DaVR\Vc `fded "% ^`cV >=2d - Daily Pioneer

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K arnataka Assembly Speaker KR Ramesh disqualified 14 rebel MLAs of the Congress and Janata Dal (S) on Sunday — a day before Chief Minister BS Yediyurappa will see trust vote in the House. Confident about proving the majority, Yediyurappa said the Finance Bill prepared by the previous Congress-JD(S) Government would be tabled by him in the Assembly on Monday, without any changes. The Speaker disqualified 11 Congress MLAs and three JD(S) MLAs under the anti- defection law till the end of the Assembly term in 2023. The Speaker had already disquali- fied three more MLAs. Talking to reporters, Yediyurappa said he would surely prove the majority and then move the Finance Bill for passage. “The Finance Bill (appropriation bill) needs to be passed “urgently”, as other- wise “we will not be able to draw funds even to pay salaries,” he said. With the disqualification of 17 rebel MLAs, the effective strength of the 224-member Assembly excluding the Speaker, who has a casting vote in case of a tie, is 207. BSY will require 104 votes to prove the majority. BJP along with the support of one Independent has 106 members, Congress 66 (includ- ing nominated), JD(S) 34 and one BSP member, who has been expelled by the party for not voting for the Kumaraswamy Government during the trust vote. “I have used my judicial conscience... I am 100 per cent hurt,” said the Speaker, when asked about his controversial decision on disqualification being called into question and allegations about his conduct in the entire issue. Amid reports that the BJP was planning to move a no- confidence against the Speaker if he didn’t quit his post, Ramesh said he was taking the action based on the petitions moved by the Congress and JD(S) to disqualify the rebel MLAs, who had also submitted resignations as Assembly mem- bers and were absent during the trust vote sought by the Kumaraswamy headed Government, leading to its downfall. He said he had rejected the request by the rebel MLAs to give him four weeks more to appear before him on the issues of their resignations and dis- qualification plea against them. The Speaker had made it clear when he disqualified three rebel MLAs earlier that a member disqualified under the anti-defection law cannot con- test or get elected till the end of the term of the present House, a contention which has been challenged by the BJP, rebel MLAs and several legal experts. Reading out the names of rebel MLAs, the Speaker said, “They cease to be MLAs with immediate effect till the expiry of the 15th Assembly (in 2023),” adding, “with respon- sibility and fear I have taken this decision.” “The way I am being pres- surised mentally as Speaker to deal with all these things, I am pushed into a sea of depres- sion,” said an emotional Kumar. The disqualified MLAs are: Pratap Gowda Patil, BC Patil, Shivram Hebbar, ST Somashekar, Byrati Basavaraj, Anand Singh, Roshan Baig, Munirathna, K Sudhakar and MTB Nagaraj and Shrimant Patil (all Congress). Other party MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi, Mahesh Kumatalli and Shankar were disqualified on Thursday. JD(S) members who faced action are Gopalaiah, AH Vishwanath and Narayana Gowda. The BJP criticised the Speaker’s action, calling it “unfair and violative of the law” which, it said, had been taken “yielding to the pressure from a party”. The Karnataka Congress welcomed the Speaker’s deci- sion to disqualify the rebel MLAs. “The court of the pub- lic will also give the appropri- ate punishment to these legis- lators who have betrayed their parties and people who voted them by joining hands with BJP to bring down the coali- tion government,” the party tweeted. Congress Legislature Party leader Siddarmaiah, in a tweet, termed the Speaker’s decision as “a victory for democracy”. “I believe this decision will put an end to the shabby cul- ture of selling oneself by dis- regarding the public mandate for selfish motives and the greed for power,” he said. A fter deploying 10,000 addi- tional jawans in the Kashmir Valley, which was reportedly in response to intel- ligence inputs about terror threat from across the border, the Centre is expected to firm up a strategy for some decisive political and muscular action in the troubled-torn State of Jammu & Kashmir. Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said those try- ing to spread hate and obstruct development works in Kashmir will never succeed, asserting that the power of develop- ment is stronger than the might of bullets and bombs. While the PM did not talk about the massive deployment of additional forces in the Valley, sources said intelligence inputs suggested that Pakistan Army-backed terrorist groups are planning to carry out a major terror attack on Indian soil at a time when Amarnath Yatra is on. “That is why 100 companies of paramilitary forces have been deployed in the Kashmir Valley,” said a top official. Coming as it did after the visit of NSA Ajit Doval, who held extensive talks with top officials of the counter securi- ty grid, there were speculation of massive crackdown against terrorists and their sympathis- ers in the Valley and a possible scrapping Article 35A by the Centre. Former J&K Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti went on to say that the Centre was trying to create fear psychosis in the State. On Saturday, Minister of Home Affairs of India (MHA) ordered the deployment of 10,000 paramilitary person- nel, ostensibly, for ‘counter- insurgency’ and for maintain- ing ‘law and order’ in the Valley. Meanwhile Modi is expected to attend a meeting of BJP’s Jammu & Kashmir core group called on Tuesday, with top party leaders, includ- ing its chief and Home Minister Amit Shah. According to senior BJP lead- ers, the high-level meeting is set to discuss political atmos- phere and party’s preparedness for Assembly elections when- ever they are held. The likely presence of Modi and Shah in the meeting is significant and hints at the party gearing up for the State Assembly elec- tions, whose schedule will be finalised by the Election Commission after it receives a go-ahead from the Central and State Governments on law and order situation. Union Minister Jitendra Singh, BJP general secretary Ram Madhav and its State unit president Ravinder Raina and other senior leaders from the State will attend the meeting besides the party’s national working president JP Nadda. In his monthly ‘Mann ki Baat’ broadcast, he said the “Back to Village” programme held in June in Jammu & Kashmir saw enthusiastic par- ticipation of villagers every- where, including in very sen- sitive and remote villages, as Government officials reached there to discuss development schemes with locals. T wo Delhi University (DU) students were killed and two sustained grievous injuries after a speeding Honda City car in which they were travelling reportedly toppled over near Vivek Vihar at Surya Nagar red light after it hit an electric pole and railing, police said on Sunday. It appeared that the man on the wheels lost control over the steering and accident took place on Sunday. According to police, those killed in the car crash have been identified as Prabhjot Singh (18), a resident of Malka Ganj in North Delhi and Rubal (20), a resident of Haryana. While their two friends iden- tified as Keshav (21), a resident of Kamla Nagar and Arshpreet (19), a resident of Sirsa in Haryana, who were taken to GTB hospital and are undergoing treatment. Police said they are in critical condi- tions. Prima facie, it appears that Keshav and Prabhjot were going on a joyride with their two female friends. Police found a Honda City car in a damaged condition and the pole and railing uprooted from the road divider, Deputy Commissioner of Police Meghna Yadav said. “It appears that the driver was speeding and lost control of the car,” said a senior police officer. However, Lakshya who was driving the ill-fated Honda city car, reportedly abandoned the car and fled the spot after the incident. Investigators said they have launched a manhunt as his conduct appears to be suspicious. Police said they are all stu- dents of Delhi University. Yadav said a Police Control Room (PCR) call was received at police station Vivek Vihar around 5:40 am on Sunday regarding the fatal accident following which an Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) was dispatched for the spot. “A police team reached the spot, near Surya Nagar red light where a white colour Honda City car was found in damaged condition. An electricity pole and railings were also found uprooted from the central verge of road. It seems that the car was being driven at a great speed and collided with the pole and railings,” said the DCP. “The locals in the area had rushed the four injured persons to Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB) hospital for their treatment. Two youths identified as Prabhjot and Rubal were declared brought dead by the doctors, while Keshav and Arshpreet Kaur are undergoing treatment,” said a senior police official. “Police are checking the CCTV footage of the area to ascertain the sequence of events. Prima facie it appears that the driver, Lakshya was over speeding and lost control of the car after which it collid- ed with the divider. We are waiting for the MLC of the vic- tims to ascertain if they had consumed alcohol,” said the senior police official. I n a unique move to hit more on drug-terror nexus, the Centre has decided to identify ganja (cannabis) growing areas through satellites and deploy drones to carry out spraying of chemical to destroy the crops. In a communiqué to Director General of Police of all States and Union Territories, Central Paramilitary Forces and Narcotic Control Bureau, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) directed to identify cannabis growing areas through satellites and destroy the crops through chemical spraying. The Ministry has also directed to find out the root of the supply chain in drugs and identify the drug terror nexus. As per reports, Kerala, Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh, Manipur, Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Mysuru, and even Bihar are known for illegal cannabis farming. The issue of increasing cannabis farming in several States was discussed at the meeting of the highest level meeting with States police chiefs recently. It is estimated that one acre of cannabis fetches 2 to 2.50 lakh in the market. As per data, 9,500 acres of cannabis crop destroyed across the country during 2017- 18.The crop season commences around September and it is har- vested around February or March. Recently, Delhi Police has seized 1,300 kg cannabis since June this year. The secu- rity agencies also seized 111.91 kg and worth 100 crore from Manipur on June 29. According to intelligence sources, the Afghan variety of drug is being pumped into Kashmir, via Pakistan, which is further pushed into Punjab via Jammu. Punjab, which shares a 553-km-long border with Pakistan, has been hit hard by the menace of drugs smuggled from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Army intelligence sources are also said to have established strong links between Kashmiri terrorists and drug trafficking in Punjab. A 2019 study conducted by the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences reported that about 7.2 million Indians had consumed cannabis within the past year. Last week Chief Ministers of seven States including Punjab, Haryana, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhand besides senior officials repre- senting Jammu & Kashmir, Delhi and Chandigarh met to draw out a joint action plan to combat the rapidly growing cri- sis of drug abuse in the region. According to sources, Delhi is one of the main epi- centers where drugs flow from all States and supplied to other parts of the country. Drugs smuggled into Punjab from J&K, Rajasthan besides across the border from Pakistan are making way to Delhi and beyond. Habit-forming drugs are making way to Jammu from Punjab. While Cannabis from Himachal has a market in Punjab, most infamous drug “Chitta” is now smuggled to Himachal villages along the Punjab border. According to Narcotic Control Bureau report 2018, seizure of narcotic drugs like opium, heroin and cannabis in the country has increased by more than 300 per cent in the last five years with 2017 wit- nessing an all-time high recov- ery of over 3.6 lakh kg of nar- cotics. Intelligence Agencies report say Kashmiri farmers, especially in South Kashmir, are being forced into cultivat- ing poppy to generate funds to finance street rage and terror- ist violence. While the focus of the national media has largely been on drug abuse among the youth in Punjab, the scenario in J&K is no less frightening. The Paris-based Geopolitical Drug Watch has labeled Pakistan as a ‘narco state’, a nation in which drug barons collaborate closely with politicians, senior bureaucrats and armed forces officers. This illegal and clandestine business pumps more than $2 billion annually into Pakistan’s sinking economy. The economy of Pak?Afghan frontier is depen- dent on the production of poppy and cannabis. The drug money is being floated in an unorganised but systematic manner into the Indian money market thereby damaging financial institutions. P rime Minister Narendra Modi lauded the efforts of a small village of Ranchi for set- ting an example in the field of water conservation while inter- acting with the nation in ‘Mann Ki Baat 2.0’ on Sunday. Modi said that his call for water conservation has evoked immense response which can be seen reaching out to the remotest villages, like the one in Ormanjhi block of Ranchi district. He said, the people of Aara Keram village under Ormanjhi block have toiled collectively to change the course of a moun- tain spring. Modi said that the villagers’ effort has led to not only stopping soil erosion and prevention of crop damage, but has also facilitated effective irrigation of fields. Modi, hail- ing the efforts of villagers said that the zeal and fervor dis- played by them in water con- servation has turned out to example for one and all. This is not for the first time that PM Modi has hailed the work and contribution of peo- ple of Jharkhand in water con- servation. In his ‘Man Ki Baat’ monthly address last month, Modi cited the example of Dilip Kumar Ravidas, a Sarpanch of Lupung panchay- at of Katakmasandi block in Hazaribag district in water conservation. Ravidas, has taken a unique method in the conservation of water. He ini- tiated a soak pit project which drains out waste water into the ground by creating pits which not only conserves water but also help in addressing Lupung Panchayat block’s water-logging problems. Meanwhile, Chief Minister Raghubar Das congratulated the people of Aara Keram vil- lage after their village found mention in PM ‘Maan Ki Baat’. Das said, “It is a proud moment not only for people of Aara Keram village, but for the entire State. Water conservation in State has turned out to be mass movement.” The Chief Minister also thanks Prime Minister for his effort in water conservation at the same time lauding the efforts of Jharkhand in water conservation. In Ranchi district, Deputy Commissioner (DC) Rai Mahimapat Ray has directed 305 panchayats in 18 blocks of district to work in Jal Shakti Abhiyan—a time bound, mis- sion mode water conservation campaign launched by Prime Minister. Through the pro- gramme, the district adminis- tration first imparts training to people on water conservation followed by voluntary partici- pation of people in water con- servation. The Ranchi DC every day asses the progress in water conservation carried out by district administration. Moreover, inspired by PM Modi’s water conservation mantra, Chief Minister had also launched a campaign on water conservation. Chief Minister Raghubar Das Sunday said a campaign to conserve and manage water will be launched on July 7 across the state. On the instruc- tion of Chief Minister, minis- ters in the State Cabinet, MLAs, MPs and senior government officials participated in "shram daan" (voluntary work) on July 7. Das government, in last four years, has carried water man- agement digging of ponds, triggering agriculture growth from minus four per cent to 14 per cent.

Transcript of DaVR\Vc `fded "% ^`cV >=2d - Daily Pioneer

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Karnataka Assembly SpeakerKR Ramesh disqualified

14 rebel MLAs of the Congressand Janata Dal (S) on Sunday— a day before Chief MinisterBS Yediyurappa will see trustvote in the House.

Confident about provingthe majority, Yediyurappa saidthe Finance Bill prepared by theprevious Congress-JD(S)Government would be tabledby him in the Assembly onMonday, without any changes.

The Speaker disqualified11 Congress MLAs and threeJD(S) MLAs under the anti-defection law till the end of theAssembly term in 2023. TheSpeaker had already disquali-fied three more MLAs.

Talking to reporters,Yediyurappa said he wouldsurely prove the majority andthen move the Finance Bill forpassage. “The Finance Bill(appropriation bill) needs to bepassed “urgently”, as other-wise “we will not be able todraw funds even to paysalaries,” he said.

With the disqualification of17 rebel MLAs, the effectivestrength of the 224-memberAssembly excluding theSpeaker, who has a castingvote in case of a tie, is 207. BSYwill require 104 votes to provethe majority.

BJP along with the supportof one Independent has 106members, Congress 66 (includ-ing nominated), JD(S) 34 andone BSP member, who hasbeen expelled by the party for

not voting for theKumaraswamy Governmentduring the trust vote.

“I have used my judicialconscience... I am 100 per centhurt,” said the Speaker, whenasked about his controversialdecision on disqualificationbeing called into question andallegations about his conduct inthe entire issue.

Amid reports that the BJPwas planning to move a no-confidence against the Speakerif he didn’t quit his post,Ramesh said he was taking theaction based on the petitions

moved by the Congress andJD(S) to disqualify the rebelMLAs, who had also submittedresignations as Assembly mem-bers and were absent duringthe trust vote sought by theKumaraswamy headedGovernment, leading to itsdownfall.

He said he had rejected therequest by the rebel MLAs togive him four weeks more toappear before him on the issuesof their resignations and dis-qualification plea against them.

The Speaker had made itclear when he disqualified

three rebel MLAs earlier that amember disqualified under theanti-defection law cannot con-test or get elected till the end ofthe term of the present House,a contention which has beenchallenged by the BJP, rebelMLAs and several legal experts.

Reading out the names ofrebel MLAs, the Speaker said,“They cease to be MLAs withimmediate effect till the expiryof the 15th Assembly (in2023),” adding, “with respon-sibility and fear I have takenthis decision.”

“The way I am being pres-

surised mentally as Speaker todeal with all these things, I ampushed into a sea of depres-sion,” said an emotionalKumar.

The disqualified MLAsare: Pratap Gowda Patil, BCPatil, Shivram Hebbar, STSomashekar, Byrati Basavaraj,Anand Singh, Roshan Baig,Munirathna, K Sudhakar andMTB Nagaraj and ShrimantPatil (all Congress). Otherparty MLAs Ramesh Jarkiholi,Mahesh Kumatalli andShankar were disqualified onThursday. JD(S) memberswho faced action areGopalaiah, AH Vishwanathand Narayana Gowda. TheBJP criticised the Speaker’saction, calling it “unfair andviolative of the law” which, itsaid, had been taken “yieldingto the pressure from a party”.

The Karnataka Congresswelcomed the Speaker’s deci-sion to disqualify the rebelMLAs. “The court of the pub-lic will also give the appropri-ate punishment to these legis-lators who have betrayed theirparties and people who votedthem by joining hands withBJP to bring down the coali-tion government,” the partytweeted. Congress Legislature Party leader Siddarmaiah, in atweet, termed the Speaker’sdecision as “a victory fordemocracy”.

“I believe this decision willput an end to the shabby cul-ture of selling oneself by dis-regarding the public mandatefor selfish motives and thegreed for power,” he said.

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After deploying 10,000 addi-tional jawans in the

Kashmir Valley, which wasreportedly in response to intel-ligence inputs about terrorthreat from across the border,the Centre is expected to firmup a strategy for some decisivepolitical and muscular action inthe troubled-torn State ofJammu & Kashmir.

Prime Minister NarendraModi on Sunday said those try-ing to spread hate and obstructdevelopment works in Kashmirwill never succeed, assertingthat the power of develop-ment is stronger than the mightof bullets and bombs.

While the PM did not talkabout the massive deploymentof additional forces in theValley, sources said intelligenceinputs suggested that PakistanArmy-backed terrorist groupsare planning to carry out amajor terror attack on Indiansoil at a time when AmarnathYatra is on. “That is why 100companies of paramilitaryforces have been deployed inthe Kashmir Valley,” said a topofficial.

Coming as it did after thevisit of NSA Ajit Doval, who

held extensive talks with topofficials of the counter securi-ty grid, there were speculationof massive crackdown againstterrorists and their sympathis-ers in the Valley and a possiblescrapping Article 35A by theCentre. Former J&K ChiefMinister Mehbooba Mufti wenton to say that the Centre wastrying to create fear psychosisin the State.

On Saturday, Minister ofHome Affairs of India (MHA)ordered the deployment of10,000 paramilitary person-nel, ostensibly, for ‘counter-insurgency’ and for maintain-ing ‘law and order’ in theValley.

Meanwhile Modi isexpected to attend a meetingof BJP’s Jammu & Kashmircore group called on Tuesday,with top party leaders, includ-ing its chief and HomeMinister Amit Shah.According to senior BJP lead-ers, the high-level meeting isset to discuss political atmos-phere and party’s preparedness

for Assembly elections when-ever they are held. The likelypresence of Modi and Shah inthe meeting is significant andhints at the party gearing upfor the State Assembly elec-tions, whose schedule will befinalised by the ElectionCommission after it receives ago-ahead from the Centraland State Governments onlaw and order situation.

Union Minister JitendraSingh, BJP general secretaryRam Madhav and its State unitpresident Ravinder Raina andother senior leaders from theState will attend the meetingbesides the party’s nationalworking president JP Nadda.

In his monthly ‘Mann kiBaat’ broadcast, he said the“Back to Village” programmeheld in June in Jammu &Kashmir saw enthusiastic par-ticipation of villagers every-where, including in very sen-sitive and remote villages, asGovernment officials reachedthere to discuss developmentschemes with locals.

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Two Delhi University (DU)students were killed and

two sustained grievous injuriesafter a speeding Honda City carin which they were travellingreportedly toppled over nearVivek Vihar at Surya Nagar redlight after it hit an electric poleand railing, police said onSunday.

It appeared that the manon the wheels lost control overthe steering and accident tookplace on Sunday.

According to police, thosekilled in the car crash havebeen identified as PrabhjotSingh (18), a resident of MalkaGanj in North Delhi and Rubal(20), a resident of Haryana.While their two friends iden-tified as Keshav (21), a residentof Kamla Nagar and Arshpreet(19), a resident of Sirsa inHaryana, who were taken toGTB hospital and are undergoing treatment. Policesaid they are in critical condi-tions.

Prima facie, it appears thatKeshav and Prabhjot weregoing on a joyride with their

two female friends.Police found a Honda City

car in a damaged condition andthe pole and railing uprootedfrom the road divider, DeputyCommissioner of PoliceMeghna Yadav said.

“It appears that the driverwas speeding and lost controlof the car,” said a senior policeofficer. However, Lakshya who

was driving the ill-fated Hondacity car, reportedly abandonedthe car and fled the spot afterthe incident. Investigators saidthey have launched a manhuntas his conduct appears to besuspicious.

Police said they are all stu-dents of Delhi University.Yadav said a Police ControlRoom (PCR) call was received

at police station Vivek Vihararound 5:40 am on Sundayregarding the fatal accidentfollowing which an EmergencyResponse Vehicle (ERV) wasdispatched for the spot.

“A police team reached thespot, near Surya Nagar red lightwhere a white colour HondaCity car was found in damagedcondition. An electricity poleand railings were also founduprooted from the central vergeof road. It seems that the carwas being driven at a greatspeed and collided with thepole and railings,” said theDCP.

“The locals in the area hadrushed the four injured personsto Guru Teg Bahadur (GTB)hospital for their treatment.Two youths identified asPrabhjot and Rubal weredeclared brought dead by thedoctors, while Keshav andArshpreet Kaur are undergoingtreatment,” said a senior policeofficial.

“Police are checking theCCTV footage of the area toascertain the sequence ofevents. Prima facie it appearsthat the driver, Lakshya wasover speeding and lost controlof the car after which it collid-ed with the divider. We arewaiting for the MLC of the vic-tims to ascertain if they hadconsumed alcohol,” said thesenior police official.

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In a unique move to hit moreon drug-terror nexus, the

Centre has decided to identifyganja (cannabis) growing areasthrough satellites and deploydrones to carry out spraying ofchemical to destroy the crops.

In a communiqué toDirector General of Police of allStates and Union Territories,Central Paramilitary Forcesand Narcotic Control Bureau,the Ministry of Home Affairs(MHA) directed to identifycannabis growing areasthrough satellites and destroythe crops through chemicalspraying.

The Ministry has alsodirected to find out the root ofthe supply chain in drugs andidentify the drug terror nexus.

As per reports, Kerala,Meghalaya, Andhra Pradesh,

Manipur, Kashmir, HimachalPradesh, Uttarakhand, Mysuru,and even Bihar are known forillegal cannabis farming.

The issue of increasingcannabis farming in severalStates was discussed at themeeting of the highest levelmeeting with States police chiefsrecently. It is estimated that oneacre of cannabis fetches �2 to2.50 lakh in the market.

As per data, 9,500 acres ofcannabis crop destroyed acrossthe country during 2017-18.The crop season commencesaround September and it is har-vested around February orMarch. Recently, Delhi Policehas seized 1,300 kg cannabissince June this year. The secu-rity agencies also seized 111.91kg and worth �100 crore fromManipur on June 29.

According to intelligencesources, the Afghan variety of

drug is being pumped intoKashmir, via Pakistan, which isfurther pushed into Punjab

via Jammu. Punjab, whichshares a 553-km-long borderwith Pakistan, has been hit

hard by the menace of drugssmuggled from Pakistan andAfghanistan. Army intelligence

sources are also said to haveestablished strong linksbetween Kashmiri terroristsand drug trafficking in Punjab.

A 2019 study conducted bythe All India Institutes ofMedical Sciences reported thatabout 7.2 million Indians hadconsumed cannabis within thepast year.

Last week Chief Ministersof seven States includingPunjab, Haryana, Rajasthan,Himachal Pradesh, Uttrakhandbesides senior officials repre-senting Jammu & Kashmir,Delhi and Chandigarh met todraw out a joint action plan tocombat the rapidly growing cri-sis of drug abuse in the region.

According to sources,Delhi is one of the main epi-centers where drugs flow fromall States and supplied to otherparts of the country. Drugssmuggled into Punjab from

J&K, Rajasthan besides acrossthe border from Pakistan aremaking way to Delhi andbeyond. Habit-forming drugsare making way to Jammufrom Punjab. While Cannabisfrom Himachal has a market inPunjab, most infamous drug“Chitta” is now smuggled toHimachal villages along thePunjab border.

According to NarcoticControl Bureau report 2018,seizure of narcotic drugs likeopium, heroin and cannabis inthe country has increased bymore than 300 per cent in thelast five years with 2017 wit-nessing an all-time high recov-ery of over 3.6 lakh kg of nar-cotics.

Intelligence Agenciesreport say Kashmiri farmers,especially in South Kashmir,are being forced into cultivat-ing poppy to generate funds to

finance street rage and terror-ist violence. While the focus ofthe national media has largelybeen on drug abuse among theyouth in Punjab, the scenarioin J&K is no less frightening.

The Paris-basedGeopolitical Drug Watch haslabeled Pakistan as a ‘narcostate’, a nation in which drugbarons collaborate closely withpoliticians, senior bureaucratsand armed forces officers. Thisillegal and clandestine businesspumps more than $2 billionannually into Pakistan’s sinkingeconomy.

The economy ofPak?Afghan frontier is depen-dent on the production ofpoppy and cannabis. The drugmoney is being floated in anunorganised but systematicmanner into the Indian moneymarket thereby damagingfinancial institutions.

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Prime Minister NarendraModi lauded the efforts of

a small village of Ranchi for set-ting an example in the field ofwater conservation while inter-acting with the nation in ‘MannKi Baat 2.0’ on Sunday.

Modi said that his call forwater conservation has evokedimmense response which canbe seen reaching out to theremotest villages, like the onein Ormanjhi block of Ranchidistrict.

He said, the people of AaraKeram village under Ormanjhiblock have toiled collectively tochange the course of a moun-tain spring. Modi said that thevillagers’ effort has led to notonly stopping soil erosion andprevention of crop damage,but has also facilitated effectiveirrigation of fields. Modi, hail-ing the efforts of villagers saidthat the zeal and fervor dis-played by them in water con-servation has turned out toexample for one and all.

This is not for the first timethat PM Modi has hailed thework and contribution of peo-ple of Jharkhand in water con-servation. In his ‘Man Ki Baat’

monthly address last month,Modi cited the example ofDilip Kumar Ravidas, aSarpanch of Lupung panchay-at of Katakmasandi block inHazaribag district in waterconservation. Ravidas, hastaken a unique method in theconservation of water. He ini-tiated a soak pit project whichdrains out waste water into theground by creating pits whichnot only conserves water butalso help in addressing LupungPanchayat block’s water-loggingproblems.

Meanwhile, Chief MinisterRaghubar Das congratulatedthe people of Aara Keram vil-lage after their village foundmention in PM ‘Maan Ki Baat’.Das said, “It is a proud momentnot only for people of AaraKeram village, but for the entireState. Water conservation inState has turned out to bemass movement.”

The Chief Minister alsothanks Prime Minister for hiseffort in water conservation atthe same time lauding theefforts of Jharkhand in waterconservation.

In Ranchi district, DeputyCommissioner (DC) RaiMahimapat Ray has directed

305 panchayats in 18 blocks ofdistrict to work in Jal ShaktiAbhiyan—a time bound, mis-sion mode water conservationcampaign launched by PrimeMinister. Through the pro-gramme, the district adminis-tration first imparts training topeople on water conservationfollowed by voluntary partici-pation of people in water con-servation. The Ranchi DCevery day asses the progress inwater conservation carried outby district administration.

Moreover, inspired by PMModi’s water conservationmantra, Chief Minister hadalso launched a campaign onwater conservation.

Chief Minister RaghubarDas Sunday said a campaign toconserve and manage waterwill be launched on July 7across the state. On the instruc-tion of Chief Minister, minis-ters in the State Cabinet, MLAs,MPs and senior governmentofficials participated in "shramdaan" (voluntary work) on July7. Das government, in last fouryears, has carried water man-agement digging of ponds,triggering agriculture growthfrom minus four per cent to 14per cent.

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XLRI students’ organisation“Samarthya”, in association

with Little Flower School,Telco, organised a career coun-selling fair for school studentsat Little Flower School, Telcoon Sunday.

The event was headed byRonald D’Costa, the foundingmember of Samarthya. Also,many professional counsellorswere invited to share theirexperience with the studentsand their parents. The eventsaw a participation of 500 stu-dents and 50 parents.

Career Counselling Fairwas organised with the aim ofproviding guidance to studentsand their parents about variouscareer options available to themfrom the people having first-hand information of the field.The event is designed so as tohelp students make aninformed decision about theircareer choice by collectinginformation about differentfields of their interest at a sin-gle venue.

