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VOL.13, ISSUE 76 | Sunday, 18 March, 2018 | New Delhi | Pages 16 | Rs 3.00PUBLISHED FROM DELHI & KOLKATA

RNI NO.: DELENG/2005/15351REGD. NO.: DL(S)-01/3420/2018-20

CITY PAGE 3CONG FINALLY WAKING UP TO EVM THREAT: SAURABH BHARDWAJ

NATION PAGE 4INDIA TOP ARMS IMPORTER WITH 12% WORLD SHARE

FILM PAGE 16EVERYMAN’S HERO

NO HALF TRUTHS

In today’s paper

...

India achieved in (last) 30 years what Great Britain did in 150 years

NOBEL LAUREATE PAUL KRUGMAN

‘BJP IDEA OF SIMULTANEOUS POLLS MISPLACED, INCOMPATIBLE WITH CONSTITUTION’

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday urged the Election Com-mission (EC) to revert to the old practice of paper ballots in future elections instead of electronic vot-ing machines (EVMs). This is nec-essary as there are misgivings on “misuse” of EVMs to “manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict”, the party said here during its 84th plenary session.

The Congress and other politi-cal parties have been alleging that EVMs were tampered during polls and demanding reintroduction of the ballot paper system of voting. The party called for reverting to the old practice of paper ballots, citing that it was adopted by other major democracies to help restore the credibility of the electoral process.

A resolution was also moved in this regard in the plenary session. In its resolution, the party said the BJP’s move of simultaneous elec-tions is “misplaced” and is “incom-patible with the Constitution as also impractical”. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been pressing upon the idea of holding simulta-neous elections to Parliament and state assemblies, contending that it will save money and time.

Addressing the plenary ses-sion, the Congress’s new president, Rahul Gandhi, said that the coun-try is in a way “fatigued” under the Narendra Modi dispensation and is looking for a way out and asserted that his party alone can show the path forward. He launched a scathing attack on the NDA gov-ernment, accusing it of spreading hatred and anger, and failing to cre-ate jobs and address farm distress.

The Congress party alone can unite the country and show it the path forward, he said, adding that the difference between the ruling

dispensation and his party was that while they spread anger and hatred, “we spread love and brotherhood”.

Former Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched an all-out attack on PM Narendra Modi, say-ing that his pre-poll promises of combating corruption and ensur-ing inclusive development were “only dramebazi’ and a trick to grab power. Gandhi gave a clarion call to party men to be ready for any kind of sacrifice to strengthen the party and to make the county free from discrimination, vendetta politics and arrogance.

Let’s return to paper ballots, Congress urges poll panel

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Maharashtra BJP chief Raosaheb Danve has asserted that its oldest ally, Shiv Sena, would remain with the party saying, “We were in an alli-ance for 25 years. Barring the last election, we have always been together.”

“It is proved that NDA’s both governments, one under Atal Bihari Vajpayee and another under Narendra Modi, are capa-ble to hold on its allies. We are trying to keep the allies with us,” he said further.

However, Sena presi-dent Uddhav Thackeray has announced that the party will fight upcoming Lok Sabha and state Assembly polls alone. Besides, Danve also declined to comment on whether the Sena would walk out of the National Democratic Alliance and the government.

Both the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly elections are scheduled in 2019 and sounding the poll bugle, the saffron party is going to celebrate its 39th foun-dation day in the presence of the party president Amit Shah on April 6 in Mumbai. The party has planned a rally expected to be attended by around three lakh workers across Maharashtra.

Danve further said that the rally will be a part of the par-

ty’s organisational activity and it should not be linked with its poll preparations. “We celebrate the foundation day every year. It is not right to say that we are sound-ing a poll bugle,” he added.

The state party chief also said the party has changed its strategy in terms of the number of work-ers per polling booth so that it can reach to the maximum number of booths. “Earlier, it had 10 workers per youth. Now, the number has been raised to 25,” he mentioned.

There are 92,000 polling booths in the state. The incum-bent BJP so far has reached up to 83,000 booths. “Our govern-ment is working for the benefit of farmers, women, youth, Dalit, OBC and the tribes. That is why we reached to numero uno posi-tion from the fourth place,” Danve also added.

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Lies being spread on MSP for farmers: PM

OUR CORREPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi made an indi-rect attack on the Opposition parties on Saturday, saying that confusion is being spread about the Budget decision to fix MSP for crops at least 1.5 times the production cost and assured farmers that all major costs incurred will be included while declaring the support price. The Centre is already working with state governments to ensure that farmers get the benefit of the declared Minimum Support Price (MSP), he said.

Addressing the three-day Krishi Unnati Mela here, Modi also appealed to farmers not to burn crop residues so as to curb pollution. Besides, he asked farmers to grow more oil-seeds to reduce dependence on import of cooking oil as also to cut urea consumption by at least half by 2022. In the Union Budget for fiscal 2018-19, the government took a decision to ensure right prices to farmers for their produce, he said.

It has decided that for all notified crops, MSP will be at least one and a half times the cost, Modi said. Many peo-ple are “spreading confusion and creating atmosphere of despair” regarding the govern-ment’s MSP decision, he said while sharing the detail of com-ponents to be considered while

determining the cost of produc-tion for fixing the support price.

“The cost of production will include elements such as hired labour, expenses on their own or rented machinery as well as livestock, cost of seeds and fer-tilisers, expenses on irrigation, revenue being given to state government, interest on work-ing capital, and rent of leased land among others,” he said. It will also include labour put by farmers and their family, he said. “This is an important deci-sion related to income of hard-working farmers.”

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Blasting Pakistan for giving political legitimacy to terror mas-termind Hafiz Saeed, Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Saturday said that our security forces can cross over the Line of Control (LoC), if needed, to protect the country’s territorial integrity. Mak-ing it clear that Jammu and Kashmir will remain an integral part of India, Singh said that the Narendra Modi govern-ment wants a permanent solution to the Kashmir issue and the interlocutor appointed by it is ready to talk to any-one who is willing to have a dialogue.

“We not only secure India inter-nally but can also cross the border, if needed, to protect the country,” he said at the Rising India summit. In Septem-ber 2016, the Indian Army had carried out surgical strikes at the terror launch pads across the LoC and inflected sig-

nificant casualties to avenge the terror attacks in Jammu and Kashmir.

The home minister said India wants to maintain friendly relations with Pakistan but that country was not keen on it, rather giving “political legitimacy” to the LeT founder and 26/11 Mumbai terror attack master-mind Hafiz Saeed. “Pakistan is now providing political legitimacy to a UN-designated terrorist. Hafiz Saeed is now allowed to form a political party, he will contest elections and go to Par-liament. Haqqani Network, which is responsible for killings of scores of people are being abetted and given protection. It is shocking,” he said.

Singh, however, said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi has achieved huge success in taking the fight against terrorism on international forum. Ear-lier nobody talked against Pakistan’s ter-rorism, now the US has also condemned

Pakistan, he said.Referring to the appointment of the

interlocutor, former Intelligence Bureau chief Dineshwar Sharma, on the Kash-mir issue, the home minister said the interlocutor would talk to everyone who was keen for dialogue. He said that despite Pakistan’s best efforts, Kashmir

would never be separated from India. “Kashmir was with India, Kashmir

is with India and Kashmir will remain with India forever,” he said. Singh said that Kashmir’s children were like his own and he would not allow anyone to radicalise them.

“I want to tell those who are trying

to teach jihad to innocent Kashmiri youths that they should first learn the real concept of jihad in Islam,” he said. The minister said he had personally asked Jammu and Kashmir Chief Min-ister Mehbooba Mufti to ignore cases filed against first time stone-pelters.

Following Singh’s request, the Jammu and Kashmir government had withdrawn cases registered against 9,730 people involved in stone-pelting incidents, including first-time offenders. “We have forgiven first-time stone-pel-ters. They might have been influenced by others. They are young. We need to give them a second chance,” he said.

Singh also highlighted the govern-ment’s efforts in dealing with Maoists and the inurgents in the North-East. He said that the battle against Naxals can’t be won through bullets and hence several developmental initiatives were taken in this direction.

We can cross border if needed to protect our country: Rajnath

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH: A spe-cial court here on Saturday awarded life imprisonment to Jagtar Singh Tara in connec-tion with the assassination of Punjab chief minister Beant Singh. The court of Additional District and Session Judge J S Sidhu pronounced the sen-tence in the high security Burail jail here where Tara is currently lodged, Tara’s coun-sel Simranjit Singh said. A fine of Rs 35,000 was also imposed on Tara by the court, he said.

The lawyer said his client would not challenge the order in the higher court. He said the CBI counsel had pressed for capital punishment for Tara. Tara (43) had been booked under various sections of IPC, including section 302 (mur-der), section 307 (attempt to murder) and section 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections of the Explosive Act.

He had confessed to his involvement in the assassina-tion of Beant Singh in 1995, in a confession letter which he had submitted to the court in January this year. On August 31, 1995, then chief minister Beant Singh was killed in an explosion outside the Civil Secretariat in Chandigarh.

Jagtar Tara gets life term in Beant

assassination case

‘PAKISTAN IS GIVING POLITICAL LEGITIMACY TO 26/11 BRAIN HAFIZ SAEED & HAQQANI NETWORK’

Pakistan to skip WTO meet in New Delhi

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has decided to stay away from the World Trade Organisation meet in New Delhi next week in protest against alleged harassment of its diplomats in India. India last month invited Pakistan Commerce Min-ister Pervez Malik to par-ticipate in the informal WTO ministerial meeting scheduled to be held in New Delhi on March 19-20 and Islamabad had initially accepted the invitation.

Sources in the foreign

ministry here said the sit-uation has changed after “repeated harassment of families of diplomats” and it was decided to skip the invitation. “We cannot send our commerce min-ister to India in the cur-rent situation and India has been informed about it,” according to a source.

The decision to stay away from WTO meeting in India coincided with the recalling of Pakistan’s High Commissioner to India Sohail Mehmood. PTI

CAN GET 3RD TERM IN 2023 AS CHINA HAS SCRAPPED 2-TERM CAP

Xi re-elected China president for 2nd term, close aide Wang Qishan is V-P

Be careful in sharing Aadhaar number online: UIDAI

K J M VARMA

BEIJING: Xi Jinping was on Sat-urday re-elected as president for a second five-year tenure by China’s parliament, days after it scrapped the two-term rule for the presi-dency and allowed him to have a life-long tenure. The NPC has also elected 64-year-old Xi as the head of the Central Military Commission (CMC), the over-all high command of the 2 mil-lion strong Chinese military, the world’s largest.

Xi had already been elected general secretary of the rul-ing Communist Party of China (CPC) at its once-in-five-year congress in October last year. Sig-nificantly, Xi’s loyalist and close confidant Wang Qishan, 69, has

been elected as vice president, who like Xi is set for a lifelong tenure.

Saturday’s election comes after the National People’s Con-

gress (NPC) on March 11 ratified the constitutional amendment for removing the two-term limit for president and vice president pro-posed by the CPC. The election will ensure Xi heads the CPC, the military and the presidency, per-haps for life.

He is the first Chinese leader to have that privilege after party founder Chairman Mao Zedong who ruled China from 1949 till his death in 1976. Technically the election marks Xi’s second-term which would last till 2023. But after the constitutional amend-ments removed the term limit, he is expected to have a limit-less tenure.

Xi was elected unanimously as president and head of CMC by 2,970 deputies of the NPC. PTI

NEW DELHI: The UIDAI on Saturday asked people to take “due precautions” while shar-ing their personal information such as Aadhaar on the Internet for availing any service. Playing down reports of Aadhaar PDF being allegedly available through the Google search query of Mera Aadhaar, Meri Pehchan, the UIDAI claimed that the issue had

“nothing to do with the security of Aadhaar and its database”.

“People share their personal information, including Aadhaar on the Internet, to some or other service provider or vendor to get the services and when they put their details on internet they should take due precautions as required in any digital activities,” Unique Identification Author-

ity of India (UIDAI) said in a statement.

Asserting the robustness of the Aadhaar identity system, the nodal body, which issues the 12 digit biometric identifier, said that “publication or posting of Aadhaar cards by some unscru-pulous people have absolutely no bearing on UIDAI and not the least on Aadhaar security”. MPOST

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday resolved to adopt a “pragmatic ap-proach” for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 general election. This indication of a pre-poll tie-up comes in the wake of efforts by the Con-gress to evolve a consensus among various opposition parties to unitedly take on the might of the BJP.

In its political resolu-tion moved at the party’s 84th Plenary Session, the Congress on Saturday launched a scathing attack on the BJP-RSS, saying the country’s core constitutional values are under attack and freedom of all is in jeop-ardy, with institutions under stress and their indepen-dence compromised.

‘WE’LL BE PRAGMATIC... FORGE ANTI-BJP FRONT AHEAD OF 2019’

PORT LOUIS: Mauritius President Ameenah Gurib-Fakim resigned on Saturday after being embroiled in a scandal over her use of a credit card to buy luxury per-sonal items, in an abrupt change of heart after vowing she would not stand down. Gurib-Fakim, Africa’s only female head of state, submitted her resignation in the “national interest,” her lawyer Yousouf Mohamed told reporters.

He said her resignation would take effect on March 23, a move that will bring down the curtain on a saga that has gripped the Indian Ocean archipelago for weeks. Gurib-Fakim had vowed to fight the accusations that first appeared in local newspaper L’Express — that she used a bank card provided by an NGO to make per-sonal purchases, including jewellery and luxury goods worth at least 25,000 euros.

Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced a week ago that Gurib-Fakim had agreed to resign, with a date set for her departure after last Monday’s ceremony celebrating the Indian Ocean archipelago’s 50 years of independence. But on Wednesday, a statement from the presi-dency lashed out at “weeks of attacks and false allegations” and said Gurib-Fakim planned to clear her name and would not go.

It is not clear what prompted her about-turn, but her lawyer said Saturday she was “relieved” she had made the decision to resign after endur-ing a “difficult” time in recent weeks. Gurib-Fakim, whose role is mostly ceremonial, is a scientist and biologist of international renown, and in 2015 joined the London-based Planet Earth Institute (PEI) to try to develop scientific capacity in Africa. AFP

Mauritius Prez quits over credit card graft

PM Modi at the Krishi Unnati MelaPIC/NAVEEN SHARMAUPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress President Rahul Gandhi at the

party’s 84th Plenary Session at Indira Gandhi Stadium, New Delhi PTI

‘Oldest ally’ Shiv Sena will stay with us: BJP

CITY

MAN SHOT DEAD IN MEHRAULI 3

NATION

YOGI TRANSFERS 37 IAS OFFICERS 4

BUSINESS

GOA BJP DISCUSSES MINING CRISIS 5

INTERNATIONAL

RUSSIA EXPELS 23 UK ENVOYS 6

SPORT

VIDEO REFEREES FOR 2018 WORLD CUP 7

Ameenah Gurib-Fakim

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mp

Weekend BreakNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

- Euripides, Medea

Of all creatures that can feel and think,we women are the worst treated things alive

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PVR PROMENADE: VASANT KUNJ

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PVR: SHALIMAR BAGH

A keen observer of India’s fluctuating gender pat-terns has painted a grim picture of the country’s

falling child sex ratio (CSR), saying it could worsen in the 2021 census as the patriarchal mindset is spreading across India and is not just confined to the north.

“Earlier, it was an urban phe-nomena in northern states like Pun-jab, Haryana and Uttar Pradesh. But the patriarchal mindset is spreading across India – even in the east and northeast,” said author and teacher Bijayalaxmi Nanda who has been working on gender equality for about two decades.

The teacher of political science and gender studies in Delhi Univer-sity’s Miranda House said the CSR will continue its falling trend of sev-eral decades in the 2021 Census. The sex ratio for children up to six years was 971 girls per 1,000 boys in 1981. It kept falling and was 945 in 1991, 927 in 2001 and 919 in 2011.

“There might be slight improve-ment in some states like Mahar-asthra and some districts in Haryana that were marked as worst perform-ers due to the state’s attention, but the overall figure is likely to be worse as several states, including Gujarat and those in the east, are experi-encing a worsening scenario,” said the mother of a daughter studying in the US and whose husband is a

civil servant. Nanda has incisively analysed the government’s counter-ing of gender discrimination. Hav-ing been an activist for several years, she has critically examined the poli-cies, programmes, laws and schemes that have been unveiled by the state to improve the situation.

“Though preference for a male child was there even in the east, bet-ter access, availability and afford-ability for sex-determination and sex-selective abortion is worsening the child sex ratio,” said Nanda. “Ris-ing aspirations, smaller families and easy access in rural areas have nar-rowed the urban-rural gap in CSR.”

Overall, she felt the state has mis-erably failed in strictly implement-ing the laws as there is widespread

violation of Pre-Conception and Pre-Natal Diagnostic Techniques (PCPNDT) Act across the country, including in the rural areas. “The doctors lobby is very strong and they have political blessings.” Nanda said while new reproductive technologies like sperm separation, diagnostic facilities and illegal abortion cen-tres came up wherever there was demand for such services irrespec-tive of the law, the growth of such facilities and rising affordability cre-ated its own demand where there was none.

“The law can at best control the supply side but it requires an atti-tudinal change for removing the demand for such services. And, the obstacles to mindset change relate to sexual insecurity among families for the girl child, marriage (an expen-sive affair) mandatory for respect of women and employment as many women are unemployable due to the low quality of their education,” said Nanda.

“Instead of concentrating on just the numbers – improving the ratio – women should be valued as equal citizens. Slogans like ‘Save your

daughter’ reinforce the stereotype that daughters are liabilities, (that) they need protection,” she added.

At the same time, Nanda sup-ported the second part of the “Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao” initiative that aims to generate awareness and improve the efficiency of welfare services intended for girls. “It’s an interesting scheme that combines the element of law (PCPNDT) and education. But such schemes require dynamic leadership.” Nanda’s rec-ommendations follow a syncretic feminist perspective that empha-sises on addressing the “3 As” for tackling the aversion to daughters – Assets, Autonomy of women and girls, and Ageing.

“She should have control of assets, property rights and employ-ment for tackling the aversion for daughters and also protect them from violence. Her autonomy should be enhanced to provide bargaining power, right to assert, make choices, improve physical safety and mobil-ity. And, finally, if we have social pro-tection for the aged, it will remove the need for a son as the only source of support,” said the researcher. IANS

CHILD SEX RATIOto worsen as patriarchal mindset

spreading: Gender expert Bijayalaxmi Nanda“Slogans like ‘Save your daughter’

reinforce the stereotype that daughters are liabilities,” says Nanda

OUR CORRESPONDENT

Responsible Tourism, which began modestly in the palm-fringed backwaters of Kumarakom in 2008 as an experiment has today

mushroomed and fleshed out as the motto of Kerala’s Tourism module. With a newly founded Responsible Tourism Mission and Kumarakom bagging the prestigious Responsible Tourism Award at the World Travel Mart, London, it is no wonder that the new tourism policy unveiled by Kerala focuses in depth at sustainable tourism initiatives. The policy also forms a major highlight of this year’s domestic campaign. The revamped fare with an array of new tourism products was showcased at New Delhi on Friday.

“To ensure the accomplishment of a 100% increase in arrival of foreign tourists and 50% in domestic tourists in five years, a tourism regulatory authority has been formed. This would help put a stop to any unhealthy practices and guarantee better

intervention of the Tourism Department through scrutiny and a licensing system,” said Kadakampally Surendran, Minister for Co-Operation, Tourism and Devas-wom, Government of Kerala.

Kerala, voted the Best Family Desti-nation by Lonely Planet, the Best Leisure Destination by Conde Nast Traveller and winner of six National Tourism Awards in 2016, offers the much-needed succour and

adrenaline rush to its adventure-seeking traveller. Kayaking, trekking, paragliding, river rafting are a few activities that form a part of the eco-adventure package.

For art aficionados, the state endorses the dreamy lanes of Fort Kochi and a pil-grimage to the Kochi Muziris Biennale, which has changed the landscape of con-temporary Indian art today and has helped make Kochi, the art capital of India.

For history buffs looking to transport themselves to another era, there is the Muziris Heritage Project. Another offering in the historical space is the Spice Route Project that rekindles the 2000-year old ancient sea links and shared cultural lega-cies with 30 countries.

“Most foreign tourists flock to Kerala to experience its cultural heritage but what we are trying to showcase is the idea that our culture isn’t limited to performances on stage. It is ingrained in our way of life and the department is taking small but significant steps towards help-ing a traveller experience the rich-ness of Kerala,” said Rani George, IAS, Secretary, Tourism and Cul-ture, Government of Kerala.

With the fifth edition of Ker-ala Blog Express, a unique social media outreach that brings together international bloggers and influenc-ers just around the corner, Kerala is gearing up to welcome every kind of traveller.

