, has also lead toresentment among Congressleaders campaigning for PramodKrishnam in Lucknow.

Krishnam has already saidthat Sinha should perform his‘party dharma’ and should notcampaign against Congresswhen he himself is the Congresscandidate from Patna Sahib seatin Bihar

The presence of ShatrughanSinha with his wife, who id con-testing on SP ticket fromLucknow, during filing of nom-ination papers and on Friday forseeking vote, could lead to fur-ther acrimony between SP andCongress leaders.

Don’t fall prey to BJP, Cong

‘allurements’: Mayawati

Defends Azam Khan

War of words between Cong, alliance likely to escalate

Campaigning for third

phase polls ends today

Gandhi family to visit Rae Bareli,Amethi tomorrow

SP announces two

more candidates

Sanghamitra courts

fresh controversy

Candidates protest

rejection of papers

Sadhvi Pragya’s comments‘shameful’: BJP MLA

Gorakhpur (PTI): BJP MLA Radha Mohan Das Agarwal hascondemned his party’s Bhopal Lok Sabha seat candidate SadhviPragya Singh Thakur’s remarks on IPS officer Hemant Karkare, whowas killed in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks, saying the commentswere “shameful”.

Thakur, an accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast case, is underfire for claiming that Karkare died in the attack as she had “cursed”him for “torturing” her.

“Hemant Karkare fought terrorists without wearing a bullet-proof jacket. Calling his martyrdom a result of her curse is veryshameful and terming him an anti-national is an act of treason,”the Gorakhpur MLA said in a tweet. When contacted, he said, “Yes,I have tweeted that Pragya Thakur’s statement on HemantKarkare’s martyrdom is an act of treason and I am standing by it.Hemant Karkare is a martyr and was a great police officer.”

BSP president Mayawati with SP leader Azam Khan as SP president Akhilesh Yadav looks on,during an election rally for Lok Sabha polls in Rampur on Saturday PTI

city 03LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Atotal of 37 nominationpapers for Lucknow and13 for Mohanlalganj Lok

Sabha constituencies wererejected after being scrutinisedby the district administrationon Saturday.

Prominent among thosewhose papers for Lucknowwere rejected includedAbhinandan Pathak aliaChhota Modi, Ramesh KumarThukral from PragatisheelSamajwadi Party and SureshKumar Yodha, the Yogi looka-like. Among those whose nom-ination papers were acceptedincluded Union Home MinisterRajnath Singh (BJP), PoonamSinha (SP), Acharya PramodKrishnam (Congress) AmarKumar Raizada, GaneshChowdhary, Kapil MohanChowdhary, Girish NarainPandey, Dev Narain Singh,Mohammed Fahim, Ramesh,Ram Sagar Pal, Shamim Khan,Avinash Chandra Jain andJimidar Singh Yadav and Sanjay

Singh Rana. Others whosepapers were rejected includedSangeeta Singh, Kamran Asad,Baba Paramhans Das, RameshKumar Thukral, Qaiser Jahan,Mridul Kumar Srivastava,Shyam Lal Pujari, Kamla Devi,Servesh Kumar Gupta, VedPrakash, Sriram Sharma, NasirAli, Ram Sunder Bhushan,Rajvardhan Singh, LokeshSrivastava, Suresh Thakur, Ishu

Shukla, Dr Sheikh Siraj Baba,Brijendra Dutt Tripathi,Nigmendra Mishra, VikrantMohan Srivastava, BrijeshKumar Vikram, GulaabAhmad, Vijay Kumar Sivastava,Suresh Chandra Sharma, AmitSrivastava, Rajesh, AnubhavShukla, Rajni Tewari, AshishJohn, Ishtiyaq Ali, BabbanRajbhar, Mohammed AamirKhan, Santosh Kumar and

Asitya Kumar Dixit.Those whose nomination

papers for Mohanlalganj wererejected included RashmiRawat, Ramchet Gond, NeelamSaroj, Kuldeep, Sitaram,Chandrabhan, BL Dohre,Neeraj Siddharth, Raj Kumar,Rajendra Prasad, SantoshKumar Dharkar, FauzdaarPrasad and Rajesh Kumar.

Those whose nomination

papers were accepted includedKaushal Kishore (BJP), CLVerma (BSP-SP alliance), RKChowdhary (Congress),Jagdish Prasad Rawat, GaneshRawat, Radha Devi, Ram SagarPasi, Shatrohan Lal Rawat,Sushil Kumar, Jagdish Rawat,Prabhawati Devi and RameshKumar.

Chief development officerManish Bansal said the papers

were rejected primarilybecause of two reasons. “In tenpapers, the affidavits whichhad to be filled for providingsome information were notproperly filled and, hence theforms were rejected. The can-didates were told about thesame, yet they did not give thecomplete information. Twoforms were rejected becausethe candidates did not havesufficient number of pro-posers. “The recognised par-ties need to have four pro-posers while the unrecognisedparties ten proposers,” heexplained.

He said the candidateswhose forms had been reject-ed could not contest electionsbut they had an option tomove court. Regardingdeposits of the candidates, hesaid the amounts would bereturned only after the elec-tions. The deposit amount forthe general category candi-dates was Rs 25,000 whilethat for SC/ST candidates wasRs 12,500.

Lucknow (PNS): A youngfarmer (25) died at his house inGosainganj reportedly due toconsumption of illicit liquor onFriday. According to policespokesman AK Dwivedi, thedeceased, identified as Anil,returned home in a drunkenstate early Friday morning.“Anil returned home around 6am and went to sleep. As hewas under the influence ofalcohol, his family did not dis-turb him. However, when hedid not wake up till evening, hisfamily tried to wake him up. Ashe was unresponsive, he wasrushed to the communityhealth centre. He was referred

to Balrampur Hospital wherehe was declared brought dead,”Dwivedi said, adding that thebody had been sent for autop-sy and further investigationswere on.

The police drew flak fromvillagers following the death ofthe farmer. They said the policealways chose cosmetic exercis-es to curb the manufacturing ofcountrymade liquor in thelocality. “The victim may haveconsumed spurious liquorwhich claimed his life,” the vil-lagers alleged. The police saidprobe was on to ascertain if thefarmer died due to illicit liquorconsumption.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

After unearthing the racketissuing fake marksheets and

degrees of prominent universi-ties, including the LucknowUniversity, and arresting sixpersons, including a terminat-ed employee of LU, police aremulling to take the accused onremand to get to the bottom ofthe matter.

“We are focusing on thearrest of those whose names fig-ured in the racket before thecrackdown. The teams willinterrogate them to collect moreevidence. If anything remainsunknown even after this, we willtake them on remand,” ASP(trans-Gomti) Amit Kumarsaid. He said the arrests made inthe case was just the tip of theiceberg. “The racket was beingoperated in the city for a longtime and the gang members aresuspected to have sold degreesand marksheets to hundreds ofyouths during this period. Thegang consisted of miscreantswho also claimed to be lawyers,and the police are scrutinisingtheir degrees and certificatestoo,” Kumar said.

He said the gang membershad access to prominent uni-versities like Delhi University,Gorakhpur University andLucknow University. “The claimis based on the marksheets anddegrees which our team recov-ered during the raid. We areexamining the evidence,” he

added. The ASP said the arrest-ed miscreants had disclosedthe names of some employees ofdifferent universities, includingLU. “Before laying our hand onthe suspects, we are doing theground work and collectingevidence. We will make sure nota single innocent person isjailed,” he said.

After the racket wasunearthed, the issue hadbecome a hot subject. As thepolice had claimed that facilityseekers mostly used the degreesand marksheets in getting jobsin private companies, the policewere contacting some of thefirms to get more details. “Thearrested miscreants have alsodisclosed the names of someprivate companies. This may bea good lead to reach the bottomof the case,” police sources said.

They said the police werealso examining the assets thatthe mastermind namedKhirodhan had earned duringthe last decade. “The police sus-pect Khirodhan may be pos-sessing assets worth severalcrore earned through ill means,”the sources aid.

Others arrested were iden-tified as Nayab Husain ofThakurganj, Ravindra PratapSingh of Barabanki, DeewanSingh of Indira Nagar, DeepakTiwari of Madiaon andMadhurendra Pandey ofHasanganj. Nayab was workingas peon at a prominent depart-ment in Lucknow University.PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

In an embarrassment to thepolice, the motorcycle of a

constable deployed for thesecurity of former ChiefMinister Akhilesh Yadav wasstolen on Friday evening. Leftred-faced, the police sat on thecase and did not share detailswith mediapersons. A case wasregistered in this connectiononly on Saturday after thenews went viral on socialmedia.

According to policespokesman AK Dwivedi, con-stable Girijesh Kumar Yadavpresently lives in Indira Nagar(Sector 21). Before leaving forhis duty on Friday evening,Girijesh went to the market tobuy vegetables. As he returnedhome, he parked the bike out-side and went to keep the veg-etables inside. When he cameout after a while, he noticedthat the bike was missing. Thepolice spokesman said the con-stable took time in reportingthe matter and that was why

the case was registered onSaturday.

Denying media reports, hesaid the Ghazipur police didnot share information withhim. However, sources at theGhazipur police stationclaimed that they got the infor-mation noted at the campoffice of SSP immediately afterthe incident came to theirnotice on Friday night.

While the blame game wason, the police failed to start theinvestigation into the case tilllast reports came in. Dwivedisaid the police were working onthe case. When asked if theinvestigating team scanned theCCTV footages, he said he hadno information about that.

The sources said auto-lift-ing was one of the commonestmenaces in the locality. “Therehave been incidents when auto-lifters stole bikes from markets,shopping complexes and park-ing lots of various privateoffices in the locality. “Thepolice investigation totallydepends on scanning of CCTV

footage. There are some areaswhich have no CCTV cameraswhile those installed are dys-functional. This is the reasonwhy the police fail to get anyheadway in such cases,” thesources said.

ARRESTED Three persons were arrest-

ed for sexually assaultingminors in three separate inci-dents on Saturday. InBazaarkhala, police arrested alocal, identified as Amir, forraping a 17-year-old girl, whois the daughter his neighbour.The police had registered acase in this connection andalso booked Amir underPOCSO Act. The accused wasabsconding ever since.However, he ran out oh luckon Saturday and was arrestedfrom Mawaiyya bridge fol-lowing a tip-off.

Elsewhere, in Ashiyana,the police arrested oneShubham, who was accused ofkidnapping and raping a 14-year-old girl. Shubham was

named in the case on April 7and he was also booked underPOCSO Act. As the familyalleged police of using dilly-dallying tactics and petitionedtheir case to senior policeofficials, the probe was expe-dited and Shubham wasnabbed from AurangabadJageer railway crossing.

Meanwhile, in GomtiNagar, the police arrested oneof the accused named in therape case involving a 15-year-old girl on April 15. Theaccused, Lavkush Sharma ofGwari village, and his aidehave been booked for kidnap-ping and thrashing the victim.The family of the girl hadaccused Lavkush and anunidentified youth. Police saidLavkush was arrested fromnear Husadiya crossing fol-lowing a tip-off. However, thepolice have yet to find out theother accused.

“The police will interro-gate Lavkush and then con-duct raids at the hideouts ofhis aide,” a spokesman said.

Modi-Yogi lookalikes out of poll fray

Nomination papers of 36 Lucknow candidates rejected

Degree racket: More

skeletons to tumble

out of the closet

Abhinandan Pathak Suresh Kumar Yodha

Hooch claims life

of young farmer

Motorcycle of constable deployed for Akhilesh’s security stolen

SHAB-E-BARA’AT: REMEMBERING THE DEAD

People offering flowers and praying for peace to the departed souls at Karbala Malka Jahan (Aishbagh) on the occasion of Shab-e-Bara’at on Saturday Pioneer

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Aman stabbed his wife after she refusedto go back with him following an alter-

cation in Madiaon on Friday night. Thewoman, identified as Manju of a slum areain Keshavnagar (Madiaon) is married toPramod of Sitapur. A couple of days back,she had returned to her parents’ house fol-lowing a verbal spat with Pramod. OnFriday night, Pramod reached her houseand asked her parents to send her withhim. However, Manju’s parents toldPramod that it was totally up to Manju ifshe wanted to stay or go back. Pramodrepeatedly asked Manju to come along butshe refused, saying she would never goback to Sitapur. As the verbal spat was on,Pramod attacked Manju with a knife. AsManju started bleeding profusely and her

parents raised an alarm, Pramod fled thescene. Meanwhile, an armyman posted inthe Armed Forces Medical StoreDepartment (AFMSD) was found hang-ing at his house in Gosainganj on Saturdaymorning. Identified as Manoj Singh Visht(34) of Sardar Patel Nagar in Nemathaunder Gosainganj police station, he wasdeployed in the Lucknow unit of AFMSD.

Police spokesman AK Dwivedi saidManoj was found hanging from the ceil-ing with a bedsheet tied around his neck.“Manoj’s father saw him hanging andinformed the police. We do not knowwhether or not the room was bolted frominside,” Dwivedi said. He added that sub-inspector Samer Javed had been assignedthe probe. “The body has been sent forautopsy and further investigations into thecase are on,” the police spokesman said.

FIRE BREAKS OUT IN HOUSEA fire broke out at a house in Aliganj

(sector L) on Saturday afternoon. A policespokesman said the fire broke out due toshort-circuit. House owner ShivamRajpoot told mediapersons that he sawfumes emanating from the house wiringand soon the fire broke out. He alleged thatthe sub-power station officials did not helpwhen he requested them to stop the sup-ply of electricity to his house. “LESA offi-cials turned down the request and the fireengulfed the entire house,” he alleged. Thespokesman said that the police were ver-ifying the allegations levelled by the houseowner. “The police will also check if theLESA officials could help by discontinu-ing the power supply to the house,” he said.No casualty was reported in the mishapwhile the losses were being estimated.

Man stabs wife during verbal spat

city 04LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

Mystery shroudsdeath of BSPex-MLA’s broPIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Mystery shrouds the death of thebrother of former BSP MLA

from Bareilly Cantonment assemblyseat, who was brought dead at a localprivate hospital on Saturday morning.

The kin claimed that the victimcommitted suicide due to a personaldispute. The police registered a caseand sent the body for autopsy. It wasalso being probed whether it was sui-cide or murder. As per reports, for-mer BSP MLA from BareillyCantonment assembly seat, VirendraSingh Gangwar, brought his brotherDhanendra Singh Gangwar, who hadbullet wounds, to Medicity Hospitalon Saturday morning. The victim waspronounced dead upon arrival by thedoctors and the hospital managementinformed the police about it.

Station house officer of Baradaripolice station reached the spot andquestioned the family members. Theyrevealed that Dhanendra, who livedin Pawan Vihar Colony of Bareilly,was upset due to a family problem andhe shot himself on the temple with hisrifle on Saturday morning. The kinsaid that they reached the victim’sroom after hearing the gunshot andfound him profusely bleeding in apool of blood. Later they rushed himto the hospital where he was pro-nounced dead upon arrival. A casewas registered and further probewas on.

Firozabad: If the BJP ben-efits from the PragatishilSamajwadi Party (Lohia) con-testing the Lok Sabha polls, theCongress and the SamajwadiParty are to be responsible asthey shunned his offer of analliance, the party’s chief andAkhilesh Yadav’s estrangeduncle Shivpal Singh Yadavsaid.

Irrespective of the bon-homie between BSP supremoMayawati and Samajwadi Partypatron Mulayam Singh Yadav intheir Mainpuri rally on Friday,Yadav dismissed this gathband-han (grouping) as a bemel(incompatible) combinationwhich is not likely to makemuch impact on the ground.“Who will guarantee thatMayawati won’t switch sidesafter the results and go with theBJP if needed,” he asked.

In 2018, Shivpal had part-ed ways from the SamajwadiParty, founded by his elderbrother Mulayam Singh Yadav,after 26 years of association,

falling out with its presidentAkhilesh and cousin RamGopal Yadav, SP MP in RajyaSabha. He launched PragatishilSamajwadi Party (Lohia) andhas given tickets to 60 candi-dates in Uttar Pradesh and 51 inother states. The process ofgiving tickets is still on.

“I tried to stitch an alliancewith the SP and the Congress.But none of them accommodat-ed me in their scheme of things.Had the SP gone with me, wewould have contested all 80seats. Now they are contestingin less than half. Who will beresponsible if the BJP benefits,”he told PTI in an interview.

In Firozabad, Shivpal is incontest with Ram Gopal Yadav’sson Akshay, who is trying tosave his seat that has tradition-ally been a SP stronghold.Akshay Yadav is the SP-BSPalliance’s joint candidate.

Presence of his uncleShivpal, who is known as aground level organisation man,may make a dent in his core

votes giving an edge to the BJPwhich has fielded an ayurvedicdoctor Chandra Sen Jadaun,analysts said.

Sitting in his makeshiftoffice-cum-residence inSirsaganj here, Shivpal said healso approached the Congressand sought only two seats —Etawah and Firozabad — andhad offered to give tickets onseats where the grand old partycannot get candidates.

There were hectic meetingswith top Congress leadersincluding general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra, WestUP in-charge JyotiradityaScindia, UP Congress chief RajBabbar and others. They allagreed that it will be beneficialfor the Congress to have thisalliance, he claimed. “It did notmaterialise because Ram GopalYadav threatened the Congressthat in case it enters into analliance with my party, the SPwill give tickets to candidates inAmethi and Rae Bareli,” he fur-ther claimed. These two unsuc-

cessful attempts in stitching analliance may play on his mindin case he emerges as kingmak-er after the results are declaredon May 23.

“We are secular people. Wewill prefer secular people butonly if we are given properrespect and honour. If not, thencentral parliamentary panel willtake a call. We also want todefeat the BJP, that’s why wespoke to the SP and theCongress for an alliance in UPbut if we are given such treat-ment who will be responsible,”he said. Shivpal, who is meetingpeople in at least 20-25 villagesin his constituency, said he hadnever expected that he wouldsee a day when he had to leavethe party which he had nurturedwith his sweat and blood underthe leadership of his elder broth-er. He accused SP Rajya Sabhamember Ram Gopal Yadav ofcreating discord in the family by“constantly bad mouthing”about him before MulayamSingh Yadav. PTI

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

The Uttar Pradesh State EntranceExamination (UPSEE) conducted by Dr

Abdul Kalam Technical University (AKTU)for entrance to engineering institutes affil-iated to the technical university will be con-ducted on Sunday.

AKTU media spokesperson AshishMishra said the exam would be conductedat 138 centres in 21 cities, including 10 out-side the state such as Delhi, Chandigarh,Dehradun, Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai, Patna,Ranchi, Roorkee and Bengaluru. In UP, theexam will be held at Lucknow, Agra,Prayagraj, Bareilly, Moradabad, Ghaziabad,Sultanpur, Meerut, Kanpur, Jhansi, andVaranasi. Convenor Vineet Kansal said allthe arrangements had been completed for

the successful conduct of the exam andnodal officers appointed in all the cities. Hesaid the exam would be conducted in threeshifts — 9 am to 11 am, 11:30 to 2:30 pm,3 pm to 5:30 pm.

In Lucknow, there will be 14 centres,including Bora Institute of Management,Sherwood College of Management, andCentral Institute of Plastic and Engineeringamong others. Mishra said the coun-selling would take place in three steps andin the last phase when the seats were allot-ted, the option of institute sliding wouldalso be given apart from internal sliding.“We have also given the option of seat with-drawal after the confirmation in which thecounselling fee can be returned after sub-tracting the administrative charges,” headded.

HINDI BLOGGINGOn the completion of 16

years since its inception, Hindiblogging has come a long way.Even in Lucknow, there aremany people who are not justexpressing their views on blogspaces, but also winning inter-national awards for their skills.Director of Postal Services(Lucknow) Krishna KumarYadav, who is also a blogger,said that the credit of pioneer-ing Hindi blogs goes to a per-son called Alok, who firstposted his blog titled ‘Nau DoGyarah’ in 2003. “Alok is theone who used the word ‘chit-tha’ for a blog for the first time.Today, it has evolved as astrong platform for dialogue,information exchange, selfexpression and communica-tion,” he added.

MOCK DRILLA mock fire drill was con-

ducted by the staff at the localhead office of State Bank ofIndia on Saturday. The drillwas organised by the CircleSecurity department of thebank in coordination with fire

and police authorities. A firealarm was triggered at 4 pmand within five minutes, thestaff (around 500 persons)working in a 8-storey buildingwere were evacuated in anorderly manner. Fire tendersand officials reached the build-ing within four minutes aftergetting the information andtook control of the situation.They also explained to the staffthe precautions and actions tobe taken during such eventu-alities.

FAREWELLTechno Group of

Institutions (Faizabad Road)organised a farewell party forthe outgoing students onSaturday. The programme wasorganised for the final year stu-dents of Bachelor and PG stu-dents with the combinedefforts of all the juniors. Thegraduating students walkedthe ramp and on the stage, theywere asked to share their mem-orable experiences in the col-lege. There were scintillatingdance and singing perfor-mances.

EARTH DAYIn line with the ‘Clean

Metro, Green Metro’ initiative,Lucknow Metro RailCorporation will be celebrat-ing Earth Day with the chil-dren on Monday. A host ofactivities are lined up through-out the day at Hazratganj sta-tion. Children of variousschools and NGOs will beparticipating in different cul-tural programmes like ‘nukkadnatak’, group dance, rhythmicyoga, drawing competition etc.Earth Day celebrations willcommence in the morningwith a drawing competition forchildren.

SKILL TRAINING PROGRAMME

A skill training pro-gramme on ‘Micro-Enterprise– Tailoring’ was inauguratedby mayor Sanyukta Bhatia onSaturday. The programme isbeing implemented byAWOKE India with supportfrom NABARD. The 60-dayprogramme for women entailstailoring, stitching, sewing,cutting, and embroidery train-ing. The programme is aimedat helping women from under-privileged sections becomeself-reliant and economicallyindependent. “Nation buildingcan be achieved through self-employment and creatingemployment opportunitieswhich are possible throughskill building,” the mayor said.Over 100 women from GomtiNagar will be imparted skilltraining in tailoring. The meritorious trainees will begiven away certificates of par-ticipation and awards. Theywill also be assisted in seekingloans.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

An international meet ontobacco control was held at

the Respiratory Medicinedepartment of King George’sMedical University (KGMU)on Saturday. The keynotespeaker was Bangladesh MPand senior Supreme Courtlawyer Shameem HaiderPatwary.

Dr Surya Kant pointed outthat tobacco epidemic causesover 12 lakh deaths in thecountry every year and Indiacontinues to be the secondlargest producer and exporterof tobacco. “Use of tobacco,chewing and smoking, resultsin over 70% deaths caused by

NCDs. Cardiovascular diseasesare the biggest killers followedclosely by over 40 types of can-cer and other 25 life-threaten-ing diseases,” he said.

Dr Surya Kant said it wasa myth that tobacco earns rev-enue because “reality is thattobacco causes an economicloss of over Rs one lakh croreevery year. He said it was hightime South Asian nations likeIndia and Bangladesh unitedagainst tobacco and preventthe avoidable burden of dis-eases and untimely deaths.

Addressing KGMU facul-ty members, junior doctors, UPState Tobacco Control Cellofficials and UPVHA membersamong others, Patwary said

that tobacco products werealso rampant in Bangladeshdue to which the preventableburden of non-communicablediseases (NCDs) was wreakinghavoc on the development ofthe country.

“Heart disease and stroke,cancers, diabetes, chronic res-piratory diseases, high bloodpressure, etc are common ail-ments. Though preventable,these diseases have assumedepidemic proportions,” headded.

Patwary pointed out thatthe patient-doctor ratio inBangladesh was alarminglylow, with one doctor per 16,000people. “On an average, a doc-tor gets 26 seconds to attend to

a patient,” he added. Dr Tara Singh Bam, deputy

regional director (Asia Pacific)of International Union AgainstTuberculosis and Lung Disease(The Union) from Singapore,and Michel Legendre, associatecampaign director of CorporateAccountability (Boston), alsoaddressed the meet.

Dr Surya Kant joined theBangladesh MP and others ina plantation drive after themeet. UP State TobaccoControl Cell advisor SatishTripathi, UP Voluntary HealthAssociation officials andKGMU’s Respiratory Medicinedepartment faculty memberswere among those present onthe occasion.

PIONEER NEWS SERVICE n LUCKNOW

Fashion designer Masaba Gupta, who isthe daughter of actress Neena Gupta and

West Indies cricketer Vivian Richards, saidshe loves Lucknow’s chikankari and wouldlove to use the same in her designs.Masaba, who was in the city to attend aworkshop, said she wears a lot of chikankarigarments. The fashion designer said that sheunderstands the problems associated withthe weavers and craftsmen who do not getvalue for their work in the fast changingfashion world. “It’s an era of fast fashion andpeople do not want to spend much on ahand-made product because imitations areeasily available. But there is still a niche sec-tion ready to buy these products. My con-tribution to this area will be to make theyoungsters aware of these hand-madecrafts and products and tell them that theseare pieces of work which they can keep for-ever,” she added.

Talking about her work, Masaba saidit had been ten years since she launched herlabel and there had been several ups and

downs. “However, I never stopped and treat-ed my failures as learning curves. One mustcome out of the comfort zone and do whatone may not necessarily be good at. I amdoing a variety of things such as jewelleryand also game shows,” she said.

