qgldq pnwv orvh c / fu lq &klqd yluxv eorrgedwk - Daily Pioneer

16
T he change of guard in the Delhi Police on Friday has coincided with the return of the normalcy in the riot-affected areas of North-east district in the national Capital. Heavy police presence and effective patrolling have encouraged people to reopen shops selling essential supplies such as milk, medicines, kitchen items, start using private vehicles on the roads. Newly-appointed Delhi Police Commissioner SN Shrivastava made it amply clear to the people that his top pri- ority will be to ensure safety of the people and maintaining law and order. “The police are there for them,” said Shrivastava, who will take over as Delhi Police Commissioner on Sunday. All the peace committees have been activated and the respectable from both the com- munities have been roped in to help in establish peace and tranquility in the areas that have seen largescale violence and bloodshed. The presence of Shrivastava — IPS officer of the 1985 batch — on the ground has helped the rank and file of the beleaguered force to work with purpose and firmness. Shrivastava, who will be taking up the reins of 85,000 Delhi Police force soon from his batchmate and the outgoing police chief Amulya Patnaik, has shifted from the CRPF by the Ministry of Home Affairs to contain the situation. Meanwhile on Friday, four more victims of the riots suc- cumbed to their injuries rais- ing the death toll to 42. Doctors attending to the injured patients said they are doing their best but some of them are highly critical and the toll may go up in the coming days. More than 250 people have been injured in the communal clashes that broke out across northeast Delhi in areas such as Jaffrabad, Maujpur, Chand Bagh, Khureji Khas and Bhajanpura. Meanwhile, heavy police presence and the announce- ment by the police on public address systems started to have its affect as more shops and other establishments opened up as the day progressed in some places and more private vehicles were seen on roads. Autos and e-rickshaws also began plying in some areas as people stepped out of their homes to get back to work or to run errands. As clouds of smoke from burning properties/vehicles cleared on Friday, it revealed the extent of the damage from the worst riots in the city in more than three decades. While civic workers swept the streets and bylanes off bricks, broken glass and other debris of three days of com- munal clashes, some shop- keepers sorted through the charred remains of their van- dalised and burnt shops. Police and paramilitary personnel maintained strict vigil in view of Friday prayers at mosques. Local mosques in appealed for peace and harmony in the riot-hit areas. The imams of mosques appealed to people to be united and not fall prey to rumours, urging people to report about suspicious people to the authorities and cooper- ate with the police. F rom the haunted city of Wuhan to California’s Silicon Valley, and from Jerusalem’s Church of the Holy Sepulchre to the Muslim’s shrines of Mecca and Medina, the deadly coronavirus has spread with such relentless hustle that doomsday fore- casters have had a field day in spooking the world. Other than killing close to 3,000 peo- ple across four continents, the mysterious pathogen has induced stock market bears to go on a gory bloodbath. On Friday, this mayhem further deepened on bourses across the globe — and India bore the brunt of its fury. After surviving the out- break with relatively lesser damage for the last few days, Indian markets caught up with global carnage on Friday. Sensex crashed 1,448.37 pts to end at 38,297.29 and Nifty plunges 431.55 pts to 11,201.7. This was the biggest single day fall for the two indices in the last one decade. During the week, Sensex plunged 2,872.83 points or 6.97 per cent, and the Nifty tumbled 879.10 or 7.27 per cent. The market offered no hid- ing place as traditional safe heavens like IT sector, too, crumbled like a house of sand. Infosys, TCS and other IT sec- tors companies fell by the way side on fear that global travel reduction and spectre of a looming recession could hit the IT spending in the US and else- where. Investor lost more than 5 lakh crore on Friday alone as the market capitalisation of BSE-listed companies saw a decline of 12 lakh crore in the last sixth consecutive session of free fall. A massive outflow of by foreign portfolio investors, who have sold equities close to 12,000 crore in on one week, has taken away the floor of the market and opened the possi- bility of a further downside even if there is a technical bounce back in the next week. I ndia’s economic growth slowed to a near 7-year low of 4.7 per cent in October- December 2019 on continued slump in manufacturing, and now faces the next big chal- lenge of coronavirus outbreak stifling global growth. Despite being one of the strongest periods due to festi- val season and higher rural spending driven by kharif har- vest, October-December was the third straight quarter of growth decline and the lowest rate in 27 quarters. The Government retained its esti- mate of 5 per cent GDP growth for the fiscal year through March, the lowest for 11 years. T he macabre dance of death in the affected areas of North-east district have seen several houses, shops, schools and factories being burnt by mobs from Sunday to Tuesday. The area on Friday resembled a ghost town with buildings bearing the brunt of the fren- zied mobs led by pro and anti- Citizen Amendment Act (CAA) protesters. The devastation saw as many as 79 houses, 52 shops, two schools, three factories, four godowns and four mosques being burned. According to the Delhi Fire Service (DFS) officials, there hundreds of calls were received after vehicles were torched. Over 500 cars, trucks and busses were gutted after being set on fire by the mobs in riot- hit areas. Police said they received more than 12,000 dis- tress calls from Sunday to Thursday. “An estimated 218 calls of fire incidents were reported in riot-hit North-east Delhi between Monday and Thursday,” said a senior DFS official. Firefighters faced difficul- ties to reach locations as even fire tenders were set on blaze by rioters. T he fate of world’s biggest sporting event, the Olympic Games, looks uncertain with coronavirus fast spreading across host Japan. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has said no decision has been taken on the future of Olympic Games, but Japan has insisted there is no plan to drop the Games, which is scheduled to start on July 24 and run through August 9 in Tokyo. On Thursday, the WHO said no decision has been made to cancel the major sporting event in the midst of the coro- navirus outbreak. “To my understanding, no decision has or will be taken in the near term regarding the future of the Olympics,” Dr Mike Ryan, the head of WHO’s Health Emergencies Programme told reporters. A day later on Friday, news agency Reuter quoted an offi- cial from Japan saying, Tokyo has no Plan B for this year’s Summer Olympics despite alarm over the spread of the coronavirus. “There will not be one bit of change in holding the Games as planned,” Katsura Enyo, deputy director general of the Tokyo 2020 Preparation Bureau at the city Government, told Reuters. H ours after a report of sell- ing of a 19-day-old boy came to fore in Bhubaneswar, the Commissionerate Police on Thursday night rescued the baby from Gadakana under the Mancheswar police station. Later, the baby was admitted to the Capital Hospital for medical exami- nation in the presence of Childline members. On Friday, police arrested three persons, including the child’s father Dilu Das, in con- nection with the incidence. Notably, selling and buying of children is punishable under Section 81 of the Juvenile Justice Act and attracts a five- year rigorous imprisonment. The parents of the child admitted that they sold the baby to a couple and received Rs 10,000 by executing an agreement in the non-judicial paper with an ASHA Worker and a local person as mediators. Earlier on Thursday, Childline members had received a phone call inform- ing that a child of Satya Nagar Basti in Bharatpur under the Khandagiri police station in the city was sold by his parents for Rs 1.5 lakh. Following this, two members of Childline reached Bharatpur and inquired into the matter. After the Childline members sought help, police rescued the child. U nion Home Minister Amit Shah on Friday accused opposition parties of spreading misinformation about the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and inciting communal riots. He said people should come out and ask those fomenting trouble to explain which clause of the CAA would snatch citizenship of people. Shah was addressing a big rally organised by the BJP at the Janata Maidan here in support of the CAA. “Opposition parties are spreading misinformation that Muslims will lose their Indian citizenship because of the CAA. They are instigating people and fomenting riots,” he alleged. He said no Indian Muslim would lose citizenship because of the new law. “Lakhs of people belonging to minorities communities like Hindu, Jain, Parsi and Sikh have been suffering from religious persecution in neighbouring countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh and Afghanistan for the last 70 years since partition. They have lost their human rights. Earlier Congress leaders had promised citizenship to them during fifties. But they didn’t do anything in this regard. Narendra Modi took the step to protest them,” said Shah. He criticised Communist, Congress, SP, TMC and other opposition parties for “spread- ing misinformation”. Shah said the Modi Government at the Centre has addressed several intractable issues that had festered for 70 years, including repeal of pro- visions of Article 370 that gave a special status to Jammu and Kashmir and prevented its integration with the rest of the country. He said constitution of Sri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Trust for establishment of a Ram Temple at Ayodha is another historic step taken by the Government. Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said the Modi Government has a spe- cial love for Odisha, which would be developed as top State in coming days. T he Indian Metrological Department (IMD) Regional Office here on Friday predicted that thunderstorm accompanied with lightning is again likely to sweep various parts of the State from March 2. The IMD issued yellow warning for the districts of Sundargarh, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Gajapati and Baleswar. Besides, dry weath- er is very likely to prevail over the rest districts of the state. Besides, the weather office forecasted that dense fog is very likely to occur at one or two places over Bhadrak, Cuttack, Khordha, Jagatsinghpur, Angul, Kandhamal, Balangir and Kalahandi till 8.30 am on February 29. The predicted that mini- mum temperature is very like- ly to be below normal by three to four degree in the next two to three days. And, the maxi- mum temperature is likely to gradually rise by two to four degree Celsius during the next two to four days, the IMD. C hief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday reiterat- ed his demand that the Centre declare Odisha a ‘Special Focus State’ as it is frequently being ravaged by natural disasters. “Taking the frequency of natural disasters faced by Odisha into consideration, Vulnerability to Natural Calamity should be taken as a criterion to declare Odisha as a Special Focus State,” Patnaik said at the 24th Eastern Zonal Council (EZC) meeting held here under the Chairmanship of Union Home Minister Amit Shah and attended by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and other Ministers from Jharkhand and Chhattisgarh. Patnaik also urged for increasing banking, tele-density and coal royalty in the State. “Royalty on coal has not been revised from 2012. There is an urgent need to revise roy- alty on coal and also to share the proceeds of clean energy cess with the State Government,” said he. He also demanded announcement of a special economic package for speeding up the infrastructural devel- opment of the eastern region. “Our regions have some of the largest scheduled areas of the country. I reiterate my demand for inclusion of the Ho, Bhumij and Mundari languages in the Eighth Schedule of Constitution,” he added. Patnaik said Odisha pro- vides 50-per cent funds and land free of cost in important railway projects, but the pro- jects’ progress has been very slow. “If a nationwide analysis is done for tele-density, banking density, rail and road density, East Zone would be at the bot- tom in all these subjects that are in the Union List. There is a need to double the allotments made to this region so that they catch up to the national bench- marks,” said Patnaik. He said this zone con- tributes maximum to the coun- try’s mineral wealth and is, in turn, manufacturing and ener- gy security of the country. The fruits of this wealth should boost the economic growth of the region and its people, said he.

Transcript of qgldq pnwv orvh c / fu lq &klqd yluxv eorrgedwk - Daily Pioneer

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The change of guard in theDelhi Police on Friday has

coincided with the return of thenormalcy in the riot-affectedareas of North-east district inthe national Capital. Heavypolice presence and effectivepatrolling have encouragedpeople to reopen shops sellingessential supplies such as milk,medicines, kitchen items, startusing private vehicles on theroads.

Newly-appointed DelhiPolice Commissioner SNShrivastava made it amply clearto the people that his top pri-ority will be to ensure safety ofthe people and maintaining lawand order. “The police arethere for them,” saidShrivastava, who will take overas Delhi Police Commissioneron Sunday.

All the peace committeeshave been activated and therespectable from both the com-munities have been roped in to

help in establish peace andtranquility in the areas thathave seen largescale violenceand bloodshed.

The presence ofShrivastava — IPS officer of the1985 batch — on the groundhas helped the rank and file ofthe beleaguered force to workwith purpose and firmness.Shrivastava, who will be takingup the reins of 85,000 DelhiPolice force soon from hisbatchmate and the outgoingpolice chief Amulya Patnaik,has shifted from the CRPF bythe Ministry of Home Affairsto contain the situation.

Meanwhile on Friday, fourmore victims of the riots suc-cumbed to their injuries rais-ing the death toll to 42. Doctorsattending to the injuredpatients said they are doingtheir best but some of them arehighly critical and the toll maygo up in the coming days.More than 250 people havebeen injured in the communalclashes that broke out across

northeast Delhi in areas such asJaffrabad, Maujpur, ChandBagh, Khureji Khas and

Bhajanpura. Meanwhile, heavy police

presence and the announce-

ment by the police on publicaddress systems started to haveits affect as more shops andother establishments openedup as the day progressed insome places and more private

vehicles were seen on roads.Autos and e-rickshaws alsobegan plying in some areas aspeople stepped out of theirhomes to get back to work orto run errands.

As clouds of smoke fromburning properties/vehiclescleared on Friday, it revealedthe extent of the damage fromthe worst riots in the city inmore than three decades.

While civic workers sweptthe streets and bylanes offbricks, broken glass and otherdebris of three days of com-munal clashes, some shop-keepers sorted through thecharred remains of their van-dalised and burnt shops. Policeand paramilitary personnelmaintained strict vigil in viewof Friday prayers at mosques.

Local mosques in appealedfor peace and harmony in theriot-hit areas. The imams ofmosques appealed to people tobe united and not fall prey torumours, urging people toreport about suspicious peopleto the authorities and cooper-ate with the police.

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From the haunted city ofWuhan to California’s

Silicon Valley, and fromJerusalem’s Church of the HolySepulchre to the Muslim’sshrines of Mecca and Medina,the deadly coronavirus hasspread with such relentlesshustle that doomsday fore-casters have had a field day inspooking the world. Otherthan killing close to 3,000 peo-ple across four continents, themysterious pathogen hasinduced stock market bears togo on a gory bloodbath. OnFriday, this mayhem furtherdeepened on bourses across theglobe — and India bore thebrunt of its fury.

After surviving the out-break with relatively lesser

damage for the last few days,Indian markets caught up withglobal carnage on Friday.Sensex crashed 1,448.37 pts toend at 38,297.29 and Niftyplunges 431.55 pts to 11,201.7.This was the biggest singleday fall for the two indices inthe last one decade. During theweek, Sensex plunged 2,872.83points or 6.97 per cent, and theNifty tumbled 879.10 or 7.27per cent.

The market offered no hid-ing place as traditional safeheavens like IT sector, too,crumbled like a house of sand.Infosys, TCS and other IT sec-tors companies fell by the wayside on fear that global travelreduction and spectre of alooming recession could hit theIT spending in the US and else-where.

Investor lost more than �5lakh crore on Friday alone asthe market capitalisation ofBSE-listed companies saw adecline of �12 lakh crore in thelast sixth consecutive session offree fall.

A massive outflow of byforeign portfolio investors, whohave sold equities close to�12,000 crore in on one week,has taken away the floor of themarket and opened the possi-bility of a further downsideeven if there is a technicalbounce back in the next week.

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India’s economic growthslowed to a near 7-year low

of 4.7 per cent in October-December 2019 on continuedslump in manufacturing, andnow faces the next big chal-lenge of coronavirus outbreakstifling global growth.

Despite being one of thestrongest periods due to festi-val season and higher ruralspending driven by kharif har-vest, October-December wasthe third straight quarter ofgrowth decline and the lowestrate in 27 quarters. TheGovernment retained its esti-mate of 5 per cent GDP growthfor the fiscal year throughMarch, the lowest for 11 years.

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The macabre dance of deathin the affected areas of

North-east district have seenseveral houses, shops, schoolsand factories being burnt bymobs from Sunday to Tuesday.The area on Friday resembleda ghost town with buildingsbearing the brunt of the fren-zied mobs led by pro and anti-Citizen Amendment Act(CAA) protesters.

The devastation saw asmany as 79 houses, 52 shops,two schools, three factories,four godowns and fourmosques being burned.According to the Delhi FireService (DFS) officials, therehundreds of calls were receivedafter vehicles were torched.

Over 500 cars, trucks andbusses were gutted after being

set on fire by the mobs in riot-hit areas. Police said theyreceived more than 12,000 dis-tress calls from Sunday toThursday.

“An estimated 218 calls offire incidents were reported inriot-hit North-east Delhibetween Monday andThursday,” said a senior DFS

official. Firefighters faced difficul-

ties to reach locations as evenfire tenders were set on blazeby rioters.

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The fate of world’s biggestsporting event, the Olympic

Games, looks uncertain withcoronavirus fast spreadingacross host Japan. The WorldHealth Organisation (WHO)has said no decision has beentaken on the future of OlympicGames, but Japan has insistedthere is no plan to drop theGames, which is scheduled tostart on July 24 and runthrough August 9 in Tokyo.

On Thursday, the WHOsaid no decision has been made

to cancel the major sportingevent in the midst of the coro-navirus outbreak. “To myunderstanding, no decision hasor will be taken in the nearterm regarding the future of theOlympics,” Dr Mike Ryan, the

head of WHO’s HealthEmergencies Programme toldreporters.

A day later on Friday, newsagency Reuter quoted an offi-cial from Japan saying, Tokyohas no Plan B for this year’sSummer Olympics despitealarm over the spread of thecoronavirus.

“There will not be one bitof change in holding the Gamesas planned,” Katsura Enyo,deputy director general of theTokyo 2020 Preparation Bureauat the city Government, toldReuters.

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Hours after a report of sell-ing of a 19-day-old boy

came to fore in Bhubaneswar,the Commissionerate Policeon Thursday night rescuedthe baby from Gadakanaunder the Mancheswar policestation.

Later, the baby wasadmitted to the CapitalHospital for medical exami-nation in the presence ofChildline members.

On Friday, police arrestedthree persons, including thechild’s father Dilu Das, in con-nection with the incidence.

Notably, selling and buying

of children is punishable underSection 81 of the JuvenileJustice Act and attracts a five-year rigorous imprisonment.

The parents of the childadmitted that they sold thebaby to a couple and received

Rs 10,000 by executing anagreement in the non-judicialpaper with an ASHA Workerand a local person as mediators.

Earlier on Thursday,

Childline members hadreceived a phone call inform-ing that a child of Satya NagarBasti in Bharatpur under theKhandagiri police station in thecity was sold by his parents forRs 1.5 lakh. Following this, two

members of Childline reachedBharatpur and inquired intothe matter. After the Childlinemembers sought help, policerescued the child.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Friday accused

opposition parties of spreadingmisinformation about theCitizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and inciting communalriots.

He said people shouldcome out and ask thosefomenting trouble to explainwhich clause of the CAA wouldsnatch citizenship of people.

Shah was addressing a big

rally organised by the BJP at theJanata Maidan here in supportof the CAA.

“Opposition parties arespreading misinformation thatMuslims will lose their Indiancitizenship because of the CAA.They are instigating peopleand fomenting riots,” healleged.

He said no Indian Muslimwould lose citizenship becauseof the new law.

“Lakhs of people belongingto minorities communities likeHindu, Jain, Parsi and Sikh havebeen suffering from religiouspersecution in neighbouringcountries like Pakistan,Bangladesh and Afghanistan forthe last 70 years since partition.

They have lost their humanrights. Earlier Congress leadershad promised citizenship tothem during fifties. But theydidn’t do anything in thisregard. Narendra Modi took the

step to protest them,” said Shah.He criticised Communist,Congress, SP, TMC and otheropposition parties for “spread-ing misinformation”.

Shah said the Modi

Government at the Centre hasaddressed several intractableissues that had festered for 70years, including repeal of pro-visions of Article 370 that gavea special status to Jammu andKashmir and prevented itsintegration with the rest of thecountry.

He said constitution of SriRam Janmabhoomi TeerthTrust for establishment of aRam Temple at Ayodha isanother historic step taken bythe Government.

Union MinisterDharmendra Pradhan said theModi Government has a spe-cial love for Odisha, whichwould be developed as topState in coming days.

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The Indian MetrologicalDepartment (IMD)

Regional Office here on Fridaypredicted that thunderstormaccompanied with lightning isagain likely to sweep variousparts of the State from March 2.

The IMD issued yellowwarning for the districts of

Sundargarh, Keonjhar,Mayurbhanj, Gajapati andBaleswar. Besides, dry weath-er is very likely to prevail overthe rest districts of the state.

Besides, the weather officeforecasted that dense fog is verylikely to occur at one or twoplaces over Bhadrak, Cuttack,Khordha, Jagatsinghpur, Angul,Kandhamal, Balangir and

Kalahandi till 8.30 am onFebruary 29.

The predicted that mini-mum temperature is very like-ly to be below normal by threeto four degree in the next twoto three days. And, the maxi-mum temperature is likely togradually rise by two to fourdegree Celsius during the nexttwo to four days, the IMD.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on Friday reiterat-

ed his demand that the Centredeclare Odisha a ‘Special FocusState’ as it is frequently beingravaged by natural disasters.

“Taking the frequency ofnatural disasters faced byOdisha into consideration,Vulnerability to NaturalCalamity should be taken as acriterion to declare Odisha asa Special Focus State,” Patnaiksaid at the 24th Eastern ZonalCouncil (EZC) meeting heldhere under the Chairmanshipof Union Home Minister AmitShah and attended by WestBengal Chief Minister MamataBanerjee, Bihar Chief MinisterNitish Kumar and otherMinisters from Jharkhand andChhattisgarh.

Patnaik also urged forincreasing banking, tele-densityand coal royalty in the State.

“Royalty on coal has notbeen revised from 2012. Thereis an urgent need to revise roy-alty on coal and also to share

the proceeds of clean energycess with the StateGovernment,” said he.

He also demandedannouncement of a specialeconomic package for speedingup the infrastructural devel-opment of the eastern region.“Our regions have some of thelargest scheduled areas of thecountry. I reiterate my demandfor inclusion of the Ho, Bhumijand Mundari languages in theEighth Schedule ofConstitution,” he added.

Patnaik said Odisha pro-vides 50-per cent funds andland free of cost in importantrailway projects, but the pro-jects’ progress has been very

slow.“If a nationwide analysis is

done for tele-density, bankingdensity, rail and road density,East Zone would be at the bot-tom in all these subjects that arein the Union List. There is aneed to double the allotmentsmade to this region so that theycatch up to the national bench-marks,” said Patnaik.

He said this zone con-tributes maximum to the coun-try’s mineral wealth and is, inturn, manufacturing and ener-gy security of the country. Thefruits of this wealth shouldboost the economic growth ofthe region and its people, saidhe.

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Union Home Minister AmitShah on Friday termed

Odisha as his “second home”and assured that the NarendraModi Government wouldmake all efforts to take the Stateto new heights during the nextfive years.

Addressing a huge pro-Citizenship Amendment Actrally here, Shah said the BJP hasbeen so much strengthened inthe Odisha that it has stood asa strong pillar in the wholeeastern part of the country.

“With eight MP seats, ourvote share in Parliamentaryelections in Odisha has beenincreased from 21 per cent in2014 to 38.4 per cent in 2019.The BJP got as many as 91 lakhvotes compared to the BJD’s 1.1

crore votes. In Assembly sector,the BJP has also emerged sec-ond in Odisha. As the mainopposition party, the BJP isnow raising issues concerningpeople in the Assembly. Ourparty performed comparative-ly better in more about 14,000booths out of total 36,000booths,” he said.

Shah further said thatOdisha people’s supportinspired the BJP to grow furtherin the entire eastern region ofthe country. Putting a challengeto the Congress, Shah claimedthat Odisha got highest amountof Central funds during the lastfive years of the first term of theNarendra Modi Government.“As compared to the Congress’s55 years in power at the Centre,our five years remained muchmore supportive to Odisha,”claimed Shah.

He said the ModiGovernment provided a total ofRs 2,11,510 corore to Odishaduring its first term against Rs79,000 crore provided to theState by the Congress-led UPA-

II Government.“Besides, we havegiven other projectsworth Rs 3,00,000crore during theperiod,” said Shah.

He said theModi Governmentopened up develop-ment process in allsectors across theState. “Increase infunds for railwaysector, farm loansupport, increase inroad net work, allot-ment a large numberof houses under the PrimeMinister Awas Yojana, distrib-ution of LPG to over 47, 50,000women under the PrimeMinister Ujjwala Yojana, sup-ply of electricity to 20,000 vil-lages under Soubhagay Yojana,huge investment in petroleumsector, textile park at Bhadrak,a big budget for ST, SC andOBC people, inclusion of3,24,000 crore people in theNFSA and establishment of aPaika Memorial and providing

benefit to 41,00,000 peopleunder the Mudra Yojana areour achievements,” he said.

The Modi Government’ssupport to Odisha would con-tinue and all efforts would bemade to bring overall devel-opment as it has been done inGujarat, he said.

He urged Chief MinisterNaveen Patnaik to make allbenefits given by the Centrereach deserving people.

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Prof Suryamani Behera ofOdisha was conferred with

the prestigious National Awardfor Outstanding Efforts inScience & TechnologyCommunication for the year2019 by President Ram NathKovind at the Vigyan Bhavanin New Delhi on Friday.

The award is presented toan individual or an institutionfor outstanding work in com-

munication of science andtechnology and/or promotingscientific temper having impactin the country during the pastfive years. The award consistsof a cash prize of Rs 5 lakh, amemento and a citation.

Prof Behera has publishedmore than 40 books and overa thousand articles. His latestbooks “Vigyan Ru Gyana”,“Jantra Karuchi Mantra”,“Vigyan Sahitya Darpan”,“Vigyan Mela” and books on

medicinal plants cultivationhave become very popular.

His articles on food pro-cessing and preservation are hisnotable contributions whichare being followed by manypeople as a help to cottageindustry.

Prof Behera has also estab-lished a ‘Janapriya VigyanManch’ to impart training tobudding popular science writ-ers and journalists.

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There was no discussion onthe Citizenship

Amendment Act (CAA) or theNational Register of Citizens(NRC) at the Eastern ZonalCouncil (EZC) meeting hereon Friday, said West BengalChief Minister MamataBanerjee.