Kerala unfurls sustainable tourism initiatives

PICS/NAVEEN SHARMA

DT CINEMAS: DLF PLACE, SAKET

PVR: RIVOLI, DELHI

PVR: PACIFIC, DELHI

WAVE: RAJA GARDEN

PVR: Director’s Cut, Ambience DelhiPVR PROMENADE: VASANT KUNJ

PVR: NARAINA, DELHI

Satyam Cineplexes: Janak Place

- BJP MLA Vijender Gupta

Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal wants to retain disqualified legislator from Najafgarh, Kailash Gahlot, in the House illegallyCity

mp| 3millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: A 35-year-old Nigerian national who stabbed his fellow countryman was arrested from Bihar’s Kishan-ganj district, Delhi Police said on Saturday, adding that the accused was attempting to flee back to Nigeria after the incident.

Police said the accused, identified as Osaretin, a per-manent resident of Nigeria, had came to India in 2010 and runs a garment business.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Romil Baan-iya said that on March 9, one Hillary, another Nigerian national, was stabbed to death at 60 Feet Road in Chattarpur Pahari, during a drunken scuf-fle between two groups of Afri-can nationals.

After interrogation of many suspects, Osaretin was iden-tified as the prime accused.

A police team raided at his house at Faridabad, Haryana but he was found missing. After mounting a technical surveil-lance, Osaretin was found to be in Jalandhar, Punjab.

“A team rushed to Punjab and searched him at all pos-sible hideouts. It was learnt that he hired a cab and left for Assam. The team started veri-fying all cabs which left Jaland-har towards Assam/Bihar side,” said the DCP.

The location of Oseratin’s

cab was traced to Bihar and information was immediately shared with Bihar Police, who soon arrested Osaretin from Kishanganj.

During interrogation, Osaretin disclosed that he and his friends had beaten up a man from a rival group and had gone to Chattarpur to search for that man.

There, they found Hillary, whom they beat up severely and stabbed with a knife, before fleeing.

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: The Crime Branch of Delhi Police have arrested two men for manu-facturing and selling spurious drugs and medicines of differ-ent brands on a large scale for over two years.

Cops said the accused Bijender Singh (55) and Ashok Kumar (42) were nabbed near Ajmeri Gate side of New Delhi railway station on March 15.

Joint Commissioner of Police (Crime) Alok Kumar

said that four cartons contain-ing 39,300 Pan-D capsules were recovered from the car.

The accused failed to give satisfactory replies to the police about how they were in posses-sion of the medicines and did not provide valid documents about storage, sale or distribu-tion of the medicines.

Based on their revelations, a raid was conducted at their manufacturing unit at Bal-bir Vihar, Kirari, where cops recovered over one lakh cap-sules and tablets of different

brands, including Pan-40, Pan-D, Pentacid DSR and Montec LC. Machine and raw materi-als used to make spurious drugs and a batch machine were also recovered from the site.

In another case, the Delhi Police Special Cell arrested two persons, Manohar Singh (31) and Fakruddin Rangrej (61), near Japanese Park in Rohini on March 15. One kg of fine quality heroin, worth over Rs four crores and two kg of Alpra-zolam worth about Rs 1.6 crore were recovered from them.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A man was shot dead in Mehrauli area of south Delhi on Friday, with police claiming they have arrested one of the accused in this regard.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (South) Romil Baaniya on Saturday said that a PCR call was received at Mehrauli police station on Friday night regard-ing a quarrel.

In the incident, the victim Sumit, a resident of Chhatar-pur Enclave, received a gunshot wound and taken to a hospital where he was declared brought dead by doctors. Another per-son Nitin Vishal was injured and admitted to hospital.

During investigation, it came to light that two persons, identified as Sandeep Gupta and Ashish Kochar, had fired on Sumit and Nitin.

Gupta was on Saturday arrested by personnel of Meh-rauli police station.

Police claimed the incident was the result of drunken scuf-fle, with both the parties resid-ing in the same locality and known to each other.

Jaydeo, Sumit’s father, stated the accused were beating his son and later they fired several rounds into Sumit’s chest.

“Both the accused had planned to kill my son,” said the father, adding that Sumit had got married six years ago and had a four-year-old daughter.

ABHAY SINGH

NEW DELHI: With summers approaching, problems related to water scarcity become fre-quent in the Capital.

One such incident was reported on Saturday from north west Delhi’s Wazir-pur area, where an argument over filling water from a water tanker turned fatal and resulted in a 60-year-old man being beaten to death.

Police said they have arrested three men, identified as Sunil, Akash and Arvind, and apprehended a juvenile in the case.

The deceased was identi-fied as Lal Bahadur, a resident of SS Nagar in Wazirpur Indus-trial area, who lived in the same neighbourhood as the accused persons.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (North West) Aslam Khan said the incident was reported around 3.30 pm, when

the water tanker had arrived in the colony and all the residents rushed to filling water.

Sources said that Rohit, Lal Bahadur’s son, and the accused were arguing at the spot over who will first fill water, which soon turned into a full-blown scuffle.

On hearing the commotion, Lal Bahadur reached the spot and tried to stop the fight.

“He wanted to pacify the fight, but the accused attacked him, showered blows on him and thrashed him mercilessly. He soon became unconscious and was rushed to hospital, where he was declared brought dead.

“Two of the accused were nabbed from the spot and, after a raid, the remaining two were also nabbed,” Khan said

According to family mem-bers of the victim, no one came to Lal Bahadur’s rescue when he and his son were being attacked.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Delhi Police on Saturday questioned AAP MLAs Amanatullah Khan and Prakash Jarwal, separately in the case of the alleged assault case of Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash.

According to police, one of them arrived in the morn-ing while the other reached at 4 pm. Sources said that sev-eral other MLAs have been quizzed and their versions will be matched with those of Khan and Jarwal.

The alleged assault took place on the night of Febru-ary 19 in the residence of Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal.

On February 23, a police team examined the CCTV sur-veillance system installed at the CM’s residence area and seized the hard disk, the forensic report on which is still awaited.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The public works department of the Delhi government has directed its officials to minimise the use of paper in their routine work and encourage online submis-sion of documents.

The Delhi PWD depart-ment has asked the officials to upload orders, office memoran-dums on the official websites and limit the use of hard copies of such communications.

“Notes should be typed or written on both sides of the paper or note sheet. Typing should be done in single space,” an official said.

The official said copies should not be typed again where the draft is legible and does not contain many corrections.

ROUSHAN ALI

NEW DELHI: Aam Aadmi Party spokesperson Saurabh Bhardwaj on Saturday said that the Congress has finally woken up to the “EVM threat to democracy,” adding that his party is demanding an all party meeting by the Election Com-mission over the use of ballot papers in the upcoming 2019 general elections.

On Saturday, the Congress party, during its 84th Plenary session, adopted a resolution to ask the EC to revert to the practice of paper ballot, stating that their are “apprehensions among the political parties and the people over the misuse of EVMs to manipulate the out-come contrary to the popular

verdict.”Following this, Bhardwaj

tweeted on his official Twit-ter handle, “Grand old party Congress finally wakes up to EVM threat to democracy.AAP demands All Party meeting by EC on use of ballot papers in

next general elections. Detailed statement will follow.”

“Political Parties and peo-ple are the main stakeholders in Democracy. EC should not toe the line of Central Govt, instead call for all party meet-ing. Why are they insisting on

EVMs with no cross-verifi-cation?” his follow-up tweet stated.

The AAP has been one of the most vocal critics of the use of electronic voting machines (EVMs) during elections, often alleging that the machines are vulnerable to rigging and/or hacking through wireless means.

The resolution adopted by Congress at Saturday’s plenary session comes as a boost for the AAP’s repeated calls to resort-ing to paper ballot system of polling, so as to nullify any chances of rigging of EVMs.

During its political resolu-tion at Saturday’s plenary, the Congress underscored the need for ensuring free and fair elec-tions to retain people’s faith in

the integrity of the electoral system.

“The EC has the constitu-tional mandate to ensure free and fair elections. Both the vot-ing and counting process must remain transparent to retain people’s faith in the integrity of the electoral system,” the reso-lution stated.

“Though the Congress – which is the oldest politi-cal party in the country – has woken up more than a year after the AAP had first exposed the dangers posed by the EVMs to the parliamentary democ-racy of India, it is still a matter of satisfaction that more and more parties are coming for-ward to safeguard democracy,” said Bhardwaj, the AAP MLA from Greater Kailash.

Cong finally waking up to EVM threat: Saurabh Bharadwaj

AAP MLA’s tweet comes after Congress resolution during its 84th plenary session

Bharadwaj that AAP is demanding an all party meeting by the Election Commission over the use of ballot papers in the 2019 elections

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: Softening its stand on the chief secretary assault issue, a forum of Delhi government employees today decided that officials will attend meetings called by AAP min-isters in connection with the ongoing budget session of the Assembly.

Since the alleged attack on Chief Secretary Anshu Prakash by some AAP MLAs at Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwals res-idence last month, all officials including IAS and DANICS officers have been boycotting meetings with cabinet minis-ters and maintaining written communication with them.

“In view of the Assem-bly Session, members of Joint Forum reiterated to work for the people and will attend to all duties via a vis Assembly proceedings including physical presence where necessitated,” a statement issued by the Joint

Forum of Delhi government employees said. Prakash and other senior IAS officers had recently decided to attend cab-inet meetings to ensure that peoples works are not affected.

Before a cabinet meeting on February 27, the chief sec-retary had written to Kejriwal, saying that he and his fellow officers would attend the meet-ing of council of ministers on the budget session only on the assumption of officers security.

“Will attend the meeting on the assumption that chief minister will ensure there is no physical attack and verbal assault on the officers,” Prakash had said in the letter.

In solidarity with the Chief Secretary, all officials have been observing a five-minute silence during lunch time.

There are around 70 IAS and 450 Delhi, Andaman and Nicobar Islands Civil Service (DANICS) officers working with the Delhi government.

Delhi officers agree to meet AAP ministers

CS assault: Khan, Jarwal questioned separately

Delhi PWD directs officials

to minimise paper work

Nigerian man who killed compatriot caught in Bihar

Accused Osaretin in police custody PIC/MPOST

60-year-old beaten to death over scuffle for filling water

Man shot dead in Mehrauli over scuffle, two arrested

Accused Sandeep Gupta in police custody PIC/MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: New Delhi MP Meena-kashi Lekhi on Saturday asserted that Police Assistance Booths would pro-vide assistance to Delhi Police, to ensure security of public and women in partic-ular, efficiently and effectively.

Lekhi, on behalf of New Delhi Municipal Council, handed over the keys of four newly-inaugurated Police Assistance Booths to Delhi Police Com-missioner Amulya Patnaik at Shanti Path here on Saturday.

NDMC has constructed four Secu-

rity Cabins in New Delhi area, one at Shanti Path, another at Vinay Marg and two at Kamal Attaturk Marg.

Speaking on the occasion, Pat-naik said that police assistance would be extended to the public round the clock at these booths and that mod-ern equipments for communication would be made available to the police staff on duty.

The Commissioner said that NDMC has constructed these modern Police Assistance Booths with the aim of boosting security in New Delhi, a very sensitive area which serves as the seat

a Government of India and houses important establishments, includ-ing diplomatic embassies and high commissions.

NDMC Chairman Naresh Kumar said that the Council has decided to construct 16 more such Booths in New Delhi, keeping in view the security con-sideration of women, colleges, metro stations, schools, hospitals and other sensitive areas in New Delhi.

These additional Police Assistance Booths would be constructed shortly, he added, which would been designed on the pattern of Lutyens architecture.

NDMC throws open four Police Assistance Booths

Commissioner Amulya Patnaik, with MP Meenakshi Lekhi and NDMC chairman Naresh Kumar in New Delhi PIC/MPOST

Two arrested for making spurious medicines

‘BJP MLAs to meet

Prez over Gahlot’

NEW DELHI: Leader of Oppo-sition in the Delhi Assem-bly Vijender Gupta on Sat-urday said that Bharatiya Janata Party MLAs will meet President Ram Nath Kov-ind and even go to court against the Aam Aadmi Party govern-ment for allow-ing Transport Minister Kailash Gahlot in the House despite his disqualifica-tion in the office-of-profit case.

In a state-ment, Gupta said that the Opposi-tion legislators will also meet Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh and Lieu-tenant Governor Anil Baijal to complain about the Arvind Kejri-wal-led govern-ment over the issue. AGENCIES

4|

mp

NationNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

-Venkaiah Naidu

Music a soother in conflict ridden world

UP reshuffle: 37 IAS transferred, Gorakhpur DM Rautella promoted

India top arms importer with 12% global share: Report

MPOS BUREAU

DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat has extended his gratitude to the people of the state on completing one year in office. Rawat in his message released on Saturday said that one year ago, BJP was given an opportunity by the people of the state to form the govern-ment and to serve them.

“In this past one year, the state government has taken several steps towards overall development of every section of the society. The farmers, women and village have been the central focus of the policies of his government,” Rawat said.

He said that the priority of the government has been to provide better health facil-ities, better education, curb-ing migration and providing employment opportunities to the unemployed youth. The CM said that his govern-ment instead of making sheer announcements worked on those issues on which it could deliver.

Rawat said that several pol-icy level decisions have been taken in the interest of the state to propel Uttarakhand amongst the other frontline develop-ing states. “Our effort was to ensure grass root level execu-tion of various schemes on the ground and provide the ben-efits of welfare schemes to the last man standing in the state,” he said. “To achieve this goal, a consolidated effort was made by the state government in its first year in office,” the CM said.

He said that in power sec-tor the revenue has increased to Rs 168 crore from past year. In transport department the revenue has increased to Rs 140 crores in comparison to last year. “In the mining sec-tor, through E-auction process adopted for the first time, the revenue collection has risen around 27 percent,” Rawat said. “In PWD Department, the works of around Rs 630 crores have been done in rela-tion to works worth Rs 420 crore done in last year. Around 1754-kilometer-long roads, 57 bridges and 567 kilometer of

road re-construction work has been done in the past one year only. A total of 83 villages and 198 new settlements have been linked through new bridges and roads built in the past one year,” the Chief Minister said.

He said that the state gov-ernment has done a com-mendable work in the field of providing electricity connec-tions. “Chief Minister Rawat said that supply of potable water has commenced to 552 slums of the state. “A total of 572 hand pumps were installed at new places. A total of 1273

rural potable water schemes were restored and strengthened to overcome shortage of pota-ble water in rural areas across the state. A total of 3837 run-ning (Chal-Khal), springs and farm ponds were rejuvenated. The work for ‘Suryadhar’ lake has started in Dehradun. The work has already started for rejuvenating Rispana and Kosi rivers,” Rawat said.

He further said that 600 additional medical officers have been appointed till date in the last one year including 239 doctors who have signed

a service bond with the state government.

“The government has quashed the contract of doc-tors, who were posted in the plains for years and were sent back to their original place of postings. A total of 149 den-tists have been deployed in the remote areas of the state. The selection of 491 doctors, and 293 health workers has been completed. The tele-medicine facility has started in 22 main hospitals, while this facility would start soon in 13 more hospitals of the state,” Rawat said.

“The E-health centres have been established at August-muni, Bhikiyasain, Naug-aon and Okhal Kanda health centres. Around 60-65 types of pathological examination would be available in these E-health centres. The on-line registration facility has been started in 47 hospitals across the state. The government has sanctioned a sum of Rs 33 crore for ASHA workers, which was pending since 2012,” the Chief Minister said.

UNITED NATIONS: India is the world's biggest importer of weapons, accounting for 12 percent of global pur-chases during the past five years because it is not able to produce enough arms to meet its requirements, according to the authoritative Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

India's imports rose 24 percent dur-ing the past five calendar years, 2013-17, compared to the previous five-year period, 2008-12, according to a SIPRI study released this week. "The tensions between India, on the one side, and Pak-istan and China, on the other, are fuel-ing India's growing demand for major weapons, which it remains unable to produce itself," SIPRI Senior Researcher Siemon Wezeman wrote.

"China, by contrast, is becoming increasingly capable of producing its own weapons," Wezeman pointed out.

SIPRI, which tracks the global arms trade, uses its own accounting system called Trend-Indicator Value (TIV) to measure the arms transactions in order to arrive at a uniform valuation given the differences in currencies and accounting methods by various coun-tries and inadequate monetary data.

According SIPRI data using this method, India's total TIV rose from 14,608 during 2008-12 to 18,048 in 2013-17. However, India's arms pur-chases have come down during the last three full years of BJP government com-pared to the last three full years of the

Congress-led UPA rule.During 2011-13 when Manmo-

han Singh was Prime Minister, India imported arms worth 13,319 TIV but only 9,499 TIV in 2015-17 under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. When both leaders held power at different times during 2014, the imports were 3,227 TIV.

In 2013, India's imports were 5,322 TIV, up from 1,845 in 2008.

In contrast to India, Pakistan's arms imports declined significantly during the last five years, when imports from the US dropped dramatically compared to the previous five years while supplies from China increased.

"Despite its continuing tensions with India and ongoing internal conflicts, Pakistan's arms imports decreased by 36 per cent between 2008-12 and 2013-17," the report said. "Pakistan accounted for 2.8 per cent of global arms imports in 2013-17."

Pakistan's arms imports from the US dropped by 76 percent in the latest five-year period compared with the previous five, the study said.

China was Pakistan's main source of arms in 2013-17, and there was a large increase in Chinese arms exports to Bangladesh in that period, SIPRI said.

As New Delhi diversifies its arms purchases, the US is rapidly increasing

its arms sales to India, emerging over the last five years as its second biggest supplier, according SIPRI.

The share of India's imports from the US increased from 2.7 percent of its total during 2008-12 to 15 percent in the latest five-year period - recording a 557 percent increase - as it leapfrogged over Uzbekistan, Britain and Israel.

Israel has moved up to the third spot accounting for 11 percent of India's imports during the 2013-17, compared to 3.7 percent in 2008-12 showing a 285 percent increase, according to the study.

Although Russia remained by far India's biggest arms seller, its share of total imports has fallen.

Russia had a 62 percent share of India's arms imports during the past five years, down from 79 percent in 2008-12, according to SIPRI.

Uzbekistan, which was India's sec-ond biggest import source accounting for 4.3 of its purchases abroad during 2008-12 did not sell any after 2011, according to the data.

Weapons imports from Britain fell to 3.2 percent of the total during the last five years, while it was 5.2 percent in 2008-12, a drop of 23 percent during that period that moved it down from the third spot to the fifth.

France has moved up to the fourth spot accounting for 4.6 percent of India's imports during the last five years, an increase of 572 percent compared to just 0.8 percent. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government has trans-ferred 37 IAS officials, includ-ing 16 District Magistrates, an official said on Saturday.

Rajiv Rautela, the Dis-trict Magistrate of Gorakh-pur, who courted controversy on Wednesday for barring the media from accessing details at the Lok Sabha bypoll count-ing centre, has been shifted and prompted as Divisional Com-missioner of Devipatan.

The bureaucratic rejig was effected late on Friday.

The Samajwadi Party has wrested Gorakhpur, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's home constituency, from the BJP after several decades.

Anoop Chandra Pandey, the industrial and infrastruc-ture development commis-sioner (IIDC) credited with the success of the 'UP Investors Summit' held in February has been rewarded with additional charge of the NRI Department, besides the additional charge of Greater Noida.

Alok Sinha has been made the new principal secretary (Commercial Tax), Nitin Ramesh has been made the new principal secretary (Hous-ing). He replaced Mukul Sing-hal who has been sent to the Silk Department.

Senior bureaucrat Rajeev Kapoor who was in waiting ever since his return from a central deputation has been made the chairman of PICUP; Alok Tandon has been given additional charge of Noida as its chairman.

Deepak Agarwal has been made the new divisional com-missioner of Varanasi while Chandra Prakash Tripathi has been made the new commis-sioner of Saharanpur.

Ravindra Naik, has been made the director industries, while Saumya Agarwal has been given the charge of vice-chairperson of Kanpur Devel-opment Authority (KDA).

Chandra Bhushan Singh

has been given charge as new District Magistrate of Aligarh, S.V. Ranga Rao is the new com-missioner of Azamgarh while Shivakant Dwivedi has been made the new District Magis-trate of Azamgarh.

Rajendra Prasad is the new District Magistrate of Bhadohi, Krishna Karunesh (Balram-pur), Pramod Kumar Upadhy-aya (Hapur), Hemant Kumar (Amroha), Navneet Chahal (Chandauli), Rama Shankar Maurya (Hathras) and Amit Singh is the new District Mag-istrate of Sonebhadra.