The event commencedwith the address by RonaldD’Costa who has also been ona team for introducing a newconcept of training for youth.D’Costa initiated with one ofthe vital phenomena of today’sworld i.e. uncertainty.

He explained how impor-tant it is today to manageuncertainty as things changeconstantly. Thus, youth needs

to be put in a situation to copeup with the same and adapt tonew ideas and new techniques.

Father Peter, then, empha-sised the importance of careercounselling and making aninformed decision. He said,“One right step in right direc-tion can make your future bril-liant”. He also expressed howimportant it is for the wholeworld that the students puttheir best foot forward.

For Career Counselling,along with XLRI students,many professionals graced theevent for the benefit of studentsand went on to share theirexperiences and their passionthat made them choose their

career.The event offered infor-

mation about wide gamut ofcareer options from unclichedFarming, Sports, Photography,Forestry to standardisedEngineering, Doctors andIndian Defence.

Tushar Kabir who has stud-ied from Loyola school chosefarming as his career and wasdescribed as a “gentlemanfarmer”. He went on to say thatfarming is not just a professionbut a way of life and describedthe unfathomable satisfactionhe gets in contributing to feed-ing the entire nation. He alsoexplained to students how infu-sion of new technology into

farming has changed it into aproper profession.

Dr. Sanjay Aggarwal who isa psychiatrist by professiontold students to think practi-cally and rationally and empha-sised on the importance ofcontingency plans. He tried toput the parent’s perspectivebefore students to provide themthe holistic view.

Abhinesh Chaudhary,Indian Forest Service Officer,shared how he followed hispassion of going into adminis-tration even after pursuingScience in his under graduationand also listed down the perksof being in the Indian ForestryServices.

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The 26th battalion of CentralReserve Police Force(

CRPF), Bokaro, celebrated its80th Foundation Day withmuch fervour and enthusiasmat its Group Centre at Chasheadquarter on Saturday. CRPFCommandant of the 26th bat-talion, Akhilesh Kumar Singh,congratulated the officials andjawans on the occasion.

Singh paid rich tributes tomartyrs of the CRPF and saidthat CRPF is world’s largestparamilitary force, which is notonly alert for internal security

of the country but is also com-mitted to social responsibilitiesand humanity.

"Our jawans are discharg-ing their duties appropriatelywith bravery and couragewhether it’s an attack on theparliament, AkshardhamTemple or anywhere else. Thejawans have neutralised theenemy everywhere. They havenot stepped aside for makingsupreme sacrifice for motherIndia,” he said.

Singh added, “Over 2,000CRPF personnel have sacri-ficed their lives dischargingtheir duties. The CRPF per-

sonnel have received morethan 1,200 bravery medalsincluding George Cross AshokChakra, Shaurya Chakra, KirtiChakra and others.”

Commandant Singh saidthat on the eve of theFoundation Day, CRPF insti-tutions across the district haveplanted 4,000 trees, which is aunique initiative for preservingthe environment in Bokaroand its surrounding areas.

As many as dozen officersand jawans were felicitated onthe occasion in a programmeorganised at the 26th battalionat Chas.

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Following the clarion callgiven by Prime Minister

Narendra Modi to save waterand secure the future, BokaroSteel Plant (BSL) is on move toincrease green cover in itsperiphery.

Under this movement,about one lakh sapling wouldbe planted on the 100 acres ofland near Garga Dam,informed MK Dhan Chief ofCommunication (COC) atBSL.

Aiming to conserve water,sapling would also be plantedby ‘shram daan’ (voluntarywork) under the “Jal ShaktiAbhiyan”, he said

"An intensive plantationprogram is underway and overthousands of sapling wereplanted today by BSL officials,CISF cops, district adminis-tration officials, teachers aswere students, Dhan said.

Under “Jal Shakti Abhiyan”,rainwater harvesting, reuse of

t r e a t e dwastewater,rejuvenationof waterbodies andintensive treeplantat ionwould becarried out,he informed.

BSL has already taken ini-tiative in relation to the recy-cled wastewater and is movingforward towards zero dis-charge. Similarly, continuoustree plantation in the plantpremises and city and enclo-sure is also in the direction ofwater conservation. BSL is alsotaking initiative in the directionof rainwater harvesting and iscommitted to making thiscampaign successful, said theCOC.

Under the tree plantationdrive, saplings of trees likeBanyan, Peepal, Sheesham,Sagwan, Acacia, Neem, Arjun,mango, jackfruit including oth-ers are being planted.

Beside others ExecutiveDirector (Personnel andAdministration) Mukul Prasad,Executive Director (ContentManagement) VK Pandey,General Manager in-charge(Finance and Accounts) DKSaha, General Manager (CityAdministration) Vikhar,Deputy DevelopmentCommissioner (Bokaro) RaviRanjan Kumar Mishra, DFORN Mishra, AdditionalMunicipal Commissioner(Chas) Shashi Prakash Jha,DIG (CISF) S. Ambastha, AnilKumar, Senior Manager(Horticulture) including othersenior officials of BSL were pre-sent during the plantationdrive.

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Bokaro will soon get anEmployees State Insurance

Corporation (ESIC) Hospitalwhich will offer medicine atsubsidised rates and provideout-patient and in-patient facil-ities at a nominal cost.

Establishment of an ESICHospital at Bokaro was a muchawaited demand of the locals.Jharkhand Government hasfinally given its nod to erect the30-bed hospital, the tender forwhich will be floated soon,informed an official.

“Over 70,000 workers andtheir families are associatedwith ESIC at Bokaro and theyare not being able to avail thehealth benefits under thescheme as ESIC does not haveits own hospital at Bokaro,” saidSK Verma President of BMS.

“The move may helpdecongest private and govern-ment hospitals in the district.It will also reduce healthcarecost for millions by easingdependence on private-runmedical facilities,” he said.

The Government has takenthis decision on the initiative ofBermo MLA YogeshwarMahato Batul, who raised theissue in state assembly, claimedRanjan Mahato an MLA sup-porter and party worker.

Meanwhile, run by labourministry ESIC has over 150hospitals and 1,500 dispen-saries across the country whichare catering to the healthcareneed of industrial workers(who are subscribers of the cor-poration), said an officialrequesting anonymity.

The hospital will providethe out-patient facility to com-mon people at just Rs 10 pervisit, for in-patient treatment,it will charge one-fourth ofwhat CGHS (CentralGovernment Health Scheme)hospitals charges, he informed.

The ESI Act applies toorganisations where 10 or morepersons are employed and allemployees drawing salary up to�21,000.

Under the Act eligibleemployees contribute 1.75 per-cent of their salary (basic+allowances) and employerscontribute 4.75 percent to theESI corpus every month. Nowthe Government had recentlysought an amendment of theDraft Rules concerning ESIcontribution. The GazetteNotification dated February, 15,2019 proposes a reduction inboth the employees’ andemployers’ ESI contributiontowards the scheme whichwould be 4 percent–for theemployers and 1 percent–foremployees.

"Recently ESIC has taken adecision to set up one superspeciality hospital in eachState," said the official.

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Atanker carrying (LiquidPetroleum Gas) LPG fell

into a 25 feet deep ditch onSaturday night near JamsotiNala of Koderma Valley situ-ated on Koderma-Patna routeleading to hours long trafficjam on a stretch of around 40kms. Vehicular movement wasprohibited on this road con-necting two Capital cities Patnaand Ranchi after the incident ina bid to prevent further acci-dents.

Koderma Superintendentof Police, M Tamil Banan,informed that the gas tankerwas on the way to Fatuha, Biharfrom Haldia in West Bengal.“When the tanker was passingthe Koderma Valley nearJamsoti Nala on NH 31 the dri-ver lost control over the vehi-cle and it fell in to 25 feet deepditch at around 11 pm onSaturday. Once the tanker fell,a valve which seals the cover,broke and the gas from thetanker started leaking. Initiallythe traffic on this road was par-

tially interrupted, but when thegas spread on a large area thepolice reached the spot andstopped the movement of vehi-cles there,” he said.

The SP added, “Due to this,a large numbers of vehicleswere stranded on NH 31through the night. We provid-ed the information about thisincident to other Police Stationsin the surrounding areas so thatthey can request vehicle drivers

to choose alternative routes likeRajauli and Barhi. While we didmanage to prevent many vehi-cles from being stuck in thejam, but the queue of previ-ously trapped vehicles extend-ed to around 40 kms.”

The police had also calledfire brigade to control the sit-uation in case of an accident.Banan further said that thetanker is still in the ditch butthere are no casualties. “We are

unable to locate thedriver of the tanker;he might have fledfrom the spot. Itseems the tankerbelongs to BharatGas. A team ofexperts is being calledfrom an LPG plant inHazaribag to tap theleakage. At presentwe have made a tem-porary arrangementby sealing the leakageusing M-Seal. Theoperation of the vehi-

cles started on Sundaymorning at around 7am,” he added.

Jharkhand Bus OwnersAssociation president,Sachchidanand Singh said thatmany a passenger buses toPatna were delayed due to theaccident. “A large number ofbuses to and from Patna werestranded near the spot and pas-sengers had to face inconve-nience. There was more thansix hours delay in the busesreaching their destination” hesaid.

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The Ranchi MunicipalCorporation issued a notice

on Sunday directing all the bulkwaste generators of the city toinstall a waste managementsystem in their own premise.

The notification men-tioned that the Solid Waste

Management Act, 2016, noti-fied by the Government saysthat any premise which gen-erates 50 kg waste in a daycomes under the category ofbulk waste generators.

City manager SandeepKumar said, "Bulk waste gen-erators will include all themarket associations, hotels,

restaurants, banquet halls andother residential and com-mercial establishments whichproduce more than 50 kggarbage in a day."

These bulk waste genera-tors have been given a time of60 days to install a wastemanagement system in theirpremises.

The system should havethe facility of segregating thewaste into three parts includ-ing biodegradable or wetwaste, non biodegradable, dryor recyclable waste anddomestic hazardous waste.

"After 60 days from thedate of issue of this notifica-t ion Ranchi Municipal

Corporation will not be col-lecting garbage from thepremises which comes underthe category of bulk wastegenerators," Kumar said.

The city managerinformed that RMC wouldhelp out the owners of theseplaces in case of any confu-sion of query. “In past we have

had meetings with the own-ers of restaurants, hotels, ban-quet halls and other bulkgarbage generators andshowed them presentationregarding the installation ofsystem.

If they need any furthersupport we will provide themguidance,” he said.

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Principal Secretary to ChiefMinister, Sunil Kumar

Barnwal announced on Sundaythat the State Government isplanning to launch a logisticpolicy soon. The announce-ment was made during theregional council meeting of CIIEaster Region which was heldafter nine years in Ranchi.

Barnwal also said that theGovernment of Jharkhand iscontinuously working on mak-ing Jharkhand an increasinglyinvestment friendly State. Hefurther added that CII is a nat-ural partner of the StateGovernment in the develop-ment process of Jharkhand.

Secretary of StateDepartment of Industries, KRavi Kumar said on the occa-sion that the government andindustries need to collectively

address the issues in order tomake Jharkhand progress inthe overall development path.

The Eastern RegionalCouncil of CII consists of thetop Industrialists in the region.This year, CII Eastern RegionalCouncil is being chaired by CSGhosh, Founder MD and CEO,Bandhan Bank Limited and thedeputy chairman is AbhijitRoy, Managing Director, BergerPaints India Limited.

More than thirtyIndustrialists of the regionattended the CII RegionalCouncil meeting in Ranchi.

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This Independence Day,Jharkhand is set to launch

its own Global PositioningSystem (GPS) based software,which will prevent casualtiesand deaths caused by lightningstrikes by sending alert mes-sages over phone to common-ers, officials from the StateDisaster ManagementAuthority (SDMA) said onSunday.

The software, designed byJharkhand Agency forPromotion of InformationTechnology (JAPIT), will firstlocate the places that are like-ly to witness lightning strikesand then scan all the GPS-enabled mobile devices withinthe periphery of the geo-graphical area that might getaffected. The software willautomatically send text mes-sages to all the mobile phonesthat have their GPS location inthe area, asking the phone

user to take precautionarymeasures.

“Our main agenda now isprevention of casualties anddeaths. JAPIT has been work-ing on the software since a longtime and it is ready for use now.We are planning to launch it onIndependence Day,” saidManish Tiwary, Joint Secretaryof SDMA.

According to figures withthe Jharkhand Police, lightningstrikes claimed at least 35 livesin Jharkhand in the past oneweek, taking the death toll to 50in less than a month.

Lightning has beendeclared a natural disaster inJharkhand. The Governmentpays a compensation of �4lakh to the family of peoplewho die in lightning strikeshere. “We regularly disburse thecompensation amounts to allthe districts. However, wewanted to work on a projectthat reduces the casualties. Wecannot stop lighting strikes

but at least we can alert peopleand save lives,” Tiwary said.

According to SDMA,around 1,800 people have beenkilled by lightning in the last 12years in Jharkhand. The SDMAdata says that lightning kills aperson every second day on anaverage in a year. Experts,however, say the numbers aremuch higher as several deathsin state’s remote areas go unre-ported. Lightning claimed

around 228 lives in Jharkhandin 2016 and 240 in 2017.

While the SDMA is bank-ing on the software for pre-venting deaths caused by light-ning strikes, experts are of theopinion that SMS-based alertsystems are already in use andthe initiative may not be effec-tive enough. Colonel SanjaySrivastava, Chairman ofClimate Resilient Observing-Systems Promotion Council, a

national NGOthat works onc l i m a t i cchanges anddisaster man-agement, saidthat manymobile phoneApps arealready send-ing SMS-based alertsand the initia-tive of theSDMA lacksinnovation.

“We havemany Appsthat send SMSalerts on light-ning strikes.What people

fail to understand is that mostof the people falling prey tolightning strikes either do nothave mobile phones or are notusing them while they are atrisk. Most of the victims arefarmers or village children whoare out in the open duringlightning,” said Srivastava,adding that the State is in needof a system that alerted villagersat a local level through sirensor other similar means.

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In a bid to tighten the noosearound offenders under the

Information Technology (IT)Act and maintain communalharmony in the city, SeniorSuperintendent of Police AnishGupta has directed all thepolice officials in Ranchi tospread awareness about thelegal steps that can be takenagainst hate-mongers on socialmedia. Gupta called for a quickmeeting with senior officialsand Officers In-Charge of allthe police stations in Ranchi onSaturday late night and passedthe directions.

“Basically, we will launch adrive targeted at the youth forspreading awareness againstobjectionable posts on socialmedia. Student groups will beinformed about the legal impli-

cations of sharing sensitive postsand also made aware about thelegal actions they can initiateagainst hate mongers on socialmedia,” Gupta said on Sunday.

The initiative comes hard-ly a fortnight after a 19-year-oldB.Com (Hons) student wasarrested from her residence inPithoria and put in jail forallegedly posting objectionablecontent on her social mediaaccount. Richa Bharti’s arrestand the subsequent legal pro-ceedings had triggered debatesacross the country. She is cur-rently out on bail.

“Since students are mostactive on social media, they arethe ones who need to be sensi-tized the most. Their involve-ment in checking hate-mon-gering on social media can bevery effective,” Gupta said.

Besides keeping a tab on thesocial media and maintainingcommunal harmony, anotherobjective for the impromptumeeting on Saturday night wasto tighten the security arrange-ments for the upcoming festi-

vals. Eid-Ul-Adha or Bakr Eidis likely to be celebrated onAugust 11, and the city policehave been asked to maintain avigil on the movement of trucksthat ferry animals to the city forsacrifice during the festival,Gupta said.

“Officials from all the policestations here have been asked tomaintain a vigil on the trucksthat ferry animals to the city forsacrifice during the festival. Asbovine slaughter is prohibited inJharkhand, any person or groupfound selling cows, bulls, buf-faloes or camels will be dealtwith strictly,” said Gupta.

The Prevention of CowSlaughter Act, introduced in2005 by a former BharatiyaJanata Party (BJP) Governmenthere, prohibits slaughter or sac-rifice of cows and calves. Theones found guilty of trading orslaughtering other animals suchas horses and camels may bepunished under the Preventionof Cruelty to Animals Act andFood Safety and Standard Act,police said.

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Ranchi MP Sanjay Seth onSunday laid the foundation

stone for construction of ashed for daily wagers at theOTC ground in Ratu Road ina bid to ease the traffic move-ment in the area.

Seth had inspected RatuRoad a week ago and dis-cussed with the administrativeofficials about ways to get ridof the frequent traffic jams inthe area. During the inspection,he noticed that hundreds ofdaily wagers assembled underthe open sky near RelianceFresh in Ratu Road in search ofwork. This, he said, was one ofthe reasons for traffic conges-tion in the area as the labour-ers occupied half of the roadwhile waiting for contractors.

Seth, during the inspection,had asked Ranchi’s DeputyCommission Rai Mahimapat

Ray to find a permanent solu-tion to address the overcrowd-ing of labourers in the area. Alabour building will be con-structed at the spot for dailywagers in the days to come, hesaid on Sunday. There will besitting arrangement in thebuilding along with drinkingwater and toilet facilities so thatthe laborers from remote areasdo not face trouble duringextreme weather conditions.

Later in the day, Seth alsoannounced that Sri KrishnaJanmashtami Mahotsav Samitiwill organise Dahi Handi com-petition on Sri KrishnaJanmashtami festival on August24.

Seth, who happens to bethe patron of organising com-mittee, said that JanmashtamiFestival will be observed atAlbert Ekka Chowk in theState capital on August 23 andAugust 24. The committee will

celebrate Janmashtami for theeighth time this year, he added.

“On the first day Bal Gopalcompetition and the Tableaucompetition will be organisedat around 6pm. The Dahi

Handi programme will beinaugurated by Chief Minister,Raghubar Das at 7 pm onAugust 24.

The various teams for DahiHandi competition will have to

register with the organ-ising committee byAugust 15,” said Seth.

The winning men’steam will get a cashprize of � 71,000, whilethe runner up will get�31,000 and the sec-ond runner up will get�21,000, said Seth. Onthe other hand, the win-ning women’s team willget �41,000, while theteams that bag the sec-ond and third positionswill get �21, 000 and�11, 000 respectively,he added.

The height of theHandi will be 20 feet formen and 15 feet for

women. State UrbanDevelopment Minister C PSingh said on the occasionthat the committee is organis-ing the programme to preservethe cultural heritage of India.

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From cerebral palsy todepression, a number of

movies related to variousaspects of mental health werescreened on the first day of athree-day film festival,‘Anubhav – Through the lens ofmind’, organised by CentralInstitute of Psychiatry (CIP),Ranchi on Sunday.

“Cinema is a strong medi-um; it stays with you longenough to think on the subject.A good piece of cinema beginsto occupy your mind after youhave seen it. With that aim wehave tried to pass on bothactive and passive messages ondepression and mental disorderfor the viewers,” said Dr.Mohan Agashe, a psychiatrist

and a noted filmmaker inHindi and Marathi cinemawho was present at the film fes-tival.

The festival has plans ofscreening various films explor-ing the realms of mental healthand its impact. One the firstday of the festival on Sunday,the event started with thescreening of criticallyacclaimed Marathi film,Kaasav, directed by filmmakerduo Sumitra Bhave and SunilSukhthankar and co-producedby Dr. Agashe.

With a running time of 104minutes, Kaasav deals with theconcept of mental wellnessand depression in the mostpoignant way possible. Thestoryline is enriched with pow-erful metaphors and beautiful

imagery that touches one’semotional strings at multiplelevels. “The use of this film isto majorly create awarenessand understanding for the rel-atives of patients suffering from

mental disorders, mostlydepression. Depression can betaxing not only for the indi-vidual suffering from it but alsothe relatives who bear the bur-den of care and dependence,”

told Dr. Agashe.The post screening dis-

cussion on the film recorded anoverwhelming response fromthe students and mental healthprofessionals at CIP. “Theamount of research that hasgone in making the film is evi-dent with the touch of realityit spills in each frame. Thenumber of high points and theportrayal of the story is out-standing,” said Deena Nath, astudent at CIP.

“The tricky use of music toconvey an underlying transi-tion in the behaviour of theprotagonist and the simplicityof depiction has left a deepimpact on all of us. The easewith which we can relate to thecharacters makes it a greatexperience,” said another sec-

ond year student from CIP.Professor D Ram, Director

of CIP Ranchi was very satis-fied by the interaction and thesuccessful onset of the film fes-tival.

Other films to be screenedat the festival include ‘Astu’, ‘Iam Jeeja’, ‘A Beautiful Mind’and ‘The Streetcar NamedDesire’. The festival will con-clude on July 30 with screeningof patient awareness.

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The State Government hasput a stay on the decision

of Palamu district administra-tion to terminate the service of435 para teachers of the districtwho failed to submit docu-ments related to their appoint-ment.

The Government has put astay on the termination of ser-vices of these teachers on thedirective of the AssemblySpeaker.

Assembly speaker, DineshOraon, has asked to constitutean Assembly committee onteachers’ dismissal and submitthe report by September thisyear. An MLA from Palamuregion requesting anonymitysaid, “The Speaker’s directive toput a stay of para teachers’ ter-mination is big relief to teach-ers. The Speaker has constitut-ed a committee of VidhanSabha which will submit itsreport by September. BySeptember, model code of con-duct will come into force andduring the time no governmentorder can be issue.” The stay ontermination will be lifted onlyby next year when the newGovernment formation takesplace.

The lawmaker welcomingthe Speaker’s directive claimedthat there are around 67,000

para teachers working in Stateand their votes assume impor-tance for political parties.

The Speaker decided toconstitute the committee onFriday the last day of Monsoonsession when BJP MLA fromChhatarpur and party ChiefWhip in Assembly RadhaKrishna Kishore raised theissue in Assembly. Kishore,raising the issue in House saidthat the fate of 435 para teach-ers in Chhatarpur and Naudihablock hangs in balance. Basedon the report of Palamu deputydevelopment commissioner,the services of 435 para teach-ers were to be terminated fornon-submission of their docu-ments of appointment to con-cerned department.

Kishore claimed that thereport of deputy developmentcommissioner is third suchreport on para teachers’appointment. In two earlierreports there is anomalies as inone report their appointmentshas found to be correct whilein other report discrepancieshas been found in teachersappointment. Kishore also stat-ed that para teachers wereasked to submit their docu-ments at district level, butmost of the para teachers doc-uments are already submittedat block office.

Meanwhile, JharkhandPara Teachers SangarshMorcha member, Sanjay Dubeyhas welcomed the Speaker’sdecision to constitute a com-

mittee. Dubey said, “The teach-ers were appointed at GramSiksha Samiti on the recom-mendations of PrakhandSiksha Samiti. The papers relat-ed to appointment are underthe possession of PrakhandSiksha Samiti and not withteachers.”

Dubey, also claimed thatfrom August 15, the teacherswill launch an agitation insupport of their demandswhich includes regularisationof their services and salary andbenefits as per Governmentstaff.

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Shopping on their own was adream come true for Ramu,

Ankit and Aarti, the three chil-dren who otherwise spendtheir day out on the streets col-lecting plastic bottles fromgarbage. The three checkedoff their wish-list by buyingthings for themselves and theirfamilies at the MahaBazarmock shopping mall set up atRanchi Club on Sunday.

After buying a toy for herlittle brother, Aarti said, “Ialways wanted to give some-thing to him but we do nothave money to buy anything. Iwas very happy to buy so manythings for myself and my broth-er.”

Like Aarti, a number ofunderprivileged children gotthe chance to experience theliberty of choice-somethingout of their reach, due to theefforts of Fallen Leaves, a youthdriven charity organisationwith an aim to bring smile onthe faces of underprivilegedchildren.

“We had 1001 kids in twosets. One from Adim JatiMahila Ashram in Khuntiand the other from ParasnathSchool in Bandgaon,” saidRajat, a member of FallenLeaves. The event organisedfor underprivileged children

aged between 5 to 18 yearswas a huge success and com-pleted four years of spreadingjoy in this unique fashion.

“The kids seemed to bevery excited and joyous whenthey were given the liberty tochoose what to buy and expe-rience the retail process ofshopping at the mock shop-ping mall,” added Rajat.

The satisfaction and plea-sure of giving is their biggestmotivation and driving force,claim the volunteers.

Designed in a way to

attract the kids, the overallexperience included shop-ping bags labelled as ‘Bag ofHappiness’ and queues ofstalls with names ‘Papa kiPant’, ‘Ma ki Saree’ and weregiven mock debit cards forpayment.

Goods like clothes, toys,stationery items and acces-sories were put up for thechildren, with each item beingmarked at Rs. 200 and eachchild having a limit of buyingfive items.

The value for money and

budget weretaught to thesekids in theprocess. Theaim was toinculcate theconcept of pri-oritising needsversus wants.“We believeexperience isthe biggestteacher andthat’s the mainidea behindour concept ofthe event,”Rajat said.

The effortof Fal lenLeaves wasapplauded bythe denizens ofthe City. “It is a

very interesting concept forcharity as we can share thingswith the kids in a dignifiedmanner and they can learnand rejoice out of it,” saidAnshita Mehta, a donor forMahabazar.

“It is a nice way to unitethe society for a cause andimplement it in a way thatproduces optimum use for thebeneficiaries.

We look forward to it thenext year also,” said BhartiSingh, a homemaker fromRanchi.

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There is a man, woman andthen there’s us… God has

made us like this, God hasmade us differently,” saysDhananjay Chauhan, atranswoman, while recallingher journey from being born asDhan Singh to assuming hertrue identity.

As the LGBT (Lesbian,Gay, Bisexual, Transgender)community of India is nolonger invisible as it was once,Dhananjay, a transgenderactivist and a student of PhDat the Centre for HumanRights and Duties, PanjabUniversity is now fighting tocreate more opportunities forthe community.

“The change has just begunand we still have a long way togo…,”says Dhananjay, whobecame the first transgenderstudent in PU in 2016.

“At present, there are threetransgender students in PUand we are hopeful that morewill enroll themselves afterlistening to our stories,” shetells while sitting besidesVishipreet, another transgen-der student of PU.

Transgender is an umbrel-la term for persons whose gen-der identity, gender expressionor behavior does not conformto that typically associated withthe sex to which they wereassigned at birth.

For Dhananjay, who wasonce married to a woman andeven had two kids, identifyingas a transwoman did not comeeasy for her.

Donning a saree confi-dently today, Dhananjay, 50,says, “The transformation wasthe most challenging part. Thejourney was very complicatedand difficult for almost fourdecades and I finally mus-tered the courage to make theswitch and assume my trueidentify in 2013.”

“I was born as a male andbecame a woman by choice.Parents are supportive now butdue to societal pressures, tooka lot of time to accept my deci-sion,” she tells.

While she does not shyaway from speaking on mostof the issues, she is still appre-hensive about bringing herfamily into the story for fearof harassment and embar-rassment.

“My wife was supportive…My children are adults now andaccept me the way I am. Theywill get married one day andsometimes, I feel worried about

how the society will accept atransgender parent,” saysDhananjay, with a worried lookon her face.

While her journey to anauthentic self was challengingin the 21st century India,Dhananjay has now become aprominent transgender activistand was even invited to meetCanadian Prime Minister JustinTrudeau during his visit toIndia last year.

Dhananjay now speaks atvarious events to raise the issueof equality for transgendersand is also focusing on helpingother transgenders to beingtheir authentic self and becomeeconomically independent.

“There are still many mythsabout transgenders or Hijrasand intersex. Transgenders areperceived to be sex workers,which is not true. People oftencome to me with questionsrelated to gender identity, sexand sexual orientation,” shesays while emphasizing theneed of gender-sensitisationsessions across disciplines in theeducational institutions.

“In the past, I was asked toaccompany the community for‘Badhai’ tradition.

I am not against anyone ortheir ‘Badhai’ tradition but Ichoose to educate myself,become independent andencourage others like me to fol-low the same path,” saysDhananjay, with a calm andself-satisfied smile.

“Unfortunately, our com-munity is less concerned abouteducation and just wants tocontinue the ‘Badhai’ tradi-tion. They still feel insecure thatif people like us study and getjobs, the ‘Badhai’ tradition willend,” she adds.

The decades old practice of‘Badhai’ involves the membersof Hijra community dancing,singing and giving blessingsduring occasions like the birthof a child or a marriage to earnmoney. It is rare that an Indianwould risk not getting the bless-ings of Hijras for the newly-married couple or newbornchildren in their family.

After years of discrimina-tion, the majority of transgen-der are forced to either beg oradopt the practice of ‘Badhai’ toearn a living since they arebarred from most employmentopportunities in the country.

Vishipreet, 21, a transgen-der student pursuing B.Sc. atthe UIFT (University Instituteof Fashion Technology) says,“She was told to leave the homewhen she decided to assume theidentity of a woman.”

“At that time, my parentswere worried about the futureof my other two siblings. Butnow, they have begun to under-stand. To get a space for living,I spent some time at the dera(transgender commune) ofSector 26 and even, accompa-nied them for the custom of‘Badhai’ once,” she tells.