“Neither they raised theissues nor did I. It was also noton the agenda. This meetingwas not for that,” she said.

But she raised the issue ofcommunal violence over theCAA in Delhi that has claimedat least 39 lives.

“I am very sad about whathappened in Delhi. A policeconstable and an IB official alsodied. Peace must be restored in

Delhi,” she told the meeting.Asked if she would back

the demand of Shahs resigna-

tion in wake of the Delhi riots,Banerjee said, “The problemshould be solved first and then

we will discuss politics.”At the EZC meeting, she

raised the issue of alleged neg-

ligence of the Centre towardsWest Bengal. She said her Statedid not get the required assis-tance during natural calamitiessuch as cyclones Fani andBulbul, besides several otherpending dues from the Centre.

“We have not got Rs 50,000crore (as promised) from theCentre,” she said.

Banerjee said she alsoraised the issues of delay inGST compensation paymentand lowered share of the Statesin devolution of Central taxes.

Issues relating to the devel-opment of the States in theregion, the need for coal roy-alty revision, strengthening ofinfrastructure were also dis-cussed at the EZC meeting, shesaid.

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Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik has sanctioned

Rs 23 crore for developmentof pilgrim amenities at vari-ous religious institutions ofthe State.

The expenses of the pro-ject would be met out of theSpecial Problem Fund (SPF),said a release issued by theChief Minister’s Off ice(CMO) on Thursday.

The following institutionswould get an assistance of Rs1 crore each:

Temples: 1) BargarhNrushinghnath Temple; 2)Bhadrak Maa BhadrakaliTemple; 3) BalangirHarishankar Temple; 4)Boudh Jagannath Temple;5) Dhenkanal ShreeChandrasekhar Jew Temple,Kapilash; 6) JagatsinghpurMaa Sarala Temple, Jhankad;7) Jajpur Maa BirajaTemple; 8) KeonjharLord Baladev Jew Temple; 9)Koraput Sri GupteswarTemple; 10) NabarangpurNilakantheswar Temple,Papdahandi.

Churches: 1) BalangirCNI Crurch (Diocese ofSambalpur); 2) KhordhaBaptist Church; 3) Cuttack

Mount House Church,Chandini Chowk; 4)Kalahandi St Paul ProtestantChurch, Malipada; 5)Bhubaneswar Church ofChrist (Union Church, Unit-4).

Mosques: 1) PuriJahania Pir; 2) SonepurHazir Abdul Sakur BabaTarbha Sarif Mosque; 3)Bhadrak Dargah-E-HuzoorM u j a h i d - e - M i l l a t ,Dhamnagar: 4) BaleswarBhujakhia Pir (Hajrat SwaleMohammad); 5)Bhubaneswar Jama Masjid,Unit -3; 6) KhordhaHazarat Bukhari Pir Baba,Kaipadar.

Gurudwars: 1)Sundargarh Guru SinghSaheb Gurudwar; 2) PuriBouli Math.

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The State Government hasannounced that it would

increase the present monthlystipend of Rs 1,200 for physi-cally-challenged students ofspecial schools to Rs 1,760.

The enhanced stipendwould be disbursed from April1, 2020. Besides, the day schol-ars would get an increasedstipend from Rs 250 to Rs 370per month, Minister for SocialSecurity and Empowerment

of Persons with Disabilities(SSEPD) Ashok ChandraPanda said on Friday.

An annual allocation ofover Rs 3.75 crore has beenmade for the purpose, heinformed.

An amount of Rs 2.26crore would be allocated forpurchase of furniture, sportsequipments and computersand installation of software in103 special schools for the dif-ferently-abled students, headded.

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On February 24, northeastDelhi witnessed violent

clashes between those who arepro-CAA-National PopulationRegister (NPR) and NationalRegister of Citizens (NRC)and those who are anti-CAA,NPR, NRC. It is alleged thatthis happened shortly afterKapil Mishra of BJP demand-ed that, the roads blocked bythose protesting against CAA

be cleared by police immedi-ately, and if his demands werenot met, he would forcefullyend the protests.

Such was the alacrity of hisfollowers in acting upon hisdemands that, if allegationsare to be believed, it actuallyincited the magnitude of theriots we have witnessed innortheast Delhi, in which asper reports 38 lives were lostand more than 200 are injured.

The tragedy is hate speechor lack of restraint in express-ing opinions and voices whilebeing in public life can be fatalto social order and harmony.However, hate speech isnowhere defined under theIndian law but it is best putunder the European Unionlaw as "public incitement toviolence or hatred directed togroups or individuals on thebasis of certain characteris-tics, including race, colour,

religion, descent and nationalor ethnic origin".

In Pravasi BhalaiSangathan versus Union ofIndia (AIR 2014 SC 1591), theSupreme Court directed theLaw Commission of India todefine hate speech and recom-mend laws to curb the menaceof hate speech in the context ofspeeches by politicians.Subsequently, in March 2017,the Law Commission submit-ted Report No. 267 titled, 'HateSpeech' which says, hate speechmeans "an incitement to hatredprimarily against a group ofpersons defined in terms ofrace, ethnicity, gender, sexualorientation, religious belief andthe like". The report furtherstates, "Any word written orspoken, signs, visible repre-sentations within the hearing orsight of a person with theintention to cause fear or alarm,or incitement to violence."

The commission in itsreport additionally recom-mended the addition of twomore provisions in the IPC,which sought to criminalisehate speech. However, theCriminal Law (Amendment)Act, 2018 which was passeddoes not make any changesrelating to hate speech.

But hate speech is admit-tedly an exception to the free-dom of speech guaranteedunder the Constitution andcan be restricted under Article19(2) of the IndianConstitution only when thespeech reaches the threshold ofincitement. However, speechwhich is merely offensive orunpopular is not to be restrict-ed.

And accordingly provi-sions in law are pre-existing tocontain such menace of hatespeech. The provisions of theIndian Penal Code which crim-

inalise hate speech are Section153A which says that, ‘a per-son who uses words (writ-ten/spoken) which promote orattempt to promote disharmo-ny/enmity/hatred/il l-willbetween different groups orcastes or communities ongrounds including religion,language or caste is liable to bepunished, and further Sections295A and 298 criminalise otherforms of hate speech (Theseprovisions criminalise actsintended to outrage the reli-gious feelings of any individualor class.)

Historically, the problem ofhate speech is mostly associat-ed with irresponsible tenden-cy present in political person-alities to exploit social issues forpolitical and personal gains. Letit be the Sikh riots of 1984 ordemolition of Babri Masjid, ithas always been associatedwith irresponsible statements

made by political leadership,which has a role in inciting vio-lence among their followers.

The problem of hatespeech is further compoundedwhen propagated by membersof the Press and users of socialmedia platforms. This isbecause unlike the situationwhere the person making ahate speech is a politician,media is expected to be neutralwhile reporting events andwhen media shows its bias, theramifications of such hatespeech becomes manifold andmakes it further difficult forenforcement agencies to con-tain the situation.

It has been observed that,when prominent journalistshold unsubstantiated personalopinions during prime timeshows, which has the potentialto spread hatred and animosi-ty in society, the effect of it pen-etrates each household, in

short, causes a momentum ofdisharmony in the mostobscure corners of the society.It often begins with fierce dis-cussions in beetle shops andoffices to riot like situations.

Apart from this, socialmedia platforms are beingwidely used and exploited byvarious vested interest groupsand political personalities andparties to spread social dishar-mony and animosity to gaincheap political dividends. Theshocking part of the story ismost of the youth and youngergenerations fall prey to suchmisinformation campaigns andact as agents of those, to whoseloop they have unwittinglyfallen prey to. But the price thatthe nation and society pay forthe misadventures of suchopportunist groups is quitehefty to be replenished.

It is not quite often that, thehate speeches are an inadver-

tent and passionate arousal ofthose who are making it, but ifone keenly observes, it can eas-ily be understood that it is partof a well planned and under-stood strategy to achieve whichis otherwise difficult to achieveby political fair-play. Therefore,it is quite expedient to bring ina stringent legal regime to con-tain the malice of hate speech-es both in public life and mediaplatforms which includes print,electronic and social mediaand instil a sense of responsi-bility in the younger genera-tions to understand the motiveof the statements that oftenbecome viral in social media,that which could potentially domore harm than benefit to theinterest of the nation and soci-ety.

(The writer is a lawyer andcan be reached at [email protected])

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Union Home Minister AmitShah relished Odisha’s

authentic delicacies at ChiefMinister Naveen Patnaik’s res-idence during his visit here onFriday.

Accompanied by BiharChief Minister Nitish Kumar,West Bengal Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee and UnionPetroleum & Natural GasMinister DharmendraPradhan, Shah visited theNaveen Niwas for lunch andenjoyed the mouthwateringOdia dishes after chairing an

Eastern Zonal Council (EZC)meeting in the State capital.

Shah and the other leaderswere served a menu thatincluded Baigana Bhaja, AlooMutter Masala (Odia style),Gucchi Paneer, Dal, Tomato

Chatni, Papad, Boondi Raita,Machha Besara (fish currymade with mustard paste), rotiand rice.

And as dessert, the leadershad the taste of Chennapodaand Rasmalai.

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The Citizenship AmendmentAct (CAA) is an attack on

the Indian Constitution.The Central Government

in order to divert attentionfrom its failure and for votebank politics has brought theblack law, alleged JNU researchscholar and Students’

Federation of India (SFI)national joint secretary DipshitaDhar here in a talk, organisedby DYFI and SFI, SundargarhDistrict Committee. She furthersaid now unemployment hadbecome a problem in everyhousehold of the country."Economy has slowed down,industries and business housesare shutting down due to faultypolicies, farmers are commit-ting suicide every day in dif-ferent parts of the country,while primary education andhealth services are in a sham-bles in the country," she told.

The denizens want replies

from the Government. Butinstead of taking certain mea-sures, the Government wantsto divide the people in the pre-text of religion. That is why, theCAA, NCR and NPR are plot-ted cunningly for vested inter-est, she alleged. So, she urgedpeople to oppose the CAA inblack and white.

Among others, CITUnational vice-president BishnuMohanty, CPIM district secre-tary Pramod Samal, DYFI dis-trict president Raj KishorePradhan and former SFI Statepresident Surendra Dash spoke.

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The Orissa High Court onFriday directed the State

Government to pay the HomeGuards remuneration equal to thatof the lower-rank salary of regu-lar police personnel (Constables).The court’s decision will bringcheers to about 18,000 HomeGuards who are deployed forvarious duties now each being paidonly Rs 300 per day.

Justice Biswanath Rathdirected the Government toimplement the Supreme Courtruling in this connection andasked it to fix the remunerationof the Home Guards withinthree months.“As an interimmeasure the Home Guards willnow get a daily remuneration ofRs 500 from January 1, 2020,”said advocate Nira SundarPanda, who argued the case forthe Home Guards.Guided by theprinciple of equal pay for equalwork, the SC in 2015 had direct-ed the State Govts that theHome Guards should be giventhe duty allowance at such rates,total of which 30 days (a month)comes to the minimum of thepay to which a regular policepersonnel of the State is entitled.

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Even as a two-day work-shop on the Sun Temple

began at Konark on Friday, thesheer negligence of theArchaeological Survey of India(ASI) in handling the affairs ofthe temple has already beenexposed.

The ASI had recently pat-ted itself on its back with astatement that the entire scaf-folding around the temple hasbeen removed. While removingthe scaffolding on the easternside of the temple, a statue wasdamaged. The knee of the five-feet Maithuna Couple wasdamaged and a large portionchipped off. This piece can beeasily re-fixed, but due to thenegligence of the ASI, it is notdone. The damage is clearly vis-ible from the ground level.

There were earlierinstances too where such mis-handling resulted in damage tofine sculptures. It has repeat-edly been brought to the ASI’snotice that semiskilled workersare being used for the repairs.

Earlier on May 21 2019, the

ASI apologised to theJagannath Temple administra-tion for the damage caused toits lion statues during CycloneFani. In that instance too, theiron scaffolding, put up by theASI around the temple, hadfallen on the lion statues whenthe cyclone hit. There were alle-gations that the scaffolding felldue to the ASI’s negligence.

The Union Minister forCulture had announced thepresent workshop during hislast visit to Odisha and said thefuture restoration plans for theSun Temple would be drawn upby attending archaeologists,engineers and other experts.

The last conference held tocarry out an assessment of theSun Temple’s structural stabil-ity was in 1997. Foreign expertshad been roped in, but noaction has been taken. Thematter of the sand inside theJagamohan, which has com-pacted to a level which is 17 feetbelow the roof; and the lateralthrust on the structural wallshas been a matter of concern.

According to researcherAnil Dhir, general secretary of

the Konark Suraksha Samiti,the ASI and the Government ofOdisha should take active par-ticipation of local stakeholderswhile deciding conservationand restoration plans. Dhir,who was present during themeetings, held in 1997, 2010and 2019, said none of the rec-ommendations made in thesemeetings were implemented.

In December 2019, thethen Union Culture MinisterMahesh Sharma had categori-

cally stated that there wasabsolutely “no threat” to thisworld heritage structure. At ahigh-level meeting atBhubaneswar on December10, the expert from the CentralBuilding Research Institute,Roorkee too had certified thatthere was no threat to theKonark temple. But the temple’sworld cultural heritage statuscertainly demands that thestructure be given immediateattention, says Dhir.

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Construction of a new busterminal on the outskirts

of the town has become a dis-tant dream for the denizensof Baleswar. Although 10long years lapsed ever sincefoundation stone was laidand the Balasore RegionalImprovement Trust (BRIT)was entrusted with the job,yet no tangible result wasseen.

The decision is taken bythe district administrationto shift the bus stand fromthe current Sahadevkhuntalocation outside the town inview of growing number ofbuses to the place at a timewhen there is no furtherscope of expansion of thestand due to space crunch.

For the new bus stand, apatch of 8 acres of land wasidentified near Januganj golaiin Remuna and foundationstone for the project was laidby the Chief Minister NaveenPatnaik on January 14, 2010.

The BRIT while acquiredthe patch in Rs 5.8 crore, yetit couldn’t proceed furtherdue to paucity of fund.

In the meanwhile , evenafter a lapse of 10 long years,no progress is made. Thepatch of land has become adumping ground and a fewhandful of people are carry-ing out their trades of sand,cement and bricks from theopen patch, as it is open andunutilised.

Sources said from theBRIT, a proposal for Rs 11crore expenditure for con-struction of the stand wasgiven to the StateGovernment and wasapproved too. For construc-tion, drawing ,design andsoil test too were conductedin the past. However, due topaucity of fund, the con-struction work couldn’t pro-ceed.

Further, the proposal for

construction was modifiedand as per new agreement,the expenditure would beborne at a ratio 80 and 20 bythe State Government andBRIT respectively.

The State Governmentin first phase has released Rs2 crore and placed withWorks Department for con-struction.

Despite availability offund, the work while could-n’t begin. In the meanwhile,the Chairman tenure is overand currently the districtCollector is heading it.

The secretary of theBRIT couldn’t give any satis-fac tor y reply for the delay.

As many as over 200buses from the currentvenue at Sahadevkhuntawhile operate and ply to dif-ferent destinations, conges-tion of buses and commutershas become a cause of con-cern. The residents express-ing displeasure over the delayblame the apathetic attitudeof the district administrationfor non execution of themuch hyped important pro-ject of the district.

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The villagers ofMahakalbasta, Ghantikhal,

Dhurusia, Dalabhaga,Khuntuni and Radhakishorpurgram panchayats around theAarti Steel and Power Planthave alleged that coal particlesmixed black coloured layerwrapped their agriculturalfields and water bodies result-

ing in severe pollution and lossof paddy and vegetables pro-duction. The fertility of the soilis almost reduced and no pes-ticides and fertilizers can helpin reviving plants

The air for a radius of atleast 20 km remains so unhy-gienic and warm by which thehuman and animal popula-tion in the area suffer frommultiple pollution related dis-eases. During the day time,people notice a light bluecolour air in the nearby areasof the steel and power plant.The inferno emitting from itschimneys raises heat in theatmosphere and it is unbear-

able. The vacuum cleaner cre-ates high noise pollution bywhich the pregnant womenand the patients suffer a lot.

These apart, heavy dustgenerated by different coal andiron ore transportation adds tothe miseries. The combustion ofcoal and other fossil fuels in theplant suspends sulfuric dioxideand carbon dioxide in the airwhich is poisonous for both theanimal and plant population. Asa result, several villagers are suf-fering from lungs, skin and kid-ney problems.

During installation of thecompany, people had thoughtthat the company would give

them employment facilities bywhich their per capita incomewould rise and they wouldlive in peace. But after settingof the plant, its authoritiesplayed mischief with the localsand didn't give any directrecruitment. Rather, it engagedlabourer contractors for thepurpose. Most of the directlyrecruited employees are out-siders. By making this, theauthorities are trying to deceivelocals here, alleged sources.

This apart, as it has erect-ed high fence around itsassigned areas, the wild animalsparticularly elephants are dis-turbed.

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Forest officials here havestrengthened patrolling in

the border areas of the riverMahanadi in apprehension ofentry of the killer tusker whichcrushed four persons in Pipiliareas recently and halted inChandaka forest at present.

According to AthagarhRange Officer Aisha AkhatariNisha, her department hasremained alert for the entry ofthe killer tusker and the vil-lagers of almost villages of thenearby Mahanadi river aremade aware of the tusker.

Talking to this paper, Aishasaid that more elephant watch-ers had been deployed in theborder of Athagarh-ChandakaDivision. There is apprehensionof passing of the tusker to theAthagarh forests soon. Villagersin the border have been askedto inform the department if theelephant is spotted and not tobe panicked on its arrival, theofficer said.

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Even a day after her abduc-tion, a college girl of

Turumunga of Keonjhar dis-trict is yet to be traced althoughthree of the kidnappers havebeen detained by the police.

As per reports, the girlwas allegedly kidnapped byfour miscreants from theTurumunga area while she wasreturning from college onThursday. When she did notreturn, her family memberslodged a complaint with police.

Acting on the complaint,police began an investigationinto the incident and detainedthree accused from theGhatagaon police station areaat night. The cops also haveseized a vehicle used in theabduction.

However, the cops were yetto locate the girl and nabanother absconding accused.

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Youth for Water Club, a stu-dent's wing of the Khariar

Autonomous College inNuapada district, organised anevent called "Visit to a waterbody" on Wednesday to spreadawareness on the importance oftraditional water bodies.

A team of twenty studentsalong with college PrincipalProf Harendra Panda andChemistry Professor TarunPradhan and journalist AjitPanda visited a tank, MuktaSagar, near village Muktapurand discussed with the peopleabout the history and presentimportance of the tank.

People informed that thetank is more than hundredyears old and it used to serveall types of needs includingdrinking purpose of the vil-lagers till 1990. "Other sources

like tube-wells and piped waterare very recent developments,"villagers pointed out.

A meeting of club mem-bers was held after the visit withthe students sharing theirunderstanding and views onsuch old water bodies. "Weshould protect such water bod-

ies to conserve rainwater andincrease the groundwater level,"opined students.

The Principal revealed thatstudents and teachers of thiscollege have been involved in acampaign led by the WaterInitiative, Odisha (WIO) sincelast three months.

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The Odisha Government hasreceived the first prize of

National MSME Award recog-nition of outstanding contri-bution for development andpromotion of Micro, Small andMedium Enterprises (MSMEs).

Union MSME MinisterNitin Gadkari presented theaward to State MSME SecretaryHemant Sharma on Thursday.Union Minister of State MSMEPratap Sarangi was present.

Reforms in infrastructurein recent years have created anatmosphere conducive formajor industries of the world tolook forward to Odisha as anepic-centre for industrialgrowth. The State’s MSME sec-tor has registered a growth rate

in average budgetary support toMSME is 24.27%.

The growth rate in estab-lishment of enterprises is morethan 20% in the State and thegrowth rate in disposal of casesunder MSEFC is 100.49%. Thegrowth rate in the CreditGuarantee Scheme is 7.50%and the growth rate in imple-mentation of PMEGP is 14%.

The State has achieved agrowth rate of18.69% inimplementation of SPRS underNSIC; and, most importantly,the growth rate in capacitybuilding is 88.65%.

The GO SWIFT-Government of Odisha SingleWindow Portal for investorfacilitation and tracking iscoming as a great help for theinvestors.

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Amega health camp washeld in Jamaradihi PBDA

area under Pallahara Sub-Division under the chair-manship of Collector ManojKumar Mohanty.

Dhenkanal MP MaheshSahu was the chief guest,while CDMO DrAmarendranath Mohanty,District Lepercy Officer DrBiswa Bihari Mohanty, BDORabi Narayan Majhi,Tehsildar Swagat Dash, ZillaParisad vice chairmanIndramani Garnayak, BJDvice chairman MamataPradhan, BJD State secretaryManoj Sahu, BJD youth presi-dent Dinesh Pradhan andKhirodri Behera were present.

There were 18 stalls,including specialists of differ-ent departments.

It may be noted here that

the Paudi Bhuyans of PallaharaSub- Division spread over fiveGPs namely Bandhabhuin,Nagira, Baradihi, Saida andPechamundi with around10,000 tribal inhabitantsdependent upon the

Jamaradihi Sub- Health Centerunder CHC, Khamar. The doc-tor posts have been vacant forlast 15 years.

The inhabitants of the areado not get any alternative facil-ity of treatment within 30 to 40

km distance from theSub- DivisionalHeadquarters Hospital.The mega health camptherefore was a boon forthese people.

MP Sahoo suggestedof arranging such a healthcamp every year. He saidthe tribals of the inacces-sible area would get healthservice by mobile healthvans to be arranged fromthe District Mineral Fund.

On the occasion, aspecial edition ofSwasthya Sandesh bookletwas inaugurated by thechief guest and Collector,Angul. As many as 1, 874

patients from different partstook advantage of the camp.While district president ofASHA Bikasini Parida organ-ised the programme, DLOMohanty gave the welcomespeech and vote of thanks.

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The Congress led by formerMLA of Banki Debasis

Patnaik called for a dawn-to-dusk Banki Bandh on Saturdayagainst the lawlessness in thearea arising out of the doublemurder including a mediaper-son that occurred on February 15.

Talking to the paper,Patnaik said that he hadcamped in Banki for the pur-pose and was seeking the sup-port of the locals, including BarAssociation members, busi-

nessmen, service holders anddifferent outfits for the successof the bandh.

The bandh will beobserved from 5 am to 5 pm.The hospitals, medicine stores,milk carriers, examinees,patients and senior citizenswill not be included in thebandh programme.

Unless the Governmentmakes effort to bring out thereal cause of the murder andinvolvement of political leadersis not revealed, the agitationwill be intensified, he told.

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Police have imposed restric-tions on holding anti-

Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA) and anti-NationalRegister for Citizens (NRC) ral-lies and deployed five platoonsof police in Bhadrak town.

As per reports, when agroup was planning to organ-ise a rally and meeting inPuruna Bazaar area, the policestopped the announcement byloudspeakers and deployedpolice personnel to maintainlaw and order. Senior policeofficials are also monitoring thesituation.

Earlier in the day, BaleswarIG Diptesh Patnaik held dis-cussions with leaders of a par-ticular community and askedthem to not to organize ralliesand meetings.

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Police on Friday arrested ayouth for allegedly raping a

five-year-old girl under thePattamundai police station inthe district on Thursday.

The accused was identifiedas Lalu Mallick (24). Theaccused had entered the houseof the victim when she wasalone and her family membershad gone out.

When Lalu was trying toescape from the spot, hearingthe girl’s screams, the girl’smother and some nieghboursmanaged to nab him. But theyouth’s father arrived at thespot and threatened the vic-tim’s family to hush up thematter.

But after the girl’s familylodged a complaint, Lalu wastaken into custody by policeand interrogated, saidKendrapada SP Niti Sekhar.

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RTI activists of Baliapalblock have threatened to

embark on an indefinite agi-tation from March 3 demand-ing filling of vacant posts ofdoctors and paramedics.

Alleging the poor healthservices in the block, theytold the block had only sixdoctors against 20 sanctionedposts in the seven CHCs andPHCs.

Despite several appealsand earlier agitations andassurances by the authorities,while the situation hasremained unchanged, theydecided to launch the agitationfor an indefinite period infront of the Idco Hospitalfrom Tuesday till fulfillment oftheir demands.

A decision in this regardwas taken by the activists ledby their president Anuj KumarMohapatra.

They besides stating thatthe doctors and paramedicsposts were lying vacant sinceyears, they also said previouslythey agitated in differentforms including holding aroad picketing and hungerstrike etc. on September15,2018 , October 10, 2018 andlatest on February 14 , 2019.

Although last year, thethen Chief District MedicalOfficer had assured that thevacancies would be filled with-in a month yet it was in vain,they alleged.

They further alleged thatthe rural health servicereceived a jolt as some CHCsand PHCs were running with-out doctors. There is no doc-tor in 5 PHcs includingGhantua, Jamkunda,Srirampur , Langaleswar andBolang. In the Pratapur CHCthere are only three doctorsagainst vacancies of eight.

Most importantly, the

block headquarters hospital(CHC) known as IdcoHospital doesn’t have requirednumber of doctors where atleast 300 patients visit daily. Inthe CHC, posts of gynecology,surgery and medicine werelying vacant. One pediatricianwas managing the show as in–charge doctor of the CHC .

The activists observedthat while the Governmentwas insisting on the institu-tional delivery, in the want ofdoctor, the nurses were per-forming doctors' duties. As aresult un-time death of new-born was taking place, theyalleged.

Further, they said that thepatients were not getting den-tal care service as there was noinfrastructure.

CDMO Banarjee PrasadChhotray said that the staffposition had been informed tothe State Government, urgingto fill the vacant posts.

