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PUBLISHED FROM DELHI & KOLKATA VOL. 3, ISSUE 112 | Wednesday, 26 April 2017 | Kolkata | Pages 16 | Rs 3.00

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MPOST BUREAU

RAIPUR: The government promised on Tuesday to review its strategy on battling Nax-alites, as the Chhattisgarh chief minister warned that an oper-ation will be launched “with more firmness” and “vigour” against the guerrillas in the coming days.

Shaken by the audacious Naxalite attack on Monday that left 25 CRPF personnel dead in Chattisgarh’s Sukma district, the Centre and the state gov-ernment are making it clear that they will strike back in equal measure.

Most telling were the com-ments by Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who rushed to Chattisgarh capital Raipur on Tuesday morning.

“The sacrifice of our brave jawans will not go in vain,” he told a press conference. He said a meeting of all Naxal-hit states will be held on May 8 to look at ways of rooting out Left Wing extremism.

“We will review the strat-egy (of dealing with Naxalites) and if necessary we will revisit it,” he said after paying homage to the CRPF personnel killed

in the ambush.The government has a two-

pronged anti-Naxal strategy — with armed operations fol-lowed by development activi-ties, such as constructing roads, health centres and schools, in the affected areas. The security operations are carried out by paramilitary forces with sup-port from state police.

Singh said the guerrillas are seeking to destabilise develop-ment in the state and using tribals as fodder. “They are being used as human shields,” he said. “We are working to root out the problem of Left Wing extremism,” the minister stressed, describing the attack as a cold-blooded murder.

“It was an act of cowardice and desperation,” he said.

MAMATA ANNOUNCES RS 5 LAKH FOR FAMILIES OF KILLED CRPF MEN PG3

POCSO COURT GRANTS BAIL TO GAYATRI PRAJAPATI IN RAPE CASE PG5

LABOUR TO SCRAP MAY’S BREXIT PLAN IF IT WINS ELECTION PG10

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: NITI Aayog member Bibek Debroy on Tuesday made a strong case for removal of exemptions on per-sonal income tax and bringing agriculture under the tax net with a view to increasing the resources of state.

The effort, he said, would widen the tax base and more funds could be made available for the social sector schemes.

“On the personal income tax side also exemption should go ... On expanding the base on the personal income tax side, other than elimination of exemptions, is to also tax rural sector, includ-ing agriculture income above certain threshold,” Debroy said in a press conference.

On the threshold of impos-ing income tax on rural sector, he said it could be decided after taking into account the aver-age income of either three years or five years. “I don’t believe in artificial distinction of rural and urban, so whatever is the thresh-old on personal income side on urban side, should be the exactly same on rural side. “At best what I can do because it is an agricul-ture income, instead of using agriculture income for one par-ticular year, what I could do is I average it over three-year period or may over five years period as agriculture income is subject to annual fluctuations, barring that threshold should be the same,” he said.

Giving top priority to addressing bad loans issue: Jaitley

HC grants bail to Sadhvi Pragya, rejects Col Purohit’s plea

MPOST BUREAU

MUMBAI: The Bombay High Court on Tuesday granted bail to Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur, accused of plotting the Sep-tember 2008 Malegaon blast, but rejected the bail plea of co-accused former Lt Col Prasad Purohit saying the charges against him were of grave nature.

The court said prima facie no case was made out against 44-year-old Sadhvi Pragya, who was arrested nine years ago and asked her to furnish a cash surety of Rs five lakh and surrender her passport to the National Investi-gation Agency (NIA).

“Prima facie there is no case made out against Sadhvi.

But there are reasonable grounds for believing that the accusations made against Puro-hit are prima facie true,” a divi-sion bench of Justices Ranjit More and Shalini Phansalkar-Joshi said.

It also directed her not to

tamper with the evidence and to report to the NIA court as and when required.

Six persons were killed and nearly 100 others injured when a bomb strapped to a motorcycle had exploded in Malegaon town of Nashik district on September 29, 2008.

Sadhvi Pragya and 44-year-old Purohit were arrested in 2008. While Sadhvi Pragya, who is suffering from cancer, is undergoing treatment a Mad-hya Pradesh hospital, Puro-hit is lodged in Taloja jail in

Maharashtra.The NIA, which was handed

over the probe from ATS, had given a clean chit to Sadhvi Pra-gya and told the high court that it had no objection if she was released on bail.

The agency had, however, opposed Purohit’s bail plea.

“In our considered opinion, if both the reports of ATS and NIA are considered conjointly, so far as Sadhvi is concerned, it cannot be said that there are reasonable grounds for believing that accusations made against her are prima facie true,” the judges observed.

“Once it is held so, then the benefit of bail cannot be with-held to the appellant, even if the offences alleged against her by ATS are grave and serious ones,” they said.

The court, in their 78-page order on Sadhvi’s plea, said the accused is a woman who is lan-guishing in jail since 2008 and is suffering from cancer.

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation on Tuesday filed a case against its former director Ranjit Sinha under the Prevention of Corruption Act.

The former CBI chief is accused of “scuttling” and “influencing” probe into the coal block alloca-tion cases by meeting the accused persons.

Ranjit Sinha is the second CBI director to be probed by the agency itself after AP Singh, who was booked by the agency for cor-ruption charges along with meat exporter Moin Qureshi.

CBI filed an FIR against Ranjit Sinha on Monday under sections - 13 (2), which deals with “criminal misconduct” and section 13 (1) (d), pertaining to abusing official posi-tion while holding a public office and indulging in corruption, of the Prevention of Corruption (PC) Act.

If convicted, former anti-cor-ruption probe agency’s chief - Ran-jit Sinha may face maximum seven

years imprisonment in the case.CBI FIR comes three months

after the Supreme Court asked the agency to probe Ranjit Sinha’s role.

A Special Investigation Team was formed to conduct an investi-gation into the abuse of authority prima facie committed by Sinha with a view “to scuttle enquiries, investigations and prosecutions being carried out by the CBI in the coal block allocation cases”, said the CBI FIR. A bench of Justices Madan B Lokur, Kurian Joseph and AK Sikri directed present CBI chief Alok Verma to set up a three-mem-ber special investigation team to probe Sinha.

Sinha had faced the ignominy of being restrained from handling the 2G and coal scam cases.

CBI files corruption case against its former director Ranjit Sinha

NEW YORK: Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has asserted that the government was giving top prior-ity to addressing the issue of bad loans while acknowledging that the problem of non-performing assets was “adversely impacting” the Indian banking system.

Speaking at the Council on Foreign Relations here, Jaitley termed the resolution of the Non-

Performing Assets (NPAs) as the “one very big challenge” going forward and the government’s “top priority” at the moment.

He said the magnitude of the NPAs problem was that essen-tially it was about 20 to 30 big accounts.

“It’s not a problem spread over hundreds of thousands of accounts...And it’s not impossible

for a large economy like India to resolve 20 to 30 accounts. So it’s

not an insurmountable problem. I think it’s just persisted too long, but it’s certainly adversely impact-ing us,” he said.

“So if you were to ask me, there are a series of reforms/changes which we’ve successfully made. This is one hurdle which we are now required to jump, and that’s where our current focus is,” he said on Monday. However, Jait-

ley said there was one constraint the government was facing.

“It’s not a constraint on the leadership quality in the bank, but it’s a constraint on the environ-ment in which the bank bureau-cracy functions. I have seen that the banks are not bold enough to take their decisions because...our anti- corruption law is still a pre-liberalisation law,” he said. MPOST

WANTED TO TURN PRODUCER AFTER ‘GANGS OF WASSEYPUR’: RICHA PG16

OUR CORRESPONDENT

COOCH BEHAR: Chief minis-ter Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday announced the formation of the Rajbanshi Development Board to carry out comprehensive develop-ment of Cooch Behar.

She also unveiled a Rs 1,100 crore development package for Cooch Behar. Earlier she spoke at a rally organised by the Kamtapuri People’s Party (KPP) at Rashmelar Math on Tuesday.

While addressing a rally at Chakchaka, she said: “ We have set up Rajbanshi Development Board and through it, massive develop-ment will take place in CoochBe-har.” The chief minister said that the state government had already taken steps to recognise Kampa-puri and Rajbanshi languages. A committee has been set up with Sanskrit scholar Nrisingha Prasad Bhaduri as its chairman. They are studying these languages and will soon prepare a syllabus and publish books. “ Once books are published in these languages more people will be interested,” she said.

Banerjee said one medical col-lege had already come in the dis-trict and the foundation stone of another was laid on Tuesday. “Treatment in state-run hospitals

is free and once the medical col-leges become fully operational then

people here would have access to the best treatment.”

Banerjee said work was on in full swing to improve connectiv-ity in Cooch Behar. “Construc-tion of three bridges along with road widening is underway and once they are ready the people of Cooch Behar will be able to go to any part of north Bengal with-out any difficulty. She announced that Chakchaka would be set up as an industrial hub. “Cold storage units, rice mills and other small and medium industries will come up. This will create job opportunities for local youth”, she said.

Coming down heavily on CPIM, she said due to their 34-year misrule, the state government had to pay Rs 40,000 crore on the inter-est of the loan taken by the erst-while government. “But despite that, we have carried out devel-opment in Bengal and it will con-tinue,” she said.

She said the state government was giving soft loans worth Rs 10 lakh to scheduled caste and sched-uled tribe students to pursue higher studies within the country, and a Rs 20 lakh soft loan for higher studies and research abroad. “ We want our students from Cooch Behar to do well in America, Russia and other countries.” The CM also distributed cycles among the students of class IX under the Sabuj Sathi scheme.

Rajbanshi Development Board constituted by Mamata

7-year-jail to Chhota Rajan in fake passport case

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: A special court on Tuesday awarded seven-year jail term to gangster Chhota Rajan and three retired public servants in a fake passport case.

Special Judge Virender Kumar Goyal awarded the sentence to Rajan and others for offences including forgery of valuable security under the IPC which entails a maximum pun-ishment of life imprisonment.

Besides him, the other persons who have been convicted are three retired government servants -- Jayashree Dattatray Rahate, Deepak Natvarlal Shah and Lalitha Lakshmanan.

Rajan is lodged in Tihar Jail here. The other three persons, who were out on bail, were taken into custody yesterday after the verdict was announced. The court had on March 28 reserved its judgement in the case in which Rajan alleg-edly procured a fake passport in the name of Mohan Kumar with the help of the three govern-ment officials. Lakshmanan had approached the high court to transfer to Bengaluru her trial in the case but the petition was rejected on January 9 on the ground that a district court here could also hear the matter.

During pendency of the plea, the high court had ordered a stay on pronouncement of verdict in the case by trial court.

However, the high court later rejected the plea. All the four persons have been convicted of offences under sections 420 (cheating), 471 (using as genuine a forged document), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 467(forgery of valuable security or will), 419(cheating by impersonation) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the IPC and section 12 (offences and penal-ties) of the Passport Act.

Deported after being on the run for 27 years, the 55-year old gangster, once a close aide of fugitive terrorist Dawood Ibrahim, was brought to India to face trial in over 70 cases of mur-der, extortion and drug smuggling in Delhi and Mumbai. Rajan was deported to India after his arrest in Bali in October 2015.

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In today’s paper

...

Those wearing saffron scarves have got licence to beat cops in UP

CITY

ALIPURDUAR TO HAVE ‘BLUE HOME STAYS’ 4

NATION

FOLLOW LAW FOR DISABLED: SC 5

EDIT

LACKING CHARISMATIC LEADERS 8

INTERNATIONAL

ARKANSAS EXECUTES 2 PRISONERS IN 1 NIGHT 10

BUSINESS

COMPLIANCE RATING FOR INDUSTRY 12

SPORT

E BENGAL DEFENDER HAS HEART ATTACK 15

CHIEF MINISTER UNVEILS `1,100 CRORE PACKAGE FOR COOCH BEHAR

MALEGAON BLAST CASE

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee at a function in Cooch Behar Pic/MPOST

Loans to freed juvenile offenders? Banks not too keenThe loan would be used for setting up tea stalls, fruits and vegetable stalls, beauty parlours, mobile recharge shops, etc.

DHIRENDRA KUMAR

NEW DELHI: The move of National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) to bring juvenile offenders into the mainstream by providing loans through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana has got a luke-warm response from nationalised banks. According to sources, the NCPCR, an arm of Women and Child Development Ministry, has sent a proposal to public banks to consider granting a loan to juveniles lodged in different jails after their release from prison.

According to sources, the banks have expressed their reluctance in granting loans to ‘juvenile crimi-

nals’ citing the reason that offend-ers’ mindset would not change at one go, which would mean non-pay-ment of the loan amount and credit would become a bad-loan after a few months.

Though the NCPCR had a detailed discussion with different stakeholders, including leading NGOs working on child rights and nationalised banks over the issue, but the dialogue failed to yield any results as banks are still sceptical about the outcome of the initiative.

According to the proposal that has been submitted to leading pub-lic banks such as Punjab National Bank, State Bank of India, Bank of India, etc, the NCPCR has asked

them to provide loans ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh or above to released juvenile inmates to start their small businesses.

As per the proposal, the granted

loans would be used for setting up small enterprises in accordance with their educational level. “The released inmate may be given a loan to run tea stalls, fruit and vegeta-

ble stalls, beauty parlours, mobile recharge shops, etc after providing some basic training. The idea behind this is to help them get out of the jail syndrome as well as providing

an opportunity for livelihood,” the source said, adding that talented inmates may also be provided loans to run start-ups under Start-Up India programme.

When contacted, representa-tives of some banks said that the proposal was still under consider-ation, while expressing their doubts over recovery of the loan amount from released ‘convicts’. “No doubt the idea is very innovative, but it depends on as how they take it for-ward. Since they become accus-tomed to getting money through illicit means, the chances of them doing hard work under the scorch-ing heat are very bleak,” a senior bank official said.

Child psychologists have sup-ported the NCPCR idea to reha-bilitate juveniles. “There is nothing wrong in providing loans to jail inmates on their release. But, it’s true that jail inmates face societal indifference and their motivational level is much lower than any nor-mal person as they get branded with the crime they had committed. But that doesn’t mean that they should not get an opportunity to start their life,” said Dr Rajesh Sagar, a child psychologist at All India Institute of Medical Sciences.

The AIIMS doctor, further stressed that even after serving some years of jail term, inmates have a desire to live a respectable life.

» NCPCR has submitted a proposal to banks to grant loan to juvenile offenders on their release from jail through Pradhan Mantri Mudra Yojana » Banks have expressed their displeasure in considering the proposal citing the reason that offenders’ mindset would not change at one go » As per the plan, NCPCR has asked banks to provide loans ranging from Rs 10,000 to Rs 1 lakh or above to start their own small business

CHANGING THE LIVES OF INMATES

Centre to rework strategy to tackle

Left-wing extremism

HOME MINISTER CALLS CHHATISGARH ATTACK ‘COLD-BLOODED’ MURDER

Sadhvi Pragya File photo

Bring agriculture income under

tax net, says NITI Aayog member

AKHILESH YADAV

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OUR CORRESPONDENT

The National Gallery of Modern Art, New Delhi, (NGMA) is organising an exhibition entitled ‘Iti-

haas’ on March 29 in conjunction with the 63rd Foundation Day of National Gallery of Modern Art. The exhibition which will be inau-gurated by Minister for Culture Dr Mahesh Sharma on the same day at 7 pm, showcases works of art by 22 sculptors from the prestigious col-lection of National Gallery of Mod-ern Art.

“Sculptures, paintings and drawings picked out of the treasure trove of 6 decades encom-pass everyone,

of whatever background or status, this NGMA collection distills the loftiest truths of India’s artistic for-ays into simple, modernist creations that enrich the mind and inform the affairs of art journeys. The auspi-cious demeanor and distinguished provenance of 22 sculptors offer aes-thetic and historical satisfactions in this modern millennium. The NGMA Archives is an endless con-templation of the human condition,” says Uma Nair, Scholar and Critic.

“Itihaas is an in-house curated exhibition that cele-brates the founda-tion day of India’s

premier institution dedicated to

visual arts. The

National Gallery of Modern Art (NGMA) was inaugurated on March 29, 1954 by the then Vice-President, Dr S Radhakrishnan. Since then, Jaipur House has been the home to NGMA. The choice of Jaipur House, one of the premier edifices of Lutyens’ Delhi, signified the envis-aged high profile of the institution. All the prominent sculptors of the time, like, Devi Prasad Roy Chow-dhury, Ramkinkar Baij, Sankho Chaudhuri, Dhanraj Bhagat, Sarbari Roy Chowdhury and other eminent artists had participated in the inau-guration of the building and show-cased an exhibition of contemporary Indian sculpture.”

“This exhibition which begins from March 30, fea-tures sculptures along with paintings and drawings

are some of the most memora-

ble works of art showcased in the old gallery spaces which is a fit-ting way to celebrate the legacy of our modern masters. This exhibi-tion is indeed a rare opportunity to view celebrated sculptures and gain insight to artists’ creative genius,” says Pradeep Kumar, Director, NGMA. He further added, “I thank the Ministry of Cul-ture, Government of India for supporting our endevours and the Advisory Committee of NGMA for their unstinted support.”

mp town2MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

DAYINDAYOUT What’s on Around Town

(IM)POSSIBILITIESA group show of paintings and sculp-tures of some of the most celebrated artists of the nation, the exhibition, (im)possibilities showcase how one can one can decipher the word impossibilities to read as i m possibilities. The names showcased in this exhibition has already proved that impossible is nothing and it is a privilege to celebrate their (im) possibilities. WHEN: April 13 – May 13WHERE: Creativity Art Gallery, Hauz Khas VillageTIMING: 11 am – 7 pm

FRAMING THE LIVING TRADITIONSA collaborative pho-tography project under the aegis of Neel Don-gre Awards/Grants for Excellence in Photog-raphy (2017) by India Photo Achieve Foun-dation, will showcase five photographers presenting different living traditions like The Art of Making Tanpura in Maharashtra and Muga & Eri Silk cultivation in Assam through distinctive artistic styles.WHEN: April 21 – May 2WHERE: Kamla Devi Complex, IICTIMING: 11 am – 7 pm

THE DANCE OF INDIAArtist Sailesh Sanghvi will be showcasing his twelve works at the solo art exhibition. The collection shows the different types of dances across the India. The artist, in two different genres, acrylic canvas collages and paper collage, portrays the diversity of Indian dances in the cultural set-up through his work from street entertain-ment to staged performance.WHEN: April 21– 30 WHERE: Bikaner House, Pandara Road TIMING: 6 pm onwards

PIANO RECITALA programme by Gabriele Carcano, recipient of a 2010 Borletti-Buitoni Trust Fellowship Award. He is equally at home as a soloist with orchestras and in chamber music. Other awards include the Casella Prize at the Competition Premio Venezia, where he made his debut at Teatro La Fenice.WHEN: April 27 WHERE: IIC TIMING: 6:30 pm onwards

Summer is the season to let go of elaborate affairs and embrace the easy and natural look. From using UV protectant on hair to using

facial blotting paper to soak up the excess oil from skin while stepping out, experts suggests some cool tips to beat the heat and achieve bouncy tresses and flaw-less skin.

Here are some tips to protect your-self from the heat, frizz and humidity without turning it into an endless battle:

SUMMER HAIRCARE TIPS4 Instant deep conditioning: The heat

tends to make the hair dehydrated and malnourished so instant deep conditioning will keep it smooth and hydrated

4 Sport short hair: Keep it short and simple. Not only is it fuss free, which is perfect for the season, a new hair-cut is sometimes all it takes to take on the world. Go ahead, give it a ‘short’!

4 Use UV protectant: A UV or heat protectant is as important for your

hair as sunscreen is for your skin.4 Shampoo hair when necessary:

Although sweaty summers call for multiple showers, it’s important to remember that over shampooing won’t do your hair any good. Sham-pooing your hair 2-3 times a week is good enough for a clean and healthy scalp

4 Opt for comfort styling: Though a high and a tight pony tail are the most popular summer hairstyle, it results in hair breakage and damage. Opt for loose and comfy styles that won’t put too much of pressure on your strands.

4 Condition your frizz away: Never skip conditioning your hair after shampooing it. Make it a part of your washing routine and it will keep your locks hydrated, smooth and glossy.

SUMMER SKINCARE TIPS4 Cleanse: The most important step

in looking after your skin in sum-mer is cleansing. Summer is the time when skin gets more sweaty and oily

and the face tends to become dull. It’s important to use face washes which control oil and acne like face washes containing active ingredi-ents of thyme and pine oil. They have demonstrated fast and proven effec-tiveness in clinical trials and help in strengthening the skin from the inside to clear pimples from the roots.

4 Stepping out: Ensure that you carry some facial blotting paper to soak up the excess oil, a sunscreen lotion, wet wipes and a lip balm when you step out. Apply the lip balm frequently so that your lips are hydrated.

4 Sunscreen: Sunscreens are a must use item for summer. It’s impor-tant to choose sunscreens with UVB blocker (SPF minimum 20) and UVA (PA+++) blockers. A matte finish or gel based one works best and needs to be reapplied every four hours.

4 Hydration: It’s important in the summer months to stay adequately hydrated to maintain the skin health and glow. Label two one litre bot-

tles with your name, figure out what your current level is and work your way up to 2 liters. Water can be made more refresh-ing by adding lem-ons, cucumbers, mint etc. to the water.

4 DIET: In sum-mer time, it is very import to eat more anti-oxidants in your diet. Add brightly coloured fruits and vegetables to your diet like carrots, beetroots and pomegranates as well as iced green tea in your diet. Cut back on sugar and eat vegetables with high water content. IANS

BEAT THE HEAT with bouncy hair, healthy skin

Celebrating 63 years of NGMA treasures

OUR CORRESPONDENT

DESPITE THE RISING tem-perature in Delhi people want nothing else but coolness. It often starts with the space you interact with the most, your home. Building on that, It’s time of the year when all you want to do is to hide in your home away from scorching heat. Everything needs to be looked at from the bedding to the towel sets, the plush pillows to the home fragrance that lin-gers in the air.

Keeping in mind the tran-quility of design, here are a few trends to look out for Mon-ika Kamal from Siddharth by MKC, a renowned Interior Designer shares a few tips:

Floral: Play with pretty spring hues and the timeless floral’s entwined with the del-icate bells that will do noth-ing but lift up the ambiance of your home to keep it cool with just the hint of luxury, elegance, and quality.

Comfort: After a long tir-ing day at work, no one would want to leave their personal space lazing around in well air conditioned rooms. It will be infinitely better if the bedcovers feature beautiful embroidery at carefully selected places to ensure comfort.

Color: With much of heavi-ness in the weather, your home definitely needs the lighter tone of furniture for you to relax. Take it a step further by paint-ing pale shades on some walls to give your home an elite style statement and rich look.

How to make your home summer ready

With scorching heat and warm winds, it becomes necessary to take care of those tresses and skin to avoid severe

damage. Look and feel your best with these simple tips in mind

OUR CORRESPONDENT

THE “FESTIVAL OF GOLD,” city’s most popular five-day exhi-bition-cum-sale of gold/dia-mond jewellery, Indian gold coin, MMTC gold/silver medallions and Sanchi silverware, organised by MMTC Limited is now being held in the capital till April 29 at the community center of MMTC Housing Colony in Malviya Nagar.

The Akshaya Tritiya edition of the gold festival was inaugurated at on April 25 by MMTC’s CMD Ved Prakash.

“Purity and Trust” being the central theme of this exhibition cum sale, it is eagerly awaited by customers every year for its exten-sive display of craftsmanship from all over India alongside a wide array of value-added gold and sil-ver items at affordable prices and assured quality under a single roof.

While inaugurating the cur-rent edition of the gold festival, Ved Prakash, CMD, commented on MMTC’s efforts and enterprise towards serving the interest of cus-tomers by steadfastly delivering on its promise of quality, transpar-ency and excellence.The highlights of this exhibition are as follows:

INDIAN GOLD COIN: The National gold coin of India, other-wise known as “Indian Gold Coin” (IGC) was launched by the Prime Minister of India and is one of the three Gold Schemes intro-duced by Government of India.These gold coins are minted by Indian govt. Mint Mumbai and Kolkata from gold sourced from Gold Monetization Scheme under the “Make in India” programme. The coins are of 999 purity with tamper proof packing, unique serial number and Bar code. The IGC is available in 5gms, 10gms

and 20gms denominations. The coins are embossed with the face of Mahatma Gandhi on one side as in currency notes and the Ashoka Chakra on other side. These coins are currently available in MMTC showrooms, exhibition venue at MMTC Colony and selected branches of Indian Overseas Bank, Andhra Bank, Vijaya Bank, HDFC Bank, Yes Bank, ICICI Bank and Federal Bank.

GOLD JEWELLERY: The exclusive jewellery collection offered by MMTC consists of necklace sets, chains, pendants,

earrings, finger rings, bangles, bracelets etc. The Gold jewel-lery is of 916 purity (22KT) and hallmarked. It targets the mod-ern age women and men. This jewellery is meticulously chosen from each region of India. One popular regional specialty is light weight Matar Mala from Benga-luru (Starting 5gms) which has been made available on popular demand.

MMTC GOLD/SILVER MEDALLIONS: MMTC has its own medallion unit for making medallions/bars ranging from 1 gm to 50 gms in Gold and 10 gms. to 1kg in silver. The medal-lions are duly laminated and cer-tified for purity and weight. The gold and silver coins are of 999 purity. The USP of MMTC Gold/Silver medallions are its positive tolerance on each medallion in terms of quality and weight.

SILVERWARE: MMTC’s brand of sterling silverware (92.5%) SANCHI was specifi-cally introduced for the quality conscious consumer. Sanchi is known for its purity, quality and elegant design. Some of the pop-ular items are the Bombay thali, vizag thali, meena bowl, supari set, glass, lota etc.

Gold delights at Akshaya Tritiya

MMTC’s CMD Ved Prakash inaugrating the auspicious jewellery exhibition

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mp city 3MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

CM sticks to Teesta stand, tells Centre ‘look for options’

BJP will win maximum seats in Bengal in 2019: Amit Shah

Work begins to restore dried up natural springs in Hills

Mamata announces Rs 5 lakh for families of killed CRPF men

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: In 2019 BJP will win the maximum num-ber of seats in West Bengal claimed Amit Shah, president of the Bharatiya Janta Party in Siliguri on Tuesday. Shah is on a three-day visit of Bengal.

Addressing party support-ers at the Indoor Stadium in Siliguri, Shah stated that the people of Bengal had voted out the Left government in the hope that the Trinamool gov-ernment would bring about positive changes in the state. “However, the TMC govern-ment is worse than the Left. There is corruption in every sphere with no accountability,” retorted Shah.

Taking a dig at the Mamata Banerjee-led TMC govern-ment, Shah stated that the TMC opposed demonetisation but “have patronised counter-feit currency and bomb mak-ing units in Malda which have spread their tentacles all over the country. There is a law and order failure in the state with rampant Bangladeshi infiltra-tion,” claimed Shah.

“The only option for Ben-gal is Modiji’s BJP. Under BJP, India has become one of the fastest progressing countries in the world. We have reigned in black money and corruption. There are hundreds of Central

schemes to alleviate poverty, however, the state government does not allow these schemes to reach the grass root,” alleged the BJP President.

Shah gave a clarion call to all to support the BJP. “Now Mamata Banerjee cannot stop our advancement. People of Bengal have awoken. They will overthrow the TMC govern-ment in 2019,” claimed Shah.

The day saw Amit Shah visiting Naxalbari and having lunch at the residence of a tribal family. “It is from here that the Naxals spread the politics of violence and hatred. From the same place we will launch our Saab Ka Saath, Saab Ka Vikash,” said Shah. The CPI-ML (Liber-ation) took out a black flag rally in Siliguri with Shah’s touch down at the Bagdogra Airport. They blamed the BJP of sup-porting the bourgeois and fan-ning riots in the country.

Meanwhile, taking a swipe at Shah for not explaining why Bengal is “constantly being deprived of central aid”, state Minister Partha Chatterjee on Tuesday rubbished his claims that his party would become a formidable force in the state by

the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.He also criticised the

CPI(M) and Congress for back-ing the BJP. “On one hand, the two parties say that they always back secular forces but in real-ity they are backing a commu-nal party like BJP secretly.”

OUR CORRESPONDENT

COOCH BEHAR: Bengal Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday visited the houses of two CRPF troopers killed by Maoists in Chhattisgarh and announced Rs 5 lakh and government jobs to their next of kin.

Twenty-five Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) personnel lost their lives in Sukma district on Monday. Three of the troopers were residents of Bengal.