Pranjal Yadav, who was special secretary in Udyog Bandhu and played an impor-tant role in the Investors Sum-mit has surprisingly been shunted out and made the new director (Training).

Surendra Vikram has been removed and replaced by Bhawani Singh as District Magistrate of Ballia. Sarika Mohan has been removed and replaced by Sheetal Verma as District Magistrate of Sitapur.

Akhilesh Kumar Mishra has been made the new Dis-trict Magistrate of Pilibhit.

District Magistrate of Bareilly Raghvendra Singh, who had created a storm after his comments on the social media on the growing com-munal temper in the state has also been removed.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath

Uttarakhand CM Trivendra Singh Rawat completes one year in office

RANCHI: A special CBI court has deferred till March 19 the judgement against for-mer Bihar chief ministers Lalu Prasad and Jagannath Mishra in the fourth fodder scam case pertaining to alleged with-drawal of Rs 3.13 crore from the Dumka treasury over two decades ago, a lawyer said on Saturday. This is the second time that the verdict in the case has been postponed, RJD chief Prasad's counsel Prabhat Kumar said. The court of spe-cial judge Shiv Pal Singh had yesterday fixed today as the date for the pronouncement of the order, he said.

The special CBI judge is on a training programme. The judgement will be pronounced on March 19, the lawyer said.

The court had postponed the verdict on March 15 till the next day in view of a petition being filed on behalf of Prasad seeking three officials in the office of the accountant general in the 1990s be made a party to the case, according to Kumar.

Besides Prasad and Mishra, 29 others are accused, includ-ing former IAS and animal hus-bandry department officials, in the Dumka treasury case.

The 69-year-old RJD chief

has been in Birsa Munda jail at Ranchi since December 23 last year after being convicted in the second fodder scam case pertaining to illegal withdrawal of Rs 89.27 lakh from the Deog-arh treasury 21 years ago.

On January 6 this year, the CBI court judge had sen-tenced Prasad to three-and-a-half years in jail and imposed a fine of Rs 10 lakh on him in the Deoghar treasury case.

The CBI court had on Jan-uary 24 this year sentenced Prasad and Mishra to five years in jail in a fodder scam case in connection with fraudulent withdrawal of Rs 37.62 crore from the Chaibasa treasury.

In 2013, Prasad was con-victed in the first fodder scam case involving withdrawal of Rs 37.7 crore from the Chai-basa treasury and sentenced to five years in jail while Mishra was given a prison term of four years. MPOST

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI/PUNE: At least three Bangladeshi nationals were on Saturday arrested from Pune by the state ATS for alleg-edly providing shelter to sus-pected terrorists of Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT), an Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, officials said.

The arrested accused, who themselves were illegally stay-ing in India, had provided shel-ter to the ABT members.

"The three Bangladeshi nationals had been staying illegally, without any autho-rised travel documents for the past five years in Wanavadi and Akurdi areas," a senior official of the Maharashtra Anti-Ter-rorism Squad (ATS) said.

The ABT is an al-Qaeda inspired Islamic extremist group in Bangladesh, he said.

"The three accused are aged between 25 and 31 years and hail either from Khulna or Shariyatpur in Bangladesh," he said. During their interro-gation, they revealed that they had provided shelter and other help to the members of ABT during their stay in Pune, the official added.

Acting on specific inputs, the Pune unit of Maharashtra ATS carried out a search opera-tion in Wanavadi yesterday and

apprehended one Bangladeshi national, he said.

"During his interrogation, he provided information about two more Bangladeshi nation-als, who were staying illegally in Akurdi, after which the duo was also nabbed," he said.

They were also carrying PAN and Aadhaar cards, which were obtained by using forged documents, another ATS offi-cial said.

The officer said one of the arrested accused stayed and worked near a sensitive establishment.

"Investigation has revealed that these accused and their accomplices were helping the active members of ABT, which is supposedly a front organisa-tion of Al-Qaeda, to hide in India and were also helping ter-rorist activities financially and through various other ways," the officer said.

He said the three accused worked as construction labour-ers and had procured SIM cards using forged documents.

A case was registered under sections 465 (forgery) and 471 (using as genuine a forged doc-ument) of Indian Penal Code and relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities (Preven-tion) Amendment Act, he said, adding the accused would be produced in a court.

MPOS BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The CRPF has transferred the Commandant of its 212th battalion whose nine personnel were recently killed in a Naxal triggered IED blast in Chhattisgarh.

Prashant Dhar, the Com-manding Officer (CO), has been transferred to the North East sector late last evening, pending inquiry, officials said.

They said the role of the offi-cer is under scrutiny for alleged lapses that led to the killing of the nine Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) jawans in Sukma district on March 13 as their mine protected vehicle (MPV) was blown off by the Maoists.

Dhar, officials said, was directed by the CRPF Director General (DG) R R Bhatnagar, through field commanders, to exercise caution and not allow any movement on the 5-km under-construction Kistaram-Palodi road after an encounter between the Maoists and secu-rity forces had taken place in the morning on the fateful day.

But, they said, Sukma dis-trict Superintendent of Police (SP) Abhishek Meena visited the area and the CRPF, state

police and district reserve group (DRG) contingents accompanied him and Dhar for their onward movement to some newly established secu-rity camps in the area including Palodi. At this juncture, they said, it was decided to take out not one but two MPVs. Under what circumstances Dhar allowed this movement is part of a Court of Inquiry (CoI).

The directions issued by the CRPF DG against mak-ing any movement, standing instructions to very sparingly use MPVs and largely in rein-forcement jobs and the alert generated after the early morn-ing encounter in the same area were overlooked and troops allowed to board the MPV are some of the glaring lapses, they said.

Bhatnagar had on Friday said that the incident was very much "avoidable".

"This was a very unfortu-nate incident. It was unavoid-able. We are now looking into the circumstances as to how the operation was conducted.Whatever corrective steps have to be taken, will be taken. An inquiry is underway," the DG had said.

MPOS BUREAU

NEW DELHI: A parliamen-tary committee has rapped the health and AYUSH ministries for their "laid back" approach in the framing of a new legis-lation to regulate misleading advertisements promoting the sale of AYUSH medicines.

The panel, in its report on Demands for Grants 2018-19 for the Ministry of AYUSH, noted that it is the "need of the hour" to strictly monitor and regulate misleading advertise-ments promoting the sale tra-ditional medicines.

"The committee is of the view that a strong and strict regulatory framework is essential for quality control of AYUSH drugs," the panel said.

Due to monitoring by the Advertising Standards Coun-cil of India (ASCI) and the Grievances against Mislead-ing Advertisements (GAMA), 65 per cent of the advertise-ments found misleading were withdrawn or rectified and the rest were forwarded to State AYUSH Drug Regulators, the ministry of AYUSH has informed the panel.

The committee is of the view that collaborative efforts of the ministry, along with the Department of Consumer Affairs, Ministry of Informa-tion and Broadcasting and state governments, have cer-tainly given results as mis-leading advertisements with respect to AYUSH drugs which have been unregulated so far have been controlled to an extent.

"Hence the role of the min-istry is pivotal in proactively pursuing the issue with other departments, ministries, ASCI on a regular basis for effectively preventing the publication of inappropriate misleading advertisements," it said.

With respect to the new legislation containing the existing and proposed provi-sions of both the Drugs and Cosmetics Act, 1940 and the Drugs and Magic Remedies (Objectionable Advertise-ment) Act, 1954, the commit-tee expressed dismay that the new legislation was still in the process of being framed by the department of health.

"It has been more than two years since the new legislation

is being framed and it speaks volumes about the laid back approach of the Ministry of Health and also of the Minis-try of AYUSH in pursuing the matter," the report stated.

The committee strongly recommend a definite time line within which the new leg-islation should see the light of the day.

The AYUSH ministry has signed an MoU with ASCI for suo motu monitoring of AYUSH advertisements appearing in print and TV media.

The Ministry of AYUSH has received written and online complaints of misleading advertisements and 804 such instances of improper adver-tisements allegedly of herbal and AYUSH products have been brought to its notice dur-ing the period from April 2015 to January 2018 by the ASCI.

The ASCI reported that about 65 per cent of the adver-tisements found misleading were withdrawn or rectified and the rest had to be for-warded to the respective State AYUSH drug regulators for necessary action.

SITAMARHI (Bihar): At least 10 people, including two women and as many children, were on Saturday killed when a bus skidded off an elevated highway here, police said.

The accident occurred near Bhanaspatti village here.

The bus was heading towards the adjoining town of Muzaffarpur. It skidded and came crashing down from the top of NH-77 this afternoon, station house officer of Runni-saidpur Police Station Shivna-rayan Ram said. He said that 10 people were killed and many injured in the accident. AGENCIES

MUMBAI: Fire broke out at a four-storey Army building in south Mumbai's Colaba area this evening, a civic official said. An official of the Disas-ter Management Cell of the BMC said the fire started at around 7 pm. Four vehicles of the fire brigade were rushed to the spot, he said. A Defence spokesperson confirmed that fire had broken out at one of the Army buildings near Afghan Church in Colaba.

He said that the fire had been brought under con-trol and no injuries had been reported. AGENCIES

Parl panel raps govt over delay in framing law to regulate AYUSH ads

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: Farmers in Ahmednagar district of Maha-rashtra on Saturday claimed that fugitive jeweller Nirav Modi, prime accused in the alleged Rs 11,400 crore Pun-jab National Bank fraud, had acquired their lands at less than prevailing rates.

A group of over 200 farm-ers, who arrived in bull-ock carts at the tract of land at Khandala in Karjat tehsil, ploughed a part of it using a tractor as a symbolic reclaim-ing of possession. They will start cultivation on the full 125 acres of the acquired land soon, farmers said. Saturday's protest was meant to show that farm-ers have reclaimed their land, which was acquired on behalf of Nirav Modi's Firestar com-pany some years ago, they said.

The land is among the prop-erties attached by the Enforce-ment Directorate as a part of its probe against Modi who has fled the country, said a farmer activist. Protesting farmers also carried the tricolour and por-traits of King Shivaji and Dr B R Ambedkar.

Verdict against Lalu, Mishra in a fodder scam case deferred till Mar 19

10 killed in Bihar bus mishap

Fire at Army building in South Mumbai

CRPF transfers CO of Sukma battalion

MPV BLAST KILLINGSMaha farmers ‘reclaim’ land acquired by Nirav’s firm

Three Bangladeshis held for helping suspected terrorists

Businessmp

| 5millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

Chhattisgarh Rural Roads Development Agency VIKASH BHAVAN, CIVIL LINES, RAIPUR (C.G.)

E-Procurement Tender Notice NIT No. 285 /CE/TECH./CGRRDA/2018 Dated 16/03/2018

The Superintending Engineer / Convener (Tender Cell), CGRRDA on behalf of Governor of Chhattisgarh invites the percentage rate bids on SOR of PWD enforced from 2015 & PMGSY SOR 2014 amended till date in electronic tendering system for construction of roads under Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak LSB Work in the district of Raigarh for 01 number of LSB with Estimate Cost totaling Rs 208.57 Lacs as per B.O.Q. from the eligible contractors registered with unified registration system ( e-registration). Date of release of Invitation for Bids through e-procurement: 21/03/2018Availability of Bid Documents and mode of submission: The bid document is available online and should be submitted online in https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in. The bidder would be required to register in the web-site which is free of cost. For submission of the bids, the bidder is required to have a valid Digital Signature Certificate (DSC) from one of the authorized Certifying Authorities. The bidders are required to submit (a) original bid security in approved form and (b) original affidavit regarding correctness of information furnished with bid document as per provisions of Clause 4.4 B (a) (ii) of ITB with Superintending Engineer / Convener, Tender Cell, CGRRDA, Vikash Bhawan, Civil Lines, Raipur C.G. on a date not later than three working days after the opening of technical qualification part of the Bid, either by Speed/ Registered post, failing which the bids shall be declared non-responsive. Last Date/ Time for receipt of bids through e-procurement as per time schedule. For further details please log on to https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in.

Superintending Engineer/Convener( Tender Cell) Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development Agency

Civil Lines, Raipur (C.G.) samvad 85442/3 E-mail : cg-itno@nic.in

OFFICE OF THE SUPERINTENDING ENGINEER PUBLIC WORKS DEPARTMENT, CIRCLE NO-1 RAIPUR (C.G.)

Tender Notice (1st Call) Contractors, Registered appropriate class in Unified Registration System [e- Registration] invited Online tenders for the following works :-

Note :- All eligible/interested contractors are mandated to get enrolled on the e Procurement portal (https://eproc.cgstate.gov.in) in order to download the tender documents and participate in the subsequent bidding process.

Superintencing Engineer G 48957/4 P.W.D. Raipur CirclerNo-1 Raipur C.G.

Over the years in operations, Hindustan Aeronautics Limited (HAL), the defence PSU, has earned respect through sheer mettle and expertise it has in the defence space of the country. In the due course of time, HAL has become the largest defence PSU in terms of value of production in the Indian defence sector, according to the MoD Annual Report 2016-2017. HAL) is a premier aeronautical complex in Asia with 20 production divisions and 11 R&D centres spread across seven states and nine geographical locations in India. HAL’s expertise encompasses design, production, repair, overhaul and upgrade of Aircraft, Helicopters, Aero-engines, Accessories, Avionics and Systems.

Yogamaya Acharya, President, Neyveli Ladies Club, handing over a sewing machine and certificate to a woman, who underwent training in NLC India Limited. Also seen are SR Sekar, GM, CSR, NLCIL. Senior officials of NLCIL and members of Neyveli Ladies Club participated in this function. Earlier, Latha, Treasurer, Neyveli Ladies Club, delivered welcome address and the vote of thanks by B Balachandar, AEE/CSR of NLCIL

CORPORATE KALEIDOSCOPE

NCL Krishnashila Area has opened a computer training centre in Jawaharnagar village for promoting skill development as part of CSR activity. As many as 125 youngsters living in and around operational area of NCL Krishnashila have registered themselves for the training in new computer centre

-Narendra Modi

Confusion being spread about support price to farmers

NEW DELHI: Nobel Laure-ate Paul Krugman on Satur-day said India has made rapid progress on the economic front but economic inequality in the country remains an issue.

India has become a much "better place to do business" than it was earlier, though the bureaucratic obstacles have not gone away completely buy reduced enormously.

"India achieved as much economic progress in the (last) 30 years as the Great Britain did in 150 years. It is a very rapid space of transforma-tion....why does there still seem to be visible poverty in India?

"One problem is high degree of economic inequal-ity," Krugman said at the News 18 Rising India Summit, add-ing that India has made "enor-mous strides" in economic progress but the wealth has "not been evenly distributed".

On rising income of mid-dle-class in emerging markets globally, he said: "People, when (they) mostly talk about the story, understandably focus on China, but India is part of the story as well. ...India is still poor, but not in the same level at all. Indian GDP per capita is about 12 per cent of the US level now, which sounds low but that is up from 4 per cent not that long ago.

Terming India's economic growth progress as "extraor-dinary", he said the country has become (on purchasing power) the world's largest economy overtaking Japan and while being behind the US and China, it is far bigger than any European country.

Attributing factors that played a role in the economic "progress", Krugman said there was a dramatic change in India's policy including lib-

eralised policies taken in early 1990s.

"I am on the Centre-Left, but I do not think the gov-ernment should have a heavy hand on economy. India used

to have License Raj, where bureaucratic obstacles were immense and that has not gone away completely but enormously reduced. India has become a much easier place

to do business that it was. The PM said India moved from 148 to 100 in the rankings. That is not a badge of distinction, but it is better than it was," he observed.

According to Krugman, the transformation of policy came at a good time and the country opened up at the right time.

The infrastructure is still a problem but it is better than before, he said.

"India brought policies that opened up possibilities of doing business and made India attractive place for inter-national companies to do busi-ness. There has been a real transformation of policies," he said. He also touched upon the problem of corruption that the country has been facing.

"There are issues of corrup-tion. You cannot become Den-mark with Chinese levels of corruption," he said. IANS

‘Progress made but economic inequality stays in India’

Paul Krugman terms India’s economic growth progress as ‘extraordinary’

Nobel Laureate Paul Krugman said India has become (on purchasing power) the world’s largest economy overtaking Japan

KALPANA MANDAL

KATHMANDU: SAARC nations should take benefit of India's growth rate of 7-7.5 per cent through increased eco-nomic cooperation, and by enhancing the geographical connectivity amongst them-selves, Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri said on Saturday.

"We will have to see how SAARC nations can bene-fit from India's 7-7.5 per cent GDP growth. For that they will have to increase connectivity amongst themselves. I feel all other nations in South Asia can piggyback on India's high growth rate and this can be an advantage plus for all coun-tries. It will be a win win situa-tion for all," Puri said here. He was speaking on the sidelines of 6th SAARC business lead-ers Conclave 2018 organised by SAARC CII (SCII) here.

Improving regional con-nectivity is very important objective for India, he said.

In terms of Nepal, India is making an integrated check post at Birpur which is almost

ready and will be inaugurated soon, Puri said.

The motor vehicle act between Bhutan, Bangladesh, Nepal, India (BBIN) is being worked upon and there are efforts to revive the rail net-work amongst them also.

"We are interacting strongly with Nepal and looking for-ward in taking ahead many projects. For example, the 900 megawatt Arun III project is perhaps the largest hydro elec-tric project in Nepal. "We are looking at some other critical projects, including rail net-works, road links," he said.

Puri also said boost-ing connectivity and ease of doing business are very serious

endeavours of both the coun-tries and a major objective of India-Nepal partnership.

Indo-Nepal trade has been growing rapidly over the years, Puri said. Earlier during a ses-sion on Unleashing South Asia, he pitched for granting of most favoured nation (MFN) status to each other amongst the eight SAARC countries. On India Pakistan relations, the Indian Ambassador said that dialogue between the two nations should be in sync with actions.

Terrorism should not be allowed to thrive and India has taken the initiative on the mat-ter many times, but they should shun terrorism as it does not benefit anybody, he added. PTI

‘South Asian nations can piggyback on India's high growth rate'

Indian Ambassador to Nepal Manjeev Singh Puri

PANAJI: Ahead of Union minister Nitin Gadkari's visit to Goa next week, the BJP on Saturday convened a meeting of its legislators and office-bearers here to discuss the way out of the mining crisis. BJP national general secretary (organisations) B L Santhosh chaired the meeting that was attended by the party legisla-tors and office-bearers at its office in Panaji.

Gadkari is scheduled to visit Goa on March 20 to hold talks with the state govern-ment and the stakeholders over the mining crisis. Accord-ing to party sources, a detailed discussion was held on the issue during today's meeting. The five-decade-old mining industry in Goa came to a standstill from yesterday with the Supreme Court ordering a ban on iron ore extraction. The apex court had quashed 88 mining leases in the state, stopping the fresh extraction of ore.

"We are trying to work a way out of the current min-ing crisis, which has affected lakhs of people in the state.

All possible efforts would be made to ensure that the peo-ple dependent on the min-ing industry are not left in the lurch," Assembly Speaker and BJP legislator Pramod Sawant told reporters after the meeting. Sawant, who rep-resents Sankhalim constitu-ency, which is iron ore mining belt, said the state and the cen-tral governments are leaving no stone unturned to make sure that the mining activities resume soon.

State Panchayat Minis-ter and BJP legislator Mauvin Godinho said all the stake-holders of the mining indus-try would be heard and only

AHMEDABAD: A high rate of Goods and Services Tax (GST), with no provision for its refund, threatens to kill the alu-minium recycling industry, a majority of which are MSMEs, its representatives said here on Saturday.

"The aluminium recy-cling industry, which is repre-sented by around 5,000 Micro Small and Medium Enter-prises, is severely affected by the accumulation of GST due to over-valuation of imports of aluminium scrap by the Cus-toms," said Mahendra Shah, president of the All India Non Ferrous Metal Exim Association.

The All India Non Ferrous Metal Exim Association repre-sents the aluminium recycling industry and largely depends on imported metal scrap. Guja-rat accounts for around 40 per cent of the industry, association members said. GST on metal scrap at 18 per cent is com-pounding the problem of the industry, he said, adding that the industry has demanded that it be reduced to 5 per cent at par with GST on other kinds of scrap.

"Reduction of GST on metal scrap to 5 per cent will lead to no accumulation and, at the same time, the government will not incur any revenue loss as it will not affect tax collec-tion. The government would get GST on finished products.

Reduction of GST on scrap will help the industry survive," Shah added.

Kishore Rajpurohit, the past president of the associa-tion, said that 20-40 per cent extra duty was being paid on the import of aluminium scrap due to the Customs assessment being done on the basis of an alert published by the Direc-torate General of Valuation. PTI

High GST threatening aluminium

recycling units, says industry

Mining crisis: Goa BJP MLAs, party leaders discuss way out

after that the governments will decide the future action.