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As part of Mo Sarkar initia-tive, Gajam district

Collector Vijay Amrut Kulangepaid a surprise visit to theChanameri Adarsha Vidyalayaunder Sanakhemundi blockand taught a Science topic toClass VIII students on Friday.

He assured that a buswould be given to the school totransport students comingfrom distant places.

Earlier, the Collector con-ducted a review meeting atSanakhemundi block overdevelopment works such as

model ponds, parks,playgrounds, gardensand roads in villageslike Jiura, Adpada,Podamari andSingipur. BDOGayatri Dutta Nayak,Assistant EngineerBhikari Khandualand Panchayat repre-sentatives were pre-sent.

Besides, he visit-ed the AdarshaVidyalay at Satusalavillage under Ganjamblock and taught atopic to students. Headvised students to keep theirenvironment clean and planttrees. He discussed aboutlibrary and playground andsafety of students with schoolauthorities.

Ganjam BDO JyotiShankar Ray, school PrincipalPramod Kumar Ojha andschool management committeepresident Babuli Palai werepresent.

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The State Governmentapproved two investment

proposals worth Rs 563 croreat the 90th State Level SingleWindow Clearance Authority(SLSWCA) meeting on Friday.These proposals would createemployment opportunities for1,273 people.

The SLSWCA approved theproposal of Glen Industries PvtLtd to set up a plastic food con-tainers and moulded paperproducts manufacturing unitwith an annual capacity of 9,261MT with a total investment ofRs 63 crore which would pro-vide jobs to 273 people.

In a big boost to the State’saluminium downstream sector,the SLSWCA also approved theproposal of Jindal AluminiumLimited for expansion up to75,000 MT per annum of itsaluminium extrusions plantwith an additional investmentof Rs 500 crore and it wouldprovide employment opportu-nities for 1,000 people.

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The Bhubaneswar SmartCity Limited (BSCL) on

Friday won the Smart CityEmpowering India Awards -2020 in New Delhi for manag-ing urban flooding through the‘Mu Saviour’ application.Union Housing and UrbanAffairs Minister Hardeep SinghPuri gave the award.

‘Mu Saviour’ is an infor-mation communication tech-nology (ICT)-based solution,which helps curb urban flood-ing in future. The app was pilot-ed in Nayapalli and ShatabdiNagar in December last year bythe BSCL and the BhubaneswarMunicipal Corporation in part-nership with the GermanDevelopment Cooperationusing co-creation methodology

by involving citizens ofthe pilot areas. Theapp collects informa-tion from citizens, i.e.,any garbage in drains,the water level and thewater flow in drains.The information goesto analytical systemdirectly where it getsanalysed along withpre-existing staticinformation such asvulnerability map ofthe project area,drainage type, andcapacity, land use type,number of populationsstaying in the locality,etc.

Based on the information,the analytical system sendsnotification to city officialswith a priority list on real-time

basis. Using the list, officialscan act accordingly and keepdrains clean to reduce theimpact of urban flooding.

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The Royal College of Pharmacy andHealth Sciences observed it annual day

under the name, “Royal Vibrations -2020” amid much cheers in its campus atAndhapasara road here recently.

Around 500 sludents, 80 stuff mem-bers and parents participated. CollegeDirector Prof PN Murthy welcomingguests and others briefed about the college’scontributions in uplifting the careers ofstudents and the profession.

Dr V Roja Rnmani, AssociateProfessor of Pharmacology at MKCGMedical College graced as chief guest. Heemphasised the importance of pharmacyprofession in healthcare system andadvised all the students to acquire the bestpossible knowledge and skills duringtheir studies.

Retired DI, Brahmapur Zone T VasudcvaRao highlighted the role of education in build-ing students’ career and the nation.

Among others, Royal Educational andResearch Society president Dr T Prakasa Rao,RCPHC Principal Prof SK Panda spoke.

Dr Silcswar Roy Memorial Award wasgiven to BCVS Jagan (Best Best B Pharm),Kamalkanta Achary (Best M Farm), AsishKumar Gouda for best D Pharm. Jagan also

received the Devdeep Roy Memorial BestPharmacology Student Award-2019. NilachalBishoyi won the Devdeep Roy MemorialBadminton Championship.

As many as 103 units of blood were collectedfrom a blood donation camp organised on theoccasion.

Prizes were distributed to winners of vari-ous competitions. Prof AK Mahapatra proposedvole of thanks.

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The Utkal Sammilani andthe VSS Nagar Unnayan

Parishad jointly observed thedeath anniversary of notedfreedom fighter Veer SurendraSai here on Friday.

Chairing a garlanding pro-gramme, Sammilani’sIndustrial Estate Branch pres-ident and Parishad general sec-retary Dillip Dashsharmademanded installation of a fullsize statue of Surend Sai in thelocality. Prabhujee Schoolfounder Swami ShankarandaGiri and former CorporatorRashmita Mohanty graced asguests.

Among others, Senior

Citizen Committee secretariesDr Kumuda Mishra and SureshKumar Kar, DurgapujaCommittee president ArtatranaDalai, vice-president NimainDas, general secretary ShitalChandra Mohanty, treasurerPratap Nanda, Parishad trea-surer Maheswhar Biswal,Chintamani Barik, PrakashTripathy, KshetramohanNayak, Prakash Kumar Das,Basanti Tripathi, AkshayKumar Jethi, Soumya RanjanPradhan, Ajay Jena, MamataBehera, Bijay Kumar Dey, AjayKanungo, Prakash KumarSamal, Bhagirathi Mohanty,Nabin Kishore Bhukta andPromod Mohanty garlandedthe statute.

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The Indian Institute ofTechnology (IIT),

Bhubaneswar celebrated theNational Science Day and 10thResearch Scholar Day on

February 27-28 in order tocommemorate the invention ofthe Raman Effect by the Indianphysicist and Nobel Laureate SirCV Raman. The event com-prised of a poster presentationsession by research scholars

which was inaugurated by theProf RV Rajakumar wherethe research scholars show-cased their findings throughposters and explained theirresearch works to all.

The chief guest on theoccasion was Director CSIR-IMMT, Bhubaneswar, ProfSuddhasatwa Basu.Speakingon the Occasion, Director,IIT Bhubaneswar, Prof. RVRajakumar said, "At presentthe need of the hour is tostretch ourselves to carry on

research of higher relevance,come out with better scienceand technology creations, con-scious about the need for sus-tainable, eco-friendly, green andenergy-efficient technologiesand have more reliable manu-facturing. I also urge the stu-dents to develop a goodoverview and understandingof the research problems andapply high level of creativity.”

Prof Basu explained severalcomplex aspects of science andtechnology lucidly and in an easyto understand manner by givingday to day life examples. Theevent was followed by announce-ment of the three best posters, asevaluated by a panel members atIIT Bhubaneswar. The prizes andcertificates were awarded.

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Congress president SoniaGandhi on Friday deputed

a five-member team to visit theriot-affected areas in northeastDelhi and submit a report toher after assessing the situationthere. The Congress, for itspart, slammed the BJP forattacking Sonia chief over her'Rajdharma' remarks, sayingits leaders like Indira Gandhiand Manmohan Singh believedin equality and harmony, whilethe Modi Government has a"divisive mindset".

The five-member teamcomprises AICC general sec-retary Mukul Wasnik, AICCin-charge Delhi ShaktisinhGohil, Haryana Congress chiefKumari Selja, former MP TariqAnwar and Mahila Congresschief Sushmita Dev.

The team has been asked tosubmit a "detailed report to theCongress president immedi-ately", the Congress said in astatement. Later, the Congressleaders who are part of the

team held a meeting at theparty headquarters here.

The Congress slammed theBJP for attacking Sonia Gandhiover the party's 'Rajdharma'reminder after Union ministerRavi Shankar Prasad hit out atthe Congress president askingher "don't preach usRajdharma".

The BJP's remarks came aday after the Congress leaders,led by Sonia Gandhi, metPresident Ram Nath Kovindand submitted a memoran-dum demanding resignation ofUnion Home Minister AmitShah for "abdication of duty"during the communal violencein northeast Delhi. The partyalso reminded the Centre for its'Rajdharma'."Indira ji, Rajiv ji,Manmohan Singh ji 'sRajdharma, was thatRajdharma, in which equality,harmony was given priority.What you are doing, there isprejudice in that; there is a divi-sive mindset," the Congressposted on its official Twitterhandle.

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Charging the Congress withchanging its colours on

the Citizenship issue, the BJPon Friday asked Congresspresident Sonia Gandhi not toteach it ‘rajdharma’ andaccused the Opposition partyof instigating communal vio-lence in northeast Delhi andflouting the Constitution.

Union Law Minister andsenior BJP leader Ravi ShankarPrasad hit out at the oppositionparty a day after the Congressleaders, led by Sonia Gandhi,met President Ram NathKovind and submitted a mem-orandum demanding resigna-tion of Union Home MinisterAmit Shah for "abdication ofduty" during the communal

violence in northeast Delhi. Shehad also reminded the Centrefor its 'rajdharma' and protect-ing the people from all faithsin the country.

" Sonia Gandhi don'tpreach Rajdharma. see yourown face in mirror of yourrajdharma," the law ministerasserted adding their recordis "full of twists and turns".

Prasad reminded Congressthat its leaders Jawahar LalNehru, Rajendra Prasad ,Indira and Rajiv Gandhi hadopenly taken a stand in favourof Indian minorities and citedthe example of Indira's inter-vention for Indians in Uganda,Rajiv for Tamils andManmohan Singh favouringCitizenship bill for minoritiesin Pakistan and Bangladesh.

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Leaders from several non-Congress parties like NCP,

CPI(M), CPI, RJD, LJD,DMK and AAP have writtento President Ram NathKovind to direct authoritiesto ensure peace is restored inviolence-hit northeast Delhiand action against thoseaccused of making provoca-tive speeches. They alsosought time from Kovind todiscuss the situation in thenational capital.

"Immediate establishmentof peace and a direction toauthorities concerned, like

the Lt Governor of Delhi whois directly answerable to you,to ensure speedy restorationof normalcy and to ensurethat

FIRs must be filed imme-diately against all who havemade provocative hate speech-es and the perpetrators ofthis violence must be broughtto book," the leaders said intheir letter.

The Congress had metthe President on Thursday toseek normalcy and peace inareas hit by violence, and haddemand Union HomeMinister Amit Shah's resig-nation.

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As the US and the Talibanare set to ink a peace deal

on Saturday in Qatar, ForeignSecretary Harsh VardhanShringla on Friday travelled toKabul and conveyed India'sunstinted support to a peace-ful and stable Afghanistan.

India's Ambassador toQatar P Kumaran is slated toattend the ceremony wherethe US and Taliban will strikethe peace deal. It will be for thefirst time India will officiallyattend an event involving theTaliban.

The foreign secretaryheld talks with acting ForeignMinister of AfghanistanHaroon Chakhansuri andapprised him about India'sviews on the peace deal as wellas its commitment for all-round development of thecountry.

External AffairsMinistry Spokesperson

Raveesh Kumar said here onFriday Shringla andChakhansur reviewed and pos-itively assessed developmentsin bilateral strategic partner-ship.

The US and the Taliban areset to sign a peace deal at a cer-emony in Doha on Saturdaywhich will provide for thewithdrawal of American troopsfrom Afghanistan nearly 18years after their deployment inthe country.

"Foreign Secretaryconveyed India's support forthe people of Afghanistan intheir pursuit for sustainablepeace, security and develop-ment," Kumar tweeted.

India has been a key stake-holder in the peace and recon-ciliation process inAfghanistan. In a significantmove, India had sent two for-mer diplomats in "non-official"capacity to a conference onAfghan peace process inMoscow in November 2018.

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Ayear after the Pulwamaterror attack, the NIA on

Friday claimed to haveachieved a major breakthroughin the case by arresting anaccused Shakir Bashir Magrey,an Over-Ground Worker ofPakistan-based terror groupJaish-e-Mohammad (JeM).

Magrey, 22, is a resident ofHajibal, Kakapora, Pulwama,Jammu and Kashmir.

"A furniture shop owner,Shakir Bashir Magrey provid-ed shelter and other logisticalassistance to the Pulwama sui-cide-bomber Adil Ahmad Dar.He was introduced to AdilAhmad Dar in mid-2018 by aPakistani terrorist MohammadUmar Farooq and he became afull-time OGW of JeM," theNIA said in a statement.

During his initial interro-

gation, Magrey has disclosedthat on several occasions, hecollected and delivered arms,ammunition, cash and explo-sive material to the JeM ter-rorists including those involvedin the Pulwama attack, theagency said.

Magrey has furtherrevealed that he had harbouredAdil Ahmad Dar and Pakistaniterrorist Mohammad UmarFarooq in his house from late

2018 till the attack in February2019 and assisted them in thepreparation of the IED, the NIAsaid. His shop is located nearLethpora bridge, and as advisedby Mohammad Umar, he start-ed conducting reconnaissanceof the movement of CRPFconvoy on Jammu-SrinagarHighway in January 2019, andinformed Mohammad Umarand Adil Ahmad Dar about it.Further, he was also involved in

modifying the Maruti Eecocar and fitting the IED early inFebruary, 2019.

The Pulwama attack wascarried out on February 14 last

year by JeM taking a toll of 40CRPF personnel.

During investigation, themake, model and number ofthe car used in the attack was

ascertained by the NIA to be aMaruti Eeco car through foren-sic examination of the tinyremnants of the car, whichwere seized from the spot dur-

ing extended searches. The details of the car used

for the suicide bombing cor-roborated by Magrey. Theexplosives used in the attack

were determined to beAmmonium Nitrate, Nitro-Glycerin and RDX throughforensic investigation, theagency said.

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Highlighting the impor-tance of air power,

Defence Minister RajnathSingh on Friday said theBalakot air strikes had sent outthe clear message that infra-structure across the bordercould not be used as safehavens for terrorists.

Addressing a seminar hereon 'Air Power in No War, NoPeace Scenario,' he also hailedthe 40 Central Reserve Police

Force(CRPF) martyrs of thePulwama terror attack andsaluted the soldiers who car-ried out the Balakot air strikes.

Air Chief Marshal RK SBhadauria said in the seminarthe use of air force in the sub-conventional domain was con-sidered a "taboo" in the pastand Balakot air strike is a"paradigm shift."

Hailing the Government'sdecision to carry out theBalakot strikes, Bhadauria saidit was a "tough and bold deci-

sion to strike at the heart of ter-rorist training camps deepinside Pakistan across the Lineof Control".

Stressing the need foroperational readiness, thedefence minister said it isimportant to maintain credibledeterrence at land, air and seaat all times.

Chief of DefenceStaff(CDS) General BipinRawat said the clear messagefrom the Balakot strikes wasthat the kind of "proxy war"

perpetrated on India "will notbe tolerated".

On February 26 last year,IAF jets targeted a Jaish-e-Mohammad(JeM) campacross the LOC in Balakot inretaliation to the killing of 40CRPF personnel in Pulwamaon February 14 in a suicideattack.

Singh said the securityscenario had changed in thelast few years and incidents ofcross border terrorism areexamples of the new warfare

that has forced the rewriting ofdoctrines across the border.

Kargil and incidents ofcross border terrorism areexamples of new kind of war-fare. Hybrid warfare is thereality of present day.

There is no clear begin-ning and end in this changingscenario of conflict, he said. Hesaid India's adversary on theWestern border will have tothink 100 times before con-sidering about any future "mis-adventure".

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Ascience project by four stu-dents With help from

teachers on Friday broughtelectricity to a school inMaharashtra's Beed districtafter nearly a year, coincidingwith National Science Day.

The television set as well asloudspeakers at the ZillaParishad school in Beed's Kurlaarea were lying unused afterpower supply was disconnect-ed a year ago, and studentswere asked to work on thewindmill and solar panel pro-ject to overcome this, scienceclass teacher Bahusaheb Ranetold PTI.

"Power supply was discon-nected after a bill of Rs 20,000was pending, and remainsunpaid even today. So we askedstudents to work on a wind andsolar power generation project.The LED TV set and loud-speakers were used on Fridayafter almost a year," a proudRane narrated.

He said the material, cost-

ing Rs 5,000 which was paid byteachers, was sourced fromscrap.

"We looked up online butthe solutions were costly. Thewindmill was made from itemsbought from scrap dealers.The project took a week tocomplete and has storage bat-teries as well. If the windmilldoes not work due to lowintensity of winds, then we fallback on the solar panels," hesaid.

He said the project washelmed by Class VII studentsAtul Aarey, Shubham Patil,Pawan Landge and AzizShaikh, all of whom thankedtheir teachers for helping themcomplete it.

"We are happy that ourproject has started generatingelectricity from today. We arethankful to our teachers," Aziztold PTI. National ScienceDay is celebrated every year onFebruary 28, and theme-basedscience communication activ-ities are carried held all over thecountry.

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Over 200 villages inMaharashtra have been

identified as "vulnerable tolandslide hazard", accordingto a Geological Survey of India(GSI) study.

In the report releasedrecently, a total of 225 villageswere analysed by the GSI basedon a request from theMunicipal Corporation ofGreater Mumbai (MCGM).

Grouping the villages infour classes of vulnerability, itwas found that 47 out of the225 villages were found to be"most vulnerable to landslide"across four districts in thestate.

As many as 103 villages inRaigad district, 45 in Ratnagiridistrict, 72 villages in Pune dis-trict, and five villages in Thanedistrict have been identified as"vulnerable to landslide haz-ard".

The reports were shared

with the district officials inMaharashtra.

An official release said thefindings are the outcome of twoprojects of the GSI from 2015to 2018 for the identification of"vulnerable inhabited slopes" inparts of Raigad, Ratnagiri,Pune and Thane districts, and"identification and preliminaryassessment of vulnerableinhabited hill slopes" in parts ofMumbai UrbanAgglomeration.

The GSI has been carryingout systematic studies of land-slides in the Western Ghatssince 1980 that can be classifiedinto pre-disaster and post-dis-aster studies.

Under the NationalLandslide SusceptibilityMapping programme (NLSM),a landslide susceptibility mapof approximately 28,000 sq kmarea covering the hilly regionof Maharashtra will be com-pleted by 2020, the releasesaid.

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As part of its efforts to rev upthe higher education sys-

tem, the Andhra PradeshGovernment has asked all uni-versities in the State to soon goonline and make all servicesavailable at the touch of a but-ton. All universities have alsobeen asked to complete end-to-end computerisation of all sys-tems and services to improveaccessibility and efficiency.

E-office will be anotherinitiative where, apart from allstaff files, paperwork will beeliminated for a seamless inte-gration of services.

The universities will thenbe networked online to offerintegrated services to students.

Private universities arealready at the forefront, offer-ing all their services to studentsonline.

"Our state has been a pio-neer in e-governance and otherIT-enabled services butstrangely the universities arefound to be lagging waybehind.

"Chief Minister Y S JaganMohan Reddy has taken a crit-ical view of this and directedthat the institutes of higherlearning rev up their efforts inthis direction," a top official ofthe Higher EducationDepartment told PTI.

The AP Centre forFinancial Services and Systems(CFSS) will be the nodal agencythat will help the universitiesachieve this task.

The Higher EducationDepartment and the FinanceDepartment held talks on thisand decided to engage theCFSS for taking up end-to-endcomputerisation of records inall state universities."Simultaneously, the universi-ties will go online and studentscan access the services, rightfrom the admission process, ina hassle-free manner. All this islong overdue," the officialpointed out.

A biometric attendancesystem will also be introducedin the universities for the staffas well as students for bettermonitoring.

"In fact, the Chief Ministerwanted all this done a fewmonths ago but many univer-sities did not have Vice-Chancellors in place.

"Specific instructions havebeen issued afresh to completethe whole process in a monthso that by the beginning of thenext academic year the uni-versities will have truly enteredthe digital era," the officialadded. Meanwhile, theHigher Education Departmenthas issued a circular to all uni-versities asking them to focusmore on research in variousfields."This is one area whereuniversities in the state areclearly found to be lacking.There are several schemesoffered by Central institutionsfor funding research activitybut the state universities havevirtually ignored them," theofficial said. By layingthrust on research, the univer-sities could improve outcomesnot only in terms of innova-tions but also the teaching andlearning

processes, the Chief

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Asection of teachers andsome students at Visva

Bharati University have assuredlegal help to the Bangladeshistudent, who was asked to leavethe country for engaging in"anti-Government activities".

Afsara Anika Meem, anundergraduate student at thecentral university, was served a'Leave India Notice' by theForeigners' RegionalRegistration Office, Kolkata --under the Ministry of HomeAffairs. A Calcutta High Courtlawyer told PTI on Friday thatMeem's friends haveapproached him for taking upher case.

"I had a conversation withMeem on Thursday, after someof her friends called me up and

handed over the phone to her.But, nothing has been finalisedyet. It is her decision," he said.

A teacher at the centraluniversity and a leader of theStudents' Federation of India(SFI) said two "leading" lawyersof the high court have agreedto take up the case of the stu-dent, who has been subjectedto "gross injustice".

Meem could not be con-tacted for comments.

The Bangladeshi studenthad told PTI on Thursday in aWhatsApp message that "I amnot in a state to talk about thisnow".The 'Leave India Notice'issued to Meem on February 14had asked the woman to leaveIndia within 15 days from thedate of its receipt, but did notspecify the nature of the "anti-India activities".

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Myanmar president WinMyint arrived here on

Friday on a two-day tour ofBodh Gaya, the holy townwhere Buddha is said to haveattained enlightenment morethan two millennia ago.

Accompanied by wife ChoCho and a 28-member dele-gation of top Myanmareseofficials, Myint landed at theinternational airport in Gayawhere he was received byBihar minister AshokChoudhary and officials ofthe civil and police adminis-tration.

On way to the hotel inBodh Gaya where Myint andthe delegates will be staying,they were accorded a warmwelcome by schoolchildrenwho stood on both sides ofroad waving the Indian tricol-or and the national flag ofMyanmar.

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The DMK, Tamil Nadu’sprincipal Opposition party

suffered a setback as two of itslegislators died in the last two

days. While S Kathavarayan,representing theGudiyatham(SC) constituencybreathed his last early Friday,KPP Samy, former FisheriesMinister and the sitting MLAfrom Thiruvottiyur passed awayon Thursday.

The death of these twolegislators has brought downthe strength of the DMK to 96from 98. The DMK had wrest-ed the Gudiyatham from theAIADMK in the by electionheld in May 2019 following thedisqualification of JayanthiPadmanabhan, who switchedover to the AMMK launchedby TTV Dhinakaran.

In the by election heldalong with the 2019 Lok Sabhaelection, Kathavarayan haddefeated the AIADMK candi-date by a margin of 28,000votes. Since the assembly elec-tion in Tamil Nadu is sched-uled for April-May 2021, theconstituencies of Gudiyathamand Thiruvottiyur may see byelection soon.

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Gandhinagar: The GujaratGovernment on Friday told theAssembly that 4.58 lakh educatedyouth are registered with variousState employment exchanges.

Of these, 4.34 lakh are 'educated'while 23,433 are in the 'semi educat-ed' category, Gujarat Labour andEmployment Minister Dilip Thakorsaid in a written reply during QuestionHour.

He was responding to questionsraised by Congress MLAs on theunemployment scenario in the state.

Ahmedabad district was the worstplaced with 42,975 persons, followed

by Vadodara (27,515), Anand(23,065) and Rajkot (22,627), asper the data.

Responding to a sub-ques-tion about jobs given during thelast two years (as on December2019), the minister stated that2,230 were given Governmentjobs while 7.3 lakh persons gotprivate jobs through employ-ment exchanges.

Thakor said the data did notreflect government jobs whichwere taken up by youths with-out the help of employmentexchanges. PTI

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The Uttar PradeshOpposition parties on

Friday rooted in the StateAssembly for passing a resolu-tion for a caste-based census in2021 on the lines of one passedby the Bihar legislature.

The BSP, Congress andSamajwadi Party leaders raisedthe demand for passing a res-olution to this effect during theZero Hour of the House, argu-ing that a caste-based censuswould lead to better imple-mentation of various develop-mental schemes.

Ram Govind Chaudhary(Samajwadi Party) raised thedemand for the caste-basedcensus arguing that backwardlasses people were being deniedtheir rights for which it wasrequired that the forms thatneed to be filled for the censusshould carry a proper columnfor people's caste.

BSP's Lalji Verma andAradhana Misra of theCongress too raised similardemand. With theParliamentary Affairs MinisterSuresh Khanna expressing thegovernment's inability in thisregard, pointed out that it wasnot a state issue.

At this, Chaudhary citedthe cases when similar moves

had been made by the stateassembly in the past duringMulayam Singh Yadav andAkhilesh Yadav-led SP gov-ernments.

Chaudhary recalled whenthe Backward CasteCommission was constituted ,the then prime Minister hadmade a promise in this regardand asked what the problemwas in doing so.

He also made a mention ofthe Bihar Assembly passing asimilar resolution in thisregard. When SpeakerHridya Narain Dikshit refusedto allow them to speak, the SPmembers staged a walkoutraising anti-government slo-gans.

Mumbai: MaharashtraAssembly speaker Nana Patoleon Friday directed the StateGovernment to take an all-party delegation to PrimeMinister Narendra Modi todemand caste-wise Census in2021.

After the Speaker’s direc-tion, Deputy Chief MinisterAjit Pawar told the House hewould discuss the issue withChief Minister UddhavThackeray and take a decision.

Members cutting acrossparty lines demanded that anall-party delegation call on thePrime Minister to seek caste-wise Census to determine thepopulation of other backwardclasses (OBCs).

OBC Welfare MinisterVijay Wadettiwar and HousingMinister Jitendra Awhaddemanded that the state con-

duct its own caste-basedCensus to know the dataonOBCs so thatsteps can be takenfor their welfare.