“Three jawans from Bengal were mar-tyred in Sukma. Bengal’s jawans have always worked for the service of the nation,” Banerjee tweeted. The Chief Min-ister, now on a tour to northern Bengal, visited the houses of the two troopers — Krishna Kumar Das and Binay Chandra Barman — who hailed from Cooch Behar and announced financial aid for their fami-lies. “The death of CRPF jawans in Sukma is very sad. We have decided to give finan-cial assistance of Rs 5 lakh and government job to families,” she said.

Meeting media persons at Das’ house,

the Chief Minister said the 27-year-old had married only recently.

“What has happened is unfortunate. But one who has passed away cannot be brought back. Our responsibility is to stand by the bereaved families and help them in every was possible.”

Banerjee said she has asked a senior minister to visit the house of Arup Kar-makar, the other deceased trooper from

the state who hailed from Nadia district, and stand by the bereaved family.

“I have asked my minister Jyotipriyo Mullick to reach Kolkata airport to receive the body of Karmakar. He would also attend the funeral ceremony in (Nadia district’s) Karimpur. All the three families would get the financial assistance and a government job if they need it,” Banerjee added.

TMC-GNLF coalition back on track in Hills

Narada case: TMC MP moves High Court for quashing CBI FIR

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: The Trin-amool Congress–Gorkha National Liberation Front (GNLF) alliance is back on track with Aroop Biswas, TMC Observer for Darjeeling and Kalimpong clarifying that the violation of the seat-sharing formulae by both the parties was done deliberately as a part of the strategy.

Though in Mirik and Kalimpong Municipal areas, the seat sharing equations have worked out well between the TMC and the GNLF, in Dar-jeeling and Kurseong there is some hitch. It was agreed upon that out of the 32 wards in Dar-jeeling, the TMC would field candidates in 20 wards and the GNLF in 12.

However, the TMC has fielded candidates in 21 wards and the GNLF in 12. In ward number 26 there are both TMC and GNLF candidates.

The agreement also dic-tated that out of the 20 wards of Kurseong Municipality, the TMC would field candidates in 12 wards and the GNLF in 8. However, the TMC has fielded candidates in all 20 wards with the GNLF fielding candidates in 14. “This was part of the strategy. Darjeeling has a his-tory of candidate intimidation, especially of the opposition

parties. Both the GNLF and the TMC had fielded “dummy” candidates. They will be with-drawn with both the parties adhering to the seat sharing formulae,” stated Biswas.

He further added that in Darjeeling there would be 20 TMC and 12 GNLF; in Kurseong 13 TMC and 7 GNLF; in Kalimpong 19 TMC and 4 GNLF and in Mirik 7 TMC and 2 GNLF candidates.

“The seat sharing alliance is intact and we will defeat the Gorkha Janmukti Morcha together. We will also campaign together,” added Biswas.

The TMC Observer held meetings with party supporters and candidates. “We discussed our campaign strategies. TMC youth president Abhishek Banerjee will also be camp-ing in the Hills. He is slated to arrive at the Hills on May 3,” stated Biswas.

He also stated that the TMC-GNLF will lay stress

on good governance, democ-racy and eradication of cor-ruption along with civic issue. “Mamata Banerjee has done a lot of development in the Hills. The municipalities under the GJM have failed miserably. They have done nothing for the people,” alleged Biswas.

“We welcome the state-ments of minister Aroop Biswas regarding the coalition. We will also withdraw our dummy can-didates,” stated Neeraj Zimba, GNLF spokesperson

Meanwhile, the candidature of Dhurba Bomzan who the GJM had projected as Chair-man candidate of Mirik was rejected during scrutiny on Wednesday.

Along with this, the candi-dature of Sudha Lama Thapa, GJM candidate of ward 15; Laxmi Sunwar, JAP candidate of ward 19; and Balika Dor-jee, Independent candidate of Ward 6 of Kalimpong munici-pality area were also rejected.

KOLKATA: Trinamool Con-gress MP Aparupa Poddar on Tuesday moved the Calcutta High Court seeking quashing of a CBI FIR against her in the Narada sting case.

Poddar’s counsel claimed before Justice Joymalyo Bagchi that the investigating agency had not asked the MP about her version with regard to the alleged sting wherein a person “resembling her” is shown to be allegedly receiving money for favours.

Poddar’s counsel Siddharth Luthra claimed the CBI had considered the video clips as gospel truth and did not ask her about her version during the one month of initial inquiry before registering the FIR.

The court adjourned the

hearing till Friday. In the sting operation,

which was claimed to have been done in 2014, persons resembling senior TMC leaders are seen purportedly accepting money from representatives of a fictitious company in return for favours.

The high court had ordered the CBI to conduct a prelim-inary enquiry in the matter. The order was challenged by the Bengal government in the Supreme Court, which refused to grant relief on March 17 and gave the CBI one month to conclude the preliminary probe and file an FIR, if required.

The CBI has booked 12 top TMC leaders, including MPs and ministers, and an IPS offi-cer in this connection.

The FIR has been registered under Section 120(b) of IPC related to criminal conspiracy and provisions of the Preven-tion of Corruption Act deal-ing with bribery and criminal misconduct. The maximum sentence for these crimes ranges from five to seven years imprisonment.

The TMC leaders against whom the CBI has registered the FIR include Rajya Sabha MP Mukul Roy and Lok Sabha MPs Saugata Roy, Apa-rupa Poddar, Sultan Ahmed, Prasun Banerjee and Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar. Ministers including Firhad Hakim, Suvendu Adhikari, Sovan Chatterjee, and Subrata Mukherjee have also been named in the FIR. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Claiming that a water sharing deal on Teesta river with Bangladesh may jeopardise the daily lives of North Bengal residents, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee on Tuesday said she would have no prob-lems in providing water to the neighbour-ing country provided the Centre is ready to look at “suitable alternatives”.

Addressing a rally at Rashmela ground at Cooch Behar, she said: “I love the people of Bangladesh but if Teesta water is given to them, people of Siliguri and Jalpaiguri will not get water. I have studied the mat-ter carefully and so came up with alterna-tives.” It may be recalled that in her recent meeting with Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in New Delhi early this month, Banerjee had said no water from river Teesta could be given to Bangladesh at the cost of Bengal.

Banerjee said water from river Torsha and other rivers could be easily shared with Bangladesh. It may be mentioned that she

had given this proposal during Hasina’s visit to New Delhi. But Bangladesh gov-ernment had rejected it.

Banerjee said Farakka water was being given to Bangladesh and now the Kol-kata Port was drying up. The Centre had not carried out dredging operation for years together. “The Kolkata Port is dry-ing up and it has become a major problem. The Centre is not carrying out dredging operation.”

Banerjee said one should understand the ground reality and then take a final decision. “When anybody wants to set up a medical college, then a careful study of the area is required first and then the deci-sion can be taken.”

It may be mentioned that the Centre has set up a committee to study the con-dition of Teesta in Sikkim and then it will submit a report. Because of construction of barrages in Sikkim, the flow of the river has been badly affected.

She urged the Bangladesh government to remove the barrages on river Atreyi as

it is affecting the supply of water in Bal-urghat. “They have set up barrages on river Atreyi and the people of Balurghat will not even get drinking water some day.”

Coming down heavily on the BJP, she urged the people not to support the saffron party as it was “trying to divide society and the masses.” She further added “the Hindu-tva they are talking about is not Hinduism. Our religious leader is Sri Ramakrishna and we believe in toleration. We worship different gods but who are they to tell us that only Rama or Hanuman should be worshipped. This is not religion as religion never talks about hatred.”

About issuing Aadhaar Cards to cows, she remarked: “A day will come when they will issue Aadhaar Cards to the children who drink cow milk,” and added “some day, they will issue Aadhaar Cards to women for wearing bindi or wearing saree or salwar kameez.”

The BJP leaders have lost mental bal-ance and time has come when they should go and consult doctors, she observed.

Japanese restaurant to be launched at Eco Park on Saturday

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The Japanese res-taurant at Japanese Forest that has come up at Eco Park will be launched on Saturday. The Japanese garden is the only-of-its-kind in eastern India.

The restaurant is the first-of-its kind in New Town and adds to the few Japanese restau-rants in the city. Mouth-water-ing sushi will be served to the guests. Eco Park, renamed as Prakriti Tirtha by Chief Min-ister Mamata Banerjee which has already become a major tourist attraction with the foot-fall crossing 75 lakh since its opening in January 2013, is also gaining popularity among the foodies in the city who love the cuisine served at Café Ekante and the house boat restaurant.

The Japanese Garden, which is one of the 500 such gardens outside Japan, has a wish pond and a pagoda along with an area where people meditate. Japanese experts had visited the garden before its inauguration and appreci-ated the venture.

Debashis Sen, chairman, Housing Infrastructure Devel-opment Corporation (HIDCO) said that the Japanese Garden had been constructed keeping in mind the ambience so that the people could have a taste of Japan. HIDCO took extra care to ensure that the quality of food served at the restaurant is good.

It may be mentioned that after coming to power in 2011, Mamata Banerjee had urged the HIDCO officials to come up with plans to develop Eco Park which covers 480 acres of land and 112 acres of waterbody.

Now, as per her desires, rep-licas of seven wonders of the world are being constructed at Eco Park. As people of Bengal love to visit different places but many cannot afford to visit for-eign countries, they can have a taste of the famous places. Final touches are being given and it is likely to be opened within a month. It was learnt that state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim will be present during the launch.

TARUN GOSWAMI

KOLKATA: Ever since 2011, Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has been constantly working to get Ben-gal back to its earlier glory and has been undertaking several projects to ensure the same. It should also be mentioned that the officers engaged in the same are also taking their work seriously and in yet another such instance, the Panchayat and Rural Development Department has taken up a unique scheme to restore the springs in the Hills which have dried up.

This is for the first time when such a project has been taken up. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had always been giving emphasis on the development of tourism in North Bengal especially in Darjeeling. She visited the area several times in the past six years and urged the state gov-ernment officials to come up with schemes to develop the area. The

restoration of the springs is one such project taken up as a part of the beau-tification programme.

Work to restore 30 odd springs in Darjeeling under the Spring Shed Development project have started and 300 springs which have dried up have been identified and will be restored in phases. The esti-mated time to complete the projects is three years.

A survey conducted by the Pan-chayat and Rural Development

department revealed that over 300 springs in the Hills have dried up over the years. During the Left Front regime of three decades, the state government did not pay any atten-tion to the natural springs.

One after the other they dried up and the Hill, particularly Darjeeling, lost much of its charm.

The mountains, springs and tall trees are the chief attraction of Dar-jeeling. In the writings of Rabindra-nath Tagore, who had visited the Hills

several times, there are reference to the springs, their beauty and con-tinuous murmuring sounds of the water. To restore the natural springs, conserve water along with aforesta-tion, under the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guar-antee Act (MGNREGA) scheme, the Panchayat and Rural Development department has carried out massive water shed conservation schemes successfully throughout the state.

The work to restore 30 springs as

a pilot project in the Hills is being carried out in full swing. Massive aforestation work has been taken up and water conservation will be done at the source of the spring.

Once the process is complete, the springs will get back their natural flow and will start function-ing again.

Once the springs start flowing, the Hills will get back its original beauty. This will attract tourists all over the world. “If we read the books

written by the district magistrates who had been posted in the Hills between 1930s to 1960s or by travel-ers who had visited the area during this period, we can have an idea of the beauty of the Hills in North Ben-gal and why the name Queen of the Himalayas was given to Darjeeling by the British.”

PIC/MPOST

This is for the first time when such a project has been taken up. Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee had always been giving emphasis on the development of tourism in North Bengal especially in Darjeeling. She visited the area several times in the past six years and urged the state government officials to come up with schemes to develop the area

TMC candidates with Aroop Biswas in Darjeeling

Amit Shah to visit Mamata’s constituency today

KOLKATA: BJP national president Amit Shah will visit a slum in South Kolkata situated in Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee’s constituency on Wednesday. However, the BJP leaders had to take a lot of pain to find a spot in Bhowanipore Assem-bly constituency where development has not taken place since 2011. Over the past five years, massive development has taken place in South Kolkata. Waterlogging and drinking water scarcity are a matter of the past now. All the main thoroughfares and even lanes and by-lanes are brightly illumi-nated. Sweeping on major roads take twice a day. Slums like Peyarabagan and Beltola have been developed. Finding no other place, the state BJP leaders will take Shah to a slum situated in Chetla where the state Urban Development minister has brought about major infrastructural development in the past few years. It was learnt that Shah will also visit five houses to talk to the residents and state BJP leadership has kept it a secret. The TMC leaders in South Kolkata have asked party work-ers not to fall into any kind of provocation. MPOST

PICS/MPOST

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

TJM/TTL/17/ENG

Millennium Post - Kolkatta Edition to carry the Ad with Kolkatta Tel. No. Only. Schedule Date :- 05/04/2017

Kolkatta Tel.: 033-2215 1850 e-mail : suyogtrading@gmail.com

Debashis Sen said the Japanese Garden had been constructed keeping in mind the ambience so that people can have a taste of Japan. Firhad Hakim is said to be present during the launch

mp city4MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

Soon, Alipurduar to have ‘blue home stays’ to boost tourism

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Soon, the Alipur-duar district administration will start ‘blue home stays’ as the new tourist attractions in North Bengal.

The homes will be painted blue in colour in accordance with official colour theme of the state.

According to a district administration source, blue home stays will soon be inau-gurated at Chilapata, Totopara, Shalkumar Haat and Haatipota.

“There are already some home stays in this district. The concept of blue home stays is something that is new. Chi-lapata will get 13 new home stays,” said a district adminis-tration source.

“We will soon start massive campaigns for the blue home stays across the state, especially in Kolkata and the adjoin-ing areas. Interested tourists can also book online for the home stay facilities,” the source added.

Meanwhile, the Bengal gov-ernment is now ready with its ‘Home Stay Policy’ to facilitate thousands of middle-class fam-ilies in the tourist spots. The

home stays would also enhance the micro and small entrepre-neurs (MSEs) engaging the local work force. Thus, the gov-ernment felt the need of a sepa-rate policy.

It was also decided that the state government would

provide financial assistance to those families promoting home stays. The government will sup-port them as per the new home stay policy.

The state government would also facilitate them to get bank loans to get ready with

the infrastructure for foreign tourists who want to avail the facilities of home stays.

“We’ll even make houses in those areas. We’ll go for an agreement with the local resi-dents and they’ll get 80 per cent of the total income from the

home stays. The government will get 20 percent from it,” said a Bengal Tourism department source.

The district administra-tion of Alipurduar will share their idea with Chief Minis-ter Mamata Banerjee while her visit during the district review meeting. “Our Chief Minister has changed the total concept of tourism in North Bengal. North Bengal was ear-lier a neglected area but now it has become one of the popu-lar tourist destinations across the nation. The footfall has increased than before,” the source added.

However, the local tour operators will discuss impor-tant matters with the officers of the state Tourism depart-ment. “We’ll also meet the tour-ism minister soon,” said a tour operator.

It may be mentioned that several home stays have come up in North Bengal, mainly in the Dooars region — the flood-plains and foothills of east-ern Himalayas in North-East India around Bhutan. Home stays are very popular among Europeans and South Ameri-cans tourists.

American tourist dies while

trekking to Phalut

AMITAVA BANERJEE

DARJEELING: An American tourist died while trekking to the famous Sandakphu-Phalut in the Darjeeling district. 69-year-old Glen Conway of USA died at Moley in between Sandakphu and Phalut. Divi-sional Forest Officer, Darjeel-ing Wildlife Division stated that Glen had started trekking in a group of 19 from Maneyb-hanjyang. They were accom-panied by Dipesh Tamang, a guide. “The dead body is being brought down by the police from the Lhodhama police sta-tion for post mortem. As this is a remote area with no cell net-work, details of the death are awaited,” stated Amit P Javalgi, Superintendent of Police, Dar-jeeling. Sandakphu at an altitude of 11,929 ft is the highest point of the state of West Bengal. 21 km away from Sandakphu is the second highest point on the Singhalila ridge–Phalut, at an altitude of 11,811 ft. Both San-dakphu and Phalut are world famous trekking destinations.

The spots are located in the Singhalila National Park, one of the highest National Parks in the world. This National Park is a bio-diverse hotspot with a total area of 78.9 sq kms.

Woman dies after giving birth, kin

alleges negligenceOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Tension ran high at Bongaon Hospital follow-ing the death of a woman who died after giving birth to a child and her family members alleged negligence in treatment.

The victim, Mamata Das (22), a resident of Machlan-dapur area under the Habra police station was admitted to the hospital. She gave birth to a baby on Sunday but her condi-tion deteriorated early on Tues-day morning.

The family members of the victim and her neighbours reached the hospital after receiv-ing the news of her death. They started a demonstration inside the hospital premises alleging negligence in the treatment of the woman. A scuffle broke out between the family members of the victim and the staff mem-bers of the hospital. A huge con-tingent of police force rushed to the spot to bring the situa-tion under control. The hospital authorities also told the family members that they would look into the issue.

The family members of the

victim have alleged that the victim delivered a baby after which the hospital authorities told them that the condition of both the woman and her baby was stable. On Monday night, the family members of the vic-tim were communicated that the two were well. On Tues-day morning, the family mem-bers suddenly informed that the patient died. This triggered a tension in the area as the fam-ily members staged a protest inside the hospital.

The family members wanted to know the cause of the wom-an’s death from the hospital authorities. The family members also alleged that the hospital authorities failed to provide sat-isfactory answers in this regard. They also alleged that the atten-dants of the patient demanded money from the victim’s family despite such a situation.

The family members lodged a complaint at the local police station against the hospital authorities on the basis of which the cops have started a probe. The victim’s family members demanded strong action against those who will be found guilty.

Battleground Sovabazar: Groups clash over who gets the templeOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: If battles over dominion of pieces of land were not enough, Sovaba-zar saw a new kind of a tussle between two groups who wanted to fight it out to ensure dominion over a temple.

As many as 12 persons were injured in the clash that broke out between two groups over the possession of a temple situated on Sovabazar Street on Monday night. The incident triggered tension in the area and the cops had to resort to lathi-charge to disperse the irate mob.

A senior officer of the Jorabagan police station said those who received injuries were undergoing treatment at nearby hospitals. Police have detained at least 15 persons for their alleged involvement in the incident. The clash broke out between residents of Bhan-gamath and Tarikhana and the incident led to a situation where the two groups resorted to throwing bottles and hurl-

ing bricks at each other.The groups that attacked each other

on Monday night were mainly residents of ward 19 and ward 9. It all started when a particular group hurled bombs at their opponents, triggering tension among local residents. There was a long-standing quarrel between the two groups over who will take possession of the temple. After being informed,

a huge police force rushed to the spot who had to resort to lathi-charge to bring the situation under control. How-ever, there remained an uneasy calm on Monday night and on Tuesday morn-ing, a fresh tension spread in the local-ity when the two groups again clashed with each other.

Senior police officers had to rush to the spot immediately after the clash

along with cops from nearby police stations.

Local people said that there was a problem among the residents of the two areas for a long time but the inci-dent turned violent on Monday night. They also alleged that there was another incident that caused the violence. People said that a country liquor den operating in the area is often a source of trouble and despite repeated pleas to the cops, nothing has changed. The residents said that this too is a reason behind the sim-mering tension.

Meanwhile, shops and the local mar-kets remained closed on Tuesday and only a few vehicles were seen plying through the area.

Police teams from Jorabagan and Shyampukur police station rushed the spot and even personnel of the Rapid Action Force (RAF) of the Kolkata Police were deployed to bring the situ-ation under control.

Youth murdered in Canning, cops

suspect old rivalry

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: A youth was hacked to death by some unidentified miscreants when he was returning home on Monday night.

The victim has been identi-fied as Mokaddesh Khan who was declared brought dead after being taken to the Can-ning sub-divisional hospital. The victim’s family members also received serious injuries when they tried to protect the victim from the accused.

The incident occurred near his house at Ramchandrakh-ali village of Basanti in South 24 Parganas. Police said that the victim was returning home when a gang comprising seven members stopped his way. They started beating the victim with iron rods. The victim fell on the ground after receiving sev-eral blows on his head. After hearing the screaming of the victim, his family members rushed to the spot for his res-cue. The victim’s wife and elder brother who came to his rescue were beaten up by the miscre-ants. Before the local residents reached the spot, the miscre-ants fled from the spot. The local residents told police that the miscreants came on motor-cycles. The injured were taken to the Canning sub-divisional hospital where they are cur-rently undergoing treatment. After being informed, police

reached the spot and started a probe in this regard. The body has been sent for a post-mor-tem examination.

According to the prelimi-nary investigation, police sus-pect that some old rivalry might have led to the incident. Police are, however, not rul-ing out that this could be result of some family dispute. In the course of investigation, police came to know that there was a long-standing dispute in the family over a piece of land and this might have caused the inci-dent. Police also came to know in the interrogation that the victim had engaged in a quar-rel with some of his relatives in connection with the dis-puted plot. Police have started a detailed probe in this connec-tion and are conducting raids to nab the culprits.

City likely to get rainfall in a few days but no respite from heatOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: The city is likely to get another rainfall within two-three days as the weather conditions are ideal for such squalls, the meteorologists indicated.

Kolkata will receive light rainfall which will might bring a pleasant respite as the weather conditions post sunset over the city will become better, how-ever, the meteorologists are not that hopeful.

“In the month of April, Kol-kata usually receives about 60 mm of pre-Monsoon rainfall. But with very few rainy days in this month, the chances of rainfall reaching the average figure are very low. Till date, Kolkata has received around 5 mm rainfall,” said a weatherman.

“The recent rainfall of 4.4 mm has already helped the temperatures in the city to

drop a bit. More rainfall is expected in coming days, tem-peratures are likely to be below

normal for the time being but this doesn’t mean an invita-tion of pleasant weather. The

city will continue with hot and sultry daytime weather,” pre-dicted Skymet weather, a pri-

vate weather forecast agency.The Regional Meteorologi-

cal Centre, indicated that this rainfall over Kolkata can be attributed to the trough which is travelling from North Bihar to North Bay of Bengal.

“Along with Kolkata, many districts of West Bengal like East and West Midnapore, Bankura, Purulia and Burd-wan and many areas may get light rainfall thanks to this trough. Many areas of North Bihar may get light rainfall at many places,” another meteo-

rologist said.It may be recalled that the

RMC Kolkata had indicated heavy rainfall accompanied by squalls on Monday and Tues-day evening due to nor’wester. But nothing as such took place till Tuesday night.

“The latest Radar Observa-tion had indicated that thun-derstorm was likely to affect some parts of Purulia, Bankura and West Midnapur districts of West Bengal. But it did not happen,” said a senior official at RMC Kolkata.

Optical fibre godown gutted in flames at Khardah

OUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: A massive fire broke out at an optical fibre godown in Khardah area in North 24 Parganas on Mon-day night.

Around 25 tenders were pressed into action to douse the flame and it took them a few hours to gain control over the fire. The godown was com-pletely gutted in the fire. The local people spotted smoke billowing out of the optical fibre godown situated on the Barrackpore-Kalyani Express-way on late Monday night and informed the fire brigade. The local residents tried to take part in the rescue operation but they failed to enter the godown as thick black smoke covered the entire area.

It took nearly three hours for the fire fighters to bring the situation under control. No casualty was, however, reported

in the incident.The fire spread quickly to

a transformer factory situ-ated adjacent to the godown. Local people got panicked as they found the fire spread-

ing towards the transform-ers. Many local residents fled from the spot. Local people also helped the firefighters to douse the flame. According to local residents, the plastic factory

suddenly caught fire at Danga Dingla area of Kharadah last night.

The firemen had to face problems in getting the flames extinguished as the black smoke covered the entire area and it was difficult to identify the source of the fire. According to the preliminary investiga-tion, police and the fire brigade suspect that inflammable arti-cles stored inside the godown aggravated the situation. According to the preliminary investigation, fire officials sus-pect that an electrical short cir-cuit might have led to the fire. However, the exact cause of the fire and the extent of the dam-age are yet to be ascertained.

It is suspected that the loss can be to the tune of a few crores. The fire brigade officials have started a probe to ascer-tain if there was any firefight-ing mechanism installed in the factory or not.

Man arrested for raping on pretext of marriageOUR CORRESPONDENT

KOLKATA: Bidhannagar Police arrested a person on charges of rape on Mon-day night. Police booked the accused from his resi-dence on the basis of the complaint lodged by the victim. Police learnt that the accused allegedly raped the victim several times promising to marry her.

“Ashis Kumar Agarwal, the accused person allegedly raped the victim promising to marry her. But later, he did not to ful-fill his promises and ran away. We arrested Agarwal after the girl lodged a complaint against him,” said a woman police officer.

Investigation revealed that the girl, a bar-dancer by pro-fession, met the accused at a night club. They were engaged in a relationship and it was going all well till the time the girl suspected the man of cheat-

ing on her.“The girl was probably preg-

nant when she started doubt-ing the man. She came to the police station to lodge a com-plaint when the man refused her to marry,” the woman offi-cer further said. The accused was arrested from his Behala resident and produced before the court.

Meanwhile, in another inci-dent at Bankura, police arrested a person on charges of moles-tation on Monday night. The accused allegedly touched the private parts of a minor girl. The neighbours caught the accused, handed him over to the Bidhannagar City Police.

Police learnt that the victim, a Class VII student was play-ing in her locality. The accused youth called up the girl to his house. He tried to lure her by giving some food. Later, the girl was allegedly molested by the accused while she was eating food, police suspected.

A COOL DIP

A white tiger beats the heat at a pond at Alipore Zoological Garden in Kolkata on Tuesday PTI

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

AT BONGAON HOSPITAL

In the course of investigation, police came to know that there was a long-standing dispute in the family over a piece of land and this might have caused the incident

REPRESENTATIVE IMAGE

The district administration of Alipurduar will share their idea with Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while her visit during the district review meeting. ‘Our Chief Minister has changed the total concept of tourism in North Bengal’

Around 25 fire engines were pressed into action and it took close to three hours to douse the flames

The recent rainfall of 4.4 mm has already helped the temperatures in the city to drop a bit. More rainfall is expected in coming days, temperatures are likely to be below normal for the time being but this doesn’t mean an invitation of pleasant weather

5MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

mp nation

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: Former Uttar Pradesh minister Gayatri Pra-japati and two of his alleged accomplices were on Tuesday granted bail by a special court here in connection with a rape case. Special judge of the Pro-tection of Children from Sex-ual Offences (POCSO) court Om Prakash Mishra granted bail to Prajapati, Vikas Verma and Amrendra Singh alias Mintu.

The court asked Prajapati to furnish two sureties of Rs 1 lakh each and a personal bond of the same amount and directed the accused that they would not affect trial or influ-ence the witnesses during trial and remain in the territorial jurisdiction of the court during the trial. It held that the com-plainant had given her implied consent in the incident.

The court observed that since she did not complain to the police or the competent court despite claiming that they had been committing rape on her for last three years, it was an indication that she had given implied consent. It also observed in the order that the circumstances revealed that the accused were implicated in the case due to malafide intention.

In his bail order, the judge said there was contradiction in the statements of the woman and her daughter as recorded under section 161 of CrPC and 164 of the CrPC.

The court also noted that the woman had earlier lodged an FIR in Chitrakoot against three of the accused on almost same allegations but she did

not say that rape was commit-ted on her.

“Now after three years of the alleged incident she has lev-eled the allegations. The inci-dent took place three years ago and it was repeated time and again but the woman did not approach the police or court for lodging her FIR. This goes to prove that the woman had given her consent for cohabita-tion,” the court observed.

An FIR was registered against 49-year-old Prajapati and six others on February 17 on a Supreme Court directive.

Prajapati was then a min-ister in the Akhilesh Yadav’s Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh. When asked about the bail granted to his former cabinet colleague, Akh-ilesh said, “It’s good that he got bail. Please tell me if there is anything wrong in it.”

After being on the run for nearly a month, Prajapati (49) was arrested from the Aashi-yana area here on March 15 and was sent to jail for alleg-edly raping a woman and attempting to rape her minor daughter in 2014.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

MUMBAI: The Shiv Sena on Tuesday said that the RSS headquarters has become the "second seat of power" in the country and it does not deem anybody fit for the president's post except Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat. The Uddhav Thac-keray-led party, which has had strained ties with ally BJP, had earlier also suggested that Bhagwat be made the next President of India. However, Bhagwat had dismissed such suggestions and asserted that even if his name is proposed, he "will not accept it".

The Sena said that the ambi-tions of some strong contend-ers for the president's post may have got derailed post the apex court order in Babri case and wondered if some "new cal-culations" were made when senior BJP leader Murli Mano-

har Joshi called on Bhagwat last week.

Notably, top BJP leaders L K Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for crim-inal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the Supreme Court last week allowed a CBI plea for restoring the charge against them.

The Sena, in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', today said, "Advani and Joshi are BJP veterans. Their con-tribution in the formation and rise of the party is immense."