She admitted that she did not opt foracting because her mother discouraged herbecause of her unconventional looks. “I tookup designing and then launched my labelat the age of 18. For those who choose to

do internship with designers, the only thingI would like to tell them is that they shouldnot get influenced by their style so muchthat they lose on their originality,” she said.She said it was easier for the designers tolaunch their products now. “The designerscan launch the products on Instagram fromthe within their homes today, but they needto decide whether they want to launch thesame for a few celebrities or the masses,” sheadded. Masaba said it was important tounderstand that one should not operate outof fear while deciding career and thereshould be more of joy involved in theprocess. Asked whether she liked the factthat people talk more about her family back-ground than her work, she said she used tofeel bad about it earlier, but not any longer.“This is because my mother told me that Iwas being noticed for the same reason andit was okay,” she reasoned. She said she wasin Lucknow for the first time but would notget the time to explore it since she wasscheduled to leave early. “I have heard a lotabout the kebabs and would love to tastethem but some other time,” she added.

Lucknow (PNS): Malnutrition is amajor challenge in chronic kidney disease(CKD). The main cause of malnutrition isuremia-induced anorexia because of whichthe patients are not able to eat and hencedevelop chronic wasting.

This was stated by Dr Anita Saxena ofSGPGI’s Nephrology department at apress conference organised at a city hotelon Saturday. She said that the Society ofRenal Nutrition and Metabolism wascommitted to spreading awareness onprevention of malnutrition in people withCKD. “The society is an Asian chapter ofInternational Society of Renal Nutritionand Metabolism. The department ofNephrology, SGPGIMS, is organising twoscientific activities in succession — a

workshop on nutritional screening andassessment, and an advanced course inrenal nutrition and metabolism. Thecourse jointly fulfills the aim of theSociety of Renal Nutrition and Metabolismto educate physicians, nephrologists anddieticians to skillfully plan nutritionalintervention after proper assessment ofpatients’ nutritional status,” she said. Sheadded that the course deals with skills forevaluating patients for early detection ofmalnutrition and the delegates would beapprised of renal condition-specific nutri-tional management of patients. “Theadvance course will disseminate practiceof renal nutrition among physicians anddieticians and for this, we have facultiesfrom Nepal and pan-India,” she added.

SP, Congress shunned my alliance

offer for LS poll in UP: Shivpal

CITYBRIEFS

Use of tobacco results in over

70% deaths caused by NCDs

Mock fire drill at SBI local head office

A scene from play ‘Masoom Crime’, which was staged by Innovation for Change team at Urdu Academy on Saturday. Theplay was based on the murder of a 7-year-old student in a Gurugram school’s washroom

Love Lucknow’s chikankari: Masaba

UPSEE to be conducted today

‘Malnutrition major challenge in CKD’

City Montessori School organised a grand ‘Western Classical Music Concert’ at the diamond jubilee celebration on thecompletion of 60 years of its inception wherein 168 music artistes of 17 nations and 11 Indian states presented wonderfullycoordinated music, keeping the Lucknowites into rapt attention. Earlier, UP Assembly Speaker Hriday Narayan Dikshit formallyinaugurated the concert at Gomti Nagar Campus II auditorium.

Police checking a car during a checking drive in view of the model code of conduct, in Hazratganj on Saturday Pioneer

landmark 05LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

RAKESH K SINGH n NEW DELHI

The Union Home Ministryhas allowed risk and hard-

ship allowance to non-fieldunits of CRPF in Jammu &Kashmir and Naxal-affectedStates after revising the earlierguidelines which provided forsuch allowances exclusively tothe personnel deployed in thefield units and not those locat-ed in a district headquarter.

The move is expected topositively impact thousands ofthe CRPF personnel as theparamilitary has deploymentover one lakh men in Jammu& Kashmir and Naxal-affectedareas.

“It is clarified that since thenew classification of field areashas been made on geographi-cal basis for drawal of RHA forall CRPF offices situated in aparticular classified field area,hence Risk and HardshipAllowance is applicable to allthe officers and personnel post-ed in the same classified area,”reads an internal circular issuedon April 16.

“…approval is herebyaccorded to draw RHA to allOfficers/personnel to drawRHA in the areas classified videMHA OM (office memo) dated22/2/2019..while issuing sanc-

tion for RH Allowance, thecomplete postal address of theoffice including Block , subdivision, tehsil and districtshall be mentioned.

These allowances areapplicable wef 22/2/2019,” itfurther said.

A committee was consti-tuted under the chairmanshipof Union Home Secretary toreview the existing classifica-

tion of field areas in respect ofJammu & Kashmir and LeftWing Extremism affected dis-tricts where troops aredeployed for anti-Naxal oper-ations.

On the basis of report ofthe Committee, the UnionHome Ministry issued onFebruary 22 thi year conveyedsanction to the CRPF to drawrisk and hardship allowance

according to field areas classi-fied in a series of annexures tothe order.

After the order from theHome Ministry, a number ofreferences were received at theCRPF headquarters here fromvarious CRPF offices fromJammu & Kashmir and Naxal-hit States asking for permissionto allow them the allowanceaccording to the new classifi-

cation of field areas as clearedby the Home Ministry inFebruary.

Following this, a clarifica-tion from the Financial Advisorwas taken before the paramil-itary allowed the allowance inthe entire terror or Nazalism hit districts of Jammu& Kashmir besides ultra-Leftinsurgency affected areas, anofficial said.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Chief Justice of India RanjanGogoi, who held an extra-

ordinary hearing in theSupreme Court on Saturdayover allegations of sexualharassment against him, cited“criminal record” of the accuserduring the proceedings.

The CJI, who along withJustices Arun Mishra andSanjiv Khanna assembled tohear the matter which wasdescribed as of “great publicimportance touching upon theindependence of judiciary”,said that the woman, a formerapex court employee, had acriminal record and two FIRswere lodged against her.

In a letter addressed to 22other apex court judges, thewoman had said that she wasa junior court assistant in theapex court. She said she hadjoined the service on May 1,2014 and her service was ter-

minated on December 21,2018. During the hearing,Justice Gogoi said when shewas employed with the apexcourt, an FIR was pendingagainst her.

“How can she become aSupreme Court staff when anFIR was pending against her?”

the CJI said, adding that twocriminal cases were also pend-ing against her husband.

A third FIR was registeredagainst her following which shewas arrested, he said, addingthat after getting bail, shethreatened the complainant ofthe third case with dire conse-

quences. He said the womanwas in jail for four days becauseof the criminal cases lodgedagainst her and she was alsowarned by the police a coupleof times to maintain goodbehaviour.

The CJI said that in thethird case, the police has movedthe lower court seeking can-cellation of the bail granted toher and the matter was listedfor hearing in the Patiala Housedistrict court today itself.

Later in the day, a trialcourt said that it would hear onApril 24 the plea filed by policeseeking cancellation of the bailgranted to the former womanSC employee in a cheating andcriminal intimidation case.

Chief MetropolitanMagistrate Manish Khuranalisted the matter for Wednesdayas the accused woman wasnot served with the copy of thepolice’s plea.

The police sought cancel-

lation of the bail granted to thewoman on March 12, after thecomplainant claimed that hewas being threatened by theformer Supreme Court stafferand her associates.

An FIR for the allegedoffences of cheating, criminalintimidation and criminal con-spiracy was lodged against thewoman on March 3, after acomplaint was filed by NaveenKumar, a resident of Jhajjar inHaryana, at the Tilak MargPolice Station here.

Kumar has alleged that theformer apex court employeehad defrauded him of ̀ 50,000,which he claimed she took aspart of a bribe, promising hima job at the Supreme Court.

The apex court took suomotu (on its own) note ofreports carried by four newsportals on allegations of sexu-al misconduct levelled by theformer apex court womanemployee against the CJI.

PNS n NEW DELHI

Questions on Congress pres-ident Rahul Gandhi’s citi-

zenship and educational qual-ifications resurfaced onSaturday prompting theAmethi Returning Officer todefer the scrutiny of his nom-ination papers from the seat tillApril 22, giving the BJP a han-dle to hit out at him as it askedhim to come clean on theissue.

An independent candidatefighting from Amethi hasraised doubts over Rahul’sIndian citizenship, leveled alle-gations of non-disclosure ofassets and properties of the UKcompany whose documents

show him as a British citizenand non-matching of docu-ments related to his educationalqualifications. The issues hadearlier too cropped up and theBJP has had targeted him thenalso. Citing the complaint filedwith returning officer ofAmethi against Congress pres-ident, the BJP also raised ques-tions on Rahul’s citizenshipand educational qualification,and asked him to come cleanon the matter. The returningofficer (RO) has fixed Mondayas the next date of hearing onthe matter.

BJP spokesperson GVLNarasimha Rao told reportersit was “stunning” that Rahul’slawyer sought time to reply to

the objections. “These are serious allega-

tions. Is Rahul Gandhi anIndian citizen or not? Did heever become a British citizen?He should come out with thereal story,” he said.

Election Commissionsources said the returning offi-cer is the final authority onsuch a matter, but he cannotcheck the veracity of whateveris written on an election affi-davit.

“If someone approachesan RO raising objections, hemust hear the affected party. Ifanyone has any objection towhatever is recorded in anaffidavit, the person shouldapproach court. The EC has no

role in any objection made toelection affidavit,” they said.

Rao claimed that a Britishcompany, in which Rahul hadsaid in 2004 that he madeinvestment, in its submission tothe authorities there stated thatRahul was a British citizen.

Under Indian law, oneceases to be a citizen of thecountry if he gets citizenship ofany country, he said and askedthe Congress president toanswer the questions raised inthe complaint. If the Britishcompany made a false state-ment, then did Rahul actagainst it, he asked.

Referring to the complaint,the BJP spokesperson saidthere are “discrepancies and

attempts to suppress facts” inRahul’s affidavits filed duringdifferent elections from 2004 to2014.

The Congress chief hadsaid that he did M Phil indevelopment economics fromCambridge University, but laterclaimed it was in developmentstudies, Rao alleged.

The BJP spokesman said

inquiries show that one RaulVincy and not Rahul Gandhigot the degree in that particu-lar year.

“We will like to know ifRahul Gandhi goes by multiplenames in different countries,”Rao said. He also wondered ifthe Gandhi scion’s qualificationwas like Congress manifestoesthat change every five years.

BJP asks Rahul to come cleanon his citizenship, qualification

PNS n NEW DELHI

Attacking what he called“present generation of

dynast” in Congress, UnionFinance Minister Arun Jaitleyon Saturday claimed that it hasbecome a liability for theCongress party and hopedthat the “aspirational India”would find it increasingly dif-ficult to accept “dynasties”.

“If the Congress’s dynasthas only an ability to deliver 44seats or 60 seats in Parliament,what then is the incentive forconventional Congressmen tobear humiliation of subjectingthemselves to a dynast?Ultimately, in dynastic partiesone has to accept politicalslavery,” Jaitley said in a blogtitled, ‘Will 2019 Witness theDynasty as a Liability on theCongress Party?’

The grand old party is ledby Rahul Gandhi , grandson ofIndira and son of Rajiv, and isassisted by his sister PriyankaVadra.

Jaitley said the two PrimeMinisters that BJP gave to thenation — Atal Bihari Vajpayeeand Narendra Modi — were bya mile the “tallest politicians oftheir generation”, adding thatthis could happen only inmerit-based parties and notdynastic ones.

“A relevant question withthis changing socio-econom-ic profile of India is — Aredynasties an asset for a partyor are they a liability?Unquestionably, the presentgeneration of dynast hasbecome a liability rather thanan asset for the CongressParty,” he said.

Jaitley further said, “Is

history going to witness some-thing wholly unprecedented?Are we going to witness therejection of caste based anddynastic parties? And willaspirational India make aharsh judgement on electing amerit based leadership? Thismay well be the case.”

Referring to other dynas-tic parties, Jaitley said theIndian National Lok Dal(INLD)has splintered, whilethe Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP)got zero in the Lok Sabha elec-tions in 2014 and 19 seats inthe assembly elections.

The Samajwadi Partycould only retain seats for itsfamily members in the 2014elections, while the RJD wasdown to two seats, he noted.

Commenting on the firsttwo phases of polling for thegeneral elections, Jaitley saidthe momentum was clearlywith the BJP and PrimeMinister Modi.

“In terms of nationalleadership contest for a PrimeMinisterial election, it isalmost becoming a one horserace. There is nobody elsemeasuring up to PrimeMinister Modi’s level of capac-ity and acceptability,” he soughtto say.

Present generation ofdynast has becomeliability for Cong: Jaitley

PNS n NEW DELHI

Cracking the whip, theElection Commission on

Saturday ordered the transfer ofthe Malda police chief in WestBengal, just days ahead of theApril 23 Lok Sabha polls in thedistrict.

The Commission askedthe state government to shuntout Arnab Ghosh as SP, Malda,and replace him with AjoyPrasad, who is heading a statearmed police battalion.

The EC also made it clearto the state government thatGhosh should not be put onelection duty.

Malda goes to polls onApril 23 in phase three of LokSabha elections.

Recently, when the pollwatchdog had transferred somesenior police officials, stateChief Minister MamataBanerjee had accused it ofworking as a “tool” of the BJP-led government at the Centre.

Rejecting the allegation,the EC had said it was wellwithin its rights to transfer offi-cials during election period.

Meanwhile, the nodal elec-tion officer of Nadia distrci,Arnab Roy, who has been miss-ing Thursday, continued to betraceless.

EC orders transferof Malda policechief Arnab Ghosh PNS n NEW DELHI

Former Union Minister andCongress leader from

Kerala S Krishna Kumar onSaturday joined the BJP sayingthat he wanted to work tostrengthen Prime MinisterNarendra Modi’s leadership.

The 80-year-old leader wasinducted into the party by BJPleader Anil Baluni andShahnawaz Hussain at theparty headquarters here.

Kumar said Modi has beenworking to develop India andhe should continue to lead thecountry.

He has been elected to theLok Sabha three times during80s and 90s, and was also aminister in the then CongressGovernments at the Centre.

Ex-Union Min,

Cong leader

joins BJP

BJP national spokesperson Anil Baluni and party leader Shahnawaz Hussain welcomes the former Congress Minister SKrishna Kumar as he joins BJP ahead of the third phase of Lok Sabha elections in New Delhi on Saturday PTI

CJI cites ‘criminal record’ of woman

PTI n NEW DELHI

The Bar Council of IndiaSaturday condemned the

“false and cooked-up” sexualharassment allegations againstChief Justice of India RanjanGogoi and said the entire barwas standing with the CJI, andagainst this “attempt to malignthe institution”.

“These are all false andcooked-up allegations and wecondemn these kinds of acts.These kind of allegations andactions should not be encour-aged. This is an attempt tomalign the institution. Entirebar is standing in solidaritywith the Chief Justice of India,”Manan Kumar Mishra, BCIchairperson, told PTI.

He said an emergencymeeting of the top bar bodywould be convened on Sunday

and a resolution be passed inthis regard.

“We will pass the resolu-tion and then try to meet theCJI to make him aware of the(BCI’s) decision,” Mishra said.

The Supreme Court BarAssociation (SCBA) presidentand senior advocate RakeshKhanna, who was present dur-ing the extraordinary hearingin the matter on Saturday,however, refused to comment.

“We are not part of thecase...There is no lis (litigation)before the court. I am not giv-ing any interview (on the con-troversy). Thank you,” he said.

However, former SCBApresident and senior advocateVikas Singh said the propercourse would be to have an in-house inquiry by some seniorSupreme Court judges toauthoritatively find out thetruth “this way or that way” ina time-bound manner.

“If it is a false allegationthen this definitely is a threatto independence of judiciary,but if it is true then it is alsovery serious,” he said.

“There should be an in-house inquiry by some seniorSupreme Court judges to findout authoritatively this way orthat way in a time-bound man-ner,” Singh told PTI.

Bar bodies condemn ‘cookedup’ allegations against CJI

PNS n NEW DELHI

The National InvestigationAgency (NIA) on Saturday

arrested Mohammad Gufranfrom Amroha in Uttar Pradeshin connection with the ISISconspiracy case relating to a sis-nister plan to target Delhi-NCRand Uttar Pradesh. Gufran isthe 13th accused to have beenarrested in the case. Duringinvestigation, role of saidaccused person had surfaced asone of the key conspirators inplanning to carry out terroristattacks in Delhi NCR and UP.

“Arrested accusedMohammad Gufran wasinspired by ideology of ISISwhich is a proscribed organi-zation under UAPA (UnlawfulActivities (Prevention) Act)and formed a pro-ISIS modulenamely Harkat Ul Harb-e-Islam with the help of accusedpersons arrested earlier to wagewar against Government ofIndia,” NIA spokesperson said.

Investigation revealed thathe was instrumental in pro-curement of arms and ammu-nition and also explosives tocarry out terrorist attacks inDelhi NCR and UP, the NIA

spokesperson further said.Twelve accused persons

have earlier been arrested in thecase.

The case relates to a groupof pro-ISIS terrorists whoformed a terrorist gang whichwas engaged in acts prepara-tory to commission of terrorattacks with a view to wage waragainst the Government ofIndia.

“The group was found tobe inspired by ideology of ISISand was conspiring and prepar-ing to target places of impor-tance in and around NationalCapital Territory of Delhi. It

was gathered that Mufti Mohd.Suhail alias Hazrath, resident ofJafrabad, Seelampur, Delhi,was the Amir of pro-IS mod-ule who mobilized funds andprocured weapons, ammuni-tion and explosive materials toprepare IEDs etc with his otherassociates, the spokespersonadded.

Gufran will be producedbefore the designated NIACourt, Patiala House, NewDelhi on Sunday.

Meanwhile, (the NIA onSaturday carried out searches atthree locations in Hyderabadand Wardha in another ISIS-related case known as AbuDhabi Module case

During the searches con-ducted in this case, a numberof digital devices including 13mobile phones, 11 SIM cards,onr iPad, two laptops, oneexternal hard disk, six pen dri-ves, six SD Cards and threeWalkie Talkie Sets (Kenwoodbesides a number os suspiciousdocuments have been seizedfrom the houses of the suspects.

“Questioning of the foursuspects is going on,” thespokesperson said without anelaboration.

NIA arrests 13th accusedin Delhi ISIS module case

Ex-SCBA president andsenior advocate VikasSingh said the proper

course would be to havean in-house inquiry by

some senior SC judges toauthoritatively find out the

truth “this way or thatway” in a time-bound

manner

Amethi candidate challenges Rahul’s affidavit

Twelve accused personshave earlier been

arrested in the case.The case relates to a

group of pro-ISISterrorists who formed aterrorist gang which was

engaged in actspreparatory to

commission of terrorattacks with a view towage war against theGovernment of India

Risk, hardship allowance for ‘field’ CRPF troopers

nation 06LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

KUMAR CHELLAPPAN n KOCHI

Loud speakers all over Keralawill fall silent by 4.30 pm on

Sunday as a prelude to thepolling to elect the 20 LokSabha members from the Stateon Tuesday. Saturday sawPriyanka Vadra, the AICCGeneral Secretary, campaign-ing at Wayanadu for her broth-er Rahul Gandhi who is theCongress candidate from theconstituency.

Kerala which has been fac-ing all past elections as a con-test between the Congress-ledUnited Democratic Front andthe CPI-M led Left DemocraticFront is witnessing a triangu-lar fight this time with the BJPled National DemocraticAlliance joining the fray instyle. While in the past elec-tions, the Hindutwa party co-ntested and finished as also ran,it is not the same this time.

Rahul Gandhi, theCongress President himselfdeclared at Wayanadu that thiselection was between his partyand the BJP which took thesteam out of the CPI-M leaders.Barring the two Muslim-dom-inated constituencies ofMalappuram and Ponnani(which are the strongholds ofMuslim League) , the NDAcandidates are giving a scare toboth the Fronts.

There is a discernible feel-ing all over the State that the

BJP may end up winning oneor two seats, according to PRajan, Kerala’s senior mostpolitical journalist and who hasbeen associated with all thegeneral elections since 1952.“What I see is a pointer towardsBJP victory in one or two LokSabha constituencies . TheSabarimala agitation hasbrought the Hindus together toa certain extent. Even if they donot win any seats, the BJP islikely to end up the race withat least 20 per cent popularvotes,” Rajan told The Pioneer.

The election rally addressedby Prime Minister NarendraModi could be the game chang-er which BJP was waiting for. TPSrinivasan, a former diplomatand a known-Modi critic madean appearance on the state andasked the people to electKummanam Rajasekharan, for-mer Governor of Mizoram,who is the BJP candidate.Taking into account the poorcampaign of C Divakaran, theLDF candidate and the resent-ment towards Sashi Tharoor, theCongress party nominee,chances are that Rajasekharanmay touch the finishing lineahead of others.

Another BJP candidatewho has created a sensation isK Surendran who is contestingfrom Pathanamthitta, home tothe shrine of Sabarimala . If thepublic response to Surendran’scampaign is any indication,

chances are that the 2019 elec-tion may be a turning point inKerala’s political history. But theCPI-M is known for transfer-ring its share of vote to theCongress in the eventuality ofthe Hindutwa party putting upa brave fight. “I don’t think itmay work this time because theHindus in the State are upsetwith the CPI-M for theSabarimala issue. The Marxistsare under the impression thatthey could consolidate thepower by pampering to theminorities. That phase of pol-itics is coming to an end inKerala,” said Rajan.

Tuesday will see the peopleof Kerala deciding the fate ofUnion Minister AlphonseKannanthanam (BJP), formerunion minister PC Thomas(NDA), Suresh Gopi (BJP),Innocent (CPI-M) and M BRajesh (CPI-M). An interestingtriangular contest is on atAlathur (ST) between RamyaHaridas of the Congress andthe candidates fielded by theUDF and the LDF. Ramya, atribal girl, handpicked by RahulGandhi through his talent huntprogramme has alreadybecome a semsation in theState because of her simplicityand acceptability to the com-mon man. The CPI-M hasunleashed a barrage of attacksagainst her which violated allethics associated with cam-paigning.

Prelude to polling to electLS members in Kerala todaySAUGAR SENGUPTA n

KRISHNAGAR/NADIA

In a clear indication that theelectoral dogfight between

the BJP and the TrinamoolCongress was becoming fiercerwith every phase of polling,Narendra Modi on Saturdayreturned to Bengal with addedvenom assuring the peoplethat in his second stint as thePrime Minister he would takeaccount of Mamata Banerjeefor her alleged misdeeds.

In his third mass rally of the month in Bengal thePrime Minister told an electioncrowd at Buniyadpur inBalurghat parliamentary con-stituency that the ChiefMinister’s time was over and“she will have to account for thegruesome rule she perpetratedin the State for the last severalyears.”

History would never for-give her for her misdeeds,Modi said, adding, “you hadreposed full faith in her beforebringing her to power by end-ing the tormenting CPI(M)regime. But what she did aftercoming to the power was dis-heartening. She broke yourfaith and ditched the MaaMaati and Maanush in thename of who she roared to vic-tory.”

The Prime Minister said“even I was taken in by her aus-tere lifestyle — when I saw herin the television — thinkinghere was a person who had thegenuine intent to stand by the

people and end their trouble.But she turned out to be theopposite of what she pretend-ed to be.”

After becoming the PrimeMinister, “I could see the realface” hidden behind the veneerof that fabricated unpreten-tiousness, Modi said adding,“When I saw the real personmy head reeled and I wastaken aback.”

But like Modi the peoplewere also deceived by her pre-tense, the Prime Minister saidadding “the voters of Bengal inparticular and the people ofIndia in general had nowunderstood the real personbehind the face of simplicity.The people have now knownher and decided to get rid ofher.”

The first two phase of elec-tions had already shown that“Bengal is going to see a bigthing in the coming days whenthe speed-breaker of a ChiefMinister will be thrown out ofpower. The way she has appliedbrakes on the development ofBengal, the way she hasstopped the central projectsfrom reaching the people of theState the people will applybrakes on her continuation inpower,” the Prime Ministersaid.

“The reports on the earli-er phases of polling haveapplied brakes on her sleep andshe is losing sleep. She knowsthat she is on her way out and

so she is trying desperately tocreate much hue and cry,”Modi said.

In an apparent message tothe Hindu voters — that waspromptly read by the psephol-ogists as a ploy to wean awaythe Left vote bank in BJP’s

favour — the Prime Ministersaid “Didi’s vote bank politics highlighted by mollifi-cation of one set of peopledepriving others will come toan end and she will have toexplain all her misdeeds aftergoing from power.”

Apparently workingtowards collecting all the anti-

Mamata Banerjee votes in onebasket by stoking the fire of dis-like against the TMC chief, thePrime Minister vowed “thisChowkidar of yours will takeaccount of all the Didi’s mis-deeds. I will not let her go free.She will have to account forwhatever she has done in theseveral years of rule.”

SAUGAR SENGUPTA n

BAGULA/NADIA

As the poll heat increasedBengal Chief Minister

Mamata Banerjee hit backforcefully attacking PrimeMinister Narendra Modi for“torturing, oppressing andsqueezing the poor and themiddle class” during the pastfive years of his rule.

Addressing a huge crowd atBagula in Ranaghat con-stituency of Nadia districtBanerjee said “for the past fiveyears you (Modi) have onlymade joy trips to foreign coun-tries and delivered high-sound-ing nothings. The people arenot going to be taken in by yourdeceitful eloquence.”

On the Prime Minister’savowal that the BJP was soongoing to take control of BengalBanerjee said “first he shouldmind Delhi before coming toBengal because he will not getmore than 100 seats and all hisallies will desert him for his

highhandedness and haughtystyle of functioning.”