"We will work out a road-map," he added. PTI

Gadkari is scheduled to visit Goa on March 20 to hold talks with the state government, the stakeholders over the mining crisis

6|

mp

WorldNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

Ex-foreign minister of Maldives Ahmed Naseem

What is happening in the Maldives is not just about democracy. It’s about peace, stability, and security of the entire neighbourhood

Russia expels 23 UK envoys in ‘spy poisoning’ responseMOSCOW: Russia on Sat-urday announced it is expel-ling 23 British diplomats and threatened further measures in retaliation in a growing dip-lomatic dispute over a nerve agent attack on a former spy in Britain.

The Russian Foreign Min-istry also said in a statement that it is ordering the closure of the British Council, a govern-ment organization for cultural and scientific cooperation, and that it is ending an agreement to reopen the British consulate in St Petersburg.

It ordered the diplomats to leave within a week.

The statement said the government could take fur-ther measures if Britain takes any more "unfriendly" moves toward Russia.

British Ambassador Lau-rie Bristow was called to the Foreign Ministry Saturday morning to be informed of the moves.

British Prime Minister The-resa May this week expelled 23 Russian diplomats and severed high-level bilateral contacts over the March 4 poisoning of ex-spy Sergei Skripal and his

daughter Yulia. They remain in critical condition in hospital.

Britain's foreign secretary accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of person-ally ordering the poisoning of the Skripals, who were found slumped on a public bench in the southern English city of Salisbury. Putin's spokesman denounced the claim.

While Russia has vigor-ously denied involvement in the attack, Western powers see it as the latest sign of alleged Russian meddling abroad. The tensions threaten to overshadow Putin's expected re-election on Sunday for another six-year presidential term. Meanwhile new tensions have surfaced over the death this week of a London-based Russian businessman, Nikolai Glushkov.

British police said on Friday that he died from compression to the neck and opened a mur-der investigation.

Russia also suspects foul play in Glushkov's death and opened its own inquiry on Fri-day. British police said there is no apparent link between the attack on Glushkov and the poi-soning of the Skripals, but both

have raised alarm in the West at a time when Russia is increas-ingly assertive on the global stage and facing investigations over alleged interference in the Donald Trump's election as US president.

The source of the nerve agent, which Britain says is Soviet-made Novichok, is unclear, as is the way it was administered. Russia has demanded that Britain share samples collected by investigators.

Top EU diplomats were expected to discuss next steps at a meeting Monday, with some calling for a boycott of the upcoming World Cup in Russia. British Prime Minister Theresa May is seeking a global coalition of countries to punish Moscow. AGENCIES

Humans survived ‘climate change’ 74,000 years ago

LOS ANGELES: Early humans not only survived a mas-sive volcanic eruption 74,000 years ago, they even flourished during the resulting climate change that occurred, a study has found.

The Toba eruption - the largest in the past 2 million years - was so immense, it spewed ash and smoke around the world, including South Africa, some 6,200 miles away.

According to previous stud-ies, "winter" of ash and smoke spread thousands of miles, destroyed plants, killed ani-mals, and nearly wiped out humans.

The findings, published in the journal Nature, coun-tered previously held beliefs and showed that there was a remarkable improvement in their life style during the volca-nic winter caused by the Toba eruption.

Researchers went to South Africa and collected samples from the Pinnacle Point look-ing for evidence of the Toba super volcano.

The shards are both tiny and hard to come by - roughly 1

in every 10,000 grains of sand, Eugene Smith from the Univer-sity of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Smith quickly identified the pieces as cryptotephra, very old microscopic glass shards that were ejected during a volcanic eruption.

The researchers were able to show that those human ances-tors living at Pinnacle Point and Vleesbaai - located about five miles apart - showed remark-able improvement in their life style during the volcanic winter caused by the Toba eruption.

"Humans in this region thrived through the Toba event and the ensuing full glacial conditions, perhaps as a combined result of the uniquely rich resource base of the region and fully evolved modern human adaptation," they said. AGENCIES

10 killed as plane crashes

into house in Philippines

MANILA: Ten people were killed when a small plane crashed into a house just out-side the Philippine capital on Saturday, police and aviation officials said.

The twin-engine aircraft crashed shortly after taking off in Plaridel town, killing all five aboard as well as three chil-dren, a mother and a grand-mother from the family in the house, said Superintendent Julio Lizardo.

"We had to dig through the rubble to find the bodies," he said, explaining why the toll rose from an initial figure of seven dead. Officials declined to say what may have caused the crash of the Piper PA-23 Apache, operated by a local charter company. AGENCIES

AI-based technique finds 6,000 new craters on MoonTORONTO: Scientists have mapped 6,000 new craters on the Moon with the help of a newly developed technique based on artificial intelligence (AI).

"When it comes to count-ing craters on the Moon, it's a pretty archaic method," said Mohamad Ali-Dib from the University of Toronto, Scarbor-ough in Canada.

"Basically we need to manu-ally look at an image, locate and count the craters and then cal-culate how large they are based off the size of the image. Here we've developed a technique from artificial intelligence that can automate this entire process that saves significant time and effort," Ali-Dib said.

Researchers have tried in the past to develop algorithms that could identify and count lunar craters but when they were

used on new, previously unseen patches of craters they tended to perform poorly.

By comparison, the tech-nique developed by Ali-Dib and his colleagues can gener-alise very well to unseen lunar patches, and even other cratered bodies like Mercury.

"It's the first time we have an algorithm that can detect craters really well for not only parts of

the Moon, but also areas of Mer-cury," said Ali-Dib.

In order to determine its accuracy, the researchers first trained the neural network on a large data set covering two thirds of the Moon, and then tested their trained network on the remaining third of the Moon.

It worked so well that it was able to identify twice as many

craters as traditional manual counting. In fact, it was able to identify about 6,000 previ-ously unidentified craters on the Moon.

According to a research pub-lished in the journal Icarus, the technique itself relies on a con-volutional neural network, a class of machine learning algo-rithms that has been success-fully used for computer vision to power robots and even self-driving cars.

The data used by the algo-rithms was taken from elevation maps gathered from orbiting satellites.

"Tens of thousands of unidentified small craters are on the Moon, and it's unreal-istic for humans to efficiently characterise them all by eye," said Ari Silburt from the Uni-versity of Toronto, Scarborough.

"There's real potential for

machines to help identify these small craters and reveal undis-covered clues about the for-mation of our solar system," Silburt said.

Knowing the size and loca-tion of craters on bodies like the Moon is important because it offers a window into the his-tory of our solar system.

By studying impact cra-ters of all shapes, sizes and ages, researchers can better understand the distribution of material and the physics that occurred in the early stages of our solar system, Ali-Dib said.

Since the Moon lacks an atmosphere, plate tectonics and water, there is little erosion and as a result some impact craters as old as four billion years are visible. The ages of large cra-ters can also be determined by counting how many small cra-ters are found inside it. AGENCIES

Porn star Stormy liable for $20 mn, says Trump lawyerLOS ANGELES: Donald Trump's lawyer claims porn actress Stormy Daniels is lia-ble for at least USD 20 million for violating a nondisclosure agreement she says prevents her from discussing an affair with the president, according to a court filing.

A lawyer for Michael Cohen's Essential Consul-tants limited liability company - which paid Daniels USD 130,000 under the agreement - made the filing, which said that Daniels violated the deal "at least" 20 times.

"The Settlement Agree-ment provides for liquidated damages of one million dollars (USD 1,000,000) per instance of breach," the court filing says.

Daniels signed the agree-ment pertaining to an alleged affair a decade earlier shortly before the 2016 election, leading to allegations that the payment amounted to an illicit contribu-tion to Trump's campaign.

Lawyer Michael Avenatti filed a lawsuit on behalf of Dan-iels earlier this month seeking to toss out the confidential set-tlement. The suit alleged that Daniels began an "intimate rela-

tionship" with Trump in the summer of 2006 that continued well into 2007.

The White House has denied any sexual encounter between Trump and Daniels - who has offered to return the USD 130,000 she received so that she can be free to "speak openly and freely about her prior rela-tionship with the president and the attempts to silence her."

She is also asking to be allowed to publish text mes-sages, photos and videos relat-ing to the president, Avenatti said in a letter to Cohen. Using the pseudonyms Peggy Peter-son and David Dennison, Dan-iels and Trump were to sign the agreement, along with Essential Consultants. AGENCIES

Vatican convicts ex-Guam archbishop of sex abuse, gives him light sentence

VATICAN CITY: The Vatican has removed the suspended Guam archbishop from office and ordered him not to return to the Pacific island after con-victing him of some charges in a sex abuse trial.

The Vatican didn't say what exactly Archbishop Anthony Apuron had been convicted of, and the sentence was far lighter than those given high-profile elderly prelates found guilty of molesting minors.

It amounts to an early retirement anywhere in the world but Guam, a remote US Pacific territory where nearly everyone is Roman Catholic.

Apuron is 72, while the Vat-ican retirement age is 75.

The Vatican spokesman declined to comment. Calls placed to the tribunal judge weren't answered. Apuron's whereabouts weren't immedi-ately known.

"While I am relieved that the tribunal dismissed the majority of the accusations against me, I have appealed the verdict," said a statement from Apuron distributed by his Guam attorney, Jacqueline Terlaje.

"God is my witness; I am innocent and I look forward to proving my innocence in the

appeals process." Pope Francis named a temporary adminis-trator for Guam in 2016 after Apuron was accused by former altar boys of sexually abusing them when he was a priest.

Dozens of cases involv-ing other priests on the island have since come to light, and the archdiocese is facing more than USD 115 million in civil lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by priests.

Apuron strongly denied the charges and said he was a vic-tim of a "calumny" campaign. He wasn't criminally charged. The statute of limitations had expired. A statement from the tribunal in the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, which handles sex abuse cases, said Apuron had been con-victed of some of the accusa-tions against him.

Under an appeal, the pen-alties could be suspended until the case is resolved. However, it's not clear whether that has happened now that Apuron has indicated he has appealed.

In the past, when an elderly or infirm priest has been con-victed by the Vatican of sex-ually abusing minors, he has often been removed from min-istry and sentenced to a lifetime of "penance and prayer."

Younger priests convicted of abuse have been defrocked, removed from ministry or forbidden from presenting themselves as priests. Francis, however, has intervened in a handful of cases to lower sen-tences, and several high-rank-ing Vatican prelates oppose defrocking convicted molest-ers and have long lobbied for more lenient sentences. AGENCIES

Rajapaksa-backed Oppn moves no trust motion against PM RanilCOLOMBO: Former Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa-backed Joint Opposition has moved a no confidence motion against Prime Minister Ranil Wick-remesinghe who was recently replaced as law and order min-ister after clashes erupted in the central Kandy district.

Joint Opposition (JO) par-liamentarian Ranjith Soysa said the motion of no confidence against the 68-year-old Wick-remesinghe will be handed over to Speaker of parliament next week when the House resumes.

Rajapaksa told reporters on Friday that they were close to topple the government.

"He (Wickremesinghe) will have to go soon," Rajapaksa said.

The JO said the motion

against Wickremesinghe will contain charges of economic mismanagement by him dur-ing the last 3 years.

It said that even some mem-bers of Wickremesinghe's United National Party (UNP) would sign the motion.

Among the top most charges against Wick-remesinghe would be the alleged scandal in the Central Bank bond issues in 2015 and 2016, Sonysa said.

Wickremesinghe is accused of appointing Singapore

national Arjuna Mahendran as the bank's governor whose son in law Arjun Aloysius was running a primary dealer firm.

He is also charged of fail-ing to tackle the anti-Muslim riots in the central district of Kandy when he was the Law and Order Minister.

Since the February 10 land-slide victory by Rajapaksa's new party Sri Lanka People's Party (SLPP), Wickremesinghe has faced calls for resignation.

The UNP, however, doubted Rajapaksa's ability to topple Wickremesinghe.

Both Rajapaksa loyalists and President Maithripala Sirisena's Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) are short of num-bers to win the motion unless large scale defections from the UNP, which seems very unlikely. AGENCIES

Greece: 16 dead in suspected migrant boat

sinking ATHENS: Greece's coast guard said on Saturday the bodies of 16 people have been recovered from the sea off a Greek island in the eastern Aegean follow-ing the sinking of a suspected migrant smuggling boat.

A massive search and res-cue operation was underway to locate four others believed missing.

Initially, the bodies of four children, one man and one woman were recovered off the island of Agathonisi, south of the island of Samos, the coast guard said.

Eight more bodies were recovered shortly after near Agathonisi. A coast guard spokeswoman said it was not immediately known whether they were adults or minors.

Three people, two women and a man,managed to reach the coast and alert authorities.

The three told authorities they had been in a wooden boat which sank with an estimated 21 people on board. The rea-sons for the sinking were not immediately clear, and authori-ties said the total number of people who had been on board was also unclear. AGENCIES

Malaysia 'snake whisperer' dies after cobra bite

KUALA LUMPUR: A Malay-sian firefighter dubbed the "snake whisperer" has died four days after he was bitten by a wild cobra while responding to a call to catch the aggressive reptile, an official said on Saturday.

The spitting cobra bit 33-year-old Abu Zarin Hussin on Monday in the central state of Pahang, where he subsequently succumbed its venom in hos-pital on Friday. The firefighter had gained celebrity status in Malaysia for his ability to closely handle deadly snakes.

He was pictured in photos and videos widely circulated online kissing king cobra snakes on the mouth, and appeared on TV show Asia's Got Talent last year rubbing his nose against a serpent's head.

Khiruddin Drahman, direc-tor of Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department, said that Abu Zarin had responded to a public call while off-duty with his wife. "The snake he caught

was a wild spitting cobra. A single bite can even kill an ele-phant," he said.

"We lost a talented officer. It is a tragic event."

Firefighters are regularly sent to deal with venomous snakes in populated areas of Malaysia. Abu Zarin was renowned for teaching other junior officers how to catch the deadly reptiles.

He learnt his snake-handling skills from his father, whom he called a "snake charmer", and started training the creatures in 2007, the Star Online said.

Some three years ago he was in coma for two days due to a cobra bite.

Two years ago, the firefighter emerged as an internet star after it was falsely reported that he had married a snake because he believed the serpent was his dead girlfriend reincarnated.

His body was buried in his hometown in the eastern Kelantan state. AGENCIES

US Indian gets 33-month jail for laundering

WASHINGTON: An Indian man has been sentenced to 33-month imprisonment for money laundering and smug-gling misbranded drugs from India into the US.

Ramesh Buchirajam Akkela aka Ramesh Bhai, 44, of Mum-bai was arrested in Panama ear-lier this year and extradited to the US on Thursday.

Senior judge Donetta W Ambrose sentenced Ramesh to a 33-month jail term on Fri-day after his conviction of mail fraud and money laundering, a court statement said.

According to information presented in the court, Ramesh shipped misbranded drugs from India to re-shippers in the US for distribution - with-out prescription - to American consumers.

Assistant United States Attorney Shardul S Desai pros-ecuted the case on behalf of the government.

Ramesh operated an online website that offered prescrip-tion drugs, without a prescrip-tion, to American consumers.

He was indicted on two counts of money laundering, 10 counts of mail fraud, a report said. AGENCIES

Emirates flight attendant who fell from emergency

exit has died DUBAI: Long-haul carrier Emirates says a flight attendant who fell from an emergency exit of a Boeing 777 parked in Uganda has died.

Emirates issued a statement on Saturday acknowledging the woman's death, saying she suc-cumbed to the injuries she suf-fered in the fall Wednesday at Entebbe International Airport.

The airline added: "Our thoughts and prayers are with her family, and we're provid-ing them with all possible support and care." Civil avia-tion authorities in Uganda are investigating the woman's fall from the plane as it was prepar-ing to depart for Dubai, Emir-ates' headquarters in the United Arab Emirates.

Emirates says it "will extend our full cooperation to the authorities in their investigation." AGENCIES

Smart software can diagnose prostate cancer: Study

BEIJING: Scientists in China have developed a learning arti-ficial intelligence (AI) system which can diagnose and iden-tify cancerous prostate samples as accurately as any pathologist.

This holds out the possibility of streamlining and eliminating variation in the process of can-cer diagnosis. It may also help overcome any local shortage of trained pathologists.

In the longer term it may lead to automated or partially-automated prostate cancer diagnosis.

Prostate cancer is the most common male cancer, with

around 1.1 million diagnoses ever year. Confirmation of the diagnosis normally requires a biopsy sample, which is then examined by a pathologist.

Now an artificial intelligence learning system, presented at the European Association of Urology Conference in Copen-hagen, has shown similar levels of accuracy to a human pathol-ogist. In addition, the software can accurately classify the level of malignancy of the cancer, so eliminating the variability which can creep into human diagnosis.

"This is not going to replace

a human pathologist. We still need an experienced patholo-gist to take responsibility for the final diagnosis. What it will do is help pathologists make better, faster diagnosis, as well as elimi-nating the day-to-day variation in judgement which can creep into human evaluations," said Hongqian Guo from Nanjing University in China.

The researchers took 918 prostate whole mount pathol-ogy section samples from 283 patients, and ran these through the analysis system, with the software gradually learning and improving diagnosis. AGENCIES

Taliban claims deadly car bomb attack in KabulKABUL: A car bomb explosion claimed by the Taliban in Kabul on Saturday killed at least two civilians, as the militants maintain pressure on the capital amid growing calls for peace talks. Several others were wounded in the morning rush-hour suicide blast in an industrial area of the city that the Afghan interior min-istry said had intended to strike global security com-pany G4S. It was the fourth suicide attack in Kabul in three weeks and comes days after the top US general in Afghanistan said protecting the war-weary city was "our main effort". It also comes as the Taliban faces growing pressure to take up Afghan President Ashraf Ghani's offer last month of peace talks to end the 16-year war. "Around 9:10 am this morning a suicide car bomb exploded in Police District Nine of Kabul," interior ministry spokesman Najib Danish said. AGENCIES

mp| 7millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

Sport — Dinesh Karthik

From where I sit, every tournament is important. One bad tournament and I will be way out

COLOMBO: Fresh from a thrilling win in their last league game against hosts Sri Lanka, Bangladesh will have their tails up as they prepare to take on a confident India in the final of the Nidahas Trophy T20 tri-series at the R Premadasa Sta-dium here on Sunday.

In what was a virtual semi-final against the Islanders on Friday, Bangladesh pulled off a brilliant two-wicket win from the jaws of defeat in the final over, which was marred by ugly scenes following the on-field umpires’ failure to call the sec-ond delivery of the over a no-ball for height.

Bangladesh’s intent shows that they are eager to win this tournament and have not come here to make up the numbers which India will be well aware of, considering their consis-tent rise in the shortest format of the game.

Going into Sunday’s final, India with a second-string team minus regular captain Virat Kohli and veteran Mahendra Singh Dhoni, will hope their skipper Rohit Sharma will lead from the front and replicate his form in their previous encoun-ter against the same opposition on Wednesday.

Rohit struck a brilliant

61-ball 89, his 13th T20 half century and was well supported by veteran left-hander Suresh Raina (47) as India edged past the Bangladeshis by 17 runs to seal their spot in the final.

Rohit’s opening partner Shikhar Dhawan has also been amongst the runs during the tournament even as the men-in-blue would hope for some fireworks from the likes of Lokesh Rahul and the mid-dle order comprising Dinesh Karthik and Manish Pandey.

Among the bowlers, teen-aged off-spinner Washington Sundar has been the find of the tournament with his exploits in the powerplay overs, while leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal has supported him well.

If India are to restrict the Bangladeshis, the rookie pace department, compris-ing Mohammed Siraj, Shardul Thakur and all-rounder Vijay

Shankar will need to comple-ment the spin duo.

On the other hand, bol-stered by the return of regular skipper Shakib Al Hasan, Ban-gladesh will definitely go all out in the summit clash.

Their top order com-prising Tamim Iqbal, Mush-fiqur Rahim, Soumya Sarkar and Mahmudullah have been amongst the runs while Liton Das seems the only weak link at the top.

The Bangladeshis will also be wary of Washington Sun-dar, who ripped through the top order in the previous tie.

Bangladesh’s bowling department led by Mustafizur Rahman and Rubel Hossain have troubled the Indians more often than not and will aim to replicate that in the final. Left-spinner Shakib’s inclusion has only added more spice to the contest. AGENCIES

India face rejuvenated B’desh in Nidahas Trophy final today

DUBAI: In the aftermath of Friday’s ugly final over drama between Sri Lanka and Ban-gladesh in the Nidahas Tro-phy T20 tri-series in Colombo, Bangladesh skipper Sha kib Al Hasan and reserve Nurul Hasan have both been fined 25 percent of their match fees and also received one demerit point for breaching Level 1 of the ICC code of conduct.