Food and Civil SuppliesMinister Chhagan Bhujbal saidafter Maharashtra, the Biharassembly has also passed aresolution demanding caste-based Census in 2021.

"There are 350 sub-castesamong OBCs whose propor-tion in the total populationstands at 54 per cent. India hadcaste Census till 1931.

"Pranab Mukherjee (then aminister in the UPA govern-ment) had agreed to thedemand (for caste-based count)in 2004which was supported byNarendra Modi as GujaratChief Minister.

"But the OBC count wasdone by the rural develop-ment department and not the

Census commissioner. Thedata was faulty and hence it wasnot released," Bhujbal said.

Leader of OppositionDevendra Fadnavis of the BJPsuggested that all-party dele-gation meet Modi seeking hisintervention. The office ofRegistrar General and CensusCommissioner, India, is anautonomousbody, the formerchief minister said.

Patole directed the stategovernment to take an all-party delegation to Modi andsaid this should be done beforethe decennial exercise begins.

There is no politics in thisdemand as there is a need fordata for upliftment of the pooramong the OBCs, said Bhujbal.

Patole said the state gov-ernment can examine if aseparateCensus can be under-taken by Maharashtra like

Tamil Nadu.The state Assembly on

January 8 passed a unanimousresolutionurging to the Centreto hold caste-based Census in2021.

In this backdrop, the legis-lature received a letter from theoffice of the Registrar Generaland Census Commissioner onFebruary 17. According to theletter, which was read out byPatole, the total number ofOBCs in the country is nearly6,285and this includes sub-castes, sub-groups whereas thecorresponding number ofOBCs as per list of states andUnion Territories is 7,200.

In case a question on OBCsis canvassed, it will returnnames of hundreds and thou-sands of castes, sub-castes asthe people use their clan/gotra,sub caste and caste names

interchangeably. The phoneticsimilaritiesin name of the castesoften lead to misclassification,

the letter said.It said collection of data of

OBCs/SEBCs and other casteswill adversely affect the integri-ty of Census exercise and hencethe enumeration of OBCs,SEBCs and other castes has notbeen taken up in 2021 Census.

However, members in theassembly opined the mattershould be pursued with theCentre. The issue came up inthe house after the QuestionHour when Vikas Thakare(Congress) sought to knowac-tion on the unanimous resolu-tion passed by the assembly onJanuary 8. PTI

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Even as Chief MinisterMamata Banerjee on Friday

appealed to Home MinisterAmit Shah to bring back peaceand normalcy to Delhi’s riot-hitareas, Bengal Opposition partiesquestioned her “deafeningsilence” over the BJP’s role infanning the Capital riots.

Congress Lok Sabha leaderAdhir Chowdhury who onFriday evening led a torch rallyin Kolkata slammed Mamata forher alleged “duplicity in reactingto the situation in the nationalCapital.”

He said “when Congressand all other parties weredemanding the resignation ofAmit Shah — who controls allthe central forces head-quar-tered in the Capital — for hiscomplicity in letting the riots toburn Delhi our Chief Ministermaintained a deafeningsilence… Not only this, sheeven went to Bhubaneshwar tohobnob with a person whosehands are soaked in blood. Thisduplicity must be condemned instrongest possible

terms.”On whether the BJP was

trying a Gujarat model in DelhiChowdhury said “they are try-ing a more ferocious Gujaratmodel in whole of the countrywhich is why we want thisGovernment to go immediate-ly or if they are allowed to stayin power then they will break thecountry along religious lines.”

Banerjee earlier said that shehad appealed to Shah to do takeall possible steps to restore nor-malcy in Delhi at the earliest. “Ihave told him about how con-cerned and disturbed we areover situation in Delhi wheremany people have been killedand many have been injured andproperties worth crores havebeen destroyed,” Banerjee said.

Reacting to her alleged con-cern over Delhi riots Bengal BJPpresident said the “ChiefMinister should oil her ownmachine instead of looking atwhat is happening in Delhi…Her own state is in turmoil. InBengal there is no democracy.The political opponents aremurdered, their women are

raped and their houses are burntby the Trinamool Congressgoons. Let her handle this anom-aly before pointing fingers atDelhi.”

Attacking the ChiefMinister for sharing dialoguetable with Shah and allowinghim to hold a rally in Kolkata onSunday, CPI(M) central com-mittee member SujanChakrabarty said that “from

her latest actions the people ofBengal should assess the truecharacter of Mamata Banerjee.”

He said “here is a ChiefMinister who champions theminority cause and who walksmiles against CitizenshipAmendment Act in order to gar-ner minority votes but refuses toutter a single word against theHome Minister whose partyperpetrated the violence in Delhiand who allowed the minoritiesto be massacred there.

She should have felt

ashamed of sitting with this per-son in Bhubaneshwar.”

The Left Legislature Partyleader also condemned the StateGovernment for giving permis-sion to BJP for holding a rally atSahid Minar in Kolkata onSunday.

“The rally will be addressedby Amit Shah and everyoneknows what his intentions are in Bengal and what his role wasin handling the Delhi riots. StillMamata Banerjee gave himpermission to address a rally in

Kolkata,” Chakrabarty saidreminding “such is the trustbetween Mamata Banerjee andthe BJP that Amit Shah the hisfirst meeting post Delhi riots willnot be held in Assam where hisown Government rules but itwill be held in Bengal.”CPI(M) politburo mem-ber Md Salim also said that notonly his party men but also thestudents of the State will showblack flags to Shah when hecomes toBengal.

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The CBI has booked DeepakPandit, an Assistant

Commissioner of GST andCentral Excise, on corruptioncharges for amassing assets worthover �3.96 crore which are 376 percent above his known sources ofincome during the check period of14 years from January 1, 2000 toMarch 31, 2014.

The agency officials also car-ried out searches at seven resi-dential premises belonging to

Pandit and his familymembers. Six premis-es in Mumbai and onein Bhubaneswar weresearched on Thursdaywhich continued tilllate evening.

Deepak, a close relative of filmpersonality Ashoke Pandit, isalleged to have abused his officialposition and resorted to corrup-tion for amassing these assets, offi-cials said.

In a tweet in 2018, AshokePandit had described Deepak as

his "younger brother".The agency has bookedDeepak Pandit, his wifeArushi and two sons—Ashutosh andDivyansh.

Pandit started his career withthe Customs department as aclerk in 1985 in Mumbai and hewas promoted as AssistantCommissioner in 2014. He is cur-rently posted in Bhubaneswar,they said. During his 14-year-longposting in Mumbai, Panditallegedly accumulated movable

and immovable assets in his nameand in the names of his familymembers when the total familyincome was �1.05 crore.

The agency said the familyaccumulated assets worth �4.39crore with expenses of over �61.80lakh during the period.

As per documented incomeand expenditure accounts, DeepakPandit has assets worth over �3.96crore in his name and the namesof his family members which are376 per cent over his knownsources of income.

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In its stinging criticism ofAmit Shah, the Shiv Sena on

Friday demanded to know as towhere was the “powerful”Union Home Minister whenDelhi was burning, what was hedoing and why was he not seenin the national Capital.

“When Delhi erupted andwas burning, where was UnionHome Minister? What was hewas he doing? These ques-tions are being asked. TheDelhi riots have so far claimed38 lives and there has enor-mous loss to public property.Had there been a Congress orany alliance government at theCentre, the Opposition BJPwould have demanded the res-ignation of Union HomeMinister,” the Sena’s officialmouth-piece stated.

In an editorial published in“Saamana”, the Shiv Sena saidthat had it been in theOpposition, the BJP wouldhave indulged in all protests,including organising a morchaor a gherao to demand theUnion Home Minister. “Butthis cannot happen now.Because, the BJP is in powerand the Opposition is weak.Still, Sonia Gandhi hasdemanded the resignation ofAmit Shah,” the Saamana edi-

torial said.Coming down heavily for

Shah's absence during the earlydays of riots in the nationalcapital, the “Saamana” editor-ial stated: “It is surprising thatthe country's powerful HomeMinister was nowhere to beseen in Delhi during the riots.Not long ago when the DelhiAssembly polls were held, hewas seen going door to doordistributing pamphlets and hespared so much of his time forcampaigning.

Questioning the Centre’sdelay in responding to riots inDelhi, the editorial said: “Whenthe Home Minister was inAhmedabad (on February 24)welcoming visiting USPresident Donald Trump, an IBstaffer was murdered in Delhi.Prime Minister Narendra Modiappealed for peace after threefull days and NSA Ajit Dovalwas on the streets of Delhi talk-ing to people. What is the usenow of these measures after thedamage has been done?",Saamana wondered.

“The Opposition inParliament is bound questionShah as to where he whenDelhi witnessed a spiral ofviolence and was burning. Insuch an event, will the rulingBJP dub all those who ques-tions on this issue as anti-

nationals?,” the Sena asked.Slamming the Centre for

the manner in which it trans-ferred the Delhi high courtjudge S. Muralidhar hours afterhe said that "another 1984-likesituation cannot be allowed tohappen in the city under itswatch" and indicted the DelhiPolice for inaction during therecent riots, the “Saamana”editorial said: “Within 24 hoursafter Judge Murlidhar flaggedthe riots issue and said thattime has come for provide Zsecurity to ordinary citizens,order was issued fromRashtrapati Bhavan transfer-ring him. After the Judgepassed strictures against theCentre and the state govern-ment, truth itself becamecausality”.

“The high court orderedregistration of cases againstUnion Minister of State

Anurag Thakur, BJP MPParveszh Varma and partyleader Kapil Mishra. TheGovernment punished theJudge who issued an orderagainst these three leaders,”the editorial said.

“Is punishment beingmeted out for speaking truth incourt? What was wrong thingthat Justice Murlidhar said?What all he said was truth,” theSena said.

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Cherambadi Forest Range in Tamil Nadu’sGudalur has turned out to be a graveyard

for wild animals as an elephant, four wild boars,two mongooses and a cobra died after being elec-trocuted when they came into contact with a livewire deep inside the forests. The high tensionwires were installed by the State owned Tamil Nadu Generation and DistributionCompany (TANGEDCO) to distribute power totea estates in the region.

“It is a sad and shocking incident. The eight-year old tusker came into cotact with the staywire and electrocuted. Other animals could havecome to feed on the carcass of the pachydermand died,” said G Ramakrishnan, Range ForestOfficer, Gudalur. He said the departmentauthorities were in the dark about the exact timeand date on which the mishap occurred. “Wecame across the dead bodies of the animals byWednesday and sent the same for post mortem,”

said Ramakrishnan.Forest officials in Gudalur led by

Ramakrishnan were working overtime to turnback a mother elephant from the carcass of hermonth old calf in the Gudalur Forests. The calfwule grazing with its mother and other mem-bers opf the herd had accidentally fallen into aswamp and died.

The mother elephant and her friends stoodguard to the carcass for four days and scaredaway the forest officials who tried to remove thebody of the calf from the swamp.

“We succeeded in dispersing the elephantherd including the mother from the spot. Ourmain concern was the possibilities of the ele-phants developing infection from the carcass. Itwas after the elephants returned to the forestswe were alerted about the electrocution,” saidRamakrishnan.

Cherambadi was in the news last year whenmany elephants had come out of the reserveforests when they faced acute shortage ofdrinking water and food.

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After a cold winter, sum-mer is likely to be more

warmer than normal overnorthwest, west, central andparts of south India in 2020.

The India MeteorologicalDepartment (IMD) on Fridaypredicted the average maxi-mum temperature is likely tobe higher than normal by 1degree Celsius plus inHimachal Pradesh,Uttarakhand, West Rajasthanand Arunachal Pradesh duringMarch, April and May.According to IMD, Jammu&Kashmir, Haryana,Chandigarh and Delhi mightwitness the summer warmer byabout 0.5-1 degree Celsius.

In its summer forecast, theIMD predicted that normaltemperature is likely to be 0.5-1 degree Celsius higher in thecore heat wave (HW) zone dur-ing the season (March, April,May). In the remaining mete-orological subdivisions, the

average temperature is expect-ed to be near normal in thesummer months (March toMay).

Day temperatures are like-ly to be above normal by 0.5degree Celsius over Delhi,Jammu & Kashmir, Haryana,Chandigarh, western UttarPradesh, eastern Rajasthan,parts of Madhya Pradesh,Chhattisgarh, Odisha, sub-Himalayan West Bengal, theSaurashtra and Kutch regionsof Gujarat, Konkan and Goa,Madhya Maharashtra,Marathawada, Vidharbha,north interior and coastalKarnataka, and Kerala. Therest of the country is likely to

experience near-normalmaximum temperatures(between -0.5 degree Celsius and 0.5 degreeCelsius).

The averageminimum temper-ature is also expect-ed to rise in theseregions.

Regarding mon-soons, there is goodnews: El Niño (aclimate cycle in thePacific Ocean with aglobal impact onweather patterns) is

expected to be neutral in theMarch-May period, which pre-cedes the rains. But a clearerpicture on it is expected tocome around April, when theIMD releases its official firstmonsoon forecast.

The southwest monsoon in2019 (June to September) deliv-ered 10 per cent above-averagerainfall in the country, thehighest in 25 years. In 1994, therainfall was 110 per cent dur-ing the June-September period.Before that, more than 10 percent above average rainfall waswitnessed in 1990 (119 percent). The excess rainfall lastyear not only flooded severalcities and towns, but alsocaused damage to standingkharif crop in states likeMadhya Pradesh, Rajasthan,Maharashtra, Bihar, and UttarPradesh (its eastern part).

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Reviving the DFGovernment’s stalled move

of 2014, MaharashtraMinorities Affairs MinisterNawab Malik on Fridayannounced that the StateGovernment would soon comeout with a legislation according5 per cent reservations toMuslims in educational insti-tutions in the state.

Replying to a questionraised by Congress member inthe Maharashtra LetgislativeCouncil, Malik said: “At thattime, the Bombay High Courthad given a go-ahead for 5 percent reservations to Muslims ineducations but the previousBJP-led Government did nottake any action on the HCdirective. That being the case,we will soon come out with alaw in this regard as soon aspossible”.

Opposing Malik’sannouncement, senior BJPMLC Vijay Girkar said thatreservations could be given onthe basis of religion as per theConstitution.

Seeking to quell the spec-ulation that the Sena mightoppose reservations to Muslimsin educational institutions as ithad done in the past when it

was in alliance with the BJP,Mailk said: “Everyone waslooking at Shiv Sena in thehouse, after I made thisannouncement. Let me assureyou all that we have the ShivSena’s support. The Sena hasassured us that all social prob-lems faced by backward class-es, castes and communitieswill be resolved. Like others,Muslims will be given justice.The Sena may have opposedthe move when it was inalliance with the BJP, but it withus and is supporting the reser-vations to Muslims in educa-tional institutions”.

It may be recalled that onNovember 14, 2014, theBombay High Court had stayedan ordinance promulgated bythe then Congress-led DF gov-ernment ahead of the StateAssembly polls extending 16per cent reservations toMarathas and five per cent toMuslims, saying that theywere not in conformity with thelaw laid down by the SupremeCourt in three cases.

However, a HC bench,headed by Chief Justice MohitShah, had allowed reservationsto Musl ims in educationalinstitutions, on the ground atthat their educational achieve-ments were "abysmally low"

and that there was a need todraw them into the "main-stream of secular education".The court had ruled thatadmissions given to Muslimson the basis of such reserva-tions this year would not bedisturbed and students wouldbe allowed to continue theircourses.

With the ordinance pro-mulgated by the DFGovernment having lapsed,Muslims no longer enjoy anyreservations in the State.

On its part, the previousBJP-led government – withoutbothering to follow up on thenod for reservations toMuslims in educational insti-tutions – in November 2018announced 16 per cent reser-vations for Marathas in educa-tional institutions and govern-ment jobs. However, the stategovernment’s decision wassubsequently challenged in theBombay High Court.

On June 27, 2019, theBombay High Court onThursday upheld the previousgovernment’s decision toaccord reservations to theMaratha community, butdirected the DevendraFadnavis dispensation to bringdown the quantum of theapproved reservation from 16

per cent to 12 per cent in edu-cational institutions and 13per cent in government jobs.

After upholding the “leg-islative competence” of theState government to create aseparate category of the Sociallyand Educationally BackwardClasses (SEBC) and grant reser-vation, a HC bench of JusticesRanjit More and BharatiDangre noted that 16 per centof reservations as approved bythe government “is not justifi-able”.

However, the HC benchordered the state governmentto bring down the reservationfor Marathas from 16 per centto 12 per cent in educationalinstitutions and to 13 per centin Government jobs.

"We hold and declare thatthe State Government pos-sesses legislative competence tocreate a separate category of theSocially and EducationallyBackward Class and grantreservation," the Judges said.

“We hold and declare thatthe report of the GaikwadCommission has set out theexceptional circumstances andextra-ordinary situations justi-fying crossing of the limit of50% reservation as set out inIndra Sawhney's case, “ thejudges noted.

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As the situation in northeast Indiacontinues to be one of anxiety, themore or less forgotten Inner Line

Permit (ILP) regime appears to be poisedto assume centrestage in the comingmonths. For the first time when I reachedItanagar early in 1997, on a posting as theChief of Police of Arunachal Pradesh, Imust confess, I had not even heard of theInner Line and its importance for the State.

Familiarising myself with the affairs ofthe State, I had been advised to read VerrierElwin’s book and some others, too. ThoughElwin was not around when the Inner Lineregime was conceived, he is considered tobe an authority on the subject. He hasexplained the concept very succinctly.According to him, the significance of theILP can be understood as: “It was a two-fold attempt to protect both the tribal peo-ple and the settlers in the plains. On theone hand, it prevented encroachments ontribal land. On the other, by checking irri-tations that might incite the tribesmen torebellion and raids, it protected the teaplanters and their labour.” A pressingneed for such a regulation was particular-ly felt after a violent incident with some teaplanters of British origin.

Way back in 1873, when the presentState of Assam and, in fact, the entire North-eastern region, was a part of Bengal, the thenLt Governor had issued regulations knownas the “Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation.”These were applicable to the erstwhile ter-ritories of the districts of Kamrup, Darrang,Sivasagar, Lakhimpur, Garo Khasi andJaintia Hills, Naga Hills and Cachar. Later,these were also extended to Sadiya,Lakhimpur and Balipara frontier tracts andother such tracts covering the entire terri-tory of NEFA (now Arunachal), Nagalandand Lushai Hills (now Mizoram).

Manipur being a princely State, it nevercame under its purview. Subsequently, theterritories of Assam and Meghalaya (GaroKhasi and Jaintia Hills) were taken out ofthe purview of these regulations. At the timeof their original promulgation, according toSection 2, all citizens of India or any per-son residing here was prohibited from cross-ing the Inner Line unless permitted.Similarly, as per Section 7, outsiders werebarred from acquiring any interest in landor the products of land beyond the InnerLine. Though not applied in most cases,there is a provision for stringent penaltiesfor violation of these regulations.

For all these years, a continuation of theInner Line regime has been justified ongrounds of preservation of tribal culture andlanguage. Now, in the wake of protests relat-ed to the Citizenship Amendment Act(CAA), this regulation that dates back to1873, has once again occupied the centrestage. The long-standing demand of the Stateof Manipur has since been accepted and theprovisions of the Bengal Eastern FrontierRegulation, 1873, were notified to be

extended to the entire State witheffect from December 2019,while exempting it from theprovisions of the CAA. TheMeiteis constitute about 55 percent of the Manipuris while thetribals account for 35 per cent.

The tribal communities arethemselves divided into sever-al factions and have been at log-gerheads with each other for along time. However, they aretogether as far as opposition tothe Meiteis is concerned. Theirfear is that the Meiteis might tryto get the benefits of theScheduled Tribes after the ILPis extended to the entire Stateand not to the tribal areasalone. Extension of ILP to theentire State of Manipur can bevalidated only if it is treated asa tribal area. Otherwise, itwould get invalidated beingviolative of Article 19 (1) (d)(e)of the Constitution.

There are other reasons,too, for such suspicions tohave gained strength. The ear-lier Government in Manipurhad passed a few legislationslike the Manipur People’s(Protection) Bill and theManipur Land Revenue andLand Reforms AmendmentBill without taking the tribalcommunities into confidence.These Bills were reserved by theGovernor for the consideration

of the President, who did notgive his assent. The currentscene is one of wait and watch.

The attitude of the tribalcommunities of Manipurtowards the extension of ILP tothe State would also depend onthe provisions of the CentralGovernment’s accord with theNagas. In case the calculatedrisk taken by the Governmentfor the introduction of ILP inManipur succeeds, then suchdemands from Tripura andMeghalaya may also have to beaccepted.

Simultaneously, thedemand for the enforcement ofILP in the entire State of Assamhas gathered momentum.Clause 6 of the Assam Accordpertains to the constitutional,legislative and administrativesafeguards to protect, preserveand promote the cultural, social,linguistic identity and heritageof the Assamese people. Theresponsibility for its implemen-tation being with theGovernment of India, a com-mittee had been constituted bythe Ministry of Home Affairs tosuggest measures to be taken forthe implementation of Clause 6.

This committee, chairedby BK Sharma, a former judgeof the Guwahati High Court,has reportedly submitted itsreport to the State

Government, though techni-cally, it should have come tothe Ministry. There appears tobe a distinct possibility of anemerging discord between theMinistry of Home Affairs andthe committee as the latterhad recommended the imple-mentation of the ILP for theentire State of Assam and theformer has some reservations.

Constitutionally, it wouldbe difficult to justify such ameasure as tribal areas ofAssam and Meghalaya, besidesMizoram, are all coveredunder Schedule VI of theConstitution with full-fledgedautonomous district councilsalready functioning there. Theautonomous BodolandTerritorial Council wasrecently inaugurated by thePrime Minister.

The North-eastern regionhas always given a lot many anx-ious moments to the nation.This cauldron is at presentalmost on the boil and wouldrequire all the tact, finesse,ingenuity and statecraft toconstitutionally balance thecompeting demands of varioussegments of the populationamong the eight sisters.

(The writer is a formerGovernor and Senior Advisor atthe Pranab MukherjeeFoundation)

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Sir — Yes, we have aCoronavirus outbreak, perhapsa pandemic in the future, but thehysteria surrounding it is ridicu-lous and often racist. There arereports that people paranoidabout being exposed to the virushave started to panic-buy foodand virtually anything they thinkthey might need. It’s all becom-ing very silly.

Some of the parents withchildren at the Melbourne Royalchildren’s hospital have actual-ly refused to let Asian doctorsand nurses treat their children.This, despite the fact that medical professionals knowmuch more about the virus andhow to maintain a healthyregime.

Local Asian restaurants inMelbourne are virtually empty,some have even closed, maybepermanently, as many of theirregular customers fear the virus.They may not realise that most“non-Asian” restaurants have awide range of employees and anyhealth risks of eating in theseestablishments are the same asthey are anywhere. Again, this issilly, economically damaging

and racist.It’s time to listen to the peo-

ple who know what they aredoing — the medical experts,not the politicians or the para-noid.

Dennis FitzgeraldMelbourne

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Sir — More than 40 people havebeen killed in the violence that hasgripped the national capital for thelast few days. The sheepish silenceof the Modi Government has

made matters worse. Ignoringlong-term national interest, politi-cians of all hues have inflamedcommunal frenzy for petty gains.The police force usually remainscomplicit and a mute spectator. Along-term solution to this recur-ring problem of violence must be

found. The command of the Delhipolice must be placed only with theState Government for governanceto be effective.

Jubel D’CruzMumbai

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Sir — This refers to the article,“Some hard, home truths”(February 28) by Ajoy Kumar.The midnight transfer of DelhiHigh Court Judge Justice SMuralidhar, following his strongremarks against the Delhi policefor its inaction in filing FIRagainst BJP leaders, who madehate-speeches in connection withthe ongoing communal violencein Delhi, is unfortunate. Thisdevelopment has lent credence tothe perception that the Centre ismore intolerant to dissentingvoices and has been adoptingevery means to muzzle them.Justice Muralidhar’s transfer hasraised apprehensions about theerosion of judicial independenceunder the BJP regime.

Sheel JaiswalVia email

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Riding on the back of greater people-to-peo-ple connect, public opinion has had anincreasingly critical role in shaping India-

US relations, at least in the last two decades.Opinion ratings and endorsements of USPresident Donald Trump have reached anunprecedented high among the people in India,says a recent survey by Pew Research. This pos-itive view of Trump surfaced most palpably dur-ing his recently-concluded visit to India. Thespectacle in Motera stadium, the cultural sym-bolism of Mahatma Gandhi and the presiden-tial welcome in New Delhi, all generatedfavourable public opinion for Indo-US relations.

On the face of it, Trump’s visit did not scorevery high as no major or new agreement wassigned between the two countries — except forthe $3 billion defence deal which is a smallamount in the overall bilateral trade between thetwo countries. However, if we look beyond thesurface, perhaps his visit served exactly the pur-pose it was intended to.

One of the most important developments sig-nalling progress in bilateral relations was the ele-vation of ties to a Comprehensive GlobalStrategic Partnership. Technically, it signifies astep forward in the already existing alliancebetween the two countries, albeit in a broaderspectrum of cooperation and, perhaps, with glob-ally-shared responsibilities.

In so far as concrete deliverables are con-cerned, advancements were made in threeimportant areas; defence, energy and partnershipin the Indo-Pacific. In the defence sector alone,the last three years have resulted in $70 billionworth of deals in bilateral defence aviation andtechnology sectors. During the visit, Trumpfinalised deals worth over $3.5 billion for sixApache attack helicopters worth $930 million and24 Seahawk/Romeo helicopters worth $2.6 bil-lion. India and the US also discussed the $1.9 bil-lion deal for a missile defence system that wouldprotect the Capital.