Banerjee said “BJP will notget Odisha, Bengal, Punjab, UPwhere Mayawatiji and AkhileshYadav will fare excellently, MP,Chhattisgarh and Rajasthanwhere they have already lost,Maharashtra, Gujarat wherethey will get only half their pre-sent seats, Kerala, Karnataka,Andhra Pradesh, Telengana andTamil Nadu. So from wherethey will the seats? They willeven fare badly in Bihar andAssam. So it will be a waste vot-ing for a party on its way out.”

Attacking the PrimeMinister for peddling liesthrough and through Banerjeesaid “for the past five years youhave oppressed, the people,tortured and exploited them,deprived them of their basicneeds. “Instead of giving themthe promised 2 crore yearlyjobs you have taken away 2crore jobs by demonetization.Your goons of the BJP and RSShave attacked the opposition

and they have not even sparedthe journalists when they triedto speak the truth.”

Banerjee who subsequent-ly led a massive road show atKrishnagar city which againfalls in the Krishangar LokSabha constituency also inNadia district said the “mainexploits of the ModiGovernment is suffering of thepoor, marginal and middleclass people who have made uptheir mind to get rid of him.For the past five years he hasonly travelled abroad and mademerry leaving India in direstraits.”

Banerjee said like the peo-ple bitten by dogs suffer fromhydrophobia the PrimeMinister was suffering from“defeat-phobia” which was why“he is talking nonsense whereever he goes. He has lost hissleep due to the fear of defeat,”she said. She warned if Modireturned to power he will gob-ble up democracy and endelections in India.

Didi lost sleep after 2 phases: Modi

LOK SABHA POLLS

Tormentor Modi will go: Mamata

TN RAGHUNATHA n

MUMBAI

The third ship ofProject 15B (Yard

12706), Guided MissileDestroyer “Imphal”was launched at theState-run MazagonDock ShipbuildersLimited (MDSL) hereon Saturday, thusmarking yet anothersignificant milestonein the annals of theindigenous warshipdesign and construc-tion programme ofIndia.

With its launch weight of3037 tonnes, the vessel madeits first contact with water at12.20 pm, amid fanfare at a for-mal ceremony held at MDSLyard in the presence of Chiefof Naval Staff, Admiral SunilLanba.

In keeping with maritimetraditions, Mrs Reena Lanba,President Navy Wives WelfareAssociation (NWWA) namedthe ship as ‘Imphal’ and brokea coconut on the ship’s bowprior launching the ship, asinvocation from the Atharva

Veda was being rendered.The Project 15B ships fea-

ture cutting edge advancedtechnology and are compara-ble to the ships of similar classanywhere in the world. Theseships have been designedindigenously by the IndianNavy’s Directorate of NavalDesign, New Delhi.

Each 15 B ship is 163meters in length and 17.4meters at beam and displaces7300 tonnes. These ships willbe propelled by four gas tur-bines to achieve speeds inexcess of 30 knots.

The P15Bdestroyers incorpo-rate new design con-cepts for improvedsurvivability, sea keep-ing, stealth and shipm a n o e u v r a bi l i t y.Enhanced stealth fea-tures have beenachieved throughshaping of hull anduse of radar transpar-ent deck fitting whichmae these ships diffi-cult to detect. P 15Bships will be equippedto carry and operatetwo multiple role heli-

copters. These ships are packed

with an array of state of the artweapons and sensors, includ-ing multi-functional surveil-lance radars and verticallylaunched missile system forlong distance engagement ofshore, sea-based and air targets.

“With significant indige-nous content, these ships are atrue hallmark of self-relianceattained by our country in war-ship design and shipbuilding,and a shining example of the‘Make in India’ philosophy,” anMDSL spokesperson said.

Guided Missile Destroyer‘Imphal’ launched

Guided Missile Destroyer Imphal (Yard 12706) launched andmakes first contact with water Maj SD Rokade | Pioneer

PTI n AHMEDABAD

Gujarat minister GanpatsinhVasava on Saturday

likened Congress chief RahulGandhi to a “puppy who wouldgo to Pakistan or China if thethey threw bread at it”, invit-ing censure from not just theopposition party but also statechief minister Vijay Rupani.

Vasava had earlier taken aswipe at the claim of someCongress supporters thatGandhi was an “incarnation ofLord Shiva”, asking the

Congress chief to prove theclaim by consuming poison.

Speaking at a tribal gath-ering on Saturday in Dediapadain Narmada district, part ofBharuch Lok Sabha con-stituency, the BJP leader said,“When Rahul Gandhi gets upfrom the chair, it appears as ifa puppy has got up wagging itstail, which would go to Pakistanand China if they threw breadat it.”

During the address, Vasavalikened Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to a lion.

Gujarat Min calls Rahul‘puppy’, CM disapproveswhile Cong lashes out

PTI n PULPALLY/MANANTHWADY

At t a c k i n g N a r e n d r aModi,Congress leader

Priyanka Gandhi VadraSaturday said there has neverbeen a “weaker government”and “weaker Prime minister”than the incumbent ones, as shesought to highlight the valuesand virtues of a true leader.

Campaigning in Wayanadfrom where her brother andparty chief Rahul Gandhi is con-testing besides his stronghold ofAmethi in Uttar Pradesh, shesought to know whether sup-pressing the voice of those whocriticise the government’s poli-cies amounts to nationalism.

She also alleged that the BJPgovernment had “betrayed” thefaith of people, who voted it topower.

Making a strong pitch forher brother, the Congress’ gen-eral secretary in-charge of UttarPradesh East took part in fourelection rallies in the con-stituency and met the farmers ofWayanad as thousands of peo-ple thronged the meetings.

Her children Miraya andRaihan were also with her.

Addressing a massive rallyof farmers at Pulpally, she ques-tioned the nationalism of thosewho refused to listen to thou-sands of farmers who had“marched barefoot” to Delhi tohighlight their problems.

She said people deserve aPrime Minister who respects

them and does not dismiss hisown promises casually.

“Sisters and brothers ofWayanad, I have never seen aweaker government, than thegovernment that has been inpower for last five years inIndia.

I have never seen a weakerPrime Minister than the PrimeMinister of India today. My sis-ters and brothers, I think youdeserve better. I think youdeserve a government thatspeaks for you,” PriyankaGandhi said.

Continuing to attack Modi,the congress leader claimed theprime minister, who cannottake out one day to visit even asingle house in his constituen-cy in five years, does not respectthe people of the country.

“A Prime Minister who isafraid of questions, who is afraidto answer people when they askhim what he wants to do forthem, who is afraid of criticism,who cannot tolerate dissent isnot a strong Prime Minister,” shesaid.

She said a governmentwhich suppresses its own peo-ple, that does not allow freedomof speech, or to practice ownreligion or culture, is not astrong government.

“Weakest of all is the gov-ernment that divides you insteadof uniting. That makes youafraid instead of filling you withcourage. That makes you wor-ried of speaking your views inpublic.

That’s the weakest form ofgovernance that could possiblyexist,” she said during a rally atAreekode.

She asked the voters ofWayanad to consider democra-cy and the vote as their weapons.

“When you see advertise-ments by the BJP which usewords like you have been ‘gift-ed’ by certain policies or that thegovernment is doing certainthings as a favour to you, youmust question it...

Because, nothing a leaderdoes, a politician does or apolitical party does for your ben-efit is not a favour but their duty,”she said.

The government whichdoes not have the “guts” toaccept the power of its people,it is a weak government and itmust be “taught a lesson”, shesaid. Narrating her experiencewhen she went to Uttar Pradesh,she said she was asked by somewomen to make a promise, thatis to construct a bridge across theriver in their village.

“I got scared. I did notknow how much it will cost,whether the government hassanctioned it or not.So I cannotmake this promise.

And when I tell you that youmust recognise your strength,you must understand, the fearthat I felt in my heart, that mak-ing a wrong promise I cannotfulfill. It should be a fear that youinstill in the hearts of politicianswho come before you,” PriyankaGandhi said.

There has never been a ‘weaker

Govt’,’weaker PM’, says Priyanka

PTI n SRINAGAR

PDP chief Mehbooba MuftiSaturday questioned Prime

Minister Narendra Modi’s state-ment that his government wasproviding a healing touch tocivilians in Jammu andKashmir. “PM in an interviewclaims his approach towardsKashmir is a hitting touch toseparatists & militants & ahealing touch forcivilians.Wondering howreturning mutilated bodies ofmilitants to families, imposinga road ban twice a week &detaining & humiliatingKashmiris is healing (sic),” shetweeted.

Earlier this month, the stategovernment had imposed atwo-day-a-week restriction onthe movement of civilian traf-fic on the NH-44 that connectsJammu to Srinagar, days afterthe Pulwama attack in which 40CRPF personnel were killed.

But, the government onSaturday partially relaxed therestrictions, which was put inplace to facilitate movement ofsecurity forces’ convoys. Thetwo-day-a-week restrictionbarred civilian traffic from ply-ing on the highway onWednesdays and Sundays. Now,there would be no restrictionsfrom Srinagar to Baramulla(both in the Kashmir region) onWednesdays, according to anofficial spokesperson.

Artists dressed as Hindu Gods and Goddesses perform during Suwori Tribal festival in Boko, west of Gauhati on Saturday AP

ALLEGATION IS...Though the CJI was head-

ing the Bench, he left it toJustice Mishra to take a call onpassing any judicial order.

Dictating the order, JusticeMishra said, “Having consid-ered the matter, we refrainfrom passing any judicial orderat this moment, leaving it to thewisdom of the media to showrestraint, act responsibly as isexpected from them andaccordingly decide what shouldor should not be published, aswild and scandalous allegationsundermine and irreparablydamage reputation and negateindependence of judiciary.”

“We would, therefore, atthis juncture leave it to themedia to take off such mater-ial which is undesirable,” theorder said. Justice Gogoi andthree other senior most judgesof the apex court at an unprece-dented news conference onJanuary 12, 2018 had staged avirtual revolt against his pre-decessor Justice Dipak Misraon the issue of allocation ofsensitive cases. During thehearing, the CJI said “unbe-lievable” allegations have beenlevelled against him and “I donot think I should stoop toolow even to deny these allega-tions. But that comes after 20years of selfless service as ajudge”. “Nobody can catch meon money. People have to findsomething and they have foundthis,” the CJI said, while mak-ing it clear that he has a bankbalance of Rs 6.80 lakh apartfrom around Rs 40 lakh inprovident fund after being inservice for around two decades.“There has to be a bigger, big-ger force behind this. There aretwo offices — one of the PrimeMinister and one of the CJI.They (people behind this con-troversy) want to deactivate theoffice of the CJI,” Justice Gogoisaid, adding, “This is thereward a CJI gets after 20 yearsof service”. Gogoi, whoassumed the office of the CJI onOctober 3, 2018, will retire onNovember 17. “Reputation” isthe only thing which a judgehas and if it will be attacked onbaseless allegations of sexualharassment, no “sane person”will come forward to take upjudgeship, he said. The apexcourt registry in a notice ear-

lier in the day said a three-Bench headed by the CJI wasbeing set up to deal with a“matter of great public impor-tance touching upon the inde-pendence of judiciary”.

DELHI COURT...Kumar said the woman

had claimed that she has goodcontacts and can get himemployed as process server oras a class-IV employee in theSupreme Court in about one-and-a-half month time, and forthis she allegedly demanded Rs10 lakh from him. “On herinducement, the complainantpaid an advance of Rs 50,000 toher in cash in the presence ofRam in the Supreme Courtcomplex. Till three months, hedid not receive any informationregarding his employment.Thereafter, he along with Ramagain met the woman atSupreme Court complex.

“She told him that theemployment will take moretime and he should not visit herin the Supreme Court andthreatened him to implicate insome false case,” the police saidin the application seeking can-cellation of her bail. Kumar saidhe remained in touch withRam, who died in January thisyear due to illness. Heapproached the police claimingthat he has been cheated of Rs50,000 by the woman on thepretext of his employment inthe apex court and that she nei-ther returned his money norgot him employed. He allegedthe woman and her husbandthreatened him for life if hedemanded the money back.During the investigation, thewoman was arrested by thepolice on March 10 and wassent to judicial custody by acourt here the next day. She wasgranted bail on March 12. OnMarch 14, the investigation into the case was taken up by thecrime branch of Delhi Policeand the complainant addressedan application to the DCP thathe was being threatened by thewoman and her associates.

The police also told thecourt, in its application, that theSSP of Jhajjar has been sent aletter to provide adequate pro-

tection to the complainant.It is pertinent to mention

that the woman on Friday senta sworn affidavit to the resi-dences of 22 apex court judgeswhich became public onSaturday. In her affidavit, theformer SC employee hasdescribed two incidents ofalleged molestation by the CJI.Both the alleged incident tookplace in October 2018, withindays of CJI Gogoi beingappointed to the post. This alle-gations prompted the SupremeCourt to hold an extraordinaryhearing on Saturday morning.

FARZI DOSTI...Modi took the fight further

in a rally in Bareily, where hesaid the Opposition is now outto ridicule him for being abackward. “In every election,this game on my caste startswhenever they stare at a defeat.We backwards are used tobeing abused by the dynasts butlet me ask them what have theyapart from alleviating thepoverty of their own fami-lies?” And at a well-attendedrally in Buniadpur in WestBengal, where the BJP hasemerged as a strong contender,Modi lashed out at TMCsupremo Mamata Banerjee say-ing, “It is shameful that peoplefrom neighbouring countryare campaigning for the TMC.This was done by the party toappease the minority commu-nity.” His remarks came againstthe backdrop of reports of twoBangladeshi actors campaign-ing for TMC candidates inBengal. Both were asked toleave India, subsequently.While Modi accused the chiefminister of fooling people inthe name of ‘ma, mati andmanush’ (mother, land andpeople), he flayed her seekingproof of the Balakot air strikesin Pakistan, and asked her to,instead, collect evidence againstthose behind chit fund scams.

ROHIT’S SPOUSE...“Rajeev (who was accom-

panying her to the hospital)received a call from a domestichelp who said Rohit wassmeared in blood and asked usto come with an ambulance. My

car was parked near an ambu-lance. I ensured that an ambu-lance left for my home imme-diately,” she recalled.

Ujjwala said while on herway home, she dialed Dr SumitSethi, who had been treatingShekhar since 2007 when hefirst suffered a heart attack.

“Apoorva and Rohit tiedthe nuptial knot in 2018. It wasa love marriage. Before that,they were seeing each other fora year,” Ujjwala said. The DelhiPolice on Thursday registereda case of murder into the deathof Rohit, hours after his autop-sy report stated that he died ofasphyxia due to strangulation.

“The medical board unan-imously concluded that thecause of death in this case isasphyxia as a result of strangu-lation and smothering. It is asudden unnatural death, placedin the category of homicide,”said Dr Sudhir Gupta, the headof the AIIMS’ forensic depart-ment. Crime Branch officials onFriday visited Rohit’s house inDefence Colony and questionedhis family members anddomestic helps. A forensicsteam too visited the house.

EC DIRECTS EROS...Citing the model code of

conduct for the Lok Sabhapolls, the EC said the stream-ing of five-episode web series,“Modi — Journey of aCommon Man”, should be“stopped forthwith”.

After watching the trailer,the EC said, it is apparent thatthe web series showcases dif-ferent phases of Modi’s life --from childhood to becoming anational leader. The EC cited itsApril 10 order banning thescreening of a biopic on the PMtill the Lok Sabha elections areover, to bar the streaming of theseries. The EC said, in view ofthe admitted facts and mater-ial available on record, theweb series is based on Modi,who, besides being the PM, isalso a political leader and a can-didate in the Lok Sabha elec-tions. “In view of the above, youare hereby directed to stopforthwith the online streamingand remove all connected con-tents of the web series till fur-ther orders,” it told Eros Nowand asked it to send a compli-ance report immediately.

CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 Mehbooba questionsPM’s statement thathis Govt wasproviding healingtouch in J-K

world 07LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

TROTTINGTROTTINGGLOBE

220 KILLED IN FIGHTING INLIBYA’S CAPITAL: UNBenghazi: The UN health agencysays at least 15 more people diedin fighting over control of Libya’scapital in the past two days,bringing the total to 220 deadincluding civilians.The World Health Organisationsaid late Friday that 1,066 othershave been wounded since theself-styled Libyan National Armylaunched an offensive on April 5to take Tripoli.

IRAQ SUMMIT BRINGS TOGETHERRIVALS SAUDI ARABIA AND IRANBaghdad: A summit organised byIraq is bringing together regionalrivals Saudi Arabia and Iran tobridge relations and invest inIraq.Iraqi Parliament SpeakerMohamed al-Halbousi is headingthe one-day summit between Iraqand its six neighbours: Syria,Saudi Arabia, Iran, Turkey,Jordan, and Kuwait.

PTI n DUBAI

Thousands of Indians onSaturday rejoiced and par-

ticipated in the foundationstone laying ceremony of thefirst Hindu temple in UAE’scapital Abu Dhabi. MahantSwami Maharaj, spiritual headof the Bochasanwasi ShriA k s h a r - P u r u s h o t t a mSwaminarayan Sanstha (BAPS),which is constructing the tem-ple, presided over the four-hour ceremony followingwhich sanctified bricks wereplaced at the main pooja sthal(place of worship).

Indian Ambassador toUAE Navdeep Suri read outPrime Minister NarendraModi’s statement on the occa-sion, congratulating the Gulfnation for this initiative.

“On behalf of 130 croreIndians, it is my privilege toconvey our greetings to my

dear friend and the CrownPrince of Abu Dhabi, HisHighness Sheikh Mohammedbin Zayed Al Nahyan,” Suriquoted Prime Minister Modias saying.

“When complete, this tem-ple will symbolise the univer-sal human values and spiritu-al ethos that form a shared her-itage of both India and theUAE,” he said.

Suri said that the templeembodies the timeless Vedicvalues of VasudevKutumbakam, the whole worldis one family.

“I am sure this temple willbe a source of inspiration forthe 33 lakh Indians residing inthe UAE as well as of peoplefrom all other cultures,” Suriquoted Prime Minister Modi assaying.

The plan to build the tem-ple in Abu Dhabi was approvedby the Abu Dhabi government

during Modi’s first visit to thecountry in 2015.

Priti Vaishnav, educationand development expert,termed the temple as a well-deserved recognition of a thriv-ing Indian community in theUAE.

“This will also serve as agreat venue for tourism from allover the world as these templesspearheaded by BAPS are

amazing pieces of architectureas well as famous for their larg-er than life manifestation,”Vaishnav said.

The temple will be a cul-tural complex with art gallery,halls, library and gym.

It will comprise of seventowers representing the sevenemirates in the UAE and comeup on a 14-acre piece of land atAbu Mureikhah, close to the

Abu Dhabi-Dubai highway.The stones for the temple

will be carved by temple arti-sans in India and assembled inthe UAE.

Bindu Suresh Chettur,prominent Indian lawyer, saidthis is a welcome developmentfor the 3.3 million Indians liv-ing in the UAE and that it willhelp enhance people-to-peoplecontact.

“This country has alwaysbeen a role model when itcomes to giving respect toeveryone. This step will furtherboost the relations betweenthe two countries. Also, theBAPS temple architecture isvery unique so it will add tothe long list of marvellousarchitectures in the UAE,”Chettur said.

Sajeev Purushothaman,spokesperson of the NRI cell ofBharatiya Janata Party, said,“It’s very significant and sym-

bolic in this year of tolerance(being marked in the UAE).This temple is not just a placeof worship, it is a place forhuman development and har-mony to be created amongcommunities.”

“Just after the Pope’s visit(to the UAE), we have BAPSspiritual guru poojya mahantMaharaj Ji and being NRI, weare proud of this temple andrequest all NRIs to be a part ofthe making,” he added.

Sheikh Nahyan MabarakAl Nahyan received SwamiMaharaj and his delegation ofHindu priests at Al MaktoumInternational Airport onThursday.

While interacting withSheikh Nahyan, SwamiMaharaj prayed for the goodhealth and the prosperity of therulers and people of the UAE.

Swami Maharaj is theSpiritual Head of over 1,200

temples and 4,200 centers ofspirituality worldwide. Heguides the BAPS’ social, spiri-tual, cultural, educational,health, disaster relief and otheractivities.

He is the sixth and presentspiritual guru of the BAPSSwaminarayan Sanstha.

AFP n SEOUL

Asenior North Korean officialslammed US National

Security Advisor John Bolton onSaturday, accusing him of mak-ing “stupid” comments onstalled denuclearisation talksand warning “nothing good”would come of them.

Bolton is the second, topranking US politician to be criticised byPyongyang in recent days, after it labelledSecretary of State Mike Pompeo as “reck-less” Thursday, demanding his removalfrom talks over the North’s banned nuclearprogramme.

Those comments came hours after theisolated state claimed to have tested a newkind of weapon.

Pyongyang and Washington have beenat loggerheads since the collapse of a sum-mit between Kim Jong Un and DonaldTrump earlier this year.

In an interviewwith Bloomberg pub-lished on Wednesday,Bolton urgedPyongyang to give a“real indication” it iswilling give upnuclear weapons.

In commentscited by NorthKorea’s official KCNA

news service, Vice Foreign Minister ChoeSon Hui said Bolton’s remarks may haveshowed a “lack of understanding about theintentions of the two leaders”. But, “theyall sound uncharming and stupid to me”,she said. “Nothing good would come toyou if such insensitive remarks persist.”

In the Bloomberg interview, Boltonsaid that for a third Trump-Kim summitto take place, “a real indication from NorthKorea that they’ve made the strategic deci-sion to give up nuclear weapons”, would beneeded.

AFP n BEIRUT

Islamic State group jihadists havekilled 35 pro-Damascus fighters

in Syria, in what a monitoringgroup described on Saturday astheir deadliest operation since thefall of the “caliphate”.

The Syrian Observatory forHuman Rights said four seniorSyrian army officers were amongthe troops and allied militiamenkilled in the desert east of Homsprovince over the past 48 hours.

The Amaq propaganda arm ofIS, which lost the last vestige of its“caliphate” to Kurdish-led forceslast month but retains desert andmountain hideouts in both Syriaand Iraq, said its fighters carriedout the operation. Another eightsoldiers and militiamen, includingtwo officers, were killed in a sep-

arate attack in neighbouring DeirEzzor province on Thursday night,the Observatory said.

The attack targeted a desert vil-lage south of the city of Mayadeen,upstream from the stretch of theEuphrates Valley where IS made adesperate last stand for its“caliphate”, the Britain-based warmonitor said.

Observatory chief Rami AbdelRahman described it as the“biggest attack and the highestdeath toll among regime forcessince the caliphate was declared

defeated”.Six IS fighters were killed in

the clashes, the Observatory said.Amaq said that IS had

launched its assault on Thursdayevening after government forcestried to track down its fighters.

The vast Syrian desert, knownin Arabic as the Badia, stretches allthe way from the capital Damascusand the cities of Homs and Hamato its north to the Euphrates Valleynear the Iraq border, where the“caliphate” was defeated in the vil-lage of Baghouz last month.

Commanders of the US-ledcoalition, which provided air andartillery support for the Kurdish-led operation, have warned repeat-edly that the jihadists’ loss of theirlast piece of territory did notmean their elimination as a fight-ing force.

AFP n LONDON

Two teenage men have beenarrested after the shooting

dead of a journalist in NorthernIreland, police said on Saturday.

The 18 and 19-year-oldswere arrested in Londonderryunder anti-terror laws andtaken to Belfast for questioning,the Police Service of NorthernIreland said.

Journalist Lyra McKee wasshot in the head late Thursdayin Derry by, police believe, dis-sident republicans linked to theNew IRA paramilitary groupas they clashed with police on

the Creggan estate in NorthernIreland’s second city.

Tributes to the 29-year-oldwere led by her partner, SaraCanning, who said McKee’s“amazing potential was snuffedout by this single barbaric act”.

Detectives hunting thegunman had released footageof the unrest, hoping that thecommunity would help traceher killers.

Belfast-born McKee, 29,had posted an image from theriots, accompanied by thewords “Derry tonight. Absolutemadness”.

Images of the unrest on

social media showed a car andvan ablaze and hooded indi-viduals throwing petrol bombsand fireworks at police vehicles.

Police chief MarkHamilton said Friday “a singlegunman fired shots in a resi-dential area of the city and asa result wounded Ms McKee”.

Some officials blamedThursday’s unrest on the “NewIRA”, a republican paramilitarygroup opposed to the shifttowards non-violent tactics tobring about a united Ireland.

The Saoradh partydenies being the political wingof the New IRA

AFP n PRAGUE

Czech billionaire Prime MinisterAndrej Babis said on Saturday he

would not resign if indicted for hisalleged role in a two-million-euro EUsubsidy fraud.

Police this week recommendedthat Babis be indicted over the casewhich could see him and several oth-ers, including family members,spending five to ten years in prison.

“I would not resign because I havebeen saying from the beginning thatthis is a political process,” Babis toldthe DNES broadsheet which heowns.

The 64-year-old agro-chemicalsmogul pegged by Forbes as the sec-ond-wealthiest Czech is suspected ofabusing EU funds to build the luxu-ry Stork Nest resort and farm nearPrague in 2007.

He allegedly took the farm out ofhis sprawling Agrofert food, chemi-

cals and media holding to make it eli-gible for a subsidy awarded to smallcompanies before eventually puttingit back.

Charged by police in 2017, Babisand several others — including hiswife, brother-in-law and daughter —are suspected of subsidy fraud andharming the EU’s financial interests.

“If I weren’t in politics, nobodywould have heard about the StorkNest,” Babis told DNES.