"Though they may not have much work in the party after a new generation of BJP leaders have taken over but there are

attempts being made to gauge if they have any importance left in the upcoming presidential polls," the editorial said.

Referring to the meeting between Joshi and Bhagwat, it said anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes it. "Thus, did the meet between the two mean that Joshi was making some new calculations with Bhag-wat? Anything can happen if the RSS chief wishes so. The RSS headquarters has become the second seat of power in the country today," the Sena said.

The party also said that as of now it does not deem any-body fit for the president's post except Bhagwat. The apex court had last week clubbed the trial in the Babri Masjid demolition case pending against the lead-ers and 'karsevaks' and ordered day-to-day trial with the pro-ceedings to be completed in two years.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: A day after the CBSE scrapped its marks moderation policy, HRD Min-ister Prakash Javadekar said on Tuesday it was up to vari-ous state education boards to take a final call on the practice of awarding grace marks to students in exams for difficult questions.

"It is a good decision (by the CBSE). Several states have been taken on board, a con-sensus has been developed. But the final decision will be of the states, this is just like

a suggestion," Javadekar told reporters on the sidelines of an event here.

"All boards should not be in a race to increase marks and any sky-touching grade should be replaced with gen-uine scores.

The boards should not keep inflating marks in competi-tion, this should not happen.

"A good consensus has been developed. Let's see how it progresses. I will take a brief on the meeting," he added.

In a major decision, the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) had yester-

day scrapped the marks mod-eration policy.

According to a senior HRD Ministry official, "A consensus has been developed but how to

implement it, is the states' pre-rogative. They can't be forced to implement it, the decision though consensual, is just sug-gestive in nature."

The CBSE had in 1992 adopted the practice of award-ing grace marks of up to 15 per cent in certain papers if the questions are deemed to be difficult.

The CBSE had in Decem-ber last requested the HRD Ministry to help develop a consensus among all state boards on scrapping the marks moderation policy which is considered as the reason

behind very high scores in board exam results.

The CBSE had opined that a unilateral scrapping of the policy would put its students at a disadvantage during under-graduate admissions and con-sidered it important that all state boards agree to it.

If the states also decide to adopt the policy, then the cut-offs for admission to colleges are likely to go down. How-ever, the practice of awarding grace marks will continue to ensure that a student clears an exam if he or she needs a few marks to do so.

NEW DELHI: Self-collected data submitted by an institute to the NAAC is likely take pre-cedence over physical inspec-tion as the HRD Ministry is planning to overhaul the cur-rent accreditation framework.

Following complaints of corruption, an 80 per cent weightage has been proposed for self-reported data analysed through software-based captur-ing and 20 per cent weightage to peer review teams.

Provisions of penalty for institutes submitting "fraud-ulent" information are also likely to be introduced and the number of parameters may be reduced to make the assess-ment more comprehensive.

The HRD ministry is also considering allowing a say of the IITs in granting accredita-tion to institutes. The National Assessment and Accredita-tion Council (NAAC), which accredits institutes of higher education in the country, had on March 31 suspended the application process till the grading system undergoes an overhaul. AGENCIES

OUR CORRESPONDENT

NEW DELHI: The Twit-ter Sewa service, which was launched by Minister of Com-munications (I/C) Manoj Sinha to address the griev-ances related to postal and telecom department, has turned out to be a major relief for the aggrieved customer across the country.

“It’s the result of efforts of the dedicated team that about 99 per cent of the complaints received through Twitter Sewa has been resolved through the social media within 24 hours, while only a few complaints on policy matter nature were for-warded to concerned depart-ments for its early redressal,” an official said.

The Twitter Sewa of the ministry, which is a brain child of Sinha, was started in August last year. The ministry has deployed there are about 400 employees of both postal and telecom department to regularly monitor every single complaint, the official said.

As per the data released by BSNL, as on April 15, the Twitter Sewa has received a total number of 27,988 com-plaints and resolved 27,965 grievances with a resolution rate of 99.91 per cent.

“The Telecom Minis-ter having twitter account @manojsinhabjp has been call-ing for daily status reports on the resolution of telecom and postal related complaints received through this plat-form. Similarly, India Post has handled 27,000 tweets and resolved them promptly,” the official said.

SIMONTINI BHATTACHARJEE

NEW DELHI: Praising the new developing diplomatic relationship between India and Israel ahead of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the country, the Israeli envoy Dan-iel Carmon called the visit as "enormous".

In an event organized by Dr. Syama Prasad Mooker-jee Research Foundation at Nehru Memorial Museum and Library here on Tuesday Carmon said that, "Things are changing. What our predeces-sors couldn't make out, today it is happening. Israelis are being received as heroes in India."

"The Indian democracy is not bounded with vibrant politics and votes, now it is all about bilateral diplomatic rela-tionship globally," he added.

The ambassador of Israel to India also said that both the Asian countries are suffering from cross-border tensions but the people of two coun-tries come from different back-ground, so they will need time to understand the diplomatic relationship. While address-ing he also called the present diplomacy and dynamic and co-operative, where he men-tioned that," We look for more

areas of joint interest."PM Modi is going to visit

Israel in the first week of July where reportedly, a raft of mega defence deals, including pro-curement of an air defence sys-tem for the Indian Navy, are likely to be sealed.

"In various sectors like agri-culture, trade, water, home-land security we need to have more declarations. More MoUs should be signed. There should be more investments and not only talks," Carmon added.

While he was addressing on the enduring partnership of both the Asian countries, Car-mon said, "The visit of Indian PM is big to us as for the first time without any hesitation, things have evolved. Even the

Indian President also visited Israel where he not only met his Israeli counterpart, but the farmers and visited various places and interacted. It is the time to work together in sci-ence, academia, and trade. The mixture if our relationship is very unique and deep."

He also urged for collab-oration with India's 'Startup India' and 'Make in India' with startup Israel.

Former diplomat Shakti Sinha, who is now director of Nehru Memorial, Dr. Anir-ban Ganguli, the chairman of SMRF and one of the key head of PM Modi’s foreign policy department Vijay Chauthai-wale were also present at the event.

Israeli envoy calls Modi’s proposed visit ‘enormous’

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court on Tuesday asked all states to 'scrupulously' follow the 2016 law on the rights of persons with disabilities, saying it reflected "a sea change" in the perception of the government on the critical issue.

The apex court, which directed all states and union territories (UTs) to file reports regarding compliance of provi-sions of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities Act 2016, said the new statute operated in a broad spectrum to pro-tect the rights of people with disabilities.

The court said the states and UTs must realise that under this Act, their responsibilities have increased and the execut-ing authorities must give effect to it with "quite promptitude".

"The 2016 Act, as we find, is a sea change in the perception and exhibits a march forward look with regard to persons with disabilities and roles of state governments, local authorities, educational insti-tutes and companies are given there," a bench headed by Jus-tice Dipak Misra said.

"The statute operates in a broad spectrum and the focus is to protect the rights and provide punishment for their violation. We think it appo-site to direct all the states and UTs to file compliance reports keeping in view the provi-sions of the 2016 Act within 12 weeks hence," the bench, which also comprised Justices A M Khanwilkar and M M Shantanagoudar,said.

The top court, which fixed the matter for next hearing on August 16, noted that the states and UTs should take immedi-ate steps to comply with the requirements of the Act and file compliance reports.

"The steps taken in this regard (by the authorities)

shall be concretely stated in the compliance report which is to be filed within the time stipu-lated," it said.

The court was hearing a plea by the Justice Sunanda Bhandare Foundation seeking direction to the Centre and all states to file reports on the sta-tus of implementation of the provisions of the Persons with Disabilities (Equal Opportuni-ties, Protection of Rights and Full Participation) Act, 1995.

During the hearing, advo-cate Manali Singhal, who appeared for the petitioner, told the bench that though most of the states have filed reports on compliance of the apex court's earlier directions in the matter, there were some issues which

needed to be addressed."All the states have filed

compliance reports but there were some issues with some of these states. Many states were not complying with the Supreme Court's order in some degree or other," she said.

The counsel argued that there were "deficiencies" in the compliance of apex court's earlier orders by some states and now, the new Act has also come.

She said that as compared to the 1995 Act, various new provisions have been included in the recent legislation and it has expanded the horizon of the rights of such persons.

The bench, in its order, noted various provisions of the 2016 Act, saying they high-lighted salient features and "more rights have been con-ferred to disabled persons".

"That apart, access to jus-tice, free education, role of local authorities, national fund and state funds have also been cre-ated," it said.

Referring to a provision of the 2016 Act, the bench said it also dealt with creation of special courts for speedy trial along with appointment of spe-

cial public prosecutors in cases involving disabled persons.

It also said that in the 1995 Act, Parliament had shown its concern and provided for res-ervation for disabled persons and the apex court, in several judgements, had directed the authorities to implement the Act. The apex court had last year pulled up some states and UTs for not filing the status reports regarding implementa-tion of its verdict and the legal scheme to grant of reservation to differently abled people.

The petitioner had ear-lier filed a detailed chart with respect to the steps taken by the states and union territories and what more was required to be done by them to implement the verdict and the provisions of the Act to grant three per cent quota in jobs to differently abled persons.

The Act provides for a sep-arate one per cent reservation for each of the three catego-ries of persons with disabili-ties -- persons suffering from blindness and low vision, those suffering from hearing disabil-ity and those suffering from locomotor disability or cere-bral palsy.

States should ‘scrupulously’ follow law for disabled: SC

Sinha’s Twitter Sewa resolves 99% telecom complaints

Shiv Sena harps on Bhagwat for Prez, says RSS HQ second seat of power

POCSO court grants bail to

Gayatri Prajapati

‘States will decide on scrapping marks moderation policy’

HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar

Israeli Ambassador Daniel Carmon during a function in New Delhi on Tuesday PIC/NAVEEN SHARMA

Legendary singer Lata Mangeshkar and RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat during an award ceremony on Master Deenanath Mangeshkar’s 75th death anniversary in Mumbai

Overhaul of current accreditation

framework soon

MOTORMAN ‘FORGETS’ TO HALT SUBURBAN TRAIN AT MALAD STATION MUMBAI: A motorman and guard of a suburban train on the Western line were suspended after they “forgot” to stop the train at the destination - suburban Malad station, a senior official said on Tuesday. Mo-torman Jagdeesh Parmar and guard Deepak Prakash were suspended and further inquiry has been set up against the two, said Chief PRO of Western Railway Ravindra Bhakar. However, the duo were not in an ine-briated condition, he added. On Monday, the motor-man piloting a Churchgate to Malad train did not stop the train at Malad station and took it straight to the Kandivili carshed, causing inconvenience to around 400 passengers, said the official.

HARYANA TO START COURSE FOR PANCHAYATI RAJ INSTITUTIONS KARNAL: The Haryana government and the state universities will soon sign an MoU to start a course with the aim to make the representatives of the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) more efficient in rural develop-ment. Haryana, which was recognised for its brave soldiers and sports persons, now also has educated and internet-friendly village panchayats, Minister Om Parkash Dhankar on Tuesday, said at the concluding day of the two-day meeting of the state executive committee here. It was for the first time that the state government had taken an initiative of allocating a separate budget for the Panchayati Raj Institutions (PRIs) so as to make them more capable, he said.

FOUNDATION STONE LAID FOR 100 BEDDED ESIC HOSPITAL IN PHULWARISHARIF, PATNA

PATNA: Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Labour & Employment Bandaru Dattatreya laid the foundation stone for 100 bedded ESIC Model Hospital, Phulwarisharif, Patna on Tuesday. The other dignitaries to grace the occasion were Minister of State for Rural Development Ram Kripal Yadav, Vijay Prakash, Bihar Labour Minister, MP R K Sinha, Rajya Sabha, Shyam Rajak, MLA, Arun Kumar Sinha, MLA, Asha Devi, MLA, Chandra Prakash Singh, Member, ESI Corporation, Deepak Kumar Singh, Labour Secretary, Govt. of Bihar and Sandhya Shukla, Financial Commis-sioner, ESIC. Dattatreya informed that the proposed ESIC Hospital will be constructed with a project cost of Rs 85 crores in a sprawling plot area of 4.88 acres.

BOREWELL TRAGEDY: SIX-YEAR-OLD GIRL PULLED OUT DEAD BELAGAVI(KTK): A six-year-old girl, who fell into an abandoned 400-feet borewell at Jhunjarwad village in the district, was pulled out dead after a nearly 54-hour rescue operation. The operation ended with au-thorities recovering Kaveri’s lifeless body. The last rites were performed soon after, a family member said. “Let this not happen to any other child.. Let no mother face this ordeal,” said Kaveri’s mother Savita, who has been hospitalised for weakness. The girl was stuck at a depth of around 30 feet in the 400-feet borewell and the rescue team had located the hands of Kaveri, on Monday evening. A hook was used to lock the girl’s hands to prevent her from slipping deeper.

BRIEFSNATION

mp nation6MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: Attacking the Yogi Adityanath led BJP gov-ernment in Uttar Pradesh, Samajwadi party president Akhilesh Yadav said on Tues-day that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations.

The former chief minister's comments came in the back-drop of right-wing activists thrashing policemen in Agra and some other law and order related incidents.

"It is disheartening that those wearing saffron scarves have got the licence to beat up policemen and attack police stations. In Kannauj policemen were beaten up, in Agra clashes took place with police, in Alla-habad four persons of a family were killed," he said.

Yadav's own government had faced much media criti-

cism and opposition fire over the law and order issue in the state. The BJP had turned it into a major poll plank. In a kind of role-reversal, he referred to the murder of a middle-aged cou-ple and their two young daugh-ters in Allahabad district to target the present dispensation.

"The Badaun incident of alleged rape and murder of two sisters during our regime was raked up by media and all political parties raised a hue and cry over it. But does the Allahabad incident not need any attention?" he asked.

Referring to an incident in Saharanpur, where clashes and stone pelting took place between two communities over a procession, Yadav said that a Samajwadi Party delega-tion had prepared a report on the happenings. The SP chief said he would share informa-tion with the media about the report on Wednesday.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI: Normal life was on Tuesday partially hit in Tamil Nadu by the dawn-to-dusk bandh called by DMK-led opposition parties in support of drought-hit farmers.

Shops and business estab-lishments downed their shut-ters while functioning of government and private offices besides public trans-port services remained largely unaffected.

DMK Working President M K Stalin, who was among hundreds of persons arrested for staging protests across the state, claimed that the bandh was a total success.

Besides DMK, Congress, CPI(M), CPI, VCK and IUML apart from trade unions affili-ated to them, farmers bodies and the film fraternity sup-ported the shutdown, which was also observed in neigh-bouring union territory of Puducherry.

The bandh call, which evoked a mixed response, was not supported by both factions of AIADMK, BJP, MDMK, PMK and TMC.

State Ministers Sellur Raju and Dindigul C Sreenivasan termed the bandh as “totally unnecessary.”

Srineevasan dismissed the shutdown as “a publicity seek-ing exercise” which, he said, will not cut ice with the people.

He said the state govern-ment had taken all steps to address the farmers’ grievances, including adequate relief.

Barring a few incidents of stone pelting, the shut-down was by and large peace-ful, police said. The strike was marked by agitations, road and rail blockades with shops and establishments, vegetable mar-kets and cinema halls remain-ing shut in several parts of the state.

However, public transport, including train and bus ser-vices, were largely unaffected.

Private cab services oper-ated though a major chunk of autorickshaws remained off the roads. Though banks and private offices functioned normally, a section of bank employees staged a protest on the arterial Anna Salai here in support of the bandh.

They were led by All India Bank Employees Association C H Venkatachalam and CITU leader A Soundararajan.

The shutdown call was given at an “all-party” meet-ing covened by Stalin asking the central and state govern-

ments to fulfil the demands of farmers and farm labour-ers. They sought adequate relief, loan waiver by nation-alised banks and setting up of Cauvery Management Board to address non-availability of water for irrigation. Sta-lin along with former Union Minister T R Baalu and others courted arrest after staging a ‘road roko’ in the Cauvery delta town of Tiruvarur.

Cadres of DMK, CPI(M), CPI and others were also detained by police. All of them were let off in the evening.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHENNAI: The Madras High Court on Tuesday granted an interim injunction restraining the Tamil Nadu government from opening or relocating state run TASMAC liquor shops along national or state highways.

The first bench, compris-ing Chief Justice Indira Baner-jee and Justice M Sundar, said the order would be in force for three months or until further orders. It granted the interim injunction on petitions by DMK leader R S Bharati and Advocates Forum for Social Justice.

The PILs were filed after an April 21, 2017 circular of Commissioner of Municipal Administration requested all the Municipal Corporations and Municipalities to pass res-olutions to take over roads of the state and national highways within their limits and to sub-mit a report on April 25.

The petitioners contended that the circular was intended to bypass the Supreme Court directive on location of liquor shops and said that it was "a colourable exercise of power".

Advocate General R Muth-ukumaraswamy cited the Pun-jab example, saying after the administration wanted to change the nomenclature of roads, Haryana High Court had upheld the decision and

the Supreme Court was yet to pass orders on the matter. The bench, after hearing the AG, said it was constrained to pass the order as he could not give an undertaking that efforts to reclassify highways would not lead to reopening of closed TASMAC outlets and bars. It then posted the matter to July 10.

When the matter came up, Bharati's counsel said the state government was trying to dis-place the effect of the apex court verdict, when even the legislature had no power to do so. Pointing out that local bod-ies do not have elected councils since October 2016, the coun-sel said municipal corpora-tions, as per Article 243 of the Constitution, are self-govern-ments and so cannot adopt res-olutions. Such decisions cannot be adopted by the executive or those appointed as special offi-cers, he said.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

CHANDIGARH: Punjab Police has firmed up plans to set up a Special Operation Group (SOG) on the lines of the National Security Guard (NSG) to deal with any terror attack in the state which shares border with Pakistan.

"We are working on setting up the SOG here as we have the NSG at the central level," a senior official of the Punjab Police said on Tuesday.

The main objective of the SOG will be to neutralise any threat posed by 'Fidayeen' or terrorist groups by respond-ing to that situation as quickly as possible.

"The SOG will primarily be dealing with Fidayeen or ter-ror attacks and will also prevent any hostage like situation," the official said.

The Punjab Police also has plans to rope in experts from Israel or USA for providing training to the SOG mem-bers to combat terror threats

successfully."We are even ready to give

the members of the SOG spe-cialised training by experts from Israel or US forces," the official said. The group will also have members of the Spe-cial Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT) who were trained by Israeli military counter-ter-rorism experts. The SOG will be led by Additional Direc-tor General of Police (ADGP) Rakesh Chandra, the official

said.Notably, Punjab had wit-

nessed two terror attacks in 2015 and 2016.

In the first attack, three heavily-armed terrorists wear-ing army fatigues, had stormed a police station in Dinanagar town of Gurdaspur district in July 2015 killing seven per-sons, including a Superinten-dent of Police, before they were gunned down during a day-long operation.

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: Enthused with the massive response to the first ever national exhibition in Jammu and Kashmir last year, the Union Cabinet Minister of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Kalraj Mishra, on Tuesday, said that involvement of people through Khadi could uproot terrorism.

Addressing the 644th meet-ing of Khadi and Village Indus-tries Commission (KVIC) at Gandhi Darshan (Rajghat), the minister said that earlier the people were apprehensive in taking part of KVIC’s national exhibition-cum-sale. “But in a day or two, the people there real-ized that making Khadi prod-ucts can be the best way for them – to eke out a proper liveli-hood,” he said, “We want to gen-erate maximum employment

with our motto ‘one yarn, one nation’. We are going to orga-nize such exhibitions regularly in the valley as this symbol of self-reliance can give the peo-ple enough courage to tackle the problems there.” Express-ing satisfaction with the KVIC’s report card, Mr Mishra said that the government would leave no stone unturned in estab-lishing co-ordination between vision and action, to fulfill the combined cherished dreams of Mahatma Gandhi, Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay and Babasahab Bhim Rao Ambedkar.

Khadi can be best way to tackle terror: Kalraj

OUR CORRESPONDENT

LUCKNOW: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tues-day cancelled 15 public hol-idays marking the birth or death anniversary of eminent personalities.

Instead, students in schools and colleges would now be taught about them on these days, the state Cabinet decided on Tuesday in a meet-ing chaired by Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.

"The cabinet has cancelled 15 public holidays marking the anniversaries of great per-sonalities. Students will now be taught on these days about these figures through various programmes," Cabinet Minis-ter Shrikant Sharma said. He was briefing mediapersons after the cabinet meeting. Aditya-nath had in his address on the occasion of Dr BR Ambed-kar's 126th birth anniversary here expressed concern over the shrinking academic ses-sion due to increased holidays.

"There should be no holi-days in schools on birth anni-versaries of great personalities. Instead, a special two- hour programme should be held to teach students about them. The 220-day academic session has been reduced to only 120 days due to such holidays and if this tradition continues, there will be no day left for teaching in schools," he had said. In Uttar

Pradesh, there are 42 public holidays of which at least 17 are related to the birth anniver-saries of eminent personalities.

The previous Samajwadi Party government had declared holidays on the birth anniver-saries of former Prime Min-ister Chandrashekhar (April 17), Maharishi Kashyap and Maharshi Nishadraj Jayanti (April 5), Hazrat Ajmeri Garib Nawaj Urs (April 26), Maha-rana Pratap Jayanti (May 9).

OUR CORRESPONDENT

JAIPUR: Five persons were killed and 35 others were injured on Tuesday in a clash between two groups over a land dispute in Doroli village of Alwar district.

Alwar SP Rahul Prakash said two groups of the Mali community, led by Battu Ram Saini and Lala Ram Saini, clashed at Doroli village in the district over a piece of land in Nadbai tehsil of Bharatpur.

The warring groups threw stones and opened fire at each other. As a result, five persons were killed, Prakash told PTI.

Administrative officials had got the land freed from Lala Ram on March 27, but he con-tinued to cultivate crops on it, which led to the clash.

Those killed were identi-fied as Sia Ram Saini, Prem-vati Saini, Karn Singh, Bahadur Saini and Nannuram Saini.

TN bandh: Stalin and others court arrest

HC restrains TN from opening, relocating

liquor shops

Those wearing saffron scarves have got licence to beat cops in UP: Akhilesh

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: While author Chetan Bhagat's one book has made its way in Delhi Univer-sity curriculum, his another bestseller has run into trouble with a Bengaluru based author accusing him of plagiarism, a charge denied by him.

Anvita Bajpai, an IIT and IIM graduate, said that she has filed a lawsuit in a Bengaluru court which granted tempo-rary injunction restraining sales of the book "One Indian Girl".

Bajpai took to social media claiming that "characters, places and emotional flow" of Bha-gat's book have been lifted from one of her books "Life, Odds and Ends", a copy of which she had gifted to the author dur-ing Bengaluru Literature Fes-tival in 2014.

"I had filed an original suit

seeking a permanent injunc-tion restraining Chetan Bhagat and the publisher from selling One Indian Girl and also sought damages worth Rs 1 lakh. The court has granted a tempo-rary injunction restricting the sales," Bajpai said in her Face-book post. Bhagat rubbished the allegations as unfounded and said his book was not based on Bajpai's works in any way.

"This is deeply unfortu-nate. This is for one an abso-lute surprise for me as I have never read any of this author's

works. My stories are always original–including One Indian Girl–and it is unthinkable for me to do anything like what is suggested," he said.

"Surely, alleging anything like this in the current digital age is strange. I write universal stories about everyday issues. This could be a misunderstand-ing and I'm sure will be clari-fied as what is being suggested is baseless. My publisher's legal team will be taking appropriate steps," he added. Rupa Publica-tions, which had published the book, six months back, refused to comment on the issue.

"One Indian Girl" is Bha-gat's seventh novel and is about an investment banker, Radhika Mehta, who is stuck with mak-ing a choice between the three men in her life, while trying to keep up a distinctly different image for the sake of her family.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

PANAJI: President Pranab Mukherjee on Tuesday asked universities to produce men and women of substance and character, and not merely com-petent professionals.

Addressing a convocation ceremony of Goa University here, he laid stress upon wom-en's empowerment through education as it will have a positive impact on future generation.

Asserting that India is presently at a very challeng-

ing phase of its socio-economic transition, Mukherjee said the country needs to galvanise demographic strength, partic-ularly the country's youth.

The president said the cen-tres of higher learning are social institutions and they have to carry out their respon-sibilities as a social entity.

"A strong connection with the society will provide the edi-fice for value-oriented learning in them. This will instill in the students a sensitivity that will inspire them to search for solu-tions to vexed socio-economic

problems."The onus is on our insti-

tutions to produce men and women of substance and char-acter, not merely competent professionals," he said.

Noting that women com-prise a high percentage about 60 per cent - of the student pop-ulation in Goa University, the president said it is important that young women, particularly those belonging to marginal sections, gain increased access to the portals of colleges and universities.

"Women's empowerment

through education will have a positive impact on our future generation," he said.

It was Mukherjee's first visit to Goa after assuming the office of the president in July 2012.

He said, "The youthful char-

acter of our nation - 600 mil-lion people in the age group of 25 years and below has to become our asset in our surge for advancement."

"For that, we need to pro-vide sound training to our youth to build capacity for undertaking skilled work. It will help prepare them for chal-lenging job roles in the global economic community," he said.

Mukherjee said to prepare graduates for a competitive global economy, there is a need to impart quality education in institutions.

"A mechanism is needed in our higher education sys-tem that promotes competi-tiveness," he said. Quoting the country's first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, the presi-dent asked Goa University to continue to replicate the ide-als of humanism and tolerance.

Mukherjee was conferred honorary Doctor of Letters D.Litt) degree by the chancellor of the university, set up in 1985.

Goa Governor Mridula Sinha, Chief Minister Manohar Parrikar and other dignitaries were present in the function.

UP government cancels 15 holidays marking

birth,death anniversaries

Adityanath had in his address on the occasion of Dr BR Ambedkar’s 126th birth anniversary expressed concern over the shrinking academic session due to increased holidays

DMK working president M K Stalin along with supporters stage a road roko as part of the State-wide bandh in support of farmers issues, in Thiruvarur on Tuesday PTI

The first bench, comprising Chief Justice Indira Banerjee and Justice M Sundar, said the order would be in force for three months or until further orders

Punjab Police to set up SOG to combat terror attack

Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh in a meeting with Vistara CEO Phee Teik Yeoh and the CEO's adviser Gurjot Singh Malhi at the Chief Minister's Residence in Chandigarh on Tuesday PTI

5 killed, 35 injured in

clash over land dispute in Raj

Chetan Bhagat accused of plagiarism for his latest novel

Produce men, women of character: Prez to varsities

CHENNAI: Two top plant quarantine officials are among several persons booked by CBI on Tuesday on charge of accept-ing bribes from custom house agents of Tuticorin for issu-ing certificates for export and import consignments.

CBI also said it seized Rs 7.10 lakh allegedly received from various agents. Searches at Chennai, New Delhi, Ben-galuru, Hyderabad, Madurai and Tuticorin were being con-ducted in this regard, and fur-ther investigation was on. The top officials booked are Regional Plant Quarantine Station, Chen-nai, Joint Director P Manickam, Joint Director (Plant Protec-tion), Directorate of Plant Pro-tection Quarantine & Storage, Ministry of Agriculture, New Delhi, Satyanarayana. AGENCIES

CBI books plant quarantine officials on

graft charges

7MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

mp nation

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: The 25 CRPF jawans who were killed in a deadly Naxal ambush in Chhattisgarh’s Sukma district, were having lunch when a hail of bullets and grenades hit them fatally.

A party of about 36 troops, out of the total 99, came under the first assault after they had ventured out from Burkapal on Monday to sanitise and pro-vide protection to a 5.5-km long road construction work connecting Chitagufa in the Sukma district, officials said.

The Maoists squad “very discreetly with the aid of locals” kept tracking the move-ment of the troops when one party of 36, out of the total three, sat down for launch, the strong squad of Nax-als, possessing sophisticated weapons, took them by sur-prise and rained heavy gun fire, they said. The ultras also used some improvised ‘explo-sive-tipped’ arrows to take aim on the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF) men that has reportedly resulted in injuries to them.

A huge assortment of 22 smart arms, including 13

AK series assault rifles and 5 INSAS rifles, 3,420 live rounds of various calibre, 75 maga-zines of AK rifles, 31 of INSAS, 67 live UBGL rounds, 22 bullet proof jackets, two binoculars, five wireless sets and a deep search metal detector were also looted by Naxals, they said.

A top CRPF officer said the slain troops had just “finished their lunch” and were possibly not fully alert, while other offi-cials said “some of them were having their lunch” when the attack was launched around 12:30 PM.

While the slain 25 men and about six others who were injured, tried to gather their

weapons or take aim at the marauding Naxals, the others on the guard duty mounted an effective retaliation and saved about 40 civilians and con-struction workers who were present in the vicinity of the area during the deadly assault that lasted over an hour.