However, the bonhomie between the twoleaders and the spectacle surrounding Trump’svisit overshadowed any sense of lost opportuni-ty. On the trade front, although both sides showedconfidence that an impending mega deal bene-fiting both the countries is around the corner,trade negotiations are not going to be easy. In fact,some of the steps from the US have signalled ahard negotiating position on trade — one thatpresses for greater market access in various sec-tors without reinstating our Generalised Systemof Preferences (GSP) status. The US also removedIndia from the list of developing nations that areexempt from investigations on whether theyharm the American industry with unfairly-sub-sidised exports.

Besides, the US Trade Representative RobertLighthizer cancelled his visit to India due to unre-solved differences between the two sides. Whatmay have persuaded the Trump administrationto persist with the trade talks is the rapidly-shrinking trade deficit with India, especially withrising energy imports. As such, the once $30 bil-lion trade surplus of India has shrunk to $16 bil-lion, thanks to its increasing energy imports fromthe US in recent times.

Besides, the energy sector is coming up asone of the most important areas of cooperationbetween the US and India and in the last fouryears, bilateral energy trade has risen to $20 bil-lion. During Trump’s visit, ExxonMobil signeda deal to improve India’s natural gas distribution

network so that the US can export evenmore Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) tous. In the likely absence of any concretetrade deal, there are primarily two areason which the bulk of the performanceweight of the bilateral relations wouldrest: Defence cooperation and region-al order in the Indo-Pacific, whichreceived a thrust during Trump’s visitto India. More importantly, the defencedeals have a practical significance forthe Indo-Pacific region and are mutu-ally reinforcing, given India’s securityconsiderations in the region.

The 24 MH-60R Seahawk maritimehelicopters by US-based LockheedMartin are one of the best naval chop-pers today with anti-submarine capa-bilities, a feature that is expected to givemore strategic depth in the Indo-Pacific to the Indian Navy. These heli-copters can also be used for other pur-poses like anti-surface warfare andsearch and rescue operations.

The six Apaches, armed withStinger air-to-air missiles, HellfireLongbow air-to-ground missiles, gunsand rockets are likely to pack consid-erable air power for the Indian Army.In the defence sector, India and the USalso agreed to work towards an earlyconclusion of the fourth and finalbilateral foundational military pactcalled the Basic Exchange andCooperation Agreement for Geo-Spatial Cooperation.

Furthering cooperation with Indiain the domain of the Indo-Pacific wasa definitive plan of the Trump admin-istration. This was depicted by the BlueDot network push by him to rope Indiainto the effort to “guarantee that theinfrastructure of the future is built ina safe, transparent and accountable

manner” in the Indo-Pacific region.Since countries like Australia andJapan are already partners to the BlueDot network, India’s participation willfurther consolidate multilateral stakesthere from a rules-based order perspec-tive.

The Blue Dot network is intendedto ensure that countries around theworld have access to private sector-led,sustainable and trustworthy options forhigh-quality infrastructure develop-ment. India and the US will look to con-solidate the common views of a free,open and inclusive Indo-Pacificthrough this network. Convergencesbetween the two nations are likely togrow, especially in the aftermath of theRaisina Dialogue 2020, where the USdeclared an expansive view of its Indo-Pacific strategy and included the Gulfin its vision for the region, which washitherto excluded.

With China hit by an epidemic ofunprecedented proportions, the conse-quences of which are yet to be assessed,the timing of Trump’s visit could be sig-nificant for the advancement of US-India combined views on the emergingAsian order. Trump’s visit was animportant opportunity for both sides totake concrete steps in advancing theidea of the Indo-Pacific. While the BlueDot network is an opportunity for Indiato embrace it, we need more clarity onits role in advancing the economic cor-ridor as part of the regionally-envisagedconnectivity vision.

The other critical issue to come upduring Trump’s visit was the purposeand nature of the Quad partnership atthe level of top leadership. These dis-cussions were a natural follow-up afterall four countries met at the minister-

ial level for the first time in a “signifi-cant elevation” of the dialogue advancecooperation in the Indo-Pacific regionin September 2019. With Australia’sinclusion in the Malabar naval exercis-es around the corner, it is only imper-ative that the two largest powers in theregion, which are counterpoised toChina, consolidate on this combinedregional security architecture.

On global issues, while the issue ofterrorism stuck out, a backchannel talkon Afghanistan found its place in thebilateral agenda. The internal situationin Afghanistan is at the cusp of a trans-formation with a US-Taliban deal like-ly to be signed in a matter of days. It isno secret that Trump wants India toplay a larger role in Afghanistan’s secu-rity. With the recent announcement ofthe official results of the Afghan elec-tions and the return of the GhaniGovernment in Kabul, a party whichIndia recognises, New Delhi’s support“to do more” may have been under-scored yet again by Trump.

The US might be aware thatAfghanistan’s National Security AdvisorHamdullah Mohib, who was in NewDelhi in January, asked India to con-sider deploying its troops inAfghanistan in a peacekeeping role.While Prime Minister Modi may haveconveyed India’s concerns over the USdeal with Afghanistan, such concernsmay have been diluted by the US’counter-concerns on Kashmir, NewDelhi’s controversial domestic legisla-tions and the violence in parts of theCapital, even as Trump was in Delhi.

(The writer is Deputy Director,Kalinga Institute of Indo-Pacific Studies,Bhubaneswar and Research Fellow,ICWA, New Delhi)

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Environmental accounting orgreen accounting is a conceptthat calculates the cost of a

nation’s economic impact on nature.In recent years, owing to rising pol-lution levels and climate change, theenvironment has been suffering in amajor way. Therefore, calls for con-ducting green accounting on a strictand regular basis have been growinglouder and stronger.

However, environmentalaccounting is nowhere near what itshould be, as far as India is con-cerned. This is mainly due to the fact

that the political parties and main-stream leaders are not highlightingthe benefits of this outstanding con-cept and the potential role it can playin assessing the cost of a country’sdevelopment on its natural world.

As Mahatma Gandhi famouslysaid, “Mother Earth provides enoughto satisfy every man’s need, but notfor every man’s greed.” This insight-ful observation alone is an indicationof how relevant environmentalaccounting is in India’s context, asenvisioned way back by the Father ofthe Nation. Sadly, the concept is yetto come of age in the country.

The spiralling costs of progresshave been paid, time and again, byIndia. The 1984 Bhopal gas tragedyis one of the most painful examplesof this. But, in spite of this, it is stilla mystery how India is yet to mea-sure the ecological costs we pay ona regular basis for the economicprogress we log. Additionally, aware-ness among the masses is conspicu-

ous by its absence as far as greenaccounting is concerned.

Thankfully, today’s world is nolonger willing to be a mute specta-tor to Mother Nature being made topay the cost of a nation’s growth andprogress. Countries are exceedinglybeing watched and called out by theglobal community for environmen-tal transgressions. Be it soil erosion,melting glaciers, the increasinglygrowing carbon footprint or defor-estation, all these aspects are beingdiligently watched and documentedby international conservation com-munities.

This in turn is now forcingnations across the world to adopt aninclusive approach towards eco-nomic development and ensure thatindustrial development is sustainableand in tune with the interests of theenvironment.

India must introduce a rechargedand revamped system of environ-mental accounting that takes a com-

prehensive view of how a nation canprogress without paying huge envi-ronmental penalties. This newaccounting system must be end toend, so that it encapsulates the com-mon man on one side and the GrossDomestic Product on the other. Inbetween, it should be able to link andaudit natural resources besides ensur-ing that the methodology of their usenot only reduces wastage but also

promotes and encourages theirresponsible recharge. This, doneefficiently, can script a turnaround inhow natural resources are used andpromote accountability in their usageas well. Today, Indians are enjoyingmany of the benefits brought by eco-nomic progress but we are notentirely aware of their environmen-tal costs. In our system of living, theenvironmental costs of a specificfacility or a perk are not explicitlyhighlighted and neither are the peo-ple enjoying the facility or the perktuned to its ecological footprint. Thisis not apathy nor ignorance, this dis-regard stems for the fact that the cit-izens have not been trained torespect the environment and under-stand its value.

Therefore, when the ecologysuffers on account of some progressthe same is neither reported norquantified. So, the environment endsup sacrificing its present for India’sfuture. This is insensitive and unac-

ceptable to say the least and must endforthwith. India must include the costof ecosystem services in the daily lifeof a citizen and this can only be pos-sible through a well-designed envi-ronmental accounting system that iscustomised for the nation’s needs,specific problems and latent oppor-tunities. In order for India to be onthe top of this initiative, it is criticalthat green accounting is included inevery part of life, more so, in the cor-porate sector. The Government mustalso rely on technology and conveythe environment cost of India’sprogress to its citizens. This can bedone by giving a ranking to each pro-ject, public or private, on its cost tothe environment. This will not onlyeducate people but also ensure thatproject managers become acutelyaware of their responsibility to ensureecologically accountable develop-ment.

(The writer is an environmentaljournalist)

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Finance Minister NirmalaSitharaman on Friday said

the “steadiness” in the econo-my is a good sign, soon afterthe official data showed theDecember quarter GDPgrowth at 4.7 per cent.

Speaking at CNBC TV 18’sbusiness leadership awardsevent, Sitharaman made it clearthat she was not expecting ajump in the number either.

India’s economic growthslowed to 4.7 per cent inOctober-December 2019,according to official datareleased on Friday.

The Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) growth wasregistered at 5.6 per cent in the

corresponding quarter of 2018-19, as per the data released bythe National Statistical Office(NSO).

On the impact of coron-avirus on the economy, she saidthere is no need to immediatelypress the “panic button”, butadmitted that it may get chal-lenging if the issues prolong foranother two or three weeks, cit-ing her conversations with theindustry players over the lastfew days.

She also said the pharma-ceutical and electronic indus-tries, which depend heavilyon imports from China for rawmaterials, have suggested air-lifting of essential items and thegovernment may consider thesame.

However, the logistics ofthe same, like aggregating thegoods and getting them to asingle place will have to bedone by the industry itself, shesaid, promising help from thegovernment through the con-sular staff.

Sitharaman said the gov-ernment is “pushing the bankslike never before” to lend asmuch as possible across all cat-egories, including retail, homeand agriculture segments.

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India’s fiscal deficit touched128.5 per cent of the whole

year budget target at January-end, said the ControllerGeneral of Accounts (CGA) onFriday.

The deficit during the sameperiod during 2018-19 was121.5 per cent of that year’sRevised Budget Estimate (RE).In actual terms, the fiscal deficitor gap between the expenditureand revenue stood at �9,85,472crore. The government hadtargeted to restrict the fiscaldeficit at �7,66,846 crore dur-ing the year ending March 31,2020.

While presenting theUnion Budget to Parliamentearlier this month, FinanceMinister Nirmalal Sitharaman

had raised fiscal deficit targetto 3.8 per cent of the GDP from3.3 per cent pegged earlier for2019-20 due to revenue short-age.

As per the CGA data onmonthly accounts, revenuereceipts during April-Januarywere at �12.5 lakh crore or 67.6per cent of the RE for 2019-20.This compares with 68.3 percent of the RE in the previousfiscal.

Total receipts were at 66.4per cent of RE as against 67.5per cent in the year-ago peri-od.

The CGA further said thattotal expenditure at January-end was �22.68 lakh crore or84.1 per cent of RE, higher than81.5 per cent in the corre-sponding period of the last fiscal.

New Delhi: Eight core indus-tries recorded a 2.2 per centgrowth in January helped byexpansion in the production ofcoal, refinery products andelectricity, official data releasedon Friday showed.

The infrastructure sectorshad expanded by 1.5 per centin January 2019.

The production of coal,refinery products and electric-ity grew by 8 per cent, 1.9 percent and 2.8 per cent, respec-tively. Sectors which recordednegative growth during themonth under review are crudeoil, natural gas, and fertiliser.

During the April-Januaryperiod, core industries growthslowed down to 0.6 per centagainst 4.4 per cent in theyear-ago period. The eight coresectors recorded negativegrowth from August 2019 toNovember 2019. PTI

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India’s foreign exchangereserves inched up by $29

million to a fresh lifetime highof $476.122 billion in the weekto February 21, aided by anincrease in the value of goldholdings, Reserve Bank datashowed on Friday.

The forex kitty hadzoomed by $3 billion to$476.092 billion in the previousreporting week.

Foreign currency assets, amajor component of the over-all reserves, fell by $490 millionto $441.458 billion in thereporting week, ending a multi-week surge.

Expressed in dollar terms,the foreign currency assetsinclude the effect of apprecia-tion or depreciation of non-USunits like the euro, pound andyen held in the foreignexchange reserves.

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The crucial meeting ofDigital Communications

Commission (DCC) on Fridaycould not arrive at a decisionon relief to the distressed tele-com sector as government offi-cials said more details arerequired for reconciliation ofdata on statutory dues.

In a day of hectic parleys atDoT, Vodafone Idea (VIL)CEO and MD Ravinder Takkaralso met Telecom SecretaryAnshu Prakash but refused tocomment on the details of hisdiscussion.

Telecom companies havebeen desparately waiting for abailout package from the gov-ernment after a Supreme Courtorder put their statutory lia-bilities at �1.47 lakh crore, andall eyes were on the DCC meetfor the much-needed breatherto fix the AGR imbroglio.

In fact, just days ahead of theFriday meeting of DCC,Vodafone Idea — which is themost vulnerable of the lot — toldthe government that it wouldnot be able to pay the SupremeCourt mandated �53,000 croredues unless state support isextended to survive the crisis.

VIL had made a strongplea for setting off �8,000 croreof GST credits, a three-yearmoratorium on payment ofthe remaining amount whichshould be staggered over 15

years at a simple interest rate of6 per cent, drastic cut in licencefee and fixing of a minimumprice of calls and data.

While telecom departmentofficials insisted that DCCmeeting on Friday did not focuson AGR issues but rather onproject implementation for PPPon Bharat Net project, a sourcepresent at the meeting said nodecision on telecom relief wastaken at the meeting althoughdiscussion did take place.

DCC, the highest decision-making body of the govern-ment on telecom, discussedthe issue and looked at optionsat the meeting which lasted twohours. Further discussions areneeded, and the DCC is likelyto meet again in the comingdays but no date has been fixedfor the next meeting, they said.

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The commerce and industryministry has convened a

meeting of exporters andindustry on March 3 to discussexport and import opportuni-ties emerging on account of thecoronavirus outbreak in China.

The meeting will bechaired by Commerce andIndustry Minister PiyushGoyal. An industry source saidthat as China was a global sup-plier of goods, huge export andimport opportunities haveemerged due to the outbreak ofthis deadly disease in Chinaand other parts of the globe.

“The outbreak of this dis-ease has reflected that depend-ing completely on one countryfor goods is not a good idea andin such a situation, India is best

placed to fill this global supplychain gap,” the source said.

According to a commerceministry analysis, there are asmany as 550 products whereIndian exporters can plug glob-al supply gaps. These identifiedproducts accounted for about 75per cent of India’s exports in2018. Currently, exports of theseitems are estimated at $243 bil-lion. Further 1,054 productshave been identified where Indiais dependent on Chineseimports. In the analysis, theministry has identified alter-nate countries from where NewDelhi can import products dis-rupted by the outbreak in China.

The ministry has sharedthis list of made in India prod-ucts which can be used toplug global supply line disrup-tion with embassies.

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The IMF has said it hasreached an agreement with

the Pakistani authorities “onpolicies and reforms” needed tocomplete the second review ofthe $6 billion loan approved forthe cash-strapped country’sfragile economy, a media reportsaid on Friday.

In July last year, theInternational Monetary Fund’s(IMF) Executive Board“approved a 39-month extend-ed arrangement” under theExtended Fund Facility (EFF)

for Pakistan for $6 billion tosupport its economic reformprogramme. Pakistan’s financeministry approached the IMFin August 2018 for a bailoutpackage when the Imran Khangovernment took over.

“IMF staff and the Pakistaniauthorities have reached a staff-level agreement on policies andreforms needed to complete thesecond review of the authorities’reform programme supportedunder the EFF,” the Dawnnewspaper quoted IMF’sMission Chief for PakistanErnesto Ramirez Rigo as saying.

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The rupee on Friday plunged by 63 paise to set-tle at nearly six-month low of 72.24 against

the US dollar, tracking heavy sell-offs in equitiesand sustained foreign fund outflows on fears thatcoronavirus can wreak havoc on the global econ-omy.

At the interbank foreign exchange market, thelocal currency opened lower at 71.90 to the USdollar and hit a low of 72.29 in day trade.

The domestic currency finally settled at 72.24,showing a loss of 63 paise — the biggest single-day loss since September 13, 2019. The closinglevel is the lowest since September 3.

“This week was all about coronavirus. Thefocus was on contagion to new regions outsideChina. The outbreak of virus rattled the riskappetite, giving rise to risks of sharp global eco-nomic slowdown,” said Rahul Gupta, Head ofResearch- Currency, Emkay Global FinancialServices. The virus has now spread around theglobe prompting many governments issue advi-sories against travelling or gathering in crowdedplaces.

An analyst observed that the coronavirus hasdefinitely hit businesses and could have longerthan anticipated effect on global growth and earn-ings. China reported 44 more deaths from thenovel coronavirus epidemic on Friday and 327fresh cases. The death toll now stands at 2,788in mainland China, according to the NationalHealth Commission.

“The panic selling of foreign investors inIndian equities has led to rupee depreciation. Nowthat the big hurdle of 72 is crossed in USDINRpair it can take 72.50 as next level on upside,”Jateen Trivedi, Senior Research Analyst(Commodity & Currency) at LKP Securities.

Continuing its downward spiral for thesixth straight session, the 30-share BSE Sensexended 1,448.37 points, or 3.64 per cent, lower at

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Amid the coronavirus outbreak,drug price regulator NPPA has

asked States and Union Territories tokeep a close watch on the availabili-ty of key raw materials which areimported from China and used in theproduction of all kinds of medicines.

In a letter addressed to the chiefsecretaries of states and UnionTerritories, National PharmaceuticalPricing Authority (NPPA) ChairmanShubhra Singh asked the state officialsto keep a close tab on the situation inorder to prevent hoarding of suchitems. “The key drug industry associ-ations have assured the governmentthat there is enough stock of ActivePharmaceutical Ingredients (APIs)/for-mulations in the country,” Singh saidin the letter.

“However, as a measure of publichealth preparedness in respect of APIs/Intermediates/ KSMs which areimported from China, it is requestedthat State Governments and UTs mayclosely monitor the production andavailability of APIs and their formula-tions to prevent black marketing andhoarding,” the letter said.

The NPPA chief also asked the offi-cials to ensure compliance of provisionsunder the Drug Price Control Order(DPCO), 2013.

“It may also be ensured that thereis no violation of provisions of DPCO,2013 with regard to compliance of ceil-

ing prices/permissible increase inprices of scheduled/non-scheduledformulations,” Singh noted. In case anycontravention is noticed, necessaryaction should be taken under the pro-visions of DPCO, 2013 to ensure avail-ability of life saving essential drugs tothe consumers at all times under inti-mation to this office, she added.

India heavily depends on China forimport of key APIs and key startingmaterials (KSMs), and there is anapprehension that in the wake ofCOVID-19, the supplies from Chinamight be disrupted, resulting in short-age of medicines in the country.

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Fitch Ratings on Friday saidHPCL-Mittal Energy

Limited’s credit metrics over2019-20 and 2020-21 financialyears would worsen by morethan previously expected due tonear-term weakness in refiningmargins and a faster pace of itspetrochemical (petchem)capex.

Earlier this week, Moody’sInvestors Service downgradedthe corporate family rating ofHMEL to Ba2 from Ba1 due toweak refining margins arisingfrom a slump in fuel demand.

In a statement, FitchRatings said while credit met-rics will worsen in the currentand the next financial year, “anaccelerated earnings contri-bution from petchem will leadto faster deleveraging, result-ing in net leverage (as definedby adjusted net debt/operatingEBITDAR) coming down tobelow 5-times by FY23.”

The net leverage is stillwithin Fitch’s negative ratingsensit ivit ies for HMEL’sStandalone Credit Profile(SCP) of ‘bb-’.

HMEL expects to startcommercial operations of itspetchem project by April 2021,a year ahead of its previousexpectation. It spent �3,800crore during the first ninemonths of current fiscal and is

likely to top �6,000 crore forthe financial year, comparedwith Fitch’s previous expecta-tions of �3,500 crore.

The company, whichoperates an 11.3 milliontonnes a year oil refinery atBhatinda in Punjab, is in theprocess of setting up a dual-feed petrochemical capacity of1.2 million metrics tons perannum (mtpa).

The project, which com-menced in October 2017, wasoriginally planned to be com-pleted by March 2022.However, the company nowintends to complete it by April2021.

The firm, which is anequal joint venture ofHindustan Petroleum CorpLtd (HPCL) and steel czarLakshmi N Mittal’s MittalEnergy Investments, expectsFY22 to be the first full yearof petchem operations, withan EBITDA contribution ofaround USD 400-500 million.

“However, we haveassumed that it takes longerfor the petchem project to sta-

bilise and turn profitable, con-tributing around USD 115million of EBITDA in FY22,”it said.

Fitch expects net leverageto peak at around 7x overFY20-FY21, before improvingto below 5x in FY22 andbelow 4x in FY23.

The leverage spike inFY21 is also affected by a one-off 60-day shutdown periodfor major maintenance of therefinery and integration of thepetchem operations.

“We had earlier expectedleverage to range around 6xduring FY20-FY21 and fall toaround 5x by FY23,” it said.

HMEL reported EBITDAof �2,600 crore during April-December 2019, with a grossrefining margin (GRM) ofUSD 9.6 per barrel versusUSD 10.3 in FY19.

The reduction was in linewith the industry due tostrong new supply fromChina, volatility in crudeprices leading to inventorylosses, and falling heavy-fueloil cracks in light of the

tougher marine fuel regula-tions by the InternationalMaritime Organization IMOfrom January 2020.

Fitch said it has reviseddown its industry-wide GRMexpectations, given the con-tinuing surplus in the refiningmarkets and also weaker-than-expected diesel spreads.

The refining margins arealso likely to be weighed downby the coronavirus situation inthe near term but refiningmargins are expected toimprove over the mediumterm, benefitting from strongdiesel spreads driven by theIMO regulations, it said.

“Sustained volatility inGRMs, lower earnings fromthe petchem project, or weak-er demand for petroleumproducts if COVID-19 pre-vails for a prolonged periodwould be credit negative.

“Any delays or challengesin the integration of HMEL’spetchem project could alsohave an impact on deleverag-ing and add downward pres-sure to HMEL’s SCP, whichhas little headroom at ‘bb-’,”Fitch added.

Bhatinda refinery hashigh-complexity with aNelson complexity index of12.6, allowing for the pro-cessing of heavy crude oiland optimisation of productslate.