“People keep plotting affairsagainst me, delving into the past. Thisaffair is 12 years old,” he said, callingcharges against his family “incredi-ble filth”.

AP n PARIS

French Yellow Vest protestersmarched on Saturday to remind the

Government that rebuilding the fire-ravaged Notre Dame Cathedral isn’tthe only problem the nation needs tosolve.

Security was extra-high in Paris asauthorities braced for resurgent YellowVest anger, and Paris police said some70 people were detained by mid-morning.

Multiple protest events are beingheld around Paris and other cities onSaturday for the 23rd weekend of theYellow Vest movement against wealthinequality and President EmmanuelMacron’s leadership.

One group of about 200 peopletried to march on the president’sElysee Palace in central Paris, but riotpolice blocked them at the neo-clas-sical Madeleine Church.

Another group gathered aroundthe Finance Ministry in eastern Paristo demand lower taxes on workers andpensioners and higher taxes on the

rich.Yet another group is trying to

demonstrate yellow vest mourningover the Notre Dame blaze while alsokeeping up pressure on Macron.

The group wanted to march toNotre Dame itself, but were banned bypolice, who have set up a large secu-rity perimeter around the area.

Many protesters were deeply sad-dened by the fire at a national monu-ment.

But at the same time they areangry at the USD 1 billion in NotreDame donations that poured in from

tycoons while their own demandsremain largely unmet and they strug-gle to make ends meet.

Some 60,000 police officers weremobilised for Saturday’s protestsacross France as the interior ministerwarned of the risk of resurgent vio-lence.

The movement is largely peacefulbut extremists have attacked treasuredmonuments, shops and banks andclashed with police.

The heavy police presence meantsubway stations and roads aroundParis were closed Saturday, thwartingtourists who converged on the Frenchcapital for an exceptionally warmspring day.

“Paris is very difficult right now,”said Paul Harlow, of Kansas City,Missouri, as he looked sadly at thedamaged Notre Dame.

He and his wife Susan are in Parisonly for a few days, and didn’t makeit in time to see the cathedral — andtheir efforts to visit museums Saturdaywere derailed by closed subways andbarricaded roads.

AFP n KABUL

Suicide bombers and gunmenlaunched an attack near a

Government Ministry in cen-tral Kabul on Saturday, officialssaid, in an ongoing assault thatdestroyed weeks of relativecalm in the capital.

The attack near the com-munications Ministry occurredone day after planned talksbetween the Taliban andAfghan representatives werecancelled.

No one claimed immediateresponsibility for the assault,which left people stranded in thetall building. Six people wereinjured, according to a HealthMinistry spokesman.

Initial reports were con-fused, with officials from dif-ferent agencies saying three orfour attackers were involved. Itwas not clear how many weresuicide bombers and how manywere gunmen involved in a fol-low-up assault. AFP journalistsheard one big blast at around

11:40 am (0710 GMT), fol-lowed by sporadic gunfire formore than an hour afterward.

“The information that wehave is four attackers have placedthemselves near the communi-cation ministry and are engagedin gun battles with the Afghansecurity forces,” AmanduddinShariati, a security official inKabul told AFP. On Twitter, theMinistry of Information saidthree suicide bombers hadattacked a post office building atthe communications ministry.

General Sayed MohammadRoshan Dil, the Kabul policechief, said four attackers hadbeen wearing police uniformsand had targeted a shrine nearthe ministry. One of the attack-ers was killed, he told Tolo.

Local television footageshowed a small plume of smokenear the ministry, and peopleclimbing out windows on alower level. On Facebook, a mannamed Syed Jaillani Jallan saidhe was trapped inside theMinistry.

AFP n CAIRO

Egyptians voted on Saturdayin a referendum that aims

to cement the rule of PresidentAbdel Fattah al-Sisi, the formercoup leader who presents him-self as a rock of stability in aturbulent region.

Voters were being asked toback amendments to the con-stitution to allow Sisi, 64, torun for another six-year termwhile boosting his control overthe judiciary and giving themilitary even greater influencein political life.

The three-day referendumbucks the trend of NorthAfrica’s mini-Arab Spring, inwhich mass pro-democracyprotests this month swept awayveteran presidents in Algeriaand Sudan.

Sisi himself was amongthe first to vote when pollsopened, casting his ballot inthe upmarket Cairo suburb ofHeliopolis.

In Shubra, a working-classneighbourhood of the capital,dozens of voters, mostly

women carrying their chil-dren, queued outside a pollingstation in the local high school.

In Cairo, troops and policewere deployed in numbersalthough the interior ministrydenied to give any nationwidefigures.

Egypt is still battling ajihaidst insurgency based in theSinai Peninsula that has seenattacks in Cairo and othercities. Sisi has argued that heneeds longer to complete thejob of restoring security andstability after the turmoil thatfollowed the overthrow ofveteran autocrat HosniMubarak in the Arab Spring of2011.

Out on the streets, his sup-porters waved flags bearingtheir campaign motto: “Do theRight,” as they pressed passers-by to turn out and vote ‘Yes’.

Foundation stone laid for 1st Hindu temple in Abu Dhabi

North Korea slams Bolton’s

remarks on stalled talks

ISIS kills 35 in deadliest attack on

Syrian army since ‘Caliphate’ fall

Loud explosion, gunfire rock downtown Kabul; six injured

Paris: Yellow Vest anger mixes with Notre Dame mourning Won’t resign even if indictedover EU fraud: Czech PM

Two teens held for N. Irish journalist’s shooting

Egyptians vote in referendumto extend Prez Sisi’s rule

South Sudan Prez urges rebel chief to join unity Govt

p“I am sure this temple will be asource of inspiration for the 33lakh Indians residing in the UAEas well as of people from all othercultures,” Suri quoted PrimeMinister Modi as saying

pThe temple will be a culturalcomplex with art gallery, halls,library and gym

pIt will comprise of seven towersrepresenting the seven emiratesin the UAE and come up on a 14-acre piece of land at AbuMureikhah, close to the AbuDhabi-Dubai highway

AFP n JUBA

South Sudan President SalvaKiir on Saturday urged

opposition leader RiekMachar to return home“urgently” to help form aGovernment of national unity.

A failure by the formervice president to do so woulddestroy any hope for peace inthe war-torn country, he said.

“Even now, it’s not toolate,” Kiir told reporters.

“I am inviting Dr RiekMachar to urgently return toJuba so that we can worktogether to expedite the

process of forming the revi-tal ised TransitionalGovernment of NationalUnity”.

A peace deal signed by theparties of the country’s six-year-old conflict calls for theformation of a government ofnational unity on May 12.

Machar, who is a signato-ry of the agreement, onThursday asked for a delay ofsix months, saying it was notsafe for him to return to Juba.

According to leaders of hisparty he is in Khartoum, theSudanese capital. Machar “willnot come to Juba without

security arrangements,” saidPuot Kang Chol, representingMachar’s SPLM-IO rebelgroup at the National Pre-transitional Committee(NPTC), the body chargedwith implementing the peaceagreement.

PTI n UNITED NATIONS

The 1984 Bhopal gastragedy which killed thou-

sands of people is among theworld’s “major industrial acci-dents” of the 20th century, aUN report has said, warningthat 2.78 million workers diefrom occupational accidentsand work-related diseaseseach year.

The report released by thethe UN labour agencyInternational LabourOrganization (ILO) said in1984, at least 30 tons of methylisocyanate gas, which wasreleased from the UnionCarbide pesticide plant in theMadhya Pradesh capital,affected more than 600,000workers and nearby inhabi-tants. “The Government fig-

ures estimate that there havebeen 15,000 deaths as a resultof the disaster over the years.Toxic material remains andthousands of survivors andtheir descendants have suf-fered from respiratory diseasesand from damage to internalorgans and immune systems,”it said.

The report titled ‘TheSafety and Health at the Heartof the Future of Work -Building on 100 years of expe-rience’ said the Bhopal dis-aster was among the world’s“major industrial accidentsafter 1919”. Among the othernine major industrial disastersafter 1919 listed in the reportare the Chernobyl andFukushima nuclear disastersas well as the Rana Plazabuilding collapse.

In the Chernobyl disasterin April 1986, one of fournuclear reactors at theChernobyl power station inUkraine exploded, releasing atleast 100 times more radiationthan the atom bombs droppedon Nagasaki and Hiroshima.

The explosion killed 31people immediately and thou-sands of people in the after-math. “The number of casu-alties in the region increasesevery year due to long termeffects including a sharpincrease in thyroid cancer,” thereport said.

Following a major 9.0magnitude earthquake andtsunami which struck north-eastern Japan in March 2011,the Fukushima nuclear powerplants experienced equipmentfailures which caused a series

of explosions, fires and radi-ation releases, causing injuriesto plant workers and emer-gency responders, it said.

In one of the worst indus-trial disasters in Bangladesh,the Rana Plaza building inDhaka collapsed in April2013. The building, whichhoused five garment factories,killed at least 1,132 people andinjured more than 2,500.

According to recent esti-mates released by the ILO,each year 2.78 million work-ers die from occupationalaccidents and work-relateddiseases (of which 2.4 millionare disease-related).

An additional 374 millionworkers suffer from non-fataloccupational accidents. It isestimated that lost work daysglobally represent almost four

per cent of the world’s GDP,and in some countries, thisrises to six per cent or more.

The report attributesstress, excessively-long work-ing hours and disease to work-er casualty every year, under-lining ILO’s message that nopaid work should threaten aworker’s wellbeing, safety orlife.

The agency also identifiedseveral new or existing occu-pational risks of growing con-cern, that affect women morethan men.

These include modernworking practices overall,world population growth,increased digital connectivityand climate change, whichare believed to account forlosses of almost four per centof the global economy.

Bhopal tragedy among world’s ‘major industrial accidents’

LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019 films & tv 08

SHOW TIME

KALANK

*ing: Madhuri Dixit, Sonakshi Sinha, Alia Bhatt, Varun

Dhawan, Aditya Roy Kapur, Sanjay Dutt

Rated: 6/10

Aheavy duty romance with a visual and verbal onslaughtdrawn from the Partition saga may not be a regularKaran Johar kind of movie. But Kalank, with a soaked

out star cast in which Madhuri Dixit and Sonakshi Singh agreeto be sidebars along with Sanjay Dutt, would definitely cash inon initial curiosity which it does with a big opening. But is itpopular stuff? Far from it. Overly dramatical, visually artisticand banking on dialogues which are much too theatrical, thefilm will go down into the shelf as a magnum opus which wasbrilliantly laid-out but somewhere down the line forgot howthe soul of cinema has been hijacked by populist GenX mores.

Alia (Roop) as the central point of the film is brilliant — astunning persona which encases a free spirit, histrionicacumen and a screen presence that carries the film on petitshoulders. As the Kohl-lined bastard son of her father-in-law,Varun Dhawan, a ka Zafar, simmers much like his “auzaar-making cauldron” both not having much to do except simmerwithout business. Aditya Roy Kapur does his bit to the screenwhere ever he finds an entry into the storyline which is notpretty often. Centred around a love story when the HinduMuslim divide on the other side of the border was just aboutconcretising, there is a lot of “how to make it sound grand”effort in a film which encapsulates the drama and theambience of Partition days much like a splashy painting by amaster artist. A lot of colour, a lot of big talk, a lot ofdeliberation, a lot of costume, make-up and hitech shots ofeveryday life do make you sit up and look in awe. But there isnothing much in the story where all the situations are so overthe top that you are left wanting for some kind of a reality, to-the-ground moment in the film which it does not have.Madhuri, despite pancake coming home for free, fails to clearthe wrinkles and Sonakshi is grand but in an empty kind ofway. Sanju Baba merely stares down as a veteran who can onlystand and stare, to no avail.

Alia is the only show-stopper in this film, the onlyheartbeat. The other thing you could put your hands togetherin this film is the art director who makes this one a visual treat.

A visual treat

NEW ENTRY IN KESARI NANDAN

colors' Kesari Nandan is about tosee some major turning point in

the storyline. Kesari, the mainprotagonist of the show is having ahard time and going throughsituations that is beyond her control.These situations are becoming ahurdle on her way to achieve herdreams of becoming a wrestler.During her struggle, Kesari comesacross Bhairon Singh; a trainedwrestler and convinces him to takeher under his wings and give her theprofessional training as a wrestler.Bhairon Singh's character will beessayed by popular television actorDakssh Ajit Singh.

Commenting on his role, DaksshAjit Singh, said: “I am excited to playthis character as this is unlike theroles I have played in the past. Itfeels great to be a part of the showthat supports and encourageswomen empowerment. I really thankColors for approaching me for thisrole and I hope the audiences willalso like to see me in a differentrole.”

REKHA ON RISING STAR 3 The third season of Colors’

Rising Star 3 has already startedfulfilling dreams of the chosenaspiring singers of our country. Thecontestants of the show are workinghard every single day to impressjanta under the guidance of ourexpert panel of Shankar Mahadevan,Diljit Dosanj and Neeti Mohan.

In the upcoming episode ofRising Star 3, legendary movie starRekha will grace the stage with herpresence. The episode is titled asSalam-e-Rekha and it will celebratethe glorious journey of Rekha inBollywood. With an entire episodededicated to her contribution in thefilm industry, Rising Star contestants

will recreate the magic of her songsAccording to the sources from

the set, the young contestants of theshow Opseung, Chetan and Vishwajawill have a fun session with Rekhawhere they will ask her about herfavorite food. Opseung will impressher by singing Athara Baras Ki TuHone Aai dedicating it to the agelessbeauty. Diwakar who has a specialtalent of describing the look of anyperson by listening to their voice, willalso try to describe Rekha’s beautythrough his perspective. We hear thatRekha along with Neeti Mohan willtake a jovial dig at Diljit and Amrita bysinging Ghum Hai Kisike PyaarMein.

The sources further added: “Sheis eagerly looking forward to see howyoung talent interprets and presents

her songs on Rising Star 3. She isgreatly interested in listening to greattalent and motivating India's favourite17.”

ALIA REVEALS SECRETBe ready to get blown away by

the talented performances by thecontestants in the upcoming episodeof Sa Re Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs. Theupcoming episode will account foroodles of fun and entertainment asthe cast of the film Kalank – AliaBhatt, Varun Dhawan and MadhuriDixit grace the show.

While on the set, Alia Bhattrevealed a sweet secret about herdear friend Varun Dhawan. Sheshared that Varun has created hisown song and made her humm to ittoo!

Alia Bhatt said: “Varun made mesit and sing for three hours for himthat too on my birthday. Moreover, heeven created his own song which Isang.” Adding to this, Alia took to the

stage and sang to Varun’scomposition and created a greatatmosphere with her magical voice.Moreover, Varun Dhawan requestedAlia to sing his favourite song YaadAa Rahi Hai and entertain all yetagain!

Judges Shaan and Amaalcomply to contestant Ayush KC’shula-hoop challenge and enjoythoroughly. All in all , the episode willaccount for sweet moments and abeautiful musical evening for all.

DISCOVERY SPECIALSince the dawn of the Space Age

only three countries have landed acraft on the moon, the U.S., SovietUnion and China. Now, in 2019, forthe first time, a private technologycompany attempted to join that list.In a one-hour Discovery Exclusivespecial, Return to the Moon: Secondsto Arrival, premiering on Monday,April 22 at 10pm, Discovery willfollow the men and women ofSpaceIL on its mission to land thefirst privately funded spacecraft onthe surface of the moon.

“This is an extraordinary story ofa team which attempted to do whatonly nations have done before. Tellingsuch stories of human endeavor is anintegral part of our mission. It is whatDiscovery stands for,” said, ZulfiaWaris, Vice President, Premium &Digital networks, Discovery Comm.

TELLYTALEPlanYour

Sunday

Easter Menu at Artful BakerVenue: The Artful Baker, Khan Market, NewDelhiDate: April 21, 2019Cost: `500

This Easter, treat yourself to an array ofhand-crafted and artfully inspired

delicacies at the Artful Baker. Indulge in themouthwateringdelicacies suchas Easter pops,Babka aUkrainian Easterspecialty,Gianduja &Orange andhazelnut & darkchocolatemousse with ablood orangecurd centre and if you don’t enjoy creamydesserts then they have delicious Raspberry& apple cake for you. If that doesn’t satisfyyour desire,go for Pecan & Maple tea cake atreat that simply melts in your mouth afterthat first luxurious bite.

The Ice and Fire FestivalVenue: The Irish House, outlets at NehruPlace and NoidaDate: Till May 19, 2019Timings: 12pm to 1 am

Winter is here awaiting at your friendlyneighborhood pub, The Irish house

brings you The Ice and Fire Festival to getwasted the entire GoT season. Participate inthe GoT Pub Quizzes on April 21 at the NehruPlace and stand achance to provethat you are thebiggest fan to winofficial GoTmerchandise fromRed Wolf. The carefullycrafted GoT menuincludes TheWhite Walker,King's Landing,Cersei's Sangria,The Long Claw, Khaleesi's Pride, The Three-Eyed Raven, and the Dragon's Breath – 7cocktails as a tribute to the seven kingdoms,themed on the important elements of season8. These cocktails are sure to help you dullyour pain while you wait for next week'sepisode.

Easter DelicaciesVenue: PAUL – Café, Bakery, Restaurant &Bar, Ambience Mall, GurugramDate: Till February, 2019Timings: 8 am to 12 pm

This Easter, entice your taste buds with thetraditional offerings from Paul. Feast on

choices like Pain au Chocolat, AlmondCroissant, Elephant Ear Cookie, Gourmandise,Raisin Danish, Multigrain Flemish, Cheesebenoiton, 2OliveBenoiton,Paul baguettefrom thebakery. Allthesedelicacies arepreparedusingtraditionalFrenchbakingmethods and customary ingredientsespecially imported from France.The cafe serves a variety of satiatingdelicacies such as French onion soup, Caesarsalad, Bufalina pizza, Roasted baby chicken,Tiramisu, Fleur de lys, Motlen choco fondant& many other delectable dishes.

Easter festivities at L’OperaVenue: All L’Opera outletsCost: `200 onwards

L’Opéra, on the occasion of Easter, haslaunched a selection of white, dark and

milk chocolates in the form of playfulshapes. Crafted with the finest qualityBelgium chocolates that take shapes ofbeautiful eggs, Easter bunnies and chickens,L’opéra brings you the very best chocolatecan offer for Easter.Come visit our stores this month andindulge in your own passion for chocolates,with this newly resurrected Easter menu.

An ode for cancer patientsWith every episode, the super

talented Li’l Champs continueto deliver breath-taking

performances and winning hearts of theaudience on Zee TV’s popular show SaRe Ga Ma Pa Li’l Champs. This week, theshow extended a hand of solidarity to theIndian Cancer Society, India's firstvoluntar y, non-profit , NationalOrganization for awareness, detection,cure and survivorship of those affectedwith this disease. Young Saujanya, whofought cancer with the help of IndianCancer Society, had recently participatedin the auditions for this season. She madea comeback to the platform in thisspecial episode dedicated to the causewhere she crooned beautifully to the songAgar Tum Saath Ho in front of judgesRicha Sharma, Shaan, Amaal Mallikand dignitaries from Indian CancerSociety — the managing trustee NaveenKshatriya, Trustee in charge Dr PurnaKurkure and Director Vandana Pathak.

Right after Saujanya performed,Amaal shared how her story and singingreminded him of his grandfather (Nana)who he lost to cancer. On the other hand,Richa Sharma expressed that ‘I will beobliged, if I can support you in anymanner’.

It was an equally special momentwhen Emmanuel, another talented cancersurvivor supported by Indian CancerSociety came on stage and sang the songHum Hai Ugam with judge Shaan.Shaan revealed that this was a song hehad actually sung and composed as ananthem for the Indian Cancer Societyeight years ago and that he was gratefulto Zee TV for getting him to recreate thisanthem on the sets of Sa Re Ga Ma PaLi’l Champs after all these years!

The dignitaries of Indian CancerSociety took to the stage and sharedawareness about their movement. Theyspoke of how cancer — if detected earlyespecially amongst children, has highchances of complete recovery and howtheir experience of treating the diseaseis not just about healing the patientsphysically but about counselling andhand-holding them on an emotional levelfor social adjustments and cultivating theright positive approach in life!

It’s time to think of what you aredoing as individuals to support thecause of children with cancer. Donate,volunteer, collaborate, accept cancerpatients — help remove the myths andstigma. It is the least you can do for thenoble cause.

Sony SAB’s Aladdin: Naam Toh SunaHoga has got the viewers glued to

their screens with its exciting magicalworld and shocking revelations. AsGinoo (Raashul Tandon) has nowturned evil, Aladdin (Siddharth Nigam)and Yasmine (Avneet Kaur) are on thequest to turn him back to his originalgood self.

With Ginoo being under Zafar’s(Amir Dalvi) control and becoming theevil Ginn, he has now forgotten his oldaaka, Aladdin. While Aladdin isheartbroken over this, he and Yasmineare on a mission to bring Ginoo backwhich eventually brings the two closerto each other. As romance is developingbetween the two, on the other hand,there is a huge revelation about to bemade in front of Ammi (Smita Bansal).To her surprise, she comes face to face

with Omar (Gireesh Sachdev) and isabout to find out that her husband isin fact, alive.

What will this first meetingbetween Omar and Ammi lead to?

Smita Bansal, playing the role ofAmmi said: “Ammi has been, until now,unaware of the fact that her husbandis alive and is about to come face to facewith him. The upcoming episodes aregoing to raise the curiosity levelsamongst the viewers as to what willhappen with this first encounterbetween the two.”

Gireesh Sachdev, playing the roleof Omar said: “Although aware of whohis wife is, Omar is extremely reluctantto meet her. So, what happens whenthey are finally about to come in frontof each other, is going to be reallyexciting for the viewers.”

Secrets be told Laughter ride on Kitchen Champion

Laughter is said to be the best form of therapyand setting this with the perfect example are

the television besties Mona Singha and GauravGera. This duo will be seen competing againsteach other in a cook off battle on Colors’ KitchenChampion. They have not only amused theviewers with their chemistry and comic timing ontelevision, but have also created a storm on socialmedia with their witty and funny videos.

While they took on a challenge for theultimate cook — off, they were also ready toentertain the audience with their funny antics.When, host Aditya Narayan, asked them toperform on the famous song Kajra Re, theyimmediately decided to add their own twist to it.Mona disguised herself as Amitabh Bachchan,Aditya as Abhishek Bachchan and Gaurav asAishwarya Rai. This performance left everyone

into splits as Gaurav even flirted with Aditya onlyto make him awkward and to make the act moreamusing.

Laughter manHe started his journey with Khichdi and has come a long way. JD MAJETHIA speaks withMUSBA HASHMI about where the comedy genre is going

From Khichdi to Sarabhai vsSarabhai, he is the man behind

creating iconic shows on TV. All hisshows have set a benchmark in thethe comedy genre. He is flawless,unique, humorous in his approachtowards comedy and that’s what setshim apart.

Meet JD Majethia, producer ofshows like Khichdi, Baa, Bahu andBaby , Sarabhai vs Sarabhai andBhakarwadi, who prefers comedyshows which have potential tobring the family together even if itis for the timespan of the show. Allof Majethia’s shows have been a hitwith fervent demand for moreseasons.

He came up with Khichdi whilehe was doing theatre. At that timethe culture of daily soap was at itspeak. “I was doing theatre alongwith Aatish Kapadia who hadwritten Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka, thefirst daily soap to have aired 1000episodes. Then, came the saas-bahu shows with Kahani.... andKyunki.... We thought of doingsomething different and came upwith a unique pariwaar, similar toour real lives where we all fight, butstill love each other with a pinch ofmadness. At that time, most of theshows were sugar-coated with noconnect with real life. Aatish wrotethe first episode and we initiallyplanned to make it a daily runner.Then Star Plus asked us to make ita weekly show as it would thenreach more people. That’s how wecame up with the concept,” Majethiatells, adding that that the nameKhichdi was an accident.

“We had submitted the episodesand scripts but had not finalised thename. We went for a theatre trip toSouth Africa. Suddenly Aatish said‘Khichdi naam kesa lageche?’ Ilaughed but was interested in it. Hepointed out how the show would bea mixture of different familymembers and the audience wouldrelate to khichdi. The name was bothsimple and tedha just like our showso we went to the channel with thename. The channel liked it too asalso the letter K... un dinon K ka bol-bala thha, so that’s that,” he tells you.

Majethia went on to dosomething different once again andcame up with yet another brilliantidea of Sarabhai vs Sarabhai.

“After Khichdi, people startedcalling us up for similar shows withGujarati families in them. But wedidn’t want to keep on making thesame show. People wantedsomething like Khichdi and we realised thatwe were of being typecast. Star Plus waslaunching its new channel Star One andlooking for upmarket family comedy shows.Aatish took inspiration from some of hisfamily members to shape the script ofSarabhai vs Sarabhai. Our only aim at that

time was that it shouldn’t be compared toKhichdi and it should set its ownbenchmark,” he explains.

The casting process is equally importantas that of a good script. “The major thingthat we keep in mind during the castingprocess is that we don’t only go for look.