“Somehow, I could notconnect with the entire idea of‘Badhai’ tradition and feltuncomfortable.

I was determined to live alife of dignity and decided toenroll in the University andeducate myself to get good jobopportunities in the future.Finding an accommodationwas another challenge for me.I live in a PG accommodationnow,” she says adding that shewas named as Vishal at birth byher parents.

About her current situationand plans for the future,Vishipreet says, “I have beenrejected quite a few times dur-ing part-time job interviews forbeing a transgender.

Though I am aware thatgetting a job in the future willalso be a difficult task, I amready to fight and struggle toachieve what I have dreamtof…”

It was in the year 2014 thatthe Supreme Court had creat-ed the “third gender” status forthe transgender communityand later in 2018, the ApexCourt had in a historic judge-ment scrapped Section 377 ofthe Indian penal code, legit-imizing same-sex relationshipsin the country.

While the law has changed,the attitude and behavior of thesociety has not and the stigma

around transgender identitystill persists.

With lack of support fromfamilies, many of them face bul-lying, harassment and dis-crimination and to avoid thesame they often drop out of theeducational institutions.Discrimination in employmentalso runs rampant with nopolicies in place to ensure jobopportunities and a healthyworkplace environment fortransgenders in the country.

According to a recent sur-vey of almost 400 LGBT stu-dents by the United NationsEducational, Scientific andCultural Organization(UNESCO) in the country(Tamil Nadu state), more thanhalf had skipped classes toavoid bullying, while a third ofthem dropped out of schoolultimately. Threats of rape,

groping, hitting and kicking,being locked in a room, havingtheir belongings stolen andhaving nasty rumours spreadabout them were the forms ofbullying that affected the LGBTstudents.

Both Dhananjay andVishipreet say that harassmentand bullying was common ear-lier but things have changednow as people in the Universityknow them. Sometimes, thenew students pass distastefulcomments and laugh but wechoose to ignore such things,they say.

Back in the year 1993,when Dhananjay had an iden-tify of a male- Dhan Singh, shehad to leave a course in lessthan a month in the Universitydue to constant bullying andharassment.

“I used to dress like a maleback then but people knew thatI was different. I was bullied,beaten up and sexuallyharassed, after which I decidedto leave two cours-es I had enrolled inPU,” she tells.

“After morethan two decades, Ihad returned to thePU with my trueidentity of a transgender. Idon’t want to hide anymore…People ask me a lot of questionsabout sexual orientation andsex readjustment surgery andnow, I am making efforts toensure sensitization of suchissues. It may take years or evendecades to make people under-stand our true identity but wehave to begin the sensitizationprocess,” she says.

Notably, it was afterDhananjay’s relentless effortsthat the PU had decided to pro-vide separate toilet for trans-gender community and also,waived off their fees. But, shefeels that a lot needs to be doneto ensure equality for trans-genders.

For empowering the trans-gender community, Dhananjayand Vishipreet feel, “Thereshould be public toilets fortransgenders in Chandigarh,sensitization programmes, freesex readjustment surgery, sep-arate accommodation or hostelfor transgender in PU, shelterhome in the city, special provi-sion for availing bank loans,quota in jobs, helpline number,special provision for changingthe name, gender and addresson various certificates or iden-tity cards.”

The urban city ofChandigarh, which witnessedthe seventh edition of annual

feature- Garvotsav, a pride walkthis year in March with theLGBT community flauntingtheir peculiarity to the world,still has a long way to go inbuilding a society with equali-ty.

According to the 2011 cen-sus, there is a population of 142transgenders in the city.

Dhananjay, who is also amember of the UT TransgenderWelfare Board says, “Nothingmuch has been done after theconstitution of this Board in2017 in Chandigarh. WhileHaryana Government is work-ing on introducing a transgen-der welfare policy after takingour inputs, the higher author-ities in Chandigarh are yet tocome up with such welfare ini-tiatives for the community.”

Emphasizing the need ofsensitizing people about thecommunity, she says, “TheAdministration should involvethe LGBT community in vari-ous fairs and festivals organizedthroughout the year in

Chandigarh. We have beenorganizing the pride walk everyyear but more needs to bedone with the support of thegovernment.”

Unfortunately, the govern-ment’s attitude towards thetransgenders appears more orless hypocritical.

Even as the Supreme Courthad struck down Section 377,decriminalizing homosexuali-ty, India had recently choose toabstain from voting at the UNHuman Rights Council on aresolution seeking to renewthe mandate of independentexpert on protection againstviolence and discriminationbased on sexual orientationand gender identity (SOGI).

Not only this, the contro-versial provisions underTransgender Rights Bill 2019drafted by the UnionGovernment have drawn crit-icism from various quarters.

Prof. Aswini Kumar Nanda,Population Research Centre,CRRID (Centre for Research inRural and IndustrialDevelopment) says, “Under theTransgender Rights Bill 2019,the penal provision for sexualassault against a transgenderperson is imprisonment for aperiod of minimum six monthsor maximum two years only.

This is itself discriminato-ry. In other cases, the sexual

assault is punishable by impris-onment for no less than sevenyears and maximum of lifeimprisonment.”

“The Union Governmenthas no latest data related to thetransgender population. Howcan the government make poli-cies for the transgender com-munity, when it does not evenknow the real problems that thecommunity has been dealingwith…,” he adds.

On the issue of providingfinancial assistance to the trans-gender community, PanjabUniversity, Dean Students’Welfare (DSW), Prof EmanuelNahar, says, “Last year, we hadwritten to the ChandigarhAdministration and the UnionGovernment to provide finan-cial assistance for the educationof transgender students. But wedid not get any response fromthem.”

“In PU, we have waived offthe fees of transgender students,set up a separate washroom forthe community and constitut-ed a committee to ensureaccommodation for them in thecampus.

All other educational insti-tutions should also introducesuch provisions to ensurehealthy learning environmentfor the transgender students,”Prof Nahar says.

On society’s attitudetowards the trans people, hesays, “As far as Chandigarh isconcerned, the attitude of thepeople towards transgendershave changed and acceptabili-ty has increased.”

Dhananjay Chauhan, whilecommenting on the provisionsof Transgender Rights Bill 2019,says “The punishment for sex-ual assault against a transgen-der for a maximum of two yearsonly is really disappointing.This will not act as a deterrentto stop the cases of sexualassault of transgenders.”

“Also, there should be pro-visions related to accommoda-tion, marriage equality, childadoption, reservation in edu-cational institutions and jobs forus.

Unfortunately, these issueshave been ignored in the Bill.However, we are hopeful thatthe government would worktowards ensuring basic facilitiesfor the transgender communi-ty,” she says.

“As the sun shine equallyfor everyone, we hope that ourlawmakers and the society, ingeneral, will also accept us andensure equality for the trans-gender community in thefuture,” she concludes.

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Punjab Government, as apart of its well-conceived

strategy to bolster industrialsector in the State and pro-viding job avenues to theyouth, would establish a hightech cycle valley in 383 acresat Dhanansu vi l lage inLudhiana district.

“The modalities, withregard to purchasing therequired 383-acre land, havebeen completed whereas thelayout plan has also beenaccorded approval.

The project would entailthe cost of �300 crore,” saidthe state Industries andCommerce Minister SunderSham Arora on Sunday.

He said that the PunjabGovernment is working dili-gently towards setting up suchindustrial units in the statewhich would serve the twinpurpose of being environ-mental-friendly and provid-

ing employment avenues tothe youth.

“The requisite clearancesin connection with establish-ing the cycle val ley inLudhiana have been takenbesides those from the UnionMinistry of Environment,Forests and Climate Changein August 2018,” he said.

Adding that a 100-acreplot has been allotted and thepossession given to the HeroCycles Limited, Ludhiana, inDecember 2018 for setting upof its main unit.

Arora said that HeroCycles Limited, Ludhiana,has set the target of com-mencing production by April2022.

The Minister said thatthe Cycle Valley would beconnected with theC h a n d i g a r h - L u d h i a n aNational Highway by con-structing a 100 feet wide four-laned and 8.5 km long exter-nal road.

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Aiming at producing futurechampions at the interna-

tional level, the PunjabGovernment is fully committedto provide every facility to thebudding players undergoingtraining in the sports wings ofthe State Governments’ schoolsbesides ensuring top notchinfrastructure, said the stateSports and Youth AffairsMinister Rana Gurmit Singh

Sodhi on Sunday.“The Department is also

making sure that all the sportswings function in an efficientmanner with transparencybeing the main factor,” he said.

Sodhi said that a total of167 wings have been estab-lished in the schools of all the22 districts with provision foradmitting players in the resi-dential or day scholars.Sanction has been given toadmit 2,830 students or players

in these wings for the 2019-20session, he said.

“Special attention would bepaid to the aspect of providingnutritious and quality diet tothe players,” he said adding thatfor this purpose, a committeehas been constituted compris-ing the concerned DistrictSports Officer, Principal or in-charge of the concerned schoolor wing and coach of the gameconcerned apart from twosenior-most players.

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Terming the passenger rope-ways as environment-

friendly and better mode oftransport in hilly areas, aCentral green panel has relaxedthe Forest (Conservation) Act(FCA), 1980 guidelines forexpediting such projects inHimachal Pradesh. This is like-ly to prompt more Hill States toseek such exemptions for theirregion also.

However, the relaxationsuch as exempting them frommandatory NPV (net presentvalue of the diverted forestland), has not come withoutconditions. The ForestAdvisory Committee (FAC) ina recent meeting said the for-est area under ropeway passageshall not be included in the

total area requested for diver-sion for the project under theprovisons of FCA 1980. “Theforest area under the terminalstations and intermediate linetowers shall be considered fordiversion under the provisionsof FCA 1980.”

Also, said the panel, the useragency will have no claim on theforest land under the ropeway.While permission of laying theropeway above 5 metre of treeline do not give any right to theuser agency to use the forestland, under the ropeway, for anynon forestry purpose in futurewithout approval under Forest(Conservation) Act, 1980, saidthe panel at a recent meetingheld here.

The approval came afterHimachal Pradesh ChiefMinister Jairam Thakur wrote

to Union EnvironmentMinister Dr Harsh Vardhanfour months back pointing outthat such projects being envi-ronment friendly should beexempted from diversion offorest land coming in the align-ment where no felling isinvolved and no net presentvalue NPV (of diversion of for-est land) costs be charged.

His point was that, beingmountainous State, connectiv-ity in “Himachal Pradesh is a bigchallenge and passenger rope-ways are not only extremely use-ful mode of transport but alsoeco-friendly alternative. “Healso pointed out that given thattwo third of the State area is cat-egorized as forest land, suchregions (forest patch) are invari-ably required in most of theinfrastructure related projects.

“In the case of ropeways,about 10 meters wide strip offorest land falling in the align-ment is included for diversionunder Forest (Conservation)

Act, 1980 without actually need-ing it as the vehicle (Passengercable) moves sufficiently abovetree height with a minimumclearance of about 5 metres.

“Thus, tree cover falling inthe alignment of ropewayremains intact and undisturbed.It is not reasonable to includeentire forest land falling in the

alignment for diversion. It is anexample of bad optics as itappears that huge forest land isneeded whereas it is actuallyused only for construction ofterminal stations and line tow-ers etc,” said Thakur.

Levying of full NPV costsfor entire forest land falling inthe alignment would render theropeway project(s) financiallyunviable and discourages to optfor this eco-friendly alternative,the Chief Minister further said.

Hilly terrains are moreprone to erosion and landslides.Construction of roads aug-ments the process of erosionand leads to ample destructionof natural resources whereasconstruction of ropeways is analternate mode of connectivi-ty with minimum destructionand without fragmentation of

habitats, the FAC membersconcurred with the HP ChiefMinister.

Niti Ayog too in its ‘DraftModel Concession Agreement(“MCA”) for Public-PrivatePartnership Framework forimplementing Ropeways*Projects in India” last year hadrecognised importance of rope-way projects, noting that thesecan be set up in about 24 monthsand for cities where metros isunviable ropeways can be analternative option for main tran-sit system (Public Transport).

It has amongst the lowestcarbon emissions among allurban transit options, alsomost of the modern ropewaysystems today are environ-mental friendly as there is noneed to cut forests falling underthe corridor, said the thinktank.

��� 378 �7$9.

President Ram Nath Kovindjoined other leaders on

Sunday to express grief at thedeath of former Union MinisterJaipal Reddy. Reddy, 77, asenior Congress leader, died ata hospital in Hyderabad in theearly hours of Sunday.

Reddy was recently diag-nosed with pneumonia andwas admitted to the hospital,where he died at 1.28 am, aCongress leader said.

Reddy has been a parlia-mentarian for several decadesand held key portfolios in var-ious Governments. Reddy, aparliamentarian since the1980s, served in the Lok Sabhafor five terms and in the RajyaSabha twice.

Reddy was the Information& Broadcasting Minister inthe IK Gujral Government.During UPA-I Government heheld portfolios like Urban

Development and Culture. InUPA-II, he was again assignedthe Urban DevelopmentMinistry. Later, he became theMinister of Petroleum andNatural Gas but was shifted tothe Science and Technologyand Earth Sciences Ministries,creating political storm.

The last rites of Reddy willtake place on Monday, CongressLok Sabha memberKomatireddy Venkat Reddy said.

The Congress, in a tweet,said it was saddened to hear thepassing of Jaipal Reddy. “Wehope his family and friendsfind strength in their time ofgrief.” “Deeply saddened andpained by the sudden demise ofJaipal Raddy,” Congress’Telangana unit chief UttamKumar Reddy said, describingthe party veteran as an out-standing orator, great humanbeing and intellectual giant.

“Sorry to hear of the pass-ing of Shri S Jaipal Reddy, for-

mer Union Minister. He was athinking person’s politicianand an outstanding parlia-mentarian. My condolences tohis family and many associates,”the Rashtrapati Bhavan quotedthe President as saying in astatement.

The Prime Minister’s officealso tweeted: “Shri Jaipal Reddyhad years of experience in pub-lic life. He was respected as anarticulate speaker and effectiveadministrator. Saddened by hisdemise. My thoughts are with hisfamily and well-wishers in this

hour of grief”. Vice PresidentVenkaiah Naidu, in a series oftweets, praised Mr Reddy for his“razor sharp intellect”.

Congress president RahulGandhi also tweeted his con-dolences, praising Jaipal Reddyfor his dedication towards pub-lic service. He called Reddy “anoutstanding parliamentarian,great son of Telangana” who“dedicated his entire lifetowards public service.”

“I’m sorry to hear about thesad demise of former UnionMinister & veteran Congress

leader Shri Jaipal Reddy Garu.My deepest condolences to hisfamily & friends,” Rahul tweet-ed. Soon after reports ofReddy’s death, condolencespoured in.

Andhra Pradesh ChiefMinister YS Jagan MohanReddy offered condolencesover the senior Congressleader’s death. “Known for hisoratory skills Jaipal Reddycarved a niche for himself inParliament and State assemblyalike. The chief minister con-veyed his condolences to thebereaved family members,” hesaid in a statement. TRS work-ing president KT Rama Rao,son of Chief Minister KChandrashekar Rao, also con-doled the death. “My condo-lences to the family and friendsof senior leader and formerunion minister Shri JaipalReddy Garu who passed awayearlier today. RIP Sir (sic),” hetweeted.

��� 378 �7$9.

The Election Commission(EC) on Sunday said a total

of 62,63,701 Persons withDisabilities (PwDs) were regis-tered through ‘AccessibleElections’, an initiative taken bythe poll conducting body toensure the participation of PwDs.

“During this election, spe-cial focus was given to ensurethe participation of Personswith Disabilities. A total of62,63,701 PwDs were registeredwithin an electorate of 910million,” the EC said.

Stating that AccessibilityObservers were introduced thisyear, EC said that this electionwas witness to many firsts inthe domain of accessibility ofall; EVMs used in the electionswere embossed with Braillesignage for the visuallyimpaired voters’ assistance. “Itwas the first time that EPICswith braille were provided tothe visually impaired electors.Other documents like voters’slip, voter guide had braille sig-nage too. AccessibilityObservers were introduced,who ensured all the polling sta-tions are accessible to the PwD,”the EC said.

The motto of ‘AccessibleElections’ was one among themany initiatives of ElectionCommission to make theworld’s largest democratic exer-cise inclusive and participativefor all, it added.

“The electors with disabil-ities and senior citizens weremapped polling station wise toprovide them targeted andneed-based assistance on theday of poll. During the election,all the polling stations wereequipped with enough supplyof wheelchairs and it wasensured that all polling stationshad sturdy ramps for the con-venience of PwD electors,” thecommission said in a pressrelease.

It also added that all thepolling stations had a sign lan-guage expert, signage andtransport facility.

��� 378 �7$9.

Prime Minister NarendraModi said on Sunday the

two “greatest lessons” he learntfrom the Chandrayaan-II mis-sion are “faith and fearlessness”and also announced a quizcompetition whose winnerswill get an opportunity to visitSriharikota to witness themoment the spacecraft willland on moon in September.

In his monthly ‘Mann kiBaat’ address, Modi said theway scientists rectified techni-cal issues, which caused ISROto defer its launch by a few days,is exemplary and unparalleled.

“If you ask me what the twogreatest lessons I have receivedfrom Chandrayaan II, I shall say

they are faith and fearlessness.We should trust our talents andcapacities; we should have faithin them,” he said.

“We should feel proud ofthe fact that despite hindrances,there is no change in the arrivaltime. We should trust our tal-ents and capacities; we shouldhave faith in them,” he said.Hailing the indigenous project,he said it is “thoroughly Indianin heart and spirit. It is com-pletely a swadeshi, home grownmission.” He hoped that theChandrayaan II mission willinspire youth towards scienceand innovation, saying thatscience is the path to progress.

“This mission has provedbeyond doubt, once again, thatwhen it comes to attempting an

endeavour in new age, cuttingedge areas, with innovativezeal, our scientists are secondto none. They are the best, theyare world class,” the PM said.

Asking students to partic-ipate in the quiz, whose detailswill be out soon, he said space,and science and technology willbe its key features. “And themost thrilling part is that stu-dents scoring the highest intheir respective states will beinvited to visit Sriharikota,with expenses borne by the

Government. There inSeptember they will get anopportunity to witness themoment when Chandrayaanwould be landing on the sur-face of the Moon. For thesewinners, it will be a historicevent of their lives,” he said.

The PM said 2019 has beena very fruitful year for India inthe realm of space, noting thatit had also launched A-Sat inMarch. In the hectic engage-ments during the Lok Sabhaelection, the A-Sat launch couldnot be a prominent part of thediscourse even though India hasbecome the fourth country inthe world to have capability ofdestroying a satellite three hun-dred kilometres away in merethree minutes, he said.

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The Ministry of Fisheries,Animal Husbandry and

Dairying has come out with anational action plan to checkdeadly disease glanders.Glanders is a contagious andfatal disease of equines, includ-ing horses, donkeys and mules.It is caused by infection due tothe bacterium Burkholderiamallei (B mallei).

Population of equines (hors-es/pony, donkey and mules) inIndia is 11.7 lakh which is spreadalmost all over the country.There was an outbreak of glan-ders in West Delhi district andit was declared glanders affect-ed zone in 2017-18. The move-ment of equines was affected andit had an effect on the RepublicDay parade. As per agricultureministry data, 407 cases of glan-ders reported in 2017-18.

As per the action plan,infected animal should be elim-inated immediately. “ThePrevention and Control ofInfectious and ContagiousDisease in Animals (form of vac-cination certificate manner ofpost mortem examination anddisposal of carcass) Rules 2010,in vogue need to be followed. Incase absolutely essential, thepositive animal may be trans-ported to appropriate area fordestruction and further dispos-al in closed vehicles. All the zoo-sanitary measures should befollowed at the time of cullingand disposal of carcasses,” it said.

“The owners shall produce

a certificate of a Glanders’ testwith negative results carriedout on samples drawn within 30days. Equids with prescribed“Health Card” shall only bepermitted to move betweenstates’. Also, according to the newplan, the veterinary authority ofa state where many adjoiningdistricts have reported the dis-ease, shall take a decision aboutwhether to permit a fair or not.

According to the new plan,fairs, congregations, shows orany equestrian events would bepermitted in a district provid-ed that there has been no caseof glanders in the district itselfand in the adjoining districts

during the past one year andongoing surveillance is in place.

“Equines showing any clin-ical sign and pathology ofglanders shall not be allowed toenter in the event venue. Inequine fairs, an animal shallhave its own feeding and water-ing arrangement. Commonwatering and feeding shall notbe permitted,” it said.

“Protective clothing includ-ing full body aprons, facemasks, rubber/latex disposablegloves and long shoes to be usedby persons in close contactwith the diseased animal. Ifeuthanasia is to be performed,the use of Pentobarbital com-bination could be used. Thestandard dose of thiopentalsodium is 1 gram/100 kg bodyweight. The same could beincreased or decreased depend-ing upon the susceptibility ofthe horses,” the guidelines said.

New Delhi: Asserting that“lack of clarity” over leadershipfollowing Rahul Gandhi’s res-ignation is hurting theCongress, senior leader ShashiTharoor on Sunday said theway forward for the partycould be opening up all keyposts, including the CWCmembership, to fresh electionswhich may help legitimise theincoming set of leaders. He alsobacked Punjab Chief MinisterAmarinder Singh’s assessmentthat a young leader would bemore suitable to lead theCongress at this juncture.

Tharoor said he hopes thatparty general secretaryPriyanka Gandhi Vadra willthrow her hat in the ring whenthe call for elections for theparty chief ’s post is made, but

added it was up to the Gandhifamily to decide on whether shewill contest.

In an interview to PTI,Tharoor expressed disappoint-ment with the prevailing situ-ation in the party and assertedthat there is no clear answer tothe current “predicament thatwe in the Congress are facing”.

“It is certainly quite truethat the lack of clarity at the topof the party is likely to be hurt-ing the Congress workers andsympathisers, many of whommiss the fact of having a partyleader to look to for key deci-sions, authority and even inspi-ration and energy, to rallytogether and move forward,” theThiruvananthapuram MP said.Tharoor said he hoped that theCongress Working Committee

(CWC) is taking the current sit-uation “very seriously” and isdoing its best to find a solutionwithout further delay.

“One way forward could befor the CWC to name an inter-im working president for theparty and then ideally dissolveitself, following which the mainleadership positions within theparty, including the CWC itself,should be opened up to freshelections,” the former UnionMinister said.

“By allowing members ofthe party, drawn from the AICCand PCC delegates, to deter-mine who will lead the partyfrom these key positions, itwould help legitimise theincoming set of leaders and givethem a credible mandate to leadthe party,” he said. PTI

��� 378 �7$9.

With 1.5 lakh deaths annu-ally and almost 60 mil-

lion Indians affected, viralhepatitis, particularly hepatitisB (HBV) and C (HCV) —inflammation of liver — con-tinues to be a serious publichealth concern in the country.However, what is the moreworrying is that over 80 percent of the infected peoplearen’t aware of their infection.

Globally, viral hepatitis Band C affect about 325 millionpeople globally, causing 1.4million deaths. It is the secondmajor killer infectious diseaseafter tuberculosis. Nine times

more people are infected withhepatitis than HIV.

Given that the HCV is moredeadly scourge when comparedwith other viral hepatitis infec-tions, a study has said if the com-prehensive package of preven-tion, screening, and treatmentinterventions to tackle the formeris not fully implemented inChina, India, or Pakistan — thecountries of highest projectedfuture cases — the WHO goalson HCV elimination wouldremain unachievable.

The WHO goal of elimi-nating HCV as a public healththreat is to reduce incidence by80 per cent and mortality by 65per cent by 2030. According to

an estimate, HCV infects morethan 70 million people world-wide and ultimately causingliver complications includingcirrhosis and cancer in 10-20per cent of cases.

No doubt, the discovery ofdirect-acting antiviral (DAA)drugs in 2014 gave new hopeto the fight against HCV, inspir-ing the WHO to set the elimi-nation goals. However,researchers from ImperialCollege London’s School ofPublic Health after examiningthe feasibility of achieving theWHO target noted that whilethe DAA offers a promisingmeans of treating HCV cases,it does not directly reduce the

transmission of the virus,which is typically associatedwith blood transfusions,healthcare-related injections,and injection drug use.

On the other hand, said theresearchers after working on allthe models, if the comprehensivepackage is not fully implement-ed in China, India, or Pakistan— the countries of highest pro-jected future cases — the glob-al incidence would be increased

only 69 per cent by 2030, push-ing back the achievement ofthese goals to 2047. Thus, thestudy underscores the impor-tance of action in these specificcountries to achieve the WHOgoals on HCV elimination.

The study, which has beenpublished in The Lancet wasfunded by the Wellcome Trustand conducted by researchersfrom the MRC Centre forGlobal Infectious DiseaseAnalysis at Imperial CollegeLondon, including lead authorDr Alastair Heffernan.

There is no vaccine forhepatitis C and the only pre-vention is by not using infect-ed blood and needles.

Fortunately, the treatment ofhepatitis C has become veryeasy and affordable (a 12-weekcourse, costs less than 4,000 andis effective in 95 per cent ofpatients), said Dr SK Sarin,hematologist and director ofDelhi-based Institute of Liver &Biliary Sciences (ILBS) whichhas launched a year-long coun-trywide campaign — EMPA-THY (Empowered PeopleAgainst Hepatitis) to raiseawareness about the disease.

Diagnosis and drugs forboth hepatitis B and C are read-ily available and, under NationalViral hepatitis Control Program,are free for everyone. However,Dr Sarin said, “India is facing

three main challenges in theelimination of these deadlyviruses: First, to find those whoare infected. The high-riskgroups for hepatitis B includeinfected mothers and all familymembers, and for both hepati-tis B and C, subjects receivingblood transfusions, injections,and infected with HIV.”

There are five types ofviral hepatitis infections - A, B,C, D and E. Over 95 per centof deaths are caused by chron-ic hepatitis B and C infections,while hepatitis A and E rarelycause life-threatening illnesses.Hepatitis D is an additionalinfection occurring in peopleliving with hepatitis B.

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Accusing money launderingof more than Rs 1 lakh

crore by India Bulls Group, BJPleader Subramanian Swamyhas urged Prime MinisterNarendra Modi to institute aSpecial Investigation Team ofCBI, Enforcement Directorate,Income Tax and Serious FraudInvestigation Office to probecharges of siphoning of fundsof National Housing Bank bythe company.

In a letter to the PM,Swamy accused former FinanceMinister P Chidambaram andmany Congress leaders includ-ing former Haryana ChiefMinister BS Hooda of beinginvolved in the illegal activityof India Bulls Group.

“As per credible informa-tion that I have, and afterperusal of many available doc-uments, I wish to inform youthat India Bulls HousingFinance Limited and itsAssociates which manyCongress leaders eg: PChidambaram and BS Hoodahave patronised, is headingnow for a financial collapse andbankruptcy, resulting large cor-ruption issues in real estate sec-tor, banking, stock marketsand lose of more than Rs 1 lakhcrore of funds of public and ofNational Housing Bank,” saidSwamy in his detailed letter.

The BJP leader detailed inhis letter to Prime Minister howthousands of crores of rupees

were taken out from theNational Housing Bank (NHB)as fake loans in real estate sec-tor through a series of shell com-panies of India Bulls, patronagedby big politicians from Delhi,Maharashtra and Haryana.

“India Bulls HousingFinance Limited and its relatedfirms formed more than 100s ofshell real estate firms to takeloans from NHB and re-allot orsiphon it off to many real estatefirms in Maharashtra, Delhi,Gurugram, Bangalore andChennai in the range of Rs 30crore to Rs 1,000 crore. Afterallotting these loans to otherfriendly real estate firms IndiaBulls accepted these amountsback as investment to them!Some of such dubious loanswere just book entries. That is,nothing but money launderingand round tripping,” pointedout Swamy in his detailed let-ter to Prime Minister Modi.

Swamy said in 2016,Income Tax officials caughtIndia Bulls for more than Rs1,000 of crore TDS violation in

loan transfers to shell firms andlater re-entry of these the loansas investment. He also accusedOffices of Registrar ofCompanies in Mumbai andDelhi for allowing the 100s ofshell firms of India Bulls.

“RBI officials also con-nived in these dubious moneylaundering due to the patron-age of Chidambaram in pro-tecting India Bulls and allow-ing funds from NHB for past14 years. UPA’s many kick backmoney from 2G and Coal wererouted through India Bullsunder the inistructions ofChidambaram.

“Some dubious real estatefirms involved in 2G Scam andrelated to Dawood Ibrahimalso have 1000s of crore ofrupees worth illegal transac-tions with India Bulls, andwhich is now at the verge ofsinking, said Swamy demand-ing probe by SpecialInvestigation Team (SIT) andSpecial Audit on the loansgranted by National HousingBank for the past 14 years.