This was the first time either player has had one demerit point since the system came into effect in September 2016.

“Shakib was found to have breached Article 2.1.1 of the ICC code of conduct for players and player support personnel, which relates to conduct that is contrary to the spirit of the game, while Nurul was found guilty of violating Article 2.1.2, which deals with conduct that brings the game into disrepute,” the ICC said in a statement.

The incident involving Shakib happened in the final over of the Bangladesh innings when he came to the edge of

the boundary and gestured at his batsmen to come off the field while remonstrating against an umpiring decision.

As regards Nurul, the reserve player argued and pointed a finger at Sri Lanka captain Thisara Perera which led to unruly public behaviour after he was sent by the team on to the field of play to pass on a message to the two batsmen.

On Saturday, both Shakib and Nurul pleaded guilty to the offences and accepted the sanc-tions proposed by ICC match referee Chris Broad and, as such, there was no need for a formal hearing.

Announcing his decision, Broad said: “Friday’s incidents were disappointing as you don’t want to see such player behav-iour during any level of cricket. I understand that it was a tense and an edge-of-the-seat match with place in the final on the line, but the actions of the two players were unacceptable and cannot be condoned as they clearly went overboard.” AGENCIES

Bangladesh’s Shakib, Nurul penalised for

ICC code breachLONDON: Kevin Pietersen dropped a strong hint that he has retired after the polarising former England star decided not to join Quetta Gladiators in Lahore for their Pakistan Super League play-off.

Pietersen helped Quetta qualify from the group stages in the Twenty20 tournament, but with the event now moving from the UAE to Pakistan, he appears to have opted to bring down the curtain on his con-troversial playing career.

The 37-year-old batsman hinted at his long-expected retirement with a Tweet which simply read “Boots Up! Thank you” before expanding on his situation on Saturday. “Some-one just tweeted to tell me that I scored 30000+ runs including 152 fifty’s & 68 hundreds in my pro career,” he wrote on Insta-gram. “4 Ashes wins. Home & away! T20 WC win. Beaten India in India. Home & away 100’s in all major Test nations apart from Bangladesh. AGENCIES

BOGOTA: Video assistant referee technology (VAR) will make its debut at the World Cup in Russia this summer despite lingering opposition from within and outside foot-ball, FIFA president Gianni Infantino said.

“We are going to have in 2018, for the first time, a World Cup with VAR,” said Infantino yesterday after a meeting of the FIFA Council which, as expected, rubber-stamped the go-ahead given by the rule-making International Football Association Board (IFAB) in Zurich two weeks ago.

“This has been approved and we are really very happy with this decision.”

The World Cup, which takes place from June 14-July 15, will see VAR used to judge whether or not a goal has been scored, analyse whether a pen-alty should be awarded, decide on red cards and rectify if a player has been mistakenly sanctioned.

“What we want is to help and to give the referee the pos-sibility to have extra help when

he has to make important deci-sions, and in a World Cup we make very important deci-sions,” added Infantino.

“It cannot be possible that in 2018 everybody, in the sta-dium or at home, knows in a few seconds if the referee has made a mistake but not the ref-eree himself -- not because he doesn’t want to know about it but because we forbid him to know.

“The VAR is helping the ref-eree and we are going to have a more transparent and fairer game, and that’s what we want.”

VAR has been trialled since

2016 by 20 federations, includ-ing the German Bundesliga and Italian Serie A, with around 1,000 matches involved.

But it has not been uni-versally welcomed with even UEFA, the European govern-ing body, still to be convinced.

“Nobody knows exactly how VAR will work. There is already a lot of confusion,” said UEFA president Aleksander Ceferin, who insists that VAR will not be used in next season’s Champions League. “I am not at all against it but we must bet-ter explain when it will be used. We will see at the WC.” AGENCIES

FIFA approves video assistant referees for 2018 World Cup

BENGALURU: Chennaiyin FC lifted their game to a level befitting the occasion and sent fancied Bengaluru FC crushing to a painful 2-3 defeat, clinch-ing the Indian Super League (ISL) title in style here on Sat-urday night.

Chennaiyin FC’s Mailson Alves turned out to be the star of the title with a brace. And there was also some Brazilian touch to the game.

Mailson first scored in the 17th minute, which cancelled Sunil Chhetri’s ninth minute opener for the hosts, and then propelled his side to a remark-able lead with another leaping header in the 45th minute.

Raphael Augusto, also a Brazilian, added to the home team’s agony with his 67th min-ute strike, leaving the raucous home fans stunned at the Sree Kanteerava Stadium, which was packed to the rafters.

Miku scored for Bengaluru in injury time but that proved to be too little, too late.

Interestingly, four out of the five goals came through headers.

This was Chennaiyin FC’s second title triumph in the ISL, tying them with ATK as the most successful team in the tournament.

In their quest to find the

equaliser, Bengaluru FC often left gap in the back line, and Chennaiyin took full advantage of that to close out the game.

Entering the final after an unbeaten run of 10 games, Bengaluru FC started it in the earnest and effected the first breakthrough.

Chhetri’s opening goal gave

Bengaluru FC the advantage they needed early on in the summit showdown.

Chhetri headed in after the impressive Udanta Singh, with a great burst of pace down the wings, made the assist.

The home team’s joy, though, was short lived as Alves jumped high to meet Gregory

Nelson’s corner and headed in the equaliser.

As the half time approached and with both teams looking contend to be locked at 1-1, Mailson found himself at the right place as the centre half rose as high as possible to head in one more time off a set piece past a hapless Gurpreet Singh

Sandhu.Bengaluru FC tried to create

openings in the second half but it was the visiting side that tasted success, with Augusto finding the back of the net. Udanta once managed to find the back of net but that was flagged off by the linesman in what was a very tight call. AGENCIES

Chennaiyin crowned ISL champs

NEW DELHI: India’s bid to host the next U-20 FIFA World Cup ended in disappointment as world football governing body FIFA accorded the status to Poland.

The European nation will host the next edition of the tournament in 2019. This was decided at the FIFA council meeting in Bogota, Colombia.

Amid much fanfare, India had submitted its bid for host-ing the mega event after suc-cessfully organising the U-17 World Cup last October.

The success of the U-17 event emboldened the All India Football Federation (AIFF) to submit a bid for hosting another FIFA tournament in two year’s time.

Both India and Poland ful-filled the most important cri-teria - of having ready stadia.

With the tournament scheduled to be held around May to June, Poland emerged as the preferred choice as it will be difficult for the players to play in the scorching Indian summer.

It is believed that is what

prompted FIFA to opt for Poland.

The U-20 World Cup has featured players such Diego Maradona and Lionel Messi - who would go on to becomes legends of the game.

While the legendary Mara-dona played in the 1979 edi-tion in Japan, Messi featured in the 2005 tournament in the Netherlands.

The last edition of the tournament was held in South Korea last year.

Argentina have won the tournament most number of times (six), followed by their South American rivals Bra-zil, who triumphed on five occasions. AGENCIES

India not hosting next U-20 FIFA World Cup

Former England star Pietersen likely to retire after PSL duty

NEW DELHI: Boxing Feder-ation of India (BFI) President Ajay Singh on Saturday said organising a send-off event for the 12-member strong Indian boxing team participating in the Commonwealth Games at Gold Coast, starting April 4, was to show the pugilists that they carry the expectations of a billion people.

Leading India’s charge in the men’s division will be Manoj Kumar (69kg) and Vikas Krishnan (75kg), alongside the likes of Manish Kaushik (60kg), Satish Kumar (+91kg), Naman Talwar (91kg), Gaurav Solanki (52kg), Hussam Mohammed (56kg) and Amit Phangal.

Five-time World Cham-pion and Olympic medallist M.C. Mary Kom (48kg) will spearhead the women’s charge at the famous Oxenford Stu-dios in Gold Coast, alongside 2006 World Champion L. Sar-ita Devi (60kg), giant-killing Pinky Rani (51kg) and young Lovlina Boroghain (69kg).

“We (BFI) just want them to know that we have 1.3 billion people behind them and that everybody is praying for them and wishes them well,” Singh told IANS on the sidelines of the send-off event at the Jawa-harlal Nehru Stadium here.

“We are there to cheer for them, whether they win or lose

but we do hope they come back with a lot of medals.”

The event was attended by Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director General Neelam Kapoor and Indian Olympic Association (IOA) Secretary General Rajeev Mehta, who also expressed confidence of a rich medal haul.

On being asked about the criteria of selecting the team for the CWG, which co-inci-dentally precedes the Asian Games in August, Singh said: “Our focus is on the medals, so we have selected a team which we believe can get us the max-imum possible medals in the Games.” AGENCIES

BFI boss Ajay Singh confident of rich medal haul at CWG

NEW DELHI: Either Hyder-abad or Rajkot may host India’s maiden Day-Night Test match when the West Indies will arrive for a tour, later this year.

The BCCI on Saturday finalised Indian team’s home series itinerary and picked the two centres for hosting Test matches during the West Indies tour.

“If the Committee of Administrators (CoA) gives its approval, one of the two cen-tres will host the Test under

floodlights,” a BCCI source said.

The CoA was unhappy that acting secretary Amitabh Chaudhary had explored had discussed the possibil-ity of playing a day-night Test with Ravi Shastri even as the head coach was not averse to the idea.

According to India’s home series itinerary, the Indian team will play only three Test matches at home -- the his-toric first against Afghanistan

in June along with two more against West Indies in October after Diwali.

Apart from that, India will also host the Caribbeans for five ODIs in Mumbai, Guwa-hati, Korchi, Indore and Pune in early November. The series will end with three Twenty20 Internationals at Kolkata, Chennai and Kanpur.

The Kolkata T20 will held on November 4 but dates for other matches are yet to be known. AGENCIES

Hyderabad or Rajkot may host India’s first ever Day-Night Test

BFI President Ajay Singh and Sports Authority of India (SAI) Director Neelam Kapoor with Boxing contingent for Commonwealth Games 2018 during the send-off ceremony in New Delhi, on Saturday PTI

BOGOTA: FIFA has lifted its three-decade ban on Iraq hosting international football, a move hailed by the country’s sports authorities on Saturday as a boost for its most popu-lar game.

“We are allowing interna-tional matches to be staged in the cities of Arbil, Basra and Karbala,” FIFA president Gianni Infantino told report-ers after a meeting of the FIFA Council in Bogota.

The three cities had been allowed to organise friend-lies in the past year provided the security situation was “stable”.

Iraq will host Qatar and Syria for a friendly tournament starting on March 21 in Basra.

FIFA said it could not “yet” agree to a request from the Iraqi authorities to organise matches in the capital Bagh-dad, but Infantino promised that the city’s application would continue to be studied.

The three cities selected are among the more secure in Iraq.

Basra and Karbala both lie south of Baghdad, far from the battlefields north and west of the capital where the security forces fought the Islamic State

group from 2014 to 2017.Arbil is the capital of the

country’s autonomous Kurd-ish region.

The Iraq Football Associa-tion welcomed FIFA’s decision but vowed to “spare no effort for games to be played in stadi-ums in other provinces, includ-ing Baghdad”.

“This decision puts our sport back on the rails,” it said.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi, who declared victory over IS in December, said the lifting of the FIFA ban was the “fruit of stability in terms of security and of the successes achieved by Iraq.”

For years, Iraq has been busily building stadiums and lobbying stars and the sport’s

governing bodies for a return to the international fold.

Friday’s decision followed an international friendly between Iraq and Saudi Arabia in Basra on February 28, their first on Iraqi soil in 40 years.

It was watched by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) head Salman bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa who said “the time has come” to end the three-decade ban.

The first home competitive games could come as early as next month as two Iraqi clubs have fixtures in the AFC Cup which were postponed pend-ing FIFA’s decision.

Infantino said it would be for the AFC to decide where they were played. AGENCIES

FIFA lifts 30-yr ban on intl matches in Iraq

Beat Bengaluru FC 3-2 to claim second title, equal ATK’s record

Chennaiyin FC Raphael Augusto with team mates celebrates after scoring a goal agaisnt Bengaluru FC during the ISL final match at Kanteerava Stadium in Bengaluru on Saturday PTI

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In retrospectNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

At the dawn of March 6, 2018, while the whole country slept peacefully, the roads of Nasik in Maharashtra painted a differ-

ent picture. Nearly 30,000 farmers hoist-ing red flags had gathered to voice their silenced demands. Women, men, children and senior citizens took to the streets to march 180 kilometers enroute Mumbai. The Kisan Long March shook the country’s conscience and compelled the Maharashtra government to accept all demands.

WOMEN IN THE FOREFRONTThe massive march of several thou-

sand farmers was peaceful with women in the forefront. Analysts have noted that the recent farm distress has adversely affected the families of the farmers. According to the last census, there has been a huge drop in the number of full-time farmers. Nearly 2000 farmers per day have left occupational farming to become agricultural labourers.

This change has had a detrimental effect on farmers’ families with women facing the brunt. The series of farmer suicides had also broken down the lives of women. In this long march, the women stood in the fore-front, voraciously echoing their demands. 

RURAL INDIA IN A NUTSHELLSenior rural journalist P Sainath dis-

cussed this harsh reality in an article. "There are nearly 15 million farmers (‘Main’ culti-vators) fewer than there were in 1991. Over 7.7 million less, since 2001, as the latest Cen-sus data shows. On an average, that’s about 2,035 farmers losing the ‘Main Cultivator’ status every single day for the last 20 years. And, in a time of jobless growth, they’ve had few places to go beyond the lowest, menial ends of the service sector." 

He further noted that Census 2011 tells us we now have 95.8 million cultivators for whom farming is the main occupation. That’s less than 8 per cent of the population (down from 103 million in 2001 and 110 million in 1991). Include all marginal cul-tivators (22.8 million), and that is still less than 10 per cent of the population. Even if you calculate all cultivators and agricul-tural labourers together, the number would be around 263 million or 22 per cent of the population. However, according to Sainath, between 1981 and 1991, the number of cul-tivators (main workers), actually went up from 92 million to 110 million. The huge decline, thus, comes post-1991.

FARMERS’ DEMANDS Ajay Dhawale, the General Secretary of the All India Kisan Sabha explained the six pri-mary demands of the farmers.  A complete and unconditional waiver of loans and electricity bills; All India Kisan Sabha has alleged that 1,753 debt-ridden farmers have killed themselves since June 2017;

Give a minimum support price of 1.5 times the input cost for farm produce;

Give land rights to Adivasi farmers under the Forest Rights Act of 2006;

Immediate implementation of recom-mendations of the Swaminathan Com-mission, which safeguards the interests of small farmers;

Compensation for crop losses due to unseasonal rain, hailstorm, and attack by pink bollworm witnessed in February;

Stop the forceful acquisition of farmlands in the name of development projects like the superhighway and tracks for bullet trains.

BACKGROUNDIn the last five years, the country has wit-

nessed its worst recorded drought which has adversely affected rural India, noted P Sain-ath, a senior rural journalist, in a speech. The Marathwada region of Maharashtra was the worst affected region in terms of drought and agricultural crisis. 

Ashok Dhawale said, "We designed this agitation after nearly two years of plan-ning and related protests. With the same demands, we first held the protest in March 2016 at Nasik, where nearly one lakh farm-ers joined. This took place in the aftermath of the series of farmer suicides in Marath-wada. The second protest was held by nearly 60,000 Adivasi farmers, who gheraoed the Adivasi development minister of the Maha-rashtra government in October 2016. The third protest was held in June 2017 for nearly 11 days. Thereafter, we planned this massive rally.” He added that this was the first time that the government has given them a written assurance in responding to their demands. 

GOVERNMENT CONCEDES“Kisan Long March” called off their stir

on Monday, March 12, after Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadnavis promised to clear all pending claims made by the trib-als under the Forest Rights Act within six months and waive the loans taken by the farmers up to June 2017. Fadnavis told the legislative assembly that 95 per cent of those who have walked the 180-km distance were tribals who have never owned the farmlands they have tilled for decades, adding that the Maharashtra chief secretary would review all their claims including those declared

ineligible for land transfer.

FOREST RIGHT ACT 2006 The implementation of the forest right

act was one of the major demands of the farmers. In Maharashtra, the implemen-tation of this act was the worst according to various surveys and this lead to nearly a three year long continuous series of farmer agitations in the state. 

"The Forest Rights Act seeks to accord rights to forest-dwelling communities including individual forest rights’ and com-munity forest rights, and through the for-est resources, a livelihood," noted a report. 

Suneet Chopra, a senior leader of the CPI(M) said, "Implementation of the For-est Rights Act of 2006 is one of the issues we have been focusing upon for a long time. Interestingly, this issue is not at all new but has been recurring since the time of the colonial rule. The lands of tribals were given to the forest department – a practice that is unconstitutional but still in exercise. With the implementation of the act, the tribals will own the lands which will bring them profit and also provide the freedom to work in their own way. The forest depart-ment deprives them of every aspect and they become mere labourers on their own land.

WAIVING LOANSWaiving loans of farmers has been a

year-long demand. The farmers all over India have raised the issue time and again. The agricultural analysts have explained that in three of the last four years, agriculture has seen a negative growth in Maharashtra, a state with a mere 19 per cent land under irrigation with major dependence on the

weather and regular monsoons to irrigate the fields. Untimely and scattered rains, along with hail storms and pest attacks, have successively damaged crops, leaving little room for recovery. This has hit the farmers’ incomes immensely, impacting not only their ability to pay off loans but also shrink-ing their basic disposable income.

"Not only this, Maharashtra has a lop-sided allocation of resources that favours certain crops and orphans others, which further aggravates the issue. Frequent inter-vention in the form of support prices or resource allocation, many a time to gain political mileage, has disturbed the equilib-rium within crops. The disparity between area and output is clearly visible," the note reports. 

However, there is an economic and political angle to the issue. None of the polit-ical parties in India want to appear insensi-tive to farmers before and after an election. But, the complete loan waiver for farmers, every year, would need a different economic

approach where agriculture would become the priority. But the political parties in India are apprehensive to enforce such a rule. The loan waiver for farmers will cost the state almost Rs 34,000 crore, which will defi-nitely impact the state's treasury. Funding the waiver would entail cutting down other forms of investment like infrastructure.SWAMINATHAN COMMISSION'S RECOMMENDATIONS

The National Commission on Farmers, headed by renowned geneticist MS Swam-inathan, who played a key role in India’s green revolution, carried out an in-depth study to find out ways to help the farmers. The recommendations of its final report submitted on October 4, 2006, said that sev-eral policies for agriculture have been devel-oped by the government of India from time to time, the last one being in the year 2002. 

According to the report, it said that the time is therefore opportune for revitalising our agricultural progress by making agrar-ian prosperity, food security and sovereignty the bottom line for government policies and priorities in agricultural and rural develop-ment. Given an adequate investment and pro-small farmer public policies, we can reverse the decline and restore confidence in our agricultural capability.

RURAL AGITATIONS: RATIONALE There are a number of reasons stirring

the recent farmer agitations. To list the major reasons, the analysts observed that the sudden implementation of demoneti-sation continues to plague the rural econ-omy. The implementation of GST and the outlook of the incumbent government on

caste minorities has also played a major role. However, the climate factors are the primary reason causing farmers’ distress.

END NOTEThe returning farmers of Maharashtra

have left behind a number of questions. The farmers’ struggle has not ended as the leaders assured, but it has gained new found momentum. Till the time the political par-ties in the government do not focus on the real issues of the farmer, the year-old pro-fession will die every day. There might be another march and after that, it will repeat, but the agitations can only raise the ques-tion the problem-solving tool remains in the hands of the political parties and their respective outlooks. 

(References from media reports, surveys and PARI have been taken.)

New dawn upon farmers’ struggle

A historic procession of farmers to agitate against their dismal condition led to immediate government response. While the agitation has ended, it has opened a new chapter for the future of aggrieved farmers in India, writes Sayantan Ghosh

KISAN LONG MARCH Analysts

have noted that the recent farm distress has adversely affected

the families of the farmers. According to the last census,

there has been a huge drop in the number of full-time farmers. Nearly

2000 farmers per day have left occupational farming to become

agricultural labourers

In the past few years, India has witnessed various farmer protests voicing similar concerns.

Farmers from Thanjavur and Tiruchirappalli began protesting at Delhi’s Jan-tar Mantar since March 14, seeking a drought relief fund of Rs 40,000 crore, better support for their products, and a loan waiver for peasants in Tamil Nadu. After over 41 days, the protest was called off till May 25.

Still unpaid for their dues from last year, sugarcane farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Baghpat region reduced to seeking permission to kill them-selves. The farmers wrote letters to PM Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath, in the last month, seeking per-mission to commit suicide.