Look is important but there areother equally important factorstoo. We have very layered charactersso we need versatile and talentedactors who would suite the role.There are a lot of nuances thatcome in our shows so we needactors who have the capability todo it. The other thing is we go forsurprise casting which means wepick those actors who haven’tplayed a particular role before andthe audience will not expect themin that role, like Supriya Pathak(who played Hansa) was seendoing very serious roles and RajeevMehta (who played Praful) wasfamous for doing negative roles, sowe casted them. The same was forSarabhai vs Sarabhai, for MayaSarabhai we came up with thename of Ratna Pathak but it wasvery difficult to make her say yesbecause she was not willing to doTV at that time. Then we went toher and gave her the narration ofthe script. She liked the script verymuch and said yes to the role onone condition that the show shouldnot lose its essence like other TVshows and we promised her thesame. Then Rajesh Kumar was alsoa surprise cast, he played a negativerole in Ek Mahal Ho Sapno Ka. Thisis how we got such brilliant actorson-board,” he tells you addingthat his latest show Bhakarwadi’scasting was very difficult becauseit have19 actors in it.

He adds that the humour in hisshows is character driven and ittakes a lot of time to developchemistry between each and everycharacter of the show. There shouldbe a chemistry in conflict too. Iftwo people don’t go well with eachother in real life there should bechemistry between them too on-screen to bring that reality in theshow.

The USP of his shows is that allthe characters play an importantpart in the show unlike the othershows where there are two lead —male and female and the rest arejust in supporting roles.

Though the concept of comedyshows is growing and thecompetition is growing, Majethiadon’t fear it. “Yes, the competitionis growing with so many newshows coming up with youngerpeople but challenges are good.They help us improve. The showsthat I make are very differentfrom others. They are completelyfamily based shows meant for the

whole family to watch it together. Andevery show has its own USP and runs onit,” he tells you.

At present, his show Bhakarwadiis running successfully and we hope tosee some more shows like these infuture too.

special 09LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

The weight of bangles pullsher down each time sheaims higher, while the redsindoor shouts out theduties she must abide by inher black and white life.

Without a voice of her own, the onlytime she is heard is through her cries ofhelp which haunt bleak corners of thecountry. This is the harsh reality of India.

According to an April 2016 reportby IndiaSpend, only 27 per cent ofwomen make it to the nation’s labourforce. Out of this, the minuscule per-centage of women from the rural areasis a wake-up call for society. Accordingto the Annual Employment Survey con-ducted by Labour Bureau, only eight percent rural women contribute to India’sworking population. India had the sec-ond-lowest female labour force partic-ipation rate. In South Asia, as per aWorld Bank report, not much haschanged over the years.

But there exists hope and solutionsto eradicate this gender bias to anextent. The ‘Women on Wheels’ pro-gramme started in 2008 by the Delhi-based Azad Foundation, encourageswomen to find a voice to fight back theirvulnerabilities and live a dignified life.

Brahmi Chakravorty, one of the pro-gramme coordinators at Azad’s GreaterKailash branch in South Delhi, says:“Our ‘Women on Wheels’ programmeempowers women with nominal eco-nomic and social capital to become pro-fessional and commercial chauffeurs.”

Rohini, 23, never imagined shewould one day become a proud chauf-feur. Young and independent, she hasmade her family proud. Eldest amongthree siblings, she works for Sakha as acommercial driver. Her father, a chef inSouth Africa, on learning about the pro-gramme and the opportunities it offers,encouraged her to apply for it. Rohinirecalls being scared and uncertain as shehad never driven before. The thought ofher dainty and fragile body inside theheavy metal of any four-wheeler terri-fied her. But Rohini was one of the luckyfew as she had all the support from herfamily, her father especially, she empha-sizes.

“When I joined the programme, lit-tle did I know that my dedication willtake me a long way. Six months into theprogramme, I found myself embracingthe new sense of confidence it gave me.But it all did not come to me on a plat-ter. I faced a lot of challenges to reachwhere I am today,” she says.

Juggling between college, studies,family and work, she was stressed fortime. Burdened with work, her vulner-ability would kick in and break her downto the point she couldn’t take it any fur-ther. That’s when she would tell herselfin her soft yet shrilly voice, ‘It is okay,Rohini. You can do this. Just a tough day,there’s a long road ahead’. And there didlie a long road ahead.

Rohini’s first job was at a café in theCapital. But it lasted for a short period

as being a college student limited her.“Everything in life happens for a reason,”she tells you, looking back at her jour-ney in Azad. The six-month trainingprogramme taught her more than whatshe learnt while preparing for thoseexams in school.

It took her four months to be readyto drive without fear. Recalling the firsttime she tried her hands on the wheel,she says: “Even though I had a trainernext to me, I was numb. The only thingI could sense was fear”. But hard workand time, turned what she thoughtseemed impossible into a career for her.Today, her family and friends look at herwith pride. Most importantly, whenRohini looks in the mirror, she sees anewer version of herself, one she alwaysthrived to be but couldn’t. Each time sheis stuck in traffic, amid chaotic life thatbreathes through Delhi, her eyes meetthose of the strangers stopping besideher, looking at her with amusement.

“People are not used to seeingwomen chauffeurs. It feels good toshow them that women are no less,” shetells you. Rohini believes that a womanis no less than a man, rather she is waymore than he can ever be.

Azad has helped many young girlslike Rohini as it aspires to challenge thenorms that keep economically weakwomen at home. It helps build new rolemodels for girl children and otherwomen who have been made invisiblein India’s urban economic growth.

Another inspiring story of a brave-heart from Odisha’s Rautella district ishere to be heard. This 40-year-oldwoman called Grace comes from a low-key conservative family. Married off inRanchi at an early age, she has two sonswith whom she now resides in Delhi.

A Grade 12th pass out, Grace didnot have the opportunity to study fur-ther due to financial constraints. But sheopened new doors and managed to geta job with the ‘Chetnalya NGO inDelhi where she worked as a teacherteaching primary class students.

She went on to work at the Hondafactory taking care of technical worksuch as wiring. In the years before sheenrolled herself with the Women forWheels programme, she switched jobsand grabbed every opportunity shefound in the busy hustlebustle of theCapital. It was while she was working fora small firm called Lexar that she learntabout the programme through theirmobilising strategy taking place in theregion. Fascinated by what it had to offer,the child in her who always wanted tolearn driving, knew this was the rightcalling.

After receiving a nod from her hus-band, she joined the programme in 2009and has been a part of the Azad familyever since. However, she did not receiveany emotional support from her hus-band who works outside town. He onlygave her financial support.

The organisation took care of thepaperwork as it provides complete assis-

tance to women for enrollment; fromfinancial aid to documentation. It tookher nine months to achieve her perma-nent license and it wasn’t an easy ride.She failed twice yet it was her passion tohave a better life that motivated her.

“It became exhausting after a point.I was not able to clear the tests and theuncertainty of it bothered me,” shesays. Moreover, a lack of emotional sup-port from her husband made her feel likea lone warrior in this battle. But deter-mination kept her going until she final-ly succeeded in her tests and landed her-self with a job offer.

Much like Rohini, Grace too had toface challenges of her own, at the work-place and home. “Sometimes customersbehave rudely. They underestimate thecapabilities of a woman driver,” saysGrace, recalling her first client. Yet shehas held on to this job for a decade now.It has taught her how to be tough, madeher independent and most important-ly, given her a dignified livelihood, oneshe is proud of.

“Today driving is like a piece of cakefor me. I know it so well and it gives meimmense pleasure each time I put myhands on the steering wheel,” she tellsyou.

“I have even done night shifts andthe fear within me doesn’t exist any-more,” she adds. It’s time for her nextshift and donning the pink and blue uni-form she drives away leaving behind amessage for the society to reflect upon.

Azad has extended its arms to ruralwomen in Delhi, Indore, Jaipur,Bangalore, Kolkata and Ahmedabad.The organisation works across religiousand social divides to enable resourcepoor women to empower themselves byengaging them in viable non-tradition-al livelihoods options.

It has helped transform lives of morethan 1000 women across the countryand continue doing so.

Their work becomes even more

relevant in a society where more andmore women joining the workforcewith mounting safety concerns. Partyingtill late at night has become a strict no-no. Off-late, however, many companieshave introduced cab services driven bywomen for women. So, next time, beforeyou turn down an invite for a late-nightparty because of safety issues, think ofcalling a cab driven by Grace or anyother woman.

After various incidents across citieslike Bengaluru and Delhi, many cabcompanies are hiring women so thatthey can extend this service to womenwho are not only working late at nightin MNCs, but also to women foreigntourists who arrive late at night. One istold that most of the women cab driversdo night duty. These women do knowhow to handle all kinds of awkward sit-uations. But for most part the passen-gers are taken in by the fact that they arebeing driven around by a woman.

It begins with the training — how todrive, how to change the tyre and dosmall repairs in case of a breakdown.They are also taught how to deal withthe bias that women can’t be commer-cial drivers.

But it is not an easy ride for thesewomen. Once the training is over, theyneed to be employed in homes for a year;one can’t get a commercial license oth-erwise.

Also many SUVs and other carsdon’t have a seat adjustment. Since theaverage height of these women is 5’2 itbecomes difficult for them. Then thereare other little riders — employers haveto provide a bathroom facility. But formost part, the women drivers are ableto adjust to whatever the situation sincethey can earn anywhere between `15,000 to `25,000 as commercial drivers.This is a big amount considering thatsome of the women come from homeswhere the maximum salary is `5,000 amonth. So they end up being the pri-mary breadearners for the family.

Shanno Begum, a 40-year-old hasbeen driving around Delhi for sevenyears, says: “I earn anywhere between Rs40,000 to Rs 50,000 a month. This iswhen I driver only during peak hours —6 am to 10 am and 4 pm to 9 pm. Thetimings help me; I can go back home tohave lunch and take a loo break. Theflexible timings make it possible for meto look after my home as well,” ShannoBegum tells you.

Of course there are instances whereother male drivers try to intimidate her.But this owner of a Honda Amaze saysthat she has learnt to ignore.

“It has been so long since I have beendriving, so I know how to deal with anawkward situation. I lock the car; I havea GPS navigation system to help me findmy way on routes that I don’t know,”Shanno says.

The Azad Foundation has helpedtransform lives of more than 1,000women across the country and contin-ue doing so.

KHUSHI PAL meets up with young and old women who may be from theeconomically weaker section of society but have broken tight gender norms andintense societal bias to earn a living for themselves as cab drivers

She was very young when her family decidedto shift from Kolkata to Delhi in search of ajob. Even though the family has land back

home, there was not enough cash to meet dailyexpenses.

For Tumpa, now 21, this move to the Capitalwas an eye-opener. Soon the problems of the bigcity caught up with the family and it decided toshift back. Things weren’t better there either andtwo years later, they were back in Delhi. The two-year gap in her education meant she couldn’t getadmission in any school in Delhi. Also, thefamily’s financial situation didn’t permit her tostudy further. Her father is a salesperson, hermother cooks at h homes and the youngerbrother works at a cyber cafe. Her elder sister ismarried.

But Tumpa never gave up and enrolled in theOpen School to clear her Class X and then XIIexams. It was when the family shifted to MayurVihar Phase-I in Delhi that Tumpa came to knowof a driving institute run by a woman. Tumpalearnt how to drive a car, got a licence and wasoffered a job. But the traffic situation scared her.That was when she heard of the organisationPillion that was offering jobs to women whoknew how to ride a bike. Enlisting the help of herneighbour who had a Scooty, she learnt how todrive and was ready in a couple of months.

“It has been around a year that I have beenferrying women from the Karol Bagh Metrostation to Jhandewalan and nearby areas. I earnaround `12,000 a month and now contribute tothe family income that stands at `35,000 amonth,” Tumpa says. She is the first bike taxidriver in the Capital in a fleet of 60.

“Seeing how much I earn, other girls want todo what I am doing. Even the lady who taughtme how to drive the bike wants to join,” Tumpatells you.

The good thing is that Tumpa only ferrieswomen and has a 9 am to 6 pm shift, hencesafety concerns are addressed. For a ride up to akm, the charge is `20, after that it is `5 per km.In a day, if Tumpa does 10 rides, she gets `15per ride, for 15 rides she gets `17 and for amaximum of 20 she gets `18.

Like all girls her age, Tumpa is all set to getmarried later this year. “I would like to continuewhat I am doing but it will now depend on myhusband and what he wants and where we willbe living. I will, of course, convince my in-laws tolet me work par aapko toh pata hai, humareyahan sasural walley kaise hotey hain,” Tumpasays.

— Shalini Saksena

Ferrying womensafe and sound

JUGGLING BETWEENCOLLEGE, FAMILY, ANDWORK, I FOUNDMYSELF SUCCUMBINGTO PRESSURE.SOMETIMES I COULDNOT TAKE IT ANYMORE BUTDETERMINED TO MAKEIT MY CAREER, ICARRIED ON. EVENTHOUGH I HAD ATRAINER NEXT TO MEIN THE CAR, I WASNUMB. THE ONLYTHING I COULD SENSEWAS FEAR. BUT HARDWORK AND TIMETURNED THE TIDE FORME

— ROHINI

DRIVERS OF CHANGE

Tumpa drives a customer home on her scooty

LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

10

}RUNS 450 David Warner (SRH)

WICKETS 19 Kagiso Rabada (DC)

6S 458

4S 1032{LEADERBOARD

To lose by 10 runs, it's just two hitsaway. In the middle period, if we scoreda bit faster we would definitely get theruns. — ANDRE RUSSEL

Up Next Match After

PTI n HYDERABAD

Atop-heavy SunrisersHyderabad will look to

tame an Andre Russell-reliantKolkata Knight Riders in ahigh pressure clash of theIndian Premier League hereon Sunday.

Both teams have eightpoints though SRH haveplayed one match less. Thehosts snapped their three-match losing streak with a winover table leaders CSK andKKR now need to do thesame having lost their last fourgames.

The race to play-offs isheating up and both sidesknow the value of a win onSunday.

A rampaging Russell andNitish Rana almost pulled offa miraculous win on Fridaynight after the KKR top-order

left them with too much to doin the death overs. Russelleven questioned the team'sdecision to send him lowerdown the order when the likesof Robin Uthappa struggled.

There is little doubt thatthe KKR think tank will beworking overtime to get backto winnings ways.

The hosts too have con-cerns of their own, mainly

their over-reliance on openersDavid Warner and JonnyBairstow, who will be leavingat the end of the week to joinEngland's World Cup.

When the opening duohas fired, SRH have done wellbut on other occasions themiddle-order has let themdown. The World Cup-boundVijay Shankar is due for a bigscore and so is captain KaneWilliamson.

However, Bairstowdefended the his team's mid-dle-order batsmen. "We havegot some fantastic players inour middle-order and David

and I have done a fairly goodjob at the top. There are play-ers who are in the World Cupteam. Yusuf Pathan's recordsspeak for itself. There is a rea-son why they have done sowell in the last couple ofyears," said Bairstow.

Asked on how they planto tackle the Russell threat, headded: "We could bowl some-one like Rashid (Khan) orSandeep (Sharma), who exe-cutes slower balls so well.Russell is playing well, nodoubt but at the same time heis still human, he can still getout. "If we can concentrate onwhat we do well, if are able toplay the way we did againstChennai (Super Kings) theother day, and put on a com-plete performance togetherthen we should be in a goodplace. The pitch has beenbrilliant here," he added.

PTI n BENGALURU

Chennai Super Kings will beexpected to shrug off a rare

loss and effectively seal a play-off berth against RoyalChallengers Bangalore in theIndian Premier League here onSunday.

Defending championsCSK, who lost to SRH in theprevious game for only theirsecond loss this season, will getto 16 points with a win at theChinnaswamy and it should beenough to guarantee a place inthe top-four.

Their leader M S Dhonimissed the game against SRHdue to a stiff back but will prob-ably be fit for the game onSunday.

"Probably he will play inthe next game against RCB,"stand-in skipper Suresh Rainahad said after the loss to SRH.

Following the tournamentopener between CSK and RCBin Chennai, both teams havehad contrasting campaigns.While CSK have lived up totheir reputation again, RCBcontinue to under-perform.

No doubt, RCB will befired up after the win againstKKR at Kolkata on Fridaynight when they finally man-aged to defend despite a brutalassault from Andre Russell andNitish Rana. It was only theirsecond win in nine games inthe season so far though theyit still kept them mathematical-ly alive in the tournament.

RCB could also take a cuefrom a similar situation in2016 when they had lost five of

their first seven games, butended up in the playoffs afterwinning six of their last sevenmatches.

In the absence of indis-posed AB de Villiers on Friday,Virat Kohli took it all uponhimself to post a big total andin the process scored his firstcentury of the season. With ABexpected to be back, RCB willbe aiming to please their loyalfans with a victory at last ontheir home ground.

Despite the arrival of DaleSteyn, their bowling remains aworry as it was evident at theEden Gardens where Russelland Rana almost pulled off theimpossible after KKR needed113 off the last six overs. Thehosts just fell short by 10 runsas Moeen Ali saved the day forRCB with both bat and ball,having defended 24 in the finalover.

On the the other hand,CSK will fancy themselvesagainst RCB and sail into theplay-offs. Dhoni, who hasscored 230 runs in eight gamesincluding two half-centuries,will hold the key once again.

The star bowler for CSKthis season has been 40-year-old Imran Tahir, who has taken13 wickets. The South Africanimport has executed his skip-per's plans brilliantly.

Live on Star Sports 1& 2

BENGALURU

RCB vs CSK

SUNDAY | 8:00 PM

HEADTO

HEADM 23

CSK 15

RCB 7

Sunrisers eye win against KKR

Live on Star Sports 1& 2

HYDERABAD

SRH vs KKR

SUNDAY | 4:00 PM

HEADTO

HEADM 16

KKR 10

SRH 6

CSK aim to seal play-off berth against RCB

PTI n JAIPUR

Steve Smith celebrated hisreturn at the helm with acaptain's innings that pow-

ered Rajasthan Royals to a five-wicket victory over a formida-ble Mumbai Indians in anIndian Premier Leagueencounter here Saturday.

Chasing a target of 162,Royals won the game with fiveballs to spare as the formerAustralia captain anchored theinnings with an unbeaten 59 off48 balls.

India U-19 World CupperRiyan Parag (43 off 29 balls)also showed good tempera-ment as he matched his skipperstroke for stroke during their 70runs stand in 9.4 overs thatpaved the way for a comfortablevictory.

Smith, who replacedAjinkya Rahane after the Indiavice-captain's disastrous run, hitfive boundaries and a six whileAssam lad Riyan also had iden-tical number of hits to thefence.

This is Rajasthan's thirdwin in nine games as they arenow placed seventh in theleague table above woodenspooners Royal ChallengersBangalore even though a play-off qualification looks a longshot as of now.

Rajasthan Royals, who werein a must-win situation, racedto 39 in 3.3 overs but Rahane(12 off 12 balls) departed asSuryakumar Yadav took a div-ing catch at covers off leg-spinner Rahul Chahar, whowas the pick of the bowlers withfigures of 3 for 29.

Credit should also be givento Sanju Samson for his whirl-wind 35 off 19 balls that set thepace and enabled Smith toanchor the innings in the man-ner only he can.

Riyan's composure also

helped even though Chahar andthe seasoned Jasprit Bumrah(1/21 in 4 overs) bowled well atthe back end but the home teamshowed enough firepower.

Earlier, Quinton de Kockcontinued his impressive runwith another solid half-centu-ry as Mumbai Indians put up adecent 161 for 5 batting first.

De Kock smashed 65 off 47balls with six fours and twosixes, adding 97 runs off 68 ballsfor the second wicket withSuryakumar Yadav (34 off 33balls) that helped MI total gaina semblance of respectability.

Reinstated as skipper inplace of Rahane, Smith intro-duced leg-spinner Shreyas

Gopal (2/21 in 4 overs) in thethird over.

He deceived rival skipperRohit Sharma (5), who steppedout only to offer a return catchafter failing to read a googly.

Gopal could have got ridof De Kock off the last ball ofthe over but Jofra Archerdropped a difficult chance atlong on.

Making most out of thisreprieve De Kock helped histeam reach 50-run mark in 6.5overs.

He reached his own half-century in 34 balls and hispartnership with Suryakumarwas broken when latter wascaught in deep off Stuart Binny

in the 14th over.A few balls later De Kock

too was holed out in long-onas Hardik Pandya and Pollardjoined forces with scoreboardreading 112 for 3 in 15 overs.

Pollard (10 runs 7 balls)was dropped by Archer onceagain. Hardik played anotherof his cameos scoring 23 off 15balls.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer (58*)kept his cool to help hosts edged past

Kings XI Punjab by five wickets in theirIndian Premier League clash at Feroz ShahKotla stadium on Saturday.

Earlier, Delhi Capitals strike regular-ly in between overs and nullify Chris Gayleblockbuster start before a late cameo bydebutant Harpreet Brar lift Kings XIPunjab to 163 for 7.

West Indian Chris Gayle smashes 37-ball 69 which includes 6 fours and 5 bigsixes. While Brar adds 12-ball 20 runs inthe end which includes a last ball six toKagiso Rabada that took Punjab past 160runs mark.

Shreyas Iyer won the toss and opted tofield first at the tricky Kotla track. Delhimade three changes into the line-up bybringing in Sandeep Lamichhane, ColinIngram and debutant Sherfane Rutherfordin place of Colin Munro, Keemo Paul andChris Morris.

While winner in the previous tiebetween these two sides, Kings XI Punjabreplaces Mujeeb, Pooran and Arshdeep withhat-trick hero Sam Curran, pacer HardusViljoen and debutant left arm mystery spin-ner Harpreet Brar.

Coming to bat first, in-form KL Rahul

welcomes Sandeep Lamichhane with afirst ball six, straight down the ground in thesecond over of the innings and then strokeda four in the third ball to put pressure onthe bowler early on. But Sandeep got hisrevenge in the fourth ball when a brilliantpiece of glove work by Rishabh Pant sent KLback to the pavilion. He was out for 12 runsin nine balls.

However Rahul’s dismissal had noeffect on Gayle and he hammered Ishant fora four and a 101 m six in the third overbefore hitting four boundaries to SandeepLamichhane.

But on the other hand, Mayank Agarwalfailed to get boundaries and the pressure ofdot balls forced him to go big but it result-ed in his dismissal. He was out for just 2 offnine balls by Kagiso Rabada.

Next up to bat at 4 was David Miller.The South African started with a first ballfour. Kings XI completed its first 50 in 5.4overs when Gayle hits Ishant for a four. Andthen he hammered Amit Mishra for big sixdown the ground in the first over after pow-erplay.

But in process of matching his partner,David Miller throws his wicket. He was outfor 7 runs in five balls and was caught byPrithvi Shaw near the boundary line in thefirst ball of Axar Patel’s spell.

But even this also had no effect on Gayle

as he hits another big six down the groundto Amit Mishra and then takes a single tocomplete his fifty in just 25 balls.

He hits another one (his 4th of the night)in the fourth ball of the ninth over. But wassent back to the dugout after Colin Ingramtook a brilliant catch near the boundary linewhich was completed by Axar Patel, asIngram passed the ball to him before cross-ing the boundary line.

He was out for 69 in just 37 balls. At thattime KXIP was 106 for 4 in 12.2 overs.

The visitors suffered another setback inthe same over as Sam Curran was sent backfor nought by Lamichhane (c & b).

With this twin blow in one over, KXIPscoring rate dip down as Mandeep (30 off27 balls) and Ravichandran Ashwin (16 off14 balls) failed to hit boundaries on a reg-ular interval. However it was the last ball ofthe innings that took them past 160 whenBrar hits Rabada for a six.

For Delhi, Lamichhane was the mostsuccessful bowler with 3 for 40, whileRabada and Axar Patel also got 2 wicketseach.BRIEF SCORES:Kings XI Punjab: 163 for 7 in 20 overs(Chris Gayle 69; Sandeep Lamichhane3/40) Delhi Capitals: 166 for 5 in 19.4 overs(Shikhar Dhawan 56, Shreyas Iyer 58 notout; Hardus Viljoen 2/39).

PTI n KOLKATA

Virat Kohli has said theonus was only on him to

bat through the innings in theabsence of AB de Villiers andthe RCB skipper lived up to theexpectations with a 58-ball 100for his first century of IPL 2019.

RCB eked out a 10-run winover KKR for only their secondsuccess of the season afterAndre Russell and Nitish Rananearly pulled off the impossi-ble. De Villiers was under theweather before the start of thegame and Kohli decided to resthim.

"It was important to batalong when AB is not here, asa senior player. AB was disap-pointed for not making it forthe game tonight and I told himthat I'll give him a hug if we wintonight," Kohli said at the post-match presentation on Friday.

RCB finally managed todefend a total after posting 213for four at the Eden Gardens.

"There's no point in pan-icking in these types of situa-tions, you got to leave it to thebowlers to decide what hewants to do. Few good deci-

sions by (Marcus) Stoinis andthen Moeen in the end. I thinkthe way Stoinis bowled thosetwo-three dot balls, it was verycrucial," Kohli said of Stoinispenultimate over.

"They (Moeen and Stoinis)both showed composure andthat's what you expect fromyour teams mates. Our com-munication during secondtime-out was to get 170-175, wedidn't think we could get 200-plus."

PTI n KOLKATA

Pacer Navdeep Saini, whois among India's stand-

bys for the World Cup, sayshe is ready for his big breakin the mega event should theneed arises.

After attracting selec-tors' attention with a splen-did season for Delhi indomestic cricket, the 26-year-old has impressed withhis pace and bounce forRCB in the IPL.

The uncapped pacer isthe sole bowler among thestandbys with the othersbeing Ambati Rayudu andRishabh Pant. Saini will alsobe travelling with the WorldCup squad as one of the fournet bowlers alongsideKhaeel Ahmed, Avesh Khanand Deepak Chahar.