What has surprised mul-tiple security officials is the fact that the Maoists are understood to have used few under-barrel grenade launch-ers (UBGL), a smart and sophisticated weapon used by security forces, to inflict fatal casualties on the troops by lobbing grenades in quick succession.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

BHUBANESWAR: Appre-hending influx of Maoists from Chhattisgarh a day after the carnage in Sukma, the Odisha Police on Tues-day sealed the border with the neighbouring state and sounded a high alert in Mal-kangiri district.

Though the Maoist ambush yesterday took place about 45 km from Malkan-giri and close to Maharash-tra border, the Odisha Police deployed its elite anti-Mao-ist Special Operation Group (SOG), District Voluntary Force (DVF) and jawans of the CRPF and the BSF to ensure there was no influx of ultras in Odisha, state DGP K B Singh said.

Singh said there was every possibility of Maoist ultras preferring to take shelter in Odisha as Maharashtra has already sealed its border with Chhattisgarh.

"The central forces and state police have been told to undertake area domination exercise and flush out Maoist rebels, if any," the DGP told reporters.

Malkangiri Superinten-

dent of Police (SP) Mitrab-hanu Mohapatra said, "We have sounded a high-alert in the border areas. The whole district has also been put on extra vigil."

Monitoring has been intensified in all entry and exit points at the bordering areas. Besides, instructions have been given to police officers and combing police parties to coordinate with their coun-terparts in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Chhattis-garh, he said. A similar alert was also sounded along the Andhra-Odisha Border (AOB), the police said.

As many as 300 heav-ily armed Maoists ambushed a CRPF contingent yester-day and killed 25 troopers in Chhattisgarh.

MPOST BUREAU

NEW DELHI: It was only nine days back when Surender Kumar was home on leave and had taken his wife and four-year-old daughter on a trip to the Golden Temple in Amrit-sar and Wagah border.

On Tuesday, his distraught family is struggling to come to terms with the news of his demise in the Sukma naxal attack yesterday, clueless as they are about their lives with-out him. Surender was among the 25 CRPF personnel who were in the Maoist ambush in Chhattisgarh's Sukma, one of the deadliest in years.

Pushpraag Thakur, who learnt of his brother-in-law's death at 5:45 am today, said he was proud of Surender's mar-tyrdom, but had no expecta-tions from the government.

"We have no expectations from the government because

we know that they will do noth-ing. They will bring in no new initiatives for the CRPF per-sonnel or those in the army. I would like to question our defence minister and our prime minister that for how long this will continue.

"My brother-in-law and 24 other men died, but nobody is affected. All they do is put a garland on the martyrs' photos

to be in the news. My brother-in-law has given his life for the country and I am proud of him, but why do we never see a min-ister's son becoming a martyr on the border?" Pushpraag said.

Surender was the sole earn-ing member in the family that lives in a three-room house in Mandi district of Himachal Pradesh (HP). A phone call to Sanjay Kumar's home in Palampur, also in Himachal Pradesh, elicited wails of his inconsolable elder daughter who demanded nothing but justice for her father.

"Papa ko justice dilao.. papa ki kya galti thi (Do justice to my father, what was his fault)?" was all that was to be heard from the distressed daughter.

Sanjay's elder brother, Vijay Sharma said he was proud of his sacrifice but his voice mir-rorred Pushpraag's hopeless-ness and lack of trust in the government.

West Bengal Group D Recruitment Board Department of P & AR & E-governance

Government of West Bengal Notice

This notice is hereby issued for the general information of all candidates who have been issued Admit Cards, based on their valid applications, and are appearing in the W.B.Group D written examination, 2017:

“The revised date of written examination 2017 for Group D posts in the State Government offices has been fixed on 20th May 2017 (Saturday), from 2.30 pm to 3.45 pm. The revised duration of examination will be 75 minutes. Reporting time to the examination centres will be 12.30 pm and time for entry into the exam hall will be 1.30 pm. Admission to the examination hall will not be allowed after 2.20 pm. The Admit Cards already issued for 14th may 2017 will remain valid for the examination on 20th May 2017. There will be negative marking for the wrong answer and 1/2 marks will be deducted for every wrong answer. The above information are also available in the website of the Board. For other information concerning the examination, please visit the Board’s website www.wbgdrb.in from time to time.”

Sd/-

Memo No 568/WBGDRB/M-29/12

Chairman

Ref No. JT.MD/Advt/861 24 APRIL 2017NOTICE INVITING e-TENDER AND Tenders

e-Tenders are invited from the reputed, renowned Organisation for supply of Drivers & Conductors for operating bus and from reputed Civil Contractors for civil works.The time and date of submission of eligibility, technical and financial bid up to 12 noon on 17.05.2017.The Bid Forms and other details for e-Tender can be obtained from website : www.wbtenders.gov.in. Cost of Tender: Rs.10.000/- (only for supply of Drivers & Conductors).Off line Tenders are also invited from reputed, renowned Civil Contractor for civil jobs.Details of off-line Tender can be obtained from website: www.calcuttatramways.com

EXPRESSION OF INTERESTExpression of Interest is invited from reputed, bonafide agencies for providing Mobile Phone based on current ticketing and related facilities to the commutersFor details EOI can be obtained from www.calcuttatramways.com Sd/-

Jt Managing Director

WEST BENGAL TRANSPORT CORPORATION LIMITEDFormerly known as The Calcutta Tramways Co. (1978) Limited

(A Govt. of West Bengal Undertaking)

WB HIDCOE-Tender Notice No.- 04 of G.M (E)-II of 2017-2018

WB HIDCO invites online percentage rate open tender for an estimated amount Rs. 5,11,61,598/- in two bid system for Construction of R.C.C. Trough from experienced, resourceful bonafide Govt. Contactors and eligible outsiders in the manner as described in the detailed tender notice available on WB HIDCO Website www.wbhidcoltd.com on and from 21.04.2017 at 11:00 A.M.Corrigendum / Addendum, if any to this e-tender would appear only on above Website and not be published. ICA/T 983(2)2017 General Manager (Engg)-II

NEW DELHI: Heatwave con-ditions intensified in Odisha where one person died due to sunstroke on Tuesday but maximum temperatures stayed within normal limits in some northern states while heavy rainfall caused landslides in Mizoram.

Dry weather conditions continued in the national cap-ital with the Safdarjung obser-vatory, whose recording is considered official for the city, registering a maximum tem-perature of 38.3 degrees Cel-sius, normal for this time of the year. Blistering heat swept across Odisha with Titlagarh being the hottest place at 45.5 degrees Celsius. The sunstroke toll also climbed to three fol-lowing a death reported from Balangir district, the office of the Special Relief Commis-sioner (SRC) said.

Earlier, two sunstroke deaths had been reported in the state, one each in Bargarh and Angul districts, it said adding, 15 cases of suspected sun-stroke deaths reported

from different areas are being investigated.

The mercury breached the 43-degree mark in eight towns and the 40-degree mark in at least 17 places.

Angul recorded a maxi-mum temperature of 44.7 degrees Celsius, while it was 44.4 degrees Celsius in Talcher, 44 degrees Celsius in Sundar-garh, 43.8 degrees Celsius in Bhawanipatna and 43.6 degrees Celsius in Hirakud.

The searing heat did not spare the coastal region also as the temperature shot up in many places, including Chan-dbali where the mercury touched 41.2 degrees Celsius.

Light to moderate rainfall occurred at isolated places in Rajasthan while Churu was the hottest place in the state recording a maximum temper-ature of 41.1 degrees Celsius.

Kota registered a maximum temperature of 39.8 degrees Celsius while the mercury was below the 39-degree mark at other stations, the MeT depart-ment said. AGENCIES

GAUTAM LAHIRI

NEW DELHI: As part of the discourse on cleaning up the country’s electoral system, a Parliamentary panel, in its latest report, has recommended link-ing of voters with their Aadhaar card numbers to help prevent bogus voters from enrolling in the electoral rolls. The commit-tee praised the Election Com-mission (EC) for digitalisation of the country’s electoral rolls and the use of software, which has helped to detect a large number of bogus voters in rolls.

The committee also sug-gested the preparation of a com-mon digital electoral roll which can be used both by the Elec-tion Commission of India and the state election commissions. Although the two are indepen-dent bodies according to the Constitution, the committee has opined that this common electoral list would not only save huge national resources but also be a major step for-

ward towards “purification” of the electoral rolls.

These suggestions were made in a unanimous report presented to Parliament by the Standing Committee on Law and Justice, headed by Congress Deputy Leader of the Rajya Sabh Anand Sharma and com-prising of BJP members Pra-vat Jha and Meenakhshi Lekhi and TMC members Sukhendu Sekhar Roy (the party’s deputy leader) and Idris Ali.

The reason cited in the recommendations is that it has been observed that in many cases a particular elector is reg-istered as a voter at multiple places, which is a cause of con-cern and worry. The commit-tee felt this gives rise to electoral malpractices, including bogus voting. During a meeting with the committee, the Election Commission said that it has data for the entire country and the central server of the Commis-sion is with Centre for Develop-ment of Advanced Computing

(C-DAC), Pune.C-DAC, Pune, which is a

premier hub for cutting edge R&D, has the distinction of being the country’s first C-DAC centre. It has been at the fore-front of the organisation’s R&D initiatives and has spearheaded several national programmes of strategic importance. C-DAC, Pune is also credited for the first indigenously developed PARAM supercomputer .

The state election scommis-sion are independent bodies, with some preparing their own electoral rolls and some using the Election Commission of India’s electoral rolls. The EC claimed at the meeting with the House panel that with the help of modern software, the Commission can to detect a large number of bogus voters in the country. During the recent Assembly polls, 32 lakh bogus voters were removed from the electoral rolls of UP, 42 lakh in Uttarakhand, 15,000 in Goa and 2.37 lakh in Punjab.

Use Aadhaar numbers to detect bogus voters: House panel

OUR CORRESPONDENT

SRINAGAR: The worsening security situation in Kashmir was discussed on Tuesday at a high-level meeting where Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti directed the forces to exercise restraint and advo-cated a "healing touch" towards "our own youth" caught in the cycle of violence.

She said youth engage-ment should be prioritized rather than viewing it as a rou-tine law and order issue and asked the security agencies to improve interface with the public to allay people's appre-hensions and misgivings about the system.

She was chairing a meet-ing of the Unified Command Headquarters, the multi-agency security body, here against the backdrop of spi-ralling protests and violence in the Kashmir valley over the last few weeks.

"The youth unfortunately caught in the cycle of violence are our own youth who ought to be won over with healing

touch," Mehbooba said at the meeting attended by Deputy Chief Minister Nirmal Singh and top officials of the state government, the army and the paramilitary forces.

"The Chief Minister directed the security agen-cies to exercise restraint while dealing with provocative situ-ations," an official said.

She said that wherever restraint had been exercised, it had shown positive results on the ground for the govern-ment and helped in maintain-ing peace and order.

Advocating holding of

counseling sessions for the youth, Mehbooba said it would not only help allay their apprehensions and misgivings about the system but would also give the security agencies a chance to reach out to people through community policing, the official said.

She said youth engagement should be prioritized rather than viewing it as a routine law and order issue and directed that care should be taken to avoid and minimize all collat-eral damage while conducting operations.

"She also directed that par-

ents of the youth be taken into confidence as and when there is some complaint about any youth and in no way should the family be held account-able for the deeds of the said youth," they added.

Besides the Deputy Chief Minister, the meeting was attended by Chief Secretary B R Sharma, Financial Commis-sioner and Principal Secretary to Chief Minister B B Vyas, Principal Secretary, Home, R K Goyal, Director General of Police S P Vaid, GoC-in-C of Northern Command Lt Gen Devraj Anbu, Corps Com-manders of various Army for-mations operating in the state; and Divisional Commission-ers of Kashmir and Jammu.

Senior officers of CRPF and BSF were also present in the meeting.

Mehbooba had yesterday met Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Min-ister Rajnath Singh in Delhi and emphasised the need for a dialogue with separatists to contain deterioration in the situation.

JAMMU: Normal life was hit in Reasi district of Jammu and Kashmir due to a shut-down called by a few right-wing Hindu groups to protest the "failure" of police to arrest members of a nomadic family for "smuggling cattle and rais-ing anti-national slogans" on Thursday.

The Akhil Bharatiya Vidy-arthi Parishad (ABVP), the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), the Bajrang Dal, transporters' and trading organisations have also demanded that the police release 11 people arrested for "thrashing" two members of the nomadic family while they were transporting bovines without permission.

"A complete shut down was observed in the town. A peace-ful procession was taken out by the protesters. They have

given a memorandum to the administration," SSP, Reasi, Tahir Bhat said.

The SSP said there was no untoward incident reported and the situation is under control. Normal life was dis-rupted due to the shut down. Public transport remained off the roads. Shops and other business establishments were closed. Police personnel were deployed in adequate numbers and troops of the CRPF were stationed at strategic places in the city. The army was kept on stand-by.

State Minister for Animal Husbandry, Sheep and Fisher-ies Abdul Gani Kohli said the civil and police administration have been asked to inquire into the recent incidents in the dis-trict and take action against the culprits.

OUR CORRESPONDENT

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Ker-ala assembly on Tuesday witnessed noisy scenes over Power Minister MM Mani's alleged anti-women remarks with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan defending him and asserting that his words had been dis-torted. The Congress-led opposition UDF disrupted the assembly proceedings on the first day itself demanding Mani's ouster, leading to the early adjournment of the House for the day.

They said Mani's alleged offensive language was a 'disgrace' to the state and was an offence under the IPC section 294 (causing annoyance by obscene acts and

songs), entailing three-month jail term on conviction.

Vijayan said Mani, who hails from the high range Idukki district, had used col-loquial language while addressing a func-tion, which was 'distorted and 'magnified' by the media. Significantly, the chief minis-ter had denounced earlier Mani's remarks on women.

The protests had erupted in various parts of the state demanding the minis-ter's ouster over his alleged remarks against activists of 'Pembila Orumai,' an outfit of the women plantation workers, and the IAS officer carrying out evictions from encroached government land at Munnar in Idukki district.

Demanding Mani's apology and resig-nation, the two 'Pembila Orumai' activists have gone on an indefinite fast in Munnar along with AAP leader and environmental activist C R Neelakantan.

"Mani himself had offered an explana-tion and expressed regret so there is no need for a debate," Vijayan said replying to a notice for adjournment motion by the UDF on the controversy on the evic-tion drive in Munnar and Mani's remarks.

Mani, in his reply, maintained that he had not used any offensive language against women. "I have not used the word woman even once in my 17-minute speech," said Mani adding that a section of media was against him.

CRPF jawans were having lunch when Maoists ambushed them

J&K CM holds security meet, advocates healing touch towards youth Another sunstroke death in Odisha; temp normal in parts of north India

Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh with Chattisgarh CM Raman Singh address the media on the Sukma Naxal Attack in Raipur on Tuesday

Anguish and gloom engulf families of slain CRPF men

Family members and relatives mourn the death of CRPF jawan Saurabh Kumar at in Danapur

Odisha sounds high alert, seals border with Chhattisgarh

Malkangiri Superintendent of Police (SP) Mitrabhanu Mohapatra said, that a high-alert has been sounded in border areas

Attack on nomad family: Shutdown in Reasi,

protesters seek fair probe

CM defends Mani in Kerala assembly

Clouds hover over the historical Taj-ul-Masajid in Bhopal on Tuesday

mp editorial

South Asia is becoming one of the most fascinating regions in the world economy, displaying unprecedented growth, aver-

aging close to six per cent per annum since the 1990s. According to a new World Bank report, it has consoli-dated its position as the global leader in growth.

South Asia is expected to have grown by an impressive 6.7 per cent (y-o-y) as a whole over the last year, staying higher than the growth rate of East Asia, which stood at 6.3 per cent. Other regions around the world have either been growing slowly or contracting.

Even though India accounts for more than three-quarters of the region’s GDP, it is not the only country that has pulled the region into a high-growth trajectory. Apart from India, Bangla-desh and Bhutan have grown at around seven per cent over the last year. In fact, Bhutan has become the fastest-grow-ing economy in the region owing to its booming hydropower production.

However, there are a few causes of concern as well that can affect the region’s long-term growth. First, invest-ments in South Asia have been sec-ond only to East Asia, but declining over the last year, being pulled down by India and Sri Lanka. South Asia’s public debt is also the second-highest across regions. These factors can be inimical to the economic growth of the region in the long run.

Second, and more importantly, South Asia has the weakest trade inte-gration with the world and also within its economies. Globally, the region’s exports account for only around 10 per cent of its GDP, which is second-least only to sub-Saharan Africa. As a region, South Asia’s regional trade accounts for less than six per cent of its global trade. Now that labour in China is becoming costlier, South Asia can gain consider-ably by focusing on labour-intensive export industries. The debates about globalisation at least agree on the view that it has been poverty-reducing for

developing countries. South Asia can tackle its poverty issues by spurring job creation through higher global and regional integration.

Third, the region has made little progress in diversifying its exports. Between 2001 and 2013, almost 80 per cent of South Asia’s export growth came from the sale of the same goods to the same destinations. All South Asian countries have been paragons of par-ticular industries: apparel for Bangla-desh and Sri Lanka, business process outsourcing for India and light manu-facturing for Pakistan. A lack of diver-sification in exports can be dangerous for a nation in the long run as indus-tries can easily shift base when opera-tions become uncompetitive in that economy.

Therefore, even though South Asia is currently the fastest-growing region in the world, it is in no way out of the woods yet. A wide range of factors can put the brakes on its run unless and until the region improves its subdued competitiveness. A short-term method is to keep costs low, but the only sus-tainable path is to increase the produc-

tivity of its factors of production. South Asia, however, has seen growth through the accumulation of factor quantities rather than an improvement in their productivity.

A sustainable and efficient mecha-nism to improve productivity is through agglomeration, that is, through the ben-efits that arise to firms and workers by locating close together. Research shows that a 10 per cent rise in employment in a district creates a 0.2-0.9 per cent increase in total factor productivity in the firms located within the district.

However, even though South Asia is heavily concentrated regarding eco-nomic activity, the degree of geographic concentration has remained mostly unchanged. For instance, an earlier World Bank report found that the degree of geographical concentration of manufacturing activities in South Asia has hardly changed in the last two decades. South Asian countries have hardly benefitted from the creation of clusters and the productivity that arises out of it. It is due to this reason that industries like electronics, which benefit from proximity to suppliers and

manufacturers, could never flourish in the region in a way it did in East Asia, despite the former having competitive labour costs.

If policymakers in the region focus more on raising productivity by encour-aging the formation of clusters, the region’s growth can become more sus-tainable in the long run. Competitive factor conditions along with lucrative clusters might attract foreign firms and investment. This would, firstly, tackle the issue of declining investments and rising public debt. Secondly, it would lead to a better global integration of the region. Finally, the creation of strong clusters leads to setting up of support-ing industries around the region, which would also move the economy towards higher diversification.

By 2030, South Asia will be home to more than a quarter of the world’s working adults. Informed public policy moves will define their future. IANS

(Amit Kapoor is chair, Institute for Competitiveness, India. Views

expressed are strictly personal. Chirag Yadav, researcher in the

Institute, has contributed to the piece.)

8MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

Can the two AIADMK fac-tions reunite and continue to be relevant in Tamil Nadu? Almost seventy-five

days after the split in the party, the AIADMK Amma (led by Chief Min-ister Edappadi Palaniswamy) and the AIADMK Puratchi Thalaivi Amma (led by former Chief Minister O. Pan-neerselvam who had revolted and split the party) have set up committees for merger talks. Even if the merger takes place after hard negotiations, can the party survive till the next elections?

This unity move came after both groups had realised that united they win and divided they sink. The EPS faction found that the Sasikala clan was becoming a liability. People were fed up after the income tax raids on the AIADMK minister Vijaya Bhaskar’s house as well as the complaint that the Sasikala group was bribing the voters in the R.K. Nagar by-elections which have now been countermanded.

Their future is uncertain because Panneerselvam faction has asserted that the merger can take place only after the EPS faction dumps both the aunt and the nephew. Fearing that Dinakaran might stake a claim for his chair, EPS is only too glad to go along. Interestingly, neither Sasikala nor Dinakaran had put up any resis-tance about the ouster. Perhaps they treat this as a strategic retreat rather than political oblivion.

Tamil Nadu is going through a political churning after the death of the AIADMK supremo Jayalalithaa in December. She is partly respon-sible for the present state of affairs as she had neither groomed nor named anyone as her successor. Her mentor MGR also did the same but Jayalalithaa who claimed his legacy was a charis-matic leader.

Even though the party split after MGR’s death in 1987 and his wife Janaki took over, the Jayalalithaa fac-tion emerged victorious with 27 seats in the 1989 polls while Janaki won just two. Jaya had understood that to win the elections, she needed to mobil-ise the anti-DMK votes. Seeing the ground reality, Janaki left politics, and Jaya was able to unite the two factions.

In 2017, when the party split after the death of Jayalalithaa, the situa-tion is entirely different. For one thing, there is no charismatic leader in the

AIADMK in whose name the party can win the next elections, and Pan-neerselvam is not Jayalalithaa. Jaya’s companion Sasikala’s bid to take over the party had failed after the revolt of former Chief Minister Panneerselvam and the court verdict sending her to jail for four years.

Thirdly, the money is with Sasi-kala who is in a Bengaluru jail and her plan to rule the party from the prison through her nephew Dinakaran has failed. He had allegedly attempted to bribe the Election Commission offi-cials to secure the AIADMK symbol of two leaves. With Jayalalithaa dead

and the two leaves symbol frozen, the two factions know it will be difficult to survive.

The unity move came as an oppor-tunity as well as a dilemma for both the factions. Though they may get cabinet berths, there is apprehension that the EPS group may swamp them. Also, OPS faction would like to have some clarity about the ouster of the Sasikala clan. After all, his revolt is against Sasi-kala. As for EPS, this was an oppor-tunity to get out of the clutches of the Sasikala family.

Once the Sasikala issue is settled, comes the question of who would be

the Chief Minister? Should the pres-ent Chief Minister EPS continue or the dethroned Chief Minister OPS gets back his chair? This is tricky and needs to be decided. The Assembly has a strong opposition led by the DMK, unlike the 1989 scenario where the opposition strength was negligible. Moreover, although the DMK patri-arch M. Karunanidhi is out of action, his son M.K. Stalin who is now the working president has been active in taking on the government.

There are other opposition lead-ers like Vaiko (MDMK), Ramadoss (PMK), and Vijayakant (DMDK) who can make noise.

Neither Panneerselvam nor Palaniswamy had proved their gover-nance capabilities. For instance, a del-egation of farmers had been camping in Delhi for almost 40 days seeking relief for their parched fields.

The Tamil Nadu government had done nothing to mitigate their suffer-ings. Panneerselvam did show some enterprise while he tried to contain the Jallikattu agitation in January but it was with the full support of the Centre. He did not show any initiative when he was the Chief Minister thrice before.

Neither OPS nor EPS can provide the kind of leadership needed to sat-isfy the party cadres who are used to MGR and Jayalalithaa. It will be diffi-cult for the AIADMK to attract work-ers or voters with the aspirations of the young people changing.

Whoever is the Chief Minister, he has to be on the right side of the Cen-tre given the fragility of the party. OPS is said to have a good relationship with Delhi and EPS is also trying to culti-vate the BJP.

While the BJP claims that it has no role in the unification of the AIADMK, it is clear that the BJP would like to deal with a united AIADMK minus Sasikala clan. The BJP would like to have the support of the AIADMK in Rajya Sabha where the party is in the minority for legislative measures and also for the upcoming Presiden-tial elections where the BJP led NDA needs about 25000 votes.

For both factions of AIADMK, the task of restoring unity at first and then to maintain it till the next elections is quite tough. IPA

(The views expressed are strictly personal.)

Lacking charismatic leadersEDITORIAL

AIADMK unity may be restored, but it will be difficult to maintain

There is no charismatic leader in the AIADMK in whose name the party can win the next elections, and Panneerselvam is not Jayalalithaa. Jaya’s companion Sasikala’s bid to take over the party had failed after the revolt of former Chief Minister Panneerselvam and the court verdict sending her to jail for four years

Now that labour in China is becoming costlier, South Asia can gain considerably by focusing on labour-intensive export industries. The debates about globalisation at least agree on the view that it has been poverty-reducing for developing countries

The National Democratic Alliance government is adamant that the biometric data of over 1.12 billion Indians who have enrolled for Aadhaar is safe. In a recent interview, Nandan Nilekani, the first chair-

man of the Unique Identification Authority of India, maintains that there are no security flaws in the system. These assurances have come at a time when the Centre has mandated the use of the 12-digit Aadhaar number to access a variety of govern-ment services, even to the extent of making it compulsory for filing income tax returns. As argued in these columns, such measures are in direct violation of the Supreme Court’s direc-tives, which has said that possessing an Aadhaar number is not mandatory for Indian citizens to avail of social welfare benefits. Even though these 12-digit identity numbers and the information they contain are supposed to remain confidential under law, various government agencies have in the recent past inexplicably published sensitive personal data of unsuspecting citizens on their websites. Section 6 of the Aadhaar (Sharing of Information) Regulations explicitly states: “the Aadhaar number of an individual shall not be published, displayed or posted publicly by any person or entity or agency.” Despite the rules governing Aadhaar, the Jharkhand Directorate of Social Security was careless enough to publish the personal informa-tion of about 1.5 million people on its website early last Sat-urday. The details include their bank account details, mobile phone and Aadhaar numbers. These unfortunate pensioners could now come under the lens of financial fraudsters, not to mention profiling for nefarious purposes. At least, the admin-istrators had the common sense to take down the website on the same night. On Monday, there were also reports that the Aadhaar numbers and other personal details of Public Dis-tribution System (PDS) beneficiaries in the Union Territory of Chandigarh were displayed on its website. These instances are not uncommon. What the government must acknowledge is that the digital security system around the Aadhaar scheme remains vulnerable and that the privacy of its citizens should not suffer such compromises. “That was not the first, and these will not be the last because, by design, you are allow-ing the Aadhaar number and details to be stored by anyone. You do not even need an Application Programme Interface. Right now everyone can build their own database of Aadhaar numbers,” says Srinivas Kodali, an interdisciplinary researcher working on issues of cities, data and the internet. While the government was quick to take action again nine private enrol-ment agencies for publishing sensitive information, including one that leaked the application of former Indian Test cap-tain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, it is yet to take any government agency to task for such inexplicable breaches.

Data stored by small government agencies across the country remain vulnerable. In the process of linking Aad-haar to a whole host of government schemes, the Centre has made it incumbent upon these small agencies to store sensi-tive data, allowing hackers easier access. “Aadhaar has infor-mation security problems, which are primarily due to the non-enforcement of responsible technology practices by gov-ernment officials who use, build, maintain and secure systems with sensitive data. Even if India gets a strong privacy law, it will almost certainly face institutional capacity challenges within government departments in implementing the rule of law,” Kodali writes in a recent column for a popular Indian news website. “The lack of capacity within the IT (informa-tion technology) wings of various government departments is appalling due to lack of awareness with national policies around data sharing and cybersecurity. It needs to be remem-bered that the Aadhaar project was not built by government officials but by volunteers from India’s software industry who don’t maintain it anymore. The need for improving skill sets of public servants across the country is of the utmost importance to make sure the technology we built is not abused against us by bad state actors,” he goes on to add. Reading about the reaction of officials in Jharkhand to the massive data leak, it is evident that they had little inkling of how the personal data of millions of people saw the light of day on their website. Although the law makes the publication of such data illegal and prescribes punitive action for violators, one continues to witness such unfortunate breaches.

Where is the Supreme Court amidst all this chaos? It has shown no alacrity in dealing with petitions about the con-stitutional validity of Aadhaar, especially on the question of whether privacy is a fundamental right. “It is of the highest importance that the question whether a law is valid or not must be decided at the earliest moment,” wrote KM Munshi, a member of the Constituent Assembly in a draft note in 1947. “Any uncertainty about its validity will lead to great hard-ships. The object of the fundamental law will be frustrated if people have to serve sentences, pay fines or deny themselves the privileges given by the Constitution for a long time under an invalid law.” In other words, any delay on the part of the courts in dealing with important matters related to the Con-stitution can have adverse consequences on the fundamental rights of its citizens. Last month, the court refused to accept demands for an early hearing of vital Aadhaar-related peti-tions. On Wednesday, the court will reportedly take up chal-lenges against making Aadhaar compulsory for filing income tax returns and getting Permanent Account Numbers. The apex court’s primary task is to stand as a bulwark between the State on one side and the individual on the other. That is the main reason why it exists in a democratic republic. With the government determined to expand the Aadhaar programme’s sphere of influence in the lives of ordinary citizens, there can-not be any ambiguity in its legal status and limits. The govern-ment must also limit any further expansion of Aadhaar until a comprehensive review and correction of the security systems attached to the scheme are completed.