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Script Open High Low LTPADANIGAS 139.90 140.90 125.00 133.90VEDL 126.00 126.00 112.30 114.00INFRATEL 220.90 220.90 211.00 214.55PFC 113.40 113.40 108.70 109.30SBIN 313.00 314.70 301.20 302.90IBULHSGFIN 304.40 306.00 275.90 279.70BAJFINANCE 4678.00 4678.00 4315.00 4463.10HDFC 2230.40 2230.40 2164.25 2176.70TATACONSUM 361.90 361.90 341.90 345.90TATASTEEL 401.90 401.90 373.45 381.55TATAMOTORS 139.00 139.50 127.05 129.00INFY 755.00 756.00 723.30 731.35RELIANCE 1358.80 1358.80 1325.00 1328.65HINDUNILVR 2204.70 2229.00 2155.05 2174.90MGL 1050.00 1050.00 995.95 1004.40HDFCBANK 1179.80 1184.85 1170.10 1177.60LT 1192.30 1195.95 1162.35 1183.00HEROMOTOCO 2101.00 2109.75 2038.00 2048.10NAUKRI 2500.00 2653.20 2401.50 2598.90ICICIBANK 505.00 505.20 493.40 496.05INDUSINDBK 1108.00 1117.50 1085.40 1104.00TCS 2080.00 2080.00 1990.40 2000.95ITC 195.00 199.75 190.60 197.60DMART 2290.00 2374.00 2184.00 2311.25MOTHERSUMI 105.00 105.55 101.80 104.05YESBANK 35.30 35.85 34.25 34.55MARUTI 6170.00 6350.00 6110.00 6284.00MIDHANI 248.00 265.60 237.70 245.80JINDALSTEL 160.60 161.90 151.40 153.85BAJAJFINSV 8800.05 9300.00 8800.05 9058.90IDEA 3.80 3.94 3.57 3.86MARICO 302.00 303.20 295.00 298.55KOTAKBANK 1658.00 1658.65 1615.00 1619.65AXISBANK 729.90 729.90 691.30 696.75HCLTECH 565.80 565.80 531.30 534.10BANDHANBNK 388.90 388.90 370.60 382.10DLF 204.95 204.95 193.30 201.30BHARTIARTL 528.00 528.00 513.50 524.05DRREDDY 3060.00 3087.50 2906.00 2925.80SRTRANSFIN 1221.55 1260.55 1166.95 1197.95INDIACEM 95.10 104.40 93.20 96.15BANKBARODA 75.80 77.55 73.40 76.50INDIGO 1333.70 1342.00 1229.75 1300.70L&TFH 109.80 109.80 99.10 100.00JSWSTEEL 247.00 247.00 232.90 235.55RBLBANK 307.00 307.00 285.20 290.75M&M 488.90 488.90 453.80 456.40HDFCLIFE 555.00 565.00 541.65 544.00APOLLOHOSP 1781.00 1798.60 1685.35 1722.20LTI 1980.30 1980.30 1851.30 1916.40EQUITAS 112.95 112.95 107.10 108.00SUNPHARMA 381.90 385.50 371.25 372.95PEL 1300.05 1372.25 1280.00 1307.35NESTLEIND 16100.00 16119.00 15680.00 15770.55MFSL 594.00 595.30 571.00 577.50ONGC 90.75 92.65 89.55 91.95ASHOKLEY 74.80 74.80 69.50 69.85ASIANPAINT 1832.00 1841.00 1783.65 1798.20NAM-INDIA 401.00 407.65 386.70 391.05JUBLFOOD 1805.00 1819.90 1735.00 1757.10TITAN 1273.00 1273.00 1235.60 1254.75POWERGRID 184.50 185.30 179.30 181.50HDFCAMC 3170.00 3177.95 3101.05 3140.95ESCORTS 803.00 803.00 767.10 780.10BPCL 440.00 440.00 421.55 426.25NAVINFLUOR 1460.00 1460.00 1370.00 1430.50TATAPOWER 48.00 48.55 46.10 46.65LICHSGFIN 328.90 330.00 317.40 320.55RECLTD 125.40 125.40 116.75 118.00TECHM 801.55 801.55 733.05 743.90SRF 4120.00 4120.00 3848.00 3904.50NCC 37.60 37.60 35.25 35.60ZEEL 242.95 244.45 232.50 239.85IPCALAB 1315.00 1366.85 1283.60 1361.70BEL 75.10 76.25 72.95 74.00NTPC 108.00 110.10 105.45 106.55TORNTPOWER 301.35 305.00 297.70 302.85NMDC 95.50 95.50 88.45 91.40PIDILITIND 1566.90 1566.90 1495.65 1515.05CANBK 151.00 151.00 141.10 144.05PVR 1922.00 1928.40 1830.00 1912.75ULTRACEMCO 4303.90 4303.90 4200.00 4219.70ADANIENT 215.00 226.50 215.00 218.50BASF 1058.00 1118.70 983.00 1030.15IOC 104.70 107.35 101.00 105.65WOCKPHARMA 324.00 329.00 301.05 307.50MUTHOOTFIN 920.00 920.00 871.85 879.70NIITTECH 1836.80 1854.70 1669.20 1693.95COALINDIA 171.90 171.90 166.95 168.25HINDALCO 162.20 162.30 154.05 156.35EICHERMOT 16699.00 16832.00 16347.10 16605.50AUROPHARMA 516.00 516.00 497.15 505.75AUBANK 1157.85 1179.25 1137.85 1162.00BRITANNIA 3010.10 3017.35 2917.70 2971.50DEEPAKNI 475.00 481.80 457.95 462.00POLYCAB 1130.00 1135.65 1048.00 1064.55MINDTREE 956.20 987.45 926.25 952.95BAJAJ-AUTO 2900.00 2913.30 2851.00 2890.45PETRONET 257.45 258.00 243.15 245.55HINDPETRO 202.00 202.75 194.60 197.60PNB 45.70 46.30 44.30 45.05SUNTV 443.70 443.70 412.15 415.55IDFCFIRSTB 38.30 38.30 36.60 36.80GAIL 103.75 108.50 102.05 104.55ICICIPRULI 478.90 478.90 454.00 470.60AVANTI 460.00 469.15 436.40 463.20

BIOCON 290.30 294.90 285.50 286.95WIPRO 230.80 230.80 219.65 221.10TATAELXSI 910.10 917.00 855.00 882.90STAR 485.80 488.85 463.60 469.65SHREECEM 23500.00 23511.00 22482.45 22648.30TRENT 734.50 759.85 681.95 736.20IRCON 519.70 528.85 500.20 502.75GODREJCP 598.00 598.00 556.65 560.75BALKRISIND 1140.00 1141.65 1088.25 1097.90SPICEJET 86.00 86.00 82.10 83.30SBILIFE 900.00 900.00 875.05 889.50UJJIVAN 340.20 355.20 334.95 337.85GODREJPROP 1036.00 1036.00 984.90 1009.55NH 332.25 340.00 329.90 332.15OIL 109.00 109.00 105.50 108.00GMRINFRA 21.90 21.90 19.75 20.05CGCL 205.15 213.60 196.00 206.25GODREJIND 400.70 400.90 382.50 392.75NLCINDIA 59.80 62.00 58.10 60.50CONCOR 509.00 530.00 492.95 509.90DELTACORP 142.80 142.80 129.10 134.45COLPAL 1320.10 1320.10 1280.80 1284.95TTKPRESTIG 5835.15 5856.00 5618.30 5711.35DABUR 506.75 506.75 492.10 496.05SAIL 35.35 36.70 34.95 35.55ADANIPOWER 51.50 51.70 46.50 47.30MANAPPURAM 169.00 169.00 161.60 162.75M&MFIN 347.00 352.90 331.50 345.45BERGEPAINT 576.90 587.70 550.95 565.70BHEL 31.95 31.95 30.35 30.60CIPLA 417.80 417.80 398.00 401.45FEDERALBNK 86.40 87.05 85.10 85.85LUPIN 660.00 660.00 635.30 639.70UPL 545.00 546.20 514.15 520.00BATAINDIA 1647.00 1668.00 1606.00 1644.40ATUL 4840.55 5200.00 4790.00 5118.00BLISSGVS 125.20 128.10 99.55 99.55BANKINDIA 54.65 54.65 50.30 50.90ADANIPORTS 348.00 349.20 339.25 342.55ACC 1370.00 1370.60 1311.45 1321.20RAJESHEXPO 670.00 670.00 651.25 658.10ICICIGI 1251.30 1273.00 1195.00 1233.70CUB 217.20 219.65 214.50 214.95DIVISLAB 2156.00 2156.00 2087.45 2106.00TVSMOTOR 427.00 440.90 419.65 435.55GRASIM 710.00 710.00 685.05 687.20VOLTAS 679.00 685.20 656.60 678.95CARERATING 485.00 486.00 474.00 476.25GLENMARK 288.25 292.40 275.50 277.70GRAPHITE 236.85 236.85 222.25 223.20BHARATFORG 454.00 454.00 423.30 435.55AMBUJACEM 207.50 209.35 203.30 205.05SOBHA 305.00 305.00 295.00 297.55HAVELLS 613.00 631.45 610.10 613.50JUSTDIAL 479.90 479.90 460.00 466.00JAICORPLTD 89.00 90.80 83.70 84.30IGL 449.25 452.05 434.00 442.25ADANIGREEN 154.70 160.00 154.70 154.90TATACHEM 722.30 722.30 701.35 712.40STRTECH 96.10 96.10 91.00 91.80APOLLOTYRE 148.80 148.80 141.00 142.95NATIONALUM 33.90 34.10 32.75 33.50INFIBEAM 57.10 59.90 54.00 56.35SUDARSCHEM 464.10 487.55 447.25 460.65PAGEIND 22000.00 22367.05 20978.45 22156.95TORNTPHARM 2154.80 2218.00 2127.05 2149.10RAIN 100.00 106.65 98.90 103.25BOSCHLTD 12950.00 12950.00 12002.65 12118.90ABBOTINDIA 16020.00 16100.00 15500.00 15709.05ABCAPITAL 79.90 80.05 77.30 77.50MCX 1315.00 1325.00 1271.55 1279.85MRF 66300.00 67250.00 65304.95 66284.40RADICO 411.50 417.50 386.45 410.35SIEMENS 1335.00 1345.00 1286.95 1302.45GRANULES 169.70 171.25 156.20 157.25VBL 805.05 823.35 790.00 806.70WELCORP 194.90 195.35 182.05 185.20EXIDEIND 170.00 170.00 161.40 164.75WHIRLPOOL 2168.00 2199.35 2150.00 2175.60CASTROLIND 144.00 153.00 140.40 146.85INDHOTEL 137.00 137.25 127.35 134.95DIXON 3910.00 3910.00 3765.00 3822.10AMARAJABAT 666.65 668.00 631.25 635.50HEG 919.00 919.00 870.05 876.00GODFRYPHLP 1122.00 1188.90 1060.50 1147.80SUNTECK 350.00 362.20 313.20 345.75VENKYS 1285.00 1285.00 1211.90 1225.90LAXMIMACH 3285.00 3621.00 3205.10 3232.25

PIIND 1520.00 1541.10 1439.95 1526.80HONAUT 31500.00 33299.00 30988.00 33037.45ISEC 490.00 490.00 454.50 476.15INOXLEISUR 459.90 459.90 425.65 429.35WESTLIFE 450.70 457.00 423.10 445.60HEXAWARE 362.40 363.60 349.00 359.60SUZLON 2.73 2.78 2.56 2.69SANOFI 7310.00 7350.75 7150.00 7289.65SPARC 151.00 153.25 145.00 145.95BOMDYEING 73.85 73.85 68.70 69.05PNBHOUSING 380.00 380.00 357.05 359.70IRB 91.95 91.95 83.00 83.95RITES 296.00 296.00 286.70 292.70NBCC 26.55 26.75 25.90 26.40NOCIL 93.00 93.20 89.40 89.95ADANITRANS 243.00 255.00 225.00 253.05DISHTV 9.35 9.35 8.10 8.24RELAXO 695.00 717.25 683.60 696.05UBL 1240.00 1260.00 1212.00 1246.85PTC 51.10 51.90 49.00 49.70UNIONBANK 39.50 39.65 36.90 37.10RELINFRA 20.30 20.30 18.65 18.75BEML 777.20 777.20 736.00 745.10TRIDENT 5.70 5.70 5.53 5.56CROMPTON 280.00 285.60 261.05 278.45TATAMTRDVR 58.60 58.60 54.55 55.35CREDITACC 857.50 857.50 830.00 842.30RALLIS 225.90 227.70 212.80 223.70CANFINHOME 505.00 505.70 496.00 499.65CHOLAFIN 307.00 315.50 300.65 306.40RVNL 21.85 21.85 20.75 21.10ALKEM 2603.10 2647.45 2565.00 2627.90AJANTPHARM 1385.00 1408.80 1362.45 1385.95METROPOLIS 1786.20 1884.00 1748.45 1861.65LALPATHLAB 1620.00 1685.00 1598.00 1627.55GLAXO 1340.00 1341.35 1281.00 1305.00GAYAPROJ 19.70 21.70 19.70 21.70ABFRL 257.60 260.50 250.05 251.55CADILAHC 257.50 265.60 254.40 260.05MOIL 126.95 126.95 120.40 120.95ORIENTELEC 263.00 267.65 247.50 262.30GNFC 161.85 162.00 155.50 156.05DCBBANK 160.00 164.00 156.40 161.10FCONSUMER 15.20 15.20 12.35 12.35HSCL 53.80 53.80 48.55 49.35SCI 47.40 47.40 44.15 44.95GUJGAS 278.95 281.65 271.20 276.15FRETAIL 312.80 312.90 283.55 301.20ENGINERSIN 73.00 73.00 69.60 70.10FORCEMOT 1149.00 1149.00 1058.00 1070.55PHILIPCARB 111.10 111.35 105.25 106.10SWANENERGY 124.80 127.70 122.30 124.75FORTIS 152.40 156.80 151.25 153.60RPOWER 1.73 1.73 1.69 1.69PFIZER 4154.95 4239.80 4054.85 4200.45BALRAMCHIN 144.90 146.00 137.25 142.50HINDZINC 176.90 177.55 171.05 172.25PCJEWELLER 16.30 16.30 15.30 15.40AMBER 1370.00 1383.45 1318.25 1372.65RAYMOND 541.00 541.00 502.40 505.85BIRLACORPN 700.00 705.80 688.00 690.75HFCL 15.05 15.30 14.05 14.60GICRE 171.65 172.80 163.00 163.50KTKBANK 72.50 72.50 69.50 69.65AKZOINDIA 2260.75 2395.00 2225.00 2348.20GILLETTE 5776.00 5839.00 5718.00 5802.85WELSPUNIND 43.00 43.10 40.30 41.15SUPREMEIND 1359.95 1359.95 1284.95 1307.75IDFC 33.45 33.45 31.90 32.20HEIDELBERG 205.10 206.20 197.70 200.85JUBILANT 511.00 516.00 496.25 505.70DHFL 14.20 14.50 13.81 14.50BDL 288.00 293.30 272.40 274.35TIMKEN 1000.00 1002.15 936.00 954.90MEGH 53.55 53.75 51.50 51.80FSL 40.40 41.15 38.65 39.90MASFIN 1070.00 1095.00 987.55 1054.95COROMANDEL 603.00 617.90 579.00 614.40CUMMINSIND 520.00 520.00 496.30 511.10JKTYRE 62.70 64.95 61.00 63.00AEGISLOG 227.30 231.85 218.65 223.353MINDIA 20650.00 20966.00 20347.20 20626.75SHILPAMED 441.75 472.40 441.75 449.10NHPC 21.25 21.25 20.45 20.60GSKCONS 9646.05 9700.00 9376.40 9444.90ITI 76.90 76.90 71.00 71.30VINATIORGA 980.00 995.40 891.00 932.20JMFINANCIL 110.65 111.50 104.10 106.75VIPIND 430.55 430.55 406.35 409.90GSFC 64.95 64.95 60.50 60.85ASTRAL 1155.00 1155.00 1125.90 1144.10SYMPHONY 1270.00 1301.05 1248.00 1268.10IEX 185.00 193.50 169.50 175.05KEC 313.70 313.70 298.20 309.70EIDPARRY 190.85 196.60 184.15 188.45CHAMBLFERT 149.00 149.00 139.00 140.65ITDC 252.05 257.15 226.00 228.70PARAGMILK 89.50 89.50 80.00 80.75GALAXYSURF 1584.00 1624.05 1521.00 1614.55OMAXE 169.00 169.00 157.00 157.65LTTS 1659.85 1666.00 1580.00 1626.75NESCO 700.00 740.00 685.00 723.35JSL 38.50 41.10 38.45 39.00THYROCARE 593.75 602.00 574.40 586.45LEMONTREE 51.30 56.45 49.25 50.80KEI 509.90 510.45 487.70 489.70APLLTD 650.00 650.00 614.20 631.20

NATCOPHARM 591.00 604.05 587.65 600.60WABAG 198.70 198.70 185.00 187.80ASTRAZEN 2610.00 2624.00 2552.10 2571.05CEATLTD 981.85 1043.00 980.45 1023.85CESC 654.70 657.05 632.00 646.40TATAINVEST 882.35 922.00 870.80 907.95ORIENTBANK 35.85 35.85 34.40 34.60INDIANB 74.00 75.15 71.25 74.15RCF 38.90 39.65 38.25 38.40GODREJAGRO 472.20 472.20 455.00 464.70BAJAJELEC 426.70 426.70 400.00 403.00SOUTHBANK 9.55 9.55 9.27 9.31RATNAMANI 1254.35 1337.75 1232.50 1330.35IBREALEST 75.90 76.10 75.05 75.05JINDALSAW 80.10 80.25 75.50 76.05IDBI 32.60 32.60 30.30 30.60OBEROIRLTY 499.75 521.50 490.00 510.00SONATSOFTW 344.90 344.90 333.95 334.95JYOTHYLAB 130.00 130.00 119.00 123.25SJVN 23.00 23.65 22.70 23.15AAVAS 1871.75 1900.40 1858.25 1874.15EDELWEISS 89.95 92.10 85.85 87.35TV18BRDCST 24.00 24.00 22.30 22.55HUDCO 30.55 30.95 29.55 29.70BAJAJHLDNG 3400.00 3429.10 3355.00 3381.00MINDAIND 370.90 381.50 348.40 371.30JSWENERGY 58.60 59.30 56.00 57.40RELCAPITAL 6.95 6.95 6.64 6.64BBTC 1073.45 1075.20 1053.90 1069.05DBL 316.00 316.00 298.40 299.25JSLHISAR 65.60 71.10 65.60 67.90BAYERCROP 4243.85 4472.15 4180.00 4393.10CAPPL 317.10 317.10 290.35 300.15IIFL 164.55 168.50 158.80 163.65TATACOFFEE 84.20 84.20 80.25 80.80PHOENIXLTD 874.15 874.15 850.00 857.45VGUARD 199.80 203.80 198.05 202.95RAMCOCEM 768.25 782.60 754.40 767.30COCHINSHIP 350.00 350.00 336.00 340.00VAIBHAVGBL 1130.00 1133.70 1095.00 1099.40LUXIND 1459.80 1460.35 1362.05 1401.55MAHSCOOTER 4400.00 4400.00 4240.00 4284.35MPHASIS 886.00 886.00 848.35 870.85INTELLECT 121.00 121.00 114.80 115.50BLUEDART 2737.95 2780.00 2668.90 2752.95EMAMILTD 260.05 260.05 252.45 256.45KANSAINER 495.65 506.35 485.00 500.25BRIGADE 225.00 242.00 221.45 231.80CCL 235.65 238.45 224.10 234.30RESPONIND 85.25 86.95 83.20 84.60SCHNEIDER 93.55 95.75 89.40 93.65

TIINDIA 545.50 555.00 522.35 528.50DEEPAKFERT 89.65 89.65 85.00 86.05OFSS 2673.60 2700.00 2626.45 2646.15PGHH 11119.05 11425.00 11000.00 11051.25GHCL* 180.50 181.40 170.25 171.40ALBK 12.75 12.75 11.05 11.30REPCOHOME 278.00 285.15 276.25 283.95GSPL 230.30 230.65 223.75 225.00ASHOKA 92.90 92.90 88.10 90.10KNRCON 260.80 271.80 258.35 264.85TCIEXP 845.00 852.00 804.60 846.55GREAVESCOT 128.40 132.25 126.90 129.80MOTILALOFS 757.00 757.00 733.70 743.75PRESTIGE 300.00 306.60 286.20 289.90APLAPOLLO 1960.00 1964.95 1900.00 1938.45LINDEINDIA 676.50 680.15 645.00 649.50CHALET 314.00 372.00 286.70 328.95LAURUSLABS 402.00 414.55 402.00 411.25MRPL 37.50 38.60 35.00 38.00NILKAMAL 1382.90 1434.00 1375.15 1403.10SHANKARA 466.60 474.95 451.90 452.35AIAENG 1834.30 1834.30 1745.00 1784.90LAKSHVILAS 16.40 16.40 15.30 15.70FINEORG 2127.25 2140.95 2020.30 2134.95HINDCOPPER 32.60 33.00 31.15 31.40JKLAKSHMI 319.80 319.80 302.45 307.25GUJALKALI 345.00 346.45 324.50 336.75DHANUKA 475.05 484.50 457.20 471.15LAOPALA 219.70 226.50 206.60 215.00KRBL 261.50 263.00 248.45 250.70MAXINDIA 88.60 95.45 87.80 93.00QUESS 529.80 532.40 505.25 512.90ESSELPRO 182.00 182.00 171.00 171.95JAMNAAUTO 36.00 36.00 34.10 34.30JKCEMENT 1409.00 1412.00 1335.95 1388.75HAL 702.00 706.80 678.50 684.55NIACL 111.95 112.50 106.55 109.55PGHL 4130.75 4199.00 4109.85 4179.90BALMLAWRIE 103.70 103.90 100.90 102.20ZYDUSWELL 1400.00 1509.95 1400.00 1471.05CHOLAHLDNG 530.00 538.00 501.55 508.00KAJARIACER 529.00 529.00 518.10 523.40

TIMETECHNO 49.60 49.60 45.50 46.10SADBHAV 74.50 76.05 69.00 70.50MAHINDCIE 138.90 138.90 131.00 132.70ENDURANCE 956.60 1032.20 902.20 993.25FINCABLES 335.00 336.60 320.00 324.20FDC 239.20 239.20 230.60 234.10REDINGTON 107.30 113.70 107.05 109.70CERA 2368.45 2529.40 2368.00 2485.00BLUESTARCO 818.95 827.40 791.00 799.45CRISIL 1550.00 1550.00 1475.00 1518.20FINOLEXIND 542.00 554.30 535.20 544.80SIS 564.40 564.40 541.00 550.75CHENNPETRO 105.05 105.05 98.15 100.95JCHAC 2740.55 2886.40 2739.05 2811.20PRSMJOHNSN 64.55 64.55 60.00 60.40GARFIBRES 1540.00 1600.00 1500.00 1563.75JBCHEPHARM 550.00 550.00 529.00 537.40IFCI 5.39 5.40 5.25 5.30GICHSGFIN 99.80 99.80 95.35 95.90SCHAEFFLER 4420.00 4422.40 4300.00 4356.85SYNDIBANK 20.10 20.10 18.20 18.40DALBHARAT 781.00 798.50 767.00 783.75CENTURYPLY 156.10 157.45 150.45 156.70UFLEX 216.30 217.00 210.40 211.00JISLJALEQS 5.50 5.50 5.32 5.32TEJASNET 50.90 52.00 45.50 46.45TNPL 156.15 166.00 154.50 162.10HERITGFOOD 359.00 367.10 340.00 360.10ALLCARGO 107.95 111.60 106.50 108.75PERSISTENT 708.05 708.05 670.85 695.95SYNGENE 301.00 304.50 297.65 300.25BAJAJCON 193.90 193.90 187.00 192.05MINDACORP 107.50 107.60 103.70 106.75J&KBANK 21.20 21.20 19.55 19.75CYIENT 420.00 427.00 415.00 423.80GULFOILLUB 778.10 814.65 710.50 788.40ANDHRABANK 14.25 14.25 12.65 13.40PNCINFRA 170.15 172.90 168.00 171.30ARVINDFASN 338.55 351.25 336.00 345.50TATAMETALI 611.00 615.00 595.00 598.30VRLLOG 225.00 234.80 214.00 230.90HIMATSEIDE 100.00 102.10 97.15 97.50UCOBANK 13.00 13.00 12.00 12.40SUNDRMFAST 420.00 420.00 412.00 415.10NETWORK18 27.30 27.90 27.15 27.15MMTC 17.95 17.95 17.00 17.05SOMANYCERA 189.00 189.00 165.20 170.00DCAL* 81.15 81.15 77.10 77.15GPPL 71.20 72.80 70.00 72.05KALPATPOWR 340.05 340.05 325.00 332.35ADVENZYMES 155.30 155.30 152.25 152.60GESHIP 247.00 247.40 236.85 240.00THERMAX 909.90 927.10 909.00 921.65ERIS 427.55 440.65 405.00 433.60CARBORUNIV 336.55 338.40 321.45 327.95TAKE 93.10 94.50 87.80 89.85SOLARINDS 1144.25 1202.35 1134.10 1153.65ASTERDM 168.35 168.35 161.00 161.85INDOSTAR 279.60 280.00 277.00 278.75INOXWIND 34.55 34.55 33.00 33.55IFBIND 450.00 503.20 445.50 474.20VMART 2243.95 2340.00 2177.75 2231.50MAHLOG 395.00 395.00 368.05 373.30SKFINDIA 1830.15 1881.45 1823.00 1865.85DCMSHRIRAM 333.50 333.50 323.90 330.50SHOPERSTOP 368.40 380.25 368.35 379.55MAHSEAMLES 333.75 333.75 314.70 321.15SHRIRAMCIT 1413.00 1440.00 1396.00 1430.85ITDCEM 54.30 54.70 52.90 53.40SFL 1601.00 1635.00 1578.35 1611.95HATHWAY 19.15 19.85 18.90 19.35GEPIL 691.00 720.00 683.00 698.50TCNSBRANDS 570.00 610.45 569.95 591.75ECLERX 569.50 569.50 530.05 542.30GDL 116.50 117.15 113.00 116.55KPITTECH 82.00 84.00 80.70 81.45GMDCLTD 51.20 52.00 50.50 50.95MAHABANK 11.15 11.15 10.10 10.51CORPBANK 17.00 17.35 16.35 16.70IBULISL 95.50 97.35 93.45 93.45IOB 8.53 8.80 8.40 8.70JAGRAN 64.35 64.35 61.20 61.35EIHOTEL 129.45 132.25 125.10 131.65CENTRALBK 16.00 16.00 15.25 15.65ORIENTCEM 81.35 81.35 79.25 79.65VSTIND 4174.25 4198.00 4060.00 4082.65MHRIL 213.00 214.90 209.30 212.50STARCEMENT 83.55 87.00 83.55 86.40MAHLIFE 363.00 363.50 355.00 355.85NBVENTURES 64.40 66.75 63.90 65.05MAGMA 46.50 46.50 41.85 43.00TVTODAY 220.50 224.90 213.60 213.80GRINDWELL 598.55 600.95 572.00 585.70VTL 1057.05 1083.25 1041.00 1047.40DBCORP 117.00 117.00 109.50 110.35WABCOINDIA 6700.00 6794.40 6700.00 6750.50TEAMLEASE 2325.00 2421.65 2303.00 2324.90SHK 105.70 106.30 98.75 100.05KPRMILL 590.00 602.00 588.70 590.20ZENSARTECH 137.00 138.60 135.00 136.70TVSSRICHAK 1510.50 1525.00 1460.00 1491.45VARROC 370.00 382.35 362.65 376.30GET&D 122.65 122.65 119.00 120.25CENTRUM 18.55 19.40 18.20 18.75SUPRAJIT 196.60 199.75 190.80 197.95UNITEDBNK 7.32 7.32 6.89 7.18FLFL 336.60 355.00 336.60 346.75