"Absolutely (I'mready)... The confidence ofdoing well in IPL will giveme a big boost. If I get achance in World Cup, Ihope to do well," the shy ladfrom Haryana told reportersafter RCB's 10-run win over

Kolkata Knight Riders at theEden Gardens here onFriday.

On his World Cuppreparation, he said: "Wetalk during the matches butthe most important thing isto pay full attention at thenets. If you do well at thenets, you will do well in amatch as well.

"My dad has always toldme to give your 110 per centeffort wherever you play. I'mputting in that extra effortalways in practice session

and in a match."Saini is also gaining

from the vast experience ofSouth African great DaleSteyn who has come onboard as a replacement forNathan Coulter-Nile.

"I had a discussion withhim on the eve of the match.He just told me to bowl thesame way and not try any-thing different," Saini said.

Saini returned with fig-ures 1/31 taking the prized-scalp of the explosive KKRopener Sunil Narine.

PTI n HYDERABAD

Sunrisers Hyderabad opener JonnyBairstow on Saturday expressed his

desire to help the team win the next twogames and take few steps closer to makingthe IPL play-offs before heading back to joinEngland's World Cup camp.

Bairstow will play two more games forthe Sunrisers -- against Kolkata KnightRiders here on Sunday and against thedefending champions Chennai Super Kingsin Chennai on April 23.

After that he will go back home to pre-pare for the World Cup, beginning May 30in UK, with the rest of the England ODIsquad.

"So far it has gone well. To be in the topfive leading run scorers...It is really verypleasing. Hopefully I can finish on a highin the next two games as well and we couldbe in the position to make the play-offs bythe time I leave," said Bairstow during around table conference here on the eve ofthe home game against Kolkata KnightRiders.

All the English players featuring in theongoing IPL are suppose to be back inEngland.

Currently placed fifth on the highestrun-scorer's list in the ongoing IPL,Bairstow's absence will be a big blow for theSunrisers. In his debut IPL season for theHyderabad-based franchise, the openerhas scored 365 runs so far in eight gamesat an average of 52.14, including a hundredand a half-century.

"We get back after the Chennai game onApril 23. Then we've got the World Cupcamp. We then play Pakistan in the five-ODIseries and then we've got two warm-upmatches in which we play Afghanistan andAustralia. And then we go into the WorldCup.

"It's a lot of cricket leading into theWorld Cup. And then we've got five AshesTests after that," Bairstow told reporters.

Smith propels Royals’ winIyer romps Delhi Capitals home

JAIPUR: Rajasthan Royalswill be led by the Australianbatsman Steven Smith forthe upcoming matches ofthe IPL. Ajinkya Rahane did afantastic job in leading theteam to the playoffs lastyear, however, the franchiseenow thinks a fresh approachis needed to bring their 2019campaign back on track.Steve has always been partof the leadership team withinRR and Rahane will continueto be a key voice in the side,therefore the Royals see thisas a small restructuringprocess to secure the resultsrequired to move up thetable.Zubin Bharucha, Head ofCricket for Rajasthan Royals,said, ‘Ajinkya is and willalways be a true Royal. Heled the team to the play offsin 2018 in a very challengingscenario and that will godown as one of the greatcomebacks of the IPL. Heremains a key part of ourside and leadership teamand will extend supportwherever required to Steve.” “Steve is one of the mostinnovative and successfulcaptains in the world, in allformats of the game. We areconfident he can lead theRoyals to success.” addedBharucha.

Steven’s unbeaten 59, Riyan’s 43 help Rajasthan beat MI by 5 wickets

Smith’s Royal return

‘I told AB I will give hima hug if we win tonight'

On stand-by for World Cup,

Saini ready for his big moment

‘Hopefully we're inposition to make play-offs before I leave’

sport 11LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

ALIGANJ SPORTING WINAliganj Sporting edged past Yuva Sporting

1-0 to enter the final of Rajeshwari DeviThakur Memorial Football Tournament atChowk Stadium on Saturday. In another semi-final match, Golden Boys blanked AliganjWarriors 2-0.

CHESS TOURNAMENTLucknow District Under-7 selection

tournament will begin at Lucknow DistrictChess Academy on Sunday. Top two boys andgirls will represent Lucknow in the forthcom-ing UP state chess championship to be held atGhaziabad .

SMASHERS, BCC ENTER FINALSmashers defeated TCC by 30 runs while

BCC beat Super Nova by four wickets to set upa title clash in the Eshwar Kaur Memorial CricketTournament on Saturday.BRIEF SCORES:Smashers: 209 (Mohd Saif 37, Athar Rizvi 37,Tauheed 36, Dheerendra Singh 24; Ranjeet 26/3,Sandeep Chabra 11/1)TCC: 179 (Pallav Garg 38, Ravi Negi 36, AdilPasha 30. Tariq Siddiqui 19, Nitin 16; AdityaSingh 20/3, Arun Singh 24/1)

Super Nova: 107 (Rishi 20, Kenny 17, AjayRajpurohit 15, Anuj 10; Manjeet 11/3, KanchanRajput 22/2)BCC: 108 (Mayank 44, Anshul 23, Sudhir Singh10; Shakti Kumar 15/2, Shrey Sharma 19/2).

DAY OF UPSETSIt was a day of upsets in Avijay Open Chess

Tournament as many players shocked higherrated players. Aryan Singh, Sanvi Agarwalupset Kuldeep Shankar and Prithvi SInghrespectively while Athrav Rastogi held AmanAgarwal on a draw.

SANCHIT BAGS GOLD

Sanchit Kumar Gautam bagged the goldmedal in the 5th District Boxing Championshipat Chowk Stadium on Saturday. He was alsoadjudged best boxer of the championship whileAnuj Gautam walked away with most promis-ing player award.

MANCHESTER: PepGuardiola will target thequadruple again next seasonwith Manchester City despitethe disappointment of thisweek’s Champions League exitagainst Tottenham.

Spurs manager MauricioPochettino and Liverpool’sJurgen Klopp — Guardiola’sclosest challenger for thePremier League title — haveboth advanced to the semi-finals of Europe’s leading clubcompetition.

But, unlike Guardiola, thatduo have placed far less empha-sis on the domestic cup com-petitions, fielding weakenedsides in the early rounds of theLeague Cup and FA Cup.

By contrast Guardiola, incontrast, has always fieldedfull, or near-full, strengthteams, leaving him open toaccusations fatigue is hamper-ing his team in the season’sclosing stages.

Nevertheless the City man-ager, who won the League Cupagainst Chelsea and faces an FACup final date with Watfordnext month, is adamant hewould never deliberatelyattempt to be knocked out of acompetition.

“I don’t understand in myprofession, it is not to say Idon’t want to win, I don’tunderstand that,” said

Guardiola.“If I lose it’s because the

opponent beat me or beat us.I’m not going to drop anycompetitions because maybe inthe future it will be better.” -

The former Barcelona andBayern Munich boss whoseCity side, thanks to a quirk ofthe fixture list next playTottenham again in thePremier League on Saturday,added: “Who knows what’sgoing to happen in the future?The present is this game and Iwill try.

“I will dream next seasonof fighting for the four titles,that’s my dream.” Despite thetraumatic nature of the aggre-gate reverse on away goalsagainst Spurs, City are stilljust six wins — five in theleague and the FA Cup Final —away from becoming the firstEnglish team ever to win adomestic treble Rather thanforget the disappointment ofmidweek, the City managerhopes the memory of thatpainful loss will inspire his side,although the Catalan bossaccepted he could not be sureof his star-studded team’s reac-tion. “I don’t know,” he said.“Before the game you don’tknow how you will play, younever know how you’ll react,we were out other times, andwe reacted well.

PTI n DOHA

Aseverely depleted Indiancontingent is unlikely to

repeat its unprecedented top-of-the-table finish in the lastedition but is still expected towin a substantial number ofmedals when the AsianAthletics Championshipsbegins here on Sunday.

India had finished on topof the table with a record-breaking haul of 29 medals (12gold, 5 silver, 12 bronze) in the2017 Championships held inBhubaneswar. China had fin-ished second with 20 medals.

But this time, the 42-mem-ber Indian team is not expect-ed to achieve that kind of a suc-cess with several athletes,including star javelin throwerNeeraj Chopra, missing out ofthe continental flagship eventdue to various reasons, includ-ing injuries.

The biggest name in Indianathletics, Neeraj has suffered anelbow sprain during practice inPatiala and he is not defendingthe title he had won in 2017.National record holders

Dharun Ayyasamy (men’s400m Hurdles), M Sreeshankar(men’s long jump) and AsianGames 800m gold medallistManjit Singh were also notnamed in the team due toinjuries.

Triple jumper ArpinderSingh, training in the USA, didjust 16.34m in the FederationCup (against qualification stan-dard of 16.50m) and later saidhe’s focusing on the WorldChampionships to be held atthe same venue in September-October.

Veteran Sudha Singh, whowon a gold in the women’s3000m steeplechase in 2017,was named in the team despitemissing the Federation Cup —which served as the qualifyingevent — as well as the confir-matory trials, but the SportsMinistry has refused to clearher name.

Her tickets to Doha werebooked and the AthleticsFederation of India made arequest to clear her name butthe Sports Ministry did notbudge.

“The Sports Ministry has

refused to clear her namedespite the AFI making anoth-er request,” a well-placed sourcetold PTI on condition ofanonymity.

Another athlete who wontwo gold in 2017, GovindanLakshman (men’s 5000m and1000m) was not picked as hecould not finish on the podiumin the Federation Cup.

The number of medals aswell as gold count is certain tocome down from the last edi-tion. This will also be a climbdown from the high at the

Jakarta Asian Games last year,when the country won 19medals including seven gold.

The first day on Sundaywill decide eight gold medalsand from the Indian perspec-tive the women’s 400m finalwill be the most anticipatedone. Sprint sensation HimaDas will be running in the pre-liminary round in the morningwhile the final will be held inthe evening.

Bahrain’s Salwa Naser willstart as the overwhelmingfavourite to take the gold in thewomen’s quartermile event.She had beaten Hima com-fortably in the Asian Games400m final. She was second inworld lists last year (49.08s).

This Asian Championshipsis crucial as the gold medallistgets the automatic qualificationfor the World Championships.This competition is also anideal platform to accumulateranking points if an athlete failsto achieve the stiff entry stan-dards prescribed by the inter-national federation.

Jinson Johnson (1500m),Tejinder Pal Singh Toor (men’s

shot put) and women’s 4x400mrelay team could be consideredas gold medal contenders.National record holder quar-termiler Muhammed Anas andhis women’s counterpart HimaDas are not expected to wingold but can bag a medal.

Anas was not at his bestduring the Federation Cup lastmonth as he was running a fewmonths after suffering a leginjury in an accident. Hima hasnot been at her best after shetook a break to prepare for herexams before coming back towin the Federation Cup with a52.88 seconds.

No one has crossed 20.0min the shot put in Asia this sea-son except Tejinder. Thatmakes the Asian Games cham-pion the favourite to take thegold.

Dutee, a double silver win-ner at the Jakarta Asian Games,is also a medal contender inwomen’s 100m. She will be upagainst the likes of Wei Yongliof China and Kazakhstan’sOlga Saffronikova, who hadwon a silver in 2017. Dutee hadwon a bronze in 2017.

PTI n NEW DELHI

BCCI Ombudsman Justice DKJain has sought a written sub-

mission from Sourav Ganguly afterSaturday’s hearing, even as the Boardput its weight firmly behind the for-mer India skipper in the alleged con-flict of interest case.

Three Bengal-based cricket fans— Bhaswati Shantua, AbhijeetMukherjee and Ranjit Seal — hadalleged that Ganguly’s duty as CricketAssociation of Bengal (CAB) presi-dent is in direct conflict with his dualrole as an advisor of IPL franchiseDelhi Capitals as well as CricketAdvisory Committee member.

The BCCI termed that the for-mer India captain’s alleged conflictof interest comes under the ‘tractablecategory’ which could be sortedwithout much fuss and with “full dis-closure”.

According to the BCCI’s consti-tution clause 38 (3) (a): “Tractableconflicts are those that are resolvableor permissible or excusable throughrecusal of the individual concernedand - or - with full disclosure of theinterest involved.”

It is learnt that the Committee ofAdministrators (CoA) does not wantGanguly to be penalised if he makes“full disclosure”.

“Agreed that he resigned fromIPL technical committee andGoverning Council after the sub-committees were dissolved whennew constitution came into force.

Yes, he is still a part of CricketAdvisory Committee (CAC) butthat committee has met only twicein four years,” a senior BCCI officialprivy to the development told PTI.

“How can we stop him from per-forming his professional activities asa cricketer? Let the Ombudsmandecide as this could be sorted with-out any problem. If full disclosure ismade, the BCCI sees no harm incontinuing in all three posts. IfOmbudsman feels otherwise, hemay have to resign from two of threeposts,” the official said.

However, if Ganguly is to resignfrom CAC, even Sachin Tendulkar(mentor, Mumbai Indians) and VVSLaxman (mentor, SunrisersHyderabad) could be forced to fol-low suit.

As far as adminstration is con-

cerned, Ganguly’s six-year tenurebefore the mandatory cooling-off asan office-bearer will only end in July2020.

In his deposition, Ganguly saidthat he is working in a voluntary rolewith the IPL franchise.

“Sourav, in his verbal submis-sion, told the Ombudsman that heis not taking a single penny as DCadvisor even though his name isthere in the Team Officials’ list,” asource said.

Jain, who is also BCCI’s EthicsOfficer met Ganguly, BCCI CEORahul Johri (representing the CoA)and legal counsel of the com-plainants, senior Supreme Courtadvocate Biswanath Chatterjee, foraround three hours.

All three parties met Jain togeth-er at the Delhi Capitals’ team hotelfor a meeting that went on for threeand half hours.

“I have heard both the parties aswell as the BCCI and will soon givemy order. However since hearing isover as per principles of natural jus-tice, both parties can give theirwritten submissions before the finalorder is pronounced,” Justice Jainsaid after the meeting.

When asked if there is a timeline,he said: “Of course, there is a time-line. I can’t tell you what happenedas the matter is sub-judice. But theorder will come out soon.”

Ganguly, on his part, said thatthe “meeting went off well” beforeleaving the premises.

PTI n NEW DELHI

Hardik Pandya and K LRahul were on Saturday

fined Rs 20 lakh each by theBCCI Ombudsman D K Jainfor their sexist comments on apopular TV show, ending aninfamous saga that dented thereputation of the two Indiacricketers.

In the order published onthe official BCCI website, Jainwrote that no further actionwill be taken against Pandyaand Rahul, who had missedfive ODIs while serving theirprovisional suspension, andtendered an unconditionalapology for making loose com-ments on women.

Instead, he directed theWorld Cup-bound players topay a fine of Rs 20 lakh eachthat included a payment of Rs1 lakh each to “each of the mostdeserving widows of 10 con-stables in para-military forceswho have lost their lives whileon duty, through ‘Bharat KeVeer App”.

Jain also instructed them todeposit Rs 10 lakh each in thefund “created by the CricketAssociation for the blind”.

All payments are to bemade within four weeks fromthe date of the order — April19, 2019 — failing which “theBCCI may deduct the amountfrom their match fees”.

“I have no hesitation inobserving that the remarksmade by the player, even by hisown admissions, did offendsensitivities, which ought tohave been avoided. Hence, hemust make amends,” Jain stat-ed in the order.

“Taking into considerationall these aspects, in particularthe fact that the player has ten-

dered an apology for the inci-dent without seeking to justi-fy his action, has acknowledgedhis duty to the society andexpressed his willingness tohold himself to the higherstandards expected of him andhas missed five ODIs, in theinterest of justice and fair play,(the fine) would suffice.”

Pandya, 25, and Rahul, 27,deposed before the SupremeCourt-appointed Ombudsmanearlier this month and wereawaiting their fate even afterbeing named in India’s WorldCup squad on Monday.

With their fate finallydecided, they both can fullyfocus on the game now aheadof the World Cup beginningMay 30 in the UK. Theyboth are doing well for theirrespective IPL teams at themoment.

Pandya and Rahul wereprovisionally suspended by theCommittee of Administrators(CoA) for their remarks andwere asked to return home in

the middle of the Australiatour. They had become subjectsof nationwide criticism fol-lowing their outrageous com-ments on a Talk show, aired inthe first week of January.

The two tendered uncon-ditional apologies and their banwas provisionally lifted pend-ing an inquiry. Once Jainassumed his role, the CoAhanded over the matter to theOmbudsman.

Pandya and Rahul havealso spoken publicly on theincident, recalling one of thetoughest phases of their respec-tive careers.

All-rounder Pandya isexpected to play an importantrole for India in the World Cupwhile the in-form Rahul is inthe squad as a reserve openerthough he has also played inthe middle-order.

Pandya has representedIndia in 11 Tests, 45 ODIs and38 T20 Internationals whileRahul has played 34 Tests, 14ODIs and 27 T20

Internationals.In the order, Jain also wrote

why Indian cricketers need tobe mindful of their conduct.

“The cricketers wieldimmense influence in the soci-ety, especially the youth, wholook upon them as role mod-els...These impressionableyoung adults try to emulate notonly their style of play but alsotheir conduct and demeanour.Therefore, they cannot beunmindful of the impact oftheir casual and off the cuffremarks.”

The CoA also felt that theplayers had received sufficientpenalty, stated the order.

“During the course of thepersonal hearing on 9-4-2019,the CEO (Rahul Johri) statedon behalf of the COA that thecommittee feels that the recallof the player from the tours ofAustralia and New Zealand; theloss of match fee and sitting outfor five games was sufficientpenalty for acts of misde-meanour, if any, of the player.”

PTI n LUDHIANA

After 12 rigorous days, Punjab andServices are set to lock horns in the

final of the national football champi-onship for the Santosh Trophy here onSunday.

Being the home side, Punjab haveenjoyed support of the local fans, some-thing that propelled them to gain thelast-gasp win in their previous twogames – against Karnataka in Group Band against Goa in the semi-final.

“Of course, playingin our home groundbrings its own advan-tages. We will have thesupport of the local people behind uswhich gives a lot of motivation to theplayers,” said Punjab assistant coachBikramjit Singh on the eve of thematch.

Services head coach ParshuramSalwadi echoed Bikramjit’s feelings,saying that having a packed stadiumbehind them would be a key advantagefor Punjab.

“Playing a team like Punjab will bevery tough in the Final, especially withthe home support. We faced them in2015, but it will be different this timeas they are the home team. This is theirbiggest strength,” said Salwadi.

The two teams had previously facedoff in the final four years back in the2014-15 season, a match that also inci-dentally took place at the same venue.While the match itself remained goal-less, Services triumphed in penalties bya 5-4 margin.

“We have more flair than them.We’ve already beaten them on a fewoccasions before. But we need to becareful. They have also beaten us in the2014-15 Santosh Trophy Final, so wecannot take them lightly,” said Bikramjit.

“They have very good coordinationin attack. We brought the whole teamto the stadium to watch their semifinalagainst Karnataka and explained tothem how they generate their attacks.So we have made our plans for themaccordingly,” he continued.

Services have beenone of the most consis-tent sides in the FinalRound of the 2018-19

Hero Santosh Trophy so far; they havebeen unbeaten in their five matches thusfar, netting 11 while conceding justthree.

“Definitely, our defence has donereally well. We have seen that our teamcan score at any time. But if we staystrong defensively, it will give ourattackers that platform to go on and dowell,” added Salwadi.

“Having said that, we have alsoscored 11 goals so far, so we will defi-nitely not hold back. So, you can’t saythat we are a defensive side.”

Punjab will be at a slight disadvan-tage with regards to player availabilityas their young right-back Chetan Kumarhas been ruled out due to a knee injurywhich he suffered while going for a tack-le in their semi-final against Goa.

However, with the home advantagebehind Punjab’s back, anything could bepossible in the high-intensity final.

PTI n BANGKOK

Shiva Thapa inched closer toadding a record fourth

medal by entering the 60kgpre-quarterfinals while sixother Indians advanced to thelast-eight stage in the AsianBoxing Championships here onSaturday.

Thapa secured a thrilling4-1 win over Korea’s KimWonho and is now a couple ofwins away from a medal to addto the gold, bronze and silverhe won in 2013, 2015 and2017 editions respectively.

The Assam pugilist willnext take on Kyrgyzstan’sSeitbek Uulu for a place in thequarter-finals on Sunday.

2018 WorldChampionships bronze winnerLovlina Borgohain began hermedal quest in an impressivefashion, outpunching Vietnam’s

Tran Thi Linh 5-0 to advanceto the quarter-finals.

Up next on Monday for the2019 Strandja Cup bronzemedallist is a stiff challenge inthe form of Chinese Taipei’sChen Nien-Chin, to whom theIndian lost to in the semi-finalsof the World Championships inNew Delhi last year.

National champion andMakran Cup gold medallistDeepak continued his goodform at this elite event with yetanother commanding 5-0 winover Sri Lanka’s Mutunaka PediGedara.

Winner of two King’s Cupmedals in Thailand, RohitTokas (64kg) displayed hisspeed and alertness in his 5-0thrashing of Afghanistan’sNooristani MohammadKhaibar to enter the last-eight.

Kavinder Singh Bisht(56kg) brought his gold medal-

winning form from the GeeBeeboxing tournament to openwith a commanding 5-0 victo-ry over Japan’s Subaru Murata.

In contrast, Ashish Kumar(75kg) had to dig deep to beatChina’s TanglatihanTuohetaerbieke in a 3-2 splitverdict in an absorbing pre-quarter-final contest.

21-year-old ManishaMoun (54kg) of Haryana madea promising start to her cam-paign with a unanimous 5-0win over Vietnam’s Do NhaUyen to enter the quarterfinals.

The only loss of the day forthe Indian contingent was inwomen’s 48kg where debutantNitu succumbed to a 1-4 defeatto Taipei’s Pin Meng-Chieh.

On Sunday, all eyes will beon Asian Games gold medallistAmit Panghal (52kg) as hebegins his challenge againstTaipei’s Tu Po-Wei.

Amit, likely to face reign-ing Olympic championHasanboy Dusmatov ofUzbekistan in the quarter-finals, has been oozing confi-dence as he began the 2019 sea-son with a gold medal at theStrandja Cup boxing tourna-ment.

Ashish (69 kg) and BrijeshYadav (81kg) too will be inaction on Sunday.

On the women’s side, four-time Asian Championshipsgold medallist Sarita Devi(60kg) will start her hunt for asixth medal from this tourna-ment when she enters the ringagainst Korea’s Gwon Sujin.

Former world juniorchampion Nikhat Zareen(51kg) will also seek her secondinternational medal of the yearafter a gold at the Strandja Cupas she takes on Srey Pov Nao ofCambodia.

KOLKATA: In a major embarrassment forIndian archery, the senior recurve andcompound teams could not board theflight to Medellin in Colombia and wereforced to pull out of the season-openingstage one of the World Cup beginning onMonday.

The 23-member contingent was slat-ed to board Royal Dutch Airlines KLM872 from Delhi to Amsterdam earlySaturday morning but due to “operationalissues” the flight was delayed by two hours53 minutes, that shattered their onwardjourney plan to Medellin.

According to well-placed sources,there was delay in the sanction for the tripfrom the Sports Authority of India as theflight booking was done pretty late andclose to the event schedule.

“Pakistan has opened up airspace butall the west-bound flights are still takinglonger. They (ministry) could haveplanned accordingly and made the book-ings well in advance,” the source said oncondition of anonymity.

As per the itinerary accessed by PTI,

the contingent had a one hour and 25minutes lay-off at the Amsterdam airportfor their onward journey to Bogota andthen finally to Medellin where they wereslated to reach at 8pm local time onSaturday.

According to the WhatsAppCustomer Care of KLM Royal DutchAirlines, the delay was caused due to“operation issues”. The Indian team hadno alternate plans except to skip the event.

“There was no alternate flights avail-able for such a big contingent. Wetried different options but it was not pos-sible to reach before Monday. Now wehave to return to our camp in Pune,” adejected women’s coach Purnima Mahatotold PTI.

The miss means Deepika Kumari willnot be able to defend her individual titlethat she had won at the stage one of theWorld Cup in 2018 which was held in SaltLake City.

The newly-elected ArcheryAssociation of India had done the selec-tion well in advance, announcing the A

and B teams in March on the sidelines ofthe senior Nationals in Cuttack.

SAI’s executive director (Teams)Radhica Sreeman, who was the in-chargeof the travel plan and logistics, did notrespond when contacted.

The president of the ArcheryAssociation of India BVP Rao also couldnot be reached.THE TEAMS:Recurve Men’s: Tarundeep Rai, AtanuDas, Pravin Jhadhav, Atul Verma. Recurve Women’s: Deepika Kumari,Laishram Bombayla Devi, Komalika Bari,Madhu Vaidwan. Coaches: Purnima Mahato, MB Gurung;Support Staff: Krishna Nandu Das, OshinSharma.Compound Men’s: Abhishek Verma,Rajat Chauhan, Bhagwan Das, AmanSaini.Compound Women’s: Jyothi SurekhaVennam, Muskan Kirar, Raj Kaur, SwatiDhudwal.Coaches: Surinder Singh, TitomasSharma; Masseur: Pinki.