Data security

Dastardly attack

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EDITOR

The apathy of the Central government towards matters of states beyond elec-tion campaign is nothing short of appalling. Be it Jammu and Kashmir or Tamil Nadu, the turning away from regional matters will do the Union no good. The basic difference between the two states is that the impact of Centre's apathy translates into two completely different worlds of trouble. So on the surface what might look like 'regional issues' are essentially the product of the non-performance by the Centre.

AMIT KAPOOR

KALYANI SHANKAR

Is it ignorance or apathy? Hey, I don't know and I don't care

Quote martial

JIMMY BUFFETT

South Asia needs to improve its subdued competitiveness

Defining a better future

In response to the dastardly Maoist attack that claimed the lives of 25 Central Reserve Police Force personnel in Sukma district, Chhattisgarh, earlier this week, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh on Tuesday said that the

Centre would review its strategy to tackle left-wing extrem-ism. Describing the Sukma attack as a “cowardly act”, he said the Centre and states would work together against left-wing extremism. “It is an act of desperation. Such groups are anti-development,” Singh said. There is some truth to Singh’s assertion, as the Indian State makes further ground into the Maoist heartland, opening up villages that have until recently remained cut off from the world and relegating Naxals further into the dense forests of these regions. The construction of roads and mobile towers under heavy security cover on a war footing by the Indian State is a definite sign of the changing circumstances. In fact, the slain CRPF personnel were part of a unit overseeing the construction of a road. The Maoists have grown so desperate that they’ve begun to target villages where they once held sway, killing or torturing suspected ‘police informants’. It’s not as if the Indian security forces have their hands clean, especially as reports emerge of heinous human rights violations against tribal communities. Monday’s attack isn’t the first time the CRPF has incurred significant casualties in the fight against Maoist groups. It’s a battle that the Indian State has been engaged in since the late 1960s. Although the details of what went down on Monday are still not very clear, observers in the know have once again raised serious questions about the institutional and strategic failures on the Indian State’s part that have led to such massacres.

ALTAF HUSSAIN Via email

Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi Palaniswamy with former Chief Minister late J Jayalalithaa

Representational Image

India is richly endowed with many minerals. The minerals are neces-sary and strategic for industrial and economic development. In min-

ing, the possibilities of adverse effects on the environment are quite high if the adverse effects are not contained or reduced to a minimum. The negative impact of mining could be controlled through the application of the concept and principles of sustainable develop-ment to mining operations. Sustainable mining is crucial for the promotion of inclusive growth.

The Indian mineral industry com-prises of large and small mines, that function under public, the private sec-tor and informal sectors covering most minor minerals being extracted. The public sector continues to play a domi-nant role in the production of various minerals (coal, lignite, petroleum, iron and steel, bauxite and aluminium). As per the Constitution, development and regulation of mines and minerals is con-trolled by the Union government. The Mine and Minerals (Development and Regulation) Act 1957 was amended in 2015, to add the provision for a straight-forward and transparent mechanism for granting mining lease or prospecting licence through competitive bidding besides assured tenure and easy transfer-ability of the mineral concession granted through auction, strict penalty provision to deter illegal mining.

The total value of country’s mineral production (excluding atomic minerals) during 2015-16 has been estimated at Rs 2,68,955 crores, after a decrease of about 5.05 per cent over the previous year.

Sustainability in Mining sectorThe most important environmental

requirement for a mining project is a comprehensive environment assessment (EIA) programme, which was started in 1994. However, laws and regulatory instruments work unsatisfactorily due to weak enforcement and inadequate coordination among government agen-cies. Although mining enterprises tend to meet the legal requirement of prepar-ing mine closure plans, implementation falls short. Local communities are not consulted in preparing and implement-ing mine closure plans.

A large number of small mines (including quarries for extracting minor minerals) operate in most states. These present difficult challenges for sustain-able development as their financial, tech-nical, and managerial limitations restrict their ability to take effective corrective measures against adverse impacts of mining.

Major mining companies use advanced, adopt comprehensive envi-ronment protection measures, sensitise their personnel on sustainability issues and progressively try to improve their environmental performance. There are other large, medium and even small enterprises whose environment obli-gation consists in strictly conforming to the prescribed legal provisions. In the case of illegal mining, these niceties are not observed. It is reported that the illegal sand mining is widely responsi-ble for the environmental degradation especially the river beds of Ganga and Yamuna rivers. Lack of checks and polit-ical interference has turned the situation grim. Even legal mines flout norms and damage the environment.

Two main pre-conditions for achiev-ing sustainability are good governance and self-regulating mining enterprises which are economically viable, finan-cially profitable, and technically effi-cient. Sustainability principles have application for all stages of mine life cycle – exploration, mine planning, con-

struction, mineral extraction, mine clo-sure, and post-closure reclamation and rehabilitation. These principles include elements such as intra- and inter-gen-erational equity, the precautionary prin-ciple, scientific mining, management of environmental and socio-economic impacts, creation of substitute capital in the form of social and physical infra-structure and stakeholder engagement.

A Planning Commission report titled “Sustainable Development, Emerging issues in India’s mineral sector” observed that in the mineral-rich states of Odisha, Goa, Karnataka, and Jharkhand, mining has brought about economic develop-ment. At the same time, it has caused significant environmental damages and negatively impacted communities in project areas. To that extent, the mining and environmental laws and regulations have not been very effective.

In some cases, mining operations have been carried out without concern-ing for the ‘carrying capacity’ of the environment and other infrastructural limitations. This has put avoidable pres-sure on the environment and caused inconveniences to the people living in the mining areas. Illegal mining in many cases has a similar effect while addition-ally causing loss of public revenues.

Sustainability has assumed consid-erable importance in the main mining nations like Canada, Australia, South Africa, and Papua New Guinea. These

countries take a comprehensive view of sustainable development in mining that includes apart from environment, other critical dimensions such as local stakeholder engagement, socio-eco-nomic development in mining project areas and transparency in communi-cation with the interested parties. In India, major mining companies have set up foundations to take up social and economic development projects in their mining areas. In developed min-ing nations all regulatory mining and environmental laws meant to lessen the impact of mining are strictly imple-mented. These include provisions for mine closure and associated reclama-tion and rehabilitation of mined land.

The way aheadBoth the government and indus-

try need to take a comprehensive view of sustainable development that should cover dimensions other than the environment, such as stakeholder engagement and consultations, local area socio-economic development and transparency in communication and accountability. Preparation of a social and economic assessment report for a mining project should be made a part of the permitting process for the grant and administration of mineral conces-sion to a mining enterprise. Local socio-economic development works should preferably be executed by mining enter-prises rather than government and semi-government agencies to avoid problems of inadequate capacity, political manipu-lation, and corruption.

In a bid to alleviate the limitations of small mines in carrying out sustain-able development activities, consortia of small mining enterprises in a region should be promoted. Technical advi-sory services should be made available to them in the relevant areas. Mineral development in a region should be car-ried out within its available social and environmental “carrying capacity” and infrastructural facilities at a given point of time. DOWN TO EARTH

(The writer is former Adviser, Planning Commission and

Chief Executive, Haryana Environmental Management Society. Views expressed are strictly personal.)

9mp in focusMILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is inclined to achieve what Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the head of NDA-I government could not in 2002 -- to have somebody from the Sangh benches adorn the Presidential chair

Laws and regulatory instruments work unsatisfactorily due to weak enforcement and inadequate coordination among government agencies. Although mining enterprises tend to meet the legal requirement of preparing mine closure plans, implementation falls short. Local communities are not consulted in preparing and implementing mine closure plans

Search for unity in OppositionWill poll for President’s office make the disparate groups come together

Can mining be sustainable?SAMAR LAHIRY

In the midst of the cacophony created by the high-pitch cam-paign for the municipal elec-tions in Delhi, most of the

national dailies and channels failed to take prominent notice of a more serious political development. In the past fortnight, leading lights of the opposition – Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, and Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik took the first steps towards opposition unity.

Given the rise of the BJP over the past few years, especially after Nar-endra Modi assumed the office of the Prime Minister, the concern of the triumvirate is genuine with the challenge they face from the saffron party on their respective home turfs. To them to rein in the Modi jugger-naut, the earliest opportunity could be the election of the next President as the term of the incumbent Pranab Mukherjee ends this summer.

On a visit to Odisha last week, Mamata Banerjee ‘reaffirmed’ her commitment to creating a front of regional parties to counter the BJP. “The regional parties are enough to tackle the BJP,” Trinamool Con-gress chief Banerjee told reporters after a meeting with Patnaik. Giving a didactic perspective to her initia-tive, Banerjee said that in the federal structure, regional parties strengthen the very system under the Constitu-tion. Such assertions indicate that she was ready to walk that extra mile to accommodate regional counterparts for the cause of opposition unity. A more direct indication of the same came when she said, “It is still early for that (Presidential poll). If he (Naveen) proposes any name, I will talk to him. Don’t worry. We have the best of relationship.”

On the other hand Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, too, met Congress president Sonia Gandhi to explore the possibility of having a common candidate for the upcoming polls. Bihar CM met the Congress president in New Delhi on the same day Banerjee met Pat-naik in Bhubaneswar. A day later, Yechury, too, called on the Congress president and the two are reported to have again held a consultation on the issue of opposition unity for the President’s poll.

Nitish Kumar has been calling for forging an alliance of secular parties at the national level on the lines of the 2015 electoral grand alliance or ‘Mahagathbandhan’ in Bihar, which

ensured defeat of the BJP in the state Assembly polls. An analysis of the votes polled in the just concluded Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls also show that if the warring non-BJP parties like the BSP and SP had come together in an alliance the results could have been different.

However, the polls for the Presi-dent’s office are different from that of the state or the Central legislative bodies. The President is elected by an electoral college consisting of the elected members of both houses of Parliament, the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the 29 states and the elected members of the Legislative Assemblies of the Union Territories of Delhi and Puducherry.

As of 2017, the Electoral College

comprises 776 MPs and 4120 MLAs. The total strength of Electoral Col-lege is 10,98,882 votes. Halfway mark is 5,49,442 votes. After winning the UP elections, 2017, NDA is short of only 24,552 votes.

Given the advantage which the BJP enjoys in the present scenario, the challenge for Mamata, Nitish, and Patnaik to bring together dispa-rate political groups under the Oppo-sition unity cannot be bigger. The three together and the Left parties constitute just about 15 per cent of the votes, whereas the NDA is sit-ting pretty with 47.5 per cent of the votes. The Congress-led UPA con-trols around 25 per cent of the votes. That leaves about 12 per cent of the floating votes, which could be up for

grabs for reaching the halfway mark.In the case of the NDA weaning

away, just a fraction of this floating block could ensure the victory of its candidate. There is an also outside possibility of some of the members of the UPA block like the Nation-alist Congress Party (NCP) could help achieve this figure by either going with the NDA or abstaining from voting. There are parties in the floating block like the AIADMK, who in the absence of a powerful leader like J Jayalalitha, could trans-fer their 5.4 per cent of vote share to the NDA, making it a cakewalk for their candidate.

Thus, it’s more than clear that the Opposition can think of a spirited fight in the Electoral College only

if it manages to put up a prominent candidate, whose nomination could create an environment for Opposi-tion unity and undermine the pro-file of the candidate put up by the ruling dispensation. Some of the names which have floated around are of President Pranab Mukherjee, former Prime Minister Dr Manmo-han Singh, NCP leader Sharad Pawar, JD(U) leader Sharad Yadav, former Lok Sabha Speaker Meira Kumar, and Vice President Hamid Ansari.

Given the list, other than Pranab Mukherjee, nobody else is expected to make the cut and shape up as a formidable candidate. Pranab Mukherjee can get the support of the Trinamool, the JD(U), the RJD of Lalu Yadav, the Left parties, Naveen

Patnaik’s Biju Janata Dal, and possi-bly also the Samajwadi Party and the BSP in addition to the UPA mem-bers. But will that be enough to see him through and will the possibility of a defeat at the hustling encour-age him to take up the challenge at the ripe age?

On the other hand, Prime Min-ister Narendra Modi is inclined to achieve, what Atal Bihari Vajpayee as the head of NDA-I government could not in 2002 -- to have some-body from the Sangh benches adorn the Presidential chair.

(Sidharth Mishra is President, Centre for Reforms, Development & Justice and Consulting Editor,

Millennium Post. The views expressed are strictly personal.)

Two main pre-conditions for achieving sustainability are good governance and self-regulating mining enterprises

Aadhaar Act says no data of a person, incl UID no., will be revealed. Govt babus are still doing so. #AadhaarFail

MEGHNAD@Memeghnad

#Bengal CM meets family of CRPF jawan from the State martyred at Sukma, assures govt job and financial assistance

AITC@AITCofficial

tweetRETWEET

Fixing the portals now won't do any good. Will @UIDAI reissue new #Aadhaar numbers. Can I get new one? #AadhaarFail

SRINIVAS KODALI@iotakodali

Remember: The #Suk-ma hashtag outrage is only till primetime to-night. Because tomor-row Delhi MCD election results will take over.

RAHUL PANDITA@rahulpandita

SIDHARTH MISHRA

Reporter’s Notebook

Members of the Opposition with incumbent President Pranab Mukherjee

Representational Image

mp world10MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

HAPPY FLEET UNDER THREAT

Penguins are among the world’s most charming and recognisable birds, but from South Pole to Equator, a web of threats is seeing them slide ever-closer towards extinction

Labour to scrap May’s Brexit plan if it wins election

LONDON: Britain’s main opposition Labour party today unveiled its own Brexit plan, saying it will scrap the ruling Conservative White Paper on the UK’s exit from the Euro-pean Union (EU) if it wins the general election in June.

The central plank of the Labour strategy will be to uni-laterally guarantee the rights of EU citizens living and working in the UK.

British Prime Minister The-resa May has repeatedly linked this with a reciprocal EU guar-antee of the rights of British citizens domiciled in European countries.

There are an estimated 3 million citizens of other EU countries living in the UK, and about 1.2 million British expats living elsewhere in Europe. Labour’s shadow Brexit min-ister, Sir Kier Starmer, set out his party’s Brexit plans for the upcoming June 8 general elec-tion in a speech in London on

Tuesday. “A Labour govern-ment will set out a new Brexit strategy. We will scrap the gov-ernment s Brexit White Paper and replace it with fresh nego-tiating priorities that reflect Labour values and our six tests,” he said.

He said the White Paper will have a strong emphasis on retaining the benefits of the

Single Market and the Cus-toms Union as Labour know that is vital to protecting jobs and the economy. “And we will approach negotiations in a completely different way to a Tory Brexit: negotiating for the many, not the few,” he said.

“Where May wants to shut down scrutiny and challenge, Labour will welcome it. We

will work with Parliament, not against it. Because on an issue of this importance the govern-ment can t hide from the public or Parliament.

“A Labour approach to Brexit means legislating to guarantee that Parliament has a truly meaningful vote on the final Brexit deal.” Starmer stressed that while Labour had

accepted Brexit, it wanted a deal that would prioritise jobs and workers’ rights.

The EU has hardened its position on Brexit talks ahead of a key summit, making new demands on financial services, immigration and Britain’s exit bill, a document showed on Tuesday.

They insist that Britain’s huge finance industry must also stick to EU rules if it wants easy access to European Union markets. And Britain should give EU citizens permanent residency after living there for five years, they say, in a chal-lenge for the British govern-ment which has vowed to limit immigration.

European diplomats agreed the changes at a meet-ing with the bloc’s chief Brexit negotiator ahead of Satur-day’s Brussels summit where EU leaders will approve “red lines” for two years of tough negotiations. AGENCIES

Arkansas executes 2 prisoners in one night

WASHINGTON: The south-ern state of Arkansas, rush-ing to execute several inmates before a lethal drug expires next week, put to death two inmates, the first double exe-cution in the United States in 17 years.

Arkansas Attorney Gen-eral Leslie Rutledge said that Jack Jones and Marcel Wil-liams, both sentenced to death in the 1990s, were executed by lethal injection after higher courts rejected their final legal appeals. Arkansas had planned to put eight convicted mur-derers to death in 11 days — a record, had it been carried out — but four have won reprieves.

Jones, 52, was executed after the US Supreme Court rejected an 11th-hour request from his attorneys asking jus-tices to reconsider a procedural issue from his trial.

Williams, 46, died hours later after his appeals were exhausted. His lawyers had filed a string of last-minute challenges, which included allegations that Jones suffered unnecessarily because he was executed improperly, and that Williams was so obese that it would be hard to find a proper vein for the lethal injection.

Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson has said the accel-erated execution timetable was necessary as the state’s stock of a sedative used in lethal injec-tions will expire at the end of the month.

Rutledge said in a separate

statements that the family and friends of the victims had “seen justice carried out”. The execution process began at 7:06 pm (0006 GMT Tuesday) and Jones was pronounced dead at 7:20 pm, the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper cited Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves as saying.

Jones was calm as he made a rambling final statement while strapped to the gurney, saying he tried to become a better person and apologizing to Lacey, a daugh-ter of Jones’s victim, 34-year-old Mary Phillips, the paper said, citing media witnesses in the death chamber.

Three hours later the lethal injection process began on Williams, who according to the newspaper refused to make a final statement. He was pronounced dead at 10:33 pm (0333 GMT).Last minute appeals had delayed

the execution, which had been scheduled for one hour after Jones’s execution.

Last week, on Thursday, Ledell Lee was put to death in the state’s first execution in more than a decade. Many of the legal clashes over Arkan-sas’s plan focus on use of the drug midazolam, a sedative meant to render a condemned person unconscious before other drugs induce death.

Critics say it does not always adequately sedate pris-oners, potentially causing undue suffering.

And McKesson Medical-Surgical, a distributor for phar-maceutical giant Pfizer, had asked courts to ban the use of a paralytic it sells, vecuronium bromide, in the chemical cocktail used to kill prison-ers. Arkansas has scheduled another execution for April 27.

The last US state to execute two convicts in one night was Texas in August 2000. AGENCIES

Pak hangs 4 ‘hardcore’

militants ISLAMABAD: Pakistan on Tuesday hanged four “hard-core” Taliban militants con-victed of terrorism-related offenses by the controversial military courts.

Army spokesman Major General Asif Ghafoor said that they were hanged in a jail of northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa prov-ince. “Four hardcore terror-ists tried by Military Courts were hanged today (Tues-day),” he said.

Ghafoor further stated that they were involved in committing heinous offences relating to terrorism, includ-ing killing of innocent civil-ians, attacking Armed Forces of Pakistan and Law Enforce-ment Agencies. The four prisoners have been iden-tified by army as Rehman ud Din, Mushtaq Khan, Ubaid ur Rehman and Zafar Iqbal. They were members of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan.

The timing and place of trial were not known as military courts operate in secrecy due to fear of rebel backlash. Military courts were restored last month for another two years after their initial two-year term expired in January. The courts were set up after a constitutional amendment. AGENCIES

Labour has dangled possibility of delaying Brexit if exit deal negotiated with EU is rejected

‘North Korea capable of making nuclear bomb every 6 weeks’

PYONGYANG: Behind the Trump adminis-tration’s sudden urgency in dealing with the North Korean nuclear crisis lies a stark calculus: a growing body of expert studies and classified intelligence reports that conclude the country is capable of producing a nuclear bomb every six or seven weeks.

That acceleration in pace — impossible to verify until experts get beyond the limited access to North Korean facilities that ended years ago — explains why President Donald Trump and his aides fear they are running out of time. For years, American presidents decided that each incremental improvement in the North’s pro-gramme — another nuclear test, a new variant of a missile — was worrisome, but not worth a confrontation that could spill into open conflict. Now those step-by-step advances have resulted in North Korean warheads that in a few years could reach Seattle. “They’ve learned a lot,” said Siegfried S. Hecker, a Stanford professor who directed the Los Alamos weapons laboratory in New Mexico, birthplace of the atomic bomb, from 1986 to 1997, and whom the N Koreans have let into their facilities seven times. N Korea is threatening another nuclear test, which would be its sixth in 11 years.

The last three tests — the most recent was in September — generated Hiroshima-size explo-sions. It is unclear how Trump would react to a test, but he told representatives of the UN Secu-rity Council at the White House on Monday that they should be prepared to pass far more restric-tive sanctions, which US officials say should include cutting off energy supplies.

“People have put blindfolds on for decades,

and now it’s time to solve the problem,” Trump said. He made his remarks after a Sunday night phone call on North Korea with Xi Jinping, China’s president, who urged Trump to show “restraint” with North Korea, according to a Chi-nese television report. White House officials said little about the call, and aides are trying to use Trump’s unpredictability to the greatest advan-tage, hoping it will keep the Chinese off balance and deter the North Koreans. Inside the CIA, they call it “the disco ball.”

It is a round, metallic sphere, covered by small circles, that the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, is shown caressing in official photo-graphs as if it were his crown jewel. And it may be: The sphere is supposedly a nuclear weapon, shrunken to fit inside the nose cone of one of the country’s growing arsenal of missiles. US intelligence officials still debate whether it is a real bomb or a mock-up that is part of the coun-try’s vast propaganda effort. But it is intended to show where the country is headed. Unless some-thing changes, N Korea’s arsenal may well hit 50 weapons by the end of Trump’s term, about half the size of Pakistan’s. US officials say the North knows how to shrink those weapons so they can fit atop one of its short- to medium-range missiles — putting S Korea and Japan, and the thousands of US troops deployed in those two nations, within range. The best estimates are that North Korea has roughly 1,000 ballistic missiles in eight or so varieties. But fulfilling Kim’s dream putting a nuclear weapon atop an intercontinen-tal ballistic missile that can reach Seattle or Los Angeles, or one day New York remains a more complex problem. AGENCIES

Le Pen’s father criticises her presidential campaign as she

steps down from partyPARIS: French far-right vet-eran Jean-Marie Le Pen said on Tuesday his daughter Marine, who faces centrist Emmanuel Macron in a May 7 presiden-tial runoff, should have cam-paigned more aggressively for Sunday’s first round, following the example of Donald Trump.

With 7.5 million votes, Marine Le Pen beat the National Front party’s previ-ous election record on Sun-day but failed to pip pro-EU Macron to the first place.The intervention by her father fol-lows her announcement on Monday that she plans to step back from day-to-day man-agement of the far-right party he founded ahead of the run-off and marks the latest tussle between the two of them over its future direction.“I think her campaign was too laid-back. If I’d been in her place I would have had a Trump-like campaign, a more open one, very aggressive against those responsible for the decadence of our country, whether left or right,” 88-year-old Jean-Marie Le Pen told RTL radio.

The two have been at odds since Marine Le Pen launched moves to clean the National Front’s image of xenophobic associations in the run-up to the campaign for the 2017 presidency. Jean-Marie Le Pen shocked the world in 2002 by qualifying for the second round of the presidential election and then went on to lose in a land-slide to conservative Jacques

Chirac.He was frequently accused

of making xenophobic and anti-Semitic statements and Le Pen expelled him from the party in 2015, though as the party’s founder he remains a well-known figure and rep-resents a body of opinion in the party.In another sign of his influence, the National Front has borrowed about 6 million euros from a political fund-raising association he heads. Marine Le Pen’s decision to take a leave of absence from the day-to-day management of the party appeared to be an attempt to portray herself as being above the narrow world of National Front politics and broaden her appeal to the wider electorate ahead of the crucial runoff vote.

Her program calls for sharp curbs on immigration and on the rights of immigrants living in France, as well as the expulsion of foreigners under suspicion of having militant Islamist links.

But she is seeking all the same to distance herself from the toxic legacy of her father and the xenophobic and anti-semitic undertones of his previous campaigns. Under France’s Fifth Republic, the president is the head of state, very much like a monarch in other countries, a role described by founder Charles De Gaulle as being above party politics - something Le Pen may have had in mind. AGENCIES

14 killed in Taliban attackPESHAWAR: Taliban militants on Tuesday target-ed a mini bus with a remote-controlled bomb in Pakistan’s restive northwest tribal region, killing at least 14 people including four women and two children, a local official said. The improvised explosive device blast targeted the van in Kontara village in Kurram Agency. AGENCIES

(Left) Jack Jones and Marcel Williams, both were sentenced to death in the 1990s

17 women dead as fishing boat capsizes in central SenegalDAKAR: A Senegalese radio station says 17 women have drowned and at least 40 others are injured after their boat capsized near a village in central Senegal. A traditional wooden boat over-turned near the coastal town of Bettenty on Mon-day night, with 72 on board, all except two of them women, said Commander Oumar Kane, a senior official with Senegal’s national firefighters. Private station RFM says the boat was carrying at least 60 people who had gone to gather oysters yesterday in the waters off Bettenty village. RFM says the injured were treated at a health outpost that had only a nurse and midwife. Senegal’s central region is made up of a number of small islands and villages. Residents often travel by small fishing boats, rarely wearing life vests. AGENCIES

Thai man broadcasts daughter’s murder live on Facebook

BANGKOK: A Thai man filmed himself killing his 11-month-old daughter in two video clips posted on Facebook before committing suicide, police said on Tuesday.

People could access the videos of the child’s murder on her father’s Facebook page for roughly 24 hours, until they were taken down around 5 p.m. in Bangkok (1000 GMT) on Tues-day, or about a day after being uploaded. Last week, Facebook said it was reviewing how it monitored violent footage and other objection-able material after a posting of the fatal shooting of an elderly man in Cleveland, Ohio was visi-ble for two hours before being taken down. The harrowing footage from Thailand shows Wut-tisan Wongtalay tying a rope to his daughter’s neck before dropping her from the rooftop of a deserted building in the Thai seaside town of Phuket. Wuttisan’s suicide was not broadcast but

his lifeless body was found beside his daughter, said Jullaus Suvannin, the police officer in charge of the case. “He was having paranoia about his wife leaving him and not loving him,” Jullaus told Reuters. Reuters was unable to contact the mother of the dead child. Calls to her mobile number went unanswered. Television images showed her weeping and holding the dead baby.

A regional Facebook representative in Singa-pore was not immediately available to comment. After the company faced a backlash for showing the video of the Cleveland killing, Chief Execu-tive Mark Zuckerberg said Facebook would do all it could to prevent such content in the future. Thai netizens voiced outrage about the clips showing the child’s killing.

“This is the most evil clip I’ve seen in my life,” said one user, Avada Teeraponkoon. “I couldn’t stand it for more than one second.” AGENCIES

Network of WWI training tunnels found in UKLONDON: Archaeologists have discovered tunnels and trenches — with live grenades, canned foods and other war paraphernalia — that were used to train troops for the First World War in the UK. The site has graffiti covering many of the tunnel walls.

Some of the etched names have been matched to service records, including those of two brothers who signed their name “Halls” with the motto “Semper Fidelis” (Ever Faith-ful). The names also included Laurence Carthage Weathers, who in September 1918 bravely took 180 prisoners and died in

an ambush a month later, with-out learning that he had earned a Victoria Cross for his efforts.

“This is the first time anywhere in the world that archaeologists have had the chance to examine, excavate and record such an enormous expanse of first world war training ground,” said Si Cleggett from Wessex Archaeology, a UK-based company. “These men were being trained for the real thing, using live grenades we know that because we found over 200 grenades in the tunnel and 50 per cent of them proved to be still live,” said Cleggett.

The recruits left mess tins, combs, toothbrushes, cigarette and tobacco tins and pipes, candlesticks and candle stubs,

tins of condensed milk and meat paste, a jar of Canadian cheese and a tin of Australian toffees, as well as scorch marks

from their cooking fires and candles. A bucket was found that had been adapted into a brazier to help combat the cold at night, ‘The Guardian’ said.

The archaeologists believe the training land began with the trenches, and then the tunnels were added from 1915. In places the tunnels are several levels deep, cut up to six metres below the surface. The site is two miles from Stonehenge, and the excavation also uncovered a wealth of prehistoric material, concentrated around the dry valley through which the river Avon once flowed. AGENCIES

A still from World War-I

mp world 11MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

BRIEFSWORLDBUS-TRUCK CRASH IN KENYA KILLS AT LEAST 26NAIROBI: At least 26 people were killed and many others injured in a head-on crash between a bus and a truck on the highway between Nairobi and Kenya’s second city Mombasa, police said on Tuesday. “It was a very bad head-on collision. We lost 26 people in the accident,” Leonard Kimaiyo, police chief for the southern town of Kibwezi said. Another senior officer said the bus, heading to Mombasa, was overtaking several vehicles when it collided with an oil tanker.