After the overproduc-tion of chilli led to a depression in its prices, upset farmers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana chose to burn down their crops rather than selling them for such low prices.

In the same year, the farmers’ protest that started in Mandsaur, Madhya Pradesh, spread to at least six districts of the state. Six farmers died in police firing.

Farmer protests have been witnessed in Rajast-han, Punjab, West Bengal and many other states in the recent years, circum-scribing similar issues.

FARMERS’ AGITATE

India ’s most celebrated printmaker, the doc-umentarian, the diarist, the avant-garde artist who combined classical and contem-porary symbolism into his prints, while he

created an archive of India’s living walls and rural rhythms, now has a show that opened at Gallery Ark in Vadodara, celebrating 68 years of work. Bhatt has been actively engaged with photogra-phy since the mid-1960s, and his photographs constitute an important chapter in the history of photography in India, demonstrating great artis-tic sensibility, creativity and a deep understanding of ancient ritual cultures. While this show has his photographs, it also has seminal prints and paint-ings—reincarnated by Bhatt on his PC.

Bhatt began documenting the folk and tribal culture of rural India in the summer of 1967 as an assignment. His travels, visiting villages and tribal regions, photographing folk arts and craft traditions in their original environments along with the people who inhabited these spaces, brought him close to India’s indig-enous art forms, the photographs unconsciously synthe-sised human figures with static backgrounds that show painted, or drawn, images on walls or floors. Bhatt's pho-tographs became social commentaries, continually sensi-tive to the psychological and material changes within the inhabitants of these societies, as they responded to urban-isation and change.

REINCARNATIONS ON A PC“I noticed that the earlier form of photography has been

taken over by digitalization and also, due to my acutely deteriorating eyesight I had to close my dark room. So, I adopted a PC. While trying to remove scratches and dust specks from my photographic images, I also started ‘edit-ing’ them. The PC has permitted, or rather, encouraged me to modify the images freely. Thus my photographic images have forgone their ‘silver gelatin’ look. They are now printed with the high tech inkjet method and appear more like ‘photogravure’ prints. Working on the PC (helped by a friendly technician), also provided me with opportunities to create non-photographic images directly on it. Yes! I am really very happy that the new technology has kept the artist in me still alive. However, it is rather sad and dishearten-ing that most of our art collectors still can’t appreciate the art forms that involve photographic or digital technology. Unfortunately, the surface on which an artist has created the images is valued higher than the work itself! I hope, I will not have to declare under oath or write on my prints something like – ‘an etching made with imported inks and acid-free archival paper of 100 per cent cotton’,” says Bhatt.

Jyotibhai, as Jyoti Bhatt is fondly called, is one of the founder members of the Centre of Photography, Baroda. Before he turned to photography, however, Bhatt began his artistic career as a painter and a printmaker in the 1950s. He worked as a painter from 1954 to 1969 and also taught at the Faculty of Fine Arts in Baroda. He says, "I was never interested in studies. You may say that since I was not good for anything else in life, I became a painter. I studied paint-ing and printmaking at the Faculty of Fine Arts, Baroda, under stalwarts like NS Bendre, Sankho Chaudhari and KG Subramanyan. In the 70s, I learnt the intaglio method of printing and screen painting."

PRINTS AND INTAGLIOSThe piece de resistance of this epic culling shows us the

strength and vitality of Bhatt’s prints. Bhatt says that he was deeply impressed by Anand Coomaraswamy's book ‘Medi-aeval Sinhalese Art’. "I realised that folk art has many strands

which reinforce one another. Each work of art provides an avenue of creativity and refines human sensibilities and responses. Living within a creative network, an individual artist attains a special stature and refinement. The disap-pearance of the network, with the breakdown of traditional cultures, is bound to cause cultural impoverishment."

His best-known work is the documentation of the ran-goli tradition in Gujarat and Maharashtra. "It was probably introduced in Gujarat through Maharashtra during the rule of Gaekwads," he says.

Of his printmaking days that ensued from sketches in his diary and sketchbooks, Bhatt notes: “When an image on one surface (matrix) is transferred on another one, the new image is called a PRINT. A thumbprint is the most com-mon in India, needed for the ‘Aadhar Card’ too !! Another form of printmaking is ‘INTAGLIO’ (Each Indian- except the infants- has Intaglio prints in the form of currency notes!!) Artists have been using several—simple to com-plex—techniques for making prints.

“Thus, prints are “Printed Pictures”. I love to make prints because: It allows me to create images that I am unable to make by any other device, such as drawing or painting. It allows me to make a large number of impro-vised images — ‘avatars’, without destroying the original ‘matrix’– plate, wood block, screen, stone – litho - slab. It allows – as if it is imperative – me to make several copies (in the form of editions) of the same image. Thus, unlike my paintings or drawings, prints are not “Unique” works and, can be owned by a larger number of art loving people including those who “have more test than money".”

CLASSICAL TO CONTEMPORARYThere is enormous pleasure in these

prints, sketched on paper then trans-ferred to a bit of wood, which Bhatt then engraved, using little tools he mostly made himself. He imagined image after image. He makes a wonderful animator in works such as Nag Kolam, Kalpavriksha and Lotus Pundit.

The harder you look at these prints, the more are the details to be studied along with the succinct weaving in of the symbols of Indian culture. Even the rough ovoid shape of the owl and its fine detailing seems to coalesce out of blankness and drifts into suggestions of tradition at its edges. The imagina-tion fills in the gaps, the colours and

the textures. Bhatt has a deep love – birds, the peacock, the parrot

– they are juxtaposed with a naturality that affirms that he was as inventive as he was observant, as sensitive and kind as he was exacting and faithful to the things he saw around him.

SELF PORTRAITS AND FACESThe face-images in many avatars are like ballads or

snatches of a folk song; but, at their best, they offer much more. In an entire scene of inky prints, carefully created, he gives us a visual equivalent to the truth of materials and metaphors telling us that a human face in any form is marvellous, timeless, and magical. His Self Portraits created many moons ago, tell us of his ingenuity and inventiveness – his brilliance as a pan-Indian ambassador of the classi-cal traditions in India that need to be preserved. This show talks about 68 years of a living heritage created by the hands of Jyoti Bhatt the doyenne.

mp| 9millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

Beacon

IMAGES: JYOTI BHATT ARCHIVES, GALLERY ARK

Symbols of Indian Culture

JYOTI BHATT:

Weaving In his 68 years of practice, Jyoti Bhatt has created a magical confluence of painting, printmaking and photography with profound creations that are powered by his insight into India’s vivacious traditions, writes Uma Nair

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Inland

The legendary artist Kundan Lal Saigal belonged to the first generation of singers. Saigal had the larg-est fan following across the country and one such ardent fan was a young lad in Khandwa, a small

town of Madhya Pradesh. He would buy Saigal’s records and started singing Saigal songs at the tender age of five. He was none other than the irrepressible Kishore Kumar.

Abhas Kumar Ganguly was born on August 4, 1929, to Kunj Lal Ganguly and Gauri Devi. Youngest among his siblings – Ashok Kumar, Sati Devi and Anup Kumar – his name Abhas was changed to Kishore Kumar at the advice of an astrologer. In the words of Ashok Kumar, “As a child, Kishore’s voice was shrill. At the age of ten, came a turning point. Once, when his mother was chopping vegetables, he rushed into the kitchen and hurt his foot resulting in a finger falling apart. Kishore suffered immensely and would cry the whole day and night for a month. It was a blessing in disguise as the constant crying metamorphosed his shrill voice and it became melodious. I myself joined Bombay Talkies as an actor-singer. Whenever I came to Khandwa, he would sing Saigal songs at my request. He charged others four annas but surprisingly he charged me one anna for my songs.” Kishore’s love for singing affected his studies. After passing his Intermediate, he left for Bombay to meet his hero KL Saigal, but Saigal passed away on January 18, 1947.

Ashok Kumar set up Filmistan with his brother-in-law Sashdhar Mukherjee and Rai Bahadur Chunni Lal. In 1949, Bombay Talkies announced its film Ziddi starring Dev Anand and Kamini Kaushal. Ashok Kumar introduced his younger brother to Khemchand Prakash, the famous com-poser who was to compose for Ziddi. He liked Kishore’s singing and recorded his solo song, Marne ki duayaien, pic-turised on Dev Anand in Saigal style. He also sang a duet with Lata, Ye kaun aaya re.

After Ziddi, Kishore struck a fine rapport with Dev Anand and often discussed with him the sequence and mannerism of onscreen performance. But it was truly SD Burman who made Kishore Kumar Dev Anand’s voice. SD Burman overheard Kishore singing and impressed by his open-throated voice he signed him for Baazi (1951), Mere labon pe dekho. Later in Munimji (1955), with solo, Jeevan ke safar mein rahi, Kishore proved his mettle.

In the early fifties, Kishore developed his craft with variety and depth. He also mastered yodelling after listen-ing to Jimmy Rogers. Later, it became his signature. Ashok Kumar always coaxed him to take to acting but Kishore was hesitant. His argument was, “Acting is not real but singing comes from the heart.” He acted in Mukaddar in 1950 and Phani Majumdar signed him for Andolan in 1951. Both Majumdar and Ashok Kumar were pleased with Kishore’s performance. Reluctantly, Kishore Kumar did some more films. Thereafter, he was signed by some south Indian pro-ducers. Songs of these films, kismat ki baat malik ke haath, Ina Mina Dika and Gana na aaya bajana na aaya became chartbusters.

Kishore had arrived, well received by the audience. In Indian films, comedy is rather viewed as a filler or relief from the main plot. Kishore Kumar made comedy his USP, becoming the first complete comic hero. All his unconven-tional acts of dancing, playing pranks and style of laugh-ing became his forte. Even in the movies where he was the second lead, he added a spark. Padosan was one such ster-ling example!

Kishore was the first Indian comic hero who added a new dimension to comedy. No wonder, Kishore was a great admirer of Charlie Chaplin and Chaim Topol and their impact could be amply seen in his acting. He had worked with all the major directors of his time ranging from Bimal Roy, Hrishikesh Mukherjee, Phani Majumdar, Satyan Bose, Shakti Samantha to HS Ravel, and celebrated several hits. He sang under the baton of Anil Biswas, C Ramchandra, Shankar Jaikishan, OP Nayyar, Madan Mohan, Hemant Kumar, and also worked with next generation composers like Kalyanji Anandji, Laxmikant Pyarelal, RD Burman and Rajesh Roshan.

Kishore also aspired to make films of his own choice

and became a producer with the Bangla super-hit film, Luko Churi (1958). His most memora-ble Chalti Ka Naam Gaadi became India’s cult comedy film with all the three brothers acting together for the first time. Kishore caricatured his own uncle in the film Padosan and produced Jhumroo in 1961, turning a composer with this film also penning two lyrics. The music was great and its songs, Thandhi hawa, Jhum jhum Jhum-roo and Koi humdum na raha remain evergreen.

Through Kishore’s first wife Ruma, Satyajit Ray’s niece, he got to know Ray closely. While shooting Pather Panchali Ray ran short of funds and Kishore lent him five thousand rupees. When asked to playback for a song in Charulata and later for four songs in Ghaire Baire, Kishore declined any fee with a precondition that the songs would be recorded in Bombay. Ray conceded.

Kishore saw Pather Panchali much later and it inspired him to direct a film. With Door Gagan Ki Chhaon Mein he slipped into the director’s chair. Though the film received a lukewarm response initially, it gradually picked up to houseful shows, and ran for twenty-three weeks. Mamta Ki Chhaon Mein was his last film as a director that was released posthumously in 1989.

Cinema was changing very fast. His demand as an actor was diminishing, so he returned to his first love, singing. So far, Kishore was giving his own playback and for Dev Anand. But with Kala Pani, in 1958, Burman da switched over to Mohammad Rafi as playback for Dev Anand. All the same, Kishore was back in Guide and sang only one duet, Gaata rahe mera dil, with Lata.

It is quite interesting to note that in his forty-year career as an actor-singer, in twenty years he sang nearly 300 songs, and in the next twenty years till his death he sang nearly 2,600 songs. Kishore worked with various composers and sang unforgettable solos and duets among which Wo meri taraf in Kafila was with the first composer-duo Husanlal Bhagat Ram; Mere dukh sach ka sansar and Aa mohabbat ki basti basayeinge with Lata; Chhota sa ghar in film Nau-kari; Dil dil se milaker dekho in Memsaheb; Nakhre wali in New Delhi; Meri neendon mein tum with Shamshad Begum; CAT, cat maine billi in Dilli Ka Thug; and Mere mehboob qayamat hogi in Mr X are deeply memorable.

The year 1969 was a watershed in the history of Indian film music, as Kishore took over from Mohammad Rafi when Rajesh Khanna became the superstar of Bollywood. Kishore became Rajesh Khanna’s voice with Aradhana. Songs like Mere sapno ki rani, Roop tera mastana, and Kora kagaz with Lata were chartbusters. Kishore sang for every star of those days as the first choice of every music director. The RD Burman, Rajesh Khanna and Kishore Kumar trio became a rage. Kishore did playback for Amitabh Bachchan later with My name is Anthony Gonsalves, Khaiye ke paan Banaraswala, Rimjhim girey sawan, Pag ghunghroo baandh, among others; for Dharmendra, Dream girl, Pal pal dil ke paas; for Sanjeev Kumar Meri bheegi bheegi si; for Shashi Kapoor O meri sharmilee, Tera mera hai sadi-yon ka wada; for Jitendra, Musafir hoon yaaro and O maajhi re; for Rishi Kapoor, Sagar kin-are, O meri hansini and Om Shanti Om were super hits.

Kishore was at his peak, recording relent-lessly. Singing was his innate passion; music and Kishore were made for each other. Kishore acted in 102 films, 98 in Hindi and four in Ban-gla. He produced 14 films under his own ban-ner, directed 12 films, and wrote 15 films but only nine of those were released.

Although an introvert, Kishore married four times and they all happened to be his leading ladies – Ruma Guha Thakurta, Mad-hubala, Yogita Bali and Leena Chandavarker. He had two sons, Amit Kumar and Sumit Kumar. Fond of eating and travelling, he was a loner, far removed from all vices – no smok-ing, no drinking and no socialising. In his

leisure hours, he would write his own composi-tions, surrounded by life-size portraits of his icons, KL Sai-gal, Charlie Chap-lin, Chaim Topol and Marlon Brando on the walls of his drawing room.

It was quite ironic that Kishore had a massive heart attack in the afternoon of October 13, 1987, the birthday of his brother Ashok Kumar. Kishore had requested his elder brother to come to his place in the evening. That evening became a sad eve-ning as Kishore passed away at 5 pm and shocked the entire nation. As desired by him, his body was taken to his native place Khandwa, where he was cremated and a memorial was built at this site.

The winner of the Film-fare Award eight times over, seven times winner of Ben-gal Film Journalist Award, honoured by the Lion club fourteen times—in 1979, the EMI in Los Angles also presented Kishore a spe-cial Golden Disc for his outstanding contribution to music. With the demise of Kishore Kumar, the Golden Era of melodies may have come to an end, but his melo-dious voice would continue to resonate in his renditions.

Kishore KumarA Versatile Maverick

Kishore Kumar is synonymous to India’s Golden Age of music. Decades after his demise, his tunes continue to haunt the ordinary music lover, who is swayed by the rhythms created by this artist par excellence, writes Sharad Dutt

Fond of eating and travelling, he was a loner, far removed from all vices – no smoking, no drinking

and no socialising. In his leisure hours, he would write his own

compositions, surrounded by life-size portraits of his

icons, KL Saigal, Charlie Chaplin, Chaim Topol and

Marlon Brando

Readmp

| 11millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

A GIRL LIKE THAT Author: Tanaz BhathenaPublisher: Penguin IndiaPrice: `399

This beautifully written debut novel from Tanaz Bhathena reveals a rich and wonderful new world to readers; tackles complicated issues of race, iden-tity, class and religion; and paints a portrait of teenage ambition, angst and alienation that feels both inventive and universal.

ACCIDENTAL HEROESAuthor: Danielle SteelPublisher: PanPrice: `399

Danielle Steel combines intense action with stories of emotionally rich, inter-twined lives. As the plane from JFK lands, the futures of these strangers will be changed forever by a handful accidental heroes. The book is a heart-stopping thriller about ordinary men and women who embark on a journey they will never forget.

MOONG OVER MICROCHIPSAuthor: Venkat IyerPublisher: India VikingPrice: `499

Venkat Iyer was living a fast-paced life in the IT world when he decided to stop and look at where he was headed. Disheart-ened by his existence in the city, he decided to give it up for organic farming in a village near Mumbai. At times hilari-ous, and other times pro-found, this book follows his extraordinary story.

READY TO FIREAuthor: Nambi Naray-anan and Arun RamPublisher: Bloomsbury IndiaPrice: `599

This book is as much a history of the early days of India's ambitious space programme as it is a record of one of the most sensational cases that enthralled the nation long before the era of online updates and 24-hour news.

FRESH OFF THE SHELF

NARENDRA KUMAR

Born on 23 December, 1889, an astrologer’s prophecy compelled his parents to keep him away from their sight in the house of

his Rajput foster parents for the first 12 years of his life. This was the origin of the future Chief Justice of India.

If today, Jammu and Kashmir is a part of India, the entire credit is given to the tact, vision and timely action taken by Mehr Chand Mahajan, who had per-suaded the then wavering Maharaja Hari Singh to sign the Accession Accord with India. Maha-jan then was Principal Advisor to the Maharaja.

How many can claim with conviction and without being challenged, that they have truly ‘lived’. Late Mehr Chand Mahajan is perhaps one of the very few of whom it can be said that he had ‘truly lived.’ Looked at from any angle, his emi-nently commendable contributions to national affairs – as an educationist, as a social reformer,

as an Arya Samajist, as an Indian and, foremost of all, as a man are worth salut-ing. One does not often come across such a fine combina-tion of head and heart, jus-tice and mercy, nobility and modesty, fear-lessness and wisdom, a dis-ciplinarian yet human.

Price: `750Publisher: Har Anand Publisher

SALUTE THE SPIRIT!

What kind of mindset encour-ages a terrorist to murder the innocent? What kind of an ill psychology drives them to

commit such heinous crimes. And, on top of that, how does an innocent person turn into a radical extremist. What could be the ideology driving their extreme behaviour? What, indeed, intrigued them to grow such a radical mindset.

The Hollow Kingdom: ISIS and the Cult of Jihad, written by Edna Fernandes, is a meaningful contribution to the emerging literature on ISIS and dwells into all the facts and rationale behind the rise of the ISIS and its ideology.

The ISIS has carried out public execu-tions, crucifixions and several other acts of terrorism in an attempt to implement the eighth century Islam rooted Sharia Law. Born from the Al Qaeda, the extremist radi-cal group, the Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant has one specific aim and that is to cre-ate an Islam ruled state Caliphate across the world. For that, the IS is ready to go to any length of insurgency and brutality.

The book traces the evolution of the Islamic State in Iraq (ISI) from the al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) under the leadership of Abu Musa al-Zarqawi until his death and the aftermath. It discusses the rift that devel-oped between the al-Qaeda and how the ISI emerges during the sectarian civil war in Iraq between the Shias and the Sunnis. It discusses the main catalyst which gave rise

to the ISIS: the invasion of Iraq. It does pro-vide fascinating details about Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, a self-anointed Calipha and ISIS leader. He is the one responsible for turning jihad into a global phenomenon. It tells the story of an insurgent highlighting his merci-less and swift journey to become the leader of the terrorist state. He united angry Mus-lims on a scale even Osama bin Laden had failed to accomplish.

The book argues that somewhere the international community was responsible for the rise of the jihadi group. The US-run jails

such as Camp Bucca were breeding grounds for these extremists. It explains how the Wahhabi ideology, founded by Muhammed ibn Abd al-Wahhab (1703-1792), forms the root of the Jihadi mindset. Wahhabism has the vision of a society ruled by Sharia law. It reverts to the very beginning and rejects all ideas of modernity and all reinterpretations of the faith. It has deepened the rift between the Shias and Sunnis. Mosques and madrasas run by the Muslim World League are a nur-turing ground for Wahhabi ideology. There are other groups too which aim to propagate

Wahhabi Islam worldwide. The book sheds light on how the ISIS cre-

ated Islamophobia has led to many changes in other countries. The anti-Muslim and anti-migrant political rhetoric has stepped into the political spotlight and the main-stream. India is a major example of that. Many such countries have labelled Muslim refugees as poison and a plausible threat to their nation. They consider the refugee cri-sis as a planned invasion.