Pandya, Rahul fined ` 20 lakh

each for sexist comments

Punjab bank on home supportin final against Services

Santosh Trophy

Depleted India unlikely to match 2017 successAsian C’ships

BCCI backs Ganguly, tells Ombudsmanhis conflict of interest could be sorted

Guardiola sets sights onnext season’s quadruple

LOCAL EVENTS

Indian archers forced to skip WC after flight delay

Shiva makes winning start in Asian C’ships

backpack 12

Food is an integral part of all our fes-tivals. No festivity is complete with-

out a celebration of dishes that our partand parcel of our culture, traditions andheritage. It is not surprising that each fes-tival comes with its share of tradition-al cuisine. North India, particularlyPunjab, offers varied foods — from thefive rivers that punctuate Punjab region.

The region, divided into the Doaband Malwa regions, offers varied cuisine.The Doab region which contributes toa bulk of the Punjabi culture, includingthe Pakistani stretch, brings to thetable a unique blend of spices and tasteto its dishes, something that the seniorsous chef Mahabir Singh served atDhaba without deviation. Since the pro-duce is different, the cuisine also changeas one moves from one river to the other,he tells you.

Baisakhi brings not just the peopletogether but also the food. To celebratethis, Dhaba put together some of thefinest dishes, sadly however for a briefperiod.

In between bites into blended arbi-til kebabs and palak tikkis, Singh regalesyou with what constitutes Punjabi cui-sine. It is an amalgamation of foods ofthree communities — Sindhis, Punjabisand Muslims. “This means that thespices used in Punjabi food are a cock-tail of cultures. “White butter was a spe-cial medium marinating many a dish,especially going down well with local-ly available vegetables. The region waspart of the Silk Route. Whole spicesthough initially not used, slowly found

their way into the cuisine. As did thechillies which are not indigenous toIndia,” Singh tells you.

That is why the mutton seekh has abite to it, it has ground whole spices togive that extra zing. The chicken tikka,a staple of Punjabi food, is tender andmoist. The tangri is cooked to the boneand has a great balance of spice withoutburning your mouth. But the winner isthe meat-daal.

It is cooked to perfection. Thougha little heavy with sabut kali daal, thedish is indeed the show-stopper of the

main course. The mutton is tender andalmost falls off the bone making youapplaud the quality of cooking s well asthe raw meat. Sittying well with delicatespices, the mutton daal is nothing shortof amazing.

Singh says that each dish has beendifferent spices and not cooked from acommon curry. “That’s the reason forthe distinct flavours,” he says.

The vegetarian fare is just as rich andbecoming. As a starter, the arvi ki tikkiwith sesame seeds is a brilliant idea.Singh tells you that in rural Punjab thewomen boil the vegetable, peel the skin,mash it, add the spices and shallow fryit adding the til on top to give a bit oftexture and crunch. The spinach andhung curd cutlet tell you how thecuisines inter mingle. This populardish from Himachal Pradesh has foundits way into Punjab as well.

Another interesting starter was thebhain (lotus stem) ki seekh. If one had-n’t read the description, there would beno way that one could have guessed itwas made from — lotus stem filled withhung curd and radish. It is tasty andflavourful.

For the main course, the daal andkhatte baigan with stuffed kulcha wouldtickle your tastebuds. And, of course, nomeal is complete without the sweet.

The winner here is the cheeni kaparantha with kesar malai, an absolute-ly rural delight. The fennel seeds in theparantha add to your breaking of resis-tance to sweet and a great way to end afantastic meal.

Rural Punjab flavours waft through Dhaba

LUCKNOW | SUNDAY | APRIL 21, 2019

nWhat is your latest project with Luv Ranjan about?I can’t tell you what the song is about because I would also begiving away the story of the film. But the song comes at a veryimportant juncture like it was in Sonu Ki Titu Ki Sweety. Ranjangives a lot of importance to music and the makers have wovena story around the music. It was fun to work with Luv and Aaqib. nIs this the only song that you have composed for the movie?

Yes. There are other songs as well. The film has limited songsthat have been done by other composers.nHow did composing happen?

I always wanted to compose. I grew up listening to ARRahman songs. That was a turning point in my life. I was notsure what I wanted to do. I come from a family of lawyers. I toostudied law. Then Radio City came to Chandigarh. I worked thereduring a break. I loved it. Everyone saw that I was not cut outto be a lawyer. They let me do my thing. They thought I wouldeventually come back to law. This was in 2006. But there wasno turning back. I came to Mumbai in 2008-09. I was a newbieand didn’t know anything about the industry. But started my stud-ies in 2013. I was lucky that some of my work did well.nWhat is the difference when you started off and what is hap-pening now?

Back then, there was a lot more experimentation. There waslimited music coming to the audience then. There was proba-bly one album once a month. Today, composers are playing itsafe. There are way too many options available. There is too muchmusic coming out and many movies. The good part is that if thereis an off best song, the chances of that being a hit are very high. nDoes that mean that composers are not one to experimen-tation?

That is is the thing, we don’t want to be too complacent. Itis a challenge. It depends on the project that one has been given.If it is a promotional song, one has to have a commercial vibe.But if it is a situational song one has the liberty to experiment.The briefs given are limited, but one must bring in new music.nWhat drives a composition?

The audience drives it. We can’t make music that won’t sellcommercially. One can do it, but it won’t sell. We can’t expectthis kind of music to be popular. There is a definition of a hitmusic and song. There is a good song, a hit song and a good songthat is a hit. What the audience likes is hit song what we like isa good song. If we both like is a super hot song. Our aim is tobe in this category.nYour music is different. How do you manage to do this?

It has something to do with my influences during growingup days. My grandparents are from undivided India, they camefrom Pakistan. I grew up listening to a lot of Punjabi folk music.Language was another thing. Melody drives me. Hence, I was alittle weak in composing a dance number, that cool hook. But Iam working on overcoming it. I also don’t want to sound like asong that is already out there. I am doing limited music it hasto be different. Not or not rests with the listeners.nDid it bother you that you didn’t have industry insight tobegin with?You learn from your mistakes. I am open to suggestions. I don’tknow much about music. This approach has helped me. Peopleare happy to work with me because I have a humble approach.But I don’t let others walk all over me. Every live recording hasbeen a learning curve. I also try to be a better human beingbecause that will make me a better artist.

Music composerROCHAK KOHLI speakswith SHALINI SAKSENAabout his journey and whyhis music is so different

‘Good human

being means

a good artist’

nHow did you get your firstBollywood break?

I had done few shows on TVbefore. One day, I got a call from

Vicky Sidana (casting director ofDrishyam) that if I would

like to go and auditionfor Anju

Salgaonkar’s role.Although the

shooting hadstarted but thecasting of thischaracter wasleft. I thoughtthat it is a bigproject and Ishould at least

try for it. Inever thought

that I would beable to fit the bill

because the characteris young. I gave auditions

and the next day I was on the

sets, shooting. It all happened in just amatter of 24 hours. I am glad that Iwas a part of the film.nHow positive are you for yourupcoming films Setters and Blank?

I am looking forward to them.The plus point for both the films isthat the storyline is strong. Time hascome when people like to see filmswhich have a great story and conceptin it. Audience have changed a lot andthey want to see some powerful sto-ries.

Blank stars Sunny Deol and peoplewill get to see him in a differentavtaar. He will definitely do action inthe film but with a twist. We haverecently launched a song WarningNahi Dunga and we are receiving lotsof positive response for it. If I talkabout Setters, it is about an educationmafia. The film shows how an entirescam happen and how it is a big busi-ness. We have some brilliant actors inthe film like Aftab Shivdasani, Shreyas

Talpade, Sonnalli Seygall and others. Iam positive that people will like boththe films.nWhat kind of roles attract you?

Anything which is different andunique, attracts me. I have just startedmy career in films and I haven’t done

much. I want to work more andexplore different things. Yes, I havebeen a little choosy and have not takenup everything that came my way. Iwant to be associated with good pro-jects, whether it works well or not, isnot in my hand. I need to have thefeeling that yes this is the project that Iwant to do. I also want to play negativeroles. I want to be a part of contentdriven films too.nWhat keeps you grounded?

My family and fans keep megrounded. Every time when Drishyamairs on TV and when October 2comes, I receive a lot of positive mes-sages from people. It makes me veryhappy. nOnce you work in films, how hardis it to get back to TV?

A lot of people ask me that nowyou are doing films so whether youwill get back to TV or not. I have lovefor both — TV and films. I started myacting journey from TV and I have

learnt a lot. If I get some good scriptsand get a chance to work on TV againand if I feel that I will enjoy doing it, Iwill be more than happy to do it. Idon’t see TV as a different medium, forme it is just acting, no matter what themedium be.nHow did acting happen?

I was a confused child. From ateacher to a tennis player, I havethought of all the possible professionsthat I can be in, but never an actor.While I was in college I came toMumbai to spend the summer vaca-tions with my sister. It was during thattime when she asked me to do some-thing and keep myself busy. I startedworking as an assistant on the sets andthat was the time when I realised thatIwanted to be an actor. Initially, I wasscared of stepping into this field but Ithought to give it a try. Then, Ienrolled myself for an acting courseand the journey started.

‘Want to do negative roles too’

THE CLASSICAL STEP

For any art form to thrive — clas-sical or contemporary music —the basic rule, to be true to that

particular art is necessary for it to sur-vive for time immemorial. To keep italive, over the years various platformshave been organising concerts all overthe country to promote classicalmusic in a manner that not only keepsIndia’s rich culture and traditiongoing but also to ensure that it res-onates with the youth today.

The HCL Concerts, an initiativeby HCL to conserve and promoteIndia’s art and cultural heritage, host-ed its 4th mega concert. The three-day festival held in Delhi, Gurugramand Noida brought together anensemble representing a wide rangeof music genres, including fusion,semi-classical and pure classicalmusic jugalbandis. The aim of theconcert was to give people a glimpseinto the spellbinding performances ofmaster artists and to re-engage theaudience with their rich cultural tra-ditions. In the past, there has beenspellbinding performances by legendslike Pandit Shivkumar Sharma,Pandit Vishwamohan Bhatt andPandit Hariprasad Chaurasia. Thisyear Shubha Mudgal, Ustad ShujaatKhan, Ustaad Rashid Khan, RakeshChaurasia, Kaushiki Chakraborty,the Manganiyars, and PurbayanChatterjee mesmerised the audiencewith a scintillating performance.

Devu Khan of the Manganiyars,a folk music from Jaiselmer andBarmer says that they are a commu-nity who have been singing for gen-erations in palaces of kings during fes-tivals, marriages and or birth. Inreturn, they were given camel, horse,silver and money.

The community’s instrumentsinclude dholak, hartal, tamacha andsarangi, Khan says and tells you thatevery 36 km the land changes so doesthe folk. “We have a saying; Every 36km even the badshah changes.However, the ragas and the sangeetremains unchanged. “Classical musicis the son, folk is the mother. In other

words, classical music was born outof folk,” Khan says.

He tells you that their songs anddohas are about everything under theson — from births to marriage songsto songs of heroes. “Manganiyars arefolk singers. It is in our blood. I teachmusic to our community children.But they are more interested inmusic. I tell them that just becausethey want to learn our traditiondoesn’t mean that they don’t neededucation,” Khan says who has beenperforming the world over.

“I have performed over 150 showstill date. This year, I am alreadybooked to perform in the US,Malaysia, Australia, Saudi Arabia.Our music is such that wins heartswherever we go,” Khan tells you forwhom music is religion.

Kaushiki Chakraborty who hailsfrom Bengal is one of the leadingfemale vocalists of India. She has beenreferred to as the next big phenom-

enon in Hindustani classical music.She says that a lot has changed

since she learnt from her father, vet-eran vocalist Pandit Ajoy Chakrabortyand what is happening today. “In thelast 15 years the world has changedmuch more than the changes we outwitnessed in 50 years. Even the waymusic is presented has changed —from cassettes to CDs to downloads— everything has changed. The craftand the content has not changed butthe presentation and how it reachesto people has changed. Whether thischange is necessary can’t be com-mented on but for practicing artistsit is important to understand therequirement, dynamics, the plat-forms and the mediums and the inter-relations and interdependence,”Kaushiki explains.

She tells you that this means thatthe artists need to remember that theyare reaching out to an audience whohas no knowledge of classical music

and then design their presentation ina manner that is relevant today.

“It would be inappropriate to saythat purity of music is going for mykind of music. My question is: Whatis purity of classical music? Thismusic is greatly influenced by Persian,Arabic and Middle Eastern music. Itwas a great time of transition duringthe Silk Route giving way to Khayal.If this had not been the case we wouldstill be in the Dhrupad and Haveli era.Today, fusion is another transition.Whether we like a change is anoth-er thing but this is the obviousdirection that a living art form is tak-ing. What we need are the right kindof people with the right kind of sen-sibility, guidance and knowledgewho will bring in the right elementwithout affecting the soul of thecraft,” Kaushiki says.

She opines that we need to usethe digital platform to reach out toa much wider audience. “We should

see the potential this offers. We caneven reach out to rural India. Whoknows what talent lies in the village,”Kaushiki says.

Purbayan Chatterjee, a sitar play-er from the Senia Maihar Gharana —a school of classical Hindustanimusic established under the prince-ly State of Maihar by Baba AllauddinKhan says that digital age is chang-ing the world at a fast pace. “Thismega concert in its fourth edition ischanging the audience. Over theyears, there has been an increase inthe footfall of youngsters. The won-der of digital platform and socialmedia is that it is democratic.Through the success of Justin Bieberand Lady Gaga or even Indian artistswe see it is a parallel universe.Getting a stage is no longer an issue,”Chatterjee says.

According to him in the worldof pop and rap, our country’s cultureis rich. “But in the last couple ofdecade we have been caught up inthe global culture. In the world ofglobalisation and commericalisa-tion we have been exposed to dif-ferent genres of music. We onlyknew film and non-film music.Now, we know lot more of musicand Bollywood has become a melt-ing pot where all kinds of genres.Our popular and traditional cultureshave come together. Folk artistslike Mame Khan have become pop-ular in Bollywood and the industryhas made films on classical artistslike Baiju Bawra on one hand and onthe other on rock stars. In the next10-15 years the Indian audiencewill come of age and appreciate goodmusic,” the 42-year-old says.

For him it is heartening to seewhen youngsters walk up and saythat they were not aware that clas-sical music could be what he played.“Tradition in a way is ever changing.When people say that they didn’tknow that classical music could befun, it is a compliment. It means hisperception of tradition has changed,”Chatterjee says.

EVERY TIMEDRISHYAM AIRS ON

TV AND WHENOCTOBER 2 COMES, I

RECEIVE A LOT OFPOSITIVE MESSAGES

FROM PEOPLE. ITMAKES ME VERY

HAPPY

Ustaad Rashid Khan at the festival

Talktime

ISHITA DUTTA

Known for her role in Drishyam as Anju

Salgaonkar, Dutta talks to Musba Hashmi

about how she got her first break in

Bollywood, her love for TV, her

two upcoming projects and what

makes her happy

Classical artists tell SHALINI SAKSENA how it is crucial to keep tradition alive through concerts

The BaisakhiFood Festivalat the iconic

Dhaba at The Claridgeswas all about

the taste ofrural Punjab

RURAL PUNJABI FOODON THE TABLE IS QUITEA SURPRISE AS IT ISDIFFERENT FROM THEREGULAR RESTAURANTSTUFF IN DELHI. IT ISDISTINCTLY JUICY,FLAVOURFUL AND ATREAT OF ULTIMATEAUTHENTICITY, BE ITTHE DAAL-MUTTON,ARVI KI TIKKI OR BHAIN KI SEEKH. NONEOF IT HEAVY ON THESTOMACH

(top) Tandoori tangdi(bottom) Rehdi Wala Kukkad

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In order to grasp and convey thecomplex reality of wartime cen-sorship, accounts of policy andofficial hand-wringing need to besupplemented with a narrative of

the lived experience of censorship.Fortunately for the historian, vividdescriptions are available in the mem-oirs of journalists living and workingduring the Second World War (1939-45). The job of press correspondentsduring wartime was not an easy one.They stayed and were briefed togetherwhen they were covering organisedtheaters of war, and this left little scopefor individual scoops. In an alreadydifficult situation, the operation of cen-sorship added a further complication.Sending news out from the war frontwas no easy task either: It could be sentout on a plane, or via army signalingequipment, in which case the wordlimit was severely restricted.

In his memoir titled Leaves From AWar Reporter’s Diary, Dinker RaoMankekar, who served as Reuters’ cor-respondent first in Colombo and thenon the Burma front, recalled that as hewas the only correspondent to staywith the British Second Division tillthe end (in the Burma front), they —not unmindful of the benefits of pub-licity — allowed him use of their wireless transmitter with a daily wordlimit of 600. This was transmitted tothe closest signaling point, eitherCalcutta or Comilla. On the otherhand, the American sector providedbetter facilities, and General Stilwell’sHeadquarters in North Burma evencarried a mobile wireless transmitterfor the use of the press. In his opinion,soldiers (via letters from family)received press cuttings featuring theiractivities, and this had a positiveimpact on morale.

And then there were the censors. In her memoir, Portrait of Myself,Margaret Bourke-White, accredited asa war correspondent with the US AirForce in 1942 (and best known in India for her photographs of Partitionrefugees) described censors thus:“Censors are a peculiar breed ofmankind. They are born with red pencils in their mouths, and they simply have to use them…”

Mankekar’s account of life as a warcorrespondent is replete with accountsof dealing with military censors, and ofthe irrationality of censors and of cen-sorship, generally. For example, when hewrote a profile of Naga warriors thatreferred to their poison-tipped spears,the war office censor deleted the termpoison, on the grounds that internation-al law forbade the use of poison in war.The report was passed only after thejournalist assured the censor that thereference was not to the present war.

Between 1942-43, the army inBurma was a forgotten army, as Britishand Indian newspapers gave maximumcoverage to the European and Pacifictheaters of war. It was only in March1944 that Burma became front pagenews and remained so for three months.On the Burmese war front, censorshipwas imposed by two authorities: The

GOI as well as South East AsiaCommand (SEAC) censors. Mankekarwas in Burma when news reached himabout the Japanese invasion of India viaManipur and Assam, and SEAC censorsrefused him permission to file the story,citing GOI instructions. At Calcutta,too, he was told by Lt Col Thompsonthat there was an order to the effectthat no story about the Japanese inva-sion was to be passed. The taboowords, according to the order, were“Japanese invasion of India”.Mankekar wrote the following cable,faithful to the letter of the law:

������ ���!"#��$�%&'�%�'(���!��� �)*+�,��'(��#�'���(�-�'�& �� ��� �(&��.Lt Col Thompson was puzzled, then re-read the rules. Mankekar threatened toreport the delay to the SEAC headquar-ters in Kandy, Sri Lanka. Thompsonpicked up his rubber stamp andstamped the cable ‘passed’. The 9.30 pmAll India Radio bulletin carried thenews. This report gave Mankekar aninternational byline for the first time,and the next morning, he found him-self on the front page of many newspa-pers. The GOI was furious andlaunched an investigation. AsMankekar put it: “The rules of thegame were fully accepted by theGovernment, under which the corre-spondent’s duty is to get his storythrough and that of the Censors is tosee that the wrong story did not escapetheir lynx-like eyes, and if any did,then it is the Censor and not the corre-spondent that is to blame. ColThompson, I can never forgive myself,became Major Thompson, as a sequel— which was far from my intention.”

This incident contains at least twoimportant insights into the nature ofcensorship. One, that even rigorouslyenforced censorship could not standbetween a determined journalist andhis readers. Two, while in times ofpeace, journalists were the ones whowere prosecuted, in times of war, whencensors took on enlarged powers, theirresponsibilities also increased. As thisincident shows, the journalist merelywent to his next assignment; the censorwas the one who was penalised.

Mankekar’s memoirs are full ofexamples how censors’ decisions wereoften counter-productive. During theJapanese siege of Imphal, for example,when newspapers were forbidden fromcalling it a siege, Mankekar tookrecourse to an indirect strategy: In hisreport, he described the topography ofthe Imphal valley in great detail, aswell as the fact that there were onlythree land outlets from it. He thenmentioned the distance of the Japanesefrom Imphal on each of these outlets.Nowhere was the term ‘siege’ men-tioned. In his words, this roundaboutmethod of reporting gave a “muchmore alarming picture of the ever-tightening ring on Imphal than theword ‘siege’ could ever have given. Thestory passed the Censor, and thatnight, it created a crash in the Calcuttastock market”. Another scoop was his

report about the lifting of thesiege of Imphal. Mankekar hadexclusive access to this news asall other correspondents hadleft the town during the mon-soon months, but he had stayedon with the 33 Corps.

Another example of thecounter-productive nature ofcensorship: War correspon-dents had been forbidden fromreporting the fall of Kohima,even when almost all ofKohima was captured by theJapanese except for a tiny hillholding a British garrison.Consequently, when the Britisharmy began reclaiming thetown, a problem arose. Havingmaintained that they had neverlost Kohima, the militaryauthorities had to explain whatthey were attacking in Kohima.Hence, they re-christened nine-tenths of Kohima, which was inthe hands of the Japanese asthe ‘Naga village’, and renamedthe remaining one-tenth, com-prising a small hill on the edgeof Kohima town, as ‘Kohima’!

Mankekar himself had greatdifficulty while trying to“explain to readers why Britishtroops were attacking a British-held town”! In his opinion, thiscensorship was self-defeating:Japanese radio could easily belistened to in India and it broad-cast exaggerated reports of theirmilitary successes in Indian ter-ritory. By censoring news, thispropaganda could not be coun-tered. Furthermore, even whenKohima was re-captured by theBritish after two months, theBritish army was unable to makethe most of this victory in termsof propaganda since far fromgoing to town, with all fanfare,on the great and deserved Alliedvictory, the correspondents wereset to the embarrassing task ofhaving to explain to the worldhow the British forces per-

formed thefeat of recap-turing what theyhad themselvesbeen valiantly defend-ing all that time!

What was worse for thecolonial state was that in themeantime, Japanese radio hadbeen broadcasting news of thearrival of Subhas ChandraBose’s Indian National Army inKohima, the ceremonialunfurling of the Indian flag onIndian soil, and the establish-ment of the Azad HindGovernment in that area. Herewas a case where censorshipleft a vacuum easily filled byrumours. Some journalists (orat least the British ones) evenhad the luxury of seeing thelighter side of censorship. TheGOI had asked newspapers notto carry information about theweather so as to deny this infor-mation to the Japanese. Oneday, The Pioneer (then edited byits last British editor, HEBCatley) carried a news item tothe effect that there were leaveson the streets and the electricitysupply was disturbed. The col-umn asked if there was a storm,and concluded, “Hush, the cen-sor is listening.” Although cor-respondents usually got the bestof the censor, even Mankekaracknowledged that there weretimes when an intelligent censorwas of great help in pointingout errors. The censor duringwar-time was thus also editorand proof-reader. Occasionally— if unintentionally — the cen-sors did get it right.

Mankekar recounts an inci-dent when he filed a story,based on a British militaryintelligence report, that theRani of Jhansi regiment (awomen’s regiment of SubhasChandra Bose’s Indian NationalArmy) had arrived in Kohima.

The storywas killed by the

censors, and it laterturned out that Sikh jawans ofthe Indian National Army dry-ing their hair, when seen fromafar, had been mistaken forwomen. The conflict betweenjournalists and censors was, inhis opinion, mainly over theterms ‘security’ and ‘morale’.Censors applied rules mechani-cally, and war correspondentsinterpreted them more flexibly.The GOI, especially in theIndia-Burma theater of war,was inclined to be inflexibleabout allowing any informationthat they considered coulddampen morale. The problem,in Mankekar’s opinion,occurred because this covered“almost everything in thosetense days of external war-cum-internal-nationalist struggle”.

The line dividing the politi-cal from the military was notthin, but invisible. Accordingto Mankekar, it was for reasonsentirely political and not mili-tary that it was consideredadvisable by the powers inDelhi that the Indian publicshould not know aboutKohima’s capture, or about theJapanese invasion in theManipur sector. Corroborationof this statement is provided byexamples cited by journalistKedar Ghosh in his memoirstitled No Apology. Ghosh’sreport on a strike in a steel fac-tory engaged in war productionwas not passed by a press cen-sor. Irrespective of the colourof pencils used, the politicalwas impossible to separatefrom the military.

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An intimidatingh i g h - s e c u r i t yprison-like doorat the entrance, adark chamber

with discouraging number ofsecurity personnel and con-stantly gazing CCTV camerasover the visitors. As you enterthe room, you can’t miss thesense of unusualness of theoccasion. Spotlights focusedon glass cases displaying someof the most precious gem-stones, glittering gold, andsparkling diamonds, and aroom filled with babble thatwould only grow intensewhile moving from one exhib-it to the next. Well, this is theglimpse of the past in all itsshimmering glory for you atthe Nizams’ jewellery exhibi-tion curated for public displayat the National Museum inNew Delhi. It is a “never seenbefore” moment for manyvisitors gawking at the jew-ellery and regalia in all itssplendour. The sheer weightof the jewellery and preciousstones adorned by the erst-while Nizams so nonchalant-ly as displayed in the mono-chromatic photographs willperhaps give you a sense ofthe scale and heft of theirwealth in the yesteryears.

The Nizams were caughtin the crosshairs of thegeopolitics and made choicesthat didn’t pay off. And there-in lies the intrigue and mys-tery that dogged their wealthand quandaries. The Asaf Jahidynasty, familiar to all by thetitle of its representative, the

Nizam, owes its origin to MirQamaruddin Chin Qilij Khan,better known as Asaf Jah-I.This dynasty ruled the State ofHyderabad in Deccan forseven generations (1724-1948). It was one of the lead-ing Princely States in India.The area of the dominion wasequal in size to Italy. The trea-sures of Golconda and theDeccan region has been leg-endary. The Golconda mineswere the sole suppliers ofdiamonds to the world till thebeginning of the 18thCentury. Many famous dia-monds, which adorn thecrown jewels across the world,came from these mines. The‘Orlov’, ‘Darya-I-Noor’,‘Regent’, ‘Florentine’, ‘GreatMughal’, ‘Nizam’, ‘Sancy’ are afew examples of famous dia-monds mined in the Deccan— the dominion of theNizams. Geographically, theGolconda area for diamond

mining stretched to parts ofAndhra Pradesh andKarnataka during the 16th-19th Century.