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Lucknow: The path to achiev-ing the country's target of a $5-trillion economy passes throughUttar Pradesh, Union HomeMinister Amit Shah said onSunday as the State launchedworks for 250 industrial projectsworth �65,000 crore.

Shah expressed confidencethat the State will contribute tothe target by becoming a $1-tril-lion economy and said the YogiAdityanath Government hasremoved the biggest hurdle toUP's development by improvingthe law and order situation.

Prime Minister NarendraModi has set the target for thecountry to be among the topthree economies in the world inthe next five years, and “it isfrom this, that the idea of a $5-trillion economy originated”, hesaid at a second ground break-ing ceremony for the projectshere, which was attended by sev-eral business leaders.

Like the first ground break-ing ceremony, which took placelast year, the second edition alsoaims at bringing investments inUP, India's most populous state,and it is the third big event inthis regard after the InvestorsSummit.

“I have heard that the roadto becoming prime ministerpasses through Lucknow. Atalji(Atal Bihari Vajpayee) was fromhere, and Narendra bhai is also

from UP (Modi is MP fromVaranasi). Earlier, there were 85parliamentary seats, now thereare 80.

“Today, I want to say, theroad to a $5-trillion economyalso passes through UP, and I'msure that the state will contributeto it by becoming a $1-trillioneconomy,” Shah said.

In 2014, a new governmentwas formed under PM Modiand he started concentrating onmany sectors. It was then in ameeting he had said “in the nearpast governments functionedonly to exist, but this dispensa-tion will work to transform thenation”, the home minister said.

Shah said the Modi gov-ernment started to transformevery sector, be it security, eco-nomic development or culture,and the PM presented a modelof development based on 'Sarva-Sparshi' (reaching every person)and 'Sarva-Samaveshi' (includ-ing all).

In 2014, a beginning wasmade and a foundation to makeit a $5-trillion economy was laidbetween 2014 and 2019, hesaid.

“People who wanted tocomment on this, are com-menting on it. The PM hasworked to lay a concrete foun-dation for achieving the target,”he said.

Shah said after the Vajpayee

Government, the UPA tookover in 2004 and in the next 10years, the economy remained atthe 11th spot globally.

“UPA leaders used to boastthat the economy hasn't gonedown. But in the last five years,from 11th we jumped to sixth.In the next five years, the targetis to propel India into the topthree ranks,” he said.

Citing that there had beenan increase in allocation of

funds to the state by the 14thFinance Commission, heassured investors that “alongwith the state government, theCentre is also committed to thedevelopment of UP”.

Lauding Chief MinisterAdityanath for bringing severalchanges for UP's development,Shah said,”The Yogi govern-ment has removed the biggesthurdle in development byimproving the law and order sit-

uation in the last two years.”He said the BJP handed over

the reins of power in UP toAdityanath because of his ded-ication and potential to workhard.

“When Yogiji was madeCM, no one had imagined it.Many people had called me upand said Yogiji has never evenrun a municipality. He was nota minister in any Government.

“He is a 'sanyasi' (ascetic)

and peethadhish (seer), andyou are making the personwhose administrative experi-ence is virtually nil CM of sucha large state. Our aim was veryclear that a person who has ded-ication and is willing to workhard will mould the circum-stances in his favour,” he said.

In a big state like UP, devel-opment will take place when lawand order situation is good,and “I can guarantee after fiveyears, the state will be numberone in terms of infrastructure”,the home minister said.

“Development isn't possibletill the law and order situationis bad. I don't want to take thenames of any government butthe administration here hadbeen badly politicised.

“It had affected transparen-cy and focus was to appeasepolitical leaders. But, under thepresent dispensation, the admin-istration has been made 'Janataka Sewak' in the real sense,” Shahsaid.

Shah, who is also the BJPpresident, said he got the oppor-tunity to connect with the statein 2013, as an election in-charge.

“When I went around, Icame to know about the condi-tion of the people, law andorder situation. This painedme...In 2017, the BJP came andit's completing its mandate totransform the state,” he said.

Shah said the PM has initi-ated a healthy competitionamong states and the resultwould be, as they improve so willthe country. India climbed to 77from 142 in five years on theease of doing business list of theWorld Bank, he said.

“There is a need to awakenself-confidence among the peo-ple of UP that their state can alsobecome number one in thecountry, and that work has beendone by Yogiji,” Shah said,adding that 17 medical collegeshave been built and 15 others arein the pipeline.

On the state's 'one district,one product scheme', he said,“The BJP manifesto had saidmanufacturing of traditionalitems will be given a boost andmarketed. Such industries arerunning successfully now inUP.”

Commercial courts havebeen established in various dis-tricts and the UP governmenthas made sectors like informa-tion technology, dairy, civil avi-ation, tourism, renewablesources of energy,handicrafts,food and e-vehicles its focusareas, Shah said. PTI

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Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh ChiefMinister Yogi Adityanath onSunday said the State will playa major role in making thecountry an economic super-power.

“Uttar Pradesh will play amjor role in achieving thetarget of $5 trillion economyand ensuring that Indiaemerges as an economicsuperpower in the world,” saidthe Chief Minister, speaking at

the second ground breakingceremony here for industrialprojects worth �65,000 crorein the State.

The Chief Minister saidthis year the state has achieved28 per cent growth in theexport sector which is a bigjump.

With investments worth�65,000 crore, about 3 lakhyouths may get employed, theChief Minister added. PTI

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In an effort to cash in on itspopularity gained through

its crusade for Maratha reser-vations during the past threeyears, the social outfit MarathaKranti Morcha (MKM)-turned-political party MarathaKranti Sena (MKS) said onSunday that it would contest atleast 100 out of 288 seatsindependently in the forth-coming MaharashtraAssembly polls.

Making an announcementto this effect after a joint coor-dination committee meetingin Pune, an MKS spokesper-son came up with a rider, say-ing: “Though we have decid-ed to contest 100 seats on ourown strength, we have askedthe ruling BJP-Shiv Senaalliance to allot us 10 seats tocontest as part of the rulingsaffron alliance. If the BJP-Sena alliance does not agree toallot 10 seats, then we will goahead and contest 100 seats onour strength”.

The MKS spokespersonsaid that the decision to con-test the State Assembly pollswas to send Maratha leaders

who were trained during hisorganisation’s crusade forreservation, to the StateAssembly. He also claimedthat some 42 organisationsacross the state were support-ing the MKS.

Interestingly, the MKMhad in November last yearfloated a political outfit MKSand announced that the newparty would contest all the 48Lok Sabha and 288 Assemblyseats in the forthcoming elec-tions in the state. However, theMKS did not contest the LokSabha polls as it hadannounced on November 19,2018.

The MKM had floated thenew political party MKS, a dayafter the Maharashtra gov-ernment accepted the recom-mendations of theMaharashtra State BackwardClass Commission (MSBCC)and announced that it wouldgrant reservations to Marathacommunity under a newSocially EducationallyBackward Class (SEBC) cate-gory.

The MKS’ latest decisionto contest 100 seats in the StateAssembly polls in the event of

the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena refus-ing to make it a part of itsalliance and allotting ten seatsto it comes in the wake ofBombay High Court uphold-ing the Maharashtra govern-ment’s decision to accordreservations to the Marathacommunity with a conditionthat the quantum of theapproved reservation bebrought down from 16 percent to 12 per cent in educa-tional institutions and 13 percent in government jobs.

The MKS knows full wellthat following the high court’sJune 27, 2019 ruling the BJP-led saffron alliance govern-ment enjoys considerablegoodwill among the Marathacommunity members in thestate and it also wants to ridepiggy-back on the BJP-Senaalliance in the State Assemblypolls. It remains to be seen ifthe ruling saffron alliance willspare 10 seats from its kitty tothe MKS.

On its part, the rulingBJP-Sena alliance announcedlast month that the two saffronparties would contest 135 seatseach in the State Assemblypolls, setting aside the remain-

ing 18 seats for our allies.The MKS’ political ambi-

tions should be seen in thecontext of massive mobilisa-tion of Marathas as part of asmany 58 mammoth silentmorchas organised by MKMin various district headquar-ters and major towns andcities across Maharashtra todemand reservations forMaratha community whichaccounts of 32 per cent of thestate’s total population.

It is mainly because of thetremendous pressure mount-ed by the MKM — whichenjoyed the support of theOpposition Congress, NCPand ruling Shiv Sena — on theruling BJP that the DevendraFadnavis government haddecided to accord reserva-tions to the Maratha commu-nity under an independentSEBC category.

The MKM took out silentmorchas in one and districtheadquarter or major townafter another to press for itsvarious demands. Despitebeing without a prominentleader to head the outfit, theMKM became a force to reck-on with in the following

months.The tremendous response

that the MKM evoked for itsmassive si lent morchasbenumbed the Maharashtragovernment and various polit-ical parties. What captured theattention of the state govern-ment, various political partiesand people across the state wasthe disciplined and peacefulmanner in which an apoliticaloutfit like MKM organised itsvarious silent morchas.

On August 9 2017, morethan five lakh Marathas owingallegiance to MKM virtuallylaid seize to south Mumbai fornearly six hours to press forreservations and otherdemands, compelling the BJP-led saffron alliance govern-ment to come with a packagefor Marathas, including con-cessions in education along thelines of Other Backward Classes(OBCs) and announce its readi-ness to accord reservations tothe community in educationand government jobs.

Later on, MKS alsobecame a party to the publicinterest litigations on Marathareservations in the BombayHigh Court.

A ���� %���������������//�������������?�!�!Pune: Nationalist CongressParty chief Sharad Pawar onSunday said his party and theCongress had come to anagreement on 240 of the 288Assembly seats in Maharashtra,polls for which are due laterthis year.

He also said the RajThackeray-led MNS wasmulling boycotting theAssembly polls due to reserva-tions about Electronic VotingMachines.

Speaking to reporters here,Pawar added that leaders ofboth the principal oppositionparties would now speak toother groups like theSwambhimani Paksha for theremaining of the seats.

“The NCP and Congresshave reached an understandingon 240 seats for the stateAssembly elections,” he said.

Pawar said seat-sharingtalks will be completed and theconstituency-wise list of can-didates will be readied in thenext few days. Speaking on theMaharashtra Navnirman Sena

joining the Congress-NCPalliance, the NCP presidentsaid, “I met some MNS leadersin Mumbai. Recently RajThackeray met Sonia Gandhi.MNS leaders have strong feel-ings against EVMs and theyfeel some decision needs to betaken in this regard. The MNSis in favour of boycotting theelections but this is not accept-able to us,” he said.

He added that a lot of par-ties at the national level wereagainst the use of EVMs inelections and the matter is inthe court as well.

“But no one has reached adecision to boycott the elec-tions,” he said.

Talking about some of hisparty leaders switching over tothe ruling BJP and Sena, Pawar

said, “Those in power are mis-using it and taking help ofagencies such as EnforcementDirectorate, Income Tax, CBIand ACB to compel leadersfrom other parties to jointhem,” he said.

He accused Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis and otherministers of the BJP of poachingleaders and said the phenome-na was at work in other states likeKarnataka, Madhya Pradesh andRajasthan. Pawar said his partywas against the proposedamendments that can weakenthe RTI Act. When asked aboutthe exit of Sachin Ahir, theMumbai unit president of theNCP, from the party, Pawar saidthe former had met him beforejoining the Shiv Sena.

“He told me that it will bedifficult for him to get electedfrom his constituency (Worli)this time as he has learnt thatShiv Sena chief UddhavThackeray's son is planning tocontest from that seat, andthat is why he wanted to go tothe Sena,” said Pawar. PTI

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The ruling Trinamool Congress hastaken strong exception to outgo-

ing Bengal Governor KN Tripathi’sparting advisories to the MamataBanerjee Government cautioning heragainst her appeasement policies anddeteriorating law and situation.

Reacting to Tripathi’s statement,senior Trinamool leader and StateMinister Partho Chatterjee said “Nowhis term has ended and he will go backin a few days time. But earlier also, wehad often said considering his stanceon various issues that the “Raj Bhawanhas become the BJP party office. Wewere crticised by the BJP then.

But now it seems that we were notwrong in making such statements. Heis making these statements to make theBJP happy. But the question is what hewill get by doing so because his tenure

cannot be extended.”Chatterjee said referring to the ear-

lier interactions between the StateGovernment and the Governor’s officethat “if he had felt any such thing whydid he not mention it then. I have methim several times. But he never spokeof any such things like deteriorationof law and order or appeasement then.Now when he is going out he is mak-ing such statements.”

Tripathi’s successor JagdeepDhankar will be sworn-in as the newBengal governor on July 30.

Earlier the Governor had in aninterview said that the Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee had visions but sheshould refrain from pursuing appease-ment policy.

She “has got vision, she has powerto implement her decisions but sheshould be restrained also. She becomessentimental on occasions, so she has

to keep a control on it,” Mr Tripathihad told news agencies in an interviewadding “her policy of appeasement hasthe effect of adversely affecting soci-etal harmony ... I think she should lookat every citizen equally. I believe thatevery citizen of West Bengal should bedealt with equally without discrimi-nation.” Her discriminatory policieswere apparent in her statements, hehad said triggering an outburst in theTMC ranks.

The outgoing governor howeverlater said he had been misinterpretedby some people. “I was misinterpret-ed,” he said adding how people ignoredhis praise for the Chief Minister. “I alsopraised her saying she has vision andthat has been ignored,” he said.

Questioning the timings of hisstatements the CPI(M) and Congresssaid what Tripathi had said was notonly ill-timed but also partially true.

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Lucknow: Reacting to a con-troversy over namaz on roads,All-India Muslim Personal LawBoard (AIMPLB) memberKhalid Rasheed Farangi Mahlion Sunday said prayers shouldnot be offered by causing incon-venience to anyone.

“Namaz is a prayer beforeAllah. It is not right to offer theprayer by causing inconvenienceto anyone,” Farangi Mahli toldPTI. However, he said namaz onroads was not a daily affair andseen only on Friday.

“In some mosques, whenthere is no space left for people,they offer prayers on the road onFriday. But if anyone has anyobjection to it, then the namazisshould make an extra effort to

reach the mosque in time for it,”he added.

Speaking on the recentalleged incidents of people beingforced to chant “jai shri Ram',Farangi Mahli said,”As far asHinduism is concerned, there isno scope of force. Lord Ram hasnot said anywhere that his fol-lowers should forcibly get slo-gans raised for him.”

“Lord Ram is a maryadapurshottam. How can anyonebehave in an undignified man-ner in his name,”he asked.

“Those who are behaving inthis manner need to read moreabout Lord Ram so that theycould know more about the onein whose name they are doingsuch things,” Farangi Mahli said.

The general secretary of theAIMPLB, Maulana WaliRehmani, however, said that itwas not wrong according to theshariat to offer namaz at an openplace. He refused to elaborate onit when told that roads were notopen spaces. “Let people readinto what I have said,” he said,adding that it had become ahabit of some “saffron-clad peo-ple” to behave in an arbitrarymanner against Muslims.

In Hathras, some Hindutvaorganisations had objected tonamaz on roads and had organ-ised the recital of HanumanChalisa outside the Hanumantemple in Sikandararau areaand had said it should be doneevery Tuesday. PTI

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Jaipur: Commenting on thecurrent political situation inMadhya Pradesh, BJP's nation-al general secretary KailashVijayvargiya here on Sundaysaid a “new mission” will belaunched after the Cabinet for-mation in Karnataka, where theCongress-JD(S) alliance lost theconfidence motion recently.

“After the formation of thecabinet in Karnataka, a newmission will be started. It is notour wish to make a governmentfall but Congress MLAs haveuncertainty in themselves,” hetold reporters when questioned

about the Congress-ruledMadhya Pradesh.

The MP leader said theCongress MLAs had no confi-dence in their leadership andwere marred by division.Therefore, they felt that theleadership of PM Modi wasvery good, he added.

The BJP leader further saidthe Congress and its govern-ments were falling “due to theirown works”. During his visit tothe BJP office here, he held ameeting with party leaders andworkers and also listened toPM's Mann ki Baat. PTI

A ����������=�$�� �� ��E�����,�� ��������� ��� ��E����8������- ���.��% �� Amethi: A 64-year-old retired

Army captain was beaten todeath by unidentified assailantsin Uttar Pradesh's Amethi dis-trict, police said on Sunday.

The incident occurred onSaturday night in Godiyan kaPurva village under KamrauliPolice Station limits, they said.

The retired Army person-nel, Amanullah, and his wifewere in their house when agroup of people attacked themwith sticks, his son told the police.

Amanuallah's wife toldpolice that some people weretrying to steal from a shopadjoining their house and whenher husband objected and

warned the perpetrators that hewill inform police, they enteredthe house and beat him up, ASPDayaram said.

She also said the attackerstried to strangle him, the ASP said.

The attackers thrashedAmanullah across the head due

to which he died on the spot, hisson said in his statement. He saidno family member other thanhis parents were in the housewhen the incident took place.

The body has been sent forpost-mortem and furtherinvestigation is underway,Dayaram said. PTI

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Three civilians, including a newlyborn child along with his moth-

er, received injures in heavy mor-tar shelling by the Pakistan Armyalong the Line of Control in Poonchsector late on Sunday evening.

According to reports, “unpro-voked firing from the Pakistani sidestarted around 4:00 pm in Shahpurarea of Poonch in which severalcivilian houses bore the maximumbrunt in the forward areas".

Official sources said, "One ofthe mortar shells, fired by thePakistan army, landed on the rooftop of a civilian house in Shahpurarea where Fatima Jan along withhis 12 day old child received splin-ter injuries”.

In few minutes, civilian areas ofSawjiyan, and Mankote sector inMendhar were also targeted by thePakistan army triggering panicamong them. According to officialsources, “Braving heavy shelling

local villagers shifted minor boyalong with his mother Fatima Janand another villager Mohd Arif, aSUMO driver, from Shahpur to dis-trict hospital in Poonch.

Doctors in the emergency wardof District hospital in Poonch said,"the minor boy had received splin-ter injuries in his abdomen".Another villager, Mohd Arif hadalso received critical splinterinjuries. As heavy mortar shellingwas still going on in the forwardareas, the district authorities decid-ed to rush ambulances to bringinjured residents to the nearbyhospital. Ministry of DefenceSpokesman in Jammu, Lt-ColDevender Anand said,“Unprovoked firing from thePakistani side was initiated around5.00 p.m in Shahpur and Sawjiyanareas of Poonch on Sunday.” He saidin response to the intense mortarshelling by Pakistan army, Indianarmy was retaliating strongly andeffectively.

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Nawada (Bihar): Former Biharchief minister Jitan RamManjhi on Sunday defendedSamajwadi Party leader AzamKhan's remarks against BJP MPRama Devi in Lok Sabha, say-ing they were not taken in theright spirit.

"When brothers and sisters,mothers and sons meet andplant a kiss by way of affection,the gesture is not seen as hav-ing sexual overtones. AzamKhan's words are not beingtaken in the right spirit,"Manjhi told reporters.

The Hindustani AwamMorcha (HAM) leader saidAzam need not resign butshould tender an apology toput an end to the matter.

"I therefore hold the opin-ion that he need not resign butsince all parties have objectionshe should tender an apologyand be done with the matter,"Manjhi, who was on a tour ofNewada, said.

Participating in the debateon the triple talaq bill onThursday in Lok Sabha, Khanhad referred to the interventionof Union Minister Mukhtar

Abbas Naqvi and read out acouplet "... Tu idhar-udhar kibaat na kar ..." (do not divertfrom the topic).

At this, Rama Devi, whowas presiding over the pro-ceedings, asked Khan not to"look here and there" andaddress the Chair.

To this, the SP membermade sexist remarks at theChair, triggering acrimoniousscenes.

The remarks wereexpunged from the records.

Members in Lok Sabhacondemned the remarks byKhan against the Bihar MP anddemanded exemplary actionagainst him.

Khan was informed onFriday to appear before LokSabha Speaker Om Birla onJuly 29 and tender an uncon-ditional apology in the House,sources had said.

Rama Devi had said that anapology was not enough andKhan should be suspended fromthe House for five years. PTI

39.5�����:�����!����/�"���������;������� Srinagar: Former Jammu &

Kashmir Chief MinisterMehbooba Mufti on Sundaywarned the Centre againstrevocation of Article 35-A ofthe Constitution, saying anytinkering with the state's spe-cial status or identity would beakin to setting a powder keg onfire.

Addressing a function hereto celebrate the PeoplesDemocratic Party's 20th rais-ing day, Mufti asked the partyworkers to get ready for a "bigfight" for the protection ofArticle 35A, which gives spe-cial rights and privileges to thestate's permanent residents.

"We want to tell the centralgovernment that tinkeringwith Article 35-A will be akinto setting a powder keg on fire.If any hand tries to touchArticle 35-A, not only thathand, but that whole bodywill burn to ashes," Mufti said.

She said many attemptswould be made to harass thePDP and its leaders as NewDelhi knows that the PDP isthe only party that stands likea wall to protect Jammu andKashmir's special status andidentity.

"They can even sendMehbooba Mufti behind thebars. But, do not get worried.PDP is the only party that canfight them as we do not haveany baggage. Other parties alsosay the same thing, but they donot say so from the heart. It iswritten on our hearts that wehave to take Jammu & Kashmirout of this morass.

"Be ready for the big fight.Elections come and go, powercomes and goes. Mufti was notafter the chair and I am hisdaughter. The real test is tosave the special position of J-K and we will fight any suchattempt till death and take J-Kout of this morass," she said.

The former Chief Ministersaid in the current situation,the people of Jammu &Kashmir need the PDP morethan ever.

"Today, everything is indanger. No one knows what isgoing to happen.

Today, there is the need forthe PDP more than it ever wasfor the people of J&K.

"We will not let the sacri-fices of the people go waste.We cannot forget those sacri-fices. Go to your places and

visit the graveyards wheremartyrs, whatever name theyhave, are buried. Pray for themand promise them that PDPwill stand like a wall for theprotection of the state's specialidentity and for the resolutionof Kashmir issue," she said.

Claiming the prevailingsituation in the state was notgood, she said attempts werebeing made to weaken thepeople of Kashmir politicallyand economically.

"The situation in J-K is notgood. There is panic.Everything has been destroyed– J-K Bank has been and oth-ers as well. Attempts are beingmade to weaken Kashmirispolitically as well as econom-ically. We have to fight againstthis. No other party can standup against this.

"I read (NationalConference leader) Omar's(Abdullah) statement in whichhe told New Delhi not to touchArticle 35-A and leave it for theSupreme Court. I am askingyou, is there anyone who isready for any tinkering with theArticle 35-A either by the cen-tral government or the SupremeCourt?" she said. PTI

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Srinagar: The trial against ajuvenile accused in the horrificrape-and-murder case of aneight-year-old nomadic girl atKathua last year will begin onMonday as the Jammu &Kashmir High Court refused toentertain a plea for an early hear-ing of a petition challenging hisstatus as a minor, officials said.

The trial will begin beforethe Juvenile Justice Board atKathuua in the Jammu region.

The Juvenile Justice Boardhad initiated the trial on July 15,but the crime branch said it wasnot ready to proceed as the sta-tus of the accused as a minor wasyet to be decided.

The crime branch said thatthe police had approached theHigh Court challenging an orderof the chief judicial magistratelast year in which the accusedhad been declared as a juvenile.

Hearing the petition, JusticeDhiraj Singh Thakur said, "Nocase for preponement is madeout. Let the matter be consideredon its due date."

The matter is listed forAugust 5.

The crime branch hadapproached the High Courtpraying for an early hearing asthe Juvenile Justice Board hadstarted proceedings after "fram-ing memorandum of allega-tion" (framing of charges) onJuly 8 against the "delinquentjuvenile".

The Board had directed thecrime branch prosecution topresent its evidence in the case.

"If further proceedings inthe matter before Juvenile JusticeBoard are not stayed at this stage,the revision petition will renderinfructuous defeating the verybasic question of determinationof juvenility of the delinquentaccused," the crime branch peti-tion said. On July 15, the specialpublic prosecutor had informedthe Board that the High Courtwas yet to pass its verdict on thecrime branch's plea against thedecision of a Kathua courtwhich accepted the claim of theaccused that he is a minor. PTI

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The Trinamool Congresscadres will now work in

tandem with professionalcadres of election strategistPrashant Kishor who was cred-ited with successfully plan-ning political campaigns ofNarendra Modi in 2014, Lalu-Yadav-Nitish Kumar in Bihar,Jaganmohan Reddy in AndhraPradesh.

According to sources,Bengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, whose TrinamoolCongress had reportedlyengaged Kishor professionallyto turn the sagging fortunes ofher party, on Sunday held ajoint meeting with TMC cadreswhere it was decided that bothTrinamool cadres and Kishor’sarmy will work jointly “shoul-der-to-shoulder” to create pub-lic opinion in favour of the rul-ing outfit ahead of the 2021Assembly elections.

Sources also said quotingKishor that he was toying with

the idea of employing whole-timers like the CPI(M) to workfor the TMC. According toTMC sources Kishor also sug-gested ways to plug the loop-holes both in the party and thegovernment.

Kishor was appointed byBanerjee after her party gotsevere drubbing in the gener-al elections at the hands of theBJP. The TMC got 22 out of 42seats while the BJP got 18seats losing at least three seatsby a whisker. The Congress got2 and the Left could win noseats. The TMC had won 34seats in 2014.

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Rajkot: Two police constableswere suspended in Rajkot inGujarat for shooting anduploading a video on socialmedia video app TikTok whileon duty, an official said onSunday.

A former traffic wardenhad posed on the bonnet of thepolice control room (PCR)van driven by a constable whileanother policeman was shoot-ing the video, the official said.

"Two constables of A-divi-sion police station were sus-pended after they were foundto be involved in recording avideo using a PCR van while onduty. They uploaded the videoon Tiktok," A-division policeinspector N K Jadeja said.

An inquiry ordered bypolice commissioner ManojAgarwal revealed that constableAmit Pragji was driving the vanand constable Nilesh Poonabhaiwas recording the video from adistance, he said. PTI

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Vellore (TN): Tamil Nadu ChiefMinister K Palaniswami onSunday slammed M K Stalin forblaming the AIADMK for thecancellation of Vellore LokSabha elections in April and saidit was countermanded afterseizure of huge amount of cashfrom the houses of "thoseknown" to the DMK chief in thedistrict.

Campaigning in the VelloreLok Sabha constituency, going topolls on August 5, he alsoaccused Stalin of uttering "bla-tant lie" on the issue.

Palaniswami and Stalin,criss crossing the constituency innorth Tamil Nadu as part oftheir campaign since Saturday,traded charges on the issue ofalleged use of money power forvotes.

The election to the Velloreseat was earlier scheduled to beheld along with the April 18 LokSabha polls in the state but theElection Commission cancelledit citing seizure of huge amount

of cash allegedly from an asso-ciate of a DMK leader and laterrescheduled it to August 5.

The AIADMK has fieldedits ally New Justice Party leaderA C Shanmugham as its candi-date while the DMK KathirAnand, the son of DMK leaderDurai Murugan. Both were thecandidates of the parties earliertoo.

In his campaign address atK V Kuppam on Sunday,Palaniswami referred to Stalin'sspeech at a public meetingSaturday and said the DMKleader made a blatant lie that thepoll was cancelled due to theAIADMK.

"We did not (cancel). Stalinis making a blatant lie. The cashwas seized from the houses ofthose who were known to him.Income Tax department seizedlarge quanttity of cash from thedistrict", Palaniswami charged.

He also said there was nodynasty politics in the AIADMKas a farmer like him can rise to

the level of Chief Minister andsought to know whether it waspossible in the DMK.

"Even the DMK candidatefor this Lok Sabha seat is a heir(of DMK TreasurerDuraimurugan). Similarly, after(DMK Patriarch) MKarunanidhi, Stalin and now(his son) Udhayanidhi. Onlythey can hold top posts,"Palaniswami said.

"Aren't there anyone whoworked for the welfare party (tohold top posts)?" he asked.

Stalin, campaigning inVaniyampadi, hit back atPalaniswami for raising dynastypolitics issue, pointing to DeputyChief Minister OPanneerselvam's son PRavnidranath getting electedfrom Theni Lok Sabha seat. Healso pointed to unsuccessfulbid by Minister D Jayakumar'sson J Jayavardhan and RajanSathya, son of former AIADMKMayor Rajan Chellappa, in theLok Sabha polls. PTI

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Nearly 36 hours after thetrain traffic on its Badlapur-

Karjat section grounded to ahalt following the inundation ofrailway tracks caused by heavyrain and overflow of Ulhasriver, the workers deployed bythe Central Railway worked allthrough Sunday to restore theaffected railway line. Therestoration work was continu-ing till late in the night.