The book is an easy read with mam-moth details. It describes the psychology

behind the terror group, their ideology, how the group was created and how it manip-ulates the minds of innocents. It goes at length to describe what makes people join the group. Everyone knows that the group uses social media to reach out to the peo-ple. But what exactly do they say that con-

vinces them. What are the different kinds of tactics they use? How does it get the funds to carry out blood stained activities across the globe. What are the primary sources of their finance?

The book provides insightful details on how oil-rich countries such as Saudi Arabia are providing clandestine financial and logis-tical support to the terrorist group. It explains how Saudi Arabia and its religious-industrial complex is working in favour of the ISIS.

The chapters are an astute account emerging from thorough research that sheds light on how the organisation works. The book will be invaluable for or any reader who is curious about the depth underscor-ing the ISIS and jihad. Anybody seeking an overall understanding of how the terror group works can be enlightened by this well-researched piece of excellence.

UNRAVELLING THE DEPTHS OF TERROR

Here is a brilliant play writ-ten in Shakespearean verse in the twenty-first century for entertainment, on a

contemporary subject that swept the world with its sadness, shock and sen-sation. Does it seem a non-sequitur? Not for Veena Rao, former bureau-crat and author of “Charlotte’s End”, her first piece of fiction, now on a sec-ond print. She has conjured this highly original and innovative work, a play in four acts, ‘The Tale of Quarles, the Prince who Fails’, probably the first of its kind, that centres around the sad, failed mar-riage of Diana and Charles (Fiona and Quarles). It is an elegant potpourri of so many streams – a satire on the British royal family, the tragedy and pathos of the failed and crowded marriage, “not of two but three”; strong soliloquies of all the protagonists, Quarles, Fiona and Cornelia (Camilla), each express-ing their predicaments of love and life, their conflicts and machinations, in all their complexity; the incompatibility of the failing Quarles-Fiona marriage; of witches, and ghosts of Wally Sampson (Wallis Simpson) and Pierre Tennyson (Peter Townsend); and a lot of Macbeth and Hamlet strategically thrown in that gives the tragic situations a hilarious and often comic touch.

However, the underlying theme running through the play is the curse of Wally Samson (Wallis Simpson), who was denied her rightful position as Queen by the British royal family and

establishment because she was a divor-cee. The play begins with the opening scene of Macbeth, the witches being the agents of Wally Sampson, to cast an evil spell at the christening of the infant prince, and possessing Queen Margue-rite to name her heir Quarles, a name cursed in British history, associated only with beheading and exile. Wally curses the royal family,

“No King’s consort, nor Queen of Royal line,

At Saint Paul’s shall ever kneel again,Or ascend the throne that once was

mine,

But wrongfully denied to me, Until I’m through with thee…..This I have damned thee with, Just as thou didst damn and slowly

strangle me in my exile.”In Act 2, The Wedding of Quar-

les, Wally continues with her curse at the wedding ceremony of Quarles and Fiona, her ghost making comic little incursions. Tender moments between Princess Irena and Pierre Tennyson, the man she loved and couldn’t marry because he was a divorcee, are cap-tured with great sensitivity and beauti-ful verse, while Wally gloats. Much of

Act 3, the actual breakdown of the mar-riage is taken from Diana’s Panorama interview and Andrew Morton’s book Diana: Her True Story, as acknowledged by the author.

The author has been very fair to all the characters. They all receive ade-quate space to express their thoughts

and motivations, fair or foul, their wiles and vindications, in a very human way. Their moods and predicaments are cap-tured with great finesse, for example, Fiona’s ambivalence and unsureness of what awaits her in her marriage, Quar-les’ admissions that he is not really made for kingship, and a subtle reference of the country’s wasteful treatment of the last Prince of Wales (Edward VIII), later hus-band of Wallis Simpson (Wally Samp-son), the silent protagonist of the play.

And then comes the denouement in the last Act, The Liberation of Quarles, and what becomes of Quarles, Fiona, Cornelia and the Queen. The author’s imagination goes at full throttle, com-bining literary elegance and irrever-ence. Pathos, tragedy and satire all come together with a comic touch, through natural, flawless verse, which does not flounder even for a moment.

The play has a most unusual and unexpected ending, which the readers must enjoy for themselves. But I cannot resist commenting that Lady Macbeth’s sleepwalking scene is so cleverly adapted for Cornelia, that one doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry. And, of course, Wally Sampson has the last laugh.

A most enjoyable read, so original and innovative, perfectly executed, and touching many levels – emotional, social and human.

The play is dedicated to Tom Alter, who had started directing it. But fate willed otherwise. It is now being directed by his close associate Dr Sayeed Alam. It was first staged in Delhi on May 6, 2018, and thereafter in other cities in India.

RELIVING SHAKESPEARE

Price:`150Publisher: Vitasta Publications

The book presents an insightful account into the depths of ISIS, its wicked network and loyal bases, writes Shashwat Sajal

Price:`499Publisher: Speaking Tiger Publishing

This clever twist on the British Royal Family interspersed with Shakespearean dialect will intrigue readers, while simultaneously provoking spurts of laughter, writes Asha Mandapa

The underlying theme running through the play is the curse of Wally Samson, who was denied her rightful position as Queen by the British royal family

NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost12|

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Routes

ROMANTIC ALEXANDRIA

Alexandria’s romance for me has always been first and foremost about Cleopatra. This was translated into sweet reality as I gazed out at the deep blue Mediterranean sea that

lies beyond this famed city’s enchanting Corniche. Founded by none other than Alexander the Great in 331 BCE the city of Alexandria (Al-Iskendariyya) is the stuff that legends are made of.

Alexander the Great founded Alexandria in the small port town of Rhakotis by the sea and set about the task of turning it into a great capital. Alexan-der left Egypt only a few months after his arrival to march onto Tyre in Phoenicia. It was left to his commander, Cleomenes, to build the city Alexander had envisioned. While Cleomenes accomplished a great deal, the full expansion of Alexandria came under the rule of Alexander’s general, Ptolemy, and the Ptolemaic Dynasty which followed. Under their rule, Alexandria accumulated great wealth and became the most powerful city of the Orient. It grew to become the largest in the known world, attracting scholars, scientists, philosophers, math-ematicians, artists, and historians.

Alexandria’s harbour was once marked by the towering Pharos lighthouse, begun under Ptolemy I; and its Great Library was renowned as the ulti-mate archive of all knowledge in the ancient world. Alas, fate dealt the city a spate of cruel blows. The Pharos lighthouse collapsed. The literary treasures of the Great Library were accidentally torched by Roman soldiers during the siege of Alexandria by Julius Caesar. Later, during Mark Antony’s reign, he plundered the second largest library in the world at Pergamon and presented the collection of 200,000 books as a gift to Cleopatra as a replacement for the books lost to Caesar’s fire, but to no avail. Today, no sign remains of the great Alexander himself and the city of Cleopatra has been mostly swallowed up by the ocean.

In the 19th century, Alexandria was revived by a cosmopolitan makeover that flirted with Euro-pean-style decadence. The city’s renaissance, as one of the Mediterranean’s key commercial hubs, brought with it a new, swaggering fame, lauded by writers and poets. This revival though was cut short in the 1950s by President Nasser’s national-ism. Today the peeling, faded and scarred remnants of this later period pockmark the once grand sea-front Corniche, ingraining the city with an aching sense of abandoned glory.

Alexandria is a champion survivor and today, is again striving to forge a new identity as Egypt’s cultural cap-ital. Some of the main sights to see in Alexandria are Qaitbay Citadel, Bibliotheca Alexand-rina, the Kom Esh Shaqqafa Catacombs, the Roman Amp-itheatre, site of the ancient Lighthouse, El Montazha Palace, Pompey’s pillar and the National Museum of Alexandria. My first visit is to the famed Pompey’s Pil-lar, built possibly in memory of the rebellion of Domitius

Domitianus and to honor the Emperor Diocletian, who freed the city and brought food to its people. Pompey’s Pillar is the tallest ancient monument in Alexandria. It is located on Alexandria’s ancient acropolis — a modest hill located adjacent to the city’s Arab cemetery. Beneath the acropolis itself are the subterranean remains of the temple of Serapis, God Of Alexandria. Also here was the ‘daughter library’ of the ancient Library of Alexandria, which was said to have contained book copies and overflow of texts. It was one of the most important intellectual and religious centres in the Mediterranean. In AD 391, Christians launched a final assault on pagan intellectuals and destroyed the Serapeum and its

library, leaving just this one lonely pillar standing.Just 15 minutes from Pompey’s Pillar in Car-

mous are the catacombs, the largest known Roman burial site in Egypt, which dates back to the late first century AD. No bones can be seen today because most of the graves, like much of Alexandria, went under water. These haunting catacombs or Kom

Esh-Shuqqafa, as they are called, lay in the old-est part of Alexandria. Friendly guides, who accost you by the dozens in Egypt, will regale you with incredible tales. Ours told us that even the Three Muske-teers were buried here! 

Then we drove on to the Roman Amphitheatre. In Ptol-emaic times this area was known as the Park of Pan, a pleasure gar-den where citizens of Alexandria could indulge in various lazy pur-suits. The ruins remain a preserved ode to the days of the centurion and include the 13 white-marble terraces of the only Roman amphi-theatre found in Egypt. In the same complex is the Villa of the Birds, a wealthy urban dwelling that dates to the time of Hadrian (AD 117–138).

In early 2010, the ruins of a Ptolemaic-era temple were uncovered along with statues of gods and goddesses, including a number of the cat goddess Bastet.

We were then off to see the Qait-bay Citadel, built over the remains of the ancient Pharos lighthouse by the Mamluk sultan Qaitbey in 1480. If you get close to the fort’s outer walls you can pick out some great pillars of red granite, which in all likelihood, came from the ancient lighthouse. Finely restored, the fort has a warren of rooms to explore, with spectacular harbour views along the way.

The attractive Abou El Abbas Mosque, the tomb of a 13th-century Sufi saint from Murcia in Spain, was redesigned and built in today’s current form by Eugenio Valzania and Mario Rossi (1929-1945). On summer nights a carnival-like atmosphere surrounds the mosque, with pony rides, bumper cars and merry-go-rounds. You can also visit one of the largest synagogues in the Middle East, the Italian-built, magnificent Eliyahu Hanavi Synagogue served Alexandria’s

once thriving and cosmopolitan Jewish community. Since the wars with Israel and the 1956 Suez Cri-sis, the community has dwindled to a handful and you need permission from the rabbi to look inside.

Alexandria’s ancient library was one of the great-est of all classical institutions, and while replacing it might seem like a Herculean task, the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, which I had longed to see, manages it with aplomb. Opened in 2002, this impressive piece of modern architecture, which cost around $250 million to build, is a deliberate attempt to rekindle the brilliance of the original centre of learning. The building takes the form of a gigantic angled discus made of Aswan granite and embed-ded in the ground, evoking a second sun rising out of the Mediterranean. The Bibliotheca Alexandrina International Festival is a month-long programme of concerts and is Alexandria’s prime summer event, organised in August.

At the fantastic Selsela Cafe across from the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, you can sip tea and smoke sheesha to the sound of waves rolling in, and smell the sea air. To find it, look for the sculpture with three white needles, across the Corniche from the library. Walk past the sculpture towards the sea; the entrance is down the steps to the right. We also explored the artefacts at the National museum of Alexandria set in a beautifully restored Italianate villa. It stocks several thousand years of Alexan-drian history, with artefacts from the Egyptian, Greek and Roman empires, arranged chronologi-cally over three floors.

On our way back we visited the modern monu-ments such as the tomb of the unknown soldier in Alexandria, the statue of Alexander the great, and finally drove along the Corniche to see the whole

city passing over Stanley Bridge, that landmark of modern Alexandria. Also overlooking the Cor-niche is the regal Montaza Complex, which was most recently used by former president Hosni Mubarak. Khedive Abbas Hilmy (1892–1914) built Montazah as his summer palace, a refuge for when Cairo became too hot. The palace itself is off-limits but the surrounding lush gardens are prime strolling territory.

About 1 km east of Montazah, Mamoura is the ‘beachiest’ of Alexandria’s beaches. There’s a cobblestone boardwalk with a few ice-cream shops and food stalls, and unlike the other beaches, there’s no noisy speedway behind you. A much less crowded private beach is next to the main beach, with nice frond

umbrellas and a E£40 entry fee. If it’s food that gets your juices flowing then Alexandria will provide you with the perfect array of seafood, Egyptian and Lebanese delights

along with several other options. For many visitors, Alexandria

remains a city more admired for its ambience than its sights. After you’ve deciphered its mind-boggling his-tory amid the museums and mon-uments, the Corniche is the ideal place to spend time sipping ahwa in old-world cafes, and meandering the harbour area to gaze up at belle époque architecture and ponder the ghosts of the past. The facade of this city may have tarnished down the

centuries but its allure can never diminish.

Founded by none other than Alexander the Great in 331 BCE, Alexandria has been the throne of cultural wisdom. Today, it still nourishes its history while radiating a modern vision, writes S. Pant

Alexandria accumulated great wealth and culture and became the most powerful city of the Orient. It became the largest in the known world at the time, attracting scholars, scientists, philosophers, mathematicians, artists, and historians

STORIES IN A FRAME

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| 13millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

BLOOMING SPRING

Trending

Home to over hundreds of different species of flowers, shrubs, herbs and medicinal plants, the public at large is invited to witness the beauty of the the Mughal Gardens, Rashtrapati Bhavan, every year between February and March, during the ‘Udyaanotsav’.

PICS: SRIDHAR VENKATESH

Finish the proverb:

Did the ________ get your tongue?

BRAIN DRAINSUDOKU WORD SEARCH

chuc

kles

LIKE FATHER,LIKE SONThere was a father who had two sons. His sons were named Ikey and Mikey.

They stayed in their apartment while their dad went to the store. Unfortunately, one day, their dad forgot the keys to his car.

He shouted to Ikey, “Throw my key out of the window!”And then Ikey threw Mikey out of the window.

SEND YOUR ORIGINAL SNAPS ALONG WITH YOUR NAME AND A BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE STORY BEHIND THEM TO MPSUNDAYPOST@GMAIL.COM. IF WE LIKE THEM, WE'LL PUBLISH THEM!

BLACKBIRD

BLUE JAY

CARDINAL

CRANE

CROW

DOVE

EAGLE

FALCON

HAWK

MAGPIE

OWL

PELICAN

PIGEON

ROBIN

SEAGULL

SPARROW

SWAN

WOODPECKER

WREN

Our life is a pursuit of happiness. Though under-stood as a phenomenon that can rarely be pal-pably defined, happiness has nuances and tinges that vary by the occasion, intensity and origin.

MirthMirth is jollity, especially when accompanied by laughter. From Germanic origin, mirth shares a root with the word merry. It has been around since the time Old English was spoken.RaptureRapture is ecstatic delight or joyful ecstasy. It comes from the Latin raptura meaning “abduc-tion,” “carrying away”. In Middle French, rapture means “abduction.” This term can also refer to the carrying of a person to another sphere of existence. In Christian theology, the rapture will happen when Christ returns to earth.ExultationExultation is lively or triumphant joy, generally over success or victory. It comes from the Latin, exultationem, and has been used in English since the 1400s.ElationElation is a feeling of great joy or pride, or of exultant gladness. In Middle English, elat means “proud.” Elation ultimately comes from Latin, by way of Old French.GleeGlee is open delight or pleasure. This term has had musical associations as the noun glee could be used to refer to harmonious entertainment. The meaning of delight came about 100 years later. By the 17th century, glee was considered obsolete or comic by various dictionary editors, only to reemerge in common usage by the late 18th century.JubilationJubilation is a loud expression of joy, or a festive celebration. This term entered English in the late 1300s, from the Latin meaning “shouting for joy.” It has since been immortalised in Simon and Gar-funkel’s song “Cecilia”: “Jubilation! She loves me again; I fall on the floor and I’m laughing.”

Express your joy!

FUN WITH WORDS

INGREDIENTS: 1/2 cup white sugar 1/2 cup water 1/2 cups blueberries crush Zest of one lemon For the lemonade: Juice of 2 lemons1 Cup chilled water 500 ml club soda Ice cubes

METHOD:CHICKPEAS: Heat a small pan with oil on medium to medium-high heat, make sure chickpeas are dried and deep fry to make crispy, roughly 4-8 min.Once the desired crispness is reached, season with salt, pepper and paprika. SWEET POTATO: In a small non-stick pan over medium-high heat, add a small amount of oil, place 3-4 sweet potato rounds in the plan, flat side down. Season with salt and pepper and sear to obtain a char, just don’t burn. Flip and add the maple and whisky and toss to coat and reduce the liquid into a glaze. Set aside. PLATING: Spread a small amount of Lebna on the plate as a base, place sweet potatoes on top as desired, garnish with chick-peas, and blueberries and pomegranates if you wish.

(Courtesy: Shangri-La, New Delhi, Canadian culinary chef Quentin Galbus)

METHOD:Dip round balls of ice-cream on to a lined plate and place in the freezer to firm overnight; Place the sponge cake pieces to completely cover the balls of ice-cream in a single layer, using sponge crumbs to fill in any gaps; Return to the freezer for at least four hours, but preferably overnight; If you find it easier, you can wrap the crumbed balls in a cling film while pressing on the cake to hold them together; Roll the frozen balls in beaten egg followed by the breadcrumbs, then return to the freezer overnight; To make the caramel sauce, melt the butter and brown sugar together in a saucepan; Cook on medium heat for about five to 10 minutes until it forms a dark caramel. Add the cream and simmer for a few minutes until smooth and thick; Heat the oil to 100 de-gree Celsius and fry the balls two at a time for about 30 seconds, until golden brown. Drains for a further 30 seconds, then serve with the caramel sauce.

(Courtesy: Chef Choong Chew Loon, Royal China, New Delhi)

INGREDIENTS:1 litre vanilla ice-cream½ cm slices sponge cake2 litre vegetable oil4 eggs2 cups dried breadcrumbsCaramel sauce2⁄3 cup cream3⁄4 cup brown sugar50g butter1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DEEP FRIED ICE CREAMFIZZY BLUEBERRY LEMONADE CHARRED SWEET POTATO WITH MAPLE SYRUPMETHOD:

Combine the sugar, water, blueberries, and lemon zest in a saucepan; Bring to a boil over medium heat and then simmer for 5-10 mins; Remove from the heat and allow to cool; Blend this blueberry mixture to a smooth puree; Squeeze the lemons to get the juice; To prepare the lemonade, in a large pitcher combine blueberry puree, lemon juice and water. Stir to combine; Add ice cubes, lemon wedges and fresh mint leaves in each serving glass; Fill the glass 3/4 with the blueberry lemonade; Pour the club soda to fill the remaining 1/4 of the glass. Stir to mix; Serve Fizzy Blueberry Lemonade immediately; (Courtesy: Del Monte)

INGREDIENTS:SWEET POTATO:2-3 medium sweet potatoes2 - 3 tbsp maple syrup2 tbsp whiskey Salt and pepper

CRISPY CHICKPEAS:1 cup chickpeasPaprikaSalt and pepper

Tradition believes that it is a man who first asks out a woman for a date but now the scenario has changed

14|

mpNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

You will be around children or will revisit your own childhood. The return of people or romances from

the past is indicated. You will remember events differently, in a better or worse light than they actually happened. Be practical while making all decisions. You will meet someone who will help your dreams come true.

Aries (Mar 21–April 20)

It is time to trust your intuition. Carefully reflect before taking action. Meditation will help you gain

insight. You will be making choices from the heart. Your health will improve and your health prob-lems will end. A new relation-ship is around the corner; or the strengthening of a current one.

Taurus (April 21–May 21)

You will receive information that you may not want to hear or may find difficult to hear.

However, this information will help you make further decisions. You need to speak the truth with kindness. Trust, there is a reason for everything that is happening. Remove yourself from the nega-tive emotions of others.

Gemini (May 22– June 21)

You have what it takes. You need to believe in yourself. Don’t think you’re powerless when

you are not. Your lack of self-confidence is keeping you from getting what you want. The creativity in you is at its highest right now. It is time to move forward with confidence. You will succeed in all your endeavours.

Cancer (June 22–July 22)

You feel that you are trapped. However, you are not trapped, it is only an illusion. Do not place so

much importance on materialistic things. It is time to review the past and the present so that you can work towards a bright future. You will have an understanding of your life and will move towards your life purpose.

Leo (July 23–Aug 23)

You can do anything. Take charge of your life. Amazing new ideas will come to you; find a way to

implement them immediately. You can manifest what you need to be a success. Don’t be deterred by challenges along the way. You will be able to come out of them successfully. It is important to communicate clearly with people.

Virgo (Aug 24– Sept 23)

A challenge is around the corner. Take action immedi-ately and you will successfully manage

the challenge. Plans will work out perfectly. Amazing ideas will lead to rewards and recognition. Your relationship will become more passionate. Your charm, passion and confidence will win others; however, you will feel restless.