The Nizam and the princeswould wear ceremonial regaliato attend official functions. Inaddition to the sarpench, aturra of gold wire, a distin-guished ornament worn onlyby members of the royal house-hold used to be worn. Princesoften wore a smaller sarpench,the turra as well as necklaces,armbands, and belts. Onlyhigh-ranking officials wouldwear turban ornaments. Thecrown jewels constitutedexquisite pieces and large gem-stones as head ornaments forthe head-dress was an impor-tant component of dressing ofthe princes. Some of theexquisite pieces and large gem-stones were used as head orna-ments. The sarpench signifiedpower and hierarchy.

The neck would be

adorned as the occasion war-ranted with an assortment ofnecklaces: A kanthi, a padakmarvareed , and finally, a har-murassa (a necklace). Theachkan (coat) would havejewelled buttons, a pocketwatch in addition to the baglus(belt) on the waist. Importantofficials and members of theroyal household would wearjewelled baglus on formal

occasions, ornamented withlarge gemstones attached tothe woven gold belts.

In the early 20th Century,as pocket watches became afashion statement in Parisand London, the style alsocaught the eye of Indian roy-alty and they incorporated itin the ceremonial regalia. Theupper arms would be adornedwith three armbands, the bhu-jbands, bazubands, andnavaratna bazubands, and thehands would have dastbands(bracelets) and rings.

The Nizams enjoyed heav-enly treasures and worldlycomforts and pleasures. HisExalted Highness Nawab SirMir Osman Ali Khan, whowas the last Nizam, is remem-bered for being the staunchestally of the British in India. TheNizam made a gift of diamondjewels, including a tiara andnecklace, to Queen Elizabethon the occasion of her mar-riage and it is still worn by theQueen — the Nizam ofHyderabad necklace.

He refused to submit tothe Indian state during theBritish withdrawal. He finallysurrendered to the Indianarmy in 1948. He was appoint-ed to a ceremonial position ofRajpramukh. The stature ofthe Nizam reduced in 1956when his dominion was trifur-cated during the reorganisa-tion of Indian States on a lin-guistic basis. The Nizam thentook retirement with threewives, 42 concubines, 200 chil-dren, 300 servants, and agingretainers, including a private

army, according to an estimate.Apparently, he provided pen-sion to around 10,000 depen-dents of his former empire.

After his death in 1967, theprogeny feud started. Thedescendants claimed theirshare and wanted to sell jew-ellery to international bid-ders. However, theGovernment of India inter-vened and termed it a nation-al treasure. After two decadesof negotiations, a deal wasstruck, and the Government ofIndia acquired the collection in1995 after paying the descen-dants. The jewels include themindboggling 185-carat Jacobdiamond that the Nizam

apparently used as a paper-weight. In today’s world, someestimates suggest the jewelleryis worth �50,000 crore.

Our uncaring attitudetowards the country’s leg-endary wealth is troubling.With so many treasures lyingunaccounted for in varioustrusts, temples, and mutts, itis important to systematical-ly list the countries enormousheritage, jewellery traditions,craftsmanship, design, aes-thetics, and safeguard themfor the coming generations torelish for posterity.

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An entrepreneur is someonewho sees a specific issue inhis community and comes

up with a new idea or business,usually with the purpose of resolv-ing it, ultimately leading to his ownbenefits and profits. But truth betold, their impact is very vast andsignificantly important to society.A social entrepreneur, unlike abusiness entrepreneur (who mostlikely tend to CSR), resort toinnovation and willingness tobring solutions that can helpresolve the problems of society bybuilding up strong and sustainableorganisations that choose to puttheir mission before profits.

Social entrepreneurship is theprocess of bringing about socialchange on a major and more effec-tive scale than a traditional Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO). They tend to make broad-based, long-term changes, insteadof small-scale and time-limitedchanges. There are various ways inwhich a social entrepreneur cangive to society and work for itswell-being. Adopting a mission tocreate and sustain social values,along with continuous innova-tion, and relentlessly pursuing newopportunities to achieve that mis-sion, without being limited by theresources currently in hand canreally bring about a crucial trans-

formation in the current scenario.Today, as our country struggles

with problems including poverty,violence, environmental change,health, education and more, socialentrepreneurs can help alleviatethese issues by putting those lessfortunate on a path towards aworthwhile life. Rather than leav-ing societal needs to theGovernment or business sectorsonly, they can solve the problem bychanging the system.

The most important issue thatneeds to be addressed right awayis rural education. Majority ofIndia still lives in villages, and sothe topic of rural education is ofprime importance. India is facinga huge rural-urban divide when itcomes to education. Significantcontributions have been made bythe Government, social entrepre-neurs and various organisations toimprove the scenario of educationin our country, but even after thewide education expansion inrecent years, including infrastruc-ture of schools and enrollment ofstudents, illiteracy rates are stillhigh. Considerable reasons behindthis unfortunate output, despitenoteworthy investments, are poorquality of teaching, lack of digiti-sation, non-availability of propermaterials, and disinterest of stu-dents towards education.

According to various surveys,no matter how many students inrural areas are attending schools,50-70 per cent of them in Class Vare still unable to read a secondgrade textbook, or solve basicmathematics problems.Government schools, though exist,cannot provide the kind of quali-

ty education when compared toprivate schools. Poverty in therural areas and inability of schoolsand urban kids to socially acceptthe backward children stops themfrom fulfilling their dreams ofdoing something great.

Some Government schools areover-packed with students, becauseof which teachers aren’t able tofocus on students and give all ofthem personal attention. Difficultyfor students in understandingEnglish textbooks is another draw-back. Quality of education is farpowerful than poverty and lack ofresources. But that also has beendegrading ever since. The focus ofthe students and teachers is just onpassing their exams instead ofgaining any valuable knowledge,ultimately leading to the decline inthe level of education in India, inspite of many efforts.

The foundation to transformIndia into a highly literate nationhas to be laid down at primaryrural levels, so that quality ofeducation from the beginningshould be kept up to the mark.Students’ textbooks can be mademore interesting by using graph-ics to explain complicated con-cepts. Improvement in conditionof infrastructure, training theteachers, and providing them withincreased salaries should all be a

part of development. The gap between city and vil-

lage students has to be bridged byunderstanding the needs of theweaker lot and uplifting them.New methodologies and technolo-gies can be brought into classroomsas a way of teaching, and also tokeep up with the modernisation inthe digital world. Current age ofdigital connectivity can help usaddress many problems in ruralschools. Social entrepreneurs caninvest in bringing their innovationsand expertise to make our ruralclassrooms more advanced. Theproblem of shortage of qualityteachers and high drop-out ratescan be solved by e-learning plat-forms and smart classrooms.

There are many successfulexamples of entrepreneurs andorganisations, who with theirefforts have contributed signifi-cantly in bringing about a changeand a sense of encouragement inunderprivileged children, helpingthem shape a bright future.Together, social entrepreneurs inassociation with education super-intendents can build a solutionaround these problems which willresolve the overall issues of ruraleducation and pave the way for abetter and educated India.

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What about the compe-tent authority? Where is

it? Are they all set to slayUnited States President DonaldTrump but something is defi-nitely in the offing! The com-petent committees in the UShas already absolved theTrump Presidency of thealleged grim crime of conniv-ing with the Russian establish-ment, their espionage andindustrial-financial sectors toromp home a vaunted victoryover the Democrats. With alarge bevy of women candi-dates entering the fray for the“US Presidential” race such asKamla Harris and JuliaGabbard, personages such asJoe Biden need to tighten uptheir hugging and felicitationacts with the eminent ladies inthe American political firma-ment. Paul Manafort might bethe personage to go-after butthe American judicial appara-tus has given a clean chit toPresident Trump.

Akin to the tryst withBrexit accompanied by UKPrime Minister Theresa May inBritain, it is a rather tall orderto bid adieu to the conservativeand the “WASP method” in theAmerican homeland. No clearcut linkage has been unearthedby the Congressional andinvestigative committees alongwith the work carried on by theConsul, Robert Mueller.Despite consistent haranguingby the Democratic apparatus,President Trump’s parapher-nalia has survived and hasregistered quite a few success-ful vantage points both in thesphere of domestic polity andglobal politics/foreign policy of

the US. Before an electoral trav-elogue may be written, one canshed light upon how the fre-quent changes in the CapitolHill has evaded rational expla-nation; but President Trumpmust have had plausible rea-sons to go ahead with topplingof positions in theGovernment. All in all, theRussian connection has notbeen established though, itsblithe and rote filibusteringhas definitely soured the pitchfor the President.

The strain in the somesegments of US mainstreammedia have centred aroundthe ministration to spawn a“Putin scratch Trump’s back”approach which is largely posit-ed on a gladiatorial mediacomplex. Lampooning RussianPresident Vladimir Putin andPresident Trump as oligarchspar excellence, involved in aglobal staging exercise of inter-national proportions, has beenthe provisional pout of some ofthe media and has had animpact upon the health andlarger visage of the TrumpPresidency. Still, what needs tobe realised and understood isthat the United States is no sim-pleton oligarchy devoid of avibrant, dominant democraticand egalitarian political culture.Industry does domineer in theland of milk and honey, but isnot the sole purveyor in eco-nomics and public opinion inthe larger American state.Russia is on the rebuild, tangi-bly and psychologically as aEuropean empire. But the USis no banana republic or a tinpot nation as some soulfulobservers pinpoint about the

follies and fracas of the hiddenhand in Trump’s America.There is no Wikileaks worthynarrative to be told or hiddenabout the imagined commu-nities, akin to a recalibratingRussia and a comely ubiquitousAmerica.

The linkages betweenPresident Trump and theRussian connection have beenevery WASP’s pet peeve sincethe time the allegations begansurfacing. Michael Flynn hasbeen investigated by the three-some of FBI, Congressionaland Senatorial committees. Itwas alleged by the New YorkTimes report on February 14,2017, that Paul Manafort andother protégés of the TrumpAdministration conspired withMoscow but a direct presence

of Trump and his associatescould not be established with-in the idiom of the allegedRussia-Trump connect.Attorney General William Barhas come out with a bipartisanfinding that neither Trumpnor his associates have any-thing to do with the Russianoligarchic overarch in a March2019 release.

Hannah Levintova writesin the alternative narrative dis-course, Mother Jones, “Despitehis claims to the contrary, thePresident’s ties to Russia arelong, deep, and, above all, mys-terious. In the 1980s, before theSoviet bloc crumbled, Trumpwas already trying to get afoothold behind the IronCurtain. Since then, he hasannounced on at least three

occasions plans to build aTrump Tower in Moscow inpartnership with various powerplayers and oligarchs.”

Ivanka Trump too as aninstrumentality has cut dealswith the Russian industry butall these details do not naturallyleave the US President in asoup, as before his grandilo-quent anointment, Trump wasa true blue entrepreneur moguland if he did business for prof-iteering then it was a naturalrecourse to trading and cor-porate turnovers which is anintrinsic part and parcel of theAmerican dream and theirattendant way of life and devel-opment/progression. It is in theAmerican tradition that anupward lurch on the career lad-der and amassing of wealth is

looked upon as an achievementand a qualifying characteristicof any mundane Americandenizens and being prosperousand being a profiteer is notlooked down upon as some-thing which is not sacrosanct.After screening the Americanmedia and the global media, itcan be surmised that there is anawful lot of innuendo and sub-terfuge surrounding theRussian connection ofPresident Trump and thedoughty Republicans. TheWashington Post too hasreported that President Trumphas continued to vociferouslyreject the allegations that theRussians had a well defined roleto play in the 2016 USPresidential elections. TheWashington Post on the con-trary reported, “Fusion GPSwas hired in mid-2016 by alawyer for Hillary Clinton’spresidential campaign and theDemocratic NationalCommittee to dig into Trump’sbackground. Earlier that year,the firm had investigatedTrump for a conservative web-site funded by a Republicandonor, but that client stoppedpaying for the work after itbecame clear that Trumpwould win the GOP presiden-tial nomination, according topeople familiar with the mat-ter.” Still, it would be prepos-terous to contend thatPresident Donald Trump is aRussian agent as the alternatemedia in the United States hasrepeatedly arraigned in its can-tankerous cacophony.

The answer to the posercan indicate an attractiontowards the domineering world

view of Putin, as PresidentTrump is enamoured of thenationalistic and patriotic scaleof reference of the Russianleader. As an attendant fact,President Trump does notattach much importance tothe institutions such as NATOand the United Nations and hasa diffident perception about theavowed American zeal ofspreading democracy in thelarger global space. PresidentJimmy Carter too opposed theSoviet incursion in Afghanistanbut President Trump has cho-sen to follow his own doctrineand not take regular recourseto history. Trump has alsosupported the moderatetakeover model where-in Putinintervenes in Poland andBelarus, and initially PresidentTrump too supported theseshenanigans emanating in theNATO’s backyard.

Now, even PresidentTrump has concluded thatRobert Mueller acted honor-ably after months of dispar-agement. It can be cited fromCNN transcripts that, “Russiadid not participate and influ-ence the American PresidentialElections in 2019.”

The denunciation and de-recognition received by theRussian diplomats in theUnited States also speaks vol-umes about the general coldwar mindset of PresidentTrump who believes in with-drawing the larger Americanoverarch.

(The writer teachesInternational Relations atIndian Institute of PublicAdministration, Delhi)

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Sudan and its people heaveda sigh of relief after dethron-

ing notorious Omar al-Bashir,who ruled the country since1989 with an iron fist. The peo-ple of Sudan have earnedrespect and admiration from allquarters around the globe forOmar’s ousting, somethingconsidered impossible foralmost three decades.

The most significant partof this peaceful uprising wasthe unprecedented tractionamong women, many of whomhad suffered under the brutalBashir regime.

How this uprising started?Who initiated this process tooverthrow an all-powerfulBashir? Lt General Bashirseized power in an Islamistbacked coup in June 30, 1989.He became the President ofSudan, when the RevolutionaryCommand Council was dis-solved and the country wasrestored to civilian rule inOctober 1993.

Bashir’s removal was madepossible by a five day-longround-the-clock peacefulprotest in which thousands ofpeople gathered outside theArmy headquarters inKhartoum, demanding his res-ignation. In fact, on April 6 theanti-Bashir mobilisationreached to its zenith thatmarked the anniversary of asymbolic non-violent move-ment which in 1985 broughtdown the regime of JaafarNimeiri.

Though people from allwalks of life raised voicesagainst the economic hard-ships faced by them because ofyears of sanctions imposed bythe US Government, it was theSudanese ProfessionalAssociation (SPA) that finallyled the protests against theBashir regime. The SPA is aconglomeration of doctors,health workers and lawyerswho have pinned down anintractable regime whose

President became the first headof a state to be indicted by theInternational Criminal Court(ICC) way back in 2009. Theseprotesters widely chanted slo-gans used for the regimechange during the historicArab Spring of 2011. What hasbeen significant throughoutthis anti-Bashir uprising is thatwomen participants were ashigh as 70 per cent whobelonged to almost all ages andbackgrounds. These womenprotesters highlight the factthat they are demonstratingagainst “sexist attitudes” in aconservative Muslim nationwherein hardcore Sharia lawsare practiced.

What has unfolded afterthe fall of the Bashir regime isnow critical both for prevent-ing unrest and guaranteeingpeace in this African nation.After Bashir’s ouster and arrest,first Vice-President andDefence Minister Lt GeneralAwad Ibn Auf suspended theConstitution, dissolved theNational Assembly, anddeclared national emergencyfor three months with the for-mation of a military-ledTransitional Council that willrule the country for the com-ing two years.

When Auf declared thetransitional Government, peo-ple heard in his declaration his“master’s (Bashir) voice”. Auf isa career soldier very muchlike his former boss who wasmade the Defence Minister ofSudan by the latter. WhenBashir declared a year-longstate of emergency on February22 this year in response tomonths of protests nationwideand calls for his resignation,Auf was promoted to serve asVice-President, indicating thathe can become the President ofthe country once Bashir’s con-stitutional term comes to anend by April 2020.

But now the problem isthat Auf was also the head of

the military intelligence duringthe conflicts in Darfur whichforced the US Government toput him in the list of targetedfinancial sanctions. Therefore,the moot point is what is instore for Sudanese people?

Will Bashir be replaced bysome new face with the systemintact or a new leader willemerge to bring in changes giv-ing relief to Sudanese.

Is that all a call enoughevoked by millions of populacefor a civilian government inSudan: Certainly not. TheChairperson of the 55-memberpan-African UnionCommission, Moussa FakiMahamat, who has been close-ly monitoring the crisis inSudan from the beginning hasexpressed the conviction that“the military takeover is not the

appropriate response to thechallenges facing Sudan andthe aspirations of its people”.

Further, Mahamat recallsthe 2000 Lome Declaration onthe unconstitutional change ofGovernment and the AfricanCharter on Democracy, elec-tions and governance thatstrongly condemn any uncon-stitutional change ofGovernment and commitmember states to the respect ofrule of law, democratic princi-ples and human rights.

While reiterating thesecrucial documents and provi-sions, he is looking forward tomeet the commission’s Peaceand Security Council to take anurgent decision to prevent acatastrophe in the resourcerich African nation.

What the US stated is that

the Sudan’s Army must incor-porate civilians into the newtransitional government andtwo years time for transition istoo long. Robert Palladino, theState Department spokesper-son, said Washington wouldcontinue to “call for thoseresponsible for the horrificcrimes that were committed inDarfur to be held accountablefor those actions” without spec-ifying whether Bashir or Aufshould be extradited in duecourse of time.

Also, the US is publicly air-ing the view that the Sudanesepeople should be given freehand in deciding who willlead them in future and theyare quite clear that they need acivilian administration to cometo Khartoum. British ForeignSecretary Jeremy Hunt made it

clear that military rule is notthe solution and what Sudandemands is a representativegovernment without any delay.

Meanwhile, top most inter-national organisations such asthe European Union and theUN have called for an inclusivegovernment in Sudan that willmeet the democratic aspira-tions of its people. All theseshow that both the interna-tional agencies and respectivenational governments of vari-ous countries simply want apopularly elected governmentin Sudan. It is very clear that noone wants to trust the same oldmilitary generals in a newdesign. Clearly, though militaryswung into action in the nameof preventing chaos, its hiddenintensions are very clear: Theyjust want to cling to the levers

of power so as to save their sta-tus and property. They are notreally interested in bringing ademocratic regime to powersooner or later.

The international commu-nity must keep tabs on thedevelopments in Sudan. TheTransitional Government maybe a grand game plan ofBashir’s cronies to protect theirprivileged access to power andwealth as they want to simplydemonstrate that they do carefor the concerns of the ordinarySudanese. And that’s why theyhave taken over to stop blood-shed. Hence, no one knows thetricks of the canny securocratswho are expert in handlingsuch situations and continue toremain in power for the sake ofstability. What needs to bedone at the moment is that theAfrican Union, along with theUN and the top global players,must first ensure normalcyand then gradually convincethe military to back a civiliangovernment within no time.Else, Sudan may slip into anabyss. This will embolden theextremists and the generals toplay their roles to exploit thecurrent situation. Finally, thecommon people will againcome back to the same irre-versible cycle of pain, poverty,and primarily misrule.

Peace and stability inSudan is crucial to the rest ofNorth Africa as it is borderedby globally significant areas andcountries such as the Red Sea,Egypt, Libya, Chad, CentralAfrican Republic, South Sudan,Ethiopia and Eritrea. Therefore,mismanagement of affairs inSudan might spread like wild-fire to the rest of Africa and cansimply add to the misery of thealready disadvantaged neigh-bours. In fact, Sudan itself issensitive in its ethnic mosaic asit has a large number of diverseethnic groups living across thecountry like Sudanese Arab(approximately 70 per cent),

Fur, Beja, Nuba and Fallata.However, after the separationof South Sudan in 2011, it hasbecome a predominantlyMuslim nation (especiallySunni Muslims), leavingbehind a small Christianminority in Sudan.

Today, Sudan’s economy isin a mess. It has lost most of itsoil reserves, estimated betweenfive and seven billion barrels,after the secession of SouthSudan. And also, its physicalsize has shrunk to the thirdposition, ranked after Algeriaand the Democratic Republicof the Congo. Therefore, inter-national donors and nationssuch as the US must make itclear to Sudanese leadershipthat Bashir’s ouster alone is notsufficient to rescue Sudan fromthe current debt trap.

To jumpstart its sick econ-omy, political stability througha democratic regime asinformed by the Sudanese civilsociety is a must. Washingtoncan make it straight that coun-terterrorism efforts fromKhartoum must continue so asto avail aids from global agen-cies as leaders of Bashir’s staturehad offered safe haven to glob-al jihadists like Osama binLaden in the 1990s.

Hence, the post-BashirSudan is to see that civil andpolitical rights are widelyrespected. A nation in tattersafter long autocratic rule ofBashir sincerely demands bud-getary transparency, end ofcorruption in high publicoffices and the ouster of the oldclusters of the ruling NationalCongress Party from key posi-tions in the country. This willfinally ensure offering breath-ing space to the common peo-ple, indicating political repre-sentation to them, for whichthey are yearning for decades.

(The writer is an expert oninternational affairs)

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The other day, someone came asking:“Can a Guru change a person’ssamskara or inherent mental ten-

dencies?” Well, a Guru doesn’t use a mag-ical wand to change disciple’s mind-traits.He would rather help you remould your-self. He, in the first place, shows a being’smirror image. Second, he triggers a spiri-tual seed in a being, which is there ineverybody, but in large majority lies dor-mant. Third, he offers lessons in how toself-reflect upon the inner frame of mindto explore indwelling thought-seeds thathold the key to inherent habit tendencies.The process helps identify and acknowl-edge one’s fault lines. Following which,one could address them by continuedreflection upon fresh educative inputsprovided either by the Guru himself orphilosophical scriptures. Once the educa-tive inputs get firmly absorbed in themind, they may spontaneously findreflection in our day-to-day conduct. Healso lends assistance in pursuing theprocess in right earnest. In the process,one also becomes aware of indwellingpotentials to further optimise them. Atthe end of the day, however, it all dependson a seeker’s conscious efforts, which isguided by three factors: First, the consul-

tee needs to be receptive enough to lookat the advisory with an open mind, freefrom any preconditioning whatsoever.But for which, he/she may not be able toabsorb them in sense and spirit. Second,the seeker needs to exercise his/her freewill option, an exclusive human preserve,to change his/her thought process. Third,sustained pursuance of the process sug-gested in right earnest.

The paradox, however, is that habittendencies die hard. Given a small trig-ger, they spring out again and again, andmore often to our detriment. So, it is noteasy to change one’s inherent tendencies.Only a resolute person having faith inthe Guru succeeds. What further com-pounds the problem is one’s ahamkara(sense of ego consciousness). It makesyou believe your own personality traits,coming as they may as a reflection ofKarmic carryover from the past, andaccordingly self-defines them as operat-ing principles of individual life.Ahamkara does also get drawn towardstempting influences of the outer worldand makes them the dream destination.In the process, it won’t invoke humanbeing’s empowerment tool, buddhi (thefaculty of discriminate intelligence), for

due diligence. The worst is that caughtup in the usual flow of life, ahamkaradoesn’t allow time and space to explorethe inner frame of mind. Consequently,one fails to dispassionately identify andacknowledge one’s own fault lines, and inmany cases, even one’s indwelling poten-tial. And if you are not aware of yourown self, how can you address the faultlines or optimise the strength potential?

“How is a Guru able to show the dis-ciple’s mirror image,” asked the man.Well, only such people qualify to be aGuru who purifies his/her mind and risesabove all mental and emotional limita-tions. They are able to access full land-scape of their mind. On that strength,they intuitively read a disciple’s mind.Alternatively, astrology can be used as adiagnostic tool to figure out one’s person-ality traits with a fair amount of preci-sion. “Is there any proof of what you havestated,” said the man. Ancient India’slearned masters during deep meditativestate have intuitively discovered the subtlerealities of life that find reflection inphilosophic scriptures. I reflected uponthose learnings for long. And then, usingastrology as a diagnostic tool, I appliedthem on hundreds of people in realterms. The experiences, thus gained,bears testimony to the above facts.

A case in point is that of a youngman who could not relate well to his par-ents and was under tremendous stress.He came seeking guidance. A look at hischart revealed that more than anythingelse, he was himself responsible for hispredicament. The reason: He had aninflated ego, as would 8th aspect of Marson Jupiter may mean. Moon placed inMercury owned Virgo sign, and that tooplaced adverse to Mars and Sun, in thefirst place, brings in a sense of “I am theonly right person syndrome”. He felt thatpeople don’t pay attention to his intelli-gent stand. Second, he wished things hisexclusive ways, and therefore, could notdigest contrarian views, no matter howrelevant they may be. Third, he was tem-peramental, impulsive, hot-headed, andirritable. The Sun opposite mischievousNeptune made him stuck to his fancifuldream perceptions, distanced fromground realities. What further put him atodds with his father was that the Sun wasill-disposed to Saturn. Continued...

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