YEMEN FUNDS DESPERATELY NEEDED TO AVERT FAMINE: UN CHIEFGENEVA: UN chief Antonio Guterres urged countries today to pitch in to help prevent a looming famine in war-torn Yemen, warning that children especially were already dying at an alarming rate. “Yemen today is experiencing a tragedy of immense proportions,” the UN Secretary General told country representatives gathered in Geneva for an aid pledging conference.“We are witnessing the starving and the crippling of an entire generation,” he said, adding that Yemen is gripped by “the world’s largest hunger crisis”.

US MAN FATALLY SHOOTS BOSS, KILLS HIMSELF AT DALLAS OFFICEHOUSTON: An unidentified man shot dead his woman boss before killing himself, leading to chaos in a multi-storey building in the northern part of Dallas city, police said. The Dallas police responded to a report of an active shooter in an office building in the 8300 block of the LBJ Freeway at around 10:45 AM (local time) on Monday. When officers arrived on the scene, they suspected the shooter was in a meeting room. They breached the door by firing a shotgun, authorities said. Officers found a man and a woman dead in the room. It appears the man shot and killed the woman and then turned the gun on himself, police officials said.

CHINA BANS DOZENS OF MUSLIM BABY NAMES IN XINJIANGBEIJING: China has banned dozens of Islamic names like ‘Saddam’ and ‘Jihad’ for babies belonging to the restive Muslim-majority Xinjiang province, in a move that would prevent children from getting access to education and government benefits, a leading rights group said on Tuesday. Xinjiang authorities have recently banned dozens of names with religious connotations common to Muslims around the world on the basis that they could “exaggerate religious fervour,” the Human Rights Watch (HRW) said. Islam, Quran, Mecca, Jihad, Imam, Saddam, Hajj, and Medina are among dozens of baby names banned under ruling Chinese Communist Party’s “Naming Rules For Ethnic Minorities,” an official was quoted saying.

UNICEF to immunise 30,000 Somali children against measles

MOGADISHU: The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) on Tuesday began an emergency campaign to immunise 30,000 children against measles in Baidoa, one of the hardest-hit areas in Somalia.

Steven Lauwerier, Unicef ’s Representative in Somalia, said the children have never been immunised before and come from remote areas. Health workers often cannot reach them because of decades-old conflict that has ravaged the country, Xinhua news agency reported.

“The only way to prevent sickness and death from measles is to make sure all children receive the vaccine,” Lauwerier said.

“A child suffering from

severe acute malnutrition is nine times more likely to die from a disease like measles than a healthy child. We have no time to lose,” he said.

Conducted in partnership with the Health Ministry, WHO, and several non-governmental organisations, the campaign also includes

a vitamin A supplement to boost immunity as well as de-worming tablets.

About 5,700 cases of suspected measles have so far this year been reported across the country, more than the total number of cases in 2016.

Measles, a viral respiratory infection that spreads through

air and contact with infected mucus and saliva, thrives in congested, unsanitary displacement camps. More than 100,000 people have come to Baidoa in search of assistance, including at least 70,000 in March alone.

“We know only too well from the 2011 famine that measles, combined with malnutrition and displacement, is an especially lethal combination for children,” said Lauwerier.

The Baidoa campaign is part of an effort to vaccinate about 110,000 displaced children below five years old in hotspots across south central Somalia, plus 250,000 children in Somaliland, against the deadly contagious disease, by the end of May. AGENCIES

Amid visa row, US says ‘greatly value’ Indian investments

WASHINGTON: In the context of current fears about possible tightening of the US visa regime, the American administration has said that it greatly values investments by Indian companies and wants strong Indo-US economic ties.

“We want to see US-India business-to-business ties remain strong,” US State Separtment acting spokesman Mark Toner said at his daily press briefing on Monday.

He was responding to questions on the controversy following recent executive orders signed by US President Donald Trump which indicate a possible tightening of the H-1B visas. “We greatly value Indian companies’ continued investment in the US economy, which also, of course, supports thousands of US jobs,” Toner said. “With respect to any new requirements on visas, I’d have to check and see if that’s been updated,” he said. “It’s important to remember that this is always a part of how our consular bureau works and our

consular officers work overseas, and our embassies and missions work overseas, and that is we’re always reviewing the processes that are in place to issue these visas and finding ways to strengthen them, because we want to ensure

the security of the American people,” he added.

The issue of the Trump administration mulling curbs in H-1B visas was taken up by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with the American authorities during his just

concluded visit to the country. The issue was raised by Jaitley during his meetings last week in Washington with US Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin, as well as with Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross. “Finance Minister Arun

Jaitley raised the issue of H-1B visas for skilled professionals from India and highlighted the contribution which Indian companies and professionals are making to US economy,” an Indian Finance Ministry statement said. AGENCIES

N Korea stages large-scale artillery drill as US submarine

docks in South Korea

SEOUL: North Korea conducted a big live-fire exercise on Tuesday to mark the foundation of its military as a US submarine docked in South Korea in a show of force amid growing concern over the North’s nuclear and missile programs. The port call by the USS Michigan came as a US aircraft carrier strike group steamed toward Korean waters and as top envoys for North Korea policy from South Korea, Japan and the United States met in Tokyo.

Fears have risen in recent weeks that North Korea would conduct another nuclear test or long-range missile launch in defiance of UN sanctions, perhaps on the Tuesday anniversary of the founding of its military. But instead of a nuclear test or big missile launch, North Korea deployed

a large number of long-range artillery units in the region of Wonsan on its east coast for a live-fire drill, South Korea’s military said. North Korea has an air base in Wonsan and missiles have also been tested there.

“North Korea is conducting a large-scale firing drill in Wonsan areas this afternoon,” the South’s Office of Joint Chiefs of Staff said in a statement. The South Korean military was monitoring the situation and “firmly maintaining readiness”, it said. The South’s Yonhap News Agency said earlier the exercise was possibly supervised by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

North Korea’s state media was defiant in a commentary marking the 85th anniversary of the foundation of the Korean People’s Army. AGENCIES

UN demands probe into killing

of Maldives blogger

MALE: The UN on Tuesday demanded an immediate investigation into the murder of a liberal blogger in the Maldives, calling on the government to ensure the safety of dissidents in the troubled honeymoon destination.

The High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein condemned Sunday’s stabbing of Yameen Rasheed and urged a swift and thorough inquiry into the killing, meeting international standards. “Rasheed’s killing comes in the context of what appears to be an upsurge in arrests and prosecutions of the political opposition,” Zeid’s spokesperson Ravina Shamdasani said in a statement.

She noted that Rasheed, 29, had received death threats in December and lodged complaints with the police, yet had to push to get his concerns registered. Rasheed, who poked fun at the nation’s politicians on his blog The Daily Panic, was found in the stairwell of his Male apartment with multiple stab wounds to his chest and neck. He died in hospital.

“We remind the state that it has a duty to ensure that journalists, civil society actors and human rights defenders are able to exercise their rights to express without fear,” Shamdasani added. AGENCIES

Sharif may file review petition in Panamagate judgement ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif may file a review petition against the Su-preme Court’s verdict in the high-profile Pana-magate case as his family fears that the strong observations made by the five-judge bench may influence the Joint Investigation Team’s probe, a media report said on Tuesday. Sharif, 67, got a temporary reprieve last week from the apex court which said there was “insufficient evidence” to remove him from office but ordered setting up of a joint team to investigate the graft allegations against his family. The bench issued a landmark 540-page split judgement ordering setting up of a Joint Investigation Team (JIT) comprising officials from different agencies including those from the powerful Inter-Services Intelligence and the Mili-tary Intelligence. The legal wizards of the Sharif family have expressed fears that strong observa-tions might create prejudice in the investigation of the JIT. AGENCIES

Spain arrests 4 over suspected Belgium attacks link

BARCELONA: Spanish police on Tuesday arrested four men with alleged links to suspects held in Belgium over their involvement in the Brussels airport and metro attacks last year, officials said.

The four were among nine men arrested in a vast operation targeting suspected Islamic extremists that was carried out in the northeastern region of Catalonia in conjunction with Belgian police, Catalan police said in a statement. The men — a Spanish national and eight Moroccans living in Catalonia, all 30 to 40 years old — are believed to belong to a terrorist organisation, the statement added.

“Four of those who were detained have links with people arrested for the attacks carried out at Brussels airport and metro,” a spokesman for Catalonia’s regional police force told AFP. It is not clear if the four were directly involved in carrying out the Brussels attacks, the spokesman added. Belgium has been on high alert since March 22 last year when suicide bombers attacked Zaventem airport and the Maalbeek metro station, killing 32 people and leaving more than 320 wounded.

The attacks were led by an Islamic State cell that was also responsible for the carnage in Paris in November 2015. “The Belgian judge leading the investigation into the Brussels airport attack

found ties between the suspected authors of the attack and the Moroccans who live in Catalonia,” a spokesman for Spain’s National Court, which handles terrorism investigations, told AFP.

The men arrested in Catalonia “may have participated or cooperated in past actions” and may have travelled to Belgium, Catalonia’s regional interior minister Jordi Jane told radio Rac1. There were no “clear indications” that the suspects arrested Tuesday intended to carry out an attack in Spain, he added.

The authorities said the suspects were also being investigated for drug trafficking, robbery and other crimes. Most of the nine men arrested have criminal records related to petty or organised crime, police said.

Police raided 12 properties in six Catalan cities, including the regional capital Barcelona, as part of the operation which followed an eight-month investigation. Officers seized three firearms, drugs, cash and electronics during the dawn raids. At the same time, police in Morocco searched several homes of family members of the suspects arrested in Spain. They were accompanied by Spanish police.

Between 2012 and October 2016, Spain detained 186 people with suspected links to Islamic jihadism, including 63 in Catalonia, according to the interior ministry. AGENCIES

Soldiers carrying rockets march across Kim Il Sung Square during a military parade to celebrate the 105th birth anniversary of Kim Il Sung in North Korea on April, 15 AP/PTI

Trump’s tax plan could face a budget deficit challenge

WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump plans to stick with his campaign pledge to slash the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 15 percent, but the dramatic cut raises a problematic question for the White House: How can the president deliver the “massive” tax cut he promised without also blowing a massive hole in the budget?

A senior administration official confirmed the planned reduction to corporate rates, speaking on condition of anonymity in order discuss details of the plan the president is expected to unveil on Wednesday.

Most outside economic analyses say the type of tax cuts being promoted by Trump would likely fuel even larger deficits for a federal government already projected to see its debt steadily rise. They are also unlikely to generate Trump’s ambitious promised growth rate of 3 percent a year, roughly double the 1.6 percent

growth achieved last year. These two factors are related because the Trump administration is counting on faster economic growth to produce additional tax revenues that could then close the deficit. The concept was popularized as “trickle-down” economics. The problem is that the economy can’t grow quickly enough to cover the likely hole in the deficit.

“There’s no pure tax cut that pays for itself,” said Alan Cole, an economist at the right-leaning Tax Foundation.

Trump has promised to release the outlines of his tax plan Wednesday and has said the plan would give Americans a tax cut bigger than “any tax cut ever.” During the campaign, he backed cutting the corporate tax rate and the personal income tax rate to 33 percent from a top marginal rate of 39.6 percent.

Although he did not disclose details, Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin said Monday the lower tax

rates would generate so much economic growth that it would hold the deficit in check.

“The tax reform will pay for itself with economic growth,” Mnuchin said at the White House news briefing, adding that the overhaul would ideally let someone file taxes on a “large postcard.”

By running the risk of higher deficits, the Trump plan could damage the credibility of Republican lawmakers who spent years railing against the rising national debt under former President Barack Obama. Trump could also make it harder to pass lasting tax reform, since any policy that increases the debt above its baseline either requires Democratic support or if passed by a slim majority of Republicans in the Senate would expire in a decade.

The House Republican tax blueprint tried to offset the lower rates by introducing a new tax system that applies to imports. AGENCIES

Iraqi troops capture largest neighbourhood in western MosulBAGHDAD: Iraqi troops on Tuesday drove out Islamic State militants from the largest neighbourhood in the western half of the city of Mosul, a senior mili-tary commander said, a major development in the months-long fight to recap-ture the country’s second-largest city. US-backed Iraqi forces declared eastern Mosul “fully liberated” in January, after officially launching the operation to retake the city in October. In February, the troops started a new push to clear Mosul’s western side of IS militants, but weeks later their push stalled mainly due to stiff resistance by the Sunni militant group. On Tuesday, special forces Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi told The Associated Press that the sprawling al-Tanek neighbourhood was now “fully liberated and under full control” of the security forces. Al-Saadi did not provide more details. To the east of al-Tanek, Iraqi forces have been facing tough resistance from IS in Mosul’s Old City, an area that stretches along the Tigris River, which divides Mosul into its eastern and western half. The Old City’s narrow alleys and densely populated areas have made it hard for troops to move forward. Mosul fell to IS in the summer of 2014. AGENCIES

Parliament majority attainable, says Macron’s MP selection chiefPARIS: For investors and pundits it is the big question-mark hanging over Emmanuel Macron; the 39-year-old centrist looks certain to win a runoff for the French presidency, but how can his one-year-old upstart party win the parliamentary majority six weeks later that he needs to implement his programme?

Jean-Paul Delevoye, the political veteran in charge of making that happen, says the palpable disarray of France’s two traditional governing parties has opened up the space for En Marche! (Onwards!) to do just that.

The candidate of the ruling Socialists, the far-left Benoit Hamon, managed only 6 percent of the first-round vote - and already, some leading Socialists on the right of their party who declined to back him have made overtures to Macron.

Meanwhile the conservative Republicans candidate Francois Fillon left his party in the lurch and without an effective figurehead when he declined to step down over damaging allegations of financial impropriety, which he

denied. He stepped down from front-line politics on Monday. “There will be a break-up of the Socialist party, which may have competing candidates in some constituencies, and a split of the conservatives between those who will seek revenge and those ready to cooperate,” Delevoye told Reuters in an interview on Monday.

Macron, whom surveys strongly favor to beat far-right leader Marine Le Pen in the May 7 runoff, has based much of his pitch on a bid to transcend a party political system that has come to seem closed-off and remote from citizens’ real concerns. French lawmakers are usually career politicians with little private-sector experience who have climbed through party ranks and local elected office before being selected from Paris to run for parliament often outside their native region.

Macron has said he will field at least 50 percent of candidates with no prior lawmaking experience, and 50 percent women. In January, he launched a call for applications online and received more than 14,000. AGENCIES

Indians with US visas to receive visa on reaching UAEDUBAI: Indian nationals who hold a valid US visa or a green card will get a two-week UAE visa on reaching the country from May 1, according to a media report. The UAE Ministry of Foreign Affairs this week circulated a letter to all authorities to grant Indians with US visa or green card to get UAE visa on arrival following a Cabinet decision last month. Shaikh Khaled Bin Essam Al Qas-simi, Chairman of Department of Civil Aviation in Sharjah, said the circular was followed instruc-tions from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Gulf News reported. The circular was given to all UAE borders points, including airports and ports. AGENCIES

mp business12MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

NEW DELHI: Private equity and ven-ture capital investments largely chose to ignore India’s E-commerce in the March, 2017 quarter even as the total tally during the period touched $4.2 billion, primarily driven by Canadian pension funds deals, says a report. According to a report by EY, March 2017 reported deals worth $2.6 bil-lion across 60 deals, recording a strong increase of 52 per cent in value and 31 per cent in volume over March, 2016. For the preceding January-March quarter, PE/VC investments were val-ued at $4.2 billion across 134 deals.

The E-commerce sector, which has been struggling for some time now, saw merely 11 deals worth $85 million in the January-March period of 2017, while in the corresponding period last year there were 29 such transactions worth $764 million.

“The two trends that character-ised the quarter were the deal activity of the Canadian pension funds and the decline in E-commerce invest-ments,” EY Partner and Leader for PE, Mayank Rastogi said. E-commerce did not see any equity investment in March 2017 - there was only one $4 million debt raised by Bigbasket.

“E-commerce sector is undergoing a lot of churn and most businesses are in the recalibration mode, leading to low deal activity,” Rastogi added.

The Canadian Pension funds have been actively pursuing deals in India for the last few quarters which was manifest in the high deal numbers in the January-March quarter.

These include CPPIB’s $720 mil-lion investment in Global Logic for a

48 per cent stake, $342 million invest-ment in Kotak Mahindra Bank by CDPQ and CPPIB for a 1.5 per cent stake, and $302 million invested in Bharti Infratel for a 3.3 per cent stake (KKR was the other investor acquiring 7 per cent stake in the deal).

“Their investments have a few common themes including their investments in companies who are market leaders in their sectors and

have attained scale, companies with a high corporate governance record, most investments in partnership with other large private equity investors, and lastly, the deal sizes are largely greater than $100 to 150 million,” Ras-togi added.

In March, from a sector perspec-tive, telecom topped the chart, due to the large KKR-CPPIB investment in Bharti- Infratel, followed by financial

services which clocked $693 million.On a quarterly basis also, telecom

dominated with $952 million KKR-CPPIB investment in Bharti-Infratel, EY said.

Except for the technology sector, which recorded $907 million across 31 deals in January-March, investments across all other prominent sectors like financial services, real estate, and E-commerce declined, it added. PTI

PE/VC deals at $4.2 billion in Q4, largely ignore E-commerceMFs’ exposure to bank stocks at record ̀ 1.26 lakh croreNEW DELHI: Mutual fund managers continued to be bullish on bank shares, with their allocation to the sector reaching an all time-high of over Rs 1.26 lakh crore at the end of March, mainly due to cheaper valuations. In compari-son, fund managers’ investments in bank shares stood at Rs 80,468 crore at the end of March 31, 2016. “MFs have been adding exposure to financial sec-tor, especially banking stocks due to several reasons -- lower valuations due to price corrections, expectation of corporate lending growth returning and better net interest margins, especially after the demonetisation announce-ment which lowered cost of funds for many banks,” said Kaustubh Belapur-kar, Director Manager Research at Morningstar Investment Adviser. During the past fiscal, many private sector banks, NBFCs and select PSU banks witnessed fresh purchases. Stocks like ICICI Bank and SBI witnessed signifi-cant additions, at the same time Axis Bank saw consistent selling, he said. PTI

NEW DELHI: Equity markets got off to a great start with capi-tal market deals worth $2.37 bil-lion in the first quarter this year, registering a rise of over 86 per cent over the previous quarter, says a report.

According to News Corp VCCEdge India Quarterly Deals report for the first quarter of this year, there were 45 ECM (equity capital market) deals in the Jan-uary-March period of this year worth $2.37 billion, while in the October- December 2016, there were 22 such transactions worth $1.27 billion.

Meanwhile, a slew of IPOs in 2017 make the equity mar-kets a viable investment land-scape, the report said, adding four of the five IPOs in the quar-ter were oversubscribed mul-tiple times, showing buoyant

market sentiment.“D-Mart, BSE and Radio

City IPOs raised 23 per cent of deal value at $538 million,” the report said. Meanwhile, value of deals for QIPs rose by $1,332 million in the January-March quarter as against last year, and the YES Bank and Hindalco Industries dominated the scene with a cumulative issue size of $1,252 million.

“In grim times for other investment options, the equity capital markets came through as a beacon, offering hope that buoyant sentiments and a multi-tude of IPOs expected to hit the markets in 2017 will make the ECM deals landscape a lucra-tive investment opportunity,” said Nita Kapoor, Head India - New Ventures, News Corp and CEO, News Corp VCCircle. PTI

Equity markets off to a great start: News Corp VCCEdge

NEW DELHI: Trade and industry will be assigned a 'compliance rating' based on their credibility with regard to timely deposit of taxes to the exchequer and filing of returns under the goods and services tax structure.

Revenue Secretary Has-mukh Adhia said a system of GST Compliance Rating will be put in place so that every trader or businessman will be rated based on their track record.

Once the rating is made public on the GSTN portal, a businessman can decide on whether to deal with another trader or entity who does not deposit tax with the govern-ment and therefore, has a low compliance score.

GST Network (GSTN) is the firm which is building the IT backbone of the unified tax, which is scheduled to go into effect from July 1.

The GST Council in due course will approve the pro-cedures to be followed for compliance rating and it will mostly depend on how a trader or business entity has complied with filing returns and other requirements under the Act, GSTN CEO Prakash Kumar said.

"We will start with by put-

ting everyone at equal level, but if a taxpayer is non-compliant, then only your rating will go down," Kumar explained.

A GST compliance rating somewhat mirrors the credit score that CIBIL provides based on the credit history of a borrower. The score is a three-digit numeric summary and depends on an individual's

credit payment history across bank loans and credit institu-tions over time.

The Central GST Act as passed by Parliament also pro-vides that every registered per-son may be assigned a goods and services tax compliance score by the government based on his record of compliance with the provisions of this Act.

The parameters for deter-mining the rating score are yet to be prescribed.The rating will provide the name of the tax-payer as well as the GST Iden-tification Number (GSTIN).

Speaking to reporters at the GST Conclave here, Adhia fur-ther said all efforts are being made to roll out GST from July 1 and the industry too should

brace for it.He said Telangana and

Bihar have already passed the State GST (SGST) Bill in their respective state legislatures while Rajasthan is scheduled to pass it on Wednesday.

As many as 14 states have said they will pass the SGST Bills by mid of May and by May 31, all state legislatures will pass

the SGST bill, Adhia said."We are making all efforts

to implement GST from July 1.We request the trade and

industry that they should not be complacent and should make efforts to prepare for GST. The big industry will have to change the ERP software sys-tem, the small traders need no preparation as they can file return using the offline tool on the GSTN portal," Adhia said.

The secretary further said GSTN has already short-listed 34 companies to be the GST Suvidha Provider (GSP). The GSPs are mandated to provide innovative and convenient ways to taxpayers and other stakeholders while interacting with GST Systems, from reg-istration of entity to upload-ing of invoice details to filing of returns.

GSTN will soon appoint some more startups and com-panies which will make eas-ier software solution for filing returns, he said.

Besides, people with issues in filing returns can walk up to centres where 'GST practi-tioners' can assist them. Also, there will be helplines that will attend to queries from people both in national and vernacu-lar languages. PTI

Compliance rating for industry on cards under GST structure

NEW DELHI: The govern-ment on Tuesday set foodgrain output target at record 273 mil-lion tonne for the 2017-18 crop year and expects to achieve 4 per cent farm sector growth following the prediction of nor-mal monsoon.

Foodgrain production is estimated to touch a record 271.98 million tonne (MT) in the current year (July-June) on account of good rains after two years of drought, according to the second estimate of the agri-culture ministry.

"Foodgrain production tar-get for next year is set at record 273 million tonnes," Agricul-ture Minister Radha Mohan Singh said while addressing a two-day national conference that is discussing sowing strat-egy for the coming kharif sea-son. Southwest monsoon is forecast to be normal which will help achieve the desired target, he said without disclos-ing the season-specific produc-tion targets.

About 50 per cent of the foodgrain output comes from both kharif (summer) and rabi (winter) seasons. Kharif crops are normally sown in around

72 million hectares. Rice, pulses (tur, urad and moong), oilseeds (groundnut and soy-bean), cotton and sugarcane are main crops grown in this season.

Junior Agriculture Minis-ters Parshottam Rupala and Sudarshan Bhagat emphasised on providing timely support to farmers during pre and post harvesting periods. Express-ing confidence of meeting the target, Agriculture Secretary Shobhana Pattanayak said: "We expect another year of good monsoon. We expect the 4 per cent agri-growth rate will be maintained in 2017-18."

Since kharif crops are heavily dependent on the per-formance of the southwest monsoon, the states should plan for all possible scenar-ios like delayed onset of rains, prolonged dry spells and less/excess rains, he said.

The Secretary further asked the states to encourage more farmers to buy the crop insur-ance policy Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana and aim to insure 40 per cent of the sown area (194 million hectares) in 2017-18 crop year. PTI

Govt targets record 273 mt food grains output in 2017-18

WASHINGTON: Bangladesh is hopeful of quick implemen-tation of the India-assisted developmental projects in the country after New Delhi announced a fresh $4.5 billion aid package, Finance Minister Abul Maal A Muhith has said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced a line of con-cessional credit of $4.5 billion for implementation of projects in Bangladesh during premier Sheikh Hasina's visit to India this month.

"This in addition to the pre-viously announced assistance of $1.5 billion takes to total of $6 billion," said Muhith.

The implementation of projects under the previous

assistance package, he said took a longer time.

"This time it may be less because we provided the list of projects before Sheikh Hasina went there (to India). I am hop-ing that there should be quick implementation of these proj-ects," Muhith said last week on the sidelines of the annual Spring Meeting of the Interna-tional Monetary Fund and the

World Bank here. Muhith also led a bilateral meeting with vis-iting Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley during which they discussed bilateral aid package and projects associated with it.

Bangladesh, he said, now has $6 billion line of credit from India.

"It is quite something," he said, but quickly noted that this is far less than that of India.

"It is (Indian aid) not any-thing like China. (When) the (Chinese) President came (to Bangladesh), we had great dif-ficulty in calculating in mon-etary terms how much it can be. Then it has turned out to be $22 billion," the Bangladeshi Finance Minister said.

However, unlike the time-oriented Indian projects, which is being implemented at a fast pace, there is no such timeline for financial aid from China, he said.

"Some of them could not be there for two, three years, because they are not even in the egg laying stage. Not to speak of hatching the... and getting the chick, you see," he said. PTI

Wheat production likely to touch record 98 mt in 2016-17 NEW DELHI: Wheat production is set to touch a record 98 million tonnes (MT) in the ongoing 2016-17 crop year ending June, on account of higher yields. In its second estimate, the agricul-ture ministry had pegged a record wheat output of 96.64 MT for the current crop year (July-June) as against the actual output of 92.29 MT last year. "Taking into account the feedback from the state governments and experts, it looks like wheat output will reach all-time high of 98 MT this year," a senior agriculture ministry official said. PTI

Bangladesh hopes for fast execution of India-aided development projects

MUMBAI: Benchmark Nifty closed above the 9,300-mark for the first time in its history on Tuesday, while the Sensex soared 287 points to a three-week high on widespread buy-ing, spurred by strong results and upbeat global cues.

The 50-share Nifty rallied 88.65 points, or 0.96 per cent, to reach its new lifetime clos-ing high of 9,306.60, surpass-ing the previous record close of 9,265.15 on April 5.

Intra-day, it surged to 9,309.20, breaking its previous intra-day record of 9,273.90 reached on April 5.

The BSE 30-share Sensex surged 287 points to end at a three-week high of 29,943.24, after shuttling between 29,961.82 and 29,780.84. The gauge had gained 290.54 points

on Monday. This is the highest closing for Sensex since April 5, when it had ended on 29,974.24. Brokers said a string of strong quarterly earnings, including from index heavyweight RIL, and appreciating rupee accel-erated buying activity.

The rupee ended at 64.26 against the dollar, up 18 paise. Asian shares ended higher fol-lowing a relief rally in global equities after centrist candi-

date Emmanuel Macron won the first round of the French presidential election.

"Earnings from both pri-vate as well as public sector has shown encouraging signs, lift-ing banking stocks, while Nifty s surge to 9,300 gave added vigour to market.

"Government s push in the infra and affordable housing space has also kept housing, cement and realty stocks buzz-ing, said Anand James, Chief Market Strategist, Geojit Finan-cial Services.

Meanwhile, domestic funds bought shares worth a net Rs 984.17 crore on Monday, while foreign portfolio inves-tors (FPIs) sold stocks worth a net Rs 279.55 crore, as per provisional data from the stock exchanges. PTI

Nifty scales life-time high, Sensex nears 30,000 mark

MUMBAI: Corporates are likely to log in healthier set of numbers in the March quar-ter clocking up to 12 per cent growth on the back of an improvement in manufactur-ing, says a report.

"We expect corporates to report a topline growth rang-ing from 10 to 12 per cent in the March quarter, while the bottomline may surpass topline growth," SBI Research said in a report on Tuesday.

While performance is expected to be varying for different sectors, FMCG and banks are expected to be better.

"Banks are expected to do better on net earnings but with

low credit off take, the year is going to be a challenge on the margin front," the report said.

"The credit growth has been anemic and was at 4.36 per cent for the fortnight ended March 24, 2017, the lowest in many years. With banks flushed with funds, we expect to see the spreads coming under pres-sure," it added.

Automobile, capital goods, metals, oil and gas sectors are expected to declare double digit revenue growth, according to the report.

Pharmaceuticals, metals, capital goods are likely to come out with double digit growth, in terms of net profits.

Some of the best perform-ers from the results announced so far include Hindustan Zinc (topline growth) while Goa Carbon was the best performer in the bottomline.

"Overall, some of the well governed corporates have weathered the demonetisa-tion storm. These companies have been the first to declare the results while some of them may yet assess the impact of demonetisation," it said.

The report also observed that the government push for infrastructure, housing and better capacity utilisation, cor-porate earnings may set for a better numbers in 2017-18. PTI

Q4 corporate earnings set to rise on manufacturing growth: SBI

SINGAPORE: Tata Com-munications has been chosen by a US-based digital media and broadcasting company to build a high-performance cloud-based platform for global media asset manage-ment, content contribution and distribution.