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY 50 11382.00 11384.80 11175.05 11219.20 -414.10IOC 103.80 107.40 100.90 106.25 0.60MARUTI 6163.05 6367.35 6103.20 6294.05 4.25ITC 195.00 199.90 192.05 196.60 -0.95ONGC 90.30 92.70 89.50 92.20 -1.15INDUSINDBK 1100.00 1118.00 1085.05 1099.90 -15.65LT 1189.65 1196.45 1162.00 1191.10 -19.25BAJAJ-AUTO 2890.00 2915.00 2850.45 2888.00 -48.60HDFCBANK 1175.50 1185.00 1170.10 1178.80 -20.65BHARTIARTL 524.90 528.40 513.50 522.45 -9.20TITAN 1255.00 1270.70 1235.65 1254.90 -23.00ASIANPAINT 1820.00 1842.10 1783.15 1810.00 -33.80NTPC 106.65 110.20 105.35 106.90 -2.15BRITANNIA 2983.00 3020.00 2917.00 2962.00 -64.05ULTRACEMCO 4270.00 4304.15 4200.00 4216.00 -105.65POWERGRID 183.45 185.30 179.15 181.85 -4.60ZEEL 240.00 244.65 232.60 238.30 -6.05ADANIPORTS 347.00 348.65 339.20 344.85 -8.85EICHERMOT 16697.00 16848.00 16317.05 16610.10 -443.30ICICIBANK 501.60 506.85 492.20 498.95 -16.40INFRATEL 217.00 218.00 211.15 216.00 -7.10HEROMOTOCO2080.00 2110.00 2033.95 2043.00 -67.25NESTLEIND 16042.00 16129.05 15680.00 15745.00 -518.75HINDUNILVR 2191.10 2229.40 2155.00 2182.00 -72.95BAJAJFINSV 9270.50 9286.55 8825.05 9100.00 -308.00GAIL 102.00 108.50 102.00 103.65 -3.70COALINDIA 171.55 171.80 166.75 167.75 -6.35KOTAKBANK 1654.90 1660.10 1613.75 1619.95 -62.80GRASIM 687.00 707.50 684.00 686.00 -26.85HDFC 2228.55 2228.55 2162.30 2186.00 -86.20CIPLA 413.00 416.45 398.05 405.05 -16.15SUNPHARMA 379.65 385.60 371.10 373.20 -15.30WIPRO 228.50 229.50 219.70 222.40 -9.20RELIANCE 1354.90 1357.00 1325.00 1327.00 -59.25TCS 2068.00 2069.50 1990.00 2010.00 -95.50UPL 543.00 546.60 514.00 524.90 -25.95AXISBANK 718.90 724.70 691.00 701.00 -34.85DRREDDY 3030.00 3088.50 2905.25 2920.00 -147.05BPCL 438.90 438.90 420.50 422.70 -21.35SBIN 312.00 314.65 301.10 304.60 -17.35BAJFINANCE 4640.00 4640.00 4311.75 4500.00 -259.80INFY 750.00 756.80 722.05 732.00 -45.85HCLTECH 560.00 564.00 531.20 539.00 -34.05YESBANK 35.15 35.85 34.30 34.35 -2.45JSWSTEEL 245.50 245.50 232.65 233.50 -18.60M&M 485.00 485.00 453.60 457.00 -36.50TATASTEEL 398.70 398.95 375.00 381.00 -31.80TECHM 789.80 808.00 732.05 746.25 -62.90HINDALCO 162.00 162.20 154.10 155.00 -13.35TATAMOTORS 138.85 139.60 127.05 129.65 -15.60VEDL 126.00 126.00 112.10 112.85 -17.70

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SCRIP OPEN HIgh LOW LTP CHANGENIFTY NEXT 50 26859.65 26887.50 26287.90 26564.10 -840.20DMART 2279.90 2377.35 2180.00 2348.00 28.30MCDOWELL-N 680.00 693.75 657.05 692.00 5.60PAGEIND 21750.00 22456.65 21150.00 22280.00 136.00IDEA 3.80 3.95 3.55 3.80 0.00ICICIGI 1235.00 1275.00 1192.35 1250.00 -0.75UBL 1230.75 1260.50 1211.05 1245.00 -4.75CONCOR 506.10 530.25 492.20 510.05 -2.95CADILAHC 258.45 265.75 254.25 259.00 -2.45BERGEPAINT 569.00 587.90 550.55 570.00 -7.30AMBUJACEM 207.75 209.40 203.25 208.20 -3.40DIVISLAB 2140.00 2149.70 2087.25 2119.00 -37.55PIDILITIND 1550.00 1550.00 1495.60 1523.65 -29.40BANKBARODA 76.40 77.60 73.30 76.70 -1.60BAJAJHLDNG 3408.90 3430.00 3350.80 3385.00 -71.25SBILIFE 886.00 895.00 875.00 886.50 -18.85MARICO 301.80 303.30 295.00 300.00 -6.40ICICIPRULI 475.00 478.00 453.70 471.15 -10.10PGHH 11050.15 11573.75 11001.10 11006.60 -237.85DABUR 501.00 504.95 492.00 494.00 -12.35HDFCAMC 3150.00 3178.95 3100.00 3166.00 -80.65AUROPHARMA 513.30 513.60 496.90 505.30 -14.20DLF 203.50 204.90 193.15 202.90 -5.80OFSS 2677.00 2705.00 2630.00 2651.25 -76.40COLPAL 1312.00 1320.00 1280.50 1285.35 -39.75NHPC 21.00 21.20 20.40 20.75 -0.65BIOCON 292.45 294.90 285.00 289.50 -9.40HINDPETRO 202.95 203.00 194.50 197.55 -6.85LUPIN 656.15 659.40 635.20 640.45 -22.35SIEMENS 1334.90 1344.95 1286.45 1306.00 -46.40SRTRANSFIN 1215.00 1261.95 1166.90 1211.95 -45.85MOTHERSUMI 103.50 105.80 101.65 105.00 -4.10HDFCLIFE 554.00 565.00 541.25 544.25 -22.45BANDHANBNK 385.20 388.75 370.00 382.85 -15.95HAVELLS 616.00 631.80 610.00 613.00 -25.70NIACL 108.00 112.50 107.50 109.00 -4.75PNB 45.25 46.35 44.30 44.95 -2.00ACC 1363.35 1364.75 1312.05 1321.05 -62.30INDIGO 1320.00 1341.95 1220.50 1303.00 -63.50GODREJCP 588.00 593.30 556.40 565.85 -28.85PETRONET 255.20 257.80 243.05 248.00 -12.65SHREECEM 23400.00 23729.00 22463.95 22633.00 -1179.55PFC 112.00 112.00 108.65 109.70 -5.90PEL 1351.00 1373.45 1278.65 1315.00 -81.00HINDZINC 170.30 177.75 170.30 171.45 -10.95NMDC 93.65 93.65 88.40 90.30 -5.80BOSCHLTD 12774.00 12863.10 12010.00 12140.00 -1029.10ASHOKLEY 73.00 73.95 69.50 69.95 -6.05GICRE 172.00 173.80 163.00 163.00 -15.85L&TFH 109.00 109.50 99.00 100.60 -11.70IBULHSGFIN 303.20 306.30 275.85 280.50 -36.20

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Sebi on Fridayslapped a fine of

Rs 17 lakh on MotilalOswal FinancialServices Ltd for "mis-use of client funds" asit failed to complywith regulations onsegregating funds andsecurities of clients.

Sebi had con-ducted an inspectionbetween April 2012to March 2014,wherein it foundinstances where thebroker had indulgedin intermingling ormisuse of clients' funds.

"Instances of misutilisation of funds of theclients on 11 sample days out of the 20 sample daysrepresent approximately 55 per cent of the sampledates selected by the inspection team," it said in anorder.

In a statement, Motilal Oswal said it was in theprocess of examining the order and would takeappropriate action.

According to Sebi, the amount of misutilisa-tion was in the range of Rs 5.01 crore to Rs 102.06crore for the sample dates.

"The noticee (Motilal Oswal) has failed to main-tain segregation of client's funds, and further mis-used the clients' funds, thereby violating the pro-visions of the Sebi circular... Dated November 18,1993," the order said.

As per the 1993 circular, stock brokers shallkeep the money of the clients and their own moneyin separate accounts. Besides, no payment for trans-actions in which the member broker is taking aposition as a principal will be allowed to be madefrom the client's account.

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The Presidents of Turkey and Russia spokeover the phone on Friday, a day after

Syrian Government airstrikes killed 33Turkish troops, significantly ratcheting uptensions between Ankara and Moscow. Itwas the highest number of Turkish soldierskilled in a single day since Ankara first inter-vened in the Syrian conflict in 2016.

The development was the most seriousescalation in the conflict between Turkishand Russia-backed Syrian forces and raisedthe prospect of all-out war with millions ofSyrian civilians trapped in the middle.

NATO envoys held emergency talks atthe request of Turkey, a NATO member, andscores of migrants began converging onTurkey’s border with Greece seeking entryinto Europe after Turkey said it was “no

longer able to hold refugees.” TurkishPresident Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whosecountry already hosts more than 3.5 millionSyrian refugees, has long threatened to “openthe gates” for millions of refugees eager toflee to Europe unless more international sup-port was provided.

Refugees, meanwhile, headed to the landborder with Greece, taking minibuses andtaxis from Istanbul. Dozens waited at theTurkish side of the border gate at Pazarkuleand dozens of others were in no-man’s landbetween the two countries.

Others headed to Turkey’s west coast toattempt to reach the Greek islands, a shortdistance away. Several rubber dinghy boatswith groups of people clambering aboardwere seen on Friday, heading for the islandof Lesbos after apparently setting off fromAyvacik, northwest Turkey in broad daylight.

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Turkish reprisals killed 16 Syriansoldiers in the battleground

northwestern province of Idlib onFriday after a bombardment Ankarablamed on Damascus killed 33Turkish soldiers, a monitor said.

The retaliatory drone andartillery strikes hit Syria armypositions in southern and easternparts of the province which wererecaptured by the Government ina nearly three-month-old offensive

against the rebel enclave, the SyrianObservatory for Human Rightssaid. Also on Friday in Idlib, fourmembers of a single family, two ofthem children, were killed in airstrikes, the Britain-based moni-toring group said.

There was no immediate con-firmation from Damascus of the 16deaths or any comment on theflare-up with Ankara that prompted NATO to call an urgentmeeting of its ruling council forlater on Friday.

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Mexico City: Mexico’s assistanthealth secretary announced onFriday that the country nowhas two confirmed cases of thenew coronavirus.

Hugo Lopez-Gatell saidone of the patients is in MexicoCity and the other in the north-ern state of Sinaloa. While asecond test is still pending onthat case, he said, “We are treat-ing this as confirmed.” Neitheris seriously ill.

At least five family contactsof the first patient have beenplaced in isolation. He said oneof the men had contact withsomeone who had traveled tothe northern Italian regionwhere there has been an out-break. AP

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Forty four more people havedied of the novel coron-

avirus in China, taking thedeath toll in the outbreak to2,788, Chinese health officialssaid on Friday, amid growingcriticism from experts and thepublic that the epidemic wouldhave been less severe if theauthorities acted when the firstconfirmed case was reported inDecember.

Among the deaths report-ed on Thursday, 41 were fromthe epicentre Hubei provinceand its capital Wuhan, two inBeijing and one in Xinjiang, theNational Health Commissionsaid in its daily report.

A total of 44 new deathsand 327 confirmed cases werereported on Thursday from allover China, far lower than theearlier days, it said.

The overall confirmedcases in the mainland havereached 78,824 by the end ofThursday. In all, 2,788 peoplehave died of the disease so far,it said. As virulence of the dis-ease slowed, criticism ofChinese officials’ attempts tohide the outbreak in its earlystage was highlighted by theofficial media on Thursday ina rare public criticism of thesystem of secrecy in gover-nance.

The outbreak first surfacedin December last year until itbecame severe by middle of

January, becoming a full-fledged epidemic causing mas-sive devastation in the country,a report highlighting the short-comings was published by thestate-run Global Times onThursday.

While China’s massiveresponse in trying to localisethe virus to Hubei provincewith strong measure like lock-ing over 18 cities includingWuhan with over 50 millionpeople came for praise from theWorld Health Organisation(WHO), criticism is also grow-ing at home over why it was notnipped in the bud.

The situation should havebeen better if the control mea-sures were taken earlier ZhongNanshan, said a leading epi-demiologist who was alsoamong those in the expertgroups dispatched by the cen-tral Government to the epi-centre Wuhan.

Under the scanner isChina’s famous top downapproach under the rulingCommunist Party of China(CPC) with little power tolocal officials.

Several top-down author-ities, constantly shifting blameon each other for mishandlingthe outbreak earlier, have nowbeen engulfed in a public opin-ion crisis, with people callingfor an improved decision-mak-ing process in the country’shealthcare system, the mediareport said.

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Aspokesman for Iran’sHealth Ministry says the

new coronavirus has killed 34people amid 388 confirmedcases in Iran.

Iran’s Health Ministryspokesman KianoushJahanpour made the announce-ment on Friday at a news con-ference in Tehran.

The new total pushes theconfirmed cases of the virus inthe Mideast above 500.

Iran has the highest deathtoll for the virus and the illnessit causes, COVID-19, outside ofChina, the epicentre of theoutbreak.

Berlin: Around 1,000 peoplewere in quarantine in Germany’smost populous state on Friday,as the number of confirmedcases of novel coronavirus inEurope’s biggest economy roseabove 50. The district ofHeinsberg in North Rhine-Westphalia said it had to take thestep of keeping around 1,000home as an infected couple hadparticipated in carnival celebra-tions in mid-February. AFP

Hong Kong: A pet dog wasquarantined at an animal cen-tre in Hong Kong after it test-ed positive to low levels of thenew coronavirus, officials saidFriday, in the first such case inthe city.

The canine, which belongsto a 60-year-old woman infect-ed with the virus, has no “rel-evant symptoms”, theAgriculture, Fisheries andConservation Department said.

But “nasal and oral cavitysamples were tested weak pos-itive to COVID-19 virus,” aspokesman said, withoutexplaining why they tested theanimal in the first place.

The dog was collected fromthe owner’s home onWednesday, after the womanwas diagnosed with the conta-gion and placed in a hospitalisolation ward.

It would be closely moni-tored and undergo further teststo confirm if it really has thevirus or if “this is a result of envi-ronmental contamination ofthe dog’s mouth and nose,” thedepartment said. The caninewould be held until it returneda negative result. AFP

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How do we expand the bou-quet of tourism experiencesto inspire the traveller tokeep coming back? Howdo we reintroduce favourites

and invest them with contemporarysensibilities? How do we customisetours to make new memories? How hastheme travel changed the way we live andthink? These were some of the questionsthat were answered by panellists AmanNath, Shilpa Sharma, Sumitra Senapaty,Anup Kutty and Samil Malhotra at thelast session of the Exotica TourismSummit.

DON’T LET HISTORY BECOME ABYGONE

Hotelier, architectural restorer andwriter Aman Nath is the co-founder andco-chairman of the Neemrana Hotelschain, along with Francis Wacziarg.Both are today credited for pioneeringthe heritage hotels movement in India,which they started in 1991. Since then,the Neemrana group has acquired 30heritage properties and converted theminto heritage hotels after restoration, par-ticularly developing unknown propertiesin Rajasthan and breaking stereotypes.

He said, “We have 30 properties in18 states of India. We started by lookingat restoring historical properties whichheld stories about the glorious past ofIndia. The architecture in every statevaries just like food. The idea was tomake a new blend of restoration, rebuild-ing and revitalisation of ruined architec-tural wonders and offer unique accom-modation options. It was to turn utterwaste into mainstream assets, whichnobody looked at and which could con-tribute to society. The term jungle meinmangal actually holds true in that youcan actually create a habitat in thewilderness. Neemranification means thatyou restore a place and you also use it ina way that it perpetuates itself. What youknow as the Neemrana Fort PalaceDelhi-Jaipur highway is actually a 15thcentury heritage hotel. We have a historic700-year-old property as the Hill Fort,Kesroli in Alwar. All efforts have beenmade to maintain the old charm of thefort while ensuring basic comforts thathave come to be associated with thechanges in lifestyle since the 14th cen-tury. Then we have the Bungalow on theBeach in Tranquebar, Tamil Nadu. Whenwe started doing this project, theGovernment said how dare you build aproperty so close to the sea? We toldthem, it was there since the 17th centu-ry. It was actually restored one day beforethe tsunami. The waves crashed the wallsand went over the whole building butnothing happened to it. It stayed intactbecause it was a hundred years old andsolidly built.”

Aman summed up by saying thatwhen you see ruins like these, you don’thave the courage to attempt a new con-struction. “What we actually did wasrestoration-for-reuse,” he said.

LET THE SEA SET YOU FREESamil Malhotra, head of sales at

TIRUN, brings 33 years of experienceduring which he has worked across var-ious sectors with established brands. Asthe exclusive India representative forRoyal Caribbean Cruises, a global cruise-liner with four cruise brands — RoyalCaribbean International, CelebrityCruises, Azamara Club Cruises andSilversea Cruises — he highlighted howvoyages have made slow travel fashion-able again.

He said, “Today, Antarctica is the newAlaska. So in 2020, if you think you cantake a cruise, you could go to Antarctica.There are so many misconceptions andmyths about cruising. The very first is thatcruises are expensive. People tend to thinkit’s too crowded, too confining or too bor-ing. But that’s hardly the reality of mod-ern-day vessels. There are so many argu-ments favouring why you should not gocruising rather than why you should. Theword “cruise” in itself personifies what itdoes. A ship can go at 40 knots but itchooses to go at 10 knots. It’s because itlets you enjoy the sea. If you would liketo have a relaxing holiday, if you don’t wantto pack and repack, if you want to get upin a new country everyday and have 30restaurants to eat, a casino to gamble in,a health club and spa to enjoy andimmerse yourself in, watch Broadwaymusicals and shows at night, listen to BobMarley and Bob Dylan during the day, youshould be taking a cruise.”

Samil concluded his talk by saying,“To demystify all this, Royal Caribbean

Cruises sells at approximately �10,000 perperson, per night. So if you take a threenight package, you are just spending�30,000. And you are getting everything— stay, food, alcoholic beverages (attimes), entertainment, shore excursionsand so on in comparison to a hotel, wherejust your breakfast is included. When I tellpeople the rates, they are just shocked. Ifyou haven’t seen the cruise, you haven’tseen the world.”

THE BUZZWORD IS SOLO TRAVEL Sumitra Senapaty, known as a

women’s travel expert, has logged thou-sands of miles around the world as a wan-derer, culminating with the creation of the

WOW Club travel and social platform forwomen 15 years ago. This has developedinto an active community for women.Sumitra believes that travel brings alonga sense of empowerment and a feeling ofpersonal freedom. The WOW communi-ty also meets up for a number of socialevents organised exclusively for women bythe club — like heritage walks, wine tast-ings, lunches and movie evenings as well.Sumitra has just returned from Antarctica,her second time to this part of the world.

She said, “It was a dream that I had15 summers ago. I really wanted womento be independent and empowered. Italked to a lot of people and realised thatwomen were more interested in travelling

and adventure and a passion that bringsall this alive. There are times in life whenyou are over with your friends, relativesand colleagues. You want to go beyond thatand have a different social circle. So howdo you make friends later in life? One wayis travel. It gives you me-time, makes youindependent and you feel empowered. Itgives you an opportunity to talk to otherpeople, locals of various countries andother states in India. It gives you time tothink on your feet, to act for yourself, too.Well, I give them the opportunity for solotravel. It’s so comforting because being ina group gives you a sense of safety. We do150 trips every year over 52 destinations.These destinations range from Rishikeshto Antartika and beyond. Future plansinclude the Arctic circle, Greenland andFalkland islands. The change has come forsure. Initially, when I started out, therewere women who called me and said ‘wowit’s such a lovely concept! But we will getback to you after the weekend. I would liketo discuss it with my family and see whathappens’. Invariably, they never got backbecause their family said why are yougoing with them? Why not with us?However, later, women did come back.And how.”

BEYOND THE BROCHURESince 2011, Shilpa Sharma, founder of

Breakaway Travels, has been curating andexecuting bespoke, beyond-the-brochureexperiential journeys around India for solotravellers. Her trips are immersions incrafts, textiles, culinary and social enter-prise interactions. She co-founded Jaypore,

an online retail portal for Indian hand-made and high on design products and isconstantly travelling to find the next expe-riential to curate.

She wanted to do something for herown, something that hadn’t been done byanyone. Said Shilpa, “In 2011, when I setup the company, the whole idea was tofind parts of the country through travelexperiences. There was a lot happening inthe mainstream tourism space. Peoplewere going to Goa, Mumbai, Kerala butI wanted to present a beyond-the-brochure approach to India. I wanted tohave a representation of interactions cen-tred around crafts and textiles becausethat’s where I have spent 12 years of mycareer. I have travelled the length andbreadth of the country and realised thatall the beautiful products come from India.There’s an opportunity to actually travelinto some of the far flung clusters, com-munities and interact with them at theirhometowns. In those interactions you alsoget to experience them, their culture, foodand just every aspect of their lifestyle. I feelfood is our identity. Through my travels,I have figured, regional cuisine in ourcountry is severely underrated. This is alsoone of the reasons which led to my thirdventure — a restaurant called Mustard inGoa and Mumbai.”

Shilpa added that she is now workingto explore another facet of Kutch. It is asso-ciated with textiles and crafts and the greatRann of Kutch but the truth is that it isalso about extinct volcanoes, rock forma-tions, dinosaurs and fossils. “Nobody talksabout these things. There is a Rajasthanthat everybody knows and then there isa Rajasthan that nobody knows.” For her,it’s all about finding that needle in ahaystack.

TO NORTHEAST, WITH LOVEFormer journalist and musician Anup

Kutty, made the rice fields of Ziro inArunachal Pradesh a must-stop simply byhosting a music festival there. Now in itsninth year, he has pioneered the idea of amusical quest in the Northeast, one whichadds to the felt experience.

Said he, “My love story with theNortheast is just 10 years old. I am a musi-cian, so my band was touring theNortheast in 2011. One of the promoterswas from Itanagar, Arunachal Pradesh. Wehad a show there. Unfortunately, there wassome political unrest and the show gotpostponed. The promoter suggested,‘Why don’t you just come to my home-town, Ziro Valley, and relax?’ We saw theplace, met beautiful people and had greatfood. Over a couple of rice beers, we dis-cussed how we should invite some moreartistes and do a show here. Even aftermoving back to Delhi, the idea stuck in ourheads. So we decided to do it. Our first edi-tion was a huge mess because there weretorrential rains for two days. But on theday of the fest, sun showed up, everybodylanded and the show happened. That was10 years ago. Now we have 6,000 peoplecoming from across the world. It’s like awedding that happens in the village,where everybody comes together and putsin his/her best efforts. The locals open uptheir homes for visitors. When we start-ed, we had couple of home stays. But now,pretty much every home is open for us.The local economy has perked up too.”

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WHEN RECALLINSPIRES NEW IDEAS

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With so many images, trav-ellers’ tales and food storieson our palmtops, how do

we decide what works best for uswhile planning a holiday? How do weget to the must-knows beyond thephoto-shopped fantasy? Simple, livethe felt experiences with somebodywhom you can trust and somebodywho is like you. Nobody can estab-lish this believability about themselvesthan Rocky Singh and MayurSharma, who have added a wholenew layering to highway travel byexploring dhabas and elevating streetfood as a must-do option. So has chefZorawar Kalra, who has used someof our known street foods to createelegant fusion fare. They were speak-ing at the session Seeing is Believingat the Exotica Tourism Summit.

Rocky and Mayur, who have bro-ken barriers, hit the road, built per-sonal stories and digital highwaysthrough their television showHighway on My Plate, shared theirjourney of bringing the regionalIndian cuisine food to the forefront.“Our life has always been about pro-moting food. We started in 2007 withthe emphasis to focus upon theIndian food as we have the richestfood culture in the world,” saidRocky.

He then talked about weaving inhis experiences as a birder with hisfood journeys on his Instagramaccount. “There are eight million reg-istered birders in the UK and possi-bly more in the US. If you want tolook at birding opportunities inIndia, we have over 1,200 species ofbirds, including the ones who migrate

during the winters. We have some ofthe most phenomenal birds in theworld. Everywhere you go, fromRann of Kutch to the Northeast toKerala to Kashmir, you will find thou-sands of birders looking for exoticspecies. It is a huge business.”

Through the show, Rocky andMayur seem to have enjoyed thediversity of the country as they trav-el and review dhabas on their wayevery 48 hours. “We have had 7,000dishes in 12 years and still have a lotmore to explore. Believe me, 100 mil-lion people would come to India if wewere proud of our food culture andshowed the world the richness of ourcuisine,” added Rocky.

The two were running theirbusiness till they decided that theyhad to make their passion their liv-ing. That happened through theshow, which has several avatars now.Mayur being a vegetarian onlyreviews one end of the spectrum ofdishes. So how many of his fans haveturned vegetarian? “I have no idea.Around 25 to 28 per cent Indians arevegetarian. The rest have sea food,fish and non-vegetarian dishes.Though it is a small number but nowwith the health tag attached to it, thenumbers are growing,” said Mayur.Rocky added that as ones goestowards the coastal areas, there arehardly any vegetarians.

With food being a passion withthe duo, the obvious question was ifthey were planning a restaurant oftheir own? “There’s so much of hardwork and passion involved in it thatI feel, probably never. But whoknows? Never say, never!” said Rocky.

Another panelist Zorawar, whohas nine successful outposts acrossIndia and Dubai, quipped that he wasglad that Rocky and Mayur were notplanning to set up one as it wouldmean competition for him. He talkedabout fusion and his experimentalapproach to food. His London out-post, Farzi Cafe, has been credited forchanging the perception of Indiancuisine because of the use of molec-ular gastronomy and food theatre.“We have been experimenting withkhichdi, which according to me is themost vibrant, versatile and comfort-ing Indian dish. We have experiment-ed and created Dal chawal aracini outof it. It is coated with bread crumbs,has a papad on top and a tomatosalsa. As soon as you take a bite, youwill instantly understand that it is therecreation of khichdi,” said he. Thebest part about papad and khichdi isthe fact that every Indian State has itsown version, said the restaurateurwho loves playing with regionalfood to make it more innovative asit represents the culture of the coun-try. It also gives him a chance to trynew forms of the cuisine.