A day after the variousGovernment agencies, includingthe NDRF and Navy, rescued asmany as 1,050 marooned pas-sengers from the Kolhapur-bound Mahalaxmi Expresswhich was stuck in heavy floodwaters near Vangani, the CentralRailway went headlong intothe track restoration work.

“During last 48 hours, since

late Friday evening, an unprece-dented heavy rainfall beyondKalyan towards Karjat hascaused flash floods due to over-flow of Ulhas river causingsevere damage to Railway assetsbetween Badlapur and Karjatsection,” chief Central Railwayspokesperson Sunil Udasi said.

According to Udasi, the

huge flow of water onto thetracks has caused heavy damageto Railway property like 54points, 28 track circuits, 14 sig-nals, Indoor relays & powerequipment in 2 Relay huts,washout of Ballast in the rangeof 2.5 kms along the Down trackand 1.5 kms on up track.

Udasi said that Traction

distribution(TrD) assets likeSub-sectioning and parallelingPost (SSP) relays and batterywere damaged, two rakes whichwere kept in siding weremarooned because of this flashflooding. “This loss in Badlapur– Karjat section has put a hugeimpediment in restoration oftrain operations immediately,”he said.

Braving heavy rains, morethan300 Railway and contractworkers have been workinground the clock to put back thetrain services especially the life-line of Mumbai to normalcy.“To execute this war footingrestoration work atBadlapur–Karjat section,Central Railway cancelled itsMega Block this Sunday anddeployed its entire work forceinto this mammoth restorationwork supervised by senior

Railway Officials,” Udasi said.Central Railway’s General

Manager, Central Railway A KGupta and Divisional RailwayManager S K Jain reviewed thesituation in morning and havebeen monitoring these effortsto restore Mumbai life line byMonday morning through full-fledged suburban train opera-tions.

Meanwhile, owing to heavyrainfall and water logging ontracks, the Central Railway can-celled 51029 Mumbai – Bijapurfast passenger and diverted fourlong-distance trains 11028MGR Chennai Central -Mumbai Mail diverted via-Karjat – Panvel –Diva (insteadof Karjat-Kalyan) with halt atDiva, 11020 Bhubaneshwar –Mumbai Konark Express divert-ed via-Karjat-Panvel-Diva(instead of Karjat-Kalyan) with

halt at Diva and 12297Ahmedabad Jn.- Pune DurontoExpress diverted via-VasaiRoad-Panvel-Karjat (instead ofVasai Road-Kalyan-Karjat.

In a related development,the Central Railway has come infor severe flak from variousquarters as to why its officialsallowed the Kolhapur-boundMahalaxmi Express to gobeyond Bandlapur railway sta-tion on Friday night, knowingfull well that the tracks wereheavily water-logged and it hadbecome difficult for the trains topass.

Unable to wade through theflood waters, the Kolhapur-bound Mahalaxmi Express hadgot stuck near Vangani, 69 kmaway from Mumbai, on Fridaynight. The train -- which hadleft Chhatrapati ShivajiTerminus (CST) at 8.20 on

Friday -- got stranded atChimtoli village near Vanganirailway station at around 10 pm.

Through a press releaseissued on Saturday evening, aCentral Railway spokespersonhad justified the decision to letKolhapur-bound MahalaxmiExpress to move ahead in floodwaters. “The train had pro-ceeded on its way as water hadbegun receding, but after asudden spell of intense rainfall,coupled with overflowing of theUlhas river, the train was com-pletely stuck in deep water atVangani,” the spokesperson hadsaid.

Central Railway DivisionalManager S K Jain also clarifiedthat there was no lapse on thepart of the officials in letting theKolhapur-bound train moveahead. “There was no lapse asan EMU local had passed the

spot five minutes before theMahalaxmi Express got stuckbecause of the sudden rise inwater levels”.

However, retrospectivelymany sections of the people feltthat the stranding of MohalaxmiExpress could have been avoid-ed had the train been detainedat Badlapur railway station.

Following the stranding ofthe train near Vangani formore than 17 hours, teams ofNational Disaster ResponseForce (NDRF), nine teamsfrom the Navy, two columns ofArmy, Air Force and firebrigade personnel from Thaneand Brihanmumbai MunicipalCorporations swung intoaction amid heavy rains onSaturday, and rescued 1050marooned passengers andreached to safety throughmodes of transport.

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Guwahat/Patna: The death tollin Assam and Bihar floodsclimbed to 209 on Sunday,with over 1.06 crore peopleaffected by the deluge in the twostates, officials said.

In Assam, the toll reached82 with the death of one moreperson in Barpeta district.

A population of 21.68 lakhof 1,716 villages in 56 revenuecircles of Assam is affected bythe calamity. Besides Barpeta,the 17 other affected districtsare Dhemaji, Sonitpur, Darrang,Baksa, Nalbari, Chirang,Bongaigaon, Kokrajhar, Dhubri,Goalpara, Kamrup, Kamrup(M), Morigaon, Nagaon,Golaghat, Jorhat and Cachar,the Assam State DisasterManagement Authority(ASDMA) said. The rivers flow-ing at the danger level are theBrahmaputra at Neamatighat(Jorhat) and Dhubri, the

Desang at Nangamuraghat(Sivasagar), the Jia Bharali at NT Road Crossing (Sonitpur), thePuthimari at N H Road cross-ing (Kamrup), the Beki at RoadBridge (Barpeta) and theKushiara at Karimganj(Karimganj), it said. In Bihar,there was no let up in the floodsituation. The deluge has affect-ed over 85 lakh people eventhough the toll remained at 127for the second consecutive day.One of the severely affected dis-tricts, Darbhanga has so farreported 12 casualties eversince Bihar was hit by flashfloods earlier this month owingto torrential rainfall in Terairegion of Nepal.

Water level under a railwaybridge close to Hayaghat in thedistrict rose above the dangerlevel prompting the EastCentral Railway to suspendmovement of trains. PTI

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Tribal youth from two villages in Gadchiroli districtin Maharashtra on Sunday burnt banners exhort-

ing them to observe 'Naxal Week', an official said.According to a statement from Gadchiroli police,

the Maoist banners were put up on Jarawandi-Kasansur Road in the district.

"Tribal youth from Tadguda and Kusarwahi vil-lages assembled here and set the banners ablaze. Theyraised slogans against the Maoist ultras as well as theirNaxal Week," the statement said.

In another development, GadchiroliSuperintendent of Police Shailesh Balkawde announcedthe celebration of "Adivasi Vikas Week' from June 28to August 3. As part of the initiative, career guidanceand other welfare schemes will be provided to the youth,the official said. In May this year, the state governmenthad said 224 security personnel and 246 Naxals werekilled in skirmishes and blasts in Gadchiroli since 1980.Naxals had also killed 571 civilians during this peri-od, a government official had said. Gadchiroli,Chandrapur and Gondia have been declared Naxal-affected districts in Maharashtra by the Ministry ofHome Affairs.

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Bengaluru: Veteran KarnatakaCongress leader ShamanurShivashankarappa on Sunday assert-ed Veerashaivas and Lingayats aretwo faces of the same coin and hitout at his party colleague and for-mer Chief Minister Siddaramaiah,accusing him of having tried todivide the community in the past.

He was reacting toSiddaramaiah's statementonSaturday that 'Basava Dharma'was an independent religion, whichis neither inside nor outside ofHinduism.

"... Let's not discuss those issues,we have been saying same thingsince beginning that Veerashaivaand Lingayat are one, two faces ofthe same coin, we are following it,"Shivashankarappa, also thePresident of All India VeerashaivaMahasabha, said.

Speaking to reporters, he said,"let's not try to break it, we are all

united."Responding to a question about

Siddaramaiah's remarks, he said, "isSiddaramaiah a Lingayat? He hasgiven his opinion, what can I dowith it? He tried to divide it, butsidetracked as he could not..."

The Veerashaiva-Lingayat com-munity that owes allegiance to the12th century "social reform move-ment" initiated by Basaveshwara andhas a substantial population inKarnataka, especially in the north-ern parts, has sided with the BJP.

The community was a dividedhouse ahead of the2018 assemblypolls amid a move by the thenCongress governmentled bySiddaramaiah to accord "religiousminority" status tothe Lingayatfaith.

The demand for a separate reli-gion tag toVeerashaiva-Lingayatfaiths had surfaced from the numer-icallystrong and politically influen-

tial community, amid resentmentfrom within over projecting the twocommunities as the same.

While, one section led byAkhila Bharata VeerashaivaMahasabha had asserted thatVeerashaiva and Lingayats are thesame and religious status be givento them, the other group wanted itonly for Lingayats as they believeVeerashaivas are one among theseven sects of Shaivas, which is partof Hinduism.

Veerashaiva-Lingayats are esti-mated to form 17 per cent of thestate's population and considered tohave a significantpresence in about140 out of total 224 assembly con-stituenciesin the state and are deci-sive in about 90 seats. The separatereligion tag move was said to be oneof the reasons for the Congress loos-ing ground with respect to the com-munity during the assembly andLok Sabha polls. PTI

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.�����*���������0�'����������Mumbai: Senior BJP leader andMaharashtra Water ResourcesMinister, Girish Mahajan, onSunday claimed that at least 50MLAs of the Congress and theNCP are in touch with the rul-ing party to switch over aheadof the Assembly elections, duelater this year.

Mahajan's comments cameagainst the backdrop of a stringof leaders from Sharad Pawar-led NCP deserting their parentparty in recent past.

"Some 50 MLAs ofCongress and NCP are in touchwith the BJP. Senior NCP leaderChitra Wagh had expressed herdesire to join BJP a monthback, claiming she had no futureleft in her parent party. TheMLAs are requesting that theywanted to join the BJP ahead ofthe assembly elections...TheCongress is in the shambles andin the next couple of weeks, the

NCP will look weaker," Mahajansaid. NCP leaders Sachin Ahir,the Mumbai unit chief of theparty and former minister,Chitra Wagh, the women wingpresident of the party, have quitthe NCP. Ahir has already joinedthe Shiv Sena. NCP MLAVaibhav Pichad has alsoexpressed his desire to join theBJP. Mahajan also dismissedSharad Pawar's allegations thatthe BJP was misusing govern-ment agencies against the lead-ers ofthe Congress and the NCPto make them defect.

"He (Pawar) is levellingthese allegations to cover up hisown political failure. We havenot threatened any one or pres-surised any leader," he said.

The minister, believed to bea confidante of Chief MinisterDevendra Fadnavis, also defend-ed the raids conducted byIncome Tax sleuths on NCP

leader and former ministerHasan Mushrif, saying the actionwas legal and not out of anypolitical vengeance.

Meanwhile, sources saidthat a sizable number of corpo-rators, including Mayor of NaviMumbai Municipal CorporationSandeep Naik, may switch overto the BJP from the NCP.

The politics of NaviMumbai has traditionally beendominated by a faction led byformer excise minister and NCPleader Ganesh Naik.

"A sizable number of cor-porators on Sunday held a meet-ing in Navi Mumbai andappealed to Sandeep Naik to jointhe BJP ahead of assembly elec-tions. If that happens, the BJPwill not only gain a strong can-didate, but it will also come intopower in the civic body as well,"said sources close to the devel-opment. PTI

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Around March last year, a promi-nent businessman defraudedIndian banks of more than�11,300 crore. Nirav Modigrabbed everyone’s attention

due to the sheer magnitude of his fraud andthe ease with which he managed to escapethe clutches of the Indian Government andprobe agencies. Fast forward a little morethan a year and we found on June 18, 2019,that Tabrez Ansari, a 24-year-old Muslimboy, was attacked by a mob in the Seraikela-Kharsawan district of Jharkhand on suspi-cion of theft. What binds these two crimestogether? At first glimpse, the two crimescould not be more far apart. One involvesthe enduring image of a multi-millionairein a �9 lakh ostrich leather jacket and theother, the abhorrent image of a young manbeing beaten to death by a mob while beg-ging for mercy. On closer inspection, how-ever, there are threads of commonality thatrun through both crimes.

Anonymity: Sunlight is said to be thebest disinfectant. It is an established fact thathumans are more likely to do the right thingwhen the likelihood of them being recog-nised for kindness is high. In an experimentto showcase this interesting aspect ofhuman behaviour, people were asked to sub-mit their donations to a worthy cause anony-mously. In another scenario, a set of peo-ple were asked to write down on a publicnotice board their names and how muchthey would be donating for a particularcause.

It turned out that people were more like-ly to be “kind” if they are aware that theiractions are being watched in a social setting.The corollary of this principle is true as well:People are more likely to commit crimes ifthey believe that there is no way to identi-fy them. This is what typically works in caseof mob lynching where large groups of peo-ple believe that they are protected byanonymity. In order to prevent suchinstances of mob violence from happening,the police must adopt and use technologyfor their benefit. For example, in instanceswhere a video records an instance of mobviolence, the police could use the footage toidentify the offenders and instigators of suchmob violence and establish a pattern fromthese crimes.

In the case of economic crimes like thebank fraud committed by Nirav Modi andCo, the benefit of anonymity works differ-ently. Each crime involves some moral com-promise, especially so when the victim is vis-ible and is affected directly by an action. Insuch instances, the perpetrator of a crimehas more reason to not commit the crimebecause there is a higher moral cost or com-promise.

However, in cases of economic crimes,the criminal act is often facilitated byanonymity of the victim rather than the per-petrator. For example, in the case of the bankscam, Nirav Modi did not individually ‘steal’

money from an individual buttook it away from the banks —hence, he effectively stole moneyfrom all of us. In such cases, itis easier for criminals like NiravModi to live with the conse-quence of their actions. In orderto prevent such crimes fromhappening in the future, it isimportant for banks and otherinstitutions, who deal with suchpotential offences, to build nec-essary safeguards. These safe-guards can be in the form ofstricter audits or by publicisinga particular firm’s repeated pay-ment defaults.

Influence: Another com-mon element between thesetwo types of crimes is theimportant role ‘influence’ has inmaking such crimes possible.Influence comes in many forms— criminal intimidation orbribery or political pressure. Inthe case of Nirav Modi, forexample, the scam was alleged-ly enabled by bribing certainbank officials. In the case ofmob lynching or hate crimes,influence may not take suchproactive forms. Instead, perpe-trators of such crimes look at theenvironment around them andthe messaging that they receive,which lend credence to theirbelief that their acts are not actu-ally crimes or are somehowacceptable.

Such messages may take theform of TikTok videos that talkabout mob violence openlywithout any prosecution or aformer Union minister gar-landing convicts of lynching.Whatever the form, both thesecrimes rely on influences thatare available to them and use itto justify or enable their crimes.Some of these influences likebribery can be restricted byenforcing stricter laws like thePrevention of Corruption Act,1988 and the Right toInformation Act (which thepresent Government has, unsur-prisingly, sought to weaken).Other influences, like the mes-saging that our leaders send, canbe weakened much more easi-ly. For example, by not garland-ing individuals accused ofcrimes.

No fear: While all of thefactors highlighted above enablesuch crimes to occur in ourcountry with unenviable regu-larity, the absence of any fear ofconsequence for their crimesprovides criminals like NiravModi and perpetrators of mobviolence with an added incen-tive to act with impunity. A lookat the performance of our agen-cies is indicative of this.

The Central Bureau ofInvestigation (CBI), which isdeemed to be the elite investiga-

tive agency, is reported to havea strike rate of just 3.96 per centwhile dealing with majorcrimes. This is an appallingstrike rate. In the case of thepolice, too, the strike rate is notvery encouraging. Moreover,poor statistics exclude the factthat a number of crimes are noteven recorded as FIRs by thepolice in the first place. It is notrocket science to tackle thisproblem.

There is no denying the factthat with enough pressure fromthe public and a strong glare bythe media, the instruments ofthe state are more likely to bebetter at their job. However, itis ridiculous to expect the mediaand the public to raise its armsin every case. Instead, what isneeded are structural solutions.These can come in the form ofpolice reforms (which theSupreme Court has mandatedfor each State to adopt) or byway of introducing stricter lawssuch as a stern legislation totackle mob lynching. A greatstart, however, would be if thepresent Government shuns its“hugs and garlanding approach”and comes out strongly againstsuch crimes, whether it is mobviolence or a bank fraud.

(The author is president ofJharkhand Pradesh CongressCommittee)) ������������������*�����������

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Sir — After scores of writersreturned their Sahitya Akademiawards in 2015 protesting “growingintolerance”, now another set of“eminent citizens” has sparked offconcerns over hate crime. Over 50academics, artistes, film-makersand doctors have written an openletter to Prime Minister NarendraModi, expressing anguish at the wayvigilantes are defiling the name ofLord Ram by turning the slogan, JaiShri Ram, into a “provocative warcry” and perpetrating violence inthe name of religion.

This is a matter of concern fora lot of people in society, whowant to live peacefully, where onedoes not wear religion on his/hersleeve but considers it to be a mat-ter of personal belief. There is nodoubt that Jai Shri Ram in itself isnot a communal slogan but its useto spread hate and violence is.Unfortunately, it is being defiledby the so-called Ram bhaktsthemselves time and again.Remember the war cry by themobs during the final push to theBabri mosque demolition? It wasJai Shri Ram. It is now being usedeven today during many inci-dences of lynching — be it in the

name of theft, cattle smuggling orbeef-eating. On the other hand, itis also true that the MamataBanerjee Government went to theother extreme in Bengal, arrestinganyone who chanted Jai ShriRam. Why is this beautiful sloganbeing allowed to be defiled?

J Akshay Bengaluru

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Sir — It is commendable that theIndian Railways sent wagonsholding 50,000 litres of water eachto Chennai residents everyday ata time of acute water crisis.However, more needs to be done.The Government should increase

public awareness programmes toinvolve citizens in water conser-vation efforts at the micro level.Chennai’s water crisis should bea wake-up call for all citizens.Meticulous planning to conservewater, including initiating stepsfor rainwater harvesting, willhelp citizens meet their needs.The Government should also

make an effort to reach out tointernational agencies to be effec-tive and innovative in water con-servation. A new water policymay also help avoid such a crisisyet again in 2020.

Varun DambhalBengaluru

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Sir — Samajwadi Party memberAzam Khan is once again in theeye of a storm for his alleged sex-ist remarks against BJP’s RamaDevi. This is not for the first timethat he has made such remarks.What, however, dampened themoral spirit was the fact thatinstead of chiding him, SamajwadiParty chief Akhilesh Yadav defend-ed him. Khan later said that he hadspent a long time in politics and hewas ready to resign immediately ifit was proved he had used anyunparliamentary words. Thisexplanation does not make awrong right. A wrong is wrong,irrespective of who has committedit. Khan should apologise.

TK NandananChennai

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The period between 1998 and 2013 wasmomentous for Delhi when Sheila Dikshitwas the Chief Minister. It was during her

tenure that the capital faced a multitude of prob-lems like air pollution, water and power short-ages and poor infrastructure, to name a few. ButDikshit took all these head on and with greatsuccess. While many issues still haunt the city,nevertheless, her vision of Delhi as a modernmetropolis, worthy of being called the capital ofa rising nation, was by and large fulfilled.

Dikshit had said that “Delhi is rich in humanresource but poor in natural resource” — waterand wind both come from outside the city. Shewas a committed environmentalist. True to herbeing, she gave priority to issues of pollution andenvironment. In 1998, she ordered all buses inthe city to be run on compressed natural gas(CNG). This brought about a substantialimprovement in Delhi’s air quality back then. Inyet another move to improve public transportsystem, Dikshit insisted on the introduction oflow-floor buses, which were highly priced butwell-integrated. She had the vision of introduc-ing air conditioned low-floor buses as well,despite the huge cost to the exchequer, comparedto the earlier high-floor buses plying on theDelhi roads, mounted on truck chassis, used bythe Delhi Transport Corporation. The new fleetof buses brought about a sea-change in the waypeople commuted since, making it more reliable,modern and secure.

Further, the introduction of CNG for allforms of transport required the development ofa massive infrastructure. Adequate number ofCNG pumps for the filling of cars, buses andtrucks needed to be set up, besides creating park-ing space for the vehicles. Dikshit was quite gen-erous in allotting land for the purpose to theIndraprastha Gas Limited, which was a joint ven-ture of the Government of Delhi and the GasAuthority of India.

Water has always been a tricky issue for thecapital and her visionary leadership enabled theconstruction of the Sonia Vihar treatmentplant, which supplied water from the Gangacanal to East Delhi. The improvement of treat-ment capacity and reduction in losses due toleakages, including the emphasis on meteringof water supply, brought about substantialimprovements in the water distribution system.However, there is still a continuing need to aug-ment water supply from other sources to meetthe growing demand of ever-expanding settle-ments. Dikshit also supported the research pro-ject of Renuka Dam to ensure water availabili-ty in future.

Delhi’s infrastructure underwent a rapidtransformation during her leadership. From thewidening of roads to the building of bridges, fly-overs and the introduction of the lifeline of thenational capital, the Delhi Metro, connectivityimproved dramatically during her tenure. EastDelhi, too, saw improved connectivity. TheCommonwealth Games (CWG) held in 2010enabled her to take many bold decisions.Dikshit used to say that we need to learn fromthe Delhi Metro as to how timely completionof projects can be ensured. The Barapullah (nowBanda Bahadur flyover) road was constructedin a record time of 18 months, which would nor-

mally take five years to complete. At the plan-ning stage, the Railways and the ArchaeologicalSurvey of India were opposed to its construc-tion as it would cross the Nizamuddin Railwaystation and was too close to the Humayun tomb.But Dikshit was able to convince the CentralMinisters to remove the objections of thedepartments and the work went on for the com-pletion of the project. She personally inspect-ed the progress of the project. Today, theBarapullah flyover is an important lifeline con-necting the city.

Other important infrastructure projectsstarted during her tenure included the SignatureBridge, which is an iconic structure of Delhi. TheDelhi Haat at INA is a must visit to buy ethnicitems. It became such a hit that two more haatswere set up in Pitampura and Janakpuri. TheGarden of Five Senses is yet another landmarkplace. The Vikas Bhawan II, built under thegreen building concept, too, was her brainchild.I remember informing her that unlike the DelhiSecretariat, which was constructed during hertenure as an iconic building, the Vikas BhawanII had air conditioning provision only for offi-cers. She insisted that all staff members musthave the same facilities even if it costs more. Ihad to inform the Public Works Department(PWD) to change the plans and have a fully air-conditioned office building.

One of the most significant decisions takenby her was the privatisation of the power sec-tor in Delhi. This was a controversial move butwas essential because of the lack of infrastruc-ture for power and the enormous losses incurredby the Delhi Vidyut Board as also to address thegrowing demand.

As a result, power availability in the capitalhas improved and competition has enabled thesector to become self-sustaining. However,further improvements are still needed and this

requires constant review.I remember, just before the opening of the

CWG, some foreign team managers com-plained about the lack of complete infrastruc-ture and also pointed towards the negativereports in the Press. Dikshit swiftly reached theGames Village and held a discussion with thedelegates. Her smiling nature and pleasant per-sonality were enough to convince them to stopcomplaining and they felt reassured about theseriousness of the administration to completethe work on time. Any apprehension that therewould be calls for boycott of the games was nul-lified.

She started the hugely successful campaigninvolving children for a cracker-free Diwali aswell as the “green and clean” Delhi campaign.Planting and giving saplings as gifts at officialfunctions and school meetings was a huge suc-cess, and created an enormous impact andawareness about environment protection. The‘Stree Shakti’ campaign to check women andchildren’s health in camps from time to timeshowed that she was sensitive to the needs ofpeople of all sections. She had an open houseevery day where she would listen to scores ofpeople at her official residence.

Improving governance was her mantra.After the Telgi stamp paper scam, it became nec-essary to incorporate changes in the system.Electronic stamp paper was introduced toensure that no scam got repeated. It involved set-ting up of an E-stamping infrastructure in coor-dination with Stock Holding Corporation ofIndia. Today, it is a well-established system.Computer education, too, was started in schoolsto ensure that the digital divide does not putGovernment school children at a disadvanta-geous position.

Dikshit ensured that Delhi pulsated with artand culture. She instituted the Delhi Kala

Academy Awards for outstanding artistes andevery year, cultural programmes, including thepublicly appreciated music recitals at Nehru ParkChanakya Puri, were immensely popular.

As the commissioner of the MunicipalCorporation of Delhi (MCD), every time Ibrought to her notice any financial problems inthe organisation, she would instruct the officersto sort it out. I also informed her about the grow-ing garbage problem. On her next visit to theUnited Nations, she asked UNOPS to conducta study of the garbage problem and theyappointed a Dutch and Indian consultant tostudy and give a report. Many initiatives on wasteto energy, mechanisation of garbage handlingand creation of new engineered landfills in Delhiare a result of the report submitted by the con-sultants. Such was her deep understanding of theissues and problems facing Delhi. Trifurcationof MCD was yet another achievement. Itbrought competitive spirit in the three MCDs.

During her tenure as the Chief Minister,Delhi underwent a complete transformation ininfrastructure, environment awareness, garbagemanagement, education, health, and e-gover-nance. She took bold decisions and never tooka U-turn once a decision was taken. She touredDelhi relentlessly, met the people, heard theirgrievances and also listened to elected represen-tatives. She called bureaucrats for meetings andheard them and gave decisions, which each oneimplemented, being sure that there will be nogoing back once decision was taken. She hadleadership, compassion, wisdom, and a steelyresolve behind a smiling visage. She knew themeasures needed by Delhi to move the metrop-olis forward. She was fully conversant with theconstitutional position of Delhi and could con-vince the leadership at the Centre and also leadfrom the front.

(The writer is former Chief Secretary, Delhi)

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With South Asia’s notoriously hot,muggy summer comes the fruit ofthe season, the mango. Here, this

delicious drupe is also known as “the kingof fruits.” The cultivation of mangoes isbelieved to have originated in South Asia.According to a book, Mango: Botany,Production and Uses, the mango has beencultivated in the South Asian region for over4,000 years. In the book, HistoricalGeography of Crop Plants, Jonathan Sauerwrites that the mango was first “domesti-cated” in India in 2000 BCE. From here, itmade its way to East Asia. In the 16th cen-tury, it was introduced in various Africanand South American regions by Europeantraders travelling from India. By 1860, it hadmade its way into North America.

During my recent visit to the US, a

Pakistani-American lady told me thatMexicans have flooded the US market withtheir varietals and they were as good asIndian and Pakistani mangoes, which mostconnoisseurs would find hard to believe.According to the 2018 brochure of Mexico’s“Champaign Mango” brand, mangoes werefirst introduced in Mexico in the early 19thcentury by travellers from India.

Mangoes are now cultivated acrossSouth and East Asia, South and CentralAmerica and even in China, where —according to an April 27, 2016, report in theJapan-based news magazine, The Diplomat,— the fruit was virtually unknown till it wasbrought there as a gift by Pakistani diplo-mats in the late 1960s.

One essay in Mango: Botany, Productionand Uses narrates that the mango enteredEast Asian regions from India with thespread of Hinduism and Buddhism. By theeighth century, the mango had also reachedBaghdad, the centre of the powerfulAbbasid caliphate.

The first Europeans to come across thisfruit were the Portuguese. They arrived inIndia in the 15th century and found man-goes being cultivated and enjoyed withgreat relish. Garcia de Orta, a Portuguesephysician and naturalist, who settled in

Goa, India, in the 16th century, first wroteabout mangoes in 1563. Since mangoesrequire a hot and humid climate to grow,the Portuguese took the fruit to Brazil.From there, it began to spread to the restof South and Central America. So, basical-ly, the origin of almost each and everymango tree and fruit found anywhere inthe world today is South Asia — especial-ly the regions now known as the republicsof India and Pakistan.

But nowhere else is the mango held inas much reverence as it is in India andPakistan. Take, for example, how the self-professed love for mangoes by one of SouthAsia’s greatest Urdu/Persian poets, MirzaGhalib (1797-1869), is celebrated over andover again. But even before that, there wasthe often repeated tale of the sixth centu-ry Hindu saint Karaikal Ammaiyar.According to Hindu legend, Karaikal’s hus-band sent her two mangoes to keep till hecame back home. But when a yogi appearedand said he was hungry, she gave him oneof the mangoes. After he finished eating it,another mango miraculously appeared. Thelegend claims that the yogi was the man-ifestation of the Hindu deity Shiva.

Indian food historian, Vickram Doctor,in a June 10, 2017, article in the Economic

Times, writes that mangoes in South Asiahave also often been used as tools of diplo-macy. According to doctor, this was main-ly the doing of India’s Mughal kings, whoduring their reign between the 16th andmid-19th centuries, greatly encouraged theplantation of mango trees across India.Nobles and growers would often giftMughal kings crates of mangoes and expectfavours in return. The doctor writes that bythe 1930s, Muslim and Hindu growers,maharajas and nawabs were shipping man-goes as gifts to countries such as Sweden andHolland. In 1937, India’s British colonialGovernment shipped crates of Indianmangoes for the coronation ceremony ofKing George VI. Growers in Pakistan’sMirpurkhas area in Sindh gifted crates ofmangoes to Queen Elizabeth when shebecame the new British monarch in 1952.Sindh is home to some of the best varietiesof Pakistani mangoes as is the Multan dis-trict in southern Punjab.