It will enable VICE Media to capture content anywhere in the world, and quickly make it available to hundreds of edi-tors in production centres in New York City, Los Angeles, Washington DC, Toronto and London, for publishing and broadcasting across VICE Media channels, Tata Com-munications said on Tuesday.

The new platform is under-pinned by Tata Communica-tions Media Ecosystem, which offers VICE Media a full set of

media solutions.It includes the Video Con-

nect service, which comple-ments VICE Media's local area network and provides the com-pany with a global area net-work of video contribution and Internet Protocol connectivity.

With speeds of up to 10 Gbps, Video Connect enables a seamless transfer of video files and remote collaboration between VICE Media teams across different geographies as if they were in the same location.

The Media Ecosystem is also equipped with Tata Com-munications Cloud Storage, which provides VICE Media with secure, reliable private cloud-based media storage for read- write access and archival of data-intensive video files. PTI

TataComm to build US co’s cloud platform

NEW DELHI: Hiring inten-tions of Indian IT companies are expected to remain slug-gish in the next six months as companies adopt a wait-and-watch policy for various global macroeconomic factors such as H1-B visa executive order and Brexit, says a survey.

According to the Experis IT Employment Outlook Survey released on Tuesday by Experis IT - ManpowerGroup India, Indian IT employers expect a measured hiring pace in the next two quarters (April-Sep-tember 2017).

"With the advent of auto-mation which is expected to impact majority of compa-nies, employers in India state a sluggish hiring scenario. India's IT employers are cau-tious about their hiring plans in the April-September time frame," ManpowerGroup India Group Managing Director A G Rao said. Manmeet Singh, president, Experis IT- Man-powerGroup India said, "hir-ing outlook in the Indian IT domain doesn't look encourag-ing for the next few months due to various global macroeco-nomic factors such as the H1-B executive order and Brexit."

Despite being sluggish, the hiring outlook in the Indian IT space would keep up a "steady" pace. Hiring intentions have declined by 15 percent-age points from the previous quarter. Only 58 per cent of the Indian IT employers antic-ipate hiring over the coming two quarters.

"IT companies are adopt-ing a wait and watch strategy and taking alternate talent acquisition routes such as hir-ing temporary IT workers to cover immediate demands," Singh said. PTI

Indian IT firms for ‘measured hiring’ till September ‘17

During Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina’s visit to India, PM Narendra Modi had announced a $4.5-billion line of concessional credit for implementation of projects in our neighbouring country

mp business 13MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

CORPORATE KALEIDOSCOPE

Arjun Ram Meghwal, Minister of State for Finance & Corporate Affairs presented the “BEST MSME BANK AWARD” to Ram S Sangapure, Executive Director of the Punjab National Bank

The meeting of the Town Official Language Implementation Committee (TOLIC), Durgapur was held at DSP’s Centre for Human Resource Development on April 25

M Venkaiah Naidu, Minister of Urban Development, Housing & Urban Poverty Alleviation, UD and I & B, Government of India, inaugurated the function and addressed the gathering to commemorate the 47th Foundation Day of HUDCO

SINGAPORE: India will mon-etise 105 highway projects for about Rs 145,000 crore in the coming years as part of new innovative models of financing, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said here on Tuesday.

"The traffic density in India is very high and the internal return on rates is very good," the Minister of road transport and highways said during a pre-sentation on India Integrated Transport & Logistics Summit 2017 which will be held in New Delhi from May 3-5.

"105 projects will be mon-etised (for about) Rs 145,000 crore," Gadkari said.

"Now we require invest-ments because there is no risk factor," he said, assuring of a good rate of return from high-way toll collections.

"Particularly, for new investment, there are a lot of innovative models," said Gad-

kari who also launched a road-show for promoting National High Authority of India's (NHAI) first rupee-denom-inated masala bonds here Monday. He also highlighted NHAI's AAA ratings.

"There are opportunities ... we are very transparent ... and very committed to the prog-ress," he said.

Responding to financing and funding questions from delegates, the minister said he would be using "100 per cent of the National Investment Infra-structure Fund," an another innovative way of financing projects.

Among some of the chal-lenging projects, Gadkari assured that Brahmaputra Express Highway will be devel-oped as a national highway.

It will be the first highway project in the northeastern region which will be developed

along the Brahmaputra river in Assam at an estimated invest-ment of Rs 40,000 crore.

"We are serious about it. We will declare it as a national highway and we will work on it," he assured.

Detailed project report is expected in about three months for the 1,300-km of highway, construction of which would be completed in about three years.

A new company has been formed for road construction in the North East, he said.

"Connectivity in the North East is most important priority for our government," he said.

Elaborating, he stressed "We have sanctioned more than Rs 40,000 crore of projects and I am confident within two years it would be Rs 1,50,000 crore of road construction in North East which is going to change the face of North East." PTI

India to monetise 105 highway projects: Govt

NEW DELHI: The National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) will put in place a con-ciliation committee in a month in its bid to resolve highway disputes involving huge sums as claims.

The NHAI is one of the larg-est highway contractors in the country with an annual spend of about Rs 90,000 core and there are 180 arbitral claims going on involving a sum of Rs 38,000 crore.

The NHAI proposes to set up a conciliation committee of independent experts in the wake of huge dispute claims, Chairman Y S Malik said while addressing a PHD event here on Tuesday.

"Within a month, I will go to my board and will be able to put that system in place," Malik said, adding that this will be in accordance with the decision of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA).

The mandate of this concili-ation committee will be "before, during and after arbitration".

At any stage if the parties wish, they can go to this com-mittee and get their issues set-tled, he said.

"The NHAI is accounting for and spending around Rs 80,000-90,000 crore a year. It is one of the largest contrac-tors in the country in the infra-

structure sector. The size of the claims of disputes is also huge," Malik said.

Asserting that conciliation is a good way to settle disputes, the NHAI chief said an analy-sis during the past two months showed that so far 436 arbitral awards have been pronounced in the case of the NHAI.

"We have carried an anal-ysis of 350 out of those 436 so far... Out of those 350, 151 stand resolved and 199 are pending at various stages. Out of those which have been resolved, 25 got resolved at the level of the Supreme Court, 16 at the level of division bench of the high court, 39 at the level of the single bench of the high court and 4 at the level of the district court itself," Malik said, giving the break- up.

He said that in 67 cases, the NHAI accepted the arbitral award and did not challenge while it has 36 dispute claims pending before the Supreme Court, 20 before the division bench and 22 before the sin-gle judge. Eight are still under consideration.

Malik said the NHAI had a conciliatory structure involving three chief general managers and a separate body through which 114 cases involving a claim amount of Rs 18,900 crore were settled. PTI

Highway dispute resolution committee in a month: NHAI chief

China frames draft of Inter Govt Mechanism for BCIM

DEBAMOY GHOSH

KOLKATA: China has made the draft of ‘Inter Govern-ment Co-operation Mecha-nism’ before the third meeting of Bangladesh-China-India-Myanmar (BCIM) Economic Corridor Joint Study Group in Kolkata on Tuesday. The ulti-mate objective of such joint study is to set up proposed BCIM Corridor through those countries.

“China has made the draft of Inter Government Co-oper-ation Mechanism. But it was not tabled before the mem-bers of Joint Study Group. The Chinese delegation is proba-bly waiting for the opinion of other members of Joint Study Group on the issue of setting up BCIM Corridor,” a source close to development said.

The members of the Joint Study Group and representa-tives from various stakeholders, research institutes and business enterprises attended the meet-ing on Tuesday. The meeting will continue till Wednesday.

The four countries agreed to establish this Joint Study Group on strengthening con-nectivity in the BCIM region for closer economic, trade and people-to-people linkage

through the development of BCIM Corridor in 2013.

“The first meeting of the BCIM Economic Corridor Joint Study Group was held in Kunming, in China in 2013, the second meeting took place in Cox’s bazaar, Bangladesh in 2014. India has participated in two rounds of JSG meeting in 2013 and 2014,” the source said.

“China may request the other nations to start process on setting up of BCIM Cor-ridor. Chinese representatives, from National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC), China Development Bank, Chinese transport min-istry and foreign affairs office, ministry of renewal energy, ministry of commerce and other members were present

in the meeting,” the source fur-ther added.

However, the Bangladesh delegation led by High Com-missioner of Bangladesh to Sri Lanka M. Riaz Hamidullah said, integration and connec-tivity in the region will play a significant role in strengthen-ing cooperation among these countries to achieve develop-ment objective.

The former Indian High Commissioner to Bangladesh Rajeet Mitter, who headed Indian delegation in Joint Study Group, said the group made a good progress as the respec-tive countries already finalized and circulated reports. India considers BCIM as an impor-tant instrument for its Act East Policy, he added.

AHMEDABAD: Sanitary ware company Jaquar Group on Tuesday said it has acquired Kutch-based Euro Ceramics, including the manufacturing plant facilities and assets for Rs 100 crore, and will invest Rs 310 crore this fiscal on expan-sions, and setting up a new plant for lighting products.

The Euro Ceramics plant in Bhachau, Kutch is spread over 17 acres and is among the most state-of-the-art facilities in Asia, the Promoter and Direc-tor of the company, Rajesh Mehra said here on Tuesday.

"We have taken over the plant of Euro Ceramics in a Rs 100 crore deal. With this, Jaquar Group now has five manufacturing facilities in India and one in South Korea. We have planned to invest Rs 80 to 90 crore on this plant dur-ing this year on modernisation and capacity expansion," said Mehra.

This up-gradation would take the current plant produc-tion capacity from 1.2 mil-lion sanitary ware pieces to 1.8

million pieces, he added. "We make faucets and shower prod-ucts in Bhiwadi while light-ing products are made at our Manesar plant. In this year, we have planned to set up a green-field plant at Bhiwadi to man-ufacture lighting products. We would invest around Rs 100 crore. It will become opera-tional in one year," Mehra said.

In addition, the company will be investing around Rs 130 crore for the expansion of the existing faucet plant in Bhi-wadi. After this expansion, the capacity of the plant would be over 1 lakh pieces in day.

The company also announced to add an assembly line to manufacture "drivers" for lighting products at their Manesar plant.

"Drivers are the heart for any light. We are in process of setting up our own assem-bly line for drivers at Mane-sar. Upon completion next month, that plant will become India's first ever facility to manufacture such drivers" Mehra added. PTI

NEW DELHI: Google has expanded support for nine more Indian languages, includ-ing Gujarati, Punjabi, Malay-alam and Kannada, across various products to ensure more people can access Internet in a language of their choice.

Powered by 'neural machine translation', users will be able to translate between English and nine widely-used Indian lan-guages Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Tamil, Telugu, Gujarati, Pun-jabi, Malayalam and Kannada.

The new technology trans-lates full sentences instead of doing it in pieces and therefore, offers better quality translation.

The new translation capa-bility will be available for Google Search and Maps – both on mobile and desktop.

"India on Tuesday has 234 million Indian Language users who are online, compared to 175 million English web users. We expect another 300 million Indian language users to come online in the next four years," Google Vice-President India and South-East Asia Rajan Anandan told reporters here.

It is, therefore, important that the language barrier be brought down to ensure peo-

ple get more from using the Internet, he added.

According to him, availabil-ity of content in local languages as well as access play a crucial role in getting more people to the Internet. Google, in part-nership with KPMG India, also released a report titled 'Indian Languages - Defining India's Internet'. The report stated that Tamil, Hindi, Kannada, Ben-gali and Marathi speaking users

have the highest adoption of online services. Users are con-suming a variety of services, including messaging, digital entertainment, social media, online news, digital payments, e-commerce and online gov-ernment services.

About 60 per cent respon-dents said there is limited language content and sup-port while 70 per cent faced challenges in using English keyboards.

The report forecasts that by 2021, Indian language- speak-ing users will touch 536 mil-lion, growing at a CAGR of 18 per cent. The number of Eng-lish-speaking Internet users is expected to grow at a mere 3 per cent to touch 199 million during the same time. PTI

Google bolsters Indic language support for more inclusive web

Jaquar acquires Euro Sanitaryware, to invest

`310 crore in FY18

AmitAvA Roy is NtPC-FARidAbAd GeNeRAl mANAGeR

FARIDABAD: Ami-tava Roy has joined as General Manager, NTPC-Faridabad on April 24. He joined NTPC in the year 1989 and was earlier posted in NTPC, Au-raiya and Corporate Centre. MPOST

NEW DELHI: Air India plans to introduce premium econ-omy class seats on some of its flights in the aftermath of Shiv Sena MP Ravindra Gaikwad assaulting its staffer because he had to travel economy despite being entitled to a business class seat.

Gaikwad had insisted on travelling business class on an all-economy flight, and later hit an airline staffer "25 times" with his slipper, triggering a row between him and Air India.

The MP was upset as he had to travel economy from Pune to Delhi to attend the Budget ses-sion of Parliament last month even though he had a business class ticket.

The proposal apparently aims to accommodate MPs who are entitled to travel busi-ness class but fly on routes where the airline operates only all-economy flights.

The national carrier is mull-ing reconfiguring as many as eight of its aircraft operating on various domestic routes in order to introduce "very lim-ited" number of premium economy seats, an Air India official said.

Generally, premium econ-omy seats are positioned between economy and busi-ness class seats, with a differ-ent fare and services structure.

About two years ago, Air India – which is working on ways to increase its market share – had mooted the idea of premium economy class but it was shelved due to commer-cial reasons. The idea is now

being revived, especially in the wake of the Gaikwad episode, according to the official.

While the final contours are still being worked out, the idea is to redesign the front row seats - three on each side of the aisle - and convert them into two seats on either side.

"The front row seats will be set aside for the proposed reconfiguration. This will ensure better leg room as well as more elbow room for the passenger," the official said.

In efforts to provide more privacy for the traveller, the premium economy seats could be separated from the rest with curtains and the individual could also be served a differ-ent menu compared to econ-omy class passengers, he added.

Before putting in place the premium economy category, the official said the airline would amend its fare rules to allow business class passengers to travel on premium economy seats in case of non-availability of seats in higher class. PTI

NEW DELHI: Air India said on Tuesday it has opened book-ing for its first flight under the Regional Connectivity Scheme to be operated on the Shimla-New Delhi route by its subsid-iary Alliance Air.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi is likely to inaugurate the maiden flight under the gov-ernment's ambitious plan to provide connectivity to far and remote areas of the country.

Over 45 unserved and under-served airports would be connected under the scheme – UDAN (Ude Desh ka Aam Naagrik– that seeks to make flying more affordable.

On each flight, 50 per cent of the seats would have a cap of Rs 2,500 per seat/hour. PTI

Gaikwad row: Air India plans to offer premium economy class

AI opens booking for Shimla-New

Delhi flight under UDAN scheme

MUMBAI: Serum Institute of India on Tuesday acquired the defunct unit in Czech of Florida-based Nanotherapeu-tics that makes injectable polio doses for 72 million euros.

The acquisition would cata-pult the Pune-based company to the largest injectable polio vaccine maker in the world with over 200 million doses, a senior official claimed.

The plant at Bohumil, which is one hour off the Czech Republic capital Prague, is not functional now and Serum Institute will have to invest an additional 30-40 million euros to make it functional, Serum Institute of India's Chief Execu-tive Officer Adar C Poonawalla told PTI.

Poonawalla said the com-pany has already paid 45 mil-lion euros for the plant and the remaining will be paid one year later.

Serum Institute is the world's largest vaccine manu-facturer by number of doses produced and sold globally. PTI

Serum Institute acquires Czech

polio vaccine firm for 72 mn euros

IDFC Bank fourth quarter net profit edges up to `176 croreNEW DELHI: IDFC Bank on Tuesday posted a net profit growth of 7 per cent at Rs 176 crore for the fourth quarter ended March. The corresponding figure in the previous fiscal read Rs 165.10 crore. Income during the quarter grew by a marginal 1 per cent to Rs 558.40 crore, as against Rs 554.50 crore. For the whole of 2016-17, profit came in at Rs 1,020 crore, marking completion of its first full year of operations. Operating income stood at Rs 3,030.40 crore for the fiscal ended March 2017, it said in a release. The bank had started off in October 2015. So, the year- on-year com-parable figure has been annualised. PTI

NEW DELHI: State-run BHEL on Tuesday said its larg-est power project order in the international market, valued at Rs 10,000 crore, in Bangladesh has taken off.

Significantly, won against stiff international competitive bidding, this is BHEL’s larg-est power project order in the international market. The order has been secured from Bangla-desh India Friendship Power Company (Pvt.) Limited (BIF-PCL), a 50:50 JV company of NTPC, India and BPDB, Ban-gladesh. BHEL has arranged debt financing for the project from the EXIM Bank of India for which the loan agreement between EXIM Bank of India

and BIFPCL has been signed in March, 2017.

BHEL’s scope of work in the project includes design, engi-neering, manufacture, supply, construction, erection, test-ing & commissioning of 2x660 MW thermal sets with ultra-supercritical parameters on turnkey basis.

The scope also includes set-ting up of a jetty and a river-water intake system. In order to meet stringent environmental norms, BHEL shall also install a state-of-the-art FGD plant and Dry bottom ash handling system. The order will provide a fillip to the company’s focus on globalization as a driver of future growth. MPOST

Bhel powers its largest global order in Bangladesh for ̀ 10K cr

mp sport14MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

GANGULY WISHES ZAHEER ON ENGAGEMENT ANNOUNCEMENTKOLKATA: Former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Tuesday wished Zaheer Khan all the luck after the pacer announced his engagement with Bollywood actress Sagarika Ghatge on Twitter. “Well done ZK. Best decision yuo have made. God bless both..hopefully post match interview will get better..stay happy,” tweeted Ganguly.

NASIR CHALLENGES SPOT-FIXING CHARGES AGAINST HIMKARACHI: Pakistan opener Nasir Jamshed has challenged the spot-fixing charges framed against him by the PCB. Nasir asked the PCB to keep him out investigation until the UK’s crime investigation agency concludes its inquiry against him. “Nasir has informed that he will be contesting the charges laid out against him in the notice sent to him earlier,” a source said.

IPL LIFELINE FOR IRFAN PATHAN, GUJARAT LIONS SIGN HIMNEW DELHI: Former India all-rounder Irfan Pathan got an IPL lifeline aft er the struggling Gujarat Lions roped him as Dwayne Bravo’s replacement. Pathan Junior was one of the biggest names that went unsold at the February auctions of IPL. He had a base price of Rs 50 lakh and twice his name came under the hammer only to be ignored by franchises.

IPL Preview: Resurgent Pune face formidable KKR

PUNE: On a roll after three back-to-back wins, the resur-gent Rising Pune Supergiant will face a tough challenge when they take on two-time champions Kolkata Knight Riders in an IPL encounter here on Wednesday.

After languishing in the bottom-half of the table ini-tially, Supergiant notched up three successive wins to grab the fourth place.

On Monday night, Pune eked out a three-run victory over Mumbai Indians in a thrilling encounter, thanks to some effective bowling by Ben Stokes and Jaydev Unadkat at the death.

Opener Rahul Tripathi’s batting has also boosted their campaign. The 26-year-old from Maharashtra came up with scores of 31, 59 and 45 in the last three matches.

Former skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni too showed his vintage form with a sparkling 61 not out against Sunrisers Hyderabad.

Skipper Steve Smith and Ajinkya Rahane have also con-tributed from time to time and Manoj Tiwary has also played a few useful cameos.

In the bowling depart-ment, spinner Imran Tahir has taken 10 wickets so far to emerge as the team’s best bowler, while Stokes and Unad-kat snapped six and five wickets respectively so far.

Kolkata, on the other hand, have been pretty consistent this season and are placed second in the points table with two losses and five wins in seven matches.

Skipper Gautam Gambhir led from the front with two

half- centuries in the initial phase and when he failed to contribute, Robin Uthappa and Manish Pandey have stepped up to do the bulk of scoring.

In fact, Yusuf Pathan also produced a 39-ball 59 against Delhi Daredevils to rescue his team once. So overall, KKR boasts of a formidable batting line-up.

During their last out-ing however, it was the KKR bowlers who produced a fantastic show to bundle

out Royal Challengers Ban-galore for 49 -- the lowest score in IPL’s history. Chris Woakes has taken 10 wick-ets in the seven matches that he has played, while Nathan Coulter-Nile has scalped eight after featuring in only three games for Kolkata. Umesh Yadav too has seven wickets from five outings. Among the spinners, slow left-arm china-man Kuldeep Yadav has taken six wickets in as many matches for KKR. AGENCIES

‘More difficult to maintain intensity from last match’

PUNE: Kolkata Knight Rid-ers (KKR) skipper Gautam Gambhir on Tuesday said it’s a difficult task to maintain the momentum they got from their last outing against Royal Chal-lengers Bangalore ahead of their game against Rising Pune Supergiant here on Wednesday.

Kolkata thrashed Virat Kohli’s Bangalore by 82 runs at the Eden Gardens on Sunday confining the 2016 IPL cham-pions to a paltry 49, the tourna-ment’s lowest ever score.

Chasing a modest 132 for victory, Nathan Coulter-Nile, Chris Woakes and Colin de Grandhomme took three wickets each to blunt the famed Bangalore batting order com-prising AB de Villiers, Chris Gayle and Kedar Jadhav

besides Kohli.“It’s difficult to set the trend,

but it’s more difficult to main-tain it,” Gambhir told reporters

on the eve of their away game. “We have set the trend of

intensity what you want to play with. Now the biggest challenge is how we can maintain it. That was one phase, now it is up to us. “We have set the bench-mark, now we need to main-tain it. You know one game it’s easy to do but now people will be expecting us to deliver again. I hope the guys realise that and what I expect from the team and myself as well. It has to start from me,” the south-paw said.

Pune have registered three back-to-back wins and at the heart of their success have been contributions from every member of the playing XI.

England all-rounder Ben Stokes starred on Monday as Steve Smith’s side beat Mumbai Indians. AGENCIES

BCCI miss deadline of naming India squad for Champions TrophyNEW DELHI: The BCCI on Tuesday became the only team that missed the April 25 deadline set for an-nouncing the India squad for Champions Trophy with all the other seven countries already naming their team list. Pakistan also named their team on Tuesday, which is officially the last day of submission of the list to the governing body of world cricket. The BCCI which is at loggerheads with ICC on a number issues primarily being the massive reduction in their share of revenue has already issued a threat of pull-ing out of the June 1-18 event in the United Kingdom. India are defending champions. However, the ICC constitution allows countries to name their squads post the deadline under certain circumstances. As of now, BCCI is not mulling on extreme step of pulling out but obviously not naming the squad is being seen a pressure tactic. Till late evening, the BCCI has not officially sought an extension, which many could per-ceive as a show of defiance. The BCCI top brass feels that naming the India squad is a mere formality as the selectors know who are the certainties. With at least 14 of the 15 members of the Indian team more or less known, the Indian officials are in no tearing hurry. “Tell me one thing, if we name the squad, say for example on May 5, will ICC bar us from participation. We have a settled squad and naming it is a mere formality,” a top BCCI official said on Tuesday. Meanwhile, England on Tuesday recalled quick bowlers Mark Wood and David Willey to the 15-member Eoin Morgan-led squad. AGENCIES

Rain delays toss between Royal Challengers &

SunrisersBENGALURU: Incessant rain played spoilsport, delaying the toss in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match between Royal Challengers Banga-lore and Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) at the M. Chinnas-wamy stadium here on Tues-day. After a devastating outing in Kolkata on Sunday night against Kolkata Knight Rid-ers (KKR), Bangalore will look to dust themselves up while Sunrisers Hyderabad will aim for their first away win in the league.

Sunrisers’ Bhuvaneshwar Kumar said: “So far we haven’t played our best cricket. We bowled well, but we have been outdone by the MS magic in our previous game. Doesn’t matter which format, I always try to do the basics. I have been trying to execute more yorkers and slower balls. IPL is not an easy format, we barely get any time to practice.

“But whenever I get time, I make sure that I work on my variations. Winning IPL title here was a memorable one. Hoping for a full game.

“We don’t want to play a rain-curtailed game against these guys. We really don’t know what the good length on this wicket is.

“We will assess the condi-tions and decide what’s best for us.”

RCB’s Sreenath Ara-vind said:“We are a little bit upset with the KKR loss. But we got to remain pos-itive and we are going to come back strong this game. We bowled well, but didn’t bat well in that game (against KKR). Just a three quarter length would be ideal here. Change of pace is crucial on this wicket. Hitting the good length area would be key. They (Warner and Henriques ) are good hitters, but we need to back our strengths and bowl well.” AGENCIES

BCCI rejects Manohar’s offer of additional $100 millionNEW DELHI: The revenue model feud between the ICC and the BCCI continued on Tuesday with the Indian cricket body outrightly rejecting the world body’s offer of an addi-tional USD 100 million in the proposed format.

“Yes, ICC chairman Sha-shank Manohar gave us an offer of an additional USD 100 mil-lion in the new financial model. In fact, he gave us a deadline to get back to him. From our end, we won’t get back to him as we don’t even consider it an offer,” a senior BCCI source present in Dubai, said on Tuesday.

Asked why the offer is not even being considered, the offi-cial blamed it on the trust defi-

cit between Manohar and the BCCI.

“The offer came from Manohar. He is the chairman but ICC is a members’ body and the chairman doesn’t decide who gets what share of the pie. It’s the members who decide. We are still working on the formula with all nations. They are receptive. Mr Mano-har doesn’t decide what should be BCCI’s share,” the official added.

The BCCI has been at log-gerheads with the ICC on the proposed revenue model which considerably cuts down India’s share.

In the existing revenue dis-tribution model, BCCI gets

USD 579 million from the ICC.If Manohar’s proposal is

passed by the ICC, then BCCI’s share comes down drastically to USD 290 million which even the Committee of Adminis-trators (COA) had found unacceptable.

In fact, Vikram Limaye, after attending the last ICC Board Meeting, had objected to the model terming it as some-thing based on good faith and equity.

When asked what will be the BCCI’s stand on the issue, the official explained how they plan to work it out.

“Let us take the example that BCCI were being paid Rs 500 and others are being paid

Rs 100. Now these member nations have been promised Rs 175 Or let’s say Rs 200. What Mr Manohar is trying do is to

reduce BCCI’s share to Rs 300 in order to increase their share,” he said.

Asked what’s the solution,

he said, “We are assuring the member nations that even if our share remains Rs 500, we promise to create a model to increase their share to Rs 200.

But please have faith that we can propose a revenue genera-tion model.”

The BCCI is also not announcing the squad for Champions Trophy on Tuesday, which is the ICC deadline. However, the ICC constitution allows coun-tries to name their squads post the deadline under certain cir-cumstances. With at least 14 of the 15 members of the Indian team more or less known, the Indian officials are in no tear-ing hurry. AGENCIES

England recall Wood, Willey to ICC Champions Trophy squad

LONDON: England on Tues-day recalled quick bowlers Mark Wood and David Willey to the 15-member Eoin Mor-gan-led squad for the Interna-tional Cricket Council (ICC) Champions Trophy 2017 at home.

Wood, the tall right-arm quick, who recently returned to action after an ankle surgery that kept him out of action for six months, was included in the side with left-arm pacer Willey, who also made a return from injury, having missed play-ing against the West Indies in March with shoulder trouble.

Both Wood and Willey are part of a strong seam attack that has Jake Ball, Liam Plunkett, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes. Adil Rashid, the leg-spinner, and Moeen Ali, the off-spinner, will provide the spin options, according to the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) release.

Wood, 27, last played an international match in Septem-ber 2016, and will be looking to add to his 11 caps in the format.

England will play a two-match One-day International (ODI) series against Ireland in the first week of May, followed by a three-match series against South Africa in the last week of May to prepare for the Cham-pions Trophy, which starts on June 1 in England. While the squad for the Champions Tro-phy is the one that will take on South Africa, the ODIs against Ireland will feature Steven Finn and Ben Duckett too. The trio of Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes and Chris Woakes has not been considered for selec-tion for the Ireland series due to their ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) commitments. They will return to England on May 15. England will begin their Champions Trophy cam-paign against Bangladesh at the Kia Oval here on June 1.