Rocky and Mayur are pushingnew frontiers on the digital plane asthey felt that television is no moreappealing. “It is boring for people tosee someone sitting on a chair in astudio every day. It is not catchy. Thetelevision is just shooting itself in thehead. Unless it has a hint of creativ-ity it will not be able to sustain itself,”said Rocky. “TV is unidirectional,”added Mayur. As the digital space ismaking waves and their programmesare showcased regularly there, they

shared how this media had helpedthem promote their food journey. “Itis a space to enable conversations andgenerate ideas. The platform givesyou the chance to talk about Beera’schicken and at the same time, sharedetails about an idli from Gujarat.Now Indians are using it as a spaceto put their passion forward,” saidRocky. Mayur laid stress on the factthat the platform enables conversa-tions. One can cater to a specificgroup of people and build a commu-nity with common thoughts. “Ourfocus is simple — be consistent, fre-quent and do things in such a waythat you can defend yourself ineverything you do,” added Mayur.

Having become a part of the pro-fession accidentally, Rocky andMayur realised that documentingIndia’s street food delicacies wassomething they had always wantedto do. But everything comes with itsown risks and challenges. Sinceburgers, pastas and pizzas had firm-ly established their hold on everyonewhen they started, it was challengingto put back Indian food on the plat-ter. But they eventually changedhow people perceived a dhaba andmade it a new trend. “Youngstersstarted looking at dhabas as a coolplace. They wanted to go there andexplore them,” said Mayur.

When asked if there was pressureto reinvent themselves, Rocky replied,“I believe that if you want to be inter-esting, just keep learning, raising yourperformance and reinventing thewheel. It is very important to addmore skills to your existing ones andget more layered.” They even talkedabout travel being a teacher. Themore you travel, the more you getexposed to various cultures andmeet new people.

People usually decide destina-tions first and then look for their spe-ciality in food. But it is the other wayround for Zorawar. “All my travel hasbeen based on food. I first decidewhich destination has good food andthen look for other things. I planeverything on the basis of food. Mymost memorable trip was to Japan.After India, it has the most advancedfood culture,” said he. He evenshared that the first time he had areally high end meal was on his hon-eymoon.

For Mayur, even after 12 years,the joy for this profession remainsintact. It is all about perspective. “Ifevery morning you are excited to goto your work, just continue with it.It is all about having fun in life,” saidhe. This is his mantra in life. Don’ttake yourself too seriously! Rockysummed up the session with RudyardKipling’s poem, If:

“If you can make one heap of allyour winnings

And risk it in one turn of pitch-and-toss

And lose and start again at yourbeginnings

And never breathe a word aboutyour loss....”

Our heritage sites not onlyconnect us to our civilisa-

tional past but play a major rolein attracting tourists. So thequestion that lies here is: How todevelop the heritage infrastruc-ture and increase access to thesesites? Patiala Foundation chiefRavee Singh Ahluwalia, who hasdone pilot projects like introduc-ing E-cabs to encourage footfalls,has an answer. At the ExoticaTourism Summit organised byThe Pioneer media group hesaid, “We need to work on sus-tainable development goals intourism. That is the key to reviv-ing interest in our heritage struc-tures.”

iHeritage is an initiative takenby the Patiala Foundation toexplore and recognise the her-itage of the city on foot. He hadorganised a world event ofGoUNESCO in September, 2016where more than 500 residents ofthe city participated. TheHeritage Walk was led by thethen Hon’ble DeputyCommissioner Patiala and otherdignitaries of the city. It was wellreceived by the citizens. Thesecond heritage walk was organ-ised at Bahadurgarh Fort inMarch, 2018, led by IG RangePatiala. The third heritage walkwas organised at Ghuram villagein September, 2018. It was led byChief Secretary to Punjab’s ChiefMinister.

“When we went to variousmonuments, we saw that some ofthese sites were not even con-served properly. That would needa lot of investment. So wethought of taking this initiativeof revival forward by generatinga local economy around the site,”

said he. The foundation conducted

heritage walks at unexploredsites of Punjab and have exploredaround seven sites till date.Ahluwalia proudly shared,“Patiala, from where I come, is257 years old. We have sites likeSangol which date back to firstcentury, they are there from thetime of the Harappan civilisation.We also have Sultanpur Lodhiwhere the first guru of Sikhsspent his 14 years. We recentlydid a heritage walk there in col-laboration with the PunjabGovernment. The infrastructureof these sites can only developwhen the governments recognisetheir potential and more peoplevisit.”

Through the project, thefoundation takes school kids tothese sites. Till date they havetaken around 5,000 students sothat people become aware aboutit.

He has pioneered the PatialaGreenCABS, an environment-friendly project by starting E-rickshaws on speed dial. “We didan experiment in 2014. We con-ducted personality developmentclasses for auto-rickshaw dri-vers and trained them as tourist-guides of Patiala. We took thisinitiative so that on the way to thesites, the rickshaw drivers couldtell people about the backgroundand history of the place,” said he.It acts as a skill enhancement forthem. They can now double theirincome within the same time. Ina small city, where Ola and Ubercan’t operate, auto-rickshawsserve as a good means of trans-port. If we upgrade them, theycan come into the mainstream.

“Instead of motivating thecorporates to allocate CSR funds,it’s better to widen the scope byasking them to give protection toa particular heritage site undertheir CSR initiative,” added he.

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WORLD ON A PLATTER

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�������Tottenham manager Jose Mourinhois hopeful that striker Harry Kane will returnfor the “last few games of the season” to helptheir push for a Champions League place.

The England captain underwent surgeryon a hamstring injury in January and Spursexpected him to be back in training at somestage in April. But he appears to be makinga quicker-than-expected recovery andMourinho said: “I would say he is a little bitahead. It gives me a hope that instead of(being fit for) one or two matches, three, four,five. “Just speculating a bit, the feelings aregood. He is doing what he can do at this stagebut always with a good feeling. Everythingis going well.

“When he was injured I said ‘forget him’,then I said ‘one or two games’. At this momentI have better hopes than that, hopefully thatfeeling is right and he can help us in the lastfew games of the season.”

In another boost for the side, Mourinhoadmitted that he also hoped Son Heung-minwould be back ahead of schedule.

The South Korean underwent surgery ona broken arm suffered in a 3-2 win againstAston Villa earlier this month, with the clubsaying at the time he would be out for a“number of weeks”. AFP

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Jurgen Klopp praised hisLiverpool players’ fighting

qualities as the runawayPremier League leaders pre-pare to take on a team in therelegation zone for the thirdconsecutive match.

Liverpool face second-bottom Watford today on thecusp of their 19th league win,which would set a new recordin English football.

It follows hard-foughtvictories in the past two weeksagainst struggling Norwichand West Ham.

“We have to be 100 per-cent ready for these fights andthat’s what I love most aboutmy boys, that they are readyto fight,” Klopp said at his pre-match press conference onFriday.

“It’s not that when theyrealise in a game it’s not theclicking day today that theythen lose the desire or what-

ever. “No, it’s the other wayaround — that we try it in adifferent way and try to findanother way and that’s reallybrought us in the position weare.”

Klopp is anticipating aphysical battle against NigelPearson’s Watford, who havetaken just two points from apossible 15 after a good run

of form, and said his sidewould have to match theirdesire.

TOUGH BATTLESThe German manager

said he did not need recentresults to prove to him the dif-ficulties of facing teams miredin the lower reaches of thetable.

“You cannot imagine ifyou see Norwich playing orWest Ham playing against usor Watford now that they areat the bottom of the table,” hesaid. “You don’t feel it, youdon’t see it really.

“They have some prob-lems. For Watford it wasprobably the start of the sea-son. It’s difficult, not a lot ofpoints and then you have tomake a turnaround.”

Klopp said Pearson isdoing an “exceptional” job atVicarage Road despite theirrecent drop-off in results.

“We just have to fight foreach inch of grass and in thatgame again if we do that weare difficult to play,” he said.“If we are difficult to play wehave a chance to win. If wehave a chance to win weshould use it.”

��������� Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is confi-dent that Manchester United will not repeat lastseason’s embarrassing “capitulation” againstEverton as they seek to strengthen their pushfor a Champions League place.

United make the short trip to GoodisonPark tomorrow in an upbeat mood after sevengames unbeaten — and six clean sheets — inall competitions.

Solskjaer endured what remains his mostchastening day in the hotseat last April atEverton, apologising to fans after a 4-0 rout astheir season unravelled.

“That was the lowest I’ve been,” Solskjaersaid, referring to the Everton defeat. “I thinkyou all know that and remember that. That wasa capitulation.

“We had absolutely nothing about us, eventhough their goals were more or less counter-attacks from set plays and long throw-ins.”

The Norwegian said he was certain his sidewould produce a better performance tomor-row.

“I can with hand on heart 100 percent saythese boys will never give in and never give uplike that team did,” he said. “These are the boyswe want to build the next team around.”

Of that starting line-up, Chris Smalling hasleft on loan, Phil Jones has barely featured andPaul Pogba has seen his playing time heavilyrestricted by injuries. Lukaku is the only starterthat day to have left permanently.

United at last appear to have found someconsistency and confidence after a bumpy sea-son but Solskjaer said he knew it would taketime.

The January arrival of Portugal midfield-er Bruno Fernandes has lifted the team, whoare fifth in the Premier League table, threepoints behind fourth-placed Chelsea.

“We knew when we made the decisions wemade in the summer it was going to take time,”said Solskjaer. “As I’ve said a few times, Romewasn’t built in a day. AFP

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Youssef El-Arabi scoredin the last minute ofextra-time as

Olympiakos knockedArsenal out of theEuropa League onThursday on a nightwhen four formerEuropean championswere eliminated.

Ajax, Celtic,Benfica and Porto wentout but ManchesterUnited hardly broke sweatafter Simon Deli of Bruggeconceded a penalty andearned a red card in the 23rd

minute at Old Trafford andwon 5-0.

Arsenal had won thefirst leg of the round of 32 tie1-0 in Greece.

Defender Pape AbouCisse cancelled outthat advantage whenhe headed in a cornerafter 53 minutes.

Arsenal could notbreak through andwere forced to extratime.

G i o r g o sMasouras hit the bar forOlympiakos in the 112thminute and a minute laterPierre-Emerick Aubameyang

struck for Arsenal, puttingthem back in front with aspectacular flying kick.

However, in the finalminute of extra time, Arsenalcleared an Olympiakos cor-ner but were still disorgan-ised when the ball was swungback into the area.

The cross found El Arabifree in front of goal for anunchallenged shot.

“Very hard, very tough,”said Aubameyang. “Theirlast-minute goal was unluckyfor us.”

Last year Arsenalreached the final.

“It hurts a lot,” said MikelArteta, the Arsenal manag-er. “Attack against defence in25 metres is difficult, but wecreated enough chances towin the game comfortably.”

Olympiakos coach PedroMartins was delighted.

“We were determined,we believed we could quali-fy and we made it,” said hesaid. “Tactical intelligence,effectiveness, inner strength,courage...they all weighedin this success.”

At Old Trafford, one ofUnited’s recent signingsBruno Fernandes gave thehosts the lead with a penal-ty after Deli’s flying interven-tion.

The other new boy,Odion Ighalo, making hisfirst start, hit his first goal forthe club in the 34th minute.

Scott McTominay andFred, with two late goals,completed the 5-0 rout and6-1 aggregate win.

������ Inter Milan booked theirticket to the Europa League last 16on Thursday with a 2-1 win on thenight and 4-1 on aggregate overBulgarian club Ludogorets to deaf-ening silence and a surreal atmos-phere behind closed doors of theirSan Siro Stadium.

The Italian government orderedthe game be played in front of anempty stadium because of the spreadof coronavirus, which has particu-larly hit the northern Lombardyregion of which Milan is the capital.

The game was closed to the pub-lic and journalists with only broad-casters allowed into the 80,000-seater San Siro.

"It's certainly a surreal situation,"said Inter director Giuseppe Marottabefore the match which had just afew hundred people present.

"The public is a fundamentalcomponent of football, without theaudience emotions are diminished.

"But the protection of citizensmust be safeguarded. We accept,albeit reluctantly, these decisions."

Ludogorets' players and staffarrived at the stadium wearing pro-tective facemasks, some also wear-

ing gloves.Despite the tension there were

smiles from the players from bothteams as the Europa League anthemresounded around the empty stadi-um at full blast.

The reigning eight-timeBulgarian league winners settled inand went ahead after 26 minutesthrough Brazilian midfielder CaulyOliveira.

Cristiano Biraghi pulled Interlevel six minutes later finishing offa Cristian Eriksen through ball withRomelu Lukaku adding a second justbefore the break. AFP

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,����������'��:�9���������4B������ Manchester Unitedwill meet Austrian club LASKin the last 16 of the EuropaLeague, while Wolves werepitted against Olympiakos.

United, who lifted thetrophy in 2017, are one of sixformer champions left in thecompetition. The first leg

will be played in Linz onMarch 12 with the return aweek later at Old Trafford.

Austrian league leadersLASK made their group stagedebut this season and secureda 3-1 aggregate win over AZAlkmaar in the last 32.

Wolves progressed to the

last 16 of a major Europeancompetition for the first timesince finishing runners-upin the UEFA Cup in 1971-72,after overcoming Spanishstrugglers Espanyol.

Nuno Espirito Santo’sside will take on anOlympiakos. AFP

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We weren’t debutante touristsin Jaipur but repeat visitorsenthralled by an enchant-ing city. Over several visits,we had explored most of

Jaipur’s awesome roster of attractions andrealised that the city’s sights could give othergreat metros an inferiority complex. Throwin unforgettable cameos of proud locals incolourful turbans and handlebar moustach-es; village belles in swirling skirts and chunkysilver jewellery and proud camels squattingin the sand… Soon, Jaipur begins to resem-ble a stage set up with extravagant props.

But it’s all very real and we decided tore-visit some of its known architectural mar-vels and scoop out some of its hidden trea-sures as well. A quick stop at the 18th cen-tury Hawa Mahal or Palace of Wind was-n’t enough. Locals ushered us up narrowstairs, above a warren of shops opposite themonument, to get picture- postcard-perfectphotographs of the palace. The pink, five-storey palace, honey-combed with over 150latticed windows enabled ladies to watchunseen life and processions swirl on thebroad street below. On a terrace across HawaMahal, perched precariously on a parapet,some selfie-struck tourists posed, pirouet-ted and pouted in front of cell phones heldaloft to get the Hawa Mahal as a backdropto their preening selves.

One of the country’s first plannedcities, the origins of Jaipur go back to 1727when Jai Singh II, Raja of Amer, traded hisgrand palace within the fortified walls ofAmer Fort for an even more magnificentcity, to be named after him. Jaipur wasdubbed the Pink City in 1876 when SawaiRam Singh I who had the city painted pinkin honour of the visit of Prince of Wales’, whowas later crowned King Edward VII. Eversince, and even today, the city has been get-ting a coat of fresh paint every once in awhile.

To escape the traffic-clogged streets ofthe old city, we retreated for a while into therambling City Palace, a maze of cool court-yards, gardens and palaces from differenteras where royal memorabilia is on display.There we stumbled on a Craft Centre wherevisitors can view and buy goods directlyfrom craftsmen and artists personallyselected by a member of the royal family andasked to set up shop.

We sat next to an artist and watched hispaintbrush glide over the paper. The crispclean lines that danced across his canvasstarted to merge and a few moments later,he handed us his creation: a miniature paint-ing of a fierce Rajput prince with a sword

held aloft and ready to strike. The contrastbetween the menacing posture of the hand-some young warrior in the painting and thegentle demeanour of the wrinkled old

artist who created it was striking, and inmany ways captured the spirit of Jaipur. Forthis is a city that is both artistic and impos-ing; a city of fantasy with modern contours.

As a break from Jaipur’s history-webbedmonuments, we stopped at Channi Carpetsand Textiles, a factory-cum showroom, oneof the oldest in the city, where on an upperfloor, hand-knotted carpets in wool, silk anda blend of silk and wool cascaded down wallsor were rolled up against them. They werethen strewn and unfurled on the floor forus to gawk at and perhaps buy. The carpetsand rugs with Persian, Kashmiri, orientaland other designs glowed and shimmeredand we realised how art and beauty arewoven into the DNA of the city. In a groundfloor atelier, artisans demonstrated the artof block printing with vegetable dyes andteak wood blocks. They even encouraged usto try our hand at it.

Shopping sprees can be addictive in acity where the past continues to burnish thepresent. We would take frequent breaks fromtumultuous Jaipur, at the recently re-launched Ibis Jaipur Civil Lines hotel in thecity centre. Functional, funky and the epit-ome of modern-day cool, the relaunchedIbis Jaipur Civil Lines offers guests the optionto go green, peddle away and explore the city

on their e bikes. A gaily painted auto rick-shaw, minus the beeps so typical of the city,is an arresting art installation in the porchwhere guests love to click some mandato-ry selfies. When we felt overpowered by thecity’s manifold charms, we would often relaxin the vibrant lobby which flows seamless-ly into the restaurant; pour over the inven-tive menu and admire the witty doodles bylocal artists on the walls and tables whichcleverly evoke Jaipur life.

On our last evening, we headed forAmer Fort, the former capital. En route tothe fort, we saw another enchanting mar-vel that Jaipur showcases so casually, typ-ical of a city that suffers from an embar-rassment of riches…We stopped to gazeat the recently restored Jal Mahal orwater palace moored in the middle of ManSagar Lake. A hidden gem, oft-over-looked by tourists on their way to the mus-cled Amer Fort, the Jal Mahal is a lakepalace that exudes feminine charm andromance. It was once the playground of themaharajas in the 18th century when it res-onated with the sounds of duck huntingparties, firework displays and elaboratemusic and dance festivals. In its heyday, thepalace was strewn with silk pillows andglowing carpets, and the courtyard andcorridors were shaded with rich awnings.Today, a forlorn beauty clings to it.

The 16th century Amer Fort is anoth-er eyeful and as the fading light of a post-sunset sky brushed its ramparts, we quick-ly explored its labyrinthine but stunninginterior. Massive arched gates protect theouter courtyard which is dominated by the

many arched Diwan-e-Aam or hall of pub-lic audience. The main palace complex istucked away behind walls and archways alivewith a mosaic of inlaid images. The mag-nificent Diwan-e-Khas or hall of privateaudience, elaborate gardens and court-yards, a hall of mirrors that recreates star-studded night skies, the private residentialquarters of the king and his queens cooledby breeze blowing across channels of waterand filigreed walls with delicate designsspeak eloquently of a love for opulence...

And as the sky darkened, the Sound andLight show brought the past back to centrestage once again as in a dramatic play, thestory of Amer Fort unfolded. Twenty-eight kings of the Kachwaha dynasty ruledfrom this impressive fort till the capital wasmoved to Jaipur. Local legends and folkmusic enhanced the delve-into-the-pastexperience while the stunning setting of theAmer Fort and Palace complex in the fore-ground and the Jaigarh Fort to the left, back-dropped by shadowy hills reverberated withthe thunder of battle and galloping horses;the thrust and parry of swords, the cries offallen soldiers, and of bereft princesses leftgrieving in their opulent citadels.

After the show, we headed to SahuRestaurant in the old city to warm up. Sahu,famed for its hot milky tea served in anearthen kulhad, turned out be a hole-in-the-wall tea stall which was set up by the pre-sent owner’s grandfather and is now a popular “watering hole” for locals.

The sweet milky tea is slowly brewed ona coal fire with a dash of their secret masala.Anything between 1,500 to 2,000 cups a dayare consumed as the stall is open from 5 amto 11 pm. Political heavyweights and evenroyalty have stopped by for a sip of the bev-erage, with which they wash down the stingof mirch vadas.

But it was at the over 50-year-old RawatMishtan Bhandar (a takeaway with a restau-rant attached) that we found the flavours ofJaipur packaged into crisp mava, potato andonion kachoris; mirch vada, lassi, sweets andother delicacies. A magnet for locals and theIndian diaspora visiting Jaipur, we were toldthat the kachoris are carried all the way tothe US and last for seven days when refrig-erated.

Our voyage of discovery ended with ataste of city at Spice It, the edgy, modernrestaurant at Ibis Jaipur Civil Lines, wherewe savoured timeless and succulent localspecialties like Laal maas and Gatta curryfor which Rajasthan is famed. We wereaware that in this Land of Kings, we werebiting into hefty chunks of history.

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From Michelin-starredrestaurants to hole-in-the-wall gems, awe-inspir-

ing global cuisine to aromaticstreet carts, New York City hasendless dining options. Thecuisine of each borough andneighbourhood tells the storyof the city’s history, culture andlatest trends, making food toursthe perfect way to experienceauthentic NYC. Visit the neigh-bourhoods that make eachborough so special.

BROOKLYN: On A Slice ofBrooklyn Pizza Tour, coverBrooklyn and pizzas from end to end via bus, stopping aticonic landmarks and movielocations. The tour company’slatest is the Chocolate BusTour of Brooklyn, which fea-tures chocolatiers in the lesser-known neighborhoods of RedHook, Cobble Hill andGowanus. Learn how chocolateis made, sample traditionaland artisanal chocolates and

visit Valentino Pier for a viewof the Statue Liberty.

Visit four of Williamsburg’shottest restaurants and enjoy afour-course progressive mealon Avital Tours’ Williamsburg

Food Tour, all the while learn-ing about the neighbourhood’sculinary history, importantplaces and must-eat dishes.

Why not get some exercisewhile you taste local delicaciesand take in the vibe of the bor-ough? Dine on pizza, dessert ora combination of both on oneof Brooklyn Bike Tours’ offer-ings.

Enjoy Brooklyn’s burgeon-ing craft beer scene on a CityBrew Tour. Meet brewers, get

VIP behind-the-scenes toursand enjoy 12+ brew samplespaired with gourmet foodthroughout the borough.

Explore three differentneighbourhoods of Brooklynduring a Literary Pub CrawlBrooklyn, focusing on history,literature and, of course, drink-ing.\

MANHATTAN: Dine in trueluxury on City ChicExperiences’ SignatureCulinary Experience. Thiscurated culinary tour featuresnotable Michelin-starred din-ing establishments through-out Manhattan.

On Like A Local’s FlatironFood, History & ArchitectureTour, see two of New YorkCity’s most iconic and pic-turesque neighbourhoods,Flatiron District and UnionSquare, and explore classicrestaurants and hidden gems.

Experience Harlem like alocal, enjoying soul food andthe cuisines of the Caribbean,Africa and Italy on a TasteHarlem Food and CulturalTours.

Learn to appreciate NewYork City’s authentic streetfood on Turnstile Tours’ Food

Cart Tour. Enjoy bites fromsome of the city’s best foodcarts and trucks while learningabout Midtown Manhattan orthe Financial District.

Celebrate the Year of Prideon Urban Adventures’LGBTQ+ History,Neighbourhood and Pub Tourof Greenwich Village. Have adrink at Julius’, the oldest gaybar in New York City, visit thehistoric Stonewall Inn and cooldown with an ice cream cov-ered in rainbow sprinkles at BigGay Ice Cream.

QUEENS: With three differentculinary walks in Queens,there’s something for everyoneon a Culinary Backstreets tour.

A full Sichuan banquet inFlushing, food trucks inCorona, the Queens NightMarket and a Thai grocerystore/community centre inElmhurst are just a few of theoptions.

On Food On Foot Tours’International Express FoodTour of Queens, delight yourtaste buds in New York City’smost diverse borough. Alongwith food stops, your guide willtake you around famous TV,

movie and sports landmarks.From traditional Greek to

Brazilian, Venezuelan andBalkan food, the NoshwalksAstoria Tour unearths boththe classic and lesser-knowncuisines of Astoria. Groupswill also stop to see theMuseum of the Moving Imageand Kaufman Studios along theway.

STATEN ISLAND: Cititrekoffers a variety of Staten Islandtours, including two culinaryadventures. The Taste ofDiversity Tour of VictoryBoulevard takes visitorsthrough Tompkinsville to dis-cover Albanian, Sri Lankan,Ecuadoran, Caribbean andAfrican shops and restaurants.The Pub Crawl Tour of StGeorge by the Ferry featuresbrewery tours, samples, wineand appetisers in St. Georgeclose to the ferry. Afterward,take a ride on the free StatenIsland Ferry.

Noshwalks Staten IslandTour includes a diverse offer-ing of food and culture inTompkinsville. See and tastethe area’s rich history, shopsand cuisine from Jamaica,Poland, Honduras and Nigeria.

THE BRONX: Follow Me NewYork City Adventures has twonew walking tours in the Bronxcentered around delicious bites.The Arthur Avenue Adventureincludes samples of meats,

cheeses, seafood and bakedgoods. It gives a “crash course”on how Italian immigrationshaped New York City. TheFood and Faith Adventureincorporates these elementswith neighbourhood housesof worship.

Shop for authentic culinarydelights on Inside Out Tours’Bronx’s Little Italy & Arthur Avenue Shopping Tour. Learnabout the rich history and cul-tural heritage of Belmont,home to generations of Italian-American families.

Join Bronx resident andfood aficionado SusanBirnbaum on a SusanSez NYCWalkabouts tour to see theneighbourhood like a local.Susan’s Little Italy on ArthurAvenue tour takes you to someof her favorite spots for freshpasta, mozzarella and cannoli.

Play ball and eat game-dayclassics in the greatest sportscity in the world. Pair a YankeesStadium Tour with ballgamefare and new dining options.

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