The influential pirs and landed elite ofSindh quickly adopted the Mughal art of“mango diplomacy” when the British con-quered Sindh after the fall of the Mughalempire. They often gifted the British cratesof mangoes. The Pirs of Pagara did so, too,until the sixth pir rebelled against the British

in the 1930s. The pir was declared a “ter-rorist” and executed in 1943. When his sonsucceeded him as the seventh pir, Pakistanhad come into being and the practice of gift-ing Sindh’s mangoes to Government offi-cials was reinstated by him.

Over 250 varieties of mangoes aregrown in Pakistan. Some have rather inter-esting stories. For example, according to KBudhwar’s book, Romancing the Mango, thedelicious Chaunsa or Chausa, which ismostly grown in Pakistan’s southern Punjabarea (and also in India), was named by thefounder of India’s Suri Dynasty, Sher ShahSuri after he defeated Mughal EmperorHumayun, at Chausa in Bihar, in 1539.

Sindh’s most popular mango, the largeSindhrri, is believed to have been named bythe father of the country’s 10th PrimeMinister, Muhammad Khan Junejo (1985-88). According to organisers of the 2018Sindh Mango Festival held in Mirpurkhas,the former Prime Minister’s father hadbrought back some mango seeds fromBombay in the 1920s. He cross-bred themangoes from these seeds with someother mango species in Sindh’s Tharparkarregion and named the mangoes Sindhrri.

Then there is the curiously namedLangrra mango (langrra in Urdu/Hindi

means lame). It is grown in both India andPakistan. According to an essay by Indianfood journalist Sarika Rana, the Langrraoriginated “two to three hundred years ago”in the Indian region of Banaras from a treeplanted by a lame farmer.

The Anwar Ratol is another popularmango of Pakistan. Even though it is notso widely grown in India, its roots lie in theIndian village of Rataul. According to a May13, 2015, article in Dawn, a Muslim fromRataul migrated to what is now Pakistan’sPunjab with the seeds of an obscure mangospecies. He named the mangoes that hegrew after his father, Anwar.

Another source claims, however, thatthe Pakistan Agricultural ResearchDepartment is the one that actually devel-oped the species from a graft from theRataul trees and it was named Anwar mean-ing “better.” In August 1988, the plane car-rying Pakistan’s third military ruler, Gen Zia,crashed over Bahawalpur, killing him.According to the UK’s The Time newspa-per, investigators had found chemicalsthat are used to make small explosives onthe mangoes which were stored on theplane. It was also reported that the mangoeswere Anwar Ratole.

(Courtesy: The Dawn)

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal

(NCLAT) has asked the NCLTto decide over an insolvencyplea filed against leading realestate firm Raheja Developersby one of its operational cred-itors.

Setting aside the earlierorder passed by the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT), the NCLAT said exis-tence of any "disputed claim"cannot be a ground to reject anapplication under Section 9 ofthe Insolvency and BankruptcyCode (IBC) to initiate insol-vency proceedings, if it is notraised before issuance of ademand notice.

A three-member Bench,headed by Chairman S JMukhopadhaya, observed that"existence of dispute must bepre-existing i.E. It must existbefore the receipt of thedemand notice or invoice".

Allowing the appeal ofAhluwalia Contracts (India)Ltd, an operational creditor ofRaheja Developers, NCLATsaid no arbitration proceedingwas initiated or pending beforedemand notice under Section

8(1) of IBC and has remittedthe matter back to the NCLTfor fresh hearing.

"We set aside the impugnedjudgment dated September 19,2018, and remit the case to theAdjudicating Authority(NCLT) for admitting theapplication under Section 9after notice to the 'CorporateDebtor' (Raheja) to enable the'Corporate Debtor' to settlethe matter prior to the admis-sion," said NCLAT in its orderpassed on Tuesday.

The Delhi bench of theNCLT had on September 19dismissed an application filedby Ahluwalia Contracts (India)Ltd under Section 9 ongrounds that the claim was dis-puted and arbitration pro-ceedings has already been ini-tiated over it.

Section 9 of IBC givespower to the operational cred-itors of a company to initiatecorporate insolvency resolutionprocess after default.

Before that, he has to senda demand notice of unpaidoperational debtor copy of aninvoice demanding payment ofthe amount involved in thedefault under Section 8(1) ofIBC.

This was challenged byAhluwalia Contracts beforethe appellate tribunal NCLAT.

NCLT had observed thatclaims of Ahluwalia Contractsfalls within the ambit of 'dis-puted claim' and arbitration inthe matter has already been ini-tiated.

However, AhluwaliaContracts, which was repre-sented by his counsel ShashankGarg contended that when thedemand notice was issued by itunder Section 8(1) of the IBC,no arbitration proceeding wasinitiated or pending and it wasinitiated after that.

Consenting to it, NCLATsaid "existence of dispute mustbe pre-existing i.e. It must existbefore the receipt of thedemand notice or invoice".

It further observed thatthe arbitration proceeding wasinitiated by Raheja Developeron May 24, 2018, which is afterabout one month from thedate of issuance of demandnotice under Section 8(1)issued on April 28, 2018.

Ahluwalia Contracts hadreceived work order for plumb-ing and civil work from RahejaDevelopers and had claimeddues of Rs 5.50 crore.

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Flipkart on Sundayannounced its foray into the

offline space with its decision toset up first Furniture ExperienceCentre in Bengaluru.

Spread across nearly 1,800square feet, Flipkart wouldoffer a touch and feel experi-ence to customers in the fast-evolving online furniture mar-ket, the e-commerce majorsaid in a statement.

According to the company,this is a step towards helpingcustomers understand the vastselection of furniture offered byFlipkart and increase awarenessaround the seamless buyingand installation experience itoffers.

Flipkart Vice-President(Furniture, Electronics andPrivate Label) Adarsh Menon

said, "As a customer-focusedorganisation, we understandthe requirements of customersand hence 'FurniSure'. Theidea behind the FurniSureExperience Zone is to allowcustomers to explore FlipkartFurniture's offerings in a newand innovative fashion."

Flipkart is also workingwith Google to enhance cus-tomers' overall viewing expe-rience at these FurniSureExperience Centres throughintegration with Google Lens.

Visitors at the experiencecentre can use their smart-phone to scan the FlipkartFurniture icon at the experi-ence centres, which will thenroute them to the platform'sfurniture page, allowing themto explore the product cata-logue along with their variousfeatures.

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Spanish bathroom and sani-taryware firm Roca Group

said India will become keyrole in its global strategy overthe next three years.

The USD 1.8-billionGroup's global management isaggressive on India in terms ofinvestment and acquisition anda kitty of Rs 150 crore had beenearmarked in order to empha-sise on Asia-Pacific revenue tokeep a balanced geographicaldistribution strategy.

"We have high expecta-tions from India which is grow-ing the highest with 18 percent, far ahead in global stan-dards and within Roca group.We had set a target to doubleIndia's revenue to 16 per centof the global turnover in thenext 3 years," Roca Groupglobal corporate marketingdirector Carlos Velazquez said.

Roca India ManagingDirector KE Ranganathan said

India focus will help Rocaenhance Asia-Pacific revenueof the group as part of the busi-ness risk management plan fora sustainable growth vision inthe medium-to-long term.

"Asia-Pacific accounts forjust 18.5 per cent, while WestEurope, Africa and Middle Eastgenerated 35 per cent of globalrevenues of USD 1.8 billion asof 2018. We aim for some rebal-ancing," Velazquez said.

Dymistyfing India plans,he said the Group wants todeepen Roca brand in Indiawith new technology productsand market expansion.

Currently, Roca Group'smajor revenue from India gen-erates from Parryware, an Indianbrand which the acquisition ofwhich was completed in 2008into a fully-owned subsidiary.

Ranganathan said in thenext leg of growth of the com-pany in India, Roca brand willplay a greater role while retain-ing the momentum of Parryware.

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The Kerala Infrastructureand Technology for

Education (KITE) is all set toprovide technical assistance togovernment offices in the stateto install Digital Signature inFree Software based OperatingSystem.

KITE has come-up with asystem for integrating DigitalSignatures in Free and OpenSource Software (FOSS) basedOperating Systems which is usedin most government offices, arelease by K Anvar Sadath, ViceChairman and ExecutiveDirector of KITE, said.

The state government hadrecently instructed all govern-ment offices to compulsorilymake use of Digital Signaturesfor preparing salaries and otherbenefits of employees inSPARK (Service and PayrollAdministrative Repository forKerala) portal.

"At present, 27,797 gov-

ernment offices in the State useSPARK portal for salary dis-bursement for over seven lakhemployees. The new mecha-nism devised by KITE comes inthe backdrop of reports ofsome offices, including somefrom General EducationDepartment, depending pro-prietary software for this pur-pose," the release said.

The prevailing state gov-ernment policy mandates useof only FOSS applications in allits offices.

The IT@SchoolGNU/Linux 18.04 OperatingSystem, developed by KITEalready has inbuilt softwareutilities required for runningthe drivers for the DigitalSignature token devices, whichis based on Java.

"The specific installationscript, user guide and videotutorials would be made avail-able in the website of KITEwww.Kite.Kerala.Gov.In fromAugust 2 onwards," Sadath said.

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The Libramont agriculturalshow is the highlight of the

year for Belgium's proud beefindustry, but this year even thesunny skies of western Europe'srecord heatwave couldn't chaseone looming shadow away.

The breeders paradingtheir famous Belgian Blue beefcattle will soon face competi-tion from the vast ranches ofthe South American pampas.

Resistance is buildingamong some European farm-ers against a draft trade dealreached by EU officials withthe Mercosur group --Argentina, Brazil, Paraguayand Uruguay.

After 20 years of negotia-tions, officials in Brussels -- 140kilometres (80 miles) north-west of the pastures ofArdennes -- are very pleasedwith the accord that couldsave European exporters fourbillion euros (USD 4.5 billion)in duties per year.

But, as member statesdecide whether to ratify and

implement the deal, EU farm-ers and environmentalists areless excited.

Beef breeders in particularsay that EU quality standardsare higher than those in LatinAmerica, and fear a flood ofcheap meat will drive them tothe wall.

"We are already close toover-production in all ofEurope and in Wallonia aswell ... The last thing we needis Brazilian meat, especiallywhen we see the conditions inwhich it is produced," warnsHughes Falys, beef producerand farmers' union spokesman.

"Mercosur isn't a case of'Yes, maybe' or 'Yes, if ' .Mercosur is 'No!'," declares theWallonia regional farmingminister, Rene Collin, to loudapplause.

Collin might not be a reg-ular on the G20 summit circuitor at WTO get-togethers. Butthe world's trade negotiatorsmay find they have to listen tothe French-speaking Belgianregion of Wallonia, home toonly 3.6 million people.

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The National Company LawAppellate Tribunal (NCLAT)

has granted three weeks' time tothe promoters of debt-riddenDighi Port Ltd to negotiate withthe company's financial creditorsto settle their claims.

A three-member NCLATbench headed by ChairmanJustice S J Mukhopadhaya hasallowed Dighi Port DirectorVishal Vijay Kalantri and otherpromoters to negotiate with theCommittee of Creditors (CoC)and operational creditors tobring the company out of insol-vency proceedings.

"We allow the Appellant –Director Vishal Vijay Kalantriand other promoters of DighiPort Ltd (Corporate Debtor)three weeks time to state as towhether the financial creditorshave agreed to settle the claim,"the appellate tribunal said in itsorder passed on July 24.

It further said: "If such pro-posal is made, financial credi-tors and operational creditors,if any, may consider the same."

The appellate tribunal hasdirected to list the matter fornext hearing on August 21.

During the proceedings ofthe NCLAT, counsel represent-ing the promoters had submit-ted that they "may reach one-time settlement with the finan-cial creditors" of Dighi Port.

Dighi Port is being devel-oped by Balaji Infra Projects inthe Raigad district ofMaharashtra for which -- AdaniPorts and Special EconomicZone Ltd (APSEZ) andJawaharlal Nehru Port Trust(JNPT) had submitted their bids.

Earlier, the lenders hadrejected the resolution planfiled by APSEZ and approvedJNPT bid. However, laterAPSEZ moved to NCLAT byfiling an appeal against it.

Earlier, on July 10, NCLAThad said that until its furtherorders, NCLT will not pass anyorder of liquidation.

Dighi Port is facing insol-vency proceedings after theMumbai bench of the NationalCompany Law Tribunal(NCLT) allowed recovery pleaby DBM Geotechnics andConstructions Pvt Ltd, one ofits operational creditor fornon-payment of constructionof multi-purpose berth onMarch 25, 2018.

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Health tech start-up VisitHealth is looking to raise

around USD 10 million in aSeries-A funding to finance itsexpansion, including increasingnumber of its empanelled doc-tors, hospitals, pharmacies andpathological labs, according toa top company official.

The company, an artificialintelligence-based health techapp platform offering preven-tive and curative, primaryhealthcare solutions, hasalready raised a total fundingof USD 1.4 million and isbacked by investors, includingMapmyIndia, Snapdeal co-founders Kunal Bahl and RohitBansal, and Hetero DrugsDirector Murali Krishna.

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Homegrown drug majorCipla has urged the gov-

ernment to increase fund allo-cation for the healthcare sector,improve ease of doing businessand formulate policies that aidthe domestic pharmaceuticalindustry.

Addressing shareholdersin the company's AnnualReport for 2018-19, CiplaChairman Y K Hamied saidbasic healthcare in the countrywill always require urgentattention given its populationand disease burden.

"India should formulatelegislation on healthcare tosuit the specific needs of theindigenous pharma industry asalso the healthcare required inthe country. An increase in theGovernment's public health-care expenditure is the need ofthe hour," the industry veteran

said.Echoing the sentiment,

Cipla Executive Vice-Chairperson Samina Vazirallisaid with the governmentreturning for a second consec-utive five-year term armedwith a strong mandate, expec-tations are high.

"As a pharma company, welook forward to support instrengthening infrastructureand ease of doing business,developing a robust regulatoryframework, increasing health-care expenditure, and balanc-ing of pricing controls withprovision of accessible andaffordable healthcare," she said.

The company is also eagerto explore ways to partner withthe government in its ambitioushealthcare schemes to ensurecoverage to the maximumextent possible, Vaziralli added.

Commenting on businessaspects, Cipla Managing

Director and Global CEOUmang Vohra said the drugmajor eyes growth in variousemerging markets like China.

"We have spoken aboutour ambitions in China as afuture growth market. We arekeen to take our well-estab-lished expertise in the respira-tory segment to patients inChina," Vohra said.

Simultaneously, the com-pany will also explore variousroutes to build a portfolio ofproducts in China in othertherapeutic areas such as oncol-ogy, he added.

The company said it plansto grow private market businessin Middle East, Asia Pacific andLatin America. In Brazil, it aimsto focus on oncology while eye-ing partnerships in the biosim-ilar field in its key markets.

Currently, Cipla's coremarkets India, South Africaand US continue to anchor its

growth, Vohra said.In India, the company said

it will focus on therapeutic seg-ments like diabetes, dermatol-ogy, cardiology and women'shealth. In South Africa, thecompany aims to scale up itsover the counter (OTC) busi-ness and also continue momen-tum in private market.

Besides, the company saidits next leg of growth in the USwill be driven by opportunitiesin the respiratory and centralnervous system (CNS) thera-peutic areas, where its internalR&D driven contributions tothe complex generics and spe-cialty segment portfolios willplay a key role.

The company said it willalso continue driving cost effi-ciencies through various ini-tiatives and drive operationalefficiencies through a leanmodel, use of artificial intelli-gence and advanced analytics.

�"�� 378 �7$9.

Hospitality firm ApeejaySurrendra Park Hotels is

looking to add 10 hotels with1,239 rooms in its portfolioacross India by the end of2022 as part of expansionplans, a top company officialhas said.

The hospitality firm cur-rently has 23 hotels with 2,004rooms under its brands -- ThePark Hotels, The ParkCollection and Zone by ThePark in India.

"We will be adding at least10 more hotels with 1,239 roomsin our portfolio by the end of2022 across the country. But weexpect the numbers to go upbased on the signings that we aredoing," Apeejay Surrendra ParkHotels Chairperson Priya Paul

told PTI.These hotels will be under

all the brands of the company,she added.

"The upcoming hotels willbe in locations such as Indore,Pune, Visakhapatnam, Goa,Srinagar, Amritsar, Tirupatiand Vijaywada among others,"Paul said.

On being asked the busi-ness model the company fol-lows, she said: "We follow bothowned and management con-tract models. We have a mix ofowned and managed hotelsand that has helped us becausewe understand the concerns ofthe owners".

Going forward while thecompany will have both ownedand managed hotels, theemphasis will be on the assetlight model, Paul said.

"All our Zone by the Parkhotels are under the manage-ment contracts," she added.

In 2014, Zone by The Parkwas launched with focus on tierII and tier III and fast goingmetro cities. There are around12 of these hotels opened acrossthe country, Paul said.

Emphasising that the hotelsof the company lay greatemphasis on design and cre-ativity, she said: "Creativity is inour DNA and that is reflectedin our hotels".

When asked about thegrowth potential of the hospi-tality sector, Paul said: "Wedon't have enough rooms as oftoday in the organised sectorand as domestic travel is hugeand is growing at a very fastpace so the sector will onlygrow".

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Adani Group will invest Rs5,500 crore over the next

five years in power transmis-sion and food processing sec-tors in Uttar Pradesh, itschairman Gautam Adani saidon Sunday here.

Speaking on the occasionof the second ground breakingceremony that will see thelaunch of multiple projects bycorporates, Adani said he hadannounced his investmentplans during UP investors'summit in February 2018 andthe work on two power trans-mission projects has alreadystarted.

Under the food processingsegment, rice and flour mills,kachchi ghani refining facilitywill be set up in the state, hesaid.

"In the next five years, thegroup is planning to invest Rs5,000 crore in power trans-mission and another Rs 500crore in food processing sec-tor," Adani said.

Talking about his plans tofocus also on other areas suchas data centre and defence, hesaid that going by the size, pop-ulation and strategic locationand demographic dividend ofthe state, Uttar Pradesh canemerge as a leader in these sec-tors as well.

"...Our presence in thedefence sector is very impor-

tant for us. It is my dream thatAdani Group sets up world-class defence manufacturinghub in the defence corridor inUttar Pradesh," he said.

Saying that his group hasset up units having the capac-ity of 15,000 metric tonne inKannauj for improving thefoodgrain storage capacity inthe state, he said it was alreadyworking on developing multimodal river terminal inVaranasi for enhancing thewaterways.

Underlining that the devel-opment story of the country isincomplete without UttarPradesh, Adani said the state isbeing viewed as the fastestchanging and it will play animportant role in reaching thetarget set up by Prime MinisterNarendra Modi of USD 5 tril-lion economy by 2024.

�"�� 378 �7$9.

Hero Electric is planning toraise funds to finance its

accelerated expansion to cashin on the wave of electric vehi-cles (EV) in India, according toa top company official.

The company is looking atan investment of around Rs 700crore in the next three years toramp up production capacity ofits electric scooters to 5 lakhunits annually from about 1lakh units this year.

"In every aspect we areexpanding. There is no lookingback for us...We are expandingin terms of dealer network,manpower, product portfolioand manufacturing...We willinvest and also raise funds forthe same," Hero ElectricManaging Director Naveen

Munjal told PTI.Asked how much funds the

company is looking to raise, hesaid it has not been finalisedand the company is working itout at present.

"We already have externalinvestor. So either that externalinvestor puts in or we getanother investor, I am not sureright now. We have to still workon the details," Munjal said,adding in the next couple ofyears there would have to besubstantial investments, spe-cially in manufacturing.

Currently, Alpha Capital isthe investor in Hero Electricoutside of the Munjal family.

Commenting on the com-pany's future plans, he said,"We will have to do a minimumof around Rs 500-700 crore fordifferent applications, and a

large part of it will go into man-ufacturing, product develop-ment, R&D and marketing."

These investments willhelp in supply chain, dealernetwork, training and upgra-dation of dealer network,among others, besides rampingup production capacity, hesaid.

On capacity expansion,Munjal said,"This year we aregoing to be almost one lakh(annually). In the next three tofour years we want to be at leasthalf a million," he said.

Depending on how thegovernment policy shapes up,specially how the FAME-II isfurther fine-tuned to address awider segment of lower pricedelectric two-wheelers, thecompany would align itsexpansion, he added.

�"�� 378 �7$9.

The Government is planningto list three to four finan-

cially strong regional ruralbanks (RRBs) on stockexchanges in the current fiscalafter the conclusion of consol-idation exercise, sources said.

The bank consolidationexercise is going on as theobjective is to bring the num-ber of RRBs to 38 from the cur-rent 45, they said, adding thatsome more consolidations willtake place as state govern-ments have given their go-ahead.

Amalgamation of RRBswithin a state has been carriedout with a view to enable RRBsto minimise their overheadexpenses, optimise the use oftechnology, enhance the capi-tal base and area of operation

and increase their exposure,sources said.

As many as 21 banks wereamalgamated in various statesin the last few months to cre-ate a large entity so that theycan enjoy the benefit ofeconomies of scale.

They further said that threeto four RRBs are eligible tocome out with initial publicoffer (IPO) and they may hitthe capital market this year.

These banks were formedunder the RRB Act, 1976 withan objective to provide creditand other facilities to smallfarmers, agricultural labourersand artisans in rural areas.

The Act was amended in2015 whereby such banks werepermitted to raise capital fromsources other than the Centre,states and sponsor banks.Currently, the Centre holds 50per cent in RRBs, while 35 percent and 15 per cent are withthe concerned sponsor banksand state governments, respec-tively.

Even after stake dilution,the shareholding of the Centreand the sponsor public sectorbanks together cannot fall

below 51 per cent according tothe amended Act.

As a result, the ownershipand control would remain withthe government. In order toimprove the financial health ofRRBs, the government initiat-ed consolidation of RRBs in aphased manner in 2005. Thenumber of RRBs came down to133 in 2006 from 196 at the endof March 2005. It further camedown to 105 and to 82 at theend of March 2012 and subse-quently to 56.

Budget 2019-20 has pro-vided Rs 235 crore towardsrecapitalisation of RRBs.

Recapitalisation support isprovided to RRBs to augmenttheir capital so as to complywith regulatory capital require-ments.

As per the current schemefor recapitalisation of RRBs, therecapitalisation support is pro-vided to RRBs by the Centre,concerned state governmentsand the sponsor banks in theratio of 50:15:35, respectively toenable them to meet the regu-latory requirement of capital torisk weighted assets ratio(CRAR) of 9 per cent.

-0��������!����<.����"�/�����!��(�%�#,1$.% .��,7$.(7$? 9.�?7�

�"�� 378 �7$9.

Four of the 10 most valueddomestic companies togeth-

er witnessed an erosion of Rs84,432.8 crore in market capi-talisation last week, with HDFCtwins taking the biggest hit.

RIL and SBI were the otherfrontline companies that suf-fered a drop in their marketcapitalisation (m-cap) for theweek ended Friday, while TataConsultancy Services (TCS),HUL, Infosys, ITC, KotakMahindra Bank and ICICIBank finished with gains.However, the cumulative gainof these firms at Rs 22,058.3crore was less than the total losssuffered by the four companies.

The m-cap of HDFC Bankplunged Rs 26,900.6 crore toRs 6,22,401.90 crore, making itthe top loser among the top-10firms.

It was followed by HDFC,whose valuation tumbled Rs23,360.6 crore to Rs 3,74,131.53crore.

Reliance Industries Limited(RIL) lost Rs 22,123.4 crore inm-cap to stand at Rs

7,69,627.33 crore, while SBI'svaluation dropped Rs 12,048.2crore to Rs 3,05,667.95 crore.

In contrast, the market capof TCS jumped Rs 11,951.35crore to Rs 7,91,302.89 croreand that of ICICI Bank zoomedRs 3,484.66 crore to Rs2,68,125.39 crore.

ITC added Rs 2,487.11crore to its valuation to reachRs 3,31,749.04 crore and KotakMahindra Bank gained Rs2,138.61 crore to Rs 2,88,522.40crore.

The valuation of HindustanUnilever Limited (HUL)climbed by Rs 1,266.41 crore toRs 3,74,651.29 crore and that ofInfosys rose Rs 730.16 crore toRs 3,38,148.69 crore.

In the ranking of top-10firms, TCS closed the weekwith number one ranking, fol-lowed by RIL, HDFC Bank,HUL, HDFC, Infosys, ITC,SBI, Kotak Mahindra Bankand ICICI Bank.

TCS on Thursday wentpast Reliance IndustriesLimited to become the coun-try's most valued firm by mar-ket valuation yet again.

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The political office of theAfghan president's running

mate was hit by a large explosionand stormed by several gunmenwho remained holed up inside,Afghan officials said Sunday. Theattack in the capital, Kabul,killed at least two people andcame on the first day of cam-paigning for presidential elec-tions, scheduled for lateSeptember.

Vice-presidential candidateand former intelligence chief

Amrullah Saleh was "evacuatedfrom the building and moved toa safe location," said NasratRahimi, the interior ministryspokesman.

He said that although thegunbattle was still ongoing, thefirst and second floors of thebuilding had been cleared bysecurity forces. He said twoattackers were still inside and thatone gunman had been killed inthe shootout. Some 40 peoplewho were trapped in the build-ing were rescued by specialpolice forces, he said.

President Ashraf Ghani alsotweeted that Saleh wasunharmed in the "complexattack" targeting the Green Trendparty headquarters.

At least two people, includ-ing a woman, were killed and 25wounded, according toWahidullah Mayar, the healthministry spokesman.

Ferdous Faramarz, thespokesman for Kabul's policechief, said the explosion was like-ly a suicide car bomb. The blastwas large enough to be heardthroughout the capital.

�� � �<�%<8

Nearly 1,400 people weredetained in a violent police

crackdown on an oppositionprotest in Moscow, a Russianmonitoring group said Sunday,adding that was the largestnumber of detentions at a rallyin the Russian capital thisdecade.

OVD-Info, which has mon-itored police arrests since 2011,said the number of the deten-tions from Saturday's protestreached 1,373 by early Sunday.The overwhelming majority ofpeople were soon released but150 remained in custody, OVD-Info and a lawyers' legal aidgroup said Sunday.

Crackdowns on the anti-government protesters begandays before the rally.Opposition leader AlexeiNavalny was arrested and sen-tenced Wednesday to 30 days injail for calling for Saturday'sprotest against election author-ities who barred some opposi-tion candidates from running inthe Sept. 8 vote for Moscow citycouncil.

Navalny was unexpectedlyhospitalized Sunday with asevere allergy attack, hisspokeswoman said.

Kira Yarmysh said Navalny,who did not have any allergiesbeforehand, was taken from theMoscow jail to a hospital in themorning, arriving with severefacial swelling and red rashes.Hours later, she said Navalnywas in a "satisfactory condition."

Russian police violentlydispersed thousands of peoplewho thronged the streets ofMoscow on Saturday to protestthe move by election authori-ties. Several protesters report-ed broken limbs and headinjuries. Police justified theirresponse by saying that the rallywas not sanctioned by author-

ities.Along with the arrests of

the mostly young demonstra-tors, several opposition activistswho wanted to run for theMoscow City Duma werearrested throughout the city.

Police eventually cordonedoff the City Hall and dispersedprotesters from the area, butthousands of demonstratorsreassembled in several differentlocations nearby and a newround of arrests began. Russianpolice beat some protesters tothe ground with wide trun-cheon swings while others triedto push the police away.

�"�� ( 9�3�,

Floods and landslides trig-gered by incessant monsoon

rains across Nepal have claimedat least 113 lives while 38 peo-ple are still missing, officialssaid Sunday.

Parts of central and south-

ern Nepal including some areasof Kathmandu valley have beeninundated due to incessantrains since last two weeks.

At least 113 people werekilled and 67 others injured inthe rain induced disasters inthis monsoon, Home Ministryofficials said.

At least 38 people havegone missing in the latest inci-dents of landslide and floodsacross Nepal.

The rain induced disastershave affected 67 out of total 77districts of the country.

The government hasmobilised army and police

personnel for rescue works.With the situation remain-

ing grim, Nepal has appealed tothe international agencies forhelp to prevent the possiblewater-borne diseases and toensure proper health services tothe tens of thousands of peopleaffected.