England squad for Cham-pions Trophy: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Moeen Ali, Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball, Sam Bill-ings (WK), Jos Buttler, Alex Hales, Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid, Joe Root, Jason Roy, Ben Stokes, David Willey, Chris Woakes, Mark Wood. AGENCIES

Bond backs Bumrah’s inclusion for

Champions Trophy

MUMBAI: Indian Premier League’s table toppers Mumbai Indians’ death-over specialist, Jasprit Bumrah, should get the nod in India’s ICC Champions Trophy squad, feels the fran-chise’s bowling coach, Shane Bond. “I will be surprised if he is not in it (the squad). He will be a good bowler in all for-mats. At the moment he is a good ODI and T20 bowler,” the former New Zealand fast bowler said. Bumrah has been the go-to bowler to bowl at the ‘death’ for MI this season. The 23-year-old bowler has taken 9 wickets in 8 IPL games this season, the second-best for the team after New Zealand’s Mitchell McClenaghan (132). The Ahmedabad-born crick-eter had played for India in the team’s last ODI against England at Kolkata in January. In 11 ODIs, since his debut against

Australia at Sydney in January, 2016, Bumrah has captured 22 wickets. Bond, who was among the fastest bowlers in his prime before injuries cut short his international career after just 18 Tests in which he scalped 87 wickets, was impressed with the current crop of Indian bowlers. “India have been playing their cricket at home. Ashwin, Jadeja are phe-nomenal in these conditions. But it has allowed the seam bowlers to come and make real impact and bowl quick. Umesh has developed as a bowler. “Bhuvneshwar hasn’t played much and the benefits of his rest can be seen as his pace has come up again. So, when India (play) away from home, they have got a seam bowling attack which is going to be a handful, given the right condi-tions,” he said. AGENCIES

Rohit fined 50% of match fee for showing dissentMUMBAI: Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma has been fined 50 per cent of his match fee for showing dissent at an umpire’s decision during their IPL encounter against Rising Pune Supergiant here.

The incident hap-pened at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday night when Mumbai needed 17 in the last over bowled by Jaydev Unadkat 5 while chasing 161 for win.

In the first delivery, Ben

Stokes took a brilliant catch in the deep to pack off Har-dik Pandya, while the second was heaved over long-on for a six by Rohit. Having seen Rohit shuffle across the stumps, Unadkat pushed the third delivery of the over wide and Rohit, realising that the ball was veering away from the guideline for wide deliver-ies, left it alone. But umpire S Ravi didn’t call it a wide. Dis-appointed with the decision, Rohit walked up to the umpire

and protested angrily even as the square-leg umpire A Nand Kishore intervened. Needing 11 off three balls, Rohit skied the fourth ball and was caught-and-bowled by Unadkat for a 39-ball 58 as Mumbai went down by three runs.

“Mr Sharma admitted to the Level 1 offence 2.1.5 of the IPL Code of Conduct for Players and Team Officials. This is Mr Shar-ma’s second Level 1 offence this season,” the IPL

release said. “For Level 1 breaches of the IPL Code of Conduct, the Match Referee’s decision is final and binding.”

Mumbai Indians off-spinner Harbhajan Singh on Tuesday said Sharma didn’t misbehave with the official and was only trying to clarify rules.

“The ball was too far out-side, to be honest, but I don’t really know whether it was wide or not,” Harbhajan told reporters at the post match conference. AGENCIES

Pakistan eye win as Shah strong, Misbah left on 99KINGSTON: Yasir Shah ripped through the top order of the West Indies second innings in the final session of another long day to put Paki-stan on course for victory at the end of the fourth day of the first cricket Test at Sabina Park, here.

After captain Misbah ul Haq became just the sixth batsman in Test history to be left stranded on 99 not out as Pakistan were dismissed for 407 in their first innings, the hosts, trailing by 121 runs, were reduced to 93 for four at stumps on Monday with Shah taking all four wickets.

They go into the final day needing another 28 runs to erase the first innings defi-cit with the pair of night-watchman, Devendra Bishoo and debutant Vishaul Singh, expected to be under immense

pressure, especially from the rampant leg-spinner, when play gets underway on a wearing pitch on the final morning.

Shah struck with his very first delivery, bowling Kraigg Brathwaite with a ball that skid-ded through on the opening batsman.

He quickly added the scalps of newcomer Shimron Het-mayer and Shai Hope before finishing off with the impor-tant wicket of Kieran Powell, the opener taken at slip by You-nis Khan for a well-played 49.

That late drama was in con-trast to the pedestrian progress through the first two sessions of the day as Misbah worked his team into a dominant position despite being left one run short of an 11th Test century. Last man and debutant Mohammad Abbas was trapped leg- before by Roston Chase on the stroke

of the tea interval. In his usual phlegmatic manner, Misbah ensured Pakistan constructed their position of dominance via a succession of partner-ships after they resumed on the fourth morning at 201 for four and facing the threat of the second new ball. Yet it was a

far from a flawless effort as the West Indies extended their sea-son of woe in the field, allow-ing the opposing skipper to escape when he should have first been taken at short-leg by Singh off Shannon Gabriel and then later on in the morn-ing session by Alzarri Joseph

running back at mid-off to the bowling of leg-spinner Bishoo. It was Bishoo who eventually broke an 88-run sixth-wicket stand between Misbah and Sarfraz Ahmed, the wicketkeeper batsman playing in his usual pugna-cious manner in getting to 54 before he was bowled around his legs attempting a sweep shot just after lunch. Dur-ing the course of his innings, Ahmed went past 2,000 runs in his Test career. Misbah achieved a milestone of his own when he notched his 5,000th Test career run before reach-ing the half-century mark and began to play an increasingly important role through the afternoon session as the West Indies emerged from the list-less indifference of the first session to finally get among the wickets. AGENCIES

During their last outing KKR bowlers produced a fantastic show to bundle out Royal Challengers Bangalore for 49 -- the lowest score in IPL’s history

Gautam Gambhir

mp sport 15MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata |Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

Juventus’ Barzagli expects a tricky semi-final against MonacoTURIN: Juventus veteran defender Andrea Barzagli has advised his teammates not to underestimate their Champions League semi-final opponent Monaco, as he expects a tricky tie against a young side that plays attacking football.

The Italian football cham-pions have been pitted against Monaco during the Champions League semi-final draw, while the other semi-final pits Madrid

clubs, Real and Atletico. Sev-eral football experts have been

labelling Monaco an easy draw for Juventus, considering that

Real and Atletico have more firepower and experience in dealing with big European matches.

But Barzagli, who is eying a sixth consecutive Serie A title with Juventus, feels that Monaco have a potent attack to cause them trouble.

The first leg of the Cham-pions League tie will be played in Monaco on May 3 and the return leg in Turin on May 9.

“It’s true that Monaco might have less quality on paper than Real Madrid or Atletico, but it will be a very tricky match,” Barzagli told Juventus’ website on Monday.

“They’re a young side, they have dangerous forwards and they play good, attack-ing football. As they said when the draw was made, they have nothing to lose,” the 35-year-old added.

“All semi-finals are dan-

gerous and we never under-estimate anyone -- and we definitely won’t do for Monaco.”

Juventus are eight points clear at the top of the Serie A table with only eight round of matches to go.

But the Italian international is not taking anything for granted.

“The league isn’t over yet. We have to make it mathematically certain,” he pointed out.

When the talks veered towards his retirement plans, the 2006 World Cup winner insisted that he is determined to play on for as long as his body will allow.

“I’ll keep playing for as long as I can. When somebody tells me I can’t do it anymore, I’ll think about call-ing it a day. (Juventus vet-eran goalkeeper) Gigi Buffon is always telling me that!” AGENCIES

East Bengal defender

suffers heart attack, stable

KOLKATA: Former India international and East Bengal’s central defender Anwar Ali on Tuesday suffered a heart attack while returning home after a training session, but is said to be stable now.

The central defender was returning from practice when he suffered the heart attack, prompting his teammate Gur-winder Singh to rush him to the hospital on EM Bypass.

“He was admitted with dis-comfort and uneasiness. The ECG and angiogram report showed no major blockages. He’s is doing okay and stable now. He is young and age is on his side,” Sunip Banerjee, car-diologist at Medica Superspe-cialty Hospital, said.

This is a fresh blow to East Bengal, who have already given up on their title aspirations in the I-League, but the player has not been ruled out of the Federation Cup as yet.

“He should be fit to play before the Federation Cup. We are awaiting some other blood reports to see when he can be discharged,” the doctor added.

The defender was side-lined after the club’s 1-3 loss to Churchill Brothers as East Bengal went on to lose four matches in a row to bow out of the I-League title race. AGENCIES

Subrata suspended for dope taint, will go for ‘B’ sample testNEW DELHI: Acclaimed Indian goalkeeper Subrata Paul was on Tuesday provi-sionally suspended after fail-ing a dope test but has vowed to prove himself innocent by going for the confirmatory ‘B’ sample test.

All India Football Fed-eration (AIFF) General Sec-retary Kushal Das said Paul, an Arjuna Awardee, flunked an out-of- competi-tion test last month. Paul is faced with the prospect of a four-year ban.

“The banned substance is terbutaline. According to the NADA letter to AIFF, Subrata is under provisional suspen-sion,” Das said.

Terbutaline is a broncho-dilator and is taken when peo-ple have trouble breathing or a medical condition such as asthma.

It is also present in com-monly-used expectorants administered for cough and cold. But, athletes must apply

for a TUE (Therapeutic Use Exemptions) certificate if they want to use asthma-related drugs. According to WADA,

terbutaline is placed in the cat-egory of ‘beta-2 agonists’, which is prohibited at all times (in competition and out-of-com-

petition) Asked if Paul can still play for his club DSK Shivaji-ans in their last I-League fix-ture at home against Minerva Punjab on April 30, Das said, “He can apply for a B sam-ple test as well as simultane-ously appeal for the lifting of this provisional suspension. “Once he appeals (for lifting of this provisional suspension), he can play but in case the NADA Panel rules against his appeal whatever match he has played after NADA’s intima-tion to us that he has failed his A sample test will be forfeited (his club will be declared to have lost the match).” Das said Paul’s urine sample was taken by NADA on March 18 when the Indian team was in the national camp in Mumbai.

All the players were tested during that camp. Under WADA rules, the National Anti-Doping Agency will have to inform the player as well as the fed-eration about the dope result.

The player has the right to request for a confirmatory ‘B’ sample test. He will be put under provisional suspension pend-ing his ‘B’ sample test. Under new WADA rules, a first-time dope offender will serve a max-imum period of four-years. The 30-year-old Paul said he will go for the ‘B’ sample test and claimed that he will prove his innocence. “I am shocked at this news that I failed a dope test. I have not got any offi-cial communication from the NADA or the AIFF. I am get-ting to know about this from the media. I will prove my innocence as I have played the game with honesty and integ-rity in my career of more than 10 years now,” Pal said. “I will request for the ‘B’ sample test as I believe that I have not done anything to fail a dope test. All the players were tested during the Mumbai national camp and I never thought that my sample will return positive,” he added. AGENCIES

Hopes on Sindhu, Saina in Badminton

Asia Championships

WUHAN: All eyes will be on women’s singles specialists P.V. Sindhu and Saina Nehwal as they carry India’s hopes in the Badminton Asia Cham-pionships, starting here at the Wuhan Sports Center Gym-nasium on Wednesday. While Saina has two bronze medals from the continent’s marquee event in the 2010 and 2016 edi-tions, Sindhu has a bronze from the 2014 Gimcheon edition. Sindhu, the 2016 Olympic silver medallist, is currently ranked third in the world. The double World Championship bronze medallist has contin-ued her good performance since the Rio Games. The 21-year-old showed that in the India Superseries final when she defeated Rio Games cham-pion Carolina Marin. Going by the form she is in mentally and physically, this could be her best chance to add another trophy to her ever-increasing

CV. The fourth seeded Indian will open her campaign against unseeded Indonesian Dinar Dyah Ayustine. Sindhu’s vet-eran Hyderabad citymate Saina will face a test of character and fitness as she will be eager to prove that she has overcome her stiffness after the knee sur-gery in August. World No.8 Saina will hope for a good start when she takes on Sayaka Sato of Japan. AGENCIESArgentina at risk of missing

World Cup, says Diego MaradonaBUENOS AIRES: Argentina face an uphill battle to qual-ify for next year’s World Cup without their suspended tal-isman Lionel Messi, accord-ing to Albiceleste legend Diego Maradona.

Messi has served one match of a four-game international ban for abusing an assistant referee in a World Cup quali-fier last month, reports Xinhua news agency.

“With all due respect to the national team, I think that without Messi we are at risk of missing out on qualifying for the World Cup,” Maradona told Radio Rivadavia.

“I would accept a playoff spot now, but Argentina are

always capable of finding some-thing extra.”

Argentina are currently fifth in the South American zone World Cup qualifying

standings with four matches remaining.

Only the top four teams will qualify automatically for the tournament in Russia while

the fifth-ranked side will earn a playoff berth.

In Messi’s absence, Argentina will play Uru-guay, Venezuela and Peru. The Barcelona forward will return for the team’s last qualifier against Ecuador on October 10.

Maradona, who almost single-handedly won the 1986 World Cup for Argen-tina, called for an end to com-parisons between himself and Messi.

“I have finished my career. I enjoyed my time on the pitch. Now it’s Messi’s turn. There doesn’t have to be any comparisons between us,” the 56-year-old said. AGENCIES

Only the double will satisfy Bayern coach AncelottiMUNICH: Early elimination in the Champions League quarter-final at the hands of Real Madrid has changed the atmosphere for Bayern Munich and their chief coach Carlo Ancelotti. Winning the Ger-man football league and Cup double has become a must for the 57-year-old Italian, and this Wednesday’s crunch Cup semi-final against Borussia Dortmund is more of a final.

Winning the double or not will decide how the club and its fans judge the 2016/17 season -- one that again ended without them achieving their big dream of securing Europe’s biggest crown. Ancelotti made no secret of his expectations saying the season could only be called good if they clinch the double, reports Xinhua news agency.

Captain Philipp Lahm tried to ease the tension by saying that winning the domestic double would make it a “very good season” and bagging only the league

title would mean a good one. Considering Bayern have a top-class squad and the expectations before Ancelotti’s arrival, it is clear that the double will be seen as a minimum goal. If he misses out, Ancelotti will be confronted with criticism about his tactical approach and his future plans.

Rumours say there is a hefty debate within the club as to whether Ancelotti is the best man to take Bayern forward especially as they intend to concen-trate more on developing youngsters.

Up until now, Ancelotti has mainly relied on experienced players and has neglected younger tal-ent. According to several German media reports, Bayern’s management is considering to lure Hoffenheim coach Julian Nagelsmann in the near future as the 29-year-old is regarded as one of the big-gest coaching talents in Germany for the last decade. Facing Dortmund in a Cup game will be a major test

as the mood at Bayern’s opponent is improving after the recent bomb attack -- especially as the perpetrator appears to have been caught by the police. The entire club has expressed great relief after what Dortmund coach Thomas Tuchel called “good news” to help the team find its way back to normal life.

While Bayern’s mood dipped after a dis-appointing 2-2 home draw against FSV Mainz 05 in their last league game, Borussia Dortmund feel a warm wind under their wings as the team can work “on a clear mind knowing about the intentions of the attacker” as coach Tuchel put it.

Dortmund also won their last important Bundesliga game 3-2 at Borussia Moenchengladbach and they seem to be well on their way to securing a Champions League qualifying third place.

Tuchel expressed the team’s growing confidence ahead of the Bayern Cup semi-final. AGENCIES

Sharapova rags-to-riches journey resumes in Stuttgart as she returns from 15-month suspension

STUTTGART: From the shadow of Chernobyl’s nuclear wasteland to international super-stardom and from pen-niless arrival in the United States, without a word of Eng-lish, to a fortune of USD 200 million.

It may sound like the stuff of Hollywood dreams, but the story of Maria Sharapova is a testament to the power of one individual to make it, whatever the odds, whatever the contro-versy, whatever people think.

Wednesday in Stuttgart, the 30-year-old will return from a 15-month doping suspension to open the next chapter.

When she takes to the court to face Roberta Vinci, it will be to the consternation of many opponents and the relief, albeit privately, of a wom-

en’s tour left flagging by the absence of Serena Williams, probably Sharapova’s only seri-ous rival in the arena-filling business.

Sharapova shot to inter-national fame as a giggly 17-

year-old Wimbledon winner in 2004 -- the third young-est player to conquer the All England Club’s famous grass courts.

She would go on to win the Australian and US Opens

while claiming two titles at the French Open, despite famously likening her movement on Roland Garros’s crushed red brick to a “cow on ice”.

Siberia-born Sharapova first picked up a racquet at the age of four in Sochi, where her Belarus-born parents had set-tled after escaping the deadly clutches of the 1986 Cher-nobyl disaster. Spotted by Martina Navratilova, she was encouraged to move to Nick Bollettieri’s Florida academy, the proving ground of Andre Agassi and Monica Seles.

Father Yuri and the seven-year-old Maria left for the US in 1994 with just USD 700 to their names.

Yuri took odd jobs like dishwashing to finance his daughter’s dreams although

visa restrictions meant mother Yelena was back in Russia, sep-arated from her daughter for two years. When Sharapova was nine, the mighty IMG group spotted her talent and funded the USD 35,000 fees required for the Bollettieri school.

She made her professional debut at 14 in 2001 and by 2003 reached the world top 50. She won her first tour titles in Japan and Quebec.

Then in 2004, her Wimble-don final triumph over Wil-liams made her an overnight international celebrity.

One year later, she became the first Russian woman to be ranked number one in the world while, in 2006, she won her second major at the US Open. AGENCIES

Chhattisgarh Rural Development Agency,Civil Lines Raipur (CG)

No./RC-4/CGRRDA/2017 Raipur dated: .04.2017 The following amendments are issued on press notice NIT

188/CE/Tech/CGRRDA/2017 dated 13.04.2017 Balance Work in the district of Bastar for 17 number of Roads with Esti-mate Cost totaling Rs 4023.30 Lacs :- 1. The previous date for online submitting Bid of above men-

tioned NIT was 19.04.2017. Now read as 01.05.2017 instead of 19.04.2017.

2. The Other Conditions of NIT will remain same. Sd/-

Chief Engineer ( Tender Cell)Chhattisgarh Rural Road Development Agency

Civil Lines, Raipur (C.G.)samvad 80856/3 E-mail : cg-itno@nic.in

Borussia Dortmund midfielder Sahin signs new contract

DORTMUND: German foot-ball club Borussia Dortmund on Tuesday extended mid-fielder Nuri Sahin’s contract, keeping the Turkey interna-tional until June 30, 2019.

“We’re all delighted Nuri’s staying with us. He grew up in the region, he’s a really good guy and Borussia Dortmund is deeply ingrained in him,” Dortmund CEO Hans-Joachim Watzke said in a statement.

The 28-year-old, who has had dual German and Turkish nationality since 2011, joined the Borussia Dortmund youth academy in the summer of 2001. Aged 16 years and 355 days he became the young-est player to ever play in the Bundesliga, and is the top-flight’s youngest-ever goal-scorer too. Since making his

debut in 2005, he has played for the club 203 times, scoring 19 goals. “Everyone knows how comfortable I feel in Dortmund - both in the city and in this sta-dium with our extraordinary fans. Borussia Dortmund is the club that belongs to my heart,” said the midfielder, who is now in his 12th season as a profes-sional. AGENCIES

mp Entertainment16 MILLENNIUM POST | Kolkata | Wednesday, 26 April, 2017

WANTED TO TURN PRODUCERafter ‘Gangs of Wasseypur’: Richa

MUMBAI: Richa Chadha says she wanted to turn producer right after her breakthrough film Gangs of Wasseypur but it was not taken kindly by the people around her.

“I wanted to produce something right after ‘Gangs...’ I was 24 at that point of time. I said can we invest some money? I had no manager, nothing. Everyone shot me down and said ‘you’re so young and stupid, you won’t be able to do anything’,” Richa said.

Five years later, the actor has finally taken the plunge by producing a short film titled, ‘Khoon Aali Chithi’. The actor says producing content which one believes in is gratifying.

“I want to encourage young people to come for-ward and take charge. We have something which the previous generation didn’t, the Internet. There is a huge

democracy in that. There is so much scope. Go out there and make your content,” she says. While she is known for her stellar performances in films like Gangs of Was-seypur, Masaan and Fukrey, Richa says she learnt differ-ent aspects of cinema when she donned the producer’s hat.

“Producing the film was really amazing. It made me look at things from the other point of view; where I am wondering ‘why are actors so expensive, so much money needs to be spent on them, vanity van, make up etc.”

‘Khoon Aali Chithi’ is a 15-minute-long film and explores an innocent love story set against the back-drop of the turmoil in Pun-jab in the early 90s. Though born in Delhi to a Punjabi father and Bihari mother, Richa says she feels con-nected to the “soil of Pun-jab”, a state which has been

through a lot. “There were very simple times in Pun-jab. I am emotionally con-nected to Punjab. It has been through a lot. It was burnt in the Partition, there was Suba movement, fami-lies were torn apart, peo-ple lost livelihood and then they had to restart again and hope for a better life. There is so much which it (Punjab) has witnessed,” she says. Directed by Rupin-der Inderjit, the short film releases on Tuesday. PTI

The actor has finally taken

the plunge by producing

a short film, ‘Khoon Aali

Chithi’ which released on

Tuesday

MUMBAI: Actor Akshay Kumar today urged those crit-icising his National Award win to “take it back” if they felt he did not deserve it. He won his first National Award this year in the best actor category for his role in Rustom. The deci-sion, however, was met with criticism with many arguing that it was not fair.

When asked about it, Akshay told reporters, “I’ve been hearing it for past 25 years, whenever someone wins there is some discussion around it. This is not new. Someone or the other always creates a contro-versy. ‘He shouldn’t have won, the other person should have.’

“It’s okay. I’ve won this after 26 years, ‘agar woh bhi aapka mann kare toh le lo’ (take it back if you feel like it).”

Asked if he would be con-sidered for the Padma Bhushan for his philanthropic work in the future, Akshay said, “You have to do major work to earn such an award. Only then peo-ple can feel you deserve the award.” The Airlift star said it was good that some award functions in Bollywood were recognising the efforts of stuntmen but hoped more people acknowledged their hard work. PTI

‘Take the award

back if you want’

MUMBAI: After singer-com-poser Kailash Kher voiced his disagreement on Sonakshi Sinha’s performing at Justin Bieber’s maiden concert in India, the actor says she is not perform-ing at the pop star’s concert.

“Firstly, I am not performing at the Bieber concert. It was spec-ulated because I was approached and carried forward by publi-cations and portals even after I stated in various interviews that it’s not happening,” said a statement issued on Sonakshi’s behalf. The 29-year-old actor further added that she loves music and if anyone has prob-lem with that then they can go and “love” themselves.

“Secondly, I am an actor who loves music, who loves to perform and who loves to sing. And if anyone has a problem with that, in the wise words of baba Bieber himself... they can go “love” themselves. Over and out,” she said. Sonakshi was

reportedly performing as one of the opening acts at the concert, which will be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai on May 10.

Kher had shown his disap-proval and said that getting the Dabangg actor on board to per-form at Bieber’s maiden concert in the country over any other acclaimed Indian singer is not a good sign, and sends a wrong message internationally. How-ever the event’s promoter also issued a statement clarifying the move.

“With regards to inclusion of Bollywood stars, for music events of this stature which attract colossal media traction, its hard to shy away from the fact that Bollywood plays a very vital role in generating mass aware-ness and enhancing the global goodwill of the country,” Arjun Jain, Director of the White Fox India said.

The Justin Bieber Purpose Tour “follows a strict global mandate to not integrate any live act as part of the opening act as the focus should be on the head-liner artist,” he added. IANS

Not performing at Bieber concert: Sonakshi SinhaMUMBAI: Superstar Aamir

Khan, who is known for avoiding film awards finally broke the rule on Mon-day night and attended an award function where he was honoured with the

Pandit Deenanath Mangesh-kar Award. Aamir gave all the credit for this honour to his team of writers and directors.

“This is a huge honor for me, director Nitesh Tiwari and the entire team of ‘Dan-gal’. I am very thankful to Lata Mangeshkar and Deenanath Mangeshkar Trust and entire Mangeshkar family,” said the actor. “A film gets its birth from its writer. This film has garnered so much love and support all over India, and its because of Tiwari. He wrote the script of this film and made a brilliant movie out of it.

“Whatever I achieved today in the film Industry is all because of writers and directors who have given me opportunity

to be a part of their films and work with them,” he added on Monday while attending 75th Master Deenanath Mangesh-kar awards in Mumbai.

Aamir also received Vishesh Puraskar award along with Vyjanthimala and For-mer Indian cricket team cap-tain Kapil Dev. The event was organised by Master Dinanath Smruti Pratishthan and Hri-dayesh Arts.

On work front, Aamir Khan will soon be seen in Vijay

Krishna Acharya’s Thugs of Hindostan along with Amitabh Bachchan. IANS

Aamir attends award function for Lata Mangeshkar

LONDON: Heath Ledger’s sis-ter, Kate Ledger has said the actor’s role in The Dark Knight was not responsible for his untimely death from a pre-scription drugs overdose in 2008. Ledger’s sister refuted the claims that the actor was suffer-

ing from mental health issues at the time of his death, reported The Telegraph.

“I was really shocked, because that was him (Led-ger) having fun. Every report was coming out that he was depressed and that (the role)

was taking this toll on him, and we’re going, honestly, it was the absolute opposite. It couldn’t be more wrong.”

“He had an amazing sense of humour, and I guess maybe only his family and friends knew that, but he was having fun. He wasn’t depressed about the Joker!” Kate said at the premiere of I Am Heath Ledger at the Tribeca Film Festival.

Producer of the documentary, Matt Amato added, “I hope it’s an antidote to a lot of the gossip that exists in the world. There are some really terrible things about Heath out there.” The actor was awarded the 2009 Oscar posthumously. PTI

LOS ANGELES: ‘Game of Thrones’ actor Lena Headey says she is ‘ashamed’ of the treatment refu-gees are receiving in her country, United Kingdom.

The 41-year-old actor, who is best known for por-traying the role of Cersei Lannister in the HBO

TV series, expressed her anger and sorrow on Twitter after sharing a link of an article by The

Independent.The story talked about a four-year-old

child, a Greek refugee, who was raped in a migrant camp recently.

“I am truly at a loss. We are leaving insane numbers of displaced people without food. Shelter. Protection. The vulnerable are wide open with no where to go. Children being raped after making journeys to keep them from dying.

“I’m ashamed to be a citizen of a country that doesn’t take enough care of its own vulner-able people... I feel utterly at a loss when we turn our backs on those who need it most. To the people who are doing some-thing. To the incredible people of Greece,” she writes.

The actor says the current condition of the displaced peo-

ple is a cause of worry for her.“It keeps me awake. It keeps me

aware and thankful for all that I have. I will continue to talk. To try and change

minds. To send money. My brothers and sis-ters of the world. Please know that you are not forgotten. There are people out here that think about you everyday...,” Headey adds. PTI

Lena Headey ‘ashamed’of treatment of refugees in UK

LOS ANGELES: Marvel head Kevin Feige says if the title to the fourth instalment of Avengers is revealed then it would act as a spoiler for the plot of the third instalment which is releasing next year. Asked during a press confer-ence for Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, whether “Avengers 4” title would be a spoiler for what would come in Avengers: Infinity War, Feige confirmed the assumption by saying: “Yeah, for sure”.

His answer suggested that the title of Avengers 4 would reveal too much about what happened in the third Avengers movie, reports aceshowbiz.com. Later,

Feige was asked if Avengers 4 would still feature Thanos as the main villain or whether his story

would instead be completed by the end of Infinity War. Feige said, “They’re two very different mov-

ies. That’s all I’ll say.” Avengers 4 is expected to have

its principal photography right after the production of Aveng-ers: Infinity War. As for Aveng-ers: Infinity War, the movie is currently filming in Atlanta and Edinburgh, Scotland.

In the first set footage, Feige confirmed that the Avengers would team up with the Guard-ians of the Galaxy and Spider-Man in the movie.

It is reported that the Aveng-ers will be completely unpre-pared to face villain Thanos after the events in Captain America: Civil War. IANS

LOS ANGELES: Actor Abigail Breslin says she did not report her sexual assault as she was in a state of shock and denial. The 21-year-old actor recently opened up about the dreadful incident on Instagram and posted an infographic by RAINN, an anti-sex-ual violence organisation in the US.

The actor was then prompted to share another post, after one user commented on the previous image, “Reported

rapes are the only rapes that count.” In the second post captioned as “Trigger Warn-ing”, Breslin revealed she was in a rela-tionship with her rapist.

“First off, I was in complete shock and total denial... Second of all, I was in a relationship with my rapist and feared not being believed... “Thirdly, I knew how hurt my friends and family would be after finding out.”

She further says she was diag-nosed with Post Traumatic Stress

Disorder a year and a half ago and has made a “lot of progress since the event occurred”. Towards the end, Breslin wrote, “Unre-ported rapes count. Reported rapes count. End of story.” PTI

Abigail was too shocked to report sexual assault

‘The Dark Knight’ role not responsible for Heath’s death

Title of ‘Avengers 4’ would be spoiler for ‘Avengers 3’