Libra (Sept 24– Oct 23)

You are not seeing all your options clearly as far as your career is concerned. There is

a better choice. Open your eyes and look at the problems with a wider perspective. Do not run away from the truth. Emotions and family life will be good. Friends you can trust will be around you. An emotionally fulfilling time.

Scorpio (Oct 24–Nov 22)

This is a poor time to think of a career change. Reach out to others for assistance for they will help you

during this challenging time. You may face financial issues. Friends of the past or childhood will return to your life. They will help you remember the events of the past differently. This will help you sort out your problems.

Sagittarius (Nov 23–Dec21)

Things are not look-ing too good for you. Have patience and do not worry.

Sadness will heal with time. You will grow stronger from this situation. Take some time off to rest and plan your next steps. Reach out to others for comfort and love.

Capricorn ( Dec 22– Jan 20)

You desire a more meaningful life. At this point, you’ve re-alised that it’s time to move on. Review your

life so that you can learn from the mistakes. You will choose to make major changes in your life. These changes will be good for you. You will move a step closer to under-standing your life purpose. Do not judge yourself for the mistakes.

Aquarius (Jan 21–Feb 18)

The good that you’ve done will come back to you. You will have an unexpected inflow of money. Do

intensive research before taking decisions. Long-term projects are around the corner. Education in the form of seminars, conferences or maybe even going back to school! Walk away from dishonest associations.

Pisces (Feb 19 –March 20)

You

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Alisha Chinai, born March 18, 1965, is an Indian pop singer known for her albums as well as playback singing in Bollywood. Alisha’s initial albums include Jadoo, Baby Doll, Aaah Alisha and Made in India. Alisha was introduced to Hindi film music by the veteran music composer Bappi Lahiri. When she started her career with him, she was playback singing for several leading actresses, such as Karisma Kapoor, Smita Patil, Mandakini, Sridevi, Juhi Chawla, Madhuri Dixit, Divya Bharti. One of her biggest hits during the 80s was Kaate Nahin Katthe, Mr. India (1987), which she recorded with Kishore Kumar under the music direction of Laxmikant-Pyarelal. In 2005, her career reached a new high when she sang Kajra Re (Bunty Aur Babli). The song was a hit and won Alisha a Filmfare Award for Best Female Playback Singer. Alisha received the International Billboard Award around the time Made in India came out, and also won the Freddie Mercury Award for Artistic Excellence.

ALISHA CHINAI

Many studies say that we should not eat fish that are found in the top half of the ocean as they are all polluted with human waste, chemicals and plastic. However, is it safe to eat deep fish found at the bottom of the ocean?

Deep-water marine fish living on the continental slopes at depths from 2,000 feet to one mile have liver cancers, tumours and other health problems that may be linked to human-caused contamination from pesticides, industrial and munici-pal waste, chemicals and plastics. Fish have been found with a blend of male and female sex organs which is a result of swallowing human-made chemicals. The findings appear to reflect general ocean conditions and have been published in

the Marine Environmental Research, by scientists from Oregon State University;

the Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science in the US; and other agencies. It was supported by the European Union.

OSU researchers said, “In areas rang-

ing from pristine, high mountain

lakes of the

United States to ocean waters of the coasts of France and Spain, we’ve now found evi-dence of possible human-caused pollu-tion that’s bad enough to have pathological impacts on fish,” said Michael Kent, a pro-fessor of microbiology in the OSU College of Science and an international expert on fish disease.”Deep in the ocean one might have thought that the level of contamina-tion and its biological impact would be less,” Kent said. “That may not be the case. The pathological changes we’re seeing are

clearly the type associated with exposure to toxins and carcinogens.”

What does the term natu-ral food mean? I find it on

almost all packaging from cakes to ice-cream, bread to meat, medicine tablets

to biscuits—what does it indicate?

I don’t know either. As of now, it is just a clever marketing

gimmick which has discovered that humans hate the word chemical and are drawn to things that come directly from nature. But, after decades of debate, there remains no generally accepted definition of a “natural” food product. Regulatory agencies have refused to settle the issue. An oatmeal prod-uct seems more “natural than processed wheat” but it uses as many chemicals and pesticides as any other product in the mar-ket. Some people mistake natural for veg-etarian but many products have extracts of meat and still call themselves natural. An

ice-cream promotes itself as natural but uses flavour extracts. Even the sugar sub-stitute which is clearly chemical claimed it was made from natural ingredients till it was taken to court. What is needed is a series of lawsuits against food items that use the term so that, in time, food advertising and packaging will become more truthful. The government also needs to formulate a defi-nition of the meaning for the term natural.

(Views expressed and information provided are personal. Send your ques-

tions to manekaanimallove@gmail.com)

CONSUME YOUR FOOD CAREFULLY

ROOPSHA DASGUUPTA RAY

I come from a lower middle class family. I’m 22 years old and my father is arranging my marriage with an affluent man who is 42, divorced with a child. Please help.

Name unknown You are an adult. If your father’s

choice isn’t your preference, please pro-test in whatever way possible. He can-not force you to marry someone. Have a conversation with him. Involve other members of the family who might help convey the message. Do whatever it takes but don’t get married unless you are ready. 

I think I’m in love with my child-hood friend. She is not dating any-one but I guess there is a guy from her college she considers special. I fear that if I express my heart, I might lose her. I’m confused!

Wahid, New DelhiThis is never an easy situation. Pro-

fessing your feelings could cause an awkward rift from which your rela-tionship with her might never recover. If she does have strong feelings for you, she will break up with her current boyfriend and pursue a relationship with you at some future time. In the meantime, try not to be obsessed about the situation too much (I know, easier said than done). It’s difficult, but try to keep yourself busy with friends, hob-bies, work. Transfer your passion into something productive. Try and meet

some new people. You never know, you might meet someone who sparks your interest and perhaps eventually becomes the object of your affection.

 We had a love marriage last year but we are not happy. Everyday there is a fight and he is a completely dif-ferent guy. What should I do? I’m shattered.

Name unknown.Marriage and mirage sometimes go

hand in hand. But, I would request you to hold on to your relation and try your best to make it better. A quiet vacation might act as a catalyst and you surely can get closer and sort matters. A con-structive confrontation with loads of

cuddles, love can help warm up the situation for better. This looks like an initial rough patch which will be green soon. Don’t let go of your patience and dreams easily. Wish you good luck.

I’m madly in love with a man. I think he likes me too. Do women propose? 

Dipti, KolkataMany women still wonder if it is

right or wrong to propose a guy. Tra-dition believes that it is a man who first asks out a woman for a date but now the scenario has changed. It is perfectly right for a girl to propose a guy. Just consider some important things before you pour out your heart

to the man you love. Avoid choosing a crowded place to propose. Proposing at any crowded place might put both of you in an awkward situation. Make sure the spot you have chosen to make your proposal provides some privacy. Love letters can never be passé. In the age of e-mails, a love letter is a rar-ity. One can put her feelings elegantly through written words.

If you are feeling awkward to tell him your feelings you can always to write a letter. Prepare yourself for rejec-tion too. It is not necessary that a per-son whom you love will love you back. Respect his decision come what may. If he is destined to be with you, he will be with you anyways.

Otherwise accept the rejection and move on. Don’t get emotionally dependent on him or anyone. Best wishes for a lovely love life!

(Send your questions to roopshashotm@gmail.com)

Heartof the

Matter

Love and Light +91 7259025200 DEVINA SETHIA

Tarot ReadingInsight

Maneka Sanjay Gandhi, MP & Union Cabinet Minister, also an eminent animal rights activist and environmentalist, answers Millennium Post readers’ queries related to animal welfare issues

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The growing usage of chemicals and pollutants has reduced the quality of most natural, nutritious products

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A constructive confrontation with loads of cuddles, love can help

warm up the situation

Game onmp

| 15millennium post | NEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018

Subhankar Sharma has reinstated India’s name on the world golfing map by lifting the Jo’burg Open in December’17. Yet, the 21-year-old has a long course to traverse before he reaches the epitome of his

ambitions, discusses Sharma, in an interview with Aditya K. Halder

Golf is often sequestered as a game reserved for the crème de la crème. Especially in India, where sports such as cricket rule the heart of the nation,

golfers often remains in the shadow. But, our country does love champions – the reason why Tiger Woods is a name not unknown to most.

So, when a certain 21-year-old Subhankar Sharma forays into the scene out of nowhere and wins a European Tour championship (Jo’burg Open in December last year), folks do sit up and take note. The victory made him the youngest Indian – and the fifth (after Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, SSP Chowrasia and Anirban Lahiri) – to win on a European tour. Interest-ingly, Subhankar was actually planning on skip-ping the event in South Africa.

“I was planning on not going to Johannes-burg because the second half of the season was very busy,” said the 21-year-old professional golfer. “Just before that I went to Mauritius, which was my seventh or eighth event of the year. And the fact that no other Indian was going to the event was going to leave me without a roommate, and I was mulling over to skip it. I thought maybe I should go back to India, take a week off and play a tournament in the country. But, again, I thought I was playing well and feel-ing confident, plus it was a European tour. So, I took the flight and I am glad I did it. It turned out to be a great week for me.”

The victory took him to No 2 on the Euro-pean Tour Order of Merit with full status on the big stage. The tournament saw him go through ups and down as he fell short of his target 4 round score of 25-under by two shots but Shub-hankar said a level-headed performance eked out the win for him.

“The best thing that week—I was very calm and in golf, it is very important to remain calm. I never got ahead of myself; even when I was five shots ahead, I wasn’t really thinking of win-ning and kept the negative thoughts away. I was trying to be in my presence; hitting shots and trying to do my best out of every shot,” said the golfer from Chandigarh. “It wasn’t like I was fantastic; it was more like I was able to recover from every situation. My putting was great that week and that was the biggest take away from that event. Even with my B game, I was able to win it. I was so calm and composed that I was able to hit the put.”

Subhankar, who would love to talk through the day about golf, analysed how he was able to plan all his moves that week in Mzansi as the game itself gave him time to do so.

“Golf is a sport where you are not running fast; you get a lot of time to plan your next shot. You take a shot then you have two minutes to walk down for another; the mind can get bogged down with negative thoughts. I was glad those thoughts didn’t find me that week and I didn’t get ahead of myself,” he stressed.

Things were just getting started for the Young Turk as he soon bagged another European tour title – Malaysia Open. Sharma shot 62 to lift the title in Kuala Lumpur early February; the same 62 that he shot a couple of years back during the Manila Masters to tie fourth on the final day (from below 30) to lock up his Asian Tour card. The two-time European

tour champion saw sententious improvement in his ranking as he shot from as low as World no 482 (before his miracle in the rainbow nation) to World no 75 in no time. Subhankar said it wasn’t a sudden rise as he reached here gradually.

“I haven’t really done anything differently recently and it was more like learning on the tour because golfing is a journey; you keep playing and learning. Playing more, I got to learn a lot because conditions and the grass everywhere is different. Every tournament is a different place. When you have two practice rounds, you are actually studying the ground; making notes of where to hit and where not to. It is a lot of men-tal work. I have been playing on the Asian Tour for two years and I have seen courses and learnt many new aspects. I have matured a lot over the years; finding fault in my games and working on them,” said the 3rd-year Delhi University’s Politi-cal Science student.

The experience did come in handy because Subhankar soon made the entire golf fraternity realise that this 21-year old is not just another bloke with the clubs from India. Making his debut at the PGA tour World Golf Champi-onship in Mexico, the Indian golfer surprised everyone by reaching the top on the penulti-mate day. However, the failure to hold on to his nerves on the final day saw him crash out with five bogeys – something he never did during his two European titles – in the final round to fin-ish tied ninth. Phil Mickelson ended a five-year drought to lift the PGA tour.

“I took the lead but I couldn’t finish it off but that’s how the game is. It teaches you something new every day. I am content with the fact that I did really good for a debutant in the tournament. I will cherish the opportunity to play with Phil,” said a cheerful Subhankar.

Subhankar soon had to endure similar faith back in the Indian Open in Gurugram – a core sanction event that he was looking forward to playing in the season – as he struggled with his putting to drop three double bogeys, three

bogeys against six birdies to total four-under

284 to finish tied seventh despite being an over-night leader.

“I had too many bogeys for my liking at the final day of the Indian Open. Those mistakes led to me to do the catching to the top and never managed to get there. But, I am happy with my

overall performance there, I managed to fin-ish with a four-under total,” he explained.

The last two failures don’t haunt Subhankar as he sets his sight on

the Open Championship he always fancied: British Open. He earned the spot for the link course major through his win in Jo’burg and is looking for-ward to the toughest challenge that presents itself in the course

which is famous for its pot bunkers that force a golfer to think out of the box.

“I have always been fascinated by the British Open. I have fond memo-ries of watching golf greats winning it. Whether it’s Tiger Woods victory after his dad passing away

or Rory Mcllroy’s win, I remember them all. But my

experience on link courses is very limited. I have only played

once and just one round. But being on the European tour now, I will get to play in the Scottish and Irish Open, and that should prepare me for the British Open,” he said.

The current world no 66’s initial plan was to get himself inside the top 50 to get an entry into the Masters tourna-

ment to be held in Georgia, USA (one of golf ’s four major championships) but it won’t matter anymore as the tournament committee extended him an invitation to the majors, sighting his recent performance. Subhankar hopes to secure that one major win to break the ice and beat the epitome.

“I would like to win a major, of course, I would love to win many but winning a major to start with would be great and get to the world no 1 spot is also one of my many ambitions,” he concluded. One doesn’t know if he will ever win a major or not; or reach the no 1 spot like his inspi-ration Tiger Woods. But, his rise confirms that the euphoria for golf is not fading anytime soon, instead, it could be getting stronger by the day.

The victory took him to No 2 on the European Tour Order of Merit. The tournament saw him go through ups and down as he fell short of his target 4 round score of 25-under by two shots but Shubhankar said a level-headed performance eked out the win for him

I was trying to be in my presence; hitting shots and trying to do my best out of every shot

Box Office India (BOI): The trailer has created quite a buzz among the audi-ence. What kind of response have you got from your fans?

Ileana D’Cruz (ID): It has been amazing and overwhelming. I do not want anyone to take this the wrong way but I actually had no expectations from anyone. I know it is a great film but I never once wondered what people were going to think of the trailer. I did not ask anyone. Even without that, there are so many nice things that people are sharing with me. People from the industry have been saying great things. Also, I have friends who are not all that filmy but they too watched the trailer and told me that they not only liked it but they absolutely loved it. They loved how it looked because it is so different. And that is one of the reasons I did the film. It is an amazing, beauti-ful story and I think it needs to be told. I think the response has been absolutely phenomenal.

BOI: The film has an interesting tagline, ‘Heroes don’t always come in uniform’. How did you all come up with it?

Ajay Devgan(AD): I actually came up with that line. That’s my take on the film.

ID: It’s totally apt for this film.AD: Yes, it is. I have also done so many films

where the hero is in uniform. The character I play in Raid too is as strong and as honest as the ones I have played before. Income tax officers do not wear a uniform and that’s what we are show-ing. It is not necessary to wear a uniform to do your job here; it is the need to do the right thing.

ID: Also, I have always felt that we hear only one side of the story. We have spoken about what it feels like to be the victim, the person who is raided. But I have never heard the stories of income tax officers. We have no idea what the officer goes through and it is absolutely amaz-ing. Very brave too.

BOI: What kind of research did you have to do to portray this character on screen?

AD: This particular story is a real one and is based on somebody’s life. I met the person whose life it was inspired by as part of my research. But it wasn’t really research; it was more like a chat to understand what had happened and what he felt.

More than me, our director Raj Kumar Gupta was involved in this conversation with the person concerned. Then, Raj and I discussed it at length after which I offered my own take on it. The dif-ference this time was that this central character needed to be mentally aggressive. He is not a physical guy. He cannot be physically aggressive. So you will see that the whole attitude is very dif-ferent from, say, a Singham.

BOI: Ajay sir, as you said, you are playing a role based on someone’s life. Does that make it easier or more difficult?

AD: It is sometimes easier to play a fictional character but it depends on the character and the situation. When you are playing a role based on real people and incidents, it is easier because you can identify with the situation as it has actually happened. But it is also tougher to be somebody else. Hence, you need to strike the right balance for your role.

BOI: When we had spoken to the produc-ers and the director of Raid, they described the female protagonist as one of those heroes men-tioned in the tagline that don’t need a uniform.

ID: It shows you the truth because the wives of income tax officers need to be immensely brave, especially when their husbands go out on raids. I think the situation might have changed a little but, back then, husbands wouldn’t tell their wives where they were going. They had no idea whether the husband was coming back the same day or coming back at all. It’s quite a scary situ-ation to be in for a while.

AD: In fact, just yesterday, we met the family of an income tax officer. The wife was saying that her husband had never told her about all this, where he was going, and she kept worrying. So it does reflect the reality of what they experience.

BOI: Both of you are doing this film almost on the heels of your last one, in which you had worked together for the first time. Was there a comfort level you shared the second time around in Raid?

AD: I think the comfort level between us was there from the very first day of our first movie.

ID: Day one, actually. I was super nervous on my first day on the sets of Baadshaho and he completely calmed me by saying that it was fine and asking me to just chill. I was nervous because I had so many lines. I remember Ajay was leaving that day, it was the last day of his schedule and that had me panicking. I was, like, will I be able to finish this on time? He had to be this quiet per-son in the scene and I had all these lines, I was a nervous wreck. But he was extremely helpful and calm throughout. We just broke the ice. Actu-ally, there was no ice; we got along from day one.

BM: How much of a romance angle will we see in this film?

AD: The romance is very real. Actually, I wouldn’t call it romance; I would call it a rela-tionship between a husband and wife.

ID: Yes, we are talking about the intimacy between them. It isn’t this cheesy thing.

AD: You cannot call what they share as ‘romance’.

BOI: From the trailer, it is obvious that the film’s premise is an income tax officer conduct-ing raids in people’s homes or offices. That plot-line may seem a little limited to some. How did you make sure you balanced it with entertain-ment to make it engaging?

AD: From the promo itself, the audience is saying it looks very real and very commercial too. The thrill angle, the relationships and the tension make it very commercial. When I heard the script, it felt real but it has been written in the commercial space. That is the best part of the script.

BOI: Director Raj Kumar Gupta and pro-ducer Kumar Mangat have said that this film is socially very relevant, which is a trend that everyone is following. What is your take on that?

AD: I think that filmmaking should not be limited to delivering a message. If it is in the story, if it comes out automatically, then that’s great. Here, in Raid, it does come out automatically. It talks about this man who is ready to risk his fam-ily and his life. Why is he so honest? The mes-sage is what he is doing for his department and his country. The film also explains a lot of things like the adverse effects of not paying income tax. Many people feel that there is no need to share the money they have. If you’re not educated enough, then you would think that is right. So there are these subtle messages in the film.

BOI: The movie has been shot in a very short span of time. Any challenges you faced while filming?

AD: It was shot in one go and there were no challenges. Everything was planned very well.

BOI: From challenges during filming to chal-lenges during the film’s release… how much will Raid benefit from a solo release amid so many clashes?

AD: Well, yes, solo release is always bet-ter. The only thing better than a solo release – and what people keep struggling for – is a holiday weekend. Those aspects are crucial to the business of a film. But that cannot happen all the time. We have so many movies but a finite number of weeks every year. Even though we have a solo release, the business of the film depends on many other factors. Take, for exam-ple, the recently released Sonu Ke Titu Ki Sweety. It opened at `5.5-6 crore, but the way it is going, it could touch `100 crore. So, it does not matter who your film is opening against or when it is releasing. A good film will always work.

ID: Yes, at the end of the day, the content of the film makes all the difference.

BOI Talking about box office numbers, do you track the collections of your films?

AD: We completely do. It is also our job to do that. We need to know how a film is working, what is working, how many screens and what not. It is part of the business.

BOI: Lastly, can you shed some light on what’s next for you after Raid’s release?

ID: I haven’t yet signed anything after this. I am taking it a little easy for now.

AD: I am currently working on two films. One is Total Dhamaal and the other is the roman-tic comedy directed by Akiv Ali. BOI

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FilmNEW DELHI|SUNDAY, 18 MARCH 2018|millenniumpost

- Kevin Smith

When you’re a filmmaker you’re part of a very expensive art form

I have done so many films where the hero is in uniform. But it is not always necessary to wear a uniform to do your job, rather it is the need to do right thing, says Ajay

EVERYMAN’S

HEROIleana D’Cruz and Ajay Devgan have paired up yet again for the recently released thriller Raid, a movie that

narrates an engaging tale of a fearless Income Tax

officer