�#� � 17.&.3�

The death toll in a landslidewhich buried a village in

southwest China rose to 36,state broadcaster CCTV saidSunday, with 15 still missingdays after the disaster struck.

The state-run People'sDaily said rescue work is ongo-ing at the site in Shuichengcounty, Guizhou province,where a thick torrent of mudburied 22 houses in the land-slide on Tuesday.

CCTV broadcast footage ofrescue workers trying to reachsurvivors through a hugemound of earth, and excavatorsdigging through the collapsedhill.

Two children and a moth-er with a baby were amongthose dead.

Official news agencyXinhua said Saturday night

that 40 people had been res-cued from the site, according tothe local emergency rescuecommand.

Xinhua said a local schoolhad been set up as an emer-gency medical and rescue cen-tre, with "multiple rescue teamsand experts" still searching forthose missing.

The government has ear-marked 30 million yuan ($4.35million) for search and rescueefforts in the province, Xinhuareported, as well as the reloca-tion of victims.

Landslides are a frequentdanger in rural and moun-tainous parts of China, partic-ularly after heavy rain, and thecountry has suffered severeflooding this year.

In August 2017 at least 30people were killed in two sep-arate landslides in the samerural province of Guizhou.

�#�� /.733

Iran said on Sunday it con-sidered Britain's seizure of an

Iranian oil tanker a breach ofthe ailing 2015 nuclear deal,after the remaining parties tothe accord met in Vienna inanother attempt to salvage theagreement.

British authorities detainedan Iranian tanker off the UKoverseas territory of Gibraltar inearly July on allegations it wasbreaching EU sanctions onSyria.

A British-flagged tankerwas then impounded by Iran'sRevolutionary Guards with its23 crew aboard in the Strait ofHormuz on July 19, which wasseen by the UK as a tit-for-tatmove.

In comments to journalistsafter the meeting in Vienna,

Iranian Deputy ForeignMinister Abbas Araghchi linkedthe tanker row to discussionsover the nuclear deal, formallyknown as the JointComprehensive Plan of Action(JCPOA).

"Since Iran is entitled toexport its oil according to theJCPOA, any impediment inthe way of Iran's export of oilis actually against the JCPOA,"Araghchi said.

He added that the issue ofIran's oil exports — includingUS attempts to prevent themcompletely — was raised at themeeting.

"I think the atmospherewas constructive and the dis-cussions were good, I cannotsay that we resolved every-thing," he said.

Envoys from Britain,France, Germany, China, Russia

and Iran had gathered for talksin the Austrian capital, a monthafter a similar meeting failed toachieve a breakthrough.

The head of the Chinesedelegation, Fu Cong, saidSunday's talks had taken placein a "very good" and "profes-sional" atmosphere but alsoadmitted there had been some"tense moments" between theparticipants.

Tensions between Tehranand Washington have escalat-ed since last year when USPresident Donald Trump pulledout of the accord that wasaimed at curbing Iran's nuclearprogramme, and imposed pun-ishing sanctions.

Iran said in May it woulddisregard certain limits theJCPOA set on its nuclear pro-gramme and threatened to takefurther measures if remaining

parties to the deal, especiallyEuropean nations, did not helpit circumvent US sanctions.

Even before the latesttanker seizures, pressure hadbeen mounting in the regionwith a string of incidentsinvolving tankers and drones.

The US has said it broughtdown one and possibly twoIranian drones last week.

Iran shot down anunmanned US aircraft in June,after which Trump announcedthat he had called off retalia-tory air strikes at the lastminute because the resultingdeath toll would have been toohigh.

The US and Gulf power-house Saudi Arabia haveaccused Iran of being behindmultiple mysterious attackson tankers in the Gulf in June,which Iran denies.

��� 9<3� (<3�

Police in Hong Kong firedtear gas and rubber bullets

repeatedly Sunday to driveback protesters blocking streetswith road signs and umbrellasin another night of pitched bat-tles in the semi-autonomousChinese territory.

It was the second night ina row that tear gas was used inescalating pro-democracyprotests. The demonstrationsbegan early last month to voiceopposition to an extradition billthat has since been suspended,but the movement has grownto encompass a broader pushfor full democracy.

Protesters occupied twoareas at opposite ends of cen-tral Hong Kong on Sunday fol-lowing a mid-afternoon rallyagainst police use of tear gas ata demonstration the previousweekend.

On the western end ofHong Kong Island, one groupblocked areas near the Chinesegovernment's liaison office andbegan to move forward asnight fell. Police issued warn-ings, and protesters threw eggsat them. Officers fired tear gasto halt the advance.

Police then embarked onan hourslong effort to push theprotesters eastward and getthem to disperse.

In repeated standoffs,spontaneous but highly orga-nized protesters set up behindscaffolding that they builtacross a street. Police lined upbehind clear shields about 30meters (100 feet) down theroad. Dozens of journalists inbright yellow vests stood inbetween the two on the side-lines.

The police would advancegradually, firing bursts of teargas. Protesters in hard hatsscurried about, rearrangingmakeshift barriers of pilferedroad signs and other items. Bythe time the police reached thescaffolding, they had backed offabout 6 meters (20 feet).

Another team of officers,more mobile with smallershields, then swept in to clearthe area. Some protesters weredetained, Hong Kong mediareported.

Hong Kong has beenwracked by protests for sevenweeks. Initially, the protesterswere demanding the scrap-ping of a proposed extraditionlaw that would send suspects tomainland China to face trials.The legislation is seen as athreat to Hong Kong's free-doms that were guaranteed for50 years when China tookback control of the formerBritish colony in 1997.

The bill was eventually

suspended, but the protestersthen called for the resignationof the city's leader and aninvestigation into whetherpolice have used excessive forcein quelling the protests.

Underlying the movementis a push for full democracy inthe city, whose leader is chosen

by a committee dominated bya pro-Beijing establishment,rather than by direct elections.

Earlier Sunday, protestersrallied at a park in Hong Kong'sfinancial district before march-ing out in several directionsdespite not winning policeapproval for a public proces-

sion. It was the second straightday that protesters took to thestreets without official per-mission.

A sea of black-shirted pro-testers, some with bright yellowhelmets and masks but manywith just backpacks, streamedout of Chater Garden park.

Chanting "Add oil," a phrasethat roughly means "Keep upthe fight," a huge crowdmarched east down a widethoroughfare.

They stopped near theSogo department store and setup barricades to block off thearea and defend it againstpolice.

Another group headedwest toward mainland China'sliaison office. Protesters eggedthe office last weekend andsplattered black ink on thenational emblem, eliciting anangry reaction from theChinese government.

Some stopped about twoblocks short of the office andused orange and white con-struction barricades to builda wall spanning a major road.They massed behind the bar-riers as night fell , withumbrellas pointed forward toshield their identities andward off any police move toclear them.

Some nearby stores shut-tered early as police in riot geargathered nearby ahead of the allbut inevitable clearing opera-tion.

The rally in Chater Gardenwas called to protest the policeuse of tear gas, rubber bulletsand other force to break up aprotest the previous Sunday.

"We need to have a protest

to show that we are stronglyagainst this kind of brutalityand we need them to respondto our demands," said rallyorganizer Ventus Lau.

Police had denied Lau'srequest to march west to theSheung Wan district, where thetear gas was used the previousweekend, citing escalating vio-lence in clashes with protestersthat have broken out after pastmarches and rallies.

"The police must preventaggressive protesters fromexploiting a peaceful proces-sion to cause troubles and vio-lent clashes," saidSuperintendent Louis Lau ofthe police public relationsbranch.

On Saturday, police firedtear gas and rubber bullets asdemonstrators threw bricksand other objects and duckedbehind makeshift shields at amarch in an outlying districttoward the border with main-land China.

Police had also denied per-mission for that protest inYuen Long, where a mobapparently targeting demon-strators had beaten people bru-tally in a train station the pre-vious weekend.

Police wearing helmetscharged into the same train sta-tion, where a few hundredprotesters had taken refuge

from the tear gas. Some officersswung their batons at demon-strators, while others appearedto be urging their colleagues tohang back. For the secondweek in a row, blood was splat-tered on the station floor.

Police arrested 13 people,including march organizer MaxChung, for offenses includingunlawful assembly, possessionof offensive weapon andassault, according to policeand Hong Kong media. Atleast four officers were injured.

The Hospital Authoritysaid 24 people were taken tofive hospitals. As of Sundaymorning, eight remained hos-pitalized, two in serious con-dition.

Amnesty International, thehuman rights group, called thepolice response heavy-handedand unacceptable.

"While police must be ableto defend themselves, therewere repeated instances todaywhere police officers were theaggressors," Man-kei Tam, thedirector of AmnestyInternational Hong Kong, saidin a statement.

Police said they had to usewhat they termed "appropriateforce" because of the bricks andother objects thrown at them,including glass bottles with asuspected corrosive fluidinside.

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Fifty-five pieces of rhinohorn were found encased in

plaster at an airport in theVietnamese capital, authori-ties said Sunday, as the coun-try tries to crack down onsophisticated wildlife smug-gling routes.

The communist state isboth a consumption hub andpopular transit point for themultibillion dollar trade inanimal parts.

The 125 kilogram (275pound) haul of rhino horn dis-covered at Hanoi's Noi Baiairport on Thursday was found

after the carefully disguisedshipment aroused suspicion.

Images of the bust showlarge rhino horns and smallerpieces sitting on a table andpolice using rods to break thecasts apart.

"It took half a day to break

them open," a security sourcetold AFP. It was not immedi-ately clear which African coun-try the shipment originatedfrom.

The parts were found thesame day police arrested a keywildlife trafficking suspect and

two other men after sevenfrozen tiger carcasses were dis-covered in their vehicle in aparking lot.

The busts follow a recordseizure in Singapore a week agoof nearly nine tonnes of ivoryand a huge stash of pangolinscales destined for Vietnam.

Elephant tusks, pangolins,tiger parts and rhino horn areall sold on the black market inVietnam, while the rest issmuggled on to China.

But rhino horn is especial-ly prized, with one kilogramfetching up to USD 60,000.

It is in high demand inVietnam where some believe

that it can help cure diseasesand hangovers when groundinto powder.

Poachers in Africa havedecimated wild rhino popula-tions to meet demand despitethe trade being banned globallyin the 1970s.

Only about 29,000 rhinossurvive in the wild, down fromhalf a million at the beginningof the 20th century, accordingto conservationists.

Hanoi has long vowed tostem the flow of illegal wildlifecriss-crossing its borders butexperts say the black marketpersists thanks to weak lawenforcement.

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Iran on Sunday slammed as"provocative" a British pro-

posal for a European-led navalmission to escort tankers in theGulf, amid soaring tensionsover the seizure of ships.

"We heard that they intendto send a European fleet to thePersian Gulf which naturallycarries a hostile message, isprovocative and will increasetensions," governmentspokesman Ali Rabiei said,quoted by ISNA news agency.

Britain said on Monday itwas planning a European-ledforce to escort tankers throughthe world's busiest oil shippinglane in response to Iran's seizureof a UK-flagged vessel on July

19.The seizure of the Stena

Impero came two weeks afterBritish authorities detained anIranian tanker -- the Grace 1 -- off its overseas territoryGibraltar on allegations it wasbreaching EU sanctions onSyria.

In his comments onSunday, the governmentspokesman said Iran believedthe security of the oil-rich Gulfhad to be maintained by coun-tries in the region.

"We are the biggest agent ofmaritime security in the PersianGulf," said Rabiei. Britain onThursday ordered its navy toescort UK-flagged shipsthrough the Strait of Hormuz,where the Stena Impero was

seized by Iran's IslamicRevolutionary Guard Corps.

But it has so far onlyreceived a cool response fromthe continent to its proposal fora multi-national escort fleetthat would exclude the UnitedStates.

France said on Thursday itwas not willing to send extramilitary assets to the Gulf, butwould share information andcoordinate its currentlydeployed assets.

The US military has said itis already monitoring the strait,and that it is developing a"multinational maritime effort"dubbed Operation Sentinel toincrease surveillance and secu-rity in key Middle East water-ways.

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Beirut: Regime and russianbombardment on Sunday killed9 civilians in northwestern Syriawhere ramped up attacks by thetwo allies have claimed hundredsof lives since April, a war mon-itor said.

Idlib and parts of the neigh-bouring provinces of Aleppo,Hama and Latakia are under thecontrol of Hayat Tahrir al-Sham,a jihadist group led by Syria'sformer Al-Qaeda affiliate.

The region is supposed to beprotected from a massive gov-ernment offensive by aSeptember buffer zone deal, butit has come under increasing fireby Damascus and its backerMoscow over the past threemonths. Regime air strikesSunday killed five civilians in theIdlib town of Ariha, said the

Syrian Observatory for HumanRights. Russian raids, mean-while, killed two civilians innorthern Hama, according to theBritain-based monitor.

Shelling and air strikes bythe regime also killed two othercivilians elsewhere in the north-west, it added.

The bombardment comes aday after regime and Russian airstrikes on the region killed 15civilians, including 11 in Ariha,the monitor said.

Some three million people,nearly half of them already dis-placed from other parts of thecountry, live in the Idlib region.

Attacks by the Syrian regimeand its ally Russia have claimedmore than 740 lives there sincelate April, according to the warmonitor. AFP

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The colour story seamlessly bound thegarments together with unconvention-

al shades but then, the modern bride wantswhat she wants. Spanish vanilla, lavenderfog, smoke green, pewter, ballet pink,prism silver, scallop shell, Tuscan gold andmidnight blue invited immense vocal praiseand awe from the onlookers.

On the fifth day of the India CoutureWeek, Falguni and Shane Peacockmoved beyond the conventional redsand pinks and placed the City Palaceof Jaipur at the centre of their collec-tion, Bonjour Amer. Through thepalace’s magnificent architecture,intricate frescos and paintings,they found the epiphany of whatthe modern bride of FalguniShane Peacock would wear. Shewould be progressive in herworldview yet classic in herattitude as walks down theaisle wearing the glorious sil-houettes.

The designers dis-played an impeccablecommand over theirensemble, which trick-led sophistication inevery stride of themodels. The sil-houettes grace-fully epito-mised thespirit and sin-gularity of thePink City while

the dominance of tradition and modern wasat par with each other. The ambience

transcended the idea of time and theonlookers were brought in the presence

of the bygone imperial era that stillresounds through the prismatic cul-ture of the royal city. The collectionwas a getaway from the normalcythat we become accustomed toand a passage into the essence ofroyalty.

Falguni Peacock elucidat-ed on the new age bride,“Every woman wants a tradi-tional look for their weddingbut for their other func-tions, they want to looklike an international

bride.” The silhouettes

wove a web of mod-ern eccentricity and

yesteryear ele-gance, evoking a

rich repertoirebetween the

two. Thelehengasw e r e

placed inproximity of red-

carpet worthy gowns, the asymmetrical lay-ers descended into long trails, sweepingbehind elegantly on the ramp. The lehengasoscillated between skirts, which were min-imally flared but were adorned with intri-cate beading and embroidery. There wereeven skirts with colossal bustle, whichcould only translate as modernity caressingthe royalty. Some models even fashionedlong shimmery veils where tradition exhaledin serenity. Feathers, sequins and prints,along with geometrical textures added to thedramatisation.

The showstopper, Sara Ali Khan’s entrycreated frenzy as she walked with poise forthe first time at the Couture Week and ShanePeacock called it “a princess’ debut.” Thelehenga that she wore was crafted withresham and detailed beading. A long trailfollowed the flared skirt but Khan said thatit was comfortable. And that’s what thedesigners believe that their bride is all about,someone who wants to wear a garment thatis extravagant yet functional.

“Sara is beautiful, young and peppy. Sheis the modern Indian bride,” FalguniPeacock said and Khan humoured it with“I am not a bride!” Falguni continued, “Allbrides look up to her. They want to look likeSara.”

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Think musicals and ‘Broadway’ is thefirst thing that comes to mind. Youmight be imagining West Side Story,

Sound of Music, Singin’ in the Rain or evenChicago — all of which have had cinemat-ic outings as well. But cut to India and thescenario is a little different. While relat-ing a story through musicals has long beena part of our tradition, think the innumer-able Ram Lilas or the different tradition-al folk stories, it took some time for themto be mounted on stage in modern form.Musical theatre in India is a fairly newgenre, which Indians are waking up to.The first musical to be staged wasZangoora in 2010. Then there wasMughal-e-Azam, a Broadway-style musi-cal based on the 1960 Bollywood film ofthe same name, directed by K Asif andproduced by Shapoorji Pallonji, which wasstaged for the first time in 2016.

And now we are up for another taleof similar grandeur that will be mount-ed on stage. If the trailer of Umrao JaanAda with its live music, traditional ghaz-als, thumris, qawwalis, Kathak dances andlarger than life sets is anything to go by,it is a ticket to a different world altogeth-er.

Director Rajeev Goswami, who hasmade the first ever musical on Umrao JaanAda says that this genre is one of the bestways to express art. “They combine sev-eral aspects to inspire and educate theaudience about the storyline, especiallywhen it is a musical. But the sad part is,they are not appreciated enough the waythey should be,” he says.

He is surprised that a musical onUmrao Jaan Ada has not been attemptedas yet. “We were creatively pushed andinspired to do this, Umrao Jaan Ada jaisamusical banna chahiye. There have beenseveral plays but a proper Broadway andWestern style musical is yet to be staged,”says he.

The director has adapted this musi-cal theatre, Umrao Jaan Ada from theeponymous Urdu classic novel, written byrenowned Urdu novelist Mirza HadiRuswa. It will revive the timeless story oflove and struggle that follows the journeyof courtesan Umrao Jaan.

The whole story as a concept has somuch of depth and intensity in it that itis a feast for any creative director to makesomething along these lines. Rajeev says,“The moment I read the book, I knew Iwanted to create something as authentic

and intense as the story of Umrao Jaan.While reading, I also realised that thereare a lot of unexplored and unrevealedemotions in the book, which can make forgreat theatre.”

He was fascinated by the storyline andthe way it is coupled with music and emo-tions. Rajeev says that the language andincidents are inspiring. The culture ofLucknow and the language is portrayedbeautifully. “Yeh humari pehchaan hai(this is our identity). There cannot be abetter subject than Umrao Jaan Ada,” addshe.

One reason why people are attractedto musical theatre is its novelty. Such the-atre on timeless classic love stories is notmade often. Rajeev adds that somethingwhich is heartfelt will always have an audi-ence irrespective of the cultural shift. Anartist is always treasured.

Music is the essence of such plays. Itappeals to our emotions and seems mag-ical especially when you create it at sucha grand level. “Every music lover in ourcountry is mesmerised by songs like DilCheez Kya Hai and other legendary onesby Khayyam sahab. We have been listen-ing to them since childhood. When youare attached to such music, the interest iseven higher,” the director tells us.

As a music enthusiast, Rajeev has beenwatching foreign musicals which help himto understand the Indian ones better bycomparing the two. He says that he likesthe format of a musical, “it is charming.”But the sad part is that despite the fact thatmusic dominates all aspects of our lifeincluding seasons, love and work, thisgenre is lacking in India. “We should beproducing musicals left right and centrebecause there’s a lot of variety available.One can’t even fathom the depth and rangeof music that we have in our country butwe are too lazy to put it out. There are veryfew people showcasing the high level of ourculture,” adds Rajeev.

He tries to fill this void by walking anextra mile, “I felt that I should give it a shot.To create something meaningful, emotion-al, surreal and to give the audience a greatshow was the idea. People are still notaware of the difference between a musi-cal and a dance drama,” says he.

The theatre, which is a result of a col-lective thought process, is quite challeng-ing right from the moment of ideation.Rajeev feels that this is so because it’s liveand there are no retakes. “Live singing insync with the recorded soundtracksrequires a lot of detailing. The executionof such music is tough, (laughs) but wehave Salim-Sulaiman who have known thisso well,” he says.

Striking a balance between the writer,audience and director is tough because theemotions differ when reading a book andwitnessing it in a theatre. The director says,“I wondered how will I create thesemoments on stage so somewhere I tookthe audience’s perception. At times I haveused my creativity. Sometimes I have givenimportance to the writer’s view to bring outthe emotions and ease the flow of the story.That has been my process. I never stick tothat rigidness as a director.”

Rajeev doesn’t like it easy. He likes thedifficulties that come his way. “Actually it’sin my character.” He keeps on switchingroles from a choreographer to a directorand to a producer. “It makes it easier forme to understand the whole collectivenessand how everything is amalgamated,” hesays.

He guffaws and talks about theexpenses incurred in creating thosehumongous sets. “The nawabi zone isexpensive but it will all be worth if peo-ple appreciate the effort. This will inspireus to make more such kinds and keep onadding such milestones in our lives.”

(The musical starts from August 3 till11.)

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Mother Teresa had oncesaid, “If we really wantto love, we must learn

how to forgive.” Like her, manysaints, gurus and spiritualteachers have often believedthat if someone misbehaveswith you, talks ill about you orindulges in mud-slinging aboutyour character, you shouldforgive the person and forgetabout his misdemeanour. Theyfurther advise that one shouldreact to such negativity withfriendly behaviour and think ofworking on the self instead ofretaliating against such people.

But here, the question thatmost of us would naturallyraise is that if we forgive suchevil-doers’ maligning acts, willit not allow them more spaceto abuse? Will we not be lettingmany mad bulls or elephantsrun amok and create havoc?Wouldn’t it encourage moresuch nefarious and wickedacts? Before we come to anyconclusions, there is one ques-tion that we all need to ask our-selves — is it that easy to for-give someone as it is por-trayed to be? Majority of uswould say “no,” because theability to forgive othersdepends on how honest we arewith ourselves. Have we jour-neyed through our lives pure,perfect and clean without let-ting a single corruptive thoughtemerge from our minds orengaging in any wrong actionor words? If we would look atourselves closely and honestly,we would find more faultsand flaws in ourselves than inanyone else. So, then how canwe not forgive another person?It’s only when we face our ownshortcomings, that the angeragainst others disappears. Inthe past, we have all actedwrongly at one or other point,either because we wereunaware of what is right or outof fear or a misunderstanding.Looking back, most of us regretabout many things that wehave said or done. Only withtime and knowledge do werealise what is right and beginto make amendments. Just bya desire to do this, we beginthis process of our own forgive-ness. If this process is to grow,we need to learn to forgive oth-ers. We cannot condemn oth-ers and excuse ourselves for thesame actions which we mighthave also done in our past butrefuse to accept as wrong. Thisis termed as cheating and theuniversally-applicable law ofKarma does set into motion.

There can be manyanswers to the questions raisedby individuals against forgive-ness. However, what we shouldunderstand as a human beingis that if a person’s tendency tomisbehave is within tolerablelimits and the person express-es sincere regrets and apologieswhen he is confronted and herealises his mistake then weshould forgive and forget his

deeds. And we should takemore preventive, non-violent,non-aggressive steps that donot downgrade our worth as ahuman. And we shouldremember that vengeance, vin-dictiveness, violence andwrong-doing are not the way anoble person behaves. Theonly course open to a gentle-man is — raising the con-science of the people, follow-ing the legal remedy providedby the collective will of the peo-ple, educating and influencingthe public opinion, taking thesafety and security measuresand having alacrity so that thewickedness cannot prevail andwrong us again. But if the sameacts are repeated even after aperson is forgiven quite a fewtimes, then the public opinionand the law should take theirown course.

Remember, the power toforgive comes from compas-sion, which means we shouldpeacefully move forwardtowards what is better andwhat is good. But before westart to forgive others, we mustlearn to forgive ourselves, elsethe process of releasing theburden would neither beginnor progress. Forgiving our-selves and moving towardsself-realisation means lettinggo of your past. But it couldalso mean not making thesame mistakes over and overagain, and not discoveringconvenient ways to excuseourselves. A person who hasstoned his own heart againstothers can’t feel even god’sstrength, forgiveness and com-passion. Hence, if we want tobe forgiven, then we must bewilling to forgive first. Becausethe one who forgives first notonly proves his justice, but alsohis love and humane emo-tions. Hence, it is rightly said,“A life well lived is your bestrevenge.” So, instead offocussing on your woundedemotions and thereby, givingthe person who caused youpain, you should learn to lookfor love, beauty, empathy andkindness around you. Thiswill not only make you a bet-ter person but make the worlda better place as well.

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At a time when childrenshould be making theirway to schools and col-

leges to learn about the bound-less opportunities that exist,many of them are helmed in bythe bond of marriage. Often theyare married at an age when theyare too young to even under-stand the responsibility and thegravity of what it entails.

Despite child marriagebeing banned, India still has thehighest absolute number of childbrides in the world — over 15.5million. According to theNational Family Health Survey(NFHS-4) 2015-16, around 27per cent of the women in the 20-24 age group were marriedbefore the legal age of 18.Approximately 4,523,524women between 15-19 yearswere already mothers or preg-nant at the time of the survey.Data also revealed that only 10per cent of currently marriedadolescent females (15-19 years)and 16 per cent of sexuallyactive unmarried adolescentfemales use any modern methodof contraception.

Early marriage hinderswomen from acquiring the req-uisite skills that they need to jointhe workforce. The lack of

agency in deciding when andwhom to marry, how manychildren to have and when,accessing contraceptives andsafe abortions, are hollowing outthe nation.

Another issue that plaguesyoung lives is the taboo andshame associated with sex. Analmost-institutionalised cultureof shame makes it difficult foryoungsters to seek properknowledge about contraceptivesor even talking about it openly.Often, healthcare providers arenot equipped to discuss adoles-cent issues openly and on theother hand youngster have a fearof being judged. It is, therefore,crucial that healthcare workers,educators and counsellors aregiven proper training about thesame. Formal engagement of

master trainers must be ensuredto equip healthcare workerswith comprehensive informationon all six thematic areas — nutri-tion, sexual and reproductivehealth, injuries and violence(including gender-based vio-lence), non-communicable dis-

eases, substance misuse andmental health under the govern-ment’s Rashtriya KishorSwasthya Karyakram (RKSK).

To combat the general lackof awareness about safe spaceslike adolescent-friendly healthclinics (AFHCs), the District

Community Mobiliser shouldundertake awareness drivesregarding the entitlements andservices under the RKSK pro-gramme. It is equally importantto engage the Panchayati RajInstitutions to prioritise adoles-cent health at village level.

The taboo and intolerancearound the LGBTQ communi-ty is yet another reason forcases of gender-based violence,often erupting within the fami-ly and community. Public spacesin India are largely unsafe formembers of the community.Apart from ignorance on thegender spectrum, youth oftenbears the brunt of issues ofcaste, race, colour and class,when it comes to choosing a lifepartner or in the matters of love,leading to crimes and honour

killings. Most importantly, thereare no social accountabilitymechanisms to ensure the deliv-ery of quality adolescent healthservices.

It is important that block,district and state planning andmonitoring committees areleveraged to strengthen thedelivery of adolescent health ser-vices across the country.

The stage is set for the newgovernment to prioritise thesexual and reproductive healthof the young population. Theyouth are an important con-stituency and failure to interveneon this front could mean thispotential of demographic divi-dend may turn into a demo-graphic disaster.

Policy makers must focus ona voluntary, rights and choice-based approach for addressingsexual and reproductive healthneeds of young people. India hasthe largest youth population inthe world. The governmentneeds to do more for them sothat the much-deliberated‘demographic dividend’, whichhas become an integral part ofsocio-economic discourse inIndia can be reaped or else wewill miss the bus. The time to actis now.

Ajiran Nesa is, as they say,caught between the deviland the deep blue sea. Sheexemplifies how climatechange is the main cause of

large-scale displacement in some areasof Assam leading to conflict due toincreasing pressure on land.

In her 42 years of existence, Ajiranhas changed many homes due to ero-sion of land and at least two rounds ofcommunal violence — the last being theone between the indigenous Bodos and Bengali-speaking Muslims in 2014,where she lost her six-year-old daugh-ter to gun fire by strangers. Now a res-ident of Dhupguri village near Barpetadistrict’s commercial hub, BarpetaRoad (Simlaguri), Ajiran never com-plained about the way she lived her lifeor how the Almighty wove her fate until2014.

“If my father had not lost our houseand agricultural land to erosion, wewould not have gone to Baksa district.My daughter would have been alivetoday. Children are the gifts of Allahand if you lose them, there is nothingto live for in this world,” said Ajiran,wiping her tears.

Born in Jakhalabandha Char inBarpeta district, she witnessed thewrath of river Brahmaputra for the firsttime when she was seven. “I still

remember how the river first erodedour agricultural land and then ourhome. We shifted to another village andlived with our relatives for a fewmonths until my father took us toNonke Khagrabari village in the samedistrict. He bought some land on thebank of river Beki with his savings andborrowings from relatives,” she said andwent on to add, “It took time for us tobuild a home but we had a good lifethere. My father grew vegetables,lemons and started cultivating arecanuts. The land of Baksa district, closeto the foothills of Bhutan, is good espe-cially for growing areca nuts. Tradersfrom West Bengal used to come to buythem. Everything was going well andI got married to Habibur Rahman.”

“My husband’s family also had anareca nut plantation. He also lost hisland and house, which forced us to shiftto another place nearby. Every time ourland was eroded, we had to startafresh. When my husband lost his landin 2004, we did not have money to buyit again. He started to catch fish in theriver and sell it in the local market. Westill managed to live a happy lifethough,” she said.

Barpeta and Baksa districts ofWestern Assam witnessed the worst-ever floods in 2004 after excess waterwas released from the reservoir of a

hydro-power project in neighbouringBhutan, inundating paddy fields acrosslarge swathes in the two districts andwashing away homes leading to alarge-scale displacement in the area.

Ajiran and her family were amongthe victims of the 2004 floods. Theyspent several days in relief camps set upby the government, returning to wheretheir house stood after the water reced-ed. While trying to cope with theimpact of floods, Ajiran never imaginedthat the worst in her life would comea decade later.

It was Friday, May 2, 2014. Her hus-band had just returned home from theriver with the day’s catch to be sold inthe evening market. Around 3 pm, the

people of the village heard some gun-shots being fired. The villagers initial-ly thought that it was the forest guardsfiring to chase away wild elephants thatoften raid the paddy fields in the vil-lage. The indifference soon turned intodread as they saw some masked menfiring randomly at the villagers and set-ting their houses on fire.

“We could not think of anything.I just heard my husband shouting ‘run’.I looked for my daughters and toldthem to rush. Within minutes we sawthe villagers shouting and running indifferent directions to save their lives,some falling on the ground hit by thebullets. I jumped into the river andstarted swimming until I reached the

other end. I looked everywhere but myyoungest girl remained missing,” Ajiransaid.

More than 30 people includingwomen and children were massacredby armed extremists. Ajiran’s search forher missing daughter ended the nextday, when the district administrationhanded them her bullet riddled body.She was hit by a spray of the militants’bullets while running for her life.

“We got the compensation for mydaughter and also for the burnt housebut can that bring her back to life? No,nobody can. Who do I blame this for?It is perhaps written in my fate. If onlyour land had not been eroded...” shesighed.

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Portuguese midfielder Joao Mario scored the finalspot-kick as Inter Milan beat Neymar-less Paris

Saint-Germain on penalties here.With their want-away Brazilian superstar left out

of the trip to the former Portuguese colony, PSG wereseconds from victory on Saturday before SamueleLongo's injury-time equaliser made it 1-1.

Inter goalkeeper Samir Handanovic saved fromAdil Aouchiche and then Arthur Zagre before Mariostepped up to slot the winner for Inter, who edgedthe penalties 6-5.

The win for Antonio Conte's side comes just daysafter they lost to Italian rivals Juventus on penaltiesin a friendly in China.

Neymar, linked with a move back to his formerclub Barcelona, remained in China's Shenzhen, PSG'sprevious stop on their Asian tour, while his team-mates flew to gambling enclave Macau.

During a scrappy game in sweltering Macau,Inter were quicker out of the blocks forcing threefine stops from PSG's Alphonse Areola in the first10 minutes.

New signing Stefano Sensi and Ivan Perisic wereinstrumental in the early Inter attack, producingquick probing passes and causing problems behindthe PSG defence.

In Neymar's absence it was French World Cup-winner Kylian Mbappe who drew cheers from the8,800-strong crowd with his driving runs, althoughhe was often let down by his final touch.

Just before halftime Mbappe was brought downby Milan Skriniar and new signing Pablo Sarabiafloated a free kick which a climbing Thilo Kehrerglanced into the net.

Inter leapt into the attack in the second half, withPerisic jinking his way into the box to force anoth-er fine save from Areola, before sending therebound soaring over the bar.

Inter continued to squander chances, and theheat added to their frustration, with Perisic seeinganother chance creep over on 78 minutes.

But in the last minute of injury time substituteLongo picked up a bobbling pass trickling throughthe PSG box to drive the ball into the bottom cor-ner, past the otherwise rock-solid Areola, whothumped the ground in frustration.

"� ��"� ��"���Penalties went to sudden death after PSG's Adil

Aouchiche's effort was stopped by Handanovic, butAntonio Candreva's cheeky attempt to chip Areolabackfired and glanced off the crossbar.

It was up to Handanovic to make another finestop from Arthur, before Mario calmly buried thecrucial kick.

"We can play much better than we played today,"PSG coach Thomas Tuchel said.

"The conditions were difficult, of course... Butwe didn't have a good structure, which was disap-pointing," he said, referring to the heat that saw thereferee call several mini-breaks so that players couldrehydrate.

Next week PSG will take on Rennes, and seekpayback for their cup final loss last season.

For that fixture "we need to be better organised...And we need to do some target practice," Tuchel said.

Inter's battling performance was "an importantstep in preparing" for the upcoming Serie A season,said their boss Conte.

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Six-time world champion MaryKom (51kg) and 2018 WorldChampionships Bronze winner

Simranjit Kaur (60kg) grabbed a Goldeach as Indian boxers finished theircampaign at the 23rd President's Cupin Labuan Bajo, Indonesia with ninemedals on Sunday.

The rich haul comprised sevenGold and two Silver.

While the women had a flawlessrecord in the finals, winning all the fourGold medals on offer, the men hadmixed fortunes and had to settle fortwo Silver along with three Gold.

The superb all-round performancehelped the contingent win the 'BestTeam’ award.

Two months after winning theGold at the India Open, Mary Komarrived at this prestigious tournamentwith the aim of testing herself againstthe world's best ahead of the WorldChampionships in October.

In her first bout on Saturday, MaryKom had to dig deep to stave off theresistance of Vietnam’s Anh vo Thi Kim3-2, but she was simply magnificent inthe final as she powered to a 5-0 winover Australia’s April Franks.

“Gold medal for me and for mycountry at #PresidentCup Indonesia.Winning means you're willing to golonger,work harder & give more effortthan anyone else. I sincerely thanks toall my Coaches and support staffs of@BFI_off icial @KirenRijiju@Media_SAI,” Mary Kom tweeted.

Mary Kom, who claimed her sixthworld title last year in Delhi, will belooking to qualify for the 2020 TokyoOlympics in the World Championshipsin Yekaterinburg, Russia.

India’s gold rush continued withSimranjit Kaur being equally impres-sive in her final against Indonesia’s

Asian Games Bronze medall istHasanah Huswatun. The Asian BoxingChampionships Silver medallist dom-inated her opponent 5-0.

In 54kg, Assam’s young and brighttalent Jamuna Boro did not put a footwrong in a 5-0 demolition of Italy’s vet-eran boxer Giulia Lamagna to add to

the Gold she won at the India Open inMay.

In 48kg, youngster Monika endedthe challenge of Endang of Indonesia

by a similar scoreline to round off whatwas a memorable campaign for Indianwomen pugilists.

Among the men, 2017 UlaanbaatarCup Gold medallist Ankush Dahiya(64kg), 2017 Simon Prestige Memorialtournament Bronze medallist NeerajSwami (49kg) and Ananta PralhadChopade (52kg) were crowned thechampions in their respective weightcategories.

Chopade did not show any nervesin a strong 5-0 win over Afghanistan'sRahmani Ramish for his first signifi-cant international medal. Dahiya tooabsolutely outpunched his opponent,Macau's Leung Kin Fong 5-0 to lay hishands on the glittering gold.

Neeraj had it tougher and droppeda point for a 4-1 gritty win overFilipino pugilist Macado Jr. Ramel.

However, it was a heartbreak forformer World Championships Bronzemedallist Gaurav Bidhuri who gave hisall but was edged 2-3 by IndonesianMandagie Jill in the 56kg bantamweightbout.

2018 India Open Silver medallistDinesh Dagar found Indonesia'sSamada Saputra too strong and wasdealt a 0-5 blow on his way to the sil-ver medal.

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Third-seeded Australian Alex de Minaurwithstood 28 aces in a three-set victory

over Reilly Opelka on Saturday to book a titleclash with Taylor Fritz in the ATP tennistournament in Atlanta, Georgia.

De Minaur’s 7-6 (7/4) 6-7 (5/7) 6-3 vic-tory made the 20-year-old the youngest play-er ever to reach the Atlanta final.

He’ll be facing another of the ATP Tour’syoung guns in Fritz, the 21-year-old secondseed who beat Britain's Cameron Norrie 6-1, 3-6, 6-3.

De Minaur will be chasing a secondcareer title to go with the trophy he capturedin Sydney in January — before his seasonwas slowed by a groin injury that sidelinedhim for almost two months.

“I’m back where I want to be,” de Minaursaid.

“I felt like I’ve been playing some greattennis, but not getting the wins that I want-ed. I knew that sooner or later, I’d have agood result again.”

De Minaur said it was just a matter ofstaying patient and maintaining his poise ashis good friend Opelka rained down theaces.

“I’ve got to know he’s going to hit about200 aces on me and there's not much I cando,” he said.

“I have to keep doing what I'm doing.”

Opelka fended off two break points ineach of the first two sets before de Minaurgained the first break of the match for a 3-2 lead in the third, breaking him a final timeto seal the win.

On Sunday, Fritz will be trying to turnthe tables on de Minaur, who beat him inthe Next Gen ATP Finals.

Fritz, who captured his first career titleat Eastbourne last month, fired 15 aces on

the way to a victory over his doubles part-ner Norrie.

“I was really happy with my ability tokind of turn it around after the second set,”he said.

“I played a really good first set. He def-initely upped the level in the second, madesome good adjustments and I tried to justmake a couple more adjustments in thethird.”

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Pakistan-bound Indian DavisCup squad will be announced

by August 5, more than a monthin advance for the September 14-15 Group I Asia/Ocenia fixture inIslamabad, AITA secretary gener-al Hironmoy Chatterjee said hereon Sunday.

No Indian Davis Cup squadhas travelled to Pakistan sinceMarch 1964 and in that tie, held inLahore, India had won 4-0.

“We will announce the squadby August 5. The squad will bemore or less the same (that playedagainst Italy). It’s all about rank-ings,” Chatterjee told PTI.

“The visa procedure forPakistan is lengthy and we willsoon start the formalities,” headded.

Chatterjee said India No 1Prajnesh Gunneswaran andRamkumar Ramanathan are mostlikely to be the singles one-twochoice with Yuki Bhambri andSumit Nagal injured, while RohanBopanna and Divij Sharan will be

the doubles pair.Non-playing captain Mahesh

Bhupathi and coach Zeeshan Ali,whose contracts had ended withIndia's 1-3 loss to Italy in the DavisCup Qualifiers at South Club herein February this year, are all set tocontinue for this Pakistan leg.

“We have not yet discussed(their replacements) and they willtravel to Pakistan,” he said.

The tie is slated at the grass-courts of Pakistan Sports Complexin Islamabad and the winners willmake the 2020 Qualifiers.

India are 20th in Davis Cuprankings, way ahead of 37th placedPakistan and hold an all-win 6-0record, of which two came ongrass.

“We have a far superior team.We won’t have any issues playing ongrass,” Chaterjee said as India pre-pare to take on Pakistan 13 yearsafter they defeated them 3-2 at theBrabourne Stadium in Mumbai.

On the diplomatic tensions, hesaid: “It’s been going on for 100years but it’s Davis Cup not a bilat-eral fixture.”

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The ICC’s Anil Kumble-led CricketCommittee will discuss issues con-

cerning the epic World Cup final, includ-ing the controversial boundary count backrule, in its next meeting, said the apexbody’s general manager of cricket GeoffAllardice.

Cricketers — current and former —shared New Zealand’s pain on losing theWorld Cup title to hosts England onboundary count back rule following anepic final at the Lord’s on July 14.

In a pulsating encounter, Englandwere adjudged the winners of the WorldCup on the basis of their superior bound-ary count — 22 fours and two sixes — toNew Zealand’s 17 after the the matchended in a tie after regulation play andsubsequent Super Over.

“The cricket committee will consid-er any issues arising from the World Cupfinal when it next meets (in the first quar-ter of 2020),” Allardice was quoted as say-ing by ESPNcricinfo.

“A Super Over has been used to deter-mine a winner in a tied match in ICCevents since 2009 (replacing the bowl-out), and the tiebreaker after a tied SuperOver needed to be derived from some-thing that happened in that particularmatch. So it has always related to the num-ber of boundaries scored in the match.”

Continuing, he said the boundarycount back rule was followed as it is inpractice in T20 leagues across the world.

“Almost all the T20 leagues around theworld also use boundaries as the tiebreak-er in their Super Overs. We wanted to use

the same Super Over regulations that areused across all professional cricket andthat’s why it was the way it was. Whetherit should be different is something that ourcricket committee will consider at somepoint,” Allardice said.

The ICC’s chief executives committee(CEC) did not deliberate at its annual con-

ference on whether sharing the World Cupcould be an option in future.

“No, that wasn't discussed. The con-sistent view has been that the World Cupfinal needs a winner, and a Super Overwas in the playing conditions to decide atied final in each of the last three WorldCups,” he said.

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Max Verstappen took fulladvantage of his rivals’

calamities on Sunday to win anepic, rain-lashed and wildly-spectacular German GrandPrix for Red Bull ahead ofSebastian Vettel of Ferrari.

The 21-year-oldDutchman secured his secondwin of the season and seventhof his career, finishing ahead offour-time world championVettel, who had started 20thand last on the grid.

New dad Daniil Kvyat ofToro Rosso was third as hesecured only his third FormulaOne podium.

The race was a disaster forchampions Mercedes who werecelebrating their 200th FormulaOne start of the modern eraand 125 years of motorsport,both defending five-timechampion Lewis Hamilton andhis team-mate Valtteri Bottascrashed and failed to score anypoints.

Hamilton eventually fin-ished 11th after making six pit-stops as he missed out on apoints finish for the first timein 23 races while Verstappencontinued his rich streak ofconsistency.

Lance Stroll of RacingPoint came home fourth todeliver his team’s best finishahead of Carlos Sainz of

McLaren, Alex Albon of ToroRosso and Kimi Raikkonen ofAlfa Romeo.

Romain Grosjean waseighth for Haas ahead ofAntionio Giovinazzi of AlfaRomeo and Kevin Magnussenwho was 10th for Haas.

“It was amazing, but real-ly tricky out there,” saidVerstappen, who made four

pit-stops and survived a com-plete 360-degrees spin.

“To make the right calls,you had to be focussed. We puton the slick tyres and we hada 360! But it was alright.”

Vettel, for whom the resultbrought redemption after hehad crashed out while leadingin heavy rain last year, said: “Itwas a long race and at some

stages if felt like it was never-ending. I am just very happy.”

Kvyat confirmed that hebecame a father on Saturdaynight when his partner Kellygave birth to a daughter.

He said: “It was amazing!Amazing to be back on thepodium and incredible forToro Rosso, after so manyyears, it’s great to get a podium.”

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New Zealand’s All Blackstook a dig at the

International Cricket Council'sboundary count back rule afterthe national rugby teamretained the Freedom Cup fol-lowing a draw against SouthAfrica.

Following the final of theFreedom Cup between theNew Zealand’s national rugbyteam and the South AfricaSpringboks at the WestpacStadium here, the All Blackstook to Twitter and posted,“No count back on boundariesin Wellington. It’s a draw.Thanks for an epic Test@Springboks.#NZLvRSA#BACKBLACK.”

In the Freedom Cup, theAll Blacks and the SouthAfrican Springboks shared thetrophy after the two teamsended with a 16-16 draw.

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Left-arm Pakistan pacer Mohammad Amir,who quit Test cricket recently, is planning

to obtain a British passport and settle down inthe United Kingdom, a source said.

Amir has been married to a British nation-al, Nargis Malik since September, 2016 and iseligible for a spouse visa, which allows him tostay in England for 30 months.

“He is clearly planning to obtain a Britishpassport and permanently settle down inEngland in future,” a well-informed source toldPTI.

“With a spouse visa he can work freely andenjoy other benefits as a permanent residentof UK which is why he is planning to also pur-chase a house in England,” the source added.

Amir, 27, has plenty of cricket left and thenews about his plans to settle down in the UKcame as a surprise for his fans.

The source said Amir is eligible for thespouse visa despite spending some time in ajuvenile jail for a few months during the spot-fixing scandal in 2010-2011.

“He travels to England regularly and alsoplays county cricket since last year. So, thereare no hurdles for him now.”

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Every player wants a sense of security andShreyas Iyer is no different as he

believes that “getting in and out of the teamdoesn’t create a good pattern” and dents aplayer’s self belief in the long run.

Indian Premier League's youngestcaptain, the 24-year-old Iyer, who guidedDelhi Capitals to their first play-offs inseven years, is getting ready for the upcom-ing limited overs series in the Caribbeanhaving earned a recall after a disappoint-ing World Cup snub.

This is his second coming and he wantsa few more chances that will help himcement his place in the side.

“If you are really a good talent, thenyou need a certain amount of chances toprove yourself and get acclimatised to theconditions,” Iyer told PTI in an exclusiveinterview.

“If you keep coming in and going out(of the team), it doesn’t really set a goodpattern for one's self and you start disbe-lieving yourself. If you are a great talent,then you need some time,” feels the talent-ed Mumbaikar, who has played 6 ODIs andan equal number of T20 Internationals.

Having stacked up consistent perfor-mances at the domestic and A level, Iyer

said that at times one tends to lose patiencebut the only mantra is to perform.

“Yes, you tend to lose patience butselection is not in your hands. All you cando is perform, perform and perform andthat’s what I enjoy doing,” he said whenasked about times when someone isrepeatedly ignored.

“You have to keep performing and keepshowing people that you are capable ofplaying at the higher league. Once you getthat sniff, you never look back,” Iyer, whoenjoys 50 plus average (52.18) over 54 first-class games and a healthy 42.93 in List Amatches, said.

He is confident that he will certainlyplay a World Cup in future even as the 2019exclusion rankles him.

“Yes there was a lot of buzz about mebefore the World Cup selection because Iwas consistent and aware about the hard-work and smart work that I had put in. Itwill definitely reap benefits and help me infuture when I play for India,” he said.

Iyer fully understands that it was a spe-

cific team combination that was the rea-son he was being overlooked and hence healways remained in high spirits.

“It was difficult to not get selected. Itwas my dream to play the World Cup formy country. I know there are a few oppor-tunities that I got but unfortunately theteam combination was such that it didn’tdemand me to be there,” said Iyer, who isa practical sort of person, something thatwas reflected in his decision making dur-ing crunch IPL games.

“I just kept myself positive and alwaysin high spirits. It didn't disturb me frominside at all. It was a dream to play theWorld Cup and I will play for sure in thefuture,” he added.

An attacking player with a wide arrayof strokes in his repertoire, Iyer believes innot tinkering too much with his process aslong as he knows that it wasn’t dearth ofeffort.

“I have to believe in my process and Iknow I follow a certain pattern to scoreruns. I have to believe that I will be getting

runs if I have a certain mindset and I knowI will.”

“Self belief is the key to success and thathas helped me. So I will put in all my effortsin the manner I know. If it works, it is greatand if it doesn’t it’s still great as I know Ihave put in all my effort,” he exuded con-fidence.

In his endeavour to seek constantimprovement, Iyer is working on two spe-cific strokes — pull and sweep.

“You have to always work on your bat-ting as you are never perfect. I am work-ing on my batting everyday and trying toperfect a few shots that will help me scoreall around the world.

“Pull and sweep are two shots whichcan help me score runs outside India. Theseare two shots that can immediately putpressure back on bowlers,” Iyer reasoned.

His comeback has happened after asuccessful 'A' one day series, where his half-centuries were instrumental in two of thefour victories recorded by India A.

“The A tour has always given me anopportunity to prove myself in the higherleague as this is the stepping stone. I wasin West Indies for the List A series and Ihad an idea of how the pitches play and alsoit’s so hot out there that you need to keepyourself hydrated.”

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England coach Trevor Baylissaccepts the Test side's top

order has been their Achillesheel "for the last six or sevenyears" as he looks to World Cupwinner Jason Roy to make asuccess of the position duringthe Ashes.

After Andrew Straussretired in 2012, England greatAlastair Cook got through adozen opening partners of hisown before calling time on hisTest career last year.

Meanwhile the vexed ques-tion of who should bat at num-ber three has been anotherlong-running issue duringBayliss's four-year reign, whichwill end after an Ashes seriesthat starts in Birmingham nextweek.

Fears about England’sfragility at the top of the orderwere reinforced by their first-innings collapse to 85 all out inthe first session of their inaugur-al Test against Ireland at Lord’sthis week.

That their bowlers bailedthem out of trouble by dismiss-ing Ireland for just 38 on Fridayto seal a 143-run win did littleto allay the longstanding con-cerns over England’s specialistbatsmen.

Bayliss, asked if England’stop order presented the team’sbiggest problem, replied: “Youdon’t have to be Einstein to workthat out.

“They have been for the lastsix or seven years, but it didn'tstop us (winning the Ashes)four years ago,” the Australianadded.

The top three who playedagainst Ireland — Test debutantRoy, Rory Burns and Joe Denly— have all been retained in a 14-man squad for the first Testagainst Australia that begins atEdgbaston on Thursday.

Burns averages just 22.28 inseven Tests and Denly 24.16 inthree.

Now England is hopingRoy can follow the example ofAustralia's David Warner bytaking his white-ball form intothe Test arena.

Fresh from playing a keyrole at the top of the order inEngland's victorious World Cupcampaign, Roy made 72 in hissecond Test innings againstIreland.

“Like any debutant, helooked nervous but to score 70-odd in your first Test was a goodeffort,” said Bayliss.

“There was a bit more inthose wickets than I’m sure he’sbeen used to in white-ball crick-et over the last few years butruns are runs. He wouldn’t bethe first player to look scratchyand eke out runs. In fact, that'sa good sign, I think.”

“We want him to go out andplay his natural game but in red-ball cricket you have to be a lit-tle more selective. You’ve got tomake a conscious effort to sayto yourself, ‘I’m not going to gofor the big cover drive on the upuntil I'm really settled, the wick-et is flat or the ball’s not doingas much’.

“Jason probably looked a lit-tle scratchy but he got 72 andhelped us win the game.”

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Spin legend Abdul Qadir does-n’t want South African Mickey

Arthur to continue as Pakistan’shead coach, saying it’s time oth-ers should be given a chance totake the national team forward.

Qadir said he differs with for-mer captain Wasim Akram’s viewthat Arthur should be given afresh contract by the PakistanCricket Board (PCB).

“I know Wasim Akram hastold the Board (PCB) that theyshould give another contract toArthur but to me this is like doinginjustice with others. Others tooneed to be given a chance to takethe national team forward,” Qadirsaid in an interview.

The former chief selector saidif Akram had so much concernabout Pakistan cricket than heshould become the bowling coachof the national team.

Akram is one of the membersof the PCB’s cricket committeewhich will meet on August 2 toreview the national team's perfor-mance in the last three years andprepare recommendations forfuture.

“To me Mickey Arthur hascontributed nothing to thePakistan team. In fact, he hasdamaged it with his clear biastowards some players includingSohail Khan, Kamran Akmal,Umar Akmal, Ahmed Shehzad,Imran Khan who could havedone a lot for the Pakistan teamwith their experience,” Qadir

said.“No one thought how much

investment has already been madein these players and how much itwould hurt Pakistan cricket bysidelining them at their peak.”

Qadir said Arthur used theexcuses of fitness, discipline andattitude to keep the deservingplayers out.

“We have spent millions ofrupees on his fees and expenses

and got nothing in return. He did-n't even want Wahab Riaz in theteam and sidelined him for twoyears but was forced to eat hum-ble pie and accept him for theWorld Cup at the last moment,”he said.

Qadir said he didn’t see anysense in having a head coach inthe team, and instead preferredspecialist coaches in batting,bowling and fielding depart-

ments.The out spoken leg-spinner,

who played 67 Tests and 104ODIs, said whatever decision thePCB takes now it must be madekeeping in mind the next fouryears not just next year’s WorldT20.

Qadir backed SarfarazAhmed to continue as captainparticularly in the limited overformats

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Steve Waugh says the Ashes aretoo close to call as England andAustralia prepare to resume bat-

tle, with the visitors seeking their firstaway win in the series for 18 years.

With the exception of the2010/11 series in Australia, whichEngland won 3-1, home advantagehas been decisive since Waugh’s sidetriumphed 4-1 away in 2001.

But the former Australia captainsaid it is “50-50” as to who wouldemerge triumphant over the courseof the five Tests starting at Edgbastonon Thursday.

“I really believe it’s a big ask forthe fast bowlers on both sides to playfive Tests in six weeks and thatcould have a big impact on thewhole series, so for instance JimmyAnderson gets injured, or MitchellStarc gets injured for us, it could real-ly affect the line-up.”

“Depth in the squad will beimportant but I honestly think if Iwas a betting man I wouldn’t backeither side because I don't knowwho's going to win. It’s going to bethat even. I think it’s going to be afantastic series.”

Waugh, who is mentoring theAustralians, said it is a mystery whyAustralia had not won in England forso long but his advice to the playerswould be to “make your own histo-ry”.

“We’ve come up against somereally good England sides in thoselast 18 years. We’ve had some tightseries and moments when we couldhave won the series, probably a bitlike the other way round for Englandin that period where they lost a lot.”

England go into the series buoyedby winning the World Cup for thefirst time — they beat 2015 champi-ons Australia in the semi-final — butWaugh said that triumph wouldhave no impact on the Ashes.

“One-day cricket is irrelevant toTest cricket," he said. "They're differ-ent teams, different captains. It's a dif-ferent sport really. If you compare

Test cricket and one-day cricketyou're almost not playing the samesport. It's played in a totally differ-ent way.

"England will say it's importantfor everyone and sure, if you winthat's great but when it comes to thefirst Test at Edgbaston it's not goingto matter what happened in theone-day World Cup."

The first Test is taking place inBirmingham, where England havenot lost since 2008, but Waugh saidhe would be telling his players to putthat out of their minds.

"I've won there in Ashes con-tests," he said. "I think if you startbelieving something and building itup it becomes true but in my mindit shouldn't be an issue."

The former skipper, known for

his uncompromising approach on thefield, said he expected some roughtreatment from English crowds forSteve Smith and Dave Warner.

The two batsmen were eachbanned for 12 months over theirinvolvement in a ball-tamperingscandal in South Africa last year.Cameron Bancroft, also named in theTest squad, was banned for ninemonths.

But Waugh said Australia hadturned a corner.

"Australia had to reset and revis-it a few things, which is unfortunatebecause of what happened. I thinkthey're in good shape. (Test captain)Tim Paine's done a really good joband he's a good leader. Hopefullyyou'll still see the Australian teamplay the Aussie way on the field.

We've got to be combative andplay in a positive frame of mindbecause that's the way we play ourcricket."

He added: "Things culminated inCape Town and were out of controlthere and there were a couple of ordi-nary series between different sides....It did get to the point when it wasover the top and something neededto be done so unfortunately for theguys involved they were the ones thatpaid the price.

"The good thing is now thateveryone knows where the line is andyou can't cross that line. It was greatfor kids too because kids all roundthe world saw that, particularly inAustralia, and it was a good lesson asto what's right and wrong

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Mushfiqur Rahim hit anunbeaten 98 to steer

Bangladesh to a modest 238-8in the second one-day interna-tional against Sri Lanka inColombo on Sunday.

Mushfiqur slammed sixfours and a six in a 110-ballinnings to bail out Bangladesh,who lost their first six wicketsfor 117 runs as they looked fora competitive score to level thethree-match series.

Mushfiqur and numbereight Mehidy Hasan shared 84runs, a seventh-wicket recordfor Bangladesh against SriLanka, to give the visitors'innings some respectability.

Mehidy made 43 off 46balls with six boundaries beforehe was caught by Sri Lankanskipper Dimuth Karunaratne atmid-off off Nuwan Pradeep.

Pradeep, fellow pace bowlerIsuru Udana and leg-spinnerAkila Dananjaya claimed twowickets each for Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh, who lostFriday's opening match by 91runs, were in trouble soon afterskipper Tamim Iqbal won thetoss and elected to bat at the R.Premadasa Stadium.

Pradeep trapped openerSoumya Sarkar leg-before for 11before Tamim dragged an

Udana delivery onto his stumpafter making 19.

Dananjaya removedMohammad Mithun for 12 andbowled Mahmudullah Riyadfor six before Sabbir Rahman'srun out for 11 compoundedBangladesh's problems.

Mushfiqur began his fightback with Mehidy after Udanahad Mosaddek Hossain caughtby Kusal Perera for 13.

Mushfiqur went off thestrike in the fifth ball of thefinal over to miss out on hiseighth ODI hundred by justtwo runs.

The third and final matchof the series will be held at thesame venue on Wednesday.

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